mrbrown.com

Send in the (PSP) Clones

Saw this at a shop in Johor Bahru's Carrefour. For RM899 (S$390!!!), you can be the proud owner of a Gameking 2. Forget the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable), man. The Gameking 2 is da bomb. You know you want one.(Click thumbnail or here to see larger Flickr image)

The box says "Fashionable Science & Technology Outlook" and "High-Brightness function and Super-Glare Imitate Color Screen". If you are into portable gaming, you will know that is really important.

Also spotted by them, in Hongkong.

(I took this on the sly by holding my camera below my waist level and snapping it without the salesgirl seeing. But she must have wondered why there was a flash of light at my crotch area, below her glass display. I just smiled and walked away quickly.)

More on blogs and journalism

Some papers get it, like The Observer, which has a blog, and as pointed out by Daryl, it's actually quite good. (*adds it to newsreader*)

And also a good read with "cheem" words, The Long Tail of blogs, first mentioned in Wired in the context of music. (via Victor)

And finally, Adam L. Penenberg of New York University looks at how the Wall Street Journal, that is enjoying good results from being a paid service, risks becoming irrelevant. (via The Singapore Commentator)

On a totally unrelated note, there is actually a detailed Wiki entry for Sengkang but a pathetic one for Hougang. It's a conspiracy, I tell you.

Excerpt:

Since most people refuse to pay for WSJ stories, most bloggers are reluctant to link to them. It also has an impact on anyone who uses the web for research -- and there are a lot of us. As importantly, the next generation of readers is growing up by accessing news over the internet, and one place they are not surfing to is WSJ.com. With their habits being formed now, there is little chance the Journal will become part of their lives, either now or in the future.

As a result, there is a meme that has begun to take hold that questions the Journal's long-term relevancy. It began, I believe, last fall with John Battelle, founder of the defunct Industry Standard, who realized he couldn't remember the last time he had read The Wall Street Journal, even though he is a subscriber. Since he couldn't share links with his community (read: bloggers), he ended up passively boycotting it. Battelle suggested the Journal partially open up its doors to bloggers by allowing them to link to specific stories, which they could share with their readers, but if they wanted to access any other part of the site, they'd have to pay up like everybody else.

Surfing from the loo

I am not the only one who surfs from the can, it seems. Except my laptop is a slightly newer Powerbook, but sarongpartyfrens's toilet is much nicer than mine.

Let's hear it for wi-fi!

Excerpt:

But Hello 802.11b and the internet! How awesome is the distance from the shitter to the shelf! I have the perfect toilet set up for downloading news and poop!

TODAY Reader Mail: The autism columns

Subject: Hello

Dear Mr Brown

I have read your articles dated 26-11-04, 3 & 10 Dec 2004 regarding autistic children.

I have a 8 yr old son, having a mild autistic problem. I know the pain that you and your wife had gone through because I also have (always) very painful time with my son.

I have a lot of unhappiness, 'complaints' about my son but my friends don't understand my problems. I write to you just want to let you and your wife know: Don't give up, be HAPPY!  (i am sad that no one say that to me)(...2nd thought, only my younger son 5yr old childcare centre's principle say that to me).

well, hope to read your articles regarding your girl growth development.

regards
bw

Oh no! iPod is doomed, because Sony's PSP has better games

Jim reviews a review by the Straits Times, that compares the Playstation Portable (PSP), the Nintendo DS and the Apple iPod (!), and decides that the biggest stinker in the line-up was the review itself.

You can view the image of the column here.

Coming up in the next issue, the iPod is pitted against a Dell PC and an Apple dual-processor G5 (all can play music, what), and the iPod loses horribly in the Photoshop Gaussian blur test! Quick, call police!

Excerpt:

Have you ever read a motor review where a truck has been compared besides a roadster? Since both can transport a few people from point A to point B. Why not right? And at the end of the review, declare that although the roadster looks sleeker, drives faster, yet can’t be compared to the truck because it can only seat 2 adults comfortably.

That’s the feeling I got when I read Saturday’s paper where they had a review of the new Sony PlayStation Portable, the new handheld game device from Sony.

TODAY Reader Mail: Excuse me, your cup doth runneth over

my bf loves reading ur articles n as usual, he showed me this link. as u said u do not research on bras n u suggested the pump-me-up bra. as it is, this ""miracle"" bra has been sold in ck tangs years back. ;)

i was ""insulted"" many years back when the promoter suddenly ""pounced"" on me n enthustiastically showed me how i cud benefit from this amazing and revolutionary bra....

n juz fyi, it originates from korea.... ;)

akerue
January 28 2005

Romance novels reloaded

Longmire, the Lord of Romance and Higher Love, does re-imagined romance novel covers and inspires reader submissions too. A real hoot.

via Boing Boing

The Daily Show on Blogs vs Journalism

Since there has been some recent discussion about Mainstream Media (MSM) and the role of blogs, I thought it good to share this post from Preetam of better days.

Peter Hirshberg, who runs a blog on disruptive culture and technology, has a link, to a recent segment in The Daily Show that captures "the tango between blogging and journalism" with brilliant humour.

It's a 9.4Mb Quicktime movie, so be gentle and don't crash other people's servers, ok? At least not until I have saved the movie into my hard drive... ok, saved.


On a totally unrelated note, I wish to apologise to Faith-T, Oracle and Chronicler of Punggol "Mordor" 21, for making her choke on her deli-potato.

TODAY Reader Mail: Life is getting scary, Mummy...

Subject: Thank you Mr Brown

Dear Mr Brown

You are the highlight of my Friday every week!  I enjoy reading your weekly article very much and yes, again, I thoroughly enjoyed today's piece.  As usual, it's hilarious and it never fails to crack me up.

I've always wanted to write to you to thank you for sharing with us readers your refreshing take in life and your sense of humor (which is very much lacking in our society).  But I somehow did not manage to find time to do so.  I am very happy and glad that I am writing this note to you now.  Thank you and keep writing.  My Friday is not complete without an accidental word from Mr Brown.

I am so glad to have met your acquaintance, Mr Accidental Author and I look forward to our meeting every Friday.


Jan Lim
February 18, 2005

TODAY Reader Mail: Feeling marginalised in own country

I enjoyed reading mr brown's "Life is getting scary, Mummy" (Feb 18).

It was very funny. But the underlying issue — the "threat" posed by foreign talents — is not.

As a parent of two teenaged children, I am not particularly bothered if my children do not top their class, losing out to a foreign talent. Neither would I be upset if they lost, say, their badminton match to another foreign talent.

However, I am concerned if they are denied access to a good school or university. I fear that this is already the case in Singapore.

When the Government announced it would set up a Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore (now known as the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music), I was very pleased.

My thought then was that Singapore would finally have its own conservatory offering formal music education at tertiary level.

This would enable local students less academically inclined, but with a passion for music, to pursue their interest.

Later, I read a report about the make-up of the first student intake. I noticed a significant percentage were foreigners.

I can appreciate the need to attract the best talent into Singapore. I can also appreciate the argument that entry into the Conservatory is by merit. However, it is disturbing if Singaporeans are denied entry in the process.

It is fine if our children have many conservatories in Singapore to choose from. But we have only one and its intake is small.

I consider myself a patriotic Singaporean. However, I can't help feeling that sometimes, as a Singaporean, I am marginalised, all in the name of attracting the best talent.

I now wait to see how the proposed Arts School will shape up — and if foreign talents make up the bulk of its students.

Haslinda Shamsudin

Paris made me change my number

Wah, Paris Hilton's hacked SideKick so fast got T-shirt already.

Maybe her celeb friends can buy some.

Dammit, now Mandrake and I have to change our numbers. Paris, why you so like that?

via The Daily Irrelevant

Excerpt from Ireland Online:

Paris Hilton has issued a public apology to her many pals who have been bombarded with calls since the contents of her mobile phone ended up on the internet.

Hordes of celebrities, including Christina Aguilera, Eminem, Anna Kournikova and Ashley Olsen received hundreds of calls after Hilton's T-Mobile Sidekick was recently hacked.

TODAY: Now, the news...

Latest TODAY column: Now, the news...


Excerpt:

TODAY, I would like to share with you stuff that you do not read in the papers, whether online or in print.

The reason I decided to share this great resource is because I have come to realise that news and history about Singapore does not belong to one person, one company, or one political party. It belongs to all of us.

The catalyst for this was the announcement that a certain local broadsheet had decided to take their online edition from free to fee. Being the cheapskate that I am, it peeved me to have to pay for something I used to get for free. Yes, I am a True Singaporean.

So I decided to see if there were other resources online that told The Other Singapore Story, for free.

Boon Shong: He could have been a Singapore Idol

Anyone know this guy? My office mate bought this old 70s LP for a lark, and now I am curious to know who this Singapore singer is.

Apparently he was from a band called The Stylers.

And here is the back cover.

Cheeky has a brand new Morning Show

Cheeky does Channelnewsasia. Funny stuff.

Excerpt:

Suzanne: You know Richard, seems like we are not getting the kinds of calls we wanted. Lets just proceed to Paul for the market report. Morning Paul, so how’s the market doing today.

Paul Dekkers: Not good Suzanne. Not good at all. We are seeing a sharp increase in price on several fronts in the market. The bird flu that’s affecting Thailand and Vietnam right now, has a diverse impact on the market. For example, at Tekka wet market, the price of a whole chicken is standing at $5.00 per 1.1kg. A mark increase from just 2 weeks ago. Eggs are selling at 3 to 5 times their usual prices. Seng Choon eggs for example are retailing at $3.30 for a tray of ten.

No more free Straits Times online

ST Interactive is no longer going to be free, not even for three days. Time to get your free news somewhere else. And one less source for the Government to get its views heard.

The internet, with blogs and other sources of free news online, is giving Mainstream Media (MSM) like the New York Times a hard time. If an institution like the NYT is having trouble making the old business model work, what more our own papers?

Tim Oren looks at how "legacy media in general are threatened by audience loss to the Internet and citizens' media". Mark Devlin of Japan Today, who once said "blogs will die out soon", disagrees with Tim.

Joi Ito, on future of the New York Times, says:

Would people pay for the New York Times online? Some. I wouldn't. They have some great stuff and I read the paper version of the IHT and the NYT when I'm offline, like on an airplane, but there are so many free sources of information and ways to get to information online that the incremental value added by the New York Times on my news consumption habits wouldn't be worth the hassle and the price.

Email from ST:

Dear STi Reader,

You are getting this email from the ST Interactive team as you are among the more than 280,000 of our registered users.

We thank you for your interest in the website and would like to inform you about a major change coming to STI in March: After 10 years of giving ST news reports out for free online, STI will begin charging readers to access it.

Bubblemunche learns a new thing about Coke

Eddy learns that it is bad to mix Coca Cola with a vacuum flask.

And if anyone from Orchard Cineleisure happens to find his black and silver vacuum flask at cinema 4, do drop him a line, because the flask has sentimental value.

Excerpt:

Anyway, I felt kind of thirsty when Natalie Portman and gang started talking dirty, and thus reached for my coke-filled vacuum flask. I knew something was wrong when the screw-on cap refused to budge when I tried turning it. I suddenly recall studying something about the dangers of built-up gas pressure, but the temptation of savoring chilled cola down my throat was too great. So I tried again, mustering all the might in my imposing 1.6m, 45kg frame this time just to make the damn thing budge...

The death of the nation state?

"The politicians may promise, but now the markets decide."

What a great line. It's from "The Information Revolution and the Death of the Nation State", by Ian Angell, recommended by reader knightofpentacles (must spell correctly, or else "pentacles" end up as another word).

Written in 1995 (you can tell because the writer is still using the term "information superhighways", it may be an oldie, but some of the issues raised are very real.

Excerpt:

Everywhere the nation-state is in retreat. All the while citizens are losing their faith in the nation-state, seeing it as a peculiarly twentieth century phenomenon. For the state is failing to deliver its side of the Faustian pact, where the individual submits to the legitimate violence of the state in return for protection and security. Globalization has shown the James Bond myth, that the state is good and global corporations (Spectre) are bad, to be blatant propaganda on behalf of the nation-state. James Bond, the patron saint of the nation-state, is now just another dirty old man.

Star Wars Episode III spoiler

Update: if the site is too slow, you can try the Coral cache or the mirror provided by Lowbot

Some dude posted a whole page of screenshots, about 80 of 'em, from Star Wars Episode 3, that tells the whole story. I'd be quick if I were you, before LucasArts sues the fella's pants off and takes it down.

Needless to say, don't go there if you don't want spoilers. (I heard Anakin becomes Darth Vader, but keep this to yourself, ok?)

Get it here (warning, page contains more than 6mb of images), and May the Floss be with You. Personally, I think General Grievous looks cool but has a dumb name.

Or you could make your way to the parody of Episode III, Star Wars Episode III: A Lost Hope by the folks at Sequential Pictures. Three months to make, it comes with desktop downloads, posters, production tills and even a Making Of. Very slick.

via Boing Boing

Etymology for dummies

English language guru (he uses words like "onomatopoeic") and all-round all around (toldja his England is powderful) nice guy, Daryl, shows us a list of English words that were derived from other languages like Malay.

Example:

compound (in the sense of a fenced-in area). From kampung. Presumably this was folk etymology, turning the borrowing into an existing English word.

Even Calmone, no English slouch himself, cannot win him, man. Powderful stuff.

Begin your English lesson here.

Mr Satanic Verses defends the right to be offended

Salman Rushdie argues against a proposal by Tony Blair’s government to introduce a ban on the “incitement to hatred on religious grounds”.

For a Singaporean used to living under a law like this, I find the issues that Britain has to grapple with now very interesting. But of course, we of the 147th place in press freedom will argue that we have special circumstances. And who can forget that old chestnut: "We last time got racial riots, ok? You never live through them, you don't know."

So where does one draw the line? Or is this a necessary compromise to achieve the other freedom, the freedom to not have my house burned down by racial riots?

via Agagooga

Excerpt:

The idea that any kind of free society can be constructed in which people will never be offended or insulted is absurd. So too is the notion that people should have the right to call on the law to defend them against being offended or insulted. A fundamental decision needs to be made: do we want to live in a free society or not? Democracy is not a tea party where people sit around making polite conversation. In democracies people get extremely upset with each other. They argue vehemently against each other’s positions. (But they don’t shoot.)

At Cambridge University I was taught a laudable method of argument: you never personalise, but you have absolutely no respect for people’s opinions. You are never rude to the person, but you can be savagely rude about what the person thinks. That seems to me a crucial distinction: people must be protected from discrimination by virtue of their race, but you cannot ring-fence their ideas. The moment you say that any idea system is sacred, whether it’s a religious belief system or a secular ideology, the moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible.