mrbrown.com

the mrbrown show: guess that show contest 2

Guess that TV show in our second contest! This time, we chose newer TV shows! Listen at mrbrownshow.com.

the mrbrown show: halo sighting celebrations

North Korean halo sighted at mrbrownshow.com!

The Internets is down

Update, 2.52pm Wed, 27 Dec 2006: The connections are coming back, slowly but surely. The mrbrown show podcasts are now downloadable again. MSN is still down, but .Mac is fine.

For those of you who can see this, access to the mrbrown.com site is currently spotty, especially for Singapore surfers, because 5 submarine cables that our internet access relies on has been damaged after the earthquakes near Taiwan.

Internet access is slowly coming back as the ISPs reroute traffic around the damage (which is why I can update the site from Typepad but I cannot see the site).

It is also affecting our other sites, like mrbrownshow.com. You can surf to the site but the podcasts are unavailable for now because they are hosted overseas.

We apologise for the downtime, and hopefully, you can return to your surfing soon. In the meantime, enjoy this sneak preview of Fantastic Four: Rise of the the Silver Surfer, from Apple Trailers. I just watched the HD version of the trailer on my 20-inch Intel iMac and it rocks.

the mrbrown show: thai jingle bells

We are still in a Christmas mood, so we sing to the Thai Stock Market at mrbrownshow.com.

the mrbrown show: guess that show contest review

Find out what the TV shows are in our contest! Turn on the TV at mrbrownshow.com.

Merry Christmas from the browns

Merry Christmas to you all!

The team from the mrbrown show and the clever folk at Furryfish got together to make this Christmas ecard for you!

Just go to www.furryfish.com/christmas06 to view it and to send it to your friends too!

Have a lovely Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

the mrbrown show: fire bells in Orchard Road

Last minute shopping and nothing will stand in our way, at mrbrownshow.com.

the mrbrown show: of rain, dvds and a lucky number

Mr Tan and I discuss the rain, movies and Gong Li's boobies at mrbrownshow.com. Oh, we throw in a lucky number too, for those of you who missed the 1st prize the last time.

Joy's first steps (Youtube)

It's been raining, I've been sick as a dog and downright miserable. But seeing my Joy take her first brave steps clears my day like the sun coming out after that 20-hour rain fest.

(Youtube text link)

the mrbrown show: half-grading

There is upgrading, then there is half-grading. Find out the difference at mrbrownshow.com!

Reuters: Politics is no laughing matter in Singapore

Politics is no laughing matter in Singapore
By Geert De Clercq

SINGAPORE, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Chewing gum, homosexuality, public protests... the list of things frowned upon is long in Singapore. But satire? Yes, that too. Seriously.

Political humour is playing a bigger role than ever in the city-state, and despite government's insistence that politics is no laughing matter, satirical websites are blossoming.

TalkingCock.com, an irreverent website that relentlessly pokes fun at the Singapore "gahmen" (government), gets 4 million hits per month in a country of 4.4 million, while popular blog mrbrown.com receives some 20,000 downloads per day for its droll podcasts about life in Singapore, up 10-fold from a year ago. "These websites touch a popular vein. They deal with issues of everyday life in a language that can be understood in the kopitiam (coffee shop). It's like the parables of Jesus," said researcher Gillian Koh of the Institute of Policy Studies.

Others say government disapproval of these websites has added to their appeal.

Colin Goh is the only public face of the large collective that puts together TalkingCock.com, a website named after the term for "talking nonsense" in "Singlish" -- the local patois of English laced with Hokkien Chinese and Malay words.

"The others do not want to reveal their identities, they are too scared," said Goh, a former lawyer with degrees from University College London and New York's Columbia University.

Goh and friends set up TalkingCock in 2000 in New York, where he lives. The project has since grown into a huge, rambling site with dozens of anonymous contributors.

Goh insists the site's focus is on humour, not on politics.

"All humour is about daily life. It just so happens that in Singapore, the government occupies such a large part of our lives," said Goh, who is also an award-winning film director.

"SERIOUSLY"

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is well aware of TalkingCock.

In his national day speech on August 20, Lee actually showed a slide of TalkingCock.com.

"If you want humour, you go there. Some of the jokes are not bad. Not all of them," he said.

In another speech on April 1 -- April Fool's day -- Lee said there was space for political debate in Singapore, but stressed that discussions on politics must be taken seriously.

"Countries can become unstable if political figures are not given basic respect and acceptance," Lee was quoted as saying by state broadcaster Channel NewsAsia.

Goh said he vaguely agrees with the government that jokes are no substitute for real political discourse.

"It is bad for the satirist when people look to the satirist for alternative serious political commentary. We'd be very happy to go back to our court jester status," he said.

Singapore print and broadcast media are government-owned or controlled, but on the Internet anti-government views abound.

Catherine Lim, Singapore's best-known fiction writer, said the government's allergy to satire is not surprising.

"It's a very Asian, Confucian thing, especially if you take it to the point where you make them lose face. That is absolutely intolerable, even in a society as modern as Singapore," said Lim, who has angered the government before with her criticisms.

Australian academic Garry Rodan, who has written extensively about Singapore politics, said the Singapore government is not comfortable with political jokes because "humour challenges the notion of a foolproof meritocracy".

Lee has said repeatedly that the government tolerates dissent but would respond to criticism that it disagreed with.

"Because if we don't respond, untruths will be repeated and will be believed, and eventually will be treated as facts and the Government and the leaders will lose the respect of the population and the moral authority to govern," Lee said.

MINCED PORK PODCAST

mrbrown -- the Internet moniker for blogger Lee Kin Mun -- was the first satirist to find out what that response could be.

In July, his weekly column in state-owned newspaper Today was axed after he had poked fun at a series of price hikes that followed soon after the May 6 general election.

"It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government," the information ministry wrote in a blistering reply.

In his National Day speech, Lee said the satirical column had "hit out wildly at the Government and in a very mocking and dismissive sort of tone".

One of mrbrown's podcasts had a starring role in the run-up to the elections when it mocked the way the government harped on for days about an opposition candidate's bungled attempt to submit an election form.

mrbrown's podcast parody of the affair as a food stall vendor hounding a customer over an order of a bowl of minced pork noodles was downloaded 200,000 times and spread like wildfire in the blogoshpere.

Like others in Singapore's lively Internet scene, both mrbrown and Goh are worried about an upcoming revision of the penal code, which could take into account "new technological developments" such as the Internet.

"At any time, the government could drop the guillotine on us. So, not very funny times, I'm afraid," Goh said.

the mrbrown show: the animal that was not there

Mulder investigates a mysterious magical animal at mrbrownshow.com!

You are Time's Person of the Year

Oh wait, you're not. According the commercial from Chrysler that pops up when you try to read the article in Time. (Click image to see larger version)

(via Daily Kos)

4214

What does 4214 have to do with a mrbrown show carol? Read about it here.

the mrbrown show: elite airways

Fly the elite skies at mrbrownshow.com!

the mrbrown show: guess that show contest

Play the Guess That Show game with us at mrbrownshow.com!

SAF considered another tank besides the Leopard

Many of you don't know this but besides the German Leopard tank, the SAF was also considering another Main Battle Tank named after an animal. Check out this other shortlisted tank here.

(Courtesy of the folks from hardwarezone forums.)

"Natural" - A play by Down Syndrome Association

This Saturday (16th December 2006), the Down Syndrome Association (Singapore) is staging the play "Natural", to raise awareness on the presence of persons with special needs in the Performing Arts, in this case — persons with Down Syndrome.

Please go and watch it! Get your tickets here.

According to an email I got from Melissa, a teacher there, "her students are in it and they've rehearsed
their butts off the whole year for this night". So please go and support if you can, ok?

'Natural' is a play about and performed by people with Down syndrome. Using confessional theatre, devising, interviews, multimedia, song and poetry, it will lend insight into a fascinating, beautiful world that exists at a pace and rhythm of its own.

the wtf show (video): Nokia N95 preview

Check out a little video we made of the upcoming Nokia N95, at mrbrownshow.com!

My new Picoo-Z helicopter

Update: I have been getting readers asking where to buy these. You can try Suntec Carrefour or the Ngee Ann City toy fair.

Or Picco-Z as it is known in the US.

S$39.90 of fun in an easy to fly package. The Picoo-Z is a 2-Channel Infrared Mini Helicopter from Silverlit, and when Artgerm brought one to the office, almost everybody bought one. The only headache is that the thing comes in only 3 channels, so we could not all fly at once. Up to three can be flown near each other at once, and each must be on different frequencies or channels (A, B or C).

If you buy more than one, make sure you get different channels (one way to do this is to buy different-coloured helicopters, or read the box for the Channel) or else only one helicopter can fly at one time.

We did some simple mods on the super-light helicopter to make it more stable and fly straighter. Like adding a strip of scotchtape along the tail to stabilise it, and a paperclip at the nose to add some weight to the nose for better forward flight.

It is a lot of fun to fly these puppies, and a 20 minute charge gives you about 15 minutes of flight. You charge it from the transmitter, which uses 6 AAs. Yes, six. So make sure you factor that cost in, or get rechargeables.

They sell these at US$49.95 in the US (and more, because they are sold out everywhere there), so we really get a bargain here.

Next step: mods. I can't wait. Hahaha!