Local blogger sounds out on downloaders arrest

On the "twin star" blog, you can read a reaction piece to the arrest of the 3 filesharers-cum-pirates.

As with all issues, this was in the hearts of every file sharing pirate out there in Singapore. I know this, because I am within their social circle. Everyone just kinda adopted a wait-and-see stance to the copyright issue ever since the Bill was passed in the Parliamane tto threaten illegal file-sharing activities that was spawned from the heydays of Napster. For Singaporeans, finding the place to obtain the latest music releases was via through word of mouth - and that place is IRC. Yes please, Galaxynet is the keyword.
...
Various CD/DVD retailers should do more things to improve sales revenue instead of just focusing on profit-making statistics. Maybe they should ask themselves are they doing enough to get our attention? Hell, the music that I listen to aren’t even available at HMV - simply because they are rather catered to the teeny-bopping crowd. Bah! I am tired of debating about this already. You can always find this never-ending chatter topic elsewhere in the world. Google is your best friend.

Babes of Flickr

Pretty ladies always get plenty of attention. This website picks out from the thousands of pictures posted on Flickr and extract those that feature babes. Plenty of eye candy...

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3 nabbed for distributing music files online in Singapore

This is the first time file traders (or pirates, depending on your perspective) was arrested for distribution of copyrighted songs on the Internet. The linked story is on Channel News Asia. However, the Straits Times has more info on it. But since you can't read it unless you subscribe to it, I'll post some bits of it here. Is the reign of terror of music sharing to begin in Singapore or is it just plain dumb for these people to do what they do?

The unprecedented action by the police started with a tip-off from the Record Industry Association Singapore (Rias) in March this year. Its investigators found that the men, aged 16 to 22, had been distributing English and Malay songs since late last year over a local Internet relay chat (IRC) channel.

Police then conducted surveillance of the suspects to gather evidence, culminating in Wednesday's pre-dawn raid, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Tan Kah Khin, who is also head of the Criminal Investigation Department's Intellectual Property Rights Branch (IPRB).

The three infringers - a student, a factory operator and the last waiting for his national service - said they distributed the music files in order to boost their ability to download pirated materials from other distributors, said DSP Tan.

The file-sharing system the three used tracks the amount distributed and downloaded by each user, and the more a user distributes, the more he will be able to download from others.

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Chaos at iBook sale

The Apple iBook are nifty devices, but who would have thought that they would be so hot that folks will fight to get their hands on one. Granted that these pearly white machines are only going for US$50, there's no need to fight, and have people getting hurt, for it right? I thought only kia-su Singaporeans will do that, but I guess people are people.

Chaos erupted this morning at the Richmond International Raceway as thousands of people stampeded through the gates in a rush to buy used iBook laptop computers for $50 each.

There were several minor injuries and one person was taken to a hospital with a leg injury, fire Battalion Chief Steve Wood said during a 1 p.m. news conference. In all, 17 people were treated, the majority for heat- or diabetic-related problems, he said.

Update: Now we know why these folks want a 50 bucks iBook. They want to make money on it! Some of those folks are already starting to sell what they managed to grab on eBay!

Blogging from MS Word

This is yet another way for you to blog. The folks at Blogger has released an add-on that allows you to write your entry in MS Word and then post it from the same app. Quite handy stuff, but it may not give you much control if you want hands-on time with raw HTML and it also currently does not work on a Mac.

The horniness of being in green

On the blog called called Seksi Matashutyrmouf, there's this entry called "Miritary bearing". It captures this strange phenonmeon of how the mindset and attitude of Singapore male changes when they are wearing the Number 4 green camouflage uniform, as compared to when they are in civilian clothings. As a buddy of mine in my NS unit once remarked on how NS folks have this strange habit of oogling at the female species when in green... "It's must be the green uniform..."

Here's an excerpt from the entry, do go read the whole thing...

I find that on this, my 3rd ICT, my eMart credits have been replenished and I'm wondering what to use it on. Now if I had a girlfriend, it would be very simple. I would get a number 3 for her and get her to wear it so that I can sadisfy my military uniform fetish. Oooh how I love their tight skirts and blouses, and their carefully pressed prissiness. I would gladly iron and starch that uniform for her myself. Of course it would not be so well ironed once I'm done with her but that's another story.

Get Opera on the Treo!

The Opera browser has a special place in my heart. Although I'm now totally using Firefox on Windows box and Safari on my Mac, I still like Opera's speed and the days when I could fit the Opera browser on a floppy. Anyway, it seems like there's now a Opera Mini for the Treo. It seems to be an extension from the Opera Mini for Mobile version. The link below will teach you how to install and use it. However, it'll require you to install Java for Treo for it to work. I've not tried it though, but from some comments, although it's speedy, it's also flakey and so be prepared for some resets if you start to use it.

DreaMP3 - a dream music player from CNET

The folks at CNet has come up with a MP3 player which they hope will exist. Some of the features of this "dream" player include the ability to play all audio format, wireless in-ear buds, and removable batteries... all amazing features that anyone would love to have on their music machines. They have called it the DreaMP3. Well, we can all dream.

KOTOR 2 Restoration Project

These modders have the Force in them. Apparently, there were stuff that were dropped from the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2 game. This was because in order to meed the release date, the developers had to give up some content. Now, this group of modders are planning to recover the missing content. how they're going to do it is beyond me but hey, may the force be with them.

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No link between violent video games and aggression

This article reports on the results of the first long-term study of playing online games and violence.

After an average playtime of 56 hours over the course of a month with “Asheron’s Call 2,” a popular MMRPG, or “massively multi-layer online role-playing game,” researchers found “no strong effects associated with aggression caused by this violent game,” said Dmitri Williams, the lead author of the study.
...
Nor was game play a predictor of aggressive behaviors. Compared with the control group, the players neither increased their argumentative behaviors after game play nor were significantly more likely to argue with their friends and partners.
...
“I’m not saying some games don’t lead to aggression, but I am saying the data are not there yet,” Williams said. “Until we have more long-term studies, I don’t think we should make strong predictions about long-term effects, especially given this finding.”

Top five ways MP3 has changed the world

CNET has a good piece on how MP3 has changed the music industry and also the way we view music. Me? I think MP3 has certainly change the way I listen to music. Now, I can carry it almost 70% of my music CD collection in an iPod and quickly access and listen to stuff that I don't even remember I have. It has also allow me to check out new indie bands which posted their works on the Net. Great way to discover new music.

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Gadgets that play Doom

Perhaps the ultimate test of geekdom is to get the original Doom game running on your gadget. This website called "It Plays Doom" is dedicated to devices that can run Doom. It's like a badge of honor when geeks get Doom to run on their devices. Currently, the devices listed on the site that manage to run ports of Doom, at varying quality and framerate, includes the iPod (yep... it's the MP3 player that could), Palm handhelds, and the Nokia 770. Cool.

Chewing Gum Makes You Think Better

Ha ha ha... A research has found out that "...chewing does indeed increase our ability to concentrate and to retain what we've learned. In fact, studies indicate that, for both kids and adults, mental tasks are completed up to 20% more effectively when we chew gum."

Maybe the Singapore government wants to reconsider the chewing gum ban to help us folks to be 20% more effective to compete with the rest of the world?

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Doom soundtrack remix

The remix fever is high. Here's a remix album of the music from the PC shooter Doom. It's a 23 track deal and you can download it from the website. All free and nothing illegal (it seems), of course.

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GTA: Liberty City + Vice City + San Andreas

Won't it be great if you could visit all the cities featured in the GTA series in a single game? These folks have undertaken the biggest modding project possible, planning to combine Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas into one huge game called GTA: LVS. Nice big world for wannabe criminals to roam.

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Using Google to find warez

Google is a fabulous search tool. In fact, the Google search engine is so powerful that you can actually use it to find warez. I am not advocating piracy but it's prove that using existing tools, you can find many things on the Internet. Go to the webpage to find out.

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Free Prodigy Remix Album

FIrst the Chemical Brothers, now Prodigy. The Prodigy urged their fans to remix their most recent album. The result of this is Always Outsiders, Never Outdone, a complete remix album of Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. It's available as usual on P2P via BitTorrent. Remix culture is good.

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Movie characters seen in Orchard shopping mall

I was at Orchard Cineleisure to catch the movie adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City, when I see several movie characters parading around and mingling with the crowd. Movie characters stepping out of the silver screen? Well, not exactly. These folks are cos-players with a specific focus on movies and I think they are promoting their service of being able to dress up for any events that you have as movie characters. See Princess Leia in the photo above? well, won't you want such a sweet princess at your next event?
The Bride from Kill Bill was there too with her katana. Dangerous...
A SWAT team officer strutting his full equipment... keeping the peace and looking more menacing than the real police.
A Ringwraith was spotted too... scaring the be-jesus out of many a shoppers.
...and of course the amazing Spider-man! Err... it's just a huge model figure on the wall... but hey, it's Spidey!

Free Chemical Brothers Remix Album

If you love The Chemical Brothers, you'll love this. The electronic band has urged people to remix their material and the result is Flip the Switch, a complete remix album of Push The Button. It's available here on BitTorrent. Nice and more power to the bros for supporting remix culture.

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The Simpson's Springfield Map with Flickr Notes

Someone has too much time on their hands. This is a link to a Flickr picture with over 400 notes marking keys Simpsons history. From Moe's Tavern to the box factory. A must see for Simpsons fans and also just to see what someone who has too much time on their hands can come up with.

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Games examined on The Economist

If you're interested in the impact of video games, you need to read this. It's not just a random rant on what's happening in the gaming scene these days, it's a piece in the respected magazine The Economist. What it is saying in the article is something that most of us observers of the gaming industry has known all along. Maybe this will reach a wider audience. Go read it.

Ironically, the “Grand Theft Auto” episode has re-ignited the debate over the impact of video games, just as the industry is preparing to launch its biggest-ever marketing blitz to accompany the introduction of its new consoles. Amid all the arguments about the minutiae of rating systems, the unlocking of hidden content, and the stealing of children's innocence, however, three important factors are generally overlooked: that attitudes to gaming are marked by a generational divide; that there is no convincing evidence that games make people violent; and that games have great potential in education.

Link

SDP, you call that a podcast?

I'm not 100% pro-PAP, but I'm not pro-opposition either. The thing is, the Singapore Democratic Party has sent out a press release that they have launched a podcast to "breach the control of the media by the PAP government." What a joke! This thing that they're calling a podcast is just a MP3 recording of the SDP chief Chee Soon Juan going on about his usual gripes about the current government. It's NOT A PODCAST! Where's the RSS feed that makes this a proper podcast feed?

My point is that don't just jump on the podcast bandwagon. If it's a proper podcast that uses the related RSS technology to deliver the MP3, I would really have no problems. But calling it a podcast when it's not, it's just plain silly and shows how inept the SDP really is.
Link

Guess-the-google game

This smart guy called Grant Robinson has come up with an interesting game called "Guess The Google", using images from Google's image search. What happen here is that you are presented with a number of images and you have to guess the keywords used to retrieve these images from Google. It's done in Flash and is actually a whole lot of fun.
Link

iPorn for those who need the fix

Well, this is so funny that it has to be mentioned. It's a parody of the popular iPod. But instead of music, what you get it pretty pictures of beautiful women... you know what I mean. This is what folks will call the iPorn, and if it really exist, it'll be like the site says... "More fun than music... A masturbatastic dream come true..."

Encyclopedia of Lesbian Movie Scenes

Wow, someone has actually build a website that seeks to document a collection of lesbian movie scenes. For many hot-blooded males, lesbian scenes are particularly hot. Maybe it's the female factor in the scenes... Whatever it is, you can use this resource to look up such scenes in films while claiming that you're actually doing research for your thesis on lesbian movies.

Water in glass

Water in glass
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

Just a random shot of water in glass during a company workshop. Still glass light jar...

Turn your baby into an iPod

This deserves a "Digg". This place is selling babywear that has a print of the iPod scroll wheel in front. When worn, your baby will turn into an iPod replica. Only thing is that your baby may not produce sweet music, but sweet laughter or annoying cries, depending on his/her mood.

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Sexual Moments In Video Game History

Sex in GTA? That's old hat. This site has a list of hilarious sexual content found in old video games. Well, some of them are not really sexual, but no one can tell what a twisted or rather, imaginative mind can see. Take it with a whole dose of humour.

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Microsoft Windows "Genuine Advantage" Cracked - again!

Previously I mentioned a way of bypassing Micro$oft's key checking method using a line of Javascript. Now, there's another method using a pre-cracked DLL. You just have to replace the DLL file and windows update and Microsoft downloads work flawlessly. Check out the Digg link. In fact, there seems to be other methods, if you read the comments on the Digg site.


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iPod and Yoda

I was going through some of the iPod photos on Flickr and found this cool looking iPod ad spoof that is both funny and cool. Yes, it's a lightsaber-wielding Yoda with an iPod. Listen to iPod, you must...

School of Rock in Junction 8

The School of Rock band competition finals for youths below 19 years old organised by Straits Times was held at Bishan Junction 8. The competition is really a wonderful thing as it allows youths with a passion for music to have a chance to showcase their talents. For the bands that reached the finals, their style range from metal to funk to powerpop. It's really great to see young people with so much musical talent rocking out on stage.



It's quite hard to get to the stage so from the photo, you can see that I'm actually pretty far from the stage. Thankfully, they have plasma TV sets so you can actually catch the action from the TV which gives you a pretty close-up view.



The winning band is called 3Dash1. They're a blend of power punk/pop. A 3-piece outfit that reminds me of another local band called Plain Sunset. Their infectious pop-punk ditty inspired the crowd to sing-along, especially the chorus. In fact, I'm so impressed by this band that I participated in the SMS vote and gave them my thumbs up. Their sound is tight and their drummer is pretty solid too. Overall, I'm looking forward to the album that they'll release, since their winning comes with a contract with music label Music & Movement.



I tried to take a picture of the band, but it wasn't really successful. If you look carefully in the photo above, the band is on the stage dressed in green tees. Rock on guys!

Update: After searching a bit on the Net, I found out that 3Dash1 has actually listed themselves on PureVolume, a site where bands can list themselves and show of their tunes. You can even download some of their earlier songs there. They also has their own website on Blogspot.

The "Quit Slashdot.org Today!" movement

There's a movement going on. It's called the Quit Slashdot Movement. For all the Slashdot addicts out there, this is what you need to be rid of your addiction. Well, it's actually a humourous look at the popular Slashdot.org site. Fun for geeks.

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Podcasting in Singapore-The Apple remixed version

Apple doesn't quite care if Singaporean podcasts are on their site, or in the iTMS. Even Apple Singapore. This site has someone doing a remix of the Apple page and it includes mention of Singapore podcasters. Apple should make this remix official, at least for the Singapore site.

How & why you should hurt MediaCorp

This guy must really be angry at the monopolistic broadcasting situation in Singapore. He has come up with what looks like a manifesto on how and why you should make MediaCorp hurt. It contains some ideas on getting alternative media content if you're simply bored with what's available on radio and TV... think podcast and BitTorrent.

Microsoft "Genuine Advantage" cracked

That was really fast... MS's attempt to foil pirated use of WinXP by validating authentic CD keys when assessing Windows Update service has been cracked, only one day after the Redmond company has implemented it. It's just a matter of entering one line of Javascript in IE's location bar. Try harder next time, Micro$oft.

iTunes wishlist

PowerPage has a list of things they would like to have in future upgraded versions of iTunes. After reading it, many of it makes perfect sense and I would love to have those features in iTunes. One feature in the list that I would absolutely love is bookmarks, which is available in PocketTunes on my Treo. Really wish iTunes and the iPod will have that feature for all files, not just on Audible (cos I don't use it) and Podcasts.

Downloading 'myths' challenged

Take that, you lousy RIAA scums! Who says downloading of music makes you lose customers? Digital music research firm The Leading Question found that 'illegal' music sharers spent four and a half times more on paid-for music downloads than average fans. Stop this whole war on illegal music downloads and provide more services that allows us to legally download music, and give us the freedom to use them in different ways!

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Football as bad as gaming

This commentary by Steven Johnson who wrote 'Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter' appears on USA Today. It sort of highlight how ridiculous the storm brewing (no pun intended) over the "Hot Coffee" affair has become. It is written as an open letter to senator Hillary Clinton.

I'm writing to commend you for calling for a $90-million study on the effects of video games on children, and in particular the courageous stand you have taken in recent weeks against the notorious "Grand Theft Auto" series.

I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing.

I'm talking, of course, about high school football.

Make your own google logo page

Love the Google logo? Why not make your own Google page? This site called Logogle will create a Google search page with whatever text you specify in the style of the Google logo. Since everyone is doing it, I've also joined in the fun and created my own GremSpot Google page.

iPods could make you hallucinate

If you think games addiction will lead to health problems, then you should also be wary of the iPod. According to this article, listening to an iPod could leave you with psychological problems, particularly cases of musical hallucination, where a song "plays" constantly in the head. Now, I've got to go shut off that U2 song playing in my head, er... I mean iPod.

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Five Key Gaming Concepts

Tom's Hardware has an article on five key gaming innovations that has captured our imaginations. They include Voice Recognition, Physical Involvement, Real Life Elements, Games On Your Phone, and Putting Yourself Into the Game. Interesting. Hopefully there will be more innovative concepts in the future... such as Living in the Game, for example?

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Designer's iPod cases

When you're a hot mainstream product adored by many, you get to have those designer labels providing for your needs... specifically casing needs. MP3.com has a listing of designer iPod cases, made by designer labels such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc. Buy them if you are absolutely fasinated by designer labels. Otherwise, there are better-value cases out there to protect your white-and-silver musicial investment.

Rockstar screwed the gaming industry

Yet another opinion on the "Hot Coffee" issue. There sure are many of those these days. This one on Cheap Ass Gamer takes the view that Rockstar sold out their gaming industry colleagues by being irresponsible, and causing such a huge fallout of trust in the industry-led ESRB rating system. I have to say that this fellow's view is not entirely without merit.

Concept Apple products

Wonder what future Apple products may look like? Well, a Japanese site called Applele.com has come up with interesting designs of products that would seem to embody the Apple design aesthetics. Do note that these are not real Apple products but concepts done by fans. Well, it would be good to dream that some of these actually exist, right? The picture above is an iPod Photo with camera attachment, while the one below is a flash-based iPod with retractable headphone cords. Simply sweet.

Flyable Star Wars starships

These fans of remote control (RC) model plans have created models of spaceships from the Star Wars movies that you can actually fly! The flyable starships include Han's Millenium Falcon, the Jedi Starfighter and also the Naboo Starfighter. Nice!

You can find out more in these two links...
Link 1
Link 2

Game modder speaks up on modding

A game modder has written a piece on the recent GTA "Hot Coffee" controversy. It's a must-read and I hope that those folks in the "high places" who are against games just take time to understand the gaming technology before they start to label every mod-able game as "Adults Only".

The primary difference between the retail version of the game and that of the modded version is that the above content has simply been rearranged and intensified by the consumers. By using the logic that this content was illegally "hidden", one could just as easily claim that any R rated movie has covertly crossed the limits of decency because the end-user could very well pause their DVD player on a scene containing nudity, thus exceeding the length of such scenes by which the MPAA decides whether a film is to be classified as R or NC-17. The same could be said of even a PG-13 rated movie which contains brief nudity.

Link

BBC encourages 'remix'-ing of TV listings

The BBC may be one of the oldest broadcasting organisation around, they are also one of the most innovative and forward-looking. Here, they are allowing developers and designers to come up with interesting ways of using their TV and radio schedule. They are even holding a competition for folks to come up with prototypes to demonstrate new ways of using BBC's TV schedule. Cool!

OS X menubar items to fill your menu

Here's a list of some of the best menubar items that you can place on your menu for Mac OS X. Almost everything is here, from web services to clocks to iTunes controllers and more. The only limitation is probably your screen size.

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Violence and video games... a media lie?

The Game Revolution website has posted an article on the media frenzy surrounding violence and video games. According to this piece, there is no epidemic of youth violence as portrayed in the media. It's all a media lie. Read it and decide for yourself.

Yahoo! Widgets now available

Yahoo! has bought the company that created the original widgets, Konfabulator. Now, Yahoo! is offering it as a free download for Mac and Windows. For those using Mac OS X Tiger, you already have widgets in the form of dashboard so this is not much of use. But for Windows users, this may open up a whole new world for you.
Link

First GTA, now Sims 2

The overall target has to be the gaming industry. Miami attorney Jack Thompson is now extending the fight from the "Hot Coffee" mod in GTA to EA's Sims 2, claming that it's a pedophile's paradise by showing genitalia. When will this madness end?

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The unofficial, quick guide to Digg 2.0

I'm starting to use Digg. Digg is a tech news website, similar to Slashdot. But while Slashdot's articles are validated by editors, Digg's articles are by users. Digg also has community elements and it's easy to blog "Digg-ed" items.

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New Potter gets pirated

The new 6th installment of Harry Potter gets scanned by fans and an electronic copy is found in the "wild" Net within hours of its official release. That's really not surprising and if you know where to look, you'd probably have a copy of the scanned e-book right now.

Wired News has written a piece on how this happened and why it has happened. There're also quotes by those involved in the operation.

"I'd love to see the expression on Rowling's face when she finds out that this book got ripped within, what, 11 hours of the release?" one of those involved in the operation told cohorts in the main public IRC chat room, #pottermania.

Crazy infinite Flickr photos

Ah... the things people do. This Flickr photo group has photos of folks taking pictures of themselves looking at a photo of others looking at a photo of others on the computer, and so on and so on. See it and you'll get the idea.
Link

Coldplay X&Y Album Art Generator

Seen the pixel-like blocks on the cover of the new Coldplay album "X&Y"? Think it's cool? Well, it is kinda retro in some way and futuristic at the same time. Well, some brilliant guy has written up a Javascript thingy that will generate similar art work for you based on the characters that you type in. In fact, the picture you see above is generated by typing in my name. Cool!
Link

Explaining Creative Commons

Tech columnist John Dvorak recently wrote that he does not see the value of Creative Commons. In fact, he calls it "one of the dumbest initiatives ever put forth by the tech community". Maybe he just wants to be different. Or maybe he just doesn't get it.

Fear not. The Benlog blog has a easy-to-understand piece in response to Dvorak's article and explains in simple terms what Creative Commons offer. Call it "Creative Commons for Dummies".
Link

Xiaxue got hacked...

The famous... or infamous (depending on your view) local blog by Xiaxue has been hacked. Go ahead, get the whole scoop on her blog. The scary and sad thing is that all her 3 years of online presence has been axed. Shudder... that is why you must obey the tech generation's most important law--BACKUP!!!

The moon is made of cheese...

Google is doing something fun in honour of the first manned Moon landing which happened on 20th July 1969. They've done a Google Maps version of the Moon surface. They've also marked out the various Apollo landing sites. Of course, like the Google for Planet Earth, you can zoom in and out of the map if you want to get a closer look. The fun part is that when you zoom right to the max, you get to see what the moon is actually made of... yes, that's cheese. It's paradise for mice.

GTA San Andreas given AO rating

The "Hot Coffee" GTA: SA affair has exploded. The ESRB is giving the game an AO rating, meaning that it's for Adults Only. Which also means that the game will not be sold in major retailers. Read these links for more details and comments:

• Hot Coffee Boils Over
  Gamespot.com has the scoop and details on what happens in the "Hot Coffee" saga and what is going to happen now that it has been slapped with an AO rating.
  
• Sexy Extras Earn Game Adult Label
  Details of the case by Wired News.
  
• My Take On "Hot Coffee"
  This is a blog entry on the affair from the developers' point of view. The basic idea is that sometimes, things are left in the game because developers don't want to break the game and introduce bugs. It's a pretty interesting read and gives a different take on the case.
  

Bottom line? If you can grab a copy of GTA:SA now, you'd better go get it. Future copies will have the offending code removed. In other words, these are collector's items.

Rock & Surf mash-ups

Mash-ups are fun. The mix of two songs usually is a blend of unexpected and amazing. This album is no different. The album titled "Sounds for the Sun-set:2005" by mashers RIAA (Really Interesting Audio Adventures) totally rocks with sun-kissed fun. You can download the full album at the website. Go ahead... rock and surf!
Link

More on ESRB ratings

ESRB is finding themselves in the hotseat and here're some more articles examining what ESRB is doing in terms of rating of video games.

• Video game rating board in hot seat
  This CNN piece looks at ESRB and what critics think of the rating system.
  
• How game and movie ratings work
  This one is from the Kotaku.com site. It not only looks at the game rating system, but also MPAA's movie ratings.
  

Get your blog seen in space

Want your blog to be beamed in space? You can do it via this Bloginspace.com site by MindComet. And it's free! You simply add your blog's URL and the RSS feed on the site. I'm actually taking advantage of it and hope my musings get seen by friendly extra-terrestial beings. It's really a silly thing but hey, I'm just doing it for fun and it's great to know that your blog will be in space. Unless I find out that it's really a scam.

Oh, on the content, just have to remember not to post anything that may provoke an alien invasion.

How ESRB rate their games

With the recent "Hot Coffee" controversy in GTA: San Andreas, the US ESRB game rating system has come under some scrutiny. Slate has an article on how the ESRB rating process works. Interesting read if you're wondering how the rating labels get on the box of your fave games.

When submitting a game for the board's scrutiny, the developer fills out a questionnaire that describes potentially offensive material, especially sequences involving drugs, sex, or violence. The company must also supply the rating board with the scripts for any scenes with dialogue and material like song lyrics. The package sent to the ESRB will also include a videotape showing the game's basic plot and each questionable scene. Such videos can be several hours long.

Best freeware list

Some of the best things in life are free. The same can be said for software. Some of the best and most useful software are actually freeware, and they are way better than any commercial or shareware apps out there. Here's a list of some of the best freeware that you can try. I'm actually using some of the items on the list, including the popular Firefox browser, the AVG anti-virus software and Free Downloader.
Link

20 Things You Didn't Know Your PC Could Do

PCWorld.com has come up with an interesting list of 20 things that your PC can do. It's pretty interesting as it includes some things we already do, for example charging your cellphone with USB, and also some far out stuff, such as using your PC to heat a small room.
Link

Forest invading the subway

It seems like the Singapore subway, also know as the MRT, is being invaded by vegetation. Just take a look at the leaves curling round the hand-holds in the train. Well, it's actually just a promotional stunt by the airline SilkAir. It's an attempt to create an off-the-beaten-track look signifying that the airline flies to exotic locations. Company promos/ads sure are doing unusual things to grab our attention.

Honest talk on NKF boss

This posting on the "Talk Rock" blog is probably the most direct and honest view I've seen on the recent NKF fiasco. It's also the most crude posting so beware if you can't take this stuff. Here's an excerpt.

I do not hate charity organisation, I think people must help other poor and sick people. But fuck lah, you mean when on the tv the people who earn $1000 a month donate and the number on the NKF tv show jump $100,000 to $200,000 to $300,000..... when reach $600,000 of donation, is only cover this CEO salary?

No wonder Zoe Tay have to do so many cheebye stunt!!!

Now that the NKF boss has revealed his 25K salary as the boss of a non-profit, folks have sounded out on the whole affair, including an online petition asking for his resignation. The petition now has more than 15,000 signatures.

Using Flickr on the Xbox Media Center

This is going to be really cool... accessing your Flickr photos on the XBMC. This will add another way for you to view your photos on your TV using your Xbox. This XBMC thingy is really shaping up to be the most useful device I have on my TV console. I'm going to try this out.

101 reasons to use Mozilla

I've been using Mozilla FireFox browser for some time now, and I'm liking it. Although I've not been using IE for some time, prefering the Slimbrowser enhancement instead, I've started using Firefox more often now. The only time that I'm not using Firefox is when I use Safari on my Powerbook. Reason? I still like the look of Safari on the Mac platform.

Anyway, the Neil's Place blog has a list of 101 things that Mozilla can do but IE can't. If you need more reasons on why FIrefox is so popular, go ahead and read the piece.

What's your gangsta name?

Hey, according to the Gangsta Name Generator, I'm the gangsta dude called Heavy Nutz da Couch Bouncer. This website generates a gangsta moniker for you if you can't think of a hip and dangerous one, or if you just want to see what your alter ego could be called. Just something fun on a Monday.

Grandma plays video games

There's this blog called "Old Grandma Hardcore" which is suppose to be the chronicle of a senior playing video games. I don't know if this is really true... hard to believe that it is, but you never know. Anyway, the description of the blog is as follows

This blog is chronicle of my experiences with Grandma, the video-game playing queen of her age-bracket and weight class. She will beat any PS2, XBox, GameCube, etc., console game put in front of her, just like she always has. Her favorite game of all time was Final Fantasy VII, her current task is reaching 100% in tour mode of Outlaw Golf 2.

Good luck to Grandma on Outlaw Golf!

Photos of London 7/7 bombing on Flickr

The bomb blast in London shocked many, especially right after London's triumph in the Olympics IOC bid to host the games in 2012. Proving that the Internet community can bring updated pictures to you fast that's different from the mainstream media, there is a pool of photos on Flickr showing pictures from the scene.

Grokster decision good for file sharing

Here's an alternate opinion on the Grokster decision. This USA Today piece argues that the Supreme Court decision is actually good for file sharing. Perhaps so... go read to see if you agree.

What is that in your Windows XP services?

If you've dug deep into your Windows XP system, you'd know that there are things called "Services" which are software processes running in the background and taking up RAM usage. Some of them are essential, others are dumped there when you install software. If you've busy installing software, you'll soon find out you don't know what the services are for anymore. This website provides a handy guide to the services running and recommends which of these may be disabled. Word of caution here... do so at your own risk.

Here comes the Grempod

I've finally succumbed to the lure of the iPod. I bought a 2nd hand 60GB iPod Photo for a pretty good price, almost what I would have paid for a brand new 30GB iPod. And from the picture above, you can see that it's enclosed in a Sonic Blue iSkin evo2, and what a good fit it is.

Why did I eventually buy the iPod? Well, one thing is that it's such a pretty device. But more importantly, it is the ease that the iPod works with iTunes. Plus, now that iTunes supports podcasts, it makes more sense for me to get one and use it to listen to my fave podcasts. It just plain makes sense. Of course, it's called the GremPod.

Now, I'm in the process of transferring my CD collection to the iPod. I probably can't put in all, but it seems like a lot will fit into the device. It's actually pretty amazing when I pull out all my old CDs, how much good music are kept on CDs and probably won't get heard much. With them stored digitally in an iPod, hopefully I can enjoy them more often.

10 films for children

The Guardian UK website has come up with a list of films that are great for kids. There are some great films on this list, including the excellent Spirited Away Billy Elliot, E.T., and Where is My Friend's House. Pretty good choices. I've actually not seen a few of the others mentioned, like The Princess Bride and the French Kirikou et la Sorcière. So maybe it's time I start searching for them to give them a viewing.

RSS creator slams Apple's podcast approach

With iTunes 4.9, Apple has made receiving and subscribing to podcast really simple. My experience with it has so far been positive but there are some problems with some feeds. Although it's simple to use, you don't seem to have a lot of control over it. Still, I'm using it over iPodder Lemon, which I was formerly using. Simply because syncing to my new iPod is really simple.

Of course, Apple's approach to podcast seems to be a way to add content to their music store and get people hook onto buying iPods. There have been some comments on the way that the Cupertino company is implementing the RSS standards use in the feeds. Check out the piece on Tom's Hardware.

With the release of iTunes 4.9, Apple included the first edition of a long-anticipated XML document type definition (DTD) for RSS 2.0, that will enable access to podcasts. Apple aims to build podcast support directly into both the software and iPod, but leaders in the RSS community, including the standard's own creator, are taking Apple to task for developing an ill-advised DTD without seeking input and guidance from the community.

How to Burn Xbox Games

On 8bitjoystick.com, you can find a guide on how to burn Xbox games and other protected CD. It's suppose to work for all games, including PS, PS2, and even GameCube games. In fact, using the technique on the page, you can burn just about anything. It's really quite cool, in a funny sort of way...

Doom is coming... really!

The Doom movie is really coming... and the logo is revealed on the Comingsoon.net website. There are also four shots of the movies, in one of them you can see the fabled BFG! Doom fans will know what that powerful weapon stands for. You can also see the production press release here.

Water taps as decor

Water taps as decor
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

I saw this when I was out shopping today. In one of the shops, some clever designer has decided to make use of the humble water tap as decor and serves as a place to hang their wares of handbags. Clever use of hardware products.

Vader in a skin tight fetish suit

The Koreans must be crazy. There's this Darth Vader-in-a-fetish suit on this Korean Yahoo! website. I don't know what it's all about but there's something strangely fasinating... and maybe even sexy about it.

Building a LEGO Star Destroyer

So how long does it take to build a LEGO Star Wars Star Destroyer? These guys at "a dog named fish" website put together their set in 10 hours and they documented the whole process and made it available as a video clip. All I can say is WOW!!!
Link

More on Grokster decision

Here're a few more links in response to the US Supreme Court Grokster decision.

• Grokster: Confusing sin and sinner
  Always interesting, The Register's take on the decision.
  
• The Real Lesson of Grokster
  Wired New's opinion piece on the matter.
  
• Grokster May Haunt Podcasting
  With Apple providing podcast support in the recently released iTunes 4.9, it's on wonder tech writers will start linking the Grokster decision to podcasts.
  

Should Engadget be in Singlish?

Engadget is the popular blog focusing on the latest gadgets and technology. They have recently launched the Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish version of their website. I'm just wondering if there can be a Singlish version of their website. An entry on the iPod on the Engadget Singlish site could go something like this.

This white box thing is called the Apple iPod lor. Looks very chio leh. Can listen to many many songs and got this round circle wheel. Turn round and round damn shiok ah. The iPod is also damn tok kong, the picture version got 60GB sia, powderful! If you dun want the tua one, can also take the iPod mini lah. Very small and got many many colour, very stylo milo. Actually hor, compared with the Creative Zen Micro, also got many colour lah, but they look a bit obiang leh. If use, sure kena suan by your friends one.

I'm sure there are folks who can do better. For non-Singaporean readers, you may want to use the Coxford Singlish Dictionary to help you decipher it. Oh, disclaimer here... this is not endorsed by Engadget.

US Supreme Court strikes a blow against P2P sharing

The US Supreme Court has ruled in the Grokster case that P2P companies can actually be liable for the copyright piracy found on their networks. This has the potential chilling effects on innovations for tech companies. Plenty of websites are chiming in with their opinions. Here're some links that you should check out.

• File-swap fallout
  CNet's round up of news and perspective on the ruling.
  
• Hear the Grokster decision
  Want some irony? Use the P2P Bittorrent network to listen to the Supreme Court's decision. The link leads to a Bittorrent file.
  
• Read the decision instead
  Read the decision on PDF format if you wish.
  
• RIAA and MPAA's "victory" conference
  Notes of the press conference by the music and film industry group on Corante.com.
  
• Pro-Grokster press conference
  The supporters of Groksters have something to say too.
  
• Cory Doctorow chimes in
  Sci-fi writer and P2P supporter muses on the decision on Popular Science.
  
• More stuff on Copyfight
  

There will be more in days to come.

R2-D2 and Chewie seen in a new light

Now that all six Star Wars films are released, shouldn't we start looking at the original trilogy in a new light? This interesting article looks at R2-D2 and Chewie as agents and folks who knew the whole rebellion plan. Afterall, they are the survivors from Revenge of the Sith. Interesting read and perfect for those who love to come up with theories on the plot in Star Wars.

If we accept all the Star Wars films as the same canon, then a lot that happens in the original films has to be reinterpreted in the light of the prequels. As we now know, the rebel Alliance was founded by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa. What can readily be deduced is that
their first recruit, who soon became their top field agent, was R2-D2.

Link

Crying, while eating

It's just astonishing what Net dwellers can come up with. This site contains videos of people who cried while they ate. They either have too much time on their hands, or they're just trying hard to spread a meme.
Link

Magazine for LEGO fans

If you're a LEGO fan, you'll want to get your hands on this new magazine called BrickJournal. It's a LEGO magazine about everything LEGO, including incredible models that were built and the people who built them. The first issue is online for download and any true blue LEGO brickheads will want to grab it immediately.
Link

Directory of freely available music

CommonTunes is a website that lists the legally available free music on the Web. Some of the top downloads now include Beethoven's Symphonies from the BBC and the Wired Commons CD.
Link

Movie based on American McGee's Alice announced

While it is not the best game around, I actually enjoyed playing the game American McGee's Alice. The premise where Alice has to find off creatures based on those in Lewis Carroll's book carries with it a certain kind of charm. There have been talks of an Alice movie for some time, seems like according to Eurogamer.net, Universal Pictures is going to make it with Buffy aka Sarah MG as the lead.

According to Hollywood news site Variety, Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar has already signed up to take the title role. Marcus Nispel, whose other credits include the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and the forthcoming Pathfinder (some nonsense about Vikings and Native Americans), will direct.

The movie will follow the plot of the game, which adds a twisted spin to Lewis Carroll's classic tales. Some years after her adventures in Wonderland, Alice's parents are killed in a house fire and, devastated by the loss, she winds up in a mental asylum.

Link

Parents 'ignore game age ratings'

Are game ratings really effective? Well, at least according to this research done in the UK, it does not prevent parents from buying games not suitable for their kids. So whose responsibility is it when kids play violent games?

"Most parents think their child is mature enough so that these games will not influence them," Modulum researcher Jurgen Freund told a games conference.
...
"Parents perceive age ratings as a guide but not as a definite prohibition," said Jurgen Freund, Modulum chief executive.

"Some may have not liked the content but they did not prohibit the game."

Link

What does it take to be Batman?

Forbes.com has an interesting piece on what it takes to be Batman, i.e. how much do you need to spend to be able to take on the role of the caped crusader. It breaks down for you the items that you need, including the training you need, the car, the cave, etc. Well, seems like if you have plenty of spare cash, such as a total of US$3,365,449 in the bank, it's not impossible. Take for example, here's what you need for your utility belt.

Batman's utility belt is a one-of-a kind prototype climbing harness, paired with a magnetic grappling gun with a monofilament decelerator climbing line. Fortunately, you've got other options. A decent nylon utility belt can be procured for about $10 from any martial arts supply store. You can also equip yourself with:

Climbing spikes: $70 (Black Diamond Spectre Ice Beak Ice Piton)
Small digital cell phone: $150 (Motorola RAZR, with cellular contract)
Ninja spikes: $10 (Set of three)
Throwing stars: $30 (Set of four)
Medical kit: $20

Link

Useful things to do with your USB drive

The USB drive has more or less replaced the floppy. This website gives you an idea of what you can do with your USB thumb drive. Some of the things that you'll learn from the PCStats website include using the drive as a boot disk, a portable web browser, a portable word processor, and even a portable media player. Ah... you never thought that your thumb drive would be so useful, right?
Link

List of sexy podcasts

If you're looking for something more raunchy for your MP3 listening pleasure, the Fleshbot website has a list of what they call Sexy Podcasts. They range from the famous Dawn and Drew Show to the erotic Open Source Sex. There are also others that are more "hardcore". Strictly for adults only.
Link

V-Gear LANDISK-network your storage

I'm actually quite interested in this device. It's a harddisk enclosure that allows you to put in your disk, and then you can hook it up to your network and it'll work as a network storage device. It runs its own Samba and FTP server so it's just plug and play. Nice. The only problem I have with it is that the website does contains some funky Engrish. Just take a look at the FAQ here.

Why Landisk only support FAT32 format?
As a Data storage unit which should be compatible as much as priority with all OS(operation system). Therefore, Landisk is not only a defect but also support NTFS. So far NTFS can support Win NT, 2000 and XP to read and write but read only on Win98, ME and Linux. FAT32 can read and write on all WIN OS, Mac OS X and Linux. File limitation is the only one issue between FAT32 and NTFS. FAT Support LBA frame, support to Max. IDE format up to 2TB(2,000GB) and file up to 4GB Max.

Just read the portion that I've highlighted in bold. Makes you a bit wary of the product, eh?

PC inside an Xbox

This guy has placed a PC into his Xbox. Yes, we know that the Xbox is essentially a PC. But what this guy has done is to put a full-fledge PC into the box. The site has photos and takes you through the steps of his mod.

Life after Star Wars in 3D

Who says there's nothing to look forward to after the Star Wars saga has concluded with the Revenge of the Sith? Lucas and company are here to suck more cash out of us fanboys with a 3D reissue of the six movies. When it is released, you can actually reach out and touch the lightsaber, although we would strongly advise against it.

Rick McCallum, co-producer of the STAR WARS prequel trilogy, appeared at a press conference in Japan earlier today. He talked about the future of STAR WARS, specifically about the 3D updates of all six films and the upcoming TV series.

Babes to star in Dead or Alive movie

Dead or Alive is a game with hot, sexy babes fighting each other. Okay, so there are other male characters in this fighting game but the gals are the stars. Now that Tecmo has announced that there's a movie based on DOA and that Hong Kong action flick director Cory Yuen is directing it, we can expect to see these hot, sexy females played by hot, sexy actresses, including Devon Aoki as Kasumi. Other confirmed hot, sexy cast members include Natassia Malthe (Electra) as Ayane, Jaime Pressly (Not Another Teen Movie) as Tina, Sarah Carter (Final Destination 2) as Helena, Australian pop star and actress Holly Valance (National Lampoon's Pledge This) as Christie.

Hope that this doesn't turn out to be another Street Fighter.

iPod Users Hate Cell Phones?

Seems like iPods and cellphones don't really mix well.

A British sociologist has bad news for the mixed-media wizards looking to use streaming video and other tactics to tap into the lucrative IPod culture.

He's found that owners of Apple's popular digital music player love being able to shut out the world's distractions, hate their cellphones and would prefer not to talk to anyone.

So are iPodders unfriendly? Hmmm... although I don't have an iPod now, it seems like when I'm listening to my MP3s on my Treo, I tend to not want to talk to people too. Not exclusive to iPod owners, I should say. Bet the same thing applied to Walkmans too.

Doctorow's new novel available for free download

Cory Doctorow's new third novel is now available for download, if you don't wish to buy the hardcopy. Yes, the full novel is available online, just like his previous two novels, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" and "Eastern Standard Tribe". This one's called "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town". Why is he doing this? Shouldn't he charge for it? Well, you can read why at this link, and I quite agree with him. For this novel, the plot summary courtesy of Publishers Weekly is as follows.

It's only natural that Alan, the broadminded hero of Doctorow's fresh, unconventional SF novel, is willing to help everybody he meets. After all, he's the product of a mixed marriage (his father is a mountain and his mother is a washing machine), so he knows how much being an outcast can hurt. Alan tries desperately to behave like a human being--or at least like his idealized version of one. He joins a cyber-anarchist's plot to spread a free wireless Internet through Toronto at the same time he agrees to protect his youngest brothers (members of a set of Russian nesting dolls) from their dead brother who's now resurrected and bent on revenge.

Go read it!