Archive for April, 2009

Christians Against AWARE Takeover! - by Gwee Li Sui

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Well said. And 100% worth sharing. Taken from http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=74852826540&id=573881201&ref=nf. For those without facebook accounts, it's replicated here.

Original post at garry blogs

17 Reasons Why Your Mac Runs Slower Than it Should

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

A good list (and reminder!) of how to maintain your Mac in tip top condition. :)

Original post at garry blogs

The magic of special effects.

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Pretty damn amazing!

Original post at garry blogs

Very uncomfortable plot summaries

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

I especially love the one for Titanic ;)

Original post at garry blogs

How to get free champagne (if you’re a guy)

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Without question, go for ladies’ night! :)

Original post at garry blogs

Singapore Police Force has an official Facebook page!

Monday, April 13th, 2009

My goodness, was I surprised when I got an SMS from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) saying:

You can now keep up with the latest crime trends and crime prevention tips by becoming a fan of Police's official Facebook page. Visit our Facebook page by clicking on the link at www.spf.gov.sg.

I had to read it several times to ensure I wasn't dreaming. And man, it's pretty professionally done! I wonder how big the team is that maintains the page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Singapore-Singapore/Singapore-Police-Force/56706929407

But then again, coming from Singapore, I guess it was a "sooner-or-later". When is PSA going to follow suit? At least, for our charity related activities? I wonder.

Original post at garry blogs

Another quiz result on my facebook feed and I swear I will smash my screen

Monday, April 6th, 2009

I understand the fun and amusement one can get from some of these quiz results, but why in the world are half of the entries in my facebook feed QUIZ RESULTS?

I use facebook to see what my friends are up to - new photos, new microblogs (status updates), new events, etc. These quiz results are totally irrelevant! One or two are funny, but not when you have to click and set "Hide all Which Marvel Superhero are you? results", and just when you're happy, more stupid quizzes pop out like little piglets - much, much more than you can click a mouse at:

  1. Which Secondary School do you come from?
  2. Which Little Nonya character are you?
  3. Which colour panties do you wear?
  4. Which species of cockroach are you?
  5. Which day are you going to bang your head on the wall and die from reading too many quiz results?

Someone save me - I need a "Hide all quiz results" option!

Original post at garry blogs

First official meeting of the Ouagadoudou Supper Club

Saturday, April 4th, 2009
Posted on my blog for prosperity, courtesy of http://twcnomad.blogspot.com
The Ouagadougou Supper Club held its inaugural meet under this name yesterday, over cheesecake, chips, red wine, sparkling rose and a dubious white known simply as "Classic Australian White".  Thought it was an amazingly fun and cool session and it would be interesting to keep a record of it.  We can have a good laugh in a few years' time.
 
We began the session with an explanation as to the origins of the name, which is that of the capital of the West African country of Burkina Faso.  Like Kathmandu and Timbuktu, an exotic name that is the expression of a faraway, exotic place.  Nevertheless, the delegates were amused, a little scandalized when reminded that the inhabitants of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinabe, which sounds like an expletive in the Hokkien tongue.  Attendees were also individually tested as to whether they could pronounced the word "Ouagadougou".
 
Over the next 4 hours, the group, over food and wine, indulged in discussions about a wide range of topics, including the following:
 
- the availability of free erotic movies in Russian hotels and nude news reporting on Russian TV
- the cold and seemingly rude Russian external image vs the warm, hospitable friendships one can establish with Russians which is an amazing contrast
- a member's coming journey to interestingly named Fak Fak regency of exotic and remote West Papua, Indonesia
- nude photography of Stone Age tribes of South Omo Valley, Ethiopia
- a critique of the Japanese movie "Departure" which recently won the Oscar Foreign Language movie award
- West African (distinctive, intimidating to beginners) vs Ugandan (soft-spoken, almost whispering) accents & a discussion over Ghanaian accents resemble Singaporean
- sea-sicknesses and gigantic waves: members shared experiences of waves in Southern Chile and the Galapagos
- the Gran Sabana region of Venezuela: a member enlightened us about this amazing region and its "energy-filled" crystals and "Lost World" tepuis (table-top mountains)
- island-hopping in the Caribbean
- the cerviches of Latin America and whether they resemble Japanese sashimis and Singaporean-Malaysian yusheng
- Han/Northern Chinese imperial expansion into Southern China and Vietnam and its impact on local languages and dialects
- difference between the Spanish spoken in Rio de la Plata (Argentina & Uruguay) region, Peru and Ecuador; and the experiences of speaking Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French in Latin America
- we deliberated over the unusual romantic phenomena between Philipino domestic workers and Balngladeshi workers in Singapore despite major cultural/physical differences; and why such a union is not found between PRC and Philipinos despite closer physical appearances.  Lingistic differences is hypothesized as the key critical reason.
- brief discourse into Philipino and Singaporean accent
- we debated ferociously over issues relating to domestic workers in Singapore and the appalling condescending attitudes many Singaporeans have adopted towards their domestic helpers.
- attitudes of Singaporean employers towards pregnant staff and male citizens who have to serve National Service
- sharing of vicious border crossing experiences & Latin American robberies
- the origins of the Malagasy people and how similar they are to the Indonesians.  A member also shared his experiences of rice and beef in Madagascar.
- the little-known issue of Malaysian illegal immigrants in Japan and the USA, and of members' experiences coming across these in the Caribbean island of Aruba
- nasty ethnic minority immigration officers at US and UK airports

Original post at garry blogs

The top 10, heck make that 20, highest paid politicians in the world!

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

There's this article over at Money Central about the Top 10 highest paid politicians in the world. I say it's bullshit. Read it for yourself and then may I remind you that Singapore easily swipes the top 20 spots!

http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/04/the-10-highest-paid-politicians-in-the-world.html#

As a commenter said, and I quote:

Your report on the 10 highest paid politicians in the world is grossly incorrect.

All other ministers: US$1.1 million - there are 15 ministers in the Singapore cabinet:
1. George Yeo
2.Mah Bow Tan
3. Lim Boon Heng
4. Lim Hng Kiang
5. Lim Swee Say
6. Yaccob Ibrahim
7. Khaw Boon Wan
8. Tharman Shanmugaratnam
9. Ng Eng Hen
10. Vivian Balakrisnan
11. Raymond Lim
12. K. Shanmugam
13. Gan Kim Yong
14. Lim Hwee Hua
15. Lui Tuck Yew

There are already 7 Singapore politicians listed by Harry, plus another 15 Singapore politicians (ministers), leading to a total of 22 politicians with salaries over the US$1 million mark, and therefore the 10 highest paid politicians in the world belong to none other than Singapore.

The rest of the politicians in the world are nowhere even close to the salaries of the ministers in Singapore.

'nuff said.

Original post at garry blogs

Earth Hour 2009 - The Big Picture

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

This is quite an inspiring visual of how so many countries all over the world switched off their lights for one full hour during Earth Hour 2009.

Practical energy savings are perhaps not much, but look at what this one hour has done for awareness!

Good going!

Original post at garry blogs