Sometimes Often, I read stuff in the papers that makes my eyes roll. On Saturday, I came across yet another example. (I’ve quoted the relevant bit.)

Making friends or making out?

…

In one game, female students were made to exchange sweets with male students using their mouths as they sat in a circle.

…

Oh no, the end of civilisation is near. This type of thing has never happened before. Now, our youths are going to become decadent degenerates.

Let’s take a step back and consider this:

If you have had a good upbringing, are such games going to unleash a torrent of horniness in you?

If the games can induce such behaviour, I suggest that it is the youths’ parents who are at fault.

Anyway, all this is not new. Maybe our parents, aunties or uncles might have played this game in their youth.

I don’t think they turned out for the worse.

Screenshot from Phillip Chew’s blog.

If the lady above looks sort of familiar, she’s the actress who played Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years.

I was aware she is some sort of maths whiz, but I didn’t know she had a book out.

The question is, who is going to buy her book? *scratch chin* Definitely not Singaporean students. “Fractions, decimals and percents”? Our primary school students eat those (unfortunately) for recess. Perhaps I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

While I have no idea what’s in the book, maybe something like this would have gotten me interested in mathematics. Sine, cosine, tangent, what? Differentiation? Integration? Proving this equals that?

Could never see how it was applicable in my life, and I still wonder how knowing (or at least, trying to know) all that helped me. The exception was statistics, which was mildly intriguing and probably the only reason I didn’t fail both O and A Level Mathematics.

Thanks, Kevin – incidentally, the male lead character’s name in The Wonder Years – for this (reminder of Danica McKellar, not Mathematics) little blast from the past. =)

Original photo by Kevin Lim, from here, reproduced under a cc by-nc-sa 2.0 license.

On the bus this morning, I remembered reading about customer service in yesterday’s ST. The main thrust of the article was that Singaporeans love to bitch and moan about things in private, both online and offline. Not many want to make a stand by sending in an official complaint or take their grievances up to CASE.

Must a complaint be sent through official channels before it is acted upon?

No doubt most blog owners consider their blogs their own personal sphere. Those really paranoid about privacy will have totally private blogs. The rest are at least vaguely aware that anything they say there can be surfaced elsewhere. It’s probably a “it’ll never happen to my blog ‘cos I don’t say anything of public consequence” mentality. So, those who complain on their blogs never expect anything to be done about it.

This is an opportunity to surprise customers!

There are many tools to track mentions of your product/service(s). Google Alerts is a good place to start. Subscribe you your company’s name or some other relevant terms. Let the complaints and compliments – bloggers do give praise when its warranted – go straight to your inbox.

The rest, as SDU once (in)famously proclaimed, is up to you. =)

Do note, if your product/service name is too generic, trying to track online mentions might be tricky.

Photo by Michael Porter, from here,
reproduced under a CC by-nc-sa 2.0 licence.

Ok, I know everyone is more up to date with their Prison Break/Toilet Break witticisms regarding one Mas Selamat Kastari. I have been quietly observing what’s gone on and reading what’s been written the past week. So far, it has been one cock-up after another.

Unlike some articles in the Straits Times and letters from the public to the same paper, I believe we can stop patting ourselves on the back for banding together during this calamitous period. We should also be questioning the actions being taken and the statements being made, right here, right now, rather than have this “let’s concentrate on what is important – bringing him back into custody – rather than apportioning blame at the moment” sentiment.

I’ve had this niggling suspicion that all is not right. You see, the incompetence and lack of urgency that led to MSK’s escape, is going to help him stay on the loose. Today, I read in the papers what I think is the final straw.

Assistant Commissioner (AC) Wong said it was not made public earlier as the authorities needed to ascertain what Mas Selamat had with him when he fled.

Also, they did not want the public to have the ‘fixation’ with a particular attire as the fugitive could have already changed his clothes.

‘We believe he had all these items with him…but by now, he would be able to change into any attire,’ he said.

So, let’s recap:

• Four hours before alerting the public when early information could have helped. (We still have not been told how long it was between his escape and the time the staff at the detention centre realised he escaped.)
• A day or two before a proper description was available. (Flyers with his photo were pasted all over the place but did not have information about height and build.*)
• And after a few more days, a clarification that his supposed limp is only visible when he is walking fast or running.
• Finally, after a week, we know what he was wearing. Was being the operative word.

Does one week strike anyone as being an extremely long time to be absolutely sure about what he was wearing when he escaped? Doesn’t this detention centre have CCTVs? Don’t the guards have their eyes peeled?

If I am being unreasonable or nonsensical, please let me know because I am not anonymous, nor do I think I have crossed the line of morality and decency.

Blogging louts: BLOGGERS are having a field day. What is despicable is that some bloggers who take refuge under the cloak of anonymity or pseudonymity have crossed the line of morality and decency – Lionel De Souza in yesterday’s ST Forum.

The reason we are having a ‘field day’ is that there are so many questions and so few answers. The people want some real accountability. Not some petty claptrap argument alluding that pseudonymous criticism should be invalid.

UPDATE *Spotted new flyers during lunch, stating his height in bold. Older flyers with the limp information (pun intended) in bold are still to be found around though.

It may not have any real impact on the economy.

It might just be a token move to score points with the people.

But at least Australian PM Kevin Rudd isn’t trying to justify ever-increasing world-leading remuneration for him and his colleagues in parliament while telling people to cut costs by buying no-frills home brand stuff in the face of increasing costs of everything under the sun.

We just want a small iota to indicate that our gahmen cares about its people. That they are not just serving their own needs. Then again, whatever they do, it will never be enough.

That’s the irony of our country. We have been thoroughly drilled with the idea that what we have is never enough. It is our prime motivation. It is what keeps our economy ticking. The obssession with money and economic prosperity is what made Singapore the country it is today, for better or worse.

It is with interest that I read two contrasting complaints, both by men named Richard, in ST on Saturday. Let me deal with the one that had me going “ST has space to print this?”

Channel logo leaves its mark on plasma TV

IN THIS age of advanced technology we can still get TV burn-in, a shadowy image left permanently on the screen, depending on how long the image stays stationary on the screen.

I bought a Toshiba plasma TV nearly five years ago and recently MediaCorp’s channel logo got burnt in on the top right-hand corner of my TV screen.

I e-mailed MediaCorp to suggest that it moves the logos around instead of having them stay in one place for a prolonged period of time.

MediaCorp advised me to buy an LCD TV instead. I do not know whether LCD TVs will also face the same problem.

I wrote to Toshiba and it said all brands would suffer burn-in if any logo is displayed for too long.

How long a logo stayed in one spot is beyond our control unless I switch channels every couple of minutes.

I took some timings and found that the channel logo lasted about eight minutes before a commercial came on.

Fortunately for me, I had purchased an extended warranty or else I would have no recourse.

Would the Media Development Authority or Case care to comment on burn-in and what can be done to alleviate this problem?

Richard Foo Shay Hiap

I have an alternative solution: Get cable. You’ll never watch Channel 5 again.

You will be less likely to get burn-in from the logos if you watch many different channels. Also, many channels (at least, the sports ones) have to move the logos around to accommodate the scoreboard graphics.

Is this a burning national issue that requires MDA’s or Case’s attention and intervention? (Not like Case has done anything useful.) I think not. This brings me to another letter written by a Richard.

Funny English makes its way to trains  

DID I hear wrongly, or did the new announcer on the MRT train actually say, ‘Door are closing’? And did she call Braddell Station ‘Bladel’?

This, surely, is the most atrocious-sounding announcer in the history of the MRT. Her manner of speaking is neither English nor Singlish. Nor is it American, Australian, Indian English, Hong Kong English…

It is funny English. Bad enough that we sometimes hear such English in department stores. Now we hear it on public trains as well.

Some of the previous MRT announcers were actually quite good. They sounded like Singaporeans who speak English well, which is how it should be. Why was there a need to replace them?

Richard Seah Siew Sai

I admit I may be slightly hypocritical here in saying that this issue is something worth bringing up because it affects lots of people. I am sure burn-in affects lots of people too, but it seems quite trivial in comparison.

This one really gets to me. I thought I was alone, until I read this letter. Not only does she mangle ‘Braddell’, she does a very good job at making me cringe when I hear her say ‘Bishan’.

As I have described to some of my friends, “It is like they yanked a random Ah Lian off the street, plonked her in a recording studio and asked her to read the announcements for free.”

Some of the station names sound barely passable at best. And there are some which make me want to max the volume on my iPod, ironically to protect my ears. This new announcer does not sound like she has had any vocal training.

Like Richard Seah, I would like to know why MRT had to change a good thing. We had a terrific announcer who spoke English clearly and announced properly. Now, we are stuck with a third-rate announcer for no apparent reason. Change for change’s sake? Thousands of young commuters and foreigners learning the language are now going to think that her way is the right way. *Shudder*

Thankfully, the previous announcer’s recording is still being played on some trains. For how long, I wonder…

Hello.

I eat Mee, Nasi, Prata and Devil Curry.

I am a(n?) NSman. Although, we all still call it ‘reservist’.

(Why this comes straight after food? I’m not sure.)

My best friends are mostly in the Civil Service. Thankfully, they are not mindless robots.

I have been through JC and Poly. Which one is better is besides the point.

I wasn’t accepted to a local University*. Strangely, I now work for one.

I read newspapers for a laugh, and read blogs for serious, considered views.

People mistake me for Indian or Malay sometimes. If they hear me talk, they might think I’m a foreigner because I speak relatively well. My country once officially labelled my kind “others”.

Even though I’m an Other, I’m no stranger to this place. It is home.

My name is Kenneth Pinto. And I am Singaporean.

Technorati Tags: singapore, iamsingaporean, national day, patriotism, identity

* I just realised today marks my third year here.

That’s what Ong Sor Fern wrote in the Straits Times yesterday. Of course, you can’t read the article ‘cos they charge you for to access their site. And their archives only go back seven days. Hey, a newspaper has to make money, right?

You can guess that Sor Fern didn’t have many positive things to say about blogs and bloggers.

Fellow social media observers and practitioners Van, Siva and Ivan have weighed in with responses on their blogs.

Van says:

[J]ust like there are good journalists and bad journalists, there are also good bloggers and bad bloggers. For every book like the Cult of the Amateur (current Amazon rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars), there are dozens if not hundreds of books and other forms of less traditional media celebrating the new, open-source or Web 2.0 culture. Bubbles have burst before, but that’s part of the experience of entrepreneurism.

Siva makes two pertinent points, highlighting the importance of information literacy and the fact that journalists can be as inaccurate as bloggers when it comes to scientific and technical topics:

[H]er disdain about blogs is the view most scientists hold about journalism efforts here. Colleagues in the community never wanted to talk to journalists during a crisis, for most that we encountered were poor at handling the facts or understanding context.

Over time I have learnt to be pleased when they get it mostly correct and have exercised great patience when they struggle with the facts. The good ones shrug and explain about editors, deadlines and diversity.

Ivan brings up three points, the most interesting of which is his final one, where he questions the method(s) Soh Fern derived her conclusions:

[T]he most telling was the opening statement — where the writer proclaims she has never read blogs.

I’m asking myself this: “If one has never read blogs, then how would one know that the quality is poor?”

Hear-say? Third-party information?

I thought part of verifying information was to check facts for ourselves.

It is a pity that Sor Fern will never read these responses to her opinion piece since she doesn’t read blogs. Perhaps that is another shortcoming of traditional media. It is largely one way. It’s not about conversation. It about people on pedestals telling us what’s good for us because they know.

Newspapers are not blind to this disadvantage. Hence, you have STOMP.

My two cents?

She mentions that the world will be worse off if Web 2.0 replaced print.

I can assure her that there is ample space for newspapers, books, magazines and blogs to co-exist. One of the things we are taught in media studies is that news editors have to constantly leave out content from newspapers due to space and time constraints. No such issues exist with blogs.

Radio didn’t kill the newspaper, television didn’t kill the radio, video didn’t kill television (or the radio star either) and the internet didn’t kill any of the preceding media outlets. Each time a new media form came up, there was a re-negotiation of roles and an re-examination of functions.

In pointing out her reservations about the democratization and proliferation of publishing capacity, Sor Fern pontificates about intellectual property:

The idea that anyone can be a writer/artist/critic is a seductive one, as Keen concedes. But the grim reality, he points out, is closer to 19th-century evolutionary biologist T.H. Huxley’s infinite monkey theorem.

The theory states that if you provide an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters, one will eventually produce a masterpiece to rival William Shakespeare.

The problem is, of course, trying to find that one talented monkey amidst the cacophony.

While Web 2.0 businesses are busy building more typewriters for more monkeys, it is also tearing down the infrastructure that used to support the William Shakespeares.

The idea of intellectual property, which Keen points out has sustained culture creation in Western civilisation for 200 years by paying people for their creative output, has been pulverised in the new information age.

Students plagiarise chunks of writing for their essays. People steal music and movies online. So-called citizen journalists do armchair reporting by cobbling together tidbits from legitimate websites.

I won’t take issue that she implied that I am a monkey with a typewriter. I will take issue with her poor understanding of intellectual property. This highlights what Siva pointed out about journalists not being entirely accurate with technical details.

• “The infrastructure that used to support the William Shakespeares” ironically did not exist when the bard was alive.
  (If you don’t trust the preceding Wikipedia links, purchase Free Culture by Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig for an overview of the history of copyright. Or you can download a pdf of the entire book for free.)
• People have created stuff from the beginning of time. Just because. The human drive to create pre-dated copyright law. Copyright served to give authors temporary monopoly right over their works so that they could get a fair return on their intellectual effort. This has temporary right to profit been grossly bastardized by the current copyright regime.
• Her final statement would make teachers of logic cringe. How did she jump from plagiarising students (not unique to the digital age) to people stealing music and movies online (behaviour that has been around since mix tapes) to bloggers pretending to be journalists stealing content from legitimate websites?
  • What is a legitimate website?
  • Bloggers comment on articles as there is limited space in the forum pages. Also, there may be vested interested in not publishing certain responses. Is there anything illegal about this? Is that considered stealing?
  • What about when “legitimate websites” steal bloggers’ content? (Credit to Gwynne Lim for pointing this out.)

Okay, that’s all. To think I started out only intending to highlight a few points from my friends’ posts. I guess that’s what happens when a monkey starts typing.

Original photo by cgsheldon, modified from here, under a cc by-nc-sa 2.0 license.

We all need to be told what we can do more often.

Let them do the thing everyone else tells them not to

Linden Labs Sends “Permit-and-Proceed” Letter

Original photo by Kathy Sierra from Let them do the thing everyone else tells them not to.
Reproduced under a cc by-nc-sa 2.5 licence.

That’s ironic ‘cos I remember when Paul Keating was Australian PM, he was studying our CPF scheme.

Instead, they introduced superannuation.

Now, we’re thinking of doing as the Australians do – Super!

I’m not trying to be funny. That’s what the Aussies call it.

Anyway, buying annuities is probably a good thing, since people are living longer.

Just wonder about the details.

* This is code for: We’ve decided already. We’re just giving you advanced notice to let the idea sink in.