Archive for the ‘Media’ Category

Posted on November 7, 2007 - by Abner

Taiji – Dolphins Massacre Zone

Puff… there goes my mood for this coming Festival of Lights. This time the Japs had me utterly speechless. It’s neither their technology nor lifestyle that fascinates me this time. But rather the inhumanity. I was at Erin de Blog and saw the video. It was the brutal slaughter of dolphins. Most of it are for human consumption while those who escape death have to spend a lifetime in captivity in either shows or scientific programs.

How they do it:
After driving pods of dolphins into shallow coves, the fishermen kill the dolphins, slashing their throats with knives or stabbing them with spears. Thrashing about, the dolphins take as long as six minutes to die. The water turns red with their blood and the air fills with their screams.

It was a no holds barred thing and the perpetrators of this heinous crime are actually backed by authorities. I should not elaborate much on this for the information are readily available for you at Save Japan Dolphins Campaign.

Save Japan Dolphins! Support the coalition. The least you could do is send an email by filling up the blanks.

And yes, the surfer girl that you see in the video is Hayden Panetteire of Heroes fame. Though the group failed in freeing the poor dolphins, God knows they tried. The blood red seawater is sickening. *silence*

Posted on November 7, 2007 - by Abner

DiGi Bootcamp Ad

I love the ads DiGi are churning out nowadays. The concept, idea and execution is smooth. I saw this bootcamp ad on tv lately. Is it new? Because when I searched on YouTube it’s stated that it’s been up for three (3) months. Guess I am a little behind. But what the heck, if the work is good, it just lives on.

The way the recruits earn their “stripes” … salute.

Posted on October 4, 2007 - by Abner

She is no sweet old lady

All hail the crazed old woman.

This noisy old hag here has definitely gone bonkers. She has been making a racket everyday for 2 years from blasting her boom box to beating the hell out of her rugs. I think she is quite good with cuss words too judging by her expressions. Her nonchalant ways in greeting her neighbors amazes me… look at the way she beats the crap out of the woven fabric with glee. Bet she can’t have a good night sleep without having to make others a living hell. The authorities took a back seat for quite a while before taking action.Two years of suffering under “The Witch with the Rug-Beater” is enough to make me go crazy too. I wonder whether the folks there did anything to bring her down. Cos, “If you can’t beat them, join them!”
Any of you have “outstanding” neighbors? I personally have a bit to share on this. But it will be another post. Mmm… but my housemate experiences are more “Freddie Krueger” worthy.

Heads up JapanProbe.

Posted on September 13, 2007 - by Abner

Sites That I Don’t Understand But Enjoy – Part 1

First this is a site I got today from evil@lai.

4 shutterbugs+cyclist+friends embarked on a journey where they will dedicate 16 days of their lives riding around Taiwan island. Its an ongoing thing so check it out. They are only at their 7th day today. You get to see a fraction of what they see and experience through the pictures they upload and their writings. Some goofing around pictures too that will bring a smile to your face. You can see how many hours they spend riding and how many kilometers they covered. This my friend is not about the final destination but the journey. Cool! Makes you wish the one with the face brushing against the light breeze is yours instead of being the one glaring at pictures in your cubicle or cramp room. *whine*
See : Ride Around Taiwan Island

The last one would be the blog of infamous Namewee. A Johore compatriot who gained fame for his controversial MTV. Which one you ask? Negarakuku lo. Shall not elaborate on this. Google it or ask your neighbour. His blog is mainly in Chinese. Boohoo if you are like me. Anyway, browsing through would provide some insight too. Don’t worry there are Malay write ups for you to read la. NameWee’s Blog

Posted on September 6, 2007 - by Abner

Do you dig Marié Digby?

Well, she was the YouTube phenomenon. Until recently it was revealed that she was actually a signed artist with Hollywood Records. Marié Digby was brought on to the label in year 2005, 18 months before she started making waves in YouTube and eventually the world. It was actually a well executed strategy by the people at the record company. They consulted her what song to cover and even distributed studio quality recording to iTunes and radio stations.
The media giants are already evolving and taking the internet seriously as the younger generation are responding more to YouTube and MySpace compared to radios. I think this could be because it seems that we are connecting directly to the artists rather than going through some already dolled up fully packaged recording artiste. And stumbling upon your own new rising star is so much more exciting than having to read it off some printed materials.
Take a listen to Marié. Go to YouTube for more of her songs.
To me, she is good and talented. Will see how she fares with her own album.

We had our own Karen Kong promoting herself too on Friendster some time back.

And in case you don’t know, Italian Maestro, Pavarotti just passed away. Read it on Yahoo! News.

See : YouTube phenom has a big secret

Posted on August 30, 2007 - by Abner

Time for Picnik

No no no. It’s not the time for going outdoors and having sandwiches and finger foods with family and friends. Although one can see floating kites, picking blackberries, buttering sandwiches, stealing picnic baskets, fluffing clouds while waiting for Picnik to load.Those of you who blogs in the office without a photo editing software will definitely need to bookmark this. Seriously. Because Picnik will save you a lot of hassles and headache. And you could do it anywhere… it’s an online photo editor.

Quote from their site:
“With Picnik you can quickly edit all your online photos from one place. It’s the easiest way on the Web to fix underexposed photos, remove red-eye, or apply effects to your photos.”

I have tried their online demo and it works great. Upload your photo and tweak all you want. Choose from a horde of effects. And they are still in Beta Version. So expect loads to come. They could perhaps add a text button too.

See : Picnik – edit photos the easy way, online in your browser

Posted on August 22, 2007 - by Abner

AniBOOM

Found this after reading a write up by Paul R. La Monica (editor of CNNMoney.com) in his article titled “Searching for the next South Park.”

Went over to their site, aniBOOM.com. Their tagline was The Home of Animation. No prize for guessing what’s in store. At aniBoom you could use their free online softwares to create your own animation shorts with either shapeshifter – uses basic geometric shapes to draw or micro-smotion – uses the webcam to animate. Apart from that you could watch loads of animation uploaded by public. They have their own in-house animated series and other cool sections too.

In aniBoom’s FAQ section about themselves :

aniBOOM.com is designed to be the world’s leading animation portal. Interactive and user generated – the ultimate site for animation based Internet entertainment. Geared for everyone in the animation industry. From top professionals to semi-professionals, amateur animators and of course all animation fans everywhere – for where would we be without an adoring audience?

aniBOOM.com will be the community site for the entire animation society, enabling instant online connection with one another. The major functions of the portal include providing a gigantic SHOWCASE for animation talents, supplying ONLINE creative animation tools, and tracking your statistics.

aniBOOM.com will keep you updated on all animation related Media events. And last but absolutely not least… aniBOOM.com will be jam-packed with exciting competitions offering generous PRIZES. As soon as one finishes, the next one will begin.
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Sounds interesting? I might have a go at the shapeshifter thing when I am free simply because I don’t own a webcam. Boohoo…

Posted on August 20, 2007 - by Abner

Do not treat teachers like criminals

This post title is related to teachers moonlighting as tutors published in The Stars.

Nowadays the trend for Malaysian students to go for extra classes are catching up too. When I was still in school, I was already going for tuitions. That was like 10 years ago… *cough* Having being chaffeured by my dad or my friend’s parents up and down. Most of the tutors are full time teachers… er… I think all of them are full time teachers. There wasn’t any big fuss about it then but lately those who-help-mould-tomorrow’s-leaders are being tossed in the pan every now and then.

Anyway, if compared to the Hong Kong’s Tutor Gods… I guess we still have a long way. If school teachers who gives tuition are able to afford Paris shopping trips or drives Ferrari then I think they would have resigned a long long time ago. And I would be driving a hand-me-down Porche. Bah…

Posted on August 20, 2007 - by Abner

Higher Class – Flashy Test Tutors Gain Icon Status in Hong Kong

Well, that’s the title that had my attention when I picked up a copy of Wall Street Journal last week. I wondered what was so phenomenal that garnered this amount of attention. I took some paragraph directly from Jonathan Cheng’s article in the Dispatch. And so it began…

When Richard Eng isn’t teaching English grammar to high school students, he might be cruising around Hong Kong in his Lamborghini Murciélago. Or in Paris, on one of his seasonal shopping sprees. Or relaxing in his private, custom installed karaoke room festooned with giant Louis Vuitton logos.

Mr. Eng, 43 years old, is one of Hong Kong’s best-known celebrity “tutor gods.”

Hong Kong parents are often desperate to help their children succeed in this city’s pressure cooker public examination system, which determines student’s college worthiness. That explains why many are willing to pay handsomely for extra curicullar help. They use flashy, aggresive market tactics that have transformed them into scholastic pop stars, or tutor gods, as they are known in Cantonese.

Private tutoring is big business around the world. Programs that help people prepare for standard tests have become a multibillion dollar industry. Tutoring agencies are also booming in places like mainland China and Japan. Several years ago, Hong Kong’s government estimated that the city’s family spent nearly half a billion U.S. dollars a year on tutoring.

Hong Kong stands out though, for instructors who boldly tout their success rate – and their own images. They pay to have their faces plastered throughout city on 12-meter-high billboards and the sides of double decker buses. They are also known for buying ads that take up the entire front page of newspapers – space more commonly filled by banks and property developers. One local television station is even preparing to launch a fictional drama series based on the lives of the tutor gods.

The tutors won’t say exactly how much they make. But typically, a popular tutor might teach 100 students in a single lesson, each paying as much as US$12.50 to be there. So a tutor working 40 hours could gross US$50,000 in a week. “It’s big business,” says Ken Ng, a well-known tutor god. “That’s why I’m driving my second Ferrari.”

Years ago, Mr. Eng remembers, tutors were looked down in Hong Kong as second-rate teachers. Now, he adds, people ask for his help and “they say, ‘I want to be a tutor god.’ ”

* There are parents who do not approve of the way things work but …

Rosa Wong, 46, says she is put off by the “deification” of the tutors. “In my heart, I don’t agree with the preactises,” she says. But that didn’t stop her from enrolling her 16 year-old daughter Sarah in classes with four different tutor gods. She decided on the best ones after watching sample lesson videos on YouTube.

“When everyone elses takes their classes, and your children don’t,” says Ms. Wong, “you’re afraid they won’t be as competitive.’ Besides she says, these teachers are great at “tipping” or predicting questions – an important edgethat could determine her daughter’s future.

Sometimes, the tipping seems to be a little too accurate. A few tutors have been known to guess questions that appeared in nearly identical form on the actual tests. This spring, a legislator here called for a formal investigation into any possible ties between tutors and testing officials.

For full article, click here : The Wall Street Journal Online

Other Related Links:

Taipei Times : HK cram schools attract students with style

Tutor God K. Oten : Rap video

Tutor God Richard Eng videos : 1