27 Jul 2010

Pork-Filled Counter-Islamic Bomb Device - Could this be our answer to terrorism deterrence?

July 27, 2010

Pork-Filled Counter-Islamic Bomb Device

Okay, this is just weird:

Mark S. Price, a specialist in public security, and his privately held company, Paradise Lost Antiterrorism Network of America (www.plan-a.us), have recently applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a Utility Patent on their Suicide Bomb Deterrent, a security device designed, manufactured and distributed by PLAN-A. This device has been designed to warn and deter potential fanatical religious suicide bomb-wielding terrorists from otherwise detonating an explosive charge within close proximity of said device, to the intended end of successfully accomplishing its namesake purpose of Suicide Bomb Deterrent and the protecting and preserving of all life and property otherwise in mortal and destructive danger.

Reading the partial patent application on their minimal website, it appears to be a packet of pork product, combined with a big sign saying something like: "Warning. If you blow up a bomb right here, you'll get pork stuff all over you before you die -- which might be suboptimal from a religious point of view."

This appears to not be a joke.

 

Whether it's meant to be a joke or not, this is kind of hilarious in a morbid kind of way - whoever thought of this has got a really weird sense of humour.

And read the comments on the site. Some people are just so.damned.serious.

16 Jul 2010

Male version of Ris Low blinks his way through introductory video - Why?

STOMP
 

Why does this guy blink so much? Possible reasons:

(1) He's lying?
(2) He's creative?
(3) He's developed tics?

And yes it was painful to hear him speak. Ugh.

11 Jun 2010

Apple bans Google's AdMob from iOS, but what about Nokia-owned NavteqMedia?

AdMob Fires Back at Apple for Banning Them From iOS

BY Dan NosowitzThu Jun 10, 2010

 

iAd

The latest developments in iAds, announced during the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference earlier this week, included an updated ad policy that might just ban any iAds competitor. The wording is opaque, but it specifically states that only "independent" ad companies are allowed to advertise on iOS alongside iAds.

The collection, use or disclosure [of device or user data] is for the purpose of serving advertising to Your Application; is provided to an independent advertising service provider whose primary business is serving mobile ads (for example, an advertising service provider owned by or affiliated with a developer or distributor of mobile devices, mobile operating systems or development environments other than Apple would not qualify as independent); and the disclosure is limited to UDID, user location data, and other data specifically designated by Apple as available for advertising purposes.

The wording seems very intentional: the only "advertising service provider owned or affiliated with a developer of mobile operating systems" I can think of is AdMob, owned byGoogle, which also makes Apple's biggest competitor in the consumer smartphone world, Android.

AdMob is also not so coincidentally the biggest mobile ad service around, and by banning it, Apple gets a major leg up on the mobile ad war. But AdMob isn't about to sit down and take that kind of shunting; in a blog post today, AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui called the move"not in the best interests of users or developers."

This change threatens to decrease – or even eliminate – revenue that helps to support tens of thousands of developers. The terms hurt both large and small developers by severely limiting their choice of how best to make money. And because advertising funds a huge number of free and low cost apps, these terms are bad for consumers as well.

Let’s be clear. This change is not in the best interests of users or developers. In the history of technology and innovation, it’s clear that competition delivers the best outcome. Artificial barriers to competition hurt users and developers and, in the long run, stall technological progress.

It doesn't seem like there's all that much Hamoui can do, other than possibly lodging a complaint to the FTC. And the FTC may not be particularly inclined to want to shoot down an AdMob competitor, seeing as how Google's purchase of AdMob was only narrowly approved. We'll have to see how this develops--it may come down to the developers, and whether they want to embrace iAds.

Dan Nosowitz, the author of this post, can be followed on Twitter, corresponded with via email, and stalked in San Francisco (no link for that one--you'll have to do the legwork yourself).

Actually, AdMob isn't the only "advertising service provider owned or affiliated with a developer of mobile operating systems".

NavteqMedia is owned by Nokia.

And I'm pretty sure that they DO develop mobile ads for iPhones too.

12 May 2010

Our children are color blind - Shouldn't we keep them that way? [On Racism] -

I was reading this very interesting article earlier this morning, on how children learn to become racist, and I shared it across my various social media pages. A friend, @LuoYanjie, then shared the link to this video, and I think it does drive home a very good point - that children are unaware of the concept of 'race', until their parents teach them all the usual social stereotypes of the different races.

Living in a "multicultural" society promoting racial harmony and equality, and still, we teach our children such untruths?

Shame on you, racist parents!

27 Apr 2010

Maximizing space in your tiny apartment

Now isn't that just inspiring? I don't mind living in Singapore's tiny (and getting increasingly so too) HDB flats anymore, now. Perhaps I'll just do this to my future home. :)

The best part about this is that it has natural sunlight streaming in through its windows, and no light is needed. :) I like eco-friendly homes.

26 Apr 2010

#Posterous on Reuters.com - An interview with Sachin Agarwal @a4agarwal

There are so many different websites that try to tackle the problem of media sharing. But why is Posterous different?

Most people don't check websites everyday, some don't know how to use RSS, and they don't go out to look for media to consume.

And that's where Posterous comes in, they push your stuff out to all your social networks, and they email your friends and family every time you post.

Sachin, on email: "Email is the #1 thing everyone uses everyday. ... People who say that email is dead are really not thinking about what they use on a day-to-day basis. ... There are more people who use email than who surf the web."

Posterous is developing a premium version for business and high-end users who need more storage, more customizability, more ways to monetize their blogs, etc.

I say this company is definitely moving in the right direction. Good job, Sachin and team!

11 Feb 2010

Foodscapes From Carl Warner

Foodscapes From Carl Warner

 

 

Though playing with your food is frowned upon in some social circles, we're pretty sure it's a-ok in the case of Carl Warner. Ever dreamed of a world made entirely of bacon? What about forests of broccoli or seas of cabbage? Well wait no longer and check out these amazing foodscapes!

 

This looks awesome and also a bit spooky.

When I was a kid, I used to have this nightmare in which a giant cat chased after me around the house after eating up my parents and siblings, and this cat was a GMO (Yes, I dreamt of GMO even before GMO became a term on everyone's lips).

All these food look like GMO, but somehow, Carl Werner does make me want to eat up the worlds he's created with these food images. Om nom nom nom nom.

29 Jan 2010

Funny comments about the Apple iPad

Today I shared a link to the best iPad review I've read so far, on Plurk, and I got a very funny response.

RN1209 said that Steve Jobs must not have been involved in the development of the iPad, because it was "an awful product".

Cartcart saw that response, and said: 

Indeed there was no Steve Jobs involvement: Hermione Granger pointed her wand at an iPod Touch and said "Engorgio!" ... Wait, I see it isn't widescreen. So, it must have been Ron Weasley doing the spell... Hermione would have kept the same proportions..."

 

12 Jan 2010

Of race and entitlements in Singapore

Some of you would have heard of Singapore's new "double barrel" policy of race declaration for children of mixed parentage.

On the surface, this sounds great - it tells the child exactly who he/she is, who his/her parents are, and his/her bloodline.

Then this morning, I read this news article on Channel News Asia, which says that the race which "parents choose to place first will be considered the main one." (source)

"Main race?" I asked myself.

I read on about the debate in parliament, on why there is even a need to declare a 'main' or dominant race:

Paulin Tay Straughan, Nominated MP, said: "I am trying to understand why you need to have a declaration of a dominant race. Perhaps Minister can help us appreciate the implications of registration in real terms."

Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, said: "We have got ethnic-linked policies, for example HDB's ethnic integration policy, and these are key policies. So we do need to know which classification to put the child under."

Hri Kumar, MP, Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, said: "In light of the many different permutations, and now the greater flexibility of choices given to parents, is the selection of race on the identity card going to become an artificial exercise - you pick a race of convenience?"

Clearly, everyone is going to pick Chinese as the dominant race due to the fact that Chinese is the government's "preferred" race in Singapore. So yes, it really is an artificial exercise that only looks good on paper.

I don't think this exercise is helping the situation of racial / ethnic discrimination that still exists in Singapore at all, despite our claims of racial harmony and of our multi-ethnic society that lives in harmony.

I know what you're thinking - that some ethnic-linked policies "protect" the minority races. But I'm for the school of thought that everyone should have equal opportunities, no matter what colour their skin is. If we remove this racial classification, there would be no special entitlement in the first place, or any need at all to protect people from any particular ethnic group. 

In my ideal world, race doesn't matter, and there is no racial divide

But I suppose we are light years away from that.

9 Dec 2009

My take on the Singapore iPhone Price War and Data War

When M1 and Starhub first announced their price plans for the iPhones on Monday, the Mobile Marketing Association (Asia Pacific) created this Excel spreadsheet on Google Documents to facilitate conversations and provide a comparison chart for all existing iPhone plans and offerings by the three Telcos in Singapore.

SingTel, having been the exclusive carrier of the iPhone since it first came to Singapore in 2008, has been under a lot of pressure to match its offerings, namely the bundled data, as well as the excess data usage bill cap. And it did, of course.

While everyone calls this the 'iPhone Price War', I really think it should be termed the 'iPhone data war' instead. Neither SingTel, Starhub or M1 have, to date, reduced the price of their iPhone plans' subscription fees. Instead, all they have been doing is to increase the amount of bundled data for each plan. It's all a marketing gimmick. It looks as if they are offering you more value for your plan, but in reality (and I say this after being a user of unlimited mobile broadband for the last 2 years), none of us really use up the full 1GB in our basic mobile broadband plans. But, I digress.

M1, offering tariff rebates to existing SingTel iFlexi plan subscribers, are trying their hardest to get SingTel customers to jump ship (that is to say, break their contracts). However, the M1 tariff rebates apply only to iPhone owners who are subscribed to iFlexi plans, and those who have 6 months or less left on their SingTel contracts.

With the 3 Telcos fighting to offer more and more to existing or prospective customers, the war has just begun. Judging from the current situation, I think it would be best to wait out the first weekend, for those who are planning to get an iPhone from either of the 3 telcos.

Here's what may happen, in my opinion:

  1. Customers of existing VAS Broadband on Mobile may see telcos offering higher bundled data for their mobile plans, as there have been outraged cries from existing customers under contract of regular 3G mobile/data plans, to close in on the gap. (Currently, BBOM subscribers get 1GB on their basic BBOM plans at $9.90 per month, while new iPhone plan subscribers get 12GB bundled data)
  2. With M1 offering tariff rebates for existing iPhone owners to switch operators, Starhub may do the same. And who is to say that SingTel will not fight back to keep its customers by offering more value with its iFlexi plans?
And of course, with the Telcos offering more bundled data now, I think people will be wont to abusing it, and using their phone for Internet tethering (connecting your phone to a computer for internet connection) to download movies, music, etc. With the existing infrastructure, I really wonder if this bundled data war is a good idea.

M1 customers have been the loudest in complaining about its data connectivity and speed, while I've heard SingTel customers and Starhub customers say that the speed is drastically reduced during hours between 6pm to 10pm daily. 

If the Telcos do not do something about this data situation at the moment, what may happen is that we will all end up with mobile broadband connections that are slow and inefficient, and the Telcos will have created this whole huge mess of having to answer to unhappy customers.

 

Daphne Maia's Posterous

Hello. I'm a Blogger, Writer, Dreamer, Hello Kitty aficionado and Social Media enthusiast. I work in digital PR, and I live and breathe Social Media!

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