transit: an admirer of finely crafted anything

Just an idea.

2007-10-25T00:40:00.000+08:00

Well I haven't been posting anything new since December - I've been busy with the day job, settling down and now, I've picked up a DSLR.

Well, there's a first time for everyone. I'm having fun learning the camera - I used to handle to the D50 at the old office so, it's not my first time fiddling although I'm considering this as a business opp.

Awesomely inspiring retail story: Starbucks

2007-04-16T13:33:00.000+08:00

Read it while having your cup of coffee.

Gist of what the brand is today:

1998 Howard Schultz had ample reason to be proud of what Starbucks had accomplished during his past 11 years as the company's CEO. The company had enjoyed phenomenal growth and become one of the great retailing stories of recent history by making exceptional coffee drinks and selling dark-roasted coffee beans and coffee-making equipment that would allow customers to brew an exceptional cup of coffee at home.

The Starbucks brand was regarded as one of the best known and most potent brand names in America and the company had firmly established itself as the dominant retailer, roaster, and brand of specialty coffee in North America. It already had over 1,500 stores in North America and the Pacific Rim and was opening new ones at a rate of more than one per day.

Sales in fiscal year 1997 were a record $967 million and profits reached an all-time high of $57.4 million. The company's closest competitor had fewer than 300 retail locations. And since going public in 1992, Starbucks has seen its stock price increase nearly ninefold.

Nice Mac shortcut #2: Load at login

2007-03-30T21:15:00.000+08:00

Simply right-click on an app on the dock or - just see the screenshot.

Let's see - on Windows you right-click on an app, go to properties - you see 3 tabs - and about 6 buttons including 2 so-called advanced features. But you won't find anything remotely near the vicinity of a right-click on an app and tell it to load at login.

Nice Mac shortcut #1: Screencap

2007-03-30T20:55:00.000+08:00

Anyway, this is what I did during a lunch hour earlier this week. All images are Apple's and tips were compiled by Scott Kelby. Enjoy.

On Windows, you press the Print Screen button on your keyboard. Then open a photo manager such as AcDSee or MSPaint and you paste the image. As far as I know, if you need to highlight or target a portion of the screen, you have to edit it yourself.

On a Mac, use the shortcut, select the portion that you want and it's pasted on your desktop. I wonder if a smart folder automatically import the screencaps on a Mac.

Someone named Paul hates the Mac

2007-03-30T20:27:00.000+08:00

This site is very intriguing and has become more intriguing for me, at least after reading reports on faulty batteries, whining sounds, flaky paint on casing etc etc. Yes, the Macbook or Macs in general aren't physically perfect.

And, coming from a long history of using Windows (3.11, 95, 98 - upgraded to 98SE, Win2K and now XP Pro), I'd say that the transition is not entirely difficult. But it's not easy either as there's that learning curve (but isn't this compulsory to learn anything new?) - there's the smaller amount of software variety to choose from - then again, who needs a kajillion amount of software that does the same thing, such as burning a DVD? Nonetheless, a Mac is fun to use and easy (there goes that word again) on the eyes. When Apple uses this point as a selling point, it's true - I'm using a 20" Intel iMac 2.0Ghz for the last 4 months and it's only crashed once. Once in 4 months. Compared to my experience on Windows, that's pretty good stat to have.

Anyway, here's that guy who hates Macs. But he did this video on a Mac. Smell the irony.

Check out his site here and his 15 seconds of video fame here. No pictures for him.

Edit: Paul and Hunter isn't the same person. Post is about two different guys.

Free Download Tuesdays, Everyday?

2007-03-20T15:00:00.000+08:00

In an interesting turn of event, somebody said that downloading anything illegal is not illegal. Point MS or Apple browser here.

Hook 'em while they're young: How to grow a super-athlete

2007-03-17T02:36:00.000+08:00

Got kids? Then your compulsory reading material is here.

Must read list of proverbs for the entrepreneur in you

2007-03-17T01:19:00.000+08:00

Essential reading for me. This is great stuff. From the O'Reilly Radar.

The original link.

Entrepreneurial Proverb.

I gave a talk at ETech on Monday called "Entrepreneuring for Geeks." I've given this general talk a few times now -- how can the more technically minded among us move into making companies of our own? I really enjoy the talks because I really enjoy entrepreneurs; at least, I enjoy the ones who are really excited about making something fantastic through their efforts. "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?" Right.

I started out this year's talk with a set of "proverbs" I've collected or thought up over the years. I liked the format of a Go book I recently read, called (not surprisingly!) "Proverbs," and decided to adopt it for the talk. These are basically little nuggets of wisdom for bite-sized nutrition. Enjoy.

Starting

It's good to be king -- being an entrepreneur is the best job I've had. Every day your job is new and different; you constantly have to push yourself in new directions. You no longer have to say, "Well, I'm just an engineer, but..." -- you have a great excuse to take an interest in everything. Working in an environment you shaped to your own beliefs about how a company should be run is incredible (and humbling!). And of course there are sometimes financial rewards, although it's still a great job regardless.
Losing sucks -- shutting down a company is unbelievably difficult. It affects your home life, your health, your job prospects, your financial stability. Professional investors are grown-ups, but it's still extremely disheartening to lose the money people invested based on belief in you. If your backers include friends or family, it's extremely difficult to have to tell them the company is closing and their money is gone. Most entrepreneurs fail several times before succeeding, too, so losing is both terrible and nearly inevitable. Fight as hard as you can against it.
Building to flip is building to flop -- this is taken from Jason Fried, and he's right. People who start out with only one goal, to sell to a big portal, will find their options are too limited. Plan as many paths to success as possible for your company, and always have a Plan B when acquisition (or whatever path you choose first) doesn't work.
Prudence becomes procrastination -- it's great to research your market and talk to potential buyers about your ideas. It's terrible to let an excess of this become a impediment to getting started. Too much prudence edges away from research and into procrastination.
Momentum builds on itself -- just start. Do whatever you can. Draw a user interface. Write a spec. Make something, anything, that people can see and touch and try. A prototype is worth ten thousand words. Once you start moving, you will find that people start to carry you along.
Jump when you are more excited than afraid -- lack of fear is irrational, and too much fear is debilitating. Make the jump into your business when you have considered the fear, and come out more excited than afraid.

The Idea

Pay attention to the idea that won't leave you alone -- this is taken from Paul Hawken's Growing a Business. Sometimes an idea catches hold of you and you find you can't put it down. Pay attention to that! Just start working on it. Can't get yourself to do anything on it? Move on. Find yourself waking up out of bed to write down new ideas about it? That's a good one to choose.
If you keep your secrets from the market, the market will keep its secrets from you -- entrepreneurs too often worry about keeping their brilliant secrets locked away; we should all worry much more about springing a surprise on a disinterested market (anyone remember the Segway?). To quote Howard Aiken: "Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats."
Immediate yes is immediate no -- does everyone immediately tell you your idea is great? Run away from it. If the idea is that obvious, the market will be filled with competitors, and you'll find yourself scrambling. One good test: when the New York Times Magazine puts out its annual "Year in Ideas" issue, is your idea in it? Then don't do it. You're already too late.
Build what you know -- this is the most basic advice of idea generation: scratch an itch you have yourself. To make a great company, stop and ensure that your need is broadly felt, and that your solution is broadly applicable -- not everyone spends their life in front of a computer, remember.
Give people what they need, not what they say they need -- interviews are tricky. People will swear up and down that they would buy a product you describe if only it were available, and then fail to do so as soon as it is. Likewise, in conversation an idea can sound terrible, but in actualization the idea can become a compelling product. You have to sherlock out the truth of the interest people express, and "yes/no" questions are usually less useful than "how much" or "how bad" questions.
Your ideas will get better the more you know about business -- engineers hate to hear this, but you can generalize up quite far from here: the more you know about everything, the better all of your ideas will get! If you want to start a business and your strength is in development, learning about pricing, sales, marketing, finance, and yes, even HR, all of it will make your product ideas stronger and better.

People

Three is fine; two, divine -- having too many co-founders makes decisions hard to reach; if you're on your own, you have to bear all of the stress and worry about the success of the company. In my judgment, three people can do well together, but having two founders is best.
Work only with people you like and believe in -- I once heard Eric Schmidt say something along the lines of, "The older I get, the more I think all that matters is working with people you like." If you're smart and talented, you're probably going to like a lot of smart and talented people. Working with people you like is so much more fun, and often more productive, than fighting against someone who may be smart and talented but just isn't a great fit for you.
Work with people who like and believe in you, just naturally -- maybe you are very persuasive, and can talk people into working with you against their better instincts. Especially for co-founders and early employees, don't try that hard. Find the people that naturally want to work with you, and nudge them into the roles where you need them. You'll have more fun and get more done.
Great things are made by people who share a passion, not by those who have been talked into one -- a corollary of the last; you can spark a passion in someone, but you can't do it without some fuel to catch. Better to wait, and find the person who is already inclined to believe in your cause. You may talk someone into co-founding a company with you, but will they stick with it through ups and downs if they had to be persuaded that hard?

Product

Cool ideas are useless without great needs -- this is the classic engineers' entrepreneurial mistake (or at least I'd like to think so, since I've made it). Techies love tech, and a new technology can produce a lot of companies that don't really meet a need. Better to start with the need, and then see how what you know can produce a better answer to that need. (Marketers tend to have the opposite problem: real, pressing needs with completely unworkable solutions.)
Build the simplest thing possible -- engineers have the hardest time with this, with not overdesigning for the need they're addressing. Make the simplest possible product that makes a significant dent in that need, and you'll do far better than you would addressing two or three needs at once. Simplicity leads to clarity in everything you do.
Solve problems, not potential problems -- you can waste a lot of money implementing solutions for problems you don't have yet, and may never have. Work on the biggest, most pressing problems today, and put aside everything else.
Test everything with real people -- it's unbelievable how helpful this is. Go find civilians, real people who use computers because they have to and not because they love to. Find them in Starbucks, or at the library, or in a college computer lab. Give them $20 for 20 minutes, and you'll be paid back a hundred times over.

Money

Start with nothing, and have nothing for as long as possible -- small budgets give big focus (probably another line I'm stealing from Jason Fried: it sounds like something he'd say...) Don't go out and raise a ton of money right away. Instead, give yourself just enough to get going, and use the limits that imposes to motivate yourself.
The best investor pitches are plainspoken and entertaining (not in that order) -- think about what this implies. A plainspoken pitch is the surface of a very solid business. If you have to fudge and lie to get investors interested, why is that? If you're running a great business, it is not hard at all to lure investors into it; the worse your business, the bigger (and more odious) your fundraising task is. Entertaining implies a fun person to work with, and VCs like working with people they like as much as the rest of us do. If you don't bring the funny, bring the person who brings the funny.
Never let on that you're keeping a secret -- telling an investor "I don't want to talk about that" is terrible. It's the natural converse of being plainspoken. It's good to be aware, though, that some potential investors will listen to you and then share your information with your direct comptitors, and not always because they're invested in those comptetitors. Knowing that, you have to keep some secrets -- but be as diplomatic about that as possible. Respond to the idea behind the question, without giving away more than you feel comfortable discussing. Learn to steer the conversation in the way you want it to go. And then give up more information as you become more comfortable with the potential investor.
No means maybe and yes means maybe -- you should never take a "no" from someone you want to work with. Accept the no, ask for feedback, and then just keep sending them updates on how much butt you're kicking in the market. During one company, three of the five term sheets I collected came from VC firms that told me "no" originally. Conversely, though, the only money in the bank is actual money actually in the bank. Everything else is just a possibility, and you have to treat it as such. Don't stop fundraising until you have a firm commitment for the funding you need, and don't accept halfway promises like, "We'll fund you if another firm comes in." Keep on driving until the wire transfer is complete.
For investors, the product is nothing -- the classic engineer's VC pitch has ten slides about the product and two about the academic achievements of the founders. That's a terrible pitch. One slide should be about the product, while the rest cover the market, competitors, financials, funding history, and the relevant experience of the team. The product matters far less to most investors than the reactions of customers, the properties of the market, and the credibility of the team. Obsess about the product on your own time; present your business in all of its parts.
The best way to get investment is not to need it* -- if you have a running business with real customers and you're paying all your bills, you are much more likely to get a funding round than if you need the round in order to survive or succeed. The pitch that goes, "We could accelerate our growth with more money" is much more compelling than, "I need your money or our doors will close."

I'm sure other people have their own rules of thumb; what are yours?

*Update: Added this one after a prompt from James in the comments.

Update 2: There are tons of great comments below, but I particularly like the one from Jason Monberg. Don't miss it. I think his suggestions are right on.

Good news kids. They found a big cat in Borneo. Hurray!

2007-03-17T00:55:00.000+08:00

It's true. They found a new (well, that depends on where you are at time of discovery) member of the big cat family. Right there in Borneo. I told you before, but you didn't wanna believe me. Read about it here.

Macbook Jinx

2007-03-17T00:49:00.000+08:00

Some very unlucky guy had 6 DOA Macbooks.

Here's the summary of his story:

MacBook #1 (Black) - Ram Slot
MacBook #2 (White) - Ram Loose
MacBook #3 (White) - Left Speaker
MacBook #4 (White) - Gamma Values
MacBook #5 (Black) - HDD Died
MacBook #6 (Black) - Gamma Values

Here's the full story (it's a long one, but didn't you know that already?).

Still want to be a switcher? They've a few key questions that they want to ask you before you make with the big switch.

Okay. So, after you bought a few Macbook Pros and few iMacs, you wanna start a tech company and dabble in web design etc etc. Here's what you need to know to avoid (hopefully) a few mistakes done by most startups which is a reminder for me mostly.

Pro blogging. Now that's a concept.

2007-03-17T00:34:00.001+08:00

This man claims that he's helping bloggers make money. I am not sure. I know that Kenny Sia gets the moolah from those PR gigs he does with some company. Are there any bloggers out there that make serious numbers at the end of the month? I don't know any. At least not locally. Lemme know if you 'em.

"What's this about Web2.0 I keep seeing in the papers?"

2007-03-17T00:12:00.000+08:00

Well, here it is, grandpa as detailed at Wiki and at O'reilly (before somebody start accusing me of being on a tech high horse, that 'grandpa' is actually me). Enjoy reading. Need a reason to read? Here's a good one: It keeps the brain matter working. So you run less risk of getting Alzheimer in your old age.

Edit: Here's a directory of web2.0 sites.

Before you go, watch this youtube (no matter how 2.0 it is, using youtube as another name for video, it is quite dissimilar to google as the verb for search, isn't it?). I digress. Watch the vid instead.

Finally, a nod to a famous typeface

2007-03-17T00:04:00.000+08:00

This would interest you if you're a graphic designer. Or someone who has a healthy interest in graphic design. I say, have an interest in your surrounding. And, leave the Desperate Housewives DVD in back room. Okay, leave 'em right there. There you go.

This is a call...

2007-03-16T23:46:00.000+08:00

Amen.

Evidently, we have talented people here too.

2007-02-28T21:20:00.000+08:00

You want an iPhone right now? Here you go.

This is not an iPhone, not the actual thing. It's one of those smartphones with a stylus. Who wants a stylus? (The download is 1.2Gb, you've been warned.)

You want a Mac but you don't want to spend 4 big ones for laptop? He has that too.

But he's not the first. There were others before him. This guy is on to something. I wonder what Apple would do if they found out what he's done. If they do, let's hope he comes out unscathed.

Here's a few pix of OSX running on a humble Presario.

Awesome.

Ahhh... the joys of online video.

2007-02-28T16:34:00.000+08:00

Coke-Mentos Domino Effect experiment #214. Watch it.

iPhones teaser ad shown during the Oscars

2007-02-27T09:07:00.000+08:00

I have links like you can't believe.

Download the earliest iPhone teaser ad in HD.

Right before the Oscars

2007-02-26T15:53:00.000+08:00

Ooohh.. look what I found. I wonder what's on the site. Hmm... let's make with the click.

iPod Hack: Make friends and influence people with your iPod!

2007-02-26T15:31:00.000+08:00

Follow instructions that appear on screen. Failure to follow instructions results in friends looking unimpressed. Have a nice day.

The Hole - video powered by Metacafe

Out of my tree. Move along now, there's nothing to see.

2007-02-26T11:40:00.000+08:00

The latest spots by CPB for VW - via youtube.

That's it. Three of 'em. Found at adgoodness.

Better safe than sorry.

2007-02-24T00:45:00.000+08:00

I thought that a link would be enough. But then again, what if the site goes down? Where can I go to read the whole Russell Davies memo again? It's all here.

Better safe than sorry. I copied everything over to this post. With original accompanying pix. Read it. All credits should go to Russell Davies (see, I don't steal other people's intellectual properties).

1. Hire advertising people, you get advertising

As Dan will admit (claim?), when they started they found it very hard to hire conventional advertising talent. No-one would move to Portland. So they got people who'd failed elsewhere or kids straight out of school. These people didn't know how to make advertising. Or not in the way it was supposed to be made. They worked out for themselves how to communicate, seduce, persuade, engage, how to make a stunning piece of film or a compelling couple of pages but if often didn't look much like advertising. Even now, thousands of years later, when some of the habits have ossified and they really, clearly, do know how to make advertising there's an inclination to push it further, to not make advertising. I think this a lesson for everyone who wants to be the w+k of the future; hire just advertising people, you'll get just advertising.

2. The key to creative genius; work harder

I know it's boring but this became so incredibly clear to me. The most exciting, inspirational, talented thinkers and doers just work harder than everyone else. Often they also work more effectively, so it doesn't necessarily look like hard work, but basically they put in more hours, pay more attention and care more than the regular folk.

3. You can't divorce the medium from the message

W+K never gave up on its own media people. Media thinkers and media doers were always integral. And often the smartest people in the place. This led to innovative and informed thinking about not just what we'd say and how we'd say it, but also where we'd say it. So w+k didn't get stuck in that trap of shoveling creativity into a pre-bought schdule. We didn't fill 30 second boxes with stuff. You've got to have media people in the building, it makes life better.

4. Do good work, the money will follow

When I moved from Portland to London I was one of only two people in the London office who'd also worked in Portland. And I think the rest of London management couldn't quite believe Dan when he'd say this to them. They wanted to believe it, but they'd grown up in big London agencies where the bottom line is all. There's not a lot to say about this, it's just true.

5. Hold everyone to the same standard

I moved to Portland to work on Microsoft. It was clear in about 5 minutes that we were the pariah half of the agency. Everyone was either Nike or Microsoft. It was like high school. Jocks and geeks. They did fantastic work every 5 minutes, won all kinds of awards, got to meet celebrity athletes. We struggled to get any decent work through, won nothing, attended three day product briefings on Exchange Server.

And we all knew it would have been so easy to just roll over, give Microsoft exactly what they wanted (which was obvious and do-able) and rake in gobbets of cash. We could have funded a dozen pro-bono accounts which would have made us feel better and won us some awards and life would have been almost sweet. Except we weren't allowed. Peer and management pressure made it clear that everyone was held to the same standard, however hard our client and our task we were expected to do extraordinary and thrilling work. This seemed divisive and wrong at the time but looking back I realise it was genius. Because if you have multiple standards you have multiple agencies. If you treat some clients as creative opportunities and some as cash cows that's just what you'll get. And sooner or later the cash cows will leave the field. Everyone's seem what it's like to be the Account Director on the regional retail account that'll never do good work. It sucks. And it sucks even more when you have to sit and present your work to all the guys who work on the cool accounts. Kudos to Dan, he always expected us to make the work better. And, sometimes, before we got fired, we did some pretty decent work.

6. You can tell from the work if people enjoyed making it

This seems more true to me every time I walk in another agency. The places that are miserable make lack-lustre work (is it chicken or is it egg?). The places with energy make energetic, fulsome, toothsome work, bursting with ideas. If the process is depressing, the work will be flat, if the process has life, the work will connect.

7. Brands that influence culture sell more

This feeling was always in the air. People were trying to build popular culture not piggy-back on it, trying to create new culture, not just repeat old ones. About the worst thing you could say about an idea was that it had 'borrowed interest'. And it was palpably clear that this instinct led to more effective, more profitable brands. So I remember writing 'brands that influence culture sell more' in a creds deck and getting the highly prized Wieden nod of approval. That was a good moment. (Or at least I think I remember writing that, it seems to have turned up in other places too, so maybe I heard it somewhere first, perhaps through some sort of strange wormhole into the future.)

The MJ Mix Tape - pt 1

2007-02-23T17:39:00.000+08:00

If you hire advertising people, you get advertising.

2007-02-23T17:17:00.000+08:00

Wondering what in the world does that mean? It's well explained here.

"We started as a ship of fools" - Dan Wieden

2007-02-23T17:02:00.000+08:00

When we started, no one in their right mind wanted to come to this weird little city on the banks of the Willamette (Portland, Oregon), cut off from the cultural mainstream, hell, cut off from culture, period. A city with virtually no nightlife. No history. I mean, the first house here was a log cabin built in 1844. That wasn’t that long ago, guys. The only ad people you could get to even consider moving here were people who had been fired from every legitimate and illegitimate agency in the country. Or kids fresh out of school, who didn’t know any better.

We started as a ship of fools. And that, I firmly believe, is why we have succeeded. We were struggling to figure out what an advertising agency actually was. And our one and only client, Nike, was trying to get a grip on what a client was supposed to do with one. We were both incredibly stupid. That was the key. See, when you don’t know, you try desperately to find out.

But the minute you think you know, the minute you go – oh, yeah, we’ve been here before, no sense reinventing the wheel – you stop learning, stop questioning, and start believing in your own wisdom, you’re dead. You’re not stupid anymore, you are fucking dead.

Continue here.

I'm not afraid to be unpopular - here's why.

2007-02-21T00:19:00.000+08:00

My friends and some former colleagues know that - some appreciate it, some didn't. Most likely, it's because the words that I choose to use. Those who appreciate know that it's coming from the desire to see something better, improved. Those who didn't probably see it as ignorance; as "don't question things, it's not your place" or the popular "put yourself in that pair of shoes and try to do it on your own".

That's the thing. If I do it on my own, I'd probably achieve the same results because I'd be in the same place. Things are different when solutions come from those aren't knee deep in it. It's clear to those who are watching, the observers.

If and when I write, it's because I'm on the outside. There are others out there who see things better. Accept it and move on. Listen for the solution.

Okay. Now that the message is clear, let's talk about what's wrong about this country. But before somebody screams, "political blogger, arrest him!" - don't. Listen first to what bloggers have to say - at least some of us - before you authorities act.

I have nothing against fast food. I have it once or twice a month when I'm too tired to busy to go grab a proper meal in the afternoon. No big deal. But here's what eating me up. A recent report at thestar.com tells the story of a certain Minister calling for the banning of fast food ads. Why now? Can you say "election"?

Do some other campaign. How about lobbying about helping the people in Johor who were affected by the massive flood recently or criticizing Astro for not showing enough PSA (Public Service Ads/Announcements) highlighting their cause? Talk about that. It's good for your image and it (let's hope) helps the victims. Win-win situation.

Don't thank me for the idea. It's free of charge. If you want to talk about social responsibility, go help those people. Banning fast food ads isn't going to stop people from enjoying their happy meals or help businesses grow.

Sure you get support from consumer associations and health groups. They want their 15 minutes of fame. Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame. This is what happens when you talk before you think clearly of the consequences: You're advocating the idea that fast food advertising shouldn't be promoted.

What's going to happen to the people in advertising agencies? McDonald's would pull their account and a bunch of creatives get a pink slip each. What's going to happen to their families while they're out of a job? Bills pile up. Husband and wife gets into unnecessary arguments. Some file for divorce. Then they battle custody rights in court.

Question is: How does that help the country? What if those creatives get their chance to do a great campaign for their client? And in the process, win some international awards? This country gets on the world map for having a few creative hot spot. Creatives happy, agency happy, client happy - businesses grow. When businesses grow, country happy. When the country is happy, Ministers pocket more money from businesses. Ooh don't be shy, it's an open secret that some of you are easily bribed. Here's half a million. Build a white house (sic) in Klang.

What you do with your money or how you get your half a million, is your business. But when you say things that are not considered as intelligent or useful in public, remember, there are repercussions. And these repercussions affect the general public.

p/s

Want me to write your speeches and statements? For RM3000 per day - after taxes, I'll write post-winning speeches and/ statements. Positive results guaranteed. But, I don't work weekends or after 6 p.m and I don't entertain last minute requests or changes. What you see is what you get.

Here's another issue.

Malaysian ISP - clean up your act.

What I want to say has been said by A. Asohan. Read all about it here.

The post that was not to be - courtesy of Windows Xp - and in the future, Windows Vista.

2007-02-12T23:01:00.000+08:00

Out the blue, for the - I don't know how many times - Xp crashes on me. I know, I know. Every time when I write, I should do it on a notepad or a word pad. Save it and copy then contents and post it on blogger so I don't waste time and run the least risk of losing my post in case Xp crashes.

Well my previous post was about 12" inches tall. That's a foot of thought - not a footnote but a foot's length of post lost because Xp crashes for no apparent reason. Amazing software.

What's more amazing is that, Gates is touting that Vista is the cure for Xp.

Cure for Xp? I didn't know that Xp was a disease! A billion dollars spent on development and nothing for its customers to say "they changed that and made it better", it's as good as Xp. Perhaps even worse.

Here's a review by a smart woman, Erika Jonietz, for MIT telling us how she, an avid supporter of all things great for humanity, at least she thought it was (read: Windows Vista), lost her fervour for Windows and became a Switcher. She switched to the Mac right after she did the review. That's a HUGE thing.

Here's what a committee has to say, a group of Microsoft apologists trying desperately to undo her work by telling us that Vista is imperfect for a very good reason: Great computing by letting others do their job of building software and hardware. Thing is, no matter how good your design and coding rules are, there will be mistakes due to a large number of people working on it. Remember this kids, numbers doesn't always come to great decisions.

Of course, there's no such thing as a perfect operating system or OS. There's no perfect anything come to think of it. But there's such a thing as well thought-out, elegantly developed, user-centric OS. Many flavours at that. The Mac is such an example. But you knew that I was going to say that already didn't you? Well what you didn't know is that, the Mac, however proud they are at advertising its Unix underpinnings, is not nearly perfect. But at least, it's going in that direction with stability, practicality, by stepping aside and letting the user do their work and not to mention elegance. Some say that elegance is moot from a practical POV. Nothing could more impractical than saying that. Here's a fact: However practical something is designed for, it's hardly inspiring when elegance is out of the equation.

But what they fail to understand or acknowledge is that, elegance IS the one of the key points that makes a product stand out as a, product.

If attention to detail says a lot about a person, then that is a lot for a computer designed by a bunch of people who's anal about attention to detail. Can you say same thing for Xp? Or Windows in general? The Mac is an expensive acquisition. No doubts about that there.

Am I upset? You bet. I've lost a good amount of time over the years from unexpected crashes, worms and viruses. From retyping my posts and notes. Thank God that my office bought an iMac and lets me use for work daily.

"What about Linux then?", you say. After a few months of actively using Ubuntu Linux for work and entertainment, I have come to a conclusion that it needs more work to be accepted by the masses. Being free and open does not always entail a good user experience.

It doesn't crash and take down everything that you were working on with it. A simple command followed by a passworded permission let's you install or remove a program and almost every single program out there for Linux is open source. Great computing for the masses who can't afford to run buggy Windows or an expensive Macs.

But the problem lies in the implementation.

How many users would actually go out and read and download programs that they need online. They're used to buying it at software retail stores or from an online retailer. Or how about setting up internet sharing? Think it's easy on Linux? Think again.

Downloading for free can be a problem when no body is policing the development and a lot of companies are not moving to Linux as fast as we wanted them to - so there's not much of corporate or street cred to rely on as word of mouth - or even elegance.

This story is not about expensive Macs or user-centric but hard to use Linux. It's about spending a billion dollar and coming up with nothing revolutionary. Might as well roll out a new OS by 2010 instead of today because there's no point in just selling a pretty interface minus the goodies underneath the hood. That's like going out with a beautiful girl and have the dullest conversation in the history of dullest conversations.

So what's point? Here it is: Buy an expensive Mac and be free of virus or network related worries OR download a Linux OS, burn it onto a CD and install it - minus the elegance of design or thought - yes it works but no it's not inspiring and there's also a steep learning curve.

However, I venture to say that by the time Windows comes out with Vienna, Linux would have reached a phenomenal stage in it's development life. Till then.

Macworld SF 2007 Keynote - direct download link

2007-01-25T12:47:00.000+08:00

If you had been looking for a way to download the recent Macworld SF Keynote, look no further. I stumbled upon this link after looking everywhere and frustratedly waited while Streamyx tried to fix things on their end after Taiwan.

In the end, simply, they didn't fix things fast enough. Though I'm pretty sure they say and even come up with proof that they've working doubly hard at providing efficient service for cheap.

http://a1825.phobos.apple.com/r10/Keynotes/MacworldSFKeynote2007.m4v

via

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/01/download-steve-jobs-keynote-address-at.html

So check out these links today. And please say hi to Amit for me.

Oh, just so you know before you start downloading the Keynote video podcast, it's 1.2GB. Apple's probably testing the crowd's response to movie downloads. What better way to gauge the initial response than by podcasting the biggest tech news in January?

"This just in..."

2007-01-14T11:48:00.000+08:00

After 4 months of quiet, Transit is back.

Here's whats happened to the author in the last quarter of the year two thousand and six:

1) Got engaged and married in 3 months.

2) The Zune was released. Also known as the "shortest squirt in the history of man".

3) Chucked by previous employer. Hired by current employer after 7 days of head scratching and panicking.

(Also, migrated from a lousy 4 year old previous employer's Win98 machine to an awesome 20" iMac - a simply beautiful machine born from hard work and an eye for design. Author owes these lovely people a lot. Will repay with great creative. Much thanks to a certain someone who kept saying that author is a writer of lame copy. Guess what, Nike SEA boss likes the author's "lame" copy.)

4) Moved into our new apartment. Good bye Shah Alam. It was good knowing you.

5) Apple reinvents the mobile phone industry with the long-awaited/predicted - iPhone.

6) Today, Amazon got confused. Here's the proof. Top right corner cross sell banner with copy. Just look at that image description.

SLED-ing the Weekend

2006-09-02T20:59:00.000+08:00

Spending a weekend doing a lot of things but not accomplishing anything is a waste. Having said that, I spent the weekend reading up on Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop, SLED for short and I think I'm willing to spend another weekend buying a 160GB PATA HDD to house XP (sic), SLED and Ubuntu (another popular Linux distro).

I've tried installing Suse 9 and in terms of installation, it was a success. The machine was dual-booting Suse 9/XP (sic) and for a couple of minutes I was jumping around shouting "Woohoo! Punk rock!" around the house.

That was about a year ago. After a few days of tinkering, I decided to stay away and delete the Linux partition because it wasn't yet as easy as it should be.

Software installations should be seamless. The simplest I've seen is by dragging needed software inside the Application folder and you're done. It should be that way. I'm not sure if that's a piece of propietary technology but if it is, then such technology shouldn't be patented in my humble opinion. I digress.

So, what's the perfect desktop or notebook then, you ask. The correct answer is there aren't any.

Unfriendliness towards the end users is causing Linux to fight an ever uphill climb to be on top of users' desktops everywhere despite the fact that it's open source or command lines to install a package (data cabinets for Microsoft customers) of a software or mounting HDD or folders around. in existence. No matter how you look at it, Windows is riddled with security issues and Macs are generally perceived as expensive. And on top of that, you still have to buy software.

With all the negativity, why am I writing this then? The answer is because Novell has released SLED 10. From the looks of it, I'm giving Linux a few more tries. And I've ordered 10 CDs from Ubuntu last week to spread the joy around again.

Check out these SLED 10 screen shots and geek out.

If by any chance you don't know what Linux is, wiki it.

"Witness the dismemberment!"

2006-08-29T12:25:00.000+08:00

About 15 or 20 years ago, I witnessed the partial dismemberment of the Cybertronic kind via videotape (VHS ruled at the time). And probably next year, I'll or we'll get to watch it all over again. But this time, it probably won't be as good as it was before. Every sophisticated movie Transformers fan I know have been on their edge of their seats since the announcement Michael Bay was attached to helm the live action Transformers. And apparently, their fears are justified. Check out the URLs below. More than meets the eye? You betcha. And at the moment, it doesn't look good.

Bay has a lot of responsibility to shoulder and looking from the decisions he's made (just don't listen to what the cast are saying, it's their responsibility to pimp the flick), it's a spectacular crash. I'm really hoping that I'm spectacularly wrong on this one. Check out the links below.

Transformers Set Visit Preview

Awesome or plain bad decisions? (Check out the TF bots, they're not what I remember!)

Confirmed: Movie Jazz is a Pontiac Solstice - Movie Set Reports

Brian Goldner speaks... er types & Hasbro Kingpin Brian Goldner Discussion Thread

Latino Review of the whole thing

Thank yous to Fariz for the heads up.

Essential Reading For The Inner Creative Director

2006-08-09T16:52:00.000+08:00

The Creative Revolution (1954-64) was essentially the tussle between design and meaning; between form, beauty and concept; between telling and receiving. In graphic design and advertising it changed everything. Helmut Krone (1925-1996) was a leading seditionary. He started out as a graphic designer who despised advertising -- and finished up as an art director claiming to be a graphic designer, 'the only one in hard-core advertising ,' he said. Krone shaped the two most important ad campaigns ever: for Volkswagen and the 'We try harder.' work for Avis. These two campaigns explored the difference between graphic design and advertising art directionin fact Krone's work defined modern art direction for print. Krone's work has been collected by the Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian. He has been inducted into Art Directors' Halls of Fame from New York to Berlin.

Via enchorial.

Fixing for a Macbook

2006-08-09T11:30:00.000+08:00

I am not the first to be smitten with the new Macbook and I'm pretty sure I won't be the last too. I've been reading the Apple site for news and updates on their transition from PPC to Intel processors with great interest (almost religiously, I'd say), knowing that in a not too distant future, I'll be a Switcher, using either a Macbook or Macbook Pro for our small design/advertising business. And while reading up on what the unhappy/happy owners of the new machines are saying on forums and blogs, I came across a webzine called Roughly Drafted by Daniel Eran.

A couple of interesting post at Roughly Drafted:

Useful knowledge for future Switchers:
How the transition to Intel is very different than the move to PowerPC.

The 'Mac OS X Closed by Pirates' Myth started and propagated by tech sensationalist, Tom Yager of InfoWorld (I will not provide a link to Yager's column, google it if you're so inclined.)

So that's two interesting post for interested Switchers or would be Switchers. The next part talks about Mac ads.

This is something that I've suspected all along, something I've thought about but kept to myself since, well, I attended an interview for a copywriting gig but failed to land the said gig. I mentioned this to a CD that not all advertising are created to sell products directly, some are created for brand awareness (I was justifying the strategy behind a few mock ads for a tomato ketchup brand). Needless to say, I kept all this to myself and refrained from posting publicly because:

a) I'm not an ad pro, therefore my 2 sen carries no weight;
b) If I was smart, I'd already be in advertising or someplace where smart people are richly compensated instead of slugging it 9 to 5 at a dead end job right now.

With all due respect to Seth Stevenson who writes for Salon, I've always believed that he got it all wrong on his Ad Report Card post on the new Mac ads ("I'm a PC, I'm A Mac"). I agree that advertising should ultimately be about pushing a product. But not all advertising are created to sell directly. If you want it to sell directly, then go door-to-door a.k.a Direct Selling. What Chiat/Day, Apple's agency of choice, has done for them is to create an image of Macs being better than PCs; repeating the core message of all Apple products and advertising strategy.

Again, I'll restate this: Product sales is the ultimate goal of an advertising campaign (some film director told me in public forum that he hates advertising in ALL its form and purpose. At the core of what makes advertising work is knowing that makes people tick and if you hate advertising, why be a film director in the first place because in essence advertising and film works towards manipulating the mind to agree with a story or product benefit). Okay, I'll give that the new Mac ads doesn't make me want to buy a Mac. But in my case, it's different. I've already made up my mind on getting a Macbook after I've saved enough or when I've enough cash in hand to purchase one. But for the would-be Switchers, they need a push in the right direction to clear up any lingering doubts prior to a purchase. People need something that works right out of the box and that was the message behind the new Mac ads. That was the push they needed.

I have two words for our Mister Stevenson: Remember 1984.

Post inspired by: Stevenson Fails 'Report Card' on Mac Ads.

Scoop Of The Week!

2006-08-04T00:17:00.000+08:00

This week didn't start as well I hoped it could've been. But you have to roll with the punches. And after rolling with the punches, get yourself the new Macbook maxed out with 2GB of RAM, a 200GB of external storage and a 19" LCD FP from Dell to go with it.

But the real scoop this week goes to: Songbird. Check it out. The browser for multi media (yes, you read that right: multi media and not multi-media) downloads. I stumbled on this through an Apple blog but I can't seem recall which.

Just don't download at your office, the net's too slow to begin with.

Intel CEO Makes Funny

2006-07-30T00:46:00.000+08:00

Well, which one is it? "...more than 9 out of 10?" What does it mean, exactly? That Mister Otellini sure is one funny CEO. That excerpt of speech was taken from Intel's press release for its latest series of processors. Those Intel processor press releases are getting more and more interesting these days, particularly when you're fixing to switch to a higher level of computing experience.

Rule #1 of Photography: Rule of Third

2006-07-23T20:58:00.000+08:00

I'm not sure if it's the #1 rule of photography, but it sure is worth knowing. After all, pictures are the best way to tell a story, or atleast it helps to. It starts at the office. I have a few photographers at the office and they all could take photos. Some of their pictures have depth of field; some managed to capture objects in motion with relative ease with bright and sharp colours/contrast. Amazing effort to produce such results.

But I'm puzzled as to why our photos aren't telling much of a story. It's lifeless. It doesn't make the viewer look twice at it. In short, it's dull. So I starting looking for answers in the effort to help these guys improve their photography. Not knowing what sort question to ask or who to pose it to (I don't have a digital SLR to play with everyday and I'm still a newbie at photography), it slipped in and out of my mind.

Until last weekend. After spending a few hours surfing the net for Photoshop and Illustrator tutorials, I found something no self-respecting photographer or designer should be without: the Rule of Third.

RoT is the archway of flow in design. From the human body (the definition of what we perceive as beautiful), to architecture, to art and even music.

Via thinktanc.

Blog context & Sony is creating one for Bravia

2006-07-22T15:12:00.000+08:00

I'm pretty sure no one reads this blog. But, let me pretend that I have a few readers who reads these posts. And to them, I would like to extend an apology for not posting regularly. Being busy is a reason, but not an excuse. I'll try to post as much as possible (and within a suitable and clear context).

And speaking of context, Sony is creating for their Bravia campaign. It's... colourful, to say the least.

Found this through Adrants.

Sole reason why YouTube isn't cool

2006-07-22T15:02:00.000+08:00

You think YouTube is cool? Think again. According a news report (surprise, surprise), YouTube reserves the right to sell that video you uploaded to their server at a profit. Anddd here I was thinking YouTube wasn't cool because it isn't HD.

Via Boing Boing

Edited: The next time you think that you just shot a cool video that should be seen net-wide, think again. And read the fine print after you're done thinking.

About the most powerful printing office print ad. Ever.

2006-07-15T01:38:00.000+08:00

Found this particular print ad (no pun intended whatsoever) via a design blog. A short yet poetic, vastly powerful copy for - wait for it - a print shop. What's more interesting is that it was done 74 years ago by a woman named Beatrice Warde.

p/s: Yes, I'm changing to Georgia for body copy. Trebuchet shouldn't have been the choice of font for body copy. Newbie mistake.

People hate Flash. I knew this five years ago.

2006-07-13T11:46:00.000+08:00

I have always suspected that Flash-only websites are difficult for casual users to navigate. Users have to download & install the correct version of plugins that, invariably is making their web experience a less than easy one (the math is simple: if it's not porn or a good chance to win a million bucks, people wouldn't be flocking to your site). After that, if they manage to install the correct version of said plugin, they have to wait for the Flash content to download. Try doing this on dial-up, see where it takes you. (For a faster net experience than dial-up, try Streamyx. But ask them how they define a 'fast' experience. Hint: We're still using copper cables.)

I'm not saying the consumer or end user is dumb. Far from it. I'm saying designers have to make sure that the browsing experience of a site they're diligently creating & maintaining, is an easy one.

Still don't believe that people hate Flash? Read a consumer survey results right here. The consumer is always right. And if David Ogilvy gets it right, she's your wife too.

NO LOGO

2006-07-13T01:11:00.000+08:00

Here's why your new logo won't work to save your sorry company (better to listen to us because we know what works for you).

That comes off a bit harsh innit? Apologies for harshing your mellow but that is part and parcel of the cruel reality in business. Read more here if you're offended.

The no picture post

2006-06-13T16:49:00.000+08:00

These last few weeks have been quite a handful: A trip up north (friendly people, people-friendly food) a copywriting gig interview (a chance to work with a people-friendly CD formerly with BBDO; let's keep those fingers crossed), And people-friendly means you have to be politically correct/PC. Here's something fun about being PC via Earthreactor. Or you can just read it here.

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:

1. She is not a "BABE" or a "CHICK" - She is a "BREASTED AMERICAN."
2. She is not a "SCREAMER" or a "MOANER" - She is "VOCALLY APPRECIATIVE."
3. She is not "EASY" - She is "HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE."
4. She is not a "DUMB BLOND" - She is a "LIGHT-HAIRED DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY."
5. She has not "BEEN AROUND" - She is a "PREVIOUSLY-ENJOYED COMPANION."
6. She is not an "AIRHEAD" - She is "REALITY IMPAIRED."
7. She does not get "DRUNK" or "TIPSY" - She gets "CHEMICALLY INCONVENIENCED."
8. She does not have "BREAST IMPLANTS" - She is "MEDICALLY ENHANCED."
9. She does not "NAG" you - She becomes "VERBALLY REPETITIVE."
10. She is not a "TRAMP" - She is "SEXUALLY EXTROVERTED."
11. She does not have "MAJOR LEAGUE HOOTERS" - She is "PECTORALLY SUPERIOR."
12. She is not a "TWO-BIT HOOKER" - She is a "LOW COST PROVIDER."

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT MEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:

1. He does not have a "BEER GUT" - He has developed a "LIQUID GRAIN
STORAGE FACILITY."
2. He is not a "BAD DANCER" - He is "OVERLY CAUCASIAN."
3. He does not "GET LOST ALL THE TIME" - He "INVESTIGATES ALTERNATIVE DESTINATIONS."
4. He is not "BALDING" - He is in "FOLLICLE REGRESSION."
5. He is not a "CRADLE ROBBER" - He prefers "GENERATIONAL DIFFERENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS."
6. He does not get "FALLING-DOWN DRUNK" - He becomes "ACCIDENTALLY HORIZONTAL."
7. He does not act like a "TOTAL ASS" - He develops a case of "RECTAL-CRANIAL INVERSION."
8. He is not a "MALE CHAUVINIST PIG" - He has "SWINE EMPATHY."
9. He is not afraid of "COMMITMENT" - He is "RELATIONSHIP CHALLENGED."
10. He is not "HORNY" - He is "SEXUALLY FOCUSED."
11. It's not his "CRACK" you see hanging out of his pants - It's "REAR CLEAVAGE".

Number 11 in the 2nd part really cracks me up (no pun intended).

To Each His Own Coke

2006-05-27T00:55:00.000+08:00

That's a pretty nifty headline/title innit? Took two rewrites to come up with that one. Heh. Well, here's what was supposed to be on Update Tuesday this week.

If any of you McCann boys are reading this and decide to shoplift that headline for a critical presentation to the CD, better credit me. Because there's a special level of hell created for men who like to take advantage of underaged girls; people who talk in theaters in the middle of a movie; groupies and plagiarists. Whedon said that, so we know that carries a lot of weight, not to mention it goes well with a Coke.

Credits: Publicis, DK.

Portfolio worthy?

2006-05-12T01:32:00.000+08:00

They say that when the inspiration strikes, do it.

Here it is.

Done on a Friday night. Posted 2 hours after it's done. VW ought to pay me for this.

The audience is intended for the Golf drivers age group, between 28 - 45 (roughly that is, according to an ad review I read a couple of years ago). The idea is to talk to these men whose eyeballs VW is aiming for using a simple message: a well known fact that the car is simply beautiful. That unlike other auto brands, you don't need a sexy a girl standing next to it to help VW to sell it, that sex, however omnipotent or omnipresent it is, simply isn't what these men are looking for when it comes to a Golf.

The car practically sells itself.

But if I need to tell you this, then you have no business being in advertising in the first place. Just kidding.

Credits:
Art Director: Me.
Copywriter: Me.

Now that you know that I could art direct as well as I write, why don't you offer me a job. Because the place I'm working in right now, bombs.

Edit: The picture belongs to a magazine, it isn't mine. Just so you know that I don't steal copyrighted images for an immediate profit. I'd credit the owner and the mag, but I remember neither the photographer nor the mag. If you've seen the mag or know the photographer, tell them that I used the photo here.

Creative space

2006-05-09T11:59:00.000+08:00

What do you do when people park on a sidewalk that's legally yours? The boys at Wieden Kennedy, London has the answer.

In a word, awesome.

If we do this locally, I wonder, will it get the attention it deserves? Will the message reach its audience? Or will it be ignored by drivers who'll then park right on top of it?

Subaru tries to make a comeback, fails miserably again

2006-05-02T01:37:00.000+08:00

It took them a bit of time, but snoring Subaru has replied to the CPB Fast/VW campaign. I don't think it'll persuade the fine young men about town to trade their Fast for a Subaru. Would you actually trade-in your Golf for a Subaru? Are you still taking your medication? Just kidding. It sure took them a bit of time, but better late than never, right? The operative word being: late.

Exactly where do you need to go from 0-60 in less than 5 seconds?

Via 3e Lab

VW switched to CPB a couple of months ago after being pimped for 10 years by Arnold, the agency behind their famous "Drivers Wanted" campaign.

A review of the Fast campaign at Business Week + they talk about the history of VW from an advertising/marketing POV.

See the 4 ads here. And please, don't download all the vids while you're at the office, the net is slow enough right now. If you like a couple of 'em, give me a blank CD-R and I'll burn the whole thing just for you. Because I like you. Okay, my people will talk to your people.

Freshness!

2006-04-28T16:14:00.000+08:00

I'd say this is an effective self-promotion effort, easy to understand once you see the agency name/logo at the left hand bottom corner. Doesn't need any more tweaking. This already sends the right message to their prospective clients. Done by the boys & girls at McCann. Trouble is, I don't know which McCann.

Promise you won't hit me with a brick? Okay, I'll say it: This is cool. *waits for the brick - it's not comin' - phew* This is so cool it should've been mine (though, secretly I long for a creative chair at DDB or O&M and claim creative responsibilty for creating a print ad for a 4x4 brand of cars, the one where the car is parked on a staircase in front of a building with properly painted parking bay for it - you know which one.)

Saying the line "I know Kung Fu" like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix doesn't cut it anymore. If you have it, prove it. A great print ad for a dojo (is that the proper name for a karate class?). Enter through the door, exit through the wall.

There's this ad for a bookstore that Neil French did a while back. Or was it someone else? I'll look it up later.

This is fresh! Had to wait for 4 print ads to use that word, fresh. Let me try it again: A fresh way of looking at a tooth paste that are not always visible in the flood of similar products.

Beyond infinity

2006-04-27T18:20:00.001+08:00

When you've used your BIC pen to infinity and you want to write some more, use these instead.

Featuring the crazy (note: crazy is often synonymous with being frighteningly creative) ways for people to use Post-Its.

(As usual, if you have info of the agency that did these two campaign, post 'em in the comments section. The big 0 next to the caption title. I appreciate the effort.)

Better fuel for your storytelling fire

2006-04-27T17:39:00.000+08:00

I have no talent for music nor storytelling. Never could spin a yarn as well as some of my colleagues. I'm not funny. And I blame my high school for their reluctance, no..not reluctance, straight up contempt for the efforts that kids put in to be creative. They smashed our guitars. Confiscated our walkmans and our tapes and magazines, claiming that it's against our religion. Great conditioning for teenagers, brain wash 'em while they're young. Don't get me wrong. I don't harbor any ill feeling towards the religion, it's bigotry that gets to me. Well, we're not in school anymore. And if there are any aspiring authors or bloggers aspiring to be authors, here's a link to a great page full of tips by Seth Godin to learn the trade. Go now. Tell a thousand stories. Enjoy.

Why have two when you can have none?

2006-04-22T11:01:00.000+08:00

Possibly the best headline for Panadol. Ever.

Credits: Ad-God (a.k.a. Neil French)

Bad music

2006-04-21T17:09:00.001+08:00

Does the headline sound familiar to you? That's because we're subjected to a similarly primitive, arbitrary, in other words generally mentally incapacitated decision makers.

The report

Embarassing moment for the rakyat

~~Why the lack of pix for this post? Because no picture would be able to describe what I am feeling after reading those two reports.~~ It's a sad day when the wakil rakyats (elected representatives of the citizens for a designated area) are for a lack of a better term: Political Retards ~~(I prefer, no scratch that, wanted to use 'imbeciles' but, I'm trying to be more..decent).~~

Which reminds me of a story. A few months ago or was it last year, I don't really remember the exact date but I do remember it well.

A local singer performed the national anthem in a stadium during a soccer final (I think) the best he possibly could, has no other motive than to make it memorable and (hopefully) elevate its status from a lullaby to something along the lines of being socially functional, if you will.

So he adlibs the anthem a little towards the end, the way Hendrix did with the US national anthem at Woodstock (let's be honest, when was the last time you hear our national anthem and it made you stand tall and proud and stoked about contributing positively to this country?) and what did he get?

A cheap rap from some politician claiming he's ruining the song. Clearly, the simian has never had a good time in his life. Has no interest in music. Doesn't understand what music does to people. And probably listens to classical music all the time in his comfortable home. It's well known that most classical music fans aren't even musicians i.e, they don't understand the music at all - are you moved by classical music?

No offence to classical musicians, it's a great way to make a living plying your trade like that, to be honest I envy you but your music doesn't do much beyond it's function as the background music for operas. Not that I'm saying that's bad, I love music. I listen to all kinds of music produced by all kinds of musicians. But classical has never done anything for me. And I suspect it's the same for a lot of other people too.

Back to the simian.

It's these cheapshots that ruins it for the rakyat. For all we know, this rat of a politician will stand to defend his statement making everyone else look bad in the process and he gets his 5 minutes of news report. How do you do that? How do you sleep at night after doing everything with an ulterior motive that would only benefit you and your family and close friends when you're supposed to represent the people's interest?

But don't worry. I'm nowhere near interested in being one of you. I may slave away at my desk day and night for a few bucks an hour, but atleast my conscience is clear. Can you say the same for yourself?

Design goodness!

2006-04-20T11:25:00.002+08:00

Here's the latest headline: A mob of kangaroos have arrived at the Buenos Aires Zoo. From what I hear, they're making quite an impression and keeping the vets' hands full with their acrobatics.

Credits: Saatchi & Saatchi, Argentina.

At the moment, I'm a sucker for slick gfx design. Check these out.

The first two gfx are for Ascot, the shoe company and the red rhino is for a Microsoft campaign (finally, they're doing something right).

The 3 pieces of gfx you see above were by a designer who calls himself "Hydro74" (I don't know why he chose the word hydro in combination with the numbers 7 and 4, so don't ask me). Apparently, dude has a blog too. Mucho talent.

The Kong rocking London town

2006-04-19T15:07:00.000+08:00

A brilliant piece done in London. Those DDB boys and girls sure know how to rock hard. In case your wondering why the Big Monkey is grimacing, it's because he just stepped on a Polo. Monkey works. Monkey works right.

Credits:
DDB, London

Bird on the wire

2006-04-19T09:53:00.000+08:00

A campaign for Opel's diesel engine cars; the headline saying "Opel Diesel. Tested on environment". I'm not sure which country this campaign is made for. From what I could make out of the headline it could very well be for German.

But something doesn't really sit right with me on this one. If you take away the headline, what sort of message will it convey to the audience? Nature as their test lab? What happens to nature when they do that? And that bird? It's there, sitting pretty on that skinny branch being a crash test dummy.

No matter how much I like the execution, the message doesn't get through clear enough with that headline if, by any measure is the correct translation. If it was me, I'd use this headline instead: "Opel Diesel. Minimum impact on nature".

Great shade of yellow on the bird though.

Credits:
McCann Erikson

Nice font, but I prefer a german car

2006-04-18T18:40:00.000+08:00

Sweet treatment. I like the choice of font used on this. It looks like a variant of Trebuchet. But I could be wrong. And I would buy a Chevrolet. But what has happened to Opel in Malaysia? Did they change the name from Opel to Chevrolet because Opel sounds like the go to car for cabs? What's wrong with it being cabs? Did they change it due to some sort of licensing rights? Because if I had the dough, I'd buy either a swedish or a german car. A certain german car. Not that it's related to this post because initially I wanted to talk about the choice of font used on the ad, but I prefer a german branded car over an american branded one.

Credits:
Leo Burnett, Budapest

Update Tuesdays!

2006-04-18T16:02:00.000+08:00

I don't know if should elect Tuesday as the day I post weekly updates on my blog...

But here are some ups and downs for the day.

Down(s)
In light of the recent debacle surrounding the concern of a one or two denizens of the moral highground as proper viwership or censorhip, here's a comment by a former colleague, airing her views eloquently. I was first alerted of the news this morning and I found it, to be...rather unsurprising. I, however agree, that to each their own. That said, I feel that some folks should find a way to keep themselves from fidgeting everytime they see a film that features some nudity; if it's hardcore porn, I would understand - it's supposed to be lewd because the nature of such films is to make you take your kit off and act like animals in your bedroom, living room or the kitchen. In short, pure uninhibited carnal pleasure. Or perhaps, these viewers ought to do some research beforehand so at the very least they know what to expect from the film they're about to watch, that's one way off the top of my head. But why make a fuss out of this? Why is this important? Because the opportunity to view art films (shocking or otherwise) in a crowd of adults or art lovers isn't available elsewhere in this country. Unless you're a fan of a Yusoff Haslam bore and you like to give yourself a lobotomy afterwards, then be my guest. If not, then make with the research.

Here's some porn. Action figure porn.

Some more over here.

Ups
Here's a couple of print ads from a year ago. Sweet stuff. I think it won an award for best outdoor or something. If they didn't win, then they should have.

Credits:
O&M, Santiago

Stacks on fun

2006-04-17T15:15:00.000+08:00

How do I do it? How do I correctly pile the tons of abhorence for my prosaic self and fall for this magnificent piece of print advertising for Jeep? I don't know where to begin but I hate myself in 10 different ways. This is soooo good.

Credits:
Giovanni FCB, Sao Paulo

Stone crazy

2006-04-17T10:06:00.000+08:00

Timely and timeless. Sweet stuff this. Makes you wish you were as imaginative as these creatives (note to self: Less self-loathing comments, please.) If you still can't recognize the image, that son, is the Stonehenge - an ancient stone circle built by a race called Druids, if I'm not mistaken (I love that sound, "a race called Druids..." - it makes me feel...all theological & archeological inside). Here's the link if you're so inclined to find out more about it.

Credits:
Fabiano Bomfim (Art Director)
Augusto Barata (Copywriter)
Photo by Jarbas.

Stuff to impress the Boss during your next meeting

2006-04-06T19:58:00.000+08:00

Do you work in publishing, do you write stories for a magazine to be specific? Here's a link I found while not being particularly productive today (it's that migraine!): People in publishing discussing about the state of magazine publishing in the US.

p/s Sorry, no pictures for today's update. I'm too lazy to find that bullet-riddled mag image they used in a certain campaign featured in Lurzers Archive.

Does that work?

2006-04-05T19:48:00.000+08:00

Looks like a scene from "3 Kings" with its burning oil field in the middle of a desert and a 22 year old boy from Kansas holding a rifle, pissing in his pants. Does this remind you of any recent war, umm..
where the biggest country in the world thinks it ought to try to save a smaller country from itself? Does it get any more megalomaniacal than that?
Some persons are of the opinion that I should not, ought not, discuss advertising nor should I mention aloud the very word because I have not the know how or understanding of its sophisticated techniques, i.e. I have no academic training in said field of vocation.

Well, maybe I don't, maybe I do. Anyway (never use anyways or no worries, it is a dialectal variant of which, I strongly suspect you have no relation to - and it is colloquial - meaning, never use it in a speech, in your case formal or otherwise unless, a) you practice Cockney English like it's nobody's business, b) you're English, c) you're an Aussie or d) you're an annoying prick [ed: Those two words eat me up like "tau takpe" kills Imran everytime he hears it] I found this print ad today at Coloribus and it made me wonder what those kids over at JWT Taiwan were smoking when they came up with this piece. Is this supposed to be funny or shocking, because if this is supposed to be shocking, it sure feels cheap. And it's not funny. On the other hand, is war supposed to be funny even? I'm not sure if this would help sell a camera.

A female boss, a male staff, Chlamydia & a murder

2006-03-30T10:36:00.000+08:00

Here's something that I found in my inbox today; a Guy Ritchie-like treatment of a TV spot - complete with that familiar music to one his famous gangster film, (no no, not that one with Madonna in it, that one he made after he was forced by Madonna-loving gangsters, there's a subtle difference), fast cuts and references to uninhibited sex in the mail room and murder. Tea, budak baik? No sugar, please. I'm sweet enough.

I warned you about karma, didn't I?

2006-03-29T16:23:00.001+08:00

I smiled twice today. The first time, nope I'm not telling you, Imran. But I'll indulge you with the second one. The United Nations' eternally hibernating creative mammoth snored a little in its anti-racism campaign that managed to offend Denmark, the nation whose collective political mouth was seen drooling from their incessant speech about freedom of speech while systematically raping another man's creed, and this should be noted for eternity, their unswerving refusal to offer an apology for their obvious misdeeds even after a group of religious leaders invited them for a meeting to discuss the incident. How pedestrian. Read more here.

Karma indeedy.

Coincidence or stellar example of insight by a certain genius?

2006-03-29T11:12:00.000+08:00

No, I'm not a genius. Far from smart. I mean, c'mon. Some blonde chick in a very short skirt called me stupid once and laughed at my being a college drop out. A blonde, dammit. But she's a blonde, so I'll let her off easy. I don't want to hurt her feelings. I can imagine how difficult it is being a blonde and all. If it was some dude, I would just cast him as trying too hard to be likeable. And then he would apologize profusely like that whiny case from "Shattered Glass" because he knows that I could bust his ass wide open if I wanted to but I'd say, it's ok, don't be sorry, it happens because y'know, I read Sun Tzu since I was 16 or something. But since I have your attention, here's something for your imagination:
Doesn't that look an iPod to you?

Found this in my inbox today. It's a picture of a mountain range that has an uncanny resemblance to a human face. Let's call her Mother Earth. Note the 'earpiece' hanging out at where the ear is supposed to be, right there.
Hmm...I wonder if what she has on her playlist. LOL.

So there you have it. From what I hear, the first picture could be from an upcoming campaign or celebration for Apple's 30th anniversary this April. But I'm not sure about the second one though, but if that's nature, then I sleep well at night thinking that Mother Earth trusts the same designers as I do. Heheh.

Musical landmarks & reminders

2006-03-27T00:16:00.000+08:00

From what I understand, "Elizabethtown" has not been received well by neither critics nor fans; some people are taking sides, in which I think is great. We could be in for many heated arguments.

But if it's a Cameron Crowe movie, there's always some great music to be found.

Here's where Cameron Crowe talks about how the music actually wrote "Elizabethtown".

For the music lover:
Ever wonder why, some of your CDs are loud and some are curiously soft? How some albums that you expect to be good but just lacks something (also referred to as clarity and emotional punch) it's supposed to be doing to you? Here's the answer: Dynamic range. A must read for the discerning listener.

And as for the book, it's just a note to myself. That's all. Thankya verra much!

Leech-a off-a Myspace-a

2006-03-26T12:06:00.000+08:00

So, you like music AND Myspace? Both, at the same time? Oh. Okay. I'll try to keep my honest opinions to myself (coughcoughtrailertrashcoughcough). Just kidding. Here's a way to for you to hack into Myspace and download the music you've been streaming from that page. And the saddest part is, I don't know why I'm doing this for you *sigh*.

You can keep your fez on

2006-03-25T19:20:00.000+08:00

"With each successive album, Steely Dan's popular success and appeal become more obscured by sundry admirers' claims of abstruseness and complexity. To some it seems inevitable that the Dan will eventually produce the Finnegan's Wake of rock. And that's silly: Steely Dan is trying just as hard as any random country/disco/metal band to capture our attention, i.e., sell records. For all their jazzy influences, they are a florid rock band, immersed in popular concerns and styles. True, songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen bow to no one in the matter of composing immaculate, catchy cul-de-sacs, but it is that same immaculateness, the way with words, as impenetrable as they may appear, fit with metrical seamlessness into the melodies that makes their impenetrability of little importance to any casual listener caught up in the sound of the entire song."

The review(s) that captured the musical essence of the Dan. You will click here, Luke.

New Pearl Jam album, album cover

2006-03-24T10:50:00.000+08:00

Update! Various sources (numerous blogs, Amazon and some say, even on the J Record website) have been displaying and touting this image as the official cover of the latest album by Pearl Jam. There has been no word or official statement by anyone in the band thus far, evidently keeping the news lid on tight till the 2nd of May, the official date for the release.

From their official site.

The show must go on

2006-03-22T23:35:00.000+08:00

Finally! It's working again. Just now blogger refused to publish my update on "Sunday scribble"; it didn't cite what my mistake was or offer any feedback (or even an apology). *sigh*

This is the album cover of the 30th anniversary edition of Dark Side of the Moon. Lovely. I like that word.

If you don't like it, what's your problem, Dorkus?! Go eat some poisonous pink mushrooms in some bush somewhere where it's 5 o'clock and the cannibals can't see you. I mean, even if you don't like the music that I listen to, it doesn't mean we can't be friends. I'm trying way too damn hard.

Edit:
Now, it's not working again. It could be my pc. But I've tried uploading a pix while I was at the office and I still get the same results. Could it be blogger's own fault? Or..that damned streamyx.

If it's caused by streamyx, then I'm not suprised at all. This is what happens when a single company holds a monopoly of an industry: they have no competitors because they control everything. Then they get fat and bloated. We pay 80 bucks a month for a service that doesn't hold up to its promise. Oh wait. Oops. My bad. They never did promise much. A friend of mine who's living in Japan gets an actual 10mbps at home, easily. At home. Want to know how fast their corporate line is? 100mbps. Actual. I don't care if that friend/acquiantance is lying about this because this fact still rings true: we have a brokeback-mountain-lousy connection. Some you may disagree with me. That we can't compare our country with a more developed one because it doesn't give us a comparative advantage. But if don't compare ourselves with a nation far more superior, how do we hope to improve and achieve the same level exactly? Love me or hate me, we both know that in this matter, I'm right.

All of the 2 million subscribers are asking for other telcos to offer us better options. But they can't do anything significant because the infrastructure belongs to the damned company owned by the powers that be. Previously owned by them, I think they're privatized now. I could be wrong. But for God sakes, Japan was nuked 60 years ago.

Sunday scribble

2006-03-19T12:31:00.000+08:00

It's sunday and I haven't been blogging for several days due to work and due to personal reasons that I will not divulge here, my imaginary readers. Funny how, at one time, I wasn't bothered by this at all. And now, I'm compelled to finding reasons to blog. I can't see the sun outside; it looks as if it's going to rain any minute now but it has been that dark since I woke up hours ago. Had my morning fag in the bathroom while reading Guitar World's May issue. Specifically the interviews with Dave Gilmour & Roger Waters. I'm just one of the millions dreaming of watching/attending the reunion concert where they would play Dark Side of The Moon in its entirety for the first time in 30 years. Which reminds me, I should go out and get their 30th anniversary SACD edition of that particular album; stunning clarity, but it ends there because you need to have an SACD player to enjoy the latest version properly. I don't have an SACD player either but I'm buying the CD anyway; the redesigned cover speaks to me, no pun intended.

Right. I'm off. The net's upstream at home is excruciatingly slow and the images I've uploaded are mysteriously missing. Usually, things like this gets me upset and I should be but I'm not. Hmm..this is something new : )

Edit:
This is the album cover. It was released three years ago. I know I'm a little late for the party, but you know..better late than never!

Tried to upload several images for this post tonight but to no avail. Blogger refused the upload from my home PC. I'll try again today.

~~2nd edit:~~
~~Finally, uploaded the album cover. Lovely. That's~~ ~~the word. They say, Storm Thorgerson is the 5th Floyd (or 6th, if you're going to be anal about it).~~

Try!

2006-03-12T14:04:00.000+08:00

Where do I begin. How does it get to the middle. What happens after the middle. The journey to the middle, as uttered by Lester Bangs in "Almost Famous" isn't half as bad as it appear to to be. It's like building a pyramid. You've got to chisel it inch by inch, block by block. The dirt comingling with blood, sweat and tears. Some don't want to know that. They only want to know that it's all done and pre-arranged for them; a shortcut, an easy way out. Some do. I'm not making any sense.

Soundtrack provided by the John Mayer Trio.

Friday Funnies

2006-03-10T00:31:00.000+08:00

Great. It's already Friday. I probably should be in love, should I, Kitty? Heheh. Anyway, this is the first of many, many funny post of the week that I'll be posting the links to, every other Friday. Previously, it was Vovin's (all of 'em champ! Vovin is good like Dave Chapelle meet Mike Myers, you know - Masnawi).

The best self-deprecating humor I've read all week.

Pearl Jam's latest

2006-03-09T14:41:00.000+08:00

We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news on Pearl Jam. The biggest rock band in the history of modern rock has leaked their latest single (sic), called "World Wide Suicide" on the internet. We may have screwed up that previous sentence due to our lack of talent, but what we lack in talent we make up on passion. Google it, kitty. Oh yes.

This is either the singles cover or the album's; I'm not sure yet.

But here's their latest track list according to stereogum:
"Life Wasted"
"World Wide Suicide"
"Comatose"
"Severed Hand"
"Marker in the Sand"
"Parachutes"
"Unemployable"
"Big Wave"
"Gone"
"Wasted Reprise"
"Army Reserve"
"Come Back"
"Inside Job"

Wanna know a litle secret?

2006-03-08T14:36:00.000+08:00

Found a blog full (a blogful?) of secrets. Here's how it works: you send in a homemade postcard with your secret (whatever it is) and everyone's welcomed to, to the blog. And if they think it fits, they'll include it in their post. I think it's a great, no scratch that - a swell idea to let it all out. I mean, it's like that time I saw my cousin kissing his kid sister when we were 5 and had his hand up her skirt. They did it because their father, who's horny like like a rhinoceros told them to. I still cry at night just thinking about it. Just kidding. I don't have an uncle. Go here if you like secrets.

Want some chocolate covered pretzel?

Blogger love monkey short time.

2006-03-08T01:05:00.000+08:00

This blog is a mess. The font rendering is a disaster. Some post have mixed fonts, not by design, mind you. Others look fine if you go through the archive. The current page makes me look like I'm one of those people who doesn't care about what they put into the world.

I would't complain if it was human error (would you go berserk if it was your own fault that the fonts are a mess? I didn't think so). In both preview & publishing mode, the font looks great in 12pt; in actual looks like its a 14pt. Some posts have mixed fonts from trebuchet to arial and some have a mix of both or more! I've been looking at the codes and did some tweaking here and there but, it's not making any sense because I'm getting mixed rendering.

This is almost an adventure on its own. Who would've thought that writing a post for a blog would be this difficult. Everytime I saved an tweak and republish, I religiously, religously, check in 3 browsers (IE, Firefox 1.5 and Opera 8.51). Hey Steve, I need some assistance in displaying proportionally spaced fonts! I apologize if any of you are having a hard time reading this post. You'd be 10 times as pissed if you were me.

Edit:
I'm going to redo everything this weekend. Wish me luck. I'm HTML challenged.

Somewhere In Time.

2006-03-07T10:42:00.000+08:00

The years between 1996 and 2002 were the dream years for me. I had graduated from high school. I had no idea whatsoever as to which academic direction I ought to take to have some guarantee that I won't be a cautionary tale and bring home the proverbial phat cash. I tried to capitalize on what some people interpret as "decent english", next thing I know, my application for a law course at a public college but was rejected. It instead came up with a counteroffer: Mass communication. Unlike everyone else who are massively talented and were given a map at birth, I didn't know what to do and I wasn't receiving any offer letters. And I didn't say yes to that counteroffer either. Fast forward to a month later, I'm enrolled in a private college. A very expensive one that was about to drain huge sums of money off my elder brother. I was in a big city and life, spent as kampung boy was about to change.

It was an era where dotcoms were flourishing at the rate proportionate to the amount of sex our next door neighbors were having in the middle of their apartment at 2 am, perfectly audible but more importantly, visible to us. So in between being occupied with our generous neighbors, attending classes and buying VCDs downstairs where they were printing them, we were thinking up ways (well, that's planning for a bunch of 18 year olds like us) to become the next tech entrepreneur. The dudes in black t-shirts and khakis and sneakers/docs, flying the pirate flag high and proud; adapting a pseudo-slacker culture because we were going to be rich by being tech mongers, a collective middle finger for the establishment; a connoisseur among the digerati.

We were reading Red Herring, Time, Fortune and Wired to sate our lust for tech news and geek profiles. Mentally masturbating over the amout of cash the dotcom biggies were making at startup, reading with great interest about their stock split adjustments, Initial Public Offering & Return of Investment ratios while ignoring everything that was happening around us. A few of my friends pored over computer codes like it was porn. All that transpired between the years 1996 and 2002. Maybe someday I'll be able to dream again. Right now, I have work to do.

Post inspired by: Why Wired Isn't Cool Anymore & this.

Macbook porn!

2006-03-05T14:13:00.000+08:00

Want more? Go here. Tell Jason I sent ya.

Plus, I found a site that features a comparison between the OS X and XP; from login to windows behaviour to applications to hardware, you'll find it all there. Clearly underlining which is the more superior operating system. Now, make with the OS!

What would Tyler Durden do?

2006-03-05T11:39:00.000+08:00

Arghhh. Firefox seem to crash everytime I view the Friendster pages (I know, I know it's not as hip as Myspace but I'm not a hip person...figures. Besides, I signed up because my nephews asked me to), must be a scripting hoohaa because last night I had nearly 20 tabs running on the 'fox - saturated with images and videos and I had iTunes and Photoshop CS8 on at the time.

So after months of delays and hiatuses, transit is going again (Okay, I was inspired by a certain girl, but haven't you seen "Troy"? C'mon. You know I look good in a man-skirt.). First item on the agenda: the layout. Changed the template. Added some HTML code, amended some (I'm good at this like I know How To Meet the Ladies) and then saved the template changes. Then I went to bed; woke up at 6 in the a.m remembering that I didn't publish the damned thing.

Download misery and assorted love stories

2006-03-04T10:17:00.000+08:00

I spent the night scouring the net for mp3s and downloaded nothing because I couldn't find anything that was interesting enough to download. That is until found a link for a 320 bitrate, completely ripped Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Couldn't Stand The Weather"; one of his standout efforts. I was "the plane, the plane" ecstatic (note to self: Stop mixing metaphors with midgets). "This is better than sex", I thought. Hell yes, it's that good. That follow up album to "Texas Flood" was a surprise because I thought 'Flood couldn't be bettered. Boy, was I wrong.

If I had to buy this album just to get a single track, it'd be "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)". One of the best versions (I'm tempted to say that it's better than the original version of 'Chile, but that would be blasphemy) I've ever heard. A few years after SRV's untimely demise, untimely because he was getting better at jazzing up his raw blues, the only guitar player who mastered the song was Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Sends chills up and down your spine just listening to that boy play Voodoo Chile. And if you close your eyes you could *almost* see SRV and Hendrix nodding in agreement that the music world is safe in the hands of the phenom.

If I was the Sultan of Johor or Perak or Pahang, living royally off of the rakyat, I could buy the whole SRV back catalogue and give a royal middle finger to the fat bastard in college who gave away my entire CD collection (that includes a rare "Jimi Hendrix: Blues" CD, easily his finest blues fretboard work) because I had left the house a couple of months before, trying to find work.

Anyway, I'm downloading 'Weather and hopefully it goes well because the first time the RAR archive was corrupted and I lost everything; 6 hours of download down the drain because some fancy pants turned off our proxy at home.
--
Update: Finished downloading 'Weather after 6 hours of waiting (it trickled at 4.1kb/s). But the agony of waiting was further compounded when WINRAR crashed the archive, citing header error. A couple of months ago, the same thing to a Pearl Jam archive. Consequently giving me a headache and leaving me to curse the day on my lonesome. Then I thought, why not install a newer version of WINRAR?. So, off I went googling the software fix, found the latest version on trial basis, installed it and everything is now working again. Man, it's goood. Maybe I'll swing by the record store in Subang Parade or Sg. Wang tomorrow since I'll be going to Lowyat to get a another hard drive.

Next project: Installing the Mac Os X on an X86. If everything goes well, I'll be dual booting and switching between XP & the real McCoy. Done with a few headaches and curses, of course. Heheh.

Naive Blogger? Well...

2006-03-03T23:46:00.000+08:00

Found this while doing some research on blogging techniques (Not that I need to know additional techniques on blogging. Every boy and every girl know that I'm an able blogger *LOL*). It seems funny and naive to me that Paul Stamatiou, author of blog central decided to quote a certain Jakob Nielsen to label us blogger dot com users as "naive" and consequently "should not be taken seriously". It's funnier after the "Lost On The Way To Rodeo Drive" episode. This is Mr Stamatiou's "about" page.

Local Celebrity Blogger Found on Google.

2006-03-03T23:25:00.000+08:00

Well, it's official folks. One of our regular blogger can now be found, yes be found, on the second page of Google under the keywords "blogger template". According to a source who asked to remain anonymous, this is what happens when you're the editor of one of the nation's most popular teen entertainment magazine. Uh..congratulations? Heheh.

I Punched Your Girlfriend's Left Eye. And Right Too.

2006-03-03T14:16:00.000+08:00

Just kidding. I asked 7 people today about how they see me as a person. Here are the miserable result of that incident. Brad Pitt banged your girlfriend. I'm sorry.

Arena

(known to self and others)

helpful, observant, quiet, shy

Blind Spot

(known only to others)

calm, clever, complex, confident, friendly, idealistic, ingenious, intelligent, knowledgeable, powerful, proud, relaxed, religious, responsive, searching, self-conscious, sentimental, silly, wise, witty

Façade

(known only to self)

introverted, tense

Unknown

(known to nobody -- this is the good stuff, Hah!)

able, accepting, adaptable, bold, brave, caring, cheerful, dependable, dignified, energetic, extroverted, giving, happy, independent, kind, logical, loving, mature, modest, nervous, organised, patient, reflective, self-assertive, sensible, spontaneous, sympathetic, trustworthy, warm

Dominant Traits

75% of people think that zafer is intelligent (<--- Really? Ohh you're just pulling me legs! Ohh you dog you! C'mere...let me feel the fibre of your fabric.)

62% of people think that zafer is knowledgeable (All I know right now is that next week, the "irritating" crowd are inviting me out to a disco. A Night At the Roxbury. Dear God...what have I said yes to.)

All Percentages

able (0%) accepting (0%) adaptable (0%) bold (0%) brave (0%) calm (12%) caring (0%) cheerful (0%) clever (25%) complex (37%) confident (12%) dependable (0%) dignified (0%) energetic (0%) extroverted (0%) friendly (25%) giving (0%) happy (0%) helpful (12%) idealistic (37%) independent (0%) ingenious (12%) intelligent (75%) introverted (0%) kind (0%) knowledgeable (62%) logical (0%) loving (0%) mature (0%) modest (0%) nervous (0%) observant (25%) organised (0%) patient (0%) powerful (12%) proud (12%) quiet (12%) reflective (0%) relaxed (12%) religious (12%) responsive (12%) searching (12%) self-assertive (0%) self-conscious (25%) sensible (0%) sentimental (37%) shy (25%) silly (25%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (0%) tense (0%) trustworthy (0%) warm (0%) wise (12%) witty (37%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 3.3.2006, using data from 8 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view zafer's full data.

Happenstance

2006-03-02T21:55:00.000+08:00

I tell myself everyday I should blog more often. You know, I should flex my writing muscles more so I wouldn't freeze in front of the screen and be more inarticulate than usual. But I also tell myself that I should blog about something that I feel close to home. When I have something personal to say. Well, tonight, if you're reading this - then I'm sorry but you have to bear with me on this trip down memory lane. It started when I get on the train.

As usual, I take the train home nightly at around 8 or a little over 8. It's my favorite time of day because when I reach home it's neither too early nor too late; plus I know I wouldn't find myself wrecking my head trying to come up with something to do before I hit the bed. So I got on the train near the office and to get to KLSentral. And I wait for a few minutes for the train to come and I get to go home and do whatever it is that I do nightly such as, updating the iPod or downloading things from it onto the PC.

After a few minutes of waiting in anxiety, the train arrives and I got onboard and looked around for a place to sit. After a few seconds, I found a empty seat next to a girl. It faced the back of the train and I had the isle to myself to stare at. I saw a woman who looks like she's in her mid-twenties in a short black skirt. I was tempted to look her way because, you know, that's how upskirts pictures are done. Heh. But I didn't. I didn't know why. Usually I relish the chance when this sort of opportunity presented itself to me. Tonight I said no to myself.

After a few minutes of sitting and waiting to get home, I saw her. I could see her through the window at the back of the connecting car. I couldn't believe my eyes because she was sort of staring right back at me. This, ladies and gentlemen doesn't happen often enough. Normally, girls look away as if I'm a leper and they'd run away when they see me coming. Or both.

Otherwise, I'd feel like Nazri: Walking on air most of the time and grinning like an idiot because he had found the girl. You lucky prick you.

She was looking my way and I found myself stuck in her gaze. I couldn't look elsewhere. I didn't know what to do. I froze. I fumbled around with the iPod checking what song Neil Young (thanks for lending me the CD, Nina!) was playing at the time; turning it up a little louder to drown the sound of the moving train. She was looking rather comfortable in her white baju kurung and quietly I said to myself, "What kind of school girl goes back at 9? What sort of school would do that to a child? It's insane." I was increasingly dreading the thought of staring at a school girl. With all the respect a person could muster for people like Nazri or the Bart who gets their rocks off staring at barely legal, young girls in flimsy school uniforms, I know I'm not that type. Surely, I'm a little different. Not better, just different. A man has to have principles, you know.

So the train rides the slightly bumpy rails that slithers ever so gracefully. Like a Japanese woman in a kimono, all grace and respect. I was looking around and I realise that she was staring back at me. I know this. I know because when the train rides the turns in the railway, our cars are out of sync and she adjusts herself a little so we wouldn't lose eye contact. I love it when she does that. We stared at each other, smiling, embarassed, because we know that we're were caught staring at each other. She gets it. For me, it was an instant death. Thank you, God.

She wears her hair neck length. A neat bob. No bangs and at the time, some of it was covering her face. Her skin is brown and she has soft facial features. From where I was sitting, I could see her cute nose and thin, friendly lips. We smiled at each other because it was silly being locked in a staring contest for close to 20 minutes. Tell me, what else can a man do when he has a cute girl staring back at him on a train at 9 p.m? I was praying to God that the train ride would last forever. Or atleast, until she get off at Shah Alam and I walk right up to her, say hello and introduce myself.

Right. Introduce myself and make her puke all over the tiles at the train station. I would never have that sort of courage. Not in a million years. Not even when pigs fly.

Minutes later, she got off at Subang (would somebody please tell me, how on earth does Subang get such unearthly amount of beautiful girls?!) I was more nervous now than before because she's gotten off the train and I couldn't see her for the last time as she walks towards the gate because the windows weren't girl-friendly. And all I know is that she's medium built. Stands a little taller than Aliya or Opie. And most importantly, has a sense of humor. Because the last couple of girls that I got to know, had none. Or a particularly flame-retardant one at that.

I wondered, during the rest of the journey home about what it would be like knowing a girl like that. Warm smile. Soft features. White baju kurung. I wondered about what her favorite movies are. Her favorite records, or books that she's read and found interesting. The things that I could learn from her. Your garden variety, schizophrenic, little things like that that made her mine.

And so tonight, I'll be going to bed thanking God for His endless imagination. After that, maybe I'll doze off wondering if I see her again tomorrow.

A prelude to a another preemptive strike, perhaps?

2005-09-29T14:16:00.000+08:00

American Claims Hurricane Katrina A Yakuza Act
American TV weather forecaster Scott Stephens claims his research leads him to believe The Japanese mafia could have generated Hurricane Katrina which ravaged the US gulf coast region 3 weeks ago. The motive is revenge for the American atomic bombing of Japan 60 years ago. This could have been done utilizing weather modification equipment procured from the USSR, a technology which was perfected in in the 1970's. The KPVI forecaster claims the cloud form of the storm was unatural leading him to consider the artificial origin. Stephens has been interviewed around 40 times on American radio regarding his theory as well as granting interviews in the Japanese press.

source: http://www.animenewsservice.com/

Yakuza? A weather version of WMD that they miserably failed to find in the Middle East? Aww... c'mon America, you can do better than this. Turn this into a movie and not on the homes of innocent millions. And W, frankly we're all a little too tired of watching your sorry ass speeches & diatribes.

Separating the wheat from the chaff

2005-09-23T05:51:00.000+08:00

Got this bit of news from Roy (see my links section) today.
If you're a blogger or contemplating to become one, then you should be reading this little netizen nugget.

It's basically a list of the dos and don'ts in the world of blogging & as well as a PDF.

Scary thought of the day!

2005-09-21T07:38:00.000+08:00

Somebody took a picture of a dust bin wrapped with a blue garbage plastic bag; this is the resulting picture.

It's scary to think that this could happen when (not if!) the fans start to include him in their sexual fantasies. On the other hand, this could be an ad for a condom. Take your pick. (Personally, I'd call it, "Swirl"; an alliteration of the word 'world' or 'whirl' etc, etc.)

Feel like a midget? Get a load of this!

2005-09-20T16:07:00.000+08:00

Really tempted to use the phrase "eye of the storm" or "shit storm" somewhere in this post. So there (did you know that I always wanted to be a storm chaser? What you don't know about me I could just fill the Grand Canyon). God, I love a good storm.

That sideways trip was... trippy?

2005-09-20T14:55:00.000+08:00

Finally. After months of being sidetracked by work & personal shiite.. Now I can write again. First I have to think of something to write (which posed as much a problem for me as having an anus on your elbow, left or right, it doesn't matter). Andddd.. I just discovered today that I can instantly upload pictures without going through the hassle of registration and configuring the hosting server URLs on this blog. I'm going to go nuts over this neat feature. Upcoming purchase: A digital camera made in Cheapistan!

Feature art: "Lover" by Mary Frank (thanks Nina!).

"I have to tell you something..."

2005-04-23T08:54:00.000+08:00

The longest, most moving, utterly endearing confession I've ever heard or seen on screen. From the movie "Chasing Amy", by Kevin Smith. The scene is an int. of a FWD, Affleck was behind the wheel driving in the rain, Adams was the co-pilot; Affleck abruptly pulls over to spill his heart's contents. Enjoy.

"I love you. And not, not in a friendly way, although I think we're great friends. And not in a misplaced affection, puppy-dog way, although I'm sure that's what you'll call it. I love you. Very, very simple, very truly. You are the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being. And I know that you think of me as just a friend, and crossing that line is the furthest thing from an option you would ever consider. But I had to say it. I just, I can't take this anymore. I can't stand next to you without wanting to hold you. I can't, I can't look into your eyes without feeling that, that longing you only read about in trashy romance novels. I can't talk to you without wanting to express my love for everything you are. And I know this will probably queer our friendship - no pun intended - but I had to say it, because I've never felt this way before, and I don't care. I like who I am because of it. And if bringing this to light means we can't hang out anymore, then that hurts me. But God, I just, I couldn't allow another day to go by without just getting it out there, regardless of the outcome, which by the look on your face is to be the inevitable shoot-down. And, you know, I'll accept that. But I know... I know that some part of you is hesitating for a moment, and if there is a moment of hesitation, then that means you feel something too. All I ask, please, is that you just, you just not dismiss that - and try to dwell in it for just ten seconds. Alyssa, there isn't another soul on this fucking planet who has ever made me half the person I am when I'm with you, and I would risk this friendship for the chance to take it to the next plateau. Because it is there between you and me. You can't deny that. Even if, you know, even if we never talk again after tonight, please know that I'm forever changed because of who you are and what you've meant to me, which - while I do appreciate it - I'd never need a painting of birds bought at a diner to remind me of."

Now THAT, my friend, is a shared moment.

This is the movie.

This is Kevin Smith, the scribe behind the monologue that you so expertly avoided.

And this is my way of saying "I'm sorry" because, apparently, we're not on talking terms anymore. It's difficult to call you and my sms-es are always ignored. I'm sorry.

I know this much is true.

2005-04-06T21:36:00.000+08:00

*Laughs* Some of this is spot on. Some are far fetched especially the "spendthrift" part. Damn.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Showing anger easily. Dislike unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizing dreams and hopes. Sharp.. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Learns to show emotions.

Sepet: An Eye-opening Experience

2005-04-04T10:52:00.000+08:00

Let me tell you this straight off: I saw Sepet last night. And it is a lot like what I expected from Yasmin Ahmad - designed to be evenly paced, points driven through the dialogue and visuals, (just a tad) idealized view of the world but it's perfect for today's social climate. Some of my friends love it, some despise it, some doesn't know what to do with it because they don't understand the symbolism or concepts and whatnots thrown into the mix. Nevermind my friends, I love them still. Oh, I heard this from a housemate today, just moments before I lay across the floor in front of the TV, "Some writer wrote in Utusan today that Sepet disrespected Bahasa Melayu for mixing it with English and Cantonese." Or something to that effect. Nice, I thought. Some hack just had to question that. I won't say a lot. My only comment is that the language used in the film is fine, it's not sickening to hear nor does it come off as pretentious. Language is a treasure when it means something to the receiver. Else, it's called "trash talk". Period.

Sepet it is a love story well as well as a social critique. And just like thousands of audiences who have watched it, I just want to say, "Congratulations".

A Song To Scream My Lungs Out 'Till It Fills This Room

2005-03-31T11:13:00.000+08:00

Hail, Hail - Pearl Jam (taken off 'Rearview')

Ah, is there room for both of us
Both of us apart
Are we bound out of obligation
Is that all we’ve got?

I get the words and then I get to thinkin’
I don’t wanna think, I wanna feel
How do I feel?
How do I?

If you’re the only one will I never be enough, yeah
Hail, hail the lucky ones
I refer to those in love, yeah

Oh, how I’d love ya till the day I die... and beyond
Are we goin’ to the same place?
If so can I come?
It’s egg rollin’ , thick and heavy
All, the past we carry
Oh, I could be new
You under-estimate me

If you’re the only one will I never be enough, yeah
Hail, hail the lucky ones
I refer to those in love, yeah

I sometimes realize...i could only be as good as you’ll let me
Are you woman enough to be my man?
Bandaged hand in hand.

Black lining,
On the run, in a race that can’t be won, yeah

Oh, hail, hail the lucky ones
I refer to those in love, yeah

If you’re my only one
So good, you, only one
I want to be your one
Enough, you won, your one, your one

-- I guess there's something in this for all of us. This is the band.

"Are you like this in real life?"

2005-03-29T09:39:00.000+08:00

The correct answer to that question is: Sometimes. Most of the time, I'm a bubbly, charming-the-paints-offa-wall, kind of guy. The type that doesn't get the girl or gets the wrong one. I need to lay off the sauce. The past three posts were about girls. I can talk about advertising, but that would be a major bore. The man behind the talk, agrees with the girl.

The Phant'sy.

2005-03-29T09:34:00.000+08:00

Time: Ten to eight or thereabouts. Location: Onboard a moving train, Klang-bound. It's wets, cold, really cold since the Equinox. I'm sitting adjacent to a Malay woman that I saw minutes ago before the train came. She's medium built, small breasts, wearing a red t-shirt with a Chinese letter printed on the chest and paired with a matte black cargo pants. She's wearing the most unassuming sandals I've ever seen on such a stunning woman. There's a pair of sunglasses perched firmly on top of her treated black hair (I question her taste in hair color: Honey, shoulder lenght black hair looks awesome on you, trust me. And take off those shades, the sun's already set, it's dark and I can't see you).

Since I'm sitting close to her and her gwailo boyfriend (I'm assuming he's the boyfriend since he seem to have been granted access to her knee and thigh and keeps caressing her knee with authority, lucky man, I geddit.) Her phone rings silently and she fumbles with her hand bag that slung low and now it's resting on her lap, finds her Nokia and speaks in Malay; fluently and peppers her conversation with "umms" & "aahs"; it ends a few seconds later.

From what I can hear, her voice reminds me of the girl from The Cardigans and she speaks in hushed notes, must be a private person. Her brown skin is clear and her lips are naked without lip gloss, full and inviting. And she has deep penetrating eyes. I like that. I really like that. This update is almost masturbatory. I like this too. But she's not beautiful. She's attractive, the type that drives me up the walls everytime I see one. She notices that I'm reading a book (Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes", have you read that? If you haven't, then you should be). From the corner of my eye, I saw her staring at the cover of the book, trying to make out the words that form the title. After about 3 seconds, her must have emerged victorious and looked away.

Minutes later we arrive at Subang and she and her gwailo boyfriend alights from the train. I wonder if that's the last time I'm going to see her. I'm pretty confident that I'd freeze like a dear in headlights if I do see her again. She belongs in my fantasy, just like the others before her. I'm not looking for answers, I'm just throwing the question out into the void. Good night, void.

My heart has gone south.

2005-03-29T09:27:00.000+08:00

This was supposed to be posted a couple of weeks ago but I've been swamped with work (read: lazy) and this gets shelved. Okay. Let's call her Amelie, shall we? So, Amelie, in one of our rare Yahoo Messenger conversation asked me for some help on behalf of her blacked out writer friend who, apparently had 15 minutes to prep for a meeting with his Creative Director regarding the Buttercup print ad. I said, I don't know if I could do this stuff for real, she just said, shoot Zafer and that's all it took: Shoot Zafer. Off I went racking my brains for a few minutes (I was in the middle of deadline rush, so bear with me) and I came up with this cliche of a headline: "Spreadable delight" with a the viz of a 5 year old kid with curly brown hair (it needs to be brown since Buttercups are, yellowish-butterish color, brown is excellent for contrast).

She said it's nice (read: you dumb, talentless-washed-up-has-been fuck, well I can't be a has-been if I'm a never-was) and resumed her conversation with her previously-blacked-out-now-rescued copywriter friend. A few hours later, she told me, "Hey, guess what..they like the headline but it's changed a bit, to 'Spreading delight' and the viz is the headline written in butter". Yay. Bravo. Not even a thank you. Fine with me. You see, she has this thing where she likes to jump off the page, never to been seen again on the same topic. She does that regularly and that makes it a pain for me to deal with since I don't know what to do to get her on the same page again. And for that inability, she thinks I'm lame. Very lame. Fine. But there's something about her that irks me to no end, I think she's a liar. The whole thing was made for some purpose. I can't tell a lie from the truth, I'm that slow. But that's what my gut is telling me: She lies and she can't help herself from doing it. "Ey Mikey... I think she likes it." You like it when she lies to you too, huh?

What's the hal with the title la?

2005-02-26T18:48:00.000+08:00

Well, I wanted something easy for the URL but blogger dude just don't seem to have what I was looking for. The last resort was to Google a few choice words that's catchy and easy to remember (Okay, it's not easy to remember).

Here's the explanation to the URL mystery. But if you can't view that, here's the meaning, just so you know that I'm not a cunning linguist:

"Transitus Fluvii is a Hebrew-derived alphabet created by mystics,
alchemists, and secret societies during the Middle Ages. It was used to
conjure spells, create amulets and as a code to avoid religious
persecution."

There. Told 'ya. I couldn't come up with that even if my life depended on it.
Now, what does that got anything to do with the title, I don't know yet. But I know I'm going to find out. Soon.

"Whoa."

2005-02-26T17:32:00.000+08:00

I'm sure Keanu Reeves would say the same thing if he has a blog of his own (Does he?). I sighed a lungful of relief just seconds ago after successfully registering the url for this. Didn't have a clue as to how difficult it could be to a newbie to register one of this. Had to ask a couple of friends of mine (It's not in my nature to ask for directions since, well, I like to discover things on my own. But, when one is totally clueless, one must must seek answers from wise men.

I must admit that it took me a year to publish all this since, well, they're my thoughts and being as embarassed as a 7 year old who'd just wet his pants I thought, "Man, that happened 20 years ago. You know taking the first step is the hardest. But once the ball's rolling, it's gonna be fine". So now, I've got pants around my ankle. In public, no less.

Okay let's start this. One of the things that I wanted to write about was a recent major purchace: A 40GB iPod. I was going to write paragraph after paragraph of it, you know, singing praises for Apple. Then, seconds later, this happened while surfing at work, I found this quote:

It's immature to get too attached to an idea. - Alex Bogusky, Crispin Porter + Bogusky

Let it go, I thought. You are not what you own. This blog wasn't going to be talking about iPods and other flavors of mp3 players for that matter. This is going to be about me and my thoughts. But still, the iPod is mentioned. But this is my virgin post. Go easy on me. You know, it's difficult the first few rounds. You've been there, haven't you?