Defining "literature"

"Only sick music makes money today." - Friedrich Nietzsche

***

"Its presence in the public consciousness must endure for a long period of time -- genre fiction of any sort generally isn't considered to have any "literary merit" unless it's either 20 - 30 or more years old, or a work by an author who has previous works that have been accorded "literary merit".

That endurance, however, need not be because the work itself is a great story. Both _Frankenstein_ and _Dracula_ are accorded literary status, but neither is really a "great read". Both became much more well-known for the plays (and later, movies) that were based on them than for themselves.

(Indeed, there seems to be a faction of the literary community that believes that the harder a work is to get through, the more "literary" it is. Thus, the literary status granted such things as James Joyce's _Finnegan's Wake_)...

For a work to be taken as "literary", it's a great help for it to have a bad or bittersweet ending, *especially* if it's considered to be a "children's book". (Thus the common canard that "if you want to write a children's book and have it win awards, have the dog die at the end)...

The thing that tends to define "literary" fiction is that it is seen as having meaning beyond the story itself -- that through symbolism and allegory, the story becomes more than *just* the story. Sometimes, the allegory is "read in" after the fact -- for example, Tolkein flatly denied that _The Lord of the Rings_ was meant to be an allegory of the World Wars, but many critics have suggested that it is.

Much "literature" is clearly allegorical -- for example, Orwell's _Animal Farm_ and _1984_. Going back to the works I mentioned at the start, both _Frankenstein_ and _Dracula_ have been considered to be allegories. Those works of "literature" that aren't at least arguably allegorical are still seen as being *about* something beyond the story itself. Going back to _The Lord of the Rings_, without taking it as an allegory of the world wars, it's easy to read it as being about the loss of innocence, represented by the halflings (who are child-like in the beginning in many ways beyond the obvious one of their size) and their homeland."

(from The Gamebook List)

Offended by offence

A: B, C, D, E, I didn’t mean any of my racist or sexist remarks at the meetup. I apologise if you were offended. My brain thinks I shouldn’t say things like that but my insufferable Hainanese genes think otherwise. (I further apologise, and pound fists, if any of you also happen to be Hainanese.)

B: Huh? I'm offended that you think I'm sensitive enough to be offended by you. I demand an apology for your apology now!

Marina Barrage and the Female Anatomy

"No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself." - Thomas Mann

***

It has become popular recently to describe the Marina Barrage as a chee bye/cheebye/vagina.



However, if you look more closely, it's more accurate to say that it's a hymen. Or chastity belt.

Someone asked me if that meant the floods we've been having are like menstruation. I said squirting would be a more accurate analogy.


A more learned opinion than mine:

"Marina Bay is one of the 2 ovaries.
Kallang Basin is the other ovary.
The uterus is the unnamed water space between the proposed gardens by the bay and marina bay golf course.
Marina Barrage is in fact the diaphragm (a physical birth control method), preventing water from flowing in/out of the uterus naturally. (some say this is the reason for the recent floods. if you do not remove the diaphragm when you start menstruating, you will get 'flooded' and experience severe cramps.)

And if you pay attention, the marina barrage marks the end of the uterus (i.e. cervix). There is NO vagina. Just 1 hyperactive ovary with a diaphragm capping the cervix to prevent conception."

Seemingly the duty of a DPP is to press for the maximum sentence possible - regardless of the merits of a case

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain

***

Jail term voided for NS defaulter who left S'pore as baby
22nd July

THE High Court yesterday set aside the jail term given to a national service defaulter and fined him $5,000 instead.

Seow Wei Sin's dodging of his national service obligation stands out as one of the longest periods of default - 23 years - by a Singaporean to have surfaced in the courts. He was born a Singapore citizen, but in 1963, when he was just a year old, his parents moved to a small town in Terengganu, Malaysia, taking him along.

In Malaysia he stayed, and he did not step foot here from the late 1970s. The issue of his national service obligation arose in 2008, when, at age 47, he applied for a Singapore passport.

He returned to Singapore last year and was arrested for failing to fulfil his national service liability by having remained outside Singapore for 23 years without an exit permit.

In March, he pleaded guilty in a district court to one count under the Enlistment Act and was sentenced to 18months' jail. He could have been jailed up to three years.

Both prosecution and defence appealed.

Yesterday, Justice Chao Hick Tin noted that Mr Seow was taken away at age one and had stayed in Malaysia, save for a few visits as a teen. The appeal judge said he did not think a jail term was warranted, considering past cases. He will issue his written judgment later.

Mr Seow's lawyer, Mr Tan Jee Ming, had argued that since a High Court decision in 1993, fines have been meted out to national service defaulters; only those with aggravating factors such as repeat offences or past criminal records have been jailed.

In 2005, pianist Melvyn Tan was fined $3,000 for defaulting in his 28 years away. Controversy arose and Singaporeans called for tougher penalties for those who evaded national service.

In 2006, the Defence Minister reiterated the tough stand against national service defaulters; the maximum fine was raised to $10,000.

Yesterday, Mr Tan argued that the district judge who jailed his client had erred in placing weight on that statement, which came after his client's failure to enlist between May 1978 and August 2001.

Mr Tan said Mr Seow believed his father had taken care of his national service matters.

He noted that Mr Seow was educated, had worked, married and raised his five children in Malaysia and had not gained from any of the Singapore Government's schemes, privileges and incentives.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor Chay Yuen Fatt, pressing for jail time, asked for the term to be brought closer to the maximum three years. He argued that since Mr Seow cannot be called up for national service as he is now over 40, he has effectively evaded it entirely. He noted that the 18 months was still shorter than two years of national service.

Of course, a lot of bitter slaves are saying they'd also pay $5,000 to avoid Slavery - ignoring the fact that the circumstances are very different (in fact, it's ridiculous that he was even convicted in the first place, but then the ilLogic of Slavery is such as it is).

For example, if someone breaks into my home and I shoot him with a gun 5 times and he dies, and I get 1 month's jail for excessive force (assuming that I live in a country where it is legal to possess firearms and legal to defend your home from attack), and someone comes along and says "Oh, I don't mind killing someone if I only get a month in jail".

Naturally, if you killed someone in cold blood you'd get 15-25 years in jail - not 1 month.

Mes avis

Je toujours dis qu'un sein taille A dans le main vaut mieux qu'un sein taille C dans le soutien-gorge.

En plus, ceux qui n'emboitent pas dans la main sont perdus.

u r wt u wr - 22nd July 2010

"It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place." - H. L. Mencken

***

u r wt u wr:

- '*head in side profile* Filling good'
- 'Escape from you!'
- 'Many *pictures of diamonds* many ♥♥♥♥'
- 'Unsettled'
- 'I'm addicted to purity' (11 year old girl)
- 'Goddess me'
- 'Who do you want to unbutton?' (not her)
- 'I'm so lonely' (woman in her late 50s)
- 'It's so hard to be a single'
- 'Super nice girl'
- 'I'm magnificent!'
- 'In love with you'
- 'Let's make out' (she was in her late 40s)
- 'Let's try something else' (she was wearing a headband with cat ears)
- 'Fcuk super babe'
- 'I'm soooo good'
- 'I've been soooo good' (interesting contrast between the present and present perfect)
- '*something* for rent but not for sale'
- 'Sexy is always in trick'
- 'Commencer *repeated many times* S *picture of 2 open palms with lines indicating movement*' (maybe she was asking people to start groping her)
- 'Enormous cock *picture of a cock*'
- 'Have some fun? *2 outstretched hands with soot and blood*'
- 'For very kind and obliging *something* customers'
- 'Gorgeous *dictionary definition*'
- 'Boyz club sports'
- '*Something* I want give some good'
- 'Know why my ego is so big? "Dig" *big arrow pointing downwards'
- 'I'll buy dinner if you promise me 'dessert' *picture of big piece of jelly with cream on it, possibly a creampie*'
- 'Boys'
- 'Delicious story ♥'
- 'I ♥ honey boy *something*'
- 'If you had chosen to ignore you had just chosen to regret'
- 'bizarre must awesome want'
- 'Nice girl' (auntie in her 50s with Gold Hair)
- 'Knock you out' (at first I thought the last word was 'Up')
- 'Your place or mine?'
- '*Something* do what you want'
- 'It's delicious. You need this'
- 'Super Jessie sweetly greatly *some words* sexy'
- 'Little Miss Jailbait'
- 'i will be your happy angel'
- 'Do what you want'
- 'I'm a very clever girl'
- 'Play comme des garçons'
- 'Lets hug'
- 'Get to know yourself *picture of man bending down between his legs and sniffing his ass*'

On the logistical challenges of shower sex

"Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." - Soren Kierkegaard

***

Ed: This post is by special request of @hellovirnnnn and, peripherally, @alexischeong


Me: "Women like having periods. It makes them feel good... It lets them know they're not pregnant"

A: Priceless male perspective. Roflmao.

B:how about "Guys like it when their women have periods. It makes them feel good... It lets them know their women are not pregnant"

Me: But you can't bonk them during their periods hurr hurr

C: You can, but it's bloody everywhere ...

Frigid Girl: do it in the shower lah.

Me: That presents another set of logistical challenges

D: y? just go shower only wad.

Me: Have you ever banged your head on the shower door when being thrusted into?
Have you ever lost your footing on the wet floor?
Has menstrual blood stained your shower curtains?
Has your partner lost his grip on you because of all the water?
Has the heater suddenly gone off, resulting in your being drenched by a torrent of cold water in the heat of passion?
Has the shower curtain come tumbling down on you because you gripped it while overcome by the act?

Have your shower gel containers fallen to the ground and cracked after your flailing arms have knocked them off?
Has your nose hit into the faucet while you were writhing in ecstasy?
Have you contemplated the hair in the drain trap or the mildew on the wall while getting into position?
Have you needed additional lubrication because the blood running down your legs puts you off?
Have you been squirted in the eye and wondered if that was just shampoo?
Have the glass doors of your shower shattered when both of you thumped against them in a climatic finish?
Have you had problems lining up due to height differences?

Have you ever sat red faced in the emergency room trying to explain how you got injuries from the above?

[Ed: As D is a girl, the above is written from a girl's point-of-view]


Someone: wah lau
ur frens ar just like u
super in ur face

even the girls
not shy one
haha

Links - 21st July 2010

"One thing you will probably remember well is any time you forgive and forget." - Franklin P. Jones

***

A China Girl's Adventures - "I had read the Newspapers and understand that many Singaporeans are unhappy with foreign workers, and I just thought it would be a good idea for them to see the other side of the coin, to experience how hard we work, how much we go through. Life is not bed-of-roses for us... I am determined to come back to Singapore to work as it is the only place where Mandarin is quite well accepted and I feel at least quite at home and yet I can earn more than what I can at home"

S'poreans of all faiths must continue to show tolerance, understanding SM Goh - "Followers have a social duty to speak out against those who hold offensive views towards other religions or communities. It's only through such swift and categorical rebuttals that people from other religions can be assured that the offensive views are not held by the religion's mainstream members."
What he didn't say: "Report people to the police at the drop of a hat"

Solitary refinement - "Personally, I like silence. I think it is a sign of great intelligence, emotional closeness and quiet reflection. For a woman, silence is a sign that something is deeply wrong in the relationship. "We just don't talk anymore," is one of the complaints I hear most often from my wife's friends in long-term relationships. "She never shuts up," is what her long-suffering husband will probably say. My wife just makes up jobs to fill the gaps in conversation. "You know what we could do?" (By "we" she means "you".)"

Why is it so hard for the Heads or Ministers to say “I’m sorry”? - "I searched for relevant local examples in the article of apologies by CEOs and Heads of GLCs and government bodies but found none. Only the much publicised apology of Mr Piyush Gupta, Group CEO of DBS was mentioned... I believe the discerning public of Singapore would be generous to forgive when a sincere apology is given. Giving standard and evasive responses and “regrets” by the PR person is not only unsatisfactory, but also may add insult to injury"
That's because DBS has viable competition...

How facts backfire - "Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains"

Cats were eating man, 74, found dead with mom - "74-year-old Herbert Walden likely died of a heart attack... [his mother] likely died of dehydration sometime after her son died. The woman relied on her son’s care and their trash-filled home didn’t have running water."

BOULETroulette - "La vie, c'est comme une boîte de chocolats, tu sais jamais sur quel boulet tu vas tomber !"
NOSTALGIEroulette
VUVUZELAroulette - "Life is like a box of chocolates you never know which vuvuzela you're gonna get!"

Why Facebook friends are worth keeping - "In 1973, sociologist Mark Granovetter showed how the loose acquaintances, or "weak ties", in our social network punch far above their weight in their influence over our behaviour and choices (American Journal of Sociology, vol 78, p 1360). Granovetter found that a significant percentage of people get their jobs as a result of information provided by a weak tie. Subsequent studies have revealed that weak ties benefit our health and happiness. Granovetter suggested that this is because these friends-of-friends aren't like you, yet they are likely to be similar enough in social outlook and personal interests to have a positive influence... Facebook's own researchers found a correlation between subjective well-being and site use"

YouTube - safetyvid - "Weird safety video! Weird!"
This is good shit

The Power of Breasts - "It was not until years later that I discovered the true power of breasts. I could garner attention and get things I wanted by the simple fact that I had them... From centuries of old, women have been using their sexuality to get what they want... Many of these women would claim they are empowered through harnessing their sexuality and feminine wiles... In my 30s, I slowly discovered what I like to call my feminine charm and subsequently softened my apparel. Unlike using one’s sexuality, one’s feminine charm encompassed intellect, humour, wit and many of my inner qualities... I use my feminine charm on both men and women of all ages and feel at ease that I am not discriminating... I am sure that my breasts are being noticed, however they serve more as a backdrop. As for using my sexuality, I retain the use of that for nothing other than getting sex. "
I'm surprised AWARE published this, since they've become more feminist since the takeover attempt

It'll get hotter in S'pore - "The average daily temperature in Singapore could rise by between 2.7 deg C and 4.2 deg C from the current average of 26.8 deg C by 2100, Parliament was told on Monday."

Lianhe Wanbao refutes explanation by Singapore Police - "Lianhe Wanbao has refuted publicly the official explanation given by the Singapore police in handcuffing one of its photojournalist Mr Shafie Goh during his course of duty last Saturday... the Singapore police accused Mr Goh of posing a danger to the public and obstructing the police officer in discharging his public duties"
In the US & UK, photographers also get harassed & detained for taking pictures. The difference is there's usually an apology.

Muslim woman sues Somerset Medical Center for religious discrimination - "A Muslim, Mohammedi wears traditional garb, including the hijab, or head scarf. The Basking Ridge woman believes it is her religious duty to maintain modesty before strange men, and an EKG calls for wires to be applied to the chest, shoulders and wrists. Instead of heeding her request, officials let her languish in the emergency room for five hours until 3:10 a.m.... "There is no obligation to require hospitals to have a physician on staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week based on their sex, religion or nationality""

Inside insides - "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Foods"

Google vs. World: 79 Places Google is Being Sued or Blocked (Map)

Muslim bus drivers refuse to let guide dogs on board - "While drivers can use their discretion to refuse to carry non-disabled passengers with dogs, they are compelled to accept guide dogs under disability discrimination law. Yesterday both the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and the National Federation of the Blind confirmed the problem was common, and, according to the latter organisation was 'getting worse'."

YouTube - Urinal Hand Washing Epic Fail - Subtitled - Haarlem 105 TV moment BPOP 2010 handen wassen

Genetic Study Solves Which Came First -- The Chicken or the Egg

The Big Lies People Tell In Online Dating « OkTrends - "REALITY: People are two inches shorter in real life... taller people, up to a point, have more sex. But as far as messages go, shorter women actually seem to get more attention... REALITY: People are 20% poorer than they say they are... We did a little investigating as to whether a person's stated income had any real effect on his or her online dating experience. Unsurprisingly, we found that it matters a lot, particularly for men... REALITY: The more attractive the picture, the more likely it is to be out-of-date... REALITY: 80% of self-identified bisexuals are only interested in one gender"

S.A. Wilson's Therapy Blend organic coffee - "One of the comments we've heard is "Hey, this stuff tastes horrible." Well, you're absolutely right, it does taste horrible, but you're not supposed to drink this blend are you? It has been blended and roasted solely for enema use and as far as that goes no other coffee can surpass it. Using our special 3 stage process we have developed a blend of coffee that is unsurpassed, containing higher levels of the prime elements required for an effective coffee enema."

A special report on gambling: The risk instinct | The Economist - "Undoubtedly gambling, like other addictions, depends on a complicated mixture of brain chemistry, environment and socialisation. Howard Shaffer, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, notes that the rate of pathological gambling in America has remained relatively constant for the past 35 years, despite a huge expansion in the opportunities on offer. There was a spike in the late 1990s but levels have dropped since then. Dr Shaffer draws a parallel with a classic virus-infection curve: high at the beginning as those most susceptible fall ill, but gradually tailing off as people adapt."
So much for the Monkey-See, Monkey-Do theory of socialisation

The darker side of positive thinking

"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before... He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way." - Kurt Vonnegut

***

RSA Animate - Smile or Die:



"Acclaimed journalist, author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich explores the darker side of positive thinking."

Transcript:

"The same ideology of postive thinking [was] being applied to people who were downsized from the corporate world. White-collar, middle-level people, being sent to support groups or networking groups...

The message was: 'It's not bad to be laid off. It's actually a good thing. It's actually an opportunity. It's a growth opportunity. You will come out of it much better. And if you want to come out of it at all, of course, you better work on your attitude, because the key to getting a job in today's corporate world is not knowing things, or having skills or experience, but having a positive attitude.

Somebody who's in an absolute low point in their lives, and certainly losing a job can be that, and just tell them: 'There's nothing wrong. Just put on a smiley face and get on with it. Don't complain, whatever you do.'

So then I began to see a pattern and find it in more and more aspects of American life. This kind of mandatory optimism and cheerfulness.

One area where it is very strongly concentrated now, and has been for some years is the Corporate World. The workplace. Where the idea has been: yes indeed, you'd better be positive, because you're not really there to do X or Y task. You're there to spread good cheer and make the other people around you comfortable, and happy all day.

Now, you might think, 'What's wrong with that?'... 'You change the physical world with your thoughts'...

Now they talk about quantum physics. I love that, you know. Quantum physics, for some reason, has become an excuse to mock all of Science. Say: nothing real, nothing true, and whatever you think, that's how the world is. So if you think positively, you remake the world. Positively, according to this pseudo-scientific explanation.

But anyway. What's wrong with this. Why not delude yourself into thinking: you know, everything's fine, and you can change the world with your thoughts. I have two problems with it.

One, I'll be hardline about this. I think delusion is always a mistake. There's no safe delusion. Although one of the messages of positive psychology in the United States is, yeah, it's good to have some positive delusions about yourself.

The biggest evidence is the financial meltdown of 07. Now, a lot of things went into that... Certainly, one element was the grip of positive thinking in the corporate world, and particularly in the financial sector. People who tried to raise problems in the middle of the last decade would be shut up, or fired. You couldn't be inside Countrywide Mortgage Company - which was the one which almost singlehandedly set off the whole collapse in the US, and say: "I'm worried about our subprime mortgage exposure, or you'd be out.

And I got to interview some Wall Street guys... People who tried, say within Lehman Brothers, to point out that the housing prices could not rise forever, were fired.

It was this wilful ignorance. Nobody could think bad thoughts, and if you didn't, nothing bad would happen.

And I think the other thing I find very very disturbing about it... it's cruel to take people who are having great difficulties in their lives, and tell them it's all in their heads, and they only have to change their attitudes.

My favourite example of this moral callousness is from the author of The Secret...
The book on how you can have anything you want, attract anything to yourself by thinking.

And she was at about the Tsunami of '06, and how could this happen? And she said, and kind of, her phrasing, 'Those people, the victims of it, must have been sending out tsunami-like vibrations into the universe to attract that to themselves. Because nothing happens to us that we don't attract'. And I think that's beyond amorality. I don't even know where to locate that.

I'm not advocating gloom and pessimism and negativity, or depression. Those can also be delusional. You can go around making up a story to yourself that everything you undertake is going to fail, and there's no reason to think that.

I might, my very radical suggestion, is realism. Trying to figure out what is actually happening in the world and seeing what we can do about those parts of it that are threatening or hurtful.

... George W Bush was a cheerleader in College. Not an athlete. A cheerleader. And I think he construed the presidency as a continuation of that role. He is one of those people who closed himself in the bubble of positive feeling.

Condoleeza Rice said, way too late, that she had had doubts about the invasion of Iraq, but she didn't dare express them because the President hated to be around "pessimists". The equation of pessimism with doubt.

So nobody raised any questions about that war within the hearing of the President. Or those who did, like the General who suggested that we were only putting half as many troops on the ground as would be needed to accomplish whatever we were trying to accomplish, he was pushed out of the way. He lost his job.

What could be cleverer as a way of quelling dissent than to tell people who are in some kind of trouble: poverty, unemployment, etc, that it's all their attitude. You know, that that's all that has to change. That they should get with the program. You know, smile, and get no complaining.

It's a brilliant form of social control which, by the way, was practised in the Soviet Union. One of the principles of Soviet Communism was Optimism.

It's a form of social control, by the way, it's quite widespread in totalitarian types of societies, but I think it has worked very well in America...

What we call market fundamentalism. The idea that the market, the invisible hand, will straighten everything out. That you don't have to intervene, you don't have to do policy, you don't have planning, because there's this miraculous force that just irons out everything. Well, maybe a couple of generations get crushed along the way.

It's basically - it completely overlaps with the positive thinking ideology. You don't really have to do anything because there is a benevolent invisible deity - the market - that will clear everything up.

... If you want to really take a mental leap, a kind of belief. Believe that we could change things. It's the powerlessness of positive thinking. It always just thinks, it always just envisions you as a lone individual changing the world. Or not changing the world, redesigning the world to fit your ideas"


Keywords: financial crisis

A summary of anti-immigration sentiment in Singapore

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch." - Orson Welles

***

In lieu of reading incoherent forum rants:


I believe there're 2 main reasons why many Singaporeans are upset at our immigration policy (though there's a conflation of the immigration issue and the easy work visas issue).

One is that of quantity - there are too many immigrants, and they're coming too quickly (i.e. it's not immigration per se that's the issue; water is good for health, but too much and too fast leads to water intoxication). Too much immigration, too fast: it's hard to absorb them.
The other is about breakdown - they're mostly PRCs.

Other factors are that:

1) We actively bring in immigrants (as opposed to a more natural, organic flow - foreigners who graduate from local universities are offered Permanent Residence)
2) We spend a lot of money on foreigners (for example, foreigners are given scholarships to local universities en-masse)
3) We treat foreigners better than locals (e.g. there're quite a few cases of foreigners being favoured over locals for jobs, and there're many scholarships for local universities that locals do not qualify for)
4) We accept even unskilled or lowly skilled migrants (as long as they're Chinese)
5) We have essentially no social safety net/welfare, leaving us to the vagaries of the market
6) Singapore already is ridiculously crowded (this is why countries with low population densities tend to be more open to immigration). The inadequate infrastructure (crowded public transport, expensive property) doesn't help.
7) We have no political control over immigration policy - it's easier to hate something you have no control over, nor even the illusion of control over (actually we have no political control over anything, but nevermind)
8) They exacerbate inequality on both ends of the spectrum, and if you're on the lower end you'll be hit hard. I was shocked to find out the wage levels for many unskilled jobs (and you know how expensive it is to live in Singapore).
9) Exacerbation caused by the economic downturn
10) National Slavery

Addendum:
11) Some immigrants are disdainful of Singaporeans, yet the political leadership condemns not them but Singaporeans for being xenophobic.
12) The migrants are unwilling or unable to assimilate

Although we're a nation of immigrants, you'll find that most of these factors did not apply in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

You can see these factors at play in developed countries also (e.g. small towns which are more obviously swamped by immigrants are more anti-immigration, unhappiness with immigrant cooks and hairdressers in Australia), though of course there're other layers, e.g. anger at illegal immigration (anti-immigration sentiment in the US seems to be against the illegal sort only; we don't have this here since there's so much of the legal sort) and major cultural clashes/integration issues (Muslims in Europe)

Reality distortion field remains strong with Steve Jobs after antennagate / Mac Sucks - 20th July 2010

"Health consists of having the same diseases as one's neighbors." - Quentin Crisp

***

A priceless video:


"第四代iPhone出包賈伯斯忙滅火" (you don't need to know any language to grok this video)

One comment: ""We expect perfection from Apple." which just goes to show how good their PR is because nobody ever mentions the G4 cube, pippin or newton anymore."


Privacy Change: Apple Knows Where Your Phone Is And Is Telling People - "If you agree to the changes, (which you must do in order to download anything via the iTunes store) you agree to let Apple collect store and share "precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device.""

RIM, HTC say Steve Jobs is full of it - "Instead of admitting any real failure, Jobs said the issue was being blown out of proportion and claimed that Apple's newest phone is no worse than other smartphones on the market... Maybe I'm missing something, but I haven't seen any outcry over reception issues with either of these phones. Well, neither have their respective manufacturers, and they're being very vocal with their displeasure about Jobs's statements... It was indeed remarkably bold of Jobs to deflect attention away from his company's very real problem by attacking some of the top-selling competitors' phones, without knowing hardly anything about their design process and dropped call numbers"
Apple has a lot in common with the MIW...

Apple's "evil/genius" plan to punk the Web and gild the iPad - "The company that has made an advertising platform a major part of its iOS strategy is also hawking an ad-blocking technology for its Web browser, where it has no stake in ads... At the same time that Apple is touting HTML 5 as the best way to make "emotional" advertising on both the Web and in the App Store, it's calling Web advertising "annoying" and giving us tools to block it, but only when Apple isn't getting a cut. And something tells me that an iAds blocker is not going to be approved for the App Store any time soon."

On historical heritage

"When I visited the British Museum and the British Library in London last month, I gained a healthy respect for how the British have kept the historical artifacts in pristine condition and made it open to all. (I was surprised how easy it was for me to have a first hand look at the Codex Sinaiticus (the world’s oldest near complete Bible) at the British Library and how every page is available for browsing in their website.) Repatriation to Egypt or Greece or Iraq would mean that it would be the last time the public would get a chance to see them."

Celui qu'on couche avec

"Coucher avec un vieux, quelle horreur, mais avec un jeune, quel travail !" - Alice Sapritch

Conversations - 18th July 2010

"Some for renown, on scraps of learning dote,
And think they grow immortal as they quote."
--- Edward Young

***

Someone: i have found several instances of recursive citation

wikipedia cites page X
X cites wikipedia

sometimes W -> X -> Y -> W


Someone else: i never understood the idea behind paid sex.
where's the fun.

its like playing starcraft with cheat codes.
yeah you get your objectives in the end, but the joy is in the adrenaline rush


Someone: its more like
at this age how do you not get picked up
you've got to be very repelling to not get picked up at all

... average girls my age should get picked up

...

ok i see that i am quoted :S

Me: hee
arent you honoured
any girl can get picked up
but it takes a special girl to be quoted by me


TC: wah lau
the 9.99 easy curves looks damn easy
haha i wonder if it works

Me: you try and tell me lah

no sorry
you try and I tell you =D


Someone: thats life what

sit in shit meetings
listen to people
work where also same story

life is like that what

i think thats what growing up is
the day you just say fuck it and just suffer

give up on ideals
spawn and get on with it


MFTTW: sg drivers can all fuck off and die
they all suck

i've taken to driving with one hand on the wheel and one hand on the horn

Me: like malaysia

MFTTW: we can start improving driving standards by getting *** drivers off the road

yesterday i drove by an accident on the way to work

*** auntie with p plate ran over a motorbike
she was turning right
and i think the motor bike tried to chiong and someone never give way

i can't decide who should go first
the *** aunties or the motor bikers

Me: hurr hurr

this indonesian girl was saying sg drivers are terrible
cos they have no awareness

MFTTW: er

either no awareness or dun care lor
plus impatient

they should teach all that in driving sch
not stupid shit like what s curve and what not

really
i think our driving test sucks

doesn't train drivers
it trains stuntmen

Me: >< like all exams in singapore it's hard but useless for practical purposes Someone: there is some truth in what phillip yeo said in
reference to bond breakers
apparently bain & co took in like 7 government scholars who broke bond

Me: what does that have to do with
"I don’t want whining Singapore boys. They are not mature even though they have done national service and are over 22 years old when they take up undergraduate studies"

Someone: I just read the entire article. He's just referring to how singaporeans (males in general) 1.complain alot, 2.have no sense of responsibilities, and duty and thats why they find life difficult and thus find an easy way out like bond breaking.

Me: what does that have to do with bain & co

Someone: apparently bain & co has been taking in many MANY many scholars.

Me: foreigners don't complain because they have not been raised to think that the government is supreme
the flip side of having a government that says it's very good is that when it's not good, people blame it

you can't blame the people
because you told them you were great

it's like you cant blame the jews for crucifying jesus
because they were told by their god to kill heretics

Someone: ...
lets not go there, shall we.

Me: as for responsibility, a bond is basically a contract
you earn more when someone breaks their bond than when they serve you
if I get enough money a business plan of mine is to give out scholarships and induce them to break bond
then I will earn a lot
10% interest or so... where to find this sort of investment one

Someone: fine. that may be true but the challenge (or the gauntlet laid down) now is the fact that we lack duty and responsibility.

Me: why is bond breaking a lack of duty and responsibility?
it's a contract, simple as that

and what about the organisation's duty and responsibility to scholars
it treats them like shit often
e.g. a star tried to not give my friend bonus

duty and responsibility run both ways

and a star is burning tax payers money in order to chain the scholars
they dont let them get funding from their host universities while on phd so the sg taxpayer pays more
and the scholars' liquidated damages go up
it's just to deter them from breaking bond

Someone: well, looking at the type of people in the A*star, nothing will deter them from breaking bond.
mercenaries who have no bloody sense of responsibility and duty

Me: what do you mean the type of people in a*

Someone: im not impressed with the characters.

Me: singapore is a mercenary state and a mercenary culture
so mercenary singaporeans are just paying it the highest compliment possible


TC: i love the near future and recent pass
v useful

Me: you mean
you love them because they're easy to conjugate

TC: HAHA
c'est vrai aussi