Don’t Click It!

Can you resist the urge to CLICK on your mouse when you navigate online?

This flash website seeks to challenge the convention of mouse clicking. Within the site, you will NOT find any buttons at all to click. Instead, you navigate around by just scrolling your cursor.

I can’t resist clicking… maybe some of you will fare better than me. Try it! The website is really damn cool and worth a visit just for the sake of it.

Technorati Tags: don’t click it, cool website, mouse click, web button, cool flash site, cursor, web navigation

Dreams from the Third World

I went to watch this film by local director, Kan Lume yesterday night with Leon, Wan Churn and Rachel. Kan Lume is a friend whom I got to know through a guerilla filmmaking challenge which we took together about two years back. I didn’t manage to catch both of his first two films and was rather looking forward to catching his third feature film, Dreams from the Third World.

Kan Lume giving an introduction to his film before the screening

It was being screened as part of the Singapore Panorama series in this year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF).

It was also the first time I set foot into Sinema, known as “The Singapore films showcase, resource and independent cinema”. The place looks great, with nice red sofa seats and cheap tidbits on offer.

Outside Sinema

SIFF ticketing staff

Real sofa seats!

Wan Churn, Leon and Rachel fidgeting in our sofa

The synopsis on SIFF’s website describes the film as follows:

Dreams From The Third World concerns a man who is trying to make a porn movie and believes he is hearing the voice of God. He meets a prostitute and begins putting his belief into effect. His wife lambastes his idealism and acts as the voice of reason. When his life begins to crumble, he goes in search for answers and discovers it in an unexpected place.

Alas, the movie sucks.

I feel bad for saying this because I know Kan Lume personally and his passion for filmmaking is well-respected among peers. However, the movie was really beyond my threshold of pain for long shot, slow movement, introspective dialogue and self-indulgent arthouse film. The pacing was awfully slow and nothing much was going on. In fact, the synopsis above pretty much summed up the entirety of the film. You do not miss much if you didn’t watch it, but had just read the synopsis.

Then again, it is often this kind of films that go about and win many arthouse film festivals awards and accolades. Hence better don’t take my words for it. The critics may find it great.

For lay audiences like me, it’s 83 minutes torture.

Technorati Tags: dreams from the third world, sinema, singapore international film festival, siff 2008, kan lume, singapore panorama, singapore film, arthouse film

PERSEPOLIS

I read the graphic novel and watched the movie. Both were intense stuff, worth spending money on.

PERSEPOLIS follows the story of Marjane Satrapi.

Satrapi is a strong-headed lady who grew up in a progressive Iranian family. Her family was involved with the communist and socialist movements in Iran, prior to the Islamic Iranian Revolution. She witnessed, as a child, the growing oppression of civil liberties and the everyday-life consequences of Iranian politics, including the fall of the Shah, the early regime of Ayatollah Khomeini, and the first years of the Iran-Iraq war.

Satrapi was sent to Vienna by her parents when she was a teen, and grew up there before returning to Iran in her adulthood.

PERSEPOLIS trails Satrapi’s life story from when she was a rebellious anti-establishment little girl in Iran to her transformation to an angry and lost teenager in Vienna, torn between her traditional Muslim beliefs and city values, and finally, to the strong, matured modern woman she is today who can reconcile both her traditional and modern values.

Put simply, it’s a coming-of-age story of an girl who lived through the major milestones of Iranian history.

Here’s the movie trailer to get a better picture of what PERSEPOLIS is about:

What I really like was the clean, black and white drawings together with the matter-of-fact, straightforward narrative. There’s no excessive dramatisation of the war and neither did Satrapi seek to portray herself as a vulnerable victim like most war autobiographies tend to lean towards.

For those who can spare the time reading, I highly recommend the graphic novel rather than the movie. The movie though enjoyable, had to sacrifice some depth and details in order to condense a whole life story into a 95 minutes animation.

Technorati Tags: marjane satrapi, persepolis, islamic iranian revolution, ayatollah khomeini, iran-iraq war, communist, socialist, vienna, french animation

Singapore’s “Super Brand”

I bought an Akira DVD player back in September 2006. If I did not remember wrongly, it only cost me S$45, which was a real steal. Other than being a cheapo, the other reason I chose Akira over more established brands was because I like to support local products. It is also the same reason why I use Creative mp3 players and headphones even though iPods are way cooler.

Plus Akira was the recipient of the Superbrands award, endorsed by IE Singapore:

Much to my disappointment, the player broke down just three months later in December. As it was a cheap buy, I decided not to kick up a fuss and bought a new DVD player of another brand instead to replace it.

Sometime in June last year, I decided to give Akira a second chance. Maybe the particular faulty set I had purchased was really, just one in a million and I had been too quick to condemn the brand. Since the player I bought still had a valid one year warranty, I sent it for repair at the Akira head office in Jurong East.

I didn’t really need the player anymore since I had already bought a replacement set. Also, it really was not worth the while travelling all the way to Jurong East (I live in Potong Pasir) just to exchange a $45 DVD player. Time and car petrol are both opportunity costs involved. Still, I went ahead as I was curious about Akira’s aftercare service standards.

The service staff did not disappoint and were quite friendly, promising me they will revert back in two weeks time latest. However, two weeks past… and there was not a single phone call. I took the initiative and called back instead, thinking they might be too busy. Again, the staff was polite, but mentioned they needed more time to repair the set. I made a few more calls in the subsequent weeks, but eventually forgot about it when I was caught up with my work.

Finally, in JANUARY 2008, a good 15 months from since I bought the cursed DVD player and HALF A YEAR since I sent it for repair, I called them up again. It was only then they acknowledged it was ready for collection.

I questioned the service staff why it took so long for them to repair the player and why no effort were made to contact me again since my last phone call in around July last year. He look at me sheepishly and did not know how to reply except mumbled something like “it takes time to repair” (duh!) and then promptly tried to change the topic by asking me if I wanted to test the repaired player.

As I am a mild-mannered person, I collected the player and left. I did not want to kick up a fuss because I believe it will be to no avail. I find no point in scolding the service staff who looks like a secondary school boy earning extra pocket money as it was not directly his fault and he will not be able to do anything about it anyway.

Instead, I chose to do what I think is the best way to deal with such bad experiences - made a mental note to myself not to buy Akira products again from now on and also, blog about it so my friends are warned too.

Technorati Tags: akira, IE singapore, superbrand, my akira, akira electronics, customer service, aftercare service, singapore product, electronics, consumer product, jurong east

Singapore’s own Search Engine launched

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Singapore finally has its own search engine!

Online search and directory company SPH Search today launched Singapore’s first local search and directory engine - rednano.sg.

Edited from SPH Search’s press release:

After 18 months of development, rednano.sg is now available for people to use and to give feedback for improvements. The logo of rednano.sg, or Rednano, was unveiled at the launch, and the search engine opened to the trade and public, at a ceremony which was officiated by Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, at the Red Dot Design Museum.

Two key features of Rednano are that it is focused on delivering the most appropriate results when it comes to information specifically on Singapore and that it will make access to this information as easy to select as possible.

It is able to do this because of its understanding of the local environment through its heritage and its use of “federated search”. Federated search means users can conduct just “one search” and get “all results” from each of Rednano’s six verticals or categories. The six verticals are: Web, News, Images, Directory, People and Maps Search.

Tuesday’s opening up of rednano.sg is the first phase in SPH Search’s plan to make the website the go-to place for anyone interested in Singapore. This phase sees the introduction of many features which SPH Search encourages people and businesses to use and comment on.

The feedback collected during this phase will be used by SPH Search to modify and improve rednano’s current features as well as shape the timing of the roll-out of other features.

The company that created Rednano, SPH Search, is a joint venture between local media giant Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) and Norwegian media group Schibsted ASA (Schibsted).’

Technorati Tags: rednano, red nano, SPH search, rednano.sg, red nano beta, lee yi shyan, red dot museum, federated search, search engine, singapore, IT, web development, localised search, singapore press holdings, sph, schibsted ASA, schibsted, yahoo

The Fizz Cup

Are you a ice cream soda fan? I am.

Don’t you hate it when your soda overflows when you dump in too much ice cream and you get your hands all sticky holding the fizzling cup?

Well, seems like we don’t have to worry anymore with the Fizz Cup.

The official website claims at least three advantages of the Fizz Cup over the conventional float:

1. It screws onto any soda bottle, and keeps the ice cream separated from the drink, allowing you to mix only the amount you desire, so you can drink only soda or eat only ice cream, and keep the rest fresh for later if you wish,

2. It has a unique built-in spout in the lid so you can drink it without a straw, and not worry about spilling or splashing caused by the “floating ice cream blob” effect,

3. It lets you have fun watching the soda and ice cream mix inside the dome lid, just like a volcano. Experience the science of fizz making with this special treat!

I don’t have a chance to try this out yet, but judging from it’s promotional video I found on youtube, it seems pretty functional to me:

You can purchase the Fizz Cup online although it is not available in Singapore yet. Anyone care to try?

Technorati Tags: the fizz cup, fizz cup, ice cream soda, fizz video, strange, new product, product review

张震岳 [Unplugged] LIVE in Concert @ Esplanade

Last Saturday, I paid $90 per tix to watch a show that was less enjoyable than his (FOC) school concert. WTH. Sat at the third circle, first row, 10 minutes late and didn’t feel like I missed anything at all. In fact, didn’t feel the energy of a live performance at all throughout the 2-hour concert.

A-Yue performed an exhaustive list of songs, old and new, popular and unpopular - the irregular pacing of the song sequence did nothing to liven a concert that could have been more satisfying if he had just bothered to pick up the guitar placed on stage, in front of him the whole time. Famous for being reticent - or rather, a euphemistic way of saying that he’s not a savvy performer - A-Yue truly tested the devotion of his fans and their love for his music.

The saving grace, however, was MC Hotdog’s brief performance. I had fallen back into my cosy seat, yawning and dozing off, when this madman (in a good way) swaggered onstage, cracked lame jokes and sang rude songs. Even A-Yue seemed to warm up a bit more after MC Hotdog came on.

The problem is, I guess, that A-Yue is a tad too lonely when he’s singing by himself. Give the man some company, and he’ll be fine.

Technorati Tags: 张震岳, zhang zhen yue, a yue, ntu, nanyang technological university, campus concert, hard rock cafe, esplanade, ok, free night, autograph session, mc hotdog, yes 933, peifen, rock music

Nokia N96

Nokia has unveiled its latest dual-slide Nokia N96 mobile phone as it’s flagship phone to represent it’s N Series. It’s claimed to be a “super multimedia computer” optimized for video and TV. To me, it looks like an iPhone that can slide in design.

Here’s an exaggerated viral video on youtube showcasing the phone and it’s many functions that support it’s claim as a super multimedia computer:

What do you think? Believable?

Here’s the official Nokia N Series website where you can get more information about the N96.

Key Features Of latest Nokia N96 Multimedia Computer:

* 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Optics
* High quality video on a stunning 2.8-inch QVGA (240×320 pixel) display (16.7 million colors)
* Built-in 16GB memory, extensible with card slot
* Live TV with DVB-H technology
* Great sound with built-in 3D stereo speakers
* Integrated A-GPS and Nokia Maps
* Program guide and interactive services

The phone is supposed to be launched in the third quarter of 2008. The retail price is set at 550 euro which is around S$1200. Quite steep - hence it better live up to it’s claim.

Technorati Tags: n96, n95, nokia n series, nokia phones, super multimedia computer, video phone, tv phone, n series, viral video, nokia map, carl zeiss optics, technology

How can anyone not like the Chipmunks?

I went to catch the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie today at 2.20am, Cathay Cineleisure. That’s how much of a fanatic I am - die die must watch the show on the first day of release! How can anyone not like them??? They are cute, adorable, sing really well and are furry creatures!

The movie was very enjoyable, given the light treatment. It’s good after-work brainless entertainment. Plus it stars Jason Lee, of My Name is Earl fame - my favourite TV serial!

Another very important plus point about the chipmunks is that the lead is called ALVIN!!! What an awesome name, don’t you all think?

Anyway, I did some search on how Ross Bagdasarian managed to think up the strange concept of singing chipmunks fifty years ago. Here’s the story according to his son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr. :

“In 1958, our family was down to our last $200. Being a gambler at heart, my dad did what other prudent person would do. He took $190 of it and bought the latest state of the art tape recorder, one that allowed him to change tape speeds. As he tried to decide what to write about, he spotted a book on his desk, “Duel with the Witch Doctor”. In a burst of creative energy, fueled mostly by sheer panic, he wrote Witch Doctor - a song about a guy hopelessly in love and goes to see a witch doctor for advice.”

Hmm… the song Witch Doctor, featured in the movie was an original! Would this mean the songs in the movies written by Dave (Jason Lee) are all originals from Ross Bagdasarian himself? I think this is most likely so.

I can’t stand the chipmunks singing hip-hop - I guess the marketing folks hoped to mask their marketing ploy by making the bad guy force the chipmunks to sing it in the movie. So, now there are hip-hop chipmunk songs in their latest OST. Tsk tsk… That was as poorly veiled as a woman in see-thru lingerie!

Just to share, I found some interesting chipmunk videos on Youtube! Here’s one showing the full movie trailer:

Here’s the chipmunk theme song for the cartoon that I grew up with (the song with the ‘tu tu tutu’):

Finally, here’s a video of The Alvin Show - originally aired on CBS in 1961. This classic features the hit song that made the Chipmunks a number 1 hit:

Technorati Tags: alvin and the chipmunks, alvin, simon, theodore, chipmunks, the alvin show, cbs, witch doctor, jason lee, my name is earl, ross bagdasarian, ross bagdasarian jr, alvinology, cathay cineleisure

Balls of Fury - So silly it ROCKZ!!!

I finally get to catch Balls of Fury together with Rachel on Friday night. We were both burnt out from work, but I really wanted to catch this silly movie as I have a sudden craving for low-brow entertainment and she relented (so sweet right?).

Guess what?

It didn’t disappoint!!!

I walked out all smug and smile, feeling 100 times smarter compared to the characters in the movie.

Rachel walked out puking all the way home because the movie was THAT AWFUL to her.

Balls of Fury stereotyped and romanticised Asians and our culture. Apparently, Ang Mohs can’t tell Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Indo-Chinese apart, judging from the weird “oriental” costumes and props.

The male lead sucks. However, he is so bad that it’s funny, hence I will forgive him.

My favourite characters in the show are played by Maggie Q and James Hong. Maggie Q because she’s a super hot eye candy and James Hong because he is damn funny as the blind ping pong guru, Master Wang.

Super hot!!!

Super Dumb!!!

Go catch this movie if you feel like getting insulted about your Asian culture or if you are into low-brow, retarded stuff like I do. I guarantee it won’t disappoint.

It’s not suitable for viewing by people working in the Singapore civil service though - don’t say I never put disclaimer.

Technorati Tags: freddy fingers, daytona, maggie q, james hong, master wang, balls of fury, movie review, retarded movie, silly movie, ping pong, table tennis