So, I'm reading an article which says internet advertising is the next big thing (if it isn't already). With google and amazon and all that good stuff, I guess maybe that's true huh? Just show ads of what people want to see and then pay up only when they click, isn't that just so simple? It is simple I guess, but too much of an engineering solution?
Well I'm afraid maybe internet advertising may not be the panacea its made out to be. For starters, advertising is an art, there are no engineering solutions! So you provide links and ads of stuff that the customer happens to have searched for all the time, and you expect a sale, simple as that, providing the solution to the question, easy as ABC. Maybe not. I mean firstly, oftentimes when the customer already has that item, he don't need it anymore maybe? And he'll be more interested in random ads? That's exactly what Amazon pisses me off with. I buy a book or dvd on one topic, and forever they are introducing similar books to me! I already have that book, why the heck would I want another one? First time its amusing, second time... enough is enough!
Same with search engines. Sometimes you just want some entertaining ads of random stuff pop up while u are searching, not just the same 'ol! You won't make much out of me if every ads related. I've been hanging out in bookstores lately, and I've realised I only make a purchase when I walk around randomly and find something interesting. And why do I have to go down? because the online advertising isn't doing a good job.
Is it a myth that the whole world uses the internet all the time in their free time and so internet advertising is the way to go? I used to think so. As a college student, the internet was my life. In freshman year, I did not have anything other than a computer! No TV. No radio. I got my music from the internet, downloaded tv from the net, watched movies from the net, paid bills online, talked to people on the internet too! However, since starting work, I realised that working people are spending LESS and LESS of their free time online! The more they work, the less time on the internet, even watching tv would be a higher priority. And why is that so? Well the usual gripe is that you stare at a computer screen all day at work, its just so depressing to stare at a computer screen at home. Heh, bet some people didn't figure that. So maybe its only the Singaporeans who don't use the intenet much, I mean after all, we aren't as First World as the Americans huh? Guess what? My American friends spend much less time online that any of you reading this right now. Just look at how often they update their blogs! There you go....
So. I'm heading to the US of A soon, and I'm thinking of getting some gifts for my friends that are unique to Singapore. But guess what? I can't really think of very much! I guess food would be unique, but I don't think I can get it through the customs. I've asked around others what they think, but I just get a blank look. Maybe there isn't very much that's unique other than a few trinkets huh? Local books? I managed to find one or 2, but mostly its quite dismal, I can imagine it being junked after the first read. Cheong Sam? You could probably get it for half the price in SF chinatown. I can't possibly ship the Uniquely Singaporean durian-shaped Esplanade over can I? Maybe there isn't really anything that is unique and representative.... Bring a Malay and Indian friend over to show we are multi-racial and don't kill each other? Guess I can't afford the air tickets. What about an SIA girl?
Okay lets say trinkets. Trinkets of any monumental building? Hell I've never heard of any of them being a widely sold item. Not the pricky durian for me... I mean overseas you got trinkets of the seattle space needle, eiffel tower, liberty bell, statue of liberty etc (I've got em all). I guess we got the merlion, but seriously, it is quite ugly, and not that many people associate the merlion with Singapore anymore. Used to in the old days maybe, but not anymore. It's small, publicly accessible (not like the liberty bell), been moved couple of times (so its not exactly an artifact), and there isn't really any historical significance to start with (what does the lion have to do with a fish? Did Sang Nila Utama catch one?)! I might still end up buying merlions for everyone, but that's kinda sad man......
Oh I take a little trip around the Singapore Town
To see the Singapore City Sights
To see Coller Quay and Raffles Place
The Esplanade and all of us
Well Coller Quay is gone, or almost gone, so that's out. Raffles Place, er, why was that an attraction ever? The Esplanade ah, it was featured in that song cos of the rows of satay club and all the greenery by the bay, but today it really is a concrete jungle, too ang moh to be representative (come on anybody prove me wrong there!). if I were an ang moh, I would not want to come all the way to Singapore to visit some ang moh arts club, or some ang moh theme park at Sentosa (unless I'm looking for the SPGs, but then you only need to head to Chjimes and save on the entry fee). I would want to see what makes Singapore unique. And after writing all this crap, I think what's really unique is the coffee shops and hdbs in the heartlands, the yellow box smoking zones (in the coffee shops), the hoards of smartly dressed office workers heading to hawker centers for lunch, public transport thats really not so public (talk about monopoly haha!).... Maybe we need trinkets of hdb flats and coffee shops. Oh yes, a trinket in the shape of the whole east coast park! Never has anyone man made such a huge reclaimed plot of land and left it to wither until it looks like its natural (those ppl in the gulf reclaim a lot but come on, it looks too artificial). But guess what? it's actually better in its "natural" state, but finally the authorities wanna do it up into some Dubai like paradise.... sigh.
So Mr Brown has finally crossed the line. And the cops are looking out for the 30 or so people who turned up in public all of a sudden wearing brown, supposedly in protest. In Singapore you don't protest. At least not loudly like in San Francisco. So how do we know that it wasn't 30 brownies just wearing their club t-shirt? Why is it definitely a Mr Brown protest just because 30 people are found in public one day quietly wearing brown? I wore brown when I was a venture scout, there were 50 of us, maybe we were protesting Mr Brown too, 10 years ago. I tell you why. Because someone out there was already on a lookout to catch anyone who would possibly be showing support for Mr Brown, thats why it was so easy for the cops to suddenly spot a group of people in brown and immediately point the finger at them. Seriously, this is rather childish, ban Mr Brown if you want, but please make sure our cops are spending their time more wisely catching those illegal cigarette peddlars on Woodlands road near Sungei Kadut and not catching people in brown!
Friday, July 14, 2006
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Zidane: What a disgrace!
Stayed up to watch the world cup finals last night. What a disgraceful headbutt by Zidane! The New Paper this morning said there is likely to be an uproar because the officials used tv replays before deciding to give him the red card. But well, if he didn't get one, that would just spoil the Beautiful Game completely. Maybe some form of tv replays are necessary. Or maybe just more referee assistants?
Whatever, the headbutt was absolutely shameful. Zidane should be publicly flogged! So some people said he should be forgiven because the other guy probably said something offensive to him. Let's assume the guy said something offensive, so what? Scold him back, or go outside settle after the game lah! No way you should hit someone on the pitch, at the World Cup final too! And by the way, its not the first time Zidane has hit someone on the pitch in an important tournament. Which is even more reason why he needs to be flogged. Oh, and he can still go ahead and win the most valuable player of the tournament? What a disgrace, Fifa! You do not award someone this prestigious title if he has ruined the beauty of the game with his behaviour!
You know, the americans must be laughing away. Especially with so many matches decided on penalties in this world cup, what a joke. Penalties spoil the game too, especially ones like last night! The goalies didn't have a chance in any of the kicks, how exciting is that? It makes the Superbowl so much more fun to watch. After 1 month of competition, it's all down to penalties, which the goalies didn't even have a chance, what a joke! I say bring in the golden goal or come up with some other sort of set piece like they do in American Football.
In the past, Fifa and the rest of the soccer world have laughed at the way American football uses high tech communication between referees and assistants, their numerous linesmen, tv replays and such. Judging from what we've seen, looks like the Americans will have the last laugh, as usual. World cup 2008 is going to see much more high tech communication, tv replays, and more linesmen, or the game's just gonna get uglier. So much for the beautiful game....
To be frank, I didn't think either team were that great. Especially when Italy played the 10 men defence, that just made the game so boring! They should have a rule that u can't have more than 5 in the penalty box. Kinda something like the 3 second rule in NBA and all that (again the americans came up with the smart ideas first) to prevent such boring play. Yah sure some purists will say you shouldn't restrict play so much, but seriously, 10 men in the penalty box? I thought we were watching rugby! And its not as if they already had the lead. Truth is, the teams were playing like they wanted a penalty shootout towards the end, and that's just such a shame!
I'll prefer an Argentina-Brazil final anyday; anyday man!
Whatever, the headbutt was absolutely shameful. Zidane should be publicly flogged! So some people said he should be forgiven because the other guy probably said something offensive to him. Let's assume the guy said something offensive, so what? Scold him back, or go outside settle after the game lah! No way you should hit someone on the pitch, at the World Cup final too! And by the way, its not the first time Zidane has hit someone on the pitch in an important tournament. Which is even more reason why he needs to be flogged. Oh, and he can still go ahead and win the most valuable player of the tournament? What a disgrace, Fifa! You do not award someone this prestigious title if he has ruined the beauty of the game with his behaviour!
You know, the americans must be laughing away. Especially with so many matches decided on penalties in this world cup, what a joke. Penalties spoil the game too, especially ones like last night! The goalies didn't have a chance in any of the kicks, how exciting is that? It makes the Superbowl so much more fun to watch. After 1 month of competition, it's all down to penalties, which the goalies didn't even have a chance, what a joke! I say bring in the golden goal or come up with some other sort of set piece like they do in American Football.
In the past, Fifa and the rest of the soccer world have laughed at the way American football uses high tech communication between referees and assistants, their numerous linesmen, tv replays and such. Judging from what we've seen, looks like the Americans will have the last laugh, as usual. World cup 2008 is going to see much more high tech communication, tv replays, and more linesmen, or the game's just gonna get uglier. So much for the beautiful game....
To be frank, I didn't think either team were that great. Especially when Italy played the 10 men defence, that just made the game so boring! They should have a rule that u can't have more than 5 in the penalty box. Kinda something like the 3 second rule in NBA and all that (again the americans came up with the smart ideas first) to prevent such boring play. Yah sure some purists will say you shouldn't restrict play so much, but seriously, 10 men in the penalty box? I thought we were watching rugby! And its not as if they already had the lead. Truth is, the teams were playing like they wanted a penalty shootout towards the end, and that's just such a shame!
I'll prefer an Argentina-Brazil final anyday; anyday man!
Zidane: What a disgrace!
Stayed up to watch the world cup finals last night. What a disgraceful headbutt by Zidane! The New Paper this morning said there is likely to be an uproar because the officials used tv replays before deciding to give him the red card. But well, if he didn't get one, that would just spoil the Beautiful Game completely. Maybe some form of tv replays are necessary. Or maybe just more referee assistants?
Whatever, the headbutt was absolutely shameful. Zidane should be publicly flogged! So some people said he should be forgiven because the other guy probably said something offensive to him. Let's assume the guy said something offensive, so what? Scold him back, or go outside settle after the game lah! No way you should hit someone on the pitch, at the World Cup final too! And by the way, its not the first time Zidane has hit someone on the pitch in an important tournament. Which is even more reason why he needs to be flogged. Oh, and he can still go ahead and win the most valuable player of the tournament? What a disgrace, Fifa! You do not award someone this prestigious title if he has ruined the beauty of the game with his behaviour!
You know, the americans must be laughing away. Especially with so many matches decided on penalties in this world cup, what a joke. Penalties spoil the game too, especially ones like last night! The goalies didn't have a chance in any of the kicks, how exciting is that? It makes the Superbowl so much more fun to watch. After 1 month of competition, it's all down to penalties, which the goalies didn't even have a chance, what a joke! I say bring in the golden goal or come up with some other sort of set piece like they do in American Football.
In the past, Fifa and the rest of the soccer world have laughed at the way American football uses high tech communication between referees and assistants, their numerous linesmen, tv replays and such. Judging from what we've seen, looks like the Americans will have the last laugh, as usual. World cup 2008 is going to see much more high tech communication, tv replays, and more linesmen, or the game's just gonna get uglier. So much for the beautiful game....
To be frank, I didn't think either team were that great. Especially when Italy played the 10 men defence, that just made the game so boring! They should have a rule that u can't have more than 5 in the penalty box. Kinda something like the 3 second rule in NBA and all that (again the americans came up with the smart ideas first) to prevent such boring play. Yah sure some purists will say you shouldn't restrict play so much, but seriously, 10 men in the penalty box? I thought we were watching rugby! And its not as if they already had the lead. Truth is, the teams were playing like they wanted a penalty shootout towards the end, and that's just such a shame!
I'll prefer an Argentina-Brazil final anyday; anyday man!
Whatever, the headbutt was absolutely shameful. Zidane should be publicly flogged! So some people said he should be forgiven because the other guy probably said something offensive to him. Let's assume the guy said something offensive, so what? Scold him back, or go outside settle after the game lah! No way you should hit someone on the pitch, at the World Cup final too! And by the way, its not the first time Zidane has hit someone on the pitch in an important tournament. Which is even more reason why he needs to be flogged. Oh, and he can still go ahead and win the most valuable player of the tournament? What a disgrace, Fifa! You do not award someone this prestigious title if he has ruined the beauty of the game with his behaviour!
You know, the americans must be laughing away. Especially with so many matches decided on penalties in this world cup, what a joke. Penalties spoil the game too, especially ones like last night! The goalies didn't have a chance in any of the kicks, how exciting is that? It makes the Superbowl so much more fun to watch. After 1 month of competition, it's all down to penalties, which the goalies didn't even have a chance, what a joke! I say bring in the golden goal or come up with some other sort of set piece like they do in American Football.
In the past, Fifa and the rest of the soccer world have laughed at the way American football uses high tech communication between referees and assistants, their numerous linesmen, tv replays and such. Judging from what we've seen, looks like the Americans will have the last laugh, as usual. World cup 2008 is going to see much more high tech communication, tv replays, and more linesmen, or the game's just gonna get uglier. So much for the beautiful game....
To be frank, I didn't think either team were that great. Especially when Italy played the 10 men defence, that just made the game so boring! They should have a rule that u can't have more than 5 in the penalty box. Kinda something like the 3 second rule in NBA and all that (again the americans came up with the smart ideas first) to prevent such boring play. Yah sure some purists will say you shouldn't restrict play so much, but seriously, 10 men in the penalty box? I thought we were watching rugby! And its not as if they already had the lead. Truth is, the teams were playing like they wanted a penalty shootout towards the end, and that's just such a shame!
I'll prefer an Argentina-Brazil final anyday; anyday man!
Monday, July 10, 2006
DJ Behrouz
DJ Behrouz from 1015 Folsom San Francisco was spinning at Zouk last night and he was just so awesome! The usual crowd was there, with special guests J and RT haha! RT is such a natural on the dancefloor.... I hear So You Think You Can Dance is coming to town, she shld show them how its done! Oh, and J, thanks for the E33, cheers!
So I had dinner with some secondary school friends tonight at some Japanese restaurant called tsubuki in Novena. There's quite a few Jap restaurants there so its easy to get lost, but we all found it eventually. My friends are thinking of organising a vacation to Tibet, to check out the highest railway in the world at Lhasa. Sounds like a plan! We were wondering what the weather there would be like in winter. I said maybe it could hit -40 celcius. I mean, its near the himalayas and its pretty damn high up there, you even need oxygen piped to you on the train!
JM says that at -40 liquids freeze immediately when exposed to the air. i.e. if I threw a cup of hot coffee at you, you'd actually be hit by a black blob of ice? I definitely don't want to be peeing in the bushes then, might get stuck to the bushes!!! I wonder if they have good music and parties in Tibet? I mean Brad Pitt spent 7 years there (just kidding!)...
Anyway, I'll be in California end August. Bay Area mostly but will go down to SoCal for a few days, so I guess I'll check out 1015 and the like, meet up with ol fren's, stroll down telegraph and hearst? Boy I miss the Golden State.... An expensive vacation though, hopefully I can get enough bonus this year to make up for it!
So I had dinner with some secondary school friends tonight at some Japanese restaurant called tsubuki in Novena. There's quite a few Jap restaurants there so its easy to get lost, but we all found it eventually. My friends are thinking of organising a vacation to Tibet, to check out the highest railway in the world at Lhasa. Sounds like a plan! We were wondering what the weather there would be like in winter. I said maybe it could hit -40 celcius. I mean, its near the himalayas and its pretty damn high up there, you even need oxygen piped to you on the train!
JM says that at -40 liquids freeze immediately when exposed to the air. i.e. if I threw a cup of hot coffee at you, you'd actually be hit by a black blob of ice? I definitely don't want to be peeing in the bushes then, might get stuck to the bushes!!! I wonder if they have good music and parties in Tibet? I mean Brad Pitt spent 7 years there (just kidding!)...
Anyway, I'll be in California end August. Bay Area mostly but will go down to SoCal for a few days, so I guess I'll check out 1015 and the like, meet up with ol fren's, stroll down telegraph and hearst? Boy I miss the Golden State.... An expensive vacation though, hopefully I can get enough bonus this year to make up for it!
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