it is not easy being a child star (the Miley Cyrus controversy)

Child Star - you can sing, you can dance, and you can act... but you are not supposed to do provocative shots on Vanity Fair. Oh, the pain of being a child star! We feel for you.

Are you disgusted with this work of "art"?

Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana apologised (to her fans and her future million$) one day after the release of her semi-naked Vanity Fair glamour pictures.

“I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.”

This smacks of an orchestrated publicity stunt from start to finish. Everyone knows what Vanity Fair is all about. Look at their history and previous photoshoots.

Sex sells, and Mylie knows it.

More behind the scenes photos on Vanity Fair site. All tasteful and decent.

It is like having some of the MDG finalists complaining to the media that their processed pictures embarrass them after the show is over. In fact, come to think of it, that would be an excellent marketing ploy. It will definitely sells the MDG brand. (find out who the Season 1 MDG winner is here)

Can't get enough of MDG? This one is the most vulgar anti-MDG entry ever, ever!

when life is good, complain about the 'jacuzzi'!

Singapore's stomp.com has to be one of the most amusing sites I've visited. It's a perfect forum for whiners. Every single thing gets reported, from the way people sit and talk on buses to how people park their cars. The tolerance level for the smallest annoying habits gets lowered each day. I guess, this is what happens when life is good...

A wedding anniversary ruined because the water flowed in the wrong direction! Drama,drama.

Believe me, this kind of forum will never work in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. We have some serious lifestyle standard catching up to do!

Is Nuffnang ripping us off? (The Truth Part 2)

WishBoNe: I don't know about the 30/70 for Nuffnang. But I've been using a few methods to monetise my blogs and the only one I know that is using 30/70 is Linkworth. I get paid 70% for whatever I have been given per task.

SSL: I am guessing that NN's 30/70 is just a ballpark figure (read the original article here: Nuffnang take at least 30% of those ad revenues), and that this is not set in stone. The exact payment distribution could well be done based on their kind discretion or based on some arbitrary numbers. If NN tells us what band means and what amount each band corresponds to (and how they assign those figures), instead of some vague desription of the volume of traffic our blogs are getting, I will immediately revise some views. I understand that revealing too much might give its rival company a competitive edge (one friend pointed out that rival ad agency might start undercutting), at least offer us a better explanation and description of the payment structure instead of the present non-descriptive one (as found on NN's FAQ).

Leslie (no email/url included): if you look around all ad networks commission of ad networks finding ads for you goes from 30%-50%. if nuffnang is really taking 30% then it is quite generous. personally i think 30% is considered really low. if nuffnang brings in $1,000,000 a year, 30% is $300,000 for nuffnang. $300,000 to pay for their staff costs, server costs, office rent, phone bill etc for a year i'm surprised they make any money at all.

then again it is a business choice if you feel you earn more elsewhere then go ahead and switch

SSL: I like this particular comment. Of course, I am free to switch. But you miss my point. I DO NOT WANT TO SWITCH, I am sticking with NN! I am writing as a bona fide user to a company that I admire (yes - shock, horror, horror - I admire them). Advertising is a tough industry and with the current economic slowdown I reckon it will be even more challenging (advertising will be one of the first expenses to go in any typical cost-cutting exercise). It is a brave decision for two young entrepreneurs to enter this industry, I don't have the nuts to even consider it! I am supporting them as a user, as a matter of fact, I have urged some friends to sign up.

The title I chose "is NN ripping us off?" merely describes an internal dialogue. No malice was ever intended. It provokes me to find out more, and I did. Hopefully, it will lead NN to provide better explanation because the majority of NN bloggers DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT BAND MEANS, AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT GOES ON BEHIND THE PAY-OUT SCENE.

Some businesses in the local scene enter a tough market for a different purpose altogether; money laundering and a shell for tax evasion to name a few (I'm not suggesting NN are doing those activities). So it does not hurt to give clearer and better explanation - right?

SloppyChic: well, those who get the bigger pie of share are those who are popular, and the rest of us are just peanuts who complete the whole community...

SSL: Monetizing blog encourages regular blog updates, and blogging with more interesting and engaging materials. Much of the recent blog culture/content can be attributed to the money culture in blogging. Cash and money will shape the future of our blogosphere landscape, and I believe more quality stuff will emerge from it. That's capitalism.

Every popular blogger began life as a peanut in the community. I am also a peanut, just older.


~YM~: 30% is really low, cos if u compared to those 'charity' organization, they take up to 90% and give the 10% to charity. And mind you, that 10% is after all expenses had been deducted. -.-"

Seriously, what you are thinking of is sometimes like the boss and worker thinking. The worker always think "I work so hard for the boss, how come I got so little pay? I earn millions for the boss, and this meagre pay of my salary is too little la"

If you have a blogger union, even the rep may not know how to get ads. If that rep had learnt it, he'll be dissatisfied and he may tried to get a higher share for himself from the ads as well.

SSL: You are right about unions, there will be little incentive to fetch delicious deals as the margins are fixed and usually low. Yep, they may eventually leave once they learn the business.

No, I don't think as a worker. I just want more information as I am also part of the enterprise (as a user)!

Is Nuffnang ripping us off? (The Truth Part 1)

I am not too crazy on blog-entry ranking, but when I see my recent entry currently sitting on Singapore's ping.sg 10th "most popular this year", I do get the feeling that readers and bloggers are curious and they do want to know about the nature and details of Nuffnang pay-out structure. Ok, I admit, the provocative title helps, but this is a valid question - Is Nuffnang ripping us off?

Here are my responses to the readers' comments, as promised.

CK: I have yet to get for the ads as it stops coming after the initial burst... still below $50. I wonder whether you have got paid yet? Also, may I know where you got the 30% figure from? Cheers!

SSL: Hi CK. Many Nuffnang (NN) bloggers are still waiting for ads, and they won't get any if they don't work for their traffic. Yes, I said work. Many still want to believe that NN ads money are "free money"- so why complain and demand this and that, right?

It is not free money, my friend. We are leasing our blog space for ads. So shouldn't we have some right to ask for payment transparency, and question the commission rate that our ads agencies are charging?

To anwer your question, I haven't cashed out on my ads money. I should because this is "stagnant money", our funds are collecting cob-webs in the NN account and not interest! It doesn't pay for us to keep money with them, NN is likely to earn compounded interest from our funds held with them of which we are not entitled to. The $/RM1.00 charge for withdrawing money deters bloggers from withdrawing "too soon" - that's a hefty 2% charge of the minimum $/RM50 cash-out money! I personally think the "admin fee" or whatever they want to call it is unnecessary and should be abolished, but NN sympathisers may disagree. My advice is this, cash out when you hit the minimum because keeping the money in your savings account will return you more (more than 2% per annum)!

The 30% figure was taken from NST-Tim interview. And this is a typical percentage cut Nuffnang gets for their service, I suspect the actual range is between 30 to 50%. I am also guessing because Nuffnang is not telling.


pinksterz: i have no comment about the 30/70 issue but i do realise that the popular bloggers get extra advantage from nuffnang with advertorial and stuff la but not complaining on that also. but i do agree on the havoc created by innit. too many flamings and bloggers disliking each other in there. haih, i never seen anything like that in pps. haha!

SSL: INNIT encourages people to compete for blog-entry rankings - which only means generating more traffic for NN. So all those "havoc and flamings" on INNIT will play into the hands (and pockets) of NN. And I always say to my fellow NN friends, INNIT is NN's smartest creation to date.

Yes, this is a partnership concept between NN and bloggers: NN scratch our back, we scrub theirs.


Jayelle: It is common knowledge that blog wars bring hefty traffic. As immoral as it is, it brings you monetary benefits (paltry, as you mentioned) and as well as Nuffnang.

However, I don't see why you're grumbling about the 70% shared by thousands of sacrificial lambs.

You make it sound like using your blog to put up one 200x400 javascript advertisement takes a lot of effort from you. The people at Nuffnang are the ones who work many hours a day to include all of us in their network. We are just bloggers who choose to blog what we want. The ads are just a square box at the side that generates some pocket money for us, big or small.

SSL: You are absolutely right, NN work many hours a day. But you left out something, the biggest component in NN's business machinery: the bloggers' collective hours. We bloggers put in the hours too!

Yes, putting up ads on blogs does not take a lot of effort, but pulling in the traffic does. No traffic means no money, remember?

3POINT8: Blogger union? Is that even necessary? I mean, I do know of groups of bloggers who are good friends to each other. Well, even if there is a blog union, i'm sure there are people out there to support it

SSL: It won't be easy to form a cohesive group among bloggers, unless we have a very specific agenda like fighting for freedom of expression in a named country or petitioning for the release of mr so-and-so blogger/prisoner.

Indeed, there is always support for anything, like believing NN has the right to conduct ads payment without explaining the pay-out structure.

Most danged entry?

Blog democracy is working on INNIT (Zimbabwe should emulate this!). People clearly don't like or don't agree with SSL's recent entry.

My thoughts later.

Is Nuffnang ripping us off?

Before the days of Nuffnang ads, most Malaysian and Singaporean bloggers pay little to no attention to monetizing their blogs. Popular bloggers had advertorials, but those small-time bloggers had google ads that pay pittance. Consequently, the average bloggers just didn't care too much about making money through their blogs. End of story.

Then came the founders of Nuffnang (their hard-knock, start-up story had been retold so many times on the net, you can simply google for it).

They had this genius idea of empowering bloggers to be a little bit more productive in bringing in the traffic, because for the first time, we are actually getting paid good money (relatively speaking) for allowing them to display locally relevant ads on our blogs. Even bloggers with less than 10 uniques of sympathetic family readers will get some money. So yippee, life is great!

Now Nuffnang is a year older with thousands of willing sacrificial lambs (Nuffnangers as they call us), it is time we ask some probing questions.

Nuffnang take at least 30% of those ad revenues. The other 70% are shared among the thousands of sacrificial lambs. Those Nuffnanger lambs are the sweat and tears of the whole enterprise. Collectively, we work, toil and blog for Nuffnang's traffic. The most popular amongst us get the biggest slice of that 70%, and the mega popular lambs get special treatment and deals from Nuffnang. These deals are sometimes called advertorials or event invites.


Now don't you think 30% commission is a little steep?

Who decides the 30/70 division anyway? 30% sounds like some arbitrary figure. Okay, Nuffnang operates as a pioneering player and a semi-monopoly in the local net advertising agency, therefore they can call the shot -- right?

To be fair, without them, there won't be any money to begin with. They do the marketing. They do the cold calling. They organise promotional events. They roped in famous bloggers to help promote their business. They have staff to hire. They have expensive offices to maintain (their computers, servers and status). These things aren't free.

But still, is this 30% commission justified? I can't think of another business idea that charge such lofty fee, not a unit trust seller, not a car salesman.

If they say this amount is justified, will Nuffnang make their pay structure more transparent so we all can see who's getting what?

The worst case scenario for them would be when bloggers get disgruntled and form a bloggers' ads union. Collectively it won't be difficult to raise some money, hire an IT member among them and start an ad agency from home (no need rent some more!). Each blogger participant gets equitable sum of money according to their site traffic, minus the cost of getting the ads and hiring the IT service. Budget service and maximum profit margin for all!

Thankfully for Nuffnang shareholders, bloggers are such disorganised bunch, so I can't see the bloggers' ads union happening anytime soon. Sometimes I wonder if Nuffnang purposely created NANGS and DANGS so we all can disagree openly and have major blog war among us, and prevent this bloggers' union from ever happening?

(I also wonder if this Dang King was hired by Nuffnang to dis-unite us?)

Don't you love conspiracy? Or is it a conspiracy?

Reference (updated): “We usually take a 30 per cent cut from the advertisement fees. This way everyone is happy,” Tiah says.

Malaysian film industry semua tak boleh/Is Penelope Cruz turning into a porn star?

3Let's be honest. Our local movie industry isn't exactly world-class. I don't think we lack talent (script writing I meant, acting-wise we are still pretty awful), but we don't lack stifling rules too. Somehow to pass as a Malaysian film, our talents have to work with so many cultural and moral boundaries.

I haven't seen a decent Malaysian movie that was not considered controversial by our censor board standards.

big deal!

You see, we haven't got a population of 1.1 billion domestic crowd, or a niche audience, whatever you call them to fall back on, just like Bollywood. They can churn out any kind of movies and still sell out in cinemas. In Malaysia, not only are we making bad movies, good ones get swallowed whole by DVD piracy and endless censorship.

Eastern Europe face the same kind of problem: piracy, poor talent and little to no capital. But they don't have to work within the same moral framework. This is what gives them the marketing edge. They churn out porns.

I am not advocating pornography to save our film industry (although in desperate times, they do generate good tax revenues when our oil runs out!), but our talents do need freer creative space.

So is there a future for Malaysian Film Industry?

The best comment came from this guy:

“Censorship sucks. Adults are mature enough to understand the difference between right and wrong. Besides, there are ratings which can indicate what’s in store for us. Why bother with the ratings if you’re going to cut this and that anyway? “And frankly, I can’t believe that kissing scenes are still being cut from movies. There’s worse stuff on the internet.”

Indeed - there are grosser and worse stuff on the net. You and I know that for a fact, and no one is banning them. But we haven't turn into monsters.

Haven't you seen that internet clip about these 2 girls and this one cup? (I won't link it, it was so gross you need a brain op to remove the memory of watching it!)

You see, sex sells. If you want an instant blockbuster hit, just hire a popular actress and get her to strip on cam. A no-brainer formula that works all the time. We don't have this quick-fix solution to promote a bad movie plot in Malaysia.

But the rest of the world & Hollywood have and they certainly know how to milk this formula. Even with a good movie storyline and a cast of well-known actors, movie producers will always find a reason to include sex scenes or something suggestive of one.

Like this good example- Penelope Cruz's latest movie, Elegy. She stripped (again) and romped her way to instant millions and a blockbuster hit! Something that Malaysian actors can't do in Malaysian soil.

Earth Day

Let's do our part - recycle
and save energy!

What did the elephant say to the naked man?
It's cute, but can you really breathe through that thing?

Blogging can kill, so can these...

Bloggers and lay-readers have been yapping away about how excessive blogging can kill; they picked up a story from the NY Times about how three bloggers died from over-zealous blogging (in fact, it was a lousy clogged up heart that killed them!) and condemn blogging as a potentially dangerous pursuit. I wanna defend blogging by saying:

The real killer is NOT using your
God-given common sense. Wise up!

Yahoo! promoting this plant?

Bad bad mariJ...


and below is what you see on today's Yahoo! search homepage:

gulp

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then the Os decided to spin into recycle symbols!!! Sien.


obligatory communitty message:
don't try illegal drug substance

Best blog plug ever vol. 1: Hazel, oysters and cocktails and other rants

A blogger who can write, laugh and have a life at the same time – totally dig her!

INNIT won’t allow direct plugging because she isn’t a Nuffnanger. What b.s. rule. Here is her link:

http://hazelsilk.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/last-saturday-night-updates/

web shy April 21, new word for today from urbandictionary.com. (When will my word – noblophobia- make it to the dictionary?)

Unwillingness to expose one's thoughts, feelings or identity on the web, knowing that doing so means freaknobs from Baton Rouge to Bangladesh will know everything about you.

"Jeez, Paul--you need to get with it! You should create your own web site, post your picture, do some blogging about your beliefs, and generally trumpet yourself and your innermost thoughts via that there Internet."

"You kidding me? I am waaaaaaaay too web shy for any of that!"

Do You Ever Suspect Your Partner Of Cheating?

Paranoia can save your day.

Remember the nights when your partner got back late with some lame excuse while smelling of another person's cologne/eu de toilette?

Is your partner becoming less attentive to your needs, but at the same time spending more time on his/her own grooming needs?

Does your partner get restless whenever you borrow his/her mobile phone?

Does your partner have a tendency to whisper or give a quick answer and immediately hangs up on the phone, or when you answer the phone and get an abrupt hang up?

These are all tell-tale signs that something is amiss. Don't take "oh, it is work-related honey!'' as a satisfying response. Check it out - do some investigative work...

like this £350 a night honeytrap!!

(this one will not go all the way with you)

In Britain, you can hire this nurse-by-day in the shape of a honey trap to literally nail your partner whom you suspect of cheating.

However in Malaysia, you have to rely on some dudes who advertise themselves as P.I. in the local newspaper Classified section, like The Sun.

I am not so sure about the quality of these Malaysian P.I.s, you may want to read up on the Altantuya's case to get some idea.

But I like the idea of students/nurses part-timing as honey traps to supplement their income. Definitely a quicker way to get cash, compare to being a blogger relying on ads income. It's putting social science to practice, and if you are brave, you can add honey-trapping to the CV**.

What kind of employer does not like an intelligent, enteprising worker like a honey trapper?


Unless of course the employer himself/herself cheats...



**someone emailed me asking for help to do her CV- did I advertise it anywhere on my blog that I offer this type of services?

Girls in hot Tom Yam soup

Our home in Bangkok is in the Bangna district. It is somewhere between Suvarnabhumi Airport and Chatujak or MBK. It’s Bangkok’s Shah Alam, without the landmark mosque and schools with uncreative names (e.g. Section 13 Primary School, Section 17 Vocational School etc).

On our last day in Bangkok, we took a taxi to Siam Paragon (Bangkok’s Suria KLCC without the twin towers). We were supposed to meet up with Nicolekiss but our souvenir shopping list was a yard long. Our meet was reduced to apologetic text messages; she had already left for her hotel when we got to Paragon. Sorry again Nic.

I digress.

I want to say that Thailand is by and large a conservative country. This may sound surprising for some as Bangkok is known for its sex industry and transgender activities. (Prostitution is really illegal in Thailand – but no one pays too much attention.)

Throughout our taxi ride to the city, we were bombarded with radio messages asking women to dress in appropriate attire and to avoid skimpy clothes over the Songkran festival. The Culture Ministry must have been concerned given the past incidences of inappropriate encounters and abuses over this festivity. I can see why, it was like Spring Break Wet T-shirt contest on Khao San Road on Songkran.

A popular Thai girl band, Girly Berry was engaged by the Ministry to promote this avoid-skimpy clothes campaign.

"It is not only about what to wear. It is about behavioral change. If the Girly Berry girls can change, teenagers will follow," a member of the Thai ruling party preached.

I simply knew the Ministry had made a mistake – they have asked a girl band famous for their sexy outfit to be ambassadors for this campaign! It’s almost like asking KY to be an ambassador for vegetarianism, like asking Xiaxue to promote sarees, like asking Suzette to promote cow’s milk as breast milk substitute.

In front of the National media, the girls obliged and posed in traditional Thai costumes days before Songkran.

Now take a guess what happened when they performed during a Songkran show? (Malaysian ministries are not the only ones capable of comedy of errors!)

Read this:

Girly Berry band too sexy for Anusorn - Bangkok Post

Good to be back

Wow, it is really good to be back in KL -where broadband runs like a proper broadband. Our Bangkok home internet connection wasn't running up to its full speed, I suspect it had something to do with the Songkran holidays and Thais logging in en masse. Without a good internet connection and the Photoshop/Fireworks software a blogger can feel quite naked. I couldn't even watermark my pictures! Ok, I better stop, I am beginning to sound like a nomoblophobe*- pathetic. (I reckon it won't be long before noblo(g)phobia enters the English lexicon, as in nomophobio- fear of being out of mobile phone contact, no mobile phobia!)

It was doubly good to be back because Thomas Yap had just buzzed me on Yahoo and said he would buy me a ticket to the yapthomas.com's Blogger's Movie Meet. Yay, cos I rarely say no to freebie. It is good to be Sisuahlai I tell you :).

Ok, I won't blog too much this evening, there is enough rubbish on the blogosphere as it is without me adding to it. I will write more when my mind is coherent.

Meanwhile, here are some woosy holiday snaps for you blog-voyeurs:

Songkran turns into a street (water) warfare

Becoming a little tribal when uniformed men get involved!

A more sombre and civilised form of water usage

Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal (wiki-fact) like renewing SSL's wardrobe

The stick-on pink shades only look cool when no one is looking

And Phuket was fun too...

thank you very much.

No Nuffnang Ads in Thailand

Nuffnang advertised itself as ASIA'S FIRST BLOG ADVERTISING COMPANY, but if you are in Thailand, you won't be able to see any Nuffnang ads (it's geo-specific, I know). It's the same case scenario in Phillipines, HK, Japan, China, Indonesia... because ASIA'S FIRST happened to be SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA ONLY.

Maybe the Nuffnang business is still in its infancy, because blogging is definitely not small business in Thailand. I wonder if they are thinking of expanding its business into Thailand in the near future? Because Thai bloggers can certainly do with some local ads revenue.

Songkran

I can tell you that it is good to be in Bangkok in April, and it is even better to be in Bangkok over their Songkran weekend (Thai New Year or popularly known as the "Water Festival"). If you are celebrating - HAPPY SONGKRAN DAY.

Pic: CHATUJAK - ENTER THIS PLACE AT YOUR OWN PERIL

Side note: I was at the special screening of Kite Runner at GSC One Utama last Friday - I was glad I went to the screening despite finishing work late and having to catch the flight to Bankok the next morning. You must watch this one, and please bring your best friend along - I can't tell you why. (I saw a guy digi-camming this movie during this screening - what was the deal, dude?)

------I wish I can blog in Thai - but I don't understand a scribble ฌฆฯฤ"ฎ็"๐๕ฯฏ๋๗๐ฤฯฏฤศฏษฤญฤษ๖๐!!!!!

If the PM's wife did this...

SHE WILL BE ARRESTED.

But not if you are European, married to the French President.

A nude photo of French first lady Carla Bruni has smashed its auction estimate and sold for more than £45,000 in New York!

Had Edison Chen and his girls glamourised their shots on a proper SLR camera, they could have fetched some money - instead of losing their careers, face and pants.

HER NEW COAT - FOR GENERAL AUDIENCE
(uncensored pic here)

Blog habits and attitudes that I don't understand

(1) Announcing a blog hiatus

Why the hell for? I don't see the point. Announcing a blog hiatus is unnecessary. If you cannot blog because you are about to enter a jungle and there isn't any internet access, so be it. If readers did not see any update, they will click off and return at another time. Is it because you are afraid to lose traffic? A blog is ultimately judged by its past contents, you will lose traffic if you posted crap materials, you don't lose readers by going to a blogging-free holiday. So you wanna inform your advertisers not to give you anymore jobs? Very noble, but very stupid. Let the advertisers use your blog-skin regardless, you don't have to put them off by telling them you won't be updating for weeks. Oh, so you think you will disappoint your readers if you didn't inform them about your leave? You just have to pre-warn them about lack of updates so they can make necessary life arrangement to cope with your absence? Come on. If you start to think like that, you really ought to take a holiday.


(2) "I'm too big for non-automated blog aggregators like INNIT, Petaling Street, ping.sg etc"

It's ok if you are hitting more than 1000 uniques a day. I am referring to bloggers with peanut size audience who avoid aggregators because they think pinging others is really a function reserved for small-timers. If you have less than 1000 a day, you are a small timer. (And it's also ok to big-up your blog on these aggregators, if you don't do it, don't expect others to do it for you.)


(3) "Bloggers are arrogant and narcissistic lot. I am different."

Are you different because you have special requirement or are you different because you are rubbish? I don't like it when fellow blogger slag others off for being too arrogant, too lansi and too narcissitic. A blog is someone's personal space, it just so happen to be on the world wide web and you happen to be reading it. You don't accuse people of being too narcissistic if you see them grooming themselves in the mirror, so the same etiquette should apply here .


(4) "I have a secret blog and I don't want people to know about it."

Why not just WORD 97-save as-.doc file-hard disk and lock the bedroom door?


(5) Having an inter-stellar blog war

Please meet somewhere and have a proper fist fight. Otherwise, make love not war.




(Have a good weekend peeps. If I finish work early, I'll probably see some of you this evening at the special screening of The Kite Runner.)

Sufiah Yusof's Mom is now a Blogger (well, a beginner blogger)

The Yusof family have had such bad press recently, mom Halimahton just had to go online and set the record straight. She started her blog on April 2 (she avoided April 1 for a reason!) and she has been updating regularly since (with pics).

She has one important message to aspiring prostitutes: Don't do it, and don't make Sufiah a role model!

And to the press: "DO NOT glorify her (Sufiah). Do not condone her actions. I fear that youngsters see her as a role model. If anyone should be seen as role models, it is her siblings."

"They are cleverer. Being clever means that you can adapt to situations and still keep our principles."

She wanted us to spread this message to right the "misconceptions", so here is her blog url: http://hyusof.com/

"Happy Family". Sufiah is second from left.

Bloggers Su Ann, Kimberlycun and Paul Tan are in the news for the right reason

These are the brightest blog advocates around! Kudos to them for promoting blog freedom: WE SET OUR OWN RULES AND ETHICS.

This is true democracy. If readers don't like a particular blog, don't read it. If readers think a blogger spread lies, don't believe it. You don't have to believe every single conversation you overheard in a kopitiam, and why shouldn't you do the same for blogs?

Prosecuting bloggers because one disagrees with them will do nothing but harm this new enterprise and creative outlet.

Well done! Blogger freedom rules OK.

Our freedom fighters:
http://www.kimberlycun.com
http://paultan.org
http://quaintly.net

American Idol's David Archuleta looks like one of our friends

American Idol Season 7's favourite, David Archuleta, looks very familiar:

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Don't you think?
(Alfred E. Newman of MAD magazine)

Like most North Americans, I have been wasting my life following the American Idol episodes. I even know this singer's middle name -James. Sigh, what have I reduced myself to?

It's Idol Gives Back Week this week, so instead of channelling people's hard-earned money to those TV producers and the three stooges (Simon, Paula and Randy), the money will be going to the producers' choice of charities.

This is touted be the biggest charitable event in the US this year, so naturally, I'll be giving away another hour of my microlife to this show.

I know I am being mass-manipulated by TV. I'm like a moth flying into the light- I cannot do anything about it. -zzzaapp!

Seduction Manual

Seduction manual for bloggers, here. USE it responsibly. (we need something light on a Wednesday)

The election results have finally changed BN mindset, about time they start being more transparent

New Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat will reveal how the RM4.6bil soft loan to the Port Klang Free Zone was spent. “I wish to inform the rakyat about the true situation – whether it was actually squandered, not squandered, and where it has gone to, as well as the breakdown of the budget,” he said.

Only now? What were you all thinking before?

There is only so much wool you can pull over the Rakyat eyes.

"I Was Raped"

Would you wear a "I Was Raped" T-shirt?

Jennifer Baumgardner (a third wave feminist) of the "I Had An Abortion" T-shirt fame, wants female to take ownership of their rape experience - she has decided to expand her expertise to include "I Was Raped" as a current T-shirt.

"By having an object like this," Baumgardner explains to the New York Times, "that's so mundane, it sort of forces (rape) into everyday conversation."

Would you really want to pay USD$25 for a shrewd business idea that capitalises on people's misfortunes, or do you think she is fighting a real cause?

Somehow, I feel, there must be a better to get these victims to come forward, and more confidential way to support these so-called silent cases other than advertising their past on a piece of T-shirt. This is certainly very brave and very alternative, but I'm not so sure it will work in our society.

"...being public shatters the very silence that enables rape to be so common." -Scarleteen

SUPPORTING WOMENS' RIGHTS IN MALAYSIA:
http://www.hati.org.my/
http://www.awam.org.my/en/

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There are so many T-shirt designs that touch on very sensitive matters. You can even find those in KL street markets. I don't want to sound too parental, but I think anyone who wears these designs should at least understand the message intended, and not just taken in by the hype.

I have also seen some ridiculous T-shirt messages. I have seen kids as young as 11-12 wearing "narcissism is a way of life!" and "I can do whatever f*ck I want". Well, if this is any consolation, at least they are learning to spell difficult words not taught in their school curriculum. Sigh.

Similar interest: a T-shirt project that backfired!

Meeting Pak Idrus

(taken from Extra Time)

When NST ran a series of articles on senior bloggers not too long ago, one name caught my attention. I have always been an advocate of blogging, but when you read about a 68-year old embracing this new media and strongly recommending it to the young and old, I just have to meet the man.

His name is Pak Idrus (of idrus.blogspot.com). Read more here.

two bloggers, one ambition: getting everyone to blog!

Shock confession (rated 18 reading): She recited equations during sex!

UPDATE 6 May 2008: Pisang is going to save Sufiah (according to myMetro) and this is not a joke. Banana group otherwise known as Professional Islamic Support And Nurture Group (read another blogger's view) is determined to save her as they believe the Western media have conspired to tarnish her good name as she is a Muslim. Really? All I can say is this, the group is only adding more spin to this fanfare. And this will sell a lot of newspapers. Haih. Nonetheless, good luck in whatever you plan to achieve.

UPDATE 5 May 2008: A Islamic group from Malaysia have allegedly made contact with Sufiah, according to a local tabloid yesterday. Sufiah agrees to mend her ways if her father is not involved in this latest scheme. She sure needs the Accelerated UNlearning method to change things fast. I'll try to get more news on this.

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Somehow I knew this is going to happen. Sufiah Yusof is UK's latest sexpot, merely by coming forward and confessing about her new "career". She had a full confessional interview and videoshoot with one of UK's famous tabloids.

It seems like a heartbreaking tale of a woman, with genius potential, driven to the flesh trade as a means of getting out of her debt and boredom.

It seems. Judging by what she said in her most recent interview, there wasn't a hint of remorse, sadness or coercion at all. In a relaxed, matter-of-factly tone, she said:

(warning: hang on to your hats readers!)

"...I don't believe my education has been wasted—in fact I usually take problem sheets with me to solve before appointments."

"People think escorting is sleazy and terrible but I don't see it like that," she says. "I've always had a high sex drive—and now I'm getting all the sex I want—and guys are much better in bed with an escort than a girlfriend.


Ok, this is not really good reading for those young readers in debt or boredom. Before I go on, this is the cigarette pack warning from the videoshoot:

And also it's illegal in most countries. Remember hor.

Ok, let's carry on.

She also confessed:

"It's like they want to rescue me. One man asked me how much I earned a year. I said £60,000. He told me, ‘I'll pay that amount straight into your bank and buy you a flat and you can be my mistress."

She declined the offer. But the most shocking confession is this...

"I have men who are thrilled about my passion for mathematics. In fact one made me recite equations while he pleasured me, then I gave him o*** sex while he chatted about algebra. It drove him wild."

gulp... I think I just sw...

I don't know what conclusion to make from her revelations. Safe to say, she is now a mini celebrity in the UK and that itself will bring home the bacon, and more. My prediction is that she'll be in UK FHM's 100 sexiest women later this year and we'll see a lot more of her (flesh). Hopefully now that the media is interested in her, she can find a career in some other less harmful endeavours. Hopefully not just in those top-shelf magazines.

Have you heard about the UK Malaysian Student Department trying to save her? They couldn't even save the Malaysian Student Department buiding in Bryanston Square, London where I used to have my nasi campor every Saturday! I doubt they can do anything, she is not Malaysian anyhow. As one person puts it, save yourself firstla before trying to save a foreigner. (if you're interested in "saving" her, here are some channels: others also want to turut tolong)

Now turn away, because here are her SX18 confessional pics:




This thought came into my head: wouldn't she make a good, innocent Malaysian Dreamgirl? Perhaps not.