Lap Sap Nadnut

I found your bro, Nad.

(image from Geek Goddess)






Other famous blogger lookie likeys.

Forget about dawn or other local FHM cover girls... turn your attention to...

Miss Foxy. Whoa! I am now looking for the latest copy of UK's FHM (the only issue worth reading). Apparently, she said, quoting from FHM,"I have the libido of a teenage boy. I’d rather have sex all the time than leave the house.”

Don't you just love life!! I don't think many men would argue with her over that.

Is there a megan fox fan club in KL? :P

“There is a road, so why close it?”

This question was asked by Selangor MB in reference to the Bandar Mahkota Cheras toll saga!

One could easily ask the same question about other aspects of our Malaysian lives.... please don't close our roads.

I am going to give Advertlet a chance

This is going against my conditioning and recent thought processes. My email communication with the advertlet guys appear to get better responses than the others. My current ad agency signed up knows my stats and how small a fish I am in this ocean called the blogosphere, in comparison with the local blog giants like ks, and xx (to give you some idea, their one hour accumulative uniques are more than my total weekly ones!), hence I suspect this is one of the reasons my requests/queries get filed under priority with the heading "do this when we have 25 hours a day". Although their blogger relations executive reassured me that their top management are considering my request, I think he really meant the guy that sits across the desk is still deliberating on the right action. Bless.

But like most nuffnang ad slaves/servers (choose whichever describes you the best), keeping the glitterati status appears to mean something, although we will not know how this would affect our life-changing ad earnings in exact mathematical terms. So I think I will be spawning another blog for advertlets in order to keep that status.

My challenge is this... to build up an equivalent number of traffic and similar demographics on both blogs and compare my earnings - then we would know who has the real deal! Amacam? Sui bor?

That won't be that challenging as long as SSL traffic don't explode in the next few weeks. :P

Let's see if I have the energy for this experiment...

P/s: I must admit traffic building is one the hardest things to do when you only have 2 hours a day to blog, 3 hours tops. That is not my excuse. The real reason why most of us (me included) are getting shite traffic numbers is our content. I practice a lot of echolalia in my writing, I suspect most bloggers do, regurgitating stuff and information a lot of people already know. We hardly ever offer any fresh ideas and new revelations without bordering on being seditious or ridiculous.

Another point, some of us are not gifted with faces of a Goddess. Cam whore generally don't work for ordinary looks (or sub-ordinary looks) as far as traffic building is concerned. So that limit us to doing "funny faces/acts" and a lot of hours on Photoshop. But I don't have that ability/thick-skinned-ness either.

So it will be down to content. Damn good one.

Tips to Win Friends on The Net and The Blogosphere

This Dale Carnegie advice is so timeless. Let us examine how this 20th century brown-nose approach can be applied to our internet lives today. I have tried some of his principles at work, and I have this to say... these next 9 tips are so effective that you must not use it on vulnerable people, they will stick to you like flies... and for internet chatters, these people will keep buzzing you for a chat. You have been warned.

Tips to Win Friends on The Net and The Blogosphere

(1) Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
Swallow everything people say. If fools can do it, why can't we?

(2) Give honest and sincere appreciation.
Even if you cannot understand what you are really appreciating. Just keep on posting comments on every single post your fav blogger writes even if it is so out of touch with reality.

(3) Arouse in the other person an eager want.
Show him your thigh intense curiosity for the subject that he is writing about.

(4) Become genuinely interested in other people.
Even camwhores can be loved. If you try really, really hard.

(5) Smile.
The low-cost way to feign show interest on webcam.

(6) Remember that a man's (and girl of course) name is to him (or her) the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
Your name is the primordial sound of love unless your parents name you horatio or any name that sounds like a Latin belojeb.

(7) Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
It is always easy to be a good listener on the Net. Just look into the monitor while the other person chats away... isn't Jemma Jameson the most beautiful thing... (keep looking into the monitor, you are "listening" remember?)

(8) Talk in the terms of the other man's interest.
Talk about his blog, how you fell in love with his template, how his font size is so perfect for him...

(9) Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.
Repeat point (8) and then add the word sincerely to the end of your sentence- this works all the time.

You can now call yourself THE ULTIMATE INTERNET FRIEND.

15 81G P3N15 83TT3R 0R N0T? (Yes, now leave us alone.)

SSL is officially at war with male organ enhancement (moe) spams. My mail box is clogged with instructions, suggestions and advertisements on moe. Such indiscriminate spamming is offensive and unMalaysian/unSingaporean/un(please insert your nationality).

If a man needs to have the organ upgrade, he will seek help, he does not need constant reminder. Getting up in the morning to pee is the that reminder. So please don't compound the man's paranoia.

No moe spam please.

Nuffnang, Advertlets etc VERSUS No Ad Agency Bloggers

I have a lot of respect for bloggers who write well, with decent traffic, but do not feel compelled to sign up with an online ad agency! I am going to pimp some of these ad-less blog stars.... BIG UP!

Let me start... I found one

http://lifeforbeginners.com/


Who is your favourite ad-less blogstar? (post their links in the comment box please, I will then add them to the main)

http://www.cbmused.com/
http://www.knittedtales.blogspot.com/

Tennis star to appear on Playboy August Issue

My first (instinctive) reaction was yes, finally... Sharapova, Sharapov...

what?

who?

Harkle-what?

Oh, Ashley Harkleroad, a woman tennis player ranked XXth in the world is going to appear on the glamorous pages of Playboy.

Anti-climax sial.

Photo opportunity

Check out today's Star (front page). A certain business group have donated money to the Sichuan earthquake victims. Did anyone stop and ask: what business are they doing exactly?

How do get a sponsored trip to Thailand as a blogger?

Who says it doesn't pay to blog?

Nicole Tan and co. will jetting off on a sponsored blogging trip to Southern Thailand in July! Only bloggers with at least 1000 unique hits a day will get the special invite. Shame to say that my just under 1000 hits (per year!) on SSL does not fulfill the minimum requirement... :P oh well, got to save up.


I was hoping to do a special interview with Nic over oysters this week before her nth holiday, but her busy schedule would not allow. This girl goes on a adventure trip as often as some change their underwear. If green is the colour of envy, then my face is now fluoresced with mould!!

No la, I wish her and the rest luck... just remember to get me a nice souvenir when you come back. Wokay?

Singapore and Malaysia are disputing over this piece of "rock" - Pulau Batu Puteh

...and the winner is...

(result out in a few minutes...)

4.18pm: no final result yet... Malaysia seems to be leading
4:19pm: Orang Laut inhabited Pulau Batu Puteh and Sultan of Johor had authority over them (what about the "rock"?)
4:25pm: no winner yet... the judge is reading from a thick book
4:27pm: The judge now talks about the UK-Dutch border treaty
4:37pm: Singapore claims operation of lighthouse
4:45pm: No result yet - could go either way
4:49pm: everyone in the court looks serious(ly bored?)
5:02pm: the judge is halfway through that judgment book, he reads in a steady pace
5:12pm: the judge ain't reading any faster; but I think I know which side the verdict is going...

5:16pm: "Your Honour, can I just have a quick peek at the end of the book?"
5:20pm: The Malaysian lawyers fixed their glance on something/someone/anything... I wonder what run through their minds now?

5.22pm: It's mind over matter now trying to keep awake
5:26pm: We are close to the peaceful conclusion now...
5:32pm: Let me give you some perspective, the "island" is not even the size of a football pitch
5:41pm: (insert your choice expletives) the rain disrupts the Astro live broadcast!
5:48pm: someone please tell us the verdict.. hang on the transmission returns
5:55pm: Majority vote Singapore as rightful owner
5:56pm: But Pulau Middle Rocks belongs to Malaysia; so both sides win (right?)

How to voice concerns on your blog without getting arrested

Read this portion from the Star. My comments at the end.

KUANTAN: Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob briefly became a newscaster during the state assembly sitting here yesterday, reading an article about stringent measures taken by the Singapore Government on a group of political activists who screened a film about Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew without obtaining approval from the media regulator. The article was carried by a local English daily yesterday and with the paper cutting in his hands, Adnan took several minutes reading it. It was to drive home the message that by being too lenient and open to media practitioners including bloggers, there could be an influx of articles so much so that readers were inclined to believe falsehoods. Adnan said that it was good if Malaysia could be strict like Singapore. Read more...

My comments:

Falsehoods are bad. But not reporting falsehoods are worse.

I do not like it when bloggers get lumped and labelled in a general way as if we are baddies ganging up against the government (although I agree that they are few lousy writers/bloggers out there who are more interested in publicity than truths). But blogging gives us back our democratic voice - which can only be good (if all our writing is backed up by evidence). But sometimes we do not have hard and solid evidence, but we still sense some form of injustice or that something is amiss. What do we do then?

A Singaporean blogger was recently arrested for his blog entry. He wrote how a certain person he saw in a public place doing something so idle and meaningless, and then he started to link race and this person's sorry state. He went on how he could take anyone belonging to this particular race on a debating challenge and that he would win hands down because his education provided the necessary verbal leverage. Incredible stuff.

Of course readers started to complain. This blogger should really be charged under Bloggers Emotional Check Act (2008) or Blogging Stupidly Act (2008) rather than a more serious racism/seditious-type offence. He removed his posts and offered his apology and explanation citing ignorance and emotional lability for the entry - he should really cite stupidity.

Ok, I digress now. Back to my original question: if we sense some form of injustice when we do not have the necessary evidence apart from our intuition saying so, how do we report/blog about it?

Collectively, the blogosphere is really the emotional product of bloggers. We can either contain our emotion and not blog on the issue if we do not have solid evidence for or if we feel like saying something, this is my advice:

(1) Flag up the issue in a thought-provoking way. Use a language and expression that challenges the notion that everything is fine, without committing as fact.

(2) Use available statistics to show disparity and concerns, but do not generalise. It is not racist to say Race A represent 70% of the prison population if this was the case, but don't say Race A have criminal tendency/traits. There could also be other explanations: the law could be biased or unfairly meted out to Race A or it could just be a sample bias - a prison in China is likely to hold 99.9% Chinese prisoners!

(3) Flip the coin - give alternative views on the matter. E.g. If Government A rewards people based on merit rather than their genetic make-up, this would create healthier competition and a more hardworking society. Handing out goodies on a plate because you are so-and-so will encourage laziness and surely, in the long run, this will not benefit those who receive help.

Happy blogging... and don't get into unnecessary trouble.

Do you know why you are paying ridiculous price for your rice, wheat and other essential stuff?

A hedge fund manager speaking before the American Senate yesterday confirmed our biggest nightmare. The recent food price escalation has nothing to do with commodity supply/demand mismatch! We were told that commodity index speculators stockpiled enough commodity futures to put us, ordinary citizens, through months and years of living with obscenely inflated food prices if the right remedy is not being put into action soon! I hope our government is reading this and doing something about it...

(Portion of) the report: Think about it this way: If Wall Street concocted a scheme whereby investors bought large amounts of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices in order to profit from the resulting increase in prices, making these essential items unaffordable to sick and dying people, society would be justly outraged.

Why is there not outrage over the fact that Americans (read World citizens) must pay drastically more to feed their families, fuel their cars, and heat their homes? Index Speculators provide no benefit to the futures markets and they inflict a tremendous cost upon society. Individually, these participants are not acting with malicious intent; collectively, however, their impact reaches into the wallets of every American consumer (and us).

Is it necessary for the U.S. (read World) economy to suffer through yet another financial crisis created by new investment techniques, the consequences of which have once again been unforeseen by their Wall Street proponents?

(To relevant authorities, mail me if you want the full report)

...and to think that that our authorities are thinking of opening up our palm oil future trades to the Americans via the Chicago Mercantile Exchange...

Fulfilling Dreamz

We just luv competition.

Here goes.

Answers:

(1) Who is the professional image consultant dishing out juicy tips on how to look your best at CloveTWO.com's Lookin' Good section?
Wendy Lee

(2) Name the bloggers at the Guy and Parent blogs.
Guy: Andrew William
Parent: Sharmila Rajah

(3) At which section do you find stories on women's fashion and beauty?
Style Sheet

Attending Dreamz would be a dream come true for me because (hey!) it is everyone's dream to get free passes to enter a magical land... :)

Cook wins American Idol

The better performer wins!

This is a fair result. It was essentially a musician versus a teenage singer Idol contest. Dave Cook didn't churn out the safe and obvious, and got paid handsomely for the risk. Well, now that he is contracted to the Idol producers, I hope he is allowed to write his own materials.

For the runner-up David Archuleta, I don't think there is any need to worry about his singing future/career. Christmas is coming soon and the world always need another X-mas love ballad. :P

Akademi Fantasia Season 6 is better than American Idol

American Idol fever?

Personally, I think Akademi Fantasia Season 6 is more watchable. This is Malaysia's most watched reality television show. And this girl, Nadia, is the star of the show!

I am voting for her.

Thriving In A Grey Market? Or Just Finding Their Feet?

Dear (local) online Ad agencies, I am still waiting for a reply. SSL.

A constructive criticism and my list of proposals:

Here goes.

Again, I do not have any shareholding interest in any ad agency group and no one pays me for writing this, I am merely speaking up as a blogger.

(1) Make allocation of bands/payment transparent. I do not see how this could harm competition, in fact that would make an ad agency even more attractive to users. You will get more sign-ups, and more sign-ups means more traffic and more exposure for advertisers. Proposal: Show the allocation of bands/payment 2-4 weeks after the completion of an ad campaign on the ad agency site. This will reveal who gets the most impressions for the duration of an ad-campaign and how much they make in relation to others. I cannot see this hurting any enterprise or bloggers, in fact it will encourage better ideas to improve traffic for the ad agency and the bloggers community who use them.

(2) Shareholders and staff of ad agency should be disallowed from participating as ad campaign earner. They get profits from the commission earned, so why eat from the same pie they create for others?

(3) Full disclosure and justification should be made as to how much staff and founders made from past ad campaigns, this would prevent (potential) perception of pay mis-allocation (like this one unhappy blogger felt, maybe he didn't understand the meaning of banding - perhaps the company care to elaborate?). Such disclosure will lift a company profile and improve their standings above those of the rivals. Everyone loves honest business people, and I am sure ad agencies have nothing to hide.

(4) There should be an (independent) arbitrage system to decide on contentious matters like bloggers being denied advert cash-outs because of click fraud allegations. At the present moment, bloggers do not have a specific association to report their woes to (the Consumer Agency?). Ad agency should be able to reveal evidence (not the system that detect "fraud") if bloggers questioned such allegations. We do not want a tightly regulated blogosphere, and I am sure you do not want a tightly regulated online ads business. Make life easy (and fair) for everyone and be frank with bloggers.

Can Powerset answer all your burning questions?

Found this site, powerset.com; it is being touted as the search technology that understands our human language. The search is currently limited to Wikipedia articles.

According to About Powersite: "Powerset is first applying its natural language processing to search, aiming to improve the way we find information by unlocking the meaning encoded in ordinary human language."

Let us test drive this new technology.

Let us ask Powerset what kanasai is:

Hmm...

Let us ask Powerset the million dollar question... (click on image to enlarge)

Hmm...

Let us try this...

Kenny Sia's nationality: CHINA????

SSL Verdict: Not so impressive (almost kanasai).

Good luck Pak Lah

The news of the moment has to be the one about Dr M leaving UMNO. Did you hear what Najib have to say after hearing the news?

This is Najib applying the salt to the wound,"I will also discuss with Datuk Seri Abdullah, whom I had contacted just now, on efforts to strengthen Umno and also the issue of leadership transition in the party..."

Issue of leadership transition?

Ouch. Is Najib (openly?) agreeing with Dr M that there has to be a change of UMNO leadership soon?

no relevance to this entry, included this pic for cheap entertainment purpose

What should our beloved Pak Lah do now?

Option A: Resist and fight to the bitter end, where we know, everyone will cry and lose except Anwar.

Option B: Step down and surprise Najib by nominating someone else as the Numero U(m)no

Option C: Smile and pretend Dr M's influence is small kacang

Option D: Join MIC - prove to the world he is versatile and also has an equally potent shock value

Option E: Take questions on Youtube - appeal to the trendy lot

(Do you have any other suggestion?)

Whatever Pak Lah plans to do next, I just hope this news will not have the same effect on our financial market as March 8! GOOD LUCK Pak Lah.

It is okay to look at man boobs, but not a woman's breasts

Is this fair? A court in London recently reversed an earlier guilty decision on a gentleman's voyeuristic pastime of secretly filming male boobs (or moobs). The guy's lawyer argued that the male's chest did not constitute "private part" under an existing act, unlike the women's breasts, therefore it should not be an offence to ogle and film stranger's moobs.

The judge agreed and overturned the guilty verdict.

OMG. This is going to confuse a lot of kids. (I did not make this story up - read the article here)

Does that mean this wildman can carry on this activity? Who gets to define our private parts**?

I think this is absolutely mad. I will be uber offended if someone secretly film my nipple area when I am sun-bathing on a beach. I don't care if he considers my chest area as a legally non-private part, or try to dignify his work by calling them pectorals, I just do not want people to have moving and sequential images of my nipple area burnt onto their hard-disk or their DVD. No way jose.

Even worse, if someone does it through a doggy-bag peep hole and pretend that's a normal thing to do. Shocking. (Kids - it is NOT normal - just trust me on this one)

Please leave our moobies alone.
Stay away from us, madman!

**The way I understood private parts is this: anything that is concealed, if revealed would lead to embarrassment to the owner, then it is a private part. I'll give you an unusual example. Say I have a large pimple on my forehead, and I wear a cap to conceal it because it is ugly. If somebody intentionally took my cap away, after I mention about my embarrassing pimple, and then the idiot proceeds to point it out to the public whilst laughing at it like a madman, then he is GUILTY OF EXPOSING MY PRIVATE PART. I don't care what his lawyer thinks, if the court of law does not punish him, my fist will. (the law according to SSL)

Angelina Jolie's Famous Twins

Jack Black confirmed what we all know, Angelina Jolie is carrying twins!

Pay attention Jack!!

Read about Angelina's twins here.

Publishing previously unreleased NN pj pics

Enjoy the pictures and have a good long Wesak holiday weekend!

...I'm off to a blogging break a holiday island, wish me luck smuggling cheap alcohol nice pics back

how-to speech codes

“I do not need to resort to any unethical tactics to get rid of anybody,” Ong Ka Ting on the 'spy squad' allegations.

...how to deny by using godfatheresque phrase like "get rid of anybody"

“I’m going through the job advertisements too. Nothing specific. I’m just keeping my options open to employers who may have something suitable for me,” Loh Seng Kok, former MP for Kelana Jaya said.

....how to market unemployable ex-parliamentarian skills

“I want to invite everyone – teachers, local universities and parent-teacher associations – to make their views known formally so that once a decision is made, it will be made with a clear conscience,” Education Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said.

...how to share responsibility with others – so when the "biodiesel" hits the fan, that will be shared also

“I won’t be surprised if there are more surprises,” Businessman Loh Mui Fah (whose son Gwo Burne had recorded the Lingam clip) said.

....how to plant fear of surprises

“They offered me a big sum to jump,” Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

...how to say "I am expensive" without sounding arrogant

Sisuahlai selling out?

I read this entry on XBlogger with (some) interest. Simply because my blog moniker and the words fearing and threats shared the same sentence. :)

XBlogger wrote: "In my previous post, I have somewhat felt Sisuahlai had suddenly turn himself to be like every other authority fearing blogger who at the sight of threats would remove his postings. Then at the opportunity of being given back his privilege, he would take it even though it meant compromising his integrity."

Me selling out because of threats? This is news.

As much as I don't agree with legal taunts, I also do not agree with needless online ad agency bashing. There has to be a credible agenda in any disagreement and protest, not just some masturbatory emotional off-loading. I am only asking for information pertaining to fair and open online ad revenue sharing because many of us have agreed to have those agencies as our online ad broker.

They are our middle-men. They need our business/involvement and traffic as much as we appreciate their diligent enterprise. Perhaps not in strict equal proportion.

I say give them a chance to reason - even if it means that they will take some time to provide a response. If indeed they behave in ways we deem as kid-like and childish, than we have even less reason to copy their antics and behave like one.

Call me a wishful thinker or foolhardy, but I believe they will respond to my queries (have sent them SSL's proposals). I hope these ad agencies can prove those bashers wrong.

Now don't disappoint.

Racy Ms Foxy

Megan Fox is the latest Hollywood celebrity to enter halfnakedom (now why isn't that an actual word also?) in movie. A Megan Fox fan site didn't hide their disappointment as Ms Fox finally went topless for a film - "Jennifer's Body".

"I have to say I am not happy for megan on the photos here (but) I know the guy fans will be but as a true hard cure fan I am not for her." - from the fan site (warning: Racy Foxy pics here).

I think she wanted to say hardcore, but perhaps hard cure sounded less smutty. :) What do I know.

"What kind of Chinese are you?"

This has to be the most interesting info-politico-tainment hybrid news in recent weeks.

One Hong Kong university student gained instant celebritidom (why isn't this an actual word?) after publicly showing her pro-Tibetan feelings during the HK-leg of the Olympic torch run.

screenshots from daylife.

She was seen unfurling the free Tibet flag and bravely absorbing heckles from the public. Not only that, she was later taken away in a police van to "prevent further disruption of public order".


Christina Chan had been monitored by the HK police after announcing her intention on her facebook.

Well, this gets more interesting. Suddenly her private photos began to appear on the internet.


An act of personal sabo or self-publicity? Christina, who also works as a model, reckoned that someone had taken those pictures from her facebook account.

"I did not do anything that cannot be shown. I don't feel that someone has caught me doing something wrong," she explained.

Ok.

Read more here (in Chinese).

V for Vanishing Ads or V for Vendetta?

This case only strengthens my view that we need a bloggers' union/association to protect us from (some) ad agency(ies?).

Read Jayce's Beware of this Online Advertising Company. The blogger's cash-outs were denied because of fraud allegations, and was told that if required by the court of law, "sufficient evidence" that "would hold up to expert examination" will be produced. When the agency was asked to show the "fraud details" the answer given was "revealing how our system works would give click frauders more information to commit further misdoings, more efficiently". (what exactly are frauders and misdoings, are those English nouns or nervous spelling glitches?!)

This smells like legal intimidation. Sad to say, this is a huge disservice to our blogging community. Instead of producing bloggers who can discuss and air serious issues, we will produce people who are fearful of legal threats and only interested in posting pictures of themselves doing everyday stuff (nothing wrong with this sort of casual blogging btw, I do that too sometimes). This will give parents more reasons to stop their kids from blogging and saying the wrong things publicly and getting their rear-ends sued.

So who wins here? No one. Absolutely no one.

A sad, sad day for blog monetizing/blog monetizers/blog monetizees/anyone associated with it.

For those who wanna do more serious reading on a lovely Sunday, here is one from Bizwalk: Are blog advertising agencies exploiting the fact that bloggers have little to protect them? (this is an excerpt from the post, not the title).

P/s And now look, where are the ads for the week?

INNIT Ban Day 4 (let's be fair to them!)

"Whoever thinks the pen is mightier than the sword, has never encountered a keyboard. With internet access of course."
(modified from Wiki)

I am still gagged banned from publicising my entry on INNIT site. To be fair to them, they have every right to do whatever they please on their site. It is almost similar to someone asking you to step up of their car if you keep making annoying noises in it. Fair. It is their car afterall and I have no problem with that ban order.

But thankfully, there are other nicer, bigger cars around town to hitch a ride in!

:)

The car models I am referring to are PetalingStreet, Ping.sg, StumbleUpon etc...

_______________________________________

I said I won't be writing anymore on NN/Payout for now. But in order to be fair to NN, I had to include this entry. Better be fair than keeping a self-gag promise!

They did try to explain their bands (on 29 Nov 2007, see below), but they cannot reveal the precise mechanism/formula used for their allocation. We just know bands are chunks of average daily visits (I suppose it's Uniques rather than Impressions as in how many times a site is visited regardless whether it is from the same IP terminal, but need more clarification on this also). So it is not impossible to have two pay bands in a week if your blog had 2 different ads. What we won't know is how much of the actual ad revenue goes to operation cost and other misc. cost, and we do not know the actual TOTAL impressions for that week. But they can choose not to reveal them. Maybe one day they will - just like the MAS v AirAsia pricewar.


FROM NN support site:
What are bands? How are they allocated?

Tags: band

Added: 29 Nov 2007

Bands are what we use to allocate earnings. They are based on your average daily visits in a given week.

If you have an average of 51-100 visits for example, you could be in band X, or if you had 101-150 visits a week you could be in band Y. Being in a higher band gives you more earnings if you are assigned to a campaign for that week.

The allocation of bands are confidential and subject to change from time to time as we monitor the overall traffic.

Baby throwing! Most bizarre

I doubt our company risk management dept will ever approve this activity. And you think calling people bigfoot or monkey in the parliament is bizarre and childish...

If you cannot see video here, click on this link.

I dedicate this post to those who are easily offended, it will make you stronger...

The Confidential Email (Nuffnang gave permission for release)

Nuffnang called and gave me verbal permission to release the email content on SSL. Thanks Robb for the phone call! This is why it was not a mistake to stick with Nuffnang!! This will be the last entry from SSL on the Nuffnang/Payout series. They suggest communicating with them directly or through their helpdesk if we have any quibbles about any of their service - I agreed to that. Finally, I would like to re-iterate that I am not affiliated to any bloggers who had screen-shot the following article and publish them on their sites. (BTW I am no closer to the truth about the meaning of banding, oh well... I guess I have to live with it for now)

This is the entry I was referring to:

I have been mulling on a response to their e-mail. I finally agree on these few guidelines: I must give a clear reply, I must be objective, and I must not humiliate people in doing so.

However, I must keep my promise first, since I did not receive any objection from anyone from Nuffnang (according to Nuffnang Community site, at least 2 Nuffnang workers have visited SSL in the last 24 hours), I will go ahead and publish the email content.

This is the email:

With reference to your Innit post (http://innit.nuffnang.com/view.php?id=9327) and your blog post titled 'Is Nuffnang working for us?' (http://sisuahlai.blogspot.com/2008/05/is-nuffnang-working-for-us.html) at 12:05 AM, 6th of May 2008, you are hereby banned from Innit.Nuffnang.com for 2 months.

This is due to the following reasons;

1. Defamatory content
The image posted on your blog post depicts the evolution of mankind from an ape. You further edited the image to fit in Nuffnang's logo after that and it ends with the fading image of a robber. (Attached with mail a screenshot of your blog post)

This image is a clear case of libel under the Malaysia's Defamation Act 1957 which requires three criteria to be proven;

a) The content was defamatory
Though expressed indirectly, it leads people viewing your image that you're saying that Nuffnang has evolved into a robber. This implication is obvious and is defamatory in nature.

b) The defamatory content was made referring the plaintiff
It is obvious that Nuffnang's logo and name was mentioned in the blog post you wrote on
http://sisuahlai.blogspot.com/2008/05/is-nuffnang-working-for-us.html

c) There must be a third party involved that have heard or seen your defamatory content.
This criterion is satisfied as you posted your blog link on Innit and your blog which is accessible to all Internet users.

2. Misleading other Nuffnang bloggers.
As you are free to have your freedom of speech, it is also subjected inter alia to the common law of Defamation Act (refer previous). What you've said in your blog post is misleading in nature and would cause uncertainties among the bloggers who are not as informed as others. Furthermore, you are attempting to seek confidential information of our company such as the pay rates of our bloggers and advertising cost.

In light of your recent opinions and views, our lawyers and investors have pushed the management to sue but we have always refrained from doing so. Since its beginning, the only times in which Nuffnang had taken legal action against a party was when it was pushed to a corner and left with no other choice.

Nuffnang has a two way relationship with bloggers as the Nuffnang team are made up of bloggers as well. Your recent entries have undermined and insulted the hard work that the Nuffnang team has put together in the past year since its conception and have soured the relationship between many of our team mates and yourself.

To finally address your concern, Nuffnang remains a private company and we will NOT disclose our operating costs or give a more detailed plan of our payout structure as these information can and will be used by our competitors against us. Many ad networks do not even disclose what each blogger gets for a particular ad campaign which Nuffnang already does.

Throughout the months that you've been with Nuffnang, we believe that you have gained a lot with us. We hope that you're happy with our services all this while though if you no longer favor us or have found a better alternative, feel free to place your trust elsewhere where it would serve your interest best. After all, the advertising space in your blog belongs to you and it is up to you how you want to monetize it.

Your ban is effective the moment this email is sent.

Cheers,
Robb Chew
Blogger Liaison Executive

Nuffnang Sdn Bhd

www.nuffnang.com.my

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.

(end of email)

I will let readers form their own conclusion. The articles they could be referring to "as misleading and causing uncertainties among the bloggers who are not as informed as others" are possibly these ones:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Now I have this to say. To recap, I basically requested for some information pertaining to the meaning of their pay banding and how they go about rating a particular blog with their band numbering system.

Instead of responding with a simple "NO, we cannot give you more details than the ones already provided but thank you for showing interest, I hope you continue with our service" they had to go through all the legal definition of defamatory and also added in the part that said my entries have "undermined and insulted their hard work''.

Please don't laugh, I think they were quite serious when they wrote those words.

Frankly, I really sayang Nuffnang. I haven't left them and I never once asked people to leave them. I've only invited Nuffnang users like myself to think a little bit more about the nature of their advertising work and how they go about setting rates of payment to us for leasing our blog space to them. That was the real intention, no malice was ever intended!

I had to ask thought provoking questions (hence the provocative title on some of my entries), with the sole intention of asking bloggers to start to think for themselves with regard to their blog ad value rather than letting Nuffnang do all the thinking for us.

I maintain that by being transparent, we can drive the ad value of our blogs higher - so everybody wins. In my opinion, the blogosphere is an under-valued advertisement avenue because as a community, our readership reach is immense. At present, it seems that for small-time bloggers (my personal definition, probably apply to people with less than 1000 uniques average a day, some say less than 5000) who paste ads column on their sites (the majority of us!), the value and payment these bloggers get are all brokered for them, by the agency we signed up to and the company that chooses to advertise on our sites. We have little say on these "valuation matters". Hence we will never know whether we could get a better deal.

I understand that most ad agencies do not reveal their rates (for fear of being swallowed by competition?) and bloggers are practically left to their payment mercy. What we get is what they say we get - no question asked please.

I did suggest that by being transparent, we can actually drive up blog advertisement value. In the long run, the agency will gain our loyalty and recommendation, and this would enable them to fetch better price for all of us. In this scenario, bloggers win and our ads agency also win!

I sincerely want Nuffnang to be the region's leader in the online ad business. I have said that in my previous entry, I used the word powerhouse. So I really don't know how I could be libelous and be seen as harming their reputation when what I am actually doing is supporting them, suggesting idea to help them grow bigger, and seeking more information. Furthermore what I said so far was a matter of personal opinion!

Finally that picture. The centre of defamatory "controversy". It is really far from being controversial, what I intended was completely miscontrued, 360 degrees and then inverted! I'll tell you why in a bit - if you haven't figured already.

To those who wrote the email and banned me from Innit (why?!), please read the Is Nuffnang working for us? entry again. And then look at that picture (see below).

I will let readers (or the real judge if this case is brought to court) be the judge. So far they haven't asked me to remove the picture. I remove it on my own volition because I don't want to confuse the guys who banned me from INNIT. I will repost it, but now I'll omit the ad agency logos and I will transplant my heads on the shoulders of last two creatures (I like my bad photoshop skill)!

Imagine my heads representing the ad agency. Read the article and replace the word nuffnang with Sisuahlai Online Ad Sdn Bhd. Have I obviously evolved into a robber? Or am I the one kena robbed?

The email from Nuffnang says (with regard to the original post): it leads people viewing your image that you're saying that Nuffnang has evolved into a robber. This implication is obvious and is defamatory in nature.

Note the word obvious. Please don't laugh, I am sure they were really really serious when they wrote those words.

This is the original image:

Nuffnang evolved into robber? P-L-E-A-S-E la.

I wrote in the article: I feel that blogosphere as a whole is an under-valued advertising avenue. Our readership and reach are many times more than print and broadcast media, and yet we charge and get peanuts for running ads.

The fade-out cartoon with the sack containing the dollar sign depicts our missed opportunity of earning more, because blogs, in my opinion is undervalued. So now that Nuffnang is older and more evolved (now version 2.0 apparently), it will hopefully work for us bloggers and grab that previously missed opportunity. I said grab, not rob hor.

So Nuffnang, do you still think you are the robber in the picture?

I do feel like I am working for Nuffnang sometimes and yet they made me feel like I am the enemy. Haih.

I am NOW considering suing for the emotional distress caused from this whole blog-ipisodes.

(ha, ha...kidding! There are better ways to spend my money and time than suing people pointlessly, like treating bloggers to SSL Oysters Galore! Stay tuned for the invitation.)

Shall I invite Tim and Robb? :)

Disclaimer: I have not colluded with Nuffnang or anyone to sensationalize this and get crazy traffic. I do not work for Nuffnang. I do not own shares in their company.

Please help Myanmar

Story

Help 1

Help 2

The Nuffnang Email, The Innit Ban and That Picture

I am unable to publish my response without including their email content.

Sorry folks, by participating in Nuffnang ad programme, I have previously agreed to their rules on confidentiality.

:(

I know.

However, if NN gives me the green light to answer their e-mail here on SSL and also allows me to include the full content of their e-mail, I will do so immediately as I have completed the article (in my draft waiting to hatch!). Meanwhile I will respect their terms & conditions and play by the rules.

The Nuffnang Email, The Innit Ban and That Picture

Read the content and news here.

Sisuahlai is banned from INNIT for 2 months

:)

Thanks guys.

Is this article defamatory? How so?

*I have decided to remove the original picture depicting the "evolution of apes" followed by two Nuffnang pictures, and a fade-out image of a cartoon carrying a sack with dollar sign on it because Nuffnang interpreted it as something which I never intended it to portray. (The picture removal is not an admission of guilt, far from it - I will explain why in the next entry!)

**I intend to make public the email sent out to me because it also explains Nuffnang position regarding disclosing their payout structure. It took more than 3 SSL entries before they respond. If I see no objection of me releasing their email content, I will do so in my next entry.

wearing this banned badge proudly!

Is Nuffnang working for us?

Some people accuse me of being anti-Nuffnang when I posted the Is Nuffnang ripping us off? series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). One girl even lamented I know zilch about business when I demanded more transparency and questioned their 70:30 payout ratio (btw, this 70:30 business is a guess because I don't know what goes on in their Accounts dept).

Their explanation (see Nuffnang's FAQ - should really be FAFI, frequently asked frequently ignored!) of what banding means is as good as not telling us in the first place. Nobody knows what banding means and how exactly the final ads payment is being calculated. You could post two ads on the same blog, and get two completely different pay bands - like 1 and 7. Whatever 1 and 7 mean!

I carried out the most unscientific poll (using Nuffnang's latest widget) to help me overcome my stress ulcer and answer the following question: Would you like to know Nuffnang ads pay/fee structure and distribution?

At the time of writing, 79 responded to the poll (FYI, I only answered once, no point cheating).

60% want to know the exact payout structure and distribution. The 40% essentially don't give a hoot.

60% want to know more. That's 2/3 according to my rusty maths, enough to form a strong majority according to Malaysian parliamentary standards.

I hope after numerous attempts to get them to respond, Nuffnang will eventually offer a better explanation as to what banding means. My fingers remain crossed.

Now why do I need to know?

ONE. I believe Nuffnang runs an honest business. For me, whatever goes on in their shareholding company (Nuffnang Sdn Bhd?) has no ethical bearing on Nuffnang going concerns. But if bloggers are persuaded by Nuffnang's cause, they should at least get some idea as to how much their blog traffic (and time) is worth to Nuffnang and how the ads revenues are finally shared out.

TWO. Blogs have commercial value, even the crappiest stuff you regret visiting. I feel that blogosphere as a whole is an under-valued advertising avenue. Our readership and reach are many times more than print and broadcast media, and yet we charge and get peanuts for running ads. Having blog ads agency like Nuffnang and Advertlets, we are effectively allowing a third party to value the community commercial value. And by third party, I meant a committee of newcomers eager to fight and scrap for a living. A high level of transparency can and will drive up our market value. So everyone wins - better reach, better value.

THREE. I am a busy-body but I also secretly (not a secret now!) want Nuffnang to evolve into an online ad powerhouse - and not another corporate thief. Tim and Ming will get bloggers support (SSL included) as long as they keep Nuffnang HONEST and FUN!

We scratch your back, can you scrub ours now?

DIGI spamming subscribers!

I just got spammed by DIGI.

It is now promoting the Malaysian Dreamgirl series on DIGI mobile.

What an outdated, annoying spam!

If I get another spam, I will consider switching network!!!

DIGI guys, I know you are reading this. Stop spamming.

Please restrain yourself. Please.

Malaysian Foreign Ministry to impose last century's standards

I nearly fell off my (computer) chair after reading this news:

MINISTRY WANTS WOMEN GOING ABROAD ALONE TO GET FAMILY CONSENT (The Star)

It is understood that there is a plan being proposed by the Foreign Ministry that requires women travelling abroad alone to obtain written consent from recognised authority.

This reverse development news was picked up by UK's Sunday Times and The BBC news because it was that strange, if not shocking - Malaysia, of all places, would want to propose such backward ruling!

WHY? Because women are not capable of making their own decision? What about men, why aren't they required to produce written consent? Are they more sensible than women?!?!

I swear, all the Women Rights groups in Malaysia are now preparing a BIG PROTEST. Even my CPU and keyboard cannot wait to join in this protest. This proposal is even more ridiculous than suggesting that we ought to send a second Angkasawan to space to confirm the space results of the first spaceman (thank goodness the plan was eventually scrapped).

I can see this women must get consent proposal going through the same processes:

MINISTER'S BRAIN ---> MINISTER'S MOUTH ---> NEWSPAPER PUBLICATION ---> RECYCLE BIN ---> and finally...

We have "voted in" a government that are not capable of seeing the social and cultural consequences of their own smart ideas.

Haih. And double haih.

Who is the ad commissioner?

Mother of all Ad Horror!

I was about to praise Nuffnang for giving us such colourful, tasteful and well-designed ads until this one comes along...

Looks like a last-minute jobbie. Aaaargh!!

Gratefully yours, SSL.

Say Bung if Bigfoot's in Da House

Live telecast of proceedings in the Dewan Rakyat will continue despite the name calling and disorderly nature seen in the first 30 minutes of broadcast. Hooray, Jerry Springer style show finally comes to Malaysia!

Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said although the Cabinet was disappointed with the episode, it felt that it was too premature to stop the live telecast based on one incident - correction - several incidents. Of course, the ONE incident he referred to was the memorable name calling between Karpal Singh (from the white corner) and Bung Mokhtar (from the blue corner).

Karpal began proceedings by questioning certain technical points on the proceedings when he was distracted by Bung.

"I hope Bigfoot does not disrupt the proceedings," Karpal taunted. "Bigfoot, sit down!"

Then 'burly' Bung exploded into semi-intellectual mode, "I am bigfoot, you are big monkey."

This went on for a bit. The House Speaker was clearly no match for these playground antics, it took him several minutes to calm things down. I feel sorry for him, it is like being Jerry Springer without the security and show producer.

Even Pak Lah is worried...

Finally, he acknowledges the existence of Bigfoot and its disruptive forces on live TV...

BENAR

FROM BENAR: For A Fair and Free Media

BENAR will be officially launched immediately following the conclusion of the forum on Press Freedom organised by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) to be held on 3^rd and 4^th May, 2008.

Time: 2:00 pm

Date: Sunday, 4^th May, 2008

Venue: Annexe, Central Market, Kuala Lumpur

We have invited both the local and foreign media to attend the launch and will explain to everyone our civil action initiative to promote Truth in Reporting. At the launch, we will also announce the Minggu BENAR of 1^st to 7^th June, 2008 during which week, everyone will be invited to do what they can to persuade those in control to remove the existing restrictions and allow our journalist community to carry out their responsibilities without fear or favour.

We will be challenging our local journalists to Dare to be Free. Civil society can only raise concerns and offer support. Any change has to come from within the journalist community. Minggu BENAR will be the opportunity for them to stand up or walk or do whatever is their preferred mode of expression, to visibly state their case.

We, the public, will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them.

BENAR Organising Committee