John

Archive for April, 2008

Japanese Filmcrew Busted Shooting Porno In MickeyD’s!

In News on April 29, 2008 at 8:29 am

pic: miss mcdonald’s journal

Only in Japan…I really cannot see why anyone would find this sort of thing an erotic turn on.  Special sauce and Upsize jokes abound! Mainichi Daily News reports:

McDonald’s customers suspected something amiss when one guy pulled out his whopper. They knew for sure when he began partaking of fur burger. The upshot was four people trying to make an adult movie in a fast food outlet ended up getting arrested, says Friday (5/2).

Arrested in the case earlier this month for indecent exposure and obstruction of business were Kunikazu Ishii, 52, the director, Nahoko Shimada, 21, an actress and dental nurse, and actors Yuya Ochiai, 29, and Makoto Nishizumi.

Saitama Prefectural Police say the four spent about 30 minutes one afternoon in January this year filming an adult movie in the McDonald’s Higashi Matsuyama Itoyokado outlet in Higashi Matsuyama, Saitama Prefecture. They were allegedly caught after another customer called the police and told cops what was supposedly going on.

“(Shimada) came into the restaurant holding hands with Ochiai. But Ochiai didn’t look the type good enough to pick up a woman like her, so I thought something fishy was going on,” a customer in the store at the time of the incident tells Friday. “It was even more suspicious because there was one young woman surrounded by all those much older guys.”

The group apparently took up a corner counter not easily visible to serving staff and went about their purportedly pornographic proclivities.

Ochiai apparently spent the time with his hands up Shimada’s skirt as he displayed his deft handiwork, Ishii did the filming and Nishizumi acted as a barrier and barked out orders to participants — so the cops say, anyway.

The reporter, Ryann Connell, though digs deeper, and gives us all some insight into the hard circumstances of a burgeoning Japan AV starlet’s life.

“Putting the actress’s wages aside, 10 years ago most cheap adult movies had a budget of about 1 million yen, but now that figure is more likely to be 500,000 yen or, in really bad cases, only around 300,000 yen. If you’ve only got 300,000 yen to work with, there’ll be no room to book a studio or hotel room once you’ve rented the filming equipment and paid the guys’ wages. So that’s probably why they filmed in the fast food restaurant.”

Most adult movie actresses are usually the highest paid workers on each flick. Though that was likely to have been the case with this movie, too, starlet Shimada was hardly likely to have been raking in big bucks (at least in cash terms).

“Women acting in these cheap adult flicks usually get paid around 70,000 yen per movie, but some may only get as little as 20,000 yen. Nearly all the women who act in these kinds of movies have a real job and do it as a sideline. There are nurses, stage actresses and members of the Self-Defense Forces,” the associate tells Friday.

“Shimada’s main job was a dental nurse. She only started appearing in a few adult movies from December last year, so she’s basically a complete amateur. Now she’s been arrested, her chosen part-time profession has ended up costing her quite a lot.”

FYI RM1.00 = JPY 33.00 (approx.)  Still more than most people get.

Hackers Target Firefox and Safari. Is IE Safer? Cripes.

In News, Online on April 28, 2008 at 5:39 am

(Pic from Woodsy)

As more users latch on to Firefox and dump IE, it’s not surprising to hear that hackers are increasing their attacks into these alternative browsers. According to a report in the Washington Post, there were more bugs to be patched in Firefox and Safari in April compared to IE, which had none.

Still though, I’d stick to my trusty open-source browser–Firefox 3.0 is on the horizon, and the open-source community is pretty fast at patching these holes compared to Microsoft. Either way, it looks like the love-hate relationship I have with Java Script continues. It’s so necessary, yet can be so evil. Like Mogwais. Except Mogwais aren’t necessary, and this Mogwai-Java analogy sucks.

From The Washington Post:

Many people are switching from Internet Explorer to alternative browsers such as Firefox and Safari. Though that might make them feel more secure, the shift has also opened new doors for bad guys.

Case in point: We have no IE bugs to report this month, but both Firefox and Safari have been hit hard.

So forget the idea that just because you’ve switched to a new browser, you’re magically safer. You may be for a time, but to stay safe with any software, you need to keep current with fixes.

In a somewhat dubious recognition of Firefox’s growing popularity, hackers have focused their attention on it, leading to a rash of newly discovered holes. The folks at Mozilla recently released two Firefox updates in less than six weeks, fixing a total of five critical security vulnerabilities. All five can be exploited by planting a poisoned JavaScript file in a Web site and waiting for you to stumble across it.

Gin, Sitcoms, And The Media Revolution

In Online on April 28, 2008 at 4:25 am

(Pic from lusi)

Leo Laporte’s Twitter feed came in handy last week when he posted Clay Shirky’s speech that he gave at the Web 2.0 Conference at April 23. Clay’s another intelligent writer who’s into the social media revolution, and recently came up with his book, Here Comes Everybody. It describes how the internet has created a collective conscience and “organising without organisation”–a catchphrase to sum up how people are coming together without the help of big companies and concerted efforts.

You can hear an interview with him describing the book on IT Conversations–he can come off as a little too enthusiastic to me about the power of social networking, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

Here’s an excerpt from his Web 2.0 speech:

I was recently reminded of some reading I did in college, way back in the last century, by a British historian arguing that the critical technology, for the early phase of the industrial revolution, was gin.

The transformation from rural to urban life was so sudden, and so wrenching, that the only thing society could do to manage was to drink itself into a stupor for a generation. The stories from that era are amazing– there were gin pushcarts working their way through the streets of London. Read the rest of this entry »

Gaff Of The Day: The OGC Logo

In News on April 25, 2008 at 4:42 am

Spend $30,000 on a new logo design, unveil it in a grand fashion, and all it takes is one guy to flip the logo sideways to, erm, cock it up.

From The Telegraph:

The logo, for the Office of Government Commerce, was intended to signify a bold commitment to the body’s aim of “improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement”.

Instead, it has generated howls of mirth and what is likely to be a barrage of teasing emails from mandarins in other departments.

According to insiders, the graphic was already proudly etched on mousemats and pens before it was unveiled for employees, who spotted the clanger within seconds.

Staff have apparently now stripped their office of souvenirs bearing the logo, which could appear on eBay within days.

A spokesman for OGC said: “It is true that it caused a few titters among some staff when viewed on its side, but on consideration we concluded that the effect was generic to the particular combination of the letters OGC – and it is not inappropriate to an organisation that’s looking to have a firm grip on Government spend.”

Geddit?

Malaysia: Home of The Zombie Bots

In News on April 25, 2008 at 4:06 am

Don’t read much of the papers these days, and it was only thanks to my colleagues that I picked up this interesting piece of news that Malaysia ranks as a Top 5 country when it comes to harboring Spam Zombies. “96% of computers in the country are zombie machines,” according to the survey carried out by Symantec, although I can’t shake off the suspicious nature of this scare-tactic headline.

Little details were revealed on how the survey was carried out (“The survey was carried out between July and December last year, involved Symantec setting up two million decoy e-mail accounts worldwide”) so it could be very well rigged in favour of the company. Still, it’s cause for concern.

So protect yourself and surf safe: Get yourself an AVG programme, thrash IE, and get NoScript. Oh, and to understand how Spam Bots are created, TWiT’s programme with Steve Gibson gives you a great explanation without being too techie.

From The Star:

Malaysia is one of the most prolific distributors of spam and propagators of “spam zombies” in the Asia-Pacific region, revealed a recent survey.

It ranks No 5 as a spam distributor, among 29 countries. Topping this list is the Philippines, followed by Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Laos, according to the survey by security solutions vendor Symantec Corp.

As a propagator of zombie machines, Malaysia is No 7 on the list. Topping it is China, followed by South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.

These are PCs that have been compromised by hackers and used to launch spam e-mail, or phishing messages that lure computer users to mistakenly reveal personal information such as credit card details or bank account passwords.

Kannan Velayutham, a consultant for enterprise security at Symantec Malaysia, said the survey showed that 96% of computers in the country are zombie machines.

Because Muxtape Is Just Awesome

In Online on April 25, 2008 at 3:01 am

This is what I mean when I say Twitter is awesome for picking out new trends: read a twitter thread from Veronica Belmont this morning that said: “@kevinrose i’ll see your muxtape and raise you 5 better songs than yours. http://veronica.muxtape.com/”

Through it, I discovered Muxtape, an awesome site where you can upload songs and create your own online mixtape and share with friends. Just launched late March, Muxtape is a lot like the Music Mixes app on Facebook, only much slicker looking–it’s like soooo Web 2.0, man–and so far, there’s little lag in streaming the music through. It does need a freakin’ search engine though. Navigating through it is very random at the moment, but the blog does provide a good guide to the latest music/apps being added.

You can upload up to 12 songs per page, which sounds kinda limited to me, but then again 12 is really the ideal length for most mixtapes anyway (Insert Neil Diamond reference here). Am trying it out as I blog by adding Jerome Kugan’s songs to my muxtape account (Don’t sue me Jerome!).

Wonder if Junkonline will create their own Muxtapes and share it with their readers. They so should. Oh, and in case you’re wondering where to start, Wired magazine gives you a 101 on where to start for Muxtape n00bs. My personal recommendation would be Veronica Belmont’s. Because she’s yummy.

From Wired:

Muxtape, the online mixtape creation service, has been streaming free, user-generated playlists to the masses since its launch in late March.

But for those eager to begin perusing the wares, where to begin? Liner notes and album art are nonexistent, and creator-chosen titles (like “Fat“) often shed little insight into what the playlists contain.

While aesthetically pleasing, the blocky, colorful grid of available muxtapes is no help either. Without any help navigating Muxtape’s nearly 50,000 handmade compilations, it can be a bit daunting to find the right playlist to satisfy your hungry ears.

Rest assured, mux-curious ones. We’ve painstakingly listened to hundreds of the muxology offerings to cook up this field guide to the types of muxtapes you’ll likely run into when you give the service a try.

Introducing: Tongue in Chic

In Online on April 24, 2008 at 6:26 am

I’ve been wondering when Joyce’s shopping project was going to launch, and up comes the invitation to join in the group “Tongue in Chic”, which led me to their spanking new site. Even though I’m a non-shopper (my wardrobe consists of 12 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, and the many corporate sponsored t-shirts from press events), I’m quite impressed with what Tongue In Chic is doing by tapping into the community’s knowledge of what’s going on in town.

It’s not a new idea, but it’s something KL needs-a one-stop site where shopaholics can go to and find out where the sales are happening, the best places to shop, upcoming shopping events, etc. All that information is currently scattered among the thousands of blogs, and hopefully, Tongue in Chic will grow to be the aggregator of that information.

Congrats Joyce, Adrian, and the rest of the Freeform peeps. Looking forward to see how it progresses.

To give you a better idea on what it is, here’s Joyce to explain it to ya:

Sale.

Did that word just make you tingle or your ears perk up? If it did than you know you’re in the right hands in terms of this site. No, we’re not about sales (though it’s included too).

We’re about being fashion addicts. Eyes always a-scouting for treasures as we’re walking past a store. Inability to possess self-control when prices are slashed. Making annual pilgrimages to Bangkok for cheap vintage finds, Singapore for their legendary sales and Hong Kong to rape their stores.

With such considerable amount of time (and money) spent on appeasing our inexplainable desire to shop and style constantly, people started asking us where, what and how much. We knew some of the answers, but not all!

Oh, and they’ve got a Twitter feed as well–Brilliant! I can imagine someone twitting from a mobile saying “Major warehouse sale at Topshop. Come now!”

How Wired Keeps Relevant

In magazines on April 24, 2008 at 5:54 am

Being a geek, Wired magazine has consistently impressed me with its covers and the type of stories covered in it. In an age where everyone’s running scared of from the competition caused by the web, Wired is one of the few publications that has embraced change, integrating print and web, and using the web to popularize its brand name across the world.

This piece by Market Watch columnist Jon Friedman captures an essence to why Wired has been successful in keeping relevant to its audience–the key question that every publication needs to answer if it’s to survive the hostile world of change. Unlike other tech magazines, Wired has managed to stay on its original course by not focusing on technology, but “how technology is changing the world,” as Chris Anderson puts it.

Focusing on that goal keeps Wired open and relevant to matters regarding pop-culture, business trends, marketing, human-interest stories–everything that technology touches and affects, Wired covers it. It’s a mind-blowingly wide spectrum to choose from, but somehow Anderson has the nuance to pick and choose the right stories to cover–and that’s why he’s such a great editor.

From Market Watch:

Some pundits like to needle Wired Editor Chris Anderson about his image.

“His reputation is that he always has to be the smartest person in the room,” said Valleywag Managing Editor Owen Thomas. “And he usually is.”

I can understand why.

[...]

I especially like the way Wired always stresses originality and creativity, two increasingly hard-to-find qualities in publishing circles these days.

Many editors watch the competition closely and work in a defensive posture. Their primary motivation appears to be NOT missing a story. I wish they’d focus instead on consistently producing quality stuff — on any subject — and zigging when others are zagging. It’s all about serving the readers, and Anderson apparently feels the same way.

[...]

Wired’s image is also distinct among its sister brands at parent company Conde Nast, which publishes such titles as the New Yorker, Glamour and Portfolio.

“I can take the risks and fail in ways that our traditional brands can’t. Our customers will accommodate us,” Anderson said. “Are we the geeks of Conde Nast? Yes. Are we freaks? No.”

Serious magazine readers probably won’t strain too hard to find similarities between Wired and its role model of sorts, the Economist.

“I’m hugely influenced by the Economist’s model: big, relevant, fresh ideas,” said Anderson, who used to work there.

[...]

“You run the risk of going stale if you don’t change things.”

Anderson has been at Wired for seven years, but he is constantly evolving in his role. In 2006, Anderson wrote the well received book “The Long Tail,” which is based on one of his Wired stories on the Internet economy. “Free” will be his next book, focusing on the economics of why $0.00 is the future of business. It will be published next year.

Music 2.0 Tanks.

In News, Online on April 23, 2008 at 10:39 am

Ah, monetization–the Big Answer that still eludes Web 2.0 to this day. Following the news that eBay is going to dump Skype, another “2.0″ venture is shutting down within the next couple of weeks, confirming that having tens of thousands of members doesn’t necessarily translate into any form of profit whatsoever.

Gerd Leonard’s idea to free up music while keeping it legal was noble, but it ultimately flopped–it makes me wonder if other sites that run on a similar ad-supported model like RCRDLBL will survive in the long term. As the article in the Register suggests, it was Music 2.0’s goal to be completely legal that proved to be its downfall.

From The Register:

Music’s best-known “futurist” has admitted his latest business idea has flopped and the service will close. Gerd Leonard of “Music 2.0″ fame, who popularised the phrase “music flows like water”, has discovered that on the internet, revenue flows like set cement.

His company Sonific, which allows bloggers to embed a widget that plays music, will suspend its service on May 1. The founder blamed “lack of solid revenue modelling” (Translation 2.0: no income).

As a regular keynote speaker, Gerd has been telling the music business what it em>should do for years [2005 interview here], although his focus has more recently switched to telling the TV business what it should do. So we can hear a fair amount of under-the-desk chuckling at Sonific’s hiccup around the music business this evening. But this would be unfair to a generous and big-hearted guy, because Sonific’s failure should be measured against recent “successes”.

Sonific’s concept was a lovely idea, nicely implemented – and best of all, it was completely legal. And that probably sealed its fate.

“It seems that the industry’s major stakeholders still prefer this turf to remain unlicensed rather than to allow real-life, workable and market-based solutions to emerge by working with new companies such as Sonific. This is not the way forward,” wrote Gerd on the Sonific.com site.

Priest Hops On Balloon Ride, Floats Off To Sea

In News on April 23, 2008 at 10:22 am

There are some stories where you’re not sure whether to laugh out loud, or to feel really sad that someone could’ve met their demise in a rather untimely manner. Either way, I’m hoping he’s safe back home real soon.

PS: I laughed first. Then felt really guilty for it. (ah, Catholic Guilt)

From News.com.au:

A CATHOLIC priest who floated away under hundreds of helium balloons in a bid to raise money for his parish is missing off Brazil.

Only pieces of the party balloons have been found by searchers looking for Reverend Adelir Antonio de Carli off the coast of Santa Catarina state, the Associated Press reported.

Mr de Carli, 41, lifted off from the port city of Paranagua yesterday afternoon wearing a helmet, thermal suit and a parachute.

He was reported missing about eight hours later after losing contact with port authority officials, according to the treasurer of his Sao Cristovao parish, Denise Gallas.

Mr de Carli had been trying to break a 19-hour record for flying with balloons to raise money for a spiritual rest-stop for truckers in Paranagua, Brazil’s second-largest port for agricultural products.

A video of Mr de Carli posted on the G1 website of Globo TV showed the smiling 41-year-old priest slipping into a flight suit, being strapped to a seat attached to a huge column green, red, white and yellow balloons, and soaring into the air to the cheers of a crowd.

He soared to an altitude of 6000m then descended to about 2500m for his flight to the city of Dourados, 750km northwest of his parish.But winds pushed him out to sea and Mr de Carli was 50km off the coast when he last contacted Paranagua’s port authority, Ms Gallas said.

Mr de Carli had a GPS device, a satellite phone, a buoyant chair and was an experienced skydiver, she said.

“We are absolutely confident he will be found alive and well, floating somewhere in the ocean,” she said.

Here Comes Everybody: Starbucks Now Listens To Your Ideas

In News, Online on April 23, 2008 at 3:50 am

(Pic from lusi)

Thanks to the internets, consumers have never been more empowered to suggest new ideas and trash out crappy ones. Of course, none of this would have happened if corporate cultures don’t change–the CEOs, CFOs and whatever other COs are getting more receptive to the idea of bottom-up feedback and administration rather than the iron-fisted top-down rule that dominated much of the 20th century.

Starbucks–as expensive and crappy as their coffee is–has taken a leap of faith in opening up an online “suggestion” box of sorts using Salesforce. At MyStarbucksidea, registered coffee fans can now suggest new ideas in a forum-like way, while other people can vote on the idea (like digg) and weed out the stupid ideas like bringing in strippers on Tuesdays (that would be my idea). Starbucks, in return, would take a high-vote suggestion and find ways of implementing it.

Many of the ideas concerned making lines more efficient, such as one suggestion to form a separate line for those asking for “regular brews”. One suggestion that struck me was this:

I never understand why extra milk is the only difference between Vanti and grande drinks. It is expected that there should be an extra shot!!!!!! Most of people don’t even know this “secret”.

The idea is now “Under Review,” and it’s great that Starbucks takes criticisms well and tries to be honest and open about changing the way it does its business rather than defending their practices vehemently. Read the rest of this entry »

Encyclopedia Britannica Goes Online: Free For “Web Publishers”

In News on April 21, 2008 at 9:21 am

Haven’t visited TechCrunch in a while since I’ve been busy caught up in a whole lot of other stories, but this one in particular caught my attention. The Encyclopedia Britannica, a poster-child for the inefficiencies of “print vs. online” and “free vs. paid content” debate has decided to go online, giving full access to “web publishers”, a loose term to describe “bloggers, webmasters, and anyone who writes for the Internet.” Geez, Britannica, that’s A LOT OF PEOPLE.

It’ll be interesting to see how this limited-access model works–it’s not as free as Wikipedia in terms of editorial control and access (normal people have to pay $70 a year to access its content). They’re trying to have some semblance of control, but as TechCrunch alludes, Britannica would benefit by opening up their content and become the New and Trustworthy Wikipedia.

This from TechCrunch:

Encyclopedia Britannica often is used in case studies as a definitive example of how new technology can disrupt a business. Everything was great for the nearly 250 year old privately held company until the Internet came around and a Category Five hurricaned on their parade.

According to Comscore, for every page viewed on Brittanica.com, 184 pages are viewed on Wikipedia (3.8 billion v. 21 million pave views per month). In short, they are a classic example of the Innovator’s Dilemma (see also the Music Industry).

You can purchase the 32 volume Britannica, which has 65,000 articles and 44 million words, for just $1,400. Or you can access it on the web for $70 per year.

And now, you can get access to the online version for free through a new program called Britannica Webshare – provided that you are a “web publisher.” The definition of a web publisher is rather squishy: “This program is intended for people who publish with some regularity on the Internet, be they bloggers, webmasters, or writers. We reserve the right to deny participation to anyone who in our judgment doesn’t qualify.”

Basically, you sign up, tell them about your site URL and a description, and they review it and decide if you’ll get in. I wonder if Facebook, MySpace and Twitter users are eligible? They all certainly “publish with some regularity on the Internet.”

You can try and register yourself as a web-publisher here.

Official: Vista Is Imperfect, Admits Ballmer

In News on April 21, 2008 at 8:01 am

It’s taken Microsoft a while to admit to the massive failings of Windows Vista, but Steve Ballmer has finally caved in last week at the Most Valuable Professionals event in Seattle, saying that it’s “a work in progress”, among other things. It’s a big step for such a hard-ass like Ballmer–admission of failure is not something he takes lightly. Wonder how he’ll take it if he loses the Yahoo! bid?

From The Register:

Speaking at the firm’s annual Most Valuable Professionals event in Seattle yesterday, Big Steve told the gathered crowd that the unloved OS was “a work in progress”. According to reports, he also promised that Microsoft would learn from the mistakes it has made with Vista.

“It’s a very important piece of work. We did a lot of things right and have a lot of things we need to learn from,” said Ballmer. “Certainly, you never want to let five years go between releases.”

He acknowledged that “Vista is bigger than XP”, but he wasn’t referring to the popularity of the product. Instead, he was pinpointing one of the major issues many customers saddled with the product have complained about: performance.

“We have to make sure it doesn’t get bigger still and that the performance and the battery and the compatibility we’re driving on the things that we need to drive hard to improve.”

Yesterday’s admission will be seen by many as poorly timed, coming just weeks after service pack one (SP1) for Vista arrived – well, at least for some customers – in a manual form.

In mid-March Microsoft issued a staggering number of reasons as to why plenty of people would not be able to get their mitts on the service pack. Issues included a number of security products that won’t start up or run on updated desktops thanks to “compatibility problems”.

The Cost of Free News: £17m

In News on April 21, 2008 at 7:11 am

(Pic from The Guardian)

Publishing is not an easy business to be in, and anyone hoping to get into the black within the first year, or for the next four, can just forget it. It’s not a quick-profit scheme, that’s for sure; if you wanna launch a print publication this year, find yourself someone with deep pockets filled with lotsa, lotsa cash.

The news that Rupert Murdoch’s freesheet The London Paper posted losses is hardly any surprise, but it’s got a long way to go before getting back into black. The good news–if you can call it that–is that the remaining established publications in his stable are posting reduced losses, but the numbers are still staggering.

From The Guardian:

The cost of distributing nearly 1 million free evening newspapers in London was revealed yesterday as it emerged that Rupert Murdoch’s freesheet, the London Paper, lost nearly £17m in its first 10 months of publication.

Filings from other parts of Murdoch’s UK newspaper empire showed that the Times almost halved its losses last year, while the Sun and the News of the World saw turnover slip by £20m amid falling sales. According to accounts filed at Companies House, the London Paper recorded a pre-tax loss of £16.8m in the 10 months from its launch in September 2006 to the end of its financial year in June 2007.

Meanwhile, the latest accounts for Times Newspapers, the owner of the Times and Sunday Times, showed that pre-tax losses almost halved last year from £81.8m to £43.9m as the papers took a reduced hit on the cost of redundancies at its printing operations. The costs associated with laying off staff as News International spends £650m moving its printing operations to three new purpose-built plants were down from £31.3m to £6.3m.

Improved circulation revenues and a reduction in costs also contributed to the improving financial picture, while turnover was up £11.1m or 2.5% to £447.2m.

These results draw a line under a costly period for Times Newspapers in which annual losses increased fivefold from £16.3m in 2002 to more than £80m in 2006, as the company swallowed the cost of changing the Times to a tabloid and News International’s printing upgrade.

At News Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Sun and the News of the World, turnover fell by £20m to £623.3m last year as the papers suffered from falling sales and a price-cutting campaign in Scotland, which has since been extended to London and the south-east, with the result that only about 70% of the Sun’s total sale is now at the full rate of 35p.

Porn Industry Going Soft?

In News on April 21, 2008 at 6:52 am

Ah, good ol’ Porn. The Driver of Innovation. The Decider of Formats. The Recession-Proof Industry. You’d think that as more people get depressed from an economic downturn, they’d turn to some sort of comfort, but from the looks of things this year, there is no (*ahem*) hard and fast rule anymore guaranteeing the safety of the industry.

“The porn business has suddenly gone flaccid,” declared Variety last Friday, stating that DVD porn is down between 10% and 30%, depending on which sub-genre you’re looking at. As an aside, there’s another interesting trend picking up that could spell trouble for the industry: Online porn.

Like other old media industries, it seems that porn too could be very well affected with the rise of the internets. Though online porn has web hits to boast, the revenue generated is nowhere near as lucrative compared to the figures garnered from traditional methods. This sounds like a familiar problem.

There’s a lot more to glean from the article, which you can find here. Below’s an extract:

Economists are citing some dire portents of a recession these days, but they’ve missed one indicator I find especially disturbing: The porn business has suddenly gone flaccid.

The drop in porn rentals and sales is worrisome on several fronts: Till now, porn has been a recession-proof business. Further, with the country already in a dispirited mood, the fact that porn has gone limp may indicate a true plunge in consumer confidence.

DVD porn is down between 10% and 30%, depending on which nook and cranny of the business you scrutinize.

[...] Veterans of the porn trade are edgy about the downturn. A generation ago, they recall, when authorities cracked down on “Deep Throat” and closed many of the porn palaces, the country promptly fell into a serious recession. Economists attributed this setback to the ups and downs of energy prices, but porn analysts insist other sorts of fluctuations play a more urgent role in consumer confidence.

More Twitterlicious News: Now It Frees Prisoners.

In News on April 19, 2008 at 10:33 am

(Pic from AmberMac)

Ah, the perils of being a print magazine. I’ve just submitted to print a monthly column called WebWatch to NewMan that’s gonna come out in May detailing the rise of Twitter. It was written about three weeks ago and having just copy-proofed it, I can’t help but think how dated the piece is already.

Since then, its popularity has skyrocketed. I’ve got tonnes (okay, two) new friends who’ve just come onboard the microblogging service. John C Dvorak, the curmudgeon who absolutely detested the notion of twittering, is now a strong advocate for it. The Diggnation hosts, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht have an account each. Diggnation has an account. Hell, even No 10 Downing Street has one.

And now I get more stories praising Twitter, the most recent one involving a Berkeley student twittering from an Egyptian prison, and eventually getting himself free–thanks to the almighty Twitter. Will wonders never cease?

From Mercury News:

When Egyptian police scooped up UC Berkeley graduate journalism student James Karl Buck, who was photographing a noisy demonstration, and dumped him in a jail cell last week, they didn’t count on Twitter.

Buck, 29, a former Oakland Tribune multimedia intern, used the ubiquitous short messaging service to tap out a single word on his cellular phone: ARRESTED. The message went out to the cell phones and computers of a wide circle of friends in the United States and to the mostly leftist, anti-government bloggers in Egypt who are the subject of his graduate journalism project.

The next day, he walked out a free man with an Egyptian attorney hired by UC Berkeley at his side and the U.S. Embassy on the phone.

“They use Twitter sort of like an instant wire service,” he said. “It’s the way they keep in touch with each other. They go to an event and Twitter what’s happening. Twitter net called the university and the American Embassy.

Back home in Berkeley last night he said he’s still worried about his interpreter and friend, Mohammed Salah Ahmed Maree, who was arrested with him and is still being held incommunicado by Egyptian authorities. Unlike Buck, he didn’t have the muscle of the U.S. Embassy and UC Berkeley.

A Compelling Summary Of MicroHoo!

In News on April 19, 2008 at 10:15 am

The continuing saga of the Microsoft-Yahoo debacle is getting so twisted these days, it’s hard to keep up with what’s going on. As more players (like NewsCorp) , more people (like Frank Quattrone), and Bill Gates’s ego enter into the picture, the story gets more tangled up than a David Lynch film.

And frankly, like most of his films, they’re getting real boring, real fast–even worse, there’s no Naomi Watts to shed her clothes like she did on Mulholland Drive.

If you wanna get a ground-down, readable plot summary on the twists and turns so far (“MicroHoo! For Dummies” if you will), John Dvorak does it pretty well in his Market Watch Column last week. Essentially if the deal does happen, there’s gonna be a massive spill from the mess after the bits and pieces of Yahoo! have been divided between Microsoft and NewsCorp. Who benefits? Hard to say.

Excerpt from MarketWatch:

Trying to follow the Microsoft Corp.-Yahoo Inc. deal wrangling is like fighting an ant invasion where the critters are coming from every angle. Let me try to explain the story so far.

First of all, since the proposed deal has descended into bitter bickering, I cannot see how this merger would benefit Microsoft. Yahoo employees will rebel against their new overlords, causing trouble.

Yahoo is a company too big to swallow, and Microsoft may become like that python found in Florida that swallowed a swamp alligator. Once inside, the gator simply clawed its way out of the python, leaving behind a gruesome mess.

In this case, the gruesome mess will be Microsoft. The end result to investors will be two companies decimated. Microsoft shareholders already sense this.

This sticking point stems from the fact that early in the negotiations Bill Gates stupidly made the blanket comment, as chairman, that Microsoft would not raise the price, period. So now, if Microsoft raises the price, Gates will have this “change of heart” thrown in his face whenever he’s in future negotiations: “Yes well, back in 2008 you said you wouldn’t raise the price, but you did. So what you are saying now is bull.”

Enter News Corp. [...]

Microsoft is going to cut News Corp. into the deal and raise the offer. But Microsoft’s contribution will not change, thus keeping Bill Gates’ promise not to raise the company’s bid. The added money will come from News Corp. Thus, if the offer goes to $35 it will be a maximum of $31 from Microsoft and $4 from News Corp.

Then they divvy up the parts of Yahoo that fit into their particular corporate schemes. Microsoft doesn’t need all of Yahoo anyway. Thus Yahoo gets sliced and diced and maybe some pieces get sold off to other interested parties.

I don’t think anyone actually believed that Microsoft was going to swallow Yahoo whole anyway.
Whatever the case, the EU, above all, will nix the whole thing no matter how hard Microsoft begs them to reconsider while pointing the finger at Google, decrying it as the evil monopolist.

Cop Gets Busted, While High On Drugs, Stealing A Car.

In News on April 18, 2008 at 8:50 am

Yups, you read right: The New Straits Times reported today about a policeman, high on drugs, who was arrested after he had dozed off in the car he had broken into. Stranger things have happened I guess–especially if you’re in a corrupt country where the police have no regard for the law and… oh, wait. That’s us.

This from the New Straits Times:

MALACCA: A policeman who was high on drugs was arrested after he had dozed off in the car he had broken into to steal the compact disc player here on Monday.

He then led a raiding party to another policeman, an auxiliary policeman and the son of a policeman, who were part of a gang which stole motorcycles.

Both policemen and the auxiliary police personnel are believed to be attached with the Tanjung Kling police station here. The policeman’s son lives in the staff quarters of the police station.

The first policeman was arrested after be broke into a Mercedes Benz at a hotel car park here.

“He was high on drugs and had dozed off,” said a source. “He then led us to his accomplices.”
All four suspects are being held at the state police contingent in Bukit Baru.

It is learnt that the gang also consists of four civilians who are at large.

They are linked to cases of car break-ins and motorcycle thefts.

Sources disclosed that the gang had been active for 10 years.

This is based on the discovery of cannibalised motorcycles in bushes at Taman Tanah Merah Jaya, Tanjung Kling.

Women 4 times more likely than men to give passwords for chocolate

In Geek Stuff, Security and Privacy on April 17, 2008 at 3:28 pm

pic courtesy:abc.net.au

No offense ladies. I’m just a humble messenger. Maybe this only applies to London females? Anyways this is based off a press release from Infosecurity Europe.

A survey by Infosecurity Europe (www.infosec.co.uk) of 576 office workers have found that women far more likely to give away their passwords to total strangers than their male counterparts, with 45% of women versus 10% of men prepared to give away their password, to strangers masquerading as market researches with the lure of a chocolate bar as an incentive for filling in the survey. The survey was actually part of a social engineering exercise to raise awareness about information security. The survey was conducted outside Liverpool Street Station in the City of London.

This year’s survey results were significantly better than previous years. In 2007 64% of people were prepared to give away their passwords for a chocolate bar, this year it had dropped to just 21% so at last the message is getting through to be more infosecurity savvy. The researchers also asked the office workers for their dates of birth to validate that they had carried out the survey here the workers were very naïve with 61% revealing their date of birth. Another slightly worrying fact discovered by researchers is that over half of people questioned use the same password for everything (e.g. work, banking, web, etc.)

Gender biased jokes aside, the larger issue here is a lack of awareness regarding the importance of protecting the privacy of one’s personal information. The information revolution has reduced the need for face-to-face transactions. Whether we realise this or not, this has been an implicit control factor in reducing the risk of fraud since it reduces the number of possible identity thieves to those who share our basic characteristics such as skin tone, age bracket, language, gender etc.

With technology, this is no longer relevant, and this information about ourselves somehow needs to be communicated the person at the other end to convince them that we are who we claim we are – hence the importance of keeping our personal information private. Anyone who has used the telephone to query credit cards or handphone related matters will be familiar with the list of questions we are asked to authenticate themsleves – IC number, Date of birth, Mum’s name etc etc.

“Our researchers also asked for workers names and telephone numbers so that they could be entered into a draw to go to Paris, with this incentive 60% of men and 62% of women gave us their contact information”, said Claire Sellick, Event Director, Infosecurity Europe.

As she revealed her details to our researchers one woman said, “even though I have just been to Paris for the weekend I would love to go again.”

Sellick continued, “that promise of a trip could cost you dear, as once a criminal has your date of birth, name and phone number they are well on the way to carrying out more sophisticated social engineering attacks on you, such as pretending to be from your bank or phone company and extracting more valuable information that can be used in ID theft or fraud.”

Just consider these issues the next time you sign up for a contest, survey or even loyalty membership when deciding which bits of personal info you wish to reveal about yourself.

How Journalism Has Changed

In News on April 17, 2008 at 1:59 pm

Was hit by a wave of good ol’ nostalgia when I came across this piece on the Guardian Student Media Awards, which recently celebrated its 30th year. A lot has changed since it started, but more so in the past decade or so thanks to the Web. I remember the difficulties I had to go through (and the subsequent joy) of having my first published piece in Men’s Review. It was an embarrasing piece of literature (do you remember yours, Marcus?) on Andy Warhol, but it made me want to show the magazine to random bus-travelers with my IC and say to them “I wrote this!”.

Shortly after, I realised the pitfalls of being published–having a byline does not get women calling me up on a Saturday night and saying how brilliant I was and would I like to go out on a date? Nada. Zilch. Read the rest of this entry »

Yahoo! Gaining Market Share Against Google?

In News on April 17, 2008 at 5:08 am

So every one assumes that Google is king of the online Ad industry, and Yahoo! is a distant second. Well, it’s true, but according to a study published in the New York Times, Yahoo! seems to be doing some good over the past quarter. Ad revenue at Yahoo! grew some 57% in the first quarter, compared to Google, who only registered half that growth rate percentage.

In the long run, I still don’t see a change in the dominance of Google in this market, but it sure makes Jerry Yang’s case for a higher stock valuation more compelling and piss Ballmer off. Of course, that means we’ll all have to wait that much longer for the MicroHoo! saga to end. Yeeesh.

From The New York Times:

If the results of a study by SearchIgnite, a search advertising technology firm, prove representative of the broader search market, something unusual happened in search ads in the first quarter: Google lost share to Yahoo in the United States.

The report shows that spending by search advertisers on Yahoo grew a robust 57 percent while spending on Google grew only at about half that rate. That meant Google’s total share of search ad dollars declined slightly to 70.4 percent, while Yahoo’s rose to 24.2 percent. Microsoft’s declined slightly to 5.4 percent.

“It was unusual and unexpected,” said Roger Barnette, president of SearchIgnite.

[...]

For its part, Yahoo’s earnings report will be closely watched to see whether Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer or Yahoo’s own Jerry Yang is right. Mr. Ballmer has argued that Microsoft’s takeover offer is even more generous now than on January 31, when it was first made, in part because Yahoo’s business has deteriorated further. Mr. Yang has said that’s not so, and has insisted that Microsoft’s offer undervalues Yahoo.

In mid-March, Mr. Yang told investors that Yahoo would meet its first quarter projections, which call for net revenue to grow at between 8 percent and 17 percent. Analysts say if Yahoo’s growth comes in at the low end of the range, the results will disappoint investors and will reduce any negotiating leverage Yahoo has with Microsoft. Conversely, if Yahoo’s growth is toward high end of the range, or higher, it will help Mr. Yang make the case that Microsoft should pay more.

Another Reason To Ditch IE. As If We Didn’t Have Enough Already.

In News on April 16, 2008 at 12:49 pm

If you’re one who gets paranoid about safety while surfing the Web, here’s something that would freak you out. Turns out that there was a cookie-stealing exploit that was exposed (and subsequently fixed) if you used Internet Explorer while using Google’s Spreadsheet. If you don’t know what a cookie is, then hell, you’re in deep shit. Just get Firefox, add in the NoScript plug-in and save your identity from being infiltrated.

Who knows what other security vulnerabilities are out there, eh?

From The Register:

Security researchers have unpicked a flaw in Google spreadsheets that allows cookie stealing. The cross-site scripting vulnerability enables attackers to use stolen cookies to access any Google service a user has registered, including accessing a victim’s Google mail account.

Google has now plugged the vulnerability, discovered by security researcher Billy Rios. In a blog posting, Rios explains a caching flaw by Google, alongside problems in how browsers handle content-type headers, created a cookie stealing risk. A Google cookie is valid across all its sub domains, a convenience factor that greatly enhances the potential for mischief.

This particular XSS vulnerability on Google’s domain takes advantage of how IE determines the content type of the HTTP response being returned by the server. Other browsers have problems in handling content-type headers properly, but this vulnerability is limited to IE.

Pirates Bay Sue IFPI. ARRRRRRRR.

In News on April 16, 2008 at 12:35 pm

In a time when everyone’s running scared of the RIAA, the IFPI and god-knows-what other music entity for downloading music through torrents, Sweden-based Pirates Bay have gone on the offensive. Yep, you read right, mateys–they’re planning to sue the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for blocking access to its website. Man, you gotta love them Pirates.

Picked up from The Register:

In February the IFPI went to court to get Danish ISP Tele2 to block access to the website accusing it of aiding and abetting copyright infringement.

A blog post from one of Pirate Bay’s administrators, Brokep, suggests the organisation will seek damages for the blocking should Tele2 win the ongoing court case. Tele2 is appealing the court’s verdict, but the DNS block remains in place until the case is resolved.

Brokep said the money raised would be used to set up a fund to help aspiring Danish artists.

The amount demanded is not revealed but Brokep writes: “We will demand an amount of cash that we feel will be reasonable (Not counting like Ifpi themselves, we actually understand economy a bit more [sic]).”

On 1 April the IFPI demanded $2.5m from Pirate Bay in damages for compensation for downloads of 24 albums, nine films and four games.

Because The Ting Tings Rock It Out So Well.

In Videos on April 15, 2008 at 10:52 am

Picked this video out from this awesome music blogsite called Pop Justice (Okay, so I’m a n00b when it comes to music sites). I haven’t seen The Ting Ting’s video of “That’s Not My Name” before, so I’m glad to see that this new video totally does the song justice. The music is just… awesome. They’re like The White Stripes. With a lot more Pop. Yummms.

Yeah, what’s my name, beeee-yatch?

Korea: The Future Is Now.

In News, Uncategorized on April 15, 2008 at 9:45 am

Picked up an interesting piece on the digital revolution in Korea from The Guardian, which paints a clear picture of how the publishing landscape is going to be when a country becomes fully wired (with fast connections of course).

From The Guardian:

South Korea is rapidly fulfilling its promise to be the foremost digital nation on the planet. Print media outlets are all but vanishing – and the country’s internet is poised to overtake TV as an advertising medium.

“In 1990, there were 8,700 book stores selling magazines, etc. But now there are only about 1,800 stores,” says Young-Chull Kim, president of Kaya Media Corporation which specialises in publishing western-style magazines, such as Esquire, under licence in Korea.

According to the Korea Magazine Association, Koreans spend roughly 1 trillion won on the country’s 2,550 magazines annually. This is dropping year-on-year, as publishers lose readers to the ever faster web.

The Korea Internet Corporations Association says the internet is not only encroaching on traditional newspaper/magazine ad coverage, broadcast advertising coverage is also under threat. Daewoo Securities’ latest report predicts that the number of online advertisements will increase by about 37% this year and, if this trend continues, online ads will outnumber television advertisements by early next year.

NewsCorp Shares Drop, Cites MySpace and Dow Jones For Slowing Down

In News on April 15, 2008 at 8:08 am

Media companies don’t get any bigger than Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp., who for me, have been an exemplary media conglomerate that embraces (sort of) the new wave of media before other slow-moving juggernauts. Even so, however, their share price took a dip today as analysts doubt that MySpace will meet their targets (no surprise there), and the newly acquired Dow Jones would require additional investment.

From The LA Times:

Shares of media company News Corp., controlled by Rupert Murdoch, fell the most in five years after Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. and UBS analysts cut their outlook for the stock, citing concerns that growth will slow.

Profit growth is likely to slow because the MySpace social-networking website will fail to meet targets, Nathanson wrote. Dow Jones & Co., acquired in December, will require additional investment and might be slow to turn around because of weak newspaper advertising, he wrote.

“We are wary of News Corp.’s relative positioning in this intensely competitive business that features established players including Google and Yahoo,” Morris said.

Class A shares of the New York company fell 86 cents to $18.14.

Banksy Strikes Against Big Brother (not the TV show)

In News on April 15, 2008 at 6:17 am

Despite being under the watchful eyes of London’s CCTVs, rogue grafitti artist Banksy still managed to show the two fingers to the authorities by spraying up a massive three-storey high piece.

From the Daily Mail:

Banksy pulled off an audacious stunt to produce what is believed to be his biggest work yet in central London.

The secretive graffiti artist managed to erect three storeys of scaffolding behind a security fence despite being watched by a CCTV camera.

Then, during darkness and hidden behind a sheet of polythene, he painted this comment on ‘Big Brother’ society.

Yesterday the scaffolding gang returned to remove all evidence – again without the camera operator stopping them.

The work, above a Post Office yard in Newman Street near Oxford Circus, shows a small boy, watched by a security guard, painting the words: ‘One nation under CCTV.’

Andrew Newman, 35, a businessman from Dulwich, who works locally, said: ‘It was only on Sunday morning that the Post Offices guys realised what had happened.’

GQ To Launch In India

In magazines on April 13, 2008 at 6:34 am

Thought of skipping this story altogether, since, well it’s not as if we’re going to see this magazine here. But thought it’d be worth a mention since the Big Ed at GQ India is Sanjiv Bhattacharya, one of my favourite writers–he was part of my inspiration to join in the magazine business when I started reading his pieces 10 years ago, and now he’s Ed of GQ. Bastard.

From The Guardian:

GQ will launch in India later this year, following in the footsteps of its Condé Nast stablemate Vogue.

The upmarket men’s magazine will launch an Indian edition following the “overwhelming success” of Vogue India, said Jonathan Newhouse, the Condé Nast International chairman.

GQ India will mix international and Indian content. The new Condé Nast title will be edited by Sanjiv Bhattacharya, a former features and contributing editor of the British GQ.

Bhattacharya has worked in America for the past eight years and contributed to the Los Angeles Times, Marie Claire, the Daily Telegraph and the Observer, as well as completing a documentary for Channel 4.

The GQ Russia art director, Brendan Allthorpe, will become art director of GQ India, CJ Kurrien has been appointed senior editor and Iain Ball appointed features editor.

Nicholas Coleridge, the Condé Nast International vice-president, said: “Indian Vogue rapidly dominated the women’s magazine market, far surpassing expectations in both circulation and advertising. It has given us the confidence to start a second title, and GQ is the logical choice.”

All of his pieces are stunning–the ones I remember years after reading include ones on Kirsten Dunst and The Killers (click to read).

Do No Evil? Google Employs Quattrone as Advisor on Takeover Saga.

In News, Uncategorized on April 13, 2008 at 6:12 am

The blog hasn’t been updated for a while, so expect me to post up a few exciting things that have happened over the past week. There’s been a lot of dugg and random stuff to report, so I’ll kick start with the latest news in the Yahoo-Microsoft takeover, where Google recently took on Frank Quattrone as an adviser on the potential merger, or *ahem*: takeover battle.

This from the Guardian:

Google has turned to one of the technology world’s most controversial figures – once arrested and put on trial – for advice in the takeover battle between Microsoft and Yahoo.

Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive, has reportedly called in the newly formed investment group Qatalyst – headed by Silicon Valley banker Frank Quattrone. Quattrone, who has long associations with Google, is best known as the high-profile investment banker with Credit Suisse who was involved in some of the biggest stockmarket flotations of the 1990s internet boom – including Amazon and Netscape. He has been dogged by controversy amid allegations that he was involved in boosting shares of companies he was advising.

He was arrested in 2003 for obstruction of justice and was eventually convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison. That conviction was overturned after an appeal and last year the final charges against him were dropped on condition that he does not break the law for a year.

His company, which was formed last month, will provide guidance to Google on the prospects for Microsoft’s $42bn (£21bn) bid to buy Yahoo. With Yahoo resisting the approach, the deal is becoming increasingly complex.

According to reports this week, the battle could even set the internet’s biggest companies against one another – with Microsoft and News Corp potentially joining forces to take on an alliance of Yahoo, Google and AOL.

Seems to me that the good ol’ days of Do No Evil is long gone now. Machiavellian tactics is the order of the day. Personally, I still don’t think this takeover bid will do anyone good, except for Google–what does Microsoft wish to achieve in such a hostile move?

These two were supposed to work against a common competitor, Google, but it’s more likely that if they do merge, they’ll be busy bickering amongst themselves first–they’ll be their own worse enemy. And in such a vitriolic atmosphere, I won’t be surprised if the brains behind Yahoo! leave because of the clashing corporate cultures–a problem highlighted many times before.

Because Veronica Belmont Is A Song?

In Celebrity, Geek Stuff on April 7, 2008 at 3:33 pm

(Photo from lanbui’s flickr)

Ah, the weirdness of the internet. It’s strange how you can be an online star so easily these days. But then again, it’s Veronica, so I guess it’s only a matter of time before someone takes his crush on her and makes it into a song.

From her blog:

A few weeks ago I received an email from the girlfriend of a member of the band, The Carps. In the letter, she told me that they had written a song called “Veronica Belmont,” and that it was based on Internet culture and feeling like you know the people you meet online. She linked me to their MySpace page, and there it was! It’s a fun song, and some of the lyrics definitely made me chuckle:

Dark light as we expire,
But go ahead, just dance, dance, dance

He pwned in that disco,
When they played chocolate rain, rain, rain.

You can download the track from RCRD LBL here. PS: Not exactly Top Ten material.

The Final Word On The Sufiah Yusof Saga: Eff Off.

In News on April 7, 2008 at 2:13 pm

Well, I thought I’d forget about posting another long and unnecessarily draggy story on the subject of Sufiah, but I’ll make an exception to this case. Mainly because in an interview posted up on the Star, Sufiah has finally had her say. And what did she say? Well, basically she says to leave her alone, and that she’s happy doing what she does.

Take that, you condescending Malaysian government people who want to offer “financial help”. Personally, I think she has more guts to stand up for herself than most people expected her to. She’s not some damsel in distress, nor is she someone to be pitied upon, or some helpless victim of the sex trade. She is woman. And she does whatever the fuck she wants.

This, from The Star:

Maths prodigy Sufiah Yusof, who is now working as a prostitute, claims she is living the life she wants without any regrets.

She does not think being an escort is sleazy and terrible and says her clients treat her like a princess in an interview with British tabloid News of the World.

“People think escorting is sleazy and terrible but I don’t see it like that,” she said in a no-holds-barred interview that was published with pictures of her in skimpy attire and sexy poses.

“I left that night feeling totally elated having an amazing time with £250 (RM1,600) in my purse,” said Sufiah.

She has built a base of regular clients and saw between five and 10 men each week.

“I don’t believe my education had been wasted – in fact, I usually take problem sheets with me to solve before appointments,” she said.

Sufiah claimed she could earn more than £1,000 (RM6,400) a night by having dinner and staying over with a client.

“Now, I wonder if I could go back to a normal relationship, where you watch EastEnders and have boring sex. I’ve gotten used to being treated like a princess,” she said.

She also does not want much to do with her parents. Describing the relationship as estranged, she said she was in contact with them occasionally but “couldn’t speculate what they will think of my new life.”

“I have never felt so confident about my body and I’ve had some of the best sex of my life,” she said.

I just love that final quote.

Microsoft-Yahoo! Deal Off The Table?

In News on April 5, 2008 at 5:30 pm

(Pic from jnatiuk)

The latest developments to come out of the World’s Biggest Tech Takeover saga: Turns out that the $44.6 billion plan for MicroHoo may be off the table, due to the economic recession hitting and Jerry Yang’s continuing refusal to buckle in to the pressure of accepting Microsoft’s bid.

This from Bloomberg:

Microsoft Corp. is considering cutting its $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo! Inc. as a worsening U.S. economy threatens Yahoo’s business, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The companies haven’t made progress on negotiations since Yahoo rejected the bid in February, and there are signs that Yahoo’s business has declined, one of the people said. They asked not be named because the talks are private.

The prospect of a lower bid increases the pressure on Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang, who has sought alternatives to the buyout. Since Microsoft made the offer, U.S. consumer spending has slowed. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said this week that the U.S. may be in a recession, spurred by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market.

“It’s only a question of time before Microsoft takes them over,” said Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. He expects Yahoo stock to perform in line with peers. “It’s just unfortunate that Yahoo has dragged it out so long, because they are probably going to miss a few dollars that they could have obtained if they had negotiated immediately.”

Only In America: 11-Year-Olds Getting Bikini Waxed? Creepy.

In News on April 5, 2008 at 5:02 pm

(Pic From The Sun)

Picked this rather disturbing feature article from Phillymag about the rising trend of ‘tweens going for a variety of luxury spa treatments, including manicures, pedicures, eyebrow plucking and bikini waxing. And no, I don’t see the point of pre-pubescent girls getting bikini waxed either, and more puzzling is that it’s their mothers who are encouraging their daughters to go get ‘em.

It’s a disturbing, but fair commentary on how these young girls are getting sexualised before their age. What next? Boob jobs and liposuction at 13? Yeesh. Such are the societal problems of the rich. America is just going nuts.

From Phillymag:

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a tidal wave of this rising luxury-class culture — you’ve seen it in these pages, manifested in reports of $80,000 “push presents,” lavish condo buildings sprouting up like beanstalks, and weekends spent stockpiling couture with on-call personal ­shoppers.

But just when we thought this consumerist takeover couldn’t get any worse, here comes the trend’s newest tributary: The kids of the pampered are being taken along for the ride, without a backward glance at the childhood left behind.

There you have it — the new norm for young, privileged, growing girls. It’s not just designer clothes, luxury cars, and the best-of-the-best in schools, lessons and tutors: It’s narcissism, and it’s inherited from — no, encouraged by — Mom.

Mom, who not only lifts, tans and waxes herself into oblivion, but who has now turned her attentions to her daughter, hauling her from spa to spa before the school pictures, the big dance, or, well, just because — for facial after blowout after wax.

After a handful of appointments, the transformation from little girl to prepubescent supermodel is complete, thanks to beauty treatments that not long ago were reserved for big girls — with little consideration that the same beauty treatments meant to fix “imperfections” will probably screw the kids up down the road.

Lauren Albert, spa director at Rescue Rittenhouse Spa, says mothers frequently bring in their daughters between the ages of 10 and 14 for various waxes, nail services and facials; she’s booked more than one Sweet Sixteen spa extravaganza.

Some moms even present their naked-faced ’tweens to Nives Riddle, Rescue’s award-winning and Vogue photo-shooting makeup artist, for early lessons in makeup application — you know, lest they learn the tricks of eyeliner by haphazardly painting it on Elvira-style a few times.

Moms are also setting up pre-bat mitzvah spa treatment series for their daughters. “It’s not just to get them ready for their big party,” says Albert. “It’s like, ‘Okay, you’re becoming a woman now, here are the things you’ll need to do as a woman.’”

Except, of course, they’re not women.

Malaysia: Home of The Internets Through Your Powerlines

In News on April 5, 2008 at 4:45 pm

Information Overload!

Sometimes I’m just oblivious to some awesome things happening in my own backyard. As reported by Computerworld last week, Malaysia’s broadband penetration rate could skyrocket after the announcement that local company Velchip signed on to three partnership agreements to facilitate the world’s biggest Broadband over Powerline project.

Not sure whether we’ll beat Sweden’s 40GB/s world record, but it sure beats Jaring’s dial-up service. Hell, it sure will beat my current crappy Maxis Broadband service that keeps dropping out constantly.

From Computerworld:

Broadband over Powerline (BPL) provider Velchip Sdn Bhd has formalised three major partnerships to advance the world’s biggest BPL project that was announced earlier this month.

Representatives of Velchip’s holding company, Masers International– Rahman and company president Wan Sarkawi Tuanku Jaapar Al-Yahya — signed three main agreements in Kuala Lumpur, to be later witnessed by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Ahmad Badawi.

Badawi was reported to applaud the Malaysian company’s efforts to enhance economic growth and Internet literacy in developing countries as well as improve bilateral ties between Malaysia and Indonesia.

“This project will offer 60 million users unlimited high speed Internet connection of 224Mbps (megabits per second) at a cost of only around RM5 (US$1.58) per user per month, which is the fastest and cheapest in the world,” he said.

BPL modems use existing electrical power lines to deliver high speed Internet access and data transmission.

Because Thursday is Clap Happy Music Day.

In Videos on April 3, 2008 at 3:22 pm

Or, at least for the next 45 minutes or so. Just wanted to spread the word on a couple of bands I’ve been looking out for, and from the buzz of it, things are looking good for Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jongs, who were touted by GQ as one of the Best Things of 2007. Here’s some evidence:

The other band to come outta the woodworks is The Ting Tings, who SarChan so gladly pointed out to me a while back. Awesome new song coming out with their new 7″, called Great DJ.

Because Veronica Belmont is Leaving Mahalo. Rock On!

In Geek Stuff, Online on April 3, 2008 at 3:02 pm

vb.jpg

(Pic from Veronica Belmont’s Flickr stream)

And I’ve always wanted a reason to post something about geek-heartthrob Veronica Belmont. *sigh*. Oh, anyways, the point is, her high-geek-hotness VB will be leaving Mahalo Daily, a daily how-to web show that’s a side project from Mahalo.com, a people-powered (dare I say it? “Folksonomised”?) web search engine. All the better for her that she’s leaving Jason Calacanis all alone with his show. I guess being the producer/host of your own webshow must take a toll on you after a while.

This from her blog:

Hard to believe the time has already come, but soon enough I’ll be moving on from Mahalo to embark on some exciting new projects! Mahalo Daily has been a really amazing experience (and not just because I get to do things like fly a plane), and I’ll still be producing episodes for the next couple of weeks as host, and then eventually reporting as correspondent.

It’s impressive how far the show has come since we started; at first I was a little apprehensive about the idea of doing episodes 5 days a week while building it from the ground up (as I imagine anyone would be). But with time we’ve assembled a really great, motivated team that makes the whole thing look effortless. Of course, there’s no shortage of solid talent at Mahalo, and they’ll be working with more people in the future too.

It’s all very PC, and she publicly announced her departure on today’s Crankygeeks, giving ol’ coot Dvorak some time to grill her about where she’s going to next. Bets are she’ll probably head to Revision 3–all the tech geeks seem to be heading for that cash cow. It’ll be more awesome if she bucks the trend and joins Leo Laporte’s TWiT channel. Read the rest of this entry »

The New KLue Site

In Online on April 3, 2008 at 11:12 am

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Heh. I guess it’s kinda hard to put off plugging the good folks at KLue for their new website and magazine re-design. Overall, the feedback from people has been good–personally, I feel it’s more inviting, readable (I’m getting old, so I need larger fonts), and the Blog is finally a blog, not some crappy medium to push marketing news and events, as it was during my day.

The blog is friendly, short, and personal–and the new site as well as the magazine have arrived just in time to distinguish itself from TimeOut KL. Whereas KLue’s former site would’ve struggled badly against the info-packed TimeOutKL site, this new version caters to the younger generation, has more personality, and fits right into the current media trend of magazines becoming more connected to the readers. (Although, the site hasn’t enabled comments yet.)

Don’t get me wrong. TimeOut has done a marvelous job–no one can deny them that–but they still maintain a certain editorial barrier between them and the reader, and is very direct in its presentation and objective in becoming a city guide. So yeah, good job on both mags for distinguishing themselves apart from each other.

And oh, you can read some of my rubbish Borak! articles on the website too. Have fun.

MSNBC: up to 200,000 banking jobs may be lost

In News on April 3, 2008 at 6:39 am
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pic courtesy wikimedia

MSNBC excerpt:

Analysts at the financial research firm Celent LLC said in a report Tuesday that it expects the U.S. commercial banking industry — essentially, all companies that lend or collect deposits — to lose 200,000 of its 2 million jobs over the next 12 to 18 months.

Octavio Marenzi, the head of Celent’s financial consultancy unit, said more layoffs are inevitable as the subprime crisis hits other parts of the banking industry and spreads beyond mortgages to mortgage-related products, such as home-equity loans, and other types of lending, such as credit cards.

Many banks that have reported huge losses have so far not announced significant layoffs outside the mortgage area, Challenger added. Just Tuesday, Swiss bank UBS AG — which has a big portion of its staff in the United States — said it lost more than $12 billion in the first quarter.

The investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. has 14,000 staffers, and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the company buying the investment bank, has not yet announced how much of that staff it intends to keep. Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc. officially announced in January it was cutting 4,200 jobs globally, mostly in its investment banking business, but said there are more layoffs to come.

Although its a US centric report, this will inevitably have repercussions on us as well.  10 months ago, some of the best salaries on offer for financial service professionals were in banks.  10 MONTHS ago! They also don’t come much bigger than the banks mentioned here…UBS, Citigroup, JP Morgan etc etc.  Its gonna be a challenging 2008 and 2009.

Sufiah Yusof: The Outpouring Begins. But Where Is She In All This?

In News on April 2, 2008 at 3:39 pm

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The Sufiah Yusof story is just made for sensational headlines–good Muslim girl gone wrong, prodigy turned hooker, etc. The ex-husband has something to say about it, and now, in a typical reaction to media hype, The Malaysian Higher Education Ministry has offered to help her out.

It bugs me. Is there really a need for the minister to go out to the Press for this? Where’s Sufiah in all of this? I’d just wish that the Ministry would just seek and help her out without tooting their righteous horn and help her out quietly. It’s obvious that the girl has deeper problems than just “financially”, and the last thing she needs is more publicity on the matter. (I know, I know, it’s ironic I’m posting this, etc.–I just wanted to make a point for people to stop.)

Or I’m just cranky.

From Bernama:

The fate of maths genius Sufiah Yusof, 23, who created world news by entering Oxford University at age 13 and now selling her body for a living has also drawn concern from the Higher Education Ministry.

Its minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said he would ask the Malaysian Student Department (MSD) in London to look into the matter and what drove the gifted girl to resort to prostitution.

“Based on the MSD’s report, we will find a way to help her, and see whether it’s really because of her financial problem or there are other reasons,” he told reporters here Wednesday.

Mohamed Khaled said the early report received indicated that her action was not due to her wanting to finance her studies as she had left her studies some time ago, but could be due to her family problems.

Sufiah’s mother is Malaysian-born Halimaton Yusof from Muar, Johor while her father Farooq Yusof, is originally from Pakistan. He is now in jail for sexually assaulting two 15-year-old girls whom he had home tutored in maths.

Because We Can Know Where The G-Spot Is. Finally.

In News on April 2, 2008 at 3:16 pm

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(Pic from Scol22)

Thought this was another one of those ridiculous April Fools’ joke, especially with a name like Professor Phanuel Dartey, which rhymes and sounds like “Phoney Farty.” And then I googled his name, and turns out he’s legit. Yikes.

Oh, about the story: turns out that the UK Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Centre (Man, I’d really hate to have a biz card with that) is offering collagen injections to a woman’s G-Spot, making it bigger, and thus easier to be, ahem, spotted. To answer your question: No, a torchlight still would not help. And it does not glow in the dark, either.

From The Telegraph:

A collagen injection which is designed to enhance women’s pleasure around the G-spot is being launched in the UK.

The G-Shot, which is given under local anaesthetic and takes about half an hour, is being hailed as the latest lunchtime procedure.

A specially designed speculum is used to help direct the injection into the G-spot, with effects lasting around four months.

The £800 jab temporarily enlarges the G-spot to the size of a 10p in width and a quarter of an inch in height.

This makes the G-spot easier to locate and highly sensitive, which it is claimed could enhance sexual arousal and gratification.

Prof Dartey said the jab was now being used worldwide and he has treated about five women so far at his clinic. “Obviously the British are a bit conservative but the results are fantastic,” he said.

Prof Dartey said US studies have suggested that 87 per cent of women who had the jab reported enhanced sexual arousal and gratification. This included more orgasms that last longer, multiple orgasms and a heightened libido.

Because Sweded Movies Just Rock

In Videos on April 1, 2008 at 2:47 pm

It’s a little old, but apparently a whole lotta people haven’t seen the Sweded video of Star Wars: A Cardboard Hope. It’s amazing. Can’t wait to see Be Kind Rewind.

Because Own Goals From Unknown Leagues Are Just Damn Funny

In Videos on April 1, 2008 at 2:41 pm

Picked this video up from Digg on an own goal happening in some Hungarian league:

and then looked out for more crazy shit. This is the funniest of the lot so far. Won’t give the ending away

The State of Newspapers: Dire, But Not Dead.

In News on April 1, 2008 at 2:33 pm

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(Pic from Visual Editors)

The latest TWiT episode brought up the interesting topic of the death of newspapers. It’s a tough call, and I’m with Molly Wood on the subject when she says that you shouldn’t underestimate the survivability of newspapers, who have survived more than 300 years, and several calls for the medium to keel over and die.

Like I’ve previously said before in my old posts (I’m sure I must have said it somewhere), proclaiming the death of a medium is really just sensationalist hype, and you’d be better off not believing it. Just like Television was supposed to kill Radio, the internet isn’t going to kill the newspapers.

Say what you will, but newspapers are an extremely robust medium–they are mobile mediums, easy to distribute, and accessible by all for the cheap price of a few cents. Not so with the internet. You can’t lug around a freaking laptop–even if it’s a MacBook Air–just so you can download and read the daily news. It’s just not convenient to read The Star on the crapper.

Anyway, that’s just one of my contentions on this subject, sparked off by this great piece written by Eric Alterman for The New Yorker. It’s a long-assed piece, so I’m gonna just extract out a few interesting notes: Read the rest of this entry »