October 16, 2006
Accept Singapore Dollars Using PayPal (Finally)
Although it was only a matter of time, it has been a friggin long wait nevertheless. You can now transact in Singapore dollars through PayPal. This should be good news for Singapore online merchants and bad news for WorldPay and eNets, the two dominant credit card processing companies in Singapore. Reasons to switch?
No setup fee
No annual fee
No cash holding period
Lower transaction fees
Posted by loganw at 01:43 PM | Comments (1)
October 12, 2006
An Executive In Denial
Turns out that Ben knows me better than I give him credit for. We were talking about the Myers-Briggs test after Landmark yesterday. He said I am an ENTJ and I told him confidently that I am an ENTP "with a very high P actually".
Well...turns out I've changed. I was ENTP five years ago when I last took the test with my co-workers at Team Days in Milwaukee. Took it last night again and I am ENTJ "with a very high J actually".
So I've changed from a Visionary to an Executive over the years. Although it's so much cooler to be a Visionary, I read the profiles again and I'm quite certain I'm more of an Executive.
Anyway, here's how one website describes ENTJ...
ENTJs generally have the following traits:
Driven to turn theories into plans
Highly value knowledge
Future-oriented
Natural leaders
Impatient with inefficiency and incompetence
Want things structured and orderly
Excellent verbal communication skills
Dislike routine, detail-oriented tasks
Self-confident
Decisive
ENTJs are especially well-suited to be leaders and organization builders. They have the ability to clearly identify problems and innovative solutions for the short and long-term well-being of an organization. Having a strong desire to lead, they're not likely to be happy as followers. ENTJs like to be in charge, and need to be in charge to take advantage of their special capabilities.
Posted by loganw at 04:35 AM | Comments (2)
October 04, 2006
Goodbye
There are values I hold that are really at the core of who I am as a person. I believe that every human being has intrinsic self-worth and deserves basic respect from everyone. I also believe that love is abundant and I find it noble to be capable of loving unconditionally.
In this world, till now, there's only one person whom I have no basic respect for as an individual, and he is the only person I hate. Just got news that my ex-boss drowned while swimming/diving off a Malaysian island a few days ago.
So now I can truly say I have basic respect for every human being and I bear no hatred towards anyone. I hope this signifies a new beginning for me. I have been troubled for a very long time.
Posted by loganw at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)
October 02, 2006
Feeling Nostalgic
A few months ago, I made an entry on what I missed about NYC. Since I just got back from a trip to KL, I thought I'll do one for KL too.
I miss staying up late at night chatting with Adelle, with her reeking of mosquito repellant.
I miss playing squash with Toon every week. (This trip we managed to squeeze in a squash session. A close fight ensued but I prevailed in the end.)
I miss driving in KL, where you don't need to worry about signaling or cutting people off.
I miss having chicken, roasted meat and char siew with Yaofeng at the roadside stall behind Bangsar Village.
I miss the free wifi in almost every cafe. (I still can't understand why it's so difficult to offer free wifi in Singapore. Kudos to Lu Hong's Book Cafe.)
I miss the Indian banana leaf restaurant at Bangsar Village. (Toon, Seow Wei and I had lunch there today before I drove back.)
I miss the cheap(er) petrol.
I miss the 12 ringgit dvds from the video store where Desmond used to work. (Went passed it today and Toon told me that it had been raided and had shut down.)
I miss my regular dose of porn from the dodgy store near Regent Hotel.
I miss salsa dancing at Qbar, not that I do that very frequently.
I miss working from the Starbucks cafe in KLCC.
Posted by loganw at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2006
Control Freak
Never make a decision involving me without me being involved. I can go ballistic.
Posted by loganw at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2006
You Know Local Productions Still Have A Long Way To Go When...
You know local productions still have a long way to go when you're watching Singapore Dreaming and you hear people giggle in amusement when they hear "Tiong Bahru".
Posted by loganw at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2006
Karaoke Weekend
Ferried Ben to the airport this morning...something I offered to do. We had brunch at Siglap before I whizzed him off to Terminal 2 to catch his flight.
I dunno. I think it was the fact that we hung out on Tuesday and Wednesday night and I'm reminded that the intention was to hang out and have fun during his stay in Singapore. It really isn't that complicated. Plus I want him to go back without needing to wonder if things are ok between us.
The only difference is that we're enjoying each other's company without enjoying each other physically. It's not easy to resist the temptation and I'm actually surprised that I can be so logical when I want to.
Looking forward to tonight. Hanging out for the first time with Andre after a couple of SMS and MSN chats since I bumped into him last Saturday at Mox. I haven't done karaoke for months and this week I shall do it twice. I promised Warren and gang to go karaoke on Sunday and Andre suggested going karaoke tonight. So lotsa singing this weekend.
Posted by loganw at 07:18 AM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2006
You Know You're Gay When...
You know you're gay when you're watching The Devil Wears Prada and you whisper to your girl friend sitting next to you: "That's a Marc Jacob."
Posted by loganw at 07:56 AM | Comments (0)
September 02, 2006
Be Na Lay
Big mistake going for a mahjong session with Allan, Lay Tin and Shirley at 10.30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The night before, I went to the padang to attend the Singapore Biennale's opening party with Zhongyi. The party is truly boring and pathetic. Lucky for us, we wandered into the VIP tent while the security guard was busy fixing his torchlight. Free flow of beer and wine. We just sat there the entire time talking and checking people out. When we left, there must be about 40 people prancing/dancing in front of the stage. I don't think they need the padang for that few people.
We were off to Mox and after many superficial "Hello, how are you?" shit, we ended up chatting with Andre and Tim - friends of Ren whom I met at a recent barbeque. Tim studies interior design and is doing an assignment on creating a "homosexual space". Zhongyi gave his two-cents worth as an architect and I especially liked what he said about providing a bird's eye view of the entire space so that it makes checking people out easy. Of course he made it sound a lot more sophisticated by throwing in the name of a famous French artist or architect, and some technical terms. "Bird's eye view" is for laymen like me.
After that, we hung out with Francis and Roger at the studio apartment that they're trying to rent out. This is the apartment that Ben and I were supposed to spend last weekend at after attending WOMAD. But that didn't happen.
I know it's not like I've been doing this for a long time but I do miss playing tennis with him on a Saturday morning and sending him to the Esplanade for choir practise after that. Oh well...I'll have to settle for Sean and Elvin for tennis on Saturdays after my ankle recovers.
Posted by loganw at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2006
Cute Filipinos Are My Nemeses
Twisted my left ankle playing volleyball for the second time in the last six months. This time, it was Chris who stuck his leg over when I was spiking a ball and I landed on his foot. Gary would say otherwise. He said he saw what happened and I simply jumped, landed and twisted my ankle. Chris had nothing to do with it. I think Gary's totally lying.
But I've learnt my lesson. Steer clear of cute Filipino guys. They are dangerous.
Posted by loganw at 07:21 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2006
I Can't Say Gbuy With A Straight Face :-)
Later this month Google's gonna launch a payment system that rivals eBay's PayPal. The name of this payment system is Gbuy. Hahahahahahahaha. I can't even stop laughing while I'm writing this. Gbuy sounds like cheebye, which in Hokkien means Cunt or Pussy.
I can't imagine the day I offer the payment method on my websites and say to customers "I accept Gbuy too".
You can find many articles comparing Google's Gbuy with eBay's Paypal. One such article is titled Goodbye PayPal, Here Comes Gbuy.
So far the reviews have been good. I'm waiting for Gbuy to be launched. Then I'm really really tempted to write an article entitled Ciao! Gbuy. That translates to a really smelly cunt in Hokkien.
Honestly anything that comes out of my mouth sounds crude. I can never say the brand "Kanebo" without Wanping laughing away.
Posted by loganw at 06:21 AM | Comments (3)
April 28, 2006
A Politically Apathetic Singaporean
I must confess: I'm politically illiterate. The Singapore General Election's on May 6 (next Saturday) and really, I just don't give a damn.
Almost every night I'm glued to the TV, not watching the news coverage on the politics between PAP, WP and SDP, but watching the politics between Lady Han and Lady Cui in the Korean drama Jewel In The Palace (Dae Jung Geum, Da Chang Jin or as ZY calls it, the Korean cooking show).
I know...I'm so auntie. But it's just more interesting cos it's a more level playing field. Although Lady Han is now the Top Lady of the royal kitchen, Lady Cui still wields great political clout and influence among the other kitchen bitches so she's able to put up a good fight. Never thought cooking a meal for a Korean emperor can be more complicated than electing our Singapore politicians.
Just can't understand why all these ladies want to be Top. If everyone's top, who's gonna be the bottom?
My dear friend ZY seems to have some opinions about the general election. I extracted the following paragraph from his blog:
"One important reason explaining the difficulty of the Opposition is this shrewd system of merging Parliamentary and Municipal elections, whereby constituents elect superman MPs-cum-Town Councilors (who would continue to excel in their professions in law, medecin, and management, while bringing up a picture-perfect family with three or more kids)."
This much, I can understand. It's like having a Chief Lady and a Top Lady instead of having just one superwoman. But what happens when you have a Chief and a Top? They end up playing politics. And mind you, they're kitchen chefs not politicians. So I think there are merits of having just one superwoman lo. It virtually squashes all oppositions and politics.
I didn't ask him for permission to reproduce his blog posting so I can only pray that he's not going to sue me for copyright infringement. Singapore can be a pretty litigious place.
To read more, visit http://quzy.blogspot.com.
I have to introduce him to Jewel In The Palace. He doesn't know what he's missing out.
Posted by loganw at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2006
E As In Italy!!!
I know it's mean to be laughing at someone else and I need to slap myself for doing this. But it's just one of those days when I'm super pressed for time and I had to deal with someone who's trying way too hard to be professional.
I was trying to give her my email and she interrupted me and insisted that I do one of those A as in Asshole, B as in Bastard, C as in Cunt kinda thing. And all I was trying to do was spell out GMAIL!
Anyway I went Germany, Malaysia, America, Italy, London. And she said "Ok I repeat. G as in Germany. M as in Malaysia. A as in America. E as in Italy...".
Aiyo. Alamak. Can die...
Posted by loganw at 04:03 AM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2006
Do I Look Like A Crook?
I can't believe it. I got back from supper and was waiting for the elevator together with a girl. When the door opened, she didn't get in and gestured to me that I should go ahead without her.
Granted it's near midnight. But what was she thinking I was going to do to her? I can imagine myself looking like a nerd (especially my side profile) but definitely not a crook. The only thing dubious was my oversized flip flops coz I left mine at the volleyball court.
Anyway it's the first time it happened to me. Weird...
Posted by loganw at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2006
Thank God For Italians Greeks
Just-married Ben forwarded this joke to me:
A Greek and an Italian were sitting in a Starbuck's one day discussing who had the superior culture.
Over triple lattes the Greek guy says, "Well, we have the Parthenon, arching his eyebrows. The Italian replies, "We have the Coliseum."
The Greek retorts, "We Greeks gave birth to advanced mathematics. The Italian, nodding in agreement, and says, "But we built the Roman Empire."
And so on and so on until the Greek comes up with what he thinks will end the discussion With a flourish of finality he says, "We invented sex!"
The Italian replies,
"That is true, but it was the Italians who introduced it to women."
Posted by loganw at 09:21 AM | Comments (1)
February 20, 2006
林志炫的原声之旅
听着林志炫的<原声之旅>专辑，仿佛回到学生时代的日子。坐在餐厅，听着耳机，哼唱<少年游>。
虽然隔了十多年，有些东西还是没改变。 林志炫的声音依然清纯无比, 唱起情歌总是能令我感动。我也依然以一个旁观者的身份看待爱情，去感受他歌里荡气回肠的爱情故事。
非常期待在不久的将来，能凭自己的领悟唱出<输了你赢了世界又如何>。
Posted by loganw at 04:54 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2006
Got Squashed In Squash (Again)
Resumed playing squash with Alan and Lay Tin every Thursday. I just got home after being completely trashed (again) by Allan 9-7, 9-1, 9-0.
There's a Chinese saying: 君子报仇，十年不晚, which means it's never too late for a gentleman to take revenge, even if it takes ten years.
I told Lay Tin that's exactly what I plan to do. In ten years' time, her hubby will be 48 and I'll be 40. By then, hopefully he's not as agile as he is now. If I still can't beat him in ten years, I'll wait another ten. By then, hopefully he's too weak to hold the racquet. If I still can't beat him, I told her I'll stab him in the back like what some moron did to Monica Seles. Then I'm quite sure I'll beat him.
Of course that squealer quickly went to tell on me. So now Alan is watching his back for yet another reason.
Posted by loganw at 02:33 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2006
I Luv NYC!
Listening to ZY talk about how he's missing Paris and how he's trying to adjust to life back in Singapore reminds me of how I felt 4 years ago when I moved back to Singapore from New York. Talk about reverse culture shock. I guess you'll never really be the same after living in another country for an extended period of time. And you shouldn't be. Because those new experiences should shape you as a person. And hopefully in a positive manner. The last time I visited New York was in December 2002, on my way to chair Aiesec's Winter Strategic Conference in Atlanta. I'm feeling nostalgic...
I miss hanging out with Alicia at Xando Coffee and Bar on Sixth Ave & 13th Street, psychoanalyzing ourselves to death.
I miss listening to the Guitar Man in Central Park sing "Who The Hell Knows" every Saturday afternoon.
I miss attending Christian's Samba and Technique lessons at Stepping Out Studios every Tuesday and Friday evening.
I miss playing volleyball at Gotham every Wednesday and Thursday evening.
I miss renting my weekly doses of porn from World of Video on Greenwich Ave.
I miss having greasy American breakfast with Alicia and Suzanne at Joe's Junior on a lazy Sunday morning.
I miss the chicken tikka masala that's delivered to my doorstep from Bombay Gardens when it's too cold and I was too lazy to go anywhere.
I miss the toasted bagel spread with cheese and sundried tomatoes sold at the deli on Lexington Avenue.
I miss getting drunk on (one) cheap beer with the rest of the Aiesec national staff at Flannery's.
I miss Team Days when we cooped ourselves up for two straight days discussing how we could make the world a better place.
I miss dancing my nights away at Splash.
I miss fussing over what I should wear with every change of season.
I miss being a part of the epicenter of the universe!
Posted by loganw at 04:33 PM | Comments (1)
February 13, 2006
Shashlik In Singapore
Shashlik is a Russian cuisine. Shashlik is also the name of a popular restaurant serving Russian cuisine in Far East Shopping Centre. The last time I was there was with Linda, about a few years back.
I met up with Sergey and Jane who are in town to settle some administrative matters for the Singapore office they are setting up. Sergey is the founder of Bioron, a biomedical company headquartered in Russia. After setting up their first sales office in Germany, they're now setting up their Asian office in Singapore.
Since my Russian friends are in town, I thought it'll be a good idea to bring them to Shashlik to check out how authentic the food is. They had a good laugh at the name of the restaurant and told me that it's hard to find a restaurant that serves good shashlik in Russia. Jane also told me that shashlik is usually prepared outdoor over burned ash.
Both of them ordered Chicken a la Kiev and I had lamb shashlik. They really liked what they ate and Shashlik definitely passed their taste test. Jane took a picture of me and Sergey pointing to the restaurant signboard. I'll post it up when I get the picture from her.
Anyway the address of the restaurant is:
#06-19, Far East Shopping Centre (oppo Thai Embassy)
Tel: 6732 6401
Remember to call to make reservations cos it's usually packed, even on weekdays.
Posted by loganw at 05:42 PM | Comments (2)
February 11, 2006
A 13-Wonders Virgin No More!
I won my first 13-wonders game in mahjong on Friday, February 10th 2006. Woohoo! I nearly called off the session because I thought I was coming down with a flu. (But I did cancel my dinner with Siew Ling that same evening. Siew Ling, if you're reading this, sorry about it!)
Anyway I didn't just pull off any 13-wonders game. I pulled off a perfect one, one which I was waiting for 13 tiles. This is what I got...
Shirley threw the winning tile and I was devirginized. Thanks Shirley. It felt really good.
Posted by loganw at 07:55 AM | Comments (4)
November 01, 2005
It Dnsoe't Mtetar If Yuor Slplneig Sckus
cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
if you can raed tihs psas it on !!
Posted by loganw at 12:12 PM | Comments (2)
October 31, 2005
What To Include In A Feasibility Study? (Part 1)
Libing's thinking of setting up her own business in Beijing and she's currently doing a feasibility study. She was asking me what she needs to look out for and I thought this will be an interesting topic to discuss.
I've kept it general since I don't think she's ready to discuss her business specifically. Also the process is rather generic and would apply to most businesses.
A good way to start is to ask yourself the following questions in the order stated below:
1. Why do you want to set up this business?
This question is not about why you want to go into business. It's about why you want to set up this particular business. Did you identify a need that is currently unfulfilled or underserved? In answering this question, be as detailed and descriptive as possible. Your answer will reflect the business opportunity you have identified and perhaps also your sense of purpose in doing this business.
2. What is the profile of your customers?
What are the characteristics of your typical customer? You may be trying to reach out to more than one group of customers and for each group, try to describe the profile of your customers in as much details as possible.
What is the primary need of the customer that you are trying to fulfill with your business? Why are they coming to you? For example, a customer may visit a restaurant to fill his/her hunger. Another may buy a pair of Jimmy Choo to make herself feel good. So what is the need (or needs) you are fulfilling?
At this point, do a brainstorm. By trying to come up with all possible needs, you are actually identifying all potential target markets.
Do not confuse the customers' primary needs with their decision criteria. You may be in a great location, your prices may be low but that's not the primary reason they are coming to you. They must first have a need for what you are selling. And what is that need?
3. What are the current and future trends that have an impact on this business you are trying to set up?
Every business operates within a marketplace. And this marketplace is likely to be dynamic. Things are ever changing. What are the key market trends that will impact your business? These trends may represent opportunities or they may represent threats.
As much as possible, try to obtain reliable, accurate and updated third-party data on the market. Talk to people you know who are in the industry. Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups. Making valid assumptions about the marketplace is crucial.
In answering the first two questions, you would have already made numerous assumptions. And this stage of the process will be to validate those assumptions. For example, you may think that the primary need you have identified is currently unfulfilled. But maybe it's just that you have not been looking hard enough. That need may already be fulfilled by existing market players. Or, you may realize that the need is unfulfilled but there's a good reason. Maybe the number of potential customers that have the need is extremely low or extremely costly to target.
Another objective of doing this market research is that it provides new insights. You may begin to think about new target markets; you may think up alternative channels to reach out to your customers.
In case you're overwhelmed by data, you may want to look under the following areas:
- Customers (e.g. market size, demographics, disposable income, consumer confidence, needs and wants, buying patterns)
- Competitors (e.g. existing market players, competitors' strengths & weaknesses, product/service offering, prices, existing sales channels, industry ratios)
- Business regulations (e.g. setting up a business entity, industry-specific regulations)
4. What are the key success factors?
Now is when we discuss about the customers' decision criteria. What are the key factors that matter to the customers when they are making their buying decision? Try to narrow down to three or four criteria that matter most to them. Is it location? Is it price? Is it the quality of the product/service? Is it the variety of choices?
Hopefully the data you compiled to answer Qn 3 will come in useful. The less you know about the market, the more you need to rely on third-party information instead of simply making your own assumptions.
These three to four criteria are what we call key success factors. The better you are at meeting these criteria, the higher your chances of success.
Answering these four questions will more or less cover the market feasibility. The next step is to look at the financial feasibility.
Frequently I get into conversations with people about starting a business and it's interesting that quite a number of people ask "What is so unique about your business idea?" and "What prevents the big boys or other new entrants from doing what you are doing?"
I can understand where they are coming from. They are valid questions but it doesn't mean that you need a unique business idea to be successful. And in today's business environment that is highly competitive (free market) and increasingly borderless, it may be extremely difficult to start a business that has high barriers to entry unless somehow you have the ability to gain access to some highly-regulated industries such as telecommunications and defence technology. If you have the access, you can chuck this feasibility study. Just do it!
Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., former CEO of IBM, said it very well in his insightful book Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?:
It is extremely difficult to develop a unique strategy for a company, and if the strategy is truly different from what others in the industry are doing, it is probably highly risky. The reason for this is that industries are defined and bounded by economic models, explicit customer expectations and competitive structures that are known to all and impossible to change in a short period of time.Thus, it is very hard to develop a unique strategy, and even harder, should you develop one, to keep it proprietary.
Gerstner's statement may seem rather dated in today's context when everyone's talking about disruptive technologies. But again, this is another cliche that people use without attaching much meaning to it. When people talk about 'disruptive technologies', are those technologies truly disruptive? And disruptive technologies are usually highly risky to develop in the first place which still makes his statement very valid. Haha...why am I so defensive?
The point is: It's all about execution. Your business success depends on your ability to execute your strategies faster and better than your competition.
Posted by loganw at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)
Married Life, Babies And Post Natal Blues
In life, you come across people whom you know you can always pick up from where you left off even though you've not been in touch for a long time.
Over the weekend, I'm once again reminded of how fortunate I am to be blessed with so many good friends. Met up with Huiling, Xueqing, Peijie and Jingyi for lunch at Royal Copenhagen in Takashimaya. I think the last time we met was about two years ago.
With four gals and one guy, the conversations revolved around married life, babies and post natal blues. Not exactly my kind of conversations but oddly, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Some things never change. Xueqing's still very conscious of her weight even though she is stick thin. Some things do change. It's hilarious listening to Huiling tell Peijie how to be a gentle and caring wife. Huiling used to be one of the more aggressive and assertive girls in class. And now she is the submissive wife of Andy and a milk-making machine of her baby boy, Aloysius.
Our lunch lasted four and a half hours and it was so fun that I skipped my dance class (sorry Lucille). We agreed to do this on a regular basis and I'm already looking forward to the next one.
I'll get Hanwei and Zaixian to join us. Then we can steer the conversation toward single life, babes and no-sex blues. Well...maybe Zaixian's getting some.
Posted by loganw at 02:25 AM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2005
What I Want For Christmas (But Can't Afford)
#1 on X'mas Wish List:
n.d.c. boots
It may not snow in Singapore but it sure rains a lot and this pair of Gianni boots from n.d.c.'s autumn/winter 2005 collection is all I need for rainy days. They're handmade, the leather was aged for months and they just look damn good.
#2 on X'mas Wish List:
Dior Homme Jeans
I've no idea how I'm gonna pull off the punk rock look. I definitely think this pair of jeans is way overpriced. But I've wanted this for quite some time. Plus I'm getting rather sick of my Paper Denim & Cloth.
#3 on X'mas Wish List:Paul Picot Retrograde Watch
I don't know why I need another Paul Picot watch but I love the look of the Paul Picot Retrograde. The key feature is, of course, the 30-sec retrograde. It comes fitted with 34 jewels and an official chronometer C.O.S.C. certification.
#4 on X'mas Wish List:dunhill Sidecar Ballpoint Pen
I wonder why dunhill didn't manufacture rollerballs under the Sidecar Leather Chassis collection. But the palladium-plated pen looks so good bound in bitter-chocolate calf leather that I'll try to get used to a ballpoint. Only 1893 pieces were manufactured which makes this collection a limited edition.
That's all I ask for, Santa.
Posted by loganw at 03:11 PM | Comments (1)
October 18, 2005
Am I Giving Or Buying?
Giving is supposed to be a good thing, right? Handed over all my loose change, a dollar-fifty, in exchange for a packet of tissue from an old lady at the Orchard underpass.
This is a ritual that I do almost every time I come across an aged or a handicap. But this time's different. As I was taking the packet of tissue from her hand, she stopped me and told me it's two dollars. I'm fifty cents short of "buying" a packet of tissue that I could get for thirty cents at a coffeeshop.
I was stunned. She just tried to exploit my compassion!
The last time I felt so lousy about giving was 6 years ago in San Francisco when a homeless told me the two dollars I gave him could not even get him breakfast at McDonald's.
Fucked up.
Posted by loganw at 04:46 PM | Comments (4)
August 25, 2005
Google Talk (Cock)
Yesterday, Google launched Google Talk, an instant messaging client that allows you to make voice calls between computers. Read New Google Talk Offers Instant Messaging & Voice Chat (SearchEngineWatch.com).
Nothing new since you can already make voice calls with Skype, Y! Messenger and MSN Messenger.
What's interesting is that with every product or service that Google's rolling out, more and more people are getting nervous about Google's growing dominance. Read Relax, Bill Gates; It's Google's Turn as the Villian (New York Times).
Doesn't help that Google has been receiving rather bad press this year with the controversial Autolink feature on its Google Toolbar that inserts hyperlinks on websites with U.S. Addresses and Publication ISBN Numbers.
Those hyperlinks point to Google Maps and Amazon respectively. Understandably, many publishers are pissed off. It raises the question Who Owns The Content?
Then, just recently, Google behaved like a spoilt brat, refusing to talk to any reporter from CNETNews.com for a year, after a reporter for the site wrote an article raising privacy issues about the information Google collects about individuals, using some personal information about Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google as an example.
It's amazing that techies are an emotional bunch and Google's unofficial slogan Don't Be Evil has definitely helped the company develop a cult following.
But with Google's explosive growth, I think they should really consider changing their slogan to:
Don't Be Evil (When You're Small)
Do Be Evil (When You Become Big)
Otherwise Google will be just talking cock.
Posted by loganw at 03:39 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2005
Sweetriot...A New Movement In Cacao
Was up till 2 a.m. chatting with Joe on Skype last night. Among the many things we talked about, he mentioned that Sarah Endline started a business in New York City selling chocolates.
The company's name is Sweetriot and it has a frigging cool tagline - A New Movement In Cacao. Sweet!
Had a sneak preview of the website that she'll be launching. Like the tagline, the look and feel is absolutely cool.
The name, the tagline, the design of the site are just so congruent. Anyway, can't wait to lay my hands on Sweetriot's chocolates.
The tagline A New Movement In Cacao makes me think about creme de cacao, and when I think about creme de cacao, I think about the Chocolate Martini, and when I think about the Chocolate Martini, I think about Alicia Stammer.
Alicia and I still talk on the phone almost on a weekly basis. She's now in Sacramento, California doing her MBA in Organizational Development with Pepperdine University.
She and I used to frequent Greenwich Cafe in Chelsea when we were living in New York City. We would order our favorite calamari and she would always have her Chocolate Martini.
A few days before I left NYC to return to Singapore for good, we both got each other the same farewell gift. It's a book called New Classic Cocktails coz it has the recipes of her favorite Chocolate Martini and my favorite chick's drink - The Cosmopolitan.
Here's the recipe of the favorite cocktail of one of my dearest friends.
The Chocolate Martini
Ingredients:
Unsweetened cocoa powder, to coat the rim of the glass;
1 Hershey's Hug candy;
2 ounces high-quality vodka;
1 1/2 ounces white creme de cacao
1. Use a few drops of creme de cacao to moisten the outside of the rim of a cocktail glass. Sprinkle lightly but evenly with the cocoa powder. Place the Hershey's Hug, pointed top up, in the bottom of the glass.
2. Fill a large mixing glass two-thirds full of ice cubes. Pour in the vodka and creme de cacao and stir until very well chilled. Strained into the prepared cocktail glass. Serve at once.
fyi: The Chocolate Martini was created in 1993 by Kerry Simon who was the executive chef at Max's South Beach in Miami.
Posted by loganw at 05:35 PM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2005
The Space Between P & Enis Is An UnderScore
Was filling out a form today to attend an event and there was an email address on the form. It read something like xxxxp_enis@yahoo.com and below the email address was the following sentence:
The space between p & enis is an underscore.
I stared at that sentence for about 10 seconds, trying to decipher the hidden message it conveyed.
Then suddenly I realized...it just meant what it meant. The space between p & enis is an _underscore.
Fucking dickhead.
Posted by loganw at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)
