Bjorno.licio.us

For those still stuck on Yahoo Mail or lousy Hotmail, get a life. =D
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBbmiQhuAhU”]

Made by the Gmail team, this video is great for pple who dunno about its kickass features. Especially in Asia where so many pple are still stuck on oter crappy email apps. Having used Gmail for a long time, I like the video cos I was able to see why a new user will like Gmail cos it really solves problems in sorting out the mess in your inbox.

Credit to Tony Chung’s Geekwhat.

Chernobyl. 1986. Mankind’ sneak preview of tomorrow’s horrors of nuclear energy.

Trey Ratcliff , an enigma of amazing HDR photos from his worldly travels, discarded the good advice of his female peers to venture into the bowels of Nuclear Twilight Zone. Few of us will ever dare to venture into that area, so Trey’s HD photos might just be the closest we get. On his hand is the Geiger counter for tracking radiation levels.

… kids left schools with their books still on the desks, families rushed out without getting everything, just complete and instant desertion. While I was there, it was completely quiet, and it was extra surreal with the early 80’s styling of the Soviet buildings, windows ajar, stuff still sitting in all the windows.

All photos belong to Trey who will be uploading more over the next few days. Click any photo to go direct to his page. The above is him at the main reactor. Next up, pics from Pripyat, purportedly the residential area for power plant workers to “work, live and play” (gosh, how many times have we heard this overused stereotype of utopian bliss for wage slaves?).

I went to the creepiest part of Pripyat, the playground and amusement park. This was recently completed just before the disaster. Bumper cars, swings, a ferris wheel, and other bits of abandoned toys now lay quiet and creaking in the snow… (Is) another part of the playground, where the kids emerged from school for playtime.

Thanks to Digg for this.

While the blogosphere continues hyperventilating over the iPhone, some sensible folks always exist.

1. Get rid of your old Pod

This guy wants to make sure his new love for the iPhone will be undiluted by his love for his old iPod.

I am kidding. This “sensible” guy is actually from Blendtec. Cleverly disguising a shameless plug for their new blender product, they have come up with a super-simple idea to market their blenders - blend everything possible and put it on the web.

They might have tried the iPod here, but they also tried a crowbar, Barbie dolls among everything else. Click on the pic above to find out what else they blended.

Hmm, what happens if you are unimpressed by the hype over iPhone, like the Japanese who think buying music over the Internet also is so passe when they can use their phones to buy tickets, watch live TV and swipe it to enter stadiums to watch games, scan bar codes to get discounts?

2. Why iPhone? Buy iEverythingElse. 

The answer might come from Google. Specifically their ultra top-secret Black Ops Directorate. They have created the iEverything Else aka the iEE. Sick of just calling, watching video and listening to music or surfing the web on your phone? Then you should click here.

Our planet Earth has orbited once around the Sun since I started blogging and… I am feeling generous. =)

So I have decided to give a little back to my loyal dedicated readers, yea thats YOU.. who have given me so much back in terms of comments or just by reading it. When I first started writing this in late September last year, I never thought my 2nd attempt at blogging will last this long. Blogging has really helped crystallize my thoughts especially when I read some amazing article online that really spoke to me and I wanted to tell others about it.

My singular most effective form of motivation to write has been my blog traffic stats and though its nothing to shout about, I feel good knowing at least 50-60 people read it everyday. Who cares about quantity right? Small is the new Big when you have quality. And giving can sometimes be equally joyous as taking.

Here’s the deal:

Comment on this post by Sept 30, tell me which is your favourite article on my blog and why you liked it.

Best comment, chosen by me, will click away with the prize.

The Prize:

Your choice of any 3 songs from the iTunes Music Store (US).

My treat.

Oh, and everyone’s eligible. Thats the beauty of the Internet. Unlimited reach, free distribution costs. Anywhere in the world. Plus, I get to support my favorite company Apple.

I found this off Digg a couple of days back. Another ridiculously time-wasting yet fun site to design your very own South park character within seconds.

Check  out my own creations: “Beer Bum” and the updated (psstt.. middle-aged) Princess Leia looking more like Jabba the Hutt than the sultry siren she was.. lolz..

Gratefully plagiarized off Garry’s blog whom he plagiarized from somewhere out there:

Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers throughout the land.

Here are last year’s winners…

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free. Read the rest of this entry »

A Car Maniac’s Wet Dream.

Introducing the Tesla Roadster:

• 100% Electric
• 0 to 60 in 4 seconds
• 135mpg equivalent
• 250 miles/ 400 km per charge
• about 1cent per mile

There were MP3 players, and then.. iPod.

There were cars, and then.. Tesla.

Designed and manufactured by the New Ferrari for a Post-Petroleum Age:

LG wants you to drink more with their new LP4100 phone, with a built-in breathalyzer. For evidence, check out the happy Koreans above.

Yes, apparently, this phone is the Holy Grail for clubbers, drinkers and all who party. As ABC News put it so well, it “not only promotes sobriety, but chastity — and probably your dignity, as well.”

Here’s how it works, you breathe into a small hole which masks an internal breathalyzer and if you exceed the alcohol limit, a snazzy video shows up on those pimped up Korean phones of a car zig-zagging and hitting over traffic cones. Sounds like a simple message to drunk folks to understand. That is, if their heads ain’t already spinning and mistaking that zigzagging for normal driving.

BUT HERE’S THE KILLER APPLICATION.

This phone has an auto call-blocking feature that is activated once your phone determines u r drunk. It will prevent you from calling sensitive pple in your life such as your ex-bf or gf, your domineering and insecure boss, ur neurotic co-workers, ur mom, blah blah…

So far, 200,000 crazy drunks have bought it in Korea. Its gonna launch in US soon, no date set yet but i dun think promoting sobriety and chastity as their marketing message is gonna fly in the US, but …

buying it just to keep my stupidity under check when drunk?

As Mastercard says, priceless.

In less than 30 hours, Singapore celebrates our 41st birthday and the whole nation expects a rolling good party! There’s something for everyone, be it the multi-million dollar fireworks, the parades by the armed forces and social organizations, the aero-batics by the elite troops, aircraft fly-bys, the breathtaking performances put together by students, youths and with both amateurs and professionals co-operating together in what has always been the nation’s biggest social equalizing event of our diverse races and social classes.

This year, nostalgia will meet the usually unbridled joy of the attendees and participants as the National Stadium @ Kallang will host its last ever National Day since 1966 before its torn down for a new sports hub. And the organizers have really leveraged on this memorable moment and created the most awesome multimedia experience for web-savvy Singaporeans.

As you saw above, the website this year has truly been worthy of the occasion with brilliant colors that exude the brilliance of color and celebration while not being overly cluttered and messy. Best of all, it loads fine on the Firefox browser. In addition, there are:

The obvious Web 1.0 package of:

Even though Web 1.0-ish, the wallpapers are a nice touch, finally some decent and actually a few impressive shots of our city-scape that makes me use one as my wallpaper for today.

But whats new, souped up and exciting is the new digital media package reflective of the more recent digital revolution on the internet and mobile phone platforms:

1. near-comprehensive collection of free MP3s since the 1988 National Day,
2. free video clips of event highlights during the celebration since 1997, even overseas celebrations such as the air force base in Arizona, USA,
3. free polyphonic ringtones to the tune of popular National Day songs and easy-to-follow downloading instructions by Iguana Mobile
4. and mobile messaging (SMS/MMS) greeting portals by Singtel

So what’s Bjorn gushing about, you might think? The organizers have not really done anything new this year or truly revolutionary.

Well, I do and here’s why:

• Youth Appeal. I really think the new media material of ringtones, videos, MP3 songs will stick due to the high adoption rates of cell phones and immense amount of time kids spend to personalize their phones. Not even mentioning the amount of time young people spend just surfing the web. The Singapore National Day event has always focused on involvement of schoolchildren from 8 to the college students of 20+ in all the rehearsals and actual event. Last week, I was on the MRT and noticed primary school kids fooling around with National Day music on their phones. The inclusion of such content have definitely given more relevant choice to the youths of Singapore who now have more local media alternatives to the Youtube videos and foreign-made MP3 songs. But i will suggest uploading some of these to Youtube too so as to improve the chances of Singaporeans watching it or even adding sections for bloggers to paste code of the videos, or email the links to their friends through MSN IM easily. Making the videos compatible with multiple formats for mobile phones, iPods will be awesome too. And maye consider a NDP blog in future? Complete with RSS feeds for those who like the updates? These little features will help in spreading this content virally.
• Focus on User Experience of Website. I never felt inclined to visit the National Day website in past years, always stalling at the homepage, which is god-awfully ugly all the time, slow to load and loaded with text no one wants to read. THis year, the website is fun, easily navigable, colorful (yet not gawdily so) and cleanly designed at the same time. Perhaps the Web 2.0 inspired round boxes framing the main categories of sub-events and content helped. =) And maybe thats why I clicked to more pages and discovered all this media that might have been there in earlier years. Finally, somebody understands that the homepage is the digital equivalent of the shopfront and that web surfers have the same behavioral patterns of window-shoppers.
• Tearing down the Walled Garden of past and present National Day media content. Opening up the historical digital archive of National Day songs and videos. Finally again, such media is no longer confined to the ownership of schools or governemtn agencies and are now uploaded for access by any web user. When I was in California last year, I always wonder where and when I will be able to listen to these tunes and let my foreign friends hear them since these songs are not even downloadable on Bittortent, Limewire etc… I am glad the organizers did not think of selling them and this enlightened approach towards releasing free MP3 versions might really help in allowing Singaporeans or even foreigners to listen to the catchy though propaganda-esque tunes many Singaporeans grew up with. Its an integral part of our local culture and by democratizing the songs, Singapore is really placing the tools of nation-building in the hands of the citizens or well-wishers. Quite a liberal approach for our government.

Having a strong web presence for National Day is definitely useful for the legions of overseas Singaporeans who hunger desperately for local cuisine. I have seen some of these people and even was one of them last year. Without the physical proximity of soaking in the atmosphere and mood of National Day, the next closest thing will be a rich media experience over the Web. And I think 2006 is a watershed as we are finally in the right direction, digitally.

Click on this pic to instantly watch some hit viral videos. I strongly recommend the mock news clip of some Alaskan town who resorted to desperate uses of Axe deodorant to boost their mojo, Video 3 of 8.

“Advertisers are creating and distributing videos on sites like YouTube and Google Video, hoping they’ll be distributed by thousands of Web users, reports Business Week. For that powerful chain of events to take place, marketers have to create something compelling enough for a legion of anonymous users to want to share it with friends. “If you entertain your audience, they will get it, and the viral mechanism will make the audience come to watch you,” says Ed Robinson, an ad executive and Web site owner who attracted more than 60,000 people in one week to his Web site with a 12-second spot. Within three months, he had 500,000 visitors. Video could be advertising’s holy grail. It reaches millions of consumers without spending millions of dollars. The big lure, according to research estimates–it’s a $100 million to $150 million industry. Just think of Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s “Subservient Chicken” video for Burger King; it’s still one of the most popular viral video ads in history, with 400 million hits. And it didn’t cost millions to make. CPB says after that success, it found competition on the Web to be fresh, different, and fierce. After all, advertisers are competing with content created by millions of amateurs, too. Plus, Web users are an ad-saturated audience, so anything that lacks irony or a little sophistication and smacks of cheap marketing ploys won’t get very far. To be successful, viral video needs high entertainment value. That’s right, advertisers–you’re creating content, too.”

Read the full Businessweek article here.