Reasons I don't have Facebook or Friendster

1. I have to add people I don't really like.


2. I have to add peope I don't really know.


3. People have immediate access to information about me.


4. People have immediate access to photos of me.


5. People who I don't really know and have successfully added me will suddenly think they're my friend.


6. People at work can find me, add me, and suddenly have immediate access to information about me.


7. People I've just met can find me, add me, and suddenly have immediate access to information about me.


8. People who I haven't met in a long time and was never really close to will be privy to all the ins and outs of my life, right up until I bump into them a few years later in a random club in Singapore at Clarke Quay.


9. When tiny little details such as "Relationship status:" change, people care.


10. My boss can add me.


11. People can take my photo, black out my face and put me on a porn website with malay captions.


12. An Australian couple have been served with legal documents via the popular social networking site Facebook (From BBC: Legal papers served via Facebook).


13. New Zealand police have arrested a safe burglar using the popular social networking website Facebook to identify and track him down (From Reuters: Police use Facebook to nab burglar).



14. ____________________________________________
    From: Niresh Regmi
    Sent: Wednesday, 27 August 2008 9:50 a.m.
    To: Kyle Doyle
    Subject: RE: Absence on Thursday 21^st 2008
    
    
    Hi Kyle,
    I believe the proof that you are after is below
    
    
    
    
    NIRESH REGMI
    Real Time Manager, Workforce Operations
    
    _____________________________________________
    From: Kyle Doyle
    Sent: Wednesday, 27 August 2008 9:43 a.m.
    To: Niresh Regmi
    Subject: RE: Absence on Thursday 21^st 2008
    
    Hi Niresh,
    My leave was due to medical reasons, so you cannot deny leave based on a line manager's discretion, with no proof, please process leave as requested.
    Thanks
    
    
    Regards,
    
    Kyle Doyle
    Resolutions Expert - Technical

    _____________________________________________
    From: Niresh Regmi
    Sent: Wednesday, 27 August 2008 9:39 a.m.
    To: Kyle Doyle
    Subject: RE: Absence on Thursday 21^st 2008
    
    Hi Kyle,
    Usually that is the case, as per your contract. However please note that leave during these occasions is only granted for genuine medical reasons. You line manager has determined that your leave was not due to medical reasons and as such we cannot grant leave on this occasion.
    
    NIRESH REGMI
    Real Time Manager, Workforce Operations
    
    _____________________________________________
    From: Kyle Doyle
    Sent: Wednesday, 27 August 2008 9:38 a.m.
    To: Niresh Regmi
    Subject: RE: Absence on Thursday 21^st 2008
    
    Niresh,
    1 day leave absences do not require a medical certificate as stated in my contract, provided I have stated that I am on leave for medical reasons.
    Thanks
    Regards,
    
    Kyle Doyle
    Resolutions Expert - Technical
    
    _____________________________________________
    From: Niresh Regmi
    Sent: Wednesday, 27 August 2008 9:35 a.m.
    To: Kyle Doyle
    Subject: Absence on Thursday 21^st 2008
    Hi Kyle,
    Please provide a medical certificate stating a valid reason for your sick leave on Thursday 21^st 2008.
    Thank You
    
    NIRESH REGMI
    Real Time Manager, Workforce Operations
    
    _____________________________________________
15. A man murdered his estranged wife after becoming "enraged" when she changed her marital status on Facebook to "single" (From BBC: Wife murdered for Facebook status).
16. From Reuters: Privacy concerns frustrate Facebook:

    SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Facebook's efforts to build a business model around its online social network have hit another roadblock, as a backlash by its users forced the company to reverse a new policy.
    
    The dispute involves changes that Facebook had made to its terms of service agreement. Some critics said the changes appeared to give the company a perpetual right to content that users post on the network.
    
    People Against the new Terms of Service, a Facebook group created to oppose the hanges, counted more than 88,000 users on Wednesday.
    
    Getting a better return from the business is proving tricky for Facebook.
    
    It introduced a service called Beacon in 2007 that tracked individuals' online activity -- such as purchases made at participating e-commerce Web sites -- and reported the data to the individuals' Facebook friends. But the service raised privacy hackles, and Facebook made
    changes to make it easier for users to turn the service off.
    
    In response to the latest dispute, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially wrote in a blog
    post on Monday that users ultimately own and control their personal information.
    
    On Tuesday evening, Zuckerberg said the company would revert to its original terms of service as it works on crafting a less objectionable service agreement.
    

17. From BBC: Facebook remark teenager is fired:
    A 16-year-old girl from Essex was fired after she described her office job as "boring" on her Facebook page.


18. A Swiss insurance worker lost her job for posting on Facebook when she was sick (From Reuters: Facebook surfing while sick costs woman job).
    


19. Malaysians are being targeted by using information available on Facebook (From The Star: Social network users now easier targets for criminals)

How's work?

This being the slow news week that I mentioned before, I guess you lot will have to put up with me actually talking about my life and things involving it. And one of the things I talk about most is work. I don't do it because I want to. I do it because now that I'm part of the labour force, this question has been deemed a suitable question for small talk. Obviously, people who ask this question in the hopes of making small talk don't know that I don't do small talk, and therefore don't know me very well. The answer to that question is invariably "It's okay".

However, I'm assuming that because you have this url, that you are close enough to me to actually be asking me about work to see how I'm doing. Let me give you the downlow.

1. I hate my boss.

Why?

I don't know. I really don't. He's not a bad boss. He's actually a really good mentor, because he explains things to me very thoroughly and gives me high level work that you wouldn't expect a management trainee to get.

So why? I still don't know. I suppose it might be because he's a loser. Really. He's one of those people whose jokes aren't really jokes, who doesn't get other people's jokes, who has no social skills whatsoever, etc. As a matter of fact, the Head of our Corporate Resources was saying (without my prompting, mind you) that he's one of those guys that you wouldn't even kiss on the cheek or hug when you meet him because you just can't bring yourself to. The Head actually even said she didn't know how anyone could kiss him or be married to him. I didn't say it. The Head did.

It might even be because he hates the Group, but still works here complaining about "the culture". He also doesn't like his current 5 employees, consistently calling them "inherited staff" from previous mergers, and basically calling them stupid when they're in hearing distance. It's no wonder they're not friends, and the staff are just biding their time until retirement.

2. I NEED to get out of here.

It's not just because the work that I do is so boring that it's sucking the life out of me. It's because of other things too. Yesterday was a prime example. Everyone driving on the road were jackasses, cutting into slow moving lanes at the last minute so that they hold up people in other lanes, motorcycles crossing the street like a pedestrian while cars are crossing the intersection, badge makers telling me that the badges will be finished on Wednesday but haven't even started making them by Thursday night, and the list goes on.

Basically I need to get out of this city, away from stupid, incompetent people, away from stressful road antics, and just zen myself. I need to destress. Yes, I know that my life for the past three months has been far less stressful than GNN and whoren, but I have the option to zen myself and I will take it like a drunk grasping at a gallon of kerosene.

I need to lay at peace on a boat in the sun in the middle of the deep, deep blue and just zen. Remember that I know who loves me and accepts me for who I am, who only has my best interests at heart, and who will be there for me when I really, really need them for as long as I need them.

If you think that was about who we were talking about last night, it isn't. You haven't noticed, but I gave up a long time ago. I don't need the stress or the futility.

.......................................................................

In other news, I'm deciding if I should brave the emo-goff-tweenage crowd for this:

MCR to strut their stuff in KL
By JO TEH

KUALA LUMPUR: American rock band My Chemical Romance (popularly known as MCR) will be strutting their stuff here in December.

Slated as the biggest selling current band next to Linkin Park, MCR will perform here as part of its Black Parade world tour, which follows the successful release of their The Black Parade album last year.

With only two days in South-East Asia, the band will perform in Singapore after Kuala Lumpur.

Formed in 2001, its members are Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Frank Iero, Bob Bryar and Mikey Way.

MCR first released their debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002, followed by Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in 2004.

Last year, the band released The Black Parade album featuring hit singles Welcome to the Black Parade, Famous Last Words, Teenagers and Mama.

The concert, a joint venture between Arianna Event Management and Galaxy Group, will feature special guests One Buck Short, a local punk rock band, and rapcore band Pop Shuvit.

MCR will perform at Stadium Merdeka at 6pm on Dec 9.
For enquiries, call 03-7880 7999, 03-2282 2020 or visit http://www.ticketpro.com.my/.

Perhaps depending on who goes?

3iying

I have no idea what 3iying is supposed to mean, but it's cool. It's an ad agency (or something) that is saying that ads today aren't relevant to "new millennium girls" at all, and ad agencies are going in totally wrong directions trying to appeal to them.

An excerpt from their Relevancy Report 2007:

meet the new girl market
Over the past couple of years 3iying has watched countless girls be turned off by media that directly targets them. They flip past magazines pages, TV commercials, and promo websites because they are bored and annoyed. The quantity of rejected media frighteningly large, but equally alarming is how aware the girl consumer is of this problem. Underscoring the intensity of the situation - we often watched the industry give prestigious awards to the very media girls hated most.

(Source: Relevancy Report 2007).

They even have a YouTube channel featuring what ads "Got the Flip" i.e. don't appeal to girls. Or so I hear. I wouldn't know. My office has blocked YouTube, the bastards. Sounds fun.

The Star: Air Asia gets the nod for flights to Singapore

I thought that when this happened, it was going to be awesome and a step forward for Malaysian travellers. Now that I think about it, it's bittersweet. I mean, it's "awesome, I get to go to Singapore for less than friggin RM800". Then again, it's "crap. Now it's easier for Singaporeans to come here".

Thursday October 25, 2007
AirAsia gets the nod for flights to Singapore
By WONG SAI WAN

PETALING JAYA: Now everyone can fly cheap to Singapore. AirAsia got the nod from the Government yesterday to operate two flights daily to the republic.

It is learnt that the Cabinet gave the nod at its weekly meeting. This decision comes a few days after Singapore's Transport Ministry said that it was keen to see further liberalisation of the air services agreement with Malaysia.

According to sources, Tiger Airways, Singapore’s own budget airline, would also be offered to fly the same route.

“This means that travellers will have a choice of not only one low-cost carrier to Singapore but two. This will surely spark a price war,” an aviation analyst commented.

On average, MAS flies seven shuttle flights a day to Singapore while SIA does it six times daily.

For the shuttle service, which is jointly operated by the two airlines, the price of a one-way ticket is RM167 while an economy non-shuttle one is RM266. Airport tax and surcharges cost RM140.

AirAsia and Tiger Airways are expected to charge about 30% of the non-shuttle fare but will have the usual cheap offers for limited seats. The two low-cost carriers will operate the route between the LCCT at KLIA and the Budget Terminal at Changi Airport.

It was learnt that AirAsia and Tiger Airways would only be allowed to operate the two flights each on off-peak hours. Sources expected the two carriers to start operations in January.

The analyst said the decision would be a big boost to the two airlines as Singapore and Malaysia were two popular international hubs aimed at different markets.

“The cheaper 40-minute flight between KLIA and Changi airports will mean more international passengers stopping in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur to make the extra hop to either place.

“AirAsia will benefit more than Tiger Airways because of the regional connections it already has. Couple that with the coming of AirAsia X, they will be able to even pull long-haul passengers from Singapore,” he added.

AirAsia chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes could not be contacted for comment.

AirAsia officials said he had flown to Singapore.

Fernandes had been vocal about the reluctance of the two governments to allow budget airlines to operate between the two countries ahead of the Asean open skies agreement, which will come into force in 2009.

Yep. That's right. If the price forecast is right, a return flight to-from Singapore would be about RM400 inclusive of airport tax. Not too shabby.

BBC: Monkeys attack Delhi politician

My workplace has a lot of monkeys. I saw one today walking to my car, which reminded me of this article, which made me put it up.

Last Updated: Sunday, 21 October 2007, 21:33 GMT 22:33 UK
Monkeys attack Delhi politician

The deputy mayor of the Indian capital Delhi has died a day after being attacked by a horde of wild monkeys.

SS Bajwa suffered serious head injuries when he fell from the first-floor terrace of his home on Saturday morning trying to fight off the monkeys.

The city has long struggled to counter its plague of monkeys, which invade government complexes and temples, snatch food and scare passers-by.

The High Court ordered the city to find an answer to the problem last year.

Solution elusive

One approach has been to train bands of larger, more ferocious langur monkeys to go after the smaller groups of Rhesus macaques.

The city has also employed monkey catchers to round them up so they can be moved to forests.

But the problem has persisted.

Culling is seen as unacceptable to devout Hindus, who revere the monkeys as a manifestation of the monkey god Hanuman, and often feed them bananas and peanuts.

Urban development around the city has also been blamed for destroying the monkeys' natural habitat.

Mr Bajwa, a member of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is survived by his wife and a son, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

Freaky, no? Now we know for sure all that "more scared of you than you are of it" bullshit really is bullshit.

In other news, today is "Dance Your Ass Off" Day! as declared so by the great Tatsuya Ishida. For more information on Sinfest, go to http://www.sinfest.net/.

So this is what work is like

There haven't been many entries over the past few days for two simple reasons:

1. Slow news week.
2. I actually have work to do.
   
   

That's right. I have work to do. It may be because I've volunteered myself to join the Programme's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committee and keep volunteering to take on duties, but it's still work.

Things to look forward to in November:

1. Diving in Tioman - If I die, someone please tell my parents.
2. Black and white party.
3. Terry Fox Run - For those interested in helping out, call me.
4. Stardust - My favorite book ever becomes a movie, released the day before my birthday. Coincidence? I think not.
5. Week-long holiday.
6. Chengmai - Driving around Chengmai in a Porsche is enough that I'd put up with my parents for a week to do it.

The Star: Caught on JPJ camera

Tuesday October 23, 2007
Caught on JPJ camera

TAIPING: More than 3,000 motorists were caught on camera committing various traffic offences during Ops Sikap XIII and they will be issued notices by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) soon.

JPJ director-general Salim Parlan said the motorists were photographed during an “undercover mission”.

Describing the mission as a huge success, Salim told reporters on Sunday that of the total 3,191 motorists who committed traffic offences, some 15% were caught on camera jumping queues and 10% beating the red light.

Using digital cameras, enforcement officers also snapped pictures of motorists using
mobile phones while driving, overtaking at double lines, abusing emergency lanes and driving dangerously.

Salim said vehicle owners would be issued notices where they would be given 14 days to report to their local JPJ office and confirm whether it was them who were driving at the time of the offences.

The last time JPJ had sent out enforcement officers in unmarked vehicles to photograph offenders was during the last Ops Sikap in February.

Salim urged the public to contact the department’s 24-hour hotline at 03-8886 6412 if they spotted any motorist committing an offence.

2 things:

1. Is this solely in Taiping?
2. Uh oh.

Stupid Questions and Comments

A continuously updated list of stupid questions and comments.

1. In reference to a coconut: "How do they get the water inside?"
2. In reference to a Formula 1 track on a very, very rainy day: "Why is it so wet?"
3. "It's got scales, of course it's not a lizard."
4. "So my gardener asked us.. " "Who's Mike Garner?"
5. "What's your house wine?" "Um.................................... Australian."
6. "Teacher, why is sea water so salty? Izzit because of the salted fish?" [Source: youtiup]
7. [Arriving in Sabah] "I know this is a stupid question, but is there a time difference?"
8. "What's your name?" "Farah." "Faraj?" "F for Fred, A for Apple, R for Robert, A for Apple, H for Home." "Okay, so Fred Apple Robert Apple Home."
9. The story of the URL:

Bra: I got lost

Whoren: You are so sesat.com.my/kl.htm

Bra: What's that? I click nothing happened also ...

What a Race!

That's right. An exclamation mark in the title. That's how good it was. Did you really expect me not to post about this?

It started off as a three horse race, and it ended the same way. What can I say? My Kimi has finally won his right to the title after all these years, and having been a fan ever since he joined Sauber-Petronas back in the day, I can't say I'm not happy for him.

Then again, this meant that my boys in Vodafone McLaren Mercedes were left out of the championship totally, having lost their construction points some weeks back. Quite sadly, they both lost by 1 point. Both Alonso and Hamilton were tied at 109 points, and Kimi had 110. So, so, so close.

But still, all three of them ran a great season and its been a while since Formula 1 has seen a dogfight like this. The race at Sao Paulo was a great way to cap off a great season, with terrific performances from the whole field.

My boys

Also, Nakajima ran over people. That was fun. Maybe there's a running bet between Sebastian Vettel and Nakajima as to who can piss off their team mates more in their first race?

Commentary (Click the link at the end of the post if you're actually interested in reading the full commentary):

1. The title of "Unluckiest Man in Formula 1" has been passed on

Poor, poor Hamilton. So close to not only being the first rookie ever to win the championship, but also the first black man ever to do so. Mind you, this is all on top of him shattering previous records by winning more than 3 races in his first race, and being the first black man in Formula 1 ever anyway, so maybe it's not too shabby.

He must be banging his head against a wall, though, because he was literally too close to the title not to have some regrets. How did he lose it? Well first there was the mistake at the first corner when he went wide while trying to get position against Alonso and suddenly found himself in 8th place. Never you mind that. 8th place is nothing for Hamilton. He could easily climb his way up from that.

And then there was the technical failure that caused his gears to stick in neutral for a good 40 seconds of the race. Hamilton found himself in the more challenging position of second last. Even then, Hamilton climbed his way up to 8th place like the trooper he was to score a single solitary point which put him 1 point away from the championship and tying him with teammate Alonso. So close, so close.

2. Kimi Raikkonen, Reigning World Champion

Sounds good, doesn't it? You can't say he didn't deserve it, and unlike the days of Michael Schumacher, there's no doubt that he got into pole position through his own sweat and tears and not by team orders.

The unluckiest man in Formula 1 is no longer the unluckiest man in Formula 1. He, like Hamilton, has also pulled off a Formula 1 first by stealing the championship from the points leader in the last race of the season.

Raikkonen and Massa pulled off some great tag team moves as the lights went off, with Massa holding Hamilton back a little bit to let Raikkonen gain position, and then both sped off at the blistering pace that the Ferraris are so famous for. There was no catching them from that point on.

Their driving was flawless, save for Massa running wide a little bit in the last third of the race, allowing Raikkonen to catch up with him on the uphill end. If that move was orchestrated, it deserves an Oscar. In the end, Raikkonen gained position because he did what he does best: drove a car.

3. FIA Commentators drunk?

They must have been, judging by the way they were commenting on the race. It was ridiculous. Steve Slater and James Allen repeatedly ignored the presence of poor old Robert Kubica in third position and kept insisting that Alonso was third instead.

They ignored the battles for position involving anyone except the Ferraris and the McLarens, including the spectacular battle between Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica. At one point, Steve Slater insisted that James Allen not comment on Rosberg and Kubica who were side by side, and instead talk about Alonso's much publicised disagreements with Ron Dennis. What?

The fact of the matter is that they've been ignoring all the other racers for the whole season, especially the rookies who've mostly performed spectacularly. Except Sebastian Vettel, and that was only to make fun of him. It's ridiculous.

Final standings:

01 Kimi Räikkönen 110 points
02 Lewis Hamilton 109 points
03 Fernando Alonso 109 points
04 Felipe Massa 94 points

All in all, what a race! What a season! (That's right. Exclamation marks again.)