What did you do on World AIDS Day?

AIDS has always been a bit of a taboo subject, after all, it is a disease often associated with drug abuse or casual unprotected sex, activities often going against the status quo of society.

But i think something needs changing, more light needs to be shed on what is ultimately more than just taboo or what we think we know. In countries like Africa, the disease has become an epidemic, due to lack of education on protected sex or the dangers of drug abuse. The disease is often passed on to children, and you know what? there is no cure yet.

and whether we contracted the disease due to our own negligence, or we were an innocent victim, do we all not have a right to treatment that can help such victims that has claimed so many lives? regardless your moral judgment (which so many of us tend to have.) this is more a cry out for compassion and love, values not bound by prejudices.

back in the 90's, AIDS was much more fearsome, people died within months. but advances in medicine can help HIV victims survive and be a part of society. and this is the sigma i'm talking about, sometimes perhaps we still cringe at the thought of someone with AIDS. vestiges of the stories we were told before as kids perhaps?

i'd like to highlight this video that World Community Grid (full disclosure: World Community Grid is a client of mine.) put on youtube on World Aids Day to share more about the stigmas and facts regarding AIDS, and how we can help in research projects like FightAIDS@Home and find a cure to this disease:



i hope you can join us. ridz has already started a team called "small changes" where you can join other Singaporeans in making a contribution to help the world.

Interesting links
World Community Grid website
World Community Grid Youtube Channel Learn more about WCG and its other projects)
Action For Aids
Love Amplified - World AIDS Day Concert

Touching Is The New Secks

You see it everywhere these days, many mobile devices are moving toward touch interfaces, from the Apple iPhones, HTC Touches and Samsung (I can't remember).

Design-wise, i think this is a good thing. handheld devices and touch technology go hand-in-hand, because i think it's intuitive. check out this video of firefox mobile for the iPhone if you need any more evidence that touch is more than just a fancy marketing gimmick, but it changes the way you interact with your tools:


Firefox Mobile Concept Video from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

So imagine my eyes-widening when uniquefrequency and melvin invited me to their HP TouchSmart Blogger event. Now, this is interesting, i've always been organising Open Room events for bloggers, now it was a chance to finally be a blogger. And a tech event no less!

this is what we all came to see:



I hope I'll be honest and objective here. I do like the HP Touch Smart, i think HP have gone a long way to design a desktop that is intuitive to use, is a speaking point in any home or as a living room feature. this is a very sexy lifestyle product.

it runs on a special version of Windows Vista, so the aero interface goes very well with the physical black aesthetics, and it has the main entertainment features in play, coverflow for your music and videos, 22" HD screen to enjoy your digital photo albums, all at the touch of your fingertips. it literally causes you to rethink the way you approach a personal computer, especially when you're brought up using a mouse or keyboard. HP have included these peripherals, but i think if you want the true experience, you'd be touching. *ahem*

but i think beyond that, it's a regular PC with some touch technology (which in itself interesting, i learn there are cameras all over the screen that track the movement of your fingers - it aint pressure sensitive though.)

for something that looks like an apple imac (which starts at 24"), sustainable graphic cards, wireless mouse and keyboard, and in itself a space saver, yet offers enough power to edit videos and images without much hassle, the HP TouchSmart has found itself a worthy competitor.

But you can't touch an iMac, and i think that is enough of a unique proposition that might sway your decision. Could this be the first step toward new desktop based products that will be more intuitive to use, not just in terms of aesthetics and usability, but the backend programming that makes using such touch-focused products easier rather than more difficult?

as i maintain, i'm a big fan of the aesthetics, i'd get it if i had money to burn, but it ain't no desktop replacement. not at this point at least.

Apart from that, it was nice to see how other agencies approach blogger engagement. my personal experience was that I was well attended to, met up with old and new friends, and it was social, not some marketing babble schpwel. if any, it was kept to a bare minimum.

if I can refer any client executives to the way the HP reps conducted themselves in blogger-produced vodcasts, check this example out from the fine folks at the Geek Goddess Show:



intelligible, simple, clear and articulate. and use of visual aids! anything to help us understand your product or service better -)

of course the food was stellar, and the beer was *muackz*

i'll leave you now with some pictures because i'm too lazy to fit them contextually into this post:

Bloggers are not an unruly bunch! they listen to what you have to say!


bitbot streaming live to Qik:


bitbot and me


now with the incredible nadnut


clicktokill is another rock grrl


Nicole always smiling when i see her


and my homies, beatmastermark and uniquefrequency


More photos at: social media misadventures

Other posts:
uniquefrequency
nicole
clicktokill
clauds
bitbot

Perhaps why Xiaxue is more popular than you

you've got to hand it to her. Xiaxue really puts Singapore on the map of the global blogosphere.

by now, you might have seen this video floating around on the Internet:



and if you haven't, well, there it is. it's an iphone "review" by Xiaxue because the producers of her vodcast, Xiaxue's guide to life played a "prank" on her by giving her a fake iphone to review, and when given a real iphone, she completely disses the much heralded holy grail of consumer geek tech.

i won't claim to be a media expert, but i've done filmmaking, studied mockumentaries and probably have an above average media literacy level. there are many clues that suggest that Xiaxue was not at all serious when doing this video, and it's amazing how many people think it's real.

notice an imac in the background? if that isn't meant to be irony and sacarsm, i don't know what is. Xiaxue may type bimbotic and exude that personality on her blog, but you'll actually realise she's pretty sharp when it comes to social commentary, choosing to blog about the little cracks in Singaporean culture, there is no way in hell she would not have known what an iphone was.

even if you don't want to take my word for it, she gives us the expose of the little prank she pulled in her own blog post

and the reason why she's popular is not just because she's just controversial, but also because she totally plays on the personality she's carved out for herself, and is willing to stake her own reputation on the line, and not just get pinged, tomorrow-ed, but also gizmodo-ed and fake steve job-ed now. how many singaporean bloggers can claim that for themselves? she's not in the technorati top 100 for nothing. (last i checked - 6 months ago)

in fact, her real strength doesn't lie in her content, but in her ability to not take herself seriously at all. i think she enjoys getting the attention, but not so much as doing what she likes, when she likes it, and has people around her to appreciate her not for what she does, but who she is. so i guess it's a sort of self-confidence and freedom to do whatever the hell she likes. i d think she'd still blog what she wants to blog, even without the media attention. ie. she's not doing it as a favour to anyone.

Another blogger that has gotten my attention lately is Loren Feldman. he has insulted America's top bloggers and social media strategists (if we can even call ourselves that), for example Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, Michael Arrignton and Jeremiah Owyang. Like Xiaxue, he gets his kicks targeting trends and people who take themselves too seriously. He's not as entertaining as Xiaxue, but he comes across as Mr Angry to everything, but it's a good counter balance to all the hype your friendly neighbourhood social media evangelists (like me) seem to perpetuate.

my point is, if i wanted to read good reviews, safe material, objective material.. i'd read what my old skool PR skills feed to publications and bloggers who are too lazy to write good stories.

and now that my brief analysis of Xiaxue is done, i'll comment a little on what uniquefrequency has blogged about Xiaxue's disservice to the Singaporean social media community.

poppin' by Popout 2007 tonight!

Okay, forgive the really cheesy title, but i'll be going down to Popout tonight, thanks to the fabulous invite from estee! i'm really looking forward to this, especially the presentation by gen kanai of mozilla! if you happen to be there, do remember to say hi! i pretty much look the same as the profile picture on the right.

we love you and then you take us away
here's a sneak peak from the Copeland and Anberlin gig. i've got a whole bunch of copeland videos, but they're taking forever to download and i need to sleep because i'm going for reservist tomorrow. so i'll probably upload the rest tomorrow. in the meantime, check out Copeland's rousing edition of their classic "Paula Sparks" leading into "California". truly intense, and it bears testament to why i love them as a band.



updated! 4th June 2007. the next video is "You Have My Attention"
this was the last song in their set. enjoy!



watching all the local scensters and bands today made me wanna play the stage again. -) but we're still lacking a drummer, but the songs sound great, and we're sharper than ever before. here's a huge shout out to all the bands that played tonight! i had fun, and i'm glad to enjoy some of the best and rising talents of our singapore music scene.

vertical rush, the fire fight and march twelve. mad props to y'all -)

masters of the universe
Hey folks!

I've come back in awe and inspired by what this crazy one-of-a-kind artist can do, and just so thankful that he actually came down to Singapore and gave us something interesting to look at =)


this is me right after he finished his work and getting my very own 'pose' with the drawing. plus, i'm not even touching the drawing! hehehehe


this is what the correct perspective shot is supposed to look like.

anywhere else, like this one from the side will look like this:



Julian Beever 'plugging' himself into his own drawing. (On a sidenote, the new Nseries N95 mobile handles 3.5mm jacks for your headphones! very nifty)


A master at work. wow, how does he actually 'see' things from this perspective?


some folk who came to check him out. any of you sg_ljers in there? *heh*



Julian Beever being interviewed by the Ngee Ann Polytechnic publication, our voice box


Yes, I had to take a photo with him. I don't usually get to meet famous people, so hopefully this will change =)


and finally Julian Beever leaving his mark in Singapore. Thanks for making it so memorable!

Julian Beever was invited by Nokia Nseries as part of their Arts Outreach Program