For the poor Singaporeans who takes the public bus to work everyday. You can find the explanation here.  I have quoted a portion of it here.

Why does the Bus Captain drive so slowly?
We hope commuters can appreciate that traffic conditions on the road can vary. Our schedules, however, can only be planned to meet what is usually the expected traffic condition at the various times of the day. There will be times when the traffic conditions are unusually clear or congested and this often results in buses being too early or late.When traffic conditions are especially clear, our Bus Captains are required to regulate speed if they notice that they are ahead of schedule. This ensures that the Bus Captains keep the arrival times at the bus stops as close to the planned schedule as possible to avoid any disruption like bus bunching.

So now all of you understand why the buses are so slow? It is because of unexpected clear traffic in Singapore, a country the size of a dot and with more than 4 million people squeezed in it. Yes, nearly every non-elite lives in an high rise pigeon hole, but seriously, what do we mere mortals know? You can get unusually clear traffic in Singapore everyday. In fact, you can get unusually clear traffic even if there are probably tens of thousands of vehicles on the road everyday. And it also happens at the peak hours with “unusually” low traffic as well. Although I myself never faced such things in Singapore, everything is possible. We don’t know everything. So we have to forgive the bus drivers for driving slow and their thoughtfulness in preventing “disruptions” like “bus bunching“. Yup, we sure don’t want that to happen in Singapore, a very efficient first world society. What would foreigners think when they see such things happening on our roads? Two buses plying the same route arriving at the same time?! That would be shameful to our government and to Singapore on the whole. It would be much better to let foreigners see crowded public buses full of people in the morning “rush” hour take their own sweet time to travel their route right?

I am sure that the SBS is ensuring everything will be running smooth for Singapore communters. You see, SBS has Singaporeans in the hearts. They plan all their bus schedules to ensure that Singaporeans will able to meet together in the buses. I mean, Singaporeans are always so busy, rushing here and there trying very hard to make a living, they seldom meet and enjoy each other’s company. So SBS has planned it such a way to ensure that you will always meet a lot of people on your way to work or school. The more people you meet, the better he chances of you meeting someone you know. And even if you don’t know anyone, you could start a conversation with a stranger in the packed sardine can bus. The idea of “misery loves company” is the motto of SBS. I for one certainly look forward to more great years ahead with SBS. They are the greatest! Go ahead and increase the salaries of the big bosses and directors there. They really deserve it.

 

Na, it’s not a book about the big search engine, but it’s a search engine for books. Wow, I don’t know whether you understood what I just writen but it sounds so confusing. Basically, it’s sort of a search engine, just for books and publications. So I tried searching for “Penthouse” and I found the correct one I am looking for. Sure, it is not the top few but at least this search engine has some substance. Well, Google’s supposed deal with Google Books (formerly Google Print) is to help users search for information inside books and publication and at the same time help authours and publications promote their books. So, basically, it’s like a library but it much easier to search for information. Of course, not all books are listed and you will most likely need to buy the books, but I think this is a good idea. There are so many books out there, but without information and ways to access the books, we will never know what they contain and which books to look for. Google Books will help ease this problem. It’s not perfect mind you, but at least the idea works to a certain extent.

It works just like normal web search. Just type the information you want, let’s say “Penthouse” and you will be displayed a listed of books (and publications) with the information requested. It’s that simple. Some will have limited samples of the book while others, you can access the book for free. And if you are an authour, you can submit your book to Google free of charge. Think of it as free promotion. Google needs all the information on your book or publication, they scan it completely but others won’t be able to access the book completely, only a portion. Something like a little snipplet. Plus, Google will place adwords below your publication! What does this mean? Well, it means that you will get paid whenever someone clicks on an advertisement when viewing your publication online! Wow, Google must be a Saint sent from Heaven to book authours.

I think people should make use of this wonderful feature by Google. And I hope Google will keep on increasing the number of books they index. Perhaps one day we will have a complete collection of all the books published in the world?

 

As you guys know, I have 2 directories and all of them are powered by Phplinkdirectory (PhpLD for short). I have done a lot of research before and found that it is the best in it’s price range. A lot of web directory owners on the Internet recommended it. Most importantly, it has all the features I needed for my directories. So I went ahead and got 4 copies of the directory script. That was in 2006. All was well during that time. The script was updated often and new features and functions added. I found that although it’s support isn’t as good as I like it to be, it was at least acceptable. Their support is forum-based. And seriously, the script is very stable, I didn’t need much in the way of support.

Then came the year 2007. For the entire year (till now), there were only 2 updates. One in January and the other in April. After that, no updates at all. Of course, they came up with yet another script called phpLD Photo which is sort of like phpLD, except it is for photos. First of all, I must say I don’t have any problem with creating new scripts, I mean if they want to release a new script, go ahead. Afterall, it’s a business right and it’s all about making money. But how about the old scripts and how about their customers who had purchased the old scripts? Why isn’t it updated for nearly 6 months now?

If you frequent the Internet as often as I have, you will see that a lot of new directory scripts being created. And old ones being updated very often. The directory script market is actually very competitive considering a lot of people are interested in setting up directories (mainly because they believe that it’s a simple job). And since PhpLD is a paid product, it’s going to be even tougher for them. Sure, they are the most popular script out there right now. But how long will that last? I hope that they start concentrating on their core products and helping their customers instead of just new scripts. I really hate to see such a good script being overtaken by others.

Ahhh….I am sick again. This time, it’s the nasty flu bug that caught me. My nose is blocked and I can’t breathe properly. And my throat is as sore as some old man’s butt. The medicine my doctor gave me made me feel a bit weak. And I am sleepy all the time. Okay, you are right, I am sleepy all the time even when I am not sick but this time, it’s a little worse than that. My eyes are all watery and sore and I can’t open them for long. It feels like a drag just to open my eyes.  I wonder whether I can use toothpicks to force them open? Better not, I might injury my eyes permanmently and I can’t play games anymore. I mean what is worse than not being able to play games when you have a huge 22″ LCD monitor eh?

It seems that I am getting weaker and weaker as the years go by. In the past (when I was younger and more stout), I seldom get sick. In fact, I didn’t even fall sick for years. Now, I get ill once every few months. It’s just like clock-work. Lack of exercise, unhealthy diet and poor sleeping hours are probably the cause of this. But what can I do about it? The only thing I can is to eat more healthy foods, but exercise and hours, they are beyond my powers. Yes, I need to work you know, and when I get back home, I am all washed out and tired. Maybe I should give some effort to get into shape….maybe. For now, it’s medicine, water and my lovely bed.

Anyway, this post is to tell you guys that updates to the blog will be slow until I get better. I have been feeling down since last week, but only yesterday did it become a full-blown illness. I hope to get better soon and start blogging about everything. See ya when I see ya!

Hello guys, I am back here again to introduce to you yet another useful stuff. It’s called the library. You know what a library is? Well for the less adventurous, it’s sort of a bookstore where you can find all sorts of books, magazines, media and stuff. However, you can use it for free. yes, you heard me right, you are borrow the books and magazine in the library for free! It’s just like the Internet, just that it is free and has less spam and hardly any porn. All you have to do is to register as a member (usually it’s free) and start borrowing books home to read. It’s that simple. However, note that some reference materials cannot be borrowed home, it’s for reference only.

If you are living in Singapore, you can find libraries in most of the regional centres. For example, I am staying somewhere in Ang Mo Kio, so the nearest Library is at Ang Mo Kio Central. Just a 10 minutes bus ride from my house. Of course the bus ride is expensive, but it just takes too long to walk. And in Singapore, if you walk under the blistering heat, you are asking for a heat stroke. As you guys know, I am a bookworm, so I spend a lot of my time at the library, like once per month. The rest of my time is spent online, trying to find ways to prevent hunger and poverty around the world. Well, someone got to do it, might as well be me right?

You can all sort of information in the library as well. I usually go there to look for books on body building because I am planning to be a body builder. If you are looking for old newspaper articles, you should be able to find it in the library. Although not all regional libraries have the complete range of information, you should be able to get partial information. And if you are looking for movies/documentaries/cd-roms, some libraries do keep a lot of variety. A lot of students did their school projects right there in the library. Often you will find students huddle together trying to piece together information for their projects.  When I was a student, I used to go to the library to study. But during the exam periods, the library will be packed with hordes of students. So if they make too much noise, do everyone a favour, go over and smack them in the head, hard.

Seriously. I didn’t make this one up. I got it from a reliable source, you know people who study the Internet and know the ins and outs of the industry and they say that Internet Advertising is expeced to double by the year 2011! You can read it here. Well, what does this mean for us little baby crappers?  Does it mean that we will be getting a decent return from our Google Adsense advertisement? Does it mean that our webspace on our blog will worth more? Well, you wish! Whatever increase in spending on online advertisements will never trickle down to us. It will just feed the big bosses and make them even richer while the rest of us will look in envy and get pissed off. Some of us might even start a blog about it and try to get some money by placing Internet ads on it. Seriously, do you think that US$0.01 per click will suddenly change to US$1 per click? If so, then pigs will fly and I will be wearing a boy scout uniform this sunday. It just ain’t going to happen.

Anyways, it seems that traditional forms of advertisement like the regular media - radio, tv and print are starting to lose steam. Big executives are really starting to look at online advertisements as their prefered choice for promotion. Although the whole advertising market is expected to be stagant, online advertisement is looking to grow. They have started to shift their resources from traditional advertising to online advertising. And it looks like search advertising is still the strongest form of online advertisement. Yes, that means Google and Yahoo. And it looks like Google is not going to share that wealth with all of you. In fact, they may decided to bitch slap all of you (and me as well) just for the fun of it. Ahhh….my Google, it’s a real love-hate relationship.

Well, I guess I better stop my whining now. If something ain’t going to happen, no amount of whining will help. Good bye.

How many of you use Dogpile to do your web searches? Well, I do. And I have been using Dogpile for about a year now. It’s okay, you get good results complied for you by Dogpile from different search engines. The “beef” I have with Dogpile is how they combine advertisements or sponsored listings into the results page. And these are listed differently from the rest of the organic search results. Sure, they label it as “Sponsored by” but you need to look carefully at the listings first before you will know that it is actually an advertisement. Worse, these advertisements can do right at the top on the search result list. I did a search for “grill pans” and on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th results, all are advertisements!

I have no problem with Dogpile making some money from advertisements, but at least they should find a more obvious way to differentiate advertisements from organic results. Or just add them with a different colour scheme! Or add a little box around it and to show that these are not the actual organic search. For me, I am used to Dogpile and I know that a lot of their listings are advertisements. But for the casual user, they won’t be able to differentiate them. Since Dogpile has Google adsense listings, isn’t it against Google Adsense’s TOS to do that or did Dogpile have permission from Google? If so, then why is Dogpile given different treatment than from the rest of us?

Don’t get me wrong, I think Dogpile provides a valuable service. Their interface is simple, easy to use and if you feel comfortable with Google, you will feel right at home with Dogpile. But I think combining advertisement with searches and placing them on the top results is just not right. It “tricks” the user into believing that these are actual organic results. A more ethical way is to set them apart visually.

If you would like to know which gadget I think is the coolest and most useful, it would be the cellphone jammers. This piece of nifty device can block cellphone signals and stop cellphone users from using their mobile phones. Why do I think it is the most useful? Well, don’t you just hate those idiots talking loudly on their phones like they own the whole world? How about those morons who talk on their mobiles during a show in the cinemas? And those little kids on the bus with their irritating ringtones which “rings” like 10 times per minute, probably they have thousands of friends who can’t wait to call them? Won’t it be just great if you could stop all those? Yes, those cellphone jammers would work. You won’t be listening to people grumbling about their mother-in-law coming to visit anymore! Hooray!

However, I think they are illegal in many countries. It makes sense to make them illegal because it is very prone to abuse. Not to mention that mobile operators could be broke if everyone carries one cellphone jammer. However, I think those people who talk on the phones like nobody’s business should be made illegal too. Perhaps cinema operators themselves should install cellphone jammers in the cinemas so as to ensure that their customers can watch the show in peace. That would be justified. And they aren’t that expensive. Everyone would appreciate a little peace and quiet once in a while.

If you would like to know more about how Cellphone jammers work, take a look here.

 

I find that Singapore is a very weird country. We are a country which is very dependent on the public transport which carries the majority of Singaporeans to work, school or everywhere. The cost of owning a car in Singapore is high, too high for most people to afford. You know, we have this thing called COE - Certificate of Entitlement. It supposedly allows you to own cars in Singapore. And it can cost like S$15,000 for just a piece of paper. It’s purpose is to reduce the number of vehicles in Singapore by making it more expensive. And they have this called ERP - Electronic Road Pricing. You pay as your car enters one of these gantries on certain “congested” roads. Although it is designed with greed in mind, I think it’s a good idea, Singapore is way too small to have so many cars.

But since not many people can afford cars, it make sense that there should be another medium of transport for Singaporeans. And it should be affordable to all. Yet, in Singapore, public transport is not subsided by the government. The ERP charges and the COE is not used to subsidy the public transport like buses and MRT (Mass Rapid Transport). I am surprised that the government takes money from car owners in the excuse of reducing car traffic yet don’t even use those money to help pay for public transport. And if you think that the public transport in Singapore is already cheap, think again. I can spend everyday around S$5 for transport alone. Worse for people travelling long distances. When I travel to my reservist camp, it cost more than S$8 for a 2-way trip. And since most people have no choice, Singapore’s public tranport is overcrowded. In the mornings, you can see trains and buses packed to the brim with people squashed like sardines. In fact, you don’t need to wait till morning, it’s packed even at non-peak hours. And I need to say, the public transport is slow. It would take you 1 hour to travel from Ang Mo Kio to Bedok in a public bus, if you are lucky. I think the bus service would like to squeeze as much passengers they can into a bus per trip so as to maximize profits.

And now, our great bus service - SBS has come up with a brilliant idea to help those people who hate crowds and have tons of cash to burn. They call it “Premium” service. Which means that you pay more for a “faster” bus and since it is way more expensive, it will be less crowded but no guarantees. Also it is supposed to be more comfortable. So guess what, it means that you pay more for something which they should have provided in the first place. Although they call it “premium”. The great minds (whom never took a public bus in their life) at the top of the company SBS believes that a normal bus service should be crowded, slow and uncomfortable. They are asking commuters to pay up to S$5 per trip to prevent all that.

Oh, if you don’t know, Singapore’s bus service is a profitable business. No, it’s not really owned by the government. But it’s a “private” entity with stocks and shares and shareholders. But it’s sort of a monopoly so you know how that will end up to be. You would think that the Singapore government will be shocked and pissed off with the behaviour of these businesses but they are not. But it is no surprise to us Singaporeans.

Yes, they certainly are. I tried to grill some chicken breast today with my aluminum grill pan and the result was terrible. As I normally do, I heat up the grill pan till it is very hot, then place my marinated chicken on it. So it sizzled and I thought everything was fine. I let it grill on one side for 5 minutes till it started to brown and then I turned over the the other site. It did mark some very nice char marks but after cooking the entire thing for around 10 minutes, I took it out to check for doneness. It wasn’t. In fact, only the surface was cooked, most of the inside wasn’t. So, I left it on the grill again for yet another 5 minutes on each side but then the surface started turning blackish and overburnt. Yuck, I had to throw away the food. Wasted some very fine (and should be great tasting) chicken today.

Nope, I had properly ensure the chicken is around room temperature first before I started cooking it. Yes, I have removed any excess marinate from the chicken before putting it on the grill. And yes, I have oiled the grill pan before cooking.

The problem with aluminum grill pans is that it can’t retain heat well and it warps easily. So after a few uses, one side of the warped grill pan will be hotter than the other side. So your food gets burnt on one side, while the other is not cooked completely. And the aluminum grill pan acts like a frying pan. So instead of grilling, you are actually frying the food but since you don’t use a lot of oil on a grill, it starts to burn. A cast iron grill pan retains heat very well and can withstand high temperatures. High temperature cooks food fast so that your food won’t get overburnt or overcooked. And that with a uniform temperature thoughout the grill pan, your cook will be properly cooked throughout as well. Anyways, that aluminum grill pan, I purchased for 11 bucks, so I guess what you pay is what you get. Time for me to get a real grill pan! If only I know where I can get such a grill pan in Singapore.