Saturday, December 09, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
House of Lies
I finally taught my staff the most disgusting "trait" in our job... BULLSHITTING WITHOUT REMORSE. I can't deny that I am actually not making the most out of my staff and their accountability for results is probably nothing close to the corporate governance standards required by a public company. Anyway, I hope they learn more from being under my projects.
While hearing him attempting to arrange for meetings on my behalf, he reminded me of how helpless I felt while facing the rejections during my first project. Being totally helpless in the face of the corporate door bitches, his confidence wavered like a candle in the wind, and it was darn obvious. This was when I offered my "advice", straight from the devil's mouth, if you can't convince them, CONFUSE THEM. Now this was not something he could probably do to seasoned executives but probably this would at least help him get past the door bitches.
This was a little trick I learnt in the army, if you want to be "beng" to mix with the "hokkien being", speak their language... learn their jargon. Punctuate every sentence or phrase with a vulgarity, mix hokkien with half broken english and you're halfway there.
Likewise, to get past the door bitches is to speak the exact same jargon that she does not understand and only the target audience will by punctuating sentences and furnishing nouns and verbs with desctriptives like "strategic", "value", "strategic", "decisions", "profitability", "opportunities", "proposition", "interesting", "trends", "market", "industry", "best practices", "capitalistic", "economic benefits", "competitive advantage", "intelligence", "insight", "forecast" etc...
Ethical? Unethical? Well... all I can say is, it comes with the job and its not all lies. We do strategically add value by sharing market trends and insights via intelligence and our expert forecasts as well as compare industry best practices to assist them in making critical decisions which may enhance their value proposition and market positioning to reap economic benefits through maximising oppotunities, reducing costs and/or optimising their operational processes.
While hearing him attempting to arrange for meetings on my behalf, he reminded me of how helpless I felt while facing the rejections during my first project. Being totally helpless in the face of the corporate door bitches, his confidence wavered like a candle in the wind, and it was darn obvious. This was when I offered my "advice", straight from the devil's mouth, if you can't convince them, CONFUSE THEM. Now this was not something he could probably do to seasoned executives but probably this would at least help him get past the door bitches.
This was a little trick I learnt in the army, if you want to be "beng" to mix with the "hokkien being", speak their language... learn their jargon. Punctuate every sentence or phrase with a vulgarity, mix hokkien with half broken english and you're halfway there.
Likewise, to get past the door bitches is to speak the exact same jargon that she does not understand and only the target audience will by punctuating sentences and furnishing nouns and verbs with desctriptives like "strategic", "value", "strategic", "decisions", "profitability", "opportunities", "proposition", "interesting", "trends", "market", "industry", "best practices", "capitalistic", "economic benefits", "competitive advantage", "intelligence", "insight", "forecast" etc...
Ethical? Unethical? Well... all I can say is, it comes with the job and its not all lies. We do strategically add value by sharing market trends and insights via intelligence and our expert forecasts as well as compare industry best practices to assist them in making critical decisions which may enhance their value proposition and market positioning to reap economic benefits through maximising oppotunities, reducing costs and/or optimising their operational processes.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
PAINTBALL...!!!
Had my first painball game on Friday at a company event. TOTALLY WASTED the other teams... just for the record, we did not lose any match until we were instructed to. Well... not feeling too sore about it. I did win myself a blind taste test for beer... some time soon. The stakes? Two cartons of beer or I buy around of drinks... sounds like a good deal? Anyway the paintball session was really quite fun... should organise something for my department and rope ALL colleagues in. The game was held at Orchid Country Club and I came home all muddy after my garang attempt to capture the objective like some guy who just stayed safely at the sentry tower happily gunning others down. Anyway... the battle plan on that evening was as follows. The pictures aren't exactly of poor quality, you just need to click on it to see the clear version.
Interested to find out more? Check out www.paintball.com
and www.skirmish.com
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The most overused, misused and commodotized word
"STRATEGIC"
Its almost as if it can be coupled with almost every other word in my line of work.
Strategic intent
Strategic marketing
Strategic operations
Stratigic investment
Strategic acquisition
Strategic customer
Strategic partnership
Strategic competency
Strategic advantage
Strategic framework
Strategic discussion
Strategic conclusions
Strategic recommendations
Strategic move
Strategic action
Strategic response
Strategic ............
and the list goes on... I mean DUH! If a partnership is not "strategic" would you form that partnership? Before you know it, it starts losing its significance as a unique word and we'll have to start finding or creating new words like "coopetition"... DUH! Its not even English...
Oh and by the way, try replacing the work "strategic" with the word "key". Another super commodotized, overused, overly misused word...
Ok enough of bitching for the day...
zzzzzzzzz..............
Its almost as if it can be coupled with almost every other word in my line of work.
Strategic intent
Strategic marketing
Strategic operations
Stratigic investment
Strategic acquisition
Strategic customer
Strategic partnership
Strategic competency
Strategic advantage
Strategic framework
Strategic discussion
Strategic conclusions
Strategic recommendations
Strategic move
Strategic action
Strategic response
Strategic ............
and the list goes on... I mean DUH! If a partnership is not "strategic" would you form that partnership? Before you know it, it starts losing its significance as a unique word and we'll have to start finding or creating new words like "coopetition"... DUH! Its not even English...
Oh and by the way, try replacing the work "strategic" with the word "key". Another super commodotized, overused, overly misused word...
Ok enough of bitching for the day...
zzzzzzzzz..............
Friday, November 17, 2006
Give me strength
Give me a reason...
Give me a purpose...
Give me a direction...
Give me hope...
Am I too greedy to want so much to be given?
Give me a purpose...
Give me a direction...
Give me hope...
Am I too greedy to want so much to be given?
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Discovery of the Diplocaulus?
THIS was the picture that sparked off a Hoo Haa about the not so recent hoax or discovery of a probably extinct amphibian species, the Diplocaulus. Though old news, 2004, I managed to stumble upon it only recently and well... it caught my interest.
Nov, 2004
Over the last two or three weeks, I have been sent the accompanying picture at least nine times by different persons who had received it over the Internet and who wanted more information about the creature depicted. A number of versions of this picture seem to be doing the rounds. The most common has accompanying text that says that this creature occurs at Il-Maghluq in Marsascala, while another version says that this animal was photographed at Bahrija. I am invariably asked if this is a real discovery or if it is a hoax, whether such an animal actually exists, whether it is a salamander or a lizard, and whether this is a native or an alien species. The short answer to all these queries is that yes, this is a hoax, but the animal shown really exists, or rather, it has existed, since it became extinct about 270 million years ago. The picture itself is a hoax that seems to have originated overseas, although I have not been able to trace where. The image might be of a model or it might be a doctored image created digitally. The animal shown is a type of early amphibian called Diplocaulus that is distinguished by two elongated bones at the back of the skull that in life gave the animal a very odd, boomerang-shaped head.Diplocaulus lived some 270 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs appeared, and its fossils have been found in North America. Although not a salamander but rather a member of a now extinct group of amphibians called nectridians, Diplocaulus very much resembles a modern salamander apart for its head.The very distinctive head may have been an adaptation against predators, since the wide head would make Diplocaulus difficult to swallow, or it may have aided the animal to swim by acting as a hydrofoil. Like most other early amphibians, Diplocaulus lived in or near water. It probably fed on insects or fish. It was also considerably larger than the image doing the rounds suggests, since fossils as large as 80 cm in length have been discovered.Discovering a live Diplocaulus at Il-Maghluq would certainly be a major scientific discovery rivalling the discovery of the coelacanth. Unfortunately, this is science fiction!
Source: http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/index.php
Another picture, not sure if its from the same people who posted the first.
Anyway, here's my argument:
Quite hard to tell true or fake from these photos but it could be a just a plastic replica placed in a pail of water and a stream though they should be two different replicas since the leg postures are different. Anyway, I believe it is highly unlikely to be a genuine based on the following reasons.
1. Diplocaulus, existed nearly 270 million years ago... This was way before even dinosaurs evolved. To have such a body design survive till date may be truely amazing especially for vertebrates which live in highly volatile environments unlike the seas which are considered fairly stable buffering the effects of ice age etc. which explains the survival of many living fossil body designs like the hagfish and the coelocanth. Living before, through and surviving after the dinosaur age seem highly unlikely as few other living fossils thriving in similar environments have proved that possible. Few exceptions are crocodilians, centipedes, dragonflies and some other insects. Most of such bodily designs have however evolved to become much smaller for our climate of today. This may explain the smaller size of the Diplocaulus lookalike even though the head proportions may have been highly uneconomical since the hammerhead is so much larger than even the Diplocaulus.
2. Fossils of Diplocaulus were found in the North American continent and no where else. Despite the tectonic shifts since late Permain era, if I'm not wrong, the plates do not connect to the Mediterranean region making any evolution to a modern descendant of Diplocaulus in Malta to be improbable. An animal such as Diplocaulus is also unlikely to be capable of long distance migrations.
3. Should there truely be a descendant of the Diplocaulus still surviving today in Malta, fossil remains of the species from Permain era till modern day should have been discovered as a continuum. If that is true, the Diplocaulus would not have been defined and dated as a Permain era creature. To lose all evidence of a species for a few hundred million years and suddenly see new evidence of its presence is highly unlikely.
While all evidence in my opinion points towards the improbability of such a find as a genuine discovery, we will keep a lookout for any future appearances of similar reports. As if it is true, it would be an amazing find indeed and only goes to show how little we have understood of our planet. Save our planet... while we still can...
Nov, 2004Over the last two or three weeks, I have been sent the accompanying picture at least nine times by different persons who had received it over the Internet and who wanted more information about the creature depicted. A number of versions of this picture seem to be doing the rounds. The most common has accompanying text that says that this creature occurs at Il-Maghluq in Marsascala, while another version says that this animal was photographed at Bahrija. I am invariably asked if this is a real discovery or if it is a hoax, whether such an animal actually exists, whether it is a salamander or a lizard, and whether this is a native or an alien species. The short answer to all these queries is that yes, this is a hoax, but the animal shown really exists, or rather, it has existed, since it became extinct about 270 million years ago. The picture itself is a hoax that seems to have originated overseas, although I have not been able to trace where. The image might be of a model or it might be a doctored image created digitally. The animal shown is a type of early amphibian called Diplocaulus that is distinguished by two elongated bones at the back of the skull that in life gave the animal a very odd, boomerang-shaped head.Diplocaulus lived some 270 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs appeared, and its fossils have been found in North America. Although not a salamander but rather a member of a now extinct group of amphibians called nectridians, Diplocaulus very much resembles a modern salamander apart for its head.The very distinctive head may have been an adaptation against predators, since the wide head would make Diplocaulus difficult to swallow, or it may have aided the animal to swim by acting as a hydrofoil. Like most other early amphibians, Diplocaulus lived in or near water. It probably fed on insects or fish. It was also considerably larger than the image doing the rounds suggests, since fossils as large as 80 cm in length have been discovered.Discovering a live Diplocaulus at Il-Maghluq would certainly be a major scientific discovery rivalling the discovery of the coelacanth. Unfortunately, this is science fiction!
Source: http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/index.php
Another picture, not sure if its from the same people who posted the first.
Anyway, here's my argument:
Quite hard to tell true or fake from these photos but it could be a just a plastic replica placed in a pail of water and a stream though they should be two different replicas since the leg postures are different. Anyway, I believe it is highly unlikely to be a genuine based on the following reasons.
1. Diplocaulus, existed nearly 270 million years ago... This was way before even dinosaurs evolved. To have such a body design survive till date may be truely amazing especially for vertebrates which live in highly volatile environments unlike the seas which are considered fairly stable buffering the effects of ice age etc. which explains the survival of many living fossil body designs like the hagfish and the coelocanth. Living before, through and surviving after the dinosaur age seem highly unlikely as few other living fossils thriving in similar environments have proved that possible. Few exceptions are crocodilians, centipedes, dragonflies and some other insects. Most of such bodily designs have however evolved to become much smaller for our climate of today. This may explain the smaller size of the Diplocaulus lookalike even though the head proportions may have been highly uneconomical since the hammerhead is so much larger than even the Diplocaulus.
2. Fossils of Diplocaulus were found in the North American continent and no where else. Despite the tectonic shifts since late Permain era, if I'm not wrong, the plates do not connect to the Mediterranean region making any evolution to a modern descendant of Diplocaulus in Malta to be improbable. An animal such as Diplocaulus is also unlikely to be capable of long distance migrations.
3. Should there truely be a descendant of the Diplocaulus still surviving today in Malta, fossil remains of the species from Permain era till modern day should have been discovered as a continuum. If that is true, the Diplocaulus would not have been defined and dated as a Permain era creature. To lose all evidence of a species for a few hundred million years and suddenly see new evidence of its presence is highly unlikely.
While all evidence in my opinion points towards the improbability of such a find as a genuine discovery, we will keep a lookout for any future appearances of similar reports. As if it is true, it would be an amazing find indeed and only goes to show how little we have understood of our planet. Save our planet... while we still can...
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Random pictures
An ancient looking typewriter I saw at the National Library...
Real classic...
A wierd flavored ice cream I saw at 7-11 a couple of days back... SPICY!
Real classic...
A wierd flavored ice cream I saw at 7-11 a couple of days back... SPICY!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Nose job anyone?
A little bit more fun with my photo editing software... 
Gave Closet Lian a virtual cosmetic surgery... Which is the original? Go figure... but if you're interested in the software I'm using, its VCW VicMan's Photo Editor. You can download it from www.download.com. Its FREE, simple to use and not hungry on memory. Enjoy!
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Gave Closet Lian a virtual cosmetic surgery... Which is the original? Go figure... but if you're interested in the software I'm using, its VCW VicMan's Photo Editor. You can download it from www.download.com. Its FREE, simple to use and not hungry on memory. Enjoy!
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Alien invasion
Ok not so much of alien invasion actually...
Just downloaded a photo editing software (finally) and toyed around with it...
The pic below was taken ermmm.... can't rememebr the date, but yah... it was closet lian's bday kindda celebration and we chilled out at KM8.
So... who's who? Shouldn't be too hard to decipher right?
Just downloaded a photo editing software (finally) and toyed around with it...
The pic below was taken ermmm.... can't rememebr the date, but yah... it was closet lian's bday kindda celebration and we chilled out at KM8.
So... who's who? Shouldn't be too hard to decipher right?
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
SNIFFFFFZzzzz!!!
*AH CHOO!!!* darn... been sneezing the whole day... I think the super strong air-con on the bus to KL really got me... it was so cold I could swear I was almost down with pneumonia and hypothermia by the time I got off the bus... Officially on one day MC. Shall telecommute tomorrow... can I dun work at all? Hmmm...... I dun think I have the luxury actually even though most friends would think its the workaholic me that's working up that excuse... my colleagues should know better right?
Anyway, Nice guy just blogged about the trip as well... For the other angle of the KL trip, refer to Nice Guy's comments.
Anyway, Nice guy just blogged about the trip as well... For the other angle of the KL trip, refer to Nice Guy's comments.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Somehow can't post the pics in one post so I'm posting them separately...
Cobalt Blue Tarantula - RM130
Ball Python - RM 180
Guinea pigs - RM25 each (I think)
Green iguana - RM ??? (forgot to check)
Seeing Mr. Nice Guy hogging the mike singing "My Humps" in the KTV wide awake at 3:00am in the morning... - PRICELESS
Cobalt Blue Tarantula - RM130
Ball Python - RM 180
Guinea pigs - RM25 each (I think)
Green iguana - RM ??? (forgot to check)
Seeing Mr. Nice Guy hogging the mike singing "My Humps" in the KTV wide awake at 3:00am in the morning... - PRICELESS
Escapism (Sep 2006)
Somehow going for holidays is always fun, strangely, even if you're going to somewhere so similar to home (Singapore). Has this converstation with a colleague the other day if its the place or just the fact that we're away from Singapore that gives us the feeling of freedom and well... whatever else... I guess we kindda concluded that its the effect of stepping away from the country. Of course this cannot be statistically significant as the sample size is only 2, we need a minimum sample size of at least 30 to find any statistical pattern or incidence (urgghh... Quant) .
Anyway, my escape this time is to KL. Took a few pictures and all along the way with a sucky camera phione but its better than none. Mr. Nice Guy and I met near my office before we left on Friday, we passed by this convenience stall that sold these... Interesting imitations...
Ok I didn't take much pictures of KL since its not my first time there and basically there's nothing really much I think I wanna take... of course another aspectis that I dun really wanna be treated like a tourist... and my camera isn't great. Otherwise, KL is a fantastic place to get some good shots of people... for artistic shots of the city and its culture. Far more fascinating than Singapore, in my opinion. Maybe Singapore's too organised, too homogeneous. Anywhere else in the world seems to have a little bit more variety.
Anyway since I didn't manage to bring home any hedgehog, which I wouldn't anyway, I decided to take some pictures of some otheri nteresting animals from a local pet store for the sake of my Closet Lian friend. (and some for my SPG friend as well...)
Anyway, my escape this time is to KL. Took a few pictures and all along the way with a sucky camera phione but its better than none. Mr. Nice Guy and I met near my office before we left on Friday, we passed by this convenience stall that sold these... Interesting imitations...
Ok I didn't take much pictures of KL since its not my first time there and basically there's nothing really much I think I wanna take... of course another aspectis that I dun really wanna be treated like a tourist... and my camera isn't great. Otherwise, KL is a fantastic place to get some good shots of people... for artistic shots of the city and its culture. Far more fascinating than Singapore, in my opinion. Maybe Singapore's too organised, too homogeneous. Anywhere else in the world seems to have a little bit more variety.
Anyway since I didn't manage to bring home any hedgehog, which I wouldn't anyway, I decided to take some pictures of some otheri nteresting animals from a local pet store for the sake of my Closet Lian friend. (and some for my SPG friend as well...)
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
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