June 25, 2006

Meeting new cool people at Entreprenuer27 in SMU

Last week, Alvin introduced to me this meetup/demo/networking session organised by Bjorn and Douglas. Although, its a pity I never got to meet this Douglas myself. Entreprenuer27 is an unofficial organisation aimed at making unofficial, non-bureaucratic and effortless "unconferences" to bring like minded people together.

With at least 90 people at the session, its amazing to see the vibrancy and energy in the participants. Amongst them was Kelvin Quee, it is an honour meeting someone who has spoke competitvely at iX2006 and listening to his intent and passion in bringing in the spirit of bootstrapping into the local community.

You can find out more about it at his blog and the community he is building. Their first meeting should be around the corner anytime soon, do go! It is more about who you hang out with that determines your lifepath.

Also breathtaking are the product demos. Entreprenuership is still alive despite the waning activity from ACE, ASME and etc currently. :) Thier next session is supposedly about 2 months away, anyone gunning for a demo?

IE does not like my html code

Recently, I realized that my code does not go down well with IE6 at all. Users of IE will see a very ugly presentation of code at the left side of the site. I will have it removed when I go through the funny code. :)

Meanwhile, use Firefox, its our friend. 

June 10, 2006

A brief summary of the Universe

  I came across this classic of a video, Powers of Ten, that explores the vastness of space and atom via Kottke.org. Its  amazing to gain a perspective on yourself and the the whole universe. Sometimes you have to wonder whether there is more to life than just your 9-5 job.

  Also noticed was a Simpsons version if you like it the short and animated version!
 

June 7, 2006

Who wants a commercialized del.icio.us?

Its a shame to see that people are trying blatantly to earn money by pulling in ‘eyeballs’ to their websites so that they can earn through clicks or viewerships. So much so especially, when they do not offer any real value or substance in exchange for it.
 
Last Monday, I was surfing the del.cio.us Popular RSS feed when a couple of websites ranging from DVD duplication to Learning programming appeared in Safari. And all plastered mercilessly with Google Ads, Banners and whatnot for our viewing pleasure. Weird to see that happening, I though I was invaded by the first Mac malware. Luckily it was just some websites that were in the del.icio.us feed.
 
More unluckily, someone is trying to abuse the system. Del.icio.us started off as a tagging site, social bookmarking to keep track of your favourite websites. Its like categorizing the web one site at a time, so that others can reference the information they need by category down to get a feel for the taste of content that we love to experience. Such use might cause the loyal users to break away as the system becomes more commercialized.
 
After all, it is not as if the developers can remove such postings in the first place. (Oh did i mention that the postings were made from the same user? Some ‘’iluvnettoday'’ or something like that. Sorry if your nick sounds similar. :p) Boy, what a bad name it brings for those Web2.0 people.
 
Someday, someone will come up with a script, application or website that automates all these meaningless postings. Then.. that will spell the end of del.icio.us, or the beginning of it at least.

June 4, 2006

My iBook has no value!

  Honestly, Im no Ebay user yet. But lately, with the selldown and fast obsoletion of my Apple iBook, Im beginning to get worried. Junkee is keen on selling his PowerBook on Ebay, after all a global market will fetch a better response and price. Right?

  With the garguantan Ebay rules and options, Im confused honestly about how to go about doing it right. And guess what, there’s actually a story on Ebay tips for sellers and buyers. Wow.. the internet sure is the be all and end all in information..

  You can find it at the Beginner’s Guide to Ebay.

  As for my iBook, checking Ebay seems to give me the idea that selling it will cost me more in terms of shipping than the money I will get back. emoticon I guess it will be more worth it as a mp3 player than the money from selling it. Alvin is right, at least it can be sued as a presentation tool, being mobile and all. to me, it does everything except compiling Assembly language. :p

That said, good luck JK! I’ll think I will keep mine as a mp3 player, like the big BIG brother of the iPod.

Communicating.. with enthusiam

  Last Wednesday, I was involved in requesting for quotations for materials for a project that the company was working on. Its really straightforward, you call up for a quote and if necessary, you send a official fax requesting for one. And you just wait for a reply. If waiting for days and nothing comes back.. You call again to ensure that they have received it in the first place.

  Xiao Na, colleague cum intern, was amused by the way I spoke on the phone. I am sure she is still amused.. Afterall, it seems that I spoke as if I just returned from DisneyLand or something, in some happy gay tone,like the world is made up of hot chocolate and marshmellows.

  Im not sure if the grey assertive business proper professional stern tone is the way to go. But Im just wondering is there a de-facto method that everyone should adhere to?

  Do you?

*incidentally no one on the other end of the phone seems to be angry about it, ah well..