Now you can choose the kind of telemarketers to harass you

Remember gahmen promised to look into cutting down the insane numbers of phone calls we get from telemarketers? Well, here it is - their MyCall Registry project (another million dollars project?).

"The MyCall Registry is part of INSIS' efforts to support Singapore's Consumer Privacy Law. Consumers will only get marketing emails and phone calls on promotions they have specified on the MyCall Registry Form." All you need to do is to register with your phone numbers, address and email (and hope that they themselves don't leak these info) and choose one kind of telemarketers who you allow to irritate you. Yup. You have to choose at least ONE or else you'll get a form error.

Hooray! Now you'll only get phone calls from the kind of telemarketers that YOU have selected! Still irritating, but maybe less irritating now because YOU have selected to be irritated by these topic(s).



My advise? Tick "Environment". Come'on, since when do you see Singapore businesses give a damn about our environment? At least you can be sure you won't get any call from Sentosa.

To know more and register, check out http://www.mycall.sg/.

Don't put a race in your rantings

And yes, the netizens (the press's favourite name) in Singapore are always hungry for blood.

P.S.: Just to cover my ABC, for those who try to act smart, the grey used in the comics is meant to show grey guy A in first frame go tell more people, then grey guy B in second frame go shout in the public. That is the only reason I used GREY. DON'T THINK TOO MUCH.

When Prince William and Kate decided to visit Queenstown

(Click to enlarge to read the bubbles!)

This is what happens when Prince William and Kate decided to visit Queenstown. Because most of the older builds were already tore down and most people have moved out, it is necessary to activate all the kids and old people and all who don't have to work. So that we can show the royal couples how Singapore uncles and aunties like to wear sweater and traditional costumes to Taichi, and how children like to play at the playground at 3pm under the hot sun instead of playing PS3 in their aircon rooms. Oh, also it seems like today no tuition! YAY!

Don't ever eat at a Korean restaurant with a non-Korean name!

Seriously, when we read the name out loud, we should have seen it coming. L.C. Korean BBQ Buffet. What kind of authentic Korean restaurant will have a non-Korean name that sounds like some vulgar Hokkien words? Well, because there is nothing Korean about this restaurant at all.

What drove us all the way to this tiny restaurant tagged among other bigger, better BBQ or steamboat restaurants around Bugis is greed. Pure Kiasu Greed. We bought a half price coupon from Groupon:

 

This is the Groupon that started our Nightmare on Tan Quee Lan Street. And no, the BBQ pit does not look anywhere near what is shown on the Groupon site.

The first hurdle was to get a booking, we could only use the Groupon from Mondays to Thursdays (like any other calculative restaurants in Singapore, Friday is already a weekend that deserves weekend prices), and because the restaurant is always claimed to be full, we took over a month to finally get a 8pm slot on Thursday night. And we were reminded we had to leave in 2 hours at 10pm, though the shop closes at 11:30pm.

Finally that fateful day came and we were at the restaurant. What greeted us was a China woman dressed like she was working at a kopitiam, and then an induction cooker with a piece of glass on it. TADA! Korean BBQ! Riiight...



And then she took advantage of the period of shock and disbelief while we stared at the "BBQ pit" and asked quickly whether we wanted to add a dollar to add a hot pot as well, and we said "Yes". Then another smaller induction cooker was switched on and a small metal pot smaller than the one I used to cook my instant noodles appeared. "Chicken soup, Mala chili soup or Tom Yam?" she asked. We asked for chicken soup and that was when we started overdosing ourselves with MSG water.

By now we realised that we did not see pans of meat and vegetables around this BBQ buffet restaurant, which means it was going to be À la carte buffet. Swiftly, she took up a pencil to cancel a couple of items from the menu then handed over to us to order. Hmm... apparently cheapskate people who use Groupon are not entitled to more expensive food like crabs, prawns, not even Taiwan sausages. And the menu was very very limited. In fact I've never seen such a short BBQ buffet menu before in my whole life.

So, the menu. These are the food items that we remembered because (a) we ordered it (b) we ordered it but they didn't deliver to us (c) we are not allowed to order it.

• Beef - what we imagined: slices of beef. What we got in reality: bits and pieces of beef that look like they were trimmed off and too wasteful to throw away. No seasoning and no taste.
• Beef (with BBQ seasoning) - Don't know if it exists because we never get to see it even though we ordered it.
• Chicken - Same as Beef. Small strips and pieces of chicken mixed with large pieces of onion. This one got seasoning. Lots of salt.
• Chicken wing (mid joint) -  No seasoning and no taste.
• Pork belly - the only type of pork item on the menu.  No seasoning and no taste. And because it is so thinly sliced, after BBQ, it becomes all hard.
• Dory fish fillet - Chunks of fillet that are totally not seasoned. The fish slices from the fish been hoon stall at my house taste better.
• Crab - Cheapskate Groupon users like us shalt not order this precious item.
• Prawn - Cheapskate Groupon users like us shalt not order this precious item.
• Sausage - Others get Taiwan sausages and  Cheapskate Groupon users like us get the regular hot dog.
• Fish balls- You can find bigger, better ones in the supermarket.
• Pork balls and Sotong balls - Don't know if it exists because we never get to see it even though we ordered it.
• Vegetables - I can get fresher ones at the supermarket.
• Kimchi - You know it is not an authentic Korean restaurant when you actually have to order the kimchi.

By the second order, we realised that the checkbox next to the food item was not meant for numbers. Because no matter how many plates we wrote, only one pathetic plate will turn up at the table. So my friend asked the China man who delivered the food to us why was there only one plate of beef when we ordered four. He looked blankly at him, gave a "Ha" mocking laugh and walked away. Wow. This is one new low of service level that you don't see in Singapore. After calming the fire in his eyes, my friend called the other China lady over and asked the same question. Slowly and casually, she said, "You can order more after you finished the other food". Wow. Wow.

So at the end of the day, this is a small kopitiam setting with aircon that makes you perspire, added some plastic chairs, plastic utensils and induction cookers to call itself a restaurant. Oh because they hang up some pictures of Korean women in traditional hanbok, that makes it a Korean restaurant. Non of the food is seasoned the way Korean BBQ food are seasoned but because Kim Chi is one of the item in the menu, this is a Korean BBQ Buffet restaurant. And it is run by three China Chinese.

Lesson learned: Next time Google before buying any Groupon of unknown "restaurants".



Oh one last thing, we all cheered this restaurant name in Hokkien when we left. 3 cheers for them.

Red Telco's short-sighted plan to put us back to the 90s

Singapore's first 4G smartphone service. RIGHT. In the name of 4G, the greedy Red Telco decided it is time to boost their earnings, by sacrificing their customers. AGAIN.
 
Screen capture from the greedy Red Telco.

The new 4G network will ensure a high-quality and consistent mobile broadband experience for us. Something that is not happening now counting the number of times that my 3G network did not work. Apparently this is a PLUS now, something we should not have expected in the first place.

In exchange for this new technology, Red Telco takes away so many GB from our data plans to give us so many more SMSs that we no longer use. So what now? We should now all switch from Whatsapp and iMessage back to the good old local SMS?

How advanced we're getting. Thanks, Red Telco.

Actually you know what? Why don't you give us back our pagers too as a cheaper option?

PRC Ferrari beat-red-light accident: What they say and what we saw

This is what one of them said...

(Click on image to ENLARGE. Actual thread on Hardwarezone)

This is what we saw from the live video, also known as the fact...

Who's at fault? You be the judge.

My condolences to the taxi driver and Japanese tourist, and hope that the motorbike rider recovers soon and well.

Bersih 3.0 - what you don't see on mainstream media

Foreign reporter reporting using Skype after their camera was busted The real number of people on the street Police spraying water and throwing tear gas at crowd to break them up Crowd overturned police car after it crashed into the crowd Police dragging reporter away

How to make your own animation

Nope, you don't need to be George Lucas or Michael Bay to film something these days. Anyone can film it, edit it, and upload it. And nope, you don't have to be Disney to produce some simple animation.

All you need are the following:

• some moment of brainstorming the storyboard - you really think you better than George Lucas, can shoot right away arh?


• something to film with - er... no I'm not talking about those bulky thing-of-yesterday videocams... just a handphone will do lah!


• something to record the video - I'm using iPhone, so this is the app I'm using for motion capture: Stop Motion Cafe, and it's FREE!

And then TADA!

Security in Singapore offices - where you have inflexibility to the max!

These are real life stories encountered by real suay people who met real inflexible security robots at the lobby before the lifts to the offices, at Fusionopolis that very hi-tech office.

Your temperature is different before and after Starbucks

During the SARS period, a temperature taking counter was set up at the lobby. Colleague A went downstairs to get a cup of coffee, and had his temperature taken at the counter. About 15 minutes later, he came back to the lobby with his Starbucks coffee...

Kayu Security Officer: Please take your temperature at the counter.
Colleague A: But I've only taken my temperature just now!
Kayu Security Officer: Yes Sir, I know. But you need to take your temperature again when you enter the building.
Colleague A: But I only went to Starbucks to get coffee! You've already taken my temperature 15 minutes ago!
Kayu Security Officer: Yes Sir, I know. But it is our policy to take temperature of anyone re-entering the building.


Your identity has changed after your run

A group of us went for our weekly run and upon returning, Colleague B realised that she forgot to bring her staff pass...

Kayu Security Officer: Where is your pass?
Colleague B: I forgot to bring my pass down. Can you let me pass?
Kayu Security Officer: No.
Colleague B: Aiyo, but you can recognise me right?
Kayu Security Officer: Yes I know you from Company XYZ. But you cannot enter without a pass. Please call one of your colleague to come down and fetch you.


You should always have a spare IC

Colleague C forgot to bring his staff pass to work, so he exchanged his IC for a visitor pass. Then Colleague C went downstairs to tapao lunch and again forgot to bring his visitor pass, which he left at his table.

Kayu Security Officer: Where is your pass?
Colleague C: Aiyah, I forgot to bring my pass down.
Kayu Security Officer: You cannot enter without a pass. Please get a pass at the counter.
Colleague C: Har? My IC already with you leh, what do you want me to change with? Can you check your records instead? You can find my IC at the counter.
Kayu Security Officer: No, we can't check our record. You have to use your IC to get another pass.
Colleague C: Hello? My IC is already with you! What do you want me to use to change for another pass?
Kayu Security Officer: If you can't change for another pass, please call your colleague to come down and get you.
Colleague C: Can't you just check your record now? You can find my IC there!
Kayu Security Officer: No, this is against our policy.


You can use Angelina Jolie's pass and still walk pass us

There was one time that while taking kopi downstairs, I realised I needed to go upstairs and get something in the office but I left my pass in the office. My colleague who looks totally utterly ultimately very different from me lent me her pass. I flashed the pass and went right through that super tight security.

The logic of too many orders is better than no order

"Businesses should look at the positive side of the new regulations on foreign workers. They are complaining that they cannot fulfil orders because they don't have enough workers. This is a happy problem. Which would you prefer - too many orders, or no orders at all?" - MP Gan Thiam Poh

Assume number of orders received = x, number of workers = y, number of workers to fulfill one order = z.

Thus number of orders that can be fulfilled = y/z
If x = y/z, number of orders that can be cashed in = x
If x > y/z, number of orders that can be cashed in = y/z
If x = 0 then number of orders that can be cashed in = 0

So Mr MP is right that bosses should be happy if they have more orders than they can handle because they still can cash in y/z orders.

However... Mr MP forgot this equation too...

Assume number of customers lost = m,
Number of potential orders lost b = m x n, where n = number of potential order per customer
Number of customers lost to competitors c = m
Number of peers from lost customers that moved over to competitors d = m x p, where p = number of peers per customer

So definitely Mr MP feels that businesses should still be happy and contented even if their number of customers and potential customers who moved over to their competitors is more than their remaining number of customers, because they could not fulfill their orders.

Roger that. A business should be contented to keep y/z constant.

How JTC can just terminate my season parking, because they can!

I've been working at Fusionopolis for years and has been parking there for years. There is a huge basement carpark (all the way to B6 I believe) but alas, most lots are either reserved for those scholars at A*STAR, or are visitor lots. Which is why I was not given a season parking lot at the basement carpark, and have to park at the surface instead.

Here's the interesting part. The basement carpark is never full.

Because the season parking lots allocated to each company is based on the floor area of the company, and since that A*STAR is almost like owning the building, they took up most of the season parking lots. And since there are not enough driving scholars to take up the season parking lots, there are endless empty season parking lots in the carpark everyday.

But well, at least I managed to secure a season parking lot at the surface carpark. Until now.

Today, I've received an sms with this message:

"Please note that fusionopolis surface carpark will be terminated wef 1april 2012. please call 67494119 for more info. Thank you. From P Parking".

Yap. Just a short and sweet sms is needed to chase me, among the other season parkers, out of the carpark. Because according to the season parking contract, as long as they give a minimum of one month's notice, they can terminate our season parking any time they want. No explanation and no alternate solution required. Bravo.

I've got no idea why is JTC closing the surface carpark and what they're going to do with it (among the other endless constructions in the area). But what I do know is that there are now many season parkers like me going to tear our hairs out looking for other possible season car parks around the area.

While the basement carpark is still empty.

According to their website, JTC is "Singapore's leading industrial infrastructure specialist spearheading the planning and development of a dynamic industrial landscape." Right. When they can't even handle their tenants' employees' season parking efficiently.

Review on 8X Zoom Telescope Lens For iPhone 4

The camera on iPhone has been improving all these years, and so many people have been using iPhone as their main camera. Okay lah, with a couple of good camera apps and some post-processing, you are really able to take some pretty good pictures using the iPhone. But sometimes don't you wish you can like... zoom a bit?

So recently I found a 8X Zoom Telescope Lens For iPhone 4 on Gmarket and here's a quick unbox and review on it...



SGD30 gives you an 8x zoom lens and a tripod, seems like a reasonable deal.

The tripod seems pretty stable, but I guess I'll do another video test on it later.



Indoor photo taken using just the iPhone lens.



Photo taken using the 8x zoom lens. The lens is actually screwed to a special phone case but due to the proportion, even though the lens is not very heavy, it is not easy to take a picture with steady hands. Little shakes magnified to big earthquake on the photo. Hmm... well, I know that's what the tripod is meant for, but also very mafang to take the tripod everywhere, no matter how small right?



Outdoor photo taken using just the iPhone lens.



I then took my shot outdoor, hoping that with more light, the picture can be clearer. But it's not easy also because you have to focus manually using the ring on the lens and stabilise the phone at the same time. I was actually trying to focus on the Singtel tower, but obviously I've accidentally focused on the flat on the left...

Conclusion? I need to practise more on the lens...