i.justrealized

Random note: Don’t buy newspapers, queue up at 7 a.m. and get it for free. And don’t bring home newspaper; disposing them is a hassle. Better yet, get news online and hug some trees at the park.

The amount of hassle involved in obtaining newspaper such is not that worth it if you think about it. How many times do you make an informed decision based on a news event? Hardly for me. I don’t mind getting my news one week late or view a consolidation of news since newspapers are a day late anyway.

My only issue with getting late news is that I end up missing out on the beginning since the news article report only the progression of the event; this makes the news article difficult to understand. I probably need something like a recap that typically isn’t available in newspaper. What I want is probably a news magazine and not a newspaper. We do not have localized news magazines like the fortnightly-published Newsweek.

Furthermore, newspaper reports can be bias; Singapore is ranked 147 out of 167 in the Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index for 2004. In Singapore, since we only have one English non-tabloid newspaper, there is little competition on who can provide better news coverage. Also, there’s no way to see how objective a newspaper is if there is no other local newspaper to compare with.

These days, I just wait for local news to come to me.

Bill Moyers interviews former health insurance industry executive Wendell Potter, who left the field after almost 20 years to become a health reform advocate. Check out Potters take on the campaign against Michael Moore’s film Sicko and tune in to Bill Moyers Journal, Friday, July 10, 2009 at 9PM on PBS for his experiences inside the health insurance industry, their work fighting a public option, and the insurance companies close ties to Washington.

BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Preview: Wendell Potter pt 2 | PBS

Wow, US government asked Twitter not to do maintenance during the Iran election:

State Department to Twitter: Keep Iranian tweets coming

Senior officials say the State Department is working with Twitter and other social networking sites to ensure Iranians are able to continue to communicate to each other and the outside world.

…they do want to make sure the technology is able to play its sorely-needed role in the crisis, which is why the State Department is advising social networking sites to make sure their networks stay up and running for Iranians to use them and helping them stay ahead of anyone who would try to shut them down.

For example, senior officials say the State Department asked Twitter to refrain for going down for periodic scheduled maintenance at this critical time to ensure the site continues to operate. Bureau’s and offices across the State Department, they say, are paying very close attention to Twitter and other sites to get information on the situation in Iran.

[From CNN blog]

• Currently at Media Business Forum #mbf09 #
• Saw Zhu Hou Ren 朱厚任 in Media Business Forum, we are the only ones using laptop it seems. #mbf09 #
• The new iPod Shuffle is nice, but, shame on Apple restricting the users’ earphone choices. #
• I always found stretched presentations awful to look at. #mbf09 #
• Over the next 5 years, SGD230m would be injected into the media sector, expected to spur creation of 2,000 jobs. #mbf09 #
• Media Training and Attachment (META) matches 150 local media professionals to companies starting Apr’09. #mbf09 #
• Six more presentations and I’m hungry now! #mbf09 #
• Michael Yap talking about regulations in the Singapore media sector. #mbf09 #
• @molemole: You so fast sleepy liao? #
• Can the media industry be more competitive in Singapore without hurting local companies? #mbf09 #
• Digitalization enables more spectrum in Singapore. No, I don’t know what I’m talking about. #mbf09 #
• We love the MDA Rap music video don’t we? #mbf09 The superman in the video is talking right now. #
• Powerpoint yellow, powerpoint gold, powerpoint cyan and your favorite Arial font, MDA presentation could’ve looked better. #mbf09 #
• Achievement in broadcast, 2180 local hours, 900 jobs! #mbf09 #
• The Little Nyonya (by MediaCorp Studios) is the highest rated show in 15 years, viewed by 1 in 3 in Singapore. #mbf09 #
• MDA targets 2380 local hours and 1280 jobs for broadcast in 2009. #mbf09 #
• Public Service Programmes are values we believe in? And it can be international? Seems contradictory. #mbf09 #
• MDA thinking of partnering with Joost? #mbf09 #
• Yet another government agency using the word “hub”. We want to be another hub again… #mbf09 #
• @claudia10 I got 3 hours more! #
• I just asked @uzyn if Kenneth Tan (COO, MDA) is in the video too. LOL #mbf09 #
• Kenneth Tan’s presentation has a text line height problem. Plus it is stretched. #mbf09 #
• @claudia10, mine is a 6 cell instead of a usual 3-cell. Anyway, the battery bar always lies. When it says 3hr, it’s actually 2. #
• Kenneth breaks down the ecosystem of film: Optioning, development, production, distribution, exhibition. #mbf09 #
• Kenneth adds that Singapore is lacking in optioning and development process. #mbf09 #
• Stereoscopy is the 3D glasses thingy. #mbf09 #
• People need to learn PowerPoint from @claudia10. #mbf09 #
• Government service love acronyms. #mbf09 INSPIRE: Internationalization of Singaporean Production Initiative, Representation & Enterprise. #
• INSPIRE acronym got problem loh. #mbf09 Is Singapore and not Singapore. @uzyn spotted it. #
• I mean it is Singapore, not Singaporean. #mbf09 #
• INSPIRE does some sort of a matchmaking service for the media. Helps in distribution. #mbf09 #
• The current vein diagram is problematic. PowerPoint has Smart Art now by the way. #mbf09 #
• @uzyn wants you to know that it’s “venn” and not “vein”. Okay I lost one. #mbf09 #
• SPINE is Spearheading Publishing Innovation for New Enterprise. Yay for more acronyms. This is just like army. #mbf09 #
• Call for proposals – stereoscopic 3D ecosystem developer. Due March 26! #mbf09 #
• Mr. IDM talks again; Michael Yap shares on Interactive Media & Games. #
• @melvinkee Well, that’s why I tweet – to keep awake. #
• No, this is NOT a live image. #mbf09 #
• Garena is ranked 1164th website, ahead of zaobao.com which is ranked 1209th. #
• MDA expects 500 to 900 new jobs #mbf09 #
• Anyhow use images from Google Images. #mbf09 #
• Catalytic Project should ignite the growth of the game sector. #mbf09 #
• @claudia10 Why would we get arrested? #mbf09 MDA also regulate social media now? #
• @cheeaun: I seen before if (hello == true) { /* some code */ } elseif (hello == false) { /* some code */ } #
• More call for proposals at #mbf09. Call for FutureMobile applications by SingTel, Apple, Friendster and Mozat. #
• What the hell are the 5Cs? #mbf09 Why people keep talking about it? #
• Money Manpower & Mediapolis by Mr. Seto #mbf09 #
• I think government supported companies slow down startup ideas because startups just wait for funds. #mbf09 #
• Mr. Seto speaks like a preacher I know. #mbf09 #
• Mediapolis actually sounds exciting but I hope it won’t be like Biopolis. #mbf09 #
• This is like the Biopolis slides. #mbf09 #
• Imaginary headlines? Oh this is something new. #mbf09 #
• MDA hopes to generate pathfinder projects with key partners in regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Bristol. #
• MDA has co-production treaties in AU, CA, Korea and NZ. Currently negotiating with CN and IT. #
• Oh no I’m hungry. #mbf09 #
• End of presentations at #mbf09. #
• @melvinkee I have no idea about it. The talk wasn’t clear on these partnerships. #mbf09 in reply to melvinkee #
• @trudinger Since startups can get gov funds, they may be less inclined to start things by their own and just wait for gov. Waiting hurts. in reply to trudinger #
• @echoz you at the IT Show? I hate the squeezing and decided against going! Haha #
• @echoz A gigabit switch? Why would u need that? in reply to echoz #
• @trudinger There’s always garage style development, haha in reply to trudinger #

I seen these words “Gen Y” far too many times. Call me a turtle hiding in its shell but I haven’t heard of the term. Wikipedia (the encyclopedia all academics frown but I swear by) loosely suggests Generation Y is a cohort which consists of those people born after the Generation X cohort. Which leaves me to no choice but to check out what is Generation X since I am missing out a lot apparently.

Generation X is a term used to identify people born after the post-World War II increase in birth rates (the Baby Boom). Say Wikipedia.

Wikipedia further defines Generation X to be around 1946 to 1964. Oh so that means Generation Y is…

I?

Generation Y are people born 1976 to 2001.

Although different groups and individuals consider different ranges of years as constituting Generation Y, those ranges of years are almost always within the outer bounds of 1976 as the earliest possible year and 2001 as the latest. (Source: Wikipedia)

Oh so what’s Generation Z then:

Generation Z is the generation of people living in Western or First World cultures that follows Generation Y. According to Phil Ruthven of IBISWorld, who provides market research analysis, Generation Z – typically the offspring of Generation X – are currently in grade school or younger. While Generation Z – or as Strauss and Howe defined them, The New Silent Generation – has yet to be defined, the generation begins in 2001. (Source: Wikipedia)

Wow, looks like the media is working real hard in coining new terms. Stop using them! It means nothing!

Same data for the Olympics, different way of presentation:

From Sina and CNN.

At Sina Olympic front page:

At CNN Sports Illustrated:

Singapore news site, Channel NewsAsia:

Singapore rather covers Thaksin in the front page. That’s because we haven’t won any medals yet. Channel NewsAsia Beijing Olympic site talks about the Olympic spirit, the dance and some Olympic history.

American and U.K. media is feeding you lies about what happened in Georgia the night of August 7th, 2008. CNN claims that Russia invaded Georgia. The truth is Georgia had committed the act of genocide against people of South Ossetia, and Russia had no choice but to protect its own citizens!

The truth about South Ossetia War, Georgia attack, and Russia’s response

I’ve been reading a little on the South Ossetia incident. I haven’t heard of this place before this attack. I thought Georgia is a place in USA actually. But news reports have been bias here. The media seem to pay more attention to Georgia as a victim instead of presenting a more objective view of the situation. This could possibly be due to Russia’s politicians reluctance to release statements on the war, but the media seems to be siding Georgia on this one.

[Note: Most of the news I read is USA new sites.]