my ramblings | expressions

Transformers Super Bowl Trailer

2009-02-02T17:55:00.003+08:00

I hafta share this... The trailer came on this morning during the Super Bowl!! Intense! I think saw a glimpse of Grimlock and Devastator right at the end! Can't wait...!

Nadal beats Federer in Australian Open final

2009-02-01T21:40:00.004+08:00

Rafael Nadal has just won the Australian Open in an epic 5 sets final, defeating Roger Federer 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2 to secure his first hard-court grand slam title and prevent the Swiss equaling the all-time Majors record.

It's unbelievable how the world No,1 recovered from his five-hour semi-final against Fernando Verdasco (less than 48 hours) to claim his fifth successive victory against the No.2 seed.

Federer remains on 13 grand slams, one behind Pete Sampras, and with an enduring mental block against the Spaniard, who has now beaten him in their past three grand slam finals.

Dumb and Dumber

2009-01-30T16:59:00.001+08:00

Two New Zealand prisoners who were handcuffed together as they fled a courthouse foiled their own getaway when they ran to opposite sides of a light pole, slammed into each other and fell to the ground.

Their escapade yesterday was captured by a CCTV camera. Grainy footage of the escapade was billed as "one of the worst escape attempts ever seen".

haha

Bush's Accomplishments?

2009-01-12T18:07:00.003+08:00

In just over one week, we will witness the next stage in the remarkable evolving role of Barack Obama as he is sworn in as America’s 44th president.

That would also mean that George W. Bush will ~~finally~~ leave office. In an interview yesterday, he told Fox News that he is proud of his accomplishments. However, he leaves office with low public approval ratings, and turns over to his successor a nation that is at war and in the midst of an economic crisis. *whew*

This reminds me of a joke I got a couple of months ago...

An Israeli doctor says "Medicine in my country is so advanced that wecan take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have himlooking for work in six weeks..."

A German doctor says "That is nothing, we can take a lung out of oneperson, put it in another, and have him looking for work in fourweeks..."

A Russian doctor says "In my country, medicine is so advanced that wecan take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and havethem both looking for work in two weeks..."

The Texas doctor, not to be outdone, says "You guys are way behind, werecently took a man with no brains out of Texas, put him in the White House for eight years, and now half the WORLD is looking for work!

haha!

Death Star Canteen

2009-01-05T20:04:00.002+08:00

It's been awhile since I posted a funny video! Check this one out... it's been out for quite awhile and was circulated via emails awhile back. Love it! Thanks to the wonders of technology, I can embed it on my blog!

hahaha... Jeff Vader.

Happy New Year 2009~!~!!

2009-01-01T00:58:00.002+08:00

Good Bye 2008! I had a forgettable 2008... let's just hope 2009 will be a little better.

Happy New Year!! :D

World Police Cars

2008-12-30T18:27:00.000+08:00

Was 'cleaning up' my emails before the New Year and I stumbled on an unread email :O with the subject, World Police Cars. Thought I might share it with you... added one or two of my own as well. ;)

To start off, we have a Lamborghini Gallardo from London, England: Coolest cop car in the world.

and from Australia:

then off to NYC:

and the French:

the Germans love their cars:

... and of course, Malaysia:

wait for it...

Dang!

Jason Mraz: I'm Yours

2008-12-28T12:36:00.001+08:00

Mann.. I got this song playing over and over in my head! Since it's the season of giving... might as well share the joy! ;)

Man Utd wins Club World Cup

2008-12-22T18:59:00.002+08:00

Bwahahah...! Wayne Rooney scored in the second half Sunday to lead 10-man Manchester United of England to a 1-0 victory over Liga de Quito of Ecuador in the final of the Club World Cup in Yokohama, Japan.

Rooney, who earned player of the tournament honors, took a pass from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 73rd minute and connected on a right-footed blast into the bottom corner that beat Liga goalkeeper Jose Cevallos.

Looks like mission accomplished in Japan! Actually... a good year for Man Utd!

World Club Cup: Gamba Osaka 3 - 5 Man Utd

2008-12-19T20:15:00.005+08:00

Wayne Rooney came off the bench and scored twice in a four-minute span to lead Manchester United over Japan’s Gamba Osaka 5-3 on Thursday and into the final of the Club World Cup.

The European champions will play South American champions Liga de Quito in Sunday’s final.

The English Premier club’s first-half goals came in identical fashion, with Ryan Giggs corners from the right headed home by Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic and European Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo.

Gamba cut the margin to 2-1 when Masato Yamazaki scored in the 74th minute, which sparked a flurry of goals.

United made it 3-1 as Rooney scored with his first touch of the ball in the 75th minute. He chested down a pass from at the edge of the area, shook off a defender and shot across the advancing keeper. Darren Fletcher made it 4-1 in the 78th before Rooney scored again. Gamba added to goals in the final five minutes, including one on a penalty kick by Yasuhito Endo.

A surprisingly entertaining match!

Bush ducks flying shoes

2008-12-15T18:46:00.002+08:00

Well if you haven't heard about it yet... today during a surprise visit to Iraq, President Bush was in a press conference and a reporter stood up and threw his shoe at Bush...

...and Bush acting like it was nothing, dodged it and then the reporter threw his other shoe and again Bush dodged the other shoe.

Good reaction!

Speaking of reaction, bush had a pretty solid time on his duck and dodge reaction. Considering his age! Well, if I were him I would have been practicing too...! heh!

Anyways, the reporter said he did this for the orphans and widows that the war and Bush have caused. This is an act of disrespect in Arab societies since showing the sole of a shoe to someone is disrespectful.

I reckon the reporter should've picked a few pointers from Sir Alex Ferguson or get a bigger shoe like Ronald Mcdonalds' famous red! ;) Like this! Probability of hitting increased by 75%! ;)

I Knew Bernie Madoff Was Cheating, That's Why I Invested with Him

2008-12-14T20:32:00.003+08:00

Bernard Madoff, founder and president of a New York firm that invested funds for wealthy individuals, hedge funds and other institutions, was charged with securities fraud. Madoff, who told employees his $50 billion firm was a "giant Ponzi scheme,"

Here's an interesting article from Yahoo! Finance:

Specifically, we're hearing that the smart money KNEW Bernie had to be cheating, because the returns he was generating were impossibly good. Many Wall Streeters suspected the wrong rigged game, though: They thought it was insider trading, not a Ponzi scheme. And here's the best part: That's why they invested with him.

For years and years I've heard people say that [Bernie's] investment performance was too good to be true. The returns were too steady -- like GE earnings under Welch -- and too high given the supposed strategy.

One Madoff investor, himself a legend, told me that Madoff's performance "just doesn't make sense. The numbers can't be straight." Another sophisticated Madoff investor actually went through trade confirms in order to reverse-engineer the strategy and said, "it doesn't add up."

So why did these smart and skeptical investors keep investing? They, like many Madoff investors, assumed Madoff was somehow illegally trading on information from his market-making business for their benefit. They didn't consider the possibility that he was clean on that score but running a good old-fashioned Ponzi scheme.

Looks like Madoff may have committed the largest fraud in history! Genius!

Bad Tech Predictions

2008-12-13T14:08:00.000+08:00

If you're not Hiro Nakamura, the future is... uncertain.

'Predicting' the future has its moments, and some glimpses of the future can be laser-beam accurate. Then, there’s the other side of the coin... Here’s T3s top 10 tech howlers.

10. "X-rays will prove to be a hoax" – Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, in 1883.

9. Spam will be solved – Bill Gates, 2004.

8. "The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys" – Sir William Preece, chief engineer at the Post Office in 1878.

7. Nobody would ever need more than 640KB of memory on their personal computer– Bill Gates in 1981, allegedly.

6. "We stand on the threshold of rocket mail" – US postmaster general Arthur Summerfield in 1959

5. In 1933, after the first flight of the Boeing 247, a plane that could hold ten people, a proud Boeing engineer reportedly said, "There will never be a bigger plane built."

4. TV won't last because people would, "soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night" – Darryl Zanuck in 1946

3. "Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within ten years" – Alex Lewyt, president of the Lewyt Corp vacuum company

2. No need for a computer in the home – Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp in 1977

1. The iPod will never take off – Sir Alan Sugar in 2005

Brick Labourer in Bangladesh

2008-12-11T16:48:00.002+08:00

This guy is crazy!

I bet those health and safety mob won't be happy if they saw this! hehe!

Bailout for GM, Ford and Chrysler?

2008-12-09T21:16:00.001+08:00

Hmm... how 'bout this? GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor have been asking for loans to help them survive until 2010, when some cost cuts and labor contract savings kick in that could help the Big Three eventually return to profitability. The companies could get a total of $15 billion in federal loans as soon as Dec. 15!

In a statement, GM said it is plea$ed lawmakers are working on a bill that would give the industry immediate assistance. "Million$ of job$, America'$ manufacturing ba$e and future competitivene$$ hang in the balance and we urge quick pa$$age of thi$ bill," the statement said.

GM and Chrysler have warned that they could soon run out of the cash they need for operations without assistance from the government. Ford has said it has enough cash on hand for now and may not need the federal help but that it would still like the funds to be available as a backstop.

I dunno how this massive bailout is gonna help! I reckon, these automakers had it coming. Back in 2006, GM CEO Rick Wagoner earned $9.3 million in salary and bonus, nearly double what he earned in 2005.

Also, Ford's CEO, Alan Mulally, got $27.8 million in salary and bonus in his first few months on the job, including an $18.5 million signing bonus! They have ample chance to cut cost and make changes but nothing was done. No wonder they are in trouble today! I doubt the bailout is gonna help... comic below sums everything up!

Signs that it's gonna be a bad Christmas

2008-12-06T21:49:00.000+08:00

In this recession and season of corporate cutbacks, not only is the office Christmas party getting downsized, retail sales have also tumbled. Here are some signs that it's gonna be a bad Christmas.

Santa puts his reindeers up on ebay

Santa outsource his elf service to India

Every night Santa walks out with a sack full of Ipods

Santa's down to 530 pounds

Santa asks Congress for Christmas Bailout

Whaling Season

2008-12-03T20:12:00.006+08:00

hmm.. it's been awhile hasn't it? Just been really busy... doing nuthin'! :P

One of the news headline that caught my attention today is, Actress Daryl Hannah joins anti-whaling assault. Looks like the whaling season has begun!

According to the article, anti-whaling crusader Chris Watson and US actress Daryl Hannah will lead a new assault on the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean aboard the Steve Irwin. Mr Watson said the Japanese planned to slaughter 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales.

Since the govt have been powerless and/or unable to do anything, my suggestion is...

Someone should tell those Somali pirates about these ~~easy targets~~ Japanese whaling ships! ;)

This year alone, there have been nearly 100 pirate attacks in Somalian waters and the pirates have raked in millions of dollars in ransoms from attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. One gang is still holding a Saudi oil tanker seized last month - the largest vessel hijacked so far.

Imagine bringing the Somali pirates to the Southern Ocean! Problem solve! Everyone will be happy!

... well except for the Japanese whalers. haha!

Sydney Store Opening III

2008-06-19T20:53:00.000+08:00

So I've decided to drop by the new Apple store after work since there were chaos around the store at the official opening time. I was making my way to the store and it started pouring! When I go to the queue (around the block), I was surprise that it wasn't longer... thanks for the rain I guess.

I found it quite interesting that the Apple staff actually came out and handed umbrellas to us peasants waiting in line to get in. Waited around 8 minutes and I was at the front of the store! Here's the view of the Apple logo from where I was standing.

When I got through the entrance, I was greeted by a clapping, cheering, dancing mass of Apple staff giving high fives and handling out door gifts to the first 2,500.

Here's the view from the top.

On the ground level, there were 50 or 60 Mac books on display and I must say... it was packed! Like Wynyard station after work! Everyone is ~~pretending to~~ fiddling around the display units and I even saw one guy updating his facebook status!

Here's an Mac Air on display.

There's the Apple trademark glass staircase that leads to the second floor.

Here's where you find all your iPod goodness! From Nanos, Shuffles, Touchs to accessories

... and speakers!

Here's the Apple logo from the second floor.

On each end of the second floor, you can find the accessories section

and the software and books section:

On the third floor, you can find the famus Apple Genius Bar... where Apple expers answer how-to questions for Apple users and potential customers.

It seems that the Sydney Genius Bar is the biggest in the world.

I don't know what the big fuss is about. I reckon it's all hype! Besides the impressive glass exterior, the display inside looks like any other Apple section in Myer... only 20x bigger! I must say tough, the staff are fantastic! I still can't believe I had to queue up to get in... oh well, at least I got my complimentary T-Shirt ;)

Sydney Apple Store Opening II

2008-06-19T15:29:00.005+08:00

Apple's Sydney store doesn't open to the public until 5pm, but there were curious onlookers, rude security contractors, police, and the media circus gathered around the glass windows of the new $15 million Sydney Apple Store.

Here's a shot from the opposite of Apple store. Notice the crowd at ground level. Barricades were all setup... making it hard to move around.

The Apple staff looking out from the inside. They were clapping, doing some mexican wave and cheering for the media outside.

Mexican Wave! :P

I've never seen so many reporters/cameras before in my life! No kidding! The queue for the media is as long as those waiting in line to get in... here's shot from the media line.

... and here's the queue of ppl waiting to get in... around the block! Madness! I thought of joining the queue, but when I found out that it goes around another block, I gave up!

... 5pm and the door opens! The first few hardcore Apple fans skips in... happily! Fans outside the line claps, camera flashes, staff cheered from the inside and the police barks at everyone who stops to get a photo to move along!

More shots of fans going into the store...

View from the front of fans going into the store... with security barking... SINGLE FILE! SINGLE FILE! Reminds me of those prison show as prisoners get into jail. :P

Happy Fan!

More shots of fans going into the store... HIIGHH FIIVEEE!~!!

Yup... Apple: Markerting Genius! Although it's the second biggest store in the world, after London... it's not enough to make Steve Jobs fly down for the opening. :P

I'll probably make a trip after work to the store... not sure I'll be able to get in with crowds like that!

Sydney Apple Store Opening

2008-06-18T16:07:00.003+08:00

The first Australia Apple Store, the 215th in the world is located on the corner of Sydney's George and King Streets in the CBD.

The three-story complex features 700 square metres of glass enclosing its street front atrium. This is formed from 15m tall panels of glass, the largest such plates ever created in the world.

The ground floor is devoted to the company's Macintosh computer line, still the core of the company's business. In all, some 90 Mac units will be on display, all connected to the internet with free net accesss for visitors.

Level two, reached via a glass staircase of the type that has become a signature of the Apple stores, features the company's mobile devices, with the 60 iPods now on display to be joined by a range of iPhones when they are launched here next month.
The top level will form the store's services department, with training areas, seminar spaces and what Apple says is the largest "Genius Bar'' at any of its worldwide stores.

Was passing through the store on the way to lunch and I noticed that there was a media event organized by the big A... camera crew, reporters, in-store reviewers doing what they do.

The opening is more that 36 hours away and already they are a couple of ~~mad~~ Apple fans queueing up to be the first into Sydney's Apple store.... bragging rights I reckon.

Sorry guys... that lady beat you to it!

A reporter I reckon... but she does look happy! Here's a little peak through the glass window to see what's inside.

I bet you it's gonna be packed when the store open tomorrow! We'll see if I can get a couple of nice shots of the opening 2morrow. ^_^

New Google search tool: Looking into the future

2008-04-01T09:54:00.001+08:00

A new Google program powered by artificial intelligence allows internet users to search web pages 24 hours before they're created, the company said today.

The gDay technology – developed in the company's Sydney engineering centre – uses machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques from a system called MATE, or Machine Automated Temporal Extrapolation.

The feature then creates a sophisticated model of what the internet will look like 24 hours from a given point by using the company's index of historic, cached web content and a combination of recurrence plots and "fuzzy measure" analysis.

By accessing web pages before they're actually created, users can view information from the future – including news events, share price movements and sporting results.

To rank these future pages in order of relevance, gDay™ uses a statistical extrapolation of a page’s future PageRank, called SageRank. "

If you wanna see tomorrow's football scores or lotto numbers... this is the greatest google product ever! Click here!

Taking stupidity to a whole new level!

2008-03-06T19:15:00.005+08:00

ugh... at this rate I am going, it looks like this blog is gonna get updated once a month! :P NOT! Just lack of inspiration lately!

I found on my daily surf session. I reckon this is hilarious! Some ppl nvr think do they?

Taking stupidity to a whole new level!

Funny Prank Call: There's a Turd in my Car!

2008-02-17T19:36:00.005+08:00

This is too funny! From Crank Yankers phone calls! haha! -Not for the faint hearted.

steam is coming off of it and little kids are running away from it

hahaha!

Video: Cool Experiment!

2008-02-15T21:19:00.002+08:00

Whoah! I just noticed that I haven't posted anything for quite awhile! Looks like everything is back to normal! *whew* Won't be traveling as much this month. Thank God for the break! :D

Check this cool experiment out! Anyone wanna try it out in Sydney? Probably at Martin Place... during lunch hour! How cool is that?!

How to eat at a Sushi Bar

2008-01-21T18:31:00.000+08:00

Check this video out...

if you have not realised this by now... it's a spoof. ;)