If this are a sign of things to come from our media industry for the year 2008, I gladly welcome the new openness towards issues. What a wonderful way to start a new year!

Happy new year everyone.

[hwz via public education]

Bak Chor Mee + Sambal Stingray, originally uploaded by jeremyfoo.

Nothing beats food like Singapore food.

A most awesome supper, albeit on the other side of the island. My tummy doesn’t care though, its just happy.

For all the good of the government here, information technology apparently seems to be their biggest downfall. From the really ridiculous contracts they hand out to companies that provide substandard work, to the trends that they want to promote, to the policies that they implement, they don’t seem to get it right. Even worst, they don’t seem to factor in the fact that its not always the academics that get it right.

Maybe its the lack of knowledge in this particular field of social technology that is fast becoming the mainstay of many, or the plain ignorance of the fact that its not something that you can just glean off academics, or it could just be the old fashion ideas that the screw ups, or the ones who don’t follow in their ideal way of becoming successful, actually would be the ones they have to contact in this field.

The worst part about this video is that it has been featured on TechCrunch. And reading the comments that has now been associated with this particular video, you get the general idea that perhaps to the public, MDA is just making a video for the fun of it. However, when you realise that its actually something that’s serious, it just becomes a very sad affair.

The world is changing, so please, change with the times. We’re still stuck, like MediaCorp, in the Under-One-Roof era.

Updated: More comments here and here.

Updated 2: In the spirit of social media, parody here.

[Article on Techcrunch]

For people who have caught the new comedy series on Channel 5, The Noose, which promises to be the comedy that spoofs television news, I just want to say, switch the TV off.

Its a blatant and stupid attempt at doing what has already been done better and perhaps with more interesting content by others. The Daily Show with John Stewart and The Colbert Report both do excellent parodies of current events that it begs the question of whether local television is going down the drain.

Without going into the whole mechanics of comedy, the fact that The Noose is irrelevant news makes the whole point of actually watching the show and getting some laughs out of it totally moot. Even with the likes of Gurmit Singh, with his close to being boring portrayal of different whacky characters, on the frontline doesn’t seem to help much to bring the show to anywhere but being lame.

Perhaps its because there seems to be a huge drain in quality content on television nowadays, with the executives at the television stations opting to import TV shows and writers being forced to concoct stories from National Day Rally speeches.

Come on MediaCorp. Having monopolized the broadcast media, I’m sure you can do better than wannabe and not even up to standard shows. Bring comedy and perhaps TV to the next level please, we’re still stuck in the Under-One-Roof era.

New ERP Gantry at Hill View, originally uploaded by jeremyfoo.

I know that the government has said that they will increase the number of ERP gantries all over the island, but is this really necessary.

I saw this one the other day near the Hill View estates after Railmall. This is insane because it is still about a good 500 metres from the entrance to the PIE. I’d have to pay the ERP charge if I ever drive to school, which is just another 700 metres down the road and doesn’t even touch the expressway.

Sure the excuse is to install the damn thing to help ease congestion during peak hours, but seriously, over here? These are the more upscale estates. And does the government really think that people will choose another time to go to work just because its more expensive now?

There can only be a few scenarios,

1. People all choose to avoid the ERP, moving the peak hour down to another time slot.
2. People don’t give a rat’s ass and continue to plow ahead, helping the government earn more money and still congesting the roads.
3. The already crowded public transportation network gets even more unbearable.

The only thing I can see that comes out of this is just an excuse to get more money in their coffers. Apart from that, its just an exercise in stupidity, because very soon, our road tax will become redundant as there will be these monsters all over the island.

But knowing people who are already making so much from such a system. Things won’t change. We’ll still pay more for our cars. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. And we’ll still be stupid to continue buying cars because its a sign of status.

I saw an iPhone the other day at Vivocity. This dude was getting some clear plastic protective film applied to the screen. It was definitely an iPhone cause there were a hell lot of apps and also cause there was the slit for the earpiece.

Now back to regular programming.

HSPDA mobile speed test, originally uploaded by jeremyfoo.

Starhub has switched on the tap to their HSPA (3.5G) data network.

Speed tests tells us its pretty decent though not hitting real world speeds. I’m supposed to get 1.8Mbit/sec with my device.

Oh well. Improvements in the future perhaps.

For the uninitiated, HSPDA or High Speed Packet Downlink Access is an enhancement of current 3G technologies to support download speeds of up to 3mbps or what you get with a Singnet broadband 3mbps connection. That and the fact its everywhere on the island, wirelessly.

StarHub has been lagging behind in its implementation with not much news till this recent press release on July 31st. They are upping the ante that M1 and Singtel has set by offering both high speed up and dowlink access, hence HSPA.

Along with that comes a revised pricing structure for its mobile data plans. $68 a month for unlimited high speed data access is a steal compared to the other telcos save for the fact that StarHub’s reputation of reception quality ain’t that good compared, once again, to the other 2 telcos.

Its remains to be seen how real world usage will really be like. Still, I’m anticipating it with bated breath cause my phone’s already 3.5G ready and the introduction of higher download speeds is a reprieve from the spotty 3G reception since I got it.

Also this might be widely off, but can I speculate that perhaps the iPhone exclusive rights in Singapore will go to StarHub? I mean, AT&T in the States had to buck up their EDGE networks for better bandwidth and performance because of Apple, perhaps this is a sign!

Its August 2nd today, 2 more days!