mrbrown Satire Video

I have just discovered a brilliantly funny video satiring the mrbrown saga (yes a saga muhaha).



This video was produced by cloudywind. Kudos for the funny work!

---

Technorati Tags : mrbrown Saga Satire Video, Youtube

My Desktop

Here's a low-res picture of my desktop, which I believe is more optimised than most people's.

The icons are arranged very logically. The left side is populated by links of high importance (like recycle bin, My Computer) and low usage. The right side is basically the things I use daily.

For example, I can access any drive on my computer via the top right row. The next row is even more useful, because I can access all the folders where I keep my stuff ( I estimate that at least 75% of my desktop clicks are on this row). The next few rows are by sorted by function; multimedia software, internet software , games etc.

This arrangement allows me to do whatever I want very quickly. It also looks less cluttered than the normal windows arrangement, which just piles all icons on the left side of the screen.

I will reveal my web brower setup sometime later, which is also rather efficient for surfing. As a sidenote, it is rather interesting that I tagged this post as 'Productivity Tips', because all it allows me to do is to waste time more efficiently. Hmmm...

---

Technorati Tags : Desktop Arrangement , Productivity Tips

What Colour is a Mammoth ??

By examining the DNA extracted from a mammoth bone, researchers have determined the colour of the fur coats of woolly mammoths. This is simply amazing!


I wonder what is next thing they are going to do. Are they going to clone the mammoth (which may be technically impossible for now) ?

Some links and further reading:
BBC article on Mammoth Colour
Article on Mammoth Cloning
Another one on Cloning

** As a disclaimer, I don't think Jurassic Park will happen yet. There's a lot of difference between 65 million years and the Ice Age.

Although I think that perhaps Dodos are better targets for cloning than mammoths.

---

Technorati Tags : Science News , Mammoth Fur Colour , Cloning Mammoths

To Interpret

We always interpret. That smile from the cute girl at the bus stop, that sudden pause in conversation when someone enters the room, the absence of a particular person at a important event. We take all these happenings to mean something, and in our minds we interpret to shed light on characters and events.

He shakes his head. Why? Is he being dismissive? Does he not like? Is he showing disapproval? All are possible interpretations. All are useless, absurd.

It is only human to read deeper into things. I believe that this is a limitation, not a strength.

~~ Wei Liang ~~

---

Technorati Tags : Philosophy , To Interpret

Mr Brown is under attack !! But Relax, guys.

mrbrown was recently criticized in a letter from MICA (Ministry for Information, Communications and the Arts). Since mrbrown is probably one of the most respected bloggers in the Singapore Blogosphere, the letter evoked quite a response from many local bloggers as well. This turn of events is, in my opinion, rather unfortunate. It does little to reconcile both sides (the Govt and the Bloggers), and only succeeds in polarising the already poor relationship between the two.

I understand that I may appear to be wuss or worse, a government lackey, but surely, there must be some more measured and reasoned response to this. We may be enraged, but we must always remain engaged to the issue at hand.

Having said the above, I think it is time to look at MICA's letter and pick out some useful points which we should take note of.

---

I will only look at the later part of MICA's letter, because the earlier half refers only to mrbrown's article which I do not have at hand.

mr brown's views on all these issues distort the truth. They are polemics dressed up as analysis, blaming the Government for all that he is unhappy with. He offers no alternatives or solutions. His piece is calculated to encourage cynicism and despondency, which can only make things worse, not better, for those he professes to sympathise with.

I think MICA is correct in that all political satire tends to breed a sense of cynicism, and also a corresponding lack of faith in the authorities. But it is also valid to note that satire cannot arise from nothing- there must be both an issue to parody and an already-cynical audience. In this sense the question becomes pretty much of an chicken-and-egg problem, which certainly is useless and effort-wasting to even argue about.

What should be clear is that cynicism cannot be fought by clamping down on negative satire. This is foolish and probably only creates more resentment. The Government should focus on fixing the problematic issues, while satirists should not, if possible, bring up issues which are in the process of being fixed. Excessive and unneccessary parody when something is being done is certainly not wanted and only worsens matters.

Besides these points I would also like to question MICA's use of the word 'calculated'.

mr brown is entitled to his views. But opinions which are widely circulated in a regular column in a serious newspaper should meet higher standards. Instead of a diatribe mr brown should offer constructive criticism and alternatives. And he should come out from behind his pseudonym to defend his views openly.

MICA accuses mr brown of not providing useful alternatives and constructive criticism. I agree that a useful political column would not only point out flaws but offer ideas to overcome these problems. But mr brown is a satirist, not a political columnist.

Wikipedia's article on political satire says

By its very nature, it rarely offers a constructive view in itself; when it is used as part of protest or dissent, it tends to simply establish the error of matters rather than provide solutions.

Besides this rather obvious point which MICA seems to have missed, MICA also does not seem to know the true identity of mr brown, which is strange at best.

It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government. If a columnist presents himself as a non-political observer, while exploiting his access to the mass media to undermine the Government's standing with the electorate, then he is no longer a constructive critic, but a partisan player in politics.

I can understand the idealised concept of a newspaper being truly unbiased. The role of a newspaper is to inform, hence letting readers form their own views. But the problem is that sometimes, one cannot raise the awareness of some news issues without appearing to champion the issues themselves. For example, it is very easy to be mistaken for an animal lover when you write about the mistreatment of stray animals.

Another problem which is evident is how everything seems to have to take sides for or against the Government. This kind of thinking is rather George-Bush-ish in nature. One particular quote from a blog stands out in my mind : "If I complain a lousy initiative, I'm a partisan player?"

---

I realise that my analysis seems to be quite violently against MICA's views. But I think this was because the first part of MICA's letter was more reasonable (perhaps?).

In anycase just relax, people. Although from the 42 trackbacks on Tomorrow.sg I don't think that many are relaxing.

---

Technorati Tags : Singapore Politics , MICA letter , mr brown

Transformers are coming !

There will be a live action movie for Transformers. It will be released in one year's time (on Independence Day).

Of course, I think that a live action Transformers movie is almost going to disappoint. But thankfully the robots themselves are not going to be done with actors in boxy suits - that'll certainly cause fans to roll over with mouths foaming- but rather CGI. Still, don't expect too much.

The teaser poster doesn't show any details.



This absence of detail is also reflected in the movie teaser (a pre-trailer, if you will). I think the producers are deliberately keeping all the things secret. In fact, according to the wikipedia article, even the cast of robots is being kept secret.

Hopefully this wasn't done because they did something stupid (like renaming the transformers or changing their robot modes). Anyway the movie teaser can be found at the movie website here.

---

Technorati Tags : Transformers Movie Teaser

Singapore, Politics and Clowns

Increasingly, I think that Singapore needs a few more clowns, a few more jesters, in order to raise a few highly political issues. But of course, the word clown evokes seemingly negative connotations- we are reminded of a person who talks nonsense, someone who cannot be taken seriously. Hence, is it even concievable for a clown to bring up serious issues involving the country? Or am I just talking rubbish?

There are very few people in this country that will stand up openly to point out the flaws in the running of our nation. This might be because of a fear of repercussion (of all sorts, imagined or otherwise). But there is one person who is rather remarkable, in that he made a number of films portraying the Singapore system in a light which might be considered unfavorable, and yet was able to publise the films and win acclaim from the Singapore public, and even the Government. In a sense, it is like slapping a person in the face and yet being praised for it. It is sheer genius.

Now, it may dismay you to know that this 'genius' I am talking about is Jack Neo. Yes, you may cringe at his movies, which tend to be lame, but you have to admit that it is a remarkable proof of concept. We should use humor to sheathe issues which would otherwise be dangerous to point out.

The idea of using satire to disguise political issues is certainly not new. I have just learnt that there was a jester named Stańczyk who used his job to criticize and warn his contemporaries, and whose witty jokes often pertained to current political or court matters. In recent times, there was the Bar Chor Mee satire which was even well recieved (or well tolerated) by some government figures. It appears, then, that humor is a good way for people to talk about important issues without any fear of being dealt with.

I must admit, though, that in a truly mature society the use of humor in such a fashion may be redundant. It may even tend to trivialise the issued so parodied. But in a less than mature society, any publicity of the issues tends to be for the better rather than for the worse.

Hence, to the clowns !

---

Technorati Tags : Singapore Politics , Clowns and Jesters , Parody and Satire