beautiful women #6 : yui aragaki

beautiful women #3 : yui aragak
.. from hottest girls on the interneti

beautiful women #5
beautiful women #5

beautiful women #2beautiful women #5

.. from hottest girls on the internet

beautiful women #3 : Marisa Miller
beautiful women #4 : Marisa Miller

+ iPod, minus clothing

sports illustrated swimsuit model Marisa Miller

+ iPod, minus clothing.. from hottest girls on the internet

Beautiful
Beautiful women #3

Beautiful women #4

.. from hottest girls on the internet

beautiful women #2: Haruka Ayase

.. from hottest girls on the internet

beautiful women #1: Sora Aio

beautiful women #1: Sora Aoi

.. from hottest girls on the internet

.. from hottest girls on the internet

.. from hottest girls on the internet

Happy Chinese New Year

Gong Hei Fatt Choi !
(cantonese)

or

Gong Xi Fa Cai!
(if you're mandarin)

Happy Year of the Pig!

Aaah Valentines day... Can you taste the sickly sweetness? yesterday morning I went into work early so I could anoint my girlfriends desk (yes, we work for the same company) with a few little gifts. I sent her some roses too, which arrived around lunchtime (phew, wasn't sure if I'd ordered them too late). I really wanted her to have a great day, and I think she did.

We went out to dinner at Sentidos Tapas at Starhill gallery. It's the second time we've been there, and the service and food has been excellent both times, even on such a trying time as Valentines day. We had to swap lunch restaurants because the first one we went to was just too busy. Everyone is out to impress, it seems. Someone tried to charge me 10RM for a heart shaped balloon. I politely declined.

Some people really get caught up with Valentines day don't they.., it seems to polarise people more than most other celebrations, and i'm not just talking the singles vs. those in a relationship... How often do you hear "everyday should be Valentines day" and other such blah-de-blah. To me that's just another way of people to say "Look how much more special my relationship is than yours".. In short, I think it's rubbish. We should use Valentines day to celebrate love in all it's many manifestations, and while we're at it, celebrate it as a general concept too. In a world where I think it's fair to say we have our fair share of hate, why not lets all get together on one day and try to push things in the other direction for a bit.

Relax.. it's one day a year to spend a little time, effort and yes, perhaps even a little money (shock! horror!) to celebrate a little love. It's entirely possible to celebrate the day without breaking the bank anyway. The fact that many people bring up the fact of the economic cost of Valentines day I believe is part of the issue. So what, it costs money. It's only money. Nobody makes you spend it, and if you're in a relationship where somebody does, then perhaps it's time to do a little soul searching before NEXT Feb 14.

And gee, even if you're single, doesn't mean that you can't do something to spice up the day, spread rose petals on the footpath near your house or something. I think it's a cancer of our modern society that we won't do something unless someone, usually ourselves, benefits in a way other than just a feeling of a job well done.

People (at least those lucky enough to be capable of celebrating Valentines day) often hoard money as part of that struggle, not for general wellbeing, but as more often a measurement of how much higher up the tree we are from our fellow man. Why not spend a little of that to celebrate a little communal love (not neccessarily in that way, you sick perve ... You know what I mean).

Go for it, live a little.
Do something that the only reward is that warm fuzzy feeling. Buy a gift for someone and deliver it to them anonymously... and NEVER tell them or anyone that it was you. It's things like that that brighten not just someones day, but brightens their life and puts just that little bit extra spring in their step. And hey, maybe it'll put a little spring in your step too.

It's true we don't need a particular day to do these things, but isn't it great that we do?

d
r
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~ Fixing what's badly broken ~

... a necessarily long, but very interesting read about the issues surrounding DRM (digital rights management) in the music industry.


"This week Apple CEO Steve Jobs suggested that it would be a good idea to get rid of DRM. A great idea that most of us, except the RIAA, probably agree with. If the music industry ever wants to significantly reduce piracy, they need to offer a product that is at least equal in quality to pirated copies, and DRM supported music isn’t.

The New York based intellectual property law attorney Bennett Lincoff shares this opinion and suggests a licensing system that would benefit both consumers and the music industry."

... read on

"Happy Yoga"

"...if I'm happy I'm alert, I'm happy I'm alert.."

"if you come today"

The only tools you'll ever need...

Missing for 25 years after getting on wrong bus

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A 76-year-old Malay Muslim woman from southern Thailand who got on the wrong bus 25 years ago and ended up living at the other end of the country has been reunited with her family, officials and domestic media said on Tuesday.

Unable to speak, read or write Thai, Jaeyaena Beuraheng boarded a bus in Malaysia thinking it was bound for Narathiwat, one of three Muslim-majority provinces in Buddhist Thailand's far south.
Instead, she ended up 1,200 km (750 miles) to the north in Bangkok. Her predicament grew worse when she boarded a bus she thought was heading south only to end up in Chiang Mai, another 700 km to the north, the Nation newspaper reported.

...via the scotsman

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e
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Comet Between Fireworks and Lightning

"Sometimes the sky itself is the best show in town. On January 26, people from Perth, Australia gathered on a local beach to watch a sky light up with delights near and far. Nearby, fireworks exploded as part of Australia Day celebrations. On the far right, lightning from a thunderstorm flashed in the distance. Near the image center, though, seen through clouds, was the most unusual sight of all: Comet McNaught. The photogenic comet was so bright that it even remained visible though the din of Earthly flashes. Comet McNaught continues to move out from the Sun and dim, but should remain visible in southern skies with binoculars through the end of this month. The above image is actually a three photograph panorama digitally processed to reduce red reflections from the exploding firework."

Credit & Copyright: Antti Kemppainen

Google today unveiled Google Maps Australia, an online mapping service providing Australian business listings and driving directions that are accessible from a PC or mobile phone.

Until now, the website simply provided flat street maps and satellite images, but the upgrade today means it now offers virtually identical functionality to its US counterpart.

For example, entering a keyword such as "electrician", followed by a suburb, returns a list of nearby electricians.

Alternatively, users can search for specific businesses, and their locations are then displayed on a map that can be overlayed with driving directions from any given point.

Carl Sjogreen, a senior product manager at Google, said that, in addition to basic contact information and street addresses, the business listings also included "richer information that we get from the web", such as hours of operations, the types of payment the business accepts and even whether or not there is a wireless hotspot on the premises.

All of the information can be accessed from either a PC or a mobile phone, provided the latter is equipped with the free Google Maps Mobile application.

Google is providing the service at no cost to either businesses or users, but business owners looking to add or modify their own listings must first verify themselves with Google.

"We send a postcard to the business address with a little number on it and you just type that number in on our website," said Mr Sjogreen when describing the verification process.

He added that, even though the service was free, Google planned to earn revenue from it by including "sponsored links" next to search results, as it does with its regular search engine.

But Google's expansion of its online mapping service into Australia appears to be belated, as Microsoft has offered similar functionality through its Live Local website for about a year, according to Microsoft Australia online services manager Harvey Sanchez.

Google will also compete with the online version of the Yellow Pages run by Testra's Sensis arm, which offers business listings and driving directions using maps provided by sister service WhereIs.com.

from smh

Amazing accordion chair!

...I want one of these.

~:: The Ancient Art of Japanese T-shirt folding ::~

...if you haven't already seen this, then watch it.
if you've seen it before... then watch it again.

Excellent Dilbertness

Just discovered WorldChanging, a fantastic site about the many ways that smart green technology is improving the quality of life for all of us, including those in the poorest of situations.


"the future is unfolding in places which have mobile phones but still rely on the arrival of the caravans, which sell computer chips in souks and bazaars, where the sandalwood incense burns in five hundred year old temples but videogame championships are broadcast on TV. A bright green future will smell of curry and plantains, soy sauce and chipolte, and sound more like Moroccan rap and twangy Mongol pop than Mozart."


...An inspiring read. Highly recommended.

A trip to Genting Highlands

Today is Federation day in KL, which is one of many translations of "public holiday" into bahasa. My gf and I spent it at Genting Highlands, which is billed as the city of entertainment. Genting is 2km above sea level, so the entire place is engulfed in cloud and fog. I did some research beforehand regarding bus times and ticket counters and so forth, of course, in true KL style, this information was actually completely useless in practical KL terms.

One thing I found interesting was that at Pudu Raya bus terminal, there are people who will actively try to convince you of the benefits of the destination they are peddling tickets towards.

Now, personally, if I find myself in a bus terminal, I've already made up my mind where I am going... the likelyhood of someone changing my mind so I end up going to a different destination instead is very very low. Perhaps that's just me being a stubborn 'qwai lo' ? Maybe it would be really healthy to just turn up and see where I get off a bus? We'll see.

We went ten-pin bowling after lunch as my gf had not tried it before. She rewarded my suggestion by soundly kicking my ass. Beginners luck I say ;).

If it happens next time I will come up with another excuse.

The bus trip up the mountain was pretty and green, and took place at a speed that buses do not negotiate mountain paths in Australia. I wasn't concerned, I know the laws of physics are different here. After about 45 mins on the bus we arrived at the Skycar station for our final ascent up to the Genting centre itself.

The view from the Skycar was beautiful, alternatively by what we both could and couldn't see... at times the forest below was a sea of green, a few minutes later this all being replaced by a surrounding of cloud that obscured everything... even the Skycar capsule in front of us.