what the hell is Facebook playing around?

@ gawker.com

• Below my name at the top of the profile comes a Wikipedia-like mini-biography of my life:

• Deploying the SAME SMALLER FONT SIZE on the profile pages. I find myself squinting to read the updates whilst the friends’ name are bold, far clearer and occupying great spaces in the left hand side.
• Mixing up everything around in both sides. I again find myself hunting when doing sth.
• I myself find it irritating when FaceBook sports an “infinite scroll” feature of all the photos I’m tagged in. No doubt, FB pages seem nicer with an emphasis on images. However, my “Photos” page now seem to become to Google images searching page with keywords: “H**ng H*u Th*nh” LOL
• The layout and navigation are no longer user-friendly since it has to share too much spaces for images. To post a short message in my friend wall, I have to click many buttons. Wait, see, the ever ambiguous POKE function is “promoted” with great prominence!! (in the upper-right of the profile next to the “message” button)

WikiLeaks remarks

WikiLeaks – “the biggest intelligence leak in history”, begins its shocking diplomatic disclosures by the tag-line: We help you safety get the truth out.

Remarks: WikiLeaks’ leaked documents have been causing a lot of surprises and interests by revelations that…. there is “an intriguing alliance between Berlusconi and Putin”; German Chancellor Angel Merkel is one who “avoids risks and is rarely creative”; members of the British royal family had “inappropriate behaviour”. Hold on, there are more interesting ones:

• ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is “feckless, vain and ineffective as a modern European leader”, whose “frequent late nights and penchant for partying hard mean he does not get sufficient rest”.
• RUSSIAN President Dmitry Medvedev is “pale and hesitant” and plays Robin to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s Batman.
• NORTH Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il is a “flabby old chap” who suffers from “physical and psychological trauma”.
• LIBYAN leader Muammar Gadaffi is “strange” and “accompanied by (a) voluptuous blonde Ukranian ‘nurse'”.

Before moving on, it’s important to know that: Although many are classified as “confidential”; some “secrets”, a large number of cables are, in reality, incomplete, unclassified, and untrustworthy; plenty of them are first impressions and gossips. Why? Some legitimate reasons are coming here and there:

Diplomats are, albeit clever and better resources than journalists, just human. They do make mistakes! (And it’s somewhat acceptable). Many cables are faithfully recorded. As a result, they are sometimes left with egg all over their faces when reporting some ill-informed gossips.

Diplomats are duty-bound to pass on everything they hear and observe. Sometimes they let analysis and assessment come later. Sometimes reports are thoroughly out of business as NYT pointed out.

Diplomats, in some countries, are not particularly high up the pecking order nor in the loop quite as much as they may hope they are.

Therefore, please bear in mind that all of these documents are just the WORK OF DIPLOMATS (what they have to do)! In fact, “We were never going to learn very much of substance from diplomatic cables, as diplomats are merely ornaments, the eunuchs in the room. If you want secrets that show something about power, you want to hear from the people who arrange the hit squads – not the people who arrange the cocktail parties.” (Andrew Orlowski @ theregister)

This material, in brief, turns out to be utterly trivial and inconsequential. On one hand, it leaves nothing for everyone to learn, apart from entertainment. On the other hand, it strongly affects the entire world diplomatic relations by revealing not only the first glimpse of U.S against others, but also among others, of course, in the partisan view of US – well, US diplomats (!!), to be precise!

In conjunction with threatening disclosures in Pak-Saudi (Pakistan and Saudi Arabia), China – US, Turkey – US relations (and many more), it’s striking that leaked dispatches also show Beijing is frustrated with military actions of “spoiled child” and increasingly favors reunified Korea.

These massive leak of secret US cables are so appalling that they have been dubbed humorously yet seriously as the 9/11 of world diplomacy! Perhaps WikiLeaks’s gone too far away from their main aim – as listed in their website (wikileaks.org): give people around the world an unprecedented insight into the US Government’s foreign activities. Owing to lots of “additional” “off-topics” and trivia, we have reasons to suspect their purposes…

Spoiled children are mother’s faults

No sooner had the shocking disclosures, allegedly stolen by an American Army intelligence analyst, released than many country representatives and Presidents expressed their frustrations and irritations against these documents. Sympathized replies, if any, are just again diplomatic! In return, embarrassed American have given their heartfelt apologies all around the world. A great deal of acute pains – doubts, misunderstanding as well as embarrassments have been caused by the so-called ‘WikiLeaks’ organization, led by the guy named Assange.

This guy has smartly utilized the so-called “equality and freedom” to fight back against its most advocate (US). He’s absolutely brilliant. In fact, the name “Julian Assange” is being hailed worldwide by different kinds of people, including Ecuador Deputy Foreign Minister (who offered him home) and those who feel interested in the trivia he’s provided. But are what he’s done really great as its first glances?

Unanticipated Effects

“The longer that Wikileaks continues to pump out trivia, and governments issue their theatrical, orchestrated cries that the sky is falling, the longer we’re left in the dark.” Andrew Orlowski, yet again, expresses his worry about the leaked documents.

In deed, though we haven’t seen any direct loss or damage of lives due to the exposure of WikiLeaks documents so far, effects and results of the issue are out of control and remains unknowable. There is in all likelihood a lag between the sensational revelations and jeopardy in reality.

One thing the experts appear to agree on is that “the leaks will make it more difficult for US diplomats and human intelligence operatives to do their jobs. Although that does not present an immediate threat to American lives, strained international relations may create a more dangerous world” (Katie Connolly @ BBC) “They embarrass governments with which the US co-operates. At the very least, they will make governments like Pakistan and Yemen and others, which are collaborating with the US in the battle against terrorism, more reluctant to co-operate. It’s harming some of the vital activities that the US government, the UK government or others engage in, which are protecting us against terrorism.” Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, added.

Returning to China – North Korea story, the public still remain skeptical about the “spoiled child” or “reunified Korean” tale that the documents revealed. Despite of this, the fact that such headlines as “China’s ready to abandon North Korea” or “Guesses on North Korea” appear all over newspapers is really terrifying any pacifists around the world: That the North is on the verge of collapsing. That his one and only one friend is planning on what to do hereafter. That his best friend is ready to see him dead …

We’re still left in confusion whether Assange is saving the world, or destroying international relations!? At the moment, the later seems more obvious!!

We want more than just trivia!

One of the most hitherto damaging and shocking documents is a directive issued by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to diplomats ordering them to spy on top UN officials including Ban Ki-Moon. Because of this – which Assange claims to be in violation of the international covenants to which the U.S. has signed up, WikiLeaks founder has called for Clinton to quit! A harsh lesson will be learned by US that they must be much, much better in their mechanisms for democratic accountability as well as foreign policy… However, it would have been much more impressive if Assange revealed more concerned information as Cryptome operator John Young has suggested, including:

War plans of all nations, for and against one another

Files of billionaire political meddlers

Files of the major world banks and their attorneys …

I tend to agree with Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who in 1971 released the Pentagon Papers which detailed government lies and cover-ups in the Vietnam War, that to a certain extent, “lives are at stake as a result of the silences and lies which a lot of these leaks reveal”. But as mentioned, not only trivia the recent released information is, but it also looks as if it’s already been heavily filleted. Notably, revelations about Syria and especially Israel are conspicuous by their absences.

Verdict

There is no doubt about WikiLeaks’s great purposes since its launch in 2006. However, the aim of this biggest diplomatic strike ever is confused. Who and what are causes? What are their real purposes? Who benefits? Is there really a mastermind behind Assange? If so, Who are they?…

Anyway, it’s not a great way to begin a story unless there is an obvious purpose behind.

Interesting links:

Comment: Don’t get me wrong, I generally support Assange’s actions, his courage and philosophy. Just regret if only the information could have selected more careful…

Money won’t make you rich

I had two father, a rich one and a poor one. Both offer me advices, but not the same things – one of the rich man, and one of the poor man. The problem was, the rich man was not rich yet and the poor man not yet poor!* (“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” – Robert Kiyosaki)

Nowadays, people are highly obsessed with money and … money ($). With “How to make money”; “How to earn more, work less”; “Make money fast, get rich quick” and many, many more, MONEY has become a buzzword. Because of its high profile, money is also at the heart of many debates over the notions of wealth. “Will money make us rich?” is one of those…

Money is inherent in everyone’s life. We all want it. But will money really make us rich? Contrary to popular belief, the answer is probably and surprisingly NO. This article will go further and give you an intriguing point of view about the paradoxical question.

Although it’s a bit long, I hope you enjoy and benefit from it.

Rich!? Say it Right!

By convention ‘Rich’ means having a lot of money. The rich likewise are those who have a lot of money and properties. Truth be told, many so-called “rich people”, who earn and possess plenty of money, can’t stop working. Some even have to work harder! In contrast, many people who live “normal” lives enjoy doing what they love without working nor worrying about money. In other words, they’re financially independent! Are those two kinds of people different? Are those “rich” people whom we desire to become? Probably not.

Until now rich is always accompanied by money and money alone. Is it the time for us to give “rich” a better definition, a better name which doesn’t just sound right? Well, financial Freedom!? Why not? Who dare claim those with financial freedom don’t possess lots of money? If so, should a person have financial freedom first before being considered rich?
Keeping this in mind, money won’t make you rich. But the lack of money makes you poor!

Money is essentially important:

• Many people are dying of starvation in Africa because they can’t afford food and medical services.
• Many kids are growing up with low self-esteem because they don’t have what they deserve.
• Many marriages are broken because of stresses and arguments over the lack of money.

and many, many more examples…

Zig Ziglar once said “Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the ‘gotta have it’ scale!” Yes, money is undoubtedly indispensable. But…

Money won’t make you rich

Many people are taught and believe that money will make them rich. That is the reason why they all go to school, getting good grades to go on to University; getting good grades to become doctors, lawyers and other professionals that will earn them a lot of money (have you well followed this path?). They think the more money they earn, the richer they become. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work out that way. To illustrate, let’s me give you an example:

Let’s say, you income is ($) A. You also work part-time at night. So you multiply your income by 1.5 times. What’s more, you’re fortunately promoted for your hard working. Altogether all your income is 2*A.

Money won’t make you rich. Your “stupid emotion” and ignorance about money likewise make you not rich!

the fear

It’s the fear of not having enough money for paying bills, taxes, daily expenses, etc. that makes most of people working hard from day to day. The same fear makes them stressed all nights yet try waking up early to earn few bucks everyday. Some realize that hard and boring work, but keep working because of the same fear – the fear of not having enough money!! That old fear continues to scare them, make them stick to their work, hoping (in vain) that money will calm their fears. But it doesn’t! “Fear has them in this trap of working, earning money, working, earning money, again hoping the fear will go away. But everyday they get up, that old fear wakes up with them…” (Robert Kiyosaki). A vicious circle continues without ends. Their fears make money be running, controlling their lives. Thus if you continue to be afraid of money, you would become a slave to money.

… and greed

Money, in short, will not solve our problems. And if you don’t first handle that fear and greed about money, once you somehow get rich, you’ll only be a high-paid slave of money – no more, no less! (Robert Kiyosaki) The examples keep coming around. I know a friend who keep working hard even though he has plenty. Additionally and amazingly, there are many so-called “rich people” actually living fearful lives. They did think that money could eliminate the fear of not having money, of being poor. Now they’re, albeit rich, terrified of losing it – losing their money, their cars, their houses, their luxuries.. Some are even more afraid and scared now than when they were poor, although they look rich and have plenty of money.
Basically Ignorance causes Fear. But in many cases, the reverse also holds true. It’s the “ancient fear” that makes many so-called “highly educated people” fall into the trap of “money emotion” that they may never be able to escape!

Conclusion

You may now have a lot or just very little of money. But the fact is that money itself won’t make you rich. The ability to manage money will make you rich instead. Knowing what to do with your money determines how hard it will work for you. With a strong financial literacy, just a little bit of money can work very hard for you. Otherwise, you have to work for it (because it’s very important). Once you work for money, it’s very hard for you to stop working for it! Do remember, the rich never work for money! (Robert Kiyosaki) Sunday Adelaja in his same-title-book also confirms that: “It is time for people everywhere to understand that money will not make us rich, and it will not make us happy. True prosperity will come when we know the laws of money and learn how to abide by them – You can control your money without letting it control you”…

True Prosperity comes in

Heath and Happiness are the keys to true success and prosperity

We’ve tried to give a better name for “rich”. How about prosperity? What’s true prosperity? Do prosperity simply mean rich? Well, as someone has said- and I tend to 100% agree that if you wanna be truly prosperous, you must be:

1. Healthy
2. Happy
3. Wealthy

Two out of three are not bad (for many people, one is even enough!!). But true prosperity, I believe, takes all three!

“If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it” – John D. Rockefeller (the richest person in the history of mankind)

–

* Most of the quotes cited above are paraphrased
* You can read its previous version here.

Rewrite some ideas/sentences; but I’m kinda amazed that I could write this article at that time  (Review on March, 15, 12, April 14, 2013)

The Future of English

One of the many predictions about the future of English is that the language as we know will be spoken only by a minority of English speakers. Indeed, it is predicted that by 2020 only 15 percent of English speakers will be natives. The Standard English would be diverse as many other Englishes are being formed all the time. Singlish in Singapore is the epitome.

During 146 years (1819–1965) under British colonial rule, the Standard English in Singapore had always been British English. However, no sooner had Singapore declared independence in 1965 than English in Singapore began to take a life of its own, leading to the development of modern day Singapore Standard English. Singapore Standard English began to take root and the so-called “Singlish” began to evolve among the working classes who learned English without formal schooling. As Creolization has occurred, Singlish is nowadays a fully formed, stabilized, and independent English-based Creole language. Some scholars believe that Singlish indicates the way wherein future Englishes will develop.

To illustrate the point, in terms of vocabulary, some words obviously come from English, for example, blur (confuse). But others may come from Malay and Hokkien. Makan, meaning “to eat”, and Nia, meaning “only” are exemplary words from Malay and Hokkien respectively. Some of these words now become an integral part of Singapore Standard English. In terms of grammar, subject – verb agreement and tenses are matters of choice, and what is more, “to be” can be optional. The phrase “I not so old lah, I 18 nia.” exemplifies the point. Some of the so-called “sophisticated” grammars such as word inversion and question tag are also omitted in colloquial language. There is a little wonder that such phrases like “You’re from where?” and “She love him, is it?” become more and more ubiquitous. In this case, “Is it” implies that speakers are simply confirming something they have already inferred. The more English spreads, the more it diversifies, the more it could tend toward fragmentation. Just as Latin, which once ruled over a great linguistic empire, does split into French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian and Catalan, so may the future of English be not as a single language but as a parent of a family of languages. There would be not only Singlish but also Chinglish, Hinglish or Spanglish.

Some researchers believe that the future of English will be shaped by persons who speak English as a second language – those who vastly outnumbers the native speakers. It is striking that whereas the standard English talk about something or discuss something, almost foreign English speakers discuss about something. Perhaps even words considered mispronounced or misspelling would take their place in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). In Korea,Taiwan and elsewhere, for instance, a product is a produk. In Singapore and Australia, purchase is pronounced as “pɜːˈtʃeis”. Likewise, the complicated English tag system, do you? don’t you? have you? haven’t you? – will, in all likelihood, be simplified. It is supposed that is it or nesspa ( form the French n’est ce pas or isn’t it) could supplant all of them.

Nowadays, the advent of online and mobile communication will only serve to speed up the process of diverging English. Text English, for instance, has emerged as the more comprehensible English for its users and therefore being influential on the future of the language. ‘I love you ‘ now becomes more prevalently the text, i luv u; ‘going to’, gonna and so forth. Here comes a word recently accepted by the OED, tweet (or twitter) – a message sent using the Twitter social networking service. Another new word is google, meaning to find information about something or somebody using the search engine Google. It may be generalized as “to search for information on the web, particularly by using the Google search engine; to search the web for information related to a new or potential girlfriend or boyfriend”!? These following words may also be embraced in the OED in the near future.

macbook: a slim and well-designed laptop, particularly one from Apple
cyberskiver: a person who surfs the Internet while supposedly being at work
e-employee: an employee who works at home through a personal computer

*Get ideas n inspiration from the same topic in Strait Times

What’s love?

A student asks a teacher, “What is love?”

The teacher said, “in order to answer your question, go to the wheat field and choose the biggest wheat and come back. But the rule is: – you can go through them only once & cannot turn back to pick.”

The student went to the field, go thru first row, he saw one big wheat, but he wonders….may be there is a bigger one later. Then he saw another bigger one… but may be there is an even bigger one waiting for him.

Later, when he finished more than half of the wheat field, he starts to realise that the wheat is not as big as the previous one he saw, he knew he has missed the biggest one, and he regretted.

So, he ended up went back to the teacher with empty hand. The teacher told him, “…this is love… you keep looking for better ones, but when later you realise, you have already missed the person ….”*

“What is marriage then?” the student asked.

The teacher said, “in order to answer your question, go to the corn field and choose the biggest corn and come back. But the rule is: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick.”

The student went to the corn field, this time he is careful not to repeat the previous mistake, when he reach the middle of the field, he
has picked one medium sized corn that he felt satisfied, and came back to the teacher.

The teacher told him, “this time you bring back a corn…. you look for one that is just nice, and you have faith and believe this is the best one you get…. this is marriage.”

“What have you learned?”

• “(Microsoft) Windows is extremely fast after a fresh install. If you want to make it stay that way: – don’t use it!!” (use Linux instead!!!)
• Know how to justify a doc in M.Office. haha

• How to come home in the shortest way after getting lost…
• Don’t put your loves into a stack!
• Oh, I haven’t learned so much in my dear subj 🙁

• “Life is not fair, get used to it!” (though I believe life itself is absolutely fair!)
• If I copy information from one source (without credits), it’s called “Plagiarism“. But if I copy from multiple sources, it’s called “Research“!?
• “Talk is cheap!!” (yah, almost all ppl can talk the talk)

• How time is wasted and how long it is!!
• “There is always one more imbecile (as well as genius) than you counted on”.
• How stupid I was and I am!

• Evaluated some kind of input.
• Read, Copied and pasted; Read, copied and … 😀
• Wrote my most professional journal and many “useful” articles 🙂
• “Tricked n Cheated” !?

• Absent all deadlock lessons
• Absent only few days
• Spent too much time out-of-interest!!
• Didn’t do any/many useful things (in different areas)

30 things every man should do by 30

Hope it helps!