Cannibal Corpse

Yes, the band who got their big break owing to Jim Carey and his movie Ace Ventura (watch the movie again if you can't remember, it's a good show anyway.) in which they were featured. And here's more of their funny parodies:



So, as you see, Death Metal isn't all that bleak after all. Hahahaha!



here's Lorie vs Cannibal Corpse. I seriously think this is in fact a damn good music video.




Those who're familiar with all that fuss made by Australians concerning them coming to tour there, should find this video familiar. This video was aired on their National TV. Hahahaha!



Recording is almost done for AOTS's sophomore album "Era of The Apostate". It was a lot more draining than I expected it to be. I'm totally exhausted as hell. But so far the sound has been amazing! Can't wait to hear the final product after all the mixing and mastering. This is so going to be kickass, I'm surprised.

To all the scene kids....

Wanna know why Singapore music scene can never make it, and never will?
Watch and find out why!

Random Instances

As usual, stumbled upon these stuffs by chance.

Dog That Sneezes On Command


This dog is cool as hell, I'd love to have one like that.


A date with iJustine: net_work


Another random one, it did make me laugh a little bit.

Dozing off never looked this good...

I'm pretty much a dog person, and white tigers would probably be the only bunch of cats that would ever attract me (and most normal baby cats too but that's becoz they all look like tigers when they're babies don't they). But what you're about to see is very, very, human:





Maybe if all students look this cute dozing off in classes, lecturers and teachers would appreciate it more. XD

calcutta delhi chapatti

I'm telling you man... there's nothing like Indians gone wild!










Brilliant fella, but the last video seems cut out a lot and I couldn't find the full-length. There's gotta be one somewhere out there...

Welcome to the Slaughterhouse!

Yes, another killer dining experience!!!

Thursday night Xepher and I were out, like any other chill-out sessions. And again, the last stop was HMV at The Heeren. Or so we thought. It appears that Konqueror Records have done a distribution deal with HMV, and their CDs are now sold there for suprisingly reasonable prices (as low as $14.95 for EPs, not more than $27.00 for full-length album. I almost jumped when I got my copy of Imperious Malevolence, Impending Doom, and Eternal Devastation new albums. kickass must-have new releases!!). The counter at level 2 was already closed then, so I went down to pay for my items, and back up as he was still there trying CDs. I got back on level 2 and there I saw Radok, frontman of Dark Savior (now known as Saitan), the band who opened for Mayhem when they played here. It's been a long while since we last met, and he only learnt of my involvement in Impiety after reading Metal Maniacs in which I was mentioned. So we chatted for a bit before we went on separate ways. Or so we thought, again.

Before crossing the traffic light we bumped onto each other once more and he asked where we were heading to, and we were thinking of having some coffee before heading back home. He invited us to CHICAGO'S STEAKHOUSE where he's working now as the manager. Yes, wow... metalhead manager sia. And all his brothers (who're also the band members), even his wife, were working there (it feels almost as if it's their family's business. LOL!!! And they do have plans to open up their own restaurant one day). They open till 1am normally and 2am in weekends and holidays.

Located right next to Subway at Cineleisure (in case all you blind cows never noticed), the place scared me a little to be honest. It looks like an expensive place, and I didn't have much cash left. The moment I stepped in Radok got everyone out of the kitchen to greet me like I'm some VIP. That was quite embarrassing (plus he introduced me as Impiety ex-drummer and I'm not used to that), all other guests were looking. They got us a good spot, and I was still feeling uneasy, until I saw the menu. Renhao, Graham, this is where we're going next!! Hahahahaha! XD

All items are nicely priced, reasonable and affordable. Soup is good (goes as cheap as only $3.90.... in a fuckin' restaurant... can you believe that?!), baked rice and pasta not bad, the lobster salad was killer!! And their steak... don't get me started man... That shit got me visiting back for the next 2 consecutive days, ordering the same exact thing!!! Metalheads will be metalheads wherever they work man, the way they pour the wine over the meat, and the blazing inferno that goes up fuckin' high without giving a shit if the customer's face would get burnt (HAHA!!!), as if it was pyros from Gorgoroth live show (which is something they like a lot. They're the same notorious bunch who hired strippers during their live set. Considering it's Singapore, I salute them for their guts and balls of steel!).

The beer there is cheap too, $20.90 per jug for Heineken (didn't bother to look at Tiger. Why would I do that anyway). And goodness, their Crepes and Brownies... try bringing your date there. She'll be the one proposing to you on the spot. Their finger food like seafood platters, fried calamari, etc. were awesome with or without beer. But the main killer besides the steaks were the beer-battered fish'n'chips. They fuckin' use Baron's Strong Brew!!! yes, Baron's on your fish... and I've never seen fish so well-fried it's not even oily, and the fried skin sticks so strongly onto the meat. That's a middle-finger up Brewerkz's ass.

On top of it all, when we were the only customer left they stopped the CD, plugged in their MP3 players, and blast all sorts of extreme metal classics you can imagine. Without giving regards to any passers-by or shops who're still open. They were blasting it like how Shyaithan would do in his shop after hours when the whole building is pretty much closed. Mayhem, Deicide, Vital Remains, Kreator, goes on and on till they're tired then they close shop. Madness!!

One thing I'd only complain about is the fact that they refused to let us pay the first time we got there, and they were giving a lot of extra things we didn't even order. Everything on them. I felt so bad the next night I visit, I gave them a copy of AOTS debut album and the new promo. This time Radok's wife purposely shifted a customer just so we can have the best seat, and she was addressing me as "Sir Hans"; something I haven't been called since my military band days. That got me a little uneasy too. Renhao if you're reading this, remember the big sized tattooed guy with the model-height girlfriend in our campus? yes they were there too that night and they were shocked how I was treated like King there. The ultimate was when they came over to the table with the CD, asking for signature. All other customers literally stopped what they were doing and just watch. This time round they let us foot the bill but they minus off some items, which is still not very nice. And because of that Xepher refused to go back there after watching Resident Evil (which sucked ass big time. Fuckin' waste of money and time!). They asked for AOTS band t-shirts too so they can wear when they go jamming. I didn't know what to say. lol!!

Saturday night Ah Pek called me out after a nice massage and I brought him back to the same place. We literally stayed there the whole night. 8pm to 2am till they close. He was going ga-ga when he saw the menu. He was like "my girlfriend will flip when I bring her here". See, told ya. Hahahaha! That whole night we were just eating and drinking, then come 1am they started blasting metal again, don't care if most shops were still open (saturday mah). And again this time, they minus off some items. This time we tried all we can to make them let us pay... to no avail. They just kept giving us the horn sign and say "Anything for our underground brothers!! All we ask for is for you guys to come more often and bring all your friends here! We'll be more than happy!!" (that was a really clever use of persuasion technique. Maybe other restaurants should start doing this to keep all their customers to themselves. LOL!!!).


And so, a new kamp has been found. The Botak Jones Death Squad now has a new division: The Slaughterhouse Extreme Elites!!



p.s. Basket... I just realized how long this entry really is... Renhao you got a new competitor! Hahahaha!! well, I haven't blogged for a while...

Into The Blazing Krematoria!!!

Mantis Meal


Stumbled upon this utterly ridiculous and stupid video (I couldn't believe I actually watched it) when I logged into AOTS myspace. The caption says "My roommate eating a praying mantis. She'll do pretty much anything for Jesus. Love it!" and apparently 2 guys are gonna join their church if she does it succesfully......


There you go, my friends. Another reason to kill. "anything for Jesus" indeed, why don't you try throwing yourself to the lions, or give yourself a yummy little treat of HIV. It'll be nice for a change. ;)

It's people like this that always have to give a bad name to anything and everything they can ever lay their filthy hands on. Never mind if you're stupid and fugly. You got a decent face, and you seem to have a nice life. Know where such people belong to? The Gas Chamber. That's right, go get your fuckin' self Carbonized! And do that in the name of him as well!






p.s. honestly I couldn't be bothered. But for some reason my fingers got really itchy and couldn't resist. Hahahahaha!! XD I need to jam.

Yankees dine in Hell

So, Saturday evening with nothing better to do, as always, ends up with another makan session. The infiltrated zone this time, is New York New York at City Link Mall. Too colourful a place to dine in. That's what I thought at first. But we ended up whacking it anyway. And then there's the most hellish dining experience anyone could possibly have....

This is 8-inch Giant Yankee Burger enough to feed 4 people, going for $28.90. We took our balls out and have that shit for 2 people, plus a serving of Pepperony Pizza. I swear I'm never gonna bulk order in this place ever again. The conception of western food not being filling generally, has since been broken.

Take a look:



A quarter sliced is lifted to my plate, and I put my fist into the blank area.... It wasn't enough to fill up the entire space!!



And on the plate, it looks like a slice of giant cake... and its so bloody chunky, when I pushed my fork all the way in, the entire head of the fork sank into it!!



with half left, it looked like this...



I decided to lift up a piece of the french fries that came with it. My middle finger was barely half of it... Maybe u guys should try having it more often and see if your dick will grow longer. HAHA!!!



It's a big mistake to have called pepperoni pizza along with this monster. At the end of the meal we were stuffed so bad, we can hardly walk. It hurts every step forward we take. It's fuckin' torturous, seriously. No choice but to let out some of them. From below that is, we're not bulimic. lol! The others had stuff like chicken and seafood and they're quite good as well. Definitely coming back for more, but no more giant yankee! I can't believe they actually issued a challenge on the menu to customers, daring them to finish the entire thing on one's own! Ambulance gotta stand-by somewhere... -_-"

I told you one is never enough!!

Those who still think that "Canon Rock" bullshit is cool, open your eyes and look carefully!!

Final Fantasy Chocobo Theme.... one man on two guitars!!!



And for those who think you're too cool for Doraemon... this is one big middle finger up ur candy ass!




Not to forget Super Mario, done at maximum level...



And yes of course... Canon... yea I'm rubbing it in your face.



Talking classical? Fur Elise for you! (this one is for Renhao. wahahahaha!! :p)



Not forgeting White Christmas...




See wat I told you? No man was born equal...

now it just leaves me wondering how would Paul Gilbert react to this, seeing before his very eyes, merciless double raping of his custom guitars. wahahaha!! The kid needs two signatures on each piece!

Beats and Pieces...

You've seen Super Mario done on piano, guitars, etc etc. Now watch it done on drums.



As if Mario wasn't enough.... Here's The Simpsons for you...




I actually wanted to do this myself. If I had my drums over here, and a good videocam with me, I'd have done it for sure. Trust me, it's MUCH EASIER done on drums! Those who're familiar with my music (i.e. Absence of The Sacred ) would've realised that a lot of the rhythms and fills done on both of these songs are applied in my originals as well. That's my style of playing. In fact I think if I ever get to do these 2 songs, I'd bring it another level up and brutalize it, i.e. add in blastbeats, grinds and hyper pedals. hahaha!

And then there's more... for those who still fail to see the obvious (i.e. that this guy is a metal drummer). Metallica and Dream Theatre Medley!

Absence of The Sacred live video excerpt

Absence of the Sacred LIVE at H.O.D
Uploaded by saito_nagasaki

This is just a live video of us taken at The Gas Haus doing the song "My Vendetta" off the current full-length album, "Atrocities That Birthed Abominations". Just a teaser to show those who haven't been coming what they have been missing out on. A proper Music Video is being planned and most probably we'll do it end of this year after the tours.

Absence of The Sacred is now the resident band for Heart of Darkness held every Wednesday evening at The Gas Haus. Two slots of shows are being done each night, with the company of Jack fuckin' Daniels going one-for-one all night long.

(click on picture to enlarge)

Just for laughs...

This woman is simply unbelievable. I'm really loving her already...







Many more videos of her available on YouTube. Should anyone of you know where I can get her DVDs, drop me a line. Thanks! ;)

Bonus Mission #2: Double Life, Double Death?

“But for millions it is more than a game – it’s an escape, an obsession, and a home.” [Levy, 2006]

Just as at every single second a new baby is born, a new “life” is created. Virtually. For anybody who hates their life and need a new life, or a “second life”, they have found a solution to it. Is Second Life just a game then? People are throwing their lives aside to spend large amount of their time on it.

In a blog post by Theory about Second Life residents trying to fight against CopyBots, which allows replications of created items to be made and used without permissions from the original creators. [Lim, 2006] Sounds familiar? Very much like copyright infringement in the real world, doesn’t it? Just from this alone we can derive two things: Firstly, the fact that people do business and Second Life pretty much proves that it is not a game. Secondly, look at how “players” take things seriously. There are even campaigns launched on this game! Does it still look like just a game? It is almost real-life already, the way things are going. Just look at how crazy things have become. People can even create virtual items resembling the real physical object now, for instance, the Gibson Flying V guitar. [Lim, 2006] It would not surprise me when one day people can actually form bands on Second Life, sell records and do shows on it as well.

If there can be an emergence of Chinese gold farmers in World of Warcraft [Jin, 2007], it would be just a matter of time that there are traders like these appearing in Second Life. To these people who find it an extremely hard struggle fighting their way for a place in the corporate ladder or whatever other fields are concerned, this is their source of income and livelihood. Plus the fact that people have been doing business in Second Life, like mentioned earlier, the picture is already clear. In years to come, be not surprised when one strike it big and become rich overnight through this method. It seems to be no joking matter anymore. It is becoming a new reality as time goes by.

While many people on Second Life adopt a different life and identity, there are also people who actually present themselves as who and what they really are in real life. Hence, not everything is anonymous and not all identities are false. In that sense, Second Life is not really just another game. People who are confident enough about themselves actually promote themselves here, and stay true to their true physical self. They also establish real connections on the “game” (notice I have even begun using quotation marks on words like game and players). In this sense, the virtual reality is a reality in itself. To people who do not use any fake identities, they “playing” as themselves and everything is pretty much real (except for maybe when someone hits you in the face. At this point of time we may not be experiencing any physical pain when that happens, but do not be surprised when one day we actually do. You know how crazy technology can develop).

In all due respect, if we look at Second Life just in its physical form, it looks like a game indeed. The interface, the landscape, the controls, the graphics, everything about it says game. But once you are in it, do you really think you are “playing” anymore? I am afraid not. With that said, now it just leaves me wondering about “second death”…


References:

Levy, S. (September 18, 2006). World of Warcraft: Is It a Game? CNBC Newsweek. Retrieved April 7, 2007 from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/print/1/displaymode/1098/

Lim, K. (November 15, 2006). Second Life: CopyBot causes widespread protests among residents. Retrieved April 7, 2007 from: http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=1388

Lim, K. (October 23, 2006). Video: Building a Flying-V Guitar in Second Life (plus Copyright woes). Retrieved April 7, 2007 from: http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=1346

Jin, G. (2007). Chinese Gold Farmers in MMORPGs. Video retrieved April 7, 2007 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEegohRPsqg

QotW9: Stompin' Ground

“Citizen journalism, also known as participatory journalism, is the act of citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information” [Bowman & Willis, 2003]

If the above is how we should define Citizen Journalism, then I guess STOMP is indeed an example of it. In this website, for example, under the section “Singapore Seen”, they carry a slogan that goes, “You generate the contents, you write the reports, you take the photos, you shoot the videos”. This is indeed what Citizen Journalism is about. The public does the jobs of the journalists. The emphasis on “you”, referring to the public, being the ones providing the news, is a tell-tale characteristic.

“The idea behind citizen journalism is that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others.” [Citizen Journalism, 2007] This seems to be the key in Citizen Journalism: it comes from the general public or laymen who are not trained professionals. Most of the submissions of updates, news and podcasts available on STOMP are indeed submitted by this very category of people.

“What will happen when 10 average citizens aim their phones at the stars and zap the images they take to their friends or to websites? Still images are only the beginning; video cameras will be par of our phones soon enough. The paparazzi have better cameras and are better picture-takers, but the swarms of amateur paparazzi will satisfy most of the public’s insatiable hunger for news about their favourite celebrities. And for the people who live in the public eye, that eye will never blink when they’re outside of their homes.” [Gillmor, 2004]

Under the section “Stompcast” audio tracks of interviews or podcasts mainly concerning celebrities and popular figures can be found. A lot of latest news about celebrities is uploaded here and pretty much all of them are submissions made by the public, just like the above-mentioned scenario. We are now living in a “society of voyeurs and exhibitionists” and that “the mass is now the paparazzi”. [Gillmor, 2004]

Apart from being an example of how Citizen Journalism functions, STOMP seems to offer a little more than that. The website also provides a platform for an online community to be formed. Forums are set up and are categorized accordingly. Students can participate in the “campus chit-chat”, females can check out “the tai tai room”, health practitioners can share tips at “the gym”, NS men and regulars can share about their army experiences in “wake up your idea”, gourmets and food lovers can make recommendations in “foodie groupie”, music lovers can gather at “backstage”, and the list goes on. Hence, users are able to interact with people of similar interests, and in a lot of ways it can also work like a gift economy when ideas and tips are shared and helps are rendered to one another.

As to how STOMP can be improved, personally I think that maybe the contents can be further broadened. The way I see it, STOMP currently focuses on a lot of daily stuffs as well as entertainment related things. Other than that, what we get to see on STOMP is mostly sensational news. Perhaps more serious contents (i.e. grounds that newspapers would cover, such as sports news, politics, etc) can be added in, that way participation by the community may be maximized as well, although I think it would not be that easy as Singapore is pretty much notorious when it comes to censorship. With the reason move taken by the government anonymously looking into people’s blogs, freedom of speech is not very much left either. However, in order for one to participate in Citizen Journalism, it does not mean that we have to post radical or controversial contents. Hence, it would still be good for people to contribute more.


References:

Bowman, S., Willis, C. (2003) We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information. The Media Center at the American Press Institute. Retrieved March 30, 2007 from: http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php

Gillmor, D. (July, 2004). We The Media: Grassroots Journalism by The People, for the People. Retrieved March 30, 2007 from: http://download.nowis.com/index.cfm?phile=WeTheMedia.html&tipe=text/html

Citizen Journalism. (2007). Citizen Journalism. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism

Absence of The Sacred interviews and reviews

The latest interview with Focal Pro is up now! Click on the banner above to view it. We're also on the front cover of the latest issue of Aging Youth webzine. Click on the picture below to view it.

An album review has also been uploaded on Metal Archives website. More updates would be posted soon.

Beauty in Darkness...

I'm not that big a fan of Gackt. This guy's got one hell of a killer voice but material wise I'm not very much into his stuff. When it comes to Japanese music I have lots of other preferences, but there's just something that I have to give it to Gackt: his stage presence is heavenly (yes, I actually used that word. Not something that comes out of me very often, and that says a lot!). Watch it yourself, you'll know what I'm talking about.

QotW7: Twitter - Online Community?

What makes up a community? It mostly refers to a sociological group in a large place or collection of people (or other organisms) sharing an environment. [Community, 2007] Judging from such an explanation or definition, does Twitter fit into these criteria? Seems like it does. In Twitter, people are linked to one another sharing an environment, in this case, the networking site itself. Most of the time people are linked to one another based on a similar interest, or any other things that they have in common. In my case, for instance, the people under my Twitter friend list are all BAC students of UB-SIM. That is our similarity.

How Twitter functions is also similar to what we know as Reputation Management, which is the “process of tracking an entity’s actions and other entities’ opinions about those actions; reporting on those actions and opinions; and reacting to that report creating a feedback loop”. [Reputation Management, 2007] What we do in Twitter is basically telling others what we are doing, and others would express their opinions and react to these messages as well, and then we might react to their reactions, hence, forming a cycle.

Fernback and Thompson mentioned in their article that “the structural process that is associated with community is communication. Without communication there can be no action to organize social relations. The intimate nature of this relationship is best illustrated in the words community and communications”. [Frenback & Thompson, 1995] In other words, communication is the key, which is basically what Twitter is all about. Twitter fits in this very description almost literally, as all that we do up there is to tell others what we are doing, describing it in WORDS. And then people respond accordingly: COMMUNICATION. Although Twitter may not have functions as elaborate as compared to Friendster or MySpace, it does serve a very similar purpose when it comes to social interaction and virtual interpersonal relationships. It is pretty much an online community in its own right.

There is a general understanding that in an ideal community, people are supposed to be getting along well with one another, and even help one another whenever needed. Here is a case-study of how people have actually helped one another through Twitter: A guy had lost his wallet and then made a Twitter post about his wallet being missing. The person who found his wallet happened to see his Twitter post about it and because of that, he was able to return the missing wallet to its rightful owner. [Mike, 2007] This may not be a common case that happens everyday, but it does prove a point; that Twitter functions just like a normal community, to the point that someone’s lost item can actually be found through it instead of having to rely on the authorities who would probably take much longer to solve the matter without any guarantee that the item can be found intact as it is.

Now that we have looked at Twitter using the above-mentioned descriptions and definitions, as well as the case study of the anecdotal experience by some users, we can very well sum up that Twitter is indeed an online community.




References:

Fernback J., Thompson B. (May 1995). Virtual Communities: Abort, Retry, Failure? retrieved March 15, 2007 from http://www.rheingold.com/texts/techpolitix/VCcivil.html

Reputation Management. (2007). Reputation Management. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_management

Community. (2007). Community. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community

Mike (March 12, 2007). Release - Lost and Found. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://perpetualbeta.com/release/archives/2007/03/12/lost-and-found/

QotW6 Bonus Mission #1: RJC revisited

"Someday a stranger will read your e-mail, rummage through your instant messages without your permission or scan the Web sites you’ve visited — maybe even find out that you read this story...You might be spied in a lingerie store by a secret camera or traced using a computer chip in your car, your clothes or your skin...Perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills, or a political consultant might select you for special attention based on personal data purchased from a vendor...In fact, it’s likely some of these things have already happened to you...Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen — the 21st century equivalent of being caught naked." [Sullivan, 2006]

A lot of you would have seen this video, or at least heard of the incident that happened back in 2003. A student of Raffles Junior College from PRC was scolded in front of everyone in class, and the tutor made snide remarks at him, went on ticking him off while tearing off his assignment piece by piece. A fellow student "could not take it lying down" (that was what he was quoted to have said in the newspaper, sorry this is an old news and I was unable to find the article itself. Apparently this new got so big it was on the front cover of Home section of The Straits Times) and recorded this footage using his camera phone, and then he posted the video online. Within days, it was circulated all over the country, all students of other JCs know about it, and then the higher-ups of RJC finally got their hands on it as well. This student was later expelled from the college, while the tutor was sent for counseling and made to attend stress-management sessions (if I am not mistaken, do correct me if I'm wrong).

This marks the start of this whole topic of privacy invasion and unethical use of electronic gadgets in Singapore. The government grew concerned about it so much so that such gadgets are banned in all Army premises, and that anyone caught with it would be severly dealt with. In schools and colleges, this issue has since become a hot topic of discussion and examination questions for 'A' Levels General Papers are actually set to this as well. There is basically two sides to this: the first group of people would feel that this is unjustifiable and that voyeurism of such nature should be eliminated. One the other side, a lot of people agree that there is a lot of things in this society that people are turning a blind eye at, and that the best way to create more public awareness of all these problems and to get them eliminated is by taking footages of things like these (e.g. undesirable behaviors in public, or abuse of authority, etc etc. Remember the video made by a guy about the traffic warden parking their bikes on the double yellow line?). All big problems start small after all.

Personally, I feel that Sousveillance is fine as long as it is being exercised with restraint. One must know where to draw the line. Your friends may have done silly things that are funny and then get them recorded in the video, and they may like the footage themselves. But the joke can turn really sour when they see it up online. Things that are meant to remain within the cirlce, should remain in the circle. The best way to do this is to seek permission from the involved party whenever possible. Otherwise, be as tactful and discreet as possible.

Being discreet when in public will definitely help one defend against violation of privacy. Be careful with important things, do things swiftly, be protective but be natural about it. The human nature is one such that people get attracted or become curious about something that is different from themselves. I am not asking everyone to be clones, by all means be yourself. But that is the whole point: be yourself, nothing more, nothing less. It disgusts me when I see people who purposely dress up and then throw glares to others who look at them in any particular manner. If you want to be different, you should have expected this kind of attention coming from others and that it should not bother you. In the first place, the very fact that you dress in a particular way that is different from others means you are making a statement and you want people to notice it. People who are "self-expressive" and still complain about the attention they are getting are either putting on an act, or they are just seeking for MORE attention. Ironic? haha! More coming your way!

Man cannot destroy what he did not create. Privacy is something that we all can create, and hence, destroy. Everyday a new gadget is being invented, new better models are being manufactured. Phones with sharper pixels and video functions with higher resolutions are constantly being released into the market. Sizes of these gadgets are shrinking significantly as well, and are much easier to hide; very convenient for the "eagles" who can now scout for preys better. And guess what? Chances are that very same bunch of people who made so much ruckus and whine the loudest about issues concerning violation of privacy would be the first one to rush down the IT stores to get these latest gadgets before anyone else does, and after having done so they would go around flaunting it, and then continue whining again when something happens. That said, all these talks about violation of privacy is actually nothing but a self-inflicted cause-and-effect cycle, and who is to blame for this? I think the answer is more than just obvious.

Referemces:

Sullivan, B. (October 17, 2006). "Privacy Lost: Does Anyone Care?". Retrieved on March 10, 2007 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/print/1/displaymode/1098/

QotW5: of heroes, villains, and wannabes...

Back in the old days, people are known as who and what they are. Probably only comic superheroes have alter-egos and double identities. Apparently that whole DC comic revolution has taken over the whole world. Today, everyone is Clarke Kent, Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker when they’re offline.

The Internet has far affected the way humans live today, to the extent of letting people become what they otherwise would not be able to. Hiding behind their monitors and keyboards, online identity is created, constructed, and altered by the users whichever way they want it. Once an online identity is forged, it becomes unique to its own in the sense that people recognize that particular identity like how we would recognize individuals in real world. Adoption of pseudonyms for emails, IM and forums will always have to go through authorization to avoid different people using the same “name”. Thus, user IDs became their names, email addresses became their home addresses, and their identity, something they want the world to know them as.

Identity plays a key role in virtual communities. In communication, which is the primary activity, knowing the identity of those with whom you communicate is essential for understanding and evaluating an interaction. Yet in the disembodied world of the virtual community, identity is also ambiguous. Many of the basic cues about personality and social role we are accustomed to in the physical world are absent. [Donath, 1999] This makes it hard for people to tell if that person we are interacting with is really who and what he/she claims to be. While not everyone treats the internet as a form of escapism and see no point in lying about oneself, tons of others do just that. In the physical world there is an inherent unity to the self, for the body provides a compelling and convenient definition of identity… Though the self may be complex and mutable over time and circumstance, the body provides a stabilizing anchor. [Donath, 1999] With every identity comes a certain reputation, and in cases whereby physical manifestation does not exist, it is easy to create one. For example, apart from old folks who are totally foreign towards technology (and much less about the blogosphere), who else in Singapore does not know Xia Xue? In cyberspace, reputations can be easily made due to the high transfer of information. [Online Reputation, 2007] People who are actively involved in blogging and posting on forums will be recognized by other viewers for certain reasons, and they are often associated to the things they talk about. The more they talk about something, the more people associate them with that particular topic, and hence, reputation formed. As popularity increases, reputation tends to go up with it as there is tendency that recommendations towards that particular online entity would be made among viewers.

The very term "identity theft" is an oxymoron. Identity is not a possession that can be acquired or lost; it's not a thing at all. Someone's identity is the one thing about a person that cannot be stolen. The real crime here is fraud; more specifically, impersonation leading to fraud. [Schneier, 2005] The fact that online identity is so easy to assume poses a lot of problems for users. The fact that users with reputations be it in blogs, Friendster or MySpace will inevitably leak out very detailed personal information just do not help the situation. It is already very common today in social networking websites for people who are not so good-looking (no offence meant to anyone) themselves go around stealing other people’s pictures and putting them up on their own profiles, after which they will alter their personal particulars accordingly as well. When people who know the victims in person see this other profile with their photos on them, that is when the cat is out of the bag. In prevention to this problem, a lot of blog sites as well as social networking sites have stepped up security in attempt to protect their users. People can limit viewership by changing their account settings, i.e. to make it only viewable to selective individuals. But even this is not entirely secure as a lot of trust need to be placed upon the selective individuals, and trust is something that can be easily misused. Moreover, stealing of identity does not necessarily mean having to create a fake account. People who are capable enough can simply hack into the original accounts and make it their own. Just recently there have been people going around MySpace taking over people’s accounts, after which they forward vulgar messages to all the people in that account’s friends list. The administrator himself, Tom, has no other solutions for users but to try changing passwords from time to time.[Tom, 2006] Hence, as we can see, not only that the danger still exists, it is still pretty much a big issue to be dealt with.

Online identity has since empowered humans in many ways, but in the same manner it has handicapped us for the fact that it is very vulnerable. Moderation in how we use it is hence still the best possible solution in order for it to work for us, and not against us.



References:

Donath, J. M. (1996, Nov 12). Identity and deception in the virtual community. Retrieved February 22, 2007, from Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community Web site: http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html

Online Reputation. (2007). Online Reputation. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved February 22, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_reputation

Schneier, Bruce (2005, April 15). Schneier on Security. Retrieved February 22, 2007, from Schneier on Security: Mitigating Identity Theft Web site: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/04/mitigating_iden.html

Tom (2006, October 19). Bulletins that you didn't post?. Retrieved February 22, 2007, from MySpace blog: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=6221&MyToken=67b4335a-c8ba-435d-bb7d-e9969592d7c4ML

QotW4: The Gift of Giving

It is amazing how, in this utterly selfish dog-eat-dog world of endless war, we can still find selfless individuals who are more than willing to share not only what they have, but also help you find what you want. That was exactly what ran through my mind the first time I started using Kerrazy Torrents.


Kerrazy Torrents does not work like any other Bit Torrent websites. Firstly, it operates as a forum in which trackers can put up the link to their torrents, and then the forum can be used to discuss anything related to the torrent itself, as well as other topics to be discussed, for example, requesting of other torrent files of similar nature. People can also post comments about what they think of the posted materials, whether they like it or not, or even do a short review for people to see. Secondly, unlike in other websites whereby torrent files are posted by people who downloaded them from others, the files posted on Kerrazy Torrents are often first hand. Trackers actually go out and BUY the music legally, rip them and share it to people requested for them on the forums at absolutely no cost at all! All these trackers ask for is for people to show their appreciation by saying “thank you” after each download in the forum itself. That was all that they ask for. Of course they would be more than happy if anyone out there can help them find what they could not, and wanted to have. Otherwise, it is alright for them as they do this out of their own willingness, and they do not expect anything in return at all. On top of it all, most of these trackers not only upload music on CD format which is very easy, they also convert Cassette Tapes as well as Vinyls into mp3 format. Very often these releases are extremely rare stuff that are no longer available in the market, and has since become collector’s items that could very well amount to hundreds and even thousands of dollars should they be auctioned on eBay or Yahoo! Auction. Downloaders know this fact very well, and this in turn triggers reciprocity. They want to contribute what they can to this community as well. For those who have what others are looking for, they try to upload those stuffs for these people. Most of them give priority to trackers who have been uploading a lot of stuff as a form of paying back their kindness. As for others who do not really have anything to offer, they simply leave their torrents active for as long as they can. Some would even leave their computers on for 24 hours and reseed all the torrents to other downloaders when trackers are no longer able to do so. To add on to how "Kerrazy" these providers and trackers can get, they do not only post their torrent files on Kerrazy Torrents alone! They also share it with users at other torrent websites, Rockbox being the most affiliated one. It is absolutely remarkable to me, going to such lengths just to help everyone out.


Sounds very much like a gift economy? It IS definitely one. Characteristically, providers of services here do not expect anything in return, or rather, have no guarantee that their service would be reciprocated. This is in line with the definition of a gift economy, which is an economic system in which the prevalent mode of exchange is for goods and services to be given without explicit agreement upon a quid pro quo. [Wikipedia, 2007] As mentioned by Lewis Hyde in his book, whatever we have been given is supposed to be given away not kept. Or, if it is kept, something of similar value should move in its stead… The gift may be given back to its original donor, but this is not essential… The only essential is this: the gift must always move. [Hyde, 1983] This is basically what happens in most filesharing system, the downloaded files are always on the move, distributed from one to another. Apart from reciprocity, this is also one of the motivations behind seeders at Kerrazy Torrents for seeding the torrent files: to keep it moving.


The relative or absolute anonymity of the recipient makes it all the more remarkable that individuals volunteer valuable information – one cannot realistically count on the reciprocity of the recipient in the future to balance the gift that has occurred. While a balanced reciprocity with a particular individual may not be possible, there is a sense in which a balance might occur within a group as a whole. [Kollock, 1999] This is also what runs behind Kerrazy Torrents. Other users who were initially just receiving passively soon realized what they have been taking for granted, and this in turn creates a sense of guilt for not reciprocating the favour in them. They then feel the urge to contribute something back to the community and become trackers themselves as well or at least act as seeders for other people. As more people are doing this, the give-and-take flow soon becomes a cycle, where almost everyone is contributing in some way or another. Of course not everyone will do this, there will always be those bunch of freeloaders who will just take everything and not give back anything in return. As Peter Kollock himself has put it, this system of sharing is both more generous and riskier than traditional gift exchange. It is more generous because an individual provides a benefit without the expectation of immediate reciprocation, but this is also the source of risk. There is the temptation is to gather valuable information and advice without contributing anything back. [Kollock, 1999]


Thus, in conclusion, as suggested by the different sources used as well as my own analysis, I am sure many will agree with me that Kerrazy Torrents is definitely an ideal example of a gift economy and how it functions as one.






References

Gift Economy. (2007, February 4). Gift Economy. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved February 10, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy#_note-mustmove

Hyde L. (1983) The Gift. Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property. New York: Random House; 1983.

Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. Retreived on February 10, 2007 from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm

Web 2.0 is Us/ing us?

This is a video response to the original Web 2.0 video. It's so damn good, I just have to put it up. It's one hell of a cool video seriously. Be sure to check this out. Awesome stuff. Really well done.

QotW3: Is a balance possible between content creators and public good?

Introduction

Decades ago when you heard the news about your favourite artists making new releases, what you would have done was to save up and wait patiently. Today, people look for advance promos through bit torrents, and sample the entire album months before the actual release. Those who still possess a tinge of integrity in them choose to buy upon the official release of the record while the rest stick to what they already have, despite knowing the possible consequences that they might have to bear should they be prosecuted by the authority.

Metallica, in their early days, used to encourage their fans to make bootlegs and spread it everywhere to everyone in the underground. Then, after commercializing and selling out, they complained about piracy and sued Napster. Thus began the war against piracy, which suddenly created a worldwide awareness among the public about issues regarding copyright and ownership of intellectual property. On the other hand, Killswitch Engage did nothing when their signature riff in their hit song “End of Heartache” was ripped off in its exact, identical format by As I Lay Dying for their own hit song “94 Hours” (although both songs are ultimately very different from each other). With such polarized reactions among artists, one would wonder just how much do copyright really matter to artists. Is it still a form of protection or just a barrier against possible expansion of creativity?

Copyright vs. Filesharing: Problems and Issues

It is indeed true that copyright has helped artists in various ways. It “encourages the creation and mass dissemination of a wide variety of works” [Litman, 2003], and that it “allows creators to benefit financially from their creations which should provide them an incentive to continue creating” [Ovalle, 2005]. However, the table has since been turned now that copyright is actually limiting what it is supposed to magnify. From my own personal experience as a musician, this particular issue has been quite a hassle. Whenever a new song is written, I will have to make sure that they are totally original and none of the riffs in the songs sound like something other bands have played. It is especially irritating when you know that you came up with those tunes first, but because someone else beat you to submitting their work for official release, the rights are given to them and as a result, you have to modify your work, hence, affecting the original quality of it. There are only so many notes, scales and patterns in music and the fact that we belong to a new generation of musicians, it simply does not help. A lot of what musicians do today is in fact a recycle of what had been done by the pioneers in the past. Creativity no longer guarantees originality like it used to.

Besides that, doing cover songs has also become yet another problem. The reason behind doing cover songs is to pay homage and tribute to that band who is an inspiration to the artist involved, and in doing so, the artist who is doing the cover is actually helping to promote the band that is being covered. By right, the artist should be the one being paid. Not only that this does not happen, but instead, the covering artist will have to pay royalties to the band being covered.


As of 2004, the number of lawsuits pertaining to illegal downloading has actually reached up to 4,208 cases [Lohmann, 2004]. “The campaign appears to have hit its stride, with the Recording Industry Association of America announcing roughly 500 new suits each month” [Lohmann, 2004]. Are consumers really to blame for breaching of law concerning intellectual property? I am afraid not. A lot of record labels have the tendency to release promo versions of albums that have yet to be released for distributors so that their customers could sample them. They should have known better that once promo versions are released, there are bound to be people ripping them into their computers and then uploading them for filesharing. It is a risk that record labels should have taken into account instead of complaining about it after they discover that people are downloading the promos online, be it via P2P or bit torrents. Besides, the use of filesharing may not necessarily be damaging to the music industry. For the very least, it can actually be of help to artists, especially underground ones who are less known by the public. “Filesharing allows users to learn about music they would not otherwise be exposed to. In the filesharing community, it is a common practice to browse the files of other users and discuss music in file server chat rooms. This learning may actually promote new sales.” [Strumpf & Oberholzer-Gee, 2005] This is in fact very true. As an underground musician myself, I know exactly how powerful the filesharing community is. A lot of the people in these communities are not only listeners but fellow musicians themselves. Through this particular channel, we can actually form networks with other bands all over the world and market our music more efficiently. There has also been cases whereby unsigned artists land themselves a record deal from labels who happen to find their music on filesharing communities; a deal that they would not have gotten otherwise. Hence, as we can see, filesharing could prove to be beneficial to a certain extent.

Possible Solutions

As the saying goes, if you cannot beat them, join them. Instead of letting filesharing be a nemesis to the recording industry, why not make it work for us? Since musicians and labels hold the rights to these intellectual properties, they can make the initiative and be the rightful host of the files. Make use of filesharing as a cost-free opportunity for marketing bands and their records, and instead of releasing the entire album and providing listeners with an excuse not to buy, they can release one-minute long samples of each song available in the albums. This way listeners can get a rough idea of what to expect from the release, and it works very well as a bait or temptation for consumers to buy if they really like what they have heard.

In a survey that I have conducted for a previous module, the result has shown that more than 75% of the 50 participants resort to downloading and filesharing because they find prices of records too costly. What labels can do to eliminate this problem is to go digital. Cut down on pressing of CDs and other outputs and instead bank on online sales. The average price of a song available for download on iTunes is not more than 99 cents – a very affordable price for most people. If labels were more willing to capitalize on online marketing, it would have saved them a lot of trouble. There are technologies available that can tag mp3 files so that they cannot be distributed illegally through filesharing. This way, downloading can be made legal and the convenience it gives to consumers is a bonus.

Education is such a powerful tool, and yet not many are making use of it. A lot of people out there are in fact unaware of a lot of things to do with copyright and the applicable laws. What we need to do is to make sure that the mass gets the necessary information needed to be made known. An increased awareness of how intellectual property functions will be able to decrease the tendency to breach the applicable laws since people can no longer make use of their ignorance or negligence as an excuse.

Conclusion

In this competitive age where everyone is copying and technological advancement has brought disadvantages to content creators, one would have to be flexible and think of solutions as according to situations. With the above-mentioned measures, it is highly possible for us to accommodate both the interests of content creators and public good.





References

Litman, Jessica, "Sharing and Stealing" (November 23, 2003). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=472141 or DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.472141. Retrieved on February 3, 2007 from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=472141#PaperDownload


von Lohmann, F. (2004, Sept 9). Is Suing Your Customers a Good Idea?. Retrieved February 3, 2007, from Law.com Web site: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1095434496352


Ovalle, C (2005). Why Copyright?. Retrieved February 3, 2007, from An Introduction to Copyright Web site: http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/~i312co/2.php


Strumpf.K and Felix Oberholzer-Gee. (2005). The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis [Electronic Version], 2-5, 35-37. Retrieved on February 3, 2007 from http://www.unc.edu/%7Ecigar/papers/FileSharing_June2005_final.pdf.

Indulge...

Sundays never fail to make me feel extremely lazy and not want to do anything but just chill out on my own. So I ended up watching videos all day long, and here are some of the great ones I stumbled upon. Enjoy.





I think this is one of the best advertisement I've seen so far. A really smart one. It is very well-crafted, and it can actually double as a public service announcement. Hahaha!! Way to go, Swedes. Singapore seriously needs this, public toilets here are no better than those in third world countries.







This is why I always say guns are for faggots... Sorry for those who don't understand Japanese. Basically it's a challenge between Japanes Katana and Colt 45 Government pistol. The katana not only was left untouched, but the bullet of the gun was sliced into halves. See what I mean now?







You think Mr.Bean is funny? Think again... Many people probably only know him as that particular character, but Rowan Atkinson is way more than just that. He's still the funniest when he talks.

Shameless Ignorance

You know what cracks me up the most about this video? It's not the stupid answers (some of them are not though) they gave, but rather, themselves. Look at them. Who are they to comment on Asian guys when they're like that themselves? LOL!!! It is pretty apparent to me that the real reason why they go for whites is because they failed to get the attention (not to mention interest. HAHAHA!!!) of Asian men like us! Asian guys are shy? Asian guys are smaller? Hahahaha!! Shameless pathetic bunch of ignorant fools... The best birthday present you could ever give these kind of people is none other than a giant mirror, just so that they can take a much better look at themselves, and hopefully that would knock some sense into their empty air heads.

I think a lot of guys will agree with me, we're not offended when we see these kind of girls prefering white guys to us. In fact we're more than happy. I don't know if any of you have realised this, but most of the Asian girls who go out with white men are those particular types that we Asian guys would never want to touch in the first place. Majority of them are just plain... never mind, I'd rather not say (Those of you who know me well enough will know). HAHAHAHA!! :p Very few lucky whites actually got really good ones. Most of them end up with rejected products that didn't pass the quality check. So yea, there you go. We're not complaining. By all means, have it your way if that is how you want it to be, while we savour whatever good things that are left and saved exclusively for us.



Maybe someone should make a male version of this video, on why Asian guys prefer [insert whatever non-Asian category here] girls. We'll see what happens then. HAHA!!! I probably won't be a part of this though, unfortunately. I have yet to lose my faith, if you get my drift. Maybe someday I will. Who knows.

COM 125 Week 2: Instant Messaging

What do you do when you wake up in the middle of the night, suddenly recalling that there is something extremely important that you have forgotten to do, and the fact that it is a group work does not help at all? Decades ago, people would have to resort to calling each other (remember those old school telephones?) and gather at someone’s place in the wee hours to finish the job. Such a hassle has since been eliminated with the development of technology. What we do now, is to log on to MSN or Yahoo! Messenger, or even ICQ for some of the more hardcore users, have the work done and send it over to other people instantly without having to leave home. Such is the magic of Instant Messaging technology.

Instant Messaging or IM is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. The text is conveyed via computers connected over a network such as the Internet. [Instant Messaging, 2006] A lot of people may not know this, but Instant Messaging is in fact a not-so-new technology which first made its appearance back in 1970s. It was a feature that mainly functions on operating systems such as UNIX, which was designed for programmers of interactive computers who needed to be able to build tools for each other, share those tools, and propagate successful throughout the programmer community. (Rheingold, 1993) The earliest form of IM was a text-only platform resembling the MS DOS black-and-white format.


ICQ users would find this familiar as this particular platform is still being used in the classic versions of ICQ. Some of these IM tools require users to get connected through a variety of servers, like in the case of IRC. With the development of Graphic User Interface (GUI), IM has become really fanciful and the fun factor has since become yet another selling point for it. Users can now display icons and pictures as an enhancement to the way they can express themselves. The use of different skins and wallpapers in customizing their own user interface has also been made possible. As years go by and technology advances, what began as merely a text-only channel of instant communication has now evolved to a versatile and highly interactive tool. The peer-to-peer connection between users have now allowed file-sharing to be done, and voice chat as well as video conference have been added to its feature, making IM now an all-in-one function.



The key importance in the function of IM is not only the convenience it has created for people, but more importantly, the fact that the ongoing communication between users is real-time. This is a very important development as far as Internet technology is concerned, and it has truly revolutionized how Internet is being used by people like us. Back during the days when E-mail was still the main mode (it still is today, although its prominence has significantly dropped ever since IM became popular) of long distance communication, there is a time lag in information flow that we had to deal with. Not to mention that in cases whereby vital information was sent to the wrong address or for some other reason did not reach the receiver, it could actually cause a lot of unnecessary trouble. The existence of IM has eliminated this problem almost entirely, with instant information access strictly kept between the senders and receivers involved. In a way, we can also say that information security is pretty much insured. Time lag in online communication has always been a concern to a lot of people, especially in the business world where time is money and information flow need to be as swift as possible. Especially when it comes to global business or even international communication itself, the presence of time difference in different parts of the world is another barrier to prompt reception of important information. IM has provided us a way to bypass all these problems and get our messages and information across to the recipient just in time, even more so for emergency situations like the example shown in the first paragraph.

Another key concept behind IM is networking, which is basically the biggest aspect as far as the Internet is concerned. The revolution of IM has also brought about the surfacing of not-so-instant networking tools allowing people not only to connect with their friends or families, but also to make new friends and build a whole new network that might not have existed previously. I am talking about social networking websites [History…, 2006] like Friendster, MySpace, Xanga, Hi5, Facebook, and many more sites of such nature. Back in the earlier days people make new friends through online chatrooms; something pioneered by IRC which was very popular back in 1990s.


Strangers logged onto the same servers will make friends, some of them go on developing a more in-dept interpersonal relationship and become “real friends”. Such is the concept behind networking sites like Friendster and MySpace – to get friends connected to each other, make new ones and build a wider network. With this particular development, Internet is no longer just a wide source of information and a tool to get messages across between users. It has since become a virtual space that caters to more personal needs of the users.

One would have realized by now how far IM technology has taken us as far as the use of Internet is concerned. From a network built for the purpose of disseminating information without it being able to be physically destroyed, to an interpersonal tool that connects people, shrinking the globe and bringing people closer to one another. It has since become a part of (almost) everyone’s daily life. And as time goes by, we are bound to witness more revolutions that will change the way Internet is being used.



REFERENCES:

History of the World Wide Web. (2006, September 5). History of the World Wide Web. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved January 27, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_World_Wide_Web&oldid=73974490


Instant Messaging. (2006). Instant Messaging. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved January 27, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging


Rheingold, H. (1993). Visionaries and Convergences: The Accidental History of the Net. The Virtual Community. New York: Perseus Books. Retrieved January 27, 2007, from http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/3.html

A fine day to die?

The title of this video says "Columbine Leak Security Tape", and it is indeed a very detailed video of a school shooting. However, I did noticed that the date on the video says "May 1, 2001" instead of "April 20, 1999" which is the actual date of the Columbine shooting. Not only that, the name of the guys seem to be different here, one of the guy was called Andre or something. They looked pretty different as well, in terms of physical attributes. My guess is that this is actually a footage of a different shooting incident at a different school years after the Columbine incident, and someone might have posted the wrong video up. Anyway, apart from that, this video vividly lets us see what actually happens in there when an incident like this takes place. I chanced upon it while doing my assignment and I thought I'd just put it up and share it with everyone. It is a very detailed video, you can clearly see what they're doing, hear what they're saying, gunfires and girls screaming, etc. and it ends with both of them kneeling down together, shooting themselves to death. You've been warned... View at your own risk.

Anti-Hero...

I am not a very big fan of God Forbid, but the video above depicts perfectly how dirty humanity has become. The dollar note in the video is a testament to everything that it has witnessed as it was being passed around.
Atrocities that birthed abominations indeed...


Anyway, with regards to today's case-study on the Columbine schooting incident, I'd just like to point out a few things.


When something like this happens, people only know how to point fingers at the "evildoers". They only know how to blame, that is all they know how to do. Who actually thought of the real underlying cause? How many people really think? I'm telling you, if guns are readily available in Singapore, WE WILL WITNESS A SHOOTING LIKE THIS EVERY SINGLE DAY!! Those two kids are victims of school violence, something that many of you can never understand because you probably never got to experience it yourselves. But those who did, those who have gone through it, will totally understand what it is all about. I'm not justifying the use of violence in solving problem. But a problem is not solved until the root of it has been removed. What we need to do is not to point our fingers at them nor the media but instead, stop racial prejudice and bullying in schools!! This is a highly persistent problem even in Singapore, a problem that the government has turned a blind eye on almost totally. We need to do something about this.

Remember sometime last year there were quite a couple of cases right here in Singapore, whereby murder victims' bodies were brutally mutilated by the respective killers and the different body parts were dumped at different locations. Remember those cases? None of the killers are listeners of heavy music of any sort. Now on the other hand, I am someone who listens to what I listen to like how living things need air. Even when I go to sleep I listen to bands like Dark Funeral, Marduk, Darkened Northern Slaughtercult, Cannibal Corpse, Aborted, Carcass, Decapitated, Prostitute Disfigurement, and many many more bands of such nature (note that I'm not only a listener. I even play in these type of bands!). These are bands that are much "deadlier" than any of those nonsense that the two kids at Columbine listen to, stuff like Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, etc. Screw that! Those are what I call "pussy pseudo-metal for kids". Now with that said, shouldn't I be the one committing such horrendous crimes? Not only that I did not do any of these nonsense, I'm always the one, and truly the only one (screw you all uncompassionate corporate pest!!!), who always give up my seat in MRT and buses to those who need it more than I do while others pretend to sleep or simply ignore the existence of these people. So who's more human now? That lucky guy who almost died of epileptic seizure in front of Plaza Singapura was saved by Mike (my guitarist), a metalhead, not all these so-called "normal civilians" who not only did nothing but also tried to discourage him from saving the guy, asking him to leave that fella alone. Mike had to shout at all those bystanders before any of them actually called the ambulance. Again who's got more sense of public awareness?

My point here is that if you are screwed up in your head, regardless of whether or not you're exposed to all these media violence, you're still gonna be a psycho anyway. But if you're not, no matter how much media violence you've been exposed to, you will know better what is right and wrong. In fact, it will only give you a greater sense of awareness and might even serve as a form of deterrence to some. Media violence is NOT the cause of violence in reality but INSTEAD, the CURE to it!! It is people like us who've been constantly exposed to all these that would never do such things in real life, because we all have a channel through which we can divert our aggression and stress onto. We get to vent it out while people like those murderers did not. In every man there is that diabolical side in him that will surface if not supressed. I remember my late grand-teacher once said, "It is people who know how to kill that will not kill, because these people have come to realise how easy it is to remove one's life, how fragile life really is. And that's when you will treasure things around you even more than you ever did." He was right. Trust me, nobody knows this better than I do. If you've been through what I had in the past, you'll know what I'm talking about.


There's something that the public has failed to understand. For people like us, listening to aggressive music with gory lyrics are exactly the same as how avid horror/gore flick fans love their movies. The only difference is that for us, it comes in audial form. It's all fantasy and entertainment, nothing harmful. The music is what matters to us, and it shall only remain that way. Now get that in your head, morons!!


Oh, another thing. There's no such thing as Goth culture. It's been dead long and gone forever. The only remnants of it now are but poseurs who've been trying too hard to be one without understanding what it really is all about, much less about what it takes for one to be one. Nothing but a skin-deep fashion trend.



Revive not the human race...

Descend The Shades of Night...

This is dedicated to all the idiots out there who think Metal is about all things ugly. It's definitely not the best, but it's good enough to prove your sorry @$$ wrong.


I dunno what's gotten into me but the whole night I have been listening to Machine Head almost non-stop, a very rare occurence ('coz normally I like my Metal a lot groovier, speedier, darker, more brutal and definitely more technical) which had only happened to me once before when they just released their "Through The Ashes of The Empire" album, and then listening back to their debut "Burn My Eyes" album which is just plain brilliant. Awesome stuff. It's bound to happen again once they've released their upcoming latest album "The Darkening".













Damn it I can't wait till I get to play this big a venue, to this big a crowd...
Europe here I come!!!

In Grind We Trust...

Disgust The Vile by Visceral Bleeding

This is one song that can't get out of my head right now. I was practising the drum parts for this song as I suggested to the band that we'll do a cover of this for our next overseas show in Thailand, along with other cover of Infidel by Vital Remains. And then I found this video. Amazing. It's simply brilliant, it's got a very good setting to it and sends off the right vibe. I just love it, and I find it so irresistable to put this up despite knowing the real purpose of this blog. Whatever really, I don't care. Watching this makes me more impatient now, about our own upcoming music video that is. We'll have to put this on hold till we come back from the Europe tour most probably. Once it's done, I'll put it up as well. So in the meantime, enjoy or suffer!!!

By the way, more shots...

Thus Spake The Nightspirit...

6th March 1986 -- while to many it was just another day, those who have been granted the knowledge, or cursed as some of them may have claimed, will find it hard to forget. It happened right at the centre of a town, in the middle of nowhere, that this very being was brought into existence. A year he took to alienate milk, another year he took to stand on both feet, and then soon it was time that he started on what he was sent down to accomplish. It began with the Keys, then came the Strings, and when finally the Hammer was bestowed, he was all ready for the invocation. A journey he must make in order to summon and gather the other chosen ones, and together they must form a legion... a legion that is to rule for as long as they breathe...

Alright alright cut the bullshit, business time! Welcome whoever you are staring at this very piece of writing. This is Hans, yoroshiku!! I'm a hardcore RPG player, I've been playing keyboards since 4, guitar and drumming since 10, I play a bit of flute, saxophone and harmonica as well which unfortunately I hardly touch these days. Prior to doing music I've been involved in theatrical arts as well, even martial arts too. I've played in a military band before, lots of sessioning in other bands as well back in my JC days. I was also a Student Instructor in Guitar Ensemble. Currently I play in my own bands now, namely Absence of The Sacred and a couple of others, including my solo projects as well. With Absence of The Sacred I've released our debut album last September, it's still available from me (t-shirts as well) and all the major Metal music stores. I have since been doubling as marketing manager for the band as well. A new record is on the way, songwritings have almost been completed, recording should resume by end of '07 after returning from the European tour I'm about to do with the other projects. The upcoming record will be scheduled for release in early '08.

So, that's it for now.

The Saga continues...