Murky Broth

Of late, for every 10 SMS messages that I have received, 8 o f then begins with the qualifier <ADV>. Needless to say, I have become very annoyed with these unsolicited messages. SMS is not like Email. Its something that you would want to check in on because it is more immediate and the person who sends it probably wants to get your immediate attention. Nowadays when I fish out my phone to check my SMS, I often only do one thing - delete the SMS. Its ridiculous. I have to pay to receive something that I never asked for. Some might even call this cheating. Its really getting on my nerves, the same reason why I NEVER answer my handphone calls when the number is one I do not recognise. Experience tells me that 10/10, that call is a telemarketing call, or a call to sell my house, or someone suggesting that I protect myself, my family, my house, my car, and yes, even my dog. Now I have nothing against people selling insurance. They perform a vital advisory service and I have benefitted from such advice. If on the off chance it is a call from someone I know, that person will call back. But this SMS spam is not so easy to deal with. You don't have spam filters that email systems have that will send them to the trash bin immediately. You become a virtual hostage to unwanted and uncalled for messages. But what is upsetting is that  it appears to have the blessings of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC). As far as I can tell, everyone except the self-interested stakeholder businesses are up in arms and crying foul.

The point is that the PDPC, as CASE puts it, "has back-pedalled and diluted the intention of the DNC (Do Not Call) registry". The PDPC has now allowed for SMS and Fax messages sent by businesses, or whatever entity, to bypass the DNC restrictions so long as there is an "ongoing relationship" between the business and its customers. How does one define "ongoing relationship" anyway? If we adopt the PDPC's understanding of the term, it can be used to define ANY number of transactions between a business and it customers, even "one-night stands". It will be no stretch of the imagination that a business can stalk a customer simply because the PDPC has given its blessings. The PDPC says that an organisation that breach any of the data protection provisions in the PDPA may be liable for a financial penalty of an amount not exceeding $1m. But how can such violation be proved and acted upon if the exceptions and exemptions can be made post-PDPA?

I am in no way suggesting that businesses that engage in direct marketing be banned. By all means communicate with your customers in whatever way that customer chooses provided that he has explicitly and clearly given consent. Now, anything beyond that is ambiguous, and laws are not meant to be ambiguous, are they? It appears that in Singapore, when the government jumps into bed with businesses, a murky broth can surface, to the extreme discomfort of the people to whom it has given its word to care and protect.

TOC at Speakers' Corner

Be a part of history in the making. Come down with your family and friends tomorrow. No entrance fees, free seating, free speech, free performance. What are you waiting for, Singapore?

A programme organised by The Online Citizen.

EZ Today

I didn't know that Today had a Reader (called EasyReader in version 2.9 BETA now) that one can install on the computer and used to retrieve its news stories. I have all along subscribed to its daily paper in electronic format via e-mail for the odd occasion when I forget to pick up a print copy, or when the print copies for that day run out. It is therefore nice to know that Mediacorp, Today's parent, is printing another 50,000 copies to meet the demand. Mediacorp is also saying that readers should turn to the online editions to get the daily news fix. EasyReader does make reader Today Online more easy and pleasant to read. Reading the e-mail copy can be a real chore, actually. For those planning to install the Reader, be warned that you need to really have your Microsoft O/S patched well to successfully have the Reader installed and running. This is really easy. Just go to Internet Explorer and do a Windows Update. I don't own a Mac, so I cannot say for sure, but the EasyReader is not supported on that platform. You also need to register with Today Online as the Reader will prompt for a userid and password to access the site. Registration for an account is free, for those not already in the know. The Reader is fairly responsive and it has some nice features such as allowing you to annotate the news or articles and to file a copy of a news story - features that costs an arm and a leg for pdf documents.

The only complaint I have with this version of Today Online is that it doesn't have the advertisements that comes with the print copy. You'd think that that would be a god-send as I wouldn't have to waste time flipping through those ads. But I ready find the ads in Today quite interesting and informative. So in spite of EasyReader, I would still want to get my hands on a print copy. Besides, I share this with another person, who doesn't use the computer all that often.

Where's the beef?

I understand that many blogs are profitable - some insanely so - that the owner(s)/writer(s) live off these blogs. Some of these profitable blogs have professional content, which gives value to readers in that particular field of interest, others are filled with inane - tantalizingly so, even bordering on the pornographic. These, I suppose, give value to readers and lookers too.

This blog isn't one of these profitable ones. It is more a labour of love. 5 years ago, after I left my last job and began my current one, I promised myself, and rather bravely told some others, that I wanted to do some writing. And I mean serious writing. Well, I somewhat achieved that, having a piece of work published in a digital media. But, sadly, it was a one-off thing, as I found that my current work demands just as much effort and time as my last, maybe even more. I used to move around more in my last job, but I now push more 'papers' across my desk. Sigh. Blogging is more of a personal thing but about writing no less. I have taken pleasure in doing so for the last 2 and a half years. My first post goes back to 24 July 2005, when Singapore was in the midst of its greatest controversy over the National Kidney Foundation's practices.

But blogging does 'suck' away a lot of my time, so much so that I have a whole backlog of things that remains undone. Some of these have to do with more writing (of another 'more serious' genre) and others having to do with another type of creative writing. I have always read voraciously, but have slackened in this 'department' also.

What is the occasion for this reminiscing? Simply because I just cross my first US$100 in Adsense earnings. US$100.70 to be exact as of this writing and Google will be sending me a check (cheque) towards that amount. You earn US$100 after 2+ years of effort? That's hardly 11 cents a day, and all this time, Google's stock has skyrocketed to well over US$600 a share. (For the un-initiated, Google owns Adsense). Worst, US$100 was worth more 2 and a half years ago, so my earnings actually depreciated while my blogging effort remained unabated. Inflation has eaten away a whole chunk of value. How I wished I would be paid in Euros or Aussie dollar instead of the once almightly Dollar. Talk about a losing proposition. But I console myself that my blogging is a labour of love, so monetary gain is secondary.

Let me go think about how I would want to spend US$100. Probably a luxury dinner for the family. At least I can tell my child how difficult it is to earn a living as he gobbles down my 2+ year's worth of labour...


Source image: www.morguefile.com

Themed Bus

I got on that Nokia-themed SBStransit bus again for only the second time last Friday. This time I made the effort to take some pictures of the inside of the bus - just for keeps sake. Since this whole bus is an advertisement, it will revert to the standard look and seats one day. Since the last time I was on this bus, the interior now looked a bit worn down. Some of the pictures are blurred because I was on a moving bus, but I did manage to shoot two which were focused. Of course, these photos were captured through my camera phone.



Front of the bus, where the driver is. The 'Mobile TV' is not in use and the frame looks like it is falling apart.


Interior of the bus. Notice the white 'bar-counter' stool in the foreground (there are two of these), the shell-seats at the back (the pony-tailed girl in school uniform is sitting on one of them) and the long white cushioned benches on both sides of the aisle.


Interior of the bus. Notice the red-carpeted roof.