Entries for June, 2005May 31st, 2005
iWant iPod iCons
Posted by MikeyMike at 09:32 PM on May 31, 2005 in iPod.
I was just thinking... with more people getting iPods everyday, why not have Tabulas icons ("iCons") for everyone to show their Pod Pride?? There are also icons for the Mini-iPods in all their colors...
I found some really nice ones that cover the iPod/Shuttle range at The Iconfactory. That's where the originals live, as zipped .ico files. I've converted them to .gif files, so that they'll work as Tabulas icons.
You can download them Here
Currently feeling: satisfied
Crisis-hit EU mulls options as Dutch threaten new blow
Posted by MikeyMike at 11:01 PM on May 31, 2005.
So, it's really happening... France, the country that has been pushing hardest for all this, has the EU constitution rejected by its own people. It seems every group was against it, even for the opposite reasons... Now the Dutch vote... Here's the article:
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The EU crisis triggered by France's rejection of its constitution was set to deepen with Dutch voters threatening a new ballot blow, raising serious questions over what the bloc will do next.
Even if the long-cherished EU charter is not officially declared dead anytime soon, the
European Union increasingly fears a "domino effect" in a string of other referenda in theory scheduled in coming months.
In that worst-case scenario -- which some euroskeptics are forecasting with increasing relish -- the direction of the entire half-century old EU project could be called into question. More
June 1st, 2005
I'm Sorry
Posted by MikeyMike at 04:09 PM on June 1, 2005 in Congrats!.
80 years of marriage! Yes, Dear!! 
LONDON (Reuters) - A British couple who hold the world record for the longest marriage said Wednesday their success was down to a glass of whisky, a glass of sherry and the word "sorry."
Percy and Florence Arrowsmith married on June 1, 1925 and will celebrate their 80th anniversary Wednesday.
The Guinness World Records said Tuesday the couple held the title for the longest marriage and also for the oldest married couple's aggregate age.
"I think we're very blessed," Florence, 100, told the BBC. "We still love one another, that's the most important part."
Asked for their secret, Florence said you must never be afraid to say "sorry."
"You must never go to sleep bad friends," she said, while Percy, 105, said his secret to marital bliss was just two words: "yes dear." More Here
Currently feeling: Yes, Dear
Happy Birthday Zhi Wen!
Posted by MikeyMike at 04:24 PM on June 1, 2005 in Congrats!.
Happy Birthday Zhi Wen!! Hope you get all that you desire!! 
Currently listening to: Birthday Song
Currently feeling: presents
Casualties of game console wars
Posted by MikeyMike at 07:58 PM on June 1, 2005 in Tech.
Gaming... Addictive?! Who'da thunk it? 
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A neglected baby cries alone. Crazed by lack of sleep, a young boy threatens suicide. A marriage crumbles over a lone obsession.
Yet another grim tale of 21st Century social breakdown? No, these are the victims of America's newest social scourge ... video game addiction.
As Sony and Microsoft ready new generation weapons, the PlayStation 3 and
XBox consoles for a pitched battle next year, hundreds of thousands of children and young adults are struggling to contain their obsession with older machines.
Psychologists and psychiatrists estimate that even before the new wave of gaming consoles hits the stores, one in eight players already suffers from some kind of video game dependency. More Here
Currently listening to: Computer Game Song
Currently feeling: @@
June 6th, 2005
Happy Birthday Midori
Posted by MikeyMike at 03:45 PM on June 6, 2005 in Congrats!.
Happy birthday Frances Mumu Midori Dori-Dori! She's on the move right now to Texas with perhaps New York City in her future! Let's all go wish her a happy day, even if it's among the moving boxes!
( Dori's the one in purple... )
Currently listening to: Happy Birthday to Mumu
Currently feeling: satisfied
June 8th, 2005
Cool Stuff, Made in Taiwan
Posted by MikeyMike at 10:37 PM on June 8, 2005 in Tech.
Cool stuff from Taiwan (besides Monkee & F.I.R. ^^)! But what about the deadly enbrace with mainland China?! Most interesting article...
By Simon Burns | 02:00 AM Jun. 03, 2005 PT
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Twenty years ago, the exhibition hall of the Computex computer trade show here overlooked fields of cabbages, onions and yams. Since then, a new crop has sprouted: ultra-modern shopping malls and the world's tallest building. The show itself has ballooned to fill four huge halls and several floors of nearby hotels -- it is generally ranked among the top three global electronics trade shows.
Changes in Computex, which closes today, are mirrored in the country's technology industry at large -- a disorderly gaggle of tens of thousands of tiny, low-cost manufacturers is giving way to a handful of giants that increasingly outsource their manufacturing to mainland China. Companies that once mass produced cheap beige-box PCs now show sleek machines styled like sports cars. Makers of clunky pocket calculators design video players so small they vanish in a closed fist.
Take Shuttle. Five years ago, the company was an anonymous computer-components manufacturer, but it now makes attractive mini PCs, a move that helped boost margins and that executives say was crucial for its survival.
"Some guys spend more time with their PCs than they do with their wives or girlfriends," said Ken Huang, Shuttle's vice president of marketing. "I think people like to pay more money for good design."
More Here
Currently listening to: F.I.R.'s Love *3
Currently reading: mainboard schematic
Currently feeling: quixotic
June 11th, 2005
Dolphin Moms Teach Daughters to Use Tools
Posted by MikeyMike at 02:52 AM on June 11, 2005.
Momma Dolphins in Australia teaching daughters to use "tools" to hunt! This reminds me of Snow Monkeys in Japan cleaning sandy rice with water, and passing on this knowlege... Daynah will want to read this article!
James Owen for National Geographic News
June 7, 2005
When researchers first saw something strange on the snout of a dolphin in Shark Bay, Western Australia, they thought it was a massive tumor. Now they say it provides the first evidence of a tool-use culture in marine mammals.
The object turned out to be a marine sponge broken off from the seabed. Later other bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay were observed holding sponges over their beaks, and appeared to use them as a fishing tool. More Here
Currently listening to: They Call Him Flipper, Flipper
Currently feeling: dolphin sound
June 12th, 2005
Earthquake Shakes California Desert
Posted by MikeyMike at 10:21 AM on June 12, 2005 in Geographica.
Nice way to wake up! lol A little shaking subconciously registered, rolled me out of bed (as my hardback books are on a wrap-around shelve above my head! Didn't see the give away water shloshing in the pool, so I knew it wasn't too severe locally. Am I a true Californian, or what!?
So, I checked the oh-so-cool USGS real-time map (it's run by computers, so there is almost no delay in reporting) - see below.
So, in case you're wondering, Daynah, Eleanor and I aren't dead, or clawing our way out of a catastrophy suitable for a Hollywood epic with Shelly Winters in it!
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - A moderate earthquake shook most of Southern California early Sunday, rattling nerves along with homes and businesses. There were no immediate reports of any injuries or damage, authorities said.
The magnitude-5.5 quake struck about 8:40 a.m. and was centered 20 miles south of Palm Springs, according to a preliminary report by the
U.S. Geological Survey.
Nadege Gelayen, assistant manager of Cafe des Beaux-Arts, a restaurant in nearby Palm Desert, said the quake lasted six to seven seconds and shook doors and plates. More Here
Currently listening to: Shake, Rattle & Roll
Currently feeling: shaken, not stirred
Sumatra menaced, possible tsunami: seismologists
Posted by MikeyMike at 11:10 AM on June 12, 2005 in Geographica.
Wow! The Indonesian island of Sumatra, especially Banda Aceh is even more vulnerable to further quake and tsunamis, it seems, sadly...
PARIS (AFP) - The Indonesian island of Sumatra, smashed by a tsunami and shaken by an enormous earthquake in the past six months, is now at risk from two potentially major quakes, one of which could generate waves 10 metres (32.5 feet) high, seismologists warn.
The research team is headed by the same expert who predicted with uncanny accuracy a quake that struck Sumatra on March 28, barely three months after the December 26 mega-temblor, the second biggest earthquake ever recorded.
He fears the next quakes may be as high as 7.5 and 9 respectively on the Richter scale -- and in the latter case, cities along much of Sumatra's west coast would be exposed to a tsunami.
"I think it would be irresponsible for those in charge of preparing people in this area to ignore the possibility that the earthquake could happen in a year," lead author John McCloskey, a professor of environmental sciences at Britain's University of Ulster, told AFP.
The study takes a fresh look at Sumatra's seismic mosaic in the light of the last two great quakes, focussing on the two biggest faultlines.
One faultline runs on the land down the western side of Sumatra, and has lateral friction, with one side trying to head northwest and the other trying to move southeast.
Stress on this so-called Sumatra fault, especially in the northwest, in the region of Banda Aceh, remains high, the researchers warn.
"The threat of an earthquake of magnitude 7.0-7.5 on the Sumatra fault north of four degrees north (of the equator) has not receded," they say in the study, which appears in the British science journal Nature.
An even greater threat lies in the second faultline, the so-called Sunda Trench, a notorious seabed crack that runs about 200 kilometers (120 miles) to the west of Sumatra.
This area has a different and more perilous profile than the Sumatra fault, for it has vertical movement -- the kind capable of creating big waves by thrusting up sections of the sea bed. More Here
Currently feeling: boggled
June 13th, 2005
Daynah's Engaged
Posted by MikeyMike at 05:31 PM on June 13, 2005 in Congrats!.
Daynah's engaged!! Go congratulate her!!
For those of you that dont know her, she was one of the early promoters of Tabulas, and is an all-around great SOCAL gal!
And... she loves her Dolphins!! =)
CHEERS!
Currently feeling: previously engaged
Explorer: Killer Cats
Posted by MikeyMike at 06:07 PM on June 13, 2005 in Geographica.
Pretty interesting clip! This upcoming National Geographic Channel program show how the "nice kitties" hunt. Not always so nice! DONT watch if you are squimish! See it Here
National Geographic Channel - EXPLORER - Killer Cats
FRIDAY 8P et/pt
They are among the most graceful hunters on land with a blueprint to be lethal killers. From the tactical lion to the solitary leopard, cats are highly specialized, each with its own mode of attack.
Currently listening to: Wizard of Oz's If I Where King of the Forest
Currently watching: Killer Cats Clip
Currently feeling: Roar!
Mini iGuy
Posted by MikeyMike at 06:21 PM on June 13, 2005 in Tech, iPod.
We see that a iGuy for the iPod Mini is coming in June! (Yes, we know it's already June. That's what they say...
Eleanor will be happy! =)
Thanks to Miss Monkee for pointing out iGuy to me and Daynah for reminding me to go look again off her Dolphinia site!
Currently listening to: iPod Random
Currently feeling: inserting iGuy
June 15th, 2005
Let 'em Eat (Ice Cream) Cake
Posted by MikeyMike at 10:42 PM on June 15, 2005 in Congrats!.
We had a birthday party for one of our operators today... Mint ice cream inside the chocolate cake - The top was a surfer motif with hula girls and a surf dude. Went over very well!
Cowabunga dude!
UPDATE: Baskin RobbinsSite... hehe You can join Birthday Club!
June 19th, 2005
Week of earthquakes leaves California rattled
Posted by MikeyMike at 11:29 AM on June 19, 2005 in Geographica.
I noticed that it was mostly East Coast newspapers that picked up this story... They love "bad shit happening in California" stories! Anyway, most Californians aren't "rattled" by any means. Maybe just checking Emergency Preparation Site, stocking up on bottled water, etc. Like you should do anyway...
CA is much better prepared than almost anywhere else in the world. Most people don't realize that there are faults all over, and that one of the biggest ones in North American history wasn't in the west, but
The New Madrid quake in the Mississippi river valley in the early 1800's.
Strong enough to make the Mississippi River flow backwards... What kinda' plan you think they got in Memphis, TN these days, or even NYC?? We'll just enjoy the sunshine till the "big one" comes!
Week of earthquakes leaves California rattled
By Paul Chavez, Associated Press | June 18, 2005
LOS ANGELES -- After four significant earthquakes in less than a week, Californians are getting jittery, with some stocking up on water, food, cash, even insurance. But seismologists say clusters of quakes are not unheard of and do not necessarily mean the Big One is coming.
After several years of relative seismic calm, the recent quakes are a not-so-gentle reminder that the ground here is never as solid as it seems.
The shaking began Sunday morning with a magnitude-5.2 temblor in the Anza area of Riverside County, about 90 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. That was followed by a magnitude-7.2 quake Tuesday night under the Pacific Ocean off Eureka -- an unrelated incident that prompted a tsunami warning.
Thursday brought two quakes that were 10 hours and about 700 miles apart: one of magnitude 4.9 in San Bernardino County and another late that night of magnitude 6.6, also centered off the Northern California coast.
As groups of quakes often do, this week's shaking brought murmurs of the ''Big One" -- the kind of quake that moves mountains and levels entire cities.
''I think we're on our way to the 'Big One,' " said Jacki Breger, 61, executive director of a Los Angeles charter school who plans to overhaul the school's emergency plans by this fall. ''It makes me really nervous with so much quake activity."
Marian Garcia, 24, is not taking any chances. She stuffed two backpacks with sweaters, shoes, and canned food, and her 4-year-old daughter now sleeps with her instead of in the girl's bedroom.
''In case we have to get out there, I want to be close to her," said Garcia, who works at a downtown Los Angeles flower stand.
Some studies have suggested that the San Andreas fault, which leveled much of San Francisco in 1906 and extends more than 800 miles through California, may be about to release pent-up energy.
But that is not a consensus opinion -- earthquakes are not that predictable, and a few jolts do not necessarily mean a huge quake is imminent.
''We don't know whether the 'Big One' is coming," said Tom Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center.
The last major rupture on the fault's southern portion was 1857.
The flurry of quakes typically leads homeowners to buy earthquake insurance, which about 14 percent of homeowners currently have.
In the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake in 1994, the number of homeowners who purchased quake insurance policies rose to 29 percent, said Pete Moraga, spokesman for the Insurance Information Network of California.
Phillip Mookerdam, comanager of the Supply Sergeant store in Santa Monica, said customers began arriving after the magnitude-4.9 quake rattled the region, looking for survival kits.
Sales of those kits -- which include solar-powered radios, dry food, water, flashlights, and a first-aid kit -- have been brisk, Mookerdam said.
Residents have also been stocking up in Crescent City, where the 7.2-magnitude offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami warning.
Currently listening to: Whole Lotta' Shaking Going On
Currently reading: Earthquake Preparedness
Currently feeling: Drop, cover, and hold on!
NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2005: June 17- July 2
Posted by MikeyMike at 12:19 PM on June 19, 2005 in Arts.
Looks like fun! Asian Film Festival You lucky NYC peeps! I want reportage from you guys... JenJen, Linda, Junebuggie, MonkeyOne, Juzer, Juri, etc!
Fest is the cool sport for hot Asian films
By REBECCA LOUIE
DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER
'Cut 3' screens in the Korean segment of the Asian Film Festival.
For a sneak peek at tomorrow's box-office darlings, check out the New York Asian Film Festival.
The celebration of Eastern blockbusters starts tonight and runs through June 30 at the Anthology Film Archives and the ImaginAsian theater.
At a time when Hollywood is quick to snap up Asian films for distribution or American remakes, the festival circuit is a great stop for fans who want to get ahead of the curve.
"For the first time, we have a lot of buyers coming to our festival," says Grady Hendrix, co-founder of the annual event. "Studios are sending serious buyers to check out the films and producers are prowling around like sharks."
The presence isn't unwarranted. Recent imports "Kung Fu Hustle" and "House of Flying Daggers" drew impressive domestic box-office sales. Remakes of Asian films currently in production include "Il Mare," a South Korean romance recast with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, and "The Departed," Martin Scorsese's take on the Hong Kong thriller "Infernal Affairs" staring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg.
This summer's highly anticipated "Dark Water," a horror film starring Jennifer Connelly, was made in Japan by Hideo Nakata, director of the "Ringu" series, better know to Americans by their copies: "The Ring" and "The Ring Two." More
Currently watching: JOSEE, THE TIGER AND THE FISH
Currently feeling: Ah, so...
Ultra-Lifelike Robot Debuts in Japan
Posted by MikeyMike at 05:28 PM on June 19, 2005 in Tech.
Can Cherry 2000 be far away?!
June 10, 2005—Quick, which one is the robot?
Repliee Q1 (at left in both pictures) appeared yesterday at the 2005 World Expo in Japan, where she gestured, blinked, spoke, and even appeared to breathe. Shown with co-creator Hiroshi Ishiguru of Osaka University, the android is partially covered in skinlike silicone. Q1 is powered by a nearby air compressor, and has 31 points of articulation in its upper body.
Internal sensors allow the android to react "naturally." It can block an attempted slap, for example. But it's the little, "unconscious" movements that give the robot its eerie verisimilitude: the slight flutter of the eyelids, the subtle rising and falling of the chest, the constant, nearly imperceptible shifting so familiar to humans. More Here
Currently feeling: Amazingly lifelike
June 20th, 2005
The Dog Whisperer
Posted by MikeyMike at 03:47 PM on June 20, 2005 in Geographica.
Pretty cheesy name, huh? Well Cesar Millan lives up to this title on his National Geographic Channel show! It's amazing what he can do with the most psycho dogs! Seems his principles are pretty straght-forward, but it's fun watching how each episode pans out... You would think that this show would be on Animal Planet, wouldn't you??
Maybe they should let him work on some of the kids I see running amuck these days too!
Pets911 Cesar Link
The Dog Whisperer
Weekly between MONDAY-TUESDAY 6P and 6:30P et/pt and WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY 6P and 6:30 et/pt
See video clip Here
Dog Whisperer Web Site
Currently listening to: Who Let the Dogs Out
Currently reading: No Bad Dogs
Currently feeling: woof!
Filipinos clamor for scandalous mobile ringtone
Posted by MikeyMike at 11:03 PM on June 20, 2005.
Mon Jun 20,12:31 PM ET
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo may be struggling with record-low popularity, but a simple two-word greeting attributed to her has shot to the top of the charts in the cellphone-mad country.
A Web site offering a mobile phone ringtone featuring the words "Hello Garci" briefly crashed late last week as thousands of Filipinos clamored to download it.
Text message consumer rights group TXTpower said its site (www.txtpower.org) had been overwhelmed by demand for the clip taken from a recording at the center of allegations Arroyo tried to fix the result of last year's election.
"So many users were accessing the Web site that the allotted bandwidth was consumed," TXTpower's Ricardo Banague told Reuters Monday.
In the full conversation, which the government says was illegally wiretapped and then doctored, a woman who sounds like Arroyo asks senior election official Virgilio Garcillano whether she would win by more than 1 million votes in a southern area.
The opposition has said the recording bolsters its claim that Arroyo cheated her way to election victory this year.
The scandal has unnerved markets amid rumors of coup plots and mass protests against Arroyo. More
Here
June 21st, 2005
New PlayList Magazine Out
Posted by MikeyMike at 07:28 PM on June 21, 2005 in iPod.
Just picked up the latest Playlist Magazine (actually, it's a Macworld special issue) and lots of interesting things in there! The latest and greatest stuff in the Pod world. It's amazing what a huge 3rd party accessory line that's developed, especially for 4G Pods and MiniPods...
Lots of good articles on the web site, and the paper magazine has ads from almost every company in the iPod space. (The iGuy is in there for instance) So you can keep up with all the latest gizmos! Even exotica like my lovely Etymotic Research 6isolator in-the-ear earphones.
Plus, they have playlists from artists like The White Stripes to Kelly Clarkson... Interesting to see their selections...
Didn't see Peggy's Belkin Pretty in Pink MiniPod Home though...
Currently reading: Playlist Magazine
Currently feeling: loving the pod
June 23rd, 2005
Anggun's New Album
Posted by MikeyMike at 02:14 AM on June 23, 2005 in Arts.
Got two of her new songs on my Radio Blog!
ANGGUN
Luminescence
Paris, 25/02/2005 - It has taken young Indonesian pop diva Anggun a few years to throw off her polished public image and reveal her true self. Now, having got over her initial culture shock and adapted herself to life in France, Anggun, looking radiant in her early 30s, lets the different facets of her personality shine through on her new album, Luminescence.
Anggun is currently enjoying a second lease of life as a music star, having found fame and fortune the first time around as a child prodigy on the Indonesian music scene. After a successful twelve-year career in her homeland, during which she sold literally millions of albums, Anggun decided to spread her wings and reinvent herself abroad. "I was 20 years old," she recalls, "and one day I went out and bought a one-way ticket to London. I ended up travelling on to Paris, though - I've always been fascinated by that special Parisian sense of beauty and grace - and it was there that everything suddenly fell into place for me. I felt I had to make a go of things. After all, I'd left my career in Indonesia behind and there was no way I could just pack my bags and go home. I was too proud to do that!"
Anggun's move from Indonesia to France certainly paid off for her in the career stakes. The singer has just put the finishing touches to her third album produced in France and she can now look back and appreciate the distance she has covered. On the song D'où l'on vient, Anggun evokes her Indonesian roots, admitting "This is the first time in my career that I've spoken about my culture and my homeland in such a frank and open way." If the singer's past has been able to resurface in such a serene, untroubled manner, it is perhaps a sign that Anggun's period of transition is finally over. Anggun acknowledges that her move to France has been beneficial on several levels. "There are so many words for everything in French," she marvels, "French people love to talk and when things aren't going well, they'll bare their soul and be open about the slightest problem. That just isn't the done thing in Indonesia and maybe that isn't very healthy... There were a lot of things I'd never felt able to express before and I think Europe made me quite fragile for a while."
Learning to express her inner feelings on the one hand, Anggun also had to master the art of handling her public image on the other, dealing with an incredible amount of media pressure. In 1998, her debut album went gold – not once but twice!- following the phenomenal success of the single La neige au Sahara. After having sold over 900,000 albums in 35 countries, Anggun went on to release a follow-up album and, in less than five years, combined international sales of the two rapidly approached the 2 million mark.
Diverse musical influences
After two international success stories, Anggun appears to have felt freer to explore a more eclectic range of influences on her third album. And she not only pays tribute to her Indonesian roots on Luminescence, but acknowledges her early musical passions. "There was a point in my career when I actually did rock," she says, "I've still got all my old Stones and Beatles albums… I had a bit of a heavy metal period too with Metallica and I even listened to industrial pop via the Nine Inch Nails!" In fact, Anggun's influences cover a wide range of styles, spanning the musical spectrum from jazz to pop and extending from Billie Holiday and Joni Mitchell to Madonna. Anggun keeps her ears tuned to what is happening elsewhere in the world, too, picking up on new sounds via various music channels. And she made a conscious decision to make her new album as wide-ranging as possible. "There's everything from electric guitar feedback to softer ballads with more minimalist arrangements," she says, "There's even a spot of r'n'b and a harp at one point... Up until now, people have tended to have this image of me as 'the Asian girl who sings nice, sweet songs.' OK, that's me, too, but this time round I wanted to open up and show there are other sides to my personality that the public hasn't necessarily discovered yet!"
One way of bringing these hidden facets to light on Luminescence was to invite a number of unexpected guest stars into the studio to serve as musical counterpoints. Tété was one of the chosen. "I'm a big fan of Tété's work," Anggun explains, "I love the elegance of his songwriting... What I said to Tété before we worked together was that rather than trying to put himself in my place, what I wanted from him was just to be himself. That's how the song 'L'improbable cours des choses' came about. That's a song only Tété could write!" As for the version of the single Être une femme which features on the album, Anggun insisted on including a burst of rap, collaborating with French rap diva Diam's. "Diam's represents another kind of femininity, one that's different from my own but at the same time complementary. I thought it would be interesting to have her point of view on the song, not to mention her presence, her strength and her personality."
The lyrics to Être une femme (Being a Woman) are hardhitting by Anggun's previous pop standards, as if the years spent in France have raised her awareness of the female condition. "I get the impression that although France is a much more 'civilised' country than my homeland, certain things still need to be spelt out," she says, "I'm involved with the association 'Ni putes, ni soumises' and I've heard the most awful stories about kids growing up on problem housing estates, the way young girls are suffering because they're not free to do what they want with their bodies. I find that totally shocking! What I'm saying on 'Être une femme' is that being a woman is something you have to assume, even if in some countries that's a highly complicated business. But we shouldn't give in to basic machismo. The message we have to get out there is that the problem isn't women's bodies, it's what's in men's heads! And that's a very important message. I've come to realise over the years that I'm lucky to be a Muslim woman who grew up in such an open, tolerant country. Things are very different in France where, unfortunately, there are still major issues around this."
Anggun has proved her commitment on a wider global scale, too, acting as a spokesperson for the International Year of Micro-credit (a U.N. programme aimed at eradicating debt in the third world). "The programme is based on the U.N. lending people small sums of money, say 20 or 50 euros," she explains, "That may be nothing to us, but in rupees it represents a lot of money – enough for someone to start their own small business or something. Indonesia is one of the countries where micro-credit has been a big success. The programme's specially targeted at women, giving them a more important place in the home, because it's normally men who bring home the money. Did you know there are 13,000 islands in Indonesia? It's a wealthy country, full of natural resources like gold and diamonds, but those riches don't filter down to the poor. Now, thanks to micro-credit, women can progressively start to change their lifestyle and their social status... I feel very proud and very honoured to have been chosen as the ambassadress of a cause like this." All we can say is, it's good to see a celebrity shine as luminescently on the social front as under the showbizz spotlights!
Anggun Luminescence (Heben Music/Bmg) 2005
Currently listening to: Anggun
Currently feeling: lovely
June 26th, 2005
March of (Peggy's) Penguins
Posted by MikeyMike at 12:20 PM on June 26, 2005 in Geographica.
Wow! Wonderful Penguins, great National Geographic cinematography!! It's being released July 2. I got a free sneak preview pass, but sadly, I have to work. Is Mikey getting some clout in the this world? Or was it just a random thing, getting the free pass??
Goto to the March of the Penguins movie web site and see the trailer and the photos!
Currently watching: March of The Penguins
Currently feeling: penguin sound
Mad Hot Ballroom
Posted by MikeyMike at 01:36 PM on June 26, 2005 in Arts.
This one of those movies you think really isn't going to work, one way or another... But this one does. 600 kids from NYC's elementary schools (5th grade, about 11 years old) are competing to make the finals of Ballroom dancing. It's a amazing to watch these youngsters transformed over the course of the film. I think that it's as affecting as the Japanese film Shall We Dance ? And it will be even more relivant to those of you with Nu Yawk experience! You know who your are!!
Looks like a movie worth looking for... and oh yeah, take a young one with you!
Currently feeling: Cha Cha Cha
June 27th, 2005
Most Corralled Dogs
Posted by MikeyMike at 09:27 PM on June 27, 2005.
Yes, it's time for an update on Cubby the Pomeranian from Dogster I featured a while back... Hum, maybe Princess Emma should get a doggie?
PLUS: Teh Neko's dog SPARKEY!!
and... JenJen's dog Bennie! =)
June 29th, 2005
iPod Shuffle 1gb for $105
Posted by MikeyMike at 04:11 PM on June 29, 2005 in iPod.
This is a special deal, with rebates needed to get this price, but Apple has reduced the 1gb Shuffle to $125, because it didn't compete (at$149) very well against the 4gb Mini...
The Shuffle can be pretty handy! The sound is as good as any other iPod, (heard that from several sources) it can store data files and act as a USB data drive - so you can carry your homework to school, etc.
If you you are doing active sports, then having a lite, tiny flash memory device is a big plus. It's starting to sound like an alternative for more active moments, even if you have a hard drive based Pod already!
New iPod Lineup
All the "big" iPods are color now!! =)
As anticipated, Apple today announced that it is merging its iPod and iPod photo lines, dropping the “photo” naming and adding color screens to all full-size (white) iPod models.
The simplified lineup features a new 20GB color screen model for $299 (the same price as the older monochrome version), a 60GB model for $399 ($50 cheaper), and an updated iPod U2 Special Edition with a color screen for $329 ($20 cheaper). The company has apparently dropped the 30GB iPod photo model, which sold for $349.
Apple also said that starting today iPods will offer “an easy to use Podcast menu, including bookmarking within a Podcast and the ability to display Podcast artwork in color” to coincide with the release of iTunes 4.9. More
The Complete Guide to iTunes 4.9, with Podcasts
Apple today released iTunes 4.9 for both Mac OS X and Windows, most prominently introducing support for podcast downloading, and at the same time, providing a directory of more than 3,000 podcasts through the iTunes Music Store. Why the emphasis on podcasts? For months, people have been enjoying the free, serialized Internet radio broadcasts, downloading them individually or through subscriptions, then listening to them on their computers or iPods. More than a year after these broadcasts began, they’ve become popular enough to attract attention from the mainstream media - and Apple - which now claims that “podcasting is the next generation of radio.”
For more information on podcasting, check out our February 2005 article, Understanding the Podcast Revolution, a look at the concepts, key players, and popular software packages. Some people believe that the arrival of iTunes as the 800-pound gorilla of software will render most of the programs mentioned in the earlier article obsolete, but others believe iTunes will only provide an easy introduction to a world previously explored by a relatively small audience. More
Currently listening to: Do The Shuffle
Currently feeling: loving the pod
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MikeyMike Mike from (Spring Valley) San Diego, CA
Uses Nikon P5000 digicam and Nikon D70 DSLR for most pictures here.
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