I'm really impressed by the folks at Namco who designed both Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari. Whoever coined the idea of designing a game where players roll a sticky ball to collect items really hit the jackpot for casual gaming!
And if you're a gaming and Lego fan, check out these links here and here.
Mobile phones have really evolved from huge self defence bricks (or water bottles as I fondly remember) to small little communication units packed with MP3 players, mobile games and what have you. And with the advancement of mobile technology, people nowadays do not need to walk around town with a boombox blasting their favorite tunes. Instead, they play them via the handset's loud speaker.
And that's quite a pain. I know that the doctors have advised us to avoid listening to music using earphones to minimise damage to our ear drums but do we really need to share your favorite songs with everyone?
No matter how advanced or expensive your handsets cost, the sound quality of a handset speaker should be limited to that of conference callls. I can't recall how many times I've heard "The reason" and "My humps" blaring inaudibly from someone's handset. Seriously, it doesn't do the handset nor the songs your playing any justice.
Worse still, try travelling on a train or bus with passengers trying to outdo each other by blasting music via their handsets at the same time. The winner, of course will always be the beng with a comprehensive collection of repetitve euro-techno MP3s.
Let's get this straight, everyone loves music to a certain extent. But please, don't be too fanatic to the point that everyone's being forced to listen to your music blaring from your handset; having an MP3 handset doesn't make you a DJ! Perhaps this year's courtesy campaign should read something like, "Pass on a little kindness by keeping your music to yourself".
I'm very surprised that the neighborhood bootleg boutique has stood the test of time. Maybe because the elections are drawing near so no clampdown or raids will be taking place until after we've cast our votes.
Was there the other day on my way home from work when I overheard a guy telling his girlfriend how he despised people who bought MP3 CDs. However, he went on to tell her that it was okay to pirate software and games...
How ironic! As long as you pirate one of the following; movies, music, software, games or e-books you're still a pirate! There's no such thing as pirating one thing being okay while pirating something else isn't. A pirate is a pirate, no two ways about it. Either way, I doubt he succeeded in impressing his girlfriend with his justifications.
And dude, why even bring your girlfriend to the bootleg boutique?
Just the other day I met up with a business contact to discuss the potential of starting a business realtionship between both the companies that we work in. The meeting ended on a good note with him sending me the soft copies of the agreements to look over and feedback. However, when I reached the office the very next day, I got an email from the same business contact informing me that he's tendered his resignation; a significant u-turn within the span of a day...
Nowadays software pirates all very bold. Take for example one of customer service case that I handled. The person wrote in to feedback that he downloaded one of our mobile games which seemed to hang on his handset and asked if he could get the latest update from us.
Upon further probing, we found out that a very early version was downloaded and best of all, he claimed that he got it from a website that pirated this game of ours. Damn thick-skinned, can tell us he got it for free and wanted an updated version from us.
So what did I do? Tell him to go fly kite what else?!
They always say that the customer is king. However, good customer service rules! Having said that, I'd like to point out a KFC outlet in Toa Payoh whose staff has never failed in this department. And to top it off, this outlet is run by a crew who are deaf.
From the time your order is taken right up to the time that your food is served, the counter crew will always serve you with a smile and, through out all the times that I've eaten there never once did they get my order wrong though I'm really bad at sign languag
e.
So what's the irony in this? Well, quite often if you were to step into any other fast food outlet you'll often be greeted by sullen, listless counter staff muttering inaudible sentences sounding very much like wookies about to die. What's more, there are times they either don't listen or they screw up the order in which I sometimes even wonder why I even bothered to patronise them.
In comparison, the deaf crew at the KFC outlet greet every customer with a smile, are fast with processing orders and they ensure that every customer has a pleasant experience. So why can't everyone, both able and disabled, have the same drive towards good customer service?
I somehow believe it's the hunger that the KFC crew possess in wanting to prove themselves to us to be accepted as part of society. However, in their drive to do so, they have also shown that many folks in the service industry have often taken the customer for granted and that it's just a job and they're in it to draw a paycheck blah blah blah! Don't get me wrong, I've experienced my fair share of good customer service from able bodied staff. However, with the government's emphasis on promoting good customer service, perhaps they should use this KFC outlet as a model case study for everyone to follow.
As public transport commuter, I have seen elderly folks pushing and shoving they way past the queue to get a coveted seat. I have even seen our dear senior citizens push and shove their way through with such aggression that even our national rugby team will be put to shame.
For most cases my personal experience with these folks usually takes place at the bus interchange when they don't bother to queue up and just board the bus the moment it pulls up. And to top it off, they usually end up grabbing the seat that I want!
So why exactly do some senior citizens act the way they do? Is it because our national courtesy campaigns have not yielded the expected results? When I say this, I'm referring to the campaigns' objective of teaching the younger generation to respect the elders and understand that they (the elderly) have a priority when it comes to limited seating.
Maybe the younger generation are so "me-me" oriented that they have forgotten that the elderly may, more often than not, need the seat especially if they are travelling the entire bus or train route. Perhaps their survial instincts have kicked in for such situations to the point that they can muster enough energy to push and shove their way for a seat thanks to those 6am Taichi sessions.
Bearing in mind that many of the elderly folk have tasted and endured more hardship than most of us have experienced should we tolerate their behavior? Would it help if we gave in a little by letting them board the buses or trains first or if we gave up our seats to them? Maybe if we did, they would not have a reason to resort to such actions. But for now, I'll just have to live with not getting the seat that I want.
Nowadays, shops selling pirated software are few and far between. This is due to the government's effectiveness in clamping down piracy. However, ever so once in awhile a software bootleg boutique will unexpectedly turn up in somewhere in the heartlands. It's not hard to miss as they tend to stick out like sore thumbs...
A few months ago I chanced across one on my way home from work and decided to have a look. It was then that I overheard a father telling his daughter:
"Girl, you see this CD? Got 100 over songs, better than the one you bought from the music shop. So cheap somemore. Next time must buy like this..."
Hwah! Uncle teaching his little girl economics. If there ever was an award for promoting MP3 piracy, I think he'll win it hands down for passing on such knowledge to his children...
