Roger's Story- Part One

Greetings. Let me introduce you to a friend of mine. A personal friend, really.

His name is Roger. Hanyu Pinyin- Chen Cai Ming, ( Tan Chai Beng)

Born in 1992, he was an average achiever in school. He did pick up some things fast, though. He was able to pick up computer literacy early, and by the age of 8, learnt how to use programs such as Explorer and, of course, how to reformat the computer.

Of course, Roger was born in an age where information sped round the globe in the blink of an eye, where he could be connected to his peers in a manner totally unheard of by those a generation behind him. One of his faves was downloading free programs, software and entertainment off the Internet. He was amazed that the Internet held so much information, and its influx of information dazzled him.

On his ninth birthday he recieved a nasty shock. A letter came through the mail for his parents. Turns out he illegally downloaded some episodes of Japanese Animation off the Internet illegally and as a result, legal action was taken against his parents. Of course, they did not that what he was doing as illegal, and settled on paying the 3k fine instead of going to court. At International Plaza, he met Linny, a school mate who happened to also have performed the dastardly deed. They talked, and became fast friends.

His parents never looked at him the same way after this incident.

His computer usage hours were limited, and closely monitored by his parents after the incident. They became paranoid and limited the time he spent on the computer soon afterwards.

End of Part One

i love singapore

StarHub must give names of illegal anime downloaders

ST, Aug 14th 2007

By Chua Hian Hou

THE Singapore distributor of popular Japanese animated cartoons called anime has won the right to track down fans who download the programmes illegally using their Starhub Internet accounts.

A Subordinate Court has ordered the telco to disclose the identity of about 1,000 of its subscribers accused of illegally downloading anime.

It is believed to be one of the largest crackdowns on illegal Internet downloading by home users in Singapore.

The recent hearing was held in a closed chamber session, so few details of the case are available publicly. The action was taken by local anime distributor Odex.

StarHub had initially resisted the company's efforts to get its customer data, said a spokesman for the telco, as it had 'an obligation to protect our customers' information'.

But it now has no choice but to comply with the court order, as Odex had 'satisfied the court of its need for the information'.

Once Odex obtains the identities of these Internet users from StarHub, it is expected to write to them demanding a settlement of up to $5,000 and a promise to stop further illegal downloading.

In May, Odex went after 17 SingNet subscribers after obtaining a similar court order. It then sent more letters to an undisclosed number of other SingNet subscribers also accused of illegally downloading anime.

Odex director Peter Go said a few infringers with financial difficulties were allowed to settle for about $1,000. He added that a number of those who had received the letter had engaged lawyers, but did not contest Odex's case.

Having succeeded in getting SingNet and StarHub customer lists, Odex will now go after customers of another Internet service provider, Pacific Internet (PacNet), in the Subordinate Courts later this week. It is understood Odex has accused about 1,000 PacNet users of illegal downloading.

PacNet spokesman Bernard Ho said the firm was 'resisting the application' made by Odex in court.

However, lawyers familiar with such applications say they have a strong track record of success. But information obtained this way is not always useful to the plaintiff. For instance, the user may no longer be in the country.

Popular with both children and adults, the anime industry was worth as much as US$5 billion ($7.5 billion) worldwide, according to a 2004 BusinessWeek report. However, illegal downloads, available online since the late 1990s, have cut deeply into the profits of producers and distributors.

Mr Go said the South Korean anime market, once the world's second largest after Japan, collapsed several years ago due to piracy problems.

This prompted Japanese studios making anime to band together to mount the crackdown here as they were worried Singapore, although not as big a market, would end up the same way.

A 23-year-old anime fan acknowledged that there was some truth to Mr Go's words.

'At my peak a while ago, I used to download five to 10 gigabytes of anime a week,' said the undergraduate, who declined to be named.

Now, he is resigned that his past will catch up with him.

'It's just a matter of time before I get the dreaded Odex letter.'

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Court forces ISP to reveal culprits

Netizens cry foul- How did company track downloaders?

New Paper, Aug 9 2007

By Liew Hanqing

THE white school shoes lined up neatly at the reception area were telling.

Popular series Inuyasha is one of the anime series distributed by Odex here.

Inside were several frowning parents with their teenage children in tow.

That was the scene at Odex's office at International Plaza on Monday.

Odex is the local distributor of Japanese anime cartoons which made news recently when it cracked down on illegal downloaders here.

Most of those caught were students - one, a 9-year-old child.

The episode has caused a huge uproar among Netizens, who are worried that their online privacy has been compromised.

How did Odex, which distributes popular Japanese anime series such as Bleach, Inuyasha and D.Gray-man here, find out who had been downloading illegally?

TROUBLING

Said Mr David Lee, 23, who collects anime box sets: 'What's troubling is how it seems like the ISPs are prepared to divulge user information so readily.'

After some persuasion, Mr Peter Go, managing director of Odex, revealed how the company had done it.

He told The New Paper that a US company had been hired to track down the illegal downloaders.

'All the information we obtained was through the proper channels,' he said.

Mr Go declined to reveal the name of the company Odex hired, saying only that it was also involved in several high-profile copyright infringement cases in the US.

He said that the data collected was then used to obtain a court order.

The court order required Internet service providers (ISPs) to provide the account information of users whose internet protocol (IP) addresses had been linked to illegal downloading.

On disclosing users' identities, a SingTel spokesman said: 'SingTel has a strict policy of not disclosing customer information to external parties.

'In this particular case, Odex's solicitors had obtained a court order that required us to release the information to them.'

Then came the tedious process of matching the names obtained from the ISPs to the files they had downloaded, as tracked by the US company.

Additional administrative staff had to be hired to do the matching.

Infringing users were then sent letters, inviting them to enter discussions with Odex to avoid legal action being taken against them.

Users who admitted to the downloads were made to pay between $3,000 and $5,000 in reimbursement fees to Odex, according to Mr Go.

They also had to sign a letter of undertaking promising not to illegally download any anime licensed to Odex.

NO CLAIMS MADE YET

He said: 'At this stage, we have not claimed damages against any of the downloaders.

'The money they've been made to pay is to cover the costs which Odex has incurred.'

Mr Go said besides the usual legal fees, they had to pay the ISPs for identification of users, the US company hired to track illegal downloads, as well as the additional administrative staff.

Mr Go added that the company had no choice, as Odex's business had been severely hurt by illegal downloads.

He said: 'Our sales for 2006 fell more than 50 per cent compared to the year before.'

Statistics show that Odex's declining sales are part of a global trend.

And even though 13-episode anime VCD box sets released by Odex cost just $10, and DVD box sets, $20, consumers were not biting, Mr Go said.

Sales of the box sets have been poor, and got even worse last year.

Odex is still sending letters to users who have been identified as illegal downloaders - one ISP at a time.

Said Mr Go: 'We just haven't finished matching the data obtained from the other ISPs yet. We are not targeting any ISP in particular.'

LEGAL ACTION

He added that Odex would begin taking legal action if the situation does not improve.

He said: 'We would like to avoid getting to the point where we have to raid the homes of those who download illegally. But if this continues, we may soon have to.'

Mr Go said that while there was a 50 per cent drop in the number of illegal downloads a week after Odex sent out the first batch of letters, the number of downloads went back to normal the following week.

Mr Go said he was frustrated that users on anime forums were discussing ways to continue downloading anime illegally, without getting caught.

He said: 'There are so many ways people can get their anime fix.

'And our VCDs and DVDs are already priced about as low as they can go, but people still aren't buying.

'It's very sad.'

Under the Copyright Act, users found guilty of wilful and significant downloads face fines of up to $20,000 and up to six months in jail.

The Act does not specify what constitutes a significant number of downloads.

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Business ethics

-Is a specialized study of moral right and wrong.

-It concentrates on moral standards as they apply to business policies, institutions and behaviour and to the systems and organizations through which modern societies produce goods and services and to the people who work within these organizations.

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Do you think that there are any ethics involved in business? Nah. Ethics dont get you money or bring you anywhere. Mainland china is an example. In the capitalist world we live in today the key ideal that drives us is the pursuit of monetary gain, be it thru whatever avenue we might choose. In a country where regulation is subservient to those who wield it there is no room for ethics and implications. I can make money through this so what?

No, there is no use spouting profanities and cursing and swearing at how the situation has becomes. We should accept the fact that it is this society that we live in, the grim reality of what life really is. It is not a bed of roses.

In a way one of the very poignant texts which relates closely to the situation would be Aeon Flux. Replace the Goodchilds with a different name and voila. There you have it. As is quoted in the film- "we trade our freedom for a gilded cage". At the same time, we should be thankful for this cage- it is responsible for shaping us into the individuals that we are. Undoubtedly, it is very easily to condemn a system because it does not work the way it does, but then we are all fallible human beings.

But what else can we do but complain? It is what we have been doing, it is what our whole culture is about. We are shaped by this influence into the people that we are today. Perhaps what we can do, is not to lament the fact that everything sucks. (cos it really does) It is just the same old thing being rehashed over and over again, the endless rhetoric about how lousy things are, and how we all yearn for a better life.

Rhetoric stays as rhetoric. Nobody will ever do anything, because they cant, and they wont. We are selfish creatures, merely concerned with the state of our own personal well being.

Like i told a friend one night before, i guess what you can do is, perhaps, choose alternatives to a bad situation. It may suck, but complaining solves nothing. A simple boycott and an import purchase is an action that speaks louder than a million letters and angry online posts.

S'pore to up number of varsity places

By Keith Lin

THE Government is studying ways to increase the number of university places and whether to build a fourth university, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong revealed yesterday.

The aim: to give more Singaporeans, especially polytechnic graduates, a chance to study at a university here.

Now, about one in four in each cohort receives a university education.

'We will up the percentage,' Mr Goh promised.

Speaking to about a thousand residents and grassroots leaders at a National Day dinner in his Marine Parade constituency last night, Mr Goh also pledged a stronger social safety net for those struggling to cope with changes in the economy.

Measures being studied include topping up the Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts of lower-income senior citizens, securing higher returns on CPF savings and raising the retirement age, he said.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will discuss new ways to help Singaporeans work longer and build up their retirement savings during the National Day Rally next Sunday.

Mr Goh's announcement comes after several parents and students complained about the difficulty in securing places in the three local universities this year.

In June, Dr Tony Tan, who heads Singapore's high-powered International Academic Advisory Panel, suggested the setting up of a liberal arts college as one way to increase the number of university places.

If not for its decision to pull out in May, the University of New South Wales would have been the fourth university here, with a planned intake of 15,000 students by 2020.

Business administrator Elizabeth Moses, whose 18-year-old son is at a local polytechnic, said more local university places could save her the high cost of sending her son overseas.

'It's great news,' she said.

Turning to the outlook for Singapore as a whole, Mr Goh was upbeat, saying that 'our boat is now entering a favourable stretch of the journey'.

He cited several reasons for his confidence.

Economic restructuring was paying off and the economy was being upgraded.

The external outlook was also positive.

He said that the current turmoil in stock exchanges worldwide, sparked by problems in the United States mortgage market, was in his view 'temporary'.

On Singapore's other strengths, he said it was well plugged into the global economy and had a Government that thought long term and acted to solve problems.

It also has in place the unique practice of planned political leadership succession.

Mr Goh said that he was, however, also aware that some Singaporeans found it difficult to keep up with the fast pace of life or rising cost of living.

The Government would help them to cope better, he added.

He also called on those who had done well to share their wealth through acts of philanthropy, so as to 'give something back to the community on which their success has been built'.

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A little too late for that now. I'm already in perth.

If we choose to stay overseas and not come back you can only blame urselves

And why not? Shorter working hours, cheaper cars, an easier way of life than livin it up in the concrete jungle only to come back to bring squealing kids to tuition and wrapping up the housework

Not to mention NS

Modernisation vs Heritage

its no use dwelling on ancient history but the fact remains that where we are today is a result of our ancestors taking a gamble. a gamble to leave their homes and find a better life overseas. we are who we are today because of that gamble that they pulled off.

(i sound like an NE teacher now)

in a way we are where we are because of what they have done. it would not be otherwise

(i sound brainwashed)

therefore we should treasure what we have inherited from them

(i am sounding more and more creepy)

meaning- if you cant even recognise ur own dialect, or will not respect your roots, then you are not worthy of ur family name. blood is thicker than water. yeah sure it may be crude, yeah it may sound uncultured but hell! i am proud to be what i am and i am loving it. i lament the fact that even in my generation, such cultures are getting diluted in the wake of literacy, affluence and exposure to other influences. i will never be as fluent as others in my mother tongue and my dialect, that i am sad to admit. if that is so what is that saying of our future generations? if even the chinese language is seen as a bane to many people, then where are we headed?

not to mention traditional practices. if i were to go on it would never end. the neverending tirade against popular religion

patriotism

one for the bengs

Fossils paint new picture of human evolution

CHICAGO - AN ancient skull and upper jawbone from two early branches of the human family tree - Homo erectus and Homo habilis - suggest the early human ancestors may have lived close together for half a million years, researchers said on Wednesday.

The fossils, discovered in eastern Africa, challenge the understanding that humans evolved one after another like a line of dominoes, from ancient Homo habilis to Homo erectus and eventually to Homo sapiens, or modern people.

'There has been a view that has suggested habilis very slowly evolved into erectus,' said Susan Anton, a professor of anthropology at New York University. 'Now we have the two cohabitating, so that can no longer be the case.' The research, published in the journal Nature, was conducted by nine scientists including Prof Anton, paleontologist Meave Leakey and her daughter Louise Leakey, both explorers in residence at the National Geographic Society, and Fred Spoor of University College London.

Both fossils were found in 2000 east of Lake Turkana in Kenya as part of the Koobi Fora Research Project, which is affiliated with the National Museums of Kenya.

Their proximity suggests the two species used different food sources and behaviours to live so closely without becoming extinct.

'It's within two or three minutes walking distance,' said Patrick Gathogo, a doctoral candidate from the University of Utah who helped study the geological layers.

'They must have interacted with each other,' he said in a telephone interview.

Sister species
The upper jaw bone of Homo habilis dates from 1.44 million years ago, which is earlier than other known fossils of that species.

'The new fossil jaw suggests that Homo habilis was a sister species of Homo erectus, living at broadly the same time, rather than the mother species giving rise to it,' Mr Spoor said in a statement.

The second fossil, found in the same region of northern Kenya, is a well-preserved skull of Homo erectus, which dates from about 1.55 million years ago.

This fossil is striking because of its size. It is the smallest Homo erectus skull found so far and it paints a different picture of the species, suggesting more diversity than researchers had believed.

This diversity could mean that like gorillas, in which males have much larger skulls than females, Homo erectus might have exhibited sexual dimorphism, a primitive trait, the researchers said.

Reduced size differences between the sexes is typically considered a trait acquired during human evolution.

'It makes Homo erectus a bit less like us,' Prof Anton said.

Mr Spoor said all available evidence still suggests that Homo sapiens evolved from Homo erectus, a process that happened in Africa more than 1 million years ago.

He said it is likely the two species will have had a common ancestor living in Africa between 2 million and 3 million years ago. -- REUTERS

With so many scientific discoveries being made every day, i am positive that there will come a day when one's beliefs will come into question about the origin of human life. Hypothetically speaking,

What if there was overwhelming evidence that we evolved from a "lesser" lifeform?

What if what you discovered came into direct conflict with a belief that you have been holding on to your entire life?

Would you accept the truth or relinquish it in favour of your own religion?

That being said, would you even WANT to discover the truth if you knew the implications of it?

Would you rather live in denial and die according to how you want to live?

Looks like its not just Adam and Eve, but Roger and Bob, with neighbours Jessie and Melissa, poking in the primeval dirt of the African Garden of Eden? Interesting.

i'm not going to try anymore

whats the use of even bothering about things

i care, but do others care?

no all there is is but a masquerade of perceptions about how people want to be seen as, not what they genuinely are

enjoy the silence

bleed yourself dry

shout ur successes to an empty theater

keep your tower high standards up

it will topple you, like babel

dialect is your identity- finding it crude is laughing at what you are made of

religion is not custom. respect it