The Social Network

19 Feb 2011 - People with the most Facebook "friends" are more likely to feel stressed out by the site, according to researchers. Edinburgh Napier University found a significant minority of users suffered "considerable Facebook-related anxiety".However, they only received very modest rewards.
More than one in 10 said Facebook made them feel anxious and more than three in 10 said they felt guilty about rejecting friend requests.The study found that 12% of the students questioned said they disliked receiving friend requests, while almost two thirds (63%) said they delayed replying to friend requests.
The university's Dr Kathy Charles, who led the study, said: "The results threw up a number of paradoxes.

"For instance, although there is great pressure to be on Facebook there is also considerable ambivalence amongst users about its benefits."And we found it was actually those with the most contacts, those who had invested the most time in the site, who were the ones most likely to be stressed. Like gambling, Facebook keeps users in a neurotic limbo, not knowing whether they should hang on in there just in case they miss out on something good”

The Lost World

18 Feb 2011 - The Maliau Basin, a Forest reserve covering an area of 58,840ha in the southern interior of Sabah, Malaysia, is so named at it resembles a gigantic saucer-like basin with the rim ranging from 1,500m to 1,900m above the sea level. It is this unique feature, in addition to its isolation, that has made the basin impossible for human habitation and, therefore, unexplored. Initially, the Maliau Basin was part of Sabah Foundation's concession. It was turned into a conservation area in 1981 for research, education, training and eco-tourism purposes. In 1997 this conservation area was upgraded into a Forest reserve under the State Forest Enactment. It was gazetted a cultural heritage in 1999. The basin is reportedly packed with exotic animals, as they are the only ones to freely enter and leave. Jurassic Park?

The Fifteenth Day

17 Feb 2011 - Chinese New Year celebrations start on the first day on a new moon and end on the 15th day when the moon is full. In Malaysia, Chap Goh Meh is a celebration of both the final day of the Chinese New Year and the day of lovers, also known as "Chinese Valentine's Day". The Chinese New Year marks also the beginning of spring and the 15 days used to be a farmers only holiday, in part because it was also the coldest time of the year. The frozen ground was too hard to work. Whatever the practical reasons, these two weeks became a time for extended family gatherings, lots of food and festivities and carefully observed rituals designed to invite in the good luck and ward off the bad. But from tomorrow onwards we are back to normal.

Chilean Sex Dolls

16 Feb 2011 - Everybody recalls the moving story of the Chilean miners who were trapped for weeks under ground. As time passes, more and more details about their ordeal are becoming known. Human reserves alone were not alone to keep the 33 trapped miners' morale high. To make their ordeal more bearable as they were awaiting rescue, drugs were smuggled down to them in family letters, a new book claims. They also sought a further lift during the 69 days they spent 800m underground by asking for blow-up sex dolls. When this was refused because the doctor in charge feared having to share them would lead to tension and jealousy, the miners had to make do with pin-up posters instead. Nor did the presence of marijuana posted down the communications shaft to them promote camaraderie, the book claims. Miner Samuel Avalos noticed how some miners would sneak away, he suspected to smoke the drug. But he said they never offered to anyone. The book claims that the drugs created more tension than it relieved.

Naked Pics

15 Feb 2011 - I hope everybody enjoyed (or survived) their Valentine's Day, which seems increasingly becoming a commercial opportunity here in Asia. And all the restaurants were packed and flower shops were sold out, although it was announced in Malaysia that Muslims are not allowed to celebrate St. Valentine's special day  I read that many love-struck Asians have spiced up their work day at with saucy emails to whomever they are besotted with, according to an international poll conducted in Asia and Europe by Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail.  Research findings released by Microsoft suggests that many Asians feel comfortable expressing their love, flirting freely and even broaching problematic issues in their relationship via email.  In fact, they are less conservative about doing so than their counterparts in Europe. Who would have thought? Btw - I did not put it to the test, my Valentine was already as magnificent as it was.  

My Funny Valentine

14 Feb 2011 - "My Funny Valentine" is a sow tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms. After being recorded by Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis, the song became a popular jazz standard, appearing on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists. Babes in Arms opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway on April 14, 1937 and ran for 289 performances. In the original play, a character named Billie Smith sings the song to Valentine "Val" LaMar ^.  In the song, Billie pokes fun at some of Valentine's characteristics, but ultimately affirms that he makes her smile and that she doesn't want him to change. The song first hit the charts in 1945, performed by Hal McIntyre with vocals by Ruth Gaylor. It only appeared for one week and hit #16.In a 2006 survey of people between 10 and 49 years of age in Japan, Oricon Style found My Funny Valentine to be the fifth most popular Valentine's Day song in Japan. The most popular song was Sayuri Kokusho's 1986 debut single Valentine Kiss, followed by Love Love Love from Dreams Come True, Valentine's Radio from Yumi Matsutoya, and Happy Happy Greeting from the Kinki Kids.

Beliefs and Traditions

13 Feb 2011 - We are now more than a week into the Year of the Rabbit and it has been so far so good. Ther are beliefs and traditions regarding luck and prosperity during the Chinese New Year period. Unfounded or not, many Chinese people practise these beliefs without question believing it is better to be safe than sorry. For example, every Chinese family cleans the entire house in the days before the New Year as it is considered bad luck to sweep or clean the house on the first day of the new year. They would not want to sweep their fortunes away. I was told some even apply this to washing their hair. Foul language, scolding and crying are to be avoided on the first day as is the use of sharp instruments such as knives and scissors. Care must be taken not to break any dishes or things. If you do, the broken pieces must be kept and only thrown away the following day. Chinese businesses usually close during the first days, only opening again on the fifth day. All business debts must be settled  and nothing should be lent on the first day as anyone who does will be lending the entire year.