Sedang dunia muzik masih hangat memperkatakan yang Avril Lavigne, penyanyi punk rock muda yang begitu hangat masa kini telah memplagiat, di negara kita yang sewajarnya merdeka nampaknya, masih belum bersedia memerdekakan diri daripada tabiat memplagiat, jelas dengan lagu terbaru nyanyian seniwati tersohor negara, Datuk Siti Nurhaliza dengan iringian artis-artis popular termasuk pengacara Akademi Fantasia, Aznil Nawawi.
Dalam kes Rubinoos vs Lavigne, Kumpulan Rubinoos menyatakan yang sebahagian kecil lirik kumpulan rock 70-an tersebut diciplak untuk lagu beliau terbaru berjudul "I wanna be your girlfriend" berdasarkan frasa korus yang begitu mirip yakni "I wanna be your boyfriend" yang juga merupakan judul lagu Kumpulan Runinoos. Malah, tempo untuk bahagian lagu tersebut juga, walaupun berbeza kepantasan, agak mirip hingga menggesa kumpulan Rubinoos bertindak menyaman Lavigne baru-baru ini. (Ada juga yang menyatakan bahawa Rubinoos telah menciplak lagu terlebih awal dari Rolling Stones, atau Avril terus dari Rolling Stones).
Lagu berjudul "Warna-Warna Malaysia" yang dipromosikan dengan gahnya oleh stesen TV tempatan termasuk milik kerajaan sendiri untuk meceriakan sambutan kemerdekaan ke-50 dan Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2007 yang baru ini saja digemilangkan dengan acara Citrawarna pula, tampaknya begitu mirip dengan tempo lagu Lavigne yang masih lagi mendominasi pelbagai carta muzik antarabangsa -- termasuk di bahagian rap kedua-dua lagu!
Sebelum ini, Siti pernah membawakan lagu kontemporari Britney Spears. Sekarang, nampaknya terbawa-bawa Avril Lavigne pula, cuma diubah-ubah dan diMalaysiakan keseluruhannya.
Apa sudah jadi dengan komposer tempatan? Sudah kekang idea atau mahu cepat popular tak kena tempat? Apa sudah jadi dengan artis tempatan? Selalu laungkan pembelaan untuk produk ori, tapi, hal keaslian lagu pun kenalah diambil kira, bukan saja fizikal media pengedaran lagu tersebut. Dan Aznil selaku seorang yang begitu dihormati dikalangan artis-artis baru mahupun penggemar muzik kontemporari zaman TV realiti kini, pula tampak begitu gembira melaung-laung dan tumpang menari menyerikan lagu ciplak sebegini?
Bandingkan kedua-dua lagu tersebut:
Avril's whose official version from RCA Records at YouTube has been viewed more than 50-million times.
Datuk SN's that's still building Youtube popularity from the low thousands.
Akhir kata, dalam kita mengejar inovasi dan kepelbagaian kreativiti, jauh-jauhkanlah budaya ciplak yang menghantui pelbagai aspek kesenian dan teknologi selama berdekad-dekad lamanya, mencecah 50 tahun kemerdekaan negara kita ini. Merdekakanlah daya inovasi dan kreatif kita juga...
[Sebab itu juga, saya akan cuba memperbanyakkan karya asal dalam bahasa Melayu dalam blog ini mula sekarang, kerana menurut ucaptama seminar Bahasa Rojak yang saya hadiri di Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka bulan lepas, kita akan lebih kreatif dan asli dengan cara kita yang unik, yakni lebih berinovasi dengan berfikir dan menulis dalam bahasa kita sendiri berbanding kalau asyik cuba hanya mengadaptasi karya dan hasil kajian dari bahasa asing.]
Sunday, August 26
50 years ago...
For a eight days starting yesterday, Aug 25 until post Merdeka Day on 1st of September 2007, 
the New Straits Times (NST), oldest newspaper of this land having been founded in 1845 ("as The Straits Times" before being renamed as the New ST in 1965 following the formation of Malaysia) is bundling a special surprise for its readers of the printed edition - the historical pre-Independence issues, published exactly five decades ago, as Malaysia will be celebrating its 50th Independence Day come this Friday, 31 AUG 2007.
What a nice marketing trick! -- At the time, NST claimed to have the "largest nett sales in Malaya" and I suspect that they'll manage to do just that this week, after trailing behind other English-based national newspapers like The Star (daily competitor that is especially popular in Penang and Kuala Lumpur; as well as in Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US for its online version) and 
The Sun (free printed format both online and offline on weekdays only). -- NST's online version, the nst online, (which somehow seems to be offline for quite a number hours since early morning until now as of 8am) is also trailing behind the Star's website in terms of viewership being ranked 102th versus The Star's 16th by Alexa.
Thanks to NST, we can momentously peek on how our nation was exactly 50 years ago, on the few days leading to the historic proclaimation of Merdeka by Malaysia's first prime minister, YTM Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj. Or how that newspaper reflected our nation at the time... So, what was different back then?
50 years ago, The Sunday Times that costs 20 Singaporean cents (and 15-cent for other days compared to RM 1.20 everyday today) looked like a newspaper for a foreign country or we were like in a different nation after all. The headlines and major news stories featured mostly about Singapore and other countries instead of Malaysia! (There were more news about Singapore than Malaya on its front page simply because it was indeed published in Singapore, not in Malaya). Even the caricatures were mostly foreign-imported. And seemingly too that most of the reporters, journalists and/or author of the news articles weren't even from the Malaya peninsula - they mostly bear English names due to the British colonization and administration which Federation of Malaya (Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, prior to Malaysia's formation some six years later in 1963) gained its independence from that year.
The big names in the advertisement space at the time that still flourish to this date include Grundig (my brother used to work in one of its factories, and one of our first mini radio while I was small is a Grundig), Ovaltine, Rolex, Milo, Dulux, Van Houten, Mercedez-Bence, Carnation (evaporated milk), Philips, Cathay (making a comeback following rebranding of the acquired Megapavilion cinemas), Cuticura (talcum powder), Brylcreem, Lux Campell's, Parker (ballpoint pens), Kodak and Garuda Indonesian Airways (now Garuda Indonesia). Looking at the ads, one can conclude that the marketers were betting heavily on selling prestige - Fortis, Titus, Titoni, Polarouter and Rolex (FIVE watch brands in one day issue!), Parker, Dulux and the ever-popular Mercedez; radios as the popular mass communications means; health and body care; nutritions and entertainment (cineplexes and dances).
There were quite a number of liquor ads too - beer and gin -- which has since been banned in Malaysia's newspapers due to the declaration of Islam as official religion of the state. And horoscope has been a mandatory ingredient for periodicals as ever...
Worth to note too that the phone numbers back then were only five-digit (just like for today's commercial SMS numbers) instead of the the common seven and eight digit in Malaysia nowadays, not including another 2-3 digit for the area codes prefix.
Keep on reading and immerse yourself in the spirit of Merdeka as we march with a countdown towards Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!
the New Straits Times (NST), oldest newspaper of this land having been founded in 1845 ("as The Straits Times" before being renamed as the New ST in 1965 following the formation of Malaysia) is bundling a special surprise for its readers of the printed edition - the historical pre-Independence issues, published exactly five decades ago, as Malaysia will be celebrating its 50th Independence Day come this Friday, 31 AUG 2007.
What a nice marketing trick! -- At the time, NST claimed to have the "largest nett sales in Malaya" and I suspect that they'll manage to do just that this week, after trailing behind other English-based national newspapers like The Star (daily competitor that is especially popular in Penang and Kuala Lumpur; as well as in Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US for its online version) and 
The Sun (free printed format both online and offline on weekdays only). -- NST's online version, the nst online, (which somehow seems to be offline for quite a number hours since early morning until now as of 8am) is also trailing behind the Star's website in terms of viewership being ranked 102th versus The Star's 16th by Alexa.Thanks to NST, we can momentously peek on how our nation was exactly 50 years ago, on the few days leading to the historic proclaimation of Merdeka by Malaysia's first prime minister, YTM Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj. Or how that newspaper reflected our nation at the time... So, what was different back then?
50 years ago, The Sunday Times that costs 20 Singaporean cents (and 15-cent for other days compared to RM 1.20 everyday today) looked like a newspaper for a foreign country or we were like in a different nation after all. The headlines and major news stories featured mostly about Singapore and other countries instead of Malaysia! (There were more news about Singapore than Malaya on its front page simply because it was indeed published in Singapore, not in Malaya). Even the caricatures were mostly foreign-imported. And seemingly too that most of the reporters, journalists and/or author of the news articles weren't even from the Malaya peninsula - they mostly bear English names due to the British colonization and administration which Federation of Malaya (Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, prior to Malaysia's formation some six years later in 1963) gained its independence from that year.
The big names in the advertisement space at the time that still flourish to this date include Grundig (my brother used to work in one of its factories, and one of our first mini radio while I was small is a Grundig), Ovaltine, Rolex, Milo, Dulux, Van Houten, Mercedez-Bence, Carnation (evaporated milk), Philips, Cathay (making a comeback following rebranding of the acquired Megapavilion cinemas), Cuticura (talcum powder), Brylcreem, Lux Campell's, Parker (ballpoint pens), Kodak and Garuda Indonesian Airways (now Garuda Indonesia). Looking at the ads, one can conclude that the marketers were betting heavily on selling prestige - Fortis, Titus, Titoni, Polarouter and Rolex (FIVE watch brands in one day issue!), Parker, Dulux and the ever-popular Mercedez; radios as the popular mass communications means; health and body care; nutritions and entertainment (cineplexes and dances).
There were quite a number of liquor ads too - beer and gin -- which has since been banned in Malaysia's newspapers due to the declaration of Islam as official religion of the state. And horoscope has been a mandatory ingredient for periodicals as ever...
Worth to note too that the phone numbers back then were only five-digit (just like for today's commercial SMS numbers) instead of the the common seven and eight digit in Malaysia nowadays, not including another 2-3 digit for the area codes prefix.
Keep on reading and immerse yourself in the spirit of Merdeka as we march with a countdown towards Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!
Thursday, August 16
Domains, auctioned live, worldwide!
New domain names are cheap nowadays, but getting a really good one or two might be tough. Getting a new domain name used to cost as much as US$70 or more (for two-year minimum registration for a .com/net/org at US$35 per year), but today, new names cost for much as well under US$10 per year (with only one minimum year).
But to get a really good names is where the domain "after markets" come in the picture where domains get sold for millions of dollars for names like business.com and wine.com. It may have been a while since we've last heard of big buys of domain names, but today, 15 AUG 2007 (PST) it's BAAACK in one of the largest auction organized by DomainTools and partners at the Domain RoundTable in Seattle, WA, USA. And I can't remember when was the last time, if there has ever been a show for domain auction, live like 777 world-wide concert!
Check out the result of live auction at DomainTools.com or chat at Ustream.TV.
Some of these domains out of 450 names being auctioned this first round of DomainTools auction are already raking in 5-digit or more in buy amount. The following are the big buys so far as of 5.30 am (MYT) - prices in US dollar:-
Psst... I actually have one domain being auctioned and it's already getting bids ;-) Cool macbook coming up for me for more pajamaworking... BTW, I've sold a few domains in the past for 5-digit earnings, and you can too! There's no business like domain business!!
If you're pajamaworking or running a pajama enterprise without a domain name yet, why not get one today? You could hit a jackpot a little investment of well under US$10!
But to get a really good names is where the domain "after markets" come in the picture where domains get sold for millions of dollars for names like business.com and wine.com. It may have been a while since we've last heard of big buys of domain names, but today, 15 AUG 2007 (PST) it's BAAACK in one of the largest auction organized by DomainTools and partners at the Domain RoundTable in Seattle, WA, USA. And I can't remember when was the last time, if there has ever been a show for domain auction, live like 777 world-wide concert!
Check out the result of live auction at DomainTools.com or chat at Ustream.TV.
Some of these domains out of 450 names being auctioned this first round of DomainTools auction are already raking in 5-digit or more in buy amount. The following are the big buys so far as of 5.30 am (MYT) - prices in US dollar:-
- Rebate.com (1-million)
- Invention.com (500K)
- AZ.com (500K)
- Army.org (99K) - one of the highest for a .org!
- MakeMoneyOnline.com (95K)
- Castillo.com (35.5K)
- Ahora.com (31K)
- Finecars.com (30K)
- p4.com (30K) - the few short names
- p6.com (27K)
- FreeHealthInsurance (25K)
- RecordingStudios.com (25K)
- LowestCost.com (25K)
- PayRates.com (25K)
- 47150.com (21,250)
- Gastronomy.com (15K)
- Suspects.com (10.5K)
- cMail.com (10K)
Psst... I actually have one domain being auctioned and it's already getting bids ;-) Cool macbook coming up for me for more pajamaworking... BTW, I've sold a few domains in the past for 5-digit earnings, and you can too! There's no business like domain business!!
If you're pajamaworking or running a pajama enterprise without a domain name yet, why not get one today? You could hit a jackpot a little investment of well under US$10!
Wednesday, August 8
Ready for Web 3.0?
Much have been talked and discussed about Web 2.0 for the past couple years. While most of Web users are still clueless about Web 2.0, Web enthusiasts are starting to ask about what's next. That's gotta 3.0, but what will it be? Who will be picked as the coiner of the next one?
Tim Berners Lee and Tim O' Reilly and have in the past been the influential persons in coming up with the terms Web and Web 2.0 respectively. While we don't know who was the first one to buzz about Web 3.0 correctly, last week, a respected person in the industry, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt has been asked for a probable definition for the next generation of the Web:-
Well, the bites from him were nothing new actually, as many have already guessed similar stuff. But past the few laughs, he put some serious notes on it:
For me, Web 3.0 is quite simple actually: Web 2.0 is about crowdsourcing content, hence the wiki, the crowdcasting, the lulu, the book/product/service reviews etc, by just about any Web users, not just the software geeks. Web 3.0 will be about crowdsourcing applications -- building applications will be easy enough for any Web users, not just software geeks, unlike the traditional open-sourcing of linux, apache, mozilla etc. We have indeed starting to the get the gist of it from the latest Facebook Open Platform, and Adobe AIR etc. Building applications should be easy, and deployable easy enough and to run across all operating systems. Hence, it's about real high-quality productions that can have value and sell well.
ADVERTORIAL: In fact, this week, our webhosting partner, 1oasis.net has started to aggressively train and push entrepreneurs to create and manage their own websites instead of outsourcing them completely to geeky webmasters or big companies. Everyone should be able to build and maintain live and up-to-date websites and connect to their audience directly. In light with 50th Merdeka (Independence Day) for Malaysia, we've started a ONE SITE, ONE COMPANY / ENTPREPRENEUR campaign to ensure that at least 50 Malaysian companies have a FREE web site each that they can later maintain themselves. Just order a Website Builder 3.0 package and match it with a proper domain name and a hosting plan, either existing elsewhere (with other registrar and/or service provider) or new, and we'll get you started immediately, for FREE (SAVE RM 500+ INSTANTLY!). If you'd choose to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) the entire website completely, get a RM 50 discount instantly off the full-year webhosting. Weve even knocked the setup fee for "Online Brochure" package so you may build and maintain your one-page online brochure for less than 10-cent/day! (HURRY, this offer is limited ONLY to the FIRST 20 customers). RISK-FREE: 30-day iron-clad no-question asked full-refund guarantee!
Feel free to outsource MICROJOBS get a head start with the websites by offering each a (like logo creation, graphics editing, content creation, marketing campaign, SEO etc), not JOBS!
Stay tuned for Pajamanation 3.0, ie. "the World Wide Work!" (Smell what the *** is Cooking.. ;)-)
Tim Berners Lee and Tim O' Reilly and have in the past been the influential persons in coming up with the terms Web and Web 2.0 respectively. While we don't know who was the first one to buzz about Web 3.0 correctly, last week, a respected person in the industry, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt has been asked for a probable definition for the next generation of the Web:-
Well, the bites from him were nothing new actually, as many have already guessed similar stuff. But past the few laughs, he put some serious notes on it:
“That’s a very different application model than we’ve ever seen in computing. Very different from the mainframe era, very different from the PC industry, and likely to be very, very large. There are low barriers to entry, the new generation of tools… make it relatively easy to do, solve a lot of problems, and work everywhere.”
For me, Web 3.0 is quite simple actually: Web 2.0 is about crowdsourcing content, hence the wiki, the crowdcasting, the lulu, the book/product/service reviews etc, by just about any Web users, not just the software geeks. Web 3.0 will be about crowdsourcing applications -- building applications will be easy enough for any Web users, not just software geeks, unlike the traditional open-sourcing of linux, apache, mozilla etc. We have indeed starting to the get the gist of it from the latest Facebook Open Platform, and Adobe AIR etc. Building applications should be easy, and deployable easy enough and to run across all operating systems. Hence, it's about real high-quality productions that can have value and sell well.
ADVERTORIAL: In fact, this week, our webhosting partner, 1oasis.net has started to aggressively train and push entrepreneurs to create and manage their own websites instead of outsourcing them completely to geeky webmasters or big companies. Everyone should be able to build and maintain live and up-to-date websites and connect to their audience directly. In light with 50th Merdeka (Independence Day) for Malaysia, we've started a ONE SITE, ONE COMPANY / ENTPREPRENEUR campaign to ensure that at least 50 Malaysian companies have a FREE web site each that they can later maintain themselves. Just order a Website Builder 3.0 package and match it with a proper domain name and a hosting plan, either existing elsewhere (with other registrar and/or service provider) or new, and we'll get you started immediately, for FREE (SAVE RM 500+ INSTANTLY!). If you'd choose to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) the entire website completely, get a RM 50 discount instantly off the full-year webhosting. Weve even knocked the setup fee for "Online Brochure" package so you may build and maintain your one-page online brochure for less than 10-cent/day! (HURRY, this offer is limited ONLY to the FIRST 20 customers). RISK-FREE: 30-day iron-clad no-question asked full-refund guarantee!
Feel free to outsource MICROJOBS get a head start with the websites by offering each a (like logo creation, graphics editing, content creation, marketing campaign, SEO etc), not JOBS!
Stay tuned for Pajamanation 3.0, ie. "the World Wide Work!" (Smell what the *** is Cooking.. ;)-)
Monday, August 6
YouTube is down...
And so are the playbacks at millions of blogs/web sites (about noon, Monday, 6aug07 MYT) ...
Hmm, and YouTube, the largest video archive and playback provider today, which alone consumed more Internet bandwidth in 2006 than the whole Internet in 2000, is having several intermittent downtime the past couple weeks... Thought Google has pumped good money in it already to make it stable and scalable enough...
Hmm, and YouTube, the largest video archive and playback provider today, which alone consumed more Internet bandwidth in 2006 than the whole Internet in 2000, is having several intermittent downtime the past couple weeks... Thought Google has pumped good money in it already to make it stable and scalable enough...
Pajamanation in 88 countries...
Pajamanation is making waves in 88 countries as of July 31, 2007. It is reaching some of the remotest areas including in the continents of South America, Africa, Asia etc. In Malaysia, we have reached all states and federal territories. Here's a 10-minute clip of a TV interview in Venezuela:-
It's in Spanish... More versions in English and Melayu coming up soon ;-)
It's in Spanish... More versions in English and Melayu coming up soon ;-)
Saturday, August 4
Pajamanation is the new Keusahawanan 2.0
Pajamanation Malaysia made its first roadshow in Penang as a vendor in Gerak Usahawan Pulau Pinang 2007 at Dewan Milenium, Kepala Batas over the weekends of 4 & 5 August 2007.
Here are some photos showing the team at work, advocating ICT as a mean of earning full-time income for individuals (pajama workers), working from home:-
All you need are a computer/laptop, a high-speed Internet connection (broadband, eg. TM NET Streamyx) and Pajamanation.com. For Pajama Enterprises, consider having a professional web profile using tools from 1oasis.net.
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