About two months ago, a friend and I were having dinner in TGiF, 1Utama when we started discussing the then incoming Abdullah Badawi administration. It was there that we drew up this list of things we, or largely I, would hope to see change in the Malaysian socio-politico-economic environment with the advent of a new political leadership.
After drawing up the rough list over dinner, I was supposed to think about it some more and perhaps add to and/or expand on the list. However, I got caught up with life in between and after a while, procrastination got the better of me! So, here’s the list as it stood.
What do I want to see with the dawn of a new leadership?
Posted on December 16th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: My Malaysia | 3 Comments »
Try this.
Go to Google. Type in “miserable failure” and then hit the “I’m feeling lucky” button. See results!
This is not a hack. It’s not a spoof. A simple explanation of how this happened, or can happen, can be found in this article. The source of all this “mischief” and the blog post that started it all can be found here.
This is a really interesting use of existing technology and systems. By “exploiting” or “manipulating” how Google works, we can twist things to our “advantage”. It also underlines how important it is to “manage” our “public image” on Google. See for instance, what you get if you’re feeling lucky about “Dewan Filharmonik Petronas” on Google!
After all, where do most people go these days when they want to find information? The internet. Where on the internet do most, though not all, people go when they want to find information? Google (although Yahoo ranks quite closely according to this report).
The problem for most corporations these days however are bloggers. We are in a way “clouding” the search results (read for instance this). It is a problem if you discount our rantings and opinions. However, if our views as consumers matter, then more power to our elbow and fingers!
Disclaimer: I’m not advocating or condoning the linkage between the search and the results. I’m not expressing a political or personal opinion here. The point of this post is to express my fascination with the mechanisms of the technology at play.
Posted on December 11th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
This is great! Click on the link and type in your name. As far as I can tell, there’s no malicious content on it (though, I’m no expert). Just good a good laugh.
Posted on December 10th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: lost blah blah | 2 Comments »
This was published in MalaysiaKini.com and the New Straits Times on 09 December.
Posted on December 10th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: Developmental Issues | No Comments »
Kindness is the answer to all of humanity’s problems. Therefore I believe mercy is the chief characteristic of a civilized society. I go to the courts in the hope of finding some glimpses of kindness.
- Jan Morris in an interview with Reuters
If that were true, then Malaysia wasn’t a very civilised society yesterday.
I also found it quite shocking to read the following in print, despite having known about the fact subconsciously:
Aside from national security considerations, Hanafiah said that the possibility of judicial review of the home minister?s decisions in matters of preventive detention has also been removed by several amendments to the Federal Constitution and the law.
…
Hanafiah also said that Article 149 of the Federal Constitution clearly stipulates that any law enacted by Parliament under the said article, in this case the ISA, is valid even though it may infringe on other constitutional guarantees such as the right to trial and freedom of assembly.
- report by MalaysiaKini.com
I’m not familiar with the legal underpinnings and restrictions of this law, but it appears to me to be a wonderful instrument, sanctioned by the Constitution, for exploitation and abuse by the Minister in office. Whether that actually happens in practice remains to be argued and proven in court. Or is that possible now…?
Posted on December 9th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: My Malaysia | No Comments »
