Now we can group chat!

clipped from mail.google.com What's new on Gmail? Just launched! Chat just got better with group chat and new emoticons Group chat Chat with multiple people without multiple windows. Invite your friends to a group discussion. To start a group chat, click 'Group chat' from the 'Options' menu when chatting. Learn more »

One of the most obvious lacking functions of Gtalk is the inability to have group chats.

That is now apparently possible with Google Chat in Gmail. Unfortunately, this function has not extended to Gtalk yet.

I trust, however, it is a matter of time.

There are also more emoticons for one to use. I have never been a big fan of emoticons (one of the reasons why I don't use MSN!) so it's no biggie to me. For some of my friends though, I am sure this is a welcome feature.

Yes!

New York Times has decided to end charges on its "Times Select" section!

Most notably, this section includes the incredibly intelligent columns written by some of the world's leading columnists - Kristof, Krugman, Friedman, Maureen Dowd.

The change will take effect from tomorrow onwards. Finally, I get to read their writing again!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/business/media/18times.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

For those times when we need to make a presentation

clipped from www.sociablemedia.com Bullet Points Kill (Effective Communication) By Cliff Atkinson (published April 22, 2003 at www.MarketingProfs.com) Guns don't kill communication. Bullet points kill communication. And when you use bullet points in a PowerPoint, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Why do people use bullets? Bullet points do a great job of taking lots of text and turning it into less text. Given a choice between reading a 120-page business plan or a 12-page bullet point summary, most would choose the bullet points. When it comes to presentations, the problem is that bullet points are the right answer to the wrong question. If the question is, "How do I condense 120 pages of text down to 12 pages of text?" then bullet points are the right answer. But in a visual presentation environment, that's the wrong question. The right question is, "How can I distill my complex information into a visual form that will help me communicate more effectively?"

I was pointed to this site by doppy and I thought that it makes a lot of sense and we should share the information with all.

Unfortunately, I have this sneaky feeling that certain sewer-servant-type bosses would not actually appreciate such a presentation. For that matter, it also wouldn't fly with a group of teachers if they were your audience. This is because these are people who want information, the more the merrier. They are not looking to be inspired, for truth be told, half the time, they are not actively listening. This is also probably explain why for many of them, a powerpoint presentation is one where they read the text on the screen aloud.

My next post shall be a commentary of the advertisements that were posted on APEX. Gosh! You will be amazed at some of these advertisements. Stay tuned.

Check this out!

clipped from www.scanr.com Scan, copy and fax with your camera phone or digital camera Turn your camera phone into a scanner, copier, and fax. Clean photos of documents, whiteboards and business cards. Extract any text and contact information store, search and share online Try scanR for free now Whiteboards Scan whiteboards into clean legible PDF files. More View Whiteboard Examples Documents Scan documents in to searchable PDF files or send via fax. More View Document Examples Business Cards Scan business cards into your address book. More View Business Card Examples

A cool tool for those times when the ideas are all scribbled all over the board and you want to preserve it exactly the way it is. Or for those secret documents that you stole a shot of and need to transform it into a pdf file.

Check it out!

Check this out!

Did you notice something about my desktop?

That's right! I am actually watching telly on my lappie.

What's the big deal, you ask?

The big deal is, I can access all my cable channels remotely!

Remotely means that I am able to watch all the cable channels I have at home from anywhere as long as I have an internet connection!

Wowweeeee!

And this is thanks to a teeny weeny little box called a Slingbox which I regret to inform you is not available locally.

How did I get my hands on one then?

I will leave you to figure this out!

Yuhhooooo!!!! I can now watch "Judging Amy" when I am stuck in a meeting that I do not want to be in! :P

She's Gone Done It Again!

3 years ago, the Guru set the record for Literature by producing 70+% distinctions.

2 years ago, we both took a class each and the distinctions fell to a meagre 19%. I was super demoralised but we both shared the number of distinctions rather equally and even she was at a lost as to what happened.

Last year, there was only ONE literature class in the whole school. The class is also a rather notorious one due to their attitude problems. We were rather worried that the school's literature performance depended on this one class.

Today is the release of results and guess what the Literature distinction rate is? Ninety-freaking-one % distinction! That's 91% DISTINCTIONS! Virtually the entire class of 34 scored either a 1 or a 2!!!!!!! Yeeeehhhaaaa! Now is that a record or what?!!

Now I am super stressed! Cos I am taking the Sec 4 Literature class this year!

But but but but ...

Our EL results also improved! :) Our MSG went down from 2.71 to 2.57! :) You have no idea what this means to us. We have been getting so much flak from my P that we were seriously getting demoralised and I think this improvement is a timely cheer. Though we are still not meeting expectations yet, an improvement is an improvement! It is a testimony that we have all worked hard and our efforts have paid off!

And so, it's THREE CHEERS FOR THE EL DEPARTMENT!!!! :) Hip hip, horray. Hip, hip horray. HIP HIP HOOOOOORRRRAAAYY!!! :)

Shaw's got a NEW Website!

Shaw's website and online booking system must be one of the worst around amongst the different cinema operators. Unfortunately, Lido is one of our favourite cinemas (we even took our wedding pictures there to commemorate the amount of time we dated at that place!) and so we have resigned ourselves to its CMI website.

Thank goodness someone out there has come to his/her senses and decided to revamp Shaw's website.


I have not tried booking any tickets yet so I am not sure if it is now more painless. The front page definitely loads fast(er) though and at least now, it does not hang my system.