vinyarb- you just have to read it

There's a new site in town at http://welike.sg. At first glance, it looks like the project of some patriotic guys, what with the red background and the name of the domain, in addition to the purpose of the site, which is to encourage Singaporeans to post what they like about Singapore.

But, is it really that simple? With National Day looming, some are inclined to think its a gahmen initiative to stir up some of that lovin spirit for the nation. A quick check on the "Questions" link pulls up the following:

So, they say they aren't advertising anything, yet the site was created by an advertising agency! So I wonder if there's a little wordplay going on here. They're not advertising anything, but perhaps they're promoting a cause?

In any case, let's take their word for it that they aren't advertising anything. What then?

Is this their foray into the social media experimentation of the uses of the facebook like feature? Like how DavidonDemand and DatingBryan were also agency experiments on the social media scene?

Well, if its not a gahmen initiative, they should allow and post the following "likes" for fun right?

• We like taking pictures of orchard road flood
• We like NOT RETIRING
• We like ordering french cuisine in mandarin cos the foreign talent cannot understand english

What else do we like?

This is the poll results of Channel News Asia on whether Singaporeans will be watching the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore:

Who can blame us? We're all so busy trying to up our productivity levels, while at the same time bracing ourselves to work til we die.

$300,000,000+ spent....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Every week, we're choked with new studies showing that beer/excessive masturbation/texting is good/bad/catastrophic for you, and that we should be doing more/less of these things. Seriously, can the people who come out with these studies even be called scientists anymore? They are just people typing contradictory statements. I can be a scientist too.

Anyway, there's a new study out saying that people who sit for longer hours have an increased risk of death, regardless of daily exercise. Yup, so even if you run 10km, do 250 pushups and perform 650 crunches daily, you're still screwed if you sit more than 6 hours a day.

Some of the factors they've considered are:

• The more time you spend sitting, the more likely you're to engage in passive snacking, resulting in unhealthy weight gain
• Prolonged sitting suppresses your immune system, increasing risk of cancer
• Blood circulation is not at its optimum when you're sitting

Well, I have a theory of my own. Its called moderating heartbeats. My study (which consists of me sitting at my workdesk and thinking about the issue very scientifically for 3mins) concludes that every person is born with X number of heartbeats (formulated upon inception of sperm). No matter what you do, the heartbeat counts down, and once that timer is off, you're off.

It doesn't matter what you do. The only thing perhaps, that you can control, is how quickly the heart beats. So if you manage to regulate your heartbeat to maybe 20 beats per minute, that prolongs your lifespan.

How's that for a longevity tip!

Dr Pepper, as a cola brand under the Coca Cola company, has always tried to be seen as being edgy and hip, but their latest social media campaign has run aground after crossing a rather thick line of embarrassment. Ironically, their latest tagline was "what's the worst that could happen?", and it wasn't long before they found out.

Lean Mean Fighting Machine, the agency that won the Dr Pepper account in April, launched a facebook campaign that hijacked users' status updates in exchange for a chance to win $1,000. The idea was to post fun but embarrassing updates so everyone can have a laugh. But the only sounds they're hearing now are nervous laughter, and the very distinct sound of the cash register yanked off their chains.

Some of the lines appearing on facebook statuses read:

"Lost my special blankie. How will I go sleepies?"

"what's wrong with peeing in the shower?"

But the kicker really, was when the line below appeared in a 14 year old girl's status:

"I watched 2 girls one cup and felt hungry afterwards."

I know! Its funny, but her mother thought her daughter was into coprophagia, and promptly barred her toilet trips. But seriously, she wrote in to complain, and here we have Dr Pepper getting some unwanted attention.

Coca Cola has since apologised and launched an investigation into digital campaign procedures. Executives claimed to have approved the lot of randomly generated statuses without realising its true meaning. And the agency is now under review. 5 bucks says Lean Mean Fighting Machine will soon be leaner without their key account.

A study has shown that ugly people are more likely to break the law.

Findings suggest that from a young age at school, more attractive kids would have gotten more attention from the teachers, and derived a greater amount of interaction. This in turns provides them with more confidence and the social skills, leading to better communication skills and higher wages.

If this is true, the reverse will also be true, in that less attractive kids will get less attention, coaching and social interaction required as a foundation for later life. Because of this discrimination, they are also less sympathetic to other people, and are more susceptible to commit crime.

With good looking people getting higher wages, this leaves the less attractive with lower salary levels. A lower salary will then tip the scales in making crime seem more attractive, since the payoff will then be relatively higher.

So, this leaves the average person who will have to slog his or her way through life, because he isn't that great looking to waltz past interviews and promotions, but neither is he too shabby to have to resort to crime.

The sad 80 percent.

An interesting read. You can find the article here and the study here.

I'll leave you with a quote from a Miami man's police statement from 2003 on why he committed robberies:

"I am too ugly to get a job"