in theory

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright recalled the inscrutable comment of a French diplomat about the interaction of the various European organisations: "It will work in practice, yes. But will it work in theory?"

- Jonathan Fenby, France on the Brink

good ideas

Good ideas can resist the toughest CD, escape the massacre of the AE, evade your brainwashed boss and survive the trampling of the client — if you believe in your unbeatable creativity." In other words, it's about having the confidence, he says, "to see if your idea is good enough to laugh to the very end.

- Zhang Feng

And all men are at home...

The House of Christmas

A child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home:
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost--how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky's dome.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.

- G.K. Chesterton

throw an egg

Throw the bread into the water

My mother, Yona Avidar, would always say, 'Nina, you must be a giver -- give, and you will receive back from your giving. Don't be afraid to throw the bread into the water. It will come back to you.'

- Nina Weiner, International Sephardic Education Foundation (ISEF) President.

YouTube

Chance upon YouTube's blueprint while clicking on a link. Cool.

The Unique Combination

My mother would say, 'You can be whatever you want to be - there will always be someone smarter, and perhaps prettier, but only you have a unique combination.'

- Nancy Ruddy, co-founder and managing principal of Cetra/Ruddy Incorporated, one of New York's top 10 architectural firms.

ScholarShip

Floating campus offers 16-week study cruise

FIRST, it was distance learning, then online degrees. Now, there's a 'floating campus' on the high seas.

From next year, as many as 1,400 undergraduates and postgraduates will get to spend 16 weeks on a study cruise around the world. The cost is US$19,950 (S$31,920) per person, about $10,000 more than the average annual local university fees.

Undergraduates who complete the course will receive a Certificate in Intercultural Leadership and postgraduate students get the Certificate in Intercultural Knowledge Management. Students will also gain credits, which they may transfer to their universities. The ship, backed by Royal Caribbean Cruises, sets sail on its
maiden voyage in September next year to eight countries, including Singapore. Thereafter, there will two voyages a year - in January and September - for 600 to 700 students each.

This programme is a joint initiative of Macquarie University in Australia; the University of California, Berkeley in the US; Peking University in China; Al Akhawayn University in Morocco; Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico and University of Ghana in West Africa.

- Straits Times, 1 Jun 2006.

outsourcing

What kind of slacker are you?

American Idle

In his new book, Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America, author Tom Lutz chronicles the history of American sloth with surprising industriousness. That's what the blurbs on the back of the jacket say, anyway. Rather than actually read a 320-page book, we called Lutz for the CliffsNotes version. He was kind enough to break out modern American slackerdom into the following five categories:

The Comic Slacker: "This is the guy who gets by without having to work. All our deepest fears and greatest fantasies about doing nothing are wrapped up in this figure. He's a tramp, but it doesn't seem to get in his way." Example: Peter Gibbons from Office Space

The Closet Slacker: "Someone who seems to represent an inordinate amount of wheeling and dealing, but they're always managing to show up at tons of sporting events and parties." Example: Donald Trump

The Closet Workaholic: "This is the flip side of the workaholic. They try to present themselves as people who don't have to work for a living, but in real life they're working incredibly hard, especially on their presentation as slacker icons." Example: Kevin Smith

The Accidental Achiever: "A born slacker that ends up with a great résumé. John D. Rockefeller in an interview in the 1920s said he looked good on paper, but had been a slacker most of his life." Example: George W. Bush.

The Tragic Slacker: "This is the classic lottery winner. However much we think we want a life without work, this figure reminds us we need something to do." Example: Anna Nicole Smith.

- Men.Style.Com, 25 May 2006.

Nike+iPod

Nike and iPod present shoe that gives feedback

Nike has announced that it will make running shoes that will tell the wearer how far and how fast he or she has run and how many calories they have burned. The instant information will come from a miniature iPod, made by Apple Computer, and a new wireless system called Nike+iPod.

Nike shares rose more than 2 percent after the announcement Tuesday that it planned to capitalize on the popularity of iPod portable digital music players with runners, 75 percent of whom already listen to music while they exercise.

The Nike+iPod Sports Kit, which is expected to sell for about $29, will use miniature versions of the iPod to provide audio data on time, distance, pace and calories burned through an attachable receiver that will get the data from a sensor embedded in the insole of special Nike shoes.

The new Air Zoom Moire line of running shoes - priced at $100 - are the first to have space for the sensor, but others will follow, Nike said. The removable sensor, about the size of a piece of chewing gum, can be used with any compatible shoe.

In 2004, Adidas-Salomon introduced a "smart shoe," with an embedded computer chip and a motor that constantly adjusts the shoe's cushioning to suit the runner's needs.

But the chief executive of Nike, Mark Parker, said such a shoe would not be able to provide relevant data until after the run was finished and the shoes had been removed.

"We realized making a smart shoe wasn't really smart enough," Parker said at an event for his company's new product in New York, attended by the chief executive of Apple, Steve Jobs; the Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong; and the marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe.

Nike, the world's biggest maker of sports shoes and apparel, also introduced a line of performance clothing, including jackets, shirts and shorts, that are designed to hold iPods and keep their wires untangled and out of sight.

"We share the same types of consumers" with Apple, said Trevor Edwards, Nike's vice president of global brand management. "We know that these two brands work really well together."

A deal made in 2002 between Nike and the Dutch company Philips Electronics, which resulted in a portable digital music player that tracked time and distance, fizzled, Edwards said, because of differences between the consumer bases of the two companies.

Apple came to Nike after it separated from Philips, Parker said. "We both had a mutual interest in pursuing opportunity in this area," Parker said. "Not for Nike to get into the MP3 market per se but for Nike to establish an opportunity with somebody who is really leading in that area."

Apple, which has shipped more than 50 million iPods, controls 77 percent of the U.S. market for portable digital music players, according to the market research firm NPD Group.

John Shanley, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group, said the Nike+iPod product was innovative but would not appeal to the company's core base of teenage boys.

"Is it going to move the needle in terms of them selling more footwear?" he said. "Probably not."

But investors and sporting goods retailers were encouraged by Nike's move to supplement its performance apparel business, since sales of that line have been outpaced by the growing Under Armour brand.

The connector kit will be available in both Nike and Apple stores within two months, the companies said, adding that Nike would also sell Nano iPods but that Apple would not sell Nike shoes.

Apple will also include a Nike Sport Music section on its iTunes music store, which will feature playlists by well- known athletes like Armstrong, the companies said.

The Nike+iPod system will let runners call up a favorite song instantly as well as upload their workout information to a Web site, www.nikeplus.com, where they can share the information with their friends.

Nike shares closed up $1.01, or 1.3 percent, at $78.99 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Apple shares fell 23 cents to $63.15 on the Nasdaq.

- International Herald Tribune, 24 May 2006.

True Friend Wanted

Recently, I've been thinking about people who can't seem to find the one after some attempts in dating. Especially guys who don't score with girls. Maybe they are shy or seems insecure or behave strangely.

I thought, would it be easily if they look for that special someone through pen-pals?

They are some guys who can't seem to say the right thing to girls and sometimes they are being over-shadowed by other more popular guys among them. Perhaps through letter-writing, the shy ones can learn to express themselves better? Maybe they have nice characters just that girls don't really notice it at all.

I used to be quite fascinated by knowing girls through those pen-pal columns in those Teen magazines and even Teletext. Maybe I was getting too desperate. Can't remember how I got into this pen-pal thingy. There was once my secondary sch classmates came up with this silly plan to get some of us to write to the same girl and see who gets the most reply.

Somehow I didn't stick long enough making friends through this medium. Heh. I guess it's also tiring because you might end up sending to lots of people and maybe end up with one person who is willing to continue the friendship through such medium.

By the way, anyone looking for a true friend?

water water we love water

won the polls but still have to step down

Thai PM Thaksin says he'll step down

BANGKOK : Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced he would step down to reunite the country, following weeks of mass protests demanding his resignation and a controversial election which the opposition boycotted.

The former telecoms tycoon made the announcement in a 10-minute televised live statement just hours after meeting the nation's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej and after his political rivals rejected any compromise.

"I will not accept the post of prime minister when the parliament convenes," said Thaksin.

"My reason for not accepting the post of prime minister is because this year in an auspicious year for the king, whose 60th anniversary on the throne is just 60 days away," he said.

"I beg all Thais to sacrifice for the king. I apologise to my 16 million supporters that I cannot take the post of prime minister."

Thaksin said he would carry on as caretaker until a successor was chosen, and would remain a member of parliament and leader of the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party.

He hugged his daughters and wept on their shoulders after the statement.

Protests demanding Thaksin's resignation began in February after his family made 1.9 billion dollars tax free from selling their shares in Shin Corp., the telecoms firm he founded before entering politics.

Tens of thousands demonstrated against the sale, alleging corruption and abuse of power, in near-daily rallies in the capital Bangkok.

A key protest leader declared victory moments after the announcement.

"This is our victory. If we had not helped each other (in the protests), today would not have happened," Chamlong Srimuang said, although it was unclear whether the resignation would bring an end to the crisis.

Parliament cannot confirm a new prime minister until all 500 seats are filled pending by-elections in 39 districts where candidates were either disqualified or failed to get 20 percent of the vote, promising weeks of further uncertainty.

Chamlong's People's Alliance for Democracy had vowed to launch fresh protests if Thaksin did not quit, indicating the premier's gamble on early elections had failed.

"The election has proved his popularity has gone down. His legitimacy was greatly affected," said Panitan Wattanayagorn, a visiting professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University.

Thaksin called the election three years early to head off the street protests against his rule. However, the opposition boycott undermined the credibility of the polls and ensured a huge protest vote against the premier.

The more than 16 million votes he claimed fell a long way short of the 19 million people who gave him a landslide election win just one year earlier.

And an estimated 10 million people cast "no votes" or abstentions including a majority in Bangkok.

"The result of no-vote ballots, particularly in Bangkok, was a big surprise to him. It was too high and that could create a major crisis," Panitan said.

The leader of the Mahachon Party, which boycotted the polls, hailed Thaksin's decision.

"I am glad and I praise him for it. I wanted to hear this for a long time. Now everything will be solved," Sanan Kachornprasart told Thai television.

But the spokesman for the leading Democrat Party, Ong-art Klampaiboon, said more needed to be done to heal the political divide.

"It will help the current political deadlock on a certain level, but not entirely, because the situation has dragged on for some time," he told Thai television.

The protracted crisis has cast a cloud over one of the region's most dynamic economies. The government has already adjusted economic growth forecasts and the stock market has taken a hit.

Business leaders welcomed Thaksin's move.

"Now he can step down with dignity. It's the right decision for the economy that the uncertainty would be relieved somehow," said Kiatphong Noijaiboon, a vice chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries.

- Channel NewsAsia, 4 Apr 2006.

i'm a such party animal. *growl*

	Your travel type: Party Animal The Party Animal always wears sunglasses during his vacation. He likes a good hotel, with a swimming pool and room service. A couple of drinks at night, maybe see a show, maybe roll the dice, that's the way to spend the evening. Culture? A museum? The others can go while the Party Animal stays in bed. You'll find him by the side of the pool when you get back with a martini to get rid of the hangover.
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