Nerd | Geek

It’s been a busy month of June, hence the terrible lack of updates from me. However, I do see my workload settling down to something more manageable, so I’m mostly back in action. Today, we have a lovely video showcasing a biatch fight on the MRT. Take a look.

Now while the lady obviously has a case, does anyone feel that she’s over-reacting? And shouting like that, while there are kids around, isn’t very considerate. What’s worse was that she wasn’t behaving any better than the woman she was trying to berate.

Idiot.

I know, this isn’t my usual tech commentary / reporting, but it’s one of my little irks that I have against rude people, especially in public places. I wish I was there to tell her to shut up because she’s disturbing everyone else, and going close up with a camera, but it’s just talk now, I wonder what I would really do should the same situation occur.

Shut up like everyone else, I guess.

Or maybe not.

Shrug.

The news flood of the newer 3G iPhone has started, and while it does offer a faster 3G internet surfing experience, GPS and a really big price cut (US$299 for 16GB), the newer iPhone offers nothing in the way of substantial upgrades compared to the older model.

Even more surprising was the fact that Singapore was not mentioned on the list that will be offering the phone come 11 July, so much for Singtel’s big and bold advertisements. By the time the phone actually arrives at the end of the year, I’m sure our local parallel importers will probably be able to bring in the newer iPhone despite the fact that the new phones have to be activated in the US store.

Boo friggity hoo.

p.s. I’ll also be writing for Rovingeek.com, so be sure to check there for upcoming articles!

p.p.s. The press release is out. It’s confirmed to be later in the year. Which means MEGAFAIL.

So I say to myself, let’s get a book to read on the flight to Taipei, cos like it’s four frigging hours long and well, besides my ever trusty DS, there’s really nothing much to do on a China Airlines flight.

So after roaming aimlessly in search of a bookstore, I gave up and headed for boarding, and on the way to the airport gate, I spotted a bookshop…Yay!

After picking up my choice, which is thick enough to probably last me for like ages, I proceeded to checkout…an thereby met the Creepy Cashier Dude. CCD was just plain strange, muttering to himself as he took my card, and freaking me out with strange birdlike movements. A twitch here and a twitch there, I knew I wanted to get out as quick as possible.

Sadly, the new UOB NOW!!! (in bright red) card got rejected, and I had to endure more mutterings of double entry and system errors from the CCD. Grabbing my wallet, I quickly digged out the cash, asked for a bag, and left so fast I think I left burn prints.

If you’re ever in T1 and are heading towards the D gates, keep an eye out for him at the bookstore there.

Creepy Dude is…Creepy.

Welcome to the wet Taipei, where the order of the day is rain, rain and more rain.

More tales tomorrow, when I have time.

I’m sure most of you would have read or at least followed the entire saga by now.

My verdict? Let’s just say that the Blogger’s Treat crew was dumb as hell for not reading the fine print.

Based on what has been disclosed, we can assume that the contract basically cedes all creative rights and ownership to PodFire. That’s right. It’s your idea, your content, your hosting, your image, your picture, etc, but PodFire owns everything when you sign it.

And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Again, based on what we know via the Blogger’s Treat point of view: there’s probably a clause where they charge you for a minimum amount for every episode (flexible, depending on contract I assume), which means you’re already paying them upfront. Sure, they’ll share with you the revenue from advertisers, but whether it will actually cover the cost you paying them for the time…well who knows?

So in other words: you will start being in debt even if: your video has no advertisers, you will still have to pay them. Of course this seems reasonable if you think about it: they host the video, they source for advertisers, they use their brand name, but is this worth the loss of all your creative rights?

Obviously, the Blogger’s Treat people thought so (or they were stupid enough to not read the whole contract before signing). So PodFire has no legal obligations to do anything about the current Blogger’s Treat content, though if they want the good publicity they should seriously consider doing so as a gesture of good faith.

My advice for those looking to deal with PodFire for their shows is pretty simple.

Read the fucking fine print (and everything printed on the whole contract too).

Edit: make a slight correction to the date. My bad.

Gizmodo broke the news for a global worldwide launch date for the 3G iPhone, but I have further info that a certain rep from Singtel is in San Fransisco right now (and you can guess why).

I’m pretty much happy with my 2.5G iPhone, and since M1 has a shitty ass 3G data plan anyway (hell they lack even a decent GPRS data plan), it’s gonna be a no brainer for me to stick with the current phone unless the new iPhone has something really awesome that I can’t do without. GPS and 3G aren’t really that useful for me.

Meh.

Oh and M1. It’s been a week since I sent the survey and feedback for your webbie. Still no reply hey? Least you could do is send an automated email thanking me for my feedback no?