FOUND: Nicole Forige

NICOLE FORIGE was recently named web traffic host at KNTV, the NBC affiliate for San Francisco-Oakland and San Jose. Most recently, Nicole was a general assignment reporter at CBS6.

Tags: Nicole Forige, Nicole Forige

The Singaporean Blogosphere: Not Quite in The Pink?

Who would have thought that a few words between lady bloggers might have the potential to overturn the blogosphere's apple cart? Things could get sticky... or not!

Ang Peng Hwa, chair of the Nanyang Technological University's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, issues a WARNING in The Straits Times for dueling blog divas Dawn Yang / Yeo and XiaXue: "Clearly, ignorance is not bliss." Hwa says that Bloggers need to be educated about the law, and Hwa worries that the lawsuit "may spill over into the larger blogging community and could even backfire on the two involved." The complete article is available online here.

Meantime, Stella is back posting on XXvsDY, asking (and answering) the $64K question: Am I a Hypocrite?

Yes, because I am writing again. There are certain issues I feel the need to clarify:

I am in no way related to the creator & author of the following blogs:

http://theliesofdawn.blogspot.com/

and

http://dawnwayangexposed.blogspot.com/

I was given the link by an anon reader to the first site. I checked & verified the source & I published the link.

Why did I stop? Because I am a human. Feeling of compassion took over. I questioned myself if I have gone too far. I couldn't continue until I know the answer.

Today, I found the answer. I found the answer why I must continue.

Melissa Lam reappeared on cozycot forum today. Coincidently Noel (Dawn Yang's current manger from Looqui) also reveals himself on flowerpod forum today. Noel denies on flowerpod that he is Melissa Lam on cozycot. Should we believe him? You decide. ML was a no show on cozycot for a couple of days and reappeared the same day as Noel reveals himself on flowepod. Why today? Because they have an answer. They have an answer to the public.

Noel said on flowerpod, "She has apologised, just that nobody will see it till tomorrow or friday in one of the english papers (unless she posts it on her blog first) together with an independent article on the plagiarism. I'm trying to arrange for the same thing in one of the chinese papers too. Don't say you didn't hear it first on FP Cool."

Here are Melissa Lam's (a.k.a Noel) posts on cozycot today:

* Hi darling.I am back from my short vac. As usual, the only voice of reason here next to mine, is right. The people up there don't give a dog's arse. People here should get used to the fact that Singapore is not classless - our 'meritocratic system' is very much a dictatorial one where the elite 'dictates' to the non-elite. The voice of the masses don't really count.Does it upset you peasants very much that Dawn has not been sacked nor censured by STOMP? Do you feel extremely angry that despite your efforts, Dawn continues to blog for stomp ? (BTW, JAMESSHONG is talking out of his arse - Dawn has not quit and is considering continuing blogging for STOMP from NYU). Unhappy? Get used to it. This is NOT a western democracy. Your voices, no matter how numerous, counts for SQUAT. The people upstairs will make decisions and you people downstairs just gotta accept it. Tough life aint it?And Artspraken, re your posts on 'public opinon' being against Dawn - this is irrelevant. Mediacorp also pushes who they wanna push - Fiona Xie was once hated, but she still made it. There is this anti-felicia chin thread here - but she will still be the Heir Apparent of the 'Queendom' of Caldecott Hill. Moreover, anonymous people on anonymous forums don't count for much. Especially since people have the guts to say things behind the cloak of anonymity that they daren't say in person. If you nitwits, anti-dawn rabble have the guts of your idol Wendy Cheng, set up blogs IN YOUR OWN NAME, and publish and publicise it, maybe we will take you on. If not, say what ever you want, continue mass mailing STOMP and the newspapers, WHO GIVES A S.H.I.T Dawn is the mainstream media's darling as you can see. They still call her the Beauty Blogger. The papers have now given her a chance to apologise, but not to anyone in particular, unlike our dearest Wendy Cheng. That's all."

* Hello nincompoop. All the other 'media' who are worth anything in Singapore are owned by the mighty SPH. Including Hardware Zone. They own you. End of story.

* XX is going down. Dawn is just gonna go up and up. After NYU she has a bright future ahead, the mainstream media loves her, who know she may even be in movies, be on telly whilst loser villagepeople will have to content themselves with 'new' media.

* Feel belittled only if you are little. If you are not little, find the strength in yourself to rise above your station, so you can belittle and not be belittled.

* Thank you for pointing out that it is a very serious offence at SCHOOL. Was Dawn at school when she was blogging? Think s..l...o..w..l...y. Got it now?

* Power of the asses. I think there was one 'm' too many honey The 'apology' will be carried in a not so venerated subsidiary of the SPH. Watch that space.

* I really really take offence to people calling me a guy. Continue this and I may disappear forever and you lot will all pine for me...

* I would like to state here that Dawn is only apologising to her fans. The readers who love her. She is not apologising to peasants.

* Everybody seems to have a blog nowadays. Most people blog about their lives. Some blog on social issues. The former tend to only draw the bloggers friends. The latter like Brown and Wendy draws a wider audience. It's just that Dawn has such a wonderful life that peasants are drawn to reading her blog, aspiring for her fabulous life.I guess Arissa falls into this category herself, except she's not from this planet, like me.

* Fame sought her.

Suddenly, I found my answer. I understand why the author http://theliesofdawn.blogspot.com/ demands for an apology. I understand why I am writing again. And I believe you, smart readers understand why I am writing again. I am just a mere peasant.

Other Keyboards: .+. - Girl, famous - Dawn waYang

Tags: XiaXue, Dawn Yang, XiaXue, Wendy Cheng

Blog Buzz 31 July 08

Claim Blog: A brief guide explaining How to Claim a blog on Technorati.

Crux Unlocker v5.0 [DoWnLoaD!]

EXPN ESPN's site created to support the X Games -- plans are in the works to launch an online action sports network, called ESPN Action Sports Network.

Go211

Harry Potter fans...the new trailer is live!

HOT: 'I kissed a squirrel' on YouTube.

Kim Kardashian...

lat34

Phweet: Phweet lets you accept calls with one click from your Twitter page or Twitter clients. Phweet is a simple service where you don’t need to download or share anything more to talk.

...:::NSFW:::... Japanese Idol Maria Ozawa via Digg

Tags: Phweet, Maria Ozawa, Claim Blog, Crux Unlocker,Crux Unlocker, EXPN

Around The Blogosphere 31 July 08

What is a blog?

Hyejin Kim: We all know about the ‘wave’ at sporting events. You stand up and down following strangers the behind or front, or left or right sides around you. Now the ‘blog wave’ is popular in Korea. A blogger or portal site suggests an idea and starts riding the ‘blog wave.’ This time, a blogger started the sentence, “To me, a blog is _______” and tossed it to the next blogger. How do people think about blogs? How many blogs are "out there?"

What are blogs communicating today?

Topicwise, it's "the usual cast of characters" - politics, race, the environment, celebrities and music!

Miss Info posts Uh oh: Ludacris and Obama…..a miscommunication : "Ludacris went hard for his favorite presidential candidate… maybe a bit too hard."

Dallas Penn tackles GHETTO EUTHANASIA… : "When I first heard this term ‘euthanasia’ mentioned it was in relation to the practice of mainland Chinese parents terminating their newborn female children..."

Michelle Malkin posts what she calls an "Enviro-nitwit alert" : Seattle’s planet-saving plan: Jump rope, draw chalk art

Blogs change boundaries for US news

Stop the blogs I want to jump off! Seems to be what blogger LaShawn Barber is communicating in her article posted on La Shawn Barber's Corner entitled No Air: Rissi v. Jordin

Geoffrey Philp's Blog Spot presents Black Inventors, Crafting Over Two Hundred Years of Success

TV's loss is Blogosphere's gain as Roger Ebert continued to write reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times and this year began blogging on the newspaper's Web site.

Ambiome[Dot]Net : J’ai retrouvé mon tapis de sol, ça va être bien plus pratique maintenant "Ca m’apprendra à vouloir ranger des trucs bien au fond de mon dressing, là où rien n’est accessible facilement, mais on va pas se plaindre puisque maintena..."

Spanish YouTube channel Pinofas has created a novel project: it's an hero adventure quest live-action game that takes advantage of the new tagging, linking and commenting capabilities that YouTube has implemented, called Tube Adventure.

Extreme Foreclosure (YOU Paid For It!)

I've always wondered what happened to those lucky "working poor" ABC-TV built new homes for after the cameras were turned off and the happy helpful construction guys moved on:

Milton and Patricia Harper and their three children, the Atlanta-area beneficiaries of a massive home giveaway on ABC’s popular Extreme Makeover TV show three years ago. (Tour their home here.) The four-bedroom, three-garage home–the largest project of the Extreme Makeover team to date– is now in foreclosure. After accepting a quarter-million in charitable contributions from homebuilder Beezer Homes’ employees and company partners, moving into a free home that cost upwards of $450,000, enjoying an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland while the house was being built, and also raking in enough money from the show to cover taxes on the house for 25 years, the Harper family turned around and put their custom-made dream mansion up as collateral for a $450,000 loan that purportedly went to fund the Harpers’ failed construction business.

Michelle Malkin asks: Tell me where in any of the bipartisan housing bills that Washington has passed there is protection of my tax dollars from going to bail out people like these? Where?

The Associated Press is casting the Harpers and their soon-to-be foreclosed home as “victims.”

No, you ninnies.

People who scrimped and saved and acted responsibly are the victims. People who will be forced to fork over their money to prevent foreclosures on homes owned by squanderers like the Harpers are the victims.

Tags: foreclosure, extreme makeover

I've Got Mail!

Here's a peek at some of the stuff in this afternoon's inbox:

I've been invited out to dinner! (sorta...)

NY1 ItCH Alert: Paterson Gets Ready for His Closeup As Stone Speaks Up.

Make a contribution of $5 or more today and you could have your own Backstage with Barack story to tell.

Global Voices Gets Punk'D

Mark Bulliet, an editor at NYC's throwaway free morning paper Metro, has been fired. The reason: Bulliet was the editor who oversaw Metro's embarrassing front-page story last Thursday about a girl who was supposedly attacked by four black girls because she was wearing a t-shirt reading "OBAMA IS MY SLAVE."

A lot of folks got fooled by this phony article, including Global Voices. (As well as hundreds of bloggers!) I'm not surprised that NYC-based bloggers took the story and ran with it, but I'm amazed that the usually cautious Global Voices gave the story cred on "Voices Without Votes." See how stupid people can cause stuff to spread like digital wildfire when no one bothers to check the credibility of the source?

Tags: Obama T-Shirt, Obama slave

Around The Blogosphere 29 July 08

Blog Shutting Down: Stella writes "Today I have completed my last entry on xxvsdy. Time to stop & move on. Thanks for everyone who has helped & supported me with this site. I really appreciate it a lot. This is just a platform & I am happy I am able to help. It all started with my friends challenged me if I could start a new blog (with any topic of my choice) & attract more than 50,000 hits within a week & I suceeded. That was how it all started. I really don't belong here. Best wishes to Xiaxue and Dawn Yang on your pending lawsuit."

Dawn Yang's Secret Blog

Change of Address: Bloguer ou ne pas bloguer now : here :

Cuba: July 26th : the 55th anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago that came to be recognised as the start of the Cuban Revolution. Bloggers react to President Raul Castro's much-anticipated speech at the event.

I've been "off the net" the past few days and have some catching up to do... ;)

The Day Baltimore Stood Still

Pallbearers carry the coffin holding Khia 'K-Swift' Edgerton after the funeral service for the 92Q DJ at the Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center on the campus of Morgan State University. (Baltimore Sun photo by Monica Lopossay / July 26, 2008)

Just got back from Baltimore, a city that's always been connected to and connected by music. (ref: Hairspray). WJZ's Weijia Jiang reports Khia Edgerton better known as DJ K-Swift is now without a doubt a legend. The thousands of fans who filed into Morgan State University's auditorium for Khia Edgerton's weekend funeral could recite her accomplishments: recording artist, radio personality, leader of an underground music movement.But during the two-hour music-filled ceremony, those fans learned how Edgerton rose from spinning records in her family's Randallstown basement to become "K-Swift," leader of Baltimore's club music scene. The story is a by-the-book lesson on the value of hard work. [B-Sun]

My New Communicator

"It's better to have and not need, than to need and not have." That's what I told a curious someone who wanted to know why I selected Kyocera's Lingo (Virgin Mobile Wildcard) as my new cellphone.

First, let me say I LOVED my Kyocera Oystr! The keypad, the sound quality... there was just one thing I always wished it had: a camera. The other probelm I would encounter every once in a blue moon was an easy way to get a etxt message out. Lingo solves these problems. It also has IM capabilities. And if I hear a catchy tune, I can capture it in "memo" mode for my personal listening pleasure.

You see, my Oystr, the other day, suddenly gave up the ghost. The screen went totally blank. I did manage to get it back on by powering up the phone with the flip open at a 90 degree angle, but somehow the address book was lost. No contacts! Of course it was the same day I saw a magazine article about backing up your cell phone directory on paper, especially if you are using a device (like the Oystr) that doesn't have a simm card! I got very busy that day and forgot to do the back-up, so naturally I lost most of my numbers!

I happened to find an old leather phone case from a T-mobile unit I owned years ago and cut a few extra holes in it to accomodate the Lingo. I can easily take pictures by folding down the velcro flap... but should I need to text, IM or send email, I would have to take the unit out of the case entirely. Not bad though, because most of my texting and such would be done at times when I wouldn't be "on the run" --- I'm looking for a better case in the meantime!

Anybody out there have a Lingo / Wild Card? Do you have any tips or tricks to share?

MediaWatch 26 July 08

WXTV News Rules in Nueva York: via WNET: Spanish language TV stations have taken the first and four positions in ratings for the news at 6 p.m. in metropolitan New York. Univision's all Spanish WXTV channel 41 New York is claiming victory in the weekday newscast ratings, says Media Week. Newsblues says Noticias Univision 41, has an average audience in the 18-49 demographic of 138,000, topping second-place WABC-TV channel 7's 88,000 viewers. WCBS-TV channel 2 is third, followed by Spanish-language WNJU channel 47 Telemundo at 4th. Fox-owned WNYW channel 5 is fifth. WNBC channel 4, fronted by Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons, is dead last among newscasts at 6 p.m. in metro New York.

The use of computers and the Internet by Latinos and low-income Californians continues to lag behind other groups, according to a survey released by the Public Policy Institute of California. The San Jose Mercury News reports.

A California group has started a Muslim style YouTube called Muslim Channels.TV, says the Riverside, California Press Enterprise. The Chinese government says China now has more Internet users than the U.S., reports Associated Press.

The "Lost" XiaXue Posts

Dawn Yang's MAXIM cover (and a cover story) appear on Blog XXvsDY - mouse over and click on the picture!

XiaXue Deleted? Yes, deleted - but saved by XXvsDY, where you can view screenshots of deleted posts! Check out XXvsDY's sidebar for polls and other info: be sure to check out the C-Box for up-to-the-minute comments and links from readers!

What Happened: a blog war broke out in Singapore when Wendy Cheng posted unflattering articles about fellow-Singaporean blogger Dawn Yang / Yeo. Dawn threatened to sue Xiaxue over a now deleted entry but it seems that Xiaxue is not backing down. Meow!

Other Keyboards:
acsirp writes "I got shortlisted for an audition to be Xiaxue's BFF."
The most popular Singapore websites
Dawn Yang should be worried about Triads, not Xiaxue.


Tags: XiaXue Dawn Yang, Dawn Yang, clapbangkiss, clapbangkiss

Around The Blogosphere 26 July 08

The Ting Tings play Valentine’s (17 New Scotland Avenue, Albany) tonight (July 26). Tickets are just $10 through Ticketmaster (518.476.1000) or at the door. For more info, call the venue at 518.432.6572 [H/T Metroland]

Casey via Ypulse: Earlier this week, New York Magazine reported on a new fashion blog called Style Rookie written by the most articulate, stylish 12-year-old known to man. Over 50 people commented; some were congratulatory, but most were completely disbelieving that a sixth-grader has the ability to establish such an impressive website. What the commenters on New York Magazine must not realize, is that there are hundreds and hundreds of fashion blogs out there, all written by girls who have yet to graduate from high school or, in some cases, even junior high. [Technology's Impact on Teen Trendsetters]

Mia Mäkilä: All Done With A Single Stroke of The Pen...

PopCandy: If you haven't bookmarked April Winchell's blog, you should do so immediately.

TechCrunch: Redlasso, the video site that allows bloggers to post clips of television content, has shut down its beta in response to a recently filed lawsuit by Hulu-backers Fox and NBC.

RIP Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch has died...the 47-year old Carnegie Mellon Professor lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. (With only months to live, Pausch gave his famous “Last Lecture” at CMU in September 2007.)

Here’s The Last Lecture website.

Here's The Last Lecture Video. In May, Pausch made a surprise return to Carnegie Mellon University to deliver an inspirational speech to the Class of 2008.

WSJ piece about the lecture is here.

Here’s Professor Pausch’s personal blog and health update page.

Here’s info on pancreatic cancer research and support.

Around The Blogosphere 25 July 08

I found a blog which seems to have XiaXue and especially Dawn Yang "under the microscope" - XXvsDY (written by Stella from Sydney, Australia) is following the madness - you'll want to bookmark that blog!

For those of you who love to follow blogebrities, check out my post about former SPG "Miss Izzy"...

A new major threat from HACKERS? Security researchers warn that hackers have caught on to a "critical" flaw that lets them control traffic on the Internet. You can check to see if your DNS servers are patched :::here::: (top right - “Check My DNS”)

One of China's oldest blog service providers, Sohoxiaobao, has been kept shut down for a week already and looks to stay that way until the Beijing Olympics wrap up in late August.

My Stuff

Every now and then people ask me "are you on Facebook" or "what's your MySpace" etc. Like anything else on this blog, if you look hard enough you'll find the information you seek. But for those who may not have the time or don't like to hunt for Easter Eggs, here's a list... I'm sure there are more but hopefully these will suffice for the time being.

R.I.P. DJ K-Swift

Why do the good always die young? Fans, friends and family of the late "K-Swift" gathered in Baltimore's 92Q parking lot Monday night to mourn and remember the groundbreaking DJ's life and music. Khia Edgerton, aka "DJ K-Swift," had that certain knack and know-how when it came to music - a talent she parlayed into a booming career. I could never drive through or spend time in Baltimore and not catch Khia's show. She was only 11 when she took her first turn "spinnin' the wheels" and she's been legend ever since! And a real sweetheart to boot!

Organized via Edgerton's MySpace page, the impromptu vigil began at 6 p.m. - the same time Edgerton's top-rated show Off the Hook normally hit the airwaves. 92Qjays, her mom, Juanita, the Reverend Jamal Bryant, and others eulogized Edgerton's pioneering career as a Baltimore Club DJ and her short but accomplished life.

Funeral Arrangements: The New Shiloh Baptist Church will host the memorial services on Friday. Immediately following the viewing will be a special wake, with tributes by the Edgerton Family and K-Swift’s extended family at Radio One’s 92Q Jams (WERQ-FM). On Saturday, following a wake at 10am, friends and family will gather at the Murphy Fine Arts Center at Morgan State University to pay their final respects, with funeral services starting at 11 am. Here's the breakdown:

Thursday, July 24th
Viewing: until 8pm
Joseph Brown Funeral Home
2140 N. Fulton Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21217

Friday, July 25th
Viewing: 10am – 6pm
Wake Services: 6pm – 8pm
Morgan State University - Murphy Fine Arts Center

Saturday, July 26th
Wake Services: 10am
Funeral Services: 11am
Morgan State University - Murphy Fine Arts Center

Burial Services will be held at:
Loudon Park Cemetery
3620 Wilkens Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21229

Flowers can be sent to:

Morgan State University - Murphy Fine Arts Center
2201 Argonne Drive
Baltimore, MD 21251

Baltimore's 'Club Queen' inspired with love of music

D.J. Sidekick from BackseatCuddler.com had this to say about Swift’s tragic passing:

More jarring-than-usual because I was this close to going to the huge party she threw with Diplo (producer for M.I.A. and internationally renowned DJ) at the Paradox in Baltimore MD Friday night. Appropriate that her final show was in her native city, seeing as the 28-year-old K-Swift was (and will be) the Queen of B-More Club. The quickly-paced 2-step style of music brought her quickly to rise as one of the genre’s most-demanded– having crossed over into the indie mixtape circuit, generating an entirely new fan base outside of her rooted hip-hop community...

K Swift, gov't name Khia Edgerton was found dead at her home in northeast Baltimore early Monday morning. She apparently drowned in her own backyard pool. The Medical Examiner said Khia's death was caused by accidental neck injuries.

Tags: DJ K-Swift, Khia Edgerton

Around The Blogosphere 24 July 08

Verizon wants to make you a Bollywood star with a Dancejam-like competition where the winner wins a trip to India and a chance to be in a Bollywood movie...

Ambiome[Dot]Net: Big Brother is watching you

DANWEI reprints an article from Music 2.0 blog on Baidu's strategy in conquering the music industry.

Hollywood Undead (a band that has never performed live, has been chosen by MySpace fans to headline the Virgin Mobile Fest)

Elyani's Place writes about how some Indonesians are warding off ghosts in haunted houses.

Disturbing Photography:

Marie Joy posts pictures of African Albinos on E.X.P.O.S.E.D. and we've found a BBC albino story that will drive the color right out of your bones.

The Massgraves in Iraq = victims of Saddam's Regime

The Wonderland of Mia Mäkilä offers us The mummies of Vác (18th century Hungary)

Here's a snapshot of a pair of newlyweds...

Feed Shark

MediaWatch 24 July 08

Global Voices Summit 2008: Photos and Thanks - Global Voices' Solana Larsen blogs "Anyone who arrived in Budapest thinking the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit was going to be an ordinary conference, will have been seriously surprised. No one is more thankful than we are to everyone who traveled from far and wide to join us and share their stories. We've compiled choice quotes, links, and photos as a thank you to everyone who participated."

The Pew Research Center released a study focusing on USA newspapers, here are the key findings:

The majority of newspapers are now suffering cutbacks in staffing, and even more in the amount of news, or newshole, they offer the public. The forces buffeting the industry continue to affect larger metro newspapers to a far greater extent than Read the full post ›

Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell is defending his decision to make deep cuts at Tribune newspapers. Zell is saying, "Do I try and create a business that can be viable and preserve two-thirds of the jobs? Or do I let all 100 percent of them go by the wayside because I'm not willing to confront the realities of the environment?" But back in January, Zell had won applause during a meeting with employees in Hartford, at the Hartford Courant for saying that he would reverse the trend of trimming staffs in the face of declining revenue. "I do not believe that anybody can grow a business by reducing the number of employees," Zell said at the time. "It is not our game plan to, in effect, try and figure out how few people we can have run this business." The Hartford Courant has details.

The Huffington Post News Editors: New York Times Company Profits Plummet, 82% Drop In One Year
9 hours ago by The flagship New York Times paper brought in 10 percent lower advertising revenue, even as industry watchers say the Times is better positioned than most newspapers to weather the migration of ad spending to the Internet...

Robert J. Avrech: New York Times Sinking - When New York Times editor David Shipley rejected Senator McCain's Op-Ed piece on Iraq, the blogosphere reacted with outrage.

The reliance of radio and TV on newspapers for news stories is "broadcasting's dirty little secret" and broadcasters will regret the demise of coverage in newspapers: as reported in Variety.