Vinh Pham

Gadgetopia has a great article about why emails are better than telephones.

I can’t agree more. I am so annoyed when I get phone calls, and even more annoyed when I get voicemail. Email, or even text messages, is a much better form of communication. Why?

1) Email = instant record

2) Email = allow time for scrutiny, research, and analyst. When people tell you something on the phone, you have to take their word for it, or guess on the subject being discussed.

3) Phone = distraction. You have to drop whatever you are doing just to answer the phone. This is annoying, especially if you are driving, or working on something important.

4) Phone = waste time. People call you and spend 15 minutes trying to figure what they wanted to say. “Ummm… ooooh…..aahhhh…..okkkk….welll”. Shut up already and just send me an email.

5) Email = free. Phone minutes are not free.

6) And lastly… Sometimes, most of the time, I just don’t feel like talking to you. If you need something, email me and I will get it done for you.

This image has been making the rounds on digg and reddit. It is a stunning example of how Photoshop can alter reality. But as one commenter pointed out, why do we need to use Photoshop? There are plenty of naturally beautiful women out there in the real world. I know because I see them every day.

Some girls are so naturally pretty, guys like me have to catch our breath literally, and stuff our tongues back in our mouth.

But it’s sad because when those same girls see these airbrushed, photoshop icons, they try to compete by pounding on the makeup. Which, as a result, only detract from their natural beauty.

Twisted world.

I am no marketing professional, but it seems to me like a lot of companies, and government agencies, are wasting a ton of money on pointless advertisement.

For example:

1) I fail to see how a billboard saying “Thanks for being a designated driver” will motivate any drunk person to give up their keys.

2) What kind of drug-using teenager will stop using drugs because a TV commercial tells them it’s not cool?

Ok, seriously… If smoking weed will help me talk to our dog, I so want to some!

3) How does paying someone to dance around with a sign spark my interest to look at your home-for-sale?

4) A Hoodia ad on digg.com? Really? A bunch of internet geeks as a target audience for Hoodia?

5) And worst of all… Using TV commercials to advertise presidential candidates? I am going to guess that this form of advertising is actually very effective. However, it’s still pointless because it creates a society of ignorance and laziness where talking points and negative attacks become the basis for important decisions.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to see one of California’s original landmark, Venice Beach. Not surprising to say (at least coming from me), it was a big disappointment.

I am sure that back in it’s hay day, Venice Beach was a nice place with great sun, art, and street life. But on my visit, it was dirty, stinky, crowded with ghetto kids, and cheap. My main beef with Venice Beach is that it looked like a prison yard, minus the dirty restroom facilities (meaning prison probably has better restrooms). Besides the entertaining basketball game that was going on, the rest of the boardwalk made me want me to cling tightly on to my purse (if I had one).

However, I don’t think that the unfriendly environment at Venice Beach is unique. In fact, I would say that most of the beaches and boardwalk (ie. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk) I’ve seen in California are very undesirable places to visit. It is a sad reality that we have all these great natural wonders, yet we do not take care of them. We let graffiti get painted on the walls, garbage to collect on the streets, and shady characters loiter around the corner selling drugs and panhandling.

Perhaps if we spend more money cleaning up these natural resources, it could become a source of tourism income for the local economy.

But that’s just my opinion. Some people wouldn’t let stuff like this bother them. Me on the other hand, I won’t be coming back to Venice Beach any time soon.

I don’t know what is wrong with me, but I do not enjoy doing things people in my age group like to do.

Two examples:

1) Las Vegas - the other week I went to Las Vegas. All my friends were excited about walking around, shopping, going clubbing, etc… But me, I was disgusted at the gluttony that is Las Vegas. I do not care for the fancy building, statues ( false idols ), and scantily dressed women. I don’t understand why girls and guys come to Las Vegas and make it an excuse to drink and bare ass. I was only there because I wanted to celebrate a friend’s birthday party. It makes me sick to think of all the hunger and suffering in the world, as I walk around the Vegas strip.

2) Disneyland - I don’t want to take away from the magic of Disneyland, or say that there is anything wrong with the place. But I am troubled that, as a civilization, we have resorted to creating “fake” realities as substitutes for the real world around us. I remember in one episode of Futurama, Fry was in the future and went to a museum to see holograms of “trees”. At the time, I thought it was a great satire of the future. But little did I know, in Disneyland, that “future” is a present. They have fake mountain ranges, trees, and waterfalls. Instead of traveling to Big Sur to see the real magnificent nature of a redwood tree, you can walk through a plastic redwood tree in California Adventures. And instead of spending your weekend traveling around California to see all the wonderful natural landmarks, you can take the Condor ride and see California on a big screen TV. Ridiculous.

Let me repeat again that I am not writing this to insult anyone, or to be pretentious. I am not too smart or righteous to enjoy all those things myself when I go to those places. However, I can’t help but wonder why we have decided that it’s better to create a fake world, when we could be out living in the real world. And in the case of Vegas, I wonder why we needed to erect a city in the middle a desert just so we can go there and get “loose”.

I would like propose something different. I think that instead of focusing so hard on “working” and being “successful”. We should take more time to enjoy all the minute details of our lives. Like people say, “stop and smell the roses”. Maybe if we take the time to enjoy all the things around us, we wouldn’t need to escape to places like Vegas or Disneyland.

Ps. There are all sorts of grammatical errors in my writing. I am way too lazy to read through it and correct my grammar mistakes. I think grammar is a waste time. :).. hehe..

There aren’t many shows on TV that will actually make me get up out of my comfortable bed to find the remote and change the channel. Sex in the City is one of those shows. As soon as I hear the music cuing up the show, I HAVE to change the channel. Seeing even the first few seconds of that show makes me want to cut my ears off.

Why do I hate it so much you ask??

I don’t know really. I think it has something to do with their endless pursuit for ass, their materialistic life style, and all the men on there are hella wimpy. I am guessing this was probably the intention of the producer. I am also guessing that it has something to do with showcasing the libido of the female gender. But honestly, I really really doubt this show does anything for women. If anything, it makes it worse for them by portraying them as shallow sluts.

Please tell me I am wrong…

I was browsing flickr today and I am starting to notice there is a lot of nudity on there. A breast here, a darken butt there, and scantily clad women everywhere.

Don’t get me wrong, being a man and all, I love a little T&A every chance I get :), but on flickr??? I find that kind of offensive.

I understand that flickr address a global market, and that people around the world are very “used” to nudity and stuff, but come on, flickr?

What if I am a parent? I wouldn’t feel right if my kid was looking at flickr and pictures of naked girls keep coming up.

What If I am at work, like right now, what the hell am I suppose to say if my boss walks by? Or worse, one of my co-workers? They will think I am some kind of pervert. (which I wont deny ).

My point is, flickr should not be about nudity. I enjoy the photographs I see on there, and I can do without all that nakedness.