The War for Arctic

I've found a great article on the Arctic, here's the link, for those that hate to read the long version, I have compile some of the important parts.

Let start with one fundamental question, who would want the Arctic? I meant, it is just a big piece of ice on water right? In fact in the early 1900s, when the first US explorer, Robert Peary reach the North Pole, he claim the Arctic as one of US land, however the President at that time doesn't understand the significant of one piece of ice with no value whatsoever as US land. So naturally, he just let it go.

However, now in recent years, geologist predicted that the Arctic holds more than 20% of undiscovered oil and gas in the region alone. Indeed, the Arctic may hold 90 BILLIONS barrel of oil and 1,670 TRILLION of natural gas. So you can understand why now everyone eyeing on this vast uninhabitable ice.

This may make you think that there will be a major gold rush, however, this is not a simple task, as shown in Gulf of Mexico oil spills, the environmental danger is very real.

Another reason why there's no gold rush, is that it is hard to get to that untap oil and gas. The cost of cutting the ice is just not worth it. However, since now the ice are melting faster, corporates are now focusing again on the Arctic.

Another industry that celebrating the melting of the ice, is the shipping industry. It is shown that ship could cut the cost of traveling when they navigate through what use to be a completely icy water. This will create more problem to the once icy water, when ships start using the water.

So who would benefit from the melting of the Arctic? Greenland, no kidding. Greenland has always been icy, it upper most layer has been in ice for so long. The biggest revenue that came from Greenland has been exporting of shrimp and fish. Resident of Greenland hope that global warming would thaw the ice, and make the northern part of the the island accessible, so that they could drill the oil and gas found there.

But let get it clear here, tapping into Arctic and making the ice melt won't get people dancing in the street when sea level start to rise and flooded all the coastal cities. Nobody really benefit from thawing the ice cap. The Arctic is like the Earth air conditioner, once we turn it off, than all of the bigger problems occurs.

This is a progressing story, some scientists said that the Arctic might be gone in the next 30 to 40 years. I hope I won't be there when the Earth started to heat up.

Chris Medina auditions

American Idol has been on aired for the last 2 weeks, and in every season there will always be a sad story from one of the contestant, be it a single mother, cancer survivor or something like that. If you watch last week episode, you will meet Chris Medina, a barrista from Illinois, with a story that will brings tears to your eyes.



Now, I personally think that this is one real dude. Sticking by his girl through ups and lows, BUT I also think he doesn't have a great voice, a good voice, but not great, but I'm still a fan.

Some people will also see that this is some way for Chris to use the sad story to get to fame. But it should be noted that he did not leave his fiancee when she's in a coma, he could, but didn't. Plus, the decision to show the story is made by the PRODUCER, so if you need someone to blame, blame the producer.

All and all, this guy is a as good as a man can be, I just hope he will able to survive the dreaded Hollywood Weeks, because I would like to see him more.

concerts

With so many international performers coming to Malaysia it's hard to keep track. So here's a list of few that will be coming from February till April.

Mary J. Blige (8 Feb)

Here's an artist that has won countless of awards, now it's your turn to listen to her powerful RnB soulful voice. For more info on tickets, go here.

Deftones (14 Feb)

For those that have something else during valentine, how about going to one of the most powerful rock band. You can expect powerful performance with this guys. For more info, go here.

Michel Buble (13 March)

Here's an entertainer that not afraid to get close and personal with the audience. With soulful voice, and with down-to-earth personality, he's definitely and act not to be miss. I've also heard that the stage that he'll be using is specially flown in by Boeing 747, impressive. So for more info and ticket, go here.

Bruno Mars (10 April)

It's finally confirm, the man that has captivated a lot of woman by using his amazing soothe voice is coming to KL. Here's is your first chance to hear the man behind many great songs, including Billionaire and current hit, Grenade. Currently, there are still no info on where you can get the ticket, I will post it as soon as it come available.

Justin Bieber (21 April)

Ah yes, the teen sensational that everybody love (to hate). Yes screaming teenagers, now you can watch your idol live in KL. Although some people might hate him, you can't ignore that he is one of the most influential people on Earth. So get ready for his first concert in Malaysia, for more info, go here.

Maroon 5 (29 April)

One of the biggest band in the world is coming to KL. Are you ladies ready to meet the sexy Adam Levine? The band has captivated us for years now with their own twist in the rock genre. Now is your chance to hear them live and see them in person. For more info, go here.

Christiana Perry's Jar of Hearts music video

If you haven't heard of Christiana Perry's new song, Jar of Hearts here is the official music video.



I know I can't take one more step towards you
Cause all that's waiting is regret
And don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore
You lost the love
I loved the most

I learned to live, half a life
And now you want me one more time

Who do you think you are
Runnin' round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are

I hear you're asking all around
If I am anywhere to be found
But I have grown too strong
To ever fall back in your arms

I learned to live, half a life
And now you want me one more time

Who do you think you are
Runnin round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are

It took so long just to feel alright
Remember how to put back the light in my eyes
I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed
Cause you broke all your promises

And now you're back
You don't get to get me back

Who do you think you are
Runnin' round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Don't come back at all

And who do you think you are?
Runnin round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
Don't come back for me
Don't come back at all

Who do you think you are?

Who do you think you are?

Who do you think you are?

Duke Nukem Forever trailer

If you a game buff like I am, you will probably heard about Duke Nukem in your past life. After the release of Duke Nukem 3D, the game suddenly fall of the grid, nothing to be heard, until now.

After 12 years since the last franchise, Duke Nukem returns with Duke Nukem Forever. The next installment of probably the greatest game of all time, that pave through the development of almost all major games in the world today.

Here's the look of the first reveal trailer. The game is set to be release on May 3rd. Can't wait.

"Hail to the King!"

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

Your next Catwoman, maybe.

Finally, the villains for the third installment of Nolan's Batman has been shed to light. We will see Catwoman and Bane as the new adversary. The part of Catwoman or otherwise known with her real name Selina Kyle, will be play by none other than Anne Hathaway. Anne took the part after audition for it, with other big names such as Keira Knightley and Jessica Biel.

Bane will be play by actor Tom Hardy from Nolan's Inception. If you don't know Bane, he's the one that experiment or accidentally given a super strength drug that change the way his look, and making him completely insane (google him). In one episode, he breaks Batman's spine, and force him out of superhero business, maybe we got to see it this time.

This is the first time we know about the villains, after the release of the third installment was going to be name Dark Knight Rises. The movie is said to be release on 2012.

daily dose - electric car

This is your daily dose of environmental awareness post. This post is all about electric cars.

In the past years, we have seen the increase and decrease of fossil fuel's price, natural gas and oil alike. Who can forget the time when oil prices hike to more than USD200 per barrel. It is then people realize how dependent we are on fossil fuel.

So after that price scare, we have view the world in different ways. We are now considering power that are beyond our wildest dream, things that we could never imagine 15 or 20 years back. Now all are possibility for us to fight our addiction of fossil fuel.

One such way is electric cars. There is only one important thing in an electric car, the battery. Today battery has not change much from the early type of battery, however people rarely see the importance it plays in our daily life.

So if an electric car battery is different, it should give this simple math.

A new battery = affordable, faster, safer, longer distance car.

Seems simple enough, but in reality, it is not. A new battery will always result in a much costlier car. It is shown that people that most aware and worried about the environment is the middle class people, they don't have millions to spend on a car.

Automobile company nowadays doesn't realize about this, and manufacture cars that are not affordable by most of the people. Price is the main issue when purchasing electric car. The range and speed of electric cars have greatly improve.

Example, Mini E from BMW has top speed of 153 km/h with driving range up to 240km. Ideal car for those living in a city.

Another example, Nissan's Leaf, with 117km driving range and top speed of 150km/h.


An example of electric race car, is Tesla Roadster, with top speed of 217km/h, it can go to 317km with a single charge.

There are other issues with electric car, such as, how will charging affect the electric price of our household? Will there be charging station on the road? How much does the cost of changing a battery and how often do you need to change it? But price is always the main issue, if you can make a cheaper car, with the potential of millions of user, shouldn't than the all the other prices drop down?

However, a small automobil company are taking the first step of making an electric car, that are not only safe, fast, but also affordable. Coda's Electric Car is the first electric car, venture by a US entrepreneur with China battery company, to be sold on US ground. The car looks like an average sedan, you can drive around without people looking at you.


The main thing about the car is the price, at about USD40,000, this could be the cheapest electric car ever made yet.

China has been a booming economic power in the past year, there are now the leading power in researching of new renewable energy. They are the number one battery making country, and the number one wind turbine manufacturer in the world. They are realizing how important sustainability is, and the importance of taping into renewable energy, they are taking the first step in making it a reality.

Now, will electric car be a hit in Malaysia? Who knows, it might even be a greater potential here.

Next time, biodiesel, fuel of the future?

will it or will it not?

Well, I don't know if you already heard about this, apparently there are news circulating that Facebook is going to be shut down on March 15th.

If the social network does shut down then, it would be catastrophic on epic scale! For one, there are over 600 millions user now on Facebook worldwide, plus with millions of revenue income generated from the social network through advertisements and local business, you can imagine just how bad it could affect us.

But lets now all jump into despair yet. Until 15th of March come, this story has to be treated as a hoax. If what Zuckerberg said is true about the social network getting too overwhelming for him, than hire some new guys overseeing the whole thing. It's not like he has to be there 24/7. Another reason has got to do with society that become too obsess with the social network. How the hell shutting down the website helps this people? They will just find some other sites, MySpace or Friendster will be on their top of the list. You want to help this people? Shut down the internet completely, then you will making a change.

Also, with the news of the Facebook shutting down, more and more social networking sites are trying to punch through the market, here in Malaysia there's one site, 1malaysia.com (seriously? that's the best name that you can come up with?), that was recently lunch.

On the positive side, since The Social Network, the movie, won the best film on Golden Globe recently, Zuckerberg might consider on making the website on for a few more years to come.

If the site does end on March 15th, it's not the end of the world. Well, for some people it might, but it's not for the rest of the world. You just have to survive years without social networking. You should be proud, that you got to live an era where Facebook once the dominating force of the internet world.

2010, a year of natural disasters

In the year 2010, it was recorded to have the worse natural disasters ever recorded. Plus 2010 was also the warmest year since global surface was recorded in 1880.

Some of the worse natural disasters in 2010:

• Pakistan Flood - that kills almost 1500 people and displace almost 20 million more.
• Russian Heatwave - in Moscow, the temperature rise 7.6 degrees celcius above normal. About 11,000 people died due to excessive heat in Moscow alone. Thousand of land dried up that led to increase food prices due to crop failure.
• Australian Flood - In May 2010, before the 2011 flood, most of Australia was submerged in water. Related to erratic La Nina occurrence from the Pacific.
  
• Hot Earth - Canada had it warmest year, with 3 degrees above normal. Even the winter Olympic lack snow. Northern part of Africa, Arabian Peninsula and part of Southwest Asia also recorded some of highest temperature.
  
• Amazon basin experience drought, an occurrence never before seen.
  
• Arctic ice cap shrank during the summer to its third smallest in satellite record.

The evidences is there, I think people are aware of the danger of global warming, but people still doesn't know how to help with it. Start small, recycle, conserve energy, use recyclable material, use less plastics, and try using public transport once in a while.

If we don't take care of the planet, who will?

source: Reuter's bureaus, UN's Meteorological Organization.

Ha Ha

Britney Spears - Hold It Against Me

Here's the new release from Britney Spears, Hold It Against Me. Love it or hate it?

Anugerah Juara Lagu 25

Anugerah Juara Lagu 25, how do you like it? I thought of posting this yesterday, but since of you most probably won't read this or too busy writing it yourself, then there's no point.

So, the competition known for it controversy from year to year has made another one. The biggest controversy (as said by those that didn't agreed with the judges) is the winning song and artist, Ana Rafali for the song Tolong Ingatkan Aku.

I can't say I love it, but I can't say I hate it. This is a professional juries chosen competition, which means the people that select her song is from a group of experience and very professional people in the industry. This is her first act on the Juara Lagu's stage and already dubbed the champion, an incredible but also shocking news to everyone.

Well, according to what I heard and read, the juries pick her because she represents the new media or face of music. The type of song she brings to the industry is how the industry survive in the future. I must agreed with this one, some of our local act has not shown any progress in the past years and frankly I think a new fresh type of music might just jolted our entertainment industry again.

Yet, the competition is not entirely about how the artist project herself, and how her song will help the industry, it's about how the artist show her art in a very powerful and unforgettable way and so I'm still with my decision, that her performance is mediocre and vocal projection is not as strong as Hafiz or Faizal Tahir.

So that is my take on all this controversy, some people may like the results, some may not. But the most important part is most of us still want to see our entertainment industry thrive on. Not for a year or two, but for another 10 to 20 years. Let just hope this controversy clear away quick.

List of winners

Persembahan Terbaik: Hanyut, Faizal Tahir

Vokal Terbaik: Noktah Cinta, Hafiz AF

Tempat Ketiga AJL25: Noktah Cinta, Hafiz AF

Naib Juara AJL25; Drama King, Meet Uncle Hussain dan Black

Juara AJL25: Tolong Ingatkan Aku, Ana Raffali

population = 7 Billion

By the end of 2011, our population would reach 7 BILLION people. National Geographic has all the details on their new edition. Here's a video that fills with facts and figures that help you understand the significant of this.

Fast Five Trailer

First look at the next sequel to the most thrilling car chasing movie ever made. Fast Five is the 5th installment for the The Fast and The Furious franchise.

surviving new year