How come people don't read?

When Steve Jobs commented on the Amazon Kindle, he said

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

I was in doubt. After googling for a while, I found that it probably is true:

• http://www.humorwriters.org/startlingstats.html
• http://newpairodimes.blogspot.com/2007/06/u.html
  

If 40% of the people read one book or less, it means that 60% of the people don't read at all. I love reading because it's a great way to learn new stuff and gain new perspectives. It's just kind of surprising to me that I actually belong to the weird group :P

Updates: I made a mistake; 40% of the people read a book or less doesn't mean that the other 60% don't read at all. But still, 40% is a pretty big number..

Flash used in the right way

Although I generally hate it when websites use Flash, Etsy uses it creatively to let you find the products with the color your like. You can even throw the items you don't like outside of the color grid! Nice job :)

Dell XPS One - Dell's iMac

I always wonder why there's not a PC version of iMac. The idea of putting everything in the "monitor" is just great: it saves space and make your computer looks simple and elegant. I even thought that Apple somehow patented the idea so that other computer manufacturers can't copy it.

And today I saw the ad of Dell XPS One and love its look! (I know it was out like two months ago already, so pardon my slowness)

photo from dell.com

When my old desktop retires, I probably will go get one :)

Old friends are more genuine people?

From time to time I hear about people saying that old friends are more genuine so you should cherish the friends you have been known for long. I do love my old friends and feel blessed that I can still keep in touch with them after so many years.

Recently, a simple idea came to me and it helps explain why you feel that old friends are more genuine: not because they're more genuine people but that you're also treating them genuinely.

In other words, your genuineness brings up their genuine side. When you try to protect yourself by building a shell around yourself, people around you can feel it and thus they'll act the same way.

So, next time you say that some people aren't that friendly or phony, ask yourself: are you being unfriendly or phony to them too? I bet you're and if you care, someone will have take the first step by opening him/herself up :)

A stand-up comedy by Vivek Mahbubani

Saw this stand-up comedy on Justin's blog and want to share with you guys :) If you don't understand Cantonese there's a English version which is also very funny hehe

La La La Love Song Piano version - Alex

In an old post I once mentioned that I will play the piano version of La La La Love Song and post it on YouTube. On the last day of 2007, I finally did it. (just to make me feel that I did something meaningful in 2007 :P) Here it is, hope you like it :)

Happy 2008!! (^___^ )

Just want to wish all my readers a happy and fruitful 2008! It's so late now, I'm going to sleep... (~___~ )