Merry Christmas!

With prayers for God's blessings!
K!Mberly, Tyler, Cameron & Jim

Fastest Growing Websites

Wow! Things can change so quickly with the state of modern technology. 2005 is the first year I've been blogging, listening to podcasts, and posting photos on the internet.

At least I thought I waskeeping up. Now I realize that I haven't even heard of the fastest-growing websites.

"Comparing all sites with at least 1 million visitors in November, the PhotoBucket photo-sharing site saw the largest growth — a 16-fold increase to 15.6 million visitors, from 983,000 last year.

Social networking sites MySpace and Facebook had the second- and third-highest growth, respectively."

Poll: Americans Need High-Tech Gadgets

Can anyone relate to this statement: "The Internet connection is my lifeline."

Haha! I feel like that! I thank God I live in an age when I can learn more about the world than anyone ever before. I can live anywhere and be a citizen of the world.

What we crave - simplicity

Anybody else think "It's about time?!" I am frustrated with increasingly bloated software programs that can do 999 things I don't know about or care about, and which make it so hard to find the way to do the 3 things I really want to do.

"Think of it as option fatigue. Why fumble with one of five remotes when you can press one button, and voil�, it works! Simplicity is the latest buzz in management and design. With the need to work faster and better, who has the time for owners’ manuals?

"Thus a new premium is being accorded to ease of use. The iPod nano nails it. Complexity has become a hazard in pushing products. The new trend is to strip things down to their basics and make products intuitive. In 2005, less was more."

Fascinating Football Facts

USC really has an incredible combination of talent in its two star players. They could accomplish something that has never been done before in college football.

"If Bush wins the award, he and Leinart will become the third set of teammates to win the award in consecutive years.

The last were Army's famous Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside, Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis, in 1945-46.

And the two USC stars could become the first Heisman winners to play together in a college game when USC (12-0) meets No. 2 Texas (12-0) in the Rose Bowl for the national title on Jan. 4.

Or if Young wins, the national title game will be a matchup of Heisman winners for the second straight year — and the second time ever.

Last season after Leinart won the award, USC played Oklahoma and 2004 Heisman winner Jason White in the
Orange Bowl, marking the first Heisman showdown in college football."

Putting Christ back in Christmas

"For the third year in a row, Christians nationwide have mobilized to put the holy back in the holiday. And they are winning battle after battle."

And the word of the year is...

podcast, which has really come a long way during the year, from infancy to almost mainstream. I started listening to podcasts in March (my favorite is the maccast) but after Apple included it in their iTunes software, lots of more professional quality content appeared, including many network-broadcast shows.

"The term 'podcast' has been declared Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary.

The term is defined as 'a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the internet for downloading to a personal audio player'."

Fooling Ourselves

This week the USC-UCLA football game gave me a reminder of how hard it is to get an objective evaluation of ourselves.

We can take our successful results and mix them with wishful thinking and praise of fans and over-rate ourselves, ignoring our weaknesses. Lots of times we don't really want objective evaluations, because they can be painful.

In sports, blissful ignorance can't last too long, because sooner or later you will come upon a really good team. However, in other areas of life, it is easier to go on deluding ourselves.

"I remember a famous writer, I think it was Salman Rushdie, was on the David Letterman show a few years ago. When Letterman asked Rushdie what was the one thing he had learned about human existence, Rushdie said, “The extent that humans will go to fool themselves.”"

Singlish can, lah!

Here's a hilarious example of Singlish from local blogger Mr Brown:

"Aiyo! Why you say me until like that? You so clever you write yourself lah!
.
I tells you first hor, it is not 'Singlish Complain Columns'. In fact, you should say 'Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) Complaint Columns'.
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Don't anyhowly say, wait, people say your England not powderful.
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Anyway, you think any mother's-son can write in Singlish meh? You are very the wrong, can?
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First you must know what is the rules of England. And then you must know what is the rules of Singlish (yes, actually Singlish is also got grammar one, ok?).
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Then when you write that time the Singlish then got pattern."

Olson became rallying point

Quarterback Drew Olson of UCLA has been the heart and soul of a team this year that has played above expectations and above its talent level.

He has led his team to an impressive 9-1, four of them incredible come-from-behind vicotries, while playing with good but not great offensive linemen and receivers and a poor defensive line and average linebackers and secondary.

"Olson has a better completion percentage, passing-efficiency rating and touchdown-to-interception ratio than any of the past eight Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks"

However, he won't win the Heisman, because he is not leading a national championship team nor has he set records for total yardage or touchdowns. All he does is play the position more efficiently than anybody else and lift a mediocre team to near-greatness.

I think he's had an incredible year and deserves recognition as having the best season of any college football player in the country this year. Certainly if there was a college MVP award, he should get it.