sketches of the mind

Been having a lil fun with faceanalyzer.com

check it out.

I’m more intelligent than Bush, Howard and Tiesto.

Bush and Tiesto are the gayest. Then Howard, then me.

Apparently I earn more than all of them, and have more honour and ambition than they do too.

In conclusion, I am teh win!

From inthemix: In one of the most bizarre examples of dance music further penetrating the mainstream, Dutch DJing superstar Tiesto’s popularity shows no signs of waning with the announcement he’s to be immortalised with his own sculpture and interactive exhibit at the renowned Madame Tussauds wax museum.

Seriously.

Hmm.. come to think of it. He does look like a wax dummy doesn’t he?

Kung Fu Hustle, aka Gong fu (2004), is a feast for the eyes.

Taking a page from The Matrix, but with a somewhat original spin, plus a few other movies (apparently Reservoir Dogs is in there somewhere), this movie is visually stunning. The opening scene reminded me of Gangs of New York. Not sure if that was intentional or not though.

The characters are memorable and the gags hilarious. Chow has you laughing long enough in between fight sequences, and then in awe during the actual fights. A definite must for any fans of the kung fu genre.

Director (and lead actor) Stephen Chow is on a winner. As of Feb 8th, 2005, the movie became Hong Kong’s top box office smash.

Kung Fu Hustle’s box-office revenue has soared to HK$ 60.83 million (US$7.80 million), surpassed the previous record holder Shaolin Soccer by HK$ 30,000. Shaolin Soccer’s record was achievement through 84 days and Kung Fu Hustle’ has only been released for 46 days.

After seeing the movie I can see why. It’s extremely entertaining. My only regret is not watching this earlier on the big screen.

Don’t take my word for it though. Check out the trailer here.

I was surfing around on the intarwab, as one does, and something reminded me of this classic tv sitcom.

Who remembers Perfect Strangers? A sitcom from the 80’s, Perfect Strangers starred Mark Linn-Baker as Larry Appleton and Bronson Pinchot as distant cousin Balki Bartokomous, the whacky young sheperd from the Mediterranean island of Mypos. Many a fun moment was had on the show.

I remember coming home from school and, after the multitude of cartoon shows had ended, being entertained by the likes of Balki and “Cou-sin” Larry.

The theme song can be listened to and downloaded from this site.

Ah Balki, those were the days.

Despite her efforts to reinvent a giant in the printing and imaging industry, but a relative junior in the pc (pre-merger) and high end server and storage markets, Carly Fiorina was told to walk. The news of this announcement came to my desk this morning when I arrived at work.

When Carly Fiorina first came to Hewlett-Packard… she remembers using a quote from naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin, who famously said: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive nor the most intelligent, but those that are adaptive to change.” (Hpworld.com)

Ironically, too much change or perhaps not enough change (when required ie. at the right time) was her downfall. Hewlett-Packard continues to outperform competitors in its core printing and imaging business, however it has failed to overtake IBM and Dell in their respective markets.

In an article on businessweek.com titled “The Inside Story of Carly’s Ouster” it was noted that:

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 5 a.m. Pacific time, HP stunned the world, announcing Fiorina’s dismissal, ending her five-and-a-half year stint atop one of the legends of Silicon Valley.

Thus ends the stormy reign of the highest-ranking woman in Corporate America and one of the boldest gamblers in the tech world. (Business Week: Can Anyone Save HP?)

Read more about where Fiorina went wrong on Business Week Online.

All I can say is that Carly changed the face of HP, and taught the company (and its competitors) a few lessons along the way, but it’s time for a change. She will be missed. With a 21.1 mil US-Dollar golden handshake however, I’m sure Carly’s future (for the timebeing) will be perfect enough.

…

In other business news, Amazon.com are experiencing rough waters. It may be Harry Potter that comes to the rescue.