Welcome to the new era of digital world, when you’re going to watch tons of hit shows/dramas through streaming online!

Yesterday, media giants News Corp. which owns the Fox television and movie studios and General Electric (GE) owned NBC Universal announced the launching of an online video site featuring full-length movies and television shows to rival the popular YouTube.

Content from at least a dozen TV networks and two major film studios is promised. Initial distribution partners include AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo.

Good content lineup:

At launch, full episodes and clips from current hit shows, including Heroes, 24, House, My Name Is Earl, Saturday Night Live, Friday Night Lights, The Riches, 30 Rock, The Simpsons, The Tonight Show, Prison Break, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader and Top Chef, plus hits from the studios’ vast television libraries, will be available free, on an ad-supported basis, within a rich consumer experience featuring personalized video playlists, mashups, online communities and video search. Plus, the extensive programming lineup will include fan favorite films like Borat, Little Miss Sunshine, Devil Wears Prada, The Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy with bonus materials and movie trailers. Post-launch, plans will be considered for acquiring additional content as well as producing and licensing original programming for the new site’s audience.

The content will be provided through distribution partners through a customized embeddable player.

Last year, Google acquired YouTube for $1.6 billion, a popular video-sharing Web site that has yet to celebrate its first anniversary when the deal happened.

Thanks reader Steve for the headup.

In year 2000, Entertainment Village (E-Village) project, a centerpiece of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), was launched to turn Malaysia into a key film production hub in Asia.

However, plans for eight world-class studios, an academy of dramatic arts, theme parks, hotels and residential areas due for completion in 2007 at a cost of RM3 billion were halted after the developer ran into financial problems.

Fast-forwarded, we’re now in year 2007. The Star reported that Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Rais Yatim said his ministry will be collaborating with the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry as well as the Energy, Water and Telecommunications Ministry to set up a movie village for Malaysia.

"The centre will provide the local movie-making fraternity with a single location to work in," said Rais.

Now, the interesting question to ask, do we learn from the flop of the multi-billion ringgit entertainment city? This time around, how much taxpayers money would be channeled into funding the project?

The bottom line is, Malaysians certainly do not expect this big project as mentioned by Dr. Rais to experience the similar fate as the abandoned E-Village. Put the money at where your mouth is, big and tangible.

That matters.

Dear fellow teachers, let me show you how caring our Deputy Education Minister Noh Omar is.

"We will no longer entertain appeals due to reasons of new marriage, pregnancy or because the parents are ill."

It doesn’t matter if you’re going to marry soon, it doesn’t even matter if you’re going to have a baby soon and it doesn’t matter if your parents are ill, Noh Omar can’t be bothered that you’re being deprived of your rights.

"Teachers should accept rural transfers for the sake of the students or resign," he said.

It’s true that students in rural areas must be given proper attention, however that doesn’t mean teachers’ well-fare have to be forsaken. Majority of them are underpaid and pushing them into the corner will only make things worse, especially when the number of good teachers is going downhill.

Indeed, Noh Omar as one of the policy makers in educational issues, must strive to strike a balance between all parties involved. I believe it’s time for Education Minister Hishamuddin Hussein to chip in and picks up where Noh Omar fails to deliver, unless of course if both do think the same.

When Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted as Prime Minister of Thailand in a coup in September, corruption was stated as one of the main reasons for the coup.

After 6 months, the military junta and its government, led by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, have also been criticised for not finding more definite evidence to prosecute Mr Thaksin over alleged corruption.

Succumbing to pressure, Thai police have recommended that Thaksin is charged on three counts of insulting the king, which could put him in jail for 45 years.

The military-ruled government, who declared that they have no intention to rule but to return the power to the people as soon as possible during the coup, vowed that elections would be held by year-end to restore democracy.

Restoring the democracy, that’s exactly the right thing to do for the people of Thailand.

Be it a provocative, politically motivated or a dead blog, Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin is dead wrong at one stage.

Zainuddin advised readers suspicious of the information posted on blog websites to refer to the mainstream media to get the true picture.

Excuse me Datuk ZAM, it should be the other way round. The better question for you to ponder is, why the sprouting of new blogs nowadays? It’s neither bloggers love to tell lies on blogs nor unemployed women is too free to blog, but rather, this is no longer the 80’s era where mainstream media is the only information provider available.

It’s about one of the gift of birth, which is choice! The choice to do something differently, the choice to know something more than being reported, the choice of exercising one’s brain and allows others to read what do you really think of on certain matters or rather, the choice of embracing the evolution of new media!

Nowadays, people turn to blog to find alternative news which they’re not able to read on mainstream media. It’s also very important to note that, human living in this informative era is able to think and smart enough to differentiate between fact and fiction. What bloggers really do is to provide another perspective to readers and in the end of the day, there is no obligation for any readers to buy into the idea, unless of course the Minister is pushing himself hard enough not to believe in blogs?

Or maybe, maybe when one is too afraid to accept any changes, living in self-denial is the next best choice of life. Call this ignorance?

Meanwhile, Minister of Energy, Water and Communications Lim Keng Yaik reiterated on last August that the Government has no intention to censor and regulate internet content, saying that you can’t the break the promise given (no censorship) while promoting the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC).

When Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi won the General Election in 2004, he vowed to battle corruption in this country.

Three years afterwards, Asia Times Online’s Ioannis Gatsiounis has this to say.

[…] Even where the UMNO elite have not benefited directly from Abdullah’s style of governance, they have been able to take stock in what appears to be a man being swallowed by the system he had earlier promised to change. […]

Click here to read from the new jet till the RM1 billion worth of government contracts, you’d be amazed.

When Gerakan’s president Lim Keng Yaik engages in an open-fight with People’s Progressive Party (PPP) president M. Kayeas, UMNO’s vice-president Najib Tun Razak intervened and called for a ceasefire.

(SOURCE: Bernama, 20 March 2007)

Call this racial integration, but on the other hand, why can’t the Chinese and the Indian minister speak and act like an adult?

Or is it you really need a big daddy to tell you to shut up, then only you realize that, "Oh, this is the right thing that we should do".

Oh come on, fellow ministers, don’t you get what I mean? Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself?

When an entrepreneurship workshop turned into a direct selling talk, a deputy dean is proud enough to describe students complaint as a misunderstanding.

Welcome to University Malaya’s (UM) faculty of arts and social science when students were told to attend the said workshop or fail their course.

"The workshop conducted by Aznita Management (M) Sdn Bhd was about the product Amcash (an insurance product) and selling techniques, that’s all,” said the student who wished to be identified only as Goh. […]

The students have been given two weeks to complete the task and must submit their reports to the company by April 2.

It was alleged that the company would then evaluate the report to determine whether they pass or fail the course.

One of a very sad, disappointed and frustrated student wrote to Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, in which Kit published the email in his blog.

During their talks, they had told us it is pointless and useless to study so hard, no use to be a teacher, doctor or lawyer, as the money earn is much lesser if compare to them. They can live in a big house and drive luxury cars.

As far as I’m concern, the definition of entrepreneurship is not about preaching the idea of relinquish your study but to be able to live a bigger than others life just like what have been mentioned by criticizing others’ professionalism within their chosen careers.

Entrepreneurship is about having an enthusiastic vision with enthusiastic passion, persistency and determination as well as the ability to change the vision into reality.

Simply just because the deputy dean is incompetent and unknowledgeable enough to define entrepreneurship and call this, a misunderstanding?

[UPDATED VERSION] Once again, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong emerged as the champion in style, beating World number 2 Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen 17-21, 21-16, 21-12 in Badminton Swiss Open Men Doubles final.

As of now, they’ve won 3 super series tournaments (Malaysia Open 2007, All-England 2007 and Swiss Open) out of 4 they competed in, proving that the win was not a fluke.

We Malaysians definitely hope they’ll continue with their winning streak, hence helping lift the long lost country’s image and prestige in the international arena.

Congratulations guys, stand tall and be humble as usual, there’s still a long way to go.

Meanwhile, there is some interesting facts quoted from Badminton Central.

The World No.1 Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng pair became the first pair in the world who has been beaten by KKK-TBH for 3 times.

The World No.2 Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen pair became the second pair in the world who has been beaten by KKK-TBH for 3 times (their first encounter was at Japan Open’06 qf).

[UPDATED VERSION] Malaysia Men Doubles Koo Kian Keat-Tan Boon Heong continues their winning streak, marching into the final of Badminton Swiss Open 2007.

Last week, they won the All-England doubles and looks optimistic to add another title tomorrow, hopefully. Their records as of now is 5 months of partnership, 4 appearance in final and 3 international titles, which is good enough to be seen as a main threat in the coming World Badminton Championship 2007, which is going to be held in Malaysia in August this year.

Meanwhile, remember to catch them LIVE on Astro SuperSport at 9PM 7PM Malaysia time.

Way to go, guys!