ART: Stephen Ferris

Artist: Stephen Ferris
Love his style. Don't know what to say. This guy is just so talented. A hang-able art for multi-million dollar home.

Want more of his works? Just click the word: SITE

Telegram: New rival of WhatsApp

I'm a bit updated with Russian news and I've read that Pavel Durov's brother created an IM app. For those who doesn't know Pavel Durov, he is the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia. He is the founder of Russia's #1 social networking site VK (ВКонтакте in Russian). It is said that Telegram Messenger will become a competitor to popular service WhatsApp.
Curious? Here is the description that I copy-paste-d from iTunes:

Telegram is the world's newest messaging app – similar to IM apps like WhatsApp, but better in every detail.

Telegram is ultrafast, simple, secure and absolutely free. Create group chats with up to 100 people, share videos up to 1 Gb, send photos from web search. You can store everything you share in the cloud – for free.

Why Switch To Telegram?

FAST

Telegram is the fastest messaging app in the world. Unlike other messaging systems, Telegram uses decentralized server infrastructure all over the globe to connect people via servers close to them. 

RELIABLE

To make Telegram the most reliable messaging system ever, we built a custom data protocol that delivers your messages in the minimum bytes possible and is reliable even on the weakest mobile connections.

SECURE

Security flaws in popular apps like WA got a lot of press recently, so we made it our mission to make messaging safe again. As a result, Telegram is protected from all security risks known in the industry.

POWERFUL

We want to redefine what you can achieve with an iPhone messenger. With Telegram, you can send gigabyte-large videos, create group chats with up to 100 members, multisend photos from web search, and forward any media you receive in an instant.

CLOUD-BASED

Telegram offers unlimited cloud storage for all your data – for free. You can securely access your Telegram messages and media from multiple devices. And even if you lose your phone, you will not lose your data.

FREE

Telegram is free and will always be free. We do not plan to sell ads or introduce subscription fees. We built Telegram because we wanted a better messaging app for ourselves — open, secure and free.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

PRIVACY

We protect your privacy and never give third parties access to your data.

SUPPORT

For real-time support, please send a Telegram message to the phone number 333.
If that doesn't work, send us an email at support@telegram.org

Because of the NSA leak news, the Durov Brothers will assure that your privacy will be protected.
Oh, By the way, did you know that Pavel Durov offers Edward Snowden a job at VK?

Grand Theft Auto ONLINE

YES. Besides GTA V, Rockstar Games has also created Grand Theft Auto Online. But, unfortunately, for the PC Gamers, it will be launching for now only to PS3 & Xbox360 on October 1.
I've read in at www.vg247.com that Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies has suggested it may come to next-gen formats down the line.
It’s a case of ‘one thing at a time really’, as Benzies told CVG, “There’s very few games like GTA Online – so we’ll play it by ear and see what the consumers want. We’ll get the current gen version out first and see what happens in the future.”

I guess that we will have to wait for the announcement about next-gen formats.
I love role playing games, especially GTA. I find Sims boring compare to this game. Yes, it is violent and all but violence is everywhere (biased excuse).
Rockstar has so many games that is addicting. They have different genres but still has kicks and thrills when played.
If you are interested on thrilling detective type of game, check out L.A. Noire. It is a third-person shooter neo-noire game. I highly recommend this. I played this and now waiting for L.A. Noire 2. If you've played Mafia 2, then you'll definitely love this!

SELLING F1 GRAND PRIX 2012 SINGAPORE CAP

I don't wear hats, but if I did, it's just for the purpose of disguising so that no one could recognize me. Anyway, if you're interested on buying this F1 2012 limited edition hat, send me a message.
It's authentic. It's from my brother's work. He receives freebies and gifts from automotive industries. I'm saying this for the purpose of you knowing that the F1 cap is real.

ART

I've met a talented and kind Chilean artist in Facebook. Her name is Bely Fon. You be the judge of her works.

If you like to see more: Bely Fon
I'll be posting more art by indie artists that I very much appreciate.

What could a 20-year-old do to potentially improve their quality of life further down the line?

Source: Quora

Note: any of these following words do not belong to me. I just want to share this to you.

We will start with a few overarching principles and advice and then break down into the finer points of each (still summarized from everything).

At 20, there are two things you're trying to critically balance, the short-term versus the long-term:

1. The decisions you make at this stage will impact the rest of your life. This is easy to vastly underestimate: don't. Consider the long-term impact of your serious decisions.
2. You have unique opportunities and freedoms in the short-term that will grow more distant with time/age.Your responsibilities to external factors increase to the point that you can't be as spontaneous and wild, so use this as a chance to have these experiences.

Time is your most precious resource, and yours is fleeting. Money is no substitute for youth. Money can be earned, given, or stored; not time.

Envision your older self looking back, thinking "I'm so glad I ____" or "I wish I had done ____" or "I wish I hadn't _____." Always try to fill in the blank for the second term and seek it out!

The concept of diminishing time + short term vs long term leads to some big take-aways:

• Take big risks (you're young and can afford to do so, due to relatively few commitments, etc)
• Travel as much as possible (don't wait till you're retired, you may never live that long)
• Always re-invest in yourself: learn, develop new skills, keep getting educated
• Don't be ashamed to seek professional help when life's got you down.
• Your 20s are the absolute best time to do that thing you've always dreamed of. Travel the world, act, sing, design a video game, make art, write, compose, paint, start a business, whatever: just do it! If you don't do it now, you may never fulfill that dream.

All that being said, these are the main components of vital 20-something knowledge:

• Habits
• Socialization
• Dreams and Goals
• Money
• Mind

Let's drill into these!


At this early stage, developing good habits (and avoiding or stopping bad ones) is a huge part of overall life success and happiness.

• Make exercise and proper nutrition a key part of your daily/weekly life
• Learn to cook (since you eat every day your entire life)
• Floss as often as possible
• Drink lots of water
• Take vitamins or minerals (if deemed healthy)
• Manage sun exposure properly (a little bit is necessary, a lot is carcinogenic).
• If you smoke, quit. (Do this ASAP, it's really hard to quit later.)
• Don't drink yourself to sleep every night.
• Practice safe sex (use protection).
• Finish things you start.
• Keep in mind: Build good habits early in your life so it's easy to maintain later.

Master your social dimension (dating / relationships / friendships):

• Understand your emotions and learn to like yourself (but not to a fault)
• Laugh often.

• Date often: understand what you want AND what a potential life mate should ideally be to deal with you
• Don't be afraid of marriage or long-term relationships: people have been in these for millennia for a reason.
• Alway try to be friendly and optimistic (smile!)
• Always try to help others. (Volunteering is a great human endeavor.)
• Don't burn down bridges (grudges achieve very little)
• Edit your friends: avoid people "going the wrong way" with drugs, excessive drinking, odd cults, extreme politics, laziness, irresponsibility, negativity and lack of motivation/ambition. You don't want these people around. Also: seek out useful, active, interesting people and build those relationships instead.
• Break through "age apartheid:" Be friends with those older than you (optimally some 5 years older and some 10 years older) so you have proper mentors.
• Hustle is better than passivity (but not to an extreme, don't violate the "friendly principles" listed above.
• Don't make friends purely for self-gain, but always keep in mind who can be a good partner for any future venture.
• Learn a second or third language to make more friends (around the world)! See 'expanding mental skill sets' subsection below.

Be able to fulfill your dreams:
PART 1: Lay out your dreams and goals (optimism)

• Don't live your life for anyone else. Do what YOU want to do, not parents or significant others.
• Be true to YOUR individual goals and dreams.
• Be open-minded about your goals and dreams. They will evolve over time.
• Periods of uncertainty and/or setbacks are guaranteed. Accept them and learn from them!

PART 2: Work toward your dreams and goals (realism)

• Get credentialed: university degrees, vocations, trade skills and crafts, certifications, licenses, etc. No harm in racking these up. Minimal chance of regret
• Get experienced: teach or tutor, even for a little bit. Travel counts too!
• Get smart: try and get credentialed/recognized for hobbies or any other way you spend your time.
• Go for advanced degrees only in subjects you're passionate about.
• Be patient: great stories, companies, research, structures, etc take years to build.

Master money, finances and investing:

• Start learning how to make money work for you (not the other way around) early.
• Get a core understanding of personal finance (you don't need to be a pro, just the 101 intro course-worth)
• Stay out of debt.
• Start saving NOW.
• Live within your means.
• Money is not the most important thing in the world, but financial security will give you a choice, and choice is important.

Maximize your mind (expand mental skill-sets):

• Learn to think using multiple mental models: math, physics, biology, psychology, etc... and work up to the point where they're deployed automatically. To do this, see the next bullet point.
• Read as much as you can possibly withstand (this will help with the above).
• Write as often as you can. It helps organize your thoughts and makes you a better communicator (on paper at least).
• Master attention and focus: these are lifelong tools that will lead to greater self-improvement.
• Learn to be disciplined and work with deadlines (yes, your 20s are a time to be free and spontaneous, but remember to balance short vs long term).
• Learn at least two languages (besides your native language). Learn one language for business. Learn another to expand your social life.

• Make sure you know how to touch-type.
• Learn to use library research and web search tools to your advantage.

Russophilia

Unfortunately, because of the word "Pedophilia", this damaged the suffix -philia & -phile, for me. Anyway, why did I wrote the word "Russophilia" as my Post Title for this post?




First, I will give the definition of this word.




Russophilia is the love of Russia and/or Russians. The term is used in two basic contexts: in international politics and in cultural context. "Russophilia" and "Russophilic" are the terms used to denote pro-Russian sentiments, usually in politics and literature. Its opposite is Russophobia.


I am a Russophile. I'm obsess with Russia. I'm planning to be an expat and live there. Right now, I can speak a little Russian and still learning. The Russian language is not that hard to learn. It is not that difficult to learn something if you have passion and love to it. - Wikipedia


Learning Russian or anything about Russia has been an everyday habit of mine. Every morning, while eating breakfast, I read the news at the Russia Beyond The Headlines app, even if I'm not very interested on politics. I can't very much explain my obsession with Russia. It's like love; You can't explain thoroughly what you feel about it. I've been obsessing about it for 13 months now.


Note: Terribly sorry if almost every sentence has the word "Russia" in it.

My background of my blog

I chose this picture as my background to remind myself that deep practice is very important in achieving a skill. I learned that from the book of Daniel Coyle "Talent Code".

Useful book. The Talent Code is about the information on achieving a skill or talent that can be world class. It is not an instruction book that has step-by-step format. It is based from the people who had achieved their talents or skills and tells how their techniques on achieving those talents. This book explains how talent grows in your brain and how you can grow more of it.

A good read and I recommend this book for those who uses their brains and want to improve on something.
If you want an ebook of the book, comment here OR buy a copy of the book for the sake of the author.