The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Sweet gesture hits sour note online Posted: WHEN German couple Dana and Stefan invited strangers to their Singapore home for dinner last month, the response was overwhelming. Their online "open invitation" for six guests at an authentic German meal went viral, with 400 sign-ups. Netizens lauded the gesture as being "sweet" and "heartwarming". But all was not as it seemed. The dinner was the first of four hosted by expatriates as part of the sixth FairPrice Finest Festival, the supermarket's annual food celebration. And the marketing ploy has left a sour taste for some, with sign-up rates plunging after the link with FairPrice was revealed about a week after the first invite. The second dinner, hosted by a French chef, drew just 19 people. Only seven signed up for yesterday's meal, hosted by a trio of Italian friends. Netizens speculated that the hosts were merely "paid actors" in a "staged marketing gimmick", prompting organisers to clarify that they had "volunteered after hearing about the idea through word of mouth". The first video invite was a "teaser" and deliberately left unbranded to "generate interest", said Victor Ng, chief creative officer for Havas Worldwide Singapore, the marketing agency in charge of the festival. The brand association was made clear for subsequent dinners. Marketing campaign or not, several guests to the dinners were won over by their hosts' sincerity. Celes Fernandez, 34, who attended the first dinner, had no idea FairPrice Finest was behind it until it was "briefly mentioned" by her hosts over beef roulade and whipped cream pudding. "But the couple were really very genuine – throughout dinner we were just sharing our cultures and where we like to hang out," the personal assistant said. For scientists Dana, 27, and Stefan, 30, who have been living here for the past two years, the dinner was a chance to give back to their host country. In 2010, another publicity campaign backfired when a "bear" spotted at an Ulu Pandan bus stop led to an actual search by Singapore Zoo officials and animal welfare activists. But it was later revealed to be a mascot that was part of a stunt by electronics firm Philips to launch a new shaver. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network |
| Yahoo asked for 189 user details Posted: Following the footsteps of tech giants Google and Facebook, Yahoo has published its first report detailing the requests it gets from governments to reveal user information. The Singapore government made requests on 189 individual accounts in the first six months of this year, said Yahoo in a report published over the weekend. Yahoo added that government data requests were generally made in connection with criminal investigations. The company complied with 59% of these requests. It also revealed that of all the government requests received, it disclosed "non-content data" in 73% or 53% of the requests. Such data consists of items such as information captured at the time of registration and includes name, location, and IP address, login details and billing information. Other transactional information such as who e-mails are being sent to and received from are also included. In two instances, Yahoo released detailed data to the Singapore government. This includes text within e-mails and Messenger services, images on its photo sharing site, Flickr, and even Yahoo Calendar event details. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network |
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