lately more and more people are using social media. not only is it used to connect friend A to friend B, companies have also started using it. there is a saying if you dont have it you are so out of it. here an article i wrote on generation Y (my generation) using social media and how does it affect us? for better or for worst?
The study by Youth Pulse found that 92% use MySpace or Facebook regularly while 84% go online more than once a day. Generation Y believe that social media is great for personal and professional branding which will be facilitate success in a competitive world.
More than half surveyed also believe that social networking sites encourage self-promotion, narcissism and self attention. As we live in a competitive world, many already experienced symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. We are brought up thinking we must be narcissist to survive.
Narcissism is a problem that can range from being discourteous, such as disregarding curfews and blasting noisy music. It may also lead to failed marriages and abusive working environments. Instead of being successful, all these confidence may lead to antisocial behavior.
“College students have clearly noticed the more self-centered traits of their peers – it’s fascinating how honest they are about diagnosing their generation’s downsides … And students are right about the influence of social networking sites – research has shown that narcissistic people thrive on sites like Facebook, where self-centered people have more friends and post more attractive pictures of themselves.” Jean Twenge, an SDSU Psychology Professor and co-author of The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement
As the future generation are more in-tuned with technology, more can upload pictures of themselves via iphones and become more self indulgent. People are careful and deliberately post photos to market themselves as quirky and appealing people. For example friend A will post pictures of herself at a club having fun with a lot of friends. She would want to show the world that she is fun, happening and spend her Saturday night with lots of friends. With social media, a person can control how they want other people view them and project a ‘perfect’ image of themselves.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
in a blink of an eye its fast approaching xmas. time really flies. i must say i really like this part of the year where the whole of orchard road is lighted up, feels really festive. what i enjoy doing is going around taking photos of xmas decorations unfortunately this year i dont really like the design. i dont know it just doesnt appeal to me however what i quite like is the ion xmas tree. me and my friends started snapping pictures in, out and around the tree.
we took many photos, i extracted out the best!
my friends and i... here's me in the middle:)we're trying to do some artistic shots
oh well, we got hungry after our intense phototaking and headed down to MOF for some quick dessert
i enjoy the desserts at MOF its not too expensive,unlike other places, and the best of all it taste good and the presentation looks fabulous! the service is great too! i cant say much about other dessert joints thou... wish i could post more pictures but unfortunately the decorations this year just didn't excite me
anyways xmas is also a great time to come up with creative names and artistic decorations for log cakes. take for example i came across some cakes from bakerzin, a whole load of cake names that sound so 'christmasy' i appreciate the creativity but i have no idea how each flavour will taste like!
and here is also an interesting cake given by one of my suppliers from work
log cake from delifrance. looks so good, dont know where to start!
here's all i have for today...merry xmas to all my friends out there!
this is my private blog but it just feels so good doing a shout out! hohoho!
we took many photos, i extracted out the best!
my friends and i... here's me in the middle:)we're trying to do some artistic shots
oh well, we got hungry after our intense phototaking and headed down to MOF for some quick dessert
i enjoy the desserts at MOF its not too expensive,unlike other places, and the best of all it taste good and the presentation looks fabulous! the service is great too! i cant say much about other dessert joints thou... wish i could post more pictures but unfortunately the decorations this year just didn't excite me
anyways xmas is also a great time to come up with creative names and artistic decorations for log cakes. take for example i came across some cakes from bakerzin, a whole load of cake names that sound so 'christmasy' i appreciate the creativity but i have no idea how each flavour will taste like!
and here is also an interesting cake given by one of my suppliers from work
log cake from delifrance. looks so good, dont know where to start!
here's all i have for today...merry xmas to all my friends out there!
this is my private blog but it just feels so good doing a shout out! hohoho!
Monday, November 30, 2009
manga, anime, cosplay, action!
I am not a big fan of anime nor do I know much about cosplay. However, watching a school video on how cosplay is also available in America was an eye opener for me. I begin to wonder: since US have a fair share of audience devoted to this ‘sport’, Japan would definitely make a bigger deal out of it – since it was originated from Japan.
It was by chance that I happened to be at Suntec Convention Centre on Sunday, where this event called ‘Anime Festival Asia 2009’ (AFA) was held. Pockets of young adults and teenagers streamed to level four where it was an outlet for all cosplay characters to parade and flaunt their well made costumes and heavily made up face. Some even carried weapons such as guns, sword, and even umbrella as props.
I was soon immersed by tons of anime characters, posing for the cameras in their anime groups. It was like they have just stepped out from an anime time machine, where every minute it churns out new anime characters. Many were so engrossed in bringing out their characters that they started role playing, using their weapons to fight against each other, the good imagined that they were sent to abolish the evil. It was really an exciting experience for me.
Singapore had a similar event last year. It was the first Anime Festival Asia, held in 2008 to celebrate and showcase a wide selection of Japanese Pop Culture. This year, it promises to be bigger, better and braver. Participants strive for one thing, which is to become the Regional Cosplay Champion and to win a pair of tickets to Tokyo! These characters are judged based on quality, difficulty and how accurate the costume looks from the actual anime character. There are also points for character skit, team effort and performance. There is also a special prize category where they can win Embroidery Sewing Machine. I guess with the sewing machine they can sew more outfits for the next costume?
Isn’t it great that we can see Japan’s pop culture without having to splurge on expensive air tickets? I look forward to this event again next year, and who knows I may be so inspired with an anime character that I may find myself cosplaying!
It was by chance that I happened to be at Suntec Convention Centre on Sunday, where this event called ‘Anime Festival Asia 2009’ (AFA) was held. Pockets of young adults and teenagers streamed to level four where it was an outlet for all cosplay characters to parade and flaunt their well made costumes and heavily made up face. Some even carried weapons such as guns, sword, and even umbrella as props.
I was soon immersed by tons of anime characters, posing for the cameras in their anime groups. It was like they have just stepped out from an anime time machine, where every minute it churns out new anime characters. Many were so engrossed in bringing out their characters that they started role playing, using their weapons to fight against each other, the good imagined that they were sent to abolish the evil. It was really an exciting experience for me.
Singapore had a similar event last year. It was the first Anime Festival Asia, held in 2008 to celebrate and showcase a wide selection of Japanese Pop Culture. This year, it promises to be bigger, better and braver. Participants strive for one thing, which is to become the Regional Cosplay Champion and to win a pair of tickets to Tokyo! These characters are judged based on quality, difficulty and how accurate the costume looks from the actual anime character. There are also points for character skit, team effort and performance. There is also a special prize category where they can win Embroidery Sewing Machine. I guess with the sewing machine they can sew more outfits for the next costume?
Isn’t it great that we can see Japan’s pop culture without having to splurge on expensive air tickets? I look forward to this event again next year, and who knows I may be so inspired with an anime character that I may find myself cosplaying!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
just flush it!
recently my left ear has some hearing some strange cracking sounds, so i decided to leverage on my company's excellent medical benefits where i can simply present my staff card and i am entitled to see the doc for free! so i went to the doc's last week to check out on whats going on with my ear.
when i went into the clinic, mr doc used a torch and pointed it into my ear. he was like 'OMG your ear is all jammed up!' me being worried since its my ear, asked him what is wrong and he explained that my left ear is jammed up with ear wax harden from God knows when. strangely, my right ear is clear. hmmm so it got me thinking yeah that is really strange, shouldnt two ears be as equally as jammed up? i was told to return 3 days later and drop wax solution into my ear to soften the wax so he can 'flush' it ('it' being the wax) out.
so i went home and did as told and went back to the doc 3 days later. when it was my turn, strangely the doc seemed more awake and excited when i told him i am here to flush my ears. he smiled and assured me it wasn't going to hurt. true enough it didnt hurt but as he placed the water into my ears to flush the wax, i felt as if water was running into my nose and up into my brain. it was the strangest weirdest feeling. i felt giddy after the process.
when he finally manage to get e wax out of my ears, he was like 'what the ...., it looks gross, is it an... an insect?' when he said insect, my head felt heavy. i looked at the wax and it did look a little bit like an insect with some lines across the wax. ewwwwwwww so gross! i felt like all of my hair stand on my arms stand, then he said 'maybe not insect la' and he used my wax and scare the receptionist at the counter, and the receptionist squeaked in disgust...
i was so embarrassed i dont think i will ever return to that clinic again... so much for not digging my ears!
when i went into the clinic, mr doc used a torch and pointed it into my ear. he was like 'OMG your ear is all jammed up!' me being worried since its my ear, asked him what is wrong and he explained that my left ear is jammed up with ear wax harden from God knows when. strangely, my right ear is clear. hmmm so it got me thinking yeah that is really strange, shouldnt two ears be as equally as jammed up? i was told to return 3 days later and drop wax solution into my ear to soften the wax so he can 'flush' it ('it' being the wax) out.
so i went home and did as told and went back to the doc 3 days later. when it was my turn, strangely the doc seemed more awake and excited when i told him i am here to flush my ears. he smiled and assured me it wasn't going to hurt. true enough it didnt hurt but as he placed the water into my ears to flush the wax, i felt as if water was running into my nose and up into my brain. it was the strangest weirdest feeling. i felt giddy after the process.
when he finally manage to get e wax out of my ears, he was like 'what the ...., it looks gross, is it an... an insect?' when he said insect, my head felt heavy. i looked at the wax and it did look a little bit like an insect with some lines across the wax. ewwwwwwww so gross! i felt like all of my hair stand on my arms stand, then he said 'maybe not insect la' and he used my wax and scare the receptionist at the counter, and the receptionist squeaked in disgust...
i was so embarrassed i dont think i will ever return to that clinic again... so much for not digging my ears!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
are we more socialable?
I never knew much about second life until recently where I did the reading and attended the lecture on social media. I found it somewhat strange yet interesting as there are actually many people around the world that engage in second life, maintaining an avatar and spending tons of money on it.
Fortunately, I am not a stranger to this form of social media. I enjoy creating avatars and my first experience was ‘The Sims’. This computer game allows you to create virtual characters, build houses and make friends. However, my participation was not limited only to ‘The Sims’. When I was much younger, I stumbled upon this site called ‘Habbo’. Like second life, it allowed users to create an avatar and allowed us to interact and make friends. Out of curiosity, I created an avatar to explore the site and realized that I could easily make friends as I entered several different rooms. I could dance, eat and chat with several other avatars and realized that it was very easy to create a different personality and lie about my actual life. It was rather interesting as avatars could date each other one day and break up the very next day. Unlike some hard cores, I didn’t want to use real money to buy Habbo dollars as I thought it was a waste of money. Habbo dollars allow users to buy and decorate rooms.
Habbo is still available today but I suppose it is not as popular as second life. I am rather amazed with the graphics of second life and how users can ‘fly’. I was shocked that sex shops are also available and how a MUD player was able to seize control of another player’s avatar and virtually rape her. With new communications technology, users that are located miles apart can meet together real time as avatars and experience ‘life’ together.
Fortunately, I am not a stranger to this form of social media. I enjoy creating avatars and my first experience was ‘The Sims’. This computer game allows you to create virtual characters, build houses and make friends. However, my participation was not limited only to ‘The Sims’. When I was much younger, I stumbled upon this site called ‘Habbo’. Like second life, it allowed users to create an avatar and allowed us to interact and make friends. Out of curiosity, I created an avatar to explore the site and realized that I could easily make friends as I entered several different rooms. I could dance, eat and chat with several other avatars and realized that it was very easy to create a different personality and lie about my actual life. It was rather interesting as avatars could date each other one day and break up the very next day. Unlike some hard cores, I didn’t want to use real money to buy Habbo dollars as I thought it was a waste of money. Habbo dollars allow users to buy and decorate rooms.
Habbo is still available today but I suppose it is not as popular as second life. I am rather amazed with the graphics of second life and how users can ‘fly’. I was shocked that sex shops are also available and how a MUD player was able to seize control of another player’s avatar and virtually rape her. With new communications technology, users that are located miles apart can meet together real time as avatars and experience ‘life’ together.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
ding dong songs
just as i was walking past HMV the other day, i realized that it has been a long time since i have visited a CD shop and lately not many of these shops are sustaining. take for example the CD shop at Marina Sq, it has shifted from its premises.
In the past, it was a norm for one to visit the music store when they want to browse, buy or check out new arrivals. Now all these have changed with the internet. With just a few clicks on the mouse in the very comfort of your own home, you can browse music on the internet. This technology has also led to a massive number of people conveniently downloading music - illegally.
Embarrassed to say, I was tempted by this cheap and easy way of obtaining my favourite music without forking out a single cent. This all started in secondary school when my dad installed a CD rewriteable machine in his computer and copied a CD. I got excited with this new technology and borrowed a couple of CDs from my friends and made several copied CDs. The audio quality was exactly the same. During my poly days, it was probably due to peer influence, I started to learn how to download music illegally from several mp3 websites. I knew it was wrong but these methods of obtaining music were so easy and since no one I knew got caught then why not?
Nowadays obtaining illegal music is much easier than ever. Music from almost every artist can be found on you tube and can be easily shared just hours after it’s first release. Listeners can upload music onto their blogs and it’s available for download to anyone anywhere. File sharing has never been easier. Just Google the song title and artist and you can be brought to the downloading site. It is easier than purchasing it online. Music companies have tried putting anti copying softwares onto CDs, while government has spend tons of money on advertisements to educate the public to stop piracy but it is highly unlikely that we stop downloading illegally. It has been embedded into our daily lives. Whether we like it or not, we are all part of this illegal whirlpool of unauthorized downloading.
In the past, it was a norm for one to visit the music store when they want to browse, buy or check out new arrivals. Now all these have changed with the internet. With just a few clicks on the mouse in the very comfort of your own home, you can browse music on the internet. This technology has also led to a massive number of people conveniently downloading music - illegally.
Embarrassed to say, I was tempted by this cheap and easy way of obtaining my favourite music without forking out a single cent. This all started in secondary school when my dad installed a CD rewriteable machine in his computer and copied a CD. I got excited with this new technology and borrowed a couple of CDs from my friends and made several copied CDs. The audio quality was exactly the same. During my poly days, it was probably due to peer influence, I started to learn how to download music illegally from several mp3 websites. I knew it was wrong but these methods of obtaining music were so easy and since no one I knew got caught then why not?
Nowadays obtaining illegal music is much easier than ever. Music from almost every artist can be found on you tube and can be easily shared just hours after it’s first release. Listeners can upload music onto their blogs and it’s available for download to anyone anywhere. File sharing has never been easier. Just Google the song title and artist and you can be brought to the downloading site. It is easier than purchasing it online. Music companies have tried putting anti copying softwares onto CDs, while government has spend tons of money on advertisements to educate the public to stop piracy but it is highly unlikely that we stop downloading illegally. It has been embedded into our daily lives. Whether we like it or not, we are all part of this illegal whirlpool of unauthorized downloading.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
scrambled thots at noon
hmmm.. this would be a short blog entry. as you can see i am trying to keep up with time to publish things into my blog. its hard when you get busy. now is a good time to write as there is nothing to do at work while waiting for approvals and stuff. i notice things slow down when working for a bigger company. no i havent found a new job yet just bored at work doing the same promotions over and over again for the past 2 years. come december i would be working for 3 years. i know my new year's resolution is to find a new job but i have no time to find and also i am studying at the same time.
i guess all i can do now is to concentrate on my studies and hope to graduate next year. i cant wait. i predict things will be really different when i graduate like getting new job, seeing less of my class mates. talking bout classmates, dara's birthday is coming soon... what do u wish for your birthday dear? maybe this year u can write me a wishlist then its easier for me to choose your present... or perhaps we can go on a short trip somewhere? hmmm.... gotta get back to sucky work, cant wait to knock off!
i guess all i can do now is to concentrate on my studies and hope to graduate next year. i cant wait. i predict things will be really different when i graduate like getting new job, seeing less of my class mates. talking bout classmates, dara's birthday is coming soon... what do u wish for your birthday dear? maybe this year u can write me a wishlist then its easier for me to choose your present... or perhaps we can go on a short trip somewhere? hmmm.... gotta get back to sucky work, cant wait to knock off!
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