showcase

Person A: Where is the thing that I wanted?

Person B: I don’t know!

Person A: Stop the trashing talking and show me what I want!

Person B: I really don’t know!

Does this dialogue ring a bell? It is take from an advertisement by Ikea.

How many times have our parents yelled at us to clean up our room? It is simply not easy to get things organized when we do not have the habit of doing so. Within a small unit, it is already so difficult to be organized. What more when it is in a bigger setting? How do one cope being the coordinatior of an event which attracts thousands and thousands of people?

As we all know, Singapore’s pace of life is really fast. What helps us adapt to this fast paced society is nothing other than mere technology. Technology has brought us a lot of convenience as well as tears. As Singapore advances economically, more and more Singaporeans are becoming interested in the latest technologies. They are interested in technology sometimes not because of pure interests, but it might be due to being pressured to move along with the flow. Something big happened for a few days in our own backyard concerning techonology. It was the highly anticipated quarterly IT show! This time round, it was held in Suntec Convention Centre.

Remember where the location of the last IT show was held at? Ask me and I will tell you. After going for both IT shows, I can safely say that in terms of space, Suntec is bigger. However, in terms of floor planning, last year’s show at the Expo was definitely much better.

Suntec is undoubtedly larger. It is more accessible as well since it is located in the Central Business District (CBD) area. There is a wider range for shopping and dining too. Lastly, there are many more carpark lots.

Expo, on the other hand, is located all the way in the far east. It is much smaller and there is a limited range of places for shopping (in fact none at all unless there is a boutique fair) and dining. Next, there are very limited carpark lots, which causes long jams and many to park along the road illegally.

This is one area that big events organizers look out for. Their concern would be for the public as well as the profit margins of the booths. Organizers always woo the bigger players in the market, so as to obtain recognition as well as financial security.

All we see at the fair is that it is crowded, with unwanted pamphlets all on the floor. We fail to see the hardwork that has been and is going on to make this fair come alive. A large committee is needed to hold such a big scale event like this. The endless night of paperwork, negotiations, setting up the cables, lightings, booths are some of the things that go on in the rear scene that we are not aware of. As such, the communication within the organization and committee is put to the test.

How effective is the message from different departments and across the directors depends on who they choose to engage. Also, there must be a censorship of certain information to protect the confidentiality. Effective communication both horizontally and vertically all depends on the morale of the teams, the bond of the teams and the common vision shared throughout the organization.

To the organizers of this year’s IT show, well done! Though the layout was a little messy (repetitive booths selling the same items), the security and regulators did a brilliant job to ensure safety.

Wrapping this entry up with a short video clip which illustrate the importance of getting organized. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhTOllGZ7dg

Mum, I promise to be a good boy and pack my room..

It has been about 8 years since I last touched mIRC. That was when I was younger; not that long ago. Let me ask the guys a question. Have you ever put your nickname as a girl’s? Take for example you are Andrew and your nickname on mIRC reads “lonely gal”. Boy, I guess that most of us are guilt of this. I blush, and raise my hand to this question too.

Oh wells. This mIRC has now evolved to MSN messenger. What were the causes for the change to MSN? Personally, I felt that MSN was much better because it allows me to just chat with my friends. Instead of going to a common room or server to look for friends in mIRC, MSN has made it  much more personal and convenient.

Another strong factor was that MSN allowed mass conversations to go on with multiple people at the same time. This helps to facilitate on-line meetings and the sharing of ideas. It also makes on-line conversations more interesting and dynamic.

MSN Messenger

mIRC

Internet chatting has been playing a very significant role in our lives. There are many people in developed countries who cannot live for a week without computers. Many of which use the computers to chat and discuss things on-line. This has been a global phenomenon. So essential that it has caused many to be addicts of on-line chatting.

Was I guilty of staying up for long hours to chat on-line? It happens quite a while, as and when I am free and at home. Some take on-line chatting to a level of addiction. They would rush home immediately after school or work to chat with their friends who are on-line.

Technology is advancing at a very fast rate. It seems that the current version of MSN 8.5 was released in November 2007, but there is already a newer version of MSN 14.0 that is planned to be released later this year.  There are much more cool features and nicer animation and backgrounds. The fact that is going to be revamped would grant the users of the older versions of MSN messenger to be obsolete and seen as old fashioned. 

You might be screaming, “HEY! That’s so unfair!” People would just give you a smile and persuade you to get on with life. It is time to get yourself updated with the world. The pace of life is ever increasing, thanks to the advancement in technology. It is making the world a smaller and faster paced place to live in. There are no more dinosaurs living on the face of earth. For goodness sake, get updated!  

Recall about a year back. Splattered on every major mandarin newspaper was about a scandal – one of Edison.

As I wonder about the power and influence the media of today holds. To think that the media today has no influence is simply being ignorant. Much of our views and perception is still shaped by the mass media. Take for example, the 911 terrorists attacks.

Much buzz was created by the media on this attack. The pictures of the planes crashing into the were much publicized a short while after it occurred. In a matter of minutes, the news of the terrorist attacks was spread throughout the world. It was ground breaking news. Every headline of the newspaper in the world features the incident. It managed to grabbed the headlines of all radio stations as well. This phenomena lasted for weeks.

The media is able to influence our choice and stand on issues. From the above example, the media shapes what is important and emphasizes it to the public audience. We, as public audience, read the news and through it,  form perceptions of the things around us. What seemed to be important in the eyes of the media becomes what is important and delicious to us.

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” This famous proverb is best explained by the media. By only producing news that affect the middle class would not help increase sales. There has to be a wider group of target audience and juicier news than “Motorcyclist, 21, dies in a traffic accident”.

Enter Edison Chen. Personally, I feel that he has been very unfairly targeted at. It just so happened that he got exposed by some guy in relation to the computer shop he had earlier sent his computer for repair. The pictures of him and his affairs started to arise. They were circulated all over the internet, leading him to be widely criticized for his actions. It is clear that the media has exagerrated things, causing Edison to be at the brunt of things and unable to cope.

Why do I say that he has been unfairly targeted? Look at the other artistes. Look at other normal human beings who are not celebrities. They lead their own personal lives without much media glare. They do commit mistakes that normal humans do and not get all the media attention. With the additional attention by the media, reporters have to beef up their stories to increase readership, to create differentiation. This is purely for entertainment purposes that we, the public, pays to read. Who would not want to read hot gossips anyway?

Gossip or purely important, breaking news, the media is there ready to pounce on every single ounce of juice and make a feast out of it. The power of mass media cannot be underestimated. Think twice before you do anything stupid, my friends. Think twice about littering. You would not want your face to appear in the newspapers.