Eyetracking: Why We Watch Some Web Ads and Not Others - TIME

This would have come in handy two weeks ago when I had to write about advertising in magazines despite the onslaught of online advertising.

Even better, I was suppose to write from the position of an Advertising Sales Specialist from Time Inc.

Such is life.

I think I'll be coming back to LJ after all for more private matters. Tumblr is awesome and all but is obviously not the place to be for certain content given how public that domain is. I've got a lot of things to say about a lot of stuff.

Watch this space.

I am so pretty damn pleased that Obama has won the elections. Good on you, America.

The Change Will Come.

A) People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs & replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

B) Tag 8 people to do this quiz & those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by & cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.

I am tagging... filanisation , ieatsarah , natsunohanabi , just_stick , paperbkwriterr , dapooh , salutemypants , coldbynumbers  and whoever else who wants to kill time or are bored.

1. What are your nicknames?
Jan, Bao Bao, bowling ball, cheerleader man (?!), and a whole list of weird variations courtesy of my dad.

2. What do you do before bedtime?
Set my alarm (sad life, I know), read a book/mag, fluff my pillow and try to find a comfy spot.

3. What was the last book you read/currently are reading?
In Her Shoes- Jennifer Weinberger.

4. What is your favourite Tim Tam flavour?
Erm, the dark velvet ones? I can't remember the name. Actually, I much prefer the Mint Slices.

5. Last song you listened to?
Tristan Prettyman- God Gave Me Patience

6. What do you eat the most?
Lately, it's been coffee, pasta, bubble tea, bread

7. Do you trust easily?
Not really.

8. What's the oldest piece of clothing in your wardrobe?
Good question. I have no idea. Will report back when I've dug through my wardrobe. Timely as well since my closet look like 5 wars just took place because I have to dig through everything to find stuff to wear every day.

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
My insane schedule every single bloody day of the week. I have no time to sleep in and am always rushing to places. Oh, and my school schedule sucks ass, coupled with the insane amount of work I've to do.

10. Do you have a good body-image?
No. For obvious reasons.

11. Favourite brand of shoes?
Shoes are meant to be loved. There's no favourites.

12. What websites do you visit daily?
Facebook, livejournal, justjared, gmail.

13. Who are currently the most important people to you?
I'd like to think of my most important groups of people. Not individuals.
(Core Four- S, S, H, L), Shi Yun, (School Love- B, J, C, G, T, M), my sis, the parents, bitch buddy- Lesley! Oh, and my new HOT! eye candy.

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
funny, articulate, great style, smart, opinionated.

15. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head?
Mr Mraz's Sleeping to Dream

16. What’s your favorite item of clothing?
I'm into tops, jackets and shoes a lot lately. But then again, I love clothes. Period.

17. What's your all time favourite drink?
none in particular. Something good to chill out is great.

18. If you had $1,000 in cash, what would you do with it?
Find ways to make it multiply. Cos it sure as hell ain't enough for me to satisfy everything I want now.

19. What items could you not go without during the day?
Cellphone (which has just got stolen and am now stuck with an even crappier one), iPod, wallet (much love for the wallet), pencil case-cos everyone seems to be in need of my stationery every single damn day. WHY?!

20. What do you want to buy right now?
You're sure you want to know?

21. What personality trait do you wish you possess?
Honestly, all I want is more sleep. So screw the personality traits. For now.

I am this close to canceling all my commitments-especially those in the mornings- for the next 2 weeks just so that I can sit home and watch the Olympics.

I'm very much looking forward to the closing ceremony too. No prizes for the reason why.

The food I've been ingesting doesn't seem to be agreeing with me lately.

Like last Thursday. I met Esther for dinner and we had Japanese food. Within 20 minutes of finishing dinner, everything that went into my mouth came right out via the same way.

A couple of hours ago, I had coffee with Esther at Coffee Bean. Now, I am having twinges of pain in the stomach region.

Did I unintentionally offend the food gods out there?

Jeez.

I have this sudden longing to be back in New Zealand.

I want to be cruising down the Avon River on a gondola as if I am in Venice and enjoying the beautiful sights whilst taking peeks at Nigel/Adrian (not too sure which is his name).

I'm missing that country.

I think I have finally found the closure I've been seeking. It feels good to finally let go and leave it all behind.

I think I scare my dear ol' coldbynumbers with the intensity of my fandoms. I think she's gonna be having second thoughts about starting classes with me come August.

A few people have been asking me how's life lately. Well, life has been alright except for work. I'm beginning to question why I put myself through all the effort every single weekday for nothing. It's literally, nothing.

Here's what I've been doing for the past week at work ever since I got back from my New Zealand trip:

1. Get into office promptly by half-past eight
2. Switch on my PC, which I suspect was built in the Dark Ages
3. Fiddle around, digging into my bag for my things in a bid to keep me occupied.
4. Stare at the computer monitor.
5. Consider logging into my email account, taking into account how slow and painful the entire process is.
6. Talk to my colleague seated in the cubicle next to mine, which coincidentally used to be MINE. 
7. Think about what to have for lunch.
8. Probably get started on doing some data entry and matching of documents and find out some slightly juicy information (if any, on both counts).
9. Head out to the IT department to bug my other colleagues there.
10. Get a drink from the vending machine outside.
11. Help my colleague punch holes for the payment vouchers. (if any)
    
12. Grin and bear with the inherently slow internet connection and surreptitiously alternate between shopping online and checking out the latest sports news and scores of my favourite teams, read random stuff on wikipedia,  and wonder when the hell the work day will ever end.
13. Repeat steps 3 through 12 in the same order.
14. When 5:30 strikes, prays for my mobile phone to beep, informing me of an incoming text message from my dad informing me that he's either on his way to pick me up or already waiting for me outside. Oh the outpouring of joy at the end of a wasted day.

Story of my life.

Everyone will tell me to just be glad that I am being paid to do nothing for 8.5 hours. But has everyone actually tried doing nothing for 8.5 hours straight and tried to look busy at the same time? It's inherently stupid, redundant and makes me feel worthless and a hindrance. I can actually spend my time at home sleeping, watching DVDs or catching up on the ever-growing pile of books I've been meaning to read and maybe even work out.

So, this is where all you nice, helpful people come in. Please offer suggestions on how I can actually spend my day at work fruitfully. That means no suggestions of playing pranks on colleagues by putting their calculators and/or staplers into jello. It's a waste of jello and my colleagues are really nice people who do not deserve such treatment due to my deathly boredom.

Except maybe for my manager. Some of you may already know the story. She makes me do the lamest stuff.

P.S. Don't suggest listening to my iPod nor read a book. The former has a no-go zone in my office while the latter has been tried and tested today. It's too hard and too noisy and I also feel bad for sitting there reading a novel while everyone else is tearing their hair out trying to finish their work.

P.P.S Chatting on the phone is out of the question too. I have no phone line on my desk, no stationery (I have to nick it from the cubicle next to mine) and everyone else is probably at their own workplace working their butt off as well.  

Victory never tasted so sweet and wonderful. Sweet, beautiful victory.

Hello from NZ..

Things are going great so far. I'm down in the South now after covering the North Island. Lots of travelling on the road and me falling asleep in the backseat.

It's fairly cold here. The average temperature here in the South Island is about 10 degrees Celcius and falling as I go further down South and access to the Internet is a bit hard considering some of the hotels/motels are stuck on dial-up still. I would have died if I actually connected using that mode.

Not much shopping to be done here but I did manage to get some awesome buys. I can't wait to hit the cities again so that I can go shop more. 

The scenery here is awesome and breathtakingly beautiful. Pictures when I get back.

I've did some awesomely fun things in the past few days. I went Zorbing, para-gliding and some other things which I can't really remember cos I'm in a rush and a little sleepy. It's 5:07am Singapore Time as I type this but it's 9:07 here in NZ. 

Lastly, I'm sad that I can't get my wallet yet. =( 
Anyone going to the US?

I find it strangely comforting to be sitting in front of my PC in the wee hours of the morning with dark clouds looming just outside my window and lightning flashing across the sky, complete with the soft, low rumble of thunder in the distance and the breeze starts coming in.

It's not even close to ominous or forboding. Instead, it calms me down and I feel really relaxed in a long time.

I am actually awaiting the rain to fall and knowing that a smile would spread across my face just at the exact same time it happens.

It's really peaceful tonight.

I started the week with an unbelievable high and satisfaction but ended it with a sobering realisation that life is fragile no matter how invincible you think you are.

I started the week thinking of all the material things I wanted to attain and looked forward to all the luxuries life had to offer but I ended it with just wanting to settle for life's simplest pleasures like love and kinship.

I started the week feeling like I've been a worthy friend to those around me but ended it with thinking that I can still improve and that I've yet to learn how to be a better person overall.

I started the week looking forward to sharing my joys and excitement with you and now all I wish is being able to take away some of the pain you're feeling inside.

It's not a good thing to have monthly woman issues when:

1) It happens on the exact day you will receive life-changing news, 
2) and makes you all the more emotionally fragile and vulnerable.
3) Your appetite goes on a roller-coaster holiday making you absolutely ravenous one moment and then ready to regurgitate the next

I finally got a good night's sleep in a very long time. According to ieatsarah, if you can vividly remember your dreams you had the previous night, you're not sleeping well. I can pretty much remember my dreams when I wake up each morning for the past month and a half. Or ever since I started work. It's been stressful at times when things get insanely busy or when I'm trying to balance the whole work-social life balance nonsense. I haven't been sleeping as much as I should and not well at all.

Anyhow, this CNY is treating me great despite the meagre red packets I have been receiving. My dad's one more than made up for everyone else's. Partly due to the fact that there were a few losses suffered in the past year, most of the extended family are either having a toned down CNY this year or choosing not to celebrate it due to some traditional beliefs and superstitions. I'm quite fine with it.

1) No questioning line of fire to torment me.
2) I can finally sleep in for the whole 5 days break. (Thankfully, my company only resumes operation on Tuesday)

I've been very well-fed too..so I'm a very happy person. Reunion dinner at Conrad Centennial and I'm off to Fullerton later for dinner.

Cheers all!

This is so fucking cute and hilarious.

It's 11 days into 2008 and I haven't posted anything at all. Blame it on work. This week was the ultimate worst. I'm totally drained and spent. I promise to update soon. Like tomorrow afternoon. Lots to talk about especially work.. Now, all I'm gonna do is head to bed and stay there till the sun rises then head to the post office to mail something off to Canada.

I really feel like throwing a useless tantrum now because I do not want to have to go to work tomorrow. Even if it's half-day. The working world is such a bitch. It's New Year's eve after all for pete's sake.

And I haven't started on my New Year's resolutions yet.