I got a B- instead of an A?... oh it's Facebook's fault.

Alright, the word is out. Facebook is officially messing with your grades! Quick! Delete your account!

Okay, I'm joking, but only a little bit. I can imagine all the Facebook addicts going "delete... facebook...? How.. How will I live? Where will I see pictures of my friends? Where else can I type random and useless information about what I'm currently doing!?"

There have been several articles recently on the effects of facebook. Check this one out. On today's daily alerts (something here at SMU), an article published in "The Chronical of Higher Education" seems to be singing a similar tune.

I quote:

Notes to students: surfing in class lowers test scores

A professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder has found that students who used their laptops for non-classroom activities, like updating their Facebook pages fared worse than their peers. In the face of this, some law schools have banned laptops from classrooms and even created laptop-free zones.

The Chronicle of Higher Education, p A14

So maybe the creation of Facebook was just a ploy to lower the grade point averages of schools all around the world! *snigger* Well I'm not a frequent Facebook user, so unfortunately for me, I cannot blame Facebook for my crappy grades. But for the rest of you, at least there's a convenient excuse.

Before you scoff at these articles and dismiss them, take a look at your own Facebooking habits... It might not be that far from the truth after all...

Where is our creativity?

I just had my Marketing 101 class today and we got to check out advertisements. We've got some really creative minds behind some of the advertisements out there... Unfortunately, not so much in Singapore. Compared to some of the adverts that air overseas, Singapore's creative adverts fall short.

There is a very interesting trend though. Our government services tend to have very creative adverts. At least they are more witty than many commercial ones. At least they don't remind me of a poorly done powerpoint slideshow with tacky taglines and bad voiceovers.

Here are afew good examples, though I'm sure there are more good ones out there.

I thought this was quite funny. Saw it at Marina Square.

Very chilling advert, definitely gets the message across.


Our armed forces has a series of very interesting commercials. I wonder whether these adverts are effective in their recruitment.

They are definitely doing something right. I hope corporates out there take the hint and stop using crappy adverts. Take a hint from our government agencies! Spend some money on good adverts!

Hoot... Hoot!

I have this feeling that we are becoming nocturnal. I thought I was crazy for being up and doing work at 3.30am when I received an email from a friend reminding me about a meeting later today. In disbelief, I replied, semi-mocking her for being up.

To my greatest surprise, 2 more members of my group replied the same email. What's happening to the world! We ar... Hoot! Hoooot! HooooooT!!!

Hoot Hooot Hoootttt? Hoot.