security threat by the numbers

did you know:

• online ads are 182 times more likely to deliver malicious content than pornography sites?
• ... and that online shopping is 21 times riskier than counterfeit software sites?

just some interesting snippets :)

we have moved!

we have officially moved into our spanking brand new office today!

and i like it here! :)

actually, the physical move (all that unpacking, cleaning and personalising) took place last Friday.. but we sort of started a new work day afresh at our new location today.

everyone seems to be enjoying the new office so far, it's a bigger and brighter environment, the interior decor is nicely done up - fresher air, fun and coordinated colours, warm and comfortable, with enough space and rooms for meetings and break out activities. all in all, a more cheerful and conducive office, professional yet fun and casual enough, hope that bodes well for everyone.

there are many more corporate offices in this area too, with people dressed up in proper business attire.. makes us all more mindful of our own dressing too (far cry from our casual slippers and t-shirt days back at the Phase Z. Ro container-office or Holland Village residential unit)...

the lunch queues are longer here as well (not liking that so much) but i guess we'll soon get used to that or find our way around to some other favourite lunch spots in no time.

ooh.. and check this out too! our new office has a security biometric fingerprint reader at the door, it's so cool! i feel like a secret agent every time i get that "verified" message. LOL.. ;) awesome!

happy easter 2011!

it’s a short work-week this week, and who doesn’t love short work-weeks? :)

Easter is just around the corner, and it’s time for this self-declared Easter Bunny to hop by and leave little surprises for everyone in the office again!
(a personal little tradition - see previous years surprises: 2010 / 2008 / 2007)

our staff strength has certainly grown over the years... from a handful 4 years ago, to a little more.. and now i have 24 colleagues to plan for! *whoa* :P

well, more eggs to hide, more fun for everyone.. hehehe.

i certainly enjoy doing this, and it's so much fun seeing everyone go crazy hunting for their treasure eggs.

ooh.. and this year, the Easter Bunny herself received a very special HUGE version Easter egg too! awww... :) THANK YOU!

 HAPPY EASTER 2011!

my new uni STYLE FIT multi-colour pen :)

there is just something about pens, writing materials and stationery... that makes people like me go a tad bit crazy and out of control. lol.

blame it on the colleague who wanted to stock up on some stationery, we popped by Evergreen stationery store after lunch today, and alas! i had to spend S$12.65 on a single writing instrument! *tsk tsk* :P

people who know me should know NOT to tempt me by taking me to a stationery shop or any place where you can find lots of unnecessary but too unresistably adorable little items.. hehehe. my weakness. sigh.

anyway, i have no idea how long this range of Uni STYLE FIT pens has been available in the market, but the concept of it is all so cool, and appeals much to someone like me who just can't resist switching my pens every now and then, changing the colours, and be surrounded with all things pretty, even around my desk.


so this is how it works:
1) select one of the 3-pen or 5-pen empty plastic barrels that come in several colours, prints and designs (plain, metallic, polka dot, ribbons etc.)
- honestly, this was what really got me :P

2) then customise your own barrel with the ink refills of your choice - pick from thickness of 0.28mm, 0.38mm or 0.5mm

3) of course, there are many many different ink colours to choose from - pinks, reds, oranges, greens, blues, browns, violets, black etc.

take your pick, mix-and-match, and voila!
that's how easy you can splurge over S$12 in an instant, just the way i did ;)

ok, now would you please just say WOW to my new pink girly ribbon-polka-dotted multi-coloured pen *wink*.

 

my office became a 'crime scene' this morning...

lol.

oh my, i so love the crazy bunch sometimes. i mean, where else would you find people who play pranks like these on... their boss? (he actually thought it's very cool and even posed as CSI Horatio with a 'live victim' lol).

my colleagues are really good with 'art installations' around the office... hehe ;)
take a look at what they had done to me sometime back.

new directions to my workplace...

new directions to my workplace:
1) drive through the one-way lane along Jalan Kilang.
2) when you arrive at the junction, lift the metal lid, then go down the sewage drain.
3) you will find us at the other end of the tunnel (where there is light) ;)

ps: this picture has not been photoshopped, the sign did fall off. took this shot earlier today on our way back from lunch...

i lost my voice

down with a sudden fever, throat infection and such last week, i've lost my voice for the past two days, could not utter a word at all. i was back at work in the office yesterday, armed with a mini stack of recycled calendar paper and a pen, scribbling everywhere i go.. guess it was pretty fun, and quiet. lol (actually, in my case.. laughing in silence.. hehe).

this morning, i finally got my voice back, well.. somewhat - if you can consider the hoarse and muffled sounds i am beginning to make, a voice. at least i don't have to rely on the pen and paper anymore. if you listen intently enough, you'll get what i say.

i just logged on to igoogle and here's my horoscope for today... such an irony, thought i'd share :P

Libra - You can trick yourself into believing nearly anything today, but you probably won't be inclined to share your experiences until later this evening. However, once you begin talking, it might be difficult to know when to stop because your judgment isn't as sharp as usual. Remember, less is more. You're likely to get into trouble for what you say, rather than for what you didn't. (tarot.com)

baby carrots are not "babies" at all..

in an attempt to say no to the "sinful stash" in the office, i've decided to prepare my own healthy snacks to feed the mid-day cravings at work today - some ready-to-eat baby carrots and strawberries i'd picked up from the supermarket.

i was just having a conversation with a friend earlier, and learnt something new about these baby carrots i'm munching on at the very moment (ooh so exciting.. hehe)... *drum rolls*..

did you know that baby carrots are not what we think they are?

the common belief:

• baby carrots are sweet tiny young carrots that are harvested in their baby stage

the truth:

• most baby / cocktail carrots that are sold in supermarkets are actually adult carrots pre-cut and processed to look like baby carrots *duh* - think french fries...
  
• U.S. farmers first invented "baby carrots" because their deformed, odd looking adult carrots wouldn't sell, so they conceived the idea of cutting them into uniform sizes, pretty shapes to enhance their appeal (and it worked big time)
• and because these carrots are pre-cut and exposed to bacteria, some farmers treat them with chlorine before shipping.. *uh ok*

Grimmway Farms explains the process:


read more here:

• baby carrots are not what you think they are
• the truth about baby carrots
• carrot and shtick

isn't it interesting? :)
i mentioned this to a few colleagues and, like me, none of them were aware at all!
examining the carrots up close, they're shaped so nicely it's almost hard to believe these babies are not that "baby" afterall. how deceiving! hehehe..

i do like munching on baby carrots and the tinier cherry/grape tomatoes. i guess from tomorrow onwards, i'll buy adult carrots and cut them into cute little shapes on my own. the healthy-snacking will not stop, perhaps the chlorine intake may... :)

the 'de-stress' stash...

you know what's my boss's favourite way to show that he cares?
he makes sure the pantry is always stocked up with an overwhelming supply of "good stuff" for us lol..

oh gosh, each time he does this, i get a mini heart attack!

i try so hard to avoid that sinful corner whenever i fill up my water at the dispenser... but i have to admit, it's so tempting! especially during mid-day when you get a little peckish and start hearing other colleagues tearing open and munching on packs of mamee or chips *yikes!* sometimes i could smell it too! but it's just sooo soooo sinful! *tsk tsk* :P

good thing my seat is as far away as it could be from that corner...
of course, that doesn't mean i'm 100% safe from the evils.

TGIF! :)

TGIF! this must be the most sane, peaceful and quiet day at work in a long long long long while :)

several colleagues are out for meetings and events today, clients are not bugging us for deadlines.. wow. unbelievably serene, happy friday.

just plugged in to my itunes on headphones and leisurely preparing some documents for next monday's meetings. decided to have some fragrant strawberry milk i bought at lunch earlier.. yumm yumm. oh, looks like strawberry to-fu is asking for some too.. hehe :P

ok, yes.. dumbest post of the month.. hehe.
please ignore me.

Aaron Kwok was in my seat!

last friday, my colleagues knew i was going to head back to the office late to pick up something, and look what a 'surprise' a few of my prankster colleagues left behind for me...

kudos to them, i literally jumped when i switched on the lights and saw a guy seated at the corner staring at me. lol.

they knew i used to like Aaron Kwok (郭富城) in my early teenage years, so they made a life-size printout of his face and palms??! (haha) and then dressed 'him' up in my red hoodie sweater with my office slippers right at his invisible feet *tsk tsk*..

i must say they had done a pretty good job with this, didn't they? it did look real at first glance especially in the dark office, very life-like and i sure got freaked out for a bit *smile* hmm.. i wonder where they had gotten those track pants from...

i shredded a CD today! :)

call me a country bumpkin, it never occurred to me before that you can actually shred a CD (or DVD).

we've recently added a fellowes paper shredder in our office and some of us have been using it to shred up old project archives and confidential documents.

i haven't been using it much until last night when i had to shift from my old desk to another one at the opposite end of the office, so i spent quite some time throwing out old project files and ended up with thick loads of paper to shred. it's actually quite enjoyable and therapeutic to use the shredder. the simple repetitive action of feeding the shredder and then seeing everything turn into tiny colourful strips of paper, who would have expected it to be so much fun and even an outlet to de-stress and allow the mind a little break? :)

this morning, as i was shredding the last bits of paper i have (i suspect i might be mildly addicted after last night *grin*), removing all staples before feeding the shredder, my colleague walked by and told me that i didn't have to do that, the shredder would break down the staples too. i was quite skeptical about that, wouldn't the metal bits spoil the machine? but that's when i found out that the shredder could even shred up CDs! wow!

feeling excited, i just had to try it to believe it. so we went around the office and found an old unwanted CD. there's a plastic cover near the feeder of the shredder, flip it over and there's a tinier slot customised for CDs and credit cards (looks very similar to the thin slot where you insert a CD into an iMac). so i gathered a few other interested colleagues near the shredder and started feeding the CD through the slot. it was instantly garbled up by the shredder - "clark.. clurk clark.. " it went. not the most pleasant sound to the ears but it's just so so cool! wow. i shredded my first CD today! :)

i even pulled open the trash bin to examine how the CD looked like after it's shredded.. just like broken pieces of glasses or crystals. sparkly.

happy easter!

yay for long weekend! we all love long weekends, don't we?
and since it's easter this sunday, i continued a little tradition that i'd started back in 2007 at my workplace.

the annual easter eggs hunt for everyone in the office! :D

every year, on the last workday before Good Friday, i would secretly hide little pouches or plastic eggs filled with cute easter chocolates and candies all around the office - behind window blinds, above cabinets & shelves, inside baskets, in odd corners, above signages etc. - each personalised with a colleague's name so no one gets left out :)

it certainly takes more time to prepare these surprises now, as the company strength grows over the years... but it's just so much fun, it's totally worth it! i enjoy every bit planning and hiding the eggs as much as the folks go bonkers hunting them down.. hehehe.

happy easter!

50 ways to cope with stress...

speaking of "spying" interesting items and articles on fellow colleagues' desks, i found this on yet another co-worker's desk, so good it'll be a pity not to share :) so in addition to the colourscope posted in my earlier post, here's another inspirational piece...

(as seen on bellefemme)

hmm.. i'm glad to note that i've already been doing several points listed in the article below... guess that's what been keeping me sane so far. well, obviously i'm failing on the point "leave work early" on the 3rd last line... :P okie, better get going now.

what's your colourscope?

i work very long hours in the office, i interact a lot with my fellow co-workers but i just realised today that i hardly go around checking out other colleagues' personal desks and things they put up on their partition wall.. stuff around their desks etc. maybe i'm not a very nosy person...

anyway, i'm hanging around the office slightly later than most others again tonight. i was just standing around a colleague's desk and noticed some of the very interesting things she has on her wall...

i liked THIS so much, i had to search for it on the Internet - and all thanks to GOOGLE, here's the exact version she had printed out and "magnetised" above her desk.

so.. what is your colourscope? :)
for a closeup on the descriptions, download PDF here.

at first glance, i'm kinda drawn towards these 2 colours:

*blossom
you are able to gently say the things that your friends need to hear. you have a lovely smile but you need to smile much more often. you are too serious and you need to be more tolerant of failure–both in yourself and in others.

*strawberry
you are very lucky with opportunities appearing like magic. you are an enchanter, attracting people to you. you are open and enthusiastic.

cost-cutting measure...

when times get bad, and companies try their utmost to cut costs... this is what happens.

tada!
our very own de-stress DIY office wall-mount basketball hoop! *LOL*

sometimes i just can't help but laugh at these crazy folks i work with, some of them are just so funny/spontaneous.

this is such a cheap thrill... recycled paper and DVD packaging, and it really works!
now if only the "smiley face stress ball" can be a tad bit less bouncy so that it'll stop bouncing off the wall...