First steps towards being more yellow

A few months ago, everyone I know of in the IT department took their HBDI test (including your truly). It wasn't wholly surprising to find that a significant portion of the department belonged to the blue quadrant (the one that deals with the logical and analytical types of thinking). My high score for quadrant B (sequential thinking) made sense because I had a certain fondness for doing things sequentially and a 'system' for organising my room. It also partially explained why I had to follow a walkthrough when I played most computer/video games. What I didn't expect in my results was to have a high score in quadrant A (logical thinking). In fact, it was only 2 points less than my score in quadrant B.
What I found out during the results discussion is that one can 'train' one's brain to lean more towards another quadrant. In my case, I think I should try to value spontaneity a lot more and not get caught up in 'orderliness' too much.

My newfound respect for the rock genre

To owe the truth, I had a minor degree of interest in some rock songs previously. I never really took any further interest in rock music, as RnB and hip hop dominated my playlist at the time. I liked Bon Jovi's music, but I couldn't stand U2 for reasons unknown even to myself.
But that changed when I heard Altiyan Child's rendition of Beautiful Day. I've heard the original U2 version, but anyone who has heard Altiyan's rendition would agree that he did it better. As for his take on Living On A Prayer, I was pretty sick of the song when I decided to listen to the Altiyan Childs version (it was a regular fixture on Rockband at Consoles On The Concourse). I was completely blown away by his strong vocals. Songs rarely sound good when performed by someone other than the original artist. But Altiyan is one of the main exceptions to this 'rule'.

What do your gadgets say about you?

I found an interesting article about gadgets yesterday and I thought I share it with you. One part I found particularly intriguing was the suggestion of distinct personality traits linked with owners of different phone brands. I have to say that there were bits and pieces of the article that I could identify with.
After reading the bit about the iPad, I don't think I'll be getting my own any time soon. Nor will I get a Blackberry - I don't want to be one of those people who can't tear themselves away from their work. As for gaming devices, I already have 2 of the items listed. So does this mean I belong to both Camp DSi and Camp iPod Touch?

When your mother is your biggest rival...

Its lunchtime, so time for me to do my weekly blog update. This week's focus is an article I found via ninemsn (http://www.cleo.com.au/when-your-mother-is-your-biggest-rival.htm).
To owe the truth, I noticed a lot of similarities between my my own life and what the article was discussing; in particular the parts about the mother caring for her own reputation, the daughter having some degree of depression, the mother wanting the daughter to do well so that the former will get the 'glory of having a "good" daughter' - just to name a few. The article was a real eye-opener for me, because up until now I was conflicted between wanting to continue to please her (regardless of the implications for myself) and just not giving two tosses about her.

Gadget envy

Gadget envy (n): the perceived superiority of another person's technological possessions over one's own. Colloquially known as Shiny Things Envy.

Being in a corporate environment provides ample opportunities for this phenomenon to occur. I can clearly recall from my first week at Challenger the plethora of shiny Blackberries and iPhones. Eventually, I got myself a relatively cheap smartphone in my third week - my Nokia E71. Finally, at the beginning of the month, I caved and brought myself an iPod Touch 8GB (Me and my iPod Touch). I also started pondering the possibilties of getting an iPhone a few weeks ago. Eventually I decided not to get one.
I guess the same could be said for iPod Touch applications. In the first few weeks after purchasing my iPod, I was downloading apps left right and centre. At the moment, there aren't any apps that I want that much.
I noticed that once I stop wanting something, I don't give it much thought thereafter.