When the nose gets blocked, the blog gets going!

6 September 2006, Singapore - Bloggers steal time at work and school to fill their personal pages on blogs or what's been described as a virtual phenomenon that's such a rage the world over. An unidentified source say this has resulted in the loss of productivity by workers and students suffering poor concentration at school.

Wild guesses have hinted that as much as 2 hours is wasted on blog sites during office hours every day. This staggering figure hasn't even taken into account time lost via instant messaging softwares and the SMS.

Editor of The News Stan(d), Stanley Leong, calls it "wanton mismanagement of time and misappropriation of computer systems". He recalls his budding days as a writer at MediaCorp Interactive where ICQ was the rage. "Everyone was hooked up and we were typing about our bosses across the aisle from where they sat!" He quipped, "We even made dinner plans and quietly discussed what movies got the thumbs-up and what received the thumbs-down during office hours where our bosses thought we were hard at work".

Returning to the creation of quality blogs, Leong says it requires a a good head on the shoulders, the quietness of heart and mind, and the luxury of time. Who knows better than Leong who's been grounded by a bug and sentenced to 2-days home confinement. "Sure! It's the excitement of just having created a blog about 12 hours ago and wanting to add to it. But really, it's the pent-up desire to release myself in the written word that's got me typing away." Leong's comments can be likened to a volcano waiting to blow its top and spew molten rock (geographical term: lava) across the land.

Yet only time will tell if his blog will cause utter devestation or provide more fertile ground for cultivation of friendships.

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