How CS3216 Has Helped Me

It has been a really fierce 3 months or so, so it's great that I can safely say that I've come away with a lot from CS3216 :P It has benefited me in more days than one, especially psychologically (urm not so much technically).

A cool thing about the class is that we get to work with people from different faculties. I am not sure about everyone else, but being a college freshman, I have never had experience working with people from different specializations. All the experience I have working in group projects are with people whose jobs I can easily perform myself. Basically, we would all have a great idea of what the other is doing. In CS3216, I basically knew nuts about what the programmers were doing, and we usually weren't on the same plane sometimes. But we had to have an idea of what the other was doing to make it cohesive. Seriously, sometimes I will be told, just draw and we will fit it in... then after it is drawn, I'll be told I'm the one supposed to fit it in, and... what the heck :P So which way is it supposed to be? So... I know we all know this, but effective communication really is key so we can minimize inefficiency. I mean, of course we can't always get it right the first time, and we would have to constantly improve, but communicating well will help us to at least cut down on wasted time.

Sometimes, I get annoyed when people suggest what I suggested weeks ago, and worse still, telling me its something I should have though of... because I am kind of like "Were you not listening?" But I kind of realized it was also my fault because I probably had not expressed myself clearly enough, or reminded them about it. People who are coding tend to hate interruptions and just shut off from everything else, so they might have missed what I said too. Also, I have a tendency not to voice something out, especially if I feel there it is of no concern to the others, or until I have though of a suitable solution myself. But I realized that is not really how we work in a team, ya, but as individuals, so I tried to voice my opinions more. Nevertheless, then someone else will tell me, "Ya, I thought of that, just that I hadn't told you." So, I guess we are all guilty of that xD So I guess the important thing in a group is that we all have an idea (I don't think it is necessary to know every single detail or there would be no point in specialization) of what the other is doing.

Another nice thing is that I am surrounded by so many motivated people :D I mean, I think many of us have already heard, discussed or considered before much of what has been said in class, but we just sit there and go "Ya..." but do nothing, ya? Being around motivated people is different from reading about them, the inspiration actually rubs off on you. I mean, there's nothing more awesome than being surrounded by such passionate people, regardless of where that passion lies. You just feel this power, and it's an awesome feeling. It makes you want to take action (why am I still sitting by this computer? :P), it makes you feel like you could do so much as well. Well, I did think that I could achieve a lot in the past as well, and if I just did nothing I'd rot away and never achieve my potential... but back then I was kind of indifferent, like, oookay, so what if I don't achieve my potential? But it's different now, I don't know what changed but a switch must have clicked into place. I'm like nooo I want to go as far as I can! Glad it has happened.

Sadly, I still can't say after 3 months I have found out what my passion is :P Uh, I know I like interacting with people and I like puzzles, but don't most people? Sigh. It has to be something I'm good at, and I don't know what that is. I really don't feel like I'm good at anything (and no, I'm not a person with an inferior complex... wait then again, people seldom admit that right HAHA) I'm really afraid I'll never find it. Before this class, I was just a teeny bit afraid, now I'm pretty terrified. It's like I can feel every second ticking away. I don't know what I want to do, and I'm just full of admiration for people who can confidently say they know what they want to do, and I actually believe them (for most people who tell me they already have a clear direction in life, I just think they are immature after their elaboration). Ya, I think there are both types in our class, though I won't give names :P Up to you all to decide which category you fall in.

Oh, I have also learn that SoC is way cool. There are way more inspired people who actually want to really do something, who have done something, people full of drive (not just academically). It's different from business school, where people are not discussing what they want to do in life but grades, grades, grades (at least my alum group), and stuff like "I'm not going to do this as it will drag down my CAP". Many of the people in my class are just thinking of 9-5 jobs, I don't think any of them believe they can change the world, or are interested in doing so at all. (Thankfully, my friends aren't like that, or I think I may have been influence to be like that also. I think in terms or relationships, we don't just have to, like, marry the right people, but hang out with the right people. Mix with the people you want to become. Obvious right.)

My drawing ability has also improved tremendously :P Since this is not a drawing class, I've pretty much had to learn myself. The stuff looks simple and fast to do, but I actually trash a ton of versions I do. But it's cool because I don't like ripping of other people's tutorials, even if I do read them.

Lastly, before I end, something I learnt was that we come to school to "learn to learn". I know it's obvious, but I always saw school as a place I came to "to learn, period", although I have always been someone who prefers reading up and solving stuff on my own unless I've been trying forever (even if it may take more time than simply asking for the answer... since in the LR I think it helps me more). It's less about all the information (I can probably cram all the foundation mods I've done this past 2 sems into less than a month and have the same "information"... not that I want to) but how you go about learning and teaching yourself stuff; cool insights into life, curiosity, preparing you for a time where you are more independent and where you perhaps have no one to turn to. I don't think I am very mature yet, and I'm not going to say I will be really when I graduate, but I do want to get as far as I can. See how it goes la.

Whew back to my 3.2k word essay on whether virtuous leaders require virtuous followers :P Thoughts are appreciated LOL. Since I'm stuck.

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And ofc, the phrase we like to quote: Other people don't think like you. Though I prefer to think of it as "I'm not thinking like other people." I don't like framing it with "me" at the center - but that's just me, since it'll better help me to see what I've missed.

Oh, I have learnt that programmers love sleeping late, waking late. I still don't get it, but I'm fully aware of it now LOL. Seriously, if you wake up early, sleep a bit earlier, same working hours... how does it affect your momentum? Regardless of when I sleep, I get up around the same time. :P

So far, I haven't really wanted to put stuff specifically as what I have "learnt" since, ya, I think much of what we have come across in this class, we have learnt before. But it really forced me to think a lot deeper :) And as before, being about motivated people is probably a tremendous force for me. It's like you are aware of everything all along, but you never cared. And suddenly, you do. It's like having all the pieces of a map to one million dollars, and never caring to piece it together. Now I feel like doing so (=

Another entry

Okie, I think Prof Ben's last entry was to tell us we are not blogging as much as he wants us to! I don't really care about Blog King/Queen anyway, so I'm still going to continue posting :P Even if the class isn't about blogging :)

Wow, after the last session, I'm like O.O When people say how they have actually contacted others and shared with people their ideas. I was under the impression of only Voucherous... but it was like Supremacy, Pingoo, and even The Mood Diary (in an interview o.o). Everyone is so into it, and you can't help but getting even more inspired yourself. I think everyone presented really well. Though that session was just kinda like a selling yourself session... like a practice for the poster session LOL.

I must say that I absolutely lovwe Sticky Wars xD Maybe I'm biased since I like text based strategy games, but it's a niche, and it's like the dream of someone who plays that game to do that, so Chuan Yeong is living that HAHA. I adore the idea on Facebook, even if the execution wasn't awesome then, it's getting discernibly better, even if there is a long way to go and so much balancing. So excited to see how it goes and I hope it is continued after CS3216. Please!

Now, back to TopsyTuriva :P Short entry here, but I'm typing this out while my tablet reboots... work beckons

The Talk 1to2 weeks Ago

I actaully typed out an entry halfway but I can't find it :( So i'll just retype since I'm owing an entry (entries?).

As everyone in this class (should) rememebers, we had some entrepreneurs come down 2 lessons back. Here is what I think of some of them.

Singaporebrides - Okie, not to be rude, but when I first heard the name, I thought it sounded like some mail order bride service xD I mean, when you give a location, followed by an object, it gives the impression that you are selling that item, from that place, i.e. named after the products. I don't know any other instances where the company is named after their target customers. Visiting the site, I can't believe it succeeded. But obviously, it works. Maybe it's because they had a first mover advantage. Granted, it is impressive since it's hard to get people to list on an unknown site, and it was probably due to the fact they recognized the need to provide something else in addition that they succeeded. That is, the free website (although, hmm... did they charge less than what it usually costs to get a professional to make a website?). But I don't think they have any serious external threat (though ofc they should not rest on their laurels).

Hungrygowhere - Love the name. It immediately tells you what the site is for, it's easy to remember. Also sounds rather colloquial, so it feels more personal, and that definitely makes the general public feel at ease and draws them to the site. Yet the site also looks nice, polished (ofc). I think it was very funny the guy side they were media whores since it is free publicity. Probably also lends them credibility, gains more acceptance. Would be nice if it had links to utube videos or something.

School of Thought - I love reading Broader Perspectives xD I always borrow my younger sister's copy from school! I think this was the most heartwarming piece made. I was a bit skeptical at first, but hey, it's benefits are undeniable. And I do want to believe there are such awesome people out there. I liked the point about CCAs. It is definitely true that CCAs such as sports tend to be more popular even though people don't end up pursuing it in the future. Why are more usefull CCAs like Byte Club or AVA not more popular? Why is there a sterotype? Wish it was elaborated more. I mean, I don't see a problem with that from the individual's POV even if it is an interesting observation :P Someone likes running, someone likes dancing; they don't have to do that professionally. It can be just something they do outside of their job. I think even if we enjoy what we do at work, it's nice to have something else to go back to. I don't think someone who truly enjoys something would be deterred from pursuing it just because it doesn't seem "cool". For the majority, they choose what is more "prestigious" because they don't know what they want. Maybe it's not sports. Doesn't mean it'll be AVA. So what if it's likely to be "useful" if isn't what they'll necessarily enjoy?

Turbanizer - So, it wasn't all about Turbanizer, but I really thoguht the Turbanizer was awesome. It's fun and really cool. Gosh, stuff like that is what I'd like to come up with, people who come up with that are people I'm quite sure I'd love to work with in the future. I mean, this could be CBU and still pretty neat, but wow, to sell turbans? Very smart and creative. People will spread it for you, since they get an interesting output to s
hare. It makes buying a turban so cool, and builds an attachment. Though some Sikhs may find it a bit offensive that other people may treat turbans like a joke. Though I like this line: "If someone insults your turban, just TURBANIZE THEM!" It's like turning them into one of you :P Which makes it less so, i.e. instead of being insulting, it seems to instead re-frame it to be that wearing turbans are cool, so everyone wants to. I'd say more, but I gotta rush back to class.

Byeee

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Mm I remember something being said about over-encouraging startups in Singapore and how so many fail. Well, I honestly don't think they care. Strength in numbers! The more people try, the more will succeed (and fail). But no one cares about those who fail! It's easy to encourage, it's just hard being the one taking the risk and failing. Like how it's easy to say Harvard:number, Singapore:number, please remember me if you succeed xD (I'm jesting)

Respect!

So, I confess, I'm one of those people who get really irritated when I can't connect to the internet, or it's terrible laggy. I know no one wishes it to happen but I'll just whine anyway. But after today, I've a new found respect for the people who try to get it up :P So... I'll umm. Think about the people working to fix it, who are more bothered at it than I am (since all I need to do is wait) whenever I am feeling annoyed by it.

Actually, this was a really technical class, and I was really lost. Seems like some programmers were lost also, haha. So... but something that I remember that I thought was quite interesting was when he said when things start to get slow/ go wrong, some people like to just throw more bandwidth (?) (forgive me for phrasing it really awkwardly and using the wrong words) and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Reminds me a lot about an analogy I read in JIT although this isn't related to inventory :P There is a bit of similarity.

The analogy (by Taiichi Ohno) basically describes the water level in (I think, this is the general idea) a river. Water level represents inventory (I think, though in this case, it can be whatever you have in excess that you throw over to mask the real issue). It looks really calm on the surface, but there are many rocks below which you can't see. These rocks represent problems. Since the water level merely hides them, in order to really solve the problem, you lower the water level and expose them. You solve that, and lower the water level again to expose the next problem to solve. This results in improving the entire system. You don't need so much excess anymore, i.e. you eliminate waste. Which kind of seems like giving more bandwidth (or whatever term is was) to "solve" the problem in an inefficient costly manner. It goes back to the issue of whether you are solving a symptom, or the root cause (okie, so for JIT you are forcing yourself to find the problem, but aiyah, haha, trying to fit the analogy in... but it's a point).

(You can go learn more by googling

JIT, Toyota Production Systems, Lean Manufacturing.

If you are on Chrome, you obviously have Drag and Drop, so just drag and drop what I've kindly typed out)

Speaking of JIT, reminds me of another thing, though this isn't so ops-management related :P A phrase we are all really familiar with by now is "other people don't think like you" and vice versa. As Prof Ben has pointed out, we always try to defend ourselves, rather than trying to see it from the other individual's POV, and it makes us pretty myopic since we may fail to see the big picture. So, back to what I was reminded of. I think some of you may be familiar with the Donna Dubinsky and Apple issue many years back before we were born. I heard this in MNO1001 (which some of ya took before), so I also don't know how accurate it is, but as I was told (and as I've understood):

Donna was a distribution manager at Apple in the 1980s. Steve Jobs wanted to introduce JIT systems (think it was new then) b/c... I guess he thought it was awesome. Unfortunately, the move would take away some of the importance of Donna's role to the manufacturing side, so she was very unhappy. There was a company meeting, and she told them she thought it was a bad idea, and that she was not on board (think Prof Lehman also said she said she'll quit).

Okies, so Prof Lehman was telling us that Donna was probably grieving over the loss of something that is so important to her, and that managers we have to empathize that such reactions are normal. (True, but actually that isn't what I wanted to say. HAHA, but it's a good point, so I added it in) Moving on, Donna (who later went on to found Handspring) said in later interviews that she was biased in hindsight, and JIT was actually good for Apple. This story is related to change, but the the takeaway I wanted to say is applicable to many situations. THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND YOU/ME/etc. And, look at the big picture.

(I can't find a nice story online, but there are a few cases and such, just search

donna dubinsky apple steve jobs

drag and drop to Google)

Thanks for reading, hope I didn't sound too confusing!

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Ooh, food for thought, the title of that section was something like

"Why are the most competent the most resistant?" or something

since this class is full of really competent people, I thought I'd add that since it's pretty relevant. Though I don't mean to imply that there are people who don't listen properly in this class. I'm just sleepy and posting something random ((:

Meritocracy in Education

Wow, it seems like everyone is talking about education recently :D I was just reading an article on Singapore meritocracy (with regards to scholarships) that my prof for another mod had uploaded into the workbin. I googled for it, and you can read it here:

http://www.smu.edu.sg/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2008/sources/TODAY_20080825_1.pdf

Basically, most scholarship awardees aren't people who live in HDB flats, although most Singaporeans live in HDB flats.

And it reminded me about another article I had read a few months back, which basically discusses the problem of French elite universities having very few poor students here (it isn't that they don't; they do, but few, those who meet the criteria. I'm not going to speculate anything else):

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2c12012a-fa2a-11de-beed-00144feab49a,dwp_uuid=a9543bac-edcc-11db-8584-000b5df10621.html

While I am all for individuals succeeding in school "whatever your social origins", I find it strange that in order to do so, they have to set quotas. I do think it will lower the average standard, so why is that regarded as a "scandalous" statement? It does make sense. As the Today article has stated, the way to tackle this is early intervention schemes. Setting a quota does not address the root of the problem, and merely solves the symptoms. This isn't meritocracy, is it? It would be un-meritocratic, if say, a poor student does even better than a richer student, but the richer student is given the place. In this case, the poorer students aren't as strong as the richer students. (though it is unfair since they are disadvantaged in the sense that they don't have as much opportunities to develop themselves)

Of course, while we should not base it on grades alone. Yet it is not uncommon for schools to give admission advantages to minorities, even if they may not be as strong as other candidates in a complete, all rounded aspect (I think it sucks to e.g. come from India or China especially when you are applying to college). Is that a way of "righting" what is "wrong"? I don't think so. But it is certainly much easier than solving the real problem of giving poorer candidates individual help. Perhaps it is the best that can be done in the mean time, even - I don't know. But it seems to me that it undermines the real problem in doing so (which is what I am afraid of) - notice how they seem to completely reject the reason the French elite universities give? There's not even a slight agreement. Is this the right way to go about achieving meritocracy?

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Saw on Chris Henry's FB that's relevant
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/education/edlife/03alien-t.html?pagewanted=2
Still, he was selected because they possibly felt he deserved it

FB games will never be the same for me...

Ugh. CS3216 has completely changed my unthinking, accepting, enjoyable app playing life. I have realized that I have of late unconsciously begun to evaluate every single game I play -- which shouldn't be happening when I am relaxing!! I keep thinking stuff like "ooh, smart they placed this here instead of here" or "ahh I can see why they made this interface change" and such... kinda made me realize how thought out some of all these apps really are (which I never thought before), so much thought has gone into even the very minor details. It's really impressive, and yet intimidating, because I keep comparing what we have to do against that, and... boy, it's so hard to measure up. I don't think we even pay attention to half the details due to time constraints, so it'll all be improvements along the way. It kind of reminds me of the external pitching session where a guy (Zaki?) was talking about how they actually get someone in to tweak the smallest details to make a game stick/viral. Every little thing counts. I therefore have the impression when people say "don't think so much, and just do", they aren't downplaying going through the details properly, because already have a fairly clear idea and have the details well thought out... they simply mean we should just go ahead and work properly with what we think works, rather than worrying whether the details we have thought of (and not ignored) will work well/not if we think they will, i.e. don't let doubts get in the way of what you believe in. Though also, I think we should also not let doubts get in the way for things we are unsure of, some things are a matter of "just try", although we have to be clear to distinguish what should be something where "you won't know until you try"and things we shouldn't approach with a "you won't know until you try" attitude and therefore approach it with uncertainty. For me, it always intrigues me how changing the smallest things makes the world of a difference, although I am not sure if that's what we should be focusing on in this class given time constraints, but it's something really interesting that I'd like to go into further in the future.

Man, that was one long paragraph that was rather rambly. I'll edit if I have time (which means it'll only have a 8% chance of happening - don't ask me about the number choice).

Random Post

Hmm so I'm finally defragging my tablet, so I've got some spare time... actually this is the second time I'm attempting... the last time it took 5h and shut down halfway (so long one meh... and I hope my comp doesn't get affected by that crash...)

And so I read the peer appraisals. I didn't know they were going to be anonymous hahaha. But it's okay... actually the comments are rather nice. I mean, REALLY nice - comparatively. I feel kinda bad about what I wrote now :P But if it helps, I usually give "nastier" feedback to people I like :P Well, I didn't think they sounded nasty, but helpful, but now I'm thinking they might have been (again, comparatively) Anyhow, too nice also cannot improve la... so actually I am being nice in the long run HAHA. Uh, but if I can't find bad points to write, it doesn't mean I think you suck, but the opposite.

I think when we read feedback, we tend to think "Really meh?", "No... I'm not like that what."... or "Yeah, that's true." and other trains of thought... okay, that was ambiguous :) But I think there is a tendency to disagree with maybe 1 or 2 of the feedback given. Though whether it was our intention or not, responders are basically writing about the impression we have given, and that's what we are often judged on, so it's still really important to KIV those points.

The best feedback I got (thank you to whoever wrote it):

"Shannon needs to be more active in defining her own roles: on what she can and wants to do. "

I kinda knew that myself, but I didn't know it was so obvious even to others. And this is really weighing on my mind now because it is so true :/ Is it so obvious! It's not just projects, but my life as a whole... and ya this is something that always makes me feel like a screwed up person.

And do I really seem to get emotional over comments :X HAHA, I need to change the expression and tone on my face when I disagree with something. I usually do take note of the way I express myself in public, but not usually with people I am working closely with in a team. Figured being to the point works best, hmm, but I may have come across as getting upset (I don't). But ya, I do think people will end up "lashing" back at me even if I don't realize it (I'm trying to recall who now :)) and this is where I may fail to stop because I'm enjoying it so much... :P (I don't think that the other party may not be enjoying it as much HAHA) I like umm... spirited discussions and it's really a habit of mine to... criticize... nicely... I hate admitting this. I sometimes even like to bring up things I already know the answer to or stand up for things I don't agree with just for fun. Though I've been trying to stop doing that because my mom says it'll get me killed some day... and I do sometimes feel guilty after that. But mostly in this class I thought I was okay with my tone when I'm talking to people in general, but I guess I sometimes forget to do so when it gets down to the work itself. I do give praise where it's due though!

And ya, I guess I need to stop being vague with some of my comments. I'm just not very good at expressing myself sometimes (and when I'm tired another bad habit kicks in: "I'll elaborate another time"), and sometimes I just leave it short since I thought I was just pointing out something obvious. Though I realize that other people don't think like me, I don't think like other people, and we tend not to think that we don't think like the other even if we are aware of the fact, though we could. (I like long convoluted sentences :P) So I'll work on this too now. It's really laziness I know.

Abrupt place the end, but gotta go to church.

Get Help! AT LAST

Okay, since I just remembered (due to the Facebook app topic), some people were asking why the Flixster app is named "Movies" and not "Flixster" on Facebook.

(Ji Wei says Kah Hong has sort of covered it in a response to his blog entry soo I'm small-ifying this)

It seems really dumb, since people wanting to find Flixster on Facebook would have difficulty. But it makes sense if you think about it.

So, let me pose a question: Why is, like, movies.com worth more than flixster.com? Ya? I think some of you will have got it now, especially after Chewy's presentation. It's all about perspective. We are thinking like people who know Flixster exists. But Facebook on Flixster is more of an advertising platform, to get more people who don't know about it to know about it (sorry about my awkward phrasing), and less so (I'm not saying it's not) for it's existing users. It is nearly impossible for the many more people who don't know about Flixster to search "Flixster" - but those who have an interest in movies will search --? Yeah, "movies", because it's a common word we are all aware of, and therefore worth more. And through that, they will get redirected to the Flixster app and know, ohhh Flixster will be my one stop for movie info.

At least, that's my rationale :P.

>>Kah Hong also mentioned that he googled "movies" and didn't get a single return on Flixster, suggesting perhaps their presence isn't so strong outside NA.

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Anyway, back to Get Help! I was planning to do this after my mid-terms next week, since like many of you in CS3216, I was on week 0 on some modules until yesterday (thankfully I have caught up on all my reading, just need to apply in doing the tutorial questions now :P). But I figured I should stop procrastinating and just get it done (it was due on 22 feb :X meaning I'm late... which is a horrible feeling that feels me with ugh), especially since I feel better now. I also discovered that blogging helps me de-stress.

Just commenting about it as a whole though, I am not quite sure what gives someone an incentive to actually login to FB and access an app just to ask for help :X I think the idea can work though, just that there probably is some external, dominant third party providing an existing service (speculation). It is useful that it can be spread by like, SMS, but one thing I am curious about is whether people would SMS you back on your phone? Or replies actually get back to the app? (same qns for twitter) Why can't I just post a status feed? Though this certainly provides an advantage of having everything summarized, and a platform to get everything out there.Do I need that though, if it is one-off? But the idea of getting help is constricting, and I cannot imagine why people would constantly return to the app for help (do we need so much help?) or check who needs help. The phrasing is pretty important.

It seems to be that currently, most users would be one-off users, or infrequent users. They probably just go into one or two pages, and they're out of the app. Maybe I see a friend needs help on their FB wall status, I click the link, offer it, done. Most people will access the app from a link outside, rather than through the app itself (if you get what I mean).

I think a better idea would be the overview page to be a really quick summary of everything. Include the "I need help with..." bar, but also a couple of friends need of help, your badge and "level". That way, they immediately know what others need, it's put directly in front of them, in their face. Even though they are already in the app, immediate visibility of its functions is crucial.

Also though, I feel the badges may not be big enough an incentive, especially since it is in a separate tab. I mean, I'm done after I do my search. I probably won't visit the badges page or anything else, others won't know my rank, I won't know another's (probably). Neither do I thinkan entire tab for badges is necessary at all. Perhaps, a side tab with your friends who are top helpers in a side bar, or their faces with their rank on it on every pict they appear in within the app? :P This would probably feed people's ego if it's advertised, rather on a seldom frequented page. Other things I though of: The helpers and probables with multiple avatars of the same person also confused me. If someone offered different help 3 times, it's counted as 3 helpers? If I offer horrible help, is that counted towards my "score"? Same thing for referring and asking for help. It'll encourage some people who are bored enough to randomly ask for/offer help/referrals (and type "aaaaaaaajasdlkajd" and other similar nonsense to up their ranks) and this will distort and destroy everything.

Statistics is optional, probably can be implemented in the side tab also, so friends are "local" overall highscores are "global" like Icytower does their highscores.

I can't think of much to say :P Restarting from scratch sounds serious, and I am not sure why they would re-do the entire thing completely. Just re-arranging and ironing out bugs (ya, I know it's easier said then done).

MS session

Uhmm okies, I haven't posted for Get Help! yet, I'll do that asap. But I figured I should post on today asap before I forget everything (a lessons I learnt from my late external pitching session post :P).

(this is 10minutes later I just saw a spider the size of a 50cent coin (last time I saw a big one was in primary school and it was the size of my wee fist) and it FELL between the table and the wall after being hit by some insect repellent and I'm not sure if it's dead. Goosebumps all over man. Someday I will eat these nasty little monsters in Taiwan to make up for it all. I HATE SPIDERS (unless they are in jars/dead) Just wanted to say how much spiders suck.)

Anyway, before today, I never really thought of advertising/marketing all that much, though throughout the talk I was making links to stuff I observed in real life (probably had a glazed look on my face LOL), so I guess I'll just type them down here xD May be long, but it's also for my own reference next time hahaha.

Mm, so today, the presenter said something that really resounded with me (since I'd just said it to my mom yesterday actually), i.e. something along the lines of la good location is the most important thing perhaps in Singapore. I completely agree that it can be sometimes the case. Perhaps not always - people do go for fleas in ulu places and to the Expo :P But for stuff like food? Unless you are really established like Ubin Seafood, no matter how good you are, it's a horrid idea to start off in a low traffic location. On the other hand, you can cook really disgusting fare, but if it's in a place where there is a lot of human traffic, e.g. business districts, Orchard, you will probably still see queues. I brought this all up because there's this horrid hokkien mee in Somerset that costs 3bucks and tastes worst than my cooking. And it had a queue! People don't enjoy it, but its queue, while long, is still shorter than others. So for people who in a rush + not very particular about their food. You also trick first time patrons who will never patronize you again - but Somerset probably has millions travelling its streets a year, so they have many victims. Therefore a good location is the first step, though it may/may not bring you to the next step. Depends.

Though ofc, we can see places like Uniqlo which opened at Tampines1 (I have been to Tampines less than 5times in my life :X) and had people going down from all parts of Singapore to queue just to enter the shop. I must say what was called ermm the basic advertising thing (I forget the term that was used) was successful - all the full page ads in the newspapers plus news coverage and such. Though for me, I never did bother to go to Uniqlo until it opened at Ion and 313 (both places have ugh layout though), but different consumers respond differently :P Seriously though, you see a ton of the stuff Uniqlo sells are more suitable for cold weather? And yet they sell so well in sunny Singapore :X Global warming is that bad now meh? I think most Singaporeans just buy to stock up, regardless of whether they are immediately going abroad or not. They don't actually have a need, they probably bought the stuff on impulse, perhaps because of a opening discount (Did I mention that the same discounts were available at Ion AND 313, which are minutes from each other - yet 313 was packed and Ion's outlet was empty? :x). Though we have learnt that just lowering prices isn't very competitive, and they really have to compete more effectively. So is what Uniqlo doing "good"? Then again, they're new entrants, so they probably want to just make a presence.

BTW, doesn't Microsoft make a loss on each Xbox sold (not sure if it is still true), and basically profit from games? So it means they aren't competing very well, right? Though I remember that when companies like Lenovo sell at a loss, it's only because they want a larger market share.

But I disagree than in Singapore, competition isn't efficient. I remember reading recently about Topshop (okay, so it's not an sg firm) in sg, where everyone else was offering huge sales over Christmas or so, but they said they would not be offering such large discounts, since their marketing strategy was to provide unique pieces people can't substitute with something from elsewhere. So that was their niche. Though seriously, I am sure there are other shops offering large discounts with really unique pieces stocked too. Not that it matters, because what Topshop wants to send out the message and make everyone think they have the most unique pieces (perception), which is why you should pay their higher prices. Would that be competing effectively, then? But seriously though, if everyone is slashing their prices, it's weird if you don't follow suit, since consumer have expectations right. Maybe Christmas, CNY are more understandable - but can you imagine, like the Great Singapore Sale? And everyone is offering HUGE discounts, and you choose not to because you are so special? Probably won't be so effective during such a season. Sometimes it's quite reliant on the existing culture/mindset, so you kinda have to understand it... sometimes quite bo pian, must slash prices.

Anyway, I remember my mkt prof talking about price discrimination before, and that coupons are such an example. For those who are willing to pay a higher price, they won't hunt for the coupons. For those who are more price sensitive, they have the option of spending time cutting coupons. In such a way, each pays as much as they are willing to pay for a good. Sounds a bit like what we discussed today. Hence, I don't think discounts in such a form are a bad idea. Actually, I also remember my prof saying something like Carrefour guaranteeing that they have the lowest prices. They promise to match a lower price if the customer finds one. Though obviously they know they don't offer the best prices for everything. So why? It serves to lull customers into thinking they have the best prices so they are patronized (perception), and if someone is so price sensitive they will go back with something cheaper, they can simply match the price for the item already paid for, and still keep the customer, i.e. retain the market share (I think). So instead of truly offering the lowest price, they don't, but say they do so they can collect the max. of whatever people are willing to pay, and also capture a larger proportion of customers when customers are charged the same price as elsewhere.

The credit card discussion brought up was interesting. Because I think those tie-ups are meant to benefit the restaurants in the sense that more price sensitive customers would be more likely to attend if they have discounts, much like the price discrimination idea described above. But interestingly in Singapore, if you have enough cards, you can get a discount almost anywhere xD So people don't visit a place anymore lured by the discount. They already know they can get one regardless of where they go, so it's a small issue - just whip out all their stuff. It was very funny to hear it because it's sooo true xD My mom/aunts/friends always ask "does ... card have dicsount?" after eating out and YES they always do find one of the cards will help them. It amuses me every single time. So why do firms bother with these discounts? :P Actually, I think again it's b/c they have no choice liao. Everyone offers some discount - if you don't offer, people will visit someone else. The offer is, like, a necessity now (like a uni degree 20 years ago, and now).

Moving on to bing. Seems like it is more for consumers who want to make decisions? I mean, what if I'm not making a decision - I just wanna find info for my homework? :X Actually, I stopped using IE because somehow I kept getting re-directed to bing which was annoying (like Buzz, where I unfollowed everyone since I didn't wanna see all the numbers). I think now though, that it is explained properly, I may use it in the future. I'd really rather use something if it was explained properly, e.g. through videos, than forced on me. Though I don't know about all the other consumers la.

Okies, anyway, since I just recalled: Why did so many find it funny that Google is so highly searched o.o I also type "google" and hit "enter" (and many of those not laughing do so too). So what? We all do stuff differently. I'm not blur and I can type "google.com", but you see, the "enter" key, which 5 letters long, is one key. ".com" is, like, 4 keys. See, consumers are really smart :P They wanna shave off time here and there. (Yeah, I know there's a toolbar. But I don't like having one since it takes up space) It's just like we all notice we get re-directed to wave.google.com/wave and mail.google.com, but simply prefer to type gwave.com and gmail.com. It's easier xD

Haha, anyway someone asked about the small proportion of customers who ad-block and everything (they must really hate ads. I like looking at ads actually. I always watch TV ads on utube xD or googling images of newspaper ads) But anyhow, an article I remembered when I heard that that had me smiling (I am not sure what emotion I felt though):

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/apple_files_patent_os_embedded_advertising

Cheers! Awesome people if you actually read this entire post.

Ganna take medicine now.

EPSBE:) (can you guess what it means???)

^ stands for: External Pitching Session Blog Entry :) Lame, I know.

Wow, I haven't posted in a bit :P But I've been sick for 3 weeks, and I really, really think it is because of CS3216. I've fallen sick more times this year (2months past) than I did last year (probably due to a lack of sleep) :( And it's horrible. Imagine having a fever, sinus infection, sore throat. You can't eat because you can't open your mouth big enough to fit the spoon in (even porridge was a chore). You can't sleep because if you try to lie backwards, your head hurts. If you try to lie left or right your face hurts. If you lean forward, your eyes hurt. You feel both hot and cold. I kid you not. Can't even go karaoke :P But I met the rest of my family today and we're all like that :D I thought it'd therefore be a peaceful day since no one would talk, but they did. Can you imagine 5 people with sore throats laughing and struggling to speak :P Horrible, horrible. But so funny, and then I will burst out laughing but laughing hurts my half recovered throat.

But back to the pitching session :) And btw I'm able to speak again :)

So, hmm, the pitching session could have come sooner perhaps. I think by then quite a number of people already had in mind what they wanted to do and formed groups already. One person kiasu, then herd instinct kicks in. Though the pitching session didn't really leave me inspired. And I created and iSyndica account on the spot xD But seems like there IS a limit leh. Wonder if they'll let me intern even if I don't help them on this project :X

Hmm, so what I remembered best was RedSports (the one before that on world cities left me "???" and from DS I learnt some sign language... did I mention I broke my glasses so I've been using one 300degrees below since that session haha). The thing about the RedSports presenter that really struck me was that he seemed so sincere in making Singapore sports news available for all. He really had an idea of what he wanted to do, did it, and it's all really inspired. Though I am not sure if it is so much SG sports news, or SG youth sports news? Seems more like the latter case, and if so, he is serving a niche market, though I've honestly never heard of the site before. I wonder how large their audience is... 2000? Is it really worth all that effort for such a small audience? I guess to someone who is doing it as a hobby, even 1 viewer would be a good enough reason to continue. It would be nice if everyone in the world did a good job for no reason other that the satisfaction of another :p

Honestly though, I don't think they have done a very good job marketing themselves. Not even sure people bother reading everything... perhaps only the players themselves, their friends, and a few others? Then again, I'm not a sports player. Perhaps they make their presence known at games with RedSports branded tees and cameras and such. With their Facebook page, I actually could kinda point out on the spot (as many of us could) how to make it more nicer. One thing I really do not get is that small "RED" picture :X Is it their logo? Looks very random. Nevertheless, I like what they have done - taking action about something they have an interest in. All that said, I think slowly and steadily, if the site can survive long enough, it could become something rather successful. Not very though, how successful it becomes hinges on external factor, like the sg youth sports scene.

Another thing I remembered was module-review. I really don't know what to say about it haha xD I just remember it well. It's kinda funny b/c when you visit the site, a ton of mods are missing, and for some facs, not a single review is posted. While everything is arranged nicely for someone visiting the site, it's less appealing for the information provider imho unless I really, really know and want to provide a free review. I am still not sure what to make of it though. When I first heard of it, I though it wasn't going to work. But I couldn't explain exactly why. I mean, it would be useful. But I had no idea how to execute it or make it work. I am not sure it's a good idea for a third party to handle this, but then CollegeBoard works (although it simply covers the unis I think, non-specific). I think it would be great though, if the schools would do it for us. It's not like they don't collect reviews from us every sem already in return for bid points :p To me, this is something like umm a public good. So no one will supply anything, and the school should provide it for us or it won't work xD Okies, econs majors (do we have any) please don't come after me if I said it wrong, hahaha.

Last, I think the Prince of Persia opportunity was cool, though the timing wasn't so cool :( Also, checked out the explosive barrel site and the games actually aren't that cool :X So sorry. I know I shouldn't say stuff like that about other people's work especially if I can't do it better myself, but they aren't all that appealing, especially in terms of gameplay. I am not sure if they were thought out properly, though I am sure much effort was put in. Very honetly, there are plenty of individuals out there who do better games for free as their hobby. Then again, the games they display on their site are probably not their best work. What they do for other companies like Ubisoft must be way better. If Ubisoft picks them, they must have their reasons. But that site is not such a great portfolio at first glance :X

Actually, one thing I kinda realized is that a game doesn't have to be coded well to be successful xD Please don't blast me. The code can be messy, but if it works seamlessly on the surface, and the layout, drawings are nice, many people will play it. Then when you are successful, can get better programmers xD This game I used to play (and will be playing next age (does that give me away :))) supposedly had really primitive code but it still lasted so long until the new people re-wrote it (full of bugs intiially), and really, many people would have at that point in time, stuck with the old code than welcome the new, hopefully better written one. Because people play not for the code. The end is what matters, not what's below all that. Like a house that looks clean and beautiful, but all the dust is swept under the carpet, mountains stored behind cupboard doors. People don't really care as long as they can't consciously feel the effects of the problem. And if you tell people to come to your house 5h later when they're at your doorstep, because you wanna clear all the dust I can't see under the carpets, I think people will be really disgruntled. So do you improve or stick with the old? And when you improve, people must be able to feel, and enjoy the difference. Ok, so I went off topic.

Oh gosh, actually I just basically said a lot of things weren't done very well. I feel like a mean old woman (I am NOT mean, don't comment on this) Which I feel I shouldn't since I haven't done any of these thing and I don't understand their possible limitations (which I have realized during CS3216 xD Heart wanna do, but hard to carry out given constraints). Though this is my honest opinion as a third party. Though I have nevertheless learnt through the session (new info provided, and it really forced me to think about how I'd do things, rather than just seeing everything and going "yeah, yeah, that's cool, that's not cool". I have to pinpoint more exactly and it's hard after 2weeks :P).

I'll get the next entry I owe up asap! Uh, but not today :p

Sorry, I edited the entry quite a bit for words here and there and stuff :P Bad habit, but make it easier for the reader to read I hope.

Two Half Days as a hermit

Okie, hermits will probably be pissed I say that, but 2 half days at home without the internet is like being away from the whole world. And after a netless near 3 days at a retreat, it's like nearly 5 netless days.

So the problem is finally solved but we were kind of forced into signing on with Singnet for another 2 years :/ Told my mom not to but she told me not to be ignorant, and it's the only way blaaah.

But through this experience I've realized how dependent I am on the net. It's turned already into a need rather than a want :( That's scary. I'm going cold turkey after CS3216 for sure. After that I'll probably revert back to my old ways, but at least I'll get reacquainted with warm Mrs. Sunshine. Frolicking in Botanic Gardens or wherever :P And then I'll take pictures of the scenery and upload it to my comput... OHH blah LOL. There goes netstinence.

Now, time to catch up on all the tutorials I couldn't do :P

Blah and some of my keyboard keys fell off or cracked... sian. Typing by pressing that gel nub like thing.

Flixster "Critique"

All right! I was assigned "Flixter" (it's really Flixster - do I get brownie points for noting a tiny typo HAHA) and it's pretty cool since this was the first app I used after joining Facebook. Orry mentioned a loyal fan base from the original site - well, I was one of them ;D

So, about the app, i.e. what I think is significant.

Well, I think the thing that the most obviously unique thing about Flixster as an app would be that it is less reliant on Facebook that other apps - like Orry has said, it won't die if Facebook is gone. It has it's own site and all. And that's what makes it a great app. When it came onto Facebook, it already had a lot of functions in place already - it was merely integrating it into Facebook. It gave them a huge advantage since it was probably one of the better apps when Facebook first started out, and it gave them A LOT of exposure. Flixster setting up in Facebook was a great idea due to it's vast network. It was perfect.

In the original Flixster site, your friends actually have to have a Flixster account for interaction, and well, unless you are a movie buff, why would you specifically create a Flixster account? :P (okay, you would, just not as many as they would on Facebook). By integrating it into Facebook (from here on referred to as FB, so tiresome to type it in full) they harnessed it's power: a vast network of connected friends. The users that they needed was just there in and delivered right into their hands. Of course, the users had to actually allow the Flixster app, but it removed hassle - only a few clicks (for those with existing FB account; people are more likely to key in their data for a FB account that Flixster), and therefore a huge encouragement for people to use their FB app. It was great advertisement for their main site as well.

So, so what if it didn't start out in Facebook :p If an app like Flixster started out in FB w/o an existing template, it'd be impressive. The fact it is an app that is sort of an advertisement that comes from another site doesn't undermine it at all. I think it's actually rather fortunate since it makes a much stronger app :D

As mentioned, I was a loyal fan of Flixster (but I don't watch movies so much now. Heck, I've only watched one this year). And there are plenty of other loyal fans like me. When Flixster started in FB, it brought along with it a ton of data about existing users on their main, which was imported into the FB app. Yeah, if my memory serves me right (I am old) I was pleasantly surprised to see all the info in my Flixster account was in FB so it saved me a lot of time. And plenty of my friends who saw there was already info in the app were obviously encouraged to use it also. They'd get more reviews and matches. Again, this gave them a competitive advantage.

So, the FB version isn't as comprehensive, and it really has nothing new from the main site. I think rather than a bane, it's a good thing. You don't want the FB version eclipsing the main site. It wouldn't be good if all their users moved there; it isn't a replacement. Then they may as well close down the main site and shift to FB. The thing is, the FB version shouldn't be too different from the original Flixster site - it'd be messy for one thing. Then I'd have to be using both the FB Flixster AND the main for different purposes. The FB Flixster, I feel, is more of a really quick thing - an at a glance to serve the basic purposes of the main. It doesn't intend to draw users from one site to FB, but the FB app enhances and makes more convenient the original experience. And I think it has achieved it's purpose well.

I think the important thing about Flixster on FB is that it really shows how flexible and powerful FB is. Not only do new, FB dependent apps come up, but old sites evolve also. Even sites with their own loyal fan base see the need to, or perhaps value in setting up in Facebook and it's really win-win. A lot more similar sites will replicate what they have in FB if they haven't already done so. It doesn't make sense not to. And it's really scary if you think about how some people may actually end up doing everything online from FB some day. Well, I think it is possible anyway, haha. Flixster is a nice case study of something that has successfully harnessed and used FB to their advantage, and I think it may have been a better idea to discuss that, rather than Flixster's uses as a whole - because really, that is not very unique to FB.

One thing I think that does suck would be that it was mentioned the database only contains US/CA movies :( But I think that is the market they are focusing on, but they are missing out on a lot. If even my 7yo cousin can possibly play Texas Hold'Em on FB, why can't people review a Chinese movie on Flixster? Well, I am not a law student, so, actually I'm just saying. It may be easier said than done, and they probably have real reasons (=

End.

---

On an unrelated note:

My wave group met today. Glad I am in another awesome team :D We are like some United Nations - all from different countries HAHA.

BACK. A very late thank you!

I think no one missed me, but whatever HAHA. I had so much fun at the retreat, though I have lost so much time. Very sorry to my Facebook Seminar group. (I even sort of lsot my voice, hope I can present tomorrow but it sounds pretty sexy now, ya right.) Though I think I better post an entry now before continuing that or I'll have more to do later :/ Good thing retreat ended early (was debating between sleeping a bit or doing this entry)

A big thank you to all the wonderful people in my Facebook App group - Ji Wei and Cong. Did I miss out anyone? Oh ya, J.Low :D The 2 weeks working together with you guys has been awesome, full of laughter, tears (both actually in delight) and uhh. Uhh, yup.

Ji Wei is probably the most amusing person in our group (I mean, actual humor :D). I think you showed me your Matric. Card knowing I'd have some reaction, right? (It was like the most awesome moment for me :D After Jenathon remarking dully "I am good looking, what.") Though I still feel bad. I keep thinking back about it and feeling guilty and then smiling/laughing. But really, even if you made me feel guilty, you are still a wonderful guy HAHA. I never intended to ask you to pay me back btw, but you may photocopy your Matr..., okay nevermind :P I hope you are not pissed with me :( And btw, I don't think I am intending to be a beancounter. But you are so awesome figuring out so much random things J.Low got you to do. I wouldn't have been able to in this time.

Cong is really awesome. Every time I asked: Is it possible to implement blahblah, he will say: Yes. Although it will take a lot of time/is difficult with a ":-)" face online or irl. Which is an awesome answer that makes a lot of sense, instead of replying "no". Which really emphasized our need to prioritize. But Cong managed to do a lot of things I asked about or got me specifically to help with the layout of specific areas so I didn't feel so useless. I was actually really worried about you when you got that toothache since I thought you had fallen sick from overwork. You shouldn't be up for classes at 8am if you go to bed at 5am! Please take better care of yourself leh :P And you are the least mean person in the group :D Super good natured, I like working with you. You and Jenathon handled the programming aspect very well, very dedicatedly. I salute you. Jia you for your next project (hope you remember what it means :D)

Jenathon is also rather awesome, I guess. You still have to get me sour lemons btw. J/k :D I think you learnt how to fish very well on your own, and actually I think you are really sadistic, since you remarked happily with a huge smile on your face about how our group is better than those with full programmers since you actually learnt a lot that way. Like Cong, you torture yourself a lot, but at least you get a bit more sleep ;P But seriously, sleeping late and waking late is unhealthy (yeah yeah "whatever" me when I say this). I still cannot understand why people can't sleep early, wake up early if you end up waking late anyway. If you sleep late, still wake early, then it makes sense. But maybe it is a programmer thing? But you led us well :D And you were nice if I think about it now, like when you actually bothered to explain that you weren't putting down my suggestions, just thinking (I know even without you saying la, I'm also like that some times anyway).

Hmm, for myself, I think I learnt a lot on this project. In the past, I was always used to working with people from the same background. It was really easy to split everything into parts and do it individually. This time though, it was hard to so ao, because when I tried to do the layout initially, I was kind of like hmm... I don't even know if they can implement this, or how exactly they have already arranged everything already (the page was an error page man, nothing to see of what was done so far). But as J.Lo says, just draw, if cannot implement, just redraw again lor :P (It was a joke, ofc the group talked more about it) So communication was important, especially because we had different skills. I also learnt that deliberate "mistakes" are important. I learnt that in MNO, but it didn't make much sense to me then. Then I tried out putting the scrollbars in and I realized that was true to see if it worked. Which was why there was the "Hugh Jackman rocks" spam btw :P Actually it wasn't very hard Jen :P (You just wanted me to do it right.) Even if there were divs in tables which were in divs :/ Lucky Ji Wei saved us with a new code. And I still think I could have helped more o.o I only read through all the file things seriously once I had more time because the different weird margin sizes were irritating me actually and it wasn't a priority HAHA. And it made me think why I didn't do so earlier. 2am-5am very day was possible... boo so I suck for sleeping at 2am. B/c CSS seems really like the designer's job. There isn't nothing for non-programmers to do once we were done except sit and wait to test... it was kinda up to us to go and find something, but I didn't. I was guilty of SLOTH. I love drawing though :( But there wasn't much chance since the app wasn't a game :( Layouts/commenting aren't half as fun even though I know they are necessary.

Okay, I am only kinda reflecting because of the retreat I jsut came back from. Which was awesome, and completely re-energized me. (I actually got less than 5h of sleep the 2 nights) But we mostly sang, listened, ate every 2.5h (I had 6 fantastic meals a day) and there was free flow of coffee/tea/milo/water. Although every time we had to reflect I feel guilty thinking of my seminar group back home or how I didn't do enough for the app or how mean I am and feeling guilty because I actually smile at the last thought. I sware (deliberately mis-spelled in case I fail, but I'm not intending to), Ji Wei, I won't laugh the next time. I am so so sorry I keep bringing it up but it's like, I can't forget T.T

But I enjoyed the entire experience. Back to sem proj.!

A short break

Yees, I think tonight can sleep at least 5hours already :D (no, I haven't been sleeping super late and waking up really late, I just sleep late but persist in waking up early LOL) SoI'm ganna blog for a while to de-stress. I mean, I lurrve blogging!

Soo, Jonathan saw my post about feeling useless and happily gave me work to do :d I actually coded today. Gotta change the new event layout I did in Excel into a part of the app (still dunno if it is a joke, but it's fun to try). And omg, I have real respect for all the programmers. Understanding and actually doing it is so different. I mean, it's easy to suggest how the stuff should look, but to really do it is blaah.After 1 hour+, all I churned out was a mess HAHA (lucky there was a backup of the original file). Cong's face when he saw it was so priceless.

In case you are wondering, part of my 1h+ worth of work...

Couldn't look more different than what it is supposed to be. (all right, it could la) Steady, perhaps slow and easy I guess (within the deadline ofc).....

And I still think my group is awesome to be in. Ji Wei is damn funny :D I just had to say that.

"What! I only can invite 4 people to the application?!?! But I'm the developer!!!"

And trying to prove the inside of the plastic cup is more slippery than the outside!

HAHA.

Okies, bed time. I really just wanted to see how fast I could type an entry :P Answer is damn fast :D So it's no problem even if I get really busy... not even 5min whaaha

Or not bedtime :P

The day before yesterday's Reflection 2

Well, Monday's lesson was much easier to understand :D (even though I was a bit Z.Z at the start since I had just woken up, and later on really hungry since I hadn't had dinner... wah I couldn't take my eyes off Tomithy's food for quite a long while).

So Monday's lesson was about... mm :D In my current tired state I remember Prof saying that we can refer to other people's blogs, so...

... found one on sleep deprivation HAHA. I think it was in TSS before but this one got graphs that are swimming before my eyes. I cannot agree more that sleep is important, and although this is only the 2nd week, we are all really deprived of sleep. (see my vocabulary sucks now)

Oh ya, so what did I learn. I think that table where you actually prioritize the things you want to do is really helpful, even if it is a real hassle to decide exactly the priority and to even make it. Since when we get into the heat of things we tend to focus on too many things and losing sight of what is most important, so it really helps to keep people on track. Especially when you are dreaming really, really big.

Ugh anyway I'm feeling pretty useless right now blah why am I even blogging instead of working? Oh ya, it's homework :P I really think the programmers have to do way more work. And I can't quite learn all this programming stuff fast enough. Just sort of went though html an CSS but it's not committed to memory. Probably only can do a bad job at best with lots of referring. So most of what I do now is uhh sit and think about the app and what to draw, which isn't real action and intangible (and so many times the idea's end up seeming really stupid and I feel my time is completely WASTED. As a result wasted time>useful time). Not even sure if it's useful... and I just keep thinking the icons now are not very pretty or professional, even though they are meant to be rough. Not really creative either and I'm feeling really vexed over something so small. And I never thought the less pictures there is, the harder it'll be to think what to do. It's blaaaaaaaaaah. How do other people in the world actually conceive things so quickly!

GAH. Okay, back to uhh thinking unless the sandman gets me firsrt

CHICKEN!

I love chicken! Really, I do! :D :D

It was awesome of Prof Ben to get us KFC for dinner today! I ate 2 drumsticks and a pack of popcorn chicken. Would've taken more but I was afraid there wouldn't be enough for everyone, haha.

Soo imagine my reaction when I got home and saw what was on the dinner table? Yeap, it was FRIED CHICKEN. Not from KFC - it's better :P Soo, I ate 2 more drumsticks and some randome pieces I feel really blissful now.

It really cheered me up :D Because I was feelin' horrible today since I was so lost during the workshop hahaha. Made worse by the fact I was late... sian waited for the BTC as the sun's rays beat down on me for 50+minutes. I keep forgetting that the BTC is infrequent and waaay ahead of schedule during weekends since there is no jam. And the sun tends to zap away all my energy if I am already really awake (but it gives me energy when I am feeling sluggish). Kept having to Google what half the terms meant and im all my friends for help. I could barely keep up... feel damn useless hahaha. Lucky my cousin offered to teach me some stuff at my own pace tomorrow :D I really love my family!

To add to my n00bness, I always thought people use "java" as a short for "javascript" :P I still don't know their difference (Angad and Yecheng got into a really cheem conversation where I was ??? throughout and settled for smiling stupidly and nodding my head randomly) but at least now I know it's different. One step at a time man. I also still don't really know what Linux is, although the one Prof Ben refers to as handsome (but ofc we all think Prof Ben is "handsomest" :)) kindly clarified my question on why I can't ctrl+c and then ctrl+v instead of typing cp -r and what not LOL. When I asked Chris he said something about GUI (which I again had to Google HAHA) which is still too cheem for me. Sigh, everyone is just damn smart so everything is obvious to them :( SEE, that's why I feel so emo :P Anyway, I think the Linux Penguin thing is so cute!

Blah, and I feel even more emo when I think about my life man. Chris was talking about how he loves learning languages and thus programming... and I was like, "What do I love?" I am still struggling to find that :/ Sad story, but I'm only in Accounts because I didn't know what it was about :P So I thought, "Can't be as bad as Med (went for attachment and saw lots of blood and a psych patient and collected spinal fluid from someone with possibly HIV and lots of other scary things I had to touch) or Law (my lawyer friend told me that honestly, I wouldn't have a choice who I help, even if they are really bad people), okie, apply." Yep.

Anyway, I realized that although Prof Ben smiles a lot, it's partly because he secretly derives great joy from making fun of his students! See la, now everyone will think I am some kind of slacker :( I WAS NOT BLOGGING LEH! But it's okay :) One day... mwahaha.

Hmm, and I just realized my home laptop doesn't have a tilde :X So strange!

First Meeting

With my FB app group xD OMG, so many firsts HAHA, this is awesome. The people I am working with are also awesome, gorgeous, humorous people :D This team is a total hit! I know we will get through this happily vexed.

Aand we have an idea for our app already :D:D Though still not really confirmed since we still need to go through more stuff. Weeeeee. I am so excited HAHA.

THE BEGINNING

ADVERT!

Waah everyone is selling themselves on their blogs man. Sorry, mind if I type in a bit of Singlish-ish? xD I've been holding back for the last 2 posts but it really causes me to spend more time typing since I have to edit. Ya, I'm Canadian :P And I embrace Singlish.

Jaja, soo as I was saying (sorry I am typing without much thinking now, my T.V. show is ganna start soon) I didn't wanna "promote" myself since I suck at it, but I always said I wanted to work on that, so why give myself excuses and hold myself back, right? So, I kicked myself to draw something to uhh promote myself so maybe one of you nice people would ask me to join your team since I still haven't finished reading all the blogs :/

TA-DA LOL, it says it all

I didn't have time to color and I know it's very rough/unproportionate? disproportionate ??????, but can pass la for a 5min sketch. Okay, bye-bye, T.V. time!

And umm I am looking for a team with people with nice personalities and lots of immense enormous (I need a thesaurus) passion for whatever assignments we are ganna get :P The teams attitude's is at the moment the most important thing for me :D

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Anyway, interesting article I read a few months back, some of ya probably read it before:

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-07/ff_facebookwall

I specially googled it out, OK!

First Lesson

Hahaha, this is rather late a post, but I've been really busy the past 2 days :/

The first class was really fun, although I didn't get some acronyms so I was kinda "???!?" at times :P But I figured I'll know them all in time, especially after one semester.

During class we were asked an interesting question:

"What is the meaning of life?"

A question I have heard often, but never really given much thought to! I don't really wanna get all philosophical, but it was kinda funny because if we aren't living our lives as described in the "meaning" we have come up with, does it mean we have no life (that really IS the same as our life being meaningless). I am just trying to say that the meaning of life cannot quite be stated so simply. I am alive, you are alive, none of us feel empty, emo and have the urgent need to die, right? :/ Then it must be because our life has some meaning even if we are not aware of what exactly it is.

Anyway, kinda sad that I missed some of those undoubtedly awesome show-and-tells! It would definitely have given me a chance to know everyone better. Right now, I'm not even sure who I'm gonna form a group(s?) with. Though I think it is really hard to pick, and well, we won't know how good someone is until we work with them. Everything else is sales talk/fluff, although I do not doubt everyone in this class is awesome (which is why we have been picked). I mean unless we are all in an interview room then it'd all be really obvious, haha.

Although maybe the idea is to find people who are on the same "wavelength" - very difficult to tell from online as well! I guess I just want a team - for now - of the right mix, i.e. not all designers, programmers, etc.

Bleh, anyway, anyone can lend me PS or Illustrator? My dad took mine overseas so I couldn't re-install on my crashed comp :/

CS3216

I actually really, really, really dislike questions like "What do you hope to learn from blebla...". Yeah, I don't really go into things with specific expectations (oh dear), especially in classes where you don't really know what exactly to expect, i.e. not where everyone comes out with the same set of skills at the end of the day. I mean, that's why we are asked "what do you hope to learn" and not "want to learn", right :P

Gosh, I certainly hope this class will be an unpredictable journey. I hope I can take away from this class something I can't take away from others, though I don't know what that will be. I want to be able to say "definitely, yep" if I was ever asked the clich(funny e) question: Will you do it again if you went back in time? Do I think I will get that from this class? Yeah, that's why I signed up for it. I had this gut feeling which I simply acted on, because I was really, really excited when I read about this module. I'm excited about tomorrow (even show and tell :/ I jest). Never been before in my entire uni life (1 semester is reaaallly long). I didn't come in with a ton of careful thinking "I hope to get this, that, this, that from this module". Actually I think I felt kinda high and I wasn't thinking properly. When we were told thatthe class may affect our other mods, I asked myself in my head: How ah, do I care that my other classes would be affected? I was like: Oh well, don't really want to end up somewhere that only looks at my grades. Try my best not to overlook them, but aiyah, whatever. Cross the bridge when I come to it. Yay! (like a complete idiot) I answered a couple of other questions like that too. I knew I would regret not signing up for this class. Uhh, but looking back, I do still wanna do well in my other classes, so good thing my workload isn't so heavy this sem. Dropped the heavier biz mods I was pre-allocated haha.

Mm, so I think I sort of went off the topic. Bear with me, that happens because I don't exactly plan my blog entries like I do with essays (and I don't plan to :P). I guess this question was posed so that we would have a clearer idea of what we hope to achieve throughout this period (some goal setting), or so those teaching us will have a good idea what we think or whatever.

Aiyah, I hope this is challenging and scary. I hope we are able to find something awesome to do with Google Wave too! I don't know why so many people just go blabla seems pretty useless, what does it do now? Instead of getting excited about the future possibilities, what-will-I-do-with-its (meant positively). (edit: I just read the entry we were directed to read where the blogger said something about the use for Google Wave, and this bit I wrote is in no way related to that :X though I must say I think it's pretty awesome people actually don't know what it's good for) I wasn't intending to disagree with anyone so publicly before I even know them haha. I hope to be able to thoroughly enjoy this (though I don't know why I hope... I know I will :P). I know this will be an awesome opportunity to just do something. A ton of people have asked me why I bother to take this since I am in accountancy, haha. I am sure other accts students have also taken it before though for the same reason as I have :D I feel so relieved after watching the Steve Jobs video man :P Assured me that this was the right choice (not that I needed assurance HAHA, confirmation bias). And uhh, my greatest fear is kinda that I won't be able to contribute enough to the teams I am in or the class because everyone is so much more awesome than I am, I'm gonna suck relatively :/ Though I will put in my best and help to the best of my ability. So I hope I won't turn into someone who doesn't really contribute. Blaaah I'm actually pretty confident of myself, just that this is uh uncharted territory.

And all the other usualy stuff like team work, better understanding of..., meeting awesome people, etc.etc.

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Wah, everyone uses quotes a lot :/ So here's mine inserted rather awkwardly at the end.

"The tooth fairy teaches children that they can sell body parts for money" David Richerby.
YES!!

Next time, I'll think of a more relevant one :P But this one has been stuck in my head since I read it a while back, so... haha :D It's so true, right!