Sword Art Online: Beautiful UI Part 2

Sword Art Online: Beautiful UI

A combination of Android and Metro?

Rushing & Pushing for updates

Recently, people are getting more and more impatient. On the Android scene, developers are always pressured to deliver the latest software after announcements or preview were released. I mean, naturally its normal for the consumer to crave for new software updates. But I think it is getting ridiculous. Like a child throwing tantrum.

I've seen so many consumers demanding for their new software updates the moment it has been announced. WHERE IS MY ICS? WHERE IS CM10? WHERE IS JELLY BEAN? I think developers are at a dilemma here. Of course, they would want to perfect their software before rolling out the updates, squashing bugs and tweaking performance. However, they also can't afford to be known for always being outdated and slow in their updates. For example, HTC was known for their fast (and relatively painless) updates. Recently, Samsung is gaining reputation for quickly rolling out ICS to their devices. Motorola on the other hand, seems backwards and takes forever to deliver their software updates.

This put alot of pressure on the developers. I've seen so many app updates & software updates broken and riddle with bugs. Both are on the losing end. Consumer gets broken product, while developer gets their reputation tarnish.

Should we as consumers be more patient? Or is it our right to push the developers? CM10 seems to be coming out soon. We shall see how good their software will be. It's a battle of Speed vs Reliability.

Thinking.. modules for next year

CS2105 Introduction to Computer Networks

CS2106 Introduction to Operating Systems

4MC / Examinable / 25% Lab

The module that I thought I would score very well due to my interest and confidence, but nope. This module is very very very content-heavy, with a LOT of information you must digest. The prof speaks like a lullaby, so be prepared to read the textbook (I read the pdf variant, sore eyes ><) The cheatsheet is gonna get spammed with a whole lot of information.
Lecture – As I’ve said, LULLABY. Read the textbook. The fact that each slide on the lecture notes consists of 1 word (I’m not kidding) doesn’t help at all – and he covers things at a different order than the textbook. Might want to watch the webcast.
Tutorial – My tutor was the lecturer, so naturally it was rather sleep-inducing; but he’s very knowledgeable and you can ask him for any clarifications/doubts. Need to pay attention to tutorial as the nifty details are important
Lab – There is almost no way you can get the absolute correct answers – unless your friend is a computer science expert, he will not get the perfect answers. Sometimes the lab assistant might be nice and give you the answers
The examination was a killer for me, I wasn’t sure of most of my answers. Plus, the lecturer is teaching this module for the first time for my year.
My grade: A-
My rating: Hard

From http://xianyou.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/nus-module-review-ay1011-semester-1/

 

Replace Fragment

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7723964/replace-fragment-inside-a-viewpager
http://pastebin.com/QqrUaVzk

Android Color Hex

screen_background_light                     #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
screen_background_dark                      #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
status_bar_closed_default_background        #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
status_bar_opened_default_background        #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
search_bar_default_color                    #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
safe_mode_background                        #60000000   RGBA(0,0,0,0.38)
screen_background_dark_transparent          #80000000   RGBA(0,0,0,0.5)
screen_background_light_transparent         #80FFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,0.5)
safe_mode_text                              #80FFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,0.5)
white                                       #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
black                                       #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
transparent                                 #00000000   RGBA(0,0,0,0)
background_dark                             #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
background_light                            #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
bright_foreground_dark                      #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
bright_foreground_light                     #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
bright_foreground_dark_disabled             #80FFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,0.5)
bright_foreground_light_disabled            #80000000   RGBA(0,0,0,0.5)
bright_foreground_dark_inverse              #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
bright_foreground_light_inverse             #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
dim_foreground_dark                         #BEBEBE     RGBA(190,190,190,1)
dim_foreground_dark_disabled                #80BEBEBE   RGBA(190,190,190,0.5)
dim_foreground_dark_inverse                 #323232     RGBA(50,50,50,1)
dim_foreground_dark_inverse_disabled        #80323232   RGBA(50,50,50,0.5)
hint_foreground_dark                        #808080     RGBA(128,128,128,1)
dim_foreground_light                        #323232     RGBA(50,50,50,1)
dim_foreground_light_disabled               #80323232   RGBA(50,50,50,0.5)
dim_foreground_light_inverse                #BEBEBE     RGBA(190,190,190,1)
dim_foreground_light_inverse_disabled       #80BEBEBE   RGBA(190,190,190,0.5)
hint_foreground_light                       #808080     RGBA(128,128,128,1)
highlighted_text_dark                       #9983CC39   RGBA(131,204,57,0.6)
highlighted_text_light                      #9983CC39   RGBA(131,204,57,0.6)
link_text_dark                              #5C5CFF     RGBA(92,92,255,1)
link_text_light                             #0000EE     RGBA(0,0,238,1)
suggestion_highlight_text                   #177BBD     RGBA(23,123,189,1)
input_method_fullscreen_background          #FFF9F9F9   RGBA(249,249,249,1)
input_method_fullscreen_background_holo     #80000000   RGBA(0,0,0,0.5)
selected_day_background                     #FF0092F4   RGBA(0,146,244,1)
lighter_gray                                #DDD        RGBA(221,221,221,1)
darker_gray                                 #AAA        RGBA(170,170,170,1)
perms_dangerous_grp_color                   #33B5E5     RGBA(51,181,229,1)
perms_dangerous_perm_color                  #33B5E5     RGBA(51,181,229,1)
shadow                                      #CC222222   RGBA(34,34,34,0.8)
search_url_text_normal                      #7FA87F     RGBA(127,168,127,1)
search_url_text_selected                    #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
search_url_text_pressed                     #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
search_widget_corpus_item_background        #DDD        RGBA(221,221,221,1)
sliding_tab_text_color_active               #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
sliding_tab_text_color_shadow               #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
keyguard_text_color_normal                  #FFFFFF     RGBA(255,255,255,1)
keyguard_text_color_unlock                  #A7D84C     RGBA(167,216,76,1)
keyguard_text_color_soundoff                #FFFFFF     RGBA(255,255,255,1)
keyguard_text_color_soundon                 #E69310     RGBA(230,147,16,1)
keyguard_text_color_decline                 #FE0A5A     RGBA(254,10,90,1)
lockscreen_clock_background                 #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
lockscreen_clock_foreground                 #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
lockscreen_clock_am_pm                      #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
lockscreen_owner_info                       #FF9A9A9A   RGBA(154,154,154,1)
facelock_color_background                   #000000     RGBA(0,0,0,1)
screen_background_holo_light                #FFF3F3F3   RGBA(243,243,243,1)
screen_background_holo_dark                 #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
background_holo_dark                        #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
background_holo_light                       #FFF3F3F3   RGBA(243,243,243,1)
bright_foreground_holo_dark                 #FFF3F3F3   RGBA(243,243,243,1)
bright_foreground_holo_light                #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
bright_foreground_disabled_holo_dark        #FF4C4C4C   RGBA(76,76,76,1)
bright_foreground_disabled_holo_light       #FFB2B2B2   RGBA(178,178,178,1)
bright_foreground_inverse_holo_dark         #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
bright_foreground_inverse_holo_light        #FF000000   RGBA(0,0,0,1)
dim_foreground_holo_dark                    #BEBEBE     RGBA(190,190,190,1)
dim_foreground_disabled_holo_dark           #80BEBEBE   RGBA(190,190,190,0.5)
dim_foreground_inverse_holo_dark            #323232     RGBA(50,50,50,1)
dim_foreground_inverse_disabled_holo_dark   #80323232   RGBA(50,50,50,0.5)
hint_foreground_holo_dark                   #808080     RGBA(128,128,128,1)
dim_foreground_holo_light                   #323232     RGBA(50,50,50,1)
dim_foreground_disabled_holo_light          #80323232   RGBA(50,50,50,0.5)
dim_foreground_inverse_holo_light           #BEBEBE     RGBA(190,190,190,1)
dim_foreground_inverse_disabled_holo_light  #80BEBEBE   RGBA(190,190,190,0.5)
hint_foreground_holo_light                  #808080     RGBA(128,128,128,1)
highlighted_text_holo_dark                  #6633B5E5   RGBA(51,181,229,0.4)
highlighted_text_holo_light                 #6633B5E5   RGBA(51,181,229,0.4)
link_text_holo_dark                         #5C5CFF     RGBA(92,92,255,1)
link_text_holo_light                        #0000EE     RGBA(0,0,238,1)
group_button_dialog_pressed_holo_dark       #46C5C1FF   RGBA(197,193,255,0.27)
group_button_dialog_focused_holo_dark       #2699CC00   RGBA(153,204,0,0.15)
group_button_dialog_pressed_holo_light      #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
group_button_dialog_focused_holo_light      #4699CC00   RGBA(153,204,0,0.27)
legacy_pressed_highlight                    #FFFEAA0C   RGBA(254,170,12,1)
legacy_selected_highlight                   #FFF17A0A   RGBA(241,122,10,1)
legacy_long_pressed_highlight               #FFFFFFFF   RGBA(255,255,255,1)
holo_blue_light                             #FF33B5E5   RGBA(51,181,229,1)
holo_green_light                            #FF99CC00   RGBA(153,204,0,1)
holo_red_light                              #FFFF4444   RGBA(255,68,68,1)
holo_blue_dark                              #FF0099CC   RGBA(0,153,204,1)
holo_green_dark                             #FF669900   RGBA(102,153,0,1)
holo_red_dark                               #FFCC0000   RGBA(204,0,0,1)
holo_purple                                 #FFAA66CC   RGBA(170,102,204,1)
holo_orange_light                           #FFFFBB33   RGBA(255,187,51,1)
holo_orange_dark                            #FFFF8800   RGBA(255,136,0,1)
holo_blue_bright                            #FF00DDFF   RGBA(0,221,255,1)

From http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1458666&page=2

Parse ftw

Manage to 'sync' Asynctasker with Parse's database. Next step, deriving data from Parse, and run background thread occasionally.

Note: Better save a copy of the code.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10976843/run-my-code-in-background-every-1-sec-effectively-in-android

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5774092/running-a-repeating-task-in-background-on-a-real-time-application

Success hampered by speed

Parsing Match Type
Good. Fast and no complications.

Parsing Tweet & News
Bad. Takes 2.5s to parse one tweet/news. 

Possible solutions

1. Make use of Parse's platform. First, put data into Parse's database. Subsequently, listfragment will be built from Parse's database. Update database every 6 hours.
2. Find a way to scrape data on a server, and publish it on a simple HTML website.

onListItemClick, a new beginning

http://android-er.blogspot.sg/2012/01/listfragment.html

Also quoted from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9710707/android-tabhost-fragment-switch?rq=1

No matter on the chosen solution, replacing the displayed fragment in an activity is done like this:
FragmentTransaction transaction = getFragmentManager().beginTransaction();transaction.replace(android.R.id.content, new MyFragment());transaction.commit();

Trying to implement more features to the ListFragment. May consider SimpleAdapter.


Another consideration: new ArrayList>(); from http://eureka.ykyuen.info/2010/01/03/android-simple-listview-using-simpleadapter/

Another consideration: Custom ArrayAdapter
from http://android-er.blogspot.sg/2010/06/custom-arrayadapter-with-with-different.html
http://www.vogella.com/articles/AndroidListView/article.html

Changing Colour of TextView base on Conditions (THE KEY)
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4134875/android-listactivity-row-color-based-on-object-state

Moving on

NullPointerException(when switching off the screen)
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8748064/starting-activity-from-fragment-causes-nullpointerexception

Fragment calling Fragment (the next big headache)
http://blog.radioactiveyak.com/2011/02/android-app-surgery-earthquake-redux.html
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9281797/cant-refresh-data-in-listfragment#_=_

Communications between Fragments
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5194548/how-to-pass-data-between-fragments

Asynctask, a pain in the ass

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3291490/common-class-for-asynctask-in-android\

This might offer more clues.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9938135/is-it-possible-to-pass-a-fragment-in-a-constructor

Football Odds HTML

<div class="mainheader">
   <span class="mainheader">FOOTBALL ODDSspan>
  div>


  <div class="bodytext">
   
  
   <ul>
   
    <li><a href="/mobile?function=oddsMatch&league=All Matches">All Matchesa>li>



    <li><a href="/mobile?function=oddsMatch&league=Championship">Championshipa>li>


    <li><a href="/mobile?function=oddsMatch&league=Euro+Champ+2012">Euro Champ 2012a>li>


    <li><a href="/mobile?function=oddsMatch&league=J+League">J Leaguea>li>


    <li><a href="/mobile?function=oddsMatch&league=M+League">M Leaguea>li>


    <li><a href="/mobile?function=oddsMatch&league=S.League">S.Leaguea>li>


    <li><a href="/mobile?function=oddsMatch&league=Specials">Specialsa>li>


    <li><a href="/mobile?function=oddsMatch&league=US+Soccer+League">US Soccer Leaguea>li>



   ul>
    
   <br />
   <a href="/mobile">Homea>
   
  div>
 body>

Progress! Step-by-Step

Stopped at Step 6 of http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/android/android-sdk_fragments/


Plans

1. Twitter Integration. http://www.sitepoint.com/loading-twitter-data-into-android-with-lists/

This tutorial, http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/android/android-listview/, was a success, and might just be what I need.

Sadly, the other tutorial on fragments was hard and I couldn't understand it.

Dynamic ListView
http://p-xr.com/android-tutorial-how-to-parseread-xml-data-into-android-listview/
http://p-xr.com/android-tutorial-dynamicaly-load-more-items-to-the-listview-never-ending-list/
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4049298/dynamic-array-instead-of-static-when-creating-listview-icons-and-text-android
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3338677/dynamic-display-of-listview-elements-partially-working

Fragment Adapter code that might be useful

public static class PagerAdapter extends FragmentPagerAdapter {

    public PagerAdapter(FragmentManager fm) {
        super(fm);
    }

    @Override
    public int getCount() {
        return VIEW_COUNT;
    }

    @Override
    public Fragment getItem(int position) {

        Fragment fragment = null;

        switch (position) {
        case 0:
            fragment = Fragment1.newInstance(context_);
            break;

        case 1:
            fragment = Fragment2.newInstance(context_);
            break;

        case 2:
            fragment = Fragment3.newInstance(context_);
            break;

        default:
            break;
        }

        return fragment;
    }
}

via http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7445437/replace-fragment-with-another-fragment-inside-viewpager 

Sounds like a plan: Ops Jake viewpagerindicator

Met a deadend on my own. Might as well use Jake's lib. This means starting all over again. I should dedicate at most 1 more day to fix the interface. Implementing Fragments is going to be challenging.

Will analyse the sample code, together with the app on my android phone. Need to start digging the real code.

Keywords, directions

Horizontal View Swiping with ViewPager

http://blog.stylingandroid.com/archives/537
http://android-developers.blogspot.sg/2011/08/horizontal-view-swiping-with-viewpager.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/projects/projects-eclipse.html
http://www.developer.com/ws/android/programming/add-horizontal-paging-to-your-android-applications.html

Tab Problems

Huge problem trying to settle the horizontal scrolling part. Added a 3rd tab to confirm the problem. Considering applying ViewPager Indicator. Might be a huge hassle though.

*update*

Setting TextView to android:layout_height="60sp" seems to solve part of the problem. But the main problem is the tab seems to end at the edge of the screen.
 

Swipping, done! (not perfect though)

Done combining tabs and swiping. Its not perfect though.

1. No horizontal scrolling of tabs
2. Tabs fit the screen. Should be solvable by implementing horizontal scrolling
3. Selector for text in tab needed
4. Roboto kinda weird, but I shall stick to it for now

So far so good! Although its mostly the interface. But once horizontal scrolling and selectors are done, its down to the hard & dirty data extraction and processing!

TextView cannot be resolved to a type

Or [insert whatever] cannot be resolved to a type.

You probably forgot to import eg. the widget package for the TextView. Try to add: "import android.widget.TextView;" At the top of your file.

Tab Interface, problems!

Finally manage to adjust the font size on the tab. However, the tab's width seems to be off. The blue line at the bottom of the tag went missing. Tab works normally.

Customise
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9958303/create-custom-tab-in-fragmentactivity

Tab Code
http://thepseudocoder.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/android-tabs-the-fragment-way/

ytzBet: Codename Briefcase. Developer Note.

Tab Interface, Contact/Metro Style

http://www.lucazanini.eu/2012/android/tab-layout-in-android/?lang=en
http://www.lucazanini.eu/2012/android/tab-layout-in-android-with-actionbar-and-fragment/?lang=en
http://thepseudocoder.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/android-tabs-the-fragment-way/
http://android.codeandmagic.org/2011/07/android-tabs-with-fragments/
http://thepseudocoder.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/android-tabs-the-fragment-way/ 
http://developer.android.com/resources/tutorials/views/hello-tabwidget.html
http://joshclemm.com/blog/?p=136

http://developer.android.com/resources/samples/Support4Demos/src/com/example/android/supportv4/app/FragmentTabsPager.html

Tab Interface, Swipe and Animation

Swiping
http://android-developers.blogspot.sg/2011/08/horizontal-view-swiping-with-viewpager.html/

Changing Font

Activity Transition

Map Locator

 

Resources

http://windowsphonegeek.com/Resources/UX
http://android-ui-utils.googlecode.com/hg/asset-studio/dist/index.html
http://developer.android.com/sdk/compatibility-library.html
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5788971/how-to-change-the-font-size-of-tabhost-in-android
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4146037/android-tabstyle?rq=1

http://m.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/demo/default.aspx

DIY Project

1. Add new feature to ytzConvert. Convert USD to SGD vice versa. Need to think of a way to connect to the Internet to retrieve this information
2. Make a "SGPools" app, but better. With notifications

Singapore Pools Soccer Stats

Tried to develop my own little app that tracks the soccer odds at Singapore Pools. Sadly, I've failed miserably.

Here's a few site I found that might be of interest.

http://www.chenlim.com/odds/


Update: BREAKTHROUGH!!

I finally have an idea on how that singapore odds app works.
http://www.singaporepools.com.sg/mobile?function=odds

This will by-pass all the nasty tables and stuff. The menu looks similar to the app.

Our Problem Today, so true

Via http://9gag.com/gag/4402508

dex2jar mac

sh dex2jar.sh sgp.apk

Binary Domain Problem

 

Problem 1: Configuration file not found

After installation i run the the game and this comes up - "Configuration file not found. Please run the configuration tool", i run the configuration file, and after i click to save settings the - error because of access denied to .savedata or something?

Solution: 

Try to run configuration tool as administrator

Problem 2 : Can't save game

Game doesn't seem to save, even after passing check point.

Solution:

Run the game as administrator. (Run .exe as adminstrator)

Problem 3: Weird Controls

Can't switch the side arms. Mouse sensitivity is too much.

Solution:

Check out the controls by running the configuration tool. Don't forget to run it as admin, if not the settings won't save. For the side arms issue, two of the weapons are assigned to '2'. Assign one of them to the vacant '3'. You can also try to update your game, where it'll give you a better default settings.

Gamification ideas

• A To-Do app, that uses gamification
• achievements: silly, unthinkable stuff. Control-freak -> keep viewing profile of other ppl
• group project = raid

Make your Android Screen stylist yet minimalistitc with these apps

Minimalistic Text

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.devmil.minimaltext

Simple Calendar Widget

 

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.anod.calendar&hl=en

Greatest football manager game now on Android

 




I'm sure most football fans play Football Manager by Sega, and wished they could continue their adventures as a football manger on the go. iOS people got it, and now Android users have it as well!

apk link: http://adf.ly/86HeV

 

Chelsesa 0 - Newcastle 2 (02.05.12) Highlights (HD)

What a match for Newcastle! With this victory, Newcastle march on towards a Champions League spot, while Chelsea most probably need to win the Champions League to qualify for next season's premier European football competition.

Download Link: http://adf.ly/85NDK

Problem watching Anime?

Getting green screen? No subtitle? Not even VLC can help you?

Go to the link below and use their player instead.

http://www.cccp-project.net/

Things to do during Vacation

Self-Study

1. Objective C
2. Software Engineering
3. Effective Communication for Computing Professionals
4. Steve Job Presentation Book

Software Engineering

CS2103 - Software Engineering (CFM)

CS2103 – Software Engineering
4MC / Examinable / 35% Project

This module is very concept-dependent; however I feel that they are easy to grasp. The final exam is also very similar to the tutorial questions – even the tutorial questions/practice questions are the past year questions. Also the project component is rather heavy, find good teammates to do it.

Lecture – Lecturer is very nice, but accent is rather hard to hear. Luckily the lecture notes are pretty detailed – I did not get the textbook even though the examination was openbook
Tutorial – My tutor was really nice, he gave us a lot of answers. Tutorial should not be too hard, make sure you get the correct answers (from the tutor) to not miss out important details.
Project – Very important portion, I had godlike teammates yet again, so I did pretty well. Make sure the workload is split pretty equally as they do give different members different grades based on their contributions (should one of your teammates decide to report, haha).

The exam is manageable, I would say.

My grade: A+ (yay!)
My rating: Medium

http://xianyou.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/nus-module-review-ay1011-semester-1/

ContentYou learn about UML and the flow of Software Engineering process. The project itself is not easy, but if you meet a good TA, you are fine. And of course good project teammates, that time we did in a group of 4 ppl.

Teaching staff:Taught by Bimlesh Wadhwa and Damith Chatura Rajapakse. I find that Bimlesh talks in a way thatsounds quite unclear, esp when ending a sentence, i find difficult in listening to her lectures at times. Damith, a lecturer famous (or infamous) for his lame jokes, will get tired of it when you sign up for another module by him (eg. CS3215). My TA was Mihail Asavoae, a very helpful and understanding person. Less

Assessment and workloadMidterm: 15%; Project: 30% (3 report submission + 1 demo); Final exam: 55%. Make sure you don't just focus on the project, and forgot about study hard for your midterm/final. Final is very important, even if you get A for the project, if you don't do well for the final, it is easy for you to drop a few grades down.

Personal experienceIn this module, you learn a lot about Software Engineering, quite important for you if you are taking CS3215.

http://module-review.com/?module=cs2103-software-engineering

Artificial Intelligence

CS3243 - Intro to AI

Fun module in which you have a few projects to do.

Teaches search problems and basic AI methods like naive bayesian etc

Start on the projects early. My project was 2 parts, firstly to program a LEGO robot to navigate a maze and secondly to make it recognize numbers on the maze itself. Some groups did not manage to complete in time so this is where you can try to score better.

Do your assignments regularly and you should be ready for the final exam.

http://wahthanks.com/school.php

One of the most interesting modules I took in NUS. Teaches you how to create AI. 2 20% projects are tedious but definitely worth the effort. Just make me want to advance into AI field.

http://www.singjie.com/nus-modules/

CS3244 - Machine Learning

Content
Learnt quite a lot in this module. Although the prescribed textbook is old, but it teaches the fundamentals quite well.

Teaching staff:Prof. Tan Chew Lim is a good lecturer. Usually the class size is small (around 20), so it's pretty conducive to ask questions.

Assessment and workload2 Project reports (mainly playing with WEKA), which isn't too difficult. CA was mainly MCQ (might change though). Finals were manageable.

Personal experienceExpect to put in some effort, especially since there isn't webcast. But in general, this is quite a manageable and fun module.

http://module-review.com/?module=cs3244-machine-learning

Visual Computing

CS3241 -  Computer Graphics

[CS3241] Computer Graphics (4 MC)
Instructor: Dr. Cheng Holun
Assessment: 45% Final Exam, 25% Mid-Term Exam, 20% Assignment, 10% Tutorial Attendance and Participation
Difficulty: 6/10
Grade Obtained: A

Initially, I felt a bit scared taking this module because I didn't really have much knowledge on graphics. But hey, this module really rocked, not forgetting the super dedicated lecturer who made each concept pretty easy to understand! Also, I got to enjoy video clips during lectures, and the lecturer would always prompt us to identify, make critical comments and appreciate the graphical techniques used in those clips. I guess the only difficult thing about the module was the need for independent learning, especially in doing the programming assignments.

Final exam was really do-able, as long as you know your stuff. The tricky part was the true/false questions which took 20% of the total score for the final exam. Every wrong answer would result in a -1 mark!

http://cliff-vs-cliffy.livejournal.com/


CS3241 - Computer Graphics - 4MC
This module is about creating computer graphics and animation. I did learn a lot about how animation, camera, and 3D stuffs are made during this module. A very fun module especially with the great lecturer Dr. Michael S. Brown. There are 2 'mini-exams' worth 20% each. 4 or 5 programming assignments worth 45% in total. And finally a small in class quiz worth 15%. I cannot say the programming was hard, in fact Dr. Brown gave us a few hint. The trick was in making the bells and whistles.

http://vote4adit.blogspot.com/2011/11/nus-module-year-4-sem-1.html

CS3241 – Computer Graphics – A

This was a module I really enjoyed this semester as well. The module teaches you basic computer graphics and coding using OpenGL. The lecturer is amazingly good and very passionate about teaching this module. He shows many short Pixar clips and other videos to show how computer graphics is in the real world. The module has lectures, tutorials and labs (tuts and labs are graded). The tutorials and labs were quite simple probably because many year 2 students were taking the module. The lab also has this component for creativity (arnd 20%) for which I consistently got 0… The midterm was also very simple having just basic mathematics and less of actual “graphics”. The second part of the lectures was more interesting as we moved on to lighting and texture mappings. Though some of the mathematics was a bit more complex, it was still easy compared to any other math module like MA1505… The labs are fun to do (not for me…) as they have the creativity part and the lecturer usually shows what the entire class has done during the lecture. The final exam was quite easy (mcqs, true or false and a few long answer questions). If you are well prepared for the exam, you can finish the paper in around 1.5 hrs and leave early

http://shyamsundar2007.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/year-3-sem-2/

CS3241 (again!) April 5, 2011

Filed under: Computing,Life updates,NUS — jocundly @ 5:25 am

Was at the lab and happen to see donna samuel (yes a very unique name indeed) teaching a bunch of students CS3241. For some reason it brings backs fun memory of openGL coding, and i managed to cope from her the CS3241 collage.

I do wonder why i did not bother saving my batch’s collage, but here’s how the collage would look like.

/Satisfied 

http://ridikulus.wordpress.com/category/computing/

Others

http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~kkyin/CS5343/

http://nusschoolofcomputing.blogspot.com/2008/12/modulo-nus-timetable-planner.html

CS4243 - Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition

Credits: 4

Grade: A-

Comment: For almost every lecture the professor introduced around 2-3 long maths formulae/algorithms with many algebraic notations. For the project topic my team chooses 3D Reconstruction. My team did relatively fine - We reconstructed a 3D box, by manually selecting 2D points on photographs of a tissue-box. Ah well, you can see that even a level 4000 module's work quality isn't exactly amazing. The final exam was surprisingly manageable, perhaps thanks to the study guidelines he gave us in the final lecture. 

http://mundaneloser.blogspot.com/2011/01/year-3-semester-1-ay-201011.html

19 years old + US Marine + hot = ?

The world is such an awesome hot place.

http://cynthipoo.tumblr.com/

Least squares regression line: explained

Best explanation online? Probably.

Understanding Quick Sort

Watching at the gif from wikipedia didn't help.

dafuq is this?

Fortunately I found an awesome youtube video that explains how Quick Sort works!
 

Instagram for Android: The Verdict?

Just saw my friend on Google+ posting this. He's kinda pro-Android, but not to a ridiculous and bias extent. Here's his verdict on the new Instagram app on Android.

After trying Instagram for a few hours, I've came to the conclusion that:

Instagram SUCKS.

There, I've said it. Feel free to prove me wrong. I've provided the link for those interested anyway.

If you're not living in the world 5 years back, please do me a favour and check out the apps where the developers actually put in effort and understand photography:
-Lightbox (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lightbox.android.photos)
-Vignette (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.neilandtheresa.VignetteNewDemo)
-Pixlr-o-matic (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pixlr.OMatic)
-Camera 360 (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=vStudio.Android.Camera360)
-PicSay (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shinycore.picsayfree)
-FX Photo Editor (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jellybus.fxfree)
-Photowonder (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cn.jingling.motu.photowonder)

I have provided the demo/lite version links, but I personally recommend getting the full versions. Any suggestions to add to this list?

I just installed the app, and feels like it is more suited for the iOS. The menu button is rarely used.

How do you feel?

Ainol Novo 7 Aurora, awesome ICS tablet

 

























This is what my friend say about the Ainol Novo 7 Aurora, a cheap 7-inch Android tablet.

The whole thing feels Samsung-ish with the plastics, and has a great grip. The screen is superb, it's an IPS LCD, and has a higher DPI than iPad 2. It's actually faster than Galaxy Tab 10.1" and some Android tablets, might be because of ICS. Almost every USB device I plugged into it worked, including keyboard, mouse, USB drives, phone(charging only though).

Not to mention I got the tablet with a keyboard dock for a great price.

Sounds like a great deal for a cheap ICS tablet.

Check out the video review here: http://adf.ly/6mVFj

Refill pencil lead for Multi-pen

Haha. Wonder if anyone encountered this problem too.

http://www.jetpens.com/articles/Article:_How_to_Refill_Lead_for_Multi-pens

Printing in NUS SoC (Mac OSX 10.5)

Printing for MAC OS (Leopard - MAC ver 10.5)

1. Click on the apple icon (fig 1) and select System Preference > Print & Fax.
   
   fig 1
2. You will see fig 2.
   
   fig 2
3. Click on the "+" sign.  The Add Printer dialog box (Fig 3) will appear.
   
   fig 3
4. Press and hold the CTRL key and click on the menu bar as shown on fig 3.
5. A drop-down menu-box will appear.  Click on the "Customize Toolbar...".  The toolbar customisation dialog as shown in Fig 4 will appear.
   
   fig 4
6. Drag the Advance icon onto the menu bar (see arrow on fig 4).  Then click Done.
7. The Advance icon is now accessible from the menu bar.  (see fig 5).
   
   fig 5
8. Click on Advanced to see the advanced settings dialog box(Fig 6).
   
   fig 6
9. Enter the fields in the advanced settings dialog box accordingly.
   Example --> URL:  smb://nts27.comp.nus.edu.sg/pstsc-dx (For student) or smb://nts09.comp.nus.edu.sg/pstsc-dx (For staff)
   Name: pstsc-dx
10. Select the appropriate driver.  Select printer software -> Lexmark T642
11. Then click Add.  Installable options dialog box (fig 7) will appear.
    
    fig 7
12. Select the appropriate settings for installable options and Click Continue.  Note: if options differ from what is shown, choose the closest approximation.
13. You will see the newly added printer in your Print & Fax window (fig 8).
    
    fig 8
14. You are ready to print.
15. When printing, you will be prompted to enter your NUSNETid and password.
    Example --> Name: NUSSTU\
    Password: *********
    
    fig 9
16. You are done!