everybody-also-got-deadline week

It's only week 3 but everyone in CS3216, not just the students, have deadlines!

a) Prof Ben has got a paper due by the end of the week.
b) Kok Wee, Yuen Hoe, Jason and Su Yuen has to settle some assignment issues by the end of this week.
c) All the tutors and Kok Wee has got grading to do by the end of this week.
d) Su Yuen and I have to prepare for the workshop this week (and I have 2!)

So let's all stay sane everyone (I'm not deconstructing the word "sane" according to Marxian or post-structural epistemology, so it means I still have my sanity). If others need somethings from you, help them and help yourself by doing it ASAP (like the SURVEY!) so that tempers would not fray and no one has to channel inner-auntie energies to nag.

In the meantime, do laugh a little and enjoy the process. Love your group mates (not in the romantic sense lah!) and look out for one another. I'm sure we all do.

Have a laugh if you're losing it......


Aren't it boomsz? Now have a warm feeling in your heart now.......

Aren't it cute?

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

(but don't forget to do the survey too! I don't want to nag at you all when you all are so stressed!)

PS: can't wait for your apps!

scream, scram, scrum

(this post was a belated post referring to last week's lecture on software engineering)

I can still remember, when I was a student of CS3216 2 years ago, we had a lecture on the principles of software engineering as well. What I remember distinctively wasn't so much of what was taught, but the difference in reaction.

The lecture was conducted by a guest lecturer. It was very much technical, filled with jargons. I remembered feeling lost while the programmers in the class has a enlightened grin on their faces. The contrast couldn't be more obvious.

Fast-forward to 2 weeks ago.It was these feedbacks that resulted in Prof Ben revamping his lesson apparently. I don't know if his approach is really at the sweet-spot middle-ground approach, but I thought I learnt a lot more.

But anyway, the most interesting thing that I've learnt from the lecture was the different project management methods. My encounter with project management methods hasn't been so varied. In fact, it can be summarised in a simple if else algorithm.

If group consist of only one person (aka work with yourself),
work yourself to death!

If group consist of more than one person
find good friends whom you can trust to work with

else
someone has to be a bitch/auntie (usually it's me. Where do you think I got my nagging-training from?) to get the group moving.

But things changed when I took CS3216 2 years ago. I joined the course with the superpowers of a lone ranger, so I was forced to work with strangers. Thankfully, I had the luck to work with passionate and driven people, and no one had to be a bitch/auntie to get things moving. At that point in time, I think none of us has heard of SCRUM, so there wasn't a deliberate method of managing the project. It felt more like we are working with people whom we can trust and get things together rather than having someone who deliberately manage the project. I thought as long as you're working with driven people, things will fall in place.

I couldn't be more wrong. Things do work sometimes, but things do fall apart as well.

When SCRUM was shared, I wondered: is it really the magical antidote to project management? Wei Man and Justin thought it was, until they tried it out in NUS.

But does SCRUM not have any value in NUS? Not entirely true.

If you strip SCRUM off the SCRUM board, daily meetings, excel spreadsheets etc, what lies at the core of SCRUM is 2 things that is seen across almost all successful project management methods: Communication and Accountability.

Different people operate differently. As long as you ensure that there is communication and accountability, who cares what methods you use, be it SCREAMing like a bitch/auntie, threatening people to SCRAM from your group, or SCRUM? Or for the case of my final project group, working side by side, updating each other all the time, along with jokes and fun. And of course, with a bit of management, however we're going to do it

musing about show+tell

I thoroughly enjoyed "Show and Tell" on Monday. Given the diversity of performances, it's an amazing display of talents we have in this year's class and what people can do.

At the end of the session, 2 questions popped into my mind with accompanying thoughts of different length. One of them is short, the other is rather long.

1) For those who showed stuff from their laptops, how would you have shared your video etc. if someone in the class didn't bring a screen and speaker?
How were you going to ensure that what you want to share from your laptop can be seen and heard by 40 odd people?


As for the long-accompanying-thought question,
2) Why is it that most (almost everyone) shared about things and ideas, but not about people?
I thought it is interesting, that except for one or two, no one talked about PEOPLE.

What do I mean by that and why is it interesting? Let me explain.

Almost everyone shared about things related to "ME". MY works. MY achievements. MY failures. MY learnings. MY aspirations. MY ideas. Me, me, me and me. It's as though as, to quote a former beauty queen, "It's about ME".



All these "ME" things - Is that the only things that defines us? Is that the only things that shapes us?

Isn't there people in our lives that shaped and changed us more so than all these "ME" things? In the process of having these "ME" things, aren't there people who played a crucial role which resulted in us having these "ME" things? Isn't there people in our lives that tell us more about us than these "ME" things? Isn't there people in our lives that inspire us?

So why is it that almost everyone did not show and tell about people then? Is it because it is touted as "a session to sell yourself", that we spend more focus on revealing only the "practical" aspects of ourselves? Or have we taken these people, who played a crucial role in those "ME" things, for granted, so much so that ME should be highlighted instead of them?

And the irony is that some of you have blogged about these people, or have made mentions about the presence of such people. Yet, some made claims that they have nothing much to share during show and tell. So what stopped you from showing us about these people then?

Of course I have to walk my talk. So here's my show and tell:

This watch has significant meaning to me, as it is given by my kids who are closest to me (yes I have 80+ kids. Not biological though. :P)They remind me why I chose what I do and why I want to do it that way. It affirms my choice and drives me in what I do.

Since I've known them about 4 years ago, they've remain an inspiration to me everyday. The reason why I have the same drive for life and optimism I have today, is because of them. The reason why I believe what I believe in today, is because of them. The reason why I can step on the path I'm taking today with full conviction and belief, is because of them.

Of course, this watch is too precious to me to wear it out (and they'll tell me it's very cheap). But I told them I will wear it from a specified special day, to remind me of them and how they've inspired me.

And so, this is my show-and-tell.

why am i a tutor for a computing course?

Frankly i have no idea.

This question can be dissected from 2 different angles.

One way of dissecting this question, is to first understand why did Prof Ben ask me to be a tutor. My majors (Geography and Southeast Asian Studies) have no relationship to computing. Skills-wise, I suck at programming. I have no idea how to run UNIX using a command-line interface, and my Actionscript knowledge doesn't go beyond play(), stop and goto. Yes, I can design, but I have no formal training in that. So what can I do as a tutor, other than the fact that I was a student when the course was first offered in AY07/08?

So why me? That remains an enigma for me unfortunately. Hence the blog title. :P

The other way to approach this question, is to understand why did I took up this job.

There are many reasons to say 'no'. I have lots of work as a final year student, with commitments to fulfil from my hall of residence. I need to put in extra effort and time to pull up my CAP, so as to graduate with my desired class of honours.

But there is only one reason that is needed to say yes - the experience. As cliché as it sounds, life is short. Such once-in-a-lifetime experience don't come easily. Somehow, all these little things seems to matter less, and a cost that I'm willing to pay for for this experience. As Prof Ben told me, at most I sleep lesser lor.

I was a relief teacher, and a teacher to be. I always tell me students something that I strongly believe in: give it your all. Even if you don't get what you're chasing for in the end, at least you wouldn't look back in life and said "if only".

That is why I said yes to be a tutor for CS3216 - cause this is an experience I cannot look back in life and say "if only I have taken it up".

So here I am, a tutor for CS3216. I don't know what I can' contribute to the class, but hopefully I'll find the answer by the end of the course

why this blog?

I have decided to set up this blog for quite a few reasons.
1) Some of my response to Prof Ben's and students posts will be too long to be put in a comment. Thus, I think it will be better to put it in a blogging instead (what has blog got to do with CS3216?)

2) I have musings and observations from either attending or preparing for the class, which I would like to share as well. Being a tutor for CS3216 is also a learning experience which I want to record somewhere and share.

3) For the fun of it! It's my final semester in NUS!