musings from that (useless) tutor from geography

Done pondering. Here's my musings.

2010-06-06T08:43:00.001-07:00

Seems like everyone has finished their final assignment of writing about what they've learnt throughout the course. Well, I'm not graded, so I have the excuse not to do it, well at least in time. Then again, I was overwhelmed with so much work.

Anyway, after much pondering and thinking, I've finally decided what I wanted to write.

I looked back at my first entry to remind myself why I agreed to be one of the tutors for this course. The main reason, was for the experience.

What I didn't specify, was of course, what kind of experience. Contrary to popular belief, it's not for teaching experience. Being a tutor for a group of highly motivated and purposeful university students isn't exactly helpful to deal with teenagers. Rather, I did it for the CS3216 experience.

It's hard to locate or describe exactly what is the "CS3216 experience". Cause every year, it's different. And in each year, it is different for everyone. And for each person, I'm quite sure what you think it is at the end of the course is quite different from what you thought it would be before the start of the course.

When I joined CS3216 in 2008, I planned for it to be a course that pushed me into web programming. How naive. I remained firmly stuck as a designer for all my projects, so much so that I swore off Illustrator until I needed to use it to illustrate diagrams for teaching notes in July'08. As you can see, my web programming skills is still worse than a noob.

Although my CS3216 experience in 2008 is not what I planned for it to be, it was definitely better. I met great people who became great friends, who never fail to wow me constantly. I may have been stuck as a designer, but I learnt how to communicate design issues, or get others to communicate design demands. I didn't progress to a noob for web programming, but I did level up for my design and team management aspect.

Fast forward to end of 2009, I agreed to be the tutor of the course not knowing what I could contribute. Design? Got Su Yuen already. Web Programming? Siao ah. Frankly, the only reason why I said 'yes' was to go through the CS3216 experience for one last time. I just wanted to leech the energy and passion of the people that is put together for the course, to have the experience once more. Can't do anything, go there and leech, wah get paid some more. Good deal sia!

But well, life is not always as we planned. I was arrowed to do stuff also. The presentation thing? It wasn't planned at all, until I opened my big mouth to critique some ideas Prof Ben have about the application seminar. I was also arrowed to nag, and I've never nag so much over emails in my life. If I turn into an auntie, I have only Prof Ben to thank *rolls eyes*. And the leeching? It's way more than I expected. The dynamism, the passion, the synergy, the bonds, the *insert management jargon*, it brims over like a pot of boiled-over rice during Pongal. And the sincerity and genuity in the projects - it's infectious.

To say that I've taught something is a gross over-statement. What I did was just to share. And what I've shared, is nothing compared to what others in the course have shared, for I've learnt a lot more from them than what I have for them to learn. I wanted an experience to just have some fun and be energise. In the end, I got much more than that.

In every final entry, everyone had a list of things they've learnt from the course. I too, have a list of skills that I learnt. But I like to be different (Prof Ben can attest to that. Ask him about my final project report and statement to join CS3216). Base on my experience, I would say that, ultimately, among the long list of what's written, only one or two of them will remain in your heart, which you'll carry it for life and share with your kids. Why so? Cause they are the life lessons that you hold true to.

After all my lor-lee-lor-sor beating-around-the -bush, here's the life lesson I've hold true to, which my experiences in CS3216 made me realise and validated it. The life lesson, is like what Steve Jobs had said in his speech at Standford: "you can't connect the dots when you look forward, only when you look back"

There are times I got what I wanted. There are times I have to try it for a few times. There are times where I tried all I could, but just couldn't get what I wanted. But anyhow, I made the best out of it and when I look back, do I realise how the dots connected. In many ways, it made me glad that I didn't get what I wanted, for what I got was much better.

There are many instances in my life that happened (some are here, but for full details, ask me online lah!). In fact, some of the dots took 5 years to connect. In the case of CS3216, I didn't plan to be stuck as a designer for all my projects. But I did, and it honed my communication skills related to design. Believe it or not, but that experience had a spill-over effect on how I prepare my lessons. I didn't plan to be a tutor about presentation issues. But the arrow came and it made me consolidate my thoughts about presentations in preparation for the workshop. Believe it or not, but it has a spill-over effect on how I should communicate with my students, be it in the classroom or outside of it.

I'm not saying that we should be fatalistic. I do subscribe to the "Brickwalls are there to show how much you want it" school of thought. But sometimes, the brickwalls are the linings of a well that we've fallen into. It's not favourable, it's not what we plan for it to be, but it's how we make use of whatever that's in it, and our time in it, to emerge out of it stronger and better, and thankful for that episode in the well.

It's quite surreal, kinda like "How I Met your Mother", when you see the dots connect (Gosh do I sound old). Like the theme of the sitcom, it's like every step you take aligns you slowly to the right place at the right time.

It is quite heartwarming to read the entries about how CS3216 changed your life (credits to the evil prof). But what I hope is that taking CS3216 is not just a results of other dots connecting to it. Rather, CS3216 is a dot in your life that goes on to connect to other dots, that make other dots in your life purposeful.

It's not enough to allow the course to change your life, or meet people that change your life. Rather, it should be the one, along with the other dots, that cause you to change others'.

a short presentation on presentation

2010-04-17T09:08:00.001-07:00

some tips to take note of for printing posters

2010-04-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

1) If your poster size is beyond A3 (which is the case for most poster presentation's posters......)
Please go to the shop and print it at least on the day before the presentation day. This is because beyond A3, laser printing cannot be done for most printing jobs that doesn't ask for much quantity. Most of the time, they have to use another process that is longer and more expensive.

So if you think that you can print it in the morning to present in the afternoon, I have to warn you that it will be more expensive and extremely risky

2) Which surface to use?
Gloss? Matte? Well, as Prof Ben would say, "I'm outsourcing this". I mean "IT DEPENDS!"

Glossy surfaces tend to make colours a little more contrasting, but the reflection will be a distraction and can make texts hard to read. So it depends on what you want lah.

3) Settings
Please make sure that you set your colour mode to CMYK for whatever programmes you're using! If not, your print out would usually be slightly darker and duller than what you see on screen.

That's all folks! All the best!

A quick note about presentation tomorrow

2010-04-03T20:14:00.001-07:00

I haven't been blogging much, as I've been surrounding my mind with matters on sexuality and religion in Thailand, children geographies, water quality management, and new tourism issues to meet my deadlines.

But here's just a quick note about presentation tomorrow: Do remember that the screen resolution of the projector is 800 x 600.

What's so significant about this?

I observed and realise that many are working on a much higher resolution. It doesn't matter what resolution you work on when it comes to coding, but when it comes to design, many of you tend to view the page at full screen resolution.

Thus, things may look good, the UI elements may have enough breathing space, the text are in one-line etc... all these little little factors that make your UI look good, usuable and obvious might be partially due to your higher screen resolution.

But have you considered how it will look in smaller screen resolutions, like the projector?

With a smaller resolution, will your UI be just as intuitive with more scrolling involved, text broken up into multiple lines, breathing space compressed etc.?

I'm not saying that you should be designing for a 800 X 600 resolution, as I think that is very much old school. But what I'm saying is that you should visualise this for tomorrow's presentation, should you decide to make a live demo a part of your presentation.

If it looks bad, there's always screenshots, right?

For a quick visualisation of how your app might look like in a smaller resolution, do try http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/. Do note that it is more ideal to use the 95% range (800 X 430) as a guide instead of 800X 600, as usually, one would lose about 100+ pixel space to address bar tool bar, taskbar/dock etc.

feedback on feedback

2010-03-22T03:57:00.000-07:00

as promised, I would respond to the mid-term survey. Since Prof Ben is responsible, and responded to the feedback about it, the larger meta-thingy for the whole course, I wouldn't be dealing with that. Rather, I'll just respond to the feedback about me lah, since that is the only thing he didn't publish.

The feedback were randomised in order. What I've done is to group that into themes to respond to them together. I did not leave out any comments (I think.)

Presentation workshop

I really will remember him for his presentations talk. It changed the way I always looked at presentations and I will try to be a good presenter. :)

awesome presentation on presentation. (Your ppt skills are awesome)

Conducted a very gd class on Myths on presentation.

Very good tutor. His workshops were all easy to understand and grasp. The workshop about presentation was truly great indeed, I have learnt many things from taht workshop. His comments on students' posts, blogs as well as project ideas were all nice as well. Great tutor in conclusion.

He's a big, friendly guy. He speaks a lot of sense and has much to learn from. He is very willing to argue and discuss and change his viewpoint against solid arguments. His presentation on presentations was enlightening (MESA has probably been drilled in me now. Every time I think of a presentation, I think of this and it all becomes clear why it was what it was, and how it could be improved). I certainly see a teacher in him. All the best!

Great lesson on presentation and simplicity

really interesting tutor, he often spurs discussion and is a rather fun person... he gives rather interesting and constructive comments as well... his lessons are well planed and interesting~

AWESOME SLIDES LA. And greater presenter for the Presentation workshop too!

Wow. I'm taken aback. Thank you very much for your encouragement and affirmation. To be frank, from the time I ended the workshop, till about the time I saw the feedback, I thought that the workshop was a failure.

Why do I think so?

First, other than a a few, there is generally very little response on the blog posts about what was shared in the workshop. Next, there was a lack of response during and right after the workshop. So I thought, damn, I must have shared something so "duh" that no one is talking about it.

That was why i was taken aback by the comments, in a good way. Thank you very much!

General Teaching

Knowledgeable and contribute good ideas. Objective.

- very helpful and friendly - but i haven't really had a good chat with him yet

Pleasant, enthusiastic and fun! Good presentation!

Out-going tutor with a lot of experience

It is great that he is keen to share his expertise in photoshop.

Gave me some very good advise and some constructive feedback. Good teaching!

can see the halo of wisdom glowing around him.

Has a lot to share, dedicated and does more than what is required of him such as organizing extra sessions.

I feel that Yanjie is very helpful and approachable. While I find that his lessons are clear, it might be good if he could also provide a review of what he teaches during the workshop. This is as the presentation slides used, while great for teaching during lessons, are very lacking in detail and do not make a good reference.

Thanks for the feedback. Again, I didn't think what I shared was useful, nor did I think that I was outgoing. I hardly mingled around!

Specifically, I would like to address to 2 of the comments
comment 9) I have to agree with that, because the slides weren't meant to be a reference in the first place. The slides were meant to be a guide, not a document. It is a crutch, not to replace your leg for walking.

Frankly, I used to scream murder when lecturers don't upload their slides. That all changed when I took a introductory module. What the lecturers do is to upload a one page document with key words. That's all. Before we could scream murder, they said it in the first lecture "It's to sharpen your note taking skills".

Now it's no joke not to have notes in a arts lecture. There is so much content, so much jargon, so many authors with years and page number for citation purposes. Wah lao, want me to type until I die ah?

But after my 2nd lecture, I found enlightenment when it comes to notes and understood where the lecturers were coming from. I found myself listening more, understanding more, synthesising more, and writing less. My notes became shorter, but I find that most of the words are my own, not the lecturer's. I find myself being able to explain the concepts better.

So try it. You'll find that you're find zen in note taking. :)

As for providing a review, I thought about it while preparing for the workshop. In the end, I decided that it's pointless.

Why is that so? At the end of the day, for the photoshop workshop, the web has much better resources in the form of a video. As for the presentation workshop, I find that as long as the MESA is gotten across, that's all that matter - what's before that was just to set the stage for MESA to come.

comment 7) Serious boh? Macham Beyoncé's song sia. :P

Debates

A very interesting addition to the teaching staff, providing view points from an arts student. Makes for very good debates!

(from previous comment)"…He is very willing to argue and discuss and change his viewpoint against solid arguments…."

(from previous comment)"...His comments on students' posts, blogs as well as project ideas were all nice as well. Great tutor in conclusion."

Good tutor. But have very strong views and like to debate too much.

So should I debate I don't debate? :P

In response to comment 4, you have to understand why I debate. I don't debate to defend pride or ego. I don't debate to save face. I debate to distill the best arguments. That was how many of what I thought to be strong arguments got overturned - through the distillation process of debate. That is the understanding I have with people I argue with - we argue to strengthen our arguments, or throw it out if it didn't stand the test of debates. We argue to change our point of view. It only becomes more stubborn because it stood the tests of many arguments. So unless an equally strong argument, or stronger argument, is thrown against it, it wouldn't move for a very good reason. But it doesn't mean it wouldn't move. :)

Some other comments that I cannot group

Good designer and good teacher material. Would be good if he can publish more design insights and resources. Hope that he can share some viewpoints from the viewpoint of the education system. Might help some people to think of ideas or projects to help improve education.

this after I wrote it

I may be biased, but I chat more with Yanjie than with all the other tutors combined. I just don't see him much on campus. I think Yanjie is a good teacher. He cares for his students - even if that means 40 of us, who aren't exactly high school kids - and he cares about what we learn. One day, there will be a batch of NUS students who will take up Geography and think back to their high school teacher, and thank him for making a difference in their lives. (Or whatever subject la - you know what I'm saying no?)

Shld be quite fun.

Again, I'm really appreciative of the kind words and comments. I myself am the one who have to be thankful to have the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people.

All the best for your final projects!

quick note

2010-03-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

I'm currently very much zoned-out, as I have slept at a rate of 2-3 hours per day for the past week as I was rushing the programme booklet for my hall production Thus I may not make sense, but this is the only time I can blog for this week.

1) Consultation: I had the good fortune to kay-poh a few groups' consultation with Prof Ben. Note that I didn't cherry-pick sessions to kaypoh base on personal preference or if I know the group or not. Neither does kaypohing your session means that I like your group or that your group's project has huge problems that require additional tutor to comment.

It's just that it fits into my schedule lah. And I'm a kaypoh.

2) UI - a persistent issue I have from the groups i have met so far is UI. I will write a blog that details it further, but just a quick point - if you don't know what is the purpose of that page, how do you expect the users to know then? And when the purpose of the page is unclear, how do you add elements to interact and get things done at all?

And be more forgiving with yourself with regards to UI design. It takes time to know it better. :)

2) Mid-term Feedback: I had a quick glance over it and is taken aback, in a good way. Thank you very much for your feedback. As Prof Ben have addressed most of the comments, other than the one about the tutors, I'll respond to the comments specific to me in another blog post.

because common sense is not common

2010-03-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

In some of our discussions/debates/arguments/bitching sessions about education, Prof Ben/overlord/slave-driver supremo/Dr. Obvious would ask this question "how do we teach common sense?"

My reply will always be "Whose common sense?"

I'm sure most of you would have heard him say something like this to death - Common sense is not common. That is why it needs to be taught.

Truthfully, that quote came from the field of anthropology. It is rather, a way of saying that different cultures have different psyche and mindsets. What is common sense to them is not common sense to us or other cultures. Chewy's talk has shown: What's common sense to the Indian family featured is not common sense to us. What's common sense to me about the origin of the burning smell in the air these days is not common sense to other people (it's not from Indonesia by the way).

That is why my reply to him is always as such - whose common sense? After all, when faced with criticisms about his theory of relativity not makeing sense to common sense, Einstein would respond by saying if we all lived in space and travelled at the speed of light for the first 10 years of our lives, the theory of relativity will make perfect sense, and what we understand to be common sense now will be senseless.

Thus, the question should not be "how do we teach common sense", but rather, "how do we teach what is common sense to me/us?" And given that it is not as common as what we think, should we drop the term "common" then?

I'm not suggesting that there are no set of "sense" (which usually consist of norms, practices, values and mindsets) that is common in a given society. But this is where we have to make the distinction: is it common sense only to me, or to the society as well?

If it is not as common, why do we still attach "common" to "sense" then? Is it because it legitimise our "sense" over others to over-ride theirs? If our "sense" should reign over others', why can't we do it base on its own merit, and need to claim its apparent common-ness to convince others?

That is why I cringe sometimes, when people say "it's common sense what!". I think "it is better sense what!" would be better.

PS: I'm rambling. Don't take it too seriously, but my rough point is there lah. It's partly about UI design too!

if the director thinked like a designer.....

2010-03-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

(PS: Have finished up the ipad and designer post. This post kinda links on from that post)

same song, 2 different movies.

This song, "O Re Piya" was first used in the Hindi movie, "Aaja Nachle". It is later used by the late Yasmin Ahmad for a scene in her movie, "Talentime".

The same song is used in two different movies. Though the song is very much heartachingly beautiful, both films used it very differently to develop the story.

If you are to think like a designer, which way would you use it?

(A) As in Aaja Nachle

(b) As in Talentime (6:25 onwards)

(The last few seconds of the song extends to this clip)

ipads, decorators and designers.

2010-03-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: What I'm sharing is purely base on my own personal experience and my personal opinion about what design is all about, and how I work when it comes to designing. I have no formal training in design or art for that matter, nor have I done any design for money before. Thus, do not take my word as the gospel, but rather with a pinch of salt (unless you've reached your daily salt intake)
(DISCLAIMER: When I was in a very playful mode when I was updating this post, so don't take my sarcasm and bitchiness seriously. I'm just playing playful hor!)

judge a designer not by what (s)he put in,

but what (s)he took out.

That was where I left this blog post on 19 Feb 2010. Cedric left a very nice quote in the comments that goes along this line as well.

I didn't finish this post the last time, simply because I was (a) damn busy and (b) have yet to crystallise my thoughts then. It is not that I'm any less busy now, but I think it turns out to be a damn good thing to not finish this post until today.

Why's that so?

Interestingly, the useless tutor has been approached by a few groups and/or individuals this week. It's interesting not because they are approaching a useless tutor, but rather they have the same concern - how to communicate to a designer?

At first, I thought, wah designers so mystical meh? Macham designers need spirit mediums / tang kee / dong co / nat kadaw (as you can see, I do Southeast Asian studies...;P) to communicate to like that.

After a few meetings, I being to realise the pattern - the issue is not that people don't know "how" to communicate to designers. Rather, the problem is that people don't know "what" design is all about.

What design is all about......really

My friend once said "Designers only make things look nice". He claimed that for most product designs, the engineers work on their own, and the designers just make the product looks nice. I retorted to him, "No wonder there are so many sucky products out there that doesn't make sense".

Truth to be told, that's what people think design is all about - make things look nice. They couldn't be more wrong. Frankly, if you're looking for someone to make things look nice, look for a decorator, not a designer.

Designing is all about communicating. We don't communicate through words - we communicate through, well, design. We don't communicate to your conscious or your thought - we communicate to your sub-conscious and your emotions, your feelings - things that you can't really describe but feel it (it is also coined as "affect", but I don't want to use that term as it can be quite a cheem concept).

So how do we do it? We makes things clearer, we makes things simpler. We remove the complexities, increase emphasis for what is important, and reduce emphasis, or even take out what's not, such that the message is brought across clearly. We choose the right image, the right colours to bring across the message.

Of course the users wouldn't go "ahh! This thing is bigger, so it must be important!", or "Ahh! The colour scheme is green, so this company is about growth!". It is something they feel, they know, but not consciously. Sometimes, they can't describe the feeling, but they know the feeling. This is how we communicate the message.

When I talked to the groups and/or individuals, this thing keep coming up: the design doesn't feel right, how do we tell the designers what we want? I would usually asked back this question "Do you know what you want to say with your page?" This is when then they are lost for words, and I'll proceed to slap them across their faces, splashed ice water, place my arms on my hips and screeched "WhhHHHHAAAaaat?? If you have heard high pitch screeching noises in COM1, I may have been responsible for it.

But seriously, if you don't know what you want, how do you expect the designers to know how to design something that you'll want??" So yes, it's your FAULT. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!

Ok but before you go suicidal over guilt, here's something to make you feel better: You're not alone.

If I have learnt anything the hard way, here's the most important lesson I've learnt from the hard way school: Most clients don't freaking know what the hell they want. That is why I actually spent most of my time at the start talking to clients, trying to tease out and make them really sure about what they want to communicate.

The myth of giving creative control

I know it is tempting to tell the designer "I want a page that does this. Go design.". After all, creative people are stereotyped to want to have creative control right? I'm not saying that you shouldn't give creative control, or that it is anything wrong with being nice. Rather, such orders are anything but "nice", and is as good as not giving any control.

Let me explain.

I once had such a boss in NS. Everytime he asked me to help design something, I would ask him "what kind of feel do you want? What kind of impression do you want to communicate? " He would always tell me "Aiyah you decide lah. You're the designer". In the end, every design I submit, he'll go "but it doesn't feel right leh". I would have to revise it like 4-5 times until he's satisfied.

So once, he gave me an assignment. I asked the same question, and he gave the same reply. Somehow, I was pissed and I told him "Sir, you have to tell me what you want now. If not, I have to waste time editing over and over again like before, which frustrates you and I. I would rather you be upfront with what you want to say, so that I can get it communicated from the start, and so that you don't have to think of nice things to say when it doesn't do what you want. You being nice now is not helping me, but hell for me."

He was a little shock when I said that, but that was the assignment with the least amount of editing done, with the least amount of frustration for both of us.

I know it is paradoxical: how is taking control giving creative control? If I were to use an analogy, what that person did is like asking me to destroy an object, without telling me what the object is or where it is, and is giving me "creative control" by asking me to decide. How is this control, when I have to take a stab at everything until I hit the object you want me to destroy?

By telling us what you want to communicate, you're telling us where the object is and what it is. That way, I can spend more time thinking how to destroy it as creatively as possible, rather than stabbing around in the dark.

Now this is what creative control is about - you don't decide how I do it, but you have to let me know where is it, so that I can spend more time and energy on thinking rather than searching.

So all in all, how to communicate to a designer?

Frankly, I think a good designer should be one who does this with you, but if your designer doesn't, here are a few things you should consider when you want to communicate with a designer.

1) Be clear about what you want to communicate

"Something nice" is not being clear. "Fresh design" or "damn pro design" is not clear either. Tell the designer how you want the users to feel specifically.

Bad Example: Feel good.

Good Example: Feel that the company is about stability, that the company is trustworthy, that the company is nurturing.

If you're not sure how to describe it, show the designer designs that communicates what you want. Remember: it is all about what you want to communicate.

2) Designers are not the fruit juice Auntie

This is the most common kind of client I've gotten:

All too often, clients want to cover all grounds - they want everything. As I've mentioned earlier, design is about communication. You have to choose what is most important to be communicated to the users. We are not the fruit juice Auntie, whom you can order half apple half orange hor. If you want the best of both worlds, all I can say is you'll have none. Sorry we don't create miracles to overcome this issue hor.

I'm not saying that a design cannot be fun yet professional, or professional but yet fun, or something along that line. But you have to know : one has to be more important than the other. One is the main dish, the other is the garnish. If you want both main dish in one dish, you get a mash.

Visualise this: Mickey mouse in tux. That's mostly fun, but a touch of professional feel, right? Now visualise Steve Jobs wearing mickey mouse ears. That's professional with a touch of fun, right?

Now visualise a monster that's half mickey mouse and half Steve Jobs. You get my drift about having neither here nor there.

Do note that not every contrasting things work when placed in a garnish-main dish context. So do listen to the designer when he tells you that decorating your ben and jerry's ice cream with pieces of tomato doesn't make your ice cream more appetising.

Bad example: refer to comic above

Good example: I want the customers to know immediately that our company is about games, specifically arcade games. I want them to feel a sense of fun, retro feeling from arcade games.......

3) Come up with a list of what's most important to the least important

Let's say you want a webpage - decide what is most important on that page to the least and discuss that with the designer. Ideally, a designer should discuss this with you from the start, but if he /she doesn't, you could always initiate it.

Bad Example: Everything is just as important

Good Example: The focus should be on the company contact information.

Good example 2: The focus should be on booking flights, less so on the history of the company.

Now I know it is tempting to say "everything is just as important". But like I said in the previous point, you either have more emphasis on A or more emphasis on B. Equal emphasis = no emphasis on either = mess = lack of clarity. You cannot have the best of both worlds. Emphasis works on contrast and difference. That's how the brain works.

That is why designers are piss when the clients indiscriminately asked for the logo to be bigger. It is not because they have to edit it, it is because the client wants emphasis on everything which leads to mess and lack of clarity.

So no aesthetics meh?

I'm not saying that designers don't consider aesthetics. Rather, they consider aesthetics WITH clarity and communication. Aesthetics are used to amplify the message they want to communicate, not overwhelm it.

That's what separate a designer from a decorator.

So what has this got to do with iPad?

Here's the question for you then: why did the designers of iPad not have so many things that could be added in? What's the focus and what are they trying to communicate then?

A Good Read on exporting images for Web

2010-02-22T08:49:00.000-08:00

Me thinks it is a very well written article about choosing the right format for exporting images into, and the settings to use in Adobe suite.

Do read it!

http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/comprehensive-guide-saving-images-for-web/

musing about spiders and redsports

2010-02-08T23:53:00.001-08:00

I thought this year's pitching session was a lot better.

The other time I attended a CS3216 pitching session, I was still a student in the course, trying to emerge from all the work. Facebook, on the other hand, was emerging in Singapore. Except for an exceptional few, most of the pitchers have no idea what "social networking" is. They exude the impression that they want to jump onto this platform simply because, well , it's supposedly new and hot. Sadly, it shows, among some of them, that they have no idea how it serves their company or organisations, and if it resonates with their mission and objectives or not.

So contrary to Prof Ben's (alias Boss / overlord/ sire / slave driver, depending on my mood) post, I thought this year's pitchers are a lot clearer about the ship and how they want to jump onto it.

But that's not the main reason why I'm writing this post. It is to address the following issue.

Judging from the discussions, some began to wonder why I spoke for Redsports. For the record, I'm not given any benefits hor. Neither do I know who is Leslie and Dawn, until Prof Ben mentioned them. To be frank, I didn't do it to contextualise it for the foreign students (as speculated here) But to understand why I wanted to put a human side to Leslie's figures, you've gotta understand the whole back story first (lor sor story alert!)

In AY07/08 Sem 1, I relief taught the whole semester in the day, and had lessons in NUS later in the day. During which, I have already been attached to this batch of sec 3s (whom I've affectionately referred to as "my kids"), as I taught them for a few months the year before.

Anyway, quite a few of them are sportsmen / sportswomen. Academically wise, they weren't very confident and weren't doing too well, but they had a lot of potential.

One thing that struck me during my term was how often, after a match, they would circulate redsports article about the match they've played. If they were shot in action (as in camera shot lah!), that picture would become their profile picture everywhere - MSN, Friendster (when it was still alive) etc. If their names appeared in some best player poll, they would spam it around, gathering support.

Being close to them, I naturally become a nexus of such things. Once I log onto MSN, I would receive messages like this: "Cher, see my profile pic. Nice or not?" "Cher, we won leh!" "Cher, support me on this poll leh." Usually, they don't talk much about their games, unless they are mentioned in school announcements. But with redsports, their pride multiplied, and so do their self-esteem.

Soon I begin tracing their matches on my own on redsports. It took my kids by surprise when I tell them "Eh not bad ah, I heard you scored X points in your match against ABC Secondary". It makes them feel good, that someone notices what they're good at. It makes them feel good that someone care. It makes them feel good that I see them not just as students in the classroom, but as a human. It helped to improve my relationship with my kids.

That was why when I took CS3216 when it was first offered in 2008, I couldn't contain my surprise to hear from the founder of Redsports pitching. When it was Q&A time, I did what I should do - I thanked Leslie in front of the class. I thanked Leslie for what he has done for my kids, for the pride he has given them, for the self-esteem he has helped built, for the confidence he has helped raised, while I almost choked in my own emotions.

I couldn't be more grateful.

===========================================

What Leslie presented might have been just numbers to you. "X number of people came to our site every day". "Y number of people were referred from Facebook". But what didn't show, was the power it has on our youths - many whose confidence, excitement in sports, and self-esteemed has been multiplied because of this site. That is the difference which is not recorded, which I thought everyone should know.

Which was why I shared what I shared yesterday. Not because I'm grateful to what Redsports has done, but the belief in the difference it made, and many more it could do with Facebook.

It seems like many in the class have been bowed over by Leslie's passion, judging from the different discussions that have since sprouted. Coincidentally, it aligns with what I wanted to say with the previous post about spiders.

Too many a times, we think making a difference is to change something - to change the world, to create something new, to break new grounds.

But a lot of times,difference is made with very small, unintentional actions as well. Many a times, it makes a difference, without you knowing or thinking it will.

Much like Kobayashi Issa cleaning house carefully. Much like the little actions of a principal who touched up the classrooms on her own, as if it is second nature, without asking anyone to do so. Much like many teachers I know, who made a difference not by setting out to make a difference, but made huge and deep impacts in the student with little everyday actions that they didn't think would matter to the students.

And of course, much like Leslie's desire to report about local sports news.

of cleaning houses and (kan cheong) spiders

2010-02-06T04:27:00.000-08:00

“a broken web –

a refugee spider is still

looking for a home”

“don’t worry, spider

I keep house

casually”

- Kobayashi Issa

Seriously, I'm not a literature person nor a big fan of poems, much less haiku like this. Hello, just because I come from Arts, you stereotype me to be a super-chim airy-fairy person is it? *stares*

Jokes aside, I didn't put this up so that people have an excuse not to do spring cleaning at home. I encountered this pair of haikus quite a while back through the blog of my favourite film director, the late Yasmin Ahmad.

I thought that among all the "making a difference" call we've all been receiving and inspired by, it is good to be reminded about some things in life. And it is best said through this pair of haikus.

the day the useless tutor tries to seem useful (Part II) (with expansion set)

2010-02-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

Date: 30 Jan 2010
Time: 1230pm, after lunch. Session was delayed due to poor time management for previous workshop (refer to previous post)
Mission: To blast the myths of a good presentation in a session that I've uncreatively called "Myths of a Good Presentation".

Backstory
Like I told those who attended the session, I wasn't arrowed to do this workshop because I'm some presentation guru. In fact, I'm sure those who attended it will agree that I have quite a bit of flaws as a presenter.

How was I arrowed this workshop then? I was placed at knife point by Prof Ben and forced to do it.

KIDDING.

Well back in December 2009, when we were planning the workshop schedule and stuff, there wasn't any design workshop intended then. Which means there isn't any workshops for me to conduct. I mean what's new right? I'm the USELESS tutor!

Then, Prof Ben suggested implementing the Pecha Kucha thingy for application seminar. Being the useless tutor, I wayanged and tried to smoke him, saying that the Pecha Kucha format can force the students to be more succinct and structure their presentation better, but it wouldn't guarantee good presentations. After all, the root of too many bad presentations is not too much content, but too much content from everywhere without a central message.

That was when an arrow was shot - I was to conduct a workshop on good presentations.

That was when I started crafting my message - what exactly do I want to share and how do I want to share it. There were so many things I wanted to say, but decided that it would be more impactful if I can blast the myths the class hold rather than the myths people hold in general. After all, this class is not your usual NUS class.

When I first looked through the responses of the survey, I was floored - in a good way. I took slide design out, as many do not hold common misconceptions of good slide design. Everyone knows how to give a good presentation! So what myths were there left to blast? Thankfully, the audience-centric thinking only exist in one or 2 responses. There is something for me to contribute to this class after all and appear a wee-bit useful.

So how was it?

What I think I did well
- MESA suggestion brought across very clearly and reinforced (read:NAG)

What I think I didn't do well
- Secondary school teacher tone! ARGHHHH.
- Discussion and "opinion poll" could be fleshed out more.
- Could have made the session more succinct.

Ultimately, what I shared during the session is only 40% of what I wanted to share. I wanted to show more of the TED talks, I wanted to end of with a coup-de-grace statement. But I'm glad I did what I preached - restrain. I'm glad that the MESA suggestion sticks, as seen from certain discussion.

What I suggested is not dogma. It's not principles, like some would say. As I have pointed out, it's simply SUGGESTIONS! So take it with a pinch of salt. Even if it resonates with you, do note that its relevance may not be the case all the way.

By far, Cedric has pointed out to me that it resonated a lot with him, cause he used the same framework in debate, but never thought that it could be framed in this way. Jon Lew has mentioned that he disagree (yes!), but it turns out it's some miscommunication (darn!) as I wasn't clear about certain things. For example, it is not that I don't think that presenter's skills is not important, but there is no need for me to cover that, since almost everyone in the class knows it. It's like teaching ABC to them, and it dilutes the impact of the main suggestions.

But that doesn't mean that a presenter without the full presenter's skills can't give a good presentation. That was why I thought the accent thing is a myth. No one is perfect. As the CS3216 overlord (Prof Ben lah!) says "Not everyone has Obama's eloquence". It is quite obvious that I have enunciation and tempo issues, right?

But everyone has to present. This is where S, and A comes in. If our personal "defects" prevents us from delivering the ME properly, we have to rely on the S and A to amplify the clarity of the ME, such that the "defects" wouldn't be a big issue.

I wanted to end the session with this initially, but I decided that I shouldn't as the impact would be diluted. So here's the director's cut:

All in all, presentations are just another form of communicate. When we communicate a joke to our friend, or when we communicate an idea to a closed one, who needs slides to deliver that message and emotional connection?

I'm not saying that we don't need to put in effort do to up our presentation aids. I'm famous among my students to spend 6-8 hours preparing the slides of one 1 hour lesson. But my point is, we should do that only after we have spent the effort to craft a good Message and Experience (ME), and do our aids around it to amplify the ME. If not, people will only remember the frills, but not what you were trying to communicate.

EXPANSION SET (04 Feb):
I think there were some confusion that the suggestion I made is advocating for a particular style of presentation. It's not. If you haven't realised, I've shown presentations from people with very different presentation styles. I've even showed how the same presenter can have different styles in different context, but delivering the same ME. (especially from the links I've posted on IVLE).

I've suggested that SA be used to amplify your ME. How do you want to go about it, it depends on you . I did mention this in the workshop - I did not say that presentations cannot use skits (aids) to be good - but rather, there must be restrain to use it only when it helps to amplify your ME. I myself have advocated for using a skit for a presentation, as the interaction between the characters metaphorises our argument and helps to bring across the abstract M we have.

What I've suggested is not a presentation style, nor a principle, but a suggestion on how one should approach his or her presentation when preparing for it.

There are indeed different ways to measure the success of a presentation, just like there are different ways to measure the success of a design. But like a good design, a good presentations do not just deal with conscious measurements. You deal with the sub-conscious that cannot be explained, that cannot be expressed, but has the ability to move you (which some geographers are calling it as "affect"). That is why some famous designers once mentioned, that it is not just what a designer put in that matter, but what they take out. Things like white-space, breathability etc. - it affects the aesthetics and effectiveness of a design cause it affects people unconsciously.

For presentation, when it comes to the sub-conscious, I think there is very limited ways to "affect" other people - to give them a message and experience. Adhiraj's show-and-tell and Benjamin Zander's talk - I'm sure that's the two presentations that has the highest recall rate among those who attended the session as to what was said and how they felt (Experience), which is not necessarily describable. Thus my question during the session "how many of you remember how you felt when you saw it" rather than "how many of you can describe how you felt".

And they had very very different presentation styles. 2 of the best presenters to me, who are still alive, Steve Jobs and Obama, have very very different presentation styles. But the only commonality I can find between them is how they have a strong ME that move people at the unconscious level.

True, different people have different ideas of what is a good presentation, but ultimately, what makes you say that it is GREAT? So far, I think, it boils down only to the quality of the Message and Experience.

So hope that addresses any misunderstanding that I'm advocating for a certain presentation style. :P

the day the useless tutor tries to seem useful (Part I)

2010-02-01T08:43:00.001-08:00

Date: 30 Jan 2010
Time: 9.30 am
Mission: To conduct a small part and a larger part of the Photoshop / Adobe Illustrator (PSAI) workshop

Well, I am the useless tutor among all the CS3216 tutors after all. So when it is time to show that I'm remotely useful, why not jump on it right?

Truth to be told, I've never conducted a workshop on design or the 2 PSAI software. And yet I am suppose to show that I know something, or can conduct the workshop well to prove that I have some use!

But here's my reflection:
Fundamentals Component
What I think I did well
- materials is sufficiently simplified (I think)
- slides is ok-lah-quite-clear quality (I think)

What I think I could improve upon
- Delivery. Stop talking like a secondary school teacher!
- Vector and Raster. Somehow felt that I didn't explain well enough.

Photoshop Component
What I think I did well
- none

What I think I should have anticipated
- 800 x 600 projector resolution
Really screws up how I conduct classes, as I can't show what is likely to be on their screen due to the reduced screen resolution

What I think I should have done better
- Time management
Severely underestimated the time required.
- Photo-editing
should have put more priority on web stuff, then photo-editing.
- Delivery
have to kick that secondary school teacher tone.

What I wanted to do also, but didn't do due to poor time management (in order of priority)
- more on marquee selection tool
- more on magic wand
- more on brushes and stamp tool
- more on lasso selection
- more on layers and folders manipulation
- more on masking and non-destructive editing
- more on splicing
- Vector polishing, how to make your vector graphics from AI more boomsz on PS

As Prof Ben always say, teaching have to always keep improving one. But I think I seriously short-changed the people who attended the PS component with my poor time management, especially when there are so many programmers who are keen to learn a bit of photoshop to help their designers. Thinking of ways to not waste this desire.

everybody-also-got-deadline week

2010-01-25T23:51:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-25T06:24:00.001-08:00

(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

2010-01-13T09:18:00.001-08:00

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?

2010-01-12T06:49:00.001-08:00

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?

2010-01-12T06:27:00.001-08:00

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!