Another semester at NUS : My second

My second semester at NUS is over with results awaited on 29th (?) of May. This semester at NUS was surely my best semester, and I can even say that it will be my best until the last one - CS3216. I would cherish all the memories that I have with the awesome module and really awesome friends and great experiences. Pull in all the +ve adjectives for this module.
So this would just be my summary of my 2nd semester at NUS -

CG1102 - Data Structures and Algorithms - 5MC
This was the CG1101 next level module with C++ and data-structures, taught by Prof Colin and Uncle Soo. Interesting as we had cumulative lab assignments - building on the same stuff every lab using different variations of data structures and algorithms for sorting traversing etc. A good module to get the logic ready for higher algorithms. The other great thing about the module was its integration with CG1413. We worked in teams and the shared suffering induced some bonding. It was the first instance in NUS that we got to meet and work with our fellow CEG mates.

CG1108 - Electrical Engineering - 4MC
The modified form of EG1108 - with the uniqueness of 40% practical element and only 30% final exam. This module was taught by 3 professors - Prof JJ Cabibihan, Prof Sahoo and Mr. Panicker. The lectures were particularly interesting with practical demonstration in the lecture theatre. Every tuesday 3hr lab was also interesting which included LEGO mindstorms design challenge and a self made PIC controlled line tracking robot. Interesting as it introduced the realism of Digital Design.

CG1413 - Effective team communication - 4MC
A team work and crap english module. I personally did not like this module very much probably by the way it was taught and the so objective way of grading presentations and reports. The module was not an intelligent and worthy but I really enjoyed working in it with my team mates on the interesting topic of "Introducing Cloud Computing in NUS". Really got to learn a lot about Cloud Computing after devouring "Cloud Computing for dummies" and talking to the Cloud Computing head of NUS.

MA1506 - Mathematics 2
Crap. No interest in this one. Dont know if I will pass in this one. But I would really like to flaunt - I never ever went for a lecture, tutorial. I never saw a webcast and I dont know who my lecturer or tutor is. All this can be attributed to the other stuff that kept me busy during the semester but I do not regret it. I would be happy to get a B in this.

CS3216 - Software Development on Evolving Platforms
Eye opener for the rest of my stay at NUS. A+ boosts my CAP :) No more comments. There is a whole blog on it.

So I think this semester was an experience of a life time with a trip to Malaysia at the end of it.

1st vacation to India - December 2009

//Was in the drafts since long, needs editing.

4th December 2009 - 

6.30am - Leaving PGP for Changi

10.15am - flight to New Delhi

1.30pm (IST) - New Delhi

9pm - Dehradun

5th December 2009 - 

5pm - Train to Amritsar - Golden Temple

6th December 2009 - 

Early Morning to Phagwara - Funeral of my mother's uncle.

7th December 2009 - 

Back to Dehradun

Winter Vacation break - enjoying with family and friends; preparing application for CS3216.

25th December 2009 - 

11am - Delhi Airport

3pm - Bangalore Airport

A short 5 day visit to Bangalore to sister and veerji

Includes Bangalore Innovative Film City and awesome food.

26th December 2009 - 

Application acceptance for CS3216  :)

31st December 2009 - 

8am - Bangalore Airport

12pm - Delhi Airport

3.30pm - 9.30pm - Train to Dehradun

1st Jan 2010 - 8th Jan 2010 - Dehradun

8th Jan 2010 - 

Dehradun to Delhi 

10th Jan 2010 - 

00.40am - Flight to Singapore

8am (SG time) - Singapore

Settling in PGP

11th Jan 2010 - 

6.30pm - first CS3216 lecture, Show and tell session

Computer Science = No Closed Source Shit

This post comes out from some recent thoughts and a post here : http://www.silicon.com/technology/software/2010/04/23/why-the-iphone-could-be-bad-news-for-computer-science-39745730/
and another one here http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/18/the-users-manifesto-in-defense-of-hacking-modding-and-jailbreaking/

So majorly what I see here is that the shiny looking gadgets are hindering the modder to go under the hood, rewire (or rewrite some code) to get that device to do some cool stuff, perform to its limits and even innovate.
Do closed-source devices inhibit the geek?

When computing was developing and personal computers were introduced in homes, I remember, they were seriously much more open and not-so-hooded as present day computers and devices. Anybody could open up a CPU and upgrade the RAM or even a cooling assembly for that matter. People still do so. But, it is really complex to go under the hood of an iPhone or even a general laptop for that matter. It requires much higher levels of knowledge to tinker with a device without bricking it. The gap is increasing. The CS education needs to keep track with the advancements in the real world.

But still, how hard the hardware manufacturers may try, somebody in the crowd stands out with a broken "warranty-void-if-seal-broken" tag and comes out with a way cooler trick of using the device. Some recent modding - http://linuxoniphone.blogspot.com/ - Android running on an iPhone.
And the recent PS3 hack which gets the Other OS option back in firmware version 3.21. http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/2010/04/otheros-supported-on-321oo.html

The present day devices abstract or hide a huge chunk of Conputer Science under them. Its all good and shiny for the general user, but I believe it should not be just a device that emulates some real world physics in its graphics & UI for a CS student. It is a bloody chunk load of electrical components and millions of lines of code. In-short, it is a geek's paradise.

The University of Cambridge is up with its course- http://www.cscubed.org/ geared towards a shift in Computer Science that is much more present-day oriented, coupled with high research and innovation. Well I believe that this should also make place into the usual classroom. I dont imply teaching modding in a class room (that is a ridiculous idea), but atleast the teaching should somehow relate to the real world stuff. It should, in some way, imbibe the spirit to learn*. Well thats what University education means to me, and I believe to all of us. It should not at all be engulfed in closed source shit, atleast Computer Science. One needs to look under the hood - especially if you are not just a user.

Adding to the above, I have big expectations from my course at NUS - CEG - Computer Engineering. I am far away from the real world stuff, but maybe this course can get me somewhere :)

* - CS, as far as I have encountered it, is 99% a self-learning path. 1% is where you learn how to learn.

Microsoft Guy Speaks Up!

We had the pleasure of listening to the Microsoft SEO person Chewy Chong at the CS3216 talk - "You, Others and the Business of People".
Chewy is a public speaker. Most inspiring - his Oratory skills. His words forced us all to think and thats what his motive was. Cedric mentions it as "tour de force".

So the talk in all was about the consumer behavior, the marketing strategies and a bit of Search engines. It was fun to see a MS guy use Google :P

Consumer Behavior
Coming straight to the point, he managed to implant a really important thought in the minds of all the listeners out there, as is evident from the other blogs on this talk. Chewy got us into thinking about the consumer behavior, what a typical (non-geeky, not-so-tech savvy, and an ad-influenced person. In short - a rather large segment of the consumer market) consumer thinks and does before buying a product.
Here is what got into my mind regarding it-
There is this "unaware" phase where the consumer wants to buy a product but is unaware of the stuff - price, companies, offers. The companies target such unaware consumer by the traditional advertising methods- TV ads, Radio ads, Huge roadside boards etc.
Then comes the phase of the "aware" consumer where he is aware of the product available from the different competitors. So what the consumer does is to go ahead and do a Google search (Or Bing for that matter :P). There come the Google Ads. There is a whole big world of Google Ads and their strategies. I am not too interested in either SEO or how Google Ads work, and nor do I intend to delve into that. I am an ad-free person (there you go Laurence =)).

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Get to know yourself
The man of talk got this point absolutely right. We need to know our strengths and ultimately should know where we should be. I dont know if I have an idea right now where I would want to be in the coming 10 years, nor am I sure about my strengths. CS3216 is making up a bit of me. It is constructing me in my raw years. I just know that I should do everything and in the best possible way. I should taste almost every apple (in my garden) to know which tree is the best for me and which I can climb. I had written this post quite earlier and have linked it many times in my blog. I link it here again too because I really cherish a comment by a friend - there

"I think it's ok to be jack of all trades. You are gaining width.
I would have said "it's ok to be jack of all trades and master of none", but that it is quite clearly not the case. You're doing enough specialization for what you need, if not more. Plus what all this width adds to you is knowledge of the field(s) that you eventually want to get into. It'll be harder for someone who's not had the taste of oranges, cherries, guavas, mangoes and grapes to pick and say "I love mangoes the most, and that is what I shall eat for the rest of my life." But you will have a taste of most, if not all, of them and say with at least some added confidence that you wanna have bananas for the rest of your life (pun intended). haha."

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See from others' eyes
I think this is a point where I can say that I think "I can".  The first step to look from other people's eyes is not to judge people immediately. To get, what I call the "Helicopter view", one must close its one inner eye (that judges people), and open the other inner eye (that anlayses the situation) as wide as possible. That way, I think one can get the best view from other's viewpoint. Just putting oneself in the other person's position is not enough. One must also look at the situation and the external factors.

Breaking the traditional market
Chewy pointed out a real important thing in the talk - Location matters (atleast in Singapore). He was trying to get us to be the change-makers for breaking this "Location" tradition.
Singapore is a small place. Getting from one farthest point to other farthest point shouldnt take more than an hour. So the markets such as the Shoe market in Queensway flourishes because people know that it is the hub of shoes. I wouldnt go all the way to Tampines to buy shoes from a particular shop when I know there are loads in Queensway and I perhaps might get a better choice (than a single shop in Tampines).

I would like to point out that perhaps the Queensway shoes example is how a traditional market economy is supposed to work. I come from India, where the Mall culture has recently hit the cities (i mean the state capitals and other important towns. Metro cities had malls quite earlier). It is often argued their that the mall culture destroys the traditional economy and the traditional way of how business was done. I would often hear from the elders that earlier this particular place was where you would get the best of hand made thread-needle work clothes (dunno what is it called actually in English, though has a word in Hindi), or the best kind of cotton cloth in this area. Now that culture is dying off slowly with the advent of malls. A common notion : People would prefer buying from an air-conditioned mall, than going to individual dealers with no guaranteed after sales service.

I take a stand here that the Mall culture destroys the traditional culture and how it affects the lives of the people in the particular business. Though it might be a hell-load of a success for a businessman to transform a Queensway shoe shopping area to a decentralised mall where everything is available. But we are aspiring entrepreneurs here, Not ruddy businessmen. I can think of a situation here which is more-or-less true - A place in my city was really famous for tailors and the best quality cloth stitching. (In India people still get their clothes stitched, especially the ladies garment http://www.indian-dresses.net/Salwarkameez.asp). So I remember my mum telling me that all her marriage dresses were made by a particular tailor there.
Now, when the city has seen the rise of 3 malls and even more brand-shouting shops in a mall like environment, these tailors have almost lost their daily high earnings. And I can say that the clothes they stitch is still much better than any other shops across the city. This implies that in a place such as India where traditional arts have always been the culture, the mall advent and the ruddy businessmen are destroying the local people's wages. Also, the age-old art and craft is being lost over generations.
I want to point out a major related event that happened like 2-3 years back in several cities almost all over India. Reliance, a big company, opened up a big vegetables/fruits only super market chain that got its supplies directly from the farmers (known as Reliance Fresh). All the local wheel-cart grocery sellers were horrified by this. They pulled down some of the shops as a strong group but still the super store exists. But it is not of any major success or breakthrough. Breaking a traditional economy is difficult.

Singapore is much more advanced and has seen the rise of malls since long. But still, traditional markets do exist (though quite less in number), implying there is still scope for thenew business idea of decentralised marketplaces.
In Singapore's case this might not be the situation (as in India) as there are really less places which talk about traditional art. But still the idea of destroying a place which is a hub for good quality products and convert it to a consumer oriented market, is a bit difficult to accept. Regarding the attitude of the traditional shop owners, they should rather be open to the current marketing strategies or let their business die to a businessman's eye-candy offers to the customer.

I dont know what the entrepreneurial solution to such a problem would be. I would rack my brains on it if I ever get into people-to-people business. Till then Peace Ho!

Just a quick point : if you try searching for the mall culture in India and google it - you just type "mall cu" and the top entry is "mall culture in india". That denotes the hotness of the topic. Read this to get a good insight
http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles_various/mall-culture-India.asp