Saturday, April 17, 2010

Final Entry or First One?

Life is like a circle. You can never tell which is the end and which is the beginning.

During the past few months, things happened quite fast. From the first project--Boomz Cart, to second project--Chess Room, and finally the last one--WeiguanNet, every single struggling moment becomes worthy today. The biggest success is when I look back at what I have done, a smile comes to my face. What I have done may not significantly change the world. However, it makes sense to note that what I have done makes my world more beautiful.

HTML, Javascript, PHP, MySQL, Flash, Illustrator...Regardless of all those technical stuff I have learned, the most important lesson is how I come over so-called obstacles together with my teammates. I remembered the hardest time when I was doing the final project. Every time after we met or talked to Prof. Ben, there must be a sleepless night of discussing what was our next step. We changed and modified our project topic almost every week. Even when it was only two weeks away from the final project deadline, we decided to take a risk of modifying the whole structure of our website. After we made the decision, I was terribly  in fear that we could not finish the project. I sent sms to my teammates saying that I was very much anxious and worried. Immediately, I received reply encouraging me and steadied my nerves. As we believed, we finally made it. Now, I much appreciate the support from my dear teammates and I am much amazed at how far we can push ourselves.

However, I believe it is not the end yet. There are far more things to do after the deadline. WeiguanNet is not yet at the right time to launch. More steps need to be accomplished in order to maintain users. Anyway, the exciting Summer is coming! My dear teammates, let us make our next meeting in this hot temperature!

The next big thing can be us or not? :-P

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

GetHelp!

I like the idea of this application. "GetHelp!" makes it much easier to find helpers. However, it is still difficult for users to receive help in my opinion. Even though users can find many helpers who are willing and capable to help, the problem is helpers can only help by answering questions in comments window. Meanwhile, if they still have some doubts, they have to ask again and wait for the helper to be online and reply (since facebook is not like instant messager). The helping process is quite troublesome.

The "Refer to a friend" function is quite attractive. It enhances the possibility of finding the right helper. However, if the friend whom the helper refers to is not a facebook friend of the user, can he/she help the user directly? Or is the user willing to be helped by him/her?

The UI is alright except for the home page. The home page gives too much options to users. Sometimes too much options make users confused. If there is an information page explaining how this application functions, it will be better.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Pillow Fight--it's not just about a game

Pillow fight! Sounds like a sweet childhood memory. I remembered how happy my sister and I were when we threw pillows at each other before sleeping time. (seems I really miss my families now~haha~).

However, as I began to play the game, it really disappointed me! Exactly as what Shannon had said, the design, the user interface are indeed ugly. Popup advertising windows all over the place are quite annoying. I believe I would never step into this application again if I haven't been analysing it.


Yet,when considering another aspect of "Pillow Fight", I am impressed by it. What on earth is that amazing aspect, which makes me ignore all those ugly stuff? Do you still remember what Shannon mensioned in her slides, "1 developer"!! That's the whole point. Should it be me, can I do as well as she does?


Here, I am not refering to the technology ability. I am refering to the perseverance of making an idea become a real thing. No matter how wonderful or how bad the thing is, at least she makes her idea happen! Her name is Shikha Chhatpar! I believe there is not only Shikha who have their own ideas, however, indeed how many people make their ideas work out? 


It's said that ideas are cheap. In fact, ideas are not cheap at all. Ideas are the beginning of every wonderful possibility. Then why is people always insisting that ideas are cheap? Ideas should not stay still in the form of ideas, they should become alive. It is always difficult to implement an idea, difficulties come along with us when we want to do something. That's the moment we should persist on. Yes, you may say all what I have said are obvious and you may have heard them from many other places, however, it is always these trivial things make us worthy.


It is not just about a game, it is what begins the game is important. I need to be persistent and I know my passion will keep me holding on!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

How to Start

How to Start?? I have to decide. Otherwise once it starts, it ends.

I have a quite stressful start, unfortunately. There seems nothing belongs to my advantage when the Facebook Application project comes. I know nothing about PHP. I know nothing about MySQL. I know nothing about Database. Even more seriously, I hardly know anything about HTML!! However, time does not wait for me. It starts!

My decision on how to start is quite obvoius: learn! I learn from website, learn from teamates' code...and google is my friend~haha. However, I do not think I am a fast learner, therefore the learning process is quite slow and long. But it is not boring! I feel that I am motivated somehow. I want to learn, I am excited about what I have learned, I am looking forward to what is ahead waiting for me! Yet, time passes extremely fast. It does not even wait for me to learn. Every time as soon as I learned something, I have to put them into practise at once.Attempting then debugging, learning then attempting...That's the process. Sounds boring, right? However, it appears quite attractive to me! The delight of knowing something new, the expectation of succesful attempts and sense of achievement when you find out the bug...all of them make up an exciting day.

In additon, my team, such a wonderful team! Except for Justin, none of us have ever really had experience in dealing with PHP, MySQL, JavaScript and so on. It can be both a negative and a positive aspect of my team. Wonderfully, we make it a positive one. Even though we do not know much, we can learn together. We teach each other, we learn from each other and we help each other! Compared to other groups, "yes! we are slow, but we are learning!" We are slowly moving forward to accomplish our aim. And thanks to Justin's help and advice, we are still surviving happily!together!~

CS3216 is really time consuming.
"I have been studying for 20 hours.."
"A week?"
"No! A day!"
"..."
Haha~ As Angad said.~~
I used to sleep at 2330 every day. Now, it seems impossible! I can sit in front of my computer until 2am and still being excited! Also, I seldom spend time in other modules."Hah~Do I have other module?" As Tomithy said.XD~

Luckily, I managed to take my first step and survived~The next step, see how!Hahahaha~

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Bonjour&Bonsoir

Everyday before I say "Bonsoir" to myself, I like to think about what I will do tomorrow and how I will do it. I may spend only a few seconds to go through all those staffs, then close my eyes, goodnight!

"Bonjour"~ I tell myself it is a new day!

Last night, an idea suddenly burst into my mind. Why am I here for university? I realized I used to think that taking lots of modules is the thing that I should do now. But, really? Why should I take those modules? Learn more? But is the knowledge taught in those modules so important?

I may not have the abosolute corret answer. The thing I can say is that almost all people who are at work nowadays do not really need all those I learn now!!

I am not here for understanding all those formulas or theories. I am here to experience a university life. I am here to learn how to manage things well. I believe a university without modules can also be a place called university. Modules are just things that set obstacles and test how well we manage our life. For example, can you have a satisfactory life, and at the same time have good results for all those tough modules?

Here I am in a university, the fortunate thing is that I can choose the obstacles myself. And, I think I have chosen a tough one, why is that? Coz I am willing and I want to learn how to manage my life in my four years' university. Also, I want to know how I will overcome such a big obstacle~!!

The only goal that I set for myself now is "To Enjoy Life". Of course, everyone has his/her own definition of "enjoy", and I have mine~ "Enjoy"=="Satisfaction"?? I don't know the exact answer. I will find it out along my way.