another context: Pixar

Another context that relates to the 4 themes are animation studio companys, such as Pixar. Inorder to make a new movie, the company would have to become consumers by researching through, questions and watching videos of others to see what they all like in a animated movie. After they have satisfied with their research they would then have to turn to being a producer to create the movie. As a big company, the team assigned to the creating of this movie will be doing so mainly on computers. Due to their jobs, pretty much everything they do(with the exception of sketching drafts and mamking live models) will involve the use of computers. This makes computeres a major influence in their lives, as it's pretty much what their lives revolves around. A good interface is also needed inorder to help mediate between the animators and etc, and the computer, this will make their jobs much easier. Because Pixar requires the use of animation and 3d modeling, and because they have a high level of detail to their movies, they must use softwares that are bugfree and powerful. Instead of using mainstream programs such as 3DS Max and Maya, Pixar tends to at times use alternative softwares that they have created themselves if other programs gives unsatisfactory results. Also in order to render the frames afterwards, either a supercomputer or alot of computers linked together is nesscary inorder to reduce the time it takes to render. Thus top of the range computers are also needed.

another context: small IT company

another context that can relate to the 4 themes, are people who wishes to start a company, say an IT company. These people would have gone through university with an IT degree. To begin with these people, were originally consumers as they were taught information and recieved service from other IT professionals. For them to start a IT company means they will become producers as they will be the ones providing service for others. These people will also need decent computer systems with cheap but efficient interfaces due to their limited budget. As a IT company dealing with computers is what they do, therefore a computer is compulsory. Computers will not only be part of what they do, computers will also influence their lives greatly. Since being small and relatively new, their budget is limited, therefore buying softwares such as Microsoft office would be too expensive. As a company they will need to look at alternative softwares that are either cheaper or free. As you all can see the 4 major themese covered in COMP1900 relates extremely well with other context such as people wanting to start an IT company.

the 4 themes and Multimedia

Currently i am Studying a bacholar of Multimedia degree. Because of my course, having access to a computer is absolutely compulsary in order to achieve anything at all in this course. My course requires me to use a variety of programs to design a multitude of things such as web pages, 3-d models, and applications and etc. Doing so requires a good computer interface what will allow me to interact with the computer in an easy and efficient manner. Due to my course, I have found myself being influenced greatly by computers(more so then before). I have even ended up by a laptop, so I can do work more efficiently. Also a powerful laptop spec wise was needed in order for me to run programs such as 3ds max which requires alot of memory usage. Certain subjects in my course have also shown me alternative softwares like, Google docs, jarte and zoho. These programs like Google docs were great in helping me collaborate with my peers during group assignment. Also i used to be mainly a consumer, looking at animations and admiring 3d models and such, now that I have began creating animations and 3d models myself, I have since became a producer(of course without all the issues).

more topics that can be used in this course

Since COMP1900 is a new course this year, there is always room for new topics to be added for future years. Here are some of my suggested topics that I reckon would make COMP1900 more interesting:

1: Human Computer Interaction or "HCI". This topic will teach students about interaction between a computer and it's user. Although HCI can go beyond just simple computers, if this topic is implemented into the course, the topic should on stay between users and their computers. Learning this topic can help students find ways to improve interaction between user and his/her computer by improving on things such as computer functionality and etc. An assignment on this topic could be to write a report about the HCI improvements that could be make to user and his/her computer OS system.

2: Operating system. This topic will teach students about the different types of operating systems, how they work and what functions/applications they offer. Students will also learn about the advantages and disadvantages of different OS's and the differences between each of the GUI's. An assignment could involve students creating a Mockup of an OS and giving a report on the functions that this Os contains.

3: Web Communications. This topic will teach students how people comunicate through the world wide web. This topic will show how communication applications such as msn, skype, and motomusic works. This topic will also teach students on how forums, online games, google docs and chatrooms are used by people to communicate. An assignment could involve each student given a certain theme about Web Communications and allowing them to create message boards on a certain forum site and letting other students comment on their board.

from consumer to producer

Covered in week 12 lecture, consumers can be seen as the customers who buy products while producers are those who create the products. An example is when a producer creates a post of wikipedia, and the consumer are the ones who view the posts. Eventually a consumer will start creating posts of his/her own, thus making him/her a producer. Many issues however have arisen when a consumer advances to a producer. Examples of such issues are: Ethics, Privacy, and copyright. A instance of such an issue is when a consumer reads a post created by a producer and decides to copy the post and use it as his own, thus creating the copyright issue.

alternative software

Covered in week 2 and 4 lectures, today, many alternative softwares that can be used instead of mainstream software like: MS office, adobe creative suite exists. Software can by catorgorised into 4 types: Productivity, Media, Home entertainment and Business. Each of the 4 types are currently dominated by large companies such as Microsoft and Autodesk. However because of the price range of such softwares, alternative softwares which are free of charge have been developed to counter the price range. Although free, theses alternative softwares are noticeably worse off in terms of useability and efficiency compared to that of paid softwares. Alternative Softwares are noticably downgraded when it comes to the amount of functions it can run, the amount of information it can process and it's efficiency at completing tasks. However these software are easier to learn due to their limited functionality, and takes significant less memory on a computer as they are smaller in size then that of paid softwares.

the power of computers

Computers have become a main part in today's society. Computer's are now present in most homes and almost every workplace requires the use of one. Computers are indeed a powerful device, capable of performing a massive variety of tasks and minimising the time it takes to complete them. Each computer runs by performing 4 major functions. theres functions which makes up a computers architecture are: gathering data, processing data, outputing data and storing data. To this day, technology continues to develop, thus computers are becoming easier to use, while at the same time are becoming more efficient at peforming the 4 key functions. Also because of the rapid rate of developing technology, people will rely on computers more and more making them a powerful tool indeed.
this theme was covered in week 2 lecture

interface as a mediator

The theme "interface as a mediator" was covered during week 2 lectures. The computer interface or "Graphical user interface(GUI)" is what allows users to perform direct actions on the operating system controling the user's computer. Computer interfaces are designed to be visually appealing while still giving user complete control over the OS. The computer interface also allows users to perform tasks and commands in minimum amounts of time. This is because all programs and functions can be represented as simple icons that can be accessed through simple clicks of the mouse, making the computer interface extremely efficient. Because of this, the computer interface acts as a great mediator between user and the computer, as it gives users understanding and control over the OS while hiding the more complex functions in the background.

sino's review

sino's slideshow blog does well in providing the purpose of the slideshow, however the slideshow has not been embed into the blog, only a link is provided.
sino's slideshow however, is well organised and visually appealing. Although a little more detailed then what a slideshow should have, there are little to none typography errors(note: consecutive is spelt with a c not a q). Both the font usage and the layout is consistent, however there are some cases of text overlapping, making it hard to read. Apart from that though, everything else is understandable. Colour usage is quite effective as using a different colour for the slides title then that of the body is quite effective in drawing attention.

Sino's slideshow contains a solid and evident structure the flow of ideas present is well connected, however the level of detail is alittle overdone, as audience would not want to read a slide with too much informtion on it.

The information presented within the slideshow is evenly distributed between the topics, with information on pivot tables, static representation, dynamic representation and discussion on task 4 + 5 all present in the slideshow.

overall apart from including alittle too much information, sino's slideshow has done a excellent job in compareing and contrasting the use of Spreadsheets and Databases.

anthony's review

three words pretty much sums up Anthony's slideshow, "short and simple". The appearance of the slideshow is both clean and visually appealing making it enjoyable to read. because the information displayed in his slideshow is kept minimal, reading and absorbing information from his slideshow is extremely easy. font-wise, Anthony's slide show has kept it consistent while still mantaining the layout. colour is used effectively as important or key words are coloured differently to stand out making the audience take notice. However Anthony's slideshow does contain some typographical errors. Although they are very minimal, his main errors include using American standard spelling: e.g. using Z instead of S.

The slideshow, is well structured as it begins with pivot tables, then moving onto static visualisations and then dynamic visualisations. Level of detail is quite suitable to the audience however more information were presented in areas like static visualisation, while areas pivot tables lacked information.

The slideshow gave clear and suitable details of information on both static representation and dynamic representation. however more information could have been used for pivot tables and discussion on task 4 and 5 have not been implemented onto the slideshow.

Overall apart from being slightly too short, Anthony's slideshow contains an excellent structure and layout. information has been kept at an minimal as they should be, and information given is relevent and easy to understand. So well done!

below is a link to his slideshow:
Anthony's slideshow blog

assignment 2 part b presentation

below is the powerpoint presentation me, Ting and Lino did for Comp1900 assignment 2 part b.
enjoy

University Study Lifestyle

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: uni)

week 2 study: i can't believe i did something

studing during week 2 was alot more effective. Although i still procrastinated quite a bit, i gained some motivation as i realised how far i was behind in most of my courses. Wednesday espeically gave me a golden opportunity to study, but because i was studing around friends(big distraction) i didn't study all that well. studing at home was alot better then week 1. Although i still had Msn on, I made sure to change my status to appear offline so i wouldn't be disturbed(however there were friends who realised i was offline). Also i discovered music can be a double edged sword, it gives you motivation, but it also distracts you.
week 2 wise i crammed for over 30 hours, i was suprised myself at how much i did, but then again probably half of it was me getting distracted in some way. As you can see my study pattern involves me cramming everything until the last moment, this is probably because i don't start feeling the pressure until around a week before stuff is due.

below is a link of the amount of hours me, Ting and Lino spent on our daily activities in the 2 week period.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31595208@N02/2960883730/

week 1 study: study? what's study?

during week 1 one I manage to accomplish 13 hours and 45 minutes of study, although it might sound impressive, it actually isn't. Study-wise im probably the least efficient, as most of the information I'm reading never reaches my head. It will take me 3-5 attempts at reading inorder to get anywhere. Also i procrastinate like crazy, everytime i sit down and try to study i would say something like "man, my room is soo messy better clean it first". Main reasons for losing my concentration when studing is probably Msn. This devilish program sits on my taskbar everytime i'm on the computer, i would try and turn it off, but only to login back into it a few minutes later.
although i studied for quite a bit during week 1, my poor time management skills didn't allow me to get much out of my studies. Since assessments were due until final week until mid-sem breaks, i completely lacked motivation to study.

week 2 reflection: improvements?

doing assignment 2 was useful in seeing how well (or not so well in my case) i used my time during those 2 weeks. Not very impressed with what im seeing, theres still alot of room for improvement on how i should use my time effectively.

continuing on from last week, the week begin with a Tuesday(note: this is data-wise, the week does not actually start on Tuesdays). Well Tuesday was no good, i ended up doing the exact same thing as last week's Tuesday, only difference is i ended up playing more games(not good).
Wednesday became my cram day, i ended up doing 5.5 hours of study(personal record for me). Wednesday is also on of the days i actually used my time effectively, with a 2 hour prac in the morning and a 5.5 hour break until kungfu, it was either studing or socialising for me(i made the better choice).
The two days that followed pulled me back into my usual routine, Thursday saw to it that i did more study then socialising, but i still ended up doing more gaming then studing. Friday's 3 hour IENV1000 prac made me and my group realise our assignment is due the next week, so we decided to actually start doing something, i also managed to keep gaming at a minimal, but ended up watching alot of t.v instead.
Then course comes the weekend, starting off with Saturday. Saturday i had to skip work because of friends 18th birthday. His house has both a nintendo wii and a xbox 360, so you can guess what we did the whole 6 hours. when i got home i made a last ditch effort to study before going to sleep. Sunday wasn't too bad as i did quite abit of study inbetween my gaming sessions.
Last day on my data was bludge day or Monday as everyone else calls it. I forced myself to do some work that day since IENV1000 presentation was due in 3 days(it even forced me to do kungfu).

Well week 2 was quite an improvement from week 1. Studing went up while gaming stay pretty much the same. Main reason was probably due to the fact mid-sem breaks were coming up and lots of assessments were piling up.
Well thats it for my 2 weeks reflection hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it.

week 1 reflection: in a nutshell

week one of my collected data wasn't all that interesting, i fell into the usual routine of eat, study, play, sleep (roughly in that order). Like usual, my usual lazy personality prevented me from doing anything out of my comfort zone. So to speak, i can't say im not disappointed at how little i accomplished during that week, but then again i'm pretty used to not doing anything.

first day on my record is Tuesday, which is not one of my "good" days. the day kicked off with a 2 hour csse1000 lecture, can't say i got much out of it as information was going in one ear and out the other just like that. Rest of the day involved an IENV1000 group meeting (didn't get anywhere) and a COMP1900 prac which made me realise how little i've done for my assignment.
Wednesday and thursday was alittle more productive, i actually managed to bring myself to start both my COMP1900 and IENV1000 assignment which isn't like me at all as i usually don't start till last minute. But i guess its a good change of pace, unless of course I do alittle bit of work early and not do anything else till later on (which is generally the case). going to kungfu was probabily the only form of exercise i got all week, and thats not enough for me(2 hours of training almost killed me). Also thursday was on of the rare days i ended up going to work during the weekdays.
Now friday happens to be my most hated weekday. 1 hour of tutorial in the morning and 3 hours of prac in the afternoon does not do me any good, but at the same time, its probably my most productive day of the week, since i got quite a bit of assignment work done that day.
Of course one thing to look forward to during friday, is the fact that the weekends is close.
my weekends involved mainly work on saturday with some study at night(mostly procrastination), while sunday is my attempt at study but ended up playing games most of the time(not to mention sleeping in quite late). My usual nighttime activity seemed to have worked its usual pattern this week as i usually always do a combination of: games, tv and study. rest-wise ive been sleeping at the usual pattern, around 7-9 hours a day, save saturday which could end up with me sleeping 10 - 12 hours depending on how tired i am from work.

Now monday, or "bludgeday" as i like to call it, is the day i pretty much become really lazy and not do anything. because of the "weekend mood" which still lingers around me on Mondays, there is close to 0 chance of me studing unless i absolutely have to. i of course attended the usual double INFS1200 lectures on that day(with me doing next to nothing during the 4 hour gap between the 2 lectures) while forcing myself to do an assignment task during the night as my IENV1000 group set a date for that task to be done by.

so there it is, a general gist of what i did the first week, now next to the next blog !