Module Review: 2014/2015 Semester II

Note: Please note that there might be differences between modules in semester 1 and semester 2

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My Module Reviews

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CS3242 - 3D Modeling and Animation (4 MC) (Open Book Exam)

A more advanced course on 3D graphics. The course involves learning many advanced techniques. The programming assignments are also about those advanced techniques. Luckily, the exam is not that hard. Most of the things taught in lecture are for knowledge purpose. A very good course for those who would like to do graphic programming.

Workload: 2 programming assignments, 2 Maya (3D stuffs) assignments and 1 final exam (open book).

CS3284 - Media Technology Project II (4 MC) (No Exam)

A continuation to CS3283. It will be the same project. The goal of this module, though, is formal introduction to software engineering workflow. It will focus on making robust code, secure code, unit testing, integration testing, stress testing as well as security testing of your software. It is a very good learning experience for those who have not done this kind of full course of software development (the furthest I have been before the module was integration testing).
Workload: 3 progress reports regarding the software with each adding on to the previous reports and 1 final presentation.

CS3247 - Game Development (4 MC) (Open Book Exam)

To be honest, I hated the first half of the semester. I learnt all of them on my own during my weekend in the first 2 years of university, so technically they are not necessary to be taught as we should be able to figure out on our own. And most of us inside the class have some sort of game development experience, usually as a hobby. More of the time could have been used for developing the game project. The second half of the semester was more interesting since we learnt many things about the theory part of the game, like how the physics simulation is done, network gaming, etc. Be warned, though; the course assignments are not exactly fixed as they changed along the semester for my batch.

Workload: 3 assignments, many deliverables (game idea, mid-term game report, STePS publicity (SoC project exhibition)), a game, a final presentation about the game and 1 final exam.

ST2334 - Probability and Statistics (4 MC) (Closed Book Exam - Cheat-sheet allowed)

A deep look into the math behind Statistic that we see in A-level. Many calculus involved. While the content is very hard, the exam is manageable.

Workload: 1 assignment and 1 final exam (closed book with cheat-sheet, 1 two-sided A4 paper).

GEK1519 - Science of Music (4 MC) (Open Book Exam)

A very interesting module about science of music (as the course title suggests). A good module if you have a passion for music as it taught you what happens behind sounds. Be prepared for some Physics (wave and such).

Workload: 1 writing assignment on a musical concert, 1 music composition assignment, 1 mid-term exam (open book), 1 final exam (open book) that is held before school ends.

Total MC - Sem 6     : 20
Total MC - Sem 5     : 20
Total MC - Sem 4     : 12 (ATAP, i.e. industrial attachment)
Total MC - Sem 3     : 20
Total MC - Sem 2     : 26

Total MC - Sem 1     : 20

Total MC - Overall    : 118

Gesture using phone frame

ZTE Nubia Z9 as seen from http://www.gsmarena.com/zte_nubia_z9_is_official_with_bezelless_display-news-12173.php has interesting concept of making the phone frame interactive. Now, let's wait for a company to make something like my idea so that we can have trigger button for games on phones.

Female 3D Model

Female by hansnewbie on Sketchfab

Something I created for 3D Modelling assigment. Too bad the face is bad :( I need more experience.

Side Screen on Smartphone

News on http://www.ubergizmo.com/2015/03/future-iphones-could-feature-displays-on-its-side/. I am wondering if anyone would really implement it as the ideas have been around for a while - see http://hansccwolf.blogspot.sg/2014/12/capacitive-side-buttons-on-smartphone.html.

Taurus Logo and Goat Mosaic

Some stuff I drew with Intuos :)

Taurus Logo by hansadrian on DeviantArt

Goat Mosaic by hansadrian on DeviantArt

Module Review: 2014/2015 Semester I

Note: Please note that there might be differences between modules in semester 1 and semester 2

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My Module Reviews

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CS3241 - Computer Graphics (4 MC) (Open Book Exam)

A very good module to learn about graphics in computer - how pictures and 3D model are rendered, ways to manipulate them, etc. The Prof. is very fun and friendly, especially that he likes to play games and we watch many videos on games and animated films to see the different quality of graphics. The programming assignments help me to familiarize some graphic concepts, which is awesome since that is the area of my interest.

Workload: graded weekly tutorial attendance, required to present answers on tutorial for once or twice (depending on luck) throughout the semester, 5 programming assignments, 1 mid-term exam (open book) and 1 final exam (open book).

CS3283 - Media Technology Project I (4 MC) (No Exam)

This module really depends on your project. It is a software engineering project. My team is doing a game from scratch with no scope of project. As such, we had some difficulty in constraining the scope to fit both the aim of the project as well as the requirement of the module. Also, it was difficult to apply software engineering practices in the game. Other than that, the module would be a good exposure for you to understand how software is built for clients (yes, you need to meet the project client).
Workload: 3 progress reports regarding the software with each adding on to the previous reports and 1 final presentation.

PC1431 - Physics IE (4 MC) (Closed Book Exam)

Classical Physics for engineers. Most of the people in the class would be engineering freshman. Bell curve will save you a lot, but you do need to spend time reading physics and trying the questions. Many contents are in A-level syllabus, either deeper or more rigorous. Quite manageable.

Workload: 8 weekly online assignments, 2 labs - graded based on project and viva (on-lab face-toface Q&A session), 1 mid-term exam (closed book, MCQ only) and 1 final exam.

SSA2220 - Global Economic Dimensions of Singapore (4 MC) (Closed Book Exam)

Interesting history of Singapore as well as her economy. Also deals a lot with economic policy in Singapore. Requires some news reading on new policies. I flunked my final exam, since I am not that good with essay writing exam. Individual and group presentation is quite easy, need to think a little bit but it is very manageable.

Workload: 1 individual presentation, 1 group presentation and 1 final exam (closed book).

GEM2901 - Reporting Statistics in the Media (4 MC) (Closed Book Exam)

My advice would be to the attend lectures. It was 8 am lecture no webcast - tough choice. I skipped one too many and in the end quite difficult to understand the content of the module. The lecture notes are not sufficient in terms of clear explanation. The two group projects are kind of similar and you are encouraged to do both of them together. Group projects need some knowledge from the lectures, but otherwise doable.

Workload: 2 group projects and 1 final exam (closed book).

Total MC - Sem 5     : 20
Total MC - Sem 4     : 12 (ATAP, i.e. industrial attachment)
Total MC - Sem 3     : 20
Total MC - Sem 2     : 26

Total MC - Sem 1     : 20

Total MC - Overall    : 98

Risotto Attempt #1

So I tried to cook risotto without butter and cheese, to try how it tastes like. Of course, this is only my second time cooking (i.e. first time cooking risotto) and my first was edible (if you know what I mean).

Well, not so bad since the risotto was edible, although I notice some things. Firstly, use hot (or at least room temperature) stock. I used one from the fridge and it makes the creamy texture to come out very slowly and very little. Secondly, butter and cheese would add the risotto flavor, so don't remove them.

I used beef stock which is why it is brown. Taste quite good!

Capacitive Side Buttons on Smartphone

Yeay! Someone actually thinks like me! From the news at http://www.ubergizmo.com/2014/12/the-mantra-x7-is-a-phone-that-does-away-with-physical-buttons/, seems that there are people thinking like me and able to actualize the idea! Here was what I wrote on the idea of using capacitive panel for side buttons: http://hansccwolf.blogspot.sg/2012/09/new-smartphone-concept-capacitive-side.html. Let's see how the execution goes!

Phorce Unboxing!

Finally, my Kickstarter funding comes to me!

 

My First Time Building PC

Here is the build: http://pcpartpicker.com/b/sKhqqs

Building PC looks like Lego + Gundam, but from my experience, I want to share some advice.

I like smaller cases. Everyone told me it will give you trouble fixing the parts, and boy I must agree. But I can take that. What made me stressful was following the chassis instructions. PSU first, then motherboard, then ODD and HDD, then expansion cards (in my case, chassis fans were already installed). What is not put in there is plugging cable. And yes, that is a nightmare. One advice is that you don't need to put PSU first; you can put motherboard first, plug some cables then put PSU in. In such a small case, the PSU is on the way of the cable pins (lucky I have small fingers, so some left out cables could easily be sorted out). I had to take out the PSU after plugging in all the power cables because I have not plug in the front panel cables.

Another tips I can tell you is the CPU cooler from the CPU box already has a thermal paste applied on the cooler. If you have been seeing PC building videos, you might be thinking, "Shucks, I didn't buy any thermal paste." The answer is no need. I had to watch some youtube videos until some guy mentioned it.

One trouble I met in building my PC was the graphic card. When I finished building the PC, the parts are powered, but it was not booting. From online search, I took the suggestion to put only one RAM and to take out all expansion cards and yes it went to BIOS! Then I put in the other RAM, followed by installing Windows. Then I put in my wireless card. Everything still good. Then I put in my graphic card. Blank. BLANK. Oh my God. I spent the nights until 4 am only to know my graphic card caused the problem. So I went online, and some tips are to disable Intel graphics (for fear of graphic module crash) and to force enable PCI-E slot for graphics. Of course, not wanting to waste Intel graphics, I force enable PCI-E and... Wow, there is an option to enable both graphics there? Let's try! So I went to boot the PC again and BAM. Still blank. Wondering what is wrong, I try to plug in the HDMI to the motherboard instead of the graphic card and the screen is blue with mouse cursor! I tried moving the mouse cursor and it went missing to the side! That means that the system thinks that I have two monitors; one from graphic card and one from motherboard. This means my graphic card is working! So there you go, I uninstalled the graphic card, went into safe mode, disable Intel graphics, reinstalled the graphic card and finally, it works. That. Was. Painful. But worth it :)

Another confusion I met was IO shield. I didn't know why there are so many protruding pins on the IO shield, and Google search did not come up with anything obvious. Those pins are for grounding (prevent electric shock) the electric charge from the IO panel on the motherboard. They should touch the IO panel on the motherboard, but yes, you have to bend it! Otherwise you can't fit the motherboard with the IO shield on the case. It took me several attempts until I can fit my motherboard into the IO shield.

Oh, one more advice. Please have a screwdriver ready. I thought one of the parts would provide screwdriver, which apparently is not. In the end I used a cheap multi-tool with screwdriver that I owned to build the whole PC (ckck).