Doodle Buddy is a doodling/drawing iPad application. It is targeted at kids and thus does not have more sophisticated drawing and editing features that are found in other drawing applications in the market, such as Photoshop Express. Although I feel that softwares such as Photoshop Express and Doodle Buddy are targeting completely different demographics, as others have pointed out as well.
I completely agree that the application can be fun and it does seem fairly easy to use for all ages. Actually, when the group was presenting one particular iPhone/iPad app came across my mind - weDoodle. It is a very simple doodling game where you are given a word, and you need to draw them as well as you can for your friends to guess. It also has stencils, different types of brushes/pen tips/chalk types and various colours to choose from. However, it is primarily a game and it lacks many cool features that Doodle Buddy has, such as changing backgrounds or inserting images, and users cannot just doodle an image whenever they want to and save it. I think that if both apps are merged, it would be really awesome.
As for the intrusive ads, I think we have come to a point to accept that there will be ads with free apps. Many companies adopt this model to keep their applications on the iTunes store. And usually an ad-free version will be available at a nominal fee. So I think most users don't really see that as a huge minus point. In terms of UI, the colour option does seem a little complex for young children to choose from. As they are not really bothered by what shade or hue they are doodling in, a simpler option of choosing a few colours to doodle might be more appropriate. It might even be an additional monetization option - users are given basic colours to doodle in, but for additional colours, say for little Sally who likes pink, her parents would have to make an in-app purchase for the colour. Or they can be gained through points, like Doodle bucks which you guys suggested, that are earned through interacting with friends or other mechanisms. Basically I think it can be "gamified" to encourage users to want to use the application more. This is especially good for encouraging young children to cultivate their artistic talents and have more fun doing so, and parents will also be grateful for the additional peaceful time they are getting.
Overall, I think the app is a great one!
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Thursday 25 August 2011
Microsoft Talk
This week's lecture is interesting. Before the lecture, I was only aware of the use of SVG for static objects like company logos. Was not aware that it is capable of doing animation so the SVG girl demonstration was pretty cool to me. All in all, I think its a good demonstration of what HTML5 and CSS3 are capable of, adding on what had been covered by the workshop last week. And with the added capabilities they bring about, especially animation, it seems like the death of Flash is inevitable.
In other news, Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO. Wonder how that will affect Apple in the long run...
In other news, Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO. Wonder how that will affect Apple in the long run...
Friday 19 August 2011
Lesson 2
This week's lesson provides very useful project management information, which gave us a more concrete way of approaching the assignment than the haphazard attempts of just hacking away blindly before that. It couldn't have come in more timely, but I guess it was all planned. At least we were on the right track in thinking of having starting with an MVP first :)
The content was mostly relevant and useful, but what really got me thinking was prof Ben's mention of extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation. I think the environment being created in CS3216, with its high concentration of passionate and capable people, coupled with an intense schedule to follow, has been fairly successful in providing a high level of extrinsic motivation. It certainly challenges the limits we might have previously imposed upon ourselves, and perhaps bring about intrinsic motivation and a higher sense of self confidence. However, is this new resolve cultivated through the module sustainable? Once the module ends and we find ourselves going back into the normal environment, do people slowly revert back to their previous state or find themselves lost without the high level of extrinsic push they experienced?
Also I was wondering, why was it that after the module and getting the A, Caleb and his gang, or the other app example mentioned that now as a 2million user base in Brazil, why did these people with their good ideas not pursue it? Especially in Caleb's case, he had a certain level of validation with 13000 users. It certainly seemed a worthy pursuit.
Was it because they didn't believe the idea? If it was the idea itself they had doubts about, why did they not seek further validation? It would seem like a complete waste to throw the idea out just like that. Or was it because they were more concerned with the grades in the coming semesters? Was it because it would be hell all over again, to continue the project and potentially grow into a successful company all while studying? Were they worried that taking this path they might burn out, or lose motivation along the way, and end up doing badly, both academically and in refining the application?
I'm really curious to find out all these. Please share your thoughts/opinions!
The content was mostly relevant and useful, but what really got me thinking was prof Ben's mention of extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation. I think the environment being created in CS3216, with its high concentration of passionate and capable people, coupled with an intense schedule to follow, has been fairly successful in providing a high level of extrinsic motivation. It certainly challenges the limits we might have previously imposed upon ourselves, and perhaps bring about intrinsic motivation and a higher sense of self confidence. However, is this new resolve cultivated through the module sustainable? Once the module ends and we find ourselves going back into the normal environment, do people slowly revert back to their previous state or find themselves lost without the high level of extrinsic push they experienced?
Also I was wondering, why was it that after the module and getting the A, Caleb and his gang, or the other app example mentioned that now as a 2million user base in Brazil, why did these people with their good ideas not pursue it? Especially in Caleb's case, he had a certain level of validation with 13000 users. It certainly seemed a worthy pursuit.
Was it because they didn't believe the idea? If it was the idea itself they had doubts about, why did they not seek further validation? It would seem like a complete waste to throw the idea out just like that. Or was it because they were more concerned with the grades in the coming semesters? Was it because it would be hell all over again, to continue the project and potentially grow into a successful company all while studying? Were they worried that taking this path they might burn out, or lose motivation along the way, and end up doing badly, both academically and in refining the application?
I'm really curious to find out all these. Please share your thoughts/opinions!
Sunday 14 August 2011
CS#@!^
Phew, its the first Sunday of the school term and I found myself spending most of the weekend learning MySQL commands, learning how to set up databases. It took me 3 hours to get relational databases right. I mean, it looks so easy, and indeed it is, but Murphy loves to visit when you least expect him to. It always happens doesn't it? Urrghhh. Anyway, earlier I just remembered about having to do the weekly blog post, and made a note in my todo list. In a slightly drunken state induced by a mixture of lack of sleep and earlier alcohol consumption, I ended up typing CS3216 as CS#@!^ and I chuckled. It might as well have been what I was feeling about how the module is becoming 90% of my life (the other 10% being sleep). But even so, with all the pain it is fun and rewarding, especially after each tiny progress. Or maybe I just enjoy pain. Haha. I especially liked one of the seniors' sharing where he said "This module gives you the best bang for the buck."
Thus here truly begins my love-hate relationship with CS3216. Anyway, research has shown that swearing reduces pain, really! If any of you are curious or interested, the link is here: http://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/abstract/2009/08050/swearing_as_a_response_to_pain.4.aspx
Anyway, I was kinda bored during the first part of the presentation, mainly because it was a repeat of the info session, sorry Prof Ben :P
I did however, enjoy the short TED video on 8 ways to success. It was light-hearted, succinct and yet full of wisdom all at once. And of course, the show and tell. Everyone is so talented and you could feel all the passion they have for what they do as they presented. The energy level was amazing, and all I could feel was "This is going to be amazing. Working with and learning from these people." and "Damn. I better put in my 200% if I don't want to be left behind." I guess now I get a better sense of the dynamics of how putting really smart and really crazy people together will just magically work and produce results. We feed off the enthusiasm and energy level of the others and in the name of oneupsmanship (and hopes of getting an A).
Normally, in group projects people would be selective and careful about their group selection, but I find that in this class I find that I am willing and look forward to work with each and every one in the class and get the feeling that we will learn from each other at the end of the day. It's an amazing feeling. And so far its been really really fun working with my facebook application project mates. I sense lot of pain coming, and I welcome it =)
Thus here truly begins my love-hate relationship with CS3216. Anyway, research has shown that swearing reduces pain, really! If any of you are curious or interested, the link is here: http://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/abstract/2009/08050/swearing_as_a_response_to_pain.4.aspx
Anyway, I was kinda bored during the first part of the presentation, mainly because it was a repeat of the info session, sorry Prof Ben :P
I did however, enjoy the short TED video on 8 ways to success. It was light-hearted, succinct and yet full of wisdom all at once. And of course, the show and tell. Everyone is so talented and you could feel all the passion they have for what they do as they presented. The energy level was amazing, and all I could feel was "This is going to be amazing. Working with and learning from these people." and "Damn. I better put in my 200% if I don't want to be left behind." I guess now I get a better sense of the dynamics of how putting really smart and really crazy people together will just magically work and produce results. We feed off the enthusiasm and energy level of the others and in the name of oneupsmanship (and hopes of getting an A).
Normally, in group projects people would be selective and careful about their group selection, but I find that in this class I find that I am willing and look forward to work with each and every one in the class and get the feeling that we will learn from each other at the end of the day. It's an amazing feeling. And so far its been really really fun working with my facebook application project mates. I sense lot of pain coming, and I welcome it =)
Monday 8 August 2011
What I hope to learn in CS3216
Just a few days ago on my very first diving trip, I met a fellow young Singaporean, Shawn, who just graduated in bioengineering. He was about to begin his career in consulting with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the big boys in management consulting. While it is not uncommon that people end up working in a field far removed from their course of study in university, being curious (and to kill time during the transit time between dives), I sought to find out more about his story. I've always liked to know why people do what they do, or how things came about.
I shall not bore with details but what I learnt was:
1. Bioengineering was never what he really wanted in life. He just didn't know what he wanted in life when faced with the decision to make a choice. Sounds familiar?
2. He learnt about consulting about a year before his graduation in a chance encounter, which I imagine resembles the one I had with him. He never had any training or experience in consulting work. Yet a year later, he managed to ace through 5 interviews to land a 2 year contract with BCG.
So what does all this have to do with what I hope to learn in CS3216? First, Engineering Science (my major) is not really what I wanted. I was just as lost back then and still is. Given another chance, I might pursue Computer Science or Quantitative Finance, or maybe something else, who knows. I think there must be something wrong with the education system when a large proportion of students feel this way, and subsequently work in an unrelated field. In that sense, university education seems very ineffecient, but that's another topic for another day. My point here is simply that we, or at least most of us, don't know what we want to do or will do with our lives. Furthermore, most of the knowledge we obtain in college are either too "textbook-like", irrelevant or inapplicable in the real world, or just plain obselete. Plus, with our marriage with technology and its rapid evolution, we have to learn to adapt to everchanging environment fast. Sticking with a single specialty just doesn't cut it anymore. We have to be able to pick up new skills and adapt to new environments as we go along. My hope is that CS3216, with some nudging at appropriate times to guide us along, will provide a conducive platform that allows us to learn how to learn new things.
To be fair to other modules, not many subject matters have the capacity to act as a platform to provide such education, it's just that we're dealing with technology here, which is rapidly evolving, making it easier and also more suitable.
Secondly, I hope to retain what I have learnt. A quote by George Savile: Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught.
If I were to forget what little HTML, PHP, app creation skills I am about to pick up, I hope I still remember how to learn. That if I were to have to pick up something completely new, I would not only have the resolve to conquer it, but also a systematic method to approach it. Back to Shawn. So how did he land a job he had no experience in? Well, in his own words, "you don't really need any background la. They take in people from all sorts of background. To be a good consultant, you need to be a problem solver, pick things up quick, takes initiative blah blah". Sounds like the skills you need to be a good anything actually. What we should note here is that the lack of requirement on hard skills. It seems that as long as one has what it takes, any hard skill can be picked up. Furthermore, it has been shown that people learn things faster when they need it. As such, not only to this module, but in general, my pursuit in education has become that of achieve "having what it takes", which in my current limited understanding means able to take a lot of crap thrown at me, adapt quickly and thinking beyond set boundaries.
If none of this made sense to you, my apologies. I have never been good at articulating myself. However, I can confidently say that the diving trip was awesome! Thank you for reading.
I shall not bore with details but what I learnt was:
1. Bioengineering was never what he really wanted in life. He just didn't know what he wanted in life when faced with the decision to make a choice. Sounds familiar?
2. He learnt about consulting about a year before his graduation in a chance encounter, which I imagine resembles the one I had with him. He never had any training or experience in consulting work. Yet a year later, he managed to ace through 5 interviews to land a 2 year contract with BCG.
So what does all this have to do with what I hope to learn in CS3216? First, Engineering Science (my major) is not really what I wanted. I was just as lost back then and still is. Given another chance, I might pursue Computer Science or Quantitative Finance, or maybe something else, who knows. I think there must be something wrong with the education system when a large proportion of students feel this way, and subsequently work in an unrelated field. In that sense, university education seems very ineffecient, but that's another topic for another day. My point here is simply that we, or at least most of us, don't know what we want to do or will do with our lives. Furthermore, most of the knowledge we obtain in college are either too "textbook-like", irrelevant or inapplicable in the real world, or just plain obselete. Plus, with our marriage with technology and its rapid evolution, we have to learn to adapt to everchanging environment fast. Sticking with a single specialty just doesn't cut it anymore. We have to be able to pick up new skills and adapt to new environments as we go along. My hope is that CS3216, with some nudging at appropriate times to guide us along, will provide a conducive platform that allows us to learn how to learn new things.
To be fair to other modules, not many subject matters have the capacity to act as a platform to provide such education, it's just that we're dealing with technology here, which is rapidly evolving, making it easier and also more suitable.
Secondly, I hope to retain what I have learnt. A quote by George Savile: Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught.
If I were to forget what little HTML, PHP, app creation skills I am about to pick up, I hope I still remember how to learn. That if I were to have to pick up something completely new, I would not only have the resolve to conquer it, but also a systematic method to approach it. Back to Shawn. So how did he land a job he had no experience in? Well, in his own words, "you don't really need any background la. They take in people from all sorts of background. To be a good consultant, you need to be a problem solver, pick things up quick, takes initiative blah blah". Sounds like the skills you need to be a good anything actually. What we should note here is that the lack of requirement on hard skills. It seems that as long as one has what it takes, any hard skill can be picked up. Furthermore, it has been shown that people learn things faster when they need it. As such, not only to this module, but in general, my pursuit in education has become that of achieve "having what it takes", which in my current limited understanding means able to take a lot of crap thrown at me, adapt quickly and thinking beyond set boundaries.
If none of this made sense to you, my apologies. I have never been good at articulating myself. However, I can confidently say that the diving trip was awesome! Thank you for reading.
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