fotosquare

This is my final project for the IS3261 module I took. Fotosquare is a location based photo sharing app. It is a hybrid app, meaning it is built entirely with HTML+CSS+JavaScript. If you can blog, chances are you can pick up app development pretty quickly. The app idea is based off Instagram, but adds in the element of geolocation. 

From the app, you can see photos of places and events nearby. From there, you can click to get directions to the location the photo was taken at, hence encouraging a sense of discovery for the users. Similarly, you can also post photos of interesting things you see, and it is tied to your current location. 

Fotosquare is also heavily integrated with the FourSquare API. Meaning, the photos you post will actually also check-in on your FourSquare account. Checking-in to places sometimes rewards you with FourSquare badges, which you can easily see within the App. 

Adding to the social element of the App, you can also 'Like' and 'Share' interesting photos through the App. If you have followed your friends on FourSquare, you can also click to view the photos they have taken, making for a more social experience. 

The app was developed within a week, and is clearly just a prototype. You can also probably tell from the low-res half-baked video that was shot and edited within an hour... But I feel it showcases a cool an innovative way to leverage on the FourSquare API, to make photo sharing more fun! :)

It's Almost Christmas!

Christmas is right around the corner, and my life is in a mess. 24 years old already, going 25 next year. What have I accomplished with my life? Study until University already. But what was the point of all this? What have I achieved all these years? Not many friends, no social life, no girlfriend, no first-class honours (dun even know if can get 2nd-upper), constantly rejected job applications. Total loser.

It's fine if I sacrificed my social life and actually achieved goals in life. That's a different matter. But now looking back, I just threw away everything for nought. WTF am I doing in life? I don't even know. Maybe I'm just another useless bugger. Tried too hard to be different, failed just as hard. If I could turn back the clock... Travel back in time... I would totally have done things differently. Firstly, I would punch myself in the face for taking the decisions that I did. For being stupid and clueless all the time. For just being an asshole.

How can I change my future? How can I seize the day? I don't even know. My thoughts, and mentality has already been moulded to this state. My reactions and choices, no matter how dumb, have become second nature. It's rather hard to effect a change internally without external stimulus. Which is why.... You (at least those close to me) will constantly hear me sighing. I just hate my life, and what I've become.

I could go on and on about it, but what would be the point? Nothing's gonna change. I just thought I should post an update today. I have retired this blog to random ad hoc updates. So I will only post stuff every now and then, but posts may be few and far between. I just don't have the time anymore. I constantly have so many things on my plate. So many decisions and planning to do, so many projects to work on. And when I'm not doing those things, I usually relax by gaming or watching YouTube. I would like to go out more though. But like I said, I go no friends to go out with. I'm just the awkward oddball. :/

Today, I was supposed to go out to meet my client to deliver on the final product, but they were not free. They want to reschedule to next week, but all my team members overseas. So how? Throw everything to me to settle ah? Cannot be right? What if I mess up stuff? What if I can't answer to them anything? lol. Anything could explode and fail at anytime. 3v1. Too many uncertainties to go in alone.

And I think that's my major problem. I wasn't brought up in a risk taking environment. I would really love to try to be more bold, more decisive, and take more risks. But the honest truth is, I have no idea how to! I always end up taking too much time to think and contemplate on the most strategic or effective course of actions. By then, the ship has already sailed.

That could be part of the reason why I suck at interviews. I can't come up with my answers spontaneously when I need them. It's not that I don't have the knowledge. It's that I can't express it on the fly. Perhaps for that reason, people also find me awkward and difficult to be around with. Maybe something about me is broken.

I don't really know what I can do at this point. But it's too early to have an emo breakdown. I can wait for the results release coming up. I'm sure that will enough to kill me off. I don't expect to do well at all. In fact, it could very well be the the end of my chances at second-upper honours. My only saving grace of this sad life. Will it be exterminated? We'll have to see...

In any case, I hope somebody somewhere could help me. It's like I'm screaming in silence. It hurts on the inside, but I have unfortunately developed the ability to hide emotions. I can't express my feelings as other people do. I'm broken.

KPI Met

Key milestones accomplished. Hurdles overcome. At least for now...

I finally have a short period of time to blog today.  The past week has been pretty hectic. Had to prepare and go for some interviews and written tests. Gotta begin my job hunting early, lest I regret later. In terms of projects and assignments, I had to do my IS4100 stuff, FYP, and that freelance project too.

Today just had my IS3261 midterm. It was kind of weird. We basically had 2 hours to code a given app. Good thing was we had internet connection available, which is a first for school tests. I think all professors should look into doing such things. I mean, in real life, we have access to whatever material we need what. Just google it. Everything is so-called "open book". We should try to simulate real-life projects more, and play down the strict academic exams which reward muggers. End of the day, application skills and "spur-of-the-moment" problem solving and decision making is what we need to learn to do. But, I digress.

Regarding the app I made today... There was basically no purpose of the app at all. It's just to cover the Android basics. How to put Buttons and Textview, retrieve and set variables, process actions with eventListeners, etc. The only challenging part was that I had to google and learn on the spot how to implement the Android seekBar. Somehow got 10% bonus mark for that, and 5% bonus for color changing. So my total marks should be 115%. Yeah, like I said, weird midterm test...

So, I have accomplished what I needed to do for today. Just taking a rest for now. I think I deserve it. That's not to say however, that my week is done. Far from it, I got my work cut out for me. Tomorrow gotta rush out 2 things in a day. Gotta start to draft out my Interim Report for FYP, which requires loads of research. Also, gotta throw together some report for IS3101. Good thing that it is on Gamification, which will overlap somewhat a little with my FYP report. Though this one is not one education...

So yeah! That's it for now. I shall leave you with a song:

Currently in love with this girl group, and their sister groups in E-Girls. Well, not so into [Happiness]. So far my favorite is [Flower], but I like [Dream] too. I just wish they would stop blocking viewers outside of Japan!! :-/

A Lonely Sunday

Yo! Today is Sunday!

I'm at home coding out some projects. Doing that freelance project lor. Like I said, I dunno why I took it up in the first place. The scope of the project just keeps growing. At the start say until like so simple like that. Now it's taking so much of my precious time.

Not to mention, I have other things to work on. My "boss" friend is asking me to work on IS4100 project. And I haven't started working on my Mobile App module project. Haven't got the idea out even. Die liao lah.

Then there is the looming mid-term exams! I got 3x mid-term tests. Never had so many mid-term tests since year 1 man.... So old already still need to mug for tests. Haiz... IS4100 and IS3101 is really must mug one. IS3261 is a practical test. Coding an app in class, wtf.

Besides school work, I'm pretty much not doing much. No time lah. But over this weekend I did catch up with 2 of my old buddies. Not physically though. We connected up on Skype and played a few Dota2 games. Long time never play liao, rusty.

Thankfully this coming week is recess week. Gives me a little bit more time to catch my breath. Not that I'm very free or anything. Tuesday got meeting with "boss" and the team. In the meantime, gotta work on the freelance project so that it can be presented on Friday.

Oh! And I just got an invitation to interview for PWC. Hmm... Sounds cool, but they put it at a day and time where I can't make it. Damn. I gotta re-arrange another timeslot with them. Crap. Now I'm really busy!!! gtg. Bye!

Shall leave you with a MV from the new JPOP group that I'm listening to right now. It's really 3 different dance groups from the same label, that somehow decided to work together like sisters. They're pretty good. Gives me an excuse from having to ever delve into KPOP.

BYE!

Chapter Seven: The Lone Wolf

I'm back. For now at least.

I do tend to come back to this blog once in awhile. When I'm feeling lonely or moody. It's just that sometimes I don't know what to write, or simply don't have the time to do blogging. Also gotta start watching what I say, now that I'm starting to job hunt. Don't want to accidentally say something I shouldn't.

I realised I haven't really quite started Chapter Seven or this blog. I was even considering abandoning the blog altogether. Everything that it represented and stood for has long since disappeared into some unattainable place. What's left is just little ol' me, sitting on a wooden rocking chair in my small hut on the hill. A fortress of solitude if you will, though not much of a fortress.

Emo stuff aside, this is a pretty important semester for me, career wise. I'm finally into my final year at University. To be quite frank, I didn't know what I want to do all these years. I was practically drifting like a piece of log in the river. Now when it comes to crunch time, I really gotta decide which path I wanna take.

I seem to be sending out Resumes quite broadly. What I'm actually looking for is surprisingly a non-technical position. Something like a consultant or advisory role of sorts, preferably in a bigger organization. Surprising in the sense that I'm pretty strong in my technical skills as well. But that's not quite the route I wanna go. I wouldn't mind being a Systems Analyst though. The problem is that my skillset is quite broad. I know a little about everything, but not too in-depth about a particular thing.

I also need to brush up a lot on my interview skills....

In terms of academics, this sem I'm taking a total of 22MCs. Not sure why I decided to do that even. Statistics is so totally killing me. Nobody can understand the lecturer as he tries to "talk out" everything to us and expect us to get it.... IS4100 and IS3101 still okay. Standard IS modules, pretty fluffy and straightforward. IS4100 is actually useful. Project management skills are good to have for my career. IS3101 lecturer mumbles everything so we can't hear. But he does record lectures, and it's a straightforward module unlike stats. IS3261 mobile apps module is pretty fun. We get to learn quite a bit here and there, even though I got experience. The lecturer is a pain to listen to though. He pauses too much and erm...er... ah...hmm... stalls a lot! Not to mention the total lack of project spec for sake of "creativity".

I'm also working on my FYP, which is pretty fun. I was so lucky to get a really good Prof. In fact, so damn lucky that he just got his PHD to become a prof. Everything fell in place just in time, so I switched over to him. The project is about Gamification in Education, and so far seems like a very interesting topic to research and develop on. Personally, the gamification part is relevant and will help me out on my future business once I gather sufficient resources.

I am hiring too! :)

In addition to that, I am still working on a freelance project for a friend. I have no idea why I even decided to go into that. I guess when I promised him, I haven't really started on my FYP. Now that everything is in full swing...... life is tough. Everyday also busy one, everyday got things to submit.. Speaking of things to submit gets me frustrated. Let's just say, you can't count on your "friends". Let's just leave it at that.

As you can see, I'm pretty busy this semester. In addition to that, I am attending recruitment talks and networking sessions here and there. Submitting resumes, doing online applications, taking stupid aptitude tests that are a bloody waste of time. That practically leaves zero time for myself, and to do blogging. So, don't expect to see these type of posts anytime soon. Today is an exception. E-Learning week.

Btw, I found a really good song recently. This band is awesome! It's both motivational and emo at the same time!

Just myseeeeeeelf!

Okay lah, I think that's all for today. Actually I like to talk a lot one. It's just that I don't have anyone to talk to... It's not that I want to be a Lone Wolf, it's just that nobody really cares about me or bothers to keep me in the loop. So what I do is just wander around, and sometimes do blogging. In a way it's kinda sad. But I guess in some ways it could be cool? Maybe.

Ciao