Mid-term update

I think I should have listened to my friend who recommended 3 courses per term. I thought I was burned out before, but every week forwards seems like I am finding a new level of burntness. haha.

IAT 337 - Representation and Fabrication
Poster for multiple configuration/product family model
I love my Bodum teapot. I love how the glass looks in my renders

Assignment 2 - Representation of a product family/multiple configurations

IAT 380 - Sound Design
Sound Design for Mass Effect 2 Trailer Clip


A re-design of the sound/audio using sound libraries for effects. The source footage is from EA/Bioware's trailer for Mass Effect 2.





IAT 344 - Moving Images
Lazarus - A video cinépoem.


This was a really odd project. I'm not entirely happy with the result, but I figured it's worth showing projects that aren't successful either.

Burn bright. Burn hot.

As I write this, I'm coughing, sick, worn down, and recovering from sleep deprivation from the last week of school deadlines. Yet, I'm quite happy with the situation as I've been able to deliver work I'm proud to put my name on. The trade-off between being satisfied with quality and work and my health isn't really a good argument I'm going to justify (because I don't really believe in it, but I do it anyway).

I've never pushed myself this much before but I'm glad I do. It also helps me understand how people who deliver amazing work achieve it. You push yourself to your limit, and then you push yourself some more. It's akin to pain. You push yourself to your pain tolerance threshold, and then you stop. You try again and realize it hurts a lot less and your threshold goes up. I realize this works the same way for success, you push yourself to do the best work possible, until you can't do it anymore, but you keep pushing how far you can go, and you realize you get stronger after every barrier. It all depends on your willingness to break through.

The only difference between success and pain, is the satisfaction of being able to have accomplished something that you have set out to do. The struggle is always worth the glory, well if it wasn't, there would be no glory. The easy things in life have no meaning. So burn bright, and burn hot. Always.

I feel like I've accomplished good work, but any feedback or critique is always appreciated. =)


IAT 337-Representation and Fabrication
Solidworks model of a kitchen object.
The assignment is on-going. About 50% done the second stage of this

Solidworks model of a Bodum Assam Teapot
(Number of actual holes reduced to deal with computer limitations)

IAT334-Interface Design

A revised email interface for a potential branded e-mail client.
Props to my partner Julia for making the Fidomail logo!

Mobile phone app prototype about post wisdom tooth surgery dental care.
This is about 75% done to make a running application. Super props to my partner Xiaojie for all the amazing graphics and sketches!

IAT 344-Moving Images (Film and Video course)
Life's Passion - a movie about a certain skater's drive and passion for the sport and his journey in crossing to a different culture. Majority of the credits have to go to my partner Trevor Komori.
(Just hoping to have the next 2 projects for this course turn out just as well.)

Life's Passion


IAT 380-Sound Design
Inhospitable. Sound design
This was a "musique concréte" piece that will need a pair of actual monitoring headphones to be able to produce some of the sounds. Mixed in ProTools, generated sounds from Logic Pro, and recorded samples using a Zoom H4N Recorder.


  Inhospitable (WAV)

Outside of my school work, I also finally updated the Metronomic widget application. It hasn't been working since the latest OS X update and so I was receiving some emails to fix it. I've given the UI a little bit of a rework.

Metronomic v1.0

Metronomic - Metronome dashboard widget

I'm also starting to plan out the changes for the next version already with requests of adding some type of light visualization, and some other features that allow for more customizability and personalization.

I'm going to go get some sleep now. Or at least try. :o

Curiousity is life

The school term has just started and I've been reflecting on my drive to learn and keep studying. This video is a perfect explanation about how I feel, it's about the question and the journey as opposed to the destination and arriving at an answer.

One of my professors gave some sage advice during lecture. "You will forget 70 percent of what you learn one year after you graduate...you are learning how to learn". I agree, that being a lifelong student, it takes me less time to learn new things and that it's about being adaptive as being a sponge as technology changes at a rapid pace and knowing about something old is not as critical as being able to learn something new.

Software
The new school term has me learning new software again, SolidWorks for fabrication modelling, and ProTools for audio design. It's been 15 years since I started playing around with computers/programming and got on the Internet and I have been thinking about all the software and languages that I've played around with and it's a long list (from my own opinion anyway).

[Note: I first started programming when I made my first website using AOLPress to make a Megaman fan website on AOL in 1996. Yes, back when the common file format for images were still BMPs and loading a page took 10 minutes and hoped that no one would call and interrupt my modem.]

I have tried to keep the list in somewhat chronological order that I learned them in.

My giant list of software that I have used in some shape or form
Web Development: AOLPress, Macromedia/Adobe Dreamweaver, Macromedia/Adobe Flash, gcc
Graphics: MS Paint, Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
Film: Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro
Audio: Goldwave, Finale, Audacity
Programming: Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse, MatLab
Languages: HTML, HyperCard, Pascal, JavaScript, ActionScript, CSS, C++, Scheme, Java, Perl, SQL, OpenGL, PHP
2D/3D: 3DS Max, Autodesk AutoCAD, Maya, XSI, VectorWorks, Cinema 4D

Obviously, I'm NOT an expert at all of these programs as there's no real way for me to keep up with all of them, but I still remember and understand the concepts that I've learned from trying them out. (The list probably isn't complete either because I'm sure I've forgotten some).

I should probably add Objective-C and Ruby on Rails to the Languages, but I never got a decent understanding (or a working prototype of those projects) of them.

Interpersonal Skills
I (think I) have grown a lot. I used to be someone who would never speak. (My sister has stories of her friends being amazed when I actually said hello and they jump in surprise going "Oh! He talks, he talks!")
My philosophy has always been to speak with purpose. By speaking less, when I do speak, it adds weight to the words I use (yes, I choose my words carefully so that I try to sound like I know what I'm doing).
By being quiet, I shut myself off from people, so I have to find the balance of talking too much and too little. However, I do feel much more comfortable now being social with people compared to before. Little steps.

Moving forward
I don't really believe in resolutions, new year's or otherwise. This was just a reminder for myself to think of what I have learned, of how I've learned, and how to keep continuing to learn and being happy not knowing where it may lead me. =) Cheers to curiousity and growing!

Reflections on 2011

2011 feels like it was a good year.

I was able to create some good projects and post up a revised portfolio.
I got to travel - Europe (Amsterdam, Prague, cities across Germany down the Rhine, Berlin), Canada cross-country road trip, Disneyland/Legoland + California road trip.
There were some ups and there were definitely downs, especially with choice of how to spend my time. But as with anything, I have learned something with every mistake.

There have been new avenues of possibilities that I have finally started to take upon. Taking more time to donate on creative and inspirational endeavours - volunteering and attending various conferences and events (Meshwest, TEDxVancouver, Creative Mornings, Vancouver Startup Weekend, Vancouver Free Portrait).

Prioritizing my time to focus on subjects that interest me is always an ongoing process. I was lucky enough to run into someone at a design event and that lead to joining a meetup group of foodies. I am still working on being more pro-active taking photographs and learning how to be a better photographer. I've stepped up my game towards posting more photos on my Flickr as well as getting a pro account. Also taking photography lessons, and also signed up for another one this year.

Ending the year with a small kitchen mishap was not good in any shape or form. Hopefully the part of my thumb that I sliced off will grow back soon. =/ However, the end of the year does not end on a sour note.
I'm happy that my sister was able to come visit and celebrate Christmas and New Year's (it would have been a lot more quiet holiday season if she wasn't here). Old friends who are abroad were visiting and were nice to see again. Good friends and family for a week long food fest over the holidays has been a burden on my health but has been great for my spirits and awesome times to be had.

I have met a lot of new and interesting people and made some new friends. Here's hoping for a great 2012!

RestoReview: Sushimoto

Sushimoto (UrbanSpoon)

2221 Holdom Avenue, Burnaby, BC
(near Holdom Station on SkyTrain Millenium Line)


Sushi Moto is quite a drive away for me from Richmond, but I was definitely more than satisfied with the food and would have no issue with driving that distance again for the amazing food that they serve.




The friends I dined with tried a wide variety of dishes though we were a little bit disappointed because the restaurant had to turn down some of our orders as they were out of stock on oyster motoyaki, hamachi sashimi, and uni sashimi. :(



Verdict
Highly recommend
For anyone who loves to try unique Japanese flavors. It's not the cheapest place for sushi, but for the quality of the food, the price is more than worth it.

Although I think the owners of the place are Korean, the ambience definitely has a Japanese vibe with an interesting collection of action figures that populate the sushi bar as well as the vehicle models on the walls. The Hobby Japan magazines in the washroom is a nice touch. Staff was very friendly and were nice enough to give our party a few free dishes to try out.

Highlights and favorite dishes

Best dish: Aburi Ika
This was the most interesting flavour from the meal. I've never had Aburi sushi 炙り寿司, roasted sushi, before and I really loved this new take. The crispness of Ika with the roasted flavor and underneath that interesting texture is the minty after taste of shiso leaf.

Aburi Ika

Other highlights: All the sashimi dishes were super fresh and most of the other dishes were delicious in general and so here are a few of the ones I liked the most.

Aburi Toro Steak

Tuna sashimi

Seared Tai Flower

Takoyaki

Failures
Avoid: This was the one dish that was totally unappetizing and tasted bland. The wasabi tobiko sushi needs to be taken off the menu.

Wasabi Tobiko sushi

Notes
When I go back to Sushimoto I already have a list of things I want to try that I wasn't able to hit on this trip. I'm definitely wanting to try more of the aburi sushi, fresh oysters and Oyster Motoyakis (hopefully they have oysters in stock next time), Moto Orange, and the Takowasabi.

Analysis of Gmail's new UI

Gmail UI Analysis
This is obviously a comparison on specifically the English UI. This analysis may not be relevant compared to other languages.

Search Bar (Old vs New)

Search Bar

-removal of Search Web button
-removal of "Show search options" link
-removal of "Create a filter" link
-change icon, increase visibility with color contrast
-addition of small arrow icon in search box as 'advanced search' toggle
Result:   +  Reduced Clutter

Old Advanced Search Panel vs New Advanced Search Dialog

Advanced Search
-repositioning of fields
-compressed dialog box instead of full panel
-advanced search dropdown/filter creation
Result:   +  Minimize Space Usage

The switch to a dialog box is a good choice for an improved search interface by compacting the form and minimizing space usage. Modifying the form to a vertical form style follows a good practice (that I learned from Luke Wroblewski's book, Web Form Design) that leads to a more straightforward flow for the user to progress (from top to bottom) as opposed to the old design which had 2 vertical rows and lack of a clear path through the search form.

Old Highlighted Tabs vs New Dropdown Tab Selector

Mail/Contacts/Tasks Tab Switcher
-compression of multiple tabs into one dropdown
-displaying current section in large text button makes state of UI much more clear and more visible
Result:   +  Reduced Clutter/Better State Representation

Old "Compose mail" button vs New "COMPOSE" button

Compose(Main UI Action) Button
-text reduction
-size increase
-text capitalization
Result:   +  Increased visibility

This button style correlates to similar changes of the "Create" button in Google Docs and Google Calendar. This is definitely a plus for consistency.

Old Folders/Labels vs New Folders/Labels

Folders/Labels
-not much difference
-mainly aesthetic differences:
--highlight is now just a subtle bar indicator
--sharp corners now for label color indicator
Result:   +/-  Neutral

Chat/Calendar Toggle View Icons

Chat/Calendar Minimize Icons + Chat Resize
-Allows for more control of sidebar UI
-prevents overwhelming UI clutter
Result:   +  Cleaner UI

Old Control Bar vs New Control Bar Views

Dynamic Control Bar
-controls/actions are now more relevant to the user's accessible options
-Archive button is no longer as prominent (no bold, and reduced width)
-icons only with mouseover labels, may take getting used to
-icons aren't overtly obvious, but I guess learnable
-increased button height, easier to click
-consistent button sizes

Result:   +  Actions are now more relevant to state of the user view 

There's still a few problems with the responsiveness of showing the right controls, but hopefully this gets fixed soon. I'd also prefer the archive button to be separate and a little more prominent. I'm also hesitant on the fully icon-based UI but I think it may be a better step to make it universal for all languages.

Notification Bar
-a little annoying with floating in between other elements/crossing lines
-different color makes the notification box more distinct from the other UI elements
Result:   +/-  Uncomfortable spacing and placement, but color change makes the notification more visible

New Display Density options

Message List - Display Density
-allows for view customizability
Result:   +  Actions are now more relevant to state of the user view


This new feature is definitely a welcome addition giving users some freedom to change the spacing on the screen. Definitely useful for certain users who may choose to view their e-mail window in a small screen, or for those who have different display sizes.

Old message list (upper) vs New message list (lower)

Message List
-removing "move" icon graphic
-shifting importance icon to left
-increased whitespace among icons
-change of checkbox icon
-change of star icon
-change of event icon
-change of file attachment icon
Result:   +  Easier to view data

The subtle icon changes are complementary to the overall change towards the minimalist aesthetic. As a designer, the shift of the importance icon to the left and placed together with the checkbox and star features as a strong move to group related indicators and allows for easier understanding. This also creates a stronger line of readability with the tags/subject titles as they are now lined up (on an invisible left align) and much more visible against the whitespace of the sender names. (Although they were lined up before, the placement of the importance indicator beside them to the left in the old interface reduces a visual edge line of where the user should start reading.)

Old Letter View vs New Letter View

Letter View
-small font changes
-color changes
-button modifications
-user icons
Result:   +  Cleaner UI

The shift towards icon-based buttons and the use of subtle placeholder text to remove action buttons reduces space usage. The addition of icons to identify the sender supports clarity of message ownership. 

Top section advertisements: Old vs New

Ads - Top
-increased whitespace
-separation between functionality and advertisement
-removal of arrows/ad surfing functionality
-increased visibility with color contrast
-declaration that it's an ad
Result:   +  Cleaner UI


The separation of the advertisement from the interface creates a more relaxed visual style without having everything crammed together. The increased color contrast makes the ad more visible, that's great for advertisers and also makes it easier for the user's eyes. The removal of the ad surfing functionality makes sense for the most part - who scrolls through the ads for fun?


Other notes
-addition of a scroll bar for the message list is great for a more consistent interface (with the similar visual style, also preventing disappearing scroll bars) and also removing the reliance on the browser for the scroll bar style


Conclusion
I initially felt like I didn't like the new interface.
But after doing an analysis and comparison of the changes, the new UI is an improvement in almost every single way. I'm going to attribute the first impression of discomfort to the sudden change. My final evaluation leads me to conclude that the modifications vastly improve Gmail's UI with minimal drawbacks.

This was only a specific analysis of Gmail's new interface, but the changes to Google's other platforms such as Google Docs, Blogger, YouTube, and Google Calendar create a unified interface style to represent Google as a brand.

21DJC Round-Up – How Has Your Experience Been?

21DJC Round-Up – How Has Your Experience Been?

1. How has the whole 21DJC experience been for you?
2. What have you learned throughout the 21 days?
3. Which question(s) did you find most meaningful? And why?
4. What is one thing you’re going to do differently after having gone through 21DJC?

The 21DJC experience has been introspective in asking meaningful questions that I haven't asked myself, or have avoided in answering. It has helped me find out more about myself by forcing me to think about and answer these questions meaningfully.

I've learned that I spend too much time thinking. The barrage of a daily question is a little much for me as I would probably have taken a few days to think over my responses to the questions. Being compelled to respond at a rapid rate pushes me to answer more instinctively though it makes me unhappy and uncomfortable with how my answer is not thoroughly constructed. I take a long time when making decisions and thinking through situations.

I think the question that gave me the most food for thought and significance was "What is the Most Painful Thing You’ve Ever Had To Experience To Date?" I usually tell people that I've had knee problems, but I've never written it all out with all the details and the timeline. I'm not sure if it's actually helped me, but it does feel good somewhat that I'm not thinking of the pain as just some vague memory.


I think after having gone through 21DJC, I definitely need to be able to express my thoughts and opinions faster without being comfortable taking a few days to think things through. It's one of my weaknesses in not being satisfied if I don't take the time to do things perfectly.

21DJC Day 21 – What is Your Biggest Wish for the Future?

Day 21 – What is Your Biggest Wish for the Future?

The one wish I am most interested in seeing is to just be happy. To be content with the circumstances I'm in, and accept it, and be fortunate that it's my vision of joy.

21DJC Day 20 – What Limiting Beliefs Are You Holding On To?

Day 20 – What Limiting Beliefs Are You Holding On To?

I think I limit myself by believing I can predict how things will turn out before I even attempting it. I fight against the instinct everyday to just go ahead and try to break through my preconceived notions of how the world works.

Even if it doesn't look like I'm going to succeed, I have to try.

21DJC Day 19 – What Words Best Describe You?

Day 19 – What Words Best Describe You?

The five words that I believe would best describe me:

Integrity
I'm very driven by my principles and ideals. I am unwilling to (or at least try not) cross them, because doing so would betray my own confidence. I consider it my greatest strength since most of my friends put their faith in me without worry.

Focus
I am unrelenting when I have a certain level of expectation in my work. I am willing to spend countless hours for that little bit of extra effort to near perfection on my projects and my creative endeavours. Determination is key to being satisfied with my own efforts.

Loyal
I am dependable to a fault. If someone asks for my help, I will more likely than not say yes even though it is not in my best interest.

Patience
Being calm is my way of dealing with stressful situations. I find panicking unproductive and a waste of mental resources. Even when I am faced with a circumstance where failure is guaranteed, I believe making the effort to strive when the probabilities are stacked against you is when you find your true self.

Meticulous
I am very detail-oriented. I am methodical and I approach everything in my path in a logical way. I guess it's the reason why I ended up working as a web developer.

21DJC Day 18 – What Matters Most To You?

Day 18 – What Matters Most To You?

Having gone through my experiences and from all the time I've spent thinking and meditating about life, the world, and just everything, what matters most to me is to be authentic. To be honest, to be someone who other people can believe in, to make a difference in other people's lives.

To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, I wish to be the change I wish to see in the world. I hold myself to my own standards to act better towards others as I wish others would behave towards myself. What matters is my ideals of how to treat other people and I know if I go against these ideals, I would lose respect for myself and would likely go into a downward spiral of how hypocritical I have behaved.

By following my principles and living my life adhering to them, I give myself a clear path of how to make decisions when I am given difficult choices. By doing so, I choose to free my mind from worrying about many things. I assure my mind is free (for the most part) from guilt, regret, and indecision.

As long as my principles are sound and true, then I will have no doubts that I have done the best I can.

21DJC Day 17 – If The World Came To An End Today, How Would You Feel?

Day 17 – If The World Came To An End Today, How Would You Feel?

I don't really like to think of what-ifs too much. Thinking about hypotheticals is something I don't typically ascribe to regarding how I feel because then it becomes a mind game about second guessing how I would act.

If the world came to an end today, then I would accept it. It is what it is. What I feel isn't going to stop the world from ending, though if it could, that would be quite interesting.

Vancouver Startup Weekend 2011 Overview

I volunteered at Vancouver Startup Weekend this past weekend and I got to meet a lot of cool people and saw a lot of great teams come up with interesting projects.

Final Presentations
This is a brief overview of the teams that presented, but you can take a look at each teams videos as posted below. The video isn't the best quality, and some are blurry, but feel free to blame my shaky hands. =)

Congratulations to all the 14 teams that survived the weekend!

Presentation 1: JukeNuke
JukeNuke, @JukeNukeApp, JukeNuke(fb)

Mobile phone app that let's the user have an interactive experience with the music in the venue they are in by voting up or voting down songs that are in the playlist of the bar/club that they are in.




Presentation 2: SocialQs

Algorithmic software solution that leverages social media (specifically Twitter) that uses natural language processing to extract user sentiment on products and use that data to predict stock price behaviour




Presentation 3: Distinctivo

Live stream of employee events and applying game mechanics to make work fun




Presentation 4: bagtag
bagtag, @bagtag_tweets

Integrated service to let e-commerce shoppers find out how other shoppers are combining their purchases on a particular product, ie taking a peek at other people's shopping carts who are looking at the same product as you.




Presentation 5: Let's Coffee

iPhone app to be able to meet new people in your area for coffee, and rate how good they are to meet.




Presentation 6: OrganizedGood
OrganizedGood, @OrganizedGood, OrganizedGood(fb)

Online platform to allow for a dialogue on civic issues and social responsibility to be raised and trigger engagement through offline participation




Presentation 7: epibuy

Digital tablet application that streamlines the purchasing process of products you see on the television program the user is watching




Presentation 8: My Best Helper
My Best Helper

Matchmaker platform to connect people who require caregiving services such as elderly care, pet care, or child care with individuals who are able to provide needed services. E-harmony for caregivers.




Presentation 9: Pay It Forward

Reward and recognition software for companies that uses gamification elements to promote employee productivity




Presentation 10: Trust.me
Trust.me, @trustdotme

Service that leverages social networks in order to determine the reliability of buyers and sellers in online marketplaces.




Presentation 11: SocialBuzz
SocialBuzz, @SocialBuzz_, SocialBuzz(fb)

Social events data aggregator that leverages twitter data to find out what events in your area are trending or 'buzzing'




Presentation 12: SmartCity

Smartphone app that will allow users to determine the electrical usage of appliances




Presentation 13: Qutie
Qutie App, @qutieapp, Qutie(fb)

Virtual monster app on your mobile phone that eats and interacts with QR codes that you find in the real world




Presentation 14: Epic Bets
Epic Bets, @epicbets, EpicBets(fb)

Mobile phone app to allow users to bet against each other on sports events using virtual points






Top Finishers
First place: My Best Helper
Second place: bagtag
Third place: JukeNuke
Best presentation: Epic Bets
Best social cause: OrganizedGood

Honorable Mentions
SmartCity
Trust.me


Photos
You can check out photos from my Flickr account from Day 2 and Day 3 below.
Credits to Anand Suchindrum, @spokanand for taking most of these photos

Day 2

Vancouver Startup Weekend, Day 2 - Nov 2011, a set on Flickr.

Day 3

Vancouver Startup Weekend, Day 3 - Nov 2011, a set on Flickr.