Interactive Media Informatics

Reflection of a year 2 student.

2011-12-20T02:23:00.006+08:00

Hey peeps!

I’m Aisyah, year 2 student, in semester 2.2, to be exact. Before you go, “she must be one of those Director’s List students or someone from SIG, blogging for IMI”, well, for the record I’m not. I’m just an average student, sharing my school experiences.

Before entering TP, I was from ITE. Therefore, I did experienced culture shock when I saw the kind of workload I had to face in polytechnic. ITE was of course more relaxed. During 1st year, I remembered having to take my 1st CDS in semester 1.1. It is because I had deferred 2 modules as I had taken it before in ITE. My careperson, Ms Nat, thought that it would be good if I started on my CDS earlier. Thus, I settled on “Intro to Japanese” for a start. I love semester 1.1 as I can always go off earlier than my classmates. During the term break in semester 1.1, me and a group of friends, together with Ms Josephine (whom taught me VDT & NMT) , visited Northview Primary School. It is part of our efforts to spread the happiness during the festive period. I really enjoyed the time I spent with the kids. I’m sure my friends did too.

I got my 2nd CDS in semester 1.2. I took “Public Speaking”. It is really fun! I always look forward to the classes. Oh yes, by now, I had gotten used to programming as a must-have module. There was once, I had to rush a programming dateline, for the module Animation Programming (ANP). It was also on my birthday. I felt really demoralized and sad. My only consolation is that I can enjoy myself after all this is over. And yep, I did enjoy myself after that.

Oh here comes the fun part! I cleared my 3rd CDS even before I entered year 2! Yup, you heard that right. I took Transnational Studies (TNS) vacation. 2 of my friends got through too, so it was fun getting to stay in a flat with your friend for 2 weeks, going home on weekends. It’s similar to guys booking in and out of camp when they’re doing their National Service (NS). I stayed at Temasek Green, the block of apartments beside TP. I love staying together with my friends even though we are of different races and religions. We respect each other and we would always go out together during those 2 weeks. Till now, we still keep in contact.

Come year 2, it gets even more hectic! I love the modules I was taking in semester 2.1, but the workload was kinda crazy. I do appreciate the times when the lecturers actually extended our datelines, maybe due to the fact that the datelines clash with other modules. A special mention to Mr Douglas, the lecturer in charge of IN3D, for being generous and helpful when it comes to datelines. We as students, really appreciate your kind gestures. Oh I have a favourite module too. It’s Human & Computer Interaction (HCI). Lectures are done by Ms Nat, and my tutor is Mr Vijayan. He’s one of the best lecturers that you can ever ask for. He’s very nice, encouraging, and full of ideas and at the same time makes you get out of your comfort zone so as to give your best in everything you do. I always look forward to his lessons. This semester was also the time I started to stay overnight in school with friends in our effort to complete our work together. My friends and I would meet at the school bus stop around 10 pm, and then make our way to the concourse.

Now in semester 2.2, I’m doing my option, Edumatics. We have to do teaching plans and did a lot of research on learning styles, for example. I’m also having term teaching. It is way different from the normal semester teaching. The modules have to be cleared in a term and thus, the datelines were

speed up to an earlier date. That’s the disadvantage. The advantage is that, I am now enjoying my term break without any assignments or projects! How awesome is that?! I never thought that this day would come true. Heheheh. I was only taking 3 modules in term A of semester 2.2. When school re-opens, I have to take another 2 more modules. Nice right? But the workload and stress level is somewhat more manageable for Term A at least. I hope Term B will be nice. After that will be the school vacation, and then poof! I will be in year 3.

Alright, that’ all I’ve got to say for now. Hope you all like what you have been reading. Sorry if it was a bore. Bye! J

2011-12-01T16:55:00.000+08:00

Our seniors have finished their Major Project and one team is here to share about their experience. They have created a application known as "Cyber wellness A Virtual Tour for Parents". It is an application designed for Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC).

It aims to encourage parents to learn about the digital world while taking place in an interactive, fun and engaging learning environment. It is a mixture of interactive video and games. The top 3 main topics covered in this application; social networking, cyber bullying and online security.

Alicia

During this MP, I learnt that looking at different angles to solve a problem is important. When one solution failed, there are other solutions to act as back up. When I was editing one of the videos, I initially planned to use this method called tracking. Unfortunately, there were complications and the method cannot be used. Therefore, I tried another alternative way to emphasize the specific part. In addition, i also learnt that communication is important (for both with the client and our team members). For our MP, filming was required. The filming process can be rather difficult and tiring sometimes. However, I felt that it is the most enjoyable period throughout the whole MP. It was interesting and fun with all the funny NGs and such.

In my opinion, I felt that to do a good MP, planning out the whole schedule and really following it is important. Also, when planning, always try to set the completion date earlier in case there are changes to be made at the last minute. Not forgetting, there is final report to complete within the dateline too!

Overall, I gained good experiences from working with the client. It allows me to have a clearer view of how working in the IT/media department will be like.

Foong Ting

I had learned and gained a lot of experience from this Major Project.

I found out that it is not easy to follow a schedule exactly, there bound to be times where the project will be delayed.

Hence, planning ahead of the deadline is very important.

Although during the process some of us were lost and not sure what we were supposed to do next, we were able to get back on track and complete the application. It was a good experience to be able to have an actual client from external to feedback to us, it makes me feel that I am in the actual working environment.

Ain

By taking Major Project this semester, I had the opportunity to explore possibilities working with an industrial partner.

It is an eye opener and provides a real life experience in a working environment. As there were minimal assistance from

lecturers and students, the learning medium was through research and lots of reading from online resources and books.

While at it, we learn a lot of things and apply it to the project. One of the ways that we overcome the challenges and pressure

is to remain calm and positive. What I learn is that procrastination, lack of leadership and team work will effect the quality of work.

Make a wise decision when choosing group mates because it is important to have people working together and on the same page as well.

These are some screenshots of their work!

IMI Bonding ONE-Day 2011

2011-10-14T14:50:00.004+08:00

On the 13th October, IMI SIG and IITSC held an event called the IMI Bonding ONE-Day 2011 Event for students in IMI to bond and have fun together as one family. The event first took place in the IIT school starting with the registration of students where they are grouped into 4 different teams; Red, Blue, Yellow and Green.

After which, we had an introduction of the committee involved and followed by ice breaking games for the different teams.

We also had games like Capture The Flag, where the teams were combined into two teams which were red and blue together, while green and yellow were teamed together. Teams had to first fill up their water bombs before the game started. Later, the teams had to first only carry one water bomb person and go around searching for the flag. Players could throw the water bombs at the opposing team players and that would then get them eliminated. Players had to find the flag, and bring it back to their base. It was definitely a fun experience for them and all of us!

Another game we had was called the Running man, where this time all four teams were playing as opposing teams. Teams had to go through four stations. There were four different stations located at different locations. Teams had to complete each station before getting a clue on where the other station would be located at. At the end after completing all four stations, teams had to gather at Mushroom to complete a game. After so, teams will have to go around the different schools in search for poker cards.

We also had BBQ after Running Man! Everyone was hungry and exhausted after participating in Running Man. We also had an impromptu Hide and Seek game after the BBQ.

We all had fun at the event and we hope that those who attended enjoyed themselves too! For those who didn't attend, we assure you that there will be more fun events to come!

Till then! :)

OCP: Cambodia

2011-10-11T23:26:00.009+08:00

On the 1st October, 29 Interactive Media Informatics and 19 Information Technology students with Mr Sankara(IMI Lecturer) and Ms Christine Lau(IT Lecturer) went to do an Overseas Community Project(OCP) at Cambodia for 8 days.

The main Objective of this OCP was to foster the spirit of volunteerism, raise awareness, appreciation of a foreign culture, develop leadership, interpersonal skills and understand the environment and social-economical development issues in Cambodia.

Before going, some of them manage to find some sponsors and donors for the T-shirts, shoes, stationary, school bags and simple gifts we were going to give them. The others taught them english at their level, played interactive games such as Captain's Ball with them and perform a cultural item for the school. It was lots of fun.

We brought our energy and creativity which the kids there enjoyed and appreciate. I'm glad I had the chance to experience this amazing trip!

KM Singapore 2011

2011-09-07T18:34:00.007+08:00

KM Singapore 2011 is the 8th IKM conference organised by iKMS. The theme for this year's conference is "Riding the Wave of Experience". It was held at Hotel InterContinenetal on 31 Aug - 2 Sep 2011, from 9.00am - 5.00pm.

The conference aims to bring together the IKM community in Singapore, both IKM practitioners and partners from the public and private sectors to share and learn about the latest development in KM in Singapore and beyond.

This event is mainly for KM/IM/OD/OE practitioners, HR professionals and senior executives. Delegates will gain insights on the trends and opportunities facing IKM professionals today, how other organisation capture, share and reuse their corporate knowledge and exchange dieas on how to cultivate a learning and sharing culture.

This year highlights include:

International Keynotes : James Roberson and Dr Gary Klein
Local Keynotes: Maish Nichani and Patrick Lambe
Practitioner Case Presentation: Aw Siew Hoong, Shell
Pre-Conference Masterclass: Michelle Lambert

On 1st & 2nd September, four current students and three graduates from Interactive Media Informatics(IMI) attended to learn more and help out the organizers as well. It was quite an amazing experience for all of them. Ms Faridah, our school's lecturer was also there to talk about her experience in knowledge management.

Delegates at the conference.

For more information, feel free to visit http://www.kmsingapore.com/

*KM is a common acronym for knowledge management.

Hello

2011-09-02T18:06:00.000+08:00

Hello
I am a year 2 student in IMI! I am part of the IMI Student Interest Group Main Committee. My name is a secret but thou may call me Orange. Why orange? Well you see , I love the color orange. Because its really an amazing, awesome, life-is-fun-feeling inducing color and I could go on forever but I have better things to do.

Psst: Blogger recently updated their interface and guess what! The buttons are in orange! Haha! What are the odds!

Anyway, I'm one of the few who can post stuff on this blog here so I'll be posting things once in awhile.

So on with today's post
Today I'm going to share with you a website that I've stumbled upon while browsing on related articles about web design. A list apart is a webzine that publishes articles about web design and its various fields that are written by the professionals of that particular field. The link is www.alistapart.com. They have a wide range of topics which can talk about seemingly random subjects such as doodling, sketching or the more common ones such as graphic design, codes, culture, web writing and many other topics you'll find when you explore their website. Enjoy reading most of the articles they have there. It is really insightful and it may even help you during your projects!

Here is one of the articles I've read recently, http://www.alistapart.com/articles/making-up-stories-perception-language-and-the-web/ I won't spoil it for you but its more or less about how people-such as yourself- interpret and understand the way content is shown on the web. They talk about it in terms of the text on the website. The words used and bla bla bla about how people make inferences. Reminds you of the concept of mental models for those who have taken HCI.

Read it! Enjoy it! Understand it! Use it!

If you have any questions you can tweet about it to IMI's twitterfeed and I'll reply you from there or you could head over to our IMI page on facebook.

Just in case you don't have the links.
Twitter page: http://twitter.com/#!/IMItp
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/InteractiveMediaInformatics

With that I end my post here. Next up would be on Dropbox! A very powerful and simple tool you can use to help for school work and personal endeavors.

Until then, cheerios!

Orange

HAPPY 46th BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

2011-08-09T11:32:00.000+08:00

A Major Project done by 3 students from Temasek Polytechnic, School of Informatics & IT, Diploma in Interactive Media Informatics. This is our take on the popular NDP song called Home, sung by Kit Chan. A motion graphic made of typographic elements.

HAPPY 46th BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!!
AND A HAPPY NATIONAL DAY TO ALL SINGAPOREANS!!

World Youth Tchoukball Championships 2011

2011-08-08T00:31:00.006+08:00

World Youth Tchoukball Championships 2011 was held at Traiskirchen, Austria from 13-19 July 2011. A total of 4 team were sent out to participate in the competition M15 Boys merge as Champions in their category while the M12 Boys came in third. The M18 Girls and M18 Boys team came in 4th and 5th respectively. And our very own IMI Freshman, Kingsley Tan was there to participate and represent for the competition.

Outreach Program with Qiaonan Primary School

2011-08-07T11:43:00.000+08:00

Qiaonan Primary School visited Informatics & IT School on the 5th Aug to find out more about some of our courses. Our Diploma Interactive Media Informatics and Diploma in Gaming Entertainment Technology welcomed them and gave them a brief overview on our diplomas. IMI's Student Interest Group took the lead to plan the program for them and prepared some games created by our students for them to play. The students had fun playing the games and were given some treats provided by the school.

Students listening to what our student Kai sharing about our diploma

Our student Melvin teaching the students how to play the game created by our students

Students watching a video filmed by our students for our Motion & Sound subject

IMI's Student Interest Group

2011-07-26T10:29:00.000+08:00

Yes, IMI's Student Interest Group is back! More organised, more serious and ready to start things with a bang! This is a photo of most of us having our first outing as a committee. So watch out for us, ready to present you with the biggest and first event IMI has ever initiated! Yea we are excited and we hope you guys are too!

Board of Governors Talk

2011-07-14T08:12:00.007+08:00

For this year Board of Governors talk, it was Mr Alex Siow's turn. He came to gave an inspiring talk to the Director List students about how to excel in an IT career. The Board of Governors are the people who manage Informatics & IT School and they take turns to come to our school to give talks and share information with the students.

Mr Alex Siao & Mr Ng Koon Seng, Deputy Director of Temasek Polytechnic Informatics & IT School.

Our Director List students attending the talk

Here is some background information about him. Being Head of Business Excellence and System Technology, Starhub, he is well-known personality in the industry. In 1995, he was nominated by Computerworld Singapore as one of the top 10 most powerful IT personalities and IT Person of the Year 2002 by the Singapore Computer Society. He was formerly the Chief Information Officer(CIO) of the Housing Development Board of Singapore and was conferred the Public Administration Medal Bronze award in 1993 and the Silver award in 2000.

He shared with us lots of his wonderful experiences. One of the most amazing thing is he was a civil engineer yet he created a huge wave in Singapore's IT industry. At first he did not want to enter the IT industry. However, in the end, he still became one of the first few CIO in Singapore. One of the main reason was his success was that he taught his subordinates all his skills and knowledge. Even if he hates his job, he still give it his best and never complains.

Mr Alex Siow also shared about soft skills necessary to become a CIO or basically any job. Skills such as communication is very important, he emphasised on being good at English as its the language we use to communicate. Having the basic soft skills is not enough, we also need to learn to mentor others and be selfless. He mentioned that we have to teach others how to be good at what we do so as we can move on to other jobs. Learning is an endless process and we have to keep learning to improve ourselves and prove that we can be capable in other jobs so as to move up the working ladder.

Finally, I would like to end this post with his favourite saying, Never say never.

New Media Strategy and Web Analytics Talk by Mr Tan Kian Ann

2011-07-03T13:00:00.003+08:00

Our senior students studying New Media Strategy and Analytics had the chance to listen to a guest speaker on the topic "New Media Strategy and Web Analytics".

Mr Tan Kian Ann is a TP graduate from 2001 and set up his own business 4 years ago. He started with web development and proceeded onto Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as he realised the importance of it for businesses.

He shared with us his knowledge on SEO and analytics. He also share his experience on working with clients and the practices he use. Showing us some of his clients and the results of the work, he explained what he does for his clients and how it has impacted the clients' businesses.

Looking at Life - Pre-sip Talk

2011-06-22T22:33:00.002+08:00

Our senior students who are soon to go for internships with companies attended a talk on the topic "Looking at Life" on the 21st June. It was in collaboration with Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). The speaker Don Lowe shared with us many interesting ideas on how to face life as we are entering a different phase of life. Graduation will approach us next year and its time for us to think about what we are going to do when we graduate and what we hope to achieve. Imagine yourself in 5 or 10 years time, where are would, what are you doing, what have you done. These are things we have to think about now so as to set a goal to target for the future. Don shared with us many thoughts and got us to think carefully about our future. Everyone gained a new perspective and learnt much from him. I believe it was a great learning experience from us especially with his enthusiasm.

Wishing all our seniors success in the future!

Our students standing up for an activity

Don Lowe sharing his experience

Don sharing some quotes about life.

"And in the end its not the years in your life that count, its the life in your years."

Don showing us his family picture and sharing the story behind the photo

Our students listening to his viewpoints and stories

Ms Farida, our lecturer who arranged this and the speaker Don Lowe

Graduation 2011

2011-06-01T08:21:00.002+08:00

To all the Interactive Media Informatics Graduates, Congratulations to you for completing your three years in Temasek Poly! Time has passed very quickly hasn't it? Soon you will be on your way to further education or join the working force. Join the alumni and be part of the school. Always remember the times you had spent at TP, your friends, the hard work and happiness. Always remember that we will welcome you back with open arms!
Embrace your new life and work towards your goals! Be courageous and take on challenges!

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anais Nin

Graduation ceremony at Temasek Convection Centre

Our graduates taking a photo with the board

Great job to our medalists! You are a role model to all of us!

Director's List AY10//11

2011-05-24T13:25:00.001+08:00

Three of our senior students - Rina Teo, Yu Ling, Aziuddin

On the 14th May, 20 over students from IMI went to the Director's List to receive their certificates for being in the top 10 percent of the cohort! The Director's List is a ceremony to award students who have worked hard and earned good grades. Many parents came with their children to celebrate their achievements.

Congratulations to all the students! We are proud of you guys. Keep up the great work!

A Day in the Life of A DPA Student

2011-05-01T18:22:00.000+08:00

Today we have a guest blogger from Game Entertainment Technology. He is Eugene Choy who is a DPA student for AY11/12. He shares with us about his life during his time as a DPA student.

7 Feb was the 1^st day for my DPA Polytechnic Preparatory Programme. I walked into Temasek Polytechnic feeling both excited and nervous at the same time. I was worried whether the people there will be easy going or difficult to get along with.

We gathered outside one of the Lecture Theatres collected our matriculation card and proceeded into the Lecture hall. There were DPA seniors over there who were trying to help us break the ice with other DPA students. Most of us were very shy initially and did not really respond.

On the 2^nd day, We were divided into several groups and did many ice-breaking and bonding games. These activities help us opened up to some of the DPA students in 1 day. We were soon exchanging our contacts just after the 2^nd day of the programme. This was the first time that I in such a short time manage to make so many friends and even get their contacts. This was one of my most memorable experience I had in DPA Polytechnic Preparatory Programme.

After a period of 2 Weeks, We started off with some Cross-Disciplinary Subjects ( CDS) . I took Japanese & Culture and Transnational Studies as my CDS-es. We were required to interact with other classmates in our class during Japanese classes and Transnational Studies so we also made many new friends.

Just after our CDS started, We had our residential stay. We were assigned to stay in Temasek Green( The hostel just beside Engine sch). Each apartment have roughly about 5 people staying. Transnational Residential Stay was the most memorable experience I had in my Preparatory Programme. Although we had a curfew where we are required to stay in our own apartment after 11pm, we still went to each other’s apartment. There will be around 20 people in one of the groups apartment and we will start playing games and bond with each other. The Residential Stay was very fun but the fun did not last long. We had to move out just after 2 weeks. Although, the residential Stay was very short , we had fostered a very strong relationship with many other DPA students.

The last programme we had for our Preparatory Programme was the School Discovery Programme. For students from IIT sch , we completed another CDS which is Effective Internet research. This CDS helped to teach us on how to obtain resources for research effectively. This CDS also taught us how to make us of the databases that are available in TP. Therefore , this programme was very useful.

Overall , DPA was a very memorable experience for me. I was able to create strong bonds with many people from different schools and take Cross disciplinary subject which helps in my graduation. I would advise anyone who have a passion in any course to apply for DPA.

1st Week of sch is over!

2011-04-29T23:59:00.001+08:00

Woots! I'm still in the camp+holiday mood!

To all our freshies, did you had a great wk in school?

TP had CCA day with our free milo van and today was Team Temasek Day!

IITSC also went to Sentosa last sun for our freshies to hang out. This is our group photo of our Sentosa trip of the whole IIT school. Can't find IMI freshies since your faces are too small but I'm sure you guys are inside! In case you don't know, IITSC stands for Informatics & IT Studies Club which was in charge of Wk 0 camp. Join the IITSC family for a more happening life!

It was really great to be back at school even though ITAS is still as smelly as ever and we were freezing in the labs. For us seniors, we have already been given all our projects to do! And I'm sure all of you are having fun trying to figure out how to use Maya or understand HTML. Even though it all seems so foreign now, I'm sure you will get the hang of it very soon!

Our seniors also had they very first FSP as a class. FSP stands for Fittness Star Program! Also known as Fat Star Program , just a joke. It was werid to see everyone suddenly in shoes and shorts with shirt. We really had an awesome time playing Captain's Ball that was hosted by IITSC. And many of us didn't want to go home after that. It was a great idea to have "PE" together as a class!

One of the IMI senior class after their great workout!

Watch out for more happenings especially in IMI this year!

Have an awesome weekend!

First Day of AY 11/12!

2011-04-25T15:33:00.001+08:00

Welcome back to IIT school juniors and seniors! Hello to all our freshman!

How was your first day of school? Hope all of you managed to find your classes and had an awesome day!
Get along well with your classmates freshies!
Rmb to say hi to your seniors you met in Wk 0!

IMI loves you!

Meet our IMI DPA 2011 students!

2011-04-19T13:00:00.002+08:00

Hello everyone, I'm Tommy Lee, currently studying in Diploma in Interactive Media Informatics (IMI). I'm freshmen this year and will be starting school next week!

I'm here to share something about myself on our diploma's blog. One thing I do frequently as a hobby is Origami. It’s quite interesting how it’s possible to make something out of a simple piece of paper. One tip is to go slowly and take your time. This way, you do not make the wrong move and can fold the paper accurately.

Most of my time is spent at home. As for favourite websites, I visit many joke websites such as failblog.org, comixed.com etc.

I chose IMI as I’m interested in animation. I’ve always wanted to create a whole new universe from my mind (of course, I’m going to try to stick a bit closer to reality). It was this very reason that compelled me to join my school’s animation club. I have animated a few things, and even modeled a revolver using the program. We won a few competitions as well, one which I participated in on a minor role.

I find the DPA (Direct Polytechnic Admission) programme interesting especially participating in the activities like canoeing which allows me to connect with a few seniors. I have benefited from DPA as I have managed to get to know a few friends.

Looking forward to school next wk!

Freshman Orientation!

2011-04-18T18:08:00.001+08:00

Freshman orientation is starting tml!
Freshies, we look forward to seeing you guys at the concourse level.
Get ready to cheer and go wild and crazy!

From your IMI senior (Programmer)!

Meet our IMI DPA 2011 students!

2011-04-18T17:58:00.003+08:00

Hi readers! I am Ivan Goh from Diploma in Interactive Media Informatics (IMI). Im a freshie this year and will be joining my classmates for Orientation tomorrow!

I got to share a little about myself on IMI's blog because I am a DPA (Direct Polytechnic Admission) student for 2011. IMI is my choice because I simply adore animation and I believe that this course will be interesting, and interest is a start to success!

As a DPA student, I started classes earlier than others. The three modules I took in the past two months are Japanese, Transnational studies and EIR (effective internet research). These modules are all cross disciplinary subjects which help to reduce my workload during sch time.

I enjoyed DPA as it let me have a chance to know TP earlier than my fellow peers. It also gave me a chance to meet others from different courses and adopt to poly life faster.

Some of the things I will do when I'm freewould be to play computer games. I love watching Youtube , most of the things I watch are anime (Japanese cartoon) as I feel that the storylines are more interesting.

My favorite hangouts are mostly the LAN shops. My favourite internet sites include Wikipedia and GameFAQs for information.

I really look forward to my start of 3yrs in TP as an IMI student! Enjoy school life!

Wk 0 Freshman Camp

2011-04-15T09:10:00.002+08:00

Countdown to Wk 0 in 4days! Hello to all the freshies coming in this year!

I'm one of the programmers for your orientation camp and also your IMI senior! I know a lot of you must be nervous about the camp and also school.

Don't worry, your seniors will make you feel right at home.

Do try to come for the camp as it is a time for you to mix around and know your seniors better! Seniors will give you loads of tips for school and they will be able to help you during your school times! Also you will get your timetable, know your classmates, get the sch shirt which is blue btw, and the matriculation card which is our identity as a TP student!

Some information for those coming to camp, dress comfortably, FBT is fine for girls and just any shirts that you don't mind getting dirty will do. Don't bring your nice shirts or clothes that you bring to go out!

This is a camp and its going to be dirty! Also wear shoes and bring slippers for bathing. Just enjoy the camp and have fun mixing with your new classmates!

If any of your have questions, feel free to ask them on IMI's Facebook page! I will be happy to answer all of them. I will be welcoming you guys on the first day of the camp so cya!

Twitter - Good or Bad

2011-04-12T15:24:00.006+08:00

Hi y'all, it is me, the amazing and awesome M blogger still on the fringe of going insane with his erupting passion for FAME. Here to share the good and bad news about the social networking media tool Twitter which has rocked the Internet world and charmed us fellow Internet users since July 15, 2006.

Twitter is a microblogging tool and the purpose of Twitter is for users to tweet status about what they are feeling or whatever they are doing. FREEDOM of speech! Yes!, Yes! You can tweet about your ninja cat, the love potion that you're brewing, the clouds that look like a pillow, or something like my terrible plans of taking over the world. Opps? I did not just say anything about taking over the world, heheheh. As I was saying, Anything you wish, sir/madam!

You are able to choose the people who you want to follow and whenever that person tweets, you are entitled to read their juicy updates. That way, you will know what is on their thoughts. Likewise if they follow you, they will be able read your ~~evil plans of taking over the world~~ nonsense. Of course, if you want to, you can change the setting so that when people follow you, they must ask for your permission - that way, privacy issues are solved, you need not be afraid of internet stalkers.

Twitter can be found anywhere, the bird bird thrives in places like the internet, your friends' laptop, regardless of the different Operating System and it can even be found in your lecturer's smartphone, Blueberry lovers, Android the ice cream desserts robot, iPhone and many people concur that they are in love with twitter, iLoveTwitter too!

Twitter for Android

Twitter for iPhone

Let me go onto the main topic about twitter that I will be talking about today. The good and the bad, the yin and the yang.

The bad part about Twitter.

First.
Many people who are using Twitter love twitter for it's awesomeness and they can't live without twitter for no apparent reason until they get bored of it. They love being able to tweet about anything they are thinking about, never mind if it does not make any sense at all to others. This is bad as some people love to post whatever happened to them and if you follow them, you have to read their tweets unfortunately.

You can read my version of people who tweet about every single thing all the time.

8 seconds ago: "Oh hell no, I realized I got school today."
3 minutes ago: "OMG WHY IS MY MOUSE NOT WORKIN!?
6 minutes ago: "I just drank soda hehe and my toe doesn't hurt anymore."
7 minutes ago: "Ouch, I just knock my toe against my computer table."

or watch this awesome video on people who tweet about every single thing all the time.

How to solve this problem? Stop following them or ignore their tweets.

Second.
Privacy issues. As I mentioned earlier, you are able to change the settings so that people have to ask for your permission to read.

Problem solved. Yay. You can select the mastermind who are able read your tweets about taking over the world.

See, technically there is no bad thing about Twitter at all.

The good part about Twitter!

First.
Ability to tweet whatever you want. Enough said. +2 for twitter!

Second
Get updates from the people you love. You can follow your friends, your family and your favourite artist/dancer/actors etc! Read their juicy updates and see what's happening in their life. Stalker alert. Stalker alert.

Third
If you found some amazing tweets, you can choose to share it or in twitters lingo, retweet it. This will allow people to see what your followers are tweeting about and they might start to follow them. You are knocking down two ~~birds~~ fruits with one stone. (SAVE THE BIRDS)

These are the features that enticed me to use Twitter, the awesome microblogger and social networking tool. There are many uses for it and I love Twitter, it keeps me up to date with the people that I choose to follow. I am able to connect with all my loved ones and this makes me happy.

Lets not forget about our undying goal to become famous, with Twitter, if you post quality updates, people will start to retweet your tweets and you will become famous soon!

So hey! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS WAITING FOR? Join me, M flaming blogger, on our conquest to achieve fame by tweeting the best tweets ever. The blue bird of twitter will soar you up to the limits of fame.

Stay on the look out for my next erupting post, you have to and you will be in awe by my awesomeness. =D Remember to bookmark this blog for more insanity!

Signing off, the M blogger
P.S if you want to know what M means!? Keep guessing.

3D Animation Electives - Insights on the modules

2011-04-04T20:57:00.001+08:00

Hello☆

I’m Alicia. I was invited by Ms Faridah who was my Effective Internet Research lecturer, to write a guest post. So, this will be my first time blogging here (:
Being an IMI student, we have 3 majors to select from. As for me, I have chosen 3D Animation. So far, I had attended 3DVA (3D Visualisation and Animation) and 3DPF (3D Production Foundation). Creating 3D animation isn’t as easy as it seems. As you advance, you will realize that there are quite a lot of things to take note of. However, the process has been fun and interesting.
For 3DVA, we started out by sketching and modeling a character. Afterwards, we practiced movements (animating them). For example, bouncing ball (stretched and squashed) and how the pendulum move and swing (overlapping). For our final project, we did a full walk cycle which is whole body movement. We need to portray the characteristic through the walk cycle.

For 3DPF, we modeled out props and also did facial expression. We started to “act out” using a character (which is actually holgan, a robot character). For our final project, we did a short 11 seconds animation based on a sound clip. Here, we must lip sync for the character and also include suitable movements and appropriate props for the animation. This project enhanced our creativity and imagination as we created our own props and setting here.

Here are some of the images of what I had done for 3DPF.

Guitar prop for Holgan

Microphone prop for Holgan

Different face expressions of Holgan

My closing words to our freshies and junior, put in all efforts in doing your assignment.

When it’s done nicely, you will have a sense of satisfaction (:

Rich Media Application Development (RMAD) - Insights on the module

2011-04-02T13:10:00.029+08:00

Hey peeps, Danielle here! Semester 2.2 has ended for me and I would like to talk a little about Rich Media Application Development which is a Distributed Media elective. In case you do not know what are electives, in Interactive Media Informatics, everyone has to choose from 3 options in Semester 2.1. The options are Distributed Media, Edumatics and 3D. So I'm from the Distributed Media option and Im here to talk about one of the electives I took.

Rich Media Application Development (RMAD) is about developing a Flash website based on e-commerce themes. So this is my work for the project. My group created a flash website that provides stock photos. Its like Photobucket or iStockPhoto. Basically visitors have to sign up for an account to be able to download the images or stock photos. Registered users can comment and add favourites to photos and follow other users. The concept is also derived from Facebook to give users more interaction.

The difference between the normal e-commerce websites and this flash website is that you will get to see a lot of animations and transitions from page to page. This is created in Flash Builder and also involves the use of database and mySQL to function.

I would say that creating this website was a very tedious process. Also because it is in term-mode which means we only had 8 weeks to finish this, we spent a lot of time experiementing with the codes as not everything is being taught in class.

Its all about self-exploration and testing to get things the way you want them to work. Flash Builder has already quicken up the process of creating such websites and all we have to do is learn how to use the different functions it offers.

I hope that I haven given a deeper insight to our freshies becoming juniors this april and also to anyone who wants to understand what we do.

Games and Apps (iPhone) by Jack S

2011-04-02T10:02:00.005+08:00

Hi again folks, I'm back! Haven't put up anything since the Christmas song, the police are still trying to track me for it, so this post will be something a bit more fun!

Now, everyone uses smartphones or MP3s everyday, and honestly, do you guys actually know what you're putting onto it? Need some advice on some apps and games worth putting your cash into? Look no further, here's 4 for your entertainment and convenience.

SG NextBus

Want to know what time the next bus is coming? have no fear, SG NextBus and 3G connections are here. This apps saves stored bus stops and numbers, as well as searches for nearby ones, perfect for the scheduler in all of us.

Instant Queue

Don't you just hate the fact that nothing good's everyone's playing, even on your own iPhone or iTouch? Don't worry, Instant Queue will make sure all will be right with your ears. All you need to do is line up songs of your choice, and from there add more or rearange, making your own playlist on the go, so you won't be scrambling to double tap your headphones.

TweetDeck

Socialities unite! TweetDeck now has an iPhone app, and for those who don't know what it is, it is a cross social networking platform where you can update status across your FaceBook and Twitter accounts, so this will be perfect for you social hounds, and get a Twitter account!

Games Dev Story

Come on! Who doesn't love a good business Sim game? Run your own games company and churn out record breaking games after another. Okay, the price tag is a bit hefty, but wait for the next sale and purchase it! Trust me, you won't be putting it down so fast.

Okay, that's all from me, but still want more? Go to your Apps Store and have a look yourself, be adventerous. Come on, if you paid like $700 for your phone, you can pay $1 for a game. Okay, see you guys next time, and cheers!

(AND SORRY TO ANDROID USERS!!!!)

Orientation Leader's Training Camp 2011 (OLTC)

2011-03-29T13:08:00.002+08:00

Informatics & IT School had our Orientation Leader's Training Camp on the 21st-23rd of March. This is a camp that will prepare our orientation leaders for the upcoming Wk 0 where we welcome our freshies! So to all freshies who are entering the school this year, Hello!

This year we have 6 IMI students who are programmers! So as you can see we are really hyped up people. Im sure you must be wondering what are programmers. No, we don't sit at a computer and start typing like mad. We basically run the camp program and its our job to welcome our dearest freshies!

We are so excited and looking forward to welcoming our freshies especially IMI since there's so many of us from IMI. Also this year we welcome our first batch of Digital Forensics students. Wk 0 will be a 3day camp which I'm sure you will enjoy and bond very well with your class. It will be filled with team bonding games and exciting events such as Regatta which is our annual dragon boating race with all Temasek students.

Seeya in Wk 0 freshies!

Programmer's Group photos with 6 IMI students here! Can you guess who?

Camp committee for OLTC

Orientation leaders doing the mass dance, school song etc

My MMP1 experiece

2011-03-28T19:12:00.003+08:00

Hey it’s RAINE! Here to blog something since it has been a while since I blogged.

As my freshman year has ended. (yays to holidays that I’m having now) I decided to do a reflection entry on one of the modules I took in semester 1.2.

This module is called multimedia project 1 (mmp1). It’s one of the modules I looked forward to every time in my previous semester since the others modules are rather dry for my preference. This module is all about being creative. When I first took this module I had a hard time to come up with new ideas as I was rather afraid that my ideas may be silly. But as the time passes I learnt how to think of more ideas and also modify them so that it will become a good idea.

Some of my work:

(self promotion poster)

(my concept, for a new stamp design, prototype)

Why do I love this module compared to the others? Well, this module makes me use my creativity to think of new ideas, I get to use my favorite software and also have a field trip to museums and come up with new ideas for my project work. I had some difficulties coming up with my report and generating new ideas. But it was a fun experience and not forgetting that my hard work for this module paid off with an awesome grade!

I hope the new freshman will enjoy this module like I did when they take it in 1.2 (:

Alright this is me signing off. ^^

Social Networking - Guest Blogger Taqinah

2011-03-27T10:10:00.001+08:00

Today we welcome a guest blogger, Taqinah from Diploma in Financial Business Informatics!

Hi Everyone! I’m Taqinah, from Temasek IIT school. Taking a diploma in Financial Business Informatics. Today, I’m going to share my views with you about social networking!

In this day and age, most of us have an account in social networking sites such as facebook and twitter. It is a great place for people to keep in touch and share our experiences without having to meet face to face.

Although social networking sites makes it easier for us to communicate without having to meet face to face, I believe that it should not replace face to face meetings. Social networking sites should be used in a way that encourages us to meet more often, and to make more friends in real life.
We should also be careful of what we post on social networking sites, and who we add as friends. Personal information such as house address and phone number should not be posted, because anyone can get your information and track you down.

One of my lecturers shared this video with us the other day - http://youtu.be/LlqslTxKkmo

Imagine how it would be like if you walk on the street and some weird stranger approaches you and told you that he knows all your secrets because of your facebook status updates! Super creepy!
Recently, I have also privatized my twitter account to protect my tweets, so that people who are not my friends or family cannot read my tweets. This is because I loveeee to tweet and I use twitter to communicate with friends (e.g. place of meetup), and do not want strangers to know of my whereabouts.

Be careful what you post online, it can be viewed by ANYONE. And think before you post it, once you post it, you cannot take it back. Whatever you post can also be used against you!

IT Project Show 2011 by Seniors!

2011-03-25T15:30:00.004+08:00

Interactive Media Informatics had our IT Project Show 2011 on the 18th of March on Lvl 5 in IIT School!
Its a showcase for our graduating seniors to invite the public to view their major projects. Major projects are done in the 3rd year and takes out a huge percentage of our final marks and a huge amount of time to complete. So after all the hardwork, heres their opporunity to showcase their projects. Below are some of the photos of our students at the showcase and also some project videos!

Our students with Ms Natasha!

Our students with their certificates for IT Project show!

Our student sharing with the visitor on their project!

Now here are some of the projects that were featured at the showcase!

Interactive Digital Media Ideation Platform (IDMIP)

From left to right: Alishia Chiang, Gerald Yong, Yeow Chun Chee, Yeow Chun Sian
Project Supervisor: Mr Rick Toh

The purpose of the Interactive Digital Media Ideation Platform (IDMIP) project is to create an interactive platform to allow the use of objects to represent ideas in the forum, and for people to share their ideas which can be viewed by all users. The platform will also serve as a medium to bring interested parties together to work on an idea. The IDMIP also provides a better representation of ideas through the use of animation and provide a richer collaboration experience for users to express their ideas.

The IDMIP is a collaborative project between Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT) and Temasek Polytechnics School of Informatics & IT.

Motion Capture and 3D Video of Shaolin Martial Arts

From left to right: Soh Jun Jie, Zhing Chong Tian, Jaye Chan, Regina Tan
Project Supervisor: Ms Cherry Thian, Mr Douglas Finnigan

Motion Capture and 3D Video of Shaolin Martial Arts consists of a book with accompanying multimedia materials on DVD.

Venerable Gao Can’s disciples were invited to the motion capture lab at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to perform various Shaolin martial arts moves. Advanced 3D technologies were used to capture their body movements, which were then applied to a 3D model of the Venerable, to generate a realistic animation of the monk’s movements. A final video composite, including a realistic model of a Shaolin Temple, was then produced.

This project was done with in collaboration with Mr. Chan Chow Wah, a Singaporean cultural anthropologist from the Cultural Compass Project and the NUS School of Computing.

Project Food, My Life! (Project FML)

From left to right: Valenisha, Kear Tian Seng, Teo Min Li, Tong Kok Peng
Project Supervisor: Mr Andrew Tan

Project Food, My Life! (Project FML) is a Web application that not only provides users with information about various eateries around Singapore but also allows them to share their experiences about the various eateries by plotting them on Google Maps. Users can also rate, comment and share details of the eatery plots via Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Project FML is a collaboration between Tribal DDB and Temasek Polytechnic School of Informatics & IT.

Project Love - PC Family Programme

2011-02-28T13:26:00.003+08:00

On 26th Feb, our school studies club organised PC Family Programme on campus! This programme works with NorthEast Community Development Council to help needy children learn baisc skills in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint. Informatics & IT school's students have volunteered to help be the 'teachers' and also organise a funfair for the children and their family. Interactive Media Informatics had a few volunteers who set up a game booth for the funfair. The children had to use a pair of chopsticks to pick up a pingpong ball and walk to another bowl to place it there. They had a lot of fun and many of them kept coming back to our booth to play. A successful ball would equals to one ticket and there was a prize redemption booth. Our helpers had fun interacting with the children and teaching them how to use a chopstick! Also Yu Ling, Rina & Dane from Interactive Media Informatics designed all the posters used in this project!

One of the many posters designed by our students!

Group photo of all the helpers with GOH, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed

Yu Ling & Rina serving food to our guests

One of the families whose children played our booth many times.

Look at his determined face to pick up the ping pong ball!

One of the children with a very focused face and her mother watching behind

Picking ping pong balls with chopsticks at our booth!

SIP Experience from Avril!

2011-02-20T00:35:00.002+08:00

Hello all my dear juniors!

Avril here writing on the IMI blog for the first time! The lovely Miss Faridah approached me recently to ask me to blog about my SIP experience and here I am.

For those of you approaching Year 3 and being seniors soon or even freshman and juniors here’s an insight to what it may be like for you. =D

The company I got assigned to was a small company. And when I mean small, its like REALLY small. There was just my bosses and me. That was it. Oh and one other part time admin staff as well.

It’s a tuition centre and a tuition agency. So I was assigned to be their graphic designer. I basically helped to brand the company and give it its corporate identity.

One of the first things I did was to come up with a logo for the company.

And I created many flyers, name cards and helped with the modifications of their websites.

Those were some of the stuff that I did.

During my SIP, I’ve definitely worked hard. Sometimes pulling 12 hours shifts and working on weekends. We’ve had road shows and flyer distributions too!

Being in a small company is a good thing for me. It means that I don’t do just my job scope and that’s that. I had to take the initiative to do things that were new to me and were out of my comfort zone. But I am proud of myself to have achieved that.

So don’t be scared to experience new things during your internship journey. It’s definitely an experience you’ll never forget. Plus you’ll definitely learn many new things during the whole internship. Be it software skills or people skills.

The internship definitely opens up your eyes to the working world and gets you ready for it. But all work and no play makes life and your job a boring one.

During my time with the company, I’ve worked hard and I can definitely say that I’ve had fun outings with the company as well. We’ve gone out for dinners together to shop for Chinese New Year decorations for the office and also to celebrate one of the bosses’ birthday! We’ve even visited pet stores during our lunch break for a little pet therapy!

Here are some of the photos during those fun times.

Playing with one of the cute puppies running around the pet store.

Fooling around the with the Chinese new year decorations while shopping for them.

Standing next to the company’s logo that was created by yours truly.

The birthday boy with his cake

And a group photo of us!

There you go! Pictures of some of the outings we’ve had.

During the Internship, you’ll feel that it’s tiring and tedious to work every day, but nothing compares when you see that you’ve contributed and made a significant change to the company.

So approach your SIP experience with an open mind and embrace whatever opportunities that are thrown to you. Remember to take the initiative and do the tasks that are given to you properly. Make yourself be proud of your work.

Viola!

And with that I’ve imparted my internship knowledge and experience to you and I hope you enjoy yours too when the time comes.

I’m off to watch Gossip Girl now and relax.

Xoxo

Avril

SMU's visit & Admission Talk

2011-02-16T09:29:00.001+08:00

Our students posing for the camera during the talk!

Former TP students sharing their experience as an SMU student!

Our students discussing about the course structure!

Campus in town!

Our IMI group photo in front of SMU!

The map that saved us from getting lost!

On 8th February, some of the IMI students went for a trip to Singapore Management University for a visit and an admissions talk.

Upon reaching the university campus, we were directed to a seminar room where we were greeted by three SMU students who were from Temasek Poly. They gave an introduction to university life and shared their experience with us about the courses they have chosen. Some of the sch life they shared was that they have to actively participate in all their classes as participation takes about 20% of the coursework. Each student had their own card with their name to place it in front of them each class for participation marks!

Apart from listening about student life in SMU, we were also introduced to the course structure of the curriculum offered in SMU, and the variety of CCAs available. Students are encouraged to take up many CCAs and one of them had 5 CCAs!

After the short briefing in the seminar room, we were taken for a tour around the SMU campus. The different schools are connected by an underground network – we could have gotten lost if not for the map!

How Addictive are you?

2011-02-01T22:36:00.021+08:00

Hey everyone, it is me, Hikaru, again. Sorry for the extremely slow updates that we are putting up. Recently, most of us are busy with our assignments. We will increase our post frequency after the semester break kicks in.

Ok! Let us get into topic nowxzxzxzxz. Well, have you ever thought about yourself being addicted to something?

Here are some information. When someone is addicted to something, he/she will be very agitated about it. This person will also slowly lost patience to anything around them.

The awesome M blogger and I went to listen to a talk hosted by Mr. Puden Tsang, Project Manager of Rie ink company. He gave us a talk on Alcoholic Addiction and Smoking Addiction - alcohol and smoking can be harmful to us if we take in more than expected limits which our bodies can take.

Before heading into the main topic, Puden played a little game with us and let us do a quiz to see how addictive we are. The more points you have, the more addictive you are.

Here is Ms Farida introducing the guest speaker Mr Puden Tsang (on the right)

The Addictive Traits.

In the talk, Puden told us about how drinking too much alcohol will cause many health problems to our body. The average drink per day for female is just 1 glass while the average drink per day for male are 2~3 glasses. He also stated that more and more youths have started drinking recently and the youngest age for a youth to start drinking is 12 years old. That is a very young for a teenager to start drinking. Well this doesn't mean that you can't drink at all. You can, but do it in moderation.

The effect of drinking.

After that, he goes on by telling us the percentage of alcohol that will be in our bloodstream when we drink. Each glass of beer consist of 0.02% alcohol content which are quite high.

Hence, if you want to drink, drink responsibly. Do also take note of your health by drinking less. And also, each alcohol contain almost the same amount of calories as the food we take everyday.
So if you don't wanna get fat, then stop drinking and keep yourself healthy.

It is important to drink responsibly.

Amount of Calories in each Alcohol.

During the talk, we also learned about the negative side effect of smoking. I know that you people already know the side effect of smoking, however, there are still people who are smoking. Some may even take in more than 5 sticks of cigarette per day which is dangerous for the health. Smoking can only make us feel good for a short moment and over do it, you may get cancers such as lung cancers.

In my opinion, I think that everyone wants to live long and enjoy their time with their families and loved ones. If your family members or your friends smoke, it would be best to encourage them not to.

A short activity during the talk.

Well, that's all folks. Stay tune for our next post which is near Valentine Day. =)

The IMI Bloggers and the guest speakers.

Worldskills Singapore 2011

2011-01-29T22:21:00.004+08:00

Hey readers, im Yu Ling, a 2nd year from Interactive Media Informatics. Last Oct, i shared about my experience at Worldskills Singapore Qualifying Round. And today I'm going to talk about the Web Design category which me and 2 other students participated in.

So here am I again to talk about the Worldskills Singapore Finals held at ITE College West at Choa Chu Kang. It was an 18 hour competition spread over 3days. Going to compete in the finals are me, Alisha Chiang and Loke Jun Ming.

We had worked for months to prepare for the 3 days. Hours and hours of intense training, staying back after classes and loads of practice at home. Even though training had been tough, we were well-prepared and ready to meet the challenge.

We had to create a interactive website using a given topic and given information. We were not given any internet access and had to use our knowledge and given resources to create a functional website that fits the given theme. We were given images and used Adobe Flash to create an interactive banner. Some of the tools we used were Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Flash and Adobe Dreamweaver. The website included log in features, view members profile, admin features etc.

The closing cermony was held on the 26 Jan in which I recieved a Silver Medal and Alisha recieved a Medallion of Excellence. Our hard work and efforts have paid off after the tiring 3 days. We are grateful to all the lecturers who have guided us and taught us much. This competition has really tested our determination, endurance and patience.

A big congratulations to all the Temasek Polytechnic medalists!

Our first day at the competition venue!

From Left - Ms Natasha Low, Tan Yu Ling, Alisha Chiang, Loke Jun Ming, Mr Andrew Tan

Closing cermony!

From Left - Tan Yu Ling, Alisha Chiang, Loke Jun Ming (Behind)

From Left - Mr Andrew Tan, Tan Yu Ling, Ms Natasha Low, Mr Woo

From Left - Loke Jun Ming, Tan Yu Ling, Alisha Chiang, Wong Kin Seng (Fellow Temasek competitor from IT Software Applications)

TP Open House 2011

2011-01-11T10:48:00.004+08:00

Open House 2011 ended offically on the 8th Jan, Saturday. Interactive Media Informatics had a showcase at Lvl 5 in our learning lab. Some of the projects that we showcased were immersive interactivity games such as Boxing & Wack-A-Mole. We also showed some special effects videos by our seniors, dress-up games by the freshmen and 3D short clips.

Many O'Lvl students & parents show great interest in our course and projects which our helpers gladly explained to them. There were balloons given out for free and our course's balloon color was GREEN!

Do check out some of the projects showcased, do visit our Youtube channel or click here!

Our very own helpers & lecturers!

Our student explaining course details to some visitors

Our lecturers posing for the camera!

More interested students in our showcase!

Ms Jean talking to some interested students.

Parents Seminar 2011

2011-01-08T21:12:00.003+08:00

Hi awesome readers, Sheldon and Raine here. On 4 Jan 2011, we had the privilege of attending the enrichment talk by invited guest speakers during the Parents Seminar organized by the Temasek Polytechnic School of Informatics and IT.

This talk was well attended by over 200 parents of the students of the School. We were thrilled to be part of this exciting event. This event was organized by the IIT School in collaboration with its industry partner Health Promotion Board.

The parents were treated to an interesting and enriching sharing of awesome experiences of counseling and the psychology of childhood and parenthood by two experts in the industry.

The first speaker is Mr Benedict Lim, who is trained in Counselling and Psychology and has been working with different groups of youths for more than 10 years in various capacities with 4 years of professional experience as a full-time youth worker and counsellor with Children-At-Risk-Empowerment Association (CARE Singapore).

The second speaker is Mr Nicholas Lim who is a registered psychologist and works extensively with at-risk youths and caregivers. He has worked with local schools and various youth and childcare organisations such as National Youth Council and Children-At-Risk Empowerment.

The speakers shared with parents on the impact of parental relationship and behaviours on youth in a talk entitled “Happier YOU, Happier YOUth”.

The speakers were engaging and we could see the burning passion in their eyes when they spoke about how the parents are a role model for the children. They told everyone in the lecture hall that children are constantly watching and recoding the behavioral traits of significant caregivers (adults). Children model themselves after the 3 Rs.

The 3 Rs are:
Responses (our reactions to situations)
Rituals (our habits and patterns)
Relationships (our interactions with others)

Children see,
Children do.

What the parents do will have an effect on how their children will grow up to be. Hence, if the parents are violent, the children will grow up to be violent too.

“Don’t worry that your child never listen to you. Worry that they’re always watching you”
By Robert Fulghum

Mr. Benedict also told us that everyone sees things differently. He showed us two optical illusions which people may perceive it in different ways.

You can see a face or the word “Liar” here.

Children will see nine dolphins while adults who have experienced adulthood will see a picture of an intimate pose here.

Why people see things differently are because of the 3 Es. They are:

Environment
- Our environment forms the parameters and scope of our world views
Experiences
- Our prior experiences shape us and mould us to form ideas and perceptions about things that we see
Expectations
- Our expectations drive us to interpret things according to how we want to see it, forming a self fulfilling prophecy.

He also shared with us inspiring quotes that the LOVE which parents show for each other, is actually the best present for their children because children will model themselves to love their future spouse.

“The Greatest Gift a parent can give to their child is to Love Each Other”
By unknown sources

“Self Care is the Greatest Gift you can give to yourself and your family”
By Theresa Bung

Lastly, he shared some commandments (no religious connotation) about how parents are blessed if they pay attention to their child by Association for Children and Adults with learning disability including:

1. Blessed are the parents who listen to their child, for they in turn will be heard.
2. Blessed are those who do not expect more of their child than is appropriate for their level of maturity, for they shall not be disappointed.

Here are sone quotes from the parents who attended the talk:
“The talk has been very beneficial and interesting for me. I have gained more knowledge and understanding on my child.”

"Very informative and helpful."

Here are some quotes from the fellow bloggers:
“The talk has made me realized that everyone is different and we should learn to embrace that.”
By Sheldon

"I have learnt that how our parents' actions would affect our view of the environment and it takes both sides to work together for a happy family"
By Danielle

"Through this talk I got to know lots of things, such as how children follow their parents footsteps and it was shown through a very interactive method through a video. I also managed to know how parents think about children in general. The speaker is articulate, and I has a great time listeing to him. Last but not least, this talk is really helpful to those who wants to understand more about parents as well as their youths."
By Raine

I hope you have enjoyed this blog post because both of us have enjoyed the amazing talk and we want to share what we feel with others.

Come down to Open House 6-8th Jan!

2011-01-04T10:24:00.014+08:00

Dear O'Lvl school leavers,

Check out our awesome video of IMI below and come on down to TP's Open House from the 6-8th Jan, this Thursday!
Do drop by our IMI booth at Informatics & IT School and find out more from our students!

From your future seniors :D

LIKE us on Facebook and FOLLOW us on Twitter!

Happy New Year to everyone!

2010-12-31T00:11:00.002+08:00

Happy New Year! Whats your resolution for the new year?

Grab some paper and a pencil to start setting your resolutions! Set something that is realistic, achievable and detailed. Start with taking a small step and then moving on to bigger ones. Keep motivating yourself to stick to it. After you have wrote out your resoultions, stick the paper to the mirror so that you will be reminded of it everyday!

Have an awesome year ahead!

Credits to NoOrdinaryLove for the brushes

MapleStory(Online VS Animation)

2010-12-30T23:24:00.011+08:00

Main Character in Maplestory Animation

Hey everyone, its me, Hikaru, again. In this post I gonna share with you guys about the MapleStory that I have just watch recently. The animation has no connections with the online game at all. This story has a new twist and turn.

The animation story talks about a boy name Al, who lives in Maple Island. He wants to unite both human and monster races and save the World Tree, like what his father had done. However, a previous last battle with the evil boss led to a misunderstanding that humans are the culprit that destroy the World Tree.

Seeds of the World Tree are also scattered all over the world. Al trains hard everyday in order to get into one of the job classes and to be strong like the leaders of both Warrior and Archer classes. One day, the fairy that protects the World Tree came to Maple Island to seek help to save the World Tree as the Evil has taken all over the Victoria Island. With the help of all four classes leaders, Al begins his journey to Victoria Island to collect the seeds of the World Tree.

The difference between the animation and the game is that the monsters are able to talk and live almost like the humans. You will see the adorable little Orange Mushroom and Jr. Yeti speaking in the animation. The best part is that the Yeti is like an Angel that does all the healings (LOLZ).

The first Jr. Yeti when Al just arrive Victoria Island.

This is Kino which is one of Al closest friend.

This animation story teaches me good moral values like friendship and trust. I think that as we grow older, the lesser we get to trust people around us due to different life experiences. I think friendship and trust are important values we need to have to succeed in our academic, family and future career lives. Have fun watching this story!

Merry Christmas to All!

2010-12-24T16:13:00.002+08:00

Enjoy the last few days of Year 2010, we will be adventuring into 2011 soon!

Merry Christmas! =D

A Christmas Gift to all! Enjoy!

2010-12-24T12:02:00.002+08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone! This video was done by Xuan Hao from IMI and all the bloggers have contributed some thoughts about Christmas! Have a awesome new year! Enjoy the video!
Spread the love <3

A Piece of Christmas Art

2010-12-24T10:20:00.006+08:00

Hi everyone, I'm Hikaru here.

Here's a small gift from me - a piece of art I designed specially for all IIT Staff and students.

Merry X'mas and Happy Holidays!. xD

*PS: the background should be in sky blue.

Last Christmas (Probably will be after you listen to this) by Jack S

2010-12-23T03:49:00.006+08:00

Hey IMI readers and blogging team, first of all, Merry Christmas to ya all!

Secondly, through democracy (because I wasn't at the blogger meeting), the team has motivated
[forced] me to record myself, sigh, singing Last Christmas.

So please prepare for your Last Christmases as you listen to it. Merry Christmas to you all and to all free checkups at the ear clinic!

Wintry Reign of Tears - Mind Over Emotions.

2010-12-23T00:37:00.005+08:00

Hey y'all! It's Gossip J with a special post to get everyone in the Christmas mood. I hope that you guys enjoy it, & to all other Bloggers, especially Ms. Maya, this is a surprise gift for everybody, even though I accidentally told M Blogger about it.

I sincerely wish that this story can inspire many, & the inspired many will continue to inspire others, & the cycle can just continue on. Alright, enough with the emotional rubbish, it's time to begin the story!

*WARNING: This story is written in a very unique style, conceived by your one & only Gossip J. It will be highly unconventional, & not in any way similar to any old story like well, any old story. Hehh.

It all began on a wintry Christmas Eve..

Cassandra was all alone, in her cottage, staring at the fire consume up the logs. Listening to the crackling of the logs, Cassandra looked peaceful. Almost in a zen state of rest.

*Two days prior to this*

Stacy, Cassandra's best friend: Cassandra, you are such a disappointment. How can you forget to order the turkey, we do it every year. What is the meaning of this?

Cassandra: I..

*tears well up in her eyes*

Stacy: That's it, I'm done spending Christmas with you every year. I'm going to go to Jennifer's party, it's probably more fun with her, Leighton & the rest anyway! I wonder why I waste my Christmas every year with such a dowdy person like you! I hate you!

*Stacy storms off*

*Cassandra is left crying solemnly, trudging through the snow back to her cottage, alone.*

Cassandra, from young, had only one friend. & that was Stacy, who ceased to be her friend just because she forgot to buy Stacy her favourite turkey - Which Cassandra didn't really like. Stacy was only friends with Cassandra because she lived alone, which allowed Stacy to be as wild as she liked & have a place to return to to smoke in, engage in underage drinking & occasionally bring a boyfriend home. Just manipulating Cassandra for her own needs. & Cassandra, in desperate need of a companion, blindly allowed Stacy to do as she wished, just because Stacy was the only who bothered to talk to her.

& now? Even Stacy doesn't talk to her any more. It almost was as if Cassandra had lost all meaning to life. She was preparing to commit suicide soon, just waiting for Christmas, her favourite time of the year to be over. She didn't want to despoil the favourite time of the year with her death, so she chose to wait.

So, on Christmas Eve, she decided, since Stacy wasn't there, she tried to enjoy it all by herself. Since it was probably the last few days of her life, she thought that she might as well enjoy it. Little did she know what would happen, that changed her life forever..

*Cassandra is sitting by the fire, listening to the crackling of the burning logs at her fireplace*

*a knock is heard on the door*

Cassandra thinking: Must be Stacy returning to collect her stuff. Sigh.

*Cassandra gets up to open the door*

*Cassandra opens the door*

*a loud pop is heard*

Bunch of Cassandra's classmates: MERRY CHRISTMAS CASSANDRA!

Cassandra, so touched that she was almost in tears: Oh.. Thank you.. Please come in & have some tea?

Classmates: Sure! We'd love to! & we finally get to talk to you! We were wondering how to approach you, & now, Christmas has allowed us to get together! We are so gonna be friends from now on! Oh yeah, screw that Stacy, she got arrested at that party & yeah, she's gonna be in rehab for a LONG time! You are free from that manipulative girl now Cassandra! It's like your best Christmas gift ever! Oh, & we all got presents for you! Hope you like them!

*at this point of time, Cassandra is so touched she's basically just murmuring thank you's & crying tears of joy*

*everyone converges & group hugs*

So, how does this make it such that mind is over emotions? Well, let me explain. You see, Cassandra was suicidal remember? But, she tried to enjoy herself, even if she wanted to kill herself off after a few days of fun.. But look at what her few days of fun morphed into!

I know this is a really bad example to show off what I'm trying to put across. Let me state it clearly now. You can be at your lowest point, depressed beyond a doubt. Undoubtedly, you will be really depressed, sad, & possibly even suicidal. Heck, even I get sad! It's only human!

& what can we do when we're sad? Try to be happy. It's really tough, I know. It's okay to feel depressed, to feel sad, to feel down, horrible et cetera. It's a Herculean task to feel better during these times. But what else can we do other than try? & if the going gets really tough, confide in a trustworthy friend! Getting all the things off your chest can help too!

This is a shoutout to all sad/depressed people reading this post: Have faith, stay happy, it's tough, I know, but remember, I'll always cheer you guys on, even if I don't know you. I'll stay blogging, & hopefully my posts can inspire y'all & help y'all feel better, even if it's that tiny bit. Constant vigilance okay! & if there's anything y'all might want to get advice on..

Follow me on Formspring & ask me questions!

Ask away, ask all you like. Just no questions on my identity, it's a secret I'll never tell remember?

http://formspring.me/GossipJ

HOLLER!

Alright, I'm signing out now. I'm typing this all the way from Hong Kong, just flew there today & am currently enjoying the hotel's free Wi-fi, high time I got some rest, really tired after the flight. Don't y'all just love me, I'm overseas, & I'm still blogging! I should receive an award for this! Nah, just joking. Ms. Maya, you owe me a present for being so hardworking okay! Nah, just joking too! Haha.

Merry Christmas in advance to everybody!

HOLLER!

XOXO, y'know y'love me.

Gossip J

Don't Be a Fool, Back Up Your Files.

2010-12-21T17:32:00.004+08:00

Remember I talked about my MacBook Pro crashing? Well, yeah. It did, with all my work inside. Sigh. It was a lifetime's worth of work.. *sniffs*

I ended up crying for days because all the blood, sweat & tears I used up on my work almost felt like they were wasted. It's almost as if I got dumped. Well, to me, it would probably feel worse than being dumped - To all girls who may have a crush on me, no offence & may God bless your soul 'cause I'm too horrible to love. - & it's as if my world just crashed on me.

I was in agony. Melodramatic, y'might think. But just imagine this, fifty-plus novels you've written, countless poems, essays, reflections whatever + your current school work just disappears on you.

It was a really painful experience for me. Now, next time, if y'see me looking sad in school or something, offer to buy me a drink. I'll feel better. But for those of you who don't know who am I - My identity is secret remember? - then you are entitled to do nothing. Hehh.

Well well, so here's some tips on backing up your files!

1. External Hard Drive

Well, nowadays, external hard drives are really cheap, y'can get one of 500GB capacity at about 100SGD & you can just store all your files there. Thumbdrives can be used too, but y'have to get a few so I would recommend a hard drive.

2. Online File Backup

Windows Live Skydrive, Mediafire, 4shared & many other file hosting sites will be more than happy to let you backup your files online as it generates revenue for them. Just remember to password protect your files before you find out that your classmate has downloaded your work, put his/her name in & handed it up before you did.

3. Multiple Computers

Well, this is a pricey one. You can choose to have two computers like me, & store your files in both computers. & I didn't do it before, so I'm doing it now. Hehh.

A good way to transfer the files from computer A to computer b is definitely via USB storage devices, but there is also an interesting solution..

You can buy an iTwin!

What's that?

It's a thumbdrive-looking device than can be split into to, & via Wi-fi, it allows one to access the files from another computer as long as the other end of the iTwin is plugged in! Password protection is available too!

How awesome is that?

Well, that's all the tips I have for y'all today. Sorry if this post is a lil' boring, I'm blogging with a headache & fever, & I'm flying off tomorrow too. Y'all better thank me for being so noble & pray that I get well soon, or y'all might never get to read posts by me again. Not that y'all care, but, yeah. Hehh.

XOXO, y'know y'love me,

Gossip J

P.S: Merry early Christmas everyone! Stay tuned for our Christmas post, & a story by me!

Are They Really Safe?

2010-12-21T16:43:00.006+08:00

Hey y'all!

First off, I'm terribly apologetic, this post has been delayed for quite a while ever since my MacBook Pro died on me - With a whole lifetime's worth of work. *sniff* Shall go into detail of this in the next post though.

Yeah. Anyway, back to the topic. This post is on the AIDS/HIV exhibition which complemented the AIDS/HIV talk.

While the talk focused on the disease itself, the exhibition focused on sexual intercourse & how safe are you from HIV/AIDS when you're engaging in the activity itself. It also featured testimonies from some young people who contracted the disease on how it altered their lives, forever.

Well, my take on the matter is, before you decide to have sex with anyone, you have to make sure that the other person is not infected with the disease, promiscuous & you have to find out about their sexual history too.

Why do I say this? Well, all these factors are those that directly affect the probability of your sexual experience contracting you the disease. Well, you obviously don't have sex with someone else that has HIV/AIDS right? Also, if the other person is one that has done it with many other people, then the probability of you contracting the disease is directly amplified too.

Therefore..

DON'T HAVE SEX UNTIL YOU'RE MARRIED!

Why do I say this? When you get married, of course, your spouse would probably have made sure that he/she is HIV/AIDS free before they actually decide that they want to woo you & stay with you for life. Also, it is the moral responsibility of a husband/wife to make sure the person they want to stay with for life don't catch HIV/AIDS right?

This can also help to reduce the incidences of teenage pregnancy, or the contraction of other STDs such as Syphilis, Gonorrhoea et cetera. Sex is not something to be taken lightly, & should only be performed with a person you are really in love in, & not because you desire another person.

Please, don't have sex with just anyone. Even if you are your partner's, well, only partner, think twice. It's a decision that sticks with you for life. & yeah, it's a choice that you cannot undo. You might end up regretting it for life.

Well, yeah, that's all I have for y'all today! Hope that this post can let everyone know more about sex, HIV/AIDS & what to or not to do.

XOXO, y'know y'love me.

Gossip J

P.S: Here are some pictures!

One of the enthralling boards that showcase information at the exhibition.

Well, to me, the title of this board is really stupid, of course you should care, do you want to get HIV/AIDS?!

Look! Even lecturers need to know more?! Haha.

Whoa, now exhibitions have morphed into interactive ones? Why don't we just use iPhones next, instead of cardboard? *thumbs up*

Last but not least...

Another beautiful board.

HIV/AIDS? No, I Won't Get It.

2010-12-08T20:43:00.006+08:00

Hey y'all!

It's been a while~

I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting~

But I'm here now~

Let me Break the Ice! Jaiden's back! People, I'm terribly apologetic that I've been out of business for so long, have had a few rough weeks with my health, but don't worry, now I'm back, better than before!

Anyway, let me get down to this post straight away, shan't waste any more time putting redundant bits of information about myself when y'all probably are reading the post FOR the post, not random bits & pieces about the author.

On the 18th of November, TP invited a guest speaker Mr. Adrian Yow from the Yong-en Care Centre to give a speech about HIV/AIDS to educate the students more on this commonly-known yet oft-misinterpreted & misunderstood virus/disease.

Basically, the talk highlighted the dangers of contracting AIDS & how easy can one contract AIDS. Well, technically, if talks like these have to be given to maturing adults, it just goes to show that people, are generally ignorant about AIDS which therefore caused a stimulus for talks like these to be given. Sure enough, most people probably even KNOW about the dangers of getting AIDS, but choose to IGNORE it. Therefore, measures have to be taken to curb this rampant problem that has plagued society so much, & what's an effective solution to keep this problem in check?

Educate the masses from young so that it can be passed down generations. Therefore, talks like these give young people a head-up on what dangers are there out in the world & how to avoid this dangers, & what did this talk broach on? HIV/AIDS.

Also, what's a Gossip J post without a reflection from yours truly?

Let me start. The high occurrence of AIDS patients, ironically, can be reduced by a very rudimentary measure. That is sex education. Nowadays, more & more young people are starting to take sexual intercourse very lightly, more or less influenced by mass media & the general rampancy of pornography on the Internet.

It's a highly melancholic happening how people, just go ahead & have sex without thinking, & merely succumb to their temptations. At the end of the day, whatever you do, anything you do is up to your own choice. Sure, your choice may or may not be influenced, but it is still up to you to make your own choice eventually. No one can make it for you.

Hence, people, just have your own opinions & stick to them! You don't just go around & have sex with people just because you find them really physically attractive or just do it because you people feel like it! It is a permanent decision that will stick with you for life, having sex or not, & who you want to have sex with.

It's a tough choice. Make a wise one. & that's my reflection on having sex.

Alright, that's all I have for you in this post. Stay tuned for more of me alright? I'm back, & there's a whole arsenal of bombastic posts that I can unleash upon y'all!

XOXO, y'know y'love me - & missed me.

Also, who I really am?

My identity, shall be a secret I'll never tell.

Gossip J

P.S: Here are the pictures!

Here's a picture of Mr. Andrew Yow & our very own Ms. Farida!

Whoa, the talk was so interesting the whole LT was filled! You don't even see this much people in lectures usually!

Whoa, & y'all even concentrate more on this talk than your lectures! How do y'all still manage to do well at school! *takes hat off to y'all*

Enrichment Talk - Stress Talk: Your Breaking Point

2010-12-07T22:06:00.002+08:00

Managing your stress level is one important key skill you need to learn in life. It can determine whether the work/projects/assignments you hand in is awesome to the point of awesomeness or just plain bad that no one wants to read.

Hi fellow readers, it is me, Sheldon~! I have been one of the lucky few to be selected to go for the Stress Talk: “Your Breaking Point” by Ms Dilys. In the talk, I have learned that stress is normal and there are many categories of stress found. Stress comes in many forms and it can be broken down into the simplest form which is Family, School, Friends, Financial and Fashion.

Stress can get you in many ways; it can affect your body, your thoughts and your behaviour! If you do not handle your stress level well till it reaches the point where the Tornado meets the Volcano with strong winds, then it will result in a huge explosion which can be potentially lethal. Such fatal effects of stress will manifest in ways such as....

Body:
Migraine
Back Pain
Insomnia
Stomach Pain

Thoughts:
Anxiety
Worrying
Irritability
Lack of Focus
Forgetfulness

Behavior:
Over/Under Eating
Social Withdrawal
Crying Spells
Relationship Conflicts
Angry Outburst

We were given some tips on how to solve the stress that is building inside us. One of the ways to easily lower down your stress is to increase your self-esteem level.

How to increase our self-esteem...

Tip one: Your Strengths
Listing down ten things that you are proud of what you have accomplished.
For me, I am proud that I am chosen to be one of the writers for this awesome blog! If we give credit to our strength, our self-esteem level will go up. Always think about what we are good at and always remind ourselves about our strengths.

Tip two: Overcome Your Weakness
List down five things that you are not good at, on different pieces of paper. Try converting it from negative to positive.
For me, I am scared that “my English isn’t up to par” (I am selected to be a writer in this blog. HOW!?). I changed it to positive way, “I want to improve my English”.

Tip three: You Are Unique
Sign your name on a piece of paper
Take a look at your friend’s signature next time, is it the same?
For me, even though I know that my hand writing is horrendous. I am proud to say that I am awesome in my own ways and no one else is like me. For example, I am good at cheering up my friends when they are upset =D.

Audience Reflection:

"I have learnt that everyone is special and unique. So you do not have to have a low self-esteem as if you are
not good in a particular thing, you will surely be good in something else"
- by Shalom Quek Xian Lun, C245, IMI

"I learnt more about myself, my weaknesses and strengths. I will work on my weaknesses and
try to be a better person"
- by Javier Ang Zheng Yu, C233, CDS

"I learnt how to better my stress, realise my stress points and work on it to be a more relaxed
and happy person"
- by Alex Ng Guorui, C224, MWC

"I feel that through this talk, I get to know that we not only have to understand ourselves but also to understand the others personality as well"
– by Hikaru, C234, GET

Personal Reflection:
I am honoured to be chosen for this talk and I have learned many things which are going to be so helpful in my life. Above all, I have learnt to love myself and be proud of who I am as I am uniquely who I am. I need to love and take care of myself before I can love and take care of others. I have also learnt to love this job as a blogger so that I do not feel stress doing it! I do hope you love the way I blog. Have a great day fellow awesome readers!

Apparently, stress talk makes one more attentive and happy.

Chilling in the lecture hall.

The Official IMI page!

2010-11-01T12:51:00.005+08:00

Hey guys! My MP group is developing the official IMI page on Facebook! So please LIKE it and stay tuned for updates on the IMI page! It's gonna be smashing!

And for all of you O level grads who are interested, 'LIKE' IMI on Facebook and join the conversation!

http://facebook.com/InteractiveMediaInformatics

Game Tech for this Generation by Jack S

2010-10-24T01:45:00.006+08:00

Hello readers, it’s me, Mr. Jack S. again, here with some more stuff for you to read, consider about and then go out and buy and spend 10 hours with it. That’s right, more games.

As you all already know, the Wii has revolutionised the way games are now sold on the market, attracting the younger crowd with more family friendly games like Carnival Games and the Nintendo produced Wii titles like Wii sports, Wii move, Wii Music and recently released Wii party. Nintendo sales have never been better, and they still begin to sell all over the world, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

Sony and Microsoft, although originally mocking the Wii as a ‘fad’ and a ‘cheap toy’ have now turned 180 after seeing the market and have sent forth their offerings onto the world of casual gamers: The Microsoft Kinect and the Playstation Move.

The Microsoft Kinect has been touted as the new way to play games, no remote, and no wireless. It’s just you and a camera. That’s right, the Kinect is a motion capture device that will see your movements through the camera and let you play the games from there. From dancing to fighting, this is a new innovation that has not seen any predecessors. (Apart from the Playstation Eye) No more cumbersome controls and constant battery changes, this is the future in your living room, and you’re playing your games with it.

The Playstation Move is a safer approach to the gamers. Rather than try to make something new that could potentially fail, they decided to refine the shortcomings of the Wii. Motion sensor is now two tiered: Using motion capture via a camera of the remote controls and the movements of the controls themselves, utilising the tech from both Nintendo and Microsoft. They also have a wider range of games coming out for it, and this seems to be a promising show from the heads of Sony as it will also affect future gamers everywhere.

Probably you’re wondering, what Nintendo is going to do to retort to these obviously attacks to the Wii motion sensor approach to games. Well, they’re not. Instead of trying to fight in a 3 way tango, they decided to take the market that is everywhere: the Handhelds, with something that has never been seen before, 3D handheld without the glasses. Yes, you did read that right, 3D without any red and blue glasses.

The 3DS, Nintendo’s secret ace in the hole in the gamers war, this is really nothing like the world has seen before. A handheld that will propel 3D games, using technology from the science books that let you sees a 3D image without glasses. Not only that, it has cameras, nice quality screens, the ability to tweak the 3D and much, much more, there are no words for this. This is the gaming revolution at its best, breaking the glass ceiling and rising to new heights in the technocratic society.

One thing is sure: Games are once again changing for the better, and you can only expect one place games are going to go, and that’s up. Till next time, have fun, and cheers.

An Enriching Internship Experience

2010-10-20T11:45:00.007+08:00

By: Renga Murthi, IMI Senior
SIP company - Optimatic Pte Ltd
Attachment period : July - October 2010

Renga, (2nd from left at the back row), with his team members

Smiles of Success - Work Well Done!

Success always comes with hard work!

I have inevitably come to the end of my Internship. As much as I would want to spend as much time as I can with my colleagues at E27 but of course, the next leg of our Diploma studies is awaiting - Major Project. E27 is under the care of my SIP company Optimatic Pte Ltd.

I would very much say that I had quite of the best time with E27. As an events and social media-centric company that aims at Web innovation in Asia, E27 has come a long way from holding talks and seminars to holding the very recent - Asia's Largest tech Conference, Accelerate 2010.

Accelerate 2010, recognized as Asia's Largest Tech Conference, was done for the first time in Singapore, at the Suntec City Conventions and Exhibitions Centre. Co-organized with SingTel, a major key player with over 3 million user-strong market in Asia Pacific, the conference was a huge success among the major market players in the tech and Innovation field, also seeing attendees such as Developers, Innovators, Business people and Research Institutions.

As an Events Executive with E27, I handled many aspects of the conference, from maintaining the event website for the conference, to arranging Accommodation and other assistance for Speakers of the conference, and also crafting Sponsorship and Exhibitors Package for the conference.

Check out these websites for more details :
-E27 website >E27 – Web Innovation in Asia
-Event Website >Accelerate 2010

Maintaining the website is not much of an issue at all, as we all have learnt about websites and HTML and PHP etc. The challenge came in when I was required to perform tasks which was not taught in school - how to network with delegates, how to liaise with speakers and other guests to the conference, how to arrange for accommodation and transportation, who are the suppliers etc.

However, there wasn't really anyone to guide me along the way. Nevertheless, the work experiences from my previous company as an Event Coordinator gave me the relevant knowledge and know-hows to perform these tasks.

Of course there should always be challenges for us, otherwise life would get boring at times. So without much hesitation, I took up the job of crafting sponsorship and exhibitors packages for the conference. These scopes require a good knowledge of profit and loss when making considerations for the package amounts, such as $100,000.

And after the exhibitors were confirmed, they were put under my handling to liaise with them and arrange for their logistics requirements for the conference. As part of my handling, I had given several walk-through sessions for these Exhibitors to familiarize themselves with the specific venues of the conference within Suntec. I also did the allocation of exhibiting spaces for my exhibitors and sponsors.

And finally, before we knew it, it was the day of the Conference in Suntec! Of course we were all anxious and excited as well, to see how the conference being held for the first time in Singapore, goes. And again, before we knew it, the 2-day conference was over! We were all very busy during the conference. As I was in the Organizing Committee of Accelerate 2010 conference, I was required to oversee several aspects of the conference such as my Exhibitors as well as my Manpower for assistance. So I was just running around and making sure everything was running smooth for my sponsors and exhibitors and also ensure that my manpower is wisely utilized.

Being part of E27 and being in the Organizing Committee of Accelerate 2010 has brought upon many opportunities for me especially in this conference. Networking with top Keynote Speakers as well as other international delegates for the event was really something I really enjoyed. Talking with these people really enlightened me with much knowledge of the Tech and Media field as well as Business Startups and Incubation. It was also good that these guys actually recognized me from my previous conference - Echelon 2010.

It was also a pleasure working closely with SingTel as the main organizers of Accelerate 2010. Working with fellow corporate is something I have always wanted to do.

Overall, the Asia's Largest Tech Conference was a huge success with more than 2000 attendees in total turnover. It was also a huge success for us, the Organizing Committee for having worked without sleep and food several times and putting in so much of hard work. It was indeed a rewarding experience!

Thinking back, I see a lot of changes in me compared to before going for my internship. I have learnt the ways of corporate communications as well as working with Corporate. I have picked up the skills and knowledge of the Events and Conference Management field. I have also enlightened myself with the facts of the tech and Media market out in the world.

Ask me if I am ready to go out and start work in this sector - my answer would be a Yes of course. While I might not be perfect, but I did my best and accomplished what I wanted while being in E27 and having done my yet, another biggest project - SingTel Accelerate 2010.

All in all, I really enjoyed my time and I still do remain as a Part-time employee of E27, still helping them to coordinate other smaller-scale events.

Now, wouldn't you want to accomplish what you wanted to do, out in the working world? Go for it! All the best!

IND Graduates - Part Three of Three

2010-10-19T01:37:00.005+08:00

Hey y’all! Jaiden here once again! This is the last part – Sadly.. *sniffs* - of our coverage of the IND graduates & their reflections.

This last reflection is from IND graduate, Eugene Neo.

Reflection from Eugene Neo:

Needless to say, my most memorable experience in IND is being able to know a bunch of good friends and classmates. We work together, play together, eat together, hang out together and undertake projects together. Doing project work that requires grouping with other classmates certainly performed its task in helping us to bond. The memorable APEL – Applied Principles of Effective Living - class also played a part. Also, the fun-loving lecturers helped in creating a very beautiful experience in my poly life.

Although it's sad to say the programming languages and programs that we have been taught in school is rather different from what the industry is using, I feel that IND actually prepared us for the real world by imparting skills that are required in the industry like communication skills and allowing us to have valuable experiences from internship and lecturers sharing their experience.

If you want to go university, go to a JC. That is like the easiest route to university in my opinion. But well, even though I forsook JC for a polytechnic even though my aim never changed, it is to get into university. So for those of you, who have an aim to go to university like me, play hard! And work harder! Aim for a diploma with merit! It will open up a lot of door in university!

There is much more stress and it is very fast paced. It will be quite a struggle to keep up even if you are very good in your polytechnic life. It is like knowledge bombardment everyday.

Weekdays are all tutorials, labs and lectures in your mind every hour.

There are computing in NUS or computer science or engineering in NTU. That will be like the mainstream degree for it diploma although I know a friend who was from IND who went to a business course in NUS.

Well, wasn’t that interesting? We’ve come a long way. I hope that this coverage is useful for y’all aspiring IMI students out there!

& wow, even this post, the content corroborates with the other posts. Therefore, it is safe to say that no matter what you do, just work hard. Put effort into everything you do, & before y'know it, the fruits of your labour will be borne.

Thank you Marcus, Guan Hong & Eugene for sharing your marvelous experiences in IND & TP itself!

There, those were three very interesting, informative & summative reflections of how TP & IND – now IMI – is like. Get the urge to join this big family of TP yet?

Alright, it’s time for me to go off.

Y’know y’love me, XOXO.

Gossip J, Your source for all information IMI related, & more.

Sheldon - Connecting with Friends with Formspring

2010-10-18T12:46:00.004+08:00

M Blogger is back in action and no, he hasn't gone crazy yet but he is still on the fringe of going insane with his erupting passion for FAME. Today, the awesome M Blogger is going to show you a platform where you can answer the questions which your fans are dying to know. How can this be done? You may ask. It is simple! There is a website called formspring which allows you to answer questions.

What is Formspring? It is a website which allows its users to set up a profile page whereby anybody can ask the users questions. After answering the question, the question together with the answer will be posted to the user's profile page.

Features
Privacy setting:
You are able to set certain privacy setting.
1st : Allow anonymous questions on your profile.
2nd : Allow anonymous questions, but only from people who are logged in.
3rd : Don't allow any anonymous questions.
If you don't want to have creepy people asking you weird questions, number 3 is the best choice.
If you want to make sure that the person you blocked will not be able to ask you anonymously, number 2 is the way to go.
If you want to make sure that you get proper questions, number 3 is the ideal choice since you are able to block people who ask you stupid/dumb questions and they won't be able to harass you anymore.

Social Networking:
You are able to connect Formspring to your social network accounts. So, whenever you answer a question, they will be posted to the selected social websites and people will see them, thus on the route to FAME. You are able to select Facebook, MySpace and Twitter as options.

Blogs:
You are also able to connect Formspring to your blogs and whenever you answer them, they will be posted to your blogs and your loyal readers will be able to see them and know more about you. You are able to select Blogger, Tumblr and Wordpress as options.

Widgets:
You are able to embed a widget from formspring to your blog so your readers will be able to ask you questions from your blog itself, combined with the social networking and blog features. Overtime, you will become famous. However, do remember that this alone can't make you famous. You still have to post quality content to attract people to your blog.

All this wonderful features is what enticed me to use Formspring, I am able to connect to many of my real life friends and ask them question that I don't know about them and learn new things about their daily life. Formspring is fun and everyday without fail I will check Formspring to see if I have any questions to answer.

So hey! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS WAITING FOR? Join me, M flaming blogger, on our conquest to achieve fame by letting people know more about us. The answers of FAME will guide you through.

Stay on the look out for my next erupting post, you have to and you will be in awe by my awesomeness. =D Remember to bookmark this blog for more insanity!

Signing off, the M blogger
P.S if you want to know what M means!? Keep guessing.

Worldskills Singapore 2010 Qualifying Round Experience

2010-10-18T12:36:00.009+08:00

The team comprising of Junming, Alisha and Yu Ling before competition

Worldskills Competition Passes

Hello readers!

I'm Yu Ling from Year 2 of Interactive Media Informatics. So the reason I'm blogging is because I participated in Worldskills Qualifying Round 2010 - Web Design. The results have been just announced, and all 3 students representing Informatics & IT School have successfully made it into the finals!

Firstly I will share with you what's Worldskills is about. WorldSkills International is open to agencies or bodies which have a responsibility for promoting vocational education and training in their respective countries/regions.

It is held every two years and there are many and diversed categories ranging from web design, software applications to even cooking and caring. The qualifying rounds and finals are held by individual countries and the winner of each category will represent their country in competing on the international stage, in this case, London 2011.

For the category I participated in, Web Design, we had to spend 8 hours to design a website from scratch with functionaility such as login, register, posting of messages etc. The website will be like a portal or forum, something that is taught in our diploma in the subject Web Application Development.

The school provided us with training for about 2-3 months. We learnt coding languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP. Training had been a tough process as it required a lot of patience and committment. But neverthless it was a very enriching learning experience and we had benefited much from it.

On behalf of the team, I thank our lecturers who have taught us everything they know to equip us with the neccessary skills for the competition. The journey has been long and tedious, but the effort has been worth it.

To all the juniors and freshman, you can be part of this if you dare to take up the challenge! It will be a tough yet enriching journey, but the effort will be worth it!

And now that we have successfully made it into the finals, we will continue training and work hard to go to London 2011!

IND Graduates- Part Two of Three

2010-10-17T02:34:00.006+08:00

Hey y’all! Jaiden here again! This is part two of our posts on the IND graduates & their reflections!

The reflection showcased today is from IND graduate, Guan Hong.

Reflection from Guan Hong:

The most memorable experience that I had in IND was probably the first week of school in IND. I could feel that the dreadful stress of the ‘O’ Levels were over and I could finally study something that I enjoy.

Throughout the course in IND, I had several opportunities to hone both my technical and creative skills. It definitely has prepared me for my future career in many ways. The special thing about IND compared to the other IT courses is that it allows us to explore not just the technical aspect of computing, but also to realise the creativity in all of us. In this way, we could find out what we truly would enjoy to do and further on it.

If all a student wants is to get a degree, then the mission is simple - be a GPA aimer. As long as your GPA is high enough, you could easily get into university. However, if the student doesn't believe in spending 90% of his time on academic studies and prefers hands-on, I think probably getting into a liberal school that also offers a decent degree is more ideal.

The difference between university and polytechnic is huge. In polytechnic, the pace was a lot more digestible compared to the lessons being conducted in university, at NUS at least. A lot of independent learning is also required. The workload is definitely many times heavier than polytechnic. In short, university is surely not a playground, especially for those who wish to do more than just academic studies in their life.

Generally, life in university is hectic and tough. This is just my opinion though. Probably the minority elites would think otherwise.

While many IND students, including myself, prefer to go into a more creative aspect of computing, it seems many still ended up in very technical computing courses in university. Although IND and IMI are courses under the umbrella of IT school, it does not restrict us to only the IT related majors in university. A few of my friends and myself are victims of this ignorance and it is totally a great pain in our ass. I believe IMI and IND students could explore other majors in university too. As mentioned above, this is the unique thing about IND and IMI students - We are given a chance to explore on both the technical and creative aspects of computing.

Thank you Guan Hong for this wonderfully precinct summation of how TP & IMI is like! Does this inspire any one out there to join us here in TP?

One thing I noticed from this reflection of Guan Hong that corroborates with Marcus’s reflection is that university life is hectic. Therefore, my point still stands. One has to work hard to be able to achieve their goals. Without hard work, nothing will be achieved.

Alright, time for me to sign out.

Y’know y’love me, XOXO.

Gossip J, Your source for all information IMI related, & more.

IND Graduates - Part One of Three

2010-10-15T23:17:00.008+08:00

Hey y’all!

Jaiden here again! This is part one of three posts that link the reflections of three IND – That’s what IMI was formerly known as! – graduates about the course itself, & how the course affected, & helped them in their lives.

This reflection today is from IND graduate Marcus Su.

Reflection from Marcus Su:

My most memorable experience in IND was during my final year when I was involved in several projects simultaneously. At that time, I was working on an educational multiplayer intranet game, a mobile voting application and my major project, a online game for Ministry of Finance. I would admit that the stress was tremendous, but it gave me great exposure and opportunity to put my skills to good use. I also saw how many of my lecturers never fail to help me in terms of mentorship.

Temasek Polytechnic's Infomatics and IT School focused on building the student's ability to seek new knowledge and skills as an independent learner, and providing sufficient technical and presentation skills to kick start a career in the IT industry. Students would be able to get an entry level IT job after graduating from the diploma, but given the ever-changing nature of our field of study, we need to constantly upgrade our skill set and keep up with the times in order to be competitive. Therefore, it really depends a lot on the attitude of the student.

To be more competitive especially with the majority of university students being from Junior Colleges, do pick up more advanced Mathematics not covered in TP, such as Calculus, on your own free time. The other aspect to work on would be to learn to be flexible and proactive.

In university, technical skills are considered a given and thus they are looking more of the ability to achieve higher order thinking. It is no longer only about facts and figures, but knowing how and when to apply our skills on what. We are given a lot of power in shaping our own learning as well. But as the saying goes, great power comes great responsibilities. It is a fast-paced, self-directed and deep learning experience. Students can choose to go into multimedia or computer science courses.

Thank you Marcus for that marvellously informative reflection. Let’s hope that this information will be relevant to any of you aspiring IMI students out there!

My pick out of this whole assortment of meats is that it does not really matter whether you go to a polytechnic or junior college to go to university, it merely requires a lot of effort to be put in & that you stay focused on your eventual goal of going to university for your degree.

As Mad Eye Moody would say, constance vigilance!

Y’know y’love me, XOXO.

Gossip J, Your source for all information IMI related, & more.

How to Manage Both Finances & School

2010-10-14T14:13:00.002+08:00

Seriously, in the all the seriousness of reality, it remains evident that cash is indeed, important. Without cash, you will not be able to purchase simple things like clothes or food, which are by & by basic necessities.

Well, even though one could be schooling, it doesn’t mean that one has to focus on studies all the time. One could also take baby steps to learn how to manage their finances. This is an important skill for everyone as eventually, one must learn how to manage their own finances.

There are a few methods in which one could achieve this, either by starting up a simple online business, or taking up a part-time job. Both methods have their pros & cons, let me explain.

Part-time job:

Pros:

Stable pay
Fixed working hours

Cons:

Work time may be inflexible & clash with timetables
Work may be too tiring if manual labour is included - & this is most if not of all of the time.

Online business:

Pros:

Flexible hours
At own time, own discretion

Cons:

Credit/debit card required
Lots of travelling needed to do sales or posting

Those are just some of the general pros & cons. I could go on for ages, but I won’t let out all my trade secrets, will I?

Piece of advice though, if y’wanna earn money, then you just have to be patient, hardworking & meticulous. This can apply to school too. In the very end, your efforts will be rewarded. It just takes time, therefore patience has to be required in achieving success in learning how to juggle your time.

Alright, that’s all for now. Will do up a post again soon, having a very hard time over here. Don’t have to pity me, if you see me on the street, just buy me a new cardigan & you’ll make my day! Hint: I love those from River Island!

Y’know y’love me, XOXO.

Gossip J

Games = Free $$$ by Jack S

2010-09-22T14:32:00.010+08:00

Hi everyone, my name is Jack S. I’m going to be a guest writer for this awesome IMI blog, so be prepared to read my nonsense every now and then.

I want to start this article off with a quick question: Who wants free money? Ok, put your hands down. It’s not as hard as you think, because there are many ways to get it, and I’m here to highlight to you one very fun and enjoyable way, through online Flash games.

The world of online flash games has exploded onto the scene since the year 2000, with more than hundreds and thousands of sites dedicated to these little 5 minute to 5 hour games, in various languages and countries. You’ve all probably played it once or twice or a few billion times before, and more often than not wasting your time on it.

So you ask me: Jack, how can I make money from something as time wasting as this? Well, keep your pants on, I’m getting to it.

Well, if you’re an uber gamer, some websites reward their players with cash for a job well done. You need to find tournaments and beat out the others. Just thrash them at simple mouse clicking or button mashing and get money. The best part, you earn it by playing games. Simple, isn’t it?

But I hear you programmers and artist out there, who spend more time looking at the game play and art style rather than the fact you’ve died 500 times at Level 1. Well, if you can’t play them, you can make them.

All you need to do is make your own flash game, using appropriate tools like Adobe Flash. Make it fun, innovative and interesting; no one wants to play another Pong remake in 2010. After that, submit it to a flash game appropriate site, and cross your fingers.

If you’re lucky, maybe the site will feature your game. You’ll get money if it’s a top pick and from sponsors who want to advertise on your game. If the players think its good enough, they’ll give you some tips for your tip jar, provided you have one. Best of all, if it’s featured, your game will receive full recognition and fame!!! But if it doesn’t, you can always try again.

So get on your laptops and PC/Mac now and start getting cash from having fun! This is Jack S, signing out.

P.S.: Here's a few links to get you guys started:

http://www.newgrounds.com http://www.kongregate.com
http://www.flash-game-design.com/

IMI Publicity: An Amazing Experience With Students of Greenview Secondary

2010-09-21T23:26:00.008+08:00

Hi awesome people, today, students from Greenview Secondary School came to Temasek Polytechnic, School of Informatics & IT, to learn more about the courses that are offered. We, Sheldon and Raine of the IMI blogger team, joined in the fun to promote our awesome Diploma in IMI to the potential students.

Our lecturer, Ms Faridah, welcomed the students and gave them highlight of the wonders of what the Diploma in Interactive Media Informatics can offer to potential students. She then demonstrated student projects which utilised current sophisticated technology such as Maya, Flash, Adobe Photoshop and After Effects.

Students were then treated to an exciting hands-on activitiy on how to edit photos using Adobe Photoshop. Junior IMI student Nicholas Leong who was from Greenview Secondary had the opportunity to demonstrate his skills he had learnt from IMI by teaching our potential students how to use selected features of Photoshop to edit photos of celebrity Justin Bieber and Rihanna which include changing the hair, eye colours and manipulate their facial features.

The session ended on a positive note with interesting sharing sessions of IMI students' (Freshies, Junior and Senior) experiences in the course who were also the helpers for this session. Our guest students from Greenview listened attentively with sparkles in their eyes as our IMI students shared what they feel about IMI and why they joined IMI. One of the students said that he had joined IMI because he wanted to explore into the depths of how animation comes about and all the wonders of the internet technology in existence. Indeed this was the best part of the event which is most memorable and heartfelt moment for all present.

Below are the quotations from the students who shared their wonderful and meaningul IMI experiences:

"The reason why I joined this course is because I am interested in 3D animation and learning how to make wonderful effects. So currently I learned how to make websites and create my own self-promotional kit." said Fauzan Khan, IMI Freshman.

"I join IMI because i was interested in learning 3D. Maybe in the future with the skills I acquire from this course, I plan to join Lucasfilm or Pixar." Nicholas Leong, IMI Junior student.

Below are the photos which we had taken on this event:

The students who are coming in for an awesome talk about IMI from our lecturer

Our lecturer, Ms Faridah, giving an introduction to the students on IMI via our awesome IMI blog.

Our potential students intently and attentively listening to the IMI briefing (:

Time for some hands on activites...

One of the IMI seniors, Jingle, helping the students out during the hands-on activity

Another senior, IVy, helping the students out

IMI Freshie, Fauzan, helping the student

IMI Freshie, Jonas, lending a hand to the young ladies from Greenview Secondary

A Greenview student and his masterpiece...

Curious young men from Greenview Secondary engrossed with editing the photos given to them

The freshie helper, Fauzan Khan, who shared his IMI experience

The junior helper, Nicholas Leong, shared his goal to join LucasFilm after graduating from IMI

A group photo of the helpers

Sheldon - Second Life

2010-09-21T21:34:00.001+08:00

Hi there! I am sure you guys are wondering what happen to Sheldon, the awesome M blogger who is on the fringe of going insane with his erupting passion for FAME. Today, I am going to show you guys, the way to be insanely famous through this amazing three-dimension animated forum. But how? You may ask. It is simple! There is an application called Second Life which has a client program called the Viewer which allows its users, called Residents, to communicate with one another through avatars.

What is Second Life? It is a 3D animated world where you, the Residents, can roam and explore throughout the fun filled world (which residents refers to as “the grid”), socialize, partake in group or individual activities, build and barter virtual property. These are the amazing features which have brought me over to their wonderful world.

Features
Roaming and Exploring:
You control an avatar which you can personalize in the magnificent huge world, by using the WASD key. Fear not, for exploration is made easier by a teleport function in the game. You can find many awesome stuff that are made by the creative community. You can find TEMASEK POLYTECHNIC in Second Life!

Socializing:
You are able to interact with the many Residents found in the world that you have just seen! You can meet many a-like friends; you are able to do life-like gestures in the game to further express yourself. You can bow, laugh, clap your hands and even flex that muscle of yours. Depending on how fabulous you feel, you can put on a different outfit every time you feel like it. This is one of the ways to achieve FAME in the world, showing others what you have got. After all, if you have it, flaunt it. You will be surrounded by people that have the flame for you.

Greetings pal.

Individual and Group Activities:
You are not just limited to talking and customizing your avatar, you can go on a QUEST for FAME by role-playing with the new found friends that you have made. You can further immerse yourself in the world by thinking of a storyline to act out with your friends. Have you always wanted to be a Pegasus or unicorn? Fairy or pixie? Mermaid or merman? Or a fire breathing dragon? Well you can! With Second Life, everything is up to your imagination.

Why hello there little bear =)

Building and Trading Virtual Properties:
Apart from all these wonderful activities that you can do, you can even craft beautiful objects with your flaming hot passion. You can barter your wonderfully well crafted items filled with red hot passion for other amazing stuff, slowly but surely, you will become insanely famous by crafting and trading your way through.

Hey guys! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS WAITING FOR! Join me, M flaming blogger, on our conquest to achieve FAME by showing ourselves in the virtual community. The wings of FAME will guide you through.

Stay on the lookout for my next erupting post, you know you have to and you will be in awe by my sheer awesomeness. =D Remember to bookmark this blog for more insanity!

Signing off, the M blogger.
P.S If you want to know what M means!? Keep guessing.

IMI Publicity : An Enriching Experience with students of Coral Secondary

2010-09-21T14:29:00.004+08:00

Hello guys,

I am Raine, one of the bloggers for this blog. I am finally doing an entry. All this time I was rather behind the scenes. As from today I'm breaking out of my shell and doing a post myself. (:

Today I went back to help out Ms. Faridah for a publicity event to introduce our IMI course to the students from Coral Secondary who are the members of the Infocomm Club in their school. Here are some pictures I took during the event :

Coral Secondary students listening intently to the IMI briefing

Lecturer, Ms Faridah, giving some highlights about IMI

Freshies Melvin Tan and Wee Chia Yin who were from Coral Secondary sharing their interesting IMI experiences with the younger students

Senior students Avril Khoo and Jessie Tay demonstrating IMI students' projects

To let the students know more about our IMI Diploma, we had a short presentation about IMI, highlighting on subjects learnt, students achievements, student life and further studies. Our seniors did a good job demonstrating the interesting IMI students' projects including videos, websites, online games and photographs, via our IMI blog. The students were invited to visit our IMI blog http://www.tp-imi.blogspot.com/ for updated information about IMI including interesting news about our graduates, students' projects and Diploma events.

The highlight of this event are the sharing sessions from the IMI Seniors, Avril Khoo and Jessie Tay and Freshies Foong Hui Chun, Lorraine Keong, Melvin Tan, May Yeo, Tan Xuan Hao and Wee Chia Yin, about their enriching academic experiences as well as the awesome student life in TP/IIT especially the friendship and camaradarie shared amongst IMI students and other IIT and TP students.

Last but not least, there were also some hands-on activities for the students. They had the opportunity to play with Adobe Photoshop software, try out different effects and tools available and had lots of fun editing the photo of popular teenage music sensation Justin Bieber. The smiles on the students' faces clearly showed that they had a great time playing around with the software.

I've learnt many lessons from this event. Since I didn't have much idea when I first joined this course, the event today has given me a good chance to learn more about IMI directly through first-hand accounts by my lecturer, Ms Faridah and seniors. It was also a great opportunity for me to interact with senior IMI students as well as my fellow IMI Freshies from other classes. It's great to know that joining this course wasn't the wrong choice after all! (:

Lorraine signing off.
Toodles. ^^

A Gift To You From Us

2010-09-01T01:29:00.008+08:00

The month of September has arrived. Today, 1st September commemorates Teacher’s Day. It is a very special day set aside to remember, thank and celebrate the efforts of those who have set aside part of their lives to groom the leaders of the future, students. Indeed, it is a memorable, significant and joyous day for all teachers and students to remember. It is not a simple job of purely academic teachings; a teacher has to be able to give students a holistic education where students are able to learn more than what a textbook can offer and take learning beyond the borders of the classrooms and into our lives.

Thus, by being a teacher, you are actually taking up one of the most noble jobs on Earth itself, it is a job where you have to really put your heart & soul into it so that you can help groom talents to ensure that the future generation only improves! Teachers are essential to a society of any sort, as they allow students to tell right from wrong, black from white and what's important in our lives. They supplement the teachings and guidance parents have given to their children.

This is a shout out to all students - cherish your teachers for being there for you. Without them, you would not have been the person that you are today. Be thankful for the teachings that they have given you. Happy Teacher’s Day 2010 to all teachers! You guys rock!

In the spirit of Teacher's Day, We have asked people what Teacher's Day meant to them and this are what they have to say.

A very sweet and amazing IMI student who is filled with passion for IMI:
"Teacher's day is about being grateful to the teachers who have shown dedications and nobly set aside a major part of their life to nature the student."

Sheldon:
"I think that teachers are awesome and they have played a very big role in my life by giving me tender loving care."

Hikaru:
"Teachers are the one who gave me passion and life in learning. Their guidances have also gave me many opportunities in my life."

Ms Maya:
"It's a time for me to reflect on whether I have been a good teacher to my students - I take some time out to reflect on how I can be a better teacher to touch the lives of more students and make a difference in their lives."

Ms Natasha Low, Lecturer of IMI:
"Teacher's day is more like an acknowledgement to my colleagues who have given support and encouragement to their students."

Mr Peter Choy, Course Manager of IMI:
"It reminds me of my mission to teach the young so that beside being able to make a living for their lives, they could also impact the world positively."

As a tribute to all the noble teachers out there who have set aside a major part of their lives to nurture us, we, the future leaders of tomorrow, have manifested our gift in several creatively done comics just for you, sincerely from the bottom of our hearts.

Have a Joyous, Happy, Meaningful and Memorable TEACHER'S DAY!

A Humble Piece of Appreciation from Us to You

2010-09-01T01:02:00.011+08:00

To our dear lecturers, thank you for nurturing us. Thank you teachers for your wonderful efforts, we really appreciate it.

"A mustard seed may be tiny, but it blooms into a huge mustard tree, & this is only possible with the nurturing of the seed by the gardener. In the same way, teachers nurture students when they are merely ‘mustard seeds’ to when they bloom into a beautiful ‘mustard tree’, & this metamorphosis will not be possible without you, our dear Teachers."

As a tribute to all our teachers who have touched our young tender lives, the following are four comic strips, specially dedicated to you. We hope you will enjoy our humble artworks from us, your team of IMI resident bloggers!

Once again, Happy Teachers Day to you all! Without you, we would not be who we are today!

Y'know y'love me - & everyone else who has put in effort. XOXO.

The One & Only Gossip J, Your Source for All Things IMI - & more.

*****WARNING: Comic strips may be too small to be viewed on this browser itself, please click on it to see an enlarged version so that you can easily read the text. Sorry for the inconvenience! We really hope you appreciate our humble efforts to show our heartfelt appreciation! *****

A Great Day at EPPS

2010-08-31T23:50:00.012+08:00

24th July 2010 marks a fun-filled day to be remembered by Elias Park Primary School’s student as they celebrated their school’s 15th Anniversary cum Racial Harmony Evening. This event was graced by Mr. Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence as the Guest of Honour.

It was a memorable day for the Elias Park Primary School’s students as they were treated to a fun day of learning and discovering the values of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) and the significance of the Racial Harmony day, including learning Mathematics through the following interactive games designed by our fellow students from the Diploma in Interactive Media Informatics (IMI):

-Racial Harmony Game: A memory game where you have to flip up two similar cards.
-YOG Game: A guessing game where you have to identify the missing letter in the words. YOG values and sports were used as the word to be guessed.
-Soccer: A game where you have to answer question on YOG and EPPS.
-Shoot the Bird: A game where students learn simple mathematics such as Addition and Subtraction.

The Junior (Year 2) students designed these games as a requirement for the module Multimedia Project 2 which they read in semester 2. This module aims to provide students with the knowledge and hands-on practice to build flexible and dynamic interactive multimedia applications. The objective of showcasing these projects was to showcase the capability of IMI students in using the Immersive Technology.

This event was successful because of the efforts and contributions of the following IMI Junior game designers who had the priviledge of showcasing their awesome projects during the event:

-Nur Amalina Bte Rashid
-Victor Ng Jun Teng
-Yeow Chun Sian

Thank you fellow IMI friends, you have done us proud!

Game designer, Nur Amalina, inviting the esteemed Minister to view the games.

Students enjoying the games.

Student Insights!

2010-08-31T15:20:00.004+08:00

The blogging team interviewed a few freshmen(Year1) on why they chose Interactive Media Informatics as their choice so here is what one of them has to say.
He is Heng Sen previously from Chung Cheng High School (Yishun).

Graduate Insights!

2010-08-31T14:05:00.012+08:00

gov.sg team with guest of honour Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Member of Parliament, Hong Kah, GRC.

Nur Ashikin Isnin our graduate can be found at the 2nd row(second from the right)

Nur Ashikin Isnin graduated in 2009 from Internet and Multimedia Development (now Interactive Media Informatics). She is currently working in the Ministry of Infocomm, Communications and the Arts, Public Communications Division as a webmaster.

Her advice to our students is to "Work hard to get what you want. Efforts that you have put in will surely benefit you one day."

She shares with us her experience as a webmaster for gov.sg and crisis.gov.sg.

"It is my duty to oversee issues or amend any broken links within these two sites. As these sites will reach out to thousands of people each day, it is my job to maintain the currency of the portals by giving prompt and regular updates. This helps ensure customers of the portal that they will receive up-to-date and relevant information from the government. Apart from that, both me and my colleague are required to create visuals for http://www.gov.sg/ highlight items.

The department has also exposed me to the creation of both static and Flash advertisements to promote the websites. Currently, they are giving me the opportunity to create an intranet website for them. Often, they let me do what I love most - to take photographs! All that I had learnt in the Diploma in Internet and Multimedia Devt have been very useful and relevant for my job.

Thanks to Diploma Internet and Multimedia Devt / Interactive Media Informatics! "

Sheldon - Erupting Quest For FAME

2010-08-26T23:59:00.002+08:00

Hi there! My name is Sheldon, and I am your new M blogger on the fringe of going insane with my erupting passion for FAME. I am so elated to be part of this awesome team of IMI fabulous bloggers. For my inaugural post, I will share with you the magical wonders of how I showcase my creative works virtually. But how? you may ask. It is simple! There is a website called deviantArt which allows you to upload your works up there.

What is deviantArt? It is an online community showcasing user-made artwork done by people. Showcasing your work is not the only feature of deviantArt! There are many other useful features of deviantArt which have enticed me to be part of this amazing virtual community.

Features
Uploading:
This is pretty straightforward. To upload your works, first you just need to choose what categories you want to upload. Then you select the copyright license that you want. And your work gets uploaded onto cyberspace in a jiffy. People can choose to comment or provide critique to your work. People can also select the button “favourite” if they like your work. Your work will then be highlighted in one of their profiles.

Favourite:
If you see an artwork that you like online, you can choose to “favourite” it too by simply clicking on the “favourite” button. The more “favourites” tags you have on your works, the more well-known your works will be and you will get the much anticipated FAME that you wanted for your artwork. If the works you upload are erupting with juicy creativity, people will favourite your work and be drooling at it. Through this, your works can be spread around faster.

deviantWatch:
A friend-like system similar to the exciting features of Facebook and Twitter, you will be able to watch (or follow or write on the walls) the progress of the people that you have the flame for. This means that whenever the people that you have “watched” upload their new artworks, you will be notified. You can make many great friends through this feature. I watched a few people and some other people watched me. Whenever I upload my flaming works, they will comment about my flames and how I can make it more explosive.

Hey guys! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR~, start showing the world what you are capable of. It’s just a click away, I have done it so can you. Join me, yours truly, M flaming blogger, on our conquest of contributing to the fantastic and artistic growth of erupting works by commenting and giving critiques of their works as you “watch” them with flaming desire to achieve FAME.

Stay on the lookout for my next erupting post, you will be in awe by my awesomeness. =D Remember to bookmark this blog for more insanity!

Signing off, the M blogger.
P.S If you want to know what M means!? Keep guessing.

Student Insights!

2010-08-26T17:05:00.004+08:00

John who is year 1 from Interactive Media Informatics is here to share with us why he chose the course as his first choice. So here is what he has to say:

Student Insights!

2010-08-23T17:43:00.005+08:00

Hey guys! It’s Jaiden again! Today, I have a submission from one of our awesome schoolmates who reflected about himself and the SLP – Student Leadership Program which he attended. With that, I give you this reflection from an IMI Freshman, Mohammad Hussain B Safie.

Two weeks ago, on the 29th of July, from six in the evening to about eight pm, I attended a talk that is about being a student leader. I was nominated by my care person, Ms. Natasha. I was initially reluctant to become one due to past incidents which involves my horrible leadership skills, such as destroying a camp or scaring my juniors after an ejaculation of apoplexy due to an extreme amount of stress. Nonetheless, I was interested and went for the talk with two of my course mates Lydia & Dawn.

The talk was actually quite enjoyable even though its topic caused me brief trauma attacks as it constantly reminded me of my past. One of the main speakers was a man with a rather good sense of humour. Regrettably, his name escapes me. His jokes and strange riddles kept me awake despite the talk being right after classes end, & I’m pretty sure everyone is tired after classes. In comparison, Lydia and Dawn was probably dozing off or staring into space. The main speaker mostly talked about the qualities required in order to be a good leader and what being a student leader is about. Being a leader can be summed up into a short sentence invented by yours truly: “A leader is charismatic and influential”.

In order to be a student leader, you need to be liked by others but at the same time, your decisions needs to be just, & not what the majority chooses. This will probably be impossible since people would probably hate you for making a decision that is not well-received, but you’d be surprised by how well-known you will get for your right decisions. If you are making the right choices, and being well received by your entourage, you are a good leader. A student leader also needs charisma so that you can influence people into listening to you.

As the speaker progressed with the talk, I reflected on my past, which is quite dark in comparison to what I am presently. I have had bad incidents in which I was a leader in my previous CCA, the NCC. My most recent incident was when I came back to help out my freshly promoted juniors in educating them about being leaders. I taught them several wrong things by accident and was eventually lectured by my officer. I benefitted from that but almost ruined the CCA if my erroneous teaching was eventually spread around.

Still, as I continued thinking, I began to wonder why was I nominated when I clearly had bad leadership skills. Perhaps I was thinking too little of myself and I lack confidence. All this thinking brought me back to the time when I had a great time playing the role of a leader in NCC. I was dressed in a smart soldier uniform that is as white as snow with a cool hat that resembles a police officer’s. I greeted Professor Yacob Ibrahim (not directly but in a form of a unified salute with my platoon mates) and felt proud. And then, there was another time where I became a squad leader of a brief performance and the day was flawless. I began to realize, perhaps there is a leader inside me.

After about an hour or so, the man transferred the microphone to another person, a former TP student who talked about the NYAA (National Youth Achievement Award). It is an activity that requires dedication, a trait required in a leader. It was optional but I recognized it almost too well as I was asked to do at during my NCC years. I obtained Silver back then and I wondered if I should be chasing Gold. Still, I listened and even had memories of me taking part in the event like doing physical activities or taking part in donation events. After that, the talk came to an end.

The talk made me reflect deeply about my past and the kind of person I am. I had a change of heart about my leadership skills and I felt good. Perhaps, I might actually want to be a student leader. I’m not sure about Lydia and Dawn’s feelings about the talk but they seemed fairly interested. I might go for any future talks about the Student Leadership Program and hopefully become one soon.

Also, here are some photos of Hussain in person:

This is Hussain!

This is Hussain in a kampong.

This is the smart NCC uniform Hussain was talking about!

All right, that’s it. Thank you Hussain for such an interesting reflection! It sincerely & whole-heartedly shows us your reflection about your ‘dark’ past – Don’t worry too much about it, everyone has their ‘dark’ moments – & the way you were inspired to try & pick up leadership skills once more will definitely inspire many future leaders as well.

Your resident blogger,
Jaiden

Student Insights!

2010-08-17T10:52:00.007+08:00

The blogging team interviewed a few freshmen(Year1) on why they chose Interactive Media Informatics as their choice so here is what one of them has to say.
He is Xuan Hao from C273, previously from Chung Cheng High School (Main).

The Joys of Teaching Web Designing – Reflections of a Lecturer

2010-08-08T00:05:00.006+08:00

During this April 2010 semester, I had the privilege of teaching the module “Web Design” (WDS) to Year 1 students (Freshmen) from the Diplomas in Games and Entertainment Technology (GET), Interactive Media Informatics (IMI) and Mobile & Network Services (MNS). WDS is a core subject offered to all Year 1 students studying in the Temasek Informatics & IT School. In class, students were taught to use Microsoft Expression and Adobe Fireworks CS3 to build their websites.

For me, this week had been an exciting time of the semester where I could sit back, relax and enjoy my students’ wonderful presentations of the fruits of their weeks of labour – their completed websites! At the end of the 16-week stint, the project presentation was their final challenge and manifestation of their successful completion of the WDS module after surviving other hurdles of completing the research proposal and term test earlier.

I marveled at my students’ efforts and hard-work to produce quality websites that they can be proud off. I listened with interest as they reflected their challenging yet meaningful experience of their self-directed learning endeavours of learning additional softwares beyond the subject syllabus.

When I observed my students beamed with pride and happiness as they stood tall to present their websites, I knew that this subject had certainly achieved its objectives of equipping students with the basic yet practical skills and knowledge of web designing. I was also pleasantly surprised when some of them demonstrated how they had exceeded my expectations by incorporating programming and photography skills learnt from other subjects, to value add and increase the interactivity of their websites and adding the ‘wow’ factor. Indeed that had been the most rewarding experience for me as the facilitator for these self-motivated students!

Their smart formal attire had added a touch of professionalism to their presentation, helped boosted their confidence and gave them the experience of presenting their websites to a real-life client when working in the industry.

For the next batch of WDS students, heed these useful tips and advice from these seniors who had gone through the rigour of web designing - start working on your research proposal early in the semester, practice good time management, be consistent and avoid
procastination.

Just like my students, I too have had a fantastic and joyful experience teaching, interacting while learning together with them as well. This can be seen from their smiles and happy faces in the photographs seen here. While I felt sad to say goodbye to these students at the end of our short learning journey together this semester, I knew that the warm friendship and bonding we had shared will be cherished in our hearts for a long time to come. Thanks to the advent of digital new media, we can continue to virtually keep in touch with one another via Facebook, Twitter and MSN.

I certainly can’t wait to proudly demonstrate the good works of these students to motivate and inspire the future batches of WDS students. What a delightful closure I had had for this April 2010 semester!

Anyway, here are the photos I took with my classes:

Interactive Media Informatics - We Did Our Best!

Interactive Media Informatics - WDS Rawkz!

Interactive Media Informatics - Our Best Websites

Game & Entertainment Technology - We Made It!

Game & Entertainment Technology - We Love WDS!

Game & Entertainment Technology - We Are Proud of Our Work!

Mobile & Network Services - WDS Is the Best!

Mobile & Network Services - Satisfied With Our Websites!

Mobile & Network Services - Gerl Power!

These photos are hard evidence that classes in TP are fun, & both lecturers like me & the students enjoy our classes. Even though I'm always sad to see students leave, but as I said earlier, we still keep in touch virtually, & I get to know even more wonderful students! Teaching in TP is a wonderful experience for me! With that, I leave you with this post.

Your awesome lecturer,
Ms. Farida

Surviving Temasek Polytechnic!

2010-08-07T23:03:00.004+08:00

Hey guys!

This will be the first of many posts by one of your resident bloggers here, Jaiden! There are others, of course, such as Yu Ling - who has already done a lot of work, doing the previous few posts - & Lorraine, so you'll get to hear from us a lot more. Also, this effort is coordinated by Ms. Noor Farida, an awesome lecturer from TP!

Well, I'm pretty sure that when it comes to picking a school, most people will definitely want to find out more about a school's overall dynamics, environment & most importantly, about the people in there! There's only one word that can sum the people in TP up. Awesome! Join TP, & you'll be rewarded with a host of awesome people, & trust me, you'll be glad to be part of this awesome school!

Being a Freshman in Semester 1.1, my experience with TP is still undoubtedly green, & there's a lot more I have to learn, but, I still have some tips on surviving the school - Which is by & by a nice environment. This means that you don't have to worry too much! You can focus on your studies wholly! - that can complement your learning & overall experience with the school.

Tip One: Internet on the Move

Well, one would probably not bring a MacBook - That's what I use! MacBook Pro! My beloved darling! - or laptop every day, but Internet is still important, & you might not be able to get access to a lab easily. So...

If you have the means, get a smartphone with a 3G plan.

If not, use iPod Touches, iPhones or any other phone/portable device that can connect to the school Wi-fi network. In case you forget or are lazy to bring your laptop, MacBook et cetera, you can simply use your phone or whatever to access your important emails or OLIVE - Online Learning Interactive Virtual Environment, which is a portal the school provides to complement your learning by placing important announcements there & course materials, notes et cetera. - on the go.

How to connect to the Wi-fi network with iPod Touches & iPhones:

Step One: Click on settings.

Step Two: Select Wi-fi from the menu

Step Three: Below the 'Choose a network' title, click the button that says 'Other...'

Step Four: Key in TP-Secure as the network name

Step Five: Select WPA2 Enterprise as the network name

Step Six: Enter your admission number - given to you when you start school - as the username, & your barcode number - on your matriculation card, given to you when you start school - as the password. There we go. Connected to the school wi-fi network.

Tip Two: 'PR Squared'

*WARNING. TIP DERIVED BY YOURS TRULY. HEED WITH DISCRETION!*

What's that? Personal Reputation, & Public Relations. Having lots of friends in polytechnics - or anywhere else - can be really advantageous, as when you need help, friends will undoubtedly be there for you. Now, imagine this scenario. You're stuck at doing an utterly perplexing assignment. Your lecturer is out of office for the next week. Who else can you turn to? Your friends of course. Now, if you didn't have any friends, & the assignment was due in the next week, all that you can do is to attempt the assignment to the best of your ability - Hopefully, you'll be able to finish it! - but with the aid of your friends, finishing that assignment would have taken less time right? Also, you probably would have more than one assignment to worry about! So, start socialising, & socialise well!

Also, a linked factor to Public Relations, is of course Personal Reputation. Now, if you're notorious for not wanting to do work et cetera, do you think people would want to help you? Or, do group work with you? Group work usually has to be a coordinated effort for it to work. I'm sure that you won't want your grades to be compromised right? Thus, whatever you do, remember to stay hardworking! Even when you graduate you have to. Whatever situation you are in you have to work hard. Don't let laziness become a burden.

Tip Three: Effective Time Management

More often than not, you will have more than one assignment to handle at one go. Thus, learning how to manage your time well - Again, this is an essential skill which can help you in your life after TP as well - is directly beneficial to your learning. There are many ways where you can do this, so I will try to the best of my ability to summate here as many time-saving methods as I can.

Use a personal organiser, & note down every little appointment, assignment dead line et cetera to remind you of everything around you that goes on. This way, you're bound to forget less, & do more.
Multi-task, if you can do it properly. If you're the type who must focus on one item at a time, then don't, for there will be a negative effect instead. More haste, less speed. But with wits, multi-tasking can be your best friend. But, without mastering it properly, it becomes a foe. Be careful with this one.
Set alarms for everything. If you're overly cautious, set multiple alarms. For example, if you're afraid you'll be late for school, set five alarms on five different devices - or at least that's what I do, if you can't wake up, you really sleep well.
Do your assignments ASAP. When you're hard-pressed for time, you won't have the mood or clarity of mind to finish up those assignments. Think of it this way, if you work hard at first, you get to rest later. Quoting my Chinese teacher from Secondary Four, Ms. Neo, 先苦后甜 - Translates to hard work pays off. So, work hard, & you'll enjoy the fruits of your labour!

Tip Four: Obliviousness to Negative Influence

Undoubtedly, Люди инвалиды - Russian, pronounced as Lyudi Invalidy, directly translates to invalid people, but I'm using this phrase in the context of morally invalid people - people exist. This is an inexplicable mystery of life that perhaps will never be solved. Why do some people - Sadly. Sigh. - do so much malicious things to other people?

Thus, if you ever feel that a classmate - Don't worry, there's not much here in TP, but everywhere you go, there'll be one or two, so you still have to be careful - is being malicious to you, just pay that classmate back in their own coin. If they cross the line, alert the 'authorities' - Lecturers, if your grades are compromised as a result of their actions - or confront them nicely. Strike a deal, make friends with them, & all will be fine. Well, you don't really have to 'like' them, you only have to make peace. Everybody wants peace, & making peace definitely is a win-win situation. Use your wits on this one. Brute force is a no-go. You'll lose for sure.

Well, that's about all I have to say for today. Having too long a post will turn people off, this is what we learn in Introduction to Human Computer Interaction. See! We learn so much from lessons in TP! So, what's holding you guys back? Consider joining TP today!

XOXO, Y'know y'wanna be a part of TP's awesome family,

Jaiden

P.S: In case you're wondering, yes, I watch Gossip Girl & am addicted to it. =)

Sharing the SIP Experience!

2010-07-28T12:47:00.004+08:00

R Rengamurthi is a yr3 student on his intership at Optimatic Pte Ltd. Here is what he has to say about his experience:

I started my Student Internship a week earlier than the stipulated date - on 22nd June. This had not only allowed me to prepare my work desk and tidbits, but also to get to know my colleagues in the office and most importantly to catch a glimpse of the several projects that I will be working on together with the rest of my colleagues.

I am currently interning with Optimatic Pte Ltd, a media centric company under the National University of Singapore Business Enterprise. We are basically a bunch of tech people who's core objective of the Business Enterprise is Business Incubation. In much simpler words, to help newly started businesses to grow and expand in the IT and Web Consumer Sectors both locally and regionally.

So what then is my job scope? Well, here's a glimpse of what my Company does. Besides Startup Business Incubation, we are also partly an Events Management company. We do big scale events like Conferences and Forums. Some examples - Web 2.0 Conference, UnConference 2009, Echelon 2010. These are big scale conference and forum events that see close to about 2 or 3 thousand major partners, shareholders, Developers CEOs, CTOs, Managing Directors and Media Partners of regional and international Web and IT sectors , in each event.
Sounds big eh? It definitely IS! Being in the forefront and networking with the developers of Facebook and Apple's CEOs and Developers is INDEED a BIG THING.

This is where my Job scopes come in. I'm currently the designer for the Optimatic Pte Ltd. I help to design EDMs (Electronic Direct Mailers), banners and posters for the conference and subsidiary events, brochures and event booklet that will be distributed to the thousands of international delegates to the conference. How cool is that - having thousands of people flipping through the event booklet that you designed and they wearing lanyards carrying the logos that you designed. And also not forgetting smaller entities like the company website as well as the conference websites.

My job scopes also includes marketing the events to our database of corporate sponsors and partners.

Our upcoming event will be a joint collaboration with SingTel - The Accelerate 2010 Conference in September. As i'm part of the Accelerate 2010 Working Team, I am also doing Speakers' Management. Sure you'll see Speakers coming to speak in the conference, and they would need a liaison. So I am the direct Liaising person with the Speakers. Its a BIG thing for me as im establishing a close contact with these people.

Its an exciting experience for me so far. And I can't wait for the conference in September. What more can you ask for - when you are already working with a team of experts and professionals who are all very friendly and helpful when you need assistance and when you are collaborating with big corporates like SingTel and establishing direct contacts with some of the major partners and CEOs of top companies in the world.

I am indeed blessed to have such an Internship experience and I am utterly sure that I would have the grip of experience attained during my Internship!

Maris Stella High School Education Fair

2010-07-26T14:54:00.004+08:00

Our lecturer speaking to Mr Ng Cher Pong, Deputy Secretary (Services) of the Singapore Ministry of Education
Explaining more about our couse to interested students

Our lecturers sharing with a student about our course structure

Our lecturers explaining to a student about IMI

Our course manager Mr Choy sharing with the students

On 17th July 2010 Maris Stella High School students had an opportunity to view Interactive Media Informatics student’s interactive projects in their campus. Students were enthralled to see the use of different technologies to develop and deliver interactive applications. IMI students’ projects shown in the education fair were Websites, Flash Games, 2D animation, 3D animation, Immersive Technology and Augmented Reality.

Maris Stella High School students were also keen to know the course details, career opportunities and advance standing for Diploma in Interactive Media Informatics. We look forward to seeing them at our Open House next year!

Sharing The SIP Experience

2010-07-23T16:35:00.009+08:00

Left to Right: Ian McKee (CEO), Zulkarnain Sadali (SIP student)

I am the lucky few who got to secure my own internship company and I never regretted my decision. Working at Vocanic has given me flexibility, independence and trust with the people I work with, especially my boss, Ian.

Vocanic is a social media company that helps market companies and brands on Twitter and FaceBook. Yes, you read it right, Twitter and FaceBook. So not everything I do at work that's on these sites are for fun and games, they're actually what I do as work.

I got to know about Vocanic when I was an active member of their project, RippleVox. RippleVox works with brands to promote via word-of-mouth. I got a free Nokia handset for my participation a few years back. Through networking and contact with one of the employees of Vocanic, I managed to attain a spot working here.

The fourth week of internship is coming to an end, and what a rush it has been. Working at Vocanic has been an eye-opening experience. Working in a small, yet internationally known company has given me exposure into many different things far beyond what I expected.

The office is located at Duxton Road, where there's nothing but shophouses with offices and bars (quite a good mix, eh?) and the parking rates are $1 every 1/2 hour. Oh, and that's where I sit, second level, middle window. Nice view...Of a carpark. Currently we're expanding the office to the unit on the left and I get to do the layout of the office. Sweet.

My desk, just like the one at home, is a messy one. It keeps me sane. I sit right next to my boss, who is currently on a business trip in Indonesia, securing a deal.

Thing is, working at Vocanic is great. It's about trust and not so much about how on time you are. It is also about independence. Once given a task, they'll trust that you'll do your work by a specified time. When it comes to weekly meetings or group campaigns, the colleagues show a strong teamwork spirit and work well. And yes, everyone jokes. It's never dull working here.

I've been doing community management for StarHub since I got here and what I learnt was customer relations, hearing their woes and helping them dealt with issues. Other than that, I've also been redesigning FaceBook fanpages for City Square Mall, and CIMB (just to name a few).

Ian, my boss (who is also my supervisor for the internship) has given me two major projects for the company. One is to create a corporate video for Vocanic and the other is to redesign Phantom Model Management.

Sending out EDMs, interacting on FaceBook and Twitter, redesigning websites and brainstorming can take a toll on the employees here at Vocanic. Meeting after meeting, pitch after pitch, it gets pretty tiring after a long week.

Usually, on Fridays, the whole office goes to a little quaint bar a few steps away from the office for some drinks and popcorn. It's not much but it builds good teamwork ethic in the workplace.

Honestly, I'm happy working at Vocanic and I feel that I can offer more, so fingers crossed for an extension! The exposure here is far beyond what I expected. Usually, Ian sends the employees to the other offices in Asia. Here's hoping I get to go to visit their Malaysian office!

Advice to my little juniors and freshies, if you want to work with a company you've always had interest in, get to it early! Self-secured internships means you find a solution that fits you, and personally, for me, it worked out pretty well.

Sharing the SIP Experience!

2010-07-23T15:19:00.011+08:00

Syazwani Bte Husin and Noorhayati Bte A Malek from IMI, Yr3 have shared with us their Student Intership experience at Damai Primary School.

Here are some photos of their experience:

From left to right: Ms Noor Faridah (SIP Liaison Officer), Syazwani Bte Husin (SIP Student), Noorhayati Bte A Malek (SIP Student), Mdm Goh (Principal), Mdm Haslina (Head of Dept)

Damai Primary School students getting ready to embark on an adventurous learning journey

Happy children heading to the first station

Up the hill they climb

It has been three weeks since the commencement of our internship. Working with the students and the staffs in Damai Primary School has been enjoyable thus far. We ensured that the trust given by the staffs in the school were proven. We were given tasks and responsibilities such as taking care of the students and also handle some of the school's administrative work. With that, it taught us to be more responsible. We were honoured to be given such a welcoming and entrusted role even though we were only interns in the school. It allows us to broaden our knowledge and exposed us to a different perspective apart from doing things that are related to our course.

Just last week, we went to Fort Canning with the primary 3 students for their Social Studies learning journey. This is indeed an enjoyable journey for us too, as we ourselves, are able to learn about the history of Singapore which we did not have an understanding of. It is a great opportunity as we had never been to Fort Canning and we could explore all the things and facts there. Another interesting task that we were given was to design the school’s year book which the school had decided to create an online one instead. Apart from that, we helped the Mother Tongue teachers to record their voices using Audacity, something that we have learn during one of our modules, and apply the skills taught to us. These recordings were meant to cater to the lower ability group of students who have difficulty in reading, understanding and pronouncing. Here’s to prove that Information Technology is very demanding and essential in the century. As Informatics & IT school students, we are glad that our skills can contribute to achieve what the school desired and this enables us to prepare for the working world in near future.

With the exposure and opportunity given, we felt as though we are part of the team and not only outsiders who came to get tasks assigned done. The tasks given are beyond what we learn in school, thus creating a wide exposure for us to know more about the teaching industry and what the educators are doing now to contribute to the society and mould our future country’s representatives. This makes us feel that we are not only here to work but we are also here to learn something new each day. For one of the weekly task, we were told to invigilate the Primary Sixes for their mock exams. Given this task, we realised that we are now contributing to the upcoming generation. The teachers here believed in us that we have the potential to lead the children here upon this task since we have gone through this phase. We are pleased to be given the chance to be part of this school and contribute to Singapore.

Sharing the SIP experience!

2010-07-21T20:57:00.016+08:00

From left to right: Chandra Vasimuthu (Geography and History Teacher), Jomel Ortiz (Business IT Executive), Luqman Hakim (SIP Student), Jie Wei (Customer Service Officer)

Luqman Hakim is a final year student from Interactive Media Informatics. He is currently having his student intership at SmartLab Education Private School and has shared his experience with us. Here is what he has to say about his experience:

In my past three weeks that I have been on my internship, I had a beneficial experience that could not have been possible in school.

The biggest difference would be the change of environment. I had to get myself quickly accustomed to the pace and timing of the working life. I feel that it is apt to say that are a lot of differences from school life. Of course, it is here in the working life where I can see my skills and experiences acquired from school being put into good use.

For example, I have been tasked by the CEO to research on video recording and the tools needed for it, as well as to come up with a concept video for him.

As Informatics & IT School has always emphasized on independent research, I managed to come up with a comprehensive report for the CEO. I had the chance to use the skills I learned in Digital Media Production Fundamentals (DMPF) to produce the video.

I feel that the SIP is a good opportunity for students to realize their potential and to see that their skills are being put to good use outside of school. I hope that everyone enjoyed their SIP as much as I did.

Post Contributor : SIP student - LUQMAN HAKIM B MOHD JAFREY
SIP host : SmartLab Education Private School

Graduation 2010

2010-06-08T17:43:00.003+08:00

Another batch of graduands who will be missed by the lecturers.

Our top students, Barnabas, Piyathip and Cheryl photographed here with IMI Course Manager.

IMI Student a finalist in Singapore Idol winner's T-Shirt design contest!

2010-01-16T23:30:00.005+08:00

Winner of Singapore Idol 2009, Sezairi has enlisted the help of his fans to design him a T-shirt for his fanbase. IMI native, Rafie, has submitted an awesome design and needs your vote! Imagine, a shirt by an IMI student worn by hundreds of Sezairi's fans! Wouldn't that be awesome?!

Illustrator is a powerful tool that is taught in IMI to create nice vector lines. Vectors are basically graphics that, instead of using Pixels to design like Photoshop, it uses a mathematical method to keep track of the designs so with vectors, you can blow up your designs to really really huge sizes

Rafie also uses a Wacom tablet to do his designs. It works like using pen and paper. It is faster and it brings a more desirable result while drawing vector graphics.

So what are you waiting for?! Vote for him now!

Step 1: Add Sezairi as a fan here.

Step 2: Go on to Rafie's design, "The Cool Cat" (click here) and hit that Like button.

That's all! To view more works of an IMI student, visit iMinds.sg now!

2010-01-14T10:18:00.002+08:00

We are going "LIVE" on:

Youtube:

Search for "Interactive Media Informatics" or click on the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ju-iHPbu0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhKaQfhbCjU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cblVoIjImA4

and many more...

Facebook Fan Site: Dip IMI

Happy Teacher's Day

2010-01-09T13:22:00.000+08:00

To our dear lectureres, Thank you for nuturing us. Happy Teacher's Day to you!

2010-01-04T17:14:00.003+08:00

Open House 2010
Do come to TP - IIT school and visit us during our Open House. We would showcase our projects which combines interactivity, design, programming, animation and more. Some applications are created for the Wii, while others could be utilised for Web platform and Edutainment.

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Hall of Fame

Congrats to Stephen Hong and Tarmizi who made it to the Napfa Hall of Fame. Wow, 15 chin-ups, well done Mr Muscleman! 66cm in Sit and Reach, he must be Mr Flexible.

2009-11-24T17:15:00.006+08:00

Recent IMI Activities

The SWS - IMI concert was a blast. The students slogged through many sleepless nights and they did feel proud to be able to showcase their animation to the public.

It was halloween and the symphonic wind members came prepared with horns and all, the conductor also donned on a dracula cape, just to get into the mood of things. Whacky!

Our IMI supporters! We were glad to have our Yr 1s, 2s, and 3s supporting the event!

The folks who made it all happen - Mr Vijayan, Ms Jean, Mr Rick and Mr. George. Thanks!

CCN - Fund Raising

Every freshmen must go through this and our Year 1s did a good job by selling candies, healthy grass jelly, and providing car wash services. Their "le-long le-long" could be heard even in Level 7.

Student-Staff Campus Run

It was quite an experience to run with the students and I didn't know they can run sooooo fast.

2009-10-06T14:55:00.004+08:00

SWS - IMI concert.

Do come and support!

For a preview, check out the website:

http://pressplay2.iminds.sg/

Springfield Sec School Visit

The staff went down to Springfield Sec School and let the sec 3s and 4s see what IMI has to offer. Our booth was the most interactive :)

Internship in Vietnam

2009-08-26T17:36:00.010+08:00

Alright, due to request of a certain someone I am asked to do this. Many of you don't really know me. I am a year 3 student who is in 3D options. (Juniors and freshies, choose 3D. You won't regret.)
Okay, back to main topic. Here I am with Randford in Vietnam working. We are asked to do highly classified work which can't really be disclosed to the outside work, but I am going to say it anyway. We were asked to do the English website of their company. And we picked up an assignment on the way which was designing poker cards which was very interesting if I say so myself.

Only been here for around a week. So don't have much to show. Will put more pictures when we get more pictures. So I am just gonna put a few cause I am still in the office. -.-

To you know who asked me to blog: I have done it. Will do it again in future. You know who you are.XD

Me and Randford at Beef Noodle shop which Bill Clinton went to.

Our office

Our first bus ride which cost 3000 dong to anyway

Vietnam po pai

2009-07-27T11:54:00.002+08:00

Aint sure if i posted this here already, but im still gonna do it anyway. In an attempt to liven up this blog a little. Enjoy. =)

Every year, English teachers from across the USA can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are won't to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Yours Truly, Sincerely, Absolutely. =)

2009-07-26T02:04:00.002+08:00

Hello guys (:

Here's another attempt to liven up the imi blog (: Hopefully the people that gets attracted here aren't the silly kids that spam the tag board. Very fun meh? 0.o

Anyway yeah, as for me, year 3 is treating me rather nicely (don't really know about the rest). We're currently having our MP/SIP which is to either do our Major Project first or go for internship. I'm on my Major Project now, which isn't too bad cause mine isn't filled with the need to code (thank god). The rest are mostly on their internships now though. Some say its boring, some say its friggin huge load of work, but yeah it all ends up as good experience I guess? (positive thinking positive thinking!!) :D

Oh and theres this thing called OSIP, meaning overseas internship where you do your internships well... overseas. Okay that was quite self explanatory, but yeah. For this batch, there will be internships in Vietnam, Bangkok, Aus and if mine confirms and works out, Oregon. Quite exciting really (:

So... yeah.
ladeeda.

2009-07-25T22:05:00.004+08:00

HELLO PEOPLE!

i know i haven't post a single entry here ever since I'd been invited to be an author.
so here it is! :D

oh, and before i forget

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i doubt you all know who i am, no? :D

so i shall hereby introduce myself for the first time. once and for all! Hee.

alrighty.. listen properly okay?

cause i'm not gonna repeat myself for a second time yo.

okayy, enough of my nonsensical crap.

i'm Jacqueline, a freshie this year (:

NICE TO MEET YOU! :D

i love talking, crapping, etc.
who don't? ahahs.

i'm lazy to type anymore.

no lahh. it's due to many undone work that's gonna due some time SOON ><

so just read up my profile (if you want) from the link in this blog.

or you could add me in msn (at jacqqqques@gmail.com) if you want too!

facebook also can! :D

and yes, i admit i'm lazyy too! :X

alright! that's all for introducing myself here!

hopefully i get the time to post more entries in future!

alright, back to completing my work!

see you guys next time!

ciao! :D

p/s: have this blog been liven up abit? :P

I AM I ! :)

2009-06-19T14:44:00.006+08:00

Hello everybody ! Sorry for all the delay in updating the blog.

Well anyway, we had a big and interesting visit from Pasir Ris Secondary School on the 11th of June. The students brought along a huge level of excitement, although they didn't really open up for any queries or questions. Haha. But they were an interesting bunch.

Together with Amalina and Ms Natasha, the three of us were made to 'entertain' our groups of students in the specialist labs. They went through a series of websites like the TP IMI website, yeap, this exact proud blog of ours ! and plus the iMinds website as well as a couple of games produced by our very own students in IMI.

We are very sure they left with the 'constant echoing' of the name IMI aka I AM I ! Haha. Had a good time indeed :)

A treat of photos for you !

The 3 Star - lings !! :)

2009-06-18T13:10:00.004+08:00

Botaks!

Clarence and Kim Choon came by to visit and "show off" their new hairdo (after much persuasion of course). Yo, IND alumni, if you have photos to share, esp the botaks one, do email us ok :)

Pei Tong Primary School Visit!

2009-05-27T22:59:00.005+08:00

Before I start today's post, I would like to announce that yours truly, Zul, along with three other IMI juniors, Valenisha, Kok Peng and Tian Seng, have emerged successful and is now a part of the main committee of IITSC! :D

Well, sorry for the topic drift. Today, primary six students from Pei Tong Primary School, (if you don't know where it is, neither did I, it's somewhere in Clementi) gave IMI a visit and boy, were they a fiesty group!

Assisted with the October Intake Freshmen, Edward and Eendra. They met the kids way earlier than I did so from the looks of it, Double E did a great job! Kudos, boys!

Well, the kids were a loud bunch but one can't help but notice their shyness and unwillingness to open up. What did the army of IMI lecturers to do?

Call the most gregarious IMI student and demand that he make a fool of himself.

ME.

So finally got the kids to participate by showing them indeed it was fun. Most of them answered, "oh I know this one! I play at shopping mall before!" proving that what we do at IMI touch lives. AHHH.

Getting the kids to play together was fun. It was amazing how even though they're young, they manage to spread work. It was evident that teamwork was there.

Whack-a-mole, anyone?

Love,
Zul

2009-05-27T16:45:00.008+08:00

Sec. School Visits

Finally, exams is over... i mean for the Sec school students ... so we had to host a few talks and workshops for the students, showcasing IMI's students' work.

I- Gerald, M- JC, I - Raudha

Say hi to Pei Tong Sec :)

Say hi to St.Hilda's Sec :)

Graduation 2009

2009-05-19T15:01:00.008+08:00

Graduation 2009

The '06 cohort of IND students (currently known as IMI) graduated today. IIT school was honoured to have Ms Grace Fu, Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Ministry of National Development, witness the event and gave a meaningful speech to the graduands. Amongst them are our regular bloggers – Alastair, Raymond, Alvin, Shellen, Wanqi.

To make the event more meaningful, Kevin Lee’s ambition of completing the course has finally come to fruition today. Kevin was featured in The New Paper on 17 May 2009. Kevin suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (rapid muscle degeneration) since the age of 10; he would attend lessons on a wheelchair and is usually accompanied by his mom. His condition deteriorated over the years but his sheer determination and perseverance only serves to prove one point: Nothing is impossible. Congratulations!!!

The New Paper : 17 MAY 2009

From all the IND/IMI lecturers to the '06 Cohort: Best Wishes to all of you!

Save TP SQUASH

2009-05-14T00:25:00.001+08:00

Hi guys

You probably have been asked to sign a petition to save TP squash in school just today.
If you have facebook, would you be so kind to join the Save TP squash group??

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=80908947098

THANKS A MILL!

Alastair

Being a Global Citizen

2009-04-14T13:26:00.010+08:00

Being a Global Citizen

38 students set off to Cambodia from 29 Mar to 5 Apr. Some went as part of their Cross Disciplinary Subject called Global Citizenship. Others went for Overseas Community Project, doing their part for the Cambodian students.

No matter how tough the life may be, the Cambodians always smile from their hearts and welcome you dearly.

Not only new friendships were built, the IMI students found they grew closer to one another and got the opportunity to know the freshmen, juniors and seniors.

Practising hard for their cultrual night performance. Watch it here!!!

2009-04-14T12:27:00.004+08:00

Hello~
Yes since the blog is rather dead I've decided to come and help save the day!

There have been super alot of questions about camps and laptops. Its really been rather long ago since i attended camp but i'll try my best to help.

1. Do try to attend the orientation camp as it is going to be somehow of like a bond you're gonna make with people ur most likely gonna stick with for 3 years. You never know what good friends you might make which will help with projects and stuff. haha Oh and thats where you learn the basic things around Tp, like your student id and password and stuff. You'll know when you go =)

2. Regarding laptops for this course, yes this course is rather graphic intensive, so it would be best to go for a higher end laptop, with graphics by Nvidia. Why Nvidia? Cos it can support most games very well. heehee.

A higher end laptop to ME would mean
- Intel Core 2 Duo (and above if have)
- 2GB Ram Minimum
- Nvidia Geforce (preferbly 8000 and above, minumun 256 mb)
- A nice to type keyboard. (Trust me. You'll need this for ******* programming)
- Windows Vista ( I have heard rumors saying Windows 7 is much much much better than Vista, but since no one is using it lets play safe. ) (( Thank God im still using Xp. whahahha!))

And of course lets not forget about the weight, since you'll be carrying it to school rather often.
Battery life too. Make sure you get a good one and dont destroy your battery life until its left with like 5 mins at 100% full battery. =.=

Notice im not talking abouts Macs cos
1) Im anti Mac
2) I know nuts about Macs, aside from them being white and have irritating functions.
3) I lazy to type somemore. I wanna bathe.

For Mac users: Dont worry. Mac CAN be used, but you gotta have the Mac version of the softwares that you are gonna use.

One word of advice. DON'T get a Mac and install Windows in it. Thats just plain dumb, and its spoiling the Mac. You want Windows get Pc, dont want Pc get Mac.

With all these said I hope it helps and i really hope to see you guys in school.

Be a man, do the right thing..

-Russel Peters

To your granny: Nice timing on the last post sia. 4.44 am. hahahaha

2009-04-13T04:44:00.003+08:00

Hello guys :D

Blog's been rather dead, but no matter, I've come to save the day! :P
Anyway I'm not here to answer the many questions about camp, its way too long ago. Don't actually remember much now. Haha as for laptop decisions, can't give much advice either since the one I chose is currently the butt of jokes when talking about laptops.

Just here to welcome the new FRESHIES! HEREBY STARTS YOUR POLY LIFE! STUDY HOR.
YAY.

For the second years, GPA GOOD NOT?! YOU'VE SURVIVED A YEAR IN IMI!
YAY.

and for the people in my batch... WE ARE THE SENIOOOOORS. WE CAN ORDER FRESHIES AND JUNIORS AROUND!~
YAY.

for the graduating people... uhm.
BYEBYE.