Posted on May 18, 2014 by orbital

STS-133_Discovery_Lift_Off_Launch_Pad_39A_KSCLiftoff 2014 concluded on Wednesday, but it’s helpful to have a recap of everything that happened, especially for those of you who are overseas.  Here’s where we sum it up in a single post.  Feel free to watch this thread in Piazza, as it’s inevitable we missed out on some useful pointers (students, advisors and mentors, feel free to add to the post).

There’s a YouTube playlist for all of the videos that we broadcasted, but the individual links are below.

Day 1

Design Thinking – Giftbook

For the first session, we are going over the design thinking workshop.

Go through the slides that Wee Sun has posted at http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~leews/LiftOff.zip, and then after reviewing the materials, watch and do with your partner the entire Design Thinking Workshop Video from Stanford.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FzFk3E5nxM

Project Levels and Achievements

As Wee Sun pointed out, you can have your Orbital experience overlap and align with programming contests locally and worldwide.

Consider this (non-exhaustive) list (now merged and enhanced from Shubham Goyal’s list too)

Presentation Skills by Google

Presented by Darshini Santhanam, Google Singapore (starts from the video stream at 21m50s) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5KjiP9DLss&t=21m50s

Attached are the slides for the presentation, courtesy Darshini. Grow_Beyond__Presentation_Skills_by_Darshini_Santhanam.pdf

YouTube videos referenced:

Eric Schmidt Public Speaking Class http://youtu.be/bA1I6MUOKkU
Macworld San Francisco 2008-The MacBook Air Intro (Pt. 1) http://youtu.be/OIV6peKMj9M

Elevator Pitch Winner – Katie Sunday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqIEE-g_-Uc
Eric Schmidt – Zeitgeist Americas 2013 http://youtu.be/hUPnhKf_Cnw

Enjoy and thanks to Google again for stopping by!

Python

We pretty much went over the materials from LearnPython.org and dashed over to Codecademy to do some exercises.  We had some fun with the Open Source Report Card Json service towards the very end.

Whenever you get down on your programming mojo, watch the Code.org videos.  They pep you up.  There’s suposedly one with Obama (US president) in it too.

Alternative learning platforms:

GrokLearning
Udemy – A list of courses (w/ star-rated reviews; fee and non-fee)
Lynda – for fee, monthly subscription-based
LearnPython – what we will be following for the first part, along with Codecademy
Pythonfiddle.com

Codecademy.com: Advanced Topics in Python
– Iteration Nation (Exercises 1-3)
– List Comprehensions (Exercises 4-6)
– List Slicing (Exercises 7-11)

Codecademy.com: The Devil’s in the Details

20 minutes: AfterHoursProgramming Python Quiz
http://www.afterhoursprogramming.com/tutorial/Python/Python-Quiz/

Here are the slides for the original version of the tutorial: python_tutorial.pdf  Note you can also find the videos of both parts of the Python tutorial online.  Google has a few versions of a Python tutorial that is much better than mine, I think but it may still be worth it to work through your understanding of Python.

There are lots of additional tricks in Python that you can try, so do try to figure them out.  Also important is to try to adopt the Python coding style, in the form of the PEP 8 “standard” or others: https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=python+style+guide For PG and A11 students: if you whizzed through our Py tutorial you can try watching some pretty advanced tips to get yourself more aligned to the Pythonic style:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OSGv2VnC0go#!

Even seasoned (salted or pickled) Pythonistas benefit from watching this from time to time…

On Codecademy: So at this point, you should have some gist of what python programming is like.  It’s not so bad, is it?  If you haven’t finished the exercises, try to do them over the next week or so, and keep working at the Python course (and others) on Codecademy.  You can take a look at the other sites that I shared with you in the earlier @177 post.  Vostok folks, don’t be intimidated by the speed at which some students can do the exercises.  Practice makes things better and guess what — there’s no Bell Curve God for this module.  So take your time and get things done until you’re comfortable coding.  You can also ask your advisors for some tips — they will be really happy to share, trust me!

Software Installation (Post @168): Please do this by Wednesday early morning.  Ideally today if possible.  It’ll really help if you have the software installed.  We did Python together (and perhaps PyCharm).

Project Gemini / Apollo 11: Teams aiming for a bit more than the standard project can try to do a mobile app or other project — it’s up to you. If you’re interested in still doing a web application, don’t necessarily corner yourself into using Py/GAE.  There are many frameworks you can.  You could try Ruby on Rails (my personal favorite web framework, and experience that Winston was sharing is highly sought for in SG).  A few of our mentors are also Rails specialists, but Python / GAE is also a good combo, and many of the advisors will be able to help you with that.  Explore what’s right for you.

Agile Methodologies

Winston of Jolly Good Code has kindly made his presentation available to us.  You’ll probably want to have a re-look at the Agile software engineering methodology he presented to you once you get down to the nitty-gritty of actually starting on your project.  Agile_Methodologies.pdf

Post Day 1 – Software Installation

Probably you have these all done, but if not, please get it done soon.  Min’s note: the more you work with these tools, the more proficient you’ll be with it.  It does help to periodically go back and retrain on certain tools (especially your text editor — knowing shortcut keys is really beneficial — you can YouTube or Google hints for developers for any tool that you’re using.  Lots of people have made very helpful notes.  Find them and share with the class!

Day 2

Web structure, HTML, version control

Zhi An’s session on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpbK78yt8RE#t=108
Slides and everything else: http://ngzhian.github.io/orbital/#/

Color Pickers:
http://www.colourlovers.com/
– Adobe Kuler ( http://kuler.adobe.com )

Update (Post Liftoff 18 May by Min): you may also find that Laurence’s session in last year’s Orbital specifically on git use and management would be helpful for those who have gotten git to install but don’t know what to do with it.  Please find the session here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2-hJivIXZU
A screenshot of Zhi An’s description of “how the web works” mentioned at 4:40 into his video:

Min’s addendum:
– You will probably use your fav search engine to find more information about HTML tags and CSS directives, but usually a search for “<tag name> html” will work.  The technical descriptions from w3schools.com is usually fairly good.  They have HTML and CSS tutorials there too.
– Geeky stuff: Tim Berners Lee started the web in 1991.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_World_Wide_

Google App Engine

Follow along here in YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db6CCPZ6b3U&feature=share
Please note that you need the materials to follow along http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~leews/LiftOff.zip

Update (Post @206) : Last year, I posted this video to YouTube to help some students come to grips with all the new shiny code that they learned in the Google App Engine session.  You may find this lo-fi video helpful to fill in some gaps in your understanding of what all the parts of the web work.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC6hacD5Dcs

Students from last year also found self-studying from the Udacity web application course also very useful for general awareness of “how the web works”. You can also find some of the sessions on YouTube for free:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cs253+udacity

This source of information is probably very useful for those of us whom learn best by watching.  The Udacity course is pretty long but much more principled in its way of introducing materials to you in a “lecture” format, instead of dumping you all in the thick of GAE like we have done.

 

Posted on April 17, 2014 by orbital

For those of you who have filled out the Orbital registration form, thank you in advance for making Orbital 2014 a success!  You should now be invited to join the Piazza forum (reminder emails were sent out earlier today, please check your accounts and spam folders). The forum has most of the answers to concerns that you have raised.  Additionally:

  1. Those of you who have already stated their project teammates clearly have been also enrolled to a specific advisor group (hopefully correctly assigned to the same group) where your advisors have written a short note of introduction.  If you’ve gotten this far, congratulations!  You’re ready for Orbital!
  2. If you have been invited to Piazza, but haven’t been allocated to a specific advisor, it’s probably because you didn’t specify a teammate, or that your choice was unclear.  If you have chosen a teammate, let us know (email Min at <kanmy@comp.nus.edu.sg>).  If you haven’t yet found a teammate don’t worry, you can use the Piazza forum to solicit for teammates and can find teammates at the Liftoff workshop on the 12th / 14th May mandatory workshop.
  3. If you have filled out the registration form but haven’t been invited to the forum, please let us know.  We sent out registration reminders this evening (17 Apr).
  4. If you’re interested in Orbital but haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, there’s still time.  Please join us by filling the form: http://bit.ly/1d6zlZR

See you soon on the 12th and 14th (all day!).  See the Piazza forum for details on the Liftoff Workshop!

Posted on April 1, 2014 by orbital

Screen Shot 2014-04-01 at 3.18.38 pmThe Orbital briefing was held on Monday 31 Mar 2014, at 18:00-19:00 (sorry if there was some confusion in our announcement of the timing… my bad).

The slides of the presentation are available here: http://bit.ly/1dMDrZM and the video (audio may / may not be audible, weak laptop mic) is here: http://youtu.be/mLapjT9f-GE (don’t worry the video is not actually an hour long; please scrub it to find the parts that you’re interested in, see the first slides for the narration of the briefing of the video).

If you weren’t convinced to sign up before, then you can do it now (yes, you; yes, right now!) : http://bit.ly/1d6zlZR

If you have continued questions about Orbital, please raise them on the Orbital Piazza Forum.

See you again soon at Liftoff (12 and 14 May)!

 

Posted on March 31, 2014 by orbital

PyCharmAs part of the Orbital summer programme, we will be engaging the wider industrial community to help guide you and let you experience what the real-world industry and development is like.

As part of this endeavor, we are pleased to let you know that JetBrains, the folks behind PyCharm, the popular Python integrated development environment (IDE), has decided to give NUS Orbital students a period license for their Professional version of PyCharm.

You may want to test-drive the IDE and see whether you’d like to use it.  Of course, you’re not obligated to use it (it is third-party software and only a temporary license for you to use during the course, but if you find it useful, please go ahead and use it.

Details will be posted in the Piazza forum (where it’s private to our class).

(Disclaimer: Neither NUS or SoC officially endorse this product or company; it is an option for you to use if you find useful).

 

Posted on March 24, 2014 by orbital

Photo Credits: US NASA

Hi all:

Thinking of Orbital, but haven’t yet decided to enrol?  Or perhaps you’ve already enrolled but you still have some questions about what Orbital is?

Then come to our short briefing session that will help you understand the Orbital process on Monday 31 Mar, from 18:00-19:00 (sorry for the confusion! was incorrectly written as 7-8pm).  Some of your seniors from Year 2 may also be around to help you understand what Orbital meant to them.

See you then!

– Min

Posted on March 1, 2014 by orbital

Registration now open
Dear 2014 Orbitees:

The countdown has begun!  You may now register your interest to join the Orbital programme.  After registering, you’ll be placed on the email list for the summer programme that we will use to keep in contact with you and you’ll be assigned an advisor who will give you more details on the summer course as it progresses.  Just click the link below:

We know you are wondering about some questions, so here are some answers that may help you clear your doubts:

Q1) Is there any obligation by filling out this registration form?
A1) Nope, it just allows us to know who you are and to establish contact with you.  You can decide not to participate in Orbital even after you register, with no risk to yourself.

Q2) Is there a deadline for filling out this registration form?
A2) Nope. You can register as late as 12 May, the first day of the mandatory* Liftoff workshop.  However, the sooner the better for the administrative staff, as we can better estimate the interest from all of you potential first year SoC students.  Since there’s no risk (see Q1), why don’t you register? (hint, hint)

* Attendance at the Liftoff workshop on 12-1314 (13th is a holiday) May is mandatory, but students who want to participate in Orbital who cannot make the workshop dates need to let Orbital staff know in advance.

Stop the presses!  I’m ready to register!

(or try http://bit.ly/1d6zlZR if that doesn’t work for you)