Gratification

woot. someone had implemented this
all the best to him

Why experience counts..

Just an add on to the previous post, still remember the superstar project manager that I had? Well for the SSE project we did encountered one error, all the team members was not able to solve it, we kept getting the dreaded "illegal operations" error and none too friendly information..

The project manager was able to come save the day, he went through the memory dump (a skill which till this very day something that I've still not mastered), analyzed it and was able to solve the problem.

SSE requires allocated memory in chunks of 16bits, while the MS VC compiler defaults to 8 bits. So the project manager changed the allocator.h and changed the default to 16 bits.

//change memory allocation to be in 16 bits
pointer allocate(size_type n, const void *)
{
return((pointer)_mm_malloc(n * sizeof(T), 16));
}

It was really an eye opener for me as,

1. He had the skills to go through the memory dump.
2. He had enough knowledge of how the MS VC compiler work to know where to look for the location to fix.
3. He was more than happy to share with us the process of going through the problem, analyzing and solving it. An skill which I've benefited so much till today in terms of my desktop support job.

All in all it was so awesome to have worked with people like him. Sorry for another ranting post. :P

Those good old days

screen shot of the simulation

It has been a while since my last post, guess I was too caught up in my work that is frankly speaking 'killing' me. Feels bad when everyday you would go to work and engage in activities that kills off the 'part' of you that is what you believe in and stand for.

Had gone through my archives today (sign of old age), came across an old project that I was involved in at my first company. That was six years back, makes me realise how time flies without you knowing. Anyway it's one of the most memorable projects that I've done, in terms of the technical feats and the enjoyment of working in a team that really jell together.

The project was to showcase Intel's SSE instructions, it was done by using a coral reef simulation. The idea was to make use of the flocking algorithm to simulate fish swimming pattern and show the speed of execution with and without Intel's SSE algorithm.

It's during that project that I've learned about working well in a team, where every has a part to play to make sure the source merge at the end of the day works. My project manager taught us ways to profile your code and optimise every loops and cycles. e.g. use shifts instead of multiplication. The project start with little pieces of individual modules, sound, flocking module, scene management and SSE integration. It had started with flocks of cubes, and it was so satisfying to see everything come together. Did a capturing module to convert the scenes to AVI too...

The most important lesson was that I've never felt so empowered before. The very fact that I was able to be a part of something so great makes me feels so good till now. I would've never believe that I would be able to contribute to something like that... and yes that was the few moments in my life that I felt I could accomplish anything....too bad good things don't last and

Then came the crash...

Somehow the learning stopped after that....guess I'm destined to do procurement and doing helpdesk duties for now...

I feel very lucky to have work with some of the people, all of them was so smart and yet so humble. He had coded the SSE optimised code alone, which he did so with very good results. Still can remember me offering to help him in C/C++ on his first day of work...He's in canada now and he had even co-authored a book on shader. AWESOME..yen kwoon if you're reading this 'u rock'

Well, those good old days as they say....though the company closed down, not sure I'm able to realease the executable and source of the project...

Your Pressure my pleasure

Out of topic post but as seen from a booklet on NDP...really does sums it up. However do thinks it's a message crying for help and the helplessness..

Quote

"You are as valuable as the time you are on TV." Nice quote from johan cruyff, which describes the current increase in web applications. The application who has most attention from the media would eventually win out.

counting down

Time flies when you are doing something you enjoy but it's really torturous when you are not. Here I am on a sunday night thinking about the week ahead and frankly it really makes me sick to think about all the 'administrative' work. Hope I can find enough motivation tomorrow morning to drag myself out of the bed to go to work.

All I can say is that I'm already counting down now even though my contact ends 6 months down the road. Why do employers here in singapore think that having an employee who can multi-task is so important? Don't they realise that there are no such thing as having quality work when the employee's work scope is so wide. (Ok I knew what I was going into when I signed on the dotted line) If you've employed an technical staff don't expect him to excel in administrative work.

Maybe that's why there isn't much innovation going on here. Everyone is so stressed in keeping up on the portion of their job that they are weak in. Therefore everyone does not have the energy left at the end of the day to really think and innovate. Just my thoughts..

Sorry about the ranting post but hope to find myself free again..

update

It been a while since my last post. Sorry as I have certainly been very busy. Having to take on responsibilities really took me more time to get used to the job. One thing for sure is that it encourages me more to really be on my own, getting back to the 'cubicle nation' is really dreadful and taking a toll on my spirit.

Of course I'm learning the skills that would be needed when eventually I am on my own i.e. budgeting, procurement stuffs and assets management . But to put it bluntly it sucks big time, I feel so handicapped/frustrated being bounded by so many constraints. Maybe I should be developing something that would liberate the cubicle workers of the daily chores of seeking approval/deciding next step of actions.

Things are slowly getting worse though as I find that I'm dragging myself to work day after day. Guess it's just me.. the bank account needs nourishments but the spirit wants to be free...such a sad situation to be in.

several ideas that I've been pondering on
ideas galore:
1. Todo list application with bayensian filters to automatically tag your tasks.
2. Arrears management system, with configurable interest formula.
3. Onsite personnel tracking system, utilizing GPS to report back to employer.