Rong Kang Chew

Here is our coverage of the LTA Transport & Youth Hackathon Finals! // <![CDATA[ (function() { var lb24 = document.createElement(‘script’); lb24.type = ’text/javascript’; lb24.id = ‘24lbScript’; lb24.async = true; lb24.charset=“utf-8”; lb24.src = ‘//v.24liveblog.com/embed/24.js?id=1290113’; (document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0] || document.getElementsByTagName(‘body’)[0]).appendChild(lb24);})(); // ]]>

This weekend, people all over Singapore have gathered at the Employment and Employability Institute in Jurong to hack our Singapore transport systems… No it’s not that kind of hacking you might be thinking about! These people are quickly creating new apps and software that are going to change how we use public transport daily, “hacking” together new ideas within the short span of two days. Singapore Land Transport Authority’s Transport and You(th) Hackathon kicked off on the evening Friday, 16 April with participants meeting up in the e2i event halls - the venue for the next 3 days of hacking and presentations. ...

I’m glad to announce the public recruitment of the Microsoft Student Partners in Singapore! If you’re interested in joining MSP Singapore, please register your interest now by 6 May 2015: Who are the Microsoft Student Partners? The Microsoft Student Partners are a global group of student developer who love the Microsoft technology stack, and love sharing this technology with their student communities around them. In Singapore, we have 40 awesome MSPs from polytechnics and universities, from Schools of IT, Engineering, Business and more! They are part of over 7,000 MSPs from 120 countries all over the globe. These MSPs are experts on the Microsoft technology stack, and organize activities and events for their own campus. Here’s a video featuring some of these international MSPs: We’ve just announced the Public Recruitment for MSP in Singapore last weekend at the Imagine Cup 2015 Singapore Finals. Here’s the slide deck that we showed in case you missed it: We’re looking for a limited number of enthusiastic student developers and ambassadors to join the MSP Singapore group this May. Do you have what it takes to be a technical evangelist MSP? If you do, register your interest now by 6 May 2015! After registering your interest, we will request more information from you, and shortlist potential MSPs to attend an interview. Finally, accepted MSPs will be invited to attend our May meetup. Here’s an overview of what happens when after registering your interest. If you have any questions, please send them over to Jason Chee, Programme Lead for MSP Singapore: t-jachee@microsoft.com ...

We’re adding a bit of fun to this year’s Imagine Cup 2015 Singapore Finals, happening this Saturday (4 April 9AM)! Now, you can take part in the Post-Event Xbox One Tournament! At the end of the Imagine Cup Singapore finals, there will be an Xbox One Tournament, featuring #IDARB, a chaotic 8-player eSport jumping future arena ball game! Take part in the tournament after the event and stand a chance to win a prize! Audience can take part too by hashbombing the game and changing the game live through Twitter. Remember to register for the event in order to take part in the #IDARB tournament. See you there and get your fingers ready!

In the next installment of our Startup and Developer feature series, Spiffy talks to Nicholas Yong, the founder of BridgingMinds, a BizSpark startup. BridgingMinds is a Singapore startup with a recent unique take on online learning systems for companies called LeanersHive. I’ll leave it to Nicholas to tell you more! Describe yourself in three words. Why? Never say DIE! As an entrepreneur and startup, we are constantly finding way to gain acceptance of our new products and services to our clients. It is an up hill battle and many may fall due to the many factors. Strength of character and never say die attitude is what keeps us going strong and listening to our clients on what’s need to be done. ...

Join us, De-Mystify Azure and the Cloud Microsoft would like to invite you to a one-day Azure Discovery seminar. At this event, you will experience the versatility of the Azure platform, and observe practical benefits that could rapidly transform your own IT projects. Leading cloud experts from Microsoft will show you a platform that is equally valuable to open source and .NET developers and IT professionals—in fact, most components are already available via GitHub. You will discover how to build hybrid on-premise and third-party cloud services, so you can quickly create powerful and compelling new capabilities. ...

Happening on the 12-14 November at Marina Bay Sands, the second annual Agile Singapore Conference will feature three days of learning and interactions with some of the world’s most insightful and experienced Product developers. This year’s conference features world-class keynotes by Linda Rising on “The Power of an Agile mindset”, Dave Snowden on “Enabling the organisation as a complex eco-system” and Richard Sheridan on “Build a Workplace People Love - Just Add Joy”. The programme also features workshops and lectures conducted by world-class contributors including James Grenning, co-author of the Agile Manifesto, Rachel Davies, Michael Feathers, Kevlin Henney, Bas Vodde and Steve Freeman. With over 35 sessions in Organisation Agility, Agile Project Management and Technical Practices, the Agile Singapore Conference brings together together a truly exceptional group of enthusiastic Agile practitioners from around the world! Check out the full programmes schedule here: http://2014.agilesingapore.org/programme.html Get your tickets at: http://2014.agilesingapore.org

In the next installment of our Developer Feature series, Spiffy talks to the co-founder of Packnada, Jonathan. Packnada is a fresh new Singapore-based startup with a unique online business revolving around business travel and quite literally, your dirty laundry. 1) Tell us about Packnada, and what is its origin story? Like most startups, Packnada was born out of frustration. Johnbosco (my co-founder) and I were stuck in a stupidly long queue at the Hong Kong airport during a business trip, and I guarantee we weren’t the only frustrated ones. If we didn’t have to carry around our clothes, we’d be saving a lot of time, not just from skipping queues, but from skipping packing and laundry altogether. We’re both geeks at heart, so we decided to combine something traditional like clothes, with the concept of cloud storage! If we can have our files wherever we go, why don’t we do the same for clothes? You’d never have to pack, and always find your essentials waiting at your hotel! ...