This is a new series of blog post titled “Product Reviews” where we will be testing out various products and posting reviews on them. In this first series of “Product Reviews” post, we will look at the Fish Eye Lens for Mobile Phone available on eBay. I initially came across this lens via word of mouth from a Microsoft Student Partner named Phyo during NDP Hackathon. You can check out Phyo’s blog here. While he managed to purchase this locally, I went ahead to a very popular e-commerce site :) to look for the keywords “mobile phone fish eye lens”. While there are numerous sellers offering seemingly identical product, what you want to do would be to sort by lowest price + shipping as shown below. Look for those with “Buy It Now” and proceed to checkout the item via Credit Card or Paypal. From experience, shipping will take around 2-4 weeks depending on different sellers and location of the goods. How does this attach to your mobile phone? Samsung Omnia Front with Fish Eye Lens on the side Magnetic Ring is double sided taped to the back of the Samsung Omnia. This is universal for all mobile phones and will work across different devices. Samsung Omnia 7 with Fish Eye Lens Magnetically Attached First Person POV of Samsung Omnia Camera App without Fish Eye lens attachment First Person POV of Samsung Omnia Camera App with Fish Eye lens attachment Sample shots off Camera Picture off camera Skyline of One Marina Boulevard Close focus from Fish Eye lens attachment Picture of close up off camera In Summary, the eBay Fish Eye lens is an inexpensive attachment to your photography addition. While it is great for landscape and macro shots, it is also possible to get creative and use the fish eye lens for portrait shots of people with dramatic and distorted effects. However I will leave that experiment to you after you get one for yourself :) Previous Product Review Posts: Product Review: $7 Fish Eye Lens from eBay

I’ve embarked on the above-described 12-week Intern to MACH programme in the Microsoft Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE) team, and no doubt it has been an awesome and rewarding journey! In fact, I’ve come on board during one of the most exciting times, as Windows 8 is the upcoming platform that Microsoft is launching on 26th October later this year. [caption id=“attachment_11024” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“A Microsoft Employee - Intern to MACH”][/caption] My role as a Developer Evangelist included the planning and execution of Windows 8 developer campaigns for the breadth and academic audience, increasing awareness within & engaging the developer community, driving adoption & application development on the platform and ramping up Windows 8 development skills. Life in DPE was totally awesome. Apart from a nice and flexible working environment, lots of sugar rush from the drinks in the pantry, most importantly, there were lots of nice and talented people in the DPE team. On the day where I first met my hiring manager, he tasked me to develop Windows 8 Metro-style apps by the end of that week. Despite having no prior experience to Windows 8 development (i.e. C# or .NET), I managed to develop 2 apps fairly easily, thanks to the flexibility of Windows 8 which allows me to make use of my web design and HTML5 + JavaScript skills. Through this process, I developed a very good understanding of the Windows 8 development process, a knowledge which every Developer Evangelist requires! I also attended a Premier Field Engineer Excellence Lab and obtained a token (worth $60) for my apps, which gave me a free access to upload my apps into the Windows Store! Soon after, I took ownership of managing the PFE labs, and assisted developers to attend the sessions! Check out my PFE Lab experiences and see for yourself what other developers have to say about their experiences. It’s really not very hard to develop Windows 8 apps, so why not join in the fun? :) What I really liked about my role is that despite being only an intern, I was trusted with the responsibility as a full-time employee. Not only do I get to manage and use a given budget (an amount more than what I have in my bank account :p), I enjoyed the autonomy over the conceptualization and execution of my projects and events. I suppose one of the highlights of my internship would be the Dream.Build.Launch - Hackathon 2012 event which I organized 2 weeks into my internship with the given budget. The first of a kind in Singapore, this event aims to provide students with the opportunity with meeting like-minded people who love technology, exchange ideas, experience ‘working’ in Microsoft for a day, and ultimately learn and create a Metro style Windows 8 app in teams of two! [caption id=“attachment_11009” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“The opening for the Dream . Build . Launch - Hackathon 2012”][/caption] From the overwhelming responses, my team subsequently organized a series of Hack Weekends (Hack Weekend 1, Hack Weekend 2 & NDP Special) which took place fortnightly. Through these Hack Weekends, developers with a Windows 8 app idea were given some time to share them and gather interested team members to work on it together. Participants were also able to share and ‘show off’ their hard work during the Show-n-Tell. It was extremely heart-warming to see many familiar faces coming back, and I also took the opportunity to make friends with many of them! [caption id=“attachment_11018” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“The awesome friends I’ve made from the Hack Weekends (NDP Special)”][/caption] A project which I also really enjoyed was the Windows 8 Workshop and Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) tours for schools. Working closely with my scholarship board, the Infocomm Developer Authority of Singapore (IDA), I’ve linked up with many Infocomm Clubs of Secondary Schools, Polytechnics and Junior Colleges, and invited them down to our very own Microsoft Singapore office in One Marina Boulevard. Through these in-house workshops, I shared with students and teachers the potential and cool features of Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Subsequently, I also introduced to them the Microsoft business, and treated them to a guided tour around our office and the Microsoft Technology Center. Personally, I believe this would expose them to the Microsoft’s business and culture, help them understand a Developer Evangelist’s work life in the business, and allow them to experience first-hand the cool gadgets we have here! I really enjoyed the interaction with the participants. Not only did they offer me great insights (check out the students’ comments) from their perspective and takeaways, I also felt young once again :) [caption id=“attachment_11020” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Students and teacher enjoying themselves in the Microsoft Technology Center tour”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_11021” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Students having a tour - In a Microsoft conference board room”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_11072” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Excited students embarking on the Microsoft tour - Outside the Microsoft auditorium”][/caption] Apart from working solely with my DPE team, I also had the opportunity to work with fellow interns from different departments and countries. Through Protégé, an internal marketing case competition, I worked very closely with other Intern to MACHs from all over the Asia Pacific region, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia etc. Each of us were provided with a Nokia Lumia 800 device which we had to market to the student community. My fellow Intern to MACHs in the DPE team from different countries/subsidiaries also took the opportunity to learn from one another, to see how we can possibly work together to achieve our common goals. [caption id=“attachment_11029” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“WinMark8 - My awesome Protégé team”][/caption] As a developer evangelist, I was given many opportunities to meet lots of awesome people and be involved in lots of events. To name a few, I was offered a VIP pass to the Infocomm Professional Development Forum, where I learnt that as IT professionals, we must always be aware of the rapid changes in the IT industry, and to constantly keep up in order not to be obsolete. Echelon was also another event where I had the chance to promote Windows 8 to the start-up communities, and meet lots of innovative people and listen to their ideas! It was also really cool to finally meet Darth Vader and catch him “black” handed! [caption id=“attachment_11031” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“I caught Darth Vader ‘black’-handed at our Microsoft booth”][/caption] On top of these, I also had the rare opportunity to work very closely with our Singapore Microsoft Student Partners, and got to know some of them at a personal level. I was also fortunate enough to be the unofficial acting lead during my short stay here! Awesome friends I’ve made! :) [caption id=“attachment_11032” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“The NYP Microsoft Student Partners team”][/caption] Who says life in Microsoft is solely about work. Speaking of work-life balance, employees at Microsoft and the DPE Team sure knows it well! Since a picture speaks a thousand words, I’ll let them do the talking :) [caption id=“attachment_11026” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“An Intern to MACH day-outing at University Studios Singapore - with the Singapore Subsidiary MACH Interns”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_11044” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Our DPE Offsite where we watched The Amazing Spiderman and celebrated Kyzer’s birthday!”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_11067” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Chilling out with Spiffy Writers & DPE Team after work”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_11027” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“A paintball match with the DPE team”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_11028” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“When we thought paintball was all, nerf guns and ‘olympic’ shootouts were soon introduced into the team!”][/caption] Towards the end of our programme, we Singapore Subsidiary Intern to MACHs had the rarest opportunity to present and share our findings and take-away with the panel of Microsoft Singapore Senior Leadership and Executive Team. Sounds pretty intimidating right? As I head back to Carnegie Mellon to complete my studies, I’ll bring back these wonderful memories. Thanks everyone for making this a positive and memorable experience, and hope to see everyone again soon after I graduate! [caption id=“attachment_11036” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“The awesome DPE Team!”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_11046” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Thank you DPE Team :)”][/caption]

One of the main benefits of writing for Spiffy is the huge amount of awesome people that I can meet. And one of the great local groups that I met recently was Singapore Geek Girls. It is a local initiative that serves as a platform for females to connect, share, contribute, mentor and learn from each other. I found out about their latest knowledge sharing session called An Introduction to HTML and CSS, and I volunteered my services as an assistant coach. [caption id=“attachment_11055” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] SG Geek Girls’ HTML and CSS Study Group[/caption] It’s a fantastic Saturday morning at the Microsoft Office and everyone is geared up to learn web development. Some of the participants came as early as 9:30am to queue up for the class. [caption id=“attachment_11058” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Geek Squad Drills HTML & CSS[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_11052” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] The SG Geek Girls banner at the Microsoft office[/caption] In total, there are around 50 participants for the session. The ladies come from all walks of life, ranging from students and working professionals, to web enthusiasts. This awesome gentleman is Andrew Ching, our lead head coach for the session. [caption id=“attachment_11056” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Andrew is the lead coach for the SG Geek Girls HTML and CSS Study Group[/caption] First agenda of the day: Basics of HTML. I still remember my own HTML learning experience. I was initially confused with why there is a need for a head and body in a webpage and how the various tags and notations work in a webpage. But I eventually learnt through extensive trial and errors. It all boils down to Practice, Practice, and more Practice. [caption id=“attachment_11053” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Talking about the different HTML Tags[/caption] Everyone paid close attention to Andrew and tried their best to keep up with the class. [caption id=“attachment_11054” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] 50 Participants in the HTML and CSS Study Group[/caption] Second agenda of the day: Using CSS to beautify the webpages. The usage of CSS Class and ID proved to be the most challenging topic of the day, with several coaches taking their turns to try and clarify this tricky topic. To keep it simple, we strongly recommend that the participants only use CSS Class for their web development. [caption id=“attachment_11057” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Creating their first style sheet[/caption] I found that most participants had issues trying to follow the class as this is one of their first web design class. All of the coaches were amazing and tried to help out in whatever they can. We actively encouraged the participants to continue with their journey and to try out the code till it works for them. [caption id=“attachment_11059” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] A very serious participant![/caption] Final agenda of the day: Putting HTML and CSS together. It was very satisfying to see the sense of achievement on the faces of the participants who made it through the class. Many of them were able to create their first webpage and beautify it with images and CSS styling. It was an important first step on their journey to creating their very own websites. [caption id=“attachment_11060” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Creating a simple layout using HTML and CSS[/caption] It’s a wrap for the day! Andrew summarized the materials that were covered for the day and issued some homework for everyone to try out before next week’s class. Its lunch time with the Geek Squad at Chopsticks by the Asian Kitchen. [caption id=“attachment_11061” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] The Geek Squad, having lunch together at Asian Kitchen![/caption] I had a fantastic time with the Geek Squad. It reminded me of all of the small things that we take for granted in web development and I was able to reinforce my foundations for HTML and CSS. The best reward for the day was having the participants walking up to you and saying “Thank You” for your help. Ready to start your own journey into web development? Start your own 30 day challenge to learn and build your very own website today! What do you think of the event? Do you have other great tech events to recommend for us to participate? Do share with us your recommendations in the comments below and we might just do a special report based on your recommendations!

Our writer, Steven Neo, brings us on the journey of a software developer in the media industry. [caption id=“attachment_10956” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Lucasfilm Singapore is definitely one of the most exciting media companies to work for as a software developer.[/caption] The local media industry has seen some exciting developments in 2012 such as Lucasfilm Singapore’s new ‘Sandcrawler’ building in Fusionopolis and the infusion of an additional $20 million in training grant schemes by Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) to raise the skills of media professionals in Singapore. [caption id=“attachment_10961” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Lucasfilm’s Sandcrawler Building will be completed by 2013 and is located at Fusionopolis.[/caption] Looking to break into this exciting industry and join the ranks of international media companies such as Double Negative, Ubisoft, and Lucasfilm? Let me share my experience of how I became a software developer with one of the leading media companies in the world, Lucasfilm Singapore. [caption id=“attachment_10935” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] My journey to becoming a Software Developer at Lucasfilm Singapore[/caption] A New Beginning I graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2006 with a Bachelor Degree (Honours) in Information Systems. I was full of hope and aspiration, and I interviewed with Lucasfilm Singapore. Unfortunately, I was not successful as I did not have sufficient engineering experience in the industry. I eventually joined ST Electronics (Info-Systems) where I helped to develop a Java-based framework for their military tank management system. It was an eye opening experience as I worked with seasoned developers who readily shared their experiences and engineering expertise with me. And then one fine day in June 2008, my opportunity with Lucasfilm Singapore came knocking on my doors. [caption id=“attachment_10957” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Steven at the entrance of the current Lucasfilm Singapore office[/caption] The Developer Strikes Back [caption id=“attachment_10936” align=“alignnone” width=“566”] The ad that got my attention to apply for Lucasfilm Singapore[/caption] Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB) partnered with Lucasfilm to introduce the Strategic Attachment and Training Program (STRAT). Its an internship program that allows interns to live and work in Lucasfilm San Francisco for a year. It was my second chance at entering my dream childhood company and I grabbed it. [caption id=“attachment_10968” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Darth Vader guards the doors to the executive toilets at Lucasfilm Singapore[/caption] With my engineering experience at ST Electronics, I was well prepared and I aced the various interviews to gain a coveted spot in the internship program. Soon after I was shipped to San Francisco in October 2008 and I had an exciting time working with some of the best minds in the industry. Besides gaining engineering expertise, I also learnt design, figure drawing, and sculpting from talented colleagues. Unfortunately, good times never last, and I was sent packing back to Lucasfilm Singapore in October 2009. [caption id=“attachment_10958” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Star Wars figurines don the reception area at Lucasfilm Singapore[/caption] Return of the Developer During my tenure as Information Systems (IS) Developer at Lucasfilm Singapore, I was able to work on a variety of technologies to develop applications for desktop, web, and mobile devices. Due to the short development timeframes and the vast amount of issues encountered daily, I had to learn to be a “benevolent cheater” – someone who can think out-of-the-box for creative solutions to unique issues that are within the acceptable project and technology constraints. While working at Lucasfilm Singapore, I also developed a passion for mobile technologies and to create solutions to help people to solve daily issues. This has spurned me to develop mobile applications for a variety of platforms and I achieved minor success with my mobile app, Tusker, by winning 3rd place in a mobile application competition organized by Straits Times Digital Life in 2011. Lessons Learnt [caption id=“attachment_10962” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Run fast you will - a shirt for the marathon-ers in Lucasfilm Singapore[/caption] Here are some lessons that I learnt along the way: ...

App of the week is a weekly showcase of an awesome app developed on Windows 8 or Windows Phone. Got an app you love that you want us to talk about? Leave us a comment and tell us which app and why you love it! Our app of the week is Photo Monkey, proudly made in Singapore! Photo Monkey a fast, beautiful and fun way to turns your photos into beautiful bits by applying effects to them. We hear it’s already gotten over 10,000 downloads worldwide as well, not bad for an app that’s only been launched a couple of weeks! [caption id=“attachment_10924” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Photo Monkey lets you scroll through your photo albums and quickly apply filters.”][/caption] I first downloaded this application from the store because of the beautiful screenshots. Photo Monkey automatically loads the thumbnails of the images from your Windows 8 picture library. From the albums you can quickly select and apply filters to the images that you like. While there are a ton of photo filtering apps out in the market, the bright cherry interface and great user experience definitely makes Photo Monkey stand out. [caption id=“attachment_10925” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“Select from a variety of filters in Photo Monkey”][/caption] Some of the filters include - lomography, vignette, pinhole, nostalgia and many more. After applying filters, they are automatically saved to your album. No hassle, seriously easy to use! [caption id=“attachment_10926” align=“alignnone” width=“610” caption=“You get to preview the images after applying filters as well.”][/caption] If you’re a photo nerd like I am, download Photo Monkey on your Windows 8 Device and making your photos into frame-worthy art pieces now. *Psst* We hear it’s free for now! So download it now!

Everyone loves the great features in Windows Server 2012, things like Network Virtualization, Share Nothing Live Migration, Hyper-V replica, AD Cloning, and many more. Many people overlooked the basics (including me): the installation experience of Windows Server 2012 is also improved. Here is a video by Matthew Hitchcock showing the installation of WS2012 comparing to WS2008 and WS2003. The installation of WS2012 completed before he could finish a cup of tea including boiling the water :) Sit back and enjoy

Software Defined Networking (SDN) has become a hot buzz phrase in the industry. SDN is being touted as a game changing technology that will transform private, public and hybrid cloud. We agree. We’ve known the importance of Software Defined Networking by virtue of the fact that we run the largest datacenters in the world and see the challenges of end to end network management on a datacenter and global scale. It’s one thing to enable a few VLANs and apply QoS to a couple of racks of servers. It’s another thing to manage traffic flows, provide logical segmentation that exceeds VLAN limits manifold, provide IP portability between datacenters, Live Migrate VMs across physical subnets without service interruption and do all of this on a global scale with hundreds of thousands of servers all while continuously adding/removing more nodes to the infrastructure. There is a great post on the Windows Server Blog explains SDN and what are the Microsoft Technologies from Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012 SP1 to enable SDN. http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2012/08/22/software-defined-networking-enabled-in-windows-server-2012-and-system-center-2012-sp1-virtual-machine-manager.aspx ...

GeekcampSG - A gathering of developers who are passionate about their craft, coming together to share ideas and learn new technologies. [caption id=“attachment_10849” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] geekcampsg was sold out within weeks![/caption] When I first heard about the camp, I immediately signed-up for the event and waited eagerly for its arrival. The event was well-received by the developer community and it was sold out weeks in advance. I was impressed by the camp which was organized by developers, for developers. It was a Saturday morning but there are already tons of people waiting in line as early as 8:30am to get a chance at receiving one of the 100 limited edition GeekcampSG 2012 t-shirts. [caption id=“attachment_10851” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] More than 150 people came early to register for geekcampsg this year[/caption] Here’s shot of the awesome Geekcamp.SG 2012 t-shirt that is coveted by the camp attendees. [caption id=“attachment_10852” align=“alignnone” width=“439”] The geekcampsg tshirt was given to first 100 attendees and was snapped up in the first couple of minutes. Credit: GeekcampSG[/caption] For attendees that are not fortunate to receive one of the 100 coveted limited edition t-shirts, they are able to grab one of the awesome stickers for GeekcampSG 2012. [caption id=“attachment_10853” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] GeekcampSG Stickers were up for grabs as well[/caption] In total, more than 400 developers and enthusiasts attended the camp. The auditorium was filled to the brim, with eager attendees occupying all of the available floor space in the room. Here’s the opening address from the event’s Platinum Sponsor, Windows Azure. [caption id=“attachment_10855” align=“alignnone” width=“457”] Windows Azure[/caption] And off we go! The keynote was presented by U-Zyn Chua on Cryptography: Why Bitcoin is safer than your bank. It was a controversial currency concept and U-Zyn had a challenging and engaging session during Q&A. [caption id=“attachment_10856” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] The talk on Bitcoin was well received by developers[/caption] After a series of morning talks, it was lunch time! Everyone had a great lunch and it was simply awesome to see developers engaging each other in sharing sessions and lighting talks during the break. In my opinion, one of the most engaging and interesting speakers of the day was Yap Neng Ginn, who presented on Windows Azure. Here’s the best analogy that I’ve heard for the main categories of cloud offerings: On Premises – Your Car Infrastructure as a Service – Rented Car Platform as a Service – Taxi Software as a Service – SMRT I ended my day with an interesting talk by Michael Cheng on Continuous integration for PHP with Jenkins and Sonar. Thanks for all the great work put in by the Geekcamp.SG committee. I had a fantastic time mingling with fellow developers who are passionate about their craft. It was also great to see many student developers attending the event and eager to chip in to help for future events. I will definitely be back next year and hopefully I will have an interesting topic to present to all my fellow developers. Did you attend GeekCamp.SG? What do you think of the event? Do you have other great tech events to recommend for us to attend? Do share with us your recommendations in the comments below and we might just do a special report based on your recommendations!

Who could ever forget Tom Cruise’s cool futuristic augmented reality computer in “Minority Report” where he effortlessly navigates the computer user interface using a series of natural gestures. I never thought that it was practical till I saw Piano Reality: an app where a user can use the camera feed to recognize the piano keys that are drew on an ordinary piece of paper, and then lets you play that piano. [caption id=“attachment_10828” align=“alignnone” width=“384”] Piano Reality - Click to watch the video[/caption] When Transformers 3 – Dark Side of the Moon was released in July 2011, Paramount Pictures introduced an augmented reality app for iOS called Defend the Earth. Movie fans can download the app, locate a Transformers 3 poster, and scan the poster code to unlock an augmented reality, first-person shooter game. [caption id=“attachment_10829” align=“alignnone” width=“350”] App - Transformers Defend the Earth Poster - Click to watch video[/caption] And the excitement does not stop there. The market has started to recognize the importance of augmented reality with the introduction of devices such as LEAP Motion, Asus Xtion Pro, and Google Glasses. Leading this technological trend is the Kinect. Introduced in November 2010, Kinect still holds the Guinness Book of Record for being the fastest selling consumer electronic device of all time. To support the developer community, Microsoft has released its Kinect SDK in June 2011 where developers can develop Kinect apps using C++, C#, and Visual Basic.NET. In addition to Windows Kinect SDK, you can also develop Kinect apps using these two open source APIs: 1. Open Kinect ...

So you’ve decided to leverage on open source web frameworks to build your mobile apps to take advantage of the exciting opportunities in the emerging mobile app environment. But there are so many data storage options to choose from, how do you know which works best for you? Here’s a list of HTML5 data storage APIs and their browser support: Adapted from http://www.html5rocks.com/en/features/storage Let’s take a closer look at some data storage APIs that you can use to build your mobile app: SQLite ...