Graphics Conference Deadlines

This passage is transmitted from http://graphicsconferences.wikidot.com/conference-deadlines . Just for personal use.

January

3IA: International Conference on Computer Graphics and Artificial Intelligence (Submision: Jan - Feb) [ 2008 ]
Annual conference held in May at Limoges (France)
Special Topics: Computer Graphics research using Artificial Intelligence techniques

International Symposium on Smart Graphics (Submission: Jan-Feb) [ URL ]
Annual Symposium held Spring to Summer at various international venues.
Accepted papers usually published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science by Springer.
Special Topics: Graphical interfaces that are sensitive to technological, computational and cognitive constraints.

ECEM: European Conference on Eye Movements [ 2007 ]
Biennial conference held around August in Europe
Special Topics: Eye-movements (not specific to Computer Graphics).

EGVE: Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments (Submission: Jan-Feb) [ 2008 ]
Annual Symposium held between May and June in Europe.
Special Topics: Virtual environments and virtual reality.

February

Spring Conference on Computer Graphics [ URL ]
Annual Conference held in April at Budemerice Castle, Slovakia.

IV: International Conference on Information Visualisation [ 2008 ]
Annual conference held in July at venues in London, UK.
Special Topics: Information visualization.

EGPGV: Eurographics Symposium on Parallel Graphics and Visualization
Now collocated with Eurographics - with submissions in December (see below)

March

EGSR: Eurographics Symposium on Rendering (Sub: late Mar - Apr.) [ 2008 ]
Annual Symposium (formerly EG Rendering Workshop) held in Europe.
Special Topics: Rendering.

VolVis: IEEE/SIGGRAPH Symposium on Volume Visualization and Graphics 2004
biennial Symposium held in October at venues in the US. Usually co-located with IEEE Vis.
Special Topics: Volume Visualization and Graphics.

VIS: IEEE Visualization [ 2008 ]
Annual symposium held around October at various venues in the US.
Special Topics: Visualization.

SIACG: Ibero American Symposium on Computer Graphics
Biennial symposium held in venues in Latin Amarica and Europe
Special Topics: Computer Graphics in Spain Portugal and Latin-America.

April

SCA: The ACM Siggraph/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation [ URL ]
Annual Symposium co-located with the Siggraph or Eurographics conferences between late July to early September.
Special Topics: Computer Animation.

CASA: Computer Animation and Social Agents Conference (Sub: April - May) [ 2008 ]
Annual Symposium held in various international venues
Special Topics: Animation Techniques, Social Agents and Virtual Reality

Graphics Hardware Workshop [ URL ]
Annual Workshop held between July and September (Europe/USA). Traditionally co-located with Eurographics and Siggraph in alternating years and held on the dates preceding them.
Special Topics: Graphics Hardware.

SGP: Symposium on Geometry Processing [ 2008 ]
New Annual Symposium held in June/July. First four events have been in Europe.
Special Topics: Geometry processing.

APGV: Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization [ URL ]
Annual symposium in Europe and collocated with Siggraph in the US on alternating years.
Special Topics: Perception in Graphics and Visualization.

VG: International Workshop on Volume Graphics
Biennial Workshop held in various international venues.
Special Topics: Modeling, processing, and rendering of data which is typically acquired through analytical methods, medical scanners, computational simulations, or statistical measurements.

Symposium on Point-based Graphics
Annual symposium established in 2004.
Special Topics: Point-based Graphics

Pacific Graphics
Annual conference held at various venues in Easter Asia and Canada around October.

Siggraph Sketches due around this time

May

EGMM: Eurographics Multimedia Workshop
Workshop held in October at international venues worldwide. Previous workshops were held in 1999 and 2001.
Special Topics: Multimedia.

ISMAR: IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality
Annual symposium held around October at various international venues.
Special Topics: Mixed and Augmented Reality.

VIIP: IASTED International Conference on Visualization, Imaging, and Image Processing
Annual Symposium held in September at Marbella, Spain.
Special Topics: Multimedia.

SIBGRAPI: Brazilian Symposium on Computer Graphics and Image Processing
Annual Symposium help around October in Brazil

June

MMM: International Conference on Multi-media Modelling (Sub: Jun - Jul)
Annual conference established in 1993, held in various international venues.
Special Topics: Representation, processing, interaction, integration, communication, and retrieval of multimedia information.

VDA: Conference on Visualization and Data Analysis
Annual conference usually held in January 18-24, 2004 in California, USA.
Special Topics: All aspects of visualization.

July

August

September

I3D: ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games
Annual conference held in April in the US
Special Topics: 3D computer graphics and human interaction.

WSCG: International Conference in Central Europe on Computer Graphics, Visualization and Computer Vision (Sub: Sep - Oct)
Annual conference held in January/February at the University of West Bohemia (Plzen, Czech Republic)

ETRA: Eye-tracking Research and Applications
Biennial Symposium held in March in the US.
Special Topics: Eye-tracking, gaze, visual attention and other related topics.

IEEE Virtual Reality Conference
Annual conference held in March in the US
Special Topics: Virtual reality.

Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems
Annual symposium co-located with IEEE-VR
Special Topics: Haptic interfaces.

Geometric Modelling and Processing
Biennial conference held in April (3 conferences since 2000) in Asia.
Special Topics: Solid modeling, shape representation and geometric computation.

GRAPHITE: International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Australasia and South East Asia
New annual conference. Graphite 2003 was held in February with submissions in September, Graphite 2004 will be held in June with submissions in December.

Eurographics
Annual conference in Europe now held in April

October

International Symposium on Non-Photorealistic Animation and Rendering
biennial Symposium held in early June at Annecy, France.
Special Topics: Non-photorealistic Animation and Rendering

International Conference on Shape Modeling and Applications
Annual conference held in May/June at various international venues.
Special Topics: Modelling and processing of shapes and their properties.

ACM Symposium on Solid Modeling and Applications.
Annual Symposium held in June at various international venues.
Special Topics: Solid modeling, geometric modeling, and geometric computation.

November

VisSym: Joint Eurographics and IEEE Symposium on Visualisation (Sub: Nov. to early Dec.)
Annual Symposium held in May at various European Venues.
Special Topics: Visualization and Data Analysis

Advanced Visual Interfaces (Sub: Nov - Dec)
Biennial conference held in May at various venues in Italy.
Special Topics: Visual Interfaces.

CG&GM: International Workshop on Computer Graphics and Geometric Modeling
Held between April and June at various International Venues.

SPM: ACM Solid and Physical Modeling Symposium
Annual conference held in various international venues.
Special Topics:Solid objects modelling.

Eurographics short papers due around this time

December

ACM Siggraph (Full paper sub: Dec; Sketches: Mar) URL
Annual conference held July to August in the US.

CGI: Computer Graphics International (Sub: Dec - Jan) [ URL ]
Annual conference held between June and July at various international venues.
Accepted full papers are published in the journal "The Visual Computer", by Springer.
Special Topics: Computer Graphics

Graphics Interface [ URL ]
Annual conference held in May to June at various venues in Canada.
Special Topics: Computer graphics, interactive systems, and human-computer interaction.

ICME: IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo.
Annual conference held between June and August at various international venues.
Special Topics: Various including mulitmedia, audio, VR 3D imaging, signal processing.

EUROVIS 2007: Eurographics/IEEE-VGTC Symposium on Visualization (in cooperation with ACM/SIGGRAPH)
Annual Conference held in May in Europe
Special Topics: formerly known as VisSym, Visualization Most recent listed: 2007.

EGPGV: Eurographics Symposium on Parallel Graphics and Visualization [ 2008 ]
Now collocated with Eurographics
biennial symposium held in June at various venues in Europe
Special Topics: Solid modeling, geometric modeling, and geometric computation.

Graphics Conference Ranks

This just for my own use. It based on our school(NUS SOC)’s rank list.

AREA: Applications and Media

  Rank 1:

• I3DG: ACM-SIGRAPH Interactive 3D Graphics
• SIGGRAPH: ACM SIGGRAPH Conference
• ACM-MM: ACM Multimedia Conference
• DCC: Data Compression Conf
• SIGMETRICS: ACM Conf on Meas. & Modelling of Comp Sys
• SIGIR: ACM SIGIR Conf on Information Retrieval
• PECCS: IFIP Intl Conf on Perf Eval of Comp \& Comm Sys
• WWW: World-Wide Web Conference(may)

  Rank 2:

• IEEE Visualization
• EUROGRAPH: European Graphics Conference
• CGI: Computer Graphics International
• CANIM: Computer Animation
• PG: Pacific Graphics
• ICME: Intl Conf on MMedia & Expo(July)
• NOSSDAV: Network and OS Support for Digital A/V
• PADS: ACM/IEEE/SCS Workshop on Parallel \& Dist Simulation
• WSC: Winter Simulation Conference
• ASS: IEEE Annual Simulation Symposium
• MASCOTS: Symp Model Analysis \& Sim of Comp \& Telecom Sys
• PT: Perf Tools - Intl Conf on Model Tech \& Tools for CPE
• NetStore: Network Storage Symposium
• MMCN: ACM/SPIE Multimedia Computing and Networking
• JCDL: Joint Conference on Digital Libraries
• ICWE: International Conference on Web Engineering(July)
• European Conference on Digital Libraries (ECDL)(September)

  Rank 3:

• ACM-HPC: ACM Hypertext Conf (August)
• MMM: Multimedia Modelling(January)
• DSS: Distributed Simulation Symposium
• SCSC: Summer Computer Simulation Conference
• WCSS: World Congress on Systems Simulation
• ESS: European Simulation Symposium
• HPCN:  High-Performance Computing and Networking
• Geometry Modeling and Processing
• WISE
• DS-RT:  Distributed Simulation and Real-time Applications
• IEEE Intl Wshop on Dist Int Simul  and Real-Time Applications
• ECIR: European Colloquium on Information Retrieval
• Ed-Media
• IMSA: Intl Conf on Internet and MMedia Sys

File: Soc Conference Rank list

File: Conference Ranking

Journal Ranking

From: http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~harishk/mysoc_confs.htm

Computer Science Conference:

http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~chenbinb/conf.html

Computer Science Journal:

http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~chenbinb/journal.html

NUS Journal Ranking:

http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/research-prv/ranking/tier1.html

http://www.cs-conference-ranking.org/conferencerankings/topicsiv.html

Why you must a template?

Use OpenGL in VS2005, I just want to create a template or wizard to use. However, for nearly two days, I still haven't found any feasible ways. As I have found that VC does not support template export last night after a long time online searching, I try to find ways of using wizard to do so. But till this noon, I found the wizard I followed one of the online tutorials had many bugs.

Then I give up finding ways which not only made really angry but also wasted large amount of time!

Why I want to do so? Just now I am trying to make project from saved sources and make the new project no clue showing it is made from others. Why I try to do that kind of things? It will benefit myself nothing except wasting time!

Just use the simple OpenGL program as the screen drawing project and when you develop new applications, create the solution and add the OpenGL project in then everything will be OK. Logical codes will be written in your new project and a few modification of the OpenGL project will be fine. It's really a better way!

Stop here, just take the last way!

Not waste your time on that kind of boring things! I have a lot of things on the list!!!!!

Basics of GLUT: The OpenGL Utility Toolkit

This appendix describes a subset of Mark Kilgard's OpenGL Utility Toolkit (GLUT), which is fully documented in his book, OpenGL Programming for the X Window System (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Developers Press, 1996). GLUT has become a popular library for OpenGL programmers, because it standardizes and simplifies window and event management. GLUT has been ported atop a variety of OpenGL implementations, including both the X Window System and Microsoft Windows NT.

This appendix has the following major sections:

• "Initializing and Creating a Window"
• "Handling Window and Input Events"
• "Loading the Color Map"
• "Initializing and Drawing Three-Dimensional Objects"
• "Managing a Background Process"
• "Running the Program"

(See "How to Obtain the Sample Code" in the Preface for information about how to obtain the source code for GLUT.)

With GLUT, your application structures its event handling to use callback functions. (This method is similar to using the Xt Toolkit, also known as the X Intrinsics, with a widget set.) For example, first you open a window and register callback routines for specific events. Then, you create a main loop without an exit. In that loop, if an event occurs, its registered callback functions are executed. Upon completion of the callback functions, flow of control is returned to the main loop.

Initializing and Creating a Window

Before you can open a window, you must specify its characteristics: Should it be single-buffered or double-buffered? Should it store colors as RGBA values or as color indices? Where should it appear on your display? To specify the answers to these questions, call glutInit(), glutInitDisplayMode(), glutInitWindowSize(), and glutInitWindowPosition() before you call glutCreateWindow() to open the window.

void glutInit(int

argc, char **argv);

glutInit()

should be called before any other GLUT routine, because it initializes the GLUT library. glutInit() will also process command line options, but the specific options are window system dependent. For the X Window System, -iconic, -geometry, and -display are examples of command line options, processed by glutInit(). (The parameters to the glutInit() should be the same as those to main().)

void glutInitDisplayMode(unsigned int

mode);

Specifies a display mode (such as RGBA or color-index, or single- or double-buffered) for windows created when glutCreateWindow() is called. You can also specify that the window have an associated depth, stencil, and/or accumulation buffer. The

mask argument is a bitwise ORed combination of GLUT_RGBA or GLUT_INDEX, GLUT_SINGLE or GLUT_DOUBLE, and any of the buffer-enabling flags: GLUT_DEPTH, GLUT_STENCIL, or GLUT_ACCUM. For example, for a double-buffered, RGBA-mode window with a depth and stencil buffer, use GLUT_DOUBLE | GLUT_RGBA | GLUT_DEPTH | GLUT_STENCIL. The default value is GLUT_RGBA | GLUT_SINGLE (an RGBA, single-buffered window).

void glutInitWindowSize(int

width, int height);
void glutInitWindowPosition(int x, int y);

Requests windows created by glutCreateWindow() to have an initial size and position. The arguments (

x, y) indicate the location of a corner of the window, relative to the entire display. The width and height indicate the window's size (in pixels). The initial window size and position are hints and may be overridden by other requests.

int glutCreateWindow(char *

name);

Opens a window with previously set characteristics (display mode, width, height, and so on). The string

name may appear in the title bar if your window system does that sort of thing. The window is not initially displayed until glutMainLoop() is entered, so do not render into the window until then.

The value returned is a unique integer identifier for the window. This identifier can be used for controlling and rendering to multiple windows (each with an OpenGL rendering context) from the same application.

Handling Window and Input Events

After the window is created, but before you enter the main loop, you should register callback functions using the following routines.

void glutDisplayFunc(void (*

func)(void));

Specifies the function that's called whenever the contents of the window need to be redrawn. The contents of the window may need to be redrawn when the window is initially opened, when the window is popped and window damage is exposed, and when glutPostRedisplay() is explicitly called.

void glutReshapeFunc(void (*

func)(int width, int height));

Specifies the function that's called whenever the window is resized or moved. The argument

func is a pointer to a function that expects two arguments, the new width and height of the window. Typically, func calls glViewport(), so that the display is clipped to the new size, and it redefines the projection matrix so that the aspect ratio of the projected image matches the viewport, avoiding aspect ratio distortion. If glutReshapeFunc() isn't called or is deregistered by passing NULL, a default reshape function is called, which calls glViewport(0, 0, width, height).

void glutKeyboardFunc(void (*

func)(unsigned int key, int x, int y);

Specifies the function,

func, that's called when a key that generates an ASCII character is pressed. The key callback parameter is the generated ASCII value. The x and y callback parameters indicate the location of the mouse (in window-relative coordinates) when the key was pressed.

void glutMouseFunc(void (*

func)(int button, int state, int x, int y));

Specifies the function,

func, that's called when a mouse button is pressed or released. The button callback parameter is one of GLUT_LEFT_BUTTON, GLUT_MIDDLE_BUTTON, or GLUT_RIGHT_BUTTON. The state callback parameter is either GLUT_UP or GLUT_DOWN, depending upon whether the mouse has been released or pressed. The x and y callback parameters indicate the location (in window-relative coordinates) of the mouse when the event occurred.

void glutMotionFunc(void (*

func)(int x, int y));

Specifies the function,

func, that's called when the mouse pointer moves within the window while one or more mouse buttons is pressed. The x and y callback parameters indicate the location (in window-relative coordinates) of the mouse when the event occurred.

void glutPostRedisplay(void);

Marks the current window as needing to be redrawn. At the next opportunity, the callback function registered by glutDisplayFunc() will be called.

Loading the Color Map

If you're using color-index mode, you might be surprised to discover there's no OpenGL routine to load a color into a color lookup table. This is because the process of loading a color map depends entirely on the window system. GLUT provides a generalized routine to load a single color index with an RGB value, glutSetColor().

void glutSetColor(GLint

index, GLfloat red, GLfloat green, GLfloat blue);

Loads the index in the color map,

index, with the given red, green, and blue values. These values are normalized to lie in the range [0.0,1.0].

Initializing and Drawing Three-Dimensional Objects

Many sample programs in this guide use three-dimensional models to illustrate various rendering properties. The following drawing routines are included in GLUT to avoid having to reproduce the code to draw these models in each program. The routines render all their graphics in immediate mode. Each three-dimensional model comes in two flavors: wireframe without surface normals, and solid with shading and surface normals. Use the solid version when you're applying lighting. Only the teapot generates texture coordinates.

void glutWireSphere(GLdouble

radius, GLint slices, GLint stacks);
void glutSolidSphere(GLdouble radius, GLint slices, GLint stacks);

void glutWireCube(GLdouble

size);
void glutSolidCube(GLdouble size);

void glutWireTorus(GLdouble

innerRadius, GLdouble outerRadius,
GLint nsides, GLint rings);
void glutSolidTorus(GLdouble innerRadius, GLdouble outerRadius,
GLint nsides, GLint rings);

void glutWireIcosahedron(void);
void glutSolidIcosahedron(void);

void glutWireOctahedron(void);
void glutSolidOctahedron(void);

void glutWireTetrahedron(void);
void glutSolidTetrahedron(void);

void glutWireDodecahedron(GLdouble

radius);
void glutSolidDodecahedron(GLdouble radius);

void glutWireCone(GLdouble

radius, GLdouble height, GLint slices,
GLint stacks);
void glutSolidCone(GLdouble radius, GLdouble height, GLint slices,
GLint stacks);

void glutWireTeapot(GLdouble

size);
void glutSolidTeapot(GLdouble size);

Managing a Background Process

You can specify a function that's to be executed if no other events are pending - for example, when the event loop would otherwise be idle - with glutIdleFunc(). This is particularly useful for continuous animation or other background processing.

void glutIdleFunc(void (*

func)(void));

Specifies the function,

func, to be executed if no other events are pending. If NULL (zero) is passed in, execution of func is disabled.

Running the Program

After all the setup is completed, GLUT programs enter an event processing loop, glutMainLoop().

void glutMainLoop(void);

Enters the GLUT processing loop, never to return. Registered callback functions will be called when the corresponding events instigate them.

 

From:http://glprogramming.com/red/appendixd.html

Animate with Glut

Use glutIdleFunc, we can set the function to ran all the time!

To calculate the increment to animate!

 

I think glut is enough for my task. So just use glut, don't look for other things!

Go and start you task. Don't waste your time on such unimportant things!

Next I need to find out is just all the needed glut event functions!

Template in VC2005

Today I want to export my project as a template for efficiency. But I find the export template menu is always inactive. After searching for a long time, I just stop trying when I saw someone said that export template is just usable for C#, J#, VB except VC! Gosh, why!

Start using OpenGL in VS2005

Download glut related files, use dll and lib is easy. [glutdlls37beta.zip]

Follow the table below, check whether those files are there or not.

File	Location
gl.h glu.h glut.h	[compiler]\include\gl
Opengl32.lib glut32.lib glu32.lib	[compiler]\lib
opengl32.dll glut32.dll glu32.dll	[system]

 

where [compiler] is your compiler directory (such as c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\PlatformSDK) and [system] is your Windows 9x/NT/2000 system directory (such as c:\winnt\system32 or c:\windows\system).

 

Reference:

1.http://www.opengl.org/resources/faq/technical/gettingstarted.htm

2.http://www.opengl.org/resources/libraries/glut/glut_downloads.php

OpenGL Environment

2.060 What do I need to compile and run OpenGL programs?

The following applies specifically to C/C++ usage.

To compile and link OpenGL programs, you'll need OpenGL header files and libraries. To run OpenGL programs you may need shared or dynamically loaded OpenGL libraries, or a vendor-specific OpenGL Installable Client Driver (ICD) specific to your device. Also, you may need include files and libraries for the GLU and GLUT libraries. Where you get these files and libraries will depend on which OpenGL system platform you're using.

OpenG.org maintains a list of links to OpenGL Utility libraries. You can download most of what you need from there.

Under Microsoft Windows 9x, NT, and 2000:

If you're using Visual C++, your compiler comes with include files for OpenGL and GLU, as well as .lib files to link with.

For GLUT, download these files. Install glut.h in your compiler's include directory, glut32.lib in your compiler's lib directory, and glut32.dll in your Windows system directory (c:\windows\system for Windows 9x, or c:\winnt\system32 for Windows NT/2000).

In summary, a fully installed Windows OpenGL development environment will look like this:

File
Location

gl.h
glut.h
glu.h
[compiler]\include\gl

Opengl32.lib
glut32.lib
glu32.lib
[compiler]\lib

Opengl32.dll
glut32.dll
glu32.dll
[system]

where [compiler] is your compiler directory (such as c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98) and [system] is your Windows 9x/NT/2000 system directory (such as c:\winnt\system32 or c:\windows\system).

If you're on a hardware platform that accelerates OpenGL, you'll need to install the ICD for your device. This may have shipped with your hardware, or you can download it from your hardware vendor's Web page. Your vendor may also provide a replacement or addition for gl.h, which provides definitions and declarations for vendor-specific OpenGL extensions. See the extensions section in this FAQ for more information.

If you see files such as opengl.lib and glut.lib, these are SGI's unsupported libraries for Microsoft Windows. They should not be used. To use hardware acceleration, the Microsoft libraries are recommended. More info on the SGI libraries can be found here. Always link with either all Microsoft libraries (e.g., glu32.lib, glut32.lib, and opengl32.lib) or all SGI libraries (e.g., glu.lib, glut.lib, and opengl.lib). You can't use a combination of both Microsoft libarires and SGI libraries. However, you can install both sets of libraries on the same system. If you use SGI's .lib files, you'll need the corresponding .dll files installed in your system folder. (i.e., linking against opengl.lib requires that opengl.dll is installed at run time).

You'll need to instruct your compiler to link with the OpenGL, GLU, and GLUT libraries. In Visual C++ 6.0, you can accomplish this with the Project menu's Settings dialog box. Scroll to the Link tab. In the Object/library modules edit box, add glut32.lib, glu32.lib, and opengl32.lib to the end of any text that is present.

http://www.opengl.org/resources/faq/technical/gettingstarted.htm

Transferred: A New Approach to Mentoring

Working with a mentor is a classic recipe for success in business. But the traditional mentoring relationship just doesn't work anymore.

Typically, you choose a single senior colleague -- or get assigned to one -- who can show you the ropes and open the right doors. But the world of work has gotten too complicated for one person to provide all the guidance and opportunities you need to manage challenges and prepare for the future.

Consider this: How can one teacher know enough to help you keep up with rapidly changing technology, as well as navigate the challenges of globalization, a multicultural work force and team-based decision making? Even people who have served as mentors often need help staying abreast of all these changes.

A better approach is to create and cultivate a developmental network -- a small group of people to whom you can turn for regular mentoring support and who have a genuine interest in your learning and development. Think of it as your personal board of directors.

The composition of the group depends on where you are in your career and what you're looking for. If you're just getting started, you could certainly turn to your boss or assigned mentor for help. But you should also look further, seeking out peers to get feedback on areas where you need to improve, such as public speaking or working in teams.

At midcareer, you might look to other managers and people outside the organization; someone you know from a professional association might have insight on new ideas in your industry, for instance. Senior managers might get coaching from peers on the next steps to take in their career, from family members on achieving a better balance in their lives, and even from juniors who have crucial technical expertise vital to immediate business challenges.

What sets this group apart from people you network with more generally or from casual or one-time relationships? The relationships have a high degree of mutual learning and trust in which both individuals give and receive various kinds of informational, emotional and strategic support. What's more, these individuals have been enlisted by you to provide the guidance and support that will enable you to take the next step forward, whatever that next step may be.

A number of organizations are now helping employees build these kinds of networks. In one pharmaceutical company, for instance, product-development team leaders come together monthly in groups of 10 to 12 to coach one another. They start each meeting with a check-in where each member identifies new challenges, such as dealing with a poor performer and building a team that could deliver new designs in a timely manner. Members address each issue in turn, giving their peers possible strategies. The give and take also helps boost their interpersonal skills.

Boston University Professor Kathy Kram sits down with WSJ's Jennifer Merritt and shares the skills needed to build good relationships at work. (Sept. 22)

Similarly, in a consumer-products company, groups of junior executives have been meeting with a senior executive on a regular basis to discuss challenges they face as they seek positions of greater executive responsibility. Here, these junior executives have opportunities to enlist one or more peers and a senior executive into their developmental networks. And, in a major urban school district, informal mentoring circles for principals provide opportunities to enlist peers as members of their developmental networks to support their leadership development.

Developmental networks can also be extremely valuable in the context of global and multicultural business environments. For example, the challenges that expatriates face as they move abroad, and then again when they return to their home country, can be met most effectively when the expat has a strong developmental network to draw on.

These initiatives are beginning to show results in critical measures such as enhanced employee engagement and satisfaction, faster cycle times in new-product development, customer satisfaction and employee retention. The quality of developmental relationships is, indeed, a real source of competitive advantage.

Here's a look at the steps you need to take to develop your own developmental network.

1. Know Thyself

Although this tip may sound clichéd, it's crucial. When people seek out help, they generally aren't as well-prepared as they could be. Only if people know their own goals, strengths and weaknesses will they be able to figure out whom to turn to for support -- and know how to ask for and apply advice effectively.

You should start by reviewing appraisals and developmental feedback that you have received. And ask yourself tough questions. What do you really enjoy doing at work? How can you best contribute, given your talents and interests? Where would you like to be in two years? In five years? Are there skill and knowledge gaps that you want to fill? Do you have a healthy balance between your work and outside commitments? Who knows you well enough to give useful feedback?

See the complete Business Insight report.

You should also assess your interpersonal skills. Are you comfortable reaching out for help, sharing your experiences and soliciting feedback? Or even just starting conversations with strangers? If you have shortcomings here, it's vital that you address them, or you may have trouble creating an effective developmental network.

Fortunately, many organizations offer a range of activities to help people answer these kinds of questions, such as leadership-development programs and career-assessment tools.

2. Know Your Context

Knowing yourself is only half the equation. You must also know as much as possible about how to achieve your goal -- whether that means a promotion, a new career or simply better balance in life.

If you're looking to advance at your job, for instance, you must understand how the promotion process works at your company and figure out which potential sponsors might be keen on coaching you. If you want to change careers, you would want to be sure you understood the ins and outs of your desired field, everything from its hiring practices to what's expected in the job. A good way to proceed is to build up contacts in the industry, perhaps by attending professional conferences.

These new contacts may then introduce you to people already working in the area that you aspire to join. And if you nurture these relationships, over time these people may become part of your developmental network. But it's key to focus on a handful of relationships with individuals who seem to genuinely care about you and have wisdom or resources to offer. And be mindful of what you can offer to each of these individuals to create mutual learning.

3. Enlist Developers

Next, it's time to actually build your developmental network, enlisting people who can help you advance your goals. So, whom should you choose?

Let's say you're a product manager in a technology company aspiring to reach a higher position. You'll want to develop alliances with people at more senior levels who can sponsor and promote you, coach you and serve as a role model.

This, however, isn't sufficient. What about peers who can help you learn to navigate the company's politics and can share information about those at more senior levels? And are there individuals outside your organization who can help you keep learning? Professors or fellow students from graduate school could remind you about theories or practices that might be useful in your current job. Contacts at professional organizations could give you insights into new technology, while people in your family could act as a sounding board.

For some, forming outside developmental relationships may be just the kind of help they need to make a career change. Indeed, the greater the diversity of one's network, the more open-minded one is likely to be regarding next steps.

It is critical to remember that high-quality mentoring is a process of give and take, where both parties learn from each other. So, you should approach potential developers with a sense of how they might benefit from an association with you.

What can they learn from you -- new skills? Maybe they'll be able to develop insight into how people in your job see the world and prioritize what's important. Could helping you be an opportunity for a senior manager to hone coaching skills or to develop confidence in mentoring others?

Having a clear sense of these possibilities will make it easier for you to empathize with your allies, ask relevant questions and disclose relevant information about yourself as you ask for guidance.

4. Regularly Reassess

As your career and life unfold, you'll need to keep reassessing your developmental network; the setup that served you well a few years ago may not work as your situation changes. You must ask yourself which developers can still help you meet your goals, and which need to be eased aside for new ones.

This may sound calculating and borderline manipulative, but remember that you're not actually discarding old allies. As you bring new people into your network, don't discard the old ones, just look on them in a different way -- perhaps as valued friends whom you consult occasionally instead of colleagues that you frequently rely on for advice.

In short, it's a matter of being more intentional when it comes to seeking out advice, and this is relevant for everyone, at every career stage, not just for those starting out.

For a look at a successful reassessment, consider a young software executive we've interviewed. When he started out, he wanted to become an expert in dealing with client problems, so he sought out a senior colleague who served as a role model and eventually provided him with exposure to clients. He was promoted several times and built a strong developmental network, including his boss, the vice president of marketing, several of his immediate subordinates and one of his peers.

It Takes a Network

• The Situation: The traditional mentoring arrangement just doesn't work anymore. A single senior colleague can't possibly keep up with all the changes in the fast-moving world of work.
• The Solution: People should create and cultivate developmental networks instead -- small groups of people who provide regular advice and support.
• The Strategy: There are a number of steps to take when setting up a network, such as carefully assessing your strengths, weaknesses and goals and figuring out what you need to know to advance your goals. And when your network is in place, you should regularly reassess it as your situation changes -- while making sure that you help out your allies as much as they help you.

After 12 years, he was interested in moving into a leadership position where he could run one of the company's business units. But the current leaders appeared to be quite comfortable in their roles. And he began to feel that there were few people he could turn to for advice, given an increasing sense of competition among his peers (and his own fast-paced trajectory).

So, he began to build a developmental network that could help him manage his new challenges. The first person he turned to was his wife, who provided continuing support and confirmation during this difficult time. As she worked through the issues with him, she hit upon a crucial piece of advice, encouraging him to look outside the company for a new job where he could meet his goals. At the same time, he consulted an executive-search firm, which counseled him about where he might turn for opportunities.

Putting all of it together, he left his company for another firm, where he led several teams. Now he's considering launching a start-up of his own.

5. Develop Others

As you enlist people in your network, consider how you can benefit them, as well. Remember, high-quality mentoring is about mutual learning; consider how your high-quality relationships serve to develop others and your organization.

As you enlist more senior colleagues, for instance, you'll be providing them with opportunities to gain new knowledge from you, to hone their coaching skills and possibly boost their enthusiasm at work. Similarly, as you enlist junior colleagues in your developmental network to hone your coaching skills, you are creating an opportunity for them to bring you into their developmental networks. Exploring these complementary personal goals can solidify the relationship and ultimately help both of you and your organization.

If you're a senior leader, meanwhile, you should also work to foster developmental networks in your organization. Just by forming your own network, and joining other people's networks, you will serve as a role model. But you can also actively encourage coaching and mentoring among those that you manage, by designing jobs to encourage peer coaching, for example. And you can launch leadership-development programs that help individuals to develop the skills and self-awareness they'll need to build strong developmental networks.

Ultimately, these developmental networks can enhance organizational performance and development. It is, in essence, a win-win proposition for you and your organization.

—Dr. Kram is a professor of organizational behavior and a distinguished faculty scholar at Boston University's School of Management. Dr. Higgins is an associate professor focused on leadership and organizational behavior at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. They can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

Original:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122160063875344843.html

Transfer: 10 ways to learn new skills on the cheap

• Date: September 18th, 2008
• Author: Jerry Loza

 

Limited time, family demands, and travel make it tough to squeeze in the training you need, but cost doesn’t have to be an obstacle. In fact, some of the least expensive training alternatives can help you work around those time and travel constraints. Check out these creative, affordable training options.

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The one thing we know for sure about IT is that the technology is constantly changing. Staying current with that technology, and acquiring the skills to support it, is a career necessity. Whether you simply need to learn the latest techniques or you want to completely retool, if your employer or client does not fund the training, it could be very expensive for you. Fortunately, there are some low/no-cost alternatives to conventional training programs that might even be more effective and be a better fit for your learning style.

Note: This information is also available as a PDF download.

#1: Public library

As obvious as this resource is, I am always surprised at how many people never think of it. Though some of the material may not be the latest, you might be surprised, especially if you have access to a fairly large metropolitan library. Do not forget about videos and DVDs either, especially for training on less technical, common applications, such as QuickBooks or Microsoft Access. If you are looking for business or methodology training, you may also want to look for audio books. You may not be able to find detailed information on the Rational Unified Process (RUP), but Six Sigma and other initiatives in which your company or client may be involved may well be there. Audio books also enable you to convert idle drive time, or exercise time, into a value-add for you and your client.

If you are stuck in a small town with limited resources, consider approaching a larger library system to become a guest patron. Many times this is available to the public for a fee, but your local library may also have a reciprocal agreement with them, in which case access to the other library system may be free. Also, if you do teaching at a school of any type, you may be granted access to a library system if you can show proof of your status as a teacher.

University libraries are another rich store of material from which you can learn new skills. But unless you are a student at the school, it may be less than straightforward to check out materials. If the university is state-funded, you might be permitted to check out material if you are a resident of the state. If the university you approach does not permit you to check out material, you can always make a routine of camping out there for a couple of hours each week and learning on the premises.

#2: Company library/resources

Many companies have their own libraries and training that are available for the asking. Training is usually a part of human resources, so you might start there if the company doesn’t have a formal training department. If you are an independent consultant, does your client have a library you could tap into? It has been my experience that clients are generally quite willing to open up their training to outside consultants, especially if the training makes the consultants more effective in working with them.

If there is a cost associated with the training, however, reimbursement can be complicated, as clients usually lack a process for accepting that type of payment. Very large companies have particularly difficult time accepting money for training, but do not give up. Your client’s department may still be willing to carry your training if they see a material benefit.

#3: Vendor training

It is to a vendor’s advantage to have you use their product, and use it effectively. To that end, many vendors offer training for little or no cost. This training is made available in a variety of formats, including:

• Training sessions at conferences and trade fairs
• White papers
• Online tutorials
• Online/on-demand videos
• Special training events

You will not find a five-day intensive training session available for free, but you can still learn quite a bit from these free vendor resources. The more prepared you go into a vendor’s event, including being armed with questions, the more you will gain from the experience.

#4: Podcasts

Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular among the typical channel of technical media and vendors. They include product information or interviews with experts in a particular field and tend to cover fairly narrow topics, such as the software quality topics offered by StickyMinds. There are also a number of resources from more public sources, such as iPod and YouTube. These may come from a number of academic sources, or they may be the product of someone who simply has a passion for the subject.

#5: Webinars/webcasts and virtual trade shows

One of the greatest developments for people who actually have to work for a living, webinars and virtual trade shows offer a no-travel way to accomplish in an hour what used to take an entire day. Virtual trade shows are not as well attended by vendors as live trade shows, but as vendors figure out how to use the new venue, I expect more will start to join in. Advantages, besides the obvious lack of travel and enormous time savings, include having a fairly narrow topic focus and relatively easy access to representatives. There are also some pretty awesome networking opportunities, as well.

Webinars usually consist of an industry expert providing general information, followed by product information from the sponsoring vendor. The product typically has some tie to the overall topic, and many times, the product information portion of the webinar may be as informative as the general topic portion. If the sponsor has a broader interest in the industry, such as an association or a publisher, the entire webinar may be information-oriented, with no product application.

Various webcasts can be found at TechRepublic, as well as at other publishers.

#6: Associations and user groups

National organizations typically have a number of resources that you, as a member, can participate in. These may include online libraries, peer forums, and training courses. There may be a cost associated with some of this training, and access to some of the resources may require a paid, or premium (read: more expensive), membership. But when you consider that a membership to the Association of Computing Machinery, for example, can give you access to more than 1,100 books online, in addition to their journals and proceedings, it might well be worth the annual membership fee.

User groups, or other local groups that share your interest in a particular topic, offer a great forum to learn and share information for little or no cost. Special interest groups (SIGs) within the user group offer further topic specialization and can be a tremendous way to learn or be mentored. Check with vendors that interest you, as they may maintain a list of user groups in your area that relate to your product. Microsoft, for example, has a site with user group information, as do other major manufacturers. Consider, also, simple word of mouth and the “community calendar” section of your local paper to find out about upcoming meetings of groups that may interest you.

#7: Volunteering

The best way to learn is by doing. However, most companies are not willing to pay you while you learn. If you have all of the books and tutorials, but just need to get your hands dirty, why not volunteer to do a project for someone for free? Churches and nonprofits might need some work done that you can help with. A new Web site, a donor tracking system, or automation of monthly billing are all things that might benefit them and can give you the hands-on experience you need to approach a prospective employer or client. This is an especially good approach if you are trying to retool yourself with some new technology, or least a technology that is new to you.

This same approach can be applied in an incremental fashion with existing work you may be doing. Can you work a little beyond your current job description? If you are working within an old development methodology, for example, but want to try what you have learned about RUP, redo a portion of your work in the style of the new methodology, such as use cases. There is nothing like trying a skill on a real project to give you a real sense of the process, and sometimes a real sense of how much you still need to learn. Who knows — besides getting some great experience, you might even start to convert your team to the new process (but don’t get your hopes up).

#8: The Internet

Who has not Googled to learn more on a topic or to clear up an office dispute on the origins of some phrase or song lyric? This same resource is a great learning tool. A simple topic search can produce content from college courses, vendor training, and government information sites. Don’t be surprised if some of this content offers better explanations than some text books.

Online publishers are another great source for information to enhance your skills. Consider dropping a topic that interests you into the search field at a site such as DevX, and you may be surprised how much detail you will find.

#9: Continuing education

Continuing education programs, also called adult education or community outreach, offer nondegree classes that are generally conducted in the evening for a modest fee. Besides the stereotypic class on how to weave a basket, many programs also offer database, networking, and a number of other technology classes. Many of these programs are run through high schools and colleges, so if you are not aware of any programs in your area, start by checking with your local high school, career center, or university for contact information.

#10: Community college

State-run community colleges generally offer a number of affordable classes you can take without seeking a degree. Many of these colleges offer technology and programming classes. Because you have probably not taken the prerequisites for the class, you may need the permission of the instructor, but that should not be a problem if you are already a professional in the field. These programs are usually far less expensive than your typical week-long vendor training and are usually scheduled during the evening to minimize the impact on your workday. There may also be for-profit community colleges in your area. But since they may lack public subsidies, be prepared to pay substantially more for their course offerings.

One less hurdle

Limited time, family demands, and travel may still keep you from dedicating to learning a new skill, but if you’re creative, cost doesn’t have to be an obstacle. In fact, the nature of some of these suggested training alternatives lend themselves nicely to working around the time and travel constraints that are so often a barrier. Take advantage of as many of these training approaches as you can, and you will have one less hurdle to moving your career forward.

Original:http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=417

Learning Maya

Try to learn some MEL. Then find it provides MEL and Python, it's hard to decide which one to learn. As MEL must the best for maya, but Python will be more widely used beside maya.

Maybe for now, I just learn MEL, if needed learn Python. Learn much is no harm.

I have tried maya, several days ago. When I open it today, I forgot nearly all the shortcuts....

To change between wireframe and shading mode is just the key 4 and 5, which takes me some time to find it out again. Nothing can help except more practice.

A way

Download other people's code,

run,

come up with the worst case,

blow it up,

then you start to get your way.

 

Be watchful every time. Classic good thing may be not that right on real situations, especially in particular situations.

 

Desire

Technical Insight

Work through

What result can you accept.

Notes

Good ideas do not come from easy search.

You need to get from papers, from other people's work.

"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want..." Randy Pausch.

"We can't change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand" Randy Pausch.

He had a way of cutting straight to the issue and getting at the kernel.

Alice teaches even a middle school age student to program. Maybe I should introduce it to my brother. Maybe he will find something interesting except video games.

Randy was fearless.

bring people from different disciplines together in a spirit of collaboration.

The argument that "we use XML, which is a widely accepted data format, and thus our interface is easy to use" makes about as much sense as "we use bits, which are a widely accepted data format, and thus our interface is easy to use.".

News: Analyzing Music the Digital Way

Philadelphia Inquirer (09/22/08) Avril, Tom
Engineers, musicians, and computer researchers recently gathered at Drexel University for the International Conference on Music Information Retrieval to discuss using computers to analyze and manage the world of sound. The event was first held in Plymouth, Mass., in 2000, with music theorists and librarians heavily represented among the few dozen attendees. Now, the event is far more technology oriented. Some of the technologies could be incorporated into iPods in the next 18 months, possibly helping listeners sort through an unruly music collection. A key part of the conference is the announcements of results from a competition in which various universities pit their music-analysis algorithms against one another. Entrants from more than a dozen countries competed in 18 tasks, using their computers to listen to selections of music and identify aspects such as genre, mood, composer, and title. The goal is to eventually help people search for music they might like by autonomously combing through millions of audio files. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign professor J. Stephen Downie was particularly impressed by the entrants' success at identifying cover songs by different artists. Another task challenged the algorithms to identify tunes someone hummed, which could eventually enable karaoke machines and music shops to identify the song that someone is humming and provide it to them.
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