Technology - Virtue and Vice

Texting, chatting, surfing, double-checking. The one thing everyone is given equally is time. Time that can be used in building relationships, improving, and furthering a cause, all of which are enhanced by technology. Time is also used in aimless double-checking facebook, surfing randomly across the net, chatting meaninglessly with acquaintances, and texting instead of building friendships in person. Technology here acts almost as a hinderance. All of us must be aware of where our time is siphoning off to, and consciously direct that flow to avoid wasting our potential and finishing life in regret.

Interviewing Desperation

The STEM Career fair is the speed dating contest for tech companies to meet budding graduates. Thanks to supply and demand, future grads and internship seekers find themselves being fought over and, depending on the skill of the recruiter, fantasizing of future careers at the blessed company. Occasionally a desperate recruiter scares off potentials. Almost like the desperate girl who won't leave you alone, the one that you would probably be interested in if she wasn't forcing her presence on you like a nail into wood. A company this year (who shall not be named) was nigh unto coercing immediate interviews from any possible qualifying programmer. Let's just say that they have fallen into last place on my list, but hey - thanks for the practice. 

Position Vlog - Use Words Right

Some words have too much emotional (and legal) baggage to be handed out like candy.

Pwning Simply-Cool Programs

There are two types of programs in this world: Those that solve problems and those that don't. When a program is written with a real and important goal in mind it is successful. When it's done simply to "do something cool" it dies by the way side, starved of actual attention. However, hope is not lost. Simply-cool programs still have a chance to shine, but that comes after a serious makeover, transforming them from a technological show-off to a purposeful instrument. Their new shining success comes from a visionary who recognizes the world-changing potential behind the simply-cool, and then takes the vision, shares it, and makes it into a reality. If we never see past the simply-cool, we'll be stuck in our dark cubicles, never recognizing the power of our programs until it's too late. 

Riding the Twitter Trend

"I'm pleased to announce that able, worthy young women who have the desire to serve may be recommended for missionary service beginning at age 19." Twitter explodes. #ldsconf trends. Sorry Elder Cook, but everyone is still recovering from President Monson. Instantly memes were sprouting out of the ground, everything from joking about the lack of freshman next year to RMs having a change in the dating pool. Being a participant in this phenomena was novel. No longer was conference a solitary experience, but an integration of outside opinions and comments, providing new insights and knowledge. Perhaps this style is the conference of the future. 

Security: A Ticking Time Bomb No One Cares About

The 1980's and today's technology have something in common, security issues are rampant and no one cares until they're exploited. Cliff Stoll was put through the loops by several government and private agencies and was never taken seriously until catastrophe seemed eminent. Even with all the issues surfacing today, people are still reluctant to address critical weaknesses in our computer systems. A PhD from a security firm showed how with around a million dollars a dedicated individual could easily hire enough skill to hack the power grid, destroying the nation's power. Think Revolution. As technology infiltrates other fields the security risk rises. From pacemakers to prison doors, hackers are gaining possible opportunities like never before; until technology is actually built from the ground up with security in mind, this will be the case. As long as deadlines, budgets, and features continue to take precedence over security, we will never be safe.


Book: Cuckoo's Egg