Linked In! What does it mean?

LinkedIn is a platform for building professional networks. It provides a tool called LinkedIn Maps to be able to visualize connections in your network graphically. I have presented a graphical representation of my connections in LinkedIn below:

The blue and the orange nodes combined represent my connections at BYU, which largely dominate my LinkedIn network. This may partly be due to the fact the I started using LinkedIn only after my sophomore year in school. Even within the BYU network, my circle of connections within Computer Science Department (orange nodes) and that within the community of students from Nepal (blue nodes) are quite distinct. Apart from this, the circle of connections I made at Jive Communications (green nodes), a company that I currently work for, is completely separate from the rest of my professional network. 

You might ask if this graph tells anything about me. I believe that our interactions in social and professional spheres tell a lot about us. This graph is a representation of my interactions with the people in my professional network. It is fascinating as well as useful to see how this graph evolves over time because this graph somehow defines who I am.

General Conference Twitter experience

I actively participated in the tweeting experience during the first session of the General Conference on Saturday (04/06). I have mixed feelings about the experience. There were times when I thought I would rather have just listened to the speaker and paid more attention. Other times I felt I got more with the tweets I was following than I would have otherwise. There were several re-tweets that were unnecessary and distracting as they didn't add any personal thoughts or insights to what was already said. I later learned a way to turn off the re-tweets from showing up in the feeds which made the experience a tardy bit better. But there were still a lot of unnecessary redundant tweets. The flow of the tweets was so rapid that I couldn't keep up with reading all the tweets. But I would still say that the overall experience was fun. I have used twitter for a while now but this experience was unique and educational in many ways.

Video game addiction

Video games are getting complex, detailed, and compelling to a growing number of audience. With better graphics, more realistic characters, and greater strategic challenges, it is less surprising that most teens love to play video games than hang out with friends or play physically intensive sports. Video games can be very addictive such that players often start neglecting their parents, friends, work, and school. Though video game addiction is not medically recognized as a disorder, there is increasing evidence of people facing severe consequences due to video game addiction. Relationships and family lives are affected greatly by such addiction. Studies show that children with video game addiction exhibit behaviors similar to pathological gamblers. Use of game for increasing amounts of time isn't the only symptom of gaming addiction. Repeated, unsuccessful efforts to control or stop gaming is another symptom that can help identify this problem. Identifying these symptoms early will allow us to take preventive steps early enough to be effective.  Treatment of video game addiction is similar to that of any addiction. Counseling and behavior modication can greatly help in the process of rehabilitaion of a video game addict.

Piracy Vlog

Say No to Piracy by ijesh on GoAnimate

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Here Comes Everybody

"Here Comes Everybody", a book by Clay Shirky, is a book about advancements in technology. With accelerating velocity, our age's new technologies of social networking are evolving, and evolving us. We have begun crowdsourcing news and innovations. Technologies like cell phones and internet are constantly changing the world. With the internet, people now have the power to express their opinions and share their views to millions of people instantly. People are more connected today than during any other generation of human existence. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have made this possible. People share ideas on a large scale today, in online communities. Our lifestyle has changed in so many ways with internet and smartphones that we cannot imagine going back to any previous era of technology. But as Voltaire once said, "With great power comes great responsibility" (no this was not a creation of Marvel comics). We now have to find the most awarding ways of utilizing the power of today's technologies. We should try to contribute back to the online communities like Wikipedia, from where we harness our information and knowledge. In other words, we need to try to become producers rather than just stay as consumers in this information age.

Technology and the Church

With the development of technology, people have harnessed its power in different aspects of their lives. Computers, cell phones, and the internet have changed the way we learn, think, and share our beliefs. The leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have felt the influence of technology in the lives of members of the Church. The church uses technology to manage member records, assets, and finance etc. We now have easier ways to search and find past talks from conferences given by Church leaders. Similarly, there are online versions of scriptures that aid us in researching topics efficiently when we ourselves are preparing to give talks. The Church has emphasized that although technology is not inherently good or evil, it can be used to further good or evil purposes. It is our job as members of the Church to use the technology to share the Gospel and fulfill Lord's purpose.

Open Source

Open source environment provides the competitive advantage over closed source environment. There are very few companies who do not use any type of open source software in their infrastructure. This revolutionary model of software development has been embraced by many of the largest companies in the software industry. Open source development is a better way of building software, one reason being that more people are involved in solving the problems. Although open source is a better way of developing software than close source, there are some guidelines for creating good open source softwares. "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" has listed about 19 guidelines for doing just that. One among them,"Good programmers know what to write. Great ones know what to rewrite (and reuse)" seems noteworthy.