Archives for February 2007

Know When to Quit

Knowing when to quit is important. Don’t be stubborn and continue something that is frivolous because you won’t go anywhere. You’ll be stagnant and won’t be moving forward. Quitting is like pruning that dead branch on a tree or that dead leaf on a flower. You rid yourself of what is bringing you down.

There is no shame in quitting.

February 5, 2012  Leave a comment

My Term Paper About Real Life Interaction

I’m taking a course (CSCD03) called Social Impact of Information Technology that all Software Engineers at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus have to take. The course is different because it’s not a programming course. It’s not a course about algorithms, data structures, or databases. The course discusses the impacts, both good and bad, of technology. It also covers the ethics and public policies that arise for Software Engineers. Needless to say, it’s a different course.

One of the materials that we have to produce in this course is a term paper at the end of the term. The term paper has to be a topic about technology and the social impact. A topic that really jumped out at me was technology and how it degrades the quality of our real life interactions.

We are constantly checking our phones, going on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and instant messaging services like MSN or Skype. We feel more connected than we’ve ever felt before. But are we really?

In my term paper I want to focus on how all these technologies are actually making us farther apart from people. We become complacent with sending a text message to a friend instead of giving them a phone call. We email our coworkers even though they are just down the hall in the office. What happened to real in-person communication? We use Skype as an excuse not to travel hundreds of miles to see a loved one. When we go out for dinner we play with our phones instead of spending that quality time with the person sharing that moment with you.

I’m actually excited about writing this term paper. It’s an issue I feel really strongly about. Even though I love technology for all that it is, sometimes its just a distraction for the things and people that matter the most to us.

I’d definitely like to hear what your take is on this issue. Leave a comment or drop me an email!

January 29, 2012  2 Comments

A New Start

Sometimes a new start is all you need. I wanted to refresh this blog and take out the old garbage. I’m going for a simple look to focus purely on the content.

A lot has changed since my last update. But I will save that for another time.

January 28, 2012  Leave a comment