Progress is not always good!

Progress has not always been a good thing. Human progress through time has seen the advent of many processes and ideas in the hope for a better existence. Progress in the disciplines of science, industry, and politics has often had dire consequences for some, if not all, members of humankind.

Although science has afforded us a wider understanding of many aspects of the world, progress in science has not always been positive for all of humankind. Our desire to understand the nature of things through science has led to discoveries that could make the extinction of humankind by humankind possible. Nuclear weapons are inarguably capable of such mass extinction, and if not for the progress made in the sciences they would not be within our capabilities.

Science has also made available many substances that do not naturally occur in nature, and are unable to bio-degrade. This inability to bio-degrade creates tons of waste that cannot be reabsorbed into nature.Progress in industry, has not always been positive for some members of humankind. The ever evolving efficiency of industry has given humankind the ability to devote more time to other endeavors, such as science, but this efficiency that we exploit has come with a price, namely, the environment, and the health of the very people whose lives we wish to improve.

Pollution from factories and the power generation plants needed to power them do have adverse effects on our health and environment. The pollution associated with increased industrial activity has also put stress on the earth’s bio-sphere affecting the life cycles of all living organisms.

Progress in many respects is certainly not always a good thing, although progress is necessary if humankind is to reach the goals we have set out to achieve, whatever those goals may be. It is quite clear that there are costs associated with progress in terms of human life and the very environment on which it depends. With the advent of nuclear weapons progress has given humankind powers akin to giving a child a loaded gun.

Progress has made it possible for us to have more material possessions for the simple price of our health and the environment. Lastly our progress to establish a fair and just society has resulted in genocide, starvation, and loss of liberty.

Whether it is an individual’s progress or humankind’s progress, it will most certainly come with a price. Let us hope the goals we strive for are well worth the price we pay. Progress is highly desired whatever the consequences be.

Change Focus, Change Life

Overcoming depression can be a tough task. Once in their lifetime, most people will go through depression. It’s a serious problem and can even lead to disastrous consequences. We should first try to learn where it’s coming from. it could be the loss of a loved one, unfulfilled dreams, a job loss, a betrayal by a partner or so. Your focus is taken away by such serious cause. So to say epistemologically, the meaning you give to any given situation will cause depression.

You need to realize that there is a cause and effect when it comes to how you feel. People who are depressed aren’t depressed the whole day and night throughout the week. There are moments of depression. Something triggers that emotion. The thing that triggers it is what you focus on. Overcoming depression can take a long process that depends upon your situation. The major thing you have to do is to focus on positive grounds, but if you are in the environment where you feel depressed then it’s harder to get out of it.

There are different levels of depression. Some depressed people want connection, someone who understands the pain that they are going through as they want to feel important in some way. There are some who want to escape from life.

No matter whether it’s depression or excitement, they are caused by our focus. If you continually focus on how life is boring then you may start getting into depression, and if you spend most of your time focusing on how good life is and other positive aspects of life in general, you will surely feel good. Create a positive world in your mind full of things for you to be happy about. This isn’t about escaping your reality though.

Some people can go through a break-up and feel depressed for months. One of my friends went through this. The passage of time helped a lot but what got him out of it was when he started to focus on being free to find the person he was truly meant to be with. When he was depressed, he kept focusing on his loss. He kept focusing on how he may never be happy again. This caused him to look at everything else in his life with a darker shade of colour. Thinking back, his memories of that period look very gray to him now.

Now that he thinks about it, he is embarrassed he had those thoughts. Set goals for yourself. Give yourself reasons to be feel happy. Paint a brighter future in your mind. When you are depressed, the future can look very dark and gloomy. Change that.

Reducing depression can be done by asking more positive questions. Write down some questions on a small pocket notebook that will help you. Change your focus, change your life.

Teaching profession In Nepal, Then and Now

Any profession has not complete security but comparing to others, teaching profession is thought to be a bit secured, that has dignity, respect and social recognition. But to take or even think teaching profession a risky job may not be agreed by most of the people. I also used to fall under the school accepting this opinion. But when we know the prevailing truth that teachers in colleges and even in some schools face threats and risks will definitely make one ponder over and shatter our stereotyped views regarding teaching profession.

Teaching profession stereotype assumes teaching as secured job, where students obey what teachers say, greet whenever they meet and talk with due respect. Due to all these reasons also, teachers feel their profession dignified be it low in grounds of wages. But time has changed. Things are completely different from past. Especially, students of secondary and higher secondary levels have been successful in breaking or changing the stereotypes where they don’t respect teachers at all, take teachers as friends, misbehave with them, and sometimes even make physical assaults which are all deteriorating factors for their own education and career. The sad part is that they are not aware of consequences that results out of their insane acts.

We can hear some incidents time and again regarding the misconduct, misbehave and physical hurt made by students to their teachers. Last week an incident occurred when a teacher slapped a high school student for his misbehave and violence he was making. To the surprise, the boy brought his three other friends and punched the teacher and made physical assault that resulted in the rupture of the teacher’s ear. The college administration expelled those students related with that incident and are taking necessary steps to prevent such misdeeds along with the punishment to the student. But the college is in own panic thinking the incident may hinder in the new admission.

Teachers are the ones who educate and enlighten the students. There may be a few people who have joined teaching profession and have shown their arrogance and excessive pride. But that does not make teaching profession as negative job. Teachers show right path and guide the students, make them able to understand life. Even in the religious scripts, teachers are immortalized. But nowadays the students assault the teachers. How poor the life of a teacher has become when he is hurt by his own student for educating and giving lesson.

For the misconduct and assaults made by students, the students’ familial background matters most. If he/she has born in the culture where they don’t respect their elders or their parents are divorced or any other problems of family life, such students grow negative culture in them. For prevention of this, college management needs to be very strict. If not taken seriously over these incidents or punish the culprit, such incidents may continue again and again and also pollute the name and fame of the organization. They have to be very careful during the time of enrollment and should not accept the student if he/she does not have good previous disciplinary records.

The saying ‘Might is Right’ also applies here which it should not have happened. Culture of gangs and groups has started. Those who have good number of people to their side have every possibility to win over regardless their faults and mistakes. It is quite painful to know that educational sectors are day by day influenced by the deconstructive groupies and gangs. Colleges without discipline in-charge (DI) are facing severe difficulty in smooth academic administration. But this does not end here. Even the job of discipline in-charge is too risky as he has boundaries in social movement. It is more painful to know that some DIs even have been assaulted by the students’ groupies for his strictness.

The prevailing teaching profession in colleges is pathetic and miserable. There was a time when a child when asked what his aim was would reply that it was a teacher and people who praise and felt pride upon. But at current times, being a teacher has low social recognition, a good pastime and a profession that everyone can involve until he/she does not find a secured job and. This could be due to the increasing rate of unemployment in the nation and also wrong attitude developed by the generalities. Government should be able to provide conditions for employment and awareness should be there among general people that teaching is one of the purest professions that human beings are indulged in.

Kinds of Happiness

What makes people happy? Will a better economy do it? Will fame do it? How about having the perfect body? Having the perfect job? If you ask people what makes them happy, you will probably get a ton of different answers, but there are two fundamental things that will ensure happiness. The first is knowing that they are growing mentally, spiritually, etc. The second is feeling that they are making a difference. Many people will make the mistake of thinking that happiness comes from something external. They think that new luxurious cars will make them happy or that salary raise or getting a new house. Although these things can give you temporary feelings of happiness, they are short-termed. Think about the time you bought your first home or car. You were probably excited. How did you feel several years later? Probably not as excited since you got used to it right?

So the first part of what makes people happy, as mentioned earlier, is growth. When you feel like you are improving your life, that’s when you are happy. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to constantly buy bigger and better things. It’s much deeper than that. You need to feel like you are growing on a personal level. You need to know that the essence of who you are is continually improving in some way. If you want to know how to find happiness, look within. Work on yourself, your goals, and your dreams. Keep looking for ways to make yourself better today than you were last year. The second part of what makes people happy is that sense of contribution. Everyone wants to believe that they were put here to do something great. You don’t have to do something that will change the world though.

As long as you know that by you being here, by doing what you are doing, you are helping someone somewhere, it will bring you happiness. For some people, being a parent is happiness because they brought a new life into their world and they are responsible for its happiness. It’s that sense of making a difference. It’s that sense that you are a part of something much larger than yourself. This is what makes people happy in life. Being a part of or creating something that will outlast them. It’s doing something that will make some sort of a difference in other people’s lives. This is why you will often see people who have all the money in the world want to give it away. They realize that money alone doesn’t bring happiness. Contribution does. These are two ways of how to find happiness. Are these the only answers to what makes people happy? That depends on how you define happiness. You can be happy just to be alive. You can be happy just to be able to see.

Appeared in The Himalayan Times, Feb 21, 2013
Link: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=TOPICS%3A+Kinds+of+happiness&NewsID=366689

What is Religion?

published in the Republica, Gennext ( Feb 21, 2013)

Let us enjoy poetry

KEN SUBEDI

Poetry is one of the four genres of literature. Although poetry is one of the oldest forms of literature, it is read less than other forms like essays and stories. I wonder why poetry is not read and enjoyed by Nepali readers these days since the fascination towards it is reducing. I see poetry everywhere from personal conversations to films and from dramas to novels. Everywhere poetry is used to highlight the context and make it worth reading. A novelist uses poetry to pull the readers’ attention and a story writer uses poetry to make readers sentimental and to arouse emotions and feelings.

Even in revolutions and mass protests, poetry has been used when we study the political history of Nepal. Be it Gopal Prasad Rimal or Shrawan Mukarung, they have made poetry a crucial tool to prioritize serious concerns and issues. No form of literature can express our feelings in a subtle way except poetry. Almost all poems are subjective in nature that’s why readers get bored at the very beginning. But those subjectivity are the acute representations of many people like the poet. Poetry broadens our imagination and makes us creative. I completely agree with Wordsworth that poetry is a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and emotions recollected in tranquillity.

Poetry is able to express events that are even restricted in a satirical way. I consider poets as the great source of human awareness. In Europe and America, night clubs are also jam-packed to take part in poetry recitation events whereas in Nepal, the matter is just the opposite. New poets are discouraged. Poets express their dissatisfaction for not getting space in newspapers and magazines here in Nepal. Some poets have really idealized poetry saying poetry will not die and although poems are taken out of poetry, it will live somewhere else. There’s no need to abolish poetry. From Marquez to Abhi Subedi, all the prose writers have used poetry in their works.

Poetry provides them with comfort, a way to express themselves, and the discipline of finding the essence with few words. Poems have also been viewed as carriers of messages from the unconscious to the conscious mind. Wherever people gather to mark a moment, they speak from heart to heart, with poetry. Likewise it is one way to cope with recession. . Experiencing poetry, either by reading it, listening to it, or writing it, can help people manage feelings of loss and despair. Let’s all promote poetry once again in Nepal. Readers will find great underlying knowledge, culture, values and fun in poems. Poetry is also music. I express my sadness on why few people are reading poetry. I think missing poetry is like living in a world without music.

Published in the himalayan times dated Jan 28, 2013.
Link: http://thehimalayantimes.com/rssReference.php?headline=TOPICS%3A+Let+us+enjoy+poetry&NewsID=363636

Building self esteem

BUILDING self esteem is something that, if done successfully, can change your life. Being able to accept yourself, to have confidence in yourself, and to know that you are good enough can take you a lot further in life compared to thinking that you’re worthless and that no one likes you or accepts you. If you want to build self esteem, the first thing you need to understand is how it got so low in the first place.

Understand that much of how you see yourself was formed from a very young age. For most people, having low self esteem has to do with their parents. To be more exact, it had to do with your misinterpretation of what you experienced or what you were told as a child. One of the most common beliefs that people with low self esteem have is the belief that they are not good enough. No matter how hard they try or how well they do, they will feel like it just wasn’t enough. This is most likely caused by having parents who said things that made you believe you weren’t good enough. They may have communicated this verbally or through their body language. Either way, the message you received was that you were not good enough. Understand that reality and what you perceive to be reality can be two very different things.

Building your self esteem will be a lot easier when you realise this. One of the most powerful ways is to simply recognise the fact that you have been looking at the world through a lens that only focused on things that reinforced your false belief that you aren’t good enough. Realise that all of the so called “evidence” that you have seen up until this point of your life that “proves” you aren’t good enough or people don’t like you or you’re not important was a distortion of reality caused by your belief that you are worthless.

Now that you know better, use your logic and common sense and go back into your childhood memories, to those times when you were told that you were a piece of crap, and challenge those statements. You are much more than who you think you are. Besides, now that you know you have been wrong in thinking that you aren’t good enough, you can begin to take charge of your life. Building your self esteem comes down to understanding that you can control your beliefs. The belief in who you are and what you are capable of achieving in life is up to you to decide, not your parents and others.
published in The Kathmandu Post , Link: http://epaper.ekantipur.com/ktpost/showtext.aspx?boxid=12048109&parentid=20670&issuedate=6122012

Microsoft’s Surface, Apple’s iPad & Google’s Tablet –The battlefield set

For all you tech geeks out there, here is an awesome collection of tablet PCs which has taken the world for a swirl! The monopoly market which had been captured by Apple for pretty long time has been shed with Microsoft and Google entering the race. The PC tablet industry seems to take serious twist and turns with the latest entry Google. It seems that all these IT big guns are all set to fight it out straight. First it was Apple with its iPad, then Microsoft with Microsoft Surface and now it’s Google with its Google Nexus! What exactly are these big guns up to?

Few analysts have the gut feeling that the OEM –business models seems to have broken down as both Google and Microsoft have broken ties with their earlier OEM partners. With Apple creating a monopoly market for its iPad’s, probably Microsoft and Google might have thought to give it a go with the hope to beat its monarchy in this industry. It seems that these IT giants have decided to produce its own tablets to drive out the producers of PCs for making better and much more competitive tablets.

Targeted for the movers and shakers of the society and for those tech geeks out there, these Tablet PCs released by the big guns, Apple, Google and Microsoft, are consistently trying to surpass each other by constantly updating the features and characteristics of their newly introduced tablet PCs. Comparisons between these products are common, but here we would deal with the features of these products individually so that you yourself can judge which stands better rather than getting biased upon the writer's judgment.

Apple's iPad: With the launch of the all new iPad by Apple, a brief sneak peek into its features. So are you all set to know more about this Apple iPad?
This iPad provides you almost everything, starting from entertainment to games, from videos to music, from books to recent news, all here at your fingertips. Though even an iPod could do all these functions, but with a screen dimension of 9.7", ½" thin, weighing 1.5 lbs. This is a real mini wonder for all you tech geeks. Furthermore, its price is quite attractive than anyone has ever though off. With a price tag of just $499 for the lower end model, it a real dream comes true for all. The data planprovided by it is also great and is an ideal option for all the net book users where you get to avail various kinds of choices. Apart from all this, this iPad gives much more space for the user to use one's hands than using the mouse for the same. But the monopoly ruler is not devoid of flaws as with this mini wonder, you really cannot afford to perform any multi-tasking options though there are several productive applications present in the same. With all the latest application present, it still fails to work as efficiently as a computer would do. Next it has no webcamfacility and the iTunes application has several restrictions which does not support many kind music formats.

It has been seen that more than forty percent of the apple owners prefer to buy the Apple iPad. The data also reveals figures which states more than 80% apple owners, 80% of individuals with income more than $90,000 and more than 75% of adults in age group 18 to 34 are interested in buying this Apple iPad.

Google Nexus: Since Google announced its Google Nexus, hard to define it in one word as a smart phone or super phone, the review for the same ismixed. With all the new Google Nexus, you can now tweet as well as text even when you are driving with the presence of a voice recognitionfacility, but again in contrast to the rumors which had come out, this phone cannot be defined as a VoIP data phone revolution. This is very much like the other phones in terms of making phone calls, suppressingthe expectations that the users had form its reviews.

Though Nexus uses the Android 2.1 version giving various kinds of 3D features, but it has been seen that this nexus one's superior software features are just fleeting in nature. One of the best features of this is that you can get this Google Nexus unlocked though it is quite pricey in nature. As we have seen that Google Nexus is not devoid of flaws as already discussed. To add to the same tally is the absence of the multi-touch facility. Though the hardware of the phone is able to support multi touch facility, the software does not support the same. Moreover, the music player of nexus is still not as superior in its features as it had been thought to be, but with the presence of the in-built Google voice, there is much to be seen in this tech gadget as well.
With its latest tech gadgets, Google aims to target those price conscious consumers who love to use latest tech gadgets but keep away from them as they are pricey.

Microsoft Surface: In the boxing ring, Microsoft is all set to face the challenge it has before it to compete its rivals Apple, the till date monopoly ruler in the tablet PC market, and the new face, Google, Microsoft has a tough task in hand! It seems that Microsoft Surface tablet strikes a great balance between work as well as play, but it has a long way to go to impress the iPad users.
The keyboard that is present within the cover is an ideal trick making it an attractive platform differentiating it from the others. This is an ideal option for business entrepreneurs. With the option for the user to choose one between the two, is clearly a tablet of choice! With the presence of an Intel Processor, it can easily eliminate the compatibility issues. Furthermore, it's this tech wonder also has a competitive price (which actually Microsoft had to keep as it is not a monopoly ruler in this market). The best of this iPad is that, it competes as an underdog. Had it done as an iPad-crusher, then it was sure to fail in this market. Apart from all these, it has been successful in getting its balance right, but again it is not devoid of flaws. With the absence of cellular-connectivity, and a small screen, Surface is not very great to impress its users. With its limited storage options available and with, the capability of solving only some of the Windows problems, there is much that needs to be thought of the same.

It’s no doubt that the presence of substitute elements would reduce the share that a monopoly product was getting, Hence with Microsoft and Google in the battlefield, it is for sure that there is going to some migration of the prospective Apple iPad users to either Microsoft or Google. Thus Apple’s market is sure to suffer, but what remains to be seen is who wins the race. Over to your judgment folks!

Overcoming Nervousnesss

Dealing with nervousness can sometimes be a difficult thing to do.When you feel nervous, you tend to lose control to some extent. You can start to shake and tremble a bit. You can start to sweat and even get a bit dizzy. The cause of this feeling can be many things but most of the time, it is caused by your focus. Sometimes it can be caused due to your habits but even then, it’s mental. Let’s examine why being
nervous can cause you to perform poorly and why it’s something good to be nervous.

There are many situations that can cause a person to feel nervous. It can be a situation where you are about to make a speech. It can be one where you are about to ask an attractive person out on a date. It can even be a situation where you are about to take an exam. All of these things can bring out that feeling of anxiety. It can cause you to stumble on your words.

It may seem like a bad thing but realize that this feeling that you experience is your body’s way of telling you something. Do you think athletes get nervous before a game? How about professional speakers who are about to go out on stage for the 1,000th time? Nervousness is a signal to your mind that you need to get ready. It can sometimes be mixed with the feeling of excitement as well.

In order to control nervousness and use to your advantage, you need to acknowledge the message. When you get the nervousness anxiety feeling, most of the time it means that you aren't as prepared as you think you should be. Second way to minimize nervousness is to change your focus. Controlling nervousness can be done by changing your focus. If you are nervous about doing something, chances are that you are picturing the worst case scenario. You are imagining totally making a fool out of
yourself.

Overcoming nervousness can be done by realizing that no matter how bad you do, whether it’s a speech or some performance or asking someone out on a date. Most people are simply too busy focusing on themselves and their own insecurities to think about yours. We often get nervous because we are afraid of how others might thing of us.

Nervousness is something that can be dealt with thorough practice as well as realizing that life is too short to spend too much time worrying about what others think of you. If you want to do a good job, be prepared and practice as much as you can. From there, picture the best outcomes in your mind. After that, just do your best and even if you mess up, people are going to forget out it anyway because you arenot the most important person in their lives, they are.

IT careers in the context of Nepal

There is an infinite scope and opportunities in the field of IT. We know lots of career path that we can select and along with that we see new and emerging careers paths coming along our way. It is necessary for us to select our field of interest during the study period and its future prospects in the context of Nepal and abroad. Currently IT industry is facing a severe shortage of competent human resource both locally and globally.
IT graduates can work in different industry like software industry, financial institutions, Health, corporate organizations etc. The following are the list of most common career paths for IT graduates.

1.System Administrator:
System Administrator is a person who manages the all the IT resources of an organization. An organization requires a system administrator to manage servers, pc, network, internet, backups, security etc. System Administrators can get opportunity in ISP, NGO, INGO, Software companies, schools, colleges etc. CCNA, CCNP, MCSA, MCSE are some of the certifications which can be acquired to work as a system administrator.
System Analyst: The system analyst is responsible for performing the feasibility study of a system. They prepare software requirement specification based on the requirement of the stakeholders. A systems analyst researches problem, plans solutions, recommends software and systems, and coordinates development to meet business or other requirements. They also help programmers during the development of the software. In the context of Nepal it has a very good scope in software companies.

2. Project Manager: Project manager is responsible to manage the assigned project. Coordinates project related communication with clients and manages the development team, distributes project work among the team members, tracks the progress of the projects. In the context of Nepal project manager has a very good scope in software companies.

3. Mobile Application Developer: Mobile application development is one of the most demanded and fastest growing career fields in the world. As mobile devices continue to change the way we do business, communicate, and access news & entertainment, the demand for new and innovative mobile applications is growing rapidly. Mobile application developer for iphone, android are in high demand.
Software Developer: Software developer is responsible to develop software. They should have a good programming, problem solving and analytical skills. Software developers can select any one of the development platform among VB.NET, Visual Basic (VB), Java, Delphi, Oracle Business Intelligence.

4. Web Developer: Web developer is responsible for the development of websites and web applications. Web developers can select any one of the programming language as a development platform among PHP, ASP.NET, ASP, JSP, Perl, Ruby on Rails. There is a huge scope of PHP and Asp.Net in Nepal. Moreover, a lot of software companies choose PHP as a development platform. Furthermore, PHP web developers can gain expertise in popular open source software like Joomla, Word Press, Drupal, Magento etc. Web developers working as a Joomla Expert, Word Press Expert, Drupal Expert, Magento Expert can relatively earn more. It is also good to have knowledge of PHP framework like Zend, CodeIgniter, CakePHP etc. There is a good demand of PHP developers in software companies of Nepal. Web developers showing sufficient expertise in open source software and frameworks are in high demand.

5. Web Designer: Web designer is responsible for designing the web site. Web designer should have knowledge of Photoshop/ Fireworks, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQuery. Web designer should be creative enough to make attractive websites and interfaces.

6. SEO/ SMM Expert: IT graduates can also work as a Search Engine Optimization and social media marketing expert. They should possess sufficient skills to do online marketing of businesses (websites) by listing it in organic search result of search engines. They can also make use of social media and networking tools like YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn etc in promoting products or services online. These days the need of SEO expert is increasing globally.

7. Database Developer: Should have a good knowledge of database design, SQL since it will be used while creating software, websites and web applications. Popular database systems used by database developers are MySQL, Oracle, MSSQL.

8. QA (Quality Assurance): Quality assurance officer are responsible for ensuring the quality of the software and web applications. They should have knowledge of different testing techniques, designing test cases and performing tests.

9. Technical Writer: Responsible in creating documentation of the software and web applications. They are also responsible for creating user manuals.
There are also other careers prospects for IT graduates like Graphics Designer, System Administrator, System Engineer, Database Administrator, Network Engineer, Animator, Ethical Hacker, Network Security specialist, hardware engineer and many more. Moreover new trends of working practices are being developed these days where you have boundless opportunities to work from home as a freelancer if you can reveal competent skills. Some another sectors like Animation, game developing and OUT Sourcing can be job sectors for IT graduates.