Five Tips For COMPUTER ENGINEERING STUDENTS.... should focus on

• What should students be really focusing on? Somebody asked me this question recently – Imagine students who are in 2^nd or 3^rd year of their degree course right now. They’ll spend a few years finishing college, and a few years just learning the ropes at their first job. So it will really be about 5 years before their career really starts. What will the software technology world be like at that time, and what are the skills that students can work on acquiring right now to ensure that they are well positioned to thrive?

  Of course, 5 years is a long time, and to quote Neils Bohr, prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. Still I think some general trends are clear, and there are some other timeless skills that are worth looking at. Based on that I’m giving my list below.

  
  
• The next billion customers: The IT revolution has probably reached a billion people of the world so far. In the next 5 years, it will reach the next billion. These will be a very different set of people. Many of them will be illiterate – so you need to focus on non-text, non-English interfaces – video, animations, voice recognition. Search for “English Seekho” to get an idea of what I mean. Most won’t have money or electricity for computers, so mobile devices will rule – so you need to start playing with mobile platforms like Android. In general, search for the “the next billion” and you’ll find some interesting material put together by the likes of Nokia, and MIT giving you ideas on what to focus on.
• Usability: As IT touches the lives of more and more people, less and less of them will be “computer savvy”, and less and less of them will view computing devices as something that needs to be learn t. Consequently, the products that will succeed, will be the ones that are easy to use. And making something easy to use is rather difficult. It is a sub-discipline of computer science, and there is a lot of theory, and a bunch of well-defined algorithms and practices you can use to make things easy to use. The whole area is called HCI (Human Computer Interaction), and UCD (User Centered Design) is a part of it. It’s an area that you must be familiar with
• Computer Science Fundamentals: This will never go out of fashion, and yes, when I look at students coming out of our colleges, this appears to be a rather neglected area. Far too much emphasis on specific programming languages, and specific “technologies” is a mistake. Whatever the future holds, you will be well served by knowing the basic theory of computer sciences. Learn data-structures and algorithms. If you don’t have a favourite data-structure, and an algorithm that you find beautiful, then your computer science education is incomplete. If, after seeing an algorithm, your first thought is not about the complexity of the algorithm (O(n), O(log n), etc.), then you need to hit your books again. If you’ve only learned Java and C#, and you don’t really understand pointers, heaps, stacks, you will sooner or later be at a disadvantage. Understand the basics. And while you’re at it, also learn mathematics and statistics.
• Presentation skills: This is not a computer science skill, but this is one of the most important skills that computer science students are missing. You must treat presentation as equally important, or more important than your program, design, and algorithms. And you must spend as much time learning presentation (from books, in classes, and in practice) as you spent on programming languages, and computer science subjects. I’m sure you haven’t done that, hence this item in my list. You should know how to write well. Not just papers and documents, but much more importantly, emails, and blog posts, and facebook wall postings, and tweets. You must think about what the user/reader/client wants to know (instead of what you know and want to tell). And of course, you must know how to speak well. How to tell a story instead of listing some arcane facts about your work. How to leave out stuff that you find extremely interesting, but the listener doesn’t.
• Economics: Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert says: “When you have a working knowledge of economics, it’s like having a mild super power.” Basically, if you understand the fundamentals of economics, you can see and understand what drives people and technologies and success and failure a lot better than people who do not understand it. I hated the fact that I was made to study economics in IIT for my computer science course. It seemed like a complete waste of my time. Now, looking back, I think it was probably the most important course.

sayings, quotes and stuff....

Chocolate's Versatility....

It would be so nice to be able to begin this article with the words, "Who doesn't love chocolate?" Unfortunately, there are some poor souls out there who are either allergic to this yummy delight or who, for some unknown reason, think that they do not like the taste of it. Oh, well, that just leaves more for the rest of us.

Chocolate in any form really is an appropriate gift for any occasion. You can give it to someone for nearly any holiday and in the case of some holidays like St. Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Easter; they would almost seem empty without some chocolate.


The other fact about giving a gift basket of chocolate goodies is that even though expensive foreign chocolate may be far superior in quality to the selection that is readily available at your local store, it is still a gift that is just as appreciated no matter where the chocolate comes from. So, while the chocolate that is defined as "imported" or "handmade" sounds nice and probably is very nice, don't let that stop you from creating your own gift basket of local chocolate treats.

If you have your heart set on it and you really want to give chocolates that are imported and unusual, there are many companies that specialize in putting together gift baskets and they can create a chocolate assortment using chocolates from anywhere around the world. It just so happens that chocolate gift baskets are one of the most popular styles of gift baskets because they get such a welcome reception whenever they are given.


The great benefit about giving a gift basket of chocolates as a gift is in its versatility. Whether you are giving a chocolate gift basket to your mother, your sweetie, or to your business associates, chocolate is always an appropriate and appreciated gift. It always seems to express just the right sentiment.

A good chocolate gift basket is one that includes a large variety of chocolate products. Not only a diversity of chocolate candies, but chocolate cookies, cakes, fudge, chocolate covered peanuts or pretzels and even hot cocoa or chocolate flavored coffee. Now, that's a chocolate gift basket!

You can choose to put these baskets together yourself or you can order one from a local gift basket company or a company online. The average price of a chocolate gift basket that you can have delivered runs from about $50 to $200, depending on its size and the variety of items in the basket. Of course, you can always make the gift yourself and you may be able to purchase a lovely basket and different chocolate items for less that having one specially made and delivered, but you probably won't be able to include all of the variety that a gift basket company can.

Once you decide on whether you will use a company that specializes in gift baskets and put in an order or if you decide to make one yourself, a chocolate gift basket can be given for absolutely any occasion. For instance, a basket of mugs, hot cocoa mix, cookies and chocolate treats would be perfect as a gift for a family on Christmas Eve. Place all of the items in a Christmas themed decorative basket or dish or even a Santa's sleigh and add a bow. What a lovely way to say, "Merry Christmas."
How about the Superbowl? If you are invited to a Superbowl party, don't come empty-handed. Throw some homemade or store bought chocolate snacks in a football shaped bowl or a football helmet and watch everyone move you out of the way in order to gather around it.

Baskets, chocolate, and Easter naturally go together. Put them together and create a beautiful centerpiece for the holiday table or make one for your office to share as the holiday approaches. There are so many chocolate choices available at this time of year that it will be hard knowing when to stop.

Mother's Day and Father's Day are two more occasions when a delectable chocolate gift basket would be appreciated. In order to add some originality, place the chocolate selection in a beautiful crystal bowl or vase for Mom and in a cigar humidor or a toolbox or tacklebox for Dad.

Even Independence Day can be an excellent occasion for giving chocolates. Add little American flags to the candies and present the whole gift in a star shaped container. You can even add streamers or string-pulled confetti poppers to the container in order to help celebrate the fireworks later in the evening. Or, if you know someone who will be camping out this summer, a great gift basket is to make a "S'more themed basket". Fill a bucket with chocolate bars, graham crackers and marshmallows and let the fun ensue.

Halloween is an easy holiday to celebrate with a chocolate gift basket. There are different varieties of available candy everywhere and you can readily find a basket or a container in the shape of a jack-o-lantern or witch's cauldron. This is another wonderful creation to make and then set out at work for your co-workers and visiting clients to partake in.

Besides holidays, there are birthdays, anniversaries, housewarming parties, graduations, baby and wedding showers, and "just because I love you" occasions. Add some chocolate covered popcorn with a favorite movie and create a great any occasion gift. Another way to use chocolate in a gift basket is to fill it with chocolate treats all from one area of the country or the world. This is a welcome gift for someone who is from that area to remind them of home.

In addition, a chocolate gift basket is great as a way to help cheer a friend who is down. A small chocolate gift basket is also a perfect gift for all of your children's teachers and it makes a lovely thank you gift for anyone else, as well.

Next time you are facing an occasion and you need to bring a gift, don't forget the sweetest gift of all, a gift of chocolate. It may be one of the simplest gift baskets to put together, but it is one of the most appreciated. Just tell everyone that they can begin their diets next week.