MaSSSoftech

Few people realize how many Iowans have technology jobs.

If lawyers who work on intellectual property rights and others whose jobs depend on technology workers are included, the total can reach 150,000, which is one of every 10 jobs in Iowa.

There are technology clusters around Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, but nearly half of Iowa's technology jobs are spread across a rural landscape that covers roughly 150,000 square miles.

That dispersion means that most Iowa techies can't just drop into a favorite restaurant or coffee bar to talk shop and solve problems with coworkers, the way counterparts do in Silicon Valley or Seattle.
That lack of collaborative opportunities was a shortcoming, said Leann Jacobson, president of the Technology Association of Iowa.

So, the group stepped in and did the next best thing.

It has used social-networking technology to create a Web site, IowaTechLinkz, that is sort of a Facebook on steroids for Iowa techies.

The site allows a technology worker in Allamakee County, or any other location in Iowa, to share information instantly and pick the brains of peers in Des Moines or Sioux City, or anywhere else in the state.
"It's a cool thing," said John Rath, a database manager for Team Technologies in Cedar Falls, who can now go online and chat with professional peers at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines or Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids.

The technology that makes it possible is cutting-edge stuff, Jacobson said. In tech jargon, it's somewhere between Social Networking 3.0, which includes applications like Facebook, and 4.0, which is the next generation of social networking technology that doesn't even exist yet.
VerticalLinkz, a startup in Waukee, is the company that created the IowaTechLinkz Web site.

Bill Adamowski founded VerticalLinkz in 2008 as a way use social networking software to build virtual communities around specific interests, topics or geographies.

In addition to IowaTechLinkz, VerticalLinkz is also developing networking sites for mortgage bankers, called MorLinkz, and Des Moines-area professionals, called MetroLinkz. It's also experimenting with a religion-oriented site, FaithLinkz, and a site for the horse industry, EquineLinkz.
The new IowaTechLinkz site, which was launched last week and is free to users, will serve several functions, Jacobson said.

Like Facebook, it will be a way for technology workers to meet and get to know each other, because each user creates a profile that includes background information and interests.

Users can also write blogs about technology topics or experiences, share information by directing others to specific Web sites, or post photos.
The site also allows users to create their own communities and pose questions to each other in a semi-private surrounding.

"It's helpful to know others in Iowa who are working in similar technologies," said Gary Scholten, chief information officer at Principal Financial Group. "You can ask them questions about how are you dealing with this problem with this particular server system, or that type of desktop software. Or what do you know about this vendor.
"We already have user groups that are national, but sometimes it helps to be able to connect with somebody who is more local."

Other professional networking groups are not geographically based, like IowaTechLinkz is, Scholten said.

IowaTechLinkz had about 300 members at its formal launch last week, but Jacobson said membership is expected to grow quickly.

Principal has about 2,000 technology employees, Scholten said. He expects a majority of those workers to be using the online site soon.
IowaTechLinkz is a good test market for VerticalLinkz social-networking programs, Adamowski said, because the opportunity for creating smaller networks within the overall framework is substantial. The site already hosts 18 individual communities with opportunities to create dozens more. Existing communities include angel investors, data centers, intellectual property law and Web strategies.

"It's also a good opportunity for Iowa to get some recognition as a technology leader," Scholten said. "A lot of people don't know how much information technology there is in Iowa."

Two of three top positions go to girls

* Of 47,668 male and female candidates, 23,949 (50.39 percent) were successful; 410 of successful candidates secure A-1 Grade, 1,790 A Grade, 5,972 B Grade, 9,611 C Grade, 5,911 D Grade and 316 E Grade

By Aamir Yasin

RAWALPINDI: Girls clinched two of the top three positions in the Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education’s (RBISE) Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) examinations whose results were formally declared during a special function at the Divisional Public School on Saturday.

According to the RBISE, 47,668 girls and boys (24,116 as regular candidates and 23,552 as private candidates) sat the examinations, and 23,949 of them (50.39 percent) remained successful. A pass percentage of 53.1 percent was reported in girls and that of 46.42 percent in boys. The results of 140 candidates have been withheld for using unfair means in the examinations.

The results showed that of the successful candidates, 410 secured A-1 grade, 1,790 A Grade, 5,972 B Grade, 9,611 C Grade, 5,911 D Grade and 316 E Grade.

Provincial Minister for Religious Affairs and Auqaf Ehsanuddin Qureshi distributed medals among the top position holders of the examinations.

According to the results, in Pre-Medical Group for boys, Hina Khan, of Government College for Women, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi bagged first position by scoring 1,003 marks out of 1,100. She was followed by Shahr Bano, of Punjab College of Information Technology for Girls, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi, who secured 999 marks. Ahmad Abdullah Mehmood, of Cadet College, Hassan Abdal got third position by scoring 997 marks.

In Pre-Engineering Group for boys, Ahmad Abdullah Mahmood, of Cadet College, Hassan Abdal stood first with 997 marks; Moin Ahmed, of Punjab College of Information Technology, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi second with 980 marks, and Farhan Ahmed, of Cadet College, Hassan Abdal with 979 marks.

In Pre-Engineering Group for girls, Aattiqa Anwar, of Punjab College of Information Technology, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi clinched the first position by securing 984 marks. Maeira Imtiaz and Iqra Shakeel, of the same college, stood second and third with 970 and 962 marks respectively.

In Pre-Medical Group for boys, Aziz Ahmad Chattha, of Cadet College, Hassan Abdal was the topper with 996 marks, followed by Saqlain Saleem, of the same college, who bagged 995 marks. The third position went to Asad Faruqi, of Punjab College of Information Technology, Satellite Town, who secured 994 marks.

In Pre-Medical Group for girls, Hina Khan, of Government College for Women, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi bagged first position by obtaining 1,003, while Shahr Bano, of Punjab College of Information Technology for Girls, Satellite Town got second position by securing 999 marks. Tehrim Amjad, of Punjab College of Information Technology for Girls, Satellite Town and Ambreen Tariq shared the third position by scoring 995 marks each.

In General Science Group for boys, Wasim Zarin Khan, of Indus College of Commerce for Boys, Satellite Town bagged first position by securing 958 marks; Hassan Shehzad, of Punjab College of Information Technology, Satellite Town second with 947 marks, and Dawar Zaman, of Punjab College of Information Technology, Satellite Town third with 945 marks.

In General Science Group for girls, Rabia Bashir, of Government College for Women, Chakwal bagged first position by scoring 954 marks; Shameen Yousaf, of Government College for Women, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi second by securing 949 marks, and Mehvish Naz, of Community Model Girls Higher Secondary School, Khaur, Attock third by obtaining 921 marks.

In Humanities Group for boys, Sudheer Ahmad, a private candidate from Rawalpindi, stood first with 852 marks. He was followed by Arshad Mehmood, of Madrassa Darul Mohiul Islam, Walyatabad, Kallar Syedan, and Zaheer Abbas, of Mumtaz Foundation Education Complex Higher Secondary School for Boys, Mangwal, Chakwal, who shared second position by securing 851 marks each. Muhammad Amir, a private candidate from Jhelum, was third position holder with 847 marks.

In Humanities Group for girls, Nimra Khalid, of Punjab College of Information Technology, Satellite Town bagged first position by scoring 918 marks; Aamra Izzat, a private candidate from Dina, Jhelum, second by securing 914 marks, and Ramsha Sohail, of Punjab College of Information Technology, Satellite Town, third by bagging 912 marks.

In Commerce Group for boys, Umer Farooq, of MA Jinnah College of Commerce and Computer Sciences, Jhelum topped the examination by securing 960 marks. Hassan Tahir, of Punjab College of Information Technology, Satellite Town, stood second by securing 943 marks, while Muhammad Usman, of Indus College of Commerce, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi, remained third position holder with 931 marks.