🇰🇷 South Korea Makes History: First G20 Nation to Offer Free AI to All Citizens

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT has selected three consortia led by SK Telecom, KT, and Kakao to build a free, unlimited AI chatbot and public-service assistant for all 52 million residents.

📌 Key details

🔹 Backed by 512 Nvidia B200 GPUs from the government

🔹 At least 50% of usage must run on Korean-made foundation models (EXAONE, Solar, Kanana, A.X K2, Motif, etc.)

🔹 Basic chatbot + public-service agent will be free with no usage limits

🔹 Beta launch expected soon, full rollout by year-end

🔹 Part of a $7.2B national AI investment push in 2026

This makes Korea the first G20 country to treat AI access as a public service aiming for an "AI-basic society" regardless of income, age, or digital literacy.

#TechNews

@CTBEsoftwareengineers

Do you remember the first time you deployed your frontend and backend using Render and Vercel?
It felt like one small mistake, like missing an environment variable or using the wrong build setting, could break everything and you would not even know where to start.
But after doing it again and again, facing failed builds, random 404 errors, and fixing configurations step by step, you reach a point where you are no longer scared.
Now you are confident enough to debug whatever goes wrong and get your app running.

Here is what your life look like when you're software Engineer

1. Write code once → you understand it.
2. Write it 20 times → you remember it.
3. Build 10 projects → you start seeing patterns.
4. Debug 100 errors → you stop panicking when something breaks.

Repetition changes:

• Syntax → muscle memory
• Bugs → debugging skills
• Projects → problem-solving
• Docs → faster learning
• DSA → pattern recognition
• APIs → better system understanding
• Deployments → confidence
• Failures → better engineering decisions

Build → Break → Debug → Fix → Repeat.
@CTBEsoftwareengineers

Applications are now OPEN for the Claude Campus Ambassadors Program!

This year, the program is expanding with three tracks:

• Undergraduate students
• Graduate students
• PhD/Postdocs

If you're a student at Addis Ababa University (AAU) and passionate about AI, tech, and building communities, this is a great opportunity to get involved, grow your network, and represent your campus.

⏳ Deadline: [September 12 2026 ]
🔗 Learn more & apply: [ CLICK HERE ]

@CTBEsoftwareengineers

Something valuable is coming your way…

Hello family of CTBESoftwareEngineeerrs 👋

We’re starting something new weekly, worth-reading articles made just for you.

Each week, expect content focused on:

• Software & technical skills
• Career growth
• Lessons & real experiences

📅 Starting September 1 (2019 EC).

Make sure you don’t miss the first drop it might be the one that changes how you think or build.
Stay tuned 🔥

@CTBEsoftwareengineers

5 Things Every Software Engineering Student Should Understand Before Graduating

You don’t need to know everything, but you should understand these:

How the Internet actually works
DNS, HTTP/HTTPS, APIs, servers, databases, and what happens when you visit a website.

Git & GitHub
Branching, commits, pull requests, merging, conflicts, and collaborating with other developers.

Databases
SQL, relationships, indexes, transactions, normalization—and when NoSQL makes sense.

Software Architecture
How to structure a real application, separate responsibilities, design APIs, handle errors, and think about scalability.

How to Read & Debug Code
You won’t always write code from scratch. A huge part of engineering is understanding existing code, finding bugs, and fixing them.

Bonus: Learn how to use AI coding tools without becoming dependent on them. Understand the code you ship.

Your degree teaches you concepts. Your projects teach you how to build.

#softwarecheck
@CTBEsoftwareengineers

✨Quick tip: Don't just paste your bug into ChatGPT/Claude paste the right context ✨

Most people get bad AI debugging answers because they only paste the error message. Instead, give it:

- The error/traceback (obviously)
- The actual function, not just the line that failed
- What you expected vs what actually happened
- Anything you already tried (saves it from suggesting the same dead end)

One extra move that changes everything: ask it to explain why the bug happens before asking for the fix. If the explanation doesn't make sense, the fix probably won't either and you catch a wrong AI answer before you ship it.

Hope this helps ☺️

@CTBEsoftwareengineers

Join the online STARK Official Hackathon

It is a 3-week long online hackathon with a final in-person event and offers various tool prizes, including a chance to win 50,000 ETB (1st: 25,000 | 2nd: 15,000 | 3rd: 10,000).

Open to developers, designers, creators, and problem-solvers. Register alone and get matched into a team.
Kickoff: September 9, 2026
Ends: October 2, 2026
Teams of 2 to 5 participants
Format: Online | Free entry
Announcement: October 2 at ALX

Register: https://stark-hackathon.vercel.app/register

@CTBEsoftwareengineers

Project showcase

Athena Nexus

Many women interested in tech lack a structured environment to consistently practice their skills, build projects, and receive recognition for their progress.Existing learning platforms often focus on individual learning rather than creating a community-driven path from learning to practical experience.

Athena Nexus provides a structured community platform where members progress through weekly and milestone-based coding challenges, submit their work, and showcase approved projects in a public gallery.

you can check it out here:
Github
Live link

and if you like it , please vote here by reacting on this post

@CTBEsoftwareengineers
#project_showcase

Time is watching

Use it or lose it, your choice!

#Qoute
@CTBEsoftwareengineers

✨Quick tip: Don't just catch errors handle them with intent.

1. Catch specific exceptions, not everything
python

# Swallows all errors, hides bugs
try:
result = risky_call()
except Exception:
pass

# Know what you're catching
try:
result = risky_call()
except ConnectionError as e:
log.warning(f"Retrying: {e}")
retry()

2. Fail loud in dev, fail safe in production
Silent failures are debugging nightmares. Log the context (inputs, state) when an error hits, not just "something went wrong."

3. Errors are part of your API
If you're writing a library or backend service, your error types/messages are what other devs debug against. Design them like you design your functions clear, specific, actionable.

4. Never let an exception cross a boundary undocumented If a function can throw, say so (docstring, type hints, or your language's equivalent). Callers shouldn't discover it in production.

Rule of thumb: if you can't explain why an error happened from the log alone, you didn't handle it you hid it.

#Tips
@CTBEsoftwareengineers

የአዲስ አመት እንኳን አደረሳችሁ መልእክት

መልካም አዲስ አመት - Happy Ethiopian New Year 2019

ዶ/ር ሳሙኤል ክፍሌ

የ አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ፕሬዝደንት

Something big is coming soon,Stay tuned for the new year ❤
@CTBEsoftwareengineers

The 5-Kilo Delusion: A New Year Wake-Up Call for AAU Tech Students

Everyone have become Telegram channel managers forwarding someone else's project instead of building his own and gradually forgetting how to code. We are masterfully polishing our LinkedIn headlines, sharing random tech event on the city , and celebrating "opportunities" before read more ...

@CTBEsoftwareengineers Don't miss out—join today!

🔥 THE 11TH ETCPC IS HERE!

Ethiopian Collegiate Programming Contest 2026

CSEC ASTU proudly presents the 11th Ethiopian Collegiate Programming Contest (ETCPC) 2026!

This isn't just another programming contest.It's where problem-solving, algorithms, coding speed, and teamwork come together under pressure.

📅 EVENT DATE
October 8–9, 2026

📍 VENUE
Adama Science and Technology University (ASTU)
Adama, Ethiopia 🇪🇹

WHY PARTICIPATE?

● Take on challenging competitive programming problems
● Meet and compete with passionate programmers from universities across Ethiopia
● Push your problem-solving skills beyond the classroom
● Represent your university on the competitive programming stage 🇪🇹

⏳ REGISTRATION DEADLINE
September 11, 2026

⏳ New Deadline:
Monday, September 14, 2026 — 11:59 PM

🎟 REGISTER NOW

🔥 See you at ETCPC 2026!


#ETCPC2026 #CompetitiveProgramming #ProgrammingContest

The Huawei ICT Competition 2026–2027 (Northern Africa) Innovation Track is now open for registration.

This track is about using new technology to solve real problems.
You can register until December 2026.
The first exam is November–December 2026, the national final is January 2027, the regional final is February–March 2027, and the global final is May 2027.

Please read the rules and then register here:
https://e.huawei.com/en/talent/#/ict/innovation-details?zoneCode=026902&zoneId=98269713&compId=85132021&divisionName=Northern%20Africa&type=C002&isCollectGender=N&enrollmentDeadline=undefined&compTotalApplicantCount=6

@CTBEsoftwareengineers

✨Something I noticed working with AI agents: they don't know when they're wrong ✨

A human dev usually pauses mid-task when something feels off "wait, this doesn't look right." An agent doesn't have that instinct. It'll confidently keep building on a wrong assumption for way longer than any person would, because nothing tells it to stop and doubt itself.

That changed how I use them:
🔹I stopped asking for a whole feature in one shot big prompts = big bugs, and you can't tell which half broke
Now I ask for one function/module at a time and actually read it before moving on

🔹After it generates code, I ask "what could break this?" it often catches its own edge cases when prompted, even though it won't on its own

♦️Exception: repetitive, well-worn stuff boilerplate, CRUD, standard configs. Good models nail this consistently, no babysitting needed. Save the scrutiny for anything new or non-trivial.

The bigger lesson: catch a bad assumption early, or you'll spend way more time unwinding it later than you would've spent checking it upfront.

Hope this helps☺️
@CTBEsoftwareengineers

🏫 Campus Review: CTBE – 5 Kilo Campus

CTBE stands for the College of Technology and Built Environment. It's home to Engineering, Architecture, and other related fields like Construction Management.

It's split across two campuses: 5 Kilo and Lideta. (The two used to be separate colleges but are now merged under one shared Dean, even though the campuses are geographically apart.)

Today, we're covering 5 Kilo campus.

📍 5 Kilo Campus has 6 undergraduate schools
(here "school" means an undergraduate department within the college)

Ranked from most to least competitive to get into:

1. Software Engineering
2. Electrical Engineering
3. Biomedical Engineering
4. Mechanical Engineering
5. Chemical Engineering
6. Civil Engineering

How you get placed at 5 Kilo:

- Your entrance exam score + first semester grade are averaged. Meet the cutoff point, and you're placed at CTBE right after first semester. But you won't choose a specific department yet. You'll take common courses (pre-engineering) first.

- To get into a specific department, it's your first + second semester average combined. Example: 3.5 in first semester and 3.8 in second semester averages to 3.65/4 that's about 91.25%. Last year, that was enough for Mechanical Engineering (4th most competitive department).

- Software Engineering is the most competitive , especially for non-sponsor students.

👉 Full department allocation breakdown coming in a future post. Stay tuned.

🔎 Other notes on 5 Kilo:

- Size: Relatively small perimeter-wise. nowhere near as big as 6 Kilo.

- Dorms: Located outside of the campus, across the street (unlike other campuses, where learning facilities and dorms share the same compound). Still, the dorms are more spacious and better kept than 6 Kilo's. Also there's a chance your Dormitory might be at 6 kilo. So you learn at 5 kilo but your dormitory is at 6 kilo.

- Library: Located at 5 Kilo, open all night.

- Food: Lounges available at both the campus and dorm buildings. Government cafeteria available at the dorm compound if you're a cafe user.

- Wi-Fi: Works decently on campus, but basically non-existent in the dorms.

- Location( outside of the uni): there're lots of Fast food, restaurants, and supermarkets all nearby.

- Labs: Every department has labs, but how often you actually use them depends on the department

Next we will post a detailed description about the departments so don't forget to join @unfilteredaau

Please Stop starting your CV like this:

“I am a hardworking and dedicated professional”

“Passionate about making a difference”

“Seeking a challenging opportunity to grow”

Nobody cares.

“I am hardworking” means nothing😂 Every single person says it. No one has ever written “I’m inconsistent and hard to work with.” So it becomes invisible. Recruiters skip it in seconds.

“Passionate about…” is just noise now. Overused and Empty. Passion is not a proof. It doesn’t tell them what you can actually do.

“Seeking an opportunity” is worse. You’re making it about you.  But your CV is not about you. It’s a business document. They are not reading it to help you. They are reading it to answer one question:

Can you solve our problem?

If your first line doesn’t answer that, you’ve already lost.

Use this instead:

[What you do] + [who you do it for] + [the result you produce]

Example:

Marketing manager with 6 years building demand generation for B2B SaaS companies, consistently driving pipeline growth above target.

That’s what earns the next line.

@CTBEsoftwareengineers