May 1, 2008 - Writing things down, on paper or on-screen, is the best way to make sure you remember important info and tasks, but sometimes you've got to rely on your plain old brain to keep essential data sorted and handy. Whether it's a client's name, a password or combination you want stored only in your head, or answers for an upcoming test, there are plenty of techniques and tools to help you lock in important stuff and pull it out when needed. After the jump, we round up some memorable memory-boosting hacks... (read more)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Larry Page on How to Change the World
May 1, 2008 - (Fortune Magazine) -- As president of Google, Larry Page has pushed his people to take risks that have led to hot new applications like Gmail and Google Maps. Lately he has been thinking far outside the walls of his company. Page sees a world of opportunity - in areas ranging from energy to safer cars. But he also sees a world of timidity; not enough people, he worries, are willing to place the big bets that could make a difference in meeting humanity's biggest challenges... (read more)
Has Telecommuting Fallen from Grace?
May 1, 2008 - Once considered the cure for all workplace ills, many businesses and employees are questioning the merits of working from home... (read more)
7 Dirty Secrets of the Security Industry
May 1, 2008 - Corporate IT executives need to beware the seven dirty secrets of the security industry that can undermine the safety of business networks, a security expert told attendees at Interop Las Vegas... (read more)
6 Factors That Will Decide the Fate of Silverlight
May 01, 2008 (Computerworld) - Since the public release of its earliest version last year, Silverlight has been touted as Microsoft Corp.'s Flash killer. This relatively new Web development platform aims to challenge Adobe's venerable Flash (and associated Flex development tools) in the online multimedia space... (read more)
How to Avoid Getting Hooked
April 29, 2008 - Millions of people have gotten "urgent" emails asking them to take immediate action to prevent some impending disaster. "Our bank has a new security system. Update your information now or you won't be able to access your account," or "We couldn't verify your information; click here to update your account." Sometimes the email claims that something awful will happen to the sender (or a third party), as in "The sum of $30,000,000 is going to go to the Government unless you help me transfer it to your bank account." ... (read more)
The 10 Most Important Technologies You Never Think About
April 28, 2008 - The late sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke famously said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic... (read more)
Info Tech Salaries Drop, Our Survey Finds. What's Holding U.S. Pay Down?
April 26, 2008 - Salaries for U.S. tech professionals are getting the squeeze. For the first time since the popping of the dot-com bubble, InformationWeek's annual U.S. IT Salary Survey finds that the median pay for IT professionals dropped year over year... (read more)
5 Easy Ways to Commit Career Suicide
April 24, 2008 (Computerworld) - BANG! Without warning, the rifle discharged, tearing a hole through the floorboard of the car of an Army colonel. The rifle belonged to a young lieutenant who had been invited to go hunting with the colonel... (read more)
Getting Started with Ruby on Rails
April 22, 2008 - You’ve probably heard about Ruby on Rails by now. Your developer friends are raving about it—talking about how they wrote an application in less than half the time it would have taken using some other technology—how they really enjoyed themselves instead of stressing out, and then spent their extra time on the beach. Rails sure does sound like a pretty compelling technology. But what is it, and how does it fit into the big picture of web development? ... (read more)
Cryptography Expert: Lots of Security Software Is 'Snake Oil'
April 22, 2008 - Bruce Schneier is one of the foremost experts on cryptography and is a well-known security author and commentator. He is the founder of the managed security services company Counterpane, which was acquired in October 2006 by BT. Schneier sat down with IDG News Service at the Infosec security show in London to talk about the effectiveness of security products and the psychology of security... (read more)
5 IT Skills that won't Boost Your Salary
April 17, 2008 - Technical skills may never die, but areas of expertise wane in importance as technology advances force companies to evolve and IT staff to forsake yesterday’s craft in favor of tomorrow’s must-have talent... (read more)
Friday, May 16, 2008
25 Radical Network Research Projects You Should Know About
April 16, 2008 - While universities don't tend to shout as loudly about their latest tech innovations as do Google, Cisco and other big vendors, their results are no less impressive in what they could mean for faster, more secure and more useful networking. Here's a roundup, in no particular order, of some of the most amazing and colorful projects in the works... (read more)
60 More AJAX- and Javascript Solutions For Professional Coding
April 15, 2008 - When it comes to design of modern web-applications, Ajax is considered as a standard approach. Interactive solutions for lightboxes, form validation, navigation, search, tooltips and tables are developed using Ajax libraries and nifty Ajax scripts. Ajax is useful and powerful. However, when using Ajax, one should keep in mind its drawbacks in terms of usability and accessibility. With an extensive use of Ajax, you can easily confuse your visitors offering too much control and too many features... (read more)
Bjarne Stroustrup on the Evolution of Languages
April 11, 2008 - Every once in a while, an evolutionary leap rapidly advances and reshapes the entire field of engineering. Such a leap occurred in software development with the introduction of the C++ programming language. This leap was not inherent in the language itself: object-oriented languages such as Simula67 and Smalltalk existed prior to C++. But because C++ was built on top of the C programming language (and could compile existing C programs), it was able to bring the abstractions of object-oriented thinking into the mainstream... (read more)
Building a 5-ton Mechanical Calculator... From 19th-century Plans
April 11, 2008 - Starting in May, many will have the opportunity to see for themselves how they did computing the old-fashioned way: with lots of gears, a big crank and some muscle... (read more)
Why Your Boss Doesn’t Want You to Telework
April 10, 2008 - Teleworking has been gaining traction for years and now more than 2.44 million people spend at least part of their work week at home... (read more)
ASP.NET Dynamic Data Preview Available
April 9, 2008 - A few months ago we released an ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions Preview that contained a bunch of new features that will be shipping later this year (including ASP.NET AJAX Improvements, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Silverlight Support, and ASP.NET Dynamic Data)... (read more)
10 Security Threats To Watch For
April 9, 2008 - There are lots of ways business networks can be compromised, and more are developing all the time. They range from technology exploits to social engineering attacks, and all can compromise corporate data, reputation and the ability to conduct business effectively... (read more)
The Better Question Might Be, What Doesn't Google Know About Us
April 10, 2008 - LAS VEGAS -- Google knows almost everything connected to the Web, but there is one major source of untapped data the company has scarcely touched to date. Can you guess that area? ... (read more)
The 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches Of All Time
April 7, 2008 - There's no more sure-fire way to kill something's intrinsic comedic value than to try to examine what makes it funny. The minute you start thinking, you stop laughing. So why, then, have Nerve and IFC.com devoted an enormous amount of time, manpower, monetary resources, server space and posh catered lunches to the pursuit of ranking the boob tube's finest sketch comedy offerings? ... (read more)
Wireless Skills Top IT Job Requirement Survey
April 8, 2008 - IT workers looking for jobs and career opportunities over the next five years may want to make sure they have acquired wireless skills... (read more)
Opinion: A New Kind of Web — Don't Miss These 11 Sites
April 09, 2008 (Computerworld) - Call them Web 2.0 sites or mashups — or come up with your own trendy term. Whatever you call them, there are sites popping up all over the Web that process information in new ways rather than just present it... (read more)
OS Smackdown: Linux vs. Mac OS X vs. Windows Vista vs. Windows XP
April 08, 2008 (Computerworld) - Since the dawn of time -- or, at least, the dawn of personal computers -- the holy wars over desktop operating systems have raged, with each faction proclaiming the unrivaled superiority of its chosen OS and the vile loathsomeness of all others... (read more)
10 Ways History’s Finest Kept Their Focus at Work
March 26, 2008 - The lives of great people give us interesting clues about how to organise our days. All of them attached great value to their daily routines. This is because they saw it as being part of ‘becoming who they are’, as Nietzsche puts it... (read more)
Are You Creating Your Own Workplace Stress?
April 2, 2008 - Quick, by a show of hands, how many of you have workplace stress? Almost everybody, great. Now, how much of that stress do you think is self-imposed? What, no hands? ... (read more)
IT Job Security Plummets Five Times Faster Than Nationwide Average
April 2, 2008 - Job security for IT professionals plummeted more than 10% from January to February of this year, far surpassing the average job security declines seen nationwide in a rigorous analysis of U.S. employment patterns.... (read more)
Top 10 Harmless Geek Pranks
April 1, 2008 - Since the dawn of time, geeks have been playing harmless pranks on their beloved (but unsuspecting) associates, and it's up to all of us to carry the torch forward. On the eve of April Fools' Day, when you've got local network access to your coworkers' and family systems, cubicles just crying out to be filled with packing peanuts, and webapps that can do all sorts of things automatically, there's no better time to baffle, confuse, perplex, and just plain mess with your loved ones and associates. Hit the jump for our top 10 favorite harmless geek pranks, just in time to get your prankster pistons firing for tomorrow... (read more)
Doctor Suggests Cell Phones May Be Riskier Than Cigarettes
March 31, 2008 - The dangers associated with cell phones could far outweigh those tied to asbestos and smoking, an Australian doctor recently warned in a new report... (read more)
Opinion: Building a Recession-Resistant Career
March 31, 2008 (Computerworld) - In challenging economic times, it's natural for IT professionals to turn their thoughts away from career advancement and toward job security. Whether you're concerned about your current position or looking for a new one, a few key strategies can help you keep your career healthy in the face of economic uncertainty... (read more)
10 Things IT Needs to Know About Ajax
March 28, 2008 - The introduction of any new Web technology will affect a network's infrastructure in ways that range from inconsequential to earth shattering. Ajax is one of the more disruptive new Web technologies traveling across networks today. To help you minimize future surprises on your network, we've outlined the 10 things you should take to heart about Ajax... (read more)
The Best Online Tools To Help You Know Everything About Web Sites
March 31, 2008 - How do I contact the owner of a website? How popular is my site on Digg or Delicious? What other websites are hosted on my web server ? Is my competitor using WordPress or Drupal? xyz.com is loading fast, what is the name of their web hosting company ? Is my blog accessible from China or Japan ? ... (read more)
How to Mitigate the Risks Associated with Open Source Code
March 27, 2008 - In the last decade, use of open source software has risen from the basement of the weekend code warrior to the high-rise of enterprise development strategist. This surge in corporate popularity can be attributed to the cost-effectiveness, efficiency and reliability of open source code. Yet, use of open source code presents risks--especially for a company acquiring technology assets that include open source code... (read more)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Five Hottest Skills For Your Networking Career
March 26, 2008 - Moderator-Julie: Welcome and thank you for coming. Our guest today is Neil Anderson, co-author of the best selling book, Cisco Networking Simplified. When not writing books, he is the Director of Enterprise Systems Engineering with Cisco Systems... (read more)
What Will Life Be Like in the Year 2008? (Nov, 1968)
March 24, 2008 - Well, we do have flat-screen computers you can write on that fit in a briefcase, but I’m still waiting to take my 250 MPH car to a business meeting in another domed city. Perhaps by the end of the year... (read more)
Microsoft SharePoint taking Business By Storm
March 26, 2008 - Microsoft's SharePoint Server is on a billion dollar juggernaut to potentially become the next must-have technology, offering companies tools for building everything from collaborative applications to Internet sites and potentially handing Microsoft its next cash cow... (read more)
How to Speed Up Windows Vista
March 25, 2008 - SP1 may not give your system much more oomph, but there are other ways to speed Vista up. Spending a few minutes (or a few dollars) optimizing your Vista PC can help it get its groove on... (read more)
Hello, Gorgeous! Meet The Laptop You'll Use In 2015
March 26, 2008 (Computerworld) - A lot has changed in the 20 years since the first laptop computers appeared, including gigahertz processors, color screens, optical drives and wireless data. However, one thing that has stubbornly stayed the same is the conventional clamshell format with its hinged display lid that opens to reveal a mechanical keyboard... (read more)
The Web's Best Free Stuff
March 24, 2008 - Free: It's the magic word for an ever-expanding wealth of downloadable software and online services. Free doesn't necessarily mean good, however, and hunting for freebies can mean sifting through a lot of junk... (read more)
The New Browser War is Good for Microsoft
March 24, 2008 - Mozilla took a surprisingly proactive approach with Firefox last week, and neither move really had to do with Microsoft. In an interview with Reuters, Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla's vice president of engineering, claimed that "In many ways it [Firefox 3] is much more stable than anything else out there." The story was published two days after Apple released Safari 3.1. Firefox 3 is currently at Beta 4, with a fifth still expected... (read more)
Three Internet Careers That Soon Won't Exist
March 23, 2008 - Earlier this year the New York Times detailed how careers in medicine and law - formerly bankable lifetime gigs - have lost their luster. College grads instead are pouring their resources into trying to create (or join) the next Facebook or MySpace. Maybe it's time to rethink those plans. Digital is going to become part of almost everyone's job... (read more)
Google AJAX Language API
March 21, 2008 - With the AJAX Language API, you can translate and detect the language of blocks of text within a webpage using only Javascript. The language API is designed to be simple and easy to use to translate and detect languages on the fly when offline translations are not available. We plan on adding more exciting capabilities to the AJAX Language API in the future, so stay tuned... (read more)
Opinion: Get Ready For These 6 Game-Changing Technologies
March 20, 2008 (Computerworld) Promises, promises. When a new mobile phone appears on the market, or a new wireless standard emerges, the pundits and prognosticators chime in about all the game-changing possibilities... (read more)
Google Visualization API
March 18, 2008 - The Google Visualization API lets you access multiple sources of structured data that you can display, choosing from a large selection of visualizations. The Google Visualization API also provides a platform that can be used to create, share and reuse visualizations written by the developer community at large... (read more)
How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong
March 18, 2008 - One Infinite Loop, Apple's street address, is a programming in-joke — it refers to a routine that never ends. But it is also an apt description of the travails of parking at the Cupertino, California, campus. Like most things in Silicon Valley, Apple's lots are egalitarian; there are no reserved spots for managers or higher-ups. Even if you're a Porsche-driving senior executive, if you arrive after 10 am, you should be prepared to circle the lot endlessly, hunting for a space... (read more)
Buried Deep in Google
March 19, 2008 (PC World) Google Inc. Web site -- and much of the company's software -- is loaded with gags, goofs and "Easter eggs" that have helped Google maintain a fun-loving spirit in the cutthroat world of Web competition... (read more)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
More, Bigger Monitors Boost Productivity, Says Study
March 13, 2008 - Most folks have probably already figured out for themselves that having to use a painfully small display with a low resolution impedes their productivity. However, according to the Wall Street Journal's Business Technology Blog, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Utah suggests that even switching from a normal-sized display to a larger one—or two larger ones—has a significant effect, as well ... (read more)
Google Code University
March 18, 2008 - This website provides tutorials and sample course content so CS students and educators can learn more about current computing technologies and paradigms. In particular, this content is Creative Commons licensed which makes it easy for CS educators to use in their own classes ... (read more)
You Don't Have to Ditch the Day Job
March 17, 2008 - In the beginning, it's not always practical to dive into a Web startup full time, though eventually you will have to if you want it to succeed. Still, if you're too poor or too unsure to do the right thing for your business and dive in full time, here are a few things that seemed to work for my partners and me when we did it part time. Some of the tips will work in almost any industry. A few will really only work in a Web business ... (read more)
India's Tata Sets Up Delivery Center In Ohio
March 18, 2008 - As Indian service providers get closer to their U.S. and European customers, India's largest outsourcer, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has set up shop in a suburb of Cincinnati ... (read more)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Death Match: Windows Vista vs. XP
March 17, 2008 - So there you are, signing the "Save XP" petition, shaking your fist in triumph as you stick it to "the man." It's a liberating feeling. You've found the courage to buck the trend and jump off the Wintel upgrade treadmill. You feel empowered, enlightened. But still, there are these nagging doubts ... (read more)
Number of Types in the .NET Framework
March 17, 2008 - Occasionally I get asked how big the .NET Framework is in terms of surface area for developers. As you might guess this is something we track. As you can see, in each release we are adding new functionality that make it easier to build .NET applications. The number of types in the .NET Framework is 11,417! Any guesses on how many types will be in .NET Framework 4.0? ... (read more)
Martian Headsets
March 17, 2008 - You’re about to see the mother of all flamewars on internet groups where web developers hang out. It’ll make the Battle of Stalingrad look like that time your sister-in-law stormed out of afternoon tea at your grandmother’s and wrapped the Mustang around a tree... (read more)
The Top 10 Security Land Mines
March 17, 2008 - Many companies spend a small fortune and deploy a small army to secure themselves from the many security threats lurking these days. But all those efforts can come to naught when making any of these common mistakes. The results can range from embarrassing to devastating, but security experts say that all are easily avoidable... (read more)
IT Planner: 5 Steps to Secure Development
March 14, 2008 - Security should be top of mind before, during and after the development process. Experts agree that although absolute application security is nearly impossible, there are key steps you should take to mitigate risk... (read more)
Get Free Software Every Day From Giveaway Of The Day
March 12, 2008 - Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? Giveaway of the Day gives you a different commercial software application, free of charge, every day. Yes, there's a catch, but it's a simple one: each program is made available for only 24 hours, and you have to install it the day you download it... (read more)
The Tools Google Uses Internally
March 12, 2008 - A web seminar Google held yesterday at KMWorld Magazine offered a great deal of insight into how Google manages projects and communication internally. The presentation by Google followed an employee through his first few weeks at the company, explaining the many tools he’s using: from the Google intranet MOMA, the Google Ideas site and Google Caribou Alpha, to Google Experts Search, “Googler Search,” and Google Apps. Following is a smaller excerpt of the large-size screenshots & info Google was showing in the 59-page presentation, with thanks to Brian – who has a wrap-up of the presentation as well as the full slides at his blog – for sending this in. KMWorld says the presentation will be archived at their site eventually, so perhaps if you register with them you might still be able to see the event... (read more)
Disconnect Anxiety: a Malady For The 21st Century
March 12, 2008 - The concept of Internet addiction has moved from the funny pages to the scientific journals, as mental health workers and the public accept that some people simply need to spend time online. Now a new report from a market research group has coined a new term to describe what happens when people get cut off from the source: disconnect anxiety... (read more)
Pash - PowerShell Open Source Reimplementation For "others" & Windows
April 8, 2008 - The main goal is to provide a rich shell environment for other operating systems as well as to provide a hostable scripting engine for rich applications. The user experience should be seamless for people who are used to Windows version of PowerShell. The scrips, cmdlets and providers should runs AS-IS (if they are not using Windows-specific functionality). The rich applications that host PowerShell should run on any other operating system AS-IS. Secondary goal: the scripts should run across the machines and different OS's seamlesly (but following all the security guidelines)... (read more)
Are Extra Laptop Features Worth It?
April 07, 2008 - In the automotive world, the real money is made in the options packages. Fancy hubcaps, satellite radio, two-tone paint? Thank you very much, dealers will say, as they pocket sometimes more money than they made selling you the car... (read more)
Google Jumps Head First Into Web Services With Google App Engine
April 7, 2008 - Our live coverage of the Google App Engine launch event is here (Update: we’ve built and launched a test application here). Google isn’t just talking about hosting applications in the cloud any more. Tonight at 9pm PT they’re launching Google App Engine
(Update: The site is live), an ambitious new project that offers a full-stack, hosted, automatically scalable web application platform. It consists of Python application servers, BigTable database access (anticipated here and here) and GFS data store services ... (read more)
(Update: The site is live), an ambitious new project that offers a full-stack, hosted, automatically scalable web application platform. It consists of Python application servers, BigTable database access (anticipated here and here) and GFS data store services ... (read more)
Ziff Davis Enterprise Editors Name The People Shaping The Future Of Technology
2008-04-04 - The editorial staffs of eWEEK and sister publications CIO Insight and Baseline put their heads together to name the Top 100 Most Influential People in IT. To come up with this year’s list, we looked for people who not only had a tangible track record of IT success, but also have far-reaching influence, the ability to effect change and a deep level of engagement in developing emerging technologies ... (read more)
You Can't Always Save Your Job, But You Can Reduce The Time You're Out Of Work If You See It Coming
2008-04-03 - When someone gets fired in the movies, it's always a melodramatic event. Typically, an employee walks into a regularly scheduled Monday morning pow-wow with their manager and find him or her joined by the HR manager, an attorney and a head honcho, informing them that their services are no longer needed... (read more)
Five Reasons To Ditch The Mac And Return To PCs
April 01, 2008 - Timothy Keanini, chief technology officer of nCircle, loves Macs -- just not in his company (a maker of network security and compliance management tools). Keanini has been both a Mac user and a Mac developer during the past five years. Starting in 2001, he brought Macs into his 100-person company, starting with an Apple G4 notebook for himself, because he believed the user-friendly interface and ability to work in a Unix-like environment would help productivity among the engineering team... (read more)
YouTube Rival Hulu Debuts With Lineup Of TV Shows, Movies & Sports
March 11, 2008 (Computerworld) - Hulu LLC, a joint online video project of NBC Universal Inc. and News Corp., is set to go live Wednesday with programming from Time Warner Inc.'s television group, Lions Gate Entertainment and sports groups. A beta version of the site was launched in October... (read more)
The 7 Dirtiest Jobs In IT
March 10, 2008 - Working in IT isn't always pretty. After all, we can't all work on the cutting-edge technologies all the time. Some of us have to get dirty -- in some cases, literally ... (read more)
Web 2.0: The Skills Behind The Buzzword
March 10, 2008 (Computerworld) - "Web 2.0" is a phrase that's been around for a few years, but it still has some uncertainty around it. Is it just marketing hype, or does it represent a substantial change in the way companies approach Web technology? More to the point, what does it mean for your career? (Read more)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Guess Who's Getting the Most Work Visas
March 6, 2008 - The controversy over visas for high-skilled workers from abroad looks like it's about to get even hotter. The program for what are known as H-1B visas was originally set up to allow companies in the U.S. to import the best and brightest in technology, engineering, and other fields when such workers are in short supply in America ... (read more)
10 Broken Technology Ideas -- and How to Fix Them
March 07, 2008 (Computerworld) - Sometimes a technology idea is too good to be true. A flexible keyboard, Internet voting and watching feature films on your smart phone are examples. Today, these concepts are still evolving, but they're broken right now. I'll tell you why and what could be done to fix them once and for all ... (read more)
Study Shows Perks, Not Pay is Key to Attracting Talented Workers
March 6th, 2008 - A key issue staring companies directly in the eye is the ability to acquire and retain highly qualified workers ... (read more)
Google Calendar Sync
March 5, 2008 - I've suffered major headaches trying to sync all my calendars. I used the Microsoft Outlook calendar on my desktop computer at home, but since I wanted to be able to access my schedule from anywhere, I also kept a copy of it on Google Calendar. When I traveled, I'd import my Google Calendar data into my laptop's Outlook calendar so I could access it offline. This was not only annoying to maintain, but also quite error-prone. If I made updates on any of the copies of my calendar, I had to make sure to make those same exact changes to the other copies, too ... (read more)
How to Think - Managing Brain Resources in an Age of Complexity
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - When I applied for my faculty job at the MIT Media Lab, I had to write a teaching statement. One of the things I proposed was to teach a class called "How to Think," which would focus on how to be creative, thoughtful, and powerful in a world where problems are extremely complex, targets are continuously moving, and our brains often seem like nodes of enormous networks that constantly reconfigure ... (read more)
12 Top, Free Ways to Collaborate Online
February 28th, 2008 - Applications that make it easy to share and collaborate are often of much more use to web workers than they are to standard office workers. Especially if you work online with colleagues at disparate locations, some of the best collaboration tools you can choose are free. In this post, I’ll round up several examples that you can count on ... (read more)
How To Make a Million Before Turning 20
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - While their peers were out making trouble, these young achievers were making bank... (read more)
Over 50 Percent of Companies Fire Workers for E-mail, Net Abuse
February 28, 2008 - Managers cite accessing porn, using offensive language in e-mail, and breaching confidentiality rules as grounds for firing, according to survey ... (read more)
Killer Military Robots Pose Latest Threat to Humanity
February 27, 2008 - A robotics expert at the University of Sheffield will today (27 February 2008) issue stark warnings over the threat posed to humanity by new robot weapons being developed by powers worldwide... (read more)
Monday, February 25, 2008
Java Increasingly Threatened by New App Dev Frameworks
February 21, 2008 - Is Java slipping into second-tier status in the application development space? All the attention being given to its rivals these days might give off that impression... (read more)
Confessions of a Cobol Programmer
February 20, 2008 (Computerworld) Last summer, Michael Vu, a 40-year-old independent IT consultant, found himself in a wholly unexpected place midway through his career.
He'd signed a three-week contract to help a major U.S. retailer with an enterprise reporting project. The initial work was so successful that the project was extended. As a consequence, Vu was suddenly deep in the world of Cobol.
Yes, Cobol, the programming dinosaur that was last hot in the '80s. Cobol, notorious for its overrich syntax and overlong code. That Cobol... (read more)
10 Emerging Technologies 2008
Technology Review presents our list of the 10 technologies that we think are most likely to change the way we live... (read more)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Top-10 Application-Design Mistakes
Feb 19, 2008 - It's hard to write a general article about application design mistakes because the very worst mistakes are domain-specific and idiosyncratic. Usually, applications fail because they (a) solve the wrong problem, (b) have the wrong features for the right problem, or (c) make the right features too complicated for users to understand... (read more)
IT Career Paths You Never Dreamed of
February 19, 2008 (Computerworld) Think you want to be a CIO or CTO? Think again. What you might really want is to be a chief delivery officer or chief process officer... (read more)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Hand Painting
It takes him four hours to do a hand. Then he photographs it for posterity. Checkout the eyes..... It took him 10 hours to do the two-handed Eagle in picture #2.
Crackpot Technologies That Could Shake Up IT
February 18, 2008 - It doesn't take a genius to catch on to the fact that in IT, innovation is a mandate. Push the envelope of what's possible, or find yourself relegated to wayside. But, to borrow a favored David St. Hubbins Spinal Tap aphorism, there's a fine line between clever and crackpot when it comes to making good on technological breakthroughs in the enterprise... (read more)
Monday, February 18, 2008
LEGO Church
This is amazing! someone certainly is talented and patient to create such a masterpiece. A few quick facts:
How long to build it? It was about a year and a half of planning, building and photographing.How many pieces of LEGO to build it? more than 75,000
How big is it? About 7 feet by 5 1/2 feet by 30 inches (2.2 m x 1.7 m x .76 m)
How many LEGO people does it seat? 1,372
How many windows? 3,976
It features a balcony, a Narthex, stairs to the balcony, restrooms, coat rooms, several mosaics, a nave, a baptistery, an altar, a crucifix, a pulpit and an elaborate pipe organ.
All I can say is .... "WOW!"
Sunday, February 17, 2008
8 Signs It's Time to Look for a New Job
December 19, 2007 (Computerworld) Short of being handed your walking papers, there are often telltale signs that it's time to look for a new job. You haven't been promoted since the Clinton administration. The most exciting assignments are routinely handed to your peers or underlings. Your desk keeps moving farther and farther from where the action is.
But some indicators are less obvious, such as subtle shifts in an IT organization's structure that can result in career stagnation. A variety of career experts, headhunters, recruiters, CIOs and IT staffers shared their takes on when it's time to move on... (read more)
8 Tips for Landing a Job in '08
December 24, 2007 (Computerworld) Sure, demand for IT labor in the U.S. is strong in nearly all industries and government sectors. But having a technical certification or work experience won't guarantee an interview, let alone a job offer. Here are some tips from IT labor experts, recruiters, IT executives and IT workers themselves on how to get noticed, nail the interview and wind up in the catbird's seat... (read more)
8 Ways to Boost Your Career in '08
December 21, 2007 (Computerworld) Today's IT professionals are an evolving breed. The job keeps morphing as companies demand not just technical know-how, but more business acumen, analytical skills and industry knowledge as well.
Kudos if you've pulled that all together, but don't rest just yet. The evolution isn't over, as the upcoming year promises more changes. If you want to stay in the driver's seat of your own career, put these items on your to-do list: ... (read more)
Facebook Is So Last Year - Welcome to the Hit Websites of 2008
December 24 2007 - For many in the dotcom world, 2007 was dominated by one story: the rise of Facebook. The success of the social networking service has increased optimism about the internet industry. After all, if Microsoft is prepared to buy a 1.6% share for $240m (£121m), there is evidence that good ideas can be worth a lot of money. It is no surprise then that investors are looking for the next big thing - and these are some of the favourites... (read more)
5 Things You'll Love About Firefox 3
December 27, 2007 (Computerworld) New versions of favorite applications are always a little tricky; you want to keep up with the times without fixing what ain't broke. With that in mind, I took a look at the newly released Firefox 3 Beta 2 to see what we can look forward to when the final version ships in 2008... (read more)
The 8 Hottest Skills for '08
December 31, 2007 (Computerworld) No one is mistaking the current IT jobs market for the one that sizzled during the dot-com days and inflated salaries to astronomical rates. But as the U.S. economy wrestles with a weak housing market and record oil prices, demand for IT workers is on the rise... (read more)
The 25 Most Innovative Products of the Year 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007 - Make no mistake, the Web is taking over. Applications are moving to browsers en masse, and technology to take Web apps offline promises to smooth the road ahead. And let's not forget breakthrough devices advancing the Web-anywhere world: Apple has redefined the phone, and One Laptop per Child's sub-$200 laptop is delivering Internet-style collaboration to kids in developing nations. But innovation isn't all on the Web; the PC is evolving as well. Apple has reenvisioned backup, HP has created the first useful touch-screen PC, hybrid hard drives boost speed and battery life, and ultraportables have become even more useful. Chosen from the hundreds of products we reviewed in 2007, here are 25 that will change the way you work, communicate, and play this year--and beyond... (read more)
The 15 Best Downloads of the Year 2007
December 26, 2007 - As a frequent downloads reviewer for PC World, I look at lots of downloadable software every year -- more apps than I care to count. As a result, each week, I encounter and test-drive the great, the not-so-great, and the feeble.
Every once in a while, a piece of software so clearly outclasses its peers that it deserves special commendation. For this article, I've assembled my 15 favorite downloads of 2007, selected from a wide range of categories--everything from antivirus and security tools to system tweakers, from media managers to system speedups.
Among them you'll probably find some old favorites, but also plenty of unfamiliar apps that you'll grow to love... (read more)
Take Home More Tech Pay in 2008
January 01, 2008 - Another year of milestones and launches, and what do you have to show for it? A rekindled resolve to make your career in IT more worth your while this year in terms of the pay you take home.
Sure, there have been upticks in pay for IT pros since the downturn, as the 2007 InfoWorld Compensation Survey attests. And yes, projections by analysts such as Robert Half Technology suggest brighter days ahead for some of your tech cohorts. But who is content with playing the law of averages when it comes to compensation? ... (read more)
28 Things Didn't Happen In 2007
Wed, 01/02/2008 - A lot of predictions were made about 2007, just like every other year. Some came true, some didn't. Here's a list of what didn't happen... (read more)
How Tech Will Improve Our Lives in 2008
January 4, 2008 - Technology often seems to improve merely for its own sake. We've all too often witnessed "feature creep" in our favorite programs, services and devices, with new developments not just adding new enhancements, but cost and complexity as well... (read more)
No, The Tech Skills Shortage Doesn't Exist
Jan. 12, 2008 - Employers claim there is a severe shortage of IT workers in the United States. Listen in on any klatch of CIOs, and the conversation inevitably turns to their difficulties finding talent. Microsoft's Bill Gates, Intel's Craig Barrett, and other captains of tech industry argue that the situation has reached crisis proportions... (read more)
How to Get a Pay Rise
January 10, 2008 - Colleagues call you ace, you always look busy and the chief executive knows who you are thanks to some smart moves at the office Christmas party. But have you done enough to earn yourself a raise? Not on that evidence. Here’s what it really takes to make the perfect pitch and boost your pay packet: ... (read more)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Five Steps to Next-Generation Web Applications
August 26, 2007 - As the Web was born and grew in importance in the early 1990s, it immediately changed the way the world connected, communicated and gained knowledge. And while the Web has had a major impact on all aspects of society, it has had an especially big effect on businesses... (read more)
Want a Job at Google? Try These Brainteasers First
August 30 2007 - Dream of landing a coding job at an A-list tech company? It might be a good idea to prep for your interviews by pondering how many golf balls can fit inside a school bus. Or how much you would charge for washing all the windows in Seattle. Or why, exactly, manhole covers are round and not, say, square... (read more)
20 Tips to Improve ASP.net Application Performance
August 31, 2007 - Are you an asp.net developer? If you aren't don't worry, we have similar posts in the works for Ruby, PHP, and other developers out there. If you are an ASP.net developer, listen up! ... (read more)
Seven Wonders of the IT World
September 07, 2007 - First, there were the Seven Wonders of the World. Then there was a New Seven Wonders list, voted on Internet-style. That got us thinking: What are the seven wonders of the IT world? Here's a look at seven of the biggest, most extreme and most unusual computers and projects. By the way, do you have a vote for an eighth wonder? Tell us about it by commenting at the end of this story... (read more)
How to Protect Your Wireless Network
September 25, 2007 (Computerworld) Bad guys don't target just big, corporate networks. If you have a Wi-Fi network at home or in a small office, intruders may be after you, such as casual "war drivers" who troll city streets, looking for unprotected wireless networks. (Want to know more? See "Why you need wireless protection.")... (read more)
IT Planner: 5 Steps to Better Job Security
October 22, 2007 - Tech professionals need to adapt their skills to the business side of the job.: 5 Steps to Better Job Security"> In an age of cost containment, a looming economic slowdown, outsourcing, offshoring, the impending retirement of a bulk of the IT professional population, and declining enrollments in math, technology, engineering and science classes, it comes as little surprise that IT professionals are an insecure bunch. Many are questioning what can be done to ensure their career survival... (read more)
25 Skills Every Man Should Know: Your Ultimate DIY Guide
These days, you can outsource almost any job—but some things you need to know how to do yourself. Study our master list with step-by-step tips from the experts, and test your DIY aptitude each step of the way... (read more)
The Layoff Lifeboat: How to Get Back to Work
Nobody wants to talk about layoffs. Theyre humbling, humiliating, draining and have a huge fiscal and professional drain on those that have been affected by them. But if you work in IT, it is rare to not know at least one person who has been down that road, and how hard it was for them to get back on their feet.
Joshua Muskovitz, a senior developer at SRC, headquartered in Orange, Calif. had the bad fortune to be laid off two months before 9/11.
"People were really excited to hire IT after 9/11," he quipped sarcastically. "The job market was devastated."
It took him a year to get back on his feet, and even that was an arduous process, beginning with teaching at the local ITT Technical school in Albany, N.Y., where he is based, which "paid almost to the penny what unemployment did, as in, not even close to enough" to taking on contract work before finally getting a full-time job with benefits.
In this year, he learned a lot. As if being unemployed isnt bad enough, there is a stigma attached to it.
"You have to constantly explain why you are unemployed. You have maybe a small window of time, a few weeks or a month, where people wont ask, though, so its best to get started looking as soon as you can," said Muskovitz.
Furthermore, as is often the case in IT layoffs, you are not alone in being laid off—often it is an entire department or company that is let go at the same time, which means that the market is flooded with people just like you.
"If you dally, theyre going to get there first. You wont miss out on a job because youre not qualified, but it gets a little dog-eat-dog out there. Layoffs tend to come in cycles; theyre anything but sporadic," said Muskovitz.
The good news is that advice on how to get back on your feet after being laid off isnt just for those who have recently lost their jobs—it can serve as protection if you ever do, and as anyone who has ever lost a job before knows, you can never play it too safe.
1. Look for the Signs
A little-discussed fact of job loss is that, quite often, the months and weeks leading up to a layoff werent exactly the best of times. In fact, layoffs are rarely a sudden event.
"A company doesnt just look at the bank account one day and—gasp!—we didnt know we were running low! They knew it was coming. Everyone knows it coming, whether there is word of a big meeting or sale that could determine the future of the company or whether management is moping around," said Muskovitz. "It wasnt really a great job up until the very minute you got laid off."
As nihilistic a view as that statement may seem, the smartest move is to see these signs coming, and not wait until the axe finally drops to face the facts, whether that means getting back in touch with contacts, updating your resume or asking friends if their companies are hiring.
"On the day that you are laid off, or ideally before that, you want a Rolodex full of contacts. My big rally against open networking is that you can have 10 thousand contacts and not know any of them. Make sure you really know some people," said Muskovitz.
While no layoff is easy, getting gears into motion beforehand can help people get back on their feet faster, because the job market usually operates on a first come, first serve basis.
"If you really in your heart believe that the day is coming, dont wait until you are laid off to start looking for a job. On that day you are with a thousand other people. Be the first person," said Muskovitz.
2. Apply for Unemployment That Very Day
Even though it will be the very last thing that you will want to do—swallow your pride, get your papers together and march to the bureaucratic nightmare that your towns unemployment office will inevitably be—it has to be the first.
"Your benefits are based entirely on the day you go to apply. If you wait a day, you get one day les. You may not want to deal with it; you may be sure you are going to get a new job tomorrow, but you must," said Muskovitz.
There are other reasons as well, some of which vary by state.
"Here in Washington, there is a one-week period before you can start collecting. But, most layoffs happen on a Friday, so if you can get there on Friday, the week ends [on] Saturday, so those two days will count as seven" Robert Poulk, a Redmond-based senior enterprise systems troubleshooter, currently working on contract, who called himself all-too-seasoned in the ins and outs of unemployment.
Muskovitz, like others, made no bones about this process: applying for unemployment is "an awful, awful thing."
"People who apply for it are made to feel guilty about it, despite the fact that it is an entitlement. You have paid into this fund. Its your money, go get it," said Muskovitz. "Its really not a handout but its very much treated that way."
Muskovitz admits that it was a bit of a culture shock to go from being a white collar professional to being ordered to look for a job every day, be able to constantly prove this or else your only source of income would be taken away. The job-placement services that are offered are not always technology-focused.
"The first rule, though, is to put your pride in the bank and go deliver pizzas if you must," he said.
3. Mope, Cry or Imbibe, But Stay Classy
After the initial trip to the unemployment office is made, it is sometimes okay to give yourself a day or so to decompress, especially if, like in Muskovtizs case, it has been a "not very enjoyable" job.
"There is a lot of tension, and the next day, youre not raring to go. I gave myself a week or two to take a vacation, sit outside, look at the clouds and not work," said Muskovitz.
He had been able to buy himself a little bit of time by negotiating a severance package [See Tip 10] beforehand, but even if you have not done the same, its okay to take a day to get your head together, especially if you have until the end of the month, for example, before your job is eliminated.
Yet even if you have advanced noticed, its important not to flip your bosses or coworkers the proverbial bird or act in any way unprofessional.
"The most important thing to do is to realize that the company did not want to do this. It was a last resort. So serve out your time, be a professional and hopefully make some connections. Be the guy that left with class, because it keeps that door open for you if business conditions change," Jim Lanzalotto, vice president of strategy and marketing at Yoh Services, a provider of talent and outsourcing services based in Philadelphia, told eWEEK.
4. Cut Back On All Excess Expenses, Get Insurance
The unemployment office may be a sobering event, but the visit is rarely as mood-killing as receiving the first check itself. While the exact amount received varies from state to state, in general it approximates 50 percent or less than your weekly earnings, with a set maximum that also varies by where you life.
At best, once your severance (if any) runs out, youll be living on half your prior income, and there will be no choice but to cut back on any and all excess expenses. "The longer you can hold out, the better for everyone," explains Muskovitz.
Health insurance must be arranged as well, and even though it will cost an arm and a leg (no pun intended), it is essential that you remain covered, or you will do yourself an unintentional disservice.
"Every time you change jobs, your new insurance will demand proof of continued coverage, or they will only give you limited benefits for a period of time," Muskovitz said.
5. Perfect Your Resume
In general, unemployment insurance lasts for 26 weeks (about six months), but in times of extended high unemployment, benefits may be extended by 13 weeks or more. Nevertheless, once youre done moping, arranging unemployment pay and health insurance, its time to get down to the brass tacks of job hunting and buff your resume to a high shine.
Of course, not everyone agrees that you should wait until you need a new job to get this in order, in fact many argue that you should be updating it even when your next job hunt may be years off.
"I really believe that the process of updating your resume should not be an event-driven thing. You should always be updating it, to be ready for both internal [and] external activities. Maybe there is a promotion you want, or a move to another department… Dont let anyone make you feel that you are disloyal to keep it updated. If youre in charge of your brand, this is your brochure," said Lanzalotto.
Your resume should be flawless; as this is not a place where mistakes are easily forgiven. There should be no typos, it should look clean and neat and it should be totally coherent.
"If they cant take the time and trouble to get one piece of paper right, why do I want to risk my business on them? Its not rocket science to get it perfect. Ask your friends to take a look at it, buy them a beer," said Muskovitz, who has been the point person for hiring in many of his jobs.
"The very first place you lose your chance at a job is for your resume to have typos and or be in any way incoherent."
6. Tell Everyone in the Whole World That You Need Help
Losing a job, even if it was your company that failed or could no longer afford to keep you aboard, is humiliating. Few have gone through what is often called "the horror of unemployment" without it taking a toll on their self-esteem. Many deal with this by keeping the arduous process of getting back on their feet again to themselves, but this is the wrong way to handle it.
"Nobody is going to guess that you are looking for a job. If you appropriately communicate what you want to do, people generally want to help you, so reach out to your contacts," said Lanzalotto.
Muskovitz says that this is no time to be stoic and pretend that things are okay when they are not. During a year-long bout of unemployment, he even went so far as to make a t-shirt that said "Hire Me" with a list of his skills on it. Hed wear it to mixers.
"As soon as you know youve lost your job, start calling in favors. If you had a friend that suddenly lost their job, you would do everything in your power to help them out, but only if you knew there was a problem. The way you find a new opportunity is to enlist as many human beings as possible to help you find it," said Muskovitz.
You never know when the bag boy at the grocery store has a mother with a consulting business that needs help, he added.
7. Your New Job is Finding a Job
Those who have been laid off and those who advise them agree on one thing: you must come out of the gate fighting.
"That first week, you are still in a work mode and you have to take advantage of that. If you get used to staying home and sleeping late, your pace changes. When youre shocked and pissed off is a good time to leverage this energy and get the engines running," said Poulk.
In treating job-hunting as your job, maintaining a routine can help combat the funk that surrounds not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from.
"Every single morning, go out, buy the newspaper and read the classified [section]. Go to all of the job boards and post your resume everywhere and go to Google and find that one magic phrase that nobody else has thought of and e-mail everyone that you know," said Muskovitz.
Muskovitz would have business cards made with his contact information on it and have them and a stack of resumes everywhere, including his car. Hed have lunch at a diner and run into a friend and give the friend two cards, one for them and one for anyone else they know.
"Id put classified ads in the paper offering to do one-on-one computer tutoring or maintenance. Id help people who were computer-phobic. Odds are, if you are technically inclined, youve been doing this anyway for friends. Now get some work out of it," said Muskovitz.
8. Dont Take It Out on the Wrong People Having to ask friends for help and relying on social services for paychecks is emotionally draining.
"People have a lot of pride and this wears them down. Its awful and terrible and horrible, but if youve kept up your healthcare, take advantage of the mental health services available if you must. Find people to talk to," said Muskovitz.
Muskovitz said that being unemployed humbled him. While unemployed, hed look at people on the street and finally understood how few steps there were between himself and the homeless guy he stepped over on the sidewalk. It was a sobering experience and finding people to talk to was essential to his well-being.
"Its better than taking it out on your family," he said.
9. Take a Deep Breath When You Reach the Shore
When you finally land a new job, its the best day in the world. But, your job recovery process is not over yet.
"When you get that gig, celebrate. And then, thank everyone who helped you. Send them an e-mail, a letter. People appreciate that follow-through," said Lanzalotto, who sees the help friends have given as a responsibility as well as a gift. "Now it will be your job to reach out to other people who might run into the same problem."
Furthermore, dont be surprised if you are not completely out of the woods, financially or emotionally.
"Its not an immediate jump back into well. If youre in a leaky boat and you plug the hole, you still have water in the boat. Even if you are on a day-to-day basis more or less back where you were, you accumulate baggage," said Muskovitz, who said that seven years later, he still carried debt from his year without a job.
10. Negotiate Severance Pay This Time Around
Theres an old adage about if you make a mistake once, its forgivable, but making the same mistake again is less so. IT and other professionals who have been laid off even once quickly learn to try to negotiate severance packages at the start of a job.
After being laid off from a company once, then rehired, Muskovitz did just this, and when layoffs came around again a year later, others had only two weeks pay while he had three months.
"It happened four times total, so I got wise—it helped a lot," he said.
Even recruiters agree it can be in the best interest of a scorned professional.
"Its almost like a prenuptial agreement, but its appropriate because if youre going somewhere, your hope is that relationship is going to work and you hope youre going to be a great player and as asset to them. But if this doesnt work out, you want to get something fair back," said Lanzalotto.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)