A fascinating look at non-Windows, non-Linux, non-OS X operating systems from PC World. I had no idea there were so many alternative Operating Systems out there. I think the one that interests me the most is SkyOS, mostly because the developer went so far against the grain of tradition.
The title pretty much says it all. I’ve had a number of conversations with unemployed people (new grads, and experienced folks alike) lately, and I’m surprised by the fact that many of them aren’t on LinkedIn.
If you’re unaware, LinkedIn is the Facebook of the business world. You won’t (generally speaking) see pictures of drunken revelry, and people’s latest culinary creations. But what you will find is a treasure trove of networking and job opportunities.
I’ve gotten countless leads on job opportunities through LinkedIn. Most often, it’s through recruiters–internal or external–who are looking to fill a position with someone who has my skillset. Currently, that’s Workday Integrations. I even had a number of rounds of interviews at Google due to a LinkedIn connection. Go figure.
Anyways, for the new grad, it might be more difficult to get references for jobs for two simple facts:
But that will change in time, and that’s certainly no reason not to have a LinkedIn profile. Besides, you’ve gotta get started on it eventually, so for the time being, you might as well add all of your college friends as well as any people you may have worked for–think on-campus or random part-time jobs. You never know when 5 or 10 years down the line, Bobby from Accounting 101, or Suzy from Physics 102 might be working at a place you want to work, and you end up getting the job because of your connection with them.
I’ve mentioned Manager Tools before. Mark and Mike are fantastic. (And their staff, Maggie and Wendii, are amazing as well.) For some guidance on using LinkedIn as a professional, I’d recommend starting with their podcasts:
LinkedIn for Managers Part 1
LinkedIn for Managers Part 2
So there ya go! If you’re looking for a job, and even if you’re not, you need to be on LinkedIn. You never know when you’re going to need it.
Yesterday evening, the heavens opened up, and it started to downpour. Frankly, I’m flabbergasted that it’s raining as hard as it is outside.
Perhaps even more stunning is the fact that it’s snowing in Yosemite, and if the clouds move over Tahoe, they’re expecting several inches of snow up there as well.
John Edwards was indicted today on 6 felony charges of campaign finance law. As bad as it was for him to break the law in that way, I think the bigger issue is the commission of adultery. Frankly, I think it’s just as well that his wife, Elizabeth passed away last December from cancer. I can’t imagine being his wife after going through the adulterous affair, and then facing criminal charges with him.
However, lest we condemn him or think “there’s no way that would happen to me,” let the words of Romans and Matthew humble our spirit:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. -Matthew 5:28
I’ve been working on WordPress sites a lot lately. The other day, it was Charlene’s blog. Today, it was the CCF Alumni Foundation website, of which I’m the Chairman.
Since the early days of the web, I’ve often used the JavaScript Enkoder form by Hivelogic to obfuscate my e-mail address in order to protect it from spammers. The problem is that because it’s based on JavaScript, it’s not super-compatible with WordPress pages and posts.
Fortuitously, I ran across a PHP plugin version written specifically for WordPress. It’s called PHPEnkoder. So now, any plaintext e-mail addresses as well as any mailto: links on the website are now automatically encoded using the Javascript Enkoder. Fantastic!
This is what my e-mail address looks like when it’s been “enkoded.”
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
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var x="function f(x){var i,o=\"\",l=x.length;for(i=0;i<l;i+=2) {if(i+1<l)o+=" +
"x.charAt(i+1);try{o+=x.charAt(i);}catch(e){}}return o;}f(\"ufcnitnof x({)av" +
" r,i=o\\\"\\\"o,=l.xelgnhtl,o=;lhwli(e.xhcraoCedtAl(1/)3=!97{)rt{y+xx=l;=+;" +
"lc}tahce({)}}of(r=i-l;1>i0=i;--{)+ox=c.ahAr(t)i};erutnro s.buts(r,0lo;)f}\\" +
"\"(5),5\\\"\\\\{w`qyjj'.x\\\\-\\\\\\\"n\\\\ZZOT\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\VTwOTXA]7P01" +
"\\\\\\\\22\\\\0s\\\\14\\\\0q\\\\21\\\\0N\\\\]FSA06\\\\07\\\\00\\\\\\\\77\\\\"+
"1L\\\\~p|5|sv`baI|disj34\\\\0F\\\\25\\\\04\\\\01\\\\\\\\32\\\\05\\\\03\\\\\\"+
"\\23\\\\05\\\\03\\\\\\\\0L6W01\\\\\\\\03\\\\06\\\\02\\\\\\\\\\\\n@\\\\`?px8" +
"8$7>'f=*2-'_K\\\\U\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\(\\\"}fo;n uret}r);+)y+^(i)t(eAodrCha.c(x" +
"deCoarChomfrg.intr=So+7;12%=;y++)y55i<f({i+)i+l;i<0;i=r(foh;gten.l=x,l\\\"\\"+
"\\\\\"\\\\o=i,r va){,y(x fontincfu)\\\"\")" ;
while(x=eval(x));
//-->
//]]>
</script>
The other problem I solved this afternoon was the implementation of a prayer requests form for the CCFAF. It’s built on Google Docs technology, which I then embedded using an <iframe> into the WordPress post. The problem wasn’t creating the form, that’s easy enough. The problem was figuring out how to get notified each time the form was filled out. But I ran across this article, and now we should be good to go.
Go try it out! When someone fills out the form, I automatically get an e-mail notification. Then I can either pray for it directly, or have someone from the Board pray for them. Excellent! Technology at its finest: serving the Kingdom of God.
The other day I was going through some comments on Charlene’s blog, and it was frankly frustrating that I could only see 20 at a time, which is the WordPress default. I should be able to to change the number of comments per page in the admin interface via an easily accessible setting.
I wanted to be able to see 100 or 1,000 comments at a time. So I went searching around for a solution. The first solution that came up seemed about right (yay for Google!):
The page described a method of editing the code on the edit-comments.php file. I’m very capable of editing php files, so that wasn’t the issue. My issue was that there had to be an easier way. I don’t want to have to edit a php page every time I want to change the number of comments. Additionally, the post was written for WordPress 2.7, and Charlene’s blog is already on 3.x
The next few Google results were either support tickets, or WordPress plug-in pages. “I shouldn’t have to install a plugin for this!” I thought to myself.
Then, wayyy down on the 2nd or 3rd page of search results I found what I was looking for: “Change Admin Pagination on Posts, Pages and Comments“. It alerted me to the fact that since WP 2.8, there has been a Screen Options button that looks like this:
Clicking that, in turn shows this:
As it turns out, I’m able to increase the 20 to 100, or 1,000 or whatever.
So now you know, you don’t need a plug-in, and you certainly don’t need to edit code. If you’ve got the latest version of WordPress, you’re good to go.
I’m currently reading through Scott Kelby’s book, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers
On his blog, Matt Kloskowski, agrees and elaborates. He gives us 3 (and a half) Reasons to Use Flags Instead of Ratings in Lightroom. It was enough to convince me.
If you’re a Lightroom user, check it out, and see if you’re convinced.
Yahoo! Finance has an interesting look into the finances of President and Mrs. Obama.
Business social network LinkedIn (LNKD) had its IPO today. The IPO price was $45, shares soared to $122, and finally closed at $94.25. Good for Reid Hoffman, et al.
The WSJ had some great coverage. And here’s the Yahoo! Finance chart for the day:
