The Russian Mob in North America

Posted: July 30th, 2004 | Author: John Koetsier | Filed under: books | No Comments »

I just finished reading “Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob has Invaded America” by Robert Friedman.

Very, very scary.

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Vehicular Malfeasance …. or Boone’s Bodacious Badness

Posted: July 29th, 2004 | Author: John Koetsier | Filed under: personal, work | No Comments »

OK, I gotta get to the post, quick, before my titles drown me in waves of purple prose.

Anyways, David Boone, the webmaster at Premier, in the Technology Solutions department that I lead, posted a story on his blog about some pretty amazing automotive high jinks.

You must check it out . . . Decide for yourself if the story is true or not.

BTW, Dave is leaving Premier (for pretty good reasons: needs some variety, needs a break from what we’re doing, looking to learn new stuff, etc. etc.), and is looking for another job. If you have one in the area of web development, you would have to look hard to find a better guy. You might want to take a look at his resume.

The Truth About Security: Mac OS X versus Windows

Posted: July 26th, 2004 | Author: John Koetsier | Filed under: technology | No Comments »

I responded to a tech columnist on July 21 about an article that ticked me off.

The topic? The relative security merits of OS X versus “other OSes.” The spin? Pure, unaldulterated FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).

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My Second Interview Questions

Posted: July 23rd, 2004 | Author: John Koetsier | Filed under: personal, technology, work | No Comments »

I recently hired a new developer, and had to spend some time thinking about second interview questions.

The first interview is fairly straightforward: who is the person, what does he/she know, what have they done, etc. The second interview is harder: how would this perso perform if he/she were offered the position?

Here are the questions I used, which are less questions than discussion starters …

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Internet Explorer is a Secure Browser (If You’re an Analyst)

Posted: July 20th, 2004 | Author: John Koetsier | Filed under: personal, technology | 1 Comment »

Unbelievable. All you have to be is an ‘analyst’ or a ’security consultant’ and you can spout the most amazing crap. Presumable some people even believe you.

Check out this on the relative security of various browsers ….

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Mom and Mum and other Linguistic Oddities

Posted: July 15th, 2004 | Author: John Koetsier | Filed under: language, personal | No Comments »

All work and no play makes John a dull boy …. and let me tell you, it’s been too much work lately. So it’s time for some fun.

I was thinking the other day about the word “mom.” When Canadians (and denizens of jolly old England) say mom, it rhymes with gum. When Americans say “mom,” it rhymes with Tom.

Why?

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I want a new iMac with(out) a monitor!

Posted: July 3rd, 2004 | Author: John Koetsier | Filed under: personal, technology | No Comments »

Umm … this is obvious to everyone except Steve Jobs, and I hope this announcment is part of the solution, but I want a cheap Mac for my kids, but I don’t see why I need to buy a new monitor every time I buy a new Mac!

OK. End rant.