What not to blog about
I happened to jump by Scoble’s blog, saw a feedmap of bloggers in his area, clicked on one of them, and found this unfortunate article.
Here’s a clue: if you’re unhappy at work and looking for a new job, don’t post about how you’re “letting things slide” at your current job. Even if you’re being laid off. Even if you’re working for Ebeneezer Scrooge, pre meeting-with-the-ghosts.
It’s just not the kind of thing a future boss wants to hear. And guess what: the first thing I do when I get an job application or resume is google the person’s name. If the person has a blog, prospective employers are going to see it.
And they’re not going to enjoy stuff like this:
Since my layoff notice, I have (unsurprisingly) let things slide here at the work I’m still paid for. I didn’t care much before and I don’t care at all now. I’ve been catching up rapidly on my reading of other blogs. I usually have at least one nap each day. I feel no compulsion to watch the clock when I’m out to lunch.* I hear about problems happening and I just pray that they keep the problems at bay until I’m gone. Yes, we’ve been running out of freezer space but don’t get desperate until June. Wait until June when I don’t have to fix your problem.
Windows misery: Shorthorn
The improbably named Ole Eichhorn has written a great piece detailing the frustration of Windows developers and pro users.
It’s titled, interestingly enough, Shorthorn, and while some wags might suggest that this is the new name for Longhorn, given that WinFS, .Net, and a host of other promised features are apparently not making it into the first release version of the next major iteration of the Windows story, Ole is suggesting that Microsoft actually come out with a limited-objective fix-the-basic-problems version of Windows instead of trying to solve world peace in code.
I have to say that Longhorn is really (from a complete outsider’s point of view) exhibiting all the classic signs of a software project train wreck. Huge project, dropping originally-planned goals like raindrops in a Seattle sky, slipping from deadline to deadline with all the panache of a 3rd grader whining about his dog-eaten homework … yikes.
I do not, not, not, not envy those frontline code monkeys on the Windows front lines right now. I have been in - and run - massive pressure-filled projects, but I cannot imagine the pressure on Microsoft to get this right. Coming out with a brand new version of the operating system that most of the world runs is no small order, and the opportunities for error are near-infinite. While this may not be quite the bet-the-company type of project that it might have been 5-6 years ago in an Xbox-less, SMB-software-less, and numerous-other-peripheral-businesses-less Microsoft, Windows is still the foundation stone upon which the Redmond company is built, and if Longhorn, Shorthorn, or Anyhorn lays an egg, Microsoft will be hard pressed to recover from the stumble.
It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for Microsoft.
Business Blogging: Here come the ghosts
Blogs are wonderful animals, fresh and new, clean and sparkling, hi-tech but with a delightful aura of amateurism clinging to them. Right?
Hah!
Just as for years business books by the bigs of the corporate world have been written, co-written, and ghost-written by professional writers hired by the big names underwriting the biz bios, blogs are being invaded by the pros.
When I say “professional blogging,” I don’t necessarily mean people who earn money off their blogs, or even people who blog about their company. I mean the ad agencies and PR firms that are now starting to offer blogging services.
I suppose it was inevitable … as blogs have become the topic du jour of the chattering classes and the method de rigeur for grassroots marketers, we’re starting to see the astroturf sneak out.
Here come the ghosts - long live authentic voices!
Tiger’s nice, but he doesn’t take out the trash
It’s been almost a week since I’ve gotten Tiger. Overall, it’s been great.
I thought Spotlight was useless … until I realized today that I’ve used it 5-6 times in the past few days, probably saving myself 35-45 minutes of search time. Dashboard is pretty eye-candy-ish, but I guess I’ll find a few useful things there. Safari RSS is nice … even though I’m still deciding if I like Firefox’s implementation better.
But overall, very nice. Very solid, very stable, very fast, very clean: very good. Only one thing is still bugging me.
I take a ton of screenshots every day … probably at least 15-20 each day. That means that I end up with a LOT of “Picture 1.png”, “Picture 2.png” files on my desktop, until I clean them up, usually by trashing them after I’ve emailed them out, or attached them to bug reports, and so on.
But either Trash doesn’t like to delete “Picture 1.png” files (just like previous versions of OS X did not like to delete “Picture 1.pdf” files), or Preview hangs on to its children with a grip of death, ’cause I get a lot of these:
It’s nothing major, but it’s a little irritating to tell your computer to take out the trash, only to get lippy teenage backtalk from the uppity appliance.
PS:
The ‘.png’ files created by taking screenpics are great … the one above didn’t even have to enter the hallowed halls of Photoshop for in preparation for uploading. Yum! Much better than PDFs.
Safari RSS is impatient
I just upgraded to Tiger (yay, yawn) and, of course, Safari RSS.
In my first few hours of browsing with the new system I’ve received probably 5 or 6 instances of this happy message: Safari can’t open the page.
In almost all cases, I was working on Google’s AdWords site, and if any sites in the world can be guaranteed to stay up, you would think they’d be Google’s. Plus, I’m on broadband, so the probably is unlikely to be mine.
Very odd - I think Safari might just need to be set to be a bit more patient. Basically, what’s I think is happening is that it’s not receiving a response as quick as it thinks it should … and therefore reports a bogus error.
Other than this issue, the new version of Safari is very spiff, and I must say I’m liking it a lot. The RSS functionality is nice, although I kind of like Firefox’s a bit better … I can simply see the new titles in a menu in Firefox, and in Safari I actually have to kind of “go to a page” to see the RSS feed.
[ update May 27 ]
I am getting this fairly often today as well … a refresh makes it go away, but it’s very annoying.
My Music Inc.: is this service legal?
I’m looking for a music service to partner with on a project, and am working with Apple’s iTunes. Hopefully it will go through, but the project is a bit of a square peg in their round hole.
In case it doesn’t, I’ll have to look for other options. Yahoo! Music is new, and they’ll probably be looking for partnering opportunities, but getting through to Yahoo! is like scaling Mt. Everest - only a few can do it and many die in the attempt.
In my searching, I came across this site: My Music Inc.. It’s a Canadian company that promises free downloads for life in most countries in the world for a one-time flat fee … and they say they have almost every song in existence:
*Your Membership is a one-time charge only and you will never be re-billed. A $34.99 membership includes a life time of unlimited downloads and email technical support. A $23.99 membership includes two years of unlimited downloads and support. $17.99 membership includes one year of unlimited downloads and support.
Is this legal?
I noticed that they are using iPod images and in fact an Apple logo on their site as well ….
Graduating pecadilloes
I hate, hate I say, the currently fashionable use of the word ‘graduate’ as a transitive verb.
In other words, you will hear: “Harold graduated high school last year,” or “Junie will graduate college next year” and so on. When phrased this way, what this is really saying is that Harold did something to the school - as if he had set fire to it, flooded it, painted it, or swallowed it.
Nonsense!
If you must use ‘graduate’ as a transitive verb, what has really happened is that the school has graduated him … Harold has taken a series of courses, passes a number of tests, and the school is now acknowledging that he has achieved the necessary skills and knowledge, and therefore awards him a diploma.
The reality, however, is that ‘to graduate’ is an intransitive verb, takes no object, and therefore, the statement should be: “Harold graduated from high school last year.”
Bah. Humbug.
(More info on the incredibly hot topic of transitive and intransitive verbs.)
Promotion, shameless self
I am happy, delighted, and otherwise tickled some certain shade of salmon to note that today I received a promotion.
My current role with Premier (US | CAN) has been Technology Solutions Manager, and I’ve been leading a team of web developers.
I can’t reveal my new role here until it’s officially announced, but it’s cool, it’s exciting, it’s brand-new, and it has a very hifalutin (I like that word a lot lately) title of Director in front of it.
Oil is so over
We simply have to stop burning stuff just to get around - it’s primitive.
That’s all.
Dealing death in style
Yesterday was the May Day parade at Fort Langley, one of the oldest (European) settlements in British Columbia.
As part of the festivities, the Canadian Armed Forces had a newish 105 mm howitzer on hand. Quite an amazing piece of machinery, really. It weighs easily a couple of tons, but my 5-year old son could adjust elevation with one hand, and my 9-year old daughter could traverse the barrel with very little effort.
I took a shot straight down the barrel. Note that the barrel is rifled so that shells will spin as they exit the field piece and fly true. Also (obviously) the breech block is open at the back of the gun, or else the pic would bear a startling resemblance to a black hole. Given the condition of the barrel, you have to wonder if it’s ever been fired:
It was a little interesting to me - just a few days after the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Canadian army liberating Holland - to note that this gun was built in 1998 in Rotterdam:
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About
Sparkplug 9 is John Koetsier's blog on life, the universe, and everything,
but mostly the stuff you see big in the tags to the left.
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