Cool Web App For Finding a House

Once again, my friend Larry sent me a link to a website that is worthy of the rant. A company called 'Trulia' (which helps you in searching for homes) introduced a new tool today called 'Snapshot' which has a very cool UI design (UI = user interface). It allows you to select a price range and shows all the houses that are for sale within that range. Pretty common I know, but it also shows you where they are on the map and includes a little picture of the house (if available). In the words of Larry, 'simple, elegant and it works'. The perfect tri-fecta! Until later, Enjoy!

Career limiting moves...

I ran across this article from Baseline and thought it was interesting enough to rant about. The jist of the article is that you need to be careful about what you put on your 'myspace' or 'facebook' site due to the fact that recruiters and HR folks are using these as a way to screen potential employees.

Imagine, a future employer visiting your social networking site and finding out something about you that is very different from the way they think about it. For example, you like to 'Party like a Rock Star' every night and you are applying for a job working for a high school as a guidance counselor. Although it may not be right (and maybe it is right) that they use that in their decision process, the fact of the matter is that it will influence their position on whether or not they hire you. Kind of like tattoos that creep up your neck and stick out when you are in your 'interview' suit. Like it or not - the interviewer is going to form an opinion about you. (I call these types of things - career limiting moves...)

Another thought is that you can use these sites in a purposeful way to promote yourself. It also talks about the site 'LinkedIn', which could be equated to a 'professional' version of myspace/facebook. Using sites like these, might be a good backup to a resume. On 'LinkedIn' you can create a lot of content about yourself and the potential employer could learn a lot more about you with out having to create (and read) a 5 page resume.

So, I am not sayaying to hide who you are, just be aware of the ramifications..... Until next time - Enjoy!

New Graphic!!

OK - let me know what you think of the new header! My friend Dan Powell whipped this up for me and I think it looks pretty cool. Who is that goofy dude shouting anyways???

Thanks Dan!

Enjoy!

Linux for the Desktop?

Ran across this today and thought I would use it to re-enter the blog-o-sphere.

A while back I ranted about Linux on the desktop and how that related to Windows domination. Here is a survey that shows some stats on the topic. Looks like almost 80% (of top IT leaders) still aren't using a Linux desktop in some form or fashion. For bigger shops it all probably gets back to TCO (total cost of ownership), if it takes twice as many people to support it, the cost of the OS (free for Linux) seems to lose it's value propostition. We have a few (Linux Boxes) where I spend my days, but mostly they are just acting as terminals to run a remote session of Winodws, not sure if that counts....

Anyway, for more information on where I got graphic, click here.

Enjoy!!