Resume Repellent

Here's an interesting article about what not to put on your resume. Sometimes less is more on resumes.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/05/news/economy/annie/fortune_annie0606/index.htm

Taking Break

It's summertime, so my activity on this blog will be slower than usual. If I find some very interesting material, I will post it. Otherwise, I will be back and blogging in August.

Professor Johnson-Sheehan

The Hottest Jobs

Curious about the hot jobs in the near future? Here on CNN Money, the editors have listed the fastest growing careers in the near future. I notice "College Instructor" is on the list.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/nextjobboom/

iBod

Here's an interesting story from NPR about the iBod, an electronic device that helps you control your body's activities.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5317505

Oh, and the story first appeared on April 1st. Enjoy.

At IBM (or not)

Recently, I was visiting IBM at their new downtown Chicago office. I was amazed at how few people were actually in the office. There were plenty of empty desks with a few people sprinkled around the office.

I asked the person showing me around where everyone is working. Her answer was, "At home, at a cafe, on the road, whereever they can find a wireless connection." We have been talking about this kind of "virtual office" for some time, but it's coming true. As commuting grows more difficult and more expensive, more people are working whereever they can connect through a computer. It seems like everyone at IBM is using IM to stay in touch.

Personally, I think it's cool that people can escape the cubicle jungles of office buildings. You almost wonder when the buildings themselves are not all that important anymore. (That said, IBM's new offices at the Hyatt Center are incredible. They are very hightech. Seeing these offices gave me pause about my office here at Purdue.)

The Web in Major Life Decisions

I guess this article isn't too surprising until you realize how far we have come with the Internet. Over half of Americans polled say they have used the Internet to make major life decisions. That's interesting when you consider that the web has only really be an important part of our lives for a dozen years or so. In many ways, our lives have drastically realigned around this new medium.

Here is the article:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/04/19/internet.survey.reut/index.html

e-Bill

Here's an article by Bill Gates that discusses how he works. The interesting thing about the article is the centrality of e-mail to his work day. Essentially, it looks like he spends the vast majority of his time in meetings or on e-mail. He has gone almost completely electronic.

The discussion of how he prioritizes his e-mails is especially interesting. If you look in Chapter 12 of Tech Comm Today, you will see a similar scheme for priortizing e-mails to ensure that the most important ones are answered first.

Here's that website:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/30/news/newsmakers/gates_howiwork_fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes

April Fools

Nope. No April Fools jokes here. But if you want to see some of the best, here is a website that collects April Fools jokes.

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/

Helpful tips for technical resumes

It's about that time of year. You know, people want to find a job after they graduate. Here's a webpage with some helpful tips for creating resumes aimed at technical audiences.

http://www.taos.com/resumetips.html

Handy Digital Camera Guide

Here's a useful guide on using digital cameras. Most people just aim and shoot. But digital cameras are capable of so much more--if you know how to use them. In fact, people miss out on many of the great advantages offered by their digital camera, because they don't know some functions exist.

Here's that website:

http://www.photo.net/equipment/digital/basics/

Hidden Text in Word

Many people don't know this, but a not-so-secret way to find inside information is to turn on the Reviewing function in Word when you look over electronic documents. Often, writers do not remove the reviewing comments in the margin. They simply send an electronic version with the comments hidden. A savvy reader can then turn the Reviewing function back on and would be able to find out interesting insights into proposals and other kinds of sensitive documents.

If you're routing a document through the office for your colleagues comments, all those Reviewing comments might be sent with an electronic version of the file--if you don't remove them.

Now you know, Here's an article about how to remove those Reviewing comments.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kimkomando/2006-01-19-hidden-msword-data_x.htm

Sudoku

Many people are caught up in this Sudoku craze. I haven't caught the bug, yet, but I'm interested in the various descriptions of how to play. Some are better than others. Check out the following websites that offer rules and tips for playing Sudoku. How might you improve them?

http://www.sudoku.com/
http://www.puzzle.jp/letsplay/sudokuruleflash-e.html
http://www.sudoku.name/rules/en
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/lifestyle/games/home.lpf

Ethics and Doggy Treats

This story is about an interesting issue of ethics. Apparently, some dogs have been dying after consuming a kind of dog treat. Dog owners and vets are pointing out that the treats do not always digest properly. The company that makes the dog treats, meanwhile, responds that people need to choose the right dog treat (among 7 sizes) for their dog.

Here we have a situation where both sides might be technically right--and yet dogs are dying. Try working through the ethics of this case, measuring rights, justice, utility, and care against each other. How do you think the company should react in this situation?

Here's the website:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/14/dangerous.dogtreat/index.html