Monthly Archives: December 2010

long-term jobs

Posted on December 20, 2010 by mark

My dad retired from his job of 35 years on Friday. Having a truly long-term job is uncommon–even in his age group, only about 28% stay in one place for over 20 years. Continue reading →

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freelancing lessons: part 1

Posted on December 16, 2010 by mark

I’ve been promising to share some of the lessons learned from my year of freelancing. Here’s one: you can’t put each of your fingers in a separate pie and expect to just eat the most delicious one. When I started … Continue reading →

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certified!

Posted on December 15, 2010 by mark

It’s official: I’m a Salesforce.com Certified Administrator! The last time I got a certification for a particular technology was way back in 2001, when I went to NYC to learn about DoubleClick’s advertising management system. It was my first-ever business … Continue reading →

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Stallman, just stop

Posted on December 14, 2010 by mark

Richard Stallman represents everything that’s wrong with IT’s image in the larger business world. The things he says are often insightful and informative, but his legendary lack of anything resembling people skills makes me want to plug my ears and … Continue reading →

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…that many failures

Posted on December 14, 2010 by mark

I was just reading this article about the Airbus A380 that had an engine blow up (they landed safely), and this quote from the interview caught my eye: “…the fuel dumping system had failed and we were about 50 tonnes … Continue reading →

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job hunting without networking

Posted on December 13, 2010 by mark

This brief blog entry and comic illustrates the battle between the job seeker and the job filler: the signal-to-noise ratio is perhaps more lopsided in the job search market than anything other than a web forum filled with angsty teens. … Continue reading →

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the challenge of choice

Posted on December 13, 2010 by mark

I’ve just finished looking through hundreds of channels, our DVR, and an on-demand video service, and I’m right back to the laptop. I can’t help but wonder if “57 channels and nothing on” is actually caused by too much choice … Continue reading →

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certifications open the door, but the rest is up to you

Posted on December 13, 2010 by mark

As big a proponent of education as I am, I agree that you’ve got to put classroom lessons to use. But does that mean certifications are utterly worthless? Continue reading →

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shiny new OS

Posted on December 11, 2010 by mark

I think Google’s timing for Chrome OS (which is pretty much the talk of the Webs this week) is spot-on. Google is promoting the cloud from the early adopter/startup side of operations. In the meantime, folks like Salesforce.com are handling … Continue reading →

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bye bye brickskellar

Posted on December 9, 2010 by mark

The Brickskellar was probably the first bar I ever visited in DC. I discovered it when I was still expanding my beer horizons, and you can’t get much more variety than a place with over a thousand different options. Unfortunately, … Continue reading →

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