Of course we all love our iPods and Blu-Ray players and doing research before Google came along was slow, often times requiring you to get in your car and go to a library. Anybody remember using library tools such as card catalogs and Microfiche to perform research? Now we can do it from our beds, simply by entering a few words into our mobile device and get instantaneous results; fantastic, no doubt.

Today’s cell phones look like something out of Star Trek. Actually, they look better and have more options.

We truly live in marvelous times. But, what does it all add up to? Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, more productive and in some areas eliminate work altogether. And for the most part I think we can say it’s worked. So how come I, like you, still work forty plus hour work weeks? In fact, since World War 2 the number of hours worked per week has grown. In her recent book, “Willing Slaves – How the Overwork Culture is Ruling our Lives“, Madeleine Bunting states that from 1977 to 1997 Americans working full time have increased their average working hours from 43.6 hours to 47.1 hours each week. (This does not include time required to travel to and from their places of business).[1] How can this be? In addition to working longer hours, many families have both family members working. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics states that between 1950 and 2000 the number of individuals in the active labor force grew 227 percent from 62 million to 141 million.[2]

The whole goal of a software developer is to make someone’s life easier. If we’re successful our software or device will allow a user to be more proficient, saving them time and allowing them to get more work done. But does it really matter if the user is now able to get their work done faster if the end result is still working forty hours? What does it matter if you can get twice the amount of work done? Forty hours is forty hours. I’m sure that by increasing the amount of work we are able to get done each day that someone benefits, someone higher up, but it isn’t you and it isn’t me.

It seems like life just keeps moving at an ever accelerated pace. Like a merry-go-round that started off slow and built up speed. Perhaps it’s moving so fast now that we can’t jump off? Or maybe we still don’t feel we need to jump off?

Author Daniel Quinn in his book Ishmael gives us a parable that may explain what has happened. It’s certainly interesting.

Terpsichore is among the places you would enjoy visiting in the universe. This was a planet where people emerged in the usual way in the community of life. For a time they lived as all others live, simply eating whatever came to hand. But after a couple of million years of living in this way, they noticed it was very easy to promote the regrowth of their favorite foods. You might say they found a few easy steps that would have this result. They didn’t have to take these steps in order to stay alive, but if they took them, their favorite foods were always more readily available. These were, of course, the steps of a dance.

A few steps of the dance, performed just three or four days a month, enriched their lives greatly and took almost no effort. As here on earth, the people of this planet were not a single people but many peoples, and as time went on, each people developed its own approach to the dance. Some continued to dance just a few steps three or four days a month. Others found it made sense for them to have even more of their favorite foods, so they danced a few steps every second or third day. Still others saw no reason why they shouldn’t live mostly on their favorite foods, so they danced a few steps every single day. Things went on this way for tens of thousands of years among the people of this planet, who thought of themselves as living in the hands of the gods and leaving everything to them. For this reason, they called themselves Leavers.

But one group of Leavers eventually said to themselves, “Why should we just live partially on the foods we favor? Why don’t we live entirely on the foods we favor? All we have to do is devote a lot more time to dancing.” So this one particular group took to dancing several hours a day. Because they thought of themselves as taking their welfare into their own hands, we’ll call them Takers. The results were spectacular. The Takers were inundated with their favorite foods. A manager class soon emerged to look after the accumulation and storage of surpluses — something that had never been necessary when everyone was just dancing a few hours a week. The members of this manager class were far too busy to do any dancing themselves, and since their work was so critical, they soon came to be regarded as social and political leaders. But after a few years these leaders of the Takers began to notice that food production was dropping, and they went out to see what was going wrong. What they found was that the dancers were slacking off. They weren’t dancing several hours a day, they were dancing only an hour or two and sometimes not even that much. The leaders asked why.

“What’s the point of all this dancing?” the dancers said. “It isn’t necessary to dance seven or eight hours a day to get the food we need. There’s plenty of food even if we just dance an hour a day. We’re never hungry. So why shouldn’t we relax and take life easy, the way we used to do?”

The leaders saw things very differently, of course. If the dancers went back to living the way they used to, then the leaders would soon have to do the same, and that didn’t appeal to them at all. They considered and tried many different schemes to encourage or cajole or tempt or shame or force the dancers into dancing longer hours, but nothing worked until one of them came up with the idea of locking up the food.

“What good will that do?” he was asked.

“The reason the dancers aren’t dancing right now is that they just have to reach out and take the food they want. If we lock it away, they won’t be able to do that.”

“But if we lock the food away, the dancers will starve to death!”

“No, no, you don’t understand,” the other said with a smile. “We’ll link dancing to receiving food — so much food for so much dancing. So if the dancers dance a little, they’ll get a little food, and if they dance a lot, they’ll get a lot. This way, slackers will always be hungry, and dancers who dance for long hours will have full stomachs.”

“They’ll never put up with such an arrangement,” he was told.

“They’ll have no choice. We’ll lock the food away in storehouses, and the dancers will either dance or they’ll starve.”

“The dancers will just break into the storehouses.”

“We’ll recruit guards from among the dancers. We’ll excuse them from dancing and have them guard the storehouses instead. We’ll pay them the same way we pay the dancers, with food — so much food for so many hours of guarding.”

“It will never work,” he was told. But oddly enough it did work…

So here we are today, dancing away and no amount of technology seems to matter. We keep creating better and better technology and yet we dance more and more.

I love being a software developer. I love coming up with creative solutions to peoples problems. Over the past ten years I have been fortunate enough to work on a variety of projects ranging from POS software, market analysis software, life and health insurance software and educational school system software. For the most part the feedback has been positive. But I’ve yet to have anyone say “thanks to your software I am now able to spend more time with my family.” In the end I don’t know that I have made anyone’s life better. I may have allowed them to get more work done in a day by speeding up their processes. I may have simplified their work life and improved their experience, but have I made their life any better?

“I submit that Egyptian workers, relatively speaking, got as much out of building Khufu’s pyramid as Microsoft workers will get out of building Bill Gates’s pyramid (which will surely dwarf Khufu’s a hundred times over, though it will not, of course, be built of stone).”

“It took Khufu twenty-three years to build his Great Pyramid at Giza, where some eleven hundred stone blocks, each weighing about two and a half tons, had to be quarried, moved, and set in place every day during the annual building season, roughly four months long. Few commentators on these facts can resist noting that this achievement is an amazing testimonial to the pharaoh’s iron control over the workers of Egypt. I submit, on the contrary, that pharaoh Khufu needed to exercise no more control over his workers at Giza than pharaoh Bill Gates exercises over his workers at Microsoft.”

Throughout time man has asked – Who are we? Where did we come from and where are we going? Perhaps these questions are more pertinent now more than ever…

What are your thoughts?

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work-life_balance
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_time

ATI Radeon HD 4870-X2 DDR5 2GB PCI-Express x16

This video card is smoking fast. Right now it’s the fastest card on the market. Pick up one of these, or two in crossfire mode and play Call of Duty 4 and feel like you’re right there in the action! I have one on my new rig and oh man does it make CoD4 look great!

Left 4 Dead

For starters it’s Valve. Not enough? Well you get to kill Zombies! That’s always fun. Lots and lots of zombies. And you can play in co-op mode with 3 of your buddies. Setting out to do for co-op gaming what Counter-Strike did for team combat, Left 4 Dead is an ambitious survival horror game. Running on the Source engine, Left 4 Dead leaves four armed survivors of a world overrun with zombies, and they must fight their way out to escape the outbreak. It’s a blast. It’s like I’m Will Smith in I am Legend.

Captain Kirk’s Replica Chair

“Kirk to bridge, someone………has…….stolen my……..chair.” And for the right price, that person can be you. Trekkies across the globe practically drowned in their own geekdom when it was first reported that Diamond Select, a popular sci-fi and comic toy store, was planning on releasing a life-sized Original Series captain’s chair for purchase.

Sony Photo Frame

Now you can display your digital photo collection in breathtakingly vivid color–on a Sony Digital Photo Frame. Choose from a variety of slide show options, and watch your photo memories come to life on this stylish frame. And when not displaying images, you can set it to one of its clock or calendar modes–making it a great addition to any home or office.

Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard

Good intel and proper gear are the keys to victory. With the Logitech G15 keyboard, you get both. Now you can easily discover on which server your friends are playing Battlefield 2142, be notified when your World of Warcraft battleground becomes available and know exactly who’s talking in Ventrilo with the Logitech G15 keyboard’s exclusive GamePanel LCD. You can also create useful macros on the fly that play back with a single press of one of the six G keys. As every key features illuminated characters, with three levels of brightness, you can keep playing late into the night.

Iron Man (Ultimate Two-Disc Edition Blu-ray)

While I don’t have a blu-ray player yet. If I did this would be the first movie that I pick up. This movie was so fun to watch and the effects were just perfect. I would love to watch this on a nice 1080p screen. Hint hint Santa…

Any word of The Avengers movie?

Band of Brothers (Blu-ray)

This is a movie series that everyone should own. It should be required viewing material for all. It leaves you humbled and grateful for the men and women who have sacrificed so that we may enjoy the freedoms that we have.

Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition Quad-Core Processor

Conquer the world of extreme gaming with the fastest performing processor on the planet: the Intel® Core™ i7 processor Extreme Edition: 3.20 GHz core speed, 8 processing threads with Intel HT technology, 8 MB of Cache and 3 Channels of DDR3 1066 MHz memory. This is the fastest processor that money can buy. It’s not cheap, but with great power comes… a really big price tag.

iBUYPOWER Gamer Supreme 962i Intel Core i7 920(2.66GHz) 6GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260

I just purchased a new computer from ibuypower and am loving it. They don’t have the best customer service, but they do build great computers and for great prices. The computer I got is smoking and for about half the price you would pay on Dell. If you’re in the market for a new gaming rig and you don’t feel like building it yourself, the take a look at ibuypower and see what you think.

Smashing Magazine Jobs
This site has a small selection of web design/development jobs. Most are looking for front-end work like: XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash and ActionScript. You can sort by fulltime or freelance positions. Most of the listings are from the companies and not recruiters.

Authentic Jobs
Authentic Jobs is another site that features a short selection (maybe 100 listings is all) of web jobs. Authentic Jobs is a targeted destination for standards-aware designers and developers and the companies seeking to hire them.

Krop
A pretty good selection of design and tech jobs, but the Ajax enabled search on this site really isn’t working for me.

Dice
Dice is a huge collection of tech jobs. It’s certainly a place to use when looking for a job. Do note that most of the jobs are posted by recruiters though.

Craigslist
I think Craigslist is actually one of the best places to look for jobs. It has a good selection and most of the post are from the IT directors and not technical recruiters.

Good luck and happy job hunting.

Sorry guys for the slow week, but I just had an addition to the family. My wife and I just had a baby boy! His name is Landon Sean Angeletti and he’s fantastic. I’ll be back in action next week. I’ll cya then.

Mark

I have a cell phone, it works – well kinda – so I don’t care about them.

The other is security. I too have a security plan in place that has worked for the last ten years, so I don’t need a review of every anti-virus, spyware, malware, and firewall software that comes to market.

But, seeing the amount of coverage these magazines dedicate to security I’m thinking it must be a hot issue. So I decided I would share my security plan with you all. I fully disclose that this may not be the “best” security plan out there. I’m sure that if some C2-level security specialist read this he would chuckle, but like I said, it’s proven effective for me over the last decade and it’s probably a lot better than what most people currently have in place.

All the software I use is free so that is why you will see these products listed below. Oh, that and the fact they all work extremely well.

1. Email – Gmail

Viruses don’t create themselves. You have to get a virus from another source, so if you never download files your chances of acquiring a virus are very slim. So by allowing Google to be the repository of my emails, instead of my own computer, they will be the ones to get exposed to the virus and not my computer, should there be one. That said, Gmail blocks spam before it gets to your inbox so any suspect emails wouldn’t even likely pass Google. It goes without saying I never open attachments from someone I don’t know.

2. Firewall – ZoneAlarm

A firewall is a dedicated piece of hardware, or software, which inspects network traffic passing through it, and denies or permits passage based on a set of rules. Get one! I have used ZoneAlarm for years. It works, it’s free, and it’s easy to setup and use. So if you don’t have a firewall get ZoneAlarm now.

3. Proper WiFi Setup

It’s pretty common place these days for homes to have a WiFi router in place which allows all members of the family to access the internet from anywhere in the house. The problem is it’s equally common that people don’t secure those connections.

I recently had a neighbor ask me if my wireless connection was MarksHome because she had that as one of her wireless network options. I told her that while I do have a wireless network she would never see it because I don’t broadcast the signal. I only allow computers that I have specified, via MAC address, to access my router. This is pretty easy to do. If you have a Linksys router, under Wireless find the tab Wireless MAC Filter and add MAC addresses to the MAC Filter List. Then disable Wireless SSID Broadcast. That’s it; now no one can see you and only the computers you allow can access your network.

4. Anti-Virus – AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

Most people have some type of Anti-Virus software on their computer so that’s good, just be sure to keep it updated. I really like AVG Anti-Virus for a few reasons: 1. It’s free 2. It works great 3. It updates itself when I turn on my computer and 4. It has an incredibly small footprint. Some Anti-Virus software programs (cough McAfee) can really chew up system resources. This can slow down frame-rates when you’re gaming and that’s no good…

5. Spyware – Ad-Aware 2007

Spyware is software that is installed on your computer (without your consent) to intercept or take partial control over your interaction. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as internet surfing habits, sites that have been visited and can also interfere with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software, redirecting Web browser activity, accessing websites blindly that will cause more harmful viruses, or diverting advertising revenue to a third party.

All that sucks, right? So you should use a program like Ad-Aware which detects deceptive malware and spyware applications before they integrate into your PC and steal your personal information.

Conclusion

Once again, this may not be the highest level of security obtainable, but it’s pretty darn good. It should at least be the minimal security steps you take.

NOTE: This article has been for Windows users since Macs don’t get viruses

Also I want to give a special warning to college students. College campuses are breeding grounds for viruses and not just STDs either, so take precautions.

Well it’s about time…

Now we just have to wait for the iPhone to support 3G and include GPS. When that happens I will be on board. Some say it may happen as early as June or July.

My question for you guys is: if you or I were to build a Flash app for the iPhone, what would you like it to do?

• I work for a company is San Francisco and live in Colorado.
• I run a blog with people in Belgium and England.
• We can hold conversations with people in Tokyo, Melbourne, London and San Francisco simultaneously.
• Using RAD software we are able to write, debug and deploy software in a fraction of the time it took just a handful of years ago.

Ah, these are truly wonderful times we live in…Or are they?

According to a study by The United Nations’ International Labor Organization (ILO) US workers are putting in more hours than anyone else in the industrialized world. ILO statistics show that the average American worked nearly 2,000 hours in 1997 — up from 1,942 hours in 1990, the equivalent of almost two working weeks more than their counterparts in Japan.

WHAT? HOW CAN THIS BE? What about all the technology? Isn’t the whole point of technology supposed to make our lives easier?

Since the beginning of time we invented technology for one purpose and one purpose only: to make our lives easier.

Take the plough (American spelling: plow) as an example. The plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture. The plow has changed greatly throughout time, becoming more and more advanced with each iteration, but it’s function is the same – help make our lives easier.

So why are we working longer hours? The whole thing seems counter-productive. Shouldn’t better technology mean less hours working and more time spent doing the things we actually want to do?

Maybe the Amish have it right after all? Why continue to make technological improvements if the payoff isn’t more free time?

I can’t help but laugh at my neighbor each time it snows. I’m out there shoveling my driveway the old fashioned way — with a shovel; and there he is with his snow-blower. The thing is he also has a health club membership to 24 Hour Fitness! Do you see it? Put away the snow-blower and get your exercise done while removing the snow…

I suppose this post is just a rant, but sometimes it’s enough to make you want to chuck it all and rome the Earth like Kwai Chang Caine. We need to slow down and remove the phones from our ears, which have become an almost permanent limb, and enjoy life. It’s too short and you never get the time back. Stop working it away and go to the park with your family.

A friend of mine, he’s ten years younger than I am, asked me to text him after the movie was over. I had to tell him that I’m not a texter, that I would just call him, the old school way.

Another friend recently asked me if I was using Window’s Vista yet. I told him I was waiting for Service Pack One. I could not believe it – those were the words my father always used, but never me! I was always an early adopter, sometimes even using beta additions, but no more. I’d like to blame this on all the bad reviews of Vista though. But, theres other concerns:

I have an iPod, but you’re more likely to hear the Greatful Dead playing than Lamb of God.
I have LinkedIn and delicious accounts, but I never did bother with mySpace and FaceBook accounts.
I am a big Instant Messenger user and have been since 1995, anyone remember PowWow? But I don’t get the appeal of text messaging.
I enjoy blogging, but Twitter seems like an annoying girlfriend who wants to constantly know what I’m up to.

What social sites do you guys belong to?
Do you Twitter and if so why?
Do you text message?
and what’s your age?

1. Your development team outnumbers your sales team.
2. Your support department is busy, yet you don’t charge for support.
3. You have no marketing department.
4. Your computer hardware is falling behind.
5. You continuously update and add new features to a product that you can’t sell to begin with.
6. You continuously add new features to a product, but your sales department has no clue about the new features.
7. You have no defined niche or target market, you simply shoot at anything that moves.
8. You have no partnerships or relationships with anyone in your market.
9. You have no clearly defined objective.
10. Your company skips its Christmas party.

Blogging

• Blog Critique: Chris Garrett on New Media
• How to Promote Your Blog
• WordPress – From Install to Pimped Out
• 10 Blogging Mistakes / Why Your Blog Struggles

CSS

• Relatives – Who needs them?
• CSS Liquid Round Corners
• 10 Quick Tips for an Easier CSS Life
• CSS – A Recipe for Success

SEO

• Title Tags – A Search Engine Optimization Cornerstone
• Do It Yourself SEO? Part 2
• Stop Worrying – About SEO
• Link Swapping – Should You Do It?

Coding

• OOP in PHP from a .NET OOP Perspective
• CSS The Star Matrix Pre-loaded: Part 2
• Objects – Why You Should Care About Them

Other Stuff

• Web Browser Wednesday – Going to the Opera (Part 1)
• Simple Tips to Help Survive The Digg Effect
• Yahoo Job Interview Questions: Part 1
• What’s Your 404?

Random Bits

• Random Bits Podcast with Rand Fishkin
• Random Bits Podcast with Peter Flaschner
• Random Bits Podcast with Chris Garrett, Part 1
• Random Bits Podcast with Eric Meyer

Let us know if there is something you would like to have us blog about in 2008. Or who you would like to see interviewed in a Random Bits Podcast. And Thanks for making 2007 a wonderful year.

These are some of my favorite things of 2007. Keep in mind I have an 18 month old so I don’t get out much. And yes I live a simple life (some may say pathetic) but good coffee and a burger are things I really do enjoy…

So, without further adieu:

Best Video Games of 2007

• Crysis
• BioShock

Best Flash (online) Games of 2007

• Desktop Tower Defense
• Portal

Best Movies of 2007

• The Bourne Ultimatum
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Best Television Shows of 2007

• House
• Top Chef

Best Music of 2007

• Mat Kearney – Nothing Left To Lose
• Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals – Lifeline

Best iTune Downloads of 2007

• Ziggy Marley – Love Is My Religion
• Green Day – Working Class Hero

Best Burgers of 2007

• Ted’s Montana Grill
• Smash Burger

Best Coffee of 2007

• Dazbog Coffee
• McDonald’s Premium Coffee

Most Read Blog (other than Search-This) of 2007

• Chris G
• Copyblogger

Best Geek Books of 2007

• Object-Oriented ActionScript 3.0
• The ASP.NET 2.0 Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks

Best Non-Geek Books of 2007

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
• The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

Well there you have it, some of my favorite things of 2007. What are some of yours?

Happy Holidays to All!

Nothing is for sure at this point. We will try a few different techniques: Google AdSense, TLA or even may try to come up with our own way. Or we may decide not to monetize at all. It’s all just kind of an experiment at this point. So please do weigh in and tell us your thoughts. If you have suggestions, please share, if you hate it, tell us that too. One thing is for sure, we will not let any ads get in the way or detract from the content.

Once again, this is more of an experiment and nothing is known at this point. Please share your thoughts.

Thanks,
Mark (Golgotha)

Finding the Jobs

There are so many places you can look for jobs in your local community. If you don’t have ties to your local community, consider relocation, as that will only expand the number of opportunities. Here are some of the top sites for web development: DevBistro, Dice.com, Authentic Jobs, HotJobs and there are some specific language job sites such as: PHP Jobs, Just Java Jobs, and Rails Jobs. Don’t forget classified sites such as Craig’s List and your local newspapers!

The Application Process

Now that you have a list of jobs you want to apply for, the first step to landing the job is getting the interview; this is where a solid resume and cover letter come in. You should already have a resume with all of your experience in it in two formats: a formatted document as well as a non-formatted for companies who scan them. In general, resumes shouldn’t be longer than one page but if you have to go over, don’t let it be more than two pages unless the job calls for it. There will be plenty of resumes for the hiring managers to go through so you don’t want to give them any more to peruse than necessary. The resume should be tailored for each job you are applying for. If you want to be a PHP developer, there is really no need to include that you were the towel boy for your college’s swimming team.

Something a lot of people don’t include, but should, is a cover letter. A cover letter is your chance to illustrate that you did in fact read the job requirements and that you are a good fit for the job. Below is a template I’ve used when applying for jobs:

James Smith
Technical Director
Some Company
123 their street
city, state zip

Dear Mr. Smith,

I typically start here by identifying the position I am applying for and express my interest in it.

In the next paragraph I discuss how my technical skills match what they are looking for. I use examples to support my information.

In the third paragraph, I discuss other skills that I could bring to the team, i.e., project management, working well with others, leadership abilities, etc.

In the last paragraph I reiterate my interest in the position and assure them I am a good match for their organization. Often I will look up the company’s website and if they have a mission statement online, I look it up and try and tie what I say here to that.Then I thank them for their time and consideration and close it by saying I look forward to speaking with them soon.

Respectfully Submitted,

Your Name

I always try to find the name of the person the resume is going to but if I can’t, I simply put “Human Resources” as the recipient and in my salutation say, “Dear Sir or Ma’am”. This cover letter should be tailored to every job and I would never send in my resume without a cover letter attached. I know some employers won’t consider an applicant without it and even if they do, this will make you stick out from the crowd.

If you are sending your resume by email, in your correspondence you can simply say:

I have attached my cover letter and resume for your review. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully Submitted,

Your name

Preparing for the Interview

Now that your awesome cover letter and resume got you the interview, you need to do a little preparation.

• Research the company – You really need to know a thing or two about the company before you head in there asking for a job. Find out what their mission statement is and learn how the company started.
• Put together a portfolio – Put together a portfolio of some of your best work! If you are a designer, obviously put examples of your designs on good quality paper. If you are a developer, write a list of URLs of sites you have worked on with descriptions of your work on each. You can include screenshots to illustrate the functionality you created. In addition, be sure to include well-commented code samples. This will give the person(s) you are meeting with an idea of how you code.
• Prepare for technical questions – If this is a developer position, you should be prepared for technical questions. Study up on modern programming practices and object-oriented techniques. A great website to help you get prepared is Ace The Interview.
• Write a list of questions to ask them – You’re not the only one being interviewed here; you need to make sure the company is right for you. Having a list of questions to ask the employer will also show that you are genuinely interested in the position at the company, rather than just any job. You’ve already done your research, so there is no need to ask questions that you should have already found the answers to. Here are a couple of good questions you can ask:
  1. What can I expect a typical workday to be like?
  2. Will I work in a small team or in a larger team?
  3. Are there opportunities for advancement in this position?
  4. Why are you hiring for this position? Is the company growing or did the person who held it before leave?

During the Interview

The day has come to have your interview! Shower, shave, and dress nice. Yes, most web development jobs are pretty casual and laid back, but you haven’t earned that right yet. Show up in your nice threads and save the jeans and t-shirts for when you actually have the job. Arrive at the job 15-30 minutes early and review your notes before you go in.

Once you’re in the interview, it’s showtime. Own your experience and be confident in your conversation. Try and control the conversation as much as possible and guide it where you want it to go. If you are asked about a skill that you don’t have experience with, don’t sit there with a dumbfounded look on your face. Instead, make the most of the opportunity:

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to work with said technology, but I am a fast learner and am confident I could pick it up quickly.

Interviews can be very nerve wracking so it’s good to have a way to guide the interview and take all of the focus off of you. Remember that portfolio you created when you were preparing for this interview? This is a great way to bring the attention to your work. You will have the opportunity to go into detail about the various projects and everyone is focused on the portfolio rather than you! At the end of the interview, be sure to ask how soon they plan on making a decision and if they will let everyone know the results of their interview.

After the Interview

After your interview, you should immediately send a thank you email to the interviewers. Thank them for taking the time to meet with you and reiterate your interest in the position. This will be yet another way to set yourself apart from your competitors.

The key to getting a job quite often comes down to the little things you do and your people skills. I personally would rather hire someone with decent coding skills and good people skills than someone who is a killer programmer but can’t interact with their team members. Do you have any job-seeking tips or any interview stories you can share?

So we’ve put together a list of toys that any geek would be sure to enjoy. Have a look and feel free to make suggestions to things that you think would be great geek toys or what you would like for Christmas.

…It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

Ultimate Gaming Mouse

Micorsoft’s new Sidewinder mouse is a gamers dream mouse. Elevate your skills with a revolutionary mouse designed to provide you with unprecedented performance, handling, and adaptability. Customize your mouse with every game you play using advanced software and adjustable accessories. Use the first ever LCD display on a gaming mouse for macro recording and DPI settings to reduce on-screen interference during game play.

WD Passport – External Storage

Western Digital’s Passport portable hard drive. High-performance portable storage for your Mac or PC. Light and rugged, it’s easy to carry (little bigger than an iPod) and no external power adapter is needed. Powered by the USB 2.0 bus and sexy as hell. At 120 GB this is the drive to get your geek. Oh, there’s also a 250GB version too, should you need even more space – you pig!

Nintendo DS Lite

Nintendo DS Lite. It’s less than two-thirds the size of the original Nintendo DS and more than 20 percent lighter. Its two bright screens can be adjusted to four levels to adapt to different lighting conditions and to extend battery power. This is portable fun! Be sure to get the games: Mario Kart, Bomberman Land Touch! and Worms 2 Open Warfare. All these games are a blast at multiplayer!

Crysis

Crysis. Halo who? This IS the game to have – no doubt about it! PC Gamer was falling all over itself about this game. They simply could not say enough positive things about it. They gave it a 98% – the highest rating I have ever seen! It will be the game to have, period. Just make sure your geeks rig can handle it. Check out the video here. Trust me, your geek will love this!

Samsung SyncMaster 305T

Samsung SyncMaster 305T. First there was the Apple Cinema HD display. Then the Dell 3007WFPM came along. Now Samsung has entered the 30-inch desktop LCD arena with the SyncMaster 305T ($1,999.99 list), a stunning, high-resolution widescreen display that imaging professionals and gamers with deep pockets are sure to love. It may not be cheap, but she’s the best on the market. If you got the funds, pick a couple of these bad boys up!

Canon PowerShot SD1000

Canon PowerShot SD1000. What kind of point-and-shoot camera has what it takes to stand out from the pack? Generally, it’s one that exhibits both excellent quality and nimble performance. But that’s not the whole story. Other features, such as a useful and beautiful design plus functions that are enjoyable to use, can really make the difference. In the case of Canon’s new 7.1-megapixel PowerShot SD1000, you get most, if not all, of these essentials. Best point-and-shoot camera on the market!

Panasonic’s TH-50PZ700U Plasma HD TV

Panasonic’s TH-50PZ700U Plasma HD TV. Consumer Reports calls it “the best flat screen ever tested.” Panasonic’s 50-inch TH-50PZ700U plasma was actually the recipient of such sensational praise, and such luxuries as the 1080p resolution and its ability to “reproduce the finest details, rich vibrant colors and deep blacks” apparently set it way ahead of the pack. Additionally, the screen was so impressive that reviewers actually stated that it “lent an almost three-dimensional look to images.” Ho ho ho…

EZfetch Wireless HD Digital Media Player

The EZfetch Wireless HD Digital Media Player lets you access all your digital pictures, music, movies and podcasts and play them right where you want them—on the bigger screen of your HDTV and the better sound of your audio system.

The EZfetch Media Player will fetch pictures, music, movies and podcasts that are stored on PCs, network attached storage (NAS) devices, most USB Flash Drives and Wi-Fi enabled Nokia Nseries devices. Then with a click of the remote, EZfetch will play your selection on your TV and audio system. And best of all, EZfetch can play more picture, music and movie formats than any other digital media player in the world.

1 Year of Web Hosting

Dreamhost. Every geek needs good hosting. Why not buy your geek a years worth of hosting? At Dreamhost you can get a full year of hosting for $119.40 USD. It may seem like an odd gift, but trust me, your geek will love it.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium software is a complete solution for creating interactive websites, applications, user interfaces, presentations, mobile device content, and other digital experiences. Get everything you need to prototype your project, design assets, build web experiences, and efficiently maintain and update content. But damn, at $1,599 USD who the hell can afford that! Damn you Adobe!!

U.S.S Enterprise NCC-1701 Putter

U.S.S Enterprise NCC-1701 Putter from Golfsmith. This amazing new putter will be the talk of the links, and it will make for one of the most unique collectibles in your collection of Star Trek memorabilia. It will also cause you to get your ass kicked all over the links…

According to Flexner, there are an estimated 600,000 words in our English language — but the average American only understands around 2 to 3 percent of them and actually uses only half that amount. Flexner says, “Just 10 basic words account for over 25% of all speech and 50 simple words for almost 60%, with between 1,500 and 2,000 words accounting for 99% of everything we say.” The most commonly used word is I, followed by you, the and a. Of our written language, Flexner says, “is only a little more varied than our spoken one, 70 words making up 50% of it.”