Well after almost two years at Quality Gold, I’ll be starting a new job on the 29th. Kind of came out of nowhere, I figured I’d be at QG for one more year before I considered a change, and I turned down a lot of interview request due to this thought process. However the opportunity that presented itself was not something I felt I could pass up.
Though I had to chuckle a bit as I put this blog on my resume, and what is the first thing they saw when they came to my blog? An image about a pr0n star!!!
This new job has several new challenges and opportunities for me that I look forward to tackling.
Plus I’ll be working along side the only guy I know who has known my wife longer than I have! He and I have known each other since the 7th grade, though we weren’t really friends until the 8th and 9th grade. So while I hope this job change will actually give me a little more time to blog on this site, it very well could have the opposite affect. Time will tell.
Being a pretty devout Christian man certain anti-social behaviors in the technical industry hit a nerve with me. The two that stick out to me the most are pretty obvious, course language and something that I am having a hard time putting into words. Sexism seems a bit to strong of a word, but it hits on the overall thought that I have.
Let me also make this clear in that I am allowing for a separation from personal life actions and professional life actions. If it is your personal time, then do what you want. Who am I to judge? However when you are in a professional setting I don’t think it is to much to ask for a bit of professionalism. I wish I could say this is a limited problem, but its not. Far to many of those in the technical field will drop the F-bomb in a heart beat. Yes, I didn’t use the word. I don’t cuss (see the devout Christian man part…). That word makes me cringe, but lets be honest in a professional setting there aren’t many curse words that make me comfortable.
While I won’t call the presenter out publically here, there was one time I was at a presentation and before hand I heard the presenter lamenting about not being an MVP. He didn’t know why. Technically he was very sound and skilled. However his language was pretty poor. I even took the time to email him personally about it. Never got a reply, but I hope he takes it into consideration. Then you have the guys at DotNetRocks who have their twice-weekly podcast. What we generally get is a cleaned up version. Though they do drop the F-Bomb on occasion and one time they forgot to scrub the podcast before posting on the web. It was loaded with the F-Bomb. For me a professional setting should remain professional. Especially when you are in mixed company. If you know all involved and know their comfort level, that is one thing. But if you are presenting to a room of strangers, you should keep your mouth in check.
Then we get to the second part, sexism. We are the industry that took the porn industry to the next level. This topic is usually brought up in very subtle comments, however recently a fellow by the name of Matt Aimonetti took it to the next level. He recently gave a presentation on the Ruby technology titled,(WARNING… graphic images) CouchDB: Perform like a pr0n star. Just an initial glance at his power point presentation would give most folks a very uneasy feeling. I really don’t know how this ever seemed like a good idea to Mr. Aimonetti. He did address the topic publically.
What I think is the root of the issue is the makeup of the men in the technology sector. We were/are the geeks in life. We were the outcast and failed to really build great social interactions with people. Most people grow out of that lack of relationship building at some point, but since we are around like minded folks we push this envelope without giving it a second thought. Or as some of the commenter's put it, ‘still living in their mom’s basement at 35 years old’.
Can’t we all just grow up a little?
I took the time today to upgrade my blog to version 1.5.
The main new item in this release for my casual reader is the ability to have nested comments. So now you have a ‘Reply’ option to comments so, who you are replying to is obvious.
Overall DNBE is a very good blog engine and if you run a blog, well worth the transfer to it.
Recently I have entered a contest to lose the most weight at my work. Being the geek that I am, I created an online spreadsheet using Google Documents. Unbelievably, I found a very basic error in Google Documents. You can see from the image below (click for larger) that I have two columns that are generated from a very simple formula: B2-B3, basically 263.4 – 254.9 and the answer is 8.5. But Google Documents says its 8.49999999999997. A very odd error to see.
As readers of my blog and friends know, my wife and I are certified foster parents. In our county the foster care system has setup a non-profit, non-governmental institution to raise money and resources to support foster families and the children in the system.
It is called Keeping Families Connected Committee (KFCC for short). One of their big fundraisers each year is a charity walk. This is my first year in this system and my first year in the walk.
Can you support me? Any amount would help, and with the way it is setup I won’t know who gave what. So if you give, let me say thank you! If you can’t give, that’s OK! I fully understand.
The donations can be given one of two ways. Either by PayPal (so using your PayPal account or a credit card) or by mailing in a check.
You can get the information to donate here. Please specify me when you are donating so they can tie it to me, this is a link during the process that says 'insert person or team donating for'.
Alan Stevens presented at CINNUG this month, and I have to say his presentation was powerful.
Being a pretty devout Christian man I have heard a lot of sermons and presentations about things and this presentation was a top tier level presentation. Very practical about how a career evolves.
It is WELL worth the time it takes to watch the video, if you create a Vimeo account you can download the source file for offline viewing.
I’m sure if you visit Alan Stevens blog or Twitter account he will let it be known when his PowerPoint file is online… check that, you can download the 66MB file here (but his link seems broke, so I’ll update if it changes). Here is the PowerPoint.
Again, well worth the watch.
DotNetBlogEngine.NET (DNBE) has many extensions and managers to fight comment spam, but no matter what happens the spammers seem to be one step ahead of the automated system available to us.
So I went back to a static extension from Chris Blankenship. After looking at it, I determined I wanted to add a few more fields to statically block comments. Thus Comment Blacklister 2.0 is born.
I have taken his extension and added the ability to block commenter’s by email, IP, and web url.
Nothing special about it. Download the zip file and put the CS file into your App_Code folder, then manage it through the Extension Manager.
Just for reference here is the other main comment spam extension I use, though as a stand alone it is not enough.
Download Commentor Blacklist 2.0.
Its true, Mr. I AM A PC license plate bought an iPhone. However its become obvious that there can be a biased review on this product. So I’ll make a series of post reviewing what I love and hate about this phone. However step one is something that I think everybody needs to know about the iPhone. How to protect your investment.
An iPhone is a pretty big investment for a phone. I figure mine has a 50% chance of making it through my two year contract. So when I went to my local AT&T store to buy my phone I first inquired about insurance for the phone. The sales person tried to sell me the ‘Apple Care Program’. So I asked if this would cover if I dropped the phone and the glass cracked, he said no. Then I asked if AT&T sold anything that would protect it, and he again said no. He then tried to tell me that Apple will replace it if you go to the store, but I took that with skepticism.
I went to my local Apple store and asked them and they confirmed my skepticism. While 
there are exceptions to be found on the internet, the corporate policy of Apple is that only manufacturing defects are to be replaced. So the Apple Care Program was not worth the money they wanted for it.
However while at the Apple store I bought an incase wrapper for the phone. It is a rubber case that allows the iPhone absorb a fall a bit more. It cost $30 but for me that is well worth it when the phone cost $399.
Then if you are interested you can buy a cover for the glass that protects your screen from scratches. Some of these are like 2 for $10. However years ago I learned a little secret. You can go to your local craft store and buy a roll of vinyl for next to nothing. I bought a role of this vinyl which could likely be cut into 20 covers for 56 cent. In my local store I found the vinyl cover next to all the cloth that you can have but to size. It is on the same roles as those fabrics.
Finally I had to resolve the insurance issue. After a search on the web I found two options. The first being a rider on my home owners insurance. I looked into it, asking the following two questions:
1. What is the cost?
2. Is it a chargeable claim? Basically if I make a claim will it hurt my rates on my home owners insurance.
The cost was cheap. $10 per year. However it was a chargeable claim, so not something I was willing to do.
Then I found SquareTrade.com For $96 I got a two year insurance plan with a $50 deductible. This is a must have for any iPhone owner. It has a 30 day window in which you can’t make a claim, so take care of your phone for that first month.
Any developer knows the fun that IE 6 causes us.
Things will work on EVERY other browser, but once that is opened up in IE 6… you are hosed!
In my Google Reader, I saw the following post telling everybody to ‘Grow up already and throw IE6 Away!”. Couldn’t agree more so I clicked on the link, read the article which led me to this solution.
So now my websites will show a warning for all IE 6 users.
If you own a website, why don’t you join me?
So I am publishing this on the day that digital TV was supposed to become official. But our government decided we should wait. Now before this was going down I emailed both of my senator’s to let them know that they should let the change go on as expected. That there would always be people not prepared to make the switch. We still have people using Internet Explorer 5.5, how in the world do they expect everybody to be ready for a switch of digital TV. Here is the reply I got from Sherrod Brown, one of my senators. George Voinovich, my other senator, is a bit of a waste and always takes weeks to reply.
Dear Mr. Klopfstein:
Thank you for expressing your views on efforts to delay the DTV transition date.
It is absolutely essential that no viewers are left in the dark when analog broadcasts are turned off. In 2005, during committee consideration of legislation setting standards for the transition, I supported efforts to provide complete funding for every household to be able to purchase two set-top converter boxes. Unfortunately, this amendment did not pass the committee.
The legislation that did pass was designed to partially subsidize consumer purchases of converter boxes. The bill set up guidelines to provide two forty-dollar coupons to requesting U.S. households. Coupons were to be issued between January 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, with a provision that individuals must use their coupons within three months after issuance.
However, the NTIA recently announced that because of funding issues, those requesting coupons would be placed on a "waiting list" and coupons would be mailed out on a first-come-first-served basis, as funds from expired coupons become available.
In response to these developments, President Obama urged lawmakers to postpone the February 17th deadline for the DTV transition. The President also requested that Congress craft legislation that would provide additional funding for the coupon program and devise new accounting rules so that all those who request converter box coupons can receive them.
Bipartisan legislation recently introduced by Congress would delay the switchover date until June 12th, 2009. However, some television stations may be permitted to switch to digital before June 12th with the approval of the Federal Communication Commission. Additionally, the legislation also includes a provision allowing consumers with expired coupons to re-apply for replacements.
In these tough economic times, I am very concerned about the costs that consumers, particularly low-income households, could incur during the switch to digital television. I support President Obama and Congress’s efforts to ensure that all Americans receive DTV coupons and that everyone is prepared for these changes.
Thank you again for being in touch with me.
Sincerely,
Sherrod Brown
Understand the burden he put out here. That NO viewer be left behind. Just rubbish.