Wednesday, February 14, 2007

A job hunter's ordeal

I read this account from a fella who was struggling to find a job. It's kinda sad to read or hear these stories, and I know what it's like to be stressed out over finding a job.

It's good to know that he did find a job. I remember how stressed out I was during my job searches, especially when offers seemed to be dangled right in front of me, only to be yanked away at the last moment. It was always such a huge relief when a job offer finally came through, especially with my current employer.

I know that a lot of guys out there were stressing over employment worries a few years ago. The employment crisis isn't quite so bad nowadays, but I know that for many techies, it's still a problem. I feel for them, and I hope that I never have to go through that problem again.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Craig, Tana, and Kendra

The final three competitors in season three of The Apprentice were Tana, Kendra, and mealy-mouthed Craig. Tana and Craig were a team, but they clearly did not get along well with Kendra. For whatever reason, they simply had very different mindsets.

It's interesting to note, however, that earlier on in the series, they seemed to get along much better. Perhaps this simply shows how stress can bring out tensions between competitors.

It's also worth noting that when Trump first organized a corporate reshuffle -- that is, when he had teams Magna and Net Worth pick out people whom they would send to the other side, Net Worth's Chris Shelton chose to eject both Tana and Craig. I don't know what that means.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Windows aggravations

Microsoft programs can be so aggravating. Windows is a prime example. All of it security failings are a grievous problem, and the persistent need for patches simply illustrates its shortcomings and vulnerabilities.

I also hate the way Windows allows an application window to simply pop up without warning. "Well, what's wrong with that?" one might ask. "After all, if you called up a web browser, then you've got to expect that it'll appear sometime." That's not the point, though; after all, when and where the window pops up is critical as well. If you're typing into a document window, for example, and another document window pops up elsewhere... well, if the focus gets diverted to that window, then it can be most aggravating. And if you're attempting to click on a button in one application just before another dialog window pops up, then the results can be disastrous.

And don't get me started on Word. Sometimes, it's most impressive, but at other times, it's just plain aggravating.

And the way Windows Explorer sometimes takes forever to pop up, simply because it's doing too much stupid, unnecessary stuff in the background.... that's just insanely stupid. It also hogs CPU resources in the process. In fact, my computer practically froze as I was typing the preceding sentences, simply because I was also attempting to start Explorer in the background. Apparently, Explorer feels the need to digest a whole lot of its subdirectory contents, regardless of whether the user ever expects to use that info. It's just mindnumbingly dumb.

Yes, Microsoft products stink.