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Entries in increase (8)

Thursday
Dec042008

Viacom and ATT layoff some people. (12,850 People)

Today, we are announcing a company-wide restructuring plan that includes staffing reductions in all divisions. This will result in a reduction of our worldwide workforce of approximately 7 percent, or about 850 positions. We are also suspending salary increases for the Company's senior level management in 2009. In addition, after a comprehensive review of our operations, we will write down certain programming and other assets. These three actions will bring us significant cost savings and other efficiencies.



[via Gawker]



[ad#ad2-left]This is a Sad day for the telecommunications industry both AT&T and Viacom are laying off people. According to reports Viacom will lay off around 850 people. ATT will layoff 12,000 Jobs. Here's the quote from Associated Press:



AT&T Inc. joined the recession's parade of layoffs Thursday by announcing plans to cut 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force.



[Via Associated Press]



So in all today total that is 12,850 people who are going to be laid off. This is another set of layoffs but isn't the last to see the whole list of of Layoffs in the Tech industry that I've talked about please click this link. You may find some usefull tidbits if you search my blog enough, I've got some great tips on getting hired and what you should do to be prepared.
Sunday
Nov302008

Stop botnets in its tracks With a Firewall!

According to PC World and I'll quote:
According to FireEye chief scientist Stuart Staniford, detection rates are so poor that, on average, only around 40 percent of security software can detect binaries during the period of greatest infectivity and danger, namely the first few days after a particular variant starts being used by botnet builders.

[via PC World]

[ad#ad2-left]Now let's talk about this, having been seeing recent surges of people getting infected.  I've come to the conclusion that companies like AVG and other Anti-Virus companies are keeping up.   Now true if all you have is an Anti-virus and nothing else that greatly increases your likely hood of getting a virus.

In a recent virus storm, We have people finding my site because of a Good Firewall.   No if he didn't have anything but Windows firewall then it would of gotten through and you would not of known about it.  So let's talk about how to prevent botnet attacks.   This is relatively easy and if you follow some common rules.   You to could be less likely to be infected.  I will say this most people don't do these common tips and they should do them.

[ad#digg-right]So what should you do to help prevent from getting a Virus or Malware.  This is really simple, you want to find an Anti-virus Software that you like, and Firewall that you like also.  You'll also want to download the tools to better help you in case you do get infected.  Some of these tools I recommend are Hijackthis, Spybot Search and Destroy, Hitman Pro, and Ad-aware 2007 Edition (FREE).  Then Go buy a Sandisk USB memory Stick and put those on there for later use!!  You will always want to keep a backup of those just in case you get infected.

[ad#ad2-right]Make sure you update Windows regularly.  Having seen this time and time again, if you don't keep windows updated then you lose the battle.  If you have a system that needs updating, I suggest downloading the Clone to Autopatcher.  This little program will download the files needed to update your system without having to be online.  Although, you can have windows update automatically every month but that might not update the recommended updates only the ones that are hot.  It doesn't matter which way you prefer to update, as long as you do to update regularly, Like every 2nd Tuesday of the Month.

One last tip you should also keep your Firewall and Anti-virus updated.  There is a little program that will do that, it's call AppSnap.  If you follow all these recommendations you will greatly reduce your chances of getting a virus on your system.
Sunday
Nov092008

Rumor: GE to be the next to layoff its workers!!

GE to Layoff 11,000 Workers!! GE to Layoff it workers!

According to sources of friends close to me, their seems to be a consensus that there will be a major layoff coming from GE. My source is talking about it being a lot of people will be laid off and that it will start happening in the coming weeks.

According to Yahoo Finance saying this "52 week change of GE is -50.86% from last year. "

[ad#ad2-right-1]Now last year this time there Stock Price was 38.38 a Share and now they are 18.60 a share.  They dropped -19.78 over the year.   The seemed to get close to the 38.38 a share on April 4, 2008 with making  37.56 a share.  That was there highest this year, due to the fact that people were getting there income tax refunds in the mail.    Also NYSE says they had a slight increase in July and Aug, that is due to the Stimulus package that we got in 2008.



Now I'm not a financial expert in the least.  I just see what I see with stock prices.  These could mean they are doing extremely well, or they could indicate that the company is planning on laying people off.  I'm just trying to provide a background on why they might lay people off.  We are getting to he point of becoming a Depression and no longer a Recession.  What do you think?
Wednesday
Nov052008

AT&T smacks the gauntlet at you!

[ad#ad2-right]

According to Cnet News:
The test, which began being applied in the Reno, Nev., area on Saturday, limits customers of AT&T's slowest DSL service to 20 gigabytes of monthly data transfers, while users of the fastest service will be limited to 150 gigabytes. Customers will have access to an online tool to track their usage and will receive notification when they reach 80 percent. Those who exceed their limits will be charged $1 per gigabyte.

[Via Cnet News]


So you just received the information that AT&T is doing this. How do you want to keep track of your online usage. I've got some good tools to help you. Although they will only help to a certain point you must remember a few tips and these tips are:[ad#ad2-left]


With these steps you would greatly increase stoping unnecessary use of your bandwidth.  Most people don't understand that any program you use on your network will be counted on the total bill.  If you know of any good ways to help stop bandwidth by all means tell people and if you find any good programs that might help, please leave a comment.
Friday
Oct102008

5 ways to improve your chance of getting hired.

Having seen the economy this week, I've come to the conclusion that it is time to redo all the important essentials and get all my ducks in the order as they say.   I've been thinking of how best to be ready in case the dreaded day comes when my employer no longer needs my assistance and what could I do to be prepared.

[ad]

  • Get Someone to Critique your Resume -- This is the most important step because this is the first place employers look when they want to hire someone.  So how do you get it critiqued?   Here are some good links to help you start off with:  Careerbuilder Critique, Mind of Root Peer Critique(Last until Oct 30, 2008).

  • Have your Resume Ready to upload to Resume sites --  You should always register at all the important resume sites just in case.  The Sites that I recommend are : Monster, Career BuilderHot jobs, Dice, US jobs, Best Jobs USA, Computer Jobs, and Nation Job.

  • Use your website as a place to put your Resume -- Have your resume available in case some contacts you and tells you they know someone who is looking to hire people.  Have this resume hidden and only give it out to people you know.   This is also known as networking.

  • Network as much as possible --  There are sites out there that have made it easier to network.  Sites like linkedin.com, this site is great because of the 6 degrees of possibility as I call it.  You know someone, they know someone, and then you will both know the same one!!   This also will greatly increase your chance of an employer finding you.

  • For those who want to be Self employed --  I wanted to say that most people who want to be self employed know just how hard it is to begin with.  So I've got some interesting links to help start you on your way.   First link is Technibble.com Computer Business Kit,  This has Maintenance Sales Letter, Work Order, Marketing Analysis and Payment Overdue Letter. It is also a good idea to have an MP3 Advertisement that you can give to podcast and throw them the link to it.  You will need to market yourself to the public in ways that no one has thought of.   You will on an occasion have to spend money in order to get money, it's always been that way but it seems to work.


These are some great tips that will greatly improve your chances of landing that job or becoming even more chance of you making money.   If you have any tips or want to suggest ways to improve upon these tips please email me.   If you like what you see discuss it on the blog or click on my ads to help offset the cost of this blog.
Friday
Aug292008

Living the Life of a Blogger 101

Having been blogging for the last few months and years. I've learned so much from blogger the platform. I thought I would talk about that in this post. To give those who want to use Googles Blogger platform to there fullest. It is inconsequential to the grand scheme of blogging. It is not enough to just blog it has to be some kind of meaning in it. You have to think of how best can I help people out. It is legal to use fair use. That is why congress has put it into congress.

Fair Use comes from the idea of using something that is 'Copyrighted' and use some portion of it to talk about or as a demonstration. Most people don't understand that, you can use anything on the web as long as you don't publish there material fully. I like to us hulu for example. I've embedded there videos on my site, and talked about Hulu from time. This last few weeks they had clues out on there site. I started trying to solve the clues they Published to better help figuring out there clues. Although they might consider there promotion as being copyrighted. I used there clues to publish what I considered was fair use. They couldn't do much other than smile that some one started blogging about there clues weekly because once they published there clues. I had the right to try to figure the clues out. I actually loved doing it.

[ad]


So why do we blog if we can have it protected?

In truthfulness, anything I publish will inevitable be published somewhere else on some one elses blog. Now they have the right to publish small clips of my stuff or even to link to my site. That comes from understanding my community and relationship with others. I have to let them do what they want with my blog post to an extent because I can't make the readers mad by sending out the old fashioned "Cease and Desist" orders. That would make my readers mad. I know how important it is to make my readers becoming my FAN.

How do you make your readers a Fan?

I identify with my readers because I know how I once was a reader myself. I have certain blogs that I like to read from time to time. I've got my blogs I like to read and comment on and I hope you do too. It's something that comes from years of reading and having a passion for telling people my point. I know people are uncomfortable making comments on blogs. They think the writer will not see or read it. Some also think the owner of the blog will delete the comment. That comes with understanding that we have to prune the comments because sometimes we have those annoying spam comments and others that will try to start a flame comment war. Those aren't needed in blogs we either like it or make a comment how the writer could of made it better. I am constantly thinking about how I can make my published work better and having more content. This is how I do it, I think about what I like to talk about and I make it more real. I then make it more reader friendly so that, I get the readers involved and let them choice what they want to read. People are always going to be picky they will always want a choice that is always going to happen.

[ad]


How do we get readers involved in a blog?

Little things can get readers to become involved in a blog. I remember a time on how I talked a little about Hulu the first time. I got a comment from the creator of Hulu to leave a comment. That was Awesome and Softened me to see just how many people read my blog and comment about my blog. I've learned during a regular blogging session, I need to keep commenting on the blogs because it makes people want to get involved in my blog and will greatly increase my blog community.

Can I start my own blog?

You can start a free blog just as I did. You would only need to sign up to Blogger and start blogging. Giving people the ability to start blogging is essential to making a difference in my writing ability because of the possible comments people will make on my blog. That is what I want to see more of is comments because people will always want to read the comments on a blog. Just like TechCrunch people love to go to that site to read or hear comments. I've done it, and I am sure others do to. That is a community and I like that type of community.

[ad]
Wednesday
Aug272008

Hulu United States Only -- FAQ


In a Comment on there Hulu Blog,


Umm, when exactly did Hulu decide to shut its doors to everyone outside of America? The site's title is "Watch your Favorites. Anytime. For Free". I'm sorry Hulu, this is a complete lie, as anyone viewing your site outside of the US is banned from viewing your videos. All the time. So that you know, I intend on writing a letter to Joss Whedon asking that he pull his Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog video from your network and redistribute it to a video site that isn't run by people who embrace the philosophy "Defective By Design". That way, the thousands of other people wanting to see this video, like me, don't have to resort to downloading the thing via the piratebay.

Well, This is something I wanted to discuss for everyone who reads my blog why Hulu isn't allowing anyone outside of America to see the videos.   It's all have to do with there contracts they have with certain providers.

Let me explain it to you another way, Hulu is now being watch all over North America.  Hulu is obligated to make sure no one out side of the US can watch these movies because they have "NO RIGHTS" to share this with anyone out side of the US.  When Hulu makes deals with these major distributors, they sign a contract.  In the contract somewhere at sometime, they are explicitly forbidden to stream this material outside of the US.

Is there ways around this?

Having experience in the computer repair and understand of what is required for someone to get around this type of "Protection" is somewhat hard.  Here is the reason, when Hulu banned people from watching outside of the US they did so by banning a group of Internet Protocols.

Here are Three ways at which I know you can watch HULU programming.  Be advised that these are ways to get around the protection and by doing this, You hold me not responsible for any and all actions.  I talk about this because it would be unfair not to, I've got to have some responsibility to my readers.

  • USE A PROXY Server in the United States --  Now this one is the hardest because I don't know of any.  I am not going to do your homework for you, but I will say there has to be several in the US.  Be Warned that using this will greatly reduce quality and speed.  You will sooner or later be found out and blocked, so use this one is at your own risk.

  • Ask Major Media Distributors to join HULU -- Writing to them and asking them to join Hulu will increase the likely hood of them opening up the resources to let people view outside of HULU.  You see the other distributors have the rights to distribute outside of the US.  If you get them to come to Hulu, you will be giving them the power to allow certain content to be streamed outside of HULU.  If you want to contact the distributors and ask them to join Hulu, by all means go through the IMDB and look for the distributors you want on HULU and find out how to email them or Snail Mail them!!

  • USE an VPN to Access HULU -- This one is like Proxy Servers but this one is most often used by people who are traveling outside of the US.  That's right if your company has a VPN inside of the US you can watch shows.  This too could get your IP banned from Hulu, although I tell you this for those business men and women who are traveling and live in the United States and Military people too.  Has all the same flaws as Proxy, will slow you down, and quality will take a hit also!!



These are just a few of the ways you could stream information from HULU but use at your own risk.  If you have any other comments to add just go ahead and add them.  I want to hear what people think or what they want me to talk about.
Tuesday
Jul292008

Five Ways to Increase Email Productivity!

As time goes by there are always going to be problems with having Email and being productive.  You can have so much stuff going on in one day it's not even possible to really have time to thoroughly check your email.  So here are some great steps to get some of your emails done with!!

[ad]

  1. Empty your InBox -- If you don't have control over your inbox maybe it is time to make sure it's empty or at least all read!!  It's true most of the time I don't read all my emails, I pick and choose what I want to read.  After that, I decide to make all post marked at read!!  I call it the Panic button!!



  2. Organize your Inbox -- Having been signed up for several different email groups.  I've got it all organized.  I've got a folder setup and used for each group.  I then create a mail filter for each group and have it put it there, unless it's spam then I have it go into the spam folder!! (also see Email Filtering)



  3. Check your Email on Off peak Hours -- Not having a lot of time can sometimes create a need to check your email in the morning or afternoon.  I rarely check it during the day.  So I get all my emailing done either in the morning or late night! As long as you keep in mind not to waste time with the emails.  You can get done with most of your emails in under an hour, unless you get more than 1000 a day, then it's a different story.



  4. Automate Repetitive Emails --  Having been getting the same emails over and over that aren't spam.  I've got a filter in place to automaticly send out a response to the sender and say I've seen the problem and am fixing the problem ASAP.  You too can do that with your emails system.  If you have something that can be automated do it.  It can save you time and money in the long run!!



  5. Unclutter your Email system -- Yes that is right to much clutter slows down your chances of getting done with what you need to get done with.  I have done it and it greatly increased my speed in my emails.  Having been email for the past several years I find it essential to keep my email uncluttered!!



[ad]


Although, All of these are lifehacker recommendations. I found the most important ones that I have intrigrated into my email performance and I thought I share them with you. I hope these help you in the long run. If you got a tip you would like to share by all means leave a comment!!