Friday Morning Linkage

Busy as usual, but i'm trying
to get back in the habit of posting something of substance a bit more often.
Today, i checked out my friend and co-worker's blog Ordinaryworldz he linked to a great
article about how to work with a geek, check it out.
That gave me an idea to share some other good linkage today. i think that
weblogs are quite the under-used resource on the net today. You can find some
very good and useful things/info through blogs. It's a very effective way to
disseminate knowledge to others and hopefully receive input and knowledge back
from it.

Anyway, here's a small list of blogs i try and stay up on that pertain mainly
to my occupation but they have a lot of information to Real Life in or outside
of work, mixed in with some Virtual Life tidbits. If you have ever checked out
my Feed Roller,
you'll see that these are a part of those feeds and you'll also see some of the
other WebPages i view often.

• Manager-Tools.com <-- This is a
  GREAT blog. They have weekly podcasts that cover in-depth management
  issues. It really is a great source for HR, Management, and plain old
  human understanding.

•  Lifehack.org <-- This blog is about
  just that. Hacks for life. As the site description states: "Daily
  digest and pointers on productivity, getting things done and lifehacks". Another GREAT resource.

• UtahTechJobs.com <-- "Utah technical jobs, advice for job seekers and hiring managers." other than the obvious job seeking posts, Robert Merril, the blog owner, usually has some pretty decent insight on various HR issues and business. (btw, the image in his post from today could easily be changed from New York, to Utah Valley)

• A Day in the Life of a
  Project Manager <-- This is a fairly new addition to my
  work-related blogs. i found it at ITtoolbox.com
  which is another pretty good source of management and IT info.

Obviously, a fledgling geek like me has a billion other
links i could share. Little by little i eventually will.

Apple copies Microsoft

So following up on some more Apple bashing:

Apple announced today that it's entering into a partnership with Nike. Adding a mileage thingamajig to what i'm sure is an extremely expensive shoe that links with your extremely expensive music player to show you how many miles you've taken your chubby self down the road. First of all, there are a lot of things i could go off on. But foremost is that this isn't new. Not at all. Watches do the same thing and have for years. ... heck, even my phone does this better than what Apple is proposing. And my phone plays movies, and mp3's just peachy a long with bluetooth, Outlook, and a hundred other things that make it usefull. ... oh, and it was LESS expensive than any silly iPod. It looks to me that Apple just likes to take great tech ideas, dumb them down so that you loose any features other than the basics so that the n00b end user can figure it out without thinking, and sells it for 300% over the market price for similar devices.
(click on the image for the jump to the article)

Oh, and the one on my phone has far, far more features than the specs for the nike apple dealio. (not like i ever take my lazy butt out for a jog or anything) It's just fun to rag on Apple. They make it so easy sometimes.   
:p

iDont

Heh, i found some good iHate iPod linkage today. Definately worth sharing. Since my hate of the ipod is fairly known to my RL friends, i found it rather enjoyable. (they're just overpriced DRM ridden music players!)
iDont.com <-- it's actually propiganda for another mp3 player. But it's kinda funny. ... in it's own lame way i guess. It's always fun to 'lol' at the conformists out and about.

Immigrate this.

Ok, first of all, i have a biased opinion on the immigration
bill and policies that are being hashed out in DC atm. i’ve worked with several
Hispanic people and i maintain and enjoy my relationships with almost all of
them. i miss some of my good friends i’ve worked and lost contact with
actually. ... Although i am biased, i think can back up my views fairly simply.
People have always looked to the United States to fulfill their
dreams and visions of a better life. That's how we advertize oursleves to the World for heck sakes! People with hope for a better life will
always migrate to where they feel is the best place to fulfill that hope and dream for themselves and
their families. The freaking pilgrams did. Even before they arrived from England to kick
the native Indians out of their own land, they migrated for the same reasons. They were in a really crappy situation. So they made a conscious
decision, knowing and understanding the consequeses: death and the unknown. But
they also had hope. (just like those risking crossing the borders) …  Too bad the
American indians didn’t have an immigration bill. … or minute men patrolling the shores to kick the arses of the silly conquistadores.  …

First of all, if you enter into the United States illegaly, technically, yes this makes you a
criminal. The same way J-walking, and not coming to a complete stop, or driving
faster than the legal limit technically makes you a criminal. i know, i know. But they’re illegal ryan!...
yada yada yada. What i want to know is how it’s affecting you. is it? how? Or
are you just upset that people in really shitty situations are just trying to
find a better place and life? In my eye, that’s what this all boils down to.
The minute men patroling the border are nothing more than moderate racists, some of them even fly the rebel flag at their rallies. ... if
they have legitimate issues about jobs being lost because of people crossing
the border, i say, get a freaking education, hick. Or in other words, ‘Cry more
n00b’. You were born in the US. A better
chance of education and oportunity to progress, get a real job, one that you
use your knogg’n instead of your back and hands. But since you didn’t take
advantage of it, someone who has a stronger drive just may take your job on the
farm. And i hope that someone, illegal immigrant or legal immigrant, takes your job.
Simple rule of economics and the wild. The strong will survive, and the weak
won’t. So just shutup and take it. or do something to help yourself instead of
complaining about Juan who works harder and more efficient than you and takes
your job because he has the drive and vision of a better life.

Sure there are the arguments about illegal immigrants in the
jail system, and somehow taking advantage of wellfare. But the fault lies on
the business’ that are giving them jobs. Plain and simple. if the gov would
just crack down on the idiots that keep hiring and paying these people under
the table the illegal immigrant situation wouldn’t be a situation or a problem
at all. Doing anything other than that is just lame. The real reason why they
come here is because they can get jobs. Make the employers accountable and the
problem is fixed. Plain, simple, and LEGAL. And as a side note, many illegal
immigrants are issued legitimate checks. .. with TAXES and SS taken out if it! So
take that and shove it in your ‘taking advantage of the system’ hole.

For some reason, or
curse, i was born in the US. But just ‘cause i got the better part of the celestial lotto and was born in
good ole Utah instead of iraq, iran, or anywhere in most of North Africa, or anywhwere else for that matter, doesn’t
particularly make me better or worse of a person than the next guy. What right
do i have to keep someone from trying
to make a better life for his/her family? ‘Cause that’s what it’s all about.
Spew your statistics and your rants about criminals and Hispanics waiving the Mexican
flag, but the truth is the great majority of immigrants are hard
working mothers and fathers just trying to make a better life for their
families. And i am, and will never be, in a situation to pass judgment on
someone because of their race, color or nationality.

Although i do reserve the right to pass judgement on
anything else that anyone says, does, or believes. But that’s because we all
have the right to judge. But the judging should be about an individual. Not race,
color, or any other silly generalization.  

Fix the source of the problem, the business’ that employ the
illegals, and leave the racism to you and yours if that's what you really believe.

A moment to breathe

Yeah. It's been a while again. ... i think it's been so long i'm prolly down from 3.5 readers back to the one and a half. Sry 'bout that. Things have been pretty busy lately. i think that right now is the first time i've had to actually sit down and relax alone in the last month. Crazy. i'm sitting out on my porch right now enjoying the warm 75 degree evening air. There's something about the night air i really enjoy. i was actually planning on doing laundry all night and packing for another trip to South Africa, but turns out i prolly won't end up going back until June. That's ok with me, more time on the porch. So i'm planning on getting back on the blogwagon so the 1.5 wootious readers remaining can rest assured that i'm still alive. i may not be kicking, but i'm still breathing.

Trolling some of my favorite sites today, i found an interesting one and it told me that wooties.net has an actual value of $12k!! hahah right. But it's worth posting anyway.

What time is it?

hey! it's 1:23 04/05/06 ! (Day goes before the month in South Africa)

Stupid, i know. (how's that Kenna? a blog about nothing!)

...again

Here's some random linkage for the wootious readers of Wooties. Linkedin.com is a networking site for professionals. Have a look and Link up with me!