The Former Pundit

Throttled no more - and never was!

2008-06-15T13:13:00.002-04:00

I owe Verizon FiOS an apology.

In my last post, I suggested Verizon had throttled my connection in an insidious manner by remotely restricting the speed of my internal network to 10 Mbps. I now learn I was wrong. Still, I'm pleased to learn a new set of symptoms to watch for when a router is failing.

Many months ago, I discovered, but did not report, my Verizon-supplied Actiontec MI424WR router had mysteriously failed to recognize the encrypted wireless connection from one of my PCs. It had worked faithfully for some time, then suddenly refused to recognize the PC-provided key. I worked on the connection at some length, and finding it would accept something somewhat less secure, but still moderately safe, I settled for that lesser connection. I now believe that was the first symptom of impending failure.

The episode I reported in my last blog was but another symptom. It really made no sense to me that all 100 Mbps wired connections would work one day, and fail the next, yet the 10 Mbps would work without fault. I felt something was amiss, but Bocona's tendency toward believing conspiracy theories left me weak in that regard, and so I blamed Verizon... even though I had not spoken with them on the issue.

But when the router suddenly seized up and dropped all connections, I was left with no choice but to call Verizon. Power cycling did nothing for me locally, and while Verizon reported they could connect to and speak with the router from their end, their efforts to restart the router on their end produced nothing. They quickly gave up trying and overnighted a new router.

The new router (same model) works flawlessly. I'm again secured and back up to speed.

The moral of this story, all political motives aside, is when the Verizon-supplied equipment stops doing what it is supposed to do, I can troubleshoot to my heart's content, but should still contact Verizon support. It may well be that I'm experiencing symptoms of a bigger problem that only Verizon is aware of, and failing to report it only delays an inevitable heartache.

And while I'm at it, I should work harder to be more immune to Bocona's wild ideas!

The Fastest Internet Connection - Throttled!

2008-05-12T04:56:00.003-04:00

There's been a lot of talk lately about ISPs throttling your bandwidth to save a little money. Of course, you don't expect an ISP to throttle your bandwidth if you're paying for that bandwidth... and if they failed to provide the contracted bandwidth, there might be legal hassles.

So how does an ISP throttle your bandwidth while at the same time provide the bandwidth they're contractually liable for?

Well, I can't speak for the legal side of the issue, not being an attorney, but from the technical side of things, throttling the NIC seems to work pretty well for Verizon FiOS.

I have a server, two PCs, and a printer on a wired network, and a separate PC on a wireless connection (fortunately, as we will see). The wired network featured a Linksys 10/100 switching router, and an older Linksys workgroup hub daisy-chained to the router. The server and the printer were attached to the workgroup hub; the PCs shared the faster 10/100 switching router, which was at one time connected to a DSL line, but has lately served only as a switch, subservient to the Verizon-provided Actiontec MI424WR router. The Actiontec offers wireless b/g connectivity, which is how the 3rd PC joins the network.

Yesterday morning, the wired network went down. Old-fashioned swap-and-test troubleshooting isolated the problem (at first) to the 10/100 switching router, so I plugged the workgroup hub into one of the Actiontec's four ports and pulled the PCs from the router, moving them to two of the Actiontec ports. Lo and behold, the standalone PCs failed to join the network, behaving similarly to the now-discarded router. A ping test showed only about half the packets were getting through.

It then occurred to me that the one common factor between the failed devices that was NOT common to the working one was that the failed devices were presenting auto-sensing 10/100 NICs to the Actiontec ports. The older workgroup hub was 10 mbps only, not a problem for the low-demand server and printer. I tested the theory by using the wirelessly-connected PC to log into the Actiontec's control panel (where I found something disturbing) and reconfigured the affected ports to 10 mbps/full-duplex. I left the PCs' own NICs at auto-sensing.

The connection miraculously cleared; my network was effectively throttled down to 10 mbps.

And that something disturbing? Someone had remotely logged into the router's console about an hour before I work that morning. No direct evidence I could find to show what was changed; the security log simply recorded the person leaving. The source address was 0.0.0.0. I'm presently inclined to think someone at Verizon had introduced a firmware upgrade that effectively killed 100 mbps connections. I don't have a better explanation.

If I get a full day free, I'll call Verizon tech support and work through the tiers until I find someone who can give me a better explanation than Verizon wanting to throttle my bandwidth without violating my service agreement. Unfortunately, with work on Goodwill Too! progressing nicely, I don't see that call coming any time soon.

Goodwill doesn't necessarily mean used goods

2007-12-26T13:38:00.000-05:00

Someone recently asked me what my biggest obstacle is to the success of Goodwill Too! (for those who just joined us, Goodwill Too! is the e-commerce web site at http://www.goodwilltoo.com operated by my employer, Goodwill Industries-Suncoast).

Of course, there are plenty of obstacles, just as there are plenty of successes, but the one that jumps out at me these days is a preconception. Goodwill Industries is well-known for quite a few things, but one thing people think of when they think of a Goodwill store is a pretty good selection of used merchandise. Gently used, more often than not, but used nonetheless. That Goodwill takes donations of used items and sells those items in their stores to generate revenue to run its programs is no surprise to most people. I think many people are surprised, though, to learn not every Goodwill store limits itself to donated goods.

Like many Goodwills elsewhere, Goodwill-Suncoast supplements its stores' offerings with a copious amount of new items. Since the organization's customers are used to finding used items at very low prices, the new merchandise is also offered for less than typical retail. This is not a universal idea, however. Not every Goodwill, worldwide, offers new goods. It is easy enough to tell which ones do, however, when one walks in a store. The new goods are packaged like they would be anywhere else, so they tend to stand out.

So, when I was tasked with building a virtual Goodwill store, the aforementioned Goodwill Too!, I knew I'd be able to offer both new goods and gently used goods, and our local customers don't seem to have a problem with it.

The problem is, web site visitors from outside Goodwill-Suncoast's area often assume everything offered on the web site is previously used. It doesn't seem to matter what we say on the site, they want to believe the entire site is stocked with donated merchandise.

Yes, we have some gently used items online, but for the most part, they are confined to the Gently Used Merchandise category. The rest of the site, roughly 7/8 of the inventory, is brand new merchandise. Those low prices you see on items are low because we got a good deal on them... not because the items had been used once!

So, success would come to Goodwill Too! a bit faster if people looked at the merchandise the right way. Goodwill Too! is a shopping web site offering retail items cheaply and carrying a few donated items because, after all, we are still Goodwill!

I think if the Goodwill Too! Team just got that word out, people who shied away from Goodwill stores in the past would take a peek at our selection, and shortly another barrier would fall.

What do you think?

Like any good sailor, one must learn when to change tack

2007-11-26T13:19:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've last written, as you can tell. Of course I have an excuse (it's up to you whether you're willing to buy my excuse). You see, I have a new job.

No, I didn't lose the one I acquired when I last wrote. That's the job that's been keeping me busy, and I've finally gotten to the point where I can talk about it.

For the first few months my job was a bit of a mystery, because my key responsibility was a project we were developing below the industry radar. Whether that was a good idea is no longer a question. The project became visible to the light of day on October 29, 2007, and the task has switched from development to maintenance.

On October 29, the world learned (at least, those in the world who cared) that I had been named E-Commerce Manager for Goodwill Industries-Suncoast. My task was to build and manage a virtual Goodwill Store. There were quite a few really interesting ways I could have gone about this task; I took one of the least interesting ones. Why? I believed I had no choice.

The project, in fact, the whole E-Commerce Department, is not a subset of IT, like many would expect. No, E-Commerce is a subset of the group that runs the brick & mortar stores, and more specifically, the E-Commerce Manager answers to the Director of Acquisitions and Allocations (A&A). A&A, while waiting for an incoming E-Comm Mgr, attempted to lay the groundwork, with some assistance from IT. The result is that many of the initial decisions were made before I came aboard, and as the new guy, I didn't believe I had the ability to challenge those decisions.

So, I went with the flow.

The result is the web site you'll find at goodwilltoo.com. When I find the time to talk, down the road, I'll probably talk some about that web site: the reasoning behind some decisions as well as comments about products, themselves. Particularly fun, from my point of view, is how work as an e-commerce manager in a world unattached to IT or Marketing departments compares to my previous (mis)conceptions.

Oh, and as you'd expect, I'll close with this: if you happen to be someone who likes to save money when shopping, please be sure to visit the web site. And while you're at it, bring some friends. Not just for Goodwill, but for me as well!

Change for the Better

2007-07-25T08:45:00.000-04:00

It's funny how things can happen just when they need to happen. Take my job and my water lines, for example ...

A dramatic increase in our water bill told us something was amiss. The county water department nonchalantly informed us we had a water leak somewhere in the 50+ year-old plumbing on our property, but was kind enough to tell us they'd rebate part of the water bill when we present them with a copy of the plumber's bill for fixing the leak. That, of course, means we have to have a plumber fix the leak. We knew we'd need pipe work eventually, but my less-than-optimal current occupation made paying for a plumber a challenge. Unfortunately, at the rate the water was apparently flowing, we'd soon need to finance our water bill, so we had little choice.

Finding a water leak is amazingly like finding a break in a network, and makes one think briefly about the "pipes" we pump out data through. The analogy is never clearer than when you're troubleshooting a broken water pipe. Do you know where the lines run? Check the obvious and least expensive places first. With the water main being my Internet and the meter acting as the router, I started tracing the problem just far enough to confirm the problem wasn't obvious. A water leak under ground can make itself evident, particularly in a time of drought, by an abnormally green patch of lawn over the pipe. The problem (like some I've run into chasing Ethernet breaks) is I didn't know where the pipes actually ran. No patch of lawn looked better than another, suggesting the break wasn't out in the open, but I didn't know where to look.

I gave in, and we called a leak detector. Shortening an already-too-long story, he found the leak under some bushes (which were benefiting from the extra water without actually looking like it, those devils!). Next came the plumber, and with him the bad news: The leak was a ruptured main line into the house, just past the turn-off, and the rupture led under the house.

We could put it off no longer. We had to re-pipe the house. Water was shut off, and the next week was spent getting quotes and lining up financing. Meantime, a helpful neighbor donated a bucket and access to his water, so we could keep a toilet operational. We called it a "hurricane drill", living off bottled water and quickly discovering how much stored water was needed to keep functionally sanitary (like most people, we are woefully unprepared).

The financing was the really ugly part, as my retail manager job had until now only managed to keep us afloat. Now our boat has sprung a leak and I had to find a way to keep us from sinking.

A dry dock beats a life preserver

That was when one of life's funny coincidences occurred. I answered a scantily-detailed ad for an e-commerce manager position and was pleasantly surprised to be called about it. I might even say I was amazed, given my previously noted observations on job hunting. My good fortune came from the method of response required by the employer. The ad requested faxed resumes or personally-submitted applications ... no e-mails accepted. The responses had to drop to a mere handful of applicants who were serious enough to locate a fax machine or drop by to apply. My resume, once buried in an avalanche of applicants, now stood for itself, and of course my credentials in e-commerce were exemplary (if I do say so myself).

The interview was a pleasant two-hours long, and both myself and my prospective employer were bursting with enthusiasm about the project - a new venture for the company and a new department to be managed, complete with a warehouse crew for the receiving and shipping of inventory.

They offered me the job on the same day the plumber started digging the hole to lay the new pipes. The pay is more in line with what I should be making at this point in my career (read into that whatever you want), so my boat can stay afloat a while longer. I start July 30, and hope to share my observations and pitfalls as I go.

See? Things do have a way of working out. Who would have thought ...?

Victory over Checkers ... of a sort

2007-07-07T17:19:00.000-04:00

You may recall I've had an ongoing feud with Checkers over customer service. More specifically, I grew tired of the local restaurant's carelessness in handling a special order, where they time and time again ignored requests to hold onions on sandwiches Bocona would order, despite warnings that she was allergic to them. Even a call to their corporate offices went unreturned.

Bocona forgave them, since she really does like the Big Buford burgers. I was the one who had to deal with their ineptness, however, and I insisted that my boycott of the restaurant be maintained.

Perhaps I was not alone in my actions.

Earlier this week we drove past the restaurant in question and found it closed. Not just closed, but very closed. Quite permanently so. The signs are gone, the windows boarded up. It appears the company decided the store simply wasn't worth saving.

No, we never did hear from the company. But Bocona's temptation is gone, as are the chain's employees who simply couldn't learn from their mistakes. I don't necessarily wish ill-will upon those employees, but I would hope they weren't simply transferred to other locations. These people shouldn't be in a position to put customers at risk. I hope they found other work ... the kind where customer lives aren't risked when they make mistakes.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work in fast-food, but you do have a responsibility to remember the health of your customers may be affected by your actions. If you can't live up to that responsibility, don't get a job in a restaurant. It's that simple.

I'm not celebrating. I regret the restaurant had to close. But I'm glad there is one less place where quality of service plays second-fiddle to the profit margin. I truly am tired of what fast-food has become.

One man's protection is another man's censorship

2007-06-25T13:18:00.000-04:00

My attention has been drawn toward Google's fight against global Internet censorship, and like many others, I find it amusing that Google has chosen to champion this cause, in light of its well-publicized participation in the censorship of the web from within Chinese IP space. I've read Google's line on both subjects - how censorship is an economic issue, rather than a political one, and that their censorship of web searches from China was necessary to allow Chinese access to any part of Google - and I don't exactly see the positions as contradictory.

Like any other corporation, Google clearly wants to have its cake and eat it too. No surprise. Google regrets having to censor Chinese access, but looks at the censorship as the lesser of two evils. After all, how can a company truly succeed with a motto like "Do no Evil" when it is given a choice between one of two evils?

But today's issue is global Internet censorship, which, if defeated, would essentially allow Google to remove the blocks it was forced to place on Chinese inquiries. A noble cause, one might say, and very characteristic of Internet culture. After all, my ability to write these words comes courtesy of the freedom from censorship afforded me by my residency in the United States.

But that doesn't mean I'm not being censored. Yes, I have freedom of speech, but we've already seen numerous cases where that freedom carries a caveat. You can't shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater, as one famous example puts it (unless there really is a fire, I suppose). There are restrictions on one's freedom from censorship - and how free you really are depends on the definition of censorship and who is doing the defining.

It's well and good to take a stance against censorship, but before going too far, ask yourself what you might be opening the gates for. Pornography? Piracy? Spam? Terrorism? Where is that line between protection and censorship? Who should have the right to define it, if anyone? And what makes that party any better at drawing the line than the next party?

The fight against global Internet censorship is probably a spin-off of the fight for Net Neutrality, and just like that fight, the truth lies somewhere between the spin doctors for both sides.

Don't be quick to take a position.

As for elsewhere...

Bocona reports the local Checkers has changed management, and she's willing to give them an upteenth chance. I still haven't seen an e-mail from anyone with Checkers, and am not as quick to accept an untendered apology. I hope Bocona's forgiving attitude doesn't lead her to her grave.

---

Things aren't so rosy at my retail position. For a few weeks I had them contracting me to rebuild their Internet marketing strategy (which sorely needs repair), but once they saw what it would cost them in hard dollars to do things right, that project was axed. I don't think this gig is going to last me very long.

---

Verizon and I had another spat. I requested a speed upgrade, but it didn't appear to happen, so I called support. The tech made a few adjustments and had me switch the Internet connection from the Actiontec router directly to one of my PCs. A quick SNMP reset/renew and there I was, faster, but not quite fast enough -- I thought. Arrangements were made for techs to look into the matter, but when I got off the phone and switched the connection back to the Actiontec, the Internet connection was dead.

I called back. Different tech this time, and he wasn't interested in what the previous tech had done. After 30 minutes and two router power cycles, he decided I'd blown the router, and he had to send me a replacement. Final. No buts about it.

Off the phone, I logged into the router's management console and issued an SNMP reset/renew. Problem solved... but I had to call Verizon a third time and cancel the planned delivery of a replacement router. I guarantee the contents of that call found their way to a supervisor.

So, life is faster, now, but not necessarily any better. If you have an IT position for me in the Tampa Bay area, I'd like to hear what you have to say.

If not, you are still welcome to drop by Your World News if you like.

Checkers no longer finishes the race

2007-03-19T05:49:00.000-04:00

Bocona likes the Big Buford. I have to admit, so do I.

But Bocona is also allergic to onions, one of the ingredients in Checkers' burger.

"No problem," one might say, "simply order a Big Buford without onions."

If only it were that simple. You see, we've tried that, but the Checkers restaurant on 14th Street West in Bradenton, FL doesn't seem to know how to do special orders. In fact, they can't even get the simple ones right.

Four of the last five visits I've made to that restaurant resulted in botched orders, including placing onions on Big Bufords requested without them. Errors that, if it weren't for the caution routinely taken by the consumer, might have resulted in hospitalization or death.

On the last visit, I told the store manager - who happened to take my order that day - she screwed up.

"No I didn't," she replied, pointing at my receipt, "I told them to make the burger without onions. The cooks screwed up."

Clearly this manager doesn't understand the concept of managerial responsibility. On each of the many botched visits, I've received the same results: a less-than-heartfelt apology and a replacement for the problem order. Nothing to compensate for the time or fuel wasted (Checkers is a drive-thru restaurant, and the errors are usually caught at home, then driven back to the restaurant for correction).

But take heart! The bag says if I'm happy with my Checkers experience, I should tell a friend, while if I'm not, I should call a toll-free number. So Bocona called that toll-free number Saturday, March 10. She told the voice at the other end what happened, and the voice at the other end took her name, her phone number, and her e-mail address (which is actually one of my e-mail addresses, but that isn't important).

And now, over one week later, we're still waiting for someone from Checkers Corporate to call or e-mail about her complaint.

Meanwhile, we've lost our patience. We're voting with our money and boycotting Checkers. What you'd expect anyone to do.

And I'm doing what any responsible blogger would do - telling the world about it. Who knows? Maybe there are a few other lives I can save besides my wife's.

Verizon FiOS: Power IS an Issue

2007-02-03T12:10:00.000-05:00

Continuing my series on Verizon FiOS, you may recall from my first post an observation that the ONT has a battery backup for the phone line, but the router would require its own UPS to maintain an Internet connection during a power failure, as would the attached televisions.

I see now this speculation was only that, but in a very negative way. I recently found myself in a position to test this speculation, and was unhappy with what I learned.

It isn't a power issue; it's designed that way

On a recent afternoon, Bocona flipped a light switch in the master bath and a light bulb dramatically failed. The bulb apparently had a hot spot and literally blew out, not only failing the light but also the circuit, tripping a breaker. This breaker controlled the master bath, the master bedroom, the guest bath, and half of the guest bedroom (aka, my office). Bocona, of course, noticed the bulb failure in the master bath and switched to the guest bath, where she discovered the light was also dysfunctional. She did not recognize the power failure, however. She called me to tell me the lights had gone out in both baths, asking me to pick up replacement bulbs on my way home.

When I got home, the story became more complicated. Bocona reported the TV service had failed; all she could watch was shows recorded on the DVR. Both the TV and the DVR functioned fine, but we had no live programming. I asked her to check the TV in the master bedroom while I called Verizon Support to report the outage. Before I got a human on the line, however, she called out to tell me the power was out in the master bedroom.

This got me thinking, and I went to my office. As I expected, everything in my office worked except the power outlet the ONT's power supply was using. The Actiontec router was looking very normal, but the battery backup's status lights showed the ONT was running on battery.

Now, remember, Verizon said the battery backup existed to ensure phone service during a power outage. The phone was working (I had started to use it to call for support), but even though the router had its independent power and was showing good service, the DVR was not receiving a TV signal.

I went to the breaker box and reset the tripped breaker, and returned to my office. The ONT successfully returned to household current. Next we tried the TV, but found no improvement. On a hunch, I power cycled the router, and after a few moments the TV service was restored.

My disappointing conclusion was that investment in UPSes for the router and the TV/set-top boxes would be mostly wasted. The battery backup does exactly what Verizon promises: it permits the ONT to maintain the phone service.

It does not permit the ONT to maintain the TV service, on the possibility I could maintain power to the televisions and set-top boxes. Alas, I did not check the Internet connection, although the experiment would be easy to duplicate.

A workaround

I'm not crazy about the idea, but there is still, theoretically, another way around this. What I would have to do is put a very good UPS on the power outlet used to feed the ONT, then plug the ONT/battery backup into this UPS. In theory, the ONT would then be unaware of the power failure as long as the UPS functioned, and the ONT wouldn't cut off the other services until the UPS died. In hurricane threatened communities, this might be appropriate, but I'd like to get a power professional's opinion before making the investment... or even better, an opinion from a knowledgeable Verizon FiOS technician (not necessarily equated to Verizon FiOS support).

If I learn anything new, I'll be sure to share. Meanwhile, feel free to visit http://yourworldnews.frayernet.com to share your favorite news and technology links.

Verizon FiOS: Tiling Be Gone!

2007-01-16T08:41:00.000-05:00

In my last entry, I reported some lingering and persistent trouble with "tiling" with my new Verizon FiOS TV service. Well, I'm happy to report the trouble has been resolved.

I began to have intermittent trouble with the DVR/set-top box. Once, maybe twice a day, the box would "lock up." The only way around these spells was to physically detach the power cord from the Motorola box, then re-attach the cord and wait out the power cycle. Needless to say this was annoying behavior, and a call to Verizon FiOS Tech Support ensued.

Tech Support sent a hard reset command to the box remotely, but instead of completing the boot process, the box died with an error code (not translated, unfortunately). The tech on the phone scheduled a service call for the first day I was available, and saved me from total TV boredom by explaining I could get basic cable channels by moving the coax from the set-top box directly to the antenna/cable input on my TV.

The Experienced Technician

On the designated date and time, the technician arrived, supposedly to swap the set-top box. I scratched my head a bit when he started buckling on his tool belt. After all, I thought, how many tools would he need to exchange a defective set-top box? My inquiry on the subject drew a satisfying answer.

"I don't take anything for granted," he replied. "The problem may be your set-top box, but it may be something else."

I described the previous tech's exercise with attenuators, which drew a scoff from the tech. A few minutes with the meter, and the tech pronounced my signal to be at the ideal strength without the attenuators (which he handily removed). He then replaced the set-top box as planned, re-initialized and activated it, and waited for it to boot.

It failed to boot properly, stopping on a very permanently tiled display.

The tech eyed the cable from the wall. The very yellowed cable. The cable that had been installed by the home's previous owners, more than 15 years before. The cable used by the FiOS installer, apparently to avoid having to re-cable my home.

The tech then traced that suspicious length of cable to where it joined with the new cable that had been installed when FiOS was installed. Muttering something under his breath, likely about the installer I'm guessing, the tech went to his truck. Out came the spool of coax and his stepladder. In a few short minutes, the old, yellowed cable was gone, and shiny, white cable completed the run from the line splitter to the set-top box.

The set-top box was rebooted, and the TV's normal picture returned.

We haven't seen the tiling since!

Epilogue

Since writing about my Verizon FiOS installation, that story has become one of the heaviest read pieces in this series. I'd like to answer questions, but I actually need to determine what the questions are before I can answer them. Please post your comments and questions to the blog, so I can share your questions and their answers with my readers. I'll continue to share some of the more interesting aspects of my Verizon FiOS installation in future blogs.

And for those who are wondering, I did manage to get a job, though oddly enough it wasn't in the technology field. I'm in a retail management position, now, and may talk more about it in the future. And I'm still encouraging visits to Your World News, as you might expect.

Now I'm off to see what Bocona has recorded on the DVR these days ...

Verizon FiOS

2006-12-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

A couple months ago, I switched to Verizon FiOS. Today, I'll talk about why I switched, what I got, and how things have been since I switched.

FiOS is Verizon's new network, offering phone, TV, and Internet service on a single set of lines, competing directly with traditional cable providers, such as Bright House or Comcast, for those same services.

Manatee County, Florida, and more specifically the southern part of the county, where I live, was "wired" for FiOS early in 2006. I use the term "wired" loosely, as FiOS is based on fiber optic technology, burying miles of fiber throughout the affected neighborhoods. I was somewhat annoyed at the time, as Manatee County had just finished burying new water lines in my neighborhood, laying fresh sod over the digging, and it seemed that sod had just gotten a good hold on the land when the crews came by and buried the fiber. Alas, the crews did not do as nice a job covering up behind them, leaving my yard somewhat less attractive when they left.

I said the neighborhoods were affected, and in that I wasn't just referring to the buried lines. FiOS is intended to replace the copper lines in the area, although it will be pretty gradual about the process. Any new phone service installed in the area would be done as part of FiOS. If a household subscribes to Verizon's FiOS TV, Verizon will automatically convert the phone service to FiOS as well. I do not know if one can get FiOS without phone service, but I find it unlikely. Purely speculating, I think the phone service is not actually necessary for FiOS to function, and the service itself could very likely be disabled at Verizon's end, leaving other services intact.

FiOS Phone

Unlike Bright House's phone offering, Verizon FiOS does not use VoIP for phone service. The phone service rides the common fiber through the neighborhood, and fiber is run from the main fiber line to an Optical Network Terminal (ONT), where it is separated from the other services. Your standard phone lines are connected to the ONT, and when the ONT is powered up, the standard phone line to the copper network is severed, and phone service is switched to the fiber line.

The up side of this is that many older neighborhoods have the copper lines running above ground, sharing poles with the power grid. Since the fiber is buried in my neighborhood, it is not subject to the service problems that came with the elevated lines. I used to be plagued with static, particularly after rain, that would occasionally make the phone line nearly unusable. this should never be a problem again.

The down side of the phone service is that the phones are no longer powered by the network. The ONT must be powered by the subscriber's power. The drain is small, equal to leaving a small light on 24/7, but when the power is interrupted, there is a risk that the phone will die as well. To reduce this risk, the ONT is attached to a battery backup, powered by a small, rechargeable, motorcycle-class battery, warranted for two years. Eventually the battery will need replacing, and I will be responsible for doing that, but the battery is fairly common, so I won't worry about it. The battery will support the ONT for at least four hours, after which you no longer have any service until power is restored. We had two hurricanes take out power for 12 hours each last year, pre-FiOS; I suggest you keep a charged cell phone battery handy if you anticipate a lengthy power outage and want the security of a phone beyond the life of the battery backup.

The battery backup is dedicated to the ONT. This is worth knowing as we discuss the other services.

FiOS Internet

For most of the rest of the country, FiOS Internet makes up your remaining service, as TV is only available where arrangements have been made with local authorities for Verizon to offer TV service. FiOS Internet is about on par with cable modem, although service offerings do allow you to purchase speeds in excess of that provided by coax-based cable.

Prior to FiOS, readers may recall I was using Verizon DSL. The most common DSL subscriber has a maximum download speed of 768 kbps and a maximum upload speed of 128 kbps, significantly slower than cable modem's advertised 5 mbps (typical cable modem speeds are closer to 1 mbps). DSL can be pumped up to as much as 3 mbps, but actual throughput will be less than that. For the purpose of comparison, we'll stick with the advertised values.

So, cable modem is typically faster than DSL, but FiOS starts at 5 mbps down and 2 mpbs up, or roughly twice the speed of cable modem, and seriously faster than my DSL. If I'm willing to pay for it, I can get my FiOS pumped up to 50 mbps! Not that I'd need that kind of speed to maintain Your World News.

Reason to switch, for sure, but that wasn't what made me do it. Switching didn't become an issue to me until I had a second technical snafu with my DSL subscription. I found that, because I live in a FiOS neighborhood, Verizon doesn't want to install DSL here any longer. Sure, I could push them to do it, but support calls would become a pain, as they would keep trying to pawn me off on FiOS.

Why was I hesitant? The system requirements. Verizon says FiOS Internet is supported on Windows 2000 and up, or on Macs. Not my older Windows 98 machines, not Linux, and not NetWare (I have an old NetWare 5.1 server on my network). A phone conversation with FiOS Tech Support straightened me out on that. The problem is two-fold, and not actually a problem at all. See, FiOS Tech Support doesn't promise to have assistance available for the other OSes, and besides, Windows 98 isn't going to notice the speed improvements. Ha! The system requirements aren't as stingy as I thought it might be. What I do on my private LAN side is essentially my problem, just like with DSL.

So, since my budget was tight, I went with the basic Internet package, and turned my attention to FiOS TV.

FiOS TV

TV service is something I wasn't quite ready for, but any other choices were simply impractical. We we not cable subscribers. I haven't been fond of Bright House since when they used to be part of Time Warner. I had my reasons for disliking Time Warner, but can only profess to stubbornness about Bright House. I had DSL, so I had no desire for cable modem, and no desire for TV cable if I didn't need it. We had DirecTV satellite, but were spending way too much for what we used, and FiOS TV offered digital signal quality coming over fiber (no rain fade, a big issue in Florida). So, giving up DirecTV for 180 basic channels of FiOS TV wasn't that difficult.

I ponied up for two set-top boxes: a master box with DVR capabilities for the living room, where we do most of our TV viewing, and a basic box for the small TV in the master bedroom. We didn't have DVR with our early-adopter satellite TV system, so I couldn't pass on the novelty of it. It sure beats VHS!

Choosing Internet and TV at the same time dictates a hardware change in the FiOS configuration. FiOS Internet comes with a rather conventional router, but the combined service calls for something on the unusual side.

Remember, phone service was split off from the fiber at the ONT. The TV and Internet signals are sent from the ONT to a Cat 5 twisted pair wire that ends at a special, Actiontec router. This router (which includes a fairly configurable firewall, satisfying my technical whims) splits the TV signal from the Internet traffic, sending the TV traffic through the house's pre-wired coax network (along with IP-based controls for the set-top boxes). The remaining Internet traffic is placed on a separate segment, offered through four conventional ports and a built-in 802.11b/g wireless transceiver.

The Difficulties

Now that I've had the service for a couple of months, I'm seeing a few issues, none of which so far make me regret the move. The first issue has yet to be solved, mostly because I haven't devoted serious time to tackling it. The TVs have been suffering from intermittent "tiling", where little squares of the picture seem to fall briefly out-of-sync with the rest of the picture. As this is intermittent, they are a devil to catch, and the first round of troubleshooting (changing out attenuators that regulate the signal level) seemed to do little good. I'm preparing to call them back on it.

The second issue occurred when I found I was getting hit with a series of port scans that drove my incoming traffic much higher than normal. I found that I was having trouble changing my dynamic IP address. The commands would execute on the router, but it kept getting the same address back. I called Verizon Tech Support for assistance, and they discovered they were also unable to get the address to change. I wouldn't go as far as to say I had a static address for the price of a dynamic one, but it sure felt like it.

The router has some other minor annoyances, particularly in trying to stop the reporting of specific firewall rule violations, requiring me to filter those reports with a third-party tool. I don't think they planned for many subscribers to pay attention to the firewall as much as I do. I get questionable traffic generated by the router, itself, but the documentation for the router is difficult to obtain, and fairly weak when it is found.

The most recent issue is fairly predictable, but one needs to keep it in mind in any case. The battery backup only works for the ONT. A power problem does impact the rest of the system. Make sure you have at least one conventional, line powered phone, if you want to use the phone line during a power outage (true in any phone system, of course). While you won't be watching TV during an outage (in most cases), the set-top boxes lose their menuing system when the power goes off. When the power comes back, the boxes connect to Verizon over the Internet to download fresh menus, including those used to access the DVR. This means you may have an extended period after power comes back when you can't watch a DVR recording or do more than flip through the TV channels one at a time. A recent extended outage left us waiting an extra 15 minutes or so after the power came back before we could resume a recorded movie, and that still left us having to fast forward through the recording to find where we left off.

Putting these devices on UPSes might help. Certainly keeping the router powered would allow you to use the Internet via independently powered computers (probably at a loss of ONT operating time), but putting the set-top boxes on UPSes might also prevent the annoying delay of service resumption I just described. That is entirely up to you.

Conclusion

Verizon FiOS wasn't something I anticipated getting right now, but it hasn't been a very painful investment, and I think my overall quality of life has improved by having done so. The gains clearly beat the drawbacks, and I'd suggest anyone eligible to subscribe should give it serious consideration.

Promises, Promises

2006-12-01T15:56:00.000-05:00

When interviewing for a job, it's good to keep in mind that any promises you get may not last through the process.

I recently interviewed for a network administration position with a major manufacturer. The interview went splendidly. For nearly an hour and a half, I had a pleasant conversation with the incumbent, who was being promoted to a position supervising the administrators at multiple plants. We spoke of the old days, the state of the industry, and the kind of work that was being performed in the position (work that well exceeded the tradition of basic network administration). The interview only ended because the principal was summoned to a conference call.

Hasty "good-byes" were exchanged. He gave me his card, and told me I would be called for a second interview. Had I not received a call by the end of the week, I was to call him, as he was leaving for a business trip the following week, and he wanted to be sure things progressed.

I left, jubilant. I felt this was a job I could excel at, and looked forward to the subsequent call. But I made two mistakes:

I was the first person interviewed. Others would follow, and I knew nothing of them. Of course, I never do know anything of other candidates, and make my best effort in the first interview, but one should never leave a first interview confident of the future.
I believed his promise that there would be a second interview.

The principal is not the only person involved in the process, and even if he/she is, the decision of who makes the cut can't truly be made until all the candidates have been seen. A promise at the end of an interview that you will be called for a second interview is only lip service, especially if you are one of the first to be interviewed.

If I had been one of the last interviewed, I would have had better feedback during the interview as to how I stood against my competitors. Maybe he wouldn't have said anything directly, but I could have read the comparison in his behavior, and might have noticed where I needed to put more emphasis. At the least, I would not have been as likely to invoke the strong positive vibes that led me to think I had a future. Had the interview then ended with a promise of a second interview, I would be more justified in believing the promise, since he would have been less likely to make such a promise after doing a mental comparison to the other candidates, unless I did indeed stand out.

Also, being at the tail end would allow me to remain more clearly in his mind when the actual choices were made.

So, given the opportunity, I believe I will opt for an interview at the tail-end of the process, and will only count on getting that second chance when that second chance is actually arranged.

Interviewers will lie to you. They may not do so knowingly or willingly, but that makes it no less true. You can only count on what you know to be true, and take the rest with a grain of salt.

The resumes will continue to fly, and in the meantime, I continue to work on Your World News. I can still use some volunteers there. Drop by the site and drop me a line if you're interested in helping.

Why put off 'til tomorrow... oh, never mind.

2006-11-14T13:48:00.000-05:00

Have you ever talked with someone who was thinking of buying a new computer, but every time he or she was about to make the plunge, he or she heard about some new feature coming out soon and decided to wait until that new thing was available?

Has that person purchased a computer yet?

Usually one of two things gets a person with this problem to change his or her mind. Either he or she gets tired of waiting for a promise that will never be fulfilled, or someone finally gets through to him or her that waiting for the next big thing often does little but deprive one of the benefits the current model has available now.

By now you might be thinking I'm about to lecture on the evils of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) as a marketing tool, but remember, I seem to be perpetually in the job hunt, so my point is really related to finding work.

And I'm not going to use this as an excuse to talk about birds in hand versus birds in bushes, though, of course, I could. The lesson is the same.

No, oddly enough, it isn't me who can't make a decision, here. I've had the misfortune of interviewing with an employer who has fallen into this very trap. You see, this employer has a vacancy, but they also have a workaround for the vacancy, and the workaround is working fine for them. They know they should hire someone for the position, but they aren't in a hurry to do so. As a result, the instructions given to HR is to find the perfect department manager.

Alas, no one has convinced HR (or possibly worse, the President of the company, whom the position in question would answer to) that such a person does not exist. Rather than pick from the ample supply of applicants, they simply run a fresh ad occasionally, and HR has to spend her time screening resumes and attending interviews. She told me herself she was hired four months ago and hasn't had time to do real HR stuff because she has to find the perfect department manager.

Meanwhile, the department's staff makes due with self-management, supplemented with doses of supervision from the President and the Production Manager. Before long, they will forget what it was like to have a department manager, and the small problems that have been festering for months will become big problems that the eventual hire will curse, unable to cleanly solve.

They told me they'd call me if they decide I'm the person they're looking for. As time passes, I'm starting to wonder if I really do want them to call. I won't envy the person who is picked for the position.

So, I'm still shopping, and spending my spare time at Your World News. See ya there!

Innovation isn't all it's cracked up to be

2006-10-26T09:15:00.000-04:00

Someone reminded me I hadn't written to the blog for a while, being so caught up in the seemingly never-ending job search. Until I think of something better to say, this will have to do...

I was browsing through Your World News and came across an article that I found somewhat interesting. You might remember the blog I wrote on HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray. Well, two engineers at Warner have developed a means by which a single disc can support HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, and standard DVD, all at the same time.

If Warner makes licensing the technology affordable, the new disc could make the entire issue of which format is better moot. It would also dramatically reduce inventory costs for wholesalers, retailers, and especially rental companies.

Warner was the first studio to release a film, Lake House, in both HD formats. This new solution is a win-win for everyone involved, and I look forward to learning what happens with it, if anything.

After all, good ideas often don't survive competition. One of my favorite innovations was a cassette tape that had re-usable record protection. Where conventional cassette tapes have punch-out holes that prevent the record mechanisms from engaging (leaving us to apply adhesive tape over the holes to record over a protected tape), the cassette I speak of had a cover that could be easily rotated away from the hole with a screwdriver or fingernail. The cassette was sold by Loran and is no longer in production.

With this in mind, I look at Warner's development with interest, but am resigned to take what I can get.

Which is a little like my job search, I'm afraid...

Florida: The Right to Not Work?

2006-10-03T09:11:00.000-04:00

They call Florida a "Right to Work" state. I never knew what that was supposed to mean to the worker, but to the employer it means he has the right to fire an employee without having to go to extremes to justify it. The law gives the employer the ability to terminate an employee for practically any reason.

For example, let's say a company hires someone who happens to have some writing ability, and that someone is asked to write anonymously for the company's blog. If the blog later appears elsewhere as written by the CEO of the company, it might not behoove the employee to ask any questions. In Florida, an employer can terminate an employee for questioning the actions of an employer. The employer may still be held liable for the actions, themselves, but simply questioning those actions would be legitimate grounds for dismissal.

Go figure.

By the way, while I'm out there looking for work, you could be at Your World News checking out what else is happening... and maybe even sharing your own point of view. Do drop by, won't you?

About that Trial ...

2006-08-26T14:50:00.000-04:00

I promised when last I wrote to write about my jury duty experience, but I'll warn you now, it isn't very dramatic. At best, I can offer that it was a criminal trial, but it was a lowly misdemeanor, albeit one that falls in the pet peeves department. It's a long story, which I'll trim to the important parts.

This Story is About Taking Responsibility

The accused was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, and I was one of seven jurors chosen to hear the case. The trial started at about 9 AM Wednesday morning, and the opening statements from both sides left me about neutral, a good place to be as a juror.

The first witness for the prosecution was the victim, a young black man who just happened to be an auto body mechanic. Bad luck for the defendant, there. The witness first advised us he was there because he was ordered to be there; he had no particular animosity against the defendant. The reason for this came clear a little while later.

The victim had been stopped in traffic at a traffic light, and felt his car rear-ended. He looked in his mirror, saw the defendant, stepped out of his car and, looking the defendant in the eye, he signaled for the defendant to pull into a neighboring parking lot. The victim then returned to his car and pulled into the parking lot. Rather than follow, the defendant proceeded down the road.

The victim quickly re-entered traffic behind the defendant, called 911, and described the offending vehicle and the tag number. He was then told to return to the scene of the accident. The victim returned to meet with a state trooper.

Technology Makes the Job Easier

The trooper used his onboard computer to look up the car, and from that, the owner of the car. The computer displayed the driver's license picture of the owner, whom the victim identified as the driver of the car.

Of course, the defense had to have their say, and they went after the physical proof of damage: which was nonexistent. The victim had called the defendant's insurance company (number provided by the trooper), and an insurance adjuster came out to check the damage. The adjuster offered the victim $48 for the repair - about an hour's labor. As I mentioned, the victim was an auto body mechanic and knew the damage would cost more to repair, so he asked a co-worker to prepare an estimate. The estimate from his co-worker came to over $1,000... but he'd lost the estimate when he later left the employ of that company (he thought he might have thrown it out with other papers from the company).

Further, the victim had been in the process of trying to trade-in the vehicle for another, and succeeded to do so roughly a week after the accident. So, the victim did not have the car, or proof the accident had occurred - except for the testimony of the trooper, who came up next.

He Should Know, He Sees It Everyday
The trooper indicated he saw the damage, believed it to be new damage (no dirt or rust), then went on to describe how he apprehended the defendant. It appears the defendant wasn't home, but a neighbor indicated the defendant frequented a local bar, where the trooper caught up with him. The trooper brought the defendant outside and asked about the accident. He said the defendant denied being in an accident, and showed the trooper where no damage had existed on the car. The defendant persisted in denying involvement, claimed he'd been there a couple of hours (the accident had occurred maybe 1 and 3/4 hours earlier), and the trooper arrested him.

A third witness, a bartender at the bar, recognized the defendant as a regular patron who had been in the bar maybe an hour and a half before the trooper arrived.

Bad Move for the Defense

Next came the defense's turn, and they had only one witness: the defendant. He took the stand on his own behalf, and described the events of the day. What we found most important was that the defendant was very detailed about everything except his interview with the trooper, when he suddenly could not recall the specific events of the discussion. We also noticed that his activities would have put him at the scene of the accident at nearly the right time, if you allowed fudging with the timeline (and no one except the trooper had an accurate timeline of their events). Finally, the defense offered into evidence photos of the defendant's car, as the defendant boasted of its pristine condition (a nicely kept 15+ year old car).

After closing arguments, six of us were allowed to go to the jury room; the seventh was our mystery alternate, who was visibly disappointed at not getting to deliberate.

A Nice Way to Top Off a Nice Trial

Through fate, and maybe a little excitement, the jury decided to let me be the foreperson. Before we took our first vote, we passed around the pictures of the defendant's car. Then came the first ballot:

"All who believe the defendant's guilty, raise your hand!" No wimpy secret ballot for THIS jury. Five hands went in the air - and I was the lone holdout. "Convince me," I said.

They did. I had a crazy theory that it was possible the victim had setup the defendant, and without physical evidence, we couldn't convict. They saw it another way. My theory, while possible, wasn't plausible. The two had never met; there was no reason to believe the defendant had any money, or even insurance, at the time; and the rest of the story fit the victim's claim. I again looked at the pictures... and you know, that front bumper DID look out of alignment with the rest of the body. You couldn't tell at a casual glance, but that car HAD been in an accident at some point.

I gave in, and signed the paper. My first jury had convicted its first criminal.

We never did find out what the sentence was, but I wouldn't have passed on the experience for anything. Lunch time!

An Aside

By the way, a couple of notes: first, I have found a new job, which I'll write about a little later, and yes, I'm still collecting news at Your World News. I hope you'll come visiting.

They call it Jury DUTY for a reason

2006-08-21T09:47:00.000-04:00

I take my civic responsibilities seriously, so when I was summoned for jury duty the thought of avoiding it never crossed my mind. I understand there are circumstances why one might need to defer jury duty; it even happened to me, once before. But when called, U.S. citizens have an obligation to respond, and it surprised me to learn that a sizeable number of people summoned simply don't appear.

If you want the benefits that come from being a U.S. citizen, then you should be willing to satisfy the obligations of one. And it isn't like the obligations are strenuous: remember, the draft doesn't exist in the U.S. any longer (for now). Where's the pain in voting? Yes, it takes time from our busy lives, but with the extra steps our various federal, state, and local governments have taken to make voting convenient (such as absentee and early voting), is there really an excuse not to register and vote?

This is usually when some moron says something about registering to vote just gets him on the list for jury duty. I call him a moron since he's another of those abusive citizens who want to take, take, take, without giving any more than his tax dollars. Like all you need to do to be a U.S. citizen is buy an annual membership!

Well, just for that moron's information, many localities no longer use the voter roles as the pool for potential jurors. In Manatee County, Florida, potential jurors are selected from driver's license registrations. If you're so afraid to be called for jury duty, give up your driving privileges!

Jury Duty in my community

Jury duty is handled differently for different locales. Manatee County calls all of the week's potential jurors together on Mondays, and each judge collects his or her pool of potential jurors from that larger pool. Those selected are told when to report for service, and those not selected are returned to the big pool. If you aren't chosen by the end of Monday, you're dismissed from duty for another year.

I was selected from my first pool, and found myself on a jury for a criminal case. I'll talk a little more on this next time.

Still room for editors

Your World News is now up to 1,000 links and growing. We still have room for more volunteer editors. Visit the site, then write me for details.

Good job interviews can get creative

2006-08-07T11:21:00.000-04:00

Job interviews come in many forms. I was reminded of this with a recent application, for a position related to website development and management.

In this particular case, it appears I skipped the traditional face-to-face Q&A or the similar yet common phone interview. Instead, the employer jumped straight to evaluating my skills, providing a situation requiring me to evaluate a site and offer my recommendations.

This particular interview reminded me to a small degree of the second interview I had for the ICA position. In that case, the first interview was in group form. ICA extended an invitation to 30 some individuals to attend a meeting where the organizers explained the organization's purpose and what they sought. Then they gave each of us a few minutes to ask questions and formulate our ideas as to where we might fit in. After this, we were tasked to go home and, if we were still interested in the position, we were to write an essay explaining how we would approach the position, and why we thought we were the ones to do the job.

For the ICA job, the essays determined who would be invited to the third interview (the essay counted as interview #2): dinner with the executive director and his senior staff. What was surprising about this whole thing was that, even though I ended up being cut after the third interview, my ideas were sound enough that the executive director paid me for the right to use parts of my essay in the final plan, then later called me back when he decided I did have a role in implementing that plan, after all.

This time it's different

In the current situation, the site I was tasked to evaluate was a live site having issues, and the principal offered to pay me to do my evaluation. What he got for his investment was both a solution to the problem at hand, and an example of how I performed the work. Clearly, the work came first, as I expected it would, but I found it odd, and maybe a little refreshing, that they wanted to see me in action before they took the time to learn about me.

As a bonus to this, the company again offered to pay me for my effort, but I took the tact of offering the employer to pay me only what he thought the results were worth. This was risky, since I might find myself essentially uncompensated for my fair effort, but I was confident that I could produce something of at least some value. I pointed out to him that, if I nailed the problem, a decision to hire me would be far more valuable to me than any one-time fee would be worth.

The task was done. I found the problem and made my recommendations. In fact, I made more recommendations than the scope of the task required. As a result, I now have an appointment for the long-overdue personal interview.

Things are looking up.

Lest you've forgotten

Still haven't visited Your World News yet? What are you waiting for? At a minimum, you might find a link to some otherwise missed interesting news. And who knows, you might actually find the site stimulating enough to participate in the news sharing concept.

I look forward to seeing you there!

The IT Job Dance

2006-08-03T08:50:00.000-04:00

Fresh from another interview, some thoughts come to mind that might make the whole process easier for both parties.

See, one of the most annoying things about seeking an IT job is that no matter how many positions there are, and there seems to be quite a few positions in the Tampa Bay area, there are always more applicants than the employer (or recruiter) really needs. In fact, I think a lot of employers turn to recruiters because they can't handle the flood of applicants on their own.

But there is another side to this coin: employers are publishing dreams when they list their required qualifications. One pundit observed that employers are trying to save a buck by advertising for a relatively lower-paying position, but asking for skills belonging to a rightfully higher-paying position. The thought is that the "network administrator" they hire with Java coding skills could actually fill the need for the "Java developer" they really want but can't afford.

I think of it another way. The employers list the skills an ideal employee would have, but fully expect to have to settle for something less. Maybe there is a "network administrator" with Java, ASP, and Oracle skills in addition to his CISSP and CCNA, but you'd stand a better chance of finding three people with those skills combined. Still, there's no harm in asking, right? So, the company that really needs an Oracle administrator asks for everything else, just in case.

Now, what happens?

At first, the company that asks for the moon gets nothing, but then it occurs to the IT workers growing desperate for work that the employer has published a wish list, not a true requirements list, so in their desperation they submit their resumes, matching maybe only 10% of the requirements. The employers get 100+ apps for every job advertised, can't handle the volume, and end up turning to recruiters, who probably end up manipulating the deal into something that cost the employers far more than if they'd kept it to themselves. The next ad is lighter on the wish list, maybe even accurate in the needs, but the workers are already used to applying to anything, and so the overall problem doesn't get better. Every job opportunity is met with 100+ applicants, few of whom are actually qualified, and many of the qualified are "round filed" due to the sheer volume of applications.

How do we fix this problem?

We'll start with the employer: only advertise what you need as requirements, and list the bonuses separately. Be realistic in your needs. A network administrator shouldn't be expected to know Java; either you need an administrator or you need a programmer, but don't ask for both as requirements. And does the administrator really need a Bachelor's degree? Or is that just something to try to reduce the volume. If the latter, it isn't working. Finally, list your salary expectations. You'll get a whole lot fewer applications once people see what you plan to pay, especially if you're hiring for an entry-level position.

And for the job hunters, stop applying for everything in sight. You're only making things worse. Only apply if you truly believe you have a shot at the position. If the ad seems genuinely written toward a specific skill set, only apply if you have that skill set. This reduces the number of applications HR has to screen, and increases the odds for the truly qualified. Essentially a win-win situation. And, of course, don't claim a skill if the skill doesn't exist. Not only does it hurt your reputation, but it makes it harder on everyone else who has to follow you.

I recently applied for a job I probably shouldn't have. The position was advertised way below my skill set, but in a moment of weakness, I went ahead and applied.

I was amazed to find myself granted an interview... which lasted a whole 10 minutes. Just long enough for the IT Director to look me in the eye and ask me why I applied for a position clearly beneath me. It then occurred to me why he granted the interview. I was simply a break from the norm, a chance to put his feet up. But I did point out that if he'd published his salary expectations, I wouldn't have responded. Hopefully, we both walked away from that interview a little more prepared for the next time.

Now, I need to teach Bocona to be a little more patient.

As for other things...

Don't forget, if you haven't been there lately, you need to visit Your World News, where you not only keep current on the news, but tell others what news is important to you.

Google is NOT the answer to passing the Florida Accredited Claims Adjuster exam

2006-07-30T18:29:00.000-04:00

To the person who found my blog googling "florida accredited claims adjuster exam answers", I would like to suggest you first google "florida accedited claims adjuster".

By definition, you can't become a Florida Accredited Claims Adjuster without taking a class. If you take the class, you'll have the answers to the exam. It's that simple. What you are probably seeking are the answers to the standard Florida Claims Adjuster exam. That's the exam you can take if you don't take the class. And it's much harder. If you really want to be a claims adjuster in Florida, take my advice and take the class.

Now, that said, I'd also suggest you think about what motivates you to become a claims adjuster. Bocona, seeing dollar signs flashing before her eyes after two years of horrible hurricanes, made me get my license, but without any practical experience in auto repair or construction, it was truly a waste of money.

For what it's worth, I'm still looking for an IT job.

While I have your attention

If you haven't done so, please take the opportunity to visit Your World News, where you have the chance to not only read the news - you can make the news!

Volunteer editors wanted at Your World News

2006-07-23T17:41:00.000-04:00

Last time, I wrote about a social networking project I started. The site, yourworldnews.frayernet.com, is shaping up nicely, but I could use some volunteer help getting more links into the database.

I'm now looking for volunteer editors who might find it entertaining to seek fresh articles on all kinds of subjects. These volunteers will take responsibility for single categories, locating articles and publishing links and descriptions to the database. Categories will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

You might be surprised at what you find, when you actually go looking for published material on various subjects.

If you think you're in the know, and this sounds like a fun hobby, drop by the site, look it over, then drop us an e-mail at adjuster [at] frayernet.com and make your pitch for a category.

Who knows? You might be getting in early on something big.

"Your World News": My Spare-Time Project

2006-07-20T10:16:00.000-04:00

With a little time on my lands, due to my recent layoff, I dusted off some software I had used at ICA, upgraded it, and tossed together an experiment in social networking.

Social networking is all the rage, these days. Blogs, wikis, they're all part of this trend to build a society out of the Internet. I'll save the discussion of the Internet as a society for another blog. Today, I'll spend some time discussing my spare-time project.

I call it "Your World News" and it can be found at http://yourworldnews.frayernet.com. I think of it as a news gathering site... kind of a digital newspaper where I don't actually publish the articles. Instead, I link to articles from all kinds of sources, on all kinds of subjects. I'm adding categories on the fly, so I built an "Other" category for people to put links that don't yet have categories.

Oh, right, I forgot to mention, I'm not the only one collecting these links. Visitors are encouraged to register and contribute links to their favorite articles. Further, registered users can bookmark their favorite links, and can create public bookmark folders where other registered users can check out their selections. The links are moderated by myself or an editor before they go online, so they can be kept reasonably clean. To help pay for the site (remember, I've returned to the ranks of the unemployed), the site sells classified advertising links, and I'll negotiate banner ads/sponsorships if anyone is interested.

So, check out my news gathering site, and let us know what you think.

Meanwhile, I'll get another batch of resumes ready to go out!

I think I was here before

2006-07-12T15:49:00.000-04:00

What an interesting ride...

The idea behind my.com was to market website design services to small, local businesses. These are businesses that have a very limited geographical market, such as family-owned pizza shops or auto repair shops. Such businesses have no use for the global market (or even the national market) traditionally served by the Web, and because of this, they've given very little thought to building a website.

Pressure is on local companies to establish a web presence, however. Their traditional marketing channel, the phone book, is losing market share, as people become even more comfortable doing their pre-sale shopping online. Shoppers have been turning to search engines to find the products they seek, even when they plan to make the purchase at brick-and-mortar locations. The losers in this picture are those small, local businesses without an effective web presence. Those that do catch on often pay hobbyists for low-price, ineffective sites, or they go to boutiques that charge high design fees as well as high hosting fees for better sites. Even those well-designed sites tend to get little traffic, as they are lost in searches to the national chains.

Small local businesses have a few unique needs typically not addressed by traditional website design. These companies rarely need true e-commerce capabilities, yet they still need to be designed to inspire action by the visitor. Just as importantly, these sites need to be search-engine optimized (the right way) for local results. It isn't important for a pizza shop to rank high on a search for "pizza" but it is important that the shop ranks high on a search for "pizza [town-name]". Most designers seem to miss that point.

Run with the idea

my.com didn't miss that point. They knew what needed to be done locally, but to be very successful at it, they needed local, physical presence in those communities. They needed right-minded people to guide the local businesses in getting the job done right.

They didn't want to be a boutique. They wanted to be thousands of boutiques, scattered across the U.S., with the advantage of a central development team and the economy of centralized hosting. So the plan was to franchise the concept. And they thought they had all the pieces to do just that.

They started with the domain. Their domain name, my.com, was perhaps the only two-letter domain name that had never actually been put in use. It cost them dearly to acquire, but it held a potential gold mine; without actually providing any content, the domain was ranked well inside Alexa's top 100,000 sites in the world. So exposure shouldn't have been a problem.

Next, they acquired a boutique that had already demonstrated an understanding of the local business' needs, and supplemented that by hiring one of the top names in Cold Fusion development, Hal Helms, to head their programming efforts. Because the hosting operation was going to do some serious growth, they pulled together a team of serious systems administrators, and hired a couple guys (including yours truly) to head up the technical support department (no outsourcing for this company!). Their SEO squad was trained by one of the best in the business: Bruce Clay. They even hired a crack team of franchise marketers to sell the concept.

Did anyone get the license number of that truck?

Ducks in a row, they launched their website mid-June. The visitor count soared.

And one month later, my.com went out of business. The one thing they didn't count on was that no one was interested in learning more about how to become a my.com franchisee.

Now, until they closed their doors, I was restricted from talking about them... trade secrets and all. I was released from that restriction when they released me from their payroll. If anyone cares, I can offer up my more detailed opinions on what went wrong, but for now I'll say this.

Any true entrepreneur should know that you can't expect any start-up to turn a profit during the first 2-3 years. These guys didn't give the business the time it required. They expected too much, too fast. And now a good idea is left for someone else to capitalize on.

And I'm back where I was four months ago.

Anyone in Tampa Bay need an experienced IT manager?

Problems are opportunities to learn valuable lessons

2006-06-18T11:10:00.000-04:00

Anyone can make a mistake - even Verizon. But protocol must be followed.

An accounting error caused my phone line to be disconnected. Now, my phone line exists for only one real reason: to host my DSL line. For those not savvy in such things, DSL is technology that allows high-bandwidth data traffic to be carried over the plain copper lines used for phone traffic, and to have that service, a phone line must exist at the subscriber's site. The benefit, to me, is that the line is dedicated to me; cable modem provides high-bandwidth traffic as well, but subscribers share a network segment, so a densely populated area carries your traffic as well as that of your neighbors. This permits the speed on a cable modem to vary based on the number of users on the segment, while DSL provides less speed fluctuation. Also, since no one else is on my line, DSL is somewhat more secure than cable modem, which offers the chance for a neighbor (who technically sits on the same network you use) to "share" your PC without your knowledge.

But back to the story

When the phone line was disconnected, DSL was not interrupted. An intercept was placed on the voice line, but since we don't use the voice line, we never caught on. Now, I compounded the error by never using the e-mail box Verizon provided for the service. Verizon probably sent me an e-mail about my impending disaster, but I never saw it. Eventually, the intercept turned into a disconnect, and that was when everything fell apart.

When the DSL was disconnected, I sent Bocona to the local Verizon store to get things straightened out. After some undetermined period of discussion between Verizon and Bocona (and I'd hate to have been the Verizon rep facing Bocona), the voice line was restored with the same number, but since the line had been disconnected, the service was restored with a different circuit. That wasn't discovered until the following weekend; when I came home, I found the DSL still down, and placed a call to technical support.

Why I don't like outsourced Tier I support

I spent two hours on the phone with Tier I technical support (from the voice, the TSR was probably located somewhere in the Orient), who was unable to discover the problem, and who referred the problem to a lineman. Two days later, the line people called to say they were still working on the problem. On Saturday (nearly a week after the problem started), I called again.

Another hour with Tier I TSR, then I was transferred to Tier II, where I learned the circuit had changed and the line could not be re-established with the old circuit. I needed a new DSL order, and to get that I had to disconnect the old DSL (even though it was already physically disconnected), and order a new one. Tier II could enter a disconnect order on the old line; I couldn't order a new one until the disconnect order had been acted on, and even then, I'd have to order the new line through sales.

Sales wouldn't be open until Monday.

Bureaucracy strikes again

On Monday, the disconnect order was still pending. It wasn't until Friday that Bocona could actually request the new service with sales. And when she did, they told her the new service wouldn't be ready until the following Friday at 6 PM. There was no way to speed the process.

Friday at 6 PM, I was sitting in front of my trusty PC, reconnecting to the Internet. Connecting a single PC to the world was no problem, but connecting my Linksys router was another story. That, I saved for Saturday morning.

Hey, Verizon! Accuracy counts!

Verizon Online has a website with a nice collection of troubleshooting pages. I soon found instructions for connecting my router, which required changing the configuration of the DSL modem. I followed the instructions, but the router was still without a connection, so, with great reluctance, I called technical support again. I probably could have solved this on my own, but I didn't want to cause any further damage, so I played the sheep and let the shepherds do their job.

Another hour with Tier I, who was convinced the problem was in my modem. He was right, but for the wrong reasons. Tier I thought the modem was broken. Tier II went straight to the heart of the matter. The documentation on the Verizon site was inaccurate, expecting my router to get its connection via point-to-point protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE). The fact is, Verizon doesn't use PPPoE, and so all I needed to do was make the required changes to the modem and ignore the instructions for setting the router for PPPoE. In five minutes, I was online.

Lessons learned

Pay closer attention to accounting issues.
Use the voice line occasionally.
Check the Verizon e-mails occasionally, even if I don't use it for anything else.
And, unfortunately, no matter how frustrating it is, there is no way to get to Tier II without putting up with the shenanigans of the outsourced Tier I.

These are valuable lessons, and I'm in a position to take good advantage of them, but I'm afraid I can't tell you about that... for now.

New, Improved Traffic School?

2006-05-23T11:11:00.000-04:00

When last I wrote, I was trying to choose an online traffic school after getting a speeding ticket. I must admit my feedback, both public and private, was weak. Bocona wanted me to stop the nonsense and simply take the classroom program. I didn't see that as a worthwhile use of my time, however, and so I made my choice.

First, a trip to the Florida DMV website for a list of authorized schools, since the potential for scamming me was pretty high. It turns out that there is more than one list at the DMV, and they don't match. They don't offer URLs, either. I did find "Improv Comedy Traffic Schools of Florida" on one list, and called the provided phone number to get their URL. A good call on my part; their URL did not match the Improv school from my postcard collection.

A Little Background Data

The Improv I was referred to by the state is at www.4trafficschoolbyimprov.com. This URL belongs to the American Institute for Public Safety, but I didn't stay at that URL for long. Before I knew it, I was handed off to the aipsawaredriveronline.com domain, owned by the same company.

I was beginning to suspect all of these solicitations ultimately end at the same place, a suspicion that only grew as I took the course. Without taking another class, which I don't intend to do without serious compensation, I can't prove my suspicion that all of these companies are selling the same class... but it seemed pretty likely.

More Than Just Comedy

The principal selling point for the school I chose was comedy, but it did have other redeeming values. For my $23.95 fee, I would have my choice of having my certificate mailed to me, e-mail to me, or both. No extra charge. I pay more for rush service, such as FedEx, but that's to be expected. Of course, e-mailing my certificate required me to give them my e-mail address, which I declined to do, so I selected the snail mail route.

I was also instructed to provide the answers to about a dozen security questions. It wasn't important that the answers were correct - just reproducible. I would be asked these questions at random times, to insure I was still in front of the computer. I would have two minutes to answer a security question correctly before getting kicked out of school. And no, I couldn't print the list - I'd have to hand write the list if I were thinking of cheating.

As For the Course

The course was arranged in a series of chapters, each with its own two-question quiz, and each timed so that I would spend a minimum of four hours in front of the computer. Speed reading wouldn't help; I could not move on until the time was up. I could retake each chapter if I chose, but could not take the final exam until I took each chapter.

But that wasn't so bad, right? At least I would have four hours of comedy... and then I remembered that comedy is loosely defined as the opposite of tragedy. My columns have more humor than those chapters did! I only had one LOL (laugh-out-loud, for the uninformed) moment. I only rarely got beyond a smile. It was the content that built the suspicion that every school used the same class.

Finally, the Test

The test was not difficult. Multiple-choice. I think 80% was passing, but I admit I've forgotten that detail. I missed two questions. Had I failed, I could have taken it again. I could review the chapters between tests, but the test itself was "closed book".

When I finished, I was told I could look forward to receiving my certificate in 5 to 10 business days.

And Waiting

10 business days later I was still missing my certificate. I began to wish I had traded by e-mail address for my certificate.

I found the postcard for Improv and called the number on the card. They had no record of me (not all Improvs are the same). I had bookmarked the website, so I returned there and found the contact number.

They found me, and they said they mailed the certificate, but couldn't tell me the date.

Riiight!

"Mail it again," I told them. When I asked, they told me it would mail from Miami. Okay, I'd give them four days, and if I didn't get it then, they could look forward to another call.

Four days later, the certificate arrived (and the original mailing is still missing). It was mailed by "Aware Driver" in North Miami.

Big sigh of relief!

Would I Do It Again?

Were I unlucky enough to get another ticket, the online school was better than the classroom, but curiosity might make me pick another school, to see if there really is a difference. But yes, online was the right choice for me, and this school was a fairly safe choice. Maybe next time I'd use a disposable e-mail address.

Better still, I'll simply try to avoid getting another ticket.

Traffic School not what it used to be

2006-04-20T19:34:00.000-04:00

I was a bad boy. 56 MPH in a 40 MPH zone.

Not that I believe I was as bad as that, but I'm not about to risk $500 on the possibility that I can convince the judge the officer had bumped the speed up a notch to make it more painful. I drive a fast looking car. I passed a slow-moving vehicle (which was in the left lane of a four-lane highway). And I can make all the excuses in the world.

I got caught. I got a ticket. And to avoid the biggest penalties in Florida, I have traffic school.

Quite a few years ago, I got nailed for 72 in a 55 zone. It was a righteous bust; I was remarkably stupid on some things, even when I was on top of my game as a pundit. I chose the traffic school route then as well. As the Internet had not yet come into its own, traffic school was a Saturday morning class at the only game in town - and boring. So boring, I'm sure someone had to make a B-movie about it, because it was so easy to parody.

Times have changed. Within days that had become obvious to me. I've received no fewer than a dozen invitations to enroll in a traffic school, and most offer options: classroom, of course, but also videotape, DVD, and even the Internet. Traffic school from the comfort of my living room or office.

And some of them even promise to be funny.

I'll drop names, but not links, because every one of them most certainly contribute to the spam problem in the blogosphere. I know this, because I went looking. I wanted to know what bloggers thought about each of these schools, and instead of well-composed opinions, I found countless ad blogs with no redeeming value. I wouldn't spend money on any of them, except that I do want the services of one of them. The only question is which?

American Safety Council offers "the lowest price without hidden fees" ($18.88) and tells me of "fees" charged by others (ranging from $2.50 to $7.50) that they suggest are not legit fees. I believe them on the fees issue, just as car dealers charge fees that aren't anything more than efforts to boost profit. But that doesn't mean I have to buy from them.
Sarasota County Technical Institute, an entity run by a local school board, will charge me $25 to go to school, or $32 to attend on the web. I know they're legit, but they're likely to be as boring as my first time at traffic school.
CheaperinFlorida, a dot com, doesn't give me a physical or mailing address (unless I visit their site to find a classroom), and starts their price at $13.95, plus a "state fee surcharge" that American Safety Council says might be as much as $2.50. And who knows about other fees applied at the point of purchase. But they say they have comedy classes.
Improv Traffic School certainly implies comedy, but doesn't come out and say so in their postcard. They claim they will beat any accredited traffic school by $2.00... probably before tacking on those fees.
FunnyinFlorida is definitely comedy-oriented, with classroom sessions costing $25, video and DVD for $29.95, and Internet for $24.95. No mention of "fees" and they "guarantee" the lowest price.

These are only a few of my choices. With the clock running, I turn to you, my readers, and ask for feedback on these courses. Let me know your thoughts on who's legit, who isn't. Please help me from getting burned.

Google is only doing what Google knows best

2006-04-13T11:24:00.000-04:00

Lately, I've been reading criticism of what some call Google's two-faced
attitude towards censorship. These critics can't understand how Google
can justify cooperating with the Chinese government in censoring search
results to Chinese IPs, and at the same time refusing to cooperate with
the United States government in their efforts to fight Internet pornography.

Some pundits aren't surprised by the behavior. When Google cooperates
with the Chinese government, it makes sure it can have access to the
Chinese populace - something Google has to find desirable - and Google
never promised to be a political champion. Meanwhile, Google's fight
against the U.S. government's request for search results appears to be
anti-censorship, pro-privacy, and a little pro-pornography, but to these
pundits it's really a matter of looking good to its customers.

I don't see this to be so complex. I agree with the pundits who look at
Google's decision to filter the Chinese market as a business decision.
As a public corporation, this really shouldn't be a surprise; Google has
to do what's best for Google. As for their struggle with the U.S.
government, Google must also continue to do what's best for Google. This
means resisting requests for information that exceeds the government's
legitimate need. If the U.S. government is trying to build a case
against Internet pornography, it doesn't need Google to provide a list
of every request for pornography that it received. Statistics should be
sufficient, as no court is going to want to review individual requests.
The government should be more interested in where the porn exists, and
for that, they should have to perform a search, just like everyone else
(a search would also tell them a lot more about how easy it is or isn't
to find the content they wish to find). So, fighting the request
protects the privacy of their users, prevents confidential information
from becoming public record, and protects the business interests of
Google... which is, of course, what Google is mandated to do by virtue
of its public status.

So, don't blame Google for its seemingly inconsistent policies. Google
is simply being Google. It isn't politics. It's business.

Pinch me - - Please!

2006-04-04T23:06:00.000-04:00

It was one of those dreams.

You know the one. The one where you're in a video rental store, trying to rent The Ten Commandments and the clerk asks, "What format would you like it in?"

"BetaMax," you reply, thinking this kid is way too young to be renting videos.

"We don't rent betas of anything. What format do you want?"

And it keeps going like that. Then you realize the kid probably hasn't been keeping up, so the next time you add, "... You know, the format Sony is backing for movies?"

"Oh, you mean Blu-Ray! Let me check... Oh, I'm sorry, but the studio hasn't released your title in that format, yet."

Then you wake in a cold sweat.

You've had that dream, haven't you?

It started for me when I heard there were two standards for high-definition DVDs under development. The first, supporting between 25 and 50 gigs of content, is called Blu-Ray, and is supported by the likes of Philips, Panasonic, Pioneer, Apple, Dell, various studios and... Sony.

The second, called HD-DVD, supports only 15 to 30 gigs of content, but it's supported by Toshiba, NEC, Intel, and... Microsoft.

So, we have two standards. The superior standard is backed by Sony. The inferior standard is backed by just about everyone else (where just about everyone else = Microsoft). Now, who's likely to win out?

Hint: in the First Video War, Sony backed the superior BetaMax against the inferior VHS. And that was before Microsoft ever entered the picture.

Sometimes this punditing job is just too easy.

I Could Tell You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

2006-03-18T09:59:00.000-05:00

In my last blog, I promised to tell you what I could about my new employers. Well, here we go...

I can tell you -- nothing!

My new employers are very tight-lipped about what we do. I can't even tell you what I do when I work there. Hopefully, some day they will lighten up and give me some room to talk (and maybe I can even score an interview with the CEO for a future blog), but for now I wouldn't hold my breath.

Just be happy someone is willing to pay me to do something on a regular basis.

Now, on other fronts...

About a week ago, I picked up a rumor that Google and Sun were talking acquisition. There were plenty of naysayers to that idea, yet the rumor persists. Rather than discuss how likely the event would be, I'd rather talk about what it might mean as a result.

Sun's biggest revenue generator is still its hardware. I was about to suggest that Google might spin off the Sparc business when it struck me that there was a reason for Google to want some hardware -- you might recall some loose talk about a Google PC? I'm not saying that SPARCstations would be ideal for the purpose, but if you wanted the software arm of Sun and was stuck with the hardware arm, there are worse ways to get to where you want to be.

But, as I said, it's the software arm that would be appealing to Google. Before anyone forgets, Google's top dog was a honcho at Sun once-upon-a-time, and big on Java. It might be that Google has some Java-driven projects that might be more practical if they didn't have to pay license fees on its use.

Then there's this thing called OpenOffice.org (and the less-open relative, StarOffice). Sun and Google had already entered into a cooperation pact that left quite a few people speculating about a web-based version of OpenOffice.org. Some recent, related, acquisitions suggest to me that Google has already bought the people needed to build a web-office suite; would Google apply that knowledge to a fork of OpenOffice.org? Might Google kill the StarOffice product, and force OpenOffice.org to go independent, giving its own web-office suite a chance to catch up?

Google clearly doesn't like Microsoft, so I'm inclined to think such a merger would be good for OpenOffice.org. I'd look for Google to offer more developers to the project, but I also think StarOffice might go away, as Google wouldn't have a practical use for it. I also think Google would then use it's new leverage to put serious development effort into a web-hosted fork of the popular open source office suite.

Of course, I have no inside knowledge of any of this. It's just speculation. Don't make any investments without making your routine investigations.

Oh, and have a nice day!

So honesty in interviewing is still the best policy

2006-03-13T13:38:00.000-05:00

I take it back.

I last wrote about how much it hurts to be honest in a job interview, and I'm convinced there are cases when that is true. But there are times when honesty is still the best policy. The problem is, it's hard to decide when the time is right for honesty, and so, I'll have to default for honesty. It's in my nature.

See, the situation depends on the question, and on the interviewer. In the question of the other day, it should have been clear to me the interviewer, one of the owners of the company, would be concerned over the cost of training a short-timer. Since she couldn't offer any true incentive for me to stay, I was going to be expensive and not worth the effort. It was foolish for me to tell her I was a potential short-timer.

Today, I interviewed with another company offering an entry-level position. In this case, while the compensation is likely appropriate for the position, it isn't my ultimate goal. One might assume I'd be short-timing that one, too, but the difference is that this company has something to offer: a future. Where the previous company had no opportunity to move beyond what I would have been hired to do, this next company dangles opportunity tantalizingly under my nose. I'd take the low-end offer and stay, seeing opportunity for personal growth and later on I'll get to the financial goals.

So, where honesty cost me an opportunity with the previous company, my honesty with the second company may pay off, while being dishonest would likely hurt miserably.

When honesty happens to coincide with the needs of the employer, honesty is still the best policy. One only has to find the company that has the same needs you have.

Shouldn't be too hard.

Should it?

I guess it wasn't.

After I wrote the above, I had another brief, pleasant conversation with the interviewer, starting something like, "Can you start tomorrow at 10 o'clock?"

Looks like honesty did pay off. I'm again among the ranks of the employed, looking forward to the challenges that come with a new job. It wasn't what I was shooting for, but all told, it might even be better, as I have the chance to prove myself and become a valuable asset to the company.

I'll know more soon about what I can say and what I can't say about them, and eventually you, the faithful reader, will know more as well. I can say this, however: when you're a Former Pundit, you shouldn't be surprised at having to get back on the ladder from the bottom. If you like your work, you'll soon find yourself back where you belong... and I believe I don't belong on the outside looking in. I'm back on the inside, and I'm convinced it'll be an interesting, if not exciting, journey back to the top of the game.

Tell them what they want to hear

2006-03-06T10:36:00.000-05:00

It's funny what a little honesty will get you.

I was interviewing at a not-to-be-named company that specializes in home PC repair for a simple field technician job. When the interviewer asked me what kind of work I was looking for, I was honest. I told her that, given my experience, I was really looking for something further along than a field PC tech position, but I did need to start putting bread on the table again.

She told me they commonly had techs who worked for them for a few months (to keep their skills sharp, she said) while they were looking for other work. She made it look like this wouldn't be a problem. I was so pleased. Finally, my patience and honesty was about to pay off - maybe not with the job I wanted, but with at least something to hold me until better work came along - and they were good with it!

How naive I was! Even though the rest of the interview was golden, my honesty about my intentions, any other day a virtue, had become a curse. When discussing my application after I left, the staff couldn't come to grips with knowing I did not intend to stay with them forever - as if anyone ever did! It wasn't that I was likely to bolt at the first sign of a decent job, as so many other technicians have done (and will still do) - no, the vote swung against me because I had the honesty to admit what I was going to do, while everyone else simply pretended it wasn't going to happen.

So honesty cost me an opportunity.

I could say I didn't learn my lesson, and that I'll still be a perfectly honest applicant next time.

But then, I wouldn't be honest, would I?

Real Professionals Make Interviews Pleasurable

2006-02-28T08:38:00.000-05:00

While on my job search, I occasionally find people and places where things are done right, and I wish to bestow a few kudos this morning...

First, to the ITS staff of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL. While their boss was away, they were tasked with interviewing for a new LAN Administrator, and so they did it in the most practical way I've found: as a team. The new employee was expected to work with three other staff members as part of a team, so the remaining team members collectively interviewed the candidates, discussing job knowledge, background, and indirectly learning how they would all get along. I'm given to believe I almost got that job, but still count it as a great interview. They even had someone personally call me with the results, as well as the slightly more common e-mail rejection.

I also wish to offer kudos to the recruiting team at Robert Half Technology in Tampa. In interviewing me for possible contract work, they were thorough, understanding, and practical, and even had me take a couple tests, the results of which they could use to make my case before prospects.

I'm still on the available list, but if I were lucky enough to encounter more professionals like those at Eckerd College and Robert Half Technology, I think I'd be back among the employed in no time.

Curbing auto tag theft

2006-02-26T14:19:00.000-05:00

There are some really desperate (and despicable) people out there.

Last night, someone stole Bocona's license tag from her car.

Now, irritating as this was, it took her a little while to calm down from the personal violation she felt (any victim of theft probably feels the same way). Then we started speculating why the perp did it.

As any TV viewer would tell you, the perp probably wanted to disguise his/her involvement in a felony... right?

Well, probably not. It isn't like we have a lot of that kind of behavior going on around here, and putting a stolen tag on your car isn't going to make you stand out that much less as you get away from that bank robbery.

No, the more likely reason, in our minds, is that some undocumented alien wanted to drive a car.

It's like this. Being undocumented, the alien didn't have a U.S.-issued driver's license. Without a license, he/she could not buy insurance. Without insurance, he/she cannot register the car or get a tag for it. Without a tag, he/she runs a bigger chance of being apprehended and deported.

So, the perp steals a tag (and wouldn't it be funny if the tag that was stolen was one that someone else had already stolen?) to put on his/her unregistered car, expecting no LEO will run the tag if he/she obeys traffic laws... and that's probably the case.

Meanwhile, Bocona can't drive her car until the tag office issues her a replacement (on Monday, hopefully).

Bocona feels we can solve this problem by removing our use of the driver's license as a form of identification. In other words, had the undocumented alien been able to buy insurance and register a car, our tag theft problem would drop dramatically. While we're at it, by allowing undocumented aliens to get driver's licenses, we can probably reduce a number of traffic-related incidents.

I disagree. Allowing the undocumented to obtain licenses, insurance, and register vehicles only makes them a little more documented, which is something they don't seem capable of doing, or they'd do it already. A driver's license is supposed to prove the bearer's ability to drive according to the issuing state's laws. There has to be an identifying component to that. Likewise, it's hard to issue proper insurance to a pseudonym, and I'd rather not go back to having people driving cars without insurance (which the undocumented do... even when they're in their own country). Unless we're willing to give up those extra requirements, letting the undocumented get driver's licenses won't solve this problem.

To my thinking, they problem is only truly solved by eliminating the lack of documentation. Make it very distasteful to the undocumented to be undocumented. Take away their reason for being undocumented. And that leads to some very draconian measures.

I wonder if the U.S. Congress keeps backups

2006-02-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

I just learned about an article in News.com that tells of a bill introduced to the U.S. Congress requiring every web site operator to delete information about visitors if the data is no longer required for legitimate business purposes.

I guess Congress hasn't learned anything about its own nature from the Can SPAM law. That, or our Congresspeople have such high opinions of themselves that they think they have a grasp of the technology their dealing with. How else can you explain how such a stupid idea could threaten to become law?

I suppose it might reduce identity theft (the intended goal), if there weren't already so many ways information is kept "for legitimate business purposes." But look at some of the ways such a law might impact the Internet.

First, remember this is a U.S. only law we're talking about. So, data accumulated by web site operators outside the U.S. would be exempt from the law. Result: a whole bunch of businesses can save themselves a lot of heartache by moving their sites to off-shore web hosts, and domestic web hosts, already steeply competing for business, will face possible extinction.

I've seen it said that web server logs, which contain host identifying information such as IP addresses and machine names, may be forced to become self-editing to remove that information. Without the identifying information in web server logs, security professionals would no longer have an important tool in tracing the origins of attacks.

Sites that accept feedback from participants, such as blogs, forums/bulletin boards, or chat systems, will be greatly impacted, since they will no longer be allowed to associate a name to an e-mail address (or likely even be permitted to display either one). Assuming they even could, they would then have to have all of these services heavily moderated to prevent the display of proscribed information.

And if the web sites can't hold all of this information, what does that say about the backup tapes for these sites? When the data is no longer needed for "legitimate business purposes" it must be deleted from the sites. Shouldn't that mean the data must be removed from the backups as well?

Then there's the webmail systems, which are expected to maintain personal communications for eventual display/delivery via the browser. How can one possibly separate personal identifying information from e-mail data being stored for delivery on a web site? Ban webmail?

Okay, maybe some of these examples are extreme, but it would take a lawyer to figure out what behavior is allowed and what behavior is not. If this bill is allowed to become law, you can pretty well say goodbye to the American web site, and with that comes the eventual demise of the Internet - not from over use, but from disuse!

On the other hand, if American politicians can't keep from creating Internet policy, maybe we'd be better off letting it die!

Just to be sure, let's get this straight...

2006-02-09T13:55:00.000-05:00

I just want to clarify my position on the state of the U.S./Mexican border. My last few blogs display a degree of irritation toward the attitudes taken by both the U.S. and Mexican governments over the apparent involvement by Mexican soldiers in protecting escaping drug smugglers. I called for, and still call for, government authorization for the Border Patrol to intervene in future incursions by alleged Mexican soldiers with force, if necessary. If the soldiers are not genuine, they are still abetting drug trafficking, and if they are genuine, they are not only abetting drug trafficking, they are violating the sovereignty of the United States. There is simply no excuse.

Illegal border crossings, in general, is another matter, one not so easily addressed. The problem really isn't an immigration problem as much as it is an economic problem. For a touch of insight, I encourage readers to watch the movie "A Day Without A Mexican" (and forgive me for recommending a decidedly cheesy film). While the content is presented with a strong bias, it should make you think.

Both the American economy and the Mexican economy depend on Mexicans crossing the U.S. border to find work. The movie makes a point I haven't seen elsewhere in the media: if it costs x dollars to provide social services to illegal aliens, how much do illegal aliens contribute to our gross domestic product (GDP)... and is it worth the cost of services to lose the related GDP? And don't forget the cost to Homeland Security for chasing down these aliens.

Now, I'm not saying "open the borders," either. What I am saying is that the illegal alien issue is far more complicated than the drug trafficking issue, or more specifically Mexican military involvement in drug trafficking. We don't need new laws to deal with the latter. We only need to enforce the laws that exist a little more aggressively.

We don't need new fences. We simply need to teach the Mexican military to stay on its side of the border.

Such a clever explanation, Mr. Secretary

2006-01-26T16:09:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it? Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez suggested American soldiers disguised as Mexican troops may have been in the military-style Humvee filmed earlier this week protecting a marijuana shipment on the border. He says our boys had done it before.

Only I have a difficult time believing any American soldier would be willing to impersonate a Mexican soldier.

Let's see, Secretary Derbez, you say our guys snuck over to Mexico, donned Mexican uniforms (how believable would the impersonation be if they were wearing American uniforms?), came back across the Rio Grande to help some drug smugglers escape back to Mexico after a botched delivery, then changed out of the Mexican uniforms and crossed back to the U.S.?

Why?

I can see the money, but for what reason would any drug lord want to make the Mexican authorities look bad to the U.S.? Why pay American soldiers to look like Mexican soldiers? Wouldn't it be cheaper for the drug lords to dress up locals as Mexican soldiers? Or hire mercenaries?

He can't prove it, but neither can we.

I know! Let's go ahead an apprehend a few and really find out! Mr. Secretary, do we have permission to engage and detain your troops, if we catch them doing this again?

I didn't think so.

Maybe they thought we'd invited them for dinner...

2006-01-24T17:26:00.000-05:00

Is it any surprise that Mexicans for the most part cross the U.S. border with impunity, when we have turned a blind eye as a government to incursions by Mexican soldiers (14-day link) into Texas?

Why do we even bother with border patrols any longer? Does Texas even have a border with Mexico any longer? There was a day when foreign troops crossing our border without permission was considered an act of war. Now, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says many of the incursions could have been mistakes, blaming bad navigation by military personnel.

Right. Across the Rio Grande. Easy to make that mistake.

Mexico denies the incidents. Of course it does. It makes them look bad. It isn't enough to have your soldiers crossing the border without permission, but they are apparently doing so under the pay of some local drug lords.

Chertoff suggested the soldiers might be criminals in disguise. Well, Mr. Chertoff, why don't you tell your border officers to try to arrest them and find out? Any way you look at it, the border crossings are illegal, so for Pete's sake, act on it.

Look, we have known for a long time our borders aren't secure, but isn't it time we did something about it? No, I'm not saying walls... but I am saying we should give our officers the authority and ability to stand up to Mexican soldiers (on the assumption the Texas government won't dispatch the Texas National Guard to lend assistance, which, given Texas' history, equally surprises me).

I mean, enough's enough!

Getting the wrong job offers

2006-01-20T19:15:00.000-05:00

Still on the job hunt, waiting patiently for the various interviews (how many people really need to talk to a guy before he gets hired, anyway?). Having not accepted any offers, yet, the resumes still go out...

And I get inquiries from people to whom I never sent a resume. I believe these come from the obligatory copies I have on file with CareerBuilder and Monster (no, I'm not linking them; everyone should know how to reach them by now). What gets me about these inquires is that they have nothing to do with the position I'm seeking. No, I don't want to be a:

Car salesman (used or otherwise).
Insurance salesman (three have tried, but different companies are still trying this; I'm a licensed adjuster, not a salesman).
Lawn-care salesman (this company has asked for me twice, and I said no both times).
Security alarm installer (at least this one comes kind of close to being part of the IT world).

Don't these recruiters bother to read the resume before writing me? I'd call it spam, but the line is pretty fine between soliciting me to apply for one of these jobs and asking me to apply for a real IT job. I doubt there are filters that good at sorting between them, and I dare not miss an opportunity for something I'd prefer to do.

After all, Bocona still reminds me that hurricane season is only a few months away. Funny thing about that: not too many insurance companies want to hire inexperienced adjusters who aren't fresh out of college. I guess even Bocona can be wrong on occasion... but I better not say that in her ear shot!

Driving without a license

2005-12-29T11:58:00.000-05:00

It's funny, and sad, how Americans can be so resourceful and determined on one hand, and so lazy on the other. I can't be surprised at the level of disdain other cultures have for us, given the "we don't care" attitude we project.

The way we deal with personal computers is an example of this. We scream and holler about viruses, spyware, and spam, yet we're right up there with the worst offenders at its propagation. The expression about "one bad apple spoiling the bushel" doesn't apply here; we're a society of bad apples, with the good apples complaining about their plight.

In this case, I'm talking about the good apples being the minority who know enough about computing and the Internet to practice "safe computing" while the bad apples being the computer users who want to look at their computers the way they look at their telephones and televisions. The good apples are clearly outnumbered, but they are also reluctant to admit that they have little choice but to live with solutions that would keep the bad apples at check.

I've seen countless arguments over who should have the responsibility over keeping the Internet clean. One side wants the ISP to take more control, while the other side resents any efforts the ISP makes to take that control. The fact is, if the ISP only had good apples as clients, the ISP wouldn't need to place restrictions on their Internet use. We know this isn't the case, however, so the ISP should take on some responsibility.

Let's look at the highway analogy a moment. In the early days, anyone who had a car could drive it down any road. As more cars entered the picture, it became clear some rules would be needed to avoid disaster, and so governing bodies applied some basic rules (which only got more complicated as time passed, of course).

Since the car couldn't be made foolproof, the next best thing would be to reduce the number of fools behind the wheel. Drivers were required to get licenses, insuring they knew the basic rules of the road and could no longer use ignorance as an excuse. Those unable to demonstrate the knowledge are not legally allowed to drive. Those too young to make sensible decisions about driving are not allowed to get licenses. Those who disregard the rules eventually lose their licenses, and can no longer legally drive. Professional drivers have a more difficult test, and must follow more difficult rules, but also have some freedom in choosing the capabilities of their vehicles (an amateur driver cannot legally drive a tractor-trailer, for example).

To help keep the road running smoothly, the governing body developed rules for proper behavior, but they also introduced traffic control devices to manage the use of the roads.

There are plenty of problems with the analogy, as there are with just about any analogy, but it should give rise to thought. The lazy populace, the bad apples, get away with their laziness because the powers-that-be allow them to. If we (as a society) drove cars the way we operate PCs on the Internet, we'd find the roads too dangerous to use. Shouldn't we, then, have some mandated restrictions for the protection of the rest of us?

The road needs rules (not just the technical RFCs, but real rules), it needs traffic cops to enforce the rules, and the drivers need licensing to insure safety on the road. The ISPs are well-positioned to be our cops, and those who cry for freedom on the Net should only prove their competence to gain their improved access. Misbehave, and have your license suspended or revoked.

The computer makers will not make foolproof computers, as that makes them liable for the fools who find ways around the protections. So, rather than look at Microsoft, Apple, or the Linux distros for relief, we should be looking at ways to govern the use of the Internet, keeping the bad apples from ruining the bushel for all of us. Make the ISP become responsible for the actions of its subscribers, and you'll see some very dramatic changes in how the Internet is used. License the Internet users, and you'll see a dramatic improvement in the quality of Internet users.

These Things Won't Go Away

2005-12-21T12:46:00.000-05:00

I admit I'm surprised at the lack of feedback after my last blog. I was certain that the Linux fans would crawl out of the woodwork to defend their favorite distro against the thought that they would be forced to play second fiddle to Microsoft on the desktop forever.

I also expected some comments by the staunch Windows advocates, either in agreement, or to show how I was right for the wrong reasons.

Lacking that feedback, I'll apply some of those aforementioned observations to another issue, and offer a principle to explain it:

There have been some very good writings on the subject of PC security (or the lack thereof), and why we'll never get a handle on the problem of viruses, worms, spyware, spam, and the like. If I could remember where I saw them, I'd provide the links, and I encourage readers to share the links if they have them.

My take on it is simply that the average PC owner simply can't be bothered with the effort to secure, and keep secured, his or her PC. It isn't that they don't want to know, but that they simply don't care. Even those who suffer from the slowdowns and other minor effects of infection aren't concerned for it beyond a grumble. I've personally seen cases where computers contain 100s of spyware intrusions and pop-up problems, left uncorrected. The owners often say they don't know why it happens, but they are unwilling to spend the money to have a professional clean it up and they have no interest to learn how to do so themselves, even when told they can do it for free.

I've cleaned those machines, installed preventive measures, and watched the machines get re-infected because the owners fail to perform routine maintenance to keep up with the problem.

I call this "the Laziness Factor" and the application of this is widespread (personally observed in the United States, and may exist elsewhere). That principal reason why Linux can't catch up with Windows on the desktop is the same reason why we'll never keep malware off the home PC. The owner is simply too lazy to do or learn what is needed to maintain the system. In an age where we want our cars to be low maintenance (maintenance-free batteries, high-mileage tune-ups, delayed oil changes), we can't expect the PC owner to want a high-maintenance PC. So, if it doesn't take care of itself automatically, a problem won't get fixed unless the PC stops working entirely. No matter if the cost of later repairs is greater than the cost of regular maintenance; if the repair costs more than a few hundred dollars, the common reaction is to either put it off, or replace the computer. The funny thing is that, with Linux being a lower-maintenance operating system, it still misses out - because the learning curve is just too steep to climb!

How many machines sit at home running the factory defaults? Anti-virus subscriptions expire, and are allowed to run without updates. Machines go for months or years without being scanned. Heck, I've seen Windows machines that have never been defragmented!

Watch for a discussion of solutions in an upcoming blog... if anyone cares to discuss it!

Linux will never beat Microsoft

2005-12-14T12:17:00.000-05:00

I know you've been waiting for me to say something profound. After all, I'm a former pundit, right? That means I should have some earth-shattering opinions, right?

Try this on for size:

Linux doesn't have what it takes to beat Microsoft on the desktop.

Not all that earth-shattering, I suppose, unless I also mention that I'm a big Linux fan. Yep! Got it right here, dual-booting SuSE with Windows 2000 Pro on my notebook. Been playing with it for about two years.

But, see, I'm being realistic. As much as I'd love to see Linux kick MS around, I don't think any distro of Linux has what it takes. And having said that, I'm duty bound to explain.

There isn't any one thing that makes the difference. Oh, if only it were that simple. And it isn't all technical, or it would probably already be done. In fact, it isn't even something entirely in the Community's control. It'll take maneuvering by a bunch of people and some dreadful mistakes by Microsoft to displace Windows.

It can be done. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

It's been said that Linux needs a killer app, or that Linux needs a decent e-mail client. I don't necessarily agree or disagree. The terms "killer" and "decent" are subjective; one person's "killer" app or "decent" e-mail client is another person's "ho-hum" development. Here's the truth:

A killer app can create a market for an operating system, but the operating system goes a long way toward making the killer app. Before Windows, we had DOS, and we had DOS apps. We also had hardcore computer users, and tossed in a group that depended on menus, being totally uninterested in learning/using DOS. Windows came along, but Windows didn't catch on with most computer users of the day until Microsoft provided Microsoft Office (particularly Word and Excel) for Windows. The killer apps, one might say.

Yet, was the advent of Microsoft Office sufficient to switch DOS users to Windows? No, of course not. It required finding other publishers to bring their software to Windows, or reasonably competitive substitutes, so users could give up their DOS applications in favor of the aesthetically nicer Windows.

And even with a growing library of applications, Windows wouldn't have caught on, if it weren't for one more thing.

The manufacturers, who were pushed by Microsoft into putting a copy of Windows on every PC they made.

Now, if you're a new home computer user, clueless to the realities of the world, and you just bought a new computer, are you going to look for an operating system to replace the one the computer came with? Of course not! You'll leave Windows in place, then look for programs that run on your brand new Windows computer.

Is the situation really any different today? The family that has never had a computer before and knows nothing about computers will have the choice between Windows and... Windows! (Apple users are actually in a similar boat, but by choice.) To my knowledge, only Linspire has had the foresight to get their distro of Linux pre-installed on a brand new PC, but you have to work to find those machines.

And even though PCs have been popular appliances for many years now, how many of the principal owners of the in-place home PCs actually know how to use them to their best effect? Not many, as evidenced by the proliferation of viruses and spyware on these machines. Do you think Microsoft wants to correct this shortcoming? Of course not, as knowledgeable users can choose to change, and that isn't in Microsoft's interest.

So Microsoft makes Windows so smart that the home users can remain computer-illiterate. When a Windows user wants to install a new program, what does he or she need to do? Buy a CD containing the new program, set the CD in the tray, close the tray, and follow the prompts that magically appear on the screen. When a Linux user wants to install a new program, what does he or she need to do? If your answer starts with "that depends...", you've demonstrated my point. Can a computer-illiterate comfortably use a Linux PC? Even one running a distro as dumbed-down as Linspire? Only until he or she has to perform any non-menu-based maintenance.

The question isn't one of killer apps, decent e-mail, easy availability, or even cost. The question isn't even ease-of use, although this is the biggest single obstacle in my mind.

No, the question is all of the above. Simply put, there isn't enough reasons for the mass market to justify changing operating systems. Microsoft got there first, got entrenched, and barring some serious errors, will be there for some time to come. The public is in their comfort zone, and the only way for Linux to supplant Microsoft on the desktop is for Linux to become more comfortable than Windows and its successors. Linspire is closest, but comfort is not defined as look and feel. Comfort is a state of mind. Microsoft has achieved it. Linux hasn't, and Linux will play second fiddle to Microsoft until:

Linux is comfortable to use (and maintain) by the computer-illiterates,
Linux is as easy to find, pre-installed, as Windows is today, and
Linux has a sufficient developer-base as to guarantee each person's own subjective killer app is available for easy installation (per #1, above).

I still like Linux. I'm still a huge fan of open source. But there isn't any way Microsoft's monopoly over the desktop can be broken unless these three conditions are met.

I don't see it.

And I'd love to be proven wrong.

Spam: No one said it had to be in English

2005-12-13T14:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't written lately (as you can plainly see), in part from being busy, but in part from simply not feeling motivated to do so. This is a benefit of the "who cares" nature of blogging. If this were a true column, I'd feel pressure to write (and burn-out is on its way), but with a blog, no one is paying me to write these thoughts, and having read little feedback, I can't even say anyone is reading these thoughts (one day I'll have to add a hit counter).

So, what have I been up to?

Most of last week was spent making preparations for the career change Bocona wants me to try. I've earned my Accredited Claims Adjuster (ACA) designation, and have applied for my license. This means, in effect, I'm no longer allowed to offer an opinion on insurance matters, unless it is directly related to a claim I'm working. Bully. Not that I've had anything to say about insurance, so far.

But preparing for a career change isn't the same as making one. While the applications have started going out for claims adjuster positions, the resumes are continuing to fly in the PC world. I'm looking at it like a race; let's see which career will come through first.

Meanwhile, a comment on the not-unexpected feedback I got from the last posting. Remember when I offered an only-slightly disguised e-mail address to write to if you know of an IT management position available? Well, I got some replies. Unfortunately, I can't read them... they're in Arabic and Hebrew (I can tell them apart, but can't read either language). Frankly, I'm amazed. What's the sense of sending spam to someone if the recipient can't even read it, much less act on it?

Then again, who said the spammer(s) even bothered to attempt to read my blog. They simply found an easy to translate address and fired away. I wouldn't be surprised if the spammers couldn't even read English. It's not like understanding the blog is relevant to them!

A note to the spammers, potential and otherwise. My e-mail (even the job account) is plenty filtered, between gray lists, firewalls, e-mail client-based spam filtering, etc. It's not worth the effort to add me to your list, so why don't you simply pass my e-mail address over and move along?

And wouldn't we all be surprised if that request actually worked!

Things That Make You Go "Hmmm..."

2005-11-30T17:22:00.000-05:00

As my readers should know by now, I've been involved in a bit of career searching, and of course that means some time digging through Monster.com. I've had a tendency to stay away from the larger outfits, but their offerings still appear on the radar, so when a single company starts showing an abnormal collection of openings, something seems to be afoot.

I have to admit having heard rumors that Jabil Circuit in St. Petersburg, FL was an uncomfortable place for IT workers, so when I saw an unusual string of positions open up there, I had to look a little deeper (the following links are to Jabil Circuit's web site, and were valid as of 11/30/2005):

Manager of Information Systems
Technology Architect-Client Services
Enterprise Solutions Specialist II SD
Enterprise Solutions Specialist II HR
EDI Application Support and Training Specialist
Business Systems Analyst I

These all appeared at the same location (St. Petersburg) on the same day... quite a turnover, from where I sit, given that some of those positions are pretty high on the local totem pole.

Now, look at this snippet of the job description for the Manager of Information Systems:

Recruitment and Retention:
-Recruit, interview and hire Information Systems Reporting Manager.
-Communicate criteria to recruiters for Information Systems Reporting Manager position candidates.
-Coach Information Systems staff in the interviewing/hiring process.
-Monitor team member turnover; identify key factors that can be improved; make improvements.

I put the emphasis on that last line.

Might it be that some of those rumors I heard was true? Does Jabil Circuit have such a turnover problem sufficient to place retention a priority for the job description, and particularly that aspect of learning why people are leaving and fix it?

One can't begin to know the whole story, or even a significant piece of it, from a list of job openings, and so my speculations here are entirely my own. I would like to say, however, that I wish the new Manager of Information Systems at Jabil Circuit in St. Petersburg the best of luck in his or her new job, and hope he or she doesn't learn the problems come from someplace out of his or her reach!

On my own search...

Bocona isn't pleased with my progress so far, and wants me to explore new career opportunities outside my comfort zone. So, while still digging around, I am also preparing to become licensed as an insurance claims adjuster... just in case something better doesn't materialize before the next hurricane season.

Personally, I'm still rooting for the IT industry, so if you seriously know of a small business in the Tampa Bay area that would like to interview me for an IT management position (and isn't Jabil Circuit ;-) ), please drop me a note at career [at] frayernet [dot] com (please no spam - serious inquiries only).

Hey Verizon - It isn't the money!

2005-11-22T16:15:00.000-05:00

In case you're wondering where I've been the past few days, please allow me to explain. I'm a bit of a pack rat, which annoys Bocona to no end. Over the last year I've collected a fairly large pile of magazines, most of which I have no use for, but never took the time to read. When Bocona decided to do some holiday cleaning, she targeted the magazine stack, and shifted the stack to my desk... right on top of my trusty notebook computer.

"You don't even think about using that computer until you deal with those magazines!" Bocona can be persuasive.

So, for the last few days, while suffering the pain of computer withdrawal, I was sorting through my magazine stack - a task consisting mostly of shifting the stack from point A to point B one magazine at a time, discarding enough to show serious thought had gone through the culling.

Somewhere in there I encountered a statistic I felt worth sharing. It seems 38% of American Internet users choose to exclusively use dial-up access. Please note the word choose. These aren't necessarily financially disadvantaged people. These people don't cite cost as the reason. No, within the United States, price is not why people aren't using broadband. And yet AOL, NetZero, and PeoplePC all market their dial-up service as if that were the case, and Verizon markets its DSL the same way.

No, 38% of American Internet users choose to use dial-up because they don't see why they should upgrade. They don't use any Internet service that is so speed sensitive that they can't simply be a little patient and wait for dial-up. As marketers, the web developers have been so sensitive to the needs of the dial-up users that they are literally removing the incentive for the dial-up user to upgrade.

Remarkable. Even more so that some folks have talked about pushing the US government to subsidize broadband access to help the lower classes join the fast set. Look at the stats, people! It's not the money!

Now, if someone needs subsidizing, turn to the Internet users outside the US. I've heard stories about speed/billing issues that would have kept me offline had I been forced to use them. But if you're building content for American visitors, do them a favor. Don't over-optimize the site. Give them the reason to join the rest of us!

And hope I don't have any more housecleaning chores lined up for the near future.

On Rudeness...

Add to my list people who set appointments, then fail to keep them. Rude! Don't build a candidate's hopes then avoid the contact when you change your mind. If you intend to be a boss, be one, and start with getting up the backbone to call the candidate and explain that you changed your mind, and you no longer wish the interview. Candidates will be less likely to hold a grudge if you cancel the appointment than if you stand them up!

Digital TV, Courtesy of... Cisco?

2005-11-18T20:19:00.000-05:00

One of those days... plenty of newsworthy events, but little I feel the urge to comment on. It was days like these that probably contributed to my burn out a decade ago, taking me off the charts. So I won't push it. I'll keep today's blog short.

Tonight I notice, as I'm browsing through the AP newswire, that the line separating TV from computing is growing a little fuzzier. I've about come to the conclusion that only time stands between us and the consolidation of anything remotely data related. On one hand I revel in the knowledge that I live in a time when so many technological events foretold in the science fiction novels I read back in the '70s are coming to pass. On the other hand, I feel like Alvin Toffler understated things when he wrote Future Shock.

The latest indication that TV is encroaching on computers (or computers are encroaching on TV, take it as you will) is the announcement that Cisco plans to purchase cable-TV equipment giant Scientific-Atlanta. Since I'm a DirecTV subscriber, it was easy for me to forget all about Scientific-Atlanta, but they've been around forever - I once helped some friends sell SA satellite receiver systems back when it was techie-cool to have one of those monster dishes sitting in your yard. Now all Cisco needs is a TV programming source and they can set up their own cable network, without laying any cable! Just pump the programming across our already congested Internet connection to a set-top box that sends digital television to your HDTV receiver and (through the magic of routing technology) Internet data to your in-house PC network.

Imagine Comcast's screams as Congress tells them they have to allow Cisco to use their broadband network to send TV signals to their digital subscribers homes. This is going to be fun!

Rudeness in the Hiring Process

2005-11-17T10:20:00.000-05:00

I haven't been hiding the fact that I've been seeking work, and I've commented on how different things have been for me when compared to my glory days. As blogs are well-known as forums to discuss pet peeves, today I'll chime in on one of my perceptions. I particularly welcome comments from those on the other side of the hiring process to explain why they feel the following practices are just.

It may not be the case in other industries, but there is apparently no shortage of applicants for IT positions in the Tampa Bay area. Once upon a time, a job seeker would respond to a classified ad by phone or mail, but today e-mail is the dominant medium used in applying for a job. The employer typically requests the applicant to e-mail his/her resume and salary requirements to an address checked occasionally by the first level person in the hiring process (often an HR employee). Usually the HR employee is expecting a resume prepared in ASCII text or more commonly as a Word document. The applicant is rarely told in what format to send the resume, and if the resume is not in the desired format, it is apparently discarded without comment; there are too many applicants for the employee to take the time to request a new resume in the desired format.

Unfortunate, but I can understand this, just as I can understand today's trend towards not acknowledging receipt of the resume (though some addresses have autoresponders that do just that). So the vast number of resumes are sent without expectation of reply. If you don't make the first cut, you simply never hear from the employer.

No, what bothers me is the lack of communication after a one-on-one dialog, however brief, has occurred. Let me give a few examples.

A recruiter for a telecommunications company sends an e-mail asking for an updated resume and salary requirement. He started the conversation, yet after receiving the requested information, he refuses to reply to additional requests, even if only to state the position was filled or the candidate didn't meet the requirements to go to the next level.

After receiving a faxed resume, a clerk calls to verify a single question left unresolved on the resume. Upon receiving the clarification verbally, the clerk says someone will call "in the near future" to arrange an interview. The employer is never heard from again.

After a lengthy and apparently promising interview, the interviewer (a VP in the company) gives the applicant a business card (with an e-mail address) in case the applicant has the need to contact him. When the applicant does e-mail him, however, the e-mails go unacknowledged.

In each of these cases, one-on-one contact has occurred. The candidate is no longer simply a piece of paper, and deserves the same courtesy the applicant has given to the employer. After all, the applicant is also a consumer, yet the applicant is treated as something less... as if the decision not to hire is equal to not wanting anything to do with that person or anyone that person knows.

It's rude, and it's bad business. Don't lie to the applicant and don't ignore him/her after you've made a personal communication with him/her. It leaves a negative impression of the employer that can become lost revenue in excess of the cost of a more professional attitude as the applicant shares his/her experience with others.

On the positive side...

I've had an encouraging phone interview with a company seeking marketing assistance with their e-commerce web site. Another conversation is scheduled for Monday. I'm holding my breath... because this person is treating me like another person, not like a piece of paper.

Google Analytics: The Saga Continues

2005-11-16T10:37:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Kas, for your comment... and the link to your blog, Negative Logic. While it was heartening to see I was not alone in having initial difficulties, either I'm luckier than you, or being a former pundit still carries a little weight.

I got my e-mail response last night, but only read it this morning... in an e-mail I can't reach from here (I have my computer dual-booting Windows 2000 and SuSE Linux, and of course the e-mail is sitting in the wrong partition). But the Google techs indicated they were having difficulties with the verification routine (and it appears they still are). The good news is that the site would collect data even without verification... and that proved to be true.

I checked Google Analytics at roughly 6 AM EST, first using Mozilla under Linux, then an hour later with my preferred Firefox under Windows 2000. I mention this because Mozilla and GA didn't get along. I suspect I'm missing an undefined plug-in, as the reports were simply unreadable in Mozilla. With Firefox it was another story.

The good news is GA did indeed have yesterday's traffic analyzed. I admit I was surprised at the volume of information GA provided, including data on pages on which I had not placed the tracking code! The software is indeed potent, but it will take me some time to learn to use it to the most benefit. Each report page includes explanatory text that will make that task much easier, but even the basic information can work to show me where some adjustment might be needed.

The bad news, which leaves IndexTools my preferred analytics tool, is the data is clearly not intended for near-real-time reporting. Great for the big picture, but if you're a micro-manager or simply ultra-curious GA doesn't cut it.

My quick review can be summed up by saying Google Analytics is a nice tool for the economically-challenged webmaster or marketing manager who has the patience to wait out the installation issues.

Now, let me address some of the comments I saw on Kas' blog:

It should be pretty obvious to anyone following events in the IT world (including former pundits like myself) what's going on between Microsoft and Google. I'm personally glad it's happening, as this competition is driving some bold advances in Internet technology. Google may not be exactly doing no harm, but I think we'll all benefit from the effort.

You see, the really good web analytics companies offer astounding products at equally astounding prices... making many small companies settle for cut-rate solutions. By taking a top drawer product like Urchin and making it accessible to the small shops, Google is not only giving the little guy a helping hand, but they are encouraging the other top drawer companies to look at their offerings a lot closer. As a result, some will eventually start cutting their rates, while others will look to see how they can make their products even better to justify their rates. Ideally, we'll see both. There may be some bruising in the market, but the end result will be a lot healthier for that bruising.

I'm giving Google Analytics some time to clean up, then I will watch the competition to see how they respond.

And thank you, Kas, for taking an interest in my blog!

Google Analytics Revisited/The Job Hunt

2005-11-15T14:31:00.000-05:00

Two hours after my ramblings on Google Analytics, still without an e-mailed reply to my request for help, I check on my GA account and find the site "waiting for data". Google apparently found and fixed the problem on their end, and was waiting for me to discover it.

Now the product says may take up to 12 hours to collect the data necessary to begin reporting. I think you'll be hearing more from me about this product tomorrow.

On the Employment Front

I've been handing out resumes like a child molester hands out candy to children on Halloween (well, maybe not exactly like that)... and have had few responses (could I be too eager?). I'm not really surprised; as I mentioned, these aren't exactly the old days, and I've heard unconfirmed statistics to say there are between 100 and 200 respondents for every IT position advertised in the Tampa Bay area. When someone does contact me, it's almost cause for celebration.

Today a national home builder asks me for my salary requirements, after I replied to their ad for a Support Analyst (what we used to call a PC Support Technician in the day). I hope I didn't scare them off, but I have a mortgage to pay!

Google Analytics

2005-11-15T12:05:00.000-05:00

Google keeps trying to impress me.

As an underemployed, former pundit, I like free stuff (I like open source stuff even more, but that's fodder for another blog). When I heard that Google was jumping into the web site analytics biz with a free analytics tool, I just had to look into it.

My favorite analytics tool has been IndexTools for years. There is no shortage of tools and methods for tracking web site visitors, but I found the argument in favor of browser-driven analytics compelling, by comparison to the many log-driven tools, and IndexTools gives me just the kind of reports I like to see... in near real-time. But IndexTools can be expensive for web site operators on very limited budgets, so Google Analytics made just the right offer... I had to try it.

I was underwhelmed.

Registering is easy, and the account that gives access to most Google services gives access to Google Analytics. Tell them the URL of the site and some basic contact information, agree to their EULA, and they give you a few lines of JavaScript to put in the page headers of the pages you wish to track. So far so good.

I plugged the code into about 20 pages of a site, including the home page, and following the instructions, told Google Analytics to check the status of the service.

Boing. Tracking Unknown.

It seems Google can't see the code on the page. Countless times I verified it, and countless times it failed. I see the code, in the right pace, when I look at the page source through my browser, but Google still can't find it. I wrote a note to Google tech support, and some hours later have no answer.

I'll keep checking, and I'll let you know if/when Google Analytics starts working. So far, however, this appears to be one market where the existing services don't need to panic yet.

I'll say this much, though: Google will eventually get it right, and Microsoft will probably follow along, not far behind (isn't it Microsoft that has a stake in MyComputer.com?), so the existing services will want to get off their laurels and grab some market share while they can.

So who am I?

2005-11-14T20:52:00.000-05:00

Anyone remember those old American Express commercials with famous people you wouldn't recognize if it weren't for their acheivements and their AmEx cards?

Just wondering.

I'm not one of those people. But during much of the '90s I felt like it. I was on top of the world. In the late '80s and early '90s I was on my way to becoming an accomplished writer in the computer industry. I had my own commentary column in a local magazine, was regularly writing product reviews for major publications, and even had a book deal.

Need more?

The old timers (in computer terms, 15 years is ancient history) might remember me from my column, PC Life, which gained worldwide exposure as a regular feature on the pre-Internet WildNet BBS Network and the Exec-PC BBS. These days anyone with an opinion can readily share that opinion with the world (this blog is proof of that), but back then you needed talent and saavy. If you don't mind me tooting my own horn, I had those. I had fans. I spoke at conventions (yes, they were small, but I was invited to speak).

So what happened?

I burned out. I couldn't keep up the pace... writing engaging columns each week and writing income-generating articles is hard work. And if you don't stay in the limelight, they forget you.

I held on for a while as a contract instructor, teaching people to become Novell certified. But by 2001, I was done. I was no longer famous. No one outside my immediate circle knew me. And I pretended it didn't bother me. It did. It still does.

I've done some really nice things in the last few years. I've made some wonderful friendships and connections. But when the consulting contracts expired, I couldn't lean on my accomplishments to get me to the next step. There was a time when it seemed like everyone wanted me on their payroll. Now, I'm lucky if someone plucks my resume out of the stack for an interview.

Depressing? Sure it is, but that doesn't mean I'm depressing to be around. I'm an Average Joe again. And as I've mentioned, what used to be special is commonplace these days, so I don't see myself picking up where I left off. I will always be The Former Pundit. It would be so easy to sit here and reminisce, but that isn't what I've got in mind (well, I might entertain the idea from time to time). Instead, I've decided to ramble on about my life today. I still have opinions; I still have adventures. I'm older, wiser, and having to start over.

Shall we see where the world takes me?