It would take an amazing camera to photograph both sides of a document at once. That's why I use the ScanSnap s1500 - it will beat your 12-15 pages per minute while scanning both sides in color and creating PDFs on the fly. Its footprint is small enough that it sits on my desk.

I second the above post. I also have an S1500 and like jrkotrla says, it's magic. I open the unit, load the docs, press the blue button and the PDF is stored in the correct folder. Load more docs, press the blue button, etc. I rename the files and remove unneeded pages before moving the PDF to its final location but that's all the effort I expend.

Are you a janitor? Programmer? DBA? SA? Middle manager?

And what is "an open source job"? Is that a job where anyone can come by and do your work for you?

Your knee-jerk reaction makes no sense. You didn't say what you do or how the change will affect you, only "OMG M$!!!!!". In the end your company will be better off without you.

No, because everyone knows braces go on a new line!

You win. Or you would have won, if you were.

If you're able to leave the house on occasion then look for local work instead. It took my wife a while but she found part-time work that she can do partly from home. Granted, it took a lot of wading through scams on Craigslist. My job is more flexible than hers so I can cover things at home if she needs to be out.

You need to find a task that either can't be outsourced (personal assistant, Girl Friday) or that the employer doesn't want to outsource. Find local companies that would rather have their tech needs met by someone they've met in person, yet that don't want to have a full-time person.

The catch is you'll have to work to get those jobs. You can't just sit around surfing the web looking for work. You need to call companies, leverage your friends and neighbors, and even cold call businesses in person. You have to earn the work...it's not going to fall from the sky.

Damn...too bad I already spent my mod points. Any comment that causes me to spray soda on the monitor is worth +1, AC or not!

You're absolutely right. I'm a programmer and I'm forced to rely on those who can build houses and furniture and appliances. If only I'd gone into the house/furniture/appliance trade.

Oh, wait...I forgot how things work. It's a good thing someone invented money so I can exchange my labor for someone else's using a mutually agreeable medium. Now I don't have to be a furniture maker/doctor/farmer/weaver...I can do what I'm good at and allow others to do what they're good at.

In your browser of choice, disable JavaScript. It's that simple.

Wow, where did you get all that from? Did I say I wanted cheery people? Didn't I say I was rigorous in screening and interviewing? I don't need what I call "factory programmers"...the widget assemblers as you put it. I've got roadies; I need rock stars. I want people smarter than me. I never dismissed tech skills - but I don't want only tech skills. The smartest candidate isn't necessarily the best candidate.

Yesterday I conducted 2 interviews. The first was a factory programmer - there's no way she would succeed on the project I'm hiring for. I think we spent 30 minutes with her (me and two other senior developers). The programmers on our team (of which I'm one) solve problems, probably learning new skills along the way, and ship code. Ever read A Message to Garcia? I need Rowans. Rowans succeed on this project.

The second interview got to almost the 2 hour point when the project manager came in to say we've gone long enough. We covered everything his resume claimed he knew, had him rough out a design on the whiteboard, and went over the other things (i.e. attitude-related) we look for: success at and away from work, ability to collaborate, flexibility, self-motivation, drive for results, decision making. He was a Rowan. Hopefully HR can put together a decent enough package to seal the deal.

Smart candidates respect the rigor of our process. Very few companies ask for code and writing samples prior to the review...our team does. There are plenty of places a factory programmer can go...companies where a manager does the interview so it's easy to look smart. The large company I work for is one of those places...but the project I'm on isn't like that.

Nice misread of my post.