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Comment Re: A first: We should follow Germany's lead (Score 1) 700

so if I'm a county clerk whose job requires me to issue marriage licenses, can I be burdened because there's no way to avoid issuing a license to a gay couple if the state allows it? Forget cakes and wedding pizza--this has always seemed the point to me: it's a way to stop gay marriage regardless of the will of the people.

Comment Only a glimpse (Score 5, Informative) 277

So, I read the article that the article links to--spare me the "you must be new here jokes"--and found this interesting bit:

Although the site shows visitors a few facts that some might consider sensitive, like race and ethnicity, it initially omits, at least in the version I saw, intimate references — like “gambling,” “senior needs,” “smoker in the household” and “adult with wealthy parent” — that Acxiom markets to corporate clients but that might discomfit consumers if they knew they were for sale.

So Axciom's transparency portal isn't so transparent at all...

Twitter

Twitter's Vine App Ready To Bomb Internet With GIF-Like Videos 117

Nerval's Lobster writes "Twitter has rolled out Vine, a free app for iOS devices that allows users to shoot and post short videos. Twitter's strategic focus on brevity—the company has long resisted calls to lengthen Tweets beyond the current 140-character limit—extends to Vine videos, which can only be six seconds in length. 'Posts on Vine are about abbreviation — the shortened form of something larger,' Dom Hoffman, Vine's co-founder and general manager, wrote in a blog posting. 'They're little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life.' It's easy to see the Vine acquisition as part of Twitter's larger push into multimedia. The company launched a muscled-up photo service Dec. 10, complete with Instagram-style filters and editing tools. That photo launch came on the heels of an escalating battle with Instagram, the Facebook subsidiary, which decided to disable photo integration with Twitter; that same month, Yahoo also decided to jump into the fray with a new Flickr app for iPhone, complete with special filters and the ability to post images to various social networks."
Government

Red Light Cameras Raise Crash Risk, Cost 499

concealment writes with news of dissatisfaction with a pilot program for stoplight-monitoring cameras. The program ran for several years in New Jersey, and according to a new report, the number of car crashes actually increased while the cameras were present. "[The program] appears to be changing drivers’ behavior, state officials said Monday, noting an overall decline in traffic citations and right-angle crashes. The Department of Transportation also said, however, that rear-end crashes have risen by 20 percent and total crashes are up by 0.9 percent at intersections where cameras have operated for at least a year. The agency recommended the program stay in place, calling for 'continued data collection and monitoring' of camera-monitored intersections. The department’s report drew immediate criticism from Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, who wants the cameras removed. He called the program 'a dismal failure,' saying DOT statistics show the net costs of accidents had climbed by more than $1 million at intersections with cameras." Other cities are considering dumping the monitoring tech as well, citing similar cost and efficacy issues.
Books

Bible.com Investor Sues Company For Lack Of Profit 181

The board of Bible.com claims that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than to make money on the domain name, but an angry shareholder disagrees. From the article: "James Solakian filed the lawsuit in Delaware's Chancery Court against the board of Bible.com for breaching their duty by refusing to sell the site or run the company in a profitable way. The lawsuit cites a valuation done by a potential purchaser that estimated bible.com could be worth more than dictionary.com, which recently sold for more than $100 million."
Image

Japanese Turning To "Therapeutic Ringtones" 75

indiavision writes "A host of young Japanese are drawn to the allure of 'therapeutic ringtones' — a genre of melodies that promises to ease a range of day-to-day gripes, from chronic insomnia to a rotten hangover. Developed by Matsumi Suzuki, the head of the Japan Ringing Tone Laboratory, an eight-year-old subsidiary of the Japan Acoustic Laboratory, the tones are a hit with housewives as well as teenagers."
Cellphones

iPhone-Controlled Helicopter With AR Games 51

andylim writes "Parrot has unveiled a remote-controlled helicopter that boasts augmented reality games. The helicopter is controlled using an iPhone or iPod Touch's accelerometer and touchscreen. There's a camera on the front of the helicopter, which you can use to navigate and to play augmented reality games, including a game that involves fighting a gigantic robot."

Comment Re:Throw money at it... (Score 2, Informative) 305

Time Capsule works well.

Time capsules appear to have a MTBF of ~18 mos; the power supply dies. Apple will replace it via an APP-covered computer that uses it, but not if you crack the case to get the hard drive out.

So, either eat the $$ after 18 mos to save your 18 mos of backups, or give Apple your data for a refurbed unit, or find a backup solution for your backup solution.

I'm not buyin' another one.

Comment Re:Be Proactive (Score 1) 374

One of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard is that if they ask you if you know a certain technology or language, to always say yes.

Bzzzt! Wrong answer. If you say you know , I'm going to assess your knowledge. If I catch you misrepresenting yourself, you've lost all my trust, and we're not gonna go any further. Tell me you haven't worked with it, but you can pick it up--and then we'll have a discussion about what you do to keep up with the industry. Sound motivated and intelligent, and you'll get the job. God, I hate it when candidates lie. It's a waste of time and energy for both of us.

Comment Re:Be Proactive (Score 1) 374

... but in the Java world there is the SCJP certification that would look good and show that you know what you're doing despite not having a degree.

Gah. I took these tests, which proves only that I can take tests. As a hiring manager, if these certs showed up on a resume *and* the candidate was proud of passing, that was pretty much it... Give me real world experience any day. I prefer someone with the passion to work on an open source project than somebody with the spare cash to buy a study guide and an exam grade.

Comment You're focused on the wrong thing (Score 1) 564

If I were you, I'd worry more about my resume being clean and relevant than what prospective employers might find via a quick background check, because I can filter resumes faster than I can google your name and figure out which of any of the results are somehow speaking about you.

I've hired a few people in my career, and the process goes like this:

  • Cut the stack of 100 resumes down to about 15 that know how to use a spellchecker/are relevant to the position.
  • Call the 15 for a phone screen to insure they can speak coherently, and the resumes aren't a blatant lie.
  • Bring the resulting 3-5 people in for an in person interview.

If and only if we get thru these steps am I going to bother thinking about googling you, or checking references and employment history; and if you've made it through these steps, I'll be sure to do it right. This is because I've invested a large amount of time separating the wheat from the chaff, and I'd really rather not do it again. If there's a problem, I'm going to talk to you about it for exactly the same reason.

Good luck with your job search.

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