Why Now Is the Time for Toastmasters

October 23, 2020 Attitude No Comments
The work world is changing.  Communication is even more important now as so many of us adapt to remote work, or remotely searching for employment.  Imagine an hour a week where you could work on your communication and leadership skills.  One where you were surrounded by other individuals looking to…

j5 USB-C Triple Display Docking Station

September 30, 2020 Gear High Level Tech Intro No Comments
Desktop real estate is key to productivity, especially when working on complex topics.  The more you can see without having to scroll means less mental energy goes into adjusting to pages scrolling or tabs switching.  I’ve recently written about how I’ve achieved this with Linux.  For work I’m on a…

Recruiters and “Agency”

August 29, 2020 Hiring Process No Comments
If you’ve ever been involved with a real estate transaction in California (and perhaps most of the US) you have hopefully gotten to learn about Agency.  In at least California you have to sign a disclosure document that clears up who is representing who.  The typical way things work is…

“Working From Home”? No Thank You.

July 31, 2020 Attitude Gear No Comments
My time as a remote worker began in late 2010.  It’s only been with the “shelter in place” and “office closings” that I’ve gotten to understand how fortunate I am.  The key item is that I don’t “work from home” – I have been  a “remote worker” for years.  My…

6 Tips for Virtual Backgrounds in Virtual Meetings

June 29, 2020 Gear No Comments
If you can avoid using a virtual background, I’d say to do so.  If you have to use one, invest in a proper green screen background and set things up right.  Here are 6 tips to make the best use of a virtual background in your virtual meetings. 1. Get…

Are You Missing O’Reilly Too?

June 15, 2020 Gear Sales Engineers No Comments
Today would have been the start of O’Reilly’s Infrastructure & Ops Conference 2020 in Santa Clara, California.   For those of you not familiar with the Infrastructure & Ops Conference, it was the rebranding of their Velocity Conferences.  I’ve worked booths at 5 Velocity Conferences during my time at Compuware and…

6 Tips for Big Screen Real Estate on a Budget

May 30, 2020 Gear No Comments
It has been decades since I started using Xinerama to get multiple screens on my workstation.  This was a big part of my effectiveness as an architect and full stack development at Garage City.  One screen for my IDE (Integrated Development Environment), one for the log outputs and a third…

Is LinkedIn Diluting Education?

May 20, 2020 Getting Hired No Comments
When creating a profile on LinkedIn there are three places where you can enter your education.  “Adding” a “certificate” to your profile is too easy.  This dilutes education and how it is categorized.  The way LinkedIn has integrated Lynda.com is the cause. And if they have integrated these “certificates” into…

Do you have enough UMI to protect Blue Shield?

April 29, 2020 Attitude No Comments
Under-insured Motorist Insurance, or UMI, is important to have.  And it also is inexpensive, since the odds are low you’ll ever use it.  Basic economics there.  Are you aware that if you are in an accident, your health insurance might step in and demand half of any settlement?  That it…