Information Technology

Laura Scott on Email Etiquette

Laura Scott posted her 9 best practices and things to avoid when it comes to e-mail. We followed some of these rules a decade ago, but a good reminder is always appreciated. Laura doesn't mention anything about not using all CAPS in an e-mail and I assume that's because if you don't know that rule by now...nine rules is beyond your grasp.

My favorite rule to follow is number 3:

Write your response above the quoted text.

Robert Accettura - Presidential Campaigns and Website Secrets

Robert Accettura, a Mozzila contributer and web developer, has placed a follow-up to his original "Secrets in Websites" post, appropriately titled, Secrets In Websites II. When reading this type of posts on the Web it truly puts people like you and me into geek paradise.

This post is a follow up to the first Secrets In Websites. For those who don’t remember the first time, I point out odd, interesting, funny things in other websites code. Yes it takes some time to put a post like this together, that’s why it’s just about a year since the last time. Enough with the intro, read on for the code.

One thing you may miss in this post though is Page 2, be sure not to skip it. On the second page he has a section called Presidential Campaign Analysis. As I commented on Accettura's blog, I began a number of times doing a similar analysis focusing on the U.S. presidential campaigns, but I never quite got around to completing the task. I'm so glad that someone has done this. In the post, where applicable, Accettura also tries to identify what type of CMS the presidential candidates are using. So far he's identified Drupal, Wordpress, Archos, and Typepad.

Hopefully Accettura is open to corrections and perhaps we can help him identify better which CMS are being used? I already see one commenter identifying what may have been Drupal is actually a Wordpress site ("Chris Dodd’s site uses Drupal while Bill Richardson’s does not"). Either way, isn't this great stuff from Accettura?

Quoting IT: Prisoners of Legacy

"We’re now at the point where the most innovative technology for users really is being created in the nonbusiness space. Corporate IT has become the prisoner of legacy technology, and the result isn’t just stodginess — we’re missing out on innovation that could make our users more productive, more effective and more successful."

--Frank Hayes, "Prisoners of Legacy", ComputerWorld, January 7, 2008

Nick Sergeant's Tutorial: Drupal Revision Control with CVS and Subversion

Except for some Python programming, I've done very little software development this decade with most of my efforts in the 80's and 90's (BASIC, Pascal, Perl, Tcl, etc). Those that know me know I've wanted to dig more into PHP and Ruby, but I have been distracted by one sorry excuse after another.

Tech Disappointments

PC World recently released their list of the 15 biggest disappointments of 2007. Two of the items on that list didn't surprise me, but two other items were shocking to see on the list but in reflection absolutely true.

I wasn't surprised to see that both Apple's "Leopard" OS 10.5 (#8) and Microsoft's Windows Vista (#1) on the list. I've been talking about my disappointment on the state of the computer desktop for sometime now. I'm just glad to see others have noticed the problem so I don't look like Mr. Glum to everyone.

However, I was surprised to see two content management system related items that made the list.

Flirting Robots

I felt fear, awe, and even some admiration when I read at CNET about the latest social engineering attack dreamed up by those ingenious Russian hackers.

Those entering online dating forums risk having more than their hearts stolen.

A program that can mimic online flirtation and then extract personal
information from its unsuspecting conversation partners is making the
rounds in Russian chat forums, according to security software firm PC Tools.

Demand for IT Admins Hits Five Year High

Baseline reports that demand continues to increase for qualified people in the information technology field.  This demand is in part due to the number of the baby boomer generation retiring within the next 10 years.  Also, the decrease in students choosing a major in computer science, engineering, or mathematics isn't helping either.

In the article, Demand for IT Admins Hits Five Year High, a survey found strong needs and increasing salaries for IT professionals for the following computer administration work: