Anything and Everything

So it's been a long time since I last wrote, but it's about time to start back up and re-establish myself online.

Update #1: I now work for a software company as a developer/QA/first assist. I thought I had a running knowledge of basic technologies, but I was completely wrong. I've learned more in the past 7 months than I could have guessed. Basic programming, full administration, complete hardware and software integration. Basic Windows troubleshooting is now just an after thought.

Update #2: The real world is definitely not the same as the idealistic world that college portrays. Hard work does pay, but does not result in instant gratification. It is nice to have an expandable income, but with the current economy, it's still restricted.

Update #3: Trying to establish yourself in a new area is not an instant solution either. Even with social networking websites, nothing beats actual face to face communication. A resume only shows so much. Sometimes it takes a little extra initiative to stand out.

I plan to start writing more. Please let me know if there is any area you would like to see developed more and I will dive into it.

Have a great day!

So it's official. I've graduated from college and now I can start writing in my blog again. I must apologize to all of my readers and subscribers for not updating in several weeks, but I will begin to do so on more regular basis now.

I've taken the summer to enjoy a little downtime and search for a job. My passion for IT is pushing me towards that field, but my major seems to be something of a dilemma. With an English degree, it appears as though my credibility is questioned quite frequently.

Who would have guessed???

It does not matter if I have two years of paid, well trained experience. The degree is key and with the economy in the current state, a recent college grad is left to search, call on connections and be willing to work. I AM ALL OF THESE!

This all is due to the fact that the majority of what I know is self taught and the simple idea that my IT skill is not only justified by my technological knowledge, but by the simple fact that I can communicate the most complex systems to individuals of varying technological knowledge. My English degree assists me well in this category.

If anyone has any recommendations, leads or connections for a recent college grad trying to get into IT, let me know. I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks and have a great day!

It's official: Dropbox is a hit.

I am a fortunate beta user and I love the product. The cross platform compatibility is priceless and my productivity level have gone up as I work to research several papers due the next month.

To all of the users that have so politely requested invitations: I've dispersed all of my invites on a completely random basis as of right now.

I must apologize to everyone that did not get an invite as well as thank all of those users that have subscribed to my blog.

I'm delighted to know that you all enjoy what I have to say and I've been informed that Dropbox beta users will be getting more invites in the upcoming weeks. When this occurs, I will post and provide all of these invites to whoever wants them.

Stay tuned, tell your friends about my blog and have a great day!

The big news on Digg several weeks ago revolved around the fact that algorithm changed. Whether this was due to people finding out the original algorithm or simply for Digg to ensure that actual user-driven and approved content was hitting the main page is completely up to whoever is speculating.

Over the past weekend, I was watching stories in Upcoming events (pretty lame I know but I was recovering from a nasty cold) as well as checking which stories made it to the Digg Recently Popular (main) page. Of course, the ones with the highest hit count made the page and those with low hit counts ( mine included) traveled into Digg oblivion and later to the back end of some 31,000,000+ hit Google search. (Try Lindsey Lohan)

While making this observation, I also noticed that there were a ton of stories hitting the Digg main page that had never once touched the Upcoming page. Stories from the major news sites, big-hit blogs and the like were flying up the charts.

These stories were getting 1000+ hit counts and they had never once touched the Upcoming page!

5 Questions:

How is this possible?

Why are sites that already getting millions of hit in a day from the sole fact that they are not only running a professionally maintained site but they also have televised news?

Why are sites like MSNBC, CNN, Fox News (this should never make the main page unless it's completely ludicrous!) implementing Digg into their websites?

Have minor bloggers such as myself made that much of impact that we are now trying to be blocked out by the giants?

Is what we say as influential and quality as what they say?
____________________________________________________________________

I'm viewing this as inspirational and something to keep me blogging. News sites feel like they losing a battle that never really was meant to happen. The stories that are climbing through Upcoming page and bringing in hits the "real" way are earning my respect. I have been made friends with a lot of these Diggers and I Digg them!

To my Digg friends: I will Digg you to the top if your material is good! You are all the reason why Digg was started! You have earned my respect and I will Digg you to the end!

To the network news sites: Is it really necessary to infiltrate Digg to boost your "all knowing egos?" I enjoy what you have to write and I read it on your sites. I don't need to read it on Digg as well!

To the major blogs: I'm not criticizing you in the least. You have worked you @sses off and you have reached a level that every blogger wishes to reach. Keep up the great work and, again, I'll Digg you to the end!

To all other Digg submitters: Digg original material. Don't copy crap and call it your own. I don't need to hear from Joe Blow in Peidmont, ND that Apple released SDK when it's been on every major news site, tech site and reputable blogger for the past 4 hours.

Be Creative!

Have a great day!

As always, news seems to filter in a little more slowly on the weekends when it comes to sites like Digg and Reddit. The majority of the news stories are from the major classic news sites like CNN and MSNBC. It makes sense right? People are enjoying time with their families, working out, watching a sporting event, reading a book, anything. They are simply decompressing from the previous week and re-energizing for the upcoming week that seems to move in too fast!

Well one of the major news site stories yesterday caught my eye. The reason it did so was the due to the way it was written and what it was written about. The story came from CNN.com and it was about a small group of hackers from China (also known as "crackers" for their ability to crack programming languages and code) who were making a bold statement by supposedly infiltrating several very secure mainframes and databases in the U.S., Germany, Britain and France.

Reports keep filing in that the a surprising amount of information has been lost or corrupt since several hits on the Pentagon last year. Now we come find that these hits aren't coming from one single hacker or a massive group of hackers, but rather a couple of young guys sitting in their apartment in China or any number of smaller hacking "units."

But the real question is: IS THIS A BAD THING?

This group of hackers has found "backdoors" and "loopholes" in government and private company firewalls and have been able to access this with little to no formal training. They simply know how a website works, how to do some simple coding for a vast number of program languages and that's it.

This should be the number one indicator for Fortune 500 companies and governments alike; YOUR SECURITY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!

So why not use this information and start working with the issue. If these guys can break what you spend millions of dollars on to sleep at night, you better start losing some sleep because they will keep breaking it until you fix. They are handing you opportunities left and right and you better be grabbing them now.

My suggestions:

#1. Take sensitive data offline. The last time I checked, I can't say that I've ever heard of anyone walking about the "TOP SECRET" basement at Langley or the White House with a cart full of files and never returning. (This is similar to the Windows notice this week about not putting a password on your machine to ensure no one hacks you.)

#2. You thought you had the "best" working for you; well you just found out you DON'T! These guys are doing this from their apartment for enjoyment and to make a name for themselves. Why not? I'm pretty if anyone could do it and get away with like they are, everyone would do it! I would!

#3. Take advantage and use common sense. These guys are doing that. They are thinking and behaving like anyone with some basic logical thinking capabilities would do.

I didn't view this article as something to be scared off, but rather as a great warning to the governments of the world, Fortune 500 companies and anyone with a website or blog.

Secure yourself online. Take the appropriate measures to make sure you aren't embarrassed. Be smart. Use common sense. No one is completely anonymous.

Think about it!

Have a great day!

Why do you blog?

Do you do it because you love writing and have a lot of stuff you think someone else in this world of 6+ billion people might want to actually read what you are saying?

Do you do it because you are pretty damn smart when it comes to a topic?

Do you blog because sometimes you just need to let it all out?

Do you blog because someone has asked you to put your thoughts down someplace?

Do you blog because you are just too lazy to write a book?

If you said yes to any of these: CONGRATULATIONS! You are doing exactly what millions of other people are doing and you are doing it for the right reason!

Next question(s).

Have you ever:

Written a blog entry with pretty much the same material as something you've read somewhere else recently?

Written about something you know nothing about just because it was the "hot topic of the day" on Digg/Fark/Reddit or any other user-driven news site?

Wrote a blog entry for the sole purpose of gaining attention, "fame" or just because you are a selfish prick?

If you answered yes to any or all of these, stop what you are doing and re-evaluate why you blog. The blogosphere is full of people who enjoy writing and are good at what they do. They know their "stuff" and there is a reason they are riding high on Digg!

It's amazing how many times I read something yesterday in the Digg Upcoming section about the Apple SDK, iPhone 2.0 and Spore release coming in June and September. I'm sorry but if the technology blogs from websites like Lifehacker, Ars Technica, Wired and Macworld, to name a few, are covering this and providing all the information, why do I need to read it from 32 other bloggers that are just repeating everything that has already been said.

Broken record news reports don't suck people into your blog or website people.

Be creative! Use some ingenuity!

I'll "Digg" you and "Shout" it to all my friends if you come up with something worth reading!

Please return the favor if you agree!

Have a great day!

Yesterday, the world of the Internet (Digg especially) was filled with all the glorious news that Apple has released an SDK beta system for developers to create third party applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The main sales pitch was directed towards businesses and the ability to have a solid all in one device with the iPhone.

This particular move is in response to Blackberry's growing popularity among business people as well as Google's introduction to the mobile world of development with the release of their Android platform a couple months ago.

The release date for the App Store, as well as iPhone update 2.0 (required for use of the App Store), is scheduled for sometime in June.

Now my question: what are apps from the App Store going to cost?

I've used JailBreakMe on my iPod Touch and found that it works great up to a certain point. The point being the fact that it just stops working after awhile and programs begin to crash unexpectedly.

Everything through a "jail broken" iPhone or iPod Touch is being developed at the price of donations by the users. I donate when I feel that an application is great and deserves to evolve through even further development. This is where the problem is. Developers aren't getting paid for their service and therefore the best possible product doesn't hit the market.

Now the App Store is the solution. We pay for the products we want and work with them. Judging from the ridiculous package price of $19.95 for 4 applications on the iPod Touch, I'm going to place the average cost of an app from the App Store at $5.

$5 is decent for a great application that works! Obviously games from EA (like Spore) are going to cost more as well as anything that enables the iPod Touch or iPhone to do something absolutely brilliant (as if they haven't already done so) will cost more as well. But a standard application like a news aggregate or anything that increases productivity will be around $5.

I can handle $5.

I could be wrong though! What do you think?

Have a great day!