How many jobs do you apply to every week? How many job fairs have you attended this year? If the answer to the first question has less than two digits, WTF are you complaining about? If the answer to the second is zero, WTF are you complaining about?
If you're making a dozen contacts a week and getting no interviews, follow up and ask them why you're not getting interviews. If you're getting interviews, are you calling back a few days later to follow up? You realize that's an important part of the process, right? You have to show interest.
Have you been offered any jobs at all? If so, why did you turn them down. Don't get hung up on salary. Even if you're only paid $12/hr, how much worse could it be than janitorial work? At least you'd be getting experience in your field and, if you work your cards right, company sponsored training. Bust your butt doing a crappy IT grunt job, get your certs on the company dime, then get a better job. That's how it works these days. I'm one of two people I know who stayed in the same tech job for >10 years.
If there aren't enough jobs in your area to apply to a dozen positions a week, move.
Pack your stuff, rent a U-Haul, and move.
Actually, I'd recommend Ryder or Penske. But seriously. Move.
I had a nice "cruisin' thru life with very little effort" job for about 10 years. Made the company 10x my salary in one role alone, not even counting the IT work I did. Then the company shut down. I looked around at the job market and saw precisely 12 jobs listed for which I was qualified. Across every job board I could find covering two counties. Of those jobs, less than half were even worth considering. I didn't apply to any of them. I looked at the job markets where I had friends and family, picked an area with dozens to hundreds of relevant jobs listed on multiple sites, and moved. A week or so after I unloaded the truck, I was setting up my new office.
I had no leads, no contacts, no networking. But one look at the job market and it was obvious I couldn't stay unemployed if I tried. If I'd stayed in my original location, I would have had to fight and claw for an internship.
Basically, you need to look at yourself and your situation to figure out why you've been pushing a broom for two years. Maybe you need a coach to mentor you. Maybe you need a better resume. Maybe you need a better job market. But it all comes down to you and what you need to do to change your situation.
We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance
Well they're no friends of mine
Soon to be the number one requested video.
This clearly shows the effectiviness of "student licenses" and other pricing schemes
What it clearly shows is the ineffectiveness of the training those people received. We need to move away from teaching "Microsoft Word 101" and teach people how to use programs in a general sense. Throw them in an environment that randomizes the experience. One day they're using WordPerfect in Windows, the next day, Word in OSX, the next day AbiWord in Linux. By the time they finish the class, it shouldn't matter what platform they're on or what applications are available. They should be able to sit down and type a letter without saying, "Where's the Word icon. In the class, it was the third one down on the left. I don't see it here."
I can't believe this post has an "informative" rating. Of course the places pay out. If they didn't, it would be all over the entarwebs. There's no way an online gaming site could weather the storm of negative publicity that would arise from failure to pay out. Just ask Dutch Boyd http://www.pokertips.org/history/online-poker.php/.
As for taxes on US operations...um...What US operations? Costa Rica is not in the US. Gibralter is not in the US. Antigua is not in the US.
The porn industry can get required permits because the required permits exist. Online gaming companies can't request a permit that doesn't exist. What kind of nonsense is that?
The fact is the US government wants to get a cut of any transaction of any kind that takes place anywhere in the world. There's no way that can happen with transactions that take place across international boundaries. So they'll just grab the people in charge under whatever pretext they can, hold them by the ankles, and shake them until the money stops falling out.
Hah! "Can you check the BIOS version for me?" I'd called support to request a replacement CPU fan because the one in the 2 month old server was mooing like a cow.
"What the hell does the BIOS have to do with bad bearings in a fan?"
"I can't authorize anything until I get through this part of the diagnosis."
"I'm not going to shut down a server to check the BIOS version so you can send me a fan. That's absurd."
He was prepared for that. Sent me a bloated diagnostic program that gathered all kinds of info about the system. 2 hours after I dialed the number, he finally authorized the shipment of a CPU fan. I would have just run down to the store and bought one but I was curious to see how painful they could make such a simple thing. That and I didn't want to void the warranty with non-OEM parts.
Did anyone else read the article and see a bunch of different groups all working to esnure accessibility in current and future products? Seems like Sun, IBM, Mozilla, and MS all have groups working to make sure their products will (and, in MS's case already do) work smoothly with accessibility technology and the state is taking that into consideration. It ends with "and they'd better or we'll sue! And if they get that right, we'll find some other reason to sue."
Among other things, that meant a resource boost for IBM's Beijing labs in order to accelerate API work designed to make it easier for assistive technology vendors to support the company's Workplace office suite, he said.
Another IBM distinguished engineer is chairing a newly created OpenDocument accessibility subcommittee at the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, which oversees the file format.
IBM also is accelerating development of a screen reader and a screen magnifier for Linux. And Sun is working on a combined open-source screen reader and magnifier called Orca.
But Weiss said he has reached a financially attractive agreement with IBM and the Mozilla Foundation to make their products work with ZoomText and hopes to start development work this summer.
Gutierrez said one of the reasons the state is exploring Office plug-ins is because Microsoft's products are "ahead on accessibility right now."
The Disability Policy Consortium is prepared to file a lawsuit if the state doesn't follow through on that promise, Winske said. It is also considering legal action over the use of forms that are inaccessible to the blind on the state's Virtual Gateway health and social services Web site.
Our corporate email is outsourced so I have little control over it. At first glance, it seems that users should be able to individually control their SPAM settings since each user has the option to configure SpamSheild Pro to match their tolerance for spam and tell the system how to process suspected spam. But there's a "secret" filtering process that happens before mail ever gets to SpamShield. It'll generate a soft-bounce back to the sender and the recipient is never informed that a message was blocked.
SpamShield is set, by default, to dump spam into a spam folder than the user can monitor. If something gets in there by mistake, the user can whitelist the sender or lower the threshold for spam detection. But if it never gets that far, they have no idea they're missing anything and the user has no way to adjust the settings for this "secret" pre-filter.
To me, this just seems stupid. Back in the olden days, my ISP was one of the first to implement user-configurable spam filtering. I didn't turn it on because I wanted every bit of mail to be stored on a system that I could control. I didn't want anything being set aside in a temporary folder where it would be delted in a week or two. Now I've got an email system that doesn't even tell me when it rejects mail.
In the case of Google, it pays hard cash to Mozilla and Dell to get the right to have its search engine placed as the default in the browsers.
So what's the problem? Let them pay Microsoft for placement like they pay everyone else. That's google's business model so it shouldn't be a big deal. They expect people to pay them for preferred placement so why don't they offer some cash to microsoft for preferred placement?
First day on the job, I was getting settled into my new office and checking out my computers. The Mac needed updates so I started the process. The EULAs came up and I was skimming the first few lines while I talked to my boss. The word "death" caught my eye so I started reading that one aloud. It said something like "use of this software may cause death". He didn't believe me until he saw it for himself.
What could I do? I need to keep my systems up to date. So now Apple's in the clear if I die as a result of using their software.
It's been happening since consumer broadband hit the scene a decade ago (or has it been around longer?). "We can give you twice the speed of DSL!" "Oh...wait. We weren't expecting you to actually use all that bandwidth. Um...We're just gonna make a few adjustments. No need to bother you with the details. Oh, and stop running your personal web site and mail servers."
When I signed up for a cablemodem, I was one of the first people in town. I called the cable company to request a hookup and was transferred to the director of engineering to set up the appointment. It was that new. So, while I had the head cheese on the line, I asked if I'd be able to run my own servers. "Well, we don't have a business service set up yet but you can get a static IP for an extra $10/month. Go for it." A few months later, they shut off my service for running servers. Just personal stuff like email for a few friends and a few of their websites. Very low-bandwidth stuff. Of course, they did it while I was on vacation and didn't bother to contact me first. Had to call tech support at 2am to find out why I couldn't get online.
And now they're going after bandwidth "abuse". Nevermind the fact that they're shoving 4, 8, even 16 meg service plans down our throats with no option for just a simple 128/128k connection. Last place I lived, I had a 384/128 connection for $20/month. That was all I needed. Now the slowest I can get at the new place is 4000/384 at $45/month. I don't need all that speed and I certainly don't need the >100% rate increase but nothing else is any cheaper (don't have a phone so no DSL). Now they might punish me if I try to make use of this extra bandwidth I'm required to purchase. Screw that.
I don't think that word means what you think it means. Spam would be one person trying to send an email to hundreds of people, not hundreds of people trying to send an email to a few people each.
Good point. I used to work for an analytical lab and we got pulled into a court battle that went on for quite a while (years). Our client won because our data stood up to every challenge presented and we went far above and beyond for our client. They got absurdly low prices in the beginning of the project (long before it became a legal battle) and we stuck to those prices despite the added burden of the court battle. Towards the end, the "other side" approached us and said, "We can't wait for this thing to end so we can start using you to handle some of our analytical work." Heck, they had project managers pushing to send us work during the trial but we weren't set up internally to provide that kind of separation between closely related projects for competing clients.
Of course, it'd be another thing if we were the best darn seal clubbers in the world. Nobody on the other side of that issue would ever want to work with us.:)
Uh huh. I did RTFA. Brilliant move if you bought a MacBook Pro without taking your connectivity needs into account first. I have an ibook. Typing on it now. I knew it didn't have a PC card slot when I bought it. I considered my needs and determined that the lack of a PC card slot would probably not be an issue. I figured I could always use bluetooth or USB to connect to my cell phone if I ever wanted to go the mobile data route.
Desktops? Do you really think there's much call for this? How many people set up a desktop computer in a location that doesn't already have some kind of service? Not even a phone line. In this case, same solution I would use for my ibook. $15 bluetooth dongle and a cell phone with data capability.
I was really reaching for the "business unit" thing. Where are they set up that doesn't already have some sort of internet connection? Working out in the field? Fine. Spend the same amount of money on a laptop dedicated to this purpose. It can be configured to do a lot more than a one-trick-pony.
Let's see...I can plug cellular access card into my laptop or I can buy an expesive box, plug my cellular access card into that, then connect to that box using the wireless card in my laptop. Um...Why? What's the point? Cellular data access is hella-expensive. No way am I going to be sharing that with anyone else. And, if I am crazy enough to do that (or I need to share with a business unit), I can plug the card into my laptop and turn on internet connection sharing with my laptop's WiFi adapter.
Re:Its like.... magic hardware.
on
Open Source Hotspots
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Let's see. $50 WAP/router = 10 watts. Free P2 = 150 watts. Which one do I want running 24/7?
They could run it at 4am Monday morning and it wouldn't make a bit of difference to me. I wish more networks would figure that out. Heck, Hallmark is showing Magnum PI at 1 and 2am. Fine with me. In fact, that's better than a prime time slot because it doesn't interfere with anything else I may want to watch.
FWIW, memory stick prices are coming down and there are three major vendors selling them. Sony, Sandisk, and Lexar. I just ordered a Sandisk 512 meg Duo Pro card for my DSC-T1. $130. Compare that to the cost of a high speed 512 meg CF card (30x or higher).
And that's the tiny new MS, not the big one that's been around for a while. I'm hoping to see a Memory Stick Duo to CF adapter soon that will let me use my new card in my CF devices (other cameras, PDA, etc.). The MSD is small enough...
The receipt doesn't have to be given to anyone or even leave the machine. This has been discussed many, many, many, many, many times.
Run the printout under a plexiglass window and have the voter look at it and verify that the information is correct. Then run it through a second printer that gives it a confirmation or rejection code depending on how the voter responded to the "is this right?" querry. After that, it gets run into the takeup reel. The entire printing mechanism can be sealed in a tamper-proof box that can't be opened by anyone on the premesis, reducing the chance of tampering at the polling place by volunteers.
That takeup reel can even be OCR'd for 100% verification checks by a third party. None of this "spot checking" crap. Again, this reader can be built into the printing mechanism. If everything passes, toss the recipts in a cave somewhere for long-term storage. If they don't match then it's time to crack the seal and check by hand.
I'd love one of these but I won't buy it if I can't display unencrypted.TXT,.DOC,.PDF, etc. files without having DRM shoved in my face.
These days I buy a book in paper "format" then search for a.TXT version on the net. (P2P, usenet, http, etc.) I load the.TXT version on my PDA and throw the book on a shelf. I can load that.TXT version on either of my PDAs, my laptop or any of my computers. I can transport it on any form of media. Floppy, CD, DVD, CompactFlash, MemoryStick, USB hard drive, USB flash drive, etc. That's the kind of flexability I want in a reader.
Slashdot Mirror
How many jobs do you apply to every week? How many job fairs have you attended this year? If the answer to the first question has less than two digits, WTF are you complaining about? If the answer to the second is zero, WTF are you complaining about?
If you're making a dozen contacts a week and getting no interviews, follow up and ask them why you're not getting interviews. If you're getting interviews, are you calling back a few days later to follow up? You realize that's an important part of the process, right? You have to show interest.
Have you been offered any jobs at all? If so, why did you turn them down. Don't get hung up on salary. Even if you're only paid $12/hr, how much worse could it be than janitorial work? At least you'd be getting experience in your field and, if you work your cards right, company sponsored training. Bust your butt doing a crappy IT grunt job, get your certs on the company dime, then get a better job. That's how it works these days. I'm one of two people I know who stayed in the same tech job for >10 years.
If there aren't enough jobs in your area to apply to a dozen positions a week, move.
Pack your stuff, rent a U-Haul, and move.
Actually, I'd recommend Ryder or Penske. But seriously. Move.
I had a nice "cruisin' thru life with very little effort" job for about 10 years. Made the company 10x my salary in one role alone, not even counting the IT work I did. Then the company shut down. I looked around at the job market and saw precisely 12 jobs listed for which I was qualified. Across every job board I could find covering two counties. Of those jobs, less than half were even worth considering. I didn't apply to any of them. I looked at the job markets where I had friends and family, picked an area with dozens to hundreds of relevant jobs listed on multiple sites, and moved. A week or so after I unloaded the truck, I was setting up my new office.
I had no leads, no contacts, no networking. But one look at the job market and it was obvious I couldn't stay unemployed if I tried. If I'd stayed in my original location, I would have had to fight and claw for an internship.
Basically, you need to look at yourself and your situation to figure out why you've been pushing a broom for two years. Maybe you need a coach to mentor you. Maybe you need a better resume. Maybe you need a better job market. But it all comes down to you and what you need to do to change your situation.
We can dance if we want to We can leave your friends behind 'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance Well they're no friends of mine Soon to be the number one requested video.
This clearly shows the effectiviness of "student licenses" and other pricing schemes
What it clearly shows is the ineffectiveness of the training those people received. We need to move away from teaching "Microsoft Word 101" and teach people how to use programs in a general sense. Throw them in an environment that randomizes the experience. One day they're using WordPerfect in Windows, the next day, Word in OSX, the next day AbiWord in Linux. By the time they finish the class, it shouldn't matter what platform they're on or what applications are available. They should be able to sit down and type a letter without saying, "Where's the Word icon. In the class, it was the third one down on the left. I don't see it here."
I can't believe this post has an "informative" rating. Of course the places pay out. If they didn't, it would be all over the entarwebs. There's no way an online gaming site could weather the storm of negative publicity that would arise from failure to pay out. Just ask Dutch Boyd http://www.pokertips.org/history/online-poker.php/ .
As for taxes on US operations...um...What US operations? Costa Rica is not in the US. Gibralter is not in the US. Antigua is not in the US.
The porn industry can get required permits because the required permits exist. Online gaming companies can't request a permit that doesn't exist. What kind of nonsense is that?
The fact is the US government wants to get a cut of any transaction of any kind that takes place anywhere in the world. There's no way that can happen with transactions that take place across international boundaries. So they'll just grab the people in charge under whatever pretext they can, hold them by the ankles, and shake them until the money stops falling out.
Hah! "Can you check the BIOS version for me?" I'd called support to request a replacement CPU fan because the one in the 2 month old server was mooing like a cow.
"What the hell does the BIOS have to do with bad bearings in a fan?"
"I can't authorize anything until I get through this part of the diagnosis."
"I'm not going to shut down a server to check the BIOS version so you can send me a fan. That's absurd."
He was prepared for that. Sent me a bloated diagnostic program that gathered all kinds of info about the system. 2 hours after I dialed the number, he finally authorized the shipment of a CPU fan. I would have just run down to the store and bought one but I was curious to see how painful they could make such a simple thing. That and I didn't want to void the warranty with non-OEM parts.
Did anyone else read the article and see a bunch of different groups all working to esnure accessibility in current and future products? Seems like Sun, IBM, Mozilla, and MS all have groups working to make sure their products will (and, in MS's case already do) work smoothly with accessibility technology and the state is taking that into consideration. It ends with "and they'd better or we'll sue! And if they get that right, we'll find some other reason to sue."
Among other things, that meant a resource boost for IBM's Beijing labs in order to accelerate API work designed to make it easier for assistive technology vendors to support the company's Workplace office suite, he said.
Another IBM distinguished engineer is chairing a newly created OpenDocument accessibility subcommittee at the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, which oversees the file format.
IBM also is accelerating development of a screen reader and a screen magnifier for Linux. And Sun is working on a combined open-source screen reader and magnifier called Orca.
But Weiss said he has reached a financially attractive agreement with IBM and the Mozilla Foundation to make their products work with ZoomText and hopes to start development work this summer.
Gutierrez said one of the reasons the state is exploring Office plug-ins is because Microsoft's products are "ahead on accessibility right now."
The Disability Policy Consortium is prepared to file a lawsuit if the state doesn't follow through on that promise, Winske said. It is also considering legal action over the use of forms that are inaccessible to the blind on the state's Virtual Gateway health and social services Web site.
Our corporate email is outsourced so I have little control over it. At first glance, it seems that users should be able to individually control their SPAM settings since each user has the option to configure SpamSheild Pro to match their tolerance for spam and tell the system how to process suspected spam. But there's a "secret" filtering process that happens before mail ever gets to SpamShield. It'll generate a soft-bounce back to the sender and the recipient is never informed that a message was blocked.
SpamShield is set, by default, to dump spam into a spam folder than the user can monitor. If something gets in there by mistake, the user can whitelist the sender or lower the threshold for spam detection. But if it never gets that far, they have no idea they're missing anything and the user has no way to adjust the settings for this "secret" pre-filter.
To me, this just seems stupid. Back in the olden days, my ISP was one of the first to implement user-configurable spam filtering. I didn't turn it on because I wanted every bit of mail to be stored on a system that I could control. I didn't want anything being set aside in a temporary folder where it would be delted in a week or two. Now I've got an email system that doesn't even tell me when it rejects mail.
In the case of Google, it pays hard cash to Mozilla and Dell to get the right to have its search engine placed as the default in the browsers.
So what's the problem? Let them pay Microsoft for placement like they pay everyone else. That's google's business model so it shouldn't be a big deal. They expect people to pay them for preferred placement so why don't they offer some cash to microsoft for preferred placement?
Um...They don't need to. If they send a BofA spam to ten thousand people, chances are a lot of them will have accounts with BofA.
First day on the job, I was getting settled into my new office and checking out my computers. The Mac needed updates so I started the process. The EULAs came up and I was skimming the first few lines while I talked to my boss. The word "death" caught my eye so I started reading that one aloud. It said something like "use of this software may cause death". He didn't believe me until he saw it for himself.
What could I do? I need to keep my systems up to date. So now Apple's in the clear if I die as a result of using their software.
It's been happening since consumer broadband hit the scene a decade ago (or has it been around longer?). "We can give you twice the speed of DSL!" "Oh...wait. We weren't expecting you to actually use all that bandwidth. Um...We're just gonna make a few adjustments. No need to bother you with the details. Oh, and stop running your personal web site and mail servers."
When I signed up for a cablemodem, I was one of the first people in town. I called the cable company to request a hookup and was transferred to the director of engineering to set up the appointment. It was that new. So, while I had the head cheese on the line, I asked if I'd be able to run my own servers. "Well, we don't have a business service set up yet but you can get a static IP for an extra $10/month. Go for it." A few months later, they shut off my service for running servers. Just personal stuff like email for a few friends and a few of their websites. Very low-bandwidth stuff. Of course, they did it while I was on vacation and didn't bother to contact me first. Had to call tech support at 2am to find out why I couldn't get online.
And now they're going after bandwidth "abuse". Nevermind the fact that they're shoving 4, 8, even 16 meg service plans down our throats with no option for just a simple 128/128k connection. Last place I lived, I had a 384/128 connection for $20/month. That was all I needed. Now the slowest I can get at the new place is 4000/384 at $45/month. I don't need all that speed and I certainly don't need the >100% rate increase but nothing else is any cheaper (don't have a phone so no DSL). Now they might punish me if I try to make use of this extra bandwidth I'm required to purchase. Screw that.
I don't think that word means what you think it means. Spam would be one person trying to send an email to hundreds of people, not hundreds of people trying to send an email to a few people each.
Spending millions on a new name like Verizon... that will take care of everything.
Spending billions on a new name like Verizon... that will take care of everything.
Fixed a little typo for ya.
Tuesday, April 10th? Wednesday, April 11th?
Good point. I used to work for an analytical lab and we got pulled into a court battle that went on for quite a while (years). Our client won because our data stood up to every challenge presented and we went far above and beyond for our client. They got absurdly low prices in the beginning of the project (long before it became a legal battle) and we stuck to those prices despite the added burden of the court battle. Towards the end, the "other side" approached us and said, "We can't wait for this thing to end so we can start using you to handle some of our analytical work." Heck, they had project managers pushing to send us work during the trial but we weren't set up internally to provide that kind of separation between closely related projects for competing clients.
:)
Of course, it'd be another thing if we were the best darn seal clubbers in the world. Nobody on the other side of that issue would ever want to work with us.
Uh huh. I did RTFA. Brilliant move if you bought a MacBook Pro without taking your connectivity needs into account first. I have an ibook. Typing on it now. I knew it didn't have a PC card slot when I bought it. I considered my needs and determined that the lack of a PC card slot would probably not be an issue. I figured I could always use bluetooth or USB to connect to my cell phone if I ever wanted to go the mobile data route.
Desktops? Do you really think there's much call for this? How many people set up a desktop computer in a location that doesn't already have some kind of service? Not even a phone line. In this case, same solution I would use for my ibook. $15 bluetooth dongle and a cell phone with data capability.
I was really reaching for the "business unit" thing. Where are they set up that doesn't already have some sort of internet connection? Working out in the field? Fine. Spend the same amount of money on a laptop dedicated to this purpose. It can be configured to do a lot more than a one-trick-pony.
Let's see...I can plug cellular access card into my laptop or I can buy an expesive box, plug my cellular access card into that, then connect to that box using the wireless card in my laptop. Um...Why? What's the point? Cellular data access is hella-expensive. No way am I going to be sharing that with anyone else. And, if I am crazy enough to do that (or I need to share with a business unit), I can plug the card into my laptop and turn on internet connection sharing with my laptop's WiFi adapter.
Let's see. $50 WAP/router = 10 watts. Free P2 = 150 watts. Which one do I want running 24/7?
;)
Of course I don't live in my parents' basement.
"I'm here to fix the comptuer."
"It's in the bedroom."
"This is going to be a long, hard job."
"Maybe my roommate can help."
I've got Tivo and so should everyone else.
They could run it at 4am Monday morning and it wouldn't make a bit of difference to me. I wish more networks would figure that out. Heck, Hallmark is showing Magnum PI at 1 and 2am. Fine with me. In fact, that's better than a prime time slot because it doesn't interfere with anything else I may want to watch.
Does DaimlerChrysler have some sort of OnStar system in their cars? If so, they should remotely disable all vehicles registered to SCO execs.
FWIW, memory stick prices are coming down and there are three major vendors selling them. Sony, Sandisk, and Lexar. I just ordered a Sandisk 512 meg Duo Pro card for my DSC-T1. $130. Compare that to the cost of a high speed 512 meg CF card (30x or higher).
And that's the tiny new MS, not the big one that's been around for a while. I'm hoping to see a Memory Stick Duo to CF adapter soon that will let me use my new card in my CF devices (other cameras, PDA, etc.). The MSD is small enough...
The receipt doesn't have to be given to anyone or even leave the machine. This has been discussed many, many, many, many, many times.
Run the printout under a plexiglass window and have the voter look at it and verify that the information is correct. Then run it through a second printer that gives it a confirmation or rejection code depending on how the voter responded to the "is this right?" querry. After that, it gets run into the takeup reel. The entire printing mechanism can be sealed in a tamper-proof box that can't be opened by anyone on the premesis, reducing the chance of tampering at the polling place by volunteers.
That takeup reel can even be OCR'd for 100% verification checks by a third party. None of this "spot checking" crap. Again, this reader can be built into the printing mechanism. If everything passes, toss the recipts in a cave somewhere for long-term storage. If they don't match then it's time to crack the seal and check by hand.
I'd love one of these but I won't buy it if I can't display unencrypted .TXT, .DOC, .PDF, etc. files without having DRM shoved in my face.
.TXT version on the net. (P2P, usenet, http, etc.) I load the .TXT version on my PDA and throw the book on a shelf. I can load that .TXT version on either of my PDAs, my laptop or any of my computers. I can transport it on any form of media. Floppy, CD, DVD, CompactFlash, MemoryStick, USB hard drive, USB flash drive, etc. That's the kind of flexability I want in a reader.
These days I buy a book in paper "format" then search for a
If those calls take place during personal time, negotiate for on-call pay. (Generally around 1/4 your hourly rate.)