I did not misunderstand your paragraph. I did, however, choose to ignore your insinuation of corruption. I will speak to it now.
As for enforcement of regulations, Russia is actually very good at it. When you piss off the wrong person or end up on a list of people needing "protection", that is. Russia is experiencing organized crime - some of which has close associations to the oligarchy. I do not suggest that this is a good thing. But they are not the only country to have experienced corruption during a period of great change. You can look at the United States, Mexico, China and others present and historical examples.
Sadly, the people that are victims of organized crime don't generally feel that they can trust the police to resolve the problem. The mafia generally lives within the community of those that they terrorize. Calling in police to resolve problems will generally only server to incur more trouble. For Russians, years of living in fear of the authorities has had an additional negative effect. Reputation is very difficult to repair - the Russian police have an uphill battle ahead of them.
What does this mean for development? Russia will need to help itself to dispel the mafia. Until the people realize that allowing organized crime to happen does nothing but encourage the continuation of the activity. Capitalism is continuing to grow in spite of it, but will continue to be stunted until this issue is controlled.
Don't be fooled - there is still organized crime in the United States. There is still organized crime in Canada. People's faith in the justice system helps to keep it a minimum. Constant vigilance is necessary, however, to prevent those with power from becoming as corrupt as those they protect us from.
Having said *all of that*, I still warrant that people will sell their skills for money.
The expression "on the backs of others" is a euphemism for exploitation.
While it is true that Al Capone exploited many people, he did it illegally through coercion, intimidation, manipulation and violence.
Perhaps I should have written: "The standard practice of trading currency for tasks is a hallmark of capitalism. The difference is all about how much currency you recieve for the task that you perform."
...there are still plenty of people trying to make their money or gain power off of the backs of others This is, very much, a capitalistic attitude. Almost every business exploits the resources around them. There are those who primarily explot physical resources (Abitibi exploits renewable trees, UK Coal exploits non-renewable coal), and those who primarily exploit intellectual resources (Microsoft exploits software developers, Intel exploits hardware engineers).
The only real difference between what has happened in North America (and Western Europe) and what might happen in Russia? The amount of money that you get paid to be exploited.
Perhaps the punitive award could be spent on releasing the patent on an expensive drug (like the $1500/month required in the instance sited). Helping to make this treatment more affordable when distributed by additional drug companies.
I admit that I took the anonymous poster at face value.
If they had posted "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!", I likely would not have given it credence [as per thinkofthechildren...], but the anonymous posting coupled with the 'a concerned parent' signature...
Perhaps I should steer clear of phishing scams for the next few days...
When you are doing your job, do you do your best? When you hire people to do a job, do you expect them to try their best? When you look for work, do you try your best?
If the answer to these three questions is "no", then you are likely to find your CV / resume in the discard pile. Feel free to spell "administrator" incorrectly. Feel free to intersperse work experience and hobbies randomly throughout. Pay no attention to following convention with your cover letter.
Your resume should represent YOUR BEST EFFORT at selling your skills.
If you cannot spell, cannot clearly organize your thoughts, effectively communicate your goals, about the subject that should be closest to you - YOU - then how will you be able to keep project notes clear, make documentation readable, etc.?
If you wish to go into hardware support or stay in the tier 1 space, A+ is something that you'd include on your resume.
If you wish to go into the server OS administration arena, listing A+ suggests that you don't have enough skills directly related OS administration and are attempting to sway the recruiter with shiny objects.
Get certification that is related to your career path, ignore those that have no bearing on what you wish to do. CCNA, MCSA/E/whatever, or LAMP certification of any sort are all steps towards the next level of your career. But each hiring body will give each certification a different weight.
At one time, a university degree was a requirement for a senior level IT/IS position. These days direct experience related to the task currently on the company's plate is far more valuable.
The "I've done it at home" approach was valid in the Linux arena 3+ years ago, but has less value today. It has never been valid in the UNIX arena, and it's anyone's guess whether or not a Windows shop will acknowledge that type of experience.
You must decide which path holds the most interest for you. Only then can you begin to answer these questions. People forget that IT/IS is more than just a "fledgling industry" - it is a support mechanism for *every industry*. As such, there is a myriad of paths that are available to you. Choose one.
I know of more people in R&D roles who waste "company time / resources" surfing slashdot, digg, youtube, etc. than in any other role.
On the flip side of that, I know of people in "receptionist only" roles that would benefit from websurfing to kill off the boredom of that position. These people are not permitted to leave the phone / desk [minor breaks to use the facilities, and a short lunch break], and many aren't permitted any other responsibilities that may take them away from the desk.
An acceptable use policy would allow both classes of users the flexibility that their jobs require.
I think that I understand what you were getting at, but I don't believe that immigrants are any worse [or any better] than anyone else. We have immigrants up here in Canada, too. A small percentage feel the need to gather in groups of isolated ethnicity for the purpose of defence or agression. Gang activity existed long before their arrival, but these groups become a convenient scapegoat for *all* gang activity.
These problems will exist regardless of whether or not you allow new people to populate your land. Your initial post suggests a rather xenophobic view point. The fact that you continue to argue an "us against them" rather than trying to find a way to live together... Well, it continues to support that assumption.
Using the numbers [from the same data] it would appear that you discount the 75% of Americans who are killed by non-immigrants as "OK"?
From comments on the article that I've linked:
Based on King's numbers, the vast majority of murders in the United States are caused by non-immigrants. So either we let in more immigrants--thus watering down the murder rate--or we start getting rid of bona fide U.S. citizens.
Did you ever own a cassette player? Perhaps buy a cassette tape? When you switched to a CD player, did you buy a CD version of that music? Remember that while CD's were available for sale in the mid-late 80's, recordable cd-rom wasn't mainstream unitl mid 90's, so this [no, I just burned my own cd's] argument doesn't fly.
If you buy iTunes music today and switch platforms later, you now have to buy a different format of that same music. How is this different?
The only things that shackles you to an iPod are the headphones. That and perhaps your inability to read the article.
Yes, the last organization that I worked with used Active Directory, with an LDAP connector. It worked, but not as cleanly as one would like. Updates are scheduled or cron'd (depending on which side was providing the update) rather than occurring in real time.
In regards to Corel - good example. There was a company that was trying to be all things for all people. At one point they were selling hardware [SCSI cards], drivers [again, SCSI], their popular graphics applications, and then their "office suite". Their Cowpland was having issues with learning the difference between the company's coffers and his own, accused of insider trading, etc... Not a recipe for success. Their office suite was not really a best of breed, either - most companies had already pulled the plug on those products and migrated to a Microsoft solution. As you said, the people making the decisions wanted closer interoperability with the office standard operating system, and single vendor solution.
But, I'm willing to bet money, that the remaining 5% of functionality that your clients reqiure results in non-microsoft products. If you are unable to find a suitable utility on the market [free or otherwise], paying a developer for those features just might make sense. Just remember that the drawbacks associated with a custom application can be mitigated prior to signing a statement of work. Here are some recommendations that make a custom application solution more manageable [both to your clients, and to their executive]:
1. Identify your requirements for today [or the immediate future]. If you believe that this product will have a larger scope later on, identify that, but do not get hung up on it.
2. Do not add requirements during the development phase.
3. Negotiate a maintenance agreement for patching / security at the same time as negotiating the development contract. Depending on the complexity of the application, a maintenance agreement could cost between 5 and 30% of the application's initial development cost.
4. Demand a copy of the source code upon completion [including any patches that are released during the term of your maintenance agreement]. You are paying for the development of a product that this person [or group of people] may be unable to support in the future. This way, if your company suddenly requires a major change to the application, and you are unable to find the original developer, you can make changes without threatening your client's business.
5. Decide at the beginning if you want this code to exist in the free or open software space.
Quick question before I concede the floor - how many years did you use pkware's "pkzip" utility for prior to buying a license?:)
I hate to beat a dead horse here - I agree with almost everything that you've said, but...
Customers want Active Directory integration, Outlook Integration, Outlook Web Access... I think that this could be replaced with:
Customers want a product that integrates with a common name service, single client application for access to mail/contact/schedule/calendar/task/etc, and a web access component I have worked with a number of large organizations that thrive on LDAP. Sure, Exchange and Active Directory operate hand in glove, but LDAP has been around a bit longer, and offers the same services (albeit but without the degree of integration available with a Microsoft only solution).
As for access to a full time *Linux geek*? That's what IT departments are for. If your IT deparment is not flexible enough to advance in a variety of directions, how much value are they adding long term?
Exchange IS an industry standard Yes, Microsoft has a product that is dominant in the industry. Yes, the customer is the one with the money.
If you take a look at the history of "mail servers", you will see that there have been other products that dominated the industry [were the standard], but have been left by the wayside. Today, Microsoft Exchange is the dominant product in the Windows space. Do you believe that this will always be the case? It would be foolish to do so.
My post was merely a suggestion. It wouldn't surprise me to see Exchange abandonned in favour of a web only solution. A per seat license that restricts you to a single mail server environment supported by a small IT department vs. a global giant providing mail / calendar / task management through a web interface would soundly trounce the environment that Microsoft has laid claim to.
I cannot predict the future - I can only recommend change. It's not just for vending machines.
Let us assume, for a moment, that I have created a mail system that sits on top of a database. The database has just shy of a thousand fields and close to three dozen tables. Each record represents one mail message, one calendar item, one task, or one [insert record type here].
Now, you'll discover that people want to view that data on their desktops. They want to use a single client application that integrates the various record types in a single window. Currently, I can access / modify / copy / delete the data using perl or php, and present it in a clean and readable format, but the user interface is not quite there.
At this point, further investment is needed to develop the client application. It needs to: 1. authenticate to the mail server 2. provide a visual environment for each record type - one for calendar, one for e-mail, one for contacts, one for tasks 3. copy / move / update / delete records to / from the central store to the client 4. be able to run on all flavours of *nix. This investment must come either from business or from the developer community. Here's where it gets sticky.
As a developer, I just want my product completed and out there - in use by the world. I am forced to choose how it goes forward, or how it will die. If I go with business sponsorship - they would most likely wish to own the source code. The product ends up being proprietary, and will not advance as rapidly as an open software product.
However, if I seek assistance from the development community, it may never make it beyond the idea stage. Without devleopers that have the time to devote to the project, it will die on a shelf somewhere.
While healthy skepticism is good thing, assuming that something can't be done [even though it has ALREADY BEEN DONE] is not healthy. If you can afford to pay licensing on one thousand seats of Microsoft Outlook, you can afford to pay a developer to write a mail and calendar client application.
I now regret not reading further back - or I definitely would not have included that particular word. My reference was to attitude [the world owes me a living], not to having been physically abused.
I am now angry. I would not have expected my peers [in this, I equate all working people, be them in Canada or in the US] to be able to look beyond a physical impairment [regarless of severity], and recognize the contribution that people can make.
My son has an autism spectrum disorder - he's the most wonderful little boy in the world, but he may not have a chance to compete in the workforce. I can empathize, but I will never claim to understand. I can only recommend perseverance.
I've taken a look through your journal - not all the way back, but the last week or so. In doing so, I stumbled across [what I assumed to be] your resume.
I don't know the circumstances that led to your present situation. As someone who managed to avoid losing my home [and would have included losing my family], I am curious about why you are currently unable to find *any* job?
Your resume suggests that you've held a wide variety of positions - some in research, some in construction, etc. You appear to have an above average vocabulary, and some aspects of your posts hint at a sense of humour. You seem to be tenacious in a debate [like this thread], and might prove useful in something involving vendor relationships.
Is it possible that, in an interview, you come across as cynical or fatalistic? Or perhaps overbearing or maybe victimized? I know hiring managers that view these types of attitudes as "deal breakers" during interviews.
This past weekend as I was walking through Calgary (my home town up here in Canada), I was amazed at the number of help wanted signs. 4 out of 5 shops appeared to be seeking help of one variety or another. I have heard of people with criminal records that have had the luxury of choosing between jobs [granted, these aren't office jobs, but they do pay a reasonable wage]. While I'm sure that La Jolla is a beautiful city, perhaps you'd have much more success in a different location?
An offer letter outlines the terms that a company is offering to you as part of the total compensation package for your services.
While it's true that a company does reserve the right to make changes during the course of your employment, they do not have the right to change the terms of your offer letter [letter of offer, job offer, etc.] UNLESS you are still in the midst of negotiation. They CAN request a modification to your offer letter, and they can also expire the offer. Until you have accepted, they can rescind their offer. If you have accepted and then they rescind, you may have an avenue for legal recourse - consult a lawyer.
It is a contract. In this particular case, if the "recruiter" is acting as an officer of the company, and provides a signed offer of employment that includes details of the rellocation expense agreement, it will supercede any internal document that the company may have. Why? Well, remember that you can not be an "at will" employee until you have been hired. Until such time, you aren't privy to the company's internal documents. You [and the hiring company] are subject to the terms of the letter of offer. They are required, by law*, to uphold the conditions of the hiring contract.
*I would heartily recommend that you talk to a lawyer. Every state/province/district/territory will have their own version of laws that cover this type of issue. As for how long after you are employed with a company before they can change the rules? I have no idea.
You have a rather inflated view of the importance of people who work, primarily, with computer systems and information. I did not rate the importance of the people, merely helped to identify that most IT people are not in the "fledgling IT industry".
the last fifteen years on a global level Interestingly enough, there has been widespread computer use for a great deal longer than this. Perhaps you aren't familiar with the many uses of technology - maybe you're hung up on the dot.com boom / bust. For the average person in an IT role, the internet [access/presence/whatever] is but a small piece of their responsibility.
You doubt the importance of Information Technology in society? Hmmm... Have you ever used a bank? Pumped gasoline? Driven a car? Been a passenger in an airplane? Watched a movie? Watched a television? Read a newspaper? Read a book? In each of these examples, Information Technology systems aid in bringing a quality product to fruition / improves quality or availability / ensures [relatively] easy repeatability / or allows for more cost effective production.
I am sympathetic to your situation. It's not pleasant to be unemployed - I was out of IT for almost a year. After three months of not being able to find a job in my field [one that I was suited to], I landed a construction job. I didn't have the luxury of waiting for something to come along, as I have a family that I support. My resume was good, but people in my city were simply not looking for someone with my skills that year. It was 11 months before I managed an interview.
I accept that there is always a new technology around the corner. It is *my* responsibility to embrace it. I can't learn everything [wouldn't that be wonderful], so I must select a small niche that suits me best. At some point, I may make the wrong choice and find myself working in the construction industry again. I don't suspect that the internet will be responsible.
reality is that IT is a fledgling industry and the companies inside of it don't have their processes fleshed out as thoroughly and
You guys have, from what I've read over the last five years, had it easy. Companies have needed you to fill their offices in order to keep the money coming in from investment brokers and government lenders. Give it ten more years and you'll begin to get a taste of real life as experienced by the rest of the professional workforce. You don't really believe this, do you? People who work in IT aren't ornaments on display in room somewhere sipping tea and eating crumpets. In general, we provide services to allow businesses to compete in markets that they are new to, or to dominate in markets that they have a long standing commitment to. In some cases, it is a simple as providing improved communications mechanisms [like e-mail], and in others it involves creating complex relationship management systems - writing code from scratch.
Those who do system implementations or web development or database administration are generally employees in a non-IT industry. Like healthcare, or oil & gas. Yes, there is technology, but in general, we follow the processes that are used by the rest of the employees in our company.
Those who do software development [a smaller percentage than you'd expect] generally follow an accepted methodology, their code is reviewed by their peers, and is tested for quality. Those who develop micro processors are forced to follow the rules of physics, as well as maintain compatibility with a stringent criteria. These are people in the 'fledgling' IT industry.
The fact that you are having difficulty finding work in your field in the city / town that you reside in is not representative of all industries across all locations. You may need to be re-trained to have market value in your industry. Those of us with IT roles in non-it fields are constantly in need of re-training in order to remain competitive.
... negotiating a relocation amount [whatever cost actually paid or expected to by covered] is not a "perk". It's a condition of employment. Many companies simply do not offer this as an option, and refuse to interview non-local candidates.
Unrestricted access to the company gym is a perk. Free parking is a perk. An option to purchase products at a reduced price is a perk.
Conditions of employment include, but are not limited to: hours of employment wage or salary moving expenses pass drug test [some companies]
Slashdot Mirror
Sadly, the people that are victims of organized crime don't generally feel that they can trust the police to resolve the problem. The mafia generally lives within the community of those that they terrorize. Calling in police to resolve problems will generally only server to incur more trouble. For Russians, years of living in fear of the authorities has had an additional negative effect. Reputation is very difficult to repair - the Russian police have an uphill battle ahead of them.
What does this mean for development? Russia will need to help itself to dispel the mafia. Until the people realize that allowing organized crime to happen does nothing but encourage the continuation of the activity. Capitalism is continuing to grow in spite of it, but will continue to be stunted until this issue is controlled.
Don't be fooled - there is still organized crime in the United States. There is still organized crime in Canada. People's faith in the justice system helps to keep it a minimum. Constant vigilance is necessary, however, to prevent those with power from becoming as corrupt as those they protect us from.
Having said *all of that*, I still warrant that people will sell their skills for money.
The expression "on the backs of others" is a euphemism for exploitation.
While it is true that Al Capone exploited many people, he did it illegally through coercion, intimidation, manipulation and violence.
Perhaps I should have written:
"The standard practice of trading currency for tasks is a hallmark of capitalism. The difference is all about how much currency you recieve for the task that you perform."
Better?
...there are still plenty of people trying to make their money or gain power off of the backs of others This is, very much, a capitalistic attitude. Almost every business exploits the resources around them. There are those who primarily explot physical resources (Abitibi exploits renewable trees, UK Coal exploits non-renewable coal), and those who primarily exploit intellectual resources (Microsoft exploits software developers, Intel exploits hardware engineers).The only real difference between what has happened in North America (and Western Europe) and what might happen in Russia? The amount of money that you get paid to be exploited.
Perhaps the punitive award could be spent on releasing the patent on an expensive drug (like the $1500/month required in the instance sited). Helping to make this treatment more affordable when distributed by additional drug companies.
I admit that I took the anonymous poster at face value.
If they had posted "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!", I likely would not have given it credence [as per thinkofthechildren...], but the anonymous posting coupled with the 'a concerned parent' signature...
Perhaps I should steer clear of phishing scams for the next few days...
I'm a fairly good judge of funny. This wasn't it.
-- a concerned parent Right.
If you were a concerned parent, your children wouldn't be playing WOW.
Try a different perspective.
When you are doing your job, do you do your best?
When you hire people to do a job, do you expect them to try their best?
When you look for work, do you try your best?
If the answer to these three questions is "no", then you are likely to find your CV / resume in the discard pile. Feel free to spell "administrator" incorrectly. Feel free to intersperse work experience and hobbies randomly throughout. Pay no attention to following convention with your cover letter.
Your resume should represent YOUR BEST EFFORT at selling your skills.
If you cannot spell, cannot clearly organize your thoughts, effectively communicate your goals, about the subject that should be closest to you - YOU - then how will you be able to keep project notes clear, make documentation readable, etc.?
If you wish to go into hardware support or stay in the tier 1 space, A+ is something that you'd include on your resume.
If you wish to go into the server OS administration arena, listing A+ suggests that you don't have enough skills directly related OS administration and are attempting to sway the recruiter with shiny objects.
Get certification that is related to your career path, ignore those that have no bearing on what you wish to do. CCNA, MCSA/E/whatever, or LAMP certification of any sort are all steps towards the next level of your career. But each hiring body will give each certification a different weight.
At one time, a university degree was a requirement for a senior level IT/IS position. These days direct experience related to the task currently on the company's plate is far more valuable.
The "I've done it at home" approach was valid in the Linux arena 3+ years ago, but has less value today. It has never been valid in the UNIX arena, and it's anyone's guess whether or not a Windows shop will acknowledge that type of experience.
You must decide which path holds the most interest for you. Only then can you begin to answer these questions. People forget that IT/IS is more than just a "fledgling industry" - it is a support mechanism for *every industry*. As such, there is a myriad of paths that are available to you. Choose one.
- Avron
Interesting.
I know of more people in R&D roles who waste "company time / resources" surfing slashdot, digg, youtube, etc. than in any other role.
On the flip side of that, I know of people in "receptionist only" roles that would benefit from websurfing to kill off the boredom of that position. These people are not permitted to leave the phone / desk [minor breaks to use the facilities, and a short lunch break], and many aren't permitted any other responsibilities that may take them away from the desk.
An acceptable use policy would allow both classes of users the flexibility that their jobs require.
I think that I understand what you were getting at, but I don't believe that immigrants are any worse [or any better] than anyone else. We have immigrants up here in Canada, too. A small percentage feel the need to gather in groups of isolated ethnicity for the purpose of defence or agression. Gang activity existed long before their arrival, but these groups become a convenient scapegoat for *all* gang activity.
These problems will exist regardless of whether or not you allow new people to populate your land. Your initial post suggests a rather xenophobic view point. The fact that you continue to argue an "us against them" rather than trying to find a way to live together... Well, it continues to support that assumption.
Using the numbers [from the same data] it would appear that you discount the 75% of Americans who are killed by non-immigrants as "OK"?
From comments on the article that I've linked: Based on King's numbers, the vast majority of murders in the United States are caused by non-immigrants. So either we let in more immigrants--thus watering down the murder rate--or we start getting rid of bona fide U.S. citizens.
Did you ever own a cassette player? Perhaps buy a cassette tape? When you switched to a CD player, did you buy a CD version of that music? Remember that while CD's were available for sale in the mid-late 80's, recordable cd-rom wasn't mainstream unitl mid 90's, so this [no, I just burned my own cd's] argument doesn't fly.
If you buy iTunes music today and switch platforms later, you now have to buy a different format of that same music. How is this different?
The only things that shackles you to an iPod are the headphones. That and perhaps your inability to read the article.
Not sure why this is "flamebait" - It's hysterical.
[This coming from a Canadian]
Yes, the last organization that I worked with used Active Directory, with an LDAP connector. It worked, but not as cleanly as one would like. Updates are scheduled or cron'd (depending on which side was providing the update) rather than occurring in real time.
:)
In regards to Corel - good example. There was a company that was trying to be all things for all people. At one point they were selling hardware [SCSI cards], drivers [again, SCSI], their popular graphics applications, and then their "office suite". Their Cowpland was having issues with learning the difference between the company's coffers and his own, accused of insider trading, etc... Not a recipe for success. Their office suite was not really a best of breed, either - most companies had already pulled the plug on those products and migrated to a Microsoft solution. As you said, the people making the decisions wanted closer interoperability with the office standard operating system, and single vendor solution.
But, I'm willing to bet money, that the remaining 5% of functionality that your clients reqiure results in non-microsoft products. If you are unable to find a suitable utility on the market [free or otherwise], paying a developer for those features just might make sense. Just remember that the drawbacks associated with a custom application can be mitigated prior to signing a statement of work. Here are some recommendations that make a custom application solution more manageable [both to your clients, and to their executive]:
1. Identify your requirements for today [or the immediate future]. If you believe that this product will have a larger scope later on, identify that, but do not get hung up on it.
2. Do not add requirements during the development phase.
3. Negotiate a maintenance agreement for patching / security at the same time as negotiating the development contract. Depending on the complexity of the application, a maintenance agreement could cost between 5 and 30% of the application's initial development cost.
4. Demand a copy of the source code upon completion [including any patches that are released during the term of your maintenance agreement]. You are paying for the development of a product that this person [or group of people] may be unable to support in the future. This way, if your company suddenly requires a major change to the application, and you are unable to find the original developer, you can make changes without threatening your client's business.
5. Decide at the beginning if you want this code to exist in the free or open software space.
Quick question before I concede the floor - how many years did you use pkware's "pkzip" utility for prior to buying a license?
As for access to a full time *Linux geek*? That's what IT departments are for. If your IT deparment is not flexible enough to advance in a variety of directions, how much value are they adding long term?
Yes, the customer is the one with the money.
If you take a look at the history of "mail servers", you will see that there have been other products that dominated the industry [were the standard], but have been left by the wayside. Today, Microsoft Exchange is the dominant product in the Windows space. Do you believe that this will always be the case? It would be foolish to do so.
My post was merely a suggestion. It wouldn't surprise me to see Exchange abandonned in favour of a web only solution. A per seat license that restricts you to a single mail server environment supported by a small IT department vs. a global giant providing mail / calendar / task management through a web interface would soundly trounce the environment that Microsoft has laid claim to.
I cannot predict the future - I can only recommend change. It's not just for vending machines.
The phrase is "more butter", and is acceptable at the movie theatre when ordering popcorn...
Let us assume, for a moment, that I have created a mail system that sits on top of a database. The database has just shy of a thousand fields and close to three dozen tables. Each record represents one mail message, one calendar item, one task, or one [insert record type here].
Now, you'll discover that people want to view that data on their desktops. They want to use a single client application that integrates the various record types in a single window. Currently, I can access / modify / copy / delete the data using perl or php, and present it in a clean and readable format, but the user interface is not quite there.
At this point, further investment is needed to develop the client application. It needs to:
1. authenticate to the mail server
2. provide a visual environment for each record type - one for calendar, one for e-mail, one for contacts, one for tasks
3. copy / move / update / delete records to / from the central store to the client
4. be able to run on all flavours of *nix.
This investment must come either from business or from the developer community. Here's where it gets sticky.
As a developer, I just want my product completed and out there - in use by the world. I am forced to choose how it goes forward, or how it will die. If I go with business sponsorship - they would most likely wish to own the source code. The product ends up being proprietary, and will not advance as rapidly as an open software product.
However, if I seek assistance from the development community, it may never make it beyond the idea stage. Without devleopers that have the time to devote to the project, it will die on a shelf somewhere.
While healthy skepticism is good thing, assuming that something can't be done [even though it has ALREADY BEEN DONE] is not healthy. If you can afford to pay licensing on one thousand seats of Microsoft Outlook, you can afford to pay a developer to write a mail and calendar client application.
I now regret not reading further back - or I definitely would not have included that particular word. My reference was to attitude [the world owes me a living], not to having been physically abused.
I am now angry. I would not have expected my peers [in this, I equate all working people, be them in Canada or in the US] to be able to look beyond a physical impairment [regarless of severity], and recognize the contribution that people can make.
My son has an autism spectrum disorder - he's the most wonderful little boy in the world, but he may not have a chance to compete in the workforce. I can empathize, but I will never claim to understand. I can only recommend perseverance.
I've taken a look through your journal - not all the way back, but the last week or so. In doing so, I stumbled across [what I assumed to be] your resume.
I don't know the circumstances that led to your present situation. As someone who managed to avoid losing my home [and would have included losing my family], I am curious about why you are currently unable to find *any* job?
Your resume suggests that you've held a wide variety of positions - some in research, some in construction, etc. You appear to have an above average vocabulary, and some aspects of your posts hint at a sense of humour. You seem to be tenacious in a debate [like this thread], and might prove useful in something involving vendor relationships.
Is it possible that, in an interview, you come across as cynical or fatalistic? Or perhaps overbearing or maybe victimized? I know hiring managers that view these types of attitudes as "deal breakers" during interviews.
This past weekend as I was walking through Calgary (my home town up here in Canada), I was amazed at the number of help wanted signs. 4 out of 5 shops appeared to be seeking help of one variety or another. I have heard of people with criminal records that have had the luxury of choosing between jobs [granted, these aren't office jobs, but they do pay a reasonable wage]. While I'm sure that La Jolla is a beautiful city, perhaps you'd have much more success in a different location?
It doesn't make sense to me...
An offer letter outlines the terms that a company is offering to you as part of the total compensation package for your services.
While it's true that a company does reserve the right to make changes during the course of your employment, they do not have the right to change the terms of your offer letter [letter of offer, job offer, etc.] UNLESS you are still in the midst of negotiation. They CAN request a modification to your offer letter, and they can also expire the offer. Until you have accepted, they can rescind their offer. If you have accepted and then they rescind, you may have an avenue for legal recourse - consult a lawyer.
It is a contract. In this particular case, if the "recruiter" is acting as an officer of the company, and provides a signed offer of employment that includes details of the rellocation expense agreement, it will supercede any internal document that the company may have. Why? Well, remember that you can not be an "at will" employee until you have been hired. Until such time, you aren't privy to the company's internal documents. You [and the hiring company] are subject to the terms of the letter of offer. They are required, by law*, to uphold the conditions of the hiring contract.
*I would heartily recommend that you talk to a lawyer. Every state/province/district/territory will have their own version of laws that cover this type of issue. As for how long after you are employed with a company before they can change the rules? I have no idea.
You doubt the importance of Information Technology in society? Hmmm... Have you ever used a bank? Pumped gasoline? Driven a car? Been a passenger in an airplane? Watched a movie? Watched a television? Read a newspaper? Read a book? In each of these examples, Information Technology systems aid in bringing a quality product to fruition / improves quality or availability / ensures [relatively] easy repeatability / or allows for more cost effective production.
I am sympathetic to your situation. It's not pleasant to be unemployed - I was out of IT for almost a year. After three months of not being able to find a job in my field [one that I was suited to], I landed a construction job. I didn't have the luxury of waiting for something to come along, as I have a family that I support. My resume was good, but people in my city were simply not looking for someone with my skills that year. It was 11 months before I managed an interview.
I accept that there is always a new technology around the corner. It is *my* responsibility to embrace it. I can't learn everything [wouldn't that be wonderful], so I must select a small niche that suits me best. At some point, I may make the wrong choice and find myself working in the construction industry again. I don't suspect that the internet will be responsible.
Those who do system implementations or web development or database administration are generally employees in a non-IT industry. Like healthcare, or oil & gas. Yes, there is technology, but in general, we follow the processes that are used by the rest of the employees in our company.
Those who do software development [a smaller percentage than you'd expect] generally follow an accepted methodology, their code is reviewed by their peers, and is tested for quality. Those who develop micro processors are forced to follow the rules of physics, as well as maintain compatibility with a stringent criteria. These are people in the 'fledgling' IT industry.
The fact that you are having difficulty finding work in your field in the city / town that you reside in is not representative of all industries across all locations. You may need to be re-trained to have market value in your industry. Those of us with IT roles in non-it fields are constantly in need of re-training in order to remain competitive.
The world does not stand still.
... negotiating a relocation amount [whatever cost actually paid or expected to by covered] is not a "perk". It's a condition of employment. Many companies simply do not offer this as an option, and refuse to interview non-local candidates.
Unrestricted access to the company gym is a perk. Free parking is a perk. An option to purchase products at a reduced price is a perk.
Conditions of employment include, but are not limited to:
hours of employment
wage or salary
moving expenses
pass drug test [some companies]