I'm going to take a grumpy tone with you, but this is exactly what I would say to one of my female friends. Please take this advice as though it was coming from an older brother.
The secret of success for a woman in the workplace is really very simple. Just remember: When you are at work, you are not a woman, you are an *employee*. And those guys over there? They're not really guys. They're employees too.
That's it.
If someone snubs you, assume that it has something to do with how you behave, not your sex. If you get passed over for a promotion, assume that it has something to do with your performance, not your sex. Never allow yourself the luxury of thinking that you've bumped up against some "glass ceiling." If you're not invited to hang out with the others, assume that it has something to do with how you've come across to them, not your sex.
Don't believe anyone who tells you that you need to talk in sports metaphors, or any of that $99 seminar garbage.
If you're in an organization that has special programs to help women "succeed in the workplace," you need to know that they are the kiss of death. My own workplace has special "mentoring" programs for women. They have a "leadership development institute" that is meant to help women "break into" management. Women who complete this program are given preference when the organization is hiring managers. Would you like to guess how much esteem these women have among their male counterparts? Among the men who report to them? They might as well tie a millstone around your neck and toss you into the ocean, because most of the guys you work with consider such programs to be fluff, and won't take you seriously if you participate in them. For crying out loud, they even have book clubs where women read books and talk about "the special challenges of being a woman in the workplace." These are *not* the sort of thing that you want to do if you want to be taken seriously in the workplace.
Most guys will tell you that women are far more sex-aware than men are. I once had a female manager, in a job interview, ask me if I "would have a problem reporting to a woman." That immediately told me that I was suspect as a result of my sex, and that anything that I did would be interpreted through the prism of "gender politics." Imagine if a male interviewer had asked a female applicant anything so obviously sex-oriented.
Your question reflects a 1960s mindset. Welcome to 2006.
A few years ago I bought SoftWindows for my Mac. I'm fluent in Microsoft and Apple, so I thought it would be useful. In the end, I found that I could do 99% of what I needed to do on my Mac, and I just ended up using Windows to do the occasional odd task that I couldn't do on my Mac (like running training CD ROMS that were MS only).
That's when it hit me that for most tasks, Windows was only a utility. A very expensive utility.
Am I the only one who uses my PDA for text? I have an ancient Palm IIIxe with 8 MB RAM, and I'll bet that I have close to a thousand pages of text in it. I have three years' worth of journal entries that, when exported to MS Word, consist of maybe 125 pages per year (1 inch margins, 11 point Arial). I have close to 100 favorite recipes, lyrics from maybe seventy-five songs (Beck and Phish. Figures I'd need references for my music...). I attach notes to my address book entries with directions. I have a category in the Memo application for my wife and each of my kids, with a page for their medical history, a listing of all of the kids in their class for each school year, gift ideas, vital statistics, and God only knows what.
Sure, the calendar is useful, the address book is more useful (I've had three incompatible phones in the time that I've had my Palm), but text is my killer app.
Also useful is the little Palm Pix gadget that I can carry along. I bought it on the clearance table at Staples for fifteen bucks (Yes, I'm a technological bottom feeder). It's essentially an Instamatic, but I can take twenty-five photos before I have to off-load them, and I can sync them to my computer without paying through the nose to my phone company.
Show me a phone that can handle text as well as the Palm, and I'll consider switching, maybe. It's not unusual lto find me typing in my Palm with my full-size Think Outside keyboard, listening to my 4th gen iPod, and occasionally talking on my phone. I can't imagine a "convergence" device that would let me do that as well as my low-budget tech.
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I've used Palm devices since 1999, and Palm has always treated Macintosh like the unwanted stepchild.
"Netroots" has to be the worst Internet word ever, along with its pejoritive "nutroots."
"Wingnuts" seems forced. And for some reason, I love "Barking Moonbats."
Outside of politics, I hate "Blog," but think that "Podcast" is just fine.
Go figure.
AK
The secret of success for a woman in the workplace is really very simple. Just remember: When you are at work, you are not a woman, you are an *employee*. And those guys over there? They're not really guys. They're employees too.
That's it.
If someone snubs you, assume that it has something to do with how you behave, not your sex. If you get passed over for a promotion, assume that it has something to do with your performance, not your sex. Never allow yourself the luxury of thinking that you've bumped up against some "glass ceiling." If you're not invited to hang out with the others, assume that it has something to do with how you've come across to them, not your sex.
Don't believe anyone who tells you that you need to talk in sports metaphors, or any of that $99 seminar garbage.
If you're in an organization that has special programs to help women "succeed in the workplace," you need to know that they are the kiss of death. My own workplace has special "mentoring" programs for women. They have a "leadership development institute" that is meant to help women "break into" management. Women who complete this program are given preference when the organization is hiring managers. Would you like to guess how much esteem these women have among their male counterparts? Among the men who report to them? They might as well tie a millstone around your neck and toss you into the ocean, because most of the guys you work with consider such programs to be fluff, and won't take you seriously if you participate in them. For crying out loud, they even have book clubs where women read books and talk about "the special challenges of being a woman in the workplace." These are *not* the sort of thing that you want to do if you want to be taken seriously in the workplace.
Most guys will tell you that women are far more sex-aware than men are. I once had a female manager, in a job interview, ask me if I "would have a problem reporting to a woman." That immediately told me that I was suspect as a result of my sex, and that anything that I did would be interpreted through the prism of "gender politics." Imagine if a male interviewer had asked a female applicant anything so obviously sex-oriented.
Your question reflects a 1960s mindset. Welcome to 2006.
AK
WORD has a safe mode, at least in the Office XP edition. Hold down the Control key while you launch Word.
Sheesh.
AK
Somebody stop the madness!
That's when it hit me that for most tasks, Windows was only a utility. A very expensive utility.
AK
Sure, the calendar is useful, the address book is more useful (I've had three incompatible phones in the time that I've had my Palm), but text is my killer app.
Also useful is the little Palm Pix gadget that I can carry along. I bought it on the clearance table at Staples for fifteen bucks (Yes, I'm a technological bottom feeder). It's essentially an Instamatic, but I can take twenty-five photos before I have to off-load them, and I can sync them to my computer without paying through the nose to my phone company.
Show me a phone that can handle text as well as the Palm, and I'll consider switching, maybe. It's not unusual lto find me typing in my Palm with my full-size Think Outside keyboard, listening to my 4th gen iPod, and occasionally talking on my phone. I can't imagine a "convergence" device that would let me do that as well as my low-budget tech.
AK
I will not have an RSS Reader that is not on my own computer. How would I use it if I were to lose connectiv...
Oh, hell.
Hmmm. http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=P TO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv. html&r=1&p=1&f=S&l=50&d=PG01&S1=20030076303.PGNR.& Query=dn/20030076303