development – Paul's Tech Talk

NPR Laysoff 85 people

PaulDecember 10, 2008

This is really a sad day for people, According to NPR themselves they are laying off 64 position and 21 other positions. I’ll quote:

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Companywide, NPR is laying off 64 people and eliminating 21 other positions that are currently vacant. NPR News will still have more than 800 employees on staff, including about 300 journalists.

[Via NPR]

This is another Layoff that people don’t want to hear about but will. NPR isn’t laying off a lot of people but they have been doing the news for quite some time. I feel bad for all the people that are getting laid off and had to tell people about this little development. If you like what you see, I’ve got some great tips and tricks for people looking to get hired.

Some bloggers are Hyping Windows 7 operating System.

PaulOctober 30, 20083 Replies

After looking around the blogosphere, I’ve come to the realization that people are starting to get hyped up over Windows 7. In one blog post from it.toolbox.com:

[ad#ad2]Windows 7 is due to hit beta and release in 2009, and odds are likely that if the pundits, all of us on the blogosphere and other places like PC World, Cnet, and others all agree that this works the way a computer was supposed to work will help drive sales. What is also interesting is that Microsoft is really pushing to get this puppy out. Along with the bloat are gone the five years of development.

[Via It.Toolbox.com]

I totally agree with what he is saying on the possibility to have an operating system actually do what it is told. Some things people have been looking for in there Searches in regards to Windows Vista are:

Vista Shutdown Problems

User Account Control

Vista SuperFetch

Vista and Battery Life

What Microsoft Doesn’t want you to know!!

From what I can tell people are really having problems with Vista and Shutting down. It always hangs for about 10 to 20 minutes. I’ve come up with a few tricks to shutdown vista little more. So let’s get back to why people are so interested in Windows 7, that is easy they want to have a OS that will make them have a better experience with Vista. I also think it was the Vista and Macintosh aids that also made people not like Vista. Microsoft is just now starting to fight back but the Damage is done and people feel Vista is just not worth using or buying. I tend to disagree, with the flaws of this Operating system, I’ve learn so much from diving in and getting my hands dirty so to speak.

[ad#ad2-1]Where is the future of Window Vista, I say the next Operating system will “Windows 7” but it will be Vista Version 2. It should be far better than Version 1, because of having all that time to fix the most common mistakes and programming errors. It is likely going to create a smoother transition for people from XP to Vista V.2. I am not going to call it Windows 7 because it is so similar to Vista and it just doesn’t seem right. What are you going to call it when it comes out?

I will leave the specualation for WIndows 7 for some others and how they will want to hype up this new operating system because people want something better than Vista. I can not deny them, there will always be people to find flaws in any Operating System. I do want want to be in the Windows 7 Beta just so I can test it out and keep people up to date on what might or might not be in the system when it comes out. I think it has a lot of potential, don’t you?

Microsoft reveals “Microsoft Azure”

PaulOctober 27, 2008

Windows Azure is part of a set of new and existing technologies behind the Azure Services Platform, a development and execution platform that runs end-user and corporate software on Microsoft’s own servers, accessible over the web. It joins Google’s App Engine and Amazon’s EC2 in an increasingly competitive market.

[Via ZDnet]

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Although, There isn’t much more they have said I am quite curious how they will interegrate this into the cloud computing. According to Microsoft, it won’t run on the company server but Microsoft Datacenter. Now this I can see is a big security problem. Because most companies use what they call an Intranet and not the internet. So that leaves questions on if companies are going to use this system or not. Are you ready to let your information float somewhere over the inernet tht is SENSITIVE and CONFIDENTIAL? These are the questions that Microsoft will have to Answer, before any company will use this on there systems.

Largest Employer : University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is planning layoffs!!

PaulOctober 23, 2008

Is this the beginning or the end of the recession? After seeing this today I wanted to talk about this development. If they layoff a large number of people is this going to effect your chances of finding a job? Here’s what they had to say:

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has plans to reduce its 50,000 workforce by a small percentage. UPMC did not immediately release any specifics.

“As the economy deteriorates, we are proactively taking these steps to ensure that our growth in expenses is not outpacing our growth in revenues,” a UPMC statement said.

[via WTAE.TV]

So now that they have said this, what’s the percentages of the workforce are going to be laid off? I wanted to talk about how you could get ready for the imminent day of this. Here’s some good links to consider:

5 ways to improve your chance of getting hired.

Are you asking to be scammed?

And here are some other companies who are planning layoffs or have laid off people:

Mahalo Lay’s off around 10% of it’s workforce!!

Merck Laid off 13% of it’s workforce

With all this that is going on in the world I thought it was something that needed to be said and let people know about these developments.

Mahalo Lay’s off around 10% of it’s workforce!!

PaulOctober 23, 2008

[ad#ad2-left]In an email he sent to the readers of his publication, Jason Calicanis talks about having to lay off around 10% of people from Mahalo. Here’s the quote:

We’ve laid off a just under 10% of our full-time staff, cut our overhead by doing smart things like renting desks (we have six desks/offices available fyi), and reorganized our editorial department to focus on freelance positions over in-house editors. The net result
of the effort is we are giving Mahalo another year of “dry powder” (or runway) to complete our mission.

This is not to be unexpected after all the talk about the recession coming our way. It does however emphasizes the need for companies to consider there profit margins and accounting strategy.

Mahalo was launched in May 2007 as an Alpha test. That is to say only a select number of people were able to access the site and create feedback to the development of the site. As of January of 2008 it is in what we call the Beta test phase. Which means more people are testing it out and find out it’s flaws to report back about where they need to improve. Mahalo’s directory employs human editors to review websites and search engine results.

[ad#ad2-right]Saying that Mahalo is in Beta still doesn’t lessen the fact that they are worried about there revenue model and expect a drastic decrease in revenue over the next 2 years due to the Recession still hanging over our heads. This is where it comes to pure talent and understanding that most people in the business has to worry being laid off for example Merck Laid off 13% of it’s workforce. Most people know the dread and fear of having the possibility of a Layoff hanging over your head and it is bound to affect even the most stubborn person and independent person. It is going to come at a time like Christmas or the first a year and you will have to scrounge around and try to find another job. It’s tough and I’ve got a list that will help you :5 ways to improve your chance of getting hired.

With this list you will be able to get a better grip of the future and maybe create a better future in the process.

Mahalo is still in it’s infancy and will still need time to grow and mature and with this recession looming over everyone’s head they will have quite a time making heads or tails of the future. So why try to create the future if you don’t know what will happen? That comes with the territory of blogging and website that are 2.0. It’s a hit or miss when it comes to people finding the best content and sometimes finds the worst content. This is where you as a reader have to choice what to listen to and who to listen too. I don’t say that will be easy but it is essential in finding what you need at the time you need it.

If we don’t do anything, this will be the last you will see of some of these big name sites. We need to gather around them and show our support, by reading there content and providing feedback if there is something that needs to be change. That is your power to help these websites become the best they can. So go comment on your favorite website, tell them something you think they can do to better the content. So why aren’t you doing that now?