Online Transparency in Social Media

I often stop to consider what messages I am sending when I post information on the Internet. Wailin Wong, reporting for the Chicago Tribune, speaks volumes for the way I feel about social media.

“It’s tricky to balance the permanence of real life and the ephemera of electronic life, especially because social media encourages a regular stream of updates. Not only does the Internet capture all kinds of fleeting thoughts that would otherwise be forgotten but the Web’s viral nature can spread information faster and more widely than an individual can chase it down.”

Wailin Wong, Chicago Tribune Online Focus on Technology - Coming clean to my online network of friends

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FICO Credit Score Estimators

The financial crisis in the US is forcing everyone to take a close look at their personal finances. I am no different and recently evaluated my FICO Credit Score. I used two free FICO Calculators to estimate my FICO Credit Score. whatsmyscore.org
gave me an estimate of 660-710 and MSN Money was more optimistic with 700-780.

Considering your credit score affects employment, housing, insurance rates, and interest rates on financial products I suggest you take the time to check yours out. Start at annualcreditreport.com to get your free yearly credit report from any or all 3 credit bureaus. It’s always better to know where you stand when enduring the present and planning for the future.

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Creating User Manuals and Documentation

A task most loathed by programmers is creating documentation of their work. From the beginning we often start coding without much planning. Even the attempts of my professors to drill design and pseudocode before production fell short. Everyone started coding their homework first and wrote the required documentation after. There’s good reason for creating a user guide when your product is designed for longevity.

So how do we successfully create user documentation? Without specialty software one can create a user manual in Word that looks professional. This budget-friendly approach will put the information users need to be successful at their fingertips. Calls to the Help Desk will be reduced and team members will be all the more happy for having a user manual that works.

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How’s Your BMI? Study Shows IT Pros Eat More

How’s your BMI? I’m referring to Body Mass Index and you can use this handy BMI calculator to check yours.

Toni Bowers at TechRepublic.com found a story about a Laval University in Quebec City study that says we eat more after doing mental work then when we’re couch potatoes.

This is precisely what I need to back me up when I come home exhausted from staring at a computer screen all day!

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Universal Proportions

Sometimes we all need to readjust our perspective to better get our point across. Randall Munroe’s comic strip at xkcd.com recently presented “The Height of the Universe”. If you’re having trouble meeting eye-to-eye with a client or coworker, take a moment to realize how small our differences really are. In a vast universe two human beings have much more in common than not.

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Converse One Custom Design Chucks

Geek fashion is an understatement of practical, durable clothing and shoes. I love my Chuck Taylor All Star shoes. My feet stay comfortable and make no more statement than that I value traditional design. Now Converse allows anyone to design their own shoes through the Converse One store.

I’ve never had a thing for shoes, even though I have 2 X-chromosomes. Now that Converse offers custom shoes, I think I could start my own collection. My happy geek feet wouldn’t think of wearing anything else!

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How to be a Difficult Person

The flip side of how to deal with a difficult person is to be one yourself! Do you need a refresher on how to be utterly miserable at work? This sarcastic look at work attitudes may be just what you need to turn the day around!

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Deal with Difficult People

It seems there’s always one person we can’t quite get along with at work. Sometimes it seems like we can’t get away from them. Michael Miles of Effortless Abundance has great advice on how to
deal with difficult people. Give yourself a moment to view his techniques. It just might make the difference you need to stay content at work.

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Demand for SAP Skills Keeps Rising

Looking for that next new technology to be one of the first to learn? Stop looking and focus on what is needed today. CIO.com has been covering the labor shortage for SAP Skills. Granted that experienced workers have the advantage, now is a great time to start learning. Anything SAP added to your resume (legitimately, of course) is going to be a boost towards gainful employment.

If you’re new to SAP, like I am, check out SAP Education to get your feet wet on this vast software suite. It’s an investment worth making.

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Caffeine versus Ritalin: Part 2

Every day at 11:00 AM my MS Outlook reminds me it’s “Drink Time”. That’s my euphemism for taking methyphenidate, or Ritalin, as it’s more commonly known. I started taking this months ago to keep me from nodding off at my keyboard in the morning. So how does this compare to caffeine?

I must say I still need my morning coffee or tea to feel like my proper self. Ritalin gives me staying power but without my initial caffeine I start off groggy and my mind feels fuzzy. Caffeine definitely makes a difference to sharpen my concentration and keep my mind at peak performance. The 11:00 a.m. dose of Ritalin staves off sleepiness from mid-day on to keep me on an even keel.

That’s all well and good, but what about the side effects? Thankfully, I have little to report. Adding Ritalin to my routine has made me feel like my normal self. Caffeine withdrawal will give me a minor headache but that’s rare since my staple beverage is unsweetened iced tea.

Next time you see someone overreact about an empty coffee pot, give them some slack. They may be one dose short of the usual.

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