It's not a flaw, it's a special feature!

I was reading through a book and part of it included basic network implementation and it was giving an overview of the different types of connections I found this kind of funny. (among the other flaws in the table)




In the first instance I thought they were talking about the physical flexibility of the cable they are using, but that would simply be an "N/A" rather than "limited" since wireless has no wires... and then in the second, I assumed they were talking about flexibility of implementation/use in which case it makes sense. I just find it funny that they listed something functionality as limited and then tote that limited flexibility as a "special feature".

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Know your worth

In my years as a tech, I have done different kinds of work. I worked for IT companies that do out source work for other companies who don't want to staff an IT department, I have worked for ISPs, I have worked in the IT department for larger companies, and I have done freelance work. Each of these positions bring a different point of view and a different set of experiences.

For instance, when working for an IT company as a tech, you are the money maker. You are why the company is around. Sales people, accountants, etc. are all support for the work you do. Because of this, you have a serious sense of pride (and ego).

Working in the IT department of another company, your role is changed dramatically, now you are the support staff. No one cares how awesome of a job you are doing (well they might, but its not something they can typically put a dollar value on).

Freelance work is a beast in it self. You are on your own. You are the company. But one of the hardest parts of doing freelance is figuring out your worth. A lot of young freelances make the mistake of offering the services they provide at really low or free rates. I see this a lot especially in the web and graphic design, people are so eager that they offer to do work for dirt cheap or even free just to get "exposure", in reality, they are saying there work is worth nothing. I see ads on craigs list and other forums asking for "green" designers to come work on projects with claims that there work, while not getting them a pay check, will be great for their portfolio. But the logic used in this is flawed.

The companies that are big enough to really create buzz around your work don't want rookies messing with their designs, they want pro's. If they see a rookie's work and like it, they certainly would pay for it since they recognize quality when they see it.

In addition to this, if a company who you did free work for does get successful and start dropping your name, price of the work will be discussed, and if they say "oh he did it for free" or "he did it for reallylowprice" the next person calling you will probably expect that. So you really are setting your self up for failure.

Another time I see a persons professional worth being diluted is doing work for friends and family. Now, I have no problem being the family tech. My mom or dad give me a call and I have no issue helping them out. Aunts and uncles, sure if I have some time I'll hook them up. And for really close friends, no problem. The issue comes when you start doing work for friends of friends or friends of family. You should be charging them, discount it if you want to be nice, but don't do work for strangers for free. Not only do you value your work at $0 but you also devalue the work of others in the profession.

I recall my aunt calling me one night and asking me if I had some time to stop by her friends house because they were having some problems. turns out, she already told her friend I would, and I have never even met or spoke to this person in my life. So its an awkward situation because I don't want to let my family down, but she shouldn't be promising people I'll do work for them. Not to mention she didn't even as how much I'd charge to do it. I told her I would stop by, but let her know that I had no problems drumming up my own business and would prefer she not promise people I would help them out. She could give them my email address or phone number and Id decide if Id take them as a client.

The way I "charge" people is as follows.

Immediate Family: I don't charge. (My mom tends to cook me dinner while i'm there...and that rocks)
Close Friends (really close): I don't charge (although buying me a drink the next time we are out doesn't hurt.
Secondary Family/Friends: If it is really simple, and not out of my way, I wont charge them but if its something that I'll need to take time out of my normal work hours (and in the process lose money) Ill give them a discounted rate.
Fiends of Friends/Family/Strangers: They get charged full price. The only time I have done free work for people I didn't know was when it has been for schools or other non-profits that I wanted to help. I consider it a way to give back.


The point is, know what your talent and skills are worth. If you aren't sure, look around and see what others are charging. There is nothing wrong with undercutting the competition, but make sure you are getting what is do to you. If you really just need experience, go find a firm that specializes in the work you want to do and see if you can get an internship. You will learn from the pro's and thats where you will get the experience. If you need exposure, then do some mock up's and create a portfolio out of those. People will pay for quality.

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The Boss Button?

A lot of the bigger TV stations have started putting their most popular shows on their website, and personally I love it. I work 2 full time jobs, and go to school, so the ability to watch the TV shows I like when ever and where ever I want, is awesome. I plan on doing a review of the 3 major ones I watch soon but this is just to show one of the cool little features CBS has added to their online video player. Its called the "Boss Button"

Say you are watching a TV show, this iw what you would see.

Notice, in the bottom right corner, there is a little button that says "Boss Button" push it and then you see this:

It pauses your show and makes it look like a blank email. You cant actually type into it, but it is a quick way to hid the window. just click anywhere on you screen, and your tv show starts playing from where it left off. Well dont CBS. Well done.

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A Music Revolution

A revolution is among us. For the first time I can remember major bands are releasing their albums without the help of the major record labels. First RadioHead, now Saul Williams w/ NIN Front Man and Music God Trent Reznor.

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Geezeo: Financial Aggregator meets Social Network.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Peter Glyman, Co-Founder of Geezeo, a new financial aggregator and account management site. As you can tell from my previous review of Mint.com, I am not a fan of services like this. My primary concern has always been the thought of putting all of my account information in a single place, and while this is not something I am comfortable doing, others may not have the same qualms, so I decided to move beyond that and take a look into the other concerns I had.

Q. One of your competitors, Mint.com, states that they do not actually store any customer financial data, they just gather it then Yodlee stores it. Is your set up similar to this, only using Cash Edge as the back end?

A. Cash Edge powers all of our account aggregation. We don't store the bank login information or account numbers, but we do store your transaction and balance information in an anonymous database so that we can analyze it. The connection to this database is encrypted and can only be made using your Geezeo password. Not even Geezeo developers or system administrators can access it. (This applies to our backups as well; no identifying information is in database).

Q. How long is user data kept once a user cancels their account? (Including the time until backups with their info is purged)

A. All of your financial data is destroyed immediately when you delete your account. We only keep two days worth of data in an encrypted backup in case our database server goes down. So your data exists in the backups for only two days after account deletion.

Q. How long does Cash Edge hold user information once an account has been canceled?

A. As soon as you click on the "delete" button, after your financial data and user data have been deleted, we make a call to Cash Edge to delete your account (and all included login information) from their server. So all the data is deleted at the same time (when you click the "delete account" button on our site).

Q. How often do you backup user’s information? Are backups kept off site? Is the location of the off site back secure?

A. We make complete snapshots of the database every 15 minutes and retain them only for 48 hours after which they are deleted. We use Amazon Web Services for all our hosting. Nothing is stored at Geezeo. Amazon offers a very secure, cost effective, scalable environment and has been a fantastic business partner for Geezeo.

Q. What are your thoughts on the concern that using sites like Geezeo may be dangerous because users are "putting all their eggs in one basket" by entering all of their financial data in a single place?

A. I think that's an individual decision. Some people will never be comfortable aggregating their accounts and for others, it's a non issue. Personally I don't believe that our users are put at any further risk by using Geezeo...but hey that's probably a little bit of a bias opinion. Cash Edge is an awesome partner...they power account aggregation for a number of large financial institutions and we are very confident in the steps they have taken to protect their customer's data. Also, I believe there is value to aggregating your data in one place. Aggregations makes it easy to link goals to accounts, offer analytics holistically not just at the single account level, offer proactive alerts and real-time checks of your balances via your cell.

Q. Is Geezeo purely ad revenue driven? Or do you receive revenue from the banks you work with?

A. Both. Soon we will be adding a section to our site where users can search for various financial products (Savings Accounts, Loans, Investments, etc). In addition to representing quantitative data like rate and fee info we also have a user product rating engine. "Would you recommend this product to a friend"? Users will be able to use this information to make their own choices about what products are best for them.

I think one philosophical difference we have with Mint's approach is the idea of channeling users to one specific product. I think it's presumptuous to think that just because your savings rate with your credit union isn't as good as another product that you should switch. How are we to know that you don't have a car loan or other products tied to that savings account that in the end offer you an overall better financial relationship with your bank? Instead we will identify areas for improvement that could be addressed by calling your financial institution or possible by getting into a new product that you may or may not find in our financial product section.

Q. Why use Geezeo instead of Mint.com, MS Money, or Quicken?

A. If you are looking for a safe and simple web-based solution to better track your finances then Geezeo is the right solution. Geezeo offers easy to use tools to view all your accounts on the go, see where your money is being spent and offers a community environment that can help you make better decisions. If you have an aversion to buying software and don't want to be told what financial products to have then Geezeo is probably the best choice.

Q. Can you provide some background on yourself as well as the other founder(s) of Geezeo? Specifically your experience in online financial data and security?

A. Shawn and I worked together for about 5 years at a company called GainsKeeper. GainsKeeper is a portfolio accounting product that is used by consumers via http://www.gainskeeper.com and offers enterprise solutions to major financial institutions. We do not have specific experience managing the data security but did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night (Just kidding). If you would like a closer look at our professional profiles check out the LinkedIn links below.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/peterglyman

http://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnward

Some Interesting Facts about Geezeo:

• Rather than a traditional collocation service, Geezeo uses Amazons EC2 Hosting solution which provides the ability to increase the hardware resources made available to the service should they ever hit their current capacity.
• They also use Amazons S3 storage solution to ensure proper backups as well as a safe environment for data storage.
• You are able to use your Gmail credentials on Geezeo via the Google Authentication API
• In addition to the financial analysis, Geezeo acts as a social network so you can get advice from not only Geezeo, but other Geezeo users as well.

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