c. john wakefield

I was reading the Vancouver Sun the other day and came across an article on online job hunting. What caught my eye was a to-do list for managing your online identity – here is an excerpt from the article:

Early and Often is the Rule for Online Job Search

THE TO-DO LIST

- Use professional networking sites, starting with linkedin.com or plaxo.com.

- Check out sites like vancouversun.com/jobs for listings, ideas and links in your community.

- Check your info at zoominfo.com, claim it and update it.

- Subscribe to e-mail lists and e-newsletters through blogger association, professional association, company or university alumni groups.

- Consider expanding your Web presence with a blog: wordpress.com, blogspot.com, or one of the other options. Many are free.

- Set up Google alerts with your name to keep track of what is on the Web about you, from blogs to news and other mentions.

- Use blogpulse.com and other tracking tools such as ones specific to various sites that will keep you posted on such activities as when someone forwards your bio.

- ‘Claim’ your blog on such indexing sites as Technorati.com.

- Open a Google account, and among other functions use it to aggregate information from RSS feeds to keep track of areas of interest you are following.

- Use Google docs and spreadsheets for free and Web office doc functions; Gmail gives you a Web-based e-mail account.

- Jott.com — toll-free number, leave messages and reminders that are sent via voicemail and e-mail. A paid service starts at $3.95 US/month or pay-as-you-go. Turns your voice message into text and sends it wherever you want it to go, whether it’s a reminder for yourself or a message to the entire soccer team.

- meetingwizard.com, to coordinate meeting dates and times, free, works with up to 50 participants.

- Social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter for micro-blogging. Flickr and YouTube if you’re a photographer or videographer.

- Add your LinkedIn profile to your e-mail signature

- Sign onto krunchd.com to keep track of your online profiles, website, blog and social networking sites

Sources: Hamer-associates.ca, and Robert Half International

The HP Consumer Buyback and Planet Partners Recycling Program accepts products of any brand manufacturer in the following product categories:

• Desktop PCs
• Workstations
• Notebook PCs
• Tablet PCs
• Monitors, both CRT and LCD
• Printers, both ink and laser
• Digital cameras
• PDAs
• Smartphones

Most manufacturers now offer some recycling program, if not the cash like HP, Apple for example, runs a recycling program that runs where 95% of their products are sold.

The United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Israel, Russia and India advise that children limit their cellphone use. (AP)

Close to a dozen countries around the world have issued warnings or cautions about children using cellphones, but Health Canada has no similar message for Canadians.

France is about to make it illegal to market cellphones to children under 12. The United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Israel, Russia and India are also advising children limit their use of cellphones.

Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority encourages parents to err on the side of caution, saying radiation from cellphones could pose a health risk but the research into possible effects of prolonged cellphone use is unclear. In Russia, it’s recommended children under 18 not use cellphones at all.

But while a survey conducted by CBC-TV’s Marketplace on more than 1,000 Canadian children found almost half of nine- to 13-year-olds now have cellphones, Health Canada gives no such advice about the risks of cellphone use.

more…

via CBC News

According to DriveSavers data recovery service, 43% of companies that lose data in a disaster never reopen, and 90% are out of business within two years. We talked with John Christopher, Senior Data Recovery Engineer at DriveSavers about why your current data backup system might not be enough, and what to do (hint: panicking is not on the list) if disaster does strike and you’re facing a hard disk or backup device failure.

What steps can businesses take to improve the durability of their hard drives?
Hard drives are precision devices with moving parts inside. It’s important that they are treated with care. That means you should never intentionally hit the computer—believe it or not, this was a commonly prescribed remedy around 1985 when drives suffered a problem known as stiction. Extreme heat and cold can affect hard drive longevity. Try to keep the temperature around 60-70 degrees in the area where the computer or storage device is located.

via Smallbiztechnology.com