A coule of things to make Friday more interesting

1) Twitter - you can find music on it. Here's an article.

There may be a use for twitter after all!
Naaaaaah........

2) You've got laptops, then netbooks - how about a PRACTICAL computer the size of a credit card? Click for more info......yes, you can buy those motherboards NOW - and notice there are several USB ports on them.

3) and finally, howzabout a turntable made from a Harley? Well, partly....

See you in class. Only 2 more to go. I'll have news about the final next week.

Keep your system updated

Click on the title to view an article about the gizmo that will help you Mac people figure out which programs need updating. At the bottom is a link to a program for Windows that will do the same.

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You also want to keep your system software updated - Use Microsoft Update on Windows, Apple Update for the Macs.

Avoid some headaches! Update!

I/O posted, Extra Credit Opportunity

1) The latest PPT in the "What's in your computer" project series has been posted to Blackhawk. If you weren't in class, you missed some witty repartee and some additional material!

2) Want some extra credit? Critique your classmate's Alice projects. Surf over to http://www.cs.mercer.edu/courses/Tom%20Rule/Alice%20Projects%20-%20Vote/.

There is a file called "instructions.txt". Read it - it has full details.

Yes, it'll be worth your time.

Alice Problem!

In another instance of technology being aggravating (specifically, Internet Explorer), anyone who submitted their Alice project directly into myITlab has had trheir files trashed - either by myITlab or Internet Explorer.

Bottom line: if you submitted your Alice project directly into myITlab, PLEASE email it to me. If your file is too biog, below is the list of other ways to submit.

Apologies for the bother! I cannot open ANY of the files sent via myITlab, so it's a system thing somewhere that's mucking up the files.

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ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF SUBMITTING THE ALICE file
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1) email it to my mercer account
2) email it to my regular account
3) email it to my yahoo account
4) use http://www.rapidshare.com/ to upload the file. Have the link sent to my Mercer account. I'll download the file.
5) ditto for http://www.sendspace.com/
6) Bring in your thumb drive, and hope someone in the IT department with access to Blackhawk can stash the file in my Blackhawk webspace (Courses folder).
7) If none of the above are options, send an email to my Mercer account

Just posted: Busses and Pointers

Just posted to Blackhawk - a presentation on busses and pointers which you will need for the "What's in your computer" project.

New powerpoint on Blackhawk

Providing more info on the parts of a computer, there is a new powerpoint posted regarding optical drives (CDs, DVDs, etc).

Swing over to the blog (mercer-cs125.blogspot.com) and click on the Class Files Stash link.

EMERGENCY ALICE NOTE!

myITlab has a 4 megabyte file size limit for uploading. BEFORE you try to upload the file, do this:

In windows (or the Finder, for the Macs)
Navigate to where your file is stashed (presumably your thumb/flash drive)
Right-click on the file and select PROPERTIES
Look at the file size. If it is LESS than 4 megabytes, then upload the file via myITlab. If it is MORE, see the alternatives below!

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ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF SUBMITTING THE ALICE file
--------------------------------------------------
1) email it to my mercer account
2) email it to my regular account
3) email it to my yahoo account
4) use http://www.rapidshare.com/ to upload the file. Have the link sent to my Mercer account. I'll download the file.
5) ditto for http://www.sendspace.com/
6) Bring in your thumb drive, and hope someone in the IT department with access to Blackhawk can stash the file in my Blackhawk webspace (Courses folder).
7) If none of the above are options, send an email to my Mercer account BEFORE THE DEADLINE explaining what you've tried, and why you need an extension.

You should have another email with the above email addresses actually listed.

The final mini-project has been posted and assigned

"What's in your computer" (inside Misc. Mini projects-->Parts is Parts folder)will have you looking at the parts and pieces of a computer - specifically YOUR computer, and asks you several general questions about the parts.

Due date is the middle of exam week. This is the material I've been going over in class - past presentations are available on Blackhawk.

Tues 3/31 update

1) A new ppt has been posted to Blackhawk dealing with Data storage - size, compression, how its stored, ram, etc. This will be useful when you start working with the THIRD outside project ("What's in your wallet computer"). If you have a laptop you CAN bring it to class when you start working on that project.

At the bottom of this entry is a schedule. If we have enough students in class (meaning more than 2 or 3), I'll actually talk about it. If not, I'll just post the file on Blackhawk.

2) Group presentation will be starting soon. I still have several teams that have not contacted me about scheduling and topic. It's getting late, people!

If you have lost the email I sent out, let me know. I'll resend.

3) Doublecheck your myITlab deadlines. There are 2 of them fast approaching, and remember:

EVERYTHING TAKES LONGER THAN YOU THINK!

I will NOT be extending them, and late projects will have points deducted.

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The schedule

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Date	Computer Part	Capstone
April 2	Ram	DB 2
April 3	Alice projects due
April 7	HD/Storage	DB 3
April 9	Opticals Drives	DB 4
April 10	Access Projects due
April 14	Bus/Pointing devices	Word 1
April 16	Networking	Word 2
April 21	Monitors	Word 3
April 23	OS	Word 4
April 28	App vs. OS / Install/Remove
April 30	Malware/Viruses/Protection
May 3		Word projects due

Resume

Ran across this, and thought it might be useful as you head into Summer Job season. It's more focused on those looking for career jobs, but still useful.

Click on the title to see the original article.

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Resumes are horrible documents, premature and unsentimental obituaries: our lives are rarely reduced to such a small number of facts. And writing a resume is a balancing act between feeling outrageously boastful and unimpressive. Some, like Seth Godin, have questioned whether you should even have a resume. I know many people who take whatever dreadful job happens their way just to avoid writing one.

That’s silly. No one has much experience preparing a resume, but it isn’t that hard: you just have to get out of the way of yourself so your accomplishments can speak for themselves. Having reviewed thousands of resumes, I now have a better idea of what the folks in Kafka’s Castle like to see:

Here’s What I Like:

1. A direct style: use blunt, short words. Most resumes are scanned, not read.
2. Looks: like a middle-aged man’s apartment. Nice and tidy.
3. Objective: be direct; your objective is the job you’re applying for.
4. Verbs ending in “d”: shipped, launched, built, sold.
5. Results: not responsibilities or experience — but what responsibilities and experience helped you accomplish.
6. Bullets: 3 ñ 4 results per job.
7. Numbers: increased traffic from Google 230%, decreased ad spending 40%.
8. Grades: your GPA, even if it was ten years ago, if it’s over 3.5.
9. Reviews: ratings from your last review, especially useful if you worked for a tough grader like Microsoft
10. Honors: we’ll interview an employee-of-the-quarter, every time.
11. Promotions: if your role changes, highlight that as two jobs.
12. LinkedIn endorsements: persuasive, even from your friends; excerpted & linked.
13. A link to your blog: a blog gives you online street cred. For some, it is your resume .
14. Themes: whether you care about customer service or agile software, tell a consistent story from job to job.
15. Hobbies: I always want to meet people with fun hobbies. And that’s all a resume is: a request for a meeting. At Plumtree, we received a resume from a Playboy model. A colleague forwarded it to me with a note reading, “I’ve never asked you for anything beforeÖ” I feel the same way about cyclists.
16. Two pages, max: if you’re under 30, one page.
17. Anything you did that showed initiative or passion. Eagle Scout. Math Olympics.
18. Email to the CEO: it takes chutzpah & resourcefulness to go straight to the top. The email address is easy to guess.
19. Customization: tailor your resume & especially the cover letter to the job.
20. Completed degrees: I’ve hired plenty of folks a few credits shy of a degree. Some were great; many couldn’t finish what they started. If you have time now, finish your degree.
21. Gmail address: or your own domain. Nothing says “totally out of it” like an AOL address.

Here’s What I Don’t Like:

1. Churn: stints at two or more employers of less than two years.
2. List of generic skills: just show what you actually accomplished at each job.
3. Typos or misspellings: About half the resumes I get are addressed to “RedFin.” For the other words, spell-check!
4. Photos: my favorite was of a candidate in tennis whites with a racket.
5. “Proven”: as in “proven leadership.” We all still have something to prove.
6. Printed resumes: email a Word document, web page or PDF.
7. Buzzwords: search bots love it, actual people don’t.
8. Wordiness: yes, this is the pot calling the kettle black…

But this is just one person’s (very opinionated) opinion. There are plenty of people who have more experience than I do reviewing resumes. What do you like to see?