gf-tech.com

With my recent job search, I've noticed something about companies that I feel compelled to write about.

Most companies care what their business partners think about them, most companies care what their customers think about them, and most companies care what their employees think about them. These companies are responsive to those individuals needs and do what they can to keep them informed and up to date.

Companies certainly don't want to get a bad reputation.

My recent experiences have given me a bad taste with a few companies. This all stems from the HR level too. Human Resources. The department that is supposed to deal with people.

I've had HR reps completely ignore my emails and questions. I've had reps ignore my voicemails. If you are working for a company and trying to recruit new employees, why would you give them the impression of an unresponsive, uncaring company? Why would I want to work for a company like that?

Perhaps it stems from the HR person not wanting to give bad news. The flip side is that if I don't hear anything from a company, I spend some time and effort following up with that company. I would rather hear the bad news earlier so that I can move on, and so can the HR person. If it isn't going to work out between myself and a potential job, I want to know as soon as possible.

So what should be done? Keep potential recruits in the loop. If you need more time to make a decision, tell me. If it isn't going to work, tell me. I'm more likely to recommend your company to others if you treat me fairly and respectfully. This is your job as an HR person.

A while ago I read about Jeff Atwood donating a sum of money to an open source project. It got me thinking about all the tools and utilities that I use at work on a daily basis. I find lots of open source apps to help me work better, to enhance my computer (which helps me work better), and to manage my data.

Last year I decided that in 2009 I would purchase a licence or donate to an app's author each month. Lots of projects have a donation button, and for those I am still trying to figure out an amount that makes a difference. I want to let the author know that their app makes a difference to me, but I can't break my bank account doing that. I had this idea before the economy started its downward slide, and now I think it is more important than ever to do this.

Some of the commercial apps I will be buying a licence for can be pricey. I think that for the year I will end up spending close to $350. Stay tuned to learn about where I spend my money.

After moving my technology books from one house to another and giving many outdated ones away to charity, I've decided that something has to give before my back does. I have also been thinking a lot about what I want to take to read on my next vacation. Do I take magazines, novels, geek books?

Dead tree tomes for geek topics really need to be in a digital book format. I've heard good reviews of the Kindle from Amazon, but I will not be tied down to their DRM. The other ereader that I have read about is from Sony and is too expensive for my taste (and Sony has a history of proprietaryness).

Then I saw the eSlick by Foxit (I am a fan of their software). I hope this device comes to market. It has the features I want at a price that is more reasonable than others. No DRM is huge as well. The downside to all e-ink displays is that currently they are only black and white. This is excellent for novels and reference material, but not so good for magazines that I like to read.

For me the sticking point is that we need more publishers to sell a PDF version of books at a reasonable price. I will not pay the same amount for a digital book that I will pay for the paper version. The resources needed for a digital version are a lot less, and the price needs to reflect that. Give me a good price and I will buy more books.

I hope Foxit can get publishers on board. Perhaps we need Foxit to open a digital book store?

via Gizmodo