May 06, 2008
Posted at: 11:03 pm by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional
Our country (US) needs a renewable energy source to help power our cities, but shouldn’t we try and use a source that will always be available. Have you ever walked outside and felt a gush of wind on your face? Of course you have because it is part of our environment. Why don’t we use those to power our cities? Well, Rock Port Missouri is the first city in the US to be 100% wind powered. The installed wind turbines on hills grab a hold of the most wind and convert it into power. Historically, Rock Port has used 13 GWH and is producing 16 GWH using the Wind Turbines. They are in theory they are reversing the power used.
Boston was thinking about Wind Power, but it would put a 250 foot Wind Turbine in the middle of the city, which people say would look ugly, but it would reduce our dependency on crude oil. Forget how bad it looks because our country is going through hell over oil and it is not worth it.
Good Job Rock Port!!!
February 04, 2008
Posted at: 11:35 pm by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional
This was featured on Jon’s blog about office pranks. However, I agree with Jon that this is an amazing prank. Enjoy!
January 29, 2008
Posted at: 11:30 pm by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional, Rants and Randomness
“I got so trashed last night … ” is never a good way to start off a conversation at work, unless there is a reason for it. Just kidding, you should never say it at work, unless everyone from work was there and was equally as trashed…but never a good thing to say at work. I would have to say that if you get a long with your boss and are friends you could get away with more than a corporate job where the boss doesn’t know the person’s name or their personality. This is one of the most common phrases that can slip out and get you fired if you’re not careful. However, I had a boss in College, where I was employed for my entire college career, who was new but wanted people to like her. Who tried to make comments like this to get me to lighten up about trying to be professional. It all depends on the situation.
“That’s not my job.” is another statement that you should never use, but there is an exception to that rule as well. If someone asks you to write the company’s Annual Financial Report and you clean toilets, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that’s not my job (but don’t you wish it was!). I think this statement refers to being a team player and helping out even when you shouldn’t have to. For example: moving some desks around to make room for another employee.
“Don’t tell anyone I said this, but … ” is another big one, but…I guess all of these have exceptions, but it is still bad to say. If you have worked with someone for years and are really good friends, I think you can tell them a secret as long as it is not in front of people.
I am not promoting these phrases, just saying that not everything is clear cut as this. My advice would be to know your surroundings before trying any of these out.
June 09, 2007
Posted at: 11:22 pm by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional, Tech and Web
In an article by CNN Hip Email Addresses Bad For Resumes, explains how some email addresses are bad to put on resumes.
Some college grads who have had the same email address for years are not willing to change and don’t think that their email address that they had in 9th grade will be fine to put on a resume. However, what they may or may not realize is that employers will judge them based on their email. I have unfortunately had to tell a college graduate that a few months ago because they showed me their resume and I was shocked.
Here is a list of Professional and Non-Professional email addresses.
Professional
- tgharoutunian@somedomain.com
- timothy@somedomain.com
- haroutunian@somedomain.com
Non-Professional
- drunkensquirl@somedomain.com
- HtoTHEhizzy03@somedomain.com
- ted332152424573@somedomain.com
- alliecat@somedomain.com
- bacardigirl@somedomain.com
- bighotdaddy@somedomain.com
- foxylady@somedomain.com
- gigglez217@somedomain.com
“Even if you get people who have very unprofessional e-mail names and they get through that initial screening, if it comes down to them and somebody else and credentials are the same, you look at other things,” Tamanini told LiveScience. “This person’s e-mail is ‘john smith at yahoo,’ and this person’s was ‘drunken squirrel.’ Which one am I more likely to pick?”
Also even if you are not looking for a job, it just isn’t very good to send emails from non-professional email addresses.
The other part that connects with this is when college students send emails to people in AIM talk using phrases like “lol brb”, “r u goin” and “idk c u soon ttyl”. It is one thing to use it for quick im with friends but other than that, it should not be used.
email addresses, addresses, email, resumes, professional, business
June 08, 2007
Posted at: 10:30 pm by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional, Tech and Web
David Airey published a video (below) about a comedian who explains all of the bad practices while using powerpoint.
When I was in a class once, I had to sit through 25 presentations that followed all of these bad uses of powerpoint. The best one was the writing everything done that you are going to say, however the presenter didn’t study what they wrote and they couldn’t read it. It was quite funny.
For every presentation that I give, I study the slides and make sure that I do not do anything that is against the rules of presentations. Please don’t do the following!
powerpoint, microsoft, bad practices, microsoft powerpoint, funny, humor
June 06, 2007
Posted at: 9:13 pm by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional, Tech and Web
SpaceTime is a browser in beta that lets you browse the web in 3D. As you search the web, it creates another window and loads the website as a screen shot and once you double click it, the whole page loads maximized. Search eBay, Google, Yahoo!, Flickr, Images and coming soon, Amazon, YouTube, Email, MySpace, Music, RSS, Live and Hundreds More!
(more features below image)
More Features:
If you ctr-click and drag the menu bar of the 3D webpage, you can drag each webpage around the screen from left to right and up to down. Also if you ctr-shift-click and drag, you can send the webpage image deeper into “space” or the Z axis giving you the ability to hold hundreds of websites all in one area. You can also use a scroll mouse to continue through each website while they are in the stack.
Just like a google search, you can search through any domain. if you type ESPN 360 site:armenianeagle.com, it will produce you a list of search results inside the stack which is very cool.
Ebay Search is by far the coolest feature out of all of them. When you choose the ebay search on the pull down menu and type in what you are looking for, not only does it display a list of the items in the stack, but it focuses on the images themselves. You can scroll through just the images and then if you double click on the image, it will load the page associated with it. (see below)
I am still testing it out, but so far I am very impressed with the way it operates. I like the ability to zoom through my websites that are open and be able to see which site I would like to bring up. For more information and latest updates, check out spacetime.com
3d browsing, spacetime, space, time, browser, 3d, browsing
March 24, 2007
Posted at: 12:01 am by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional, Tech and Web
Today is the world-wide “shutdown day” where you shutdown your computer(s) and do not touch them for 24 hours. Since shutdown day has already started, you will not be reading this for at least 24 hours and it doesn’t make sense to be posting it, but thats what makes it fun. I am not currently on my computer and I have set a post-timestamp on this post so that it will go public automatically which means I won’t have to be on the computer when it is published.
Here is the description of Shutdown day from their website.
It is obvious that people would find life extremely difficult without computers, maybe even impossible. If they disappeared for just one day, would we be able to cope?
Be a part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet. The idea behind the experiment is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate!
Shutdown your computer on this day and find out! Can you survive for 24 hours without your computer?
I took a Internet Addiction Test and I scored an 80% which means “Your Internet usage is causing significant problems in your life. You should evaluate the impact of the Internet on your life and address the problems directly caused by your Internet usage.” I find this very sad because being a web developer, I have grown quite fond of this thing called the Internet and I am going to have trouble staying away from my computers all day, but I will try. Check back in 24 hours when I will post the results of my experiment and others around the world who I have heard from.
Here are other ideas for what to do with your laptop during shutdown day. (**I would not recommend unless you are throwing the laptop out…watch the video and you will see)
computers, no computer, shutdown, shutdown day, technology
March 21, 2007
Posted at: 8:45 am by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional, Tech and Web
The Facebook Blog stated that they created a group in Facebook that will allow users to get a sneak preview of the new design of the site. Join the group if you would like to get up to date information about the new design.
Biggest New Features:
- A simplified design – For those of the Facebook old guard, you’ve watched the number of features on the site grow. The new design will bring the focus back to the core elements, so the links you use the most often are easiest to find, while the others have new sensible homes. This will also help beginners understand how to get started. The Profile page will be a little sleeker, with your status rearranged, quick links under the profile picture and a mini-er Mini-Feed.
- A unified inbox – All of your messages and shares will be found in one unified inbox, and extra functionality will be added to each. Now, rather than commenting on a share, you reply to it, just like a message. Also you can now message several people at once, and they can reply to everyone on the thread, just like email.
- Network pages – Every network will have a single page where you can see all the sweet stuff happening in each of your networks. You’ll be able to browse the profiles of network members, check out interesting facts about the breakdown of people around you, and see popular activity like which videos are getting shared and which groups are growing. There will also be a new events calendar to find out what’s going on in your network.
The Following are directly from the Sneak Preview Facebook Group:
Above: Status has been moved. Mini-Feed is shorter and part of basic info. Fewer links beneath photo – only the essentials.
Above: Left bar and top bar have been updated. News Feed is the same. Right bar is the same. Rather than leave a comment, share your opinion on the discussion board.
Above: This is the network page for UCLA. Facebook is building a page like this for every network on the site. You’ll be able to see what’s happening on Facebook at your school, company or region. Check out upcoming events, demographic info, network trends, and discussions.
college, facebook, groups, networking, new design, sneak peak, social networking
March 20, 2007
Posted at: 11:26 am by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional, Tech and Web
There is an old saying: “The Early Bird Gets The Worm” and it is right. I had the idea for an online account manager a while ago, but due to lack of time, I was unable to complete it. However, PassPack is a top quality application even though it is in beta still.
It allows you to add in account names with a username, scrambled password, url, notes and tags. Right now, I am not adding my passwords into the system even though it is secure. I want to test it out and get more people using it before I trust it to hold all of my passwords. I feel that since many people have more and more accounts online that are different usernames and passwords that this is the best way to keep track of them.
The best feature that they have is that not only do you have a password to get into your account, but you can pack the data and lock it and then the only way to release the information is with a packing key that you provide which is an added layer of security. They also give you the ability to scramble your password after you type it so that when you go to look at your information later, the password field can be scrambled it you chose to do it. The first time you add in all of your accounts, it will take a while because you need to remember all of them but they have an import tool that you can use that will help you to get started if it is in a CSV file.
The main reason why I was thinking about an application like this is because I needed it and nessecity is the mother of all inventions. Keep up the good work PassPack!
account manager, accounts, manager, online, passpack, passwords, usernames
March 19, 2007
Posted at: 11:11 am by Timothy Haroutunian
Categories: Professional, Tech and Web
Flickr is an amazing photo service which I use a lot on my blog, but my sister has not switched over yet from Snapfish. I have been trying to get her to change but she is very hesitant. She uses snapfish to share pictures of my nephew with family and friends. Before I started using flickr, I uploaded a few pictures onto Snapfish. Come to find out, you need to purchase prints at least once a year to keep your membership or your photos will be deleted.
I. Terms of Membership:
… A condition of Membership is your “Active Participation” in the Service. Active Participation is defined as sending in film or purchasing photo merchandise, including reprints and enlargements, through the Service at least once every 365 days . Purchases through Snapfish third-party advertisers, including HP Home & Home Office Store, do not count towards Active Participation. If you cease Active Participation for any reason, Snapfish may terminate your Membership (or any part thereof) and your use of the Service, and may remove and discard all information, communications, postings, albums, image files, creative material, photographs, links, comments, and other content (collectively “Content”) uploaded by you or otherwise made available by you within the Service.
For all those who don’t think that this is fair, please sign up for a flickr account. A free Flickr account lets you have 100 MB/month of uploads and will display the last 200 photos. Once you go over 200, it will hide the photos, but it will NOT delete them. I am so happy with the service that Flickr provides, that I would rather spend $25/year for a PRO Flickr membership than buy a $.12 photo from snapfish once a year. For intense photo users, a Pro Flickr account is very useful since you do not have a quota or a limited number of sets.
Also, Flickr provides an API for you to integrate your pictures into your website using code instead of manually adding them. Snapfish does not let you do that, which is sad because web services are the way to go when dealing with users.
account, flickr, images, photos, pro account, snapfish, year
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