Obligatory Blog Check-In 060930

Last day of September (!). It’s late and I’m not going to write a lot. I’ve progressed well with my preparations today. It was a bit of a mixed bag but I’ve managed to create some suggestions, and also a diagram regarding ‘how to take the company forward’. Well, some ideas anyway

So, overall it’s all good.

I’ve been wanting to write a bit more about my neighbours, as lately there has been a lot of chav-style trouble around here. Amongst, other things, the following:

• wifebeater returning and beating up his missus (as reported a few days ago)
• drunk [seriously-out-of-it] person staggering down the stairs to their flat at 12:40pm (two days ago). Far too early to drink, let alone being out of it!
• S. from across the road threatening someone with a baseball bat, loads of shouting etc. (he’s the one that always jumps across the fence when allegedly fleeing the police)
• let’s not forget: some schizophrenic guy in the house opposite killing himself (last year or the year before)
• G. across the road threatening to throw his wife out of the window (police involved etc. – this was when I was away)
• C. (weird old guy) talking to me and leading the conversation into ’sexual’-type stuff (e.g. referring to people having sex etc.). Gross!
• A car parked in the street with its windows smashed in
• Next door having a bad argument (earlier today)

ARGH! I DO love it here though

2nd Interview Preparations

Just preparing for the 2nd interview today, and probably also tomorrow. I don’t really know how to prepare for it (as in: what I am supposed to do) so I’m going to do some research on the generic definitions surrounding the 2nd interview. Apart from that, I’m going to make up my own plan, and also, research the guy that is going to conduct the interview.

So, in chronological order, here’s my plan:

• 29th September 06: Prepare work examples (including: suggestions how to take the company forward – specifically, the project I would be working on; draft sample policies for the site; anything else I can gather from the job description – any other examples I can prepare with regard to the JD requirements)
• 30th September 06: Research my interviewer: I know his name and I know his nationality, and we already have a number of things in common (he’s on LinkedIn). So I’m going to ’stalk’ him, his name, his writings, etc. for a while and try and create some kind of profile, based on the information.
• 1st October 06: Generic 2nd interview preparation, i.e. : follow the guidelines and tips I can find on the web, bearing in mind the interviewer’s profile.

So, I’ll get started on the first point now. Shouldn’t take too long (hopefully). BTW I’ve also had some news regarding my VIVA and it looks like it’s going to take place some time at the beginning of December (!!). That’s ages away! Not ideal, but there you go..I’ll blog on that in a separate post, once I’ve got all the above out of the way..

Ode to Arthur’s Seat (Controversial)

If I was raped on Arthur’s seat

I would say ‘Go Ahead’

I’d look the man right up and doon

And lie down on my bed

My bed of grass, of sullen rocks,

Of sun and wind and sky

Embrace all I’ve come here to find

Your giant strength, och aye.

How to Do a Telephone Interview

I’ve changed my default category to Daily Life (I think I’ve mentioned this before..). Lots of things happened over the last few days, well, not quite – I had a telephone interview which I thought didn’t go too well but I was subsequently invited for a second interview. Just goes to show that you can’t always predict the outcome of anything.

Over the last few weeks, when I thought I’d done really well in an interview, I didn’t get anywhere and now, when I didn’t think it was too great, I suddenly get a second interview. This means I’ll have to go to London again next week (Monday) and dress up like I mean business!

Actually, the funny thing was that I even dressed up for the interview, despite the fact that no one could see me. I was slobbing around the house all morning but at 1pm, I put on my formal shirt, suit, and shoes and tied my hair back. I immediately felt professional within myself and not just like some teleworker sitting in front of the laptop watching Jeremy Kyle! They called at 3.30pm and everything went smoothly, though as I said before, I didn’t think this was my best interview. Also, I’m not a big fan of telephone interviews but I can’t realistically go down to London all the time. It’s far too expensive!

Anyhow, over the next few days I’ll do some more research into the company and might even prepare some work samples and suggestions as to how to take the company forward. As it’s a managerial position, I better show some initiative!

Now I better go back to tackle the last 50% of MB. For today, that is. I’m sure tomorrow I’ll be served up some more

My iPod Mini is Broken :(

I think the harddrive of my iPod mini is f***ed. What happend was this: Our new car (Fiat Punto) has a magnetic (…) holder next to the steering wheel. My BF said it was a holder for the iPod and put his iPod there while driving and listening to it. A few days ago, his iPod stopped working. Yesterday, he borrowed my iPod to listen to music while driving somewhere.

Guess what happened?

My iPod stopped working too! We now realise that it was probably the BIG F***ING MAGNET causing it. It’s such a stupid thing to have happened, but clearly not my fault. The hard drive just makes strange noises now but I reckon it is broken for good. I have a faint memory of how it upsets the binaries (machine language) underneath, at the most basic level. That’s anyway how ordinary hard drives can get corrupted. I fear the same thing has happened here.

I don’t know what to do now – I certainly want my iPod back. So we’ll either have to put a new hard drive in or he has to buy me a new one!

Job Hunting is Like Having a Teenage Crush

I thought about this yesterday, when I got another interview. The initial excitement you experience when getting an interview is similar to having a teenage crush. The feelings towards the job on offer are similar in that you think ‘it’s the perfect candidate for me’!.

When I was a teenager, I had a lot of crushes based on stuff like looks, perceived common interests etc. where I imagined that I and the object of desire were the perfect match. The only obstacle between me and him getting together was that he had to realise that we were the perfect match, and I had to somehow convince him without being too pushy or desperate. When I saw him or met him, I got really excited and I got a buzz thinking of him. Needless to say, most of this took place mainly in my head but was nevertheless great! I got a buzz out of it while it was ongoing, and as soon as it was over, someone else came along
So, with my job hunting, it’s pretty much the same. I see a job ad which I think is the perfect match, and then all I have to do is convince the person. When I get an interview, it’s as if a teenage crush shows an interest in me so I get all flustered and happy inside. If I don’t get the job, I am initially disappointed, but that goes away quickly as the next job comes along which again seems to be the perfect match..

So, in total, I’m enjoying the current activity of job-hunting. It’s pretty easy to get over any disappointment if I look at it as if it’s a teenage crush. Let’s face it, the emotions are pretty similar. At least I’m experiencing both ups and downs, and that is definitely more interesting than having an even, boring life

Social Networking – First Impressions of orkut

Today I’m going to share my first impressions of orkut, Google’s social networking effort. This is based on a few days of usage, creation of my profile, and some research on orkut (though not a lot). It’s not meant as a complete review. To be honest, at the moment it’s not worthy of any in-depth investigation as I don’t think it’s that good.

First though, the positives:

I really like the profile that you can set up and the way it’s split into social, professional, and personal. All the options and ways you can describe yourself are quite neat and manage to say just enough to give a good general insight into yourself and the other person. For me, it hits the right buttons and communicates another person well, without slipping too far into the ‘dating’ arena (though you can clearly use the site for dating and such if you so desire).

Another good idea in principle is that you can set up communities, and participate in existing ones. I say ‘in principle’, because when browsing the existing communities, I noticed that a lot of them are flooded with spam and commercial advertising posts. It seems that Google thinks orkut should be self-regulating. I couldn’t find any moderation system or policy in place, and Google should know that a successful online community needs moderation! As it stands, the orkut communities, while a great idea, are practically useless.

Now, the negatives:

The above described communities as they are at the moment. It’s a shame as in principle it’s a great idea to combine the profiles with communities, on a global level. However, it’s so unregulated that it is basically unusable.

A much greater concern though is the issue of Privacy. I received a friend request from someone the other day and in principle, would have liked to accept it and thus to increase my friend network. BUT, and it’s a huge BUT, all of your friends will see your email address! I.e. while in the profile settings, you can set certain aspects of your profile to be visible only to yourself, you cannot do this with the email address. As an online community professional, this to me is crucial. I do not want to give out my email address to people I do not know. As long as it does not have the option to hide my email address to new ‘friends’, i.e. people who send in friend requests, I am not going to accept any new friends. Therefore, I’m unlikely to be able to increase my social network!

Not surprisingly, orkut has had problems with offending pages, potential paedophiles, and other abusers of the system. I wouldn’t let my children (if I had any) use orkut as it’s just too dangerous. Kids and other less knowledgeable users will probably accept all new friends, thus opening up their email address to all sorts of potentially unsavoury people. The same is true for advertising and spam – who knows how many of the ‘friends’ sending friend requests are just phishing my email addy?

Overall, orkut is a good idea. I like the layout, the logo, and the fact that it’s a Google service. However, as it stands currently it’s pretty much unusable. The communities, which could be one of its selling feature, are unusable due to spam. On top of that, there is a real concern over the privacy issue. Unless you don’t mind who’s got your email address, you can quickly and easily expand your social network. However, if you are very particular about this and concerned about your privacy, and especially, for children, orkut is absolutely not the service you should be using!

Sort it out, Google/orkut!

Here’s a couple of links (I haven’t mentioned that orkut is used primarily in Brazil which is another issue entirely…):

Wikipedia on orkut (pretty good overview, quite negative)

Recent news item on orkut.

The Wife-Beater Has Returned

Today, a slice of real life. The Wife-Beater Has Returned.

Underneath me lives P. with her daughter E. P. is 29 years old and a single mum. About a month after I moved here, I heard some noise downstairs. It sounded as if someone or some furniture was knocked about. Quite loud, and a lot of shouting and banging. I realised that there was some domestic abuse going on. The second time I heard it I called the police.

Then there was nothing for a long time. Some time last year, the guy (he’s called Ian) moved out. I heard he had gone to prison, for beating up P. or something related. This guy was dodgy and never talked to anyone. We secretly called him the Wife-Beater. Piece of scum.

Anyhow, yesterday I couldn’t believe my eyes. When we were coming back from our day out, I caught a glimpse of some man and P. outside her flat. I said to my BF ‘Is that the Wife-Beater?’ I sincerely hoped it was not. P. is very attractive and friendly, and her daughter is the same. They really don’t need the wife-beater in their life. At all. Piece of scum.

He now has a dog. Some brutish dog, similar to a Pitbull. Just half an hour ago I heard him knocking at P.’s door and it was clear she didn’t want to open it (there are cracks in the door where he’s tried to kick it in last time she didn’t let him in). He was knocking for ages until she eventually opened the door. A short while later she send out her daughter to a friend and I heard the two of them laughing in the street. Then, about 15 minutes ago, I the wife-beater shouting: ‘I’M FUCKING WARNING YOU!!!!’ And a minute or so later, he started knocking her about, and I heard her scream. PIECE OF SCUM.

I got quite upset and went to see my neighbour who was just about to take his kids somewhere. He’d heard it too and we considered what to do next. He said he’d be back in 20 minutes and I could come over if I hear any more. I said I’d call the police if I hear anything else. The thing is, it’s just ‘a domestic’. There’s probably nothing much the police can do about it. However, if I call them every time the SCUM beats her up, then eventually they’ll have to do something. He must have some former conviction for this kind of stuff. I daren’t knock at their door as I don’t want to embarrass her. Is it wise to get involved in a domestic conflict? I don’t know.

Years ago, I witnessed a girl beat up her boyfriend at a party. Literally beat him up. My cousin and I took the boy and snatched him, taking him away in our car. This was before mobile phones so he was totally out of her reach. He stayed over at my place (spare room) and the next day he phoned her from my landline, and she came and picked him up. It didn’t change anything in the end, but at least we were able to give him the opportunity to get away from the abuse for the night. All the rest was up to him. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

All those Google Apps…

Lately, I’ve been playing around with the personalised homepage of Google. You can add loads of little applications to it and then move them around (drag and drop) until they are where you want them. It’s quite cute but still seems a bit buggy. For example, sometimes it displays the information of the added apps in tabs (??) and also occasionally it offers you to add new tabs rather than adding them to the first page.

My favourite little application is the list. I just love lists and couldn’t do without them. An app that I couldn’t find but which I think would be cool is a quit-counter. This could be for cigarettes, alcohol, and/or drugs. Also, they need to have a better search function for the little apps or at least organise them better. I’d even go so far as to say there are too many of them – how many can you fit onto your personalised homepage? Maybe that’s where the tab idea comes in..

overall verdict: Good, but needs improving! Below is a screenshot of my current personalised homepage:

BTW also been using Google Earth again today, great for doing recces of potential new homes!

Tired, Knackered, and Exhausted

Yup, I’m still T, K, and E. I haven’t had time all day to write anything here. I wish I could sort out the Time Stamp Issue and also, the thing whereby only the first paragraph of each post is displayed on the first page. In fact I have tried setting the latter but to no avail. Maybe it’s to do with the theme that I’ve chosen. I’ll look into it more soon

Also I’ve noticed that the ‘Write Post’ box now actually resizes when I decrease the window size . I’ve been meaning to contact WordPress about this ages ago because I occasionally work while writing the blog, and since I have to watch online stuff while I’m teleworking, I need to tile the windows so I can see at least 3 browser windows simultaneously. Also there’s now a HTML tab instead of the button. Haven’t tried it out yet but will do so tomorrow.

It’s great to see the software developing and evolving! I’m a bit of a fangirl of WordPress, I just think it’s far better than the competition. While this blog here is hosted by WordPress, I’ve got plans to create a semi-professional blog for a friend in Italy. She’s currently getting a CD-Rom ready with images and text to do with rural properties for sale in Abruzzo, Italy, and I want to try and create a blog-type form of publication that helps her spread the word about her existence! It has to be quite informal and chatty as she isn’t an agent and it would be illegal to ‘advertise’ the properties as such.

So, the idea is to use the WordPress software and put it onto a domain that we bought a while ago. Then create an informal but informative, chatty, personal bloggy-type site with pics and info on all the properties that are for sale. Hopefully I can get my friend to update it herself, once it’s all set up. It’s meant to be different to an agency/sales-type property website because we don’t wnat to actually sell them there. All we want is to provide a platform for my friend, who doesn’t sell properties but is a negotiator or middleperson and translator between the buyers and the sellers.

So, that will be quite interesting for me to do. I’ll have to do some research on similar blogs over the next few days.

Other than that, I spent a good deal yesterday checking out orkut and linkedin. More on that tomorrow, as I would like to write a little review of both of these

PS: have FINALLY changed my default category – better late than never.