One thing I don’t really get.. I’m not really clued up on these add on applications that I keep getting “invited” to use. Each time I sign up for one, I just seem to get more email I don’t want. For example, this is from the Facebook application, Social Profile.

“Curtis, you are more desired than 69% of all people
In total, you were reviewed for dating 327 times and 12 people expressed interest in you.
You are more desirable than 69% of 30,297,707 people.

Last week you were viewed 15 times and no people expressed interested in you”

Out of 327, only 12 were interested. That’s something like 3%, but strangely enough I’m doing better than 69% of over 30 million other people. I think that’s massaging the statistics a little, and someone needs to revise their numbers as I don’t think I should be doing that well.

Check twitter updates from a bunch of attendees here.

Wiki with attendees and details of talks here.

My photos of the event available here.

I’ve other notes on people I spoke to and talks attended, to add to this post when I pretty them up properly.

• You cannot trust folks to do due diligence, so always go over the statement of work you’re hired to implement. If you’re lucky there will be some overlap with reality.
• It’s fine to be in the weeds, but keep your eye on the bigger project picture, who the main players are and what their concerns are.
• If things aren’t going to plan, keep your ear to the ground for folks making you a scapegoat. Speak up if you suspect blame is being wrongly placed at your feet.
• Own up immediately if there are problems and you’re the cause, or the bottleneck to the problems getting resolved. Be able to say why, and provide one or more ways to resolve the problem and move forward.
• If they keep you working beyond the agreed time, and you don’t mind .. at least make sure the checks keep coming.
• Some people have the turning circle of an oil tanker when it comes to responding to new input. This is especially true for unpleasant budget affecting stuff folks don’t want to have to tell their bosses about. Refer to the point about scapegoat.
• Make sure you recognize the decision makers. You’ll minimize delays due that previous point.
• It’s ok to be the hostage if the checks keep coming
• Did I mention keep an eye on the checks?
• Ultimately, it’s nothing personal, it’s just business .

And a whole lot more.

I’ll blog about it properly at some point.

Went for the upgrade on Friday night ..
(more…)

(more…)

Conferences are typically hosted by big business, commercial organizations, etc. but this is different in that it’s the actual participants are responsible for setting the agenda, giving the talks, participating fully and actively in the event. If they don’t, there will be no event!

I heard a story on NPR just today where they were talking about events just like this, and they’ve coined a term to describe them.. “un-conference”.

There’s one happening tomorrow called BarCamp.

More info at the BarCamp wiki, wikipedia, BarCamp Los Angeles meet March 2008,

A family and a home are things I want, but not having these things just yet opens up other opportunities. For example, I’m in the enviable position of being able to take risks with what I do for work , mostly as I have no commitments, other than my pooches.

It’s becoming obvious that there are a LOT of opportunities out there for me, including ones more geared towards the technical side of things which I find more interesting. I feel lucky .

For example I landed a contracting gig a couple weeks after I left Sun. Since then I’ve been working for this customer, mostly from home, with occasional visits to Toronto, Canada. I’ve been up there for a couple visits recently. Last week when I was there it was -10°C without wind chill. I think in the shade with a breeze blowing it hit -20°C!

I really really want to spend some time visiting friends in northern/southern CA, go camping with the pooches again, and play lots and LOTS of drums.

You can sign a petition here to help:
~ http://proudtoliveinamerica.com/Forms/Main/Default.aspx?L=en-us&P=Petitions

Please sign, and forward the message onward.

I’ve read about this story for some time now, and they finally sent him
home, and only gave him $10k back, keeping the rest.

~ http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/27/immigrant.money/index.html

Some of the circumstances around this are confusing. Some are saying he
hadn’t paid taxes on this, some are saying he *did* pay taxes but didn’t
file his taxes correctly. Regardless, many conservatives calling for him
to be crucified as an example of the harm illegal aliens are doing to
America and the American economy. Thing is, I wonder just how many of
these screaming conservatives would take his place and wash dishes for
$5.50 an hour for 11 years. Here’s one such rant:

~ http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/28308.html

And comments on this article are even more shocking, suggesting things like the place he worked should be burned down:

~ http://www.theconservativevoice.com/forum/read.html?id=11424#comments

That amount of money doesn’t even buy a small piece of a smart bomb they
like to let loose daily in the middle east, but would make the world of
difference to that man and his family back home.

Bastards.

What do I want to be when I grow up? I can’t say for sure, but so far it’s looking like I’m extremely allergic to being a small cog in a big machine. Thing is, the big machine brings the positives of security, stability, a regular pay check, healthcare (too important in a country like the US). The negatives are politics, hierarchy, politics, very restrictive job scope, etc. Did I mention politics?

Most advice you see out there tells you to treat being unemployed/between jobs as like you’re employed for yourself, and your job is to find a job. That’s great advice when you’re #1 learning and growing in certain roles and you just wish to slip into the same role in a different company. It’s also great advice when you’re #2 in a place where you don’t have a choice - by that I mean, perhaps you’ve a mortgage, kids, wife, expensive toys that require a lot of upkeep, etc. I imagine in that scenario it’s most imperative to get back to status quo, with checks coming in to cover the outgoings.

I was almost on the property ladder a few months ago. I’m glad that didn’t work out! What happened was the markets were turning and the rules for borrowing money were in flux. I was in escrow at the time and as the seller removed the final contingencies and we were to move forward, the rules changed such that the bare minimum needed for a deposit was raised from 5% to 10%. I could’ve gone to this, but that would’ve pretty much cleaned out my reserves. If I’d taken the chance and gone ahead with it, I’d have probably already be in negative equity and completely focused on not disrupting my income flow. i.e. position #2 above.

In leaving my job the reactions I’ve had from friends and work colleagues has ranged from “Dude! What are you thinking?! You don’t have another job to go to?!” to “I’m SOOO jealous! I think it’s awesome!”, and every shade in between. It’s also been educational to see who took the time to respond to my leaving email, who picked up the phone, etc. and those who just never acknowledged my message all. I made great contacts at that job, and worked with some great folks. I hope to work with them again at some point.

Right now I’m in a great spot. I have a wonderful opportunity to make something for myself, and of myself. We all owe it to ourselves to find something that inspires us. Personally I just need to keep on track and not take the easy way out!

Nothing is forever.

The only constant is change.

This too shall pass.

I was originally signed up for a MBNA Linux Fund card. I deliberately chose them over banks like B of A as I didn’t like what I’d read about banks like B of A in various online reviews. B of A bought out MBNA not so long ago, so despite trying to avoid them I became their customer in the end anyways.

Less than a couple months ago I was checking my online statements and noticed my bill said I was being charged something like a 20 or 25% interest rate. I found this shocking as I (like many others) get many offers for credit cards for interest rates much less than this, even after the special 0% intro rates.

I called B of A to discuss this, and was passed round a number of people before settling on one person that I had a very heated discussion with about my interest rate. I demanded to know why I was being charged such a rate, made it clear I was extremely unhappy about it as I’m a very active customer and regularly pay my bill in full. They responded that it had jumped to that rate as a penalty as I’d made a late payment. I asked when the penalty interest period would stop and the rate would drop back down, and they said it doesn’t automatically drop down again without intervention.

To clarify .. I’d continue to be charged this very high interest rate unless *I* took some action.

I responded that I’ll be taking advantage of the many other credit cards offers I get in the mail almost daily and for rates less than half of what they were charging me, and demanded my account be closed immediately. At this point the guy I was speaking to put me on hold for a few minutes. When he came back, he said he’d drop my interest rate to a more reasonable 15.x%.

Fast forward today. I was checking my credit card balance online today after receiving an email reminder that payment was due on my account. As I was out of the country over the xmas holidays I took a quick peek at my statement for that period. I scrolled down a bit and this jumped out at me..

Note the rate in the bottom right hand corner of 35.89%. Now I don’t know about you, but this is WAY above anything I’ve ever seen advertised and I’m sure you’ll agree is an absolutely ridiculous rate to be charged. I very occasionally pay a little late but usually drop thousands in to pay the complete balance at once as I often do US wide travel with occasional international travel.

A little googling around turned up interest rates for B of A credit card holders substantially less than what I was being charged, even after then intro 0% period had ended. For example ..

(click to go directly to B of A site directly with this ad on it)

Note my card actually has “Platinum Plus” underneath the “Bank of America” logo, which to me implies I should be getting 9.9% as advertised here.

So I called B of A AGAIN today. I got a very nice pleasant lady on the phone who asked what she could do to help. I told her I’d looked at my online statement today and noticed the interest rate of 35.89% being charged for that recent billing period, and I’d like to know why I was being charged that. She said “One moment sir”, and I was put on hold.

After another minute or two a guy answered. I asked who I was speaking to, did he know who I was, why was I speaking to him, and why was I transferred. He said he was in some department like “account retentions”. Read into that what you will.

I explained to him what I was looking at on my bill, and said I’d like an explanation of the 35.89% number. He said I wasn’t being charged that, that my rate was actually 15.99%. This figure is on the image above. I continued to ask what that 35.89% number meant, and why it was on my personal bill, referring to a specific billing period. He responded they had to put that on there for legal reasons and that I wasn’t really being charged that rate.. every customer is different. So, I asked, if we all get different rates, what does that number mean for me? I could NOT get a clear answer out of him. I don’t think he knew.

I kept drilling him on this, asking why it’s there at all, why it’s specific to me, and he got very obviously irate. I took the time to explain my other recent previous experience, when I saw a number like this on a recent statement, I had to call and found out it was my interest rate, etc.

He had no response.

Even after speaking to their expert, I still have no idea what this number means, and why they’re legally obligated to put it on my statement.

I’m going to be looking for a new credit card next week.