Looking for a job is a full time job

Those who knows me they know that I give any task the best of me and I do that with passion. So now I'm looking for a job with all the discipline and passion as I'm still employed. I wake up around 7:30 am. Before 8 am I'm already with my iPad checking all my emails.

I have opened accounts in all big Jobs companies online so I receive from them a bunch of emails every night. From there I open the apps for iPad or iPhone from Dice, Monsters.com and CB and start looking for new positions opened. Every time that I find a match I try to apply from the iPad. And here is the tricky part. If you have already created an account in any of these companies, you already have your resume uploaded, so in this case you can apply from the iPad. If any of these applications send you to the employer site then you can not apply from the iPad because there is not a way thanks to Apple developers and the great Steve Jobs to select a file from your iPad and upload it to a web page. So in this case I send the link to my email. Usually this process takes me almost the whole morning.

I take a lunch break around noon. After that I turn on my laptop, I start the process of applying to all those jobs that I could not apply from the iPad thanks to the magical Web Navigation Experience in this device. This process could take me up to 4 more hours believe it or not. Each application is different and I have to answer questioners, upload files, etc.

So there are 8 hours of work just like in a real job.

Using the iPad does not make the process longer. And here is why. Usually the mobile version of all these sites do not have annoying adds wasting your time. Some of these adds ask you to feel forms and if you are not aware that they are not part of the application process you end subscribing to receive calls with information about how to get certifications or degrees. That already happened to me.

All this while Republicans and Democrats discuss how to make the whole process of creating more jobs longer. It does not matter anymore if Obama goes and proposes a republican idea, right after the proposal the republicans go against it. All that is just sick! I never saw something like that with Clinton or Bush. And that makes me believe that Obama is an inept without cojones.

Unfortunately, there is not an independent candidate running so far because one thing is sure, in 2012, my vote is not going to be democrat neither republican.

I, I keep working in my new job of looking for a job while I can pay for my Internet. If I wait for Obama or the republicans I'm totally lost. And the unemployment help is not enough to pay even for the food. Not that I want any help. I even have not applied yet for it. All I need is a job. And looking for it is what I'm doing with all my heart.

Mobile Devices Managment

With the increase in the use of all kind of mobile devices in the enterprise environment managing these devices is becoming a huge problem for IT Managers. An average business has more than 15 executives, imagine all of them wanting to have access to your network and databases real time. How can you handle your security? How do you keep them updated with the latest version of whatever software you are using to access your database? How do you remove from their devices unwanted software?

That's where a software like BoxTone EMM is highly appreciated.

SQL Server AlwaysOn

If what Microsoft is promising in this page works like it should that will make many Database Administrators and company owners very happy.

SQL Server AlwaysOn is the new comprehensive high availability and disaster recovery solution in SQL Server Code-Named "Denali". Using AlwaysOn, you can increase application availability and get a better return on your hardware investments through a simplified high availability (HA) deployment and management experience.

NoSQL, new database engine

Databases utilizing SQL are dominating the market today so the news about a company promoting a different type of database engine called NoSQL and claiming better performance and an easier administration and developing environment is something that should be tracked.

W8: New system, old challenges

I was reading an article posted at CNET that made me think about the new challenges on front of Microsoft to succeed with W8. Steve Ballmer recently said that Windows 8 is all about Touch and it's evident that the UI is pointing to that. But the downside of this is that Windows 8 is an OS for PCs and the majority, 99.99%, of the PC software currently in the market is not designed thinking about Touch. This is not a new issue. We, TablePC owners, have been suffering from this issue since the first TabletPC was released to the market and since them nobody cared about making versions more TabletPC ("ink") friendly, even Microsoft, have you tried to use Excel in a TabletPc?

I'm afraid that we are going to see the same situation now with Microsoft's Tablet. We will see a wonderful experience within the Metro design and then a complete different experience when using programs that are not "Metro". This could be a negative point in W8 sales, at least it was with TabletPCs.

By the way, TabletPc were those devices that used their screens as input devices and were running Windows Operating System. Now with W8 it seems to me that the name TabletPC will die forever. It will be replaced perhaps for WinTablet.

New Blue Screen of Death

Windows 8 is different, so different that it comes with a new and more friendly Blue Screen of Death. Here is the screen shot, courtesy of Techcrunch:

iOS 5 versus Windows 8

It's not a secret that I do not like the tile design of Metro. But... I can see some usability on it, they are like the Android widgets, and that's something that Apple still do not have in iOS and that really makes a difference. Anyway, here is a video that compares the newest iOS 5 with Windows 8.

Excellent video about W8

JKK has posted a wonderful video about Windows 8. In more than 30 minutes he checks everything that's available at this stage in this, if we can call it, alpha version.

Handwriting recognition in W8

One of the things that I hate in my iPad 2 is the lack of handwriting recognition support. So, I have been tracking every single news about Windows 8 trying to find if this feature and all the improvements gained since XP Tablet PC edition have been included in this new version of Windows.

This week Microsoft gave developers a preview of Windows 8. I'm going to show you two screen captures taken from that preview.


I love ink. A very clear message. But this is not all. I zoomed the button indicated using the arrow. And here is what it says.


Of course, many things can change from this Alpha version and the final version but let's hope that this is not one of the one that won't be included.

Linkedin and Taleo

All of you probably know Linkedin, a social network for professionals but no all you probably know Taleo. Taleo is a company that supplies employers and recruiters with a tool capable of tracking applications, candidates, etc. Well, the two companies are working now in a project where Taleo uses Linkedin as main source of the information. Linkedin is becoming one of the most powerful tools for both job hunters and employers. If you don't have an account in Linkedin I will advise you that is time for you to go and open one. You will never know when you are going needed. I opened mine a long time ago. If you know me and want to be part of my connections go ahead and click in the Connect Link, good recommendations are welcome!

Windows 8 booting in seconds

Microsoft showed developers today a preview of Windows 8. You can find a list of the new features shown here. There are many things that look really good, the booting time, support for non-Intel CPUs, Skydrive support, Hyper-V support and Touch screen support, but I really hate the Tile Windows Phone 7 design wasting the desktop space.

Hiring? Check my Resume

Frank J Garcia

Hollywood, FL 33024

ctitanic at gmail.com

                                                                                                                           MVP ID: 4000400

Objective

To obtain a position in the IT Field where I am able to continue utilizing my skills and expertise to further corporate business development.

Highlights

• More than Ten Years of Experience in a Leadership position as an IT Manager.
• Proficient in Crystal Report writing, BO Server Administration and Visual FoxPro Application Design and Development.
• Experienced in Visual Basic .NET, VB Script, SQL, various Web and Enterprise Technologies including; Website Design, Oracle EBS Administration, Microsoft Office, Access, Exchange and Open Office.
• Master of Science & B.S. in Civil Engineering.

Experience

IT Manager, 1999 - 2011

Dayton Granger, Fort Lauderdale, FL

• Managing a Team of 3 Employees, in an environment with 13 Servers and 110 networked PCs, providing full support to all IT needs of the company, including Level II/III Technical Support to resolve advanced, escalated issues for more than 250 end users.
• In charge of determining what projects to accomplish per year, managing these projects within an available annual budget.
• Created more than 100 Crystal Reports for Kewill Max for Windows (ERP), approximately 50 Reports for Oracle EBS with an estimated market value of around $200,000 and a few reports for Abra for Windows Human Resource solution.
• Developed 7 Database Systems in Visual FoxPro 9 covering: Accounting, Document Controls, Inventory and the History Files being migrated to VFP from Max for Windows.
• Coordinated the project management in the implementation of Oracle EBS and developed all the code needed for the Data Migration from Pervasive SQL to the necessary data structures required by Oracle, this reduced the cost of the implementation in 17%.
• Responsible for the Administration of the Oracle EBS Enterprise Resource Planning System.
• Recommended and Supervised the implementation of Abra for Windows and ADI Time Employee Biometric Time Management System, drastically reducing human error, the amount of time spent manually calculating payroll and attendance problems.
• Developed VFP tools needed for the analysis of Labor Data integrated between ADI Time in Microsoft SQL 2000 and Oracle MES based on Oracle Databases, helping in the Efficiency and Cost Control.
• Reduced operational costs by implementing VMware Virtualization Systems, saving in overall hardware cost.
• Supervised the creation and implementation of IT Policies including E-mail and Internet Use Policies.
• Supervised the migration from Windows XP to Windows 7 and trained all users in the use of this Operating System. Having the same software and hardware in all clients PC reduced the support cost in 40%.
• Implemented a video surveillance system with 16 video CCTV cameras around the building remotely controlled from a PC.

Lead Developer, 1998 -1999

Dayton Granger, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Converted 7 FoxPro for DOS applications to Visual FoxPro.

Built small applications Visual Basic .NET

Database Programmer, 1996 – 1998

Academia de Ciencias de Cuba, Cuba

Creating Database Systems in Clipper, Foxbase and Visual Fox Pro. Teaching Computer Basis – How to use Windows, Office, Internet, etc.

Lead Engineer, 1987 – 1995

ECOING 9 - Cuba

 

Responsible for the construction of Hydraulic and Civil Structures (Drains, Reservoirs, dams, channels, etc.) in Cuba.

Education

Moskovskij Meliorativnij Institut, Moscow, Russia.

B.S. & Master of Sciences, 1982-1987

Honors and Achievements

In my own time, I created Tweaks2k2 (http://www.tweaks2k2.com/), an application in VB .NETCF for PocketPCs and worked as a freelancer and news editor for http://www.todoumpc.com/, http://www.mobilitysite.com/ and http://www.ultramobilepc-tips.com/.

Since 2007, I have been awarded by Microsoft for 4 consecutive years as Most Valuable Professional (http://www.tweaks2k2.comhttp://www.tweaks2k2.com/).

Operating Systems/Languages

• MS-DOS
• .NET Framework
• Visual Basic 6.0, VB .NET for Compact Framework, VB .NET
• Linux; Ubuntu and Red Hat
• Windows 95/2000/XP/Vista/7 and Windows Server 2000/2003

Languages

Fluent in English, Russian and Spanish

Bring Your Own Device

Bring Your Own Device. Is this a novel new concept or just a new nightmare for IT Managers?

Here is how IT-Director.com explains the concept.

BYOD or Bring Your Own Device is exactly what is sounds like and, as a policy, is gathering pace. The concept is simple; give a fixed financial allowance to staff and let them buy a device of their choice. This gives employees the choice they inevitably want and removes hassle and cost of providing support services for IT managers (well, some of it anyway). There are obvious policies and procedures that are needed to enable this—not least the provision of Citrix to allow secure access to data from “untrusted” devices and suitable maintenance contracts purchased with devices, but it is certainly a novel way to solving a complex issue. A blue sky concept, possibly, but certainly not pie in the sky because, as cloud computing gathers yet more pace and SaaS is increasingly adopted, this model becomes viable. BYOD has already been rolled out across Kraft foods and the Law Firm SNR Denton.

There are many things that need to be changed to have a concept like that working fine. Most of them in the security area. The other problem that I can see is that in my experience most of the users do not know fully the devices that they own and they use less than 50% of the features on those devices. This will force IT to spent more time in training and if you have a rainbow of devices that will become easily in an IT Management issue.

Another Android Tablet under $100

Here is another good deal from Amazon in an Android Tablet.

This tablet PC is taking the Internet by storm, get it while it's super hot which uses higher quality components compared to the unbranded versions. Super light weight and the ideal size for portability and usability. Be the first to show off the smarter person's tablet PC. Inside the box is everything you will need to be fully up and mobile with your deluxe customizable unlocked Internet Tablet PC. This tablet has just as many features as the some other well known tablet PCs but in a slim, compact 199 x 129 x 14 (mm), 399 gram casing which is also around half the weight of all other well known tablet PCs.

Flash Support for Apple Devices

Seems that Adobe finally found a workaround to Apple's restrictions according to this report. This does not mean that we will be able to see flash contest from now one. Far from that. Webmasters will have to buy the new Adobe Flash Media Server 4.5 and Adobe Flash Access 3.0 and at this moment is not clear to me if they will have to change or convert their current flash objects hosted at their sites. In another hand, nothing need to be installed in any of the Apple's devices. Very smart from Adobe.

PDF Annotator maintenance release

PDF Annotator, a must have for TabletPC owners has made available a maintenance Release. According to the latest newsletter, this release fixes couple of bugs and includes some improvements. By the way, the news letter also includes a really good guide about how to use PDF Annotator Toolbox.

Business may skip Windows 8

According to Gartner, companies will skip Windows 8 because they just started the migration to Windows 7. And I totally agree. From my own experience as an IT Manager, I just took the decision to migrate all our Windows XP Machines to Windows 7. The process is tedious and we found a lot of problems with printers drivers. So my experience confirms what Gartner points, companies are fatigued from a recent upgrade and will not jump into this new version. This will have a huge impact in Microsoft's plans and shows that releasing new Operating Versions every 2 or 3 years is really a bad idea if you are aiming at the business market.

Android Tablet for less than $90

It's a refurbished unit but I have bought many refurbished devices in the past and I never had problems with any of them. In fact, I feel less worried when I buy a refurbished unit than when I buy a new one. The refurbished devices have been checked twice by the QA Department and they usually do a better job the second time to avoid a new return. Here is the deal, I'm talking about the PanDigital a Tablet with Android that has the potential needed for anyone willing to buy a Tablet but that can't afford to pay more than $400 for one.

The PanImage Multimedia tablet changes the way you access the web, access email, check social networks and curl up with a good book. With instant access to the Barnes and Noble PanImage Color Multimedia Tablet lets you read and carry hundreds of books, magazines, and newspapers with you wherever you go.

Android for the HP Touchpad

When HP announced that basically was dropping the support and plans to build any kind of mobile device using WebOS some stores went practically crazy selling their inventory of HP Touchpads for around $100. A very good deal you may think but you need to consider that you are buying a piece of hardware with a dead Operating System. Well, according to AndroidCommunity there is a hope for those owners in a built of Android CyanogenMod that is currently in Beta stage. Once this port of Android is finalized it will guarantee at least couple of years of life to this wonderful piece of hardware.

Samsung Series 7, a new champion

Chippy at UMPCPortal is reporting about the Samsung Series 7 Tablet PC. The Crystalmark score that he is reporting is extremely high for a Tablet PC and even a laptop.



I have been following this platform since 2006 and we were happy if any of the TabletPCs or UMPCs had a score higher than 22000, the highest score that I was able to record was in the Evernote UMPC with an AMD Dual Core and was 40161. So I feel happy to see that we are getting into a decent performance in this portion of the mobile market.