Mason Wong

Windows is Ancient

2013-02-08T13:54:00.001-08:00

Last night I briefly examined a heavy Dell laptop running MS Windows 7 Professional on an Intel Core i7.

The word that comes to mind: Ancient.

Good lord, having to deal with Windows is like falling into Mister Peabody's Wayback Machine and stumbling onto a stone age tribe of Neanderthals playing with sticks and fire.

If the zombie apocalypse ever begins, just issue them all Windows PCs to slow them down into obsolescence.

Chicago Should Bust the Teachers' Union

2012-09-10T09:39:00.001-07:00

I am sick of hearing about the teachers' union and their continuing obstruction of efforts to genuinely improve schools. Chicago should not compromise any further with the ridiculous union demands, and work towards busting the teachers' union.

There are highly qualified professionals who would gladly join the ranks of honorable, good teachers in public schools, if only they would be subject to a management and compensation structure that was truly merit based, like the vast majority of professionals expect in the private sector and other jobs. Instead, the unions have forced schools across the nation to minimize management authority and eliminate merit from how teachers are paid, resulting in good teachers suffering along side equally paid bad teachers, who have jobs for life.

Today's teachers' union strike is a desperate ploy to garner public support for their dying cause. People are passionately supportive of teachers and almost universally mistake support for the union as equivalent support for teachers. To truly help the teachers, the union must be defeated.

The current situation with the strike in Chicago deeply hurts all the children and continues a long running pattern of harm to America's productivity, leadership, and global competitiveness.

The Social Recruiting Market Is The Recruiting Market

2012-06-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Josh Bersin recently posted "Social Recruiting goes Wild" on Forbes.com in which he provides a good, comprehensive list of web services in today's social recruiting market. His underlying point that the social recruiting tools and services market is strongly growing, with LinkedIn as the shining beacon on the hill, slightly misses a more salient point that experienced corporate recruiting leaders, like myself, have known for some years now.

The social recruiting market is the recruiting market. Any recruiting tool or services vendor that does not have a social dimension has been losing relevance or has been irrelevant for years. The vast majority of recruiting tools and services vendors have either been focused on social or have added social to their core offering.

A few comments on some of the vendors he lists:

Jobvite: I am on record many times as a strong enthusiast and multiple repeat customer of this comprehensive corporate recruiting platform (including my applicant tracking system of choice since December 2007).

TalentBin: My most recent recruiting team took a swipe at using this service. We found the concept to be innovative, but the implementation a bit tedious.

ViewsOnYou: I am trying this out now. Too early to tell how well it works. Seems like a great concept, but it relies on me spamming my Facebook friends to respond in order for it to work. I hit up a bunch of my FB friends so far (all former colleagues) and am waiting to see how that goes before I spam any more of them.

BranchOut: I was an early adopter and noticed they like to experiment with different ideas. The basic idea makes plenty of sense: leverage the Facebook social graph and build a professional network app to compete with LinkedIn. Their core problems are two-fold:

(1) The predominant flavor of FB is casual and non-work related (photo sharing, news links, random statuses), which leads to most users eschewing the mixture of their professional life into their FB login experience;

(2) BranchOut prioritized viral user acquisition over the fundamental stickiness of its app. As a result, they over spammed the entire FB user base, flushed their brand value down the toilet, and now the active user numbers are in calamitous free fall.

I am glad I did not spend any money on BranchOut, either as a corporate recruiting leader or as an individual user. It was about a year ago that I spoke with one of BranchOut's sales people who gave a long winded pitch but never sent me the paperwork they said they would to set up a corporate subscription.

Bersin's summary analysis is generally correct. I also appreciate his inclusion of web services addressing the contract/temporary/part time talent market, which has been growing for many years. However, much like the iPad market is the tablet computer market, social recruiting is recruiting. To not say so leaves an elephant in the room.

Tapatio or Cholula?

2012-04-23T21:44:00.001-07:00

Tapatio or Cholula? Choose wisely. Choose now.

Great Weather

2012-04-21T07:36:00.001-07:00

We've been having great weather the past few days here in the San Francisco Bay Area. This weekend is already starting off with some fanatic sunny skies and warm temps.

I actually prefer slightly cooler temps to the heat, but this is some nice weather that the family and I will certainly enjoy.

What is B82?

2012-03-03T18:09:00.001-08:00

What is Apple's mystery accessory, code name B82?

Something tells me that a Bluetooth remote control with built in microphone so you can talk to Siri on the new AppleTV is far too little to really inspire, excite, and keep so secret.

Theoretically, the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, can all be made to work as a remote microphone to talk wirelessly to a new Siri powered AppleTV.

I think B82 has to be something like a wireless, 3D motion sensing, tactile feedback dedicated game controller to work with iOS games displayed on big flat panel TVs. Part of my speculation of a game controller is because the Apple announcement this coming Wednesday at Yerba Buena Center is going to take place across the street from the huge Game Developers Conference.

Here's a darker thought... would Apple dare to follow Microsoft to create their own version of Kinect?

So, what is B82?

Bill Maher Unbaptism

2012-02-18T23:11:00.000-08:00

SOPA and PIPA must be stopped

2012-01-18T23:31:00.000-08:00

Clay Shirky is awesome as always. SOPA and PIPA must be stopped.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T21:35:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, I am thankful that 2011 has been a good year for me and my family. Not without its challenges, but all things considered, unquestionably a good one. Of the many things that took place in 2011, I am so proud and pleased to welcome my beautiful and joyful son to the family this past year.

The next biggest thing for me in 2011 was changing jobs. My career made a fairly big jump from enterprise software to the wonderful world of video games. Glad to be a Jobvite customer again for my fifth time (and completed my fourth implementation as project lead).

Probably the biggest downer of the year for me and many others was the loss of Steve Jobs. Most people knew he was a tyrant to those close to him, yet he lead and inspired so many to build and create and transform so much of the modern world. He remains at the top of my personal most admired list. Now if only I had the time to read through the authorized biography... (I'd previously read two earlier, unauthorized biographies).

Like many folks, I am now surrounded by Apple technology: MacBook Pro for work, older iMac at home, an iPad 2 and iPhone 4, and that doesn't count my wife's Apple gear that's around. I must say that while I do like and use my iPad 2 a lot, I really love love love my iPhone 4. It's not perfect, but my iPhone 4 is probably the most satisfying piece of electronics I have ever owned. I'm sure a new iPhone 4S would be a great upgrade, but I still marvel at how great the iPhone 4 is and how I can easily carry it around essentially everywhere.

2011 was a year of regional revolutions around the world. Come to think of it, both 2001 and 1991 were also years of great change in the world order. Well, good riddance to Osama Bin Laden ("su-prise su-prise"), Moammar Gaddafhi ("spell it anyway you like"), and Kim Jong Il (you funky dirty sick murderous bastard). It was also finally time to let my print subscription to The Economist expire (save a tree or ten).

For New Year's Eve Day, I enjoyed cooking both lunch and dinner for the family. Lunch was pork chops (bone-in center cut, medium thick, brined and pan fried). Dinner was caldo verde (Portuguese potato soup with thinly shredded kale and thinly sliced and browned linguica). For a late night snack, I was faced with leftover ground beef and only hot dog buns, no hamburger buns. What to do? Why, do what any pragmatic foodie would do: make hot dog bun length sliders! Toasted buns, real mayo, a touch of Sriracha sauce, Tillamook swiss cheese, and dill pickle relish rounded out the burgers.

For New Year's Day, I continued to cook for the family. Breakfast included eggs, bacon, and (canned) baked beans for the family. I then made a rather gluttonous grilled cheese sandwich using the bacon grease, Tillamook swiss cheese, Sriracha sauce, and dill pickle relish. The bread was pan fried to a fantastic crisp. For lunch, my wife picked up two large live Dungeness crabs from the market, which we steamed up with garlic and ginger for a delicious crab feed at home. For dinner, we had a simple meal of oven fried whole chicken wings, steamed broccoli, and brown rice.

Buh-bye, 2011. Time's up.

I wish a hearty and Happy New Year to all my friends, family, and blog readers. 2012 smells like it's gonna be great!

Thanks Governor Brown

2011-10-08T15:13:00.001-07:00

I agree with California Governor Jerry Brown on his recent signing of legislation to ban shark fin soup (a staple at Chinese banquets) and to allow children of illegal immigrants to receive state funded college financial aid.

Now if only he could reverse the upcoming California ban on foie gras...

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T22:43:00.001-07:00

I am very sad to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs earlier today.

Fringe Foods

2011-08-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

I honestly have no interest whatsoever in eating a hamburger in which the bun has been replaced by a donut. That's just wrong. That's disgusting.

Look, I'll go on record to say I actually am interested in trying dog meat and horse meat, just so long as it is legal, the meat was legitimately produced, and the dish was prepared decently. I understand I'd have to go overseas to get such dishes.

I'm even interested in some day trying the raw chicken meat dishes that some progressive restaurants are starting to offer.

I would be just fine if I didn't have another bowl of shark fin's soup for the rest of my life. I find the dish bland and the concept of irresponsibly treated sharks as unpalatable. I think I read that there is a proposal in San Francisco to ban shark fin's soup, for environmental / wildlife protection reasons. I think I'm OK with that, my Chinese heritage be damned.

Generally speaking, I don't think it's right for one group of people to tell another group of people to not eat something. See my previous blog post on foie gras. But I think shark fin soup is very different than foie gras. I believe the sharks are a threatened species, if not endangered, whereas the ducks for foie gras are domestically raised and in no short supply. Further, the ducks are definitely get all their parts used for food, whereas the sharks in question may be irresponsibly caught and butchered for just their fins and then tossed back into the sea to drown.

I've tried fried pickles - they are just salt and vinegar bombs. No need to eat them again.

Filipino balut - the bird eggs with developed embryos inside, no thanks. Even Bourdain shuddered from his experience eating it.

Deep fried butter - I don't think so.

Anthony Bourdain Answers Your Questions From Reddit

2011-07-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

Product Review: CrispRoot Original

2011-05-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

On a lark, my wife and I picked up a bag of CrispRoot brand cassava chips to try as a slightly healthier alternative to potato chips. They're excellent. We think they're noticeably better than most potato chips. They have a deeply satisfying crunch and a distinct potato-like flavor. The seasonings of salt and garlic powder are just right.

Cassava root are also known as yuca, a root vegetable that is used by many cultures, especially in South America. I first learned about yuca while watching Anthony Bourdain visit Peru. He visited some very poor farmers in the mountains. One thing they served him was a beverage comprised of yuca root that had been partly chewed and spit out by the village women, a process which uses the natural enzymes in saliva to break down the yuca. Not exactly a pleasing idea and pretty much has nothing to do with CrispRoot chips.

The manufacturer's website indicates a commitment to simple and healthy ingredients, as well as some grassroots origins of the brand. I do wonder if the company is truly independent and family oriented as they portray themselves, or whether there is a major global food conglomerate behind the scenes of this well crafted niche brand.

Either way, the chips are good. Thumbs up.

Musings on Google Apps

2011-05-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

Some months ago, my employer switched from the seemingly ubiquitous Microsoft Exchange server to the trendy "cloud" services of Google Apps. After many years of MS Outlook daily dependence, legions of employees, myself included, loathed the switch to Gmail and Google Calendar for work. It naturally took some getting used to the different user interfaces.

The benefits of Google hosting our corporate email and calendar are pretty obvious. I like being able to easily check my work emails from my mobile iOS devices and my Mac at home without relying on a cumbersome VPN login process via my heavy work laptop. Haven't really scratched the surface yet of Google Docs and Google Sites. Having a work specific Google Voice account is a nice option.

The search function within Gmail seems to be pretty powerful with relevant results.

The real trade-off seems to be in some system performance and reliability issues.

Probably the most frequent issue is an occasional server lag of a few seconds when switching between the Inbox and, for example, a page of email search results. Had I been switching between folders within Outlook, I wouldn't have experienced any lag.

While the Gmail server seems to be up nearly all the time, the servers that provide the Calendar and Contacts seem to be down every once in a while. When they are down while trying to get something done with them, that can be frustrating.

The browser cookies for Google Apps are sometimes flaky, resulting in random session timeouts.

I do miss some of the email functions of Outlook that simply aren't available in Gmail:
- color coded categories
- forwarding messages en masse
- inline images and tables
- scheduling emails for future delivery
- indicating high or low priority to a message
- integration with a full fledged tasks management tool

Overall, I agree that the switch to Google Apps has been a good thing for the company. But I never expected to say that I actually miss some bits and pieces of Microsoft Outlook.

How About Just A Mini-Rapture?

2011-05-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

Instead of a full blown Rapture, if only the heavens had vacuum sucked away Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Sean Hannity, Tom Tancredo, Senator James Inhofe, and what the hell, Sarah Palin too, what a grand difference the world would be.

Is PG&E SmartMeter Data Manually Keyed Into Their Billing System?

2011-01-23T02:25:00.000-08:00

My family and I were out of town for most of December. We intentionally powered off everything except the security alarm system, for both energy efficiency and safety sake. Upon our return home, the indoor temperature was cold and everything was still off, as expected. I was eager to see the power bill from PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric, our region's energy utility), hoping to find a significant drop in our cost for the billing period encompassing our absence.

I was pleased to see the electricity cost was just a fraction of our usual amount. However, I noticed the natural gas cost was about the same as usual. Even more bewildering, the printed statement had separated the December and January portions of the billing period, with most of the cost incurred in December, when we were away for all but 3 days of that part of the billing period. Our home's central heating system uses natural gas.

I decided to call PG&E and ask about the discrepancy. I first reached a regular customer service rep on the phone. I explained my concern and the rep seemed to understand. Upon checking the account, he mentioned that because we have a SmartMeter installed, my call had to be transferred to the SmartMeter department. Needing to be transferred to someone else because a SmartMeter was in use seemed slightly odd, but I was eager to talk with someone, so at the time, I didn't think much about it. I did ask the first customer service rep whether I was being transferred to a live person, and he said, "yes."

Well, I instead got transferred into an automated menu system, which did not please me, but it took just one menu selection to reach a live person in the SmartMeter department. I explained my case and the SmartMeter rep seemed to understand my concern. First, she reminded me that all the data she was going to give me over the phone was immediately available to me via the PG&E SmartMeter website. Next, we talked about what the gas consumption data looked like around the dates that my family and I were still on travel and when we returned. She verbally confirmed the number of therms consumed for each day, indicating the SmartMeter data clearly showed there was zero gas usage while we were away, and normal daily gas usage upon our return. She seemed to be pleased that the data was so precise and clear.

I then asked why the December gas cost was so much more than the January gas cost in my bill, since we were only home for a few days in December. She began to recite a stock answer of the cost of gas varying on different days.

I didn't accept that vague answer and pressed further, asking whether the day by day SmartMeter data of gas consumption for the few days in December when we were home, which she had just verbally recited to me, was adding up to the total therms listed in the December segment of my bill, since that was the root of my inquiry. She quickly added up the therms from the December SmartMeter data and said, they add up to thirteen (13) therms. But the bill clearly lists the December usage as thirty one (31) therms, I stated. Her next statement first confused me, then triggered a wave of disbelief: "Oh, the numbers got transposed. I'll get that fixed."

My confusion was due to my initial expectation of either an explanation blaming an algorithmic issue with the system or perhaps a simple stonewalling of my inquiry. I got neither. Instead, she was saying that the one and the three in thirteen used therms was accidentally swapped to instead be a three and a one to list thirty one used therms! In my initial confusion, I silently thought, "what kind of modern computer system accidentally transposes numerical digits?"

It was a little later, after the call was over, that I realized by inference: the SmartMeter system and PG&E's established billing and customer accounts systems aren't truly integrated, and quite likely, involve people manually keying in usage data, which explains how such a digits transposition error could occur.

Looking back at how the initial PG&E customer rep had to transfer me to an entirely separate SmartMeter customer support system, with separate live rep and separate automated voice menu, and then also considering past news reports of how PG&E has been phasing in communities with the SmartMeter system over a period of months and years, it does seem to suggest there is not a full fledged integration between old and new systems. Even worse, it seems to be a manual, human data entry process, which carries a high risk of many errors.

To PG&E's credit, the SmartMeter customer service rep said she had corrected my bill during my call.

I'm well aware of the nationwide concern of SmartMeter installations. Most people believe the devices have been intentionally programmed to cheat them, as significantly higher power bills seem to appear around the time the devices are installed. There are also a few people who further believe the devices, which rely on wireless cell phone data transmission technology, are causing health problems, particularly headaches and sleeplessness. These concerns are popular and politicians are taking action against some utility providers.

Frankly, I think these concerns of inaccurate metering and negative health effects are completely bogus. These are intricately engineered devices, extensively tested and certified by independent labs, that are installed by the millions at people's homes. It would be erratic and simply stupid for any major manufacturer or utility company to either intentionally cheat customers within the device, or put the public at a health risk. To me, the concerns clearly stem from a lack of awareness, a natural suspicion of new technology, a need to scapegoat the woes of a depressed economy, and a heavy dose of irrationality, which I firmly believe we all exhibit. Sort of along the lines of Carl Sagan's depiction of "science as a candle in the dark," which was the byline to the title of his book, "The Demon Haunted World". Similarly, this feels like it is an off-shoot of "The Assault on Reason," as described by Al Gore. I really don't think the SmartMeter devices are the problem.

What I do think is happening is a shoddy and incomplete back-end system implementation, in which the new SmartMeter infrastructure does not play nice with the older existing customer billing system, and quite possibly, a reliance on manual data entry for critical processes such as the conversion of energy usage data into presumably accurate billing costs.

I have worked for high tech organizations for over twenty years, with most of that experience in enterprise software firms. I'm well aware of the challenges of implementing new business systems, particularly when a legacy system is already in place. However, this same experience also informs me of the myriad of potential technology solutions that would allow for some sort of direct, albeit interim, data integration between an old and new system. It could be costly and/or complicated, but is absolutely technically feasible.

The likelihood that PG&E does not have such an interim integration should be of deep concern to the paying customers of PG&E throughout the San Francisco Bay Area region and beyond.

I should point out that I have yet to look up online whether anyone else has suspected the same, and whether anyone has either proven or debunked it. I welcome everyone's feedback and thoughts. If there is authoritative information out there on this matter, I would appreciate any leads.

Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot

2011-01-11T00:37:00.000-08:00

A gorgeous, moving mashup of Carl Sagan's excerpted reading of his Pale Blue Dot with well selected and edited deep outer space animation. Be sure to watch it in 720p HD in full screen mode. Awe-inspiring.

Earth - The Pale Blue Dot

2011-01-11T00:30:00.000-08:00

This short film was just relinked by John Gruber's Daring Fireball. I hadn't seen it before. It's a deep, inquisitive, speculative monologue of Carl Sagan, with compelling Earthly scenery. I've read most of Carl Sagan's books and was riveted as a child with his landmark PBS television series, Cosmos. This film apparently excerpts the audiobook version of Pale Blue Dot, one of his last books, although not his very last.

It's interesting to note the handful of common interests I seem to have with popular tech blogger John Gruber: Apple technology, the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, baseball, and, my most recently realized, Carl Sagan.

Even if you're not a Sagan fan, the film is worth one brief viewing.

Moving a Blog to Quora?

2011-01-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

Interesting idea that some people are moving their blogging activity from a dedicated blog system like Tumblr to Quora. I guess I'll think about it for myself, but I don't immediately see the advantage.

Maybe someone can spell it out why.

For one thing, I'm not sure a private domain name can be easily set up to point to a Quora profile page.

Recommendations for starting up with Jobvite

2011-01-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

Earlier today, I answered a Quora question and thought I'd also share the answer here.

We're getting ready to use Jobvite at our company, any recommendations for starting up? - Quora
(Question byline:) Want to make sure we're starting out using all best practices

Mason Wong, 4-time customer of Jobvite, lead implementation of Jobvite at 3 employers, furthered configuration of Jobvite at the 4th.

A lot depends on what your starting point is, whether this is your company's first ATS or you're migrating from an existing ATS, as there are both technical and process considerations. Many of the tips that initially come to mind are actually not Jobvite specific, but would pertain to any ATS implementation. Here are some of my recommendations:

* Gain as much executive sponsorship up front as possible. Ideally, your CEO prioritizes the recruiting function and is willing to personally announce the implementation and later encourage hiring managers to use the system and encourage employees to submit referrals through the system.

* Jobvite is most powerful when its entire eco-system of recruiting collaboration tools are fully implemented. This means utilizing shared candidate notes, and also the in-app interview scheduling function, which in turn delivers the link of the interview evaluation form to each interviewer, which in turn allows for candidate eval data to be automatically shared with the team of interviewers (hiring mgr, recruiter, other interviewers), which in turn encourages thorough questioning and consistent documentation, and allows for a complete set of data be available during the offer request approval routing process.

* Try to keep the candidate workflow configuration as simple as possible. Don't build too many custom interview types or too many evaluation types. Done right, it's very powerful to build a few of your own custom competencies into a few interview eval forms for certain jobs in specific interviewing steps, but done wrong, it can become a system configuration train wreck that's difficult to untangle.

* Similarly, try to keep your approval routings as simple as possible. Be mindful of the order of your routings, i.e. HR may want to approve an offer's compensation before the hiring VP authorizes the offer. Creating approval routings based on the exact mgmt reporting line per hiring manager is technically possible, but a real bother to keep up to date. Easier to just have a handful of VPs to choose from a drop down menu than pursue an overly complex set of approval routings.

* I suggest allocating no more than one headcount per requisition. So, when you hire one person into a requisition, close the req, don't keep using it for further hires into similar roles. If multiple openings of the same role are to be concurrently opened, build non-publicly-posted reqs as headcount placeholders. While managing the applicant pool in the one publicly posted req, as each person is hired, move that candidate to a non-publicly-posted req and fill those first. It sounds complicated, but it ends up being much easier to manage and later report on than untangling a req filled with multiple hires.

* I suggest creating separate reqs for alternate locations of a req. That way, you can link location-specific external job postings to your location specific req posting, and manage separate applicant pools without mixing up location/travel issues.

* If you are migrating from an existing ATS, carefully plan the transition steps, to minimize any possible down time between freezing your old ATS data and having it migrated into Jobvite, and turning on your new Jobvite configuration.

* Use the Company Jobvite function to frequently remind employees about submitting referrals to various reqs. I send out a new message every other week. It really works.

* Hopefully, most of your recruiters, and many of your hiring managers, will really like how Jobvite works. Quickly take advantage of their enthusiasm and encourage them to help evangelize further adoption of Jobvite from others.

* No matter how well you plan, how much you train people, and how much executive sponsorship you get, assume there will be some percentage of hiring managers who need hand holding with the new system, and some percentage of employees who won't activate their accounts. That's not a system fault, that's just human nature.

Send me a message if you have follow up questions that I can respond to privately. Good luck!

Xmas Breakfast: Char Kway Teow

2010-12-25T01:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas breakfast Singapore style: fantastic char kway teow from a hawker stall at Ghih Moh where the old man cooks just one dish over and over and over, day in, day out, year after year after year. It is sublime.

If you're familiar with chow fun from a U.S. Chinese restaurant, it's kind of like that, but far better and more complex in flavor. Two kinds of noodles are stir fried with a complex sauce of sweet, savory, salty flavors, with various seafood, scrambled egg, bean sprouts, and even little blocks of crispy fried pork lard, with a touch of brightness from a fresh squeezed calamansi lime, and optional hot chili sauce. The textures should be light, the noodles not at all thick or gummy, and the temperature piping hot.

Done right, this signature Singaporean dish is well worth the 30 minutes I had to wait standing in line. When cooked wrong, with flavors either missing or out of balance, you will hear howls of protest from Singaporeans considering it a national disgrace.

Simply delicious.

More Signs of SF Bay Area High Tech Job Market Warming Up

2010-11-24T23:31:00.000-08:00

Google and Facebook continue to dominate the news media when it comes to the ever-changing Silicon Valley job market, but most of us know that any kind of warming up of the competitive employment landscape requires the broad participation of smaller companies. I believe the greater San Francisco Bay Area's high tech sector has recently shifted in the past few weeks towards more hiring.

I haven't even been paying close attention to the most obvious indicators like job board posting volume or regional unemployment claims figures, although I do pay attention to them on occasion as part of my professional responsibilities.

The indicators I have are entirely anecdotal and rather similar.

I've heard of many Bay Area recruiters that I know to have recently changed jobs or emerged from a lengthy period of unemployment. 2008 and 2009 were devastating to the careers of many recruiters I know. But even among those who found work in 2009 or got a gig in early 2010, I seem to have heard about recent job changes as more and more recruiter gigs have opened up. It clearly a leading indicator of widespread hiring when companies begin to ramp up their usage of salaried and hourly paid recruiters.

More interestingly, at least to me, is that I have heard of at least four Bay Area based corporate recruiting leadership openings in just the past few weeks, and I'm not even trying to look for such opportunities. Three of the four were sent to me via email from various contacts in my professional network.

These are signs that bode well for the Bay Area job seeker. Hopefully, that means fewer people stuck in the drudgery of long term unemployment, as well as opportunities for the under-employed and even the fully employed to find a better job than they have now. Many people have had to compromise their career ambitions to keep a roof over their heads, food on the plate, and their bills paid (especially health care bills), during these tough past few years.

Let me know if you see other signs of a warming Bay Area job market.

Horrible Stampdede Tragedy in Cambodia

2010-11-22T16:23:00.000-08:00

The curse of the deadly human stampeded has struck again, this time in Cambodia, on a massive and terrifying scale.

The Associated Press reports (via The New York Times website) "Hundreds Die in Stampede in Cambodia"

GlobalPost reports "Cambodia: More than 300 die in stampdede"

CNN reports "Stampede in Cambodia kills hundreds, government says"

I get nervous when a very large crowd gets too dense. I always stay aware of evacuation routes.

RIM is DOA

2010-11-21T01:04:00.000-08:00

RIM in 2010 is DOA. Their recently released BlackBerry OS 6 is years behind Apple iOS and Google Android. RIM CEO is either delusional or a hipocrite.

The New York Times Bits tech blog posted "RIM Is Not App-Happy" on November 16, 2010.

GigaOm's theAppleBlog posted "Poking Holes in RIM's Anti-Apple Rhetoric" on November 18, 2010.

RIM CEO Jim Balsillie shouldn't be talking smack when he's the former 800 lbs gorilla sinking neck-deep in the quicksand of today's smartphone market.