Randomn3ss

CUTDROP.COM Relaunches as a Chairty-Aimed POP-UP Shop

Mike Panic — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:39:06 +0000

Online apparel store Cutdrop.com switches gears to become a virtual pop-up shop with a charity twist.

Beginning on October 19, 2009, Cutdrop.com will exclusively host one clothing or accessories brand each week. In that span of time, the site will offer items at a discount price and donate a portion of the profits to the charity of the brand’s choice. Cutdrop.com will also work with the individual brands, their respective charities and over 300 of the site’s online affiliates on marketing initiatives for the duration of the week.

Cutdrop.com will launch with a sale featuring Seneca Rising, an up-and-coming women’s contemporary line by designer Andi Ballard. A portion of the proceeds will go to Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, a charitable initiative of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). The sale will begin at 9 a.m. EST on October 19 and run until 11:59 p.m. on October 25. Upcoming sales include Lorick, Grey Ant, Society For Rational Dress and House of Cassette.

The idea is the digital off-shoot of Cutdrop co-owner Neil Jackson’s downtown fashion industry event Taco Tuesday, which has been going strong since 2005. Companies who have participated in Taco Tuesday include Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, ELLE magazine and Levi’s. “Through Taco Tuesday, I have realized that every brand has a cause they want to support, “says Jackson. “The year has been rough for everyone, but people are still tremendously generous and all about giving back to the community. We thought this site would be a great way to continue supporting the brands that we love and promoting awareness of the charities that they support.”

About Seneca Rising:

Named after the street in Virginia that designer Andi Ballard grew up on, the collection is brimming with details that characterize her history, and easy silhouettes she swears by today. As a young girl Andi combined thrift store finds with her older brothers hand me downs to create the girly tomboy aesthetic that is the backbone of this collection. With nostalgic overtones and a no fuss sensibility, Seneca Rising was born in August 2008.

About Fashion Targets Breast Cancer:

Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC), a charitable initiative of the Council of Fashion Designers of America/CFDA Foundation, marshals the goodwill and services of every element of the fashion industry to raise public awareness and funds for the breast cancer cause, in the U.S. and internationally. Currently, FTBC campaigns are ongoing in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. With the proceeds from these worldwide campaigns, the CFDA Foundation offers meaningful help to all women concerned about and diagnosed with breast cancer, by providing access to reliable health information and health care, and by supporting the distribution of innovative information, education and outreach that impacts the broadest number of women possible.

www.fashiontargetsbreastcancer.orgSimilar articles that might also interest you:

Anyone need 200 million male chicks?

Lauren Oujiri — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:56:10 +0000

I just came across this article with video on The Huffington Post regarding the egg industry, where male chicks are instantaneously euthanized daily because they have no production use due to being male, and there’s no profit in them in other industries either. The industry acknowledges that killing of male chicks by a huge grinder is a standard practice supported by the animal veterinary and scientific communities.

The video was shot by a undercover member of Mercy for Animals who worked in the egg hatchery. The question at the end of the article, for me, is the potent one: Does the killing of millions of male chicks every year as part of the production process so consumers can have cheap eggs make it right? It is depressing to think we have not been able to come up with alternatives (to this and the other horrifying issues that plague animal ‘processing’), and that as usual, it’s profits above all else that matters. I wish I had the answers, but surely we can do better without sacrificing this amount of life, and creating that amount of waste for the environment.

I know that the human species will never entirely stop eating animals and animal products or stop consuming the byproducts of animals, but this has just reconfirmed my vegan beliefs and choices.

Similar articles that might also interest you:

Top 10 NetBook Accessories

Mike Panic — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:48:19 +0000

With all the good that NetBooks bring, they still need some accessories to help accomplish tasks better and faster.

1. Case Logic’s Urban Messenger Pak

It doesn’t look like a computer bag, yet holds a NetBook, accessories, phone and more in a stylish package. An adjustable shoulder or hand strap lets you carry the bag on your back or in your hands.

2. MoGo Presenter Mouse X54

This Bluetooth device gives you the freedom of having a mouse to use since most netbooks compromise the trackpad / touchpad space, without the bulk of standard size mouse. It also includes a presenter function, allowing you to control your NetBook for slideshow presentations.

3. NeatReceipts

This mobile scanner allows you tame all of those loose scraps of paper you accumulate on the road. Its OCR technology captures text into a searchable PDF format for easy archival and retrieval. It’s also great for scanning business cards, since its software easily exports to MS Outlook. Best of all, it’s a small device that is not tough to carry around with you.

4. IOGEAR’s USB Laptop KVM Switch with File Transfer

An essential device used to connect your NetBook to a desktop computer for screen sharing and file transfers. KVM, or keyboard, video, mouse switch traditionally allows two computers to share the same peripherals, the IOGEAR product also allows file transfers via an on-screen menu system. This small accessory is a great way to utilize your full sized desktop monitor instead of the netbook’s smaller screen and is essential for fast file transfers and backups.

5. Western Digital’s My Passport Elite 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

The perfect accessory for NetBook users who need to carry lots of data with them. Most NetBooks come installed with very small hard drives and those with SSD drives are usually 32GB and under, but this slim, fashionable device can carry most anything you’ll need. Transfer at full USB 2.0 speeds and enjoy the multitude of colors it’s available in to match or clash with your NetBook.

6. Targus Laptop Chill Mat

You need this device to help keep the heat out of your NetBook and off your lap. NetBooks are small, that’s what makes them attractive, but they still generate heat and that is computer components worst nightmare. Utilizing the USB port on your netbook for power, this slim, lightweight mat sits under your computer with two powerful fans to keep your netbook running cool all day long.

7. Samsung SE-S084B Slot Loading Slim 8x DVD Burner

Most NetBooks don’t have room for burners in them, but sometimes you need to either burn something or utilize a CD / DVD drive to load new software. This slim, slot-loading 8x burner is built for netbooks and laptops and can be completely powered by a USB source, no need to carry a bulky AC adapter to use.

8. IOGEAR’s Wireless USB Hub and Adapter Kit

This USB adapter is perfect for setting up in your home or office (or both) to connect your printer, scanner and other USB devices to, then plug the USB adapter into your netbook to utilize those devices wirelessly, up to 30 feet away.

9. Logitech Alto Cordless Keyboard

For NetBook users, this is the Ferrari of accessories to have at home or the office. If you utilize your netbook on a fulltime basis, having a full sized keyboard is a must-have. Additionally, the Alto comes with a stand to hold your netbook at a comfortable viewing angle to reduce neck pain. Cord management is also integrated to keep everything nice and tidy.

10. SanDisk Ultra II SDHC memory card

A common feature on NetBooks is a built in SD memory card slot, which is perfect since most point & shoot digital cameras on the market utilize the SD technology. Additionally, it’s a simple way to easily expand the amount of data that can be stored in the netbook without an external hard drive. Sandisk offers cards from 2GB to 32GB to fit almost any budget and need. Read/write speed is 15mb/second so you won’t wait long for files to transfer.

Utilizing these 10 accessories will allow you to maximize your new NetBook for everything it has to offer, and then some. Best of all, these are all small enough to carry with you almost anywhere you go.Similar articles that might also interest you:

Move Over Remote, There’s a New Love in Town

Mike Panic — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:48:47 +0000

This is a guest post by Jana K. Hoffman, the editorial assistant at Lehigh Valley Style and freelance fashion writer. You can also read her stuff on BettyLife.

Nearly two months ago I wrote a post about my favorite iPhone 3G App. Well, I am happy to report a lot has changed in two months. I am now currently (and probably forever will be) obsessed with ShakeItPhoto. It’s a digital Polaroid in your pocket, and you have to buy it. For only $0.99, it’s completely and utterly worth it!

As a Polaroid camera owner myself, I thoroughly enjoy each photo that pops out in all of its graininess glory. Keepsake photos, as I like to call them. I tuck each away in a specific Polaroid-photos-only album.

But now, with ShakeItPhoto, I can take Polaroid-esque images with my phone and upload them to my computer, onto Facebook and send to friends.

The App’s uniqueness encourages you to shake your phone and watch as the photo develops on your screen. You can now even take your existing photos and instantly turn it into a Polaroid. I truly cannot get enough! Sorry, Remote, but you’ve just been demoted.Similar articles that might also interest you:

Exclusive Interview with Oderus Urungus of Gwar by Markus Goldman

Mike Panic — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 21:12:56 +0000

This is a guest post by Markus Goldman, a DJ at WMMR in Philadelphia.

The other day I interviewed Oderus Urungus of GWAR and had a blast talking to him. Oderus spoke very gleefully about the Depravity of Philthadelphia and why he loves visiting our fair city. Gwar’s new record, Lust In Space, is available on CD or via download on August 18th. You can pre-order the CD at www.gwar.net or www.metalslave.com and you will get an autographed copy of Lust In Space. Gwar will be on the road with Lamb of God for four months starting this fall. As no Philly date is set yet, Oderus expects a November or December Electric Factory show. Keep checking www.gwar.net and their MySpace page for updated tour information. Enjoy the brilliant insanity of Oderus.

Stream here or download and listen:

Similar articles that might also interest you:

An Open Letter To People Who Use Bike Paths

Mike Panic — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:41:52 +0000

This is a guest post by Kendra Greaves, a professional aerialist, circus performer and avid biker who lives in and commutes around Philadelphia by bicycle.

Yay! It’s summertime. I’m so happy that you are outside biking, walking, running, rollerblading, walking with your kids, walking your dog…. whatever you might be doing. I have a few comments and suggestions to make everybody’s (mainly mine, I guess) journey more enjoyable.

First. This might seem simple, but for most people, this seems to be a concept unimaginable. Get out of the middle of the path. Not so hard, really. This counts no matter if you are biking or on foot. This is especially important if you have music blasting in your ears. If I am saying “on your left” over and over while I am stuck behind you on the narrow point on Kelly Drive where I can’t pass you, I’m going to eventually get pissed and ride up directly behind you and literally scream. I have had to do this a few times. It’s great you are running or biking slowly. Really. Your fat ass thanks you (but maybe you might want to not wear spandex just yet….). But if you are going at a snail’s pace and I have to get somewhere, or I am just sick of staring at your jiggling white thighs, I will scream at you until you hear me. Then I will most likely curse at you, and consider pushing you into the trees. Turn down your fucking music, or better yet, stay to the right of the path.

Which brings me to my second point. You are not from England, or Australia. I hear that South Jersey accent. I know you are from the tri-state area. So stay on the right side of the fucking path. Seriously. And when I glare at you because I barely miss hitting you, do not get mad at me. You know the rules of the road. Oh, wait…. you drive like an asshole too? My bad. I just assumed people who walk or drive can do it the proper way. I guess I was wrong.

That said - if there is a tiny narrow curve in the path (there are quite a few - some of them even have lines painted down the middle, and signs saying “go slow”), do not pass the person in front of you just yet. Because you can’t see who is coming in from the other side. Stay over as far as you can or you will probably get hit. You can wait an extra 8 seconds before you swerve out and potentially hit me, who is staying on the proper side and going slowly in tight areas. Because let’s face it, you aren’t going that fast anyway.

If I yell “on your left” and start to pass you, do not jump in front of me. You don’t have to move at all in fact. I have taken into account passing you by the time I tell you that I am. You’re fine.

Do not let your dog, horse, or small child lunge in front of my bike. If I do miss hitting them, I will narrowly miss them, and you will yell at me and get upset, and little Bobby will start to cry. Hold them. Hold their hand or their leash (leashes are for your dogs though, not your child). Get off your fucking Blackberry. Stop texting your friends. Pay attention to your kids. Otherwise they will wind up writing angry posts like this one in 25 years.

Please do not swing your fishing poles around. If one hits me again, I will take you and throw you into the river after I break your fishing pole over my thigh.

Do not walk three or four abreast. I don’t care how cool you and your friends are. You do not deserve to take up the entire path. It is not the Yellow Brick Road.

Look behind you and see if someone is approaching if you need to suddenly get to the left side of the path. Not so hard, but people never seem to do this. Likewise, if you suddenly must stop dead in your tracks, get over to the grass or something.

A few random bits I would also like to mention:

Spandex is not for everyone (I am repeating this because I feel strongly here)
Unless you are biking up Shurs Lane, keep your elbows straight when you bike. You look like and idiot. And you are going slow. It’s not helping you
Change your gears from time to time. I laugh at you when you are pedaling your ass off and not getting anywhere. If you don’t want to change gears, do what I do, and ride on a track frame
If you must listen to music, turn it down. Or just listen in your right ear
Wear a helmet

I’m sure that I can continue on here, but those are the major things that I would like to mention.

So please, be considerate so I can get back and forth between work and home without wanting to run someone over.Similar articles that might also interest you:

How to Make Your Dog Vomit

Sarah Sweets — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:00:34 +0000

This article is not as sadistic as the title implies. Knowing how to make your dog vomit could save his or her life.

Dogs are natural scavengers. Unfortunately this may mean that will scavenge for food in your kitchen or garbage which could lead to deadly consequences. There are many foods which are safe for humans that are highly toxic to dogs. If your dog eats these items, it will be imperative that you are able to induce vomiting in a timely manner in order to avoid poisoning or harm.

Foods to avoid (below is a partial list of foods that are poisonous or harmful if ingested by your dog):

Grapes / Raisins (contain a toxin that can lead to kidney failure)

Onions (a large amount consumed at one time or over several days can lead to anemia as well as gastrointestinal problems)

Corn Cobs (can cause intestinal blockage)

Fruit Pits (can cause intestinal blockage)

Uncooked bread dough (the years can continue to rise in the dog’s intestine causing blockage or rupture)

Xylitol (in many gums and candies and can cause liver damage with extended or large quantity ingestion)

Macadamia Nuts (can cause locomotion difficulties)

Avocado (contain Persin which can cause vomiting, diarrhea or heart congestion)

Salmon / Trout (can contain parasites that are harmful to dogs)

Chicken Bones (can cause intestinal blockage)

Prescription and over-the-counter medicines (most medicines are harmful to your dog)

Chocolate (contains Theobromine which can cause seizures, irregular hearbeats, and difficulty breathing)

Coffee / Caffeine (similar in chemical make-up to Theobromine, can cause seizures, irregular heartbeats, difficulty breathing)

If your dogs ingests one of these items, you should induce vomiting. Time is of the essence, so it is important that you induce vomiting immediately after consumption of the dangerous item.

Ways to induce vomiting in your dog (you should do this outside or in a tub for easier clean-up):

Hydrogen Peroxide: this inexpensive solution is available at most pharmacies and grocery stores. A bottle can cost between 50 cents and a dollar. To induce vomiting, pour 2-3 Tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide into your dog’s mouth, coaxing him or her to swallow it. After about 5 minutes, your dog will begin to vomit and will continue to vomit until his or her stomach is empty. Depending on the size of your dog, this can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.

Salt: 1 Tablespoon of salt can also make your dog vomit. This is a little messier than hydrogen peroxide as it is sometimes more difficult to force your dog to swallow a tablespoon of dry salt. You can try mixing it with 2 Tablespoons of water in order to pour it more easily into your dog’s mouth. Vomiting will occur within about 5 minutes and will last 5 to 15 minutes.

Syrup of Ipecac: This was previously a common household item for people with small children, but new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics are no longer recommending every household keep a stock of Ipecac. Regardless, this remedy works for dogs. Syrup of Ipecac can be purchased from most drug stores and is slightly more expensive than Hydrogen Peroxide (about $3 for a bottle). Follow the directions on the bottle for dosages. Pour the syrup into your dog’s mouth to induce vomiting. Wait several minutes for it to take effect. Your dog will vomit the contents of his or her stomach in a span of 5 to 15 minutes.

Of course, NEVER induce vomiting if your dog has ingested a caustic substance, seek immediate medical help from your veterinarian.

If your dog is showing signs of poisoning such as lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, blood in stool or vomit, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeats, difficulty urinating, lack of thirst or hunger, etc. seek IMMEDIATE medical treatment from your veterinarian.

Keep a stock of Hydrogen Peroxide, Salt, and/or Syrup of Ipecac on hand for emergencies should they arise and always contact your veterinarian with any health questions.

You can also check out these How-To videos for more specific instructions:

How to Make a Dog Vomit -- powered by eHow.com

Another video can be seen here.Similar articles that might also interest you:

An update from a job search

Lauren Oujiri — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:36:14 +0000

I have been job searching for three months and here’s a look at the experience in today’s economy and with the current methods of applying for positions.

(I’m not at an executive or above level, I’m not at the minimum wage level, I’m near the middle somewhere, so I am only speaking to my spot on the spectrum.)

The briefest, most honest characterization of job seeking right now: Totally sucks. This is due to several reasons:

We all have heard the unemployment numbers across the nation. With the exception of North Dakota, it seems, unemployment is at the highest levels seen in decades. Therefore, there are millions of people searching for work, decreasing one’s chances of getting hired. Hiring managers can pick the cream of the crop, so if you don’t have everything they both require and prefer, you have little hope of getting an interview.

Hiring managers have a very hard job to do, because of the above: Depending on the open position, dozens, hundreds and maybe even thousands of people are applying for it, whereas in times past, perhaps only handfuls or dozens and maybe hundreds would have applied, burying HR folks with application results and/or applications to sort through. This means the process takes longer. (E.g. it takes longer not to hear back from them and not get a rejection letter. More on that later.)

Online job hunting is difficult at best for many reasons, mostly because it is such a time suck:

First, everything is now so impersonal, it’s taken the “human” out of human resources. If you try to go the old fashioned route and go to a brick and mortar location to ask if they have openings and can you speak to a manager, you’re sent back home (without getting to a manager) to fill out an app on line.

Second, back in the good old early days of online job hunting, there was Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com. Now there are hundreds and hundreds of similar sites, each one promising to deliver great positions to you daily. Because job seekers are anxious and even desperate, they spend hours and hours setting up their accounts on all of them, and end up with countless notices in their inbox for jobs that bare no resemblance to the preferences they set up. Often, when one finds one to click on, even though you just got the notice today, it comes up “job expired”. Well, at least not too much time was wasted, which is some satisfaction, though not really if you really wanted the position.

Third, perhaps the most maddening thing of all is when you have saved resumes and all your information on a job search site, ostensibly to save you time in your job search, you upload the resume, write the killer cover letter, thinking you’re done, only to be sent to the company’s site to input everything manually because it’s required. I can’t tell you how furious this makes me. It makes no sense from a design standpoint, and is certainly not user-friendly. If you’re an employer and prefer applicants use your online form, just have the applicant get right to your form and skip the job search engine’s protocol, or at least have a notice that you will have to do both, just out of courtesy. (I admit I’m not sure if these are options, but I’m pleading with anyone out there who has such a say to please make it so.) If you’re a job searcher, you’ve just lost another block of time you could have been applying or searching, and more time is lost to get back to focus because you’re so angry you had to duplicate your efforts.

Fourth, as previously mentioned, hiring managers do have a daunting task with so many people applying compared to years past. One way of screening people online includes requiring them to fill out questionnaires with items that typically would be asked in a first interview. Some of these include essay type questions asking you how you have handled x-y-z, explain your knowledge of 1-2-3, list your experience with a-b-c, and so forth. Some of these fields limit how much you can say, making it difficult to make your case for why you would be good at that and get results for them. Some ask you to list your experience with various software, or supervision duties, or situations you may have faced that you would face in this position, but there’s a very ominous tone to the statement accompanying it, in effect saying if you claim to have more experience than you actually have, if you lie or embellish or make false claims you will be immediately disqualified, your hand will be slapped, and you will have to wear a red U on your forehead for still being unemployed because WE won’t hire you and therefore no one else should. Okay, I embellish. But it’s very, very discouraging to be well-qualified for the position except for not having advanced Software A experience, which will disqualify you, because they state explicitly that not meeting every one of the qualifications is grounds for not being considered. I don’t embellish on that one. So, do you lie and take the risk, hoping that if they like you on the 99% there’s a chance you’ll get the interview despite the 1%. What would you do?

Job seekers always face ethical dilemmas with how much to tell or not tell about their backgrounds, this is nothing new, it’s now just more daunting and the stakes are higher. There’s been much discussion in the media regarding job searching about whether to list advanced degrees if you think they will count you out as being overqualified, for example, with no real answers or direction. I personally think honesty will let you sleep well at night, but this is a whole new cutthroat world of job searching.

Fifth, okay, you made it through the gauntlet of an online application, feel good about your chances after hitting that submit button, to get this: “Thank you for your application! We will contact you if we feel your qualifications meet our needs. Do not call or email to ask about the status of your application: Due to the large number of applications, we will only be calling those people we want to advance to the interview stage. Please wait for this notice, or if we don’t contact you, thank you again for applying, check in again for future opportunities, and we wish you great luck in your career search!” Meaning, if you aren’t contacted, you won’t get a rejection letter in the mail saying as much. You’re just left in limbo, wondering, waiting, or for those following the advice that has proliferated about how to job search, you go searching for a contact name, an email, anything that will allow you to follow up with your earnest interest in the position, typically to find a brick wall or a receptionist who is not about to cough up any names for you, and just gives the generic company line about hiring. I have only received one snail mail rejection letter out of dozens of applications. It’s a very dehumanizing reality of how companies manage applications now.
You hear that networking is the way to find job openings, that because of the vast numbers applying online for anything and everything, clogging the system for those that are qualifed and should be considered, your odds are better if you can get names and have someone on your side to refer to in your application. Given that networking is 180 degrees opposite of sitting at the computer alone searching and applying, you'd think job seekers would relish the chance to talk to people in the flesh. My experience: Networking events tend to be attended by solo entrepreneurs expecting that you are there to hear their pitch and hoping you will want their services, as that is what their industries tell them to do to find new clients. Networking events are rarely attended by people in hiring positions, for obvious reasons. Networking requires you to have your elevator speech polished and ready to go, which is a good thing, but no one seems to listen as they're so busy getting ready to give you theirs (and to get you as a client). Typically, the host or hostess gets to do their pitch to the group, during which you're expected to sit graciously, be attentive and actively participate as a thanks for this great networking opportunity. In fairness to many of the good people I have met at these events, there is some hope of some opportunity here and there (usually for freelance work more so that knowledge of open positions), and they truly understand the tough spot a job seeker is in, so at least the validation and talking with people face to face for a change is worth it. As the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and new friendships and contacts can be developed at times. It's good to put on inteview clothes and work your best lines, prepping your interview skills for when you hopefully get one.

I have signed with a temp agency: In years past, this has always been listed as a way to meet new people, gain more experience and skills, and hopefully land a job. I signed up with one in June, have subsquently signed up with one of their partners, signed up at a different agency, and have yet to be placed into a position: The temp agencies aren't getting the work due to the economy. Or, the work they offer is, well, you decide: "We have an opening that is a long term position, 6-8 months minimum is projected, 21 hours per week, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday, and you must commit to that time frame." Oh and it pays slightly better than minimum wage (which, let's remember, is not a living wage) with ten times the responsibility for the pay. I don't regret signing up. It's been good to do the interviews to get the practice, and to take the tests and remember I do well under pressure. Remains to be seen if I get placed prior to finding a position myself.

A new reality of what work looks like is coming out at this time, related to this. Many people will take that temp job listed above, and hobble together two or three other part time positions, just to pay the bills and be working. There are thousands of people doing just this, and I think it’s a horrible trend - they have no health benefits, and companies are lowering and lowering the pay scales because they know people are desperate. Where is it going to lead? Where is the bottom? I guess that would be ‘I (employee) pay you (employer) to work for no salary’ (and thus it’s not even a volunteer position. Oh and I am volunteering, per the other conventional wisdom out there. Remains to be seen what that may lead to).

I initially thought I would not have a hard time finding a new position because so many of the job losses in the past year or so have been in manufacturing or construction, neither of which I am in, and because of a good work history and strong references (thank you, you know who you are), and of course, my, ahem, good personality (okay, I saw the eye roll, and yes, I know, that’s subjective). However, the latter doesn’t come through on most online job apps so the cover letter is your only chance, but given how heavily weighted the online forms are, it’s hard to know how much relevance the cover letter has, given the computerized nature of keywords and matching requirements compared to eyeballs on a page making determinations. If anyone doing online hiring can shed light on that, it would be greatly appreciated, but I’m guessing that info stays hidden away somewhere.

If you have done any reading about job searching, you will know it now takes five and ten times the effort, creativity and work to land a job. I had read that most job searches take 6-9 months, but this was prior to the current state of unemployment, so I know I have to pace myself and take all this into account. It’s hard to project how long this will last (the current methods of job searching and the recession), but it’s not for the feint of heart. (Remember that unemployment figures don’t count those who have lost heart and given up job searching, or are underemployed and still looking for a better position.) Even for those with a system for their search, faithfully working at it daily, it gets very disheartening and discouraging, even for those with lots of resources and stamina. It’s unnerving to think the economy won’t turn around until next year some time, based on current news reports; people’s severance pay, savings, and unemployment benefits won’t last forever (and I shudder to think of those relying on credit cards to see them through, given the whole scene there nowadays).

Whether you were laid off, fired, or voluntarily left, the reality of finding a new position is the same for everyone. It gets to your self-esteem, your confidence, your endurance. It’s a ripe ground for contemplation and values clarification, but it’s sometimes hard to justify the time when you don’t want to miss opportunities to apply for something, or network, or pound pavement looking for work not listed online. It is worth it, though (and, if you go to a networking event you are sure to find a life coach who would like you to hire them to help you with it; in all fairness, there are good ones and it can be worth it, but expect to put out a few hundred dollars or more). There’s nothing like a job search to make you take a hard look at yourself and your life, which can be rewarding if it sparks a new direction, a clarity or understanding of what you want your life to be.

All I can say is that I have to, and any job seeker has to, keep digging in and doing the work, look for opportunities everywhere, take breaks as needed, whine and vent as appropriate (just don’t get stuck there), and keep the hopes up. I do hope that something shifts in the way we apply for work, however, and that HR and software designers come up with better systems that still have some humanity and dignity to them. I know not every company and organization hires online and/or still has a sane process, but it’s a troubling trend that seems to be here to stay, and that the majority of job seekers have to deal with and find a way to make work for them.

Good luck to us all, and I’d like to hear from both job seekers and those on the hiring side, and those who have just landed a position through a process mentioned here as to their experiences and feelings about it all. Similar articles that might also interest you:

Three top tutorials

You may want to stand for this!

Digg stops making top submitters famous

Remembering to Backup: Step-by-Step

F*ck with your coworkers

Better World Club Being Greenwashed by AAA

Lauren Oujiri — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:47:20 +0000

The Oregon/Idaho AAA has decided to go green a bit by offering bicycle service in Oregon and Southern Idaho. This is after over 100 years of anti-environmental lobbying, including fighting against bicycle path creation. Adding insult to injury, the media is covering this as if AAA in an eco-pioneer instead the truth that they are six years behind Better World Club.

Better World Club claims this is not the first time that AAA of Oregon/Idaho has copied their innovation:

“In 2001, Better World was the first travel agency/company to offer carbon credits to offset the greenhouse gas generated by travel. Oregon/Idaho AAA followed suit just last year. (However, Better World Club also provides an offset to each of its auto insurance clients for free - a service not offered by AAA.)” - Better World Club

For the record, AAA is not the first auto club to offer bicycle roadside assistance, and
- You can only get AAA’s bike assistance through their Plus program.
- You have to own a car to get it and pay a premium price, while BWC offers bike-only insurance.
- Not only is the program offering limited to Oregon/Idaho, but the coverage is as well, as opposed to BWC’s nationwide coverage.

For more information, www.betterworldclub.com or kicking_asphalt@betterworldclub.com and please pass this info on!

Disclaimer: I am a member of Better World Club, and am sharing information at their request from their news alert to get the word out about AAA’s pseudo ‘greening.’Similar articles that might also interest you:

10 Ways to Support Charity Through Social Media

Mike Panic — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:00:37 +0000

This post is a collaboration between Mashable’s Summer of Social Good charitable fundraiser and Max Gladwell’s “10 Ways” series. The post is being simultaneously published across more than 100 blogs.

Social media is about connecting people and providing the tools necessary to have a conversation. That global conversation is an extremely powerful platform for spreading information and awareness about social causes and issues. That’s one of the reasons charities can benefit so greatly from being active on social media channels. But you can also do a lot to help your favorite charity or causes you are passionate about through social media.

Below is a list of 10 ways you can use social media to show your support for issues that are important to you. If you can think of any other ways to help charities via social web tools, please add them in the comments. If you’d like to retweet this post or take the conversation to Twitter or FriendFeed, please use the hashtag #10Ways.

1. Write a Blog Post

Blogging is one of the easiest ways you can help a charity or cause you feel passionate about. Almost everyone has an outlet for blogging these days — whether that means a site running WordPress, an account at LiveJournal, or a blog on MySpace or Facebook. By writing about issues you’re passionate about, you’re helping to spread awareness among your social circle. Because your friends or readers already trust you, what you say is influential.

Recently, a group of green bloggers banded together to raise individual $1 donations from their readers. The beneficiaries included Sustainable Harvest, Kiva, Healthy Child, Healthy World, Environmental Working Group, and Water for People. The blog-driven campaign included voting to determine how the funds would be distributed between the charities. You can read about the results here.

You should also consider taking part in Blog Action Day, a once a year event in which thousands of blogs pledge to write at least one post about a specific social cause (last year it was fighting poverty). Blog Action Day will be on October 15 this year.

2. Share Stories with Friends

Another way to spread awareness among your social graph is to share links to blog posts and news articles via sites like Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg, and even through email. Your network of friends is likely interested in what you have to say, so you have influence wherever you’ve gathered a social network.

You’ll be doing charities you support a great service when you share links to their campaigns, or to articles about causes you care about.

3. Follow Charities on Social Networks

In addition to sharing links to articles about issues you come across, you should also follow charities you support on the social networks where they are active. By increasing the size of their social graph, you’re increasing the size of their reach. When your charities tweet or post information about a campaign or a cause, statistics or a link to a good article, consider retweeting that post on Twitter, liking it on Facebook, or blogging about it.

Following charities on social media sites is a great way to keep in the loop and get updates, and it’s a great way to help the charity increase its reach by spreading information to your friends and followers.

You can follow the Summer of Social Good Charities:

Oxfam America (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube)
The Humane Society (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr)
LIVESTRONG (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr)
WWF (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr)

4. Support Causes on Awareness Hubs

Another way you can show your support for the charities you care about is to rally around them on awareness hubs like Change.org, Care2, or the Facebook Causes application. These are social networks or applications specifically built with non-profits in mind. They offer special tools and opportunities for charities to spread awareness of issues, take action, and raise money.

It’s important to follow and support organizations on these sites because they’re another point of access for you to gather information about a charity or cause, and because by supporting your charity you’ll be increasing their overall reach. The more people they have following them and receiving their updates, the greater the chance that information they put out will spread virally.

5. Find Volunteer Opportunities

Using social media online can help connect you with volunteer opportunities offline, and according to web analytics firm Compete, traffic to volunteering sites is actually up sharply in 2009. Two of the biggest sites for locating volunteer opportunities are VolunteerMatch, which has almost 60,000 opportunities listed, and Idealist.org, which also lists paying jobs in the non-profit sector, in addition to maintaining databases of both volunteer jobs and willing volunteers.

For those who are interested in helping out when volunteers are urgently needed in crisis situations, check out HelpInDisaster.org, a site which helps register and educate those who want to help during disasters so that local resources are not tied up directing the calls of eager volunteers. Teenagers, meanwhile, should check out DoSomething.org, a site targeted at young adults seeking volunteer opportunities in their communities.

6. Embed a Widget on Your Site

Many charities offer embeddable widgets or badges that you can use on your social networking profiles or blogs to show your support. These badges generally serve one of two purposes (or both). They raise awareness of an issue and offer up a link or links to additional information. And very often they are used to raise money.

Mashable’s Summer of Social Good campaign, for example, has a widget that does both. The embeddable widget, which was custom built using Sprout (the creators of ChipIn), can both collect funds and offer information about the four charities the campaign supports.

7. Organize a Tweetup

You can use online social media tools to organize offline events, which are a great way to gather together like-minded people to raise awareness, raise money, or just discuss an issue that’s important to you. Getting people together offline to learn about an important issue can really kick start the conversation and make supporting the cause seem more real.

Be sure to check out Mashable’s guide to organizing a tweetup to make sure yours goes off without a hitch, or check to see if there are any tweetups in your area to attend that are already organized.

8. Express Yourself Using Video

As mentioned, blog posts are great, but a picture really says a thousand words. The web has become a lot more visual in recent years and there are now a large number of social tools to help you express yourself using video. When you record a video plea or call to action about your issue or charity, you can make your message sound more authentic and real. You can use sites like 12seconds.tv, Vimeo, and YouTube to easily record and spread your video message.

Last week, the Summer of Social Good campaign encouraged people to use video to show support for charity. The #12forGood campaign challenged people to submit a 12 second video of themselves doing something for the Summer of Social Good. That could be anything, from singing a song to reciting a poem to just dancing around like a maniac — the idea was to use the power of video to spread awareness about the campaign and the charities it supports.

If you’re more into watching videos than recording them, Givzy.com enables you to raise funds for charities like Unicef and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital by sharing viral videos by e-mail.

9. Sign or Start a Petition

There aren’t many more powerful ways to support a cause than to sign your name to a petition. Petitions spread awareness and, when successfully carried out, can demonstrate massive support for an issue. By making petitions viral, the social web has arguably made them even more powerful tools for social change. There are a large number of petition creation and hosting web sites out there. One of the biggest is The Petition Site, which is operated by the social awareness network Care2, or PetitionOnline.com, which has collected more than 79 million signatures over the years.

Petitions are extremely powerful, because they can strike a chord, spread virally, and serve as a visual demonstration of the support that an issue has gathered. Social media fans will want to check out a fairly new option for creating and spreading petitions: Twitition, an application that allows people to create, spread, and sign petitions via Twitter.

10. Organize an Online Event

Social media is a great way to organize offline, but you can also use online tools to organize effective online events. That can mean free form fund raising drives, like the Twitter-and-blog-powered campaign to raise money for a crisis center in Illinois last month that took in over $130,000 in just two weeks. Or it could mean an organized “tweet-a-thon” like the ones run by the 12for12k group, which aims to raise $12,000 each month for a different charity.

In March, 12for12k ran a 12-hour tweet-a-thon, in which any donation of at least $12 over a 12 hour period gained the person donating an entry into a drawing for prizes like an iPod Touch or a Nintendo Wii Fit. Last month, 12for12k took a different approach to an online event by holding a more ambitious 24-hour live video-a-thon, which included video interviews, music and sketch comedy performances, call-ins, and drawings for a large number of prizes given out to anyone who donated $12 or more.

Bonus: Think Outside the Box

Social media provides almost limitless opportunity for being creative. You can think outside the box to come up with all sorts of innovative ways to raise money or awareness for a charity or cause. When Drew Olanoff was diagnosed with cancer, for example, he created Blame Drew’s Cancer, a campaign that encourages people to blow off steam by blaming his cancer for bad things in their lives using the Twitter hashtag #BlameDrewsCancer. Over 16,000 things have been blamed on Drew’s cancer, and he intends to find sponsors to turn those tweets into donations to LIVESTRONG once he beats the disease.

Or check out Nathan Winters, who is biking across the United States and documenting the entire trip using social media tools, in order to raise money and awareness for The Nature Conservancy.

The number of innovative things you can do using social media to support a charity or spread information about an issue is nearly endless. Can you think of any others? Please share them in the comments.

Special thanks to VPS.net

A special thanks to VPS.net, who are donating $100 to the Summer of Social Good for every signup they receive this week.

Sign up at VPS.net and use the coupon code “SOSG”to receive 3 Months of FREE hosting on top of your purchased term. VPS.net honors a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee so there’s no risk.

About the “10 Ways” Series

The “10 Ways” Series was originated by Max Gladwell. This is the second simultaneous blog post in the series. The first ran on more than 80 blogs, including Mashable. Among other things, it is a social media experiment and the exploration of a new content distribution model. You can follow Max Gladwell on Twitter.

This content was originally written by Mashable’s Josh Catone.Similar articles that might also interest you: