[SGVLUG] Recap of last nights presentation

[Stan Slonkosky]

On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 1:00 PM, matti <mathew_2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
>
> Wow, I really enjoyed last nights presentation,
> AND i really wished we had more people in the
> meeting. Honestly I REALLY wished to have seen
> more people, as Todd had some great information!
> ( PLEASE help spread the word about our meetings
> folks. )
>
> Ok, So here's a quick re-cap of my recollections

Thanks for that.

> Mike had some really cool news items.
>
> My personal favorite was the google data
> center stuff... google basically attempts
> to maximize efficiency and has customized
> their setups so that each system has it's
> own battery backup, and a pile of servers are
> in a modified shipping container. ( lol!
> like they add server capacity based on
> shipping containers. )

http://www.greenm3.com/2009/04/googles-container-data-center-video-tour.html
has a video of a Google data center tour.

By the way, Microsoft has an animation of how they are building their
Generation 4.0 datacenters. Tractor trailers are sent to the site and
the trailers are left at the site. If I remember correctly, they only
need to connect power and data connections. After a certain number of
the servers fail in any given trailer, the trailer is replaced with a
new one.
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=b4d189d3-19bd-42b3-85d7-6ca46d97fe40

> Todd's (the geek hunter) presentation:

> 2) The Job Market is moving NOW,.. but still tight.
> We had a few job positions available mentioned
> in the meeting, and a number of people looking
> for jobs. ( tho I didnt see much matching, maybe
> a mismatch of skills )

Probably so. He was looking for a senior network engineer.  I have
limited experience and probably am going to have to find an
entry-level position, which is not an enviable position to be in when
you've just turned 57. (In the meantime, I've been volunteering at a
public middle school where the technology teacher has been buying used
Pentium 4 Dell and HP computers using money donated by the school's
community club. Purchases of new computers have to made with a certain
contracted vendor which charges the school district about double what
they'd have to pay if they bought them at Fry's. Another guy and I
have been have been using Windows Server 2008 to image them with XP
Pro and a bunch of open source educational software, Open Office and
Windows Steadystate, which is like Deep Freeze, but is a free download
from Microsoft. The district's IT department is grudingly allowing us
to do this. I think they will be losing one of their employees at the
end of the school year due to budget cuts.)

> 9) Research
> Research the company and those whom you may interview
> with. linkedin.

I've ignored the social networking sites up to now, but I've seen more
and more recommendations to use LinkedIn and, to a lesser extent,
Facebook. See https://chappellu.com/secure/lauraBlog.jsp for example.

> what else???

The (very few) interviews I have had have been from potential
employers who have found my resume in CalJobs. I have put resumes in
such places as Kforce and Robert Half but have had zero response from
either of them. I'm probably too inexperienced for them to bother
with.

A few months ago, I heard one guy complain about how he was treated by
a Robert Half. They set up an interview for him with a prospective
employer, but they cancelled the interview about an hour before it was
scheduled, saying the position had already been filled. Someone at
Robert Half later called to congratulate him on getting the job and
asked him how it was going. To say he was miffed would be an
understatement.

I did find Todd's talk interesting and think it will be helpful.
-- 
Stan Slonkosky