A Funny Interview Experience December 18, 2006
Posted by Azeem in Uncategorized.add a comment
“Rank your knowledge of data modeling from one to 10, one being a beginner and 10 being Ted Codd”.
“Who the hell is Ted Codd?”, he asked. “I’ve been doing data modeling for 10 years and I’d rate myself a nine”.
OK, tell be about normalizing relations”.
“You mean like Nixon done with China?”, he asked.
“No, no, first, second and third normal form”.
“Yeah I know those.”
“Great” I thought, we are finally on track. “How is 2NF different than 3NF?”
“Oh, I don’t know those fancy definitions, and they don’t matter anyhow. I do it all the time, in the real-world, not in theory”.
“Ok, then describe the characteristics of a 3NF data model”
I’ll never forget his reply because it was exactly, word-for-word, the same as the U.S, Supreme Courts definition of pornography:
“I can’t describe it, but I know it when I see it”.
Xlinks: Increase your blog’s popularity December 18, 2006
Posted by Azeem in Internet.add a comment
I found this on the web and if you are interested in increasing the popularity of your blog you should try this
http://www.exlinks.net/
Their web site says
“exlinks is the ultimate, exponential link-swapping, site exploding system, and its completely free. signing up now will guarantee you a spot in the beta, updates through the news letter, and a few extra benefits.”
How to increase traffic for your blog. December 18, 2006
Posted by Azeem in Internet.add a comment
Great! you have a blog now. you started out creating a blog just out of personal interest. If you are like me, somewhere along the line you got hooked into the blog stats from wordpress. SO now you are thinking , how do I get more people to visit my blog?Realize this, people visit your blog, looking for something and if you want them to come back to your site, you need to provide more of that. every one has something that interests them, if your blog is about photography, the main content of your blog should be about photography. That was common sense. Here is a list of things to look out for when you create your content
1. Tag your content. Use technocrati as reference for the most common tags you can apply for your posts.
2. Try not to use , too many obscene words in your blog. (most people are either offended or maybe browsing from work)
3. Do not use too many graphics/images. the average human has an attention span of 7 seconds. But use graphics where needed. A touch of color is visually pleasing and soothing to the eyes.
4. Popup’s and Advertisements: AVOID as much as possible (or use as little as possible).
5. Stick to your core values.
6. Try to post material on a regular basis. I am not talking about fillers. Most people use RSS readers to read your blog.
You may have already known all of that. Now would be the time to realize that you need to market your site. There are two ways to market your site, active and passive. lets talk about passive first.
1. You can market your site passively, simply by browsing other blogs that you find interesting and leaving comments (always include your site address when you leave comments).
2. Another great way of marketing your site is by visiting news groups.. like yahoo and Google (and others). Again leave your comments along with your address
3. A word of caution. In your aggressiveness to market your blog, refrain from spamming. Every one hates spammers. try not to step on others.
Now lets look at active marketing.
1. Subscribe to news readers and feed burners
2. Use external counters like the ones you see on this blog
3. Register and subscribe to blog/news readers/aggregators
4. Exchange links with other blogs. Remember that search engines rate you better, when you have more incoming and out-going links.
5. Try to participate in new web 2.0 initiatives that deal with blogs
That was my take, based on experience. I have no experience in SEO. If you are a GURU in SEO, please share your thoughts
Anatomy of an Interview. December 18, 2006
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I don’t know how it is done in other companies, i.e. if there is a formal method for conducting an interview, but where I work someone throws an email to a few of us when they need to interview a candidate. Most of the time we are too busy (translated as “don’t care”, even if you have the time.) to read the resume. I realize now how important it is to dress up. The people we interviewed were very well dressed. I didn’t even think about what to ask for the interview, but some others took it like their life depended on how well they interviewed (be careful of those types). From a practical point of view, I made a mental note of what I should be doing for my next interview.
1. Dress the part.
2. Always be prepared to explain your current situation.i.e. your back ground and how it relates to your current job.
3. A lot of times people ask you, fuzzy questions or feel good questions (typically done by a business guy). For example do you like working in a rigid environment or a flexible environment? There is no right answer to this one. Try to dive back into your past and recollect your experiences and explain what you felt and more importantly, you have to take a stand. Just because you prefer one over the other does not make you look bad. It only shows that you know what you want.
4. This is a big one. LISTEN, and PAUSE (think) before you answer and go slow on your answer. Give your interviewer time to digest the information you are delivering.
5. If you do not know an answer, DO NOT BEAT around the bush. No one knows everything. You can play it out in a positive way by saying that you are more knowledgeable in something related and that you are willing to learn. It gives you more credibility.
6. Some interviewers like to ask simple questions. They figure if you know the basics you will know or easily pick up the complex parts. So know your basics well. Dont overload yourself with the advanced topics.
7. If it’s a group interview i.e all the interviewers are present in the room with you, try to gauge the interpersonal dynamics of the interviewers. Just because one guy keeps asking you tough questions (and you cant answer them), it doesn’t mean that the others think you are not good. Be positive through out the interview.
8. If one person is dominating the interview, its always a good idea to deflect the answers to an interviewer whom you think is more agreeable.
9. If you do not understand the questions, keep asking them to elaborate again and again. You are not at fault, if you don’t understand what they are asking you.
10. Do not try to show off your knowledge. You are indirectly challenging the interviewers knowledge.(Play it safe, unless you have the clout.)
Internet Anonymizer: Torpark December 18, 2006
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I have been stupidly looking at everyone’s IP, to determine where they are located using services like seimoz and iplookup. Well that was until today. Now I realize that, what you see is not what you get. If you use an anonymizer then you cant be traced. I remebered using anonymizer some years back. In those days it was partially free, sadly not true anymore.I have a new friend now. Torpark: a handy anonymizer that you can carry on a USB drive. It launches a TOR circuit connection, which creates an encrypted tunnel from your computer indirectly to a Tor exit computer, allowing you to surf the internet anonymously. How much does Torpark cost? IT’S FREE.
You may have heard about those heavily advertised second-rate software packages like Anonymizer, SafeSharing, InvisibleIP, SecretSurfer, etc. Well, not only do they charge you money and/or a subscription fee, but they are bloated and full of useless components. They also require an installation which leaves tracks on your computer. How is that anonymous? Try Torpark; its small, portable, clean, open-source, free of spyware/adware, and free.
http://www.torrify.com/
Ms. Dewey is a fun use of Flash in a Search Engine December 18, 2006
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Ms. Dewey is an fun use of Flash in a Search Engine. Ms. Dewey has completely cracked me up after having used it for a few searches.
It is the closest thing to interactive human responses for a search engine that I have seen (and I am not referring to the results). Try being idle and not typing, using really long searches and ask questions.
Also trying “naughty” words can get you in trouble. Its ask jeeves with a pretty face and a sense of humour
