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[Poll/HowTo] Looking for a job/Know about a job? Hate your job? Know someone who does? Let me help!
I've already posted about this once to friends-only but I promised to do a public post on utilizing me as a means for helping you find a new job.

That being said, feel free to pass this around but do note that family and immediate friends will have to take first priority. I will do my best with everyone I can who has needs - I want to help as it is my nature.

So - the key to this? LinkedIn.
( So what about this LinkedIn and getting me a job? )
I think that covers everything. Go ahead, fill out the poll, and do feel free to spread the post around. Provided I don't get absolutely overwhelmed with responses, I will do what I can to help - just remember if you're serious, I do get distracted and can lose focus. Not staying in touch with me will make me think my services are not truly needed.

I will note a lot of this information is confidential and personal. That is why I set it up so only I can see the responses. I will understand if you choose not to fill those parts out. Feel free to email me off-journal via bkdelong@pobox.com with a subject of "bkdelong LiveJournal Job Survey details" if you'd like to include that information.

In my day job, we have a non-signature binding statement of confidentiality that everyone in the community subscribes to. I hold that same confidentiality to any information shared here unless I ask and receive your permission to share said information.

( The Job Poll )

Current Mood: focused

[Job] Networking really does work!
I know I make a lot of offers to people looking for jobs that I can use my professional/social network to help get their resume in front of a real person (e.g. ideally within 2 degrees or directly to the hiring manager) while it transverses the road of red tape within a company...

But as long as people remember the key to working with me (persistence/poking/reminding) then I do get it done and provide results.

Case in point - a friend was having a phone interview and noticed I knew a senior executive at the company he was interviewing at on LinkedIn, asking if I knew anything about the company.

I chose to send a recommendation of sorts straight to the Executive acquaintance despite not being strongly-familiar with this friend's work and here's the response I got:

"Thank you for this unsolicited reference! Those are the best kind,
and very insightful.

Yes, [Friend] had a phone interview at [Company] yesterday. It went well.
We'll set up the office interview for the near future. I didn't
interview him, and won't for a little while, but this is great to know
and I will forward it to the rest of the team."

I can't promised to not get overwhelmed with my own life....which has happened off and on over the last few months between the "Big Broadcast of 1938", family-life, and being down one car (never, ever thought it would be such an issue). Please be patient if I indicate that's the case.

But I will do what I can regardless of the industry and level of position to help friends and FOAFs get jobs in this current economy.

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Rent (Original Broadway Cast) - Finale B | Powered by Last.fm

The Motto of Radio Theatre and our inspiration for the moment

And therein lies the magic.
Tens of thousands of people out there, listening,
Each envisioning their own motion picture of the mind.

And that is what we give our audience... we give them dreams.
We give them towers and landscapes, secrets and revelations.
We give them a warm hearth in the dark, or a cold shiver up their spine.

And we do it all here, live, on the sparest of threadbare budgets
With a troupe of actors who, underpaid and under-rehearsed and overwhelmed,
Have yet to learn that this
Simply
Cannot
Be done.

Victor Comstock, Remember WENN

Current Mood: ecstatic

[InfoSec Jobs at ManTech]: Pen Testing, SysAdmins, NetOps and Tech Writers (oh my)
Posted for a friend - if you would like an introduction into the company, please let me know.

----------------------------

My company is aggressively seeking a whole slew of technically minded people.
There are a few specific listings below, but they are seeking all kinds of pen
testers, Computer Network Operations (CNO), sysadmin, developer, forensics, etc
etc people. If anybody on the list is interested, please send me a copy of your
resume and I'll help you through the HR process. All of these positions require a
current U.S. Government TS/SCI security clearance. Details on all open positions
is at http://mantech.com/careers/

.( Job, jobs and more Jobs )

Current Mood: pleased

Somerville Residents, this is your Robocall for the week

This is a Special Bulletin from

Listen here for important information regarding Alien Attacks in the Somerville area.
(w/ many thanks to Tom Champion)

If you like this, please share it!

Current Mood: bemused

It's The War of the Worlds this Halloween. But enjoy some variety of radio's past first!
Have you noticed the cold air blowing upon the back of your neck? Heard the creaking of the old door opening to reveal ancient horrors in the dead of night?

Halloween is approaching, dear readers, and The Post-Meridian Radio Players are bringing their tales of woe and dread back again.

But this time we are wandering deep into the shadowed library halls. First we will hit the History section, to summon the ghosts of 1930s comedies with The Frank Cyrano Byfar Hour. You can settle in for laughs and song, purchase classic treats from the beautiful ladies, and drop your guard.

Because after that we head to the Astronomy section to study the planet Mars. You know odd sights have been seen on its surface of late..but I'm sure that doesn't mean anything for us. Certainly not the destruction of Boston around your very ears in a massive War of the Worlds. Just ignore the explosions and screams. And the slimy sucking sounds behind you...

Oh my. Guess you had to leave the library early. Too bad.

But if you want to experience the full awe and mastery of The Big Broadcast of 1938, you'll have to order tickets. Four performances at the Somerville Theatre! October 29th, 30th and we destroy Boston twice on Halloween itself! Credit: Chris DeKalb

[Tickets] 2 Tickets to Sat. 9/26 Jonathan Coulton/Paul & Storm Concert
Hi all -

~~I have 2 1 additional ticket to Saturday, Sept. 26th's Jonathan Coulton and Paul & Storm concert at The Paradise.~~

Doors Open at 8.
Concert starts at 9.
18+
General Admission

I'll sell it for what I bought it for - $33 and can email the PDFs to you to print out.

First comment, first reserve. Paypal preferred.

ETA: All tickets sold.

Last Minute Notes for PMRP Big Broadcast (War of the Worlds) auditions this week

Auditions for The Big Broadcast of October 30th, 1938 are upon us. Here are some last-minute notes:

PLEASE BE SURE YOU HAVE DONE THE FOLLOWING (if applicable):

Signed up for an appointment slot using the Appointment Form.
Downloaded and read the Audition Info Sheet.
Downloaded and filled out the Audition Availability Calendar
Downloaded and read the Show & Character Descriptions for The Frank Cyrano Byfar Hour and The War of the Worlds.
Downloaded and read the Audition Sides for The War of the Worlds.
Filled out the On-line Audition eForm (or downloaded and filled out the PDF version of the Audition Form).

Please bring anything you downloaded and filled out, along with any other material you want us to have, such as a resume.
Please plan to arrive at least 15-20 minutes early so you can check in and fill out anything you may need to or may have forgotten or to update your information.

NOTES FOR WOMEN AUDITIONING FOR THE SOLO SINGING ROLE OF JENNY BRENNAN:

Please reply and let us know if you plan to:

Sing your sample piece a capella
Bring music for our accompanist to perform
Bring someone to accompany you
Bring a CD or MIDI file for us to play

NOTES FOR POTENTIAL FOLEY/FX PERFORMERS:

There will be at least one FoleyFX Team person available to interview you, so be prepared to answer some questions and talk about your experiences or interests.

OTHER INFO

Auditions are at Unity Church of God, 6 William Street, Somerville, at the corner of College Avenue, near Davis Square (map: http://tinyurl.com/unitychurchsomerville)

If you are running late, please call 617-460-5237 or send e-mail to auditions@pmrp.org. We'll get it on-site.

------------

All right, that is about everything I have. Please keep alert for any additional information. We'll see you folks this week!

The Big Broadcast Audition Team

Current Mood: excited

OKCupid Chat now works on GAIM/Pidgin

HUGE Kudos to Saturn2888 for getting OKCupid Chat to work via GAIM/Pidgin.

Apparently way old news as the latest version is from May 28 but I'm excited just the same as that's how I've met most of my friends in the Davis Square area.

I use the PortableApps version and just needed to download the .dll and .so file from Google Code, and put it in the \PortableApps\PidginPortable\App\Pidgin\plugins

So I'm guessing using the C:\Program Files\Pidgin\plugins folder will work as well.

Then restart Pidgin

Go to: Accounts > Manage Accounts > Add

Select "OkCupid" from the pulldown

Enter your username and password; choose to save your password if you want. Local alias is for if you, say, have two accounts and want to use an alias for each connection.

Then you can add anyone you can see online as a "Buddy".

Buddies > Add Buddy

Choose the right OkCupid connection from the pulldown.

Type in your "saved profile" or current online user's username in their "Buddy's Username", and you can alias it.... like Buddy's-RealName - OKC - OKCID (since it will be appearing with the rest of your Pidgin IDs) in "(Optional) Alias". Finally choose a group with the pulldown and choose "Add".

Voila....start chatting with your new friends and beau's-to-be.

Yay!

Current Mood: geek-cited

PMRP Presents: War of the Worlds @ The Somerville Theater this Halloween

THE POST-MERIDIAN RADIO PLAYERS
are pleased to announce their

2009 Halloween Staged Radio Show!

( In celebration of their fifth year performing live radio drama in the Boston area, they're putting on something very special: )

Administrative, Staff and Technical Positions

( We are looking to fill the following positions: )

If you are interested in any of these positions, or have questions about them, please send e-mail to info@pmrp.org.

Audition Announcements will follow in a couple weeks. Stay tuned!

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Lex Concord and the Minutemen

[Filk] In Memorium - Kodakrome Filk
Apparently Kodak is now discontinuing manufacturing and distribution of Kodachrome film. A sad day but a nice tribute.

Courtesy of a post by

derspatchel from last week, my own quick, random cold-induced tribute to the famous Paul Simon song "Kodachrome" - we still have our Cameraphonochromes:

Cameraphonochrome
[to the tune of "Kodachrome" by Paul Simon¹]

They give us those annoying T-talkers
They give us the freaky hands-free seeming-stalkers
Makes you think all the world's a crazy place, Oh yeah
I got a iPhone gadget
But love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my cameraphone away
So mama don't take my cameraphone away
So mama don't take my cameraphone away

----------

"Cameraphonochrome" by B.K. DeLong is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at bkdelong.livejournal.com.

¹Paul Simon. (1973). "Kodachrome". There Goes Rhymin' Simon) [Record]. New York: Columbia Records.

Current Mood: blue
Current Music: Kodachrome by Paul Simon

URGENT: Project Freebird, The Iranian Elections and Farsi Translators Needed
I received this request from a friend of mine on Facebook tonight in the OSINT community:

"URGENT REQUEST: Project FREEBIRD has been acquiring data at a much faster rate then expected. In order to make this informative to those that do not speak Farsi we need translators. Background checks will be required. If you have information contact myself or recruiter@science-advisors.com. FRIENDS PLEASE REPOST THIS TO YOUR WALLS!"

So I asked for a little more information for those who would obviously ask the questions:

Project FREEBIRD is the open source code name for a project to translate documents, videos and other items into English for us in a large collaborative web effort to tell the world of the events leading up to, and following the Iranian election.

This is a little similar to my efforts through The Interdictor Project (TIP) regarding taking scanner frequencies of EMS, Police, Fire, Municipality, Military & NGO streamed online during natural disasters, monitor them for salient bits of information and pass it on via various methods of Net-based communication.

Except this project seems to have a whole lot of heavy hitters in the ex-law enforcement, military and intelligence community interested in it.

Current Mood: focused

[REQ] Crowdsourcing card for my anniversary gift - flying her best friend up from FL as a surprise
OK, so I am finishing up some things for work and was wondering if I could get a little help finishing up my anniversary present for my wife.

Long story short:

* She has very few friends - those who are, she's quite close to.

* Her closest used to live in London and she hasn't seen her since I flew her out as a Valentine's Day gift in 2006.

* So I'm flying her friend & son up tomm. from Florida where they recently moved back to for Sat- Mon.

----------

My wife does not like "surprises". She has been at a two day, all-day meeting for the iLabs Consortium she is putting together. Tonight, to alert her to the gift, I am trying to put together a series of cards in this order:

1 Card from kids with 7 tickets to BOS Museum of Science for Sat - DONE
2 Card with gift certificate to favorite Indian Restaurant - DONE
3 Card with 2 certs for non-cheesy, 90s style (were at Northeastern in 90s) girls-night out plus babysitter - NEED HELP HERE
4 Card with DTP/well-designed, old school flight itinerary for friend's flights - NEED HELP HERE (this will include pic of friends)

So basically, I'm looking for someone who can find me a good template for 3 and 4 or even design one if willing....and then suggest what cardstock or Avery paper I should ask for when I run it to Staples/Kinkos tonight.

Any other ideas to make her excited are certainly welcome. I'll be getting her something small and tin, traditional of course. :) But I think the plane tickets and her best friend will be surprise enough.

I'm hoping to get this set to print by 3pm.

I plan on delivering it to her tonight when she gets home about 9pm.

Any help I get I will return with a Quid Pro Quo (I always use that term wrong) - because I do believe in karmic return of favors.

Current Mood: nervous

Makes the world a better place...
If there is one person or more on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

ETA: I have to call out

lediva on this. There are so many of you who help keep me sane and I love so much but I would not know anyone in Davis Square if it weren't for her. It goes like this:

lediva →

secondshift →

bscf →

pmrp →

theatreatfirst →

arisia

This goes back to me harping on managing one's PROFESSIONAL network. Clearly ones social network can be just important to some people as well in who they meet.

Current Mood: content

BioFilk: "Why Does My Brain Fry?"
Being someone who focuses heavily on intuition and emotion/empathy, it keeps occuring to me that I need to find a better way to communicate to some of the sensers and thinkers about mental health issues - even those that may be struggling from them.

Our brains are chemicals, hormones, neurons, and all sorts of other biochemical neurology wrapped up in the ball of gray goo. The meds many of us are put on to combat the minor imbalances that can cause sometimes intense changes in mood, personality, and emotion are at best a crap shoot by many of the pharmaceutical companies.

That's an over-generalization, of course, but from the perspective of just how little we still know about how each nanometer of the human brain functions.

Overtime, I found this little bit of Bio-Filk forming in my head and while I did talk with some of my science friends about whether it makes scientific sense, I'm always open for modification.

Why Does My Brain Fry?
[to the tune of Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) by They Might Be Giants¹]

The Brain is a mass of chemical morass
A right ol' biochem circus
Where a slight, im-balance
Of Mono-a-mines
Can cause pan-ic, de-pres-sion and sad-ness

But you have friends
Who give you love and let you know you win.
But what's hap-pen-ing when they show they care your brain floods with
ser-a-ton-in!

------

Why does my brain fry? by B.K. DeLong is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at bkdelong.livejournal.com.

¹They Might Be Giants. (1993). Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas). Why Does the Sun Shine? (EP) [CD]. New York: Elektra.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Why Does the Sun Shine? by TMBG

PSA: I am on DreamWidth

bkdelong like everywhere else.

Will let people know if and when I have invite codes.

Dreamwidth Questions
Quickies:

1. Anyone know how to mass find your LJ friends on Dreamwidth? So I imported...is there a way to tell if someone from LJ imported their account to DW? Or if someone who is a mutual friend on LJ is on DW? Obviously the latter establishes the mutual trust needed to allow DW to expose that info.

2. Can anyone find the "post by email" info on Dreamwidth? That's how I'm able to do my Twitter posting behind a Locked Post rather than in the open. I'd rather keep that locked. I'm looking for the email address and any code, plus the DW codes to put in the email similar to the LJ codes.

Out of Phase
First, thanks to all for the warm birthday wishes. I must apologize to many right now. Work is in Chaos Mode so I'm working flat out in prep for our New York Forum, May 12-13 at The Roosevelt Hotel. Oh wait- yeah, next friggin week. I have a virus on my home laptop for the first time ever and it will be faster to run an malware scrubber script rather than re-install. But I'm not there yet.

I'm hoping there will be a Juxtaposition and it will all come together but I wish I were just magically Bearing an Hourglass that would let me stop things and give me a breather for a bit.

Ah, to just be the Man from Mundania.....

Hopefully things will get back to normal soon but this week will be rough. I appreciate any emails sent, messages on FB, and any DMs on Twitter as any replies as IMs, Twitter @ replies and other such touchpoints may get lost in the ether.

Current Mood: overwhelmed