Gah! Out of the loop when I need it most: The Northwest High Tech Career Expo is today and tomorrow at the Exhibition Hall in the Seattle Center. Today from 11am-2pm (drat!), tomorrow from 4pm-8pm (yay!). The web site lets you pre-print your registration form to attach to your resume so you don't have to wait in line while people do it by hand. The event appears to be hosted by 1-Jobs, which provides other job search functions on-line.

I am indeed looking for a job. Professional experience in Perl, C++, Java; Informix, MySQL, MS Access; XML; web design and programming skills, HTML, CSS, JavaScript; Adobe Photoshop, ImageReady, Illustrator; professional system administration experience with Linux (RedHat, also some Debian experience), including Apache, Sendmail, MySQL, BIND. I'm looking for web-related programming in a Unix/Linux environment, and I'd like to stay in the Seattle area and commute by public transportation. I've just started my job hunt, and am currently assembling my resume for web distribution; I'll be sure to link to it from here when I do, and I'll gladly oblige requests to have it emailed. You can best reach me at dsanders@u.washington.edu.

So today I'll be rushing to complete my web resume and maybe a personal web site, in time to attend the expo tomorrow. I only found out about the expo on the early news this morning. *sigh*

So, a photo on a professional personal website, good idea? I've seen some good ones, but I've also seen some not so good ones. Someday I'd like to put together a site like Matt's, but I don't know if I'll ever be that cool.

Craig Charles of Red Dwarf mentioned on his recent Seattle visit that he's the host of the new British "game" show Robot Wars. It was speculated during pledge breaks that Robot Wars will probably be brought over the pond via direct import via PBS, though I can't imagine too many stations snatching it up.

Want more Craig Charles? Check out his fan-acclaimed Red Dwarf novel, The Log and No Irish, No Niggers, his tell-all autobiography (not to mention his personal site, linked above).

Reminder: Blog chat on Wednesday. irc.skunkworks.cx, #blogirc.

Amiga Back From the Dead Again.

Make-Your-Own-Opoly lets you use your computer to print out your own Monopoly variant. Also comes in a pen-and-paper version.

Begin DVDWave Rant
DVDWave is under new management, but they still have yet to address my multiple complaints I have issued since January. They are starting to fix their web site in ways I've complained about, but I think the full story is still worth telling: I ordered an item on January 2 because they had the cheapest price (according to DVD Price Search). Problem #1: When I placed the order, my credit card number was taken over an insecure connection. (Always look for the little lock or key on your browser before entering your credit card number! Yes, I actually violated this rule to place the order anyway, I don't know why.) Problem #2: While they never charged my credit card, they never shipped the item. A month later I wrote them asking what's up, I got no response. By the end of February I ordered the item from Amazon.com and got it within a week, so there are no supply problems (and the item isn't rare or backordered or out of print). I wrote yet another letter to DVDWave to cancel the order, and still got no response. I went ahead and trashed 'em on BizRate.

Early this month, I received a bulk email from DVDWave announcing they were now under new management, and attached was a $5 gift certificate. In the last couple of weeks their site got some minor redesign, including appropriate use of secure connections. I still have not received any response to my queries, and according to their order tracking system, my Jan 2 order does not seem to either have shipped or have been cancelled. Today I received another bulk email regarding a St. Patrick's Day promotion ($5 off anything ordered over this weekend with a promotion code), so I sent another request for customer service to acknowledge my existence, cancel my Jan 2 order and make amends. By the power of the amateur journalist's hammer, I strike thee down, DVDWave! ...unless you get back to me and make good, of course, in which case I'll be sure to mention it here and praise the "new management". We shall see.

To be fair: Their web site has always been relatively nice with decent database integration and order tracking and whatnot. Their selection is about on par with BigStar, maybe a little less, and similarly decent prices. While I'm being fair I guess I should admit that I bought something else from them recently with the $5 gift certificate, and it was shipped and received expediently. (Who knows why I actually placed another order there; it's not like I really need another DVD store.)

Given recent changes under "new management" I'm hoping they'll get better, but given very negative customer service experiences so far, I might as well recommend avoiding them entirely. And down goes the hammer. Phbt!
End DVDWave Rant