Paul Ryburn’s Journal

So, Colin Powell endorsed Obama.  I’ve been reading analyses of this development, and most political writers don’t think the endorsement will sway a lot of voters to Obama; most people who would be influenced by the endorsement one way or the other have already made up their minds.  Where it may help is in the […]

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I found a really cool freeware utility last week called AnVir Task Manager that laptop users may be interested in.  I grabbed it because too many programs were loading upon startup, and it seemed to be a highly-rated startup manager.  However, it has another interesting feature as well… it displays your hard drive’s temperature in […]

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I added a new article to Saving Consumers Time yesterday.  This one reviews three good laptops under $1000 - a Toshiba Satellite that is loaded except it has last year’s processor (which is still fine for the average user), a loaded 17″ HP laptop, and a MacBook under $1000 that would be a great computer […]

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One of my favorite authors, marketing guru Seth Godin, released his new book, Tribes, this week.  In his latest blog post, he tells you how you can get the audio version for under a dollar on iTunes, or for free if you register at Audible.com.  Or, if you want to buy the print version, click […]

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Check out this article on The Googleplex, Google’s main office campus in Mountain View, California.  Employees get free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.  They also get perks like free haircuts, and electric scooters are available to zip them around campus if they don’t feel like walking.  There are ping-pong tables when they need a break […]

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One of the things I needed to do this morning was download IM software.  Out-of-towners with freelancing work want to talk to me next week, and I replied, “Sounds great, if you prefer IM to phone, just let me know what network you’re on, and I’ll install an IM client so I can talk to […]

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I stayed in last night.  I needed to just hit the reset button and get a good, restful, alcohol-free night’s sleep, the first one since the layoff occurred.  The past few days, I’ve been walking around like a zombie.  I feel back to normal this morning.
One thing I’ve been forgetting to do is congratulate the […]

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I got to the Main Street block party about 6 last night.  Hung out on the Majestic’s patio for a while, had a mojito.  Then I decided I wanted to try the Center for Souther Folklore’s Southern food buffet.  It was outstanding and a bargain too, $5 for Cornish hen, BBQ pork, greens, and peach […]

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There’s a breakfast at the U of M tomorrow that business managers and IT managers may be interested in.  Dr. Vallabhajosyula Sambamurthy, who I shall refer to as “Bill” for the remainder of this paragraph because I don’t feel like typing that long name over and over, will speak on “Enterprise Agility and Information Technology […]

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About 4:30 yesterday afternoon, I was sitting at my desk, working on my current project, when our team lead asked three other IT people and me to come to the conference room.  “Sure, I’ll be right there,” I said.
Our VP of development was waiting for us there, in a somber mood.  I saw envelopes on […]

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