tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-345244602009-11-02T08:07:13.494-05:00Getting beyond the entry level of lifeLexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1164834158613252232006-11-29T15:47:00.000-05:002006-11-29T16:02:38.630-05:00

If you have been following the console wars between the Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, then you have probably heard the coined phrase "Wii60".This might just be a cute way for 360 owners to say that they enjoy the combination of owning an Xbox 360 and a Nintendo Wii, but it might also be a subtle hint from Nintendo that they want a piece of 360 owners' game time (and money).

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1163879836217990472006-11-18T14:52:00.000-05:002006-11-18T14:57:16.226-05:00

With all of the talk about using Wii's Opera for browsing the internet, and using the Wii to replace your existing message board...where is the Wiiboard for this?I'm waiting to see some sort of keyboard contraption for this, because I can't imagine I would be doing any internet browsing or message writing without one.So what's the deal? Can I plug in my own USB keyboard into the Wii or what?

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1162593656617487542006-11-03T17:09:00.000-05:002006-11-03T17:40:56.626-05:00

This article struck a few nerves with me. It lists several things that developers want more than money, including the chance to learn new things, an environment that induces creativity, meaningful work, etc.I think that it's great that there are software engineers out there who are passionate about what they do, and even better that there are companies out there that help fuel that passion.

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1162223920968216942006-10-30T10:31:00.000-05:002006-10-30T10:58:40.983-05:00

The Nintendo Wii's low price of $250.00 is arguably the greatest reason to buy a Wii over a PS3, which will cost approximately $600.00. Many have said that it is a great move by Nintendo to make a less expensive system with more emphasis on innovative gameplay and less emphasis on graphics and processing power.No matter how you slice it, the Wii is the more practical buy, but this doesn't

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1161619931377048702006-10-23T11:48:00.000-04:002006-10-23T12:12:11.396-04:00

If you're a reader of many blogs (and if you're reading this one, then you probably are), you have likely noticed the amount of repitition that goes on in the blogging community. This is an expected outcome when there are multitudes of people who constantly post their thoughts, ideas, and opinions. With all of these posts, it's very difficult to come up with something very original. Even if

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1161373518674941652006-10-20T15:24:00.000-04:002006-10-20T15:45:18.703-04:00

The latest release of Internet Explorer 7 is another example of Microsoft moving from the software leader to yet another 'Me Too!' company. It's obvious that IE7 has been due for years now. It took some heavy competition from other browsers to light a fire underneath them. Without Firefox or Opera, we would still be stuck with IE6 for years to come.Not only are they lagging behind in web

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1161099273586688712006-10-17T11:12:00.000-04:002006-10-17T11:39:21.300-04:00

A recent article on Wired mentions that:"A separate graphics processor, usually reserved for the gamer set, is almost always needed to take full advantage of Vista's graphics capabilities"So, if you want to run Vista the way it is meant to be run (with pretty graphics), you're going to need a powerful PC with a powerful graphics card. This is bad news for consumers, because it will obviously

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1160751830597881832006-10-13T10:48:00.000-04:002006-10-13T11:03:50.606-04:00

As an entry level software engineer in the Boston area, I try to keep up-to-date on average salaries to keep my HR people in check. According to salary.com, the median salary for entry level software engineers in the Boston area has gone up from $53K to $59K, that's a $6,000 per year difference! This is from data collected in October 2006, and it isn't limited to the Boston area, so it might do

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1160586823999569492006-10-11T12:18:00.000-04:002006-10-11T13:16:38.486-04:00

Growing up we all heard the same old cliches about celebrating our differences and being a unique individual:"Dare to be different!""Normal people are boring.""Just be yourself, regardless of what people think about you."You've probably heard these so many times that the words have lost all meaning, although they occasionally remind us to make that extra effort to do something that makes us

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1160415376602613702006-10-09T12:39:00.001-04:002006-10-09T13:38:44.943-04:00

So, you're fresh out of college and want to take your Computer Science/Computer Engineering degree into the software field? What you learned in 4 years of college might not be enough to get you through round 1 of your interviews. I know this because I just went through it and thought I would share some advice with others that will soon be interviewing for entry level software engineer positions

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1159491993562930542006-09-28T20:34:00.000-04:002006-09-28T21:06:33.576-04:00

"Dude, my computer's busted, can you fix it?""Hey, do you know why my computer won't boot up?""I keep getting this error message, what's the deal?"Have you heard any or all of these before? Well I have, and if you have a job in computers or are a student in computer science/engineering, chances are you have too. I spent a good part of my college years trying to help people with their computer

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com289tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1159288159557923782006-09-26T11:57:00.000-04:002006-09-26T12:29:19.573-04:00

I recieved a lot of interesting feedback on my previous post titled: Would You Put WoW On Your Resume?As expected, non-gamers were absolutely unaccepting of the idea. There were a lot of "I would never hire an MMO player" comments and a lot of negative things to say about MMO players in general. Some of it is naive, and some of it is based on strong evidence of poor performance from employees

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1159203190164459612006-09-25T12:27:00.000-04:002006-09-25T12:53:10.183-04:00

I recently had the privelage of attending a professional paintball event. At first, I was less than excited about the event itself, as I have watched paintball on ESPN and found it hard to follow and almost boring. However, I had a friend participating in the tournament, so I went to support him and his team. I would be lying if I told you that I didn't immediately change my feeling about

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1158886109952102302006-09-21T20:14:00.000-04:002006-09-21T20:51:45.846-04:00

The idea of allowing people to express their dream desktop application was fun and exciting. Personally, I found it very stimulating to sort through all of the crazy ideas in my head and come up with something that I liked and thought other people would enjoy as well. However, the stimulus wore off rather quickly once it became apparent that my idea would not be selected. I liked my idea and

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1158768852762554732006-09-20T10:56:00.000-04:002006-09-20T17:40:06.960-04:00

You've seen these many times before, so try to fill in the blanks to guess the word (and yes, there is ONE right answer):D _ GAre you ready to hit me yet and say "WTF?" Good.So, what did you guess? Dog? Dig? Dug? Drg? Well, the answer was DOG, duh. Drg isn't even a word.How do I know? Because I made the puzzle, and I hold the answer, it's that simple. Sure DIG and DUG work but they aren't

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1158708548609843212006-09-19T19:25:00.000-04:002006-09-19T19:29:50.980-04:00

If you saw the following on a resume, you would probably be impressed, especially if this person is a recent college graduate:Roles and responsibilities include:Leading an organization of over 200 active members.Organizing and leading groups of 40 people 4 nights a week on specific jobs.Managing resource collection to accomplish jobs.Keeping organization website up to date and moderating

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com102tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1158664398039780262006-09-19T06:21:00.000-04:002006-09-19T07:16:39.820-04:00

As a new person to the software engineering field, I've found that there is a wide variety of opinions about this type of career. I just graduated from Villanova University, so the #1 question that I get asked is, "So, where are you working? What are you doing with your life?" I always respond with, "I'm a software engineer at a small company in Waltham, MA." You would expect the reaction to

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34524460.post-1158423655443256102006-09-16T12:02:00.000-04:002006-09-16T14:17:17.606-04:00

I'm not sure why I felt compelled to create this blog today, but when I was coming up with the title for it, I just had to name it after The Summit.I would like to tell you what The Summit is, but I am afraid that it cannot be explained in words. You see, for my senior year at Villanova, I lived in a house with 13 people total. Our address was 849 Summit Grove Avenue, a place that has been

Lexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04757584408864526609noreply@blogger.com2