So what are the new skills? #2

I just recently shared the first in what was to be a series, but now is finally a series again.

So What are the New Skills #1

Now on to number two...

So current day, what are the new skills, the ones everyone is supposed to have, should have, or would be embarrassed not to have?  What skills would they want on a new job, in everyday life, or in an emergency?  Remember we are talking technical slash computer skills.

To keep it brief and to promote reading this blog all the way through (no skimming), I am providing a bulleted list for your personal safety and enjoyment.

• You can install your own software AND read the install screens to avoid those annoying browser spy bars (toolbars) and other trash-ware crap.
• You use keyboard short cuts and or anything to help you get things done faster 
• You understand that if a button pops up while on the internet and says "CLICK ME" that you by all means should NOT click it

Ok, my snarky self is getting in the way, here is the "non-snark" list:

• You are adept and productive in Microsoft Office and other Microsoft products 
• Keyboard shortcuts, you know at least 6 of them
• You Google things to find answers because its faster than asking someone
•  You know the difference between the four main browsers.  
• You can name the four main browsers.
• You understand social media and use it correctly 
• You have proper web Etiquette. REALLY (see I yelled)
• You can fix your own computer problems, well at least 60% of them
• You can use technology seamlessly from desk, mobile, car, and tablet.

There it is... and if you are reading my blog, you can either hear me preaching to the choir or something like that.

The Secret of Facebook security...

The secret of Facebook privacy is to not post things you want hide from others, don't post pictures that you don't want everyone to see, and don't post information you do not want to be publicly viewable. 

That makes it so easy.  If you are worried about keeping things from one group and only showing others you might be living multiple lives for different people. Not healthy. 

Remember Facebook is an activity, not a lifestyle. 

Try again and drive it home

Iron sharpens iron, but also consider hammer on thumb brings focus to nail.

Mistakes and errors can happen (your new sore thumb), but that setback can bring new focus to the thing you are aiming for (the nail).

Try again and drive it home.

So what are the new skills? #1

So what are the new skills?  #1

When applying for a job, future employers are looking for some type of descriptive of what are your skills.  The same is true when going to school, acting as a volunteer or other task.  So besides your perceptive skills of various types, what are your computer skills?  How are you when it comes to technology? In general, what are your tech skills?

Around twenty years ago the term “computer literate” became a term that was used to describe if you could sit down at a computer and do something with it.  At the turn of the millennium, the PC explosion was on its rise and in the work place as well as home computers became the central tool to operate to perform many or most job functions.  Being computer literate became a much bigger term and a much more important skill in the work place.

Enter in 2013 and technology is infused into everything.  Apps are everywhere, and the modern smart phone has more power than a late 1980’s Packard Bell does.  Computer literate has been out run by the need to be tech savvy.  No longer does computer skills count as a bonus as everyone from pre-school toddler to the elderly us computers like previous generations used to use the radio and television. Computer skills are just assumed these days.

Back when, in the 1990’s, being able to be fluent in DOS, able to install software in Windows 3. 1, and able to work with software applications such as Lotus 1-2-3, Word Perfect, and Netscape was  considered pretty lofty and you were probably the local guru.  If you could attach and setup a SCSI scanner and work with editing pictures, you were in the top 90%.  

Today working with spreadsheets, word processors, and using the internet are given skills.  Plug and play that works along with USB has replace the need to be a hardware guru.  Editing pictures, five year olds can crop pictures and use editors.  

So what are the new skills?  We will explore that. First enjoy Kim Komando explain what a computer is and what it can do.  We have come a long way baby.  

Making something ... making yourself....

Lately I have had several conversations with people where we were discussing how so and so has really made something out of themselves. These were all folks who had less than desirable circumstances or simply have really worked harder than everyone else around them. They have made something out of themselves.

The Occasional Guru would like to point out that successful people make themselves... they make themselves do a whole lot of things that take them past average and beyond the norm.

It may not always be pleasant, popular, or fun, but do you make yourself do the necessary to be extraordinary?

Cheers if you do.

Programmers - We Are the Misunderstood

Programmers are a misunderstood lot.  In a non-tech company, a few folks in Information Technology who are the “programmers” or “developers” usually are at their desks looking at screens with ear buds in and generally are looking not very productive.  Who are these folks and what do they do?    

We are the misunderstood.  Most of the time we can really make a difference if others not perceive our profession and skill in certain ways.  I write this blog for many reasons but mostly so that we can, all do a bit better in home, work, and life.  We need to get more quality work done and at the same time point less fingers in general.  

Here are a couple of thoughts from a person who has put his ten thousand hours in at least over in software development and systems design. 

·         Excellent software is excellent to the core, data, and code.  It takes exponentially more time to write excellent software. It is also exponentially more difficult to develop excellent software. If you want excellence, expect it to take time.  And usually more time than is ever allowed.

·         A top-notch senior level programmer will have a higher bar for quality and excellence most every other person in the company, and that especially includes their managers most of the time.

·         If you badger programmers for status updates and bother them because you want something, you can expect less than excellent back from the programmer. You are killing their ability for excellence.

·         The majority of business requirements for software is good.  The majority of programming specifications by non-programmers (technical does not count as programmer) are rubbish.  I have never received a single programming spec that worked from inception to development to implementation except for one.  That was last week.  I might frame it and put it next to my diploma.  It is rarer than Bigfoot swimming in Loch Ness.  

We the programmers are miss understood. We want to deliver excellence and the best software possible.  However, this is a team world we live in.  It is also a competitive world that is starving for excellence.  Be on team excellence.

-          Mike