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The latest job applicant claims to be an expert in Web 2.0.

Is Web 2.0 even a thing any more? I loved it when it first came out a few years ago… well, technically, there was nothing to “come out” at all. It’s just a concept, like “cloud”, that marketing people throw around but which has no substance behind it.

At Zing we joked about putting a big seal on our company home page saying Zing is “Web 2.0 Certified”. Anyone who knows something about web development would get a good laugh from it, and anyone who doesn’t would think it’s pretty impressive. But to see it on a resume from a job applicant… hmm…

Today I was walking to school with Zack, and he mentioned that when he has his own house, he’s going to install a vending machine.

Me: A vending machine?
Zack: Yeah, you know, for snacks and stuff.
Me: Why would you want to charge yourself for snacks?
Zack: It wouldn’t be for me. It would be for guests.

Here’s a kid who’s a born entrepreneur… or at least someone looking for a way to make a buck.

Zing is hiring again, which means the flood of completely unqualified people, off-shore development firms, and recruiters are all contacting me… despite very clear language in our job post that says they’re just wasting their time and mine.

Today I received a resume from someone who might be qualified, but it’s hard to tell when I open it and see this:

I don’t have Microsoft Office, of course, and LibreOffice disables macros by default. I’m pretty sure that I don’t want to see a resume that requires macros in order to even be visible.

Argh.

Last night there was a youth talent show at church, where any of the teenagers could put on an act. Some sang, some danced, and then there was the Happy Hands Club.

From the left, that’s Alex as Napoleon Dynamite, complete with the afro, nerd glasses, and the all-important “Vote for Pedro” shirt. Then we have McKenna and Kyra, both taking this very seriously. And the cute blonde on the right? Yep, that’s Zack.

As the curtains opened and they started their sign-language routine, someone leaned over to me in the audience and asked who it was on the right– she didn’t recognize the teen. I explained that it was Zack, and she was surprised. “How did you get him to dress in drag?” Well, he actually asked if he could be part of the troupe.

Anyway, it was absolutely hilarious, including the fact that the three on the right were (mostly) in sync while Napoleon was just slightly off. When the song ended, Napoleon suddenly ran off the stage in classic style.

One of my clients is having some trouble uploading a spreadsheet file into the web system I built. I asked her to send me the file so I could look at it and, if necessary, do a test upload to pinpoint the problem.

Imagine my surprise when she replied with:

Umm, a fax? Apparently she’s going to print the spreadsheet to paper and fax it to me, whereupon I’ll presumably create a new spreadsheet, enter the data, and load it into the web system.

Welcome to 1986…

I got a chuckle out of this one.

Laralee doesn’t keep up on current events, so I had to explain it to her. I guess she didn’t think it was quite as funny.

Normally when you get a letter from the IRS you get a little worried. What did I do wrong on my taxes? How much do I owe?

To my pleasant surprise, the IRS informed me that I’m rich! I actually underpaid my corporate taxes and now the United States Treasury owes me money:

I’ll have to sit down and think of how I can spend this windfall.

Ha ha! That takes me back to the days of the Iraqi War. Oh, wait, we invaded another country on a completely trumped-up pretext! I guess the irony is lost on Obama and his crew.

I’m home alone, making some lasagna for tomorrow night’s dinner, and decided to crank some 80’s tunes. I fired up a Sky.fm app on our XBMC and have been enjoying the classics. You know it’s a good internet radio station when you recognize every song that plays. Madonna, Whitesnake, Duran Duran, The Romantics, INXS… awesome! The 80’s rock.

The “album cover” shown in XBMC for Sky.fm is Max Headroom. Bonus points if you know who Max Headroom is.

Double points if you actually watched Max Headroom.

Oh, and quadruple special points if you know what a blipvert is.

I’m shopping for a car this morning, and found a sweet deal on Craigslist:

Included in the details about the car:

Yeah, it’s actually a Honda Accord, but props for the original post and the sweet sticker on the back of the car!