Tag: tech

My Focus

Carl Setzer
crop colleagues shaking hands in office

As I’ve written earlier, I really hadn’t thought too deeply about my long-term plans when I started this career transition. “I’ll build websites” was pretty much it. I didn’t think about where I’d work (companies, etc) or what, exactly, I’d do. So, the past few weeks I have focused on determining answers to those questions.

I did think about focusing on communications, as that kind of work has been a huge orbit for my career. However, after consulting with several friends and mentors, I now see that my career has had a few key elements that I want to move forward with. Project management is key amongst them.

For every company I’ve worked for, projects have been a key component. Every. Single. One. Some places more so than others.

The other piece has been technology management. Whether procuring and configuring PCs, copiers, etc, setting up and troubleshooting wifi and networking issues, desktop support, fixing phone systems, setting up security systems…you get the picture.

So, with the advice of my key trusted allies, I’m focusing on technology management. After I’m done at Edmonds, I will transfer to Central Washington University’s Lynnwood campus and work towards my Bachelor of Applied Science in Information Technology and Administrative Management.

I see that my web and cloud development studies, along with my side networking and desktop support courses, grant me a unique understanding of the technological needs of companies. Combining that with my background working for a wide range of businesses, I can make a solid impact anywhere I would work.

I’m starting my next steps with that since I have less than 6 months before I finish the ATA, which will pass by quickly.

Let me know of any leads or advice. I’d be much obliged!

How lost am I without my phone?

Carl Setzer4 Comments
antique broken cell phone communication

Oh, how lost would I be without my cell phone? Tis a question posed by Rory on his blog “A Guy Called Bloke” (hat tip to to Fandango, whose post is what I’m, ultimately, replying to).

Ok, I am not “lost” without my phone. There have been a handful of times in the past few months where I have, deliberately, left my phone at home. Ok, not exactly “deliberately”. I left home, realized my phone was on my desk and opted to not go back for it. For a quick run to a coffee shop, or grabbing dinner out somewhere, it’s fine. But, for me, most everything is on there. My shopping list is there. It’s a backup payment method. My camera is there. My notes. Maps/directions. My calendar. My Kindle app holds many of my books. And then, of course, is my ability to connect. Good luck trying to find a payphone anymore! My cell phone has taken the place of so very much of my old accoutrement, for which I’m grateful.

In the end, I value having my phone with me. It’s a deliberate choice in many ways, and one I’m quite ok with. The only thing I’d say to someone who doesn’t feel the need to always have their phone with them: good luck finding a payphone if you need it.

Non-Traditional Backgrounds and Tech Careers

Carl Setzer

I just read this tweet, which got me thinking…

I thought “well, I’m pretty non-traditional” when I read that. My career has drifted over a number of roles and industries (go read my resume for more of the story). I feel, at this point, the central theme of my work-life is what I’d call communications. Whether crafting presentations and other correspondence, developing social media strategies, creating WordPress websites, creating content for said websites, editing video, running sound and audio for events, coordinating meeting/event logistics…well, I think you see the theme.

I really appreciated the encouragement. Though my grades are pretty darn good, it’s not been easy. I’ve had to work quite hard. This work doesn’t come naturally to me. So encouragement is really valuable.

I’m still not sure where I want to land once I’m done with my degree. I don’t expect to be feted with glee, but I believe I have a lot to offer. Perhaps directly in the tech sector, or perhaps in a tech role in a more traditional business. I’m still pulling that together.

Has your career been linear? In one sector or role/type-of-role? Or have you been all over the map like me? And what kind of career transitions have you made? I’d love to hear your stories and ideas. Leave a comment and lets talk!

Great, Another Phishing Email Scam

Carl Setzer

Well, a new scam landed in my inbox this morning. Check out the details:

Google docs phish email scam example

This isn’t terribly new. I first saw references last fall (here’s a piece by Wired Magazine from last November: “Beware a New Google Drive Scam Landing in Inboxes“. Now, this isn’t terribly sophisticated, but it’s pretty clever. Now, I don’t have a David Anderson in my contacts, so this one is pretty obvious for me. But that’s a rather common name. Imagine how tempting it would be if it looked like it came from my friend/colleague David.

So, what should you do if you get an email like this? Report it! In most email tools, you can report a message as spam. If you have Gmail, you can report it as phishing, too. It’s pretty straightforward.

Gmail report phishing steps

You’ll see a dialog like this one:

Gmail Report Phishing Dialog Box

Click “Report Phishing Message” and you’re done.

Anyway, this seems as good a time as any to remind everyone to:

  • don’t click on links you’re not expecting. In this case, if I knew a David Anderson, I’d ping him independently of this email thread and ask about it. Do not reply to the email!
  • Make sure you have good malware protection and antivirus software. Here’s a great place to start: PC Magazine’s list of The Best Antivirus Protection for 2021.

The Audacity of Audacity and Alternatives

Carl Setzer
AudacityLogo

When I logged onto Twitter today I saw the alarming news that “Audacity is now a Possible Spyware, Remove it ASAP“. The TLDR: Audacity’s new corporate owners updated their TOS a few days ago to allow them to collect/harvest user data (the article above has good detail about the issue…give it a read). Needless to say, a good many folks in the Open Source community are less than pleased. So, I’m here to try and pull together a definitive list of alternatives. Also, I have a long-standing interest in finding alternative programs to expensive and proprietary ones (ie: Adobe). Here’s my list of these to date.

In this list below, the only one I’ve personally used is Adobe Audition, so the rest are a collection of options that I don’t know anything about. Please use them with caution and a dose of due diligence.

Paid Alternatives (in no particular order):

Do you have any experience with these? Are there any ones you recommend that I’ve missed? Any of them you’d recommend over the others? Please leave a comment below.

My Web Developer Evolution

Carl Setzer
List of Programming Languages

I was just thinking about the programming languages and environments I’ve studied over the past year.

  • The first one was Visual Basic. I have a basic understanding. Not sure how much additional effort I should invest in expanding these skills.
  • Though there’s some argument about whether HTML and CSS are programming languages. I’ll accept that they aren’t languages, but I’ve studied them, and they’re critical to web development. I expect I’m at an intermediate level with these.
  • The last of the web development trinity is Javascript, which is a true programming language and a lot of fun. I don’t know anywhere near what I want to, and so will be continuing in that.
  • With javascript, this quarter I’m studying frameworks, and I’ve been focused on jQuery. I really like how much cleaner it is than straight javascript. I’m just over a month in and enjoying this. Looking forward to continuing to build my skills.
  • Also, this quarter, I’m studying PHP. This has been a lot of fun. This language makes so much more sense to me, at an intuitive level than javascript.  As I’m only 4 weeks in, I’m looking forward to growing that knowledge.
  • At other points in my life, I’ve explored Java and C/C++. This knowledge is quite old and was very basic even in my hey-day. I’ve also explored Fortran and Cobol, but that really just entailed reading some books. If I have the opportunity, I want to explore these deeper.
  • I’ll be diving into tools like SQL and MySQL in the next few quarters. I also want to add Python to that list.

This is just my programming journey. I’ve also explored tools like Access, Excel, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Visio. All of this, for me, is fun. I must be a nerd.

Looking At Laptops

Carl Setzer
Apple M1 Logo

My main laptop right now is an OLLLDDD MacBook Pro. It’s nearly 10 years old, and it’s starting to really show its age. And we do have need of a laptop.  So, it’s time to think of a replacement.

I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen of Apple’s new M1 chip. Also, my wife is most comfortable with Mac OS. And I pride myself on being OS agnostic. Additionally, one of the things I’m considering once I’m done at Edmonds college is UW’s Interactive Design program. They require a laptop and, though they don’t mandate a MacBook, they do highly recommend one. So, with all of that, I’m leaning towards an M1 Macbook Air. I still need to explore more, though. Due diligence and all that. Fortunately, I do get a student discount.

So, I’ve done a bit of research already. Check out these videos below. The first is a review of the MacBook while the second talks about the M1 chip compared to Windows PCs. Both point towards the M1 and Macbook.

Google’s Disturbing Trend In Regards To Ethical AI

Carl Setzer

Yesterday Margaret Mitchell tweeted this out:

This might not seem troublesome on the surface. However, earlier this year they fired Timit Gebru, who was the co-lead with Dr. Mitchell of Google’s AI Ethics Team.

Add to the above this behavior by Google executives (Tweet below), and I see a toxic environment dominating the company with a code of conduct statement “Don’t Be Evil“.

One of my areas of interest is Corporate Social Responsibility, and I’ve been looking at how this might be applied in the tech sphere. And Google is giving me solid evidence of those applications, in the most negative way possible.

Amazon Frames, Google Glass and the Reinvented Future of Connected Eyewear

Carl Setzer

Today I logged into Amazon and the first thing I see is this ad: 

I’m surprised that I missed the announcement for Alexa Frames. Looks like these have actually been on the market for a few years.  Though not as feature-rich as the old Google glasses, they are definitely more discrete and attractive. 

This got me wondering about the status of Google Glass, and what similar products are on the market. With a little research, I found this piece about Google Glass. Now, I’ve known that the product is far from dead as there’s now Google Glass Enterprise Edition. But it has been more of a niche thing (here’s a post from the Verge from last February about it). 

 

As far as other products, I found this: Focals By North. Looks pretty interesting, but not ready for the mainstream yet. This video is from 2019, so perhaps they’ve updated things in the meantime. 

I think that the glasses will hold a significant part of the future of mobile computing. In particular, I’m curious about the ways VR/AR will be integrated into these glasses. Or how they won’t be.