Cheap Communication

You know what's pretty cool in my book? The Internet. What's great about it, besides the fact that I can waste an obscene amount of time doing nothing (like this blog), is that it's a great tool for work. Actually, without it, I wouldn't be able to work from home.

One subset of that tool, VOIP, has proven to be a great money-saver. If you've used Skype then you know what I'm talking about. The idea of using your computer as a phone never really appealed to me because a real phone just seemed more practical. But now using something like Yahoo! Messenger is almost a necessity for the particular project I'm working on. I'm working with another programmer based in the UK. Going over code sometimes takes hours. What's great about it, too, is that it's an instant messenger so he can send me code snippets for more clarification whenever we go over something.

I know I could use AIM to do the same thing but it's not as prevalent outside of the US. There's also Google Talk which I wouldn't mind using but it's feature set isn't as robust (but the Google Talk integrated with Gmail is pretty cool).

Going off on a tangent - I can't wait for Google to release a Calendar program that would integrate with Gmail. I was starting to use my Microsoft Outlook more and I still do, but synching up my desktop and laptop isn't an easy task.

And I'll stop with the geekiness now. Just thought I'd share.

Employed!

A strange thing happened yesterday. I joined a company payroll.

The whole process has been pretty sudden. Over the last week or two I've been in contact with a consulting firm looking to bring on some more resources. My cousin-in-law recommended me to this position and with his endorsement I was able to get an initial phone interview as well as a technical interview. Total phone interview time? Thirty minutes. Total interview time in person? Zero minutes. Employment offers? One.

I'm not complaining, though. It seems like a great chance to learn a lot and I'm really looking forward to this opportunity. When I was younger I knew I wanted to be rich. It might take me ten years but at least I'm making my first steps. Haha.