Moving to Tumblr

I've decided to move from Google Blogger to Tumblr.  The Tumblr mobile client is much easier to use.

How to find an IT or CS job in OC or LA

These are suggestions that have worked for me and/or worth trying.  YMMV.

• Order business cards.  I recommend using a template which is designed to include a photo, as it makes it easier for employers to remember you.
• RetailMeNot usually has a good deals:
• OvernightPrints.com (my old company): http://www.retailmenot.com/view/overnightprints.com
• VistaPrint: http://www.retailmenot.com/view/vistaprint.com
• Update your LinkedIn profile.  Detail is good as long as it is specific and relevant.  Make your profile public and searchable.  For example, here's my profile.
• Recommendations:
• Get relevant connections to write you LinkedIn recommendations:
• Faculty advisors
• Teachers
• Co-workers (current and former)
• Clients
• Vendors
• Once you have a few good recommendations, copy and paste them into a word document and print that to a PDF.   You should email this document every time you email someone your resume.  You should bring this with you to interviews in addition to your resume.
• Post your resume on Monster, Dice, and Indeed.  Be ready for a flood of spam, so maybe use a different email address other than your usual email address.
• Link up with contacts on Facebook BranchOut
• Search job boards and apply for postings:
• Monster
• Dice
• Indeed
• LinkedIn
• SimplyHired
• Craigslist
• Paper resume:
• Make two versions:
• See if you can get it on one page without making it look crammed, while giving some relevant details.
• Then make a different version which is two to three pages long with all of the detail from your LinkedIn profile.  
• Print both versions on high-quality paper using a laser printer.
• Put your LinkedIn profile URL at the bottom, and when your LinkedIn profile starts accumulating good references, note that with the URL.
• Have several people review it who are experienced resume reviewers.
• Recruiters:
• Contact these people:
• expanxion
• 805-496-3500
• Say 'hi' to Drew Greeley for me -- he got me my current job
• JobSpring Partners OC
• (949)553-4200
• Say 'hi' to David Belsky for me
• JobSpring Partners LA
• (310)996-0200
• Say 'hi' to Rameet Singh and Erin Wilson for me
• Workbridge Partners OC
• (949)833-1300
• Say 'hi' to Cory Eustice and Brett Sterling for me
• Workbridge Partners LA
• (310)445-3300
• Say 'hi' to James Valone for me
• Ask them at the end of each phone call when you can next follow up -- and if they don't have an answer, ask them if you can call them in a week or two.  Your goal is to be fresh in their minds without being a nudge.  Make sure you follow up.
• Read up more about resume writing, interviewing, etc. on the Internet.
• Go to relevant events:
• Job fairs
• Alumni meetups
• User / developer groups:
• OCPHP, etc.
• Get your name out there
• Start a blog with a relevant IT or CS focus (Tumblr and Blogger are great for this)
• Every time you post on that blog, post a link to Twitter and Facebook
• Join relevant groups on LinkedIn and get involved
• Consider contributing to an open-source project on GitHub or SourceForge

FYI #1: a single parent company owns both Workbridge and JobSpring.

FYI #2: I don't receive anything back from these references -- except (hopefully) gratitude from the recruiters if and when I ever re-enter the job market.

JavaScript debuggers

For Firefox: Firebug

For Opera: Dragonfly

For Safari: Web Inspector (formerly Drosera)

UPDATE December 10, 2011
Was tipped off to an IE JScript Debugger by a friend: link

jQuery's .append() function doesn't work as expected, so use .val() for object string appends

Via: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4722914/jquery-append-not-appending-to-textarea-after-text-edited/4723017#4723017

$(textarea).append(txt) doesn't work like you think. When a page is loaded the text nodes inside the textarea are set the value of that form field. After that, the text nodes and the value can be disconnected. As you type in the field, the value changes, but the text nodes inside it on the DOM do not. Then you change the text nodes with the append() and the browser erases the value because it knows the text nodes inside the tag have changed.

So you want to set the value, you don't want to append. Use jQuery's val() method for this.

$(document).ready(function(){
  $(".hashtag").click(function(){
    var txt = $.trim($(this).text());
    var box = $("#text-box");
    box.val(box.val() + txt);
  });
});

Working example: http://jsfiddle.net/Hhptn/

Great charts comparing XPATH, CSS, DOM, and Selenium code

Here (download the PDF charts in the bubble in the upper right hand corner of the page)

Selenium and username/password logins

I'm heading up an effort at my current company to write integration (browser) tests. We're using Selenium as our integration testing tool.

Here's the problem: many tests require one to log in as an administrator. But it would be crazy to check into source code an administrator username and password.

Here's a write-up of what was suggested to me

Sebastian Bergmann on PHPUnit Best Practices

A good overview:

Introduction to PHPUnit & Best Practices

View more presentations from Sebastian Bergmann

More in-depth:

PHPUnit Best Practices

View more presentations from Sebastian Bergmann