Apr 2003
Wed, 16 Apr 2003
Ask Yourself
If the job market in Pittsburgh is so strong, why does it remain one of the few large metropolitan areas losing population?
From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Article:
Zylstra said the chief challenge in the tech arena is attracting and retaining talented workers.
As one of the few large region's of the country losing population, he said, Pittsburgh "must attract talent from all over the world."
Posted at: 06:41 | permalink
Sun, 13 Apr 2003
Creating Jobs vs. Finding Jobs
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has an interesting article on the dilemma facing the unemployed in a city that's struggled to retain it's best and brightest. The article quotes Charlie Beck, director of Priority Two, a nonprofit employment assistance group:
"The people today have skills. They are highly trained, educated, the kind of people that Pittsburgh is crying for, and they are available right now,'' he said. "I'm talking about senior people. There are more people who made $100,000 in their last job unemployed today than there ever have been in the history of Pittsburgh. It's pretty amazing."
What's really curious to me is how the article doesn't mention self-employment, the creation of new jobs, or the startup culture even once. If you went back five years, that rhetoric was all the rage in this town. Now, it's all but dead. This trend is endemic to the region.
Oh sure, PA's got programs like SEA, but these appear to be far more of a placeholder than producing substantive change in the economy or culture. In the end, people will go where the work is, unless they are able to ceate work for themselves. This region has tremendous difficulty with new business creation and that remains a limiting factor to it's population stabilization and growth.
Posted at: 11:08 | permalink
Sat, 12 Apr 2003
Is there a more revolting crime?
Than hitting a van full of handicapped kids head on? One thing's for certain, this professor sure is a PR nightmare for CMU.
One can only hope that the legal system doesn't screw up his incarceration as badly as they horked up his bond posting despite the protestations of his neighbors.
Posted at: 00:15 | permalink
Fri, 11 Apr 2003
One Year Ago Today: Google SOAP VBScript
My blog was invisible (unlinked) until I wrote this. A year later, we've seen a lot of interesting prototypes, but nothing that really changed the world the way we'd hoped. This year hasn't really seen any announcements that have garnered quite as much press as this one. I hope that changes soon.
Posted at: 16:17 | permalink
Mon, 07 Apr 2003
The Investigator
Is that what you call it? The description is rather frightening for a number of reasons.
Posted at: 16:00 | permalink
Why Not?
The Jeff's have some good points and a general feeling that resonates with me. I have a thousand unique visitors a day, but it's rare that any of it provides meaning. Note to self: re-read Victor Frankl.
Why is it that everybody I know right now, whether young or old, rocket scientist or mill worker, is trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up and why they spend so much time on things that are seemingly meaningless. It's a bizarre kind of shared entropy. Sigh.
Posted at: 15:49 | permalink
Mysterious Disappearances
I always wondered whether this happened to anybody. I guess it has.
Posted at: 14:23 | permalink
Sun, 06 Apr 2003
Required Reading For DC Policy Makers
I try not to make much noise with regard to politics as it's a subject that I'm generally not particularly passionate about, but this article from the Seattle Times should be required reading for decision makers in DC.
Posted at: 23:09 | permalink
Fri, 04 Apr 2003
Bill Moyers on Media Consolidation
I managed to catch Bill Moyers piece on US media consolidation tonight on PBS and it was compelling. I knew Clear Channel sucked before seeing this program, but I didn't know it was that bad. Of particular interest was the partisanship surrounding the administration of the FCC. This article paints a very grim picture for the present and future of big media journalism and it's relationship to the US government.
What it doesn't explain is that the situation with commercial scheduling software is arguably headed for similar levels of monopolization. Should we then be surprised when the average American is reduced to lemming status receiving the same messages from the same publishers running the same commercial scheduling software paid for by the same advertisers on the wings of a rubber stamp commission?
Posted at: 22:34 | permalink
