Someone certainly dropped the ball on picking a room. DC1351 is certainly way over capacity.

But the biz club organizers found 'Hello, My Name Is' tags which Redman and I were unable to find for the keg party (we had to settle for plain tags).

[lame intro from biz club]

Wants us to get the very best jobs that co-op has to offer (do they have any to offer?) Believes we are shortening the apprenticaship. Able to get better jobs earlier. We shouldn't make excuses about why we can't get unk jobs (or the good ones). Co-op has high quality jobs and you have to work to get them. Or if you get a bad job then you have to work to change it. Co-op is supposed to a realisticly view of what the world has to offer. We need to use our opportunities. Believes some us don't even know that we need to impress employers. But we need to impress people. We need to take our names and hammer it into their brains. Competitive pressures are rising and we can't conduct our lives as if this isn't happening.

Our parents are wrong when are parents tell us that they had it hard and we have it easy, but in terms of economic conditions this is not true. Employers, technology, society asked less of them. Do not follow your parents path. You will have to do more.

Impress people. Get people to remember you. He fears we don't know what we're doing. We need malice of fore-thought; like a plan. Back to impressing. You never know who your prospective employer are. So impress everyone. Always carry your resume with you, even if its not co-op day. Look in the face of the people you are being introduced to (like visiting CEOs). Hold onto them (i.e. shake hands). And say something that's hard for them to disagree with. Get a script, how to impress people spontaneously. Prolong the conversation. Lie if you have to. Make connections. Network on the job aggressively. Smile and hold out resume with young dope-y look. Get the 'give me a call in winter'.

8.0 earthquake in Japan

Larry just said my name while doing his mock conversation when calling potential CEOs to hire you. Too funny.

It's a game (calling this CEo who doesn't remember you). What you say is 'as you recall we meet in Montreal at company XYZ and you said there were a number of opportunities... and i'd like to explore them in europe'. People in prominment positions need to keep their word even to young dope-y kids. You talk about your interests which is work that the company does. Block off all the avenues of escape by doing research and then you go in for kill. The longer you talk with this CEO the better it is. Never ever terminate the conversation in an employment situation. Talk for as long as you can, throw off the entire interview schedule for that day. You run the risk of frustrating them but you n eed to push the envelop. But when they end it, it's over.

Back to CEO conversation. Suggest a new idea (relevant to their line of business) to pique their interest.

Impress influential people. Continue to impress. Follow through. Don't be average. 'If you're average, slit your throat'. Back to having your resume always ready. 'It's about making the contact'.

Ahh.. My battery is dieing. Story about calling famous Canadian executive. Calls secretary. 'I want to profit from his example'.. Dont' take backpack. You ask, just ask him if he can find time to see him. Get secretary to say, 'we'll see'. Call back. Keep calling back. Relentless persistence. Get the secretary on your side. Get ten minutes. Do not object to the proposed time and place; even if it's in the subway.

Play the student card. 'Hi, I'm doing research...' '...and I'll bring you a copy of my report'. Follow-up. Have an impressive acknowledgment page. When they're suitably impressed say 'I'm graduating three times' so that it's in their heads. When the ask what you're doing next don't say, 'I'd kill for a job' Say 'I'm open to the possibilities that may present themselves'.

Wear different hats. You don't impress anyone with marks. They will then doubt your social skills. Talk to the most senior person. They want you to come with ideas; ideas for improvement. If not ideas then at least know the employers problem because you need intelligent things to say that aren't descriptive. Understand the company's economic situation. Use... (big dramatic pause and lead up) Lexus Nexus (Larry's favorite tool). It is the most efficient tool. Use the business section. Look at Fortune, Business Week and the Wall Street Journal. You must acknowledge that you know what the company's problems are. Have anwers to. Memorize what you read in the WSJ. Or speculate. Students are allowed to explore.

Press the profit button. Tell them why you'll make them money. You are not a cost. Don't just follow instructions are your job.

Talk to your faculty members. They must answer your questions relevant to their subject domain. Insist on answers.

Larry's last memorable quote was 'if only you understood the value of reading books'.
5:09:01 PM   []

File-sharing is a rejection of the social power of bland culture. Why should we pay for crap?

It's not that I don't want artists to get paid for their work. This is not about artists: It's about crap. File-sharing of pop music reflects a refusal of price-gouging for crap, for what is largely a disposable product anyway.

5:01:14 PM   []

The beta test of the Honor System Payment API is now underway. If you would like to join the beta, please send a message to webservices@amazon.com, subject "HS API".

Fairtunes had a webservice API back in August 2000. It wasn't fancy but it got the job done.

And Amazon should post their newsletters online so I can link to them.
2:52:23 PM   []

Of course I'm still going to rag on Imprint. Do you honestly working for it makes me feel different about it? Imprint still sucks

2:35:41 PM   []

Construction hard costs were $21,000 per room

Slum housing in Waterloo runs around $35k-$40k a room so that sounds like a good deal.
2:34:07 PM   []

If so, then read President Johnston's letter to the Globe and Mail:

n terms of per-student funding of universities, Ontario stands in last place among Canadian provinces, all of which are in the bottom 25 per cent of the 60 North American educational jurisdictions.

Prof. Ragde (who has a must read weblog for CS students) advises:

If you like what's happened over the past decade in education, health care, water and electrical supplies, cast your vote for the party in power.

The Conservatives are too conservative. The NDP will just rack up a huge debt. The Liberals are just right. It's like goldilocks. Cause, you know, Dalton Maginty is a pot of lukewarm porrige. Actually that's not a horrible analogy...

2:30:13 PM   []