Job Searching With Social Media For Dummies

Job Searching With Social Media For Dummies, Joshua Waldman, John Wiley & Sons, 2011

Everyone says that using social media is the contemporary way to find a job. This book attempts to painlessly take the reader through the process.

First, do an online search of your own name to see what the Internet says about you. If there are any drunken or racy photos of you on Facebook, for instance, restrict their availability, or delete them, now. You can count on a potential employer doing the same search. If an online search comes up empty, the author explains how to fix it. Why should a potential employer consider someone who doesn't exist online? Next, you need to come up with your own personal brand. What do you want potential employers to know about you? How will you distinguish yourself from the millions of other online job seekers? Use keywords that search engines will recognize, but don't go overboard.

For those interested in any sort of professional job, LinkedIn should be the first site to visit and fill out a profile. Consider joining, and contributing to, a few groups, to let as many people as possible know that you exist. Put your resume online, with an appropriate number of search engine keywords. Target it for different companies. Find some way to tell a potential employer what you can do for them, how you can make their lives easier. Don't tell them what you have done in the past. Consider a video resume, especially if you are interested in an arts or creative position.

Strongly consider signing up for Facebook and twitter, if you have not already done so. They are both good ways of expanding your network, of letting more people know that you are job hunting. Be sure to follow your target company/companies. The book also looks at connecting with the specific hiring manager at your target company. In more and more cases, they will be doing the hiring, not the Human Resources Department, which has been scaled back, or abolished.

There is a lot to job searching online, and this book does an excellent job at explaining it, clearly and succinctly. Even if you do only a few things in this book, and not all of them, you will be far ahead of most job seekers. It is very much worth the money.

Black Market Billions

Black Market Billions: How Organized Retail Crime Funds Global Terrorists, Hitha Prabhakar, FT Press, 2012

Shoplifting (now called Organized Retail Crime) is no longer perpetrated just by people from the inner city needing money for drugs. It is a multi-billion dollar, worldwide industry enriching various terrorist groups all over the world.

These are very tight-knit groups, akin to Mafia "families." The "boosters" travel certain routes around America, doing the actual shoplifting. They give the items to a Level 1 fence, who might give or sell them to a level 2 or 3 fence. These could be legitimate import/export businesses doing the fencing, with the illegal part as a sideline. By this time, it is nearly impossible to track the items. Sometimes, the items are sold right back to the retailer from which they were stolen. They could also be sold on online auction sites (like ebay), and they could show up at your local flea market. There are occasional high-profile seizures of millions of dollars in fake or stolen goods, but, in general, the thieves are several steps ahead of the authorities.

Various law enforcement agencies, from the local to the federal level, either can't, or don't want to, share information. They all want the "big score." Individual state laws are full of loopholes, or are ambiguous, about basic things like the definition of "shoplifting." When someone is arrested, the local District Attorney's office might not want to spend the time following the money, or may be interested only in "Mr. Big." There are a number of ways to move money overseas that get around the federal $10,000 threshold. Thieves are certainly using them, but legislation has yet to catch up.

What can the average mall retailer do about it? They can start by training their employees to watch for shoplifters. Especially during the holidays, many part-timers are hired who are not trained in loss prevention, or who don't care (very often, employees are doing the stealing). Stores need to balance increased spending on loss prevention against not driving away customers. During the current economic uncertainty, everyone wants a bargain. Is that "discounted" designer handbag or infant formula really such a bargain knowing that your money could end up in the coffers of Colombia's FARC or Hamas?

To call this book an eye-opener is a huge understatement. It is a very interesting book that is highly recommended. 

To Be Rich Be Lazy

To Be Rich Be Lazy: How to Start an Online Business with No Time, No Money and No Skills, Linh Hoang, 2011, Kindle e-book

Here is an easy way to start an online business that really does not require any money upfront, or items to sell. The magic word is: outsourcing.

The "usual" way to start a business is to set up a bricks and mortar storefront, but there are all sorts of upfront expenses. The business owner has to think about rent, utilities, purchasing items to sell, state and federal business taxes, paying employees a decent wage, providing benefits like health insurance, all the way down to free coffee in the break room. Starting an e-commerce site, like through eBay or etsy, is less costly, but there is still the possibility of being stuck with boxes and boxes of items to sell, before the site gets popular. All you need to start an outsourcing site is a computer with a reliable Internet connection.

Consider becoming one of those individuals who brings together business owners who need help with the less-important parts of their company, and those who are willing to do the work, even if they live overseas. Whether you are a business owner who needs help, or a budding outsourcing entrepreneur, visit some of the major outsourcing sites, like odesk or elance. Check out some of the available jobs, and profiles of some of the workers. Get an idea of the rates being charged; if you price yourself too high or too low, you may get no response.

If you start your own outsourcing site, it may take some work to get workers to become your "employees" (for lack of a better term) and to believe that you will pay them on time. This gives you a chance to use your sales and persuasion skills. Another question to consider is how much you will charge the client as your fee. For example, say that a job is worth $100. How much will you add on as your fee; 25%; 50%; maybe even 100%?

This book is short, less than 100 pages, and it is full of information and very easy to read. It is recommended for everyone; business owners who need help, would-be entrepreneurs, and those who want to make some extra money doing things like data entry, computer programming or web design.  

The Pineville Heist

The Pineville Heist, Lee Chambers, MISFP Publishing, 2011

This novel is about your average teenager caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He might just pay with his life.

Pineville is a small town in Ontario that has seen better days. Its last remaining bit of industry, a mill, has been bought by Derek Stevens, a corporate-raider type. The expectation is that he will close the mill, turning Pineville into a ghost town. Anticipating your town's demise can make people do strange things. That makes Aaron, his son, not the most popular person at the local high school.

Cutting class one day, Aaron and a couple of friends head for the woods just beyond the high school, and come upon a bank robbery gone bad. Hiding under a canoe, Aaron sees a couple of the robbers shot point blank by an unknown person. Grabbing a knapsack full of money from the bank that was robbed, Aaron makes it back to the school. Steve, one of his freinds, wasn't so lucky.

The school day is over, so the school is deserted. Aaron runs into Miss Becker, his drama teacher, only a few years older than Aaron. She becomes convinced that he is telling the truth when "Mr. Big," the person who did the shooting, enters the school. He makes it clear that he wants the money, and that he does not plan to leave witnesses. Mr. Big has smashed the school's electrical circuit breakers, plunging the school into darkness. Earlier, the principal made the school a "no cell phone" area, so there is no way to call for help. They are also locked in for the evening.

The three fight several pitched battles all over the school. Every time Aaron and Miss Becker think that Mr. Big is no longer a threat, he wakes up, meaner and more upset than ever. Do Aaron and Miss becker survive the night? Is Mr. Big taken care of, once and for all?

I read the entire second half of this book in one sitting, it's that good. The book is somewhere in the process of being made into a movie. If it is anywhere near as thrilling as this novel, it is recommended for teens and adults.

Rad-Claire The Symphony Mouse

Rad-Claire The Symphony Mouse, Shawnita J. Chevis, Reimann Books, 2012

This children's book is about a music-loving rodent named Rad-Claire. What happens when music is permanently taken away from her?

Rad-Claire is part of a royal family of rodents that live in the walls of a high-class apartment building. One day, a pipe bursts in the building, and Queen Mary, Rad-Claire's mother, is swept away, clutching her flute. Queen mary, Rad-Claire and Prince Blake, her brother, all love music. Despite a diligent search through out the local sewers, no sign of Queen mary is found. In his grief, King Baisly, Rad-Claire's father, bans all music throughout the kingdom.

Rad-Claire loves to listen to listen to music from the building's human occupants. It could be anything from classical to hip-hop; Rad-Claire sometimes joins in on her mouse-sized violin. As brothers are inclined to do, the King finds out from Blake about Rad-Claire's refusal to give up on her musical dream, and she is brought before him.

After being told to give up music, or be confined to the Rodent Palace forever, Rad-Claire runs away from home, and finds herself on the streets of Manhattan. She samples some fine cuisine, and crashes in a luxury hotel. She visits a church to listen to the gospel music. Later that evening, she ends up in a jazz club to hear the blues. After being befriended by an escaped lobster, they go off to find an orchestra.

The next day, they find themselves at Radio City Music Hall during a performance of the New York Symphony Orchestra. Naturally, they are dressed for the occasion. Rad-Claire plays along on her violin, and is noticed by the conductor, who places her on the podium, and gives her a tiny conductor's baton. The audience is captivated. Does Rad-Claire return to the Rodent Palace? Does King Baisly rescind his music ban?

This one is pretty good. It shows that musical talent, and love of music, can be found in the most unlikely places. Children will enjoy it.

Sammy's Next Move

Sammy's Next Move, Helen Maffini, Third Culture Kids Press, 2011

This is a children's book about a snail named Sammy, who is moving to another country, again.

Sammy has been living in Italy for about a year. He has just gotten used to his new house, and Alex and Amanda are his friends. One day, Sammy's parents tell him that the family is moving to Japan. Sammy is very upset. How can he leave his friends? What if no one at the new school will be friends with him? What if he doesn't like the new house?

His mother reminds of the good times he had in the previous places where he lived. There were trips to Disneyland in Hong Kong, playing board games inside during typhoons and seeing Hong Kong from the harbor. In the United Arab Emirates, there was camping in the desert, and watching fireworks on National Day. Sammy's grandfather recorded himself reading Sammy's favorite bedtime stories, so that he was with Sammy every night. In the past, when the family was getting ready to move, Sammy and his father would research their new destination, and make a collage with pictures of all the fun things to do. Then Sammy's mother would cook a traditional meal from that country. While Sammy would miss his friends in Italy, he begins to treat the move as an adventure, with a new land to explore.

The book also includes some tips for parents. Be honest with your child about the move. Acknowledge their frustration/anger. Keep traditions from home alive in your new home. Let your child say goodbye to the place you are leaving. Maintain regular ties with family back home. Let your child express their feelings.

This is an excellent book for any child moving to another country (and for their parents, too). It may just make the whole process of moving a little easier.

Older Man Younger Man: A Love Story

Older Man Younger Man: A Love Story, Joseph Dispenza, Createspace, 2011

This is the true story of the evolution of a relationship between two men with a 30 year age difference between them.

Joseph (the older of the two) joined a monastery right out of high school as a way to deal with his sexual confusion. It's the sort of place where, for the first year, silence is required. When he left the monastery eight years later, he was no closer to any sort of answer.

Later in life, Joseph meets Mike in a small town in Mexico. Mike is a massage therapist whose dream is to become a naturopathic doctor, and Joseph is immediately smitten. To his joy, Joseph finds out later that day that Mike is also gay. Joseph has written several books on spiritual matters, so they decide to join forces and start an organization intended to help people through various life transitions. They eventually set up shop in a small town in Mexico.

Most relationships have their petty quarrels and misunderstandings, but the only bad parts of this relationship seem to be health related. Mike is subject to epileptic seizures, which he controls with medication. Later in the relationship, Joseph experiences pain during his much too frequent urination. Several prescriptions have little, or no, effect. When it turns out to be more than just a urinary tract infection, Joseph, or anyone in their 60s, can't help but think "Is this the beginning of the end? Will you be forced into the role of caregiver as I start to physically fall apart?" The death of Joseph's only brother, back home in Ohio, helps send him into a fit of depression. Mike notices Joseph's withdrawing, or hiding, from him, and loudly expresses his frustration.

When reading about an intimate, caring relationship between two people of very different ages, "Ew" is a normal response. In this particular case, don't be concerned. The sex is very minimal, and this is a well-written story of two people seemingly made for each other. Besides, isn't a strong and loving bond between two people the ultimate goal of any relationship? If it happens between two people at different stages in life, what's the big deal? This one is really worth reading.

Diary: Alone on Earth

Diary: Alone on Earth, JD Weldy, 2011 (Kindle e-book)

It's normal to wonder what it would be like to be the last person on earth. That is, until it actually happens

David is a senior citizen who has reasons for wanting to cut himself off from the rest of the world. He finds an isolated house outside of a small town in Alabama, where he plans to spend the rest of his days with his faithful dog, Ralph. One day, the whole world is menaced a strange humming sound. The media is full of speculation as to the cause. Several hundred people are driven to suicide, including one of David's neighbors. Countries are ready for war, convinced that their "enemy" is about to attack. David goes to bed.

The next morning David wakes up to no electricity, and no battery power, either. Even new, freshly charged batteries are dead. David travels to the houses of his neighbors, to find them deserted. He visits the small town, a place called Axis, to find it also deserted. He finds a motorcycle that he can push start, and visits Mobile, Alabama. He finds hundreds and hundreds of abandoned, burning cars, like people were in a panic. But there are no people, not even dead bodies. He finds the same thing in Atlanta, along with signs that people tried very hard keep something out, or in.

The book turns into something of a psychological battle between David and a being that he calls The Blackness. David feels that it wants him dead, but it can't kill him, so it torments him constantly. David hears Ralph barking, but no matter how much he calls out to Ralph, he doesn't come. David also hears voices that he should recognize. David and The Blackness meet late in the book (think "demon from hell"). David decides to travel west to keep looking for any other people. For some reason, he feels that answers will be found at the end of Interstate 90, in the town of Van Horn, Texas. As he travels, with The Blackness making it as hard as possible, David has to maneuver around thousands and thousands of smashed and burning cars, but still no people. Does David reach the end of his journey? Does he discover what happened to mankind?

Told all in diary form, this is a really interesting suspense story. It does a very good job of showing the despair that will set in after the "novelty" wears off, including the wondering if God would really let such a thing happen to His people. It is very much worth reading.

The House of Dark Shadows

The House of Dark Shadows, Digger Cartwright, Xlibris Corp., 2011

This is a novel about an Internet romance that starts off very innocently. It quickly enters the realm of weird and bizarre.

Alex Rommel is a young, hotshot attorney in present-day Charleston, South Carolina, with a large hole in his heart. Not only did Shannon, his long-time love, break up with him, but she also moved to Brazil, with the intention of never being found by Alex. One day, he runs into an old college buddy with his new girlfriend, who he met on the Internet. They seem totally compatible and happy, so Alex, the last of the Internet dating skeptics, joins a dating site.

He gets an e-mail from Hope, a twenty-something French photojournalist who is living in Atlanta, and studying for her doctorate in international relations. She is a bit of a traditionalist, insisting that Alex come to Atlanta for their first date. The fact that she is gorgeous makes the travel very much worth it. She also lets Alex know that she is a virgin, and will stay that way until her wedding night. Hope does and says several things that, individually mean nothing, but when put together, mean that something is not right.

After their second date, Alex gets a phone call from Charity, Hope’s mother. First, she demands Alex be tested for HIV, in Atlanta, by a doctor of her choosing. Then, she wants to know when Alex is going to marry Hope. Right after that, she implies that Alex doesn't know how to satisfy a woman. In the meantime, Alex owns a piece of ocean front property in Hawaii, that a shadowy corporation named Xanadu Holdings wants very, very much. Alex learns that Xanadu is having him followed, because they know about him seeing Hope in Atlanta. Things are getting more and more bizarre, so Alex's friends encourage him to get out now, before it is too late. Does he listen to them, or does Alex see things through to the bitter end?

This is a really good cautionary tale about Internet dating. That person with whom you have a blind date could be just a jerk. He or she could also have ulterior motives of a very different sort. This one will keep the reader very interested

Making Bank: The Personal Finance Lessons They Never Taught Us in School

Making Bank: The Personal Finance Lessons They Never Taught Us in School, Claudio M. Ghipsmann, Bridgeway Books, 2010

This book attempts to distill a subject like personal-finance into small, easy to read pieces. The author speaks as someone who learned personal-finance the hard way.

The first thing a person should do is to purchase, or free download, some sort of money management software like QuickBooks. Get in the habit of entering all of your income, and all of your expenses. After that is done, you can start printing reports, like a Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss, which will show you exactly where your money is going. Each month your expenses need to be less than your income. If that is not your situation, the sooner you start changing things, the better.

If you are thinking of getting into the investment world, have extra cash on hand, and pay off your credit cards first. Decide on your level of acceptable risk. Are you more interested in safe, conservative investments, or in high risk investments that could go through the roof, or crash and burn? There are, seemingly, 1 million places to invest, so research is needed ahead of time.

Paying off your credit cards, by itself, is a good way to put money in your pocket. Imagine a card with 20% interest, and you are carrying a $2000 balance. You are giving the credit card company $400 a year, for no reason. Pay off the card and that $400 will go in your pocket. Banks are getting rich on the everyday mistakes of their depositors. Use only your bank's ATM, and you will save that one or two dollar fee each time. Sign up for online access to your bank account, and check it often. When your balance gets low, you can transfer money from another account, or just not use that account for the time being. It will save you from an overdraft fee, and a bad check fee, which can be substantial. Get familiar with your 1040 form, so you can intelligently talk to your tax preparer, or do it yourself and save some money. The author also looks at insurance, real estate, and how to take care of your credit score.

This book does a very good job in taking the reader through the basics of personal-finance. Money management skills are rarely taught in high school, so even if the reader takes away one or two concepts from this book it will be a big help. Yes, this one is worth reading.

Graphics Essentials for Small Offices

Graphics Essentials for Small Offices, David Loeff, SciTrans, 2011

Graphics is an essential part of any small business, but it can be very difficult and confusing. This book aims to make it a little easier.

It is tempting to designate one of your employees as the "graphics person," instead of using an outside vendor; it's cheaper, right? Can other employees pick up the slack while the person is learning PhotoShop or InDesign? Will overtime be needed to keep up with the workload? If you do use an outside printer, make sure that they are aware of your budget. It helps no one if they deliver "champagne" graphics when all you have is a "beer" budget.

Come up with some sort of corporate identity manual, which includes your logo (with possible variations) and the colors and print font to be used in your documents. It's acceptable to re-visit the manual from time to time to do any necessary revising, but few things say "unprofessional" like constantly changing fonts and colors from one document to the next. You also need to decide what sort of text alignment will be used; left aligned, or justified. Don't use right aligned text unless absolutely necessary.

When you are designing your page, resist the temptation to get "creative" and fancy. Readability is most important. Use color sparingly. Put the headline right under the picture, and above the body text. Use a serif font instead of a sans-serif font (the book explores the differences between them) for body text. A reader's eyes travel from top to bottom and left to right. Don't try to make the eyes go in some other direction. Learn how to use, or not use, white space. The book also looks at working with images, and photo editing. If you are getting, for instance, an 8-page brochure ready to be professionally printed, the book shows just what the printer has to do to make it come out the right way.

The entire graphics process can be very frustrating for any small business. This book does an excellent job at explaining what should be going on, and will answer your questions before they are asked. It is short, and is well worth the time and money. 

Musa Dagh

Musa Dagh, Edward Minasian, Cold Tree Press, 2007

This is the true story about a famous bit of early 20th century history, the Armenian Genocide. It is also about the suppression, with the help of the American government, of a movie based on a novel about that time.

In the early 1900s, Turkey was run by a government of younger activists who wanted to "cleanse" Turkey of all non-Muslims (sound vaguely familiar?). Starting in 1915, it became official policy to kill or deport all Armenians (who were Christian). The population of Armenians in Turkey dropped from approximately 2 million to its present number of less than 100,000. Several villages of Armenians, facing "relocation" to the Syrian desert, made their last stand at a place called Musa Dagh. It is in present-day southeatern Turkey, just north of the border with Syria. They held out for approximately 2 months against the Turkish Army, before being rescued by a French ship.

In 1934, a novel called "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh" by Franz Werfel was published to worldwide acclaim. The Armenian Genocide had become The Forgotten Genocide, so Armenians around the world were overjoyed. They were even more overjoyed when MGM announced, in 1935, that a major motion picture would be made based on the novel. Then the Turkish government got involved.

They exerted a lot of diplomatic pressure to stop the film from ever being made. Turkey threatened to ban all American films from Turkey. France, their long-time ally, was willing to go along. The American State Department took Turkey's side. To this day, the Turkish government strongly denies that anything like genocide ever took place. MGM was eventually convinced to shelve the film, but they refused to let anyone else make it, diligently renewing their rights to the film every few years.

In the years after World War II, a number of well-known Hollywood figures were interested in making the film. No less than 15 different scripts were written. To satisfy Turkey, it was suggested that the Turkish Ambassador in Washington read the script before production, or that the title or setting is changed, so that it has nothing to do with Turkey or Armenians. The Turkish response was that no amount of re-writing was sufficient. During the Cold War, the threatened closing of the NATO base at Incirlik, Turkey, provided a very good reason to not get Turkey upset over the film.

In the 1980s, rights to the film were acquired by an Armenian from California named John Kurkjian. He was very interested in making the film, but he had a huge time constraint. If the film was not "in the can" by a certain date, a few months away, all rights to the film would go to Anna Mahler, Werfel's widow. Kurkjian was forced to make the film in the Hollywood Hills, using unemployed Armenian actors and a second-rate director. He was a total newcomer to the world of "Hollywood," so he was unmercifully taken advantage of by everyone involved in the film. It was a rushed, low-budget film, and the final cut looked like it. Kurkjian made the deadline, but when the film was shown in front of Armenian audiences, words like "disappointing" and "tragic" were used (the film stunk). He was able to make back the money he spent on the film; the only good thing about the whole experience was that the permanent rights to the film were now held by an Armenian.

This is a fascinating and eye-opening book. It exposes a little-known piece of American film history and is highly recommended.