Like me, I believe most people go about their business never to give a serious thought about their assumed private correspondence when using Gmail to email friends, colleagues and business associates.  As it turns out, your daily banter may not be so private after all.  A recent article in Fortune Magazine, “Judge Rejects Google Deal Over Email Scanning” caught my attention and an immediate thought dominated my curiosity…Google email and scanning scam.  

In essence, the article describes Googles’ agreement to change the way it scans incoming messages so that it no longer reads emails while they are in transit, but only when they are in someone's inbox! So, what exactly does that mean? Judge Koh, a San Francisco federal judge, said she's not so sure about that. Her ruling claims the settlement does not provide an adequate technical explanation of Google's workaround, which involves scanning in-transit emails for security purposes, and then later parsing them for advertising data. The judge also proposed a legal settlement to pay $2.2 million to lawyers, but nothing to consumers.

My interest in this story is not so much about the proposed settlements or the specific details about how Google or any of the web giants settle claims based on vague legal language. It is however, more about the naiveté of myself and perhaps many others that never question how the email scanning process really works. I wonder, do most of us really care that Gmail uses contents of our mail to display targeted ads?

Since its foundation, HSG has been a leader in Business Rule Management Systems Training and Consulting services by way of the Blaze Advisor Rule Engine.  Over the years we have provided such services to many of the worlds largest corporations and government institutions whose respective backgrounds include credit card processing, banking, insurance, health and medicine and more, much more.  Such training and consulting services have included:

Create a wrapper object model in either Java, .NET or XML

Identify and catalog business rules

Develop a rule architecture within Blaze Advisor that isolates rule repositories as they relate to functionality and corporate policies

Configure, develop and implement a variety of interfaces to the rule engine from disparate systems ranging from mainframe applications written in Cobol to UNIX/Windows applications using Enterprise Java Beans, Windows Services, Web Services, Fat Clients, Java Messaging Services and Web Applications.

Review and update code to boost efficiency either by way of

    Removing functions calls within conditional statements

    Ensuring that database calls are essential or can be rearchitected in some other manner

    Employing the rete algorithm where necessary

    Paring down extensively large class models

    Deploying such appliations in multi-threaded systems

·         ...

Call us if you:

    are in need of Blaze Advisor Expertise
    are developing SMEs in Blaze
    want to speak directly with an expert (no placement agencies)
    want an affordable alternative to FICO
    want to work with an industry leader

There are many excellent opportunities for IT professionals to present themselves to corporate entities for future consulting positions. You can find yourself in your next consulting engagement if you are willing to combine your IT skill-set, a good amount of corporate research and a bit of old fashioned moxie. Contrary to popular practice for applying for jobs through placement agencies and recruiters, it’s possible to meet with hiring managers, representing your firm, you, directly.

Although recruiters may not take a fee directly from you, the fact that they charge a fee for their services to a company after your placement may keep them from being able to place you. On the other hand, corporations searching for individuals with advanced knowledge of IT functions cannot rely on the friends and family of current employees to find superior consults in all fields.

What are some other options? First take the time to research corporations you would like to consult with. Look for the ones that most likely are complementary to your area of expertise because of the goods they produce or the services they provide to the public. Or you may opt to choose a company that is geographically close to where you live for the convenience of a short daily commute.  

Another way to find your next consulting job is to actively scan the news and see what corporations are making waves within their individual marketplaces. This is a good indicator of possible expansion and the need to hire on a contractual basis. Another good indicator of a need for IT professionals is a mention of a company relocation or expansion. Growth or renovation of office environments is often accompanied by a modernization of IT systems. Current IT team members may not be relocating or might not be familiar with systems other than the ones they already service.

Do as much research as possible about each corporation from their own websites and other sources dedicated to their particular field of endeavor. This gives you the edge in being able to speak about the IT systems they already have in place or your ideas for adapting their line of work or new product with the use of an IT system advancement. Their websites will often have a list of their corporate management. Make sure you address your cover-letter and resume to not only the Director of Human Resources, but to all executives in charge of their IT departments. Be specific in your abilities and the fact that you can be flexible with hiring arrangements.

Attend job fairs that have an emphasis on the more technical fields. When possible, also circulate your resume both digitally and in paper format to smaller and mid-sized companies. These corporations may not be able to maintain their own full-time IT group for fiscal reasons and your consulting prowess may be able to “save the day” for them in an emergency. You can become part of a corporate team on your own; all it takes is additional work on your part. However after your consultant job placement, you will be pleased that your efforts have succeeded so well.

Technology is wonderful. It helps us run our businesses and connects us to the world. But when computer problems get in the way of getting what you need to get done, you can go from easygoing to mad-as-a-hornet in 3 seconds flat. Before you panic or give in to the temptation to throw your computer out the window, try these easy fixes.

5 Common Computer Problems

1. Sluggish PC

A sluggish PC often means low disk space caused by an accumulation of temporary Internet files, photos, music, and downloads. One of the easiest fixes for a slow PC is to clear your cache.

The way you’ll do this will depend on the Internet browser you use:

• Chrome– On the top right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see what looks like a window blind. Click on that. Click on ‘History’ and hit ‘Clear Browsing Data’.

• Safari– On the upper left-hand side, you’ll see a tab marked ‘Safari’. Click on that. Scroll down and hit ‘Empty Cache’.

• Internet Explorer– Click on ‘Tools’ and scroll down to ‘Internet Options’. Under ‘Browsing History’ click ‘Delete’. Delete files and cookies.

• FireFox – At the top of the window click ‘Tools’ then go to ‘Options’. Select the ‘Advanced’ panel and click on the ‘Network’ tab. Go to ‘Cached Web Content’ and hit ‘Clear Now’.