The Garage Sale Blog Network

The Art of the Resume - Transistor Radio

In today’s economic climate, you would think people would take time in completing well crafted resumes.  Lately, however, I have had the fortune or mis, your call, of reviewing several hundred resumes for an entry level position.  Now I am definitely appreciative to have some choice, but honestly am I the only one who believes in the 1 page rule.  That would be, for those who don’t know, a resume should only be 1 page long because the reviewer is going to look at so many of these things that any more will get ignored. 

I can’t tell you how many 3 to 4 page resumes I have reviewed in the past couple days … FOR AN ENTRY LEVEL JOB.  This is ridiculous.  At first I thought, maybe, just maybe my printer was messing up and printing things at extreme font and margin sizes, but this would save maybe a page if things were off.  Look, I’ll give you 2 to 3 pages if you are applying for a C-level position, but really multiple pages to describe how you are qualified for entry-level!!!

I know the economy is bad and you want to impress me, but you aren’t going to do it with several pages.  All you are going to do is piss me off and make me say no.  If you can’t make an impression in 1 page, don’t bother applying.

Whatever happened to quality single page resumes?

Gambling and Gaming Update - Transistor Radio

First, sorry for the lack of posts.  True to my nature, although I wasn’t posting my predictions and results, I was still making numerous bets on UFC and beyond.  The betting has stretched into the NFL and NBA respectively.  The roll currently sits at $300.00.  Of all the sports I have action on, I feel the most comfortable in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.  It seems to me that there are fewer variables.  I know I know, there are fluky punches just like fluky touchdowns, but this sport makes sense to me.

Let’s recap some of the bets I made, what I was thinking, and what happened.  Here we go:

UFC 90

I only saw one intriguing bet on this card.  For the most part, I avoid super heavy favorites as I find there way too much risk.  The match-up I keyed on was Fabricio Verdum vs. Junior Dos Santos.  Verdum had last beaten up on Brandon Vera, but I saw that he was coming in much heavier than normal.  Dos Santos was an unknown to me, but I read about his camp training with Noguiera and Anderson Silva.  That’s a crew that will have you ready.  Add to this that Dos Santos was a +450 dog, I had to make a play and did.  Dos Santos proved me right with a huge knockout in the first round.

WEC 36

This card will be known for Urijah Faber getting KO’ed by Mike Brown, but I saw a much more attractive bet on the undercard.  Rani Yahya vs. Yoshiro Maeda.  Yahya is a sub expert who I last saw taking Chase Beebe to a 5 round decision.  This is not to  be ignored and as I thought, Yahya subbed Maeda in the first.

UFC 91

I had a series of bets in this one.   I’ll start with the last and most shocking.  I bet that the Randy Couture Brock Lesnar fight would go past the halfway mark of round 3.  I was incorrect as you may now know.  Couture got caught with a giant punch just behind his ear in the second round and went down like a sack of potatoes.   This is that fluky shot I was talking about.  Now this is not to say that I thought Couture would win, but I was pretty certain that this fight would go deeper as Lesnar would be much more patient and Randy is Randy and just wouldn’t give up unless KO’ed.  Unfortunately for me and Randy, he was just that.

Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stephenson was a very easy fight to call.  Florian is just way too smart, too well trained, and gives it his all.  Easy decision for my betting purposes and he proved me right with a submission in the first.

The next two picks for me were straight up submission specialist calls:  Dustin Hazelett and Demian Maia.  Both excel on the ground and both won via submission in the first.  Hazelett by a crazy arm bar out of an omoplata.  The kid is sick.  Maia via rear naked.  Can’t be stopped.  With these two, I don’t think it matters who they face.  It wouldn’t have to be a very elite level fighter or some crazy odds against to consider not betting on them.

I’ll be sure to post up the predictions on the next event UFC:  Fight for the Troops before December 10, 2008.

The $800 question: to buy the Sony Xperia X1a or not??? - Transistor Radio

I have a sick fascination with gadgets, but maybe not quite the budget to afford or fully demonstrate this.  The latest item to catch my eye:  The Sony Xperia X1a.

This smartphone has been pimped and pumped before my eyes on the intarwebs for nearly a year now.  I almost can’t take it, but just last week it showed up on www.sonystyle.com for pre-order priced at $799.99.  I guess it was available before, but this was the international not quite guaranteed to work in the US spectrum version. 

So the question bugging me now is:  do I pull the trigger, pull out the plastic and ring it up?  Is this phone worth $800+?  Is any phone for that matter?  If I think of it as a computer, maybe it’s not so pricey.  But then again, more powerful computers don’t cost this much. 

Considerations:   it’s sexy, but is it as sexy as a iphone 3g?  Well, I need winmo for work, so that’s shuts out the iphone and also I have an unhealthy aversion to buying things that I think the “masses” have.   I’ve always liked Sony Ericsson phones.  4 out of my 6 cell phones have been SE phones.  The interface is great, but again this is a pretty Windows Mobile interface.  I do expect it will play nice with multimedia.  Hmmm….

The only way to really know is to get one I suppose.  If anyone’s got any opinions, post up some comments so I can weigh my options. In the meanwhile, check out these vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBjV2fYWlik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8ZL2-QEFoM

and a sick voice command vid:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLAbwT521Fs

UFC 88: Breakthrough Results - Transistor Radio

HOLY CRAP!!!

Liddell got KTFO’ed!

Recapping my action over the weekend, the prediction will be listed in plain text with the results and analysis in italics directly below that prediction.

Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann

I’m gonna put $10 on Marquardt because I dig his style. I think he is too much for Kampmann even though he lost his last two fights. In those, you have to remember it was against prolly the best pound for pound in Anderson Silva and a series of unfortunate knees which led to a point loss.

Wow! Nate “The Great” is right. It didn’t take long for him to TKO Kampmann. A vicious head kick followed by some brutal punches, throw in a knee to the dome-piece for good measure and the fight is over. Nice win here. Marquardt is certainly on his way to another title shot.

Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

I have $10 on Yoshida even though I couldn’t tell you what he looks like or what he does well. I just think that Karo is done. He’s looked worse and worse with each fight and I think he has a $%%&& attitude. He’s done, I don’t know how, but he will find a way to lose.

Hahahahha, so this one is kinda funny and kinda sad. Parisyan pulled out at the weigh-ins with an undisclosed injury. What has come to light is that he has panic/anxiety attacks which may or may not have affected his training. Is this what has made him worse and worse over the years? Certainly could be. Anyway, it is funny because of how arrogant he’s come off lately, and to now admit this is crazy.

The Main Event: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans

I have Chuck here for $20. His KO power will be too much. He fought such a smart game against Vanderlei last time out. Evans is way over-rated. I think he doesn’t have the tank or the chin to handle Liddell. Liddell via knockout in round 2.

Snap apparently that should have read “Liddell gets knocked out in round 2.” Just about the perfect game plan. I shouldn’t have expected any less from a Greg Jackson trained fighter. That guy game plans with the best of ‘em. Anyway, Rashad spent the first round timing Liddell’s only form of attack, hand strikes. In the second round, he simply beat him to the punch in every exchange. Rashad is faster and the knockout was amazing. Liddell, once again throws an uppercut to the body and has a counter shot absolutely crush him square on the jaw (see Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson 2). In this case, it was a blazing fast and accurate overhand right.

Congrats to Evans. I take back my over-rated comment. Well done, sir.

Given everything the roll sits at $101.38. Might see action on the next WEC event, but I’ll let you all know.

Thoughts on the Cloud - Transistor Radio

Google just released Chrome, their brand spanking new web browser (see intricate comic book explaining maybe too much for the average user here

A few interesting things to note:

Google didn’t mess with Firefox, although they have backed them for years. It appears that they will still back Firefox even though they have their own browser to support. All positives in my book.

Two, this seems to be the next step towards the all-knowing all-being Cloud. My impressions of the Cloud are that if it works seamlessly it could be a good thing. I may not have a full grasp of it but ultimately I think it goes like this: The Cloud is Google and all of its information services. If you store and use data on the Cloud, it is always accessible via the web. In order to make this seamless, you need a really good method of getting to the services (i.e a browser). Browsers exist (i.e. Microsoft Internet Explorer), but given its importance for the Cloud (delivery) you need control of said browser. So in sum, make it yourself.

I am not sure what I would prefer: private data or the ability to access my data anywhere at any time from any machine. I’m all for change though, so I’m gonna hop on board and see what’s happening. I’ll drop a review of Chrome in a week or so. But for now, you can check out some other people’s thoughts on all this at these spots:

Here and here.

and obviously mad news links from the Cloud itself - Google

UFC 88 and some shocking news! - Transistor Radio

Oh my Science yo! Randy Couture is back.

That’s right, the Natural is back and he is taking on that scary mf’er Brock Lesnar. Brock seems to be way too big and fast and athletic but Randy is the best game planner/executioner in the business. They fight at UFC 91 and I can’t wait!

Okay on to the business at hand, UFC 88 Breakthrough.

After the last betting session, I have $114.71 in my bodog account (sign up now www.bodoglife.com referral number PF8465C).

I’ll only list the fights I have action on.

Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann

I’m gonna put $10 on Marquardt because I dig his style. I think he is too much for Kampmann even though he lost his last two fights. In those, you have to remember it was against prolly the best pound for pound in Anderson Silva and a series of unfortunate knees which led to a point loss.

Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

I have $10 on Yoshida even though I couldn’t tell you what he looks like or what he does well. I just think that Karo is done. He’s looked worse and worse with each fight and I think he has a $%%&& attitude. He’s done, I don’t know how, but he will find a way to lose.

The Main Event: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans

I have Chuck here for $20. His KO power will be too much. He fought such a smart game against Vanderlei last time out. Evans is way overated. I think he doesn’t have the tank or the chin to handle Liddell. Liddell via knockout in round 2.

I’ll post a follow up after the events. Holla at me and good luck with your bets. GSBN!!!

UFC 87 Results - Transistor Radio

Seek and Destroy is in the books so let’s revisit and see where I stand in my predictions and the betting challenge.

A reminder that I started the wagering with $100.00

I commend myself for not placing bets on the preliminary card. Looks like the two I heard of, Saunders and Kongo, did come through with wins, but that’s no (smart) reason to bet.

For the main card I will leave last week’s predictions up and comment in italics below.

Main Card

Jason McDonald vs. Demian Maia

No bet here, but if pushed I would take McDonald. That is just a random gut-feeling though.

Glad I didn’t bet. Maia is an insane Jiu Jitsu practitioner. He executed a clinic all over McDonald and won Submission of the night. I have to give props to McDonald for lasting as long as he did and escaping some of the sub attempts. Wow!

Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson

I like Emerson as a fighter, but here I think Manny is too much for him. The Manvil is way too active for Emerson. My money is on Manvil for $10.

D@$*! Lost my money and lost it quick. Manny got KTFO’d (Knocked the F&*% Out) in 12 seconds!!!

Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring

This is a very interesting fight. Brock came out in his last fight and really put the pressure on Frank Mir. If it wasn’t for Mir’s gameness, Brock would have gotten a stoppage. Look for Lesnar to start fast, but I’m just not sure where this fight will go. We have to remember that Herring nearly knocked out current Heavyweight Champ Antonia Rodrigo Noguiera. I really think this fight can go either way. Part of me says that Brock is a freak and way too quick and powerful for a man so big. The other part of me is screaming for Herring to take this just on MMA experience alone. Lesnar by first round TKO, but no bet.

Hmmm. This was interesting. If I would have bet, I would have won. Anyway, Lesnar dominated every round with his speed and power. He really should have been able to force a stoppage, but played such a patient game, working for and keeping position the entire time. One more thing, did you see those knees by Lesnar? Holy S&*$! I would not want to be on the end of one of those.

Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta

Big fight for both of them. Next could be a title fight with the Prodigy BJ Penn. Alas, this fight much like the last is hard for me to call. Both guys have skills, but when it comes down to it, I’ll be rooting for Huerta. Again, no bet.

Rooting for Huerta…Florian proved he is that much more experienced and that much better. Glad for no action here.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch

Jon Fitch is animal, but GSP does everything he does and he does it better. Fitch will get killed in this fight. St. Pierre is absolutely on a different level. Go back and rewatch his last two fights against the Matts (Hughes and Serra respectively). GSP is done trading with folks. He can strike with anyone he wants, but why risk it when he can just own you on the ground. I fully expect another clinic and this fight to jumpstart more best pound for pound talk. GSP 3^rd round TKO by Ground and Pound. I’m putting $50 on GSP.

Snaps yawl. This was a fight big time. As good as it was, this was all about how good GSP is and how tough Fitch is. Fitch is MAN! There was no quit in him. I counted at least 3 times where he should have been done, including 2 in the 3^rd round. Ultimately, GSP was just too much and every round went to him. Props to Fitch for going the distance; anyone else would have been stopped for sure. I win the bet and based on odds get back $14.71.

Overall betting results 1 loss (Gamburyan) and 1 win (St. Pierre). +$4.71 on the night. Nothing much but we continue. Next event is UFC 88 Liddel vs. Evans.

Passion and Fear - Transistor Radio

I have a fear that I will not be as successful as I would like. I fear that my passion and interests change so frequently that I will never fully commit or realize my potential in any one thing. I have grand ideas but no follow through. How do I balance everything?

Right now, I enjoy my work. I like what I do and I feel good about myself. Right now, I want to work out more, but in order to do so I have to get to the gym at 5am otherwise I don’t do it. Right now, I want to be a successful poker player, but I don’t spend enough time playing. Right now, with just these 3 things, I am running out of time…

How can I add to this? This is a meager list. There are so many people out there achieving so much more than me. Am I this sad? I want to commit to this blogging thing. I want to write a book. I want to regain my passion for coding. I want to buy a house. I want to read more. I want to learn more. I want…and I wait for the moments where it doesn’t feel like too much.

MMA Predictions and a Challenge Perhaps - Transistor Radio

MMA Predictions and a Challenge Perhaps

UFC: Seek and Destroy is coming to us this Saturday August 9, 2008. I wanted to issue a challenge to myself and let you all tag along and watch. I am going to deposit some money on Bodog (sign up with referral #PF8465C) and list out predictions and bets for the coming event. If successful, I will continue whenever I fancy, but I will always put my predictions and action out there for you all to see. I may not bet on everything, but who knows, I can’t resist putting my money into play.

Start of Challenge: $100.00

On the preliminary card, I only have heard of maybe two fighters (Ben Saunders and Cheick Kongo). For that reason, I’ll be staying away from bets here.

Main Card

Jason McDonald vs. Demian Maia

No bet here, but if pushed I would take McDonald. That is just a random gut-feeling though.

Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson

I like Emerson as a fighter, but here I think Manny is too much for him. The Manvil is way too active for Emerson. My money is on Manvil for $10.

Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring

This is a very interesting fight. Brock came out in his last fight and really put the pressure on Frank Mir. If it wasn’t for Mir’s gameness, Brock would have gotten a stoppage. Look for Lesnar to start fast, but I’m just not sure where this fight will go. We have to remember that Herring nearly knocked out current Heavyweight Champ Antonia Rodrigo Noguiera. I really think this fight can go either way. Part of me says that Brock is a freak and way too quick and powerful for a man so big. The other part of me is screaming for Herring to take this just on MMA experience alone. Lesnar by first round TKO, but no bet.

Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta

Big fight for both of them. Next could be a title fight with the Prodigy BJ Penn. Alas, this fight much like the last is hard for me to call. Both guys have skills, but when it comes down to it, I’ll be rooting for Huerta. Again, no bet.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch

Jon Fitch is animal, but GSP does everything he does and he does it better. Fitch will get killed in this fight. St. Pierre is absolutely on a different level. Go back and rewatch his last two fights against the Matts (Hughes and Serra respectively). GSP is done trading with folks. He can strike with anyone he wants, but why risk it when he can just own you on the ground. I fully expect another clinic and this fight to jumpstart more best pound for pound talk. GSP 3^rd round TKO by Ground and Pound. I’m putting $50 on GSP.

Vegetables are Innocent - Transistor Radio

I have long been pushing for a new trend in dietary fads. Maybe it’s not exactly new, but I’ve got a whole new reason to push it.

Straight meat eating! That’s right, carnivore style.

We as a people need to recognize the plight of the innocent. Vegetables never did anything to hurt us. They don’t attack. Worst of all, they don’t scream. They are silent victims in all of this.

One can argue, and I do, that animals, at least the ones we eat, have had their chance. They just happened to get dominated by our super sophisticated ways of killing. Vegetables (and fruits for that matter) don’t have any chance to show pain, cry out, or attempt to defend themselves.

Don’t argue that vegetables don’t feel pain. How do we know that? This is a world where we are always learning something new. We never had any idea that animals know how to communicate. Hell, we still don’t know exactly how they do it. We can’t interpret what they are saying.

In the meantime, this is my new agenda: worldwide acceptance of my love of meat and to lend a voice to the voiceless vegetables.

Now, who wants to meet me for a steak?