From technology to politics to video games; these are the random thoughts of a geek with too much time on his hands
It only took me nearly two years to do!
Published on July 12, 2005 By Zoomba In Blogging
Alright, judging by the little box on the sidebar of this site, I've finally reached the 100th article milestone! One year and 10 months ago, I created my blog here at JoeUser, and at first I didn't post a whole lot, I think it took me something like a year to break the 1k point mark alone. When I was first here I was a minor voice that most didn't pay much attention to, so many of my articles went unnoticed. Which was a shame in my (not so) humble opinion, since I thought I had some damn good articles in those early days.

What I've decided to do is round up a few of my favorite blog entries over the past 99 I've written and list off the links here. They're listed in chronological order starting with the most recent and going back to some of the earliest pieces I wrote. So go ahead and click through the links below, enjoy what you read, toss up comments if you'd like. It's been a good 100 articles. Here's hoping I can manage 100 more!


  • Personal Responsibility, Public Education, Parenting
    http://zoomba.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=73194
    An article about the role of schools and teachers, proper parenting and personal responsibility in raising kids who aren't self-absorbed people who've never been challenged or questioned before in their lives. Inspired by an article by Dr. Guy about a 5yr old girl who a school had escorted out handcuffed by police.
  • Lets Jump Off a Bridge!
    http://zoomba.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=70652
    A tale of thrills and chills! Mike takes a flying leap off of a bridge in New Zealand in hopes of impressing the ladies... Sadly he made the wrong impression. Good for a laugh.
  • How Much Competition Can The Market Bear? http://zoomba.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=63410
    One of my many technical articles. This one looks at marketshare and fragmentation in the web browser arena. Namely the fact that the non-IE opposition just seems to keep splitting and growing, making it impossible for a true competitor to arise.
  • No Dr. Freeman... I Expect You to DIE!
    http://zoomba.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=35375
    A very very very long review of Half-Life 2. I'm still pretty impressed with how this one turned out.
  • What Employers Owe Interviewees
    http://zoomba.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=18063
    A rant on some of the more annoying employer practices I encountered while job hunting in 2004. These should be among the core rules taught to HR people when conducting interviews and looking to fill open jobs
  • The Changing Face of Information Technology
    http://zoomba.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=10930
    A look at the IT industry from a historic perspective to explain current issues of outsourcing and a speculative look towards the future and what may be in store for this field.
  • Fighting Inspiration Tooth and Nail
    http://zoomba.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=6858
    Ok this is definitely my absolute FAVORITE of all my previous articles. It's about Mr. Rogers and people like him who strive to tell us that we are worthwhile people, that we're appreciated and how we've been conditioned by society to discard such messages as cliche, as weak and too feel-good. How we need messages like this now more than ever as we're living in a world of terrorism, of school shootings and increased violence and war. I love this article, but since it was one of my first it was almost completely ignored. I wish I had saved it until I had a few more regular readers.
  • Epic Stories in Video Games
    http://zoomba.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=6441
    My take on the role of stories and background plot in video games and how the lack of a good one can separate an OK game from a great game. I reference back to this article a few times in later articles.

Comments (Page 1)
2 Pages1 2 
on Jul 12, 2005
Here's hoping I can manage 100 more!

I hope you can too.
on Jul 12, 2005

Best of luck on your next 100.  Just read your Interview article (it was before my time), and I got to say that

4) If you hold interviews, it's only fair to let an applicant know they were not accepted for the job

Is a real pipe dream!  It is a rare occasion that I was notified I did not get the job.  Most of the time, when the deadline passed that they gave me and I had not heard, I just gave up hope.

Good to see you on your feet now as well.  I guess experience counts for a lot as I was only looking for 3 months before my first offer.

on Jul 12, 2005
#4 was really more about second interviews, where they narrow down the pool to a small number, something manageable, something where they could just send a form email or letter.

My entire thing with the interview article was that interviewees have to offer respect and professionalism that is not offered in return. It gives me a bad taste in my mouth when I read about recruiters from companies I interviewed at talk about how most candidates don't act professionally or respectful enough in the interview process, it's a two way street guys and if you aren't willing to make the minimum effort, it's highly hypocritical to expect it from others

I know that's idealistic and will never happen, but I'm a big believer in the golden rule in all aspects of life and wish that others would give it a try from time to time.
on Jul 12, 2005

My entire thing with the interview article was that interviewees have to offer respect and professionalism that is not offered in return.

As my favorite saying "it is the nature of the beast".  There is nothing wrong with expecting it.  Just dont get too disappointed when it is not offered.

I will be honest that I never went in for an intereview for one job only to be interviewed for a different one.  But the best thing that happened to me was being a consultant for 15 years. As each time you go for a new contract, you sit in on an Interview (the interview is actually easier than a regular job as a consultant can be dumped in a heart beat).  It really sharpened my skills and I guess that is why I was in the finals for a half dozen jobs, and actually got 3 offers.

on Jul 12, 2005
When I wrote the article I was really feeling burned and pretty bummed over the job hunt process that looked to just go on forever. I have a better appreciation and understanding for it all now that I've made it past it. I know not to expect professional behavior out of interviewers now, if I find it, it's an added bonus, but I know it's not reasonable to expect it. The best I can do is make sure that when I'm in a position of hiring, that I do my best to follow those four rules.
on Jul 12, 2005
Congrats on the 100 mark, you should be quite proud of yourself. Here's to 100 more articles from you!
on Jul 12, 2005
congrats on da big 100........
on Jul 12, 2005
I was originally going to hold off on post 100 until it would have set me over the 10k point mark (I'm about 150 away now) but I got impatient

Thanks for the nice comments everyone, it's been a fun time so far
on Jul 12, 2005
Well, here is 5 more to get you to the 10k mark!
on Jul 12, 2005
Congrats Z.

May you crank out 100 more!
on Jul 12, 2005
Congratulations Zoomba! 100 written articles is quite a feat indeed! Here's to 100 more, cheers!
on Jul 12, 2005
Just as an amusing bit of extra info...
I tallied all the words in my 100 articles to date. Not counting comments, I've written approximately 69,700 words. Wow, just... wow.
on Jul 12, 2005

I tallied all the words in my 100 articles to date. Not counting comments, I've written approximately 69,700 words. Wow, just... wow.

OMG!  You are a geek!

on Jul 12, 2005
OMG! You are a geek!


Aww Doc, you say the sweetest things!
on Aug 03, 2005
Who cares?
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