5/29/2008

25 Great interview tips

More of Interview tips from CNN.

You're not getting the job -- 25 reasons why

Here are 25 ways you might be unknowingly sabotaging your own job search:

The first steps

1. Not keeping track of your accomplishments

When you're happy with your job, it's easy to forget about possible future job hunts. You never know when you'll end up looking for new work, and if you don't keep a running list of awards, promotions and accomplishments, you might not remember them when it's time to update your resume.

2. Leaving on a bad note

As much fun as it is to fantasize about telling off a bad boss, don't actually do it. Leaving a trail of angry bosses or co-workers will come back to haunt you when you need references.

3. Not networking

If you're silent about your job search, your friends, family and colleagues won't think of you when they hear about job opportunities.

4. Only using the Internet

Online job boards are fantastic resources, but you need to do some footwork if you want to increase your chances of finding a job. Contact companies whom you'd like to work for, even if there are no job listings. Not all companies advertise openings online.

5. Only searching for the perfect job

Yes, your job search should be focused. After all, applying to every job posting that comes your way is a good way to waste time but not an effective way to find a job you want. However, if you approach your job hunt unwilling to accept anything less than the precise job title, pay, vacation time and hours you want, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

The resume and cover letter

6. Writing a generic cover letter

If your cover letter looks like it could have come from a word processor template, right down to the "To Whom It May Concern," don't bother sending it. Hiring managers look for a candidate who wants that specific position, not someone who sends out applications en masse. Write a new cover letter for each job application and include details specific to that company.

7. Typos

Sending a cover letter or resume filled with grammatical mistakes and typographical errors shows hiring managers you don't care about the quality of your work and probably not about the job, either.

8. Including your current work info as the best place to contact you

Making sure employers can get in touch with you is important, but they shouldn't be contacting you at work. "Potential employers are going to question if these people will search for a new job on their time," says Kathy Sweeney, resume writer for the Write Resume.

9. Focusing on yourself and not on the company in the cover letter

"When 'I' is the predominant subject -- and there are times when it is the only subject of all the sentences in the cover letter -- it indicates to me that they don't understand my organization and its needs, and, in fact, says they don't care to know," says Dion McInnis, associate vice president for university advancement at University of Houston-Clear Lake. "And therefore, I don't care to know them."

10. Not targeting your resume to the position

Just like the cover letter, your resume should build a case for you to be hired for a specific position. If you're applying for a financial analyst position, don't waste space including your teenage stint as a lifeguard.

The interview

11. Showing up late

Nobody likes to be kept waiting, especially hiring managers evaluating whether or not you would make a good employee.

12. Dressing for the wrong job

Your interview attire should match the dress code of the company, or be one step up. If the office dress code is business casual, wearing jeans and a t-shirt won't work in your favor. On the other hand, if you're told dress is casual, you'll stick out if you show up wearing a double-breasted suit.

13. Not asking questions

When the interview comes to a close, the hiring manager will undoubtedly ask if you have any questions for him or her. Not asking anything is the equivalent of saying, "I don't care all that much about the job."

14. Badmouthing a former boss

When you talk to hiring managers about a previous employer, you're also talking about them. The way you talk about a previous employer is how interviewers think you'll talk about them in the future, so keep it civil.

15. Not paying attention

Another way to show you don't care much about the job is to get distracted. Answering your phone, sending texts or digging through your bag tells the interviewer that your focus is anywhere except on the interview.

16. Not researching the position

Your chief objective in an interview is convincing the hiring manager you're the best candidate for the job. How can you prove your qualifications if you don't have an idea of what skills you're expected to have and what your responsibilities will be?

17. Not researching the company

Employers want to know that your motivation for work is more than a paycheck. If you demonstrate that you know something about the company's history, its goals and its culture, you prove you want to be a part of the company.

18. Forgetting common etiquette

Don't cuss, chew gum, burp, take off your shoes, forget to shower or do anything else that's not appropriate in a business setting. Don't give the interviewer a reason not to hire you.

19. Forgetting you're being interviewed from the moment you walk in

Just because you're not sitting down at a desk across from the hiring manager, don't think you're not being evaluated. For example, employers will often ask their receptionists if you were nice them. Even if your interview involves lunch or dinner, you're trying to get a job, not show off your ability to down tequila shots.

20. Bringing up salary too soon

A rule of thumb is that you should never bring up pay; let the hiring manager do it. Of course employers are aware that you want to know about the salary, so they will bring it up when the time is right. Appearing too concerned with money suggests you aren't passionate about the position or the company.

After the interview

21. Not sending a thank-you note

Interview etiquette extends beyond the goodbye hand-shake. Follow up with the interviewer by sending a thank-you note, either by e-mail or in the mail. Not only is it standard business practice, it's also common courtesy.

22. Being over-aggressive in follow-up

Thanking the hiring manager for the interview is acceptable. You can even check in to see if a candidate's been hired if you were given a deadline for the decision. However, calling, e-mail or stopping by the office repeatedly is not persistent; it's annoying.

23. Not learning from your mistakes

Not every interview goes off without a hitch, so don't beat yourself up if you flubbed an answer or two. However, if you don't take the time to review each interview you go on, you're bound to repeat the same mistakes again and again.

24. Forgetting where you've applied and interviewed

After a few weeks, you've applied at more than dozen places and probably interviewed with a few companies. Eventually it's harder to remember where you've sent a resume or interviewed, and applying to the same place makes you look like an applicant who applies to any posting that pops up, not the best fit.

25. Stopping your job search while you wait for a response

Even if your interview for the job of a lifetime went well, don't freeze your job hunt while you wait to hear back. For a variety of reasons you might not get the job, or you might stumble upon an even better opportunity. You don't have anything to lose by continuing the hunt.

5/28/2008

Important pointers for understanding Public Company's Financial Statements

Great pointers from How to Read Financial Statements
  • Debt: Ideally, you want to invest in companies with little or no long-term debt. This is generally a sign that a company has a healthy cash flow. Furthermore, the return on equity is substantially improved when a company is not burdened with interest payments on long-term debt.

  • Return on Equity (ROE) Ratio: Return on Equity can be determined by taking net income and dividing it by total shareholder equity. This simple formula will measure the amount of profit a company generates relative to the amount of money shareholders have put into it. You will want to focus on stocks with a minimum if .15 (15%) ROE. Achieving a high ROE while incurring little or no debt is a sure sign of financial success. Be wary or companies that increase their ROE by increasing their debt which should be seen as a red flag.

  • Profit Margins: It is an absolute must that a company's profit margin is on the rise. The ability to increase sales without a corresponding increase in expenses is characteristic of a solid company. Typically, the larger the profit margin, the safer the investment. Obviously, a company that operates with a 5% profit margin will operate at a loss if sales decline by 5%.

  • Current Ratio: This ratio is determined by dividing the current assets by the current liabilities. This ratio will show you how well equipped a company will be at handling adversity. You should focus on companies with a current ratio of at least 2:1, preferably higher.

  • Earnings: Quarterly earnings should show meaningful growth when compared to the same quarter from a prior year, not a prior quarter. This will insure that you are comparing apples to apples. Keep a keen eye out for one time extraordinary gains when looking at annual earnings. You will want to focus on companies with annual earnings growth of 20% or more.

5 Positive Office Politics mashup that you can use to improve your office relationship

Here are list of gathering from useful things that you should do to deal with or get better habits fit for office politics.

1. 7 Habits To Win In Office Politics

office politics

HABIT #1 - BE AWARE YOU HAVE A CHOICE

The most common reactions to politics at work are either fight or flight. It’s normal human reaction for survival in the wild, back in the prehistoric days when we were still hunter-gatherers. Sure, the office is a modern jungle, but it takes more than just instinctive reactions to win in office politics. Instinctive fight reactions will only cause more resistance to whatever you are trying to achieve; while instinctive flight reactions only label you as a pushover that people can easily take for granted. Neither options are appealing for healthy career growth.

Winning requires you to consciously choose your reactions to the situation. Recognize that no matter how bad the circumstances, you have a choice in choosing how you feel and react. So how do you choose? This bring us to the next point…

HABIT #2 - KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE

When conflicts happens, it’s very easy to be sucked into tunnel-vision and focus on immediate differences. That’s a self-defeating approach. Chances are you’ll only invite more resistance by focusing on differences in people’s positions or opinions.

The way to mitigate this without looking like you’re fighting to emerge as a winner in this conflict is to focus on the business objectives. In the light of what’s best for the business, discuss the pros and cons of each option. Eventually, everyone wants the business to be successful; if the business don’t win, then nobody in the organization wins. It’s much easier for one to eat the humble pie and back off when they realize the chosen approach is best for the business.

By learning to steer the discussion in this direction, you will learn to disengage from petty differences and position yourself as someone who is interested in getting things done. Your boss will also come to appreciate you as someone who is mature, strategic and can be entrusted with bigger responsibilities.

HABIT #3 - FOCUS ON YOUR CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

At work, there are often issues which we have very little control over. It’s not uncommon to find corporate policies, client demands or boss mandates which affects your personal interests. Bitching and complaining are common responses to these events that we cannot control. But think about it, other than that short term emotional outlet, what tangible results do bitching really accomplish? In most instances, none.

Instead of feeling victimized and angry about the situation, focus on the things that you can do to influence the situation - your circle of influence. This is a very empowering technique to overcome the feeling of helplessness. It removes the victimized feeling and also allows others to see you as someone who knows how to operate within given constraints. You may not be able to change or decide on the eventual outcome, but you can walk away knowing that you have done the best within the given circumstances.

Constraints are all around in the workplace; with this approach, your boss will also come to appreciate you as someone who is understanding and positive.

HABIT #4 - DON’T TAKE SIDES

In office politics, it is possible to find yourself stuck in between two power figures who are at odds with each other. You find yourself being thrown around while they try to outwit each other and defend their own position. All at the expense of you getting the job done. You can’t get them to agree on a common decision for a project, and neither of them want to take ownership of issues; they’re too afraid they’ll get stabbed in the back for any mishaps.

In cases like this, focus on the business objectives and don’t take side with either of them - even if you like one better than the other. Place them on a common communication platform and ensure open communications among all parties so that no one can claim “I didn’t say that”.

By not taking sides, you’ll help to direct conflict resolution in an objective manner. You’ll also build trust with both parties. That’ll help to keep the engagements constructive and focus on business objectives.

HABIT #5 - DON’T GET PERSONAL

In office politics, you’ll get angry with people. It happens. There will be times when you feel the urge to give that person a piece of your mind and teach him a lesson. Don’t.

People tend to remember moments when they were humiliated or insulted. Even if you win this argument and get to feel really good about it for now, you’ll pay the price later when you need help from this person. What goes around comes around, especially at the work place.

To win in the office, you’ll want to build a network of allies which you can tap into. The last thing you want during a crisis or an opportunity is to have someone screw you up because they habour ill-intentions towards you - all because you’d enjoyed a brief moment of emotional outburst at their expense.

Another reason to hold back your temper is your career advancement. Increasingly, organizations are using 360 degree reviews to promote someone.

Even if you are a star performer, your boss will have to fight a political uphill battle if other managers or peers see you as someone who is difficult to work with. The last thing you’ll want is to make it difficult for your boss to champion you for a promotion.

HABIT #6 - SEEK TO UNDERSTAND, BEFORE BEING UNDERSTOOD

The reason people feel unjustified is because they felt misunderstood. Instinctively, we are more interested in getting the others to understand us than to understand them first. Top people managers and business leaders have learned to suppress this urge.

Surprisingly, seeking to understand is a very disarming technique. Once the other party feels that you understand where he/she is coming from, they will feel less defensive and be open to understand you in return. This sets the stage for open communications to arrive at a solution that both parties can accept. Trying to arrive at a solution without first having this understanding is very difficult - there’s little trust and too much second-guessing.

HABIT #7 - THINK WIN-WIN

As mentioned upfront, political conflicts happen because of conflicting interests. Perhaps due to our schooling, we are taught that to win, someone else needs to lose. Conversely, we are afraid to let someone else win, because it implies losing for us.

In business and work, that doesn’t have to be the case.

Learn to think in terms of “how can we both win out of this situation?” This requires that you first understand the other party’s perspective and what’s in it for him. Next, understand what’s in it for you. Strive to seek out a resolution that is acceptable and beneficial to both parties. Doing this will ensure that everyone truly commit to the agree resolution and not pay only lip-service to it.

People simply don’t like to lose. You may get away with win-lose tactics once or twice, but very soon, you’ll find yourself without allies in the workplace. Thinking win-win is an enduring strategy that builds allies and help you win in the long term.

2. Win at Office Politics Without Selling Your Soul

Positive Politics

In office politics, as in most things, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Once a coworker or boss is out to get you, it's hard to avoid being stabbed in the back. Play positive politics, though, and your coworkers and bosses will probably turn any stabbing instincts elsewhere. Here are a few of my favorite positive politics strategies:

  • Ask Respected Higher-Ups for Counsel Periodically: Encourage them to think of you as a protege, and they're more likely to defend you when you need it.
  • Perform Deliberate Acts of Kindness: Stay late one night to help a coworker on a deadline. Send a handwritten thank-you note to the person who gave you that Word tip.
  • Do Visible, Important Tasks: If such tasks aren't in your job description, ask if you can take one on. Be sure everyone knows you did the work. For example, you might email key employees a draft of your project's final report, "for feedback," ensuring your boss or rival doesn't try to steal the credit.

Keep Your Antennae Out

Sometimes, despite playing positive politics, someone will want you to look bad -- if only because he wants that promotion you're vying for. You can't respond to his machinations unless you know who the perpetrator is. Here are a few ways to find out:

  • Are you being kept out of the information loop? Who's behind that?
  • Are you lacking the resources you need to do your job? Who's behind that?
  • At meetings, does someone always seem to disagree with you, if not verbally, then by sighing, rolling his eyes or appearing not to pay attention when you're speaking?
  • When you ask someone for support or advice, do you get the sense he's annoyed?
  • When you talk one-on-one with your suspected saboteur, does he always seem eager to cut the conversation short?

When You Feel You're Losing the Game

You have the sense that someone's sabotaging you. Now what? Hopefully, by having kept your antennae out, you know who that person is. Here are some strategies for foiling him:

  • Get Feedback from a Supporter: Say something like, "I'm concerned Matt is annoyed with me. Have you noticed that? Anything you think I should do?"
  • Respond with Strength: If your saboteur tries to put you down, especially in front of others, don't wimp out. Make a strong response, perhaps using humor. For example, you're proposing a solution to a problem at a meeting. Throughout your presentation, Joe is slouching, doodling and rolling his eyes. You might say something like, "Joe, it looks like my idea is putting you to sleep. Either you went to quite a party last night, or you have a better solution. Care to share it?"
  • Quietly Confront the Backstabber: For example, "I've noticed that you seem annoyed with me. Is there anything I'm doing wrong?" If you get useful feedback, fine. Thank him and offer to work on improving. If, however, you sense that his reason for annoyance is unjustified, you need to be strong. For example, you might say, "Matt, you're withholding key information from me. Things need to change, or I'll have to go to the boss."
  • Inoculate: Tell others you're concerned this person is unfairly trying to denigrate you for selfish gain. Point to specific evidence of unfairness, or you may be perceived as the backstabber.
3. Office politics is about being nice

Politics is part of society. And my guess is that you want to participate in society (at least) so that you can support yourself. But people who are good at politics are generally empathetic (they understand who needs what) and they have good self-discipline (they can moderate themselves so they are pleasant to be with.)

Most people who hate politics think they have to change who they are to succeed. Really, though, anyone who is being their best self ? kind, considerate, expressive, interested in others ? will do fine in office politics.

So get to know yourself. Saying you just can’t do politics is giving up on being your best self. And wait, there’s more good news about office politics. If you really take a look at what’s going on over there at the water cooler, people are not jockeying for power, they are hobnobbing for projects. That’s right. For most people in today’s workplace, office politics is about getting the best opportunities to learn and grow; the best projects, the best training, the assignments that build skills the market values.

Office chatter with the vapid goal of getting power over other people is, frankly, a little offensive. But it is hard to fault people for wanting to grow and learn. In fact, I find more fault with people who care so little about personal growth that they won’t spend the extra energy politicking to get themselves on good projects.

Maybe you are convinced, but you are feeling at a loss to get started. Here are four things that people who are good at office politics do:

1. Make time for it ? both in terms of face time, and time alone to analyze the face time.

2. Listen. How can you learn anything when you’re talking about what you already know?

3. Have genuine interest in other people. Each person is interesting if you are interested enough to ask the right question.

4. Practice empathy. This means putting yourself in other peoples’ shoes all the time. And not judging them.

Maybe you’re still thinking of being the person at the office who abstains from office politics. Realize that you won’t last long - in the office, that is. Putting your head down and doing your work is a good way to ensure that you don’t connect with anyone. This situation is deadly in a world where people are hired for what they know and fired for who they are. People need to get to know you in order to like you.

The act of making yourself likeable is office politicking. You shouldn’t have to be fake if you are a genuinely nice and interested person. If office politics requires you to do something that feels fake, consider that you were not likeable in the first place. For you, office politics is training ground to teach yourself to be likeable, and, as a side benefit, you will save your job. For others, office politics is the time at work when you get to be your best, true, self in search of more learning opportunities and more human connections.

5. Ways to win at office politics

Here are Essex's nine tips to help you win at office politics and still gain other's respect.

1. Observe how things get done in your organization.

Ask some key questions: What are the core values and how are they enacted? Are short- or long-term results most valued? How are decisions made? How much risk is tolerated? The answers to these questions should give you a good sense of the culture of your organization.

2. Profile powerful individuals

Pay attention to their communication style, network of relationships and what types of proposals they say "yes" to most often. Emulate those traits by drawing on the strengths you have.

3. Determine strategic initiatives in the company

Update your skills to be relevant to company initiatives. For example, don't lag behind in technology, quality or customer service approaches that are crucial to you and your company's success.

4. Develop a personal track record as someone who gets results

Style without substance will not gain others' respect, especially in today's organizations that focus on outcome.

5. Don't be afraid to toot your own horn

If no one knows of your good work, you may lose at the game of office politics -- when you really deserve to win. Let others know what you've accomplished whenever you get the opportunity. If you don't know the fine art of diplomatic bragging, you might get lost in the shuffle of your co-workers.

6. Treat everyone with respect

Don't show preferential treatment or treat co-workers badly. You never know who someone might be connected to and rude behavior may come back to bite you.

7. Don't align too strongly with one group

While an alliance may be powerful for the moment, new leadership will often oust existing coalitions and surround themselves with a new team. Bridging across factions may be a more effective strategy for long-term success if you intend to stay in your current organization for some time.

8. Learn to communicate persuasively

Develop an assertive style, backed with solid facts and examples, to focus others' attention on your ideas and proposals. Good politicians can adjust their messages for their audience ands are always well-prepared.

9. Be true to yourself.

After analyzing the political landscape in your company, if you decide the game is one you can't play, prepare to move on. It's not typical, but some organizations actually condone -- even promote -- dishonest, ruthless or unethical behavior. The game of office politics in this situation is not one worth winning.

5/25/2008

Great web 2.0 career resources!

Friedbeef published great resources to track your career in this web2.0 era. Check out the quote below.
How to Get Ahead: Top 5 Essential Web 2.0 Career Resources

1. How to Compare Salaries

salaryscout

Don’t just wonder if you’re getting a fair deal - now you can find out for yourself. Several websites now specialize in salary reports where you’re able to compare the salary ranges to see what you should be paid.

My favorites? PayScale and SalaryScout - Both offer excellent reports and a good user base to draw information from. WageExchange is another salary site to consider, as rather than aggregating the details, it gives you individual snapshots of a complete pay and benefits package (user identity is masked of course).

2. How to Search Multiple Jobsites at One Go

recruit

Job-sites are becoming a dime a dozen these days, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to skim through listings across sites without spending an excessive amount of time doing so. Enter recruit.net, an aggregator which searches, indexes and aggregates listings from job sites, as well as career pages of prominent companies, summarizing search results from all over in a single view.

Currently only works for listings within Asia Pacific, but watch for expansion plans in the future.

3. How to Build a Professional Social Network

linkedin

LinkedIn has been around for ages, but I have never really gotten into it. Billed as a professional online social network, it isn’t exactly the most exciting social network when you compare it with the likes of Facebook or Myspace. Useful to note though that Linkedin profile pages are indexed in Google, and it may be a good way to showcase yourself to a future employer should they run a quick search on you.

4. How to find extremely niche jobs

crunch

If you’re looking to score a niche job, try the job-boards on popular websites. Often overlooked, this can be a great source of jobs you wouldn’t otherwise see advertised in mainstream job sites. Examples of this would be the ProBlogger job boards, where you can get yourself a blogging gig, and CrunchBoard, where you can hook up with web 2.0 industry.

5. How to Discover Your Ideal Company Culture

jiibe

Pay, benefits, and scope are easily defined, but culture is so much less tangible, and hard to keep a handle on. New job site Jiibe does a magnificent job of matching your needs to a company’s culture.

By asking you a series of questions, it builds up your personality profile by learning more about your current company culture as well as your ideal company culture. You can then find companies which would provide the best possible environment for you to excel.


5/24/2008

What to learn from bad bosses to enhance your abilities

These are definitely good tip for your to follow through. No matter how bad your boss is, there's something that you can learn from it as shown in lifehack.org site. Quote below.
Seven Useful Lessons You Can Learn from a Bad Boss

Powerful lessons from powerful (and hopelessly unaware) people


Bad bosses can become useful teachers precisely because their behavior tends to be so consistently bad. You can be fairly sure of their motives and intentions, which allows you to compare cause (what they did and probably why they did it) with effect (how it turned out).

The pompous boss, convinced of her superiority and the rightness of whatever she does; the lazy boss, sure that status confers the right to live off other people’s efforts; the rigid, controlling boss, firm in his belief that all subordinates are incompetent without his oversight; all of these (and many more) hold to their actions so tenaciously ? and are so blind to what they are doing ? that they will provide some of the best lessons in what not to do that you will ever be offered.

Here are seven of the lessons you might come across, beginning with productivity:

  • See how much effort bad bosses have to use to make things happen their way; effort that would be unnecessary if they behaved better ? all that time spent micro-managing and checking; all the ranting and raving to reduce others to obedience; all the lies and stratagems needed to manipulate others instead of asking them openly.
  • See how others react to them; how people become adept at sabotaging their efforts and undermining their success. Even when they dare not oppose the boss openly, subordinates will show great ingenuity in finding other ways to frustrate them.
  • Look at the effect bad bosses have on trust ? how this type of behavior ruins relationships with customers as well as employees. Once discovered, as it always is in the end, cynical manipulation renders future trust impossible too.
  • What about the impact on motivation? Consider how you feel if you find yourself going along with the boss’s bad behavior. Do you feel motivated or depressed? Does it make you want to exert yourself or limit your output to no more than is needed to preserve your safety and career prospects?
  • Rigidity next. Most macho bosses see changing a poor decision as an unacceptable sign of weakness. How many times have you seen a bad leader produce disaster from what could have been a triumph, simply because he or she refused to admit to ? and change ? a bad decision?
  • Take some time to consider what survival in the lifestyle of a bad boss demands. Is that how you would be willing to live? Are the rewards they get worth what they have to do to get them?
  • Most important, observe the way bad bosses are regarded by those above them. Are they genuinely fooling the top dogs about their weaknesses? Or are those executives simply playing the same game ? but far better ? manipulating middle and junior managers to enhance their own positions, then throwing them to the wolves when they become too much of an embarrassment?

I’m sure you can think of many more situations where a bad boss has taught you a valuable lesson. Observing and learning from others’ mistakes is as important as learning from your own ? and a good deal less painful.

Besides, the macho tough guys can never admit to being wrong. They can’t learn from their own mistakes. Since you can, it’s an advantage you can use for all it’s worth.


How to save money in this recession with these sites

Great money saving sites published in wallstreetfighter.com:
9 Sites That Will Save You Money

1. Fat Wallet - This is a community of people constantly searching for hot deals to save you money. If someone heard that K-Mart is giving away $100 lamps for only $25, you'll hear it in the forums section. The site also offers a handy price comparison tool for purchases you are considering.

2. Flyertalk - Remember that guy who bought all that pudding and scammed a frequent flyer promotion?...He was all over the news for his genius plan back in 1999. Well he is a legend over at Flyertalk. This site will keep you up to date on everything frequent flyer related. How to combine deals and where you can get the most bang for your buck. It has also been reported that airline executives monitor the site to find out customers' chief complaints and desires. I have a feeling it has something to do with cheap tickets.

3. The Coupon Clippers - If clipping coupons makes you feel like an old granny, then this should help out a bit. Log on to the site and let them do all the clipping and finding deals for you. Just search for your favorite grocery items and order the coupons to be delivered. They charge a small handling fee for delivery, but this could be a good bet to save some time and money. Coupon proponents claim you can trim 50% of your grocery bill by using coupons.

4. Coupons.com - These guys own the coupon world, or at least just the domain name. If you're not into paying for shipping and handling fees at the Coupon Clippers, check this site. Great looking site with a lot of coupons in your local area which you can print out from home. There's just one annoying catch. You have to install this 'coupon printer', which I'm not a fan of.

5. Coupon Mountain - Maybe the best coupon site around. No registration required, and they provide direct links to where you can use the coupon to make the purchase online. That Coupon Mountain gold digger mascot is absolutely priceless too, look at his little hat and sack of money. Did he steal that?


6. Amazon Gold Box - You gotta love this, even a huge corporate retail site like Amazon is getting into the fray with a deal page. Their Gold Box feature will let you know about items that are selling at huge discounts. The side scroll button is also a great way to view dozens of items quickly with just a few clicks.

7. Absurdly Cool Freebie Finder - This site aggregates from a number of 'free stuff' sites on the internet and compiles their results for you with direct links. Free subscriptions to magazines are abundant, I even saw one for TV Guide. And who would want to pass up a free sample of Teddy Grahams? Have you no soul?

8. SlickDeals - Probably the most popular deal site on the internet. Similar to Fat Wallet, but claims to have livelier forums and more frequent updates. I like the new Deal Alert feature that allows you to ignore alerts you're not interested in. For the last time, no more Playtex/Midol coupons!

9. Travel Zoo - This page is one of the best places to compare flight and other travel options. Unlike all those other annoying travel sites, you don't have to keep reentering your travel info after each search. They also offer a cool newsletter e-mail sent each Wednesday listing some of the best offers on cruises, flights, and vacation packages. If you really like this site, you can even trade its stock which was going for $110 per share back in 2005.

Useful sites for your web development usages

Check out sites listed here:
30 Websites to follow if you’re into Web Development

1. NETTUTS

NETTUTS - Screenshot

NETTUTS is a recently launched blog/tutorial site that provides "spoonfed web skills". There are already plenty of useful and detailed tutorials that range from offloading static content to Amazon S3 to creating a beautiful tabbed content area using jQuery. NETTUTS is perfect for developers just starting out, since the tutorials are very thorough and in a "step by step" format. For more advanced developers, it’s an excellent source of inspiration and learning new techniques.

2. woork

woork - Screenshot

Woork is a blog by Antonio Lupetti, a developer from Italy. He provides short, easily-consumable tutorials on various topics of web development such as PHP, Cold Fusion, JavaScript, and CSS. His knack for creating beautiful tutorials, chock full of custom-made images that illustrates the concepts he talks about is a testament to the detail and "work" that Antonio puts in each of his posts. Check out his awesome tutorial on a "Top-Down approach to simplify your CSS code" where he explains his preference on creating and formatting stylesheets.

3. Web Designer Wall

Web Designer Wall - Screen shot

Web Designer Wall is a blog by Nick La that features design ideas and elaborate, stunning tutorials such as creating a CSS gradient Text Effect - a technique that uses an image overlay over normal XHTML text, and jQuery tutorials for designers which showcases ten techniques to get you started with jQuery.

4. Smashing Magazine

Smashing Magazine - Screen shot

I won’t say much about Smashing Magazine since most of us have probably heard of it, but if you haven’t, Smashing Magazine is an excellent resource for web designers and developers looking to be inspired. Smashing Magazine also manages to publish almost everyday, despite their very detailed and thorough posts.

5. Vitamin

Vitamin - Screenshot

Vitamin offers a large amount of information on the topic of web development and design. With many contributors, Vitamin manages to cover a wide range of topics including Ajax, CSS, development techniques, best practices, and workflow management.

6. Wake Up Later

Wake Up Later - Screen shot

Wake Up Later is the blog of Samuel Ryan, a freelance web developer/designer. Rather than covering specific web development techniques or providing tutorials, he talks about general web development related things such as reasons not to write your own code, tips on improving productivity, and common design mistakes made by developers.

7. Snook.ca

Snook.ca - Screen shot

Snook.ca is run by Jonathan Snook, an icon in web development and design. His blog provides tutorials and articles about PHP, JavaScript, and more recently (the blog dates back to 2001), Adobe AIR. He also provides useful resources and bookmarks that are worth a read, and talks about things that are part of being a web developer such as project management via email and maintaining your personal brand online.

8. Signal vs. Noise

Signal vs. Noise - Screen shot

Signal vs. Noise is a design/usability company blog by the people over at 37 Signals - known for developing remarkable web applications such as BaseCamp and their involvement in the popular open source web application framework, Ruby On Rails. The blog gives insights about being a productive and effective web application developer and keeping things simple, with entries such as "Workaholics fixate on inconsequential details" and "Sleep deprivation is not a badge of honor".

9. adaptive path blog

adaptive path blog - Screen shot

adaptive path’s company blog offers news and posts on the topic of user interface design. There’s a variety of useful posts that cover the topic of creating user-friendly designs (not limited to just web applications). Some things the adaptive path crew writes about are "Tips for presenting the look & feel to a client" and "The Lure of the Single Click".

10. Tutorial Blog

Tutorial Blog - Screen shot

Tutorial Blog provides handy tutorials, resources, and lists on various web development and design topics such as code snipplets for web designers, using layer comps in Photoshop to manage designs, and Flash tutorials. Tutorial Blog has a section on user-submitted tutorials which allows readers to share their own tutorials.

11. WebAppers

WebAppers

WebAppers is a blog created by Ray Cheung, a freelance web developer. The premise of WebAppers is to provide news and resources related to open source and free applications that are useful to web developers and designers. From cost-free fonts and icons to navigation menus and image galleries, WebAppers seeks to hunt down useful tools and applications aimed at reducing your time developing custom solutions.

12. Web Resources Depot

Web Resources Depot - Screenshot

Web Resources Depot is similar to WebAppers - it discusses new web resources that web developers and designers may find helpful. Web Resources Depot is an excellent way to stay up to date with what’s currently available out there all in one place.

13. Ajaxian

Ajaxian - Screen shot

With continual advancements in Ajax, it’s imperative to keep up to date with modern techniques and news. Ajaxian is the leading Ajax community run by some of the biggest names in the field. You’ll find information, reviews on JavaScript frameworks, helpful tools, and server-side technology specific (like PHP, RoR, and .NET) articles. If Ajax news and information is what you’re looking for, you can be sure to hear about it from Ajaxian.

14.DZone

Dzone - Screen shot

DZone is a social news site for developers. Users share links related to development and can vote on submissions (very much like Digg but limited to developer links). You can subscribe via RSS to various pages and sections such JavaScript, Flash/Flex, or databases if you want to get instant updates to things specific to your interests.

15. Design Float

Design Float - Screen shot

Design Float is social media site created for web and graphics designers. Like Dzone, people get to vote up submissions. You’ll find stuff about CSS, HTML, and Photoshop submitted to Design Float.

16. IBM’s developerWorks

developerWorks - screenshot

With the name camel-cased, you already know off-the-bat that it’s a great site for developers. developerWorks offers many articles and tutorials pertaining to development topics, not just about web development, but also on related fields such as systems administration and open source technologies and applications. developerWorks has a knack for writing about complex topics and boiling it down to consumable, understandable articles. Some of my bookmarks include "Debug and tune applications on the fly with Firebug" (an introduction to Firebug) and the "Make PHP apps fast, faster, fastest" series.

17. del.icio.us

del.icio.us - Screen shot

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site where members can post bookmarks to keep and share. It’s not strictly for web developers but you can monitoring specific tags such as webdev, development, or javascript.

18. Sharebrain

Sharebrain - Screen shot

Sharebrain is site that shares useful resources for web workers. You can find resources and tutorials on various web development and design topics such as Photoshop tutorials, Usability, SEO Tools, CMS’s, and interviews.

19. Style Grind

Style Grind - Screen shot

Style Grind shares useful news and information about web technologies and designs. Resources and news reported by Style Grind include a variety of web development and design topics such as updates on Erik Meyer’s CSS Reset and new plugins for jQuery.

20. PSDTUTS

PSDTUTS - Screen shot

Your value as a web developer increases when you’re proficient in design as well. Some examples would be Wordpress theme developers who not only know how to develop themes, but can also design them. PSDTUTS is a great place to improve on Photoshop skills and is a site I follow to learn more about graphics/web design.

21. Design Reviver

Design Reviver - Screen shot

Design Reviver is aimed at providing useful information for web designers. You can visit to read tutorials such getting started with 3D in Flash, to get free downloads like Photoshop brushes, and to find design inspiration.

22. Blog.SpoonGraphics

Blog.SpoonGraphics - Screen shotr

Blog.SpoonGraphics is a blog about graphics and web design created by Chris Spooner, a graphics and web designer. You can find many tutorials on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, free, downloadable resources like “Sliding Door” tab menus, articles for inspiration, and news.

23. John Resig

John Resig - Screen shot

John Resig is the self-titled blog of John Resig - a premier JavaScript developer and author most known for his creation of jQuery, a popular JavaScript framework. John Resig’s blog shares his thoughts about JavaScript development and web applications. It’s where I found out about the release of his new project: Processing.js (a JavaScript port of the Processing programming language) and where he voiced his thoughts on Google Doctype.

24. Boxes and Arrows

Boxes and Arrows - Screenshot

Boxes and Arrows is all about best practices, innovations, and trends in the topic of design - including information architecture, graphics design, and user interaction design. You can read about findability (how people look for information), counter-arguments of front-loading information above the fold, and web accessibility.

25. PHPDeveloper

PHPDeveloper - Screenshot

PHPDeveloper brings together news and resources about PHP from blogs and sites that cover PHP. You’ll find reports varying from PHP video tutorials to interesting developments over at Zend.

26. Coding Horror

Coding Horror - Screenshot

Coding Horror is a very popular blog (over 100,000 RSS subscribers!) by Jeff Atwood, a software developer. He talks about web development too, posing questions such as Is HTML a Humane Markup Language?, discussing Amazon S3’s viability to host images, and sharing information on versioning databases.

27. O’Reilly Network

O'Reilly Network - Screen shot

The O’Reilly Network by O’Reilly Media (publisher of development books) features articles and blogs pertaining to web development and open technologies. Some recent articles include Creating Applications with Amazon EC2 and S3 and Getting Started with the Google App Engine. Some blogs that are part of the O’Reilly Network include WindowsDevCenter.com (for Windows Developers), ONJava.com (topics cover the Java language) and ONLamp.com (which talks about Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP).

28. Google doctype

Google doctype - Screen shot

Google Doctype is Google’s new project that will include entries "by web developers for web developers". Currently, it doesn’t have very many articles, but it’s certainly a resource to follow in the upcoming months.

29. Web Monkey

Web Monkey - Screen shot

Web Monkey - the web developer’s resource is back! Though they’re just getting back to the swing of things, it’s definitely a website to keep track of.

30. Digital Web Magazine

Digital Web Magazine

Digital Web Magazine is the online magazine for web professionals (web designers, developers, information architects). You can find many things included here such PHP, Web Standards, and Programming.

Other notable sites to check out

  • 24 ways - an annual collection of 24 development and design articles by some of the leading website builders.
  • Noupe - Provides news and resources on web design and development.
  • Vandelay Design - a blog on web design and development by Steven Snell, who contributed to Six Revisions last month.
  • CSS Globe - Community-driven website on web standards.

5/01/2008

Free online video converters!

Now a days, everyone who is trying to publish online get into this dilemma. Which tools to use to convert the Video such that I can stream over internet or even playable in hand-held units. Now fear not, these five sites can give you free and great converting experiences!

Source:
Top 5 Essential Video Converters You Shouldn’t Miss

Quote:

1. How to convert video formats easily

youconvert

YouConvertIt is the complete online conversion suite. It converts audio, video, images and documents into an array of formats. It even throws in unit measurement conversion to round it up. It terms of features it is pretty much complete, and the clean user interface makes it a joy to use.

2. How to edit online videos

cellsea

Cellsea provides a web-based interface to edit online or uploaded videos. Resize, crop, join videos, add audio, convert and download it when you’re all done.

3. How to download purpose specific video conversion software

dvd

DVDVideoSoft provides free mini-programs which allow you to do various things like rotate videos, convert them to Flash, change a video in to jpg pictures etc. Extremely useful.

4. How to convert files the professional way

heywatch

Hey!Watch is a premium video encoding site which supports the basic conversion, but with great bonus features. For example, Hey!Watch allows you to take a link and automatically send the file to your storage space (FTP, Amazon S3 and HTTP server). There is no limit to the file size (which is a stark contrast to the usual 10-50MB limit on most free sites), and you can actually create DVD images with this site.

You can also create podcast feed of your converted videos, meaning you can, for example, add your feed to iTunes, which can then automatically download your converted videos and sync them to your iPod.

It isn’t free but the depth and breath of features cannot be denied.

5. How to convert online videos into XviD format

youtubehack

Youtubehack is a site which allows you to convert online videos from YouTube, Metacafe and the like - into multiple formats, but it is one of the very few sites which allows output into XviD format - which is one of the best compression formats. On the page, it also displays thumbnails of featured videos on Youtube so you can easily find interesting content to download on the spot.


Useful website gathering

Take a look at 9 Outrageously Handy Websites Everyone Should Try. As quoted below, some are really useful.

K7





Create a phone number online. You can personalize its greeting to receive callers. When they do call, you receive e-mail notifications, and you can download the message to be played on your computer. Now you can stop wasting so much time checking your phone, your fax, and your answering machine.

Deezer





Perhaps the best free music site ever. No download is required, and a wide variety of music is readily available. If you can't really decide what to listen to, start a smart radio based on some of your favorite songs. Deezer will play songs similar to the ones you chose.

Spy Pig





Have you ever sent an e-mail to someone and wondered if the recipient has read it? Now you can be more than curious, and actually find out with SpyPig.

Polycola



Use multiple search engines at once on one site with Polycola. You'll sure to be find what you're looking for. Be sure to check out FireFox HOT. Now you can add PolyCola to FireFox Search Bar with just one click.

Sparknotes





This site is for the students. Notes are given here for almost every work of literature there is. You can get your test prep here, as well as access a very well done section about Shakespeare, which includes his sonnets and plays. Did I mention that his full plays are on the site, and that they're translated so that the average person can read them?

Calories Per Hour





Keep track of all of your personal fitness here. Calculate your BMI, calories burned in a day, weight loss in a day, and much more. There is also a diet and weight-loss section here. Great for those who want to calculate calories and nutrition, as well as find some great health tips.

Free Rice





Think you're smart? Think you're smart enough to feed hungry children? Then check out this site. Play a simple word game to donate rice. A word will appear, and ask you for the definition. Every word you define correctly is 20 grains of rice donated. Expand your vocabulary while feeling good about what you're doing.

Kongregate



For many people, games are great for relieving stress, competing with friends, or simply just to kill time. Kongregate is a site that contains most of the best free online games out there. Unlike other gaming websites, this site contains badges, which are attainable after completing an achievement in a game. This may not seem like much, but it definitely has its advantages. Now you have a clear cut idea of your progress and it gives you tangible goals to work towards in a game.

Prize Rebel



If online games aren't your thing and you prefer console games more, this site is for you. By completing free offers, you earn points, which you then can redeem for various gaming equipment, shipped straight to your house. Don't believe me? There are many testimonials, and I myself have received a Nintendo DS game.