It didn't take long, but there is a new word out there to describe employees disciplined or fired as a result of their blogging. The word is "dooced" which means "losing your job for something you wrote in your online blog, journal or website." This BBC News article explains the concept a little more. There's also a site called UrbanDictionary.com that carries the definition.
There have been several cases where employees have been "dooced" by their employers based upon opinions contained in their personal blogs or journals that, in the employers opinion, cast the employer in a bad light. There is a recent case where a Delta flight attendant posed for provocative pictures while wearing her Delta flight uniform. These pictures appeared in her blog and Delta eventually terminated her. She is now taking her case public via the blogosphere.
This weblog is for my own personal pleasure, contains my own opinions and is totally unrelated to my employer, its policies and practices. In fact, I have intentionally never mentioned the name of my employer. I don't want to add "dooce" to my resume!
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Monday, January 3, 2005
Mars rover celebrates first anniversary
It's hard to believe that it's been a year already since the Mars rover first landed.
Sunday, January 2, 2005
Comet Machholz
Another comet is out there for all to see. Comet Machholz is getting nearer to the earth and sun and is getting brighter as it nears our neighborhood. Four comets have now attained naked-eye brightness for 2005.
I remember all the excitement the recent Hale-Bopp and Kohoutek Comets created for amateur stargazers.
I remember all the excitement the recent Hale-Bopp and Kohoutek Comets created for amateur stargazers.
Saturday, January 1, 2005
Computers
Can't live with them, can't live without them. I got a jolting reminder of this very early this morning.
Our little New Years Eve tradition consists of my wife making her signature dish -- lasagna. She's not Italian (she's Austrian, actually), but her lasagna recipe is to die for. Anyway, some family members got together last evening and we ended up playing Trivial Pursuit. After a spirited contest (my son and I won), I opened a bottle of champagne and we watched as Chicago ushered in the new year. We then watched Van Helsing on DVD which ended around 2:30 AM. After cleaning up, I was looking forward to going on the computer for a few relaxing moments before retiring for the night. I went into the den and turned the computer and the monitor on.
Nothing.
The computer is working, but the monitor remains dark. I turned it on and off a couple more times and decide to fight this battle in the morning.
I got up around 8:00 AM and turned the monitor on.
Nothing.
I start unplugging the power cord and plugging it in again to see if that does something.
Still nothing.
Not being overly technical, my wife and I decided to drive over to Best Buy to purchase a replacement. We bought our current Sony monitor just over four years ago. It's an 19-inch CRT monitor that's big and heavy. When we first bought the monitor, flat panel displays were just coming out and were very expensive. To make a long story short, we found a 19-inch flat panel display monitor that's big and bright. Judging from my unscientific sample, flat panel monitors were everywhere and only a few of the "old" CRTs were available for sale. There were several nice CRT models available at very reasonable prices, but none were over 17 inches in size.
I brought it home and hooked it up. Now my desk seems larger because the new display takes up so little space. This particular model can even hang on the wall if I desired!
While at Best Buy, I checked out the laptops and I can't believe how nice they are getting. Maybe someday...
Our little New Years Eve tradition consists of my wife making her signature dish -- lasagna. She's not Italian (she's Austrian, actually), but her lasagna recipe is to die for. Anyway, some family members got together last evening and we ended up playing Trivial Pursuit. After a spirited contest (my son and I won), I opened a bottle of champagne and we watched as Chicago ushered in the new year. We then watched Van Helsing on DVD which ended around 2:30 AM. After cleaning up, I was looking forward to going on the computer for a few relaxing moments before retiring for the night. I went into the den and turned the computer and the monitor on.
Nothing.
The computer is working, but the monitor remains dark. I turned it on and off a couple more times and decide to fight this battle in the morning.
I got up around 8:00 AM and turned the monitor on.
Nothing.
I start unplugging the power cord and plugging it in again to see if that does something.
Still nothing.
Not being overly technical, my wife and I decided to drive over to Best Buy to purchase a replacement. We bought our current Sony monitor just over four years ago. It's an 19-inch CRT monitor that's big and heavy. When we first bought the monitor, flat panel displays were just coming out and were very expensive. To make a long story short, we found a 19-inch flat panel display monitor that's big and bright. Judging from my unscientific sample, flat panel monitors were everywhere and only a few of the "old" CRTs were available for sale. There were several nice CRT models available at very reasonable prices, but none were over 17 inches in size.
I brought it home and hooked it up. Now my desk seems larger because the new display takes up so little space. This particular model can even hang on the wall if I desired!
While at Best Buy, I checked out the laptops and I can't believe how nice they are getting. Maybe someday...
ABC News: People of the Year: Bloggers
This has been reported in a number of places. ABC News calls bloggers the 2004 People of the Year.
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