A starting point for the tech job search
posted Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

Having trouble finding a job? Don't worry, so is everyone else. In fact, you're just one of 12.7 million Americans who are currently unemployed. But, don't let these sobering stats get you down. Here's a list of resources that could help you find the tech job of your dreams:

 

BaltimoreTech.net is a good resource for professionals in Baltimore's technology scene. The website has a section called Baltimore Tech Jobs that lists local job openings. The site is curated, so you'll only see high quality opportunities. Website: www.baltimoretech.net/jobs

 

"Dice, a Dice Holdings, Inc. service, is the leading career site for technology and engineering professionals. With a 21-year  track record of meeting the ever-changing needs of technology professionals, companies and recruiters, our specialty focus and exposure to highly skilled professional communities enable employers to reach hard-to-find, experienced and qualified technology and engineering candidates." Website: www.dice.com

 

 

 

"Indeed is the #1 job site worldwide, with over 70 million unique visitors and 1.5 billion job searches per month. Indeed is available in more than 50 countries and 26 languages, covering 94% of global GDP." Website: www.indeed.com

 

 

"Idealist connects people, organizations, and resources to help build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives. Idealist is independent of any government, political ideology, or religious creed. Our work is guided by the common desire of our members and supporters to find practical solutions to social and environmental problems, in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect." Website: www.idealist.org

 

"Simply Hired is a vertical search engine company based in Silicon Valley, and we're building the largest online database of jobs on the planet. Our goal is to make finding your next job a simple yet effective, enjoyable journey. We can't always promise you'll discover your dream job, but we'll give you the best chance possible to get a bigger paycheck, a more considerate boss, or a shorter commute." Website: www.simplyhired.com

 

 

"USAJOBS is the U.S. Government’s official system/program for Federal jobs and employment information. USAJOBS delivers a service by which Federal agencies meet their legal obligation (5 USC 3327 and 5 USC 3330) providing public notice of Federal employment opportunities to Federal employees and U.S. citizens. Technology and program operations offer Federal agencies and job seekers a modern platform to support online recruitment and job application. USAJOBS is funded by agency fees, assessed on a pro rata share of the expenses to run the program. The investment provides a basis of support for the OPM Director’s Strategic and Operational Plan specifically To Build and Sustain Excellence in the 21st Century Workforce, thereby Fixing Federal Hiring. Success and continued progress of goals are tied to the USAJOBS application and its ability to manage integration of other agency systems with USAJOBS – OMB Memo M-09-20 to Provide Applicant Status during selection process. Also, other initiatives intended to address the Federal hiring shortcomings and improve the hiring process for all concerned." Website: www.usajobs.gov

 

3rd annual Intervention, a celebration of digital media
posted Monday, July 30th, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

Question: What’s one part new media, one part gaming, and one part nerd party?

Answer: It’s Intervention, Maryland’s only “Internet convention.”

For the third year in a row, Intervention brings together digital media enthusiasts for three-days of workshops, panels, educational content, children’s programming, board and video gaming, Live Action Roleplaying, musical performances, and more. This year, it’s held in Rockville’s Hilton Hotel from September 21-23.  

“[co-founder] James Harkenell and I wanted to put together an event that would compliment the existing print-centric conventions-we wanted to showcase the creators who use the Internet as their primary publishing method. We felt that web creators needed their own space. We’re giving them that with Intervention,” says Onezumi Hartsein on the website. She’s the creator of a couple of online comics: My Annoying Life and Stupid & Insane Defenders Against Chaos.  

The guest lineup is still being compiled, but confirmed guests include: Daniella Pineda from CollegeHumor.com, A.J. Rosa, creator of My Life With Sega, Christopher Baldwin, creator of Spacetrawler, Cinematic For the People, a “live-action bad movie riffing experience”, and Cosplay Burlesque. Showings of classic cult flicks like Dork of the Rings, Harvey Putter and the Ridiculous Premise, and Ninjas Vs. Monsters can be expected.

Check out interventioncon.com to register for the convention. Then, download the iPhone app.

 

Baltimoregamer.com, for all your gaming news needs
posted Monday, July 30th, 2012

If you're interested in what's going on in Baltimore's gaming scene, check out Baltimoregamer.com.

The site covers local gaming events in the Baltimore and D.C. area, as well as developments in the game industry, and career tips for aspiring video game developers. The site also includes features articles, like its three-part series called "So You want to Build a Video Game: A Guide to Get You Started."

The site welcomes local game enthusiasts to join their team. "Joining the BaltimoreGamer team is a fantastic opportunity to network within the game development industry," says the website. "We can utilize a wide variety of skills, and we will also help you learn new skills if you would like and we are able."

For those of you who always show up at local LAN parties, game conventions, tournaments, or other video-game related events, writing for the website might be a great chance to share your experiences with the world wide web.

2012 Maryland Cyber Challenge competition open for registration
posted Saturday, July 28th, 2012

 

The 2012 Maryland Cyber Challenge (MDC3) will be held this fall with qualification rounds in September and the finals at the Cyber-Maryland Conference in the Baltimore Convention Center on 16-17 October. MDC3 is a statewide cyber competition and conference designed to interest more students and young professionals in pursuing careers in cybersecurity. The goal of the Maryland Cyber Challenge is to help strengthen Maryland’s position as a cybersecurity leader by bringing teams of current and prospective cybersecurity professionals together to develop the skills and techniques needed to protect vital information systems. Founders of the event include SAIC, UMBC, the National Cyber Security Alliance, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, and the Tech Council of Maryland.

UMBC students who are interested in MDC3 or cybersecurity in general are encouraged to contact the UMBC Cyber Defense Team, aka the Cyberdawgs.

MDC3 team registration is now open for the 2012 challenge. Questions about the Cyber Challenge can be sent to Kelli-Ann Tucker (kelli-ann.tucker at saic.com).

Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee honored at Olympic Games opening ceremony
posted Friday, July 27th, 2012


Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Computer Scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee participated in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony this evening. He was honored as the inventor of the World Wide Web, although the NBC commentators wondered who he was. As part of the ceremony, @timberners_lee tweeted: "This is for everyone #london2012 #oneweb #openingceremony @webfoundation @w3c".

7/28 update: Good catch by UMBC IS PhD student Hal Martin:  Tim Berners-Lee apparently used a ancient NeXT computer when entering his tweet at the Olympic Games opening ceremony.  He has used a NeXTcube at CERN to implement the first Web browser.

New Apple OS, Mountain Lion, available today
posted Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

Photo courtesy bgr.com

Attention Apple fans: the company's much anticipated OS X Mountain Lion is finally available to download starting today, reports Mashable.com. The latest OS update boasts over 200 new features including full iCloud integration, built in sharing to social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, and Messages, an instant message tools that connects users on any Apple device for free. Available from the App Store for $19.99,  the new OS is free for anyone who bought a new Mac after June 11, 2012.

What feature of the new OS are you most excited about?

Venkatesh MS defense: Dynamically Reconfigurable Layered Filesystem
posted Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

 

MS Thesis defense

Dynamically Reconfigurable Layered Filesystem

Sunil Venkatesh

10:00am Thursday, 26 July 2012, ITE 325b

Traditionally, all files and directories in Linux and UNIX-like systems have been organized in a hierarchical fashion under the root directory “/” adhering to the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS). Although there is sufficient flexibility in how the filesystem hierarchy is structured given it satisfies the FHS, there is little straightforward means to customize the filesystem structure to suit an individual user’s or a set of users’ needs without affecting rest of the users on a shared system. Our approach aims to eliminate such a restriction by providing isolated environments to individual users with the help of data being organized in the form of layers. Such an environment also provides an important advantage from security perspective by reducing the risk involved in unwarranted access to files by carefully choosing the layers a user has access. Maintainability at the layer level is another key advantage of our approach over the fine-grained approach of dealing with individual files.

Committee: Drs. John Dorband (Chair), Yelena Yesha, Mohamed Younis

UMBC alumnus Sean Kennedy featured on InTheCapital.com for BeerGivr app
posted Monday, July 23rd, 2012

"I owe you a beer" is a phrase that's thrown around a lot with very little follow through.

UMBC Alumnus Sean Kennedy (Information Systems '06) created a smartphone application that could change that. BeerGivr allows you to virtualy send your buddy a brew. When a friend wants to buy you a drink but can't make it to the bar, he can send a text message with a code that's currency in some local bars. As of now twenty bars participate in the BeerGivr project, among them Alewife, No Idea Tavern, and Bond Street Social.

You can read about the conception of Sean's app in a recent profile on InTheCaptial.com.

Computer Science Education Mini-Summit addresses CS Curricula problem
posted Monday, July 23rd, 2012

Did you know that Computer Science isn’t a required course in most Maryland High Schools (or colleges for that matter)? For most students, a lack of exposure early on translates to total avoidance once they reach college. For a subject as ubiquitous as computing, it is essential to Maryland's continued success as a technology leader that we make a commitment to improve access to and quality of the computing curriculum across the state.

That’s why the folks behind Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) aim to do something about it. One way is through their upcoming Computer Science Education Mini-Summit, to be held August 8, 2012 throughout the Information Technology/Engineering (ITE) Building on UMBC’s main campus.

The free mini-summit invites high school teachers, college professors, and anyone else interested in expanding Computer Science offerings in Maryland high and middle schools to attend. “We hope to explore what is currently being done to increase student interest in computer science and what can be done in the future,” explains the website.

Summit attendees can expect to do the following:

  1. Learn more about computer science high school education across the state of Maryland;
  2. Network with others with an interest in computer science education;
  3. Exchange strategies with other education professionals; and
  4. Plan with others to help expand student interest and to increase the number and diversity of students studying computer science in Maryland.

Take a look at the summit schedule:

8:30-9:30

Breakfast

ITE 239

9:00-9:30

Check-in

ITE 2nd Floor

9:30-10:00

Welcome & Introductions

ITE 241

10:00-10:15

Mid-Morning Break

ITE 239

10:15-11:00

CS4HS Recap

ITE 231

11:00-12:00

Speaker: Jan Cuny, NSF Program Director

ITE 231

12:00-1:00

CE21 Mini-Summit Lunch

ITE 237 & 239

1:15-2:15

Session 1: Snapshot of HS CS in MD

ITE 231

2:30-3:30

Session 2: Sharing Best CS Education Practices

ITE 237 & 241

3:30-3:45

Afternoon Refresher Break

ITE 237 & 239

3:45-4:45

Session 3: Planning the Spring 2013 CE21 Summit

ITE 237 & 241

4:45-5:00

Wrap-up

ITE 231

Those interested in attending must register here. For more information, visit the CE21 website, or contact

Technology as a teaching tool: an infographic
posted Monday, July 23rd, 2012

Take a look at the latest infographic from Edudemic.com. (Click here for a version that you can actually read.)

It's called "Components of a 21st Century Classroom" and it looks at how technology, like computers, tablets, and other mobile devices, are being increasingly incorporated into the classroom.

With number like "1 in 5 students have used a mobile app to keep their coursework organized" and "Almost a third of all college students take at least one online course", it appears that the trend toward supplementing teaching with tech devices, social media, and computer programs will only gain steam as time goes on.

What do you think about the role of technology in the classroom? Are mobile devices a distraction, or an asset? What type of technology is used most in your classes?