The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Ash Nallawalla ash@melbpc.org.au |
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Finally I changed my seven year-old HP monitor for an LG Flatron 795FT Plus. The difference was like night and day. Not only was it brighter but the display was crisper. It is also Energy Star compliant, so it saves some power when I am away from my desk. You may want to consider updating yours, particularly if your budget can stretch to an LCD panel.
Self-Employed at 50?
When Macromedia's Asia-Pacific staff were told that their regional HQ was moving to Asia, I was not asked to pack my bags. Six months later, I was downsized as the CRM Manager along with a colleague. The good news is that I was neither surprised nor depressed to be downsized for the fourth time in nine years. The economy is still bleak and, being a few days shy of 50 years, I decided not to be downsized again.
In November 1998 I wrote an article titled " Unemployed at 45", which was very well received and is still being discovered by new readers in PC Update Online. I hope to update it and republish it soon, although it would be better for readers to write their experiences, even if they are a couple of paragraphs. Please write to me if you can contribute. For example, if you made the switch to self employment late in life, what were your reasons and do you regret it?
I had already planned and prepaid a Christmas family vacation in the US so we decided to go ahead with that. We had blue skies and hot, summer weather for the full two weeks as we drove around Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tombstone, Calexico/Mexicali, San Diego/Tijuana, Anaheim and Los Angeles. Now refreshed, I am positive towards my options. (Although I've not yet received the Amex bill!)
I will elaborate on some of these points in my proposed article, but these are my initial options: I am surprisingly upbeat because my last job gave me that religious revelation that I had finally found my true calling and that I also knew most of the answers. My speciality is customer relationship management (CRM) and leads management (and I won't be offended if your reaction is "uh").
I want to
- write one or two books on the above subjects.
- present seminars on this subject.
- build a consultancy practice.
- sell some niche products by mail/web order as this will also give me ongoing CRM experience.
I joined the local WiFi enthusiasts group known as Melbourne Wireless ($5/year). They are presenting at our February monthly meeting so you should come along if you are interested. They are planning to build a wireless "mesh" across our city, although current laws don't allow the mesh to be linked to the Internet. All the same, such an intranet could provide an additional outlet for some people to play network games or whatever they fancy. I took advantage of their bulk purchase offer and picked up a brand new Enterasys Roamabout WiFi card for my laptop for just $65. It has an antenna socket should I decide to do some war driving and can be upgraded to think that it is an Orinoco Gold with 128 bit WEP encryption because it is the same card internally.
I took the laptop and wireless card to the US but did not detect a single stray signal. I did not have an external antenna and did not do any war driving, but at least it was a thought. I also bought a couple of Pringles cans for possible use as antennas. We can also buy them here, but it was another good excuse at the time. I trust that you too have similar excuses to justify your computing habits!
April PC Update will focus on both wired and wireless networking, so if you can contribute a feature article then please write to Gary at pcupdate@melbpc.org.au.
Reprinted from the February 2003 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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