Feed The Beagle!

Back on the Market!

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:15:02 GMT

So recently my contract with Deloitte came to it's close and I'm back on the market. It was kind of a let down but that's how this whole contract thing works I've found out and it's time to move on! If you have any interest in taking up my services please don't hesitate to contact me =]

My resume and contact details and such are now up on my companies website =] FeedTheBeagle.com

Cheers^^

Happy Birthday Suzy!!

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:53:56 GMT

LETS ALL WISH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO SUZY TONINI!!!!

Let's verify some email addresses... Not really...

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:19:15 GMT

I've recently noticed a long string of "Email Verification" websites surfacing. The one I'm choosing to make an example of is "Verify-Email.org" and for good reason.

If you look at the small print at the bottom of the page at the copy right, you'll notice a link for "Email Software". When you visit that link, it takes you to the companies website, email-unlimited.com. The company itself is a bulk email/marketing company, and if you put 2 and 2 together, you get a spam trap!

I don't advise using any of these sites, they're all the same. If you'd like to wax intellectual on the logistics of why they can't possibly work on any legal level, let me know. The truth of the matter is that these companies who actually charge for this service... are charging you to build bulk mail lists for them and sending letting you know if the domain is valid or not. Most companies have protection up to defer it's query so unless you plan on checking the emails of smaller private websites, who don't have the where-with-all to install security, they're useless and stealing your emails =p

cheers^^

ps: lifehacker even had an article up about the site which was removed due to the discovery of this particular "Email Verfication" website as being a spam trap.
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Edited: It turns out it actually works with some sites and not with others, but it's completely independent to the mailing system. The problem here is that it checks first against "MX Records" and then if there are none, then by domain validity.

The MX record in layman's terms is simply a map provided by the domain "xyz.com" to the server hosting that specific mailbox on it. If these records exist, than you may or may not have an accurate representation of whether the email does in fact exist. The reason this is questionable is because if the MX record has orders to route any "email validation requests" or emails to a specific server designed to handle spam content, then it would return as being valid by default. Any "email validation request" will return as being existent b/c it's sending all unknown requests to the server, and the site sees that the request has been sent to a server, hence the return is "Valid".

Most large firms and companies have similar spam filters in tact to prevent email abuse before it becomes an individual/per user account problem. There are several other methods for hiding email validity that these companies use to protect their employees, servers, and general interests.

In short, will this email checker work... you'll never know 100%. It will vary company by company, by security administrator, by need for deterrents.

SourceCon Newsletter Final 6!!

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:29:12 GMT

With the near completion of the SourceCon Newsletter Name Contest coming to an end, they're currently down to 6 possible choices! We need your help, so please vote as soon as possible! You can vote here: http://sourcecon.wufoo.com/forms/sourcecon-newsletter-name-contest/!

Cheers^^

SourceCon Newsletter....coming soon!

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:45:00 GMT

It’s been whispered through the blogs, wikis, IMs, and discussion groups that SourceCon is getting ready for something new….

Keep your eyes peeled as 2008 begins. New website, new community, and new newsletter!

You asked for it, and SourceCon is bringing it to you:
A resource dedicated to the promotion, education, and advancement of the research and sourcing function.
A monthly news piece to quench your thirst for sourcing knowledge.
The premiere resource for the sourcing community.

Featuring researching tips and tricks, best practices, Q&A, and articles written by YOU, for YOU.

So what is this awesome newsletter called? WE DON’T KNOW YET!

That’s right – SourceCon has a fabulous newsletter ready to bring to you, but it needs a name.
We would like for YOU to name it.
And we would like to reward you for doing so!

To enter the Name the SourceCon Newsletter contest, please submit your entry here.

The top 5 entries will be featured on the NEW SourceCon website (so new it's not even live yet!) and you will be able to vote for your favorite one there. The winning entry will have the honor of naming the newsletter, and will also receive a prize.

Please keep your eyes on the blogs! More will be available soon.

For additional information/questions, please send an email to SourceCon here.

Happy Birthday Shally!

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 21:07:32 GMT

Best of wishes! Keep up all the great work!

So it's official! I'm now an Internet Researcher!

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:59:43 GMT

Today I began a new career path! This morning at 9am I officially became a consultant for Deloitte! No more full cycle recruiting for me! Big kudos to my new boss, Suzy Tonini! (Yes, I can hardly believe it myself, it's the best news I've had in a long time =] ) and also an extra big kudos to my employer, Leslie O'Connor at Search Wizards!

Not that I did a whole lot of actual recruiting blogging to begin with, but now I can say I'm going to be completely focused on internet research technique, tips, and tricks! Look forward to a LOT of great things =]

Cheers^^

Linkedin with Photos?

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 05:34:20 GMT

Yep, now you can add a photo to your linkedin profile! How much fun is this? A lot I say!

Cheers^^

Pre-Order the NEW Futurama Movie!

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:08:38 GMT

Show your support and pre-order the film so they know how badly we all want it to return full time! Amazon is currently selling it for only $19.99! Go for it!

http://www.amazon.com/Futurama-Movie-Benders-Big-Score/dp/B000UZDO62

Cheers^^

From Recruiter to Researcher

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:24:57 GMT

It's official. I've made the transition from full life cycle recruiter to full internet research. I'm psyched. More details to come =]

*86 and Verizon

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:18:24 GMT

I just got into a debate with a local Verizon rep over something which I've always known but something which particularly irked me.

For those of you who use Verizon for your mobile carrier, using the 1 button or *86 to check your voicemail, it actually counts against your minutes. If you dial out your own number and call it to check your voicemail however, it doesn't as you're making an IN-Network call. What kind of BS is that... really. Shame on Verizon.

On the upside they have some new plans which look quite nice and you should definitely check them out.

Cheers^^

My 4,500th LinkedIn Connection is... Daphne Mahotiere!

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:52:28 GMT

Amybeth and Jeremy both ran similar posts not too long ago so I figured I'd bite off them and do the same.

Thanks Daphne!

Cheers^^

Grand Master Challenge

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:59:15 GMT

I've had a lot of inquiry as to the methods I used in completing the challenge at SourceCon so I figured I'd take a moment and explain =]

Despite my nature of making things incredibly complex, the answer to this query is actually quite simple. I've been blogging about it for months, it won me the AIRS competition, and once built is the tool I use at the forefront of all my searches.

I used my Google Coop for the challenge, nothing more, nothing less. I did try one or two other avenues out of shear panic, given Jim's faulty numbers and nerve wracking commentary which I could hear despite having my ipod on at MAX volume. (I was listening to the String Quartets rendition of "OK Computer - Radiohead" btw)

I used some very simple strings which laid on top of the pre-made refinements I use daily in my coops and wallah!

If time hadn't been so critical I most certainly would have made the search more complicated and robust, but keeping it simple this time worked really well. Big thanks to Google =]

Sorry for the let down?

Cheers^^

PS: For those still wondering what the challenge was exactly... We had to find and list as many individuals as possible within a short period of time. The requirements were:

1) Must be female
2) Must currently reside in the US
3) Must belong to some sort of women's organization
4) Must currently hold the title of "Software Engineer" or "Software Developer"

A Lot to do and a LOT to say

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:48:12 GMT

Today I'm back in the office and back to the grind as I'm sure the rest of you are. I have a lot of people I still need to thank and give praise to so if I haven't yet, it's coming =]

I have tons to say on SourceCon and some of the neat and interesting things I've come across so you can expect an whole plethora of postings to come =]

cheers^^

SourceCon 2007

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 07:30:57 GMT

It's late so I'm going to keep this brief.

In summary: One of the single most incredible events I've ever experienced.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the event, all of those who spoke and shared their knowledge with everyone, and especially Leslie O'Connor for all her hard work and effort!

I would like to really also thank both Jeremy Langhans and Suzy Tonini. Despite being in competition, I don't think I spent more time with, stayed up/out as late with, or had as much fun with anyone else at SourceCon and I couldn't imagine it really having been any other way. You two were absolutely awesome!

To anyone who missed it... there is no easy way to say it, but you certainly missed out on an opportunity of a lifetime, and it blatantly sucks to be you... sorry, but it's the truth.

That's all for now. I'll share more later and I'm sure once everyone is home and rested the intense blogging will commence all over the recruiting community =]

til than, I'm in Atlanta until Saturday so if you're still here and wanna get together at some point tomorrow, let me know =]

cheers^^

PS: I um... won that challenge thing and I'm writing this on my prize^^

What's yoName?

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 15:51:41 GMT

Yep, may sound silly, but I just visited a site called yoName.com. Very impressed. You should check it out. It searches a whole plethora of social networking sites and breaks them down for you really nicely. Some of the sites included are:

Bebo, Blogger, Deviantart, Digg, Facebook, Friendster, Grono, Hi5, iMeem, IRC-Galleria, Last.fm, Linkedin, Live Spaces, LiveJournal, Match, Myspace, Rediff, Tagged, Twitter, Vox, Web Search, Webshots, Xanga, Yahoo, Yahoo 360, and youTube...

Really cool, a definite must try =]

Cheers^^

Recruiting/Sourcing Madlibs!

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:26:38 GMT

Mad Libs is the name of a word game that uses word substitutions for humorous effect. They are especially popular with children and frequently played as a party game or as a pastime. They were invented in the 1950s by Leonard Stern and Roger Price, who published the first editions themselves.

So here's the deal people. I'm starting a new column on Sourcing Madlibs and I want EVERYONE to participate. This column is going to be dedicated to teaching and aiding those who haven't quite jumped on the boolean bandwagon and help ease them into in a language we can all understand! Here's how it's going to work. I want you to write out exactly what it is you're seeking in normal syntax.

ie: "I'm looking for a computer software developer who programs in Java and lives in the Los Angeles area and I want to see Google's results"

Once I receive the request I will translate this into a string for you to help find those results, and post them here on my blog in the Madlibs answers section. How does this help you learn? Simple, When I post the results and the string, I will highlight/color code the variables and break down the string according to function so you can see how each piece was constructed and why.

ie: (~resume | ~cv) ("Software Engineer" | "Software Developer" | "Computer Programmer" | Programmer | Developer) (+CA | "Los Angeles" | California) (209 | 213 | 310) Java -job -jobs -career

Results Page // Explanation:

Since we're looking for people, I've elected to use the keywords "resume" OR "cv" which is translated into (resume | cv). The reason I've used the "|" character is because in Google it represents the operator "OR". The reason I've included the tilde or "~" is because Google uses that as a synonyms operator and looks for different variations of the words "resume" or "cv".
The Next step was using different words to represent "Software Developer" so I chose "Software Developer" OR "Software Engineer" OR "Computer Programmer" OR "Programmer" OR "Developer" and again the "|" is used to represent an OR statement. Since Google uses spaces to represent an "AND" statement, I've now combined the resume search AND the title.
From there we needed to specify a location and so............................. (You get the picture)

Now, you might be wondering where the Madlibs portion comes in? Well here's what I'm going to do. For every request I get and answer, I'm going to turn them into a Madlibs Page where you will have the option to fill in the blanks yourself, chose the search engine, click submit, and let the page translate for you!

Now there will be a small charge for regular access to the site, but nothing crazy and it wont be up officially until I receive at least 20 submissions, so let's get a move on and submit your searches! I will answer all requests in a timely manor, but if I'm overloaded, please understand that I do have a job and I promise I will get to your request.

Please submit all requests to madlibs@feedthebeagle.com!

Cheers^^

Recruiting Animal Show

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:42:05 GMT

So today, Jeremy Langhans was on the Recruiting Animal Show and what a time was had! Somehow the Animal seemed to skip over me in the Sourcing Challenge interviews so I actually gave a call in today and joined Jeremy in discussion along with Amybeth Hale, and Maureen Sharib!

It's a nice hour long block of fun times and interesting perspectives you'll be glad you listened to! Another big round for everyone who participated and a big thanks to the Recruiting Animal for having me on the show!

You can listen to it here!

Cheers^^

Neat Little Email String Bookmark(let) ?

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:14:03 GMT

It's not javascript so it's not technically a bookmarklet and it's really only useful so far as I know with firefox... But it's a complication of email strings which you can apply to searches using FireFox Bookmark keywords.

Drag this up to your bookmarks: Email String
Right click on the link if it's in your bar, or open your bookmark organizer, find the bookmark, and right click on it and visit properties.
Give it a good name like "Email" and a good keyword, also like "Email" and then click "Ok"
Go to your address bar and type in your keyword followed by the domain you want to look up. Something like this: "email gmail" or "email cisco"
Enjoy the results =]

It's not perfect by any means, but it will save you some time in the long run until it is perfected =]

Again, this is a FireFox only trick... I think... I haven't tested it with any of the other browsers yet.

Cheers^^

PS: I should have also mentioned, and I apologize now for having not... That the three pieces of the string came from myself, Rob McIntosh, and Rithesh Nair! You guys rock!

Give it up for Jeremy Langhans!

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:11:53 GMT

Put your hands together for Jeremy Langhans everyone for completed the 3rd SourceCon Challenge!! Way to Go! It's on in the finals!

With all three challengers in place, this should be a really awesome event! If you're not already registered, go register now!!!
http://www.sourcecon1.com

cheers^^

Blog list: Blog Roll

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:56:12 GMT

Blog Roll

Jeremy Langhans
r0x0rs
Glen Gutmacher
Advanced Online Recruiting
Sourcers Apprentice
Cutting Edge Internet Recruiting
Day in Recruiting
The Mother of All..
Shally Steckerl
The Man.
Rithesh Nair
True Strategist
Dave Mendoza
Absolutely Fantastic
Bill Vick
Xtreme!
Jim Stroud
Omnipotent.
Invite me on LinkedIn.com
Invite Via: mnotaro@thg.com
Amybeth Hale
Research Goddess (In Training)
Dan Harris
Sourcing Talent!

Custom List: Search Engines

Thu, 31 May 2007 19:05:00 GMT

Search Engines

Google
Google It
Live
MS Live!
Yahoo!
Frequently Used Search Engine
About.com
Great for Weird Queries
Exalead
Neat little engine.
Alta Vista
Comes in handy sometimes.
Mamma
Great Meta Search Engine.
Yahoo Site Explorer
Does things... Useful.
Quintura
A stumble sort of search map.
Zuula
Weird but I like it.
Jux2
The BEST Meta Search... Says SearchEngineWatch... Haven't used it much yet.
Ask
Good ole Jeeves.
Spock
Designed to find People?