Q101 The Alternative
Q101 (formerly on Chicago radio @ 101.1 FM) The Alternative - Chicago's New Rock Alternative - Everything Alternative - Chicago's Alternative - Gen X - Generation X
The balmy air sways the towering palm trees as the orange sun sets over the calm Gulf. A refreshing margarita on the rocks with salted rim in hand, you gaze lovingly and expectantly to your partner to share this glorious moment together. But alas, no eye contact with your lover because they have their eyes glued to the latest information pumped through the iPhone being lovingly stroked instead of you.
As the number of smartphone users rises, so does the level of anxiety and friction around using them. Downsizing and economic realities have left workers with a real fear of what might happen if they are out of touch too long. Will the client go elsewhere? Will the boss find a new protege? The fear has turned into a compulsion that has workers tethered to their mobile phones – even when they’re supposed to be off the clock.
But for the spouse, partner, friend, or travel companion of a smartphone addict, the fear can ruin a vacation, a night out or, worse, a relationship.
While smartphone addiction has been difficult to track, in a survey by mobile-services provider iPass, 91 percent of mobile users said they use their free time, both day and night, to check their smartphones. Among those, almost 30 percent check their smartphones three to five times an hour, and 20 percent check them five to 10 times an hour.
Travel companions say the problem often comes to a head on vacation or during leisure activity when the goal is to reconnect and their partner sends the message that business is a priority. Companions say they find themselves torn between bringing the smartphone user into the present and being a killjoy.
The solution? Set up parameters you can both live with. Do this BEFORE venturing forth on a vacation, staycation, or even just out to dinner. If you wait until you are “in the moment”, you could be perceived as hostile, jealous, or a NAG.
“If you’ve dedicated time to vacation or a lunch, you should commit to that time. If you have to take a call or check for a certain email, apologize up front and only take that call.
Our addiction to checking our wireless gadgets while in the company of others has become a habit. Some people don’t even realize they are doing it.
Every person needs some downtime and to be able to disconnect from their electronic devices, if only for a little while. Even if you are a business owner or high level executive, you still need down time once in awhile to decompress and refresh. Consider it a reboot of your own.
READ MORE
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-careers-smartphones-vacation-20120718,0,2748099.story
Eva Cameron knows people don’t understand. But the Algonquin mother of three says she could no longer cope with her 19-year-old daughter’s disabilities, escalating behavioral problems or medical bills.
So after a conflict with a social worker, Cameron packed her eldest into her car last month and drove to rural Caryville, Tenn. There, she watched as her daughter entered the Big Orange Bar to use the restroom. And then Cameron turned around and drove home, saying, “I handed the wheel to Jesus.”
As Tennessee officials investigate possible criminal charges against Cameron, she said she doesn’t want to bring her daughter back to Illinois. She doesn’t believe the state will provide adequate medical services or housing for the young woman, who functions at the intellectual level of a 3-year-old, Cameron said.
The daughter “is safe and being cared for,” said Melissa Marshall, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. “We are gathering the necessary information to put in a request for a crisis placement.”
Tennessee officials at first said they would not charge Cameron because her daughter is legally an adult. But authorities reversed course within days of learning the circumstances of the case, which began June 28 when the 19-year-old with a limited vocabulary was discovered without ID or money.
Because the young woman couldn’t say who she was, authorities released a photo seeking the public’s help in identifying her. A Chicago-area woman recognized the photo, providing the tip that led police to Cameron. The mom returned to Tennessee on July 10 and signed a statement saying that she didn’t want to bring her daughter back to Illinois.
Cameron had met with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, which provided supportive services to this family, trying to help the mother understand the proper way to provide guardianship to a disabled individual.
Cameron, apparently unhappy with the social worker’s advice, said she recalled that a member of her church suggested that Tennessee offers better services to people with disabilities. She said she planned to take her daughter to a church in that state but didn’t make it to her final destination.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/algonquin/ct-met-tennessee-abandoned-daughter-20120723,0,6533718.story
Have you ever been asked that vague question on a job interview, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”
You know most of the reasons why the question is so bad: It begs a lame joke (“When, Ms. Manager, do you think you will be moving on?”), or brown-nosing (“I hope to be well along my career within this fine company”) and it assumes that you are going to indeed like working at “this fine company” and that they are going to enjoy having you.
The answer to that question might be relevant if the world were static and things were guaranteed not to change.
If five years ago you asked people who worked in mortgage banking, real estate, or journalism or at Blockbuster what they were expecting to be doing in 2012, we guarantee you the answer isn’t what they are doing now.
So is career planning is waste of time? Yes, much of the time it is, at least as it is typically taught.
Let’s deal with the exceptions first. If you want to work in an industry which is fairly predictable—say nursing — then plan away. The courses you need to take to gain an entry position are well known and so is the career path and the things you need to do to advance. So, simply figure out where you actually want to be in five years, and work backwards, just like all the career planning manuals tell you.
But increasingly, the world is not this predictable. And it is in settings of high uncertainty where traditional career planning is both a waste of time and potentially dangerous as all those Blockbuster managers learned the hard way. A career plan can lead you into a false sense of confidence, where you fail to see opportunities as they arise and or miss (or discount) major changes in the industry where you planning to succeed.
So then, what to do. What to do. Try this:
Instead of envisioning the perfect job and planning out the perfect path to get there, begin with a direction, based on a real desire, and complement that with a strategy to discover and create opportunities consistent with what you want you want to do.
In an uncertain world you can’t even come close to saying what a specific job might be, but you can say what’s valuable and important to you. Is it working in a specific industry?Managing people or not? Work-life balance? The answers will point you in productive directions.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/plus/chi-forbes-why-career-plans-are-dangerous-20120720,0,3940199.story
Mind over matter. Mind over matter. Mind over matter. This mantra didn’t work for 21 people at a Tony Robbins motivational event. Walking across hot coals on lanes measuring 10 feet long and heated to between 1,200 to 2,000 degrees provides attendees an opportunity to “understand that there is absolutely nothing you can’t overcome,” according to the motivational speaker’s website.
Organizers had an “open burn permit” and medical staff at the event, and there was also a fire inspector on the scene, San Jose Fire Department Capt. Reggie Williams said.
The injuries took place during the first day Thursday of a four-day event at the San Jose Convention Center hosted by Robbins called “Unleash the Power Within.” Most of those hurt had second and third degree burns, said San Jose Fire Department Capt. Reggie Williams.
Robbins Research International said in a written statement that 6,000 attendees of the event walked across the coals Thursday. One could argue that only 0.3% were injured. That sounds like a tiny percentage and hardly newsworthy unless YOU are in the 0.3%.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-burns-suffered-at-tony-robbins-event,0,4469568.story
Bigger and thinner. That’s what the latest reports are saying about the screen on the new Apple iPhone 5.
The Cupertino, Calif., tech giant is already mass-producing the new screens, which will integrate touch capabilities into the LCD and thereby removing the need for a second layer used to make it a touch screen, according to the report. The technology, called in-cell, is about a half-millimeter thinner than what Apple uses now and is also expected to make the overall quality of the iPhone screen better.
Along with a thinner display, the iPhone is expected to receive several other changes, setting it up to receive the biggest iPhone overhaul since Apple went from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4 in 2010.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/la-fi-tn-iphone-thinner-screen-20120717,0,6497279.story
This is the Midwest. Storms happen. Every home should be stocked with an emergency kit, according to FEMA. Three gallons of water per person per day, shelf stable food, batteries, flashlights, etc. But once the power is out and won’t be back for hours, or even worse, DAYS, what is a gamer to do?
As our options for technological entertainment have increased, so has our reliance on their existence. Ironically, as power outages have become more bearable due to laptops, smartphones, handheld systems, tablets and eReaders, our frustration with blackouts seems to have skyrocketed. Gamers have more ways than ever to occupy their time during an outage, yet the angst over when the TV-based systems and the PCs come back on is as strong as ever.
Having all of your devices fully charged at all times would help. Impractical, but it would buy some time until the electrons start flowing freely again.
You can run all your gadgets down to zero, squeezing whatever you have left on your laptop, Nintendo 3DS, Vita, phone, tablet or whatever you have lying around. The problem is, nothing eats batteries on a device quite like games (except maybe watching movies, another power outage pitfall). Eventually, the downed lines are going to outlast you unless you slink out of the house to find a working outlet to charge up.
Being a gamer and needing electricity for enjoyment aren’t really the same thing. The gamer’s mind is one that enjoys challenge, complexity, storytelling and interactivity. Those things can be achieved devoid of the presence of electricity, we’re just trained to think otherwise.
The best solution would be to make an addition to your FEMA approved emergency kit. Now may be a great time to finally investigate paper-and-pencil role playing games like “Dungeons and Dragons” or gather some people for an in-depth board game. A lot of the same things we love about video games are prevalent in these two suggestions. Pack away a complex and fun board game, perhaps Lord of the Rings edition Monopoly. Dig out your “Magic: The Gathering” cards. Save a game or two for play ONLY during times of emergency.
If all else fails, a good game of Scrabble INCLUDING a Scrabble player’s dictionary can always kill some time and perhaps stir up some good old-fashioned debate.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/games/bal-lights-out-game-over-alternatives-for-the-gamer-without-power,0,4576560.story
They are watching you. Always watching. Every little thing you do. Every “i” you do not dot. Every “t” you do not cross. All the escapades, drinking, partying, gambling, and debauchery you post on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. And they DO pay attention to your grammar.
Who, you ask? The grammar police? Nope, job recruiters. If you are looking for a job, it’s best to clean up your act and demonstrate some self control.
A whopping 92% of U.S. companies say they are using social networks to find talent in 2012, according to a new survey.
In addition to checking your resume, nearly 3 out of 4 hiring managers and recruiters check candidates’ social profiles — 48% always do so, even if they are not provided.
LinkedIn still reigns supreme as the recruiting hot spot, but some serious recruiting also takes place on Facebook and Twitter, according to the poll by social recruiting platform Jobvite, which polled more than 1,000 human resources and recruitment professionals.
Sure, they say they aren’t judging you on your politics or religion — they really shouldn’t be by law anyway – but you better believe they’re raising eyebrows at how you express yourself. Posted profanity got a 61% negative reaction, plus grammar and spelling mistakes got a 54% negative reaction.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/jobs/la-fi-social-recruiting-jobs-20120709,0,666978.story
After more than a decade of playing for the fans, Kaustubh “Stubhy” Pandav said taking the stage with Lucky Boys Confusion has new meaning since the death of guitarist Joe Sell.
Pandav and Sell, a self-taught guitarist, had been making music together since they formed punk, rock and ska band Lucky Boys Confusion with other local musicians in 1997. Pandav previously had said Sell added “the attitude and swagger” to the band’s music.
The band is scheduled to take the stage at 9 p.m. Saturday at Madison Meadow Park, 600 E. Madison St., Lombard, and has the blessing of Sell’s family. The guitarist’s father, also named Joe, is still struggling with the loss, but he plans to attend the show.
“I’m glad they’re getting back on stage because I think every time they do, the band lives on. And that’s what he was part of for 15 years,” the elder Joe Sell said. “So I’m glad it’s going on and sad it’s going on without him.”
Pandav said performing without Sell on Saturday will be hard but necessary. He also said the band may eventually find a “permanent sub,” but no one will take Sell’s place.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville/ct-met-lucky-boys-20120706,0,3334346.story
It’s been a while since the last paycheck, and the finances are not looking good. Right now, you’re more concerned about making ends meet than finding the perfect job, but does taking that good-for-now job hurt your career in the long run?
“If you take a temporary job after a year [of being unemployed], you can talk about it in subsequent job interviews and that says you’re not someone who just sits around, you’re someone who goes out and makes opportunities for yourself,” says Alisa Cohn, an executive and career coach.
“If you have some income coming in, you feel less desperate,” Cohn says. “If you know that your bills will get paid, you can be more comfortable and confident when you’re applying for a job that really matters.”
Cohn advises taking a part-time position in sales: telephone sales, retail or inside sales, even if you’ve never been attracted to sales before.
“You learn so much in the process of learning how to sell. You’ll learn about communication skills and people skills, which are immediately transferable to another job,” Cohn says. “You can even discover something you’re good at.”
Follow the Cub Scout motto: Always Do Your Best. No matter what job you are doing, even one you don’t like or find difficult, having a positive attitude can make it better, even empowering.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/jobs/chi-strategies-for-taking-the-goodenough-job-offer-20120702,0,5975875.story
Right out of Star Trek The Next Generation–The Game. Imagine this. Going away for a spell and coming back to find everyone addicted to video games. With the contraption’s popularity, the compulsion to play comes before relationships, causes fighting, and PEOPLE IGNORE EACH OTHER. Wow. How far fetched is THAT?
This episode came out 20 years ago. Now that bit of science fiction technology has come to pass. They are here. By 2014, Google, owner of the world’s most popular search engine, will sell eyeglass-embedded computers to consumers.
Project Glass test devices with software and cameras, to give quick access to information in a display above the eyes, will be offered for $1,500 to developers who attend Google’s I/O developers conference in San Francisco and will ship in early 2013. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is sharing the design with developers to benefit from their work, Sergey Brin, the company’s co-founder said.
“With Google X I’m not really thinking about any sort of existing products or things to compare it to,” Brin said. “Google X is about brand new risky technological things that are sort of making science fiction real.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-google-eyeglassembedded-computers-to-go-on-sale-in-2014-20120628,0,2912123.story
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