geekitarian

Recently I decided that my stomach (and heart) had enough of a break since my last gastrointestinal undertaking at GetGo , so I headed over to the local purveyor of diesel fuel, fine foods, and gasoline to to try their New Yorker sub. Unfortunately it was a limited time offer, and time was up... but they did have this new great looking sandwich, the West Coast Chicken Sub . According to the GetGo Cafe website : "Our exclusive West Coast Chicken Sub is stacked with tender, juicy chicken, crisp bacon, melty Swiss, fresh spinach, tomato and guacamole, all on a multigrain sub roll baked fresh in-store!" I ordered a 3.5" straightaway, and I also picked up a Parma Mia (GetGo's over-the-top take on a Chicken Parmesan sub). First impressions: what I ended up with looked quite a bit different from the picture in the store. Not quite "stacked with" anything, really. I got a slice of tomato, 4 spinach leaves, about 3 tiny strips of grilled ...

The fall semester is a challenge - coming back to school after a summer off, it can be hard to get right back into the swing of things. Vacations, barbecues, parties, trips... there are lots of things to keep you out of the studying mindset for a few months and that can bleed into the fall semester. Unfortunately, lots of companies will have selected their summer interns by the time you've read the syllabus for all of your classes. This means that you've got some work to do to secure your dream job. Here are a few tips to hit the ground running. #1: Figure out what you want. If you're a freshman, you can learn a lot about companies you might like to work for at this point - there are definitely internships out there for after your freshman year, but if you don't feel like you're ready, you can still also collect lots of information. As a sophomore, next summer might seem like a long way away, but it's important to consider if you're going to want an in...

When I found out that GetGo had new crazy sandwiches, I had to get to the nearest gasoline dispensary and try them!  First I consulted with my doctor to make sure that my heart was healthy enough for mad science culinary productions, and then I ordered The 7" Smokestack and the 3.5" Kielbasa Reuben. For some reason, GetGo only has certain sandwiches that you can get in 3 1/2" size.  It seems kind of arbitrary and was a bit unfortunate with The General , so we'll see if the extra 3.5 inches of sandwich are any more satisfying this time. As usual, these look nothing like the beautiful subs on the billboards, but they don't look awful, either.  Here's the real-world view (with only half of the 7" Smokestack): I tried the Smokestack first.  It's hard to find the "official" ingredient list because Get Go doesn't seem to have anything more on their website than a picture of the sandwich (it's like they're afraid t...

Get Go has been KILLING it lately with crazy sandwiches that are great for advertising on the radio but I've been wondering if they're actually great for eating. The new one I've been hearing about is "The General" which is like Chinese take-out on a sesame sub roll.  I hear ads for it every morning on my commute, and I see a giant billboard for it too.  It's basically chicken tenders with General Tso's sauce and egg rolls on a sesame bun.  I'm guessing they were inspired by Primanti's and decided to try to apply it to a different cuisine (I'm looking forward to The Russian Borscht sub which I'm sure is planned for later this summer). I ventured out to my local GetGo to try one of these out, only to be greeted by "The Rogie Hoagie" on the screen in addition to "The General."  What a great surprise (and additional gastronomic challenge)!  I decided to try them both and report back.  "The General" only comes...

How to write a resume that WILL NOT get you an interview: Write a lengthy, detailed, generic objective statement. Put your GPA on the resume if it's anything below a 3.9. List skills "strong attention to detail" or other generic platitudes. Write your past experience section so it looks like the "minimum requirements" section of a job posting. Create a long resume that's excessively detailed and takes 20 minutes of concentrated effort to read. How to do it better: Don't put an objective on your resume.  If you're applying for a job, your objective is to get a job.   If your GPA is less than a 3.9, it's either going to be a non-factor, or it's going to hurt you.  Don't put it on your resume. List skills and how you've applied them; talk about the projects you've done or the things you've built. Talk about accomplishments instead of duties.  Anybody reading your resume can discern what your duties were; what...

Sometimes my students ask me, "How do I get an A in your course?" I always tell them, "Don't ask how to get an A; learn the material, and you'll get an A."  I just did a panel for the Katz MIS-MBA program and offered a similar piece of advice when asked about how to get a job. Don't try to get a job; figure out what you want to do, learn as much as you can, and you'll get a job. I don't have any hard data to back it up, but I've found most of my best students are the ones that really are passionate about programming and technology.  I always have students that are only interested in getting an A, but I think the students that are the most memorable (and I'm guessing the ones that end up being the most effective in their careers) are the ones that really enjoy what they're doing and are doing everything they can to learn everything about the subject.  They're never interested in getting the best grade, they're interested...

Getting a job is hard.  Getting the one you want is even harder. Lots of us got into IT for one reason: To make money.  Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that.  We’re geeks, we like toys, toys cost money, money doesn’t grow on trees or magically appear when we show our abs, so here we are.  We need jobs.  So, it’s quite possible that your dream job might just be any one that pays a six-figure salary. Some of us actually enjoy the practice.  Software development is definitely an interesting career.  It presents lots of opportunities to utilize reasoning and solve unique problems.  Of course, it also means you’ll spend what most people consider an obscene amount of time behind a computer.  If you’re thinking right now, “There’s no such thing as an obscene amount of time to spend behind a computer,” then you’re probably looking at the right field. Your reasons might be altogether different.  You might actually enjoy a specific li...