Recent content by bdesmond

  1. bdesmond

    Tax Info

    Along the same token, the IRS considers digital copies of receipts legit. I save all the ones for anything I can potentially write off and then at the end of the month when I balance the books, I run all the receipts through my scanner and then Quicken allows you to attach PDFs to entries in the...
  2. bdesmond

    Would you hire him?

    Hmm, no not always. There are a couple things you have to know about checking references: --> Calling the first reference which is often their current job can be a very risky move. If I have a problem on my staff, I can solve that problem by giving his next employer a good reference. -->...
  3. bdesmond

    Interviews

    Some one off thoughts having conducted a lot of interviews: --> Be honest. If you don't know, say so. If you're not sure, say so. If you BS your way through a question chances are it will show, especially if it is a technical question. --> Be prepared to answer more general or career...
  4. bdesmond

    Corporate-type Shows

    Multiple computers running multiple monitors. Each presentation goes on a different one so when you move between decks you just do it form a switcher. Run the playback sources from playback units, switch that too. In other words you give the presenter a little remote and monitors on the...
  5. bdesmond

    price quote templetes

    FreshBooks.com is a service I've used although it's biased towards service based businesses it can handle "item" based ones - aka rentals, sales, etc. Has a neat time tracking system which is wired into it's invocing system. They also do estimates and I understand the upcoming version will do...
  6. bdesmond

    New Soda Machines

    Like the video towers at Millenium Park?
  7. bdesmond

    New Soda Machines

    Haven't had to do that anymore though I saw some pretty rough places when I was at CPS that looked like you might just need to do that. I gotta go a bit of a ways to see a cornfield.
  8. bdesmond

    biscuit jointers and gorilla glue

    So was it the kid or dad that wasn't smart enough to get some disposable gloves. I don't think much to be done here beyond some common sense for dad. I don't even want to know what in the world they were doing that required this much of the gorilla glue stuff with that much spill. I've gotten...
  9. bdesmond

    Touring Questions

    IMHO the thing with the name of the school is just coming down to folks recognizing a big name. Someone doing hiring who is smart will realize that you can get just as good if not a better education from a small school as from a large one. Some of the best guys I know in the IT industry went to...
  10. bdesmond

    Touring Questions

    So i'll prefix this with while I'm out on the road every week, I'm not doing tours or anything related to this industry - I work for a consulting firm so I go where ever the business is. That said I can definetely identify with alot of things folks are saying here as far as some ups and downs...
  11. bdesmond

    book list

    FYI you can cut a PO to amazon and they should take it for marketplace (used stuff) as well though I'm not 100% on that part. The link is down at the bottom of the page for corp purchasing as I recall.
  12. bdesmond

    Anyone stock gobo's for vari-lites ?

    Grand Stage out of Chicago & Milwaukee is a big varilite dealer. I used to deal with them all the time - good people.
  13. bdesmond

    careers in lighting

    Some odds and ends from me having read most of this thread: I'll add first - I'm from Chicago (the city, not the suburbs): Northwestern is a great school, I know little about the programs it offers in this line of work, but I have no doubt in the quality of them regardless. The area it is...
  14. bdesmond

    Ethernet lighting system quesitons...

    Hi cutlunch- To deal with latency issues you deploy what's called Quality of Service aka QoS. Basically you classify and setup queuing on the switches & routers. Traffic is matched according to specified criteria and prioritized. Aytime you have VoIP (Voice over IP) this is deployed to...
  15. bdesmond

    Ethernet lighting system quesitons...

    Hi Steve, I honestly haven't read the trade journals about the Olympics or CNN or what have you, but I'll certainly take your word. The IT folks don't lose sleep over the lighting network if they have nothing to do with it. They'll lose sleep when someone goofs up and bridges the two...
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