Build an Electronic Resume

The way of the physical document is becoming extinct. Almost everything we do today is digital. Why not also make your resume digital. I don’t mean using MS Word or OpenOffice to make one and then print it out. Make a 100% electronic resume. By putting your resume on the internet not only can you change details on it after it is handed out but also use very little paper(about 80-90% less), making it a very eco-friendly resume.

It’s a very simple process and can be done in a 3 simple steps. (1) Make your resume like you would any other, (2) publish it, (3) tell future employers. I will go into further detail now.

What you will need is:
- A Google Docs Account. If you already use any of the Google services then you have one.
- An existing resume (optional)
- Business card paper. I had a box of it in my basement but you can get some for a few bucks at an office supply store like Staples.

Making your Resume

You are first going to log into Google Docs and create a new document. Now you can just copy and past your old resume or type out a new one, that’s up to you. Save the document something like My Resume.

Publish your Resume

With your document open click [Share] and then click [Publish as web page...]. Make sure [Automatically re-publish when changes are made] is checked and then click [Publish document]. Copy the link that is displayed because you will need it for the next part.

Share your Resume

With the link you copied from the last step go to tinyurl.com and turn it into a tinyurl. This will make it easier for employers to type in the address. You can start quickly by using that link on employment websites but for employers that want the more face to face approach use that link and put it on a business card. You don’t need much on it, something simple like this is fine.

John Doe
Electronic Resume
Please Visit:
http://tinyurl.com/p9z646

Print that off and start handing it out. My cards came on a sheet of 10 so that is 10 resumes from 1 sheet of paper.

To see an example of an electronic resume go here http://tinyurl.com/p9z646

How to: Hide the Navbar from you blogger site.


This is a little trick that I learned when I was setting up the Durham Networks blog last week.
I would recommend this for anyone using a custom domain and template to help keep the feel from your site to the blogger site natural. Do no do this if you do not have a custom domain, give blogger some credit for the free blog.
I am not doing this on my blog because I like blogger and the navbar is used to promote other blogs. I did do it on the Durham Networks blog because it is a company blog and I wanted the template to remain the same throughout the site. I also have it setup as a custom domain at blog.durhamnetworks.com.

Now with all the “do not do this” stuff out of the way lets begin.

You will need to have some HTML knowledge in order for you to understand this.

Backup
It is recommended that you backup your template just in case you screw this up and don’t know how to fix it. From the blogger dashboard go to your blogs layout page. Now click [Edit HTML]. Near the top of the page you will see [Download Full Template], click that. It will then start the download for the XML template file. Make sure you save it somewhere safe.

The Code
You now need to put the code in the layout that will hide the navbar. While still on the [Edit HTML] page in the textbox find where it says something like <title>…</title>. Just under that line you will put this code.

<style type=’text/css’>
#navbar {
visibility:hidden;
height:0px;
}
</style>

Hit the [PREVIEW] button just to make sure that it is working then save the changes by clicking [SAVE TEMPLATE]. If you go to the preview and the navbar is still there then try moving the code just before the line </head>.

How to: Create a Dynamic Picture in Windows Live Messenger with or without a webcam.

In Windows Live Messenger (formally MSN) there is a feature called Dynamic Picture. What it dose is change your display picture to one of 4 different emotions based on emoticons used. For example if you use the smile icon :) then your display pic will change to a picture of you smiling for 4 seconds then turn back to normal.

All of these instructions are relevant to Windows Live Messenger version 14.

With Webcam
If you have a webcam then this is very easy to setup because you will not need to do any extra work.

Before you begin you need to make sure Windows Live Messenger (WLM) is using the correct camera settings. To do that go to the WLM main window and click the [Show Menu] button, the last button next to the search. You then want to go to [Tools] -> [Audio and video setup...]. The first screen you will see is the audio setup. You can change any of these setting if you want but are not required for this task so just hit [Next]. In the drop-down box select the camera that you would like to use and make sure that it is displayed in the big box below. Click [Finish]. WLM is now ready to use a webcam.

Now you are ready to create a Dynamic Picture. Start by clicking your display picture in the main window of WLM. Now click [Dynamic picture..]. Click the first frame and take a normal picture of yourself. Click the second frame and take a picture of yourself smiling. Repeat for the other frames. You can also change what action is done with the arrows below each frame.

Without Webcam
In some cases you may not have a webcam but still want to have a Dynamic Picture like the rest of the world. Don’t worry it can still be done and you have a few options to get you going. The first option is obvious, get a webcam, go buy one or borrow a friends. Option two, go to a friends that has a webcam. Your display picture will stay with you on all systems. Option three, I will describe in more detail below but involves virtual webcam software and a digital camera.

To start that third option you will need to get some virtual webcam software. This is software that you can install on your computer that can make other programs (like WLM) think that it is a webcam and will allow you to use videos, pictures or even another webcam in anything that requires a webcam. So start of by going to ManyCam and downloading the program and install it on your computer.

Now that the program is installed in your computer you now need to take some pictures of yourself with the digital camera and uplaod them to your compuer in a location that you can easily find them (Make sure the pictuers are not very big or the program will not accept them). When taking the pictures try to keep yourself in the center as best as posible, WLM will trim the sides.

Now that you have the pictures on your computer lets configure ManyCam. Open ManyCam and under the [Effects] tab click [Text over video] and make sure that [Show ManyCam.com Logo] is unchecked, that will get rid of the pesky logo. Under the [Sources] tab click [Still images] and then [Open new file], find your first picture (normal) then open it. You may need to click the picture in order for it to show up in the big box above.

Now go back to WLM and follow the above steps as if you had a webcam but make note of a few things when going so. When selecting camera you should use ManyCam Virtual Webcam. Also note that you need to go back to the still images page in ManyCam to change to the next picture.

That is how to get you started with Windows Live Messenger Dynamic Display Pictures. If you liked this tutorial then please leave comments.