The Hire Knowledge Project ... Find the right one.

Try as you might, you will be hard pressed to find a computer running any flavour of Linux or other free software in a store, or visible where the curious can use it. Sure, you might happen upon an individual with one of the new netbooks running Ubuntu, but you can hardly be blamed for thinking that your only choices in software are the latest Microsoft products or Apple's Mac offerings. Now, however, coffee drinkers in central Ottawa can use free software to stay connected while they enjoy their java at a local fair trade co-op shop.

Sunday, June 21st, was National Aboriginal Day in Canada. While many people marked the day with gatherings and cultural activities, elsewhere, the Earth did not stand still. Most in the world of information technology didn't even notice. The big software companies continue to produce programs with support for English and a selection of popular languages, leaving other cultures to hope for support by enthusiastic open source developers or fade into irrelevancy in a digital age.

Originally published at TheManual.ca in 2007.

If you are a Canadian company, a not-for-profit, public education institution, public health care provider, municipality or First Nations council, a government-funded program may pay a portion (40-60%) of the wages of a new hire during the first months of work. With that money, your organization can cover the costs of training a new employee.

Officially, it’s known as the Targeted Wage Subsidy program.

Phoney jobs
Originally published at TheManual.ca on Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Beware any job postings on Craigslist that do not have a recognized corporate e-mail address and company or agency name. Those of you tempted by seemingly lucrative, interesting job offerings from an unnamed company on Craigslist will be very disappointed when an automated script sends a pitch for a work-from-home scam from what appears to be a Hotmail address.