Tag Archives: personal

Praized is Now Live!

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Yes! Praized Media, our Hub, Facebook application and other current integration options (API, plugins, etc) are now all live to the public and in full production gears. :)

Now Web publishers can easily write about local places while growing traffic and ad revenue. Praized is the first free local search platform designed specifically for social media sites like blogs, social networks and other online communities.

I said, back in January, how happy I was about joining the Praized team, and how much potential I was seeing in the company. Suffice to say, I’m just as ecstatic as I was back then, kicked up a notch or two.

Hey, maybe now I can reach inbox zero and start blogging again. ;-)

Edit: we’re getting some pretty good reviews so far. Crossing our fingers. Still work to do.

Change o' Plans. Joining the Praized Team!

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Funny the pace plans can change at, isn’t it? I was all organized and looking forward to formally announce my return to the world of independent consulting when things started to take an even more interesting turn instead.

I am in fact very happy to announce that I have now officially joined the ranks of the Praized Media team.

Praized Media is a startup company working on a web-based application that will enable you to find and discover local places and merchants with help from people you can trust. It’s also a tool that will structure local conversations within blogs and a new platform for local search providers to generate leads from the untapped social media market.

I’ve been following Praized since mid-2007, when they really started to show up on my radar as a serious[ly fun] and innovative venture, oozing with potential, and backed by a winning trio of entrepreneurs: Sebastien Provencher, Sylvain Carle and Harry Wakefield. A fact which was only reinforced when Garage Technology Ventures decided to fund the company last September.

I’ve been given the opportunity to increasingly involve myself in the company as a consultant since last December. The way things were evolving, I could not longer deny the clear fact that this is a project I want to be an integral part of. Something I can unequivocally see myself focusing on, even providing segues into some of involvements in the web and open source communities.

Luckily for me, the feeling seemed to be mutual and today marked my first day on staff. Suffice to say, I’m sporting a mile long smile about it all.

Praized is currently in stealth-mode, so although I can’t say much more, I can definitely hint that great things are coming! And with the people already on board, I’m in for a fun ride, striving to keep up with and help them in their efforts.

Thanks for the opportunity, team! But shame on you though. Now I’ll have to can that site I worked on for my consulting biz’… ;-p

What's a Technology Generalist After All?

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From “Reengineering MIS: Aligning Information Technology and Business Operations – Page 42“:

Technology Generalist

Role:
The role of the technology generalist is to provide the reengineering project participants with a high level understanding of what technology is available, a perspective on emerging technologies, and the benefits and drawbacks of the specific technologies.

Responsibility:
The technology generalist is responsible for ensuring that the redesigns are technically feasible, and that all areas of emerging technologies that can be leveraged to increase thru-put and efficiency are explored. In additions, this individual works closely with the MIS Generalist to gain an understanding of how and why the existing systems are designed and architected.

Being a niche book from the mid-nineties, there is some specific terminology that could be modernized and adapted to my particular skills (web), but in spirit, this is the best definition I have ever found of what I am really all about, from a professional point of view.

For the HG2G fans out there, do note the above page number.

This will all become clearer on Monday, January 28th, 2008, but saying that I enjoy my trade would be an understatement of rather massive proportion, and I am very much looking forward to what’s to come.

:)

Plank: PHP/MySQL Developer Needed

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As Stevey points out, Plank is looking for a creative and motivated LAMP developer to join the team. See below for the full cross-posted skinny, and pass the word if you know someone who might be interested.

Want to work in our growing Web agency with great people, great clients, and a great working environment? Of course you do!

Plank is actively looking to add to our Montreal-based team. Whether you’re completely self-taught or have multiple degrees in Computer Science, we’re only concerned that you have the skills needed to perform the job. We need someone who is interested in working on exciting Web projects, generally in the fields of entertainment, technology and social action.

Your tasks will include:

  1. Development of website back-ends and interesting Web applications;
  2. Building on and working with our existing code base.

Our Expectations
We’re looking for someone fun! But seriously, you should have the following:

  • 2+ years of related experience;
  • Strong background in PHP and MySQL;
  • Experience in AJAX, DHTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, will be an asset;
  • Knowledge of open-source CMS’s such as Drupal and WordPress will be an asset;
  • Knowledge of open-source PHP frameworks such as CodeIgniter will be an asset;
  • Willingness to work locally in our Montreal office.

We are a close-knit company that continues to grow, and we need your skills. We want you to be part of our team for a long time to come. We offer a competitive salary, normal business hours, a comprehensive health and dental plan, and a great work environment.

If you think you would like to be part of the Plank team, please email your CV and cover letter to warren@plankdesign.com. If you would like to learn more about us, please surf around http://www.plankdesign.com.

We hope you’ll join us.

Hours: Full-Time
This job is salaried.

You can also check out Warren’s video for a previously posted position if you’d like to get a feel for what Plank is all about.