thirteen ball is the personal web site of Joe Polk...a technology consultant, web developer, husband, father and volunteer firefighter/EMT from Pittsburgh, PA.
// January 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // News Stories, Technology
If you don’t think this is going to be the future of print media, you’re wrong. I think you’re going to see a lot more people paying for online access as print subscriptions dwindle and e-reader devices like the Kindle (and the future Apple tablet) grow and improve their technology.
// March 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Give Me A Break!, News Stories, Politics
Am I the only one that actually supports Bowling Green State University on this decision? A sculpture showing a middle school girl performing a sex act on her teacher? Are you kidding me? What the hell has happened to our society that a sculpture like that is considered acceptable and that having it removed is censorship?
// January 8th, 2009 // No Comments » // News Stories
As if the Rose Bowl loss wasn’t bad enough, Penn State employees (like myself) found out today that our salaries will be frozen this year. I don’t think that’s all so terrible — considering that we’re still lucky to be employed! The university (and students) aren’t going to be happy either if the electric rates are doubled after a PUC ruling in favor of Allegheny Power. Can we get some good news in Happy Valley please?
// December 22nd, 2008 // No Comments » // News Stories, Recycling
Anyone that knows me knows that I’ve been “freecycling” for years now. It was great to see this article linked from Yahoo’s homepage to spread the word about such a great way to get rid of things that you don’t need or find things that someone doesn’t need anymore either.
// November 21st, 2008 // No Comments » // News Stories, Technology
Back in 1998, I got a job with FORE Systems, which was a company that was rapidly growing and the jewel of the Pittsburgh technology community. I felt very honored and blessed to be hired as a web developer in the marketing department. I remember my friends saying “Wow…you got hired at FORE?!? That’s awesome!”
As most tech companies go, rumors spread about being bought out as the company kept doing better and better. There were potential suitors discussed on financial bulletin boards with some of the same names being floated over and over again.
Interestingly enough, the company that actually did buy us out, GEC was never discussed and kind of came out of left field.
The transition was an exciting time as I was part of the team that created the first www.marconi.com since that was the name of the “new” company that GEC had formed after purchasing FORE and a number of other companies. I gained a boss that resided in the UK and who managed me via email, phone and the occassional video conference. I actually got the chance to meet him a few times in person and we got along fantastically.
Then the first shoe dropped. Marconi’s best laid plans did not materialize as they had expected and layoffs began. The mood around the offices change drastically as we went from being super excited to be a part of a new company to watching our friends packing up their cubicles or offices and walking out the door. It was incredibly sad to work there during this time period because over 1500 people were laid off locally. Luckily for me, I was able to leave the company before they showed me the door. My current position with PennTAP was the new job that I headed off to.
Unfortunately, the other shoe dropped yesterday as Ericsson, the company that bought Marconi and its campus, announced that they would be shutting down the Pittsburgh division completely, laying off the final 250 people that remained from the FORE/Marconi days. It’s amazing to think that we went from over 2,000 people and monthly Friday happy hour parties to a pot luck lunch before I left. My oh my how the mighty have fallen.
I still know people that work at Ericsson and I will be praying for them and their families as they face their upcoming layoff from one of the best techonology companies in town. I hope that they are able to find gainful employment as soon as possible or that they are able to take their incredible skill sets and possibly start the new FORE Systems.
// October 24th, 2008 // No Comments » // News Stories
I’ve been going to garage sales with my mother for over 20 years. It’s great way to spend time with her and we both love picking up some great bargains. Every so often, we’ve both had our own garage sales at our homes to get rid of stuff we no longer need or use — but we’ve never had them to raise money for us to live off of for the week or to help us survive. It’s a damn shame that this is what some people have had to resort to.
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