KevinPittman.com

Today at the University of Washington was the yearly BizTech fair. For those of you who don’t know what what I’m talking about; BizTech is “a technology fair for staff and faculty.”

I worked at the Catalyst booth last year as an undergrad and I have to admin it wasn’t my favorite activity. Sure, it was interesting to talk to the various people who stopped by, but for the most part it pulled me out of my comfort zone.

For this year’s BizTech I still worked at the Catalyst booth, but this time as a fulltime employee. I have to say that it was actually a great experience. Many people stopped by our booth and had nothing but kind words. It was also a chance for me to hear some firsthand accounts of how people are using our tools and what things they would like to accomplish with them in the future. By the end of the day we had a whole page full of people interested in being contacted for usability studies; how sweet is that?

So what did I learn today? I learned that sometimes I get so caught up in the support emails and bug fixes that I forget about the many users who are happy with our tools, that sometimes I am my harshest critic, and that sometimes just talking to a few happy users is all it takes to remind me why I love doing what I do.

I suppose I’ll jump on the bandwagon too.

My PersonalDNA reading:

You are a Considerate Leader.

• You tend to find beauty in form and efficiency, as opposed to finding it in broad-based, abstract concepts.
• You’re not set on one way of doing things, and you often have the skills and persistence to find innovative ways of facing challenges.
• Relating to others so well, and understanding their emotions, leads you to trust people in general, even though you’re somewhat shy and reserved at times.
• Because other people would benefit immensely from your understanding and insight, you should try to be more outgoing in social situations, even when they make you uncomfortable. Others will want to hear what you have to say!

Read the full report

Selling my TV and the wood furniture that holds it. Thought I’d see if any friends were interested before I put it up on craigslist.

The TV is a Sony 24″ (KV-24FS120). Picture is still great and there’s nothing wrong with it as far as I know. I’m thinking something like $175 for the TV, $40 for the stand or $200 for both.

Email me if you are interested.

As some of you may know, I have been looking to buy a new car for a while. For the past 10 weeks I have been going to dealerships, scouring the internet and local papers, and test driving tons of cars. It’s been exhausting and frustrating.

I wanted a small car, something nimble and quick. After driving my Nissan 240sx for the past few years anything bigger than a Civic feels like I’m driving a bus. I started out really looking for VW GTIs; the size is perfect and I love the hatchback’s shape. I actually like the shape of the Corrado’s better, but they stopped making them a while back, which would mean an older car.
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Happy Birthday Ashley!

Those of you wishing to send gifts may email me for our address. Those of you wishing to donate to the buy Ashley something awesome fund can donate with the link below.

6 quick tips about making the best of an interview. I know most of us finishing school this quarter are out there looking.

While browsing the web and generally avoiding anything related to homework (sorry Capstone group) I ran across this article about the stages of a relationship. I’m not sure I totally agree with everything, but I thought it was pretty interesting none the less.
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Happy Thanksgiving!

May all of you spend the holiday with those you care about and those who care about you.

A big happy birthday to a good friend of mine. Hope you are having a good time and you can remember it in the morning.

When my Friday morning started out with sirens and an unfortunate car-pedestrian wreck I should have known the weekend would be wrecked as well.

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