GPUs or Graphics Processing Units were designed as “graphics accelerators”. They were a microprocessor, attached to a graphics card, for offloading floating point calculations. It allowed early 2D graphics to run much faster than by using the host CPU directly. The 1990s saw an explosion into 3D graphics with PlayStation and Nintendo 64 as early examples. GPUs were initially used to accelerate the memory intensive work of texture mapping. Later units were added to accelerate geometric calculations such as the rotation and translation of vertices.

In 2002 GPUs added programmable shading – where each pixel could be processed by a short program that included additional image textures as inputs, before it was projected onto the screen. Parallel GPUs had become as flexible as the CPU while they offered several orders of magnitude higher performance than a conventional CPU. This was particularly true in applications requiring massive vector operations.

It was a fact that did not go unnoticed for long. A new stream of development, the GPGPU or General Purpose GPU, has seen the GPU move out of the purely gaming graphics world and into fields such as scientific calculations and image processing, 3D reconstruction and Stock Option pricing determination.

To really go mainstream the programming for GPU’s needs to get easier. The July 22 2010 launch of Nvidia’s CUDA 3.1 Software Development Kit and the Parallel Nsight plug-in for Microsoft’s Visual Studio IDE could be just the ticket…

The goal of any recruitment company is to place the correct people with the correct organisation, and as the market grows and becomes more buoyant this becomes a greater challenge. In a busy marketplace with many opportunities and few strong candidates, it is essential an organisation sells itself strongly. One of the main selling points to candidates regarding prospective companies is their level of staff retention. A low level of staff turnover should relate to a happy workforce, and a happy workforce is a key goal in creating a successful company.

Australian Incentives agency AD+Inc conducted a survey of 500 SME’s where 65% of respondents said it would take up to six months to get a replacement for a key staff member “up to speed”, therefore both the financial and personal cost of replacing a key employee is very significant indeed. I’m sure the importance of retaining staff is not underestimated by any company, however the methods of achieving this vary considerably.

So what’s the secret? The answer possibly lies in one of the biggest studies ever undertaken by the Gallup Organisation, an American statistical research company who concentrate on studying human nature and behavior. Their study of over a million employees and 80,000 managers came up with an interesting finding: if you’re losing good people, look to the management. Management is the main reason people stay and thrive in any organisation, and the main reason as to why people leave. When people leave they take knowledge, experience and contacts with them, more often than not straight to the competition.

The value placed on attracting key staff should not be underestimated, the value placed on keeping them should be substantial.

“Networking”- When considered in a commercial sense, has historically centered around introductions and conversations at Conferences, lunches, golfcourses?! It was a flurry of business cards and briefcases and strategic handshakes. Nowadays, while these things certainly haven’t become archaic they are certainly playing more of a supporting act role to the nouvelle- vague of social networking sites and on-line user groups.

In the past, the elevator pitch was often discussed to prepare jobseekers, recruiters, or anyone looking to advance themselves commercially through a relationship. “You get into a lift, the CIO, the whoever of whatever is there. You have 30 seconds before they get out on their floor and you have 30 seconds to sell yourself to them”.

This is the classic example of what networking used to be. Your goals were to get in front of influential people who can help you advance your career or indeed, widen your business relationship circles. Now it appears that the focus is more on how interesting your on-line profile is, what blogs you contribute to, how many connections or “friends” you have on a plethora of social networking sites we have on offer to assist us in “business” networking. The question is now not about what would be your “elevator pitch”, it is what are you doing to maximize your “on-line presence”.

In a globalised world with hyper-interconnectivity facilitated by all these social and on-line mediums, this is a question we all need to be asking ourselves. There is no industry that doesn’t benefit from having an “on-line presence” or even an on-line “conscience” as it were. LinkedIn boasts over 55 million members worldwide! Marketeers, C-Level, Finance Analysts, Developers….RECRUITERS! Everyone is looking to LinkIn, to befriend, to be “present” on-line. Why? Well, it opens doors. It allows you to have targeted contact and be a target yourself. As a recruiter, I am blogging, I am updating my status, I am using my market knowledge to target people from specific companies with specific skills that I won’t find trawling the job boards. I’m “Networking”.

As much as my connections, and my on-line propositions are efficient and expected these days, give me a paper cut from a business card exchanged in an elevator any day!

The ALP has launched the country’s very first political party social media platform. The new website which was launched on the 15^th of July, 2010, aims to connect the community by providing the first social media platform purpose built for an Australian political party.

Campaign iQ claims to improve the current alp.org.au portal by allowing the ALP to “form direct relationships with its members and supporters, facilitate online conversations and foster community advocacy through participation…This platform will enable the public to be at the centre of the political debate through increased participation, collaboration and a deeper level of engagement with the Party” comments Australian Labor National Secretary Karl Bitar.

The PM also stepped on the new platform last week explaining ‘I’ve decided it’s time to take the Twitter plunge! Hopefully I’ll master it. JG.

It seems the Liberal Party has its own ideas about social media choosing to go viral instead. The Liberal Party has recently released ‘Stand up Australia’ on YouTube which has received less than 10,000 views since July 16, 2010.

It becomes a little worrying that both parties are only now starting to dab their feet in social media when most of the world are experts.  

With the election fast approaching, are these efforts all a little late?

The National Broadband Network (NBN) is one of the hottest topics of discussion at the minute amongst MPs, Telecommunications companies, industry experts, and us the Australian taxpayers. On the 18th June the Senate Committee, tasked with investigating the Government’s NBN, called for a cost vs. benefit analysis of the project to be undertaken to determine whether it represented value for money for the public. In addition, many industry experts in the press have questioned the $17M of taxpayers’ money spent on the failed first tender, despite Communications Minister Stephen Conroy stating that this was “absolutely not” a waste of money.

These debates have been strongly contested by the opposing sides in the last year or so, however with the recent $11 billion deal between the Government and Telstra which a spokeswoman for the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, declared “… means the NBN can be built cheaper, quicker, with less unnecessary duplication, faster take-up of services and less overhead cabling,” it begs the question, have the Government turned the corner or is it still going to cost more money than it’s worth?

In a Sydney Morning Herald article on 7th May, 2010, an Optus spokeswoman was quoted as saying that “Today the average revenue per user is $110 for the combined line rental ($25), voice calls ($35) and internet ($50). Based on that and, on the estimated wholesale price, we expect people to be paying roughly the same.” This is in disagreement with Paul Budde, an independent telecommunications analyst, who said that “It will mean it will cost $30 to $35 to the wholesalers and $50 or $60 to retail for broadband and voice.” Also, despite the Government recently stating that the cost of the NBN will be considerably less than the $45M originally stated (down to around $26M now), Mike Quigley, NBN Co’s CEO could not conclusively say whether the project could be delivered at this budget and was quoted on the weekend as saying that “When it comes to cost you always have to ask at what point do you stop? It’s a very long-term project — money will be out into this network for years and years and years, as it is upgraded…We are developing our business case. We have not bedded down our figures”.

With these discrepancies in figures, the lack of a cost vs. benefit analysis of the project and the potential that the Network could be scrapped if the Opposition won power, is the NBN worth the money that is being spent on it?

What are your thoughts?

One of the most common questions being  asked right now is “are salaries and contract rates going up in line with the  increase in demand for IT resources?”  My initial reaction is a resounding, ‘yes’,  however looking a little deeper there are some interesting points of note starting to occur across the Technology Industry.

Using the relatively widespread salary benchmark reports that pop up on the internet from a variety of sources, I was surprised at how low some of the average salaries were being reported.  They certainly didn’t match up with what I was seeing day-to-day but  with any statistical data you cannot read too much in to it without carefully examining the small print i.e. Scope and reach of the survey and the number and class of respondents.

So digging a little deeper I used a matrix of tools to see if there really was any truth to the rate changes being reported. Using a number of major job boards  and cross referencing our own candidate database information and job placement data I was able to refine my findings. Finally to add a further layer of reference I spoke to other IT recruiters and a number of my current clients.

The result – most of the online reports appear to be lacking a ‘real world’ authenticity to them and are probably out of line by approximately 10%-20%. Maybe these reports are not targeted around the more highly skilled professionals working in some of the larger enterprises because in those workplaces  salaries certainly tend to be higher.

Whatever the reason for the discrepancies,  I have come to the conclusion that these reports are not an accurate reflection of the salaries being paid in the current market. What scares me most about this is that a significant number of  Employers use these tools to base their salary benchmarking upon. That then leaves little room for evaluating different skill levels of employees, their education, experience,  or potentialvalue to the business.

Let’s face it the market is a competitive place and you have to consider lots of different scenarios when deciding just where to place your salary bandings.

My advice to employers is to not to rely on salary reports alone, despite how accurate the claim to be, look at the salaries on offer on job boards, ask your recruitment partners to do a benchmarking exercise and probably the one of the easiest ways is to analyse the expectations of candidates currently on the market- in most cases the proof certainly is in the pudding.

A competency interview (also referred to as a situational or behavioral based interview) is a style of interviewing often used to evaluate a candidate’s ability to perform a role or task. It is based on the premise that past performance is the best indicator of future ability and increasingly, companies are using competency based interviews as part of the selection process for experienced recruitment. It can give valuable insights into an individual’s preferred style of working and help predict likely scenario based behaviors which may occur in the role.

Most clients these days will use a competency or behavioral type interview, and this will most likely be combined with technical questions and questions about industry experience. Interviewers will ask questions that require candidates to demonstrate that they have a particular skill or a “key competency” the firm is looking for. Candidates will be asked to do this using situational examples from their life experiences, to illustrate their personality, skill set and individual competencies to the interviewer.

Competency interviews may also feature questions that probe candidates on their knowledge of the company and industry they have applied to. This type of interview question tests candidates on their motivation and commitment to career.

A typical competency based interview will last for one hour. At most major firms, competency interviews will also be standardised. Consequently all applicants can expect to be asked identical questions.

What are Competencies?

A competency is a particular quality that a company’s recruiters have decided is desirable for employees to possess for a particular role. During interviews and assessment processes competencies are used as benchmarks that assessors use to rate and evaluate candidates.

In interviews recruiters look for evidence of competencies by asking candidates competency based questions. This style of question forces candidates to give situational examples of times in the past when they have performed particular tasks or achieved particular outcomes using certain skills.

Key Competencies

A firm will usually isolate several key skills or “key competencies” to look for in candidates at interview. You will be graded in terms of each competency based upon your answers to competency based questions.

Employers typically use some of the following as their key competencies:

- Teamwork
- Ability to influence
- Conflict resolution
- Manage conflicting priorities
- Commercial awareness
- Career motivation
- Decision making
- Communication
- Leadership
- Trustworthiness & Ethics
- Results orientation
- Problem solving
- Organisation

Typical Competency Based Interview Structure

A typical competency question could be: “Describe two situations where you have had to work as part of a team.” When asked a question like this, you should be able to talk for several minutes about your participation to a particularly strong team you have been part of in the past and how your sense of teamwork helped lead a task or project to successful completion.

You should have an idea before the interview of the experiences from your life that you could use as examples to demonstrate the key competencies of the firm to which you are applying. You are likely to have to provide at least two examples for each competency during your interview.

It is quite acceptable to ask for and to use a few moments of thinking time before answering competency questions. If necessary, simply notify your interviewer by explaining you “may need to think about this for a few moments”. Once you have thought of a good example to use, continue with your answer.

Answering Competency Based Interview Questions:

It is important to ensure that your answers area clear and concise. In order to do this you must think about the structure of your answer. They key to providing a really strong answer is to use the CAR acronym:
C ircumstance
A ction
R esult

By clearly describing the circumstance, your specific action or contribution and driving home the result or benefit to the business you will ensure your answers are punchy and clearly demonstrate the competency that client is looking for.

So you’ve just started seeing the new girl you picked up at the Ivy the other night. She’s highly successful, intelligent and well, well fit. A real keeper. Someone you might bring home to meet Mum; someone you can see taking on your surname, maybe even have a couple of your babies. This means you’ve got to pull out all the stops to impress her, bring your A game. Right?

What would you do?

As it currently stands, it can be a little time consuming. You’ll most likely jump onto Google and do a few different searches, type in the name of a movie, perhaps read up on a few reviews, then search for a cinema within close proximity and figure out session times. From there, you’ll decide where to take her for dinner, what cuisine you want, its status and location to create that romantic ambience. You might even read a few blogs evaluating the restaurant and survey the menu, paying close attention to the wine list. You’ll obviously need to pick out an expensive wine to impress (and fake that you’re a connoisseur), but not one that’ll force you to sell a kidney.

How many searches would you typically need to do? And how long would all of this normally take?

The current generation of the web, “Web 2.0″, assists in your search based on the following characteristics:

• Interactivity and the ability to edit websites. Amazon allows purchasers to post product reviews and additional information for future visitors and potential buyers to reference.
• Content sharing efficiency. As a YouTube member for example, you can create a video and upload it to the site for others to watch in a matter of minutes.
• Using websites to link people to other users. Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are exceptional for allowing users to find other users and keep in touch.
• New ways to obtain information. Web surfers can subscribe to a Web page’s RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication) to receive up to date, frequent notification of a Website’s updates.
• Expanding the Internet beyond the PC. Most people these days can access the Internet via additional devices such as mobile phones, gaming consoles, and now even your television.

Think of it this way. Web 1.0 is your library and source of information. Web 2.0 is more interactive, allowing you the opportunity to contribute and change information on a website.

The next generation of the Web, “Web 3.0″, takes it even further. It will make search tasks a lot faster and easier. Instead of multiple searches, you will only need to type a complete sentence in your Web 3.0 browser and the Web will do the rest.

For example, “I’m taking a girl out on a date tonight and I want to know what romantic comedies are currently showing in Bondi Junction. Then I want to take her to an ultra trendy restaurant for dinner where celebrities are regularly spotted. What are my options?”

The Web 3.0 browser will analyse your search, highlight key phrases and words used, scour the Internet for all possible answers, and voila! organise the results via relevance.

Even more interestingly, the Web 3.0 browser acts as a personal assistant, acquiring information about your interests based on previous searches. The idea is that the more you use the web, the more your browser learns about who you are and what you like and the less specific you’ll need to be with questions.

Eventually you might be able to ask your browser open questions such as, “Where can I go for dinner tonight?” Your browser will subsequently consult previous records of your likes and dislikes based on past searches, take into account your current location, then suggest a list of places to go, even highlighting your cuisine preferences and typical price range.

And let’s face it fellas, when it comes down to impressing the ladies, we need all the help we can get.

Gone are the days of the street directory and giant maps. We now find ourselves searching for directions, images and local businesses on Google Maps.

The internet has become an amazing tool for information and it’s unbelievable how much time one can save as a result.  I have recently been searching for that ‘perfect’ rental home which at the best of times can be frustrating, time consuming and disappointing. The Real-estate agent only advertises the best photos which generally paints an unrealistic picture leading to disappointment on arrival. I have since used Google Maps which enables me to see the outside of the building and the rest of the street which paints the real picture, making my life that little bit easier.

What do you use Google Maps for?

Having just returned from an overseas trip my enthusiasm to tell tales of my technology experiences was held back only by a severe case of jet-lag. Imagine my surprise when the topic of my post appears today on another news site. I’ll do the honourable thing and point you to their post;

1) Because it’s already written and;

2) Because it goes to support my contention that we are seriously behind the times when it comes to the ability to use technology upon Australia’s aviation service.

Only last week a colleague of mine flying to Melbourne was involved in a dispute with another passenger as they entered the plane who was adamant that he immediately finish his phone call and switch off his mobile. Compare this to my experiences in the UK, US and Canada where passengers chat away on their phones prior to take off and immediately upon landing and you see the difference in attitudes between the countries. Imagine my very pleasant surprise when flying to Los Angeles from Vancouver, Alaskan Airlines informed the cabin that all passengers had access to free Wi-Fi once the plane reached its cruising altitude of 10,000ft.

Read the following post; Cathay Pacific bringing 50Mbps WiFi, live TV and in-flight calling to fleet, and hopefully, some of the good stuff that’s available elsewhere will come our way soon. Happy flying.