John Burkholder

Recently, my Facebook feed has been filled with posts about feminism. I guess it is the Libra in me that is just pissed off about this so here we go.  If you are male, shut up and listen. Feminism is about equality. It is not about man bashing. It is not about female superiority. It is about have equal standards for men and women. The term "feminism" does market it slightly negative, but equality is more accurate.  The suffragettes of the past made their mark just to get the right to vote. The civil rights movement pushed forward the equality of color and ancestry. The marriage rights movement pushes toward giving equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. But today, are they all equal? Women, people of color or not, sexual orientation are being threatened, bashed, and degraded because if something they have absolutely no control over. They are often treated as second class humans. So before you decide to threaten a woman because they are trying to stand up fo

As November rapidly approaches, I prepare myself for the National Novel Writing Month challenge. I am more than ready. I have registered at NaNoWriMo.org, I have joined my local group on facebook, and I have made some writing buddies in my wife and kid.  Moreover, I have the story ready to go. It is a story that has been in my head for about 5 years and now, with my additional knowledge, I am ready. The important question has to be, will I make it to 50K words? Will it be as good on paper as it is in my head? Will I want to publish it after?  All are very good questions. Thank you for asking. I will provide the answers December 1. 

Is customer service slowed down by computers? I am starting to think it is... kinda. From a point of view of accessing data when you need it, it is much faster. Granted, now that everything is stored on computers, accessing means you may have to combed through terrabytes of data stored all over the world, but overall is it much faster. What seems to have been impacted however is customer service itself. What used to take place in a single phone call now takes a relay of chat and email to wait in email queue for the person to respond to the issue at hand. What used to be handled by walking up to the customer service desk now requires authorizations from a warranty company via an email string prior to actually replacing the phone. Kohls has it right... Best Buy has it wrong. AT&T has it right, and Comcast completely misses the boat. Even with today's social networking pressures, some companies are just missing the point of the computer... to help speed up service. Wading thro

My Queen and I have been having hard discussions about our finances, our jobs, our home life and it seems that we are walking through a maze of few options. We like Bloomington. But the shop is not making the revenue it needs to make... and finances are stretched thin trying to compensate. Add to this MILs car issues, and the house that has a wind current on days the windmills turn, and I have to wonder what options are left. I do not want to go into debt further to keep the business going. But when she is actually making soap, she is happy. It is the business stuff that bothers her most. So...we talked. I will be taking over managing the business as a business part. We worked through a SWOT analysis last night, laid out her current business and her 5 year business plan, and finally wrote out a mission statement. The problem I think is her need to diversify as much as she has. I think she needs to focus on one things and excel at it. She wants to has the kids soaps, the spa products

So, unfortunately my daughter Shae has challenged me and her sisters to the ice bucket challenge. Honestly, I am fine just paying my way out. But then I thought, why not. I will still donate to ALS, but I have nothing better going and this would be a cool project. So I turned my little video into an action packed trailer! http://youtu.be/exZxk6sZbjs

Father's Day is a bit different for me. I actually have 3 fathers. There is my birth father that I am currently searching for in order to understand my health and lineage. L R Stone is still the strong lead and I think he is in California still. I tried calling phone numbers, emailing all kinds of email addesses, and messaging on Facebook but have not had much luck getting a response.  My second father is my adopted father, Lloyd John Burkholder. Everyone called him Bud. Bud was in World War II as a cook in the Navy. He met my Mom by going the the Navy facility in Battle Creek, Michigan where my Mom grew up. When the war ended he came back and married her, had Gary John, and Janeen Lou and then 13 years after Jan, adopted a 6 month old John Henry (me). Much like me, he got bored easily and felt it was time to move on from place to place setting up and selling off bakeries across the US. Clinton was the last bakery though. My Mom had found a place she liked, made friends, and wanted

My life feels like a constant ebb and flow. Spring time comes around and we (the family) feel it is time to take a new job, move, and/or have a major life event. It has happened so often that we don't even think about setting down roots. Friends are always at arms length, and fortunately or unfortunately, I think I may have engrained that same mentality into my older kids.  Then comes Bloomington. It seems like the perfect middle ground for us. The pay is competitive, Andi has her business and it seems to be growing, and everyone except for me has managed to make good friends. I am still arms length friends with everyone. I guess this is the nearly 30 years of constantly moving that is hard to break through. Being a consultant means two things, good pay but with the trade-off that you may end up taking your next job in Austin or Redmond. There are other consultants that are road warriors and keep a home base. When I watch their Facebook updates, they also seem to have a very limite

I normally avoid talking about politics, religion and sex as my blog is viewable by anyone including prospective employers. I guess my age is catching up with me because I could really care less when it comes to this subject. I have sat back and watched for a long time regarding gun control and the 2nd amendment. I will start with the summary: Gun control needs to start happening. No, this is NOT an infringement on the 2nd amendment. Yes, I do believe in the right to bear arms. But let's think this over for a moment before hopping on the NRA bandwagon. This is how the second amendment as passed by Congress reads: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Now let's think about when this was written, what was happening in the newly formed United States and how that pertains to today's debate. The colonies had to mutiny against the crown for a right to be represented

Today, I received the following email: Hi Everyone, We have opening for  SharePoint Developer in Vienna, VA . Please reply with your updated resume.  Interview - Monday   Regards, Vignesh  | Technical Recruiter Urbane Systems LLC 703-496-7772   |  vignesh@urbanesystems.com *Urbane Systems LLC *2325 Dulles Corner Blvd, Suite 500, Herndon, VA - 20171 *Fax: 703-991-9126 At what point did it become a best practice to try to recruit somebody without addressing them personally? Is this really the image a company wants to portray when it is recruiting someone to fill a position? Unfortunately, this is becoming the norm. My experiences as of the last month have been as such: I had 3 different people from the same company overseas try to recruit me for a position in the United States. All 3 called my mobile phone...repeatedly. All 3 emailed me. I replied back to one of them that I was not interested, but the other 2 kept emailing and calling. Finally, I had to ge

I really have been off and on with studying for my MCSD. Well, I purchased some study material and I am off to the races. What I am finding is... it is a lot easier material than I thought. The gaps I find are not nearly as far fetched as others have told me...of course, I have not taken a test yet either. All of the documentation and study guides in the world may be off from the content in the test itself. Overall though, I may be able to blow this battery of test out in a few months. *Fingers Crossed* One of the biggest helps was a consolidated lists for each test from Matt Menezes . Since I started working for the client I am on, I don't have the luxury of publishing all of the development tips and tricks I learned out here on my blog. I really miss that. It is one way that I can retain certain aspects of business process, development, and training. Additionally, the client doesn't use all of the SharePoint features so that makes the study gaps a bit more obvious. My b

For quite some time now I have been searching for my birth parents. I have some clues in my search like my place of birth, my birthday, a letter from my adopted mother about some of the information she had, and now my DNA. So now what? Where does someone go for the little information I have. Ancestry.com is a good start. Fortunately, they have a database of all of the births, death, marragies in California. Then simple logic kicks in. According to my letter, I was given the name "Stone" by the adoption agency. So in my search of births in Los Angeles County, California, I found Baby Boy Stone born on the same date. Coincidence? I think not. Especially since that was the only "Baby Boy" birth certificate. This means the child was not named for the birth certificate as a replacement birth certificate would be assigned later. The birth certificate had the birth father listed as L R Stone. The birth mother was Ashlock. Back to the letter from my mother: She states

As I am rebranding myself, I started thinking about what I will be like in 5 or 10 years. Chances are... not being a SharePoint expert... at least not in the same form I am now. One of the reason I teach others SharePoint is because I want to make sure someone can do the job once I move to my next phase in life. There are of course other reasons I teach, but as my wife puts it, I teach myself out of a job. I do. That is my mission. I digress, where will I be in 5 to 10 years? I may move more towards a management role, or maybe kick off one of the myriad of other businesses I still haven't given away. I could also go to college and... oh, who am I kidding, that will never happen. I could put a little effort into Squeaky Clean Soaps (but I would likely ruin it for Andi). I could teach full time... which is not a bad idea. So why not continue doing SharePoint? There is an age ceiling for technology professionals. I don't think it is right. I have seen people age past the ce

I may have mentioned this before. I am adopted. So because I wanted to get to know myself better, try to find blood related family, and find any risks in my health, I decided to send in my DNA to 23andme. All of my life I have been told I am Native American (1/2 Lakota, 1/2 Cherokee). Granted, the information came from my mother who wrote it all down once she heard it from the adoption agency in San Bernadino, CA. I looked Native American. I have the same body type and proportions as most Native Americans. Come to find out, I am not nearly as much Native American as I believed. It appears I am mostly European. Yep. This is a bit of a shake up. My whole life has been a lie! Well at least my heritage. But nonetheless, I am coming to terms with the fact I am now a white person (googles becoming a white person support group). Granted I do have some Native American, but not a majority. Several things have happened since I received the report on Friday. First, I had to tell my k

This weekend Avery and I went to WizardWorld Comic Con in Louisville. This was the birthday party she had to give up in order to have this experience. She met the 11th Doctor Who and his companion Amy Pond. I met them as well, and may have been just as excited.  I have to say, WizardWorld is able to do that one thing that most places are completely missing. Provide a personal experience. Yes, you pay for it. But it is first come, first serve and honestly, I am good. We were pushed through with the hundreds of others, but we met them. Now this isn't my first time meeting people at WizardWorld, previously Avery and I met Stan Lee and had the opportunity to sit there and ask questions to him in a small intimate group of about 40 people for 45 minutes. This was Avery's present last year... And mine as well.  But it isn't just WizardWorld that gets all of the credit this year. The Michael J Fox foundation brought in my personal dream opportunity.  Yep! That is me and Avery getti

NaNext is a company specializing in nanotechnology. Korea is currently leading in the nanogenerator space and is becoming a serious consideration for replacement of lithium or mercury based batteries.  NaNext will take the nanogenerator science and expand it from the laboratory into the business solutions to include patents and products. Research would specifically address whether a combination of radio frequency and nanogeneration can be made to work together to create a wireless battery of sorts. First blush would use short wave crystal radio tied to nanogenerators as short wave is capable of covering long distances without a huge power demand.  For more information about NaNext, leave a comment below with your email address. 

Sleepers Anonymous is a social site dedicated to the activity you spend 8 hours per day doing... Or trying to do... Sleep. Sleeper profiles are made, surveys are given, social communities about sleep or the lack of sleep, sleep disorders, and fun sleep facts. Sleep logs can be set up to track how you sleep and determine which types of activity can cause restless sleep.  Revenue is generated from the sleep data and from advertisements and referrals for everything from beds, to the sexiest footy pajamas, to sleep machines.  Sleepers Anonymous even delves into naps. The best places to nap, how to nap at work, etc.  For more information about Sleepers Anonymous, leave an email address below in the comment box. 

Having an event can be daunting. There is the venue, the funding raising laws, the announcements, the equipment rentals, the catering, the janitorial staff, the update system, the Facebook page, the budgets vs actuals, the thank you notes, the entertainment, the hotels, the speakers dinners, the carnival equipment... You get the idea.  Chief Events is a web site that had all of the prepackage templates, the database of resources and locations, and forms to handle the entire event. Whether it is an online only fundraiser, or a technology conference cruise, the resources and best practices make it easy for you. Best of all, it is free for the planner. We provide the tools and templates for free. The add-on providers provide the income through referral fees.  For more information about Chief Events, comment below with your email address. 

Write by Me is a writers community designed to help spawn new ideas and plotlines from a single set of characters, origins, and points of interest. The story lines will help authors hone skills using basic information and work off of each other's ideas and abilities.  Authors would vote on which stories have the better delivery, and publishers would provide options for publishing (competing for publishing rights). Additionally, one set of characters could be expanded into different genres ranging from mystery, to horror, to comedy. Examples of this could be a starting point such as: The panic is setting in. Andrew Weldon is in deep trouble without his pills. The college pharmacy is closed and at $170 per refill off campus, there wasn’t a chance he was going to be able to afford even one. He had to make it through 3 more hours. The doctors call it Dissociative Identity Disorder, although it was also diagnosed as Schizophrenia, Depersonalization, and Derealization. Even though

Paved World is a career path site tied into Linked In. It provides valuable career path and testing to help people determine what they need to do to most effectively advance in their field. This path will include resources to learn more to advance down the path, suggestions on how often changes need to take place instead of remaining stagnant, and places to start a new career.  Using extensive research databases, salary tables, psychological evaluation tools and data.gov labor statistics, Paved World will learn about the users preferences, work style and geographical information and provide complete career guidance from school entry and grants available, to advancement opportunities and salary expectations. It fills the gaps between graduating from college and retirement.  Funding will come from school references specific for the career choice to job board references.  On the other side of the aisle, the human resources groups can weigh in on the database information as well as use it

Terra Vacations is an online travel service that take scheduling travel further. Terra Vacations will provide customers the ability to purchase all-inclusive travel packages.  Normal travel services provide the flight, hotel, rental car, cruises and maybe some add-on options, but often, it is a logistical challenge and you may not know where you are going nearly as well as someone there. What if you just want to be driven (limo or cab) instead of renting a car? What about the restaurant choices? What about the theater, or festival, sporting event, or concert tickets?  What about museum passes or theme parks? What is there to do with the kids? What are the best places for a 40something couple to go for a childless night out? How much does all of this end up costing? Can I prepay or set up a payment plan ahead if time? With Terra Vacations, the answer is yes. Whether you want a weekend in Chicago, a Route 66 experience, or a Big Apple week with the kids, Terra Vacations would have some p

For the past years I have noticed that my motivation to build or create things (companies, inventions, etc.) has changed from actually doing it myself to leading people and have them do it. Is it laziness or is it just that I have aged past the point of creator to innovative leader? The challenge with changing into that new type if role is that I want it done a specific way. I also will have to pay someone to make it the way I want it even if I have to pay them to fix it after I paid them to do it wrong the first time.  In my heart, this seems counterproductive and wasteful. But does a leader move past that in hopes that whatever is brought forth is even better than what was planned? Are the nuggets of surprises worth the risks of having to rework it? In the past, I have found it is easier and faster for me to do it myself instead of waiting for someone else to do it, and I have to go back as fix it.  I guess it all comes down to "what is your time worth?"  If you have 30 ite