While most of us were content to scribble our crayons to nubs, or melt them, or eat them, Diem Chau looked at the Crayola Crayon and saw something to sculpt into tiny pieces of art. Ms. Chau, a Vietnam native, loves to combine media. One of her projects was using crayons and sculptures of children together, to try to tell a story through her work and through the medium she uses. Original Link

Pulled from wired.com

Love is so fragile — here today, gone tomorrow. And so it goes for eBay and Craigslist. What started out as a casual relationship (eBay has a 25 percent, minority stake in the classified site) has turned into an ugly little fight.

EBay launched the first attack yesterday by filing a lawsuit against Craigslist. The claim, though vague, is that Craigslist “adopted measures” that dilute eBay’s stake by more than 10 percent. How much money are we talking about? Unclear. But let’s assume Henry Blodget’s $5 billion estimated valuation of Craigslist is at least in the ballpark. If so, we’re talking about reducing eBay’s $1.25 billion stake by $125 million.

Craigslist, equally vague, denied it has done anything to dilute the value of eBay’s equity.

“We are surprised and disappointed by Ebay

Posted on engadget.com. My guess is that if Google is developing it and T-Mobile is selling it your will probably be using it in the year to come.

The first Android devices were always scheduled to arrive later this year, and while we’ve already seen a couple prototypes and hacked ports floating around, it looks like T-Mobile is the first out of the gate to confirm that it’ll have phones based on Google’s mobile OS. Speaking at the Wireless Innovations 2008 conference, T-Mo’s VP of broadband and new business division Joe Sims said he’d played with an early version of T-Mobile’s first Android phone and that it would ship in the fourth quarter of this year. Sims said that although he was initially skeptical of Android, he’s now “impressed,” and that T-Mobile would eventually have “more than one” Android phone. Now, if someone would just let us know what this magical phone actually is.

Paul W. Barada over at Monster did this post on references and I’d have to agree. Your business references alway trump your friends. But I would also add that it’s important to always provide references that you know will provide you with positive feedback. Having someone listed on your resume that is willing to throw you under the bus can be a career ender.

How could your sixth-grade teacher, next-door neighbor, or golfing buddy comment on your management style, responsibilities or the quality of your performance on the job? The answer: They can’t.

Often, job seekers think a “personal” reference is someone they’ve worked with who also happens to be a personal friend. In my book, that’s a business or professional reference because of the work association. Personal references are people with whom you’ve never worked in a traditional job setting. They include everyone you know, except the people with whom you’ve actually worked on a day-to-day basis! While that may seem like splitting hairs, there is a difference.

So what’s wrong with providing strictly personal references? Nothing, if you’re applying for a scholarship, but quite a lot if you’re applying for a job. Personal references can only comment on general topics. They might, for instance, be able to say what a nice person you are, what a wonderful sense of humor you have, or how much fun you are at parties, but it is extremely unlikely that a personal reference could possibly be familiar with the sorts of things most employers who check references want to know.

As more and more employers thoroughly check references, everyone who contemplates the possibility of making a career move, regardless of when, should be developing work relationships with superiors, peers, and subordinates who, when needed, can be called upon to serve as references for you.

The dramatic increase in negligent hiring litigation has caused many employers to be far more thorough in checking references. For some employers it is admittedly a perfunctory exercise so they can demonstrate that some sort of minimal effort was made to check a candidate’s background before offering a job. However, far more are taking reference checking seriously in terms of carefully evaluating past job performance as it relates to the position the employer wants to fill. That’s why your choice of references is more important than ever. Appropriate references can not only enhance your chances for employment, but they can also confirm what you’ve said about yourself during job interviews.

It is true that many job seekers are willing to take the chance that a prospective employer won’t bother to check references. So they provide personal references, references with whom they are barely acquainted or, worse yet, names of people they don’t even know but look impressive on a resume. They’re hoping they won’t get caught and will be able, on the basis of personality alone, to get the job they want. That’s a game I wouldn’t recommend playing.

During my 20-plus years in the reference checking business, I’ve repeatedly heard alleged references say things like, “I don’t know why so-and-so listed me as a reference, I barely knew him.” Or, “I’ve never worked with so-and-so, but we play tennis together every week.” Those types of responses never enhance employability. Neither does listing an old college roommate who has no clue what you’ve been doing since graduation. All it does is make your preparation for a career change look sloppy and poorly thought out.

The best way to enhance your future employability is, obviously, to do a good job for every employer. Then, identifying coworkers who can confirm the quality of your job performance should be a relatively simple task. Business and professional references are the ones who will help advance your career. Don’t waste a prospective employer’s time listing personal references.

A great collection of Modern Dog

Working out today takes gear: sweat-wicking shirts, GPS monitors, online training coaches that remind you why you were cut from JV football. Turns out, this is just the beginning. New tools under development will soon make sure there’s no missed step, poor form, or lagging pace you don’t know about in real time. Found via wired.com

An effort to uncover the most effective blog logos, and to raise awareness of lesser-known logo designers. Link

A Monthly Mingling of Artists of All Sorts to Meet, Discuss, Blather, Applaud, & Plot the Growth of the Arts in Portland.

A monthly meeting to encourage conversation and advocacy in the creative community. The events are every 3rd Thursday–so if you can’t make this one–put next month’s on your calendar!

This month’s host is the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). PNCA President Tom Manley will lead a brief discussion about students’ work and future plans for the college.

The Art Spark event is a way to continue the work of the Creative Capacity Strategy, which has been ramping up efforts starting with last year’s Creative Capacity Town Hall, round table discussions, and the work of both the CC strategy and steering committees.