Tech Article: Getting Started with Arduino - Code for Figure 5-7

This is the code I wrote to drive a 9 volt DC fan motor from a circuit featuring a MOSFET controlled by an Arduino using the pulse wide modulation (PWM) technique. The code was inspired by the diagram from Figure 5-7 on page 69 of the book "Getting Started with Arduino 2nd Editon" by Massimo Banzi. The middle portion of the diagram designates Analog PIN 9 as the output pin on the Arduino used for controlling the motor through the MOSFET.

http://sites.google.com/site/mattscheurer/getting-started-with-arduino-illustration-5-7

Tech Article: Creating Free Network and Server Diagrams and Maps without Microsoft Visio

I recently posted a new technology article I wrote titled "Creating Free Network and Server Diagrams and Maps without Microsoft Visio":

http://sites.google.com/site/mattscheurer/no_visio_no_problem_pt1

In the article I discuss how to create network diagrams and server maps using the open source LibreOffice Draw by setting up Gallery Themes based on the free Cisco network topology Icons. This gives you the convenience and flexibility of using Microsoft Vision stencils with cross-platform support and free tools.

The consequences of stagnation

Here is a cautionary tale from a poem I reworked, because unfortunately a lot of people I know are going to learn this lesson the hard way in the very near future. My best advice is to always keep your eyes, ears, and minds open and pay attention to what is happening around you at all times. Take control of your career because the chances are that no one else is watching out for your future...

When Executive Management came for the content editors,
I remained stagnant;
I was not a content editor.

When they laid off the software developers,
I remained stagnant;
I was not a software developer.

When they outsourced the network engineers,
I did not try to get out;
I was not a network engineer.

When they off-shored the DBAs,
I remained stagnant;
I was not a DBA.

When they took away my job,
there were no other jobs to be found.

Successful Leadership in Business

These are observations I made, while reflecting back on failed projects, successful projects, and the differences between them. I witnessed plenty of examples of both failed and successful projects during my professional career. The end result in both cases commonly reflects on those in a position of leadership.

As a person cast in a leadership position, if you have no vision for the future, then you cannot realistically create attainable goals. Without goals, you cannot define a road map for achieving success. Without a road map for a successful journey, then you have no direction. Without direction, you are doomed to wander aimlessly hoping to arrive at an acceptable end-state out of mere happenstance. If you desire assistance from others in obtaining your goals for a successful end-state, then you need to be a good communicator. Without good communication, others will be unable to adequately share or participate in your vision.

Success as a leader in business often begins with the following basic principles:

• Have a vision for a successful end-state of being
• Define goals to make that vision for the future happen
• Have a plan or road map for attaining those defined goals
• Communicate and share your vision with everyone involved in those plans
• Empower the people involved in carrying out the plans to ensure maximum participation along the journey towards reaching for that successful end-state

The question for anyone in a leadership position is do they want to be a leader or do they simply want to be a boss? The world is full of bosses, but finding or working with true leaders is incredibly inspiring.

A new beginning to my professional career

A fair amount of time passed, since my last blog update. I began posting blog entries, after I first began efforts in finding a new and better career opportunity. During the absence of new blog updates, I focused my time and energy on finding a new job. Now I can happily report that my efforts were successful. On Monday, I start my new career at company I am happy to be a part of and work for.

I simply wanted to return to an Information Technology career focused on technical functions, providing technical assistance, performing technical troubleshooting, and utilizing technical problem solving skills. At my old job, my primary job functions shifted completely away from the historic and currently defined job description to other functional practices, where I have no formal educational or professional background. The departmental focus at my previous job transitioned from a technical career to predominantly bookkeeping and accounting application usability support. My background is in Information Technology, which is the type of work I prefer. My new job allows me to return to the type of work I enjoy the most.

Prior to Spring in 2008, the last time I actively sent out a resume, or applied for a job, and interviewed for a job was nearly eight years beforehand. Much about job seeking, and the process of applying for those jobs changed over the years. My next series of blog posts documents my journey of gaining new employment. I hope sharing my experience helps others, who find themselves seeking a new career, after several years or more of being out of the active job seeking market. Many people ask me lots of questions about how I obtained my new position, before I left my previous job, and I hope this next series of blog entries answers those questions for other individuals as well.

Creating an Online Identity - Part II

I recently created an account on a Professional Networking site called LinkedIn.com (http://www.linkedin.com/). Membership is free and entirely voluntary on the part of subscribers. A couple of coworkers told me about LinkedIn and encouraged me to join. So I signed up on LinkedIn and started to add several connections and contacts. During that time, I began to understand the site's real value to any prospective or working professional. Unlike many typical social networking sites, LinkedIn is geared entirely toward working professionals. LinkedIn may be used for any of the following purposes:

• Business deals
• Career opportunities
• Consulting offers
• Expertise requests
• Job inquiries
• New ventures
• Personal reference requests
• Requests to reconnect

The way LinkedIn works is by creating an account and generating a profile. While establishing a profile, the account holder decides what information to share, and which information is available to the public. The next steps involve adding "Connections" to the profile by sending and/or receiving requests to join a network of professional contacts. The network request completion process requires approval by the person receiving the invitation to join the network. Until accepted, only the public profile is displayed, and both email addresses remain hidden. This helps prevent spammers from collecting email addresses on the LinkedIn site, which is a good method for protecting sensitive subscriber information.

After adding connections for a couple of weeks, I am surprised by how fast my professional network grew. LinkedIn allows subscribers the ability to keep their name out in educational, professional, and public circles. In addition, subscribers can ask and answer questions amongst other professionals, find new business and job opportunities, or get back in touch with old classmates and colleagues, coworkers, and friends. LinkedIn supports group areas for past and present members of educational institutions, geographical region associations, special interest groups, and workplace affiliations to connect and interact. If the desire or need to contact an individual or organization arises, having a direct or indirect contact, through network connections, to that person or organization is a huge competitive advantage for any purpose.

LinkedIn is a wonderful resource for all professionals, and offers a bevy of useful tools and unlimited possibilities. Creating a LinkedIn account is well worth the time investment. For the aforementioned reasons, I made LinkedIn my first step in establishing my online identity.

Creating an Online Identity - Part I

Hello, my name is Matt Scheurer and I would like to welcome new visitors to my blog. For those that never heard of me before, or mostly knew me by name only, that was by design. I was perfectly content to quietly live out my life, and etch out an existence through hard work and professionalism alone. My personal life generally included family members and some long-time friends. Occasionally, I gained new friendships through people I met and grew to trust over time. My personal beliefs as a strong personal privacy advocate kept me from putting myself out in the public eye for most of my life.

Very recently, things began to change in my professional life. The changes in my professional life started to bleed over and affect my personal life. After much personal reflection and reevaluation, I concluded that I should implement changes in my life to achieve my own personal goals. Life brought me to a crossroad of choices and decisions, and for the fist time, I decided to try a different route than the path I knew. While preparing myself for new ventures, a longtime coworker decided to retire, and I attended their fare thee well party. While conversing, with a couple of other friends at the going away party, they encouraged me to create an online profile at LinkedIn.com. While I told my colleagues I would check out the site they recommended, I was secretly not enthusiastic about the prospect of joining a social networking site. As I created my online profile and added connections, I began to realize the value and power of knowing people and having a professional network of respected colleagues to validate my knowledge and work ethic.

My heart significantly shifted from where I was at the very beginning of the year, and the time for shaking things up is now. For too long, I preferred anonymity to acknowledgment. I settled for the serenity of a job well done instead of the spotlight. Had I not settled for mere contentment, which lead to complacency, my life would be more rewarding. While I cannot change the past, I took control of my current situation. I am improving my involvement in my public outreach each and every day. Now that I understand the beauty and power of establishing my name to the general public, I plan to make up for lost time.

My first series of blog posts are dedicated to my journey. I learned a lot in a very short period of time and continue to do so. My goal is documenting the steps along my journey. My greatest aspiration is that my story proves helpful or inspirational to anyone in a similar situation. My intention is writing weekly updates on different topics related to the steps for establishing an online identity and maintaining that presence. I am happy to share what I learn and I pray my efforts result in a positive impact for my readers.

Thank you again for visiting, and please allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Matt Scheurer, and I am a technologist on a mission to carve out a better life for myself, using the blessings and talents bestowed upon me.