10 Illigal Job Interviews

#1: Where were you born?

This question might seem like small talk as you get to know a person, but it could also be used to gather information illegally about the candidate's national origin. Although it may seem more relevant, you should also avoid asking, "Are you a U.S. citizen?" You can ask whether a candidate is authorized to work in the United States, but avoid asking about citizenship.

#2: What is your native language?

Again, the problem is that this question could be used to determine national origin. You can ask whether the person knows a language if it is required for the job. For example, if job responsibilities include supporting Spanish-speaking customers, it's fair to ask whether the candidate speaks Spanish.

#3: Are you married?

Here's another question that would seem innocent in most settings, but definitely not in a job interview. Because you can't discriminate on the basis of marital status, this question is off limits.

#4: Do you have children?

This might sound like small talk, too — an innocent question in most settings — but not in a job interview. It's covered by a general prohibition about discrimination over parental status.

#5: Do you plan to get pregnant?

In the past, employers sometimes asked this question to weed out women who might take a maternity leave. It has always been rude coming from a casual acquaintance, and now it's illegal as well.

#6: How old are you?

Some companies used to avoid hiring older workers for a variety of reasons, ranging from a fear of higher healthcare costs and absences to a social bias in favor of youth. But age discrimination is clearly illegal, and you should avoid this question. Don't try to get the information by asking when the person graduated from college, either.

#7: Do you observe Yom Kippur?

You can't discriminate on the basis of religion, so this question is illegal, as would be asking about Good Friday, Ramadan, or the Solstice. If you're concerned about the candidate's availability, you could ask whether he or she can work on holidays and weekends, but not about the observance of particular religious holidays.

#8: Do you have a disability or chronic illness?

This information is not supposed to be used as a factor in hiring, so the questions are illegal. If the job will require some specific physical tasks, such as installing cables in walls and ceilings, you may ask whether the person could perform those tasks with reasonable accommodation.

#9: Are you in the National Guard?

Although some managers may find it disruptive when employees leave for duty, it's illegal to discriminate against someone because he or she belongs to the National Guard or a reserve unit.

#10: Do you smoke or use alcohol?

In general, you can't discriminate on the basis of the use of a legal product when the employee is not on the premises and not on the job.
Tip: To avoid asking the wrong questions, develop an interview form and use a copy of it for each candidate. It will document that you asked each interviewee the same questions. Failing to do so may establish a pattern that could seem discriminatory. For example, if you ask only women about their willingness to travel, thinking that the responsibilities of childcare would make them balk at business trips, you could establish a pattern of 

From Techrepublic.com

Essential Tools for Web Developer

1. XAMPP

A live testing environment should be an essential element in every web developer's toolbox, and XAMPP is a highly recommended open source, configurable web server. It contains Apache, MySQL, PHP, OpenSSL, FileZilla FTP server and more, bundled together for a smooth configuration.

Also of note is MAMP (for Mac OS X), which works the same way as XAMPP, with some slight differences. The free release means you can have an advanced server up and running quickly.

2. Gist

If you use Git, you will want to make use of GitHub and Gists. GitHub is a place to securely store your code, and Gist is a simple way to share snippets and pastes with others.

With native clients for Mac, Windows and mobile devices, GitHub offers the ability to work on your projects from anywhere. It's a powerful way to collaborate, review and manage your code on both public and private development projects. Hosting your code using an external service such as GitHub means it's safe and secure, should your web host get hacked or your computer crashes, for example.

While Pastebins have become invaluable tools for many, Gist takes the concept a step further by adding version control for your code snippets, easy forking and SSL encryption for private pastes. Each "Gist" has its own repository, so multiple code snippets can be contained in a single paste, enabling you to turn your pastes into mini-projects.

3. Diffchecker

One misplaced or misspelled letter can easily cause a major breakdown in your web development project. Having the ability to check the differences between two files can help reduce these errors. However, going through each file manually can be a time-consuming and tedious process. DiffChecker is uncomplicated with a straightforward user interface: Simply upload or paste the contents of two files and click "Find Difference."

The output highlights the differences with color-coded, side by side comparisons, with the background changing color depending whether text was added or removed. There is no signup process or need to register.

4. Mou

Aptly described as "the missing Markdown editor for web developers," Mou (Mac OS X only) is a simple yet effective text editor that parses Markdown syntax. The split-screen window means as you type on the left, it's saved and updated with the HTML conversion on the right, in real time. While the default setup only presents your syntax in raw HTML format, you can import your CSS to better represent how your end product will look.

The incremental search (with pattern matching) makes finding specific text easier and more granular within your document, while the powerful set of keyboard actions allows you to write even faster.

Don't have a Mac? Several excellent Markdown web apps could be exactly what you need, including Markable, Dillinger and Markdown Pad.

5. JS Bin

Released in 2008, JS Bin was one of the first public paste bins that rendered output live in your browser, allowing users to collaborate on and debug Javascript, HTML and CSS code snippets. It's open source and can work online, on your locally hosted environment or even live on your own site.

It supports remote rendering, enabling you to check on multiple platforms while the output automatically refreshes as you edit the code. Once you start typing, JS Bin saves your work (shareable using a short URL). If you want to stop saving, just create a milestone and live saving will apply to the new revision.

Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing
A Cloud, of course, is a visible mass of droplets or frozen crystals floating in the atmosphere above the surface of the earth. It is also a visible mass attracted by gravity. Lately, Cloud Computing has been exerting a strong gravitational pull of its own-one that has been attracting a mass of money.
So, a cloud computing is a dynamic delivery of information technology resources and capabilities as a service over the internet. Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the internet.
Cloud computing is a natural development to meet needs that have been evident for more than forty years. Virtualization is a key technology that enables cloud computing.
Cloud computing generally incorporated as,
-          Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
-          Platform as a Service (PaaS)
-          Software as a Service (SaaS)
The most frequently cited benefits of cloud computing are:
-          It is agile, with ease and speed of development.
-          Its cost is use-based, and will likely be reduced.
-          In-house IT costs are reduced.
-          Capital investment is reduced.
-          The latest technology is always delivered.
-          The use of standard technology is encouraged and facilitated.
The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) defines the cloud computing as,
‘Cloud Computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. The cloud model of computing promotes the availability. ‘
Characteristics of Cloud Computing:
-          On-demand Self Service
-          Broad network access
-          Resource pooling
-          Rapid elasticity
-          Measured Services
Cloud Service Models:
There are three models of cloud computing. They are:
a)    Software as a Service (SaaS):
The capability provided to the consumers in this highest level is to use of the provider’s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g. web-based e-mail). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure, including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible execution of limited user-specific applications configuration settings. 
b)    Platform as a Service (PaaS):
The capability provided to the consumer in this intermediate level is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications developed using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure, including network, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations.
c)    Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas):
The capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating system and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud information but has control over operating system. Storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g. host, firewalls).
Deployment Models:
There are four different deployment models of cloud computing. They are :
a)    Private Cloud: The cloud infrastructure is operating solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on premise or off primise.
b)      Community Cloud: The cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g. mission, security requirements, policy and compliance consideration). It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise.
c)      Public Cloud: The cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services.
d)    Hybrid Cloud: The cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g. cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds).