TIPS.......

What to Do When Your New Job Is a Nightmare

by Caroline Potter, Yahoo! HotJobs

You just started a new job. It's like a dream come true -- except when it's not. What's a professional to do when she accepts a job that seems like a living nightmare? Read on for solutions and advice from a career coach.

1. Assess the Situation (and Yourself)

There are a lot of different reasons why your new job may seem less than ideal. Perhaps your boss is a micromanager. Maybe your duties are different than what you'd thought they'd be. Or a client may have jumped ship, leaving you and your coworkers suddenly scrambling. Consider what's making you miserable before taking any kind of action.

Lynn Berger, a Manhattan-based career coach and counselor, agrees. "I think you have to really scope it out." She urges her clients, "See if there's any way you can take any self-responsibility for this. Also, ask yourself, is there a way you can grow from this? Maybe you've never worked for a boss with a particular personality type, but you may be able to deal with it over time and learn from it."

2. Open a Dialogue

If your supervisor seems happy with your performance while you're not happy in the position, it may be very easy to start a conversation about what's making you miserable. She may be willing to shift your responsibilities or provide you with additional support.

If your boss seems displeased, it can be a bit more difficult, says Berger, a member of the International Coach Federation. "You've still got to open a dialogue, and the earlier the better." She urges dissatisfied employees to talk to management, saying, "Get clear on what you need from them and what they need from you."

Are you without the proper tools and support to do your job? "Throw it out there to your boss and see if he will help. You have to let people know what you need," advises Berger, a graduate of Columbia University.

If you can't talk to your boss because she's the root of your problem, Berger says, "Check it out with other people you work with. Watch how they're handling this person. And if you find out from coworkers that everyone else who's had this position has been out of there in three months, that could be very revealing."

3. Patience Is a Virtue

When Berger works with clients who fear they've made a mistake in accepting a new job, she reminds them, "It takes three to six months until you're comfortable in a new job. There are going to be growing pains, especially if you haven't started a new job in a long time."

New job starters, she says, should be prepared for a bit of anxiety as they roll up their sleeves and dig in to a new position. "It's overwhelming! You're going to be exhausted and you need to give yourself room around that."

While you're ramping up, "Observe as much as you can and not only learn the job, but learn about the company and the way it works, the way things are done," she says. That can go a long way in helping you feel more comfortable.

4. If You Leave...

Do you still feel like you have to leave? Berger tells workers to ask themselves, "Is this a perceived nightmare or a real nightmare? If you're a victim of verbal or physical abuse at work, no one should have to live that way."

However, even if you're not subjected to those horrors, you may still feel as though you're in a nightmarish situation. If you feel you've given it time and your best efforts, you may choose to move on. "No one should feel tortured or sick over a job," concedes Berger.

When looking for another position, you can explain your brief time in this job by saying, "I realized early on this wasn't the right situation." Berger says that job seekers should make the experience seem as positive as they can. Also, she wants professionals to learn from their mistakes. Before accepting another offer, "Ask questions. Visit the company a few times. Speak with employees there. Make sure you understand the full scope of the position and what the day-to-day will be like."

"You never want to regret that you walked away from an opportunity too quickly," Berger says. "As long as you know you gave it your best shot and tried, that's what really counts."

IT'S OUR PRIDE!!!

Yahoo!! We are on the race. Three of our bests are on the top 7. So keep on voting for our very own wonders that are one of a kind. Check this out!

Last update 03-JUN-2008 04:00 GMT

( ) = yesterday's ranking

1.	(1)	Ha Long Bay	VIET NAM - Asia	Vote
2.	(2)	Cox's Bazar, Beach	BANGLADESH - Asia	Vote
3.	(3)	Tubbataha Reef	PHILIPPINES - Asia	Vote
4.	(4)	Chocolate Hills	PHILIPPINES - Asia	Vote
5.	(5)	Ganges, River	BANGLADESH/ INDIA - Asia	Vote
6.	(6)	Mount Everest, Mountain	NEPAL - Asia	Vote
7.	(8)	Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park	PHILIPPINES - Asia	Vote
8.	(7)	Amazon River, River/Forest	BOLIVIA/ BRAZIL/ COLOMBIA/ ECUADOR/ PERU/ VENEZUELA - South America	Vote
9.	(9)	Mount Fuji, Mountain	JAPAN - Asia	Vote
10.	(10)	Mayon Volcano	PHILIPPINES - Asia	Vote

So keep on voting and make our mama proud!

BE AWARE!!!!

Gmail archiving program is actually spyware

taken from Yahoo TEch Blog of Christopher Null

Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:38AM EDT

If you've used the G-Archiver program to back up your Gmail (aka Google Mail) email, you've got a headache on your hands. The program has been revealed to be a malicious spyware app that emails your Gmail username and password to a secret Gmail account.

This revelation is especially troubling because most Gmail users use a single Google account to access a wide range of services. Those with AdSense accounts or Google Checkout accounts could face severe financial losses if their Gmail password were to fall into the wrong hands.

G-Archiver is wholly unaffiliated with Google or Gmail and is the product of an independent developer. The revelation that G-Archiver was spyware emerged last week courtesy of programmer Dustin Brooks, who analyzed the source code to find a crude spyware system inside, complete with the name and password of the account to which G-Archiver sends all its victims' account information. He accessed that account and found thousands of records of usernames and passwords inside, including, of course, his own. (Brooks also deleted all those records and changed the password on the account by way of vigilante justice. Good man!)

Meanwhile, in what has to be the least credible excuse/explanation ever, G-Archiver has posted a notice on its website that the program was not spyware but rather that "a member of our development team had inserted coding used for testing G-Archiver in the debug version and forgot to delete it in the final release version." Uh, right...

G-Archiver's solution, however, is correct: If you have ever installed the program you should uninstall it and change your Google account password immediately. G-Archiver is so new that it probably will not show up in scans from most anti-spyware products yet.

As well, I probably needn't bother telling you that I don't recommend installing the upcoming new version of G-Archiver when it is released, even if the "flaw" is "corrected." Same goes for other sketchy third-party applications that promise to download messages from any webmail service... provided you give them your name and password. Not all are spyware, to be sure, but you should still tread lightly in this area.

GOT CAUGHT ON THIS!!

Teen Millionaire

Not so long ago, teen Ashley Qualls lived in a one-bedroom apartment with her mom and sister. But with her computer and savvy business sense she made a better life for all of them.

By KEVIN SITES, TUE OCT 30, 12:11 AM PDT

Ashley Qualls doesn't sound like a typical high school student. Maybe that's because the 17-year-old is the CEO of a million-dollar business.

Ashley is the head of whateverlife.com, a website she started when she was just 14 — with eight dollars borrowed from her mother. Now, just three years later, the website grosses more than $1 million a year, providing Ashley and her working class family a sense of security they had never really known.

This teenage CEO bought her family a 4-bedroom house and built herself an office in the basement.

It all started with capitalism 101, the law of supply and demand. Ashley became interested in graphic design just as the online social networking craze began to catch fire.

When she saw her friends personalizing their MySpace pages, she began creating and giving away MySpace background designs through Whateverlife. The designs are cheery, colorful and whimsical, with lots of hearts, Ashley's favorites.

She also pulled quotes from popular songs and built backgrounds around those themes. "Teenage girls love quotes," Ashley says, scrolling through some of her site's 3,000 designs, more than a third of which she made herself.

Thanks to Ashley's work ethic and savvy cultivation of her peer group as a target market, Whateverlife began pulling in more teenage girls than a Justin Timberlake concert - about a million a day. With a big audience, the site attracted advertisers. Ashley's first check was for $2,700. The next was for $5,000, the third for $10,000.

"OMG Robot" is one of the backgrounds designed by whateverlife.com

At the time, Ashley's parents were divorced. She and her little sister, Shelby, were all crammed into her mother's one-bedroom apartment.

When first the check arrived, her mother was doubtful, wondering if her daughter could really make money off a website. But Ashley was confident, telling her mother: "No, I really trust this. I think it's really gonna happen."

Ashley was right. The checks kept coming and the business kept growing-to the point where she could afford to buy a brand new four-bedroom house for them to live in. Ashley also hired her mother, Linda LaBrecque, to help manage the company.

"You know, when I'm with my friends, I'm still 17." — Ashley Qualls

It was and has been a bittersweet time for them both. "It's hard to be a mom and a manager," LaBrecque says. The roles clash every day, she says, but they manage by keeping a sense of humor.

She's proud of Ashley. Prior to starting the business, she says, her daughter was too shy to even order a pizza by phone. Now she's making presentations to business executives.

The job has also made LaBrecque's life easier, allowing her to quit her job and work from home following back surgery.

But Ashley's life has become much more complicated. When her business took off, the former straight-A student quit school to concentrate on Whateverlife.

"It's a busier schedule," Ashley says. "There's more to keep track of, whether its finances or employees and making sure everything is up to date and the content is secure."

Ashley has created background designs for songs by popular artists like Britney Spears.

This MySpace background design includes lyrics from the new Spears song "Gimme More."

In addition to her mom, Ashley hired three friends to help with the business, teaching them design and then requiring them to make a minimum of 25 designs a week.

Bre Newby says Ashley is a better boss than her past employers. "It's cool to have your best friend be like your boss," says Bre, "'cause she's a good boss. She's not like rude or it's not like working at McDonald's where you have like supervisors and people over you all the time."

Has the price of Ashley's business success been the loss of a part of her childhood? She doesn't think so.

"You know, when I'm with my friends, I'm still 17," she says.

But time with friends sometimes has to take a back seat to business. On a recent afternoon, her three friends drop by to hang out with Ashley, but they have to wait for her to finish with her business advisor, internet consultant Robb Lippitt.

Ashley and Robb sit on plastic chairs around a white conference table in Ashley's basement office, the walls decorated with hearts, like a Whateverlife background.

The conversation includes overtures from Hollywood and a possible deal to help promote Britney Spears's new album on Jive Records.

Ashley has even turned down a deal for her own reality television program. "I'm really stubborn, like my mom," she says, "So I know what I want from business. And I don't want that. I like my privacy. I like to hang out with my friends. I don't want cameras following me around."

For his part, Lippit says he had concerns about working with a teenager, but Ashley won him over in the first meeting. "She doesn't sit there and say, ‘I did something well-that's good enough,'" says Lippit. He says Ashley knows, without being told, that she needs to keep developing her business, or it will stop growing.

Unlike many adults, Ashley has not succumbed to the temptations that new wealth can bring. She pays herself a modest salary of $3,000 a month. Aside from the house, she hasn't made any other major purchases.

"I don't even know how to put this," says Ashley, "But it's just kind of like the shiny feeling that when you have this money, it kind of goes away after a while. It gets old, you know. Yeah, I can go out and buy you know something really cool. But at the same time I mean I don't really need too much. I like to invest it back into the business."

Despite all her success, one thing that has eluded her - something most of her friends already have - is a driver's license.

"My mom does drive me. And then my friends drive me wherever we go," she says, "And I want to drive. Believe me. But it's just been kind of crazy lately."

It may be the one thing about Ashley's life that reminds you she really IS still a teenager.

-Producer: Jamie Rubin

-Editor: Steve Nielson

True or False: 10 Common Travel Beliefs

Have you heard that New Yorkers are rude, London is rainy, and China is just a shovel away? Here, the truth behind travel rumors

The Rumor: London is always gray and rainy, and the food is terrible.

The Truth: "In terms of rainfall, it's actually low on the list," says Nicole Mitchell, a Weather Channel meteorologist. (The statistics: London gets 23 inches a year, while, on average, supposedly sunny Miami gets a whopping 60 and soggy Seattle gets 39.) "Because London is coastal, it gets drizzly during the winter. But, as with any place, you have to pick the right time to visit," says Mitchell. (She recommends the summer, when it's warmer and sunnier.) And as for the local fare, it has come a long way since the days of ubiquitous bangers and mash. "There was a time when English food was, by definition, bad food, but that reputation is about 10 years out of date," says Tim Zagat, a cofounder of Zagat Survey, a publisher of international restaurant guides. "Now it is one of the best places in the world to eat." (The turnaround is due in part to the increased availability of fresh ingredients.)

The Rumor: It is rude to make eye contact during conversation in Japan.

The Truth: In the Land of the Rising Sun, do not avert your gaze just yet. "That used to be the rule, back in the old days, during the Meiji and Taisho eras (the late 1800s and early 1900s)," explains Robert Whiting, a Japanese-culture expert and the author of "The Samurai Way of Baseball." "It was considered disrespectful, especially when talking to a superior." These days, however, "people in Japan act just like people in the West. Not making eye contact would be considered a bit odd when talking to someone, even the emperor," says Whiting.

The Rumor: Venice is sinking.

The Truth: Not so much, says Fabio Carrera, a native of Venice and a professor of urban studies and planning at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Massachusetts. If by sinking you mean that the land is going under and losing elevation, then, no, that is no longer true," says Carrera. Once upon a time — from around 1900 up until the 1970s — Venice did dip deeper into the water, by nearly five inches, because the aquifer beneath it was being drained to provide water to the mainland. "When people realized what was happening, they stopped pumping water out, and Venice rebounded by about half an inch," says Carrera.

Still, the city is not totally out of hot water. Thanks to global warming and rising sea levels, Venice — along with other low-lying locales, like New Orleans — remains vulnerable to flooding. But as long as it stays one step ahead of the problem by incorporating preventive measures, like the underwater floodgates currently being constructed, Venice should be the home of many a piazza (and pigeon) for years to come.

The Rumor: New Yorkers are rude.

The Truth: Fuhgeddaboudit! "It's absolutely false that New Yorkers are unfriendly — they may seem standoffish at first, but that's just concealing a very big heart," insists Ed Koch, a former New York mayor and a quintessential New Yorker. (Hey, someone who appeared in "The Muppets Take Manhattan" should know.) So what is with the gruff exterior, then? Call it a coping mechanism for living in a city of more than 8 million people. "We believe that people want their own space, so we don't intrude unless asked for assistance. But if you're visiting from out of town, just walk over to any New Yorker and he'll immediately help you out," says Koch. And rather than feeling upset about a brusque cab driver or a bagel guy who seems to toss your change at you, remember that they are just trying to keep the wheels in motion. "People here want to help you get on with your day!" says Koch.

The Rumor: Afternoon thunderstorms in Florida always pass within an hour.

The Truth: "This does not always happen, but a lot of storms are pretty quick," says meteorologist Nicole Mitchell. "In the heat of the afternoon, there is enough of a contrast between the slightly cooler ocean air temperature and the warmer air temperature over land to trigger storms," she says. "By late afternoon, there is less of a contrast and you lose the trigger for the storms, so they start dying out." And Florida is not the only place you should keep an umbrella handy. Mitchell says the same conditions exist up and down the Gulf Coast, making the weather in places such as Biloxi, Miss.; Mobile, Ala.; and New Orleans equally erratic.

The Rumor: South of the equator, toilet water swirls in the opposite direction.

The Truth: This one goes straight down the commode. Wondering where that crackpot theory originated? "South of the equator, tornadoes go clockwise, while north of the equator, they go counterclockwise, because of the earth's rotation and something called Coriolis force. In principle, the same would happen to water in a toilet or a bath," explains Michael Goodchild, a professor of geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a 2007 recipient of the field's highest honor, the Prix Vautrin Lud. "But the effect of Coriolis force on a small scale is very weak and outweighed by other forces, like the relative positions of the inlet faucet and the plug hole."

The Rumor: The Leaning Tower of Pisa will eventually topple over.

The Truth: It seems inevitable that the tilting medieval bell tower will take a dive someday. But the structure, which developed its famous wonky posture when its foundation settled into the soft ground beneath it, is actually on surprisingly solid footing. About 10 years ago, the base of the tower was reinforced with a combination of concrete and other bracing methods, decreasing the lean by 17 inches to 13 feet 6 inches. "It was the culmination of years of work and planning — the new foundation will last indefinitely," says Donald Friedman, a structural engineer at Old Structures Engineering, in New York City. "It is not going to tip. Now it has the heaviest foundation of anything in that whole city!"

The Rumor: In Russia, locally made vodka is cheaper than water.

The Truth: The answer is a flat-out nyet, says Paul Richardson, who has visited the country more than 20 times and is the publisher of Russian Life magazine. While locally made vodka can be nearly half as cheap in Russia as the imported stuff we buy here — prices start at around $2 a bottle in Moscow — it still outprices water by a long shot.

The Rumor: If you dug a hole straight through the Earth, you would probably make it to China.

The Truth: "It depends on where you start out," says author Michael Goodchild. "If you dug through the center of the Earth, you would emerge at a point opposite to where you started," he says. "Most of the time, if you started from land, you would end in water. But you would end up in China if you started digging in northern Chile." Oh yeah, there is one more little catch. Says Goodchild, "You would need a machine that could form a tunnel through liquid metal at a temperature of around 5,000 degrees." Um, try eBay?

The Rumor: There is a top-secret city beneath Disneyland.

The Truth: Legend has it that there's a top-secret command center under the theme park in Anaheim, Calif., but, alas, not even a wave of Tinker Bell's wand could make this a reality. "There is not much under there — certainly not a city," says Bob Sehlinger, who has visited the park hundreds of times over the past 20 years and recently wrote "The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2008." It is very likely that this rumor stems from a case of mistaken identity. As it turns out, sister amusement park Disney World, in Orlando, Fla., does have a subterranean setup of sorts, though it is not quite a metropolis. "In Disney World, there is something called utilidors — Disney-speak for a huge system of tunnels under the park, which allow costumed cast members to scurry underneath the property," explains Sehlinger.

Stop Pumping Gas: Ten Hot Home Office Jobs

he by Joe Taylor Jr.

With fuel prices topping four dollars per gallon in some states, many Americans want to keep their paychecks in their pockets and out of their gas tanks. Thanks to cheap Internet access and fast computers, some workers can perform their jobs just as well from home as they can in the office. Government analysts recently identified ten fast-growing jobs that combine higher-than-average hourly wages with the benefits of working from home.

#1: Administrative Services Manager

Traditionally, administrative services managers oversee large support staffs in offices such as hospitals and law firms. As larger employers consolidate responsibilities for multiple locations into a handful of positions, more administrative services managers have earned the option to work some or all of their hours from a home office. Earning an associate's or bachelor's degree in business can help you gain the skills necessary for this managerial telecommuting job that often pays more than $30 per hour.

#2: Computer Systems Analyst

These information technology professionals help companies design state-of-the-art systems to run businesses. As employers use telecommuting jobs as a key strategy in their recruitment efforts, computer systems analysts often test new ideas at their own home offices. Learning about tools like virtual private network (VPN), video chat, and virtual desktops during a computer science degree program can help qualify graduates for home-based jobs that pay over $30 per hour.

#3: Database Manager

All kinds of companies rely on databases, from mom-and-pop service organizations to global retailers. Because most databases can be maintained from any live Internet connection, a growing number of database managers work remotely over secure, private networks. Though some database managers earn salaries from large employers, specialists with business degrees and computer training can earn over $30 an hour working from home as freelance database specialists.

#4: Public Relations Specialist

Because most public relations tasks involve phone or email, many PR specialists enjoy working from home at least a few days per week. With a bachelor's degree in communications, an office veteran can transition to a home-based job writing press releases and responding to media requests. Experienced PR professionals can complete online business training programs to launch their own practices as freelancers in home offices. In both cases, public relations specialists frequently earn more than $22 per hour.

#5: Paralegal

As more Americans seek quality legal representation, many law firms rely more heavily on paralegals for research assignments and routine tasks. Unlike lawyers, who must complete law school and pass a state bar exam, paralegals can start assisting on cases after completing an associate's degree program. Some law firms prefer to hire telecommuting paralegals to avoid adding office space. Other employers like the flexibility of bringing on temporary paralegals to cover sudden spikes in their caseloads. In both cases, many home-based paralegals earn over $20 an hour.

#6: Probation Officer

With many state governments trying to balance crowded jails with increased prosecution, many local agencies seek home-based probation officers.While the job often includes making site visits, many probation officers spend a significant portion of time on the phone or on email from home offices. With a bachelor's degree in social work, an experienced security professional can transition to this home-based career that offers a typical salary of $20 per hour plus government benefits.

#7: Web Design Professional

Early Web designers often received criticism for being teenagers working from home in their parents' attics. However, today's most successful Web design professionals enjoy home offices that boast high-speed Internet connections and fast workstations. Earning over $20 per hour as a home-based Web designer requires design skill, programming prowess, and a solid career portfolio. Most novice designers pick up all three of these success ingredients during Web design degree programs, many of which are available online.

#8: Desktop Publisher

Just as small businesses rely on public relations professionals to tell their stories, company owners look to desktop publishing professionals to make their stories look good in print. Advanced publishing tools now make it possible for desktop publishers to work from home, often earning over $20 as freelancers or in staff positions. Advanced training courses in graphic design and desktop publishing help these specialists retain the cutting-edge skills that help build strong client rosters.

#9: Medical Transcriptionist

As many doctors' offices and health care facilities struggle to meet the demands of increased patient loads, home-based medical transcriptionists ride to the rescue. By leveraging skills gained in campus-based or online medical transcription training programs, these specialists can earn $14 or more per hour without leaving home. In many cases, agencies or employers also cover the costs of computers and Internet connections for efficient transcriptionists.

#10: Virtual Assistant

Bootstrapping a business in today's economy often requires creative thinking. Some of the most creative and successful professionals in consulting, real estate, and health care have realized that they can reap the benefits of having full-time administrative assistance without the costs of expanding their own offices. Virtual assistants provide high-end secretarial tasks on demand for clients, usually from home offices. Completing an online training course is often the first step toward an essential work-from-home job that pays $13 or more per hour.