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Model-Xtractor.com offers a free online interactive class diagram editor, on pre-imported metadata. Only the .NET frameworks are available at this time, with online documentation available for C#. But plans are to import and expose plenty of platforms and software products, such as Java and Flash Action Script frameworks, or even JavaScript DOM and packages.

“$50 credits for FREE, for Facebook advertising!”

What is this? Nothing but a new and improved form of the old “free trial for N days“. Because what both Google and Facebook give you is NOT a gift, but rather a smart and diabolic way to take your money away!

I’ve got the first surprising “gift” from Google, on St. Valentine’s, by mail. Why not, I told myself. And I finally created an AdWords account and a first campaign. I gave them my credit card, just to avoid a $20 fee for prepaid accounts. I had to pay however a $10 activation fee (!?). But what is $10 compared to a $100 gift, for FREE?!

I also remembered I had some similar credits, also for AdWords, accumulated from my GoDaddy services. Tried to use those $75 as well, but surprise, it wasn’t possible: they work only for a first AdWords account, and I just created one with my first “gift”.

Lucky me, I had another $50 credits for Facebook! Created another account, used my “gift” as well, another “activation fee” paid separately (because this cannot be deducted from the “gift”). You give them your credit card number, your address, your name…

Few days latter, with these $150 for nothing, I paid few bucks to Google and Facebook and the result is I brought less than a total of 200 people on one of my sites, that already gets over 1,000 visitors a day. I do not sell anything, and this form of online advertising proved to be useless to me. In actual value, I rather paid more to Google and Facebook in “activation fees”, than the benefits I got from their so-called “$150 for FREE”.

…I’m not mad, I’m not sad, I do not criticize anything and anybody. I’m rather impressed with this new form of advertising, that’s all. But next time someone will tell me “I’ll give you money for FREE”, I’ll look more closely at how much I would actually put at the end of the day in their pockets…

We had most gold medals for any country in all history of Winter Olympic Games! US had also most total medals. And it looked like the hockey final between US and Canada was kind of a “the winner takes it all”. AND WE WON! In very dramatic fashion, after the American equalized few seconds before the end. And what better scenario than Sidney Crosby scoring the Golden Goal in overtime?!

…I’m really proud to be Canadian, I’m proud of our young golden athletes, I’m proud of the craziness this country goes into for a hockey game. Because WE ARE ALIVE, we live for something and we do not let it down.

The Good

We’re right in the middle of these games and I have mixed reactions about what’s going on. On the bright side, I enjoyed watching Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Donald Sutherland honored in the opening ceremony. This country (MY country) knows how to honor value, even if they moved to the States long time ago. I come from Romania and I’m frequently disgusted when my old country is so bitter about the millions of people living somewhere else.

I also loved the Canadian athletes who brought us medals, especially gold (at least two of them were born in North Vancouver). I love hockey and I’m sooo afraid Canada will make some huge mistakes “on Canadian soil”. I love the young people who live here or in Whistler and welcome visitors with their joy and hospitality.

However, on the other side, there are more and more things I get seriously frustrated with. Yes, I know, we had some bad weather (in fact warm weather, with rain) the first few days. And this was clearly bad luck, because last year we had packs of snow for several weeks in Vancouver. Or last November it was freezing (unexpected for that time of the year).

The Bad

The ceremony was great (I’m an IT guy and I still wonder how they did with the huge projections on the floor screen), but was surrounded as we know by catastrophes: the death in luge, the First Nations chiefs missing the opening, the malfunction with the Olympic flame… The frustration grew stronger when I looked at the failures and criticism taken by the air and ice from the Richmond Oval, at the bad coverage from the British press (”worst games ever”), at the cancellation of all tickets for the Cypress mountain venues. I’m sad because I lived and worked in Canada for half of my life and I’m well aware - no offense, please - of the fact managers here do sometimes a bad job. Municipalities are interested to make money, bad they usually spend waaay more. Contracts are granted to cheap buses from California that fail to climb our hills. And you see rarely the right people, with the right skills and know-how, at the right place. They all love to manage, to control, to dictate.

My biggest frustration comes from the coverage of these Olympics by the Canadian broadcasters. I started to look to NBC or on the Internet to find out what’s really happening in my city or to watch interesting stories and documentaries about the athletes. To avoid the traffic and crowds, I haven’t seen yet the flame, in downtown, but I was planning to do so in the weekend. Guess what: I found out from NBC that it is surrounded by an ugly fence and you have to wait in line. Because the combined CTV-TSN-SportsNet coverage of these games show us long minutes with boring commentators TALKING about these games, instead of SHOWING the games. They expose for only few seconds a lovely image with our gorgeous Vancouver, then they cover it up quickly with an over-sized and ugly logo. How do you promote Vancouver and Whistler to the world, you ignorant broadcasters?!

You have a lousy hockey game where Canada is almost outplayed (again!) by Switzerland? You go to their common website and find just one article where people are not allowed to post comments (to see at least other opinions)! You go to the CBC website and find another lousy site, showing only 5 comments per page, with comments open for only two ours or so. It’s like our Canadian broadcasters try to shut us down, they don’t care about other opinions.

I wake up every morning and I always have to watch on CTV a really fat guy (Jeff Hutcheson) walking the downtown Vancouver and presenting shows and venues. And I don’t want to insult anyone (at 40 years plus, myself I became a bit fat and I need more fitness), but it is so embarrassing not to be able to find for such a major SPORTS event some young, good looking and athletic person! Vancouver is full of youth and the fat guy is really a disgrace for the circumstances, it doesn’t matter if he’s a genius in other matters (but he is not).

All thing combined, I’m very so-so about this major event in my city. I am Canadian, I love Canada, I love more than any other city Vancouver, but I really hope no other major malfunction or bad event to strike us in the last week to come. More than anything else, I love our hockey spirit and I really hope we’ll not be embarrassed in our country, in our city, in “our” Olympics. We came so close, because one hour ago I watched Canada with the Swiss. And I did not like at all what I saw.

Job Hunters

It may happen (and I would say it happens) that job hunters be more interested in getting the names, positions, phone numbers and email addresses of people hiring other people from different companies, than taking care of one of the thousands poor guys looking for jobs. We know about 80% of available jobs are not published anywhere and part of them may be made available to these job hunters exactly through our references.

Company Policies

Many large companies, such as Microsoft, have internal policies that deny their employees to provide references, after one of their subordinates leave. So you may have worked for such a company, but you’re not even allowed to prove you’ve been in good relationship with your boss and did a good job. Most embarrassing is when you have later to deal with recruiters who have no idea about this and look at you in a very suspicious manner when you tell them. It may happen your former manager to be nice and accept your request, but he does it on his own risk.

Bad Environments

There is no secret the work environment in the IT industry gets more and more a rather bad reputation. After the crash of so many dot-coms in years 2000, investments became rare and software developers no longer find the same excitement in the way they are treated and the work they do. Under budgetary constraints, many projects fail and the blame game starts by the end of the mandate. It is unfortunate, but many people leave or their contracts are terminated at this late stage, when whatever someone could say about an other, about what his role was or what he did in the company, there is a strong chance it will be rather negative. It is sad the good work you might have been provided for years in such company to be affected by the negative feeling of failures at the end.

Conflicts of Interest

If you work as a contractor and are looking for new opportunities, it may happen you just temporarily suspended your work at your current company. You might be later called to do some maintenance, or to provide additional new services. Or you are waiting to get a pay check which is already late. By asking your company to give you references for your new opportunities puts you in a conflict of interest. Your client might not be happy you’re already looking for something else. They might prefer to keep you available for themselves, just in case. Or they can even blackmail you with references, if you refuse to provide them whatever abusive requests they may have at the end of contract.

Have Friends?

It is so easy to actually provide as references friends from the companies you worked for, prepared in advance on what to say about you and how to exaggerate your actual role and rewards in the company. I also heard about situations when former employees check their own references, asking a very close person to call on the phone their former boss and see what he can actually say about you. If bad things are said about you, no problem, look for somebody else… How can someone truly rely on somebody else’ referrals, if you have so much flexibility in the selection of the 3-4 persons you mention?

Conclusion

This process seems so subjective, prone to error and almost designed for other people to take advantage of you. Instead of asking for references, a potential employer should rather be better prepared to check the actual competences of the people he wants to hire. Especially if the candidate can prove - through a written contract and/or paystubs - he already worked for big companies and/or on important projects, what better references can you get for him, if you are trully interested in his skills and expertise?

Companies or recruiters who insist too much on references might be unfortunately a sign the job they offer you comes with a bad or at least suspicious environment. Look for something else, life is too short to waste it on such “opportunities”!

Despite all the violence and bloodshed no Hollywood movie can unfortunately miss, you may also learn about the true values a man used to be made of in other times. Just like Maximus the Gladiator, King Leonidas of Sparta is that single person people feel honored to die for. Or rather for the values embraced by King Leonidas and his Spartans.

Women in Macho Societies

300 is a macho movie for sure, but look closely. In such a society clearly dominated by man, you cannot miss the care, love and deep respect King Leonidas shows to his wife. She is in fact the single female character in the whole movie, but what a striking appearance! Even the Persian messenger is offended by the power this woman has in front of her people and king.

I myself come from a country considered rather macho, where most men still think women would better take care of the household and let the man lead. I definitely cannot say I agree with this, but there are here many aspects people from so-called developed countries can hardly understand. Not all bad for women.

Few years ago a Muslim friend, with more than one woman as wife in his country, was telling me that men out there were also having much more respect for their wives. Getting a new wife was also coming with huge responsibilities and, unless you were able to provide her, financially and in other areas, you were not allowed to do it.

I also know it was and it’s still hard for occidentals to understand why women of the “liberated” Afghanistan still want to keep their face covered and do not all hurry to embrace their full democratic rights. Media will always suggest it’s either by fear or silliness. But truth is there are also traditions, cultures and ways of living these people cherish, and occidentals hardly understand.

I remember our arrival in Canada, many years ago. I was amazed by so many laws that explicitly “protected” the woman. It may have looked like a paradise for women, but things were pushed to ridiculous and extreme. There were everywhere phone lines to denounce abuses, association to protect women etc. We were shown how democratic and egalitarian such country is, but many new immigrants could not imagine the need for such excessive coverage. What media will hardly say - and this is what we gradually discovered later, in time - is women from their own country (Canada) were until recently so frequently abused. In ways most immigrants could hardly imagine in their native countries.

Are women more happy in western countries? I see more than 50% of couple are divorced and plenty of single moms live a life from hell to meet both ends, kids and financial needs…

So watch 300, watch the relationship between King Leonidas and his wife, watch the deep love and respect he shows to her husband, and try to better understand that macho societies and countries dominated by man do not necessarily and always mean discrimination in the negative way for women.

True Men, True Values

What is the secret behind the force of this 300 Spartans, that held in place a huge army of Persians? How come the massive army of USA is not able today to “fix” the war in Iraq? Look closely and don’t get mad; I don’t pretend the suicide bombers or radical Muslims have the morality or force of character the 300 Spartans shown, but on the other side, the American side, everybody can see people no longer have true leaders and true values to rely on. Are American paying back for 9/11? In Iraq?! Everyone knows by now that’s a joke.

I was watching the other day on CNN American soldiers, freely speaking about the “idiots” from Capital Hill, while they die there for nothing. Because this is what this war has become, but few admit it: a circus, where politicians rule the world.

Look at King Leonidas and the Spartans around him. When leaders used to lead armies from the front row, there is no man in the world who will not follow them to the death. This is what true leaders and true men were made of. This is how 300 wonderful soldiers can eventually defeat huge armies. With great leaders and true values. And their true value was defending their own individual freedom. No compromise, no surrender, no kneeling. Dignity, pride, amazing courage, ultimate sacrifice. This is not the kind of macho we see today in fashion magazines, from nice looking gay people on their covers. But the kind of macho that makes you proud to be a man.

True Leaders and True Values - this is why movies like 300 or Gladiators are great. And our wives, girlfriends and daughters should watch these movies to better understand us.

Some of these name changes have been requested by the groups themselves, and the society and political class - in most cases - have been very glad to ascend to their demand. Why? It was the easiest way to “do something” for these groups with no cost at all. But as long as the general perception, people’s mentality and discriminatory attitude toward these groups didn’t actually change too much, the name switch is even worse for these categories than before. Why? Because they allowed the other categories to show and prove their “generosity”, when they in fact did nothing at all.

In particular, many black people are even more proud than before of their race and insist to be called Black People rather than Afro-Americans, a misleading term that suggests a better integration in the American society and more respect. In some regards, the respect and recognition came indeed, but not necessarily because of the new label.

What’s really disgusting - and that’s my topic here - is the way some well-educated people from “the high society”, especially from the political and rich class, deal with the issue. The way they educate others about the new terminology and get so offended when they hear the old terms. When in a vast majority of cases you clearly see they are just hypocrites, that nothing actually changed in their own perception of those groups. So many times, when someone talks about “black” people, has indeed, in his mind and soul, way more respect for “the black”. When the guy who carefully educates you about the fact “we should call them now Afro-Americans” and looks so offended that “you are a racist“, will call them “negro” behind your back or on a public occasion, when he cannot restrain his temper…

That’s also a tendency in rich countries to try to no longer differentiate people by race, origin and ethnicity. Well, at least at some level, when people talk about their social status and where they come from. For instance, when you are newly arrived in North America, most natives tell you “We are all here immigrants, all equal“. You feel good, but wait till the first economic recession, because exactly the same natives will start shamelessly and publicly complaining that “The new immigrants steal our jobs“. And this is how you learn that natives are in fact “more equal” than new immigrants. The term of equality, in the democratic sense, is still only on paper, as long as people’s mentalities shift, when they see their own interests touched in a slightly negative way.

I was severely criticized on a blog by a guy from France that I should no longer think in terms of races. And let’s make it clear in which context: I explained him Romanians and Romanian Gypsies are not just different ethnicities (have different origins, ancestors, languages, lifestyle), but also races. His article was starting with (translation from French) “Is there any Romanian from Romania around? In France, there are [Romanians] in the streets …”

Well, the largest acceptance of the “Romanian (from Romania)” sends you directly to the 90% white-colored Caucasian Romanian habitants, with Romans as their ancestors. It’s not about nationality, because when you see a distinct group of exclusively black people from a former French colony, who live now in France, nobody can possibly identify them with just a “French people from France“. And this has nothing to do with their skin color, it’s just that otherwise anyone in the world would immediately rather get the wrong image in their minds of some white people, from the large majority of this country’s habitants.

The same way, when you say about “Romanians from Romania [...] in the streets“, there is nothing here to tell you that, in fact, most people known everywhere in the world with this lifestyle or poor display are in fact … Gypsies! Name them Roma if you like (it’s obvious I didn’t use the term Gypsy with a negative connotation). Yes, they may be also Romanian citizens, born in Romania, with a Romanian nationality. But in this case any person with some common sense would rather say “Romanian Gypsies“, not just “Romanians”. Otherwise, this is how you propagate a ridiculous, degrading and humiliating myth about the whole Romanian people, who generally, in their vast majority, would be horrified and ashamed to live this way, to beg, to steal, to look like in the picture portrayed by our French friend. For who wants to know more, read Romanians and Gypsies - Two Worlds Apart or how other ignorant people or so-called charities try to propagate the same insulting image.

What I had really found as hypocrite in those replies was exactly the kind of “indignation” and educational discourse described before, that you get from people so full of scratching terms at their surface and teaching you the “democratic” way “people think in France”. Great defenders (in theory) of their own Gypsies, Moroccan or Maghrebian communities, they call you “racist” if you dare talking about races or ethnicities, pronouncing this word only, in a specific context and with no intended negative connotation. But on the other hand they rarely want to really know if same communities face racism in their own country, when time comes to find a job.

You’re labeled as racist if you point out Romanians and Romanian Gypsies are not the same thing, but on the other hand my friend here points out that even in France they have a different name for their own Gypsies. They obviously don’t say “Look at some French guys, like us” when they see a caravan passing…

Honestly now, I’m really afraid of this tendency and discourse of “we’re all in the same basket“, when rich countries try to make new immigrants welcomed, to feel better. “We’re all French people now, we’re all American people, all immigrants like you“. Because they are never consistent with what they claimed before. And even if they will not later point to your race, color, ethnicity, when time comes to find a job, to get a more appropriate salary or position, everybody knows that many of these decisions are strongly influenced by those criteria. But catch them if you can.

We’re actually forced to no longer talk in term of races not because it is always negative and we would prove we are racist, but rather because THEY don’t want us to talk about it, to go further and show where the racism is in their own countries, mentalities and attitudes.

From what I know, for most black people it really doesn’t matter if you call them Afro-Americans or Blacks. As long as they feel respect in your mind and soul - and people can feel it - this is what really matters! And more I get the message “You should no longer think in terms of races” and detect that people are inconsistent with what they say, more I’ll get proud of and stick to my Romanian roots. Is there any other way around?

This article is not against Gypsies, it’s not even about them. But rather about those ignorant, irresponsible and ultimately stupid people from rich countries who, pretending they care and help the oppressed, under the cover of a charitable association or “innocent” blog, are rather spreading their negative prejudices against other groups of people they know nothing about.

While their irresponsible messages and lobbies brought to Romanians a huge and unjust negative image, I will no longer watch my language and harsh words, and point my finger to what they do and say. I’ll introduce here only two of the numerous texts so discriminatory toward Romanians as people and nation.

Brittany’s Romania

A nice little blog of a very sensible and sweet young lady, you would say, watching the photos and reading some lines of her site. “My name is Brittany. I like chocolate. Call me.” - this is what her profile says. How can I have something bad to say about her - you may ask. She’s innocent, she loves Gypsies - it looks like she got in touch with such a friend, maybe over the web - or maybe she had a school project assigned about Gypsies, and this is how all her love for their culture started.

Nothing wrong with that, I also simply admire any person with such good intentions (I also wrote her a nice message). But read her notes: it seems that she selectively collected from the web those texts that do not only praise the Gypsy culture, but also blame and accuse Romanians as a whole for their oppression toward this race. And when you’re already biased by how sweet, sincere and innocent such person seems to be, how can you not believe whatever she says? It comes from good faith, isn’t it?

Just take a look at some phrases from her articles:

“Gypsies are recognized for having darker skin than the Romanians. [...] Romania has the largest portion of Gypsy people - about 2 million. The communist regime in Romania used to offer the Gypsies protection, but is now gone. [...] Gypsies face terrible discrimination. They are a people laden with many difficulties. [...] The Gypsies have lived in Romania for hundreds of years but have not become socially excepted by the rest of the Romanians. They are a people who have always, and still are, greatly discriminated against. [...] It’s amazing to me how these beautiful and culturally rich people are discriminated so greatly in their own country. [...] The Romanians are generally thought to be very hospitable people.”

How comes? If you’re not already biased against Romanians, you can easily read confusing and very contradictory information. So the communist regime used to offer them protection - and by the way, this is the reason why they become so numerous in Romania, because they enjoyed privileges nowhere else they could find - but “They are a people who have always [...] greatly discriminated against“.

“The Romanians are generally thought to be very hospitable people“. Oh, thank you. So we should be really crazy when we tell the rest of the world our own stories. The obsessive repetition of “discrimination” and pointing fingers to the Romanians when you don’t have enough information make such a blog suspect.

Yes, Brittany, you may be well a nice young lady and it’s good you have such education, to get in touch and try to help other people in difficulty. But your parents should also teach you that you must think twice, collect information, get well documented, before spreading on the web such abject accusations over another nation you know nothing about.

Mission possible - Gypsy adventure in Romania

I’ll look now at an article posted in The Decatur Daily newspaper from Tennessee in 2005. It’s signed by Ashley Pentecost, a member of a Christian charitable association, at her first time she “really ventured from her safehaven back home“.

Well, nice and really charitable to volunteer and help poor people in a country other then yours. But once again, why blaming Romanians just-like-that for their discrimination against Gypsies? The only information you present there - and you seem to agree with this! - is many of country’s church members “do not believe gypsies’ lack of education, cleanliness, jobs and proper speaking allows them to be an effective witness for Christ“. If Gypsies you met there were poor, this doesn’t necessarily means there have been no efforts over the years to help them, both socially and financially.

How comes you figured out by yourself their lifestyle, but you also quickly jump to point fingers:

“I was shocked to see the extent of the Romanians’ prejudice against the gypsies. They are limited to menial jobs, and aren’t allowed to go to school past eighth grade. If they can’t find a job, they farm, shepherd, beg or steal.”

Romanians all over the world are shocked about the prejudice YOU people have not just about our country, but also about other nations. How can you pretend you really understood the problems there and the reality, in your very short stay? Beside the mentalities of some Romanians, what FACTS have you witnessed to justify your affirmations?

And take it from someone who lived there for years: I’m shocked to hear such statement, that “they aren’t allowed to go to school past eighth grade“. In fact, the government was forcing them to send their kids to school, because they didn’t want to! They didn’t go to colleges or universities because this is not mandatory and they think they didn’t need it! It’s easier to steal, to take someone else’s assets. It’s unbelievable how wrong you can be and what stupid things you spread over the world, when for 20 years I lived and grew up there, and a “charitable visitor” like you arrogantly pretends she knows better!

“Instead, I saw impoverished families and children forced to beg and steal. I witnessed the hatred for these people, who live in shacks in a country used to winter temperatures 30 degrees below zero.”

“Forced to beg and steal“! You people don’t realize how stupid and mean you look when you say things like this! How can Romanians “force” Gypsies to steal, when people out there still have to watch their pockets and wallets every morning they go to work?! They are still afraid they get beaten by Gypsies if they venture in some areas… And let me say this, because I’m not like you (to go against anyone called Romanian): I don’t blame Gypsies as a whole, I blame only those with unethical and criminal activities, it doesn’t matter if they are Romanians, Gypsies or Americans!

“As for me, I’m much more grateful for my countless freedoms and opportunities.”

Yes, you should be grateful you’re born in a rich country. Maybe some day a Gypsy or Romanian “import” will clean up the house for you and wash your dishes, for a few bucks. I’m happy such trip to Romania made you feel better about yourself and got you a nice newspaper album, with photos you can show your friends. My only wish is God watches indeed over us and looks at what you wrote in that article. If he must hug you for your charitable work with Gypsies, I’m not so sure what He thinks about your irresponsible comments and disinformation you spread about the “oppressors“.

Shame on you!

I was watching my daughter and I was saying thanks God she’s only 9 and does not really understand what she is forced to sing. I was watching around: some other “imports” like myself were either confused or already accustomed with this sign of “appreciation” from the host country. The few Americans - including a friend of ours - were rather very proud of their “hospitality”. And the teacher, an old lady with very little knowledge of what other countries exist in the world beside US, Canada, Mexico, France and Mogadishu (I’m not kidding) was probably thinking those imports should feel very proud for the attention.

I rarely felt so humiliated and embarrassed. I knew the term “import” is exclusively used for merchandise, for animals, cows, objects. You can import skills, expertise or computer data. And yes, I knew there are companies that use it also for people, like “He is an import from Norway”. But hey, businesses are businesses, you’re not there for charity, but to provide a service, a task. Employers are all money-oriented and we fully understand this.

I never again heard the term “import” used for people in other countries. In Canada it is about “immigration” or “bringing”/”hiring” people from outside, on either a permanent or temporary basis. I looked on different dictionaries and most of them has the definition of “import” associated with only “something”, not somebody, someone. Yes, I see some have recent updates, but still mostly in the business context, as presented before.

When it’s about social services, social status, your daughter’s Christmas concert, you do not expect to be treated as an “import”. How low can still America go? I doubt there is any American who would ever accept to be treated by a nation as “import”. Insulting and shameless.

And talking about imports, the same friend who’s been with us at the concert, when the 2000 recession became more visible, started to complain about the “imports” who “stole” their jobs. And she was not complaining about those people accepted there on a temporary basis, but on the green card residents and immigrants.

“America is importing people… People just like you and just like me…”

Well, we may look alike, but we are “imports“. I suppose we’re not far from having required a stamp on the front, with “Made in China“, “Made in India“, “Made in Russia“. Just like the imported merchandise.