Still looking for a summer internship? The 2012 Google Summer of Code (GSoC) starts accepting application from students on Monday March 26.

GSoC is a global program funded by Google that pays undergraduate or graduate students a $5000 stipend to write code for open source projects. GSoC has worked with the open source community to identify and fund exciting projects for the upcoming summer. Last year over 1,100 students were funded by the program. The FAQ is a good place to find out more.

A set of open source projects (aka mentoring organizations) has been selected. Students apply to work on one of more of these and each mentoring organization ranks the students interested in working with them. Google facilitates the final selection and pairing. The mentoring organization works closely with the student to define tasks, check progress, help solve problems, etc. Typically the student works remotely, interacting with his or her mentor via email, chat, skype, etc.

Students can submit applications via the Google Summer of Code 2012 site from March 26 to April 6. Google says that that the best applications they receive are from students who took the time to interact with one of the participating mentoring organizations and discuss their ideas before submitting an application. So your first step should be to look at the list of 2012 GSoC Mentoring Organizations and contact some that have projects that interest you and for which you have the right skills and background.

See the GSoC 2012 Program Timeline for a complete schedule. You might also check out the information on the Advice for GSoC Students Page and the GSoC forum.

A new phenomenon has been sweeping job interviews.  Many employers are checking out perspective employee’s social media profiles…and it gets worse…

The Maryland Department of Corrections has taken to asking job seekers to log-on during the interview so they can see information found behind the privacy filter. But some companies are going even further, asking applicants to give them their username and password.

If you’re getting the heby-jebies you’re not alone. Facebook is taking offense to this and posted on their privacy page that they will  ”take action to protect the privacy and security of our users.” To Facebook, this is an invasion of privacy (ironic right?). But that doesn’t mean they’re wrong.

Privacy filters are there for a reason and Facebook is threating legal action against anyone who tries to violate it:

Facebook takes your privacy seriously. We’ll take action to protect the privacy and security of our users, whether by engaging policymakers or, where appropriate, by initiating legal action, including by shutting down applications that abuse their privileges.

However, there is an easy way around this, don’t put anything on Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube that you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see.

ohgeography:

gym class heroes are coming my school and i am never not (<—double your fun, double your pleasure) wearing this shirt. it’s like having a blimp except i’m on foot. it’s like one of those nike shirts but better, so thanks jason for making it. i’m gonna go for a run (lets see how far i can go today and how many times i stop for breaks) and if you see me while you’re driving, please hit me, and put me out of my misery. 

GIRL, YES.