TR Hot 5: Terry Childs' verdict from an IT perspective

I'm Sonja Thompson with TechRepublic's Hot 5, and during this episode -- on May 7th, 2010 -- we're going to count down the hottest discussions of the week.

Jack Wallen came through with a stellar post in the Linux and Open Source blog this past week about what exactly Linux should be. Should it try to be like another operating system? Well, the TechRepublic community had an opportunity to chime in this one by taking a poll at the bottom of the post, and at the time of this recording, of the 1,600+ respondents, the majority selected the option, "No." There you go, Linux -- just keep doing your own thing.

It's no surprise that a Geekend post earned a top spot in this week's Hot 5, and this one was thanks to Senior Editor Mary Weilage who assembled a list of best and worst comic book movies -- that is, according to Metacritic, which is a CBS Interactive site. So, on one side we have"Superman: The Movie," "Iron Man," and "The Crow" -- and on the other side we have "Son of the Mask," "Whiteout," and "Howard the Duck."

And of course the TechRepublic community chimed in with their opinions in the discussion thread, so if you're wondering what comic book movies you should see or definitely stay away from, this post is a must-read. I'll be sure to link to this and the other hot discussions of the week in the blog notes.

Toni Bowers, TechRepublic's Head Bogs Editor, gave some excellent advice to hiring managers about how they should act when conducting job interviews. Not asking illegal questions may seem like a no-brainer, but you also shouldn't do things like monopolize the interview, dish out really tough questions, and act like you re all that and a bag of chips.

There was also some great advice in the discussion thread, including the very first comment from TR member Johan who said that he'd like to add one important issue to the list: "Beware of visual or emotional deception." Johan also shared some hiring procedures that have worked for him in the past, such as ranking a candidate and them showing them the score table after the interview. He said that this can actually help people who just missed the job -- that they can learn something from the interview about their answers and behavior.

Senior Editor Mark Kaelin sped close to the top with his post about how fast a PC should boot. His poll received over 2,000 votes, and there was a whole lotta chatter going on about it in the discussion thread. The majority of folks who took the poll, at least at the time of this recording, think that a PC should boot in 30 to 59 seconds. You know what I say? As long as it's actually booting up, it's a good day.

And the hottest discussion of the week was instigated from a post by Bill Detwiler, TechRepublic's Head Blogs Editor, about Terry Childs, a former net admin in San Francisco, who was convicted of a single felony charge of denying computer services.

Now, Bill also included a poll in his post, asking the TR community if they agree with the guilty verdict. And I have to say that I was a little surprised to see such a strong majority who selected the option "Yes." I mean, aren't you guys supposed to stick together or something?

Last but not least, it's become a weekly tradition to give a shout out to the TR members who have posted the most comments over the past week -- so, here's a great big thanks to NickNielsen, ansugeisler, Deadly Ernest, santeewelding, and Ron K.

Take care, everyone, and be sure to tune in next week for another TR Hot 5.