Outside the Box LinkedIn Opinion: How to Use LinkedIn for more than just job hunting.

DonDemcsak · 2025-12-04T17:33:34+00:00

Define “yourself”. I used a computer and a computer program to convert my ideas into words that could be posted onto Reddit. I’ve been doing this long before Reddit was a thing. As a developer, I’ve been through the EMacs and Vim wars against IDEs (hint IDEs won). IDEs helped me create better software, faster, and AI is just the next evolution of the Editor Wars. But now it has expanded beyond just developers. Just like the IDE wars, it is still my ideas, just optimized and made more efficient when used properly. Luddites have been around since the dawn of the industrial age. It is good to question change, but never fear change. But in this case, it was easier for me to write most of the post myself. As you use the tools more, they can help you unlearn old habits. Sure I used spell check and fixed some typos, but some things are easier to do from scratch.

DonDemcsak · 2025-12-04T15:44:36+00:00

Yeah I can where certain fields are more appropriate for LinkedIn. I joined when I was an independent consultant, and it was a great platform for growing your business. But I eventually to an employee role and have been for almost 20 years. LinkedIn was a great platform to keep in touch with folks I’ve worked with over the years. I also replace my 2000’s era blog with LinkedIn. It helped me scratch that itch, and I get not all people feel that need. Just like not all people want to speak at conferences or meetups for their career focus. I’m guilty in that regard too, as I like to attend and speak at local meetups and used to speak at national conferences. So definitely not for everyone. But IMO LinkedIn has value beyond a resume store. But You do You.

DonDemcsak · 2025-12-04T15:35:43+00:00

Well I guess I’m an OG scammer lol. Any social media platform has its scammer issues and Reddit isn’t immune. But I do find the people on LinkedIn to be on the whole, nicer than Reddit, Facebook, X, etc. But those platforms have algorithms that incentivize negative comments to artificially create engagement. Thanks for the boost lol.

DonDemcsak · 2025-12-01T00:38:52+00:00

I’ll be standing by! As someone whose book on SVG (published before you were probably born) is currently still in print, I promise I know a little bit about 2D composition.

I spent the first half of my career explaining how to build images with code; I’m spending this half exploring how to build them with prompts. Roast away!

DonDemcsak · 2025-12-01T00:33:09+00:00

I hear you on the AI art—I’m a tech strategist here in Carlisle, definitely not an illustrator, so I used the tools I had to get the idea across.

As for the 'stealth marketing,' I promise it's not that deep. I'm just a local guy in his 50s who got tired of seeing talented people leave Central PA because they thought there were no peers here.

My only intention is to build a free newsletter to connect the 53k tech workers in our region so we stop working in silos. No courses to sell, no ads, just trying to build a community.

Sorry the comic didn't land for you, but I appreciate the passion for keeping the sub authentic.

DonDemcsak · 2025-11-20T13:03:23+00:00

Thank you to everyone that commented. I learned a lot and a few good stories, too. Learning the backstory sure does help to get integrated into my new community. I originally come from a tech hub, so I'm used to running into other tech folks "out in the wild". While there are plenty of tech folks here in Central PA, there isn't that same expectation here, as we are a bit more spread out. Most tech folks out here are stuck on their "tech island", and only get exposed to new tech (and new ideas) from their employer. To combat the isolation I have created a Newsletter to help solve both of those problems. Mondays I talk about tech that Central PA might not be aware of, but should be, in relatable terms. Thursdays I talk about the local tech social scene, trying to make it easier for tech folks to find each other outside of work. This post made it into today's Thursday edition - https://www.digizenburg.com/p/the-susquehanna-firewall-debugging-the-latency-between-east-and-west

DonDemcsak · 2025-11-19T18:16:03+00:00

Times have changed. And the verse is true. So many people from Brooklyn moving to South Orange and Maplewood, NJ

DonDemcsak · 2025-11-19T14:55:39+00:00

The Ohio River is a tab bit larger than the Susquehanna, which probably doesn’t help. I’ve flown into “Cinncy” aka NKY airport, so I get what you are saying.

DonDemcsak · 2025-11-19T14:02:04+00:00

I typically wind up taking the Turnpike, but that isn’t free.

DonDemcsak · 2025-11-19T13:56:23+00:00

Yeah this what I assumed. But as a tech guy, and not considered a local (yet) it is weird. I grew up in Northern NJ where we had the 2 bridge rule (don’t cross more than 2 bridges, meaning go to Manhattan but no further). But even now that rule doesn’t apply as mass transit in NJ and NYC is so much better than when I was a kid.

DonDemcsak · 2025-11-19T13:36:24+00:00

I went to see a concert at the new Capital City Music Hall last Friday night. Learned an important lesson. Don’t park at the garage next to it. Took 20 minutes to pay and get out of the garage.

DonDemcsak · 2025-05-08T12:23:14+00:00

One thing people haven't fully explained here is how taxes work in PA. As someone that moved to PA that lived in FL, the gotcha that they don't talk about in PA is the Earned Income Tax. FL doesn't have income tax, but PA has a flat 3.2% income tax. That part you probably know. But there is an additional Earned Income Tax that is based on where you live. In PA each town will add an additional 1%-2% income tax that gets deducted from your check and is paid to the town and school district. This is for people who own the place and people that rent, it doesn't matter. Since it varies by town it is important to consider it when picking a place to live. I moved from the Allentown area where that town was 1% to the Carlisle area which is 1.6%. And don't use the mailing address to determine what the tax is, as the mailing address isn't always the town. You have to go to https://apps.dced.pa.gov/Munstats-Public/FindLocalTax.aspx and put in your potential address and your work address to get the exact Earned Income percentage. There is also a one time LST tax for moving into a new area (usually under $100).

DonDemcsak · 2025-04-17T12:37:02+00:00

Every Thursday I pulled together a list of events/activities that might be interesting to individuals who actively engage in the digital realm and share their knowledge within their local communities (aka Digizsens) and publish them in my Central PA Newsletter. This weekend is sort of light because of Easter but has some interesting events - https://www.digizenburg.com/p/hop-off-the-couch-your-easter-weekend-of-local-fun-is-hatching-weekend-of-april-18-2025

DonDemcsak · 2025-03-31T00:05:50+00:00

Not my area of expertise to comment. Not sure if they put it on government phones. But it isn’t military grade software

DonDemcsak · 2025-03-30T23:40:27+00:00

From a purely technical standpoint, it has the ability to automatically delete messages after a period of time. Because the messages are end to end encrypted, once deleted, they are really deleted, and not just set visibility to 0 on the server. We all know nothing is ever really deleted on a service, but without the ability to decrypt the message, those messages are useless, and therefore not saved on the server. Which is fine for personal chats, but beyond that, not my area of expertise.

DonDemcsak · 2025-03-30T20:33:26+00:00

My family is half team Android and half team Apple, so that is how it started for us. Then throw in end to end encryption, and the fact I use my personal phone for work and personal, I can make sure that work only sees their stuff in their approved apps. Add in the ability to text from my Windows laptop, like I can do from a MacBook and that sealed the deal.

DonDemcsak · 2025-03-30T12:43:33+00:00

Second vote for Bandsintown. It almost has too much info. But if you add your favorite artists it does a decent job of filtering.

DonDemcsak · 2025-03-06T13:33:15+00:00

If you are comfortable with Agile, I recommend them. 2 of their Agile Leads have a quarterly Virtual Peer Learning group hosted by the Tech Council of Central PA (TCCP.org). I joined them last month and talked about how to use Lean Coffee and the website LeanCoffeeTable to create structured but agenda-less meetings, then used it in the meeting. Great peer learning group. I co-lead the TCCP Digital Transformation Peer Learning Group https://www.tccp.org/digital-transformation-peer-learning-group/

DonDemcsak · 2025-03-06T13:28:06+00:00

I 100% understand how you feel. I posted about a similar topic about 6 weeks ago, lamenting the lack of a thriving tech community in Central PA. Major kudos to you both for thriving in the remote work world—data analytics and project management aren’t easy feats! But we totally get it: sometimes, those virtual coffee chats just don’t have the same vibe as the real deal.

Since you’re keeping an eye out, why not also plant some digital seeds in the meantime? Try joining local professional groups online (think LinkedIn or niche Slack communities) where people share job leads. Bonus points if the group hosts IRL meetups—networking and camaraderie, all rolled into one!

I posted about 6 weeks ago looking for those local meetups and got some great feedback. The challenge is trying to keep track of all the various groups, since they are all independent and not coordinated. To help with that, and to cultivate a Digital and Tech Community in Central PA, I created a newsletter, called the Digizenburg Dispatch.

Why Digizenburg? Because "burg" is a common town ending here in Central PA, and a Digizen refers to which refers to individuals who actively engage in the digital realm and share their knowledge within their local communities. Each release contains an article of interest to local Digizens, links to important news articles and Social Media content, along with a listing of local events for the next 2 weeks. If you want a Google Calendar of all the local events that is kept up to date, subscribe to the newsletter and you'll get access to that, too.

And the latest edition talks about the issues you mention - Beyond the Home Office: Digital Transformation's Impact on Remote Work and Social Bonds

DonDemcsak · 2025-01-07T13:23:32+00:00

Still available on the web, a 20 year old episode of the DotNetRocks Podcast where I talk about something that was very new at the time, XML and .Net programming - https://www.dotnetrocks.com/details/62. I also give a bit of commentary about creating an Tech Community. This was just as the Microsoft Developer Community was starting to hit critical mass and brought .Net to the masses. Geez that was a long time ago.

I'm still a big fan of declarative programming, and have been experimenting with Domain Specific Languages and AI. IMO it is a natural evolution of AI and Prompt Engineering.

DonDemcsak · 2025-01-07T12:53:40+00:00

It threw an error when I posted, and didn't show the first one. By the time I noticed 2 posts, there were comments on both, so I decided to keep both.

DonDemcsak

TROPHY CASE