Careers: Re-entering the workforce, one reader pens a letter to Ask the headhunter’s Nick Corcodilos, What’s a mentor? “As you meet smart people in the circles you travel in, just talk to them,” Corcodilos answers. “Do that a few times with a savvy person over the course of time, and then it is very easy to call on them for advice on more specific things.” The news beat: IBM targets smaller businesses with software and resources, including Rational and Tivoli tools, for managing network infrastructure. Data from the U.S. Census bureau determines that Silicon Valley is of course the highest concentration of IT professionals but the second one will undoubtedly come as a surprise to most folks, if not to the ones who live there. France kicks off a nationwide spam fight with a system it hopes will shut spammers down quickly. And Microsoft plays detective to determine how frequently Web users succumb to phishing attacks. Notes from the field: It’s Friday and, once again, that means Cringely has the geek week in review. Atop that list is the RIAA and its downright nasty lawsuit against Native American mom Jammie Thomas who was slapped with a $220,000 fine for allegedly making available some 24 songs. State Rep. Matthew Barrett, meanwhile, plugged a memory stick into a PC during his lecture to Ohio school children and up came an image of a topless woman. Barrett denied knowing where it came from and did not take responsibility for a California city’s Web site that sent visitors to porn. A new Zune cameos, too. Data management: With no list of SSIS packages this long after Yukon SP2, Sean McCown asks How long does it take? “Currently, SSIS packages are sorted by import date. I don’t know who thought that was a good idea, but I have a hard time believing that I’m the only one complaining about this,” McCown asserts. “Guys, give us a little patch or something and let us sort these things.” Careers