Reality Check: Collaboration may be all the rage these days, but it’s also got a downside IT ought to understand. Collaboration is a bandwidth killer. “As creators of collaborative software spew out application after application, other ISVs are quickly following up with what you might call the antidote: software designed to prevent a tidal wave of collaborative programs from overwhelming corporate networks,” Ephraim Schwartz begins. Avistar Communications, FaceTime Communications and Permessa are three such examples, though their approaches differ somewhat. “Provisioning bandwidth is a pain, sucking up a lot of time and money. Yet the call for collaboration keeps the network bandwidth-hungry.” Ongoing coverage: Macworld 2008. And our three-part video series: Two Geeks and iPhone. Careers: In the analogously titled Some headhunters are bumblebees, but you’re not dead yet, Nick Corcodilos responds to a reader who, after calling a pair of headhunters back and leaving message, never heard from them again. “Some recruiters … flit from one flower to the next, with little memory of where they were last. Odds are, they are busy with other candidates, which means they may come back to you, or they may not. You have zero control. For that reason alone, I suggest you forget about them and move on,” Corcodilos advises. Another reader says that where he lives and works, in Maine, job seekers 49.5 years of age are “the walking dead.” Not so, Corcodilos answers, but we are in a bold new world. “Don’t be shocked when I tell you that I’ve heard from readers in their 60’s and 70’s who’ve written to say they’ve gotten new jobs. How? By showing how they will profit their new employers. It’s not an option: Everyone needs to be able to do that nowadays. Employers won’t figure it out for themselves — you must demonstrate it.” Save Windows XP. Sign the petition — and, as part of our effort, we’re encouraging IT pros and individuals to submit their own videos on why Microsoft should keep XP alive. Remember, too, that XP is greener than Vista. Software Development