Do IT pros need annual performance reviews?

What's the best way to get your domain removed from a blacklist? ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ [View in browser]( [Spiceworks]( Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there are only 41 shopping days left until December 25. Every year, I tell myself I'm going to get started early, but I get distracted and end up putting everything together at the last minute. Kind of like this week's spicy picks, which I hope you enjoy! [SpiceRex]( [SpiceRex]( Spiceworks Community [Does anyone get anything out of performance reviews?]( Regardless of the time of year it occurs, the annual review cycle never seems to come at a good time. It requires you to look back on a year's worth of projects, mishaps, and accomplishments, many of which you've long since forgotten. When there isn't a lot going on, it's tempting to just repurpose what you wrote in the previous year, as Community member Yellowshirtcc laments. Do performance reviews help you plan your career, or are they just a bunch of busywork? [An Endless Cycle]( [Help! Google has blacklisted our email!]( It would be very difficult to get through a workday without access to email. No IT department wants to discover that their corporate domain has been blocked from sending emails, especially because it's such a pain to find a real human contact when you're looking for email postmaster support. Community member Mike6347 is struggling to find a solution to Gmail and Google-hosted servers bouncing emails and doesn't know what to try next. [What would you do? »]( [Voice of IT]( [What other social sites do you hang out on?]( Spiceworks is arguably one of the best places on the internet to hang out with the smartest, funniest, and most knowledgeable people in the IT world. But we're not the only place to socialize. Where do you hang out when you're not here? Let us know in this week's poll. [You'll always be in our Top 8 »]( Upcoming Events: [Reducing risks with hardware-based security]( [🗓️ Wed. November 16, 2023 at 1:00 PM (Central) | 18:00 UTC]( 📢 Sponsors: Intel vPro and Dell Did you know that 69 percent of organizations have experienced some type of cyberattack as a result of a poorly managed internet-facing asset? Join this webinar to learn how Intel vPro® and Dell reduce that risk by delivering multiple layers of security to help keep your business safe. [Register now »]( [See more events »]( What else we've been reading this week: [If alien life is artificially intelligent, it may be stranger than we can imagine]( BBC Future Most science fiction movies depict alien life as mammal-like, often humanoid. But what if aliens have evolved beyond the need for a physical form and are more like artificial intelligence? What would they look like? [The psychology behind Amazon's purchase experience]( Growth·Design This case study in web comic form highlights some of the dark patterns currently in use on Amazon that may be subconsciously tricking your brain into buying more than you need. [World's oldest pyramid found not in Egypt or Americas, but in Indonesia]( Atlas Obscura A team of researchers believes that a hill in West Java isn't actually a hill at all, but a man-made structure that was sculpted into a pyramid about 25,000 years ago. [The Beatles' final song is now streaming thanks to AI]( The Verge Paul McCartney said "it took almost a quarter of a century for us to wait until the right moment" to attempt to finish the unfinished "Now and Then" Beatles demo song. It was finally released on November 2, with some help from AI. [CPU makers experimenting with alternative substrates to double clock speeds]( TechSpot By using a diamond substrate, engineers have managed to get one of Nvidia's most powerful chips to run at three times its base clock. FYI: This was the story in Snap! that had the most community votes last week. Did you find today's newsletter helpful? [Thumbs Up]( [Thumbs Down]( [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to Spiceworks Newsletter. 301 Congress Avenue, Suite 600, Austin, TX 78701 [www.spiceworks.com]( [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [COMMUNITY]( [PRIVACY POLICY](