Many young professionals complain that their e-mails are not answered by their alumni members or they are ignored on Internet forums/mailing lists. Or when they apply for internship/job no company answers them.

Could it be that they chose a wrong kind of e-mail address.

A few tips Deepak Goel has on how to choose an email ID.

Yet another reason for your emails going un-answered may have to do with using SMS-speak or bad grammar in your e-mails. While it may possibly shorten the time for typing an e-mail it makes it relatively un-readable to busy professionals. Running your emails through a spell-check is a good idea.

Typing in ALLCAPS is considered the text equivalent of shouting.

And one shouldn't write e-mails with attached resumes to random people in random companies unless you have some relevant ideas as to what that company/organization does and if it fits well with what you want to do.

Around march Google organizes Summer of Code targeted at students by funding Open Source Projects to enable them to pay interns who deliver on specific features/projects. GNU amongst many other OSS projects participates in the program.

From GNU GSoC project ideas page

<Quote>
This page has the project suggestions for GNU's participation in Google Summer of Code 2008. Project proposals for 2006 and 2007 are archived separately.

STUDENTS - BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR PROJECT PROPOSAL:

Please read the GNU Project's guidelines for Summer of Code projects.

Most importantly, please make sure you include all the information requested. If you have questions, please ask
summer-of-code@gnu.org.

</Quote>

PS: I am not connected to GNU, Google or GSoC

<Quote>

Seeking a talented front end web designer to join an experienced start-up team. Primary responsibility will be to assist in development of creative solutions in web interface design and data visualization for a completely new web application. While we value experience and a proven track record, what we value even more is fresh ideas and a strong desire to create new solutions for navigating data in today's Web 2.0 environment.

A strong portfolio and work experience are welcome, but we're really looking for a passionate maverick with attention to detail. The technical skills we would also favor include (note that the candidate needs to be comfortable, not an expert, in these areas):

- Experience in Adobe Flash 8/9 Platform (Design, Components, Animation)
- Skilled with GIMP, Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator
- Ability to take designs from flat file to high standard XHTML/CSS compliance quickly and in multiple environments.
- Innovative ideas and familiarity with the issues involved in data visualization and interface design;

Nice to Haves:
- Experience in Actionscript, especially working together with server-side data;
- Working knowledge of Javascript (and ideally AJAX)
- Understanding of usability, workflow of Web 2.0 platforms

This position would be ideal for an upcoming young designer/design student looking for an opportunity to create impact. We are a globally-oriented and merit-based organization, with exciting job growth opportunities. We believe in hiring great talent and compensating accordingly.

If you feel these criteria match you,please contact us at job-601310144 at craigslist dot org

Telecommuting is ok.
This is a part-time, contract job.

</Quote>

OWASP Summer of Code for these projects has an application deadline till 25th March 2008. They have a tentative budget of 100K USD. About OWASP

PS: I am not connected to OWASP in any way.