It’s not often that I get excited about the launch of a new community site, but this one really caught my eye.

The site is www.tipd.com and it is a brand new site that provides the social and community aspects of sites like Digg that center around the financial sector.  With the global economy facing some extreme challenges www.tipd.com is perfectly positioned to provide a source of news and information, in real time, for financial, business and investment minded people.

After going through the site for awhile, I really think this is a great idea and a service that is sure to be useful to a lot of people.  Even though there are a lot of Digg like sites out there, this one comes along at a perfect time and is aimed at tapping into the crowdsourcing philosophy or providing useful financial tips.

In addition, Tipd.com has the backing of Muhammed Saleem, one of the top Diggers on the planet.  He definitely knows what makes a social site work and what is required for a successful implementation.

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As a follow up to our post on 25 Reasons Why it’s Great to be an IT Guy (or Girl), I thought I’d contrast that a bit, and list out some reasons why it’s not so good to be an IT Guy. 

Fair is fair, and no matter how thinly you slice it, there are always two sides to every situation. 

If you’ve been around the IT game for any length of time, many, if not most, of these will make sense to you.  So let’s take a look at some of the reasons why it sucks to be the "IT Guy".

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As we all know, the US is currently in the middle of an economic crisis.  The true extent of that crisis depends on who you listen to. 

One thing is for sure however, and that is that we are currently in a major economic slowdown. 

Some major financial institutions have recently failed completely or had their assets seized including AIG, Bear Stearns, Wachovia and Washington Mutual along with some not as well known institutions such as IndyMac Bancorp Inc., First National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank NA of California.

What this means is that our economy is most definitely in trouble.  The housing market, sub-prime mortgage debacle and the impending credit crunch have all lead to plummeting consumer confidence. 

As I finish writing this the US government is stepping in and passing a $700 billion dollar bailout package.  Will this have a positive, long-term effect on the economy remains to be seen.

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