I was in the exact same position, in 2001. Graduated with a CS degree into a difficult job market, found a QA position after several months of looking.
While there I did pick up on some odd jobs like cvs maintainer, random programming bits, but it was clear the company wasn't going to move me into full time programming.
I ended up taking a job at another company in professional services / account management. Seemingly a step back from the technical career path, but I was hired as the technical resource on accounts, handling integration work. Hence, in retrospect a lateral move. While there I worked very closely with the engineering team, but for a few years advanced my career more in line with professional services.
Fast forward a couple of years, I was doing full-time account management, traveling to meet clients... and decided I wanted to be a programmer instead. Thankfully I'd kept up with my programming skills even in a non-engineering side of the company, and was hired into an engineering position at another company.
Point is, don't be afraid to be creative as to your position and career path, just keep honing your skills and interests.
And just from a personal POV, get out of QA.
It's a pretty good phone, and the camera on it (5 MP, although megapixel counts are largely useless) is decent in that the autofocus is useful, and low-light performance is good without using the flash. In addition you can use it as a bluetooth or USB modem, when in 3G coverage the speed is pretty nice.
As for satnav, the N95 also has GPS. Google maps is usually a better experience than the bundled navigation software, as it is has snappy performance, and can utilize both GPS data as well as cell-tower triangulation. However, you will have to be in data-coverage to use it. Outside of data coverage, you can use the bundled nav software with pre-downloaded maps.
It's an adequate music player, and you could probably even watch movies on it. Full youtube access is nice, and emTube lets you download youtube movies for non-networked viewing.
Of course if you are using all these features, an extra battery, or a USB charging cable would probably be good.
I just ordered a Fujitsu P1620, on reports of it as a lightweight convertible tablet with an SSD option and gobs of battery life and good linux compatibility. Might be a good option to consider, given your requirements.
A coffee shop in Mountain View, CA, offers free wifi, but no power outlets. I think it's brilliant -- you can only wifi-squat for as long as you have battery power.
Their coffee is not bad either.
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I was in the exact same position, in 2001. Graduated with a CS degree into a difficult job market, found a QA position after several months of looking. While there I did pick up on some odd jobs like cvs maintainer, random programming bits, but it was clear the company wasn't going to move me into full time programming. I ended up taking a job at another company in professional services / account management. Seemingly a step back from the technical career path, but I was hired as the technical resource on accounts, handling integration work. Hence, in retrospect a lateral move. While there I worked very closely with the engineering team, but for a few years advanced my career more in line with professional services. Fast forward a couple of years, I was doing full-time account management, traveling to meet clients... and decided I wanted to be a programmer instead. Thankfully I'd kept up with my programming skills even in a non-engineering side of the company, and was hired into an engineering position at another company. Point is, don't be afraid to be creative as to your position and career path, just keep honing your skills and interests. And just from a personal POV, get out of QA.
It's a pretty good phone, and the camera on it (5 MP, although megapixel counts are largely useless) is decent in that the autofocus is useful, and low-light performance is good without using the flash. In addition you can use it as a bluetooth or USB modem, when in 3G coverage the speed is pretty nice. As for satnav, the N95 also has GPS. Google maps is usually a better experience than the bundled navigation software, as it is has snappy performance, and can utilize both GPS data as well as cell-tower triangulation. However, you will have to be in data-coverage to use it. Outside of data coverage, you can use the bundled nav software with pre-downloaded maps. It's an adequate music player, and you could probably even watch movies on it. Full youtube access is nice, and emTube lets you download youtube movies for non-networked viewing. Of course if you are using all these features, an extra battery, or a USB charging cable would probably be good. I just ordered a Fujitsu P1620, on reports of it as a lightweight convertible tablet with an SSD option and gobs of battery life and good linux compatibility. Might be a good option to consider, given your requirements.
A coffee shop in Mountain View, CA, offers free wifi, but no power outlets. I think it's brilliant -- you can only wifi-squat for as long as you have battery power. Their coffee is not bad either.