If you're in London, I must recommend some local places for you to go.
There's a charming cafe chain called 'Starbucks' - they do pretty good coffee and usually have wifi. Don't be put off by the 'crazy' names for their drink sizes, just bask in that local charm. If you can't find one of those, do stop into one of the family restaurants in the 'McDonalds' chain - they often have wifi, and you can enjoy one of our local delicacies (cheese and meat at the same time, crazy!).
I bought a Casiq watch in Nicaragua - that's not a typo, it was a clear ripoff of the classic 80s Casio digital watch, with just the 'q' in the logo different (as I recall, logo copying is easier to prosecute than actual design / circuit copying). It cost me a couple of dollars, and:
* survived a little swim when my kayak upturned
* still worked at least 3 years later on the same battery
* had an awesome upgrade from the original in the form of multicoloured LEDs that pulsed randomly when the alarm went off. Wrist disco FTW.
Strange to hear the current ultrasound machines being described as 'clunky' - the one at my (NHS) hospital where my wife got her scans was pretty awesome. The level of ergonomic & functional design that went into it was fantastic, and the operator knew exactly what she was doing. The machine had clearly been designed in collaboration with the end user, as it had e.g. cubby holes for gel bottles and all smooth easy-to-clean surfaces. The nurse had one hand on the scanner, and the other on a trackball with which she was marking up the images as she took them - the images zipped to the side of the screen in a nice thumbnail list as she took them, and everything worked really well.
Considering how often bespoke technology workplace seems to be poorly thought out or just generic stuff pressed into service, I was very impressed.
Oh, fuck off. Maybe it's NICE for grandparents to be able to talk to their kids, even though they live thousands of miles away. I've started skypeing with my mother-in-law (who lives on the other side of the Atlantic), and it's great that she can coo over her new grandchild. It wouldn't be emotionally scarring if she didn't, but it's great that she can.
How about the VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas):
http://www.vsointernational.org/
For a while I was thinking about apply to work in Nepal as a computing instructor / network guy
Well, I have an HTC Desire and I just finished reading my first eBook on it (Stephen King's "Under The Dome", bought and read through the Kindle software bundled with the phone).
Reflection is a problem outdoors, but no problem at all on the bus / train. I have the font size turned right up, and it works well enough for me to expect to read lots more books on my phone.
"That PhD degree is what provides the entry, not the first job."
Nooooooo.... a PhD is a fine thing, but it doesn't teach you how to do the job of a professional computer programmer. We saw this at my firm when we hired a guy who was finishing his Doctorate in CS, and found that we had to double check everything he did. He was far more concerned with the quality of the code than the quality of the product - a very, very common mistake programmers make in their first job (as an example, he would take great pride in write elegant array handling functions, but forget to output error messages to the user).
I don't want to sound dismissive of CS degrees (I have one myself); I think they expand the potential of any programmer, and I will always look favourably on job candidates that have them, but I think it takes 1 year of work (that entry level job) to make a programmer really useful. Anyone looking for their first job in the field should be prepared to take a lower wage (at least for the first year) as that's when you really earn your stripes as a professional. The expectations, challenges and skills required are not the same in the workplace as they are in academia.
Slashdot Mirror
If you're in London, I must recommend some local places for you to go.
There's a charming cafe chain called 'Starbucks' - they do pretty good coffee and usually have wifi. Don't be put off by the 'crazy' names for their drink sizes, just bask in that local charm. If you can't find one of those, do stop into one of the family restaurants in the 'McDonalds' chain - they often have wifi, and you can enjoy one of our local delicacies (cheese and meat at the same time, crazy!).
Not that famous? She's quite famous on that new internet thing, you know.
I bought a Casiq watch in Nicaragua - that's not a typo, it was a clear ripoff of the classic 80s Casio digital watch, with just the 'q' in the logo different (as I recall, logo copying is easier to prosecute than actual design / circuit copying). It cost me a couple of dollars, and:
* survived a little swim when my kayak upturned
* still worked at least 3 years later on the same battery
* had an awesome upgrade from the original in the form of multicoloured LEDs that pulsed randomly when the alarm went off. Wrist disco FTW.
You win the internet.
When was the last time anybody said "wow, look at that BMW"? Just sayin'.
"I don't remember"
:-)
" I've had many many hundreds of UK beers"
Could be related....
Open your mind.....
Strange to hear the current ultrasound machines being described as 'clunky' - the one at my (NHS) hospital where my wife got her scans was pretty awesome. The level of ergonomic & functional design that went into it was fantastic, and the operator knew exactly what she was doing. The machine had clearly been designed in collaboration with the end user, as it had e.g. cubby holes for gel bottles and all smooth easy-to-clean surfaces. The nurse had one hand on the scanner, and the other on a trackball with which she was marking up the images as she took them - the images zipped to the side of the screen in a nice thumbnail list as she took them, and everything worked really well.
Considering how often bespoke technology workplace seems to be poorly thought out or just generic stuff pressed into service, I was very impressed.
Pyro Vision.
http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Meet_the_Pyro
Problem solved.
Started the video in TFA:
"For years, people believed the world was flat...".
Stop, close page. Great idea, ridiculous marketing.
Everything you really need to know about Tesla vs Edison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gOR91oentQ
Oh, fuck off. Maybe it's NICE for grandparents to be able to talk to their kids, even though they live thousands of miles away. I've started skypeing with my mother-in-law (who lives on the other side of the Atlantic), and it's great that she can coo over her new grandchild. It wouldn't be emotionally scarring if she didn't, but it's great that she can.
They make you sound CRAZY
I also have some multi-bon joy joys!
Not true - when Battle.net is down you can still play, you just don't get any awards / medals / unlockable things.
Luxury. We used to dream of living on a rusty chainlink fence.
How about the VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas): http://www.vsointernational.org/ For a while I was thinking about apply to work in Nepal as a computing instructor / network guy
This is a valid answer to a dumb question, why is it (and not the GP) marked as a troll?
"Beards and Suspenders"
A phrase guaranteed to make any Brit shudder.
A story about the UK, and I have scroll halfway down the page to find a reference to Orwell?
Come on Slashdot, you can do better than that!
"Lieutenant Droptables please report to the bridge".
Obvservant slashdotters may notice a country missing from that list: England.
She is not the queen of England, there is no Queen of England, hasn't been since the Act of Union in 1707.
Well, I have an HTC Desire and I just finished reading my first eBook on it (Stephen King's "Under The Dome", bought and read through the Kindle software bundled with the phone).
Reflection is a problem outdoors, but no problem at all on the bus / train. I have the font size turned right up, and it works well enough for me to expect to read lots more books on my phone.
I can make edible slime out of my own piss? Great - sign me up!
"That PhD degree is what provides the entry, not the first job."
Nooooooo.... a PhD is a fine thing, but it doesn't teach you how to do the job of a professional computer programmer. We saw this at my firm when we hired a guy who was finishing his Doctorate in CS, and found that we had to double check everything he did. He was far more concerned with the quality of the code than the quality of the product - a very, very common mistake programmers make in their first job (as an example, he would take great pride in write elegant array handling functions, but forget to output error messages to the user).
I don't want to sound dismissive of CS degrees (I have one myself); I think they expand the potential of any programmer, and I will always look favourably on job candidates that have them, but I think it takes 1 year of work (that entry level job) to make a programmer really useful. Anyone looking for their first job in the field should be prepared to take a lower wage (at least for the first year) as that's when you really earn your stripes as a professional. The expectations, challenges and skills required are not the same in the workplace as they are in academia.