I was in my bed, couldn’t sleep and was thinking, so what does one do?
What I did?
I just discovered this website, a portfolio of a professional retouching artist, and the images are weirdly fascinating. Check it out!
Just look at the image below, and then take a closer look, it’s nothing short of brilliant:
Like many other IT people I’m an avid reader of thedailywtf, a site about all kinds of things that go wrong in and around IT in companies, and where the only right response is: WTF!
Today I read a post that was not WTF at all, and something that I can really buy. Long story short: Law and accounting have been using the Cravath System from the beginning of the 1900’s
“Here’s how the “Cravath System” works. Bring lots of new employees in, team them up with mentors, provide real work to do, and give them a choice: either get lots of great experience and get out, or work hard for a higher-up position. Whenever you hear someone aspire to “make partner”, he’s undoubtedly working at a firm that’s adopted this model.”
When employees leave an employer, because they have reached their value apex, the point where they aren’t bringing anything new anymore, they don’t become ex-employees, but instead they become alumni, who will gladly refer their friends to their previous employer, if they think that that they need the same kind of experience as they have had. I can relate to this story, and for what it’s worth, I’m an OGD alumnus myself, so at least they did it right.
On work (as far as I’m concerned non-WTF), Joost really wants to hire more people, and they have a whole list up somewhere on the website somewhere, but around me some people are hiring too: We really need someone who can do more or less the same work as I am doing currently, which is making sure content gets online. So what do we need? Computer skills like any college student has, good communication skills, accurate style of working, autonomy, and a drive to get things done right, even with imperfect systems.
Also, a colleague dropped by my desk, and asked if I know someone who has basic scripting, basic database (SELECT and UPDATE), and basic linux knowledge (ls counts) who wants to learn a lot about scripting and converting values to information, to do scripting and business information work. I haven’t worked under her, but from what I’ve heard she is a nice boss to work under, and when you’re done you’ll have gained invaluable knowledge about information processing that will change your resume forever. 
So, if you are in need of cool work, ping me, and I’ll set you up :-).
Star Wars episode V on TV, can’t help watching it again
According to a judge Geert Wilders is within the law when he compares the Holy Quran to Mein Kampf.
I guess this means that I’m also allowed to compare Fitna to Der Ewige Jude.
I don’t like where this is going though, we have seen where this kind of rhetoric has led in the past.
I’m convinced that Geert Wilders is a dangerous person, who uses blind fear for personal gain, and I am convinced that his manipulations of public opinion, along with his ideal of removing a semitic culture from a country, can be compared to Adolf Hitler in the early to mid thirties.
*edit* It’s not even funny to refer to Godwin’s Law anymore with regard to Geert Wilders, looks like he is the personification of it.
As some of you may know I love Battlestar Galactica (aka BSG) and I can’t wait for the fourth season to start, because it’s bound to kick ass again. SciFi channel has been so kind to provide an 8-minute recap of 3 seasons of BSG and it’s pretty darn funny (and has an extremely high spoiler density). One of the many cool quotes: “But then Helo tells Starbuck there’s a bun in the toaster.” Check it out if you’re also a BSG afficianado, if not, get your paws on BSG and start watching, from episode one, it’s great SF, grim, with real people (some episodes can be a bit soapish, but over all it’s a hell of a ride).
It isn’t much of a secret that I don’t like Geert Wilders, our national extremist, fear mongerer and muslim hater. I am convinced that his extreme standpoints and hostile attitude are more effective at alienating a significant part of our population, than they are at minimizing the threat of terrorism. At the same time he is costing out economy lots of money, so I am convinced that we are better of without his kind of people.
At the moment he is holding our national public opinion hostage over a movie that no one has seen, claiming that he can’t release it because no one will let him, oh poor poor oppressed boy. I think he should fuck off, because he is stupid. Anyone with half a brain knows that it’s trivial to publish anything on the internet, and once the message is out there, there is no way to hide it again. So not only is Geert Wilders an arrogant, egotist fucktard, but he is only glaringly incompetent, and that is why he should shut up and fuck off.
I for one do know that ik have the technical and social engineering skills to get the crappy movie of him out to one million people within 48 hours, but I am not going to help him, he should ask one of his extremist friends to fix it.
I recently read some sensible post from one of the tech blogs I follow about internet addiction, that is on the one hand quite sad, but on the other totally true. If I read the qualifications that I generally read, I’m an internet addict, and along with me, my sister and at least 50% of my colleagues.
We are the people that check mail several times per hour, are updating ourself through news feeds to see if anything interesting has happened, and we generally know about the latest and greatest about our field of interest, be it open-source software, horses (for my sister), Apple hard- and software, video, webcomics, or the latest offer on iBood.com.
It is true that this addiction can be quite inconvenient at times, and it makes us spend money on mobile internet (but unlimited internet for €10 per month is something I can live with), phones that can display that internet more decently than the w810 I had, and worst of all, it makes me waste time on the internet instead of reading books (but generally I do get to spend enough face to face time with people because I plan my schedule to have enough face to face time.
On the other hand the blessings are great too. Our extended net awareness is what gives us the tools to function in our day jobs. We know what’s going on, and when we don’t, we are able to google whatever information we need in a heartbeat, we take part in specialized communities that explore and develop knowledge where there was none before. We know and we connect, and build friendships over the internet that run as deep as many face-to-face friendships (I’m still in contact with some former OGD colleagues on IRC, and keep friendships up to date, and even make friends with people that joined OGD after I left). Our online existence might hamper our real life social contacts every once in a while, but as a whole, it has landed us friendships we wouldn’t have had otherwise, quite well paid jobs, and direct connections with some of the smartest minds that walk around on the internet.
I’m proud to be a knight of the technosphere.
Lolcats have been an internet meme for a while now, but I particularly loved this lolfant, it really radiates joy:
Can someone explain to me why the hour of power takes two hours and five minutes? Even with ad breaks it doesn’t add up.
