How Society is changing us....
Things will eventually come full circle.
When technology advances so far that there is no need to work, nor no need for money, and hence no need for greed - we will allow the machines to become smarter for us, and we will skip merrily through the wheat fields.
but until that day arrives - we will have more of this...
I got up at the usual 6:15am and moved zombie like into the shower. Within 5 minutes of the water drenching over me, I properly woke up and felt like I could complete another day. After the shower and the usual "getting ready" activities - I drove to the train station, waited for a few minutes in the cold and drizzling rain before stepping aboard the train.
At work I got on with what I am paid to do. Giving customers their answers. Updating cases. Carrying out some GoToAssists. Having a couple of breaks and lunch inbetween - obviously. Now my days are not strenuous - I sit all day and stare at a computer monitor, while typing and moving my mouse a lot. Not exactly superman stuff.
After work, I walked as quickly as I could to the train station (as I only have 10mins to get there and I cant run without fear of the "He must have done something wrong, otherwise he wouldnt be running!" brigade rugby tackling me on some kind of citizens arrest campaign) boarded the train heading my way and sat down comfortably in the second carriage.
Within 10mins my eyes felt heavy so I decided to close them. My train journey home is generally about 35-40mins. Just before the train stops at each station along its path a *bing* will sound and a polite womans voice will inform me that "we are now approaching
.". Its loud enough. Then when train stops another *bing* will sound and she will tell me something else - usually something to do with ensuring that I dont leave anything behind when I get off the train. The doors will also make a loud *beep* when they are about to open and close.
I was having one of those im sleeping, yet awake kind of train journeys. I was totally aware of the drone of the train - maybe I just got so used to it that in the comfort of dosing off my brain started to emulate the sound when shutting down my senses. I slept through all the *bing*'s and *beep*'s and people shuffling around me when the train arrived at my stop. When the doors closed again and the final *beep* went off to indicate that the train was getting the hell outta there - I woke. Slightly disoriented I gazed out the window to realise that I both recognise and am truely familiar with the platform outside the train, I grabbed my bag and dashed for the door. Turns out that hammering the "Open" button doesnt over-ride anything nor set off any alarm bells in the drivers cabin to indicate your urgency. No.
The train moved off.
I totally blame the fact that I must work such long hours.
9 hours a day for 5 days straight. 45 hours per week is a joke. I know there are more unfortunate than myself but in civilised society we are still essentially slaves.
With the introduction of Red Bull and tablets such as pro-plus, we are gradually trying to disuade our brains need to rest. We are gonna become zombies and the evidence is clear to everyone....
We Moan more than we EVER have in history.
We stare with our mouths ajar at the television.
We only like interacting with other humans to gripe about something.
"Society is killing us and we wont bother to do anything about it until its to late."
Mr Im Somehalf. 2006
Ahhhhhhhaaaahhhhaaaaahahahaa Vista.
It looks good. It really does. Nice smooth glass reflection colours and improved window management. The icons have changed and the start menu amended.
Most importantly though, nothing functional seems to have changed in Microsofts up coming OS. It seems to still fill the same space that XP currently does but with the bare minimum of difference. Things just look nicer. Thats it. All the new technologies that Microsoft promised to include were ripped out in an attempt to keep the target release date, but many release dates missed later - the OS is finally about to be let out into the wild and the technologies are still out.
I personally fail to see the cost benefit for any company to upgrade from XP to Vista, at the very least until its a couple of service packs down the road.
Here are some of the visual improvements...
The Desktop
Windows Explorer
Control Panel - Classic View
Internet Explorer 7 - it automatically hides the File Menu (annoying as hell)
If anyone would like a specific range of images to view from the Vista interface, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.
And So....
.......Been missing for a good long time recently. Since I moved country to start a new job, my time has been sneakily ripped from my hands and hence the blog has been neglected.
I am working with some pretty big companies in the IT field, as well as banks and financial firms etc so experience wise - I think this move will be hugely beneficial.
My debugging skills are being sharpened to say the least.
I moved into a nice semi-detached house, south of the Neagh, in which I am comfortable. I got my 42inch plasma HD tv, sky, broadband, my woman, ready made meals, clothes ironed, room to spread my legs, ability to leave things at random places in the house without fear of a lodger stealing them... its all good. The woman sometimes finds somethings that I leave behind me and determines that its rubbish and alas - bins it. We have had a few near misses with her filing techniques - point in case : When I setup the wireless broadband connection, each computer in the house uses my custom made AES encryption key, which I wrote on an A4 file page and filed on the table in the living room. I had the womans computer as well as the laptop sorted out, and last night decided I'd setup my desktop system (inserting the wireless card and installing everything etc). When I was prompted to enter my network key I remembered where I had left the valuable A4 file page. Of I went down stairs to get it.....
.....
.........
I reached the living room and had a quick look around the table. It wasnt there. I suddenly thought to myself "Oh shit. She hasnt. Please GOD tell me she hasnt..."
Turns out, she had filed it in the filing cabinet that i had built for her on a previous nights step through the "things I cannot avoid while the girl is in the house" list.
Phew!
So things are starting to take shape now and I am finding my feet. I just wish I didnt have to work a 45hour week!
Cant stay for long, just turn around and I'm gone again....
I'm leaving Dublin,
Belfast bound,
A brand new job, has just come around.
Handing in ones resignation truely is a troubling experience when your employer has absolutely no idea that its coming and when your job aint all that bad.
But it is time to move on. I feel I have absorbed all that I will from my current environment.
As much as I want to know about databases - I dont want to be a SQL DBA - even though I could probably pass all the tests necessary to get that qualification. The knowledge of the system has been gained - and thats enough. I dont want to get to far down one employment path that leaves me stuck in that one area.
So Im moving up to the north.
A large software company, specialising in Application Lifecycle Management and development IDE's has decided that my services would be of use to them. And Im happy enough with that - even though they are selling of the IDE side of the business. Most people in the IT business will know their name - starts with a B, ends with a D.
Jobs That Mean Something...
What is a man to do?
Class life {
Public static void main () {
While (1=1) {
For(int I=0;I<5;I++)
Weekday();
For(int x=0;x<2;x++)
Weekend();
}//while
}//main
Private int Weekday () {
1) Get_up;
2) Go_to_work;
3) Come_home;
4) Eat;
5) Sleep;
Return 0;
}//Weekday
Private int Weekend () {
1) Get_up;
2) Serve_the_misses;
3) Eat;
4) Serve_the_misses;
5) Sleep;
Return 0;
}//Weekend
}//life
What a class life the class ‘life’ depicts. Unfortunately, aside from some minor additions, said class life is mine – and possibly/probably many other mens lives.
I work with databases all day. I am almost a SQL Server 2000 guru at this stage. I am doing some work, of a reporting nature, in Visual Studio .NET. A lot of the reports that I have written will be going LIVE soon. In the next week or so. Creation and testing are almost complete. Just a few minor touches left.
My manager took a lot of regional managers of to a hotel recently to show them pretty much everything that I have done since I joined the company i.e the datawarehousing Vanguard GPS stuff, and then all the Reporting Services stuff. He had 30mins to do so. What has taken the guts of a year was demoed in 30mins. I doubt it if half of them knew what they were doing there. 30mins to WHOAH people with this stuff is simply not enough. The datawarehousing stuff would take at least an hour on its own. That’s not to talk the audience through every little nook and cranny. No. That’s just to show them all the great things that it can do. The business intelligence stuff is cool and its pretty much been my baby to Setup, Control, Update, and Maintain. The reports themselves are mainly for high level managers and sales reps. They detail product volumes sold against budgets and last year figures. Others show how each individual depot within the company scope is performing against their budgets and previous years figures. I have also implemented a couple of reports that can reprint the companys invoices – something that takes a lot lot longer through their normal business applications.
All this work, summarised in 30mins. Probably less actually, should you cut out the time taken to meet/greet and settle the audience. 11 months work = 30mins.
I have also been offered a 7 month extension to my contract, with a very minimal wage increase. The 7 month extension, instead of full time employment, was justified as “controlling our overheads”. Which I fully understand. It makes good business sense, even though I don’t like it.
I feel I offer the company a lot, but my contribution isnt recognised. Don’t get me wrong, Im not asking for “You are the best employee this company has ever had! Here is a €20, 000 wage increase!” – just a “well done” would suffice.
Aside from my normal duties, I have gone out of my way to be helpful. I have debugged and detailed network issues that were affecting my daily work. The companys reverse dns lookup is messed up to say the least. My computer name is attached to an ip address on the forward lookup, but a completely different computer is attached to the same ip on the reverse lookup. Its causing crashed programs and god knows what else in either security or operational programs and procedures. Yet, when I told the IT staff about it, I was asked pretty much looked at like I had 6 heads – they seemed completely dissatsfied that I had found a large error in their network setup. I was trying to help and since it affected me, I was duely obliged to report it.
No thanks though. I told them about it nearly 2 weeks ago now. Still nothing has been done about it.
I feel like I could be moving on soon.
T’Was in the year of ’06 and the Lovely Month of June…
I flew, I conquered, then returned but it ended all too soon…
Im back from Germany since Tuesday evening. Landed in Dublin at 11pm. Straight back into work the next morning! :-(
The World Cup 2006 is going down really well in Germany. I had a fantastic time.
Here’s where I went….
Frankfurt --> Grunberg --> Nuremburg --> Trillingden --> Stuttgart --> Frankfurt.
Since we had campervans, the transport between the towns and cities was relatively easy. The autobahn is extensive, clear and well maintained.
The locals in the small towns were quite pleasant and welcoming, but in the cities…. Not so much. The German people are quite straight laced and regimented. I think they find it difficult to have fun and relax….. And don’t get me started about their music taste! Lets just say….…. Its shit.
Shaun Paul, Scooter anyone??? Nein!
I tried to learn the lingo as best I could and after a week I could just about order my dinner in a café. Which I thought was pretty good.
The Fan Fests in Nuremburg and Stuttgart were pretty good. With the big screens, over-priced food and beverages, lack of seating (and lack of anything even remotely soft to sit on), lack of suitable shade (from the desperate heat), lack of free toliet facilities. €0.50 a pop to go to the toliet! They must have made an absolute fortune out of the people who were drinking heavily.
The german police were doing a sterling job and their visible presence was limited. I am sure they had many many plain clothed cops just dandering about, sending signals to MOVE MOVE MOVE to the uniformed police. They also seemed quite helpful and friendly. You could talk to a german policeman unlike policemen from Northern Ireland. A german policeman would stand and chat with you, and help you on your way. In Northern Ireland, if you said “Excuse me…” to a policeman – in order to follow up with a polite question – you’d be on your back, with 3 of them sitting on you and demanding to know who you are, where you live and what your dad does for a living – while one of them draws his baton.
Germany itself is quite a nice place – architectually. The towns of Grunberg (north of Frankfurt) and Trillingden (south of Stuttgart) are the epiptome of traditional german housing. Quite cool infact.
Just a point to note. The toliets in Germany have the best flush I have experienced, ever.
The beer is quite smooth and the variety, wide. The woman over there are also NOT like the stereotype we have come to expect either. They are not big hairy fraulines. No. They are quite nice.
The Spain Vs Tunisia game went of really well too. We sat behind the goal were they are all scored, which is nice.
To top it all of, there was a heat wave in Germany the whole week we were there!
Cash back…
Germany
Im off to Germany for 8 days tomorrow (13th June). Gonna take in the sun and beer and ladies and ohhhh yes… the football.
I got a ticket to the Spain Vs Tunisia game (Watch out for me!). 19th June.
The lads (7 people) and I have booked two campervans and are gonna do a bit of travelling. We will unofficially be termed as pikies for 8 days. Then back to normal showers and cleanliness.
We have had it booked for some time now so the whole excitement has come and gone. I think it will return when I am driving to the airport in the morning. Let me just state now that I hate early flights. Hate them.
We fly out of Dublin on the 6:15am flight to Frankfurt.
Since all the lads are going – the woman has been asked to sit this one out. She aint happy about it and to be honest I feel a little guilty going without her. Im sure that will wear off after a few beers when I get there! :-)
Anyways, to all those sitting at work and wishing you were at home with a beer watching the match…. HA!
To Neil, who so smuggly bathed in the sun, naked, last week…. HA! Have your cloudy Derry skies and your ten minutes of actual sun before cloud and a cold breeze return to make you put your clothes back on!
I’ll obviously return to give the blog a full (well, partially censored) account of how I got on. I might even take some pictures, but my mobile doesn’t DO good pictures and the disposable will prove all to bothersome to transfer to the PC, so you will have to accept my apologies in advance if the images presented arent totally visible.
Have fun in work….
Dont Move - Sucka
No … I didn’t get stopped by the Police (fake harbour police) again. Nor the real police either. Wait – I didn’t get stopped by anyone.
I also didn’t try to hold up my local liquor store either. In fact… No crimes commited or partially commited here at all. Not even the thought of a crime.
No. When I say “Don’t Move…… Sucka….” I am referring to business.
And specifically…. The thought of my own.
Finding a good business idea is difficult and really easy all at the same time. The reasons people start a business are usually quite similar. Independence, and more money.
When hearing stories about “the milion pixel website” – I cringe. This guy made over a million quid by selling pixels on his website. Now – its not an outlandish thing to do. A lot of businesses sell advertising space on their websites in order to generate some income to support the upkeep and sustainability of their business. Well…. Most web-based companies do, anyway.
The thing I don’t get about this one particular website is that there is absolutely NO content. Just advertisments. That’s it. Just a lot of very tiny, and some a little bigger, adverts.
Whats worse is that the marketing department in the companies that advertise(d) on this site – actually thought it would be worthwhile to spend money in such a way. Sure – a lot of traffic went his way…. Initially. But who goes near that site anymore? I think I went once – in order to see what all the fuss was about. That was it. Once.
The guy said he wanted to pay his way through college. Well – now hollywood has got a hold of him – and they want to make a movie about his life.Jesus. Publishers want him to write a book about it. And for what? What hard graft has been put in??
None.
Now don’t get me wrong. The guy got lucky, and off he went. No looking back. Im happy for him. He shows just how simple it is to make money and just how easy it is to get money from people/businesses. And all one needs is……. Publicity and a half decent story.
Get your business into the public eye, and everyone wants a piece of you.
I just need a bloody business plan now… Then some funding/not have overheads and I might have a chance….
Trouble with me is, I have loads of good solid business ideas, but absolutely no idea how to bring them to market, or where to actually start. Do I start at the very beginning and create a product myself? Or do I create the company and the resources to create the product for me? The first one is the least expensive and carries the least stress – but since there is no initial income – one needs to have a job at the same time in order to cover expenses. When one has a job – one gets pretty tired come the evening time and hence not enough gets done. Also, when working alone it’s quite difficult to keep your eye on the ball and focus 100% on the task at hand. So time wasting and procrastination leaps in (not just creeps – it LEAPS).
So, one has to change his plans. I will utilise all available resources (free) in order to create my service initially. Then, when I am established, I will saction the creation of a more stable bespoke system to service my needs.
Talking/writing things out/down really helps to clear the mind of the little thoughts that present themselves as problems, when infact – they arent. So now I can move again…
Lets not be irresponsible...
be irrepressible.
Amnesty international has started a campaign to free Shi Tao from his 10 year prison sentence in China. Shi Tao is a journalist living in China and has been imprisoned due to "illegally providing trade secrets to foreign entities". The Chinese government gave instructions to all journalists on how to handle the tiananmen square anniversary. Shi Tao proceeded to email these instructions to a US website. Yahoo provided the details to the chinese government following instructions to do so and Shi Tao was consequently jailed.
I dont believe Yahoo are to blame in this situation, as handing over information was what they were instructed to do under chinese law. If they didnt hand over information, their company may well have had to shut up shop. So abiding by the law was all they could do.
I am not blogging my discontent with communism either. If the people dont like it, they can leave. And as we see in many countries... a lot of chinese people seem to (leave).
My gripe here is the censorship.
Communism was an "everybody is equal" approach to government. "People will do as they are bloody well told, and hear only what We (the government) allow them to hear, and be lead by us, the dictators" wasnt what the original communist manifesto was all about. but its easy to see how things can become bastardised. Look at democracy.
The chinese government has decided that this :
"A US-British team of scientists has challenged the idea that the tiny skeleton from Indonesia dubbed the "Hobbit" is a new human species."
should be censored. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh WHAT?
"Our peephol cou go fuuuucking cracy riiiight... This infoourmatshean cou create mayhaem riiiight!"
[I apologise to all chinese people learning to speak english. It is a tough language to learn. My main experience of chinese people speaking english was from my university PROLOG lecturer, whom I have used as a literal reference to how your people might say the chosen retort.]
Everyone should go to www.irrepressible.info and sign the petition that will be presented to the UN in November when they meet to talk about how they are gonna fuck the internet and fuck everyone else for that matter because they (the UN governments) think they know what is "right" for the rest of us. The petition is against internet censorship.
Peace man.
