two interesting tidbits

Whilest smufing the inarweb, I found two interesting articles linked from arstechnica,

the first:
"When a Video Game Stops Being Fun", apparently a few EA (as in electronic arts) employees have indeed been working like monkeys sitting at typewriters being fed on a drip 24/7. Its an interesting, albeit fairly short (2 pages) read.

the other:
"Clear Pictures of How We Think", an article about some new discoveries how the brain makes decisions using MRI research.

finally, DVDs that will last for longer than a week

Its been a long time coming, but TDK apparently is our saviour as they have created a scratch and stain resistant surface for DVDs and upcoming formats. good stuff.. and about bloody time!

heres a snippet from the article:

Researchers at electronics giant TDK have developed a tough new coating that promises to make scratched DVDs a thing of the past and that will help usher in an emerging data storage format with 10 times the capacity of the current DVD standard.

In a test conducted by CNET News.com, a DVD treated with TDK's coating survived a determined attack with a screwdriver and a Sharpie permanent marker with no effect on playability--a remarkable feat considering how easily standard DVDs can be damaged, for example, by children.

mmm shiny

after i have finished wiping the drool from my face ill post some pics of my new notebook. suffice to say im quite happy with it.

just.. strange

indeed.. the following link is a little strange.. and makes you think, what exactly were we watching as kids?

Dude...

What's the deal with hayfever?
Does anyone have any magical beans or something that will help?

Well... they don't have to be beans. Magical toast is also an acceptable product.

outsourcing....... grr

warning: rant ahead


outsourcing.. buisnesses love it. well i really dont care where a company gets empleyees or contracts them from..

companies are there to:
a) make money
b) provide a service

so however they choose to make this money is dictated by their investors and the like. BUT GODDAMN PROVIDE A SERVICE. recently ive spoken to dell 4 times in regards to my notebook purchase (there was an error that happened with the order. but thats all ok now) the problem is that they outsource their call centers. The *only* problem i see with this is I CANT BLOODY UNDERSTAND THE PERSON IM TALKING TO. look, i have friends from all nationalities and backgrounds (yes including indians) with varying levels of english competency, i get along with them fine, and they're great people.. but for a company to provide a service to customers where their staff can barely speak or understand english is ****ing appaling. eventually the staff and I understand each other, but i GUARENTEE you the average australian person would not have a *clue* what these people are saying, nor the patience to put up with them.

What kind of public image does this show for dell?

oh its not only large US companies that have this problem.. telstra/optus are in the same boat.. just call emup and see how much *fun* it is...

quote of the month

*runs to the toilet* *hurrrl* "close enough.."
-victor @6:30am sunday

ah twas victors birthday on friday, and we finally managed to get him drunk, erm on saturday. it was a group effort. good work all! ;)

on a side note.. still waiting for my shiny laptop/notebook whateveryacallit gizmo..

oh and almost forgot, although this will be everywhere already anyway.. firefox 1.0 was released today.. sweet.. and thunderbird 0.9 was released a couple days ago as well..

im happy to say that ive only used internet explorer three times in the past 3 months (2x for windows update, and once for the --slightly bizzare-- dell website).

my mail is a 100% sucess.. ive used thunderbird exclusively since i adopted it from version 0.7..

TECH: things to always keep in mind

the following link "Applying the Unix Philosophy" applies to more than just unix and coding in C. there are some very important points in it that should be kept in mind when developing for any platform or environment.

the waiting game

well i bit the bullet.. bought me a laptop *cough* sorry notebook as they are now called..

after some hard thinking whether to convert to an apple powerbook, i've decided to stick with windows for the time being. my reasoning was that
1. it's cheaper by FAR
2. i dont have to get used to a new os (which will kill my productivity at work, not to mention to re-learn how to use a pc and a whole new set of interface problems)
3. there is more software available for it.
4. if i get sick of windows i can nuke it and install fedora again.

i guess ill just wait untill i have enough spare cash and time to learn a new os... i will soo you then apple..

i ended up going for a dell pentium m based system which i basically cusomized to upgrade everything.. for an *incredibly* reasonable price thanks to the specials they have going this week. so for under $2500 i end up with a killer system... so now the waiting begins.. 10 days estimated time.. is such a long amount of time to wait for a new toy when you've already paid for it..work faster dell factory minions!