So I'm in Manila right now. I didn't really choose to come here, but here I am. Actually thats not quite true. I'm only really here because nobody else wanted to come, but I was kinda relishing the oppurtunity while at the same time cautious about why nobody else in the team wanted to come.
Yes, its actually just for work, for the new job. I won't go over what I'm actually do, but more about the city.
The Phillipines is technically still a developing country, so I think there are quite a few similarities to the other many and varied developing countries I've visited (read: China and Thailand, no I'm really not THAT well travelled). So theres this big contrast between the poor and the rich part of the city. The modern shopping malls with the luxury goods from Europe are around, but if you drive 10 minutes down the road, its a very different picture. Slums are plentiful. There does seem to be a middle class though, which is nice too.
Theres not much to do in the capital either, a bit like Bangkok. Well theres the nightlife, but thats about it. Its not really in the centre of the city either, you kinda have to know where to go. Lucky I had a wannabe local (I have a workmate who gets taken advantage of by Philo girls wayyy to easily) to take me around. I'm also told that the beach and tourist places are kinda the same as Thailand too - Really nice but just around the tourist area.
I went to this 'dance club' which was kinda weird. A bit different from what I'm used to, but yeah. Oh well.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 04, 2008
What Ez has been up to
Wow its been quite a while huh?
Well, now that I'm spending less time DOTARing, and more time well, doing house work, it gives me more of a reason to procrastinate, and, well, blog.
So, apart from DOTARing, what else has Ez been up to?
Well, actually quite a lot. I actually started to drink a lot less, and play a lot more sport. That was actually quite good until I stopped - We'll get to the reasons behind why later. I started playing soccer for a couple of teams, and there was also regular badminton involved somewhere too. So that was my whole Sundays taken up and also some Wednesday nights.
Drinking less was a big thing too. Well, not really. I had excuses to go home and do stuff. Some of the classics were: haircuts and dinner.
Oh, and I also went to Italy. That was fun.
Other significant events include (but are not limited to) quitting my job, moving to Singapore, and getting a new job. Hence, I've stopped played sport for the time being until I can find a new group to hang out with that also play at more or less my level. That'll be hard.
Also implied is that I've moved out of 'home'. That is, away from family and things. So here comes housework and other associated activities that I normally don't do.
So its a big change, a brave new world, and we'll see where life takes me from here.
Well, now that I'm spending less time DOTARing, and more time well, doing house work, it gives me more of a reason to procrastinate, and, well, blog.
So, apart from DOTARing, what else has Ez been up to?
Well, actually quite a lot. I actually started to drink a lot less, and play a lot more sport. That was actually quite good until I stopped - We'll get to the reasons behind why later. I started playing soccer for a couple of teams, and there was also regular badminton involved somewhere too. So that was my whole Sundays taken up and also some Wednesday nights.
Drinking less was a big thing too. Well, not really. I had excuses to go home and do stuff. Some of the classics were: haircuts and dinner.
Oh, and I also went to Italy. That was fun.
Other significant events include (but are not limited to) quitting my job, moving to Singapore, and getting a new job. Hence, I've stopped played sport for the time being until I can find a new group to hang out with that also play at more or less my level. That'll be hard.
Also implied is that I've moved out of 'home'. That is, away from family and things. So here comes housework and other associated activities that I normally don't do.
So its a big change, a brave new world, and we'll see where life takes me from here.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Ideas for the workplace
There hasn't been much inspiration for blogging. Perhaps its the whole routine and the fact that I'm not actually procrastinating from doing anything. When you've got something to do and you don't want to do it, you (or at least I) will always find something else to occupy your time instead of the thing you're supposed to do.
It helps that I haven't had to take work home to do - so I'm not blogging instead of doing work. It helps.
Anyway, onto the whole point of this post!
Once you've been in the office world a little while, you start to notice some things. One of these things is the number of 'buzzwords' people use these days. You know, your conventional office would have phrases such as 'Go Live!' dates, 'steering committees', project 'charters', and a seemingly infinite number of TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) to cover just about every aspect of anybodys life they could ever think of.
The other thing some of you will notice is that people have a lot of meetings. As one of our glorious directors said the other day: "Feeling lonely? Call a meeting. Don't want to make a decision? Call a meeting." It pretty much sums up the productivity experienced during these meetings. I found out the other day that a number of these so called 'tax meetings' took about 5 and half hours. I think there were about 10 people in this meeting. To me, any meeting longer than half an hour turns into doodling with pen and pad. I just had a look at my notebook the other day, and its not pretty. The doodles tend to be figures of demonic monsters with associated angry scribbles and pagan symbols (okay so I made up that last part but you get the idea).
One of my colleagues at work came up with the great idea of combining both the buzzwords and meetings to create a fun game for all! This idea is by no means original, and it only applies old ideas to new situations - and in some ways readies you for the retirement village.
In a word, its Bingo! Just before your next big meeting, organise with you and your workmates a list of 10 or so different buzzwords your workplace normally bandies about on a regular basis, write them down on a piece of paper in random locations, and photocopy a few. Just before the meeting, distribute the list to a select few.
Now during the meeting, as soon as one of the buzzwords comes up, cross it off your list. First one to get all the words crossed off shouts "Bingo!" As a reward, no action items from the will be assigned to the winner.
Rules:
- No bingo participant is allowed to say any of the words on the sheet, if they do, they are automatically disqualified and their words do not count.
- Management must be present
- Highlighters are permitted
- Chairs of the meeting are also permitted to join
- Challenges to mentioned buzzwords must occur during the meeting
- At least one meeting attendee must be unaware of the game
It helps that I haven't had to take work home to do - so I'm not blogging instead of doing work. It helps.
Anyway, onto the whole point of this post!
Once you've been in the office world a little while, you start to notice some things. One of these things is the number of 'buzzwords' people use these days. You know, your conventional office would have phrases such as 'Go Live!' dates, 'steering committees', project 'charters', and a seemingly infinite number of TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) to cover just about every aspect of anybodys life they could ever think of.
The other thing some of you will notice is that people have a lot of meetings. As one of our glorious directors said the other day: "Feeling lonely? Call a meeting. Don't want to make a decision? Call a meeting." It pretty much sums up the productivity experienced during these meetings. I found out the other day that a number of these so called 'tax meetings' took about 5 and half hours. I think there were about 10 people in this meeting. To me, any meeting longer than half an hour turns into doodling with pen and pad. I just had a look at my notebook the other day, and its not pretty. The doodles tend to be figures of demonic monsters with associated angry scribbles and pagan symbols (okay so I made up that last part but you get the idea).
One of my colleagues at work came up with the great idea of combining both the buzzwords and meetings to create a fun game for all! This idea is by no means original, and it only applies old ideas to new situations - and in some ways readies you for the retirement village.
In a word, its Bingo! Just before your next big meeting, organise with you and your workmates a list of 10 or so different buzzwords your workplace normally bandies about on a regular basis, write them down on a piece of paper in random locations, and photocopy a few. Just before the meeting, distribute the list to a select few.
Now during the meeting, as soon as one of the buzzwords comes up, cross it off your list. First one to get all the words crossed off shouts "Bingo!" As a reward, no action items from the will be assigned to the winner.
Rules:
- No bingo participant is allowed to say any of the words on the sheet, if they do, they are automatically disqualified and their words do not count.
- Management must be present
- Highlighters are permitted
- Chairs of the meeting are also permitted to join
- Challenges to mentioned buzzwords must occur during the meeting
- At least one meeting attendee must be unaware of the game
Sunday, August 05, 2007
What is P2P traffic?
In the world where people start shaping P2P traffic, we really have a problem. Firstly, how do they actually define peers, and then, how can they actually filter out these peers and restrict their speed? And finally, is P2P traffic filtering actually worth it?
But probably the more important question is whether shaping P2P traffic speeds is actually hampering what the Internet actually is. In the end, its all really just a bunch of computers connected together. Why should some computers not be able to communicate at either a faster or slower speed than others by artifically slowing the speed down? Aren't a lot of developed nations worried about how they're falling behind in terms of end user data transfer speeds?
It wasn't too long ago when Australian ISPs were selling their products and promoting it on the fact that traffic between peers on the same ISP would not have their traffic counted towards their monthly quota. How did this somehow get reversed? It doesn't really make sense at all. Now certain ISPs are starting to count uploads when determining how much data transfer you get a month. Somehow, I think we're going backwards, not forwards in terms of value.
So then wahts a peer? You can't really do it by the host IP address. Thats a bit too open. Nobody is going to know when IP ranges change, new ranges are used for consumers, and a whole bunch of other reasons. The other way a lot of ISPs do it is via port filtering. So all data which goes along a certain specified port is slowed down. Boo Hoo. The savvy people can just change the port they're using. Finally, you could look at the data people are sending. Usually this is quite unfeasible. Most people won't even bother.
This doens't really make much sense. But then, neither does filtering P2P traffic. I don't understand it at all.
But probably the more important question is whether shaping P2P traffic speeds is actually hampering what the Internet actually is. In the end, its all really just a bunch of computers connected together. Why should some computers not be able to communicate at either a faster or slower speed than others by artifically slowing the speed down? Aren't a lot of developed nations worried about how they're falling behind in terms of end user data transfer speeds?
It wasn't too long ago when Australian ISPs were selling their products and promoting it on the fact that traffic between peers on the same ISP would not have their traffic counted towards their monthly quota. How did this somehow get reversed? It doesn't really make sense at all. Now certain ISPs are starting to count uploads when determining how much data transfer you get a month. Somehow, I think we're going backwards, not forwards in terms of value.
So then wahts a peer? You can't really do it by the host IP address. Thats a bit too open. Nobody is going to know when IP ranges change, new ranges are used for consumers, and a whole bunch of other reasons. The other way a lot of ISPs do it is via port filtering. So all data which goes along a certain specified port is slowed down. Boo Hoo. The savvy people can just change the port they're using. Finally, you could look at the data people are sending. Usually this is quite unfeasible. Most people won't even bother.
This doens't really make much sense. But then, neither does filtering P2P traffic. I don't understand it at all.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Less bored
I think I'm blogging less and less now. Half the reason why I started one of these things was because I was bored a lot of the time. But now I'm not so much, and it obviously doesn't get the attention it used to. Theres probably serveral things which have attributed to that, so I'll just name a few of them.
I think thats most of it.
So if you ever happen to be extremely bored and blog too much, there are some options for you to consider in case you're ever looking for something else to do.
- Work
- Xbox
- Drinking
- DOTARRRR
I think thats most of it.
So if you ever happen to be extremely bored and blog too much, there are some options for you to consider in case you're ever looking for something else to do.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Auditors
Its said that there are two things certain in life: death and taxes. The second implies something which seems almost as certain as itself: auditors. If you've sat down and done your tax return yourself, you're probably feeling pretty smug about how much you've managed to deduct from your assessable income. But what if you're being dodgy, and the $5000 you said you spent on reference books for work were actually spent at the pub after work? Who are the guys who are going to make sure that you've filled in your tax return properly?
Thats right: The Tax Office auditors. They're a necessary evil to keep those who might fudge their tax in line, and to try and catch those who do. For those of us who actually fill in the tax return with legitimate numbers, they're a plain nuisance.
Its not only the tax auditors who get on peoples' nerves. It seems that auditors of all types have to stick their hand in the pile of crap that is your life to make things harder for everyone. Not only that, the fact that the US decided to make things harder for their companies by legislating the dreaded Sarbanes-Oxley requirements have made it so that you can't seem to scratch your back in a corporate environment without getting drawn into the Red Hole of Bureaucracy (RHB). So not only do auditors have to look at the stuff they were always looking at 10 years ago, they're also looking at what you're doing to stay SOX compliant. This is great news for accounting and auditing graduates as theres now plenty of work compared to before the whole Enron scandle hit, and its hard not to find a job if you look hard enough. However, for the rest of us, it just makes life that much harder.
Now we have to deal with things such as Business Continuity Management (BCM), so that when the building you work in decides to fall over after some terrorists have decided that they'll turn into martyrs, you'll have somewhere to go. This is all very well and good. We'll have a plan so that we'll still have jobs if the building blows up. The problem is that if this happens while everyone is working at the building, its not going to help since everyone who knows about the management plan isn't going to be alive to put it into practice.
Theres also other things, like application handbooks which are written so that nobody actually understands what its talking about unless they actually know what its meant to be saying.
Fantastic.
After all thats done, they'll work to put as much red tape in front of your normal work so that after they're done, you won't be able to move unless you feel like untangling yourself from the red cocoon you'll undoubtedly find yourself trapped in. And those are just the external auditors.
As for the internal auditors, they'll make things just as hard, but they have a tougher job. They have the added problem of wading their way through the additional red tape the external auditors put in to slap on some more slightly more pink tape.
The other problem is that they will continue to work with the people they give tape to. External auditors can give 'recommendations' which turn out to be mandatory, and then go away for about a year before coming back for a few weeks to see if its all been done. Internal auditors will give someone a task to do, and have to sit around giving stuff to everyone else in the company while the first one fumes and bitches about the stuff they're given. By the time he gets back, the original person and everyone who he works with and sits next to will hate them. Grrr.
Yes, auditors, we know you're just doing your job, but we loathe you.
Thats right: The Tax Office auditors. They're a necessary evil to keep those who might fudge their tax in line, and to try and catch those who do. For those of us who actually fill in the tax return with legitimate numbers, they're a plain nuisance.
Its not only the tax auditors who get on peoples' nerves. It seems that auditors of all types have to stick their hand in the pile of crap that is your life to make things harder for everyone. Not only that, the fact that the US decided to make things harder for their companies by legislating the dreaded Sarbanes-Oxley requirements have made it so that you can't seem to scratch your back in a corporate environment without getting drawn into the Red Hole of Bureaucracy (RHB). So not only do auditors have to look at the stuff they were always looking at 10 years ago, they're also looking at what you're doing to stay SOX compliant. This is great news for accounting and auditing graduates as theres now plenty of work compared to before the whole Enron scandle hit, and its hard not to find a job if you look hard enough. However, for the rest of us, it just makes life that much harder.
Now we have to deal with things such as Business Continuity Management (BCM), so that when the building you work in decides to fall over after some terrorists have decided that they'll turn into martyrs, you'll have somewhere to go. This is all very well and good. We'll have a plan so that we'll still have jobs if the building blows up. The problem is that if this happens while everyone is working at the building, its not going to help since everyone who knows about the management plan isn't going to be alive to put it into practice.
Theres also other things, like application handbooks which are written so that nobody actually understands what its talking about unless they actually know what its meant to be saying.
Fantastic.
After all thats done, they'll work to put as much red tape in front of your normal work so that after they're done, you won't be able to move unless you feel like untangling yourself from the red cocoon you'll undoubtedly find yourself trapped in. And those are just the external auditors.
As for the internal auditors, they'll make things just as hard, but they have a tougher job. They have the added problem of wading their way through the additional red tape the external auditors put in to slap on some more slightly more pink tape.
The other problem is that they will continue to work with the people they give tape to. External auditors can give 'recommendations' which turn out to be mandatory, and then go away for about a year before coming back for a few weeks to see if its all been done. Internal auditors will give someone a task to do, and have to sit around giving stuff to everyone else in the company while the first one fumes and bitches about the stuff they're given. By the time he gets back, the original person and everyone who he works with and sits next to will hate them. Grrr.
Yes, auditors, we know you're just doing your job, but we loathe you.
Monday, May 14, 2007
*Cough cough*
I think I'm sick.
Ah well, been there done that eh? Its nothing special.
I wonder if I should go to work tomorrow... Its not like I have anything urgent to do. Hmmm...
Ah well, been there done that eh? Its nothing special.
I wonder if I should go to work tomorrow... Its not like I have anything urgent to do. Hmmm...
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Things you don't want to hear after a job interview #262
I was walking around the city the other day on the way the bus stop, and this woman said "I just didn't feel like hiring her."
If these are the kinds of justifications for decisions about peoples' careers that are made on a regular basis, I think we're in trouble.
No wonder a lot of people can't find jobs. They must be the type that people just don't feel like hiring.
If these are the kinds of justifications for decisions about peoples' careers that are made on a regular basis, I think we're in trouble.
No wonder a lot of people can't find jobs. They must be the type that people just don't feel like hiring.
Politics at work
I thought I'd try to stay away from politics at work. The problem is that the only way you're actually going to stay away from politics is if you have one manager, and you don't work with anyone else, which could be a little boring.
So, my way of trying to avoid politics is attempt to piss the least number of people I can possibly piss off. This includes shirking responsibility, attributing work to other people, and pleading ignorance for lots of things. As I haven't really been given much responsibility yet, its working quite admirably. As one workmate put it recently, "You get along with everyone!" I do, but I just bitch about them behind their back to a select few.
It helps that I've been given tasks I don't really know what I'm doing with only because nobody else will do it or wants to do it. Either because they don't understand how or because they don't see the use in it. I understand how and the use in it, I just don't have the knowledge to fill in the gaps in the template. Its something which only comes with experience, or talking to other people and pissing them off. I usually just attribute it to someone else, thereby handballing responsibility.
That last paragraph doesn't really make much sense, but we'll soldier on.
I drink a lot more now as well. If I happen to have a crap day, some of us will just go down to the pub and laugh about it for a while. It helps because then we see the funny side and not take it so personally. Most of this is due to people who are brick walls and don't really help the situation all that much.
Other than that though, I don't get involved in any power struggles. I don't actually think that there are any power struggles where I work, because everyone is fairly sure of their place and moving up means going overseas. Since nobody really knows whats overseas, they don't really know what they're competing against.
Thats my rant for the month.
So, my way of trying to avoid politics is attempt to piss the least number of people I can possibly piss off. This includes shirking responsibility, attributing work to other people, and pleading ignorance for lots of things. As I haven't really been given much responsibility yet, its working quite admirably. As one workmate put it recently, "You get along with everyone!" I do, but I just bitch about them behind their back to a select few.
It helps that I've been given tasks I don't really know what I'm doing with only because nobody else will do it or wants to do it. Either because they don't understand how or because they don't see the use in it. I understand how and the use in it, I just don't have the knowledge to fill in the gaps in the template. Its something which only comes with experience, or talking to other people and pissing them off. I usually just attribute it to someone else, thereby handballing responsibility.
That last paragraph doesn't really make much sense, but we'll soldier on.
I drink a lot more now as well. If I happen to have a crap day, some of us will just go down to the pub and laugh about it for a while. It helps because then we see the funny side and not take it so personally. Most of this is due to people who are brick walls and don't really help the situation all that much.
Other than that though, I don't get involved in any power struggles. I don't actually think that there are any power struggles where I work, because everyone is fairly sure of their place and moving up means going overseas. Since nobody really knows whats overseas, they don't really know what they're competing against.
Thats my rant for the month.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Irritable
Some things have just really pissed me off lately. I have a feeling its making me a more irritable person. Or maybe its because I'm becoming a more irritable person. Its just one of those vicious circle scenarios.
Its strange because I wasn't really all that irritable before. Normally I'd just do stuff as it comes along and not give much of a crap about anything. I'm still kind of like that, but I'm probably a little less tolerant about a lot of things.
Just a warning to people I guess...
Its strange because I wasn't really all that irritable before. Normally I'd just do stuff as it comes along and not give much of a crap about anything. I'm still kind of like that, but I'm probably a little less tolerant about a lot of things.
Just a warning to people I guess...
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Nothing
I was going to write something about how it all doesn't make sense... again. But then I started listening to some Jazz, and the urge to poke holes in stuff kinda melted away. Cause and effect? Probably not, but we'll just take it as it looks.
So instead, I'm not really writing anything at all. I know its a bit of a letdown, but you'll have to blame Diana Krall for that. If she didn't sing Jazz, and maybe she sang something like alternative pop like grungey stuff, then we'd all have something relatively interesting to read.
So instead, I'm not really writing anything at all. I know its a bit of a letdown, but you'll have to blame Diana Krall for that. If she didn't sing Jazz, and maybe she sang something like alternative pop like grungey stuff, then we'd all have something relatively interesting to read.
Monday, March 26, 2007
I'm one of them!
I think I mentioned a while ago how it was funny that people kinda pulled out their earplugs while walking along the street or on public transport only when they realised they were sitting next to someone they knew.
Well... now I'm one of them :(
Damn this iPod craze.
I've got about 4 different things to do on the bus now. Theres sleep (only if I get a window seat), read a book, PSP, or listen to the iPod. Technically I could listen to the iPod while sleeping or reading, and sometimes I do, but the others are quite mutually exclusive.
Well... now I'm one of them :(
Damn this iPod craze.
I've got about 4 different things to do on the bus now. Theres sleep (only if I get a window seat), read a book, PSP, or listen to the iPod. Technically I could listen to the iPod while sleeping or reading, and sometimes I do, but the others are quite mutually exclusive.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Bloody Complicated
I hate it when people try to complicate things.
Like... really really hate it. Well, its okay if it makes things better. Making things complicated just to suit yourself doesn't really help anyone or anything other than yourself. Now thats just selfish (and so is this blog).
Take for example tonight.
1. We go out for a few drinks.
2. I leave a bit early to get my last bus home, and to get home early and have a nice sleep before I'm meant to do some really hardcore work tomorrow
3. Somebody calls and tells me 'Oh I can get a lift home!'
4. I think 'YAY!'
5. So I stay for a bit longer, thinking "Oh cool, it won't take as long to get home!"
6. I get a ride... to park and ride... and then to some other random suburb, and then home
7. Its now approximately an hour after I would have got home if I took the bus.
F&^&#^$ Hell.
WHY DO THIS TO ME?
No, its not part of God's plan, I'm sure of it. I don't feel his love in any part of this ride home. I'm sorry. I hope its not a test.
Like... really really hate it. Well, its okay if it makes things better. Making things complicated just to suit yourself doesn't really help anyone or anything other than yourself. Now thats just selfish (and so is this blog).
Take for example tonight.
1. We go out for a few drinks.
2. I leave a bit early to get my last bus home, and to get home early and have a nice sleep before I'm meant to do some really hardcore work tomorrow
3. Somebody calls and tells me 'Oh I can get a lift home!'
4. I think 'YAY!'
5. So I stay for a bit longer, thinking "Oh cool, it won't take as long to get home!"
6. I get a ride... to park and ride... and then to some other random suburb, and then home
7. Its now approximately an hour after I would have got home if I took the bus.
F&^&#^$ Hell.
WHY DO THIS TO ME?
No, its not part of God's plan, I'm sure of it. I don't feel his love in any part of this ride home. I'm sorry. I hope its not a test.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I've started.
As most of you no doubt know, I've started working fulltime now.
Just for the record, I really like it at the moment. The work is interesting (even though I keep saying I don't do anything), and the people are quite helpful most of the time. I feel I'm starting to make a difference in the hodgepodge of systems that we call our IT landscape in the organisation.
I'm supposedly going to be on rotation. So at the start of May I'll be moving to a different department. Its going to be more people orientated so I'll talk to a bunch of people who won't really give a rats arse about me, but just want stuff done. Its a bit of a cynical way of looking at a role which requires customer service, but I try not to hold any illusions about it.
Anyway, I'll be back in IT about 2 days a week which will give me plenty of time to catch up and hopefully Fridays as well, where no work actually ever gets done.
However, one thing is that I've been stonewalled by a couple of people. They're in IT, just not really in the same department. You might just say they have a different boss and just leave it at that. Its not the most pleasant experience. You want to do something, like fix a problem, make things a bit more efficient, but you need someone to be willing to do something for you. What makes it worse is that the people so described can leave it and it'll fix itself eventually. That is, when the big huge upgrade comes along and we can do it ourselves.
Problem is, as with all IT projects, nobody actually knows when thats going to happen until about a month before it does. Just goes to say that it isn't going to happen in a month.
Just for the record, I really like it at the moment. The work is interesting (even though I keep saying I don't do anything), and the people are quite helpful most of the time. I feel I'm starting to make a difference in the hodgepodge of systems that we call our IT landscape in the organisation.
I'm supposedly going to be on rotation. So at the start of May I'll be moving to a different department. Its going to be more people orientated so I'll talk to a bunch of people who won't really give a rats arse about me, but just want stuff done. Its a bit of a cynical way of looking at a role which requires customer service, but I try not to hold any illusions about it.
Anyway, I'll be back in IT about 2 days a week which will give me plenty of time to catch up and hopefully Fridays as well, where no work actually ever gets done.
However, one thing is that I've been stonewalled by a couple of people. They're in IT, just not really in the same department. You might just say they have a different boss and just leave it at that. Its not the most pleasant experience. You want to do something, like fix a problem, make things a bit more efficient, but you need someone to be willing to do something for you. What makes it worse is that the people so described can leave it and it'll fix itself eventually. That is, when the big huge upgrade comes along and we can do it ourselves.
Problem is, as with all IT projects, nobody actually knows when thats going to happen until about a month before it does. Just goes to say that it isn't going to happen in a month.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Its so sad
In the 3 or 4 days that I was never completely alcohol free, all I got was a peck on the cheek and a business card from some chick which I couldn't read because it was Chinese. That scored a laugh.
lol.
Ah well.
lol.
Ah well.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Hello from China!
Um. I'd write more, but theres no time. Though there is plenty to write about!
Maybe I'll just write when I get back and I'm bored.
Maybe I'll just write when I get back and I'm bored.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Back from China
Its a different blog title because it doesn't happen very often, unlike many of the other blog titles I've been using since this thing started.
So today's post is something about my trip to China, and something about how I think China works, or more accurately, how it sort of works. You'll see what I mean.
I'm not really sure how to start. But I think Alex had it right when he described the country as 'half-baked'. Everything seems to have a bit of Not Quite Right (NQR) quality about it. One large factor is definately their English translations. While I understand that English is clearly a foreign language in China, they would have at least had some native English speaker to proofread their publications before sending them out to the printer, especially when their intention is to entertain Western guests. For one, their spacing is a bit NQR; they don't put spaces in between words, and for another, they seem to have trouble with grammar. I'd write out the examples, but a photo would do it more justice, so you'll just have to wait.
But then, some might ask that if everything is a bit half baked, how do they keep recording such phenomenal economic growth? Well... I think its because they have so much to catch up on. They have the ability to make things that reaches the same standard of quality that you'd expect from a Western product, but they just don't have the right psyche. Actually, its quite similar to Australia. They seem to have the idea that a slap-dash job will do most of the time. Its reflected in the way their rooftop signs are always held up by ugly iron bars that seem to come straight from the time where that NYMEX sign was built in Richmond, Melbourne. Its also reflected in the way they make roads. Theres bumps everywhere... even on brand new roads... and the expressways. That is, bumpy enough to almost lose your stomach when the bus goes over it.
So even though they are building and making things at record speeds, the things they're building aren't that great. It doesn't really matter what kind stuff you build, it seems that if you have enough of them, it doesn't really matter at all. So all they do is build heaps of everything, including giant factories and other random stuff.
Anyway, theres part one, I've only got 5 mins of net left... so we'll leave the rest for another day.
So today's post is something about my trip to China, and something about how I think China works, or more accurately, how it sort of works. You'll see what I mean.
I'm not really sure how to start. But I think Alex had it right when he described the country as 'half-baked'. Everything seems to have a bit of Not Quite Right (NQR) quality about it. One large factor is definately their English translations. While I understand that English is clearly a foreign language in China, they would have at least had some native English speaker to proofread their publications before sending them out to the printer, especially when their intention is to entertain Western guests. For one, their spacing is a bit NQR; they don't put spaces in between words, and for another, they seem to have trouble with grammar. I'd write out the examples, but a photo would do it more justice, so you'll just have to wait.
But then, some might ask that if everything is a bit half baked, how do they keep recording such phenomenal economic growth? Well... I think its because they have so much to catch up on. They have the ability to make things that reaches the same standard of quality that you'd expect from a Western product, but they just don't have the right psyche. Actually, its quite similar to Australia. They seem to have the idea that a slap-dash job will do most of the time. Its reflected in the way their rooftop signs are always held up by ugly iron bars that seem to come straight from the time where that NYMEX sign was built in Richmond, Melbourne. Its also reflected in the way they make roads. Theres bumps everywhere... even on brand new roads... and the expressways. That is, bumpy enough to almost lose your stomach when the bus goes over it.
So even though they are building and making things at record speeds, the things they're building aren't that great. It doesn't really matter what kind stuff you build, it seems that if you have enough of them, it doesn't really matter at all. So all they do is build heaps of everything, including giant factories and other random stuff.
Anyway, theres part one, I've only got 5 mins of net left... so we'll leave the rest for another day.
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