T O T K a t - 2 0 0 6

Socalism

Er. Well, OK, more "being sociable".

J and I went to have a nose around the Apple Store last night, then headed for Belgo for to see if "Lobster Mania" was still on and get some dinner. When we arrived, we were told there would be a 40 minute wait, which wasn't ideal but we gave in in the end. While we were marvelling at a skinny, French child in the waiting area bar who was chomping on an apple, paul_kruzycki appeared as if by magic, followed by felinitykat and renarde, which was an extremely pleasant co-indicidence. So, after a little persuasion from J, Belgo actually managed to merge the two tables and get us sat down more quickly than they'd previously indicated.

So, that was nice. And I think a good time was had by all. :o)

Get an education, dammit!

Too many times I see in email and on notices (meeting/demonstration) "in the central atria". It's an atri_um_. Singular. Learn! That particular word is a straight borrow from Latin. Find out how to use a "posh" word before abusing it. Or, failing that, go and take Latin (or Greek, but Latin is probably easier to start with) GCSE; it'll help with language no end. Don't think I'm being elitist here, these emails are coming from (supposedly) well-educated management and their assistants. I'd really expect emails/notices from such people to be written in English to a decent standard.

And yes, I am reading Lost for Words: The Mangling and Manipulating of the English Language at the moment.

Job vacancy - BBC Broadcast Interactive Operations

There's a vacancy in my team come up for a Systems Engineer [also here]:-

Knowledge & Experience
======================
Essential
---------
o - At least two years experience in a systems administration, IT or broadcast support role.
o - Demonstrable detailed knowledge of either Unix (Solaris 2.5 or later, or Linux) or Windows 2000 or later.
o - Good knowledge of internet protocols including TCP/IP.
o - Able to demonstrate a knowledge of broadcast interactive TV services and an appreciation of the technologies involved in delivering interactive content to the viewer.

Desirable
---------
o - Previous experience supporting interactive TV, broadcast or online services
o - Strong experience with internet technologies, particularly web servers, web application servers and related systems.
o - Scripting experience in Unix shell or Perl.
o - Demonstrable appreciation of systems architecture and design and its relationship to delivering broadcast services.
o - Oracle, MySQL or Postgres database skills including design, development and administration.
o - Knowledge of DVB standard and associated coding, multiplexing and distribution technologies.
o - Knowledge and experience of at least one interactive TV set top box middleware standard as commonly used in UK.

Anyone interested or know of anyone who is... drop me an email (or apply online). It isn't just telly, there is radio and web too!
This job is based in West London. [Cross-posted to Livejournal and totkat.org]

Aaaand BBC Broadcast is sold

Ho hum. We have new masters.

Go do some science!

For crying out loud!

If it isn't leaves, it's too cold, too wet or now, too hot. I left the house at 0745 and I'm only just at Notting Hill Gate. Now the Central Line is suspended on top of it taking over an hour to get there from Wimbledon. I don't want to hear excuses about how complex the system is, I want the money I pay for tickets to actually buy me the service I have been sold. And why is it that the bus I'm sitting on right now (seeing as there's no other realistic way to get to work from here) has only a few, tiny windows that don't open much, no fans and no air conditioning?

Educational and entertaining

I found this here Policeman's Blog[0] through random wandering around the BBC News web site yesterday. It's well worth a read. I'm not entirely sure if it is a real policeman or a writer, but I shall trust and believe for now at least.

[0] - yes, I still despise the word "blog", but it is both the title of said web journal and the site it is hosted on so I have to concede its appropriateness here.

*foam*

Oh for crying out loud!

London-based people...

There's a free music festival going on all day, in and around Exhibition Road (South Ken):- http://www.exhibitionroadmusicday.org/main.php?p=about

Looks like theres pop, rock, classical, folk, latin, jazz, klezmer, fusion... lots of interesting stuff.

Wimbledon

Tribute was paid to Wimbledon yesterday by eating strawberries and cream, well, OK mascarpone but still thick and creamy dairy product. Today, Wimbledon started. And from our point of view, started prety well.

To be honest, tennis bores me to tears but still it seems to grip the country at the same time every year... until Tim gets knocked out and nobody cares any more.

I need to figure something out

I'm the second person into the office by a few minutes, but leave last. This isn't right. And to cap it all, my employer doesn't believe in give and take. I give more hours than I am obliged to, by between 5 and 15 in a week and I was just docked a day's pay for striking. I know that is my employer's legal right to do so but I'm now doubting the rightness of the extra hours they get out of me for free. Of course there will always be occasions where it is appropriate to put in the extra time to get things out on time, but every day of every week? Am I bad to feel wronged here?

Upgrading my Apple RITE NOW!!!!11!1

I don't get it

I leave work at 1720 one day and get to Wimbledon at 1816. The next day I leave at 1740 and get to Wimbledon at 1822. No delays on Central or District Line on either day. Huh?

Weekend

I know it is already Thursday, but the weekend just gone was mostly nice.

I was (and still am until tomorrow morning) on call and some of that was hideous. Still, new measures are being put in place to help to avoid a repeat performance.

We had a barbecue. J, having brought exciting barbecue food with him, cleared the patio of the 3' high grass and weeds between the paving stones - something I should have done a while ago, but it just kept intimidating me (I usually end up doing stuff like that on a random Saturday or Sunday morning. Unplanned. In full sun. Without having had any breakfast or anything to drink. Then collapse in a mildly dehydrated, sweaty heap, glugging water like a fish afterwards). And then there was fire. And outdoor-cooked cow and chicken and sweetcorn and peppers, with salad. Yum.

New toy

In part celebration of my new job, I've finally succumbed to the desire for a new toy and got myself a Tungsten E2. It is PalmOne's mid-range PDA and plenty enough for me. I couldn't quite justify the cost of a T5 really.

It is shiny. Oh yes it is. And with a 1GB SD card, I can use it as an mp3 and/or video player.[0] It syncs via the built-in Bluetooth, which is nice, or over USB cable (through which it will also charge). So I can leave the power cable at home and sync over bluetooth here and take the USB cable in to work with me and charge/sync there over that.

[0] - Once I've found the optimum encoding settings and then there's the "getting things off TiVo to watch on the move" project which may eventually happen. I've got a fatter TiVo now, having added a 120GB disk to the existing 40GB one; plus it now has bash on the serial port and J has found a serial cable for me (weird 3.5mm jack on the TiVo end). I just need to get a network card for it (and either a cheap wireless base station to plug the ethernet into, or a PCMCIA wireless card for an old laptop and use that as a bridge) and then I'm away. Just. Heh.