Honeymoon is over

Been at work for 2 weeks now, dead tired, but now the excitement is wearing off as I start to understand what is happening. The UK workplace is very different, in RSA, if you do not like the workplace, you can happily move along; (but in reality you can't). It appears employers are far more keen to find other creative ways to make your stay better, without spending tons of money that is. And the culture is much more conducive to getting things done. I am still fresh in the wings, and baning my head because it will be about Xmas time before I can really write some code that means anything at all. Embedded OS limitations at Symbian almost create a total new religeon. I think one can ignore or miss the zeal with which some things are held close, especially when the culture is so highly social. Myself I am not a social animal, but the engineering challenges that go with creating a worldwide winner product are definitely there. We want it all, now, and for free - has never been more real than in the phone market.

Well I am not a commentator, but some good things are comming, and untill then I will have to contend with long cummutes! Be warned, traveling 4 hours a day can kill you. I am not sure ow some folk can handle much more than that, but some do. I am not brain-dead, and so I cant really cope with my free-time getting muched up waiting for trains and busses to get from A to B. Next week will be better, mostly because I shall be able to drive to work.

Ah VideoSeven, monitor, I am going to be getting a 19" LCD screen after all, it was a bit of a mission, but I must say, the guys doing support at RTS really do a great job. The screens are really good, and I can find no-one who has complained, bit of a pity that the local distributor has so few phone lines, and the offshore contract (RTS) by comparison always answer on the first ring. It just goes to show, after-sales-service does make for happy customers.

ciao

Start work today

That's a question, not an instruction. Today I start work, I imagine much of the day will be spent waiting, photo for ID passcard, & company organigram. Package details (which are not what I am here for) pension, shares, and so on. I will have lots of people expect that I will remember their names in the morning tomorrow.

Going to take my time getting in, colelct maps for the bus route and see about a weekly ticket as I go along. Got to make the bit between the train and the office as simple possible, because I have to catch to busses up to the office.

Did not sleep much last night, tired and nervous (not apprehensive!).

Oh, our furniture arrives from RSA this afternoon/evening; happy days!

Z

void

This post is for anyone who got the wrong impression of void being nasty. It's a programming paradigm from the C language. Computing languages all allow data storage, more advanced (low-level) languages get very specific about storage in terms of the size and interpretation of the storage. Typical storage is for something like an integer, integers are good, but can only hold whole numbers, float for instance can hold fractions, and so on.

Suffice to say there are many storage types all for different tasks, it is even possible to create storage structures or containers, which can act as holders for a few storage locations all in one. That brings me to void, it is a really really powerfull storage, because it can store anything depending on how you use it. It is possible for a void to store a integer, a float or even a structured container, very usefull if you ask me.
The depending bit is important here. As storage locations go, void is like a great big piece of white paper of unlimited size, without some control that can cause problems, very nasty problems. Loosing track of data in a computing system is never a good thing, pretty much equivalent to the 'where did my file go?' question. That is the nasty part :-)

Custard sorted

Got the bird's custard sorted, now we have a spare used bottle of instant custard powder. The conventional birds powder was a bit harder to find, but works perfectly. I'd still like to try one from home though just to compare.

Link to Welwyn Garden City 'recycling'. group, is another usefull place to visit on the web.