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In the comments under What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?:

As for legal standing, [...] I had zero energy to put into a protracted legal battle with my former employer. In the discovery process we also had a glimpse of the potential defense we would battle in court, and let this be a warning to all current and future FB staff: ( Read more... )

The Other Side Of The Sky, 1957This was a pretty interesting collection of short stories about life on a space station. The standout to me was a somewhat implausible one about an astronaut who brings a pet bird up into space, and one day the bird begins fainting from lack of oxygen, alerting the crew to a failure in the oxygen system and saving ( Read more... )

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Into The Comet, 1960A journalist accompanies a crew aboard a spacecraft that intercepts a comet and explores its core. The core generates massive electromagnetic interference (for some reason) that causes their computers to go haywire, buggering their calculations for the return flight, and they all believe they're stranded and doomed to starve ( Read more... )

We did a late checkout, deciding to leave Taupo a day early to gain some flexibility later ( Read more... )

Every couple of months, somewhere on the planet, some acolyte programmer or frustrated employer of programmers comes up with the bright idea that they could solve the problem of software development once and for all if they just built a set of software tools that management could use on their own, to describe their needs to the computer and have ( Read more... )

Yesterday began with petting the local cat. Today begins with meeting some adorable ducks!


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(Written for my eldest nephews, why may find it useful)

There are people out there who think that any swearing at all is wrong. There are people out there who can't help swearing all the time, and think any censorship is wrong. Most people are somewhere in the middle.

Personally, I think swearing can be a lot of fun, and funny, and fine stress ( Read more... )

Here, I bet you didn't know David Bowie recorded a song in 1967 called "The Laughing Gnome!"
I'll bet you didn't know he was the voice of the gnome as well!

Here's a half-speed version to prove it.

"Here, what’s that clicking noise?"
"That's Fred! He's a METROGNOME! Ha haaaa!!"