My musical tastes are very broad. I don't like everything. There are lots of things that I simply can't listen to (Trance, Klezmer and Shlomo Argov are three that come to mind), but there's a great range of things that I like, from Mediæval to Miri Masika, via Beethoven and Bob Dylan, Cole Porter and John Cage, Wagner and Kurt Weill ( Read more... )

After spending most of a day struggling with the theory and practice of a particular issue, I discovered almost by chance that other people have been working on it already (on much the same lines as I had decided was the Right Way To Do It). This depressed me more or less to the point of tears ( Read more... )

I was looking for a video and my local library never seemed to have it in, even though they have all the others in the series, and also this one on DVD (but region 2 which our player can't play), so I asked at the desk if they had a copy and they told me it had been damaged but they could order it from another branch.

A couple of days later they ( Read more... )

Did I really agree to read the whole of Megillat Esther in 9 days time? Why have I not started practising? Why am I sitting at the computer at 2 a.m. reading blogs instead of getting a good night's sleep so I will get up at a reasonable time and go to work at a reasonable time and get home at a reasonable time so I can work on it? Why did I rent a ( Read more... )

By definition, one doesn't do voluntary work for financial rewards. To be thanked occasionally or to appear in the credits is nice, but not essential. After all, I choose to contribute because I think the project is worth contributing to and seeing it develop and grow and knowing that I am a part of it is rewarding in itself, and there is very ( Read more... )

When I interviewed for my current job, I knew that the team I was interviewing for did a lot of software assessments, and I tried to make it as clear as I could that I was looking for a position in development. I don't enjoy QA work, and I'm immensely bad at it.

A good QA-er really wants software to work and really expects it to work, and if it ( Read more... )

I have a more high profile blog Somewhere Else. This one will serve for whines and rants that I don't want everyone to read and know it's me writing.

Extra whines in the comments are more than welcome. Positive thinking is discouraged.