On 08/10/2012 08:15 AM, scott wrote:
>> I start full-time employment tomorrow.
>
> Congratulations - must be nice to be getting paid double (until xmas
> wasn't it?) :-)

Yeah, roughly that. Looks like fun times ahead.

> Surely that is TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE! You're one of the 6 people in the
> world working on cryptography!

I'm not designing cryptographic methods - just employing existing ones. 
(Maybe.)

Post a reply to this message

Orchid Win7 v1 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> In case anybody missed it: I GOT HIRED.

congrats!

> The guys seem convinced that I'm a Linux wizard, despite my statements to the
> contrary. This seems to be based largely on the fact that I know how to
> run "ps" and I know that "kill" is a command that sends signals, not
> just a tool for killing processes.

I can see lots of Linux-related questions here in the coming weeks.

> In terms of what the company does, the Non-Disclosure Agreement that I
> just signed prevents me saying too much.

weapons of mass destruction?

> The software they write has some very technical aspects to it -
> manipulating low-level stuff like computer file-systems, network
> protocols and even cryptography. (I.e., stuff that I would actually find
> interesting, rather than just writing yet /another/ CRUD system.)

no doubt

> I wrote quite a lot of C# code for somebody who doesn't "know" C# yet.

it's not all that different from Java.  Plus it got its fair share of pythonism
and haskellites.

> And they were really more interested in
> my problem-solving approach (and social skills) than the actual code
> produced (which was obviously trivial).

that's the correct way to hire compsci guys

> Oh, and did I mention? The salary isn't peanuts this time. It's real
> money. OK, it's not a fortune. But it's not a joke now. And in
> percentage terms, it's a rather large increase. (I'm not completely sure
> what my final salary from the last place was, but we're talking about
> something like a 50% pay rise. Would *you* complain about that??)
> Bearing in mind that my previous employer is still paying me what
> amounts to a full salary until December, I will basically be earning two
> wages for the next few months.

great, you can finally buy a 4" smartphone.

> Obviously I'm now in a probation period. My official title is "junior
> developer". It has been indicated to me, by several people who have the
> authority to be making such statements, that this could change quite
> soon, and that if so the pay would also increase. (But to be clear, I do
> not have this part in writing.)

ok, junior

> PS. My quip about Mordor seems tame compared to some of the jokes I
> heard offered in the office. Indeed, that quip may even by why they
> invited me back in the first place... (But that's just speculation on my
> part.)

BTW, did you ever mention povray during the interview? ;)

Post a reply to this message

> Orchid Win7 v1 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>> In case anybody missed it: I GOT HIRED.
>
> congrats!
>

Ditto.

>> The guys seem convinced that I'm a Linux wizard, despite my statements to the
>> contrary. This seems to be based largely on the fact that I know how to
>> run "ps" and I know that "kill" is a command that sends signals, not
>> just a tool for killing processes.
>
> I can see lots of Linux-related questions here in the coming weeks.
>
>> In terms of what the company does, the Non-Disclosure Agreement that I
>> just signed prevents me saying too much.
>
> weapons of mass destruction?
>

James Bond gadgets.



-- 
/*Francois Labreque*/#local a=x+y;#local b=x+a;#local c=a+b;#macro P(F//
/*    flabreque    */L)polygon{5,F,F+z,L+z,L,F pigment{rgb 9}}#end union
/*        @        */{P(0,a)P(a,b)P(b,c)P(2*a,2*b)P(2*b,b+c)P(b+c,<2,3>)
/*   gmail.com     */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }

Post a reply to this message

On 08/10/2012 05:46 PM, nemesis wrote:
> Orchid Win7 v1<voi### [at] devnull>  wrote:
>> In case anybody missed it: I GOT HIRED.
>
> congrats!

TY.

>> The guys seem convinced that I'm a Linux wizard, despite my statements to the
>> contrary.
>
> I can see lots of Linux-related questions here in the coming weeks.

Heh. I doubt that...

> weapons of mass destruction?

Surely the only true weapon of mass destruction is the atom bomb. After 
all, it works by converting mass (which is a form of energy) into heat 
(which is another form of energy)...

>> I wrote quite a lot of C# code for somebody who doesn't "know" C# yet.
>
> it's not all that different from Java.  Plus it got its fair share of pythonism
> and haskellites.

My C# book did spend an entire chapter telling me that immutable objects 
and mapping / filtering / gouping are cool. Right before it started 
raving about something called LINQ, which seems to be of very dubious 
usefulness. (Unless you're actually writing database applications, 
anyway...)

>> Oh, and did I mention? The salary isn't peanuts this time.
>
> great, you can finally buy a 4" smartphone.

Uhuh. So I could splash out and buy a camera that doesn't stop working 
after 20 minutes. Or a copy of VMware Workstation. Or some new dance shoes.

Or I could buy something utterly useless like a smartphone.

Seriously. You realise I'm never more than 17 feet from a computer, 
right? What do I need a phone for?

> BTW, did you ever mention povray during the interview? ;)

It's on my CV. I don't think I mentioned it out loud.

Weirdly, this company has an animation department - even though this is 
utterly unrelated to their actual core business. They use them to do 
marketing graphics and such, and also contract them out to companies 
wanting similar. Random...

Post a reply to this message

Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> Weirdly, this company has an animation department - even though this is
> utterly unrelated to their actual core business. They use them to do
> marketing graphics and such, and also contract them out to companies
> wanting similar. Random...

Until I got a videogame fixation, my Plan B list included doing technical or
educational animations. This seems like it should be a pretty good market niche
to get into.

Post a reply to this message

> On 08/10/2012 05:46 PM, nemesis wrote:
>>
>> great, you can finally buy a 4" smartphone.
>
> Uhuh. So I could splash out and buy a camera that doesn't stop working
> after 20 minutes. Or a copy of VMware Workstation. Or some new dance shoes.
>
> Or I could buy something utterly useless like a smartphone.
>
> Seriously. You realise I'm never more than 17 feet from a computer,
> right? What do I need a phone for?
>

Calling the tow-truck the next time you get into a fight with a polish 
truck driver. ;)


-- 
/*Francois Labreque*/#local a=x+y;#local b=x+a;#local c=a+b;#macro P(F//
/*    flabreque    */L)polygon{5,F,F+z,L+z,L,F pigment{rgb 9}}#end union
/*        @        */{P(0,a)P(a,b)P(b,c)P(2*a,2*b)P(2*b,b+c)P(b+c,<2,3>)
/*   gmail.com     */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }

Post a reply to this message

Orchid Win7 v1 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> Seriously. You realise I'm never more than 17 feet from a computer, 
> right? What do I need a phone for?

Some people have friends who are not always 17 feet from a computer.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Le 10/10/2012 19:59, Warp nous fit lire :
> Orchid Win7 v1 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>> Seriously. You realise I'm never more than 17 feet from a computer, 
>> right? What do I need a phone for?
> 
> Some people have friends who are not always 17 feet from a computer.
> 
Two shocking ideas:
 * people have friends
 * 17 feet from a computer is already too much away.

Post a reply to this message

On 10/10/2012 6:59 PM, Warp wrote:
> Orchid Win7 v1 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>> Seriously. You realise I'm never more than 17 feet from a computer,
>> right? What do I need a phone for?
>
> Some people have friends who are not always 17 feet from a computer.
>

Ooo! Scratch your eyes out, Julian.
That's so polari. (Sandy)

:-P

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message

On 10/10/2012 06:59 PM, Warp wrote:
> Orchid Win7 v1<voi### [at] devnull>  wrote:
>> Seriously. You realise I'm never more than 17 feet from a computer,
>> right? What do I need a phone for?
>
> Some people have friends who are not always 17 feet from a computer.

Oh, sure, I'm not saying it's a useless device. I'm saying it's useless 
*to me*.

Post a reply to this message