Somewhat
Jun. 29th, 2010
05:09 pm - Game review -- and freebie
I've recently been playing Frozen Synapse, a turn-based online tactics game similar to Laser Squad Nemesis. Here are some initial thoughts (bearing in mind that the game is still in beta). Bonus: Due to their beta system, I have a free copy (Mac or PC) to give away to whoever asks first.
( Review followsCollapse )
Apr. 11th, 2010
07:00 pm - Programming languages: Comparative Spookiness
This is going to be a long, rambling, nerdy post. Non-CS people can safely TLDR it.
( haskellationCollapse )
Apr. 5th, 2010
12:20 pm - Paying it forward -- job openings
You all helped me tremendously in my last two job searches; I should reciprocally point out that my current company is embarking on what looks to be a very large hiring boom. "We are interested in all levels of experience and diversity of background," the recruiting mail says, but it's mostly software engineers, engineering managers, marketing/sales, and UI/UX specialists.
Endeca is a mid-size company with a successful product and a large customer base. The culture is very much engineering focused (eg, free caffeine), although there is a strong element of research and experimentation (eg, a non-trivial amount of reading research papers). The management appears quite sane. The location is Kendall, which I hear that some people find convenient. I don't know much about the non-engineering jobs; as to the engineering -- much of the coding work is in unusual or domain-specific languages, so language background is basically irrelevant (although functional programming and C++ experience are both helpful).
There are actual job descriptions at the obligatory horrible HR page http://www.endeca.com/about-us-jobs-ope
Nov. 7th, 2009
09:08 am - On the job market again
Well, Current Employer has finally gone well and truly crazy, and it's time for me to restart the old job hunt.
( Crazy like a crazy personCollapse )
That means that if you know a company that needs a nonnihil, I would love to know about it. Particularly if it isn't in telecoms!
(* From a purely conservation-of-angular-momentum perpective, I question whether one can be said to "spin off" a larger and more massive object -- surely it is oneself that is offspun!)
May. 21st, 2009
02:38 pm - nngh
They say that survivor's guilt means that you survived.
The layoff hammer missed me by a hair today, but it's going to be pretty quiet around here.
Jan. 2nd, 2009
06:56 pm - Dear Fidelity
Dear Fidelity:
First of all, let's get the simple stuff out of the way. I do not hate you for losing a lot of my money. Everybody loses money now and then, and I wouldn't have entrusted you with it if I weren't willing to take a risk. Times are hard, and I appreciate that. So I don't hate you for losing lots of my money.
I do, however, hate you for absolutely everything else.
( Bile.Collapse )
Many thanks,
--nonnihil
Sep. 12th, 2008
09:55 am - The Dark and Obscure Art of the Phone Interview
Being in the midst of a job hunt, I am doing a lot of phone interviews. Because I hate phone interviews with the burning fury of a thousand suns, I would very much prefer that the phone interviews that must be conducted yield a maximum amount of useful information in a minimum of time, so that I don't have to do, eg, four or more phone interviews with the same company.
( nonnihil explains how not to suckCollapse )So take heed, all of you: It can be done right, you just aren't doing it that way.
Sep. 5th, 2008
09:05 am - "...but time and chance happen to them all."
I've just found out that my company will turn back into a pumpkin ("suspend active operations") on the 30th. Three and a half weeks to take down the sites, shut down the networks, stick the demos on autopilot, raid the phone buckets for spare parts, and so forth.
We've had a good run of it, mind you. Five years is well over par in this business, especially if you're silly enough to get involved in mobile and music at the same time, ie, the two technology businesses most appallingly dominated by soul-blightingly evil wannabe-monopolists. We came very close to success at least twice and we're going out largely intact, which is a testament to our CEO's skills (not that he'd see it that way -- he's utterly devastated at the moment, taking it harder than any of the rest of us).
Anyway, this also means that I'm back on the job market. My resumé can be found here if you happen to be in the market for a Senior Software Engineer or something similar.
Jul. 7th, 2008
09:26 am - To the Editor
Dear Sirs:
I appreciate that it is technologically possible, as well as terribly modern and Web 2.0 fashionable, to put RSS feeds on everything. However, putting an RSS feed on the collected works of Epictetus is perhaps excessive. He has very few new posts per day.
Mar. 29th, 2008
02:06 pm - Foodblogging: Quick Hits
Well, two weeks of 
ukelele spring break has been great for my sleep, sanity, and productivity at work. For cooking, not so much: Getting home at a sane time means that I've only got 45 minutes to throw something together (later than that means that V gets tired and loses patience before I get dinner on the table).
So there's not been anything particularly worthy to blog. Fajitas, a reprise of last month's chicken stew recipe (this time over herbed polenta -- way excellent!), burgers, that sort of thing. Nothing liable to be novel to any of you or particularly illustrative.
We did do a recurring salad of mine, which might be worth a note:
1c yellow pepper as 1/4" dice
1c jicama as 1/4" dice
1c pineapple as 1/4" dice
Adequate juice from the pineapple to make everything wet
1t chili powder
Toss together, serve cold.
Today I'm doing Irish Stew, again not particularly novel, but a good spring dish.
Also: these pecans, since I had pecans left over from a couple of weeks ago.
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