Archive for March, 2007

On Second Thoughts…

Looking for a job is a bit stressful. I’m not sure if I want a design job, or a development job. I’m a jack of all trades, master of none, so here’s five things I should probably have done during my time at university:

1. Mastered Macromedia Flash

Because Flash isn’t that bad after all, and people like it.

2. Bought Adobe Creative Suite

I’m graphically retarded. I love graphic design, and I understand it, but I can’t use Illustrator for shit.

3. Done more freelance work

My portfolio might be more substantial, I’d have made more money, I’d have gotten my name out and I might have learned a thing or two.

4. Kiss arse

This industry is full of talentless hacks with no formal training that work for peanuts doing favours for established companies. Maybe if I started flattering someone at [insert some NW design company’s name here] they might put in a good word for me…

5. Quit

Because I’ll still end up as a junior .NET developer after all. Earning £14,000 when that guy who got the junior job three years ago has moved to some cool startup in Liverpool, where he spends most of the day playing with the office pets from a beanbag chair in the communal chill out area mezzanine area overlooking the Smeg fridge filled with trendy imported beer.


Don’t Be A Dick

When I first got the Internet I immediately got into web design and I thought I was really good. I didn’t really care about hardware or security or anything like that until I started hanging around with the one other guy in school who knew what HTML stood for. He was into overclocking, and hacking into “noobs’” computers and being this arrogant prick on IRC channels.

I’d watch, and keep my mouth shut, as he ripped into some Swedish kid or another who dared to come into his channel and ask if anyone wanted a game of Unreal Tournament (it was TFC or Quake 3 Arena all the way). It wasn’t long before I realised that pretty much everyone on IRC thought they knew more than everyone else.

It was pathetic. Our channel was full of people from our town, and they were all so called experts in IT, but only two of them went to university, and none of them are working in IT at all. It was undeserved arrogance.

So I’d stopped using IRC (For that I was a “Fucking gay boy design noob” or something) and I still tend to stick to more mature conversation: blogs, forums, email, etc. but I also really love Digg.

I’m not really into the whole Digg community, I don’t worry about friends or submitting content, I just like the information to come to me, and I’ll say whether I like it or not. Occasionally, if I feel strongly about something, I might post a comment.

Something I regret as soon as I press the submit button.

I generally know that some dick is going to find the comment with no responses to it that everyone else has ignored and attempt to take it apart. It’s inevitable.

I’ll give you the latest example, regarding an AOpen Mini PC that looks like a MacMini:

Myself: I think I speak for the majority of ‘real’ Mac users when I say “We don’t care what it looks like, just as long as it works”. / I buy Macs because I find them (OSX) nicer to use, not because they come in nice cases.

Other: bullshit you’re an art student who bought the mac because you “thought it looked pretty” / How the hell is it nicer to use? It only has one mouse button!

Myself: I’m not an art student, I’m about to graduate with a BSc (That’s “science”) in web development. I used Linux for five years, but I need to use a number of Adobe applications, which is why I use a Mac. / And, if you had ever used a Mac then you would know that a) you can trigger the second mouse “button” by tapping with two fingers on the track pad, b) you could alternatively use ALT + Click and c) the Mighty Mouse (as issued with the iMac and Mac Pro) has two mice buttons and OSX supports any USB mouse. / If you don’t know what your talking about then don’t say anything; you make yourself look like an idiot.

This isn’t the first time this week I have seen this sort of situation, it’s happening all the time, all over the Internet. Maybe it’s a trait of the tech community, I don’t know. What I do know is that most people don’t know much about most things, so don’t be a dick.