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Drink
By sven (Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 12:05:59 AM EST) (all tags)
One of my favourite things is beer, and here are a few of my favourites. I have four in my fridge at the moment. Having that much choice pleases me. James Boag's Premium (5.0%) is a lager from Launceston, and it's one of my favourite Australian lagers. Coopers Pale Ale (4.5%) is a South Australian beer with a cloudy appearance that is quite uncommon in Australia. Hoegaarden (4.9%) is one of my favourite beers, though I never like to pay for it myself. Those Belgians are good brewers. Hahn Premium Light (2.8%) is a low-alcohol lager that isn't particularly exciting, but is reasonable for a light beer, and it's cheap. There aren't that many light beers to compete with, and Hahn Premium Light would be in my top three with James Boag's Premium Light and Cascade Light.

Soon I will be making homebrew, and then hopefully I will make my way onto my favourites list.

Inside: Lots of random stuff. No beer though.


People leaving

There seems to be a bit of an exodus on from work at the moment. We've had three people leave in a month, and there are another two who I suspect will leave over the next few months. If this continues for much longer, maybe they'll realise that they need to pay us more. Which reminds me... August is pay-rise month (for me anyway). Eleven days to go.

Question: In general, do higher wages for software engineers improve software quality? I would expect there to be some correlation.

Work jargon in real life

You know you've been on a project too long when your work jargon makes its way into your everyday terminology. For example, if two things get merged together, I say they correlate. If something goes off or gets stale, I will sometimes say that it has aged out.

Gentoo update

Gentoo is behaving now. I now have gvim and Mozilla Firefox working again. Everything else is optional. One of the guys at work introduced me to the '-D' option of emerge.

When used in conjunction with --update, this flag forces emerge to consider the entire dependency tree of packages, instead of checking only the immediate dependencies of the packages.
It's difficult to understand why that option isn't in the defaults. Surely the vast majority of Gentoo users don't want their system to fall in a heap.

And my computer doesn't crash anymore!!! Hooray! I have fixed it my turning up those RAM delays that I don't understand in the BIOS.

Aviation

Here is a picture of Malaysia Airlines 777 bumping its arse on the runway during takeoff from Zurich. I think it's kinda funny.

Results of the big tidy

  • Fans: 2x 60mm, 4x 80mm, 1x 120mm
  • Beige drive bay face plates: 6x 3.5", 11x 5.25"
  • DC adaptors: 3v, 9.5v, 12v, 24v
  • 10 assorted switches (the on/off variety, not the networking variety)
  • Power supplies: AT, ATX, Mac
  • Keyboards: 2x AT, 1x Mac
  • A flashing blue strobe-light
  • Mice: 1x serial, 2x PS/2, 1x Mac
  • CPUs: AMD 486 DX2-66, Pentium Overdrive PR-66, Pentium 133

Quotes from bash.org

I can (and do) spent hours reading IRC quotes on bash.org. For some reason this new one appeals to me:

Titanium_Dragon> I had a revelation today
Titanium_Dragon> Everyone knows that more intelligent creatures (humans, dolphins, chimps, ect.) tend to have sex for fun
Titanium_Dragon> But some people believe that sex for any reason but procreation is wrong
* Titanium_Dragon never put two and two together
< Q: Why are KLM so cheap? | BBC White season: 'Rivers of Blood' >
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A few of my favourite things | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
Home brew by nebbish (5.00 / 1) #1 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 12:10:10 AM EST
Good luck. My dad's bitter tastes like shit, but it gets you really pissed.

--------
It's political correctness gone mad!


Getting started by sven (3.00 / 0) #2 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 12:21:42 AM EST
I'm going to start by slavishly following the instructions on the kit in the belief that I can't go wrong. After that it can only get better.

--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

Coopers by cam (6.00 / 1) #3 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 12:36:33 AM EST
The only genuine Australian beer (not the Fosters muck that is brewed in Canada for export into the US) that I have been able to get in the US has been Coopers. We got it through an NJ bottle shop. We havent been able to get it since and we were only able to buy it in cartons. But it was nice for a while there.

lately we have been drinking some of the light beers the US offers. I tend to periodically go through Harp, Killians and Sam Adams for the weightier beers. But lately we have been drinking a fair bit of Yuengleung Light and Amsteel Light (or Ultra). They are kind of the like Hahn but with the more taste on the pallette type of beer that Americans like. Nice drops.

As to the Aussie beers, I enjoyed Resch's Real, but it must have gotten too popular as I noticed the CUB bought them up. Probably tastes like Fosters/VB now. I also liked Tooheys Red, that was a good bitter. Redback Wheat beer is also awesome. But the memory of those washing across my pallette is from a while ago now :( I miss Australian beer.

That pic of the Malaysian airliner doing a squat is funny. Looks totally unnatural. Wonder what the passengers in the rear thought.

cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic


Beer by sven (6.00 / 1) #8 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 01:06:38 AM EST
Speaking of Fosters... that is one beer that I've never tried. I have this bizarre goal to go my whole life without drinking it. So far, so good.

I tried Harp in Ireland and didn't think much of it. Other Irish beers like Kilkenny, Smithwick's, and even genuine Guinness (not the Aussie stuff) are more to my liking. I've never tried Killians or Sam Adams, but I'd like to. I've never had a good experience with American beers (I guess they export all the stuff they don't want, like we do with Fosters). I've seen Sam Adams mentioned on several occasions as a good one to try.

I've never even heard of Resch's, it's probably another one that we don't get over here. I'll look out for it next time I'm in Sydney and have a taste (employer-funded of course).

Redback is great, especially on a hot day in summer. It doesn't go well with all foods though, and it's not great if you're drinking a lot of it. But that can probably be said of most wheat beers.

--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

Fosters by cam (6.00 / 1) #12 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 01:49:19 AM EST
Fosters tastes like VB in Australia. IIRC it came off the same line, but with some differrence in the final temp at the very end to give some difference in taste. Harp in the US is brewed in Canada, so it is probably made locally for the US pallette. It is a bit inbetween Killians and Sam Adams in the US.

The US has several good micro-breweries. Sam Adams was originally a micro-brewery. Rochester in NY produces some wonderful beer like Brooklyn Lager and Dundas Lager. Seeing brewed in Rochester, NY is a good sign of quality in the US, but it is hard to get in Nth Virginia.

The US seems to be having a rennaisance in Light beers as well, which are low carb over here rather than low alcohol. Bit like what Tooheys Blue did to the light beer market in Aust. Yuengling Light, which is a Pennsylvanian beer is a good example of that.

Reschs was dead in the water in Sydney until the brought out their reschs Real drop. Good stuff, the RSL's picked it up almost immediately. It must be a local beer if you hadnt heard of it, then again us Sydneysiders used to get Swan Lager imported in from across the Nullabor.

cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic
[ Parent ]

since you are obviously an aussie by jann (6.00 / 2) #4 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 12:38:50 AM EST
try, if you haven't

james squire beers (brewed in sydney)
anything from the mad brewers (I think it is called the great white beer) - same brewery as james squire (aka set up by jack hahn)
redback - from WA

For really cheap and good quality ... try tasman bitter ... just like boags, $24/case

And drink your hoegarden with a squeeze of lemon ... like we do over here in NL and belgium

compliments

Jann ... an aussie in holland



Beer suggestions by sven (3.00 / 0) #5 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 12:58:06 AM EST
james squire beers (brewed in sydney)

I like all the James Squire's beers that I've tasted. Looking on their website it seems I've tasted five of their six. Last year I went to a food and wine show where Chuck Hahn was doing a tasting session with several of the James Squire's beers. We finished with a piece of chocolate and James Squire's Porter. It was very strange to be combining chocolate and beer, but it worked very well.

anything from the mad brewers

I've not heard of them.

redback - from WA

Definitely - not suitable for all occasions (I don't think it's very good if you're going to be drinking a lot of it) but it's great on a hot summer day.

For really cheap and good quality ... try tasman bitter ... just like boags, $24/case

That's a great price! I haven't seen it in bottle shops over here in WA so I'm not sure if we can get it. I'll look out for it though.

And drink your hoegarden with a squeeze of lemon ... like we do over here in NL and belgium

I'll give it a try!

Cheers!

--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

Bleach, bleach, bleach by georgeha (5.50 / 2) #6 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 01:00:29 AM EST
use lots of bleach to kill as many bacteria as you can in your fermenting tank and airlock. Use lots of  bleach in your siphoning tubes. You want to have a growth medium (wort) where the only significant organism is your yeast.




Pay & quality of coders by Herring (6.00 / 2) #7 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 01:00:31 AM EST
I've seeen a lot of studies which indicate that there is at least a factor of 10 difference in productivity between the best and the worst programmers. There is not a factor of 10 difference in pay.

Before recruitement, I don't know any way of measuring programmer productivity realiably. This is a shame. Going back to Brookes, it's easy to see that a small team of competent people is far more effective than a large team of "average" people. However, we are ruled by beancounters who have never read Brookes and go merely by headcount and hours logged. Fuckers.



That is huge by sven (6.00 / 1) #9 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 01:13:55 AM EST
there is at least a factor of 10 difference in productivity between the best and the worst programmers

That's incredible, but believable. Such a huge productivity difference would seem to imply that it's very worthwhile for an employer to pay a little more to try to attract those quality people. It's a shame that we are also lacking in the enlightened management department.

We have one of those bottom percentile people at work. The best description of him is probably "slack bastards". Typically he will get in around 8:30, go for a one hour walk during the day, have half an hour for lunch, and go home at 4:15. But now the tech lead is aware of his hours, so hopefully we can now let nature take its course.

--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

Employers by Herring (6.00 / 1) #10 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 01:41:29 AM EST
Two problems:
  1. It is very difficult to find the really good people
  2. If you have a team of 10 coders sitting there instead of a team of 3 misfits, it looks better
  3. (Amongst the problems) Employers are stupid

Like I say - it's like Brookes never lived. The favourite analogy is the one about most project managers believing that you can put 9 women in a room for a month and they'll come up with a baby.

"Slack" is not necessarily the same as unproductive. Personally, I can spend days mulling a problem and apparently doing nothing before exploding in a frenzy of code which just gets the job done. I have known people who spend 10+ hours a day in the office producing huge piles of shite. I have also know people who can produce wonders in hardly any time at all.

[ Parent ]

Slack vs unproductive by sven (3.00 / 0) #11 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 01:48:52 AM EST
"Slack" is not necessarily the same as unproductive.

That's true. I don't mind so much when people are slack but productive, or even hard-working but unproductive. It's when certain individuals exhibit both attributes that it becomes a real problem. Not just for them, but for the effect that it has on the rest of the team.

--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

Belgian Beer!!! by cnf (6.00 / 1) #13 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 02:08:24 AM EST
hear, hear, from a Belgian, proud of his beer heritage!

If you can get them, try the following as well:
Delirium
Duvel
Geuze (tripple)
Westmalle
Dentergemse

I could go on and on, really, seems like every town out of 5 has some sort of beer heritage here ^^;
-
The blood in my eyes
Forbids me to see;
The pain I have caused
To him, and to thee...



I've only tried one of those by sven (3.00 / 0) #14 Mon Aug 02, 2004 at 12:21:59 PM EST
We have a Belgian Beer Cafe in West Perth, so it should be possible to get some of them (for a hefty price). But so far, I've only tried Duvel.

--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

A few of my favourite things | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

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