digital.goth.geek

Johnny was the Chemists son,
But Johnny is no more.
What Johnny thought was H₂O
was H₂SO₄.

*snicker*

Why am I still at work? Why?

Dear KPMG,

Fuck you very much.

Fuck you for telling me that I was made redundant three days after I actually was.

Fuck you for taking two weeks find the paperwork that you’d had for four weeks in storage.

Fuck you very much for not telling me that the company’s insolvency was held up for four weeks because you hadn’t sorted anything out with the courts.

And an especially big fuck you for lying to me and telling me you’d received my claim, and then not telling me that you actually hadn’t until I had to ‘phone-chase you across half of Scotland another four weeks later.

Oh, and fuck you also for not getting in touch with me at any stage to let me know things had gone even further tits up.

Let’s face it: you couldn’t audit yourself out of a wet and defective tissue-paper bag, could you?

Vitriolically yours,

Disappointed of Edinburgh.

So that’s it, I’ve handed in my resignation.

So, I can now happily say that I’m moving on to a full time position as Web Architect for the School of Physics at the University of Edinburgh from the 11th of April, and I’m really looking forward to it. This probably means that I’m a complete and utter geek.

I’ve been asked to see if I can help in finding a replacement for me (as if such a thing existed! ;-) as there is ongoing work here that will need to be done, as well as a number of upcoming projects.

Note that this is primarily a developer position, but any skills as a designer wouldn’t be ignored by any means.

What they’re looking for is:

• a web/multimedia developer, preferably with a knowledge or passion for video production
• excellent Flash, with a good knowledge of Director
• experience of delivering on web/CD/DVD platforms
• good working knowledge of (X)HTML, CSS, XML, XSL, PHP, ColdFusion, ASP, C# and the rest…
• database/web/application server admin experience would be a boon
• ecommerce experience is highly desirable
• design skills (Quark, Photoshop, etc.) would be beneficial
• and the usual stuff (good communication skills, etc.)
• someone looking for a challenge(!)

They’re ideally looking for someone FT, but are willing to take help where they can get it (read ‘contractors’) to pick up the slack until they do.

If you’re interested, bung a letter/CV to Jack Garrow or to me (matt at republicproductions dot com) and I’ll pass it on.

(Yes, the web site will need to be re-done.)

The main reason that I’m leaving is because there’s a large amount of multimedia (mostly Flash) work which, although I used to enjoy it, I’m trying to focus on web application development (you know, that Ajax/Web2.0 nonsense). It’s not really my bag baby, and the new job will be more my kinda thang.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has denounced the teaching of creationism in schools.

While this is A Good Thing™, the least he could do is have the strength of his own convictions. This is just another example of the two-faced[1] nature of religion to cherry-pick what it wants to promote and what it wants to conveniently ignore.

[1] Or is it three in the case of a certain monotheistic (sic) religion?

More over at Google News.

Edit: You have got to be kidding me (10 March 2006)

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which oversees the development of the national curriculum, in effect guiding exam boards, said discussions of “intelligent design” or “creationism” could take place in science classes.

The National Curriculum Online website says for science at Key Stage 4 (GCSE level): “Students should be taught how scientific controversies can arise from different ways of interpreting empirical evidence (for example Darwin’s theory of evolution).”

Creationism has no place in the classroom (or anywhere else IMO) but if the ID proponents want it - fine: get some real evidence together to support your argument. Don’t rely on two conflicting narratives that were written in the bronze and iron ages and mistranslated to buggery over the most recent period of about 14-18 centuries.

Fuck off!

You want peace? It’s simple: stop killing people who don’t share your ‘faith’!

Today I have been mostly reading I Resign.

The episode that Isaac Hayes quit over.

Warning! Contains Scientology references.

Courtesy of The HuffPo.

I’ve never watched Boston Legal as I generally find legal dramas rather dry, but I saw this clip today, and thought it was a great piece of oratory, even though it’s fictionally delivered.

We don’t always need to be absolutely accurate - it depends on the circumstances

An Adult Literacy and Numeracy Curriculum Framework for Scotland (page 40)

What? Under which circumstances would it be acceptable not to be accurate? A lack of precision is perhaps acceptable, but a lack of accuracy?

Whoever wrote that should be birch whipped. Twice.