eddie_catflap

I really like Barrett's writing, both the style and content. I look forward to seeing much more from him on his release. How he has maintained his wit throughout this episode is beyond me - especially after receiving such a harsh sentence.

Enjoyed the post and nice to see the guys collection being preserved and honoured in that way.

Personally though, the best bit was the picture of the "No Man's Land" cabinet, which is a game I've been struggling to find since playing it on holiday back in the early eighties. Never saw it again and couldn't recall the name of it to look it up on MAME.

I get a regular drip feed of these requests. Depending on my mood I check the outgoing link. Usually it's from someone recommending the service or product that the site asking me to remove the link offers. I've mailed quite a few of the requestors back. I explain that I've set all links to be nofollow and that it was a real person that created the link. Only 1 person has ever understood this. The rest all demanded the link still be removed with varying degrees of politeness. I just don't think site owners get it and to echo several comments here perhaps Google could make some clearer instructions about what they want.

I'm in a similar position to you, although I'm almost nine years down the line. I've spent most of my thirties raising a family and climbing the corporate tech ladder, doing jobs which didn't really interest me but paid reasonably well. I too have seen opportunities and ideas go to waste because I didn't think there was time to concentrate on them as well as home life etc. What didn't click was that I was spending so many hours at work that home life was suffering anyway. I'm now doing what I can on my own ventures and cutting back on extra obligations for my (full time) job. Previously I'd be the first guy to roll up my sleeves and pull a 24 hour session at work to fix an issue. Not now (although needs must on occasion).

Having an understanding partner can help. My wife is supportive of my efforts as we both realise that despite being financially comfortable at the moment, we will never be rich and I will never be completely satisfied carrying on in my current or similar roles. And who knows what will happen in the next 30 years? I may spend most of those out of work, unable to get a job due to my age. A fear of regretting never even having tried is a big motivator for me.

As others have said here, there is time to be found. Cut down on the TV. Don't work such long hours for other people. Get up an hour earlier than everyone else, especially at weekends. What I've found is that simply by doing 'stuff', I've become more efficient and more productive with the time I have. Ideas seem to be flowing more easily now as well. You can do it. Good luck.

I'm personally buying three (one for me, one each for the kids). I manage a team of unix sysadmins, you've got quite a few sales lined up there. 10K should go in about.. 5 minutes?

I really like this - can see some real troubleshooting benefits for it. Great work!

Hi - as an aside - I think it would be worth adding some 'tour' pages to your status dashboard site. I like the design but I'm not sure how the site works etc.

It reminded me of the (excellent) Charles Stross book Accelerando. Let's face it, it's the next step. We're just marking time till someone builds a Matrioshka brain around the Sun anyway.

Thank you!

I would love to have one, if you have a spare one left.

catflaporama@gmail.com

Much appreciated!