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v21on This is the best "we're hiring" image ever drawn

Man, I want more than not burning out.

Heh. My manager emailed me today, reminding me I have 10 days of holiday left in the year and that I should remember to take them. I'm planning walking along Offa's Dyke with my brother, and also taking off some days to work on side projects. And maybe a skiing trip...

(and my dad had the same problems - I think it was one of the factors in my parents breaking up. Now he's remarried and he takes far more time off, despite being in an yet-higher position. I think he's a fair bit happier, too.)

v21on This is the best "we're hiring" image ever drawn

Ugh, I had heard that too. Sick days are completely separate over here. I don't understand doing it otherwise - do you want sick people to come in? Go home, recover, and don't infect the office.

v21on This is the best "we're hiring" image ever drawn

Yeah, I think I get an extra half day a year. I forget, though, because I haven't been here a year, and we just got bought out and had all this stuff reshuffled.

v21on This is the best "we're hiring" image ever drawn

I understand it's pretty normal for America, but 15 days paid holiday seems so small to me. 22.5 here in the UK + bank holidays, and I don't feel it's particularly generous. Hmm...

v21on The best sites for content

http://www.lrb.co.uk/

Long form essays that really aren't afraid to engage with an idea. Also, you should check out the personals section, as they are a lesson in wit.

And obviously http://www.nybooks.com/ , too.

v21on Why I'll miss a world where books make the first move

Let's hope ebook piracy takes off, then.

v21on Ask HN: How would you store 5TB of data for 50 years, untouched?

If the half life of a modern bit of electronics is 10 years, that implies that in 50 years 1/32 of currently manufactured drives will still be around. I'd reckon the number would be a lot smaller, but given the terrific quantity of CD drives that exist out in the world right now, I think the chances of one still existing is pretty good.

Even if it didn't, if you compare the costs of many other storage techniques, they're probably equivalent to jerry-rigging a CD player to read back these disks. The difference is the cost is shifted to the reading and not the storage.

Your main risk is the shonky assumptions of the "archival" CD manufacturer. Not that I know what those shonky assumptions are, but I have a vivid memory of the hosts of Tomorrow's World demonstrating the durability of CDs by spreading jam on one, then wiping it off.

v21on Nicereply turns your email into a customer service feedback system

I am not sure how much I want to bother clients by rating my responses. It's a faff, and provides no real reward for them. There's too much junk at the bottom of emails anyway. I'd also not want to apply it to all emails - and there's a fuzzy line (where I work) between clients, providers, and random other contacts.

Having said that, I do love it when someone responds with a "Thank You". Or, in the case of one memorable client, poems praising how quickly the problem has been solved. <3 those.

v21on Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

But where I have seen pro-choice policies implemented here in the UK, the choices have amounted to between "bad" and "good". And some parents are pushier, and richer, and can afford to live in the right catchment areas. And thus choice mainly seems to promote rich parents having well educated kids.

Personally, I don't want a choice, and I want what I receive to be high quality and accommodating of a wide range of kids.

v21on Why the Mythbusters won't do RFID (2008)

As far as I can tell, one large benefit for Oyster cards is that people can use the gates at tube stations faster than with paper tickets. This is quite impressive, given that an experienced commuter barely has to break stride to use a paper ticket. (And on buses, you don't have the delay of interacting with the bus driver - you beep on as you go past). I'm sure the cost savings for London Underground from increased speed beats that that they'll lose to forged Oyster cards.

v21on You’ve Either Shipped or You Haven’t

And this reminds me of a talk, by Sophie Houlden, called "computer games are awesome, but you suck because you haven’t made one yet, you lazy bastard."

http://www.sophiehoulden.com/blog/?p=84#more-84

v21on Indie (Game) Fund is open for applications

The aim is ramen profitability, I guess.

Vague outlines to the funding terms are at http://indie-fund.com/about/ . Basically you pay back a proportion of revenue til you pay then back plus a bit. Or, if you make no money in the first 3 years, you don't owe them anything.

v21on Unsolicited Advice for Future Subjects of Magazine Profiles

Of course, if you consider this an elaborate resignation from the military and into politics, it makes a lot more sense...

v21on Why Google Buzz Should've Been Released Like Wave (and vice versa)

Buzz has already wormed it's way into my life. Sure, it's mainly done that by telling me it's there every time I check gmail - which is too much. But the way I like it is that it tells me the interesting things my friends are doing elsewhere, and lets me talk about them. Very few people actually Buzz deliberately, but then many conversation get started by a tumblr post, or a twitter post. Sure, those obviously have their own mechanisms for interaction, but those mechanisms aren't cleanly integrated into something I have open all the time, and telling me about them. Um, except twitter, because I have that as a widget in the side of the page.

Oh, and the (pretty much separate) geolocating public Buzz layer on Maps for mobiles is very nice. I discovered a tea place I want to check out just round the corner from my house, if nothing else.