Fortunately life hasn't been too busy. I have a test on Friday and the only assignment I have left to do is a bonus one which I may or may not do which is due on Monday (hopefully our Winnipeg flight has AC power).

I am rapidly approaching one of life's big transitions. It's similar in order of magnitude to:

• The first day of kindergraten
• Switching from elementary school to junior high
• Highschool to university

So what is that? A big transition every 5-7 years? I expect this one to be turbulent for about six months. I'll then settle down for five years and then what?
6:09:26 PM   []

I don't know how it broke because it was just chilling in my backpack. I've never used a case (it's stainless steel) and it's survived skiing, sailing, hiking, backpacking around Europe, concerts and boring family gatherings.

I wonder why the can't put a tough plastic cover on top of the LCD like cell phones have?

Seeing as Christmas is rapidly approaching, as is my move to the west coast, and I do have a vacation booked for February I really need a camera, and not to mention the wedding this coming weekend in Winnipeg. It was actually in my bag (where presumably it broke) because I was snapping photos around campus because in my four years here I haven't really taken any pics of on-campus life.

So I'm semi-seriously looking at a new camera (cue some disparaging comment from Ming juxtaposing my tuition post with this toy shopping post). What I'd like is:

• Pocket sized
• 3+ megapixels
• Durable
• Fast and responsive

5:55:33 PM   []

Here is an interesting bit on page 2:

Beyond the bean-bagged lobby, 12-hour days are considered standard, and an unspoken caste system has emerged. At the top are the engineers, people in the mold of Brin and Page. At the bottom are the contractors, the 30% of Google workers who labor alongside full-timers—yet without benefits, stock options, or access to the company intranet, not to mention to meetings or social events. That's fostered anger in Google's overeducated ranks. For the most part, it takes a degree from an Ivy League school, or MIT, Stanford, CalTech, or Carnegie Mellon—America's top engineering schools—even to get invited to interview. Brin and Page still keep a hand in all the hiring, from executives to administrative assistants. And to them, work experience counts far less than where you went to school, how you did on your SATs, and your grade-point average. "If you've been at Cisco for 20 years, they don't want you," says an employee.

You can add University of Waterloo to the list of ivy league and top engineering schools because they are now recruiting developers and product managers here.

And there is another interesting bit on page 3:

Brin and Page mandate that employees spend 20% of their time on self-directed projects and another 20% interviewing outside job candidates. Getting ready for meetings (or showing up on time) doesn't always take priority.

Being able to spend up to 20% of your time on self-directed projects really appeals to me.
5:41:10 PM   []