A Life of Crime and Chocolate

lizmonster

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:hi: Omniregency!

Dogs are nice, but cats are better. Or at the very least think that they are far superior to dogs, humans, everything... :p

Truth be told, I adore both, but cats take so much less time and energy. I had a border collie once, and that was...educational. He was four months old when we got him. That experience prepared me for looking after a human infant more than all the What To Expect books on the market.
 

Omniregency

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:hi: Omniregency! Truth be told, I adore both, but cats take so much less time and energy. I had a border collie once, and that was...educational. He was four months old when we got him. That experience prepared me for looking after a human infant more than all the What To Expect books on the market.
Apparently Dogs are mentally and whatnot like three-year-old children... so they are very good practice! :D
 

heyjude

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Dogs are nice, but cats are better. Or at the very least think that they are far superior to dogs, humans, everything... :p

:welcome: Omniregency!

And you are correct (or the cats are correct), they are far superior! Just look at who serves whom in each relationship (human-canine and human-feline). :)
 

GailD

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Darn it, what gave it away? :greenie

:roll: I have no idea.

:) <----- innocent grin

Dogs are nice, but cats are better. Or at the very least think that they are far superior to dogs, humans, everything... :p

Very sensible!! And :welcome:

Truth be told, I adore both, but cats take so much less time and energy. I had a border collie once, and that was...educational. He was four months old when we got him. That experience prepared me for looking after a human infant more than all the What To Expect books on the market.

Oh my word, yes! I had a Border Collie, too. Talk about high energy!!??!!

KATS R TEH BEST SCIENCE SEZ SO

BTW I R DEFINITELY NOT KAT

KTHXBAI

(NOT KAT)

miaow

Of course! We can see you're NOT TEH KITTEH!


Pssst, got tuna and milk here. You want?

:D
 

GailD

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*accidentally puts saucer of cream next to bowl of tuna*


I need chocolate. This freelance job is driving me a little nuts. It's one of those cases where the client doesn't really know what he wants and gives a somewhat vague brief. But when you follow it, suddenly he knows what he doesn't want. A whole new set of new instructions follow. I explained that what he wants won't work but no, that's what he wants, so I do it. After he reads it he says, 'that doesn't work' but manages to make it look like I got it wrong. (Or at least, I feel like it's my fault.) I'm now waiting for yet another set of instructions. *sigh* Version 5.1. :Shrug:
 

muse

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:Hug2:'s Gail. Do we need to set the dogs (or cats) on this person? We have them, and we're not afraid to use 'em.:evil
 

GailD

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:Hug2:'s Gail. Do we need to set the dogs (or cats) on this person? We have them, and we're not afraid to use 'em.:evil

:roll:

Yes.

I get that the whole project is venturing into unknown territory. Sort of high-tech pioneering, but still. One would have hoped that they had a clearer idea of what they wanted before they started. *sigh* They say I'm their subject 'expert' but then question practically everything I write. I'm getting tired of defending what I've written and doing countless re-writes to add extra stuff that I don't believe is necessary. I feel like saying, 'If you're so darn smart, why not write it yourself?'

Actually, don't pay any attention to me. I'm just venting here. I'll get over it. :D
 

lizmonster

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:roll:

Yes.

I get that the whole project is venturing into unknown territory. Sort of high-tech pioneering, but still. One would have hoped that they had a clearer idea of what they wanted before they started. *sigh* They say I'm their subject 'expert' but then question practically everything I write. I'm getting tired of defending what I've written and doing countless re-writes to add extra stuff that I don't believe is necessary. I feel like saying, 'If you're so darn smart, why not write it yourself?'

Actually, don't pay any attention to me. I'm just venting here. I'll get over it. :D

As a (former) high-tech person, I can say that people in that field tend to be really literal-minded. Any kind of nuance or ambiguity is confusing, so if they can't separate something into a simple yes/no answer, they're going to jump on it. I imagine it gets annoying from the other side, especially if it feels like they're not trusting you. :Hug2: But it's them, not you!

(And they're not smart, at least not about what they've hired you for, no matter how brilliant they may be otherwise. On some level they know that or they wouldn't have hired you in the first place. But I certainly ran into a lot of arrogance in that business.)

I myself am reaching the "what's the minimum I can say to people about a former professional relationship without either lying or shooting myself in the foot?" stage. The best answer I have so far is "nothing," but I've got this great big gun in my hand that I'm just dying to aim at my big toe...
 

lizmonster

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Good point, Liz. So it all comes down to binary?



Whatever that is. :D

From a geek perspective? Yeah, it kind of does. For most types of computing, at some point it all comes down to IF A THEN B. A good programmer can distill a complex problem down to the required set of if/then conditions, and use the right programming language to structure a solution. It's possible to make things that look a lot like natural responses, but down in the guts? It's when to flip a bit on or off.

(I'll note that there are fields like quantum computing where these assumptions don't apply, and I don't pretend to understand a whole lot about them. My brother researches that area, and as soon as he gets past words of one syllable I get lost. :) But most commercial programming ventures these days aren't using anything more sophisticated than ordinary processing.)

It's often said that 95% of programming is figuring out what needs to happen, and 5% is actually writing code. That was almost always true, in my experience: once you understand the problem in enough detail to explain it to a machine that needs it broken into simple binary choices, it's not such a big deal to do the actual coding. It's just that while you're coding you usually discover that you don't understand the details, so you have to dive into that side of it again, and it gets iterative and messy and huge pretty quickly.

At its best, it's really fun. :)
 

GailD

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At its best, it's really fun. :)

Fun. Right. :roll:

I'm trying to write narrative that algorithms can pick up on. I had to look up what an algorithm was - not that I even understood the definition terribly well - but I understand that it's something like a very smart search engine. But the narrative I have to write does not need to be SEO at all. So... :Shrug: The client is now working on an 'example' for me. I am very curious to see how this is going to pan out. Writing this stuff may not be as easy as he maybe thinks it is. :D




Just for fun. If you had a program that tracked climate change, would it use Al Gore Rhythms?

:banana:
 
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Cassiopeia

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*accidentally puts saucer of cream next to bowl of tuna*


I need chocolate. This freelance job is driving me a little nuts. It's one of those cases where the client doesn't really know what he wants and gives a somewhat vague brief. But when you follow it, suddenly he knows what he doesn't want. A whole new set of new instructions follow. I explained that what he wants won't work but no, that's what he wants, so I do it. After he reads it he says, 'that doesn't work' but manages to make it look like I got it wrong. (Or at least, I feel like it's my fault.) I'm now waiting for yet another set of instructions. *sigh* Version 5.1. :Shrug:
Do you tell your clients they only get three changes for the price?
 

GailD

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:hi:

Do you tell your clients they only get three changes for the price?

Fortunately, this client is very generous and even willing to pay for research time but I had to quit the project. What he's wanting is just not doable and my stress levels were going through the roof. What with moving across country at the end of this month, with all the packing, clearing out, cleaning, organizing stuff etc. it just got too much. I'm sure I'll find something else once we're settled in the new place. :)
 

lizmonster

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Fortunately, this client is very generous and even willing to pay for research time but I had to quit the project. What he's wanting is just not doable and my stress levels were going through the roof. What with moving across country at the end of this month, with all the packing, clearing out, cleaning, organizing stuff etc. it just got too much. I'm sure I'll find something else once we're settled in the new place. :)

Impossible-to-please people are So Not Fun to work for, no matter how cheerful they are about signing the checks. I have no doubt you'll find something that'll make you happier! And good luck with the move - yikes. Change is good, and change is chaotic.

I'm considering a social media hiatus. Don't think I can include AW in that, though - too much withdrawal. :D But I have a book to revise, and it needs a lot of thought and focus to do properly. (I suppose they all do, but this one seems particularly fiddly that way.)
 

muse

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:hi:



Fortunately, this client is very generous and even willing to pay for research time but I had to quit the project. What he's wanting is just not doable and my stress levels were going through the roof. What with moving across country at the end of this month, with all the packing, clearing out, cleaning, organizing stuff etc. it just got too much. I'm sure I'll find something else once we're settled in the new place. :)

Gail - good luck with the move at the end of the month. :Hug2:

Impossible-to-please people are So Not Fun to work for, no matter how cheerful they are about signing the checks. I have no doubt you'll find something that'll make you happier! And good luck with the move - yikes. Change is good, and change is chaotic.

I'm considering a social media hiatus. Don't think I can include AW in that, though - too much withdrawal. :D But I have a book to revise, and it needs a lot of thought and focus to do properly. (I suppose they all do, but this one seems particularly fiddly that way.)

I hear ya re taking a social media hiatus. How do people cope with all the social media stuff? It's such a huge time suck.

I'm also considering a large edit on my WIP - maybe a full POV character change. But by the time I've finished checking on all my social media sites, I'm ready for bed, not writing. :e2yawn:
 

GailD

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Thanks for the good wishes. Moving home is never fun, I think, but I'm so looking forward to getting out of stinky, crime-ridden Jo'burg and settling in the pretty, historic little town of Somerset East. Can't wait! :D

I'm considering a social media hiatus. Don't think I can include AW in that, though - too much withdrawal. :D But I have a book to revise, and it needs a lot of thought and focus to do properly. (I suppose they all do, but this one seems particularly fiddly that way.)

I think you're right. Social media can really take up time. All the best with the revision, though. :D
 

lizmonster

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It's more that social media is punching me in the face too much right now. My path forward is making this book as good as I can make it, and demoralising rubbish isn't going to get me there.

But I don't think I can give up AW... :D
 

GailD

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It's more that social media is punching me in the face too much right now. My path forward is making this book as good as I can make it, and demoralising rubbish isn't going to get me there.

But I don't think I can give up AW... :D

Oh. That aspect of social media. :( It never ceases to amaze me how people take advantage of the 'relative' anonymity of the internet to spew all kinds of utter rubbish. Most of them couldn't plot and write a book if their tiny lives depended on it but they're full of unhelpful words when it comes to someone else's work. Seriously, I think Iris Murdoch was spot on when she said, 'A bad review is not nearly as important as whether or not its raining in Patagonia.'

And Liz, don't even think of giving up AW. We have seen your awesomeness!! :e2arms:
 

lizmonster

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Oh. That aspect of social media.

I have pinned appropriate posts on my Twitter profile and my FB page, and I've bookmarked all the Twitter games I like to play (I enjoy fraternizing with other writers, just not anybody else!). We'll see how long I last.

And Liz, don't even think of giving up AW. We have seen your awesomeness!! :e2arms:

I could never leave AW. :e2grouphu
 

GailD

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I have pinned appropriate posts on my Twitter profile and my FB page, and I've bookmarked all the Twitter games I like to play (I enjoy fraternizing with other writers, just not anybody else!). We'll see how long I last.

I could never leave AW. :e2grouphu

Excellent! :D
 

heyjude

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Best wishes for the move, Gail. :Hug2:

Liz, who do you need us to kill? We know how to make bodies disappear in this forum, remember. :)