Thursday 26 May 2011

How To Interview A Web Programmer

So you've got a vacant Web Developer position, you've advertised on the best IT job sites, (you didn't use a recruitment agency did you?) you've got an interviewee. But how do you know if he can actually do the job? You need to test him. But how do you write a good test that is fair? Here's how...

Communicate
No one likes a surprise test. Least of all when at an interview. So let him know there'll be a test. Even let him know the topics that will be covered in the test.
For example you might say the test will cover:

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Fixing Ubuntu 11.04 Partial Upgrade

I use Ubuntu at work and at home and normally the upgrade process is very smooth.
However, the upgrade from 10.10 to 11.04 has been a pain to say the least.
In fact I'm still grappling with it. (Haven't even started it at work yet.)

So I thought I'd share some tips to in case they might help anyone else.

Best Economical Small Cars

My car is dying and I need a new one. So I've taken a very geeky approach to finding a new one.

The Costs
I realised the main cost from running my car are from:
  1. Fuel
    By my calculations, I spend about £40 a week on unleaded petrol. Which works out at quite a large yearly cost. 40 x 50 (52 weeks minus a couple of weeks holiday) = £2,000
  2. Maintenance
    I checked my credit card statements for last year and I spent just under £1200. So about £100 a month. I've spent about £300 already this year.
So it's costing me about £3,200 a year to run my car. Not including tax, which is relatively small compared to these 2 factors.