Ewan's Corner

Archive for the ‘online gaming’ Category

Derivco just won IT Company of the Year (KZN) at the Computer Society of South Africa (KZN Chapter) gala event.

Criteria:

• The IT Company within KZN that exhibits outstanding leadership and is well respected in the KZN market place
• The IT Company that is seen to be a leader in transformation
• The IT Company that has shown ongoing commitment to KZN

Very nice!

Also great to see some of the ePages.net bunch again – especially Penny, Carol (who is also local CSSA Chair) and Amina – and fun to dress up (not something I do often :-)

Over the years I’ve gathered a bit of experience on both sides of a job interview, so here are some of my suggestions for candidates (including recommended reading) since I often find myself sending these out in response to queries about Derivco.

These are biased towards technical developer type interviews since that’s my area of experience, but I reckon most of them are generally applicable – still, see the disclaimer below and as always caveat lector. I think they’re common sense, but apparently not for some candidates…

1. Find out as much as you can about the position you are applying for, especially if this is not your first interview for the position.
2. Be positive, and show enthusiasm for the position (and the company in general). Nothing worse than a negative, unenthusiastic candidate – we love what we do, so we expect you to do the same. Attitude is important.
3. Try and find as much about the company as you can – Google, Google news, friends or people you may know who already work there… shows enthusiasm and passion.
4. Be honest and open, admit when you don’t know something, or can’t do something (especially important in a technical assessment or code walk through). I’ve seen candidates who refuse to admit something has them baffled – they end up um-ing and ah-ing and annoy the interviewer(s) who have other important things they could be doing.
5. Depends on the position, but perhaps bring a portfolio of previous work (the things you are really proud of achieving). Also feel free to mention previous projects which may have failed overall (e.g. for reasons beyond your control) but which you are still proud of (or proud of a component / idea which was your own).
6. Should go without saying, but you’d be surprised – be a little early, and make sure you’re well rested.
7. ASK questions, as well as answer them.
8. Don’t lie! Mad that I feel it necessary to say this, but I’ve seen candidates tell outright lies or make claims they can’t back up. We will check your working background, and we will catch you out in tech assessments – you’re only hurting yourself here.
9. Dress smart, but not overly so (no suit and tie required – unless that’s your most comfortable gear, or you’re applying for CEO :-)
10. Turn off your cellphone / pager / pda! As unbelievable as it may sound, I have witnessed more than 3 interviewees forget this common courtesy – one of them even answered a call!

Essential reading:
The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing (Joel on Software, v3)
and if it’s a developer position, so is:
Why Can’t Programmers.. Program? (Coding Horror, Jeff Atwood)

Standard disclaimer: I don’t speak on behalf of Derivco, these are my *personal* comments. Although many of these *may* assist you with interviews for positions here, they also may not – they may not even apply – and in some areas may even ensure you *don’t* get the job :-)

How the Internet really works, according to US Senator Ted Stevens – The Internet is a Series of Tubes (from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart).
Wikipedia: Series of Tubes

<The facts>:
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 has been passed by the US House of Representatives, tacked onto the end of the Safe Port Act (see page 213 onwards) by senator majority leader Bill Frist and senator Jon Kyl.
The new law doesn’t (try to) make Internet gambling illegal – it is mainly aimed at payment processing activities, making it illegal for banks to be involved in “unlawful” online gambling transactions – where “unlawful” is undefined by this act.
It also appears to require that “interactive computer services” (page 239 of the act) remove or disable access to online gaming sites (presumably referring to ISPs or hosting companies).
</the facts>
IMHO: This is ridiculous. As people point out, the law has huge loopholes – apart from the fact that two bills are totally unrelated, the continuing exemption on horse racing etc shows how money and political oomph still gets you whatever you want, and this obviously isn’t a religious issue because bricks-and-mortar gambling (and horse racing) is still perfectly legal. It also doesn’t clarify whether the 1961 Wire Act applies to online casinos / poker, and doesn’t make the actual process of betting / gambling illegal for an individual – leaving players free to use alternate payment methods (of which there are plenty).
This bill is part of the 10 part so-called “American Values Agenda” along with other madness such as prohibiting same-sex marriage and even tighter restrictions on stem-cell research.

“Through this agenda, we will work to protect the faith of our people, the sanctity of life and freedoms outlined by our founding fathers,” House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) said in a statement released by his office.

Go America, land of the free :-)
Blocking access to gaming sites is going to be very difficult if not impossible to implement and enforce, and the same goes for the banks – they are generally opposed to the legislation saying it is costly and technically difficult to implement (for an example of a Banker’s perspective, see “Legislative Hearing on H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act” by Mr. Samuel A. Vallandingham, Vice President, The First State Bank, Barboursville, WV):

This legislation, if passed, would not only necessitate a massive overhaul of our nation’s check clearing and ACH systems, but also create enormous regulatory burden requiring the deputization of financial institutions to identify and block illegal transactions. For these reasons, we oppose the use of the check and ACH payments system to monitor Internet gambling transactions.

This will likely make it more difficult for US players to gamble online (including playing poker etc) but there is no way it will stop online gambling in the US (and don’t forget that online gaming is perfectly legal in other parts of the world).
Related:
Perspective: Prohibition won’t work for Net gambling either (news.com, well worth the read)
News links:
House votes yes on Net-gambling crackdown (news.com)
GOP Aims to Crack Down on Web Gambling (washington post)
Online Gambling Bill Passed in House (slashdot, worth it for the comments if nothing else :-)
UPDATE 3-Online gaming in crisis over U.S. ban (reuters)

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Update 2006/10/04
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 Analyzed (by I. Nelson Rose)

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Update 2006/10/06
Finally a nice clear summary of the situation, cutting through the sensationalism and media hype : Legal Landscape of Online Gaming Has Not Changed (cardplayer).

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Update 2006/10/29
From the NYT : Short Odds for Ignorance.