What made you go WTF today?

[wiggin]

Thought you were closer to the chemistry sciences.

No, I only play a chemist on TV.

More precisely, I have a background in biomedical engineering, which means I know a little bit about a lot of things - polymer and bioconjugate chemistry, mechanical engineering, materials science, cell and molecular biology, chemical engineering, etc. Sort of a 'jack of all trades, master of none' kind of deal.

[Loki]

I've heard of some really good universities trying to get more practitioners on the tenure-track. The problem is that practitioners usually don't apply, and the college departments aren't great in finding them. Is that your situation?

[wiggin]

I'm not exactly a practitioner - still in academia, albeit a heavily industrial project. I honestly don't know why they got in touch - I don't have an amazing publication record (though what papers I do have tend to be in excellent journals) and I haven't really been positioning myself for an academic position. Oh well.

[Loki]

They might have read something by you or know someone who was impressed by your work because they're working in a related area. Are you going to consider this?

[wiggin]

They might have read something by you or know someone who was impressed by your work because they're working in a related area. Are you going to consider this?

He apparently got my name from an old boss, but that's hardly enough reason IMO to recruit someone.

I don't think it's likely I'm that interested, but I try not to turn down opportunities out of hand, especially when they fall in my lap like this. On the other hand, I don't want to lead them on. I'm talking to my boss tomorrow and figuring out how to formulate an appropriate response. In general I don't say 'no' when people get in touch with me about jobs, with minor exceptions (I just told a hedge fund last week I wasn't interested).

[Loki]

Good strategy I suppose. Though you probably should have hedged with the hedge fund.

[wiggin]

Good strategy I suppose. Though you probably should have hedged with the hedge fund.

My wife thought I should take the job so she could be a trophy wife. Of course, she has consistently outearned me since she started working... currently by about 100%.

Looks like I'm going to be keeping conversations open with this guy, and visiting his uni in February to give a seminar. We'll see what happens, but it's good to keep the opportunity open. I kinda feel bad, though, because there are a hundred people who would kill for this job, and I'm more ambivalent. I was very clear to them that I was unsure about it, though, so hopefully no one will get offended if it doesn't work out.

[Loki]

Are you a good fit specifically, or do they just like your work?

[wiggin]

They're trying to expand their research in my sub-specialty, so I guess that's a decent fit. I have a good academic pedigree, which is probably why they're interested in the first place. I also have a somewhat closer relationship with this particular institution than other candidates might have. Even so, it's nothing that a bunch of other candidates don't also have. Hell, I haven't been publishing and networking at all like I was pursuing an academic career, and it shows on my CV. *shrugs* We'll see what happens.

[Loki]

Well, there are all kinds of academic arrangements nowadays. You might teach one semester and do industry stuff the rest of the year for example. Or get a sharply reduced teaching load to allow you to work outside of the university. Depending on your field, the university might be more interested in you bringing in grants than teaching anyway. It's worth asking about at least.

[Flixy]

Greg Graffin works at a university for 3 months a year and spends the rest touring with Bad Religion, in what's probably a less common arrangement

[Aimless]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...recorded-raid/

[Flixy]

the officers believed they had disabled all the store's cameras and therefore had an expectation of privacy "that their conversations were no longer being recorded,"

I'd like to see a burglar try that line of defense

On a more serious note, are security cameras in shops so commonplace that you really don't have an expectation of privacy in any store, signs or not?

After watching the whole video.. first of all it seems quote excessive to go in with guns drawn and presumably swat officers (I imagine that's why they wear ski masks?), but then again, I don't know the specific charges or information they had. But why kick down doors at an open store? It's not unlocked or anything, all you're doing is creating damage and pissing people off.

Now the joke about the disabled woman, insensitive, yes, but it appears to be when there are just cops inside, so it's not like they're insulting anyone. I don't mind cops joking between eachother after a gun drawn raid which is presumably a tense moment, natural to defuse that with jokes later, and jokes tend to be offensive. Though joking about using police brutality worries me a little, and I suppose jokes like that can be a sign of a rotten mentality among the cops, but then you'd really be inferring too much from one poor joke. I also don't think there's much wrong with playing darts while waiting.

But then destroying, and possibly eating, the store's property? I don't see any justification. I understand they take the DVR, but why break all the cameras? Even if there's a valid reason to turn them off (not that I can think of any), why destroy them? And if they were eating drugs while on duty, that's obviously a problem as well.

[Loki]

https://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces...004012326.html

Remind me to never buy a house with a Home Owner Association.

[littlelolligagged]

They aren't that bad; it's hard to get a good house in a good school district in suburbia without being in one. The non-subdivision houses tend to either be old and in need of too much repair, or excessively expensive.

[Flixy]

I am starting to wonder why there are so many subtitle formats.. I'm doing the subtitling for a film, first made them in the (internet) standard .srt. Then, they needed it in the European Broadcasting Union format (.stl), which made sense, I can see why there would be a more professional standard that's different from what's used online (and .srt is a bit limited). Now for the DCP they need it in either .890, .PAC, or .XML. Problem with the latter is that subtitles in xml can still be literally a dozen or more different actual formats, just using the same extension. I think it's telling that the program I use advertises it can use more than 200 different formats. Which is frankly insane for something like subtitles, in the end 9/10 just have a list of timecodes and text.

On a side note, if anyone here ever has to work with subtitles and uses Windows, I can recommend SubtitleEdit (http://nikse.dk/SubtitleEdit) - open source, extremely easy to use, and can work with pretty much any format. Also easy to fix offsets/wrong speed for subtitles you downloaded.

[Echovirus]

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/08...ers-gotta-eat/

Suddenly glad I didn't buy into the Cerberus hype from my cousin. I get that servers and all aren't cheap, but that's really shady when you give away a bunch lifetime licenses, then revoke them a few years later with zero notice when you realized you fucked up.

[Lewkowski]

https://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces...004012326.html

Remind me to never buy a house with a Home Owner Association.

Home Owners Associations attract small minded fascists. The busy bodies who care about the lawn being an inch higher than it should be. Those people can go to hell.

[GGT]

https://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces...004012326.html

Remind me to never buy a house with a Home Owner Association.

Or any place with a Board of Supervisors, like most NYC apartments? Or a house in a suburban neighborhood with certain codes/ordinances? You'll be hard pressed to buy (or even rent) a place that has NO restrictions, unless you go the rural route where anything goes---like toilets or junk cars piled in the front yard.

I didn't think that play set's color was violating the HOA rules so much as their lawyers were being obnoxious for no good reason. Pretty sure the homeowners will fire that law firm, and hire a new one. After all, they're the ones paying the HOA legal fees.

[Khendraja'aro]

So, we have this law here in Germany which expressly states that every child older than half a year has a definite claim to a place in a child care setting (I'm using "setting" because there are various ways, from institutions to nanny-type care). It's a commune's responsibility to ensure this claim can be fulfilled.
The perceived reason for this law: To ensure that women can continue to work because, frankly, finding a job after three years (that's the next time you have a right to place your child in a child care setting) might be a tad difficult. Y'know, what with the three years gap in your resumé, not to mention that having a child (or, god forbid, more than one!) is not exactly a plus point over here when it comes to finding a job.

So, what happens if a commune can't fulfill this requirement? Why, nothing of course!

That's what the OLG Dresden (OLG: Higher Regional Court) decided this week - three women had gone to court because they wanted to continue working but their commune wasn't able to provide them with a place in child care. The OLG judged that they were not worthy of receiving damages because there's no right to work (yeah...) and it was the child's right to such a place, not the mother's.

This kind of created some questions:
a) What exactly are those judges smoking?
b) What is a law worth if you can't enforce it?
c) What does a child's right mean? Does it mean that a toddler of half a year would have to hire a lawyer by him-/herself? Isn't that supposed to be the task of the legal guardians (aka "parents") who did precisely that?

Thankfully enough, the judges at least decided to make an appeal possible, this time to be judged by the Federal Constitutional Court.

[Veldan Rath]

When you say commune, does that mean the local area? How is that defined?

[Khendraja'aro]

Municipality would be a better word probably. Can be of nearly any size - a village, a town, a city, all with or without the land surrounding it.

[Veldan Rath]

A small town is responsible financially for child care or just has to provide it and can charge the family?

I'm also curious, child care it tough professionally, what if the commune can't find qualified care givers?

[Khendraja'aro]

Has to provide it and can charge the family (at cost, of course). And if they can't find qualified care givers: That's supposed to be their problem (as stated by the law).

Some municipalities make it more expensive than others, though; in Hamburg, for example, 5 hours per day / 30 hours per week are free. In Buxtehude (a city directly next to Hamburg), every hour costs up to 2.10€, which would amount to ~250€ per month if we're talking about 30 hours a week.

[Ominous Gamer]

I'm also curious, child care it tough professionally, what if the commune can't find qualified care givers?

My wife was teaching 3 year olds at a fancy expensive jewish school without a GED. When pickings are slim, or you're a tightwad when it comes to funding, your expectations can hit high school drop out rather easily.

[wiggin]

Has to provide it and can charge the family (at cost, of course). And if they can't find qualified care givers: That's supposed to be their problem (as stated by the law).

Some municipalities make it more expensive than others, though; in Hamburg, for example, 5 hours per day / 30 hours per week are free. In Buxtehude (a city directly next to Hamburg), every hour costs up to 2.10€, which would amount to ~250€ per month if we're talking about 30 hours a week.

Sorry to sound American here, but the obvious solution would be market-oriented. There's no shortage of day care options here, though they are indeed ruinously expensive. There's a wide range of price points, and you get what you pay for. But because people are actually paid a market rate for the provision of care, there are many eager entrants into the market. The things that drive up costs are generally twofold: first, cost of living means that caregivers need a living wage. Second, tight regulations on child care providers (things like caregiver/child ratios, emergency plans, training, etc.) increases compliance costs substantially. But supply is not really a problem.

Of course, demand is somewhat constrained because of costs, which has its problems. One workaround is to provide tax benefits for paying for childcare - currently the max is set at about $5k, which is way less than you'd pay per year. The basic idea is reasonable, though.

I'm shocked at two things from your post, though. First, three dollars an hour for childcare? How is that even possible? Babysitters charge a hell of a lot more than that. With minimum wages, facility costs, etc. the only way I can imagine meeting that price point is having an enormous gaggle of children per caregiver. My daughter's day care is closer to $10/hour. It's possible to do cheaper, but not that much cheaper. Secondly, what is the point of thinking about 30 hours per week for day care? For anyone with a job, you'd need more like 50 hours per week to make things work - and that's only if you have a spouse who can handle either pickup or dropoff.

My wife was teaching 3 year olds at a fancy expensive jewish school without a GED. When pickings are slim, or you're a tightwad when it comes to funding, your expectations can hit high school drop out rather easily.

Honestly, I'm not sure how much education is really required to do a reasonable job at childcare. There are a few people at ours with some sort of degree in early childhood education (probably associate's, maybe bachelor's?), but most just have the required safety training and the like. I obviously would prefer if my daughter was cared for by someone with a PhD in ECE, but that's not cost-effective for what often ends up being a relatively unskilled job (diaper changes and feeding time don't need all that much). I don't doubt that the care is inferior to what my wife and I could manage if we had no other commitments, but it's reasonably good.

For that matter, I don't have a GED and am working on nanocomposite biomaterials. High school isn't all it's cracked up to be.

[littlelolligagged]

Meh, I think a couple of years of family leave should always be paid for, preferably for both parents; while both my kids went to preschool, I am relieved they never had to go to day care.

[Ominous Gamer]

Honestly, I'm not sure how much education is really required to do a reasonable job at childcare. There are a few people at ours with some sort of degree in early childhood education (probably associate's, maybe bachelor's?), but most just have the required safety training and the like. I obviously would prefer if my daughter was cared for by someone with a PhD in ECE, but that's not cost-effective for what often ends up being a relatively unskilled job (diaper changes and feeding time don't need all that much). I don't doubt that the care is inferior to what my wife and I could manage if we had no other commitments, but it's reasonably good.

For that matter, I don't have a GED and am working on nanocomposite biomaterials. High school isn't all it's cracked up to be.

She now holds a GED and went through a local college for her early childhood education.

There isn't a whole lot needed to simply herd kids into a room, but there appears to be a lot needed to understand how to nurture kids at a young age. Wife is trained on how to spot early developmental concerns (wouldn't believe how many parents explain away problems), as well as the best curriculum for 2 year olds and the entirely differently curriculum for 3 year olds. The classroom management part of her job is insane.

That being said, it only took her a year of on the job training and college course work to get where she is. She makes about 80% of what I make and I definitely have the easier job.

[Khendraja'aro]

I'm shocked at two things from your post, though. First, three dollars an hour for childcare? How is that even possible? Babysitters charge a hell of a lot more than that. With minimum wages, facility costs, etc. the only way I can imagine meeting that price point is having an enormous gaggle of children per caregiver. My daughter's day care is closer to $10/hour. It's possible to do cheaper, but not that much cheaper. Secondly, what is the point of thinking about 30 hours per week for day care? For anyone with a job, you'd need more like 50 hours per week to make things work - and that's only if you have a spouse who can handle either pickup or dropoff.

Well, of course it's a subsidized price - the municipalities actually get money for each child in daycare from the federal government.

Meh, I think a couple of years of family leave should always be paid for, preferably for both parents; while both my kids went to preschool, I am relieved they never had to go to day care.

That's a nice sentiment. However, a CV gap of several years makes you de facto unemployable.

[wiggin]

Meh, I think a couple of years of family leave should always be paid for, preferably for both parents; while both my kids went to preschool, I am relieved they never had to go to day care.

I certainly don't fault parents for wanting to stay home, but in many cases it is cheating the world. Our society thrives because we specialize, getting really good at something in particular. If someone is highly trained and specialized but they end up staying at home doing relatively unspecialized work, they're wasting their potential. Specialized child care options are much more efficient, and potentially even better for one's child - socialization, immunity, trained caregivers, etc.

Case in point: my wife and I probably contribute on the order of half a million dollars a year to GDP. That's a guesstimate based on the amount of revenue/grant money we are responsible for, and it's probably conservative. Heck, if you include potential value of IP we generate, we probably are responsible for a (small) chunk of tens of millions of dollars a year. If we stopped doing this to care for our child - for an equivalent GDP contribution of, say, $30/year, we'd be wasting our skills and cheating the world of some potentially valuable technological innovations.

I'm not saying that there isn't a balance to be found - obviously we're not completely outsourcing the raising of our child to others, and we have curtailed our work schedules some to appropriately care for her. But I think that taking people out of the workforce for substantial periods of time is bad for their careers, bad for their skills, bad for their networks, and bad for the economy. I think parental leave should be a viable option, but I don't think it should be much longer than 3 months.

She now holds a GED and went through a local college for her early childhood education.

There isn't a whole lot needed to simply herd kids into a room, but there appears to be a lot needed to understand how to nurture kids at a young age. Wife is trained on how to spot early developmental concerns (wouldn't believe how many parents explain away problems), as well as the best curriculum for 2 year olds and the entirely differently curriculum for 3 year olds. The classroom management part of her job is insane.

That being said, it only took her a year of on the job training and college course work to get where she is. She makes about 80% of what I make and I definitely have the easier job.

Agreed, there is actually some real skill involved in the job (not to mention significant effort). Yet we can all agree it's relatively unspecialized compared to, say, medicine or programming or law.

Well, of course it's a subsidized price - the municipalities actually get money for each child in daycare from the federal government.

Ah, I thought it was being paid for 'at cost' as you mentioned above.