Alexander

I watched Alexander, and I don't quite know what to make of it. It's disjointed, weird and long-winded, but oddly compelling.

Alexander sounds like George Bush (or a neocon) when he explains his reasons for invading Asia and bringing civilization to its tribes.

I have to admit that I snickered after hearing the narrator say that "Babylon was a far easier mistress to enter than she was to leave".

Alexander's bisexuality, as depicted in the film, was not particularly disturbing and it was tastefully handled. That sort of thing was probably an accepted part of Greek culture back then. On the other hand, his (possibly incestuous) relationship with his mother, played by Angelina Jolie, was disturbing.

I'd give Alexander 6.5/10 .

Links - 19/12/2004

• Two interesting pieces from Joel on Software
  • The Economics of Software Pricing [via]
  • Commoditize your products' compliment
• LEGO logic gates [via]
• How to avenge a shark attack
• The Bakwena toll road, which could turn Brits into an extension of Gauteng.
• Many users don't care about spyware
• Is the world becoming less dependent on America?

IQ testing and employment

I have written a few IQ tests. I wrote one in standard 4, and I never found out what my results were.

My parents also had me tested when I was 6, by a psychologist. I found the report recently, and it showed that I was far stronger verbally than I was non-verbally.

I also wrote a few free internet tests, which produced absurdly high results, but I took those with a pinch of salt.

Earlier this year, I was interviewed for a position at a software development company. I thought I had the job in the bag (I aced the interviews with the company). I was then sent to a psychologist for assessments. The personality assessments were fine, but I totally screwed up the intelligence tests. I didn't get the job.

Unfortunately, I can't get the results unless I pay the shrink, something I won't do (a bit of a rip-off, and dubious ethically IMHO). I do have a vague idea of which sections of the test I screwed up on -the stuff about completing patterns and sequences (I was tired when I took the test, as I had come back from a holiday the day before, but I doubt that my tiredness accounts fully for my poor performance on the test).

I did a few IQ-type tests for potential employers after that, as well as skills-based assessments and personality tests, and I have resolved that, if I decide to go job hunting again, I will refuse to take anything resembling an IQ test.

I don't mind personality assessments, and tests that measure specific skills, but I fail to see how figuring out what shape comes next in a sequence would make one a better developer (I think the situation is more complex than all that). (See also this.)

I avoided writing about the topic which I was job-hunting, because it might have seemed like a case of sour grapes, but since I now have a great job, I thought I'd raise the topic. (One of the things that may have landed me my job was this blog. It showed I was savvy enough to pull together a website and that I was relatively clued up on the world around me. The blog certainly didn't hurt my chances.)

The validity of Intelligence tests (euphemistically called "learning ability tests" by some companies) is debatable. Especially since such tests, including "culture-fair tests" are often accused of culture bias. Indeed, the inferior performance of some population groups on intelligence tests has provided fodder for a generation of racists., despite other explanations for these differences.

I haven't done much research into the topic, but I think that the validity of intelligence testing for employment purposes, particularly in South Africa, needs to be examined.

"Democratic Centralism"

...doesn't seem to work without a gulag.

Nokia 6230

I got a Nokia 6230, and it's a nice little phone. I'm experimenting with J2ME programming, and I may post on that soon.

Windows XP reinstall

My desktop computer was becoming very unstable, so, after four years, I decided to repartition (bye-bye Linux!), reformat my hard disk, and reinstall Windows XP. My previous installation was over Windows 98, so it will be interesting to see whether a fresh install is more stable than an upgrade.

My data is backed up to CD-R's, and most of my correspondence is done using webmail, so there were no problems there.

I also use Gmail to archive my important documents, as I trust the people at Google to look after my data far better than I ever would.

The only thing I lost were my RSS feeds (which I forgot to back up), although I did export the list of subscriptions, I just have to find them. I think I'll start reading RSS feeds using an online service as well, for the reasons listed above.

Half-Life 2

Some colleagues have commented that Half-Life 2 is an excellent game.

I'm seriously considering buying a new PC, so that I can play it.

Gauteng Street Atlas - 3rd Edition

I bought the third edition of the Gauteng Street Atlas (sold at R179,00) produced by GeoGraphic Maps cc, because it covers most of the urban areas in Gauteng in one book, something which rival companies like MapStudio don't do yet.

There are problems with the maps, with some glaring spelling mistakes ("Centurion" is sometimes spelled "Centurian", and "Brits" as "Britz"). I have noticed accuracy problems, with at least one four-way stop represented as a traffic light, and the traffic lights at the entrance to one township (Olievenhoutbosch) being omitted, along with the rest of the township. Airforce bases are mislabelled as "airports". Metropolitan route numberings are also missing on some pages, which might be a problem for some people. The pages are also quite cluttered with on-map advertising. However, this advertising has a positive side-effect - it can be used to derive landmarks.

Despite the negatives, the book is very useful, and I have replaced two old MapStudio guides (Witwatersrand and Pretoria) with the Gauteng Street Atlas. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to find their way around Gauteng, and doesn't have the money to shell out on MapStudio guides.

The Mabopane Centurion Development Corridor

The website of the Mabopane Centurion Development Corridor, which will hopefully develop the neglected western parts of Tshwane.

Now for some pedantic whining:
Some people still don't know the difference between Pretoria and Tshwane. Here, is a page that explains the difference. Pretoria is one part of Tshwane, Centurion is another part of Tshwane. Centurion is not part of Pretoria, it is part of Tshwane. It hasn't been part of Pretoria for years. The people who do the traffic at 94.7 Highveld Stereo should take note of this.

Elections

If I was an American voter, I would have voted for John Kerry. It was in America's interest to kick Bush out of office. The big spending "conservative" who panders to religious fanatics, and lied his country into war did not deserve a second term.

But I'm not an American voter, and I am actually quite pleased with the result . To South Africans, the election result didn't really matter. In the Middle East, it's unlikely that Kerry would have done anything different to Bush. Indeed, Kerry would probably have been goaded into aggression, in order to prove that he was not "soft".

My only regret about the Bush victory is that I was deprived of the opportunity of watching the extremist Bush supporters who frequent parts of the internet melting down. Pity.