and yes this may be 'automated' but I don't leave my pc's on all hours so they dont all automate the patches that are released, and if I do leave it on it's for a reason so I get really upset finding my PC is running blank when I return the next day with a note saying your PC rebooted because of updates and my downloads/rendering/processing apps were all terminated Doh. It all the extra stuff though, Adobe, Firefox (and add-ins), Java, Virus, Logitech (kb's and webcams), Apps like torrent/tweet/scanner/etc/etc all look at the web and offer updates over and over again. It's a constant task to do this, and the 'regular' user like me is probably doing it on 2 or 3 machines at home and on behalf of their parents/family/friends pc's also. Not to mention this impacts on my downloads/net. Perhaps nice way to do all of this automatically and run a proxy so it only downloads once would be nice, but can I see these companies getting together to make it a nice quality service for the user, unlikely.

The question is, how many times have people been lawfully charged and convicted of illegal file sharing in Australia? I am not actually aware of any, sure the big movie companies and such send you emails accusing people of it all the time but lawfully charged and prosecuted? If it's down to what the big companies think then very few people will have an internet connection by the end of the decade, and there's the problem, nobody is going to police it at a government level, they will all just process the reams of logs and traffic that some private eye contractor on behalf of 'corny entertainment' shoves in there face and the normally responsible person get persecuted, and not properly prosecuted.

I love how 85% of comments on Slashdot are totally unhelpful and a waste of time. This developer is trying to do the right thing and get themselves motivated on their job, Slashdot and web sites in general are a distraction and they can also be an aid to a solution but 7 pages of 'get to work' and 'drink coffee' are using serious energy typing that in, for those that provided these types of comment, shuddup and go exercise! I don't think coding block is like writers block, writing a story usually comes from imagination and new ideas where coding comes from a logical progression to a solution. Break your tasks down into that logical progression; First find the solutions, what the tasks your trying to accomplish actually are, go back to the beginning, go back to the requirements list and re-work it, re-write it and go over these requirements again with somebody in the know, somebody who is open to discussion and can work together with you to re-understand what it is your trying to do. Break it down into parts, the functions, the challenges come first and the design, look and feel come later. We use Agile project methodology where we write those tasks on cards and the developers take them as items they can accomplish as simple steps, prioritise and go through to complete. It may seem silly but write up these tasks as line items on a list or separate pieces of paper. Have your testers contribute those cards to you also and then you will begin to get some workflow happening... Hey were moving... I hope this helps gives you some ideas and gets you moving beyond the blockage.

Perhaps it's just the system in Australia, but since the unemployment services were 'doled' out to private indiustry a few years ago, here in Aus it has gone mad. Recruiters place non-exitent jobs online in an attempt to get more subscriptions, or people registered to their lists, this provides them with government funding based on the registrations of people looking for work (and more bonuses tacked on if those people have a disability). I submitted my resume to over 25 jobs in a 2 month period, one response indicating I was not suitable for that single position, which i argued but got nowhere with, the others got no response. The agencies also are known for simply duplicating jobs listed elsewhere (from news papers etc) so they can (try) to collect their fees doing the placements on the businesses behalf, without their request. So in summary, ensuring the recruiters are posting jobs with valid information is the best thing to do to ensure that the applicants are getting a good service.