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Comment Re:Self-incrimination becoming mandatory (Score 1) 554

Er -- what I said was that the defendant should not be able to suddenly and without warning introduce evidence from Mrs Bloggs. Because the prosecution does not have the opportunity to establish that she is not just an innocent old lady who happened to be around but is really Aunt Sadie.

I am sorry, I guess you just haven't come across the idea of an ambush defence before. When you think about it, I think you will agree that it does not improve the quality of justice in our courts. And asking that someone outlines their defence before the trial starts is very different from mandating that they incriminate themselves.

Comment Re:Self-incrimination becoming mandatory (Score 1) 554

"...if you don't immediately tell the police your defence when you are arrested, the court may ignore anything you say in your trial, and convict you anyway."

Of course the court can't ignore anything and everything you say at trial. But they can discount the prefect alibi which you say today your brother would have given you, if only he hadn't left for Antarctica yesterday. You cannot now ambush the prosecution with a totally new defence involving facts which you knew but kept secret, so that no investigation of them could be done.

Defendants have a right to know what they are accused of. Now the prosecution has a right to know what sort of defence you intend to mount.

I am appalled that in some terrorist cases in the UK the full details of the accusation may not be told to the accused and his legal team. At the same time, I do not like the old pattern of the accused getting off because out of the blue they called as witness Mrs Bloggs, without the prosecution having time to establish that she is actually the defendant's Great Aunt Sadie with a criminal record even longer than his.

As @Kupfernigk says, bumpy progress is better than no progress.

Comment Re:One has to wonder (Score 1) 63

The US has an unparalleled health system -- the rest of the world is heading in a different direction.

For most of the world, it is not a high priority to preserve the ability of the private health care providers to make large profits. In the developed world, we do not have to watch eagle-eyed for any excuse to sue somebody, anybody, to lower health-related costs. Many of us have access to expensive equipment when we need it -- though admittedly we are not told that we need it quite as often as US customers are told to pay up.

Comment Re:local community colleges (Score 1) 195

You do need to be careful of the people on some open source projects. They are not necessarily supportive! Good mentors may be in short supply. If you run into a really bad example, just move along somewhere else. But be aware that you may have to prove yourself a bit at first, and you cannot be too thin-skinned about criticisms of your code, and you by extension.

The parent's suggestions make a lot of sense as steps on the road.

Actually, I got from self-taught to university lecturer in a few easy steps, but this was in the early days of computing courses, and I did have the advantage of a Math degree. You have to compete in a market with many more people with relevant pieces of paper.

Comment Good Management is Hard Work (Score 1) 592

Go for it! The world needs more good managers.

But it won't be easy.You will need to invest plenty of time in learning new skills now, and later in reinventing yourself as times change. We have a big problem at present with managers who have not got to grips with the challenges of managing a more diverse workforce -- or have even failed to realise that the old model is not appropriate.

You will have both the advantages and disadvantages of gaining more generic skills that can be used in wider fields. At present your edge will be in tech management, but as you move up and away from tech roles your potential field is larger and also you might choose to switch to say managing a company related to another hobby of yours. Obviously you will be vulnerable to downturns, as are we all, but you will have a wider range of opportunities.

But please don't underestimate the degree of skill and art involved in good management.

Comment Re:Museums have a place, in history (Score 1) 101

But the story is not that of one man! What about the Poles who smuggled out an Enigma machine at the risk of their lives?

Telling the Hollywood-style highlights not only distorts the story (which nationality risked their lives in the sinking submarine?), it militates against its being repeated. We know we are not all Turings, but we can be the person who does not tell secrets they do not know the value of.

Comment Re:Museums have a place, in history (Score 3, Interesting) 101

The buildings of Bletchley Park act as a reminder of so much. The story of the codebreaking is not just that of a handful of geniuses. It is the story of the 9000 people there at its height. It is the story of the women who set up the computers, working extraordinary hours without any official knowledge of what they were achieving. It is the story of the hundreds of despatch riders who brought in at night the signals collected at the distant listening posts staffed by by small isolated groups.

It is also the story of how the 10,000 plus people who worked there at some point of the war, and the many local people who hosted them and served them in shops, pubs etc, kept the secret. There was a strong shared purpose to do what it took to win the war, even if they did not always understood how their part fitted in to the whole.

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