Something I saw at “Doing a Project or Thesis at the PADX lab”:

A good attitude is necessary in every working environment. We also noticed that differences in culture make it necessary to explicitly state what we expect. Moreover, this works in both ways. We feel highly responsible to guide you in your work, but only in a correct relationship!

• Teamwork, ok! but how? It is all about communication, respect and fairness!
• Respect any agreement, stick to it, otherwise inform the person! If you have for example an appointment and you can’t come, inform as soon as possible. Similar, if you’re asked to do something, it’s better to admit you didn’t do it than to try to conceal it.
• In some cultures it is inappropriate to say no or to explicitly disagree. Bear in mind that this is totally the opposite in western modern professional culture: we expect people to say no if they disagree, it is almost impolite not to do so!! We think that a good relationship only works if we know what the other really thinks. So, don’t be surprised if you are criticized: we want to be honest and we belief criticism is the only way to learn from your mistakes.

It’s late as hell, my eyes are almost in blood and all I can remember is this poem from dhartmei’s page:

The computer center is empty,
Silent except for the whine of the cooling fans.
I walk the rows of CPUs,
My skin prickling with magnetic flux.
I open a door, cold and hard,
And watch the lights dancing on the panels.
A machine without soul, men call it,
But its soul is the sweat of my comrades,
Within it lie the years of our lives,
Disappointment, friendship, sadness, joy,
The algorithmic exultations,
The long nights filled with thankless toil,
I hear the echoes of sighs and laughter,
And in the darkened offices
The terminals shine like stars.

— Geoffrey James, The Zen of Programming

Via Bitaites I’ve been reading about the Intel Developer Forum (IDF). What really catched my attention was the video demo (find it on YouTube) of the game Alan Wake, sucessor of the well-known Max Payne.

Running on a overclocked Intel 2 Quad processor and with a Nvidia Geforce 7900GTX, the graphics and effects are truly mind-blowing. When they turn On the “tornado feature” you just can’t keep your eyes from the video :)

Just check it out and be amazed!