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On 27/03/14 00:12, Trevor Sharp wrote: > On 26/03/2014 11:13, Philip Hudson wrote: >> On 25 March 2014 22:24, Simon Avery <digdilem@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >>> I think this is a fundamentally wrong assumption; that the NSA / Acme >>> Spy >>> Corporation - is like any other employer. It's not. >> I have one data point that supports the pretty-close-to-normal thesis. >> A mate of mine, who is one of the most brilliant programmers I know, >> did a stint with the Met office in Exeter. Guess which department of >> state the UK sees fit to entrust the weather to? Environment? You >> might think so, but no. Home Office? Ag & Fish? No. The MoD! Go >> figure. So he was recruited to GCHQ by good old internal word of >> mouth. No doubt all the IT team leads within the MoD are constantly on >> the lookout for Station X-grade talent (or near enough) with standing >> instructions to refer them on. >> > I am surprised you are surprised... Met office was setup by a > fore-runner of the MOD. The military are the people who needed weather > info most. > > Same with maps - Ordinance Survey (clues in the name) Fun story: one of my first jobs fresh out of university in London was at DEFRA (which I'm sure used to be the MAFF but whatever) for a one month contract in Nobel House, Smith Square - I was there to comb through their entire basement full of old/discarded computer gear and scavenge up enough gear to set up a training room full of reconditioned PCs on the cheap. On my first day induction I was shown all around the dept and taken up to not quite the top, but very close to it, floor and allowed to peer through the glass into the heavily security restricted ops centre. At the time it was about the coolest thing I'd ever seen: staffed half by conspicuous IT nerds and half by guys in Navy uniforms. The HR drone piloting me around told me it was the control centre for all of the ships in the channel from trawlers to military assets - they had radar, military radio and more computers than I'd ever seen in one place before. He assured me (I never knew if he was bullshitting me or not) that these were the people who could scramble Harriers on demand if required - they certainly looked like they could. I smashed my ankle skateboarding half way through the job and on my first day back there was a fire alarm test - I remember having to hobble down 9 or 10 floors worth of stairs because of course the lifts were off. Assembling at the firepoint downstairs I actually got to have a cigarette with a couple of the guys from the awesome ops room for the first time but was in so much pain from my grinding bones I sadly don't remember a word of our conversation to this day. I also contracted for a bit at Landmark in Exeter much later who provide mapping and geospatial services to the government/military as well, but that's another story. For better or worse, I have never had secretive military or GCHQ types try and recruit me at any of the many jobs with government/MOD connections I've done: presumably they can see a long-haired pacifist hippy coming a mile off. For the record, I'd refuse any such position anyway, recompense be damned. Regards -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq