Ephelyon

Mine too and I've now entered. Said they weren't expecting PMs at first but looks like they're now in gear in that respect.

Haven't replied to mine yet either :/

That's to do with lack of proofreading and the nonsensical routine of "copy and paste whatever the freelancer replies with"... hilarious though! xD

Why, thank you! Though thankfully I'm not the Data Manager myself. Did have to fight the Council for seven months to get a pay rise for the NM role here though.

That's why you use a more reputable agency; they always have the work proofread by at least one other translator before it gets to the client. That will definitely catch cases like the one you mention. If you've gone so far as a service agreement or contract, if anything did ever happen you could sue. Cases where almost no context to the text was provided or it's something really obscure are always problematic but the school should have no problem setting out its requirements correctly beforehand. Freelancers are cheaper but yes, as you say, if you've no-one on hand yourself to proofread that can be an issue.

In my "other career" I translate professionally. If it might help to point your SLT in my direction, I could explain through experience and examples exactly why using software to do this is a very bad idea. Many translation agencies and freelance professionals exist out there, some with very favourable rates, who could complete this kind of work for the school. You could post your jobs on sites like these: Freelance translators & Translation companies | ProZ.com http://www.translatorscafe.com Freelancers or agencies can then "bid on" them to offer pricing and the school can choose a partner to work with. Translations should always be carried out by a native speaker of the target language with a very good grasp of the source (not the other way round). It's a guarantee of a reliable, professionally-written response which ought to be the minimum for any educational institution communicating with parents.

Only around £15-18K here!

Did think about that, but worried it would be seen as "too blatant"... Also, it's set up to work with our OUs and the fact that we have one form per House, per year etc. So if the rules will allow for custom scripts on the understanding that they could be genericised to work in different environments, I guess that would work.

Attention: @nephilim is now vomiting scripts! I'd be so tempted to enter if it didn't have to be PowerShell. I've got a funky batch script (which does include some PS) running weekly that exports all form and set lists from SIMS and imports them as distribution groups in AD/Exchange.

You could always use something like HAP+ for home directory access, which being web-based would avoid the need for a domain join or mapping drives/folders through to VMs.

Hmmm, looks like he's exactly the same age in fact. And I've managed to end up a basket case even without the world breathing down my neck, so hey ho! =]

I know what you mean, though if his Wiki page is to be believed his youth wasn't exactly normal. Besides, mid-20s may not be exactly "child" stardom but if you've had a difficult time growing up I think there could still be pressure. Not colluding with the behaviour, just saying that I'm never, ever surprised when something like this happens.

Either he's having a genuine mental breakdown... or he's ripping off Charlie Sheen's... xD Can't blame any of these kids for going off the rails in this world though. We subject them to crazy media attention and vicious verbal attacks if they ever make a hash of things (like a human being). As a society we offer them nack all help and support really... then we wonder why things like this have happened with so many of them...

Out of curiosity, the ad mentions working additional holiday weeks that presumably aren't part of the standard 39, which would presumably affect the pro rata salary that I'm assuming is the one advertised?

Anyway, here's the rub on this one I think: "So a future Conservative Government would help state schools - just like independent schools - to offer a school day 9 or 10 hours long - allowing time for structured homework sessions, prep, which will be particularly helpful for those children who come from homes where it's difficult to secure the peace and quiet necessary for hard study." Help how and with what? To be honest, if there's already an acknowledgement at this stage that some degree of assistance is required - be it in additional staff, resources, money in general - then in principle I've no objection. Whatever decisions this Coalition makes they're often not too bad at sending them out for consultation first, so that would be our opportunity as IT staff to jump in and point out the impact on ourselves and the services we run. The same goes for shorter summer holidays.

It isn't strictly as simple as statistics though. There's a lot of information on the precise ins and outs of the economy that's kept strictly within the Treasury. That's why I didn't vote for Clegg, because he was always there on the run-up to the election endlessly talking about raising the tax threshold and all manner of other attractive-sounding schemes... all without having the slightest inkling of the true state of the economy. Cameron, wisely, continually dodged the question when asked (they've got to be good at something!) as opposed to making bold statements. I actually respected him more for that at the time.

Hi Phil, Patrick here! Shall I send my techie this way?

You can also start typing the first few characters of a sub-folder/file name (until it's unique) and then press TAB to auto-complete.

I went last year and I thought it was pretty good. This year I'm hoping to bring an Assistant Head plus a few pupils for the Raspberry Jamboree event with which it's co-located.

WATER ZORBING!!!

Welcome! =] No "right way round" in that job - intertwining both is the key!

Hmmm, could be - we're looking at some older machines to build up a mini test network for some of our more inquisitive kids, so it could be ideal. Could you PM me around that time please?

Bit far for us, but thanks anyway.

Do you have more details on the spec?

Was just reading through the Bett website to try and find a floor plan (still can't find one) and came across this: "Children of any age may attend on a Saturday if they are being bought by a parent/guardian who is a registered visitor to Bett." Anyone manage to find the ChildSlaveLabourTech stand?