mekon

I'd like to see the "I'm a Wizard" shirt up in 2XL (and maybe a tall size), I bought one a few years ago but it arrived as an XL. I live in the UK and the postage was expensive so I just left it as an ambition to lose weight. I've lost about 17KGs since then but it's going to take a bit more effort! If the 2XL is slightly longer then that would simplify things too I think.

We have two fridges, one of which is half freezer (both devices just over six foot tall) and two 4 feet square chest freezers which go to waist height. Defrosting them is a long process. Considering that where I used to live I had no freezer, but just a small fridge, it's a bit different. That said, there was a small late night supermarket from a big chain around the corner so it wasn't inconvenient. Would have liked a freezer though. edit: 70/30

Growing up I played DooM, Quake and other FPS, so I usually play WASD. Until last decade I didn't own a controller which is why I'm loyal to that, but I now have a hand-me-down PS3, an XBone (the wireless controller for that died after about 20 hours, so I found it cheapest to buy a wired 3rd party replacement which works well), a Switch, and a Steam Controller which I mainly use for driving games such as Trackmania because the right hand pad sensor is slick.

They will probably be contractually bound not to speak about it, since it reflects badly on the company. Have to watch this space I guess (or a Bomb/BeastCast). I found it very unsettling when I was outsourced personally, people I knew in other departments wanted to know the details but I had nothing to share when that moment finally happened (after 7 years FFS) . Information was scarce. I didn't have any tightened rules handed down about speaking on that process, so I could say what I wanted (government department job). I tried to remain optimistic when speaking to those people I knew because i thought they'd lose interest quickly, and I valued their companionship. I'm now working for a much smaller company, it required quite a lot of rethinking on my part. That said the 7 year cloud over my head remains a memory, not a fact right now.

@joeywankenobi: Not that I've heard of, but I think I'll just wait and see. Let's hope for the best.

@yoctoyotta: Seeiing you use the word "Sir" reminded me of last week! I sent a message to Vinny during one of the streams and addressed him as "Mr Vinny Man", he responded that's "Sir Mr Vinny Man to you". That gave me a good laugh.

@therealturk: Thanks for clarifying that! It's still muddy waters as I see it since we're still waiting for news but that's the best we can do and just hope for the best :) I think the GB staff is the strongest in terms of representation and cohesiveness amongst the sites but I guess we'll see.

@applegong: Agreed. it sucks. I don't think CBSi are losing out on Advertising revenue though in the meantime. It will be the end of the year or the end of March before they have to release profit figures. The UK Tax system has a closure date in April, I thought the USA had the same, but I saw someone suggest end of December for that so I don't know since I'm from the UK. Tomorrow is the last day for emails to them about this, I hope they all make it.

@shindig: Me too, I was out of work starting March 2009 for three years and a month. I chose redundancy at a very good rate but it was unsettling, I wanted a career change so badly though. I did a degree in programming earlier in life and after a stint in that and db work, I then accidentally took a job in server management (I thought there would be programming too), which ended up being quite a people focused job so I learned some new skills all round, including leading a team in the last few years. In 2008 I realised the writing was on the wall and I was definitely going to be outsourced (I was told back in 2001 to be fair) but I decided then that programming was going to be my focus owing to my perception that there would be a smaller number of jobs in managing servers in cloud services.

Gonna say this again, but my favourite QL is the Wipeout TV tie-in with Ryan and Vinny, so much infectious laughter from both of them. R.I.P. duder.