Fixed Price vs. Time & Materials

If the choice were mine, I'd go with fixed price contracts as often as possible. They can be crafted to reflect the buyer's value of a project (rather than just asking for a fixed daily rate) and there's the option for super-profit if you deliver the project for less than you anticipate. Of course the planning that goes into the bottoms-up estimations that lead to successful projects has an associated cost, but it does mitigate the risk you won't deliver on time.

Kana Flash Cards v1.0

I sat down this weekend and decided to write a mobile phone application just for fun. The application randomly displays Japanese symbols for a couple of seconds before giving the phonetic pronunciation and then moves onto the next symbol: it's really just a set of electronic flash cards to help you learn Katakana script. Thanks to the kind folks at Astrient Labs you can download the application here for free.

Instant Japanese

It's been a few months since I had the impulse to learn another language (Latvian was a real non-starter), and I've convinced myself that Japanese is the way to go - what with London, New York and Tokyo all being the same global city. I also figured that fluent Japanese would look pretty good on my CV, next to an MBA from a prestigious business school. The same book and audio cd I saw on the high street on Saturday was on eBay for a third of the price, now to pass the time before the package arrives I've gone and written my name in katakana: