From: Mark T <paradisaeidae@...>
Date: 2007-07-28T11:45:23+09:00
Subject: Re: [Very OT] Australia or Canada, which one is the best country for a geek?!?

Wow.
This is such a good question.
Do you actually have to go to a country to hack/program/work there?
Is it a matter of payment? Lifestyle?
Attitude?
Business opportunity?
Sydney is a city of real-estate-first.
Predominantly, if you do not have this as 1st attitude, you do not fit in.
There is a predominance of market-obedience in Sydney.
Not sure if the two above are/how linked.
So Ruby is mostly Rails-driven in Sydney.
Less so in Melbourne.
More rain in Melbourne, less real estate frenzy.
Better contemplation environment. It appears (not from experience).
Academically, ANU in Canberra is #1. Rational atmosphere. A capital
built between population centres. (Not good IMHO).
All up the coast there are pockets of excellence.
People who can afford to make a small tera-firma-island & live there
can get good value.
In-cost has risen the recent years as there are some delightful spots.
Canada has a broader attitude base, It appears (also, not from experience).
Aus. is in the southern Hemisphere, takes longer to get here.
Travel in-out can cause 'air-sickness'... http://www.toxicairlines.com/
It is both a dumping ground for obsolete stuff & a testing ground for new stuff.
We are just about to leave a ten-year experiment of our
government-induced fiscal policy/philosophy of "Financially Fittest
via Financial Darwinism".
As you get to know the legacy of this you will find that most
'services' are now 'authorities'.
Most of these authorities are under-funded as the privatization has
left them 'leaner'.
The private contractors who have taken the punt are under the rules of
basic arithmetic & cannot spend on speculation. So services are
sometimes non-existent.
(Courses in Tafe an example).
Core infrastructure suffers from privatization syndrome. Most bulk
produce is trucked privately now. Trains stop at Orange in the Blue
Mountains.
Most of government action is knee-jerk. Out water for example
triggered an emergency response. Even when this gov. has been in
'position' to know for over ten years.
Indigenous affairs. Shameful.
Better weather than London.
Not many mountains. Mostly desert really.
Wherein lies one of the most fascinating conjunction of opposites.
The desert is an amazingly creative place.

Later,

Markt