matthew_1130

I am a software engineer in Australia, considering switching from permanent full-time work to full-time sub-contract work developing software. I've heard that people working for themselves in the building trade or in medical professions need to pay a stack of insurance. Would the same be true in software development? Would I even need professional indemnity insurance?

I have done sub-contract software development before, and I didn't even know about any need for insurance?!?!? Was I just lucky, or is there really no need for it in my industry?

Thanks

PS. I work at a senior level, doing quotes, business analysis, high level design and organising software teams. I would be working for just 1 company at a time, either the client or a personnel agency, with each contract position usually running from 3 months to 2 years. I wouldn't have my own company, so the relationship is not much different from a casual employee relationship.

What do you believe? Some clarification here:

1. The "big bang" is not the actual start of the universe, merely an eventful point in it's history.

2. How did we end up with laws of physics that allow the development of life?

3. Where did all the matter and energy originally come from?

My young daughter gave me some bulbs (Lachenalia aka Soldier Boys) which say they should be planted in Autumn. We're now starting the second month of winter here in Sydney, Australia. Is it too late to plant them? Is there anything I can do to give them the best chance of flowering next spring?

Also, I've heard that it's a good idea to soak the bulbs in luke warm water for a couple hours before planting. Do you think that's a good thing for me to try?

I've been looking everywhere for a Samsung U4 MP3 Player (aka Samsung YP-U4), but haven't been able to find it. I live in Sydney Australia.

JB HiFi stock it, but they're right out of stock right now. Is there any other shops where I can buy it?

Thanks

CNET Review: http://www.cnet.com.au/samsung-u4-339293...

It's a USB stick sized MP3 player with 4Gb, decent sound quality and voice record.

My sneakers last me a year. I wear them all the time, doing about 22km (14 miles) walking each week, both onroad and offroad.

I don't do any jogging or running. ;-)

Is that good wear? I'm wondering if I'll get longer lasting sneakers by spending more money?

I like my beard, but whenever I grow one, the skin goes bad underneath it, producing tiny flakes which are a bit like dandruff.

I've been using Johnson's Foaming Facial Wash, which worked well for awhile, but now doesn't seem to be helping anymore.

It contains "sodium laureth sulfate", which I have read is not good for the skin. That's the ingredient that makes it lather.

I was wondering if any of you have any recommendations for a better skin care product? I like the foaming action as it helps it get through my beard to the skin underneath. A regular cleanser doesn't get through.

There are numerous websites saying that Boric Acid is the best substance for long term control of cockroaches. I've been to Mitre10 and Bunnings, and they both say they don't have it.

I have Borax at home, but several websites I've read say that Borax is not as effective as Boric Acid because the cockroaches don't like to go near Borax. Can anyone tell me where I can find Boric Acid in Sydney, Australia?

I just answered a Morgan poll "Should police use tasers before guns" relating to the following story:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5208287/family-ang...

The family was angry because the police gunned down their 15 year old boy, who was threatening them with knives. The poll implies that if police used a taser instead of a gun, then there would be fewer problems.

My concerns are:

1. If police are armed with tasers, they are much more likely to use them than they would guns.

2. With a gun, police can shoot to injure or shoot to kill. With a taser, whether the person is injured or killed is unrelated to how they are shot. No one's sure why tasers seem to kill people sometimes.

3. There are numerous documented deaths following taser use, although most people are not injured by them. The deaths following taser use do not appear to be caused by electrocution, but there seem to be too many of these deaths for it to be a coincidence. See Wikipedia excerpt below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser

A study led by William Bozeman, of the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, of nearly 1,000 persons subjected to Taser use, concluded that 99.7% of the subjects had either minor injuries, such as scrapes and bruises, or none at all; while three persons suffered injuries severe enough to need hospital admission, and two other subjects died. Their autopsy reports indicated neither death was related to the use of a Taser.

What are your thoughts?

We have a new treated pine fence with many splinters in it.

What is the best way to get rid of the splinters? Should we just paint it? Should we sand it first and then paint it? Is there undercoat we should use?

Is there danger in using an electric sander on treated pine?

Thanks

My wife and I are not good gardeners!

We have garden beds with grass growing through them. Some are lined with vertical cement tiles, others lined with treated pine semi-circles. The beds didn't have grass in them when we moved in, but over the years the grass has invaded. I've tried to pull it out like weeds but it keeps growing back. What should we do?

We've just had tradesmen finished their work in the backyard, so we want to do something with it but don't have much money.

Some of the beds are just full of grass and weeds at the moment. Other beds have small shrubs in them.

We're open to having a ground cover solution, but it has to be very hardy, strong enough to survive with very little water through hot summer months. We live in Sydney, Australia.

Thanks

I have CTS (carpul tunnel sundrome), so I need to avoid mouse usage.

I know that Dragon Dictate has an option to browse the internet by voice, but that seems like too much trouble and only works on the computer that has Dragon Dictate installed. I use several computers.

I touch type, so my preference would be to be able to press a "Find Link" hotkey, then type the first few letters of the link and press enter to take me there, then enter again to open the link.

I've tried Edit-Find, but that finds too many other words on the page. I've tried tabbing through the links, but there are far too many to make this practical.

I use Internet Explorer, but I'm open to moving to another browser if it solves this issue.

Thanks.

I have CTS (carpul tunnel sundrome), so I need to avoid mouse usage.

I know that Dragon Dictate has an option to browse the internet by voice, but that seems like too much trouble and only works on the computer that has Dragon Dictate installed. I use several computers.

I touch type, so my preference would be to be able to press a "Find Link" hotkey, then type the first few letters of the link and press enter to take me there, then enter again to open the link.

I've tried Edit-Find, but that finds too many other words on the page. I've tried tabbing through the links, but there are far too many to make this practical.

I use Internet Explorer, but I'm open to moving to another browser if it solves this issue.

Thanks.

I run a monthly walking group. On occasion a good route intersects with a golf course. Is it ok to walk on the golf course, given that we mostly stick to the paths and most definitely stay off the fairway?

The golf courses I'm talking about are not prestigious ones, just your common suburban type.

If yes, a second question ... would us walkers need to observe the dress code for just passing through, or is the dress code only for golf players?

Thanks.

My landlord has told me that he doesn't want the clothes dryer inside the house, where we've had it for many years, because he's concerned it will cause damp problems in the ceiling.

I suggested we put it on an overhead bracket in the laundry and asked him if he'd put a vent through to the outside, but he refused.

He wants us to put it in the covered area outside, even though that area leaks. That seems quite unsafe to me. He said to put hard plastic over it to stop it from getting wet. What do you think?

PS. We have a clothesline, but due to health reasons, the dryer is quite important to me. BTW, he's a good landlord in other ways.

How do you feel about death? Why?

We're moving, and one real-estate agent told us that their property on Robin Street, Carlingford, is within the area for children going to Cheltenham Girls High School (in North-Western Sydney).

We've heard that Cheltenham Girls is a good school, but I was always under the impression that boundary was north of the M2 Motorway. Can anyone please tell us what their boundaries are?

Thanks