Job Comparison

Or, "differences between the old job and the new...."

1. The pleasing atmosphere and camaraderie is that of an excellent small startup.
2. An office with a door and individual temperature control.
3. Ability to determine time of day and current weather conditions by simply glancing up.
4. A high-end, lightweight, extremely comfortable desk chair.
5. I went from 15" and 19" CRTs to a 22" LCD for my Dell Precision Beast War and a 24" LCD for my MacBook Pro which was built to my specifications.
6. A machine fit for the gods which dispenses a variety of coffees, teas, and hot chocolate, all day, every day, for free. This is the reason I switched. If it becomes self-aware Skynet has met its match.
7. Empowerment. See #1.
8. Googleplex-ish lounge for cheerful discussions, decompressing, and training to improve your Wii Bowling high score.
9. The workload varies depending on deadlines and the needs of the researchers. They might put it as "days of research followed by a minute of sheer terror when a service goes offline." Particularly when the deadline is tomorrow. Don't worry, see #10.
10. The IT Crowd is the best in the business.

And that's my impression after a short first week.