“If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars…”
And who said science can’t give meaning to your life, and can’t imbue you with a sense of purpose?
Part of me still wishes I did that physics major.
Mix cows, six thousand people, truckloads of imported turf and lots of yummy food and you get the first ever Breakfast on the Bridge. Me and Ru Jih were lucky enough to score tickets to the event, where Sydneysiders were invited to picnic on the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge – closed to traffic – as part of Crave Sydney.
(Click on the images to enlarge.)
No end in sight... people queue to get onto the bridge
On the way up
Tags: crave sydney, sydney, sydney harbour bridge
The International Free and Open Source Software Law Review – about time, although, of course, it’s more for lawyers than FOSS enthusiasts.
Ever wondered what that piece of paper is worth? The University of Sydney Graduate Destinations Report is compiled from surveys of graduates four to six months after they complete their final year of study, and it provides an overview of employment opportunities, starting salaries and job satisfaction, amongst other things. I have some beef with the way the results are collated (the employer table is a downright mess, and what information is provided differs between faculties) but I’ll take the stats as generally representative of the truth.
The law is, I suppose, perceived as a veritable gold mine and thus a highly valuable degree, and with an average graduate salary of over $79,000, one can understand why. But the survey breaks it down further: undergraduates, on average, end up with over $51,000 while postgraduates get over $98,000. By comparison, those graduating from undergraduate dentistry earn, on average, over $94,000 and work fewer hours (34 hrs/wk as opposed to 36 hrs/wk). What’s more, dentists are more happy with their job (96% as opposed to 82%). Who would’ve thought? (And 40% of law students suffer depression at some stage. So, if you’re in high school right now and you think law is all glitz and glamour, take another hard look, although it’s still a great degree.) As for finding a job, 14% of law graduates weren’t employed at the time of the survey, but it’s not entirely clear how many of these were studying further or simply not looking for a job; the somewhat high figure could also be explained by the fact that the survey would’ve been conducted at the height of the financial crisis.
Of course, there’s more to life than what you get paid, but I’ve summarised graduate gross salary by faculty, and then, where possible, I’ve calculated average hourly rate. The latter table is useful, because it shows that while starting salaries can differ quite markedly between faculties, this difference can be explained, at least in part, by under-employment.
Summary of graduate gross salary by faculty
| Faculty | Undergrad | Honours 1 | Postgrad | Overall |
| Agriculture | $41,949 | - | $49,954 | $43,569 |
| Architecture | $33,885 | $46,912 | $59,552 | $46,968 |
| Arts | $34,316 | - | $46,189 | $36,605 |
| Dentistry | $94,461 | $100,875 | $123,886 | $102,315 |
| Economics | $39,572 | $46,373 | $52,494 | $46,793 |
| Education | $44,131 | - | $55,386 | $49,205 |
| Engineering | $51,384 | - | $69,075 | $53,206 |
| Health Sciences | $41,514 | - | $61,195 | $49,662 |
| Law | $51,507 | - | $98,927 | $79,329 |
| Medicine | $54,271 | - | $77,719 | $68,300 |
| Music | $29,965 | $29,382 | $37,659 | $32,126 |
| Nursing | $40,926 | - | $56,856 | $46,167 |
| Pharmacy | $34,542 | - | $58,540 | $40,424 |
| Science | $24,801 | - | $48,878 | $34,738 |
| Vet Sciences | $39,146 | $38,690 | $92,750 | $48,036 |
| Visual Arts | $18,307 | - | $29,330 | $23,197 |
1 Data not provided for all faculties (but a blank does not mean that honours cannot be undertaken in that faculty).
Graduate Gross Hourly Rate by Faculty
| Faculty | Undergrad | Honours | Postgrad | Overall |
| Agriculture | $21.80 | - | $25.28 | $22.65 |
| Architecture | (average hours worked not provided) | |||
| Arts | $22.76 | - | $26.13 | $23.46 |
| Dentistry | $53.43 | $48.50 | $61.09 | $54.66 |
| Economics | (average hours worked not provided) | |||
| Education | $24.96 | - | $29.59 | $26.28 |
| Engineering | $25.34 | - | $34.96 | $26.93 |
| Health Sciences | $22.81 | - | $32.69 | $27.29 |
| Law | $27.51 | - | $45.30 | $37.21 |
| Medicine | (average hours worked not provided) | |||
| Music | $26.19 | $23.54 | $25.86 | $25.74 |
| Nursing | $21.27 | - | $28.77 | $24.00 |
| Pharmacy | $17.48 | - | $31.27 | $21.01 |
| Science | $21.68 | - | $26.86 | $24.74 |
| Vet Sciences | $17.51 | $18.15 | $44.59 | $22.53 |
| Visual Arts | $14.67 | - | $20.89 | $18.59 |
Tags: employment, graduate, sydney university
Sydney Buses is conducting a review of the bus routes in the “inner west and south” – a fairly expansive region including Parramatta Road and City Road services, and affecting services all the way to Lidcombe, Hurstville and Kogarah. It’s not a drastic rethink of bus services in this region though; see the proposed map and the explanatory brochure.
One noticeable change, however, is the new Metrobus Route 30 from Mosman to Enmore via the CBD. I obviously can’t take any credit for it, but I must say it looks rather like my proposed metro route that runs from Newtown to Neutral Bay!
Another interesting point is that the brochure addresses the question of why mini-buses aren’t used – a good question, given that a one-size-fits-all approach, intuitively at least, doesn’t make sense.
Tags: metrobus, sydney buses
Foreboding sight: Sydney's dust storm
Sydney’s dust storm, as captured in my backyard at 6:18 this morning. No, nothing wrong with the white balance.
I was almost hoping it was the End of the World, because the End of the World would’ve eaten up my 8 am Advanced Contracts lecture.
Tags: weather
I’ve been working with GPlates for eight weeks now, and in this time, I’ve added a new tool to measure distances on the surface of the earth.
Measuring distances in GPlates
Hardly earth-shattering (excuse the pun), but its simplicity belies some of the changes under the hood; it incorporates the (new) ability to render text on the globe, for example. It’s all checked into trunk and should appear in the next major release!
Tags: gplates
When the SUITS web server went down a couple of weeks ago, the skies darkened and there was much outpouring of grief.
In the words of one committee member:
At approximately 1445 today, suitsbeta shut itself down, never to wake up again. Attempts were made to revive it by powering it up, but alas it failed to POST. Our thoughts go out to its family and friends.
Another expressed regret:
It was nice knowing you suitsbeta. We’re sad that you toiled alone and in sickness for your last few months.
But it was well-loved:
Although I did not log into suitsbeta many times I did appreciate the machine and the contribution it made to this society. Few can claim to have sustained such continuous service to the society and its members, never asking for recognition or relief.
However, death can give rise to hope:
The memory of suitsbeta’s cranky innards will live on in the cron messages, reboot requests, and database errors that pepper my email archives. May the metal be reborn and the warnings silenced.
Tags: suits
The ads at the uni bus stop are hard to miss: UNSW now offers Juris Doctor for graduates instead of LLB. What’s the difference? From what I can see, postgraduates will be taught separately from undergraduates, JD students can take Masters-level courses as electives, and some of the courses might be taught at their new city campus. Intriguing.
Speaking of which, I only just found out that UNSW had opened a city campus on O’Connell Street, right in the heart of the financial and legal district in Sydney. If you look at the photos, a Sydney Uni law graduate intimately familiar with the bowels of the old law school might be left just somewhat envious. Sydney Uni had better do something soon, because UNSW has just taken away a point of competitive advantage, our city location.
Tags: law school, unsw
Name: Bécasse
Address: 204 Clarence Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9283 3440
Type: Restaurant
Cuisine: French/European
Opening hours: 12:00 pm-2:30 pm (lunch, Monday-Friday); 6:00 pm-10:30 pm (dinner, Monday-Saturday)
Price: $120 (degustation); $27 and $45 (à la carte entrée and main respectively)
There is no doubt that Bécasse is one of the stars of Sydney fine dining, almost beyond review for an amateur as myself. Familiar and unfamiliar ingredients are brought together in every dish with immaculate execution and presentation. This is food that is as beautiful to look at as it is beautiful to savour. I must say that some of the meatier dishes may come across as being a little underwhelming, but this is purely because of the heavenliness of some of the other dishes; dessert here is something you can’t have enough of! As for ambience, Bécasse is a place well-suited any time a little bit of sophistication is in order. From the elegant but not too pretentious dining room, you can see the chefs deftly applying their masterful craft, as you go through this culinary journey.
You can probably tell from my description that we had the degustation, although they also have a decent à la carte selection. I think I will let the photos speak for themselves, for which many thanks are due to Daniel Tse.
Amuse bouche
Salad of heirloom tomato
Tags: cbd, european, french, restaurant
Wall
: : ) thanks
: Update please!!
: I agree with u. I need to imedeatly add it in my RSS
: oy update! 
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