working - not working ...

well, i'm not working anymore (technically)! i, erm, 'resigned' from my job a couple weeks ago, which was a real shame. the resignation was kindof forced, due to issues that were generally my fault, so i should have really avoided it. anyway, i enjoyed the work, and met a bunch of great people. still, the interesting thing is that this may have actually been a good thing...

i've now started work on a new project that is just as interesting as security work, but should be more profitable, at the very least. i'm reluctant to give away technical details, but in broad strokes i'm running an automated trading system on an internet based exchange. the system determines the correct value for trades and places them automatically. i'm not sure how long it'll take for me to be able to run the software from a remote server and retire to a beach sipping pina colada, since everything is still being tested, but that's the general idea.

the software is written in java, with linkages to some native c code for speed. it's been a fair bit of development, but i've had some help from a friend who's doing a similar thing, and so far we're both in the black. i think the best part has been just seeing the thing work, and knowing that the software i developed is doing it's thing properly and is making money for me. it's different to just finishing an application or a game or whatever, and seeing that running properly - the thrill is not just in getting the software all present and correct and debugged, but in knowing that you've managed in some sort of way to 'beat the system'. and i guess the risk, knowing that if you fucked up - bang go your savings and that beach/drink scenario!

anyway, it's still early days, and i'm going to keep at it until i'm earning a similar amount to what i would as a security consultant (or, at least, as long as it pays my rent and bills, and keeps me in all the bad habits i'm accustomed to). there's also plenty of other electronic markets out there that a software agent could make money from, so i'm also planning on modularising my code, and building a library that can be used on any site that has trading potential

back to 'work' for the moment, then...