Study or Work?

I always thought after I'd finish studying and land into the world of work, I would have ample time on my hands to wander around and enjoy life. Yet, its been just a month since I started work, and I haven't even posted once on my blog! So what is the reality? Well, I come home, cook, clean a little, pray and just feel like jumping straight into bed. Having said that, I must admit it is actually very nice not having to worry about assignments at all, in fact I don't have to worry about anything (well almost), plus I can shop till I drop. The joys of not being a student are too many to count ... :D

On the other hand I am worried I will get too used to enjoying my non-student life that I will find it difficult to go back to university for postgraduate study. I have places at London universities (LSE, Imperial, UCL, Kings & City) and I've applied for PhD studentships too, but I am waiting to hear back from them (please pray for me!). I sometimes wonder, should I just pack it all up (i.e. studies) and just continue working and enjoy life (at least financially) or should I look at the long term picture and sacrifice my sanity and freedom for one to three years more ... ... What do you guys think?

BTW I do love studying. In fact just two days into work, and I was missing lectures and the academic research environment, where every day one learns something new. Whereas my current job, lets just say I've done more interesting things ... !

Computer blunders and ID Cards

The Government's proposal of the ID Card in the UK became a political hot potato. It was last year, when I did some research in this area that I realised why. The ID Card is argued to infringe on civil liberties, and the major problem is with the database behind this, the NIR (National Identity Register). The Government has time and again failed to secure and even simply run computer systems/databased, and today's article in the Independent is of no surprise:

Labour's computer blunders cost £26bn

A series of botched IT projects has left taxpayers with a bill of more than £26bn for computer systems that have suffered severe delays, run millions of pounds over budget or have been cancelled altogether.

£5bn National Identity Scheme

Originally budgeted at £3bn, the Government’s plan for new identity cards, containing biometric data and linked to a central database, soon came under heavy criticism from civil liberty campaigners. As the costs spiralled, so the Home Office began to water down the aims of the scheme to assuage the critics. In July, Alan Johnson announced that the cards would no longer be compulsory, while moves to force all airport workers to use the cards were also abandoned.

More on the ID Card Scheme to come ...