Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Working at Facebook Sounds Like Joining a Cult (gizmodo.com)

Posted by msmash on from the curious-case-of-Facebook dept.

Vanity Fair has run some excerpts from an upcoming book by a former employee that gives insight on how things work at the social network. The chapter, among other things, details Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's actions when Google launched its own social networking service Google Plus. The extract finds Zuckerberg's behaviour so intense that it calls it "bordered on the psychopathic." It reads: [...] hit Facebook like a bomb. Google Plus was the great enemy's sally into our own hemisphere, and it gripped Zuck like nothing else. He declared "Lockdown," the first and only one during my time there. As was duly explained to the more recent employees, Lockdown was a state of war that dated to Facebook's earliest days, when no one could leave the building while the company confronted some threat, either competitive or technical.â [...] Rounding off another beaded string of platitudes, he changed gears and erupted with a burst of rhetoric referencing one of the ancient classics he had studied at Harvard and before. "You know, one of my favorite Roman orators ended every speech with the phrase Carthago delenda est. 'Carthage must be destroyed.' For some reason I think of that now."

95 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. Nah... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    More like joining a Skynet-Workcamp...

  2. Read between the lines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I like how through the whole summary, the elephant in the room is that Google is a much bigger, more evil cult.

    1. Re:Read between the lines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      what if they're both controlled by the same person?

      Maybe they are both controlled by Emmanuel Goldstein.

    2. Re: Read between the lines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Working for any large company is like joining a cult. Try working for nike sometime...

    3. Re:Read between the lines by superwiz · · Score: 1

      They are not. Actually, Ballmer owns a 2% stake in FB and a precondition for his investment was veto rights on FB partnering with Google on anything he wishes to veto. It's also why MS doesn't compete with FB (the only software market which MS does not try to overtake... because FB plays ball with MS).

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    4. Re: Read between the lines by superwiz · · Score: 1

      When did Sundar Pichai manage to convert to Judaism? I thought it was quite a lengthy process.

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    5. Re:Read between the lines by neilo_1701D · · Score: 2

      It's also why MS doesn't compete with FB (the only software market which MS does not try to overtake... because FB plays ball with MS).

      Seriously?

      Microsoft enters markets in which it believes it can make money. Lot of money. Microsoft also enters markets where it believes it can win. Every single hair-brained scheme they tried under Ballmer's reign to capture niche retail and consumer markets ended badly. Today, Microsoft is into the big enterprise systems where they can win, so long as they play the long game. For example, originally SharePoint was a bit of a joke. Today, it's almost mission critical. Dynamics CRM was a toy, today it's giving Salesforce a run for it's money. ERP. The list goes on.

      I guess you missed the bit where Microsoft grew tired of competing with Quicken after almost 20 years, and threw in the towel. They tried to take over that market and failed. Portable music players tied to an online store? Zune was a flameout. Enterprise and consumer smartphones? They bought Nokia and still cratered. Don't forget there were plenty of companies that "played ball" with Microsoft over the years and got bitten bad (Cringely's Accidental Empires had a good list, go read that).

      No, my friend, the Ballmer era Microsoft wanted it all and ended up stalling the company for years. The "new" Microsoft (the one who plays nice with Red Hat on Azure; the one bringing Ubuntu into your Windows 10; the one bringing SQL Server to Linux) knows it can't overtake markets anymore, and instead is trying to learn to place nice(er).

      Facebook isn't safe because of Ballmer. Facebook is safe because they are the 100lb gorilla in a very small niche that Microsoft knows they could not dislodge. Funny, Myspace thought they were that, too...

    6. Re:Read between the lines by Gussington · · Score: 5, Funny

      Facebook is safe because they are the 100lb gorilla

      A 100lb gorilla is a very small gorilla....

    7. Re: Read between the lines by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      I can't confirm it, but I've heard that significant portions of Google are silently controlled by Guice in the background.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    8. Re:Read between the lines by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Still probably stronger than a 200lb man. And with big teeth.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    9. Re:Read between the lines by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      We're living in the age of ever-shrinking computers. What required an S/360 system in the 1970s can often be done by a microcontroller these days. What if the metaphors are shrinking, too? I, for one, welcome our 1lb gorilla overlords of the 2050s. Look how cute they are!

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    10. Re: Read between the lines by superwiz · · Score: 1

      So is it "run" or "own"? What about all the shareholders? I would assume the CEO runs the company.

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    11. Re:Read between the lines by superwiz · · Score: 1

      Microsoft enters markets in which it believes it can make money.

      Once again, Ballmer (the CEO of MS at the time) bought 2% of Facebook with his own money. Do you think there are not strings attached there? That's not 2% of Ballmer's money. That's 2% of Facebook... which is significantly more than 2% of Ballmer's money. It's not Microsoft which owns this stake. It's Ballmer himself.

      Every single hair-brained scheme they tried under Ballmer's reign to capture niche retail and consumer markets ended badly.

      What? XBox has quite a following. I am not enough of a gamer to know the details of each platform, but it's certain one of the main players in that market.

      No, my friend, the Ballmer era Microsoft wanted it all and ended up stalling the company for years.

      No, Ballmer era Microsoft was looking for new markets because they couldn't possibly do better in their primary market then they already did. Windows 7 is the best desktop OS bar none. The closest 2nd was Windows XP which, until phones started having their own full-fledged operating systems, was the most popular operating system of all time despite having a cult-like hate following.

      MS was quite happy to buy Quicken until the Justice Department told it not to. It doesn't insist on killing all which isn't it. The formula is to try partner, then try to buy or to compete head on. They make enough money from FB's commitment to play nice with MS products and not play at all with Google. Until Google stops being the biggest innovation platform, I would say MS-FB alliance will stand.

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    12. Re:Read between the lines by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      Facebook is safe because they are the 100lb gorilla

      A 100lb gorilla is a very small gorilla....

      he means the 100 lb elephant.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    13. Re: Read between the lines by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      When did Sundar Pichai manage to convert to Judaism? I thought it was quite a lengthy process.

      between the lines, obviously.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    14. Re: Read between the lines by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      Both Faceberg and Google are run by Jews.

      Facebook...Foreskin
      Google...Goldberg
      coincidence? I don't think so.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    15. Re: Read between the lines by minstrelmike · · Score: 1

      When did Sundar Pichai manage to convert to Judaism? I thought it was quite a lengthy process.

      Yes converting is very difficult. You have to change mothers.

  3. Summery of a summery? by houstonbofh · · Score: 5, Informative

    A slashdot summery of a Gizmodo summery of a Vanity Fair article? Is the source really that are to link to when it is the first line of the Gizmodo summery? http://www.vanityfair.com/news...

    1. Re:Summery of a summery? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's "summary".

      But you're right. I was kind of upset when I got halfway through the article and realized it's nothing about a cult-like environment at Facebook. It's about the showdown between Facebook and Google Plus. Anything cult-like about Facebook gets a little bit of mention in passing and it sticks out as kind of awkward.

      And then we find out it's just a selection from an upcoming book. It's not a stand-alone article, at all, and that probably explains its bewildering constant change of tone.

      The headline should have read something more along the lines of "Zuckerberg's weird behaviour gets strong mention in this promotional article trying hard to sell an upcoming book about Silicon Valley culture in general." Which would have instantly bored the piss out of anybody and nobody would have wanted to read it.

      Maybe whoever posted it works for Vanity Fair or the book's publisher, or something?

    2. Re:Summery of a summery? by Desler · · Score: 1

      At least it wasn't a Slashdot wintery.

    3. Re:Summery of a summery? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      It's about the showdown between Facebook and Google Plus.

      It's about the showdown between psycho Zuck and social misfit Larry.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    4. Re:Summery of a summery? by tlambert · · Score: 1

      It's "summary".

      So you're saying it's not like an early Meg Ryan or a more recent and artsy Zooey Deschanel movie?

    5. Re:Summery of a summery? by Dahamma · · Score: 2

      If anything, it's mostly about the almost unreadable hyperbole and purple prose of a disgruntled former Facebook employee who seems to hate everyone.

    6. Re:Summery of a summery? by coastwalker · · Score: 1

      Not much different from the Zuck then - except he only hates Google +. The people who own large companies are susceptible to thinking that because they have enough money to murder people and get away with it - that they are somehow especially insightful and not unlike great historical figures. They are not, they are filthy rich and should display some humility if they are not to be mocked as philistines.

      --
      Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
    7. Re:Summery of a summery? by Espectr0 · · Score: 1

      How do you misspell summary 5 times in the same post?

      --
      Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
    8. Re:Summery of a summery? by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      that they are somehow especially insightful and not unlike great historical figures

      Sadly, having money and power is pretty much the best way to insert yourself into the history books.

      They are not, they are filthy rich and should display some humility if they are not to be mocked as philistines.

      Eh, kind of losing you there. Are you trying to claim that Mark Zuckerberg is uncircumcised? I'm pretty sure based on his heritage that's not true.

  4. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Doesn't sound much like my idea of a cult. More like a business run by a spoiled brat. What are the supposedly cult-like aspects?

    1. Re:Huh? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Whether the boss is a spoiled brat that needs a spanking, the cult leader is one or the god is one, what exactly is the difference?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. Seems like... by ebcdic · · Score: 1

    ... they need a union.

    1. Re:Seems like... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just because the company's run like a cult doesn't mean the employees are communists.

      Just because employees form a union doesn't mean they are communists.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    2. Re:Seems like... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Just because employees form a union doesn't mean they are communists.

      Indeed. Unions are illegal in most communist countries. In postwar Europe, only communist governments ordered soldiers to shoot strikers.

      Why do you need a union when the dictatorship of the proletariat is already running the company?

    3. Re:Seems like... by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      Just because the company's run like a cult doesn't mean the employees are communists.

      Just because employees form a union doesn't mean they are communists.

      Having friend that have helped form unions, heard stories about when my current job switched to unions, and been a place where the employees decided to form a union, I'd have to say that it has nothing to do with being a communist. The number one cause of unions are dick bosses jerking around the employees. Most people just want to show up, do their work, and go home at the end of their shift for whatever pay they already signed up for. It's when managers start telling people they have to work and additional shift with no dinner because somebody else didn't show up (usually because they quit because they suffered the same treatment too many times) that employees really start wanting some hard rules and are willing to take a 3-5% pay cut to belong to a union. Managers expect employees to jump anytime they say jump and don't care if they have lives out of work. Thing is, I've heard the stories from the old managers that are still around, and they wouldn't go back to non-union either. Now that everybody is operating under set rules, it actually solves many more problems than their "jump" orders ever did. When my IT unit tried to unionize, it was started by the two Rush Limbaugh watching ex-army guys when the boss started telling them they could just work five ten hour days from now on because he wanted late coverage as well as the early coverage they were doing.

  6. Easy by no-body · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sociopaths manipulate in various ways:

    intimidation, anger, suppression, force, charming, acting emphatically.

    Many are admired or shunned and often failed to be recognized as such.

     

    1. Re:Easy by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      Sociopaths manipulate in various ways:
      intimidation, anger, suppression, force, charming, acting emphatically.
      Many are admired or shunned and often failed to be recognized as such.

      Some run for President...

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    2. Re:Easy by war4peace · · Score: 1

      ...and some win.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    3. Re:Easy by no-body · · Score: 1

      Some run for President...

      Or become dictators, charlatans - but as always, it needs two to tangle, one cannot exist without the other.

      Monkeys get away with cheating within their community , all seems to be an old old habit.

    4. Re:Easy by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      FYI, while we're correcting each other here, "it takes two to tango" is an idiom, or saying, not a simile. "Mark Zuckerberg is as ugly as a warthog" is an example of a simile.

  7. "bordered on the psychopathic."? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Oh please! It's a requirement for the job. It is the dominant trait of the business world.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:"bordered on the psychopathic."? by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      "Oh please!", and hyperbole, does not make you correct. Nor does the fact that the few who are, get the majority of media attention because otherwise it's not "newsworthy". There certainly are some, and studies that point it out, but "requirement for the job"?...Oh please!

      https://www.theguardian.com/sc...
      https://leb.fbi.gov/2012/novem...
      http://www.businessinsider.com...

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
  8. Pseudo-intellectuals. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Carthago delenda est."? Why even revert to Latin if you don't even know your quotes? Where is this from, Asterix? I mean, Cato the Elder's stock ending was famous enough that its start "Ceterum censeo" is almost better known than the rest: "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam." Without the "Ceterum censeo", a Classic Latin speaker would drop the redundant "est" anyway and just state "Delenda Carthago.". Actually, I think the latter is the Asterix version so Goscinny still beats Zuckerberg, Harvard be damned.

    1. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's good PR to say he studied Latin and the Classics. It's not such good PR to say he was too busy with FriendFace to actually learn anything from those classes.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you think the aim of studying the classics is to learn Latin then you're an idiot.

      But then anyone who argues in terms of humans "using up valuable memory" is an idiot.

    3. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      While we're on the subject Carthage, it's worth noting that the history of the city did not end with the last Punic war... 200 years later Carthage had been rebuilt by the Romans and had a population of half a million, second only to Rome itself in the western empire. Carthage eventually evolved into Tunis, of which the archeological site is a suburb. So that "sowing to salt" thing makes a great sound bite, but it was hardly permanent.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    4. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Quoting Latin is a bit like riding a unicycle. It might impress if you can pull it off, even though everyone will wonder why the hell you do it, but if you fuck it up, everyone will just laugh at you.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Carthago delenda est."? Why even revert to Latin if you don't even know your quotes? Where is this from, Asterix? I mean, Cato the Elder's stock ending was famous enough that its start "Ceterum censeo" is almost better known than the rest: "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam."

      Before you go on a rant about how someone else misuses an ancient language, you might bother to make sure you know what you're talking about.

      As even the Wikipedia article explains, the phrase was actually never quoted in an ancient source directly in the TWO forms it is generally quoted in today. (If you want to see many of the various paraphrases of the form actually found in ancient sources, Wikipedia has some of them.) One form being your longer indirect speech version, and the other generally being "Carthago delenda est."

      This isn't an "Asterix" version -- it's a well-known version of the phrase that has been commonly cited by English-language scholars for the past couple centuries. Just to show you how long people have been quoting the phrase as "Carthago delenda est" -- The form was common enough to even be parodied in the well-known account of a Harvard professor opposed to academic music study in the 1870s who supposedly ended faculty meetings after the first appointment of a music professor with the phrase "musica delenda est" (i.e., music must be destroyed).

      It's true in other modern languages that the "ceterum censeo..." version is perhaps more common, but English-language scholars very frequently cite the phrase as "Carthago delenda est," which is as close to the actual ancient quotations as any.

      Without the "Ceterum censeo", a Classic Latin speaker would drop the redundant "est" anyway and just state "Delenda Carthago."

      Actually, wrong again. "Delenda" is a gerundive and by itself is only a passive participle. Saying "Delenda Carthago" could mean something more like "Carthage is to be destroyed." Adding a form of the Latin verb esse (i.e., to be) turns the construction from a naked gerundive into a passive periphrastic, which connotes an element of necessity. That is, it alters the meaning from "Carthage [is] to be destroyed" to "Carthage MUST be destroyed."

      The gerundive itself can carry that connotation a bit informally, but if Cato were speaking formally and wanted to emphasize his feeling that it MUST happen, he likely would have added a form of "esse" (as you can see is found in multiple actual quotations and references from Latin sources as seen in the Wikipedia article).

      Actually, I think the latter is the Asterix version so Goscinny still beats Zuckerberg, Harvard be damned.

      Yes, I believe Asterix actually uses the form you mention, which is abbreviated and less formal. And I really can't believe I'm actually defending Zuckerberg here... but his version was perfectly acceptable.

    6. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by catchblue22 · · Score: 1

      And this comment illustrates why I still read Slashdot. Brilliant.

      --
      This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when first he appears as a protector - Plato (423 to 327 BC)
    7. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by coastwalker · · Score: 1

      I think it depends on the product and their age. Gates gets more respect and is listened to because he ran a company that made somewhat useful stuff. Zuck has built an entertainment empire and sadly for him is more thought of as a clown. He is also young so probably will come across better when he is older, maybe.

      --
      Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
    8. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

      Well, he didn't say he learned the classics to learn Latin, he explicitly said, "studying dead languages". When I went to high school, they offered latin as a language (along with spanish, french, and german), it wasn't a literature class. Though I disagree with his assessment of latin's modern value, you've actually changed his argument.
      I also don't believe that human memory is infinite, its probably more like a huge FIFO stack (especially at my age).. but he should be able to push that old stuff out with new if he really wanted to.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    9. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Get a little older. New memories definitely don't push out old ones.

      'The Classics' are a obsolete body of knowledge. They were used to separate the rich from the not rich, but are now used to separate those stuck in the past from those living in the present. It's a narrative that tells you more about the people clinging to them than anything else. Unless you are studying why the 18th century was so fucked up, there is no reason to care.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    10. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals. by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

      Get a little older.

      No thanks.

      Wait, I take that back! Damn, it's a catch-22.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
  9. Maybe, but a bit of a way to go yet by Boss,+Pointy+Haired · · Score: 1

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  10. Unemployment rate by Livius · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Unemployment is so high that workers feel powerless and afraid and employers can abuse their power.

    Duh....

    1. Re:Unemployment rate by FooAtWFU · · Score: 1

      The unemployment rate for people working at Facebook is high? The mostly-computer-programmers-in-Silicon-Valley employment rate? Not buying it.

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    2. Re:Unemployment rate by Livius · · Score: 1

      Facebook is not the only workplace where this is happening.

      Or if you want to think specifically in terms of Facebook, consider the number of people who want to work at Facebook versus the number who actually do.

    3. Re:Unemployment rate by dcw3 · · Score: 2

      Hardly insightful, and in fact a baldfaced lie. Here's what you get when you google "bay area unemployment rate"
      The unemployment rate in San Mateo County was 3 percent, while the unemployment rate in Solano County was 5.6 percent in February. Marin County recorded the second lowest rate among Bay Area counties at 3.2 percent, followed by San Francisco County at 3.3 percent, employment officials said.

      And for tech workers it's even better. http://www.bizjournals.com/san...

      If anyone pulled "lockdown" on me, I'd walk out instantly.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    4. Re:Unemployment rate by Livius · · Score: 1

      The point is that Facebook has disproportionate bargaining power when hiring. So does almost every other employer, but only a very small number of job-seekers.

  11. This sounds more like by dnaumov · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Facebook is being led by a leader who promptly reacts to challenges facing his company. If this was supposed to paint Facebook/Zuck in some sort of negative light... it managed to do the completely opposite.

    1. Re:This sounds more like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Facebook is being led by a leader who promptly reacts to challenges facing his company. If this was supposed to paint Facebook/Zuck in some sort of negative light... it managed to do the completely opposite.

      It sounds like neither a cult nor your theory of bold leadership. It sounds like Zuck panicked based on the assumption that Google would likely eat his lunch. Plus failed, but it's not clear to me that FB's mad scrambling had anything to do with it.

      Google shipped Plus in 100 days. Google's employees were off enjoying their weekends while Zuck had his employees chained to their desks.

      Zuck got punked.

    2. Re:This sounds more like by Empiric · · Score: 1

      "Destruction of the enemy" is a fools errand intended simply to get people to sacrifice their interests for the "leader's" benefit.

      Legitimate response to challenges is producing better and more appealing products. Offering better terms and incentives to the people doing that for you, is the legitimate way to do that. Painting the "others" attempting to do the same as the enemy adds nothing of value.

      --
      ~ Whence do you come, slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?
  12. Re:Its simple, delete your account. by joerdie · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and you have been telling everyone you meet about it ever since! Honestly, Facbook quiters are worse than vegans.

  13. Re:Its simple, delete your account. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I deleted my account 8 years ago....

    In Soviet Facebook, account deletes you.

  14. Re:Its simple, delete your account. by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

    Step 1. Do not create a Facebook account.

    If step 1 failed, try step 2:
    https://m.facebook.com/account...

  15. Lockdown! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hoodie hoods up! Drawstrings to maximum tightness! Engage!

  16. My response? by NormalVisual · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As was duly explained to the more recent employees, Lockdown was a state of war that dated to Facebook’s earliest days, when no one could leave the building while the company confronted some threat, either competitive or technical.

    "I can't leave the building? Well, here's my badge. Fuck you."

    --
    Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
    1. Re:My response? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You wouldn't even need to do that. People would just roll their eyes and leave at their normal time. I'm assuming that in the "earliest days" there were only four or five of them who agreed (possibly partly due to charm and/or strength of personality from the boss, plus being/feeling personally invested in the project) that they'd all stay on and solve the problem. I don't believe for a moment that someone tried this as an order in the company the size it is now (or was when Google+ came out). They'd be a laughing stock. "Lockdown" at that point must have been more symbolic.

    2. Re:My response? by Calydor · · Score: 1

      "911? I am being illegally detained at ADDRESS under threat of harm if I try to leave. Please help."

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    3. Re:My response? by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 4, Funny

      "911? I am being illegally detained at ADDRESS under threat of harm if I try to leave. Please help."

      Better yet -- "I'm being illegally detained under threat of harm if I try to leave. The person threatening me is babbling incoherently... though I am told by one of my colleagues that he may be speaking in an ancient tongue with almost religious fervor, quoting something about wanting to destroy his enemies and an entire city. I'm really scared. Please send help!"

    4. Re:My response? by Xest · · Score: 1

      "I can't leave the building? Well, here's my badge, I'm off to work for the guys you're so threatened by and that don't treat their staff like dicks. I'm also taking all my knowledge of your solutions to the threat with me. Fuck you."

      FTFY.

  17. Re:This is why by smooth+wombat · · Score: 1

    Considering the articles posted here every day about "technical" people doing things such as sending BIOS updates without verifying the source, malware infested plug-ins, the ongoing and seemingly never-ending issues ofIoT security, and the re-emergence of a more powerful Sutxnet virus which continues to target the same types of systems as last time, it appears you shouldn't put technical people in charge of anything technical either.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  18. I totally agree by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't want to work those insane kinds of hours anymore, but there was a long period of time where I did and enjoyed it a lot - as well as greatly advancing my technical skills. Nothing like cramming years of practical experience into months...

    After reading the whole article, I also had more respect for Facebook and Zuckerberg than I did before.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  19. Move to Guyana by flacco · · Score: 1

    and call it Zuckertown.

    --
    pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
  20. Re:This is why by smooth+wombat · · Score: 1

    There's always an excuse, isn't there?

    Considering the high salaries we hear these companies paying their technical people, your comment falls flat.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  21. Do you actually have to JOIN the cult? by tlambert · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do you actually have to JOIN the cult?

    Or can you issue a SELECT COALESCE and use a subquery instead?

    1. Re:Do you actually have to JOIN the cult? by pieisgood · · Score: 1

      If I had the mod points, I wouldn't need to reply. But that was good.

      --
      Eat sleep die
    2. Re:Do you actually have to JOIN the cult? by tlambert · · Score: 1

      Sorry; I was lacking a sammich. I SQL nerded out.

  22. "Lockdown" by Sydin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about "get fucked." No job is worth having to suffer somebody who feels they have the right to exercise that kind of absolute authority over you. Even if there weren't dozens of other tech companies in the bay area ready to gobble up talent - and there are - that would be immediate cause for walking, no question.

    1. Re:"Lockdown" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Good thing you didn't work in mission control during Apollo 13.

    2. Re:"Lockdown" by n7ytd · · Score: 1

      Let's gauge my level of commitment to "burning the midnight oil" in the two scenarios:

      • The lives of my coworkers are in danger and we have 4 days to get them home
      • The boss is feeling threatened because a competitor has had the audacity to develop an ad- and cat video-delivery platform that might compete with our own.
  23. Re:Its simple, delete your account. by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

    Honestly, Facebook quitters are worse than vegans.

    Yeah, tell me about it.

    www.tofurky.com
    www.gardein.com
    www.yvesveggie.com
    www.daiyafoods.com

  24. It's simple, never create an account by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

    I did not register 12 years ago...

  25. Re:Lockdown - so? by ModernGeek · · Score: 1

    A better idea would be to ask people willing to volunteer and work as a special team to tackle the problem rather than arbitrarily keep everyone there. Offer overtime pay or some sort of bonus or stock option to those who stay and join the team, thereby only keeping the ones that really want to be there on the task.

    --
    Sig: I stole this sig.
  26. Re:Its simple, delete your account. by epyT-R · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's like saying you deleted a file without overwriting it. You didn't delete shit. It's still there. With social media the only winning move is not to play.

  27. What actually changed during the lockdown? by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

    At the time I used facebook a lot, and I didn't notice any changes. I don't use it so much anymore, but when I log in - I still don't see anything different.

    Maybe because I block ads?

  28. lest you forget by superwiz · · Score: 1

    Zuck's immortal words: "young people are just smarter."

    --
    Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
  29. Reductio by s.petry · · Score: 1

    Why learn anything? In a hundred years or less you'll be dead, and it will have been a waste of time.

    ad absurdum?

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  30. Why does this not surprise me? by rnturn · · Score: 1

    FB wants to be the only web site you visit. Rather like a cult that wants to control who you talk to, what you read, etc. I can only imagine how much worse it is when actually working within that organization.

    --
    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
  31. I think it is more the kind of workers they have by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 1

    Facebook likes to hire young, techie, inexperienced, and fairly self-assured people. I mean remember this is the company run by a guy who said that anyone over 30 is "out of ideas", a stance which, shocker here, changed when he got near 30. They hire the kind of people who buy in to their cult bullshit, who want to work at Facebook because "It is the best, most important place EVAR," and will deal with this kind of shit because they don't see it as a problem, or even that strange.

    It isn't a case of some evil company saying "You will do what we want, when we want, or you will starve!" Rather it is as the article talked about: A cult like atmosphere where people will do as they are told, even when it is stupid, because they want to, because they believe in the BS.

  32. A lot of it about by dbIII · · Score: 1

    A lot of it about - check out the utter weirdness with the Goldman Sachs exec parties, the Enron stuff and plenty of others. Prancing around to the strange whims of their bosses like a fantasy of French Nobility before they got the chop. They think they OWN people as seen how they dictate social life outside of work hours.

  33. Re:Lockdown - so? by Bohnanza · · Score: 1

    I'm still curious as what they were supposed to do during this "lockdown".

    Call the police and report that they were being detained against their will?

    --

    -----

    Sorry, I'm only a 1336 h4x0r.

  34. Re: This is why by coastwalker · · Score: 1

    Industry is rife with nepotism, it has little to do with which department of the business you are talking about. Surely you have seen wave after wave of new management being brought in each time the ownership of businesses change? All of them identifiable by their friendships rather than their accomplishments.

    --
    Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
  35. Re:Pseudo-intellectuals just for fun reply by chrispatch · · Score: 1

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    makes me laugh every time

  36. Re:Its simple, delete your account. by coastwalker · · Score: 1

    Actually it is not that simple anymore. Facebook tracks you whether you have an account or not by your visits to other websites, much as Google does. I am not sure what the answer is. I use various forms of ad blocking, java script blocking, cookie deleting software and keep changing them. I do not seem to get much linked crap from advertisers when visiting different web sites but you can be sure that if I do visit YouTube or Facebook they know all about what I have been looking at on those sites. It is only a matter of time before both Facebook and Google, and many other creepy web AI can tell who you are whatever you do to try and block them. I wonder where it will all lead and do not have a positive view about where it is all going. Not playing will then mean not using the web at all. Obviously the first step will be to move to VPN and the Tor network but I believe that governments will outlaw them soon with the protect the children and save us from terrorists excuses. (Laughable how little effort is made to stop road traffic accidents compared to spending effort on spying on and regulating the internet considering that the most likely way to die from an avoidable cause is a road accident..)

    --
    Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
  37. Re:Its simple, delete your account. by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    Bureaucrat: Hmmm comrade citizen, it seems my computnik indicates you do not exist.
    Citizen: Clearly I am standing right here!
    Bureaucrat: Not to worry comrade we will clean this error right up, Boris!
    Citizen: ...

  38. Old hat by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

    I read this book, what, 17 years ago? https://www.amazon.ca/Corporat...

    --
    Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  39. Surprised? by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    We're criticizing a guy that made a big company and the 800 Lbs gorilla in the room says it wants to do what you do? Possibly replace you? He had probably been approached for a buyout before.

    I think anyone would be very concerned (i.e. shit their pants). He faced a very real threat. He managed to survive. I think he had the right reaction, do whatever he could to stop it.

    Who knows, if Google bought them out, they could be one of the many projects in the Google graveyard by now.