In meetings with the Germans they can't understand why no American ever takes more than two weeks of vacation in a row while they routinely take the entire month of August off.
I also work for a multinational corporation.
In the US office, the middle and higher level managers routinely take all of August off. It's the rest of us that have trouble trouble taking even 2 weeks off, Not because management won't approve 2 or more weeks, but because after even a week off, the pile of problems we come back to is very oppressive. After 2 weeks, it's almost not worth having taken the time off.
At the company I work for, the European office has customers that are willing to pay 3 times the prices the US office is able to get from its customers. The European engineering staff is twice the size of ours in the US. Corporate manage seems happy to let the European office have that many engineers, but expects us in the US to handle twice the total workload as the European office.
For a prototype, we lifted *the customer's own marketing map graphic* and overlaid a colored disk at each location representing current status.
I had similar experiences years ago. This is because most people don't understand the difference between a model and "the real thing" if they can't "see" an obvious difference. Example: A canal lock system. You can build a fully functional model and (almost) no one will mistake that for the finished canal with locks. But a screen on a computer monitor showing a map with blinking dots (and whatever else) looks the same as what the finished application will. All the code "behind" the screen is invisible to them. As far as they are concerned, the screen with the map and blink dots is the application.
Since then, I've done "chalk talk" presentations. Actually, markers on poster-sized sketches.*
Using your example, what I might have done:
Plug my laptop into a project or large screen TV/monitor,
Go to the client's website and access their marketing map.
Right-click-Save Image on the map.
Load map image into Inkscape (or Photoshop or Illustrator, if you prefer).
Draw colored circles on the map image.
(Alternately, could draw the circles on transparent, plastic "post-it" notes and stick those to the screen.)
My "chalk talk" presentations have been very successful in getting my proposals approved. And there is no misperception that my mock-up is anything other than a mock-up.
--
* I prepare "foundation" drawings and print them on poster paper. Then during a presentation, I use markers to draw additional details in a way that illustrates how my proposed solution will work.
This only works if you are already itemizing deductions.
If the company gives you the money, then you can only deduct the donation if you itemize deductions.
However, if the company donates the money, then it's not part your taxable income - in other words, it's "pre-deducted".
Another example would be Flexible (Health) Spending Accounts - FSAs:
Normally, you can only deduct health care expenses when you itemize deductions AND only the amount over a certain percentage of your adjusted gross income (AGI).
But, with a FSA, the money is put into an escrow account that you (mostly*) control. AND is deducted from your pay BEFORE taxes, thus reducing your taxable income. Therefore, you are effectively deducting the whole amount, not just the amount over the AGI percentage AND even if you don't itemize deductions.
--
* Once money is put in the FSA, you can only use it to pay qualified medical expenses AND you loose any remaining amount still in the FSA at the end of the year (though there are certain "grace rules" that might apply).
Even "non-music" content often has background music.
And, in my experience, they don't care if the music is original. I have licensed recordings I made of music I composed to others for use as background music. Even after being sent signed copies of the license grants, they kept repeating demands for payments from people using my music.
Most Spotify users are there for background noise to drown out the sounds of coworkers.
Given that RIAA et al have asserted copyright infringement against recordings of bird songs, I would expect them to demand payments for streaming "background noise".
Also, if you haven't already point your router to some legit DNS servers. Do not assume your ISP is providing your valid results.
Are you using a resolver that properly implements DNSSEC? Otherwise, you can't be sure your ISP isn't silently redirecting DNS (port 53) requests to it's own DNS servers.
Also, the programmers were awful: they program to the letter of the spec, and my specs assumed too much a-priori knowledge about coding. I guess that was my fault.
How much is "too much" apriori knowledge?
As more detail is added to specifications, it eventually becomes code itself, reducing the programmer's job to translating that code to whatever language the compiler expects. When you get that far, the spec writer might just as well directly write the compilable code.
Some apriori knowledge is needed to be an effective programmer - even in these days where "generating" code from diagrams is becoming the norm for programmers.
Low-skilled investors who reward incompetent technology from dominant, monopolistic companies.
Investors "reward" any business that gives them a return on investment - the bigger and faster, the better. this pushes managers to seek out the cheapest, faster way to get a product into the hands of paying customers. This also pushes them to focus more on adding features than on fixing problems. As long as the product works well enough that customers are buying it. Whether sales slow, increase or stay the same, there is always more pressure to add features to boost sales. When sales cease to increase for too long, ongoing development will be stopped and the money reallocated to other products that are still seeing increasing sales.
Some investors are more patient than others. But, in return for their patience, they expect a higher return on investment. Usually this means more features, not fewer bugs.
I have a phrase, it is quite useful: "Can I get that in Email?" If the answer is "no", then I assume I am free to ignore that request.
... And if they ever try to "Get" you, you play dumb, "I don't recall".
Doesn't matter. The boss can still fire you - or lay you off.
The other thing I find useful is sending an email with a "brief summary" of whatever meeting it was. If they don't respond, then that is tacit acknowledgement the summary is accurate, and it becomes official record. Any non-written "clarification" would be followed up with same.
Still doesn't matter. The boss can still say he followed up in-person or by phone. The lack of a further email summary won't matter to his boss.
The problem is, far too many people find sleazy as an acceptable practice in organizations, and actively participate in the sleaze.
Agreed
Don't participate and you have nothing to worry about.
Unfortunately, no. Too many people will believe the sleeze-balls.
He's not complaining about choice, but that we're apparently telling women they are making the WRONG CHOICE. And, oddly, blaming the men for making them choose wrong too.
Well, both women and men told my girlfriend (when she was a kid) that STEM subjects were not good career options for girls - unless they planned to become teachers. And a few years ago, our daughter was being the same by most of her teachers - both women and men.
(Both of them replied "BS - I'm going to be an engineer.")
My USA counterparts are much more at the office, and producing less work than the continental ones.
I work for a multinational company that has an engineering office in Europe, as well as in the US. although the company HQ and primary engineering office are in the US, i's the European office that defines the "engineering processes" that all of us in product engineering are supposed to follow.
Here's where things get interesting. We (in the US) don't have those. The European engineering office has a larger staff, including "process engineers" who are dedicated to coordinating other engineering activities according to the processes. For a given project, the European office might estimate "1 team year" of effort. Our VP of Engineering sees nothing wrong with this. Yet, the same VP of Engineering has told our (us, in the US) project managers that our same estimate for the same project, is "Too long. I can only budget 6 months." So, we "negotiate" with the project managers, who will ultimately settle for "8 months".
So, we do it. On time, per the negotiated schedule. And with smaller teams. But, we short cut the processes. So the VP of E, when doing reviews of randomly selected projects, will tell us (in the US) "Fantastic results, but you need to do better at following process. And improve your productivity." The people in the European are told "Awesome work!"
Same company. Same VP of Engineering. Different expectations.
Another bit - if you're suing someone in court you need a process server to provide papers that the person you are suing was properly served before any legal proceedings can continue. Were these papers forged? If the defendants were fictional, most likely. That goes beyond perjury and veers into fraud.
Presumably, the defendants would have been paid shills, not actually fictitious people.
Of course, it's still fraudulent - even if the content in question really was infringing.
You know, like backup generators, contracted fuel deliveries, etc.
For their "switching" offices. Not for the neighborhood "hubs". Once it's battery runs down, my secondary, non-POTS, phone service is off line no matter how much back-up power I still have. The only time my primary, POTS, phone service went off line was when a tree branch fell and took down the line from the pole to my house. Otherwise, it has always worked - even during the "Big Blackout" of 2003.
Without a doubt, there's too many options and not enough variety in the content.
The companies behind the various "channels" have been making content more and more "mainstream". Also "reality TV" shows are easier to produce. They create the illusion of variety while making it easier to sell to advertisers by bundling similar shows together. But there used to be some actual variety in programming.
I hope we can get rid of all the bloat and wasted programming out there and concentrate it down to less channels with better programming.
I'm sure there will be fewer channels, but I seriously doubt the quality of the programming will improve.
I am aware of xfinitywifi, but I don't use it. As best I can determine, there's no way to confirm any given xfinitywifi hotspot is truly xfinitywifi, so I'm not going to enter my Comcast credentials into one to use it.
What will change with this new service? (Other than users' phones logging into random hotpsots claiming to be xfinitywifi (or whatever name will be used).)
Actually, they did. That's why the shuttle's external tank was coated with foam insulation (the orange stuff you could see).
Unfortunately for the crew of the Columbia, not enough was done about the problem. (True, it was ice. So really it was "air solidization" (water vapor being a component of air).)
so few? there's over 100,000 total Teslas out there
That is few. For a comparison, for example, GM makes more than 100,000 Sierra/Silverado pickup trucks per year. Then add in the SUVs (Tahoe/etc) based on the same platform and that's at least 200,000 per year. Tesla's 100,000+ vehicles are its total production over several years.
The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.
In my world, we rely on practical tests of functionality *with the actual users* rather than theoretical measures of effectiveness
Some actual users do use the methods properly, so the theoretical measures are not as theoretical as you seem to think.
My girlfriend and I were well educated about sex. We got her pregnant exactly the one time we planned for. The rest of the time, we've always used the precautions properly and effectively. And sex has always been a lot of fun for us. By the time our daughter turned 10, we had decided no more children, so I got a vasectomy. Yes, we can now be a little more spontaneous about fucking, but honestly, that made no difference in the level of fun.
You'll never convince teens to get on their knees and kiss where they pee with half-baked campaigns like that
When we were teens (and legal age where we lived at the time), my girlfriend and I tried that based on recommendations from friends who said it was great. No promotional campaign needed. Also, we preferred (and still prefer) 69. (Not saying we don't fuck regularly. We do (and did). And a lot of oral, especially 69.)
Slashdot Mirror
A problem with this approach is that it requires a new government office to hold works in escrow.
Already exists: Library of Congress
And the government has already been building multi-exabyte storage facilities.
In meetings with the Germans they can't understand why no American ever takes more than two weeks of vacation in a row while they routinely take the entire month of August off.
I also work for a multinational corporation.
In the US office, the middle and higher level managers routinely take all of August off. It's the rest of us that have trouble trouble taking even 2 weeks off, Not because management won't approve 2 or more weeks, but because after even a week off, the pile of problems we come back to is very oppressive. After 2 weeks, it's almost not worth having taken the time off.
At the company I work for, the European office has customers that are willing to pay 3 times the prices the US office is able to get from its customers. The European engineering staff is twice the size of ours in the US. Corporate manage seems happy to let the European office have that many engineers, but expects us in the US to handle twice the total workload as the European office.
For a prototype, we lifted *the customer's own marketing map graphic* and overlaid a colored disk at each location representing current status.
I had similar experiences years ago. This is because most people don't understand the difference between a model and "the real thing" if they can't "see" an obvious difference. Example: A canal lock system. You can build a fully functional model and (almost) no one will mistake that for the finished canal with locks. But a screen on a computer monitor showing a map with blinking dots (and whatever else) looks the same as what the finished application will. All the code "behind" the screen is invisible to them. As far as they are concerned, the screen with the map and blink dots is the application.
Since then, I've done "chalk talk" presentations. Actually, markers on poster-sized sketches.*
Using your example, what I might have done:
(Alternately, could draw the circles on transparent, plastic "post-it" notes and stick those to the screen.)
My "chalk talk" presentations have been very successful in getting my proposals approved. And there is no misperception that my mock-up is anything other than a mock-up.
--
* I prepare "foundation" drawings and print them on poster paper. Then during a presentation, I use markers to draw additional details in a way that illustrates how my proposed solution will work.
This only works if you are already itemizing deductions.
If the company gives you the money, then you can only deduct the donation if you itemize deductions.
However, if the company donates the money, then it's not part your taxable income - in other words, it's "pre-deducted".
Another example would be Flexible (Health) Spending Accounts - FSAs:
Normally, you can only deduct health care expenses when you itemize deductions AND only the amount over a certain percentage of your adjusted gross income (AGI).
But, with a FSA, the money is put into an escrow account that you (mostly*) control. AND is deducted from your pay BEFORE taxes, thus reducing your taxable income. Therefore, you are effectively deducting the whole amount, not just the amount over the AGI percentage AND even if you don't itemize deductions.
--
* Once money is put in the FSA, you can only use it to pay qualified medical expenses AND you loose any remaining amount still in the FSA at the end of the year (though there are certain "grace rules" that might apply).
How many of YouTube's users are there for music?
Even "non-music" content often has background music.
And, in my experience, they don't care if the music is original. I have licensed recordings I made of music I composed to others for use as background music. Even after being sent signed copies of the license grants, they kept repeating demands for payments from people using my music.
Most Spotify users are there for background noise to drown out the sounds of coworkers.
Given that RIAA et al have asserted copyright infringement against recordings of bird songs, I would expect them to demand payments for streaming "background noise".
Also, if you haven't already point your router to some legit DNS servers. Do not assume your ISP is providing your valid results.
Are you using a resolver that properly implements DNSSEC? Otherwise, you can't be sure your ISP isn't silently redirecting DNS (port 53) requests to it's own DNS servers.
Also, the programmers were awful: they program to the letter of the spec, and my specs assumed too much a-priori knowledge about coding. I guess that was my fault.
How much is "too much" apriori knowledge?
As more detail is added to specifications, it eventually becomes code itself, reducing the programmer's job to translating that code to whatever language the compiler expects. When you get that far, the spec writer might just as well directly write the compilable code.
Some apriori knowledge is needed to be an effective programmer - even in these days where "generating" code from diagrams is becoming the norm for programmers.
Low-skilled investors who reward incompetent technology from dominant, monopolistic companies.
Investors "reward" any business that gives them a return on investment - the bigger and faster, the better. this pushes managers to seek out the cheapest, faster way to get a product into the hands of paying customers. This also pushes them to focus more on adding features than on fixing problems. As long as the product works well enough that customers are buying it. Whether sales slow, increase or stay the same, there is always more pressure to add features to boost sales. When sales cease to increase for too long, ongoing development will be stopped and the money reallocated to other products that are still seeing increasing sales.
Some investors are more patient than others. But, in return for their patience, they expect a higher return on investment. Usually this means more features, not fewer bugs.
I have a phrase, it is quite useful: "Can I get that in Email?" If the answer is "no", then I assume I am free to ignore that request.
... And if they ever try to "Get" you, you play dumb, "I don't recall".
Doesn't matter. The boss can still fire you - or lay you off.
The other thing I find useful is sending an email with a "brief summary" of whatever meeting it was. If they don't respond, then that is tacit acknowledgement the summary is accurate, and it becomes official record. Any non-written "clarification" would be followed up with same.
Still doesn't matter. The boss can still say he followed up in-person or by phone. The lack of a further email summary won't matter to his boss.
The problem is, far too many people find sleazy as an acceptable practice in organizations, and actively participate in the sleaze.
Agreed
Don't participate and you have nothing to worry about.
Unfortunately, no. Too many people will believe the sleeze-balls.
He's not complaining about choice, but that we're apparently telling women they are making the WRONG CHOICE. And, oddly, blaming the men for making them choose wrong too.
Well, both women and men told my girlfriend (when she was a kid) that STEM subjects were not good career options for girls - unless they planned to become teachers. And a few years ago, our daughter was being the same by most of her teachers - both women and men.
(Both of them replied "BS - I'm going to be an engineer.")
My USA counterparts are much more at the office, and producing less work than the continental ones.
I work for a multinational company that has an engineering office in Europe, as well as in the US. although the company HQ and primary engineering office are in the US, i's the European office that defines the "engineering processes" that all of us in product engineering are supposed to follow.
Here's where things get interesting. We (in the US) don't have those. The European engineering office has a larger staff, including "process engineers" who are dedicated to coordinating other engineering activities according to the processes. For a given project, the European office might estimate "1 team year" of effort. Our VP of Engineering sees nothing wrong with this. Yet, the same VP of Engineering has told our (us, in the US) project managers that our same estimate for the same project, is "Too long. I can only budget 6 months." So, we "negotiate" with the project managers, who will ultimately settle for "8 months".
So, we do it. On time, per the negotiated schedule. And with smaller teams. But, we short cut the processes. So the VP of E, when doing reviews of randomly selected projects, will tell us (in the US) "Fantastic results, but you need to do better at following process. And improve your productivity." The people in the European are told "Awesome work!"
Same company. Same VP of Engineering. Different expectations.
and there aren't going to ethics review boards crawling up our asses over this.
Instead, the jail/prison guards would do that.
Another bit - if you're suing someone in court you need a process server to provide papers that the person you are suing was properly served before any legal proceedings can continue. Were these papers forged? If the defendants were fictional, most likely. That goes beyond perjury and veers into fraud.
Presumably, the defendants would have been paid shills, not actually fictitious people.
Of course, it's still fraudulent - even if the content in question really was infringing.
You know, like backup generators, contracted fuel deliveries, etc.
For their "switching" offices. Not for the neighborhood "hubs". Once it's battery runs down, my secondary, non-POTS, phone service is off line no matter how much back-up power I still have. The only time my primary, POTS, phone service went off line was when a tree branch fell and took down the line from the pole to my house. Otherwise, it has always worked - even during the "Big Blackout" of 2003.
Without a doubt, there's too many options and not enough variety in the content.
The companies behind the various "channels" have been making content more and more "mainstream". Also "reality TV" shows are easier to produce. They create the illusion of variety while making it easier to sell to advertisers by bundling similar shows together. But there used to be some actual variety in programming.
I hope we can get rid of all the bloat and wasted programming out there and concentrate it down to less channels with better programming.
I'm sure there will be fewer channels, but I seriously doubt the quality of the programming will improve.
I am aware of xfinitywifi, but I don't use it. As best I can determine, there's no way to confirm any given xfinitywifi hotspot is truly xfinitywifi, so I'm not going to enter my Comcast credentials into one to use it.
What will change with this new service? (Other than users' phones logging into random hotpsots claiming to be xfinitywifi (or whatever name will be used).)
*looks at space shuttle history*
Actually, they did. That's why the shuttle's external tank was coated with foam insulation (the orange stuff you could see).
Unfortunately for the crew of the Columbia, not enough was done about the problem. (True, it was ice. So really it was "air solidization" (water vapor being a component of air).)
so few? there's over 100,000 total Teslas out there
That is few. For a comparison, for example, GM makes more than 100,000 Sierra/Silverado pickup trucks per year. Then add in the SUVs (Tahoe/etc) based on the same platform and that's at least 200,000 per year. Tesla's 100,000+ vehicles are its total production over several years.
Soap is neither a food, nor a drug.
But the antibacterial additives are drugs.
The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.
Who, in turn, will seek to please the investors.
The economy exists to serve the people.
Which people?
More and more, it's the 0.1% at the top.
In my world, we rely on practical tests of functionality *with the actual users* rather than theoretical measures of effectiveness
Some actual users do use the methods properly, so the theoretical measures are not as theoretical as you seem to think.
My girlfriend and I were well educated about sex. We got her pregnant exactly the one time we planned for. The rest of the time, we've always used the precautions properly and effectively. And sex has always been a lot of fun for us. By the time our daughter turned 10, we had decided no more children, so I got a vasectomy. Yes, we can now be a little more spontaneous about fucking, but honestly, that made no difference in the level of fun.
You'll never convince teens to get on their knees and kiss where they pee with half-baked campaigns like that
When we were teens (and legal age where we lived at the time), my girlfriend and I tried that based on recommendations from friends who said it was great. No promotional campaign needed. Also, we preferred (and still prefer) 69. (Not saying we don't fuck regularly. We do (and did). And a lot of oral, especially 69.)