Advice for Google: Switzerland wants not to have street view in their country? Give them what they want. Turn it off. Don't spend another dime on it. Every time someone tries to use the feature for switzerland, put up a notice that says "Street view is blocked for this country by order of the Swiss government." And then wash your hands of it. You don't have to spend any more money on delivering a perfectly reasonable feature when the government wants to give you a hard time about it, and they don't get to have enjoyment of the service after they've been pissy about it. Maybe then other countries will be slightly more reasonable about your services when they recognize that if they give you too hard a time about things, you'll make sure their population knows *precisely* why they can't get the same level of service that people in every other country can.
Next time, check up on the law before complaining about lack of accountability. There are laws against this sort of thing, and if she wants to file suit, she can get damages.
Moreover, if you aren't capable of administering your own network, standing behind them and watching them is pointless because you won't understand what you're looking at, and they could rob you blind right under your nose.
If you ARE capable of administering your own network, standing behind them and watching them is a waste of your time, because you could just be doing the administration work yourself and not have to waste the time to explain it to them and watch them.
Here in the Boston area, any computer job that pays enough to survive is exempt. And when I say "enough to survive" I mean "enough money to live indoors, have heat, hot water, electricity, and food".
If you insist on being paid hourly instead of salaried, most employers will refuse, and the few that will oblige will then put it in writing that you're not allowed to work any overtime without being authorized in writing in advance, and then they'll use that to screw you - if you try to put in for overtime, they'll insist that it wasn't authorized, and if you insist they pay you for it, they'll terminate you for violating the overtime policy. Of course, if you refuse to work the overtime they ask for (which you know you won't be paid for because there's no written authorization) then in your next review they'll say you have a bad work ethic, and refuse to give you a raise.
Personally, I'd like to see salary exemptions be eliminated.
HIPPA non-compliance can not only be expensive, it can lead to jail time.
This is my understanding based on training I received from a lawyer while working as a secondary IT director for a medical school:
The IT director for a medical organization is required to certify that the organization is HIPPA compliant. If they are not, the IT director must make them compliant, and that may have to mean simply cutting off everyone's access to computer resources until a plan is in place to allow access in a compliant manner. (Not allowing anyone to access anything is compliant.) If the IT director certifies them to be compliant when they are actually not, the IT director can go to jail, as can anyone who may have coerced them to sign the certification. Medical professionals can also be subject to fines and/or jail time for handling data in a non-compliant manner (such as entering data into a non-compliant system such as google docs), especially if they did so knowingly.
Were I in anonymous reader's shoes, I would tell my medical clients that I am convinced that because of HIPPA they must not use Google Docs for any medical information. If they press the issue I would tell them that I am so convinced that they must not use Google Docs to handle any medical information that if I find they have done so, I will drop them as a client and report them to relevant authorities at once. No job is worth going to jail for.
I would say, as long as they can still read it, there's nothing to be concerned about. I thought we should have stopped teaching cursive a long time ago.
I'm nearly 40, which makes me definitely old enough that my schools placed heavy emphasis on cursive when I was a kid. Even at the time, I realized some things about it: * Just as I was getting comfortable with writing at all, the school made me switch to cursive and made it far more uncomfortable again, leading me to passionately hate writing anything for years. * Everything they told me about why it's important to write in cursive (faster, easier) turned out to be 100% false. It's harder and slower. And while my teachers claimed that all adults write exclusively in cursive, I noticed that neither of my parents did... and in fact, the teachers themselves didn't either. * I went away to a private school for two years, where I switched back to printing, and was far faster and more comfortable. At that time I also started using a word processor at home, and felt much better about writing. * Upon returning to public school, they forced me to switch back to cursive for six years, which I hated and was very uncomfortable with to the bitter end. They wouldn't let me use a word processor, for various reasons including the claim that it was important to practice my cursive. I got so upset about it that I finally just started word processing my papers, and told my teachers that if they refused to accept it they could take it up with my father.
As an adult, I have stopped using cursive for anything except my signature. I only do that in cursive because I discovered that some banks don't like it if you print your name. (They'll reject your checks.) Now my signature has become an illegible cursive scrawl that even I can't read, and I have forgotten how to write in cursive any letter that isn't in my name. This is all my schools' fault. My printing is fast and highly legible.
I think it's time we recognize that cursive handwriting is BS and that computers are here to stay. Teach the kids to print, teach them to be able to read cursive if they have to, teach them to type using a computer, and ignore the complaining of the fossilized, cursive-is-important set.
To say, for the contemporary web, "turn off javascript", is to say, "break everything". If I can't safely use the browser with Javascript, I can't safely use the browser.
I will hire people who worked on obviously doomed projects or for obviously doomed companies, and I don't mind if they stayed for the final meltdown. Heck, my dad turned off the lights and locked the door for the last time at a largeish corporation a few years ago after its meltdown. But, I will ask for and expect an explanation. If what I get is "oh it was so wonderful I don't understand how it could have gone wrong", I will be dubious about hiring the person, because it demonstrates that they are unrealistic or oblivious. If, on the other hand, I get a simple "I hadn't found a new job yet and I needed the money," I have no problem with that and would consider hiring the person.
You're telling your interviewer "I quit in the middle of organizational failure, and I'm smart enough to cover my ass by jumping when things are obviously wrong, rather than stupidly going down with the sinking ship."
Except when they don't. I've seen bad programmers who simply move from job to job, doing incompetent work until their employer catches on and gets rid of them.
And the manuals have been lost, and nobody learns how to code in Tree in college any more, and admins are afraid to install such legacy technology without a support contract from the original developer.
I have a Kindle. I love it. But I'm not buying books from the Kindle store for my Kindle, because they're DRM-encrusted. I'm buying my ebooks from another legitimate source which sells them to me in formats I can convert, and I convert them into Mobi and put them on my Kindle using Calibre.
So, buying a Kindle does not automatically signal a desire to buy Kindle books. Some of us just like the hardware.
One of my previous jobs was director of software systems for a university.
The policy that DML describes is unwarranted and irresponsible in the extreme. If any of my people had proposed it to me, I would have forbidden it and would most likely have fired them for incompetence. The idea is shocking. To force students to install essentially unknown software provided to them by the university? Horrible.
If I were a student there and installed their "security" software and anything went wrong with my computer, I would likely talk to a lawyer about suing the university for damages; after all, if their security software caused the problem it's their fault, and if their security software failed to prevent the problem then I could allege that they fraudulently gained access to my computer by claiming their software would secure my computer, and if the problem is indeterminate I could blame it on their indeterminate software. So, by demanding I install the stuff, the college is creating a huge liability for themselves.
Moreover, Central Michigan University is a *public* university, so the idea of them forcing students to install software on their laptops to use the network raises questions of government violation of privacy.
A more realistic practice would be to have a policy stating to students that they are expected to maintain their computer free of viruses, malware, or unauthorized external access, and that in doing so they should use such security software as is normally necessary and appropriate for their operating system. Then let the student maintain their own system, and if you find it's being a problem, kick them off the network. Anyway, the student network should be isolated from the administration network in the first place, so if a student's computer is misbehaving, it shouldn't be able to cause problems for the university beyond that it would annoy other students.
Can I have it? It apparently supports PDF, TXT, RTF, EPUB, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP, and MOBI. I can get pretty much any book I want in one of those formats or something that can be converted into one of them by Calibre or Stanza Desktop.
Yeah, I'm with you! Cars should be designed to be pretty and interesting to look at instead of aerodynamic, functional, non-polluting, and efficient! It's far more important that we enjoy looking at our cars than that we be able to afford the fuel for them or that we have clean air to breathe!
A few years ago at Worldcon, a famous SF author told a story about Harlan Ellison. It seems that Ellison once asked a friend and fellow SF author what he thought about his (Ellison's) latest book, and the friend told him, in polite terms, that he didn't feel it was Ellison's best work. Ellison never spoke to the man again.
But that's not the end of it. Years later, Ellison had a heart attack, and the former friend sent him a note to express that he was sad to hear it had happened and wish him a swift recovery.
Ellison wrote him a nine page letter to reject his get-well note.
I'm fascinated to see what's in Ellison's books, what comes from the mind of such an angry man that could fascinate people for generations, but I'm waiting for him to die before I buy any of them, I don't want to give him any of my money.
Hell, just turn on a popup blocker. I've been a heavy internet user for 18 years now, and I've never had porn just pop up out of nowhere. Seriously, the only time I've had porn appear on my browser is when I went poking around adult web sites, in which case I can hardly act surprised.
I'm sick of people perpetuating this strange myth that on the internet, you can be just casually reading web pages about cabbages and WHAM, porn comes zooming out of nowhere to take over your screen.
Also, people have to start fighting back against the accusations. The RIAA makes an accusation of copyright infringement against you? Sue them for slander, drag them into court, make them spend large sums of money failing to prove their accusation, and then extract a large judgment from them. Make it too expensive for them to actually use this unamerican tactic of guilty-upon-accusation.
Don't forget to submit complaints about the copyright violations you suspect of the recording industry and all its corporate officers and its investigators too. Remember, you want them to run screaming to the legislature to beg for the repeal of the law themselves. It won't take them long after their internet gets cut off and they're unable to sell any music online or transact any business online or spy on anyone any more.
Why on earth would I pay $38 for a used copy directly from its owner, who I don't know and don't trust, when I can pay $26.50 (plus some reasonable markup) for a used copy direct from amazon, who I trust and have a free-shipping arrangement with?
I like Stanza better, actually. It's more pleasant to read with. In Stanza I can tap to turn the page, pinch-unpinch to alter the text size, and rotate to get a different aspect ratio. In the Kindle app, I have to swipe to turn the page, tapping just annoyingly brings up some controls I usually don't want, and rotation does nothing. I still haven't figured out if I can adjust the text size in Kindle. On the other hand, rotation not working means I can lay down on my side, turn the phone to align with my head, and read, which is harder with Stanza.
Kindle places a border around the text on the page, which is pleasant to look at, but means there's less text on each page so I have to change pages more often. Stanza uses the entire screen.
Also, if I buy an ebook from an online retailer for use in Stanza, I can back it up with my computer. Kindle books are delivered directly to the device, so I have to trust that Amazon will still be delivering my ebook to my devices in the future, and that I'll want to be doing my ebook reading on a device they support.
I don't think I'm going to be buying a lot of ebooks for Kindle as long as it has its DRM issues, unless they lower the prices a lot. The books I found on the kindle store that I would want were not significantly cheaper as ebooks than as paperback. If they want me to put up with DRM, I want to pay half the price of dead tree media, or less.
No, I do not "snoop out" my potential employers. The company does not have a personal life for me to invade, and its employees personal lives are just that - personal - and thus none of my business.
And while I've never posted anything about myself to the net that I'm ashamed of (easy, if you lead a life in which you do what you think is right), I have posted information about myself regarding which an employer might wish to illegally discriminate against me, such as my sexual orientation or my religious beliefs. So, if an employer ever tells me that they rejected me as a candidate based on what they learned by googling me, I will go directly to my state's anti-discrimination office and file a complaint.
Oh, and I should explain what the letter is, sometimes people have never seen one and don't know what to put in it. A typical letter of reference would say something like:
To whom it may concern,
I have been Jane Smith's manager at Spaceley Sprockets from Juiy 2057 through September 2063, where she was initially employed as a Sprocket Tooth Tester and later promoted to Senior Sprocket Engineer.
During this time, Ms. Smith's performance has been consistently excellent and she has received consistently positive performance reviews. She has been a pleasure to work with and manage, and I would not hesitate to hire her again. I am confident she will be an asset to any employer.
First, you don't get a reference from a former employer. You get a reference from the PEOPLE YOU WORKED WITH at a former employer. Employers will rarely ever say anything other than "we verify that so-and-so was employed here from this month of this year to that month of that year, and it's our policy not to disclose anything further."
When you've given your notice at any job, go to one or more people there - it can be your manager, coworkers, even subordinates, just pick people you have a good working relationship with who you think will want to help you - and ask them very nicely if they would be so kind as to give you a "letter of reference". Explain nicely that you know people change jobs over time and you'd like the letter so that you'll always have their reference and so they won't have to be bothered with many phone calls about it. No one I have ever asked for a letter of reference has ever said no after I explained why. Some were concerned about giving me a reference on behalf of the company... I told them that I wasn't asking for a reference on behalf of the company, I was asking for a reference on behalf of them personally, and it didn't need to be on letterhead. They then agreed.
Once you've got the letter (or preferably letters), you can include it with your resume when you submit it for jobs, or send it when they ask for references. It's a little old-fashioned, but it often impresses potential employers and makes you stand out.
Now, after you've got the letter (and get it HOME), you don't need that employer who is giving you a hard time any more, and they don't have anything to hold over your head. So: 1) Explain bluntly to HR that you are fully aware that you've had stellar performance reviews and that you have given them the normal amount of notice that anyone in any industry gives, that it is inappropriate for them to be threatening you to demand more, and that if they ever give you a bad reference, you will sue them into the ground for defaming you and harming your career. 2) Leave at the end of your two weeks notice. 3) If they give you any further hard time about it, write a polite note to your manager at the company you're leaving, explaining that you're terribly sorry and really wanted to finish your two weeks but due to their hostility you feel this is no longer possible and that you consequently resign immediately. Give it to your manager, be apologetic, and leave. Take the rest of your two weeks off, then start your new job. 4) If you feel they'll be okay about it, you could call the new job, tell them the old job decided to let you go early, and ask them if they'd like you to start right away. Likely, they'll be happy.
Anyway, get that letter, or preferably several, and then you have nothing to worry about.
Slashdot Mirror
Advice for Google:
Switzerland wants not to have street view in their country? Give them what they want. Turn it off. Don't spend another dime on it. Every time someone tries to use the feature for switzerland, put up a notice that says "Street view is blocked for this country by order of the Swiss government." And then wash your hands of it. You don't have to spend any more money on delivering a perfectly reasonable feature when the government wants to give you a hard time about it, and they don't get to have enjoyment of the service after they've been pissy about it. Maybe then other countries will be slightly more reasonable about your services when they recognize that if they give you too hard a time about things, you'll make sure their population knows *precisely* why they can't get the same level of service that people in every other country can.
Next time, check up on the law before complaining about lack of accountability. There are laws against this sort of thing, and if she wants to file suit, she can get damages.
Moreover, if you aren't capable of administering your own network, standing behind them and watching them is pointless because you won't understand what you're looking at, and they could rob you blind right under your nose.
If you ARE capable of administering your own network, standing behind them and watching them is a waste of your time, because you could just be doing the administration work yourself and not have to waste the time to explain it to them and watch them.
Must be nice to be able to do that.
Here in the Boston area, any computer job that pays enough to survive is exempt. And when I say "enough to survive" I mean "enough money to live indoors, have heat, hot water, electricity, and food".
If you insist on being paid hourly instead of salaried, most employers will refuse, and the few that will oblige will then put it in writing that you're not allowed to work any overtime without being authorized in writing in advance, and then they'll use that to screw you - if you try to put in for overtime, they'll insist that it wasn't authorized, and if you insist they pay you for it, they'll terminate you for violating the overtime policy. Of course, if you refuse to work the overtime they ask for (which you know you won't be paid for because there's no written authorization) then in your next review they'll say you have a bad work ethic, and refuse to give you a raise.
Personally, I'd like to see salary exemptions be eliminated.
HIPPA non-compliance can not only be expensive, it can lead to jail time.
This is my understanding based on training I received from a lawyer while working as a secondary IT director for a medical school:
The IT director for a medical organization is required to certify that the organization is HIPPA compliant. If they are not, the IT director must make them compliant, and that may have to mean simply cutting off everyone's access to computer resources until a plan is in place to allow access in a compliant manner. (Not allowing anyone to access anything is compliant.) If the IT director certifies them to be compliant when they are actually not, the IT director can go to jail, as can anyone who may have coerced them to sign the certification. Medical professionals can also be subject to fines and/or jail time for handling data in a non-compliant manner (such as entering data into a non-compliant system such as google docs), especially if they did so knowingly.
Were I in anonymous reader's shoes, I would tell my medical clients that I am convinced that because of HIPPA they must not use Google Docs for any medical information. If they press the issue I would tell them that I am so convinced that they must not use Google Docs to handle any medical information that if I find they have done so, I will drop them as a client and report them to relevant authorities at once. No job is worth going to jail for.
I would say, as long as they can still read it, there's nothing to be concerned about. I thought we should have stopped teaching cursive a long time ago.
I'm nearly 40, which makes me definitely old enough that my schools placed heavy emphasis on cursive when I was a kid. Even at the time, I realized some things about it:
* Just as I was getting comfortable with writing at all, the school made me switch to cursive and made it far more uncomfortable again, leading me to passionately hate writing anything for years.
* Everything they told me about why it's important to write in cursive (faster, easier) turned out to be 100% false. It's harder and slower. And while my teachers claimed that all adults write exclusively in cursive, I noticed that neither of my parents did... and in fact, the teachers themselves didn't either.
* I went away to a private school for two years, where I switched back to printing, and was far faster and more comfortable. At that time I also started using a word processor at home, and felt much better about writing.
* Upon returning to public school, they forced me to switch back to cursive for six years, which I hated and was very uncomfortable with to the bitter end. They wouldn't let me use a word processor, for various reasons including the claim that it was important to practice my cursive. I got so upset about it that I finally just started word processing my papers, and told my teachers that if they refused to accept it they could take it up with my father.
As an adult, I have stopped using cursive for anything except my signature. I only do that in cursive because I discovered that some banks don't like it if you print your name. (They'll reject your checks.) Now my signature has become an illegible cursive scrawl that even I can't read, and I have forgotten how to write in cursive any letter that isn't in my name. This is all my schools' fault. My printing is fast and highly legible.
I think it's time we recognize that cursive handwriting is BS and that computers are here to stay. Teach the kids to print, teach them to be able to read cursive if they have to, teach them to type using a computer, and ignore the complaining of the fossilized, cursive-is-important set.
To say, for the contemporary web, "turn off javascript", is to say, "break everything". If I can't safely use the browser with Javascript, I can't safely use the browser.
I will hire people who worked on obviously doomed projects or for obviously doomed companies, and I don't mind if they stayed for the final meltdown. Heck, my dad turned off the lights and locked the door for the last time at a largeish corporation a few years ago after its meltdown. But, I will ask for and expect an explanation. If what I get is "oh it was so wonderful I don't understand how it could have gone wrong", I will be dubious about hiring the person, because it demonstrates that they are unrealistic or oblivious. If, on the other hand, I get a simple "I hadn't found a new job yet and I needed the money," I have no problem with that and would consider hiring the person.
You're telling your interviewer "I quit in the middle of organizational failure, and I'm smart enough to cover my ass by jumping when things are obviously wrong, rather than stupidly going down with the sinking ship."
Except when they don't. I've seen bad programmers who simply move from job to job, doing incompetent work until their employer catches on and gets rid of them.
And the manuals have been lost, and nobody learns how to code in Tree in college any more, and admins are afraid to install such legacy technology without a support contract from the original developer.
I have a Kindle. I love it. But I'm not buying books from the Kindle store for my Kindle, because they're DRM-encrusted. I'm buying my ebooks from another legitimate source which sells them to me in formats I can convert, and I convert them into Mobi and put them on my Kindle using Calibre.
So, buying a Kindle does not automatically signal a desire to buy Kindle books. Some of us just like the hardware.
One of my previous jobs was director of software systems for a university.
The policy that DML describes is unwarranted and irresponsible in the extreme. If any of my people had proposed it to me, I would have forbidden it and would most likely have fired them for incompetence. The idea is shocking. To force students to install essentially unknown software provided to them by the university? Horrible.
If I were a student there and installed their "security" software and anything went wrong with my computer, I would likely talk to a lawyer about suing the university for damages; after all, if their security software caused the problem it's their fault, and if their security software failed to prevent the problem then I could allege that they fraudulently gained access to my computer by claiming their software would secure my computer, and if the problem is indeterminate I could blame it on their indeterminate software. So, by demanding I install the stuff, the college is creating a huge liability for themselves.
Moreover, Central Michigan University is a *public* university, so the idea of them forcing students to install software on their laptops to use the network raises questions of government violation of privacy.
A more realistic practice would be to have a policy stating to students that they are expected to maintain their computer free of viruses, malware, or unauthorized external access, and that in doing so they should use such security software as is normally necessary and appropriate for their operating system. Then let the student maintain their own system, and if you find it's being a problem, kick them off the network. Anyway, the student network should be isolated from the administration network in the first place, so if a student's computer is misbehaving, it shouldn't be able to cause problems for the university beyond that it would annoy other students.
Can I have it? It apparently supports PDF, TXT, RTF, EPUB, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP, and MOBI. I can get pretty much any book I want in one of those formats or something that can be converted into one of them by Calibre or Stanza Desktop.
Yeah, I'm with you! Cars should be designed to be pretty and interesting to look at instead of aerodynamic, functional, non-polluting, and efficient! It's far more important that we enjoy looking at our cars than that we be able to afford the fuel for them or that we have clean air to breathe!
A few years ago at Worldcon, a famous SF author told a story about Harlan Ellison. It seems that Ellison once asked a friend and fellow SF author what he thought about his (Ellison's) latest book, and the friend told him, in polite terms, that he didn't feel it was Ellison's best work. Ellison never spoke to the man again.
But that's not the end of it. Years later, Ellison had a heart attack, and the former friend sent him a note to express that he was sad to hear it had happened and wish him a swift recovery.
Ellison wrote him a nine page letter to reject his get-well note.
I'm fascinated to see what's in Ellison's books, what comes from the mind of such an angry man that could fascinate people for generations, but I'm waiting for him to die before I buy any of them, I don't want to give him any of my money.
Hell, just turn on a popup blocker. I've been a heavy internet user for 18 years now, and I've never had porn just pop up out of nowhere. Seriously, the only time I've had porn appear on my browser is when I went poking around adult web sites, in which case I can hardly act surprised.
I'm sick of people perpetuating this strange myth that on the internet, you can be just casually reading web pages about cabbages and WHAM, porn comes zooming out of nowhere to take over your screen.
Also, people have to start fighting back against the accusations. The RIAA makes an accusation of copyright infringement against you? Sue them for slander, drag them into court, make them spend large sums of money failing to prove their accusation, and then extract a large judgment from them. Make it too expensive for them to actually use this unamerican tactic of guilty-upon-accusation.
Don't forget to submit complaints about the copyright violations you suspect of the recording industry and all its corporate officers and its investigators too. Remember, you want them to run screaming to the legislature to beg for the repeal of the law themselves. It won't take them long after their internet gets cut off and they're unable to sell any music online or transact any business online or spy on anyone any more.
Why on earth would I pay $38 for a used copy directly from its owner, who I don't know and don't trust, when I can pay $26.50 (plus some reasonable markup) for a used copy direct from amazon, who I trust and have a free-shipping arrangement with?
I like Stanza better, actually. It's more pleasant to read with. In Stanza I can tap to turn the page, pinch-unpinch to alter the text size, and rotate to get a different aspect ratio. In the Kindle app, I have to swipe to turn the page, tapping just annoyingly brings up some controls I usually don't want, and rotation does nothing. I still haven't figured out if I can adjust the text size in Kindle. On the other hand, rotation not working means I can lay down on my side, turn the phone to align with my head, and read, which is harder with Stanza.
Kindle places a border around the text on the page, which is pleasant to look at, but means there's less text on each page so I have to change pages more often. Stanza uses the entire screen.
Also, if I buy an ebook from an online retailer for use in Stanza, I can back it up with my computer. Kindle books are delivered directly to the device, so I have to trust that Amazon will still be delivering my ebook to my devices in the future, and that I'll want to be doing my ebook reading on a device they support.
I don't think I'm going to be buying a lot of ebooks for Kindle as long as it has its DRM issues, unless they lower the prices a lot. The books I found on the kindle store that I would want were not significantly cheaper as ebooks than as paperback. If they want me to put up with DRM, I want to pay half the price of dead tree media, or less.
No, the app works just fine if you don't own a Kindle.
No, I do not "snoop out" my potential employers. The company does not have a personal life for me to invade, and its employees personal lives are just that - personal - and thus none of my business.
And while I've never posted anything about myself to the net that I'm ashamed of (easy, if you lead a life in which you do what you think is right), I have posted information about myself regarding which an employer might wish to illegally discriminate against me, such as my sexual orientation or my religious beliefs. So, if an employer ever tells me that they rejected me as a candidate based on what they learned by googling me, I will go directly to my state's anti-discrimination office and file a complaint.
Oh, and I should explain what the letter is, sometimes people have never seen one and don't know what to put in it. A typical letter of reference would say something like:
To whom it may concern,
I have been Jane Smith's manager at Spaceley Sprockets from Juiy 2057 through September 2063, where she was initially employed as a Sprocket Tooth Tester and later promoted to Senior Sprocket Engineer.
During this time, Ms. Smith's performance has been consistently excellent and she has received consistently positive performance reviews. She has been a pleasure to work with and manage, and I would not hesitate to hire her again. I am confident she will be an asset to any employer.
Regards,
John Doe.
First, you don't get a reference from a former employer. You get a reference from the PEOPLE YOU WORKED WITH at a former employer. Employers will rarely ever say anything other than "we verify that so-and-so was employed here from this month of this year to that month of that year, and it's our policy not to disclose anything further."
When you've given your notice at any job, go to one or more people there - it can be your manager, coworkers, even subordinates, just pick people you have a good working relationship with who you think will want to help you - and ask them very nicely if they would be so kind as to give you a "letter of reference". Explain nicely that you know people change jobs over time and you'd like the letter so that you'll always have their reference and so they won't have to be bothered with many phone calls about it. No one I have ever asked for a letter of reference has ever said no after I explained why. Some were concerned about giving me a reference on behalf of the company... I told them that I wasn't asking for a reference on behalf of the company, I was asking for a reference on behalf of them personally, and it didn't need to be on letterhead. They then agreed.
Once you've got the letter (or preferably letters), you can include it with your resume when you submit it for jobs, or send it when they ask for references. It's a little old-fashioned, but it often impresses potential employers and makes you stand out.
Now, after you've got the letter (and get it HOME), you don't need that employer who is giving you a hard time any more, and they don't have anything to hold over your head. So:
1) Explain bluntly to HR that you are fully aware that you've had stellar performance reviews and that you have given them the normal amount of notice that anyone in any industry gives, that it is inappropriate for them to be threatening you to demand more, and that if they ever give you a bad reference, you will sue them into the ground for defaming you and harming your career.
2) Leave at the end of your two weeks notice.
3) If they give you any further hard time about it, write a polite note to your manager at the company you're leaving, explaining that you're terribly sorry and really wanted to finish your two weeks but due to their hostility you feel this is no longer possible and that you consequently resign immediately. Give it to your manager, be apologetic, and leave. Take the rest of your two weeks off, then start your new job.
4) If you feel they'll be okay about it, you could call the new job, tell them the old job decided to let you go early, and ask them if they'd like you to start right away. Likely, they'll be happy.
Anyway, get that letter, or preferably several, and then you have nothing to worry about.