Hey Dan, it sounds like you have a great organization. This is one of the more positive descriptions of a "tech support" job so far in this discussion, and I think it can help to serve as an example to people for 1) how TSE can be an important and rewarding job, and 2) how a not-so-awesome job can be spun positively in a job interview.
There are so many opportunities for showing the value you've added to the business in a support role!
I really haven't noticed anything much at all like that so far in India, where I am.
Have noticed the cricket though. It's kind of big here!
Re:Wow, this article is about me!
on
Reverse Off-Shoring
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
The article seemed a bit hand-wavy as to what we were actually doing over here... but it's basically half training (most of us didn't major in computer science) in programming, databases, etc, followed by time with the Indian-side of the development team that we'll be working with back in the States. The hours really aren't bad at all for those of us with programming experience, and I think the company wants it that way; part of the reason we're out here is to go out and about and experience India. You know, take in the culture and such, so we're more effective on whatever developmeant team we end up working on.
Most of the people I work with day to day are in the US group, with the people leading the training (or whatever HR seminar) being Indian. That'll change when we start working on the actual development teams here.
After hours, we interact a lot with locals... typically Indian trainees going through the same process we are. We're all on the same campus, and there's a lot of recreational things to do (bowling, badminton, basketball... blah blah blah) together. We're actually trying to get together a US vs. India Counter Strike match right now. At the same time, we usually go out to eat, drink, and explore India in groups of US folk.
It's definitely not an internship... (for some reason I have to keep reminding my mother this). It's a real, live job. I honestly don't know what the advancement path will be like down the road, but the company is expanding pretty rapidly, so I would assume there's a path there should I want to keep going down it.
Most places I eat are the fork+knife kind, but when it's a more down-to-India kind of place... I still have to cheat and use my left hand occaisionally.
FYI, it's traditional to eat with the right hand only, with full skin-on-food contact. The left is considered a bit unclean (you can probably figure out why), so it can be tricky to eat everything using just one hand. It was much easier to learn to use chopsticks!
There's a few big ones. There are so MANY people here, it's so inexpensive to have people perform services... especially for people who can afford to spend a few extra rupees. There will NEVER be a vending machine in India. For example, auto rickshaws can be secured for an entire day or evening... and a nice taxi cab can be had for an entire weekend for just twenty-thirty USD. The driver will be YOURS for that whole time. It's crazy.
The driving is insane. There's a Youtube video somewhere of an Indian city's intersection... it is a harrowing experience, I am definitely happy to pay a local driver.
In the US, lines are a FIFO system (first in first out), but in India... there is a somewhat more complex algorithm going on. I haven't entirely figured it out yet... but until I do, Indians feel free to cut in front of each other in lines for whatever reason. It's annoying, but it's just the way things happen here.
No beef, really. Big surprise, eh?
The most startling thing, however, is how similar the cultures here are. Cell phones, western clothes, Indian computer nerds play Counterstrike for fun, (almost) everyone speaks some amount of English... for all the differences, it hasn't been to tough an adjustment.
Wow, this article is about me!
on
Reverse Off-Shoring
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
This is a surprise - I am actually in the program discussed in the article. I just graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, and took this job. I'm typing this from the company's campus in Mysore, India. It's a fun experience, I'm seeing the sights, eating a lot of curry, getting my technical skills rounded out a bit, and then I will be headed back to the States in while to work for them.
If anyone has any questions about the article, wtf I'm doing in India, what it's like, etc... post here and I will do my best to answer them!
You are getting away from the FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM with Digg. Namely that the display of the 'stories' or articles is not linear in nature. This is good if you are viewing digg infrequently, but when you are going back regularly, new stories will not necesarilly be at the top. The mechanism that determines this is not at all clear.
Therefore, Digg is completely inferior to Slashdot.
For people who do not have 500ft^2 rooms, having the computer next to the sleeping area can be unavoidable.
Computers placed at the extreme end of a moderately sized room can still be irritating.
Some people like to do things with their computers at night, for reasons obvious to anyone who reads Slashdot.
People have different computers for different requirements. You obviously do not require a modern video card or processor, others do. Perhaps your computer requirements are satisfied with components that do not make much noise (which is subjective), but many people are not so lucky.
People also have different tolerances for noise. Some people are more sensitive than others to computer noise. This is a subjective thing.
Proclaiming that everyone else is silly because they use noisier computer components is retarded.
Got a computer next to your bed? Why! This one baffles me. "I couldn't sleep at night because my PC was TOO LOUD!! Sure, it was six inches from my face..." Them move the damned thing! Don't put it in your bedroom, for goodness sakes.
There are many computer enthusiasts out there who are in a living situation in which having the personal computer in the bedroom is unavoidable.
1. Dorm room residents
2. People living with their parents
3. People living in a shared apartment or house
Basically people who don't have a house (or multiple rooms) all to themselves.
Jeremy Soule is awesome. Try giving a listen to Jupiter from Holst's The Planets. It is like a longer, more bombastic version of the Morrowind title music.
Is one of the benefits of being a Slashdot subscriber NOT having to see duplicate stories on the front page?
Sooooo many solutions to this problem. -Text analysis built into Slashcode to detect potential duplicate stories -Having another editor spot check a story for dupeness (there are plenty of editors for this to work) -Have editors read the headline of every story every day. -Lynch editors who consistently post dupes
Slashdot Mirror
Hey Dan, it sounds like you have a great organization. This is one of the more positive descriptions of a "tech support" job so far in this discussion, and I think it can help to serve as an example to people for 1) how TSE can be an important and rewarding job, and 2) how a not-so-awesome job can be spun positively in a job interview.
There are so many opportunities for showing the value you've added to the business in a support role!
are you serious? i commented twice before your post came in.
learn2post rofl! nub
rofl you don't get teh karma bonus, you're already zero ZOMG HAHAHA
poop lol is the best thing in th world because i'm the pirst ferson to comment
Lulzaplenty!
Consider a Google search box
Or, you know, you could add meta data to each and every single page you want to index... I'd personally rather stab my eyes out with a ballpoint pen.
lol at everyone who read wheel of time!
tragedy, but maybe Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert will rape the Wheel of Time with a final installament.
first!
I really haven't noticed anything much at all like that so far in India, where I am.
Have noticed the cricket though. It's kind of big here!
The article seemed a bit hand-wavy as to what we were actually doing over here... but it's basically half training (most of us didn't major in computer science) in programming, databases, etc, followed by time with the Indian-side of the development team that we'll be working with back in the States. The hours really aren't bad at all for those of us with programming experience, and I think the company wants it that way; part of the reason we're out here is to go out and about and experience India. You know, take in the culture and such, so we're more effective on whatever developmeant team we end up working on.
Most of the people I work with day to day are in the US group, with the people leading the training (or whatever HR seminar) being Indian. That'll change when we start working on the actual development teams here.
After hours, we interact a lot with locals... typically Indian trainees going through the same process we are. We're all on the same campus, and there's a lot of recreational things to do (bowling, badminton, basketball... blah blah blah) together. We're actually trying to get together a US vs. India Counter Strike match right now. At the same time, we usually go out to eat, drink, and explore India in groups of US folk.
It's definitely not an internship... (for some reason I have to keep reminding my mother this). It's a real, live job. I honestly don't know what the advancement path will be like down the road, but the company is expanding pretty rapidly, so I would assume there's a path there should I want to keep going down it.
Most places I eat are the fork+knife kind, but when it's a more down-to-India kind of place... I still have to cheat and use my left hand occaisionally.
FYI, it's traditional to eat with the right hand only, with full skin-on-food contact. The left is considered a bit unclean (you can probably figure out why), so it can be tricky to eat everything using just one hand. It was much easier to learn to use chopsticks!
There's a few big ones. There are so MANY people here, it's so inexpensive to have people perform services... especially for people who can afford to spend a few extra rupees. There will NEVER be a vending machine in India. For example, auto rickshaws can be secured for an entire day or evening... and a nice taxi cab can be had for an entire weekend for just twenty-thirty USD. The driver will be YOURS for that whole time. It's crazy.
The driving is insane. There's a Youtube video somewhere of an Indian city's intersection... it is a harrowing experience, I am definitely happy to pay a local driver.
In the US, lines are a FIFO system (first in first out), but in India... there is a somewhat more complex algorithm going on. I haven't entirely figured it out yet... but until I do, Indians feel free to cut in front of each other in lines for whatever reason. It's annoying, but it's just the way things happen here.
No beef, really. Big surprise, eh?
The most startling thing, however, is how similar the cultures here are. Cell phones, western clothes, Indian computer nerds play Counterstrike for fun, (almost) everyone speaks some amount of English... for all the differences, it hasn't been to tough an adjustment.
This is a surprise - I am actually in the program discussed in the article. I just graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, and took this job. I'm typing this from the company's campus in Mysore, India. It's a fun experience, I'm seeing the sights, eating a lot of curry, getting my technical skills rounded out a bit, and then I will be headed back to the States in while to work for them.
If anyone has any questions about the article, wtf I'm doing in India, what it's like, etc... post here and I will do my best to answer them!
Is there a Hot Skooma mod that I can use to watch pixelated nuble nipples jiggle?
yes plz
fp!!!!
pretty sure this wouldn't count as common law.
and by pretty sure, I mean you'd be stupid to think it would.
Since the statute predates the Constitution of the U.S., a clever lawyer could argue it applies here equally.
dotdotdot...
Are you stupid?
OMG what if I don't want to use RSS? What if I want to use... gasp... a web browser to access (wait for it...) a web site?
You are getting away from the FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM with Digg. Namely that the display of the 'stories' or articles is not linear in nature. This is good if you are viewing digg infrequently, but when you are going back regularly, new stories will not necesarilly be at the top. The mechanism that determines this is not at all clear.
Therefore, Digg is completely inferior to Slashdot.
No, a game-onomics degree will get you chicks. Time+money well spent.
wtf? Since when does a person need ANY degree to edit a website with regards to games?
OMG I JUST POOPED MY PANTS
no... my slashdot troll days are over
at work anyways
or should I say good hunting
that's what cags are supposed to say!
For people who do not have 500ft^2 rooms, having the computer next to the sleeping area can be unavoidable.
Computers placed at the extreme end of a moderately sized room can still be irritating.
Some people like to do things with their computers at night, for reasons obvious to anyone who reads Slashdot.
People have different computers for different requirements. You obviously do not require a modern video card or processor, others do. Perhaps your computer requirements are satisfied with components that do not make much noise (which is subjective), but many people are not so lucky.
People also have different tolerances for noise. Some people are more sensitive than others to computer noise. This is a subjective thing.
Proclaiming that everyone else is silly because they use noisier computer components is retarded.
You sir, are retarded.
Got a computer next to your bed? Why! This one baffles me. "I couldn't sleep at night because my PC was TOO LOUD!! Sure, it was six inches from my face..." Them move the damned thing! Don't put it in your bedroom, for goodness sakes.
There are many computer enthusiasts out there who are in a living situation in which having the personal computer in the bedroom is unavoidable.
1. Dorm room residents
2. People living with their parents
3. People living in a shared apartment or house
Basically people who don't have a house (or multiple rooms) all to themselves.
Jeremy Soule is awesome. Try giving a listen to Jupiter from Holst's The Planets. It is like a longer, more bombastic version of the Morrowind title music.
Is one of the benefits of being a Slashdot subscriber NOT having to see duplicate stories on the front page?
Sooooo many solutions to this problem.
-Text analysis built into Slashcode to detect potential duplicate stories
-Having another editor spot check a story for dupeness (there are plenty of editors for this to work)
-Have editors read the headline of every story every day.
-Lynch editors who consistently post dupes