Is it a good thing we got a 4% raise on the job we got laid off from?
Oh, and 4% PER YEAR, EVERY YEAR,would just about keep up with inflation. Then, maybe management would notice the 15% annual increase in housing costs...
With google using these recruiting techniques, is it possible that they might have something big on the horizon where they need lots of quality people?
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. There is a dusty laptop here with a weak wireless connection. There are dull, lifeless gnomes strolling about. What dost thou do?
Schedule a meeting about process improvement and try to horseshit my way into a middle management position so I can wedge my fat ass into a molded chair and order from the salad bar.
Which of the following expresses Google's over-arching philosophy?
Make people jump through hoops to get a temp job.
How many different ways can you color an icosahedron with one of three colors on each face?
This has anything at all to do with being qualified for a job?
What colors would you choose?
Gray, to match the cubicle.
On an infinite, two-dimensional, rectangular lattice of 1-ohm resistors, what is the resistance between two nodes that are a knight's move away?
Lab rat.
It's 2pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the Bay Area. You're minutes from the Pacific Ocean, redwood forest hiking trails and world class cultural attractions. What do you do?
Go back to the want ads so I can find a job where I don't have to be tormented by obscure questions before the food runs out.
In your opinion, what is the most beautiful math equation ever derived?
Paycheck - expenses = savings
What will be the next great improvement in search technology?
Finding a job.
What is the optimal size of a project team, above which additional members do not contribute productivity equivalent to the percentage increase in the staff size? A) 1 B) 3 C) 5 D) 11 E) 24
According to middle management, whatever increases the budget.
In 29 words or fewer, describe what you would strive to accomplish if you worked at Google Labs.
Nothing, because the moment anyone "strives" for anything other than the donut list in the modern workplace, they get fired.
Glad to see companies are slowly making the process of building a career a game show.
Do you think Disney is just a few cartoon studios and some crappy theme parks?
Well, they used to have a few cartoon studios until they fired everyone.
Their movies and theme parks account only for a *small fraction* of their money.
Lucky for them.
While at that site check out some other megalopolies, you may be surprised at who owns what.
Well, soon Disney will sell their stores and Monday Night Football. They've already lost both animation divisions, and now they're making movies about theme park rides. Disney isn't what it used to be.
Eh. Stock price is flat at best. Disney's in the middle of the pack for investment returns, and trailing the S&P 500. A playoff team they ain't. Losing Pixar just makes it worse.
Disney stores are being sold. The animation division is out of business. Pixar is leaving. Miramax is unhappy. The theme parks are stale, with California Adventure particularly mediocre. Mickey Mouse is selling paper towels and ABC is giving up Monday Night Football. Yeah, I'd say Disney has done better
Who says Fox, WB or Paramount will be any better than Disney?
Well, at least Fox, WB and Paramount aren't complaining they can't make money on Monday Night Football. They also didn't dismantle an irreplaceable animation division with an 80-year heritage to save money.
And when there is complete disregard for the investments of the companies that worked to make the supply, there is bankruptcy and mass unemployment.
The television industry is obviously benefiting from the consumer's ability to download a few episodes online.
It is doubtful the industry would complain about "a few episodes."
Making the media available in a much more timely fashion may increase revenue.
Agreed. Entertainment companies in particular are the undisputed champions of foot-dragging when it comes to the requests of their markets.
There is a significant market of users who would download software should they find it useful to them, however these same users refuse to pay for software that won't run on their system, is poor quality, or misrepresented.
There is also a very large group of users who refuse to pay for software at all, no matter the price or the quality. Oh, they'll download it and make full use of it, but they will also categorically refuse to contribute a single dollar to the purchase price.
Quality must be paid for. This is no less a fact than any of the other statements in this argument. The economy depends on the ability for artists, producers, retailers and all of their vendors, suppliers, etc. to invest time and money and make a profit on these products.
If there is no demand (demand requires sales) there will be no supply. If there is no money, there will be no products.
But even if that weren't the case, is he really screwing himself, in your estimation?
Well, the Sims grossed about $325 million. Two dozen songs at $1000 each is $24,000. That's pretty thin for a nine-figure gross.
They did that writing for money, just like my friend recorded those songs for money. And I've done the same, and I don't really regret it.
Yeah, if it's a work for hire, that's one thing. But an author owns their work under copyright law. It really should be up to them and they should understand what they're selling when they sign these boilerplate agreements where they get nothing and Company Inc. gets everything. I have regularly seen "publishing agreements" for example, demanding "universal perpetual royalty-free rights" and people wonder if they should sign them.
The way the corporation wants it, you never buy a CD, you license it. You never buy a disc of software, you license it. That sucks.
Agreed.
So, great -- is the solution really for individuals to start acting like corporations?
If Company Inc. is going to stuff $300 million in their pocket, the people who built the product should get paid, and paid well. They should not feel shitty when they insist their hard work not be de-valued to the point where the hourly rate for negotiating the agreement exceeds the payment.
EA (Electronic Arts) will clear 60 masters, then use just 15 songs in a game, all at low rates. And they want to pay these low rates on a buyout basis, with no share of revenue, no points, and no step-deals.
That's nice. I'd like a convertible with bucket seats and a six-speaker audio system. "They want" "They want" "They want" It's nonsense.
Here's the product. Here's the price, LICENSED for a limited period in a specific market excluding all others. 15% advance in TALL LONG GREEN CASH DOLLARS WALKIN' DOWN THE BOULEFUCKINGVARD starting day one with a double-the-rate step up when the clouds part. Two minutes and we fold up the card table. Here's a pen.
Artists own 100% before they sign the deal. The best way to make a good deal is not to make a bad deal.
Why are they such evil exploitative capitalists for making sure only those kinds of folks apply for the job?
I didn't say they were evil. They will use this "test" to justify passing over qualified, degreed candidates (who have already demonstrated their ability) further damaging an already pointless job market.
It proves they don't take their employees' careers seriously because they present job opportunities as party favors. It is cynical, lazy, counter-productive and wrong. Is it really so difficult to just fairly consider qualified people?
We realy should be doing better than this. We should at least have Aibo-type robots running (or at least trotting) over real terrain by now. It's embarassing.
Yeah, well, that's what happens when ever widening management ass settles into that molded executive chair. Unless there's tall dollars in it, nobody gives a shit, which explains the general fuckitude of everything worthwhile in society.
There are great things that could be done that will make absolutely NO MONEY but nobody will do them because they have to pay for their statement purchases.
The fact that people would buy a vehicle to make a "statement" just about perfectly describes everything that is wrong with current society.
Furthermore since when does capitalism display dignity and display wisdom?
All the time, provided there are no artificial limits placed on it.
The forced economic classes that it creates can only be called dignifying to the rich and the quickly shrinking remnants of the middle class.
Wasn't always that way. There actually used to be a middle class back when people had careers instead of temp jobs. Almost anyone who put in a day's work could earn an honest wage and afford a home. Now, the median price for a home is almost a half million dollars and the average job lasts less than 18 months.
There will be no further significant space exploration because business decides everything and there are no money grabs available.
It's hype and bullshit like this that makes every wage-earning employee less and less valuable. Jobs are now becoming game show prizes, and the competition to earn them a side show in a progressively more grotesque and tragic display of suffering, despair and the deliberate torment of the powerless.
The dignity of a day's work for a day's wage BEGINS in the interview process. Forcing people to navigate some baroque and obscure cross between a deranged lab experiment and a carnival attraction as a requirement for consideration as a temporary meeting attendee is the height of arrogance, incompetence and greed.
It will not be long before everyone, including the "candidates" for these worthless prize packages dressed up as careers, has lost all respect for the workplace, as well they should. It is a festering, maggot-infested cesspool of thievery, avarice, envy and contempt for colleagues described by the harmless sounding euphemism "office politics."
Let's all watch the catered self-congratulatory theatrics celebrating the obsolescence of jobs. Then we can return to planning how we're supposed to build communities and neighborhoods without careers.
We can invent stuff like that without leaving Earth.
No we can't. Invention requires long-term thinking. Business doesn't think long-term any more and hasn't since the 60s. Missions to Mars are out of the question until we can think and plan beyond next week's paycheck.
people could be landing on Mars in the next twenty or thirty years.
Sure, if we can make a "business case" for it. Otherwise people will say "what do we need that for?" and go back to their reality shows and home improvement projects.
Some people would say this is a stagnant society. The phrase "unwiped ass" is a better description of a society obsessed with suburban paradise at the expense of every last shred of dignity and wisdom.
where FM doesn't run 20-25 minutes of commericials per hour
Oh, it's great! Especially when you hear a song you really like and think, "oh, that's really a nice song--" YOUUUOOUUUVE GOT THE GReeEEeeEEN LAYYYYGHT boomboomboomboomboomboom chuckachuckachuckachucka ARE YOU PAYING MORE FOR YOUR HOME LOAN?? REFINANCE AGAIN AND SAVE 47 CENTS TODAY!! SPECIAL PRICE FOR TEN REFINANCES BY TUESDAY!! CALL NOW CALL NOW CALL NOW CALL NOW
Yeah. I think we've had enough commercials for a while.
Slashdot Mirror
- flat stockmarkets; rollbacks in ALL sectors eliminating modest gains from late 2003.
Dow 7700 to 10700 is a "modest gain?"
Oh, it's the employee's fault. Of course.
Are things finally starting to look up for us?"
Is it a good thing we got a 4% raise on the job we got laid off from?
Oh, and 4% PER YEAR, EVERY YEAR,would just about keep up with inflation. Then, maybe management would notice the 15% annual increase in housing costs...
With google using these recruiting techniques, is it possible that they might have something big on the horizon where they need lots of quality people?
A layoff?
What is it about the process of getting your PhD that gives you this better chance?
Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the three years of graduate school.
You'd also be surprised that the vast majority of the projects they are in charge of are failing miserably because they can't simply get things done.
They got a PhD done.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. There is a dusty laptop here with a weak wireless connection. There are dull, lifeless gnomes strolling about. What dost thou do?
Schedule a meeting about process improvement and try to horseshit my way into a middle management position so I can wedge my fat ass into a molded chair and order from the salad bar.
Which of the following expresses Google's over-arching philosophy?
Make people jump through hoops to get a temp job.
How many different ways can you color an icosahedron with one of three colors on each face?
This has anything at all to do with being qualified for a job?
What colors would you choose?
Gray, to match the cubicle.
On an infinite, two-dimensional, rectangular lattice of 1-ohm resistors, what is the resistance between two nodes that are a knight's move away?
Lab rat.
It's 2pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the Bay Area. You're minutes from the Pacific Ocean, redwood forest hiking trails and world class cultural attractions. What do you do?
Go back to the want ads so I can find a job where I don't have to be tormented by obscure questions before the food runs out.
In your opinion, what is the most beautiful math equation ever derived?
Paycheck - expenses = savings
What will be the next great improvement in search technology?
Finding a job.
What is the optimal size of a project team, above which additional members do not contribute productivity equivalent to the percentage increase in the staff size? A) 1 B) 3 C) 5 D) 11 E) 24
According to middle management, whatever increases the budget.
In 29 words or fewer, describe what you would strive to accomplish if you worked at Google Labs.
Nothing, because the moment anyone "strives" for anything other than the donut list in the modern workplace, they get fired.
Glad to see companies are slowly making the process of building a career a game show.
Oh, and they apparently turned down Lord of the Rings claiming it was an "unviable project."
Eleven Academy awards and a billion dollars at the box office are now "unviable" according to Disney.
ROFL
Do you think Disney is just a few cartoon studios and some crappy theme parks?
Well, they used to have a few cartoon studios until they fired everyone.
Their movies and theme parks account only for a *small fraction* of their money.
Lucky for them.
While at that site check out some other megalopolies, you may be surprised at who owns what.
Well, soon Disney will sell their stores and Monday Night Football. They've already lost both animation divisions, and now they're making movies about theme park rides. Disney isn't what it used to be.
You believe that Disney is declining without any indicative evidence of the fact?
Yes.
No sharp falling profits or revenue
Eh. Stock price is flat at best. Disney's in the middle of the pack for investment returns, and trailing the S&P 500. A playoff team they ain't. Losing Pixar just makes it worse.
Disney stores are being sold. The animation division is out of business. Pixar is leaving. Miramax is unhappy. The theme parks are stale, with California Adventure particularly mediocre. Mickey Mouse is selling paper towels and ABC is giving up Monday Night Football. Yeah, I'd say Disney has done better
Who says Fox, WB or Paramount will be any better than Disney?
Well, at least Fox, WB and Paramount aren't complaining they can't make money on Monday Night Football. They also didn't dismantle an irreplaceable animation division with an 80-year heritage to save money.
And they run the finest swamp in the entertainment industry!
There is demand, and demand creates market.
And when there is complete disregard for the investments of the companies that worked to make the supply, there is bankruptcy and mass unemployment.
The television industry is obviously benefiting from the consumer's ability to download a few episodes online.
It is doubtful the industry would complain about "a few episodes."
Making the media available in a much more timely fashion may increase revenue.
Agreed. Entertainment companies in particular are the undisputed champions of foot-dragging when it comes to the requests of their markets.
There is a significant market of users who would download software should they find it useful to them, however these same users refuse to pay for software that won't run on their system, is poor quality, or misrepresented.
There is also a very large group of users who refuse to pay for software at all, no matter the price or the quality. Oh, they'll download it and make full use of it, but they will also categorically refuse to contribute a single dollar to the purchase price.
Quality must be paid for. This is no less a fact than any of the other statements in this argument. The economy depends on the ability for artists, producers, retailers and all of their vendors, suppliers, etc. to invest time and money and make a profit on these products.
If there is no demand (demand requires sales) there will be no supply. If there is no money, there will be no products.
Those Macs SURE DO LOOK NICE Don't they?
But even if that weren't the case, is he really screwing himself, in your estimation?
Well, the Sims grossed about $325 million. Two dozen songs at $1000 each is $24,000. That's pretty thin for a nine-figure gross.
They did that writing for money, just like my friend recorded those songs for money. And I've done the same, and I don't really regret it.
Yeah, if it's a work for hire, that's one thing. But an author owns their work under copyright law. It really should be up to them and they should understand what they're selling when they sign these boilerplate agreements where they get nothing and Company Inc. gets everything. I have regularly seen "publishing agreements" for example, demanding "universal perpetual royalty-free rights" and people wonder if they should sign them.
The way the corporation wants it, you never buy a CD, you license it. You never buy a disc of software, you license it. That sucks.
Agreed.
So, great -- is the solution really for individuals to start acting like corporations?
If Company Inc. is going to stuff $300 million in their pocket, the people who built the product should get paid, and paid well. They should not feel shitty when they insist their hard work not be de-valued to the point where the hourly rate for negotiating the agreement exceeds the payment.
EA (Electronic Arts) will clear 60 masters, then use just 15 songs in a game, all at low rates. And they want to pay these low rates on a buyout basis, with no share of revenue, no points, and no step-deals.
That's nice. I'd like a convertible with bucket seats and a six-speaker audio system. "They want" "They want" "They want" It's nonsense.
Here's the product. Here's the price, LICENSED for a limited period in a specific market excluding all others. 15% advance in TALL LONG GREEN CASH DOLLARS WALKIN' DOWN THE BOULEFUCKINGVARD starting day one with a double-the-rate step up when the clouds part. Two minutes and we fold up the card table. Here's a pen.
Artists own 100% before they sign the deal. The best way to make a good deal is not to make a bad deal.
Phone companies take 50% of all downloads
Only if the artists agree.
"The phone could replace the iPod
Everyone wants to be Apple.
Why are they such evil exploitative capitalists for making sure only those kinds of folks apply for the job?
I didn't say they were evil. They will use this "test" to justify passing over qualified, degreed candidates (who have already demonstrated their ability) further damaging an already pointless job market.
It proves they don't take their employees' careers seriously because they present job opportunities as party favors. It is cynical, lazy, counter-productive and wrong. Is it really so difficult to just fairly consider qualified people?
We realy should be doing better than this. We should at least have Aibo-type robots running (or at least trotting) over real terrain by now. It's embarassing.
Yeah, well, that's what happens when ever widening management ass settles into that molded executive chair. Unless there's tall dollars in it, nobody gives a shit, which explains the general fuckitude of everything worthwhile in society.
There are great things that could be done that will make absolutely NO MONEY but nobody will do them because they have to pay for their statement purchases.
The fact that people would buy a vehicle to make a "statement" just about perfectly describes everything that is wrong with current society.
Furthermore since when does capitalism display dignity and display wisdom?
All the time, provided there are no artificial limits placed on it.
The forced economic classes that it creates can only be called dignifying to the rich and the quickly shrinking remnants of the middle class.
Wasn't always that way. There actually used to be a middle class back when people had careers instead of temp jobs. Almost anyone who put in a day's work could earn an honest wage and afford a home. Now, the median price for a home is almost a half million dollars and the average job lasts less than 18 months.
There will be no further significant space exploration because business decides everything and there are no money grabs available.
It's hype and bullshit like this that makes every wage-earning employee less and less valuable. Jobs are now becoming game show prizes, and the competition to earn them a side show in a progressively more grotesque and tragic display of suffering, despair and the deliberate torment of the powerless.
The dignity of a day's work for a day's wage BEGINS in the interview process. Forcing people to navigate some baroque and obscure cross between a deranged lab experiment and a carnival attraction as a requirement for consideration as a temporary meeting attendee is the height of arrogance, incompetence and greed.
It will not be long before everyone, including the "candidates" for these worthless prize packages dressed up as careers, has lost all respect for the workplace, as well they should. It is a festering, maggot-infested cesspool of thievery, avarice, envy and contempt for colleagues described by the harmless sounding euphemism "office politics."
Let's all watch the catered self-congratulatory theatrics celebrating the obsolescence of jobs. Then we can return to planning how we're supposed to build communities and neighborhoods without careers.
The way primary and secondary education is going these days
...nobody will be able to read the story about the mission to Mars.
We can invent stuff like that without leaving Earth.
No we can't. Invention requires long-term thinking. Business doesn't think long-term any more and hasn't since the 60s. Missions to Mars are out of the question until we can think and plan beyond next week's paycheck.
people could be landing on Mars in the next twenty or thirty years.
Sure, if we can make a "business case" for it. Otherwise people will say "what do we need that for?" and go back to their reality shows and home improvement projects.
Some people would say this is a stagnant society. The phrase "unwiped ass" is a better description of a society obsessed with suburban paradise at the expense of every last shred of dignity and wisdom.
where FM doesn't run 20-25 minutes of commericials per hour
Oh, it's great! Especially when you hear a song you really like and think, "oh, that's really a nice song--" YOUUUOOUUUVE GOT THE GReeEEeeEEN LAYYYYGHT boomboomboomboomboomboom chuckachuckachuckachucka ARE YOU PAYING MORE FOR YOUR HOME LOAN?? REFINANCE AGAIN AND SAVE 47 CENTS TODAY!! SPECIAL PRICE FOR TEN REFINANCES BY TUESDAY!! CALL NOW CALL NOW CALL NOW CALL NOW
Yeah. I think we've had enough commercials for a while.