Most HR folks, esp. with tech, have utterly no clues as to what they're hiring for, or what qualifications are actually needed, and they don't *want* to know. So they use certificates, or tests, to come up with a yes or no as to whether the hiring manager, who actually *does* know this stuff, can talk to someone.
mark
IT bosses do it with the help of HR
on
Fire Your IT Boss
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· Score: 1
For example, my contract just ended with AT&T. When I was brought on as a contractor, the rule was 3 years, and out for a while. After the buyout, er, merger, it became two years. My director had already grandfathered in two people, and told me not to worry.
Meanwhile, HR had changed the rules, so instead of asking for a contract extension 45 days before the end of contract, it became two weeks.
I've heard our VP talking about cost containment. You'd think that they'd hire, rather than contract, since then you don't pay loading. File this under the heading of "bite your nose to spite your face", but the biting isn't noticed till next quarter (the far future).
Then, last Tuesday, HR, in the name of "cost containment", blindsided my director, deciding they knew better than he did what he needed, and told him they would not renew my contract. That was TWO DAYS NOTICE, not even the usual 14 days.
No. Upper management's part of it; HR is the other part.
mark, Unix/Linux sysadmin, software developer (C/C++, perl), web development
Heh. It's been, what, five years or so?, since IBM announced that they were going to move AIX towards Linux. So, this looks like a move on HP's part to do the same with HPUX.
As I've always said, though, Linux was IBM's dream, handed to them on a silver platter, and it looks like HP realized the same. I mean, if you're a multinational corporation, with a zillion Big Clients, would *you* want to support 5, or 10, or 15 *different* operating systems, on different platforms, with specialists for each one, including legacy specialists (does IBM still have folks to support S/38?)? Or one platform, and when you want to sell clients on bigger, faster, more expensive hardware, to be able to say, "just recompile, and everything you have will still run"?
I can see it now, a new video at the Creationist museum, Dinosaurs vs. Crurotarsans, with humans trying to avoid being stomped (or eaten as a quick snack).
Or maybe a Hollywood movie, where after an earthquake, a huuuuge lost cavern cracks open, and crurotarsans come out. Then, just when we're striking back against Giant Creatures Immune to bullets, explosives, etc, another earthquake strikes, and another huuuge cavern opens, and out come dinosaurs....
mark "but where's the Big One with the blue glow?"
Having worked in the field for a looong time, and been in Unix most of the time since '91, and being one of two sysadmins under my manager now, let me say that the admins I've worked with have been a hell of a lot more ethical than some of the developers, and way more so than most of upper management.
I can't think of one I've worked with who would pull that kind of crap.
Of course, when I call tech support for things like my cable modem, I get a *lot* of support staff that are M$ oriented, and ask for my password, so that's why the subject line.
YOu write:...i'm ticked at the terminology in this artical... "anti-abortion" is not what they call themselves, it's "pro-life"... we don't call "pro-choice" the "pro-abortion" or "pro-death" view.
Yes, as a matter of fact, YOU DO. I've passed billboards from Texas to Wisconsin, and that's *EXACTLY* what *you* do call us.
I suppose you don't use condoms, either, and complain if anyone who's willing to screw you uses birth control (or is it don't ask, don't tell?).
"...just like a landlord, they should have a right to inspect it for whatever reasons."
As someone who's lived in rental properties a good bit, in Philly, Austin and Chicago, let me tell you, this is *BULLSHIT*. Every city ->mandates- that a landlord can *not* come in whenever they want, that they are *required* to give you at least a day's notice.
This prevents large abuses (like walking into your apt when you're female and taking a shower), and small (like the freakin' little old lady, when I was a lot younger, who'd come into our apt while we were at work, and put the ground beef that we'd explicitly left out to defrost back into the fridge, with no warning....)
To deal with "meteors and weighty antennae"? Duh.... The #1 problem is *time*. You are going to have a *real* slow up/download when you're on Mars, and it's on the other side of the sun: hours.
mark "didn't even begin to talk about t a l k i n g t o T i T a n"
My wife dian, who was in charge of the propellants on Cassini-Huygens (and won one of NASA's highest achievement awards for that work), tells me that yes, it's hydrazine, and though she has no access to those records these days (a *very* unamicable parting of the ways), estimates that there might be a year's left, if they don't need to do too much maneuvering.
She notes that there was a *fuck* of a lot of propellant, which is why it needed a Titan IV-b, a *big* rocket.
As soon as someone decides that this is not for "security", but for prurient interest? My wife notes that attractive women, both younger and up to her age (including her) are far more frequently the ones chosen for "closer inspection".
Since moving to Chicago in the mid-nineties, I discovered American Science and Surplus In their store, I've literally seen a box of electronic parts labelled, "we're not really sure - if you figure them out, let us know".
Lots of good stuff... assuming that Fatherland Insecurity doesn't come down on you.
The Lensman series, by Doc Smith? The originals of the Jedi (no mitochodrians here!)?
mark "...
My name is Kimball Kinnison, I lead the Lensman band;
Although we're few in numbers, our abilities are grand.
We play with stars and planets, catch comets in a net;
and use a supernova to light a cigarette!"
There are two kinds of people in the world (those that divide the world into two kinds of people, and those that don't...): those who touch my screen and leave fingerprints on it, and those who are *that* close to breaking those fingers.
Touch my screen, you'd *BETTER* clean it before you walk away.
First question to them: are they willing to provide signed legal documents making them financially liable should any damage or data theft occur due to their access to the d/b?
If so, then the next thing you need to do is have your software developers build a website interface for them, that does validation of the queries, and also scan for injection attacks. DO NOT ALLOW THEM UNFILTERED ACCESS.
If your management doesn't like that, request their written signoff on a document/email that includes the above warnings.
Yeah, the sf book club has been around for 75M years, and yes, they do carry a lot of good stuff.
Me, I wouldn't even think of it, since most of my 3,000+ sff library is paperback, and I don't have *space* for hardbacks.
A note on bookstores: Barnes & Noble? Just say NO! Last fall, a) nearly two weeks after Worldcon, they had no clue who'd won the Hugo for novel, and b) in the next couple of months, I noted that they had not updated their SF&F AT ALL. This was not the only thing - I was looking for a model RR magazine, and 10 days after the beginning of the month, they still had the previous month's mag on the shelves (they are *supposed* to remove them). Those two datapoints tell me that they've lost the point of a bookstore, and are focused on something other than actually catering to readers....
Borders, on the other hand, in a smaller store, has new stuff every month, incl. sf&f.
For a simple reason: THE HUMAN EYE CAN ONLY DISTINGUISH AROUND 5M SHADES.
You can't *see* the 16M that 24 bit color delivers, stupid.
mark "and, btw, I have this subatomic pet dog, sorry, you can't even
see him with an electron microscope, just take my word for it
that he's there. Isn't he *kewl*?!"
In the mid-nineties, I worked for a now-swallowed Baby Bell in the midwest, in what was going to be their entry in the long-distance sweepstakes. Upper management's lack of planning, and an "architecture" team that gave Promulgations to all the other teams, resulted in most of us doing regular days of 9-9.5 hours, and a heavy dose of 10, 12, and occasional 16 hour days. (One young consultant once put in, and I am neither making this up nor exaggerating), 119 hours one week. He was working for another consulting company than Andersen within a year....)
The first half of '06, I worked for a home improvement place, which shall remain nameless, but was neither Home Depot nor Menard's, in the middle of nowhere, NC. 95 mi. to the airport in Charlotte... and consultants a) had to enter from the main entrance, not any of the side entrances (and the company had literally take over a large mall - it was, measured, just under.1 mi to my cube). Although most of us were from elsewhere (including the Canadians), with families elsewhere, we also had *no* 'Net access at work (oh! one consultant took advantage of it!).
Oh, yes, Real Employees had a normal 8x8 cube. Consultants had to *share* one. Coming soon, the old Dilbert bit about Velcro (tm) on our backs, and put us on the wall....
mark, whose last manager "bragged" that he had a stack of pre-signed forms
that anyone could snag to complain about harassment by him (what
do you expect, he was a Texas Aggie )
Slashdot Mirror
a) there goes Krypton, or
b) the Galactic Patrol vs. the Boskonians
mark
Most HR folks, esp. with tech, have utterly no clues as to what they're hiring for, or what qualifications are actually needed, and they don't *want* to know. So they use certificates, or tests, to come up with a yes or no as to whether the hiring manager, who actually *does* know this stuff, can talk to someone.
mark
For example, my contract just ended with AT&T. When I was brought on as a contractor, the rule was 3 years, and out for a while. After the buyout, er, merger, it became two years. My director had already grandfathered in two people, and told me not to worry.
Meanwhile, HR had changed the rules, so instead of asking for a contract extension 45 days before the end of contract, it became two weeks.
I've heard our VP talking about cost containment. You'd think that they'd hire, rather than contract, since then you don't pay loading. File this under the heading of "bite your nose to spite your face", but the biting isn't noticed till next quarter (the far future).
Then, last Tuesday, HR, in the name of "cost containment", blindsided my director, deciding they knew better than he did what he needed, and told him they would not renew my contract. That was TWO DAYS NOTICE, not even the usual 14 days.
No. Upper management's part of it; HR is the other part.
mark, Unix/Linux sysadmin, software developer (C/C++, perl), web development
Heh. It's been, what, five years or so?, since IBM announced that they were going to move AIX towards Linux. So, this looks like a move on HP's part to do the same with HPUX.
As I've always said, though, Linux was IBM's dream, handed to them on a silver platter, and it looks like HP realized the same. I mean, if you're a multinational corporation, with a zillion Big Clients, would *you* want to support 5, or 10, or 15 *different* operating systems, on different platforms, with specialists for each one, including legacy specialists (does IBM still have folks to support S/38?)? Or one platform, and when you want to sell clients on bigger, faster, more expensive hardware, to be able to say, "just recompile, and everything you have will still run"?
mark
I can see it now, a new video at the Creationist museum, Dinosaurs vs. Crurotarsans, with humans trying to avoid being stomped (or eaten as a quick snack).
Or maybe a Hollywood movie, where after an earthquake, a huuuuge lost cavern cracks open, and crurotarsans come out. Then, just when we're striking back against Giant Creatures Immune to bullets, explosives, etc, another earthquake strikes, and another huuuge cavern opens, and out come dinosaurs....
mark "but where's the Big One with the blue glow?"
Hasn't anyone seen what I have? I looked at the pics, and the icons on the toolbar look *awfully* familiar.
Maybe that's because they're identical to the ones on my Firefox toolbar.
Then there's the default skin/theme/whateveryoucallit of Firefox: chrome.
mark
I understand that, with their population dropping, they're encouraging immigration.
My wife and I have joked about emigrating. If we did, she could be a Scottish engineer (though she'd have to take remedial Scot accents....)
mark "we're shovelin' as fast as we can, Captain!"
Having worked in the field for a looong time, and been in Unix most of the time since '91, and being one of two sysadmins under my manager now, let me say that the admins I've worked with have been a hell of a lot more ethical than some of the developers, and way more so than most of upper management.
I can't think of one I've worked with who would pull that kind of crap.
Of course, when I call tech support for things like my cable modem, I get a *lot* of support staff that are M$ oriented, and ask for my password, so that's why the subject line.
mark
YOu write: ...i'm ticked at the terminology in this artical... "anti-abortion" is not what they call themselves, it's "pro-life"... we don't call "pro-choice" the "pro-abortion" or "pro-death" view.
Yes, as a matter of fact, YOU DO. I've passed billboards from Texas to Wisconsin, and that's *EXACTLY* what *you* do call us.
I suppose you don't use condoms, either, and complain if anyone who's willing to screw you uses birth control (or is it don't ask, don't tell?).
mark
"...just like a landlord, they should have a right to inspect it for whatever reasons."
As someone who's lived in rental properties a good bit, in Philly, Austin and Chicago, let me tell you, this is *BULLSHIT*. Every city ->mandates- that a landlord can *not* come in whenever they want, that they are *required* to give you at least a day's notice.
This prevents large abuses (like walking into your apt when you're female and taking a shower), and small (like the freakin' little old lady, when I was a lot younger, who'd come into our apt while we were at work, and put the ground beef that we'd explicitly left out to defrost back into the fridge, with no warning....)
mark
To deal with "meteors and weighty antennae"? Duh.... The #1 problem is *time*. You are going to have a *real* slow up/download when you're on Mars, and it's on the other side of the sun: hours.
mark "didn't even begin to talk about t a l k i n g t o T i T a n"
My wife, dian, who led the propellants team, got her team together, and told them they *would* think Pioneer and Voyager in all their work.
mark
My wife dian, who was in charge of the propellants on Cassini-Huygens (and won one of NASA's highest achievement awards for that work), tells me that yes, it's hydrazine, and though she has no access to those records these days (a *very* unamicable parting of the ways), estimates that there might be a year's left, if they don't need to do too much maneuvering.
She notes that there was a *fuck* of a lot of propellant, which is why it needed a Titan IV-b, a *big* rocket.
mark
... the early-nineties windowing o/s that was better than WinDoze.
mark
As soon as someone decides that this is not for "security", but for prurient interest? My wife notes that attractive women, both younger and up to her age (including her) are far more frequently the ones chosen for "closer inspection".
Remember the boarding scene in Airplane II?
mark
Since moving to Chicago in the mid-nineties, I discovered American Science and Surplus In their store, I've literally seen a box of electronic parts labelled, "we're not really sure - if you figure them out, let us know".
Lots of good stuff... assuming that Fatherland Insecurity doesn't come down on you.
mark
Batman movie?
mark
The Lensman series, by Doc Smith? The originals of the Jedi (no mitochodrians here!)?
mark "...
My name is Kimball Kinnison, I lead the Lensman band;
Although we're few in numbers, our abilities are grand.
We play with stars and planets, catch comets in a net;
and use a supernova to light a cigarette!"
There are two kinds of people in the world (those that divide the world into two kinds of people, and those that don't...): those who touch my screen and leave fingerprints on it, and those who are *that* close to breaking those fingers.
Touch my screen, you'd *BETTER* clean it before you walk away.
Screw touch screen.
mark
First question to them: are they willing to provide signed legal documents making them financially liable should any damage or data theft occur due to their access to the d/b?
If so, then the next thing you need to do is have your software developers build a website interface for them, that does validation of the queries, and also scan for injection attacks. DO NOT ALLOW THEM UNFILTERED ACCESS.
If your management doesn't like that, request their written signoff on a document/email that includes the above warnings.
mark
If anyone's still reading this...
Yeah, the sf book club has been around for 75M years, and yes, they do carry a lot of good stuff.
Me, I wouldn't even think of it, since most of my 3,000+ sff library is paperback, and I don't have *space* for hardbacks.
A note on bookstores: Barnes & Noble? Just say NO! Last fall, a) nearly two weeks after Worldcon, they had no clue who'd won the Hugo for novel, and b) in the next couple of months, I noted that they had not updated their SF&F AT ALL. This was not the only thing - I was looking for a model RR magazine, and 10 days after the beginning of the month, they still had the previous month's mag on the shelves (they are *supposed* to remove them). Those two datapoints tell me that they've lost the point of a bookstore, and are focused on something other than actually catering to readers....
Borders, on the other hand, in a smaller store, has new stuff every month, incl. sf&f.
mark
Ohh, the pain! Now they won't be able to get 1.2M photos, and it'll be *so* much harder to read and click on spam, viruses and trojans....
mark, thunderbird, PLAIN TEXT ONLY, like this post
For a simple reason: THE HUMAN EYE CAN ONLY DISTINGUISH AROUND 5M SHADES.
You can't *see* the 16M that 24 bit color delivers, stupid.
mark "and, btw, I have this subatomic pet dog, sorry, you can't even
see him with an electron microscope, just take my word for it
that he's there. Isn't he *kewl*?!"
Corporate names elided....
.1 mi to my cube). Although most of us were from elsewhere (including the Canadians), with families elsewhere, we also had *no* 'Net access at work (oh! one consultant took advantage of it!).
In the mid-nineties, I worked for a now-swallowed Baby Bell in the midwest, in what was going to be their entry in the long-distance sweepstakes. Upper management's lack of planning, and an "architecture" team that gave Promulgations to all the other teams, resulted in most of us doing regular days of 9-9.5 hours, and a heavy dose of 10, 12, and occasional 16 hour days. (One young consultant once put in, and I am neither making this up nor exaggerating), 119 hours one week. He was working for another consulting company than Andersen within a year....)
The first half of '06, I worked for a home improvement place, which shall remain nameless, but was neither Home Depot nor Menard's, in the middle of nowhere, NC. 95 mi. to the airport in Charlotte... and consultants a) had to enter from the main entrance, not any of the side entrances (and the company had literally take over a large mall - it was, measured, just under
Oh, yes, Real Employees had a normal 8x8 cube. Consultants had to *share* one. Coming soon, the old Dilbert bit about Velcro (tm) on our backs, and put us on the wall....
mark, whose last manager "bragged" that he had a stack of pre-signed forms
that anyone could snag to complain about harassment by him (what
do you expect, he was a Texas Aggie )
That's all I have to say. There's a *lot* that could be done... but there is *no* power source capable of being small enough to do this.
mark "until I find Metal X and build an exciter...."