301–310 of 410 posts
I mean, if I were asking myself "why did we fail to achieve our expected growth potential", am I going to blame the people who did what I told them to do, or am I going to blame what I told them to do?
Well, clearly, if I'm an MBA, I'll blame the stupid proles.
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The purpose of language is communication. Did you understand what melvinmt meant? Yes, of course you did. What's the big deal? What are you gaining by "correcting" a pointless[1] semantic distinction, other than your own smug satisfaction? [1]: Yes, it's pointless. Why is there no such distinction for "more"?
He was just giving a tip. Your "smug satisfaction" view is in your mind. I would want to know if I was misusing a word.
> The world needs a strong Twitter Really? Does it? I think Twitter needs a strong Twitter, shareholders need a strong Twitter even Twitter employees need it. However the world is, at best, ambivalent about Twitter, if it disappeared tomorrow a replacement would spring up within a few weeks if the world really needed a way to shotgun their messages into the ether.
The world was arguably better when the options were IRC or Usenet.
There are some things where the combination of public, easy to use, short, sms friendly are a big plus for some things. Not that twitter is the only one doing these things or that they couldn't be built on ICR.
> Emails like this are usually riddled with corporate speak so I'm going to give it to you straight. I tried rewriting his email to live up to this promise: - - - Team, We're cutting our workforce to strengthen Twitter as a company. The team has been deciding how to best streamline Twitter, Vine, and Periscope to put their focus on the projects which will have the greatest impact. Moments, which we launched last week…
Everyone should take note of this person's excellent structure: he put the decision first. If you are writing a decisive message that can greatly impact many people's lives: write the decision first. Don't "sandwich" the truth. Sandwiching only makes sense when the decision or the mistake is not of huge significance. Beating around the bush in matters of great import will always harm the sincerity of your words. Afte…
I'm sure the guys being laid off appreciate their boss' rhetorical prowess.
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"Anymore" is just a word used to mean "now" anymore. (I kid, but seriously, I've searched for analysis on the use of the word 'anymore' in the positive (eg, as something other than part of a 'not...anymore' clause) and haven't been able to find anything. Any links would be appreciated, I am legitimately curious as to when and how this became a thing).
Ranks right up there with 'infer' for 'imply' in usage changes which I will go to my grave hearing foremost as a brazen signal of incomplete education. Kids: do not use either if you care about the judgment of your elders. Bonus protip: until you vest, you should care.
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Sure, I don't think anyone claimed otherwise. Pulling your repo access without notification isn't exactly what most people would view as, "parting ways with 'the utmost respect for each and every person'".
This is like being escorted out of the office. You no longer have access to company resources. Why does this seem so foreign? Why would repo access still be needed?
Why would repo access be terminated without prior notification?
The only topic here is how this behavior deviates from how Twitter claimed it would handle itself.
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I'll admit that I have no basis for this number, but I would expect them to layoff 20 - 25%. 10% is a high number, but not for a company that has never made a profit and is currently hemorrhaging money.
This could just be round 1.
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Quality engineers and dead weight are not exclusive. Great people who are burnt out and unmotivated become dead weight to a company. When planning layoffs, it's normal to put people who are checked out, coasting, and/or clearly planning their next move at the top of the list. That doesn't mean they are not high quality professionals.
And at some places, the people who get laid off are the people who aren't friends with the right people in management. It has nothing to do with dead weight. I have seen this exact thing happen in a company I used to work for. It was the catalyst that made me look for another job. I'm not saying this is the case with Twitter, I don't know anything about Twitter as a company.
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You're suggesting we revert to Chaucer's English because linguistic drift is bad? I'm as much a hater of overuse of jargon as the next person, but for his intended audience I don't think this is an example of that. If one doesn't know what any of those words mean, then "Hello, welcome to Hacker News."
No, it's simpler English. It's not trying to put artificial distance between speaker and audience. There is a power component to these language queues. It's like the difference between legalese and regular English.