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A Silicon Valley Dream Collapses in Allegations of Fraud

nytimes.com

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Re: A Silicon Valley Dream Collapses in Allegations of Fraud

#141

Post by cardinal2007 »

tsunamifury wrote: post #48
marvindanig wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lawlessness, scams, and dishonesty are endemic in this area. And homelessness. I was disappointed to see hundreds of helpless homeless people, some in horrible mental state, right there on streets in the middle of huge ivory towers that SV thumps its chest on. It's such a shame! And with young kids coming out of those glass doors flashing gadgets and gizmos at each other, with that certain bay area flair … I mean t…

You can judge, but SF goes further than any city I've seen to provide services to the homeless. So much so that it's a mild weather Mecca to many. So you can turn up your nose and go back home to a city that likely ships them here or "takes care of it" so you don't see it -- but you are being naive. The poor will always be with us, and we are judged by how we treat them.

Admittedly the poster's complaint was about Silicon Valley, not SF.

I have looked at the homelessness statistics in Silicon Valley and the vast majority here actually lived here before becoming homeless. You don't usually see homeless people in most of the valley because they tend to stay out of sight by the creeks or other out of the way areas, but you do see them in downtown San Jose and to a lesser extent downtown Palo Alto.

I don't know the budget for homeless spending down here in Silicon Valley, but I doubt it is that high.

Re: A Silicon Valley Dream Collapses in Allegations of Fraud

#142

Post by lemonghost »

wrong_variable wrote: post #9

I have some issues with this sort of doxxing. In fact unless a court decision is made I think it technically unfair to the company and their employee the way the mob has brought out their pichfork. We have only heard the story from one person - and it makes the company and its CEO look like Satan's spawns - which in my experience never is 100% true. Having said that, I am always a little unnerved browsing LinkedIn -…

I don't think that naming the name of the company involved was doxxing. I think of doxxing as getting personal information to use in coordinated harassment of an individual. To the degree that occurred, I think it's unfortunate. (And I imagine it did occur).

I found Penny's story very believable and felt really bad for many of the individuals involved (the H1-B workers most of all). There was probably a lot of professional pressure on Penny not to be seen as a troublemaker and not to name the company's name. There is a definite information asymmetry between management and workers and I feel like wrkriot was using that to exploit their employee's trust.

It seems fair to out them for that so they can't just change their name and do it again (which was clearly a pattern). Had they not been mostly a fraud, they might have been able to provide a reasonable defense against the story. Had the fraud continued, in order to protect innocent employees, it most likely would have just hurt more people.

It's definitely not black and white but I don't think we harassed them out of business either. It was definitely all about to fall apart regardless.

Re: A Silicon Valley Dream Collapses in Allegations of Fraud

#143

Post by tripzilch »

SEJeff wrote: post #26

This reminds me of my last job, where the karma gods smiled upon me and not so much for another guy. I've always written my resume somewhat uniquely for SEO[1] and happen to work quite heavily in the Linux space. At the time several years ago, my resume was on the first or second page google search results for something along the lines of "linux system administrator" and variations. The stars must have aligned as som…

I don't quite understand the other replies, or maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think you did wrong except maybe not kicking him out your office sooner. Since when is it okay to lie on your resume? Seriously, is that a cultural thing maybe? IMO, it's fine to word things so that they sound more impressive (also, many people would understate their real achievements otherwise), but to state actual untruths, falsehoods in your resume?

I'd say that's when the interview is over. What are you thinking, "well they may have proven to be untrustworthy and willing to lie to my face, but hey let's continue the interview and see if they have any redeeming qualities to make up for it".

I'd have asked them a few short low-ball questions about those three lines (just to have them dig a whole with some vague answers). Then confront them with the original, watch/enjoy the reaction for a short moment, and calmly tell them to get out of my office. No need to waste much more time on it than that.

Or are people suggesting that, maybe, this candidate might just actually have had experience with projects fitting those exact three descriptions, and merely Googled and copied the wording for its eloquence? Which would be plagiarism but not quite outright dishonesty. Kind of. Also I wouldn't believe it for a minute.

Re: A Silicon Valley Dream Collapses in Allegations of Fraud

#144

Post by DanBC »

tripzilch wrote: post #143
SEJeff wrote: post #26

This reminds me of my last job, where the karma gods smiled upon me and not so much for another guy. I've always written my resume somewhat uniquely for SEO[1] and happen to work quite heavily in the Linux space. At the time several years ago, my resume was on the first or second page google search results for something along the lines of "linux system administrator" and variations. The stars must have aligned as som…

I don't quite understand the other replies, or maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think you did wrong except maybe not kicking him out your office sooner. Since when is it okay to lie on your resume? Seriously, is that a cultural thing maybe? IMO, it's fine to word things so that they sound more impressive (also, many people would understate their real achievements otherwise), but to state actual untruths, fals…

No-one cares about not hiring a liar, or about calling that person a liar. People care about the needlessly provocative way it was done.

Re: A Silicon Valley Dream Collapses in Allegations of Fraud

#145

Post by hueving »

gfaure wrote: post #113
hueving wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's because the government has failed them in the past in its attempts to help. No, this is incorrect. If someone continues to choose getting high over help, it has very little to do with the government failing them. Additionally, homeless people with mental disorders that make them paranoid or forgetful can refuse it regardless of past experiences. >it's probably not because they actively want to live an unstable,…

I would disagree. If someone chooses to choose getting high over getting help, it's a failure of drug policy in that country. The government has still failed them, you may just be blind to how. This is not the only way a country has to be.

Show me the government that only governs people without addictions. What you're saying is absurd. Proclivity to addiction is affected by DNA. So you either have to imprison them so they can't have what they want, or deal with the fact that you will have some drug addicts.
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