61–70 of 183 posts
> Only the previous week, he says, he returned from a 10-day trip to Italy’s Amalfi Coast We really need to start CO2 emissions from flying / day of vacation, because 10 days to Italy is really ridiculous.
assuming you plan to return does it matter if the trip is 1 day, 10 days, 100 days? you still have two flights.
Other commenters may be dismissing this article as obvious, but silicon valley does have a problem, particularly in young, hip startups. These companies want to hire young, hip people, and when products being produced are very vague with no clear market, then things like image matter a lot. Juicero, comes to mind. That's fine, you don't have to work there. However, as you get older, develop wrinkles and grey hair, th…
Not only do they only want to hire those types, but I've been in plenty of rooms where the stereotypical young engineer outright refuses to acknowledge the older people in the room, as if they're beneath him/her. They have no respect for that person's opinion, and therefore show zero respect to that person. We've all been in rooms where someone misses the point, or says something that proves they're not keeping up wi…
Other commenters may be dismissing this article as obvious, but silicon valley does have a problem, particularly in young, hip startups. These companies want to hire young, hip people, and when products being produced are very vague with no clear market, then things like image matter a lot. Juicero, comes to mind. That's fine, you don't have to work there. However, as you get older, develop wrinkles and grey hair, th…
What works for me is to come across as an OG hacker and stay up to date on whatever the hot tech is. I'm also as immature as ever and have a pretty good command of dank memes, which I think helps more than people want to admit. I'll follow the culture wherever it goes, the same as I have since I was a teenager.
I just always try to expose myself to everything so I know what's going on, from 4chan to reddit to HN to NPR to Fox News. IMO cultural awareness is the key to appearing "young", even if your physical appearance is older.
> Only the previous week, he says, he returned from a 10-day trip to Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Before that, he boasts, he journeyed to a yoga retreat and juice cleanse in Bali, the perfect setting to unload the stress he absorbs working at a well-known tech company in Silicon Valley. After ending a five-year marriage and shedding 10 pounds of subcutaneous fat several years back — his sun-kissed body now carb- and toxin-f…
East coast journalism has a fetish for hating and describing SV engineers in the worst possible ways.
Attractiveness has always affected opportunities afforded to people and other people’s perceptions of you. This is not just in tech. Hell, it influences elections! This is just human nature and has been studied extensively. It’s just trendy to bash Silicon Valley for this, because, you know, everyone on Wall Street is wearing suits for the comfort factor... However, I think there’s an upper bounds on where that matte…
More comfortable, I dare say, than the casual attire I must wear when working for west coast tech companies, lest I not conform to west coast tech company expectations. T-shirts and hoodies lose their charm when they start to feel like a requirement. Nice silk suit trousers feel nicer than blue-jeans, if they fit well they feel as nice as pajamas, but the looks you get in a west coast tech offices when you wear such clothing are withering.
> Only the previous week, he says, he returned from a 10-day trip to Italy’s Amalfi Coast We really need to start CO2 emissions from flying / day of vacation, because 10 days to Italy is really ridiculous.
How about four days in Nepal for a wedding, from California, because "status"
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You would have thought when you're engineer you'd only be judged based on your technical skills, your work output, performance, efficiency, ideas, design etc. Most of my team is remote so for all I know they're just those things I listed above, and a voice and a pixelated set of images Google hangouts show me. It's devastating that people still need to be discriminated in this industry.
Your list has one glaring exclusion: social skills. If you're a brilliant programmer, but an asshole and proud of it (or unaware of it), then yes, you will not get far on your skills alone. Whether we like it or not, we are all part of a society, and those who choose to rebel against that, well, that's thier choice and accept the consequences. (Follow up: you can't really hide behind remote work if you lack social sk…
> Only the previous week, he says, he returned from a 10-day trip to Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Before that, he boasts, he journeyed to a yoga retreat and juice cleanse in Bali, the perfect setting to unload the stress he absorbs working at a well-known tech company in Silicon Valley. After ending a five-year marriage and shedding 10 pounds of subcutaneous fat several years back — his sun-kissed body now carb- and toxin-f…
I'd guess this is a bit of a West coast thing. I've known quite a few health obsessed engineers here. I myself was very fit and usually tan, at least in summer, until I found myself a lot more other serious life responsibilities.
Thats the case with me at least ... not much time for sport anymore.