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Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

qword.net

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Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#101
post #88
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You don’t get rewarded for being extra. 100% true. Our salary, barring real (not manufactured) fires, should be for 40h/week. Any more is free work not compensated for. > You don’t get any money when you save costs. There is no equity for doing significant tasks. The common area here is automation. I automate, but don't share. I would never get compensated appropriately, so I save my time in lieu of money. > You’re…

> And our only real change is to find yet another slaver, oh I mean capitalist to work for. Can we please tone down the rhetoric? This is quite disrespectful to the millions who suffered through actual slavery.

Is it? Todays chains may be less visible and the crack of the whip is mostly silent... but its slavery nonetheless

Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#102

My eyes really opened to this during the pandemic and its aftermath. Working from home I did almost nothing productive. Got paid the same. Returning to the office, I noticed half the people still seemed to be working from home most days, so I started doing that too. And did almost nothing productive. Nobody apparently noticed or cared. Got paid the same. Got the same raise (yes, below inflation). So now I have given…

This just means that your line manager, whose role it is to ensure all resources under them are working at efficient capacity, is not doing his/her job. And in turn neither is his manager.

I think this assumes managers (or anyone else for that matter) are able to actually quantify productivity.

Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#103

The quote at the end of the article really sums up my feelings: > “I think the real answer, the real answer […] this is going to sound weird or bad – is to cajole or trick your employees into thinking that what they’re doing is important.” Basically I like to fix things at work because I get some sense of satisfaction by doing things the "right way". Of course this feeling can be worn down, other coworkers not caring…

It could be improved into "make sure your employees enjoy their work".

Working at the same companies, the quality of my code varied wildly based on how enjoyable that particular project was. Not just the task itself, but also whether the deadlines were reasonable, the stakeholders were nice to talk to (or the PM kept them away from me if they weren't), etc.

Of course, sometimes you will have some flat-out unpleasant work that needs to be done anyway. In that case, boosting the employee's ego is the only away they are going to get any satisfaction out of putting effort into the task. But it should be a last resort, not the default.

Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#104
I worked for a startup from 2015 to 2022.

From 2015 to 2020, it was great. I (and most other employees) was working hard, and was consistently rewarded for my efforts.

In 2021, the company benefited from a huge boost due to the pandemic. Hiring went through the roof and the company became very performance focused. Unfortunately "performance" now meant "meeting your OKRs" and nothing else.

The company culture went through the drain. Most of the new hires were from FAANG and knew very well how to play the game. Whereas before, if you asked someone for help, they would help you, now the answer became "file a run ticket". After all, why would you spend time helping anyone? That's time not spent on your own OKRs, and that's literally the only thing that matters.

Nevertheless, I kept working hard. I was involved in multiple company initiatives, mentored new hires, still helped people when they asked for help, etc. After a year, when performance review time came, I got a "meets expectations".

I was livid, and asked my manager how that could be possible. He basically told me that he had no visibility into all the non-team initiatives I was involved in, and that it was my own fault for not making myself more visible and drafting my OKRs in a way that would have allowed him to justify why I deserved more than "meets expectations".

I refused to play the game and told my manager I was sure I could get "meets expectations" by doing a lot less. I basically slammed the door on all the side initiatives I was involved in and stopped doing anything besides "core work". I went from working 50+ hours a week to working 25-30 hours. I did not enjoy it -- I was actively miserable, and started taking steps to move on.

It took me nearly a year to leave the company (I was on a visa that did not allow me to switch jobs so had to obtain an H-1B, which took time). Another perf review came by, and lo and behold, I got "meets expectations" again.

I am so much happier in my new job, but I'm still salty about the previous company. What used to be a great company culture became a toxic, political, gamed environment.

(Oh, and of course they had a huge layoff round a few months ago. But hey, at least leadership "took responsibility" for overhiring.)

Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#105
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And our only real change is to find yet another slaver, oh I mean capitalist to work for. Can we please tone down the rhetoric? This is quite disrespectful to the millions who suffered through actual slavery.

Is it? Todays chains may be less visible and the crack of the whip is mostly silent... but its slavery nonetheless

Please. You can draw an analogy I guess, but it's not a good one and it is disrespectful.

Slaves had no choice. That is what made them slaves. You do have choice, even if you don't like your current choices.

Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#106

I think personally it's important for people to realize that people are creature of habit. A person who has the disicipline of going extra miles and strive for excellency in their work, regardless of compensation, is likely to carry his habit across different jobs or even when he decides to do his own startup or anything non-work related. I think this is such a good habit to have will prove beneficial sooner or later…

I remember a story I was told at school that made an impression on me.

A stone carver was making gargoyles for a cathedral. His apprentice noticed him carefully carving the back of them. The apprentice asked why he was doing that, since no-one would ever see the back or know. "I will know", replied the carver.

Now, that is not an argument for doing unnecessary work. I saw it as an argument for taking pride in the work you did, even if you would be the only person who knows.

Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#107

Sorry this isn't the purpose of the original article, but does anyone want to give a way secrete should be stored? Even if I use secrets manager for example, I need to store the token for fetching it so there is always a secret or token that needs to be stored. I might not store an access token, I might use user auth and get a temporary token for a script that then calls to a secret manager. The access token is cache…

Yes, a credential that expires quickly is more secure than one that expires slowly or not at all.

Anyone who compromises the short term credential only has a short window to abuse it, and then they have to get another one.

Yes, maybe its easy for them to get it again, but maybe it's not. Security is about defence in depth and risk management, not perfection.

Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#108
post #23

My eyes really opened to this during the pandemic and its aftermath. Working from home I did almost nothing productive. Got paid the same. Returning to the office, I noticed half the people still seemed to be working from home most days, so I started doing that too. And did almost nothing productive. Nobody apparently noticed or cared. Got paid the same. Got the same raise (yes, below inflation). So now I have given…

I don't think that sort of strategy can work for everyone because there's two possible negative mental outcomes in there too. First, some people will feel that they're "cheating" and don't deserve the paycheck because they're intentionally working less. That feeling can be worse than the benefit of having more time. Second, some people have too much of a sense of personal pride to do that sort of "quiet quitting". Th…

I believe you’re missing a major point that most of the benefits of the work are going to the companies. Not the workers. No one is choosing to participate in this system freely since we all need money.

We should blame capitalism for not incentivizing workers more. Not congratulate some people for being okay with not working hard for a for profit corporation.

Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#109
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get this feeling. When I get through a day where I’m not blocked on anything I feel satisfied and happy. If I have to wait half the day for someone to reply and I just watch YouTube in that time, it feels bad. Not even that I’m “cheating” but that it was just a waste of time.

Ah, when that happens for me, I keep trying to learn new things. I call it professional development. And that's served me well too. Every time I job hop, I already have that "hot new skill in demand" along with 30+% salary increase. And I don't feel bad one bit. I know that every job 'takes advantage' of me and my worth, since by definition, capitalist companies will ALWAYS keep the surplus of my labor. I will never…

What’s example of how new skill that gets you the pay bumps?

Also yes Ofc with the surplus value of labor it all makes sense.

Re: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext

#110
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The old ones where everything is behind the counter, fetched for you by the checkout clerk, to prevent shoplifting? I've seen the pictures, and I never want to go back to that kind of low-trust society. Please, I'm begging everyone who will listen: do not erode the social norms that let us have nice supermarkets. Or most other nice things.

I am more in the "do everything you can to let the big corporations die" camp... but to each their own

Decent people are in the "stealing is wrong" camp
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