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Staying with the US Digital Service

mattcutts.com

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Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#151

Post by hydrogen18 »

davidmr wrote: post #146
hydrogen18 wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As opposed to what, conducting surveillance on basically every citizen in the nation? That was just dandy. But a Muslim registry, now you're going to get all uppity about that?

I'm confused. How did the USDS conduct surveillance on basically every citizen in the nation, or are you painting every US gov't employee with a very, very broad brush?

learc83 used the term "the government" in his post. I would not say that every US government employee is personally responsible for the current surveillance state. But when someone suggest "the government" is about to cross the line, it reeks of bullshit.

"The government" (our government in my case) has crossed the line so many times on so many different issues. The citizens never did anything. If the federal government built camps and starting rounding up Muslims or any group, we would do nothing tangible. There would be all sorts of racket made about it, but nothing would come of it. Any suggestion otherwise is just an attempt to bait some sort of discussion that Donald Trump is either the second coming of Adolf Hitler or the herald of the apocalypse. I don't like the man in any way. But where we all these people when Barack Obama decided he had the authority to execute US citizens?

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#152

Post by throwaway942024 »

verst wrote: post #18

Congrats Matt. It was a pleasure to meet you at the USDS ice cream social last fall. Today was my last day at 18F. I'm returning to private sector, for now. I'm proud of what we accomplished in building cloud.gov. I think 2017 will be a big year for the platform.

Why are you leaving 18F if you don't mind my asking?

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#153

Post by throwaway942024 »

thisnotmyacc wrote: post #128
thogenhaven wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a good article about it here: https://backchannel.com/the-final-days-of-obamas-tech-surge-... "I also spoke to a number of former team members. Publicly, almost all of them expressed optimism that the work would continue: The transition was proceeding cordially, the efforts to reform government IT were bipartisan, and Congress would back their efforts, which had already saved money for taxpayers and delivere…

> But lurking behind every statement was an existential dread That sums up the mood in the media: existential dread.Not real. Not tangible. Not verifiable. Existential. I doubt the Donald is going to mess with making the awful process of dealing with government easier. Existential is non-tangible for a reason I guess.

That's not what "existential dread" means.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#154

Post by shostack »

danso wrote: post #43
jbapple wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Without getting into weeds too much, there's lots of good work happening to make it easy to join the federal government or enlist in the military. Why is it good to make it easy to enlist in the military?

We have a volunteer corps. For a lot of people, the military is one of the best job options as it also offers paid education via the G.I. Bill.

>"the military is one of the best job options"

That seems like a problem in and of itself, and certainly a more pressing one.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#155

Post by probablybanned »

eragoins wrote: post #33
general_ai wrote: post #30

Great to see there are actual adults ready to take a pay cut and serve the country in spite of maybe not getting the president they like. Far too many people have fallen victim to feigned outrage and pearl clutching, and excluded themselves from the conversation completely. That's not how you effect change, folks. _This_ is how you do it. You go out there and put in the hard work.

Just wondering if you would say the same of people protesting in Hong Kong, Russia, or Saudi Arabia. Should they also "act like adults" and "go out there and put in the hard work?" Depending on a person's life experiences, it causes them to draw the line at different places. So I don't think it's fair to say those people display "feigned outrage and pearl clutching," while _this_ specific way is the adult way.

I would say the same things if they were merely pitching a fit about being on the losing side of a free and fair election!

You've got one thing right, which is that not all of the outrage is feigned, and some peoples view of the world is so distorted that they would place their "struggle" under Western democracies with that of the some of the most oppressive societies on Earth.

Of course they're completely mistaken, and you try to cover for this cognitive failure with this feeble argument from "life experience" which can be used to justify nearly any kind of ridiculous behavior. Think about it: Our experience of the world is fundamentally subjective, so who are we to say that one way of acting is better than another? Fine, enjoy your postmodern intellectual paralysis if you want but I'm not playing that game.

The facts are what they are, and Donald J Trump may be a formidable political opponent but he's not the god damn Chinese Communist Party.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#156

Post by artimaeis »

hydrogen18 wrote: post #151
davidmr wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused. How did the USDS conduct surveillance on basically every citizen in the nation, or are you painting every US gov't employee with a very, very broad brush?

learc83 used the term "the government" in his post. I would not say that every US government employee is personally responsible for the current surveillance state. But when someone suggest "the government" is about to cross the line, it reeks of bullshit. "The government" (our government in my case) has crossed the line so many times on so many different issues. The citizens never did anything. If the federal governm…

> "The citizens never did anything"

Snowden pulled the veil on many issues similar to what you're referring to. I'm fairly certain he was a citizen at the time. I'd reference Chelsea Manning, because she acted as a citizen when betraying her oath to the military. I could see arguments against that, though.

The government came down hard on both these individuals. It's a damn shame. And please don't take this to be a pro-oppressive-government stance. I'm simply saying that citizens did do something. And every day there are citizens working in thousands of government jobs across the country trying to make the right decision. There's no reason to slight them.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#157

Post by shostack »

dkhenry wrote: post #135
throwaway9865 wrote: post #71

Hi Looking at the salary and that I'm in Baltimore making $135k as Sr. UI/UXer (designing/coding sites apps for Govt agencies) I'm not sure the salary range of up to $163k would be worth it. That's probably not for UI/UXers or is it? My rent here in Baltimore with utilities is 2k ... if I moved to D.C. A lot of the additional salary would be absorbed by the doubling or tripling my cost of rent. Thus I wonder why remo…

I understand your feeling, and even if you could get to the 163k pay rate (which you might not) you would be looking at a different lifestyle. Its important to go into the process knowing that a Job at the USDS isn't going to make the most financial sense, many people have turned down packages many multiples of 163k for the opportunity to make a difference on a scale that people would only dream about. If your not ex…

Does that fact tend to "filter out" those who are not young and unencumbered by financial obligations like mortgages and families or those who are well off?

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#158

Post by X86BSD »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #39
spoon16 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the USDS project selection criteria is that we prioritize work that based on what will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the greatest need. I do not believe a Muslim Registry does any good for anyone. Being involved in building one would require formally changing our values which would be visible to everyone in USDS. Disclaimer: personal opinion, I am currently serving on a USDS team, m…

> One of the USDS project selection criteria is that we prioritize work that based on what will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the greatest need The USDS is a taxpayer-funded public entity. The "greatest good..." is determined by the law, written by our duly elected representatives. You don't get to serve the public and selectively reject the law. If the Congress passes a law you disagree w…

"You don't get to serve the public and selectively reject the law."

1. Jury nullification.

2. Police discretionary powers.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#159

Post by ocdtrekkie »

eddieroger wrote: post #131
easychewie wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> First I'll add the disclaimer that this is my personal opinion. I'm not speaking for anyone other than myself. And there it is. One of many reasons I'll never work for the government again. The government is so PC-sensitive that dude can't even post on HN without a mildly disguised form of legalese. When I was in the Air Force, everything I said had to be prefaced with The views expressed in this article are those…

You're pretty lucky to have never been in a position where you could be misconstrued as speaking for your employer, regardless of who they are. The Internet has basically neutralized the PR departments of any organization, governmental or otherwise, that wishes to control a message. CEOs tweeting about a bad day could have actual financial impacts. In this case, Matt doesn't speak for the USDS or the United States Go…

I am honestly curious if the powers that be at Google who made that decision would still say it was a good idea to do so. Obviously they saved some money since it was unprofitable to operate, pushing people off RSS readers may have improved ad revenue, etc. But of all the product shutdowns that have happened at Google, none has come back to haunt Google more after the fact as Reader.

I wonder, in retrospect, if causing that backlash would still not be seen as a mistake.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#160

Post by ganley »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #9
Matt_Cutts wrote: post #2

Let me know if folks have any questions, but I left Google on Dec. 31, 2016.

No questions, just a compliment. After going through the USDS interview process and declining an offer, I have nothing but appreciation for those who serve there knowing what's involved to be selected, onboarded, and what the day to day looks like. Best of luck as your journey there continues.

Totally agree. I'm inspired by what they do, but working there would involve a big pay cut and a punishing commute, so (with some sadness) nope.
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