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“Facebook turned me down” (2009)

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Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#181

Post by NAFV_P »

varenc wrote: post #163
NAFV_P wrote: post #141

Ask Threaders: What code does Zuckerberg write? I've seen the film and googled "mark zuckerberg". From what I gather, he did some programming in Atari BASIC, and he's just another perl hacker. Common sense would conclude that he is multi-lingual (yeah, I'm aware he was rusty a year or two ago), but does anyone know any specifics?

PHP...

So no, I don’t think it is deliberate that PHP gets very little press. PHP is about as exciting as your toothbrush. You use it every day, it does the job, it is a simple tool, so what? Who would want to read about toothbrushes?

Rasmus Lerdorf, http://www.sitepoint.com/phps-creator-rasmus-lerdorf/2/

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#182

Post by jonny_eh »

nicholas73 wrote: post #162
jonny_eh wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in SV with an H1B. I'm not from a third world country though, I'm from Canada. Even if I was from Africa or Asia, so what? If goods can easily cross borders these days, why not people?

If the government doesn't want to protect my interests, fine. Don't take my taxes either.

But it is in your interest to allow people to cross borders. In many ways.

Here's one: What if you wanted to move to another country? Don't assume that everything will always be going super great in your current country. Other countries will be more likely to accept you if your current country accepts citizen of the other country. Free trade!

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#183

Post by oscargrouch »

alexeisadeski3 wrote: post #109
oscargrouch wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats good.. because stereotypes for people are a stupid thing.. human beings will break all of them.. Someday it will be a elderly woman, a kid, etc.. The Ocidental culture has a severe problem dealing with the impermanence and the unpredictable.. we need to get over it.. more zen-budhism, please?! :)

Last I checked, Buddhism was a caste religion.

Since people addressed your inaccurate observation.. let me explain my comment better..

The Ocidental culture has a collective neurosis toward objectivism (eg. Kant, Descartes ...) and trying to measure and antecipate everything, and put everything under control, because of its constant fear in dealing with the uncertainty in life.. which is unavoidable..

I have cited buddhism, because its a great philosophical umbrella for subjectivism and uncertainty.. a medicine we need badly over here.. given(over-objectivism) its a common root for a lot of stupid reasoning.. so that was really what i was talking about

Note: I have a ocidental tradition

Note II: Objectivism can be great when used in the right way (lead invention of Calculus, Computers..) but can be a poison if used everywhere

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#184

Post by gohrt »

marvin wrote: post #124
kkowalczyk wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he was hired by Facebook, he wouldn't have (co)developed WhatsApp. If Facebook hired him, he would most likely be worth (to Facebook) as much as any other random Facebook programmer. Unless he's the one who started WhatsApp, it would have been developed and successful anyway and Facebook would have to buy it for the same amount of money. The reality is that product/market fit is much more powerful force than progr…

I think the real issue is that when Facebook didn't hire him, he went on to found a competing company which Facebook felt compelled to pay 16 billion for. That's a big cost.

If FB hired him, then one of the other N messaging apps would have become the biggest one, and Facebook would have bought that company.

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#185

Post by gohrt »

kamaal wrote: post #93
waterlesscloud wrote: post #8

Turns out false negatives can be pretty costly too, it seems.

This makes a perfect HR case study. Do you test a person's ability to mug up algorithm puzzles? Or Do you test a person's ability to build a $16 billion company? Sounds like the latter is a more result oriented goal.

> Do you test a person's ability to build a $16 billion company?

This is called "being a VC"

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#186

Post by gohrt »

datawander wrote: post #44
ghshephard wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatsapp may be many things, but one thing it isn't is a "quick sale" - it's something of lasting and useful value. I'm willing to wager 5 years from now, Whatsapp will still have a significant portion of the world's messaging traffic.

Wasn't criticizing the sale at all (edited to clarify tone), just found it interestingly related. I use it myself, but not sure about the 5 years wager. One of the main reasons quite a few people I know use it is precisely because it wasn't Facebook. My bet is FB guts it and tries to {force, gently-push} everyone to switch to their well-designed app. But the FB app is probably too bandwidth-hungry for most WhatsApp u…

> My bet is FB guts it and tries to {force, gently-push} everyone to switch to their well-designed app.

http://instagram.com Ctrl-F Facebook

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#187

Post by gohrt »

datawander wrote: post #44
ghshephard wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatsapp may be many things, but one thing it isn't is a "quick sale" - it's something of lasting and useful value. I'm willing to wager 5 years from now, Whatsapp will still have a significant portion of the world's messaging traffic.

Wasn't criticizing the sale at all (edited to clarify tone), just found it interestingly related. I use it myself, but not sure about the 5 years wager. One of the main reasons quite a few people I know use it is precisely because it wasn't Facebook. My bet is FB guts it and tries to {force, gently-push} everyone to switch to their well-designed app. But the FB app is probably too bandwidth-hungry for most WhatsApp u…

> My bet is FB guts it and tries to {force, gently-push} everyone to switch to their well-designed app.

http://instagram.com Ctrl-F Facebook

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#188

Post by chongli »

michaelt wrote: post #122
JamesArgo wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, how awful it would be for America if the world's brightest become citizens.

I'm all for the best and brightest becoming citizens, but we should offer visas for the most in-demand, high salary professions first. We can tell from salaries that the shortage of CEOs, lawyers and hedge fund managers is much more acute than the shortage of programmers and engineers.

I don't know about lawyers and hedge fund managers but CEOs are able to manipulate their own pay and avoid accountability due to their position of power within a company. The labour market has no bearing on someone who effectively writes their own paycheck.

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#189

Post by blueskin_ »

matwood wrote: post #142
a_bonobo wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could see it as a badge of honor that Google or another large company, which purportedly hires only the best of the best, deemed you worthy of an interview. The mere fact that you have been considered for a position might raise your standing with potential employers [citation needed].

Honestly, Google calls me regularly wanting to set up an interview and I'm no one special. I just view it as the market really is getting tight for talent.

I got an email from them last week about a job. I realise it's almost certainly a mass form email, but I was surprised, as I'm not someone people will have heard of; I work for a small software company and my name is on zero well known projects. I'm good at what I do, but not magical or anything.

It was in Switzerland though, and I'm not, my ethical qualms about working for Google aside (and I know I wouldn't be hired as I could never bring myself to lie about their privacy invasion, Google Glass being a stupid idea, Google+ being hideously invasive and useless, etc.).

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#190

Post by blueskin_ »

herokusaki wrote: post #105
chadillac wrote: post #15

Turned me down in 07' after a handful of phone interviews, flying me across the country, and 8 hours of in person interviews with 3 separate departments... but not before I got their CTO so shitfaced drunk he botched a 2AM code push to production and helped convince Zuckerbergs little sister into riding a mechanical bull. I regret nothing. edit: Worth noting I was a 22 year old self taught programmer that hadn't expe…

> he botched a 2AM code push to production I have come to think that pushing code to production when your person is noticeably compromised in some way should be prevented thorough technical means. Perhaps a CAPTCHA is an acceptable solution (which probably should also get more difficult the later the hour).

USB breathalyser?
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