Google stopping coding competitions • Hacker News Board

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#311

Post by jjoonathan » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 4:06 PM UTC

astrange wrote: post #171

jjoonathan wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's an economic vacuum that causes large companies to exist The size of these vacuums is a direct result of policy. Tax policy, liability policy, antitrust policy -- there are a dozen levers we could pull to create a corporate landscape that looks very different. But yes, with the levers in their current positions, what we see here is inevitable.

That's because large companies are good. They're easier to regulate and more productive. If you're a small company, that means you're not good enough to get big, and if you've met SMB owners they're often the most reactionary class of people.

Ha, a genuine pro-monopoly tool, in the flesh! Amazing.

Small companies require more overhead (per size) for compliance, yes, but they also have to compete with each other and they can't fight back nearly as effectively with lawyers and lobbyists.

> If you're a small company, that means you're not good enough

...at the game of monopoly, which is not a game any of us should be particularly invested in.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#312

Post by steve_adams_86 » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 4:29 PM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #305

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My problem is primarily when the restaurants use tipping as variable compensation where the minimum compensation is arguably lower than it should be. There should always be a sane minimum wage, and it seems absurd to me that there are places where 1. the minimum wage is not substantial enough to live on and 2. servers aren't entitled to it, and rely on tips to attain a wage they can survive on. As such I really do pr…

> There should always be a sane minimum wage, and it seems absurd to me that there are places where 1. the minimum wage is not substantial enough to live on and 2. servers aren't entitled to it, and rely on tips to attain a wage they can survive on. If you look into the details of those minimum wage laws that have lower minimums for tipped workers, it usually turns out that if their wage + tips turn out to be less th…

Interesting, thanks for mentioning that. I'll have to look into it – I'd never heard of this.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#313

Post by steve_adams_86 » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 4:31 PM UTC

cat_plus_plus wrote: post #261

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tip outs are better in bougie joints frequented by tech workers. This sounds a little trickle-downy. Why not strive for an economy where people doing important work like feeding their communities just... Don't need to be tipped? I know it sounds crazy in today-terms, but if it makes any sense, it makes tipping culture look like more of a problem than a boon to anyone receiving the tips.

Tips create both performance incentives and price flexibility. In Europe, where tips are not customary, attitude from service workers is much worse than US. On the other hand, it's nice for someone of modest means to treat themselves to a restaurant or hotel at a lower price. Those are pro-consumer considerations, but service workers are also consumers of many other things.

> attitude from service workers

I find it bizarre that we expect good attitude from service workers when, generally speaking, they are not working a particularly enjoyable job nor earning much for doing it. I know there are exceptions, but the bulk of service workers I encounter are probably not making bank by any means. I can't bring myself to expect them to deliver a specific attitude with my food or coffee or whatever.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#314

Post by mrguyorama » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 4:58 PM UTC

leereeves wrote: post #135

mrguyorama wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you spend a million dollars on Oracle hardware they at least give you a human being who is authorized to fix things for you and diagnose your problems. Meanwhile in google land, you can literally be bring in millions of dollars worth of advertising revenue on your channel and asking for help from your dedicated Youtube contact/representative can get your entire channel retroactively demonitized https://www.youtube…

That creator seems to have found some help eventually, because their channel isn't age-restricted now and they're still posting videos on YT.

If you watch the video, they explain how 1) none of the videos that they pulled clips from to make the highlight reel were age restricted, 2) this exact situation occurred last year, and the youtube rep assured them this was a mistake and it wouldn't happen this time, 3) the Youtube rep once again reassured them that this was absurd, 4) after reaching out to the rep and being told their complaint was being reviewed, videos that were years old suddenly became age restricted, 5) the rep apologized and explained that the new age restrictions were as intended.

This means that even if you have 2 million subscribers and a youtube rep for support, asking google for help is just as likely to ruin you as actually fix anything.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#315

Post by leereeves » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 5:44 PM UTC

mrguyorama wrote: post #314

leereeves wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That creator seems to have found some help eventually, because their channel isn't age-restricted now and they're still posting videos on YT.

If you watch the video, they explain how 1) none of the videos that they pulled clips from to make the highlight reel were age restricted, 2) this exact situation occurred last year, and the youtube rep assured them this was a mistake and it wouldn't happen this time, 3) the Youtube rep once again reassured them that this was absurd, 4) after reaching out to the rep and being told their complaint was being reviewed,…

He says "My entire channel is being age-restricted and demonetized." That's not the case now, but I don't know if he was exaggerating, he misunderstood, or YT reversed course.

In any case it didn't ruin him. He's still making videos for YT.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#316

Post by paxys » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 6:30 PM UTC

another2another wrote: post #307

hackernewds wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You gone and done it. Also JIRA is wack.

But can you actually name a competing product that does a better job? I'll admit I've not looked particularly hard, but as far as I can tell nobody has a competing product, so Atlassian basically owns the whole field at this time.

ClickUp, Monday.com, Linear, Wrike, Asana, Smartsheet, Teamwork.

There are lots of good modern alternatives to Jira. The reason people still use them is the same as why Oracle DBs are still so popular – they have a large sales team and corporate contacts, and so their products are pushed down your throat.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#317

Post by temp2022account » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 7:10 PM UTC

another2another wrote: post #307

hackernewds wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You gone and done it. Also JIRA is wack.

But can you actually name a competing product that does a better job? I'll admit I've not looked particularly hard, but as far as I can tell nobody has a competing product, so Atlassian basically owns the whole field at this time.

My whiteboard and the sticky notes it holds outperform JIRA all the time - 100% uptime, clear and obvious process flows, haven't needed a service ticket ever.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#318

Post by maximus-decimus » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 7:57 PM UTC

fenesiistvan wrote: post #310

md_ wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fifteen years ago at Microsoft, most people worked ~40 hour weeks, there were shuttles between Seattle and Redmond, a good gym on campus, and (mostly) private offices. You'd come into work at 9, wander off campus to a nearby restaurant with coworkers for a relaxing lunch at noon (granted, because the food in the cafeterias sucked and cost money), and after a bit of exercise or a nice game of racquetball at the gym, y…

Gym after lunch? :)

They clearly didn't follow the Hulk Hogan program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKkHQtmS01s&t=260s

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#319

Post by Beldin » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 8:13 PM UTC

cat_plus_plus wrote: post #261

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tip outs are better in bougie joints frequented by tech workers. This sounds a little trickle-downy. Why not strive for an economy where people doing important work like feeding their communities just... Don't need to be tipped? I know it sounds crazy in today-terms, but if it makes any sense, it makes tipping culture look like more of a problem than a boon to anyone receiving the tips.

Tips create both performance incentives and price flexibility. In Europe, where tips are not customary, attitude from service workers is much worse than US. On the other hand, it's nice for someone of modest means to treat themselves to a restaurant or hotel at a lower price. Those are pro-consumer considerations, but service workers are also consumers of many other things.

> In Europe, where tips are not customary, attitude from service workers is much worse than US.

There are cultural differences between the US and Europe, also concerning how service workers interact with and towards those they provide service.

Thus, Europeans and USA'ians could observe the same set of behaviours from EU/US service workers, and both would praise "their" worker and be appalled by the "other" worker's behaviour.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#320

Post by wizofaus » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 8:18 PM UTC

cat_plus_plus wrote: post #261

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tip outs are better in bougie joints frequented by tech workers. This sounds a little trickle-downy. Why not strive for an economy where people doing important work like feeding their communities just... Don't need to be tipped? I know it sounds crazy in today-terms, but if it makes any sense, it makes tipping culture look like more of a problem than a boon to anyone receiving the tips.

Tips create both performance incentives and price flexibility. In Europe, where tips are not customary, attitude from service workers is much worse than US. On the other hand, it's nice for someone of modest means to treat themselves to a restaurant or hotel at a lower price. Those are pro-consumer considerations, but service workers are also consumers of many other things.

The worst customer service I can ever remember observing was in the US (LA specifically). But I've had indifferent, sloppy and excellent customer service in every country I spent long enough in to observe it, and the US was the only one where not tipping is considered some sort of faux-pas by the customer.