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Pixels Don’t Care (2013)

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Re: Pixels Don’t Care (2013)

#41

Post by stdbrouw »

ben_w wrote: post #39
nailer wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly do not think most of us could. I hand out with three groups of people: geeks, hacks and lawyers. All of them often easily think they could easily do any other job. This includes the lawyers and journalists thinking that making software is easy. Based on that, I think we're as deluded as they are.

Agreed. I know that "fudiciary duty" is a thing, but not what it involves. There are laws about accounting standards, but I can't even say what standard accountants need to rech to know those standards. I only found put a year ago that, in the UK, the (director?) of a Limited company can become personally liable for company debts if they trade while insolvent. Import and export laws? Nope. Which parts of an employmen…

But that's not what people mean when they say they could run a Fortune 500 company if given the chance. All of the things you list are things that are easily learned, the bigger question is whether in addition to that knowledge the CEOs of big companies have any particular character traits, unique skills or business insights or not.

Re: Pixels Don’t Care (2013)

#42

Post by Kenji »

aj7 wrote: post #7

That's great Kyle. I once worked for a German laser company where promotions to the highest positions were based mainly on physical height.

Bloody hell. What? Did that company do well? Is sounds like this promotion scheme is a fast way to bankruptcy.

Re: Pixels Don’t Care (2013)

#44

Post by mistercow »

matt4077 wrote: post #26
mistercow wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, this is the main argument for privacy. When I hear people say "I've got nothing to hide, so I've got nothing to fear", I immediately think "Well aren't you lucky?" Having nothing to hide is a privilege, but the weird thing about that mentality is that I think very few people actually have that privilege. How many people, for example, would not be negatively impacted if the text conversations around their last…

I've thought about, and used, two possibly opposing, strategies to make life easier for others: (a) Insist on privacy especially when you have "nothing to hide". I once refused to send a photo with an application (which is still a thing with the really slow-to-adapt companies in my country). I'm square in the majority in any characteristic a photo may reveal, but I was hoping to give some cover to those who don't wan…

It's interesting that your two strategies are apparently opposed to each other, but I guess the distinguishing feature is that you reveal things that might disadvantage you, and hide things that wouldn't.

Re: Pixels Don’t Care (2013)

#45

Post by libeclipse »

I've experienced this too, not the discrimination in work, but the realisation that on the internet no one cares about anything but your work.

I've been a part of a lot of different communities. Hell, when I was a kid in a MW2 clan on the internet, no one there cared about anything but skill in the game. In programming and hacking communities, no one cared about anything but skill either.

It's a brilliant place you know. On the internet, you can be whoever you want to be and it doesn't matter.

Re: Pixels Don’t Care (2013)

#46

Post by simonhamp »

shubhamjain wrote: post #33

As an amateur programmer and a part-time freelancer, I didn't have a slightest clue about the value of my work. It was only 5-6 years back when I gladly did small gigs on Want-to-Hire forums for tens of dollars. One particular gig was about scrapping data from a car sales website which I completed for $30 (should have cost at least 10x). The client discussed about the possibility of converting the phone numbers, whic…

Whilst I've probably been in a similar situation at some point or another in my past (albeit in the UK), and can very much sympathise with your story, I can't possibly agree with your final premise.

Ruthlessness is not what makes for a happy work life.

You absolutely should call out the thankless and unappreciative! Perhaps they really are just poorly informed about how long things take or the knowledge that makes it possible (however unlikely)... that's still no excuse.

And to "treat others as they treat you" is a slippery slope that can quickly get you a bad reputation.

Don't be afraid to do things differently, you will be happier for it.

Re: Pixels Don’t Care (2013)

#47

Post by Asooka »

alexchamberlain wrote: post #14
EGreg wrote: post #9

And this is why I think fulltime employment is the wrong way to go for many people today. In fact the whole "we are an institution and you are a peon" mentality needs to be disrupted. More companies should hire on a project basis and share the revenues. More companies should try holacracy and abolish a top down chain of command for everything. Then people can really will be compensated on their merit, ie their contri…

To be honest, I don't like the Qbix Compensation Model. One reason to work for someone else is that they are taking the risk. Within reason, no matter what I do at work, I'll get paid the same at the end of the month. Yes, there is the risk the company could go out of business (a form of job security I guess), and yes, I would expect a fair annual review, but ultimately, I'm able to plan in the medium term for a cons…

What if we had stronger unemployment benefits and some form of UBI? I.e. if you take a risky job, the government insures some part of your pay (e.g. up to 2000$/mo), and if everything tanks you can still fall on a UBI and pay the bills and buy food.

Re: Pixels Don’t Care (2013)

#50

Post by bjourne »

dhruvkar wrote: post #29

I'm going to be downvoted for this. While privacy is important, and a meritocracy is, well, meritocratic, these systems weren't formed overnight, and aren't even necessarily accepted as 'right' in many parts of the world. Historically, social barriers (e.g. discrimination against short people) are changed through exposure, discussion and sometimes fighting. Writing a post like this is only part of the answer. Taking…

I don't understand what your point is. Is it that Kyle Neath should take a stronger role in the fight against (height/age/gender/race/....) discrimination? It is probably hard because if you are working full-time as a software dev, you don't have much time to also lead a social struggle.
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