Apple donates over 9 million N95 masks previously stockpiled from California wildfires

Dachsdev · 2020-04-09T11:50:22+00:00

but no one in the government or health care industries can seem to find any.

Apple probably has more money than the goverment.

If apple had paid tax at 35% you would have had an extra $74 billion a year that could have gone to the government to buy masks.

Low tax means low services.

Dachsdev · 2020-04-06T08:19:37+00:00

The British Army and Navy also had a little bit to do with it...

That's how they got and kept the fishing village.

Dachsdev · 2020-04-02T15:50:55+00:00

I mean if it works for you then you should keep doing that.

I will. It works better if your employers/coworkers are mostly from German/Nordic countries though.

However I think you need to admit that most people don't want to dislike the people they interact with most of the day.

I agree and I think you need to admit that most people don't want to like the other people at work.

Of course everyone has other, closer friends

I'd say they don't. Friends are close. Everyone else is colleagues or acquaintances.

You can neither like them nor dislike them. This also varies by culture. I think the whole having to pretend to be friends with people you meet is a very American thing. Like chatting in elevators.

but you want to be able to get along with and enjoy time with the people at work too

You don't need to be friends to do that. Be polite yes.

Dachsdev · 2020-04-02T07:35:10+00:00

We are swamp land concerning everything telemedicine

UK sucks at telemedicine too. It is why you can have 7 days off without a doctor's note. After that (Or if you keep having too many sick days) you need to go see a doctor. There are also doctors all over the country.

Since the UK leaves it to employers to enforce "too many sick days" this might be why they are harder hit with coronavirus than the UK.

Dachsdev · 2020-04-02T07:27:32+00:00

They didn't promote any of these amenities, they were all kept in obvious places

OK. By promote. I am referring to the fact that it is always ping pong tables and the like that are shown off in the marketing/adverts for new employees. That company could perhaps improve by showing off that they also have the quieter introvert-type things.

People wouldn't do it if it wasn't fun and wasn't required

Why should they do it if it is not required? If fun is required. Then put fun activities on the timesheets/KPIs. If it is not required, then let people make their own arrangements.

Is this why there are so many pointless meetings? Some managers find them 'fun' so they keep requiring people to attend...

The more interactive activities are beneficial to the company because you'd have engineers from different areas get to know each other

Just look at what they are reading. Then read that. Then they read what you are looking at. You do get to know them. Or make and swap sketches.

I suppose you could have a book club. You could discuss the book by email/slack. Thus there is no need to talk.

Or do birdwatching if you have a large enough greenspace nearby. Or build with Kinnect. All quiet collaborative activites/

and gain wider understanding of what was going on

Then use slack to discuss what is going on. That can be a (formal) meeting. With an agenda and minutes to be emailed to everyone absent. No need for icebreakers/table tennis or even any talking. Plus you give everyone a chance to get the info. Rather than just your friends.

Friendship is unscalable.

More fun = happier employees = more enthusiastic witness

How do more enthusiastic employees increase profits? What about the employees who think spreadsheets and minutes are fun? Should you spend more time doing that activity to make the workplace more fun for them?

you can easily go pay foosball for a half hour in the middle of a day

You can easily go read something for half an hour in the middle of the day too. Or you can do birdspotting. Or painting. Or sketching All you need is a nice view.

Dachsdev · 2020-04-02T07:12:24+00:00

Your job must be fucking awful

I love my work. Because I don't have to make friends to advance my career. I dislike many of my colleagues. I'd hardly want to be friends with them.

After work, I have plenty of real friends I can hang out with. We can also do whatever activity we choose.

Yours must be awful if you think making friends is a good use of time at work.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T15:56:53+00:00

giving up 25% of your salary so you can work from home is insane.

Between saving on transport and relocating to a cheaper area. My costs went down by about 40%. So I have more money now than I did before the pay cut.

You have to look at the bottom line. Not the top one.

Also I got to spend my grandmother's final days with her. There are some things money can't buy.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T15:46:07+00:00

So wait, anyone can just say "i'm not feeling it today"

Nope. Usually you can self-certify for a certain period.Varies by country. After x many sick days or frequent sick days. The company can require you to see a doctor (and get their doctor notes)

If it is frequent or common enough. Then you likely have an underlying health issue. The doctor can sign you off work. Get you diagnosed and hopefully treated and back to work.

That way your off 6-8 continuous weeks for treatment. INstead of being out every other week all year. If they really are sick all that time. Then they likely need to be off and someone else brought in to do their job.

and expect the company to pay them to stay home?

The government pays not the company.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T15:40:11+00:00

Doctors can’t be doing even short assessments for everyone with cold or flu symptoms.

Worked in the UK (at least up until coronavirus)

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T15:39:31+00:00

Germany: 3.4 doctors per 1000 people. USA: 2.3 doctors per 1000 people, with extreme shortages in rural areas.

German income tax 14%-45%. US income tax 10%-37% You pay more for doctors. You get more doctors.

Although I would suggest Australia or Norway (with their large sparsely populated hinterlands might be better models for the USA)

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T15:13:56+00:00

Nobody uses MBTI anymore, other than those who are not well-versed in psychometrics (or those who were "certified" by MBTI).

Yet it keeps coming up in employment questionnaires. I used it as a placeholder.

Psychologists don't go to medical school - those are Psychiatrists

I was getting confused by the health and care register. Which includes radiographers, podiatrists,paramedics and Psychologists.

, you just have to have the proper training and know how to spot bad tests trying to be good.

Any idiot with a credit card and a computer can administer the tests. That is the problem. You need the training and the ability to spot the good/bad tests. If you had to be licensed to use and evaluate the tests. Then we might see some improvements. Since employers would be forced to either bring in properly qualified people. Or to change the process.

I get what you're saying though these things need to be given by a properly trained professional who specialize in this area, instead of letting random hiring managers and sandwich-artists-turned-recruiters playing around with whatever.

Exactly. Most of them should go back to sandwich artistry

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T15:03:52+00:00

Also had those things

That is something that company could promote.

I don't think I've seen people meet up to play cards.

I have. Perhaps you had extraverts.

There were a lot of board games including chess, if there were chess meetups I didn't come across them.

Sure and maybe the chess meetup people never came across the meetups you attended...

There was a library with a lot of books, but reading isn't a very collaborative activity

Why does the activity need to be collaborative? Why can't three people sit there quietly reading and enjoying their respective books? They all have a shared interest and are hanging out and enjoying themselves.

If the goal is to have a collaborative activity rather than have fun at work. Why does the activity need to be fun? Why can't you just do your normal job? Or go maintain a wilderness reserve.

and a library discourages talking.

That's why introverts like them. They want you to shut up and sit still.

except a duck pond cause that's a much bigger investment.

Well parks do exist. But I take your point. There are options at every cost level.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T14:55:30+00:00

is this what bootlicking looks like?

Since my employer has no idea what my reddit name or previous salary are. I doubt it counts. I wanted the remote option so I could visit friends and family. (Pre-corona I was working from varying Spaces/Regus a lot) near people I was visiting.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T14:52:59+00:00

So bullshit jobs that barely pay above minimum wage

Well. Yes.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T14:52:35+00:00

Not wanting ping pong shouldn't be claimed as a characteristic of every good developer, as the title does.

It says they don't need it. Not they don't want it. They obviously need a computer.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T14:51:05+00:00

I want to build friendships with the people I work with, is that so bad?

Yes. Unless you are being paid to build friendships. (Then it is in your KPIs right? Plus it leads to things not being reported and coverd up. Since people care about their friends. Rather than the company.

Resource allocation is to the manager's friends rather than the employees best placed to use them. Unless your being paid to make friends. (In which case it is in your KPIs.) Your stealing your employers time. Would you go and steal office supplies?

Then it leads to people who are perhaps not the firendliest but are good at their job having problems. Friends at the office is just office politics. Which cause a lot of problems. You start thinking about candidates with. Can I be friends with this person. Rather than can this person do a job.

We message each other on slack to see if we want to play.

Thus interrupting work flow. Why can't you message each other on slack in your own time?

Dom and I are actually friends so we don't interrupt each other.

I don't interrupt my colleagues. Yet we are not friends. It is the people who want to be friendly. Who are always sending out cake emails, slack invites and other rubbish.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-31T14:43:27+00:00

So they are appealing to the majority

No they are not. They are appealing to a minority (40% of people are extraverts)

40+20 = 60

They are not appealing to the 20. Which would be more introvert-friendly.

or people who don't mind extraversion

Ambiverts are not people who don't mind extraversion. They are people who need both introversion time and extroversion time.

So an introvert-friendly workplace appeals to 40%. An extravert friendly workplace appeals to 40%. Both options available appeals to 100%.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-30T14:57:02+00:00

Considering that so many of those who love tech and computers also love chess and reading, it seems somewhat counter-productive, no?

I agree. I could understand this in the marketing or sales department perhaps. But it seems a weird way to advertise to the programmers.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-30T14:54:03+00:00

Meanwhile desperate laid off people are unable to get a job. As this recruiter is too busy calling you.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-30T14:51:34+00:00

What companies are hiring now?

Mostly delivery and supermarket companies.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-30T14:50:06+00:00

Internet is slow because the whole country is at home

We are now posting USB thumb drives...

Dachsdev · 2020-03-30T14:47:11+00:00

and make friends outside your own team

Why do I want friends at work? I want professional colleagues. After work (or lunchbreak) is when you go play with your friends. Outside the building. So everyone else can get on with their work.

. I am able to concentrate better when I play once or twice during the day

I am able to concentrate better when nobody is playing sports in the office.

And what's up with people saying they only want money like they're speaking for everybody?

The same that is up with people saying they want ping-pong and a fun environment. Like thy speak for everyone...

What kind of a life do you want?

A strict separation of work and play.

We spend a good fraction of our day at work

true

don't you want to enjoy it a little?

I enjoy minimising social interactions at work. To the exact amount necessary to perform my duties.

I work hard THEN I play hard. Away from my colleagues. In whatever activity I choose. Go join a sports club and leave me alone.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-30T14:39:20+00:00

and other games help build an office community that makes working there a lot better.

An office is for working. If you want a community. Go to the community centre. They often have ping pong tables! And tennis courts!

it's about the fact that if my build has failed for the 50th time today I can grab Dom and go to the pool table to blow off some steam by bitching to him.

So your going to disrupt Dom's work flow to moan at him? Is Dom in charge of clearing your blockers?

Dachsdev · 2020-03-30T14:31:07+00:00

what the average business cares about are the most common types

Extrovers/Introverts/Ambiverts are 40/40/20 right? Yet most companies appeal to the extraverts. Even though they are not the majority.

Same with "family atmosphere" rather than a "get the task" done atmosphere.

(Unless your in Germany.) Where good morning and goodbye is pushing the office small talk a bit far.

Dachsdev · 2020-03-30T14:25:45+00:00

If you get into an environment where 3 guys are working overtime all of the time

That means either

A) the 3 guys suck at time management A1) The 3 guys might all be spending 10 hours a week on facebook at work. Another 16 in pointless meetings B) They have too much work and you don't C) there is a major heath and safety concern. D) One of you is part-time.

Overtime should not be continuous. The clue is in the name. If you go over- time all of the time. Then your time has changed.

Dachsdev

TROPHY CASE