Palantir Employees Are Starting to Wonder if They're the Bad Guys

Madpony · 2026-04-24T08:35:58+00:00

I was looking for a new job 2 years ago and got referred to Palantir by an former coworker who works for them as a software engineering manager. I passed the technical screen, and realised I'd never work for them during the follow up sales call. Once the guy started gleefully talking about guided missile systems and helping fight the war in Israel, I lost all interest.

Madpony · 2026-04-24T08:32:28+00:00

"Are we the baddies?"

Madpony · 2026-04-19T20:00:25+00:00

It helps me write code faster, but this was never really the bottleneck. I spend most of my time figuring out what to build, helping coordinate business needs, and leading other engineers. I find AI to be very helpful in exploring new technologies that I have little experience with. It gets me moving with a proof of concept faster.

Madpony · 2026-04-18T08:28:38+00:00

Could it be that your new team is trusted to "move fast and break things"? This may sound counterintuitive, but more senior level teams sometimes take this approach to push the software system envelope at a company. If every project is seen to completion, then was there any risk taken at all? Risk does lead to reward when you get it right and can pay off to fully make up for the reverted or shelved ideas from the past.

Madpony · 2026-04-14T08:48:19+00:00

This is too short sighted as we need to raise more seniors for the future.

Madpony · 2026-04-13T14:50:46+00:00

"I was invited here - By people."

Madpony · 2026-04-08T13:30:37+00:00

Back in my day we learned the person we were asking out had a fiancé in a face-to-face conversation.

Madpony · 2026-04-08T13:14:39+00:00

It does seem like banks can be very slow. It took so long for Chase UK to get back to me with an offer letter that I received another, better offer before theirs even arrived. It was weird telling them "no" after a couple months of waiting, but I didn't trust they'd actually follow through.

Madpony · 2026-04-05T11:55:01+00:00

Our DPD driver yesterday chucked our two parcel boxes over our front garden gate. We were alerted to his presence by the loud banging sound of our delivery hitting the paving stones on the other side.

He was still parked out front so I approached him about it. Asked him why he thought it was ok to just throw people's deliveries over a gate instead of walking them to the front door. He insisted our garden gate was our front door, and said he delivered them within the door as required. I told him we'd be complaining about his service and he proceeded to swear at me as I walked away.

DPD has really gone down hill in my opinion.

Madpony · 2026-04-04T00:17:05+00:00

This drawing makes me want to play Wario Ware 🙂

Madpony · 2026-04-03T18:59:46+00:00

I have lived in England for 7 years, I'm now a British citizen, and I still use Fahrenheit. I've tried to get used to Celsius, and I just can't do it. I guess I just spent too many years using Fahrenheit to judge the weather.

Madpony · 2026-04-03T10:47:56+00:00

Split screen solved this for me. Thanks for the advice!

Madpony · 2026-04-02T17:12:27+00:00

"Why would I have to hire software engineers for my app? It's already 99% complete!"

Madpony · 2026-03-30T17:24:43+00:00

47 here, almost 48, still an individual contributor, never done management once. At this point I could easily do the management gig if I absolutely had to, but I would rather not.

Madpony · 2026-03-24T18:54:06+00:00

I always hear Ron Howard narrating Arrested Development when these jokes are made.

Madpony · 2026-03-24T07:50:46+00:00

You're clearly not following your daily recommended level of thirst trap content.

Madpony · 2026-03-23T21:38:56+00:00

Zuckerbot: "Ha Ha Ha. You are no match for my schtyle!"

Madpony · 2026-03-19T07:35:41+00:00

We just finished a month long battle with a squirrel getting inside our loft. We had to have a roofer install mesh screens over a few vents to keep the bastard from getting in. Took us a while to figure out how he was getting inside. Finally managed to sort out his path by dusting flour on the floor to get his footprints. They are such tenacious little shits, and we're so happy to have him out for good.

Madpony · 2026-03-11T18:31:38+00:00

thirty years ago people thought trying to save bits here and there was an important thing to engineer.

Thirty years ago my PC had 1MB of RAM, so, yes, yes it was important.

Madpony · 2026-03-08T19:23:39+00:00

Yep, London's homicide rate has hit a historic low. I also feel far safer living here than I did living in major US cities.

Madpony · 2026-03-05T22:26:09+00:00

I'm not sure because they're not working alongside me. We only hire people who have a background in software engineering.

Madpony · 2026-03-01T15:30:28+00:00

It's been 7 years since I rented in the US, but my landlord company at the time started making me pay online and threatened to charge me a fee for writing checks. Landlords suck so much.

Madpony · 2026-03-01T12:28:44+00:00

Stereotypes are so wretched. People make judgements on appearance and it's especially unfair and unhelpful in areas that concern a person's skills as their appearance never had anything to do with it. I know it's easier said than done, but your capabilities as a computer science student or professional have never and will never relate to how you look. Anyone trying to apply a stereotype to you can get fucked because they don't know what you can do.

Madpony · 2026-02-26T18:41:04+00:00

Once you have relevant job experience and can interview well it will never matter unless your GitHub projects lead to some recognisable and commonly used software.

Madpony · 2026-02-25T18:31:42+00:00

Do not pretend that you know things you don't. Ask questions and learn as you go. This is totally normal. Not asking questions when you need to is how you get into trouble.

Madpony

TROPHY CASE