Useless Conversation

[Endie]

I've been to most of the US, and Maine was by far and away my favourite state.  I'd love to spend part of each year there which, given my work, is pretty close to practical but for my owning a dog.

[Yegolev]

Guess who's at the other end of my handle @ hp.com ....

[Signe]

Osama Bin Laden?  Stephen King?  Endie?

[IainC]

Carly Fiorina?

[Righ]

She's dead to HP now.

[Ironwood]

Funny pics has prompted me to share my story of yesterday.  Large attachment came into the e-mail to a wee lassie which set off alarm bells.  Opened it, a guy setting his dick on fire.

Well, ok, I thought.

Looked at her mailbox, saw that she'd forwarded it on to all her mates.  A lot of mates.

Well, Ok, I thought.

Sent her an e-mai, the text of which I could reproduce, but it was funny to me, yet horrible to any user, telling her, basically, to get a fucking grip and not do it again.  Copied in the Line Manager. 

End of, I thought.

Checked her mailbox 30 mins later and noted an e-mail going out to what I though was the original 'Pal' saying "Look, Dad, you can't send me any of that stuff anymore, I got a row."

Well, I thought, that's a little disturbing.


Life is strange when you look.

[Sky]

Yeah. Don't look. We tested the idea of using monitor software years ago. Ten minutes of seeing what our patrons are doing on the internet was enough for years of nightmares. People are awful creatures.

[Ironwood]

We use all type of monitoring.  It cuts down on a lot of, er, potential problems.  (Cue Gulp telling me I'm a Euro-fag Nanny Statist).

This was, however, the first time I'd seen such an exchange between father and daughter.

[Murgos]

..with decent shellfish and select seafoods, but none of the good seasoning.

Other than Old Bay and butter what on earth could you possibly want?

[Evildrider]

..with decent shellfish and select seafoods, but none of the good seasoning.

Other than Old Bay and butter what on earth could you possibly want?

Seriously.. Old Bay + shrimp/crabs = 

[Righ]

We use all type of monitoring.  It cuts down on a lot of, er, potential problems.  (Cue Gulp telling me I'm a Euro-fag Nanny Statist).

Gulp can say that if he likes, but most of the monitoring that I've done in the workplace has been of American employees of American companies in America. Most people here would not believe the level of detail that I've had to log and sort by employee, the types of databases that HR departments are building and how they are using them to avoid paying pensions and other benefits originally promised to employees. It's becoming standard policy at Fortune 500 companies to build databases of minor transgressions that can be used to deny somebody compensation when they are laid off at some point in the future.

It is no fun regularly having to sit in at HR meetings as the technical representative so as to explain to somebody being fired how they were caught, especially in a really big company where you're doing it once every couple of weeks.

[schild]

Guess who's at the other end of my handle @ hp.com ....

Wait what. I don't even get it.

[Viin]

Guess who's at the other end of my handle @ hp.com ....

Wait what. I don't even get it.

I get it - that's where  I should forward all these jokes I get .....

[Yegolev]

Guess who's at the other end of my handle @ hp.com ....

Wait what. I don't even get it.

I picked up a very appropriate email address which I'd rather not type out in order to avoid spam.

Also, Ironwood and Righ remind me of things I already knew.  One of the funnier bits of information I have is which is the Silent Runner server, and how I am not supposed to know it exists while also supporting it.  It's the one that logs the emails, maybe the URLs also.  Not that I would know how to purge my records from it; probably encrypted.  Although I suppose I could just delete the database.

[Signe]

So why is it "weather girl" and "weather man"?  Why not weather woman and weather boy?  It's not just in the US, either - though mostly.   don't even know who to complain to.  Righ said I should suggest a "Worldwide Weather Woman Week".  He might have been playing with all the Ws, or at how I suck at tongue twisters, but it still would bring attention to this annoying issue.  It doesn't seem right!

[rattran]

You can get Jonathan Ross to promote it.

[Murgos]

So why is it "weather girl" and "weather man"?

Becawse Weather Woman sownds wediculous.

[Yegolev]

Yes, like people with two syllables in their first and last names, and that alliterate.  Too much.

[Viin]

Woot I survived another 1,000+ person layoff. That's layoff number 8, I believe, that I've dodge the bullet on.

Not sure that's a *good* thing, but there it is.

[Selby]

Woot I survived another 1,000+ person layoff. That's layoff number 8, I believe, that I've dodge the bullet on.

The company I was laid off from called me recently... wanting to know if I was interested in a position they might be opening up.  Made me chortle to myself.

[Cheddar]

I have a last minute interview for a promotion tomorrow.  Found out today.  Panel interview. 

Ugh.

[Viin]

I have a last minute interview for a promotion tomorrow.  Found out today.  Panel interview. 

Ugh.

Where do you work that you have panel interviews? I haven't seen those since promotion boards while in the Air Force.

[Cheddar]

Where do you work that you have panel interviews? I haven't seen those since promotion boards while in the Air Force.

Verizon.  I was Airforce also, its amazing how similiar the 2 organizations are.

[Strazos]

I think hearing Ringo Star on Daily Show made my ears bleed.

[Signe]

Where's Sky?  Shouldn't he be making some sort of Ringo in your ears joke? 

[Endie]

Interviewer: "John!  Do you think Ringo Starr is the best drummer in the world?"

Lennon: "Ringo's not even the best drummer in the Beatles."

[Sky]

The company I was laid off from called me recently... wanting to know if I was interested in a position they might be opening up.  Made me chortle to myself.

Good time to get a fat raise!

I don't have to make Ringo jokes. They're redundant. He's the Krist Novoselic of the sixties, for you kids.

[Fraeg]

I used to slag on ringo, but then got in a conversation with a producer who had been around a long time.  I won't be able to reproduce from memory exactly what he told me.. the general gist is that Ringo actually did some really unique things for the time, that helped push modern drumming forward.

Or: someone once told me something that I forget the details to but uhmm so and so did a few things that were useful 

[rattran]

I find him entertaining and amusing. Like a slightly retarded grand-uncle telling off-color jokes.

[NowhereMan]

He voiced Thomas the Tank Engine and so I can never really hate him but never has, "What would you do if I sang out of tune?" Been more appropriate.

[Endie]

I should say that was an actual interview, not a joke on my part.

[Selby]

Good time to get a fat raise!

I got a pay raise to go to my new job.  And I even relocated 600 miles away to do so.  If this company is serious, the money they offer and a contract would have to amazingly stellar for me to even think about going back (because of NDA-stuff that was and is going on there).

[Yegolev]

Where do you work that you have panel interviews? I haven't seen those since promotion boards while in the Air Force.

The Coca-Cola Company also does panel interviews.  Three-to-one, sometimes four.  I managed to have three of them in ten years.  The last one was with my manager at the time, the manager that hired me and one of my team members.

I have also slipped in as a panel member in order to give a hard time to potential UNIX admins.  The Ringo of the panel, perhaps.  I didn't belong but some people felt I was a credit to the proceedings.

[Nebu]

You guys would love academic interviews.  I've had many that lasted two full days (including breakfast before the 8-5 schedule and dinner afterwards) and several that had panels or round-table discussions.  They really test how long you can stay cheerful. 

[Selby]

You guys would love academic interviews.

When I interviewed for my current job it was like that.  8 personal interviews from 8-5PM one day, then another trip up there for 2 days of more interviews and more presentations.  I think I met and interviewed with like 15 people and had to give 2 technical presentations on 2 separate projects I had done.  All of the "real world" businesses I've ever interviewed with felt like I was going through some motions where they ask fluffy questions and tell me how glad they are I came to interview them and how much they want me but have to discuss finances and logistics with their HR group.  Academia and government sponsored research really don't care and will ask you every thing under the sun (it's a footnote on your resume?  Free game!  Better back it up!) and will continue to do so until they are bored or satisfied (with either having destroyed you or convinced themselves that you aren't full of shit).