10,074 karma · joined May 29, 2014
* @DamnInteresting@mastodon.cloud
If you're using an iPhone, you can use Assistive Access to disable a lot of stuff, making it functionally simiilar to a flip phone:
https://support.apple.com/guide/assistive-access-iphone/set-...
There's probably an Android equivalent, but I can't speak to that.
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/07/texas-meta-content-m...
Under $1000: A warm water bidet. I had a cold water one for years, but on winter mornings it was...challenging. When it broke I replaced it with an electronic alternative. Uranus is no longer an ice planet.
The initial interviews went well, so I moved on to the code test. It was a slog; I was working full-time and raising a three-year-old. But I loved the idea of working for the keepers of WordPress, so I powered through. During this process I got a peek inside Automattic, and there were some concerning oddities. One that stuck out to me was that there is an annual week-long gathering of employees, and it is mandatory.
Then my "trial" began. It was certainly within my technical capabilities, but it was something like 2 weeks worth of full-time work, all to write code that would ultimately be thrown away. I was instructed to invoice Automattic $30/hour for the time I spent on it, and told that taking too long to finish would result in rejection. I got a few hours in before I concluded that it was just not possible, and I withdrew my application.
There was also a fair amount of weird forced corporate jargon in the materials. Instead of "employees" it was always "Automatticians," and things like that. It felt a bit cultish. In retrospect, I think I dodged a bullet.
For most of them, building the thing is fun and instructive--and every once in a while I can draw from this reservoir of creativity for new public-facing projects. It's great!
If one lists the positions and dates on one's resume, recruiters/interviewers notice this and regard the applicant as flaky and noncommittal. They don't want to invest in someone who will jump ship after a short stint.
If one doesn't list those positions, it's hard to prove experience, and creates the appearance that you've struggled to find work, which can be a red flag.
So, I think that works well for younger folks, but I'm in early graybeard territory, myself.
With all of these qualifiers, a "paywall" tag would usually just mean "paywalled for some," and the only way to find out whether it's paywalled for you is to risk wasting that click. So it would not substantially improve the situation.
A more fitting analogy: Imagine a bad actor buying a car that strongly resembles your own (same make, model, year, and color), then they convince the DMV to give them a duplicate of your license plate. In this analogy, the DMV is the bank.
The bad actor runs over a pedestrian. Sure, it may be a headache to prove that it wasn't actually your car, but once you do so, how much of the responsibility should you hold?
In the early 20th century, Einstein came along with his Theory of General Relativity, and with these equations he demonstrated that the sun's gravity was bending spacetime in a way that perfectly accounted for Mercury's wobble. Vulcan was therefore found to be a myth, nonexistent.[1]
Nevertheless, many astrologers still feature Vulcan in their horoscopes even today, over a century later.[2] The inclusion of an entirely fictional heavenly body seems to undermine any other conclusions drawn from planetary positions.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(hypothetical_planet)
Speaking personally, I enjoyed Sublime Text, so I was happy to pay for a license back in the day ($70 if I recall?). When v2 came out, I paid to upgrade, and again with v3. When v4 was released, I paid yet again, but after a period of normal use (a year if I recall), I got a popup informing me I'd need to pay again to keep using ST4. I felt like I'd been hoodwinked--they had sneakily switched the license from perpetual to subscription.
I assume that the switch to subscription licensing was disclosed somewhere in the small print that nobody reads. I feel that the concealment was deliberate (I suspect they'll disagree, but you know the old chestnut about the relative volume of actions and words). At that point I'd been using v4 for a year, and rolling back to v3 with my previously perpetual license would be a big hassle, and obviously I'd lose functionality.
I would have happily kept paying for upgrades, but now I doubt I'll ever spend money with those folks again.
Source: https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-caesar-salad-recipe
I feel like this happens a lot with creative people as well--an artist can become successful and widely respected, but still become deeply unhappy if their skill or audience declines, regardless of financial success. It is the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear about celebrity suicides--Robin Williams, Naomi Judd, Anthony Bourdain.
If there's no increase in wealth or station, there's no dopamine. And that is depressing.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/06/13/tesla-s...
For example: I was hired by a company as a developer, and they loved me, I was very productive there. But just a few months into the employment, a competing company offered me a much higher salary with a much shorter commute. I went to my manager and told him all about the offer, and asked him what he would do in my shoes. He said he'd take the other offer (since he knew that a competitive counter-offer was impossible). I took the offer, and we parted on very good terms.
So you may be able to say something like this to this employee: "There seems to have been a misunderstanding about our expectations and your experience. We thought you had more experience relevant for this role. We don't want to leave you high and dry, but the current arrangement isn't tenable. Would you prefer to restart as a junior developer and work your way back up as you gain experience, or do you feel it would be better to part ways?"
Though now that I've typed it out, I'm not sure the strategy works as well when the one instigating the conversation has more power than the person being asked. Hmm. I'll post this in spite of my self doubt, just in case someone replies with interesting insights. I'm happy to be wrong if I learn something.
Good luck.