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diddlybopshubop

85 karma · joined February 7, 2021

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diddlybopshubop··on Fragment of a human face aged over one million years discovered
Modern humans did. Other human species left Africa and populated the rest of the old world much, much earlier.

I'm not up-to-date on my research these days but it's only within the last 10K years or so (maybe even more recent) where there's been one extant human subspecies.

diddlybopshubop··on Stéphane Graber has left Canonical
> or does someone in their 30s, 40s, 50s or beyond need to justify themselves slacking when they were a teenager in the eyes of management.

That's exactly what they expect.

Anecdote: MS was part of the tail-end of my interview process and after I brought up that it was a bit much asking me for justification of decisions I made decades ago, he stated - I'm paraphrasing here - that he believes that someone's decisions at that stage of their life are consistent with how they will react and respond later on, which is why they ask the questions to begin with. I nope'd on out afterward.

Only advice I can give is beware companies that cultivate a cult-of-personality around one or multiple execs. You will be required to drink the Kool-Aid and - when you invariably don't - that's that.

diddlybopshubop··on Aeronca Factory Film 1946
49:15 long color film of the post-WWII Aeronca factory, Middletown, Ohio.
diddlybopshubop··on The Unluckiest Man in Movie History (2000)
Intriguing story, so I did a bit of genealogical research on him this evening using various online databases. Here's what I found:

- In March 1940, he filed for social security using the given name ROBERT GOLDSTEIN, birth date 27 Sep 1883 in San Francisco, CA, son of Simon Goldstein and Margret (sic) Moran. We know both from earlier US Federal Censuses and other official records that that was indeed him.

- His confirmed whereabouts were unknown after that. There's nothing in any scanned historic newspapers about him through 1990, though his younger brother's, Louis Stanislaus Goldstein, obit appeared in the LA Times on Apr 27, 1950. There's no mention of Robert in the obit.

- I ran a quick check of the Social Security Death Index for Robert's SSN and nothing was reported. Odd, but not completely unusual if his death wasn't reported to the Social Security Administration - perhaps he was destitute? Or...

Things get interesting when you start combing through other contemporary records:

- In the 1940 US Federal Census of Rikers Island Penitentiary (conducted on April 13th of that year), there is an inmate by the name of Robert Goldstein, aged 54, born in California. Though "our" Robert would have 56 at that point in time, inaccurate ages in US Censuses are very common, even into the modern era.

- In the 1950 US Federal Census of Willard State Hospital for the Insane, Romulus, NY, conudcted on Apr 1, 1950, we find another Robert Goldstein, also born in California, an aged 67 inmate. Sixty-seven puts his estimated birth date in 1882-1883.

- The 1960 US Federal Census records won't be available until at least 2030 so any newer information in that regard requires a lengthy wait.

---

Info on Willard State Hospital: https://homeinthefingerlakes.com/willard-asylum-ovid-ny/.

And, apparently Willard had its own inmate cemetery: https://inmatesofwillard.com/about/. Sadly, as of 2012, public access to its burial records was still not available.

Though this later evidence is circumstantial, I suspect that this Robert Goldstein may be the one convicted for his film. If so, a sad end to a long sad life.

diddlybopshubop··on Ask HN: How common is it for people to come back to a previous employer?
I may be an exception to the rule, but I went back three times to the same company in the last ten years for large pay increases and promotions each time (30% increase over previous salary the first go-'round, 50% increase over second turn's salary the second go-'round). I ended up leaving again both times after 1.5-2 years, largely for the same reasons I left the first time, i.e., fatigue and widespread low company morale. Totally worth it though as ultimately it helped increase my negotiating power for other opportunities I pursued in between those stints.

It's been about a year and a half since I last left them - I suspect one of their veeps will be reaching out sometime in the next few months just to "see how (I'm) doing"...I don't think I'd go back this time if they do reach out unless they throw obscenely obscene amounts of money my way.