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someelephant

257 karma · joined September 9, 2020

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someelephant··on Tech Layoff Tracker
"Bloomberg News is laying off nearly 100 journalists as it restructures its newsroom"

Not really a tech layoff. Many more similar examples. Also counting companies rather than jobs doesn't make sense. And the job data is likely centrally collected on FRED.

someelephant··on Tell HN: People underestimate the effect of colleges in making lifelong friends
I regularly make new friends. Traveling a lot helps. Avoid talking excessiviely about work or your kids if you want to make new friends. Those topics are generally not interesting to anybody but you.

I should also say I finished college a looooong time ago.

someelephant··on Is It Time to Revisit the Keystone XL Pipeline?
There is plenty of refining and export capacity in Texas. It would have an enormous impact on investment in oil production and therefore future oil prices in North America. Pipelines are much cheaper and safer than rail and would lower the cost of production and therefore the cost of the final product.
someelephant··on Ask HN: Have you ever switched cloud?
I'd be surprised if more small businesses hadn't, the credits sales people are willing to give you are massive
someelephant··on Amazon worker chat app to ban words such as “union”, “pay raise”, “slave labor”
If we could convert the value you get from charity work in to dollars, you would be making more than people working for big corp. Your values are atypical, and I'm glad you are able to do the work that provides you with the most benefit.
someelephant··on I decided that I must live my life on my terms
My main focus used be purposeful work as well. Now I'm more focused on doing things that make me feel good such as traveling, socializing and exercising. Since work is no longer my main focus, I work a lot less and enjoy my work a lot more.
someelephant··on Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors
He is the "investors".
someelephant··on Amazon worker chat app to ban words such as “union”, “pay raise”, “slave labor”
Seems odd to blame other workers here even if they do make a lot of money. The only way workers will be helped is other jobs provide better value to the worker or companies are regulated to provide better conditions. Personal and corporate interests will always trump community interests.
someelephant··on The tech interview prep industry
I also appreciate that anybody who puts the work in can get a good job in tech. But I don't follow your reasoning that the current tech interview process supports that in some way that another process could not.
someelephant··on Maybe you should do less 'work'
Work addicts will have a hard time following this advice unless they get the same dopamine boost from other tasks like networking. Unlikely to happen until they accept they have a problem.
someelephant··on I'm Too Risk-Averse for Index Investing
Would be better off getting some therapy and buying index funds. I'm guessing in the long run this person would make a lot more money even after paying for therapy.

Unless the plan is to turn this into a paid subscription newsletter. In that case, there are tens of thousands of similarly high anxiety people looking for a similar way out that are willing to pay for this.

Paid investment advice is a form of therapy when you think about it.

someelephant··on I'm Too Risk-Averse for Index Investing
This is due to the fact that European indices are heavily weighted towards stocks in low growth industries: banks, mining, utilities, cars, chemistry insurance. Lack of incentives in Europe has led to poor equity and economic growth versus the United States and this pattern will continue for decades to come.
someelephant··on On Being Indispensable
Desire to be indispensable is a manifestation of imposter syndrome which is a manifestation of anxiety. If it doesn't fade after a few months you've got underlying issues you need to solve.
someelephant··on Diary of a first-time on-call engineer
I'd say work addict is a better term. The dream of all employers.
someelephant··on Why does Google use location for language rather than browser settings?
google flights using your profile language preference but then listing all flights in local currency :(
someelephant··on A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)
Careful with your caffeine consumption if you start IF. Many people find they are more irritable on IF and fail to realize that their body processes coffee differently when they have an empty stomach.
someelephant··on Caltech's CS interview prep course
I'd argue it's pragmatic
someelephant··on Caltech's CS interview prep course
For a lot of space-cadet interviewers this would work well. They just want the right answer and aren't thinking about how easy it would be to work on a team with these people.
someelephant··on PlanetScale increases plans to include billions of reads
If PlanetScale just offered to reimburse any costs above the 99th percentile of normal operations it would be a great success. If their business model is dependent on people getting screwed by costs above the 99th percentile then they shouldn't be in business.
someelephant··on PlanetScale increases plans to include billions of reads
he is the CEO lol
someelephant··on Rethinking Levels, Promotions and Salaries
you got to appreciate that honesty about leverage. this whole program was designed because they weren't competitive in the market.
someelephant··on Rethinking Levels, Promotions and Salaries
promotions are such an absurd idea in this job market
someelephant··on Rethinking Levels, Promotions and Salaries
sure. usually more common in places where workers have low self confidence and don't think they could do better. if only they knew what opportunities were out there
someelephant··on Sleep quality and consistency associated with better academic performance (2019)
lower anxiety => higher sleep quality => higher academic performance

poverty => higher anxiety => lower life performance

higher instagram use => lower baseline dopamine => higher anxiety => lower life performance

someelephant··on Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?
It's unlikely the big boss treats anybody differently. Eventually that kind of toxicity eats away at the org. People saying not to worry perhaps haven't worked with people like this. Always be ready to make a move.
someelephant··on An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)
If you throw out a time complexity most interviewers will tell you if they expect something better. For big companies, it's always a crap shoot. For smaller companies, if the person isn't willing to have a conversation with you it's a sign they would be difficult to work with.
someelephant··on Ask HN: How to find a job in 2021 if I dislike remote?
So funny to read this. I'm thrilled that I have more free time and have been able to meet so many more people outside of work. The last thing I want is to feel more tied to my employer.
someelephant··on How can I learn to work with clients well?
I disagree with a lot of this. However, I do value your comments and I'm glad you wrote them. This is just another perspective.

> - It's a relationship like any other, and you earn each other trust through your interactions over time. So you need to be extremely reliable and responsive if you want to be perceived as trust worthy;

Trust does develop over time. But it's not something to worry about. It's something that happens naturally. Being reasonably reliable is important but set reasonable expectations.

> - If something bad happened, be transparent and the sooner you say it the better. It's extremely uncomfortable, and you'll try to delay it because you don't want to say shit happened, even if it wasn't your fault.

It shouldn't be uncomfortable to be honest with people about what's happening. If you are uncomfortable then there's likely a power imbalance. You don't have enough clients so you are worried about making one client unhappy.

> - Never bring up a problem without a solution, or a potential solution, or a recommendation for a solution. No one wants problems, we all have plenty of those. Even if it's something out of your control, you should always spin a solution for it.

I think the real issue here is that clients want people who are able to exude the confidence that they can solve problems. I see no problem outlining a bunch of problems that need to be solved to a client.

> - Always reply, never leave someone hanging;

Agreed. But I read a sense of urgency here. No need to reply immediately.

The missing piece here is that your skills are in such high demand that you don't need to act like a servant to your clients. If there is mutual respect you will get paid a lot more. Since you are new to this it will take time for you to appreciate this.

someelephant··on The rise and decline of thinking over feeling
Emotion is the product of stress. As the economy continues to deteriorate for the average worker, expect a lot more feeling.

Real wage deterioration starting around the time that this chart peaks lines up nicely with my hypothesis.

Rich people don't feel this stress so they can't understand why poor people are emotional.

someelephant··on Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
I'd say study how antiwork got started. When you get a lot of eyes on an idea real change can happen.

In the past, your whole community needed to feel that change was necessary otherwise people would just accept the current situation. I argue anti-vax wouldn't exist if there wasn't a meeting place for people with vaccine related anxiety to meet. That place is the internet. And we see how much of an impact it has had on vaccination rates.

Regarding housing issues, to me the solution is simple but untenable to most western cultures. Limit population growth to natural growth unless the vacancy rate of housing is 3% of existing supply. Unfortunately, this would require reducing immigration which would mean wages would need to rise for all workers.

The part I don't understand is how government don't see wage rises as a positive thing. Income taxes make up the vast majority of the tax base in western countries and yet the government seems focused solely on corporate interests. Any country that targets high levels of immigration during a housing crisis must be corrupt.

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