A false flag operation by the rebels is at least credible.
And while it would be ideal if the world intervened to stop the killing conclusively, I have little faith in the cowboys in Apaches who gave us the collateral murder video to improve things.
]]>Liberated from Assad's stockpiles, there's no doubt the source of any nerve gas would be the government, the doubt is who released it.
]]>It was inevitable something would happen to bring attention to the fact that every organization depends on a frankly odd class of people with insane amounts of power over their systems and data.The question is now: is there anything that can be done about it? This is the construction of the IT world we live in. The NSA are going to try to automate the job out of existence; good luck to them. Is there any other solution?
]]>Further hint: SeLinux is something the NSA donated to the community circa 1998 because they'd developed it for their own purposes and thought it useful to encourage stronger security among other Linux users. What have they done by way of OS development in the subsequent 15 years?
]]>In contrast to my parents, I felt uncomfortable for having worked at my last employer for more than 5 years, and I left after 7. And my disomfort came from worrying about the impression I might give future employeers if I'd stuck with my last job too long because it might be a sign of stagnation. (and I live in the midwest, so maybe the job lifespan is longer than out west.) I might be endangering my livelihood by sticking with a job for too long.
I don't know how widespread that attitude is. perhaps it depends on the technology field (for me, it was ecommerce). I know that people seem to lionize the priviledged dudebro programmers who skip from job to job and who've had a lot of successful failures at startups. It's our version of conspicuous consumption. If I don't keep up with that, maybe I don't get hired.
aside from generational differences about jobs -- I've also seen some groups of people who tune out that kind of status programmer crap. And maybe this happens with other disciplines too.
I've seen a recruiter pass up a friend because he didn't broadcast the emotional signals that he'd treat everyone in the office like afterhours friends who'd chat about the technical challenges at company foo... and what the hell, you aren't my friend merely because I've joined your company. and I'm not going to spend as much of my brain time as possible on your company. you want that, it better be an exceptional place where I can't help but be thinking about these things on my own time.
I don't think that is a generatinal thing. maybe more like a socioeconomic thing. something might give a person the gumption to realize they have the freedom to drop out and pretend like work is not work and that their freetime is actually their "work".
]]>I recently found myself making excuses for still working for the same company that hired me in 1989. I explained that I'd actually been laid off twice in that time, and quit of my own accord once. So I've been hired by the same company four times. And it isn't even really the same company; it was acquired in the late 90s -- even the name of the old company was retired a few years ago. And I've moved between several different business units, doing somewhat different things at each (although all under the broad umbrella of "technology journalism").
So it's really like I've had at least a half-dozen different jobs in those times!
Really!
]]>I'd like to take a moment to point out that part of the problem may have been pointed out by one of your fellow authors, specifically Norman Spinrad in "Little Heroes."
Why, so many upper level types ask themselves, should we treat the common man with any respect, as machines seem able to do the job of everything BUT management?
With each passing year - each passing MONTH, for that matter - it becomes that much easier to put another job on the "We can program a chip to do this" pile, and arrange things so that the only part of a human that's needed are his arms and legs. And even then, only when those arms and legs are paid a starvation wage.
Management, of course, sees themselves as unique and not subject to being reduced to a set of algorithms.
Of course, when THEIR jobs begin to be RIFFed, then they'll howl just as loudly.
Though I suspect we'll have little sympathy for them by then.
Ed Becerra
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