Comment Re:stop the ignorance (Score 1) 749
It's not my fault that company didn't do it's due diligence. If you lied on your resume and were actually incompetent, I wouldn't expect you to get past the phone screen, at least where I work.
Google Privacy Counsel Facing Criminal Charges 242
ProfJonathan writes "According to a story in the IAPP's Privacy Advisor, Google's Paris-based global privacy counsel, Peter Fleischer, is facing criminal charges in Italy for defamation based upon a user's posting of a video to Google Video. Mr. Fleischer was on his way to the University of Milan for a speaking engagement when he was met by Italian law enforcement officials. As with the 1997 case of Compuserve's Felix Somm and the 2006 arrest in Texas of BetOnSportsUK's CEO during a layover on a trip to Costa Rica, this case once again highlights the risks faced by executives and employees of online companies whose activities may be legal and protected in their own countries, but illegal elsewhere in the world. Troubling, and worth watching."
Comment Re:stop the xenophobia (Score 0, Troll) 749
Umm, hate to burst your bubble, but I was being pro-American. This country has a long history of being built by immigrants and I want to keep it that way.
I know other countries have protectionist policies, do you notice how they are not as successful as the US? We are not the biggest economic power in the world in spite of our open borders, but because of our open borders.
Comment Re:stop the xenophobia (Score 1) 749
If the company is on the brink of disaster and is receiving bailout money in order to save the company (which I oppose), then they should do everything in their power to stay afloat. If the H1-B workers are providing a better deal than Americans, or have skills that can not be replaced, then getting rid of them to support American jobs endangers the company and goes against the whole bailout effort.
Comment Re:stop the xenophobia (Score 1) 749
Or maybe Americans have an inflated view of their own ability. I'm humbled by the foreigners and H1-B visa holders I work with.
Comment Re:stop the xenophobia (Score 5, Insightful) 749
The reality, particularly in the tech industry, is that non-Americans are leaders in the various fields. Pick up any industry-related journal, and 90% of the articles are by people of non-American decent.
Very true. This is to be expected because America makes up only, what, 4% of the global population? This alone means we'll have only a small percent of the top-talent natively.
We probably have a higher percent in actuality because our wealth allows more people to go to higher education, whereas large swaths of the world are prevented from reaching their potential, either through poverty, health, or non-free governments. This is a huge shame; I can only imagine the scientific progress and quality of life improvements we'd make if everyone were allowed to live up to their full potential.
Comment Re:When the going gets tough... (Score 3, Insightful) 749
You can train people all you want, it won't necessarily make them smarter.
My team at work has five engineers and a manager. I'm the only one that was born in the US. Some of them have become citizens and others are here on visas. They are extremely smart and know their shit. There is a shortage of top-notch talent, and the only way for a company to remain competitive is to hire people from outside the US. In my opinion it is better to bring them here to work than to set up an office in their native country (offshore) because the employees make more and they spend most of it within the US. That's a net win.
Comment stop the xenophobia (Score 5, Insightful) 749
I'm worried by the increasing number of stories on
The contempt for the foreigners coming here on H1-B visas, and the companies that hire them, disgusts me. What makes you any better or more deserving than these people? The fact that you were born in the US? Please. These people have the should have the same right as all of us to come here and be successful. By preventing people from immigrating, especially talented, smart people, we are damaging the future of this country. The ability to attract the best and the brightest to come here is one of our greatest strengths. Erecting barriers to trade and enacting protectionism, especially during this economy, will lead to our downfall as a nation.
The economy isn't a zero-sum game. Allowing foreigners to come here to work enhances their life and the life of those in this country. If you believe you are inherently more entitled to a job than someone from another country, just because you were born here, then you are a xenophobic prick.
Rescued Banks Sought Foreign Help During Meltdown 749
theodp writes "An AP review of visa applications has found that major US banks sought permission to bring thousands of foreign workers into the country under the H-1B visa program, even as the banking system was melting down and Americans were being laid off. The dozen banks now receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling more than $150 billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years. (It's not known how many of these were granted; the article notes 'The actual number is likely a fraction of the... workers the banks sought to hire because the government only grants 85,000 such visas each year among all US employers.') The American Bankers Association blamed the US talent pool for forcing the move, saying they couldn't find enough Americans capable of handling sales, lending, and bank administration. The AP has filed FOIA requests to force the US Customs and Immigration Service to disclose further details on the bailed-out banks' foreign hires."
Comment Re:I for one ... (Score 1) 439
a Chrome checkbox in the toolbar that automatically removes all the wikipedia entries from a google search
And replaces them with links to Knol!
Comment worked for me and mr. show (Score 1) 281
I came across Mr. Show on YouTube. I think I was linked there by some website. I ended up watching a bunch of the clips. A few months later I went and bought the whole series on DVD through Amazon. I would have never known about the show if it wasn't for YouTube.
Seagate Firmware Update Bricks 500GB Barracudas 559
Voidsinger writes "The latest firmware updates to correct Seagate woes have created a new debacle. It seems from Seagate forums that there has yet to be a successful update of the 3500320AS models from SD15 to the new SD1A firmware. Add to that the updater updates the firmware of all drives of the same type at once, and you get a meltdown of RAID arrays, and people's backups if they were on the same type of drive. Drives are still flashable though, and Seagate has pulled the update for validation. While it would have been nice of them to validate the firmware beforehand, there is still a little hope that not everyone will lose all of their data."
So Who's Running Apple Now? 399
An anonymous reader writes "With Steve Jobs stepping down from heading Apple for at least six months who's running the company that he resurrected? This article names the three people who will try to keep things running. But you have to wonder whether they'll have the charisma needed to keep Apple cool..."
How Does a 9/80 Work Schedule Work Out? 1055
cellocgw writes "My company is in the process of implementing a version of '9/80,' a work schedule that squeezes 80 hours' labor time into 9 business days and provides every other Friday off. I was wondering how this has been implemented in other companies, and how it's worked out for other Slashdot readers. Is your system flexible? Do you find time to get personal stuff done during the week? Is Friday good for anything other than catching up on lost sleep? And perhaps most important, do your managers respect the off-Fridays, or do they pull people in on a regular basis to handle 'crises?'"
Comment Re:I ride a Segway (you insensitive clod) (Score 1) 887
I also ride bikes, thanks. I'm not good at getting into that whole exercise mode in the morning, though, I'm not a morning person.
Also, the Segway is a totally different mode of locomotion. It is like Wii Fit on steroids. On smooth roads you don't do much, but on the uneven sidewalks were I live you constantly have to shift your weight around. It some ways it feels like skiing.
Finally, I'm not sure why people always call out Segway users for being lazy. At least they are standing up for a while, people in cars don't even do that.
