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Comment Re:Why does this always happen? (Score 1) 270

It's not a commercial product so who cares if some PHB who thinks the name of an application is important doesn't like it?

And if they wanted to make it a commercial product, they could market it under a different name like SecureVault, or more likely Zitzzers since all the real words are no longer available.

Comment Re: real computer systems? (Score 1) 13

The latter is closer, but I think they were so busy setting up their giant McCarthytron and trying to catch the first signs of the coming Western Spring that they forgot to look for *actual terrorists.* Dzokhar Tsarnaev did the digital equivalent of setting up giant neon signs saying "TERRORIST HERE!" and the NSA didn't notice.

The FBI was probably too busy grooming pissed off young Muslims into "terrorists" they could arrest and parade in front of the media.

Comment Culture (Score 1) 232

100% of companies that I consulted with had their cultures defined by upper management regardless of what upper management intended. One company that I did work for was all about sports competition. The entire management turned everything into a sport with points, rules, and Winners and Losers. They played tennis, golf, swimming, running, biking, and a variety of high risk sports intended to get people to chicken out. This behavior then carried on with how they dealt with regulators, competitors, suppliers, etc. Needless to say then drove the company into the ground and a few ended up in jail.

Another company had a bit of an absent minded leader who was great at starting things but not really caring how they went. This created much confusion among the ranks who discovered that starting exciting projects was a great way to get praise. Oddly enough this company did fairly well.

But my favourite was a company run by a few stodgy types who had been there and done that. This company cooked along being boring and profitable. Then the main leader got sick and was replaced by a total douchebag who was all about the testicle joke. About a year later the company cratered, but they had a fratboy good time doing it.

The companies that drive me around the bend are technology companies run by boomers though. I have been to at least a dozen engineering companies where all the senior people are in the ballpark of 60 and man-o-man they have their heads solidly planted in 1950's style engineering. Computers at best can be viewed as drafting tables with electrons. I am not only talking about the 60 year olds but even the 25 year old new engineers. They want to do things that are innovative solutions and are shot down and have solutions that a WWII engineer would barely admire implemented. This results in 40 year old engineers who work at these firms not even using tools like autocad in any thing more than a pencils and rulers on a screen sort of way. Magical.

One last company is has a leader who is all about the next big deal. This company has a bunch of employees who take themselves way too seriously.

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