Apparently naively, I would have expected BoM to be markedly more predictable, and controllable, than either legal or software costs.

I've read a dozen articles about Marissa Mayer describing her as a "brilliant engineer" but I've never seen or heard what she's actually designed, implemented or improved.

Anyone got citations?

From a 1990 essay comes the insight "The ability to get ahead in an organization is simply another talent, like the ability to play chess, paint pictures, do coronary bypass operations or pick pockets. There are some people who are extraordinarily good at manipulating- organizations to serve their own ends. The Russians, who have suffered under such people for centuries, have a name for them-- apparatchiks. It was an observer of apparatchiks who coined the maxim, 'The scum rises to the top.' "

http://bobshea.net/empire_of_t...

It is as insightful in its own way as "The Mythical Man-Month".

You do know math right? Your 18/7 claim is only 4 hours shy of hers.

Anyone who claims to work 130 hour weeks is quite simply a liar. There's no way that person is producing anything resembling 'work' for more than 18 hours per day, 7 days a week. She may have been in the office for that long, but she sure as hell wasn't working. What is it with this fetishism about long work weeks? What's next, claims about a 170 hour week?

Yahoo has a great news thread that somehow custom tailors to you without you doing anything.

so they are an ad company now. ok

all the other features and apps ecosystem of a modern smartphone

Oh, and damn those people that want to insist that I get overtime for every moment I spend at the office after hours.

It seems like a good compromise might be to allow telecommuting three days a week: tuesday, wednesday, and thursday, and have mondays and fridays be in the office. That way you still get to interact with your team, and talk to the people you need to talk to, but you are spared 60% of the time and expense of commuting, and all the in-office distractions on those days.

The problem is there are as equally unproductive amounts of people as your pulled out of thin air numbers in the office too.

I STRONGLY believe that the greatest benefits of having a fantastic team is when everybody is in the same office and have all sorts of serendipitous interactions. Things that can't be scheduled on an outlook calendar. it doesn't happen when people sit at home in their underwear doing skype chats.

Will they want a cut if the engine is used by an opensource project managed by a nonprofit/not-for-profit foundation?

Don't advertise at all! You will save money on ads, and will have to pay 5% on a much lower gross. It's win-win.

If you are a small-time indie developer, that is $12,000/year of revenue before you even have to pay for the engine you used.

For one or two man projects, that's pretty good.

If you are a big studio, well, your lawyers can likely shake out a better deal.