I work in the US for a French tech company before which I worked the long hours at three different Fortune 100 companies, so I've seen both sides of this issue. My French co-workers DO work many fewer weeks per year than I do. And they DO go out for long lunches and have a glass of wine with lunch. And they have a flex arrival time at work and going home (common in many US tech jobs too). A few of them have taken sabbaticals or mental health leave of absences - something mostly unheard of in the States. At the same time, when at work, they are very hard workers, very productive, always willing to help out a team-mate or to stay late for a meeting so our team does not have to come in early. And they make MUCH less money even before taxes, which are much higher. So they have much less disposable income. They live in smaller houses, drive older cars, etc. So, from what I've seen. Americans work more hours for more money. And both are at least a little jealous of the other.

Exactly what I came to post. Passwords are locks. GMail is an information safe. If I try a bunch of passwords until I get into a computer I am not supposed to access, that is a crime because I am "accessing an account without authorization" (I hate how they triple charge someone when one charge implies the others, a person should only be charged with one charge). Then accessing my email is also a crime. DOJ can say they are allowed to do it. They can tell Google they are allowed to do it, but until it is challenged in court, we won't know if they are allowed to do it. That's why they don't publish what they are doing, because they know that there's a good chance that they AREN'T allowed to do it.

The spokesman later clarified: "115,000 people have signed a petition against Google - and that's in Bangalore ALONE. We're confident that more will be signing it from Mexico starting in October of this year, and Singapore in 2014"

the spokesman continued: "... We know that the campaign is not accurate, elegant or innovative, that it's not what customers want, that it is more expensive and less effective than other advertising campaigns, and it's the same commercial we've been doing for 25 years but it's what we do. We're negotiating a deal with TV manufacturers to force them to pay us a licensing fee for every commercial that they show in exchange for access to our commercial - 'cause the courts haven't forced us not to yet and, hey what other choices do customers have? You're not just gonna watch TV on the Internet - that is proven to turn you into a pedophile [link to white paper by The Microsoft Center for Unbiased Whitepapers], and in the long run you have to watch more commercials."

> With WP7 I really think that MS should be given credit for, finally, coming up with an original idea that is really very good. > I also think that MS should be at least respected for having written it all themselves Your position sounds like a Penny Arcade comic I have in my cube - "Windows 7. Less bad than you expected." But while it's good to see that they are getting less dislikable, the market she's a cruel mistress. You don't usually win prizes for coming in second and doing so years after the "first mover" has established inertia towards their product. # # Thanks for the honest, unsponsored advocacy. Perhaps I didn't read your original post carefully enough. I would be excited to be wooed to Microsoft by innovative products, ISO standards, better support etc etc. the way that Apple does. But my few pennies won't change the core culture at MS.

Is this question part of a Microsoft-sponsored grassroots publicity campaign (astroturfing)? They sent out a bunch of free phones, sponsored some KoolAid booths with carefully controlled tests and now I'm starting to see these sort of evangelism pop up all over, from third tier journalists to message boards. If MS wanted feedback from real people, they're about 3 years too late. Better to get that stuff BEFORE you write the OS, IMHO. > once you get to know it, windows phone works great Contrast to Apple's top-notch design where things work the way you expect them to without a learning curve. This is the same mentality that MS has had for years - their products work more or less fine if you only use them for the tasks that it was written for. For anything else, they are inferior. > slashdot .. irrational fear of windows We're a fairly well-informed crowd, most are quite familiar not only with multiple versions of Windows, but better informed of the alternatives than your man on the street. Not all bias is irrational fear. Funny to hear that charge from an MS man. I'm waiting for a lawyer to jump in soon - I thought M$ held the patent on Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. :)

Having lost his 3 fingers in the explosion, he'll no longer be able to reboot windows. Hooray, another convert to Linux...

I remember being in your position about 15 yrs ago and getting fired for having the same response you are. I got into an argument (over what the boss had told us to do) with a guy who was more senior to me and mgmt took his side (though he was incorrect) - I was more expendable.

So here's the deal. A few simple rules -
1) You can pick your friends but not your co-workers, so don't make enemies of them. You have to spend 1/3 of your life with them.
2) Eventually you'll learn that pay is extremely unfair. Some very valuable people make little money and vice versa. (Think Wall Street CEOs) Your hard work will take a long time to pay off and you'll probably never truly get better pay proportionate to your better work. Don't burn yourself out in the meantime. (Remember the Tortoise and the Hare)
3) Not to be condescending, but you have no responsibility for anyone but yourself. Do a good day's work and take pride in it, then don't worry about anything else. That is your bosses job. But when layoffs come, you want your boss to consider you indespensible.
4) You can never judge someone else's worth to the company. Some may be more efficient than you or may be working from home or they may have a skill or knowledge/experience that is vital to the company.
5) Let the company set the rules. If the company is happy with people taking long coffee breaks, then feel free to do so. It will help dissipate your frustration.
6) Lastly, don't leave in anger, but don't stay at your first job too long. Jump around a bit to find what the work world is really like until you find a place that suits your personal work style.