It's simple, just use the 3.5mm jack. ;)

So let's quit doing that. If we reduced US Military spending by 10% each year for 10 years and pulled out of some of the many, many places around the world where we maintain a military presence and let others shoulder some of that burden, we could drop our taxes significantly and come across as less imperialist at the same time. Everybody wins!

Ron Paul had some wacky ideas, but the fact that we spend an absolutely ridiculous amount on the military in this country isn't one of them.

This applies (on a different scale) even if you're not poor. For instance, I'm gainfully employed, and looking at buying a house, but I don't have a down payment. There's a big difference between being sure you can make a $1,000/mo mortgage payment, and having $30,000 saved up already. All these people advising paying cash for cars don't realize that if you're poor, you just *don't have the money*. Yes it's cheaper in the long run than paying interest, but that's just one of the ways being poor is more expensive than being rich.

Japan exports a lot of products, particularly consumer electronics. They also depend heavily on imports for things like food. Any sort of tariffs or sanctions related to those would certainly make an impression.

Well, balance is key, and that's where the skill comes in. Making eye contact enough to convey confidence/interest without staring and making people uncomfortable is a perfect example of something that some people pick up just by being around other humans and some people have to really think about, at least until they develop the habit.

Exactly. Wow, Slashdot unimpressed by an article about management and social skills? In other news, sources close to the Pope say he may be Catholic...

It looks like most of what she's teaching is pretty straightforward stuff - stand up straight, look people in the eye, and think about something calming before a big meeting or presentation so you're less nervous. Also, most people don't appreciate being interrupted unless they've specifically signed up for it (and maybe not even then). It's not "mind control", it's just how to be polite and assertive at the same time. A few years ago, I realized that the reason they're called "social SKILLS" is because they can be learned, and my personal and professional lives have both skyrocketed.

The fact of the matter is, if more tech folks looked at dealing with people as a (solvable!) challenge, we'd have more technical ideas being listened to. Instead, they say "it doesn't come naturally to me, so it must not be worth learning at all" and management is dominated by clueless BS artists, reinforcing the stereotype of the socially clueless engineer and the technically clueless boss. Doesn't the alternative (engineers who've put in the work to learn how to deal with people) sound better?

Seconding AC - I can't figure out how "kaseijin" (Martian) fits in at all... spill! :P

For me, LinkedIn mostly recommends people who are two or three degrees of separation away... but two of my favorite website operators are consistently in my top hits. I have no idea how or why; I haven't connected to them because 1) I don't know them that personally and 2) it's just plain eerie.

*chokes* Don't get me wrong, I love living in Vermont, but I would never describe Burlington as "ritzy".

to whomever tagged this "complementary," that's incorrect-- it's "complimentary," as in the phrase "with our compliments."