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Comment Already prepared for it (Score 5, Insightful) 166

Obviously the bubble is going to burst, so I'm preparing for it already.

First I stopped using AI-centered products. When the bubble bursts, my tools don't all stop working. Also helps if I don't use companies that rely too much on AI.

Second I changed my investments (401k, IRA, HSA, etc) away from big tech companies. There's plenty of index funds that don't have a heavy bias toward tech or AI. The whole market will dip, but if you're not in AI you won't feel it as bad.

Third I'm building out residential solar using the remaining tax incentives before they expire. Regardless of what happens with power companies (or even renewables) I will have stable and cheap energy for at least the next 12 years (warranties on the parts are 12-25 years).

Comment We need a building code (Score 2) 70

The safety of a normal building is ensured in part because we require by law that it follow a building code, and that it be inspected, with fines if they don't fix it. Otherwise buildings would be built cheaply and shitty and falling down on us all the time.

We need a building code for the technology that critical companies (like the credit bureaus) use. Otherwise they will just keep having shit security and we will all be hacked constantly forever.

Comment Proof we need unions (Score 3, Insightful) 209

"Right now, people might be saying, 'I will quit if I have to go back to the office,' but it turns out they don't mean it. The reason, of course, is it's one thing to say that you will quit; it's another to actually walk away from a paycheck..."

He's saying out loud that you can make workers do anything because they're afraid of losing their jobs.

We need unions if we ever want remote work back.

Comment Welcome to 2005 (Score 1) 178

I entered the tech job market then. Previously tons of people had been hiring, often purely off of "certificates" rather than a graduate degree. The job market tightened and it was hard to find a job, especially if you didn't have experience or start with an internship.

The solution was simple: hustle. I went to User Group meetings, forums, chat rooms. Met people, networked, posted for jobs. Eventually one startup hired me. Soon after that, one of the people I met through networking offered me a better job. A few times I've been out of work since then, but I always save enough to be laid off for a while.

Welcome to the adult world, kids. Nobody's gonna hand you anything. Get that Chipotle job and start hustling for something better. Keep interviewing and networking, and build up your professional network. A career is mostly based on reputation.

Comment I have an answer to this (Score 1) 276

If somebody at Microsoft is reading slashdot: what the fuck is wrong with you?

But seriously, stop making new versions of Windows. Just make it a rolling release. Bridge versions for changing APIs. Continuous Windows forever. Your customers will be happy, and you can push your new crap on them any time you want.

Comment This is completely meaningless (Score 2) 32

This is the "Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification" regulation, that companies have to follow if they're planning on having a layoff.

Thing is, most companies use one of the many loopholes that exist to prevent from needing to follow this regulation. They only use it when they have to.

On top of that, mass layoffs happen because you're losing money and you need to cut 10-20% of your workforce. The reason won't be "because AI". It'll be "because we suck at business".

Useless article trading on controversy over AI. Slow news day I guess.

Comment Funny yet normal (Score 5, Informative) 51

...how borderline moronic and insane that people can be that are talented and motivated. Sutskever seems like simultaneously a genius, and a crazy person. A computer program bringing about a rapture? Bunkers? AGI "in 10 years" (for the last 30 years) ? Turns out this kind of genius-yet-crazy is pretty common.

- Newton was super smart. But he also thought he could find the date for the rapture hidden in codes in random texts. And of course spent half his life studying alchemy.

- Einstein had some really great ideas, but some stinkers too.

- Alfred Russel Wallace, the guy who thought up evolution right before Darwin, was obsessed with seances to try to talk to the dead.

- Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen, and used it to continuously try to justify a theory of 4 natural elements... and every scientist in the world used it to prove why there *aren't* four natural elements.

- Francis Crick, the guy who discovered DNA, also says that DNA arrived on earth because aliens.

- James Watson, the other guy who discovered DNA, firmly believes all black people are less smart than white people, because of his interactions with black employees. Oh and women scientists are more difficult to work with. And we should alter the genes of "inferior" people.

People: we have nukes. NUKES. And they're not even controlled by strictly designed, non-AI computer programs to keep the system safe. They're controlled by humans. Humans like *Trump*. Crazy, insane, aggressive, emotional humans. Yet we aren't all dead yet. A lot of people did hide in bunkers, when nukes came out. But, amazingly, despite this _super dangerous technology_, we aren't all dead yet.

Comment Wait... why weren't they working hard? (Score 2) 70

Idealism doesn't make people work less hard. Lots of idealistic people kill themselves to get work done.

"He recalled telling employees: "Look, we have to work really, really hard. We're in a competitive space.""

Working really hard doesn't equate to making money. You can work yourself to death and still fail.

"The CEO said that he, too, didn't like being rushed as an engineer but that setting realistic deadlines was part of his maturation as a leader."

You know what else is a part of mature leadership? Inspiring your troops. Just telling them to work harder doesn't equal motivation. You may have to actually do some work yourself, Mr. Leader.

Comment Re: Admission of not being very good at technology (Score 1) 125

It's not the tech, it's the management. Good management fosters productivity. Bad management lets things fall apart.

There are plenty of productive remote companies out there. The difference is they don't just sit around and hope to be productive. They make experiments, change, measure, improve, refine. If the company doesn't have a dedicated office for productivity, nobody is gonna do it. Things don't improve unless you work at it.

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