mjwalshe's comments

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Microsoft employee on stack ranking and its 'most universally hated exec'

Realy I know a team member at a previous employer who where grateful lthat thier team had two peopel with terminal cancer so they ehere given the crap position on the stack rank to hit the teams quota for poor performers

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: In Denmark, Pedaling to Work on a Superhighway

But those hills in SF! my poor knees hurt just thinking about them.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

Realy you think that head hunting Matt Cutts is not many internet companies wet dream?

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Whistleblower Binney says the NSA has dossiers on nearly every US citizen

It wsnt the NSDAP that set the fire it was a lone wolf (who was unfortuatly sufering from metal health issues).

Some Nazis on the night where terifed that it was the start of a counter revolution from the left - read Alex Kershaws Bio of Hitler.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Whistleblower Binney says the NSA has dossiers on nearly every US citizen

So I am registering with "local" govenment FFS that is even worse at least at the national level there is some oversight and Journalists holding teh executive to account.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Whistleblower Binney says the NSA has dossiers on nearly every US citizen

the FBI collected a lot of dirt on MLK - Hoover was obsesed

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Whistleblower Binney says the NSA has dossiers on nearly every US citizen

Depends what you mean by dossier I am sure the NSA has a definative list of all Us residents names and SSN's but thats not a dossier in the same way That the FBI under hover had about anyone even sligtly progressive.

Id be more worried by the fact the in the USA its common practice to register with the govenment what political party you support.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

True but you know Matt is anothger posibly trophy hire at soem stage he is acting way above his pay grade if my company asked me to represnt them to congress etc I would say "cool" but I want a board seat first :-)

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

I thought HN had a large preponderence of "engineers" (or at least they claim to be) I would have expected almost 100% of us sould have enough knowledge to understand the analogy.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: UK anti-encryption law

Err the UK does not have a tripartate separation - there is a world out side of SV and the USA

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: The total price of the Digg acquisition was around $16 million

But why not recruit them idividualy or as a team the Ex Digg employes are not indentured.

This is the way the City (london) works its common for whole teams to be head hunted en block but the ex employers dosn't get anything.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: UK anti-encryption law

The ultra fragmented nature of the police forces in the states lends its self to this unfortunately.

What the USA needs to do is to move into the 20th century and for each state to have a single police force with uniform standards - this would save a lot of resource wasted by every city/town having its own police force plus state troopers, sheriffs and what have you

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: UK anti-encryption law

No Judges are part of the "establishment" not the "govenment" ask Tony or Dave about the judges who ruled against them over a large number of issues.

I dubt wikipedia edited by a large number of Non UK People woud get the subtle destiction I am making here.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Some things I've learnt about programming

Status for one and pay and benefits for another.

Engineers (And I mean real ones) have enough trouble with people thinking they are blue colar craft workers.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: UK anti-encryption law

Uk Judges are separate from the govenment.

You would ahve to go back to the bad old days of the star chamber to find the UK law system doing anything as doddgy as Al Capone (not exactly the USAs Legal systems finest hour)

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: City of San Francisco Will No Longer Buy Apple Products

Again Doctors are a special case

They are all self employed in the UK. They have a day job in the NHS and have private practice.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: I bet you over-engineered your startup

oh so comapring two totaly diferent era's then?

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: City of San Francisco Will No Longer Buy Apple Products

None of those are "profesions" in the strict sense of the word

Dont forget that many builders/plumbers/electricians are not employees but contractors.

And Hairdressing (at least in the UK) has some bysantine working practices that only exist in that industry

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Paid Vacation? That’s Not Cool. You Know What’s Cool? Paid, Paid Vacation.

My CTO in BT had worked both in the UK and in SV and he commented that he got exactly the same amount of work out of people in both places.

He commented that in the USA hs staff spent far more time gossiping around the water cooler and taking unofficial long weekends to go skiing etc

And BT has more holiday than the average in the UK - from the civil service days.

mjwalshe | 13 years ago | on: Paid Vacation? That’s Not Cool. You Know What’s Cool? Paid, Paid Vacation.

Lol When I worked in international testing for BT I recall when working with my opposite number in FT totally unable to contact them in August.