duncanj

Welcome to the world of corporate-controlled speech. You don't hear from the managers because they aren't permitted to comment. You don't hear from existing workers for the same reason. Only the disgruntled ex-workers and the union rep don't have contractually-obligated silence. So the only opinions you get are the corporate flack, the union rep, and the disgruntled ex-worker.

Reporters often bend over backwards to present the other side of a story that has a left-wing bent. Typically they will find someone in that minority (24% in this case) of workers who would have voted against the union and present their opinions with equal weight to the disgruntled ex-worker, and the tone of the article shifts to "existing workers like the job, disgruntled ex-workers disgruntled because they're fired."

It's possible a better reporter could extend the same kind of protections and anonymity to the existing workers as their Washington counterparts routinely extend to political operatives, but would you then be complaining that none of the workers or managers had the guts to put their name behind their words?

We have no real idea what's going on, and I think it's more in Ikea's interest, than the union's, to keep it that way.

well, when I sort on deductible, I have to mentally categorize all of the prices based on the other features even though I know I am not going to accept, say, 30% coinsurance. If I could max the deductible at x and the coinsurance at y then I could sort by price.

I think it needs sliders to adjust the deductible, coinsurance, etc.

Actually, 76% of workers ended up voting for union representation at the end of July. http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?index=3639

This story is kind of old. It will be interesting to see how things go in the future, but unless things change for the worse, it is unlikely to me that any newspaper will do any follow-up.

It sounds like the OP didn't consider putting the lawyers in the same room and requiring a contract by the end of the day. That way your rights are protected and the back-and-forth doesn't take forever.

I'd like to know my xE6-iversaries, but this site only does 10^6,10^7,...

You're right. They missed the opportunity to do it on reality TV.

actually, a simple equation proves you wrong.

  deficit = revenues - expenditures

I like the title, and I think it's a good idea for a series. DOS for Dummies had a good following and I think it is a much more condescending name. If I came across a book called Options Trading for Dummies, I would be skeptical. Dummies should stay away from options trading. Options Trading for Mere Mortals would suggest that I can learn it without already being some sort of god.

Brilliant. I hadn't considered the similarity of US grading and grade inflation to the loudness wars.

I don't think these newspapers realize that it makes the reader feel like he's associating with such scummy people. If you read the NY Post online, it seems like all the comments are from the worst kind of racists. Not a place I want to hang out.

I understand what you're trying to say, but in your specific example, it's more like 15/1000 would be sent on for confirmatory testing (western blot), of which only about 1 in 10,000 would be false positives. In your scenario, this screening of those who request the test but otherwise do not need it would result in statistically very few false positives, on the order of 1 in 175,000 of those who make the request.

Perhaps a more likely error would be among those who request testing for Lyme disease (currently a popular self diagnosis) and thus get put on an unnecessary regimen of doxycycline. I'm racking my brain trying to think of an example that would be much, much worse. Perhaps testing for antinuclear antibodies and getting diagnosed with lupus?

I think it's more, if your grandparent was born in Ireland, you are entitled to apply for citizenship, and if your parent was born in Ireland, you are considered a citizen, and just have to verify the documents and get your passport.

Starting with a quick discussion of NIH syndrome.

The problem with this approach is that you get exposed when a website stores their passwords as plaintext. Someone who was smart enough to notice the pattern in your formula could then use that info to get at your other accounts.

Another question is whether these studies show that any doctor can provide acupuncture services without training in TCM. All your doctor needs to do is insert the needles randomly. In fact, pressing with a toothpick may be enough to cause the placebo effect associated with sham acupuncture.

Finally, how much would you pay for the "service", knowing what you do from the literature?

While it may be correct (I don't know) to say that the current problem is 2% detergents, the numbers were different 40 years ago when phosphate started getting banned, one source saying 50-70% of the problem being detergents [1]. One could say, on a percentage basis, it was successful.

[1] http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs...

The highlighter thing is really cramping my style while I try to read this.

You can also use the approach suggested in "Up the Organization" where you put in your two weeks and then re-apply for your position. It's good to have, as you suggest, a best alternative to a negotiated agreement on hand (BATNA), such as a job offer from some place paying the same or more than you're getting now.

Can someone explain to me why this comment was deaded?

I feel like on Quora the same 10 people are writing the majority of the content (and it is getting boring). Maybe I'm not using it appropriately, but if so their interface isn't helping me improve my experience.

As someone who used to smoke "Black Death" cigarettes, I'm inclined to disagree. Perhaps they should put Goatse on each pack, and then people wouldn't be inclined to carry the packs around.

Good to know someone else had this idea and acted upon it :)

Ah, the kids these days...

Engineering blueprints are the "code". They are intended to be read in a systematic manner by someone who can put the parts together. In software, we call that someone a compiler.

Design documents, such as sketches, artists renderings, specifications of performance, etc., may or may not be useful to the engineer producing the blueprint. The discussion of UML is at the level of these artifacts. If UML is useful, I want to look at it and have an idea of what the software is going to do. Some parts, like event-state diagrams, activity diagrams, and use cases, are pretty good at capturing that design in a way that I can talk about it with someone who doesn't understand code. I would not pay someone for completing a document like that, though, not until it was reflected in code.

Another way of capturing design is through functional tests. Look at projects like Fit for examples of how that might work.

It's not a virus, it's a protozoan parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

Do you think automated functional testing (in the style of Fit) is catching on? What is getting in the way?

It's not just rookie programmers. Even adding experienced programmers who are unfamiliar with the circumstances of the project will often make a project later.

I do agree with you about adding orthogonal people, provided the project manager can bring them up to speed without slowing down the development team even more.

My current theory for success in academia (and I'm not an academic so take it with a grain of salt) is a sort of synthesis of Dick Hamming's thoughts and other things I've read.

1. The purpose of a Ph.D. is to become a pre-eminent expert in a field. It's not to get a piece of paper. If you're not working on a career that will make you an expert, you'll be disappointed with your options after you have achieved your doctorate.

2. Find the interesting problems that people are afraid to work on and work on them very hard.

3. Use lots of techniques and approach your problems from many sides. Often something cool will shake out of the mix, and it won't have been in your research proposal.

4. If you aren't self-motivated, it's not right for you. If you don't enjoy the work, take your masters and go do something you enjoy.

5. Prepare your life for long hours and low pay with lots of frustration. Research doesn't proceed easily from point to point and it's all about being around when you accidentally make a breakthrough.

I'm sure I'm about 90% wrong, but perhaps less wrong than the naive, "Ph.D. is a way to stay in school and not have to face the real world" point of view.

It depends on what you consider the injury to be. If they didn't have a smartphone before they purchased an iPhone, then having a phone that lacks the features of other smartphones doesn't really injure them, it just makes them jealous, which is possibly bad for business. But if they don't switch, then the lack of that feature isn't as important to them as the other apps they have purchased, etc. Are you injured? Well, you got a bad deal, and in a way Apple changed the terms of your contract without notifying you, but it's hard to say that you've really lost anything. More, you just made the wrong purchase due to asymmetric information.

Still, in this case, I think Apple is engaging in a weird sort of brinkmanship with distributors, and I'm not sure they're in a position to dictate such terms.