jon_black

Let's say I believe that this data truly is anonymised (read: cannot be traced back to an individual in any way). I still have a problem that MY data is being sold by SOMEONE ELSE. The opt-out nature of this process stinks. It feels as though it's someone else's data by default unless I kick up a fuss.

Using a search engine is an art in itself. You've become accustomed to the way Google works.

Do you assume that Google is the way a search engine should work and all other search engines should follow that? That is, should all search engines produce the same output given the same input?

That was my initial reaction also. I think our minds are old. I recently wrote a post (http://jonblack.org/2014/01/01/everyones-hacker/) about how the definition of "hacker" seems to be far broader than it used to be.

Good point. My head started hurting while thinking about it. What is random anyway? Arrrrgh!

Pleonasm. That's a new word for me. Thanks.

What's a random stranger anyway? I'd imagine that all strangers are random, right? By definition, you have no acquaintance with them, so you can't predict them.

Anyway, I thought it was an oxymoron. Maybe I'm just being random ;)

What is seldom mentioned is how information is processed and stored. Innocent personal data can be combined to create a false image of someone, which can then be used against them. You might find yourself, for example, on a no-fly because you bought a book about making bombs. The fact that you are working on your latest best-selling novel was ignored.

I don't have a laptop. What's the problem with it? Does it not remember settings?

Luckily none of the desktop environments I tested required editing xorg.conf.

I agree the state could be better. The most disappointing aspect is the lack of individual panel and task bar support.

I disagree that xfce is good by default. On my system it started in mirror mode. It's also very hard for novice users to find out how to enable the extended desktop. The best default setup is either KDE or Unity, because they are extended by default. The downside is that adding other features is complicated.

I think the point you're making is that autonomy alone won't produce a high-quality product. You're right. There are dangers in giving too much autonomy, which is probably why google-time is fixed at 20% and not 90%.

The point I was trying to make was that giving developers more control over what they work on better suits the problems they are trying to solve and allows the business to harness some of the passion developers have.

You're certainly right that there are aspects that never appeal. It's not a black-and-white case of "more autonomy = more results", but in some areas can be rewarding for both developer and business.

I wrote an article on my blog in January to the same effect: http://jonblack.org/2013/01/29/open-plan-offices-are-a-night....

The funny thing is, in spite of all the signs, our office are knocking walls down to make rooms bigger!

Sadly my site went down very early, only 150 visits showing up in my analytics. Now my site is back up...barely...and my post is #89 on HN. My five minutes of fame are gone. Sigh.

Hehe. That sounds familiar. I have sound isolating ear-buds which do a decent job of blocking out noise. Somtimes, however, even my own music is distracting.

In a previous job my desk was next to the printer. You can imagine how that was.

People ineed use it as an excuse, but sometimes it's a valid point that's disregarded because others, especially when it's a consensus, don't agree that the environment causes a problem. You end up with people being labelled as "anti-social misfit loners".

Good job!

I pretty much concluded at the end of the article that offices should accomodate both collaborative open-planning and leave-me-to-concentrate cubicles.

You're right that shutting yourself away is impersonal, and I would certainly never want that.

Sadly not. I'm both proud to have a popular article and disappointed that no-one can read it....is this the HN-effect? :)

I do the same with email. Some people don't grasp that communication has a priority. The panic I see in people's faces after ten minutes when a text message goes unreplied. If it's important, call them!

Looks like my website can't handle being on the front page of HN. I'm talking with my provider to try and get it resolved.

It's showing up in Google, but there's no cache link.

Apologies to those trying to access the article.