5 ms·

> every other person seems to work for the "State Department" I actually had a professor who specializes in algebraic number theory quit and move to DC, saying

> every other person seems to work for the "State Department" I actually had a professor who specializes in algebraic number theory quit and move to DC, saying only that he was going to "work in Washington." I guess you can't really be subtle, there's not that many jobs out there in algebraic number theory.

rdtsc 10y ago
Old joke from the my University's math department. Q: How do you apply to work for the NSA A: You pick up the phone, call your mother, and ask for an application.
- jlgaddis 10y ago
  I remember hearing a slight variation... Q: How do you get a job application for the NSA? A: Pick up the phone and ask the dial tone.
walrus01 10y ago
Well, since the NSA is actually in MD, you can be a bit more vague than that if you want to... It's technically not "In Washington" so you're not lying.
ksenzee 10y ago
I used to live near Fort Meade, and all our math PhD and linguist neighbors said they worked for the "Department of Defense."
- cperciva 10y ago
  I've heard that the official advice given to NSA employees is "If asked, say that you work for the DoD but aren't allowed to be more specific; do not lie or try to evade the question, since that will tend to attract even more attention."
  - jonwachob91 10y ago
    The DoD is the parent agency to the NSA, so it is the truth.
    - type0 10y ago
      Yeah, but that's a bit like saying "I'm from planet Earth" when someone asks you where you're from
- graycat 10y ago
  Fort Meade? Not everyone living near there worked at Fort Meade! Fort Meade is east, across the street, the Baltimore Washington Parkway, from Laurel, MD, and my wife and I lived there. I worked at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL) in the group that did the calculations for the Navy's version of the USAF's GPS, well before the GPS. But my work was in the fast Fourier transform, power spectral estimation, etc. of passive sonar signals. Mostly I was writing PL/I code for the 360/91, 60 ns cycle time, 8 byte wide, 16 way interleaved main memory. So, not everyone in that area worked at Fort Meade!

rdtsc 10y ago

Old joke from the my University's math department. Q: How do you apply to work for the NSA A: You pick up the phone, call your mother, and ask for an application.

jlgaddis 10y ago
I remember hearing a slight variation... Q: How do you get a job application for the NSA? A: Pick up the phone and ask the dial tone.

walrus01 10y ago

Well, since the NSA is actually in MD, you can be a bit more vague than that if you want to... It's technically not "In Washington" so you're not lying.

ksenzee 10y ago

I used to live near Fort Meade, and all our math PhD and linguist neighbors said they worked for the "Department of Defense."

cperciva 10y ago
I've heard that the official advice given to NSA employees is "If asked, say that you work for the DoD but aren't allowed to be more specific; do not lie or try to evade the question, since that will tend to attract even more attention."
- jonwachob91 10y ago
  The DoD is the parent agency to the NSA, so it is the truth.
  - type0 10y ago
    Yeah, but that's a bit like saying "I'm from planet Earth" when someone asks you where you're from
graycat 10y ago
Fort Meade? Not everyone living near there worked at Fort Meade! Fort Meade is east, across the street, the Baltimore Washington Parkway, from Laurel, MD, and my wife and I lived there. I worked at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL) in the group that did the calculations for the Navy's version of the USAF's GPS, well before the GPS. But my work was in the fast Fourier transform, power spectral estimation, etc. of passive sonar signals. Mostly I was writing PL/I code for the 360/91, 60 ns cycle time, 8 byte wide, 16 way interleaved main memory. So, not everyone in that area worked at Fort Meade!