5 ms·

Strangely enough, to a degree I envy this guy. I've been at my current job for over 8 years and up until a few months ago I was pretty happy. However politics c

Strangely enough, to a degree I envy this guy. I've been at my current job for over 8 years and up until a few months ago I was pretty happy. However politics caught up and I decided to leave. At the moment I have a few offers on the table, one of which is from a company somewhere in the FAANG realm. Senior software engineer, awesome conditions, very generous paycheck, lots of benefits. So tempted by all this I said I'd take it. A few days later I got an email from a third party company, which had been tasked to do a background check on me. Which is fair - employment history, criminal records, education history - sure, I can understand that. However I got really suspicious when I saw their form and how much detail they required for what are otherwise simple checks. I decided to investigate the company before I move forward and it turns out their background checks involve a lot of... Background. As far as digging through social networks and message boards and pulling comments and likes on things which can be considered "inappropriate" and "offensive". That alone is enough for me to turn down the offer and move on with the next one. But looking at the extreme alternatives in this scenario, I take chopping off my finger in a heartbeat - at least I get the chance to keep my pride and dignity.

jacquesm 6y ago
> I take chopping off my finger in a heartbeat I wouldn't make so light of that.
- snazz 6y ago
  Totally off-topic, but the automatic blade brakes on modern table saws are really cool. It runs a current through the blade, so when something moist like your finger or a hot dog gets too close (maybe using capacitance?), it automatically drops the blade and instantly stops it with a single-use brake mechanism. Better to destroy the $100 blade-and-brake assembly than to lose a finger.
  - roel_v 6y ago
    Those videos show up in my Youtube feed the last few weeks too (although these saws have existed for many years now), but I still wonder - why do they always use hotdogs in the demo videos? Can't they find anyone who's willing to risk a finger, or is it something much more boring like OSHA rules or something?
    - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
      >or is it something much more boring like OSHA rules or something? I think it's more like if you understand the tech well enough that you are willing to risk it you likely understand how not to stick your hand in a saw in the first place, don't see the value add and don't wind up working for these people. Also there's probably a pretty big social aspect of it. The guy willing to stick his hand in the saw for the demo video is gonna get shunned by most of the kind of people who want to work on tech like this.
    - jacquesm 6y ago
      Technology can fail, so why risk it? I'd not trust my fingers to someone else's design either, no matter how good, though I'd be happy to have that system installed on every table saw. But we'll have to wait until the patent expires. Even table saw blades that are protected like that should still command healthy respect and anybody that wants to show off that capability is throwing the dice. It's a bit like driving into a wall at 50 Kph to prove that airbags work. Sure they do. But you may still get injured.
    - grumple 6y ago
      There’s a video of the guy who makes them using his finger. There’s another on their website, search for sawstop. But as for others, tech can always fail so why risk it? Also it costs $100 each time you do it so it’s not like a ton of people want to waste the money.
  - Unklejoe 6y ago
    > something moist like your finger I wonder how well this would work in a real life scenario. My dad does autobody work, and his hands are like dry, cracked stone. They probably have very high electrical resistance. I'd imagine a wood worker's hands to be similar.
    - jacquesm 6y ago
      The first nick will conduct plenty due to the blood.
    - jagraff 6y ago
      Once the blade started cutting through the skin and got to blood vessels, the resistance would go way down, so it would probably still work - just with a larger/deeper cut than more conductive hands.
  - Igelau 6y ago
    How am I supposed to cut my hot dogs now?
    - DarkWiiPlayer 6y ago
      Completely dry them first, cut them, then let them soak in water overnight. Can't guarantee they'll taste 100% the same, but you get around buying dedicated hot-dog cutting hardware.
  - wmeredith 6y ago
    These saw brake systems aren’t on “modern table saws”. This system is branded and patented and only exists on Saw Stop table saws (no affiliation). If I recall correctly, the inventor took the tech to the big saw makers when it was first in invented and was turned away, because of some combination of he wanted too much money and they didn’t want the liability of marketing a “safe” table saw. So he started his own company. The tech is truly something incredible. It uses a disposable cartridge with a shotgun-sized charge to ram an aluminum matrix into the bottom of the spinning blade if it detects current (oily skin touching the blade closes the circuit). It stops it in thousandths of a second and your left with a nick instead of maimed. It ruins the blade and the cartridge. You’re out ~$150 if you trigger it. Small price to pay for keeping a finger.
    - snazz 6y ago
      Huh! Thanks for the correction. I was under the impression that it was more widespread. I forget the brand of the table saw I used most recently, but I do know that it has that feature.
      - speg 6y ago
        Saw Stop is the original one. Bosch does have their own version called Reaxx, though it drops down through the table. They don't sell it in the United States due to patent issues with the Saw Stop version.
    - yetihehe 6y ago
      > You’re out ~$150 if you trigger it. Small price to pay for keeping a finger. You can also trigger it if your wood is too wet. That was one of reasons given against using it everywhere.
eeZah7Ux 6y ago
> pulling comments and likes on things which can be considered "inappropriate" and "offensive" > That alone is enough for me to turn down the offer > I take chopping off my finger in a heartbeat You would rather lose a finger that work in a company that has strict very rules around offensive behavior? ...
- giantDinosaur 6y ago
  It's pretty clear that there's offensive behaviour as generally understood (antisocial stuff, mostly) and whatever reign of terror this company is, from the OP's perspective, prosecuting.
- axegon_ 6y ago
  > You would rather lose a finger that work in a company that has strict very rules around offensive behavior? As I said, in a heartbeat. I was born behind the iron curtain and still live in a place where it casts a dark shadow. There's a fine line between "strict rules" and full on dictatorship. Frankly I never understood the fuss around the so-called "offensive behavior". I spent 5 years of my life studying abroad. As an eastern European, if I had a cent for every time someone called me a car thief ALONE, I would have made enough money to buy the entire VW group(and never have to steal a car again ho-ho-ho). Do(/did) I care? No. I have a relative who was fired from their job in the 80's because he said a joke about the dictator at the time and wasn't hired up until the entire regime collapsed almost a decade later. Do you not see the problem with this? It's a question of self-respect and dignity. I don't care what anyone at work does or says, so long as work is being done. Their personal lives are none of my concern. A several-hundred page report which contains likes of a tweets like "A priest, a rapist and a pedophile walk into a bar… He orders a drink." with an "inappropriate" flag is a gross violation if you ask me.
  - eeZah7Ux 6y ago
    > There's a fine line between "strict rules" and full on dictatorship There's a very big line between a company's silly hiring policy and a government. I doubt the company will send goons to kill you. The fact that you can't tell the difference says a lot. > Frankly I never understood the fuss around the so-called "offensive behavior". There you go.
emerged 6y ago
Yea there's absolutely no way I'd give a company or their goons permission to invade my privacy like that. Disturbing that companies are even allowed to get away with that without a class action law suit.
- axegon_ 6y ago
  They get away with it because officially they don't do that. Some guy got a hold of his report and that's how he found out. Officially it's employment history, criminal record, and education history, nothing more. But the fact that such things ended up in their report(which, mind you, was almost 400 pages) raises many red flags.
techsin101 6y ago
keep stalling when week into job tell hr you aren't doing it. get you a simpler version.

jacquesm 6y ago

> I take chopping off my finger in a heartbeat I wouldn't make so light of that.

snazz 6y ago
Totally off-topic, but the automatic blade brakes on modern table saws are really cool. It runs a current through the blade, so when something moist like your finger or a hot dog gets too close (maybe using capacitance?), it automatically drops the blade and instantly stops it with a single-use brake mechanism. Better to destroy the $100 blade-and-brake assembly than to lose a finger.
- roel_v 6y ago
  Those videos show up in my Youtube feed the last few weeks too (although these saws have existed for many years now), but I still wonder - why do they always use hotdogs in the demo videos? Can't they find anyone who's willing to risk a finger, or is it something much more boring like OSHA rules or something?
  - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
    >or is it something much more boring like OSHA rules or something? I think it's more like if you understand the tech well enough that you are willing to risk it you likely understand how not to stick your hand in a saw in the first place, don't see the value add and don't wind up working for these people. Also there's probably a pretty big social aspect of it. The guy willing to stick his hand in the saw for the demo video is gonna get shunned by most of the kind of people who want to work on tech like this.
  - jacquesm 6y ago
    Technology can fail, so why risk it? I'd not trust my fingers to someone else's design either, no matter how good, though I'd be happy to have that system installed on every table saw. But we'll have to wait until the patent expires. Even table saw blades that are protected like that should still command healthy respect and anybody that wants to show off that capability is throwing the dice. It's a bit like driving into a wall at 50 Kph to prove that airbags work. Sure they do. But you may still get injured.
  - grumple 6y ago
    There’s a video of the guy who makes them using his finger. There’s another on their website, search for sawstop. But as for others, tech can always fail so why risk it? Also it costs $100 each time you do it so it’s not like a ton of people want to waste the money.
- Unklejoe 6y ago
  > something moist like your finger I wonder how well this would work in a real life scenario. My dad does autobody work, and his hands are like dry, cracked stone. They probably have very high electrical resistance. I'd imagine a wood worker's hands to be similar.
  - jacquesm 6y ago
    The first nick will conduct plenty due to the blood.
  - jagraff 6y ago
    Once the blade started cutting through the skin and got to blood vessels, the resistance would go way down, so it would probably still work - just with a larger/deeper cut than more conductive hands.
- Igelau 6y ago
  How am I supposed to cut my hot dogs now?
  - DarkWiiPlayer 6y ago
    Completely dry them first, cut them, then let them soak in water overnight. Can't guarantee they'll taste 100% the same, but you get around buying dedicated hot-dog cutting hardware.
- wmeredith 6y ago
  These saw brake systems aren’t on “modern table saws”. This system is branded and patented and only exists on Saw Stop table saws (no affiliation). If I recall correctly, the inventor took the tech to the big saw makers when it was first in invented and was turned away, because of some combination of he wanted too much money and they didn’t want the liability of marketing a “safe” table saw. So he started his own company. The tech is truly something incredible. It uses a disposable cartridge with a shotgun-sized charge to ram an aluminum matrix into the bottom of the spinning blade if it detects current (oily skin touching the blade closes the circuit). It stops it in thousandths of a second and your left with a nick instead of maimed. It ruins the blade and the cartridge. You’re out ~$150 if you trigger it. Small price to pay for keeping a finger.
  - snazz 6y ago
    Huh! Thanks for the correction. I was under the impression that it was more widespread. I forget the brand of the table saw I used most recently, but I do know that it has that feature.
    - speg 6y ago
      Saw Stop is the original one. Bosch does have their own version called Reaxx, though it drops down through the table. They don't sell it in the United States due to patent issues with the Saw Stop version.
  - yetihehe 6y ago
    > You’re out ~$150 if you trigger it. Small price to pay for keeping a finger. You can also trigger it if your wood is too wet. That was one of reasons given against using it everywhere.

eeZah7Ux 6y ago

> pulling comments and likes on things which can be considered "inappropriate" and "offensive" > That alone is enough for me to turn down the offer > I take chopping off my finger in a heartbeat You would rather lose a finger that work in a company that has strict very rules around offensive behavior? ...

giantDinosaur 6y ago
It's pretty clear that there's offensive behaviour as generally understood (antisocial stuff, mostly) and whatever reign of terror this company is, from the OP's perspective, prosecuting.
axegon_ 6y ago
> You would rather lose a finger that work in a company that has strict very rules around offensive behavior? As I said, in a heartbeat. I was born behind the iron curtain and still live in a place where it casts a dark shadow. There's a fine line between "strict rules" and full on dictatorship. Frankly I never understood the fuss around the so-called "offensive behavior". I spent 5 years of my life studying abroad. As an eastern European, if I had a cent for every time someone called me a car thief ALONE, I would have made enough money to buy the entire VW group(and never have to steal a car again ho-ho-ho). Do(/did) I care? No. I have a relative who was fired from their job in the 80's because he said a joke about the dictator at the time and wasn't hired up until the entire regime collapsed almost a decade later. Do you not see the problem with this? It's a question of self-respect and dignity. I don't care what anyone at work does or says, so long as work is being done. Their personal lives are none of my concern. A several-hundred page report which contains likes of a tweets like "A priest, a rapist and a pedophile walk into a bar… He orders a drink." with an "inappropriate" flag is a gross violation if you ask me.
- eeZah7Ux 6y ago
  > There's a fine line between "strict rules" and full on dictatorship There's a very big line between a company's silly hiring policy and a government. I doubt the company will send goons to kill you. The fact that you can't tell the difference says a lot. > Frankly I never understood the fuss around the so-called "offensive behavior". There you go.

emerged 6y ago

Yea there's absolutely no way I'd give a company or their goons permission to invade my privacy like that. Disturbing that companies are even allowed to get away with that without a class action law suit.

axegon_ 6y ago
They get away with it because officially they don't do that. Some guy got a hold of his report and that's how he found out. Officially it's employment history, criminal record, and education history, nothing more. But the fact that such things ended up in their report(which, mind you, was almost 400 pages) raises many red flags.

techsin101 6y ago

keep stalling when week into job tell hr you aren't doing it. get you a simpler version.