7 ms·
Re: You can go to the bathroom whenever you want at Microsoft
- OOOOOOOOOO 17y agoFail
- joe_the_user 17y agoI like the intent but it needs more meat and a little bit more of a wind-up - as a joke, it's all punchline.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- neilk 17y agoYeah, but it's here and part of the conversation, mere hours after the original -- that counts for something. True, it's not sparkling literary parody, but more like a timely snappy comeback. Sites like Twitter and HN make this sort of riposte possible, so now it's one option for making a point.
- reduxredacted 17y agoThat's a good point. Quick and thorough response that if not for reading the content looked incredibly like the original. Not difficult to do "technically", but then, I didn't do it so who am I to talk? That said, a properly placed profanity can add a punch and shock the reader ... that effect is lost when profanity is in virtually every sentence ... and shit.
- joe_the_user 17y agoAh... It would have helped if I had known there was original... I'm sure it's "everywhere" but I'd never heard of it...
- Davertron 17y agoHa!
- blasdel 17y ago"P.S. I don’t think she’s a whore because she’s a woman, I think she’s a whore because she’s in marketing. It’s important to understand the distinction." http://zedshaw.com/blog/2009-07-18.html http://zedshaw.com/blog/2009-07-18.html
- shabda 17y agoI find it amusing that the best viral marketeer I have seen says "she’s a whore because she’s in marketing".
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- mustpax 17y agoJust as saying “no offense“ does not immediately render a comment inoffensive; stating that his comments should not be construed as misogyny, does not negate the fact his comments really are misogynistic. I don‘t want to get all politically-correct here, but are we really going to pretend that the word “whore” has no gender related connotations? When you use a word, you have to take all the luggage that comes with it, that is just the way language works.
- pfedor 17y agoI am not a native speaker so please forgive me for a silly question. Can the word "whore" not be used in English when referring to a male prostitute? What word would you suggest instead which would convey the same meaning without the misogynistic connotations? Thanks.
- Scriptor 17y agoI think "whore" has evolved somewhat to basically mean anyone who will do whatever it takes to get something. There is the term "man whore" but that's more used for males who are sexually promiscuous. God I sound way too old writing that.
- 17y ago
- I_got_fifty 17y agoI love this! This is great! But I wonder from which marketing department this one come from.
- JimmyL 17y agoblasdel's link above has Zed Shaw taking claim for it - You know what’s great about the Internet? When you see something like this obviously astroturfed bullshit ad from Microsoft you can easily parody the hell out of it. So I did and I’m pretty sure that will set the internets on fire. Again.
- sailormoon 17y agoZed Shaw's marketing department of course! Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm a fan. I'm a fan of anyone who knows what they're fucking talking about, actually. That MS site is embarrassing to even look at.
- dan_the_welder 17y ago<quote>That MS site is embarrassing to even look at.</quote> I am just appalled that they believe that people who are ostensibly targeted by this campaign are that unsophisticated. Maybe they are. Go Zed, your humor makes me happy.
- bokchoi 17y agothis is humor?
- dan_the_welder 17y agoDid you create a profile to turf the turfing of the turfing, Mr.Bokchoi?
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- aaronbrethorst 17y agoFrom the parody: "I'm probably some failed art student who couldn't get a job on Cap-Hill..." Right, because it takes such awesome credentials to land a job at the bars and restaurants in Seattle... A lot of Microsofties are insanely passionate about the company. I used to be one, and shared their fervor for quite a while. When they say that they want to "change the world," they really mean it for better or worse. Now excuse me while I go launder my Decemberists t-shirt in preparation for the Death Cab concert tonight. ;-) (capitol hill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill,_Seattle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill,_Seattle)
- Elepsis 17y agoI think this is officially the sign of the reddit-ization of Hacker News. Pathetic.
- wmeredith 17y agoBitching will not save you. Go to the new page and vote up stuff you like.
- jrockway 17y agoVoting is no match for the tyranny of the majority. (Look at how well it worked for California; gay marriage is illegal, tax increases are illegal, and the state is bankrupt. Sometimes, you need to elect a trusted representative that can balance all the issues at once.)
- kingkongrevenge 17y agoCalifornia is bankrupt because of out of control government spending and bureaucracy costs. The "majority" is at fault to the extent they have tended to vote themselves a free lunch. But the problem is primarily parasitic special interests in and around the government, so your parallel doesn't really work.
- SwellJoe 17y agoBut the problem is primarily parasitic special interests in and around the government, so your parallel doesn't really work. Whenever I see the words "special interests", I immediately want to know which special interests in particular you're complaining about. The words (rightly) have a bad connotation, but I don't often see a lot of agreement about which specific interests are causing trouble.
- kingkongrevenge 17y agoGovernment employee unions is #1 on the list. California government employees make about twice what equivalent private sector workers do and retire 20 years earlier.
- sounddust 17y agoI think it's unfortunate that a moderator decided to unkill this. It's not just inappropriate for HN due to content, but also because it's a mean-spirited hate piece with bits of misogyny and homophobia thrown in. It's fine if someone wants to rebut the article (which seemed like a pretty straightforward interview to me), but the rebuttal that gets promoted to HN should have been more civil.
- allenbrunson 17y agoI agree. I flagged this article and I'm very surprised it came back from the dead. Doesn't seem to be in keeping with the usual vibe here at all.
- davi 17y ago"Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation." (http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) + "Hey. My name is Ariel and I'm a total whore...for Microsoft that is!" = flag
- cool-RR 17y agoI think you're taking it out of context - I think it's meant for things that are said on HN itself, not in articles linked to from HN.
- prodigal_erik 17y agoArticles linked should be better than the average HN comment. This one was noise, not signal.
- davi 17y agoI know the guideline is for comments. I'm not interpreting it legalistically, I'm interpreting its intent: to shape the culture of the site.
- neilk 17y agoIt wasn't a straightforward interview. It was a subtle form of astroturfing. PR is all about context. They try to dissociate the site from Microsoft (visually) to imply these are disinterested opinions. And in particular, that there's this cute young emo woman who wanders the halls of Microsoft entranced with the dreamy, rebellious hackers. The subtext, if you're a heterosexual male programmer, is that working for MS gets you the kinds of attention you've always wanted. And that real rebels ought to be working for Microsoft. All absurd, which is why they had to be subtle about it. If the sexual innuendo is said out loud -- as in a parody -- you then realize what's happened. It's debatable whether the tone is HN-appropriate, but I thought it made legitimate points, despite or perhaps because of the crudeness.
- asdlfj2sd33 17y agoWTF was that? I tried reading twice and I still don't understand what it's about. The comments here are quite inflamed but they don't explain anything. Anyone care to enlighten me? --EDIT-- Never mind, I red what this is a response to. It's sad, the original was such a parody of what it was trying to be, mocking it is like kicking someone who is already down. And mod me down but why this any of this on HN?
- Tichy 17y agoCould you explain, because I am not understanding any of it (except that Zed Shaw seems to be involved somehow - did he hack a Wordpress Blog???). Not that I read much of the actual site - I did not understand why I should, as it seemed unappealing.
- gaius 17y agoZed is a dick, film at 11.
- asdlfj2sd33 17y agoThere exists an astroturf MS campaign to convince people that the cool kids now work at MS. The cool kids being self thought and with spiky orange hair. Like almost all MS advertising it is terribly cheesy. The main point seems to be that at MS you DON'T have to ask for permission to go the bathroom. While there are places that do track you that closely, fortunately they are few and MS is not in competition with them. A gas station is mentioned, but MS is not competing to hire gas station attendees. In short it's a TERRIBLE attempt to be cool. Even though this MS campaign is quite successful at being a mockery, Zed felt the need to also mock it. Much like kicking a man who's already down, it's not clear this is as funny or smart as Zed seems to think it is. Never the less Zed created an intentional parody of something which was already an unintentional parody. He also threw the word "whore" in for good measure, but not because one of the people involved is a girl, but because she's in marketing, that's according to Zed.
- Tichy 17y agoThanks for the information. I have come to the conclusion that Zed thinks too complicated for me to follow his lines of thought.
- endtime 17y agoI know meta-discussion isn't entirely welcome on HN, but nevertheless, I feel a need to express my disappointment that this article was (apparently) undeaded. Whichever mod is responsible, please try to understand why so many of us flagged this article in the first place and don't undead lowbrow flamebait in the future. HN is supposed to be above this sort of article.
- lionhearted 17y agoThere's a lot of people and companies in the world I don't care for, for whatever reason. But I try to never put anyone down unless it's necessary to achieve something more important. So I'd put down Soviet Communism because I'd like to see a freer, happier Russia, but I'm not going to waste my life putting down XYZ Ice Cream Parlor / Software Company / Whatever for doing something I dislike. It's fashionable and easy to score a few points putting down McDonalds or Microsoft or whatever, and I used to when I was younger. I mean, it's so easy to put down McDonalds, and McD's really is legitimately garbage. But what's to gain from it? It just takes time away from me doing some science, doing some business, connecting with people I do like, reading, writing, painting, lifting weights, playing golf, going to a museum, having sex, swimming, sitting in a park, having a coffee, whatever. I don't need or want the short, easy points and bond that come with assessing my disgust/superiority/whatever over other people and organizations. Time is too precious to spend doing that.
- ErrantX 17y agoWhat happened to the don't post flame topic rules? Surely Zed's blog post would have been a better entry path at the very least.
- RK 17y agoA response to criticisms of astroturfing by the Microspotting writer: http://www.codexon.com/posts/the-sad-state-of-microsoft-advertisement/comment-page-1#comment-246 http://www.codexon.com/posts/the-sad-state-of-microsoft-adve...