pjlegato

39 ms·

391.
by pjlegato 10y ago
Er. I actually said that they don't use brainteasers anymore in the post.
392.
by pjlegato 10y ago
The point was that their interview doesn't select for "ability to contribute to the company libraries" at all. It selects for "went to Stanford or MIT and has a good ability to memorize abstract computer science material
393.
by pjlegato 10y ago
The point is the test doesn't select for "ability to contribute to company infrastructure" at all. It selects for "mathematical knowledge of theoretical computer science." These are related skillsets, but largely un
394.
by pjlegato 10y ago
Knowing what these structures are and having a working knowledge of how to use them is not the same skill as being able to implement them from scratch (on a whiteboard, in an hour or less.) If you can drive, you probably have a pretty good
395.
by pjlegato 10y ago
A better analogy would be hiring engine designers by spending 90% of the interview asking them questions about low level metallurgy, and 10% about engine design as such. I would reverse those ratios.
396.
by pjlegato 10y ago
The second factor is far more important than the first. There are any number of engineers who can simply go read up on the fundamentals as they are needed, or who understand them well enough to work with them but lack a mathematical proof-l
397.
by pjlegato 10y ago
I have a philosophy degree, and I can say with some confidence that I understand that particular catchphrase pretty profoundly. Not everyone who happens to disagree with you is merely an ignorant barbarian in need of enlightenment. See Karl
398.
by pjlegato 10y ago
Computational complexity vs. runtime complexity: while the details are irrelevant for computational complexity, as you say, the runtime complexity is a different matter, because the execution environment (disk, cache, etc.) has been optimiz
399.
by pjlegato 10y ago
This sounds more like a feature of the SF Bay area tech scene rather than Google in particular. Many young skinny-jeans-wearing progressives here quite openly harbor grossly ignorant steroetypes of a wide variety of unacceptable cultures: t
400.
by pjlegato 10y ago
That's kind of the point -- even if you prepare well , your chances are only 50/50, so don't be too disappointed if you don't make it.
401.
by pjlegato 10y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_cau...
402.
by pjlegato 10y ago
The problem is that the algorithmic interview is the gatekeeper. As you say, almost none of your actual job depends on knowing any of that material in any way. However, you aren't even getting in the door unless you know it all, which
403.
by pjlegato 10y ago
Google's sort of "computer science trivia" style interview is the bane of software engineering. "CS trivia" interviews select for people who know the mathematics of computer science, not for people who know how to s
404.
by pjlegato 10y ago
More likely they simply don't care. Developers are a tiny fraction of their overall userbase, and there are plenty of devs who will put up with any kind of abuse just to have a shot at App Store riches.
405.
by pjlegato 10y ago
> a tech company that runs more like a normal business than a debt-fueled rocket ship Most tech startups are funded with equity, not debt.
406.
by pjlegato 10y ago
Yes, unsurprisingly there is an enormous amount of case law on this topic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus_in_the_United_St...
407.
by pjlegato 10y ago
That's irrational. The comment's validity is logically unrelated to how aggressively it was delivered.
408.
by pjlegato 10y ago
Moreover, ostracizes any dissenting opinions while simultaneously loudly trumpeting the value of tolerance for diversity.
409.
by pjlegato 10y ago
There was this Snowden guy who leaked some documents about that...
410.
by pjlegato 10y ago
Currency was later re-introduced to enable the Ferengi race to be portrayed as greedy merchants.
411.
by pjlegato 10y ago
Indeed, their efforts to run the "Klingon culture is bad" thread got comically awkward in TNG, where they also really hammered on the multiculturalist "all cultures are equally valid" theme. All cultures... except for Kl
412.
by pjlegato 10y ago
> When's the last time Google risked itself or business or any tech ceo risked their livelihood for the sake of the greater good? February of 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Nacchio The former CEO
413.
by pjlegato 10y ago
The same argument was historically made to justify slavery.
414.
by pjlegato 10y ago
Yes. Google is selling you , to advertisers, quite literally. When you aren't paying anything for something of value, YOU are the product.
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The ongoing VC seed round crash(i.imgur.com)
1 points by pjlegato 10y ago|0 comments
416.
by pjlegato 10y ago
True, but they don't have to find the optimal solution, or even anything close to it. They just have to find a solution that's slightly better than the next-best solution, which in most cases is very far from optimal.
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by pjlegato 10y ago
The root problem is shown in this graph[1]. Simply put, since the 1960s, expanded funding for higher education in the US has vastly increased the supply of PhDs, while the number of job positions open for professors has not significantly in
418.
by pjlegato 10y ago
It is indeed partially true that doing high level work simply requires extended hours and unusual dedication to achieve anything. However, that is not what is primarily at work here. The main factor is a sort of culturally normative and ing
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by pjlegato 10y ago
You are correct that automation would help out a lot technically, at least in some science fields. There are two cultural issues, though: 1) Automation won't be used in many cases since automation is not how the advisors did things whe
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by pjlegato 10y ago
And the worst part: This sort of draconian training regimen doesn't even work. If it did, China would have far more Nobel Prizes than it does.

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