What's on your mind today?

Progrez

Elite Member
Jun 17, 2022
1,698 Posts
792 Thanked
Woah
Thanks @dmgtz96. I work for Meta, but this was news for me. I checked my emails just now and there was no warning or instructions sent telling us not to talk about it. In fact, multiple managers last week brought up the news and offered small words of acknowledgement and support for those who needed it.

However the article you shared is correct, there are policies at Meta that will and have lead to censorship. It's actually a very complex and interesting situation, and far more nuanced than clickbait articles like this imply. For example do we need or want our internal workchat tools to be places for large political discussion? In a company of 10,000+ people, with differing opinions and perspectives, this has the potential to degrade the social aspects of work. Personally I probably think people should be able to discuss what they want, but need to think about it more. In fact there is extremely open, high quality, respectful and insightful debate taking place in giant internal posts about this topic, which leads me to believe we as employees can handle free discourse well.

But there are other considerations too. What happens if Meta allows for those perspectives that think banning abortions is a good one? There are jurisdictions that would love nothing more than to characterize anti-choice or pro-choice posts and advocacy as creating a hostile work environment, or extend those beliefs onto the company itself. Meta is an ideal target. Past leaks have already cherry picked internal employee posts to paint sensationalised and soap opera narratives for clickbait bullshit and it would happen again, no question. There are further legal implications too.
What's is it like working for Meta?

This is so cool, I would love to see video clips of what type of shapes certain tracks create.

 

Hensmon

Admin
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
3,109 Posts
2,606 Thanked
UK
I'd prefer it that way really. using company software/hardware (especially mega corporations) for contentious discussions is asking for trouble Imo.

And thats what I think happened n 2016 with the US elections. From experience they predict overly contentious and inappropriate conflict to appear for controversial and/or polarizing topics. It degrades the social work environment but also potentially creates the aforementioned legal challenges that appear from the reactionary nature that FB draws when in the public eye.

There are plenty of non-work channels to discuss things in. We don't use Slack. The internal system is essentially a work tailored Facebook, with posts, feeds, groups, sharing DMs etc. For example I create a post when I want to say I am going on holiday, moving team, celebrating a work win or found some interesting product insight. People can share that, comment, tag etc. It's actually a very cool way to connect with my close team but also global employees. I am part of many different groups with colleagues around the world i.e electronic music. But everything is still there for everyone to see and share and therefore big political discussions will spill into my everyday workday and thus why HR has decided some forms of censorship to be a suitable path. Cant blame them really, I don't envy HR and the tradeoffs they must balance.
 
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dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
2,640 Posts
1,499 Thanked
So... how is the economic recession treating you?

My industry is doing mostly okay, as we haven't slowed down hiring, but I've seen a bunch of finance and technology professionals laid off on LinkedIn. Scared for what the future holds, to be honest.
 
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Jetflag

Elite Member
Jul 17, 2020
2,702 Posts
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stuff's more expensive, thats for sure, That being said the nice thing about architecture/building industry is that
1: people always need shelter
2: entropy, as in, old shelters need fixing/ modifying.

as such, despite the fact that my sector has been hit by both recession and non-sensical government fiat (surprise surprise) I'm managing to stay afloat pretty well, both in terms of my job aswell as my own company on the side.
 
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dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
2,640 Posts
1,499 Thanked
Article from Linkedin:


New wave of layoffs fueling anxiety​


Announcements of layoffs, hiring freezes and rescinded job offers have roiled the tech industry and startup community for several months. Now companies across multiple sectors are making staff cuts as executives worry about a possible recession and weigh "all manner of adverse near-term effects on their businesses," Puck writes. Despite those mounting signs of economic trouble, CNBC notes that overall employer demand for workers “remains extremely high” and that layoffs are "near historical lows.”



  • A recent LinkedIn poll revealed that 60% of respondents were either worried or very worried about their careers because of economic uncertainty.
  • Following in the wake of this year's layoffs is a new trend, reports the Wall Street Journal: announcing a job loss on social media. The reason is twofold: to share about the experience and also to network with recruiters.


Here are some of the firms that have announced layoffs since the beginning of July:



  • Delivery startup Gopuff laid off about 1,500 of its global workforce and closed 76 warehouses in the U.S.
  • Virtual events platform Hopin, a tech unicorn valued at $7.75 billion, laid off 29% of employees.
  • Electric carmaker Rivian said it was cutting "hundreds" after conceding it "grew too fast".
  • Food-tech companies Sunday and Nextbite announced restructuring and layoffs.
  • Healthtech companies OhioHealth and Alto cut staff.
  • Next Insurance, a small business insurance provider, laid off 17% of its workforce.
  • Video game retailer GameStop announced layoffs and also said chief financial officer Mike Recupero was leaving the company.
  • Twitter laid off about one-third of its talent acquisition team.
  • At the end of June, San Francisco was in the spotlight as layoffs were made by numerous tech companies: game developers Niantic and Unity, online newsletter platform Substack and real estate company HomeLight. Elsewhere, data storage provider Qumulo and Parallel Wireless also made cuts.


June's more high-profile companies making cuts include:




tl;dr tech startups are the most affected so far. But large established tech companies like Netflix and Twitter, and EV manufacturers Tesla/Rivian are also affected.
It just always sucks when you open up Linkedin and one of the trending posts is by someone from those companies announcing their layoff, and that they are now looking for opportunities... or international students whose offers were rescinded and need to find something ASAP so they're not deported.
 

Archon

Gagi
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
3,913 Posts
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My vacation/leave request was approved today, from 13th of August until 29th; in total 16 days (10 working days).

But just in case you were worried I might go ahead and teabag my balls into one of Greece's warm and beautifully blue seas, let me put your mind at ease. I will be using that time to hopefully get closer to finishing my college.

I really do need the rest though. Oh well.
 

dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
2,640 Posts
1,499 Thanked
So did anyone go to the Luminosity Beach Festival this year?

I'm interested in attending next year. That might honestly be my "last hurrah" for trance, plus I'd like to meet some of the NL crew in person
 

Jetflag

Elite Member
Jul 17, 2020
2,702 Posts
2,169 Thanked
nah I had my share of big-ass trance festivals honestly.. Nothing more cringe then ouwe-stappers pretending they can still party like yester year. I enjoy listening to trance. Partying? used to, not 'ny more.

If its particulary windy or wavey next time around i might go for a nice sunset surf session with some good music in the background,
 
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Progrez

Elite Member
Jun 17, 2022
1,698 Posts
792 Thanked
Article from Linkedin:




tl;dr tech startups are the most affected so far. But large established tech companies like Netflix and Twitter, and EV manufacturers Tesla/Rivian are also affected.
It just always sucks when you open up Linkedin and one of the trending posts is by someone from those companies announcing their layoff, and that they are now looking for opportunities... or international students whose offers were rescinded and need to find something ASAP so they're not deported.
Also, Elon Musk fired 2 employees for critising him over an email. Freedom of speech and nazi people much .

SpaceX employees fired after writing letter criticizing Elon Musk
 
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Jetflag

Elite Member
Jul 17, 2020
2,702 Posts
2,169 Thanked
Also, Elon Musk fired 2 employees for critising him over an email. Freedom of speech and nazi people much .

SpaceX employees fired after writing letter criticizing Elon Musk
lol, how is freedom of speech being curbed/how is that facism precisely?

two (presumably far left) activists quote: " blanketed thousands of people across the company with repeated unsolicited emails" calling the main owner of the company " a distraction and an embarrassment” and making other employees quote “feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied.” and its somehow Naziïsm, with 3 space X launches within 37 hours, that they had their contracts cancelled according to you?

Here's an idea for the two in question: If you walk into office waving middelfingers at the boss for something he does in his private offtime and enciting revolution among collegues via random unsollicited emails, (who feel enmass quite unconfortable and unsafe with that)

it might be time to get over your extreme sense of activist entitlement, read the room, grow some common sense and get another job somewhere else 😒
 
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dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
2,640 Posts
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lol, how is freedom of speech being curbed/how is that facism precisely?

two (presumably far left) activists quote: " blanketed thousands of people across the company with repeated unsolicited emails" calling the main owner of the company " a distraction and an embarrassment” and making other employees quote “feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied.” and its somehow Naziïsm, with 3 space X launches in 37 hours, that they had their contracts cancelled according to you?

Here's an idea for the two in question: If you walk into office waving middelfingers at the boss for something he does in his private offtime and enciting revolution among collegues via random unsollicited emails, (who feel enmass quite unconfortable and unsafe with that)

it might be time to get over your extreme sense of activist entitlement, read the room, grow some common sense and get another job somewhere else 😒
I'm going to have to agree with you. Anyone working a corporate job knows that criticizing your company's leadership as openly as that employee did will result in consequences, including possibly getting fired.
Elon Musk is an asshole and has made poor/weird decisions over the past decade, so if you're an employee of his you should have been ready to accept his eccentricities.
 

Jetflag

Elite Member
Jul 17, 2020
2,702 Posts
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Yup. The man is basically an autistic technical genius with a Steve Job esq CEO complex in his professional time, and a twitter troll in his spare one.

I doubt very much musk even got wind of this pre hoc the articles.. from what I heard it was some subordinate of whatshername running space x that handled the whole procedure internally
 
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dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
2,640 Posts
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Yup. The man is basically an autistic technical genius with a Steve Job esq CEO complex in his professional time, and a twitter troll in his spare one.

I doubt very much musk even got wind of this pre hoc the articles.. from what I heard it was some subordinate of whatshername running space x that handled the whole procedure internally
Just looked her up, had no idea SpaceX's president is a woman (Gwynne Shotwell). She has an interesting resume, with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in applied mathematics. Normally people very high up in executive positions tend to have MBAs, but then again SpaceX is a very technical company and the value added by an MBA is shoddy (at best), so more power to her for making it to president purely with technical degrees.
 
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LostLegend

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2020
843 Posts
973 Thanked
Liverpool, UK
Website
www.beatport.com

GO is doing the musical equivalent of cloning himself with his masterclass students.

Same drums and synth sounds on every one of these tracks.
It's like if Pink Floyd released an album made by Pink Floyd tribute bands. It all sounds like Pink Floyd, only nowhere near as good.
 
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Jetflag

Elite Member
Jul 17, 2020
2,702 Posts
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GO is doing the musical equivalent of cloning himself with his masterclass students.

Same drums and synth sounds on every one of these tracks.
It's like if Pink Floyd released an album made by Pink Floyd tribute bands. It all sounds like Pink Floyd, only nowhere near as good.
I’m sure the 53 twitter likes was worth the 500 euro they payed him for it. 😂

good business model 👍. More power to him for that
 
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dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
2,640 Posts
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An interesting wiki article on dog whistling, with plenty of examples from the American Right:

Dog Whistling (Politics)

  • family values: to Christians, the candidate would support policies promoting Christian values without alienating non-Christian voters
    • also stands for LGBTQIA+ discrimination
  • (Australian) Howard's government's tough stance on immigration, sending veiled messages of support to voters with racist leanings. Folks, this happens everywhere including in Europe and the US (ex. Trump with Mexicans @Gagi because you supported Trump in the past)
  • states' rights: institutionalized segregation and racism. This is why US people are up in arms about "states' rights" @jetflag. You never heard this phrase except for when politicians want to marginalize women, minorities, and people of color.
  • Cadillac-driving welfare queens (by Ronald Reagan), to make low/middle-class white conservative Americans vote against their own interests and support the rich (instead of supporting policies that would help everyone who is low/middle class, whether you are white or of color)
  • international bankers: Jews. Not mentioned in the article: George Soros (generally, any time you see someone talking shit about Soros they're probably anti-semitic)
There's just enough plausible deniability for these claims to be dismissed as "a stretch," but the message of dog-whistling is especially clear to those who can hear it.