Hacker News: mruniverse

New comment by mruniverse in "Satya Nadella decides Microsoft needs an engineering quality czar"

mruniverse — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 08:58:49 +0000

We got rid of QA engineers a few years ago. I think some VP will hear what Nadella is doing and start their innovative initiative to start hiring QA engineers.

New comment by mruniverse in "Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs"

mruniverse — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 11:23:58 +0000

It might not be simple. It could be very hard, very expensive. Is it worth doing? Does it have value?

Would it be so bad if most of the CEOs are white men? All the execs are white men?

But I don't want to pick on white men. Let's say would it be so bad to let the incumbents call the shots. Let the incumbents hire only who they want to hire.

New comment by mruniverse in "Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs"

mruniverse — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 11:20:21 +0000

What if we don't assume any bias and just look at outcome?

We stipulate that bias should play no part in decision making. Only the outcome should matter. If the outcome doesn't match racial balance of the society we make it so.

New comment by mruniverse in "Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs"

mruniverse — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 10:35:05 +0000

I think people can have unconscious bias.

But in hiring, I think it's mostly conscious. What I mean is that I think people will see a long Indian name they can't pronounce and skip that resume or put it off until later. That's conscious. They'll see someone who looks like themselves and feel more comfortable talking to them. That's conscious. Etc.

New comment by mruniverse in "Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs"

mruniverse — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 10:15:02 +0000

Should business have freedoms that are good for business but bad for society?

Isn't the whole reason for businesses in the first place is that they improve society? They are an efficient way to allocate resources for the good of everyone involved. It runs by rules that we set. And we tweak those rules. And it seems DEI may be one of those rules that aren't good and we can change it.

But the end goal shouldn't be defined as anything that is good for business is good for society.

New comment by mruniverse in "Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs"

mruniverse — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 08:06:17 +0000

The purpose of our state is to provide for its citizens. So we decided to use a market economy because it seems the most efficient way to do that. But we make up the rules that it runs by and we can change the rules as we see fit.

So it seems now we are saying DEI is not a good rule. Can we make a better rule or is the goal of that rule not good?

New comment by mruniverse in "Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs"

mruniverse — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 08:05:19 +0000

I think it's more unsaid than unconscious. But putting that aside, if DEI is purposeful and deliberate while the "natural state" of things is not (unconscious bias), is that how we should leave it?

Should businesses have the freedom to exclude if it's unconscious?

New comment by mruniverse in "Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs"

mruniverse — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 03:49:02 +0000

I think it's always conscious one way or the other. With or without DEI.

It could be close to blind if communication were only done through writing and the candidate names were not known.

New comment by mruniverse in "Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs"

mruniverse — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 03:41:30 +0000

Is the business perspective the right one to go with?

Let's say it's legal to discriminate on race in hiring in the US. Then a Japanese restaurant hires only Japanese workers because they find customers prefer it. Do we want to have this?

New comment by mruniverse in "Terry Gross and the Art of Opening Up (2015)"

mruniverse — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 10:52:55 +0000

The reason people like her is that she gets them interested in the guest. Not many interviewers can do that. She'll interview some blues artist you've never heard of and the next thing you know you're looking them up on Youtube.

New comment by mruniverse in "Apple's Blue Ocean"

mruniverse — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 03:13:56 +0000

I thought Apple's Blue Ocean stuff were:

* Macintosh

* iPhone

* Apple Store

New comment by mruniverse in "Pixel 8 leak promises 7 years of OS updates"

mruniverse — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 03:20:55 +0000

It feels Google phones are very nice prototype projects from a darling business unit. Used to show off cool software for trade shows.

New comment by mruniverse in "How the iMac Saved Apple"

mruniverse — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 05:48:17 +0000

Yes, at the time it was all about desktop publishing and graphic design. It wasn't until the end of the 90s that PCs started to make its way into that niche.

Also it didn't feel like Apple was for consumers until the iPod came out.

New comment by mruniverse in "R.I.P. Macromedia FreeHand (2007)"

mruniverse — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 01:58:30 +0000

Seemed like you always needed a trio of main apps. In the graphic design market of the 90s, it was Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator. To a lesser extent it was Pagemaker, Photoshop and Freehand.

New comment by mruniverse in "Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer"

mruniverse — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 06:24:36 +0000

I can see it being nice if it's like Minority Report, where you can swipe small screens away, etc. Talk and it types. Glance to the left to see how the builds are going, etc. It could also be a nice virtual whiteboard. Usually it's hard to know how nice hardware can be without the apps. And you don't have to be in your office.

New comment by mruniverse in "Amazon will require employees return to the office 3 days a week"

mruniverse — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 19:43:44 +0000

I think a gesture is actually worse. They can say, hey look, I'm just like you. If I can work like this so can you. So buck up. When in fact they can go into their reserved conference room any time they want. Or not even use their bigger cube with 2 assistants. Just get the corner office and keep your gestures.

New comment by mruniverse in "Amazon will require employees return to the office 3 days a week"

mruniverse — Sat, 18 Feb 2023 23:20:32 +0000

What is the merit here?

New comment by mruniverse in "Ask HN: Did improving conversation and listening skills win you anything big?"

mruniverse — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 13:23:29 +0000

I think you can answer your own question. Did you "give" anything to the people who were empathetic and listened to you?

New comment by mruniverse in "A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job"

mruniverse — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 13:48:49 +0000

Here's what the professor had to say:

“I am showing you this image for a reason. And that is that there is this common thinking that Islam completely forbids, outright, any figurative depictions or any depictions of holy personages. While many Islamic cultures do strongly frown on this practice, I would like to remind you there is no one, monothetic Islamic culture,”

https://hamlineoracle.com/10750/news/who-belongs/

New comment by mruniverse in "A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job"

mruniverse — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 13:12:54 +0000

As long as it's only thinking people odd.

Not sure if the professor felt existential about it but she said:

https://hamlineoracle.com/10750/news/who-belongs/