R3qn65's recent activity
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Comment on US Supreme Court unanimously backs law banning TikTok if it’s not sold by its Chinese parent company in ~tech
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Comment on I need to be making $90,000 in ~life
R3qn65 (edited )Link ParentI'm with @F13: there's no place for soft skills unless you can point to specific things that have come from them, and even then it's probably best for the cover letter. Meaning that unless you've...I'm with @F13: there's no place for soft skills unless you can point to specific things that have come from them, and even then it's probably best for the cover letter. Meaning that unless you've received some sort of award for communication, or been assigned special duties because of how good at communicating you are, or can point to a personal blog with 100k visitors/month or something, it doesn't count, you can't put it on your resume, and if you do it will actively hurt you.
Selling yourself is easy. Find a problem, figure out how you could fix it, and then tell people that. It doesn't require arrogance or being a blowhard. And note that all problems should be simplified to reducing costs or making more money. If you can explain how you will help the company do one of those two things, they will be interested.
People get uncomfortable with the idea of selling themselves because they think it should be something like "I'm the greatest, and I'll be taking no questions." No! It's not about you; it's about the problem you've identified and how you can fix it. You only sound like an asshole if you can't point to concrete results. (Just like the soft skills - sound familiar?)
You may be struggling in part because this is harder in a vacuum. It'll be easier if you find some companies you're interested in (and that have openings), do a bit of research to understand their business, and then craft your resume and cover letter appropriately. You should also find someone in the company to talk to (ideally the manager of the listed position) - ask about what challenges the job is facing and ask about company culture.
(A note, because people get extremely weird about this. Put yourselves in the shoes of a manager. Imagine you get an email from someone saying "hi, I'd like to understand this job posting better to see if it's a position where I could add value, before I apply." Do you now think less of this person?)
It's hard and time-consuming, no doubt - but sending out resumes blindly is a sucker move. Especially from other parts of the world.
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Comment on I need to be making $90,000 in ~life
R3qn65 LinkWhat does your professional network look like? Making a totally lateral move is super difficult endeavor and harder if you’re just randomly applying to places. You also need to rethink how you’re...What does your professional network look like? Making a totally lateral move is super difficult endeavor and harder if you’re just randomly applying to places.
You also need to rethink how you’re pitching your skills. “Learning new things quickly” doesn’t really translate to anything in the workplace. Neither does being “good at communication.” (What jobs don’t need you to be good at communication?). This is especially true since you’re shooting for 90k jobs, which are going to be more competitive than being a manager at Spoons or something.
So: think in terms of deliverables. Making a company more money; reducing costs; etc. Think as specifically as possible. For example, I think you could make a compelling story combining your library science degree with your CRM management experience. Can you help a company streamline their Salesforce database, uncovering new insights that will double their lead generation? That’s a compelling pitch, that’s a 90k job, and you can probably do it remotely. But you need to learn to sell yourself first.
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Comment on A note on Worm - A review of John McCrae's Worm in ~books
R3qn65 Link ParentAgreed - and the closest figure to superman in the story, in terms of powers and ethics (Legend), is gay. (This in a story written a couple of years before gay marriage was legalized in the US)....Agreed - and the closest figure to superman in the story, in terms of powers and ethics (Legend), is gay. (This in a story written a couple of years before gay marriage was legalized in the US). As far as I can recall, there's not a single line in the story that's critical of homosexuality, and Panacea being a lesbian is not what makes her a monster. (And other lesbian characters - like Flechette - are not monsters.)
I think we should be really cautious of levying accusations of homophobia against works in which some of the bad people happen to be queer, you know? That doesn't serve anybody.
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Comment on A note on Worm - A review of John McCrae's Worm in ~books
R3qn65 Link ParentHah, I'm not sure I can agree with that. YA in terms of the difficulty of the writing, maybe, but - spoilers I'm not sure you could describe that as being for a YA audience.very clearly a YA superhero story.
Hah, I'm not sure I can agree with that. YA in terms of the difficulty of the writing, maybe, but -
spoilers
He’d been partially flayed, the skin stripped from his arms and legs and stretched over the walls around him. His ribcage had been opened, splayed apart. An improvised metal frame held each of his internal organs in place, some several feet from their intended position, as if they were held out for display, others placed on the shelves of the freezer. Cases covered in a ceramic shell seemed to be pumping him full of water, nutrients and other fluids that must have been helping keep him alive.
His head was untouched. He looked up at us, and he looked harrowed. The look in his eyes was more animal than person, his pupils mere pinpoints in his brown eyes. Tiny beads of sweat dotted the skin of his face, no doubt due to the warmth of the room, but he was shivering.
I'm not sure you could describe that as being for a YA audience.
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Comment on Mark Zuckerberg defends Meta's latest pivot in three-hour Joe Rogan interview in ~tech
R3qn65 Link ParentCan I ask - did you listen to the interview or is it just that he was on Rogan? I am not a Rogan listener, but my understanding is that most of the criticism of his show is that he's too...Can I ask - did you listen to the interview or is it just that he was on Rogan?
I am not a Rogan listener, but my understanding is that most of the criticism of his show is that he's too credulous. From that standpoint, if you were interested in hearing Zuckerberg's arguments, Rogan's show is probably fine for that.
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Comment on What goals or ambitions do you have for 2025? in ~talk
R3qn65 Link ParentOnline writing communities are toxic morasses full of lies.people online claim to write way faster,
Online writing communities are toxic morasses full of lies.
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Comment on OpenAI boss Sam Altman denies sexual abuse allegations made by sister, Ann Altman in ~tech
R3qn65 Link ParentI didn't read the whole thing, of course, but I genuinely did not see any evidence that was not an additional quotation from Annie herself.Accusations that the family gave Annie a really rough time in other ways like withholding her inheritance and financial support while she was suffering from multiple health conditions and felt forced into sex work seemed supported.
I didn't read the whole thing, of course, but I genuinely did not see any evidence that was not an additional quotation from Annie herself.
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Comment on Jean-Marie Le Pen has died in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentThis is an interesting distinction I don’t see often."I fart in your general direction" is the attitude i want my fellow french citizens to apply to this nazi's death, but it doesn't mean that's the attitude i want my /government/ to adopt.
This is an interesting distinction I don’t see often.
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Comment on Any Tildeans who have lived in China or Russia and the West? What were the differences in the daily lives of average people? in ~life
R3qn65 Link ParentSenator Bob Menendez was just convicted for accepting bribes and a congressman from Texas was arrested and charged for the same not too long before that. I don't mean this in a bad way, but it is...I can't imagine anyone even getting arrested [for bribery] in America.
Senator Bob Menendez was just convicted for accepting bribes and a congressman from Texas was arrested and charged for the same not too long before that.
I don't mean this in a bad way, but it is troubling that you feel that one wouldn't even get arrested for accepting bribes in America - just looking at the facts, that is far from true.
(I'd also suggest that the death penalty meted out for China probably has a lot more to do with political maneuvering than justice or a serious desire to stop corruption, but that's just me.)
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Comment on Any Tildeans who have lived in China or Russia and the West? What were the differences in the daily lives of average people? in ~life
R3qn65 (edited )Link ParentPlease criticize America - as I wrote above, criticism and accountability are important for the system to work as it should. Again, though, I can't agree with tacit comparisons to China. As an...Please criticize America - as I wrote above, criticism and accountability are important for the system to work as it should. Again, though, I can't agree with tacit comparisons to China. As an example:
And while the government doesn't own the press, the billionaires who bribe the politicians do. Thus the nature of what deserves censoring is quite different.
This isn't wrong, per se, but it belies the nature of what true press censorship actually looks like; it's the comparison, not the criticism, that I take umbrage with.
The Jacobin is an American publication. A few months ago they published a headline calling the USA a "dying empire led by bad people." (It's the kind of headline that stays with you.) Here's why I bring it up. Corporate "censorship" (for lack of a better term) of the press is bad. Chomsky wrote about this extensively in Manufacturing Consent, and... pretty much all the rest of his oeuvre. But you can always start a new countervailing voice. If you think the NYT isn't doing a good job holding the powers to account, there's nobody stopping you from launching the Jacobin and calling the leaders of the US terrible people.
Whereas in China, you would be arrested for writing that.
Corporate influence over the press is bad, but actual government censorship is much, much worse, and they shouldn't be discussed together.
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Comment on Record-breaking heat likely to continue in 2025, accelerating climate change in ~enviro
R3qn65 Link ParentI appreciate the effort you put into this post. I don't agree with all of your examples, but I understand where you're coming from and I respect the thought process behind your arguments.I appreciate the effort you put into this post. I don't agree with all of your examples, but I understand where you're coming from and I respect the thought process behind your arguments.
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Comment on Any Tildeans who have lived in China or Russia and the West? What were the differences in the daily lives of average people? in ~life
R3qn65 Link ParentAmerica has done all of those things, yes - but the fundamental difference is that America has gotten in trouble on all of those occasions, and the government has been held to account by the...America has done all of those things, yes - but the fundamental difference is that America has gotten in trouble on all of those occasions, and the government has been held to account by the legislature and the people.
When Snowden leaked classified information on the NSA's activity, the journalists who reported on it weren't arrested. Their stories weren't censored. The ACLU hosted livestreamed interviews with him and petitioned President Obama to pardon him. Yes, the government went after Snowden, but they are trying to arrest him so that he can be tried by a jury - not disappeared to a gulag without being able to defend himself.
In China, it's illegal to discuss Tiananmen Square. Search engines won't report results on it. History books don't cover it. By law, no opposition political party is allowed to run for election.
No country is perfect, and all countries do bad things. What matters is whether the people are able to openly criticize their governments and hold them accountable for their actions. That's what makes America great: not because it never does terrible things, but because freedom of the press and freedom of speech are enshrined in the highest law.
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Comment on Any Tildeans who have lived in China or Russia and the West? What were the differences in the daily lives of average people? in ~life
R3qn65 Link ParentPlease don't compare government respression of free speech in the PRC with government repression of free speech in America. Sure, it happens in both places, but the scale and tenor is so different...Please don't compare government respression of free speech in the PRC with government repression of free speech in America. Sure, it happens in both places, but the scale and tenor is so different that there's no further comparison.
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Comment on Tackling violence against women: the elusive concept of consent in ~life.women
R3qn65 Link ParentInteresting post - I've never thought of several aspects of this before.Interesting post - I've never thought of several aspects of this before.
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Comment on What contemporary books do you think will still be widely read 100 years from now? in ~books
R3qn65 Link ParentI've always suspected that part of the reason we feel this way - that the past was a monoculture and we're the dynamic ones - is because by definition we're only aware of the most famous books...I've always suspected that part of the reason we feel this way - that the past was a monoculture and we're the dynamic ones - is because by definition we're only aware of the most famous books from back then that are still talked about. On the other hand, writing is more accessible than ever before, so it's a certainty that the sheer volume of books is greater now.
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Comment on What contemporary books do you think will still be widely read 100 years from now? in ~books
R3qn65 Link ParentIt's a fantastic book, but I'm not sure it will stand the test of time. It's not quite popular enough to get in for that reason, but also maybe not quite famous enough to get included for that reason.It's a fantastic book, but I'm not sure it will stand the test of time. It's not quite popular enough to get in for that reason, but also maybe not quite famous enough to get included for that reason.
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Comment on Record-breaking heat likely to continue in 2025, accelerating climate change in ~enviro
R3qn65 Link ParentI'm not convinced that's what was meant - it's an awful lot of extrapolation. And if he did mean to say "when does it become ok to do bad things for good reasons?", saying "I can't wait for people...I'm not convinced that's what was meant - it's an awful lot of extrapolation. And if he did mean to say "when does it become ok to do bad things for good reasons?", saying "I can't wait for people to shoot down passenger planes" is a pretty poor way to get that message across.
To your points, a few rejoinders. The legal vs. moral debate is not particularly relevant when we're talking about murdering several hundred people. This is not stealing bread to feed your family, or engaging in an illegal public demonstration. Murdering hundreds of people is a massive moral harm; the fact that you'd be breaking the law to do so is so trivial that it doesn't even matter.
I want to underscore this again. We're talking about murdering hundreds of innocent people. This is not some trolley problem scenario where you could save the entire world by having a small random number die. The idea of shooting down a plane would be to what, scare everyone into not flying anymore? That wouldn't even work; the September 11 attacks didn't stop flying. The shootdown of MH17 didn't stop flying. The comparison to killing a slaveowner to free slaves completely falls apart, not least because you're comparing killing a guilty man to killing innocents.
Here's why I'm fighting this so hard. A lot of people are devastated about climate change and have become incredibly callous. I get that. What I don't get - will never accept - is saying that one can't wait for the murder of hundreds of innocent people. That's not acceptable, even as a rhetorical device, and it frightens me that so few people on this website seem to have a problem with it.
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Comment on Record-breaking heat likely to continue in 2025, accelerating climate change in ~enviro
R3qn65 (edited )Link ParentHow can you possibly justify taking transatlantic flights yourself while also calling for ecoterrorism? How did a call for shooting down passenger jets get this many votes?I blow away months worth of reductions when I consider my share of the emissions of one trans-Atlantic flight.
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I look forward to seeing private citizens sink cargo ships, down private jets (and ultimately passenger jets) until the owners get the message and change.How can you possibly justify taking transatlantic flights yourself while also calling for ecoterrorism?
How did a call for shooting down passenger jets get this many votes?
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Comment on What are your favourite comfort re-reads? in ~books
R3qn65 Link ParentI haven't read the books in a while, but the accusation that Eragon is a Mary Sue baffles me. He frequently fails, has an imperfect personality that gets him into trouble, and at the end he...I haven't read the books in a while, but the accusation that Eragon is a Mary Sue baffles me. He frequently fails, has an imperfect personality that gets him into trouble, and at the end he doesn't get the girl.
CA was a separate company which harvested data from Facebook and sold it to inform political decisionmaking. It was a scandal for a reason (mostly because they were collecting data from friends who didn't opt in) but it's completely different from the allegations against bytedance. (Basically "you weren't careful enough about letting other companies harvest data" versus "you're intentionally harvesting data at the behest of a foreign government.")