2002.02.08
Personal Rumors of the Moment
So I think my job might be in trouble. Despite the fact that my company made 97% of its projections last year (despite the WTC tragedy), and that the Boston office has a huge amount of knowledge about our legacy systems, rumor has it that the home office in the midwest has been looking for a justification to shut this (admittedly somewhat expensive) location down and may have sought out-placing "consultants" who will give them just that, leading to either a relocation to India (clearly suicidal, I think) or back to the midwest (just mostly suicidal).
Anyway, yesterday they opened up the large unfinished area where they keep a ton of old crap (ancient 17" monitors, some well-past-their-prime office chairs, giant old computer racks, etc) and let the employees take what they wanted. Remember in Empire Strikes Back, and the Millenium Falcon is stuck on the back of the star destroyer, and they manage to escape because they know dumping garbage is standard imperial procedure before going into hyperspace? That's what it reminded me of. (Another possible spin is that they've meaning to get that space renovated and subletted for a long while, and it could theoretically be only that. Still, I have my doubts.)Geek Quote of the Moment
"If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is."via this page, which also has a quote I've enjoyed for a long time:
"Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random numbers is, of course, in a state of sin."
Link of the Moment
Slate.com had an informative Flash piece, The Enron Blame Game. Very well done, though I wish there was a way to see a bunch of blame arrows at once.