jeffool

Location: Albany, GA, USA

Remote: Yes.

Willing to relocate: Yes.

Technologies:

Résumé/CV: http://resume.jeffool.com

Email: JwBridges@gmail.com (or, yes, Jeffool@gmail.com)

Currently: webdev for a local business

Former: 6+yr TV news producer.

Former: 5+yr TV production/studio manager.

What does "producer" mean in this context?

I was directly responsible for the quality of multi-million dollar brands/(shows). In that role I was responsible for assigning reporters and photographers to work each day. I evaluate their progress regularly, edit the work they turn in (or make them), and also do original research and writing. Like a project manager, except I shipped every day at 6pm. I also did (very) little marketing work between producer jobs. Now I want a new job in a new career other than journalism. I've been working webdev for several months.

I went to school for compsci. About a decade ago. Sometimes I download VS and finagle with it, but never produce anything of value. I mess with HTML & CSS as part of my job now. A lot of it is actually different CMS like Amazon, eBay, Channel Advisor, etc.

Bonus: If you do something important. I'd love to feel as accomplished as I did when informing viewers about the world around them.

keywords: technical writing, producer, manager, product manager,

Isn't that the norm?

My career history is journalism (producing TV news). The vast majority of jobs I apply for never reply. Not so much as an automated or form-letter "thank you". Even if they do reply, and we talk a couple of times, they stop replying when they go with someone else.

Back in March, on a lark, I applied to a few tech and game companies. Five days ago one of the game companies sent me a "thank you for applying, but we went with another candidate" email.

I sent her (the HR lady) a letter back thanking her for caring enough to bother. Erica is good people in my book. She's absolutely an outlier.

Location: Albany, GA, USA

Remote: Yes.

Willing to relocate: Yes.

Technologies:

Résumé/CV: http://resume.jeffool.com

Email: JwBridges@gmail.com (or, yes, Jeffool@gmail.com)

Currently: webdev for a local business

Former: 6+yr TV news producer.

Former: 5+yr TV production/studio manager.

What does "producer" mean in this context?

I was directly responsible for the quality of multi-million dollar brands/(shows). In that role I was responsible for assigning reporters and photographers to work each day. I evaluate their progress regularly, edit the work they turn in (or make them), and also do original research and writing. Like a project manager, except I shipped every day at 6pm. I also did (very) little marketing work between producer jobs. Now I want a new job in a new career other than journalism. I've been working webdev for several months.

I went to school for compsci. About a decade ago. Sometimes I download VS and finagle with it, but never produce anything of value. I mess with HTML & CSS as part of my job now. A lot of it is actually different CMS like Amazon, eBay, Channel Advisor, etc.

Bonus: If you do something important. I'd love to feel as accomplished as I did when informing viewers about the world around them.

keywords: technical writing, producer, manager, product manager,

I think that's reasonable. If my watch could do everything my phone could do, I'd rather wear a small watch than carry a larger phone. Then again, I'd prefer glasses over a watch.

Agreed. The guy really seems to "get" things, which is always great to hear about an artist whose work you enjoy.

In addition to being a great album Wu-Tang Clan's album Forever was the first CD to offer multimedia when inserted into a PC! Not to say "enhanced CDs" are the pinnacle of technology, but it's an example of them being forward looking, so their willingness to try new things doesn't surprise me.

While a surprising turn to me that he ends up at Facebook... I think a lot of people forget that id Software sold to Bethesda in 2009. He's known as one of the most independent game developers, but he's been "an employee" for some time now.

I think people have reasons. I think their hesitance in relation to Facebook is not completely unwarranted. Mostly people are exaggerating anything I'm worried about, but, hardware owned by non-hardware companies is often tied into software platforms in really damn annoying ways.

To me that would be a legitimate concern with any non-hardware company purchase of a hardware company.

Consider that id Software sold to Bethesda about four years before he left it. He's a proponent of openness, yes. But he's been as much employee as employer since 2009.

I first noticed the approach on The Verge and their sister site Polygon, and was okay with that. Cut to now, and even a local TV station does it. (Not that local TV stations are known for excellent layouts.) It kinda drives me crazy. I wish people realized just because some companies offer "web solution" doesn't mean they'll inherently fix your problems.

And in the same vein, while I'm not defending those who put their entire life savings into Bitcoin, to put their entire balance into an online wallet strikes me as the worse way to go about that. Paper wallets aren't comparable to dollar bills. They're comparable to security vaults from everyone online who would seek to separate people from their money.

* It's trivial to point out all the ways some existing system is broken and how much better it could be given a imaginary greenfield to recreate it.

Yeah, it is literally the same as saying "I have an idea for a web service/site."

Any interest in the thought of Bitcoin (currently) as only 30% currency, and 70% commodity?

No, it's a Netflix subscription, so when they drop your kids' favourite shows you have fun explaining corporate politics as the reason they can't watch Bob the Builder any more.

I suppose this is as good a time to ask as any... Why has UltraViolet not taken off, in anyone's reasonable estimation?

Seems smart to me. I buy a UV film, everyone recognizes my purchase. I buy a film once. I own it. Do I have this wrong? I only own a few, mostly with other purchases, but it seems smart to me, and easy.

Out of sheer curiosity, and anyone can answer, what would you imagine the tent poles of one to be?

There is no truth to the idea that ants are being sent to prison. That was the snarkiness in the comment. One can understand and agree with a sentiment (that sending those scientists to jail was bad) without trying to turn everything into a dig or barb at something else.

A large number of people liked and lie HN because of an environment best categorized as earnest, inquisitive, and constructive. I got the reference, and the post you replied to probably did as well, but even if not, the point still stands.

I wouldn't consider a private recording a "Big Brother" thing. It's when recording is mandated and that you have no choice in sharing it, that it becomes "Big Brother"-ish.

Personally, I could see a passive recording feature (say, the last five minutes) as useful in this way. But then we're talking battery life, and I haven't read enough to know about such things for Google Glass.

This is going to sound cheesy, but, what do you normally do in a day? Where do you go or what do you do that may seem mundane to you, but something wildly different to others?

It has been done! In particular a look at the "quack" that Coulton used in his version (instead of cussing like Mix-a-lot did): http://geeklikemetoo.blogspot.com/2013/01/about-that-quack.h...

He also points to a great example indicating that the beginning was likely edited too: http://imgur.com/a/F0HTP#1

Also, if you're someone that trusts their own ears and has headphones, you can hear Glee's in your left earbud, and Coulton's in your right, in this pairing: https://soundcloud.com/suudo/joco-vs-glee-baby-got-back

For the record, I was completely unaware of this; thanks!

Well, Valve owns Steam, their publishing arm/store/DRM. And like EA now sells their games with their online store/DRM "Origin", Valve does the same with theirs, Steam!

Yeah, they get more by shoehorning people into Steam than they would lose from not selling DRM-free versions.

There may have been a point to stop this from growing into what it's become early on... But it's too far gone to be broken free of save a major scandal. And even then, it'd probably take a few. It's just by far and large a non-invasive tool. They've worked out many kinks.

I'm not saying it's perfect, nor am I saying we should be happy with it. But it's avoided the major problems most other DRM efforts see in "making things more difficult for legit users than pirates". I haven't had any issues with any aspects in years.

I think people (myself included) took your initial inquiry as sarcastic because you didn't so much as ask if it were possible as ask where it could be done. The wording kinda to presume one COULD purchase the game without DRM. And if you know Valve (and you may not, that's fair), then you should know DRM is their bread and butter. They're more synonymous with their DRM scheme/store/toolset Steam than they are with games.

To use a more readily recognizable name... It would be like seeing a post about a new version of Windows releasing, and someone saying "Great! Where can I get the source so I can roll my own?" Maybe that person wouldn't know... But the assumption is going to be they're making a comment rather than asking a genuine question.

I've always heard the phrase "ignorance of the law excuses no one". Now, should it? In many cases maybe so, but we all know the obvious cases where it probably shouldn't.

But to assume that intent is the rule of thumb or has been since... Well, I'm 32 and have never understood it to be. To assume that it is, is odd to me. That's genuinely an attitude I've never heard argued by someone who wasn't an accused party.

I often include a link to my profile in emails with the idea that if the person has or cares about it, they can see recommendations. If not, well, then hopefully it doesn't matter to them and it's not a negative. A few people have commented on it positively, not many. The vast majority seem oblivious. That's not overly surprising considering how many people in TV news seem to not be overly "techy".

Usually something small, like: Here is my LinkedIn profile, with recommendations from previous coworkers: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jwbridges

(I know, I need to re-write that summary pretty bad.) The only thing that leaves me scratching my head is that my profile is stuck at 90%. It asks me to fill in my current position, and describe my current position. I don't have one. You'd think a site focused around looking for jobs would have that as an option.

While I have no special insight, I genuinely think you're attributing to malice what can more easily be attributed to stupidity. And even really smart people can be very, very stupid.

I don't know about know, but I remember being told as recently as a couple of years ago that id Software used it as an inter-office chat tool. I certainly have imagined its use at jobs before, even when I worked in call centers. It couldn't be hard to let the rank and file chat when not on a call. (Yes, they were oddly draconian about doing nothing, or reading a book, between calls. Forget your book and your day is ruined.)

I agree that Steam succeeds because it's easier than piracy, but I disagree about some of the details in that statement. I think you're overplaying the threats involved today. I pirated stuff when I was a kid, and it was relatively easy for someone who understood that scene to look for warning posts first. Today it's even easier given robust user rating and the camaraderie of pirate culture. It's very much an "us vs them" mentality, and it's hardly a solved problem.

It seems that pirates are increasingly looking to provide a better service, whereas publishers seem intent on bad practices that either directly hurt, or can be used to hurt, legitimate users. In fact, many people pirate today because they don't want DRM or required connectivity. (The next SimCity will suffer from this, but I expect pirates to not have to worry about it after a few weeks.) In the case of Assassin's Creed II pirates couple play fine, but legitimate players couldn't due to DDOS attacks on servers required to let you play even single player. And in a hilarious example, an Ubisoft developer was even found to use a hack by a release group in an official patch: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/07/ubisoft-drm-snafu-remi...

Given the relatively equal ease of piracy versus purchase, I would give the edge to the fact that developers are insanely integrated into the game buying community at every level. They've been blogging for years, they talk on Twitter, they visit 4chan and talk games, they even visit piracy sites themselves. Gamers like developers, and want them to succeed.

But yes, I do think Steam even has a chance because it's as easy and (mostly) as useful as piracy. Ease and use are a large part of why Napster succeeded, and why Kazaa was so popular, but it's also the reason iTunes succeeds, though people associate it mostly with music. Google Play... I don't know many who even use it.

Now, UltraVoilet is a wonderful digital attempt by film studios, on paper, but they cut their nose off to spite their face by making pack-ins that come with DVDs/Blu-Rays only guaranteed to last a year. And you can't buy from the studios, but instead a few other services that the common consumer has never heard of. Film companies really are still stuck in the past. Others have learned how to make their mediums work on the Internet, and these people have ignored the lessons.

/edit: Been looking into UV more. It's actually an even better idea than I first thought. It seems that it's the bigger stores (Google, Apple, Amazon) that don't want to go along with it. That's a shame for us as customers.

I actually do get the worry of changing the ecosystem. That's the biggest concern to me as well.

And I think I get your concern about the labeling as well. You're worried that people will assume the worst. I mean, you called it a "warning". But I expect it to be more like an organic labeling. Some people will care, most won't. Is it useful? Only to those who care.

As someone who doesn't care at all about eating genetically modified foods, I expect the argument over labeling will break out soon. To fire the first shot: I really wish they'd label genetically modified foods. It seems a small courtesy for those who do have concerns. And those who don't? Well, we don't care. That's the point.

Man that's so painful to see. I imagine most here on HN are "ahead of the curve", but I envy those who work in an environment where that's more common. I worked at a news station and when we finally opened a Facebook page my boss couldn't understand when I asked why we were put entire stories on Facebook, rather than just linking and using Facebook login or the likes.

"Well the consultants recommend this way."

Of course it changed eventually, but man it's weird to see. Of course, the we often joked that a consultant's job was to say do B while we were doing A, then come back in six months and ask why we were doing B? A was obviously the way to go!

Many years ago I read Coercion by Douglas Rushkoff. I expect most of you will find that a public school primer of advertising, but considering it was 2000 and I was fresh out of high school, it was my start to a much more critical way of thinking that I still value today.

I care a lot more now about how I give away my eyeballs and info, knowing what's being done with them. That's not to say I'm some nutjob who lies on every form or doesn't sign up for everything. I'm just aware of, say, seating in restaurants, or brand placement on items/film, or even now, sign up for online services.

I want ads that are tailored to me, and I may be interested in. I do not want ads that are seemingly random or seemingly say people enjoying brand that they really don't. I like Hulu's and Google's advertising. I don't like Facebook's or Twitter's.