thriller

I used to rely on Goodreads for making a buying decision if I was in a bookstore, weighing up two books.

It quickly became apparent relying on this was useless, and Goodreads is vulnerable to all the polarization and all-or-nothing thinking that plagues social media (and society in general).

I was laid off in December, a week after a rallying speech from the CEO declaring all jobs were safe.

I was surprised at how difficult it was to get an interview as I have a somewhat unique skillset. But understandable if 50-150 are applying.

It took seven months before I found something, by which point I had to bullshit about the gap in employment (left to spin up my consultancy!).

Agree with some of the comments here. Find a good recruiter who is a straight shooter, they will be able to get you an interview or tell you what you're missing.

At some point in the past I dove headfirst into the PKM craze where people are encouraged to link freely to find 'unexpected' and 'interesting' connections.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can't find many examples outside topics with clear hierarchies where this is better than relying on your mind. Too often I found myself linking instead of thinking.

The friction needed to search for a definition or context for me helps in forcing me to think about what a word may mean or the intent of a writer.

There is a rich history of monopolistic practices throughout history that gave rise to antitrust laws. "Does it actually affect people negatively if the result is a positive online user experience" could just as easily be from the playbook of Microsoft, AT&T, De Beers Group...

If you had read the EC statement, you would have understood this pertains to AdX, Google Ads, and DFP products whereby Google raises prices and stifles any competition: a good example of a negative online user experience.

I use an extension called SingleFile, and have it save EVERY page I visit. It saves every page locally with a timestamp at the beginning of the filename followed by the page title. Normally, I can find what I'm looking for using search, so no need for tags.

Back in the dial-up days, my family's internet account was shaped by time. We had thirty hours of internet usage per month.

We had an notebook where you had to log what hours you intended to use it.

I always thought it an effective way that I have now adapted. I keep a notebook full of things I want to read or learn about. Especially if you have a partner to keep you accountable.

It also helps my children learn to use technology instead of it using them.

Not in the book? I don't look at it.

The problem I have with some layoff articles like this, is that they ascribe mass hiring during the pandemic to a CEO or single 'throat to choke'.

My experience is hiring decisions are primarily political in nature. Head of a team and salary/revenue ratios are solid? Better make a convincing but ultimately flimsy business case to get more heads. Otherwise, your fellow empire builder in another department will be more than happy to take that headcount. Multiply this by a few hundred teams and you see the magnitude of the problem.

Once you've played the game, grown your team with no real appreciation of thinking like an owner, you can ruthlessly mow down 10 percent of your team or seek that new role while Rome begins to burn.