Gawker: valleywag, poll

How do you feel about Facebook's redesign?

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:40:00 EDT

Facebook users are on a forced march to the "New Facebook" redesign starting today. I IM'd a friend of mine who doesn't work in tech to see what he thinks. His answer: "The single webpage was much cooler. Now with these tabs and all, it's harder to find things." Clearly, my pal's not on board with CEO Mark Zuckerberg's plan to turn Facebook into a "social operating system" — and to be an "operating system," you need dropdown menus and tabs and other whizbang features. (Let me beat all the engineers to the punch — no, Facebook is nothing like an actual OS. If it were like an actual OS, it would crash more.) Zuckerberg's grandiose ambitions aside, I like the new design because it makes sharing video, photos and messages with my friends that much easier. Also, it hides annoying widgets. I figure that people are whining about it because nobody likes change. But that's just one man's opinion. Take our poll below and let Zuckerberg know how you feel.

Who should play Zuckerberg in a Facebook movie?

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EDT

"West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin is still in the research phase of his Facebook: The Movie project, but we thought Valleywag's readers could help cast the lead role. Take your pick from our list, below.

(Photos by AP and Getty)

Finding the worst-entry level job in tech: Round Two

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EDT

We're on to Round Two in our worst-tech-job contest. We've whittled down 10 terrible gigs down to five:

Follow the link for each job to see a picture of their locations, a list of key responsibilities, first hand accounts of why each job is so bad and how much they pay. Then, come back here and vote, below.

(Photo of Arrington and Scoble by Brian Caldwell)

Pick your career poison: temporary Google database admin vs. IODA intern

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:40:00 EDT

The last matchup in this round of our worst-job tournament: temporary database administrator for Google, contracted through WorkforceLogic, vs. content acquisition intern, IODA. Given the compensation disparity between these jobs — IODA doesn't pay its interns, while WorkforceLogic reportedly pay database admins as much as $70,000 — it seems like a no-brainer. Remember, though, just because WorkforceLogic will deploy you to the Googleplex, that doesn't mean you'll ever be a real Googler. Not to the Stanford and Harvard grads munching on their Bacon Krispy Kreme burgers. At least at IODA, you'll deserve the scorn heaped on you by the paid wage slaves. Pick the worse fate, below.

Some Facebook employees consider themselves so underpaid that they resort to cheating the company, but by a margin of 60 percent to 40 percent, readers think it's better to work there than MySpace, according to our last matchup.

Yahoo proxy ballots are out; early results are here

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Enough with the letters. It's time to vote. On Monday, Yahoo mailed out ballots for its upcoming board election, for which corporate raider Carl Icahn has proposed an alternative slate — one that will do his bidding and attempt to resuscitate merger talks with Microsoft. Yahoo also said it plans to spend $12 million campaigning for its board. Anyone who has owned Yahoo shares since before June 3 is eligible to vote online, via toll-free number or by snail mail. Yahoo will announce the results on August 1 at its annual shareholder meeting. By why wait till then? Review the pros and cons for each side and then vote your Valleywag proxy below.

Those voting for Icahn's slate should be aware that:

Icahn is after a quick buck. He has no real Internet vision.
Icahn wants to sack Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang.
Icahn doesn't have public assurance that Microsoft even wants a merger still.
Icahn has his own 30 percent of the company. So maybe they don't need your help, anyway.
Icahn probably does have private assurances that if it can get the dirty work done, Microsoft will buy Yahoo, but shareholders probably won't see the original 62 percent premium.

Those voting for Yahoo's current slate need to remember that:

Their poor management and oversight got Yahoo into this problem in the first place.
These mokes keep high-fiving Jerry Yang in CEO role, for now.
They support management's plan to be a "must buy" for advertisers. Unless advertisers want to buy from Google.

(Photos by AP/ Mark Lennihan and Paul Sakuma)

Pick your career poison: Facebook user operations analyst vs. MySpace customer support specialist

Nicholas Carlson — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:40:00 EDT

He won't sell, but can Mark Zuckerberg successfully carry Facebook through to an IPO? That's what the latest matchup in our tournament to find tech's worst entry-level job comes down to. Otherwise, the key responsibilities for Facebook's user operations analysts and MySpace customer support specialists are very similar. Even the pay is roughly the same. A tipster tells us Facebook pays its customer service reps $34,500 per year — though that number might be higher now that Facebook stopped handing $600/mo. housing subsidies. Readers figure MySpace pays $37,000. So what's it going to be? The slightly lower-paying job at the risky startup with higher upside or a gig at News Corp.'s shiniest Web toy? Vote in our poll below.

In our last match, 70 percent of you said you'd prefer to assist Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore in all his needs than assemble linkdumps for Jason Calacanis as a Mahalo part-time guide.

Pick your career poison: Part-time Mahalo guide vs. Pete Cashmore's personal assistant

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:20:00 EDT

The class of 2008 has already begun to realize the tragedy of actually having to work for a living. Cheer up, kiddos; it could be worse. You could be employed, part-time, cutting and pasting Google search results for Jason Calacanis's Mahalo. Or you could serve as Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore's personal assistant — the entry-level gigs facing off in our third matchup to determine the worst job in tech. Vote below.

When we wrote up our list of tech's 10 worst entry-level jobs, we figured Cashmore will pay his assistant around $55,000 per year. But since, we've learned that number is well high of the mark. Readers figured Cashmore will pay $51,000 per year. We've heard Mahalo pays guides between $30,000 and $35,000 per year, but commenters on our original post told us we got it wrong. Wrote Richeem:

Figuring Mahalo's current pricing for the average page, wait time for acceptance, and any other factors a "good" ptg would be lucky to make $50/day. I highly doubt they are accepting more than 5 pages per day per ptg! Specially given the fact they have 120+ pages pending review.

Readers later guessed $32,000 per year.

In our last matchup, working as a Microsoft Windows support professional handily trounced the Yahoo finance internship in our last matchup, 59 percent to 41 percent.

Pick your career poison: Microsoft customer support vs. Yahoo finance intern

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:20:00 EDT

Its time for the second match in our single-elimination tournament to find the worst entry-level job in tech. In our first poll, the drudgery of working as a Google online sales and operations manager narrowly edged out the perils of being an Amazon.com support engineer, 53 percent to 47 percent. Today's contest: Getting paid by Microsoft to take angry calls from Vista users all day, vs. fetching coffee in Yahoo's finance operations. Making the contest even harder: If Carl Icahn has his way, both might soon find their paychecks signed by Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell. Vote below.

We estimated Microsoft pays its Windows support professionals $40,000 a year and readers guessed $38,000, but commenter nosaturn1 wrote of our estimate, "pay was alot better than that when i was an entry back in 2000. better by a whole lot more." We figured Yahoo pays its interns about $12/hour or $21,000 per year. Readers figured its a little higher — more like $25,000.

Check out the key responsibilities and read first-hand accounts of both the Yahoo and Microsoft jobs, and then come back here to vote.

Pick your career poison: Google online sales and operations manager vs. Amazon.com support engineer

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EDT

We picked the ten worst entry-level jobs in tech. Now, in a single-elimination tournament, we're going to let you choose which gig is truly the worst. Round one begins with Amazon.com support engineers versus Google online sales and operations account managers. We'll let your fellow readers advise you before you choose:

Some commenters couldn't believe we included the Google job on our list. Wrote one particularly unsympatethic commenter, Elaine Chow:

WAAAH I WORK FOR GOOGLE BUT I'M ONLY A CSR PERSON BECAUSE I WAS ONE OF THE DUMB ONES THAT COULDN'T GET A MORE 'CREATIVE' JOB WAAAH!

But another commenter, claiming to be a Google employee, explained exactly why we put the job on our list:

I'm [a Google customer service rep] and there's no opportunity for job growth. All you do all day long is customer service. In the beginning, the free food and perks prevented me from killing myself.
but now, the novelty of the cool perks is gone, and i'm left with the dismal realizationthat my job sucks. So yeah, WAHHHH I WORK AT GOOGLE AND ITS LIKE EVERY OTHER MIND NUMBING JOB OUT THERE. Plus, all the managers suck. I think more people complain about the fresh out of B-school managers — who all want to be all stars when really their only job is to make sure we're answering emails — than anything else.

No commenters defended the Amazon job. In fact, most echoed Dangster, who wrote:

These aren't valid reasons why this particular jobs sucks. I have a friend who works as a support engineer at Amazon, and his job sucks because he has to work nights, weekends, and holidays, in addition to his normal 40hr/week schedule.

Added another commenter, Edgewise: "As for the description, it doesn't quite evoke the drudgery."

We hear Google customer service reps get paid between $45,000 and $65,000. Readers guessed $57,000. As for the Amazon job, we guessed it paid $80,000; readers guessed $70,000, but a former employee who commented on the story said no one working as a support engineer at Amazon gets paid more than $60,000.

Check out both the Google and Amazon jobs, then come back here and let us know in the poll below: Which is the worse entry-level job in tech?

Guess how much tech's 10 worst jobs pay

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT

To come up with the estimated pay for tech's 10 worst entry-level jobs we spoke to former and current employees, HR reps and friends of friends working these jobs. But still, some of our commenters expressed disbelief over the salary estimates. "80 grand for an entry level job? Time to apply and kick those whiney losers out! Let's see how they feel about their new job bagging groceries at the Safeway," wrote mwbeeler. Loakim said:

Boo fucking hoo. I clicked through about 4 of those and if they are representative, then getting paid 60-70K right out of college at an "entry" level job is nothing to complain about, regardless of the "tough" working conditions (ceiling too low? CSR work? no windows? cubicle? oh the torture!!). I spent half my life to get a Ph.D. and will barely be making that as an asst professor at a major research university.

We like our estimates, but we're willing to bow to the wisdom of the crowd, or the madness thereof. Save for IODA's unpaid internship — no point in guessing there — we've created a poll for each job. Take your best guess.

By the way, if you actually work one of these jobs, create an anonymous Gmail account — or Yahoo Mail, if it's the Google job — and tell us the real number.

Review the job's key responsibilities, first-hand accounts, and how much we estimated it pays.
Is this your job? Let us know how much it actually pays.

(Photo by eston)

What should Max Levchin do with his forgotten $100,000?

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:20:00 EDT

Before PayPal and Slide founder Max Levchin moved from Illinois to Palo Alto in 1998, he'd started three companies and sold the last for $100,000 — not a tiny amount of money, especially for a young entrepreneur. But after selling PayPal to eBay for $1.54 billion, these days Levchin is worth around $100 million. Six figures no longer merit that much of his attention. It's such a paltry amount that in Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good, Sarah Lacy reports Levchin actually forgot about the money until 2006. "In just four years," Lacy writes, "$100,000 would go from being unfathomable riches to pocket change." Levchin is no longer interested in the purchasing power of money, but we are. So let the young multi-millionaire know how he should spend that $100,000 in "pocket change" in our poll.

Tech's worst workspace: Mozilla

Nicholas Carlson — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:20:00 EDT

What's so bad about Mozilla's Toronto workspace? Besides the fluorescent lighting, the colorless white walls and the folding tables, the worst thing about Mozilla's Toronto workspace is how we're sure management would improve it. With corporate graffiti, company logos and too many colors. That was management's trick at Facebook and look where readers ranked it in our poll on tech's ten worst workspaces — as tech's second-worst workspace, just after Mozilla. Check out the full list, below.

Last chance to vote for tech's worst digs

Owen Thomas — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Don't miss your chance to vote for the worst workspace in tech. The poll closes at noon Pacific, at which point we'll announce a winner.

Rank tech's 10 worst workspaces

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:00:00 EDT

After reviewing our post "The 10 worst workspaces in tech," commenter AdmNaismith described Facebook's office, pictured above, as "foggy, dank, dim, and utterly depressing." Commenter mothra1 hated Yahoo's New York offices more: "They suck! Lifeless and impersonal. Kinda like the douchebags who still actually work there." Meanwhile, Adobe apologist BlairHapjo told us we "clearly didn't get past Adobe's lobby," and the rest of the office features "Aeron chairs, real offices (with doors!), big picture windows." For us, the worst offices we found on Office Snapshots and elsewhere were the the ones that try too hard to seem Internet-hip, like Jajah and Google. Now it's time to settle the disputes. Below, vote for your least favorite and help us rank tech's 10 most dismal places to work:

Last chance to vote for tech's best digs

Owen Thomas — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:40:00 EDT

Be sure to vote for the best workspace in tech. The poll closes at noon Pacific, at which point we'll announce a winner, and then launch voting for the worst workspace in tech. Review the contenders now.

Google and the seven dwarfs

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:20:00 EDT

Google's collection of Web properties somtimes seem unconnected and disorganized. But there's a common thread between Print Ads, Audio Ads, TV Ads, Checkout, YouTube, Postini and DoubleClick. Can you guess what it is?

The answer:

All are described as "not material" to Google's bottom line in SEC filings.

Rank tech's 10 best workspaces

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:00:00 EDT

After reviewing our post "Tech's top 10 workspaces" commenter Dweezil complained that our choices were full of "to much modernism bullshit." Commenter Web2PointOhShit tore at everybody:

Six Apart's offices seem pretty ordinary to me. Their meeting space is *tiny*. Googleplex's niceties are all about enticing their workers to stay at work longer — yeah, that's real HAWT!. Valleywag offices look like a dump to me.

So, OK, not everybody goes for our taste in brick, exposed ceilings and Googley amenities. Let's find out who's in the minority. Below, vote for your favorites and help us rank tech's 10 best workspaces.

Click on each company name for its full galleries.

Our favorite Google-owned domain name is bayareaburritos.com — what's yours?

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Google owns 9,984 domain names. Our favorite is bayareaburritos.com, but
mariolovespasta.com comes close. Typing out marissalovescupcakes.com is only wishful thinking. Royal Pingdom rounded up 50 or so of Google's "funny, strange and surprising" favorites. From that list, we've pared it down to ten. It's hard to imagine a sillier, or more profitable, domain name than Google.com. But try your best: Which domain name would you choose for Google's search engine?

Or, check out Royal Pingdom's list and write-in your entry, below. (Photo by Marshall Astor - Food Pornographer)

Comcast chickens out of FCC hearings at Stanford

Jackson West — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:20:00 EDT

Superlawyer Lawrence Lessig won't have Comcast to kick around at the FCC hearing on network neutrality — the principle that broadband providers can't discriminate against certain kinds of Internet traffic — being held at Stanford tomorrow. The event was only scheduled after Comcast paid chumps to fill chairs at an earlier hearing at Harvard in an obvious effort to squelch debate. With Comcast working with BitTorrent and just today joining with legal file-sharing startup Pando to work on a "bill of rights" for file sharers and ISPs, the company is trying to make voluntary moves in an effort to stave off involuntary regulation. I was planning on attending, if only because it promised to be an entertaining nerdfight — now, I'm not so sure. Since public hearings are supposedly democracy in action, you tell me if I should bother buying a Caltrain ticket.

(Illustration by Victor Agreda, Jr.)

Since Yang can't decide, we'll let you: Microhoo or YahOL?

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:40:00 EDT

Yesterday, at a luncheon with several dozen VP-level minions Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang hosted tried to explain the reasoning behind a potential deal with AOL and Time Warner. Didn't go over so well. But while many of these invitees were happy to later share their horror at the idea of merging AOL and Yahoo Web properties, none managed to grow a pair and tell Yang. Now is your chance people. Should Yahoo merge with Microsoft or take Time Warner's money? Tell us in our latest Valleywag poll.