BartWronski

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@bitinn yeah, I don't know if I'd had courage to say it myself too (interviewing has a lot of "legal" constraints). This sucks. :(

And once I interviewed while sick, but it was a few years before Covid, and I felt really bad/sick on the plane and the day after, the day of the interview, not before. Later had a flu and a week of fever (flying back I felt like dying from blocked sinuses and ears and plane air pressure). Wouldn't do it today, but still feel guilty about it. :(

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@demofox this is 100% exact opposite of my experience. At Google, Meta etc for Research, you don't get through a recruiter without PhD. At NVIDIA nobody asked me about my education at any point, and there are many Research Scientists without a PhD.

Don't project a single bad manager experience onto the whole company, it's just petty and disrespectful towards other people working there.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@demofox consider that you are shitting on the life work of 30000 people based on a few that you had a personal problem with (because you didn't do what you were told to and were pursuing your interests targeting your own blog instead) - isn't this petty?

I just gave you an example that 100% contradicts your experience regarding education and hiring. And? Just carry on writing stuff that is simply not true in general?

This is childish and disrespectful, including towards me and my teammates.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@lritter @demofox I'm not the one writing about having a revenge on a company (wtf?! Is this kindergarten?). Alan shares his perspective, but hides what was the problem his org had with him.

I had one terrible manager at Google - who knows, knows. And yet, I think it's a fantastic place full of amazing people whom I absolutely respect and I recommend it to everyone. One can be unlucky, but most will thrive.

Suggesting that everyone somewhere is a career/politics person offends me.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@jon_valdes @demofox yes, and this was my exact experience both at Ubisoft (one FANTASTIC team, the kindest and the best I was on, one an incompetent shit show).

Or at Google which has some of the most skilled and caring people in the tech world, I thrived on two teams/managers, but suffered from HR-reported harassment under one.

What does a mature person do? Offend everyone at that company?

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@lritter @demofox when I was deciding whether to join NVIDIA (full of people I know personally well and whose work I admire), I cross-checked the stories. And then I cross-checked them with some folks at Blizzard. They painted a different and consistent picture.

Pushback against generalized allegations against a company and its workers is part of the discourse. I expect an honest person to disclose and reveal the perspective of the other side.
And be specific, not generalize.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@demofox @lritter I told you my story with my single manager at Google. I decided not to bring it public, as it won't change anything, paint me negatively and as a bitter person. And 99.99% percent going to Google will not interact with them.

It's up to you if you want to do it and how specific you are. But PLEASE, don't write it as NVIDIA, implying it's all people there and every team/org.

And if you want to follow "journalistic integrity", reveal the conflicts of interest and possible bias.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@demofox @lritter and as I said, I asked multiple people, at different teams, and even different companies. I don't 100% trust any single of those - just as single datapoints. We are all humans and have our biases. And we don't see everything that is going on.

As I said, my request is not crazy, just standard intellectual honesty practices.

You don't want to name names? Ok, this is fair! But specify that it was one team/director/VP, and reveal they also had long-term criticisms towards you.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@demofox @lritter my experience with HR at Google: they interviewed ~10 people about what I said, then said they all confirmed "the vibe" and general patterns of behavior, but without solid WRITTEN evidence, they can only reprimand someone, no other action can be done without "court/legal quality" proof. And they did reprimand that person, it helped me for a few months, then came back, so I decided to leave.
This is how it works everywhere. HR is an extension of legal...

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@demofox @lritter the version I heard: you were asked to work only on the first thing you mention, you did well, but everything else was considered as your "hobby"/"passion" that you expected to get paid for and were upset others disagree.
So the real vs expected outcome for a year was too small. And they told you not to work on blue noise hobby stuff multiple times.

I mean, if you work for someone and get paid, you have to work on things the company expects you to do, not what you want.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@jon_valdes @demofox I agree. But I told Alan at multiple points to a) be specific b) don't suggest it's the whole NVIDIA. Extrapolating this to the whole company is unfair and intellectually dishonest.
I said it in more diplomatic and polite ways.

He does not give a shit about the feelings of 30k people despite being told that it hurts them, including me, so ¯_(ツ)_/¯

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@demofox @jon_valdes let's say 5% of people are "bad". This will be consistent percentage everywhere, at every single company. At every company I worked at, they were there. You won't change it without written proofs, there are no processes to do it. Most of them will stay.

You can always change the team or the company.
What do you expect ME, a random individual researcher, to do about people at DevTech that I don't know?

I want to protect the reputation of my amazing coworkers (and mine).

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@demofox @jon_valdes I am only asking you for nuance and specificity (not even naming names, just writing it was a bad team or manager), not grudge against NVIDIA and damaging tye reputation of it's employees. The part hurts me the most: you suggestion that only bullshit people or career climbers get promoted.
I did this many times.

Is this really unreasonable or unfair?

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@sprig @demofox @jon_valdes it's been in many other threads (not in this one).

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@sprig @demofox @jon_valdes Alan is an honest, truth-seeking person, not afraid to speak out. I appreciate that, really.
So am I, if you follow me, and this is where the "conflict" comes from.

But truth-seeking requires nuance and uncertainty.

And a healthy discourse required empathy/kindness, thinking about whom might get hurt by oversimplifications, not just provocative soundbites.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@sprig @demofox @jon_valdes and btw this quote from Jensen seems provocative out of context, but if you listen to the whole 2min, I agree 1000%. People who faced and overcame difficulties are vastly more successful and great than "golden Stanford kids" who were always successful and had full support.

I don't buy into cult of Jensen (he seems great, but not a "god" like some NV people treat him), but after being 5y under lackluster corp talk Sundar at Google, he's really refreshing and honest.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@bitinn and they just murdered a bunch of humanitarian workers (including a Polish national, do it's huge in the news) in a very precise, guided strike. Even if was not malicious (which I find increasingly hard to believe), this level of incompetence and zero care for human life is something unprecedented for a country with access to such advanced weapons and shows who they are.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@notjustbikes I agree, though from an opposite perspective! :) I'm a European, moved to the US over a decade ago. And I want to talk with Americans about urbanism and city-related quality of life in Europe.
But it's very hard for me to have conversations with Americans on anything urban-related or propose any solutions/alternatives because of how unique and f-d up the problems, traditions, regulations, or even people's expectations are. :(

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@notjustbikes a funny example - I tell people that commie blocks have their problems (thin walls, not well maintained), but they were also great to live and purposefully planned. Everything nearby with all the amenities, free centers of culture, a lot of green between them, well connected with public transport, walkable, safe. And they see the grey aerial pictures and "omg, so depressing, and people forced to live without their own space like chickens in cages".

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@CelloMomOnCars @notjustbikes I try to look at it with empathy: a) they were raised in this culture and have it internalized extremely deeply. It's impossible to change it in a single conversation or a couple. b) some of them are fatalistic (or, in their view, pragmatic) - they might even personally agree, but don't see any way to change it on society level and expect extreme pushback, so compromise.

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@CelloMomOnCars @notjustbikes And btw NYC bike lanes show exactly the problem you describe. Great they are there, great the city builds more, but the way they are organized is clearly to not disrupt the cars and you get exactly what you'd expect - cars parked on them and people accidentally opening doors on you. :/

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@c0de517e it's the same "problem" ("problem" as seen by corporations who need to sell) as with smartphones (or an extreme - TVs, but that's almost unfair). Everyone who needed one (smartphones = literally everyone? as some companies don't do websites, just apps) has one, they are already great (N amazing devices in one always your pocket), nobody cares for the small improvements as, they don't change the fundamental nature of the experience. it's already amazing and as good as it gets

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@bitinn maybe try https://casual-effects.com/research/Wyman2017Hashed/index.html ? :)

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@bitinn heh reminds me of Ubisoft :) I enjoyed my time there (on AC - a lot! On FC - not so much, but I had nice teammates), but the leadership was insane at chasing trends... Like companion apps, free to play, game as a service... Whatever the buzzword was - they saw it as "the next big thing". Majority didn't last till shipping. :)

BartWronski, 2 months ago

@froyok yes, chapter 15 of OpenGL Insights, "Depth of Field with Bokeh Rendering" by @mjp and Charles de Rousiers :)