somewhat off-topic: I had an interview for an Engineering Manager position with the Head of Engineering.
They had some leet code problem prepared and I tried solving it and failed.
During the challenge, I used some python string operand (:-1) (and maybe some other stuff) that they didn't knew.
In the end, I failed the challenge as I didn't do it in the O(n) way...
These kind of stupid challenges exemplify what's wrong with hiring these days: one interviewer, usually some "vp"/"head of" decides what is the "correct" way to write some code, when they (sometimes) themselves couldn't write a line of code (since they've been "managers" for a millennia)
ps. they actually did not know what `:-1` means ...I rest my case
Were they a python engineer? I interview folks all the time in languages I don’t understand, and I ask dumb questions throughout the interview. I’ve been a professional (non-python) programmer for over a decade now and I don’t really know what :-1 means, I can guess it’s something like slicing until the last character but idk for sure.
yes, they were (theoretically) a python developer, should have mentioned this was an ML role (your guess is right, slice just before the last char)
Just to be clear: the main problem is not that they did not know what `:-1` was - there are many weird syntax additions with every version - understandable.
IMHO the problem is that there's usually a single interviewer that decides go/no go.
We all have biases, so leaving such an important decision (like hiring an EM) to one person is, (again IMHO) ...stupid .
Taking something as simple as this as an upfront, genuine experience sharing, and that their data is true.
If this test makes 50% of people fail, it's an amazing test! A nearly free way to cull half the applicants seems great. Honestly not useful for any big company, but feels great for SMEs.
Durov had long claimed he was in exile from Russia and couldn’t return and that he was a UAE/French citizen. then records leaked that showed 120 border crossings from 2016-2021 and that he still held a Russian passport. One such border crossing was a flight from St Petersburg on June 18, 2020 which happens to be the same day that Telegram was unblocked in Russia… Lots and lots of smoke..
I was hit pretty hard when Russia was trying to block telegram; I don’t buy that it was a coverup. And there is only a single (anonymous) source for that whole article.
That said, would be good to rely on no central authority and use Matrix instead; or at least put OTR/Ratchet on top of Telegram with custom clients.
TG does not seem hostile to third party clients the same way Whatsapp/Signal are.
It would otherwise serve the USA for people to prefer Signal over TG (due to jurisdiction).
I think they legitimately blocked Telegram and then Durov made a series of choices to bring it back to Russia.
Basically everything in the KI story has been verified. Durov admitted that he kept his Russian passport, he admitted that he was essentially lying about his Russian exile and regularly and freely traveled there, he hasn’t denied spending the week before Telegram was reinstated in St Petersburg which would be a no-brainer if he wasn’t really there.
As for choice of app — it again depends on your adversary. Telegram’s non-standard and home-brewed protocol has had every crypto expert asking “why? If not to…”
Lookup the name Vladimir Vedeneev and try and figure out why he’s signing Russian contracts as Telegram’s CFO and why his company GlobalNet has bragged about being the first to do DPI on backbone infrastructure while his other company Electrotelecom has FSB contracts for surveillance software.
See my other comment but Durov later admitted to basically all of that (he does travel freely in Russia, he did keep his Russian passport, the border crossing list was accurate). The signal - telegram debate has always come down to some variation of “If you trust Telegram to not allow MitM access to their servers and if the non-standard encryption they choose is secure and if you enabled the secure chat feature, it’s probably fine. Signal uses standard encryption and the messages are always encrypted so there’s no need to trust anyone.”
Which is likely why Signal is banned in Russia and Telegram is freely available.
Two companies, both (quasi) monopolies in their field.
Company A built its fortune by exploiting people.
Company B built its fortune by building (somewhat) decent products.
Company A developed a very advanced approach to hiring: specific questions to assess a candidate’s psychometric profile, screens to weed out bad choices, and a laser focus on the "top 0.1%".
Company B made it very public that hiring well is vital and encouraged every employee to think about it and participate. They even published an Employee Handbook years ago [0]
Today, many startups copy Company A’s playbook: crafting advanced questionnaires, trick questions, and trying to detect behavioural traits in their candidates.
No startup (that I know of [1]) has adopted Company B’s strategy.
Take your pick on who Company A is.
Company B is Valve.
I love Valve games and I love that they are spending their resources in areas I care about and that feel underserved by other companies, but I don't think the moral comparison is so clear cut. They were also pioneers in micro-transactions, loot crates, software distribution tax, and turning Counter-Strike skins into a speculative frenzy.
I have to admit, I never got into micro-transactions and loot craetes. I did play CS, but never cared about skins and focused on head shots - I am ignorant in this aspect.
They had some leet code problem prepared and I tried solving it and failed.
During the challenge, I used some python string operand (:-1) (and maybe some other stuff) that they didn't knew.
In the end, I failed the challenge as I didn't do it in the O(n) way...
These kind of stupid challenges exemplify what's wrong with hiring these days: one interviewer, usually some "vp"/"head of" decides what is the "correct" way to write some code, when they (sometimes) themselves couldn't write a line of code (since they've been "managers" for a millennia)
ps. they actually did not know what `:-1` means ...I rest my case