Working with different nationalities is interesting, and sometimes kind of bewildering. And tiring.

I've been working with an Indian dev for a little while, and while she's a decent dev, interactions with her sometimes leave me a little puzzled. She glazes over serious topics, totally over-sensationalizes unimportant oddities, has yet to say the word "no," and she refers to the senior devs as (quote) "the legends." Also, when asked a question by her boss, like "Are you familiar with this?" Instead of a simple yes/no answer, she shows off a little. Fair, I do this sometimes too, but it's a regular thing with her. Also, like most Indians I've known and/or worked with, she has a very strict class-and-caste view of the world. It honestly makes me a little uncomfortable with how she views people, like certain people belong in certain boxes, how some boxes (and therefore their contents) are inherently better than others, and how it's difficult or simply impossible to move between boxes. My obviously westerner view of things is that you can pick where you want to be and what you want to do, and all it takes to get there is acquiring the proper skills and putting in the required effort. I see no boxes at all, just a sprawling web of trades/specialities. And those legends she talks about? They're good devs with more knowledge than me, but only one, maybe two of them are better devs. I see them as coworkers and leads, not legends. Legends would be the likes of Ada Lovelace, Dennis Ritchie, Yukihuro Matsumoto, and Satoshi Nakamoto. (Among others, obv.). To call a lead dev a legend is just strange to me, unless they're actually deserving, but we don't work with anyone like Wozniak or Carmack.

Since I'm apparently ranting about her a little, let me continue. She's also extremely difficult to understand. Not because of her words or her accent, but I can't ever figure out what she's trying to get across. The words fit together and make valid sentences, but the sentences don't often make sense with one another, and all put together... I'm just totally lost. To be a math nerd, like the two conversations are skew lines: very similar, but can never intersect. What's more, if I say I don't understand and ask for clarification, she refuses and says she doesn't want to confuse me further, and to just do what I think is best. It's incredibly frustrating.

Specifically, we're trying to split up functionality on a ticket -- she's part of a different dev team (accounting), and really should own the accounting portion since she will be responsible for it, but there's no clear boundary in the codebase. Trying to discuss this has been... difficult.

Anyway.

Sometimes other cultures' world views are just puzzling, or even kind of alien. This Irish/Chinese guy stayed at my parents' house for a week. He had red hair, and his facial features were about 3/4 Chinese. He looked strange and really interesting. I can't really explain it, but interacting with him felt like talking to basically any other guy I've known, except sometimes his mannerisms and behavior were just shockingly strange and unexpected, and he occasionally made so little sense to me that I was really taken aback.

This Chinese manager I had valued appearances and percieved honors more than anything else. He cared about punctuality and attire more than productivity. Instead of giving raises for good work or promotions, he would give fancy new titles and maybe allow you to move your desk somewhere with a better view of your coworkers. Not somewhere nicer; somewhere more prominent. How he made connections between concepts was also very strange, like the Chinese/Irish guy earlier. The site templating system was a "bridge?" Idk? He also talked luck with his investors (who were also Chinese), and they would often take the investment money to the casino to see if luck was in the company's favor. Not even kidding.

Also! the Iranian people I've known. They've shown very little emotion, except occasionally anger. If I tried to appease them, they would spurn and insult me, but if I met their anger, they would immediately return to being calm, and always seemed to respect me more afterward. Again, it's a little puzzling. By contrast, meeting an American's anger often makes them dislike you, and exceeding it tends to begin a rivalry.

It's neat seeing how people of different nationalities have different perspectives and world views and think so very differently. but it can also be a little tiring always having to translate and to switch behavior styles, sometimes even between sentences.

It's also frustrating when we simply cannot communicate despite having a language in common.

To all Juniors here(myself included):

If you ever feel discouraged just remember that a few thousand irrelavant mongolian horse nomads managed to conquer half of the known world in less than a hundred years, destroying countless empires and cultures far more sophisticated than their own using nothing but their wits and their brutal willpower.

If they could build a realm from Korea to Poland usibg horses, you can build some software using keyboards.

A few interview tips from the other side of the table:

1. Bring a laptop

I mean come up man! Bring a laptop. Especially if there was some kind of project or challenge to present. I have seen so many people do a big UI design presentation and then come in like “can I use your laptop???”. Of course you can, but your looking very unprepared.

2. Ask for clarification

Communication problems happen in business every day. Different cultures and accents can cause issues. The important part isn’t wether you understand everything said but that you ask enough questions to make sure you eventually understand. Most people just wrongly assume things and start rambling.

3. Know what kind of company you and talking to

In my case, this is a startup. We aren’t IBM or Amazon or Google. We work hard and we play hard. Work life balance is important in life but if your very first question is “work/life balance???” then you played yourself. Wait a bit, pepper it in on the sly. Just don’t ask it right away, it shows us that you aren’t ready to work harder than usual if needed. Maybe try “so how do you like working here? How are the people, hours etc?” Or something besides the first question being a bad signal.

Just some random tips for an interviewer.

From me to you, don’t make me have to tell you like DJ Khalid would ...

Congratulations, you played yourself.

$girl -pretty
_
ctrl-c
$girl -pretty -v
you don't have permission to the necessary files (e.g. skills_communication, confidence, ...)
#girl -pretty
Are you sure you want to continue? This is considered harassment in some cultures and can seriously harm the health of your system. [y/N]
N

$

aww shit...

Startup rant ---

John and Bob joined a startup at the same day but they were in two different offices.

John joined the US office while Bob joined the European office (let's not share the country here ;) )
Both of them worked really hard, they worked longer hours, showed result and helped the startup to reach and get Serie A funds.

That seems good no? But let's step back, John was promoted twice and get more perks while Bob got only a salary raise that aligned him with the current market.

There are different reasons for this but the most important one is that the company is having two different cultures for the two offices.

What's funny here is that Bob effort is well known across the two offices and his contribution has made a huge difference to the company but unfortunately he wasn't rewarded for it.

So Bob opened a new window not in his office but in his browser to find better opportunities.

Github 101 (many of these things pertain to other places, but Github is what I'll focus on)

- Even the best still get their shit closed - PRs, issues, whatever. It's a part of the process; learn from it and move on.

- Not every maintainer is nice. Not every maintainer wants X feature. Not every maintainer will give you the time of day. You will never change this, so don't take it personally.

- Asking questions is okay. The trackers aren't just for bug reports/feature requests/PRs. Some maintainers will point you toward StackOverflow but that's usually code for "I don't have time to help you", not "you did something wrong".

- If you open an issue (or ask a question) and it receives a response and then it's closed, don't be upset - that's just how that works. An open issue means something actionable can still happen. If your question has been answered or issue has been resolved, the issue being closed helps maintainers keep things un-cluttered. It's not a middle finger to the face.

- Further, on especially noisy or popular repositories, locking the issue might happen when it's closed. Again, while it might feel like it, it's not a middle finger. It just prevents certain types of wrongdoing from the less... courteous or common-sense-having users.

- Never assume anything about who you're talking to, ever. Even recently, I made this mistake when correcting someone about calling what I thought was "powerpc" just "power". I told them "hey, it's called powerpc by the way" and they (kindly) let me know it's "power" and why, and also that they're on the Power team. Needless to say, they had the authority in that situation. Some people aren't as nice, but the best way to avoid heated discussion is....

- ... don't assume malice. Often I've come across what I perceived to be a rude or pushy comment. Sometimes, it feels as though the person is demanding something. As a native English speaker, I naturally tried to read between the lines as English speakers love to tuck away hidden meanings and emotions into finely crafted sentences. However, in many cases, it turns out that the other person didn't speak English well enough at all and that the easiest and most accurate way for them to convey something was bluntly and directly in English (since, of course, that's the easiest way). Cultures differ, priorities differ, patience tolerances differ. We're all people after all - so don't assume someone is being mean or is trying to start a fight. Insinuating such might actually make things worse.

- Please, PLEASE, search issues first before you open a new one. Explaining why one of my packages will not be re-written as an ESM module is almost muscle memory at this point.

- If you put in the effort, so will I (as a maintainer). Oftentimes, when you're opening an issue on a repository, the owner hasn't looked at the code in a while. If you give them a lot of hints as to how to solve a problem or answer your question, you're going to make them super, duper happy. Provide stack traces, reproduction cases, links to the source code - even open a PR if you can. I can respond to issues and approve PRs from anywhere, but can't always investigate an issue on a computer as readily. This is especially true when filing bugs - if you don't help me solve it, it simply won't be solved.

- [warning: controversial] Emojis dillute your content. It's not often I see it, but sometimes I see someone use emojis every few words to "accent" the word before it. It's annoying, counterproductive, and makes you look like an idiot. It also makes me want to help you way less.

- Github's code search is awful. If you're really looking for something, clone (--depth=1) the repository into /tmp or something and [rip]grep it yourself. Believe me, it will save you time looking for things that clearly exist but don't show up in the search results (or is buried behind an ocean of test files).

- Thanking a maintainer goes a very long way in making connections, especially when you're interacting somewhat heavily with a repository. It almost never happens and having talked with several very famous OSSers about this in the past it really makes our week when it happens. If you ever feel as though you're being noisy or anxious about interacting with a repository, remember that ending your comment with a quick "btw thanks for a cool repo, it's really helpful" always sets things off on a Good Note.

- If you open an issue or a PR, don't close it if it doesn't receive attention. It's really annoying, causes ambiguity in licensing, and doesn't solve anything. It also makes you look overdramatic. OSS is by and large supported by peoples' free time. Life gets in the way a LOT, especially right now, so it's not unusual for an issue (or even a PR) to go untouched for a few weeks, months, or (in some cases) a year or so. If it's urgent, fork :)

I'll leave it at that. I hear about a lot of people too anxious to contribute or interact on Github, but it really isn't so bad!

Tl;dr;
Yet another reason, why I love the Internet and it's ability to remove remove borders that should not exist in the first place.

Around seven hours ago, I met a stranger while playing rocket league. Just now I said goodbye to a friend, with whom I talked about our lives, our opinions on certain matters and our cultures.

Just within seven hour I made a friend with whom I could talk honestly about things I could probably not even talk about with my parents.

Going trough 4 years of college and getting a degree in Languages, Literatures and Cultures.
As useful to me as Justin Bieber is useful to mankind.

I don't think the Internet became toxic because of anonymity like all those people claimed post-90s

I think it became toxic because normal people with their real life cultures found it and brought their real life cultural norms onto it

I've been thinking why are video games communities so much more holistic than other types of communities
the last few years this is becoming less and less the case, however
and now even games suck.

games now, instead of their old cultures, are becoming derivative plain cultures
everything has to be easy, meaningless, shallow
everybody has to follow the meta or people rage at you with their entitlements to your behaviour
it's exactly like real life!

mystery solved

!rant
We've got a small army of foreign contractors working with us both in the office and overseas. Syntax has become the thing that stands out to me the most. We can all speak the same language, but our partners don't quite have the syntax down, resulting in some rather amusing email exchanges. I can't fault them, if the shoe was on the other foot, I guarantee I'd be butchering any other language's conversational syntax. Overall, the experience has been a bit of an eye opener for me.

Isn't it fanbloodytastic when you switch dev teams and your former team mates start blaming you for broken builds?

Fortunately I had logs to cover my arse. F*** blameworthy company cultures.

!rant

Just need a job where i have to travel a lot, meet new cultures, new people, try everything new

Hello,

I am currently starting my last year in my apprenticeship as a software/application developer and I am really interested in further developing my programming and personal/social skills, as well as improving my english in speaking and writing.

Therefore i'd love to work within a few different countries across europe to get to know a lot of different working cultures, people etc.

Has anyone made an experience with working in other countries with just a finished apprenticeship?
Is a university degree recommended or even needed to work within other countries? What are your opinions on this?

Thanks in advance and kind regards!:)

Xaglom

!rant

Software development has acquired some interesting jargon over the years, but I keep wondering if other languages and cultures have commonplace expressions for what can be translated as "improvisation-oriented programming" or "hammering code" (i. e. hacking something in a brutish way)

CBD oil has been used for years by individuals, who want to reduce their dependence on drugs. It was only recently that CBD was studied for possible pain relief by medical professionals. It is a highly important part of any healthy diet, because it is an important natural compound in plants.

Since the ancient Chinese first use marijuana as a medicinal treatment in 3000 BC, various cultures have used its healing properties, for a variety of medical conditions. However, in modern society, people often rely on pharmaceutical drugs to deal with their pain. One of the common problems with painkillers is that they can cause a number of side effects that can worsen your health. These side effects include depression, anxiety, insomnia, irritability, suicidal thoughts and more. Therefore, people have been turning towards natural remedies for their pain relief.

CBD oil has been shown to be very effective at reducing your pain, especially if you are taking narcotic painkillers. It is believed to stop or prevent the onset of physical discomfort, which means it does not provide temporary relief. As long as you are using it regularly, it can effectively help you overcome your pain.

In recent studies, medical professionals have suggested that the effectiveness of CBD was increased when it was combined with other herbs, such as ginger and eucalyptus. The main reason for this is that these two herbs have a great deal of medicinal qualities. Many people choose to combine these two natural ingredients to help reduce the amount of chemicals in their body, which will lead to a reduction in pain. By taking these products together, you will feel a reduction in pain faster than ever before.

You need to take care when using these products, however, as it is important to make sure that you do not take more than one product at a time. Taking too much of a product can actually create a higher chance of adverse reactions.

People have discovered that by taking CBD oil, they can relieve their pain, without relying on pharmaceutical drugs. If you have been using painkillers for a long period of time, try using a supplement to help you get the relief you are looking for.

Another great thing about CBD oil for pain relief is that it will help you maintain a healthy appetite. Studies have shown that when people eat foods high in CBD, such as hemp seeds and hemp oil, their bodies release natural hormones to help them fight off hunger.

If you are interested in finding out more about CBD oil for pain relief, check out. They can tell you about the various uses of the oil, the different strains of it and what to expect from it when using it.

I’ve met some of the best friends I could ever hope to have thanks to code.

I started with the MUGEN fighting game engine back in high school. Didn’t know a thing about code but I wanted to learn so I could make awesome characters.

If it were not for that, I would’ve never met friends from all over the world from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds. I certainly never expected to have a best friend who lived in Mexico (who is now in Japan). I would’ve never found the career I have today, nor would I have met the love of my life (even if I couldn’t have her, my love is still there), and I wouldn’t have traveled the world to meet some of these friends.

In the end, it was the engine, our passion for fighting games, and our discovery of the art of code that brought us all together.

I wonder when we'll stop the abuse of naming conventions like name & surname, by this I mean not all cultures have a surname but most of us are ignorant about it and those people when they are presented with an obligation to fulfill that field they cannot do it legally, because they'll lie.

A more open approach with only one field for full text identity would solve this issue.

People all over the world own dogs as pets. In some places in the world people eat dogs.

Is it okay to feed your pet dog the scraps left over from eating dog?

I also pointed out to a coworker that New York has huge rats. I then said: "street steak".
The response was: "Why?!"

So prior to the realization or rather clear indication of what you all were, we had our heads filled with ideas of peace and accepting differences and other peoples cultures.

well all these people's fathers who are still laughing in hell said 'wait to you get to know these people'

and now wholesale slaughter looks like an enduring and solitary option

maybe don't post something referring to it as a stressball.

I don't understand why finding media that holds differences of personality type is supposed to mark me one way or another I didn't study psychology because I found people disinteresting.

And a decent enough story is a decent enough story.

Problem is.

In all cultures and subcultures some people are less appealing than others

Course these people are all unappealing at their core but sometimes the rather slow insidious and obvious attempts to sneak their weirdness Into storylines to make themselves seem almost pitiable or believable leads to alright productions

Where are we right now ?
A long way back it seems.
Why ?

Is a calendar view that starts on a Monday column a bad or unusual UX? I'm used to seeing Sunday on the leftmost and Saturday on the rightmost. I'm not sure about other cultures. It's one of my tasks at work. Thank you.