General Gaming Article |
- Even Google has Crappy Jobs
- Apple Attempts to Remove All Trace of its Crappy Genius Ads from the Internet
- Activision Moving Slowly Into Mobile: Recognizes Hardware Almost Xbox 360 Level
- Apple Trounces Samsung in US Court: Jury Members Hit the Interview Circuit
| Posted: 26 Aug 2012 10:03 AM PDT
Imagine if your job consisted of sorting through droves of bestiality, necrophilia, and body mutilation videos, along with beheading and suicide clips from YouTube. This facilitating account of an ex-Google contractor details a 9 month career in the life of just such an employee, and what it's like to be cut loose without support after enduring a year of hell. "So I went to get therapy. Google covered one session with a government-appointed therapist — and encouraged me to go out and get my own therapy after I left." According to the anonymous source "no one talks about it. Like the guy I knew at YouTube. He was the guy who knew everything about child porn, knew everything about beheadings. I worked with him very closely and every time a new video by Al Qaeda came up, he was the first guy to see it. He had to see it for everybody. But he was a contractor and they didn't hire him. He has no idea why. His manager called the recruiters and said, do you have any idea what this guy does? They had no idea. If you're a contractor, you're just a name and a department". It's a somewhat horrifying tale, but worth reading. Does Google have a responsibility to these contractors? Let us know what you think below. Follow Justin on Twitter |
| Apple Attempts to Remove All Trace of its Crappy Genius Ads from the Internet Posted: 26 Aug 2012 09:29 AM PDT
Some have attempted to explain the decision to delete the ads claiming the campaign had simply run its course, however a quick peek at the Apple YouTube channel shows ads pre-dating the iPhone 4. Poor marketing campaigns are a dime a dozen these days, however it's a rare misstep for a company with such a strong track record. Love it or hate it, you have to admit the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" series of ads hit Microsoft where it hurt during the Vista years. By service pack 1 Microsoft had fixed the vast majority of issues with Vista, but the damage done by the Apple ads has fueled years of growth at the PC's expense. The upside is that in the era of the Internet it's almost completely impossible to expunge every trace of stupid behavior. Here are links to the ads in case you'd care to mock them one more time.
Follow Justin on Twitter |
| Activision Moving Slowly Into Mobile: Recognizes Hardware Almost Xbox 360 Level Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:58 AM PDT
Canessa has acknowledged that Activision is a bit behind some of their competitors when it comes to releasing games for iOS and Android, but claim they are taking a "thoughtful" approach to the market rather than flooding app stores with sub-par products. Just for the record, we are pretty sure he's talking about EA. "I know there's another company that paid crazy money for mobile companies and spent a lot of time trying to mesh them together," he said. "That's not our approach. We are taking an organic approach, building things from the ground-up." When asked about the genres that make the most sense to them on mobile, strategy seemed to be the area of greatest interest. Of course touch interfaces continue to be a concern given how limiting it is as an input, and will ultimately be the last piece of the puzzle. An Apple or Google branded gamepad is starting to look like a pretty good idea these days. Follow Justin on Twitter |
| Apple Trounces Samsung in US Court: Jury Members Hit the Interview Circuit Posted: 26 Aug 2012 06:24 AM PDT
Interviews with members of the Jury have begun to trickle out to the various news agencies, and the most interesting of these is with 67-year-old Velvin Hogan. As an electrical engineer Hogan appears to have been instrumental in helping his peers understand the patent system, and in fact, is a patent holder himself. You could make the argument that Hogan was biased towards a broken system, however it sounds as though he carefully considered the evidence, as did his fellow jurors. "We felt like we were 100 percent fair, but we wanted something more than a slap on the wrist." Samsung and Apple have both responded publically to the verdict, and it sounds as though Samsung is already getting set to appeal. Apple Statement: We are grateful to the jury for their service and for investing the time to listen to our story and we were thrilled to be able to finally tell it. The mountain of evidence presented during the trail showed that Samsung's copying went far deeper than even we knew. The lawsuits between Apple and Samsung were about much more than patents or money. They were about values. At Apple, we value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. We make these products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to flagrantly copy. We applaud the court for finding Samsung's behavior willful and for sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn't right. Samsung Statement: Today's verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer. It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices. It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies. Consumers have the right to choices, and they know what they are buying when they purchase Samsung products. This is not the final word in this case or in battles being waged in courts and tribunals around the world, some of which have already rejected many of Apple's claims. Samsung will continue to innovate and offer choices for the consumer. Let us know how you would have come down on the debate. |
A job a Google nets you free food, benefits for your spouse and kids should you drop dead at the keyboard, and even a salary that is second to none. All of these perks add up to make a job at Google one of the most coveted prizes for the modern geek, and yet, not every position is so glorious. A recent "Tech Confessional" exposed by
Remember when we said Apple's new marketing campaign was a "complete embarrassment"? Well apparently they agree with us. Apple has apparently 
While it's difficult to compare the widely differing architectures of consoles, PC's, and phones, most experts agree we have almost reached hardware parity. Activision is the latest "expert" to chime in on the debate, and claim that by the time next-generation of smartphones hit the market, they will indeed have the equivalent amount of raw graphical grunt as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This has the company looking long and hard at its 30-year portfolio of more than 350 IP's to see what would work well in the mobile space. Vice President of mobile development, Greg Canessa 
The high profile Samsung vs. Apple trial has finally come to a conclusion, and the Jury has delivered a stunning $1.05 billion settlement in favor of Apple. The fine isn't unsubstantial, but the bigger message here is that Apple now has legal president for many of the patents that cover the gadgets we love, and the rest of the industry will need to quickly fall into line. This will mean higher licensing fees, and ultimately, higher prices for consumers. | You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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