Ads in Gmail

Google is currently rolling out a new version of Gmail for Android, claiming that it’s all about aesthetic improvements and minor interface tweaks. But Android Police dove into the code and found several references to ads, which until now have only been found on the desktop version of Gmail. It’s unclear what the ads would look like, or when they would actually show up, though the code does hint at a way for users to save ads they like as messages within their inboxes. I am not quite sure what the application developers were thinking at the time because having ads is obnoxious to begin with. Having them while you are trying to read through emails is just downright frustrating. The idea that Google would try to make money from Gmail’s mobile apps isn’t surprising, but with limited screen real estate, the risk of overly intrusive ads is higher. Hopefully Google can figure out how to implement ads without enraging its users.

HR: Where is the H in it?

If you are in the market for a job, you know what I am talking about. This is past the horrible experience that you have with phone service interviews. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (or SHRM) website, an HR generalist role typically includes things like creating policies and procedures; maintaining regulatory compliance, and; the administration of payroll, benefits and employee records. When you boil it down, the bulk of work that falls into HR is aimed at keeping your current, former and prospective employees from suing the company. Said differently, HR is all about risk reduction. And somebody please explain to me what the hell a "career pathing program" is. I'm not diminishing the importance of this work. A mature business must do all of these things well. Just like a mature business needs to maintain accurate and organized accounting records. But the skills and mindset of someone who thinks all day long about creating and following rules does not fit the mindset required to succeed in recruitin. The sad truth is that the "H" in HR has been missing for some time. In fact companies are nothing more than a collection of people organized around a shared set of strategies, principles, products and customers. Not processes.

Extending Deadlines

If deadlines are extended, the consequences are usually not in the most favorable condition. One of the reasons as to why extending deadlines does not equal better work is that we lose motivation to work on the project or issue. Whenever you push back a deadline, you are increasing the distance once again between you and the finish line. Now more urgent goals will loom large and your original goal will languish in the back of your mind. Another issue that arises is that we tend to procrastinate which means that the deadline extension would in effect be utterly useless. If that software development project would have another deadline, most of us would stop working as hard on it and end up finishing at the very end anyway. Also, we are terrible judges of how long things will take. First, we routinely fail to consider our own past experiences while planning. As any professor can tell you, most college seniors, after four straight years of paper-writing, still can't seem to figure out how long it will take them to write a 10-page paper. The solutions? Set smaller deadlines and spell out what you have to do and how long you think it will take.