Tech Nightmares: Ghostline the flux

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How many quarters after Q1 2016 till Marissa Mayer is unemployed?
	1 or fewer
	2
	4
	Her job is guaranteed; what are you even talking about?

ToxicSlurpee: Nov 5, 2003; -=SEND HELP=-; Pillbug

twodot posted:

As near as I can tell, it's mostly active malevolence from stores that want to carry a narrow range of sizes and direct their employees to lie about sizes.

That's less active malevolence and more just economics; economics of scale, specifically. It's cheaper to manufacture a large number of things packed into fewer categories in the end. So if you can find a set of bra sizes that fit 95% of women kind of sort of well then your average executive is going to go "good enough!" But like was said there are underserved niches and boobs are actually kind of weird.

The other snag is that there just isn't much consistency among bra sizes across companies. One company's B cup might be another's C. Women also don't fit neatly into a few categories either; a lot of women are kind of sort of between sizes but don't comfortably fit either of them. It gets even more confusing if you fit one company's 32B perfectly but another company's 32B is too small. Then styles, materials, and sizes change and...yeah.

I'm not a woman but pretty much every friend I've ever had that was a woman has complained about bras at least once.

So of course you'll end up with companies that specialize in bras that you can go to to get fit properly, talk about how to fit a bra properly, and how to wear one properly. Will it cost more? Yes, but it's a place a company can do very well by being boob experts.

# ? Jul 22, 2016 17:11

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# ? Jun 6, 2024 09:58

FilthyImp: Sep 30, 2002; Anime Deviant

ToxicSlurpee posted:

The other snag is that there just isn't much consistency among bra sizes across companies. One company's B cup might be another's C. Women also don't fit neatly into a few categories either; a lot of women are kind of sort of between sizes but don't comfortably fit either of them. It gets even more confusing if you fit one company's 32B perfectly but another company's 32B is too small. Then styles, materials, and sizes change and...yeah.

I'm not a woman but pretty much every friend I've ever had that was a woman has complained about bras at least once.

That's before you get into the fact that elastic wears over time, or the fact that the D/DD range is the "ideal" but anything above that is suddenly holy poo poo are my tits really that big what the hell territory.

quote:

So of course you'll end up with companies that specialize in bras that you can go to to get fit properly, talk about how to fit a bra properly, and how to wear one properly. Will it cost more? Yes, but it's a place a company can do very well by being boob experts.

This is a weird aside, but the actress that played Vasquez in Aliens/John Connor's stepmother in T2 owns and operates a small chain of boutique bra shoppes in Los Angeles. Their motto is "The Alphabet Begins at D". It's pricey as hell, but everyone I know that I've recommended the shop to says they've never had more comfortable, fitted bras before (or cried as much as when they looked at the prices).

Of course IN THE FUTURE you will be able to have someone 3D scan your boobz and 3D print a perfect bra in hours for the low-low price of $300!

# ? Jul 23, 2016 02:47

Kobayashi: Aug 13, 2004; by Nyc_Tattoo

ToxicSlurpee posted:

That's less active malevolence and more just economics; economics of scale, specifically. It's cheaper to manufacture a large number of things packed into fewer categories in the end. So if you can find a set of bra sizes that fit 95% of women kind of sort of well then your average executive is going to go "good enough!" But like was said there are underserved niches and boobs are actually kind of weird.

Yeah, I don't really buy this. Any mid-to-high end men's department store will measure another anatomically weird feature � the foot � using a Bannock device, in order to identify the proper length and width for shoes. And while they may not carry all the extreme sizes in stock, they'll probably have narrow, regular/medium, and wide sizes on site. Furthermore, the sales team is expected to know how sizes vary between manufacturers, and even between lasts from the same manufacturer. And if that's not enough, a man can work with cordwainer for a bespoke fit. Granted, this isn't as common as it was 50 years ago, but I highly doubt that our great-grandmothers lived in some golden age of well-fitting, custom bra craftsmanship.

# ? Jul 23, 2016 03:46

MickeyFinn: May 8, 2007; Biggie Smalls and Junior Mafia some mark ass bitches

Kobayashi posted:

Yeah, I don't really buy this. Any mid-to-high end men's department store will measure another anatomically weird feature � the foot � using a Bannock device, in order to identify the proper length and width for shoes. And while they may not carry all the extreme sizes in stock, they'll probably have narrow, regular/medium, and wide sizes on site. Furthermore, the sales team is expected to know how sizes vary between manufacturers, and even between lasts from the same manufacturer. And if that's not enough, a man can work with cordwainer for a bespoke fit. Granted, this isn't as common as it was 50 years ago, but I highly doubt that our great-grandmothers lived in some golden age of well-fitting, custom bra craftsmanship.

Alternatively, the world has catered to white man poo poo for the last x hundred years (or more) and women-specific anything is only now beginning to get attention similar to that which men have enjoyed. In other words, it was poo poo before industrialization, got worse with industrialization and is now, slightly, beginning to catch up to where men's shoes were a very long time ago. It did not have to be good absolutely for industrialization to make it worse relatively.

# ? Jul 23, 2016 04:30

Zero One: Dec 30, 2004; HAIL TO THE VICTORS!

Kobayashi posted:

Yeah, I don't really buy this. Any mid-to-high end men's department store will measure another anatomically weird feature � the foot � using a Bannock device, in order to identify the proper length and width for shoes. And while they may not carry all the extreme sizes in stock, they'll probably have narrow, regular/medium, and wide sizes on site. Furthermore, the sales team is expected to know how sizes vary between manufacturers, and even between lasts from the same manufacturer. And if that's not enough, a man can work with cordwainer for a bespoke fit. Granted, this isn't as common as it was 50 years ago, but I highly doubt that our great-grandmothers lived in some golden age of well-fitting, custom bra craftsmanship.

New idea: Zappos but for bras.

Give me my money, VCs!

# ? Jul 23, 2016 05:35

silence_kit: Jul 14, 2011; by the sex ghost

MickeyFinn posted:

Alternatively, the world has catered to white man poo poo for the last x hundred years (or more) and women-specific anything is only now beginning to get attention similar to that which men have enjoyed. In other words, it was poo poo before industrialization, got worse with industrialization and is now, slightly, beginning to catch up to where men's shoes were a very long time ago. It did not have to be good absolutely for industrialization to make it worse relatively.

Huh? Visit any department store, and you'll find that the majority of the store is catered towards women.

# ? Jul 23, 2016 05:36

MickeyFinn: May 8, 2007; Biggie Smalls and Junior Mafia some mark ass bitches

silence_kit posted:

Huh? Visit any department store, and you'll find that the majority of the store is catered towards women.

The point wasn't about the volume of items, but rather the attention shown to the genders as thoughtful consumers. Moreover, perhaps you can see how pointing out the state of modern department stores reinforces my point rather than countering it?

# ? Jul 23, 2016 05:51

OwlFancier: Aug 22, 2013

FilthyImp posted:

This is a weird aside, but the actress that played Vasquez in Aliens/John Connor's stepmother in T2 owns and operates a small chain of boutique bra shoppes in Los Angeles. Their motto is "The Alphabet Begins at D". It's pricey as hell, but everyone I know that I've recommended the shop to says they've never had more comfortable, fitted bras before (or cried as much as when they looked at the prices).

Of course IN THE FUTURE you will be able to have someone 3D scan your boobz and 3D print a perfect bra in hours for the low-low price of $300!

I think I would actually pay a substantial markup for a Vasquez autographed bra.

# ? Jul 23, 2016 14:53

perfluorosapien: Aug 15, 2015; Oven Wrangler

WaPo posted:

While most Internet start-up executives oppose Trump and many were infuriated with Thiel�s decision to speak at his rally, a sizable minority of the tech community said that only a political outsider would be disruptive enough to overhaul Washington�s unimaginative two-party system.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/07/21/what-silicon-valley-insiders-think-of-peter-thiel-speaking-at-trumps-convention/

On a completely different topic, meet Shoetifr, the company that 3D scans shoes to help e-commerce retailers reduce returns:
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/shoefitr#/entity

Curiously enough, Amazon now has this "Brafitter" page:
https://www.amazon.com/af/brafitter

# ? Jul 23, 2016 16:14

Arglebargle III: Feb 21, 2006

It's amazing how ignorant tech types are about politics generally. Like "I wish there was a party that was serious about the threat of climate change."

# ? Jul 23, 2016 16:31

Shrecknet: Jan 2, 2005

OwlFancier posted:

I think I would actually pay a substantial markup for a Vasquez autographed bra.

You ever been mistaken for a woman?

# ? Jul 23, 2016 16:33

Arsenic Lupin: Apr 12, 2012; This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.

Kobayashi posted:

Yeah, I don't really buy this. Any mid-to-high end men's department store will measure another anatomically weird feature � the foot � using a Bannock device, in order to identify the proper length and width for shoes. And while they may not carry all the extreme sizes in stock, they'll probably have narrow, regular/medium, and wide sizes on site. Furthermore, the sales team is expected to know how sizes vary between manufacturers, and even between lasts from the same manufacturer. And if that's not enough, a man can work with cordwainer for a bespoke fit. Granted, this isn't as common as it was 50 years ago, but I highly doubt that our great-grandmothers lived in some golden age of well-fitting, custom bra craftsmanship.

Our great-grandmothers often made their own equivalent garments, or if wealthy enough hired somebody else to make them. *My* great-grandmother was born in the 19th century. Furthermore, the mass-market bra per se is a new garment, and it only took off in the 1920s, which was the era of mass-marketed good-enough garments. Finally, boobs vary more than feet do, because feet have bones and boobs don't. In general, men's torso shapes don't vary as much as women's, because women have the whole issue of "do I carry my fat at the waist, hips, boobs, or all the above"?

Oh, back on-topic, the NYT (paywalled) has a good article on the X division of Alphabet, formerly "Google X".

Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Jul 23, 2016

# ? Jul 23, 2016 17:19

OwlFancier: Aug 22, 2013

Also men wear shoes but don't wear bras.

# ? Jul 23, 2016 17:21

Trevor Hale: Dec 8, 2008; What have I become, my Swedish friend?

Arsenic Lupin posted:

Is that going to be the next $1B startup? Hell, no. But advertised from mouth to mouth among knitters, crocheters, and tatters, it could well be a small business that lasts a couple of decades.

The (a) problem with unicorns is that the nature of the VC business means that funders only want the businesses with a chance at the 100-to-1 payoff. That means that you get a tulip marketplace where people get in on later rounds because the first round was so big which means it must be important.

The guy who created Pinboard talks about this in one of his talks. Current Silicon Valley thinking is that everything must scale. It's no good creating a lemonade stand because you'll never be bigger than Coca-Cola.

# ? Jul 24, 2016 08:15

MiddleOne: Feb 17, 2011

Trevor Hale posted:

The guy who created Pinboard talks about this in one of his talks. Current Silicon Valley thinking is that everything must scale. It's no good creating a lemonade stand because you'll never be bigger than Coca-Cola.

Well that's more a funding climate problem than anything. Everyone's too poor to self-fund and banks will not lend you poo poo for a business idea without collateral. Barring a rich friend, that pretty much only leaves VC's who all only invest in business ideas which can grow exponentially in a short period of time. Under these circumstances, it is inevitable that we get the kind of startups that we do.

# ? Jul 24, 2016 08:43

Goatse James Bond: Mar 28, 2010; If you see me posting please remind me that I have Charlie Work in the reports forum to do instead

Shifty Pony posted:

Anything involving shaving is hilariously gendered. It is either motifs of burly lumberjack men punching bears with one hand while the other shaves much to the delight of the women lined up to caress their face, or a blissed out woman in a floral lined spa with mermaids bringing her dark chocolate while a baby deer holds her towel.

That said I'd love to see a commercial based on the joy of getting into a bed with freshly washed sheets after shaving your legs. Goddamn is that the best feeling ever.

...Personally I'd rather have the chocolate and mermaids. Or mermen, those are fine too.

# ? Jul 24, 2016 23:46

Arsenic Lupin: Apr 12, 2012; This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.

Verizon buying Yahoo for $4.8 billion.
How are the mighty fallen!

quote:

Verizon and Yahoo are reportedly set to announce a $4.8 billion deal Monday to buy Yahoo�s core Internet business.

An agreement to sell Yahoo�s sprawling portfolio of sites like Yahoo News, Flickr and Tumblr would mark the conclusion of a tough four years for CEO Marissa Mayer during which she tried and largely failed to breathe life into Sunnyvale�s ailing Internet giant. It would also bring to an end the independence of one of the stars of the �90s Internet boom which helped make Silicon Valley the hub of online media and advertising.

Bloomberg News, citing a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations, reported that the companies would announce the deal before markets open Monday. The pact includes Yahoo�s substantial real-estate holdings but not a portfolio of patents it is selling separately. Yahoo has more than 1 million square feet of office space in Sunnyvale, and nearly 4,000 employees in the area � just under half of its worldwide headcount.

The company announced in February that it would look into selling in an effort to separate its challenged operations from its valuable investments in Asian Internet companies Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. Since then, Verizon, AT&T, Quicken Loans co-founder Dan Gilbert and several private equity funds bid for the company. Technology news site Recode reported Saturday that Yahoo had informed other bidders that Verizon had won the auction.
...
�It makes more sense for Verizon than anybody else,� said Randy Giusto, vice president and lead analyst at Outsell Inc., a marketing consultancy. �It just took forever to drag out.�

Verizon is a far larger company than Yahoo; it had revenues of approximately $131 billion in 2015, largely from telecommunications services. Yahoo�s 2015 revenues were just under $5 billion.

The Yahoo deal would be the second major advertising-oriented purchase for Verizon in the last two years. The company acquired AOL for $4.4 billion last May.

AOL�s video content, programmatic advertising and news sites like The Huffington Post and TechCrunch would help Verizon gain a footing in an estimated $600 billion global advertising industry, Verizon said at the time of the AOL deal.

Both AOL and Yahoo have eagerly acquired online-advertising startups in recent years. Two prizes in Yahoo�s portfolio are Brightroll, which automates the buying and selling of ads, particularly video, and mobile analytics software firm Flurry.

�Advertising is key for most of the major telecom companies,� Giusto said. �They�re all fighting Google and they�re all fighting Facebook.�

Yahoo�s content business, which includes Yahoo News and Yahoo Sports and a host of less-successful ventures, may prove far less useful than its advertising sales force and technology, Giusto said. Yahoo wrote down the value of Tumblr, a blogging service popular with Millennials it bought for $1.1 billion in 2013, by $230 million in February and by another $482 million earlier this month.

Its other content-production efforts felt out of touch, Giusto said. The company focused on hiring celebrity personalities like Katie Couric and Bobbi Brown at a time when everyone else in the space was looking to Millennials and younger audiences, he said.

�Yahoo just feels old,� Giusto said.

While a youth-targeted content producer may appeal to Verizon, it already has a few of its own brands that reach Millennials, including AOL�s Huffington Post and TechCrunch.

How this deal will affect Firefox Web browser maker Mozilla remains to be seen. Yahoo agreed in 2014 to pay Mozilla $375 million a year to make Yahoo the default search engine on Firefox. The deal has a clause that allows Mozilla to back out of the deal if Yahoo is sold and Mozilla does not find its new owner acceptable � while continuing to get the payments.

Verizon is more likely to keep Mozilla than a buyer like Microsoft or Google, both of which have their own search offerings and Internet browsers. Microsoft�s Bing now runs search for Verizon�s AOL properties.

Sell your Verizon stock?

# ? Jul 25, 2016 00:12

super sweet best pal: Nov 18, 2009

Can't wait to see the reactions on Tumblr when the sale goes through, their reaction to Yahoo buying Tumblr was pretty hilarious.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 02:08

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

Unguided posted:

Can't wait to see the reactions on Tumblr when the sale goes through, their reaction to Yahoo buying Tumblr was pretty hilarious.

Verizumblr

# ? Jul 25, 2016 02:13

Freakazoid_: Jul 5, 2013; Buglord

I got an email from yahoo about my old chat account from '98 still being there. I didn't know they kept them that long. Maybe I should take a peek before it goes into the dustbin of history...

# ? Jul 25, 2016 02:21

Arsenic Lupin: Apr 12, 2012; This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.

Tumblr (at least the corners I frequent) has been worried for awhile, and people started talking about "what next" as soon as Yahoo did the second big writedown. (What next? Nothing, because fic writers/artists/consumers are an unmonetizable group. Too much NSFW.)

# ? Jul 25, 2016 02:52

Shrecknet: Jan 2, 2005

Unguided posted:

Can't wait to see the reactions on Tumblr when the sale goes through, their reaction to Yahoo buying Tumblr was pretty hilarious.

I've... seen things you people wouldn't believe... Web Rings on the shoulders
of AngelFire. I watched <BLINK> tags glitter in the dark over GeoCities.
All those... moments... will be lost in time, like doom WADs... on... FTP sites.
Time... to logout...

# ? Jul 25, 2016 04:55

Arsenic Lupin: Apr 12, 2012; This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 05:04

Hypha: Sep 13, 2008

Didn't deserve a poet, got one anyway.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 07:07

MiddleOne: Feb 17, 2011

What in gods name makes Verizon believe that they have the expertise to turn around, everything not named Alibaba, that they're getting into? :psyduck:

# ? Jul 25, 2016 07:47

Coolness Averted: Feb 20, 2007; oh don't worry, I can't smell asparagus piss, it's in my DNA

GO HOGG WILD!
🐗🐗🐗🐗🐗

MiddleOne posted:

What in gods name makes Verizon believe that they have the expertise to turn around, everything not named Alibaba, that they're getting into?

They'll probably have some top tier staff to help steer their new acquisition. You know these sorts of purchases are just as much about talent as as IP and market share.
Marissa Mayer rides again!

# ? Jul 25, 2016 09:10

pangstrom: Jan 25, 2003; Wedge Regret

MiddleOne posted:

What in gods name makes Verizon believe that they have the expertise to turn around, everything not named Alibaba, that they're getting into?

They're not going to turn anything around, supposedly they're trying to get over the hump for digital advertising. Not sure the AOL and Yahoo pieces are worth $9 billion but I don't know how that scene works.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 13:05

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Forms change so fast
Time is moving past
Memory is smoke
Gonna get wider when I die; Nap Ghost

so yahoo is worth 12.8 years of firefox using yahoo as the default search engine

that's pretty weak sauce

# ? Jul 25, 2016 14:45

MiddleOne: Feb 17, 2011

Mozi posted:

so yahoo is worth 12.8 years of firefox using yahoo as the default search engine

that's pretty weak sauce

Do they even do that...? It's google here.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 14:59

trucutru: Jul 9, 2003; by Fluffdaddy

MiddleOne posted:

Do they even do that...? It's google here.

I just reinstalled windows on s machine and got google on Firefox. And I didn't import settings or anything so money well spent Yahoo.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 16:11

pangstrom: Jan 25, 2003; Wedge Regret

So looks like the "1 or fewer" folks are going to be the winners.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 16:13

Deadly Ham Sandwich: Aug 19, 2009; Smellrose

MarsDragon posted:

They have tons of ads, including recently some audio ones on tumblr.

However, most people are like you.

There are ways to get around ad blockers. The simplest way is to host the ad on the site.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 16:22

Arsenic Lupin: Apr 12, 2012; This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.

pangstrom posted:

So looks like the "1 or fewer" folks are going to be the winners.

Nope, Yahoo's Q2 ended June 30th. We are now in Q3.

Marissa Mayer puts on her happy face.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 16:24

pangstrom: Jan 25, 2003; Wedge Regret

Arsenic Lupin posted:

Nope, Yahoo's Q2 ended June 30th. We are now in Q3.

Marissa Mayer puts on her happy face.

Oh well then I am the winner.

(I didn't really read the question, assumed it was relative to February 2016.)

# ? Jul 25, 2016 16:26

Coolness Averted: Feb 20, 2007; oh don't worry, I can't smell asparagus piss, it's in my DNA

GO HOGG WILD!
🐗🐗🐗🐗🐗

pangstrom posted:

Oh well then I am the winner.

(I didn't really read the question, assumed it was relative to February 2016.)

Deal is looking to close Q1 2017. Even if the rumors that they'll give her the boot as soon as the deal is wrapped up pans out that gives her 4 quarters. But really we know the answer is "Her job is guaranteed; what are you even talking about?"
Even if Verizon axes her, she'll be ready to scuttle another ailing tech company within the same quarter. Really I think what gets all of us pissed off is even if she never works again, Mayer isn't exactly going to see a dip in her quality of life.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 19:03

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Forms change so fast
Time is moving past
Memory is smoke
Gonna get wider when I die; Nap Ghost

MiddleOne posted:

Do they even do that...? It's google here.

"Yahoo agreed in 2014 to pay Mozilla $375 million a year to make Yahoo the default search engine on Firefox. The deal has a clause that allows Mozilla to back out of the deal if Yahoo is sold and Mozilla does not find its new owner acceptable � while continuing to get the payments."

From the article. I guess they should have double-checked that after the check cleared.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 19:09

Barudak: May 7, 2007

The ad scene is big money and Verizon's limitation is they didn't own media platforms. Now with Aol and Yahoo they have methods to distribute content that can also be embedded into all their devices they sell they could make quite good money. It's the same principle driving cable operators to buy or build media networks.

That said the yahoo ad tech and opportunities is so laughably bad that the Aol tech Verizon already owns does everything it does but better which is astounding. Tumblr is by the by basically without any value and it continues to blow my mind that yahoo bought it for anything more than bus fare home from the negotiation meeting.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 19:48

Arsenic Lupin: Apr 12, 2012; This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.

Barudak posted:

That said the yahoo ad tech and opportunities is so laughably bad that the Aol tech Verizon already owns does everything it does but better which is astounding. Tumblr is by the by basically without any value and it continues to blow my mind that yahoo bought it for anything more than bus fare home from the negotiation meeting.

Young people! :toot:

It was the classic "buy the eyeballs, monetize later" strategy.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 19:57

Maera Sior: Jan 5, 2012

Found this in the Kickstarter thread, thought I'd drop it here: Maker Cardz - Baseball Cards for Entrepreneurs

# ? Jul 25, 2016 22:20

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# ? Jun 6, 2024 09:58

cheese: Jan 7, 2004; Shop around for doctors! Always fucking shop for doctors. Doctors are stupid assholes. And they get by because people are cowed by their mystical bullshit quality of being able to maintain a 3.0 GPA at some Guatemalan medical college for 3 semesters. Find one that makes sense.

Arsenic Lupin posted:

Nope, Yahoo's Q2 ended June 30th. We are now in Q3.

Marissa Mayer puts on her happy face.

Its almost impossible to get through that letter without laughing openly.

# ? Jul 25, 2016 22:29

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