The Old Reader

24 Jun 02:38

Google Respins Its Hiring Process For World Class Employees

by Soulskill

An anonymous reader writes "Maybe you've been intrigued about working at Google (video), but unfortunately you slept through some of those economics classes way back in college. And you wouldn't know how to begin figuring out how many fish there are in the Great Lakes. Relax; Google has decided that GPAs and test scores are pretty much useless for evaluating candidates, except (as a weak indicator) for fresh college graduates. And they've apparently retired brain teasers as an interview screening device (though that's up for debate). SVP Laszlo Beck admitted to the New York Times that an internal evaluation of the effectiveness of its interview process produced sobering results: 'We looked at tens of thousands of interviews, and everyone who had done the interviews and what they scored the candidate, and how that person ultimately performed in their job. We found zero relationship. It's a complete random mess.' This sounds similar to criticism of Google's hiring process occasionally levied by outsiders. Beck says Google also isn't convinced of the efficacy of big data in judging the merits of employees either for individual contributor or leadership roles, although they haven't given up on it either." This has led TechCrunch to declare that the technical interview will soon be dead.

Contrast shadow-shifting onto XBLA, PSN and Windows PC in Q3 2013

by Jenna Pitcher

Focus Home Entertainment will publish Compulsion Games' 2D/3D puzzle platformer, Contrast, on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Windows PC in Q3 2013.

Inspired by Pan's Labyrinth and Valve's Portal games, Contrast is set in a surreal 1920s dreamscape filled with cabaret singers, illusionists and circus performers. Gamers take on the role of Dawn, who must help a strange girl called Didi and uncover the secrets surrounding her family. Contrast lets players move in-between the 2D shadow world and the tangible 3D landscape, and manipulate shadows using light sources to uncover new story elements.

Contrast was Greenlit for Steam distribution in October last year and was originally slated to launch this month for Windows PC via...

21 May 18:56

New FCC chair Mignon Clyburn steps out: how turbulent will her short tenure be?

by Chris Ziegler

At a keynote speech at CTIA in Las Vegas today — her first since becoming interim chairwoman of the FCC just yesterday — Mignon Clyburn joked that fill-in chairpeople aren't supposed to take risks. "So what do I do? I board a plane for Las Vegas," she joked.

Clyburn's speech definitely wasn't taking big risks

But blackjack and roulette aside, Clyburn's speech definitely wasn't taking big risks, staying unwaveringly on-message with the speeches that just-departed chairman Julius Genachowski delivered at CTIA and elsewhere in years past. Clyburn boasted about successes with recent FCC initiatives, noting that 97 percent of American wireless consumers now receive usage alerts to mitigate bill shock, for example. She noted that the wireless incentive auction — intended to pay television broadcasters for spectrum that can be reused for broadband — is on track for 2014. She brought up the competitive landscape, seemingly happy with it, just as Julius Genachowski always was when he would note the "virtuous cycle" that had been responsible for unprecedented growth in smartphone uptake and data usage during his tenure.

In many ways, Clyburn sounded like an extension of Genachowski himself.

"[We have taken a] light regulatory touch, but have touched when necessary," Clyburn said, perhaps a gesture to the FCC's high-profile intervention in AT&T's failed bid to buy T-Mobile.

Clyburn boasts the FCC has taken a "light regulatory touch, but have touched when necessary"

Indeed, a touch may very well be necessary before nominee Tom Wheeler is confirmed by the Senate. A number of hot policy issues sit on Clyburn's plate, including the specter of threats from CBS and Fox to go cable-only if Aereo isn't shut down, a move that could drastically alter the outcome of the wireless incentive auction. And just last week, AT&T's blockade of video calling in Google's new Hangouts app on Android presents a new regulatory edge case. Just how deeply and directly the interim chairwoman will need to take these on during her brief tenure is unclear — theoretically, Wheeler could be in the seat in just weeks if everything goes smoothly.

But in the most turbulent case, flying to Vegas could be the least risky thing Clyburn does this year.

21 May 18:04

Civilization 5's Brave New World expansion introduces Morocco and Indonesia

by Jenna Pitcher

Civilization 5's next expansion, Brave New World, will introduce playable Morocco and Indonesia civilizations, according to the official Sid Meier's Civilization Facebook page.

Indonesia's leader is Gajah Mada, a military leader and the prime minister of the Majapahit Empire. Morocco is lead by Ahmad al-Mansur sultan of the Saadi dynasty in the second half of the 1600s.

The expansion will add other new features, such as eight new wonders, two new scenarios, new trade systems, nine new playable civilizations, such as Poland with the leader Casimir III, Brazil with Pedro II, Assyria with Ashurbanipal and Portugal with Maria .

It will also introduce a new overhauled Culture victory path. The Culture victory path lets players achieve...

10 May 02:32

John McCain proposes 'a la carte' cable bill, encourages death of sports blackout rule

by Chris Welch

Senator John McCain today introduced the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013, legislation that would encourage cable operators and entertainment conglomerates to unbundle channels and offer programming "a la carte." Rather than mandating his desired end result, McCain notes that his bill is completely voluntary, offering incentives that would ideally result in consumers being able to purchase their preferred channels individually. Cable providers (and content companies) have long resisted such ideas.

"This is unfair and wrong."

"Today, we’re putting up a stop sign," McCain remarked during the introduction of his legislation. "My legislation would eliminate regulatory barriers to a la carte by freeing up multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) – like, cable, satellite and others offering video services – to offer any video programming service on an a la carte basis." McCain says this would be achieved by linking availability of the compulsory copyright license, which lets broadcasters retransmit programming without obtaining direct permission from copyright holders — with the voluntary offering of a la carte subscription models. "In other words, if the MVPD does not offer a broadcast station — and any other channels owned by the broadcaster — on an a la carte basis, the MVPD cannot rely on the compulsory license to carry those broadcast stations," McCain said.

McCain also seeks to address the issue at the core of a lawsuit between Cablevision and Viacom. "Furthermore, because not all programmers also own broadcast stations, the bill contains a provision that would create a ‘wholesale’ a la carte market by allowing programmers to bundle their services in a package only if they also offer those services for MVPDs to purchase on an individual channel basis," he said. "Thus, if a cable operator doesn’t want to carry channels like MTV, it would have the option of not doing so and only buying, and carrying, the channels it thinks its consumers want to watch." In its complaint against Viacom, Cablevision maintains that Viacom has forced the operator to continue paying for unpopular channels in order to keep programming its customers actually want.

The senator's bill does have some teeth, however. McCain is particularly annoyed with broadcasters who continually lessening the breadth of over-the-air (OTA) programming available to consumers, attempting to push viewers to more profitable options. Networks that engage in such in engage in such behavior would be stripped of their spectrum, with those resources auctioned off by the FCC.

And finally, the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013 would essentially wipe out the "blackout rule" that prevents live events from being seen under certain circumstances. Any venue partially paid for with taxpayer money (which would include the vast majority of professional stadiums) would be required to repeal blackout restrictions. “In the end, the Television Consumer Freedom Act is about giving the consumer more choices when watching television. It’s time for us to help shift the landscape to benefit television consumers," McCain said. McCain's proposed legislation is certain to face fierce resistance from the industry.

Thanks, azb24!

25 Apr 14:17

Insane 3D Artworks

by PauloGabriel

It's been some time since we last checked the insanely good artworks from the guys at the CGSociety. It is a never-ending source of mesmerizing 3d pieces, which we are very pleased to share with you!

This time we chose some great examples of recent artworks and more! As the days pass us by, these are getting more realistic... I wonder who long will it take for us to have all of these looking like perfect photographs. Maybe not that long, right? In the meanwhile, check each artist's portfolio for more (simply click each image). I hope you enjoy these, and if you got any 3d works of your own, share it with us in the comments! Cheers. ;)