Re: Nokia laying off people
 

How did I know this elections results would end up somewhere that I frequented?

It almost seemed too good to be true to avoid a flame war all the way up to ... well.. noon!

Re: Nokia laying off people
 

All right, it is decided. Texrat's unemployment benefits will be deducted from your personal federal taxes. Please, do continue posting your thoughts here as it will help us, the Cabal, track you down to your SSN and make appropriate adjustments to the IRS database.

Re: Nokia laying off people
 

Bluntly, no matter what went down yesterday, we were looking at Congress controlled by a socialist party, and the White House controlled by a socialist party -- while I'd generally prefer McCain on a direct comparison, the biggest difference would have been having two socialist parties controlling them, not one.

Whether it's good change or not, one can be certain that an Obama presidency will indeed bring much more change than a McCain presidency could have, simply because he can do more with less hassle. (The flip side, of course, is that they can overreach quite easily, potentially handing Republicans the Congress in 2010.)

Re: Nokia laying off people
 

I'm constantly surprised that a Big Company like Nokia, with its Big Company Strategies like company-wide layoffs (what a lazy way to manage your human resources! Especially if your workforce is essentially "stable"!), was not only able to produce a revolutionary technology like the tablets, but somehow not kill the whole project at one of many stages along the way... and then go on to hire guys like Quim and embrace such a radical open source strategy... It's all so out of character.

It's like a boring accountant type taking off his pinstripe suit, putting on oily jeans and an "I heart Linux" T-Shirt and building a flying car in his garage. What the heck?!

Is it because Nokia is from the Land of Linux? (Does Finland have a statue of Torvalds yet? Or is it in constant development, with guys all over the world working on it in their spare time?)

Re: Nokia laying off people
 

indeed, there seem to be two ways for a company to manage economic difficulties
1/ cut costs - this risks damaging the company sufficiently to make the situation worse, and the best staff will take settlements and run, and cost a lot to replace
2/ work better - make better use of the staff to innovate and become more productive to maintain market share and minimise loss of profits

unfortunately, shareholders usually only reward the quick fix, ie. 1, and so directors and upper management get forced into quick and stupid actions. take a look at the share price of a company when they announce job cuts, and compare with changes when they announce new investments/strategies!

Re: Nokia laying off people
 

Wow, this is almost as bad as a Stardestroyer.net flame war! Almost...

Seriously, there is almost no difference between Majority Dems and Majority Rep. Most a centrists that lean left or right, and usually use common sense. America is one of the most capitalist countries in the world, and calling it socialist because Dems control the country is a rather big jump. The alternative choice (McCain) was saying almost the same stuff as Obama. The two party system we have is flawed, there is no choice. But a more socialist government is good in times of economic crisis. Look at the great depression, a socialist government pulled the U.S. out, then it switched back to Capitalist. That is the beauty of America, adaptability.

It makes sense that Nokia is laying people off, we are in a recession. A lot of companies are shrinking...

Re: Nokia laying off people
 

Korsakoff's syndrome (Korsakoff's psychosis, amnesic-confabulatory syndrome; sometimes --incorrectly-- also spelt "Korsakov's Syndrome"), is a brain disorder caused by the lack of thiamine (vitamin B1) in the brain. The syndrome is named after Sergei Korsakoff, the neuropsychiatrist who popularized the theory.

Symptoms

There are six major symptoms of Korsakoff's syndrome:
* anterograde amnesia and
* retrograde amnesia, severe memory loss
* confabulation, that is, invented memories which are then taken as true due to gaps in memory sometimes associated with blackouts
* meager content in conversation
* lack of insight
* apathy - the patients lose interest in things quickly and generally appear indifferent to change.

These symptoms are caused by a deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1), which is thought to cause damage to the medial thalamus and possibly to the mammillary bodies of the hypothalamus as well as generalized cerebral atrophy.

When Wernicke's encephalopathy accompanies Korsakoff's syndrome, the combination is called the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Korsakoff's is a continuum of Wernicke's encephalopathy, though a recognised episode of Wernicke's is not always obvious.

Korsakoff's involves neuronal loss, that is, damage to neurons; gliosis which is a result of damage to supporting cells of the central nervous system; and hemorrhage or bleeding in mammillary bodies. Damage to the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus is also associated with this disorder.

Re: Nokia laying off people
 

Even demigods like Keynes and Rand have been proven wrong with their ivory-tower theorizing.

There are, at any given time, 2 camps of economists. They are very polar. 50% will view a subject one way and the other 50% will see the polar opposite. So who's right at any given time?

It always depends on the one element you willfully omit from discussion: CONTEXT.

Nothing is as simple as you see it. Nothing is so black and white. Experience will teach you that someday, if you are willing to listen and learn.

The Left is wrong.

The Right is wrong.

Reality tends to gravitate towards the center.

Re: Nokia laying off people
 

You are right on the money.

The smart companies are the ones who set cash aside for a "rainy day" and hold on to their employees when the ride gets rough. It costs them money to let people go when trouble starts, and even more to hire people back when they pick up. They also tend to lose the subject matter experts they desperately need to prevent recurrance of stupid errors.

But too money companies operate on a razor margin. They live to appease shareholders on a quarter-by-quarter basis (and such shareholders are never really happy; they're more like daytraders). This is suicidal. They would do better to heed the advice dispensed by Warren Buffett, who more than most seems to have a great grasp of how business should operate.

Re: Nokia laying off people
 

i cant help but think about greenspan, and his admission that economic theory was flawed. they didnt take greed into account at a strong enough level.

me, i say that humans are by base programming greedy, lazy and glutton if given the chance...

lets just say that i dont think to highly of our base instincts.