Google layoff | Sivan Hermon | Jan. 2023

 I acted as I’ve seen myself act on the rare occasion of a car accident: exit the situation as fast as possible and return to normalcy. I left my bedroom and went to shuffle my kids through our morning routine, but I wasn’t myself. I felt like I was in a fog. I pretended to be calm, but I felt I was one kid’s tantrum away from losing it that morning. Before leaving our NYC apartment, as I was getting dressed, my husband was going through his morning routine, starting the day with listening to the news… using Google’s assistant of course. I kissed him good morning and told him I got laid off. “You’re joking right?” he said. “No” I said and smiled. This went on twice more, before the message landed. I left him there and dropped the kids at school.

I was a month shy of celebrating my 9th Googleversary (that’s what Googlers call their work anniversary). A year ago I experienced a crisis. Before joining Google I couldn’t have imagined staying at the same job for longer than 2–3 years, and there I was, 8 years and having fun. That crisis led me to switch roles. After 8.5 years of “Making Googlers uniquely productive”, I joined Google’s internal incubator — Area 120.

Area 120 was a place where any Googler could pitch an idea and get it funded (hire a team, get money, get 6 months to prove your idea). Successful ideas got “acquired” by Google’s product area (think Maps, Search, Ads, YouTube) and get prime time, well if everything goes well.

Welcome to Area 120, Google’s in-house incubator.

Here is the link.

Many of Google's best ideas begin as experiments or passion projects. At Area 120, we work on 20% projects 100% of the time.

Siman Hermon - https://chibban.medium.com/an-out-of-google-experience-6956570d6dd5

I was a month shy of celebrating my 9th Googleversary (that’s what Googlers call their work anniversary). A year ago I experienced a crisis. Before joining Google I couldn’t have imagined staying at the same job for longer than 2–3 years, and there I was, 8 years and having fun. That crisis led me to switch roles. After 8.5 years of “Making Googlers uniquely productive”, I joined Google’s internal incubator — Area 120.

Vansky | Bus rental | Big white | $800 dollar one way

 

2023 Family Day | Expedia.com | Car rental

 

Why did I, a tech manager, get an MBA? | Sivan Hermon | Jul 9, 2020

 When Business School started I had 13 years of industry experience and 7 years of leadership experience. That meant I was the average student in terms of age and years of experience for the executive MBA track. I had a good salary so giving up on 2 years of income while paying the cost of Business School was not at all compelling. I wanted my peers to be similar to me, ideally older than 25 year old and more experienced in their respective industries. I seeked to interact with and learn from other leaders, and I had no plans nor desire to switch careers.

Appendix: Comparing MBA program structures

Full time MBA

This option caters to people who have a few years of work experience, usually without managerial experience. These are people who generally work in investment banking or consultancy companies or folks who seek to make a career switch (e.g. software developer to product manager). The average age of students in the program is between 25 and 27 years old. Since you are a full time student, you have plenty of time and opportunities to connect with your fellow classmates, build relationships and establish a strong professional network. Coming into the program students average salary is $80K and they often double their income upon graduation (source).

Part time MBA

This option was the most flexible and the least structured. Students could speed through the program in about 2 years or take 5 years to finish .Your peer students would be likely to change every semester and potentially in every course, as each student can choose their course setup, making it hard to establish long term relationships and solidify a network of peers. Lastly, students’ prior work experience is mixed, potentially diminishing ability to learn from your peers.
To be very honest, I ruled this option out early, as it felt like the worst of all worlds.

Executive MBA

The executive track caters to people who have substantial experience in the industry, ideally including a formal management role. The average student age was 32 years old, with 13 years of industry experience and 6 years of managerial experience. Given the extensive work experience, monetary ROI is harder to predict but most attendees will see a positive impact to their careers. Executive programs more-or-less accommodate your normal job schedule, taking place during weekends and evenings and offering full courses in a concentrated week of studies.

Shared elements

Cost is roughly the same across all options, but note that the full time track will require missing about 2 years of work…. and income, while the other programs enable getting a salary while earning an MBA.

An out of Google experience | medium.com

Why did I, a tech manager, get an MBA? | Sivan Hermon

 Here is the article.

Henry Kirk | Linkedin profile | Engineering Manager (Senior TLM), iOS/Android @ Google

Here is the link. 

I have 52 days left 😱. I need your help….

 

Eighteen days ago, many of my friends and colleagues were part of the 12,000 Googlers laid off. Having worked alongside them for 8 years, it’s an incredible loss of energy, talent and skills. Work just won’t be the same 😢.

I’ve always been a big believer that hard work and results will get you far in life 💪. While this event may place doubt in that belief, it is my experience that these life challenges present unique opportunities.

Today, I’m taking a leap forward and turning this tragedy into an opportunity. I’m teaming up with 6 outstanding #xooglers to shape and own our futures.

We’re starting a design & development studio in NYC and SF 🚀.

Yeah, it’s probably the worst time ever to do this 🫤. But that’s the exciting and challenging part 🎉.

But, there's one catch…my partners and their families have given me just 52 days to get this going and land projects or we must go back to job searching 😨. I am determined to not fail, so I need your assistance 🙏.

Here’s where you can help…I would appreciate introductions to your network 🤝. Please give likes and reposts to get the word out 📣. I’m looking for conversations to identify opportunities where my team can help a business go from 0 to 1 or 1 to 100 through our end-to-end software services (research, design, and development).

Seven of the finest ex-Googlers are fired-up 🔥, eager to research, design, and develop the most scrappy to ambitious software projects (and we'll do it quickly).

Please DM me if you’d like to chat ☕.

Thank you for your help 🙏.

(p.s. Can you guess what house this is? Comment below!)

#xoogler #layoffs #layoffs2023 #opentoopportunities #opentowork #openforbusiness #opentonetwork #mobiledevelopment #softwaredevelopment #newbeginnings2023

CARFAX | Car buying tips

 

A CARFAX Canada Vehicle History Report (VHR)’s registration, service record, and open recall sections tell you about the condition of the car, how it’s been cared for and whether there are any defects associated with the model you are considering.

Shawn Vording, Vice President of Automotive Sales at CARFAX Canada, takes us through all three sections and points out what consumers need to pay attention to.

Understanding the registration section

Like Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO), CARFAX Canada classifies vehicle condition according to brand. The names may vary slightly between the Ministry and CARFAX ꟷ CARFAX Canada uses ‘normal’ to mean ‘none’ and ‘non-repairable to mean ‘irreparable’ ꟷ but the classifications meet the same criteria as MTO’s:

• Non-repairable or irreparable: the vehicle can never be used on the road again; it can only be used for parts.
• Salvaged: a salvaged vehicle has been written off as a total loss, but if it is repaired and passes a structural inspection test and is inspected by an authorized technician it can be rebranded as rebuilt.
• Rebuilt: a repaired salvaged vehicle, after a passed structural test and inspection from an authorized technician, can be classified as rebuilt.
• None or normal: this does not mean the vehicle has never been in an accident; it means the degree of damage is not enough to receive branding.

When talking about branding Vording says, “Essentially normal means good, and for anything outside of normal, it may mean that you want to think about it.”

Understanding the service records section

This section documents the vehicle’s maintenance history. When going through the section, you may notice some services have more details than others. For one entry, you may read “Vehicle serviced; brake inspection” while another entry may say “Vehicle serviced.” Inconsistent details don’t indicate the vehicle’s condition: it describes what information CARFAX Canada could get from service facilities. According to Vording, “the acquisition of service records has become a big area of focus for us in the last couple of years, as the quality of repair on vehicles improves so will the information about the service.”

CARFAX Canada is making progress in data acquisition, but the information available often depends on the repair shop, the technician and what information the technician records.

Vording advises in addition to understanding vehicle history reports, car-buyers should take two more steps: get the car inspected by a licensed mechanic you trust and take the car on a thorough test drive. “Those three areas combined are the diligence you want to put into making a big purchase like a car” Vording says.

Understanding the open recalls section

While Transport Canada’s website will tell you whether the year, make, and model of a vehicle had an open recall, it won’t share whether a recall has been fixed, but CARFAX Canada’s VHR will.

CARFAX runs checks on recalls right until the VHR has been date stamped. If a report was date-stamped on January 25th, 10:23 a.m., CARFAX Canada has checked for recalls up to that exact minute. Always check the date of your CARFAX Canada report to ensure you have the most accurate information.

2.10.4 Securing the Initial MySQL Account

Here is the article. 

The MySQL installation process involves initializing the data directory, including the grant tables in the mysql system schema that define MySQL accounts. For details, see Section 2.10.1, “Initializing the Data Directory”.

This section describes how to assign a password to the initial root account created during the MySQL installation procedure, if you have not already done so.

A password may already be assigned to the initial account under these circumstances:

• On Windows, installations performed using MySQL Installer give you the option of assigning a password.

• Installation using the macOS installer generates an initial random password, which the installer displays to the user in a dialog box.

• Installation using RPM packages generates an initial random password, which is written to the server error log.

• Installations using Debian packages give you the option of assigning a password.

• For data directory initialization performed manually using mysqld --initialize, mysqld generates an initial random password, marks it expired, and writes it to the server error log. See Section 2.10.1, “Initializing the Data Directory”.

The mysql.user grant table defines the initial MySQL user account and its access privileges. Installation of MySQL creates only a 'root'@'localhost' superuser account that has all privileges and can do anything. If the root account has an empty password, your MySQL installation is unprotected: Anyone can connect to the MySQL server as root without a password and be granted all privileges.

起亚第五代Sportage狮铂拓界，三款动力选择预售17.98万元起

Original 赵永健 达车汇 2022-09-28 17:13 Posted on 北京

Here is the article. 

9月28日，起亚第五代Sportage狮铂拓界正式开启预售，其中1.5T+8AT车型预售价17.98万元起、2.0T+8AT车型预售价19.08万元起、2.0L HEV+6AT车型预售价20.58万元起。新车出自第三代i-GMP平台，是同级合资SUV中为数不多的标配8AT变速器的车型，预计将于11月份正式上市。

此外，起亚还为用户准备了预售六重好礼，包含拓界·翻倍礼、拓界·露营礼、拓界·保养礼、拓界·安心礼、拓界·回馈礼和拓界·观赛礼，可谓诚意拉满。权益包括10年10次免费基础保养、混动版车型享三电10年或20万公里质保，预售订单前5,000名客户，赠价值6666元的起亚与知名品牌联名露营套装1套等。

提供三款动力选择

在第五代Sportage狮铂拓界身上，起亚也使出了洪荒之力了，尤其是在动力上，标配8AT变速器，是同级合资SUV中为数不多的标配8AT的车型。狮铂拓界提供了三种高性能黄金动力组合，分别为1.5T+8AT、2.0T+8AT和2.0L HEV+6AT。

其中1.5T发动机最大马力200Ps，最大扭矩253N·m，并采用了起亚全球独创的第四代CVVD技术，配合8AT变速箱，零百公里加速时间仅8.7S，WLTC综合油耗低至7L。

2.0T发动机最大马力234Ps，最大扭矩353N·m，零百加速时间仅为7.8S，是同级竞品中唯一提供2.0T+8AT黄金动力组合的车型，追求良好加速性的用户可以考虑选择2.0T车型。

另外，狮铂拓界还引入混动车型，2.0L HEV车型的混合动力系统采用的是TMED混合动力系统，该系统由发动机、变速箱、超薄高功率永磁同步电机、锂离子电池、HSG启动发电一体机、HPCU一体式控制器等构成。系统综合功率为200Ps，综合扭矩为350N·m，WLTC综合油耗低至5.6L。

出自第三代i-GMP平台的狮铂拓界还提升了车辆的整体操控感，提高方向盘转向速比，整体调教优化，确保可靠的制动力，带来优异的制动距离。2.0T可选配电子适时四驱系统，AWD ECU判断路面情况及车辆驾驶状态，精密控制AWD连接器多板离合器的紧固力，主动改变分配到前后轮的驱动力，提供稳定的转弯和良好的行驶性能，确保驾驶员轻松应对不同艰难路况。

历经五代进化的高颜值

作为起亚在全球最畅销的车型之一，Sportage近30年历经5次换代、累计销量超过660万辆。1993年，第一代Sportage应运而生，作为一款城市型SUV，全面满足了用户旅行、日常出行等多场景出行需求。而在国内市场，起亚第二代Sportage以“狮跑”命名并于2007年引入国内，后续换代以智跑、KX5等车型，并采用多代同堂的方式销售。而到了第五代起亚Sportage选择全球同步，以英文音译的方式命名为狮铂拓界。

狮铂拓界是起亚“Opposites United(对立统一)”全新理念下的首款国产车型，高颜值是它的亮点之一，在路上一眼就识别出它的身份。经过重新演绎的“虎啸式”进气格栅与回旋镖式LED日间行车灯融为一体，平滑的车窗线条延伸到尾部微微上扬，强化了侧面运动气息。此外，新车还提供了丛林绿、哑光灰、星钻蓝、星际灰、珍珠白以及极光黑六种外观颜色。

针对中国消费者的审美需求，狮铂拓界对内饰进行了优化升级，提供有双12.3英寸沉浸式一体曲面屏、SBW旋钮式电子换挡系统、隐藏式空调出风口等设计，这些都不输于同级竞品，看起来很有科技感。同时，新车提供深灰、黑红、蓝灰、黑色四种内饰配色，让用户自主选择喜欢的配色。

在空间方面，狮铂拓界长宽高4670/1865/1680mm，轴距达到2755mm。针对中国消费者对于舒适性的高要求，狮铂拓界除了提供有前排座椅6向电动调节和通风&加热功能外，还提供了一般高端豪华车型才有的后排座椅加热功能，并且采用了高级绗缝工艺真皮座椅，包裹感和舒适性更佳。

在NVH方面，狮铂拓界在车身多处采用了高水准隔音材料，前挡风玻璃和前排车窗均采用双层隔音玻璃，可以有效阻隔外界噪音进入车内。此外，狮铂拓界还搭载智能感应电动尾门、前排手机无线充电等便利性配置。

智能化领先同级竞品

要打动年轻用户，智能化装备是少不了的，起亚从K5开始在智能化方面就领先同级竞品，尤其是在智能车机方面。这次狮铂拓界搭载了全新升级的Kia Connect智能互联系统，内置双区语音识别、百度导航、CarLife功能、声音存储功能。

此外，狮铂拓界还设计了代客模式，当车主开启代客模式后，信息娱乐系统界面将实现锁屏，避免个人隐私的泄露。同时，还有IoT车家互联系统，可与家用物联网进行连接，在车内就可以控制家中的智能设备。而停车场自动结算也很实用，登录车辆信息及支付信息后，可在ETCP加盟停车场自动支付停车费。

另外，当后排乘客有小憩的需求时，开启后排安静模式，后排扬声器将不再发出声音，而前排扬声器的声音也会相应变小，打造前后排空间互不干扰的乘坐体验。

在智能辅助驾驶方面，狮铂拓界配置L2＋级智能驾驶辅助系统，标配10项智能驾驶辅助功能，包括前方防撞辅助（FCA）、车道跟随辅助（LFA）、车道保持辅助（LKA）、智能限速辅助（ISLA）、智能远近光调节（HBA）、驾驶员疲劳提醒（DAW）等。此外，狮铂拓界特别搭载了可以有效降低二次碰撞事故发生概率的MCB多次碰撞自动制动系统，进一步刷新了安全标准。

总的来说，作为起亚在全球最畅销的车型之一的第五代Sportage，这次拿出了诚意给到中国消费者。相信随着11月的上市，将助力起亚在国内市场开启新一波攻势。

Open road | Kia sportage | Rhichmond | Feb. 4, 2023

 Here is the link.