I’m getting older. I can tell because today, I was contacted by the National Security Agency, and it aged me about a year.
Funny, when you answer the phone and the person on the other end says they are with the National Security Agency, you don’t need to ask which Nation. It’s obvious that it’s U.S., and if you have to ask, well, they’re the ones asking the questions, not you, son.
Seems I have a friend wants to work for the U.S. government. He says the State department, but I bet it’s something far cooler, like the counter-James Bond squad. He needs a background check in order to get security clearance, and I was his old boss. The NSA fellow asked me a few questions, and wanted to send me a questionnaire to fill out. He also wanted to sit down in person with me, but that may or may not happen.
I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be on my best behavior, no snarky, sarcastic or inane answers. At least, none that will get me sent up the river for perjury.
“I’m not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so. ... She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain—it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”
After over a decade of user testing, it is clear that the way we search the web is similar to the way we would search our home for valuables as it was burning to the ground. Frantically.
“We must shift the focus of companies back to the customer and away from shareholder value ... The shift necessitates a fundamental change in our prevailing theory of the firm… The current theory holds that the singular goal of the corporation should be shareholder value maximization. Instead, companies should place customers at the center of the firm and focus on delighting them, while earning an acceptable return for shareholders.”
Travis, George and I can probably give you a list of the exact questions the NSA people will ask in an interview. We've done dozens of them (and presumably had a few done about us).
Posted by naomi
at 6:06 pm on Nov. 10, 2005
That would be great, thanks.
Posted by Travis Smith
at 1:02 am on Nov. 11, 2005
You can scroll right easily by holding down the SHIFT key and using your scroll wheel. (Firefox users trying this will end up jumping to old Web pages until a) Firefox releases a fix, b) they change their settings like so.)