GeekNights Thursday - Belts

MrPeriod

Belts are the fascinating topic of tonight's GeekNights. Lately we wear these things. But first, you would do well to share your salaries with your friends. You will never escape ads, which are largely fraudulent, and may not even be morally justifiable.

Don't forget to come see a bunch of smart people (and also us) at the Primest of PAXes.

• Predator Shield Demo for Japanese TV
• A Million Old Minutes
• Happy Family of Kittens, Bird and Puppy

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MATATAT

Those belts look kinda dope.

Neito

Eh. It really just looks like the system used in web belts, brought to leather ones. Nice, but not groundbreaking.

ninjarabbi

Being from japan, I thought predator shield would be some sort of plastic bubble for women to wear on the train to keep the molesters at bay.

Also, I just use one of these.

Rym

Neito said:

Eh. It really just looks like the system used in web belts, brought to leather ones. Nice, but not groundbreaking.

Hardly. It's a track on the back side of the belt that latches tightly, plus a release. Way better than that web belt buckle bullshit.

Also much more stylish.

Churba

ninjarabbi said:

Being from japan, I thought predator shield would be some sort of plastic bubble for women to wear on the train to keep the molesters at bay.

I give it five minutes before someone discovered their fetish for plastic shields.

The only downside to those Trakk belts is that they're not yet compatible with individual belt buckles, or at least, nobody's making them. I like having the option.

Josh Bytes

I still have a belt buckle that has my name on it that I got when I was a kid. I think I only wore it once.

Totally Guy

I've seen stalls of novelty belts which I might have bought if it wasn't for one small flaw; when you put on a belt left handed the buckle goes upsidedown. Not an issue, unless it's a novelty.

open_sketchbook

Churba said:

ninjarabbi said:

Being from japan, I thought predator shield would be some sort of plastic bubble for women to wear on the train to keep the molesters at bay.

I give it five minutes before someone discovered their fetish for plastic shields.

The only downside to those Trakk belts is that they're not yet compatible with individual belt buckles, or at least, nobody's making them. I like having the option.

How am I going to function without my ironic giant American flag buckle?

Luke Burrage

I recently bought a new belt after losing one I'd used for over 15 year. It needed replacing anyway, but I was seeing how long I could stick with one accessory. My wallet is over 20 years old now. I think it might last another 10 years.

Ikatono

Luke Burrage said:

I recently bought a new belt after losing one I'd used for over 15 year. It needed replacing anyway, but I was seeing how long I could stick with one accessory. My wallet is over 20 years old now. I think it might last another 10 years.

My duct tape wallet will last forever if I keep buying more tape.

Wyatt

My belt has way more function: http://www.zappos.com/686-original-snow-toolbelt-brown?ef_id=U5JtpQAABMN45opr:20150724172844:s

Rym

Wyatt said:

My belt has way more function: http://www.zappos.com/686-original-snow-toolbelt-brown?ef_id=U5JtpQAABMN45opr:20150724172844:s

Oooh...

Something like that would be great for my utilikilts.

Wyatt

It's not as wide as I like for my kilt, but It's a very good outdoor activities belt.

MechanicalMind

Have you ever actually used the screwdrivers? It seems like it would be super annoying to unscrew something when its attached to your belt.

Rochelle

Government employees don't need to share their salaries. We all know what everyone is making. However, it's when certain individuals get incentive awards or whatever monetary contribution awards for some bullshit, is what employees should be aware of.

34 days until PRIME. Yay!

Wyatt

MechanicalMind said:

Have you ever actually used the screwdrivers? It seems like it would be super annoying to unscrew something when its attached to your belt.

Yes. The belt buckle and loop can be snapped off when you need them. It's alright.

Jack Draigo

Belts. They hold up your pants. Not enough people wear them. Woo.

sK0pe

Not sharing salaries is crazy but people still do it. When I first graduated I started searching for what the average salaries for Veterinary graduates was but it was virtually impossible to find without spending a few hundred dollars on a membership to some professional society, it was really frustrating so I just hard bargained at every job.

I would have loved to be in a situations where employers would auto increment a salary like Scott or not be fucked over for too long by an employer like Rym. I know way better after the first few years working.

I feel as if I need way more images or photos with this episode, I can't imagine what these suits look like.
Ii can also totally pull off wearing a leather belt with my shorts but maybe it's because of the type of shorts I wear.
Rym has a lot of belts.
All I have is my regular belt that, like Luke, has been use for a long time, I use it for virtually all situations. My other 2 belts consist of a black brown reversible belt and the other is the one I use when I wear a suit to a party or important event.

I thought about buying different colours then decided it was a waste of money.

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

Fun sartorial pedantry: some modern tuxedo designs still don't come with belt loops on the trousers, so there are still some acceptable situations where you tuck in your shirt without having a belt.

Ikatono

My understanding was that tuxedos were always meant to be worn with suspenders.

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

Ikatono said:

My understanding was that tuxedos were always meant to be worn with suspenders.

They were. Some modern tuxedos now have belts for people who are too used to wearing them.

Addenda: part of the reason tuxes can get away with not having belts is because, at black- and white-tie events, you're expected to never take off the jacket.

Jack Draigo

I just ordered an army rigger belt. Hated the cloth rigger belt that came with my shorts, it'd always get bunched up and then make my shorts sag.

MATATAT

I am underpaid by quite a bit which is part of the reason I'm looking for another job. But also this company is just kinda garbage. If the people were shitty I would have been out of here way before.

Ikatono

I'm paid slightly more than most of the other interns at my company. I'm not sure if it's because of my year status or because I'm under a different manager but I'm not complaining.

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

I seem to be slightly underpaid for my job level, which makes some sense given that I was relatively new the last time salary adjustments happened. That'll probably get rectified at the end of this year.

sK0pe

If you know you are underpaid, just sit an interview at another company offering a better package, if you want to stay at you current company wave it in your employer's face until they give you what you want or leave.

Is the above approach even possible? Is there an excuse for getting less than what you're worth?

If you are objectively doing a better job why get paid less? In the reverse the employer would have no qualms in firing you.

My friend in Melbourne was being ripped off, she was earning $50,000 and said it was fine because she was working with "nice" people. during that time I had 2 jobs where I earned $180,000 and then $90,000. To me that's fucking crazy she even graduated one year ahead of me.

MATATAT

In most cases people think that when others are dissatisfied with their jobs it's because they are getting underpaid or they don't like what they're doing, which is the case sometimes or can be supplemental. But way more than that people often leave companies or are dissatisfied when they dislike their coworkers. A couple of the interview books that I read when I was first interviewing with companies really stressed getting to know the people that you will be working with. If I made 20k more and had to work with "that guy" I would probably not do that. There are also other people who are passionate about certain work when they could be making more. Such is the case with game developers. They get paid shit salaries compared to someone who works at like Google, but they do it because they love working on games. They are often doing equally difficult or more difficult work too.

Jack Draigo

On the subject of salaries, I'm still an hourly employee, ostensibly providing labor through my vigilance (no, security officers don't give a shit). I'm being paid, I believe (like Scott I get raises and I'm not sure now) $10.75 for an hour of my time. This is one of the higher paid posts my company has a contract for, and we are being under paid, probably by at least $5. I've been trying to network on LinkedIn to get out of here but Jeezy Creezy does LinkedIn not understand my needs. Even the security jobs it offers require a degree I am in no way qualified to get, and of course any management job wants management experience.

sK0pe

Jack Draigo said:

On the subject of salaries, I'm still an hourly employee, ostensibly providing labor through my vigilance (no, security officers don't give a shit). I'm being paid, I believe (like Scott I get raises and I'm not sure now) $10.75 for an hour of my time. This is one of the higher paid posts my company has a contract for, and we are being under paid, probably by at least $5. I've been trying to network on LinkedIn to get out of here but Jeezy Creezy does LinkedIn not understand my needs. Even the security jobs it offers require a degree I am in no way qualified to get, and of course any management job wants management experience.

All jobs will be like that just sit the interview anyway and talk about what real life management experience you have. Anything you can genuinely describe as management is better than a new graduate with a degree can offer.
Every job I got I was punching fairly high above my weight and I got most of them.
e.g. I ran an entire branch of a clinic on the 2nd day of my employment where I did a bunch of consults some emergency procedures and some regular procedures. My friends mostly walked around behind other Veterinarians for the first month of their jobs.

jabrams007

I thought this might be appropriate:

Planet Money: When Salaries Aren't Secret

I wish more companies were transparent like this. Since I work for the US Federal Government, anyone can look up exactly how much I make if they know my General Schedule (GS) level.