Measuring whose software engineering is bigger

My last manager at Microsoft measured engineers by the number of checkins, they did. He said, "I want every engineer to do at least two checkins per day." And I also met a manager, who went even further, saying, "If regular Joe does one checkin per day, then I expect a senior guy to do three and principal (staff, guru, whatever) ten!"

Such a simple arithmetic (or geometric) way to measure seniority: seniority = ln(checkins per day)!

It's almost like 16 years old thinks about sex. "Ok, I am too young, so I have nothing, and older guys with questionable abilities, they'll pull once a month, and some regular Joe would do once a week, and when I grow up, I will be a real stud and I'll do that every day... twice, and three times per day on weekend, and Superman probably did that 10 times a day!"

And only once you start meeting real women, you learn that quality matters much more.

Technically, if you have simple enough project and junior developers, it's probably possible to use metrics like that. Just like 16-years-old metrics on sex may be applicable in a brothel. But with serious work, you may want to check against something more substantial. Ideally, the amount of money brought or saved for the company.

"Verified by Visa"

I cannot stand it. Being responsible for security of several Microsoft products and now working for Google, not the last authority in Internet security, I cannot stand "Verified by Visa" stunt they pull on their customers...

Basically, instead of building another fence, they create another hole. I don't have time to talk in details, let's just quote Internet... Here is what you get by searching for it on Google (quoted verbatim):

• I can't freaking stand that Verified By Visa crap, and skip it every time I buy...
• God, I hate this Verified by Visa crap. I run into it about once a year myself when shopping...more hassle for the consumer (me), ...
• Phishing scams posing as Verified by Visa sites have sprung up ..... the idea of the fraud just annoys the crap out of me and I'm game to ...
• Verified by Visa: British banks phish their own customers - Boing ...
• Last year, we were made to implement Verified by Visa and ... If we net out lower because of this crap, we will be seeking compensation. ...
• Seems like this new "Verified by Visa" is part of a more secure way to shop, in fact its so ****ing secure i cant buy jack shit!
• Cambridge researchers knock Verified by Visa | Security Threats ...
• "The technical design of Verified by Visa trains people in appallingly ... its intrusive, abrupt, and scares customers away its just crap. ...
• RE: WTF is this Verified by Visa crap on Newegg?
• Verified by VISA is the biggest WTF I've ever seen. ... They call this bull---err, crap online security? Please. ...
• Trevor Stone's Journal - Dear Visa (A Letter From the Land of ...
• Allison just went through this verified by visa crap this morning with the end result being a popup that did not work and closing the laptop ...
• Verified by Visa: bad for security, worse for business | Richard's ...
• Have you got a story of Verified-by-Visa-induced woe to add to the .... for the crap, annoying, godamn useless verified by visa system to ...