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Google's banned interview questions- what would you say?

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Reply 80
Triangletastic. Oh look, hinges.

Hinges hey? So there are yet more ways to prevent it falling down its own hole, interesting.
Reply 82
Original post by TSRUsername99
Hinges hey? So there are yet more ways to prevent it falling down its own hole, interesting.


Yep - and more expensive.

To remind you, the question was: "Why are manhole covers round?"

The answer is to stop it falling down the hole.

/endof.

The question wasn't "How do you stop manhole covers falling into their hole?"
Original post by jneill

To remind you, the question was: "Why are manhole covers round?"

The answer is to stop it falling down the hole.

/endof.


Well clearly that isn't the answer because as we've found they can be triangular or have hinges to stop it falling down the hole.
Original post by jneill

I can start on Monday.


Not unless you can authoritatively answer the question, What is the significance of the word "MUTE" on that cover?

My quess would be that the makers think it won't disturb householders close by if the workman allows it to fall shut, though it might deafen to workman.
Original post by jneill
Triangletastic. Oh look, hinges.



Trust the Germans to come up with a complicated engineering solution to a simple problem. It is the reason their tanks were so unreliable and so few in number during WW2: too expensive and slow to build and unreliable
Original post by TSRUsername99
Well clearly that isn't the answer because as we've found they can be triangular or have hinges to stop it falling down the hole.


You have, again, answered the wrong question.
Original post by Good bloke
You have, again, answered the wrong question.


Nar, you just didn't give it enough consideration I'm afraid.
Original post by TSRUsername99
Well clearly that isn't the answer because as we've found they can be triangular or have hinges to stop it falling down the hole.


They could also be attached by permanent short chains, like a bath plug in reverse, or given a narrowing coaming profile.
Original post by Good bloke
They could also be attached by permanent short chains, like a bath plug in reverse, or given a narrowing coaming profile.


Now we're getting there, well done. :h:

How many plugs have you seen where they've become detached from their chain? i'd say almost the majority.
Reply 90
Original post by Good bloke
Not unless you can authoritatively answer the question, What is the significance of the word "MUTE" on that cover?

My quess would be that the makers think it won't disturb householders close by if the workman allows it to fall shut, though it might deafen to workman.


The rather spooky thing is the cover is located in my old home town.
http://www.geograph.ie/photo/2056121

And there's another one nearby but marked "HARTLID" not "MUTE"
http://www.geograph.ie/photo/2257539

They both have the same patent design ref.

I reckon MUTE refers to a design feature that minimises the road noise caused by traffic driving over the cover.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by TSRUsername99

How many plugs have you seen where they've become detached from their chain? i'd say almost the majority.


How many bath plugs have you seen that are welded to 1/2" steel chains?
Original post by jneill

I reckon MUTE refers to a design feature that minimises road noise caused by traffic driving over the cover.


Yes, I prefer that explanation to mine. Hartlid must be a brand name, based on the manufacturer's name of Hartley.
Original post by Good bloke
How many bath plugs have you seen that are welded to 1/2" steel chains?


exactly
Reply 94
Original post by Good bloke
Yes, I prefer that explanation to mine. Hartlid must be a brand name, based on the manufacturer's name of Hartley.


Yep. It looks the same design. My guess is the Hartlid one is the older cover (looks older in the photo) and they then rebranded it Mute to maximise that USP.

Trying to Google the company but they seem to have disappeared years ago.
Original post by jneill
Yep. It looks the same design. My guess is the Hartlid one is the older cover (looks older in the photo) and they then rebranded it Mute to maximise that USP.

Trying to Google the company but they seem to have disappeared years ago.


This is lovely and everything guys, but you won't have your mate there in the interview to help deflect from your silly answers.
Original post by TSRUsername99
This is lovely and everything guys, but you won't have your mate there in the interview to help deflect from your silly answers.


What makes you think we don't already work for Google?
Original post by Good bloke
What makes you think we don't already work for Google?


:dontknow: Do Google not do internal interviews?
1. How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?

Stupid question. No one cares and it's a waste of resources to find out.

2. Why are manhole covers round?

A circle can't fit through itself and can be rolled and doesn't need aligning so it's an easier shape than something else. Simple!

3. You need to check that your friend Bob has your correct phone number, but you cannot ask him directly. You must write the question on a card and give it to Eve who will take the card to Bob and return the answer to you. What must you write on the card, besides the question, to ensure that Bob can encode the message so that Eve cannot read your phone number?

Just get Bob to call the number he has for you. If he doesn't call you he doesn't have your number. Problem solved.

4. How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?

Who cares?

5. Every man in a village of 100 married couples has cheated on his wife. Every wife in the village instantly knows when a man other than her husband has cheated but does not know when her own husband has. The village has a law that does not allow for adultery. Any wife who can prove that her husband is unfaithful must kill him that very day. The women of the village would never disobey this law. One day, the queen of the village visits and announces that at least one husband has been unfaithful. What happens?

No one dies as the women wont know who to kill.

6. A man pushed his car to a hotel and lost his fortune. What happened?

A game of monopoly he needs to pay his fine.

7. How many times a day does a clock's hands overlap?

22. Why is this even a question? It's the stuff we did in year 6.

8. How many vacuums are made per year in the USA?

Again who cares? They're all made in Asia anyway.

9. Explain the significance of "dead beef."

Urgh nerd talk. Thats a coding reference IMO

10. If a person dials a sequence of numbers on the telephone, what possible words/strings can be formed from the letters associated with those numbers?

idontknowthoughthiscanbeanassociatedstringofletters

11. You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?

Get out of the blender.

12. How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?

One. Like, if the bus is a toy Lego bus then only 1 obvs.

13. Explain a database in three sentences to your 8-year-old nephew.

Stores stuff about people. Very hard to make. You will learn more when your older.

14. You have to get from point A to point B. You don't know if you can get there. What would you do?

Where are these points? If they're 10000000 lightyears away in space then why try making a journey.

15. You are at a party with a friend and 10 people are present (including you and the friend). Your friend makes you a wager that for every person you find who has the same birthday as you, you get $1; for every person he finds who does not have the same birthday as you, he gets $2. Would you accept the wager?

No! Simple probability guys.


I've done them all. How do I get a job at Google?
Original post by Madeline_H95

I've done them all. How do I get a job at Google?


Yeah, when trees can sing :smile:

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