How To Tell Whether You Work For A Startup Or A Corporate

How to tell whether... You work for a startup... ...or a corporation
iTunes is... How you let people know the kind of person you are ("You mean you don't have a playlist just for Canadian music?") Not installed. You have a two-versions-old Windows Media Player, which can't play any files anyway because of the firewall. And your soundcard is disabled anyway.
Installing software... Is entirely up to you - there's a pile of copied versions of Photoshop in the MDs office, go help yourself. Some of them might even be paid for. Is not your job. Raise a support ticket with Technical Support, who will have to interrupt your work for an hour or so just to install the latest Flash Player.
The bathrooms... Are next to the showers. They have pot-pourri, designer basins and luxurious towels. Are where the strange guy from Finance changes into his cycling gear. The soap is the same kind you had at school.
Staff outings... Are paid for by the management and usually involve a coach trip and a tuxedo. Are paid for by you and usually involve greyhound racing or pizza.
The dress code... Is non-existent; when you started you had to go out and stock up on 'ironic' t-shirts. Is strict; when you started you had to go out and buy some 'proper' shoes and a tie.
Desk decoration... Is mandatory. Anyone without some form of Star Wars paraphernalia on their desk is viewed with suspicion. Is not permitted and may be stolen by the cleaners.
Colleagues with blogs... i.e. everyone - will routinely blog the office routine. You made the Technorati Top 10 on your first morning. What's a blog?
Getting around the office... Is done by collapsible scooter. Is not allowed. You may have a cigarette break at 3.
Email forwards from your colleagues... Are likely to be the latest blogosphere meme or an article from 37signals. Are chain-mails warning of dire consquences should you not pass them on, and viral jokes from 2002.
The Christmas Party announcement email... Includes a Google Maps microformat mashup and an option to import into iCal. Is written in Comic Sans on a patterned background and has animated clip-art from Word.
For lunch your colleagues... Eat home-made sushi while working on their own web app. In Ruby on Rails. Choose between roast beef or chicken curry in the canteen. On Fridays they all go to the pub.
The coffee... Is freshly ground and roasted in-house. Many Bothans died to bring you this coffee. Comes out of a machine in the corner and costs 10¢ per watery cup.
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