|
Baby Babbeh posted:Why does anyone take Eliezer Yudkowsky seriously? Like, he has no formal training or credentials in anything and his writing reads like the venn center of of autism and narcissism, but people keep giving him money. It does not compute. (LOL, little Silicon Valley humor for you there) He tells people what they want to hear- that tech geeks are the most important people in all of history, and that they will never die. That's powerful.
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 01:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 07:41 |
|
|
goddamn Uber and Lyft are a bunch of whiny shitheads I mean, like just about every other company, but they still kinda push the boundaries there
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 02:22
|
|
|
e_angst posted:They've already decided they are going to the legislator next. Of course, the legislator doesn't meet again until January 2017, and the earliest any law they pass will only go into effect is January 1, 2018. Or, given Uber's current burn rate, around $1.25 billion in the future. They already tried going to the Lege after Houston passed TNC regulations but their bill didn't get scheduled for a floor vote* in the House and didn't even manage to get out of committee in the Senate. And this time they would have every city delegation trying to stall, poison pill, or otherwise kill that bill so the odds will be worse. Additionally the cab companies, public safety folks, and insurance companies probably actually do have some decent pull in the Legislature so I could see a statewide fingerprint requirement getting tacked on. *For those unfamiliar with Texas politics the Legislature only meets every two years for a very short time. Due to the time crunch the most important part of the process is getting your bull scheduled for a floor vote as early as possible.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 02:30
|
|
|
Shifty Pony posted:
As an aside I have no clue how this system has continued for so long. One of the biggest and most important states and it's governed, kind of, like 3 out of every 24 months.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 02:48
|
|
|
A Man With A Plan posted:As an aside I have no clue how this system has continued for so long. One of the biggest and most important states and it's governed, kind of, like 3 out of every 24 months. It's in line with the small government mindset. Although the schedule ironically gives the Governor a lot of power.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 02:55
|
|
|
A Man With A Plan posted:As an aside I have no clue how this system has continued for so long. One of the biggest and most important states and it's governed, kind of, like 3 out of every 24 months.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 03:17
|
|
|
Levitate posted:goddamn Uber and Lyft are a bunch of whiny shitheads If they get beaten anywhere it can gently caress them everywhere
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 03:32
|
|
|
Coolness Averted posted:It's in line with the small government mindset. Although the schedule ironically gives the Governor a lot of power. Even funnier: it gives the Lt. Governor a lot of power, since he schedules and runs the senate. It's important enough that it's generally considered the more powerful office. And of course the other important office in texas is the railroad commission head. Man I'm glad I only lived there for school. State is all kinds of hosed up.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 03:38
|
|
|
Baby Babbeh posted:Why does anyone take Eliezer Yudkowsky seriously? Like, he has no formal training or credentials in anything and his writing reads like the venn center of of autism and narcissism, but people keep giving him money. It does not compute. (LOL, little Silicon Valley humor for you there) The people that take him seriously tend to have zero credentials in that area and more money than sense Academia/research and his organization are basically disjoint
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 07:41
|
|
|
Full Battle Rattle posted:If they get beaten anywhere it can gently caress them everywhere New York, New Yoooork!
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 08:11
|
|
|
FilthyImp posted:I'm one of those wankers that stood in line to preorder the Model 3 (my wife wants one). Right before the doors opened some goober went down the line and said "OK on the count of THREE we're going to chant THANK YOU ELON! THREE times, ok?"  , also did you do the cheer?Baby Babbeh posted:Why does anyone take Eliezer Yudkowsky seriously? Like, he has no formal training or credentials in anything and his writing reads like the venn center of of autism and narcissism, but people keep giving him money. It does not compute. (LOL, little Silicon Valley humor for you there) lovely people respect lovely people.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 08:28
|
|
|
Baby Babbeh posted:Why does anyone take Eliezer Yudkowsky seriously? Like, he has no formal training or credentials in anything and his writing reads like the venn center of of autism and narcissism, but people keep giving him money. It does not compute. (LOL, little Silicon Valley humor for you there) He got into the good graces of some folks via sci-if fandom. He grew up in it, so he has those connections (mostly his dad's friends & acquaintances), and I'm pretty sure he's also been a fixture in Bay Area fandom ever since he came out here. I had been thinking about stopping in at Baycon this year. Maybe I should reconsider…
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 11:10
|
|
|
e_angst posted:They've already decided they are going to the legislator next. Of course, the legislator doesn't meet again until January 2017, and the earliest any law they pass will only go into effect is January 1, 2018. Or, given Uber's current burn rate, around $1.25 billion in the future. I assume you mean the legislature, right? Like, it's not just one dude 
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 11:49
|
|
|
nachos posted:Is there any sense of how the nation views the gig economy and companies like uber? I imagine approval ratings would be pretty high and I'm surprised this was defeated with such a margin. Depends on which part of it you're asking about; if you're asking for "I can easily use my phone to get a ride from anywhere to anywhere whenever I want" then I highly doubt people are going to find much fault with that. It's kind of the allure of the gig economy; whatever you need, whenever you need it, just a few phone swipes and an app away. If you're asking about the labor practices? People who know what's up loving hate it. Turns out that people like having steady work with solid, living wage pay and get unruly when you disrupt that. Kind of the problem with stuff like Uber is that they're doing their damnedest to pass the costs off on the people doing the actual work (i.e, forcing drivers to pay all the vehicle expenses) while setting the rates in stone. Plus drivers only get paid when they're actually driving. If you get no fares for a week well lol gently caress you no paycheck then. Ignoring, of course, that people on call like that get paid whether there's work to do or not. I think what's happening is that the terrible, terrible business practices of things like Uber are starting to come to light. Suddenly people are wondering if their job is next; every programmer can't help but think that the next app is Codr. Meanwhile it becomes apparent that Uber is doing stuff that was formerly illegal and even if it's legal is unethical as hell. It's repeating 19th century stuff again; when Standard Oil was gobbling up the entire oil industry it would move into a new area, sell everything at such a low cost it was at a loss, and obliterate the competition that way. Then once they had control could just do whatever they wanted because hey who the gently caress else were you going to buy oil from? Uber deliberately running at a loss like it is is doing the same thing; they'll no doubt crowd out everything else until they can charge whatever they want due to total market saturation. History has shown that letting somebody do that is a terrible, terrible idea.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 15:53
|
|
|
Plenty of midwestern nowhereville cities have a young populace that loves uber/lyft/etc because they associate it with significant cities and thus makes the city they can't/won't escape more like the ones they wish they lived in
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 16:35
|
|
|
lancemantis posted:The people that take him seriously tend to have zero credentials in that area and more money than sense I don't think that the businesses involved in practical AI development are all that interested in his crap either. The hypothetical artificial intelligences that people speculate about are so far from reality right now that it's like trying to optimize zeppelin docking masts on the skyscrapers of the future. A general purpose AI is like a general purpose robotic manipulator. They're both hypothetically very useful, but in practice you can get the same effect far more easily by just using a special purpose solution fitted to the problem. For instance instead of using a robotic hand to pick up a screwdriver, use an electric screwdriver. A special purpose AI avoids all of the speculative downsides of some evil general purpose AI. Oh, no, there's a malevolent Go computer out there that's thinking bad moves at me. 
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 16:39
|
|
|
Peztopiary posted:
The damned car prototype wasn't even out at that point. Why the hell would I thank a dude for the privilege of giving him $1,000.00??
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 17:58
|
|
|
1337JiveTurkey posted:I don't think that the businesses involved in practical AI development are all that interested in his crap either. The hypothetical artificial intelligences that people speculate about are so far from reality right now that it's like trying to optimize zeppelin docking masts on the skyscrapers of the future. *invents intelligent humanoid robot* *hands robot a broom*
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 18:31
|
|
|
Dropbox Cuts Perks, But Not $100K Chrome Pandaquote:According to the email, which Dropbox sent out in March, the company will officially be cutting perks like its free San Francisco shuttle, as well as its gym washing service. (Sorry, fitness fans.) Dropbox is also pushing its dinner service back until 7 p.m.—the little trick said companies use to ensure that you have to work longer hours to benefit from free food—and cutting the "unlimited guests" perk that Dropbox employees previously enjoyed. Now, they'll only be able to bring a total of five guests each month to Dropbox to partake in food or happy hours.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 18:56
|
|
|
a foolish pianist posted:*invents intelligent humanoid robot* That but with nuclear weapons and mind control because they don't understand current AI well enough to understand the ethical issues it raises but have at least a shaky grasp on the idea that mad scientist poo poo is a bad idea.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 19:02
|
|
|
ToxicSlurpee posted:If you're asking about the labor practices? People who know what's up loving hate it. Turns out that people like having steady work with solid, living wage pay and get unruly when you disrupt that. Kind of the problem with stuff like Uber is that they're doing their damnedest to pass the costs off on the people doing the actual work (i.e, forcing drivers to pay all the vehicle expenses) while setting the rates in stone. Plus drivers only get paid when they're actually driving. If you get no fares for a week well lol gently caress you no paycheck then. Ignoring, of course, that people on call like that get paid whether there's work to do or not. Isn't that how taxi companies have worked for generations? Drivers aren't employees of the company, they're responsible for maintaining their own vehicle, they don't get paid if they don't get fares. Fares are imposed on drivers in every Western city I'm aware of. Medallions only restrict street-hails, not ordered-by-passenger stuff like calls to taxi dispatch or an app. The 1099 scraps-of-the-transaction model is a general problem, but it's not clear to me that the industry that Uber is displacing is any better for its workers.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 19:35
|
|
|
lancemantis posted:Plenty of midwestern nowhereville cities have a young populace that loves uber/lyft/etc because they associate it with significant cities and thus makes the city they can't/won't escape more like the ones they wish they lived in I like Uber/Lyft/etc because when I'm traveling in a nowhere city in the States it can be a loving epic quest to get a taxi, while getting a rideshare takes like 10 minutes on my smartphone and costs me less. I know a lot of foreigners who use Uber here in Santiago because they don't know how to get around and don't want to get scammed by taxi drivers (which they will).
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 19:48
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Isn't that how taxi companies have worked for generations? Drivers aren't employees of the company, they're responsible for maintaining their own vehicle, they don't get paid if they don't get fares. Fares are imposed on drivers in every Western city I'm aware of. Medallions only restrict street-hails, not ordered-by-passenger stuff like calls to taxi dispatch or an app. Is this the case for dispatch-only services as well as street-hailing services? I have very little experience with taxis outside of New York City, but I assumed that car services (where you call as opposed to hailing) worked more like normal employers. I could be dead wrong, though.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 21:45
|
|
|
In the UK most minicab firms have drivers as contractors. I took my first Uber the other day and the guy said it was basically the same for him as any other firm he'd worked for, except he could vary the patch he worked more easily.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 21:51
|
|
|
JamesKPolk posted:Is this the case for dispatch-only services as well as street-hailing services? None of the drivers I've asked have been employees, but I guess it's not impossible for some company to run that way; mine is a sample of 5 or so in the US and Canada.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 23:15
|
|
|
ToxicSlurpee posted:History has shown that letting somebody do that is a terrible, terrible idea.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2016 23:55
|
|
|
The fact that many people are turning to unsteady contract work for income (or extra income) is symptomatic of structural issues. Harping on uber seems pretty stupid to me especially given, as is pointed out here, that the contract structure isn't new in the industry at all. There is nothing inherently wrong with people having the option of extra part time work with very flexible hours.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 00:23
|
|
|
a foolish pianist posted:*invents intelligent humanoid robot* "You pass butter."
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 00:34
|
|
|
asdf32 posted:The fact that many people are turning to unsteady contract work for income (or extra income) is symptomatic of structural issues. Harping on uber seems pretty stupid to me especially given, as is pointed out here, that the contract structure isn't new in the industry at all. There is nothing inherently wrong with people having the option of extra part time work with very flexible hours. That's true but Uber is also doing their damnedest to try to exploit this situation so why shouldn't we go after them as well? Just because the system permits their actions doesn't absolve them.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 00:52
|
|
|
Brannock posted:That's true but Uber is also doing their damnedest to try to exploit this situation so why shouldn't we go after them as well? Just because the system permits their actions doesn't absolve them. Sure, do whatever it is you do to oppose them. Just be honest that you're targeting them specifically because they're brash and have an app, because the taxi industry has had the same employment model for decades with nary a peep.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 01:09
|
|
|
asdf32 posted:The fact that many people are turning to unsteady contract work for income (or extra income) is symptomatic of structural issues. Harping on uber seems pretty stupid to me especially given, as is pointed out here, that the contract structure isn't new in the industry at all. There is nothing inherently wrong with people having the option of extra part time work with very flexible hours.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 01:13
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Except that Uber is not only exploiting contract employees -- including by changing their base rates downward, something that IIRC most contracts don't let you do -- it is also violating state and local ordinances about the provision of livery service. There are laws about what you have to do to drive a taxi, and Uber thinks that claiming they're a "disruptive" company is sufficient excuse for ignoring those laws. See the Wiki page on various legal cases against Uber. Many of them were dismissed or became obsolete, but in others Uber chose not to obey the law. I get that a lot of people get riled up by uber's attitude but little here has to do with the contract structure which isn't anything unique to Uber, even in their industry. It's also somewhat ironic to use the term exploitation in the context of a company that's losing billions in investor capital on some combination of employees and customers. If the rich always invested this badly it would completely eliminate the problems of inequality.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 01:44
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Isn't that how taxi companies have worked for generations? Drivers aren't employees of the company, they're responsible for maintaining their own vehicle, they don't get paid if they don't get fares. Fares are imposed on drivers in every Western city I'm aware of. Medallions only restrict street-hails, not ordered-by-passenger stuff like calls to taxi dispatch or an app. It's already been covered but the difference there is that there's pretty much always a limit on how many medallions there can be which keeps the market from saturating itself. Cabbies can make a living because there can't be too many of them. Uber looked at that and went "nuts to this!" and created a market that's highly likely to over saturate itself. The taxi industry isn't great by any means but Uber basically looked at it and said "how can we shove the workers even further down the ladder?" Plus like people keep saying companies like Uber are just going "lol gently caress your laws" with stuff like this. When somebody says "you're a taxi company and must follow the same laws as one" their response is to just go "nuh uh! You're not the boss of me and I'm not a cab company because I don't to follow the laws of one." ToxicSlurpee fucked around with this message at 02:43 on May 10, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 02:39
|
|
|
ToxicSlurpee posted:It's already been covered but the difference there is that there's pretty much always a limit on how many medallions there can be which keeps the market from saturating itself. Cabbies can make a living because there can't be too many of them. Uber looked at that and went "nuts to this!" and created a market that's highly likely to over saturate itself. Medallions limit hailed cabs, but not dispatched cabs, anywhere I'm familiar with. They're designed (originally) to avoid swarms of cars circling for fares, so dispatch services (such as black car services, Uber's origin) don't require a medallion. Is it different in your jurisdiction?
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 02:42
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Medallions limit hailed cabs, but not dispatched cabs, anywhere I'm familiar with. They're designed (originally) to avoid swarms of cars circling for fares, so dispatch services (such as black car services, Uber's origin) don't require a medallion. Is it different in your jurisdiction? No but the difference there is that black car services have pretty good reasons to figure out how many cars they need handy and keep only that number. Uber is saying "literally anybody with a good enough car can hire with us."
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 02:44
|
|
|
ToxicSlurpee posted:No but the difference there is that black car services have pretty good reasons to figure out how many cars they need handy and keep only that number. Uber is saying "literally anybody with a good enough car can hire with us." What reason does the black car service -- whose drivers are contractors paying for the dispatch service -- have to limit their driver pool which is not shared by Uber? What cost do their bear per-driver?
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 02:46
|
|
|
I love how supply and demand needs to be explained every 3rd page of every D&D thread.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 02:52
|
|
|
Uber also preys on ignorance in the people that drive for it. If you do the math on their "buy a car from us" deal it barely breaks even over something like 10 years of using uber as your only source of money and hustling at that. Not "at the end of this time you have a 10-year old car and an average pay" but rather "at the end of this time you have a 10-year old car, unless it broke ever. Then you have a ten year old car and are indebted to the mechanic." There was an infographic that broke it down I think, and it may have been seven-nine years not ten? Phoneposting or I'd look.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 04:24
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:What reason does the black car service -- whose drivers are contractors paying for the dispatch service -- have to limit their driver pool which is not shared by Uber? What cost do their bear per-driver? Black car services don't con their drivers into taking on the majority of the company's capital expenditure by having the driver use their own car. Generally those services have drivers that are going out using company cars (which the company fuels and maintain at their station). e_angst fucked around with this message at 04:43 on May 10, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 04:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 07:41 |
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Sure, do whatever it is you do to oppose them. Just be honest that you're targeting them specifically because they're brash and have an app, because the taxi industry has had the same employment model for decades with nary a peep. A few other liveries have an app. Most don't and that's certainly an issue in 2016, but it's getting better. I bet the people Uber offered to license their app to are kicking themselves now, just like Blockbuster did after rejecting that Netflix buyout offer.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2016 05:20
|
|
