I can’t wait until private equity companies are exposed as the exploitive side of our current system that needs to be corrected. At the heart of so many good companies are bad decisions driven by PE structures and personalities, most of whom seem very toxic and short sighted. Surely there is a better model of capitalism — I am not so vapid as to turn against the obvious advantages of the system. But I am also not willing to endorse the current approach as anything but exploitation with extra steps.
Readit Newshappytiger commented on The fishy death of Red Lobster businessinsider.com/red-l... · Posted by u/qsi
happytiger commented on · Posted by u/paulpauper
We need to cut spending. Spending is OUT OF CONTROL.
You can’t make up in taxes what you keep spending, and deficit spending is insane right now.
Why is this not part of the conversation? I have no problem paying higher taxes, but without responsible spending it’s just pouring gas on an out of control fire.
happytiger commented on The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee thehustle.co/originals/th... · Posted by u/gaurang_tandon
Chilling ending to the article:
> Gig drivers don’t face an edict for speed like past Domino’s drivers, but Wells says the requirement to be fast is built into the job, with drivers hurrying to make financial incentives, avoid bad ratings, and ensure the food is warm upon delivery.
Annoying corporate policy replaced by society taking a wrong turn to being driven by ratings on the I internet - that we unlike the bad policy can't get rid of.
This is just a social credit system designed to control behavior, but attached to your workplace instead of your person.
The proof is simple. If you move this system from a single workplace to multiple workplaces with an ID for the worker, you get social credit.
This is a system that many governments and corporatists are in love with, as it generally “punishes troublemakers” without having anyone who’s a lawsuit target get overly involved. In my opinion, social credit systems are repression and totalitarianism masquerading as systems of personal responsibility.
happytiger commented on Netflix blows past estimates as subscribers jump 16% cnbc.com/2024/04/18/netfl... · Posted by u/samspenc
Netflix isn’t good, it just sucks less.
It’s really commentary on how bad streaming services are becoming.
We need a privacy bill of rights. There shouldn’t be a separation between biometrics and passwords.
happytiger commented on Hospitals that make profits should pay taxes statnews.com/2024/04/14/n... · Posted by u/jyunwai
They should be a well funded public service that don't make a profit in the first place.
God forbid we don’t monetize the existence and care of life itself.
happytiger commented on How I prepare a talk for a tech conference (2022) chelseatroy.com/2022/08/0... · Posted by u/fanf2
This is sane advice. Lots more sane advice out there in the world.
Yet, there is an element of YMMV. Like, I only ever do live demos, including lots of live coding. My "slides" are my org-mode file, with org-babel, and org-tree-slide. My premise is that, in-conference, peoples' eyes will glaze over sooner or later because of information overload from other talks and/or intense social engagement. So I need to land one maybe two engaging moments. Interested parties will engage in the "hallway track", post-talk. At-home viewers will scrub through the recording. All people have access to slides and/or a detailed blog post. Disinterested parties are free to use "the law of two feet" and leave if it's not working for them.
My talks have never been polished diamonds --- all elements of serendipity and demofail are embraced. So far, nobody has booed me off-stage, and I've always had fun after-talk conversations.
Also, in terms of actually doing the thing, this is what my, ah, "process" ends up looking like [1]. I discovered many people relate to it.
[1] https://www.evalapply.org/posts/how-to-give-a-conference-tal...
Mad respect for live demoing in a talk on conference Wi-Fi. There is something to authenticity and embracing potential failure that flies in the face of the well manicured presentation culture we have today that needs to come back. As long as the talk can be done, or there is a plan b, why not? I think a lot of concern stems from wasting other people’s time: which is valid. But presenting is also a deeply culturally engrained performance art that sometimes sacrifices authenticity for appearances.
happytiger commented on Obituary for a quiet life (2023) bittersoutherner.com/feat... · Posted by u/conanxin
This is beautiful. Thank you.
I think people don’t understand how important just being there for your family actually is. Sometimes it’s enough just to be reliable, stand for good and just be present. Sounds like he really knew it.
happytiger commented on Show HN: My $1k self-install, off-grid solar backup build for renters sunboxlabs.com... · Posted by u/nikodunk
What’s the status in insurance for this thing? Generally this doesn’t seem like it would be covered under renters insurance.
I can’t imagine a landlord in existence that wouldn’t throw a fit about something like this.
happytiger commented on Auto insurance prices have gone nuts sherwood.news/markets/aut... · Posted by u/jmsflknr
>so complex and are so difficult to repair they are causing catastrophic loss to insurance companies.
in US maybe. Tons of companies in EU specializing in imports of "totaled" US cars. Totaled by cost calculated with magic insurance algorithms, but in real life easily fixable cosmetic/suspension/mechanical damage. Repairs are in $5-10K range for a $20K "totaled" car worth $50K when fixed. Money laying on the street waiting to be picked up.
Are US car insurance companies similarly limited by law to a certain percentage of profit like Healthcare? Because this does feel like car insurance companies are artificially inflating costs to bump premiums.
They are limited by insurance rules in each state and federal. The patchwork of consumer protection regulation makes for a lot of weird effects, like the one you are discussing.
They are not limited in profit, but they are limited in what they can do, when they are required to total a car, etc.