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GeoDeV

8 karma · joined May 28, 2011

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GeoDeV··on Sudbury School
I learned about the Sudbury school style of education from a book called "Free to Learn" by Peter Gray. A Wikipedia article can't do justice to such a radically different approach to education. Keep in mind that our current factory style of education is a relatively recent development in the span of human history. Newer is not necessarily better.
GeoDeV··on Here's What Really Happened at That Company That Set a $70,000 Minimum Wage
I couldn't disagree with you more on this point. It's a common fallacy to equate political power (Central Committee) with economic persuasion (any private business). No one is forced to deal with Dan Price and his company - it's up to him and his company to offer value and stay competitive to all stakeholders and customers. On the other hand, the Central Committee's edicts are backed by political power. Disobey, go to jail, or worse.

The word "free" in free market capitalism means freedom from political coercion or force.

GeoDeV··on Here's What Really Happened at That Company That Set a $70,000 Minimum Wage
I'll have to think about it more, but I don't think your premise is valid, i.e. that there are 2 mostly unrelated supply demand curves. My first thought is that all prices in a dynamic economy are interrelated and are always moving towards a state of equilibrium. This company's actions are disruptive and will either fade or they will change the point of equilibrium. Another factor, mentioned in the article, is productivity. Henry Ford was able to raise his worker's wages because his manufacturing methods dramatically increased their productivity. I don't know if this company's productivity is high enough to support a raise to 70 G's.
GeoDeV··on Here's What Really Happened at That Company That Set a $70,000 Minimum Wage
This is definitely not socialism! There is no coercive government intervention here. It is the CEO of a private company paying his employees above market rate. One of the many benefits of a free market is that you will often see experiments like this. Some will fail, some will succeed, but no one will go to Siberia. Socialism is political system, an incredibly irrational and immoral one, but this is merely a business decision taken by a single CEO exercising his own independent judgement.
GeoDeV··on Here's What Really Happened at That Company That Set a $70,000 Minimum Wage
Wages are subject to the law of supply and demand, just like every other aspect of economic life. Since the CEO seems to be paying well above the going market rate, I doubt that this is sustainable for the long run. Yes, he's partially compensated for the imbalance by cutting his own pay, but it won't be enough. Also, the rapid growth of the company will also buy him some time, but that can't go on forever. The article's author seems to know little about capitalist economics beyond the conventional wisdom, most of which is wrong or non-essential. And if Rush Limbaugh did in fact call the CEO a socialist, then Rush Limbaugh doesn't understand what socialism is. Having said all this, I would still like to see this company succeed, just like Henry Ford did many years ago with a similar tactic.
GeoDeV··on Beautiful stop-motion engine rebuild [video]
I was a car nut long before I became a computer guy...I vaguely recollect something about this. I believe they would have created a series of cardboard templates, mirror images for left and right, about one inch apart along the length of the contour, front to back. And then carved the clay to match the templates. Hope this verbal description is clear enough.
GeoDeV··on Ask HN: What are the best books on leadership?
The Essence of Leadership: The Four Keys to Leading Successfully by Edwin A. Locke
GeoDeV··on Ask HN: Does anyone use Opera browser?
Yes, on all my PC's and my BB. Ever since FireFox crashed on me and lost all my bookmarks.
GeoDeV··on Convert your Facebook friend contacts to CSV
I just had to do the very same thing, except instead of Facebook, it was a contact list in a proprietary medical office database. Since my programming skills are limited to Basic and Pascal, I just used AutoHotKey and the AutoHotKey Recorder. After a little editing, i.e. adding a test for empty boxes and putting the whole script in a loop, it was working fine. I considered teaching myself Ruby, but I knew it would be much faster to use AutoHotKey. But it's really interesting to see the same process in a proper computer language