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artsytrashcanon NASA has reestablished full communications with Voyager 2

I have this condition called a recurrent corneal abrasion. Basically, my eyelid occasionally adheres to the skin on my eyeball and rips it open when I open them too quickly after waking up. It is very painful. The only thing that helps is an ointment that I put in my eye before I go to sleep. It comes in a tiny little tube, costs $40, lasts about a month. The last few tubes, I've kept even though they were "empty"; thank the hoarder in me. This turned out to be a saving grace, as the ointment is often sold out at nearby pharmacies, and I can't afford a new tube a month, anyhow. There tends to be enough left in each, if I spend a while squeezing the shit out of it, to get a small drop (1/10th of the recommended dose) into each eye for a couple of weeks. That's a few more weeks of not waking up feeling like someone has taken a razor blade to my cornea. I'll take it.

Also something about Cuba. I think my point is that we're a bit too cavalier with used electronics these days. The embodied energy and materials are huge, and we just... throw them out, in many cases. I'd like us to get used to repurposing these resources before scarcity forces us to. Really squeezing every bit of use out of them that we can. Bonus: because it's not the Hot New Thing Someone Is Trying To Sell You, you'll likely be less subject to the Hot New Trend Of Actually Being The Product.

And, for what it's worth: an original Apple I just sold for almost $450k at auction. Someone wanted that.

artsytrashcanon “We’ve Changed the Game”: Teamsters Win Historic UPS Contract

What is the balance of driers with 4-years full time seniority vs employees in progression and part-timers/seasonal workers?

Essentially, you didn't answer the question.

artsytrashcanon “We’ve Changed the Game”: Teamsters Win Historic UPS Contract

Accepting this logic: a top-end figure tells you nothing about the nature of the progression to get there. In particular, it doesn't say anything about the relative conditions on each step of the progression, nor (again) about how many make it up each step. The extreme version of this is, of course, how many food service and retail companies have billionaire owners while their lowest level employees qualify for Section 8 and food stamps. Clearly, there is a better way to represent conditions in such a company, beyond simply stating the CEO's take-home. (QED /s)

artsytrashcanon Twitter has officially changed its logo to ‘X’

It really isn't. State - really, conservative party - antipathy to Twitter is well-known. This antipathy was instigated by Twitter's role in incubating several large, progressive movements over the past decade: the Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, the anti-TPP and anti-SOPA protests, the Umbrella Movement and its descendants, etc. We know this antipathy exists because many of the states vulnerable to similar movements and that have the power to ban Twitter have done so.

Twitter also allows for the real-time dissemination of information unfavorable to corporations, like during outages and accidents, and the widespread dissemination of less time-sensitive information by journalists who aren't beholden to corporate media gatekeepers.

Elon Musk's various ventures rely heavily on buy-in from the government - SpaceX relies on NASA's resources, Tesla has only been profitable because of generous renewable energy grants, and even Paypal benefited from lax oversight from financial regulators. That there is likely a relationship is less "Pizzagate" and more "Trump and Russian interference." And if you're going to pretend that that's not a damning analogy, all that does is expose how unserious you are about the matter.

All of that aside, there is also the matter of Musk 1) having had a checkered history with Twitter as it was, including its users, and 2) not having actually wanted to buy Twitter after his initial due diligence. Considering that his actions after completing the deal included firing most of the workforce, stripping users of multiple privileges, and stripping the company itself of its branding, it's not at all farfetched to conclude that he has no intention of simply renovating Twitter, but instead means to strip it down to studs or foundation and build a gaudy temple to his own warped sense of entrepreneurship. This is, after all, the man who insisted that the model names of his cars spell out "S3XY".

artsytrashcanon Education Dept. opens inquiry into Harvard legacy admissions

That's not a huge range - a handful of missed answers - and, I believe, lower than it used to be. I distinctly remember being, at 1490, in the bottom quartile of "Harvard-bound scores". Without any proof, I imagine that Harvard et al. dropping standardized test scores from their admissions requirements has skewed who actually submits them. Legacies will only do so if it doesn't hurt their otherwise venerable pedigree; non-legacies will say, "Well, every bit helps."

artsytrashcanon “We’ve Changed the Game”: Teamsters Win Historic UPS Contract

You don't really need them. An "average top rate of $49/hr" is like saying that the average top salary for a SWE is $500,000/yr. Great number; now, who is actually making it, and how many of them are there? Because this number is supposed to be, somehow, a representation of the gains of a typical worker who is subject to the deal. If it is not representative of such a worker, it's a misrepresentation.

artsytrashcanon “We’ve Changed the Game”: Teamsters Win Historic UPS Contract

"Fair" does not mean "central, between horrible and tolerable".

>That's obviously not feasible

Your curt dismissal belies that it's actually not just feasible, but a necessity. I would like to see UPS spend the money to replace/retrofit, rather than fighting lawsuits from the relatives of dead or disabled workers, only to have to replace/retrofit anyway.

artsytrashcanon Twitter has officially changed its logo to ‘X’

*Elon and whoever he owes favors to and/or is influenced by. (Owing favors and being influenced by others is a normal human person trait thing.)

artsytrashcanon Apple Vision Pro developer kit

The Microsoft decision was based on dominance of a particular portion of the computing industry, x86 CPU-based PCs, not "computers, mobile devices, or VR". The equivalent here is passthrough-capable spatial computing devices running on ARM chips. That's a market that's in its infancy. It's hard to say what it looks like in 5-10 years. Because the AVP is currently singular in its capabilities (and priced as such), it can be argued that it's the only product available in the space it occupies. If they Sherlock any of the applying apps or platforms in that environment, it would seem to be an antitrust violation, as they'd be the only game in town for substantially similar hardware platforms.

artsytrashcanon Twitter has officially changed its logo to ‘X’

The answer to that is simple: it was worth more to them destroyed than as an intelligence asset.

artsytrashcanon “We’ve Changed the Game”: Teamsters Win Historic UPS Contract

This is spin on a bad agreement. I hope the workers reject it and push for more.

artsytrashcanon “We’ve Changed the Game”: Teamsters Win Historic UPS Contract

I don't think so. The air conditioning bit was a big point*, and it doesn't look like they've moved at all since June. The deal says they'll put AC in vehicles purchased from 2024 forward, but no retrofits except for a "heat shield" for the cabin. Unless UPS plans to replace its fleet in 2024 (it does not), it will be years before the vast majority of drivers have AC. More are going to die.

*because multiple deliverymen have died of heat-related illness while on the job, and it's otherwise a major long-term health concern

artsytrashcanon Twitter has officially changed its logo to ‘X’

>I could understand this if it was acquired and then heavily censored

This has happened. Impression count has been decimated for anyone without a check. Bonus points if you've ever blocked Elon or posted with a sentiment he disagrees with.

artsytrashcanon Apple Vision Pro developer kit

It's analogous to the MS/IE/Netscape situation 20 years ago. They would lose/have to settle on similar grounds, I suppose.

artsytrashcanon Tokyo Is the New Paris

My high school language was Japanese. Attempting European languages in adulthood, I'm always thrown off by the object-verb order. My brain subconsciously skips over the action, hears the object and then is left waiting to hear what we're supposed to do with it.

artsytrashcanon Tokyo Is the New Paris

AFAIK Japan is a high-trust, high-context society. It is difficult to break into social groups or make new acquaintances, while the infrastructure necessary for living a "solitary" existence (supported by service-providing strangers) is extant and quite sophisticated.

artsytrashcanon PCSX2 is an open source PS2 Emulator

If you're adventurous, I have a like-new DDR mat that's been sitting in a storage unit.

artsytrashcanon Why are there no startups in the real estate construction sector?

That's not necessarily true. People have borrowed against higher land values and built more expensive housing with higher-end finishes. That was the whole "flipping" craze; the contents of the house were literally worth more after renovation.

>But nobody is speculating on US bathrooms.

I've got two words for you, man: rainhead shower. (Or "in-floor heating" for the Northeast. ...I guess that's 3 words.)

artsytrashcanon Why are there no startups in the real estate construction sector?

Tear the entire thing out and replace it. You have to understand that housing (separate from land) isn't so speculative in Japan, however; a "worn out" bathroom is likely in a house that's going to be torn down completely and replaced.

artsytrashcanon Why are there no startups in the real estate construction sector?

https://fortapro.com/wc-and-bathroom-pods

These guys? (If so, then, woah, this is the first time in literally years that Google Search has successfully returned a first-result win.)

artsytrashcanon A reason for high housing prices: restrictive land-use regulations

And PP only profiled one company. It's almost certainly being perpetrated by others. The company my own property manager uses once boasted in their promotional literature that using their software boosted prices 15% when compared to controls. Investors are using this software because it allows them to artificially inflate "market rate" rents in concert with competitors, and disconnected from actual demand, full stop.

artsytrashcanon A reason for high housing prices: restrictive land-use regulations

"New development" covers a wide range of development types. Most of the types that are "allowed" to be developed - per regulation, public investment, what does and doesn't trigger the NIMBY predatory instinct - are types that raise "market rates" like low-density SFH and luxury condos.* The government could "radically incentivize" developers to build high-density housing with basic finishes and fewer amenities, to be sold or rented at affordable rates, but that bumps up against https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36632171's impeccably correct observation: prices are high because the people who own the housing stock want them to be high. Inventory influences a fraction of the cost.

*(That is, however far you're convinced that there even is a market; for rent, thanks to "discounts" that allow property owners to avoid actually advertising lower rates, supply and demand don't exist, only the imperative to raise rates annually.)

artsytrashcanon Sao Paulo: A city with no outdoor advertisements (2013)

They're slowly ruining the vibe. Several stations raised the intensity of the lighting, painted the cement coffers, changed the warning lights from yellow to red, and some have even replaced the iconic floor tiles. The new trains in general are a travesty, too. The old ones had a warm 70s color scheme, warm lighting, and carpet that absorbed some of the track noise. The new ones are steel on the outside, white and blue on the inside, with cool lighting that clashes with the stations and hard surface floors that don't dampen noise at all (to say nothing of the redesigned seating, made uncomfortable to deal with a non-existent homeless rider situation). Oh, also, the first set of them were duds with major issues.

Walking into Metro stations and onto the trains used to be a calming experience, stepping out of the stress of the city or suburbs into a chill and welcoming atmosphere. Now, I can feel my blood pressure jump.

artsytrashcanon 100 years of Le Corbusier: what does he mean to today’s architects?

Well, I did say "partially."

I think we're all operating under a dysfunctional paradigm, Great Man or whatever. You say he wasn't that bad, I say he was worse, you say, "Don't complain about Vandal Savage because they have Hitler on ice,"[1] but fundamentally, the question remains: why did we turn over so much of urban design theory over to any singular kook at all?

I question the premise; urban life was well-understood, but dealing with rapid post-war (re)builds and hordes of personal vehicles, not so much. It was a choice, to consider either. And we let him/them choose, and let the choices filter down to those who'd marry them with weird and destructive and uncompassionate social ideals (and, often, a profit motive).

So, I continue to hold that we had the means and knowledge to ignore him and build better neighborhoods, but we listened to him and suffered, instead.

[1] https://dcau.fandom.com/wiki/The_Savage_Time

artsytrashcanon 100 years of Le Corbusier: what does he mean to today’s architects?

His influence has been largely detrimental to the quality-of-life of countless people, and Paris gives thanks every day that his plans for it were never fully realized. In a sense, he's partially at fault for every person who suffered or died violently in American high-rise projects, if we are to give architecture the social influence it claims.

Another perspective: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/may/19/why-are...

One is reminded of BMI.

artsytrashcanon 100 years of Le Corbusier: what does he mean to today’s architects?

I tend to think that Habitat 67 is more successful in all regards.

artsytrashcanon AI can’t do hiring because it lacks the data

Some of the worst hires come through word-of-mouth referrals, too. That's how you get unqualified nepotism hires. In fact, networking can be thought of as a form of nepotism or cronyism (depending on how touchy a given person is about "nepotism" being applied to the manner in which they got their position). I know I'm likely alone in viewing such hiring practices - feelings over process - as signal of an impending collapse. I think it's a sound heuristic, though, at least for previously-established companies. If you're not connected to eminently-qualified potential hires (and you're probably overestimating the quality of your network), "hire my friends" is a sure way to end up with an increasingly incompetent workforce.

artsytrashcanon The Great Electrician Shortage

Consensus seems to be that "straight out of high school" is an advantage, and not one all of the people who are interested in the work can partake of.

artsytrashcanon The Interstellar Style of Sun Ra (2016)

I prefer to see Mark Mothersbaugh's being known primarily as "The Rugrats Guy" to most Millennials as something akin to karmic justice for his antics. See also his weirdly derogatory comments about disco.

artsytrashcanon Meta is about to start its next round of layoffs

What no one wants to face is the possibility that the tech industry was increasingly becoming a jobs program for otherwise unemployable (at least, wrt the income they wanted/required to live a middle class, financially-independent lifestyle) college grads of a certain pedigree. If you think the crisis of (often justified) Millennial whining and despair is bad now, imagine an alternate reality where millions of even our brightest and most well-connected couldn't find work after college - or worse, were only able to find work that didn't pay their bills or that forced them to move home (rather than these fates being limited to the average graduate) . Offices empty, downtowns and office park-adjacent strip malls seize up, Tesla never gets off the ground (okay, yes, I know, bear with me). Essentially, you eliminate a substantial portion of the consumer market, because everyone in the prime of their non-medical-expense-driven-consumption life is broke. We managed to stave off that Armageddon for a decade, and if it meant entire branches of multi-billion-dollar corporations were spending 90% of the work day comparing Soylent bars and playing Fortnite (dependent, of course, on you're having chosen the right school, major, or parents), then so be it.

Look at what the business of these companies was. None of them needed this many non-customer-service personnel. But that many people needed jobs.