cmbaus

Lake Tahoe Nevada

Looking for JavaScript UI developers and application designers who want to focus on data visualization and interaction. This is for a financial application with sophisticated data display in Canvas and HTML 5. We are profitable and our customers are both large institutions and small advisors.

See my profile to contact me.

It will be interesting to see what the effect of both Gate's and Buffet's donations will be. It certainly is a good that a large chuck of capital and energy is going toward improving society, but putting that much capital to work may also cause significant inflation and negate some of the benefit.

I hadn't heard this. Dividends are a great way to screw over option holders, who are often employees.

Most shoes sold in the the US are of low quality and made at a low cost and then sold at a huge markup. They don't last very long and aren't serviceable.

Traditionally made welted shoes are neither more expensive over the long haul or less comfortable.

You can have a rubber outsole added to a leather-soled welted shoe: http://baus.net/alden-cordovan-af53-long-term-review/

I just wish more American businessmen would wear decent shoes, such as bluchers or oxfords by Alden or Allen Edmonds, so I don't have to see anymore rubber soled, bicycle toed loafers at the airport: http://instagram.com/p/ZbdZfMsM4G/

Contact me. Let's get a beer. I went to the Bills game in SF this year. We got killed, but it was still a lot of fun.

I'm glad you liked it. I believe I (and other people from the area) look at the world differently than those from more prosperous regions.

There is a constant thought in the back of my head that this could all be temporary. Boom towns go bust. Industries go bust. But I also think I've left opportunity on the table because of my fear.

I've come to realize that the difficult part of life is balancing the upside with the downside -- knowing when to be conservative and when to be risky.

If I could give advice to anyone leaving school or home for the first time it would be: remain cognizant of the downside, but don't let it prevent you from taking advantage of the upside if it presents itself to you.

> The unlucky who buy in declining cities have a huge part of their wealth eroded leading to virtually impoverished retirement.

This is where my fear of the downside comes from. My parents actually met in the 60s in LA, but decided to move back to WNY. I don't regret the fact that they did, but they had much different economic experience than they would have if they remained in California.

They now live on a property on about 5 acres. My Dad did much of the work on it, and it is beautiful place, but they will probably never get the money the put into out of it -- especially inflation adjusted.

If you end up on the downside of one of these economic decisions, it can really change your financial outlook for potentially the rest of your life.

I think I've seen your posts on this topic here before. I actually lived in a shared housing situation in a large victorian mansion in Epping, NH in my 20s. I really enjoyed it. I wanted to do the same thing when I moved to Tahoe as the owner, but couldn't afford a house big enough to make it work out.

If I was in my 20s and working in an area as engineer with a reasonable cost of living, I would seriously consider this exact thing. When you are just out of school it is actually nice to be able to share a living space and it makes economic sense.

I didn't think there were many other people from Chautauqua county here.

Couple comments. I didn't research the exact numbers in the post. I heard the house was sold for $4k, and the point wasn't about the exact price, but my perception of life after growing up in an area of constant economic decline.

Also one of my goals for 2013 was to hit the home page of HN. I didn't think my first attempt would do it. Thanks!

The point is that the house isn't worth even the back taxes on it. That is hard to imagine from a west coast perspective. Even after the bust in 2009, I don't think it got that extreme in too many places.

I don't think a house can be built for $12k. Houses in the rust belt routinely sell below replacement cost because demand is so low.

I agree. The other option is to lower the costs of areas where startups operate by increasing construction.

I think it good that developers in the city are able to meet the demand rather than ignore it. I'd like to see this level of development happening in US cities. It looks like progress.

This somewhat off topic, but I just got back from Toronto last week. Great city. It has been 20 years since I've been up there and a lot has changed.

There are concerns about the development that is going on, but seeing new urban housing going up is refreshing compared with many US cities which effectively have no growth policies.

Based on the number of units that seemed ready to hit the market, I suspect Toronto could see significantly lower housing prices in the future. I just hope it doesn't end in financial ruin for the banks.

If you decide to make the financial investment to start college, it makes sense to finish. That does not mean it necessarily makes sense to start in the first place.

This is an interesting everything-old-is-new-again trend. The original Blogger actually published static web sites over FTP.

I've never heard the term "Limousine liberal," but I'm fond of the french expression: La Gauche Caviar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauche_caviar

And amazingly we still have businesses that compete and don't price all their competitors out of business. So I don't think this is an obvious conclusion.

It's all about the wiggle.

> but the best solution is that nobody parks for free.

I don't disagree with that in a location like NY where parking is in very limited supply.

What happens if demand for the "pods" outstrips supply? How does the government decide who can setup a new pod?

What could be interesting is if a privately owned parking lot did something like this.

Exactly. Just like concessions at fairs or festivals are handled. Either there needs to be private space to park the trucks or a way to bid for the space. Using public space for commerce free of charge basically means the owner getting an insane discount on some of the most valuable real estate in the world.

I wish more people understood this, especially in regard to tax policy.

I would take a convertible Cadillac ElDorado.

Have you actually driven one? It isn't as bad as you might think. When you are on the power, having the weight on the rear of the car is an advantage. They aren't nearly as hard to drive as their reputation leads people to believe.

I bet more new drivers struggle with the heaviness of the clutch and lack of power steering before they get anywhere near the limits of the car.

I think the more amazing part of this story is that it was launched from a b-52 which has been in service for over 50 years! Talk about engineering longevity.

I don't agree. There are plenty of people with money who want an urban lifestyle.