dorchadas

The effects have been entirely detrimental in Dublin. The (vast) majority of the jobs in the country are in the capital, yet there's nowhere near enough living space. And a good portion of it is because of AirBnB. During the pandemic, when the tourist market shut down, the number of long-term lets doubled. And statistical evidence shows most of these were AirBnBs going back onto the long-term market.

Not to mention the negative externality of living next to what is basically an unlicensed hotel reserved for tourists. Coming in all hours of the night, loud and rowdy and not a care in the world about the people who have to actually live in an area. AirBnB has done more harm than good, all because tourists feel they should be entitled to live like a local, which completely disregards any planning and zoning done by cities, which count for tourists in hotels/hostels, not in actual residences meant for locals. And thus the locals get driven out and the city basically becomes full of tourists.

Galway is just as bad too. If AirBnB were shut down tomorrow, it would be 100 times better (it still wouldn't be great as the government hasn't done anything to really help matters, but AirBnB is a major issue).

I never realized how much I used it and relied on it until I moved to Windows over the winter break so I could game with friends. One of the many reasons my next computer is going to be another MacBook most likely. I really miss that thing.

Yep. I'm glad I took a masters program in Ireland when I did. Now just to find a job where I can actually live in Dublin and not squeak by... which sadly isn't likely give Irish salaries and how ridiculous Dublin is.

Definitely agree on Geometric Algebra + Calculus. What drew you to it?

I don't agree with that use of 'logical'. That would, if anything, be 'efficient'. But languages aren't efficient; in fact, there's actually some evidence to the opposite - that languages have built in redundancy to make it easier to pick back up a conversation if part of a sentence is missed. This has been proposed as part of the origin from noun classes.

But I was more going on to the fact that 'base 10' is somehow more logical than any other base as a chosen one for natural languages. I see no reason why that is so.

> a more logic term

Logical according to whom? Why is base 10 more logical than any of the other bases? I'd argue it's not, it's simply that it's what we're used to so we think it's more logical.

Yep! And, at least until the 'standardization' of Irish by a bunch of non-native speakers, modern Irish still used a base-20 system. It's actually still in use by a lot of native speakers in the Gaeltacht areas, though it's dying out as it wasn't included in the standard because it was 'too hard' (and, the cynic side of me would say, too different from English). It's a shame, but it's so nice to use and I try to use it whenever I speak Irish as it's part of the distinctly non-English heritage that is being lost in the language as it basically becomes coded English thanks to poor L2 learners.

There's also all sorts of languages that have non-base 10 counting systems. Some use 3, some use 12 and some have even more exotic ones. One in Papua New Guinea even originally has a base-27 counting system!

> (and having their teachers be afraid of math)

This is a huge part of the issue I feel. I know way too many elementary school teachers who are afraid of math themselves and struggle to understand it. Is it any wonder the kids they teach don't? It causes big problems when they get to me for mathematics in high school.

As soon as Old Reddit goes, I'm gone. I had to use New Reddit briefly to change some settings in a sub I mod (stupid design choice to not let me change them in Old Reddit), and it was absolutely awful. Looked like a worse Facebook, and, like, just let me read the comments and don't show me other posts halfway through.

You act like this is easy. It still requires capital to get started, and, if it's a threat to the major players, they'll use their even greater capital to squash it. See all the times ISPs have sued small, locally focused ISPs into the ground for trying to offer service. Unless there's a significant amount of capital, frivolous lawsuits would quickly eat away any funds.

Exactly. This is the main problem with it. But how do we fight back against the employers when they hold all the cards?

Just wanted to let you know I completely agree with you. I went to an undergraduate university that required two semester of philosophy and two of theology, and I certainly think I'm better off for them. I think we need to get back to that and away from expecting universities to be job training. Let the employers train their employees instead of foisting it on universities.

You obviously don't live in a red state. I was a leftist teacher in a very red state (as in, it was called from Trump within a minute of the polls closing, while half the state still had open polls). There's many times I had to watch what I said around people and not speak my mind for fear of possible backlash if students told their parents or if news got out among the community of some of my beliefs.

Do you have a link to the Penguin series? That seems interesting as well, especially given the time range.

If you don't fix the climate issues, neither of those priorities will be met.

Is this in America? I found it much harder to get in American than I do now that I've moved to Ireland. I walk mostly everywhere (weather permitting) and rarely get below 10k a day. I'm actually closer to 12k a day, and 8 km. On the year so far I'm averaging over 14,400. And I wouldn't say I walk a tremendous amount -- just when I can (though I do enjoy it), sometimes with running in depending on weather and other things.

I take it you've never lived next to an AirBnB, or in a city that has housing issues in part because of AirBnB. It's horrible.

I have friends who lived next to one for a while, and the noise at all hours of the night from guests who don't care because they'll be gone in a week was awful. Likewise, I currently live in a city where the housing supply doubled once AirBnBs were put back onto the long-term rental market during the pandemic. It's also a city with one of the worst housing crises in Europe.

AirBnB directly harms the local people of a city, often causing rents to raise, rowdy neighbors who don't give a damn about quiet time, and forcing actual locals out of the city so tourists can feel "at home". Not to mention AirBnBs are not considered in urban planning the way hotels are, since they mostly exist in areas that are planned for residential (for, y'know, the residents of the city) use. It has nothing to do with xenophobia. Tourists are welcome, but can stay in hotels and stop taking up the housing supply of the areas they visit.

I don't visit foreign cities to 'live'. That's for the locals -- they're the ones who deserve to be able to live in the towns they work in, not be driven out because of AirBnB.

That was my first thought when reading this headline: do they preserve silence? But he's absolutely right. After light pollution, noise pollution is probably the second most ignored type of pollution, and quite important imo.

"live like a local" while actively helping to destroy local communities. Such a great vibe!

To me that sounds like a company problem, and not something that should be foisted on to the universities to deal with. Perhaps it'd be better if we had more trade school focused places for a wider range of jobs instead of forcing the universities to deal with it all.

But, really, if company wants to retain people after training, maybe make it worth it to the people to stay.

As someone who moved countries to do a technical masters (Theoretical Physics and Applied Maths) who has to pivot to tech (sadly doesn't seem Ireland recognizes my US teaching credentials or 5 years experience) for a while, I'd be interested to hear the rant as well as how I could better prepare for interviews, etc.

The question becomes at what point do we expect companies to train people and what point do we stop foisting that on universities? This ties into the bigger goal of what the purpose of university is and should be, but I personally think companies need to step up and start training again instead of expecting universities to cover most things they want/need.

> I even felt like, at the age of 28, I was too old for dating and had missed all my opportunities.

I feel this immensely at 29, turning 30 this year. Especially after moving from another country and having all my friends in long-term relationships. Now just to get out there and have some confidence in approaching people.

Let's be honest -- that's part of why I have my beard. The other reason is because I'm bald and it helps balance things out. But mostly lazy.

Same for me. Same dentist for 30 years who was also a family friend. He retired last year. The plus side is it's a smaller community, so I already have a new dentist if I move back that I personally know and trust, but I don't know what I would've done if I wasn't that lucky.

How did you go about doing this? I'm most the way through a masters in Theoretical Physics and Applied Mathematics, and am going to be looking for jobs here in Ireland soon. My courses this term are pretty much all mathematical modelling over data science because they seemed more interesting, though I've also taken a module specifically on data programming with Python and one with Machine Learning with Python. Currently taking Advanced Computational Science, which is basically solving PDEs and models, as well as Climate & Weather Numerical Modelling course. I dropped Statistical Modelling and Maths of Machine Learning. My masters thesis is kinda a mixture between the two, making a model of how we can use statistical physics to predict collective behaviour and then testing it and validating it, etc. (though that latter might change given that it was supposed to be focused on Ukraine, where my supervisor had done it before after the 2014 annexation of Crimea).

I'd much rather do modelling than DS, even though I feel it'd be much harder to get a job with that. Or if I wanted to move into engineering. Basically, just looking for any advice for how you went about it.

I can work in Python and know enough JS to be dangerous. Built some stuff in the past for Irish-language learning, but it's all old and poorly implemented. Would also be willing to do other stuff for portfolio, etc.

Sorry for hijacking your comment, it's just what I'm struggling with now.

And if you're really interested, look into the whole genre of 'Wisdom Literature' [0] in the Ancient Near East. It's a super interesting genre, and was fairly widespread.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_Literature

> Why do the locals feel entitled to housing over non-locals? Sounds like a lot of entitlement, which goes both ways.

I mean, if you don't believe that the people who actually reside, work and live their lives permanently in an area are more deserving of the housing in that area than people who come maybe once a year for a week, then we'll never agree.

> The issue is that locals feel entitled to corral scary outsiders into certain zones, which is a high level of entitlement that exacerbates the problem.

> When you realize your argument just boils down to xenophobia and "outsiders bad" it mostly falls apart. Locals don't get special rights because they're locals.

Nobody said anything about 'scary outsiders', or xenophobia. I'm not advocating for the abolition of tourism. I'm saying tourism shouldn't come at the expense of the people who literally live and work and provide the amenities those tourists so desire when they visit. And AirBnB facilitates all of this. Locals absolutely should get special rights, especially in terms of housing, when they're the ones who will still be there after the tourists have left. The fact that you try to make this an argument about me being xenophobic or saying 'outsiders bad' shows you're not arguing in good faith.

> Couldn't you say that city planners are to blame for not providing enough supply to meet the demand?

But there often is enough supply to meet the demand. The issue is tourists feeling entitled to living in a house, not the fact that all hotels are 100% booked all weekend.

> Also, I wonder if maybe lots of people don't like existing hotels for some reason?

I'm sure that's it, honestly. But when you're traveling away from home, well, don't expect to have a home waiting for you. That's the entitlement.

> It seems the locals get forced out wherever demand vastly exceeds supply, like in the beach town where I used to live, where so many people want to visit and there just isn't enough housing/hotels for them.

Or, just stop short-term rentals. Then the demand wouldn't exceed the supply (at least by the same margin). Or have specific areas designated for them (which most do, and which AirBnB conveniently ignores)

> The locals are opposed to more housing, so inevitably prices goes up and they eventually turn into weekly rentals.

I mean, I can understand why the locals would be opposed to more when there's enough for their demand, it's just the entitled tourists coming in and taking over things that makes it an issue.

That said, there are some fundamental differences with beach condos and mountain cabins (usually built to be rent out, not for locals) as opposed to what goes on in most AirBnB situations (built for residential, then moved away). The former two are generally considered in city planning, whereas people taking over residential neighborhoods is not.