tamade

I've been visiting Italy for years and this last trip during the pandemic, sans the typical tourist volumes, was fantastic. Now that travel is back on, I recommend getting away from the main tourist hot spots, the rest of the country is just as nice and much less crowded.

I enjoy his travelogues and photography. His observations of Japan as a foreign resident are particularly perceptive. He's been able to indulge in a life as a travel writer-- if you can look past the cringe there's quite a lot there.

A big chunk of UK pubs are owned by global private equity shops. No surprise that with PE consolidation comes so-called synergies-- might explain why pub numbers are dwindling.

Never said I was a Brit :P In fact, a big chunk of UK pubs are owned by global PE funds.

Having invested in this business before, the margin is entirely in alcohol. Typical drink costs <50p and sold for >20x. Food has nowhere near those margins given the labor and materials required.

I repurposed my old Fujifilm X100F as webcam with the Elgato cam link 4k and dummy battery during the pandemic-- video quality received heavy compliments on Zoom. The setup was working fine until I upgraded my desktop rig. Seems Cam link doesn't play nice with the new Mac Studios.

Let's be clear, visas are handled separately because they are separate countries.

Maps are just political theatre. The vintage ROC map you are referring to also includes Mongolia and parts of Russia (Chinese territories that Mao/CCP ceded), but no one in Taiwan is seriously making those claims. Note the CCP lays claim over the SCS based on an old 9-dashed map made by the ROC.

HP 12C. The best RPN calculator ever created. Mine is over 20 years old and still going strong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-12C

So-called firewalls at i-banks and consulting firms are routinely circumvented. These conflicts are self-policed and waivers are doled out more often than not

2 out of 17k? that's reassuring!

Curious what % of their 2.6k and 17k datasets were white males

"They do it by making bold career moves over the course of their career that catapult them to the top."

"bold career moves", i.e., right place at the right time, a.k.a., dumb luck

Not hard to understand. Real estate in a tier 1 city is the ultimate NFT.

There's really no exceptionalism when it comes to America's so-called drinking problem. Having worked at an alcoholic beverage MNC, it's pretty clear that every country has its own subculture of getting hammered. I'd even hazard the hot take that America is rather middle-of-the-road when it comes to binge drinking (certainly by per capita consumption is not exceptional).

Looks like Tile is toast... Google/Nest acquisition perhaps

Fascinating map. Would love to see this mapped for US cities

The typical 5% is split 50/50 between the buyer and seller brokers and paid by the seller. If the agent represents both sides, there's usually a discount, e.g. 4% total. Additional broker incentives, e.g. extra 0.5% to the buyer broker, may increase the commission

I've been a Compass client for several yrs and have generated ~$100m of the "Gross Transaction Value" they crow about in their S-1 (bs metric to focus on, since Compass only earns commissions of 3~5% of that). Most of the tech they promised in their initial pitch either doesn't exist or is outsourced to third-parties. Even basic services such as marketing/SEO in our market is handled by 3Ps. From a client POV, nothing differentiates them from other major brokerages. At the end of the day, RE is a people biz; I've stuck with them because I like the agents we work with. If these agents were to jump ship, I'd leave as well.

Some of these top brokers have already started to bail. They've also cut back on their Compass Concierge service, which is just an interest-free loan for sellers to dress up their homes. Guess all that Softbank cash is starting to run out...

Yet iPad Air 4 is USB-C and arguably "non pro"

They know their target consumer. You can get two colors with one stimulus check. Brilliant.

Wait, so they are not even halfway through the transition to USB-C and they launch a new product with the legacy connector? How many cables do they expect us to keep around? I'll wait for AirPod Max S :)

If I was a caddy dealer, I'd take the buyout too (and buy $TSLA)

Stereotype much?