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cpher's comments

cpher | 4 years ago | on: Midwest Developer

Welcome to Chicago. I've lived here 15+ years, and Illinois most of my life. And I still hate winter LOL.

cpher | 9 years ago | on: Lyft and Uber to Halt Operations in Austin After Voters Reject Proposal

Yuri, after seeing these comments, we're going to have to agree to disagree. I'm not sorry for being angry, but I'm sorry for getting personal. I'm sure you're needing some help with something local to your community, unless you want to start a thread of how to help kids on the south side of Chicago get into this community.

cpher | 9 years ago | on: Lyft and Uber to Halt Operations in Austin After Voters Reject Proposal

Give me your honest opinion: to what degree am I racist if : 1) the Uber pulling up is an obvious gangbanger 2) If I refuse the driver for whatever reasons Uber lists when drivers pull up.

I'm going to assume your objection is to #1. If so, do you have any fucking idea how institutionalized racism is in Chicago, especially with CPD? Even sane white folks know this. There are mostly good apples, but some bad ones, and we don't need to be a part of any dragnet.

cpher | 9 years ago | on: Lyft and Uber to Halt Operations in Austin After Voters Reject Proposal

I would even go one step further. Certainly less than felons. For some reason in Chicago, I at least feel "safer" in a taxi because of the screaming decals and colors of the car.

I had an Uber from the southside to Midway, and I felt like just getting into his car I was being set up in a sting operation. I (white guy) shrunk down in the back seat the entire time. The dude was nice, but holy shit what does CPD think when white guys get in the backs of gangbanger's cars (yes, my driver was nice but sketchy, and his car was exactly the mid-90s low-riding Pontiac you see around here getting busted all the time). I felt like I was his "ride" while he circled the southside between drug pickups. It gave him an "out."

On the flip side, had an awesome middle aged white woman take us from A to B on the northside of Chicago. She was doing it as a part-timer and super nice.

I guess my point is that maybe with taxi companies you at least could/should have a hiring/interview process? I'll plead ignorance to the Uber/Lyft process, but is there even an interview? It's just hit or miss in Chicago.

cpher | 11 years ago | on: N.F.L. Playoff Simulator

This is awesome! Kudos to you and the team (I assume you had help?). Yeah, I'm sure the tie breaking procedures drove you crazy. Imagine the rules committee meetings when they discussed all of them. :) How did you manage the complexity of the rules in your mind? I'm curious as to how you went from rules => mental model/entities => code. Did you use a formal process?

cpher | 11 years ago | on: Final exams for kindergartners

I don't have any objection to basic assessment tests, such as the Iowa Basic Skills test. It's been used around the USA since the 1930s (my mother grew up in Iowa in the 1940s and took the test every year!). It's useful for gauging general progress, but I would definitely object to using it as a "final exam" used for determining future advancement. I don't think the article even hints at that.

cpher | 11 years ago | on: Using Google Earth to Find an ISIS Training Camp

Regarding the VRBO research, how does this help you vs. plain ole' Google streetmap? Or is she using streetmap in a non-traditional way? We've been renting a property sourced from VRBO for the past 6 years, so I'm curious how you're researching properties.

cpher | 11 years ago | on: US plans to require inter-vehicle communication technology in new cars

I live in Chicago, and sometimes it's really hard to tell where the EV is coming from. They're ear-piercingly loud, and the sound bounces everywhere. You hear the siren, then frantically start checking all your mirrors every 0.5 sec, which probably creates more of a distraction to the driving you should be doing.

cpher | 11 years ago | on: Ask HN: Object you'd like to see connected to the internet?

I don't think they're always looking for efficiency of traffic flow. I live on the south side of Chicago. I swear the lights along major streets are timed to make it inconvenient for traffic flow ON PURPOSE. My unscientific theory is that this is done to prevent speeding, rack up violations for idiots that like to race, and make it easier for cops to pursue in their cars. Case in point: my street has a stretch of at least 3 blocks without a light; hence, we get idiots (cars and cycles) that like to gun it in a 30 mph zone.

cpher | 11 years ago | on: U.S. Senator blasts Microsoft's H-1B push as it lays off 18,000 workers

I don't think he was telling you personally to STFU, but rather making the argument that if you really want immigrants you should argue for green cards, not H1Bs which give the employer too much control. I think you mis-read what he wrote. BTW, I've upvoted you even though we "disagree."
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