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kourt's comments

kourt | 11 years ago | on: Immigration is about talent, not costs

The current US population is 7 billion, US population is 300 million. How many of the 6.5 billion non-Americans do you think could be rapidly absorbed, both terms of infrastructure (roads, water, sewers) as well as housing, culture, and government subsidies?

Your answer MUST be expressed a NUMBER, not some vapid BS platitude.

kourt | 11 years ago | on: Retaining Recent College Graduates in Boston: Is There a Brain Drain?

The actual ratio of rent to income really does matter. If we were comparing two cities where the ratio was 18% and 22%, then people would "want to spend less" or "pay a little more and enjoy better entertainment, culture, weather, sports franchises, etc."

But if a college graduate has to spend 95% or 105% of their after-tax income just on rent there is ZERO left for student loans and insurance, the conclusion is that both cities are completely unfeasible except for graduates with very wealthy and generous parents.

Your sole point is that "SF is more unaffordable than Boston". So what: living on a moon base would cost even more than SF.

> one would not expect that just starting out that you would have an average single bedroom

I have had a lot of roommates a lot, but I don't even see how that's workable in SF for the vast majority of graduates. And we are talking about college graduates: these are people whose employers expect them to arrive clean and rested, which is difficult to do when sleeping under a bridge, and who didn't grow up expecting to have to wait until they have 10 years of experience and 3 children to finally afford a 1-bedroom apartment.

kourt | 11 years ago | on: Retaining Recent College Graduates in Boston: Is There a Brain Drain?

As much as I love Boston, SF is not the only other city in the world, and both cities are extremely atypical. The graduates are likely leaving for a place where they can get a $49,500 salary and a $700 apartment.

EDIT: and your percentages are wrong: try 48% of gross for BOS and 60% of gross for SF. Figure 40% for taxes and you have either very little for food, insurance, medical care, transportation, clothing, entertainment or you're already negative. Oh, and I forgot: STUDENT LOANS.

kourt | 11 years ago | on: How Standing Desks Can Help Students Focus in the Classroom

Common cinder blocks / gray blocks measure 16" x 8" x 8" and cost about $1.30. I stack two in order to get 16" of lift and place a stack under each corner of a traditional flat desk. I actually have two desks, one for keyboards and another for monitors, so I needed 8 stacks, but you get the idea. It provides a huge, stable flat work surface for $10.40 per desk.

If you are shorter, half-height blocks are available to get to 12" of lift, or if your are even shorter, just use one layer and get 8".

I also bought a 29" wooden bar stool at Wal-Mart for $20 to take brief breaks for standing.

kourt | 11 years ago | on: Drone-based businesses soar in Canada, as FAA grounds US entrepreneurs

It's very typical to more strictly regulate commercial use of the sky than non-commercial. For human aviators, the progression in licenses is Private Pilot (cannot even charge passengers more than their pro-rata share of expenses), Commercial Pilot (can get paid for banner towing, crop dusting, and aerial photography), and Airline Transport Pilot. Aircraft themselves are subject to increasing regulatory burdens regarding maintenance intervals and documentation depending on whether they are for private use (Part 91), Part 135 (charter), or Part 121 (airline).

In broadcasting, amateur radio operators ("hams") are allowed to use the airwaves much more easily than commercial broadcasters.

Perhaps this principle does not translate perfectly to drone operations, but the general goal seems to be to protect both individual liberty and consumers of for-profit service providers.

(Note that contrary to political rhetoric "government regulation hurts business", the viability of the airline industry depends on safety standards: the market has to be larger than "hardcore daredevils" to justify a fleet of 737's.)

kourt | 11 years ago | on: Ask HN: Why can't programmers get along with business type people?

One source of conflict is that many "business type" tasks/projects can be fairly easily time-scoped: "a report about opportunities for our product in Poland" can be a 5 minute comparison of populations, or a multi-year PhD dissertation.

Technical work often has a more rigid "minimum viable solution": a civil engineer can't just give up on a bridge halfway over a river, nor can he say "I just skipped the wind loading calculations and hope the school buses don't run on windy days." Some types of software (especially embedded e.g., aerospace and automotive) have similar concerns about safety and warranty.

kourt | 11 years ago | on: DIY diagnosis: How an extreme athlete uncovered her genetic flaw

I found their finances interesting. They seem to have made a very good living (including covering expensive medical conditions such as a pacemaker and travel from California to Mayo for treatment) by remodeling and reselling houses on a very part-time basis for over 30 years.
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