no_flags's comments

no_flags | 5 years ago | on: New superconductor microprocessor yields a substantial boost in efficiency

Processing power has cheapened exponentially for the last 50 years (Moore's law). I am skeptical that a continuation of this trend will drive a fall in wages.

In my own experience performance optimization is an important but infrequent part of my job. There are other skills an elite programmer brings to the table like the ability to build a mental model of a complex system and reason about it. If downward pressure on wages occurs I think it will be for another reason.

no_flags | 5 years ago | on: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education

Anecdotally, I think its worse in the public sector. I know several public school teachers who have gotten graduate degrees for the sole purpose of getting a raise. Its not like a private company where you can get a bigger raise by impressing your boss.

Most school districts have what’s known as a “step and lane” salary schedule for teachers. These grids specify how much raises are worth. Teachers earn a “step” increase for each additional year of experience, with many teachers peaking with the highest “step” at around age 55.

Teachers can also earn more by having more education (those are the “lane” increases). Some districts pay teachers holding a master’s or doctoral degree a premium, while others move teachers into a higher pay column when they earn a certain number of credit hours of professional development.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/teacher-pay/index.html

no_flags | 6 years ago | on: What DoorDash pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips

I don't think using the IRS mileage number is an accurate way to calculate costs of operating a vehicle for a couple reasons.

Consider this report from AAA: https://exchange.aaa.com/automotive/driving-costs/

Notice that the cost per mile actually goes down the more miles you drive! You have to drive 20,000 miles to get down the ballpark of the IRS number. This indicates that expenses affected by mileage like gas, maintenance, and depreciation are dominated by up front costs like insurance and taxes. Now consider that most door dash drivers already chose to have a car before working for door dash, so they will have to pay the up front costs regardless. For this reason, I don't think $0.58 per mile is a good estimate of the marginal cost associated with extra driving for door dash. The AAA report estimates gas and maintenance costs per mile at $0.17 to $0.23 depending on the type of car.

Second, I don't believe it is right to include depreciation in a household budget because it does not manifest as an additional cost on top of the price of the car. Unless the car is listed as a line item on your household budget, you don't have to account for any additional loss in value. Imagine that you bought a car in cash for $1000 and never drive it. You lose the $1000 immediately. If some years later the car is worth $0, your total cost of ownership is still just $1000, not $2000.

I believe the fact that people still chose to work for door dash is additional evidence that the estimated costs in this article are too high. We may not be perfect rational actors, but most of us can tell if our bank account is going up or down.

None of this excuses the unethical behavior of door dash, and personally I choose not to use them. I believe tips are intended as a gift to the driver, so it is misleading to call it a tip if the driver isn't getting it. That said, I didn't find this analysis convincing for the reasons above.

no_flags | 6 years ago | on: The Cybertruck is not brutalist

Kind of reminds me of this copypasta that has become a meme in the emo music scene:

"Real Emo" only consists of the dc Emotional Hardcore scene and the late 90's Screamo scene. What is known by "Midwest Emo" is nothing but Alternative Rock with questionable real emo influence. When people try to argue that bands like My Chemical Romance are not real emo, while saying that Sunny Day Real Estate is, I can't help not to cringe because they are just as fake emo as My Chemical Romance (plus the pretentiousness). Real emo sounds ENERGETIC, POWERFUL and somewhat HATEFUL. Fake emo is weak, self pity and a failed attempt to direct energy and emotion into music. Some examples of REAL EMO are Pg 99, Rites of Spring, Cap n Jazz (the only real emo band from the midwest scene) and Loma Prieta. Some examples of FAKE EMO are American Football, My Chemical Romance and Mineral EMO BELONGS TO HARDCORE NOT TO INDIE, POP PUNK, ALT ROCK OR ANY OTHER MAINSTREAM GENRE

no_flags | 6 years ago | on: Shopping Sucks Now

Not OP, but I would say no. The corporation is subject to competition. If their curated products suck eventually people will figure it out and they'll go out of business. Do you consider Trader Joe's a planned economy?

no_flags | 6 years ago | on: Simple Software Manifesto

Is that a bad thing though? Modern CPUs seem to be incredibly reliable. I think much of the complexity has to do with the the fact that all the low hanging performance improvements have long since been implemented. To continue to get faster, sometimes the only option is to increase the complexity of the design.

no_flags | 6 years ago | on: Simple Software Manifesto

Perhaps the author meant something like: "There is only one correct way [for a user] to do something [with your software]"?

That would kind of make more sense with the follow up remark that two ways is more complex.

Otherwise I completely agree, every non-trivial design will involve tradeoffs.

no_flags | 6 years ago | on: What College Admissions Want

I didn't understand this comment:

"The pool of affluent 18-year-old Americans was shrinking, especially in the Northeast, and the ones who remained had come to understand that they had significant bargaining power when it came to negotiating tuition discounts with the colleges that wanted to admit them."

Are negotiated tuition discounts a thing? I've never heard of that.

no_flags | 7 years ago | on: Thousands of scientists run up against Elsevier’s paywall

I guess the Library of Congress is the closest thing. They are open to the public and have a huge collection but it's not everything ever published in the US. I'm not sure if you can walk in and request to see a medical journal.

I wish municipal public libraries would provide access to scientific journals.

no_flags | 8 years ago | on: No One Wants Used Clothes Anymore

Good luck finding any men's clothing if you wear size small or even medium. It seems to be 99% L and XL. Same holds true even for stores like TJ Maxx.

no_flags | 8 years ago | on: Study suggests sugar alternative contributing to C. diff epidemic

Absolutely. We don't even know what the right regulations would be. Trans fat is a prime example. The FDA classified it as safe for years and then had to do a 180 on their position.

Anyone interested in the decline of our modern diet should check out Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, by Weston Price. He was a prominent dentist in the 30s that visited remote populations around the world, documenting their traditional diets and the health effects when switching to a "modern" diet. Available for free on Project Gutenberg http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html

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