Somewhat ironic choice of city; Ubisoft Toronto was the developer for Watch Dogs 2, a pretty fun game which explores the implications of ubiquitous "smart city" tech under the ownership of monolithic organizations.
Unlike the very broad claim that "[x] has always existed", it's extremely easy to look up information about my very specific claims. I'll get you started:
"Private property and some form of capitalism has always existed whenever not outlawed by whoever was in power."
Uhh, big fat "citation needed" there. At the very least, you must acknowledge that *ubiquitous* private property is extremely young in terms of the span of human existence. For example, "enclosure", the practice of using state coercion to covert formerly communal agricultural land into private plots for private exploitation began in England and other parts of Europe only as recently as the 16th century. These policies were combined with new laws against vagrancy, essentially forcing the previous inhabitants into towns where they had no choice but to take up a wage job and become a tenant under a landlord to survive.
Furthermore, the vast majority of human history, talking hundreds of thousands of years, is one of nomads and hunter-gatherer communities which lived without private property.
You've made a bare assertion here, and it turns out it's completely untethered from history.
Parents should stop their children from watching inappropriate content, no matter what their sexual orientation.
Yeah, because The Late Show is known for throwing the word "cockholster" around all the time.
And then, of course, there's the fact that those kids are probably better equipped than most to understand the difference between Colbert's remark and a genuinely anti-gay one.
This is a naked assertion. And you're putting a lot on the shoulders of kids who may be literally hiding in plain sight who they are out of a legitimate fear that they might face severe abuse if they are found out.
If you think it wouldn't have been allowed in any other "configuration of the sexes", you should check out some of the signs and buttons that were sold at Trump's campaign events...and worn in front of kids.
Trump's campaign events brought out a lot of horrible shit. If that's where you set the bar for The Late Show I don't really know what to tell you.
I was skeptical about the criticism as well. And then someone pointed out to me that there are gay kids going to school the next day, some of whom may not be out and may be struggling with the social stigma, and no doubt kids will be talking about Colbert's joke from the previous night. And then I was like, yeah, that joke was probably irresponsible. It's also not a joke that I think would be allowed to fly in any other configuration of sexes.
Well there was the guy who made a mint developing fake software that supposedly detected secret terrorist messages encoded in Al Jazeera broadcasts. Then again he got caught and I think he got prison time. In this country, we get rich by exploiting labor, not by ripping off the feds.
Cool nightmare dystopia capitalism is creating for us all. Insatiable desire for infinite growth combined with a competitive business environment and a disregard for the well-being of the workers in the trenches all but guarantees this kind of shit will become more and more common unless it is fiercely resisted in perpetuity. That or we need to radically reimagine how society functions.
Can we get some attention on Shesha Lounge, a local hookah bar here in Wichita which forces its staff to clock out before they begin closing/cleaning the store and then requires them to stay for a mandatory and unpaid staff meeting that sometimes goes on for hours? In general, I've seen that illegal labor practices abound in the service industry, it's almost expected.
Having lived in both San Francisco and now back in my hometown of Wichita, KS, I always enjoy when I can talk about both places within the same topic.
As far as urban decay, guess where you'll find it? You'll find it in urban areas 100% of the time, per the very definition of "urban decay". To claim that local phenomenon are a direct result of local political leanings is to play very fast and loose with cause and effect. I can think of ten other hypotheses off the top of my head about the cause of urban decay, many of which don't factor politics in at all, and some of which actually involve inverting the cause-and-effect relationship of your own hypothesis that liberal politics cause it (maybe urban decay causes liberal politics?). To put it generously, it's utterly obtuse to say, "urban environments often include blighted environments, urban environments often have liberal-leaning voters, thus liberal politics cause urban decay, case closed."
I should also mention that these same urban areas do not consist completely of blighted, impoverished neighborhoods. Every city has it's good parts and its bad parts. But I'm sure the devoted partisan will find some way to assign a city's bad aspects to whichever wing of politics they don't like while simultaneously claiming that the good parts are actually somehow proof of the correctness of their preferred politics.
So on to Kansas. Right now in Kansas, yes the cost of living is very low, but the lower average income from what I see does not at all work out to the advantage of most people. The only people who can really take advantage of the low cost of living are the few people here such as myself who can work remotely and thus take advantage of the sorts of incomes offered by industries which don't even tend to locate here. Here in Wichita alone, in the midst of Governor Brownback's conservative libertarian "business friendly" policies in full swing, Boeing just up and packed its bags and left the state entirely, leaving huge swaths of longtime residents suddenly jobless. Where did those jobs go? Many places, including the supposedly anti-business liberal hellhole of Seattle. So it seems your simplistic reasoning falls apart at the slightest examination.
Kansas is a fairly deep red state, and right now Governor Brownback has a lower approval rating here than President Obama. That takes a lot of fucking up to achieve. Even my grandma and my great aunt are posting to Facebook with calls for his resignation at this point, and they both tend to espouse strong conservatism both socially and economically.
Contracting isn't for everyone, but I've found that, at least for me, the trade-offs work out well in my favor. And as far as remote work goes, simple tools like Slack and Google Hangouts go a long ways to bridge the physical presence gap.
We have a river for canoeing and kayaking, and I was able to afford a house a short walk away from said river. As for mountains, I do like to ski, and some of the finest ski resorts in the nation are a reasonable drive away in Colorado, a drive plenty short enough for how many times I actually go skiing in a year. I went to K-12 here in Kansas, and I can assure you that, at least at the schools I attended, neither Creationism nor intelligent design were ever brought up in class by any of my teachers, although we certainly did cover the Scopes Trial more than once as part of American history.
Yes, we are a red state, yes our current Governor is an ass along with both our Senators. But my feeling is that you've never actually been to Kansas and what you "know" about it comes from the media. Either way, it smells like shit coming out of your mouth.
If you get to management or are truly in the top 10-20% of engineers it is worth living out here.
I did take a pay cut coming back to Wichita, but it certainly wasn't half, and the difference in living expenses more than makes up for the difference by a huge stretch. As far as "management" or "top 10-20% of engineers", I resent the implication. Before I went back to contracting, I was a co-founder and CTO. When I returned to contracting, I did so earning among the top rates in my field. Ultimately, the Bay Area was still not worth it for me. It might still be worth it for you, but I'd say it's a little arrogant to chalk it up purely to differences in professional attainment or skill. I'd say it's far more likely that we're working with different sets of trade-offs.
This. I migrated from Wichita to the Bay Area in 2008 and lived there until last summer when I moved back. I had already been an independent contractor for 3 years before the move, so finding work was only slightly more difficult after the move. The advantages are clear:
1. For less than half the monthly price of my rent controlled 1-bedroom apartment in SF, I now own a 3-bedroom house with a yard and everything. 2. There aren't really any jobs in Wichita for me, so all my work is remote. I hate commuting. While in SF, I could sometimes find gigs which allowed some remote work, but most expected you to commute to the office if you were in the area. 3. The lower cost of living means I can be more selective about what work I take on. I have more free time to spend with my girlfriend and on hobbies, not to mention the space. I've taken up woodworking since I moved back, and it's easily one of the most pleasurable activities I've ever taken up.
I miss SF sometimes, but the trade-offs are quite clear. And now that I'm not throwing away so much of my earnings on living expenses, I can afford to visit SF if I want, not to mention other possible destinations.
One last thing: a good friend of mine back in SF, also in the tech industry, recently purchased a school bus which he will be living in, rather than finding a new apartment. In part I think it's kind of cool in a radical, fuck the norm sort of way. But on the other hand, it really shows the heights of ever escalating absurdity the Bay Area has reached in terms of housing.
San Francisco resident here, trying my best to get the word out about Feinstein's position on the NSA's illegal domestic spying activities. The vast majority of people I talk to here are very much against it.
Yep. I still have friends who play that system almost on the daily. It's mainly a Goldeneye 007 and Mario Kart 64 machine for them, but the tournaments they hold are as intense as ever.
Slashdot Mirror
Somewhat ironic choice of city; Ubisoft Toronto was the developer for Watch Dogs 2, a pretty fun game which explores the implications of ubiquitous "smart city" tech under the ownership of monolithic organizations.
Unlike the very broad claim that "[x] has always existed", it's extremely easy to look up information about my very specific claims. I'll get you started:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
"Private property and some form of capitalism has always existed whenever not outlawed by whoever was in power."
Uhh, big fat "citation needed" there. At the very least, you must acknowledge that *ubiquitous* private property is extremely young in terms of the span of human existence. For example, "enclosure", the practice of using state coercion to covert formerly communal agricultural land into private plots for private exploitation began in England and other parts of Europe only as recently as the 16th century. These policies were combined with new laws against vagrancy, essentially forcing the previous inhabitants into towns where they had no choice but to take up a wage job and become a tenant under a landlord to survive.
Furthermore, the vast majority of human history, talking hundreds of thousands of years, is one of nomads and hunter-gatherer communities which lived without private property.
You've made a bare assertion here, and it turns out it's completely untethered from history.
Parents should stop their children from watching inappropriate content, no matter what their sexual orientation.
Yeah, because The Late Show is known for throwing the word "cockholster" around all the time.
And then, of course, there's the fact that those kids are probably better equipped than most to understand the difference between Colbert's remark and a genuinely anti-gay one.
This is a naked assertion. And you're putting a lot on the shoulders of kids who may be literally hiding in plain sight who they are out of a legitimate fear that they might face severe abuse if they are found out.
If you think it wouldn't have been allowed in any other "configuration of the sexes", you should check out some of the signs and buttons that were sold at Trump's campaign events...and worn in front of kids.
Trump's campaign events brought out a lot of horrible shit. If that's where you set the bar for The Late Show I don't really know what to tell you.
I was skeptical about the criticism as well. And then someone pointed out to me that there are gay kids going to school the next day, some of whom may not be out and may be struggling with the social stigma, and no doubt kids will be talking about Colbert's joke from the previous night. And then I was like, yeah, that joke was probably irresponsible. It's also not a joke that I think would be allowed to fly in any other configuration of sexes.
I preordered mine and played the new Zelda from day one. No regrets, haven't seen the sun since, never been happier.
Well there was the guy who made a mint developing fake software that supposedly detected secret terrorist messages encoded in Al Jazeera broadcasts. Then again he got caught and I think he got prison time. In this country, we get rich by exploiting labor, not by ripping off the feds.
Infringing the copyrights on works created by mere individuals doesn't matter; copyright only protects massively profitable corporations, you see.
Cool nightmare dystopia capitalism is creating for us all. Insatiable desire for infinite growth combined with a competitive business environment and a disregard for the well-being of the workers in the trenches all but guarantees this kind of shit will become more and more common unless it is fiercely resisted in perpetuity. That or we need to radically reimagine how society functions.
Can we get some attention on Shesha Lounge, a local hookah bar here in Wichita which forces its staff to clock out before they begin closing/cleaning the store and then requires them to stay for a mandatory and unpaid staff meeting that sometimes goes on for hours? In general, I've seen that illegal labor practices abound in the service industry, it's almost expected.
Since when has a trivial concern like cost ever stopped us from going to war if we wanted to?
Having lived in both San Francisco and now back in my hometown of Wichita, KS, I always enjoy when I can talk about both places within the same topic.
As far as urban decay, guess where you'll find it? You'll find it in urban areas 100% of the time, per the very definition of "urban decay". To claim that local phenomenon are a direct result of local political leanings is to play very fast and loose with cause and effect. I can think of ten other hypotheses off the top of my head about the cause of urban decay, many of which don't factor politics in at all, and some of which actually involve inverting the cause-and-effect relationship of your own hypothesis that liberal politics cause it (maybe urban decay causes liberal politics?). To put it generously, it's utterly obtuse to say, "urban environments often include blighted environments, urban environments often have liberal-leaning voters, thus liberal politics cause urban decay, case closed."
I should also mention that these same urban areas do not consist completely of blighted, impoverished neighborhoods. Every city has it's good parts and its bad parts. But I'm sure the devoted partisan will find some way to assign a city's bad aspects to whichever wing of politics they don't like while simultaneously claiming that the good parts are actually somehow proof of the correctness of their preferred politics.
So on to Kansas. Right now in Kansas, yes the cost of living is very low, but the lower average income from what I see does not at all work out to the advantage of most people. The only people who can really take advantage of the low cost of living are the few people here such as myself who can work remotely and thus take advantage of the sorts of incomes offered by industries which don't even tend to locate here. Here in Wichita alone, in the midst of Governor Brownback's conservative libertarian "business friendly" policies in full swing, Boeing just up and packed its bags and left the state entirely, leaving huge swaths of longtime residents suddenly jobless. Where did those jobs go? Many places, including the supposedly anti-business liberal hellhole of Seattle. So it seems your simplistic reasoning falls apart at the slightest examination.
Kansas is a fairly deep red state, and right now Governor Brownback has a lower approval rating here than President Obama. That takes a lot of fucking up to achieve. Even my grandma and my great aunt are posting to Facebook with calls for his resignation at this point, and they both tend to espouse strong conservatism both socially and economically.
Because, you know, it's not as if they couldn't just use one-time pads to transmit in the clear over Twitter
Am I doing it right? https://twitter.com/1timepadhe...
...of how out of touch the elite billionaire class is with the average American. Batman ought to be ashamed.
...of how out of touch the billionaire class is with the average American. Bruce Wayne should be ashamed.
Sounds like you're living the dream! :)
Contracting isn't for everyone, but I've found that, at least for me, the trade-offs work out well in my favor. And as far as remote work goes, simple tools like Slack and Google Hangouts go a long ways to bridge the physical presence gap.
We have a river for canoeing and kayaking, and I was able to afford a house a short walk away from said river. As for mountains, I do like to ski, and some of the finest ski resorts in the nation are a reasonable drive away in Colorado, a drive plenty short enough for how many times I actually go skiing in a year. I went to K-12 here in Kansas, and I can assure you that, at least at the schools I attended, neither Creationism nor intelligent design were ever brought up in class by any of my teachers, although we certainly did cover the Scopes Trial more than once as part of American history.
Yes, we are a red state, yes our current Governor is an ass along with both our Senators. But my feeling is that you've never actually been to Kansas and what you "know" about it comes from the media. Either way, it smells like shit coming out of your mouth.
If you get to management or are truly in the top 10-20% of engineers it is worth living out here.
I did take a pay cut coming back to Wichita, but it certainly wasn't half, and the difference in living expenses more than makes up for the difference by a huge stretch. As far as "management" or "top 10-20% of engineers", I resent the implication. Before I went back to contracting, I was a co-founder and CTO. When I returned to contracting, I did so earning among the top rates in my field. Ultimately, the Bay Area was still not worth it for me. It might still be worth it for you, but I'd say it's a little arrogant to chalk it up purely to differences in professional attainment or skill. I'd say it's far more likely that we're working with different sets of trade-offs.
This. I migrated from Wichita to the Bay Area in 2008 and lived there until last summer when I moved back. I had already been an independent contractor for 3 years before the move, so finding work was only slightly more difficult after the move. The advantages are clear:
1. For less than half the monthly price of my rent controlled 1-bedroom apartment in SF, I now own a 3-bedroom house with a yard and everything.
2. There aren't really any jobs in Wichita for me, so all my work is remote. I hate commuting. While in SF, I could sometimes find gigs which allowed some remote work, but most expected you to commute to the office if you were in the area.
3. The lower cost of living means I can be more selective about what work I take on. I have more free time to spend with my girlfriend and on hobbies, not to mention the space. I've taken up woodworking since I moved back, and it's easily one of the most pleasurable activities I've ever taken up.
I miss SF sometimes, but the trade-offs are quite clear. And now that I'm not throwing away so much of my earnings on living expenses, I can afford to visit SF if I want, not to mention other possible destinations.
One last thing: a good friend of mine back in SF, also in the tech industry, recently purchased a school bus which he will be living in, rather than finding a new apartment. In part I think it's kind of cool in a radical, fuck the norm sort of way. But on the other hand, it really shows the heights of ever escalating absurdity the Bay Area has reached in terms of housing.
Here's their website, with a contact email address posted conveniently on the front page:
http://entura.co.uk/
They do: https://jobs.github.com/
Listen, if you wanna join Al Qaeda, you have to really hate the Americans.
"I do!"
Oh yeah? How much?
"A lot!"
Right, you're in.
San Francisco resident here, trying my best to get the word out about Feinstein's position on the NSA's illegal domestic spying activities. The vast majority of people I talk to here are very much against it.
Yep. I still have friends who play that system almost on the daily. It's mainly a Goldeneye 007 and Mario Kart 64 machine for them, but the tournaments they hold are as intense as ever.