Do you stupid fucks seriously think I want to work like this with no insurance and dental and being afraid of starving?
You apparently are not aware that it is possible to obtain insurance and dental without getting it from an employer? Well, it is a relatively new thing that started in only the 1920s.
In fact, I have had insurance outside of my employer (several different employers in fact) for about 20 years now. Although the employers like to make you think you are stuck with them and their insurance is cheaper, in fact that has never been the case. Why would anyone even think that buying insurance from the company store would be cheaper than buying it from hundreds of companies that are competing for your business? I have always maintained outside insurance for my family because it was cheaper than the family plan offered at my employer. Occasionally it was cheaper to insure myself with the company because the company would cover part of it. At other times, where the company listed health insurance as a benefit, it was in fact you, the employee, who paid 100% of it, so how is that a benefit, especially when it is available cheaper outside of the company?
You automatically rank in the highest tax category as a freelancer. Of every buck you make, 60 cents go to the state.
You are automatically in whatever income bracket your income qualifies you for, just like anybody else.
You have to keep your own pension in mind, and let us face it, most programmers are not that good at selling themselves. While exceptions are there, once you start as a freelancer, you might start to appreciate those pesky sales droids a lot more.
Pension? BWAHAHAHA. Oh, thank goodness the company has my back. Yeah, right! These days, when you work at a company, you ARE an independent contractor. There is no pension. There is no retirement unless you are paying into it yourself (and they might match you for a few percent). As soon as they can find somebody that they think can do your job for a nickel cheaper, you are out the door. There is no loyalty from the company, but if you aren't loyal to the company and not willing to work 12 to 16 hour days every day, then you are "unprofessional". If you don't give two weeks notice, you are "unprofessional". But they can walk you out the door at a moment's notice, and that is supposed to be okay.
Of course not. Nobody is fleeing from climate. They're just fleeing from the flood and their islands going under.
Fleeing from a climate, how silly a concept.
At the present rate, their island will go under in about 500 years, so they can probably take their time fleeing. But that is okay because they have been "fleeing AGW" for decades before anyone even knew that there was AGW going on. In fact, they started fleeing back when the coming ice age was the current scary disaster.
They are retroactive AGW refugees. They actually moved for different reasons, but it is one that doesn't politicize as well as AGW and bring in those precious, precious ad dollars.
Why someone works overtome when he is not payed for it, is beyond me.
Do you live in a dictatorship with corrupt courts, that you can not sue for your payment?
Working 12h for an extended time is illegal in most countries.
Welcome to America. If you are not working 12 hours a day, there is someone else with no family fresh out of college who doesn't know any better (and also has no work experience, but they are willing to overlook that) who will happily work 12 hours a day for less than you are getting.
So if a friend offers to drive you to the airport to catch your plane, and you pay for gas, that friend needs to get commercial insurance?
No. But then that is not what Uber does. If it did, then we wouldn't need Uber as a company to oversee. However, they are taking a cut, which makes it a commercial venture.
No. I don't think zero cents is feasible. I think if someone is grossing less than $2k/year, regular auto-insurance should cover it.
It only covers it if he only drives friends. And only then if the friends are close enough not to sue him if he has an accident.
Believe it or not, Indian owned companies will hire Americans. I've worked for several small contracting firms that were owned by Indians in the DC metro area. Have you ever tried looking for a job at an Indian owned firm? Or would your racism not allow for such a thing?
I get called by them all the time, but when they ask my visa status and I don't have one because I am a citizen, then they lose interest.
They didn't even HAVE the internet when I learned to program. The internet is not a requirement to learn. It is often the opposite, a crutch to use when you don't want to learn.
You merely contract to an overseas resource. The Indian company sells their services to mega-corp US, and use you as part of a pool of developers. Don't expect a decent income, though. Most globals are doing this already. They buy coding resources from India, get the source back, bang it into shape. It's far cheaper to get 90% for not a lot, and fix the bugs. The banking/c-card industry got in their first. Manufacturing and retail will be next.
The Indian companies won't hire Americans. They only believe in Globalism when it benefits them.
From all I've heard about Uber, I think they are more employees than not. But I think a compromise is in order. How about if the drivers gross less than $2000/year, it's more "hobby-based" than "commercial-based"?
I'm fine with that as long as they pay their taxes and maintain commercial insurance. If you are going to carry someone for hire for anything more than zero cents, then you have to have commercial insurance.
First they would need a business permit in order to be contractors.
All states that I am aware of, including Washington, allow sole proprietorship businesses to operate under an individual's SSN.
They can not be supervised by Uber in any way
They HAVE to be supervised in some way, as they have to meet the goal agreed to, which is to get a person from point A to point B. The method that they choose to do that, must be completely up to the contractor (which, of course, it isn't).
And they would need a written contract that offers them benefits roughly equal to any benefits Uber gets by offering the contract.
I have never in my life ever heard such a requirement. If they offered that, then the person would be an employee.
The IRS does (and should not) define who is and is not a contractor, but the above are not part of the definition. The Department of Labor also defines who is and is not an Independent Contractor, and what the DoL says is not always in agreement with what the IRS says.
Neither entity should be able to establish who is an Independent Contractor. If a person wishes to be an Independent Contractor and a company wishes to be in a contracting relationship with such person, then there should be no reason why they should not be able to form and maintain that relationship.
Someone can be an IC without a business permit--that just means they're operating a business illegally.
You can operate as a sole proprietorship under your own SSN without any kind of license. You still have to withhold FICA on your earnings. It is far more likely that someone will operate illegally as a sole proprietorship, but it is not a given.
About half of those don't exist. Why should I thank unions for an 8 hour work day when I work 12 or more? Why should I thank them for overtime pay when i don't get overtime pay? Same for FMLA, Pregnancy and Parental Leave, right to Strike, Compensation Increases and Evaluations, Age Discrimination Act, Wrongful Termination Laws, Collective Bargaining, Sick Leave, 40 Hour Work week, Pensions, Privacy Rights. None of those apply to me nor to most other Americans.
Then there are the things you mention which do apply, but shouldn't:
Social Security. If you took the amount that you and your company pay into social security and put it into an S&P 500 tracking fund, you would be a multimillionaire when you retire. Instead, you will get maybe $1,500 a month for perhaps 12 years. Social Security actually pays a NEGATIVE interest rate, if you do the calculations.
Employer Dental, Life, Vision and Health insurance. Extremely rare that an employer pays for your family. Somewhat more common that the employer pays for the employees insurance. Most common is that they claim to "offer" this, but you as the employee actually pay for it. In my experience, it is always cheaper to buy a third party independent plan than to participate in the employers insurance, unless they are subsidizing you. It is cheaper to let them pay for you and get a third party plan for your family. If they offer you healthcare credits, it is better to take that as salary and put your whole family on a third party plan.
My mouse is USB. I have a rarely used video camera that is USB. I have a couple of thumb drives and a backup drive that are USB. I have some phone chargers that are USB. Printer is on the network, speakers are 1/8" stereo plug, monitor is Display Port, keyboard is PS/2.
I looked at an alienware once, and the components they were using were about 2 standard deviations away from top of the line, whereas the best price point is about one standard deviation from top of the line. Even at that alienware with lower performance was much more expensive than the build I ended up doing. I built my PC about 4 years ago and it still exceeds my gaming needs. Don't see needing to build a replacement one for at least another 4 or 5 years.
Having a preset price is not how taxi regulations work. The regulations are based on distance. However, that was not the point. The point was that cabs taking credit cards is more advanced because cabs don't know the charge until the end of the trip. So they have to have technology in the cab to charge a credit card. Uber does not have to have equipment in the cab because they charge the card at the home base.
Well, that's easy to fix - Include the 5% fee in the credit card transaction, but not in any cash transaction.
That is a violation of the CC company rules. If you charge extra for CCs, then they will revoke your merchant card account. There are a few exceptions for this rule, such as gas stations, which are allowed to charge a fee. But I doubt if they will allow it for taxis.
An easier fix is to say you don't have any cash, but if they are willing to drive you to an ATM with the meter off, you can pay them. Suddenly the CC swiper will work.
If you make the extra charge a separate line item, the CC processors generally allow it.
Okay, this is starting to get a bit ridiculous. Can we please stop with all the articles vaguely related to Uber that have zero tech interest.
This is a site for techies, not taxi enthusiasts.
I actually think this is one of the better ones with a tech interest.
I'm not a fan of Uber and their flagrant lawbreaking, but one of the arguments in favour of them is that the taxi industry was broken, and I think this is a good example of that.
London cabs don't accept credit cards?!?! I don't see how you can look at that fact and imagine it is anything resembling a healthy market. I still don't like Uber but this really does show how tech can be disruptive in a positive way.
Taking a credit card in the cab is a lot more difficult technologically then dinking a credit card already on file via an app. By innovating like this, the cab industry is far ahead of Uber.
I find dealerships very annoying because they don't want to sell you the car you want, they want to sell you one of the cars they have on the lot that day! Apparently their goal with every customer is to have them buy something the same day, not come back later to pick up the actual vehicle they wanted. Why can't I order a vehicle with everything I want from the manufacturer, and go pick it up at the plant or port of entry myself, saving the $800 in "destination fees"?
Well, duh, they are paying insurance and interest on those vehicles, as well as maintaining them, washing them, letting you drive them which lowers the value. Further, there are incentives from the factory for moving already built merchandise, rather than special order merchandise. Can you honestly say that being in the same circumstance you would not at least TRY to sell the ones on the lot first?
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Do you stupid fucks seriously think I want to work like this with no insurance and dental and being afraid of starving?
You apparently are not aware that it is possible to obtain insurance and dental without getting it from an employer? Well, it is a relatively new thing that started in only the 1920s.
In fact, I have had insurance outside of my employer (several different employers in fact) for about 20 years now. Although the employers like to make you think you are stuck with them and their insurance is cheaper, in fact that has never been the case. Why would anyone even think that buying insurance from the company store would be cheaper than buying it from hundreds of companies that are competing for your business? I have always maintained outside insurance for my family because it was cheaper than the family plan offered at my employer. Occasionally it was cheaper to insure myself with the company because the company would cover part of it. At other times, where the company listed health insurance as a benefit, it was in fact you, the employee, who paid 100% of it, so how is that a benefit, especially when it is available cheaper outside of the company?
You automatically rank in the highest tax category as a freelancer. Of every buck you make, 60 cents go to the state.
You are automatically in whatever income bracket your income qualifies you for, just like anybody else.
You have to keep your own pension in mind, and let us face it, most programmers are not that good at selling themselves. While exceptions are there, once you start as a freelancer, you might start to appreciate those pesky sales droids a lot more.
Pension? BWAHAHAHA. Oh, thank goodness the company has my back. Yeah, right! These days, when you work at a company, you ARE an independent contractor. There is no pension. There is no retirement unless you are paying into it yourself (and they might match you for a few percent). As soon as they can find somebody that they think can do your job for a nickel cheaper, you are out the door. There is no loyalty from the company, but if you aren't loyal to the company and not willing to work 12 to 16 hour days every day, then you are "unprofessional". If you don't give two weeks notice, you are "unprofessional". But they can walk you out the door at a moment's notice, and that is supposed to be okay.
Of course not. Nobody is fleeing from climate. They're just fleeing from the flood and their islands going under.
Fleeing from a climate, how silly a concept.
At the present rate, their island will go under in about 500 years, so they can probably take their time fleeing. But that is okay because they have been "fleeing AGW" for decades before anyone even knew that there was AGW going on. In fact, they started fleeing back when the coming ice age was the current scary disaster.
They are retroactive AGW refugees. They actually moved for different reasons, but it is one that doesn't politicize as well as AGW and bring in those precious, precious ad dollars.
Why someone works overtome when he is not payed for it, is beyond me. Do you live in a dictatorship with corrupt courts, that you can not sue for your payment?
Working 12h for an extended time is illegal in most countries.
Welcome to America. If you are not working 12 hours a day, there is someone else with no family fresh out of college who doesn't know any better (and also has no work experience, but they are willing to overlook that) who will happily work 12 hours a day for less than you are getting.
So if a friend offers to drive you to the airport to catch your plane, and you pay for gas, that friend needs to get commercial insurance?
No. But then that is not what Uber does. If it did, then we wouldn't need Uber as a company to oversee. However, they are taking a cut, which makes it a commercial venture.
No. I don't think zero cents is feasible. I think if someone is grossing less than $2k/year, regular auto-insurance should cover it.
It only covers it if he only drives friends. And only then if the friends are close enough not to sue him if he has an accident.
Believe it or not, Indian owned companies will hire Americans. I've worked for several small contracting firms that were owned by Indians in the DC metro area. Have you ever tried looking for a job at an Indian owned firm? Or would your racism not allow for such a thing?
I get called by them all the time, but when they ask my visa status and I don't have one because I am a citizen, then they lose interest.
They didn't even HAVE the internet when I learned to program. The internet is not a requirement to learn. It is often the opposite, a crutch to use when you don't want to learn.
You merely contract to an overseas resource. The Indian company sells their services to mega-corp US, and use you as part of a pool of developers. Don't expect a decent income, though. Most globals are doing this already. They buy coding resources from India, get the source back, bang it into shape. It's far cheaper to get 90% for not a lot, and fix the bugs. The banking/c-card industry got in their first. Manufacturing and retail will be next.
The Indian companies won't hire Americans. They only believe in Globalism when it benefits them.
Why single out VW when every single auto manufacturer does it? Do they just change scapegoats every year like the NCAA does?
Reading some of the horribly misinformed comments about unions here leads me to believe that the anti-union propaganda's still working.
Substitute anti with pro and the statement remains valid.
From all I've heard about Uber, I think they are more employees than not. But I think a compromise is in order. How about if the drivers gross less than $2000/year, it's more "hobby-based" than "commercial-based"?
I'm fine with that as long as they pay their taxes and maintain commercial insurance. If you are going to carry someone for hire for anything more than zero cents, then you have to have commercial insurance.
First they would need a business permit in order to be contractors.
All states that I am aware of, including Washington, allow sole proprietorship businesses to operate under an individual's SSN.
They can not be supervised by Uber in any way
They HAVE to be supervised in some way, as they have to meet the goal agreed to, which is to get a person from point A to point B. The method that they choose to do that, must be completely up to the contractor (which, of course, it isn't).
And they would need a written contract that offers them benefits roughly equal to any benefits Uber gets by offering the contract.
I have never in my life ever heard such a requirement. If they offered that, then the person would be an employee.
The IRS does (and should not) define who is and is not a contractor, but the above are not part of the definition. The Department of Labor also defines who is and is not an Independent Contractor, and what the DoL says is not always in agreement with what the IRS says.
Neither entity should be able to establish who is an Independent Contractor. If a person wishes to be an Independent Contractor and a company wishes to be in a contracting relationship with such person, then there should be no reason why they should not be able to form and maintain that relationship.
Someone can be an IC without a business permit--that just means they're operating a business illegally.
You can operate as a sole proprietorship under your own SSN without any kind of license. You still have to withhold FICA on your earnings. It is far more likely that someone will operate illegally as a sole proprietorship, but it is not a given.
About half of those don't exist. Why should I thank unions for an 8 hour work day when I work 12 or more? Why should I thank them for overtime pay when i don't get overtime pay? Same for FMLA, Pregnancy and Parental Leave, right to Strike, Compensation Increases and Evaluations, Age Discrimination Act, Wrongful Termination Laws, Collective Bargaining, Sick Leave, 40 Hour Work week, Pensions, Privacy Rights. None of those apply to me nor to most other Americans.
Then there are the things you mention which do apply, but shouldn't:
Social Security. If you took the amount that you and your company pay into social security and put it into an S&P 500 tracking fund, you would be a multimillionaire when you retire. Instead, you will get maybe $1,500 a month for perhaps 12 years. Social Security actually pays a NEGATIVE interest rate, if you do the calculations.
Employer Dental, Life, Vision and Health insurance. Extremely rare that an employer pays for your family. Somewhat more common that the employer pays for the employees insurance. Most common is that they claim to "offer" this, but you as the employee actually pay for it. In my experience, it is always cheaper to buy a third party independent plan than to participate in the employers insurance, unless they are subsidizing you. It is cheaper to let them pay for you and get a third party plan for your family. If they offer you healthcare credits, it is better to take that as salary and put your whole family on a third party plan.
My mouse is USB. I have a rarely used video camera that is USB. I have a couple of thumb drives and a backup drive that are USB. I have some phone chargers that are USB. Printer is on the network, speakers are 1/8" stereo plug, monitor is Display Port, keyboard is PS/2.
Just don't IoT. The anti-Nike slogan seems more appropriate in this case.
I built my PC about 4 years ago and it still exceeds my gaming needs.
Yes but does it look like an alien?
Thankfully, no. It looks like a PC. So chalk up another win for homebuilt.
I looked at an alienware once, and the components they were using were about 2 standard deviations away from top of the line, whereas the best price point is about one standard deviation from top of the line. Even at that alienware with lower performance was much more expensive than the build I ended up doing. I built my PC about 4 years ago and it still exceeds my gaming needs. Don't see needing to build a replacement one for at least another 4 or 5 years.
Are you really going to compare a farmer's market to protesters?
Right, and that's a problem why?
Having a pre-set price is *better*.
Having a preset price is not how taxi regulations work. The regulations are based on distance. However, that was not the point. The point was that cabs taking credit cards is more advanced because cabs don't know the charge until the end of the trip. So they have to have technology in the cab to charge a credit card. Uber does not have to have equipment in the cab because they charge the card at the home base.
Uber doesn't take credit cars in the cab. The price is already arranged at the time you book it.
Well, that's easy to fix - Include the 5% fee in the credit card transaction, but not in any cash transaction.
That is a violation of the CC company rules. If you charge extra for CCs, then they will revoke your merchant card account. There are a few exceptions for this rule, such as gas stations, which are allowed to charge a fee. But I doubt if they will allow it for taxis.
An easier fix is to say you don't have any cash, but if they are willing to drive you to an ATM with the meter off, you can pay them. Suddenly the CC swiper will work.
If you make the extra charge a separate line item, the CC processors generally allow it.
Okay, this is starting to get a bit ridiculous. Can we please stop with all the articles vaguely related to Uber that have zero tech interest.
This is a site for techies, not taxi enthusiasts.
I actually think this is one of the better ones with a tech interest.
I'm not a fan of Uber and their flagrant lawbreaking, but one of the arguments in favour of them is that the taxi industry was broken, and I think this is a good example of that.
London cabs don't accept credit cards?!?! I don't see how you can look at that fact and imagine it is anything resembling a healthy market. I still don't like Uber but this really does show how tech can be disruptive in a positive way.
Taking a credit card in the cab is a lot more difficult technologically then dinking a credit card already on file via an app. By innovating like this, the cab industry is far ahead of Uber.
I find dealerships very annoying because they don't want to sell you the car you want, they want to sell you one of the cars they have on the lot that day! Apparently their goal with every customer is to have them buy something the same day, not come back later to pick up the actual vehicle they wanted. Why can't I order a vehicle with everything I want from the manufacturer, and go pick it up at the plant or port of entry myself, saving the $800 in "destination fees"?
Well, duh, they are paying insurance and interest on those vehicles, as well as maintaining them, washing them, letting you drive them which lowers the value. Further, there are incentives from the factory for moving already built merchandise, rather than special order merchandise. Can you honestly say that being in the same circumstance you would not at least TRY to sell the ones on the lot first?