Spoken like someone who wasn't around when Jon Katz was writing his "Voices From The Hellmouth" columns, after the LIttleton massacre when nerdy teens were suddenly public enemy #1. As an old-timer, this looks exactly like the sort of story I'd expect/. to link to and discuss.
Don't say "Jon Katz" again, he'll suddenly re-appear and start talking about trenchcoats.
This subject seems to get pushed here ridiculously frequently. Every story is excessively shrill in support of Uber, with no objectivity (on Slashdot, hah!) or balance. Is some of Uber's big budget being spent here on astroturfing?
But, but...they only have to spend so much money astroturfing because of the evil Government-Union-Big Taxi-Lizard Overlord monopolistic conspiracy against hard working lift share providers and free market martyrs.
I think it's because most people are wondering why such a simple, convenient and cost-effective service like calling for an Uber car to simply get to your destination is being banned and outlawed all over the world. Is it such a dangerous act to call someone else for a lift to go somewhere other than a dirty, expensive cab who tries to rip you off? Such a crazy world we live in...
Note for Uber shills: posting as AC on slashdot does not increase your credibility.
Really? The liberal London douche mayor is against the working man and for big business and big unions? WOW, who knew (besides anyone with a brain)?
*sigh*
Boris Johnson is a Tory (Conservative). He's probably a "liberal" by American standards in the sense that he doesn't (publicly) believe in slavery or oppose votes for women. He is broadly in favour of business and certainly no lover of trades unions, big or small. I'm not sure what you mean by being "against the working man" unless you only classify Uber drivers as real working men.
So, apart from the fact that you are factually wrong on every point, thanks for your contribution.
I can get an Uber any time of the day or night to take me where I want to go. An Uber shows up within 5 minutes - always. If I call the taxi company for a cab, one may or may not show up between 45 minutes and an hour - if one shows up at all. Uber drivers are held accountable for the condition of their cars, their appearance, their personality. Taxi drivers stink, are rude and their cars are always a mess. I would never use a taxi. I always use uber.
Better yet, for the world traveler, Uber works in pretty much all major cities, tied to the same account. No messing around with local vs foreigner rates, tipping, blah blah blah. Just get in and GO. Then get OUT when you arrive. I HATE arguing with cabbies over fares, rates etc etc. it's absurd. Uber gets rid of all that and gives me a simple interface and one point of billing. If Uber was forced out of my city, I'd go buy a car rather than use Taxis.
And every time you use a taxi instead of Uber, a baby angel dies in heaven.
just because some people like the business model doesn't mean that Uber should be breaking the law.
You make it sound like whatever is legal is moral, and whatever is illegal is immoral. If only the world were that simple.
Yeah, blah blah, Uber fans always trot this out. Was Rosa Parks wrong to break the law about where black people sat on a bus? No, therefore anyone can break any law they disagree with.
It is both idiotic and insulting to compare a commercial undertaking trying to gain illegal arbitrage with civil Rights activists and those who practise Civil Disobedience to protest about genuinely unfair laws.
Example in my state a taxi is a car service you order by "telecommunications". Is an app telecommunications? Technically no, as there is no "tele" but a judge might say yes.
Are you seriously suggesting that using the internet doesn't count as "communicating over a distance" which is what "telecommunication" means?
No, OP said "I can't pay them to encourage them to ask".
Whatever the rights and wrongs of legalising or criminalising prostituion, if you give a stranger standing on a street corner some money on the understanding that they will have sex with you, that is prostitution in most places.
And prostitution is definitely a commercial transaction, just like paying an Uber driver to take you somewhere.
Can you be picked up after calling a friend to come get you? If yes, why not when you "call" an Uber?
Because you're paying the fucking Uber driver.
I really can't believe that people are still trying to pretend that Uber is just a ride-sharing service like giving your dear old mum a lift to the shops.
It's a commercial service, and therefore should be treated the same as other commercial transportation services.
Contrary to what the libertarians/extreme right wing free marketers think, not all human interaction is based on the cash nexus.
1. OP said that most executives work twice as hard as someone working 60 hours a week. Twice 60 is 120.
2. If you're working 120 hours a week, you are also working at the weekends, as that's still 17 hours a day over 7 days (over 5 days it would be, um, 24 hours a day and you're getting into Four Yorkshiremen territory there).
You keep missing my entire point: you're already getting 90%+ of the benefits of your labor! There really is just a tiny slice of the pie left going to capital and management*.
Even if your numbers are correct, getting 10% from every working person makes a huge pot, especially as it's only shared by a small number of people.
If you are regularly working 120 hours a week and getting 4 hours of sleep a night, you are not performing at anywhere near your best for most of the time.
You're supposed to outgrow "fair" by age 8 or so, you know. The world's not supposed to be fair, it's supposed to be righteous, or failing that, just. Fair is pretty
lame: imagine a court system in which guilt or innocence was judged by a perfectly fair coin flip. Totally impartial, unbiased, fair, and stupid.
That is not the usual meaning of the word "fair" as you are presumably aware.
A "fair" justice system means that everyone is treated equally in the eyes of the law, not that you have to have an equal number of innocent and guilty verdicts.
Nevertheless I will be dying my hair for my next job interview.
The thing is, if your resume says you graduated with a BSc in 1992, it's pretty obvious you were born around 1970.
It's not what you look like that's the problem. Anywhere discriminating against older people almost certainly has an unwritten company code of "you have to devote yourself to the job, be single and available to work weekends or nights when we say so". Older people are (a) more likely to have family and other important outside interests and (b) won't put up with the same deluded shit that wannabe hotshots will, as they've seen it all before.
Exactly. Unionizing might solve one problem but would introduce a hundred more.
We need to make companies overcome the burden of proof that there is no one qualified domestically for a job before they can get an H1B. Other countries do this effectively.
We don't need to bring unions in to fleece dues out of everyone, jump in the middle of workplace disputes, destroy advancement based on merit, destroy the incentive to go the extra mile and be a star performer, etc etc. Perhaps if you are a cog turning a screwdriver for a living they are all well and good, but in IT where people work with their minds, it needs to be a creative, innovative, free environment.
You have absolutely no idea how unions for non-manual jobs work, do you?
Here's a hint: the professional associations for lawyers, doctors and so on are actually unions.
but this is exactly what SF is failing to do. All of their effort is focused on changing driver behavior, when much of the effort should be on pedestrian behavior.
You are asking the liberals who run that city to use logic and common sense. In actual fact the pedestrian does NOT always have the right of way. For example, if a pedestrian steps off the curb right into my bumper against a red light, while I have the green, I can run their ass over and have no liability whatsoever. Their death in that case, tragic though it may be, is their own stupid fault. Pedestrians are not excused from the traffic laws simply because liberals believe that walking is more noble than driving.
SF (and the US in general) may be different, but in most places I've been a green light means "proceed if it's safe to do so".
Here in the UK, if a pedestrian is crossing while your car has a green light, you do not have the right to run them over, or even try to intimidate them by revving your engine or blowing your horn.
... She'll be doxxed and harassed to no end before this thing leaves Beta. Once it goes live, it will be battered with intrusion attempts. I cannot wait to see how it all goes down.
If she's lucky. If she's not, someone that gets pushed into being suicidal by this might decide to take her with them.
I find it pathetic when ACs assume that everyone who criticizes China is American.
The US also has defamation and libel laws, they just aren't completely insane like in Britain where the truth isn't a defense against them.
The truth most certainly IS a defence against defamation in Britain. The problem is that it's difficult and expensive to prove that you're innocent: the burden of proof is on the defendant.
Slashdot Mirror
B-b-b-but if you ignore physics and economics the idea makes perfect sense.
This applies to most stories about Mars.
*runs for cover*
Presumably the raw materials will be transported by popular "ride sharing" service Uber and financed by Bitcoins?
Spoken like someone who wasn't around when Jon Katz was writing his "Voices From The Hellmouth" columns, after the LIttleton massacre when nerdy teens were suddenly public enemy #1. As an old-timer, this looks exactly like the sort of story I'd expect /. to link to and discuss.
Don't say "Jon Katz" again, he'll suddenly re-appear and start talking about trenchcoats.
This subject seems to get pushed here ridiculously frequently. Every story is excessively shrill in support of Uber, with no objectivity (on Slashdot, hah!) or balance. Is some of Uber's big budget being spent here on astroturfing?
But, but...they only have to spend so much money astroturfing because of the evil Government-Union-Big Taxi-Lizard Overlord monopolistic conspiracy against hard working lift share providers and free market martyrs.
I think it's because most people are wondering why such a simple, convenient and cost-effective service like calling for an Uber car to simply get to your destination is being banned and outlawed all over the world. Is it such a dangerous act to call someone else for a lift to go somewhere other than a dirty, expensive cab who tries to rip you off? Such a crazy world we live in...
Note for Uber shills: posting as AC on slashdot does not increase your credibility.
Really? The liberal London douche mayor is against the working man and for big business and big unions? WOW, who knew (besides anyone with a brain)?
*sigh*
Boris Johnson is a Tory (Conservative). He's probably a "liberal" by American standards in the sense that he doesn't (publicly) believe in slavery or oppose votes for women. He is broadly in favour of business and certainly no lover of trades unions, big or small. I'm not sure what you mean by being "against the working man" unless you only classify Uber drivers as real working men.
So, apart from the fact that you are factually wrong on every point, thanks for your contribution.
I can get an Uber any time of the day or night to take me where I want to go. An Uber shows up within 5 minutes - always. If I call the taxi company for a cab, one may or may not show up between 45 minutes and an hour - if one shows up at all. Uber drivers are held accountable for the condition of their cars, their appearance, their personality. Taxi drivers stink, are rude and their cars are always a mess. I would never use a taxi. I always use uber. Better yet, for the world traveler, Uber works in pretty much all major cities, tied to the same account. No messing around with local vs foreigner rates, tipping, blah blah blah. Just get in and GO. Then get OUT when you arrive. I HATE arguing with cabbies over fares, rates etc etc. it's absurd. Uber gets rid of all that and gives me a simple interface and one point of billing. If Uber was forced out of my city, I'd go buy a car rather than use Taxis.
And every time you use a taxi instead of Uber, a baby angel dies in heaven.
Please think of the baby angels!
What about the coward who's post was selected in the first place?
Even Slashdot realised it would be a bit obvious to post the story with the original "Copyright Uber Public Relations" byline.
Now, uber is a minicab service
Not according to the Uber shills on here.
You make it sound like whatever is legal is moral, and whatever is illegal is immoral. If only the world were that simple.
Yeah, blah blah, Uber fans always trot this out. Was Rosa Parks wrong to break the law about where black people sat on a bus? No, therefore anyone can break any law they disagree with.
It is both idiotic and insulting to compare a commercial undertaking trying to gain illegal arbitrage with civil Rights activists and those who practise Civil Disobedience to protest about genuinely unfair laws.
Example in my state a taxi is a car service you order by "telecommunications". Is an app telecommunications? Technically no, as there is no "tele" but a judge might say yes.
Are you seriously suggesting that using the internet doesn't count as "communicating over a distance" which is what "telecommunication" means?
More Uberista insanity.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of legalising or criminalising prostituion, if you give a stranger standing on a street corner some money on the understanding that they will have sex with you, that is prostitution in most places.
And prostitution is definitely a commercial transaction, just like paying an Uber driver to take you somewhere.
Can you be picked up after calling a friend to come get you? If yes, why not when you "call" an Uber?
Because you're paying the fucking Uber driver.
I really can't believe that people are still trying to pretend that Uber is just a ride-sharing service like giving your dear old mum a lift to the shops.
It's a commercial service, and therefore should be treated the same as other commercial transportation services.
Contrary to what the libertarians/extreme right wing free marketers think, not all human interaction is based on the cash nexus.
The US military will now investigate itself and conclude it was an accident.
No, they will conclude that it's the Afghans' fault.
2. If you're working 120 hours a week, you are also working at the weekends, as that's still 17 hours a day over 7 days (over 5 days it would be, um, 24 hours a day and you're getting into Four Yorkshiremen territory there).
You keep missing my entire point: you're already getting 90%+ of the benefits of your labor! There really is just a tiny slice of the pie left going to capital and management*.
Even if your numbers are correct, getting 10% from every working person makes a huge pot, especially as it's only shared by a small number of people.
If you are regularly working 120 hours a week and getting 4 hours of sleep a night, you are not performing at anywhere near your best for most of the time.
You're supposed to outgrow "fair" by age 8 or so, you know. The world's not supposed to be fair, it's supposed to be righteous, or failing that, just. Fair is pretty lame: imagine a court system in which guilt or innocence was judged by a perfectly fair coin flip. Totally impartial, unbiased, fair, and stupid.
That is not the usual meaning of the word "fair" as you are presumably aware.
A "fair" justice system means that everyone is treated equally in the eyes of the law, not that you have to have an equal number of innocent and guilty verdicts.
Nevertheless I will be dying my hair for my next job interview.
The thing is, if your resume says you graduated with a BSc in 1992, it's pretty obvious you were born around 1970.
It's not what you look like that's the problem. Anywhere discriminating against older people almost certainly has an unwritten company code of "you have to devote yourself to the job, be single and available to work weekends or nights when we say so". Older people are (a) more likely to have family and other important outside interests and (b) won't put up with the same deluded shit that wannabe hotshots will, as they've seen it all before.
Exactly. Unionizing might solve one problem but would introduce a hundred more.
We need to make companies overcome the burden of proof that there is no one qualified domestically for a job before they can get an H1B. Other countries do this effectively.
We don't need to bring unions in to fleece dues out of everyone, jump in the middle of workplace disputes, destroy advancement based on merit, destroy the incentive to go the extra mile and be a star performer, etc etc. Perhaps if you are a cog turning a screwdriver for a living they are all well and good, but in IT where people work with their minds, it needs to be a creative, innovative, free environment.
You have absolutely no idea how unions for non-manual jobs work, do you?
Here's a hint: the professional associations for lawyers, doctors and so on are actually unions.
but this is exactly what SF is failing to do. All of their effort is focused on changing driver behavior, when much of the effort should be on pedestrian behavior.
You are asking the liberals who run that city to use logic and common sense. In actual fact the pedestrian does NOT always have the right of way. For example, if a pedestrian steps off the curb right into my bumper against a red light, while I have the green, I can run their ass over and have no liability whatsoever. Their death in that case, tragic though it may be, is their own stupid fault. Pedestrians are not excused from the traffic laws simply because liberals believe that walking is more noble than driving.
SF (and the US in general) may be different, but in most places I've been a green light means "proceed if it's safe to do so".
Here in the UK, if a pedestrian is crossing while your car has a green light, you do not have the right to run them over, or even try to intimidate them by revving your engine or blowing your horn.
... She'll be doxxed and harassed to no end before this thing leaves Beta. Once it goes live, it will be battered with intrusion attempts. I cannot wait to see how it all goes down.
If she's lucky. If she's not, someone that gets pushed into being suicidal by this might decide to take her with them.
1/5 would not recommend.
They have no legal authority to levy a fine on someone who didn't consent to be a part of their "service" in the first place.
Bang goes my cunning business plan. It was all disruptivey and everything.
She's kind of chunky and wears to much jewelry.
Those are just opinions , they're not defamatory.
I find it pathetic when ACs assume that everyone who criticizes China is American.
The US also has defamation and libel laws, they just aren't completely insane like in Britain where the truth isn't a defense against them.
The truth most certainly IS a defence against defamation in Britain. The problem is that it's difficult and expensive to prove that you're innocent: the burden of proof is on the defendant.