Empact

32 ms·

271.
by Empact 16y ago
Yeah, but I'd argue the solution isn't to nice up the regulatory system, but to step outside of it. Clinics like Qliance in Seattle provide direct primary care (cash only, no insurance) largely because it's much nicer for both the doctor a
272.
by Empact 16y ago
Related discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1724070
273.
by Empact 16y ago
FYI, that's: http://public.resource.org/
274.
by Empact 16y ago
Yeah, here ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhxVtUFZVzk ) they claim 2x the efficiency of bicycling, thanks to aerodynamics. There are some serious logistical challenges - e.g. to address the problem of slow people & free riders you mi
275.
by Empact 16y ago
> But I don't want every neighborhood restaurant in the South Loop replaced by Potbelly's, Jimmy Johns, and Dunkin' Donuts, which is exactly what will happen Speculate much? Food trucks and restaurants offer substantially different pro
276.
by Empact 16y ago
Let's put it another way: when is that love not worth it? Is it worth $50 a trip? $100? $500? At what point do low ridership numbers to far-away places cease justifying the construction of dedicated fixed-rail infrastructure? (the highes
277.
by Empact 16y ago
Alright, so if I'm evaluating the benefits of adding an additional 20 miles of track length to the system, should I added at the low-density edges or the high-density core? How would you evaluate the benefits of the two options? He's said
278.
by Empact 16y ago
As for the effects of these differences in layouts, here's an interesting analysis of SF Bart vs. DC Metro, which finds the DC network-style system far more effective - 2.5x the ridership for the same track length ( http://www.ctchouston.or
279.
by Empact 16y ago
Perhaps, and I've certainly thought this. But as the devil's advocate: would the net present value of 60 years of life is much different from 600 years of life, after discounting? If we use the prevent value of recurring payments equation
280.
by Empact 16y ago
IMO, of the various videos & podcasts of his I've found, this is the most thought-provoking & in-depth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C7FH7El35w
281.
by Empact 16y ago
I'd like to think I had some small hand in this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1640314 i.e. I offered the "thepaulgraham" account, since deleted.
282.
by Empact 16y ago
> I'd be interested to hear how the road construction budget compares to the amount of money brought in by these. The best I can do to answer that is to point you to a study by the Texas DOT (the original page is down, but it's cited wi
283.
by Empact 16y ago
A number of the comments confuse removing artificial subsidies of driving with applying artificial fees to driving. These are existing artificial subsidies, which force non-drivers and marginal drivers to pay heavy costs on behalf of drive
284.
by Empact 16y ago
There's an active "school choice" movement, and they're working for policies which enable choice: e.g. charter schools, voucher programs, and choice open enrollment for public schools, as they do in Seattle. Cynically, the reason choice is
285.
by Empact 16y ago
So by your logic, do courts not matter because they only intervene after the crime is committed? The logic of accountability is that consequences influence future action. Advocates can punish politicians for voting the wrong way on amendme
286.
by Empact 16y ago
Au contraire. For example, if we help people make sense of the incumbent vs. non-incumbents in the primaries, even in a system where 2 parties is basically mandated by law, people can more easily shift which candidates the parties actually
287.
by Empact 16y ago
> Asking the public to pay attention to amendments made in committees and subcommittees is wishful thinking. Of course - and not my wish, incidentally. The whole point is to use technology to lower the cost of informed participation to
288.
by Empact 16y ago
I don't know the numbers, but you're probably off in comparing the food budget to subsidies on raw ingredients. Relative to what people spend in restaurants it may not be much, but in making a choice between two similar ingredients, it can
289.
by Empact 16y ago
What's more fundamental: the way that campaigns are funded, or the fact the most voters have no clue what their representatives actually stand for? Does changing campaign funding solve a fundamental problem? It seems to me that influence ca
290.
by Empact 16y ago
This is a TEDxBoston talk - TEDx is a series of independently organized groups who put on events in the spirit of TED.
291.
by Empact 16y ago
I tend to look at the special interest groups as the problem of distributed costs and concentrated benefits. In the case of the off-shore drilling, the minority has much more to gain individually than the majority has to lose individually,
292.
by Empact 16y ago
How do you explain that while the NEA supports the firing teachers based on age, rather than merit - ejecting good young teachers while retaining old bad ones - while it's innovative charter schools that can go right ahead in paying teacher
293.
by Empact 16y ago
Fair enough, the special interest game is no fun[1]. But I'll take a bet on the stars aligning in Texas over California finding efficient building practices any day. In Texas, given all the immigration from other states, the prospect of th
294.
by Empact 16y ago
One reason to be a bit more optimistic is Texas ( http://www.thsrtc.com/ ). Their equivalent plan to California's is loads cheaper thanks to their more agreeable geography (plains, mostly). More importantly, the lighter touch of the state
295.
by Empact 16y ago
A few bugs/limitations of Mysql not shared by Postgres. All AFAIK. * Integer columns with null constraints will silently translate nulls to 0s, rather than throwing an error (as constraints in all other contexts do). Imagine a database wh
296.
by Empact 16y ago
What does a fire in a hotel say about short-term rentals, which have more to do with homes & apts than hotels? Do horrific club fires (e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZx4i1TwZME ) justify a ban on house parties? To restate: one of
297.
by Empact 16y ago
So we're banning this the avoid deaths-by-fire? Can you name a single example to justify the restraint? And if you could, wouldn't it apply to residences in general, not just those let out by their owners?
298.
by Empact 16y ago
If this solves for neighbor complaints, why not craft the legislation to be triggered on a neighbors complaint, rather than make all hosts criminals, responsible or no?
299.
by Empact 16y ago
You're not addressing my question: What "legitimate public health concerns" are different for couchsurfing vs a person renting out their apt while on holiday?
300.
by Empact 16y ago
What distinguishes "peaceable assembly" from meeting with a bunch of your friends? Some of the most important assemblies were antislavery meetings in barns, where meeting in public might mean suicide - does it say "peaceably assemble in pub

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