spoonie

19 ms·

151.
by spoonie 10y ago
I think Kitchener-Waterloo (~300k people) punches above its weight. It definitely feels like a small city, but there are still things to do. Plus Toronto is 1.5 hours away on a Greyhound bus for about $15. ;)
152.
by spoonie 10y ago
£72 in a year for about 15 minutes of effort sounds worth it to me. (Apply online and transfer money to the account online.)
153.
by spoonie 10y ago
I was originally thinking 100% lived-in, by anyone wether they are the owner or not, and precise data down to each housing unit. That definitely gets into shades of grey when you consider vacations and second homes, or even granny flats! Wh
154.
by spoonie 10y ago
Indeed! It would depend on whether the city wants data for further analysis or will act directly on the data (e.g. new taxes). If the city just wanted a punitive tax on non-occupied housing, they'd probably be better with LVT or a reve
155.
Ask HN: How to tell if a home is unoccupied?
9 points by spoonie 10y ago|15 comments
156.
by spoonie 10y ago
Have you worked at any other employer where you needed more than N days notice for an N day long vacation? I've found both vacation policies to be the same: I get as much vacation as my manager will approve (sometimes with an upper-lim
157.
by spoonie 10y ago
It's about 18F and I think they mean "flounders" not "founders".
158.
by spoonie 10y ago
To which they would then have to spend on their own, more expensive health insurance plans?
159.
Land Value Tax Discussed at UN Habitat III Conference(citylab.com)
3 points by spoonie 10y ago|0 comments
160.
by spoonie 10y ago
Why are the landlord's costs going up "at the market rate" (which we will assume is higher than inflation)? Because the plumber lives in a market rent apartment and has to charge twice as much as a few years ago? Why would th
161.
by spoonie 10y ago
When Greece was trying to sort out its default, it outsourced tax collection to its utility companies as part of the bailout. Because the utility companies were good at getting paid? It was because everyone in Greece was evading t
162.
by spoonie 10y ago
Which rent control laws say that rent has to be frozen? I thought they allow for increases, usually inflation-matched. If costs rise faster than inflation I can see how rent control hurts, but then it seems to me that there are other proble
163.
by spoonie 10y ago
How do landlords/the IRS allow this? If you tenants can do it without their landlords noticing, why can't landlords do it themselves to get around rent controls?
164.
by spoonie 10y ago
Question to landlords: does rent control hurt your bottom line? I understand the opportunity costs of rent control: if rents in your neighbourhood have gone up 50% this year you feel like a sucker if you can only raise them by 5%. Similarly
165.
by spoonie 10y ago
They have to play Tetris underground though, with the existing tunnels. In some places the new Crossrail tunnels are only meters away from other tunnels.
166.
by spoonie 10y ago
Heh, good point. I live in Ingleside and don't go downtown much. Are the downtown meters free overnight?
167.
by spoonie 10y ago
Uber is artificially cheap (below cost, in fact) in the Bay Area to impress investors and push out competition.
168.
by spoonie 10y ago
Maybe because the printer is sold as a loss-leader, assuming you will buy a certain number of ink cartridges. Furthermore they can make the printers very cheaply because: 1) the fancy printing logic is mostly in the printing driver you inst
169.
by spoonie 10y ago
Interesting point. I agree that, out of context, it's a very scary name! I'll look around for a better term.
170.
by spoonie 10y ago
And get rid of all of the free street parking.
171.
by spoonie 10y ago
Absolutely! The Gold Coast region in Australia has some studies about how they used Land Value Tax to fund infrastructure development. Namely the land value increases around new transit stops that were built could be captured by the city ra
172.
by spoonie 10y ago
A well written, sober reflection on a business venture that didn't pan out. The author has deliberately made the title a bit baitey, though: $20,000/day in the app store for a handful of days (based on the graph they posted), mayb
173.
SF supervisor would pass law to give tenants access to all Internet providers(m.sfgate.com)
1 points by spoonie 10y ago|0 comments
174.
by spoonie 10y ago
You don't. You have to put in the work to understand the particular bias and reputation of each sure you read. And then you have to seek out additional sources that are biased in different ways so that you can see all sides of the deba
175.
by spoonie 10y ago
If you're into it, do an Agile/XP planning & estimation workflow. You can show that you are being requested to do 30 points of work per week but only achieving 20 points.
176.
by spoonie 10y ago
I think you're inferring malicious intent when a simpler explanation is money. Maybe those who green lighted this saw an opportunity to poor endless funds into their defense contractor friends' businesses.
177.
Thrift Store Harddrives(603security.com)
3 points by spoonie 10y ago|0 comments
178.
by spoonie 10y ago
Average about 2.5 hours total: 45 minutes x2 for the Caltrain to and from the South Bay, and another 60 minutes of biking to and from the train station. This is at a cost of $190.80/month for the Caltrain monthly pass.
179.
by spoonie 10y ago
It's not like there are zero benefits to working in the UK vs the US though. University tuition is cheaper being one example.
180.
by spoonie 10y ago
Seems like a local governance 'problem'. Are homeowners more likely to vote than renters? Or do homeowners and landlords outnumber renters and get the rational outcomes they want?

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