"We learned that government officials are often wary of, if not downright hostile to, the kind of disruption that is an all-but-inevitable consequence of innovation."
"The original idea was straightforward: Replace “error” pages, which are generated when you type a mistake in your web browser... with search results that contained paid advertising."
I am fascinated at the idea that you wrote a 10KLOC iOS app in the time it took you to type it out. I had heard tales of programmers approaching the design, implementation, and then testing of a program as totally seperate steps, but only as a consequence of an environment that had severe technical limitations (IE, I'm going to hand my "code" over to the typist who will input it into the computer, which will then run it N hours later). To code in that manner intentionally sounds totally bonkers to me, although I accept your proposition that that may be a result of being raised as a Cowboy.
I'd love a series of technical blog posts about the iOS app. What artifacts did you create during the design phase? How many Modules/Features did you split the process in to (or did you do it all in one go)?
I'd love to know if someone's actually run a scam like that at some point. Seems like a clever hack, at least it would be before the days of ubiquitous credit cards and online banking.
According to the "How it Works" page, "we know which dealers are the friendliest, which ones will give you the best prices, and which ones to avoid completely." Presumably they wouldn't send you any quotes from known bad dealers, but obviously the question is whether or not they can execute on that promise.
True, the dealer can still haggle you on trade-ins and financing, but removing the "price of new car" variable simplifies that negotiation quite a bit. One of the current tactics that works very well for dealerships is trying to throw as many variables at you as possible (Google the "four square method"). Plus you can always sell your car to someone else instead of the dealership, and/or get a loan from your own bank.
I don't know whether or not "quid pro quo Pro Quo manet" is actually sensible Latin or not, but something tells me that "What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas" isn't the most accurate translation.
I dislike this framing of taxation in absolute terms. Yes, the government "takes" a portion of your earnings, but in doing so it provides a number of services, some of which were prerequisites to those earnings in the first place (paving the road that brought customers to your storefront).
Sure, we can argue about particulars of how the government chooses to allocate those "takings." I wish my government would spend less on its military, for instance. Other people might wish it to spend less on social welfare programs. But neither of us can honestly use absolute language like "Taking my earnings is a moral wrong. There is no two ways about it." Arguing that states cannot tax is arguing that states cannot exist.
My apologies if you are an honest defendant of some form of anarchism, but I feel like using such absolutist language to discuss a proposed three percent increase in the top marginal tax rate seems incongruous. It feels like you have the intent of inspiring knee-jerk emotions instead of rational discourse. It's fishy.
I think this is my first time encountering the "Grid Method," maybe I've seen it before but I was definitely taught the "old way" in school.
It's genius. I remember the thing I hated the most about long multiplication or division was having to go back and "do it all over again" if I got the answer wrong. The nice thing about the Grid, though, is if you screw up the answer in one of the cells, all the remaining cells might still be good. Then you only have to re-do the addition. Much more user-friendly.
I don't have kids, but it makes me sad that any parent could see their kid come home with that respond with anger. Hell, once you've let your kid show you their way, maybe you can teach him the old way too. The far more important lesson, I think, is that there's more than one way to do it.
The first time the map pops up I was dismissive. "Eh, so they mashed up a google maps thing with the video. Big deal. You can even see the google (r) watermarks. lame."
Once it started in with the street-level images, swirling around, it started to hit me though. That was my friend's house! I remember when they put in that stone landscaping in front. A whole lot of memories came rushing back, of feeling the dry desert heat, of playing basketball in my driveway with my friends, of rollerblading down that hill, of being a kid.
Along with the excitement though, a sense of longing. I can't help but notice that someone else's car is parked in front of "my" house now. I remember my dad packing up his stuff and leaving. I remember all those fights and tears as we moved out of that house and across the country. I keep up with friends from that time a little, but it's a little message here and there, I hardly see them anymore.
When the window popped up to write a message to my younger self, it felt like there was far too much to say. I settled on "It will be OK. Really."
This was unexpectedly beautiful and touching. Bravo.
Wow, I've been a regular Trader Joe's shopper ever since one opened up down the street about a year ago. Frankly, I was always a bit worried that between the price and the quality there was a "too good to be true" angle that I was missing. But from this article, it seems like they rely on:
* Buying good food
* Distributing it efficiently
* Paying their employees well.
I don't really care how "quirky cool" they are or are not, that's pretty sweet.
-Sorting by "Agony" is a brilliant decision. It seems to take into account time spent traveling and cost, which leaves me with a few easy choices to make (spend 20 bucks more, save an hour) instead of a million tiny choices to make.
-I love that the prices seem to take into account taxes and fees without any trouble. I see $550 on Hipmonk, click "buy," and then see $550 on Orbitz.
-It looks nice and performs excellently.
I wonder if seeing data in this format will cause airlines to differently optimize their fare schedule. Obviously I don't have the knowledge of the data to answer this, but my gut feeling is that more people selecting flights based on travel time might lead airlines to find ways to reduce travel time. Wouldn't that be sweet.
One beef with the article, one with the tone of many of the upvoted replies:
As for the article, I'd argue that the strict ability to afford a computer matters much less than the understanding of why a computer is useful, how to get the most out of it, and even that it can be programmed by kids. Possessing the knowledge that computers can be programmed by kids to do fun and useful things is, I'd argue, correlated with socioeconomic status. Passing that knowledge onto your kids is also correlated with the gender of those kids, it seems.
Of course, the fact that one comes from a privileged position doesn't require an apology. Nobody is asking anyone for a heartfelt "I'm sorry" note, or a reparations check, or whatever. One can be aware of one's position of privilege without being ashamed of it.
I for one fondly remember the feeling of empowerment when I was able to fire up my dad's copy of Visual Basic and create a working facsimile of Blackjack. I was using a real, grown up tool to create real, cool stuff all by myself (well, not really, but it sure felt that way). I'd love to give any kid the chance to feel that sense of limitless power.