vord's recent activity
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Comment on The US maternal mortality crisis is a statistical illusion in ~health
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
vord Link ParentBecause time is money. Once every other week is, it's nice calling in delivery instead of picking up so that we can spend the 30ish minutes playing with the kids instead of going to pickup. Pickup...Because time is money. Once every other week is, it's nice calling in delivery instead of picking up so that we can spend the 30ish minutes playing with the kids instead of going to pickup.
Pickup is hands-down better if we were out and about doing stuff anyway.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
vord (edited )Link ParentWhile they don't, the delivery drivers were making bank compared to most of the rest of the staff. Back when I worked for a family restraunt, aside from management, the earning ranks were roughly...While they don't, the delivery drivers were making bank compared to most of the rest of the staff.
Back when I worked for a family restraunt, aside from management, the earning ranks were roughly like this:
- Owner
- Management
- Head chef
- Delivery drivers (higher minimum wage, but high tips)
- Waitstaff (minimum wage, but high tips)
- Table bussers (slighly higher than minimum wage, but got a small tip cut from waitstaff)
- Host staff (reservations/phone calls/checkout/seating customers) (roughly same wage as bussers, no tips)
- Cooks/Dishwashers (minimum wage or less, often illegal immigrants)
Full service gas stations, for example.
Nah, that's just businesses cutting out because they can. I pay the same or less for gas in New Jersey as I did in PA, and every pump is full service. I've also got several years of experience working gas stations. Honestly, the lack of people breaking gas pumps and spilling gas everywhere makes up for a good amount of the wages there....you would be surprised how many people just drive off with the nozzle still attached to their car. Gas was almost always a revenue-neutral thing, it was all about bringing people in to buy smokes (also low margin, but high volume) and snacks. The markup on snacks is unbelievably high, and could have supported a $20/hour wage circa 2004.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
vord (edited )Link ParentThis has almost always been the case, even in the before times. For a local pizza place circa 2000, It was like $15 for two medium 1-topping pizzas. $2 delivery fee, (scaled up to $5 if you were...I could save almost 50% of the cost by just picking it up myself
This has almost always been the case, even in the before times. For a local pizza place circa 2000, It was like $15 for two medium 1-topping pizzas. $2 delivery fee, (scaled up to $5 if you were +3 miles away) plus tip. In my neck of the woods, that meant a minimum of 25% premium, and that was the cheapskate move of 'keep the change'.
I suspect that gig delivery is only worth it for restraunts that don't have high delivery throughput. Otherwise they're maybe saving a bit on payroll, but they are definitely losing customers who don't want to pay exorbitant rates.
One local pizza place has 2 medium 1-toppings delivered for $25+tip. That same order from a gig-delivered pizza place is $35+tip.
I'm pretty sure food delivery gig economy will collapse on itself once these platforms need to start recouping costs and paying drivers within a margin of error what they were earning as dedicated delivery drivers.
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Comment on Is Emacs or VIM worth learning in today's day and age? in ~comp
vord (edited )Link ParentI've never used macros in vim, but even this simple trick justifies using vim over many others: :10 <Enter> d5d G p Translation: Jump to line 10. Cut 5 lines (delete to buffer, hence d). Jump to...I've never used macros in vim, but even this simple trick justifies using vim over many others:
:10 <Enter> d5d G pTranslation:
Jump to line 10. Cut 5 lines (delete to buffer, hence d). Jump to the end of the file, Paste.It very much is like spellcasting against text, the way you can chain operators together.
If you're using vim, using
set numberto see line numbers will help so incredibly much for small operations. I blame bad defaults on many distros for vim seeming so bad.I think vim (the keybinds in particular) is worth learning if only because it exposes the power of a UI that is considered dead and useless by many.
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Comment on Obsolete, but not gone: The people who won't give up floppy disks in ~tech
vord Link ParentIt's still possible, though getting harder.It's still possible, though getting harder.
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Comment on ‘TunnelVision’ attack leaves nearly all VPNs vulnerable to spying in ~tech
vord Link ParentFrom their latest patch notes: My guess is 'better than any vendor for a phone older than 5 years'From their latest patch notes:
Our merge scripts have been largely overhauled, greatly simplifying the Android Security Bulletin merge process, as well as making supporting devices like Pixel devices that have full source releases much more streamlined.
Our extract utilities can now extract from OTA images and factory images directly, further simplifying monthly security updates for maintainers on devices that receive security patches regularly.My guess is 'better than any vendor for a phone older than 5 years'
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Comment on What are three things you're feeling positively about today? in ~talk
vord LinkHad a great day playing outside with the kids Checked another home repair off the todo list Gonna finally watch Dune 2 tonight if I'm not exhausted come kid bedtimes.- Had a great day playing outside with the kids
- Checked another home repair off the todo list
- Gonna finally watch Dune 2 tonight if I'm not exhausted come kid bedtimes.
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Comment on Obsolete, but not gone: The people who won't give up floppy disks in ~tech
vord LinkWhile true, there was a long transition period, especially in spots that didn't have always-on internet. In part because those CDs and thumb drives were expensive in comparison. Floppy disks were...With the dawn of the 21st Century, however, for most computer users, floppy disks were on their way out – increasingly supplanted by writeable CDs and thumb drives
While true, there was a long transition period, especially in spots that didn't have always-on internet.
In part because those CDs and thumb drives were expensive in comparison. Floppy disks were so ubiquitous and plentiful that nobody thought twice about handing floppies away for small files.
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Comment on US official says Chinese seizure of TSMC in Taiwan would be 'absolutely devastating' in ~tech
vord LinkThis is one of the main risks of global trade, end of arguement. It's not like this tension and risk hasn't been an ongoing concern since the very formation of Taiwan. It'd kinda be like saying...This is one of the main risks of global trade, end of arguement. It's not like this tension and risk hasn't been an ongoing concern since the very formation of Taiwan. It'd kinda be like saying "We're gonna build all our new semiconductor fabrication in the DMZ between North and South Korea."
I'm reminded of a saying I picked up somewhere, in relation to business. "You don't outsource the main thing." It's one thing to outsource payroll management work. It's another to outsource development and manufacturing of your main product.
In that vein, a country that values control over its supply chains needs to produce as much for itself as it can, and to be diversified enough that if a trade partnership goes sour that the economy doesn't end in shambles.
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Comment on ‘TunnelVision’ attack leaves nearly all VPNs vulnerable to spying in ~tech
vord Link ParentExcept my pixel 3 lives on with current LineageOS builds, while the iPhone becomes a brick in a year or two when Apple axes it. Frankly, I despise the entire smartphone market because it's the...Except my pixel 3 lives on with current LineageOS builds, while the iPhone becomes a brick in a year or two when Apple axes it.
Frankly, I despise the entire smartphone market because it's the fast-fashion of computing.
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Comment on My not so nice thoughts on Battlestar Galactica in ~tv
vord Link ParentThat was the nature of TV back then. You might not catch all the nuance, but they had 'previously on' for a reason for many of these shows.That was the nature of TV back then. You might not catch all the nuance, but they had 'previously on' for a reason for many of these shows.
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Comment on Bitwarden transitions from Manifest V2 to V3 in ~tech
vord Link ParentThis is true, but it's also true for literally every single bit of software you use. And ultimately, I do trust my adblocker more than I trust Google.This is true, but it's also true for literally every single bit of software you use.
And ultimately, I do trust my adblocker more than I trust Google.
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Comment on Can you actually taste a difference between onions? in ~food
vord LinkYes, particularily when raw. It's a great video explaining why though. There are few dishes that are not improved by adding deep-fried shallots on top.Yes, particularily when raw. It's a great video explaining why though.
There are few dishes that are not improved by adding deep-fried shallots on top.
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Comment on My not so nice thoughts on Battlestar Galactica in ~tv
vord Link ParentI concur. If you're only going to watch one episode of TNG, that would be it.I concur. If you're only going to watch one episode of TNG, that would be it.
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Comment on My not so nice thoughts on Battlestar Galactica in ~tv
vord (edited )Link ParentWRT your spoiler: I think that was the point. It's been awhile since I watched BSG, but I remember loving it.WRT your spoiler: I think that was the point. It's been awhile since I watched BSG, but I remember loving it.
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Comment on Bitwarden transitions from Manifest V2 to V3 in ~tech
vord (edited )Link ParentI mean, that basically just means that adblockers have a hard limit where ad generators do not. Ad servers just need to retry loading the limit +1 and voila, ad blocker neutered. I dislike that my...I mean, that basically just means that adblockers have a hard limit where ad generators do not. Ad servers just need to retry loading the limit +1 and voila, ad blocker neutered.
I dislike that my extensions are limited, but not the websites I load. Why are they gifted the magic ability to load infinite remote assets?
Can we also implement arbitrary limits for website assets? Say no webpage can load more than 2 MB of content without requesting the 'bloatedwebsite' permission.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
vord (edited )Link ParentThose numbers are for the smaller plant, so let's roll with that ideal target for the optimistic view, presuming this is also attached to a waste incinerator. 64,800 MWh consumed to provide 86,300...Those numbers are for the smaller plant, so let's roll with that ideal target for the optimistic view, presuming this is also attached to a waste incinerator. 64,800 MWh consumed to provide 86,300 MWh worth of benefit. So that means the net benefit is 21,000 MWh, or roughly 9,000 tons of carbon (assuming theoretical max capture), or roughly 25% of the nameplate value...assuming max output. If we use the current numbers, that means we're at a net loss of 9,000 tons of carbon. Sure, it helps that they're using waste heat from an incinerator, but we've been using waste heat from incinerators to generate electricity for years...unless this is a supplement to that, it's almost certainly a net loss. Incinerators provide about 2.4% of the EU's electricity. Although there's discussion about eliminating it because it too produces CO2. So if they can't piggyback on the CO2-producing incinerators, the numbers get nasty-looking quick. "We generated 45,000 tons of CO2 in order to capture 36,000 tons of CO2" takes a lot of the magic out of it.
And a key quote from that article:
Gebald says an increase in energy resources – he points to wind and solar – would be needed to scale up direct capture.
Yes......and in order for direct capture to make sense we must have already replaced all CO2-producing electric generation with green generation. I'll grant that in some hypothetical future where we're producing more green energy than we can possibly consume that these carbon capture devices could be useful. But that kind of capacity is almost certainly a pipe dream....based on history we'll use every ounce of energy capacity we build and then some.
No major government is going to do this.
We banned production and consumption of Cocaine and Heroin in the USA, did we not? Is tobacco really that far-fetched? No reason it would need to be globally banned...this was just USA production numbers after all. Ban production in the USA, ban commercial importing, allow for personal imports and ownership. Heck, tobacco smokers are at an all-time low...strike while the iron is hot, so to speak.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
vord (edited )Link ParentSo from the horse's mouth, it has a nameplate capacity of 36,000 tons removal per year. In order for it to be a net positive, it must capture more carbon than it uses in a year. Otherwise, the...So from the horse's mouth, it has a nameplate capacity of 36,000 tons removal per year. In order for it to be a net positive, it must capture more carbon than it uses in a year. Otherwise, the energy it uses would have been better spent on literally anything else. Numbers below are USA-centric as that's the data I know how to find.
According to the EPA, for estimation purposes, each kwh of electricity uses (including line losses) is approximately 0.000417 metric tons of CO2.
So this Mammoth facility needs to use less than 86,330,935 kwh annually to break-even. Numbers on that seem hard to come by, but are super critical to seeing if this tech is remotely worth it. How about it Climeworks? Care to share your meter readings for the good of advancement? Prove us skeptics wrong and show how efficiently you're trapping that CO2. My money is on 'we hide how much energy we need by building green energy to power it.' And that's a net loss since that green power could be used to replace non-green power at this phase.
However, there are many easier wins we could make. We could ban all tobacco production. In 2018, 766,000,000 kwh was used for tobacco manufacturing. The carbon savings from eliminating the energy use would be equivalent to building almost 9 of these Mammoth facilities at 100% of their nameplate capacity with the simple stroke of a pen (yes not just 1 person but also not inventing new technology). With the added bonus of eliminating an industry that is actively harmful to everyone.
Edit: Paging @unkz so they understand what will change my mind. Climeworks needs to show their detailed energy consumption figures for me to trust its not just smoke and mirrors greenwashing.
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Comment on A big new facility built to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere opened up in Iceland. It's a stepping stone to bigger plans in the US. in ~enviro
vord Link ParentI think that's ultimately where the disagreement is. The regulation needs to take place at the point of production rather than after the fact. That means either a more-planned economy that just...I think that's ultimately where the disagreement is.
The regulation needs to take place at the point of production rather than after the fact. That means either a more-planned economy that just straight-up bans bad goods (plastic packaging for misc consumer goods for example) and imposes heavy taxes to account for all of the externalities (carbon footprint, energy consumption, toxicity) for the entire lifecycle of the good from extraction to disposal.
One simple one that jumps to my mind is that any good that can be packaged in a less-wasteful way must be. Eliminating arbitrary market segmentation (we don't need 500 sizes of soda containers) paves the way for standardizing reuse of packaging.
And I'll tack on the critical conclusion which I think helps contextualize the above better: