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5 votes
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Why do new cars look like this? (Gray and without any flake, as if formed out of dough)
14 votes -
How to make class action lawsuits more meaningful to the public
Have you ever received notice that you might be eligible for something from a class-action settlement? Ever notice that the effort required to recover is significant, and the recovery perhaps...
Have you ever received notice that you might be eligible for something from a class-action settlement? Ever notice that the effort required to recover is significant, and the recovery perhaps insultingly miniscule?
I don't know of any data, but I suspect that's true of nearly every class action lawsuit, even those that win in court battles. Maybe the original plaintiffs get a decent recovery, sometimes there's injunctive relief (which means the court forces the defendant to do or not do something). Every once in a while, individual members of the class get a meaningful outcome (vw's dieselgate comes to mind).
The public interest justification for the outcomes where the recover for class members is really small, if one is even ever really offered, is that the cost of the action to the defendant serves as an inducement to all defendants to keep their act together. But see, Tyler Durden's explanation of the actuarial function from Fight Club.
My thought is that instead of any recovery for the individual class members ("fuck 'em, right?"), their portion of the money should go to a public interest fund dedicated to consumer protection. My reason for this is that these small recoveries don't make any useful change for the individual class member consumers. But collectively, might add up to enough to make a meaningful difference to the future activities of producers.
Of course, all the usual caveats about corruption and accountability come into play. But there's a few reasons it might help, if those can be overcome. First, it might prompt faster, lest costly settlements. The payouts would be lower, and also the transaction costs. This shifts the litigation process from focussing on big recoveries to high volume of suits, bringing in more defendants. It would also enable smaller firms to bring suit, the hope being that smaller firms would take on more marginal cases and get more action.
Second, it might actually create a feedback loop. If the fund gets large enough, it could lobby and investigate, providing more information more new suits, and identifying the worst actors, and encouraging useful regulation. Imagine if Consumers Union could return to its glory of the 80's and have a big lobbying fund?
Or, we could just have decent government level consumer protections (hahhahahahahahahah!)
9 votes -
To bond with humans, robots are learning to laugh at the right time
5 votes -
TV Tuesdays Free Talk
Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here. Please just try to provide fair warning of...
Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.
Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.
7 votes -
Pajtim Statovci shares his love of Finnish literature and the books that helped him, a child of immigrants, to find his voice
5 votes -
Jerry cans: The true secret weapon of WWII
5 votes -
Icelandic police say they have arrested four men for alleged 'preparations for terrorist acts' – an unprecedented situation for the tiny country
5 votes -
Chartbook #153: The South Asian Polycrisis
3 votes -
The biggest mapping mistake of all time
7 votes -
Slime Rancher 2 is now available in Early Access
8 votes -
Building a Toy Story rocket car
5 votes -
Vince Gilligan sets up series at Apple starring ‘Better Call Saul’ alum Rhea Seehorn
7 votes -
The art of bidding, or how I survived Federal prison
9 votes -
Don’t feel like a dummy for loving the Dummies guides: The history of the Dummies guides
7 votes -
One year ago I built an ecosystem, this happened
5 votes -
Games as a service is incompatible with art
8 votes -
Ebrahim Raisi cancels CNN interview after Christiane Amanpour refuses to wear hijab
14 votes -
The end of history (of philosophy)
1 vote -
What creative projects have you been working on?
This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on. Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just...
This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on.
Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just ideas.
If you have any creative projects that you have been working on or want to eventually work on, this is a place for discussing those.
9 votes -
Introducing Whisper (OpenAI speech recognition model)
16 votes -
EVGA terminates NVIDIA partnership, cites disrespectful treatment
25 votes -
Bryce Dallas Howard: I was told to lose weight for ‘Jurassic World’ films
7 votes -
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths | Official trailer
3 votes -
Embracer's Lars Wingefors has spoken to investors about Saints Row, admitting he had hoped the game would have received a 'greater reception'
5 votes -
Fitness Weekly Discussion
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started...
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?
5 votes -
In Iceland with the experimental pop icon Björk, digging deep into the triumphs and tragedies that birthed her remarkable new album, Fossora
2 votes -
Weekly megathread for news/updates/discussion of Russian invasion of Ukraine - September 15
This thread is posted weekly on Thursday - please try to post relevant content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Especially significant updates may warrant a separate topic,...
This thread is posted weekly on Thursday - please try to post relevant content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Especially significant updates may warrant a separate topic, but most should be posted here.
If you'd like to help support Ukraine, please visit the official site at https://help.gov.ua/ - an official portal for those who want to provide humanitarian or financial assistance to people of Ukraine, businesses or the government at the times of resistance against the Russian aggression.
13 votes -
Søren Pape Poulsen, leading challenger to Mette Frederiksen, is hemorrhaging support after false claims about the origins of his soon-to-be ex-husband
3 votes -
What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was...
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.
If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!
8 votes -
US tech workers are paying $75K for leg-lengthening surgery
20 votes -
Weekly coronavirus-related chat, questions, and minor updates - week of September 19
This thread is posted weekly, and is intended as a place for more-casual discussion of the coronavirus and questions/updates that may not warrant their own dedicated topics. Tell us about what the...
This thread is posted weekly, and is intended as a place for more-casual discussion of the coronavirus and questions/updates that may not warrant their own dedicated topics. Tell us about what the situation is like where you live!
10 votes -
CHVRCHES - Leave a Trace (2015)
5 votes -
My indie game publishing company
8 votes -
Denmark became the first central government of a developed country to propose ‘loss and damage’ funding to poorer countries for climate breakdown
8 votes -
Russian parliament introduces mobilisation into law
20 votes -
Insurers force change on US police departments long resistant to it
8 votes -
What programming/technical projects have you been working on?
This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...
This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?
8 votes -
Strange World | Official trailer
5 votes -
Everest for Mountaineers
2 votes -
'Shocking breach of faith' | Spectrum owes $7 billion in punitive damages for murder of Texas customer
17 votes -
Chef Poul Andrias Ziska of Koks restaurant honed his craft in the harsh North Atlantic but has now reimagined his signature locavore cooking for a Greenlandic terroir
6 votes -
Can software simplify the supply chain? Ryan Petersen thinks so
6 votes -
How to approach and evaluate programming languages for a project
2 votes -
Hellraiser | Official trailer
7 votes -
Steam Deck production update (it's good news)
17 votes -
:-) is 40 years old now
15 votes -
AdminLTE vs Pure Bootstrap for a new web project?
I'm primarily a freelance backend dev and for the first time venturing on full-stack development of a non-trivial web app on my own, hence I needed some guidance. I've got all the backend stuff in...
I'm primarily a freelance backend dev and for the first time venturing on full-stack development of a non-trivial web app on my own, hence I needed some guidance.
I've got all the backend stuff in php/mysql covered, I just want to know what's the best way to create a dashboard (with left sidebar) considering various aspects like long-term code maintenance and support, robustness, etc. Looks don't matter that much as it's a CRUD app but obviously, better is more appreciated.
Based on my research until now, AdminLTE seems to be the most popular way of doing it among most devs although a few others like material and coreui also seem to have some street cred.
But another approach I'm considering apart from AdminLTE is to just use pure bootstrap and fiddle up my own sidebar using something like this. That way, I won't be tied to just one Bootstrap version which is used by AdminLTE (v4.6) and troubleshooting will be much easier through google search and StackOverflow. What do you guys think is the right approach?
5 votes -
Warner Bros sets ‘Constantine’ sequel; Keanu Reeves and Francis Lawrence to reunite, Akiva Goldsman scripting and producing with Bad Robot’s JJ Abrams and Hannah Minghella
10 votes -
Zella Day - You Sexy Thing (2019)
2 votes