https://github.com/twitter/AnomalyDetection
kinda cool
weechat has a new version
that was an interesting read by stallman on uber
"Beware of thinking of Uber as one more option in addition to real taxis. At the moment, that's true, but if Uber is a big success, real taxis could disappear.
Is probably what concerns me the most.
whenever i see taxi's on tv they look much more compelling than my own experience of them.
Even though I live in NYC, with a massive number of hailable cabs, it's not so easy to hail a cab in Brooklyn. Or when I need to get to the airport. Uber is good for that.
here you can ring up a phone number and a taxi will come to you in 10 to 30 minutes.
But I would imagine Stallman would agree with me in that, if Uber were not building a walled garden, but instead an open platform for hailing cabs, all would be much better.
but sometimes you ring up 10 minutes later when they say it's close to you, asking why it hasn't come, and it's somehow got lost in their system.
Taxis in NYC would be able to buy in because of the regulation in Albany.
And anyone could build an app to hail taxis, on top of the platform.
The fact that Uber is a closed platform really means everybody loses.
i think the biggest problem with taxi's at least here is that they're mostly foreign drivers, often not having much local knowledge of areas etc.
especially if you get taxi's at night etc, and other times most people don't want to work.
In NYC they're required to pass a knowledge test. Well, yellow cabs. But not UberX/green cabs in the outer boroughs. Which sucks.
But if you get a cab in Manhattan, they know where they're going. If they'll bring you to Brooklyn (which they're required to do, but will turn you down.)
ail
well often taxi drivers will turn down short trips.
the problem with taxis is it's a 50-50 chance that they'll actually show up on-time, if at all, when you call
as it can lose them longer trips.
especially at places like airports.
they get shitty with how long or short your trip is
where they all have to queue up.
and they rig their meters
so they queue at the taxi stand for hours :)
adn then someone wants a 10 minute trip
but that's been my experience with Baltimore, SF, and Boston taxis
never actually used an NYC cab
oh, and the one thing that irks the bejeebus out of me is that most of them don't take cards and will gladly charge you extra to make an ATM run - especially in the day in age when Square mobile payments is/are a thing
That is definitely a benefit of Uber.
I love not having to deal with payment after the fact.
Though, I can't choose not to tip a terrible driver.
public transit isn't much of a thing here in NM
m0unds: what part?
i'm in albuquerque, but that's sort of the case throughout the state
yeah, abq transit sucks
it's getting better with stuff like rail runner
rail runner only runs limited routes now
and only certain days
and it blows if you commute to/from santa fe or abq and need to get back in the middle of the day or something
yeah, no middle of day transit sucks
it's like they assume no one ever has to leave early or has an emergency
well, they have hardly any riders anyway
which is why they reduced the number of scheduled trains
ah, shame that they reduced it
once you get to your destination, public transit is limited and expensive anyway, so unless you're going somewhere close to where you get off the train, you're gonna be out lots of cash
or if you have tons of time to kill you can ride a bus and hope a route takes you near where you want to go, haha
i like that a lot of cities are getting employers to provide transit benefits
mhoran: "if Uber is a big success, real taxis could disappear.", yup you're right, that is what concerns me the most too
Why?
i don't think taxi's will disappear.
Ditto
I really like the service Uber provides, but as a company they worry me. Very cut-throat practices within and with competitors.
So as much as I like Uber, I'm not a fan of giving them $.
However, they are shaking things up and forcing, at least in some places, the local taxi companies to step up their own game.
I wonder how a medallion price crash will affect the industry.
i've never used uber myself.
That's what she said!!
and the last time i was in a taxi it was off the meter :/
Me neither.
but it was a good deal.
i wonder how common it is when picking up taxi's places for them to turn the meter off
taxi's places?
yeah like if you pick oen up off the street
and you want to go somewhere, and they give you a fixed price offer
or you give them one
so like it may normally cost $80 but they do it for $60 off the meter.
That's usually only for special destinations.
Like the airport or something.
that was the last time i was drunk in the city heh
and there was a group of us.
Well the cap operator has to make back his lease.
*cab
(change of subject) there seems to be a lot of new 802.11ac development
it was stagnating at 300 megabit for ages, but now there's heaps of improvementss.
i think it's 2.6 gigabit that's coming soon
.11ac speeds are based on the number of links (channels, antennas)
150mbps/ea
(iirc)
(Ah, and also depending upon encoding modes and the like)
yeah
i get about 300 to 400 megabit next to the router.
with 866 megabit link rate.
so 2.6 gigabit link rate may give gigabit speeds.