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Comment Re:Yeah.... (Score 1) 106

It's arbitrary as far as an individual business is concerned, and that business doesn't necessarily have any control, insight or predictive ability over why it happens.

Sure they do. They can hire an SEO company to link-farm them, and then Google will shut their ass down, like they did to JC Penney.

http://fortune.com/2011/02/14/...

It's absolutely, totally, a negative control knob, but if some dumbass wants to turn that knob, they surely can. And the result is totally and completely predictable.

Comment I agree. (Score 2, Interesting) 127

That being said I fully expect gravitational waves to be discovered.

I am not so sure. There have been other experiments that should have detected them, but didn't. If this experiment also comes up empty, then physics may be facing another Michelson–Morley moment.

I agree. Gravity waves are unlikely. In theory, we can test the idea with a direct experiment, but the cost would be in the multiple billions, and require spacecraft to loft a tetrahedral constellation of some very large masses, and then you'd have to fling another large mass at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light, probably via solar slingshot, and (effectively) have it "instantaneously appear" intersecting a non-orthogonal plane vector through the tetrahedral constellation. That'd basically give you a wave delta that you could see based on laser interferometry along the vertices of the tetrahedron.

Assuming gravity propagates at the speed of light as a force, rather than being an artifact of space-time, which would mean you don't get any waves. Which we've so far not been able to detect, probably because they don't exist. 8-).

Comment Re:In related news... (Score 1) 301

I don't think you understand the problem. They only get paid while on duty. So they drive from San Francisco to San Jose, let's say 2 hours from start to finish, then you're "off duty" but miles away from you home for at least 8 hours then you get to drive back for 2 hours. During those 8 hours you're essentially a hostage to being near that bus.

I think I would likely keep a car at the parking plaza where the bus ends up sitting. Probably one with a pink mustache.

As far as the Google busses, they basically round trip all day, every day, or when they cycle out, they park at shoreline Amphitheater. The drivers definitely do not "hang out" with the busses, which you can verify just by walking down there. Typically they dead-head back up to wherever by catching a ride on one of the less populated intermediate busses. I know at least one of them has a day job at the Great Mall, and only drives the bus to make some extra cash.

Apple is similar to Google with regard to their busses, but they tend to take charters in the mean time to keep busy.

As far as Facebook is concerned... I haven't worked there, like I have at Apple and Google, so yeah, they might be screwing over the bus drivers, but I think they are likely in exactly the same position that the Apple and Google drivers are in.

Comment Re:... Driverless cars? (Score 1) 301

Well, it certainly worked out well for all those unions that just rolled over for management. Your anecdote just shows how good some people are at creating a narrative to justify their actions.

Do you honestly believe that the labor/management collaboration is a zero sum game, and that there is no possible win-win scenario, and the only choices are "labor loses" OR "management loses"?

Because if you do, I'd like to know what business you are in so that I can take the margin on a "win-win" to turn one of the "wins" into a "lose", and you will happily just eat it, because you believe that's how things have to be in what is actually, essentially, a positive sum game.

Comment Re:... Driverless cars? (Score 1) 301

Yeah, no shit. If an entrepreneur rakes in the cash on a technology with a set end date, he is, "leveraging the current needs of the market". If a working stiff does it, they are, "being shortsighted".

I believe Karmashock's point is that the end date on Teamster labor, unlike the end date on, say, a patent, is *NOT* set.

You would be right, if the company had an extremely long term contract with the Teamsters, and could provide them with work, due to having an extremely long term contract with Yahoo, et. al., but those contracts are generally not on the order of 20 years because the companies contracting their transportation services are not stupid.

Comment Re:In related news... (Score 1) 301

Well if I worked for any of those companies and utilized these buses, I'd want to make sure that the guys at the wheel were at least satisfied with what they were doing and not ill nor overworked; especially if I had to put my life in their hands.

Obviously, they should not be ill.

One of their primary complaints is that they are *underworked*, not *overworked*; specifically, they only have work in the morning and evening.

If *the rest of us* don't get to be satisfied, why should *they* get to be satisfied?

Comment Re:Being disconnected might be good... (Score 1) 53

If voting moves entirely online

Begging the question, huh?

Online voting has been performed in both Arizona, U.S., and in Estonia

Both privately owned gated communities and government housing projects are also in a position to prevent you from getting outside the gate on the day of the poll — does this mean, it is better to be homeless than to live in such a place?

This type of thing has actually occurred before, disenfranchising both Women and African Americans by preventing them, en masse, from getting to the polls. It's why it's felony voter fraud to do that, in most jurisdictions. Florida is famous for having, in a number of cases, sent busses to pick up African Americans, nominally to take them to vote, but in reality, to take them far away from their registered polling places until the polls closed.

Meanwhile the loving government can punish an entire town with make-work road repairs — would you accept that as an argument against government-maintained roads?

No, but I might accept it as an argument against some governments and government officials...

Comment Re:Being disconnected might be good... (Score 1) 53

Despite already well-known in his times mega-corporations (like Standard Oil), Orwell was not particularly concerned with them. Probably, because a corporation, however big, can not compel you to do anything at the point of a weapon.

If voting moves entirely online, it's possible to disenfranchise you and take away your right to vote.

Frankly, I'd rather have the weapons pointed at us.

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