you don't have to live in a particular place anymore with those kinds of jobs. If you aren't finding work as a software developer, working for anywhere within the Continental United States, you are doing it wrong. There are countless number of software opportunities now and most of them are remote. Sure, you might make a little less in some situations but you will still make out in the end - living somewhere where cost of living is 4x less than any cost on the coasts.

if you are still employed and able to work and/or working from home and still getting paid - you will NOT get any money.

actually its more than a one-time payment. you also get unemployment benefits (extended) for up to 4 months plus $600 - which also include the self-employed, 1099ers, freelancers, gigsters, which you would have never been eligible for otherwise.

That means for 4 months you get the unemployment numbers from your state + an additional $600 for 4 months. After those 4 month you will continue to get state unemployment beyond 2020 (its normall 26 weeks but they added an additional 13). So you get all this on TOP of the one-time payment.

So in summary:

One-time payment (family of 4 would be $3,400) + normal state unemployment benefits ($XXX per week * 39 weeks) + 600 per week (up to 4 months).

how about add an option to have NO touchbar? I don't want it, don't need and many people feel the same way

I always find it funny that people pay an enormous amount of money to go to Disneyworld where 75% of the things to do in the park itself, is to buy merchandise - merchandise you can buy online sitting at home.

This is going on over many spectrums of software now for so called "freelancers" or "contractors". I can't tell you, as a freelancer, how many companies are hiring a "contractor" for their mobile app or webpage and want them to work 40 hours a week and many times onsite (no remote allowed), despite the IRS being very clear on how employers should treat non-employees

The whole point of being a freelancer/contractor is to do the work, when you want, how you want and where you want as long as deadlines are met, no matter how many hours it takes. If we are stuck working full time and cant even work remote then whats the point? All they want to have is the availability and work of a regular employee, without having to pay for benefits.

I chose to go with Spectrum Choice. Its a new plan that they don't advertise online. It doesnt require a cable box

You get all the local stations plus a few freebies, then you get to choose 10 cable channels (yes even ESPN, ESPN2, which allows you to have Watch ESPN by default, if you are wondering).

Spectrum Choice (streaming using a Roku, whatever) via the Spectrum App - $30 (including the local broadcast fees)
100 mpbs internet: $65

$104.00 w/taxes. About the cheapest and closest to a la carte as you are going to get.

for personal car ownership to be "rare" you are gonna have to have an ecosystem outside of big coastal cities where people can easily get from one place to the next. Not just single people. People with families, pets, other relatives, etc. People that need to get to a certain place now and cant afford to wait an extra minute or at the last minute they plan to go shopping or eating out.

It's easy to look at New York or San Fran but the rest of the country is far more spread out, have less options for 3rd party transit and if they do have any sort of other alternatives, it's not convenient. I live in the Tampa, FL area and I'm not in the middle of nowhere and it takes me 10 mins to get the nearest walmart in the vehicle - so you can forget about walking.

Doing Nothing

Office Space ^^^

I do like the e-Sim feature. Having two phone numbers on a single device.

Move to a slew of other great states to live in.. Tennessee, Florida, Texas and others have NO state income tax. You could work as a software engineer making 50% less and still come WAY ahead on your money. Why is there a deep need to work for Apple or Google?

exactly. i mean whats the point? If you are close to dead even staying with your cable co. or the equivalent, its not worth the hassle. I have spectrum and if i just choose the basic internet plan (which i think is 75 mbps). its $80 + tax. So i go with youtube and pay $40 + tax and now i'm paying as much or more than what i pay for the previously mentioned basic internet plan + the lowest tier cable package.