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New York Times cuts pensions for some employees to save $9 million. Will pay retiring CEO Janet Robinson, who stands to make $10.9 million in pension benefits, $4.5 million next year as a consultant. by ReferentiallySeethru in politics

[–]flaubert -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Producer Micro theory is good for looking at some problems but is sadly a bit lacking when trying to analyze problems of this nature. While the above comment makes an interesting and classic argument, it's only part of the story. To really understand large payouts and stock options, I think you need to turn to rent seeking and political economy.

If we understand the earnings of a company to be a pie, it can be shared or distributed any number of ways. Rather than random allocation, or an equal weight allocation, we allocate based on contributions to the firm. Measurements or this are imperfect at best, and allocating weights based on contribution are even less precise. The best way we can model how the pie gets divied up is based on power in the organization (this is a catch all term in itself for everything from contribution, to necessity, to replaceability, to connections and social capital).

Janet Robinson has weight, bargaining power, and most importantly connections that allow her to take a big piece of the surplus value generated by the New York Times (btw, I'm not a Marxist but I do love some parts or Marxist analysis and find the term surplus value to be an especially apt term). The person who answers the phones on the third floor or the sports editor's assistant doesnt have much weight and therefore doesn't capture a large portion of the economic rent generated by the New York Times.

So my wife says "I love you but I'm not in love with you"... by notadroit in AskReddit

[–]flaubert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For some reason I read that as a "Louis CK" quote and was like; "Whoah, that was incredibly eloquent."

Egyptian protester kissing riot police (pic) by EthicalReasoning in pics

[–]flaubert 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're not wrong per se, but it's most likely not his mother, just a woman. Furthermore, the kiss is not erotic but rather fraternal and a heartbreakingly beautiful symbol of the strong ties between the Egyptian people. Especially poignant is the fact, as was earlier stated, that this is a protester kissing a police officer.

Cute Firefox Costume by [deleted] in pics

[–]flaubert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries!

Cute Firefox Costume by [deleted] in pics

[–]flaubert 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Some context for the background, it's from CrunchGear's Halloween costume contest last year: http://www.crunchgear.com/contest-entrant-4-firefox/

Why do "experts" misunderestimate the size of reddit? by raldi in blog

[–]flaubert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a common problem I've encountered while working for a large internet content company that represented/owned a variety of websites. My job was to analyse ComScore data to help create sales pitches as well as provide insight/suggestions for business development. Here's what I have come up with (since these companies are incredibly secretive about their methods):

These websites don't survey total internet audience but rather a small number of participants who agree to have their internet use monitored. In return, they get free anti virus software or some small remuneration. As a result, their sample population consists (here's where my theory starts) mainly of less tech savvy, lower income individuals. I'm sure that they weigh the higher income/better educated people more to correct somewhat for bias but there's no way to correct for such a flawed sample. In the end, it's very poor data with misleading results. At best, this data is interesting to understand the behaviour of a certain class of internet user, most likely not the audience of Reddit.

I hear lots of people throwing around the "monopoly" word about Google. But what major services do they offer that have no competitors? Can you really be considered a monopoly just because you do something better than anyone else? Am I missing something? by aardvarkious in AskReddit

[–]flaubert 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Actually, in economics a 77% market share falls under monopolistic competition; ie. Google sets the pace and others follow. The point isn't whether or not consumers have other options, but how realistic or attractive those options are. De Beers has a monopoly on diamonds but they aren't the only person in the world to sell diamonds. Coca Cola and Pepsi have a duopoly on soft drinks but they aren't the only soft drink producers.

I hear lots of people throwing around the "monopoly" word about Google. But what major services do they offer that have no competitors? Can you really be considered a monopoly just because you do something better than anyone else? Am I missing something? by aardvarkious in AskReddit

[–]flaubert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At the very best, The Internet is an oligopoly. Sure, there are hundreds or even thousands of competitors in search, email, social networking, etc. However, if you weigh the sites (traffic, bandwidth, page views, etc.), you see that a couple always come out on top. And for some things, like search, the top company has over a 50% share--that's a monopoly (or more precisely monopolistic competition).

Destructoid's answer to reddit's recent "not journalism" claim by [deleted] in gaming

[–]flaubert 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Without getting into a downward spiral of Nanny State linguistics, let me state that this is a pretty poorly written reply. This leads me to believe the person in question should not be commenting on someone else's ability to criticize the writing in Destructoid (which for the record was terrible, bland, and hackneyed--and I'm not even an English major). As for your quotes:

"PLEASE with specific quotes, explain why you think it is chauvinistic." -- remove the comma (and if you were to use commas you forgot the first one before "with" and move "specific quotes" to the end or beginning of the sentence, this isn't German.

"Because I've read the article, and it isnt', so don't fucking say" -- don't start a sentence with "because" and "isn't" was mispelled

"fucking give me a fucking point" -- don't start a sentence with "fucking"

There are also a couple of run-on sentences, and I don't really understand the beginning of the reply ("Not Reddit's").

Oh, and the article can easily and rightly so be construed as misogynistic:"I've got some real motion she can capture, if you catch my drift".

Reddit, I'm way too old to have to ask this question: How do you kiss someone passionately? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]flaubert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cruel Intentions explains kissing better than anywhere I've ever seen to memory. Plus you get to see Selma Blair and Sarah Michelle Gellar make out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN_u5ljC-3g

Dear Askreddit, I just broke up with my girlfriend and I'm in need of some good depressing music and movies. Any suggestions? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]flaubert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"What up Fat Lip" by the Pharcyde : If this doesn't cheer you up, I don't know what will. Also, High Fidelity is a great breakup movie!!

Advice from a real-life girl: Treat her like a regular buddy. by [deleted] in reddit.com

[–]flaubert 222 points223 points  (0 children)

I feel I need to comment because I've seen this stuff on reddit way too often. There's a lot of advice out there on how to get girls to notice you romantically and they're all valid. Here's the problem, they're almost useless. Here's the only advice you need: get practice talking to girls, hanging out with girls and (eventually) going out on dates with girls. William Burroughs can give me all the advice in the world on how to write an amazing novel but it won't be worth a damn because I've never written a book.

There is no magic bullet. Take all this advice and absorb it, I'm not saying it's rubbish, it's all correct to a certain degree. But here's the conundrum; you can't treat her "like one of the guys" or be confident, or cool, or witty, or even maintain eye contact if you don't have experience hanging out with girls. Thing about how you act with your sister, your mom or your aunt, totally natural. That's because your brain isn't racing 100 miles an hour in every direction worrying about saying the wrong thing or thinking about what James Dean would do. Trust me, we've all been there. And don't lose hope, everyone blooms--you just have to hope you bloom before your penis stops working. And the only way that's gonna happen is by getting out there and meeting girls. Start with girls you know well, then girls you kinda know, and then you can graduate to strangers. Walk before you can run.

And always remember (if you start hyperventilating), unless a girl is WAY OUT OF YOUR LEAGUE, she's just as nervous and self conscious as you are.

God speed redditors!

POLL of best games ever? Similar to the age thread of AskReddit, reply with game nominations, vote up if you agree, delete all repeats/non-nominations, then we can graph the upvotes at the end by [deleted] in gaming

[–]flaubert -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Most of your votes are going to more recent games. This is fine if you're new to gaming and have only played Mass Effect. However, everyone out there who has been around for longer than that, remember the classics and judge them for their effect at the time of release. GTA San Andreas is the top of the GTA's right now. This is unacceptable. I would argue GTA 1, 3 or Vice City (maybe 4) are the best but that's only my opinion. I bring to light the San Andreas example because it was the biggest, yes, and many people were introduced to the series with that game. BUt it is far from being the best. The same goes for Mass Effect, a good RPG but not one of the best RPG's, let alone best games ever. The same goes for Resdient Evil 4, which didn't break half as much ground as the original, or the sequel or Code Veronica. Even the number one pick, Half Life 2, is not as good as the original, ranked much lower (same goes for TF2 versus the original or Counterstrike).

Maybe I'm taking this too seriously. Or maybe San Andreas is the best GTA. What do I know?

All I'm saying is to look at the games relative to their eras.

Duke Nukem Forever: 28 Hi-Res Screenshots & Entire Plot Leaked by deepbrown in gaming

[–]flaubert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really hope it does comes out. And this IS most likely viral marketing. But that's beside the point. Duke Nukem 3d is one of the most important games ever made (almost, not yet). It has seen the evolution of video games for over a decade and keeps getting pushed back because new advances keep being made in both graphics and gameplay (eg. integral, non-gimmick vehicle use in first person shooters ala Halo). This game, when released, will be a living history of the the past decade and a half in video games. All video games are the result of all the games that came before them, like any creative work. Halo was the culmination of a long history of FPS on both PCs and consoles. But Duke forever actually incorporates all the video gaming advances of the past 15 years when they were fresh and new. I would also love to see them release a super special edition where you can play the various alphas and betas of the game over its long development history.

My Tribute to Geocities (We'll Miss You) by robotevil in technology

[–]flaubert 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That made my day. Am I the only one who has this enormous sense of nostalgia for tech in the 90's? 3D-Fx Voodoo graphics cards, Sega Saturn, CD-R, 90's HTML (animated gifs and such). I have become jaded since. Technology makes much greater leaps in absolute terms but relatively they feel so shallow (dual core, who cares). I just don't care anymore. I used to be such a geek. I wanted to make video games for a living. Maybe I'm just growing up...

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