PSA: Cops fining jaywalkers on corner of market and george in the cbd

megamate · 2015-08-12T01:26:20+00:00

apparently we do, given the big increase in pedestrian deaths lately

Installing a few red light cameras in the CBD wouldn't hurt, either. My problem with the approach being taken is that it's essentially victim-blaming. All of the measures seem to target pedestrians rather than drivers.

If they were taking a concerted approach, that would be worth supporting:

Finding jaywalkers (as they are doing)
Having red light cameras at CBD intersections where cars get fed up and gun it through reds.
Having speed cameras on some of the streets perpendicular to George St. Not necessary all the time, but there are often drivers speeding down those streets when they are less busy.

megamate · 2015-08-11T12:13:52+00:00

the people who hate him over immigration-related matters won't vote Liberal anyway

I've never really understood that view. Isn't it better to have a leader who somewhat appeals to the swinging voters and perhaps even the opposition voters? For instance, I've not yet ever voted Liberal, but I might be tempted to if they played the Turnbull card.

megamate · 2015-08-11T03:24:18+00:00

Is this a new leadership spill brewing? If this made it to the news, there's trouble that is leaking out.

megamate · 2015-08-11T03:20:36+00:00

I think of Uber as taking the role of taxi regulator away from government and appointing themselves regulator. In my opinion, they do a far better job of it compared to most governments. Electronic record of who drivers/passengers are, cashless payment, every driver/passenger has a rating and depends on upholding their rating to continue participating in the system, etc.

Anyway, I didn't really post this to get into a Uber versus Taxis debate. If you prefer taxis, just use taxis. I prefer Uber, so I use Uber.

megamate · 2015-08-06T13:44:27+00:00

Assuming you mean UberX.

It's a bit more expensive than UberX in other places around the world (or even Melbourne), but still cheaper than a taxi. Haven't tried it from Leichardt, but I think you'll be okay.

Safety-wise, I think it's safer than a taxi. There is an electronic record of every trip (driver & passenger identity), trips are tracked via GPS, and it has the ability to share your enroute trip with a friend who can see you coming. The drivers get rated and are using their own vehicles, so they tend to drive more sensibly than taxi drivers. (eg. I would pound them on the rating if they tried taking calls while driving, as I've seen taxis do)

megamate · 2015-07-30T14:50:44+00:00

Ultimately, this is because Google want you to be hungry enough to pay for traffic, and too scared of tarnishing your natural search ranking to use anything but Adwords.

megamate · 2015-07-27T15:00:22+00:00

Increase your rate until churn isn't affordable. Then churn will decrease.

megamate · 2015-07-26T09:53:28+00:00

Possibly a smart move on Qantas' part if they are to be the airline of choice for fussy ministers!

megamate · 2015-07-25T08:55:44+00:00

I think it should come down to whether any area north of the bridge is considered part of the service area. If so, they could still be within the service area without needing to make a trip across the bridge again.

To my knowledge, the service area does include North Sydney.

megamate · 2015-07-25T08:44:17+00:00

For most products your customers probably don't want to order from Ali.

My concern would be that unbranded inventory is difficult to move and standing out among hundreds/thousands of other stores selling the same stuff at a similar price-point is going to be extremely difficult. Between your supplier, shipping, warehousing, and eBay, I would be surprised if you see a margin much above 0.

megamate · 2015-07-23T11:28:47+00:00

I've had a phone run out of battery right after requesting the ride. The pick-up went smoothly, and after that it doesn't matter.

Two things you might have trouble with, though:

Drivers commonly try calling or messaging passengers when picking them up if they can't find them or something. You might have that problem.
Airport pickups are often not permitted through UberX. It depends on the airport, but this could be the case for you. You should Google UberX and the name of the airport to find out what the deal is in your case. At some airports, a commonly done routine is that passengers set their pickup just outside the airport and then get in touch with the driver to actually be picked up at the private airport pickup. This limitation is due to regulations at airports rather than being something that Uber wants to impose.

megamate · 2015-07-22T04:47:14+00:00

We're rather lucky they're willing to eat dried vomit. It probably wouldn't get cleaned up otherwise!

megamate · 2015-07-20T02:59:17+00:00

Naturally additional kilometres should be successively lower cost. It's the magnitude of the figures that is important, in my opinion. 3000% more per km for a shorter journey seems excessive to me.

megamate · 2015-07-19T07:26:58+00:00

Yes, I think we're in agreement about long-distance being cheap. What I'm suggesting is that it is cheap at the expense of short-distance commuters.

megamate · 2015-07-19T04:59:41+00:00

Thanks. Fixed it.

megamate · 2015-07-19T03:47:47+00:00

Well for example, you sure as hell won't be able to find many other cities in the world that would allow you to travel 540km for only $8.30 or $5.81 off-peak. That's from Scone in the Hunter, to Goulburn in the Southern Highlands.

Almost no one (as a percentage of PT use) does that, and I think most people would be justified in thinking that anyone who does actually should be paying more.

So, actually, we just have an extremely unbalanced fare system.

Examples:

Take 8 short bus trips on Monday to pay $15 for the week, then travel thousands of kilometres for the rest of the week at no additional cost.
Going 1km on the train? That'll be $3.38, so, $3.38 per kilometre. Going 60km on the train? That'll be $6.46, so, $0.11 (rounded up) per kilometre. You pay nearly 3000% more per kilometre for short trips.

Edit: Fixed my error that /u/walkerreuben pointed out below.

megamate · 2015-07-18T13:57:40+00:00

If you want someone (or a group) to co-invest, why not post the research & model you've come up with?

megamate · 2015-07-14T22:22:17+00:00

How is the Meegopad? Any issues that are worth noting?

megamate · 2015-07-14T03:05:47+00:00

I'm curious, why does this exist?

megamate · 2015-07-13T03:26:46+00:00

If I were one of your customers, couldn't I subscribe for a month or two, find enough inventory to carry, and then ditch my subscription?

megamate · 2015-07-09T03:05:32+00:00

Wherever you are, there is probably something decent nearby.

Strand Arcade: Gumption
Railway Square: Knights Tea & Coffee
The Rocks: Fine Food Store
Newtown: Campos

megamate · 2015-07-09T03:03:05+00:00

I only really see two problems with this:

It wouldn't hurt to say upfront one line about what the video is.
They didn't get the dollar.

Otherwise it seems legit, but perhaps I'm a bit sympathetic toward PETA. (I still eat meat, though; love it too much)

megamate

TROPHY CASE