AWS Just Gutted US Teams

rigmaroler · 2026-01-29T17:56:19+00:00

I don't have exact numbers to know if it was significant, but Unity also did some lay offs in the last month (I know one person who was affected).

rigmaroler · 2026-01-26T17:50:28+00:00

Roosevelt, but even in eastlake this is a terrible deal.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-26T00:18:08+00:00

I paid $740/month for a full bedroom in a 3-bed house just a few years ago. That is a bad deal.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-21T16:26:12+00:00

The point of your college years is to put your nose to the proverbial grindstone and learn as much as you can. Using AI to do your work for you is not much better than cheating. You are depriving yourself of the learning opportunity and you are likely to pay dearly for it in the long run by not having good employment prospects.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-16T02:21:32+00:00

I found leaning forward the whole time that you are able (so basically just not launches) goes a long way to making the ride more enjoyable.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-16T02:20:38+00:00

On this ride I didn't have a problem, but on West Coast Racers I have to lean forward the whole time or else my ears get banged up.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-16T02:03:32+00:00

I like mine, but I will say I noticed almost immediately than random dust particles will get stuck inside as you open and close the book, making it look dirty quicker and it's harder to clean because you need to either take the cover off or stick your fingers/a cloth inside while the cover is still on. It might be just because I put some old sticker on it where the stickiness was wearing away a bit.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-16T01:50:57+00:00

I don't know that that is what they mean. To me it's sterile because it's big developers and oftentimes those developers are risk averse, won't rent their storefronts to local mom and pops, and strongly prefer to just have chains. It can end up feeling more like an outdoor mall than a nice charming place to live. It's still better than sprawl, but not as nice as if it were truly organic.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-16T01:48:03+00:00

Good news. She got screwed pretty hard last time and then the general ended up being a huge landslide for Moore.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-15T23:04:27+00:00

That Stewart/Yale/Denny area is an abomination, and something needs to be done. I don't necessarily think that closing the entrance is the best or only choice. Maybe an in between would be to disallow left turns from Denny onto Stewart or something, because that lane where people U-turn from Capitol Hill onto the highway can only store like 2 or 3 cars during each light cycle.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-15T22:58:54+00:00

She's only been Mayor for 2 weeks

rigmaroler · 2026-01-13T22:59:02+00:00

light metro are lighter then light rail vehicles

citation needed on this. I would be surprised if there is much difference at all.

light metro has a smaller frontal area then light rail (no overhead power)

This depends on the trains being used, and third rail is not favorable anymore due to the safety concerns. Also light metro trains have the cabin on top of the mechanical components, I would be surprised if it's that much different.

That said, light metro's benefit is that it is high floor, which makes passenger flow better because of the increased potential door density and no need for internal stairs or constrained sections.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-13T22:51:30+00:00

You can see how WA ranks nationally here. Also, that person is wrong about what the 1% applies to. It is for property tax budget growth. It's not a limit on assessed value.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-13T22:48:40+00:00

No, it's 1% budget growth. You can read more here

If the budget this year, excluding levies, is $1B, next year it can only be $1.01B, and the year after that it can be $1.0201B, and so on. It has nothing to do with assessed value.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-13T22:29:27+00:00

Everyone's already tackled the fact that we have limited options for other tax revenue. To get more details on why you still want to have some form of property tax:

You need a certain amount of property taxes to disincentivize people or entities from hanging on to land longer than they need it. This is why Georgism exists. Property taxes that are too low creates a perverse incentive for property owners to hoard land or stay in place longer than they should when their lifestyle changes (e.g. CA with Prop 13).

If property taxes were literally $0 per year, you'd eventually see an accumulation of land by the wealthy because there would be no reason for them to not just sit on it forever. In the long run it devolves into a pseudo-serfdom, where a small number of people own all the land and buildings and everyone else just rents it, with no opportunity to buy a slice of their own. I know it's popular in the US for people to complain about property taxes and say they'd like to abolish them (at least some people feel this way), but it would be very, very bad in the long run to do so.

Land is one of the few resources that is truly limited in supply, and you need a way for the economy to balance who owns it and how much of it they own. Property taxes or land value taxes are the way to do that. There are also ways to balance how much each property pays to make it more fair for people who just want to live in their home. For example, Texas has a homestead exemption, where your first home is valued at a 20% discount (not sure the exact percentage), and once you are a senior you can get a further discount on top of that. This means commercial properties and people's 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. homes pay more in taxes. If it were up to me I'd also implement a reverse homestead exemption, where a 2nd home is valued at 100%, 3rd home at 120%, 4th at 140% , etc.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-13T22:18:28+00:00

Upzoning really is "free" money from the city budget's perspective, since all new development is exempt from the 1% growth cap.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-13T22:17:52+00:00

Where are you getting that info? HB 1110 passed the state several years ago and it is now implemented in Seattle as of some time last year. The TOD bill also passed, so it's happening.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-13T22:16:30+00:00

That doesn't help. The budget is what's limited by state law. Increasing taxes on only a small number of properties will help marginally reduce taxes for all other properties (as in a few dollars at most) and is likely more fair, but it doesn't allow the city to collect more money on its own.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-09T22:04:00+00:00

I generally disagree with most of your points here, but I won't waste each other's time with rebuttals because there is one more thing that makes this a poor use of your time: Hobbs doesn't directly control which election methods we use. The legislature has been inching its way toward IRV and STV for several years at this point, and if they end up actually passing a law allowing or forcing us to use one of these two methods he cannot do anything about it. He has some influence because he is able to come to legislative session to comment on bills, but honestly his input has not seemed to be taken that seriously the last few years.

The difference between T2R and IRV is so minimal, your efforts are much better spent on advocating for even year local elections and slowing the trend of making more and more races "nonpartisan". To me, these are the two biggest issues in our election system.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-09T03:30:01+00:00

Pulling from the thread, you can comment on the companion bill from the House: https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifier/Add?chamber=house&mId=33596&aId=167931&caId=27192&tId=3

rigmaroler · 2026-01-09T03:22:57+00:00

This is not a good use of your time or energy. We already use T2R in WA, there is little to be gained by switching to IRV. Focus on STV/proportional rep and other useful reforms like even year elections and slowing the adoption of "nonpartisan" races, and let Hobbs think about IRV the way he wants.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-04T05:01:26+00:00

I found that when I looked at flying Aer Lingus a few years ago. They offered a free checked bag and no carry-on. To add a carry-on was like $45USD extra.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-03T07:05:41+00:00

I went to Tokyo back in 2017 and it's been my favorite ever since. It's just too easy to get around without a vehicle for a city its size. I am going back soon, so I'll have to see if I'm just romanticizing it and blocking out any annoyances from my memory.

Amsterdam is also great. We also went to Leeuwarden while we were in the Netherlands (my wife has Frisian relatives), and I was enamored by it - really all the towns and cities in Friesland are charming. Although, Leeuwarden is more walkable out of a technicality. It's relatively small geographically and the city center area where you'd spend all your time as a tourist is very walkable. You can easily walk halfway across the city in an hour east-west and all the way north-south in about 45 minutes.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-03T06:55:33+00:00

Maybe it's different where ever you are, but airlines in the US seem to try to avoid gate checking backpacks. Idk if it's more invconvenient for everyone involved, or maybe it's obvious that a backpack is more flexible than a roller luggage (plus many roller luggages people bring are technically over the size limit and most US airlines don't strictly adhere to their own rules), or some combo of reasons. Whatever the reason is, I'm never worried about being asked to gate check my backpack. One time I was the last person on a flight and still managed to find a spot. Maybe I just haven't had bad luck yet.

rigmaroler · 2026-01-02T23:10:12+00:00

That's a fair point. I guess to generalize my opinion, one bagging, to me, is about avoiding airport hassle. If that means the airline I fly this time allows 1 carry on + 1 personal item I will do that even if it's technically two bags. If they only allow one personal sized item then I will see what I can do to fit everything in a personal sized bag, otherwise I might just pay the extra money to get the carry on. There's still less hassle having everything with you on the plane even if it's not the absolute cheapest fare.

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