The No Subject Thread
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The masters is going to be an uphill stuggle but maybe doable. The advanced topics in software engineering though, is an absolute bastard, and I'm reading like a nutter trying to fathom it all, but one of those bastard topics is Genetic Algorithms, and it's beautiful.
It's one of those ideas that seems too good to be true, too briliiant. It basically takes all the ideas from evolution - fitness, hereditary traits and mutation to come up with a solution to a given problem that basically solves itself over generations without intelligent design.
http://boxcar2d.com/
I still can't believe it works but Facebook have just started using it which should scare the shit out of everybody quite frankly. -
How long before it solves its need for flash? -
Come with g if you want to live... -
Question is, will Uber revise its practices in order to appeal and get it’s license back? Or will Uber try to continue without a license and then fight against prosecution in court? I’m betting the latter. They’re arrogant enough. -
Aye, it's an interesting situation this one. Last time I was in London I'd have been utterly screwed without Uber when I missed the last tube from the opposite side of the city I was staying on.Come with g if you want to live...
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What’s the situation with unlicensed cabs in London nowadays? That’s how I used to get around after hours, in the days before Uber. You’d leave a nightclub at chucking out time and find lots of dodgy drivers hanging around outside asking people if they needed a ride. Cab roulette.
Does that still happen, or did Uber take their place? -
I'd have to a) be in a nightclub in the first place and b) remain there until chucking out time to be able to answer that question. -
TBH, finding a cab in London isn't hard, Uber was just a bit cheaper and easier.
Most Londoners night bus it anyway. -
Uber was shit last time I tried it in London. Needed to get from Lord’s to Kings Cross. They kept cancelling, then ‘surge pricing’ would magically happen when I tried to rebook. Ended up getting a black cab for less than what Uber were quoting.iosGameCentre:T3hDaddy;
XBL: MistaTeaTime -
When we tried to use it, 2 drivers cancelled on Yoss, and then a third parked up a street over, so we cancelled it on them.
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I've been pretty lucky in that most places I go to are served by night bus or night tube
Have used uber but only because Emma is a fan of it. I'm pretty much against the concept, but have succumbed to the convenience on occasion"I spent years thinking Yorke was legit Downs-ish disabled and could only achieve lucidity through song" - Mr B -
cockbeard wrote:Have used uber but only because Emma is a fan of it. I'm pretty much against the concept, but have succumbed to the convenience on occasion
Same here. Against it in principle and actively avoid using it. But sometimes, the sheer convenience and frugality of it tips me over the edge...
Having said that I did rail against going on holiday to Turkey because of that delightful Erdogan chap.
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Why are people opposed to it? -
For me it's the same thing as with Deliveroo/Just Eat/AirB&B etc
Yet another middleman taking a cut of someone's profits. Making anyone with a car think that they can be a taxi driver. Having zero obligation to their drivers so not needing to adhere to any employment rules etc"I spent years thinking Yorke was legit Downs-ish disabled and could only achieve lucidity through song" - Mr B -
Oh okay. But if it wasn't for the infrastructure they wouldn't have a service and so wouldn't have a job.
It's not like people are given black cabs and taxi licenses for free are they? Aren't most London Taxi drivers also self-employed? -
WorKid wrote:Why are people opposed to it?
They refuse to accept that their drivers are employees (and thus have employee rights).
They refuse to accept that they should be subject to the same terms & conditions of trade as other taxi companies.
They refuse to accept any corporate responsibility for any wrongdoing or safety issues with their drivers’ vehicles or practices.
Their CEO is a noted arsehole.
Basically, by saying that they only provide the app and not any actual taxi service, they duck responsibility for anything and everything. They’re running a taxi cartel with no regulation or oversight. -
WorKid wrote:Oh okay. But if it wasn't for the infrastructure they wouldn't have a service and so wouldn't have a job. It's not like people are given black cabs and taxi licenses for free are they? Aren't most London Taxi drivers also self-employed?
Exactly, people work extremely hard to get a hackney license, and then some dickhead who's a bit skint in the week before payday suddenly thinks they can be a taxi driver, and in doing so demeans the effort that others go to to get licensed. Not just Hackneys but PH drivers and firms also have to go through some pretty stringent checks
The there's the question of public safety,. what checks do Uber perform on people who sign up to their service? I genuinely don't know but can't imagine it's much"I spent years thinking Yorke was legit Downs-ish disabled and could only achieve lucidity through song" - Mr B -
In the UK, Uber have to operate under a taxi license. In many other countries, they don’t. So in reality Uber are less shit here than they are elsewhere.
In the UK, they actually do have to shoulder a bit of responsibility and provide a bit of relative safety. -
Beyond what everyone else has said, their business model appears to be to undercut the competition and put other cab firms out of business. How? Partly explained by the dreadful terms, conditions, pay and support they give their employees.
Their ability to undercut the opposition is largely down to their employees suffering. -
Is that why they are being called unsafe? Because they don't vet the drivers?
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WorKid wrote:Is that why they are being called unsafe? Because they don't vet the drivers?
I believe so yes. Though as said to Emma earlier I fully expect tfl to create their own app that mimics Uber and charge all hackneys and PH firms a subscription fee to be on it"I spent years thinking Yorke was legit Downs-ish disabled and could only achieve lucidity through song" - Mr B -
Oh so tfl are killing the competition then they'll launch their own similar service?
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Stopharage wrote:Beyond what everyone else has said, their business model appears to be to undercut the competition and put other cab firms out of business. How? Partly explained by the dreadful terms, conditions, pay and support they give their employees.
Their ability to undercut the opposition is largely down to their employees suffering.
Yep. Furthermore, many of those employees used to work for a proper minicab firm with proper employment rights which was driven out of business by Uber. -
It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it happens. Though tfl are a nonprofit, so though destroying the competition might be what they're doing, it's not quite the same as a bigger firm doing it (not that there are many bigger firms than Uber). Also they will likley include the subscription in the licensing fees to PH firms and Hackneys, which they've already vetted so they eliminate the public safety argument, and don't allow any tom dick or harry to start picking people up"I spent years thinking Yorke was legit Downs-ish disabled and could only achieve lucidity through song" - Mr B
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WorKid wrote:Oh so tfl are killing the competition then they'll launch their own similar service?
Uber aren't the only firm offering this service, but they're the only one losing their license. -
The trouble I found when I lived in London was there was no middle ground when I came out of a club.
It was either Uber/unlicensed or Hackney carriage.
Or Addison Lee and fuck them cunts.
I fully appreciate the difficulty in getting that Hackney license, have a mate that did it, but I rarely needed someone with The Knowledge, I just needed someone who knew roughly where Tooting was.
Not that I am excusing Uber's business practices, they certainly are not good but neither is paying 30-40 quid to go a few miles. -
Expensive and a pain to book from/to certain areas at certain times in my experience.
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Also my most hated of bosses used to use "Addison Lee" in place of the word taxi.
Posh cunt he was, hated everything about him. -
Because I always take things to their logical (yet often ridiculous) conclusion. My problem with Uber et al is the erosion of skills. Nobody will want a tradesperson, yes for many tasks the Knowledge is overkill, especially given the prevalence of GPS, but without it we end up losing those skills, and before we know it there are no carpenters anymore"I spent years thinking Yorke was legit Downs-ish disabled and could only achieve lucidity through song" - Mr B
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