thetli8

if the goal is having high speed transportation while minimizing cost burden to the taxpayer, palmdale and other similar cities would have been skipped.

likewise, i'm not going to stop using LAX because it's in Inglewood and not koreatown; i'll figure out how to make the commute.

if CA really wanted to build this right without succumbing to the pork granted to all these towns, CA should have probably taken a more incremental approach (eg. first build the cheapest, shortest-distance, and most environmentally-friendly path. then, build secondary rail systems that go through areas with high population density.)

california regulations mandate prevailing wages for all public works projects [1]. it affects the total cost because, the government should be looking to save taxpayers money by offering the contract to whichever GC that can get the project done in the fastest + cheapest fashion.

prevailing wages essentially maps out to be the _highest negotiated union rate_ in the same geography so the mandate basically shoots, in the foot, the ability for the project to collectively bargain.

[1] https://www.dir.ca.gov/public-works/prevailing-wage.html

you're right that labor is only a part of it. but part of the reason why the CA project saw huge rises in costs is because of project planning and scope increases in the planning -- both of which are politically driven.

part of the politically driven issues stem from NIMBY-ism but the other (arguably more heinous) part is how the cities can force the plan to be re-routed [1]. not only do costs rise and opening dates delay, the hypothetical "high speed" nature no longer rings true.

[1] https://youtu.be/S0dSm_ClcSw?t=129

not to make this political but this is more political than not. people vocally want certain things (eg. prevailing wages) more than they want efficient costs so there's little incentive to make things cheaper.

a good case is always california's railway vs. florida's brightline. the differences are stark:

- $1B per mile vs. <$20M per mile [1]

- prevailing wages vs. market wages

- politics and nimby-ism vs. privatized project

- delayed to maybe 2030 vs. opening 2023

[1] https://fee.org/articles/florida-company-shows-california-ho...

my (limited) understanding is that, most of the time, the problem lies in aggregating demand vs owning the supply. it's harder to figure out demand.

it is a good thought experiment here (and HBS business case-worthy) to see who truly has the power - the creators or the platform.

My understanding is that Binance can step in as a potential savior because Binance is safe themselves and the company doesn't fear a liquidity crisis themselves. But, their whole premise of consumer confidence is based off of SAFU[1] which seems to hold quite a bit of their own BNB coin[2].

Maybe I'm missing something but isn't Binance just insuring funds... with their own coins? (ie. what Alameda basically did with FTT tokens)

1. Couldn't Binance be subject to the same rundown FTX just experienced? / How could Binance realistically rescue FTX at all?

2. Was this offer ever serious?

[1] https://academy.binance.com/en/glossary/secure-asset-fund-fo...

[2] https://bscscan.com/address/0x4B16c5dE96EB2117bBE5fd171E4d20...

Honestly, banning lobbying from Congress might solve the multitudes of issues we're handed down from the government.

http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/29/15100620/congress-fcc-isp-...

I'd suggest that companies, individuals and interest groups file suggestions (similar to amicus curiae) if they want their voices heard. Congress shouldn't be influenced by outside money.

Not sure where the article is but this ASAPScience video gave a quick run-through relative to what I was talking about:

https://youtu.be/BPJ0729NVjw

A while back, I read an article that discussed the differences in people and how, during the hunter & gatherer era, some humans evolved to be night owls and some humans evolved to be early birds. It determined which person would keep watch at night.

In college, I remembered only signing up for 11am classes as a freshman before changing to 9am classes in sophomore and senior year. I think a lot of this has to do with staying up late in college.

There's probably a time where students can function properly, earlier than 11am, if they were to sleep by 12am.

1. Yes, we sell a back-house automation subscription service for restaurants.

2. From the US! Grateful to have been able to be a part of the beta, even in the US.

3. Nope. You don't need to be generating revenue to work with Stripe Atlas. Companies decide, on their own, when they need to incorporate.

Hey lkki, I'm based in the US and we got access to the beta!

We incorporated using Stripe Atlas during the beta.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. Would be happy to provide another perspective on incorporation.

Do you think hardware IoT companies should eventually open source their hardware to solely focus on the software? (Based on the belief that if we can make it, there's always someone who can make it better for cheaper). How would we go about doing that in a way that does not greatly damage revenue streams?