- memorising names and birthdates of relevant people - private life and work life
- anything I’m looking up more than ~5 times can go in Anki
- spelling of words I often misspell (eg bureaucracy)
- when reading anything technical I need for my work or study I have Anki open and type in what I learn in QnA format, and I will never forget it but have it easy within reach for an investment of only a few minutes per QnA over its (and my) life time
- just for fun, the cantons of Switzerland, landskap of Sweden, provinces of Canada, and states and capitals of the USA
- NATO phonetic alphabet which comes in useful more often that you’d think
Life-changingly useful program for every aspect of my life, when I can finish it every day
My top tips:
- put all decks in a master “daily” deck using the :: syntax in the deck names. Otherwise you feel “done” when having finished one deck, and feel like not starting the next. Have only one goal - finishing today’s Anki
- for that master deck (and every other deck) go Study Options > Display Order > New/review order > Show after reviews. Otherwise it’s hard to ever catch up when slipping behind. With this setting, the system becomes somewhat self correcting
My only regret is not being able to pay more than $25 to the developers
The EU forces every member state to implement an exit tax to trap entrepreneurs in a disadvantageous situation (Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive).
Some countries such as Sweden implements this only minimally - making capital gains of Swedish companies you hold realised within 10 years of moving abroad are taxed, so just don’t sell in 10 years but take out credit with those assets as collateral.
Of course outside the EU, such as Switzerland and the UK, these governments are not bound by EU rules and don’t impose exit taxes.
Which is why so many European millionaires are doing their best to live in these countries
The reframing of anti tax avoidance to be a "trap", a "disadvantageous situation" is egregious.
Like maybe just pay your dues? Contribute back to the society that enabled you to become rich in the first place instead of parasitically extracting value?
Who are you to decide what is reasonable and what is unreasonable over the democratically elected lawmakers? This is a deeply anti-democratic attitude.
Democracy in most EU countries is messed up. People don't get to vote on stuff. There are usually 2-3 major parties that campaign on this or other hot issue. There is nothing that can be done about most issues even if vast majority of citizens support them.
Parliamentary indirect democracy is an illusion. It's just a capture by the political class. Will of the people has very little to do with what is done. I would love to live in actual democracy where we get to vote on stuff and popular policies are implemented while unpopular get struck down. It's even worse than American system where at least you can vote for your representative who has some independence. Here they are just a party official and if they don't vote along the party lines the party will run someone else next time around. Their loyalty is not to the electorate.
Norway has a high wealth tax (it’s gonna be 1.1% of total wealth per year in normal cases), high capital gains tax, and an exit tax treating moving abroad as a capital gains event.
This means, if you start a not-yet-publicly-listed company, get investment at a high valuation (on paper), you must pay wealth tax as if you had that money liquid in your own name. But you don’t have it liquid, it’s yet just a valuation of a VC, so you are screwed.
This means any Norwegian trying to start eg a fast growing software biz must relocate to Sweden if they want to be close to home, or Switzerland more realistically, as swedens top income tax bracket is >50%.
Scandinavia is attractive as a destination if you are poor and especially from the 3rd world and could benefit from free government services and welfare, but for anyone entrepreneurial or already wealthy, there are many better alternatives.
> This means any Norwegian trying to start eg a fast growing software biz must relocate to Sweden if they want to be close to home, or Switzerland more realistically, as swedens top income tax bracket is >50%.
There's nothing stopping them from doing that in Norway, they just have to pay their dues. Which are nowhere near the rate of those in a real communist system that people are so quick to label it as.
I find it very selfish to think that we should optimize everything to squeeze out the remaining 1.1% of the wealth, given that Scandinavia wouldn't have such a high living standard had it not been for the welfare system.
> I find it very selfish to think that we should optimize everything to squeeze out the remaining 1.1% of the wealth, given that Scandinavia wouldn't have such a high living standard had it not been for the welfare system.
1.1% is deceiving. 1.1% is actually over 20% tax on savings (assuming a common drawdown of wealth at 4% per year). Plus savings are usually money that has already been taxed. If you can invest at a higher return then the numbers improve but the risk increases (and governments don't share the risk or otherwise ameliorate it) and the taxes remain if you win.
1.1% sounds small. Any analytical person analysing the rewards versus the risks of founding a company will decide that it isn't worth it. Even if you win, you lose.
Here in New Zealand no founder can plan for a decade timeframe because there's a high chance a new government will screw you if you make any winnings. Currently our taxation system encourages entrepreneurship a little (no CGT).
A taxation system needs to be designed to incentivise individuals to create businesses. The government wins through income taxes and sales taxes - it doesn't need to kill the golden goose by overtaxation.
Most people have a selection bias: they see the winners and think those "greedy bastards" should pay more. Few people weigh up the invisible costs of the people that tried and failed. Very few people consider the benefits accrued to society from businesses (consumer surplus, tax income through other taxes, etcetera).
What is stopping it is the fact that the "wealth" they are being taxed on doesn't actually exist, so by starting a company and getting investment you create tax liability that is impossible to pay.
Early stage companies have a high valuation on paper as an artifact of selling small amounts of equity for relatively large sums of money. This leaves you with purely theoretical wealth in the form of equity which you have not yet sold, and potentially can't sell.
As a concrete example, let's say your tax rate is 15%. If you start a business, and give an investor a 10% stake in that business in exchange for $1M, your remaining 90% stake in the company is now worth $9M. Congratulations, you're wealthy! Now you need to "pay your dues" of 15% of that $9M... good luck with that. You are now bankrupt and deeply in dept to the government.
It's also an attractive destination for people wanting to live in a society that's not completely broken by inequality and are willing to pay their membership dues for living in such a society.
Not everyone's top priority is building a big ol' dragon pile of gold.
I’ve frequently heard this article of faith bandied about.
But if the rich get 10X richer, and the poor get 2X richer, then everybody is better off.
The stagnant, ultraconservative, ultracentralized economic systems tankies like to propose always end up leaving everyone 100X poorer. But at least they’re equal, right!?
Seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Wealth inequality is a good thing, but the cause of it matters. Was wealth inequality caused by theft and corruption, or by merit-based capitalism? If wealth is created and concentrated by capitalism, it doesn't cause social unrest.
These numbers are always given on a "real" basis, accounting for inflation.
Inflation is hard to measure because products get better and houses get bigger over time. But by every measure I've ever seen, purchasing power per hour worked has been going up exponentially or at least geometrically for 200 years now.
If you don't believe this, the World Bank, the IMF, and the US Federal Reserve publish reams of statistics about it.
People get turned around the axle of income disparity, because what actually has happened since WWII is that society has gone from being huddled pretty tightly around an average income ( a bell curve where almost every household made $65k) to a society where this has spread out further to the right ( a similar curve from $0 to $65k but now with a smushed peak a long drawn out tail going up into the 100's of thousands).
There are more wealthy families right now in the US than there has ever been. More people are earning more than ever before. But it creates a lot of societal fracture and strong negative perceptions. When the whole gang is broke, well we're in to together. When the gang ranges from broke, to comfortable, to some splurging, to wealthy, to flat out rich, the cohesion really takes a beating.
Well while celebrating, let's remember that the dream leans massively on the US. 74% of Europe's publicly listed companies depend on US-based technology services like Google and Microsoft for their core operations. And can Europe defend itself? No is the response most analysts give. It's massively under-resourced & dependent on the US. However, if Russia invades (as predicted by some), it invades Europe. So in negotiations such as they are, where are the Europeans leaders dominating (or even putting an appearance at) the discussion to try to call a cease fire to the appalling tragedy of Russia's invasion of the country adjacent to European territory? Isn't it kind of embarrassing?
Overstaying a visa is an offence and if you've gone through the efforts of getting one in the first place, you should read the regulations. Most of us do and act accordingly as I know from own situation this summer.
PMS as in Pantone Matching System or Premenstrual Syndrome?
AirBNB can be equally frustrating for users as well.
Recently ended up at night in a new city in northern Japan where the host told me the listing was at a different address, where I found nothing, and got only radio silence from the host.
Every hotel room in town was occupied that night.
Airbnb support, seemingly in far away India, told me to try contacting the host, and that was that.
Also recently stayed at a place with a dog that shat inside due to the owner not taking them out; due to politeness no one had complained in the reviews.
Also Airbnb lists one price but when booking it always ends up being way more with more fees added.
I’m using hotels.com with a filter for “has kitchen” these days, which was the only reason I used Airbnb in the first place
PMS - Property Management System, aka what actual hotels use to manage room inventory, bookings, etc.
IMO most of the things that people like about AirBnB vs hotels is downstream of the failed experiment of urban planning. If we want hotel operators willing to "spend" floorspace on kitchens and other niceties, then legal floorspace can't be scarce or special, but most of the current planning regime is oriented around enforcing limits on floorspace. Ditto for having options of places to stay that aren't tourist traps or commercial areas.
I suppose hotels can have a few rooms with kitchens but I'm guessing a vanishingly few people care about kitchens when traveling outside of maybe a microwave and a small refrigerator. AirBnB that are larger (e.g. houses) can also be nice for groups but that's more outside of cities than in a city center. Hotels tend to optimize for the 90% case.
Where I'm staying at the moment is a "serviced apartment" and does have a couple burners but that's unusual and I mostly stay here because I like the location in London.
A large fraction of families traveling value the kitchens (leftovers, kid breakfasts, not having to eat restaurant food for every meal, when all the kids want is Kraft Mac&Cheese, etc.) and the common living spaces (kids go to bed early). I hate traveling with my family and being stuck in a hotel room (or two!). When I'm traveling alone or with just adults, I can be out all day and only use my hotel room for sleeping, but with a diverse set of ages traveling, we often hang out in the living room while someone naps, or my kids will be done with touristing by 3pm and we need somewhere to be until dinnertime.
You see this in vacation destinations like Hawaii and Ski towns; there is a significant fraction of accommodations that are Condos, because you need a place to hang. AirBNB brought that to urban areas by sub-letting apartments, when hotel operators only provided maximally-dense sleeping-focused options; multi-bedroom hotel rooms with living rooms and kitchens largely did not exist in major city centers.
This is the primary reason I use Airbnb and it's equivalents. My typical traveling party is 4 adults, 3 kids, and 1-2 dogs most of those people have a preference to cook rather than eat out. Accommodating that in a hotel is a disaster unless you get an ultra low price of a double suite or something.
That's really the sweet spot for Airbnb (and Vrbo). Very few conventional hotels accommodate large groups well. If you're just trying to save a few bucks as a couple or solo traveler I'm not sure it usually pencils out given other tradeoffs.
If it truly is a minority preference, then we need a way to square that with all the people saying they book AirBnB's instead of hotels because of the kitchens. :)
The people who don't need kitchens and just book hotels don't say anything because their needs are met.
There are also some hotels with kitchens. Usually they have 'Suites' in their name. I stay at one most holiday seasons, we go and visit my folks and want to have a place where my family can cook without taking over my parents' kitchen.
I've stayed places with vrbo, which is pretty similar to airbnb, but older. It's most convenient IMHO if you want more than two bedrooms for a group with shared space, or you're going somewhere without many hotels.
> There are also some hotels with kitchens. Usually they have 'Suites' in their name. I stay at one most holiday seasons, we go and visit my folks and want to have a place where my family can cook without taking over my parents' kitchen.
These are okay, but they still have the antiseptic, overly-clean feeling of a space optimized for housekeeping. They will usually have a small couch or two, and maybe a table for 4. I have never seen one with a full dining room with table for 6; a fully stocked kitchen that includes non-perishable food staples, or any outdoor space. These things are common in AirBNB rentals, often at the same or similar price to nearby hotels.
AirBNB and VRBO absolutely opened a new market of accommodations compared to what was available before. These options may or may not be for the previous commenters, but it's silly to state universally that you can or should stay in a hotel instead. It's like saying "I love to ride my bike", and the reply being "you know you could ride a scooter to your destination, or drive a car."
I don't see anyone arguing that you shouldn't stay in an Airbnb or Vrbo. But a lot of us with more routine needs just want to plan to be able to checkin at any time, leave our luggage for a late departure, have a fairly predictable experience, etc. for our typical hotel stay.
The argument was never about what anyone individual should or should not do, it was about the idea that the limitations of the hotel format are more driven by urban planning and local politics - striving to keep buildings as small as possible, concentrating all non-house buildings in small slips of land, etc. - than anything inherent to the hotel format. Hotels and Airbnb’s are great, but both be better if both were legal on 100% of the land in the city, along with apartment buildings and every other form of housing, and without the arbitrary restrictions on size.
Sure tho TBF I wouldn't use the word lax - it implies there's something dangerous or untoward going on and we are choosing to let it slide. :)
Rather since the rules limiting hotel size, locations, quantity etc have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with class, exclusivity, and segregation, we can jettison them confidently without worrying that we are being too lax about anything important :)
And yes, I use Airbnb as a guest as well, but I gauge the risk of having a bad host into the decision making.
We also get all type of horror stories from guests that had a bad experience and found themselves trying to find a last minute place to stay.
The problem is that the Airbnb app heavily disincentivizes "professionalization". They have a small cartel of PMS providers that can actually hit their API. I can't build my own systems on top of their API, I have to go through a middle man or use the their crappy app.
Their app is so incredibly obtuse that it puzzles me how people shower Airbnb as a "great product design company". It's a beautiful app sure, but incredibly clunky. It's like a call center phone menu made into an art piece.
It's a tech assisted operations company, similar to Uber and Lyft.
The key distinction between say United Airlines and gig tech companies is that the latter will aggressively avoid owning physical assets and use tech to be a streamlined middle man in a market that actually requires a lot of operations.
They are a tech company, but in the sense that they get their edge from software not that they sell it.
They can but generally that includes any Javascript on the same page which sometimes does funny stuff when you open it up offline or after the remote server goes away.
It's not perfect, but Edge will let one take a simple full page screenshot with Ctrl+Shift+S. It results in a hefty PNG but at least it's a visual copy of everything which might suffice for a certain set of purposes (e.g. links will be lost, so it's not good for that).
I can still right-click > Save any page as .html, but that doesn't guarantee server streamed stuff, media, images, etc. will be preserved correctly.
For me the only really useful intervention was getting a black and white e-ink Android smartphone. I started to read a book per month and my short video watching time was decimated.
I got the Bigme Hibreak which isn’t the worst, but lacks recent android versions. Gives me hours of my life back every day, compared to the phone addiction I experience with my lcd colour screen smartphone
Life-changingly useful program for every aspect of my life, when I can finish it every day
My top tips:
- put all decks in a master “daily” deck using the :: syntax in the deck names. Otherwise you feel “done” when having finished one deck, and feel like not starting the next. Have only one goal - finishing today’s Anki - for that master deck (and every other deck) go Study Options > Display Order > New/review order > Show after reviews. Otherwise it’s hard to ever catch up when slipping behind. With this setting, the system becomes somewhat self correcting
My only regret is not being able to pay more than $25 to the developers