Interesting Links for 09-05-2014

[andrewducker]

• Psychiatry's scientific reboot gets under way
  (tags: brains psychology psychiatry )
• Is misogyny worse now than before the internet? (I don't think so - I think it's just less deniable)
  (tags: misogyny internet )
• Cambridge University considers 'sexual consent' classes
  (tags: assault Cambridge academia )
• The solar power plant that delivered energy

Comments

Taxi Licensing

[danieldwilliam]

John Kay’s take on the Uber taxi issue

http://www.johnkay.com/2014/04/23/taxi-apps-should-be-hailed-for-breaking-the-cabby-cartel

where he talks about the different uses that taxi licenses have in New York, Paris, Dublin and London and the different approaches those cities take to licensing taxis and changing taxi license regulation. Who knew that a New York City taxi license was worth $1m or that Parisian taxi drivers use their license as a form of pension fund?

Re: Taxi Licensing

[andrewducker]

Yeah. I'm all in favour of regulating the prices and the minimum standards necessary to be a taxi driver, but regulating the supply seems ridiculous to me - particularly to the level that the French do.

Re: Taxi Licensing

[danieldwilliam]

I'd be open to floating prices. There are already different prices in operation for different times of the day and for different days.

I don't think technology quite allows a full bid-offer system to work but I'd be open to fares going up if there was a shortage of supply or an excess of demand. How you model and signal that I don't know.

Of course I say this knowing that I live very close to town and could afford the premium in fares if it were chucking it down on a bank holiday.

Re: Taxi Licensing

[andrewducker]

It's tricky - because I do like the fact that you know, before you get in, that the prices are pre-set, and that you aren't going to get hit by a massive unexpected fare.

[gonzo21]

I wonder how they're going to identify people they suspect of downloading copyrighted material, and what the criteria will be?

[andrewducker]

It's fairly easy to tell if you're connected to a BitTorrent tracker asking for file "X-Men 2.avi"...

(Unless you're using encryption, of course)

[gonzo21]

True. Isn't the torrent scene pretty much dead these days though?

The only thing I use it for is downloading NHL games. If I wanted anything more... sensitive, I'd seek elsewhere.

[andrewducker]

So far as I know, it's still by far the most popular illegal downloading method.

[nancylebov]

I'm pretty sure Bran was told not to climb, but it wasn't enforced.

[andrewducker]

It's Bran's decision that was stupid...

[brixtonbrood]

To be fair, Bran was right, he wasn't going to fall, so his decision that climbing was safe was well-founded. He wasn't to know that he was going to be shoved out of the window because he'd caught someone in flagrante with their twin.