ab_goat

5 ms·

1.
by ab_goat 1mo ago
Doing what matters has become essential; discerning what that is, less clear.
2.
by ab_goat 3mo ago
Agreed. Massachusetts has a nice page about the Eastern Pearlshell. https://www.mass.gov/info-details/eastern-pearlshell In the town of Sandisfield MA, I've found live mussels in the Clam River - which was named d
3.
by ab_goat 3mo ago
Beautiful sim. Looks like red oak. As someone who has split a lot of wood, wish it could incorporate more of the struggles of splitting logs. - missing your spot by 6” or more and creating a tiny shard that goes flying - the log you’re aimi
4.
by ab_goat 3mo ago
What about when you’re splitting a log with a branch and the maul bounces straight back up? Lol
5.
by ab_goat 1y ago
I've been thinking about using an app like this to count parking spaces in a city! Thank you
6.
by ab_goat 2y ago
I think this is blissfully ignorant. Walmart's model is built on creating prices and selection that are so attractive that it is very difficult to compete. Part of the way they do that is by extracting profits out and leaving only lo
7.
by ab_goat 2y ago
Way more. First, a small business is not just a "family". Their employees are other members in the community. And there's the cascading effect because those folks are using their pay to go to local restaurants, the bowlin
8.
by ab_goat 2y ago
From the comments here, I don’t think people understand how much small retail supports an entire local economy. With big retail, you get the smallest possible wages and all the profit sucked out to somewhere else.
9.
by ab_goat 2y ago
Finally a real world use case for bitcoin!
10.
by ab_goat 2y ago
Capture the market by not making customers pay full costs => low profits. Grow revenues without substantially increasing costs (i.e running a loss) Hope you can turn up the profit dial later. Seems like the modern way?
11.
by ab_goat 3y ago
Google is not demanding that they censor their comment. Google is telling them that they won't serve ads on their page because of issues. Funny complaint coming from a site called "Naked Capitalism".
12.
by ab_goat 3y ago
I've been using Z-wave devices since 2017 for the following: 1. Dimmer lighting 2. Door sensors 3. Relays to customize radiant flooring better than thermostats 4. Seasonal lighting (outdoor string lights/Christmas tree) 5. Thermos
13.
by ab_goat 3y ago
I converted my small (~1400 sqft) MA log cabin house at 1500' elevation to a heat pump as main heat source in 2017. We also added a 8kW PV system at the same time. It was a great choice, and we've been net negative since installa
14.
by ab_goat 3y ago
I've started to think about the current use of AI as trend in the 1990s that started moving unimportant goods to be "manufactured in China". Quality doesn't matter -- money matters. And with AI you can save a lot of mon
15.
by ab_goat 3y ago
No, not at all punishing for future crimes - just acknowledging issues and making sure they get attention to prevent them from getting worse. Local government has very little power to actually undo things that go wrong - it can often takes
16.
by ab_goat 3y ago
No, it's actually not at all about forcing people to live the way I (or the townsfolk) want to live, it's actually about making it so that the way you live your life is in harmony with the rules the municipality set. In Massaschu
17.
by ab_goat 3y ago
Having been a selectboard member in a small town in MA, I can put forth that rigorous enforcement of contracts, bylaws and laws is the best way to avoid issues spiraling out of control to becoming bigger costlier time-sucks affecting more a
18.
by ab_goat 3y ago
Commented on other reply first... please see there.
19.
by ab_goat 3y ago
I haven't watched many of their YouTube, but I concur that Strong Towns knows what's up. For anyone that doesn't know what a "stroad" is, I hope you look into it. You'll never see the world the same again.
20.
by ab_goat 3y ago
I don't necessarily disagree. But the issue has been that municipal taxes are a zero-sum game. People expect taxes to stay at a constant level unless they are getting additional services. So allocating more taxes in one place pulls
21.
by ab_goat 3y ago
State-mandated design and build engineering requirements
22.
by ab_goat 3y ago
Underfunded pensions are a problem only because tax revenue must be spent on maintaining unsustainable infrastructure that was originally built on an expectation of never-ending growth. If that infrastructure costs were not so high, there w
23.
by ab_goat 3y ago
I come from Western Massachusetts, which is characterized by smaller populations and lower budgetary allocations. The most significant budget item in most municipalities here is education, followed by road maintenance, which is often extrem
24.
by ab_goat 3y ago
I've been thinking about local taxes a lot recently (I've been a locally elected selectman for a tiny town in MA) and realized that the automobile ruined the way we value land, which ultimate ruined the way that municipalities are
25.
by ab_goat 3y ago
I think this is a misunderstanding of the recommendation. When you're just getting started on something new where the ROI is going to be minimal, it makes sense to not put a ton of effort on perfecting when you do not have a clear unde
26.
by ab_goat 3y ago
> If I am trying to contact a business... You and I both, but it sure does seem that the majority of their calls/interactions are not this way. So many people can't search/discover content on their own.
27.
by ab_goat 3y ago
I used to feel this way and would make everything linkable, but then I realized that modals are really good at preventing users from getting lost by adding context instead of swapping context. For example, a user may want to edit a few item
28.
by ab_goat 3y ago
People are waking up to the fact that private car ownership does not scale because infrastructure for it is so expensive and there are severe negative impacts to society because of car proliferation. Additionally the cost to own a newly acq
29.
by ab_goat 3y ago
The key issue here is the difficult choice between: a. Incorrectly and significantly disrupting people's lives by locking them up pre-trial when many cases up getting acquitted. This can often sink folk into much worse situations than
30.
by ab_goat 3y ago
Net metering is still very much available in MA. https://www.mass.gov/guides/net-metering-guide

More ›