Yeah, the public perception (mostly created by the company) of SAS is very different from reality. The work is mostly boring, the pay is just ok and the lifestyle balance - while better than the Bay Area - is definitely not 35 hours a week on average. Historically the COL in the RDU area has been a major selling point but even that is changing as property prices continue to rise across the Triangle.
In short, liability. So much behavior within the US medical profession is driven by a fear of getting sued for malpractice. Even though the patient would be sitting in the ER with treatment close at hand, if the situation did worsen and the patient suffered complications there will be the inevitable questions asked as to why the triage nurse didn't admit them in the first instance. For hospitals it's just not worth the risk of potentially expensive and lengthy lawsuits/settlements.
And in reality, it's really only the US. Even though pharmaceutical ads are legal in NZ, they are pretty rare and most GPs won't just write a script because a patient asks for a particular drug unless there's a clear need for it. The role of Pharmac (NZ's central drug purchasing agency) also tempers the effectiveness of drug advertising so you just don't see it like you do in the mainstream US media.
The humidity amplifies the effects of the heat. I remember the first time I travelled to Arizona and was expecting to suffer when I saw the forecast temperatures were 100+, but the dry heat was - I hesitate to say comfortable - but very different from a 90 degree day on the East Coast with high humidity. An extended period of extreme heat + humidity can be brutal on the body, particularly those already vulnerable or without adequate air conditioning.
Outside of the US, the Falcon continued to be mass-produced in a number of international markets (and in some, like Australia, became wildly popular) and one of those markets was Argentina where it was used by both the police and paramilitary death squads which I assume is what the reference was to.
> Part of the lock-in is their brilliant multi-org client
While not quite as fully-featured as Slack, Keybase offers this. I'm a member of multiple orgs and seamlessly change between conversations (both group and 1-on-1).
Almost all of them. They manage their portfolios like most other large fund managers albeit with a slight preference towards lower risk assets to ensure their short/medium term pension obligations are met, but they will almost always have an alternative investment bucket which VC will be a part of. They're also not interested in doing direct investments, so they'll diversify their early stage risk by investing in a couple of the more successful, established VC funds who spread the bets for them.
Technically LPs, but they're more-often-than-not large, faceless funds only interested in returns and mostly insulated from any blowback so moral considerations don't always concern them.
Yes, but the cost is significantly less. When I first moved to the US I used a tax accountant because I didn't know any better and it cost me ~$500 a year (this was in New York). I now file using either TurboTax or TaxAct and my costs are typically in the $60-70 range depending on which tier of service I select.
Is it more work? Arguably yes, but I enjoy the freedom of being able to do it all from the comfort of my sofa and the tools have improved to such an extent that it rarely takes me more than half an hour start-to-finish.
Real estate is obviously a very different proposition to tax filing, but if disruptors can cut out some of the fat/overhead to bring the costs down I think it would be appealing to a wide range of people.
> I'm really skeptical of this claim without good market data, because whenever I've looked at this for my own personal reasons the headline monthly cost of renting is 10-20% higher than mortgage payments
In sane markets, yes. However, in markets experiencing property bubbles the opposite is often true.
I recently moved to a new city where prices have doubled in the last 10 years as a result of foreign buyers sending prices skyrocketing, and we currently rent a house worth $1.8m (valuations are public here). Assuming 20% down and a 30 year mortgage at 4% interest, we'd be looking at a monthly mortgage repayment of ~$6.9k with ~$4.8k of that being interest if we were to buy the house. Instead we rent it for $3.2k a month and happily save the $1.6k we'd otherwise be paying to the bank.
Friends look at me crazy when I tell them I have no interest in buying, but until the math is flipped and I start losing money by renting I'll happily let the landlord worry about maintenance and continue to enjoy my free time.
NDAs generally aren't worth the paper they're written on, but holy hell is that one a piece of work. The "residuals" concept basically gives them an open invite to copy anything they like so long as they didn't "intentionally memorize" it. Establishing intent is no easy task.
At home, it's usually not an issue. But working in airports or coffee shops I'm often amazed at the disregard others have for high-end equipment. I always try to position myself in a low-traffic zone, but sometimes that isn't always possible so MagSafe is a godsend.
I believe the labeling obligation falls on the FBA seller today, not Amazon. So I don't think the cost of the extra sticker would impact Amazon at all beyond the process changes needed to ensure that two labels are scanned vs one.
This is important as the rot almost inevitably starts at the top, but in my experience it is rare for an underling to badmouth their boss to someone who they don't know (I say this as someone who should have, but didn't due to fear of being fired). Instead you have to eek out a general vibe by asking less pointed questions like:
* How often do you interact with the CEO/insert title?
* How comfortable are you with the level of transparency and your understanding of the company's overall health?
* Do you have input into wider strategic decisions or is that handled by a smaller group?
* What does the X year roadmap/vision for the company look like?
* How does senior management interact with the team? Is everyone together during the day so it's a natural flow or is the management team in their office/meetings most of the time?
etc, etc. Ask enough of these types of questions and eventually you'll wear through the polish and get a better feel for how people really think about the boss.
While I love my PH-1 and want the concept to continue, I can't help but feel that this would be a disaster. Amazon would almost surely ruin the stock Android experience by forcing its ugly bloatware on you to ensure that you consume Amazon content and services.
Are they an "engaged employer" in the top right corner? If they are, my theory is that translates to "paying customer" hence the weighting given to the positive reviews.
I don't think Glassdoor has very stringent identity checks (a problem in itself), so I imagine most posters are using throwaway email accounts to shield themselves from any fallout.