It as actually the DNS servers of the registrar being DDoS'ed. Our servers were still but some people were unable to reach them. The problem is solved now.
The hot wallet has now been refilled so that anyone that wished to withdraw can now do so.
If I had won more had withdrawn, but I continue to gamble with my Bitcoins instead. Good to see you lying on top of things.
And finally also SatoshiDice made it, the problems now solve quickly.
Is it really the registrars that are getting DDOS? Why would anyone want to go after a registrar, what benefit could they gain from shutting down so many small websites for businesses/etc?
DNS amplification attacks involve a new mechanism that increased the amplification effect, using a much larger list of DNS servers than seen earlier. SNMP and NTP can also be exploited as reflector in an amplification attack.
the site dosent load, is it just me ?
I'm having problems too, I can login but it says I'm an unregistered user - although I was registered before on the account I'm logging in from. I didn't have any bankroll deposited as I was waiting for an error free period and 2FA before continuing with SD. Maybe that's why. I wonder if anybody else is seeing the same issues.
Yeah something is messed up currently. Please have this fixed. I tried deleting cache, cookies, restarting, trying a different browser, trying a different computer.
I have the same exact problem. I login and show as unregistered. It shows my balance correctly though, but I can't play or move the balance.
when it tries to recover data from the server, which may as well be a symptom of an external attack.
Problem seems solved now. The site shows my real user name and I was able to use my account and withdraw funds.
Please note that the website is working properly again.
Everything's been fixed from our end.
Kindly accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you!
this time it was not SatoshiDICE wrong, it was the registrar that was the target.
It is unfortunately a known problem with this site, but hold out, they have always solved the problem for me.
Maybe the amplification attacks however I am pretty sure most registrars don't attack each other for competition, it would be highly unprofessional especially in their field. Most of the money they make is from old domains anyways.


text:
Consultation contents
Consultation Home
Draft Horsham District Local Plan 2019-2036
Chapter 2 Planning Context
Chapter 3 Spatial Vision and Objectives (Key Questions)
Chapter 4 Policies for Growth and Change (Key Questions)
Chapter 5 Economic Development (Key Questions)
Chapter 6 Housing (Key Questions)
Chapter 7 Conserving and Enhancing the Natural Environment (Key Questions)
Chapter 8 Development Quality, Design and Heritage (Key Questions)
Chapter 9 Climate Change and Flooding (Key Questions)
Chapter 10 Infrastructure, Transport and Healthy Communities (Key Questions)
Question Summary
4.1 Chapter Three identifies the vision, spatial objectives and the overarching strategy which is proposed to deliver sustainable development in Horsham District up to 2036. The policies in this chapter set out the overarching approach by which development proposals will be considered within the context of delivering sustainable development. In particular, they take account of the following issues:
The national agenda is to bring forward a 'step change' in housing growth. There is a wider need to ensure that the houses we provide are high quality and available to everyone.
Our high-quality environment makes Horsham District an attractive place to live and work, and is why many people and businesses want to move here. There is, however, a need to continue to protect the character of the District, which makes the area so desirable.
Ongoing population growth is likely to place increasing pressure on local, neighbourhood, District and strategic level services and facilities, and there is a need to ensure that these can respond to these changing demands.
The amount of brownfield land in the District is relatively limited, but there is still a need to prioritise this land for development where possible.
Building new settlements, urban extensions and expanding existing small settlements may affect the character and community balance.
4.2 The District is an attractive area and is a place where many people choose to live and work. In addition, existing communities continue to grow. This will result in development pressure for houses, employment and a range of services and facilities. Existing services may also need to be improved or expanded in response to these pressures. In order to ensure that this growth and change can take place, the policies in this chapter set out a hierarchy in which development can take place, with the priority on locating new homes, jobs, facilities and services in Horsham and where appropriate the smaller towns and villages, particularly through the re-use of previously developed land.
4.3 It should be noted that West Sussex County Council is responsible for preparing statutory land use plans for minerals and waste. Proposals for development should have regard to the defined County Minerals Safeguarding Area and Minerals Consultations Area guidance and policy produced by West Sussex County Council. Preparation of site plans will require liaison with West Sussex County Council at an early stage to ensure that any potential minerals and waste interests are fully considered in planning development.
Strategic Policy 1 - Sustainable Development
4.4 This is the model policy that is recommended to be included in all Local Plans to ensure that they are compliant with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). It should be noted that the final bullet point of this policy relates to development which could impact the setting of the South Downs National Park and the High Weald AONB.
When considering development proposals, the Council will take a positive approach that reflects the presumption in favour of sustainable development contained in the National Planning Policy Framework. It will always work pro-actively with applicants to find solutions which mean that proposals can be approved wherever possible, and to secure development that improves the economic, social and environmental conditions in the area.
Planning applications that accord with the policies in this Local Plan (and where relevant, with policies in neighbourhood plans) will be approved without delay, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
Where there are no policies relevant to the application, or relevant policies are out of date at the time of making the decision, then the Council will grant permission, unless material considerations indicate otherwise - taking into account whether
Any adverse impacts of granting permission would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policies in the National Planning Policy Framework taken as a whole; or
Specific policies in that Framework indicate that development should be restricted.
Strategic Policy 2 - Development Hierarchy and Settlement Expansion
4.5 The District has a distinctive settlement pattern. Horsham town is the main settlement, and is surrounded by a network of smaller towns and villages and the rural countryside. It is necessary for this plan to continue to ensure that development takes place in a manner that protects, retains and enhances the rural landscape character of the District, but still enables settlements to grow and thrive. Whilst it is recognised that there is considerable pressure for development in Horsham District, which may require the expansion of settlements and the provision of a new settlement, this must be carefully managed. The mechanism by which this will be achieved is through the designation of built-up area boundaries (sometimes referred to as 'BUAB').
4.6 It is recognised that the land outside the built-up areas within Horsham District is not uniformly undeveloped farmland. It includes a number of small hamlets and villages that are defined as 'unclassified settlements.' These settlements lack a significant level of services and facilities, and are therefore not a sustainable location for large scale development, but have nevertheless been recognised as having potential for some limited development when compared with entirely undeveloped countryside. The identification of 'secondary settlements' through this Local Plan review seeks to address this by allowing some limited flexibility, and allows for small-scale organic growth within these settlements.
4.7 Within built-up area boundaries and secondary settlement boundaries ('SSB'), development is accepted in principle, whereas land outside these boundaries is considered to be in the countryside and development will be more strictly controlled. The designation of built-up area boundaries and secondary settlement boundaries is based on an assessment of the role of a settlement and how it functions. It incorporates a range of factors including access to employment, the presence of services and facilities including schools, shops and health care, accessibility (including public transport) and community cohesiveness, including local clubs and organisations. For secondary settlements, it also takes account of settlement characteristics such as form, density and historic character.
4.8 The priority will be to locate appropriate development, including infilling, redevelopment and conversion within the built-up area boundaries for towns, larger villages and smaller villages, with a focus on previously developed (or 'brownfield') land. All development proposals will need to be of a scale and nature that can retain the character and role of the settlement in terms of the range of services and facilities and community cohesion.
Strategic Policy 2 - Development Hierarchy
Development will be permitted within towns and villages that have defined built-up area boundaries, as defined on the Policies Map, including on any suitable previously developed land. Any infilling and redevelopment will be required to demonstrate that it is of an appropriate nature and scale to maintain the characteristics and function of the settlement in accordance with the settlement hierarchy below.
Development will be permitted in secondary settlements, provided also that it falls entirely within the secondary settlement boundary as defined on the Policies Map, and meets all of the following criteria:
the site is a small gap or plot within an otherwise built-up or cohesive settlement form;
the proposal is limited in scale to reflect the existing scale and character of the settlement function and form;
the development does not result in significant increase in activity including traffic movements on narrow and rural roads.
Settlement Hierarchy
Settlement Type
Settlement Characteristics and Function
Main Town
Settlement with a large range of employment, services and facilities and leisure opportunities, including those providing a district function. Strong social networks, with good rail and bus accessibility. The settlement meets the majority of its own needs and many of those in smaller settlements.
Small Towns and Larger Villages
These are settlements with a good range of services and facilities, strong community networks and local employment provision, together with reasonable rail and/or bus services. The settlements act as hubs for smaller villages to meet their daily needs, but also have some reliance on larger settlements or each other to meet some of their own requirements.
Billingshurst
Broadbridge Heath
Partridge Green
Pulborough and Codmore Hill
Southwater
Storrington & Sullington*
Upper Beeding
Medium Villages
These settlements have a moderate level of services, facilities and community networks, together with some access to public transport. These settlements provide some day-to-day needs for residents, but rely on small market towns and larger settlements to meet a number of their requirements.
Barns Green
Cowfold
Rudgwick and Bucks Green
Slinfold
Thakeham (The Street and High Bar Lane)
Warnham
West Chiltington and West Chiltington Common
Smaller Villages
Villages with limited services, facilities, social networks but with good accessibility to larger settlements (e.g. road or rail) or settlements with some employment but limited services, facilities or accessibility. Residents are reliant on larger settlements to access most of their requirements.
Christ's Hospital
Lower Beeding
Mannings Heath
Rusper
Small Dole
Secondary settlements
Very small villages and hamlets that generally have some limited local employment, services or facilities (which may include primary schools, allotments, village halls, playing fields, or a church) and/or evidence of a defined local community. Proximity and access to other services, facilities and employment is also taken into account. Additionally, settlement character is material, for example form, density, age and historic character of dwellings, and the overall sense that one has left the open countryside and entered a defined village community.
Adversane
Coolham
Dial Post
Faygate
Ifield
Kingsfold
Maplehurst
Monks Gate
Nutbourne
Nuthurst
Shermanbury
Unclassified Settlements
Settlements with few or no facilities or social networks and limited accessibility, that are reliant on other villages and towns to meet the needs of residents.
All other settlements
* This does not include the hamlet of Sullington, which is located entirely within the South Downs National Park
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Strategic Policy 3 - Settlement Expansion
4.9 In addition to built-up areas, it is recognised that in order for some communities to continue to be able to grow and develop it will be necessary for them to be able to expand beyond their current built form. The UK planning system is plan-led and by allocating sites in the Local Plan or in Neighbourhood Plans, it will be possible to meet the identified local needs of these settlements and provide an appropriate level of affordable and market housing, as well as maintaining the viability of the smaller villages and towns, for example supporting local schools and local shops. This policy will also ensure that the settlement function and pattern of the District is retained, keeping the rural character of the District beyond these settlements. It is recognised that to meet the government's step change in housing numbers, a new settlement may also be required. The allocation and policy principles for any such development will be set out under a relevant policy allocation.
The growth of settlements across the District will continue to be supported in order to meet identified local housing, employment and community needs. Outside built-up area boundaries, the expansion of settlements will be supported where all of the following criteria are met:
The impact of the development individually or cumulatively does not prejudice comprehensive long-term development, in order not to conflict with the development strategy; and
The development is demonstrated to meet the identified local housing needs and/or employment needs or will assist the retention and enhancement of community facilities and services;
The level of expansion is appropriate to the scale and function of the settlement type;
The site is allocated in the Local Plan or in a Neighbourhood Plan and adjoins an existing settlement edge;
The development is contained within an existing defensible boundary and the landscape and townscape character features are maintained and enhanced.
Strategic Policy 4 - Horsham Town
4.10 Horsham town is the main commercial gateway to the District. It offers a winning fusion of heritage and quality modern living, and provides an excellent place for businesses, a highly educated workforce and a good employment offer. As the main centre for the District, Horsham acts as a 'hub' for a number of smaller towns and villages in the surrounding area. It also serves the area beyond the District as a shopping destination and an attractive place to visit and do business.
4.11 This policy seeks to retain the attractive characteristics of the town, whilst enabling it to grow positively. This will ensure the town retains a vibrant economic role within the District, Gatwick Diamond and the wider south east economy.
To promote the prosperity of Horsham town and maintain and strengthen its role as the primary economic and cultural centre in the District, and the wider economic area, development will be allowed within the built-up area of Horsham where it:
Retains the town's key position as the main settlement within the District whilst protecting the unique characteristics of the town, including the historic character and high quality environment.
Contributes to the provision of a range of services and facilities, including those in arts, heritage and leisure that make the town self-sustaining.
Contributes to the economy of the town to support a vibrant high street and town centre that meets local and business demands, as well as supporting the wider economy including the Gatwick Diamond, and the economy of the south east including;
the provision of a wide range of employment
retaining and enhancing the unique retail mix to meet both independent and national retailers requirements
contribution to the evening economy through the provision of a range of leisure uses.
Promotes high quality transport infrastructure which enables excellent pedestrian, cycling, bus, rail and vehicle accessibility for residents, visitors and business employees;
Delivers a mix of residential properties that meets the needs of the population and contributes to quality modern living that is compatible with a town centre setting.
Retains, enlarges or enhances the existing formal and informal green spaces within the town.
Strategic Policy 5 - Broadbridge Heath Quadrant
4.12 This policy recognises the Broadbridge Heath Quadrant as a redevelopment opportunity area to form part of and complement other redevelopment in Horsham town, in order to benefit Horsham District and secure the vitality and vibrancy of Horsham town as a whole.
4.13 Broadbridge Heath Quadrant is formed of the existing Broadbridge Heath retail park and land north of this. It includes the West Sussex County Council Depot, Tesco Superstore, Horsham Indoor Bowls Centre and The Bridge leisure centre.
4.14 The area also sits adjacent to two recently strategic development sites: Wickhurst Green, which is now complete, and Highwood Village, where development is ongoing. Development within the Broadbridge Heath Quadrant should take account of the important relationship with this area of new residential development and should aim to meet these additional local needs as well as those of the wider area. The Quadrant is identified as a strategically significant area of opportunity where regeneration proposals will be brought forward in conjunction with community aspirations. It is, however, important that any development that does take place does not detract from the primacy of Horsham Town Centre as the main centre for the District as a whole as well as more locally.
4.15 Early engagement with stakeholders including the Parish Council, landowners and users of the Quadrant should take place. This policy should be read alongside any policies relating to Horsham town centre.
Strategic Policy 5: Broadbridge Heath Quadrant
Broadbridge Heath Quadrant is an Opportunity Area where redevelopment will be required to reinforce its its role as a successful out of town retail location;
Development on this site will provide an alternative mix of uses, which could include additional retail use as well as leisure, residential, hotel and convenience eating places, which will better provide for local needs, complement the provisions for the new communities in Wickhurst Green and Highwood Village and enhance and complement the primacy of the existing and future offer of Horsham town centre.
Development will enhance provision for local needs and accessibility by improving connectivity and achieving better integration with adjoining new communities in the area.
Development should embrace the highest standards of sustainable design and construction in relation to local and national sustainability policies and guidance. Development must also make best use of significant existing environmental features and to include innovative sustainable design solutions utilising best practise in renewable or low carbon energy and green infrastructure.
Broadbridge Heath Quadrant should be enhanced as an attractive, enjoyable, convenient and well laid out setting providing a high quality and sustainable environment with a positive public realm, strong, legible connections and high quality architectural and landscape design.
Retail development and other main town centre uses
Any proposed retail development shall ensure that it enhances and does not adversely affect, the current and future vitality and viability of Horsham town centre and contributes towards achieving the wider objectives for the regeneration of this opportunity area.
Any proposed development for main town centre uses within Broadbridge Heath Quadrant which on its own, or cumulatively, reaches a threshold of an additional 500sqm will need to demonstrate that it will not have an adverse impact on the vitality and viability of Horsham town centre. This should include an assessment of the impact on existing, committed and planned public and private investment in the town centre.
Expansion of the ground floorplate of the existing foodstore and other enhancements may be acceptable provided that convenience floorspace remains the predominant use (together with supporting comparison floorspace and retail distribution facilities).
Redevelopment for larger retail units with extended floorplates selling bulky goods, where appropriate provision cannot be made in or immediately adjacent to Horsham town centre, may be acceptable under 5).
Accessibility, connectivity and circulation
To maximise the site's accessibility by a range of alternative means of travel to the car, development must improve existing, and create new, pedestrian and cycle connections both within the site and from the surrounding area. Development should support the use of public transport including improvements to reinforce linkages locally and into Horsham town centre.
It will remain important to maintain and enhance the accessibility of Broadbridge Heath Quadrant from the surrounding area by car, and to rationalise the circulation of car and delivery vehicles to maximise the economic potential and the efficiency of the site.
Do you agree with the draft policies in this section?
If not, what changes would you suggest?
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Horsham District Council, Parkside, Chart Way, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1RL
© Horsham District Council 2018 - All rights reserved

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BACKGROUND: John has been playing guitar for 16 years and teaching guitar for 5. He also has a degree in guitar from Louisiana Tech University. His main influences are Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters and Chris Duarte. Tabby's Blues Box in Baton Rouge is where John learned to sing. After playing for a few years, the owner encouraged me to try singing. "Tabby said 'Just go out there and feel it.'" I was asked back as a singer as well as guitar player and basically started my musical career there."
They were all there . . . the Cops and the musicians, the Computer Geeks and the Mechanics, the Teenagers and the Geriatrics . . . All with one purpose in mind . . . to see the man who had taken center stage. With guitar pick in hand, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, his favorite blue jeans and his Converse tennis shoes he waited, impish smirk on his face, for the crowd to settle down. It was noisy in the big room. Seating for more than a hundred left standing room only . . . no less, for people were left standing in the halls outside. The place was alive with talk and laughter . . . stories being told of the man, his antics, his love of his friends, family and his music. As the event began, a hush fell over the room as one-by-one people approached the front of the audience and spoke. They spoke of kindness, love and inspiration . . . of humor generosity and giving for this was John Simoneaux's final gig . . . his wake.


One of the great things about owning a home of your own is being able to customise it to your heart's content. That's something that is simply not possible when you are stuck having to rent an apartment, condominium, or even another home. In all of these situations, you are stuck having to obey the rules of your landlord. What's more, you cannot make lasting changes to the interior or exterior of your home, and thus cannot truly leave your mark on the area. Add to that the fact that you cannot invest your money into your home in the same way to increase its value over time, and the full charm of owning your own home becomes clear.
And what better way to leave your mark on your own property than with a few tasteful outdoor decorating options?
To that end, here's what you can expect when you contact the best outdoor decorators in Australia.
Part of what sets the best outdoor decorators apart is their ability to create a certain style and ambience with the furnishings that they offer. It's one thing to merely offer a few pieces of furniture here and there, but quite another to create an entire outdoor atmosphere. The best outdoor lounge setups do just that, helping guests feel at home and relaxed with a mixture of different lounge furnishings. These can include everything from sofas to armchair and ottoman combos to full lounge suites, and so much more.
Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Nothing says great entertaining like an outdoor dinner party in spring or summer. Of course, you don't want to invite your guests over to a homestead that's covered in tacky plastic chairs and flimsy tables. Instead, you want to make sure you have an outdoor dining area in place that's just as impressive as its indoor counterpart. These dining areas come complete with tables, chairs, and bar areas, all treated in such a manner as to make them weather resistant and thus highly durable. You'll be able to choose from everything from lovely wooden options to chic minimalist glass and metallic ones, and likewise get covers for them so as to keep them in good condition.
Want to bask beneath the stars at night? Perhaps you'd like to soak up a few rays come summertime? With the best outdoor beds from outlets such as Lavita Outdoor Furniture Specialists, it's a snap. In addition, as with their lounge and dining counterparts, beds can often come with covers to help keep them in great condition all year round.
No one should ever have to find themselves priced out of the perfect outdoor dining setup for their home. That's why the best outdoor furnishing providers operating in Australia are proud to be able to offer the most competitive rates for their furnishings of any outlet in the country.
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Several Hudson Valley Radio DJs Laid Off Without Warning
avdyachenko
On Tuesday several local on-air personalities fell victim to the latest round of corporate layoffs.
iHeartMedia announced this week that they were "modernizing" their company, forcing them to make a "shift in jobs." Those job cuts hit hard in the Hudson Valley, where significant cuts had already been made over the past several years at iHeart stations.
According to Allaccess.com and Radioinsight.com, local personalities let go from iHeartRadio include Kiss-FM program director and on-air host Jaelel "J-Will" Williams, WKIP news director Cameron Hendricks and on-air personalities Bill Williams, Gary Cee and John "Tigman" Rutigliano. Last month, iHeartRadio morning host Joe Daily stepped down from WRNQ after 18 years.
Insiders say the layoffs came as a surprise to most of the employees that were laid off. The "Black Tuesday" firings were met with shock and sadness by many employees and radio listeners across the region who headed to social media to show their support to those who were let go.
While a handful of radio stations in the area have been heavily impacted by the latest iHeartRadio layoffs, the Hudson Valley is fortunate to also be home to a majority of stations that still employ live and local air talent. Several national and independent radio groups operating in Dutchess, Orange and Ulster County continue to maintain a full staff of live on-air personalities, programmers and support personnel.
101.5 WPDH-FM and our sister stations are owned and operated by Townsquare Media.
Listen to the Boris & Robyn Show weekday mornings from 6AM to 10AM on 101.5 WPDH. Stream us live through the website, Alexa-enabled device, Google Home or the WPDH mobile app.
Listen to the Boris & Robyn Show weekday mornings from 6AM to 10AM on 101.5 WPDH through your WPDH mobile app. Connect with WPDH on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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BONUS VIDEO
Categories: Articles, Business, Entertainment News


As Eagles fans get ready for this afternoon's game against Seattle, their fight song is getting honored by Philadelphia City Council.
"Fly eagles fly on the road to victory" crooned Councilman Jim Kenney as he talked up his resolution honoring the tune. He says it's a piece of Philadelphia sports history.
Kenney says with the team at 9 wins and 3 losses, it's a good time to sing the tune.
"I think it's probably the second or third most popular sports song in the city's history. If you look at Rocky, God Bless America and maybe Fly Eagles Fly," he said.


text:
Roseanne Catt ordered to pay former husband
By Wendy Bacon
July 24, 2010 — 3.00am
The state government is demanding Roseanne Catt pay an $89,000 victim's compensation award to her former husband, Barry Catt, even though she has been found to be the victim of a miscarriage of justice in the same case.
The latest twist in a 20-year case, which began when Roseanne Catt, now known as Roseanne Beckett, was charged and convicted of assaulting and attempting to poison Mr Catt, a motor mechanic in Taree.
Roseanne Beckett ... ''The truth will come out one day.'' Credit:Jacky Ghossein
In 2005 the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal quashed six of eight convictions for which Ms Beckett had served 10 years in jail, sending five of those back for a retrial. The Director of Public Prosecutions subsequently elected not to proceed with a retrial. She is now suing the NSW government for malicious prosecution and appealing to the Supreme Court for a further inquiry into two remaining convictions.
Ms Beckett says she was stunned to receive a letter from the NSW Victims Compensation Tribunal last week: "Do they think this will be the weight that breaks me? The claim is based on false information. They have opened a Pandora's box," she said.
She first received the demand for the $89,000 in 1998 after she had been in jail for seven years. She responded with a sworn statement asserting her innocence. "The truth will come out one day and you will see the wrong person has been put in jail … I ask you to please look at this very grave situation and override this man's claim for compensation," she wrote.
She heard nothing more from the tribunal and was released from jail in 2001 after an inquiry was ordered into fresh evidence suggesting NSW Police might have planted a gun on her.
Mr Catt did not apply for compensation until three years after Ms Beckett had gone to jail.
Initially Mr Catt was granted only $9300 with the tribunal's assessor noting there was no evidence of serious injury or financial loss and that some of the material was "naive in the extreme".
Mr Catt appealed with the help of his friend and key prosecution witness Adrian Newell whose 21-page statement Mr Catt's solicitor said was "extremely relevant" to the claim.
Ms Beckett wanted to use Mr Catt and Mr Newell's victims' compensation statements to demonstrate contradictions between them and their evidence in her trial and the 2004 inquiry into her case conducted by Judge Thomas Davidson. But the DPP resisted her lawyer's attempt to subpoena the file. Although the file was later partly admitted, the defence was prevented from exploiting contradictions in prosecution accounts of injuries and events.
Judge Davidson found the prosecution's key witnesses were unreliable, describing Mr Catt as ''at times irrelevant to the point of incomprehensibility, and that he could not accept his evidence unless supported by other independent and credible witnesses''.
He found Mr Newell was so opposed to Ms Beckett that he might have fabricated evidence that she spiked her husband's drinks with lithium.
Ms Beckett says she will oppose the restitution claim and push for an investigation into the claim which she says can be proved to be fraudulent.
''Why won't they ever do anything about the false evidence that has been used against me?'' she says.
The head of Victims Services, Mandy Young, was not able to comment yesterday.
Wendy Bacon is the director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.


These positions represent the most common pre-engagement stances one would find themselves in, prior to action, with either rifle or pistol. By keeping the names of these positions consistent we can minimize some confusion on the firing line.
This is a natural comfortable stance. The hands are away from the pistol. We use this position to work from the holster. During some drills, for example Pistol Drill 4, we return to the holster as a range safety issue to recover the empty magazine. Once the equipment is re-stowed, we might as well get a draw repetition out of the exercise. The Ready Position can also be called an interview stance. Most people will turn slightly to position their body between the interviewee and the holstered weapon.
This position represents moving through a threat environment. The weapon is drawn, center line of the body and level. This makes for a possible rapid engagement while moving to Position 4 or full presentation.
A variation to Position 3 is the Sul position, where the weapon remains centerline but is pointed downward. Or, any form of retention or weapon protected position.
This position represents moving through a (relatively) low threat environment or a situation where muzzle discipline is very important.


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Coláiste Chiaráin offers a distinctive balance: small classes, which give students a strong pastoral base, within a large, varied, challenging school.
To many people education means no more than studying for examinations. Preparing students for examinations is important but we believe that a balance must be maintained between imparting knowledge and educating for life. Here in Coláiste Chiaráin, we are committed to placing great importance in providing a comprehensive and innovative Career Guidance, Counselling and Pastoral Care programme for all our students. The pastoral care programme in our school is concerned with the personal, social and moral growth of the student and ranks in importance with the academic programme. Our Department of Future Planning is also concerned with the career needs and the development of our students and their capacity to understand, assess and make informed decisions about their education and career plans. Our pastoral care programme aims to infiltrate into the whole school life of our students and help them benefit extensively from their school experience.
The aims and objectives of our pastoral care programme are: to introduce to our students the necessary life skills and values that they will need to be able to function effectively and responsibly in society and to create a supportive and caring environment in which these skills and values can be nurtured.
Effective pastoral care in Coláiste Chiaráin is measured by the quality of the teacher-student interactions in all our curricular or co-curricular activities. The caring element is evident in the school's approach to discipline, classroom teaching, evaluation, co- curricular activities, involvement with parents, community resources or even in the provision and use of school facilities. Caring therefore is part of the culture of our school, the work ethic of our teachers.


Whisky enthusiasts all over the world look forward to the Malt Whisky Yearbook every autumn. This 13th edition is again fully revised and packed with new and up-to-date information on more than 400 whisky distilleries from all over the world. Distinguished whisky experts contribute with new features written exclusively for this new edition along with details of hundreds of whisky shops, whisky sites and new bottlings. The Independent Bottlers chapter gives you all the details about the world's most successful blenders and bottlers complete with tasting notes. A comprehensive summary of the whisky year that was and all the latest statistics is also included. Malt Whisky Yearbook 2018 includes more than 250 tasting notes describing the flavour of single malts from all working distilleries in Scotland and Japan. Finally, with more than 500 colour photographs, Malt Whisky Yearbook 2018 is as much an essential reference guide as a book to read for pleasure.


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England's Peak District Gets Eerie in 'Help the Witch'
This weekend, we recommend a getaway to England's Peak District. In this collection of short stories by Tom Cox, you'll visit a maybe-haunted house and wonder if that's 'just the wind' or something else entirely.
Everything Tom Cox writes has an urgency about it — as if the words flow unbidden and uninterrupted. But the details are so telling, the observation so shrewd, the words cannot be accidental. When he describes a tree, a hill, a storm, or a bracing swim in the ocean, you feel the tree bark, the grass, the wind, and the chill.
Cox is probably best known for writing books about cats that are not really about cats. His nonfiction narratives tackle the big stuff of life — love, death, magic, fear, history, family — by introducing us to all-too-human and feline characters and taking us into their day-to-day adventures. He's got a rambling soul and shares his passion for the outdoors, walks that take unexpected turns, the wisdom of trees, and the hilarity (and tragedy) of family.
Image courtesy of The New York Public Library
This, his first foray into fiction — and winner of a 2018 Shirley Jackson Award — is a collection of stories that are foreboding and eerie, unsettling but not scary. These tales transport you directly to the heart of central England's Peak District. Cox's tales draw on his affection for folklore, and he uses the tools of nature writing to explore the shadowy depths of this house and just what might be under that tree. The stories are gauzy and shimmery, like the things you glimpse from the corner of your eye, only to have them disappear when you look directly.
Nine Tiny Stories About Houses, one of the best of the bunch, is told via brief snapshots of nine homes and the people who've passed through their walls. Another outstanding tale is the title story, a first-person account that places us in the room with the narrator who finds himself in a very spooky situation, indeed.
Friendly tip: Invest in a night light.
Outside, the dark is very dark. But in the day, the whiteness is very dark too, sometimes ever darker. — Tom Cox
Help the Witch
by Tom Cox
This collection of eerie stories (256 pages) was published in October of 2018 by Unbound Publishing. The book takes you to the Peak District of central England. Melissa read Help the Witch and loved it; it wouldn't be on our site if she didn't recommend it.
Top image courtesy of Zoltan Tasi.
Uncover Family Secrets and Find Peace with 'The Monsters of Templeton'
This weekend, we recommend a getaway to Templeton, NY — aka Cooperstown. IRL, there's the Baseball Hall of Fame and James Fenimore Cooper. In the book, there's a lake and old friends and — oh, yeah — a monster.


text:
import { Plugin } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-core';
import ImageEditing from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-image/src/image/imageediting';
import LinkEditing from './linkediting';

export default class LinkImageEditing extends Plugin {
    static readonly requires: [typeof ImageEditing, typeof LinkEditing];
    static readonly pluginName: 'LinkImageEditing';
    init(): void;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text: Java Web Framework


This is an unusual cup and saucer by Shelley China, England with the symbols of the Masonic women's organization the Order Of The Eastern Star.
The basic pattern on the cup is, fittingly, a pattern called Pole Star, or occasionally Snow Crystals, on the New Cambridge shape with gold trim.
The cup is 3 inches high and the saucer measures 5.75 inches in diameter.
The bone china cup and saucer was made 1940-1966 and is in excellent used vintage condition with no chips, cracks or wear.
Shelley was known for manufacturing high end china wear for organizations and souvenirs as well as an extensive business in china and dinnerware.
A lovely set in an unusual pattern.


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Exemplary Actions
Home › News › A journey to Castelbuono (VIDEO)
A journey to Castelbuono (VIDEO)
CASTELBUONO (PA) - 8 October 2019
From August 7 to August 9, 2019, to mark the occasion of its thirteenth birthday, the CON IL SUD Foundation accompanied a group of journalists, representatives of foundations and other organization in the discovery of the "slow-moving but rock-solid revolution" started in Castelbuono.
"CON IL SUD CHE FA#" was a trip to discover local bottom-up development projects, which have been supported by the CON IL SUD Foundation and have since involved organizations, young people, farmers, and people in the vulnerable groups. A trip to get to know a community created from social cohesion and the riches of its territory; a community that has started a new way of doing local development in southern Italy and one that has become a visionary for its future.
We are plaesed to share a short video to go over the trip again with those who partecipated and especially for those who were not with us. Watch the video to know all the protagonists of this change, to see the fields, the local diary farms and the breathtaking views.
"The light inside" available on Prime Video
The documentary about the relationship between parents in prison and their sons is directed by Luciano Toriello and produced by Apulia Film Commission and Fondazione CON IL SUD.
ROMA - 13 March 2020
Cultivated lands: 9 projects of renaissance
Nine initiatives are giving new life to the lands and people. It's Cultivated Lands, a 3 million euros call promoted by Fondazione CON IL SUD and Enel Cuore Onlus.
A short video to get to know all the protagonists of the revolution started in Castelbuono.
ROME - 2 May 2019
CON IL SUD Foundation's 13th Birthday August 7 to 9, 2019 in Castelbuono (Palermo)
From August 7 - 9, to mark the occasion of its thirteenth birthday, the CON IL SUD Foundation will accompany a group of journalists, foreign press correspondents, and representatives of national and international foundations in the discovery of a "slow-moving but rock-solid revolution" started in Castelbuono
ROME - 10 April 2019
17 Initiatives on Mafia Confiscated Assets
The projects, selected by CON IL SUD Foundation and Peppino Vismara Foundation, aim to reclassify mafia confiscated assets by making them opportunities of development.
ROME - 28 March 2019
Gender-based violence: 9 projects to tackle it
CON IL SUD Foundation selected 9 projects to foster gender equality and overcome gender stereotypes. 2 million euros granted.
ROME - 27 September 2018
Discovering the change
The event is an occasion to discover or learn about particular experiences, organisations, people who are marking a turning point in the way development is approached in Calabria.
Brains to South
Promotion of Best Talent in Scientific Research 2018
POLISTENA (RC) - 30 August 2018
The building of solidarity
Thanks to LiberaMente Insieme project, in Polistena, the symbol of criminal power becomes a place of hope and rebirth.
10 projects against migrant exploitation
The initiatives will be supported with a total of 3.5 million euros assigned to projects against trafficking, sexual exploitation, and in favor of social and labor integration.
ROME - 22 December 2017
Early impaired plasticity mechanisms in Parkinson's disease
A team led by Elvira De Leonibus has identified a new mechanism of cellular memory induced by motor learning, which is impaired in the early phases of Parkinson' disease.
Biodiversity in the urban park of Lama Balice
Lama Balice is different from the other Apulian regional protected areas which are specifically and geographically isolated, in fact, gaining the morphology of "hybrid Park", it can expand the meshes of ecological networks around a strong man-made core like the Metropolitan City of Bari, strongly influencing urban development.
Italian Professor Receives Fulbright Foundation for Southern Italy Award
Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, a visiting assistant professor of Italian in the Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences was recently awarded one of four Fulbright, Fondazione CON IL SUD (Foundation for Southern Italy) awards.
A multicultural store in Southern Italy
Its name is "Open" and it's a new special store that promotes intercultural exchange between small foreign traders and local partners through work and social cooperation.
Jobs for refugees in Godfather country
D.r.a.g.o." is a project which is giving work and hope in Sicily for people coming from wor-torn countries. The project is promoted by the Association Laboratorio della Legalità and it is supported by Fondazione CON IL SUD. The story on the British newspaper The Guardian.
Christmas destinations: Naples
What to see and things to do in Naples acording to The Guardian.


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Tag Archives: on demand economy
Marching Backwards into the Next Economy
[Part of this article originally appeared in my I Drive S.F. column for the S.F. Examiner. This expanded version is from the zine Behind the Wheel 3: From Uber/Lyft to Taxi. To watch the video of the event click here.]
When I agreed to be on a drivers panel for the Next:Economy forum, I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting myself into. I knew there would be three of us on the hot seat: a cab driver turned Lyft driver, a fulltime Uber driver and me, the Uber/Lyft driver who became a "cabbie."
Since making it clear to the moderator during our preliminary interview that I was no fan of the on-demand economy, I figured I was there to be the lone naysayer, or to provide some requisite objectivity. Other speakers at the conference included the CEOs of Kickstarter, GE and Lyft, as well as David Plouffe, Uber's Chief Adviser.
On Thursday morning, I woke up hungover with a mysterious gash in my forehead. After a quick shower, I put on a grey suit, a black shirt and my Florsheims. If I'm going to be a dancing monkey, I should at least wear a shiny red hat.
While on BART, I received word from my friend Maya that her husband had lost his battle with cancer. Even though I knew he'd been fighting the disease for a while, news of his passing hit me hard.
Bill Doyle, who used the nom de guerre Guss Dolan in his activism on the web, was a hero of mine. A major advocate for progressive politics in The City, he railed against the negative changes he saw happening around him as tech money displaced his friends and the new Silicon Valley workers took over neighborhood after neighborhood and threatened his own ability to remain in the city he loved. He spoke at public hearings about the impact of Google buses and rabidly opposed Airbnb and the rest of the so-called "sharing economy."
I admired his tenacity and ferocious wit. When I started challenging Uber and Lyft, Bill's encouragement meant the most to me. So while my train barreled through the Transbay Tube, I kept thinking, San Francisco lost a true citizen today.
At the Montgomery station, I climbed the escalator and walked right into the majestic Palace hotel, where the conference was being held. In the green room, I met Eric Barajas, the Uber driver, who, it turned out, organized the protest at Uber HQ in October and is just as disgruntled as I was last year, stuck in a vicious cycle with Uber, barely making enough to survive, but never enough to move on to something better.
While we waited backstage, I watched the CEO of TaskRabbit on the monitor. She seemed to be selling her company to the audience, which I thought was odd. During the Q&A, a woman asked if "Taskers" were being adequately protected from their clients.
Who cares about workers these days?
When it was time for our panel, I walked through the curtain into the glare of stage lights. The next twenty minutes were a blur. I just imagined what Bill would say if he'd had the opportunity to voice his dissent at an event like this.
I ragged on all the proponents of the gig economy. Surprisingly, I got laughs. Both Eric and I trashed Uber. At one point, much to the audience's delight, I got into a heated argument with Jon Kessler, the third driver, who saw the writing on the wall a year ago and leased a car to do Lyft after six years of taxi driving.
Eventually, we were ushered off stage and released into a crowded room of networkers who congratulated us on our lively panel, some comparing it to The Jerry Springer Show.
After talking to several dozen attendees, who paid $3,500 to be there, I realized the conference wasn't a celebration of the on-demand economy. It was more of an examination of how these advances in technology will impact labor and shape the future of work. Most people I talked to were affiliated with labor organizations or non-profits. I even ran into Steven Hill, whose latest book Raw Deal: How the Uber Economy and Runaway Capitalism are Screwing American Workers rips these on-demand companies a new asshole.
Still, tech was in the air. The CEOs were there to pitch their disruptive technologies and most of what they said was obvious doublespeak. If the future of work means the end of professionalism and less need for workers, what do we do with all these people being born each day? Isn't this what Marshall McLuhan meant when he wrote about how we're driving into the future using only our rear view mirror?
Throughout the afternoon, I took advantage of the open bar, sampled the free food and marveled at the vaulted ceilings, ornate fixtures and chandeliers. The combined experience was Orwellian and surreal.
After the conventioneers went to lunch, I wandered down Market Street with Eric and Nikko to get Chinese food by the pound at Lee's. Nikko is a filmmaker whom I met at an Uber protest the previous year. He was at the convention as Eric's guest.
Over chow mein and fried rice, we talked about feeling out of place at the convention. As much as these people seemed to like us because of our performance, there was something off-putting about their acknowledgment. It was obvious they weren't around real workers much, despite claiming to fight for the rights of workers.
Then we discussed David Plouffe's segment the next day and how great it would be to confront him during the Q&A session that would follow. On video.
Hahaha. We all laughed. That would be awesome!
But wait! Don't we have badges for the entire convention? They told us we could come back the next day.
The more we talked about it the more we realized this opportunity was too good to pass up. A plan began to form quickly. We went back to the Palace and, in the extravagant lobby, hatched the plan.
After spitballing a bunch of ideas, we concluded that Eric should do the talking. He should just get up and speak his mind. No script. The confrontation would have more of an impact if Eric questioned Uber's claims of helping working people when working people like himself weren't able to survive driving for Uber.
Eric was the real deal. He came off as a genuine hard-working parent effortlessly, because that's who he is. Eric lives in Fairfield. Sometimes, he gets so tired, instead of driving home, he sleeps in his car. When he wakes up, he starts driving again. He doesn't see his wife or his kids as much as he'd like because he's too busy trying to fulfill the promise of this "flexible job" to be able to tuck his kids in at night.
The next morning, I headed into The City. Nikko and Eric were already there, ready to go. After watching a few presentations, including the CEO of Microsoft talk about "augmented workers," it was time for Plouffe to hit the stage.
There was something surreal about seeing his smug face in person, as he bragged about how Uber changes peoples' lives for the better, how they're helping the middle class earn extra money, how the flexibility of driving for Uber is great for people with regular jobs so they can tuck their kids in at night… I resisted the urge to shout rebuttals.
"We've onboarded thousands of drivers," he said proudly. "And in the process helped the environment by taking cars off the road."
I wanted to scream, You can't add thousands of cars TO the road while taking thousands OFF the road at the same time! It's one or the other!
He spoke at length about the independent contractor business model, pointing out that they aren't the first to use it. And that based on their "research" drivers prefer flexibility over a set schedule.
When asked about disrupting the taxi industry, he said, "That's not something they even think about."
When Tim O'Reilly, the moderator, brought up our panel from the previous day, Plouffe evaded the question. He was there to sell an idea and anything that contradicted his narrative was irrelevant. Plouffe is a compelling speaker. His carefully crafted presentation was proof that if you tell a lie long enough and tell it well enough, people will believe it, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary.
When it came time for the Q&A, Eric got up quickly to be the first in line to ask a question.
"I just wanted to ask how it's possible Uber is helping the economy when I'm working full time, eleven hour days, six days a week, and I am barely making minimum wage. After all the expenses are factored in, I don't know whether to pay my phone bill or my PG&E bill."
Plouffe, slightly taken aback, suggested that he get together with Uber and talk about options…
Eric expressed concern that he would be deactivated for speaking out. But Plouffe assured him he wouldn't be deactivated for speaking his mind, pointing out that the rating system was only used to determine driver quality. Not for retaliation.
After Plouffe left the stage, everyone wanted a piece of Eric. Champions of workers' rights and labor reformers wanted him to join their cause. One woman wanted him to speak at a Wal-Mart workers' rally later in the month.
I faded into the background. Eric is a compelling figure: the perfect example of a hard working family man just trying to survive in the world.
After that, we had lunch in the ballroom. They put out quite a spread. We started off with a Caesar salad, followed by salmon with a tasty lemon and butter sauce, white rice, two asparagus spears and some kind of couscous concoction. For desert, a chocolate tart and a cup of coffee.
Once I'd finished eating, I said what I wish I'd said on stage, but even though I spoke loudly, only the people at our table could hear me:
"A friend of mine died from cancer yesterday. For two days I've been listening to presenters tout this new technology that will outsource work to machines and amateurs and all I can think is, find a cure for cancer and then I'll be fucking impressed."
With that, I wiped my mouth on the fancy cloth napkin, stood up, walked out of the Palace hotel and took BART back to Oakland.
The next day, Nikko called to tell me that Eric was kicked off the Uber platform. He was able to log in to the app, but he wasn't receiving ride requests. He drove around The City for three hours without a single ride.
Unbelievable. Despite Plouffe's claims on stage, in front of thousands of people, Uber retaliated. Even though several news sites, Business Insider, Fortune and the San Francisco Chronicle, had all written stories about the confrontation, they went ahead and cut him off.
I immediately phoned Eric. He told me that some high level official at Uber was leaving him messages. They wanted him to come to Uber headquarters and "discuss his situation."
Eric didn't trust them and didn't want to go alone. He never returned their calls. He told Tim O'Reilly, the founder of the convention, about what happened and Tim offered to go to the Uber offices with him.
Late that night, Eric went over to Nikko's apartment. Nikko is also an active Uber driver and they opened their apps next to each other on video. While Nikko's phone received request after request, Eric's phone sat idle.
With undisputable proof, the next day, I emailed Joe Fitzgerald at the Examiner. He got in touch with Eric.
Joe contacted Uber. They made some bullshit excuse about a problem with his account, but it was obvious what happened. They'd blocked his access to the app for publically calling them out.
After Joe's story hit the internet, Eric started received ride requests again.
As if nothing had ever happened.
Pretty fucked up, right?
Well… just like every other negative story about Uber, as soon as the news cycle revolved, everyone moved on to the next routine atrocity…
Still, Eric, Nikko and I all felt a tinge of pride that, even though we weren't able to hurt Uber's image, at least we gave them a black eye.
[Images from the Next:Economy panel. Watch the entire panel discussion here.]
This entry was posted in Being Uber Ain't Easy, Lyft Driver Realities, The Taxi Experience and tagged driver 8, eric barajas, gig economy, lyft, lyft driver confessions, medium, next:economy, on demand, on demand economy, palace hotel, panel discussion, ridesharing, sharing economy, taxi, uber, uber driver revolt on November 22, 2015 by piltdownlad.
My Uber Breaking Point
Originally appeared on Disinfo.com.
Hello Lyft, My Old Friend
It's Wednesday afternoon. The sky is pissing rain. I'm swerving through the Marina on my way to pick up Tina, trying to avoid crater lakes and double-parkers. Turn onto Van Ness. With rush hour traffic from Lombard on my back, I pull into a driveway a few doors down from the pinned location. Tap the arrive bar on the Lyft app and tap again to confirm that I've actually arrived. Ian Dury comes on the stereo. While I wait for Tina, I bang my fingers against the steering wheel along to the beat.
Just as the song ends, a girl emerges from the high-rise apartment building and dashes through the downpour towards my car. I turn down the music as she jumps in the front seat.
"I tried to get as close as I could," I say. "But this was the only driveway."
"That's alright." She slides the seat all the way back with authority and props her Uggs on the dashboard.
"So we're going to…?" I ask.
She doesn't respond.
"Oh, right." This is a Lyft. I've gotten so used to driving for Uber the past few months, I keep forgetting how the Lyft app works. Passengers generally input their address when requesting a ride. I close out another window. Expand the map screen to figure out her destination. "SoMa?"
Still nothing.
"Okay then…" I reverse slowly, watching traffic through the windows of a parked car.
I've just started driving for the day. Tina is my second ride. Despite loading up on Philz coffee when I began my shift, I haven't got my head into the game of moving folks around the congested city yet. As aggravating as it may be, I usually drive rush hour. The traffic is horrible, but at some point, surge pricing, or prime time, in Lyft parlance, usually kicks in, which is the only time you're guaranteed to make more than the bare minimum.
I decide to follow the suggested route in the app. Although I can't read the street names underneath the thick red lines on the map, I can tell the app wants me to go down Broadway to The Embarcadero. Not my preferred route to SoMa from Russian Hill during rush hour, but I follow the app's advice anyway. Lyft passengers always seem to want you to follow the in-app navigation. Even if it's the less efficient route. Whatever. It's their $1.35 a mile.
Tina coughs and snorts. I glance in her direction. Yoga pants, hoodie, thick sweater and a scarf wrapped around her face like a fashion-conscious anarchist. She stares into her phone, which erupts with a woman's voice enthusiastically describing how to melt butter for the quickest fudge recipe on the internet. Then she watches another step-by-step video recipe. In between videos, she snorts, coughs and hacks.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
"I'm sick." Hacks. "Sorry."
As I approach The Embarcadero, I immediately regret following the directions in the Lyft app. What was I thinking? Rush hour is bad enough. Throw some rain in the mix and it's a clusterfuck. Traffic is completely gridlocked. We're barely moving. At twenty-seven cents per minute, I'm wasting both my time and Tina's time. With the Bay on my left, the only way out of this mess is to take a right on Washington. But I'd still have to traverse the Financial District, where the streets are no doubt backed up as well. Fuck! I should have known better than to follow the directions in the app. Had I taken Hyde, even if it were just as clogged, I'd at least have a few more options. Now that I've screwed myself, I can only push through until I get to Mission Street.
Besides her constant coughing, hacking and sneezing, Tina is silent as she continues to watch recipe videos, send texts, write emails and listen to her voicemail. She makes a few phone calls on speakerphone so I can hear every word of her inane conversations. Apparently, a coworker smells funny. Her roommate leaves dirty dishes in the sink. A client doesn't know how to use the print function on his MacBook.
I want to blow my brains out.
Why is this girl in the front seat anyway? Didn't Lyft recently send out a press release telling users if they don't want to interact with their drivers, they can just sit in the back seat? I guess she didn't get the memo. It never ceases to amaze me how easily people will conform to the traditions of a gypsy cab service just to avoid taking the bus. Or paying a taxi fare.
Fuck, I hate Lyft. As I sit in suspended awkwardness next to Tina, feeling like we're both going to explode from the tension, I begin to wonder if I really have reached my Uber breaking point. I thought I had, but now I'm not so sure… This isn't the first time I've bailed on Uber. Except in the past, I'd do a couple Lyft rides, realize how exhausting it is pretending to give a shit about the people I drive for even less money and quickly flip-flop back to Uber. This time, though, I don't have a choice.
As much as I'd like to say I quit driving for Uber because of their lies, the inability to protect passengers from physical and sexual assault while insisting that their background checks are superior to taxis (a claim that is being challenged by prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco), the false promises to be a kinder Uber, the threats to journalists, the disdain for the disabled, the mistreatment of drivers or the general douchebaggery of their libertarian, cut-throat business practices, Uber made it easy for me to stick to my convictions by charging me $200 for a cracked iPhone 4S.
Back when I first signed up, Uber didn't allow drivers to use the "partner" app on our personal phones. Instead, they issued us iPhones that ran the app (and only the app). And charged us $10 a week in rental fees. Whether we drove that week or not. Eventually they released a version we could download. Most drivers quickly returned the Uber-issued phones to avoid the rental fees. I was ready to send my phone back too, but I'd accidentally cracked the screen. One night, when I got home from driving, I left the phone on the bed and somehow managed to shatter the screen between my ass and the pillow top mattress. It was mind-boggling. I mean, I've dropped phones on concrete before and only ended up with a few scratches. Yet this one couldn't withstand a little pressure?
Fucking Uber and their janky ass phones!
I posted a few queries on Facebook groups for drivers and emailed Uber asking what to do about the damaged phone. But as with all emails to Uber support, the response was as vague and uninformative as the opinions of other drivers on Facebook. I didn't know what to do: take the chance and return the useless phone or spend eighty bucks and get it fixed myself?
With those ten-dollar charges rapidly adding up, the Wife was pissed to no end. She hates Uber. She hates their entire predatory business model. She hates worrying that we'll have to declare bankruptcy if I get into an accident. She hates their exploitation of foreigners (which is rarely, if ever, discussed in the media — journalists prefer to focus on the part-time, middle class workers of the on-demand economy). She hates the Uber passengers who scuff up the interior of our car as they drunkenly climb in and out. She hates the plastic sleeve on the windshield that holds the Uber placard. And she especially hates their crappy phones.
Whenever she saw the thing with its screen smashed into a splintered web of disappointment gathering dust on my nightstand, she reminded me, with increasing annoyance, that I shouldn't be paying $10 a week for something I didn't use. "Fix the damn thing or send it back already!" When the nagging got to be too much—Er, I mean, when I realized she was right, as always—I returned the phone to Uber. Cracked screen and all. Fuck it.
That weekend, disgusted by how Uber is handling the Sophia Liu case, now that the driver has been charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, I made one of my many grand declarations to never drive for Uber again. I was done! How could I affiliate myself with a company that refused to accept even a shred of responsibility for the death of a six-year-old child? With all those billions and billions, they can't break off some for a little girl's life? Yeah, I know it would set a precedent and they'd be on the hook for all the other misdeeds perpetrated by Uber drivers. And yeah, the guy fucked up. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going. On those congested Tenderloin streets, you need to keep your eyes on the road. But the way an Uber spokesperson said the driver had no business even looking at his phone when the accident occurred, since he was in between fares, rubbed me the wrong way. As any Uber or Lyft driver knows, the entire process is about looking at a phone. You look at the screen for requests. You look at the heat maps to see where it's surging. You look at the phone to make sure you're online when you go a few minutes without a ride.
As devastating as the situation is, Uber makes it worse by doing everything they can to distance themselves from what they created: an app-based taxi service for non-professional, unregulated and underinsured drivers. It's obvious Uber doesn't care about anything but world domination at the expense of whatever or whoever gets in their way. Whether it be state and local laws, protesting drivers or small children. They are barely concerned with their passengers, much less the public at large. And they don't give one iota of a shit about the drivers.
I just couldn't be a part of their rapacious practices anymore. After putting off the inevitable for too long already, it was time to implement my exit strategy and move on to driving a taxi. As soon as I earned enough money for taxi school, I would finally be done with Lyft and Uber. Then it's the cabbie's life for me!
In the meantime, I started driving for Lyft again. Which wasn't an easy sacrifice to make. At least with Uber there's no expectation of conviviality. The Lyft experience is so pedestrian. Lyft tries to hold your hand the whole time. It's excruciating when you know what you're doing and just want to get the job done. That's why Uber is killing Lyft in the ride-hail wars. They are the bridge between taxis and limos. A premium service at a cut-rate price.
With Uber, there are no illusions. Unless you're an idiot — or believe corporate shills like The Rideshare Guy — you enter the life of an Uber driver knowing damn well you're going to get fucked up the ass. Lyft, on the other hand, is all about a false sense of community and inclusiveness. As long as you play by their rules. I don't think I've ever come across a more jingoistic, flag-waving group of kool-aid drinking cheerleaders before I discovered the loyal drivers in Lyft's Facebook driver lounges. These private groups have since been disbanded, as if John Zimmer, the CEO, happened upon them one night and, after perusing the infinite flow of asinine comments by a chorus of gossip hounds and glad-handers, murmured into the glow of his computer screen, "Exterminate the brutes."
Lyft may portray themselves as fun and quirky and the "friendly" alternative, but they're just like Uber. Except when they cut rates and tell drivers it's for their own good, they never fail to mention how we're part of a a community. Which makes their version of ass-rape so appalling.
I like my evil pure and uncut, thank you very much.
Of course, community comes in handy when you get in an accident and you're forced to crowdsource the $2,500 deductible to get your car fixed. Cause you know, in the "sharing" economy, money if just another underutilized resource. (Seriously, search "Lyft" on GoFundMe and be prepared to feel disgusted by what "ridesharing" has wrought.)
GoFundMe might as well be a subsidiary of Lyft. Since you don't get as many rides as you do with Uber, you don't make as much money. Yeah, it's great passengers can leave a tip through the app—unlike Uber, which strictly forbids tipping. But hardly anybody tips. And those who do tip maybe add a buck or two to their total. At the most. Occasionally, you get somebody who leaves more than twenty percent. But that's rare. It's demoralizing to receive my Lyft totals the next morning and see how little I've made and how much more I could have made if I got at least twenty percent in tips to offset Lyft's twenty percent cut of my meager profits.
Each time I get into my car to drive for Lyft, I have to suspend the disbelief that it's a viable occupation. I never feel like I'm really doing something productive. More like participating in a newfangled pyramid scheme.
Sure, there are some great moments with cool and interesting passengers, but that happens with Uber too. The majority of my passengers talk to me. I think my long hair, tattoos and glasses put people at ease. I'm chill and articulate. Everybody assumes I'm a student. I love to bullshit and discuss San Francisco history and lore. I've had some great conversations while driving for Uber and Lyft. Unfortunately, confabulation doesn't translate to a living wage.
When it comes to Uber and Lyft, charm doesn't pay. But I hope that once I get behind the wheel of a bonafide taxi, a charismatic personality will be an asset. And I can unshackle the reins of a tyrranical rating system. It's exhausting trying to make people happy so you can get those five stars.
Based on what I've noticed at the Whole Foods on California, despite the strain of losing fares to these apps, taxi drivers seem more relaxed. Unlike ride-hail drivers, who always look squirrelly and overworked. Maybe all that flexibility isn't what it's cracked up to be. As Uber and Lyft lower their rates, claiming this tactic will lead to more rides, drivers are working harder than ever to make up the difference.
And compared to Uber, Lyft is way more labor intensive. It's all about Lyft Line these days, the cheaper service where different passengers share the same ride going in similar directions. About seventy-five percent of my rides are Lyft Lines. Which means I'm driving more, doing more pick-ups and more drop-offs, all the while making less than if I were just giving one decent Uber ride. While Uber wants to compete with taxis, Lyft seems to be competing with the bus. It's a race to the bottom. And drivers are rats on a sinking ship.
After a few days of doing non-stop Lyft Lines, I began to feel like a soccer mom: Pick up one passenger here. Pick up the second over there. Drop off one. Then the other. Repeat. Over and over… The process is rarely easy. The algorithms that determine who gets dropped off first don't always make sense. And despite choosing to use Lyft Line, riders can be impatient with the procedure. I had one woman tell me when she got in my car that she was running late to catch the Caltrain. As she sweated me about it all the way to pick up the next passenger, I pointed out that she really shouldn't be using Lyft Line when she's in a hurry. Another night, this bossy girl insisted I pull over on Kearney and call the guy I was supposed to pick up next and ask him to walk three blocks to meet us because she didn't want to drive into Union Square. Granted, it would have been a nightmare — this was during Christmas — but while on the phone with him, I got the sense he didn't know his way around the city very well. Sure enough, he got lost. While we idled in a tow-away zone for twenty minutes waiting for him to find us, the girl kept saying, "Why doesn't he just use the navigation in his phone?"
As annoying as Lyft Line is, the Lyft app is the worst aspect of driving for Lyft. I can't believe some commenters think the Uber and Lyft apps function the same. They do not! Uber has the superior app. If there's one thing Uber is willing to spend their billions on other than marketing and lawyers, it's app development.
When it comes to interacting with the app, Lyft is like a needy child. You have to tap when you arrive at the pinged location, tap again to confirm you've arrived, tap when the passenger gets in the car, tap to find out the destination, tap once you've reached their destination, tap to end the ride, tap to rate the passenger, tap to go back into driver mode… Tap, tap, tap… All the while dealing with passengers and traffic. The Uber app is a little more intuitive. There's still a lot of tapping, but the process feels simpler.
During my second week driving exclusively for Lyft, I complained about the app to a passenger who happened to work as a software engineer for Lyft. He seemed to be soliciting a critique, so I pointed out all the things I found problematic. His defensive response was typical of how most people who work at Lyft respond to criticism. If anybody wonders how Lyft manages to stay in the ride-hail game, despite Uber's dominance, it's their cult-like stubbornness to admit they are doing anything but the "Lord's Work."
Later that night, when I finally got sick of the Lyft Lines and the shitty app, I switched over to Uber. It was like putting my aching feet into a pair of worn-in slippers. I was able to see where I needed to go easily on the map, which is larger and has translucent lines over the boldly labeled streets. The passengers sit in back. Interaction is minimal and mostly respectful. Hardly anybody uses UberPool, their version of shared rides. And when people do request a ride through UberPool, nine times out of ten, they aren't matched with another rider.
I only gave a few rides with Uber that night, including one to SFO, but the following week I didn't get a payment summary. I went onto their website and blanched when I noticed my account was negative $168.00. I emailed support and, after five or six exchanges, was finally informed I was being charged a "deposit" on the cracked phone. Plus a few rental charges from the weeks I didn't drive before I returned the phone.
That was the deal breaker.
At the current rates, it would take me several days to pay off the debt. All the while, shelling out what little cash I have left for gas, car washes and bridge tolls. There was just no way I could justify the expense. I kept thinking of all the things I could buy with $200. Like a couple used tires to replace my bald Michelins. Or a cheap break job before I have to fix the rotors as well. Both of which I desperately need. The squeaking is getting louder each day. And I'm one particularly sharp rock away from a blowout on the rugged streets of San Francisco. What I make from driving for Uber and Lyft, with the constantly diminishing rates, barely covers my bills, much less necessary maintenance on my car so I can keep driving for Uber and Lyft.
When the Wife found out Uber was charging me $200 for a piece of shit iPhone 4 (which goes for about $80 on eBay), she was livid. Absolutely forbade me from driving for Uber again. I swore up and down that I wasn't that stupid. But stuck in the car on The Embarcadero during a torrential downpour with Tight-Lipped Tina sulking in my passenger seat, I have to admit the thought crossed my mind.
After a grueling fifteen minutes, I'm $3.20 richer, but no closer to her destination. I notice a few taxis go by in the far right lane. I get behind a Yellow cab like a running back following a linesman towards a first down and hope for the best. I learned long ago to always follow cab drivers. If I'm on a street and there are no taxis, I know I'm on the wrong street.
Eventually other cars get hip to the possibility of escape and we continue crawling past Market. As soon as I can, I weave into the right turn lane and head down Mission. Fight my way onto Beale Street, trying not to get stuck in the middle of the intersection. In my infinite list of grievances with Bay Area drivers, the tendency to block intersections should be a crime punishable by public flogging in Union Square. And yet, here I am, my front end past the crosswalk as the light turns yellow and the car in front of me has nowhere to go. Not to be a hypocritical asshole, I drive straight and flip a bitch in the middle of the block. Crowd my way back to the corner. After four green lights, I finally make the turn. I get into the left lane so I can bypass the freeway traffic.
In between phone calls, tweets and Facebook updates, Tina keeps coughing and hacking. As I head down a glorified alley under the Bay Bridge, she starts making groaning sounds.
"I haven't eaten today. I'm a little nauseous."
"Sorry. I'll try not to drive so fast." But what can I do? I cut through Bayside Village to Brannan. Then down a side street to Townsend. I take the turns easy, but all the other cars on the road are being aggressive. A dickhead in a BMW rides my ass. I have no choice but to fight to make it through the lights. I just want to get this girl out of my car!
When I finally reach her destination and she dashes out into the drizzle, I take a deep breath. End the ride. But Lyft's having server problems. The ride won't close out.
Fucking Lyft! I curse the app as I keep clicking the "wait" button until the command finally goes through. Certain I'll get a low rating from Tina, since I didn't have the Moses-like ability to part traffic, I rate her three stars. Go back into driver mode. Instantly, I get another request. 5th and Townsend. Postmates HQ, the delivery startup that used to be in a second floor walk-up on Valencia before moving to a slick new office space across from Caltrain. As bad as it is to be an Uber or Lyft driver, from what I've read, driving for Postmates is worse. There seems to be no end in sight to the exploitative business models of the emerging peer-to-peer economy. Or suckers to participate in their mercenary schemes.
Tom is just as reticent as Tina. He sits up front too.
Kudos to Lyft for effectively brainwashing these kids into acting like they're really supposed to be friends with their drivers. But they're all just so… awkward. I wonder if they even have friends in the real world. Maybe if we were communicating through FaceTime it would be easier.
In my never-ending plight to neutralize awkward situations, I fancy myself a bit of a techie whisperer. I ease Tom into a conversation.
"My company has a deal with Lyft," he tells me, in response to my query about whether he also uses Uber. "We get a certain amount of free rides each week."
Lyft emailed me about this new program called Lyft for Work when it launched, in case I worked for a company that would benefit from the service. Oh sure… Like I would drive for Lyft if I had a real job to fall back on! But I guess in the so-called "sharing" economy, we're all supposed to be rubbing each other's backs. Only problem is, these days, I'm steady rubbing backs and there's nobody to rub mine.
Traffic through SoMa is as bad as it was on The Embarcadero. But the rain is letting up. I weave my way over to 7th Street. Cross Market and head through the Tenderloin. Tom lives in Nob Hill. Stopped at the light on Bush and Taylor, a block and a half from his destination, I suggest he might want to walk the rest of the way.
"That's alright," he mumbles
Whatever. Twenty-seven cents a minute is better than nothing, I guess.
I ask Tom about the pizza place on the corner. I've always wondered about Uncle Vito's. "It looks legit," I say. "Do you order from there?"
"No," he tells me. "They're not on Eat24 or Postmates."
"But the number's right there on the window. It says, 'For delivery call.' You should just put it in your phone."
"Yeah. I guess." He makes no effort to take his phone out.
"Man, that's the kind of place you don't even look up on Yelp first," I declare after a few minutes of silence.
Tom grunts. Between us, there is only a gear shifter and a center console. But the distance is wider than the San Francisco Bay.
Several green lights later, he finally says, "I think I'll walk the rest of the way."
"Might as well," I say with a slight chuckle. "I'm not going anywhere any time soon."
I end the ride. Fortunately, Lyft isn't having server issues this time. And hey, I scored 25% prime time on top of the regular fare! I give Tom five stars. Now I just have to hope he doesn't rate me low because of the added charge… or the traffic… or talking… or the weather… or for any of the other reasons Lyft passengers rate their drivers low.
I stay out of driver mode since I'm stuck in traffic. No point in trying to pick up a passenger until I can actually move.
At least the rain has let up.
For the next several green lights, parked in front of Uncle Vito's, I watch the pie maker toss dough and bang my fingers on the steering wheel along to the Cramps. Turn up the volume and hope there'll still be some prime time left once I get out of this traffic jam.
Top photo by the author, taken on my way to the Bart station after passing the New Taxi Driver exam. Since Uber HQ is next door to the SFMTA, I couldn't resist a little homage to Ai Wei Wei.
This entry was posted in Lyft Driver Realities, san francisco, Uber Driver Realities and tagged broke ass lyft drivers, entitled passengers, gig economy, lyft, lyft community, lyft drivers, lyft passengers are the worst, on demand economy, postmates, rideshare, rush hour traffic, san francisco, self-entitled douchebags, sharing economy, uber, uber driver stories, uber drivers, uber lies, uberx on February 3, 2015 by piltdownlad.


Everyone has a dream home, even if they don't know exactly what they want from it just yet. At first thought, your dream properties are likely to be French châteaux, New York City high-rise apartments or Beverly Hills mansions. Unfortunately, in reality, deciding on a dream home is simply not as easy as settling on the first beautiful house you see.
Here at IMC, we think that the most important aspect of all 'dream properties' is the comfort and happiness of the owners on both a financial and more general level. Being content and comfortable in a home is the key signifier of whether or not it's right for you. While that über-modern apartment may look excellent, you have to think about size, purpose and location. Is it really one of those dream properties people always talk about? Is everyone's dream home the same?
When on the hunt for one of those dream properties, remember that location is key. No matter how beautiful a house is, those romanesque colonnades simply won't cut it if the area in which a property is located constantly takes away from the quality of the home itself. Despite this, you should keep your finger on the pulse of the direction that any location you consider is going in. Is the town getting some major investment? Are high-end shops opening nearby? Perhaps a large company is opening a new office?
When you initially assess a location, you may end up viewing whether or not it's run-down or deprived as the major turn-offs, but there's more to choosing a location for your dream home than just whether it looks nice. Consider where the area will be heading in the future. Sometimes a fairly nice house in an area traditionally considered more 'low-end' will turn into a great financial decision.
Anyone who bought a house in one of London's more up-and-coming boroughs will tell you that a reasonable house in an up and coming area could certainly be seen as a dream property thanks to the 518% increase in average house prices between 1996 and 2016. Remember, in today's climate, a house that needs a little work in a deprived area may soon become a beautiful home in a surprisingly upmarket area – now that's a dream come true.
There's more to a perfect location than simple monetary factors.
As we've previously mentioned, dream properties are those homes that give you the most comfort and happiness. Comfort most easily comes from a comfortable life, so choosing a property nearby to any essentials is a sure fire way to elevate a good house to a dream house. A location with great links to work, schools, shopping and your favourite activities will do wonders for your perception of a property and make living there a dream come true.
As well as being in a good location for your day to day comfort, a dream home must be fit for whatever your purpose of buying it is. Some people are looking for a property to fix up, others want a home that allows them to move into luxury immediately, others just seek a reasonably moderate, cosy home. Whatever it is you're looking for, decide on that before really settling on what you would define as a dream home.
If you have a family, your dream property may be a large detached home, with enough space to keep the kids busy for hours. If, on the other hand, it's just you and a partner deciding on what kind of property you're looking for, a smaller, more manageable home is far more likely to encapsulate everything that makes a property a dream one. Of course, this ties in with the location too; some of us love long walks through the heather with our dogs, so a place in the country is what dreams are made of. On the other hand, if you're a city-dweller at heart, that's one more feature that will help to narrow down those dream properties.
Purpose, or suitability, is so important and really exemplifies how one person's house from hell is another's heaven-sent property.
A dream home is not a home that you have to be worrying about years down the line. The best homes are those in which you just don't need to worry about the future. Even if you are a bit of a DIY-obsessive, you won't want a house brimming with genuine structural problems that will turn your favourite hobby into a difficult slog.
This doesn't necessarily mean that you should only consider state-of-the-art new build homes. A well-built older house can be just as much of a dream property as a sleek modernist masterpiece. Whatever the case, a true dream property is one that doesn't cause you undue stress – remember, the key to the dream is your personal comfort.
Let's be realistic, everybody should have a dream home that's catered perfectly to their lifestyle and goals, and it's easier than people think. Unfortunately, most of us won't have grand country manors simply because we can't afford them. With that said, is a home that you'd struggle to afford really a dream?
A true dream property is one that will leave you without serious financial woes. These are the properties where you can comfortably afford the mortgage, don't have to take out a great number of loans and can live without a dark financial cloud over your head. This also goes for choosing a cheaper house that feels like a money pit, with constant upkeep and repairs that make your finances feel as though they're disappearing. You certainly won't be living the dream if your home is causing you to just scrape by.
With house prices having increased dramatically over the years, getting that dream home may take a while. But it's not worth rushing into and living in a nightmare thanks to bad financial decisions. Before buying any property, ensure that you seek independent financial advice so you know what you can afford and what exactly a 'dream house' would be for you.
Once you've found your dream property, get in touch with the friendly IMC team. We're mortgage experts who are always happy to help you take those first steps towards buying their dream property.