I only read the peer-reviewed celebrity journals.
Does anyone still read People? I would have thought that something like Jezebel would be more relevant for celebrity gossip these days.
I suppose we could analyze the language the Jezebel has been using in stories about the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard divorce, but that would mean actually reading the articles.
It's not that Jezebel is as bad as People, but neither is as respectable as The Proceedings of the American Academy of Relationships, Rehab, and Sideboob.
I feel like some of my work is basically peer-reviwed celebrity journals.
2: I read People Magazine regularly! Well, the cover, anyway.
Based on my research, People is generally fairly accurate. If they say a couple is breaking up, they usually actually are breaking up. On the other hand, InTouch magazine has reported that Kim and Kanye are finished so many times now, that I don't even get excited anymore.
Does anyone still read People? I would have thought that something like Jezebel would be more relevant for celebrity gossip these days.
There's a big ol' digital divide separating the two audiences.
Sideboob is, of course, a journal about the use of mammography in the sagittal plane.
I feel like some of my work is basically peer-reviwed celebrity journals.
A partner looking over your work doesn't constitute peer review, Tigre.
Obviously doesn't constitute copy-editing either.
Peer review of sideboob is sort of the textbook definition of creepy.
I thought Sideboob had been acquired by the publisher of NipSlip, a.k.a the Huffington Post.
Textbooks aren't really peer reviewed.
I am working quite by coincidence on a piece of celebrity data journalism: running a script to analyse got by hour the front page of the ma/il onl/ine.
It had been running for a week now and the graph of the crucial migrant/kardashian ratio is a stimulus to profound thought.
See also the differing usage of "flashes her","reveals her","shows off her", etc
14: I love the automatic headline generator for them.
16 comments in but this thread it do look dead.
It looks like I'm coming to San Francisco area for a quick trip. It's likely I'll be there on June 27 and flying to NY on the 30th. Will be at Stanford.
So, where should I stay that's in close proximity to or easy to get to Stanford? And relatively cheap (looking at hotels on the search nearby function on Google Maps all I only saw hotels in the $200+ range, sheesh).
Also, anyone up for a meetup on the evening of the 27th? (possibly the 28th too though it's likely I'll have plans)
Email is in the email place.
Bumping my request at 17. Anyone know a good hotel to stay at near Stanford?
And more importantly who's in the area and can make a mid-week meetup on the 27th or 28th? dairy queen, neb, fake accent, the lk's? Any one else? Lurkers?
I hesitate to suggest it, but AirBnB? I think that's a brutally expensive area for hotels.
If you're on official business at Stanford (conference or whatever) you might be able to book a room at the Guest House, but it might not be that cheap. We're probably too far away (2 hours in rush hour traffic/public transit) to reasonably offer you a crash pad.
(However we could offer the appealing perk of being able to play your old guitar while visiting...)
AirBnB and hate myself in the morning? And getting around, should I buckle under and install Uber on my phone? I will after all be at ground zero for that sort of thing. How could I resist?
20, 21 that's very kind and would be great especially if I were staying longer. It's kind of an unofficial invitation to meet someone who's one of the major figures in my field (recently opened a center there), but not an official conference.
And it would certainly be a treat to play the old axe.
Ah, got it. I don't have any hotel recommendations... there used to be a short-term rental service on campus; you could ask your host if s/he has any ideas.
Meetup would be fun; I also work in Palo Alto a couple days a week and would be delighted to meet up for lunch.
Would love to meet in person! Am in midst of seemingly unending hell of opposing tro and prelim injunction and supersedeas applications so may have to duck out at last minute but am putting 27th meet up on calendar.
Re places to stay you might want to look into tech shuttles, as sometimes they are obligated to take non-employees. Could widen your reasonable geographic scope.
16 tell me more about the headline generator
Wait, Barry, are you meeting someone with initials JSS? She's pretty awesome.
Anyway, I'm up for a meetup. I'd offer my place to crash but it's pretty small and also down in SJ. When I moved, the only hotels I saw near $100/night were Motel 6s. Better than a lot of other ones I've been to, but the Peninsula is just so expensive.
Thanks, fa, I'll check out Motel 6s.
It's not JSS whoever that is but now I want a meeting with her too!
Check your email.
After I posted that, I realized that Motel 6 is maybe not the best advice, as I don't think there are any that aren't a bit out of the way. I stayed in Sunnyvale while searching for an apartment, but I had a car.
Palo Alto is really tough. But it's Caltrain accessible and the campus has a good shuttle. Have you considered staying somewhere else and taking the train down? Other options worth investigating are extended stay hotels*, although again, most of the ones I've seen are in car-dependent sprawling areas**. You might luck out posting a rental wanted ad on craigslist. I think the academic year is ending, so there could be someone looking to rent for a few days.
*Or maybe those are worse? There are so many people in the area on contract jobs companies might be paying for those, which drives everything up even more. Even the Motel 6 where I stayed had a sign up explaining California's rules on maximum length of stay, which is not something I've seen in a Motel 6 before.
**Yeah, I know that description covers 95% of the south bay.
As for a meetup, it's pretty easy for me to get to Palo Alto during the day, and I've made it to Oakland and SF for previous meetups, so I'd be happy to meet whenever.
the only hotels I saw near $100/night were Motel 6s. Better than a lot of other ones I've been to
When you pay 200 the extra hundred a night isn't necessarily for a better room, it's for a room not contaminated by repeated IV drug use and street level prostitution. Lower price points out here but the principle is the same.
How do we know Barry isn't going to the Bay Area for repeated IV drug use and street level prostitution?
Actually I don't even want to know about the street level prostitutes in Silicon Valley. Somehow more depressing than being in some meth motel in Elko NV.
31 Thanks, but I've got to have an option B for entertainment just in case the meet up doesn't come off.
It cannot be more depressing than this.
Does SV even have street-level prostitutes? It's not like anyone's walking down the street (per 29.**). I presume there's some sort of app instead.
For business trips maybe the meth residue could be a silver lining. Waking up with MRSA on your face is kind of a bummer but look at all the work you're getting done!
The Motel 6 I stayed in didn't seem good for that. It seemed to be a mix of families and people working construction. Wood floors, fridge and microwave in the room, no 70s looking bedspreads. The one across the street, because why not put two Motel 6s across from each other right near the freeway?, might have been different.
The place I stayed when I interviewed for my job was definitely quieter and had more "character", but I'd never book it myself unless I worked at an actual tech company.
Does SV even have street-level prostitutes?
Loads of that stuff doesn't look stereotypical. If you came on a ride along here you probably would need a bit of a tour before you were noticing all the whores on State St.
ANYWAY, Barry, sounds like fa and I could conceivably both meet you for lunch if you're free any of those days...
Don't be coy, gswift, what should I be looking for?
I think I've actually spotted some in hotels in Dubai and Narnia, but not street-level.
I'm flying into Miami for a conference first and there are decent hotels for less than half the price of SV, Extended Stays and Sheratons for about $100-$110/night.
Downtown San Jose is a depressing wasteland and may have street level stuff going on on Santa Clara St. at night. San Jose proper is arguably not in Silicon Valley, though. The contrast between San Jose and Peninsula downtowns is really stark.
OTOH, a lot of commercial space has gone vacant downtown in the last couple of years, which in a different economy would be clearly a bad sign, but in this economy may mean richer business are planning to move in. The edges of downtown have seen development, pretty much all of it either "luxury" apartments or business catering to people who'd live in those places.
The northern edge of downtown, near some of the newer luxury-style construction, has what I think may still be the Bay Area's largest homeless camp, edged in near the river, freeway, and railroad tracks.
Loads of that stuff doesn't look stereotypical.
Loads of that stuff doesn't look stereotypical.
And the blog finally fulfills its inevitable destiny.
40 Good, if I'm there only a full day of the 28th I should be free the night of the 27th and leaving very late on the 29th (or possibly on the 30th. So lunch on the 28th sounds likely.
It's all very much on the fly and my pilot brother (for a major international) said he'll hook me up with a buddy pass when I get to his place on the Space Coast after my conference. Standby which makes me nervous but he says the loads are good and not to worry.
I'm sorely tempted to sign up for AirBnB just for this and then delete my account but something tells me such accounts are likely undeletable.
Don't be coy, gswift, what should I be looking for?
A lot of them a tad too worn looking, usually big handbag. Too readily meeting the gaze of people driving by. Go slow and give a nod and then pull over or go around the next corner real slow and then pull over. Maybe circle the block a time or two if you need to before doing it to make it clear you're looking. They'll come right over.
God DAMN it. That second one was supposed to be "ANYWAY, Barry, sounds like fa and I could conceivably both meet you for lunch."
35:
Guap said that Superman never gave her his name, but in his voicemail message the officer identifies himself as "BJ." This morning, the Express called BJ's cell phone number, which is a 209 area code, and an Oakland police officer answered the phone. "You need to speak to public information officer Johnna Watson," he said.
This afternoon, Watson emailed the Express to demand that this newspaper refrain from contacting an officer "Bunton." According to OPD's most recent roster, there is an officer named Brian J. Bunton, who graduated from the 171st Basic Academy on April 3, 2015.
Wow. Heckuva job, Officer Watson!
I hate to say it but Air BNB is kind of made for this situation. Just do one where you have the run of the place and not just a room in a house or else 100% for sure there will be some weirdo house owner masturbating to you.
Loads of that stuff doesn't look stereotypical.
You don't have to tell me, man. And I don't doubt the same sort of stuff goes on, I just suspect it happens through Hookr or whatever.
That Oakland story is awful. I mean, what the fuck?
50: Right? I mean, come on, discover burner phones already.
The AirBnBs I saw in the area, before I booked my hookers & blow deluxe motel package, made me want to sign up so I could vomit on their furniture, but I never created an account.
I was just looking for somewhere to sleep, not some lifelong friendship or some future business partnership, or whatever.
51: Maybe they were thinking, who's going to catch us, Oakland cops?
I was just looking for somewhere to sleep, not some lifelong friendship or some future business partnership, or whatever.
Between this, the cost of regular hotels, and the inaccessibility of Motel 6s, Barry's best bet is sounding like the homeless camp in 42.3.
You can peruse this very long list of airbnb alternatives if you like:
http://www.airbnbhell.com/airbnb-competitors/
I tried to book a room through AirBnB recently, and it wanted me to upload a video of myself and give them access to my gmail contacts. Why tf would anyone agree to this? I got a hotel room instead.
Anyway, speaking of homeless camps, the latest post on the Anchorage Craigslist w4m section AOTW is a homeless woman looking for a place to stay. What a world.
53: Decades of employment and pension is millions of dollars and yet the number of guys who will risk it all with some ill thought out action for their dick is amazing. Is that Tinkerbell's pussy, gifting you with the power of flight? No? Then maybe the price is a bit steep.
Tinkerbell's pussy doesn't sound all that appealing either, TBH. A bit small for most guys.
There's some alternative to the gmail access -- I can't remember what it is. I think it's like "unlimited rights to the image of, and all future intellectual property created by, your offspring" but I didn't read all that closely and just signed all that stuff away, because I figure I'm not some kind of special snowflake with a special pristine powdery life that must not be sullied by intrusive corporate practices. I mean, fuck, who's that uptight about the internets? But apparently now airbnb employees are pre-authorized to pick my kid up from kindergarten whenever they feel like it, which is a little weird, but she gets taken to a new airbnb every day, so I guess it's okay?
53 Thanks lk.
54. I dunno about that. Since I'm going there without stopping in NY first I'll have all my luggage from since I left Arrakis and don't want to chance it getting stolen.
58 is very sad.
57 is why I've avoided this kind of shit (Uber included) so far.
60: I had two hours of harassment training this morning and in my enlightened state I am distressed by Teo's casual dismissal of billions of Asians.
64: I'm not judging, it's just science.
That's the men, though, not the women.
How many times have I... anti-harassment training! ANTI! The only four-letter word you people haven't heard over the last two hours! Who booked this shit?
IMHMHB the flyer in my college offering martial arts classes that would be "useful for situations from sexual harassment to street violence". No doubt.
Mostly unrelated, but in honor of Barry's guitar, a consignment listing: "This is a great sounding guitar and deserves to be played more than the previous owner did."
Good night, reprobates.
60: don't knock it til you've tried it, hon.
I'm reserving judgment until I hear from Tinkerbell of the sheets.
One more alternative for Barry: the 22 bus up and down El Camino. It runs all night and you're pretty much guaranteed not to be the only one sleeping there.
When I was visiting Stanford, I stayed at the Stanford Terrace Inn. The rooms are fairly big but it is one the pricier side. I note that hilariously they bill themselves as an eco hotel.
I think the gigantic air con units the size of a Mack truck sticking out of the front of every single room, and running at full blast 24 hours a day, sounding like a fucking jet engine ... not very fucking eco.
65: "about one in every five times a condom is used in India it either falls off or tears" - That is a staggering failure rate.
"Tell me of this thing you humans call 'staggering'."
As an Airbnb virgin who was thinking of maybe signing up, is there a problem with their accounts I don't know about?
Not an obvious one that I know about -- I've used them a couple of times. Some renters seem to want personal contact with the people who rent from them, but that's on an individual basis.
I feel bad about AirBnB. In terms of regulation and its effect on neighborhoods and so on, I think it's pernicious. In terms of price and how pleasant it is though, it has been head and shoulders better than a cheap hotel in my experience.
I actually am not quite sure where the arbitrage is that lets it be so much cheaper, generally. Just tax evasion?
What's the AirBnB effect on neighborhoods?
People buy up housing for short-term rentals like AirBnB, making it unavailable as actual housing. I mean, that's only a problem in tight housing markets, but I understand it's a real problem in the Bay Area.
Much like Uber being a taxi company that doesn't have to follow any of the regulations that apply to taxi companies... it seems like if Airbnb is largely a company that lets people buy buildings and use them as hotels without having to follow any of the regulations that apply to hotels, it will EVENTUALLY be forced to stop exploiting loopholes.
Or the loopholes will be reified in law for it.
I agree about the pernicious effects, at least in high demand areas. Seems like it'd be easy to write a law that says that if you're doing short term rentals, either 1) you've incorporated as a hotel or 2) the property or part of a property being rented is your primary residence.
Sure. I just have a better feeling for what the regulations being evaded with Uber are (insurance, driver training, labor laws with the drivers) that make it cheaper than I do with AirBnB.
80: Varies depending on the neighbourhood, but in mine, the effect was* suddenly every summer there's one or two places in the building that are getting rented out to a steady stream of kids in their early 20s, coming home every night from the bars at 4, then opening the windows, drinking, shouting, and playing music till the sun comes up.
It's also not uncommon in major cities for people to be buying up flats en masse solely to rent out, which screws up the real estate market in the area.
*Berlin outlawed airbnb rentals this May.
83 is exactly the legal position that seems to be settling out here.
The partying-part was a huge issue in Austin recently - I just wasn't sure if that was the problem nationwide. And I hadn't yet merged VRBO-type problems with AirBnB-type places in my mind.
Also I like throwing parties at rental houses. :(
Or the loopholes will be reified in law for it.
I guess they'll be happy with that too, after establishing 100% market share.
84- Avoiding hotel occupancy taxes, building code compliance (e.g. ADA).
Our zoning department says no AirBNB in areas zoned residential. Not for less than 30 days at a stretch, anyway.
We stayed in one in Charleston last year for a wedding. The illusion of friendship part of the thing was a little unnerving, but the prevalence of religious symbols, texts, and other paraphernalia didn't have any adverse impact, and the rate was way better than hotel rooms (especially considering the use of a real kitchen). Would do again.
Also I like throwing parties at rental houses. :(
Who doesn't! Parties in houses would be mostly fine. Parties in flats however, in buildings where people have families, or who actually have to work in the morning can get a bit obnoxious.
The nature of German residential buildings also really exacerbates this. 1) No A/C, so windows open 24/7 in summer, 2) they're typically build in a courtyard arrangement, so one loud tenant can affect literally hundreds of people.