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59 minutes ago, Atomic said:

No free press subscription.  Coles notes?

Recounts a personal story about waiting hours for a taxi on a cold night, alone in an unfamiliar neighborhood, being told repeatedly by Duffy's and Unicity that the cab was on its way.  She gave up and called a friend to come get her.  Mentions many Winnipeggers have stories of poor service, racism, safety concerns etc with local taxi's but that Ride Sharing might not be the greatest thing ever.

Mentions:

Quote

Like many Silicon Valley darlings, Uber and similar companies such as Lyft aim to "disrupt" their target industry; in this case, by making taxis less attractive by offering something more flexible and connected for both drivers and passengers.

When Silicon Valley talks about "disruption," what it usually means is dismantling established forms of labour, sidestepping regulations by which communities manage them and eroding protections for the sector’s workers.

and

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To itemize all of those scandals here would be impossible; there is only so much space.

They include detailed reports of a toxic work environment for female employees, theft of technology, underpaying drivers and Uber’s use of its Greyball software tool to evade government critics and law enforcement.

Talked about how the new Uber CEO is working to change their image and improve things.  etc etc

Also mentioned how Ride Sharing can leave out seniors (and others who are not tech savvy) and lower income folks who might not have a credit card, smartphone, paypal etc.

Personally, I dont use cabs often but when I was on vacation last year I used Uber for the first time and LOVED it.  I think the opposition from some local politicians and the taxi companies claiming they are concerned with Uber driver safety is absolutely BS on their parts.  They dont care about safety, they want to force Uber driver's to have to spend money on shields and lights, which I dont believe are necessary at all.

Taxis had a huge head start on Ride Sharing and havent done nearly enough to improve their own service.  There is a reason so many are excited about Uber coming here.

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3 minutes ago, Jimmy Pop said:

Frowned upon here, so I'm told. 

I wanted to hook up everyone with Athletic articles... but was told no go. 

I think what TUP did is okay.

12 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Recounts a personal story about waiting hours for a taxi on a cold night, alone in an unfamiliar neighborhood, being told repeatedly by Duffy's and Unicity that the cab was on its way.  She gave up and called a friend to come get her.  Mentions many Winnipeggers have stories of poor service, racism, safety concerns etc with local taxi's but that Ride Sharing might not be the greatest thing ever.

...

 start on Ride Sharing and havent done nearly enough to improve their own service.  There is a reason so many are excited about Uber coming here.

I can understand the point of view against Uber as a company but in my opinion this is about ride-sharing, not Uber or Lyft specifically.  It's about opening up the market to serve the population better.

Taxis in this city are dreadful.  What other business could survive and thrive with such poor service?  Duffy's has a 1.6 star rating on Google and Unicity has a 1.9 star rating.  And they are both huge and neither ever address customer concerns.  That's not right.

And what a load of crap this is:

Quote

 

Like many Silicon Valley darlings, Uber and similar companies such as Lyft aim to "disrupt" their target industry; in this case, by making taxis less attractive by offering something more flexible and connected for both drivers and passengers.

When Silicon Valley talks about "disruption," what it usually means is dismantling established forms of labour, sidestepping regulations by which communities manage them and eroding protections for the sector’s workers.

 

Who wrote this anti-tech propaganda?  It makes it sound like such disruptions are a bad thing.  When something like ride-sharing comes along, you write new regulations.  You don't stubbornly hold on to old ones that worked in 1980.

Whoever wrote this needs to read "Who Moved my Cheese?"

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3 minutes ago, Atomic said:

I think what TUP did is okay.

I can understand the point of view against Uber as a company but in my opinion this is about ride-sharing, not Uber or Lyft specifically.  It's about opening up the market to serve the population better.

Taxis in this city are dreadful.  What other business could survive and thrive with such poor service?  Duffy's has a 1.6 star rating on Google and Unicity has a 1.9 star rating.  And they are both huge and neither ever address customer concerns.  That's not right.

And what a load of crap this is:

Who wrote this anti-tech propaganda?  It makes it sound like such disruptions are a bad thing.  When something like ride-sharing comes along, you write new regulations.  You don't stubbornly hold on to old ones that worked in 1980.

Whoever wrote this needs to read "Who Moved my Cheese?"

I guess the idea is massive, rich corporations have the power and usually the desire to make things worse for the worker.  And we can dove tail into minimum wage for fast food workers and whether the public would pay a buck extra for a Big Mac to support higher wages (I would by the way).  But ultimately, Uber (and the like) are so popular because they serve the consumer.

I've seen some negative reviews from Ride Sharing drivers (same with Skip The Dishes etc) but also VERY positive ones.  So its like anything else, it seems.

I do feel for hard working cabbies, many of whom are immigrants that might have trouble gaining other employment but are perfectly capable and pleasant drivers.  But their companies didnt care for too long.

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51 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

I guess the idea is massive, rich corporations have the power and usually the desire to make things worse for the worker.  And we can dove tail into minimum wage for fast food workers and whether the public would pay a buck extra for a Big Mac to support higher wages (I would by the way).  But ultimately, Uber (and the like) are so popular because they serve the consumer.

I've seen some negative reviews from Ride Sharing drivers (same with Skip The Dishes etc) but also VERY positive ones.  So its like anything else, it seems.

I do feel for hard working cabbies, many of whom are immigrants that might have trouble gaining other employment but are perfectly capable and pleasant drivers.  But their companies didnt care for too long.

Yeah.  SkipTheDishes and ride sharing companies are generally not worth it for the drivers, if you really dig down and do the math.  So regulate it better.  It serves the consumer.  If it doesn't serve the employee then the government has to step in and make sure the employers are playing fair.  But that doesn't mean you block the whole industry.  Because cab companies do not serve the consumer appropriately anymore and it's not right that they have a monopoly.

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This is interesting. And one of my pet peeves of driving. People who walk out into traffic without pushing the crosswalk button. Also happens a lot when drivers see someone approaching and stop before the button is pressed leading the pedestrian to think they don’t have to. I’ve seen it happen many times wheee cars stop too soon, pedestrian walks out and car in third lane doesn’t see them and nearly hits them. 

 

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2 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

This is interesting. And one of my pet peeves of driving. People who walk out into traffic without pushing the crosswalk button. Also happens a lot when drivers see someone approaching and stop before the button is pressed leading the pedestrian to think they don’t have to. I’ve seen it happen many times wheee cars stop too soon, pedestrian walks out and car in third lane doesn’t see them and nearly hits them.

 

Where I live, It used to be the lights said walk whether u pushed the button or not. Now you have to push a button to get it to light up. Just light it automatically. What difference does it make.

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1 hour ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Where I live, It used to be the lights said walk whether u pushed the button or not. Now you have to push a button to get it to light up. Just light it automatically. What difference does it make.

The article (and I) are talking about cross walk lights, the flashing over head lights that only operate when you press a cross walk button.  

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http://nationalpost.com/news/world/egyptian-singer-shyma-gets-two-years-in-jail-for-suggestively-eating-a-banana-in-a-music-video

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The controversy around the Egyptian pop singer Shyma’s new music video began with a suggestive bite of a banana and ended in a police prison cell.

Shyma was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday because conservative Egyptian authorities said her music video for the song “I Have Issues,” in which she dances in lingerie and flirts with a classroom full of young men, could “incite debauchery.” 

 

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4 minutes ago, Rich said:

on one side, wow.  Can't believe they would go this far.. then on the other side of the coin, she would be aware of these laws and what she could have been getting herself into in her native land.    Hopefully she has a good lawyer.

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1 hour ago, SPuDS said:

on one side, wow.  Can't believe they would go this far.. then on the other side of the coin, she would be aware of these laws and what she could have been getting herself into in her native land.    Hopefully she has a good lawyer.

2 years in Egypt doing that IS a good lawyer.

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-taxis-uber-lyft-council-1.4446417

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The Sikh Society of Manitoba claims the City of Winnipeg's proposed vehicle-for-hire regulations "disvalue the Sikh community and other minority groups" because of the effects of the new rules on the taxi industry.

Ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft will be able to compete with taxis in Winnipeg as soon as March 1, pending a council vote today on new vehicle-for-hire regulations.

March 1st can't come quick enough. I am stoked for Uber.

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21 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-taxis-uber-lyft-council-1.4446417

March 1st can't come quick enough. I am stoked for Uber.

Im confused tho..  how does our province allowing another viable option to taxis, disvalue a community here?  do Sikh's and Taxis go part and parcel?  No.  I get that they are a minority and many do end up driving cabs.. but they also drive heavy truck, limo, delivery, etc etc.. does that mean every new shipping company,  delivery service or or limo service is doing them a disservice by opening in Winnipeg?

 

what a blatant attempt to use race to curry favour (no pun intended I swear) from Winnipeggers.

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1 hour ago, iHeart said:

it's now official...hmm the Simpsons part of Disney.....whoda thunk it

Should be interesting. It’s all about streaming for Disney. They will hit tjay ground running and be a legit competitor to Netflix. 

The amount of content Disney now has is mind boggling.  And they have such incredible means to leverage that content across all platforms including the ever expanding theme park and cruise ship business. 

The Sky and Star purchase is big too. It makes Disney a big deal in the UK and India. 

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This seems more general sports than just wrestling so here it is 

It goes on to say WWE confirms Vince has started a separate company called Alpha to look into sports investment. It’s an interesting thing for Vince at his age. Perhaps it’s part of the transition process for him to oversee something else and move away from day to day wwe.  He has amassed a tremendous fortune and investing it in sports he loves would seem appropriate. 

Pure speculation on my part but wonder if Alpha involves Shane at all. 

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