#toronto taxi companies | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mostlysignssomeportents · 4 months ago

Text

Prime’s enshittified advertising

Prime's gonna add more ads. They brought in ads in January, and people didn't cancel their Prime subscriptions, so Amazon figures that they can make Prime even worse and make more money:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/10/amazon-prime-video-is-getting-more-ads-next-year/

The cruelty isn't the point. Money is the point. Every ad that Amazon shows you shifts value away from you – your time, your attention – to the company's shareholders.

That's the crux of enshittification. Companies don't enshittify – making their once-useful products monotonically worse – because it amuses them to erode the quality of their offerings. They enshittify them because their products are zero-sum: the things that make them valuable to you (watching videos without ads) make things less valuable to them (because they can't monetize your attention).

This isn't new. The internet has always been dominated by intermediaries – platforms – because there are lots more people who want to use the internet than are capable of building the internet. There's more people who want to write blogs than can make a blogging app. There's more people who want to play and listen to music than can host a music streaming service. There's more people who want to write and read ebooks than want to operate an ebook store or sell an ebooks reader.

Despite all the early internet rhetoric about the glories of disintermediation, intermediaries are good, actually:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/12/direct-the-problem-of-middlemen/

The problem isn't with intermediaries per se. The problem arises when intermediaries grow so powerful that they usurp the relationship between the parties they connect. The problem with Uber isn't the use of mobile phones to tell taxis that you're standing on a street somewhere and would like a cab, please. The problem is rampant worker misclassification, regulatory arbitrage, starvation wages, and price-gouging:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/29/geometry-hates-uber/#toronto-the-gullible

There's no problem with publishers, distributors, retailers, printers, and all the other parts of the bookselling ecosystem. While there are a few, rare authors who are capable of performing all of these functions – basically gnawing their books out of whole logs with their teeth – most writers can't, and even the ones who can, don't want to:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/19/crad-kilodney-was-an-outlier/#intermediation

When early internet boosters spoke of disintermediation, what they mostly meant was that it would be harder for intermediaries to capture those relationships – between sellers and buyers, creators and audiences, workers and customers. As Rebecca Giblin and I wrote in our 2022 book Chokepoint Capitalism, intermediaries in every sector rely on chokepoints, narrows where they can erect tollbooths:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

When chokepoints exist, they multiply up and down the supply chain. In the golden age of physical, recorded music, you had several chokepoints that reinforced one another. Limited radio airwaves gave radio stations power over record labels, who had to secretly, illegally bid for prime airspace ("payola"). Retail consolidation – the growth of big record chains – drove consolidation in the distributors who sold to the chains, and the more concentrated distributors became, the more they could squeeze retailers, which drove even more consolidation in record stores. The bigger a label was, the more power it had to shove back against the muscle of the stores and the distributors (and the pressing plants, etc). Consolidation in labels also drove consolidation in talent agencies, whose large client rosters gave them power to resist the squeeze from the labels. Consolidation in venues drives consolidation in ticketing and promotion – and vice-versa.

But there's two parties to this supply chain who can't consolidate: musicians and their fans. With limits on "sectoral bargaining" (where unions can represent workers against all the companies in a sector), musicians' unions were limited in their power against key parts of the supply chain, so the creative workers who made the music were easy pickings for labels, talent reps, promoters, ticketers, venues, retailers, etc. Music fans are diffused and dispersed, and organized fan clubs were usually run by the labels, who weren't about to allow those clubs to be used against the labels.

This is a perfect case-study in the problems of powerful intermediaries, who move from facilitator to parasite, paying workers less while degrading their products, and then charge customers more for those enshittified products.

The excitement about "disintermediation" wasn't so much about eliminating intermediaries as it was about disciplining them. If there were lots of ways to market a product or service, sell it, collect payment for it, and deliver it, then the natural inclination of intermediaries to turn predator would be curbed by the difficulty of corralling their prey into chokepoints.

Now that we're a quarter century on from the Napster Wars, we can see how that worked out. Decades of failure to enforce antitrust law allowed a few companies to effectively capture the internet, buying out rivals who were willing to sell, and bankrupting those who wouldn't with illegal tactics like predatory pricing (think of Uber losing $31 billion by subsidizing $0.41 out of every dollar they charged for taxi rides for more than a decade).

The market power that platforms gained through consolidation translated into political power. When a few companies dominate a sector, they're able to come to agreement on common strategies for dealing with their regulators, and they've got plenty of excess profits to spend on those strategies. First and foremost, platforms used their power to get more power, lobbying for even less antitrust enforcement. Additionally, platforms mobilized gigantic sums to secure the right to screw customers (for example, by making binding arbitration clauses in terms of service enforceable) and workers (think of the $225m Uber and Lyft spent on California's Prop 22, which formalized their worker misclassification swindle).

So big platforms were able to insulate themselves from the risk of competition ("five giant websites, filled with screenshots of the other four" – Tom Eastman), and from regulation. They were also able to expand and mobilize IP law to prevent anyone from breaking their chokepoints or undoing the abuses that these enabled. This is a good place to get specific about how Prime Video works.

There's two ways to get Prime videos: over an app, or in your browser. Both of these streams are encrypted, and that's really important here, because of a law – Section 1201 of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act – which makes it really illegal to break this kind of encryption (commonly called "Digital Rights Management" or "DRM"). Practically speaking, that means that if a company encrypts its videos, no one is allowed to do anything to those videos, even things that are legal, without the company's permission, because doing all those legal things requires breaking the DRM, and breaking the DRM is a felony (five years in prison, $500k fine, for a first offense).

Copyright law actually gives subscribers to services like Prime a lot of rights, and it empowers businesses that offer tools to exercise those rights. Back in 1976, Sony rolled out the Betamax, the first major home video recorder. After an eight-year court battle, the Supreme Court weighed in on VCRs and ruled that it was legal for all of us to record videos at home, both to watch them later, and to build a library of our favorite shows. They also ruled that it was legal for Sony – and by that time, every other electronics company – to make VHS systems, even if those systems could be used in ways that violated copyright because they were "capable of sustaining a substantial non-infringing use" (letting you tape shows off your TV).

Now, this was more than a decade before the DMCA – and its prohibition on breaking DRM – passed, but even after the DMCA came into effect, there was a lot of media that didn't have DRM, so a new generation of tech companies were able to make tools that were "capable of sustaining a substantial non-infringing use" and that didn't have to break any DRM to do it.

Think of the Ipod and Itunes, which, together, were sold as a way to rip CDs (which weren't encrypted), and play them back from both your desktop computer and a wildly successful pocket-sized portable device. Itunes even let you stream from one computer to another. The record industry hated this, but they couldn't do anything about it, thanks to the Supreme Court's Betamax ruling.

Indeed, they eventually swallowed their bile and started selling their products through the Itunes Music Store. These tracks had DRM and were thus permanently locked to Apple's ecosystem, and Apple immediately used that power to squeeze the labels, who decided they didn't like DRM after all, and licensed all those same tracks to Amazon's DRM-free MP3 store, whose slogan was "DRM: Don't Restrict Me":

https://memex.craphound.com/2008/02/01/amazons-anti-drm-tee/

Apple played a funny double role here. In marketing Itunes/Ipods ("Rip, Mix, Burn"), they were the world's biggest cheerleaders for all the things you were allowed to do with copyrighted works, even when the copyright holder objected. But with the Itunes Music Store and its mandatory DRM, the company was also one of the world's biggest cheerleaders for wrapping copyrighted works in a thin skin of IP that would allow copyright holders to shut down products like the Ipod and Itunes.

Microsoft, predictably enough, focused on the "lock everything to our platform" strategy. Then-CEO Steve Ballmer went on record calling every Ipod owner a "thief" and arguing that every record company should wrap music in Microsoft's Zune DRM, which would allow them to restrict anything they didn't like, even if copyright allowed it (and would also give Microsoft the same abusive leverage over labels that they famously exercised over Windows software companies):

https://web.archive.org/web/20050113051129/http://management.silicon.com/itpro/0,39024675,39124642,00.htm

In the end, Amazon's approach won. Apple dropped DRM, and Microsoft retired the Zune and shut down its DRM servers, screwing anyone who'd ever bought a Zune track by rendering that music permanently unplayable.

Around the same time as all this was going on, another company was making history by making uses of copyrighted works that the law allowed, but which the copyright holders hated. That company was Tivo, who products did for personal video recorders (PVRs) what Apple's Ipod did for digital portable music players. With a Tivo, you could record any show over cable (which was too expensive and complicated to encrypt) and terrestrial broadcast (which is illegal to encrypt, since those are the public's airwaves, on loan to the TV stations).

That meant that you could record any show, and keep it forever. What's more, you could very easily skip through ads (and rival players quickly emerged that did automatic ad-skipping). All of this was legal, but of course the cable companies and broadcasters hated it. Like Ballmer, TV execs called Tivo owners "thieves."

But Tivo didn't usher in the ad-supported TV apocalypse that furious, spittle-flecked industry reps insisted it would. Rather, it disciplined the TV and cable operators. Tivo owners actually sought out ads that were funny and well-made enough to go viral. Meanwhile, every time the industry decided to increase the amount of advertising in a show, they also increased the likelihood that their viewers would seek out a Tivo, or worse, one of those auto-ad-skipping PVRs.

Given all the stink that TV execs raised over PVRs, you'd think that these represented a novel threat. But in fact, the TV industry's appetite for ads had been disciplined by viewers' access to new technology since 1956, when the first TV remotes appeared on the market (executives declared that anyone who changed the channel during an ad-break was a thief). Then came the mute button. Then the wireless remote. Meanwhile, a common VCR use-case – raised in the Supreme Court case – was fast-forwarding ads.

At each stage, TV adapted. Ads in TV shows represented a kind of offer: "Will you watch this many of these ads in return for a free TV show?" And the remote, the mute button, the wireless remote, the VCR, the PVR, and the ad-skipping PVR all represented a counter-offer. As economists would put it, the ability of viewers to make these counteroffers "shifted the equilibrium." If viewers had no defensive technology, they might tolerate more ads, but once they were able to enforce their preferences with technology, the industry couldn't enshittify its product to the liminal cusp of "so many ads that the viewer is right on the brink of turning off the TV (but not quite)."

This is the same equilibrium-shifting dynamic that we see on the open web, where more than 50% of users have installed an ad-blocker. The industry says, "Will you allow this many 'sign up to our mailing list' interrupters, pop ups, pop unders, autoplaying videos and other stuff that users hate but shareholders benefit from" and the ad-blocker makes a counteroffer: "How about 'nah?'":

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

TV remotes, PVRs and ad-blockers are all examples of "adversarial interoperability" – a new product that plugs into an existing one, extending or modifying its functions without permission from (or even over the objections of) the original manufacturer:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

Adversarial interop creates a powerful disciplining force on platform owners. Once a user grows so frustrated with a product's enshittification that they research, seek out, acquire and learn to use an adversarial interop tool, it's really game over. The printer owner who figures out where to get third-party ink is gone forever. Every time a company like HP raises its prices, they have to account for the number of customers who will finally figure out how to use generic ink and never, ever send another cent to HP.

This is where DMCA 1201 comes into play. Once a product is skinned with DRM, its manufacturers gain the right to prevent you from doing legal things, and can use the public's courts and law-enforcement apparatus to punish you for trying. Take HP: as soon as they started adding DRM to their cartridges, they gained the legal power to shut down companies that cloned, refilled or remanufactured their cartridges, and started raising the price of ink – which today sits at more than $10,000/gallon:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/30/life-finds-a-way/#ink-stained-wretches

Using third party ink in your printer isn't illegal (it's your printer, right?). But making third party ink for your printer becomes illegal once you have to break DRM to do so, and so HP gets to transform tinted water into literally the most expensive fluid on Earth. The ink you use to print your kid's homework costs more than vintage Veuve Cliquot or sperm from a Kentucky Derby-winning thoroughbred.

Adversarial interoperability is a powerful tool for shifting the equilibrium between producers, intermediaries and buyers. DRM is an even more powerful way of wrenching that equilibrium back towards the intermediary, reducing the share that buyers and sellers are able to eke out of the transaction.

Prime Video, of course, is delivered via an app, which means it has DRM. That means that subscribers don't get to exercise the rights afforded to them by copyright – only the rights that Amazon permits them to have. There's no Tivo for Prime, because it would have to break the DRM to record the shows you stream from Prime. That allows Prime to pull all kinds of shady shit. For example, every year around this time, Amazon pulls popular Christmas movies from its free-to-watch tier and moves them into pay-per-view, only restoring them in the spring:

https://www.reddit.com/r/vudu/comments/1bpzanx/looks_like_amazon_removed_the_free_titles_from/

And of course, Prime sticks ads in its videos. You can't skip these ads – not because it's technically challenging to make a 30-second advance button for a video stream, and doing so wouldn't violate anyone's copyright – but because Amazon doesn't permit you to do so, and the fact that the video is wrapped in DRM makes it a felony to even try.

This means that Amazon gets to seek a different equilibrium than TV companies have had to accept since 1956 and the invention of the TV remote. Amazon doesn't have to limit the quantity, volume, and invasiveness of its ads to "less the amount that would drive our subscribers to install and use an ad-skipping plugin." Instead, they can shoot for the much more lucrative equilibrium of "so obnoxious that the viewer is almost ready to cancel their subscription (but not quite)."

That's pretty much exactly how Kelly Day, the Amazon exec in charge of Prime Video, put it to the Financial Times: they're increasing the number of ads because "we haven’t really seen a groundswell of people churning out or cancelling":

https://www.ft.com/content/f8112991-820c-4e09-bcf4-23b5e0f190a5

At this point, attentive readers might be asking themselves, "Doesn't Amazon have to worry about Prime viewers who watch in their browsers?" After all browsers are built on open standards, and anyone can make one, so there should be browsers that can auto-skip Prime ads, right?

Wrong, alas. Back in 2017, the W3C – the organization that makes the most important browser standards – caved to pressure from the entertainment industry and the largest browser companies and created "Encrypted Media Extensions" (EME), a "standard" for video DRM that blocks all adversarial interoperability:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/09/open-letter-w3c-director-ceo-team-and-membership

This had the almost immediate effect of making it impossible to create an independent browser without licensing proprietary tech from Google – now a convicted monopolist! – who won't give you a license if you implement recording, ad-skipping, or any other legal (but dispreferred) feature:

https://blog.samuelmaddock.com/posts/the-end-of-indie-web-browsers/

This means that for Amazon, there's no way to shift value away from the platform to you. The company has locked you in, and has locked out anyone who might offer you a better deal. Companies that know you are technologically defenseless are endlessly inventive in finding ways to make things worse for you to make things better for them. Take Youtube, another DRM-video-serving platform that has jacked up the number of ads you have to sit through in order to watch a video – even as they slash payments to performers. They've got a new move: they're gonna start showing you ads while your video is paused:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/09/20/youtube-pause-ads-rollout/75306204007/

That is the kind of fuckery you only come up with when your victory condition is "a service that's almost so bad our customers quit (but not quite)."

In Amazon's case, the math is even worse. After all, Youtube may have near-total market dominance over a certain segment of the video market, but Prime Video is bundled with Prime Delivery, which the vast majority of US households subscribe to. You have to give up a lot to cancel your Prime subscription – especially since Amazon's predatory pricing devastated the rest of the retail sector:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/28/enshittification/#relentless-payola

Amazon's founding principle was "customer obsession." Ex-Amazoners tell me that this was more than an empty platitude: arguments over product design were won or lost based on whether they could satisfy the "customer obsession" litmus test. Now, everyone falls short of their ideals, but sticking to your ideals isn't merely a matter of internal discipline, of willpower. Living up to your ideals is a matter of external discipline, too. When Amazon no longer had to contend with competitors or regulators, when it was able to use DRM to control its customers and use the law to prevent them from using its products in legal ways, it lost those external sources of discipline.

Amazon suppliers have long complained of the company's high-handed treatment of the vendors who supplied it with goods. Its workers have complained bitterly and loudly about the dangerous and oppressive conditions in its warehouses and delivery vans. But Amazon's customers have consistently given Amazon high marks on quality and trustworthiness.

The reason Amazon treated its workers and suppliers badly and its customers well wasn't that it liked customers and hated workers and suppliers. Amazon was engaged in a cold-blooded calculus: it understood that treating customers well would give it control over those customers, and that this would translate market power to retain suppliers even as it ripped them off and screwed them over.

But now, Amazon has clearly concluded that it no longer needs to keep customers happy in order to retain them. Instead, it's shooting for "keeping customers so angry that they're almost ready to take their business elsewhere (but not quite)." You see this in the steady decline of Amazon product search, which preferences the products that pay the biggest bribes for search placement over the best matches:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

And you see it in the steady enshittification of Prime Video. Amazon's character never changed. The company always had a predatory side. But now that monopoly and IP law have insulated it from consequences for its actions, there's no longer any reason to keep the predator in check.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/03/mother-may-i/#minmax

#pluralistic #amazon #enshittification #ads #prime #ad-tech #discipline

768 notes · View notes

justforbooks · 1 year ago

Text

The director and producer Norman Jewison, who has died aged 97, had a career dedicated for the most part to making films that, while entertaining, included socio-political content. His visual flair, especially in the use of colour, spot-on casting and intelligent use of music, enabled him to raise sometimes thin stories into highly watchable films.

He hit the high spot critically and commercially with In the Heat of the Night (1967), which starred Sidney Poitier as a northern US city police detective temporarily held up in a small southern town and Rod Steiger as the local sheriff confronted with the murder of a wealthy industrialist. The detective mystery plot was perhaps mainly the vehicle for an enactment of racial prejudices and hostilities culminating in a grudging respect on both sides, but it worked well. The final scene, much of it improvised, in which the two men indulge in something approaching a personal conversation, was both moving and revealing.

The film won five Academy awards – for best picture, best adapted screenplay, best editing, best sound and, for Steiger, best actor – and gave Jewison the first of his three best director nominations; the others were for Fiddler on the Roof, his 1971 adaptation of the Broadway musical, and the romantic comedy Moonstruck (1987). In 1999 Jewison was the winner of the Irving G Thalberg memorial award from the academy for “a consistently high quality of motion picture production”.

The son of Dorothy (nee Weaver) and Percy Jewison, he was born and brought up in Toronto, Ontario, where his father ran a shop and post office. Educated at the Malvern Collegiate Institute, a Toronto high school, Jewison studied the piano and music theory at the Royal Conservatory in the city, and served in the Canadian navy during the second world war. On discharge, he went to the University of Toronto, paying his way by working at a variety of jobs, including driving a taxi and occasional acting.

After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree, in 1950 he set off with $140 on a tramp steamer to the UK, where he landed a job with the BBC, acting and writing scripts. On his return to Canada two years later, he joined the rapidly expanding television industry, producing and directing variety shows for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Jewison was spotted by the William Morris talent agency and invited to New York, where he signed with CBS and was given the unenviable task of rescuing the once successful show Your Hit Parade, which was by then displaying signs of terminal decline. He revamped the entire production and took it back to the top of the ratings. He directed episodes of the variety show Big Party and The Andy Williams Show, and specials for Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, Jackie Gleason and Danny Kaye.

On the Belafonte special, Jewison had white chains dangling above the stage, an image that displeased many southern TV stations, which refused to screen the show. This was the first indication of his stance on racism.

Success brought him to the notice of Tony Curtis, who had his own production company at Universal, and Jewison began a three-year contract with 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), starring Curtis. This was followed by the likable but light Doris Day comedies The Thrill of It All (1963), Send Me No Flowers (1964) and The Art of Love (1965).

In 1965 he got out of his contract to make the first film of his choice, MGM’s The Cincinnati Kid, starring Steve McQueen (the Kid) and Edward G Robinson (the Man) and centring on a professional poker game between the old master and the young challenger. He took over the project from Sam Peckinpah, tore up the original script by Paddy Chayefsky and Ring Lardner, and commissioned Terry Southern, the result getting him noticed as a more than competent studio director.

In 1966 he made the beguiling but commercially unsuccessful comedy The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, about a Russian submarine stranded off the coast of Cape Cod. This was at the height of the cold war and gained him a reputation for being a “Canadian pinko”, although it was nominated for a best picture Oscar.

In the Heat of the Night was followed by The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) in which McQueen and Faye Dunaway played thief and insurance investigator respectively and engaged in a chess game that evolved into one of the longest onscreen kisses, as the camera swirls around and around above their heads. The theme song, The Windmills of Your Mind, was a hit and the film a success.

Fiddler on the Roof, with a silk stocking placed by Jewison across the camera lens to provide an earth-toned quality, won Oscars for cinematography, music and sound, and a nomination for Chaim Topol in his signature role of Tevye.

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), his adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera, and Rollerball (1975), starring James Caan, were followed by F.I.S.T. (1978), a tale of union corruption starring Sylvester Stallone as an idealistic young organiser who sells out, and And Justice for All (1979), starring Al Pacino, a deeply ironic portrayal of the legal world.

A Soldier’s Story (1985), based on the Pulitzer prize-winning play and including an early performance from Denzel Washington, dealt with black soldiers who risked their lives “in defence of a republic which didn’t even guarantee them their rights”, and some of whom had internalised the white man’s vision of them.

Moonstruck, a somewhat daft love story but a tremendous box office success and for the most part a critical one, won the Silver Bear and best director for Jewison at the Berlin film festival and was nominated for six Oscars, winning for best screenplay, best actress for Cher and best supporting actress for Olympia Dukakis.

Then came Other People’s Money (1991), a caustic and amusing comedy on the new world of corporate finance and takeovers, in which Danny DeVito played a money hungry vulture, made largely in response to Reagan’s era of deregulation, and The Hurricane (1999) in which Jewison again worked with Washington, who played the real life boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, falsely convicted of a triple murder and imprisoned for years before the conviction was quashed. The latter film aroused controversy over its alleged manipulation of some facts and, despite its undoubted qualities, this fracas probably contributed to it being commercially disappointing.

In the early 1990s, Jewison had begun preparations for a film on the life of Malcolm X, and had secured Washington to play the title role, when Spike Lee gave his strongly expressed opinion that only a black film-maker could make this story. The two met, and Jewison handed over the film to Lee.

Jewison’s last film, The Statement (2003), starred Michael Caine as a Nazi war criminal on the run. He was also producer for films including The Landlord (1970), The Dogs of War (1980), Iceman (1984) and The January Man (1989).

He had returned to Canada in 1978, living on a ranch north of Toronto with his wife Dixie, whom he had married in 1953. There he reared Hereford cattle, grew tulips and produced his own-label maple syrup. In 1988 he founded the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies, now known as the Canadian Film Centre, in Toronto.

He was a confirmed liberal, a man of integrity who turned in his coveted green card in protest at the Vietnam war and saw film not only as entertainment but also as a conduit for raising serious issues.

Dixie (Margaret Dixon) died in 2004. In 2010 he married Lynne St David, who survives him, as do two sons, Kevin and Michael, and a daughter, Jennifer, from his first marriage.

🔔 Norman Frederick Jewison, film director, producer and screenwriter, born 21 July 1926; died 20 January 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

#just for books #norman jewison #in memoriam

17 notes · View notes

storiesofsvu · 1 year ago

Text

happy law and order thursday!!

Okay, city tv has registered that I’m not actually in Toronto and now we’re back to the backwards viewing order…

OC first:

My goldfish brain has half forgotten if we’ve seen this blonde dude before or if I just know him from somewhere else.

There’s so much goddamn tension between bell and the other captain, like there is no way they haven’t fucked…

Ugghh mama bear belllll…. Heck yes to these parents watching out for their kids, nothing gets past them lol.

Still don’t like/understand jet using air pods instead of official ear pieces…

Okay, yes Reyes was on his way to blowing the op, but jet didn’t need to jump right in, she kinda fucked the whole thing up.

Bruh… is that bitch dead? Do we need to start reminding the younger generations they need therapy too?

Okay, good, shrink time it is! Bonus that it’s Ayanna’s personal shrink, not department, a: more personal. B: proves that she’s in therapy and we know she likely needs it.

They might be exes, they might be frenemies, but they certainly do work an interrogation room great together

I feel like gunfire in the midst of a gas station parking lot where all the fuel is, is a deadly idea… that could have gone so much worse. Esp considering this is in relation to bombing cases…

I know a lot of it is likely just the era that the show was created/originally airing but the differences in the squad room designs between departments baffles me.

Elliot really out here lecturing his own brothers like he didn’t up and leave out of nowhere. God I hate this shit lol.

L&O now. How much attention will I pay?

Jfc… that dead body was a jump fucking scare

What is WITH all the shaky cam tonight, ugh.

I have said it before and I will say it again: Samantha Maroun goes shopping with Rita Calhoun.

Fuck, cases like this fucking suck. But like, legality wise, they’re right. It’s easier to get the perp behind bars by just using the more solid case they have with the rich white victim. If they try to get justice for all the victims, it’s way more likely that they case can and will be thrown out or land on a not guilty verdict. Ugh. Politics

If they need to prove that the vic and the perp didn’t have sex at the sex club on the night of the murder…why not just run a rape kit? Or would some kind of exam like that just be part of the autopsy?

More shaky cam… loving this.

Also why the fuck did my subtitles disappear halfway through this episode? I’m deaf… I need this shit..

Seriously that crime scene photo needs to come with a fucking warning. Jesus

Okay. SVU time

Wonderful. I’ve gotten my subtitles back. Thank god.

This is a weird start… hmm…

Getting even more interesting… ngl…

Okay, circling back around, I thought we might be about to get a plot twist of ray being the perp.

UUGHH. I saw a tweet about a new female officer/detective and as much as we all hope that she’ll stick around for more than a season… if Officer Gomez is the new squad member, she’s a woman poc so the chances of her sticking around are slim to none, lets be fucking real.

Okay, don’t get me wrong. I know that this girl is tiny and she’s an escort, but if a man came in and confessed to rape you’d still take him immediately into an interrogation room. This is a double standard. Especially cause she’s young, thin and pretty, I’m not going to ignore that or let that slide either. *side eye* (like yes, we later do get to the point that she was forced at gun point, but they don’t know that til after. Everything is complicated and there’s lots of lines crossing over and blurring but my statement still stands)

When are they gonna make Bruno an actual part of the team? Why is he still just a guest star?

Man, it’s gotta be hella hard nowadays when it comes to taxis and shit. You have legit taxi’s, multiple companies, gypsy cabs and multiple ride share apps and companies.

Odafin Tutuola only knows about robin egg blue because of Phoebe… there is no way he would know otherwise.

This doctor clearly fucking rich as hell, fuck

HOW does the SEX CRIMES unit currently not have any women working for it??!! (I’m not counting liv cause she’s the captain and irl she would not be in the field, she’d be constantly swamped by paperwork). Even in this episode, it would be helpful to have either terry or fin and a female cop going to talk to a vic/potential vic, if I had been assaulted in any form, remembering it or not I wouldn’t be very open to talking about it if they were talking to me like that, both playing the alpha role. At least with Velasco he can slip into a more soft, quiet, supportive type of conversation/questioning…

“where do you keep your receipts” is something that ALWAYS blows my fucking mind on these shows as a bartender. I DO NOT GET IT. Maybe it’s cause we have tap/card machines that don’t require signatures in Canada, but like…we don’t keep receipts, and even when there are the ones we do keep, they don’t have names, they don’t even have the full credit card number on them, so there would be no way to track someone. We had 250 people in the room each night and as a bartender, unless they had a tab with me, or a personal connection/were a good tipper/conversationalist, I’m not gonna remember them. Our reservations are usually for large groups, so sure we have a single name/card on file, but there’s no way to pin point someone out of their 4-40 people friend groups. Random bar/service industry things that drive me wild on tv shows. That’s all.

Okay, we’re taking the bracelet off, I think that’s some progress finally.

You know, I wouldn’t mind commercial breaks if they weren’t the same fucking commercials every damn time. That’s the issue with live streaming shit. I miss cable…

“well…they’re idiots, but at least they’re consistent” LOL

Ice T really said “hold on…I need to earn my paycheque for the season” with the amount of screen time he has this ep…

Wait…what’s the plan here? The cops have talked to the perps, there’s no way they wouldn’t be sus about ray coming back in on this. Why not send Velasco or other cops in to bribe the things out and play the ray role? This seems like a bad idea lol.

“wife is here” WHY DID NO ONE TELL VELASCO??

Why don’t we get to go to court anymore?!

Who is this defence attorney? She looks familiar.

I need to raid Velasco’s closet. This coat and sweater look so fucking cozy. They’re mine now.

Glad to see liv branching out to a new type of therapy.

#law and order svu #svu #law and order #law and order special victims unit #law and order organized crime #law and order spoilers #spoilers

3 notes · View notes

yarnings · 2 years ago

Text

Trying to figure out how we’re getting to a wedding next month. Renting a car is 100% out (not just the expense and that we would have to do a two-day rental because the rental places here have stupid hours. It’s also that it would involve driving through Toronto on a Friday afternoon).

Unfortunately I am far too much of a big-city person. I think that DuckDuckGo is telling me that [city] doesn’t actually have taxi companies, I need to look for [region] taxi companies instead. And this simply DOES NOT COMPUTE.

4 notes · View notes

torontotaxilimoon · 2 years ago

Text

youtube

Business Name: The Pearson Toronto Airport Limousine and Taxi Services

Street Address: 3 Lockwood Road

City: Brampton

State: Ontario (ON)

Postal Code: L6Y 4S6

Country: Canada

Business Phone Number: (647) 689-6088

Business Email Address: [email protected]

Website: https://www.torontotaxilimo.ca/online-booking/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/toronto-taxi-limo/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/torontotaxilim1?t=U1msEVVGi9JU-ekohjSFvQ&s=09

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torontotaxilimo.ca/

Description: The Pearson Toronto Airport Limousine and Taxi Service is a reliable and efficient transportation service that provides professional and courteous service to travelers in the Toronto area. The company operates a fleet of well-maintained and comfortable vehicles, including sedans, SUVs, and luxury limousines, to ensure that passengers arrive at their destination in style and comfort. The company's drivers are knowledgeable and experienced and committed to providing a safe and enjoyable experience for every passenger. Whether traveling for business or leisure, Toronto Pearson Airport Taxi and Limo Service have the perfect transportation solution. The service is available 24/7, so you can count on them.

Google My Business CID URL: https://www.google.com/maps?cid=7649677684264263687

Business Hours: Sunday 24 hour Monday 24 hour Tuesday 24 hour Wednesday 24 hour Thursday 24 hour Friday 24 hour Saturday 24 hour

Services: Pearson Airport taxi and limo Suv limo service, Mini Bus Sprinter, Pearson Airport Limo and taxi luxury Sedan, Luxury vehicles, Hamilton Airport Limo and Taxi

Keywords: Pearson Airport Limo,Pearson airport taxi, Toronto airport taxi, Toronto Airport Limo, taxi to toronto airport, Limo to toronto airport, Taxi from toronto airport, Limo from toronto airport, taxi with car seats, pearson airport limousine service,pearson limo service , billy bishop airport taxi, billy bishop airport limo, pearson limo services, pearson limo, flat rate taxi to pearson airport, taxi to pearson airport flat rate

Payment Methods: Cash, Check/Cheque, Debit Card, Credit Card, Visa, Master, Amex, Discover, PayPal, Cash App, Venmo

Business/Company Establishment Date: 04-01-2001

Number of Employees: 25

Owner Details: Mr NCH, (647) 689-6088

Location:

https://goo.gl/maps/QmDDST4ZSBty5Ak98

Service Areas:

#Youtube

2 notes · View notes

sydneyadventures · 15 days ago

Text

South Africa - Summary of Recommendations and Tips!

Overall, I would highly recommend South Africa as a travel destination. Yes, it's a bit dangerous, and it's a trip that requires detailed planning and preparation... But the reward is absolutely incredible.

Here's a summary of our accommodations and various recommendations for anyone who might be looking to do a South Africa trip of their own!

Accommodation:

Tree House in Cape Town

Kwandwe for everything

Addo Elephant House

All other places we stayed were AirBnBs!

Restaurants:

Mollo Lollo in Addo

Magic Barn in Plettenberg Bay

Tsitrus Cafe in Storms Rivier/Tsitsikamma

Down to Earth (for breakfast) in Plett area

Enrico's in Keurboomstrand

East Heads Cafe in Knysna

Sirrocco in Knysna

Knysna Gin Co in Knysna

De Wandermarkt (breakfast) in Stellenbosch

Guardian Peak for lunch Stellenbosch

Meraki for brunch Stellenbosch

De Volkskombuis in Stellenbosch for dinner

Guardian Peak for lunch in wine area of Stellenbosch

Wineries in Stellenbosch:

Tokara, Simonsig, Muratie, Babylonstoren, Le Pommier (lunch), Kleinood, Waterford (stop by), Hidden valley (stop by), Guardian peak, Remhoogte

General SA Travel Remarks

SAFE: Overall felt very safe! We were careful - did not drive at night (except in very touristy local/small areas), and when driving stayed on main roads/highways (N2) as much as possible; Ubers everywhere, or hired cars from trusted people (I.e. tour guide companies and hotels) and never taxis; kept our valuables hidden and dressed modestly; stayed vigilant in busy areas, only walked around cities in safe/touristy areas (ie university area of Stellenbosch and V&A/Green Point Cape Town). These precautions likely contributed to the feeling of safety. Could see how it could get scary if you were walking outside at night in an urban area during load shedding (power outages), but avoided this and therefore never experienced it firsthand.

KIND PEOPLE: The people are unbelievably nice, every single waiter/hotel clerk/tour guide etc we’re all exceptional in their kindness and hospitality, easily the nicest people of any destination I’ve ever been. In our experience no one was trying to scam us or take advantage of us. Everyone seemed very gracious and thankful for our patronage.

INCREDIBLE FOOD: could not find a bad meal! Best food destination I have ever been to. They care deeply about their food and even when making modifications (see allergies below) will go above and beyond to ensure a dish is still delicious and flavourful. The food options are also very nutritious - not just eating junk/fried food day after day.

ALLERGY FRIENDLY: every place was very respectful of our allergies (especially Ev’s severe nut allergy), and was able to modify foods as needed without any issue! Lots of vegan options in many places.

AFFORDABLE: much of this has to do with the conversion rate of our CAD$ to South African rand, but it certainly made the trip feel a lot easier than places like Europe/AUS etc where you need to be really cautious about what you spend on with high prices. — would also say that what was even better was the low prices were paired with very very high quality. You’ll pay much less for a meal than in Toronto and it’ll also be 10x better.

DIVERSE ACTIVITIES/SCENERY: nature lovers will enjoy the mountains, oceans and hiking; adventure lovers have endless options for activities (canyoning, zip lining, kayaking etc); foodies will be in heaven at every stop; ample cultural/urban and city life; animal lovers can enjoy diverse flora and fauna both on and off safari. It’s truly everything in one place.

CAR RENTAL/DRIVING: the other side of the road was an adjustment but Ev had no problems navigating. Highways are safe. Some roads in the smaller safari areas near the game reserves were a bit bumpy. We got pulled over by the police for a random traffic check but it took all of one minute - he checked Ev’s Canadian license (did not ask for International Driver’s Permit although he did have one ready), said he looked like Harry Potter and told us to drive off and have a nice day. We also took a toll road at one point and you just pull up and give them cash or card - easy. Some touristy areas have parking guides in red vests that you are supposed to tip. Every experience we had with authorities on the road was pleasant and everyone was super nice.

Season-Specific Notes

NOT BUSY in September: although we were just at the very very beginning of their summer/busy season, so our timing obviously helped a lot with that - but in most places/parks/tours etc we felt like we had the place to ourselves.

WEATHER: we saw all 4 seasons throughout our 3 weeks. It got as cold as 0c with wind (chilly) and as hot as 38 with sun. However, generally I would say most days were cold (especially in the mornings and evenings), I didn’t wear sandals often and even on days where shorts were appropriate I still needed more layers for the morning and evening. Would pack a few more warm layers for my next visit.

0 notes

mklaw-firm · 2 months ago

Text

Uber Accident Lawyers In Toronto - MK Law

Motor vehicle accidents involving Uber can be a complex legal situation. Depending on the circumstances of the accident, a variety of parties could be held liable. It is important to understand your rights and to seek legal advice from a personal injury lawyer to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve. In recent years, the number of personal injury claims related to Uber in Ontario has been steadily rising. There are a variety of reasons why the rate of personal injury claims related to Uber in Ontario is so high. One of the main reasons is that Uber does not have the same safety regulations that taxi companies have.

If you’ve been involved in a motor vehicle accident involving Uber, don’t hesitate to contact us today. Our experienced attorneys are here to help you through every step of the process and ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.

Read More: https://www.mklaw.ca/services/uber-related-motor-vehicle-accidents/

#uber car accident lawyer

0 notes

zoomcab097 · 3 months ago

Text

Transportation in Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, one of the world’s most iconic natural wonders, draws millions of visitors each year. Whether you're visiting to witness the awe-inspiring waterfalls, explore nearby parks, or enjoy the local attractions, efficient transportation is key to making the most of your trip. Fortunately, the region offers a variety of transportation options, catering to tourists, locals, and even those traveling internationally. This comprehensive guide will cover the best transportation in Niagara Falls, with options for every budget, preference, and convenience.

1. Getting to Niagara Falls: Traveling to the Region

Before diving into how to move around the city itself, it's important to consider how to get transportation in Niagara Falls. The region is well-connected to several major cities in both Canada and the U.S., making it easily accessible.

By Car

The most convenient option for many travelers is Zoom cab. Niagara Falls is located about 27 miles (43 kilometers) north of Buffalo, New York, and about 75 miles (121 kilometers) south of Toronto, Ontario. Major highways like the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) in Canada and Interstate 190 (I-190) in the U.S. provide easy access to the falls and surrounding attractions.

By Train

If you’re coming from Toronto or other cities in Ontario, you can take a train via VIA Rail or GO Transit. VIA Rail provides service from cities like Toronto to Niagara Falls, while GO Transit operates commuter trains from various points in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to Niagara Falls during the tourist season.

By Bus

Bus travel is another affordable option to reach Niagara Falls. Several bus companies, including Greyhound and Megabus, run services from various cities across the U.S. and Canada to the falls. Additionally, Niagara Region offers local bus services for residents and tourists.

By Air

For international visitors, the nearest major airport is Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) in New York, about 30 minutes away by car. From Toronto, you can fly into Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), which is around 90 minutes away. There are also regional airports like Niagara Falls International Airport (IAG) on the U.S. side, which offers flights from select locations.

2. Getting Around Niagara Falls

Once you’ve arrived at Niagara Falls, there are a number of ways to get around, depending on your preferences and where you're staying. Here’s a breakdown of the main transportation options.

Walking

Niagara Falls is a walkable destination, and many of the major attractions are within walking distance from each other, especially in the Niagara Falls State Park (U.S. side) and the Niagara Parks (Canada side). If you're staying near the falls, walking is often the best way to take in the sights.

Niagara Falls Trolley Service

For those who prefer not to walk, the Niagara Falls Trolley is an excellent option. The trolley operates on both the Canadian and U.S. sides of the falls and serves as a convenient way to travel between key attractions, hotels, and restaurants. The trolley route is seasonal and operates from late spring to early fall, making it a popular choice for tourists during peak months.

Taxis and Rideshare

Taxis are readily available throughout Niagara Falls, and many visitors choose them for convenience, especially when heading to specific locations or when traveling in groups. Taxi stands are located near major hotels and attractions.

Rideshare services like Zoom cab are also widely available, providing another flexible and often more affordable alternative to traditional taxis. Rideshare apps are popular with both locals and tourists for their convenience, allowing you to hail a ride from your smartphone.

Bicycle Rentals and Tours

For the more adventurous traveler, renting a bicycle is a great way to explore Niagara Falls and the surrounding areas. Bike rentals are available at several locations around the city, including near the falls, downtown, and along the Niagara Parkway. Cycling along the scenic routes offers a unique way to enjoy the region’s natural beauty, and many bike rental shops also offer guided tours.

The Niagara Parkway is particularly popular with cyclists, offering a smooth, paved path that runs from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Niagara Falls, passing through vineyards, parks, and historic sites along the way.

Niagara Falls Sightseeing Tours

For those who want a more structured way to explore the region, numerous guided tours are available, providing transportation between top attractions. Many companies offer hop-on, hop-off bus tours, boat tours, or even helicopter rides for a premium experience. These tours often include knowledgeable guides who share historical and cultural insights about the area.

Car Rentals

While Niagara Falls is a walkable destination, renting a car can be convenient for those who plan to explore beyond the falls. For example, you might want to visit Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Welland Canal, or take a winery tour in the nearby Niagara Wine Region.

Car rental agencies are available at major locations, including the airports and in the downtown areas. Having a car gives you the flexibility to explore at your own pace and visit more remote locations that might be harder to reach by public transit.

Shuttle Services

Many hotels and resorts in Niagara Falls offer shuttle services to key attractions, airports, and bus stations. These services are especially useful if you’re staying at a large hotel or resort complex that is a bit farther from the falls. Some shuttle services are complimentary for hotel guests, while others may charge a fee.

3. Unique Transportation Options: The Maid of the Mist and More

One of the most popular ways to experience Niagara Falls up close is by taking the Maid of the Mist boat tour, which operates on the U.S. side. This iconic boat tour brings passengers within feet of the American and Horseshoe Falls, allowing them to feel the mist and hear the roar of the water.

On the Canadian side, visitors can take the Hornblower Niagara Cruises, which offers a similar experience. Both boat tours operate seasonally, typically from spring through fall, and are a must-do for many visitors to Niagara Falls.

Additionally, helicopter tours are available for those looking for a bird’s-eye view of the falls. Helicopter rides provide an unparalleled aerial perspective of the falls, the surrounding landscapes, and even the nearby Niagara Wine Region.

4. Tips for Navigating Niagara Falls

Peak Tourist Seasons: Niagara Falls sees a surge of tourists during the summer months, particularly July and August. If you're looking to avoid crowds, consider visiting during the shoulder seasons (April-May and September-October). During these times, the weather is still pleasant, but the area is less crowded.

Weather Considerations: The weather can vary significantly, especially between the Canadian and U.S. sides. Be sure to check the forecast and plan accordingly. If you're visiting in the winter months, you might encounter snow and ice, but the falls still offer a stunning sight year-round.

Parking: If you’re driving, be mindful of parking fees. Many hotels charge for parking, but there are also public parking lots around the falls. Be sure to check prices before parking, as fees can vary.

Conclusion:

With so many options for transportation, getting around Niagara Falls is both convenient and enjoyable. Whether you're taking a leisurely stroll through the parks, hopping on a trolley to visit top attractions, or renting a car to explore the surrounding region, you'll find plenty of ways to experience everything this breathtaking destination has to offer.

No matter how you choose to travel, make sure to take the time to appreciate the natural beauty and historical significance of Niagara Falls. The efficient transportation options allow you to focus on what matters most: enjoying your trip and creating unforgettable memories.

#taxi services

1 note · View note

plazamayorcompany · 3 months ago

Text

A MISSING PART - UNE PART MANQUANTE

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack A MISSING PART – UNE PART MANQUANTE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Director Guillaume Senez Cast Romain Duris, Judith Chemla, Mei Cirne-Masuki Music by Olivier Marguerit Label Plaza Mayor Company Ltd Toronto International Film Festival Selection Every day, Jay drives his taxi around Tokyo in search of his daughter, Lily. Separated for 9 years, he was…

#A missing part #Cd Digital #Guillaume Senez #Jeanne Added #Johnny Hallyday #Olivier Marguerit #Plaza Mayor Company ltd #Romain Duris #Une part manquante

0 notes

airportstaxilimoca · 2 years ago

Text

Book the best car service to Ontario Airport online from the comfort of your abode. We are your right stop. We provide excellent value with competitive discounted flat rates as well as on-time quality service. Get in touch with us. For more information, you can call us at 6476316603.

#airport taxi barrie services #limo service #limo service ontario airport #toronto pearson airport shuttle #pearson limo toronto #airports taxi limo #airport limo company toronto #burlington airport limo pickup

0 notes

mostlysignssomeportents · 11 months ago

Text

Lies, damned lies, and Uber

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT in PHOENIX (Changing Hands, Feb 29) then Tucson (Mar 10-11), San Francisco (Mar 13), and more!

Uber lies about everything, especially money. Oh, and labour. Especially labour. And geometry. Especially geometry! But especially especially money. They constantly lie about money.

Uber are virtuosos of mendacity, but in Toronto, the company has attained a heretofore unseen hat-trick: they told a single lie that is dramatically, materially untruthful about money, labour and geometry! It's an achievement for the ages.

Here's how they did it.

For several decades, Toronto has been clobbered by the misrule of a series of far-right, clownish mayors. This was the result of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris's great gerrymander of 1998, when the city of Toronto was amalgamated with its car-dependent suburbs. This set the tone for the next quarter-century, as these outlying regions – utterly dependent on Toronto for core economic activity and massive subsidies to pay the unsustainable utility and infrastructure bills for sprawling neighborhoods of single-family homes – proceeded to gut the city they relied on.

These "conservative" mayors – the philanderer, the crackhead, the sexual predator – turned the city into a corporate playground, swapping public housing and rent controls for out-of-control real-estate speculation and trading out some of the world's best transit for total car-dependency. As part of that decay, the city rolled out the red carpet for Uber, allowing the company to put as many unlicensed taxis as they wanted on the city's streets.

Now, it's hard to overstate the dire traffic situation in Toronto. Years of neglect and underinvestment in both the roads and the transit system have left both in a state of near collapse and it's not uncommon for multiple, consecutive main arteries to shut down without notice for weeks, months, or, in a few cases, years. The proliferation of Ubers on the road – driven by desperate people trying to survive the city's cost-of-living catastrophe – has only exacerbated this problem.

Uber, of course, would dispute this. The company insists – despite all common sense and peer-reviewed research – that adding more cars to the streets alleviates traffic. This is easily disproved: there just isn't any way to swap buses, streetcars, and subways for cars. The road space needed for all those single-occupancy cars pushes everything further apart, which means we need more cars, which means more roads, which means more distance between things, and so on.

It is an undeniable fact that geometry hates cars. But geometry loathes Uber. Because Ubers have all the problems of single-occupancy vehicles, and then they have the separate problem that they just end up circling idly around the city's streets, waiting for a rider. The more Ubers there are on the road, the longer each car ends up waiting for a passenger:

https://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Uber-Lyft-San-Francisco-pros-cons-ride-hailing-13841277.php

Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. After years of bumbling-to-sinister municipal rule, Toronto finally reclaimed its political power and voted in a new mayor, Olivia Chow, a progressive of long tenure and great standing (I used to ring doorbells for her when she was campaigning for her city council seat). Mayor Chow announced that she was going to reclaim the city's prerogative to limit the number of Ubers on the road, ending the period of Uber's "self-regulation."

Uber, naturally, lost its shit. The company claims to be more than a (geometrically impossible) provider of convenient transportation for Torontonians, but also a provider of good jobs for working people. And to prove it, the company has promised to pay its drivers "120% of minimum wage." As I write for Ricochet, that's a whopper, even by Uber's standards:

https://ricochet.media/en/4039/uber-is-lying-again-the-company-has-no-intention-of-paying-drivers-a-living-wage

Here's the thing: Uber is only proposing to pay 120% of the minimum wage while drivers have a passenger in the vehicle. And with the number of vehicles Uber wants on the road, most drivers will be earning nothing most of the time. Factor in that unpaid time, as well as expenses for vehicles, and the average Toronto Uber driver stands to make $2.50 per hour (Canadian):

https://ridefair.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Legislated-Poverty.pdf

Now, Uber's told a lot of lies over the years. Right from the start, the company implicitly lied about what it cost to provide an Uber. For its first 12 years, Uber lost $0.41 on every dollar it brought in, lighting tens of billions in investment capital provided by the Saudi royals on fire in an effort to bankrupt rival transportation firms and disinvestment in municipal transit.

Uber then lied to retail investors about the business-case for buying its stock so that the House of Saud and other early investors could unload their stock. Uber claimed that they were on the verge of producing a self-driving car that would allow them to get rid of drivers, zero out their wage bill, and finally turn a profit. The company spent $2.5b on this, making it the most expensive Big Store in the history of cons:

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/infighting-busywork-missed-warnings-how-uber-wasted-2-5-billion-on-self-driving-cars

After years, Uber produced a "self-driving car" that could travel one half of one American mile before experiencing a potentially lethal collision. Uber quietly paid another company $400m to take this disaster off its hands:

https://www.economist.com/business/2020/12/10/why-is-uber-selling-its-autonomous-vehicle-division

The self-driving car lie was tied up in another lie – that somehow, automation could triumph over geometry. Robocabs, we were told, would travel in formations so tight that they would finally end the Red Queen's Race of more cars – more roads – more distance – more cars. That lie wormed its way into the company's IPO prospectus, which promised retail investors that profitability lay in replacing every journey – by car, cab, bike, bus, tram or train – with an Uber ride:

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1RN2SK/

The company has been bleeding out money ever since – though you wouldn't know it by looking at its investor disclosures. Every quarter, Uber trumpets that it has finally become profitable, and every quarter, Hubert Horan dissects its balance sheets to find the accounting trick the company thought of this time. There was one quarter where Uber declared profitability by marking up the value of stock it held in Uber-like companies in other countries.

How did it get this stock? Well, Uber tried to run a business in those countries and it was such a total disaster that they had to flee the country, selling their business to a failing domestic competitor in exchange for stock in its collapsing business. Naturally, there's no market for this stock, which, in Uber-land, means you can assign any value you want to it. So that one quarter, Uber just asserted that the stock had shot up in value and voila, profit!

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/02/hubert-horan-can-uber-ever-deliver-part-twenty-nine-despite-massive-price-increases-uber-losses-top-31-billion.html

But all of those lies are as nothing to the whopper that Uber is trying to sell to Torontonians by blanketing the city in ads: the lie that by paying drivers $2.50/hour to fill the streets with more single-occupancy cars, they will turn a profit, reduce the city's traffic, and provide good jobs. Uber says it can vanquish geometry, economics and working poverty with the awesome power of narrative.

In other words, it's taking Toronto for a bunch of suckers.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/29/geometry-hates-uber/#toronto-the-gullible

Image: Rob Sinclair (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Night_skyline_of_Toronto_May_2009.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #uber #hubert horan #fraud #toronto #geometry hates cars #urbanism #ontpoli #olivia chow #self-regulation #transport #urban planning #taxis #transit #urban theory #labor #algorithmic wage discrimination #veena dubal

907 notes · View notes