Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

391–400 of 402 posts

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#391

Post by boomboomsubban »

caseysoftware wrote: post #151
sgift wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why exactly would this be the case? As far as I can see most people don't live in this two cities? And saying the US system "was designed to avoid the concentration of power" sounds like a sad joke from an European perspective (First-past-post-system, extreme presidential powers etc.)

Those "extreme presidential powers" were not in the system design. They were submitted as (sometimes secret) change requests by every president post WW2 and accelerated by presidents in the last ~20 years. Unfortunately, the code review team didn't remove the changes and tacked on their own during the process.

>They were submitted as (sometimes secret) change requests by every president post WW2 and accelerated by presidents in the last ~20 years.

They started way sooner than that, the first major one was the Louisiana Purchase. Basically non-Washington presidents have been trying to expand their power.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#392

Post by AnimalMuppet »

tomp wrote: post #115
ItendToDisagree wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet... Depending on how the rules of the game work the outcomes are totally different. Worth pointing out.

No, the point is, depending on the rules of the game, people vote differently. E.g. under the current system it makes no sense for republicans in NY and CA to vote... If the popular vote actually counted, the popular vote would be different (it's like quantum mechanics applied to psychology - if people know that you observe them, they change their behaviour)!

Depending on the rules of the game, people also campaign differently.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#393

Post by StavrosK »

Swizec wrote: post #323
StavrosK wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, really? My experience was roughly the same, except the border officers were generally acting very serious, and the queue took 1-2 hours. I wish I could enter in 24 minutes. No random searches here either, though, but I haven't been to the US for at least a year.

I find they're nicer when you give them the passport in such a way that they first see your O-1 visa. Covertly letting them know that you're an "exceptional ability alien" right off the bat, sets the relationship off to a good start. The time when I said "Oh just coming back from vacation" before the lady saw my visa ... well, she was much less nice about it.

Ah, I don't have a visa, I only travel to the US to visit friends, more or less.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#394

Post by pg314 »

plandis wrote: post #363
pg314 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Traveling to the US is a breeze for Europeans. No, it isn't. I am European, travelled twice to the US last year. Each time multi-hour wait for the USCBP check. From take-off in Brussels to landing in NYC took less time than getting from JFK to Manhattan. If I can avoid it, I will not be travelling to the US any time soon.

Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on your 8 hour wait to get through customs.

I never said 8 hour wait to get through customs. I said multi-hour wait to get through customs. 7.5 hours from touchdown to Manhattan. That includes waiting on the plane to get off, customs, AirTrain and metro (no more shuttles running due to customs delay, a taxi queue of about 50 people). On my second flight it took about 4 hours in total.

By comparison, in the opposite direction, in Brussels it took about 1.5-2 hours to get home (about the same distance, public transportation, my companion, a US citizen, had to go through customs). The US has many great things; welcoming foreigners at their airports (at least at JFK) and public transportation are not among them.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#395

Post by dbbk »

street wrote: post #367
dbbk wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just going to the US for a convention then staying for a few weeks afterwards. The question that arose suspicion was why I'd booked to stay in a hotel rather than stay at a friend's house. Ridiculous. Anyway yeah, I had to collect my luggage and they then opened it up and rummaged through it. Asked why I wasn't taking a video game console despite ostensibly going to a video game convention. My response was of c…

Was there a moment you lost sight of your phone, while it was unlocked?

No.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#396

Post by omarqureshi »

Markoff wrote: post #196
omarqureshi wrote: post #28

I'm a British Muslim who flew to the US on Sunday. Honestly I had assumed it would be hell. In actual fact it was only a little more painful than before. I'm used to being randomly selected for an additional search every time in the UK premiere flight. My colleague (another British Muslim) was also selected which we found quite amusing. On the other side it wasn't bad, just answered truthfully, only snag was my colle…

your are not selected randomly, they use profiling and they search Muslims because majority of terrorists are Muslims, i can't comprehend why even smart people always come with this random check nonsense, do they really claim it's random and try to hide it instead of telling truth?

Yes. I understand this

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#397

Post by shifte »

pcurve wrote: post #143
emeidi wrote: post #111

I've traveled from Zürich to Los Angeles on Good Friday (April 14, 2017) for leisure - my first visit since February 2016 and thus my first trip to Trump's 'murrica. I was joined with my dad who recently retired and never has left the continent - his first long haul flight and first time to the US. I feared and prepared for the worst and I even was debating about leaving my iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air at home to avo…

" a friendly immigration officer" I've never seen this one in the U.S. or anywhere else. I think they are trained to be neutral or even aloof.

You should visit New Zealand one day, they have very strict rules about bringing anything in, but I've found their customs people to be the most friendly, even shared a few jokes and tips on snowboard gear with one of the officers while passing through the nothing to declare line last winter.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#399

Post by mobiplayer »

alphapapa wrote: post #285
mobiplayer wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of influence on voters is OK in your books? Political rallies where you lie about what you'll do and about your opponents? Discussions with friends? TV ads?

What does any of that have to do with citizens of Nation A refusing to trade with companies in Nation B because some of the citizens of Nation B elected a leader whom the citizens of Nation A don't like? That is the kind of attitude that drives people apart, creates hostility, and eventually leads to war. In what world is that a good idea? Can you imagine Americans refusing to buy BMWs because they don't like Angela…

You mean Americans rebranding French Fries as Freedom Fries because France didn't want to get in Irak?

And this is the fucking US here, it's not a backwater country the size of a town. When the US sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold.

People are right to pressure others as long as it's done on legal terms.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#400

Post by staticelf »

Markoff wrote: post #255
staticelf wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No I don't believe so. I estimate that 1/3 was selected. I am whiter than snow.

that somehow contradict the other guy who posted that 99.9% are smooth without extra check and now you dump here 33% checked :) that seem fairly big even to me, can't imagine what European country would deserve such percentage, were you departing from Brussels or Istanbul?

Brussels and my origin is Sweden. The chances of me being a terrorist is pretty much non-existant.
Post reply on HN