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CIA Labs

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Re: CIA Labs

#131

Post by thebean11 »

markdown wrote: post #127
sokoloff wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If adding $150K doubles my salary, is that really an excellent salary?

For where you'll be located, you're damn right it's an excellent salary. And don't forget one of the biggest benefits of all... actually making something useful rather than spending your most important years working on how to get people to click a button or stare longer at their screens to enrich your employer.

Yes, the only two options are ads and the CIA.

I think a lot of us find the CIA more amoral and destructive than adtech by the way.

Re: CIA Labs

#133

Post by markdown »

thebean11 wrote: post #131
markdown wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For where you'll be located, you're damn right it's an excellent salary. And don't forget one of the biggest benefits of all... actually making something useful rather than spending your most important years working on how to get people to click a button or stare longer at their screens to enrich your employer.

Yes, the only two options are ads and the CIA. I think a lot of us find the CIA more amoral and destructive than adtech by the way.

> I think a lot of us find the CIA more amoral and destructive than adtech by the way.

I understand that view, and I think history will show just how terribly wrong it is.

The machinations of the CIA don't even begin to compare to the long-term ills that social-media and screen addiction are going to cause all over the world over the next few decades.

I mean, Youtube and its recommendation algorithms alone have via radicalisation set the USA on a path to destruction from within. Throw in Twitter with their mob bubbles and it's beyond redemption.

Re: CIA Labs

#135

Post by mattnewton »

bumby wrote: post #120
mattnewton wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you are using a CoL in ratios, not in terms of real dollar adjustments (salary minus costs). If you buy things online, or save to move to another area, cost of living adjustments as a ratio don’t make as much sense. Unless the area is extremely cheap, you have lots more costs than me for things like childcare and housing, and you were paid above the GS payscale, that is. Back of the envelope calculatio…

The numbers I used were direct costs across a number of categories. Much of the discrepancy is housing costs. Others like transportation and healthcare factor in, but are not nearly as big. Pension is a bit more difficult to compare because defined benefit pensions are hard to compare to direct stock or 401k due to volatility of the latter, but a rough rule of thumb is they are worth roughly 8%-10% of equivalent annu…

But your total projected CoL was really over 300k in the Bay Area though? You can spend 120k on a mortgage, 80k on taxes, 20k on food, 10k on commuting, 30k on miscellaneous additional costs and 40k on childcare and still have 200k left over on a 500k salary.

Re: CIA Labs

#136

Post by muldvarp »

markdown wrote: post #127
sokoloff wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If adding $150K doubles my salary, is that really an excellent salary?

For where you'll be located, you're damn right it's an excellent salary. And don't forget one of the biggest benefits of all... actually making something useful rather than spending your most important years working on how to get people to click a button or stare longer at their screens to enrich your employer.

> And don't forget one of the biggest benefits of all... actually making something useful rather than spending your most important years working on how to get people to click a button or stare longer at their screens to enrich your employer.

Yeah, the only way to make something useful is to work for the government agency that has a wikipedia article about their human rights violations [0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_violations_by_the...

Re: CIA Labs

#137

Post by SebaSeba »

johnknowles wrote: post #74
SebaSeba wrote: post #63

Is the dragonfly logo somehow on a more general level related to spy stuff? It is not the first time I see it in a spy context and neither this or the other time it could be easily explained just because of dragonfly drones.

I commented elsewhere, but look up "Insectothopter". Nefarious orgs like the CIA seem to love symbolism, so I'd imagine there's some connection between embedding themselves in public and private research and being "flies on the wall".

Yeah, I was thinking also that it could be related to some kind of "fly on the wall" symbolism. I am just wondering if it is somehow a more general level symbol in the context, not just for the CIA or in the US. Considering the CIA Labs for example, they probably do a lot more stuff than just develop dragonfly type drones, so why put the dragonfly in the logo. But maybe the "Insectothopter" project and similar ones have just been so significant projects for them in the past that they want them to be remembered.

Re: CIA Labs

#138

Post by bumby »

mattnewton wrote: post #135
bumby wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The numbers I used were direct costs across a number of categories. Much of the discrepancy is housing costs. Others like transportation and healthcare factor in, but are not nearly as big. Pension is a bit more difficult to compare because defined benefit pensions are hard to compare to direct stock or 401k due to volatility of the latter, but a rough rule of thumb is they are worth roughly 8%-10% of equivalent annu…

But your total projected CoL was really over 300k in the Bay Area though? You can spend 120k on a mortgage, 80k on taxes, 20k on food, 10k on commuting, 30k on miscellaneous additional costs and 40k on childcare and still have 200k left over on a 500k salary.

It’s nearly $100k more a year just for a median home mortgage, so I don’t think it was ludicrous. Local and state income taxes are essentially triple as well. I don’t think $80k will cover property, Federal, State, and local taxes at that level. Those taxes exacerbate the pre-tax income necessary to cover that median mortgage.

Again, I’m sure I could get by just fine on under $300k in SV. But it’s still not comparable in terms of being as comfortable. For example, if I really wanted to pay off that median home in five years it’s possible elsewhere; I don’t think that’s a reasonable option in SV.

Re: CIA Labs

#140

Post by thebean11 »

markdown wrote: post #133
thebean11 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the only two options are ads and the CIA. I think a lot of us find the CIA more amoral and destructive than adtech by the way.

> I think a lot of us find the CIA more amoral and destructive than adtech by the way. I understand that view, and I think history will show just how terribly wrong it is. The machinations of the CIA don't even begin to compare to the long-term ills that social-media and screen addiction are going to cause all over the world over the next few decades. I mean, Youtube and its recommendation algorithms alone have via r…

Well I definitely don't want to get into a "which thing is more bad" argument, but the CIAs crimes are really well documented too.
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