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As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

nytimes.com

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Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#411

Post by xxgreg »

joshontheweb wrote: post #136
lj3 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We were pretty much shocked because we naively thought that in such a beautiful and clean country everybody is running / biking all the time. Surprisingly, NZ is not a good place for cycling. A guy and his wife[0] did a world cycling tour a while back and Wellington is the only place where he had serious issues with the locals[1]. [0]: http://www.pathlesspedaled.com/ [1]: https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2012/01/12/…

I would actually be quite scared to bicycle in NZ. Especially in the rural areas. The roads are often narrow and winding without shoulders to speak of.

There's a steadily increasing network of multi-day off-road cycle trails being built. http://www.nzcycletrail.com/map/ (click on Map View).

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#412

Post by jimmywanger »

kasey_junk wrote: post #395
jimmywanger wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Good schools" has been code for non-integrated schools for a very long time in this country. Citation needed. I have lived in this country for a long time, and have never hear it used in this manner, and Google searches turn up nothing. > pretending like the comment is "injecting" race into the discussion ignores American history "Pretending". Way to jump to conclusions. If you're proposing that an innocuous phras…

https://fairhousing.com/news-archive/press-releases/national... Here for instance was a fair housing organization filing a lawsuit suggesting that real estate agents used "good schools" as a proxy for race in attempts to racially steer buyers. Its in the normal lexicon enough for Urban Dictionary to consider that the top definition: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=good%20school... I'm not suggesting sa…

> Its in the normal lexicon enough for Urban Dictionary to consider that the top definition

Urban dictionary and one isolated lawsuit doesn't a pattern generally make.

I can accept that this term has been used in a certain way as a code phrase signifying something else, but that's been true of so many phrases and terms that it loses all significance. (Is nice restaurant also coding for no minorities?)

The original statement that's objectionable is I would not let "good schools" influence where you live and buy a home, which is ridiculous. Taking school district reputation and test scores when buying a house is neither racist or something to be ashamed of, no matter how many quotes you put around "good school".

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#414

Post by incompatible »

isostatic wrote: post #394
incompatible wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be wary of Wellington just because of the terrible climate and the earthquake risk. That place will likely become a complete disaster area some day.

Yeah, but Sam Francisco will always be immune from earthquakes

There are other places in the world besides Wellington and San Francisco. The risk in Wellington is actually very high. It has its own version of the San Francisco earthquake in 1855, although a bit stronger. That earthquake uplifted quite a bit of land from the harbour which is now part of the CBD. That land is considered unstable, but has been built up with high-rise buildings. There's also a major fault line running right through the city, and the hilly landscape makes it vulnerable to landslides and road cut-offs. I'm surprised I got down-voted for mentioning it, but people are complacent I suppose.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#415

Post by joshontheweb »

xxgreg wrote: post #411
joshontheweb wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would actually be quite scared to bicycle in NZ. Especially in the rural areas. The roads are often narrow and winding without shoulders to speak of.

There's a steadily increasing network of multi-day off-road cycle trails being built. http://www.nzcycletrail.com/map/ (click on Map View).

I didn't know that. I'll have to check it out when I'm there next.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#416

Post by Lazare »

wbl wrote: post #397
Lazare wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To my knowledge NZ and USA are two countries that will try to tax you wherever you live until you die unless you renounce citizenship. US yes, NZ no. The US is practically the only country in the world to do that actually. And they WILL hit you with an extra "exit" tax if you try and renounce your citizenship too.

Only if the reason for dropping is tax avoidance.

That's simply untrue. Did you actually read that somewhere? Because the actual tax makes no such distinctions.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#417

Post by 0xADEADBEE »

mkl wrote: post #363
0xADEADBEE wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true - while not a Christchurch advocate, Sumner offers wonderful views within that price range.

Oh there are good views in lots of places in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland, etc. I was specifically referring to mountains, as in the "landscape of the Lord of the Rings" the GP referred to. Besides, Sumner doesn't seem very safe, earthquake-wise, which will be contributing to the price.

Apologies for misconstruing your comment. I had no idea about Sumner being more prone to Earthquakes; I'm genuinely glad you replied because i was flirting with a move there in a few months.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#418

Post by megablast »

lj3 wrote: post #86
TheAlchemist wrote: post #13

That's interesting ! I'm intending to make a move with my family in near future, and we actually went to visit the northern island for 15 days last month. The country is really beautiful, and there are not a lot of people around, so you can't help but feel blessed by the surrounding nature. The people are great, probably the nicest I've ever seen (as a whole). I've noted some cons though (not blocking for us thankful…

> We were pretty much shocked because we naively thought that in such a beautiful and clean country everybody is running / biking all the time. Surprisingly, NZ is not a good place for cycling. A guy and his wife[0] did a world cycling tour a while back and Wellington is the only place where he had serious issues with the locals[1]. [0]: http://www.pathlesspedaled.com/ [1]: https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2012/01/12/…

Sure, but it is not like you couldn't get punched by some angry motorist in any country in the world. Except maybe Japan.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#419

Post by lj3 »

megablast wrote: post #418
lj3 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We were pretty much shocked because we naively thought that in such a beautiful and clean country everybody is running / biking all the time. Surprisingly, NZ is not a good place for cycling. A guy and his wife[0] did a world cycling tour a while back and Wellington is the only place where he had serious issues with the locals[1]. [0]: http://www.pathlesspedaled.com/ [1]: https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2012/01/12/…

Sure, but it is not like you couldn't get punched by some angry motorist in any country in the world. Except maybe Japan.

I've biked in several major American cities and nowhere have I ever heard of a cyclist getting tackled and punched by a motorist. I've gotten yelled at and had stuff thrown at me by angry motorists, but nothing like what Russ saw in NZ. At the time it happened, Russ blogged about it a bit and he also had never seen anything like it in all of his cycling miles in the states.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#420

Post by wbl »

Lazare wrote: post #416
wbl wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if the reason for dropping is tax avoidance.

That's simply untrue. Did you actually read that somewhere? Because the actual tax makes no such distinctions.

There are two things: one is the one time dropping citizenship fee. The other is the IRS taxing you for an additional decade if they think you dropped to avoid taxes.
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