Star Citizen studio accused by staff for making them work during Texas winter storm.

[StDragon]

BTW, for anyone looking to get a Samsung SSD, start looking into it now or later this summer. The fab in Texas that made the controller lost power from the ice storm and caused it to shutdown.

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/320684-samsungs-fab-woes-are-now-expected-to-cause-an-ssd-shortage

[Sauron]

8 minutes ago, StDragon said:

It's a sliding scale with regulation. Too much regulation and growth / expansion is slowed down with increases in costs; costs passed down to the consumer.

Too bad that's typically not the case with vital infrastructure. Privatized systems like US healthcare are significantly more expensive overall than comparable state sponsored systems in other countries, often with worse average outcomes as well. Even if you believe the free market is beneficial it simply doesn't work when "consumers" don't have an alternative, as is the case with infrastructure. If the choice is between bad service and no service you're just going to take the bad service, no matter how bad it is.

[Dutch_Master]

8 minutes ago, StDragon said:

Proper governance and public policy aim is to strike a balance between

Maybe Texans should look abroad. Yes, I know, most* Texans believe the world ends at the TX border and everywhere else is "communist", "socialist" or worse, "democrat"   But they could pick up a lesson or 2 (probably more too!) by looking how their ancestors (for most of them anyway), the Europeans, actually do it.

 

*yes, I exaggerate. Sue me, I'm not American

[StDragon]

18 minutes ago, Dutch_Master said:

Maybe Texans should look abroad. Yes, I know, most* Texans believe the world ends at the TX border and everywhere else is "communist", "socialist" or worse, "democrat"   But they could pick up a lesson or 2 (probably more too!) by looking how their ancestors (for most of them anyway), the Europeans, actually do it.

 

*yes, I exaggerate. Sue me, I'm not American

Yeah, because states like California and NYC have no problems at all with their electrical infrastructure. /sarcasm

 

I can't believe all the shit we Texan's have to take from everyone else. The Texan economy is larger in GDP to all of Russia! I think a little respect is in order

 

 

[jasonvp]

20 minutes ago, StDragon said:

I can't believe all the shit we Texan's have to take from everyone else. The Texan economy is larger in GDP to all of Russia! I think a little respect is in order

 

[Boy has this thread gone WAY off the rails]

 

A single occurrence of a freak, massive snow and ice storm knocks out the infrastructure in Texas for nearly a week, and the entire world opines on how the state should have "done it better."  I love it.  Look kiddies, if this were a repeated thing in Texas' long and storied history, then perhaps you can point your finger at them and suggest they pivot.  But this was a one time thing; I'm specifically talking about the intensity of it.

 

Seriously.  Get a clue, folks.

 

[Lurick]

9 minutes ago, jasonvp said:

 

[Boy has this thread gone WAY off the rails]

 

A single occurrence of a freak, massive snow and ice storm knocks out the infrastructure in Texas for nearly a week, and the entire world opines on how the state should have "done it better."  I love it.  Look kiddies, if this were a repeated thing in Texas' long and storied history, then perhaps you can point your finger at them and suggest they pivot.  But this was a one time thing; I'm specifically talking about the intensity of it.

 

Seriously.  Get a clue, folks.

 

It happened 10 years ago and many of the same plants that went out then went out this time too.

[Master Delta Chief]

21 minutes ago, jasonvp said:

A single occurrence of a freak, massive snow and ice storm knocks out the infrastructure in Texas for nearly a week, and the entire world opines on how the state should have "done it better."  I love it.

Yes, it could've gone better if it wasn't for the shitty infrastructure. 

[The Torrent]

I mean it shows they are really trying which restores my hope a little bit.

[Distinctly Average]

19 hours ago, StDragon said:

Yeah, because states like California and NYC have no problems at all with their electrical infrastructure. /sarcasm

 

I can't believe all the shit we Texan's have to take from everyone else. The Texan economy is larger in GDP to all of Russia! I think a little respect is in order

 

 

It certainly is larger in food consumption;) Seeing a deep fried turkey was quite an eye opener to me. 
 

I don’t think there is a country that don’t have power problems at times. We had a large power outage here in the UK a year ago. We lost power in some areas for an hour or so. Turned out to be a problem at a gas power station. Lots of lessons were learnt from the following enquiry. Will it change anything? Not sure. We do have quite a stable power grid here. 47% of our supply is from renewables, that rises to 62% if you include biomass and nuclear. We are smaller than Texas in size but more than double the population so have very different problems to overcome.

[CarlBar]

51 minutes ago, Distinctly Average said:

It certainly is larger in food consumption;) Seeing a deep fried turkey was quite an eye opener to me. 
 

I don’t think there is a country that don’t have power problems at times. We had a large power outage here in the UK a year ago. We lost power in some areas for an hour or so. Turned out to be a problem at a gas power station. Lots of lessons were learnt from the following enquiry. Will it change anything? Not sure. We do have quite a stable power grid here. 47% of our supply is from renewables, that rises to 62% if you include biomass and nuclear. We are smaller than Texas in size but more than double the population so have very different problems to overcome.

 

Also tv pickups. We like our tea, creates interesting problems.

 

 

[Distinctly Average]

43 minutes ago, CarlBar said:

 

Also tv pickups. We like our tea, creates interesting problems.

 

 

Big sporting events aside, the TV/Tea Break profile has changed a lot as streaming services became widespread.

 

This is exactly the type of thing that vehicle to grid systems are predicted to address in the next 10 years. Texas apparently are investing heavily in this. Coupled with solar roofing, heat pumps and increases in renewables, big changes are afoot. So I could understand why your government and electricity companies don’t want to invest in winterisation of gas and coal.

[warriorscot]

On 3/12/2021 at 10:52 PM, Rocky Arbigaus said:

Yeah, you are right, Those six employees were probably lying, right? No company would release a statement that is not true, right? 

It's always possible that companies can lie, however there are a lot of developers going online and calling out Kotaku on this. Absolutely as a big company one team through one manager or lack of one could have heard a wrong or distorted message, in a crisis we all now understand how bad communication can get. However we can also see even from the Kotaku article the end result was the same for everyone i.e. nobody lost any PTO and they got supported where they needed it. 

 

In the context of it being a pretty blatant attack piece the CIG comment looks off, however in the context of it being a standard response to an issue they've actually done ok on it does make sense i.e. your anonymous comments sound made up and we just aren't calling you on it. 

 

Thing is there are loads of things to criticize CIG on, but employee relations isn't one of them, I know CIG devs and they've all said how great a place to work it is and that the don't have to crunch anymore like other studios do. I've also known people at Frontier for example which is making a similar game and has a good reputation, but the workplace is from the people I've known there totally toxic at times. 

[ravenshrike]

On 3/13/2021 at 2:14 PM, Sauron said:

Privatized systems like US healthcare are significantly more expensive

Calling the current system privatized is hilarious. The reason it's so expensive is because it's the most regulated industry in America, and the reason it's gone up so much relative to inflation the past decade is because Obamacare made things even worse.

[Brooksie359]

On 3/12/2021 at 6:52 AM, Master Disaster said:

As a German, severe Winter weather is normal for you. The reason its not a big deal is because you're equipped to deal with it, your house is insulated, you have central heating, you keep warm winter clothes, your council have ploughs and gritters.

 

Remember that, in Texas, going below 10c in the Winter would be considered abnormal. Their houses are made from wood, they have no insulation, no heating (in fact Air Con is mandatory in Texas), they wear shorts in December etc etc.

 

The two situations are VERY different.

As someone who works in the construction industry i would say it would be absolutely crazy to not have an isolated house especially in areas of hot weather. Believe it or not but insulation keeps the cold in during the summer so I highly doubt they don't have insulation. As for heaters I would be very surprised if they didn't have them but as most of the commercial buildings I have done design work on in California still have some form of heat it is just usually engineered for the worst case scenario within a year but not a worse case scenario within a century like this would be. Granted that is for commercial buildings so for residential they likely have alot less engineering involved and more of a rule of thumb and likely just size it to what a normal home needs so probably not enough for this crisis. 

[ARikozuM]

Ah, yes. Let me code on my thinking rock that needs electricity when there's no electricity. Want me to write 1s and 0s on napkins tomorrow? 

 

Get your shit together, Texas. 

[Sauron]

8 hours ago, ravenshrike said:

Calling the current system privatized is hilarious.

Damn, it's hilarious when people use words to mean the thing they describe.

8 hours ago, ravenshrike said:

The reason it's so expensive is because it's the most regulated industry in America

I defy you to show any data backing that up considering it's less regulated than anywhere else in the western world and yet more expensive.

8 hours ago, ravenshrike said:

and the reason it's gone up so much relative to inflation the past decade is because Obamacare made things even worse.

Bullshit http://files.kff.org/attachment/summary-of-findings-2015-employer-health-benefits-survey

 

If anything Obamacare slowed down the inexorable growth of healthcare costs in the US.

[Rocky Arbigaus]

11 hours ago, ravenshrike said:

Calling the current system privatized is hilarious. The reason it's so expensive is because it's the most regulated industry in America, and the reason it's gone up so much relative to inflation the past decade is because Obamacare made things even worse.

Is the US healthcare controlled and funded by the government?
When we talk about public healthcare, we mean, we have a system that works in a similar way as a Heath Insurance. For instance, Back In Brazil, we have the SUS (Single Health System) and here in the UK, we got the NHS (National Health System). Both systems are funded by public money (AKA: Tax money) and when you need medical treatment, you don't need to spend a single dime, unless you need something that is not covered by the healthcare system. Canada has a similar system, but you need to pay a montly fee (can't remember how much) and if you have low income, you can have it for free. But all 3 systems are universal. It does not matter which Brazilian state, Canadian province or UK city you are, you have access to the same service.

Obamacare, while is still far from perfect, IMHO, it's a step on the right direction.

Right now, US health system is responsible for 62% of bankruptcies.
https://www.thebalance.com/medical-bankruptcy-statistics-4154729

https://evidencenetwork.ca/backgrounder-making-sense-of-the-u-s-health-care-system-a-primer-2/
 

Quote

The U.S. health care system is not a universally accessible system – it is a publicly and privately-funded patchwork of fragmented systems and programs. Insured Americans are covered by both public and private health insurance, with a majority covered by private insurance plans through their employers.  Government-funded programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare, provide health care coverage to some vulnerable population groups. The government also publicly funds coverage through Indian Health Services and the military.

 

[CarlBar]

18 minutes ago, Rocky Arbigaus said:

unless you need something that is not covered by the healthcare system.

 

And the things not covered are stuff like purely cosmetic plastic surgery and the like. Anything for your health and well being is covered by it. It's far from perfect, but it does it's job well for the most part.

[Brooksie359]

On 3/13/2021 at 2:14 PM, Sauron said:

Too bad that's typically not the case with vital infrastructure. Privatized systems like US healthcare are significantly more expensive overall than comparable state sponsored systems in other countries, often with worse average outcomes as well. Even if you believe the free market is beneficial it simply doesn't work when "consumers" don't have an alternative, as is the case with infrastructure. If the choice is between bad service and no service you're just going to take the bad service, no matter how bad it is.

Yeah the American Healthcare system is pretty much a joke. We do have some of the best high end care that only rich people can afford but when it comes to the Healthcare provided to the general population its basically the same as every other modernized country but costs significantly more. I am a bit upset that universal Healthcare isn't a thing in the US. Like its not even a question of if its a better system because most people would agree it is. Even people on the higher end of incomes would be better off with a universal system as then insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies wouldn't be jacking up prices all the time because they can. People dying because they can't afford insulin is actually crazy to me as its dirt cheap anywhere else in the world but in the US companies can get away with jacking up prices of medical supplies because its a free market. I mean how can a company get away with pricing a product that cost like 20 bucks in other countries 200 bucks in the US. 

[Dutch_Master]

1 hour ago, Brooksie359 said:

 the same as every other modernized country but costs significantly more.

Not so sure about the first part, but that last thing is spot on. Here's what healthcare looks like in other places, as well as why Americans pay too much:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related:

 

 

Not directly related, still of importance:

 

 

HTH!

 

[dizmo]

8 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

Meh, if I said a dumb then I'm not bothered by the blasting. Its hardly surprising my pre-existing notions about a state in a country on the other side of the globe from me and that I've never visited are incorrect.

 

While my statement was factually incorrect my main point still stands, you cannot compare emergencies from places that have SUCH different weather conditions. A few years back hundreds of people died in France because we had a heatwave over most of Europe for 2 weeks and temps reached near 40c/104f (IIRC in France, Germany & Holland temps exceeded 40c), I never once heard a Texan or Arizonian saying 40c is nothing and Europe should just suck it up and carry on.

 

Also yeah, apologies @SauronNo idea why my post got attributed to you?

Haha, I mean, if you don't know why would you state things like that as if they're fact? That doesn't make much sense. Especially since they were pretty specific

It was well in excess of 40 degrees, and a lot of the deaths weren't directly because of the heat, they were heat associated deaths...like people diving into swimming pools to cool down and drowning. Not really the same thing.

7 hours ago, Tedny said:

man, that was sarcasm 

You're missing the almost required /s

Just now, IkeaGnome said:

Correct, however winter storms being more and more common would make you think they'd....prepare...

https://www.c2es.org/2021/02/winter-weather-in-texas-and-the-importance-of-infrastructure-resilience-investment/

https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-updates-texas-rainfall-frequency-values

https://texasalmanac.com/topics/environment/extreme-weather-records

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-tx.pdf

It takes a long time for places to get used to changes like that, especially when it comes to extremely costly infrastructure improvements.