Disqus - Latest Comments for antun

Re: San Francisco Wants 'Worried Wealthy' to Stop Using Free COVID Testing Sites, Will Make Appointment Lead Times Shorter

antun — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 16:32:01 -0000

Between my wife and I, we've had at least 8 tests via the Color-run sites over the last few months. All at the Pier 30 location. We have friends that have also not had any trouble booking them. There were some times when the next appointment was several days away, but in general I never had trouble getting one.

When/where were you trying to get a test?

Re: San Francisco Wants 'Worried Wealthy' to Stop Using Free COVID Testing Sites, Will Make Appointment Lead Times Shorter

antun — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 16:28:23 -0000

I just scheduled a regular PCR test for next Monday. Not an OTC one, but the regular kind where they swab my nose.

Re: San Francisco Wants 'Worried Wealthy' to Stop Using Free COVID Testing Sites, Will Make Appointment Lead Times Shorter

antun — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 02:05:26 -0000

They didn't several months ago, but they do now. I've called, spoken with Kaiser about it, and been tested at their Owens Street location.

You can get an antibody test too at Kaiser.

Re: How to set up a custom domain name for Lambda & API Gateway with Serverless

antun — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 22:49:36 -0000

Thanks for posting this.

But in that case, how do you specify the stage?

Re: T-Mobile launching international high-speed data pass on August 1st

antun — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 19:16:46 -0000

7 days is not a long trip. T-Mobile used to have a 10-day international high-speed plan for $20, which I used to get whenever I traveled internationally. It was a bit more expensive than getting a local SIM, and you only got 1GB of data, but the convenience outweighed the price.

As part of this, T-Mobile also stopped offering the 10-day plan. (I believe they also offered a 5-day one for $10, but I can't be certain.)

Re: T-Mobile launching international high-speed data pass on August 1st

antun — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 14:25:23 -0000

I just chatted to T-Mobile about this.

This article doesn't mention that T-Mobile is also REMOVING the 5- and 10-day data international high-speed data passes. In the past, you used to be able to buy a 10-day data pass that included 1GB of high-speed data, for $20. It's not like it's a lot of data, but the point is, you'd have high speed access for your whole holiday. There was a 5-day option too, I think.

The new $5/day option only lasts 24hrs. So if you're going on holiday, and you just need high speed (but don't need a lot of data), this is a really bad deal.

Re: Kit-A-Day Giveaway: MakerBot Thing-O-Matic (#3 of 5)

antun — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:32:13 -0000

Here's my obligatory comment skit
for the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic Kit,
I can't think of a better present,
for the coming Christmas event
here's hoping I get picked.

Re: SFUSD School Assignment by Ethnicity - Tung Wai Yip's blog

antun — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:49:02 -0000

Brilliant data visualization. Did you use a tool to generate it, or was it done by hand?

Re: Why is American healthcare so expensive?

antun — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:15:45 -0000

"If someone has cancer they should negotiate for cheaper care? "

That comment suggests that healthcare is 100% devoted to saving lives from deadly conditions. That's not true at all.

Half (49%) of US healthcare costs come from these conditions:

Mood disorders.
Diabetes.
Heart disease.
Asthma.
Hypertension.

(Source: http://www.ahrq.gov/researc... )

It's certainly reasonable to expect people to shop around for cheaper treatments for mood disorders and hypertension, or cheaper sources of medication for hypertension and diabetes.

However I'm not personally in agreement with the notion that individuals should have to shop around for the lowest-priced treatments. What I see as broken in the US healthcare system is that in many scenarios, there is no incentive for *anyone* in the chain to shop around to keep costs down. This drives up costs, which in turn means more people lack some kind of health coverage.

"The fundamental contentious issue here is whether healthcare is a right or a privilege or a right."

Even if tomorrow we made healthcare a "right", we'd still be faced with a horrifyingly expensive system that fundamentally lacks financial responsibility.

Re: Why is American healthcare so expensive?

antun — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:13:38 -0000

I think that there's a fundamental difference between the NHS and what I described as the 2nd scenario above in the US: In the NHS, it's really easy to add cost controls:

- Your GP can simply refuse to refer you to, or discourage you from seeing a specialist.
- The "system" can put you into long waiting lines for tests (such as an MRI) or treatments that are not life-threatening.
- Once you've waited a long time, they can simply cancel your appointment at the last moment, then reschedule for 6 months in advance.

I've experienced all of these firsthand when I lived in the UK.

My HMO plan in the US could tighten the purse-strings to further reduce costs, using the techniques I've listed above, because they (like the NHS) are a single cohesive system. e.g. They could take more than 1-2 weeks to get a physiotherapist appointment for me. But then I could simply switch to a different provider.

That's why it's such a complex problem. The very presence of the plans with uncontrollable costs is what keeps HMO plans (who are good at controlling costs) providing good-quality care.

Re: <drawview>

antun — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:35:54 -0000

Test commen t

Re: <inputtext>

antun — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:55:45 -0000

Test with registration