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[Maiden Voyage]

“But come on, doesn’t the government take care of the poor, the sick, the old?” Mr. Ballmer recalled telling her. After all, he pointed out, he happily paid a lot of taxes, and he figured that all that tax money should create a sufficient social safety net.

Her answer: “A, it won’t, because there are things government doesn’t get to, and B, you’re missing it.”

Mr. Ballmer replied, “No, I’m not.”

That conversation led Mr. Ballmer to pursue what may be one of the most ambitious private projects undertaken to answer a question that has long vexed the public and politicians alike. He sought to “figure out what the government really does with the money,” Mr. Ballmer said. “What really happens?”

Source: NY Times

Link to website: USAFacts.org

Reading about Ballmer's reaction to data points is very enlightening.

 

[Majine]

Ballmer 2020

#Developers

 

[daviyoung]

Website is getting hammered at the moment.

 

[Jacce]

Ballmer 2020

#Developers

He is living the good life owning an NBA team and going to every home game. He isn't leaving that dream life.

 

[mclem]

His first instinct, naturally, was to go to a search engine. “My favorite one, of course: I go to Bing,” he said. “And by the way, I check it with Google, just to make sure there’s nothing I’m missing.”

Heh.

 

[Sub_Level]

Developers developers developers developers

 

[DonShula]

He is living the good life owning an NBA team and going to every home game. He isn't leaving that dream life.

Maybe after having literally everything you'd ever want for awhile, you get bored.

 

[Shake Appeal]

This is so cool. This is the kinda thing that gets me giddy.

 

[theWB27]

Maybe after having literally everything you'd ever want for awhile, you get bored.

It's barely been a few years since he's owned them.

 

[WedgeX]

Ballmer making a database public specifically related to my whole grad program?

Amazing.

More investment in public policy is great!

 

[Mahonay]

It's barely been a few years since he's owned them.

That's a lifetime of downtime after you've been working nonstop as an exec in the corporate world.

Kudos to Ballmer on this.

 

[Boem]

It really is kind of crazy that something like this didn't already exist.

 

[ratcliffja]

From that racist slumlord to this. The Clippers got a huge upgrade.

 

[Mahonay]

From that racist slumlord to this. The Clippers got a huge upgrade.

Lol no kidding.

 

[talisayNon]

jesus christ the site doesnt load embarassing

 

[E-phonk]

jesus christ the site doesnt load embarassing

It timed out. Seems appropriate for USAFacts in 2017

 

[Krakatoa]

Can't even get the site to load.....

 

[theWB27]

That's a lifetime of downtime after you've been working nonstop as an exec in the corporate world.

Kudos to Ballmer on this.

I can definitely see that. Hours must've been nutty.

 

[ISOM]

If this is his real political leanings then I would gladly support a presidential run by Ballmer.

 

[John Kowalski]

Isn't the mentioned Tuesday, like, today? I tried it earlier today but it just showed the old "send us your email and we'll warn you" thing, and now it's not even loading... is it actually up?

 

[830920]

jesus christ the site doesnt load embarassing

The "beta" in the logo triggered the 4chan trolls and now it's getting DDoSed.

 

[shnurgleton]

Who'd've thunk that in our lifetime there'd be an easy way to hold government accountable?

 

[numble]

If this is his real political leanings then I would gladly support a presidential run by Ballmer.

It's a nonpartisan site. He worked on George W. Bush's reelection campaign against Kerry, by the way.

 

[jett]

jesus christ the site doesnt load embarassing

Clearly needs more developers.

 

[LordOfChaos]

His first instinct, naturally, was to go to a search engine. “My favorite one, of course: I go to Bing,” he said. “And by the way, I check it with Google, just to make sure there’s nothing I’m missing.”

Lawl. So said everyone using Bing for the points.

 

[Gallbaro]

So is this a reporting project? Or trying to explain why we tax payers get so little for our money?

 

[captive]

jesus christ the site doesnt load embarassing

It timed out. Seems appropriate for USAFacts in 2017

should have gone with Azure and auto expanding instances.

 

[LumpOfCole]

jesus christ the site doesnt load embarassing

It's performance art describing how facts don't exist in the USA anymore.

 

[LegendofJoe]

I imagine they weren't prepared for the deluge of traffic that comes with being advertised in the NYT. I'll try to remember to check the site again in a few days or later at night when their servers aren't getting hammered.

 

[Dehnus]

Source: NY Times

Link to website: USAFacts.org

Reading about Ballmer's reaction to data points is very enlightening.

WOW! I never knew the government cannot publish total amounts of firearms? And the NRA is okay with that? How does that not lead to more illegal untraceable weapons?

I mean if you can't check it against a total, you cannot check if something has disappeared. After all a false number, or a removed ID number just means that it is not the sold weapon.

 

[Bishop89]

 

[Zvonimir Boban]

WOW! I never knew the government cannot publish total amounts of firearms? And the NRA is okay with that? How does that not lead to more illegal untraceable weapons?

They paid good money to lobbyists to ensure that this is the case. Government isn't allowed to do anything that could be seen as promoting gun control and that covers a wide range of things.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

From that racist slumlord to this. The Clippers got a huge upgrade.

The exact opposite of what America just got in November.

 

[aeolist]

If this is his real political leanings then I would gladly support a presidential run by Ballmer.

i definitely want a billionaire robber baron president who didn't know until 2014 what his taxes weren't paying for

 

[kame-sennin]

Wow. Way to totally mansplain to your wife and be incredibly wrong at the same time.

i definitely want a billionaire robber baron president who didn't know until 2014 what his taxes weren't paying for

Seriously. People are fucking goldfish.

 

[FreeMufasa]

Can't have a ballmer thread without ballmer freak out gifs

 

[aeolist]

Wow. Way to totally mansplain to your wife and be incredibly wrong at the same time.

rich silicon valley dudes are utterly convinced of their own brilliance (because otherwise they wouldn't be rich) and utterly unaware of their massive blind spots

also good traits for a president

 

[greatestjediever]

should have gone with Azure and auto expanding instances.

Hey, there's only so much traffic you can handle on a B1 account.

 

[Dehnus]

Can't have a ballmer thread without ballmer freak out gifs

The guy is genuinely a nice chap, just hyperactive. But hey at least he never was a total dick like Steve Jobs.

Sorry not a fan of MS her OS's, but I can't say that hyperactive nutjob is a meanie. Just...hyper!

 

[PillarEN]

This is neat. Not loading for me as well at the moment.

 

[Dehnus]

They paid good money to lobbyists to ensure that this is the case. Government isn't allowed to do anything that could be seen as promoting gun control and that covers a wide range of things.

It's ludicrous and extremely dangerous. No gun enthusiast should be for this, as all this does is deliver weapons into the hands of criminals and those that want to do bad things with them.

Why is nobody agitating against it? Sorry, I know the answer to that one, just... flabbergasted.

 

[Air]

GG Balmer.

 

[Dehnus]

i definitely want a billionaire robber baron president who didn't know until 2014 what his taxes weren't paying for

Pfft, Balmer would be funny for President! IN a good way, imagine how hyper happy he'd get if the USA gets a good deal or a nice peace treaty!

Heck, let's say a major breakthrough in the middle east!
"DIPLOMATS! DIPLOMATS! DIPLOMATS! WOOHOO I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!"
Jumps over the stage!

Everybody in the world would go "D'awww! Okay, he may be a big manchild, but that is just adorable!"

 

[Zvonimir Boban]

It's ludicrous and extremely dangerous. No gun enthusiast should be for this, as all this does is deliver weapons into the hands of criminals and those that want to do bad things with them.

Why is nobody agitating against it? Sorry, I know the answer to that one, just... flabbergasted.

"If the government keeps track of where guns go, then they know exactly where to go to take my guns away"

Crime and protecting the public doesn't enter the minds of these people because they value their personal possessions more than the lives of fellow human beings.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Who'd've thunk that in our lifetime there'd be an easy way to hold government accountable?

Reading between the lines, it's much less about holding government "accountable" and much more about rubbing people's noses in how successful a project government is and how inextricable it is from the fabric of American life.

 

[Dehnus]

"If the government keeps track of where guns go, then they know exactly where to go to take my guns away"

Crime and protecting the public doesn't enter the minds of these people because they value their personal possessions more than the lives of fellow human beings.

I'm just flabbergasted by how much the NRA controls the mindset of these people, they are lemmings for the Weapon industry.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

Whoa!

Want to know how many police officers are employed in various parts of the country and compare that against crime rates? Want to know how much revenue is brought in from parking tickets and the cost to collect? Want to know what percentage of Americans suffer from diagnosed depression and how much the government spends on it? That’s in there. You can slice the numbers in all sorts of ways.

 

[Moosichu]

It is amazing how many people have no clue how much good foreign aid spent by governments does.

 

[ZOONAMI]

Heh.

Bing is fucking terrible.

 

[Stabby McSter]