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dempsey

26 karma · joined June 20, 2021

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dempsey··on Show HN: Open-source database and summary data of forced arbitration cases
Here is an award someone emailed to us: https://levelplayingfield.io/case/56038
dempsey··on Show HN: Open-source database and summary data of forced arbitration cases
Hey All,

https://github.com/LevelPlayingField

We've built an open source database of consumer and employee arbitration cases. We've also generated summary data pages for each party (defendants, attorneys, arbitrators, etc.). We used Discourse to make a forum that links to each case and allows people to discuss them or tell their story.

A problem we saw while dealing with a personal arbitration was that this data was out there but nobody was making it usable for regular folks. Also, some forums where people were helping each other disappeared, including all of that useful history (FatWallet comes to mind). So we did both.

One of the coolest things you can do is research a company you’re considering filing against or look up the decision history of arbitrators. From there you can find and reach out to attorneys that have gone up against them or similar companies. You can filter by state - though last we checked, arbitration doesn’t require an attorney be licensed in your state.

Here are some example queries (you can also sort some columns): Here is a query of parties showing who has the highest case count: https://levelplayingfield.io/search?q=is%3Aparty%20&sortBy=c... Law Firm - Keller Leckner: https://levelplayingfield.io/party/law-firm-keller-lenkner-l... Party search term “University”: https://levelplayingfield.io/search?q=is%3Aparty%20Universit... Party search term “Amazon”: https://levelplayingfield.io/search?q=is%3Aparty%20amazon&so...

Here are all of the ways you can filter the data: https://levelplayingfield.io/search-help. We’ve used this as an excuse to experiment with different technologies. Our search syntax emulated Github but may be too difficult for the general public.

Lots of people use the database every day. Our hosting is donated. We’ve been cited in prestigious law journal articles, major news articles, and are reference material at the Yale Law Library =)

There are a lot of interesting untold stories in this data. When we have time or volunteers, we tell stories on our blog (no time or volunteers lately). If you just browse, search words and sort party data by count, you’ll find interesting things… Try it.

The data only becomes available after a case is over. So pending cases do not show up but we invite those with active arbitrations to tell their stories in our forum. Consumer arbitrations are rarely confidential but employment arbitrations usually are. Sharing stories helps the next person, even if it’s five years later. People message us regularly with awesome stories.

We can imagine lots of improvements but lack time. Want to play with new technology in a way that might help people? Make a PR or send us an email. We may be slow to respond but we will get back to you. Promise.

Our real life is https://coManage.com. It’s similar but instead of leveraging idle legal data to help people, we leverage idle property management data to help people. Anyways, that’s another story.

Thanks, Dan & Frank

dempsey··on Square Banking
The lending piece is very similar to what Shopify has been doing in ecommerce.
dempsey··on We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments
This is interesting. Thx. The problem we've always had with smart locks at scale is connectivity headaches, which require a technical person as advanced or more than a locksmith.
dempsey··on We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments
I'm not arguing with you. I'm referring to long-term rentals. Your initial post doesn't make such a distinction.
dempsey··on We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments
When you perform a move out or move in inspection, you change the key. It's super easy. The reset tool can fit in your wallet or glove compartment. It's a big change versus having to change the cylinder as in the past. Having to manage a load of electronic locks is likely more costly. Again, this is long-term rentals not short-term.

As for self-tours, they make electronic lockboxes. They've been around forever and used by every MLS.

dempsey··on We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments
I know very large REITs that use Kwikset Smart Keys. They have a dozen keys and just reset to a different of the dozen after every move out. Tens of thousands of homes and never had a problem. It’s security through obscurity. Plus locks are easy to break/bypass for someone that’s motivated to do so. It’s the casual crime of opportunity that you can guard against.
dempsey··on Copilot regurgitating Quake code, including sweary comments
I’ve always wondered this about the realistic photo generators. How do we know they’re generating new faces and not just regurgitating ingested faces?
dempsey··on Secret Recordings Reveal How Exxon Lobbyists Manipulate Politicians and Public
Or the Nox and Sox cap and trade market that started it all.

https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/acid-rain-program

dempsey··on The Collapse of American Identity
Social security is a separate trust. Medicare is far more efficient than private insurance. It could be even more efficient but is hamstrung by corruption in Congress. Being unable to negotiate drug prices is a good example.
dempsey··on Conspiracy: In Theory and Practice
Conspiracy theories are a placebo effect for control. I can't control the world but I can control what I want to believe about the world and that helps me feel like I'm in control.
dempsey··on How to Work Hard
You have to put yourself in a position to get lucky. Doesn’t mean that you will.
dempsey··on YouTube took down videos by group documenting human rights abuses in China
Interesting. Thx.
dempsey··on YouTube took down videos by group documenting human rights abuses in China
So it’s a campaign targeted at other Chinese nationals?
dempsey··on Portable nuclear reactor program sparks controversy
>“The Army’s mobile reactor program, which was never requested by the Pentagon but rather by nuclear industry cheerleaders in Congress, is precisely how disasters happen,” he said in the report, which was released in April.

It’s interesting how nuclear gets an alliance between green groups and fossil fuel interests. It always makes me wonder how much criticism is in good faith. Nuclear can wipe out natural gas and coal and perhaps even oil with the rise of cheap storage. Fossil fuel interests have an economic interest in defeating nuclear with fear and regulatory red tape.

dempsey··on New LinkedIn Data Leak Leaves 700M Users Exposed
Not sure if the waitlist/vip method is well suited to this.
dempsey··on ‘A Form of Brainwashing’: China Remakes Hong Kong
Orwellian. What can you do when anyone may be a snitch to free thought?
dempsey··on YouTube took down videos by group documenting human rights abuses in China
Why do the IDs make it more credible? Can’t they say they’ve verified the IDs then blur them. Are they not making these people targets?
dempsey··on Twilio, Asana to List on Long Term Stock Exchange
Bummer. Thx.
dempsey··on Reddit’s disrespectful design
Or based on a user’s subscribed subreddits.
dempsey··on Biohackers take aim at big pharma’s stranglehold on insulin
And every state administers its own Medicaid system under a different name. Lots of folks don’t even realize that their free healthcare is mostly coming from the feds. In AZ, I had to explain this to several friends that depend on AHCCS.
dempsey··on Biohackers take aim at big pharma’s stranglehold on insulin
Maybe Mark Cuban’s company can produce it: https://costplusdrugs.com/
dempsey··on Reddit’s disrespectful design
Not sure I agree with the Marketplace angle. Ads are fine but forcing everyone into the app is odd. Will ios14 change any of that?
dempsey··on Twilio, Asana to List on Long Term Stock Exchange
These all seem like complicated ways of avoiding charging more for trading.

Make trading expensive and it will become less voluminous and short term. Allow companies to exclusively list where trading is purposely expensive.

dempsey··on New GitHub Issues Beta
Yes! We use a Google Sheet to track subtasks of issues. Now maybe we won't have to. Breaking every subtask into its own issue is too much and using the Project tool has a similar problem where it can become overwhelmingly noisy. Spreadsheet style lists are the cleanest way to see a lot quickly.
dempsey··on Toxoplasmosis – A Global Threat (2014)
Why the downvotes? In chronic lyme, the purported issue is lyme hiding out in cysts and causing all sorts of difficult to trace calamity throughout one’s life.
dempsey··on Toxoplasmosis – A Global Threat (2014)
This is remarkably similar to chronic lyme disease.
dempsey··on Toxoplasmosis – A Global Threat (2014)
You were a smart two year old!
dempsey··on Mitochondria may contribute to neurological and psychiatric disorders: research
I’m referring to data on autism rates in China. The WaPo article makes it seem highly likely that kids have developmental issues. The question really is whether autism is measured in China in any reliable way.
dempsey··on Mitochondria may contribute to neurological and psychiatric disorders: research
Care to cite a study or data? I know sleep researches studying this issue at UCLA and elsewhere and would love to share it with them.

We were looking for natural experiments. Ideally somewhere that babies are still stomach slept. Much like Israel and peanut snacks in the study of peanut allergies, it’s hard to change a protective paradigm without a natural experiment.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/02/eating-peanuts-preve...

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