Relax your coding self with the soothing JavaScript simulation of rain - <AUTHOR> https://itsrainingday.netlify.app/ <comment><USER2> Seems similar to this, which was posted here about 6 weeks ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23985825](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23985825)

The linked site for this submission is branded/copyrighted Pluvior.

The previous submission linked to the domain [https://pluvoir.netlify.app](https://pluvoir.netlify.app) (though this now redirects to a dedicated domain - rainbowhunt.com).

The credits on the two sites look very similar:

[https://rainbowhunt.com/credits.html](https://rainbowhunt.com/credits.html)

[https://itsrainingday.netlify.app/credits.html](https://itsrainingday.netlify.app/credits.html)

On the previous submission, the author of the rain effect showed up to comment about their work: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23987120](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23987120)

The only real difference with this submission is that it uses a different library for the rain effect; this one uses rainyday.js by Marek Brodziak instead - [https://modernweb.com/creating-a-realistic-rain-effect- with-...](https://modernweb.com/creating-a-realistic-rain-effect-with-canvas- and-javascript/).

I don't think there's enough new/original work here to count as a new Show HN.

</comment><comment><USER3> I can personally endorse [https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/campingRainNoiseGenerator....](https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/campingRainNoiseGenerator.php) and the various presets for that shown on the right.

The sliders are for different noises samples that are generally focused at that part of the sound spectrum and there are modes that will drift them up and down to keep things gently interesting.

<comment><USER4> Second this. I love the various options [https://mynoise.net](https://mynoise.net) provides. I have been using their coffee shop noise simulation lately since it's been forever (6 months) since I have gone to one and worked.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Reminded me of this article on rain water effects: [https://tympanus.net/codrops/2015/11/04/rain-water-effect- ex...](https://tympanus.net/codrops/2015/11/04/rain-water-effect-experiments/)

<comment><USER6> Graphically much much better

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Tried to use it but for some reason it randomly scroll me up and down when I move the mouse which is extremely annoying lol

</comment><comment><USER8> Great idea! I'm somewhat confused as to what the different left-hand buttons do, though. They don't seem to make a (immediate?) difference.

<comment><USER9> Yeah, the effects seem to be decently delayed for me as well.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I really like the rain/thunder sounds, and the the drops on the window is pretty cool.

The background image is a bit too blurred and weird stuff happens when resizing the window to something that will fit in the corner of the screen.

It would be nice if there were a few different pictures to pick from.

<comment><USER11> The first rain soundtrack seems very similar to RainyMood: [https://rainymood.com/](https://rainymood.com/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I really like this! So I did create a command to open this on my Vim:

command! Rain :OpenBrowser [https://itsrainingday.netlify.app](https://itsrainingday.netlify.app)

Depends on [https://github.com/tyru/open- browser.vim](https://github.com/tyru/open-browser.vim)

</comment><comment><USER13> I enjoy café sounds (cutlery on dishes, people voices but not understandable) with jazz for relaxing. I usually just play the different audio simultaneously (Youtube, Soundcloud, ...).

</comment><comment><USER14> Why does it scroll the page when I move my mouse barely an inch? I literally can't get the mouse over the volume sliders as it keeps scrolling the whole page up and down.

<comment><USER15> The same thing happened to me on mobile. Kept scrolling down again a couple times until I tried scrolling up again really quickly. But it isn't designed for mobile anyways I guess, all the sliders were cropped off at the right.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> How do you relax with all this noise? Made me uneasy.

<comment><USER17> Funny, this sort of ambient noise is the only thing that turns my brain off and allows me to sleep at night.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Now we just need a Javascript Lo-Fi girl

<comment><USER19> We've come a long way from [https://man.openbsd.org/rain.6](https://man.openbsd.org/rain.6)

Not javascript, but 2020: [https://i.imgur.com/iJWdurf_d.png?maxwidth=520&shape=thumb&f...](https://i.imgur.com/iJWdurf_d.png?maxwidth=520&shape=thumb&fidelity=high)

<comment><USER13> I recognized the image on screen on the second picture ("2020"). It's this one:

[https://thesustainableinvestor.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/s...](https://thesustainableinvestor.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/shareholder- value.jpg)

Edit: it's even readable on a large(r) version of the "2020"-image: [https://i.imgur.com/iJWdurf.png](https://i.imgur.com/iJWdurf.png)

I like the 2020 image a lot by the way. The combination of lots of plants and green with cables, headphones, mask and laptop gives off solarpunk vibes in my opinion. (The forest fire backdrop would spoil it if it weren't in such a nice contrast with the rest of the image).

Edit 2: _I can haz more solarpunk?_ Sure, check this out. It exists. It's real: [https://www.architecturaldigest.in/content/singapore- changi-...](https://www.architecturaldigest.in/content/singapore-changi- airport-worlds-tallest-indoor-waterfall-safdie-architects/)

<comment><USER19> Wow, not only real, but even at the bottom of a gravity well. My bad on not thinking to trim the URI.

If that's solarpunk, was this amberpunk? [https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/0020982/2147483647...](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/0020982/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1453x1080+0+0/resize/1292x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas- brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2F1970s-nasa-space-art-3.jpg)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


PostgreSQL vs MySQL (and to lesser extent also compared with MSSQL and Oracle) - <AUTHOR>

I know this is subjective to how/where you use it but am wondering what people who have used PosgreSQL think about it.
I see that the newer version match MySQL in speed while retaining better data integrity (and in many cases PGSQL is actually faster in both default install & after optimisations).
I want to build some web apps (ideally in Ruby On Rails and some in Django) and want something that scales better and is more robust.
Thoughts, comments, experiences and insights appreciated.
Basic overview @ http://is.gd/d5l gives some good intial pointers but needs more real world experiences to be added.
Thanks. <comment><USER2> I will tell you all you need to know in three (run on) sentences:

PostgreSQL is historically a more complete and reliable SQL database, that was once slower than MySQL but is now slightly faster for most workloads.

Either database will probably work great for anything you will ever need from them--if you are running into scaling problems for a site that we've never heard of (I assume we've never heard of it) you're probably doing something pathological.

Google uses MySQL heavily, so despite its many historical problems, if you grow big enough to run into them, you will figure out a way to solve them and in some cases you will cause them to be solved for the general MySQL userbase, as Google has done.

</comment><comment><USER3> I have lots of experience with Postgres (including scaling somewhat from a web app perspective) and have nothing really bad to say about it. It scaled well. The key (at least for me) is to make sure indexes are in memory, which I think will be the case no matter what DB you use.

<comment><USER4> Have you used server-clustering with pgsql? Slony doesn't do multi-master, and requires manual failover; I understand the technical reasons for this (The slave may not be up to date, so data will be lost, etc), but we're looking for other options.

pg_cluster and it's ilk seem under tested, but I'd be VERY interested in your experiences, if any.

Clustering under mysql has always been fairly trivial, so it'd be nice to find a decent solution.

<comment><USER3> I have found that the situations you really need clustering are few and far between in the world of web apps. We had over 20M users and we're running fine on one 2U database server. It had 6 disks (RAID 5, with two hot spares) and 16GB of memory. The indexes all fit in memory.

The acquiring company of our business immediately decided they wanted more hardware for clustering, and set up Slony. I was semi-involved in it, and I witnessed no problems. On a bigger scale, I understand that skype uses pgsql and obviously does clustering: [https://developer.skype.com/SkypeGarage/DbProjects/SkypePost...](https://developer.skype.com/SkypeGarage/DbProjects/SkypePostgresqlWhitepaper)

Also check out [http://highscalability.com/postgresql-high-availability- webs...](http://highscalability.com/postgresql-high-availability-websites) and [http://highscalability.com/skype-plans-postgresql- scale-1-bi...](http://highscalability.com/skype-plans-postgresql- scale-1-billion-users)</comment></comment></comment>


House Republicans would let employers demand workers' genetic test results - <AUTHOR> https://www.statnews.com/2017/03/10/workplace-wellness-genetic-testing/ <comment><USER2> Well, if so it would be quite natural to do genetic testing to all the Congress members and also the POTUS. Even better, it should be done to all the candidates, so the US people can vote using all the information they need. If they don't need it, the rest of the employers do not need it either.

<comment><USER3> It's not like government mandated insurance isn't going to demand this at one point anyway. Health care _should_ take genetic factors into account for health care optimization; If it doesn't, it's probably not the best health care you could get.

<comment><USER4> _Insurance_ doesn't need to know anything about the person covered. _Doctors_ are the ones who provide healthcare.

<comment><USER3> Only if you think insurance shouldn't optimize for cost (this obviously includes age and pre-existing conditions). Either insurance should be optimized for cost, or insurance should be outlawed.

<comment><USER5> This! If insurance companies aren't allowed to know anything about customers AND they have to insure people with pre-existing conditions, then we're not paying for insurance, we're just paying for our healthcare out of pocket before we get sick (or other people's healthcare in the case of young healthy people with high premiums).

It very well may be what's best for society, but it's definitely not insurance.

<comment><USER6> > it's definitely not insurance.

Do you ....know what insurance is? Optimization based on feature of the population is not part of the definition. If a million people all paid into a pool that would cover any one of them if they got sick, and they all paid the premium, that would still be insurance.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> That was what this was about:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1288509](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1288509)

It only took a couple of years. See, it's easy to look at technology in the light of whatever the political climate is at the moment. But you should not be worried about what the present administration is going to do with it, you should be worried about the next and the one after that.

And your genes are not exclusively yours, your parents and children's genes are also exposed if you give away your genetic code.

Now employers are demanding genetic testing, next up insurance companies with some nice file sharing options to boot. It's all just a stroke of a pen somewhere away.

<comment><USER8> Think of most people, who are too busy broadcasting their personal information everywhere, given the chance. People like you, me, and most of HN are a statistical anomaly.

<comment><USER9> Those fools leaving their DNA all over everything. Didn't they watch _Gattaca_ and remember the part about your whole world being torn apart by a strand of hair?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca)

<comment><USER8> Sure, they watched it, ate popcorn, and felt better about their lives by comparison. Most people don't watch things like that for the lesson, they're just entertained. The rest of us find it hard to believe, but go to a NASCAR rally sometime... you'll see. There are all kinds of people there, but there are vast swathes of... fools. Fools who you could never hope to reach or educate, even if they wanted you to do, which they vehemently don't.

<comment><USER10> I've spent plenty of time working in a cubicle. I've overheard my coworkers say a lot of dumb stuff. Going a NASCAR race seems like an Ivy League board meeting by comparison.

Look in the mirror. Odds are you're just as bad plus or minus a few %.

<comment><USER8> Working in a cubicle could mean a lot of things, including working at a call center. I'm not seeing the relevance, other than as an opening to take a personal swing because I assume you're offended.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> In 2008, GINA was virtually unanimous in the House and Senate.

What the hell has happened to this country.

<comment><USER12> Between 2008 and now, the Republican party was taken over by its most extreme members. Many things that would have been solidly advocated by Republicans then are now out of the question.

Just compare the 2008 Republican Party platform [1] to where they stand today. A couple things that illustrate just how different the 2008 GOP was compared to today.

On climate change:

> Because Republicans believe that solutions to the risk of global climate > change will be found in the ingenuity of the American people, we propose a > Climate Prize for scientists who solve the challenges of climate change. > Honoraria of many millions of dollars would be a small price for > technological developments that eliminate our need for gas-powered cars or > abate atmospheric carbon.

There are several other mentions of climate change in the 2008 platform. To the extent that dealing with climate change and economic growth are at odds, they wanted a balance close to growth than Democrats did (and do), but they knew that climate change did have to be dealt with.

On renewable energy:

> Alternate power sources must enter the mainstream. The technology behind > solar energy has improved significantly in recent years, and the commercial > development of wind power promises major benefits both in costs and in > environmental protection. Republicans support these and other alternative > energy sources, including geothermal and hydropower, and anticipate > technological developments that will increase their economic viability. We > therefore advocate a long-term energy tax credit equally applicable to all > renewable power sources.

If you want to get banned from /r/republican, just wait until the next time cap and trade comes up, and someone says that it is a socialist liberal democrat commie approach, and point out that Ronald Reagan used it for the phaseout of leaded gasoline, and the first Bush used it for reducing the emissions responsible for acid rain, with overwhelming support from Republicans in Congress...and you will likely get banned from that subreddit for advocating anti-republican positions. Yup...RONALD REAGAN is anti- republican in today's GOP. (Well, his policies are...they never miss a chance to praise him or claim to be like him).

[1] [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=78545](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=78545)

<comment><USER13> Democrats opened the door to your employer checking on your "wellness".

"Are you going to the gym? Did you sneak a cigarette in on Friday night? Did you have a chili dog or a salad for lunch)? Oh you won't tell us? Don't worry you don't have to. Okay we'll just slap a surcharge on your health insurance!"

<comment><USER10> Not sure why you're getting down-voted. The "I don't want to share" surcharge sucks.

<comment><USER6> What are the details on this? I'm unfamiliar with what you're describing. It sounds like people getting charged extra for not sharing nutritional and exercise information with insurers? What is the legal context here (the Democrats were mentioned in the GP).

<comment><USER14> They're couched as wellness plans with insurance discounts if you disclose certain aspects of your behavior. All endorsed by employers (who tend to pay the lion's share of insurance premiums) and political parties (because who doesn't want a healthier <insert country here>).

<comment><USER6> Thanks for the info. I had deduced as much, but I was asking about the legal side of things. Is there anything more concrete than "endorsed by" (which I take to mean "they said nice things about it)? I understood "Democrats opened the door to" as meaning something like perhaps a tax or legal incentive for these plans: I just wanted to know the specifics because government involvement in our healthcare system is complex enough that it could have been any of a million possible things.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> I actively refuse to participate in all workplace wellness programs now. If it ever became mandatory I would quit. No question.

<comment><USER7> No, of course they're not mandatory... but your insurance premiums will go up with $500/month if you don't 'voluntarily' agree to do this.

<comment><USER16> More often, I see wellness programs that offer yearly FSA credit in the hundreds range for filling out a health survey and then potentially additional credit for using the program. The psychology is better there for the base premium (bonuses are better than penalties).

Source: I work for a company that makes a wellness app.

<comment><USER7> That's just a sales trick which is effectively the same thing.

A bonus to fill it out is the same as a penalty for not doing so.

The psychology is not 'better' it's just sneakier.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> This is an overwrought and inflammatory headline. Even snopes says it's false: [http://www.snopes.com/genetic-testing-bill/](http://www.snopes.com/genetic- testing-bill/)

<comment><USER18> Well, technically they rate it as "mixture".

<comment><USER19> djrogers is misrepresenting the Snopes conclusion about as much as that headline misrepresents the bill. No, your employer can't say "take this test if you want to keep your job" but doubling your premiums isn't too far off of that for many people and removing the restrictions on sharing information with non-healthcare professionals is just asking for abuse.

<comment><USER17> Snopes specifically says that employers would not be able to demand genetic testing results, while the headline says they would. It's a pretty clear cut case of a false and clickbaity headline.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I agree this is bad but why is it bad if an employer says they want a genetic workup done and just don't hire you if you say no? I just wouldn't take the job and I don't see what's wrong with that.

If you're employed as a test subject for a new cure to something getting a genetic workup seems very reasonable and is about the only time I'd acctually say yes to something like this. That's really the only case I can think of where this makes sense.

Why do companies actually want to do this? Do they think people will still work for them if they do?

<comment><USER21> If most people are willing to say yes, it becomes more difficult for you, or rather a hypothetical prospective job candidate, to say no.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> And here's the same thing applied to car insurance: [https://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot/](https://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot/)

It's not a surcharge if you don't plug it in, it's a _discount_ if you do. Semantics...

</comment><comment><USER22> Government 1 - Privacy 0

</comment><comment><USER23> Somehow, the GOP can't stop making the case for single-payer stronger by the day.

<comment><USER24> You may think that, but it appears the voters are perfectly happy to hedge their bets with the GOP in the voting booth.

<comment><USER10> >perfectly happy

"less terrible" is a phrase you should get to know.

<comment><USER24> Judging by the turnout numbers in 2016 and 2008, and also the popularity of the GOP candidate at his rallies, it appears that isn't the case; instead, GOP voters really were happy to vote GOP, and others simply didn't bother to vote.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> We need to march on washington for control of our privacy again. This and the spying under obama shows democrats and republicans need to be removed quickly.

<comment><USER26> You make the category error of thinking this is about _privacy_.

It's about _control_.

<comment><USER7> It's about neither. It's about money. Insurers would _love_ to be able to increase premiums based on pre-existing conditions and all the pre-emptive language of this bill notwithstanding this is opening the door a crack. And once the door is open it won't stop opening further. After all, if you don't want to cooperate with the 'voluntary' wellness program it's your own fault that your premiums will go up. After all, non-cooperation is a sure sign there is something you know that you don't want them to know (or so the argument will go...).

Wellness, what a nice example of newspeak.

<comment><USER27> It looks like it is going to unravel, but the trajectory between 2000 and 2015 was that US insurance companies had to consider less and less information when pricing policies.

I think it is hard to extrapolate that into a guaranteed bleak future.

<comment><USER7> Less information -> more fairness. The bleak future isn't there when it does not affect you but for people with pre-existing conditions (and that's a fair number) it just got a little bleaker. (Because having some life-long health issue is already bleak enough by my reckoning and such people should be aided rather than hindered in having an otherwise as normal life as possible. It's a lottery, no point in penalizing the losers even further.)

<comment><USER27> Yes, that's what I meant. The medium term trajectory has been towards a fairer system. A bill passing out of a committee now doesn't guarantee things will be worse in 2030.

Even if the ACA is completely repealed it's hard to say where things will be in 8 years, never mind the forever.

<comment><USER7> That's true, but in the intermediary it will make peoples lives worse, possibly _much_ worse.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> The bill does no such thing:

[https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1313/BILLS-115hr1313ih....](https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1313/BILLS-115hr1313ih.pdf)

Relevant quotes:

"...workplace wellness programs and programs of health promotion or disease prevention offered by an employer that provide for _more favorable treatment of individuals with adverse health factors_ as described..."

"...the collection of information about the _manifested disease or disorder_ of a family member..."

But nothing about forcing genetic testing on employees.

<comment><USER29> The first "relevant quote" is.. irrelevant to genetic data collection.

If you expand the second quote, it reads:

"the collection of information about the manifested disease or disorder of a family member __shall not be considered an unlawful acquisition of genetic information __"

As the article stated, genetic testing isn't forced upon employees. If you don't do it, you might have to pay an increase of up to 50% for health insurance or.. if your employer doesn't sponsor healthcare, they can deduct your paycheck.

<comment><USER28> There is _nothing_ in this bill that allows your insurer to sequence your genome in the first place.

<comment><USER29> To quote jacquesm and MisterBastahrd:

"No, it's considered voluntary. Except that if you don't comply with the voluntary wellness program you will end up with a steep financial penalty. In other words, it's mandatory."

"There's no difference between 'voluntary' and 'mandatory' if the penalty for not doing the 'voluntary' thing is so harsh that you can't afford to refrain."

\--

You're right, there's nothing in this bill that explicitly forces your insurer to sequence your genome in the first place. HOWEVER, if a wellness program asked for your genome, and you denied it, then you would incur a heavy penalty. This is new.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> Republicans are so out to lunch. I guess it's an example of the Overton Window in action. Obamacare is essentially what the Republicans were advocating in the 90s. So now they feel like they have to stake out a position in opposition to it, which means they have to regroup in loony land.

From the other side it demonstrates both the promise and the peril of triangulation. On the one hand you back your opponent into a corner. On the other hand, you end up making your opponent's proposal the new "consensus centralism" and force the public discourse so far in their direction that the "crazy extremist" position becomes the new rational opposition.</comment>


LinkedIn announces Intern Hack Day 2011 - <AUTHOR> http://hackday2011.linkedinlabs.com/

<comment><USER2> Shameless spoilers of secret commands:

        rm -rf *
        sudo rm -rf *
        business cat
        sudo make me a sandwich
        easter-egg
        shutdown
        sudo shutdown
        wizard

</comment><comment><USER3> SoCal only, damn. If there were only interesting tech startups in the Midwest to intern with that had hackdays.

<comment><USER4> As others pointed out, we're in Northern California (thankfully!). We (and many other tech companies in the Bay Area) will take interns from out of state (as well as from Canada): unfortunately, not all will have an on-campus recruiting presence.

It's usually a mistake for a startup not to take college recruiting seriously or to focus only on Stanford (the point of ignoring other Bay Area Schools, not to mention East Coast schools). Quality of many Canadian schools (e.g., Waterloo) is also amazing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I really like the landing page they made for this event. Very creative and nerdy.

</comment><comment><USER6> Am I the only one who typed "cd overview" instead of just "overview"?

<comment><USER3> I think the most impressive thing about it is that it had tab completion for the listed items.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Hahaa... I just typed in "sudo make me a sandwich"

<comment><AUTHOR> LOL LOL LOL "sudo rm -rf *"

<comment><USER7> That's a fun easter egg</comment></comment></comment>


'King of Kong' Star Stripped of High Scores, Banned from Competition - <AUTHOR> http://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/king-of-kong-stripped-of-title-1202751358/ <comment><USER2> That's been a while coming. I first heard the MAME allegations a few months back and, at that point, it seemed like only a matter of time before his titles were stripped. It's just _way_ too easy to cheat playing on an emulator.</comment>


Getting a job in venture capital - <AUTHOR> http://www.cdixon.org/?p=732

<comment><USER2> Well, that article is a welcome dose of reality to anyone who (like me) has ever dreamed of being a venture capitalist. A lot of schmoozing, MBA-ing and dues-paying required before you ever really get to the point where you can make fun decisions. And even if you do become a partner in a firm, it's really only the top few firms which are really successful. Ultimately, why bother?

<comment><USER3> Also: what do you want to do, found something by yourself or support (and exploit to a degree) the people who found something?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Surely it's a bad idea to found a company with the sole goal of landing a job as a VC.</comment>


Where the "Oh fuck, the internet is here" came from - <AUTHOR> http://deathboy.livejournal.com/1082404.html <comment><USER2> Todays much needed "laugh out loud" moment:

 _How do you, ideologically speaking, defeat a crowd that is enthusiastically demanding that you "DO A BARREL ROLL! DO A BARREL ROLL!!" ?_

<comment><USER3> I know this wasn't your point, ErrantX, but to answer the quote:

You don't need to. By ignoring or laughing at their juvenile antics, and by not engaging them as adults, you win. Not to defend Scientology, but as absurd as the gathering was it is not going to impact much of anything. The world is a bigger place than internet memes.

<comment><USER2> True perhaps. Although I think there is a distinction here, where the crowd is being _deliberately absurd_.

Such absurdity garners undue attention, which also highlights the criticism (of Scientology) they are supporting. And what does Scientology do to respond? Call them trolls, they look petty. Take them seriously, they look silly. Confront them, they look violent. Ignore them, they look like they have something to hide. And all the while the camera is rolling.

So it is a two pronged sword; you're drawing attention to the cause. And there is simply no response your opponent is able to give that benefits them.

<comment><USER4> Maybe next time Anon should simply shout "When did Tom Cruise stop beating his wife?"

More seriously, you raise a good point: there's no response that's good for them. Not responding is probably the best, but even it's not a great option.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Does the Glassdoor UK average software engineer salary seem low to you? - J-dawg National Avg: £35,000 (US $49,921) London Area Avg: £37,220 (US $53,087) [0]<p>In particular, I am surprised by how the London average is only slightly above the national average.<p>[0] https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/london-software-engineer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,6_IM1035_KO7,24.htm <comment><AUTHOR> It does look pretty low if you assume that you only need 1.25x the salary in SF vs London to maintain the same standard of living [1],[2].

I worked in EU (Belgium) for 7 years before moving to the Bay Area. In my personal experience (so it cannot be generalized!), I definitely felt that CS folks are highly undervalued in EU. The starting salary for a CS grad (or equivalent by experience) was no more than 1.5x that of say a bartender who never went for higher education. Over time the more "competitive" people did complain about being paid way too less. And companies offered no significant distinction / appreciation for being a great engineer vs an average. On the whole though, most people seemed pretty content. I guess coz you are getting a pretty good deal unless you are a good software engineer :)

[1] [http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of- living/compare_cities.jsp?coun...](http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of- living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&city1=London&country2=United+States&city2=San+Francisco%2C+CA) [2] [https://angel.co/salaries](https://angel.co/salaries)

<comment><USER2> I've lived in the UK for about 10 years now and though I'm not sure I read or picked up this idea, it has felt "true" in a truthy sort of way - the UK, culturally, regards software engineers or those similar to be little more than educated manual labor. You're not in management, so you're labor. It's a result of the significance of "class" here in the UK and the different ways to define that. And "middle class" here is roughly the equivalent of "upper middle class" in America and IT folks don't make enough to be in the "middle class".

"Lions ruled by donkeys" \- this saying about British society is still true today and has its roots in the class divisions and structure. I have heard it said many times by now that Britain is still fundamentally a feudal society, certainly on the psychological level. (And I can see it) So that is going to certainly influence what management pays labor...

It has made me very appreciative of the strengths of American culture/society, though there are lots of things to complain about America as well.

<comment> J-dawg I think you're right, and it's something I've only started to realise very recently having lived in the UK my whole life (a culture is hard to understand when you've only ever experienced the world from inside it).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> I suspect that HN'ers are a skewed sample set because I think there are fewer of what Hanselman calls "dark matter programmers" on HN than in the wild.

<comment> J-dawg Good point, but it seems low in absolute terms as well. £37k really isn't a lot of money to live on in one of the most expensive cities in the world

</comment></comment><comment> J-dawg Answering my own question, but this Quora thread contains some good answers:

[https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-salary-of-software- engineer...](https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-salary-of-software-engineering- jobs-in-the-US-double-that-in-the-UK)</comment>


Google kicks GrooveShark out of the Android Market  - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/04/google-kicks-grooveshark-out-of-the-android-market.ars

<comment><USER2> The Groovesharkers are a fascinating group of folks =]

"At no point in Grooveshark's history did I ever believe Grooveshark was going to fail. The same goes for Sam. Grooveshark is more than our product and Grooveshark is more than our ideas. Grooveshark is the group of people that we have in the company. If tomorrow, every record label and every large technology company all partnered up and launched a service that they've secretly been developing for ten years, that is Grooveshark but a thousand times better, and for whatever reason we couldn't compete with it, we would turn on a dime. We'd have a meeting tomorrow and we would both come in together and we'd say, 'okay, the bad news is this business model isn't sustainable. The good news is we're all still here, so what are we doing now?' and that would really be it."

Another one that sticks with me:

"Often, when we'd go pitch a potential investor, they'd offer us a bottle of water or something, and we'd always accept the water and then use it as a prop because when we'd say 'yeah, we want to compete with piracy' we would always get laughed at and told 'okay, well it's impossible to compete with piracy, everybody has tried this, you can't compete with free.' That comment always opened the door for us, we'd say, 'Well, what about this bottle of water right here, did you pay for it? Why did you pay for it? You can turn on a tap and get it free', and I really love that example, because value is a funny thing.

Value is really in the eyes of the beholder, it comes down to whether or not someone is willing to pay. There are a lot of reasons why someone would be willing to pay. In the case of water, it's not because they can't get it for free, it's because there's the convenience, there's the packaging, there's the perceived quality, and any of those 'reasons' could be applied to traditional music. So, even if CD sales are tanking and now downloads are plateauing, that doesn't mean that there isn't money in music. When I think of all of the friends I have who haven't bought a DVD in years and they pirate their movies all the time, those same people are the ones that, every single Friday night, will spend $10 or more on a movie ticket to see it once but they won't spend $5 to own a copy forever." - Josh Greenberg, Grooveshark CTO/Cofounder

Also relevant, an explanation from Josh on the legality of Grooveshark:

"First off, I'm not a lawyer -- but I'll do my best to speak on this subject. Essentially the main governing law is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which is very long and very complicated. But there are a few parts of DMCA that, in particular, govern over services like Grooveshark, Myspace, Google, YouTube, eBay, Craigslist, Facebook, any place where users are posting content or sharing information in certain ways. Prior to this law going into effect, there was a paralyzing amount of ambiguity regarding the rights and responsibilities of consumers, service providers, and content owners. There were no defined parameters for services to operate under.

The way that the DMCA arbitrates everything is basically by saying that _content owners have a right to their content at the end of the day_. So, if a content owner points to a specific piece of content on a service and contacts the service provider using specific parameters, then the service provider has to take that content down.

There's also a lot more to it, including obligation for service providers to notify infringing users and to ban repeat infringers. I think what everything boils down to, is that the law recognizes that in a community of millions and millions of users, some will end up breaking the rules, but at the same time, content owners always have a right to point to their content to have it quickly removed; service providers have protection from what their users are doing as long as they comply with certain responsibilities toward content providers; and users have an obligation not to pirate or upload infringing content."

<comment><USER3> I've been at Grooveshark for a while. While I'm not going to comment on this story, I will say this: every single employee (now about 70) has sacrificed immensely for the success of this company since its start. It's pretty clear to everyone who works at Grooveshark that they don't do it for the money. They show up everyday because they have fun working with a great team, an awesome product, and the hope that one day this industry will be changed for the better. We've gone through a lot- lawsuits, employment without payment, app store removals, people saying crazy shit ("a legal jihad"??), competitors sprouting up every day etc. I'm sure this won't be the last either. But what keeps us going is hearing just how many people NEED us from my little sister who sends me her iPhone every month so we can put a dev build on it when her certificate expires, to the numerous artists we meet at music festivals both large and small who need a better way to distribute their music and get heard.

<comment><USER4> Let me just say I love your program and use it daily, but...

I recently just let the trial period on the mobile version (ios jb) lapse without buying a subscription. While I love the idea, and I love the app itself, the music quality simply isn't there. Now, I know the bandwidth limitations that come with 3g, and I know the quality is as high as you can get it, but it's just not good enough. Which makes me think that you guys might be peaking too soon. I can't see you making money off free web users with your (thankfully) unobtrusive ads, I don't see any real reason to pay to use the web version, and I don't see mobile infrastructure being fast enough to support you there, where it seems your real prime usage case is.

Even if Google and Apple weren't booting you off their platform, how would you survive long enough that you could deliver the same quality music through my phone that I already _have_ on my phone?

<comment><USER5> A different experience - I recently tried out Grooveshark on my jailbroken iPhone, and I liked it. The interface is nice and clever, the music quality was fine (I was listening over WiFi though), the radio-style recommendations were decent. I'm just not a big enough music consumer to sign up for the $9/month service; I'm usually happy with my existing music library and if I want to listen to a couple new things I often just use YouTube on my computer. I'd recommend it to friends who wanted a subscription service though.

<comment><USER4> Thing is, if I have wifi, there's no need for a mobile app. I almost always have my laptop on me, and am more than content to listen with that. Grooveshark mobile makes the promise of any music, anywhere, any time. That's awesome, and is the one thing I could see paying an admittedly steep subscription for. It just didn't deliver well enough for me.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> While probably the right move (no need to take responsibility for an app that is going to anger labels when your platform allows sideload), it is funny to see Google kicking out a company that is following the YouTube playbook word for word.

<comment><USER7> "following the YouTube playbook word for word"

Exactly, I guess they don't want to get in the middle of it. The disadvantages of building on someone else's platform, I suppose.

<comment><USER8> It's less of a risk here though, because as pointed out elsewhere in the thread, it's still easily available through <http://mobile.grooveshark.com/android>. The loss of discoverability from being on the Market sucks, but the publicity from being removed reminded me to install it at least.

Overall though, I think the ability to have your users install your app even if you get kicked off of the market is a fundamental advantage that Android has. It's going to be a detriment if you're a paid app, but if you're ad- supported, being kicked off the Market is not nearly as big of an issue. You just need to solve the publicity/discoverability issue.

<comment><USER7> Not all Android devices allow side loading, to my knowledge. So it doesn't seem to be an inherent advantage of Android. After all, you CAN jail break your iPhone.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> The important thing to note is that it will still be available, just not through direct app store channels: <http://mobile.grooveshark.com/android>

</comment><comment><USER10> Grooveshark's response: [http://techie-buzz.com/tech-news/grooveshark- responds-google...](http://techie-buzz.com/tech-news/grooveshark-responds- google-android-market-ban.html)

"We were surprised by Google's removal of the Grooveshark App from the Android Market Place, and are still unclear as to what policies have now been violated. We have always had a positive relationship with Google as evidenced by the Grooveshark App's active and featured presence in the Android Marketplace for the past one and a half years.

We respect copyright law and the rights of content owners, generating positive results and revenues for the artists and labels that we have agreements with. Regarding the content for which we do not have agreements in place yet, we abide by, and pay royalties, according to the rules outlined in the DMCA, the same legal act that governs Google and YouTube's activities.

We are eagerly looking to enter into agreements with all labels and content owners, so that we can work together to the benefit of all parties. To be effective, these agreements, however, must be struck directly with the respected content owners in the boardroom not the courtroom."

</comment><comment><USER11> I'm worried that this is influenced, at least subconsciously, by Google's attempts to open their own music service. If Google can stay in the good graces of the RIAA, they're more likely to get the streaming/cloud concessions they're hoping for. Smells like a huge conflict of interest.

</comment><comment><USER12> If I remember right, at least a year ago when I first got my Nexus One, Grooveshark was also hidden on Android Market if I had an AT&T SIM in my phone. I could only see it and download it if I pulled my SIM out and connected via wifi. Otherwise, searching for it turned up nothing.

This was when I discovered that there are carrier specific blacklist on the Market -- PDANet was a similarly blocked app, presumably on AT&T's request.

</comment><comment><USER13> Well, there goes one of the advantages of Android that I mention when endorsing my phone to my friends.

On the other hand, as Android still has Flash, even if you couldn't install non-market apps one could just go to Grooveshark's website.

<comment><USER8> It's still available at <http://mobile.grooveshark.com/android>. I installed it earlier.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Grooveshark's official app, sadly, never ran well for me. There are bunch of other Grooveshark apps, such as TinyShark, which perform far better. Would be fun to see Google running around killing little sharks.

</comment><comment><USER15> This company and service is absolutely amazing. Points for the amazing UI/UX

</comment><comment><USER16> Are there currently alternatives to the Android Market?

<comment><USER17> The Internet.

Also Amazon's App Store, though I tried them out and won't go back until they stop coupling app store apps to the App Store app itself.

<comment><USER18> > _won't go back until they stop coupling app store apps to the App Store app > itself._

How's that? You mean you can't run the downloaded apps if you uninstall the App Store app?

<comment><USER17> _How's that? You mean you can't run the downloaded apps if you uninstall the App Store app?_

Exactly.

I have been using an app called Privacy Blocker that scans apps, reports on what identifier info apps are sending, and optional re-writes the apk to have it send bogus data. Very cool.

So I scan the Amazon App Store app. Not good. I tell Privacy Blocker to fix it. Looks fine. Later I try to run Angry Birds Rio, one of the free apps Amazon was offering. I get a message telling me my App Store app is old and needs updating; Angry Birds then exits.

I can't figure out how to update or reinstall the App Store from Amazon, so I put back the original version (Privacy Blocker saves these). Oh, look, Angry Birds works fine.

Fuck that. I uninstall App Store; Angry Birds won't run, telling me I need the App Store app. Same goes for the Winamp app which I grabbed from Amazon (also free).

No big deal, I remove those apps, then go grab Winamp from Google's app store. Free, no problem running it, no need for some intermediary grubbing my usage details.

So, Amazon App Store, good for developers, less good for users.

<comment><USER19> Did you try and remove the Google app store to see if its coupled with its apps?

<comment><USER17> A follow up: Did not remove the Google Market app, but I did force kill it, and saw no effect on starting or running other apps.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Google is under huge pressure from lawmakers in this regard: <http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20051248-261.html>

During the last COICA/piracy congressional hearing reps were asking why Google doesn't fix all the ills in the world and stop all crime and the one before that turned into a Google witch trial in absentia.</comment>


Network performance comparison as of today - <AUTHOR> http://lists.dragonflybsd.org/pipermail/users/2017-March/313254.html <comment><AUTHOR> This is really impressive. Direct link to graphs here

[https://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~sephe/perfcomp/1K.png](https://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~sephe/perfcomp/1K.png)

[https://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~sephe/perfcomp/8K.png](https://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~sephe/perfcomp/8K.png)

[https://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~sephe/perfcomp/16K.png](https://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~sephe/perfcomp/16K.png)

[https://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~sephe/perfcomp/ipfwd- bi.png](https://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~sephe/perfcomp/ipfwd-bi.png)</comment>


Joe Justice from Team Wikispeed on the Future of Manufacturing (and Consumption) - <AUTHOR> http://meedabyte.com/2012/05/09/interviewing-joe-justice-from-team-wikispeed-on-the-future-of-manufacturing-and-consumption Joe Justice is the ideator of Team Wikspeed: a team of volunteers distributed around the world who recently created a prototype car that is open source, modular and ultra-efficient in just three months, using processes borrowed from software development, the world from which Joe comes from. In addition to being a visionary, Joe is a fantastic and discussion prone person and this interview contains a very open and fruitful discussions I had with him at the end of April. I recommend you read it because it will be useful to you to understand how manufacturing – and consumption – are fated to change in coming years if, as Joe says, we want to continue living on this planet for a while. <comment><AUTHOR> Had a fantastic interview with Joe Justice that is the ideator of Team Wikspeed: a team of volunteers distributed around the world who recently created a prototype car that is open source, modular and ultra-efficient in just three months, using processes borrowed from software development, the world from which Joe comes from. In addition to being a visionary, Joe is a fantastic and discussion prone person and this interview contains a very open and fruitful discussions I had with him at the end of April. I recommend you read it because it will be useful to you to understand how manufacturing – and consumption – are fated to change in coming years if, as Joe says, we want to continue living on this planet for a while.

Appreciate your feedbacks.</comment>


Startup Weekend pep talk: It ain't the code - <AUTHOR> http://blog.asmartbear.com/startup-weekend.html

<comment><USER2> "You and I know you can code an app and produce a simple clean home page. Everyone here can."

In my experience, that is absolutely not the case. I've only attended one Startup Weekend, but as a developer I was outnumbered 3-1 by 'business' people. That is not a problem in and of itself, but this article goes a little too far for my tastes.

"The code" has to feature in there somewhere- without developers an event like Startup Weekend would become a massive echo chamber of people throwing out and presenting wonderful startup ideas that might not even be technically possible. It has to have a slight 'hackathon' element to it in order to establish what you can do, and you need to create basic prototypes to validate whether you ideas actually work in the real world.

"If all you build this weekend is a landing page that describes what your company will do and asks for an email address to be notified when ready, and if you manage to get 50 emails, that is far more of a real company than a team who builds something that works but no one asked for it."

I'm not so sure. I could create a landing page for my web site that will interface with your toaster through a public API, and allow you to remotely prepare a bagel whenever you want it. That doesn't make it a viable business because what I am describing isn't possible (well, yet...)

<comment><USER3> You see alot of this at startup weekends in France.. "checkout my startup! a Wild idea, powerpoint presentation, and my launch rock page" umm.. no

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Awesome, so basically if I'm already a great engineer/designer I don't have to worry about engineering or design anymore!

But hey it is true that it can be too easy to get lost in the joy of building and forget about the business.

There's just so much out there to explore and try when you're a creative type that it can really help to stop and think about the 'big picture' point of what you're doing and why on earth anyone else (customers, etc) should care ;)

</comment><comment><USER5> The one exception to this, which may really not even be an exception, is if you are your target customer. If you really need the product you're building that is a good starting point. I think for turning a website/app into a business the most important first customer is you.</comment>


Ask HN: I don't want to rely on GitHub as the only storage of my opensource code - <AUTHOR> I am currently hosting my open source contributions on GitHub.
I think it would be foolish to think that GitHub will be around and be trustworthy forever. At some point it will go down like every other project does.
What is a good way to make sure I can still access my repos no matter what happens to GitHub?
I don't want to host them locally. Too much of a hassle.
What's an easy way to mirror them to other places? <comment><USER2>
        git push backup master

Where _backup_ is a remote that exists literally anywhere else. Amazon, Gitlab, and Bitbucket are three choices that come to mind.

<comment><AUTHOR> Sure, I know _how_ to push stuff somewhere.

My question is more about the _where_. What is a good free service that is expected to stand the test of time?

Maybe it's possible to make archive.org archive GitHub repos?

<comment><USER3> You wrote "At some point [GitHub] will go down like every other project does." Doesn't that mean you don't expect any good free service to stand the test of time?

Just how long do you want?

Perhaps if you pay for a service it's more likely that it will last?

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't expect any service to stand the test of time.

So I want to spread my code across multiple services. And when one goes down in 10 years or so, clone it from one of the others to yet another one.

Paying is not an option. Because I want a hassle free solution. Paid services would be prone to even more issues. For example when I change my credit card I would have to think about updating the CC information. At some point Credit Cards might go out of fashion. And the provider and I might not have a common payment channel anymore. Or the provier raises their fees to a level that I find too expensive.

I want a solution that I can set up and then forget about it for as long as possible.

<comment><USER3> Then what's wrong with the three suggestions that aaronbrethorst gave?

I'll add to my question of "Just how long do you want?" \- how much data do you want to store, and how often do you want updates?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I would suggest using either GitHub or GitLab as primary and mirror on the other. I prefer the issue management of GitLab so use that as my primary.

The top search result[0] are GitLab docs for pushing to or pulling from another repository for mirroring.

[0] [https://www.google.com/search?q=github+gitlab+mirror](https://www.google.com/search?q=github+gitlab+mirror)

</comment><comment><USER5> How about setting up your own server and use [https://github.com/go- gitea/gitea](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea) to host your projects there?

</comment><comment><USER6> >I don't want to host them locally. Too much of a hassle.

No it isn't. Just buy an external drive or something and copy your repos to it, done and done.</comment>


Why 9:41 AM is always the time displayed on iPhones and iPads - <AUTHOR> http://www.tuaw.com/2014/04/14/why-9-41-am-is-the-always-the-time-displayed-on-iphones-and-ipad/ <comment><USER3> I think the article missed some very interesting aspects of this story. First of all, why bother setting the time in the first place? I think it's because having many different times in different ads/websites/docs looks sloppy. There's also the chance of someone working late (2:00 am) or having a strange time such as 20:02 or 11:11. These are very minor but could be distracting in high-profile ads or consistent docs. Much simpler to just say that all time displays will be a simple 9:41 (time 0 in the age of the iPhone, essentially).

I would be more interested in how they implement this. I assume there is an internal style guide somewhere mandating the use of 9:41. But are people who make the images (photographers, marketing, web team, doc writers) supposed to set the devices (or their clocks) manually? Do they have corporate photoshop scripts for setting the time in "post-production?" Maybe there are test settings (later removed for shipped code) that allow the time to be "frozen" so all screenshots look natural at the desired time. Can anyone inside Apple tell us?

<comment><USER4> I doubt they take actual screen pictures on their promo materials. This is usually something done in post-production, where you integrate the screen on the frame of the device. Or you make a 3D render altogether.

<comment><USER5> Actually, I recall a short documentary about the production of the Apple ads and as far as I remember Apple uses real photos of products, not CGI. But probably because of the difficulties of capturing photos of LCD screen(white balance, polarization, luminescence intensity and so on) they may be replacing screens with screenshots.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> HTC used to have an iconic clock on their Android handset, for which they always used 10:08 in marketing materials.

This probably stems from a tradition in advertisements for analog watches. They are usually set to some time between 10:08 and 10:10. Not only is this setting symmetric and therefore pleasing to the eye, but also any printed brand name is clearly visible and unobstructed.

<comment><USER7> An interesting note about 10:08 is that on a 12 hour digital clock, it represents the most bars which can be simultaneously illuminated.

<comment><USER8> 10:00 would also work, but doesn't seem as visually interesting.

<comment><USER9> 10:00 lights up one fewer segment than 10:08 does, though (assuming a standard 7-segment display).

<comment><USER8> Right you are. For some reason I read the original comment as "lights up the most _vertical_ bars".. I think I'm jet lagged after getting back from pycon.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Google also uses specific times in their screenshots. But the times match up with the version of Android it is running.

<comment><USER11> Wow! You are right [http://www.android.com/versions/kit- kat-4-4/](http://www.android.com/versions/kit-kat-4-4/)

<comment><USER12> That only appears to go back a couple versions. For example, times in ICS screenshots are all over the place: [http://www.android.com/versions/ice- cream-sandwich-4-0/](http://www.android.com/versions/ice-cream-sandwich-4-0/)

<comment><USER13> it seems to be valid for the official press photos of the nexus device corresponding to the android version, at least as far back as the Nexus S at 2:30.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Anywhere else I have ever worked has pretty much always used 4:20 in the UI as a joke. When I started work as UI/UX lead at a bank a year ago, all the process work that was done with the previous team had some arrangement of 4:20 worked in everywhere haha.

<comment><USER15> Not exactly original.

And depending on who's looking at the material, it could be considered offensive. If you get away with it, great but some companies like USAA require all employees and contractors pass drug tests so suggesting the universal stoner hour might not be the best decision.

There's a reason designers use lorem ipsum in mockups – it's because once upon a time a designer thought they were clever with their fake text, and an account manager had to deal with a pissed off client because of what it said.

<comment><USER16> > And depending on who's looking at the material, it could be considered > offensive. If you get away with it, great but some companies like USAA > require all employees and contractors pass drug tests so suggesting the > universal stoner hour might not be the best decision.

Just to be clear, you're saying that:

        - The time "4:20" might be offensive to a reader,
        - I should, for some reason, care about this,
        - USAA's decision to drug test employees is relevant.

Did I misinterpret you there? You're basically advocating for removing the 13th floor from elevators because someone might get scared or have their feelings hurt. Or designing a system that applies a penny discount to subtotals that end up at $6.66, $66.66, and so forth (I have heard of this).

4:20 is just a time. And I'm suspicious of your explanation for Lorem Ipsum's usage, as well, given how long it has existed and how long it has been in use.

<comment><USER17> > You're basically advocating for removing the 13th floor from elevators > because someone might get scared or have their feelings hurt.

If you want to use an analogy to suggest that a proposal is obviously wrong, you probably want to avoid your analogy being something that is widely established practice.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_floor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_floor)

<comment><USER16> That's exactly what I meant, actually. I think that practice is stupid.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Our original blog post, if anyone is interested in the original source: [http://www.secretlab.com.au/ipad- day-941-am](http://www.secretlab.com.au/ipad-day-941-am)

</comment><comment><USER19> Nokia usually uses model numbers. 9:20 for Lumia 920, for example.

</comment><comment><USER20> Similarly, Free (the ill-named ISP and mobile phone provider run by Iliad in France) uses "13:37" on most ads as a geek joke ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet)).

<comment><USER21> and "Rock n' Roll" is the welcome message on the device. Gotta love that :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> Another story, why casio watches are always at 10:58:50

[https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=casio+digital&tbm=isch](https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=casio+digital&tbm=isch)

[http://mygshock.com/wiki/Trivia#Why_do_all_Casio_promotional...](http://mygshock.com/wiki/Trivia#Why_do_all_Casio_promotional_photos_show_10:58_as_the_time.3F)

</comment><comment><USER23> I don't see anyone has discussed it yet, could it be an advertising technique? You can create a cognitive bias in this fashion, by showing a high number like 941 the customer is less likely to balk at a sale price in the high hundreds. Where if they were pre-exposed to a low number say 3.15 they will probably find a 900 dollar price tag too much.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias)

Another thought is maybe that 9.41 is a lot of peoples reading in bed time, or taking notes in a meeting at work time. Easy to picture yourself using one at those times.

Or maybe its just a clean number that shows the correct orientation of the tablet/phone if you read it upside down

</comment><comment><USER24> I love these little details. I remember walking past the billboard in front of a not-yet-opened Samsung store that showed the Galaxy Gear and some other Galaxy Smartphones. All devices had different times on them.

</comment><comment><USER25> Actually, OS X releases up until Snow Leopard the clock was set to the version of the OS. 10:10 for OS X 10.1 for example.

</comment><comment><USER26> Here is a 2010 article, also on TUAW, about the same thing: [http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/12/9-41-9-42-the-secret-of- apple...](http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/12/9-41-9-42-the-secret-of-apples- reoccurring-numbers/)

</comment><comment><USER27> I once setup all of the times in our app screenshots to be the octal representation of our company name.

i.e. 1:02 - b 1:14 - l 1:01 - a 1:32 - z 1:05 - <USER2>

</comment><comment><USER28> I wonder if it's a coincidence that 1, 4 and 9 are also the squares of the first three natural numbers. And, consequently, of course the relative dimensions of these: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_%28Space_Odyssey%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_%28Space_Odyssey%29)

<comment><USER29> Yes, of course it is a coincidence. If it weren't - 1:49 is a time too...

<comment><USER28> I'm honestly a bit surprised by the downvotes. 1:49 would _obviously_ not fit the other constraints involved, and seeing how Apple is known for their eye for details and the pop-cultural significance of the 1:4:9 ratio, I'm surprised if someone didn't at least think of this when choosing between 9:40, 9:41 and 9:42...

<comment><USER30> The article explains why 9:40 is not used.

As far as the downvotes go, HN is--thankfully--somewhat anti-numerology.

<comment><USER31> I don't see that there's anything numerological about the suggestion that Apple might have worked into their publicity for the iPhone and iPad some allusions to ... a science-fictional black cuboidal artefact containing mysterious highly-advanced technology that changes the world.

(For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not claiming that they _did_. It could very well be no more than coincidence. But it doesn't seem all that far-fetched to me that there might have been a conversation like this: "OK, we should set the time to somewhere around 9:40 for these pictures." "Hey, if we make it 9:41 then there's a cute _2001_ allusion in there." "Ha, iPhone as the monolith from _2001_. I like it. Let's go with that." And there's no need to believe in numerology to find this plausible.)

<comment><USER28> Exactly my train of thought. Should've probably elaborated a bit in the original post.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> can someone answer why 4:20?

<comment><USER33> Drug culture reference:

[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_(cannabis_culture)](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_\(cannabis_culture\))

<comment><USER34> My favorite 420 reference is California Senate Bill 420.

The bill was introduced by John Vasconcellos, who was certainly one of the coolest heads in the State Senate.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Senate_Bill_420](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Senate_Bill_420)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> Mine has 4:20PM all the time. Does anybody know how to fix?

</comment><comment><USER36> TMYK - I love stuff like this :-P

<comment><USER25> Why was this comment down-voted?

<comment><USER37> Probably for not being substantive, made worse by abbrevs and smilies.

HN users tend to punish throwaway one-liners, unless they show signs of thought having been put into them. It's arguably too harsh, because some of these comments are innocuous. But the same immune reation also keeps more malignant things from taking over, so overall it does more good than harm.

<comment><USER36> It's not like the original article was chock full of substance in the first place, which is why its even more annoying.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> Hehe. Interesting and kind of strange. If it's so important that the screen- shot shows the current time when it is displayed why not just have it show the correct time with a program? It doesn't seem like that would be terribly difficult.

<comment><USER39> There is a poster on the wall of the shop I walk past occasionally. This is in print media too, and having the same advert on TV, print and web probably is something Apple likes.

<comment><USER38> Fair enough. Yes. I guess I guess I can understand it being nice to always use a standard time.

It would be really awesome if whenever there was an advert on TV if the iPhone showed the current time. However with the scheduling of TV ads I don't think this is really possible.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> Imagine having to reprint brochures, reshoot something or even have to tinker around with the clock so all your screenshots are 9:41.

There are cute quirks and there is attention to detail. But at some point or another it becomes a cultish bureaucracy no one knows the origin of demanding that all clocks alway show 9:41 for some long lost reason.

<comment><USER41> In my experience people love quirky details performed for long lost reasons. They are central to our culture and identity creation. Take Santa Claus on Christmas dressing in red and saying hohoho, and entering through the chimney. Why not a blue woman squeezing through a tiny crack in the wall and saying neeneeneeneenee?

EDIT: Didn't downvote you btw

<comment><USER42> it's cute, but pointless. probably contributes close to nothing in terms of revenue.

<comment><USER43> And that's exactly why Apple is the world's most valuable brand. Attention to detail, even if it doesn't directly generate revenue can have profound effects that will never be discovered in an A/B test or by crunching financials. Unfortunately most tech companies (and businesses in general) don't understand this.

<comment><USER42> yes, but it's nothing to be written about or discussed. lots of startups do this and they get no attention</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Is what I'm about to do a bad idea? - <AUTHOR>

Hi all. I'm posting this under a new account, because I have co-workers that also read HN and know my main alias.
Over the past week and a half, I have been interviewing with a company that I really want to work for. I'm currently working in TX, and the company I am interviewing for is a startup out in SF. It has been a dream / goal of mine to end up out there for the past 2 years, or so.
Well, things move fast at startups, and I have conducted 2 phone interviews and now they want to fly me out there on Monday to meet everyone (and, make a job offer I am assuming / hoping). The only problem is, at my current job I am supposed to demo some software we have been writing for the past few months to one of our clients who are flying in to see it. My current company consists of 7 people, and we do minor software development for auditors. Not exactly an enjoyable setup. The company I'm interviewing with is well established, so I'm not concerned about it being a potential job security risk. I guess it may technically no longer even be considered a startup.
All of this is happening very fast, and I feel like I'm just needing some advice because I'm not sure if what I'm about to do is the right decision.
I'm going to go through with the flight on Monday, and go out there. I'm just going to go for it. I don't want to do anything to delay this process and put any halt to the momentum that I have built up with them. I want this new job way too much.
Job offer or not, though, this would probably mean I'd have to resign from my current job, since I'd be shrugging off a meeting that has been schedule for a little more than a week.
I've got a phone call coming up in a few hours with the startup I'm interviewing with to discuss flight arrangements and schedule, etc.
Does this sound like a bad plan? <comment><USER2> I would definitely not lie about it as other people here have recommended. I would not burn a bridge with your current employer either. Here's my take on things: If the startup in SF wants you, and if they are WORTH working for, then they will accommodate a schedule change, recognizing it's happening very fast and you have other obligations. In fact, they should respect you for saying -- Hey, I don't really love my job, but I've made a commitment for Monday and don't want to leave them hanging. Can I fly out over the weekend or on Tuesday or Wednesday?

If they aren't willing to work with you on this, then you need to look for something else -- IMHO!

Never burn a bridge. Always be honest. It's a small world and it's not worth it. Not only does it affect the way other people think about you, it affects the way you think about yourself. Build character one step at a time, not the reverse.

<comment><USER3> I agree... they really should respect you for saying that you made the commitment and are a person who follows through on your commitments. They shouldn't want someone who doesn't, because you could be liable to do the same to them.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> The following are my thoughts, and contains my advice.

Always be honest. If you are caught out in a lie people will forever wonder if they can trust you. That's not a good place to be.

Secondly, if the people in your office really do read HN then they already know who they are, and now probably know who you are.

Thirdly, you should fulfil your obligations. If you are expected to do the demo then you should either bring someone else up to speed to stand in for you, or you should stay and do the demo.

Explain to the guys in SF. Explain that it's important to you to be honest and to meet your obligations. Say that you are already obliged to do the demo, but you would be very pleased to come out as soon as it's done.

What reputation do you want? If you tell the SF guys that you are meeting an obligation, and that to do so is your style and your ethic, that can hardly make them want you less.

And in my book - always be honest.

Finally, one of my programmers once came to tell me he needed some time off for an interview. I made space for him, covered for him, and made it clear that I'd be sorry to see him go. I chatted with him to find out why he was unhappy, and eventually we agreed that he wasn't really a good fit for his job with us. We couldn't find anything that would fit better, so I helped him get a position he wanted more. I could honestly tell the other company that I respected his honesty and integrity, and was genuinely sorry to see him more on, but it was best for him.

No bridges burned, good karma all round.

What ever you do, make sure it matches the image you want to have of yourself.

</comment><comment><USER5> +1 for the reschedule in San Francisco.

Common experience is that once an employer knows you're stepping out and interviewing, you're already out. Especially if you haven't informed them you're looking, or at least asked them basic questions like: "I'm feeling limited in my role, do you have any ideas of how I can expand responsibility or learn new X"? If it's about money, bring that up and see what they say.

People can feel very betrayed when someone they like or value departs or plays games, for good reason, since obviously you don't value your current opportunity as much as your new one. Think of it like an intimate relationship. Especially in such a small company where you represent over 14% of the work force.

Interviewing while employed is something we'll all have to do once or more in our careers (especially in tech). Being graceful and honorable is fine, but at the end of the day, if you try and live a righteous life, you're going to find out that most people don't act like that. Especially when they feel betrayed.

However. Doing the right thing and protecting yourself does not give you the right to discharge your responsibilities. Certainly not something I would look for in a new hire.

If you haven't done so yet, explain, or even forward a sanitized agenda from Monday's meeting. Explain you can't make it as desired (Monday is a holiday I think), let your employers know you need personal time off after the demo and handle things like an adult.

As others have said several times, the new company will wait a day or two for you.

Your best bet is to knock the demo out of the park, show your value to your current employer and take the new offer with pride. You treat your old employer right when you run out of town to San Francisco, the better chance you'll have a reference or a job back there if things don't work out here.

Another thing to keep in mind if you're relatively new and only worked in small companies. In such a small setting, in such a lowered cost of living location like (anywhere in) Texas, you'll have a lot more work-habit related freedoms than in a larger organization.

</comment><comment><USER6> Seems like you already made your decision, and the best thing would be to be honest with your current employer. Go to SF where you feel your calling is, BUT, ensure that the demo could be handled by your peers. Let them know of your plans and that this is some opportunity which you would not want to miss. If the company totally cares for your well-being, they should (and I assume) would understand.

</comment><comment><USER7> Sounds like a great opportunity to test your potential employer. Tell them that you must do a demo and ask for advice. If they will say "OK, do the demo first" then just do the demo and take the offer. But if they will insist on the interview on the demo day....then you should think twice, because it means they do not appreciate employee loyalty. A bad sign. Nevertheless, good luck!

</comment><comment><USER8> I think that you should fulfill your obligation at your current company and do the demo. The company you are interviewing with will understand your situation if they are professional enough. Go out strong and do the right thing, while maintaining your network and reputation. My two cents.

</comment><comment><USER9> To me: yes, it sounds like a bad plan.

Do you really think ' _and, make a job offer I am assuming / hoping_ ' is sufficient grounds to burn the ship you are on?

Are you convinced that postponing that meeting a day or even a week could cost you the opportunity of that new job?

<comment><AUTHOR> Honestly? Yes, I am anxious to jump at the opportunity.

No, I'm not convinced about that, but in terms of myself and my future, I do not want to postpone this interview. I value the opportunity infinitely more than I value this current job of mine. I could go into the tons of reasons why my current job is depressing, but I don't think there's enough time. haha

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Why not just explain your situation to the company interviewing you, and ask for a delay? If they say no, then that's a warning sign anyway, and if they say yes, you do the right thing and learn that they care about the same.

</comment><comment><USER11> A scheduled demo for an out of town client takes precedence in my book. It's not just a weekly report. Schedule your interview in a way which does not fuck over your current team.

</comment><comment><USER12> why can't you postpone the travel for a few days? tell them you have some responsibilities you couldn't manage to get out of on the short term but still are very interested.

if they're looking for you specifically and not just a warm body, they should understand. if they're just looking for a warm body, i'd think twice about the process.

</comment><comment><USER13> Just do it. You'll probably burn a bridge but it doesn't sound like you're thrilled at your current position.

</comment><comment> mike-cardwell Reschedule the interview at the new company. Lie to make it sound as though you have no other choice.

<comment><USER14> why lie?

tell as it is. they're testing your willingness to work for them. you test them: how will they value you

<comment> mike-cardwell His first mistake was accepting the initial invite. He should have specified that he wasn't available that day and asked to do it another. He didn't though, so either got to lie and say that something new has come up which can't be avoided, or tell the truth and explain that he double booked himself, which might make him look a little silly.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> @SeekingAdvice01, auditors, 7 men, TX. i think they already know :)

</comment><comment><USER14> i know a guy who works for two major software companies (as a presales analyst or something) and they don't know it.

just a story

</comment><comment><USER15> Go to SF. Look, there's 6 other people in your current office. Assuming that your software project is ready, you have a 4 days (counting today) to bring someone else up to speed on it. Make an excuse, call in sick, or just tell the truth.

Also, don't forget about doing both. Is there some reason you can't VPN into your office from SF and give the demo virtually?

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm just not sure any excuse as to why I couldn't be at the office for this would be believable.

This isn't a final version demo, either. It's just a display of our progress. So, if I were to go interview on Monday, I imagine they'd just not have the demo meeting.

<comment><USER16> Just tell the truth. Have a meeting with your boss, thank him for the opportunities and just explain that this is your dream job.

I was in the same situation half a year ago, and I'm 100% glad I was totally honest about it. And like others have said, you don't want to burn down bridges - you never know when old business contacts may come in handy.</comment></comment></comment>