The Best Leaders Are Insatiable Learners – HBR - <AUTHOR> https://hbr.org/2014/09/the-best-leaders-are-insatiable-learners/ <comment><AUTHOR> "What did Spence learn from Collins? "You're only as young as the new things you do," he writes, "the number of 'firsts' in your days and weeks." Ask any educator and they'll agree: We learn the most when we encounter people who are the least like us. Then ask yourself: Don't you spend most of your time with people who are exactly like you? Colleagues from the same company, peers from the same industry, friends from the same profession and neighborhood?

It takes a real sense of personal commitment, especially after you've arrived at a position of power and responsibility, to push yourself to grow and challenge conventional wisdom. Which is why two of the most important questions leaders face are as simple as they are profound: Are you learning, as an organization and as an individual, as fast as the world is changing? Are you as determined to stay interested as to be interesting? Remember, it's what you learn after you know it all that counts."</comment>


Enhancing SSL Security for IRC: DANE Support - <AUTHOR> http://ahf.me/articles/2013/09/14/enhancing-ssl-security-for-irc-dane-support/

<comment><USER2> The only problem with DANE is that it doesn't protect from NSA. You are simply moving trust from CAs to your TLD owner. Whoever controls your TLD (and whoever can subpoena them) is able to change your zone file without you realizing it.

<comment><AUTHOR> Using DANE in tandem with DNSSEC ensures that such changes wouldn't go unnoticed.

<comment><USER2> Why do you think so? Let's assume I have complete control over a TLD zone file (.com), into which you inserted the DS records of your DNSSEC-signed domain (example.com). Let's say my goal is to MITM users connecting to [https://www.example.com](https://www.example.com) relying on DANE for trust of TLS certs.

I surely cannot modify the records in your signed zone because I don't have your KSK/ZSK private keys. What I can do instead is preparing a duplicate of your zone, signed with a freshly-generated KSK/ZSK pair; in that zone, I will change only the DANE records (or also the A records, depending on the kind of MITM attack I need to mount), and I will sign everything with my new keys. Then, I start MITM'ing my target so that:

* DS records replies for example.com contain the DS record for my own KSK/ZSK keys.

* NS records replies for example.com direct to my own nameserver (or even simply MITM the glue records, depending on the nameserver setup).

* My nameserver will reply as authoritative for example.com, and will serve the modified zone, which will be fully DNSSEC validated.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> "... where the client relies on a trusted source (their ISP's DNS server..."

Well, for several major ISP's, maybe even most ISP's worldwide, you can't trust them not to use their DNS servers to show you ads or a sponsored "search engine" if you type a domain name that is not registered.

If a user really wanted a "trusted source" for DNS RR's she would be best to contact the appropriate authoritative nameserver directly, not an ISP's resolver.

<comment><USER4> It's true that we still haven't secured the connection between the user and his ISP's DNS server, which I agree is a problem. DNSSEC only helps between the DNS servers themselves.

We are now down to either a) run your own DNS server locally on your machine or b) use a third-party DNS server that we trust.

Personally, I use Thomas' (the person mentioned in the article itself) free, uncensored, DNS service called CensurFriDNS. You can read more about it here: [http://censurfridns.dk/](http://censurfridns.dk/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> So, in my office, we needed a way to communicate passwords with each other; we hadn't gotten everyone on board the GPG train yet, so we setup an IRC server with SSL for that purpose.

...then we found out someone was connecting to it with a web-based IRC client.

<comment><USER4> In the recent weeks, there have been a lot of discussions about security on IRC and the use of web-based IRC clients in particular.

The general opinion appears to be that people really don't give a rat's ass about securing themselves on IRC. People run IRCd's and their IRC clients on multi-user shell services for a suspicious little amount of money per month just to be able to claim they have their own server and to get a cool virtual host from the huge list that many of these shell providers have.

Recently people are starting to use "bouncer" like web services that keeps them connected even when their browser isn't attached to their session. This basically means that you do not own your connection to the IRC server which also have security and privacy implications.

We can't change people over night, but hopefully we can slowly plant a seed that will make people think about what they do and how they do it.</comment></comment>


Webrtc in Safari Update – Q4 2016 - <AUTHOR> http://webrtcbydralex.com/index.php/2016/12/15/webrtc-in-safari-update-q4-2017/ <comment><USER2> Well, it seems we'll actually have WebRTC in Safari by "end of 2017". Please please please let it work for iOS :) , that would be HUGE.

<comment><AUTHOR> Well, it doesn't say anything about 2017, just "there is no official ETA". However, when I looked at Youenn's edits, I found that he has been working on changes to the user permission code, so I'm hopeful we might see WebRTC in the Safari Technology Preview in the next 3-6 months.

[https://trac.webkit.org/changeset/209082](https://trac.webkit.org/changeset/209082)</comment></comment>


Elevated inflammatory status because of aging or because of inactivity? - <AUTHOR> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6345337/ <comment><USER2> tldr: elevated inflammation in the body has many negative effects. As we age, inflammation seems to increase but this can be reduced by continuing to be active.</comment>


A2000 Replica Boards In - <AUTHOR> https://acillclassics.wordpress.com/2019/08/16/a2000-replica-boards-in/ <comment><USER2> More info (changelog) on Github repo [https://github.com/Floppie209/Amiga2000-remake/blob/master/R...](https://github.com/Floppie209/Amiga2000-remake/blob/master/README.md)

Project info [https://acillclassics.wordpress.com/2019/08/02/amiga-2000-re...](https://acillclassics.wordpress.com/2019/08/02/amiga-2000-replica/)

I didn't know this was a thing.

Now that I think of it I wonder if we ever get to the point where the computer is in the keyboard. Just like A500.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Discussion on Reddit:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/amiga/comments/cr86vf/a2000_replica...](https://www.reddit.com/r/amiga/comments/cr86vf/a2000_replica_boards_in/)</comment>


What's Next for R? - <AUTHOR> https://qz.com/1661487/hadley-wickham-on-the-future-of-r-python-and-the-tidyverse/ <comment><USER2> Previous: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20725741](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20725741)

<comment><USER3> The idea is to link to the previous post when it had "significant attention" whatever than means (something like at least 20 upvotes or comments?). More details in [https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html)</comment></comment>


Intel Progress on Their "MOS" Modified Linux Kernel Running Lightweight Kernels - <AUTHOR> https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Intel-mOS-Multi-OS-Linux <comment><USER2> One small difficulty:

> _Register for the mOS for HPC mailing list > at[https://lists.01.org/mailman/listinfo/mos- > devel](https://lists.01.org/mailman/listinfo/mos-devel). Submit feedback and > follow discussions through this list. Please note that this is the only > mechanism for interactions with Intel on this project._

Okay, sure.

So I visit [https://lists.01.org/mailman/listinfo/mos- devel](https://lists.01.org/mailman/listinfo/mos-devel):

> _Not Found_

> _The requested resource was not found on this server._

\--

A bit of poking reveals that 01.org has updated their listserv, so I tweak the URL to [https://lists.01.org/postorius/lists/mos- devel.lists.01.org](https://lists.01.org/postorius/lists/mos- devel.lists.01.org), which has an archive link (yay!). I follow that to [https://lists.01.org/hyperkitty/list/mos- email@example.com/](https://lists.01.org/hyperkitty/list/mos- firstname.lastname@example.com/), where I see... only one post, "Moving the mOS mailing list":

> _[W]e are moving our mOS mailing list to google groups. The old list at mOS- > devel(a)lists.01.org will soon be deactivated._

> _If you are still interested in mOS, please subscribe to the new list at_

> _[https://groups.google.com/g/mos-devel/](https://groups.google.com/g/mos- > devel/) _

\--

Visiting [https://groups.google.com/g/mos- devel/](https://groups.google.com/g/mos-devel/) produces the following unusual error:

> _Content unavailable_

> _Double-check the link, or try switching accounts_

\--

Not quite a 404... feels more like a 403, especially given the hint about switching accounts.

<comment><USER3> Thank you for mapping out that rabbit hole, saved me some time and I'm sure others as well.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Hello, we're in the middle of switching our mailing list to google groups and I just fixed a seting that should let everyone see the mOS developers group page at [https://groups.google.com/g/mos- devel/](https://groups.google.com/g/mos-devel/) Sorry about that, and we (the mOS team) would like very much to hear from you ;-) Rolf

<comment><USER5> Are there any papers etc discussing your approach? We also wondered if it was related to [https://people.csail.mit.edu/wentzlaf/documents/Wentzlaff.20...](https://people.csail.mit.edu/wentzlaf/documents/Wentzlaff.2009.OSR.fos.pdf) (either directly or coincidentally).

<comment><USER4> mOS is not directly related to the work described in that paper, but some of the stuff described there; e.g., reducing lock contention in physical memory page management, is something we do in mOS as well. The lightweight kernel in mOS manages the physical pages, while we use Linux functionality to manage the virtual space. (This helps with compatibility.) We have published several papers in the ROSS series of workshops, discussing mOS: [https://www.mcs.anl.gov/events/workshops/ross/2020](https://www.mcs.anl.gov/events/workshops/ross/2020) Our 2018 IPDS ([https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8425166](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8425166)) paper has some performance numbers, and the book here [https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811366239](https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811366239) has a lot of detailed info and lessons learned from mOS and other Supercomputing OS projects around the world.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How did you verify your saas idea - <AUTHOR> I will like to know the process by which you verified your Saas app ideas. <comment><USER2> They are only valid when people start paying you for them :-)

What you ask for to begin with will vary, don't build and see what happens.</comment>


What's the worst thing about MOOCS? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><USER2> I think the worst thing is that so many of them force classes to move long at a fixed timeframe instead of letting everybody go at their own pace.</comment>


The Art of Film Grain [video] - <AUTHOR> https://kottke.org/18/11/the-art-of-film-grain <comment><USER2> I used to work for the foundry, which is the equivalent of Adobe, but for the film industry.

Before that I worked at a number of VFX houses.

What I love so much about listening to "filmies" is that their insistence that film grain is authentic. (fortunately this video is matter of fact, unlike the vast majority of people spewing out opinion on such things, the presenter actually seems to know what they are talking about)

Most of the film grain you've seen in the last ten years (possibly since about 2000) is fake. Certainly if there is any VFX work, then the film grain has been "degrained" and then put in back afterwards. (I'm not talking monsters, I mean set extensions, sky removals, general touchup.)

And yes, that even includes movies that were shot on real film. Which was most films up until about 2010-12

The best part, most film grain you see is the work of maybe three people. [https://www.fxguide.com/featured/furnace_discreet_- _beta_pro...](https://www.fxguide.com/featured/furnace_discreet_- _beta_program_starts/) This is from 2003.

<comment><USER3> I usually do my grain matching with a custom gizmo I've made. But then again, I'm a compositor, so I'm not so much concerned with grain as an artistic tool as I am with matching whatever the original footage looked like.

I use my own grain gizmo for grain matching. More accurately, _noise_ matching, since it's pretty rare for me to get plates shot on film these days, and the digital noise modern cameras produce is quite different from film grain, so film grain tools don't necessarily do a very good job matching it. At least that's been my experience.

Edit: But yes, mostly if you can see grain in a big budget feature film, it's been added afterwards, as the production quite likely didn't even use a camera that produces film-like grain.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> This is a site unaffiliated with the video creator (Nerdwriter1) that adds no meaningful content on top of that which is included in the video. Would it be possible to link directly to the video instead? [https://youtube.com/watch?v=4PcpGxihPac](https://youtube.com/watch?v=4PcpGxihPac)

<comment><USER5> Even worse, it doesn't make it clear that Kottke isn't the creator.

<comment><USER6> Now now, that's rather unfair to Jason Kottke. It should be abundantly clear to any regular reader of his, and both the text and the embedded YouTube player includes attribution to the creator.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> If you _really_ enjoyed this video, you will love this defunct YouTube channel "Every Frame A Painting":

[https://www.youtube.com/user/everyframeapainting/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/everyframeapainting/videos)

Also, there is a semi-successor to the above called "Fandor" that I am subscribed to, which isn't as compelling/immersive/creative in its delivery, but it's still good:

[https://www.youtube.com/user/Fandorific/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/Fandorific/videos)

Fandor releases about 1 video a day. If you know other channels like this, please share.

<comment><USER8> > Fandor releases about 1 video a day. If you know other channels like this, > please share.

Jesus, no wonder Youtubers are burnt out. That's an apalling pressure to put on a creator....

I loved how rare and curated Every Frame A Painting was - to me it was the epitome of the realization of the promise of youtube - the peak of the medium.

I am hungry for more similar content, so I'm certainly going to check Fandor out but I'm nervous about the added load a daily video channel would add to my media consumption

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> >during the era when film was the only choice many photographers tried hard to eliminate this aspect of film processing.

Not always, during my days of film i (and many photogs) used to love Tri-x due to the characteristic grain and contrast even pushing the process to extremes like ISO 1600 or 3200 to exagerate such qualities. Now i find digital noise or film grain simulators horrible.

</comment><comment><USER10> Companies like www.cinegrain.com have been successful by selling grains that have been collected from all available film stocks and licensing them to productions that shoot digital.

</comment><comment><USER11> I have a program idea: "Godard Title Generator". It would produce colorful letter animation on black with film grain and shake (and with occasional pubic hairs and cigarette burns).

<comment><USER12> I guess it would also discard whatever text you put in and replace it with a mashup of sentences from obscure Cuban revolutionaries and conversation fragments overheard from a couple fighting in the street in Paris.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Actual source: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PcpGxihPac](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PcpGxihPac)

</comment><comment><USER14> Film grain is an unnecessary noise, degrading the quality of video. Looks bad for our eyes and especially bad for video encoding. It should be abolished for good.</comment>


Android Is Dead (Long Live Google) - <AUTHOR> http://readwrite.com/2013/03/07/android-is-dead-long-live-google

<comment><USER2> Hardly - Google's main objective has been achieved in Android, and that is diversifying their inbound search traffic from mobile devices. Any money Google make from Android beyond this is a nice to have.</comment>


Why Google Plus Will Prevail - <AUTHOR> http://www.fastcompany.com/3004448/plus-one-proof-google-plus-will-prevail

<comment><USER2> > Step one: Corral every single blogger. Have you used Google lately and > noticed faces appearing next to certain posts? That's called Google > Authorship--bloggers can link their Google Plus profile to the content they > create. Guess how many online writers see that and say "Eh, I don't need to > have that." If you said "zero" you win a prize.

False. I couldn't care less about a silly profile pic. I also don't even use Blogger. Perhaps the author is unaware, but there are quite a few bloggers out there who _aren't_ using Blogger, and who happen to control the ability to alter their blog at-will. This would include putting up silly profile pics or whatever.

> Step two: Attract every single small business and at least one of their > employees. Want your business to appear on Google Maps, Google Local, et > al., so that you can tell your prospective customers where you are, what you > sell, and when you are open? Yup, you guessed it--you need a Google Plus > Local Business page now.

False. You don't _need_ a "Google Plus Local Business page" for any of that, Google -- and, apparently, the author (who is playing the role of an agent of Google at this point) -- just wants you to believe that you do.

> Step three: Convince you, because all of those other things that you already > love get better. Maybe you're addicted to that new augmented reality game > Ingress. Maybe your Google Plus profile makes it way easier to win. Or maybe > you want better music, movie, or book recommendations--look no further than > Google Plus. Want to find a community of skiers or chefs or race car drivers > with a flick of the wrist? Or perhaps that hilarious video about that thing > that you once emailed to a friend but can't quite remember enough about it > to find again? When you have Google Plus, those communities and that video > just appear when you search for your best guess.

Could he be any more blatant with the Google advertising? I looked for a 'full disclosure' statement but couldn't find one, so I can only assume that the author is drunk on the kool-aid at this point. Regardless, somehow I'm still leading a meaningful, productive life without Google+. I don't know how, maybe I'm a freak of nature.....but I can still easily find music, movie and book recommendations without G+. Astonishingly, I can also still find meetups without G+. And G+ would be the last place I'd ever look to find an old video...

With that said, I'm not saying G+ has failed. But it's not for everyone, and the more Google attempts to force me down that path, the more I am going to resist.

<comment><USER3> "> Step one: Corral every single blogger. Have you used Google lately and noticed faces appearing next to certain posts? That's called Google Authorship --bloggers can link their Google Plus profile to the content they create. Guess how many online writers see that and say "Eh, I don't need to have that." If you said "zero" you win a prize. False. I couldn't care less about a silly profile pic. I also don't even use Blogger. Perhaps the author is unaware, but there are quite a few bloggers out there who _aren't_ using Blogger, and who happen to control the ability to alter their blog at-will. This would include putting up silly profile pics or whatever."

You completely missed the biggest benefit stated by the author: the protection from duplication by content farms. When someone Googles the blog post, the original blog is always on top, rather than some content stealing farm. How did you miss that?

The point the author made was that it won't "force you down a path", rather it will lure you with capabilities. My team started using it for Hangouts, because the screen sharing/etc was better than the other products we were trying to use, and by better, I mean faster/smoother/more reliable. Anyone who refuses to enhance their capability out of sheer stubborness is someone I will NEVER do business with.

<comment><USER2> > How did you miss that?

It's largely inconsequential. Google's search has progressed to the point that content farms are easily identified and penalized. I don't need to opt-in to a special club to bear the benefits of this. And my blog isn't a source of income, so I could frankly care less about who steals what.

> The point the author made was that it won't "force you down a path", rather > it will lure you with capabilities.

But G+ is very clearly trying to force itself on everyone, despite the proclamations of this fellow. And _my_ point was that I'm NOT lured by these capabilities, despite the fact that the author seems to conclude that he's discovered some kind of universal truths with regards to web services.

> Anyone who refuses to enhance their capability out of sheer stubborness is > someone I will NEVER do business with.

You will do what your clients require or go broke maintaining that POV; clients are stubborn by nature, and if you take the "my way or the highway" route then they will indeed take the highway. For the vast majority of us here, we are lucky to have clients -- not the other way around.

edit: I wish you people would comment if you're going to downvote. What was so patently offensive about this?

<comment><USER4> > You will do what your clients require or go broke maintaining that POV

Perhaps GP is in the enviable position of having vendors he can coerce into using his choice of teleconference tools. And maybe he's in a large enough organization that he can hide in Accounts Payable and not worry about Sales.

Well, no, you're probably right. Anyone who speaks that categorically is insidiously anti-client enough to undermine the business no matter where he's hiding.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> >From its launch through today, everyone viewed Google Plus as "Google's version of Facebook,"... Sure, there's a social networking aspect to it, but Google Plus is really Google's version of Google.

This is called moving the goalposts. If you're redefining Google+ as Google, there's no prediction here. Google already has a staggering number of users.

>So then why didn't Google shut down Google Plus if it was purportedly such a colossal flop? Why is the team working on it the size of the contracting team building the Death Star? And why is Google integrating its other products with Google Plus at a freakish, breakneck pace?

Sorry to keep saying the same thing, but my post from yesterday describes I how feel about this attitude: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5022549>

I have a couple dozen friends on Google+. There literally hasn't been a single post from one of them in over 4 months. Sometimes companies just fail.

<comment><USER6> > This is called moving the goalposts.

No. "Moving the Goalposts" is a dishonest technique for arguments by which criterion for sufficiency are continually redefined.

Google has never said, "G+ is Google's Facebook" or anything of the sort. Quite the contrary, they've been clear it's something different from the outset. It's the endless parade of journalists eager to write linkbait stories that have made such comparisons, struggling to put together coherent thoughts on subjects they don't fully understand.

> If you're redefining Google+ as Google, there's no prediction here. Google > already has a staggering number of users.

Google's Plus feature is an extension of existing Google services with social aspects. It has always been Google, and G+'s information is indeed provided to a staggering number of users.

But no one has redefined anything, as far as I can see.

What people _want_ to do is paint Google as failing at something because they're simultaneously a very popular and unpopular company right now. Western civilization cherishes novelty, lionizes success, and hates the successful. A perfect storm for making up bullshit about how Google is failing, or stealing your information, or spying on your house.

> I have a couple dozen friends on Google+. There literally hasn't been a > single post from one of them in over 4 months. Sometimes companies just > fail.

Perhaps you should consider socializing with people on Google Plus _before_ complaining you haven't socialized with people on G+. And maybe for you, G+ just isn't the place to correspond with your immediate friends. That's fine, most of the people I talk to on G+ I only know professionally or remotely, and I find it to be a much richer and less noisy channel than any other option.

<comment><USER5> You seem to think I have accused Google of something, when in fact I was responding to a Fast Company article.

>Google's Plus feature is an extension of existing Google services with social aspects. It has always been Google, and G+'s information is indeed provided to a staggering number of users.

I don't believe this. Please read this blog post: [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-google- pr...](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-google-project-real- life.html)

Then tell me based on the features listed whether Google+ was being portrayed as "an extension of existing Google services with social aspects" or a social network similar to Facebook:

-a way to organize your friends

-video chat

-photo uploads

-location based tagging of posts

-messaging

I'm sorry, but this is basically Facebook circa 2011 with improvements. I don't see a single mention of other google services.

<comment><USER6> > I don't believe this. Please read this blog post: > [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-google- > pr...](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-google-pr..).

Do you see "facebook" anywhere here? Find in page for it? Do you see any facebook features specifically called out? Just checking. I see a series of basic social features and big sections for G+'s callout features; most notably Hangouts.

> I'm sorry, but this is basically Facebook circa 2011 with improvements. I > don't see a single mention of other google services.

This is an interpretation. Your interpretation. I do not mean to be cold, but it seems like a terribly shallow and ill considered interpretation of the situation.

In actuality Google Plus has often been described as a social integration of diverse Google services including Youtube, Profiles, a much more sophisticated realtime video conferencing tool called Hangouts, heavy search integration, and search signal generation. Subsequently it has become the re-definition of "Google Profile" and is basically how Google thinks about user identity, with all major services slowly coming into line with G+.

You can say, "I think that's just Facebook", but that's just you. If Google hasn't said that, you cannot claim they or anyone else is "moving the goalposts." Think whatever you like about G+, what I'm objecting to is your imprecise co-opting of precise terminology for logical fallacies to make a muddy argument about your feelings for this article.

<comment><USER7> >Do you see "facebook" anywhere here? Find in page for it? Do you see any facebook features specifically called out? Just checking. I see a series of basic social features and big sections for G+'s callout features; most notably Hangouts.

Well that's hideously ingenuous. Literally stating "like Facebook but from Google" is the sort of shit they shoot you for in ad-copy 101.

<comment><USER6> I just don't see Google making any actual direct play against Facebook.

P.S., I think you meant the opposite of what you said.

<comment><USER7> quite possibly. I don't actually know the definition of ingenuous, it felt right but a I may be confusing it for a near-homophone.

<comment><USER6> "Disingenuous."

And to your point, Google isn't making a facebook play but that is the only metric lots of people are willing to judge them by. I am just trying to drill home the point that it is the poster's interpretation and not Google's stated goal to have a use pattern like Facebook. Google doesn't need that.

Which, to some extent, is fine. I agree with the thesis fo the article that G+ is doing well. And for now, it's one of the best places for hackers to go and socialize off of news sites. It's slowly becoming more tedious as the hapless and advertisers start to realize how valuable it actually is.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> This is a very liberal use of the word 'proof', to put it kindly. The strategy the author outlines doesn't sound markedly different to me then when Google Plus launched, so I'm not sure what makes him think there will be a sudden change in adoption rate.

</comment><comment><USER9> G+ hangouts are a pretty effective "carrot" for parents with children living far away. Both my parents have G+ accounts.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hangouts is quite convenient, and I've noticed it's catching on with both regular people and I've also seen sites using it more and more for podcasts or interviews and whatnot.

What I'd hope they improve is being able to watch live in 720p (or at least being able to record it as that for now), but that might not happen until they switch to the VP9 codec, if Google feels such 5-10 people Hangouts in 720p would use way too much bandwidth for that to be worth it. But I do hope they switch to it as fast as possible.

I also hope they can work on making focusing when switching to another person much faster, and imperceptible, unless that's something they can't fix because it depends on everyone's cameras, and upgrading their cameras to something that focuses faster.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> "So then why didn't Google shut down Google Plus if it was purportedly such a colossal flop?"

Because failure wasn't an option, considering the landscape of social networking and the consquencies of failing.

</comment><comment><USER11> Here's my problem, the three items that will "attract" users are not actually "attractive". They are actually just ways that Google _forces_ users to have a G+ login to interact with one of their services. They may lead to more people using G+ but ONLY as a login service - nothing more.

</comment><comment><USER12> The cognitive dissonance is startling:

> Yes, of course Google could force most of us to use Google Plus begrudgingly > tomorrow if it wanted to, but that's playing with big, big, brand fire. And > that's not really who Google is at its core anyway.

> Want your business to appear on Google Maps, Google Local, et al., so that > you can tell your prospective customers where you are, what you sell, and > when you are open? Yup, you guessed it--you need a Google Plus Local > Business page now.

The title "Plus-One This" is just another reminder of why G+ is such a failure: it's embarrassing to even talk about it. The name is clunky and awkward, as is trying to tell someone you +1'd something. Do you see what I just had to type? What the hell is that? And how do you say that out loud to someone? "Yeah, I _plussed_ that article he posted". Wow, gross...

It's also got that whole "made for geeks" stygma because it's most frequently seen in use as blogging platform for techies. So not only are you labeling yourself a geek by talking about it, you're also forced to use awkward phrases like "I plussed that", or "Why didn't you plus my post?". No thanks.

<comment><USER13> "Hey, go `like' my status update," is less awkward?

Let's be honest: all new platforms and technologies are first used by geeks. Everything will sound geeky for a certain amount of time. Go back to 1980 and ask someone to "Google" you. Let me know how that goes for you.

Also, I believe the past tense of +1 is +1'd, not "plussed".

<comment><USER12> > all new platforms and technologies are first used by geeks

Including social networks? I highly doubt that.

> Also, I believe the past tense of +1 is +1'd

Which just proves my point, because "I plus oned that" is even more difficult to say and type. The word 'one' has no fluid way of being written or spoken as a verb. Plus one'd? +1-ed? Plus 1'd?

And yes, telling someone to 'like' something is far less awkard. Like is already a verb.

<comment><USER14> And 'like' will probably still be used, even on G+, making the whole 'how do you pronounce +1' really irrelevant.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Not sure I agree with all the points made in this article (actually I'm pretty sure a lot of it is off). That being said I think Google has a track record of using the "boiling frog" strategy: not much fuss when adding new features, going easy on the PR for new tools and just slowly, but surely, surrounding the user.

I think indeed, the wide variety of very high quality verticals being progressively tied up together with G+ around its users, wherever they come from, will do quite some collateral damages. We'll see if it extends to Facebook and the likes.

</comment><comment><USER16> _Your buddy: "Oh, you need to have a Google Plus Profile or it doesn't work."_

Me: Don't be a jackass. You know I don't use any google services apart from search and youtube. When those require a login I'll either stop using them or start registering a ton of throwaway ids as I've done for years now when someone sends me a paywall link.

</comment><comment><USER17> tl;dr: G+ is misunderstood as a failed social network, it's actually the key to search customization. Google will keep requiring a G+ profile for more and more of its services until they capture you, too.

There are lots of statements in the article I find easy to argue with (or find too weird to bother arguing with). But I suspect the bottom line, that Google will eventually convince most people to create a G+ profile, will prove to be accurate.

</comment><comment><USER18> Not impressed. Not convincing enough.

</comment><comment><USER19> I have no idea whether Google+ will succeed or fail.

I do know a strategy that would have made it succeed because, when I was at Google, I proposed it.

<comment><USER20> Ok, now you know that we're going to ask you what was your strategy, so let me ask, what was your strategy?

<comment><USER19> See below (or above, if the comments move).

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5027040></comment></comment></comment>


Kim Dotcom, New Zealand PM spar in spy debate - <AUTHOR> http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/kim-dotcom-attacks-new-zealand-spy-agency-ahead-of-anticipated-showdown-with-prime-minister/2013/07/02/be5cb618-e38a-11e2-bffd-37a36ddab820_story.html

<comment><USER2>
        "On Megaupload you would share a file," Dotcom replied.
        On the GCSB spy cloud you share private information about
        citizens that you don't have any right to access. That is
        the big difference."

Hilariously ironic for Dotcom to pretend to give a shit about access rights!

<comment><USER3> It is only ironic if one perceives the right to protect personal information as identical to copyright of publicly published information.

To me, I value far more that people has a right to keep private information. People should have a right to not disclose information to the world about their medical history, religious belief, political opinion, or sexual preference. To me, to respect peoples right to privacy is not something that is open for discussion.

To respect copyright is however open to discussion. Is promoting the Progress of Science and useful Arts better served with a "limited" life time + 99 years monopoly, or would it work better if we had frictionless creation? What kind of respect should general useful publicly published information get? Should we not consider the usefulness in allowing information to flow to any child and any person in need, regardless of that persons status in society? I would ask what the moral argument is in denying a child culture, just on the basis that their parents happen to be poor.

Thus I see no irony in Dotcom arguing in favor of access rights regarding citizens private information, regardless of any legal disputes he might have with the copyright industry.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Kim Dotcom vs PM John Key - GCSB Bill Select Committee Hearing

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWjdVVNML-M](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWjdVVNML-M)

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72QM- tUmGHY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72QM-tUmGHY)

<comment><USER5> First link is a short edited news item. Second link looks like it's the full thing, but the sound is terrible.

<comment><USER6> Here's the full thing with better sound:

[http://www.radiolive.co.nz/VIDEO-Kim-Dotcom-GCSB- committee-f...](http://www.radiolive.co.nz/VIDEO-Kim-Dotcom-GCSB-committee- full-speech/tabid/615/articleID/36497/Default.aspx)

<comment><USER7> Thanks sound is much better but video is laggy. Wish this was hosted on mega :-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> There are two bills [1][2] of currently proposed law changes, both granting a lot of extra power to the GCSB (New Zealand's equivalent of the UK's GCHQ and to a lesser extent the USA's NSA). You can find much more info and commentary here: [http://techliberty.org.nz/tag/gcsb/](http://techliberty.org.nz/tag/gcsb/)

[1] [http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1305/wstGovernment_Communi...](http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1305/wstGovernment_Communications_Security_Bureau_and_Rela_3.pdf)

[2] [http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1305/Telecommunications_In...](http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1305/Telecommunications_InterceptionCapability_and_Security_Bill.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER9> I enjoyed the comment at the bottom

<comment><USER10> You're right, it's an excellent comment, worth re-posting for posterity. Here it is...

'Martel wrote:

'In New Zealand the actions of the government's domestic spy agency (the GCSB) is governed by law. Clearly there are very good reasons why the powers of such a government agency should be limited by the law. There are certain things that government agency cannot do. Actually it is more properly said that the GCSB must not do certain things, because for them to do so would be illegal, in other words those actions would be criminal, in other words those actions would constitute a crime. Sorry to be so pedantic but some seem to have a real problem with the idea that the rule of law pertains to all, including government agencies.

'When the GCSB spied on Kim Dotcom their actions in doing that were against the law. Yet, the author(s) of this Washington Post article attempts to sanitise and trivialise the illegal actions of the GCSB by calling them a "misstep", quote unquote. Is that the euphemism you use to describe all crimes? A misstep?

'Let me make it clear to you that the GCSB knew what they were doing was illegal. Further more it is known that the Prime Minister was at a meeting where the question of its legality was raised. They knew that what they were doing was against the law and you choose to characterise it as a kind of OOPS. It was not an oops, it was a premeditated crime committed against a New Zealand resident by a government agency. Why do you seem to have such a problem calling it what it actually is? A crime. A crime has been committed and a New Zealand resident has had his whole life and that of his family practically destroyed and you call the criminal actions that brought about this egregious situation a "misstep". Your characterisation of this is simply defies belief. To whoever wrote this article, if this is the best you can do with this and if you honestly cannot see the gravity and greater significance of what has happened in this important case then you have no right to call yourself a journalist?

'All around us right now so many of we, the people, are increasingly alarmed at the outrageous and unlawful intrusion of governments into our lives and the compromising of our freedoms by them and yet you seem to want to characterise this as a trivial matter. A crime has been committed by precisely those who should have known better and yet the government tries arrogantly to simply set it aside, to ignore their complicity or (with the assistance of articles like this one) to restyle it as in, it was all just a "misstep". Can you even begin to justify your position here? A "misstep"? Give us a break.'

<comment><USER11> For non-Kiwis wondering why _resident_ is used instead of _citizen_ in these quotes, New Zealand is one of the only countries in the world that allows permanent residents to vote in national elections [1]. Anyone who's lived in NZ as a permanent resident for at least a year can vote, therefore residency rather than citizenship is generally regarded as more important in determining whoa _New Zealander_ is for these types of laws.

[1] [http://www.newswire.co.nz/2011/11/voting-a-unique- privilege-...](http://www.newswire.co.nz/2011/11/voting-a-unique-privilege- for-nz-permanent-residents/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Isn't this a case of biting the hand that feeds you?

</comment><comment><USER13> Kim Dotcom is a maverick!</comment>


The void left by Apple - <AUTHOR> https://hackernoon.com/what-happened-to-apple-3c2029b98845#.aq4qb7nj4 <comment><USER2> What's more worrying for me is that entire product categories are either left abandoned (Mac Pro) or updated with inferior products (latest MacBook Pro), and it seems that Jony Ive's form-over-function approach encounters no opposition within the company. We lose good functionality for no good reason, other than products become "simpler" and "more pure".

This in itself would not be a problem for me, if it weren't for the lack of competition. Mac OS is so far ahead in terms of "getting things done" and "just working" that it isn't even funny. And yes, I do know, I also regularly use Windows (10) and Linux (Ubuntu 16 LTS). I feel locked in: both "competing" platforms are huge time-wasters for me. I know some people feel different — past discussions have shown that most people do fewer things with their computers than me (for example, if all you need is a web browser, Ubuntu is a great choice).

Now that Apple is abandoning me as a customer (I'm not the mainstream), I feel squeezed: where do I go from here? What's even worse is that the cost of entry is now so high: developing an environment that works, and then convincing developers to embrace it is nearly impossible. And the only companies that have the resources to do it (Microsoft and Google) do it badly.

<comment><USER3> So I'm sitting here, just unlocked my Mac through putting my finger on the touchbar and reading your post, wondering who that "pro" is that I keep on hearing in conjunction with Apple during the last 6 months. I'm a dev, doing the Kool Aid for a 100bn$+ company, together with designers in my team. I always thought devs and designers would be that pro usergroup people are referring to. I've read all the complaints in the last time of "Apple is abandoning the pros" but funny thing, I only heard that on the internet and in hypothetical perspectives, nobody actually complained about the lack of Kaby Lake irl. I'm very fine with the current lineup and I'm wondering if that "pro" you're referring to is actually just an extremely narrow niche.

<comment><USER4> I guess the "pro" is anyone who wants more than 16GB RAM ?

<comment><USER5> The lack of capacities > 16GB has been covered to death ... if Apple put non low-power RAM in their machines they would be crucified for the drop in battery life. Until Intel actually makes a release date (increasingly unlikely) there's not a lot they can do before the next refresh.

<comment><USER6> Apple could have kept the extra millimeters in thickness for a larger battery. High-power >16GB RAM plus long battery life would be "pro". Nobody would be crucifying if MBP was same thickness as before.

<comment><USER7> It would be nice yeah but I doubt the niche is big enough to justify the R&D + logistical burden when those limitations are resolved by Intel in next year's chipset.

It sucks but IMO the memory line of argument is probably the weakest in this whole discussion.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I'm not sure about hardware and design teams, but I'm noticing that the entire software org is going downhill at Apple fast.

Budget cuts, delaying releases for arbitrary reasons, more and more technical debt on key portions of iOS seem to be the norm rather than the exception. Each subsequent release of iOS is more bloated than ever, and teams are reluctant to port their stuff over to Swift because of the aforementioned technical debt.

Fundamentally, the problem is that the software org at Apple is a third class citizen. In order for that to change, there needs to be a shift in resources toward the SW org. But I don't see it happening any time soon :)

<comment><USER9> I see this as a huge problem too. Apple just doesn't seem to have high level advocacy for software quality. This is driving me to Ubuntu at the desktop.

I am sticking with my Macbook but on my next laptop purchase it will be a matter of if Apple hardware quality makes up for their software failings. I haven't looked closely in 2 years but back then I didn't see any hardware close to Apple's laptop quality.

I do agree with those disappointed with the MacBook Pro (or whatever they call it now) but those disappointments are not as great as my disappointment with Apple software quality the last 5 years.

<comment><USER10> From experience (retina mbp 2015, 15"), I would highly recommend you do _not_ try to run Ubuntu (or other Linux) on newer Apple hardware. Take the money you'll save by buying a "lower end" laptop/desktop x86 machine and put it toward buying more RAM, a better SSD, nice peripherals, etc...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> The author says Apple's leaving a void because Google and Amazon are inventing new product categories instead of Apple, but Apple's successes haven't been new inventions. The iPod wasn't the first MP3 player, the iPhone wasn't the first smartphone, the iPad wasn't the first tablet, and the MacBook wasn't the first laptop. What Apple does well is waiting to add enough incremental upgrades to products until it surpasses the "amazing" threshold. This ends up looking like Apple is either late to market (Apple TV) or so incredibly successful that it appears as if the market didn't even exist before Apple entered it (iPhone/iPad).

Based on Apple's history, we should really be expecting them to crush the Echo and Chromecast sometime in the next few years.

<comment><USER12> They've already had a stab at the Apple TV, so I doubt we're going to see a revolutionary chromecast-like competitor.

An Echo competitor would be possible but has Siri made any noticeable revolutionary leaps recently?

<comment><USER11> Siri does now have an API (although limited) on iOS, but I haven't seen many uses of it yet.

As for the Apple TV and Chromecast, I've been using a Chromecast (1st gen) for the last few months since I gave my Apple TV to my parents, and I miss my Apple TV. The Chromecast is great when it works, but it's extremely hit or miss depending on the app you use to stream. YouTube and Netflix work perfectly, but HBO Now and FX are terrible. There's no option to scrub backward/forward, and often when you hit pause the app will disconnect. With HBO Now and the FX app, it usually takes a good 3-4 tries to connect and actually watch something. With the Apple TV, everything worked as expected.

I think the major factor stopping the Apple TV from crushing the Chromecast is price. The old Apple TV is $70 - they should really be pushing for a much lower price point for this to compete with the Chromecast, but Apple doesn't even list this one on their site as far as I can tell.

<comment><USER13> I never got on with the Chromecast but the FireTV stick on the other hand is great.

Our AppleTV and PVR have both gone now.

Funniest thing with the Apple TV OS was when my 7 year old complained that it was broken as pressing the right arrow on the remote (as indicated by the right arrow on screen) didn't work - I showed him you had to press OK, but for a business that's supposed to pride itself in great UI it's a spectacular fail

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> In the end he nails it without fully realizing it. The problem is that the iPhone is now everything for Apple. Having one single mega cash cow tends to result in the whole company organizing itself around that cash cow. Microsoft did it for Windows and Office and missed a generation or two of developers as a result.

This is why Apple is stagnating and only seems to care about phones and locking down that ecosystem. They are the new Nokia.

Of course Amazon and Google have their cash cows too, so they are not much different. Their home speakers are ways for them to more aggressively market and capture customer buying behavior. Personally I consider them deeply creepy for this reason and will not get one.

The true innovation is going to come from hungrier players: startups or older companies that are on the ropes like Apple once was. Microsoft is getting interesting again, and I'd also keep an eye on old PC vendors like Dell and HP or even old IBM. These companies now have nothing to lose.

<comment><USER15> Bingo. Also, let's not forget that Apple has a history of not releasing the first of something, but waiting until the market is there, and then releasing a much more user friendly product that redefines the market and grows it. They're not a tech first company so much as a UX first company.

<comment><USER16> +1. I wrote about this a few weeks ago, and the team building the Linux subsystem at Microsoft took note: [https://jhatax.blogspot.com/2016/11/developers-windows- linux...](https://jhatax.blogspot.com/2016/11/developers-windows-linux- subsystem-is.html). Microsoft is truly hungry to win back developers, and the team is willing to do what it takes to bring non-Windows developers into the fold.

Apple seems to still be operating as if it can only focus on one core platform at any given time as opposed to two or three. The talk on HN is only about the core OSes -- macOS and iOS -- but what about their productivity apps? They haven't seen a meaningful update in years (Pages, Keynote, etc. in case you are unaware).

With their huge cash reserves, Apple needs to recognize that it can build multiple platforms in parallel without sacrificing the quality of either. It could very well be that Jony Ive not being a core software guy is the issue. It could not. I don't have insider access. I will say this: Apple needs a hard core software leader and it doesn't seem to have one today. That's the 'real void'.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> While I do understand the author's point about the void - the particular example of the Amazon Echo and Google Home is something I really don't get. I find those devices invasive and irritating - I'm not sure I see the attraction.

That being said, I also hate talking on the phone so this may be more of an issue at interacting vocally with a device. It's somewhat lessened when I use FaceTime with my phone but only because I can see who I'm talking to.

<comment><USER18> On top of that, calling them category defining and comparing them to the iPhone is kind of crazy since they are niche products so far. Nobody I know has an Echo. The few people I know that have Chromecasts bought them only because it was a cheap way to wirelessly stream video from their computer to a TV for presentations. They didn't buy it as a substitute for a Roku or Apple TV.

I share the author's concerns about Apple's devices since about 2012 being underwhelming but I don't agree with their conclusion that Google and Amazon are filling the void. The distressing part for me is that as far as work computers go nobody is.

<comment><USER19> I have an echo. My parents have an echo and I'm giving one to my sister and her family this xmas.

It is absolutely a category, especially if you have a larger home where your phone isn't near you. Instead, you just speak to it and it responds without having to find a device instead. It's integration with an ecosystem in your home means it's the new remote -- one that's far more powerful.

<comment><USER20> Out of curiosity, did your parents seek out the Echo or did you buy it for them? I'll believe you regardless, but the comment about you giving one to your sister tends to be more of the story I hear when I hear about niche products "everyone has".

There's a slight difference in a lot of the tech that gets pushed as AppleProduct-Killers in that most of the time the products usually kill the Apple equivalent only on paper; historically, when push comes to shove, it's been iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks people seek out or ask for because they're still considered hot items. This isn't to dismiss the quality of other products, but it's also not the same as everyone wanting them specifically.

<comment><USER19> My parents sought one after seeing/using mine. My brother in law commented a lot on mine after being over recently, and I watched my friend's 3 young girls ask to it play various Kate Perry songs every 7 seconds (they now have one). It's a new, somewhat expensive device, so it'll take time for it to make its way into the mainstream. It's also not for everyone, but it is for a lot of people.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I've been a Mac user for over ten years, drawn to the platform due to the combination of OS X and solid hardware. Since the disappointing MacBook Pro announcement, I've been preparing to transition myself back to the world of Windows and *nix. I bought myself a refurbished ThinkPad T430 to get myself used to Windows 10 and modern Linux desktop environments, as well as the software running on them. I'm trying to wean myself off OS X and the Mac ecosystem. If it turns out that I'll be able to transition to either Windows or Linux/BSD without too much pain, then sometime next year I plan to buy something like a ThinkPad P50, which has options for Xeon processors and 64 GB RAM. Apple sadly makes nothing like this.

I love OS X and I still believe it's the best desktop OS out there, but I'm very disappointed in Apple's direction, and this experience has made me realized the dangers of being locked to a specific hardware platform: if Apple doesn't make the hardware you want, then there are no alternatives if you want to stay on OS X legally. It was a fun ride while Apple made the hardware I wanted. But Apple started changing direction from powerful, expandable, upgradeable Macs to non-upgradeable, disposable computers for those whose computational needs aren't very intensive. I considered jumping ship back in 2013, but due to the controversies of Windows 8, GNOME 3, and KDE 4 at the time, I held my nose and bought a MacBook Air despite its non-upgradeability. This time I plan to jump ship. I learned my lesson regarding relying on closed platforms for my computing needs; you're at the mercy of the provider of the platform. For this reason alone I'm interested in returning to Windows and Linux/BSD, although I wish they one day will have the same level of polish as OS X.

</comment><comment><USER22> Why do we say Apple came up with this and Apple came up with that? Steve Jobs came up with those things. The man left Apple, Apple tanked, requiring a bailout from Microsoft. Jobs comes back, very much Return of the King-esque, and Apple rises again. Meanwhile in his exile he helps start a little studio called Pixar. This is very much a "Built to Last" situation. Great book. Companies with Cult leader CEO's lose direction when that CEO leaves or dies. Cook is Apple's Ballmer. A great business man, not a great innovator. At some point, my guess is like Ballmer, Apple will fall far enough behind that someone else will get the job. Hopefully, Apple finds someone like Satya. But none of this has been surprising. You can't lose someone like Jobs and expect the progress to continue. The guy understood how to translate technology to the every day man woman and child like nobody else. These are the Ballmer years at Apple. Hopefully, they go by faster than they did at Microsoft.

<comment><USER23> Pixar had started well before Jobs entered the picture. His role in Pixar was of a mercurial money-man who constantly threatened to shut down the whole operation, and almost killed the studio on the verge of their big break because he couldn't stand the thought of giving out shares to all workers they had been promised to. Not much of a help, more like a hindrance who was tolerated because of the money he brought to the table.

He certainly did great at Apple but Pixar succeeded despite him rather than thanks to him.

<comment><USER24> They had been trying to find buyers for almost 2 years. It was going to be Jobs or nothing. Give the man credit for being the only one to see at least part of the vision.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> It was always clear to me that the direction Apple was taking was not a good one for people outside the "2 sigma" chunk of the bell curve. Apple's focus has been on creating the smallest amount of products for the largest possible audience.

</comment><comment><USER26> He's not sure why they bought Beats? Is there any proof that this deal didn't work out for them? They clearly integrated some of the IP into iTunes Music and it seems like the products are still selling like hotcakes.

I'm scratching my head.

</comment><comment><USER27> It seems like the Echo is a repackaged Siri, with an optional wake word. The Echo Dot lets you buy stuff through it much like the Kindle which seems to be Amazon's thing.

<comment><USER19> Ya -- one that permanently has a place in your home so you don't have to worry where your phone is, one that integrates with popular 3rd party home-based IoT, is always listening/on, works better than Siri, and comes with better and free music integration (but is better if you're a prime member). The dot is just echo junior, there is no difference in utility of it.

The result is a very meaningful improvement and a change to how you interact with technology in your home.

<comment><USER28> The Echo is terrific and (unlike Siri) I wouldn't be without it. Sadly, Amazon's management app for the Echo is an unstable, slow, buggy piece of unusable garbage that someone should be fired over.

<comment><USER19> But luckily you don't really need to use the app much after initial setup.

<comment><USER28> Not so. It is how you access the to-do list and shopping lists. So I use it, or try to, almost everyday.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Many would agreed that the new MacBook Pro is overpriced. With its hugh profit margin, hardly anyone complain that iPhone is overpriced.

</comment><comment><USER30> How many more of these articles do we need?

Yes, we understand that Apple is no longer innovating at all, much less at the clip that they used to.

</comment><comment><USER31> Current article title: What happened to Apple?

<comment><USER31> Since changed (reverted?) to "The void left by Apple"

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> Moaning about Apple leaving a "void" because of Google Chromecast is pretty hilarious. Especially when Apple's version, the Apple TV, is a superior device.

Chromecast is the best Google can do? Color me un-worried.

</comment><comment><USER33> Perhaps they're considering allowing third parties to produce Macintosh compatibles, and macOS would be sold thru OEMs like MS-Windows?

<comment><USER31> I can't tell if you're joking or not. The first time around licensing the OS was part of the near bankruptcy of Apple. Apple is a hardware company that also makes software that makes the hardware compelling. I don't see it happening, but I think it would be more likely that Apple get rid of Macs and macOS entirely (relying on iOS products) rather than license macOS to third parties.</comment></comment>


iCloud Apple ID Brute Forcer - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/Pr0x13/iDict

<comment><USER2> I have tried this script on my own account to see what it looks like when it succeeds and all of that. While it does appear to succeed and not be rate limited. The outcome is that the account will have been disabled as a result running the script. Even if it succeeded and found the password it would be no good to the attacker anymore.

> This Apple ID has been locked for security reasons. Visit iForgot to reset > your account ([https://iforgot.apple.com](https://iforgot.apple.com)).

I'm no security expert but that must reduce at least some of the vulnerability.

Though it seems like this could be weaponized to be a hassle. I only point this out because I have 2-factor auth and have locked my account and cannot seem to find my recovery key. /facepalm

<comment><USER3> Could also be used to just grab the password and try it against other accounts. Most people have one password for everything.

<comment><USER2> That is a valid point that I didn't think about.

I forget that not everyone uses something like 1password generate random passwords for all sites. Therefore, compromising one doesn't compromise them all. I recognize that is not common behavior.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> How is it not rate limited? I don't understand why this is not a thing in every login activity everywhere. can someone explain one reason you might choose to NOT rate limit auth attempts? I don't understand :S

<comment><USER5> Any effective rate limiting tends to cause major UX issues under many circumstances and opens the system to denial of service under some. Probably the best way of dealing with such attacks these days is what Google and many other companies do and that's use huristics and progressive challenges, while not perfect these tend to be usually even more effective than rate limiting. If the auth requests are comming for an unknown device, a foriegn IP address, at a suspicious time/rate etc. the user is challenged for additional information than just their passwords this can be some random secret question a secondary authentication (via phone, SMS, email etc) or even some anti scripting stuff.

<comment><USER6> Heuristics and progressive challenges are definitely the best option, but beyond scope for a lot of developers. Rate limiting is the simplest option, and the only real "major UX issue" I can think of is locking someone out of their account after three password attempts, which can definitely be a pain in the arse if you're trying to log into a site you don't frequently visit.

But the solution is pretty simple: rate limit to one attempt every few seconds, and if you want to lock the account, only do so after a lot of unsuccessful attempts. For example, bruteforcing is impractical if you can only try one password every five seconds, and essentially impossible if you only get 100 bites at the apple before you get locked out.

<comment><USER7> > but beyond scope for a lot of developers.

Nothing is, or should be, beyond the scope of Apple.

<comment><USER6> Yes, I wasn't talking about Apple.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment> Y-bar "Why? This bug is painfully obvious and was only a matter of time before it was privately used for malicious or nefarious activities, I publicly disclosed it so apple will patch it."

I'm not a security expert but that does not sound like responsible disclosure to me. Granted, Apple is not easy to communicate with, but still…

Edit: This does indeed look like a really bad thing. At the very least one would hope that login attempts were rate limited.

<comment><USER5> Having had to deal with apple and knowing quite a few other people who had a simmilar exprience i have a feeling that this was the only way of doing so. Apple is notorious for not accepting certain discovered vulnerabilities at best, and at worst ciminilizing people who do try and report an issue. This for some reason is much more prevelant for their services and mobile platform (especially when it comes to "design" flaws rather than a simple software bug) than the OSX team which while might simply not reply unless it gets enough traction on the the mailing list will atleast not send you threatening letters from their lawyers.

<comment> Y-bar > at worst ciminilizing people who do try and report an issue […] will atleast > not send you threatening letters from their lawyers

Wow. Citation needed, please.

<comment> Y-bar So, I've been googling but can't find any single instance where Apple seems to have threatened a security researcher. I'm new here on HN, but I don't understand why I was down voted. Was it seen as passive-agressive to ask, I could understand that, but any actual source would be appreciated.

We all know that anything that paints Apple in a bad light travels faster than the speed of said light and generally gets picked up by a dozen news outlets, no matter how rumour-esque it is. So it ought to be some traces of Apple taking legal actions against people reporting security issues against them, no?

<comment><USER8> In general "citation needed" on its own is frowned on as it is lazy and negative adding little to the discussion. My guess is that this is the reason for downvotes.

Some claims do have to be called out and this might have be one of them. An indication that it doesn't match your experience and that you have done at least a cursory search before requesting the citation would be less likely to be downvoted.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Slightly side note, I found it interesting looking through the HTML UI for the iCloud account creation ([https://setup.icloud.com/setup/create_account_ui](https://setup.icloud.com/setup/create_account_ui), sourced from a URL the brute forcer script hits).

One oddity I found is different length requirements for regular email and recovery email

        EmailTooLong:         "Email address must be less than 320 characters.",
        RecoveryEmailTooLong: "Email address must be less than 256 characters.",

<comment><USER9> Probably just different field lengths in the DB.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> A quick skim of the source shows that appears to be using the iCloud auth device setup workflow which does not have any rate limiting or account lockout guards in place.

I'm guessing the author noticed that, when setting up a new device for iCloud, that they didn't get locked out when authenticating their iCloud credentials. They then reverse engineered this authentication process and created a script to brute force it. Not an earth shattering attack, but an astute one.

Expect apple to add rate limiting soon. I'm not sure if they'd be able to implement lockout without breaking the login process with existing devices.

</comment><comment><USER10> Only good use for this is finding out if icloud usernames exist (checking the response body).

</comment><comment><USER11> Skip the link, but know it's out there.

<comment><USER12> Why skip the link? Is knowledge dangerous, or is it a case of offending sensibilities? I'm not sure what you're implying.

<comment><USER6> I think what SecurityAlert is saying is that there isn't really any value in the repo: as others have pointed out, it's just a simple PHP script that iterates through a dictionary.

It's just meant to bring attention to the fact that Apple doesn't rate limit an endpoint that absolutely should be rate limited, and you don't actually need to see the repo to understand that.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> ... ... wait, wait, wait.

This is a tool which attempts to brute force a password by making HTTP POSTs to an API? And someone though the best way to write that was in in PHP, which is single threaded and thus cannot try multiple passwords in parallel?

Wow. Ok. Good luck with that.

<comment><USER14> It's a proof-of-concept.

Also, PHP does have support for multiple threads and/or forking. It's just not commonly used.

<comment><USER13> [sigh]

Yes, I know PHP can use a standard fork() call. But if you fork, then you need to shard the attack space into different sections, and then pull all the results back together again. Or you manually use `split` on the wordlist and run them as parallel processes. Either way, you are going to have to go through that trouble to re-combining everything. At which point, you might as well use an actual threaded language.

(The only other way I know to do threading in PHP is with curl's multi-request feature, which is hacky and leads to several problems, in addition to head-of- line blocking).

<comment><USER15> I really think you are missing the point here. And why are you so exasperated? Take a break man.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Has anyone looked at the wordlist? It's over here: [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Pr0x13/iDict/master/files/...](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Pr0x13/iDict/master/files/wordlist.txt)

For those who don't want to bother clicking on that link, it's only 500 lines long. In other words, if your password is not one of the 500 listed in that file, you'll be fine. My password is not listed in the file, and the same goes for almost all of us. There are literally 500 passwords in that file! If you only use letters and numbers for your password and your password is 8 characters long, there are more than 2 * 10^14 possibilities

This thing has got to be a joke

<comment><USER17> Small wordlists are generally used with long username lists to get the low- hanging fruit. Obviously somebody using this tool to target a specific account is going to swap out the default wordlist for something much larger and potentially customized.</comment></comment>


Newspaper ignores family's request, names minor who attempted suicide at school - <AUTHOR> http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130430/NEWS01/304300051/Report-IDs-student-who-attempted-suicide-La-Salle?nclick_check=1

<comment><AUTHOR> Pathetic attempt at a justification from the editor is linked at the end of the article.

<comment><AUTHOR> And here's the direct link to that: [http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130430/NEWS01/304300060...](http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130430/NEWS01/304300060/Editor- Here-s-why-we-named-student)</comment></comment>


Font-display for the Masses (2016) - <AUTHOR> https://css-tricks.com/font-display-masses/ <comment><USER2> `font-display: optional` looks like a weird design. It is basically `font- display: fallback`, but then also does something completely unrelated.

Why isn't their `font-display` as well as `font-optional` (true or false) to specify the two properties how fast a font should be displayed and whether to load it at all on slow connections?

Also, `auto` and `fallback` seem to do the same thing, just with different, undefined timings. It seems like a great feature, but the design of the css attributes could use some work imho.

</comment><comment><USER3> Remember when browsers made a best effort to show you as much info as they possibly could, pending the completion of downloads?

Nowadays, they assume "oh noes, we don't want to show anything at all, unless it's exactly how the designer intended; better show a whole bunch of sweet bugger all while the fonts, images, and JavaScript load".

I guess 'font-display' is a step back in the right direction. A small one though.

</comment><comment><USER4> I wish browsers provided a setting to prefer internal system fonts over web fonts (or even option to disable web fonts completely). Readability is still important - not everyone has a >200 ppi display. Fonts distributed with the operating system are usually well optimized (hinted) for on-screen usage. Proper hinting is critical to readability at lower resolutions / small font sizes. Unfortunately it is a painstaking manual (and therefore expensive) process [1]. That's why virtually all web fonts are simply print fonts, unsuitable for on-screen usage, except at large point sizes (e.g. for headings).

[1] [https://www.typotheque.com/articles/hinting](https://www.typotheque.com/articles/hinting)

<comment><USER2> Firefox for Android has a setting to disable web fonts (Settings/Advanced/Show web fonts).

Regular Firefox has the about:config parameter gfx.downloadable_fonts.enabled that allows disabling webfonts. To solve the problems this article presents, you could also just change gfx.downloadable_fonts.fallback_delay to something shorter than 3000 (though that won't help with hinting).

Chrome apparently has (or had) a command line flag to disable web fonts, or you can use extensions. I'm not sure if it's possible on mobile Chrome.

<comment><USER4> Thanks for the tip. The command line flag for Chrome is --disable-remote-fonts and it works as of version 60. But this breaks also other, more useful uses of web fonts, such as font icons. I guess my gripe is mostly with web designers who prioritize design over readability.</comment></comment></comment>


Blender 2.80 release candidate - <AUTHOR> https://www.blender.org/download/releases/2-80/ <comment><USER2> This is (a release candidate for) a huge milestone in Blender's history. So much has been improved, that some, including myself, have speculated why they didn't choose to make it a 3.0 release.

Aside from the fantastic new features geared towards existing users, which are described in detail & with pictures in the OP, this release also makes Blender a lot more user-friendly for those who haven't used it before. 3D software almost necessarily has a steep learning curve for new users, as you have to learn not only how to use a new program, but also how 3D content creation itself works. But in this release the developers and designers have made an effort to get rid of the biggest "gotchas" that many new users complained about when using previous versions of Blender.

If you've wanted to get into 3D content creation before, there's never been a better time!

<comment><USER3> In release notes[0] for Cycles there are a lot of mentions of CUDA. Also many mentions of OpenCL, with the ominous note that it's been "disabled on macOS platform".

I'm wondering how complex can animations be, with reasonable frame render times, on macOS with Radeon Pro Vega 16? I know it's a very open-ended question but I'm curious for any take.

(For some context, I'm completely unfamiliar with the pipeline/ecosystem, but wanted to hobby around with 3D for a while. Lacking a suitable GPU, now I'm considering how viable would this be on latest MBP's graphics. If not so much, I might go for a cheaper GPU option & postpone my 3D experiments until I can have a fixed workstation with fast GPU in addition to laptop I use for work.)

[0] [https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Reference/Release_Notes/2.80/C...](https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Reference/Release_Notes/2.80/Cycles)

<comment><USER4> I used to use Blender a lot for a variety of things in the past. However, with 2.8, the UI became so slow on my Mac Mini that I decided to buy an external eGPU. However, I hadn't read the "OpenCL disabled on macOS platforms" update. So the eGPU didn't really help. So for me, I'm still on Blender 2.7 as the UI is much faster there. For reference, I have Blender running on a 5k display, so there're a lot of pixels to move around. Nevertheless, buying an eGPU won't help you a lot with Blender 2.8 as the internal GPU is too slow for the UI - at least in a reasonably high resolution. I was briefly pondering buying a second Linux box just to use Blender, but that also sounds insane. So until Apple patches their broken Nvidia relationship up, or Blender supports something like MoltenVK, there's no good way of running 2.8 on most macOS devices.

Edit: I didn't test the RC yet. So maybe the performance is better now. Also, I never tried on a smaller display. It might work just fine on a 1920x1280 screen.

<comment><USER5> I can't imagine OpenCL in any way being involved with the rendering of the UI. Maybe you're confusing it with OpenGL?

If you're having problems making use of an eGPU (that's supported by apple, which rules out nvidia!), you should report that. eGPUs will probably be a common use case.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I've been using Blender 2.80 as a daily tool since it hit alpha, having started in the industry with the pre-release of Maya beta 4 in 1996.

I'm tempted to start with a snarky comment like "only 19 years to get left- mouse select?" or "Microsoft shipped a Linux kernel before Blender got left- mouse select" but the fact is 2.80 is a huge UI improvement.

At this point, the UI is merely a bit odd, as opposed to inconceivably terrible. If you are a hobbyist or have only occasional need for 3D editing, Blender should absolutely be your go-to tool today. At this point it's no harder to learn and not significantly quirkier than Maya or 3ds Max, it's just different.

When the last major Blender UI update came out (something like 2.64? I can't remember) I recall saying "one more round of UI improvement like this and I'd consider starting my next studio pipeline around Blender rather than Maya." That was about 6 years ago. Today I'd consider building a studio pipeline around it but probably decide against, though one more round of improvement like 2.80 and I'd definitely start a studio on Blender over Maya which hasn't advanced significantly in more than ten years. 2025 FTW!

I haven't pulled down the RC yet (I'm still on the most recent beta) so this might have changed in RC but if you are considering shifting from your 3D editor of choice to Blender, you'll want to know that parenting relationships are still needlessly buried but accessible[0].

[0] [https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/127105/the- outli...](https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/127105/the-outliner- doesnt-show-parent-child-relations-in-blender-2-8?rq=1)

<comment><USER7> Have all 'modes' been updated, how is it for non-linear [video] editing (NLE) now. I usually use KDEnlive but have used Blender in the past for this and it was pretty good but entirely unlike anything else in it's controls IIRC.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Blender is an incredible achievement for the open source community. It is an extraordinarily capable bit of software and 2.80 brings so many huge changes and refinements.

While it still remains a complex bit of software it is not has difficult as its reputation would suggest and 2.80 makes a lot of concessions to making the UI more familiar to newbies.

<comment><USER9> For anyone wanting to jump in now, here's a good guide for making your first model in Blender 2.8, even if you have never made a model before: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqYTgaFDxU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqYTgaFDxU)

<comment><USER10> Thank you kindly, this is the kind of thing I was looking for. I've been thinking about getting into 3d modeling for a while now.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> The new renderer, Eevee, is brilliant and fast and is only one of the many great improvements to what was already one of my favourite bits of software.

Some of the best open-source desktop software that there is.

<comment><USER12> Another renderer? They already have two parallell and partially incompatible pipelines...

<comment><USER2> Blender Internal (1) and the Blender game engine were both removed in 2.80. Eevee uses the same nodes as Cycles.

(1) Blender's legacy rendering engine which has been around since the '90s

<comment><USER11> Yep.

Hadn't noticed Internal had disappeared, but indeed it has. Suppose there's not really any need for it with Eevee existing now.

<comment><USER13> Part of the original rationale for Eevee was to replace Blender Internal.

<comment><USER12> How is performance (ram/cpu) compared to internal?

I used to switch to internal when designing on really low-end hardware (Atom tablets)

<comment><USER14> From my understanding (SOMEBODY CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG) Eevee is designed for realtime rendering in mind - it uses tricks similar to videogames to get high quality renders without raycasting everything.

So it performs FAR better than blender internal.

<comment><USER15> Yes, Eevee is a fast pbr renderer and can give very similar results to cycles with no effort, except there's some setup needed to do indirect lighting and reflections... and some tweaking needed for good lamp shadows in some cases, but the payoff is huge. I have a high resolution render that takes 12 minutes in cycles, 30 seconds in eevee with no grain... some features are not there line a shader bevel, but otherwise very similar, and there's workarounds for that.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> I'm totally looking forward to the work that has gone into UI improvements. My prior attempts at using Blender left me puzzled, and I figured it was kindof the vi of 3D modelling eg. made for full-time as opposed to casual work. Though my son told me it isn't difficult if you know the basics. Anyway, I'm used to SketchUp and have a couple of models (no animations), so is there a way to import .skp files? Years ago, I used SketchUp Pro's Collada export with some success, but since SketchUp has changed to a browser-based free version (ugh), it looks like I'll need to use an old SketchUp install.

<comment><USER17> The interface is impressively bad. I think it is the only program for which I had to Google how to close a window. I am glad that they are taking it seriously.

Unfortunately, as a casual user (opening it maybe once or twice a month), this release has the side effect of breaking all the interface tutorials out there. It is probably still for the best in the long run, but I've had to keep both 2.79 and 2.80 installed.

<comment><USER18> > this release has the side effect of breaking all the interface tutorials out > there

All the _obsolete_ interface tutorials. There are plenty of new ones for 2.80.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> > left click select as the new default

This is a huge improvement for new users. Right click was very un-intuitive when coming from other applications.

Congrats to the Blender team on this release.

<comment><USER12> They make so many good decisions without sacrificing functionality.

I feel Blender should loan some of its UI people to GIMP...

<comment><USER20> Why GIMP though? I thought Krita was pretty nice.

<comment><USER21> GIMP and Krita focus on different stuff even if some of their functionality overlaps. GIMP focuses on photo editing whereas Krita focuses on digital painting. This sort of focus affects what priorities functionality for each program gets.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> So glad to see 2.8 getting closer to release. I recently used blender for a project, had a problem with the new gltf exporter, luckily it was so easy to fix that even I could create a patch and a pull request, which was reviewed and accepted within a day. Now THATS open source!

<comment><USER23> I had a GLTF export problem too! Though I can't remember what specifically. Thanks for your help!

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> No more "just learn them 100 shortcuts you newbie". It was incredibly annoying advice for casual user, who has simply forgotten everything everytime they need to do some 3D-modelling.

<comment><USER25> You could usually hit space bar and start typing a command to find it and run it.

<comment><USER26> For the curious, search is now mapped to f3.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> It has a real-time physically based renderer now: [https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Reference/Release_Notes/2.80/E...](https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Reference/Release_Notes/2.80/EEVEE)

</comment><comment><USER28> The hardest thing for me in blender so far has been uv coords. Sometimes I seem to be editing them, but they don't change, sometimes the ui for it seems to be gone. Sometimes they don't seem to apply. Sometimes the material seems to get lost.

It's been an incredible festival of mis-design, so far.

So, I hope that has improved.

<comment><USER15> UV editing has a tab at the top now. There's a few things to keep track of to be successful with this tool and hook up with materials, but I don't think the difficulty is much different then similarly powerful tools. There's youtube tutorials that will walk you though it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> It has been a long wait.

I'm still not quite used to the new UI, but I generally trust the Blender foundation that most changes are to the better (and many of them can be reversed through settings).

</comment><comment><USER30> Excited to try this, but the download is going at low KB/s ... anyone got a torrent for the linux version?

<comment><USER30> In the end I downloaded it through Steam - just select the release candidate beta channel.

<comment><USER31> Thanks for the tip, I had no idea blender was on steam (and had beta channels there too!)

Link for the lazy: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/365670/Blender/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/365670/Blender/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> Oh wow, the UI has changed significantly which is a huge milestone. Back in the days any mention of the UI being awkward would typically just result in people telling you "you just aren't smart enough to use it" which basically just let people to roll with Maya instead.

<comment><USER33> I mean honestly the old UI wasn't bad, it just was wildly different from anything else which makes the learning curve too steep. I can't recall the blender UI ever feeling like it got in my way after I got to grips with how it does things.

</comment></comment><comment><USER34> This is great news tempered by the fact that this is the first version since the NaN buyout that I'll not be able to run without buying new hardware. I saw many similar lamentations in the various fora, usually met with "It's 2019 etc etc." And so it goes.

<comment><USER35> They already bent over backwards working around bugs in drivers the GPU vendors abandoned years ago to support 10 year old NVIDIA hardware, 7 year old AMD hardware, and 5 year old Intel hardware. And it still works on hardware older than that (at least on Linux) in spite of not being "supported". I don't know what else people are expecting them to do.

<comment><USER36> People are being unreasonable.

It's free software _and_ it's the best there is. Even a commercial software package that you'd pay 100's of dollars for would be worse in the compatibility dimension that the poster is lamenting.

<comment><USER37> How much does 3d Studio max cost? I haven't used it since the 90s so even the name might have changed. I thought it was thousands.

<comment><USER38> Last I checked its 1500 a seat... a year.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER39> Anyone know what's the feature shown in the banner video where a seemingly hand-drawn griffon is then used to generate a 3D model?

<comment><USER35> It's grease pencil as others have mentioned, Jama Jurabaev talked a bit about this kind of workflow in a Blendconf talk last year[1]. I believe that griffon is this[2] piece of concept art he did for the Fantastic Beasts movie.

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpcKPJTmqSI&t=935](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpcKPJTmqSI&t=935)

[2] [https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oO2r0q](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oO2r0q)

</comment></comment><comment><USER40> Talk about amazing, free software! Thanks to everyone that worked so hard on this!

Such helpful Blender communities on YouTube sharing tutorials that can help you achieve any effect, build any model, rig any character, motion track and composite any video!

</comment><comment><USER41> This new release of Blender sounds awesome! How can I learn Blender effectively?

I've tried in the past but got frustrated quickly with the low quality or with how out of date the videos were. I don't mind paying for quality.

<comment><USER42> You'll probably have to wait before resources are available for the new UI

<comment><USER15> People have been making 2.8 tutorials for months. [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=blender+2.8+tut...](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=blender+2.8+tutorials)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> The first thing I'm going to check is how to close a "window" if they haven't put a simple X in the top right, I'll be disappointed.

<comment><USER43> My first forays into Blender involved accidentally creating some new UI windows, closing others and being unable to fix either without resetting the whole of my preferences.

<comment><USER33> That same system of panels is still in use, but they shrunk the hot corner for it significantly so it's much harder to accidentally activate.

That said: learning how it works is definitely worth the effort if you have a large screen. You can have as much or as little on the screen as you like.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How to get list of HN users and items they upvoted/created? - <AUTHOR>

I want to conduct a Machine Learning experiment on Hacker News and I need these data for that purpose :
1. List of all registered users on HN
2. items upvoted by a user - post/comments
3. Items created by a user - post/comments
Is it possible to get these information through HNSearch API? If not, any other way to access this information? <comment><USER2> 3\. you can get from the API. We used it for following HN users. Your user page would be: <http://www.nou.nl/hn/user/anujkk>

</comment><comment><USER3> To the best of my knowledge:

1\. No

2\. No

3\. Look at their profile and go to the "submissions" and "comments" links at the end.</comment>


David Heinemeier Hansson: 'Apple Has Approved Hey Without In-App Purchasing ' - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/dhh/status/1275066259801923584 <comment><AUTHOR> The tweet leads to a blog post that begins:

 _Late Friday night, on June 19th, Apple's App Store Review Board surprised us by approving the pending bug fixes to the HEY iOS app that were held up all last week... A sincere thanks to Apple for their change of heart._

[https://hey.com/apple/path/](https://hey.com/apple/path/)

</comment><comment><USER2> It looks like this may have been self-regulation as the app store seems to have been coming under fire lately as being monopolistic. After seeing what happened with Android in the EU I would suspect that Apple wants to be much more cautious when they receive bad PR like they were receiving.

</comment><comment><USER3> Apple also quietly announced a change to the App Store review process, including no longer delaying bug fix rollouts over guideline violations for applications that are already available on the store, and a formal appeals process and the ability to challenge the store guideline themselves:

[https://www.engadget.com/apple-developers-challenge-app- stor...](https://www.engadget.com/apple-developers-challenge-app-store- guidelines-073507855.html)

So many folks said "It's Apple's store, they should be able to do whatever they want". But if everyone is too scared to complain, for sure nothing will change!

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> More news from DHH:

 _We 're going to celebrate what looks to be an agreeable compromise by ACCELERATING INVITATIONS!! We will invite everyone who's still pending first, then open HEY up to anyone who wants it THIS WEEK._</comment>


YC got a brother right together #BlenEd proto - The Next Tutorspree?  - <AUTHOR>

I have not had a full nights rest since October 14th... The YC application is real; not knowing my status* it prepares you before you get in and changes your thought process.
After passing up 3 rounds I got enough confidence to apply. Lets be real when you look at the pictures as a black dude you say to "self" --- next year; even though I attended #Columbia_biz lang...
The new? I got the proto going; it will make you do it even if your solo.. Just make sure its solving a problem as they say.. We got that!
Best wishes for dinner...
@andrelewis531
there is more to the proto behind lock and key -but take a look.. yep and pardon any typos-
on the a train typing... <comment><AUTHOR> @andrelewis531</comment>


The Greenland ice sheet is melting unusually fast - <AUTHOR> https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/06/17/the-greenland-ice-sheet-is-melting-unusually-fast <comment><USER2> "Greenland is currently losing 3bn tonnes of ice every day"

What they aren't telling you here is that it isn't then losing 3bn tonnes of meltwater every day. Rather, most of the meltwater will stay pretty much where it is and turn back into ice soon enough.

</comment><comment><USER3> Don't post paywall articles

<comment><USER2> Turn off Javascript if you can, then reload the page.</comment></comment>


Microsoft, Code.org: Education System to Blame for IT Jobs Going to H-1B Workers - <AUTHOR> https://slashdot.org/submission/6018775/microsoft-codeorg-education-system-to-blame-for-it-jobs-going-to-h-1b-workers <comment><USER2> _you should question why are we importing this talent and not teaching it in our own schools to our own kids_

The cynic in me is inclined to point to those numerous Facebook posts of some parent (who curiously is always either an engineer, scientist of some sort or a teacher themselves) frustrated with the horrible and terrifying and objectively un-American Common Core homework as it proves too hard for even them because they were taught differently.

Again. Admittedly cynical and probably oversimplified reduction of numerous possible answers to the inquiry, but it's maddening on a stunning level.</comment>


Broadband Coverage Map of the United States - <AUTHOR> https://geoisp.com/us/ <comment><USER2> probably could have picked a better color than blue to show on the map</comment>