For Donald Knuth, good coding is synonymous with beautiful expression - <AUTHOR> https://www.quantamagazine.org/computer-scientist-donald-knuth-cant-stop-telling-stories-20200416/ <comment><USER2> People often say "TAOCP is a dense, technical book, you don't just sit down and read it cover to cover." It is dense and it is technical, but it's also a joy to sit down and read and this is why. Knuth doesn't present an algorithm and annotate it with (Foobar 1968) and that's that. He says "Bazquux came up with an early version of this algorithm in 1962 while working on missile trajectories for the Department of Defense, then Foobar came up with the linear-time optimization that we all use today." Stuff like that.

<comment><USER3> I agree that Knuth's exposition is a joy to read, and there are a lot of significant mathematical insights to be had within those volumes. I just wish he could get away from MIX/MMIX. I don't find it very useful or interesting as a pseudocode, and I think it gets in the way of understanding.

<comment><USER4> On the contrary, I think it's extremely useful to have the algorithms realized in a form that has a cost model free of handwaving. The books are to a great extent focused on computational costs, and high-level languages obscure those costs.

The only exception is that the books only rarely dive into the variable computational costs due to operating on values of different sizes; heapsort, for example, is only O(N log N) time if comparisons take constant time, while, in fact, as key cardinality approaches infinity, key size grows as O(log N). (Which is why O(N) time sorting is possible.) This kind of thing is growing more important as hardware design becomes more accessible; there are probably more people writing VHDL and Verilog now than were writing any kind of software when Volume 1 came out.

So I think using a high-level language would get in the way of understanding those costs, and even to some extent how to implement the algorithm in other contexts.

If you just want to implement a red-black tree or something, then sure, the MMIX code isn't going to help you. But he also presents all the algorithms in pseudocode, so you can use that.

<comment><USER3> There's no reason you can't take into account things like varying key size, memory allocation, etc. in your computational model when it matters. For comparison sorting, the reason it isn't done is that if you're comparing keys of the same length, in the worst case, you have to look at the entirety of both keys. O(n log n) might be misleading, but it's a white lie at best.

<comment><USER4> There are a lot of very interesting issues there. For example, surely you have to look at the entirety of both keys at least once, yes; but you don't have to do it on every comparison, for example in mergesort where you can store a longest common prefix between pairs of adjacent keys and avoid comparing them byte by byte most of the time, or even storing them. The algorithm is tricky both to implement and to analyze, and I don't think anyone has done it, because there are better options for long keys; but I conjecture that it actually gets mergesort down to a real O(N log N) instead of the O(N log N log N) of the usual mergesorts.

I suspect that isn't the reason this kind of analysis isn't usually done, though. If you measure the running time of a standard comparison sorting algorithm on real data on almost any general-purpose computer from 1955 to 1985, you will find that, above very small sizes, it is quite precisely proportional to N log N, where N is the number of records. The extra factor of log N doesn't show up. Why is that?

It's because almost all of those computers, even bit-serial designs like the RCA 1802 and the LGP-30, aren't bit-addressable; the smallest amount of data an instruction can manipulate is a character, typically 6-9 bits, but often 32 bits. And almost none of them could manage more than 4 gigabytes of data, because that would have been too expensive. So in practice the average time to compare two separately stored keys does not vary by a factor of 100 or so over the data sets the machine could process, as you would expect from looking at key unique prefix length. It might vary by a factor of 2 to 4, but more often was actually constant. MIX in particular had 5-character memory words, but only 4000 words of memory, so its comparison time for internal sorting is quite precisely constant for any realistic data.

After 1985, caches and massive parallelism complicate the picture a bit, initially for largish machines (though Stretch too had cache, such monsters were exceptions) and finally for almost all types of computers, though perhaps not yet the numerical majority of computers, which are probably mostly 8051s and Cortex-Ms and things like that.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand: assembly language exposes all the computational costs by default, which is what you want if you're going to prove theorems about them, while high-level languages obscure them by default, so more of your theorems will be incorrect. And that's Knuth's primary concern.

That level of single-minded pursuit of excellence is the reason we can learn things from books Knuth wrote in the 1960s that are still useful for programming computers that are literally a billion times bigger than the machines Knuth used as his model. It's also the reason he's not done yet, 55 years later, with what he thought would be a single book, done in a year or two.

<comment><USER3> >I conjecture that it actually gets mergesort down to a real O(N log N) instead of the O(N log N log N) of the usual mergesorts.

I don't think it does in the worst case. I'd bet money you could construct an adversarial input that would force you to look at more of each key than you'd have to in order to get down to "real" O(n log n).

>MIX in particular had 5-character memory words, but only 4000 words of memory, so its comparison time for internal sorting is quite precisely constant for any realistic data.

If we're being precise here, then it is certainly _bounded above by_ a constant. But, this is also the same sense in which there is literally no such thing as a Turing machine (all physical machines, even one the size of the universe, are linear bounded automata, at best).

> Anyway, back to the issue at hand: assembly language exposes all the > computational costs by default, which is what you want if you're going to > prove theorems about them, while high-level languages obscure them by > default, so more of your theorems will be incorrect. And that's Knuth's > primary concern.

Except, no, you don't. Both you and I just got through explaining why.

> That level of single-minded pursuit of excellence is the reason we can learn > things from books Knuth wrote in the 1960s that are still useful for > programming computers that are literally a billion times bigger than the > machines Knuth used as his model. It's also the reason he's not done yet, 55 > years later, with what he thought would be a single book, done in a year or > two.

No, it most certainly is not. I'm assuming you've read at least some of TAOCP. Knuth certainly introduced some mathematics and techniques for the analysis of algorithms in TAOCP, but literally none of the algorithms themselves were first published there. This is not a research monograph. It's a reference. The algorithms themselves were published and proven, including runtimes, before they ever made it into those pages.

And, yes, there is plenty that almost anyone can learn from these books and the subsequent fascicles, but it's nothing to do with the computational model. Not one result in TAOCP contradicts the previously published work. We can learn from it because there is simply so much there to learn from. There's a reason that when Steve Jobs told Don Knuth "I've read all your books," Knuth responded that jobs was "full of shit." [0]

\---

[0]:[https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor...](https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Close_Encounters_of_the_Steve_Kind.txt)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> > I write an average of five new programs every week. Poets have to write > poems. I have to write computer programs.

It seems more obvious now that I read it. A lot of programmers out there, including myself, are looking for ways to improve their skills and I never thought to myself to write more programs. And not just programs for the sake of programs, but programs that force you to explain to the computer that you understand certain concepts. This man is and will continue to be a huge inspiration.

<comment><USER6> >The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an "A". Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

<comment><USER7> Cool but fake.

<comment><USER6> You should really post a source.

<comment><USER7> A source that disproves a made up unsourced story is fake?

<comment><USER8> Here's two that prove it.

[0] - [https://blog.codinghorror.com/quantity-always-trumps- quality...](https://blog.codinghorror.com/quantity-always-trumps-quality/)

[1] - [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0961454733/?tag=codihorr-20](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0961454733/?tag=codihorr-20)

<comment><USER9> prove what? That someone printed the anecdote in a book?

<comment><USER10> What would suffice, video recordings of every class?

<comment><USER7> Naming the teacher, the school, the year, the city, something that would give a hint for someone to follow up for verification.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> As Paul Dirac so eloquently put,

> _"I think that there is a moral to this story, namely that it is more > important to have beauty in one 's equations that to have them fit > experiment. If Schrödinger had been more confident of his work, he could > have published it some months earlier, and he could have published a more > accurate equation. It seems that if one is working from the point of view of > getting beauty in one's equations, and if one has really a sound insight, > one is on a sure line of progress. If there is not complete agreement > between the results of one's work and experiment, one should not allow > oneself to be too discouraged, because the discrepancy may well be due to > minor features that are not properly taken into account and that will get > cleared up with further development of the theory."_

> Scientific American, May 1963.

By that token, coding should be beautiful first, in elegance of structure and forms. _And then we can iron out the bugs._

I tend to agree.

<comment><USER12> Isn't this line of thinking which has held physics back for the past few decades? I thought that physics is gradually moving to being more data driven than being driven by ideas of beauty. Sabine Hossenfelder has written quite a bit about this.

<comment><USER11> The problem with theoretical physics, in my external perception, is more political, within academia.

\- selecting for the H index, that is, what will be most cited, leading to strong convergence around "consensual" or "popular" research, at a huge detriment to diversity of ideas

\- one negative effect is a major push for incremental publication (equivalent of a LOC KPI for coders... it's just wrong). "What did you publish this year? How many times was your name in a paper somewhere?"

\- putting funds and institutional support behind people you like as opposed to people with the most promising ideas. That's pretty much the story of string theory, and see how despite the failure they are still "winning" politically, occupying top positions and feeding the mainstream vulgarization, whereas those who "lost" decades ago are still AWOL even as their ideas are freshened up by a new generation, whose future against the institutional pyramid is all but guaranteed.

We might still be there (a situation of total stagnation, since the 1970s, at the theoretical level) by 2040 if something doesn't change profoundly in the way university politics have such a compelling handle on research, thus on our progress in science in general.

My 2cts but I'm parroting, people who now speak up in academia.

What I do know about, ML, is all but dead currently in MIT, Stanford, etc. It's just monkey coding applying whatever the industry likes for short-term benefits (again this "incremental"-only approach, playing it safe with 0.001% gains that are, sure, predictably doable). There's no actual research on "AI" let alone the general notion of "intelligence". Not even in neuro. I fear we've lost sight of the importance of basic research, as basic as it gets in a given field, because industry deals run the show in terms of funding. Yet look what Bell Labs or MIT did in the 1970-80s, surfing on the last wave of fundamental breakthroughs of the 50-60s. These days are long gone.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Whenever people bring up aesthetics in coding they forget to balance it. Here is the man himself on how he feels about code aesthetics, "I do think issues of style do come through and make certain programs a genuine pleasure to read. Probably not, however, to the extent that they would give me any transcendental emotions." [1]

[1] Knuth, D. E. Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About. Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford, California. 2001.

</comment><comment><USER14> I like this:

"A person's success in life is determined by having a high minimum, not a high maximum. If you can do something really well but there are other things at which you're failing, the latter will hold you back. But if almost everything you do is up there, then you've got a good life."

<comment><USER15> I've heard it said (maybe by Frank Zappa? can't remember for sure) that the difference between a professional musician and an amateur is not how well they play at their best, but how well they play at their worst.

<comment><USER16> The hardest part about professional music, is that you have to perform at a schedule. It takes a lot of effort to perpare your body physically and mentally for peak performance ... and often-times you just fail. Have a bad day. That happens.

There will be many concerts, where you are just at 70% of your peak ability.

As a professional musician, you have to make sure your 70%-version is good enough that people gladly pay for seeing it.

<comment><USER17> > _As a professional musician, you have to make sure your 70%-version is good > enough that people gladly pay for seeing it._

Or you just do electronic music, so that's not an issue!

<comment><USER18> A lot of live electronic music performances involve some pretty serious showmanship.

<comment><USER19> One of my favorite "laptop DJ" moments -

I saw Brock Hampton at a festival in 2018. Hadn't heard of them before, and they were described to me as a boy band so I had low expectations. Their performance was bizarrely wonderful - they were all painted blue and wearing orange jumpsuits. Anyways, they have a DJ with a Macbook and a bunch of rappers. At one point mid-song they have a bar of silence, and I swear I saw the DJ lean forward and hit spacebar to pause the track and then resume it after.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I feel like when people start talking about TAOCP, the first thing that comes up is the fact that you need to know a good amount of math to understand Knuth's language. But what people are forgetting is the fact that his books are just bunch of stories told in mathematical language. You need just the slightest of math knowledge to be able to follow his stories. Maybe hard in the beginning - because yes, it's dense - but once you get used to his way of storytelling, you get hooked.

</comment><comment><USER21> Donald Knuth manages to be brilliant, well-read and also just a nice person. Sort of refreshing given our field's tendency to let mean-spirited people off the hook if they happen to be good at what they do.

<comment><USER22> Even here on HN I've seen quite a bit of criticism of Donald Knuth alluding that somehow he's become irrelevant. Personally I appreciate Donald Knuth the scientist as well as Donald Knuth the person. Mean spirited people will get better at what they do but will probably miss the mark on becoming a great and humble person such as Donald Knuth. I'm really grateful that he's still among us and still working on his his books and that he shares his wisdom with us.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> A thing I never knew before: Donald Knuth, the paragon of scholarship and of a life well spent, not only cleans his own toilets but bought a specific janitorial uniform to make the process more efficient.

I find this inspiring enough that I am going to clean my toilet now.

<comment><USER23> Who else would clean his toilets? Is he wealthy? I assumed no.

<comment><USER4> Yes, that's how he was able to build his house around a custom-built pipe organ. Also, though, many men of his generation leave the toilet-cleaning up to their wives. But he says he and Jill each have uniforms for this purpose.

(My toilet looks and smells much better now.)

<comment><USER23> Makes a bit more sense.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> I learned programming from TAOCP, but that was in the mid-70s, when good expository texts were rarer. I mostly skipped over the math then, and tried to figure out the algorithms. Actually wrote a MIX assembler/simulator, which taught me a ton of low-level programming.

If you're into the math side of this, I'd highly recommend the book "Concrete Mathematics", which Knuth wrote with Graham and Patashnik. I got it to get better at solving problems over at Project Euler, but it's a fun read, like TAOCP. As deep as it is, it's amazingly light-hearted, down to the graffiti in the margins from the students who proof-tested the material in a Stanford course.

</comment><comment><USER25> There is a joy that shines through everything Knuth does. Those who have ears hear the reason for this.

<comment><USER26> > Those who have ears hear the reason for this.

You think that's it?

<comment><USER25> Absolutely.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Man for an older person he is using a really small font on his screen! Also: looks like a GNU/Linux variant not windows or macOS.

<comment><USER27> True. The editor on the left side does look like emacs.

<comment><USER28> That's the FVWM window manager. His FVWM config (or at least some version of it) is available if you're curious: [https://www-cs- faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/programs/.fvwm2rc](https://www-cs- faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/programs/.fvwm2rc) .

<comment><USER27> Thanks so much for this link! It also explains what I am seeing in that picture:

"Now comes the fun part: Buttons to push that will take me from one desktop to another.

Being a control freak, I am not trusting FvwmButtons to find the correct button layout; I'm building it myself. The goal is to have a 64x64 ASClock at the upper right, preceded by four 32x32 buttons that will aim my display at another desktop, all above a 16x128 CPU load display. Geometry-wise, I consider it to be an 8x5 grid of 16x16 squares (although I could have regarded it as a 4x5 grid of 32x16s)."

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> So much respect for the man. Hope he stays safe during these times and lives long enough to finish the series :D

</comment><comment><USER29> An interesting book interviewing high-level programmers is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coders_at_work](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coders_at_work). The book starts out with JWZ and ends with Knuth. In addition to covering their work, Peter also asks each one whether or not they have read TaoCP, how they feel about C++, and whether the use a debugger.

Only one of the people has read the book, with even Knuth saying that he hasn't read it. Of course, he is joking.

But this is a fun read.

</comment><comment><USER30> Does someone know which are the books lying on his bookshelf? Alternatively, is there an interview with Donald Knuth where he mentions the books he studies.

</comment><comment><USER31> I think a point is that when you create software there are so many choices how you could create a given piece of program. Trying to figure the best way to do it before you actually do it could take very long, and you still would not be very much wiser because it would all be in your head not in software. Whereas if you just do it you have something you can learn from, and make incrementally better

</comment><comment><USER32> Has anyone read his books? Seems like an interesting way to get into programming. I enjoy reading, but I never thought that a book about programming would present it's ideas and technical details through stories.

<comment><USER33> My first major programs were written under the influence of Knuth—I spent a lot of time reading the source code of TeX and its related programs and learned a lot from that. In fact, I only ever took one computer science class in my life (I went three times and got a C), so I'd have to say that Knuth was by far the most formative influence on my early programming. The other day I was actually looking to see if there was any trace of the DVI previewer I wrote for VM/CMS back in the 80s around on the internet. As near as I can tell, there is not. It'd probably be embarrassing to see (among other things, I didn't do any caching of font bitmaps, mostly because I didn't know how and didn't have time to learn, so every character displayed on screen re-read the bitmap data from disk).

<comment><USER4> How do you get pixels on a screen from VM/CMS?

<comment><USER33> There were two graphic output options in the previewer. There were specialized graphic terminals using the GDDM protocol (this code was actually written by someone in Germany who sent me their changes). The original code that I wrote used Tektronics graphics protocols available in the terminal driver that connected to the mainframe via a protocol converter that enabled the use of cheap ASCII terminals instead of the standard dedicated IBM terminals.

<comment><USER4> Oh man, you were drawing pixel fonts on a 4014 storage tube? That must have taken _forever_.

<comment><USER33> It was an emulation of it on a PC. VT100+Tektronix was a common graphics option on terminals of the era and the PC terminal software provided that as its graphics choice. I had some optimizations like replacing any characters below a certain threshold size with a solid box based on the bitmap's bounding box. It was reasonably fast given the speed of the connection.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> > Science is much easier to learn if you know the sequence of discoveries.

Is there a math book that gives the historical context (what is the exact problem this piece of math is trying to solve)?

</comment><comment><USER35> Here's the funny thing... If Knuth (or a modern avatar) were applying for a faculty position today, or coming up for tenure, would s/he succeed?

</comment><comment><USER36> How does that gel with TeX, whose syntax creates expressions that are nearly universally regarded as ugly?

</comment><comment><USER37> I tend to be a good writer and able to express specific feelings easily. Should I learn to code?

<comment><USER38> Coding is a valuable skill for everyone, not only computer scientist, a popular recommendation of mine for those who want to learn what it looks like while having a decent introduction is: Automate The Boring Stuff With Python [https://nostarch.com/automatestuff2](https://nostarch.com/automatestuff2)

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> Donald Knuth and Larry Wall - I find these guys in the field of Computer Science the most intriguing.</comment>


Downturns are accounting crooks' worst enemy - <AUTHOR> https://www.economist.com/business/2020/04/18/the-economic-crisis-will-expose-a-decades-worth-of-corporate-fraud <comment><USER2> For those who have never read a 10K in their life, the SEC requires all companies who publish non-GAAP metrics to also (1) publish GAAP metrics more prominently than non-GAAP metrics and (2) publish a reconciliation on how they arrived at their non-GAAP measure from the published GAAP metrics.

Here's a writeup of the SEC rules on non-GAAP metrics in earnings reports: [https://www.protiviti.com/US-en/insights/sec-issues- guidance...](https://www.protiviti.com/US-en/insights/sec-issues-guidance-non- gaap-measures)

There's a difference between what Enron did (ie. fraud) vs presenting alternative ways to measure business performance. If an investor thinks community adjusted EBITDA is a good metric to judge a business and then loses all their money, that's on the investor. Even our most recent poster child of non-GAAP shenanigans publishes the GAAP numbers ahead of the non-GAAP measures (see eg. Page 111 which is the first mention of "adjusted EBITDA" presented below GAAP metrics vs page 21 on which the GAAP income statement is first published): [https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1533523/000119312519...](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1533523/000119312519220499/d781982ds1.htm)

</comment><comment><USER3> Worth pointing out that this is largely a US only problem. Rest of the world uses IFRS which clamped down on that non-GAAP adjustment stuff pretty hard because well it's not exactly a subtle gambit

<comment><USER4> I think non-GAAP adjustments were mostly used in the article as a rough marker of "crookedness" that you can measure. Because by far, worldwide, the primary means of fraud involves revenue recognition and other accounting shenanigans (very much recommend the book by the same name) that both IFRS and GAAP are vulnerable to. It's just that's much harder to find that stuff out. But, when the SEC notices a problem with your revenue recognition policies affecting your revenue by a few percent, the SEC comes down on you hard. KHC was an example of that last year or maybe 2 years ago with the new rules in ASC606.

It was news to me that IFRS cracked down on non-GAAP adjustments, particularly because I follow some foreign filers in the US and haven't noticed much of a difference. But then again, I don't follow a lot of companies with the type of management that harps on EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA anyway. According to Charlie Munger, "I think you would understand any presentation using the word EBITDA, if every time you saw that word you just substituted the phrase, "bullshit earnings."

<comment><USER3> Agreed regarding revenue being the bigger issue.

>It was news to me that IFRS cracked down on non-GAAP adjustments

It's mostly achieved by prohibiting adjustment for "extraordinary items". That stops 90% of this bullshit right there. I gather US GAAP has done the same but kept the concept of non-recurring items.

Whether presenting "Alternative Performance Measures" is allowed at all depends on the country specific regulator. Where they are it's generally in addition to the IFRS measures and if you look at ESMA (EU regulator) they require a reconciliation and various other stuff about fair presentation thereof:

[https://www.esma.europa.eu/file/1689/download?token=VQsQ7JzC](https://www.esma.europa.eu/file/1689/download?token=VQsQ7JzC)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> The Bezzle, which I think has been on a HN post before: [https://klementoninvesting.substack.com/p/the- bezzle](https://klementoninvesting.substack.com/p/the-bezzle)

</comment><comment><USER6> Sadly I can't read it (mobile safari, private mode), I'm being asked to create an account.

<comment><USER7> On firefox you can just switch to reader mode and reload the page.

<comment><USER8> If Firefox does not offer reader mode by itself, prepend _about:reader?url=_ to the url to force loading the page in reader mode by the way.

<comment><USER9> Thanks for the tip. I'm curious, do you know how some sites prevent the reader mode button from appearing?

<comment><USER8> From what I would guess, it might be rather that these pages do not conform to what Firefox expects from a page to be suitable to be shown in reader mode. Large pieces of text with a few pictures in them or something like that. If you check back in a few hours, I might have posted more information on this.

<comment><USER8> This might be the right place to look into:

[https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla- central/file/default/toolkit/...](https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla- central/file/default/toolkit/components/reader)

Especially:

[https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla- central/file/a6a5a4f31ea26906...](https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla- central/file/a6a5a4f31ea26906e584e162b8d9485e6cacca32/toolkit/components/reader/Readability- readerable.js#l51)

 _Edit: this is a potshot._

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> [https://archive.md/xEhMd](https://archive.md/xEhMd)

</comment><comment><USER11> What a horrible article most investors understand Chinese companies lie about their number all the time. The non Chinese example is WeWork which was completely rejected by the market and failed to go public?

<comment><USER12> And Enron, Olympus, bt, WorldCom, Tesco, those people who bought dragon dictate and the African firm whose balance sheet was entirely supported by a large green gemstone. Just to name a few off the top of my head. Trying to work out a firm's true assets, liabilities and income is a genuine problem.

<comment><USER13> What's this gemstone company?

<comment><USER12> Turns out it was red, but was an £8000 african stone but ended up in an english company as a 200,000 stone and then transferred to a bankrupt english construction firm as an 11 million pound asset! Ended in tears. Unclear what eventually happened to the stone. [https://www.google.com/search?q=Gem+of+Tanzania](https://www.google.com/search?q=Gem+of+Tanzania)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Mobile Patterns - <AUTHOR> http://www.mobile-patterns.com/

<comment><USER2> This reminds me a lot of pttrns.com.

Both are appreciated for referencing designs.</comment>


Long-lost continent found under the Indian Ocean - <AUTHOR> http://www.nature.com/news/long-lost-continent-found-under-the-indian-ocean-1.12487 <comment><AUTHOR> It was called Kumari Continent[1]

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumari_Kandam>

<comment><USER2> > about three times the size of Crete

Crete is ~8000km2 so this "continent" would be <30000km2.

That makes it less than half the size of Sri Lanka

<comment><USER3> Big enough to host a significant culture or proto-culture leading to a rosy generational memory, small enough that it can rather easily be sunk/destroyed by a disaster with only local impact (as opposed to the completely insane representation of a continent basically covering the current indian ocean in the linked article)

<comment><USER2> Sure, Crete itself hosted a very significant culture <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoan_civilization> which disappeared (probably) due to a natural catastrophe (Thera eruption, 600 times bigger than Eyjafjallajökull)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> What's the difference between a micro continent and an island?

<comment><USER5> A micro-continent is composed of continental crust (e.g. granite). The oceans are mostly underlain by basalts. Because the of the density difference between granite and basalt, continents tend to remain at the surface longer, which is why the age of the zircons implies a former continent.

A micro continent may or may not form an island, which is just a bit of rock (continental or otherwise) that sticks up above the water.

<comment><USER3> > A micro continent may or may not form an island, which is just a bit of rock > (continental or otherwise) that sticks up above the water.

Example: Zealandia, of which New Zealand is the main remnant</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Best programming font? - <AUTHOR>

Every once in a while I tune the little details of my programming setup. Today I am wondering if there is a font I would prefer to the default Ubuntu emacs font. What is your preferred programming font? <comment><USER2> I like the 'monospace' font that comes with ubuntu by default. Not sure what's the actual font name there.

I tried many fonts on Windows and on Linux, but at the end none of them really satisfied me.

Then I realized the default Ubuntu monospace font really looks good. I don't have any complaint about it.

</comment><comment><USER3> Best place to look for this is StackOverflow:

[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4689/recommended-fonts- fo...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4689/recommended-fonts-for- programming)

Every reasonable choice is listed there. Try them. Pick the one you like.

<comment><AUTHOR> I saw that, but it's a couple years old. If someone does want to use that link be sure to sort by votes, the default order has several zero-voted options in the top few. A link to sort-by-vote:

<http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4689?tab=votes#tab-top>

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I like Consolas. It's monospaced and designed for programming.

<comment><USER5> Consolas is optimized for ClearType, which makes fonts clearer by not only using subpixel antialiasing but by also fitting them to the pixel grid.

If only I had ClearType on OSX, I wouldn't have to look at fuzzy text all day ( see this screenshot [http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/06/font- rendering-resp...](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/06/font-rendering- respecting-the-pixel-grid.html) )

<comment><USER6> Both Inconsolata and Consolas seem to look nice on Ubuntus default rendering (though Consolas only seems to look okay on a dark background).

I personally use Inconsolata.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I am using Proggy Clean Slashed Zero (small size, monospaced, support for international characters, centered *): <http://www.proggyfonts.com/index.php?menu=download>

</comment><comment><USER8> I use Anonymous Pro, which is available here:

<http://www.ms-studio.com/FontSales/anonymouspro.html>

</comment><comment><USER9> Yes there is.... Liberation Mono is the best font for working at a shell.

xterm -fa 'Liberation Mono'

To try it out young grasshopper.

</comment><comment><USER10> Inconsolata.

sudo apt-get install ttf-inconsolata

</comment><comment><USER11> I've been using Terminus on emacs for awhile. Fantastic for programming.

</comment><comment><USER12> I'm a huge fan of "Dina". Switched from Proggy.

</comment><comment><USER13> Consola (vim)</comment>


SQL Injection via License Plate - <AUTHOR> https://www.wired.com/story/null-license-plate-landed-one-hacker-ticket-hell/ <comment><USER2> The title is "How a 'NULL' License Plate Landed One Hacker in Ticket Hell", covered on HN before at [https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...](https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=%20%27NULL%27%20License%20Plate%20&sort=byPopularity&type=story) . (467 comments at [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20676904](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20676904) ).

FWIW, I don't quite think it's an example of SQL injection. That comment links point out similar failures with "NO PLATE", "NO TAGS", and others.</comment>


Would you take smart drugs to perform better at work? - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131212-smart-drugs-at-work-good-idea/all <comment><USER2> Reading this reminds me of Paul Erdös's amphetamine habit. Excerpt from "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers":

Like all of Erdös's friends, Graham was concerned about his drug-taking. In 1979, Graham bet Erdös $500 that he couldn't stop taking amphetamines for a month. Erdös accepted the challenge, and went cold turkey for thirty days. After Graham paid up--and wrote the $500 off as a business expense--Erdös said, "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. I'd get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I'd have no ideas, just like an ordinary person. You've set mathematics back a month." He promptly resumed taking pills, and mathematics was the better for it.

<comment><USER3> There's probably a good chance the placebo effect was holding him back during that month. He was already nervous that he might need the drugs to continue working (otherwise he wouldn't have made the bet) so it follows that he may have tricked himself into believing he needed the drugs to keep working. It's hard to say either way.

<comment><USER4> BS, that isn't "placebo" effect. Tried that experiment. Amphetamines are addictive as hell. Sure you can stop taking them but it leaves your neurochemical state in the crapper for a while, so you're down & out (Maybe a withdrawal symptom). IMHO, best not to screw with the brain. It's a fairly complex bit of machinery & you may be wishing you left it at good enough. I know someone who did the electromagnetic stimulation thing, it sounded crazy to me at the time but then actively flooding you bloodstream with crap that will "hack" you brain isn't that far off either

<comment><USER4> FYI, guy who tried the electromagnetic stimulation had a baby, when I saw him afterwards he always seemed tired. I'm assuming any benefit from the electromagnetic stimulation was negated by lack of sleep... Did not seem to get significantly smarter or anything.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> If they were truly effective and there were no side effects, I would take them, and not just for work.

There is a slippery slope here: If taking moderately effective drugs with no side effects becomes commonplace, there will be pressure to take more effective drugs with slight side effects, then possibly very effective drugs with considerable side effects. Just like in sports.

In my opinion, this is not something to be afraid of, but something to be aware of, and debated.

<comment><USER6> Maybe. However, caffeine is a moderately effective smart drug with no side effects, and is fairly commonplace. I don't think this causes pressure to take Adderall (more effective, slight side effects).

<comment><USER7> AFAIK caffeine is a diuretic, interferes with sleep, and gives me the shakes at a high enough dosage. I'd consider those things to be side effects. Pushing up against an unacceptable level of side effects is what probably forces most of us to moderate our dosage.

<comment><USER8> Caffeine is only a mild diuretic, and only for those who haven't built a tolerance to it. You're right though, Caffeine sure does have side-effects, especially withdrawal effects.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I can't view this from the UK?! On the _British_ Broadcasting Cooperation's website crazy.

"BBC Future (international version) We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. It is run commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly- owned subsidiary of the BBC, the profits made from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes. You can find out more about BBC Worldwide and its digital activities at www.bbcworldwide.com.

If you are looking for health, technology, science and environment news in the UK, please visit: Health, Technology, Science and Environment."

<comment><USER10> You would think that if they are smart enough to figure out you are in the UK and they cannot "profit from you", they would just not show you the Ads.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I drink coffee already, so I guess it's more a matter of degrees than would.

</comment><comment><USER11> Like most things, it depends on the trade-offs. Who wouldn't want to be a better version of themselves if it can be done safely?

I already take several: creatine monohydrate (5g/day), Vitamin D (4,000 IU/day), fish oil (~1000mg EPA/600mg DHA), caffeine, and probably more that I'm forgetting.

<comment><USER12> could you briefly describe the benefits of each?

<comment><USER11> There's a nice list of claimed nootropic supplements (legal and illegal, depending on what country you live in) and what benefits (if any) they provide: [http://examine.com/supplements/Nootropic/](http://examine.com/supplements/Nootropic/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Would I? Or do I?

Cognitive enhancing drugs (nootropics) have been in use in the workplace for quite a while now.

Reddit has a pretty robust community as well: [http://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/](http://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/)

</comment><comment><USER14> On the stipulation that:

1) They have been 'proven' empirically to have the advertised efficacy in the general population. Different tasks require different kinds of attention and thinking.

2) There are absolutely no mental or physical potentials for addiction

3) There are absolutely no deleterious mental, physical or general health effects.

Caffeine gets 0/3, so I don't drink it.

> \- modafinil >\- piracetam >\- amphetamines >\- beta blockers > \- ritalin

None of these pass any of the three requirements. Two of them have the fun potential for inducing psychosis in the general population, I have a friend who had a psychotic break after being prescribed amphetamines for ADD.

If you mix beta-blockers with stimulants, you can cause paradoxical hypertension and die. Beta-blockers also build up a tolerance and you will have rebound hypertension. Also people say they cause hair loss, but I attribute that men are typically prescribed them at an age where hair loss is natural.

Modafinil is thought to work by inhibiting GABA release through a similar mechanism as opioids, but in different parts of the brain and not to such an extreme extent. From what I've read, a pattern of abuse and withdrawal can develop with this substance.

Piracetam has a withdrawal, and needs supplementing with other nutrients to be effective.

If any of the above work for you, kudos. I don't want to live in a world where I am pressured into taking drugs on the off chance I might provide more value to my employer at the expense of my health, just because other people are willing to risk it for a job.

<comment><USER15> Piracetam is unsafe and has withdrawal? That must be joke!

Some people are taking 20g/day for entire life, including pregnancy.

And, no, you don't need 'other supplements'. You can for instance eat eggs for choline.

Actually, your numbered list is nonsensical:

1\. Nothing is ever proven 3\. Substance such as that 'absolutely no deleterious mental, pyshical or general healt effects' doesn't exist. The toxin is in the dose. Every input is trade between good and bad.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Depends on the risk. Assuming that the risk is proportionate to dosage, and in the absence of a regulatory mechanism, widespread use of performance enhancing drugs will lead to a level of use just shy of being lethal over the duration of employment, say three years.

<comment><USER16> I'm not so sure I believe that. Is there some kind of game theory argument that shows this? I find it hard to believe that taking "just shy of ... lethal" dosages is a Nash equilibrium here, once you factor in risk of death in the payoff matrix.

<comment><USER7> I had to look up Nash equilibrium, and your critique is valid given that I certainly haven't tried to compute anything. A number of observations lead me to suspect that there is some sort of optimum:

1\. Working conditions generally being more dangerous in the absence of regulatory mechanisms such as OSHA.

2\. I live in a state with a sizable dairy industry, and I've read that three years is the typical productive lifespan of a milk cow before it can no longer support its own weight and collapses, when its production is managed with RBGH and antibiotics.

3\. Doping of elite athletes is regulated by practical limits of detection.

Lethality might not be the ultimate limit. Public outrage or a decline of performance above a certain dosage might also set upper limits.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I took anaracetam for about 6 months earlier in the year. Same as piracetam but non-prescription and only 3-4hrs vs 8+ duration.

The effects were definitely there. More code, easier comprehension of code but also enhanced use of my vocabulary, clarity of speech.

I stopped taking it because I was worried it was affecting my short term memory. I felt like I was becoming more forgetful especially on weekends when I would take a break.

I'm not sure if this was just a readjustment of my baseline making me feel dumb when I wasn't taking any or if there has actually been damage done.

I'm now of the mind that it's probably better not to risk it until a drug is well established as safe.

<comment><USER18> +1 for experiencing negative effects on memory after a while. I had that too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> I don't need that to perform better. I would do it the natural way: maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This means proper sleep, daily exercise and a balanced and varied food.

<comment><USER20> It's not like 'performing better' is binary. I'm sure that you would perform even better if you took nootropics.

<comment><USER4> Not necessarily. Good chunk of the "enhancers" might not bode well with strenuous exercise. I don't know of anyone who's mentioned an amplification in their abilities by mixing both diet+exercise with neuro enhancers.

<comment><USER20> Well that settles it. Killah911 doesn't know anyone who would do both, ergo there isn't anyone.

<comment><USER4> If you do, please share. It's not the kind of discussion that comes about as a normal part of my conversation with most people. Hoping to hear some interesting viewpoints on HN, especially if they happen to be from people who were able to amplify or have an additive effect by doing both.

I've experienced negative ones so far with Beta Blockers and stimulants + exercise. Haven't been bold enough to try other combos, I'm good with excercise for now

<comment><USER20> I don't. But that still does not really give any indication about the effects of the combination.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> No drug is 100% safe or free of side effects, and these effects might only surface after long-term use. Some of these side effects are not currently known, since large numbers of people haven't taken some of these drugs on a daily basis for a long time.

For example, some psychotropic drugs, such as antipsychotics, can have severe side effects which are sometimes permanent, such as tardive dyskinesia (involuntary, repetitive body movements)[1]. Others, like SSRIs, can have very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Maybe I'd risk neurological side effects if I had a mental illness that prevented me from living my life. But would I do it just to become more effective at work? No way.

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

<comment><USER22> Amphetamines and opiates have a rather small side effect profile if you're otherwise in good health. If you're not prone to psychosis or heart issues and not "abusing" amphetamines, there shouldn't be much problem. Same for opiates: apart from constipation, they're a near-complete win. People perform better at intellectual tasks when using opiates due to feeling better overall.

It's not fair to compare antipsychotics and other drugs to "fix" mental instability - those have terrible side effects. The newer ones are better overall, although with major but rare side effects like you mentioned, as well as SJS (~skin falls off). Basics, such as amphetamines, are not nearly as risky or screwed up as the psych drugs.

<comment><USER21> " _If you 're not prone to psychosis or heart issues_"

If you've never tried taking these drugs before, how would you know that you're prone to these issues before they hit you and it's too late?

The following excerpt from Wikipedia[1] describes side-effects of amphetamines (e.g., Adderall) and similar stimulants when used to treat ADHD:

 _Increased rates of psychosis and /or mania are associated with many stimulants used to treat ADHD, including Concerta, Ritalin LA, d-MPH, Atomoxetine, Adderall XR, Modafinil, MTS, and Metadate. A 2009 FDA review of 49 clinical trials found that one to two percent of children taking stimulants for ADHD experienced hallucinations or other psychotic episodes. Nearly half of these were under the age of eleven, and approximately 90% had no history of similar psychiatric events. Hallucinations involving snakes, worms or insects were the most commonly reported. This incidence of psychosis is higher than the 0.1% reported by previous short-term clinical trials. Even this new incidence rate may be low, however, since the clinical trials often excluded children with previous, adverse reactions to ADHD medication._

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivit...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder_management#Psychiatric_side_effects)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> (Throwaway account, through proxy server, etc.)

Yes.

I've worked at a startup where 60% of the engineers were using drugs illegally, every single day. Most used Adderall that was supplied by one of the programmers, but when that ran short, some started using very small doses (~5mg) of methamphetamine (myself included).

This was the only way any of us could keep up. There was a clear divide in compensation between the engineers that were using and the ones that were not. We, the users, simply got more done. As far as I know, management was not aware of the drug use.

This company eventually had a sizeable exit, and the top-rated engineers (read: the drug users) all got hefty "rentention bonuses" from the acquirer. As far as I know, there isn't one of us in the "using group" that is not a millionaire right now.

</comment><comment><USER24> I've been doing an interesting experiment related to this. For the past month, I took either 200 mg Modafinil (Generic) or 150 mg Armodafinil (Nuvigil). I noticed no increase or decrease in my productivity. However, my mood was noticeably improved with both. I became more sociable than normal, which surprised some of my co-workers (usually I'm quite reserved / absorbed with coding during my day to day). I also was able to see certain novel patterns I wouldn't have before. It's hard to describe this: it's almost like my brain was bringing to the surface memories that were relevant to helping me solve a particular problem.

<comment><USER18> +1 to feeling more sociable while on these drugs. Whether that is a good thing depends on your personal preferences. I don't generally like being talkative and I don't really like talkative people, so in retrospect, I don't appreciate that side-effect.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Yes, I would. In fact, I need to get around to figuring out what the Silk Road Alternative Of The Week is and look into getting some Modafinil or whatever.

As of now, I pretty much limit myself to caffeine and 5HTP.

Wouldn't mind trying some acid as well, but I'm not sure you can really call that a "smart drug". :-)

</comment><comment><USER26> No, I've found that performance at work is generally inversely correlated with being smart. That said inducing mental states that makes one more likeable generally works wonders for performance at work.

</comment><comment><USER18> I've taken Modafinil in the past for this reason, for about six months. It made me temporarily more productive, alert, and able to focus (for the first two months, I'd say), but then I started to become habituated and the effect wasn't the same. When I was on it, I slept and ate much less. I am not sure I could have slept or ate more if I wanted to. At first, it made me feel so anxious that I could hardly exist around other people. I remember my first conversation with my roommate while I was on it. My heart nearly exploded and my brain froze. I had a terrifying experience driving around that first day too. (Lesson learned: do not try new drugs and drive!) But that went away after a day or so, and then I behaved more recklessly. I felt more aggressive and on edge. I think I felt more confident, temporarily. I became highly talkative (for me, at least). I drank a lot, at least for the first three or so months. One possible theory is that it induced a higher heart rate, which made me feel anxious, which made me want to drink more. I also smoked a lot more (cigarettes). I found that my memory was not as good after several months of taking this -- this could be due in part to its interference with my sleep, and in part due to the drinking, although I can't say for sure if I drank markedly more during that time than other times in my life. I don't really think so though. I actually got the worst grades that I have ever received in my life the semester I was on it (math and science courses). I stopped taking it soon after. Granted, I was dealing with a number of other issues then, so this was hardly a controlled experiment, and the effects I experienced could have been due to a number of other lifestyle factors. In addition, there could have been a drug quality issue. We'll never know. But my sense for these kinds of drugs after that experience is that it is not healthy for me and I would not do it again. I wouldn't even take it as a once-in-a-while all-nighter work-cramming thing, unless I was, say, in a multi-day gun battle, which is a very unlikely scenario. For me, I find that maintaining good mental health, working consistently, eating well, getting eight hours of sleep, and exercising makes me a much more productive, happy, and mentally sharp human being. I think it is difficult to use drugs to improve yourself unless you have serious issues to begin with and/or you really know what you're doing. If you're going to try it, make sure you plan ahead and have ample discipline, data, and possibly, expert supervision.

Interestingly, before experimenting with Modafinil, my friends and I used to sometimes take Adderall and similar drugs recreationally, because we found their effect to be quite similar to cocaine.

EDIT: Feel free to ask me more about this experience if you're curious.

</comment><comment><USER2> "Smart drugs" mentioned:

\- modafinil

\- piracetam

\- amphetamines

\- beta blockers

\- ritalin

<comment><USER4> Modafinil is overrated. There are modest gains, but meh...

No idea what paracetem does...

Amphetamines are great until you get a heartattack or go batshit crazy. Not worth the risk. Ok for weightloss but way too dangerous in my opinion. Quit it and you'll be down for what seems forever. I put phentermine in the same class

Beta blockers, now that's a first... Always thought they're boring blood pressure drugs or something...

Ritalin is OK, but you can get habituated, not entirely sure there aren't any negative side effects (certainly not as creative on Ritalin).

IMHO Best cognitive enhancer with few side effects: Exercise! Read "Spark", tried the 80% of max heartrate for 30 mins a day and boom! It works! Good ol BDNF. Better concentration, creativity & less depression. Also helps create new brain cells... I hate exercising, but now I pop in a audible & take the much needed 45min refresher every day. Haven't tried with any combination of enhancers, though beta blockers are probably not a good fit right off the bat & I wonder if Amphetamines wouldn't make you heart just want to explode...

<comment><USER27> Beta blockers are used by musicians to control performance anxiety. I used to take them for auditions. For a stage performance it can leave you a bit emotionally flat, but when you have ten minutes in which you have to be perfect, it can really help stave off the shakes.

<comment><USER8> I suppose beta blockers are prescription only in most countries? Been reading up on them, sounds like they would come in handy during a job interview or something.

<comment><USER27> I got a prescription for them from my doctor at the time (for PA, not high blood pressure), so it should be doable. Definitely would be helpful for job interviews too (I'm sure 20-40% of the people you see appearing before news cameras take them also) but be aware that they can cause your mouth to be dry. Also, try them out before the big day -- I've known people to pass out during big performances because, you know, they can lower your blood pressure.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> I already take a rather dumb drug for that: coffee. And lots of it. I'd gladly replace it with a more efficient and safer drug, preferably one that doesn't cause a physical addiction.

</comment><comment><USER29> @greenfieldprod: You seem to have made multiple high-quality replies in this thread, but nobody is seeing them (and nobody can reply to them) because your account seems to be 'hellbanned'. Some people (like me) will see your posts, because they surf HN with 'showdead' turned on in the prefs, but most people won't even be knowing that you exist right now.

Normally this is only applied to spammers and trolls etc, but I thought it might be nice to let you know since you seem to be legitimately attempting to participate here.

I'm not sure how to appeal this, aside from contacting pg or making a new account.

No need to reply to this, not trying to derail the thread. Cheers.

</comment><comment><USER30> I wonder what kind of relationship the answer to this question has with non- stimulated intelligence.

Do smarter people want more to be even smarter? Or do dumb people want more to be smart?

</comment><comment><USER31> I'd take it if it would increase the success of my startup by a non-trivial percentage.

Performing well at work is no guarantee of earning more money, hence I wouldn't.

<comment><USER25> Agreed. I should have made that point in my own answer. Yes, I'd use, in the course of building my startup. But I wouldn't do it for some generic salaried job.

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> Would you let your child get on a bus driven by someone who wasn't taking their prozac?

</comment><comment><USER33> Depending on the side effect, yes.

</comment><comment><USER34> I'd rather take mushrooms.

<comment><USER22> Psychedelics seem indicated for perhaps gaining a different viewpoint on technical designs. I believe one of the senior engineers at Cisco promoted LSD for coming up with networking equipment ideas. I'm far from convinced that psychedelics are good for actually working. Even the Beatles said they never actually recorded while on LSD.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> Yes, then we will end up with a singularity sooner.</comment>


Will Link Summary Cards in Twitter Affect Your Tweeting? - <AUTHOR>

Twitter is now going to provide a URL preview in mobile clients. Since most tweets contain URLs this will dramatically alter the look of the timeline. Will this affect how you use Twitter? <comment><USER2> As a content marketer, I'm excited about this update. I spend a lot of time crafting images and titles for the content I produce for my clients, and it will be interesting to see if the increased visibility of a post and it's image will drive more traffic.</comment>


Has Bing Actually Built a Better Search Engine? - <AUTHOR> http://www.seattle20.com/blog/Has-Bing-Actually-Built-a-Better-Search-Engine.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+Seattle20+(Seattle+2.0) <comment><USER2> I reached the opposite conclusion, Google traffic probably results in fewer page views because users find what they're looking for sooner. This would imply that Google returns better targeted search results.</comment>


Uber and the Delicate Business of Creating a Platform - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/uber_and_the_delicate_business.html <comment><USER2> Uber's dynamic pricing is an interesting system, and I think some of it's subtler points are overlooked in this article. Uber did a poor job of providing good messaging about what prices would be last New Years Eve. That's changed. They're a startup and they seem to be learning as they go.

The article argues that overall prices should be increased to help offset costs for high demand times. That's missing the point of dynamic pricing (or "surge" pricing). The point is that you can almost always reliably get a ride, regardless of demand, but at times with the highest demand (like New Years Eve) you have to pay more for that. In return, Uber is able to pay their drivers more, and are able to better fill those high demand times (otherwise you'd just sit around waiting for a car, but would never get one because they're all already filled). It's the right move from a platform perspective. It's not putting the interests of drivers above passengers, but instead balancing both sides (passengers have an increased chance of getting a ride if they absolutely need it, but may have to pay more for that).

</comment><comment><USER3> To those who read the comments before the article, this is really about building a market, not a platform in the sense that the word is usually thrown around here.

</comment><comment><USER4> Not to down play the consumer experience issue, but I couldn't help but chuckle a bit when the author spoke about the issues on NYE.

"Consumers who were used to easy clicking missed the notice and became (reasonably) upset when the bill arrived."

I wonder how many drinks those consumers has consumed when they were ordering their ride home.</comment>


Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy: To destroy this invisible government - <AUTHOR> http://zunguzungu.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/julian-assange-and-the-computer-conspiracy-%E2%80%9Cto-destroy-this-invisible-government%E2%80%9D

<comment><USER2> Here's a PDF of the original: <http://cryptome.org/0002/ja-conspiracies.pdf>

Assange quotes Teddy Roosevelt, in what appears to be the main justification for his actions:

"Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul this unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of statesmanship."

<comment><AUTHOR> To me the most interesting part of the article was the means of befouling: the idea that the release of information does not need to have a direct effect, rather that the process of leaking will cause the targeted organization to change its own behaviour from within. I had not previously considered these secondary effects.

If an organization (government, corporate, scientific) thinks that its actions will be scrutinized and that the walls have ears, and if internally it realizes that its methods are questionable and embarrassing, it will become paralyzed with fear of discovery and less able to act effectively. Like an allergic reaction, the leaks themselves are not the point --- it's the body's autoimmune response to the leaks that can be life threatening.

<comment><USER2> Right. It's not about the cables themselves, it's about driving the government apparatus to degrade its own effectiveness by tightening security, increasing compartmentalization and reducing collaboration.

The genius of this approach is its asymmetry. In response to Bin Laden's 'investment' of $100,000 and 19 lives, the US sacrificed thousands of soldiers, spent trillions of dollars and destroyed a reputation and moral authority that took generations to build.

The US did most of the damage itself.

Similarly, in response to Wikileaks' disclosures that mostly confirm what's already well known, the US is already overreacting.

Looks the US is well on its way to multiplying Wikileaks' investment untold thousands of times.</comment></comment></comment>


'Major distraction': school dumps iPads, returns to paper textbooks - <AUTHOR> https://www.smh.com.au/education/major-distraction-school-dumps-ipads-returns-to-paper-textbooks-20190329-p5191r.html <comment><USER2> I find it significantly harder to concentrate when reading an eBook versus a physical copy. Maybe it's Pavlovian conditioning from all the time I waste on my phone, but something about small glass screens makes my focus shut right off

<comment><USER3> I read fiction on my phone all the time, but when I try to switch to my PC to continue reading, I will find myself doing something entirely different 15 minutes later. Yet, I can read for several hours in a row on my phone (I've even bought an extension cord so that I can charge my phone while reading).

I haven't tried reading from paper books for a decade though. Perhaps it would work, but the selection of things I'm interested in reading is too small.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> The failure of the tech world to produce a truly good, useful, immersive, generative mobile media device and ecosystem is profoundly troubling.

The challenges are not technical, nor are they inherent to devices. I supect it's a combination of business models and IP law (copyright, patents, and others) which are holding us back.

In the past 24 hours, I've been tracking down works by an author, including one book for which Worldcat has a single listing, Amazon has none, and a few physical copies may be found apparently with a surviving co-author, at, as it happens, Edith Cowan University in Australia.

Oh: and Google _have_ digitised this work, much of it is readable through the abysmal Google Books interface. But with sufficient limitations that I'd prefer re-typing the content by hand, as I've done for other works:

[https://pastebin.com/raw/fZajYSGa](https://pastebin.com/raw/fZajYSGa)

This allows me to produce multile formats readily via Pandoc, including HTML, PDF, ePub, and others.

I've used several ebook readers, all have distinct limitations. Pocketbook on Android is amomg the better, though its poor metadata management (No author field!!! Abysmal editing interface) is a constant frustration.

For Apple, lack of a mature console userland as with Android's Termux is a killer. For Android, everything but Termux is abysmal.

</comment><comment><USER5> I'm shocked! No one asked the question "why is this better" when schools lined up to buy millions of iPads.

<comment><USER6> > No one asked

That's not true. My district told parents it would lighten backpacks. They eliminated lockers. Now kids have to carry backpacks full of textbooks, AND their iPads, AND be responsible for both electronic work and paper work.

Root cause: ebooks too expensive, schools were subject to the same racket as any student: rent-seeking publishers.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Its the systemic paradox of teachers being unable to learn anything new [it violates their contract /s] and, as a result, killing educational innovation at every opportunity. iPads were never cost-effective for schoolwork - Chromebooks are because even the poorest families can afford or be offered one for home use.

The public education system is beyond broken.</comment>


Trump DOL Throws 401k Investors to the Wolves - <AUTHOR> https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsiedle/2020/06/13/dol-throws-401k-investors-to-the-wolves <comment><USER2> Ignoring this news for a moment, what's the worst that could happen to my 401k? (Not asking rhetorically). If I invest $1, could I not get that $1 back?

Does this development change the list of possible outcomes or the likelihood of outcomes?

<comment><USER3> _If I invest $1, could I not get that $1 back?_

Of course. You buy a very risky "investment" using your 401K, that investment goes bust, and you get back...zero divided by zero...carry the zero...you get back zero dollars from your initial investment of $1.</comment></comment>


Nymph: A C like Programming Language - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/roecrew/nymph/wiki <comment><USER2> Dupe: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15045592](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15045592) (49 points, 5 days ago, 38 comments) Resubmitting each day from a different account will make the mods ban your accounts/site/language.

Try writing an interesting post about the language. How did you solve a technical problem, a design decision, benchmarks.</comment>


Where's #Music For Android? Why We're Still Going iOS 1st - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/18/wheres-twitter-music-for-android-why-todays-tech-companies-are-still-going-ios-first/ <comment><USER2> This is a great opportunity for Android devs. Just watch as an iPhone app becomes really popular, and then recreate it on Android before the original app makers even think about considering doing an Android port. Sort of what like the Samwer brothers have done with Rocket Internet: [http://gigaom.com/2012/04/11/revealed-the-full-extent-of- the...](http://gigaom.com/2012/04/11/revealed-the-full-extent-of-the-rocket- clone-empire/)

</comment><comment><USER3> One thing this article fails to mention is the wide range of Android devices which makes testing harder. It is much easier to test and launch an iOS app vs Android app.

BTW, SendHub is hiring! We are looking for iOS/Android developers

<comment><USER2> > One thing this article fails to mention is the wide range of Android devices > which makes testing harder. It is much easier to test and launch an iOS app > vs Android app.

Bullshit. I'm an Android dev and unless you're dealing with low-level hardware stuff, this is not an issue. I've done both high level stuff and low level stuff, so I've seen the difference.

And even if you are doing low-level hardware stuff (like you might for some intensive games), there's nothing stopping you from targeting a handful of the most popular Android devices and then expanding from there. You can restrict which devices your app will show up for on the Play Store.</comment></comment>


HN Apps List - <AUTHOR> http://www.hnsearch.com/apps There are a lot of HN apps out there so we thought it would be useful to compile a list. Right now the list consists mostly of HNSearch contest apps but please let us know of any others you'd like us to add. <comment><AUTHOR> There are a lot of useful HN apps out there and we thought it would be useful to compile a list of them. Right now the list consists mostly of apps from the HNSearch API contest but please let us know of any others you'd like to add.

<comment><USER2> Not sure if you would consider it an app, but I run the weekly Hacker Newsletter project (<http://www.hackernewsletter.com>). About to hit the one year mark with almost 3000 subscribers. I don't use the API (yet), but I do use HNSearch to list a couple classics each issue.

<comment><AUTHOR> Just added it. I'm actually trying to compile a list of all apps, not just the ones that use the API.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> HN HideIt: a Chrome extension to hide stories and collapse comments I built a while ago

[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dibillbafbngeiloeh...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dibillbafbngeiloehmhhibhjhipeoig)

The last version (uploaded today) moves the search box in the top right corner (can be disabled in options).

<comment><AUTHOR> Just added it.

<comment><USER3> Thanks. (There was a bug in the last version, it's corrected now.)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> HackerNews HD : hacker news reader for android tablets (honeycomb).

<https://market.android.com/details?id=com.sl2v.HackerNewsHD>

</comment><comment><USER5> <http://hn-books.com>

I'll submit an email.

</comment><comment><USER6> <http://archfinch.com/tags/hn> \-- HN filtered by tags (all posts with at least 10 points, updated hourly).

</comment><comment><USER7> nice. Could you put it in a table:

\- a short description

\- whether it uses the hnsearch api

\- creator

\- announcement thread, and karma of that thread

\- date launched

\- submission form

<comment><AUTHOR> If you wouldn't mind compiling the info, I'd be happy to add it to the page.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Could it mention platform or OS?</comment>