Coca-Cola Germany Seeks Sales Boost via Food Delivery App - <AUTHOR> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-28/germany-coca-cola-seeks-sales-boost-via-food-delivery-app

<comment><USER2> Wow and the article manages to spin this like it's news

Any of the biggest mobile delivery platform does exactly that, allow small eateries to sell their product through their platform. They will onboard you on the system, set up your menu and everything.

<comment><USER3> Pretty much, companies like Thuisbezorgd in the Netherlands have been doing it for a while.</comment></comment>


Image Processing 101 - <AUTHOR> https://codewords.recurse.com/issues/six/image-processing-101 <comment><USER2> Slightly related, but I had a small epiphany when taking a class on DSP on Coursera. The kernel that is used to blur an image and that which is used to remove the treble/high frequencies from an audio sample are identical, except one is in 2 dimensions and the other is in 1. And this makes perfect sense! A low pass filter removes high frequencies, and sharp edges are high frequencies in the 2D plane.

TFA only mentions Gaussian blur, but a Gaussian blur is just a moving average, with "closer" pixels being valued higher, plus a smooth falloff. When you replace each value with an average of its neighborhood, you "soften" the transitions.

<comment><USER3> May I ask which Coursera course that was?

<comment><USER4> i would presume [https://www.coursera.org/course/dsp](https://www.coursera.org/course/dsp) which was pretty good when I did it - [https://www.coursera.org/course/images](https://www.coursera.org/course/images) also covered some similar things

<comment><USER3> That looks like it, great, thanks.

The reason why I'm asking instead of searching on Coursera is that Coursera has become increasingly hard to search, at least in my view, so it's easier to ask directly.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I know that this is an introduction, but I wish there was a warning about the use of improper color spaces for different tasks (like using sRGB or any nonlinear colorspace for downscaling images, blurring or Phong shading). A warning about the existence of different colorspaces and their different use cases would be enough in an introductionary write up. It's still an issue in most of today's software [1].

Like open this image in your browser or in your favorite image viewer and scale it down to 50%: [http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/gamma-1.0-or-2.2.png](http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/gamma-1.0-or-2.2.png)

[1] [http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/gamma.html](http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/gamma.html)

<comment><USER6> So I just spent half an hour googling for libraries that could help with this. Chroma.js seems to be a pretty nice option for dealing with this issue in a web context:

[http://gka.github.io/chroma.js/](http://gka.github.io/chroma.js/)

The person behind is has some nice blog posts on color generation too:

[https://vis4.net/color/](https://vis4.net/color/)

The only issue that I see is that the library is focused on translating data to colours. The problems with blurring and downscaling that you mentioned go the other way: the colours are the data.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> So OK you can use cv2.COLOR_RGB2GRAY to get a grayscale image. But what does that teach you? In my image processing 101 course a couple of years ago we actually didn't use any libraries except for reading images and showing them (written by the teacher). Just Java. A picture would be a 2 dimensional array. The pixel is represented by an integer. So you just need a nested for loop and you can manipulate every pixel yourself, thus learning what really happens under the hood, how filters work.

<comment><USER8> i totally agree that the fun part lies in understanding how things work under the hood. i never understood how edge detection work until i worked on an implementation with JavaScript and canvas, and that was a fantastic learning experience. the motivation behind this article was to provide a general idea of what image processing could do, and hopefully encourage someone to delve deeper into the mechanics of image processing :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> A good follow on from this is the Learning OpenCV book (O'Reilly), written by a couple of the lead developers. It goes into detail on the mathematics, but it's not heavy or verbose at all. I found it far more useful than a lot of introductory image processing books simply for its theoretical content.

Don't forget scikit-image and scipy.ndimage too.

</comment><comment><USER10> Strictly speaking image processing is image in -> image out. And image analysis is image in -> data out. The author gives the expression that everything is image processing. Not a big thing but it helps to know the difference if you want to take the correct course :)

<comment><USER11> The first paragraph in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_processing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_processing)

"In imaging science, image processing is processing of images using mathematical operations by using any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, a series of images, or a video, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image.[1]"

[1] Rafael C. Gonzalez; Richard E. Woods (2008). Digital Image Processing. Prentice Hall. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-0-13-168728-8.

<comment><USER12> I was going to answer with the Gonzalez & Woods definition. Extremely clear book by the way.

<comment><USER11> Yes, I read this one too. Never applied the concepts in practice though.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Have you looked at [http://aishack.in/](http://aishack.in/) \- it has a bunch of opencv tutorials and projects.

<comment><USER8> ahh this is great! opencv tutorials with detailed explanations on the algorithms are hard to come by. i've found tutorials really useful to learn some of the standard processes in image processing (i.e. grayscale and blurring to remove noise).

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Instead of using built-in method calls that come with a library, why look into the algorithms used to generate the different transforms?

I once worked on a UI where the users wanted to capture a screenshot of the current page.

Because color toner is more expensive they also wanted the option to print grey scale. I'm pretty terrible at working in 2D space but a quick Google search let me know that the conversion to grey scale involved averaging the RGB values for each pixel.

Unfortunately, the coloring of the UI was darker more than light so the resulting greyscale image was still black toner intensive. So we provided an additional option to invert black and white.

To make it work a second transform was applied to each pixel that reversed the pixel value from upper to lower bound (or vice versa depending on how you look at it).

The result was an output that trended toward white instead of black. The output looked surprisingly good and saved on toner so the users could print many screen captures without worrying about wasting resources.

For the business, it resulted in a cost and resource savings. For users, picking the resulting output provided better results that were easier to understand. From a development perspective, the implementation wasn't difficult at all to add. So, win-win-win.

What surprised me was how easy these transforms were to apply. It's a bit CPU intensive on high resolution images but it's not terribly difficult to come up with good results.

It would be awesome to see some more examples of algorithms used for image processing. So much material covers generic algorithms and data structures that come with the typical CS degree.

It would be much more interesting to see algorithms that can be used in practice. For example, how to scale images, implement blur, color correction, calculate HSL, etc...

Libraries are great but these concepts are simple enough that they don't require 'high science'.

The article mentions a curiosity related to how edge detection works. I'd assume that you select a color and exclude anything that falls outside a pre- determined or calculated threshold. For instance, take a color and do frequency analysis of colors above-below that value by a certain amount. Make multiple passes testing upper and lower bounds.

A full color image @ 24 bit (8R 8G 8B) will take a max of 24 passes and will likely have logarithmic runtime cost if implemented using a divide-conquer algorithm.

Things like blur and lossy compression sound a hell of a lot more interesting because they have to factor in adjacency.

<comment><USER15> > I'd assume that you select a color and

This is not at all how edge detection works. See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobel_operator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobel_operator) for a key building block.

<comment><USER14> Thanks!

I wasn't aware of this approach. Looks like a reasonable single-pass solution.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> I'm actually taking a image processing course right now, and at least one thing I didn't see in this article that I have found very useful is histogram equalization (OpenCV equalizeHist). It basically takes images with low contrast and increases the contrast. This is really useful for many applications but one I've actually been able to use is increasing the legibility of scanned pencil on paper images.

<comment><USER8> yes! i've found it really useful when dealing with images of items in different lighting conditions. i've struggled with understanding histogram equalization, would you happen to have good resources that explain how it is done?

<comment><AUTHOR> Does this help any? Say we're looking at a grayscale image, where each pixel has a value between 0.0 and (just less than) 1.0. Sort all the pixel values, then scan them from lowest value to highest. The pixels with the lowest value in the image get reassigned the value 0; and in general, a pixel that's brighter than k of the other pixels, out of n total, gets changed to intensity k/n. This spreads the intensities as evenly as we can. (Which might not be so even, for example if all of the input pixels were the same intensity to start -- then this just changes them to 0!)

Maybe the image is, say, 8-bit grayscale, so the values can range from 0 to 255 instead -- then it'd be floor(k/n times 256).

This is usually described in terms of a cumulative description function; I tried to say the same with less jargon.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> As a sort of abstract question, do readers here think of <Class X> 101 as meaning fundamentals of X, or basic techniques in X? Having taken image processing from both sides, I'd say that learning the principles was much more useful (and would have been more useful still if I'd had a proper background in linear algebra). This article is the equivalent of naming some tools and showing us where they fit.

<comment><USER18> I agree. I'm terrible at maths so struggled with aspects of Computer Vision in my degree, but I don't see how you could use OpenCV without understanding the principles to at least a basic degree. It seems like you're purposely creating a black box within which magic is happening. Which would be nice and fine and abstract in many circumstances, except OpenCV keeps you greatly abstracted from the concepts, and any non-trivial Vision application needs you to get close to the theoretical-metal anyway, in my experience.

If anyone's interested in the theory, I'd recommend Sonka

<comment><USER8> totally. while OpenCV is really useful and magical (i did learn a lot of theory from the OpenCV tutorials though), it didn't help me wrap my head around concepts, but implementing the algorithms (gaussian blur, edge detection, etc) without having fully grasped the math helped a whole lot with understanding how things work. i still can't explain the math behind edge detection, for example, but i can describe how it works. when i wrote this, i had in mind a person who would like to get a big picture idea of what image processing is, and will hopefully be inspired to learn what happens under the hood.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> My CS lab specialized in image processing, can confirm this is indeed the 101.

</comment><comment><USER20> -1 for explicitly disabling pinchzoom on mobile/tablet devices.

<comment><USER21> It's just a simple css value and not intentional, I think. I don't remember where I read this or what it was exactly, some other comment about another site.

<comment><USER20> The default is to allow zoom. Why add a value to remove end user functionality?</comment></comment></comment>


Tesla Supercharger Catches Fire at a Wawa Store in New Jersey - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/18/tesla-supercharger-fire-at-wawa-store-in-new-jersey.html <comment><USER2> Confirmed: the media is still attacking Elon Musk/Tesla/SpaceX for political reasons.

</comment><comment><USER3> How many petrol stations caught fire last year? I know one blew up in my neighborhood in 2018 ...

<comment><USER4> one in my neighborhood too! Either we live very close to each other or superchargers blow up a lot less often than gas stations.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: I Just Got A Used MacBook Pro. What To Install? - <AUTHOR>

I just got a late 2011, 15-inch MacBook Pro from my older brother. I enjoy programming/developing a lot, so what apps should I get/install on the new system for developing and productivity? <comment><USER2> Divvy lets you easily resize windows to a grid pattern. There may be similar free utilities but I found that it was worth the $14.

[https://mizage.com/divvy/](https://mizage.com/divvy/)

If you are interested in binary objects/executables, check out MachOView. Think of it as an excellent GUI version of nm/readelf (for MachO, obviously) with search.

[https://github.com/gdbinit/MachOView](https://github.com/gdbinit/MachOView)

<comment><USER3> People at work use SizeUp, which is free and beautiful: [https://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/](https://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/)

I use Slate, which is free and powerful: [https://github.com/jigish/slate](https://github.com/jigish/slate)

<comment><USER4> +1 for Slate

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Some apps I use every day:

\</comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>--

Homebrew - [http://brew.sh/](http://brew.sh/)

Growl - [http://growl.info/](http://growl.info/)

Alfred - [http://www.alfredapp.com/](http://www.alfredapp.com/)

Sublime Text - [https://www.sublimetext.com](https://www.sublimetext.com)

Transmission - [http://www.transmissionbt.com/](http://www.transmissionbt.com/)

Transmit - [http://panic.com/transmit/](http://panic.com/transmit/)

Evernote - [http://www.evernote.com/](http://www.evernote.com/)

BetterTouchTool - [http://blog.boastr.net/?page_id=1722](http://blog.boastr.net/?page_id=1722)

Dash - [http://kapeli.com/dash](http://kapeli.com/dash)

F.lux- [https://justgetflux.com/](https://justgetflux.com/)

<comment><USER6> I thought Growl was kind of dead since Apple introduced Notification Center?

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> These are my 'must-haves', or very close to it, and most of them are free or offer a free version.

Alfred 2 (search and a lot more)

aText (text expansion)

Adium (Chat)

Adapter (audio/video filetype conversion)

Caffeine (prevent display from dimming or sleeping)

Chrome (browser)

Colloquy (IRC client)

Dash (documentation and snippet browser)

Dashlane (password management)

Doubleplane (window resizing)

Dropbox (cloud storage)

Evernote (notes, bulky)

Firefox (browser)

F.lux (smart display brightness)

Handbrake (video transcoder)

Hazel (file/folder automation)

iTerm (terminal replacement)

Jumpcut (store and recall clipboard history)

MailMate (email)

Mou (markdown editor with live preview) Readkit (RSS reader)

Screenmailer (free, easy screencast creation and sharing)

Simplenote (notes, lean) Skype (calls)

Spark (hotkey)

Sublime Text Editor 3 (text editor)

TicToc (time tracking)

VLC (media player)

</comment><comment><USER8> For the people who use Alfred ([http://www.alfredapp.com/](http://www.alfredapp.com/)), I'm curious to know Alfred's advantages over the native Spotlight (which IMO works fairly well) or other similar apps like Found ([https://www.foundapp.com/](https://www.foundapp.com/)) or Quicksilver ([http://qsapp.com/download.php](http://qsapp.com/download.php))?

Oh and to add my two cents to the OP's question:

HyperDock ([http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/](http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/)): Windows 7 functionality to preview individual windows

</comment><comment><USER9> [https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop](https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop) will install Homebrew, Tmux, Silver Searcher, Postgres, Redis, a few programming languages, and other items.

[https://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles](https://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles) sets up a bunch of slick aliases and plugins for Vim and ZSH to make development productive.

</comment><comment><USER10> Lately I've become a fan of isolating multiple environments. This way I can run different IDE environments on the same machine without conflicts or dependency problems. There are quite a few ways you could do this, ranging from entire VM's (something like virtualbox), to VM containers (something like docker), to language specific isolated environments (something like virtualenv for python or rvm for ruby), to prebuilt environments (something like bitnami). Each one has different pro's and con's (too heavy, too complex, etc) but the general idea is the same; Having the ability to build multiple isolated environments makes it easier for me to maintain those environments. It also gives me the flexibility to test different environment variables with some sort of fallback if something goes wrong. So it's something I would recommend, but YMMV. Another recommendation I would make (not software, but still a must IMO) is to install an SSD and max out the RAM. Feels like a whole new machine! Good luck and have fun.

</comment><comment><USER11> You have a good older brother.

I recommend these apps.

<Developing>

        iTerm2

        Firefox

        Sublime Text

        Cyberduck

        Xcode

        Gimp(Image)

        Skitch(Image)

<Productivity>

        Evernote

        Dropbox

        Alfred

        Memory Clean

        1Password

</comment><comment><USER12> Alfred App is an absolute essential in my book (especially custom web searches) [http://www.sequelpro.com/](http://www.sequelpro.com/)

Sublime Text. Makes u feel like a magician. [http://www.sublimetext.com/](http://www.sublimetext.com/)

Sequel Pro. Best db manager out there. Wish they just supported more than MySQL. [http://www.sequelpro.com/](http://www.sequelpro.com/)

iTerm2. The built in terminal in OS X kind of sucks. [http://www.iterm2.com/](http://www.iterm2.com/)

Homebrew. The missing package manager for OS X. [http://brew.sh/](http://brew.sh/)

<comment><USER13> ( Typo, Sequel Pro's URL has been put for Alfred App. For convenience it's [http://www.alfredapp.com](http://www.alfredapp.com) )

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Some great submissions here already (second/third the usual suspects Divvy, Alfred, VLC, Sublime Text et al.)

Depending on what you use for productivity, you might find a Pomodoro Timer useful. There are loads, and I quite like this one: [https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/pomodoro-timer-focus-on- your...](https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/pomodoro-timer-focus-on- your/id872515009?mt=12) (or just use the Chrome app [http://tomato- timer.com/](http://tomato-timer.com/))

And for writing creatively, I can highly recommend OmmWriter. [http://www.ommwriter.com/](http://www.ommwriter.com/)

</comment><comment><USER15> The other recommendations are awesome.

For me, I like using a lot of desktop window management, however the Mission Control transitions are too slow for me, with the fact that are bulky and uncustomizable.

There is TotalSpaces2, which basically is similar to Ubuntu/etc spaces, but you can customize the transitions, hotkeys, locations, etc. Even though I don't have any transitions (so my switching is instant), you can have cube transitions, etc, very similar to Gnome. Downside to the program: $18, with a trial. If you miss proper desktop management, do it. Combined with Spectacle (A tiling window manager), I have functionality similar to XMonad, so I can use my mac effectively.

</comment><comment><USER16> Lets see... I recently went Mac for the first time, and what do I have on there?

For "serious" work-related things, I have Sublime Edit and MacPorts. That's everything. I picked up Omnigraffle but it's just not all that useful to me with a small screen. I'll look at using it again when I replace my desktop with a mac (or when I get an external monitor for the MBA)

Oh, and I have MSDN access, so I put Office on there. But honestly, I never use it.

(Disclaimer, I'm an old school "only have 1 page of apps on my iPhone" kind of guy)

</comment><comment><USER17> SourceTree from Altassian git and mercurial client, free

[http://www.sourcetreeapp.com](http://www.sourcetreeapp.com)

CodeRunner from Nikolai Krill for easily running/testing code snippets in any language, $9.99 on the App Store

[http://krillapps.com/coderunner/](http://krillapps.com/coderunner/)

</comment><comment><USER18> Guardian Angel is pretty cool, it locks your Mac when you walk away so you don't need a password to lock / unlock it. Definitely worth checking out for $4 - [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/guardian- angel/id657241260?m...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/guardian- angel/id657241260?mt=12)

</comment><comment><USER19> Windows

<comment><USER20> Ditto

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> I'm a fan of Sip, it lets you grab colors off the screen and generates code for you.

</comment><comment><USER22> Notational Velocity

</comment><comment><USER23> Quicksilver</comment>


Shade (Troldesh) ransomware shuts down and releases decryption keys - <AUTHOR> https://www.zdnet.com/article/shade-troldesh-ransomware-shuts-down-and-releases-all-decryption-keys/ <comment><AUTHOR> _We are the team which created a trojan-encryptor mostly known as Shade, Troldesh or Encoder.858. In fact, we stopped its distribution in the end of 2019. Now we made a decision to put the last point in this story and to publish all the decryption keys we have (over 750 thousands at all). We are also publishing our decryption soft; we also hope that, having the keys, antivirus companies will issue their own more user-friendly decryption tools. All other data related to our activity (including the source codes of the trojan) was irrevocably destroyed. We apologize to all the victims of the trojan and hope that the keys we published will help them to recover their data._</comment>


Apple has been focusing on the wrong problems with the iPad3 - <AUTHOR> http://storify.com/xdamman/why-the-ipad3-is-a-step-backward

<comment><USER2> I think that moving towards higher-rez screens was a great move, and I personally can't wait for a 4K macbook...it'll be my first Apple laptop, and I'm pretty confident that Apple will break the low-rez ice with it.

It's very sad to see new 17" laptops being sold with 1366x768 (widescreen 1024x768) in 2012 to people who don't understand anything about computers.

Personally, I can't stand 16:9; I still have 4 24" 16:10 1920x1200 monitors, and I'll upgrade to 4K when they drop below about $800 each.

Edit: to point out that vertical resolution is very important, hence my really badly missing those extra 120 vertical pixels lost in the move from 1920x1200 -> 1080P.

Edit again:

>"It makes Android look like Linux Ubuntu." >"at home on your coach?"

<comment><USER3> Re the typos and insanity, note that that dude is the CEO of storify

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry for the typo and thanks for reporting, I fixed that. Insanity? Where?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> The iPad did not improve along every axis -- weight did increase (only marginally, actually -- 600g vs. 650g, about two ounces) as resolution doubled. For some preference functions, the utility of the new iPad could be less than the iPad 2.

But I think those people are pretty rare. The new screen is amazing. Even if you don't buy it or even want it, you have to acknowledge that Apple opened up a new part of design space.

<comment><USER5> resolution quadrupled

<comment><USER6> Neither is more correct than the other (in this context) without further qualification. He means linear pixel density, you mean area pixel density or total number of pixels (the latter of which isn't a technically valid definition of resolution).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I agree with the author that battery life, and quick charge times are important. The weight issue is less important to me as I have a gumdrop case on the ipad2 for robustness and have been happy with the trade off of weight for robustness.

It will be interesting to watch what the wireless power transfer does and it is integrated into more things. I think this may make the charge time a non issue. See issue 40 of eeweb <http://www.eeweb.com/pulse>

<comment><USER8> Battery life should not be an issue, charging might be one – if you do not use the iPad charger. Sure, charging within 3-4 hours instead of 6-7 hours would be great, however, I got used to charge my iPhone every night and I do now the same with my iPad.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> I got rid of my iPad 2 because the screen sucked compared to the iPhone retina display. I purchased and kept the new Ipad because of the improved screen. My only complaint is it takes a long time to recharge but at least it has a really long battery life.

</comment><comment><USER10> I had several problems and returned mine for several reasons.

</comment><comment><USER11> I wouldn't use the word problems, remember that Apple is in the business of selling them. If a gimmick sells them, so be it; Siri helped with S4 and Retina is helping with the iPad3.

I agree that Windows 8 tablets or slimbooks might give Apple a run for their money. Personally I prefer an ultra light laptop with touchscreen over a tablet. They're easier to hold (floor, thighs...) you can move the screen back and forth and I can use them for a lot of other things.

Notebook prices are dirt cheap now, for less than $600 you can get an amazing Win 7 laptop with 1 TB drive, 6 Gig Ram and so on so maybe they'll do something cool and cheap with Windows 8.

</comment><comment><USER12> I had the same problem with charging. I don't know why I purchased such a featureless product. Maybe it was the hype, but the display was beautiful. But not much more than that. Weight wasn't that much of an issue.

I agree they have been focusing on the wrong problems. They should have been piling on the features.. HDMI out, FM Radio, Better GPS, eliminating the dependence on iTunes. I'm looking forward to the Acer Tablet.

<comment><USER3> > HDMI out

There's an apple dongle for that

<comment><USER13> But I need more ports!</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: PayPal Cards - <AUTHOR> Why is it that PayPal can just send a card to me in the mail without asking for my permission or approval beforehand? Is this an example of TOS abuse (read the fine print), scummy practices creeping into a mature company, or something else? <comment><USER2> I've had an active PayPal account since 2000. They've never sent me a card. Could you have unintentionally clicked something on an eBay page or similar?

<comment><USER3> FWIW, I also got an unexpected notice that a PayPal debit card is being shipped to me.</comment></comment>


A Look Back at Manufacturing Linux Hardware - <AUTHOR> https://blog.system76.com/post/612315972866637824/a-look-back-at-manufacturing#_=_ <comment><USER2> The blog post reads like an attempt to finally distance themselves from the the old reputation of being the Clevo rebranders they were.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17039414](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17039414)

 _Edit_ there is an article from Linux magazine published a few months ago that states that system76 is still primarily a Clevo rebranded, and that they build just a single product from their whole product line: the thelio.

[https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/System76-To- Desig...](https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/System76-To-Design-And- Build-Laptops-In-House)

<comment><USER3> Everyone has to start somewhere, I guess. I believe they're tackling making their own laptops next.

<comment><USER4> It sounds like it.

> As we move into manufacturing laptops, the factory will provide an ideal > environment for research and development. We now have the resources to > create more accurate prototypes in-house to get an up close look at various > materials, chassis builds, keyboards, and more, empowering us to create a > computer fit for the incredible creators, makers, and builders of the world.

<comment><USER5> I'm trying to work out why they think manufacturing their own laptops is going to be a profitable business. Margins on consumer hardware are razor thin even for the big players like Dell who have the advantage of scale. So far just being open source friendly has not been nearly enough of a market differentiator.

That said, I wouldn't mind considering a system76 laptop for my next workstation, except that they don't support one thing that Dells do exceptionally well: driverless docking stations. (And no, USB and Thunderbolt docking stations don't work well under Linux and I have no reason to believe they ever will.)

<comment><USER6> This blog post accurately describes my semtiment:

[https://drewdevault.com/rants/2020/02/18/Fucking- laptops.htm...](https://drewdevault.com/rants/2020/02/18/Fucking-laptops.html)

I like Drew on the blog post use a Thinkpad X200, and it more than suits my needs for a laptop, and I even shelled out the money for one of the 51nb x2100s. If System 76 bucks the current trend and makes a laptop in the style of an old thinkpad (To quote Drew: "The integrated GPU, Bluetooth and WiFi, internal sensors, and even the fingerprint reader can all be driven by the upstream Linux kernel. In fact, the hardware is so well understood that I have successfully used almost all of the laptop's features on Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Minix, Haiku, and Plan 9. Plan fucking 9. It can run coreboot, too. The back of the laptop has all of the screws (Phillips head) labelled so you know which to remove to service which parts. User replacable parts include the screen, keyboard (multiple layouts are available and are interchangeable), the RAM, hard drive (I put a new SSD in one of mine a few weeks ago, and it took about 30 seconds) — actually, there are a total of 26 replacable parts in this laptop. There is a detailed 278-page service manual to assist you or your local repair tech in addressing any problems that arise.") I think they could easily charge a very healthy premium and get a lot of people to line up for it (myself included).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I have both a System76 Oryx Pro (laptop, for the past 3 years) and a Thelio Major (desktop, for the past 6 months). Both have run Arch most of the time and both are the best laptop/desktop I've owned, for development and for gaming. Excellent Linux support and powerful hardware, unlike the Purism machines.

I can certainly recommend System76 to anyone needing a powerful setup running Linux. I have no affiliation.

<comment><USER8> I bought a Purism machine over a year ago, and I'm pretty happy with it. I looked at System76 but they didn't look great back then. What's the basis of your statement?

<comment><USER7> The best Purism laptops ship with a Core i7 7500U (Kabylake) dual core processor. I've been using at least quad core processors in laptops for literally over a decade, so that just doesn't cut it.

My statement wasn't against Purism's quality, principle, or anything other than the fact that their laptops and non-laptops (Purism server) are weak sauce compared to what you can get with System76.

<comment><USER8> I believe (and I could be wrong) that the reason Purism lags behind the leading edge of processors is because they're busy disabling Intel Management Engine.

Does this figure into your estimates at all?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> If I could give one feedback to system76, or even better, to all laptop manufacturers: please start making 15 inch laptops without numpad. I was considering buying a system76 in the past and this was what prevented me to buy one.

<comment><USER10> I go the other way. I wish all laptop manufacturers would stop making 15in laptops with numpads. The way the keyboard is offset makes it terrible in my opinion. Of course I don't do a lot of stuff that requires me to make use of a numpad either.

<comment><USER11> That is exactly the same thing the parent post said...

<comment><USER12> You're reading too quickly! :)

GGP wants numpads, GP wants no numpads.

Edit: Nope, I'm the one reading too quickly, oops.

<comment><USER13> Projection! GGP doesn't want numpads either. Based on phrasing, they might be okay with some laptops offering it, where as GP wants them eliminated.

GGP: "start making 15 inch laptops without numpad"

GP: "stop making 15in laptops with numpads"

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> System76 has nice gear (I'm on my second System76 laptop now), but I really can't recommend them for anyone not in the US (or perhaps Canada). Warranty and shipping are an issue here in Europe. They really should partner up with a European company to handle the EU market.

<comment><USER15> Yeah they are definitely not up to speed in Europe.

Even that blog page gives you no choice but to either accept their cookies (whatever they're used for) or not read it.

I don't think that GDPR compliant. Really they should be offering an opt-out.

<comment><USER16> Forced cookies is a violation of the ePrivacy Directive, not the GDPR.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I have two machines from them. Both laptops. The first is a Lemur and though powerful, the build quality is not good. The second is a GalagoPro and it is excellent. When I replace my workstation next year, it will be a Thelio. Truly looking forward to their in house built laptop.

I have no affiliation with them.

</comment><comment><USER18> I have a GalagoPro I bought from them about a year ago. The machine died on me at 12 months. After running through some diagnostic steps at home it seemed to need a new motherboard. I didn't address this issue with them until one month after the 12 month default warranty and they were unwilling to work with me on replacing it at a discount so I didn't seek repair because of the cost and I lost faith in their products. I don't expect special treatment but was disappointed the GalagoPro died within 12 months. I would not recommend their products unless you buy a longer warranty or they source their hardware from elsewhere.

<comment><USER19> On the other hand I have bought 2 used System76 laptops from eBay and they honored the existing original warranty and replaced the motherboard without ever asking me for my proof of purchase (its all tracked by serial #). So yeah I recommend buying the extended warranty, and they are really good about repairs and Linux support.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> I have high hopes for System76 and their endeavors on laptops. While I've heard mixed things regarding some of their older laptops, I think there's a lot of room to at least offer truly unique products. I actually considered buying the Thelio, just because it would look nice in the living room as an alternative to my current HTPC setup. (Not exactly rational, but it really does look nice.)

I know support for AMD Zen in Coreboot is currently pretty limited, but for example I'd love to see a mid to high end Ryzen laptop with Coreboot. Though even if it happened, I'd be kind of sad to leave Lenovo and their TrackPoint pointing stick...

<comment><USER21> Why don't they include a keyboard with a pointer stick? Seems like a no brainer given their market segment is thinkpad junkies.

Compaq, toshiba, and other companies seemed to be able to include them in 90s laptops by just using a different color bud (like green).

<comment><USER22> Does System76 design these machines themselves, or are they rebadged? They might not have control over what the keyboard is.

<comment><USER2> Until recently, system76 simply rebranded hardware produced by Clevo.

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

Link to an old HN thread.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17039414](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17039414)

Link to an article from Linux magazine stating that System76 are still mainly Clevo (Sager) rebranders.

[https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/System76-To- Desig...](https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/System76-To-Design-And- Build-Laptops-In-House)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Other than a distro, what exactly do system76 provides in their lineup?

Their laptops are clevo with different branding.

Thelio doesn't seem good for the price point. I can have someone build me a custom cabinet at that price point (it looks meh) and all other parts are supplied by manufacturers.

What sets their experience apart?

You can get some great stuff from tonfangs, clevo, systempc, eluktronics, etc at a much more reasonable and realistic price.

<comment><USER5> Can you call up any of those Chinese companies on the phone and talk with an actual person if you have questions about their products, or an issue with your order?

<comment><USER23> That's the same place system76 is buying from. It will be no different. You are saying system76 will have better support service than any of the other companies selling hardware.

You can buy case from NZXT.

PSU and ram from corsair.

Processor from amd.

Motherboard from whichever manufacturer provides great service locally.

SSDs from silicon/sabrent/samsung.

GPU from nvidia or AMD.

And you would still have from 3 to 10 years of warranty on the parts whereas system 76 provides 1 year unless you pay more.

Now again, let's leave self build out of the way.

Why not get it from the other vendors I mentioned which provide the same?

Some of them are American. You can find many if you don't want to deal with assembling/maintainence yourself but most PCs if you buy the right parts will not have any problems.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> I've considered buying a Thelio a couple of times, sadly they only ship them to North America right now.

<comment><USER25> You can use a reshipping service like Shipito if you really want.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> I just bought the Adder WS and can't believe the quality of the trackpad. I also own a 2015 MBP and before the Adder I had not found another laptop with a trackpad that can rival the Mac. Overall very satisfied with the whole machine so far.

</comment><comment><USER27> Seems like an excellent entry point into the world of Hackintosh. I prefer Apple hardware, but it would be nice to have an option if macOS can be made to run well on these System76 desktops. Anyone with experience?

<comment> yjftsjthsd-h What advantage does System76 have for running Darwin? Or do you just want a hackintosh and like their hardware?

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> I thought about getting a Thelio to be a mid-level gaming desktop built for Linux, but it was a little difficult to justify economically--when compared against parts I could put together myself and still maximize Linux compatibility (e.g. using AMD processor/GPU to avoid stodgy NVIDIA drivers), it was still about a thousand dollar premium to go with System76. I want to support the Linux desktop, but I don't make enough yet from my dayjob to justify an extra grand.

My hope is that their costs will come down as the manufacturing process gets streamlined.

<comment><USER29> I don't understand why people keep saying this? Of course you can save money by building your own. This applies to Dell and others just the same. The value of system76 is they do it for you, with the benefit of Linux support out of the box.

<comment><USER28> Maybe I should clarify. I don't mean "build the whole thing from scratch parts"\--I don't have the time or the energy to do that anymore. I meant that even if I'm buying a mostly-built PC with tweaks (ala iBuyPower or other options that can let me switch/upgrade CPU/GPU/RAM parts), there's still roughly a thousand dollar premium for the System76 option.

So yes, I would like to support Linux Desktop development, but I also have finite monies.</comment></comment></comment>


Sudotrap - css toolkit built on top of html5 boilerplate - <AUTHOR> http://gnuwilliam.github.io/sudotrap/

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi guys! I wonder if you could give me a feedback about this project I started. That would be great!

Thanks! :)

</comment><comment><USER2> a very good project to improve your css skills! You will for sure get a nice all around experience!

Only thing that struck me hard were the colours on the header... really... strong... maybe to much!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the feedback! I will figure something out about the header colors. :-)

I'm really happy with this project, and I hope I can move forward with it.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: How many of us are shooting for FIRE? - <AUTHOR> FIRE: Financial Independent, Retired Early<p>If so, what's your target retirement age? <comment><USER2> Me. 45, 50 at the latest. I can't take much more of this.</comment>


Building Powerful Frameworks in Python - <AUTHOR> http://migrateup.com/python-frameworks/ <comment><USER2> This article misses the most important rule of framework building: don't build a framework to solve a class of problems until you've seen at least three concrete instances of the class. If you don't respect that guideline you'll provide abstractions for the wrong design elements. Unnecessary indirection will be introduced to factor things that don't vary from instance to instance, and things that do vary will be missed. It's a difficult lesson to learn for the abstraction astronauts who want to throw a bunch of the most powerful language features at any problem...</comment>


Google removes religious organizations from non-profit discount list - <AUTHOR> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/google-do-gooder-discount-lets-churches-beg-commentary-by-stephen-carter.html

<comment><USER2> So? Perhaps I'm biased, but calling religious organizations non-profits has always struck me as suspect. If they're performing a charitable function, they can easily do so as a secular charity. If they're proselytizing, then they are functionally no different from self-help gurus who charge people to attend conferences.

I understand that, for many religious people, proselytizing and charity are inseparable. They commit charitable acts in the name of, and because of their religion. There is no discernible difference, to them, between feeding someone and saving their soul, save the greater importance of the latter. However, we live in an at least nominally secular society. That means that we don't show preference for or prejudice against religions. Societal factors have led to the preservation of the tax-exempt status of religious organizations, but this relic of an age when the Church was more powerful than most states should not lead to an expectation amongst the religious that they should receive similar treatment from private enterprise.

That Google offers a non-profit discount at all is admirable. I suspect those complaining would be singing a much different tune if they were aware that under its previous rules, Google was directly subsidizing the Church of Scientology and other such organizations. It's terrible when your Sunday school's subsidy is revoked, but not so bad when a crazy cult is forced to pay full price. The obvious conclusion is that all religious subsidies must be avoided, or Google finds itself in the unenviable (and untenable) position, as a multinational corporation, of deciding which religions are deserving of its patronage.

<comment><USER3> > Perhaps I'm biased, but calling religious organizations non-profits has > always struck me as suspect.

Yes, you are biased. Non profit means "not to make a profit", and that fits religious organizations quite well. None of them try to make a profit, therefor they are non-profit. It's not really that complicated.

> If they're proselytizing, then they are functionally no different from self- > help gurus who charge people to attend conferences.

Except that they don't charge. Which of course does make them different.

You are biased because you (presumably) don't like what they do, but that's your opinion, and you should not assume everyone shares it.

And it's interesting you find the only organization in the world that claims to be a for-profit religion (Scientology) and use that to paint the rest of them. (Again barring fraud, which obviously does happen.)

Scientology is for profit because they charge money for their services, no other religion does that. Other religions ask for donations, sure, but the services are not conditional on the donations.

Just because an organization has a message does not make them for profit, anymore than a secular organization with a message ("don't eat meat" for example) automatically becomes for profit.

Your post sounds like you want to be the arbiter of which messages are for profit and which are not.

<comment><USER2> >Yes, you are biased. Non profit means "not to make a profit", and that fits religious organizations quite well. None of them try to make a profit, therefor they are non-profit. It's not really that complicated.

Most religious organizations turn large profits. That they are used to build more churches, mosques, and temples does not detract from the fact that it's a profit.

>Except that they don't charge. Which of course does make them different.

Again, this is false. There isn't a cover charge, but there's an expectation of donation. It's no different from a tip. Waiters aren't non-profit, and neither are churches.

>You are biased because you (presumably) don't like what they do, but that's your opinion, and you should not assume everyone shares it.

A) I don't assume everyone shares it. B) I like a great deal of what many religious organizations do and have done, and dislike a great deal they do as well.

>And it's interesting you find the only organization in the world that claims to be a for-profit religion (Scientology) and use that to paint the rest of them. (Again barring fraud, which obviously does happen.)

This is patently false. From the Catholic Church, to Evangelical preachers, to most other organized religions, they all turn a profit.

>Your post sounds like you want to be the arbiter of which messages are for profit and which are not.

Message has nothing to do with turning a profit. That is determined by the money you take in minus the money you spend. I count money spent on growing the organization, through the building of additional churches and missionary works, as an investment in future profits, and hence not deductible from profits (to the extent it would make an organization a non-profit).

I've clearly stepped on your toes. I apologize for the offense I've caused, but not for the words that caused it, which I stand by.

<comment><USER3> > I've clearly stepped on your toes. I apologize for the offense I've caused, > but not for the words that caused it, which I stand by.

No, my toes are fine, and I am not offended. You are just wrong, which is a different thing entirely.

> but there's an expectation of donation. It's no different from a tip.

A tip is given in proportion to services rendered. A donation is not.

> I count money spent on growing the organization .... not deductible from > profits

You might do that. No one else does. If you remove this clause then this:

> .... to most other organized religions, they all turn a profit.

Is no longer true as well (I assume you agree).

So lets talk about the clause. Growing the organization simply makes them more effective in spreading the message. But the message is the goal, not the money. In a for profit the money is the goal and is used for other purposes.

> as an investment in future profits

No, it's an investment is furthering the message.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> The trend of anti-religious comments below is saddening, even more so because it seems to be the overwhelming group-think on the subject. For a group that has benefited so much from the foundations setup by religion to attack the same is short-sighted, though unfortunately not uncommon in a world where the media increasingly paints religion using only the most extreme brush and leaves most people with a taste in their mouth that religion is something foreign and even repulsive.

There are three ways I see religion as providing us with a foundation that is so obvious and common that it may almost go unnoticed.

First, much of our legal system has as its foundation a codified way to enforce what started as religious principles. Contract law came essentially to bind by law a person to "be honest," and property law to do the same with "do not steal." Much of our legal system has at its foundation these essential principles.

Second, religious groups are often the best at doing the small things that most in this audience would never see: visiting people in prison who feel helpless and without support, feeding the homeless and funding shelters and support groups for the same, and providing free counseling services to those who cannot afford those services on their own. Religious groups are often the first on the scene when a natural disaster strikes. They get boots on the ground and food in people's bellies.

Finally, religious groups subsidize education and create schools. It is likely that at some point you benefited either directly or indirectly from this educational foundation, especially in the US. By doing this, organized religions help lift millions out of ignorance.

Organized religion is not what the media portrays. That is such an important idea, that perhaps an entire essay should be written just on that sentence.

Not all (or most) religious people kill people in the name of God, or create secret compounds where they can marry teenage girls and call it "God's work," or use religion to justify hatred/torture/war,etc. These things definitely exist, but the dosing you are fed by the media/popular culture is all wrong. It's like anything else - you only get fed the things that will bring page views, and those stories tend to be about very strange wings of religions.

Most religious people very quietly live ordinary lives and use their religious faith to find deeper meaning through self-sacrifice and service to others. But that wouldn't make a good story, so you don't read much about it.

Google is popularizing an alarming trend to treat religious groups like the "crazy uncle" who won't go away when I think they should instead realize that much of their own success (via the foundations mentioned above) is a direct or indirect result of the principles that organized religion has brought them. Google is benefiting from all that has been handed to them while spitting at the giver and potentially shutting off those gifts for future generations. I think that is an unfortunate mistake.

</comment><comment><USER5> By what sense of entitlement does the columnist expect preferential treatment by Google or anyone else merely due to the fact that you have a religious group?

By coupling charitable activities to religious activities you raise questions about your motives. Decouple them and your genuine charitable activities will be eligible.

<comment><USER6> Was thinking the same thing - if some religious group wants to do common good (rather than repair the roof of their church or whatever), they could simply create a spin-off organization dedicated to the common good.

<comment><USER7> So, if they run a soup kitchen or other service from their building they have to let it fall down, at which point they can't offer any further services from the building?

If the roof is repaired, as it is at out church building, by volunteer labour from the Church using their own funds ... presumably then too you'd want to stop supporting any charitable function we perform?

I think the thing people don't seem to understand about [most] Christian churches is that the money comes from the people who are part of the local Church community. It's what they could instead choose to spend on going to a football game every week or buying a new car or going on holiday. It's their money that has already been taxed as income being pooled together for common activities; more often than not those common activities include a large proportion of charitable work.

<comment><USER6> The soup kitchen could pay rent to the church. Anyway I am not a tax advisor. And there already was a discussion about pro and contra religion yesterday. It is just not obvious that churches help the common good - some probably do, others don't (scientology?).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> To me it seems pretty simple: google seems to make no distinction between charitable political groups or religious organizations. they're the same damn thing in their eyes.

Would church leaders consider the church a success if they eliminated poverty in the world but the entire world became atheists?

Answer: No. If they were true believers they would accept it as an utter failure since all those souls would be in danger of experiencing a less than optimal eternity.

Question: What would be the answer to the same question from an organization whose sole purpose was to eliminate poverty in the world?

Answer: You're damn right it's a success!

From an ethical standpoint, the focus on the word "nonprofit" is misleading. No organization in the world has "not to make a profit" as its primary purpose. Not being for profit is the means for the transparency that is required to acheive the goal.

<comment> buff-a THIS. And in fact because of this, religions actively cause poverty and hardship.

</comment></comment><comment> buff-a _Were these for- profit companies suddenly to decide that churches were not eligible for their largesse, the lunch program would almost certainly be shut down._

Perhaps to be replaced by secular organizations, instead of organizations that believe that in a few years time myself and most of my friends are going to be tortured for eternity in a very real place called hell and who are ok with that.

<comment><USER3> So what you are saying is, because you don't agree with them they should be shut down?

<comment><USER9> How about because he doesn't like them, he doesn't care if they are shut down.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I'm sure it's been said before and will be said again - so it goes. Formal non-profit status should be lost whenever the organization engages in political activity. I am not comfortable subsidizing (via a tax break) activities that are hostile to me or my world view. I surely don't want to support hostile lobby groups.

<comment><USER4> By that logic, religions should not be entitled to free speech. This seems wrong. There are many non-profits whose political speech I disagree with, but I wouldn't say to cut off their non-profit status is the answer.

<comment><USER11> Free speech is not the same as enjoying non-profit status. Google cutting off the latter means that they no longer actively sponsor the speech of religious groups, but those groups still are able to speak the same as anyone else. By ceasing to preferentially treat religious organizations, Google has effectively taken a stance __for __free speech, not against it.

<comment><USER10> Concur. I fully support your (or anybody's) right to say what they want. There's no right, however, to tax-exempt status.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> So now it's only for non-prophet organizations?

</comment><comment><USER13> Doesn't sound like a bug to me.

</comment><comment><USER14> The sense of entitlement is sickening.

</comment><comment><USER15> I'm enjoying the debate of whether or not "religious institutions" (which I think is an important distinction from "religions") should or should not be considered non-profit entities. I personally feel that they should not be considered as such.

The only new reasoning I can add to the mix, is that quite simply, I personally feel "religious institutions" (again, not "religions" nor "faith") have too great a political power base in this country. I suspect that changing the tax rules on these institutions might in some small way shift the balance in a direction I feel is healthier for our nation's diverse culture.

Does anyone know if there are any lobbying rules that differ between non- profit and profit legal entities?

</comment><comment><USER16> As an atheist who is mildly antireligious: that was a good article. The author has a position, but he dismisses crazy arguments in favor of it, and the arguments that he constructs are targetted towards the people most likely to disagree with him. He doesn't come across as self entitled. He doesn't make generalisations about atheists.

I haven't fully thought about his arguments; perhaps they don't really hold water. So I guess on some level I'm talking about form rather than content.

</comment><comment><USER17> Interesting story, but how is this hacker news? I thought we tried to avoid highly flammable topics like politics or religion.

</comment><comment><USER18> Good.

<comment><USER19> Amen brother.</comment></comment>


5 Reasons The Windy City is a Great Place for Startups - <AUTHOR> http://tech.li/2012/02/5-reasons-the-windy-city-is-a-great-place-for-startups/

<comment><USER2> The first 3 points about industry groups, incubators, and public support are valid. I would like to see how effective the programs have been.

4\. The Quality of Life is extremely subjective. I lived in Chicago and experienced the opposite. People are mostly concerned with getting drunk only. The city is ultra segregated. Big 12 frat house to the North, Suburban "hipsters" in the North center, etc. It's _very_ suburban.

5.The only time people spoke to me on the street was to insult me. Most people you will meet in Chicago are not from Chicago.</comment>


Computational Knowledge and the Future of Pure Mathematics - <AUTHOR> http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2014/08/computational-knowledge-and-the-future-of-pure-mathematics/

<comment><USER2> [https://hn.algolia.com/?q=Computational+Knowledge+and+the+Fu...](https://hn.algolia.com/?q=Computational+Knowledge+and+the+Future+of+Pure+Mathematics#!/story/forever/0/Computational%20Knowledge%20and%20the%20Future%20of%20Pure%20Mathematics)

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks, that is useful. I thought if it's a repost, then ycombinator will automatically redirect to that post.

<comment><USER2> Right now it does so only if the urls match exactly. That's on purpose, to allow good stories that haven't gotten much attention yet to have multiple chances.</comment></comment></comment>


Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Update Also Installs Chrome Extension Silently - <AUTHOR> https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/adobe-acrobat-reader-dc-update-installs-chrome-browser-extension/ <comment><USER2> I uninstalled anything Adobe some time ago, given their abysmal security track record.

Foxit grew annoying, so now I just open PDFs with Firefox (on Windows anyway). Seems fine.

<comment><USER3> Okular is simply amazing for those files that PDF.js has trouble with. That said, I don't know how good is its Windows support, last time I tried KDE apps for Windows it was still pre-5.X

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Any good alternatives for people who need acrobat features?</comment>


Plugging a 1986 Mac Plus into the Modern Web (2013) - <AUTHOR> http://www.keacher.com/1216/how-i-introduced-a-27-year-old-computer-to-the-web/ <comment><USER2> When I was in elementary school and used to do this many years ago, the best way to connect a Mac Plus to the web was to use a Mac new enough to support Ethernet but old enough to support MacIP, and use IPNetRouter ([http://www.sustworks.com/site/downloads_classic.html](http://www.sustworks.com/site/downloads_classic.html)) to bridge TCP/IP over Ethernet to MacIP over LocalTalk, then use a serial cable (or the old PhoneNet adapters) between the two computers. That requires more old hardware to act as a bridge, but yields a blazing fast 230 kbps network connection.

<comment><USER3> Crumbs, IPNetRouter, that's a blast from the past! :-)

<comment><USER4> Oh, yes, IPNetRouter was my first exposure to NAT. That horrible, infuriating technology. But NAT works so much better than SOCKS proxies, especially since my first attempt at "Internet Connection Sharing" was with a SOCKS proxy on Windows 95. I remember when opening more than a couple copies of AOL Instant Messenger meant that Windows ran out of sockets and we weren't able to load any web pages.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> _" A few weeks ago I was walking along the street in Cambridge, and in someone's trash I saw what appeared to be a Mac carrying case. I looked inside, and there was a Mac SE. I carried it home and plugged it in, and it booted. The happy Macintosh face, and then the finder. My God, it was so simple. It was just like ... Google."_ ~ Great Hackers, Paul Graham

So I'm going down a street and I see a Mac being thrown out :) ~ [https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/14378861885](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/14378861885)

such a great article, thanks for @teuobk writing this & @franze for re-posting this. It means I can have a crack at using the classic as a web client/proxy. I'm still up to the _lets plug a modern keyboard and mouse_ stage but this is a great push forward to connecting to the network, the hard bit: MacPlus and TCP/IP.

</comment><comment><USER6> > Hacker News as viewed by the Mac. Surprisingly readable given that MacWeb > doesn't support CSS.

Say what you will about table based layouts, but they sure are backwards compatible.

<comment><USER7> CSS-based layouts, done right, still leave the underlying HTML heavily semantic. And even with a few extra un-semantic divs and spans around, you can just ignore those. The two biggest problems would be with sites that don't bother to put content in a sensible semantic order (putting huge amounts of sidebar/navigation content before the main content) and sites that generate everything with JavaScript with no fallbacks.

<comment><USER8> > CSS-based layouts, done right, still leave the underlying HTML heavily > semantic.

Could you give an example? I've done "tables" in CSS, and most of the time you're using DIV to manage most of the positioning, which is non-semantic.

If there was a CSS table replacement which defaulted back to something which looked like a table in HTML, I'd be impressed.

<comment><USER7> If what you're building is actually a table, use table markup; that's the semantically correct markup. Just don't use it for something like a sidebar or footer, or otherwise for positioning.

If you're building a navigation area, a callout, or some similar semantically significant sidebar, take a look at [https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/dom.html#sectioning-c...](https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/dom.html#sectioning- content) for the nav and aside elements.

But even if you use a div, as long as the semantic content makes sense without the div, you're fine. For instance, put one div with your article content starting with an appropriate heading tag, and another div for your navigation. Without the CSS, it still makes sense to have a section for content and a section for navigation.

Also, there is actually CSS markup to make something look like a table, if that's what you want; see [http://caniuse.com/#feat=css- table](http://caniuse.com/#feat=css-table) for instance.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> If you like stories about resurrecting old hardware you might enjoy this:

[http://blog.rongarret.info/2008/06/bugged- life.html](http://blog.rongarret.info/2008/06/bugged-life.html)

<comment><USER10> I'd enjoy it more if it ended with a link to a P-Lisp disk image. After all that buildup, that lack is a real letdown.

<comment><USER9> Sorry.

[http://flownet.com/ron/plisp.html](http://flownet.com/ron/plisp.html)

I'll fix the blog post too.

<comment><USER10> Thanks! Now I can play with it on my IIe, too.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> People have been able to access the Internet from a C64 (1982) - there's even several browsers available ( [http://www.c64-wiki.de/index.php/Webbrowser](http://www.c64-wiki.de/index.php/Webbrowser) ) - and that's a far less powerful machine than this Mac. Compared to a 1MHz 6502 with a 64K address space, an 8MHz 68000 (32-bit!) with a few MB of RAM and a 16MB flat address space is spacious.

Too bad the demoscene didn't really catch on with Macs for some reason... the hardware is theoretically quite capable and I'm sure they could've done some awesome effects with it if they tried.

<comment><USER12> The best Mac classic demo I've seen is this one:

[http://www.unrealvoodoo.org/projects/three-and-a-half- inches...](http://www.unrealvoodoo.org/projects/three-and-a-half-inches-is- enough)

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> _There's nothing quite like erotic literature at 2400 bps when you're 13 years old._

Ahh... the memories! Though for me it was 300 baud on an LSI ADM-3a with an acoustic coupler.

[http://bytecollector.com/lsi.htm](http://bytecollector.com/lsi.htm)

<comment><USER14> The link was to a different type of pr0n than I expected.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Another way to copy files over is to put the scsi hard driver in a modern computer running Linux. There are some userspace tools to access the hfs formatted hard drive. I had good luck with them.

</comment><comment><USER16> I would love to try something like this on my SE/30 but sadly it doesn't have any useful software on it other than a 1989 copy of MS Word and lemmings. Any ideas how to get some new files onto it without a terminal?

<comment><USER4> The SE/30 at least had a PC-compatible floppy drive. If you could find a disk image with the desired software, a floppy disk, and a computer with a floppy drive, then you could transfer software that way.

But a lot of Mac disk images might be in some weird Apple-proprietary Disk Copy format. I think modern Disk Utility may be able to open them. I'm not sure. I haven't tried anytime recently.

Jeff mentioned a Zip drive. You could try that, too, if you have USB and SCSI Zip drives. Files are much more likely to transfer correctly if you use a Mac instead of Windows.

<comment><USER17> You should be able to find a image of a Mac disk with the software needed to read FAT12 floppies.

And I do mean images that you can just use dd to write to the floppy. Then you just need a USB floppy drive.

It has been a few years since I tried that though.

<comment><USER16> fantastic, I'll give this a go as soon as I can. I have a floppy writer in my server so I'll write it on that. Cheers guys

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Good to know.. I have two SE/30s in my shed that I was pondering what to do with...

</comment><comment><USER19> That keyboard sound is orgasmic.

</comment><comment><USER20> Looks like it got syndicated to The Kernel from the original ... here's the original:

[http://www.keacher.com/1216/how-i-introduced-a-27-year- old-c...](http://www.keacher.com/1216/how-i-introduced-a-27-year-old-computer- to-the-web/)

And here's the HN discussion from last time:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6892935](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6892935)

<comment><USER21> Thanks! Url changed from [http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue- sections/features-issue-...](http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue- sections/features-issue-sections/12228/mac-plus-modern-web/).

Pretty misleading of them to date it March 22, 2015, but perhaps that was just a technical glitch.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> This is familiar. The author originally posted it to his own site, and we discussed it in 2013:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6892935](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6892935)

<comment><USER23> It was just syndicated by The Kernel [http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue- sections/features-issue-...](http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue- sections/features-issue-sections/12228/mac-plus-modern-web/)

Mods changed the URL to point to the original.</comment></comment>


My favorite apps on F-Droid - <AUTHOR> http://quaap.com/D/use-fdroid <comment><USER2> Snowden's Haven [1] is simply marvelous.

Essentially, it turns an Android phone into a very sophisticated alarm system with real time notifications and streaming. So you can e.g. protect a hotel room using an old burner Android phone.

I use it against some creepy UK landlords and agents, who have the strange habit of breaking into rented flats when I'm not in, and without any prior notice. Totally illegal, but very hard to collect evidence against. Furthermore, contracts usually contain (illegal) clauses preventing you from installing a real home-alarm system. (Edit: contracts usually also ban changing locks).

It's also much better than any cheap alarm system, and totally complementary too. If something starts beeping (e.g a fire alarm or a motion sensor), Haven will notice and message you.

[1] [https://f-droid.org/wiki/index.php?title=org.havenapp.main&r...](https://f-droid.org/wiki/index.php?title=org.havenapp.main&redirect=no)

<comment><USER3> The page you've linked says "This app is disabled and does not appear in the repo". So it's not really available at F-Droid. Do you know why?

<comment><USER2> There are many F-Droid repositories aside from main F-Droid. Please see here: [https://forum.f-droid.org/t/known- repositories/721](https://forum.f-droid.org/t/known-repositories/721)

[https://guardianproject.info/](https://guardianproject.info/) one is particularly interesting. Haven is a Guardian Project app.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> NewPipe: a YouTube client, as mentioned in the thread, that allows you to play videos in the background, in a small popout over something else, adjust the playback speed, and also download videos for later. Great for lectures.

AdAway: it makes the ads go away by adjusting your hosts file (may require root) so it works both for in-app ads and web ads. I first installed it out of spite when Google failed my LineageOS on SafetyNet and blocked Android Pay even though it wasn't rooted but it made using the system so much more enjoyable I would now root it regardless.

FBReader: a pretty decent ebook reader although the complexity makes it feel like a 2006 Linux app.

<comment><USER5> Newpipe and Redreader for reddit are my 2 favourite apps on Fdroid. Amaze file manager is also pretty sleek for an Fdroid app. Dns66 is great for adblocking when you are not rooted. Termux is a must have for those who need a terminal. Osm+ is a decent maps option and Mupdf is a fast and minimal reader for pdf files.

Fdroid is great for open source apps especially when you are trying to avoid shady behavior by apps, but since Android itself is full of shady behavior and dark patterns it's at best a bandage on a severely wounded patient.

<comment><USER6> Slide for reddit is another reddit client. Fully open source under GPLv3, nice looks and hi designed very well such that you never have to reach for keys at the bottom. Wholeheartedly recommended.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The _" Simple Mobile Tools"_ family of apps by Tibor Kaputa (distinctive for their orange icons) are available on F-Droid and are superb. A great fusion of minimalism and functionality, they've never let me down.

[https://github.com/simplemobiletools](https://github.com/simplemobiletools)

[https://simplemobiletools.github.io/](https://simplemobiletools.github.io/)

<comment><USER8> +1 for Simple Mobile Tools. My newest phone didn't contain much vendor installed apps, so I was looking for nice and preferably open source replacements for the basic apps like gallery, and simple mobile tools solved all my problem.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Good list. I'm also a HUGE fan of Antennapod [0], a podcast player app. It's simple, easy to use, and has built-in speed adjustment, so I can listen to some lower-information density channels at 2x speed.

[0] [https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.danoeh.antennapod/](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.danoeh.antennapod/)

<comment><USER10> If only it didn't regularly wipe all the data due to database corruption [1], with no ways of recovering and automatic backups. Until this fatal bug is fixed, I strongly advise against using this otherwise fine application.

[1] [https://github.com/AntennaPod/AntennaPod/issues/2463](https://github.com/AntennaPod/AntennaPod/issues/2463)

<comment><USER11> I'm in the same boat - I've switched back to PocketCasts. It's sad, because not only is AntennaPod open source, but I think it's more featureful than many of the alternatives. But it's become unusable due to this bug.

<comment><USER12> I've gone over to SoundWaves, which is also on F-Droid.

<comment><USER11> I had a look, but I don't understand how it deals with 'new' podcasts. The play queue seems arbitrary and uneditable. But maybe I'm missing something. (Otherwise it does look nice.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> When Maps.me went open source, there was a clamour to get it onto F-Droid, but there were issues, perhaps including access to the company's data servers, and the topic eventually petered out.

Then (IIRC back in February or so), somebody forked it, and (from comments) apparently pointed it to a separate data website (not sure how they pay for it if that's the case).

At any rate: "Maps": [https://f-droid.org/app/com.github.axet.maps](https://f-droid.org/app/com.github.axet.maps)

Compred to OSMAnd: It's much simpler to use. Smoother scrolling around the map, and nice 3d perspective. It has some stalling problems that OSMAnd doesn't have, but is otherwise smoother I think. Sometimes searching for streets seems to not be as good as OSMAnd. Missing a lot of OSMAnd features but that is what makes it simpler.

<comment><USER14> Sigh, I wish osmand was available for iOS. A friend is using, and constantly frustrated with, maps.me (only reasonable option for a low-data-usage plan on iOS I'm aware of, recommendations for others welcome, requirements: no tracking, non-evil, fully offline).

<comment><USER13> Why do you suppose they'd be less frustrated with OSMAnd?

<comment><USER14> Because they've used it on another device and it was okay. Sure it has its own warts but it basically works and seems to have better routing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> OpenLauncher is a nice home screen replacement. I would be fine with the standard one if Google would just let us hide the damn search bar.

I use Simple Contacts so I can keep my contacts out of the cloud and away from other apps. Good 'ol manual entry/editing and .vcf importing/exporting when needed, which is maybe twice a year for me. No named caller ID or call/text history though, have to use my brain for that. Maybe there's a way to make that work without sacrificing the benefits, but it hasn't been a problem for me yet, so I haven't looked into it.

For weather, I just add a DDG search for "weather [zip]" to my home screen. No need to turn on location for something that changes very little and is trivial to look up when it does.

<comment><USER11> For launchers, I like [KISS]([https://kisslauncher.com/](https://kisslauncher.com/)) a lot. A GPL3-licensed launcher with a sort of different paradigm. Very customisable.

<comment><USER15> I've played with that. I like the smallness but it actually adds either extra steps or cognitive overhead for me. It doesn't get simpler than turning on the screen (I don't have a lock screen) and tapping the icon I need. Everything I need easily fits on a single screen so I don't gain much from search.

OpenLuncher gets me what I want but it's big and can waste a bit of battery I've noticed. I'd like a launcher just as small and efficient as KISS but has a single page home screen (no need for widget support) and a full app list menu with a search bar.

<comment><USER11> KISS has a favourites bar and you can set up the largest list to sort by frequency of use, so most of the time I can do something similar.

<comment><USER15> That might do what i want if it can be made to not sort. I hate things moving around on me. Ill give it another look, the battery thing has been bothering me lately.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> I'm very picky about what I install on my phone. I find screenshots really aid me in whether I'll like the app or not. F-Droid is completely lacking in screenshots for most of the apps listed. I know this is mainly the app authors fault (this is also a problem with all FOSS software in general I find). If they made more of an effort to even upload one screenshot to F-Droid or the Git pages then I'd be more inclined to try their applications.

<comment><USER17> [https://fossdroid.com/](https://fossdroid.com/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> DNS66 is pretty much always running on my phone for a more pleasant web browsing experience (ad blocking)

DNS66 establishes a VPN interface, and redirects DNS server traffic to it. The VPN interface filters the traffic, only allowing queries for hosts that are not blacklisted.

[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jak_linux.dns66/](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jak_linux.dns66/)

</comment><comment><USER19> Nice list, pretty comprehensive in my opinion. I personally do not have the Google apps on my android phone and the only two applications that I use that are not in the list are:

\- a pdf viewer: I like Document Viewer especially to navigate in ebooks.

\- a GPS application: I like OsmAnd that has a very usable UI, lots of features and allows you to download the map of a region for offline use.

<comment><USER20> OsmAnd - tried this on 3 devices, none could download/render anything at all on any network connected. Looks like a heavy thing anyway

<comment><USER7> OsmAnd has a counterintuive UI, it have been the case that you didn't have the right map layers enabled.

<comment><USER21> You also need to download the maps ahead of time.

<comment><USER22> AFAIK, Osmand~ supports live tiles too.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> I also like:

\- Devinettes: Sphinx puzzles (rhymes with a simple answer) some are infuriatingly difficult.

\- Call Recorder: Pretty straight forward, lets you record your calls.

\- Kanadrill and KaQui: For learning the japanese alphabets.

\- Habits: Really good way to keep track of things you are trying to learn / unlearn.

\- NewPipe: Sooooooo good.

</comment><comment><USER24> Fennec F-Droid, which is Firefox minus some of Mozilla's tracking.

K-9 mail, which is an IMAP client.

ZaNavi, which uses Open Street Map. (Messes up the upper left screen area where system icons appear.)

Mozilla Nip Provider, which provides location services without Google.

<comment><USER25> fennec has all of Mozilla's tracking. they only remove the Google ones. e.g. the gappclient binary blobs that would have been included for chrome cast support.

and the location services only work on rooted phones, because google choose to deny user alternatives completely on this space. location is their expensive targeting data for ads.

<comment><USER24> You can run non-Google location services and remove almost all the Google services on a non-rooted phone. Just never register for Google, starting with a new phone, and remove most of the Google stuff. You give up voice input, though.

<comment><USER25> I am sorry but you are very wrong.

the description for the only one on fdroid even says so.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Not in the list, but Blokada ([https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.blokada.alarm/](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.blokada.alarm/)) is a must-have. It sets up a VPN and blocks ads and tracking. Rooting the phone is NOT required. FWIW, as per its inbuilt metric, it has been blocking about 1000 trackers per day for me. Also, the code is open source ([https://github.com/blokadaorg/blokada](https://github.com/blokadaorg/blokada))

<comment><USER27> More specifically, it sets up a VPN on localhost wherein the blocking is handled.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> KDE connect is awesome. You don't actually need to use KDE as your desktop as it will work on any Linux, with just a few KDE/Qt libraries. It even works on Windows, although not all plugins are able to work.

</comment><comment><USER29> > but they are much less likely to contain/be malware or spyware

Is there any base for this claim? Play store has at least a system like Play Protect. Likely it's not ideal, but at least does some filtering. Does fdroid provide anything better, or is it just that it's not as popular so spyware authors are not interested?

<comment><USER30> I would agree that in general open source software is less likely to contain such things, since anyone who inspects the source would find the bad stuff.

<comment><USER31> Especially since F-Droid packages are mostly built from source on F-Droid infrastructure, and all source tarballs are kept forever. That way, even if something slips through, it can be tracked down.

[https://f-droid.org/en/docs/FAQ_-_General/#whats-the- differe...](https://f-droid.org/en/docs/FAQ_-_General/#whats-the-difference- between-source-and-binary-builds)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> I'm the main Red Moon dev. Haven't been very active the past ~9 months, but I'm planning to get back to it soon. Happy to get any feedback / answer questions, etc.

<comment><USER33> Thank you for your work! Any chance of making it available to Android 4.0 users? (there are a lot of us, for different reasons, don't want to derail the conversation)

Currently I'm using Twilight, which isn't free or in F-Droid, and I'd love to switch to Red Moon!

<comment><USER32> I'm planning to in the next release. There might be a few visual bugs, particularly with RTL languages, but that's no reason to wait; better to just fix them as they're found.

Existing issue: [https://github.com/LibreShift/red- moon/issues/152](https://github.com/LibreShift/red-moon/issues/152)

<comment><USER33> Hey, just a heads-up to inform that I installed the debug version from here[1] and it's working p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y in my good old Android 4.0.4 device (Spanish locale). Kudos.

[1] [https://github.com/LibreShift/red- moon/issues/152#issuecomme...](https://github.com/LibreShift/red- moon/issues/152#issuecomment-312370246)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> Does anyone have a good free software solution for backups on Android they'd like to tell about?

Personally I really go too long between off-device backups. Something for automated backups to a PC would be valuable, and I suspect I'm not the only person who should be using it.

<comment><USER35> You can use rsync over usb as described here: [https://askubuntu.com/questions/343502/how-to-rsync-to- andro...](https://askubuntu.com/questions/343502/how-to-rsync-to- android/789898#789898)

<comment><USER36> If you're going to do that you may as well tether the phone to your PC and use rsync with ssh via termux [1]

On 3 phones, I've never had MTP work well enough to trust it with backups.

1: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.termux](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.termux)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> I use and love Diary, one of the few text editors that store the text as flat files on the SD card, to be synced to the PC by another app like Syncthing.

I must mention Orgzly, which is a pretty UI over OrgMode files. Also stores the flat files as text on the disk.

<comment><USER38> I use Markor for the same reason. Flat files are just the most convenient way to handle your data.

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> Amaze: File Manager

andOTP: One-time Passwords

AntennaPod: Podcasts

Etar: Calendar

Libre Office Viewer: Document Viewer

Materialistic: Hacker News client

RedReader: Reddit (great for text)

Slide: Reddit (great for images)

SlimSocial: Facebook (I have had a lot of issues with FaceSlim. I would like to part with Facebook all together but it's still too heavily used by the people I keep in contact with.)

Swiftnotes: Notes

Tasks: Todo list/tasks

WiFiAnalyzer: Analyse nearby WiFi networks

I've had NewPipe in the past but had found it quite unusable. Based on the recommendations of this thread I'll be installing it once again.

<comment><USER36> AntennaPod is fantastic, but buggy in ways that I haven't managed to coalesce into a good bug report yet:

* Playback while streaming stops, but the network connection hasn't dropped

* AntennaPod via Bluetooth crashes (!) the head unit in a Mazda CX5. No, I don't know how that's possible, either.

<comment><USER39> Ah that's not good to hear.

I was using Podcast Addict prior to AntennaPod and it had the same issues as your first point. I now experience the same behaviour with AntennaPod and had wrote it off as a "podcasting" glitch or at least an issue with the streams I was listening to.

Hopefully they address these issues in the future but they're definitely not deal breaker issuss for me to want to switch to some closed source alternative.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Why f-droid doesn't have screenshots? It's making selecting proper app very hard

<comment><USER40> It supports screenshots (see for example [1]), it's just that most uploaders haven't added them.

[1] [https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.k3b.android.androFotoFind...](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.k3b.android.androFotoFinder/)

<comment> yjftsjthsd-h That's also a fairly recent addition.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> Apps I like that weren't on the list:

Drum on: for setting up percussion loops so you can play your instrument along with it.

Newpipe: youtube client

Slide: reddit client

<comment><USER42> Yeah newpipe is great, you can watch in a tiny window or just listen to the audio of a video.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> For the privacy aware people I would add:

\- Nextcloud

\- Conversations

\- Davdroid

<comment><USER43> I've heard of Nexcloud. What's the difference between it and Syncthing?

<comment><USER44> syncthing is like dropbox. Nextcloud is remote storage you can access, with tons of plugins to do additional things with it too, like video chat for example.

<comment><USER45> Nextcloud is more like Dropbox imho. It has a web interface, but there are also sync clients and you need a webserver to host your stuff.

<comment><USER44> Nextcloud is not like Dropbox out of the box (no pun intended). While Syncthing is pretty much what Dropbox's core service used to be.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER46> I am using Password Store (Manage your passwords) - [https://f-droid.org/app/com.zeapo.pwdstore](https://f-droid.org/app/com.zeapo.pwdstore) which is a port of the pass tool to android. It is a little dufficult to configure (and also needs openkeychain to store your key) but after that it works flawlessly!

</comment><comment><USER47> My favorites are:

Ghost Commander - two panel file manager with text editor Call Recorder - records calls

Termux - terminal emulator with packages

Hacker's Keyboard - full keyboard, good for terminal and remote

Sky Map - astronomy app, formerly google's

Voice - audiobook player

Markor - markdown editor and todo.txt task list

Loop Habit Tracker - reminder and tracker for building habits

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.ghostsq.comm...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.ghostsq.commander)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.github.axet....](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.github.axet.callrecorder)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.termux](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.termux)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.pocketworkst...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.google.andro...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.google.android.stardroid)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=de.ph1b.audioboo...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=de.ph1b.audiobook)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=net.gsantner.mar...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=net.gsantner.markor)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.isoron.uhabi...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.isoron.uhabits)

</comment><comment><USER48> Any solution for imposing a relatively high barrier to get to the 'smart' functionality of the phone?

I'd like to have texting, camera, phone, maps, and music, with everything else requiring a decent effort to access. That way email and browser and other extra functions are available but inconvenient, so I'll either rethink what I'm doing or use a laptop in the many cases where it's far more appropriate.

It seemed like this should be doable with users, but I haven't seen a good way.

I made a post for this yesterday,but didn't get any good advice, so I'm trying again here.

<comment><USER49> Try AFWall+.

I use this so I have a smartphone on wifi, and what amounts to a flip phone when I'm on data (just calls and texts...no email, no slack, no insta, etc etc). It supports modes too, so you can have "Nav" where Lyft and Maps have connectivity if you're getting around.

Very nice.

<comment><USER50> I am quite surprised AFWall+ was only mentioned once in this thread. Have been a happy user since KitKat for same reasons... Peace of mind on my customized terms.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER51> F-droid is a tremendous resource for Android developers and users who want to distribute or install ethical open source apps that operate outside the bounds of Google Play's TOS. Two such apps that I strongly recommend are NewPipe and getChromium.

*Full disclosure: I made getChromium.

</comment><comment><USER52> I always add [https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/repo](https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/repo) to the repos in F-Droid - adds a lot of apps that aren't on the main repo for various reasons.

</comment><comment><USER53> I didn't see anyone mention fasthub, it's the best github so I could find so far

</comment><comment><USER54> My Expenses: [http://www.myexpenses.mobi/en/](http://www.myexpenses.mobi/en/) \- Personal finance manager. I find it very uses-friendly & been using it almost for a year.

</comment><comment><USER55> Yalp Store available on F-Droid is my definitive backdoor into G's Play Store. I use it all the time on family or shared phones to install useful apps but without need to login with gmail/google account.

</comment><comment><USER56> We had a thread of F-Droid apps a while back on Lobsters:

[https://lobste.rs/s/8xtyxo/f_droid_app_recommendation_thread](https://lobste.rs/s/8xtyxo/f_droid_app_recommendation_thread)

Lots of apps in it. I had no idea so many were using F-Droid.

</comment><comment><USER57> NewPipe is the best. By the way, is there any app that can mask the IP of my hotspot either through a VPN?

</comment><comment><USER58> I like FTP Server. It's really convenient for transferring files from my computer.

</comment><comment><USER59> ObscuraCam sounds super cool, is there an iphone equivalent?

<comment><USER60> Apple store terms of service are incompatible with the GPL, you would need to publish under a different license on their store specifically.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> f-droid, and by extension "unknown sources" is what makes Android my pick.

</comment><comment><USER61> Port Authority: A port scanner app there. That's kind of cool. I'd like to say OpenStreetMaps...but unfortunately..well. Everyone knows.</comment>


The Physics of a Tennis Ball's Spin - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/2015/09/mind-bending-physics-tennis-balls-spin/ <comment><USER2> Misleading title - the article asserts that spin wins matches without describing the physics at all. It's a barely-veiled advertisement for Wilson's rackets.

In tennis, the spin that "wins matches" is the topspin. In a topspin, the Magnus effect generates downwards lift, allowing the ball to be hit forwards faster and still land in the court than if downwards acceleration was provided by gravity alone. Without spin, unlimited-speed shots can only be hit at heights where the ball has near line-of-sight with the opposite court. Since hitting the ball faster than your opponent can get to it is what wins points, that's why spin wins matches.

But tennis is hardly the poster-boy for the Magnus effect. Table tennis has a small and raised court, and a high speed/mass ratio, which makes it apply the Magnus effect more completely than any other sport. Spin is used to to generate lift for long slow defensive shots, to attack from far below table level, and to alter ball direction in flight. Table tennis players require a good "feel" for all aspects of the Magnus effect in order to improve much more beyond beginner level, and no mid-level amateur player can ever get away with not thinking about it.

<comment><USER3> The Magnus effect is extremely important (and fun) in golf as well.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> There's an excellent video submitted here:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9915197](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9915197)

about the Magnus effect. Quite simple and amazing.

</comment><comment><USER5> The author says that Wilson's new racquet with Spin Effect technology _doubled_ the spin on his shots compared to his normal racquet. Now that sounds mind-bending!

Especially when Wilson's site claims that technology provides the benefit of 10% more spin - [http://www.wilson.com/en-us/tennis/spin- effect/innovation/](http://www.wilson.com/en-us/tennis/spin- effect/innovation/)</comment>


Science fiction, science fact: Does infinity exist? - <AUTHOR> http://plus.maths.org/content/science-fiction-science-fact-does-infinity-exist <comment><USER2> No. Where would you put it? :)</comment>


Political Disinformation Campaign on YouTube Using NLP – Plasticity (YC S17) - <AUTHOR> https://media.plasticity.ai/youtube-disinformation-report/ <comment><USER2> This is so crazy!!! CNN article [https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/13/tech/youtube- fake-accounts-vi...](https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/13/tech/youtube-fake- accounts-viral/index.html)

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, we launched our exclusive with CNN. We're happy to answer any more detailed tech questions the HN audience might have here.</comment></comment>


Show HN: Please stress test this demo - <AUTHOR> I want to see how many browsers it can run before it becomes unresponsive. It's an 80 core 400 GB Skylake GCP instance running in Oregon. Logically it should be able to run 80 to 160, but at peak usage of around 60 I only saw about 5% utilization.
Stress test rules are you can't use a bot or script to do it, it has to be legitimate use to get an idea of what real peak looks like with websocket, browsing websites, bandwidth etc.
also running CPU workloads in JS won't work because the monitoring scripts will kill those users.
demo at
https://start.cloudbrowser.xyz/?stresstest <comment><USER2> Incorrect token "ZQ17ZLXlj1". Try again.

I think I broke it! :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Great!

Should be working again now. Keep trying ;D</comment></comment>


BP robot accident badly hits oil spill containment - <AUTHOR> http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/infrastructure/hardware/news/index.cfm?newsid=20831 A high-tech effort by BP, to slow the oil gushing from its ruptured wellhead, led to a large accident yesterday that forced the company to remove a vital containment cap for 10 hours. <comment><USER2> Not too pleased with this bit of reporting at the end:

" _Yesterday's ROV incident is not BP's first. In April, the robots failed to activate the blow out preventer device...._ "

The robot manually (so to speak :-) flipped a switch on a control panel (<http://www.flickr.com/photos/uscgd8/4551846015/>). The BOP failed to do its thing (as it had when its deadman switch feature failed). Not the fault of the poor robot at all.

</comment><comment><USER3> At least we are seeing incremental progress now, even with a step backwards here and there.

</comment><comment><USER4> Someone is going to see this guy: [http://media.photobucket.com/image/robot%20devil/demonelite/...](http://media.photobucket.com/image/robot%20devil/demonelite/robot_devil_flames.jpg)</comment>


Hacktivist Protests Poor Security Practices - <AUTHOR> https://www.inversoft.com/blog/2016/06/08/hacktivist-protests-poor-security-practices/ <comment><USER2> While it is great to point out the security shortcomings and encourage better security practice. The ends justifying the means argument for illegal hacking seems vapid. It is still an illegal activity. I believe there is always a alternate motive.

A new virus? Oh, better stock up on Symantec Anti-Virus. How many virus's have been written by those selling you the cure? Security troubles? I'm sure there are plenty of security 'consultants' ready and waiting to take your money.

Maybe I'm too cynical.</comment>