Spotify's Podcast Aggregation Play - <AUTHOR> https://stratechery.com/2019/spotifys-podcast-aggregation-play/ <comment><USER2> By the way, for those who don't know the company mentioned (Gimlet), it's an interesting case for HN, because the founder recorded a podcast about its creation right from the start, avoiding the biases that come with hindsight:

[https://www.gimletmedia.com/startup/1-how-not-to-pitch-a- bil...](https://www.gimletmedia.com/startup/1-how-not-to-pitch-a- billionaire#episode-player)

<comment><USER3> It's such a shame; I've been following Alex's work for years now. It was his podcasts (specifically Planet Money) which got me into podcasts in the first place. Now it looks like he sold up to let his company die at Spotify.

I hope that we'll hear the full story eventually and, of course, that this will prove to be a move for the better.

<comment><USER4> Maybe a future season of 'Startup' will cover it

<comment><USER5> I bet dollars to dimes that they will cover it in a podcast and that podcast will be exclusive to Spotify.

I would predict they keep doing 'Startup' as-is with its focus on other companies, and launch 'Acquisition' (or whatever) as an exclusive with excerpts of it in 'Startup'.

<comment><USER6> Some of their podcasts are already exclusive to Spotify. Crimetown season 2, for example.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER2> Sigh. I'm already conflicted about Audible, now podcasts will be locked down too?

It's curious this article doesn't even mention iTunes; as far as I know, that's the undisputed champion of podcast discovery and distribution, isn't it? Can podcasts afford to leave it to become Spotify exclusives?

<comment><USER7> How can it be the undisputed champion of podcast delivery and only available on about ~5% of computers and ~40% of smartphones? The average smartphone user and desktop user can't even access Apple discovery features!

I think you might be an Apple user who doesn't realize that the majority of all device users don't own Apple devices, so for Apple to be the champion of anything (except profit per user) is a bit of a mathematical impossibility.

<comment><USER8> I would imagine the parent comment is in regards to how people listen to podcasts. According to Anchor, Apple Podcasts boasts a 52% market share of how people listen to podcasts - [https://medium.com/anchor/how-people-listen-to- podcasts-ba0c...](https://medium.com/anchor/how-people-listen-to-podcasts- ba0c57a5f952).

The power and reach of the default install of Apple Podcasts is hard to ignore. (which I don't believe most Android phones have).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Spotify's acquisition spree in this space is not surprising and Gimlet is just the beginning. In case people missed it they also recently announced that they are setting aside another 500 million for this year for more acquisitions.

It is my opinion that Audio is going to be a huge opportunity for lots of Startups, I feel it is underserved. I really do feel that the AirPods have been game changing in making audio consumption far easier. In some ways they are the new iPod for Apple, they cost about the same as the iPod used to and I'm almost certain at some point Apple will add storage to them and we will be able to take them with us without our phone. I believe they are expected to sell 75 million units through this year, those are no small numbers and presents a huge opportunity for audio startups.

The other thing about Audio is that there is so much more potential than just music or podcast. Since Audio is obviously one of those things you can consume on the go, while doing other things, like exercising or commuting and you can consume it for so much more than just entertainment but to stay informed or to learn. In some ways audio is far superior to video in our modern fast paced world.

As a little self promotion, this is exactly why I decided to create an app that uses some open machine learning models to read articles to you, I believe folks on the go will benefit immensely by staying informed and learning new things. You can check it out at [https://articulu.com](https://articulu.com)

</comment><comment><USER10> I feel like the golden age of podcasts is coming to a close.

<comment><USER11> The ads just keep coming and coming...

Sometimes I think top 40 radio has less ads than the Techmeme Ride Home. I haven't crunched any numbers to see.

<comment><USER12> If you are listening in the car, just turn the dial twice and you are past commercials.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> The business case that's laid out here makes sense, but I really wish they'd stick to one thing (streaming music) and do it really well (which they currently do).

Plex is pulling the same approach with podcasts and 'web TV', and it's annoying the hell out of users that would rather see increased time and money invested in core features. I don't want to see the same happen to Spotify.

<comment><USER14> I genuinely don't understand how to use Plex for its primary purpose anymore. The UI is so irritating that I just threw it off my server.

Spotify doesn't seem to suffer from any similar issues. It appears I can reach the music I'd like in the same number of straight-forward clicks as before podcast-related features were introduced.

<comment><USER15> I really enjoy the improvements to Plex, I've been able to put all of my media consumption into one app (I even have youtube videos automatically downloading and added to my collection) so I can pick up where I left off on any of my devices.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> > More than 10 years ago we founded Spotify to give consumers something they > couldn't get

And now they're planning to take away something consumers have. I have little doubt that they'll succeed in turning what is currently an open ecosystem where users have choice into a closed system of fiefdoms like video streaming is increasingly becoming.

Spotify is a _bad_ podcast app. In no particular order:

* There seems to be an inconsistent restriction in the number of episodes you can see. Daily podcasts suffer particularly from this.

* I need three gestures just to get to podcasts on their app, and then more to start digging into genres.

* Available podcasts seem to be curated - the selection is very small.

* There are no ratings

* There is no way to see what's trending, or it is non-obvious

* Downloading is locked behind a paywall, which is a big deal for a medium where individual episodes can be several hundred megabytes

* Subscribing is an afterthought. Three interactions to see what's new in a podcast I'm subscribed to.

In summation: terrible discoverability, slim selection, cumbersome ui, and basic features missing or locked behind a paywall.

I, for one, do not welcome our new overlords.

<comment><USER3> > Spotify is a bad podcast app.

Over the last 18 months it has become a bad music app too. Two years ago it only took one or two clicks to load your music and your downloaded music remained.. downloaded.

Nowadays you have to fight through several screens of "promotional feeds" to get to your playlists which will then be half empty because the downloaded songs have been removed.

They're clearly being driven as a new music marketing service by their record company overlords.

<comment><USER17> The latest UI update on iOS moved the "Repeat" button to behind another menu, necessitating an additional tap. As someone who frequently toggles repeat, I now have an additional screen to tap through.

<comment><USER18> Thank you. I just noticed this too. I wonder what the UX reasoning for this was?

I just assumed that they had some metric indicating that not many people used it...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I personally hate ads with such a passion that I subconsciously stopped to listen to US podcasts more and more and mostly found European podcasts which offer to pay/donate instead.

And especially German podcasts found a way to send them money without paying fees like patreon or paypal does so that even small amounts like $1 make sense.

<comment><USER20> >German podcasts found a way to send them money without paying fees like patreon or paypal does?

GiroPay?

<comment><USER19> I'm not sure if it's called like that but this:

> BIC + IBAN is often the cheapest way to transfer money internationally and > is now free of charge* in much of Europe under EU/EEA directive 2560/2001\. > BIC + IBAN international bank transfers are faster, more efficient, and low- > cost as they are sent directly through the SWIFT interbank network without > using intermediary banks (who deduct charges or fees for their service). > IBAN will be progressively introduced in most OECD countries to allow > Straight Through Processing of cross border payments.

from [https://www.auctionfeecalculator.com/iban- transfers.html](https://www.auctionfeecalculator.com/iban-transfers.html)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I would think the play is to establish a second entity that handles the aggregation and "distribution". More or less the music model but for podcasts.

Of course that runs the risk of creating (podcast-centric) competitors to Spotify. But such a counter intuitive strategy never hurt Amazon.

<comment><USER22> This just sounds like inserting more middle men between podcast creators and listeners. No thank you. I want my money going to creators, not SV VC companies.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Wondering why Spotify isn't pulling a "Netflix": signing up their own artists and cut out the music industry completely. You used to sign with an established music label because of their distribution dominance. But if Spotify is capturing a growing piece of that distribution...

<comment><USER24> He explains this in the article. For the most popular musical acts streaming isn't how they make money. It's simply a means to advertise their music so they can make money by touring. If that's the case no popular musical act is going to lock their music down to a single provider because the goal is maximum possible distribution. The bet Spotify is making with podcasts is that podcast creators will trade maximum distribution for ease of publication and a "large enough" base and Spotify will capture the long tail of podcasts.

Personally I'm highly skeptical this is going to move the needle on revenue for them in the long run and more than anything feels more like a desperation play than a smart business strategy.

Going back just one year the main bull case made by Scott Galloway was that Spotify would eventually own video on mobile. Clearly that's not going to happen now that it's apparent that space is going to be carved up between YouTube and Facebook. I think Spotify is eventually going to be acquired by a much larger company making a push into services after its market cap has been cut significantly.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> I haven't seen this mentioned in the article or comments here, but an article I read (can't find it right now) mentioned that advertisers prefer podcasts on Spotify to Apple, because Spotify can give them data on how many users are actually listening to the ads vs skipping. Spotify also doesn't have a 1.5x speed (and up). The next move, I bet, will be to entice podcast creators to have exclusive deals with Spotify, for which they will get somewhat higher compensation from advertisers.

<comment><USER26> > Spotify also doesn't have a 1.5x speed (and up)

This is old news. They have up to 3x now in my iOS app.

<comment><USER25> Oh wow! I use the web app a lot, so it makes sense I've not seen it, since their web app is a dumbed down version.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> I really hope Spotify uses this as a reason to re-work their podcasting section. I think Apple's podcast app does a great job with discovery, and find all the podcasts I'm interested in on Spotify to get totally lost in the shuffle. They also don't really seem to have any sort of meaningful feed, which is how I choose a podcast before any long walk.

</comment><comment><USER28> Streaming services have to create content these days to lock in users. Users won't switch if the stuff the watch (or listen to) is only available with a specific player.

Just like TV/movies Podcasts won't remain 100% channel agnostic.

</comment><comment><USER29> this link in the article was cooler than the article itself: [https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/](https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales- database/) (be sure to change the metric to inflation adjusted revenue)

</comment><comment><USER30> Recode has an interview with Gimlet's cofounders about the acquisition: [https://open.spotify.com/episode/1q7w7rQYjh3yFgey4Gz2OO](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1q7w7rQYjh3yFgey4Gz2OO)

<comment><USER31> Let's not hasten the locking down of podcasts by using a Spotify link.

[https://www.recode.net/2019/2/7/18214941/alex-blumberg- matt-...](https://www.recode.net/2019/2/7/18214941/alex-blumberg-matt-lieber- gimlet-spotify-deal-acquisition-peter-kafka-media-podcast-audio-interview)

<comment><USER32> Your, and the parent comment, perfectly encapsulate what is going wrong on the macro level with the specific example at hand. Your link is the system as it works today, a medium agnostic hyperlink that allows you to start listening on any device with a browser and a speaker. The parent offers a locked door to a meticulously tracked and monetized walled garden.

<comment><USER31> Exactly.

This is the world I want to live in:

 _You can listen to Recode Media wherever you get your podcasts — including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, and Overcast._

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> You can download all of the Reply All from MP3 links on the RSS feed: [https://feeds.megaphone.fm/replyall](https://feeds.megaphone.fm/replyall)

Worth grabbing in case they go away.

</comment><comment><USER34> Ahh... the new media conglomerates. Just what we all need.

</comment><comment><USER35> Yet another reason not to use Spotify. Their IPO was a huge red flag, of course.

</comment><comment><USER36> Earwolf up next?</comment>


Feds may set Gulf oil slick ablaze - <AUTHOR> http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/27/news/economy/oil_rig_gulf/index.htm?hpt=T1

<comment><AUTHOR> Having to do this is really unfortunate. However it could be spectacular to see.</comment>


Digital Ocean droplets manager for OS X  - <AUTHOR> http://davidhsiehlo.com/blog/2014/04/27/digitalocean-droplets-manager-OSX/ <comment><USER2> Neat. I'd love something like this that supported all the major cloud providers (perhaps via libcloud [https://libcloud.apache.org/](https://libcloud.apache.org/))

<comment><USER3> It's doesn't have a UI, but I wrote a command line tool called Overcast that lets you create/manage/destroy/reboot DigitalOcean and Linode VMs. Support for AWS is on the roadmap. [http://andrewchilds.github.io/overcast](http://andrewchilds.github.io/overcast)

        # Create a new Ubuntu 14.04 instance on DigitalOcean
        $ overcast digitalocean create db_01 --cluster db

        # Create a new Ubuntu 14.04 instance on Linode
        $ overcast linode create db_02 --cluster db

        # Configure both instances in parallel
        $ overcast run db install/core install/redis --parallel
        $ overcast expose db 22 6379 --parallel

        # Interact with both instances at once over SSH
        $ overcast ssh db

        # Reboot, snapshot, destroy, etc
        $ overcast digitalocean snapshot db_01 db_01_snapshot
        $ overcast digitalocean reboot db_01
        $ overcast linode destroy db_02

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Neat but do people really play with their VMs often enough for things like this to have value. I rarely touch any once they're up.

<comment><USER5> Its less "often" and more "convenient". If you need to make a chance, reboot, shutdown, etc, is it easier to open your browser, login to DO, find the droplet, etc? Or two clicks in the menubar?

<comment><USER6> Can't imagine not trying to login to the server and doing some investigation before just doing a blind reboot

I agree with parent, and prefer this [http://fitztrev.github.io/shuttle/](http://fitztrev.github.io/shuttle/)

Best of both worlds (and works with all hosts) only thing you lose is the 1 click reboot/shutdown

<comment><USER5> I use shuttle (all of our infrastructure is AWS); excellent recommendation.

And you would be surprised how often blind reboots happen (sometimes you don't get to make the call).

Disclaimer: DevOps/Sysadmin.

<comment><USER6> Hopefully you aren't taking calls from the Sales Guy telling you to reboot blind [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8_Kfjo3VjU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8_Kfjo3VjU) :P

<comment><USER5> Classic!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> This is very cool. I made the Rackspace and Slicehost apps back in the day and I always wanted to make a tool like this to manage Rackspace servers. Unfortunately I never got around to it.

</comment><comment><USER8> "This application requires OS X 10.9 or later". Looks awesome though. I'd definitely use it if it ever gets 10.8.5 support.

<comment><USER9> Just curious- what issues are keeping you from upgrading?

<comment><USER10> (Personally knowing very little about OS X development...)

Are there 10.9-specific features at work here preventing it from being 10.8.5-compatible? I also haven't upgraded yet.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Thanks! Was wondering who would make this first.

</comment><comment><USER12> Hmm we've got 130+ droplets and it seems to only fetch the details of the first one with that quantity

</comment><comment><USER13> Nice! I saw the one for Ubuntu and thinking we needed one for Mac, thanks again!

<comment><USER14> What's the Ubuntu version?

<comment><USER15> Here it is: [http://blog.andrewsomething.com/2014/04/25/digitalocean- indi...](http://blog.andrewsomething.com/2014/04/25/digitalocean-indicator- release/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> First things first. What is a droplet and why do I need that?</comment>


Tim O'Reilly: Google's got problems - <AUTHOR> http://gigaom.com/2012/07/06/tim-oreilly-googles-got-problems/

<comment><USER2> The actual Tim O'Reilly post: [https://plus.google.com/107033731246200681024/posts/jP4g9KKT...](https://plus.google.com/107033731246200681024/posts/jP4g9KKTUK8)

<comment><USER3> Reading that reminds me: we need to stop calling wasting people's time "social". In fact it's astounding how many of the outcomes for users of "social" are in fact anti-social; too much time online, ego-centrism, attention deficit etc

<comment><USER4> Anti-social is much more precise. It is primarily a tool to specifically target marketing, experimenting with extra-relational flirtation, and maintain that high school sense of social competition that we were all so happy to depart from.

When developing I cringe any time a "social" feature gets involved. Rarely are people's lives enriched from it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I agree with this as well. When Google+ came out I was thinking "Why are they afraid of Facebook?" Generally, the utility of Google will always far surpass the utility of Facebook. They may "compete", but only in the sense that both of their users spend time on the internet, and they both make money from online advertising.

It is a huge strategic mistake for Google to look at Facebook think that Facebook makes money due to how long people spend on their site.

Facebook makes their money in volume of page views. Google makes its money in quality of page views. Trying to be social and dragging people out of Facebook is going to be impossible. Conversely, Facebook trying to do search and dragging people out of Google is futile given their core business.

The Google guys are smart. I can't imagine how they are afraid of Facebook. Social data requires context, which is hard to get. Facebook screws it up all the time. Data-data (not social drivel) requires discovery, which is much easier to execute on and Google has done that really well.

My advice to Google: stop sweating Facebook. Like your momma always told you, "Just be yourself and everyone will like you."

<comment><USER6> _If_ FB figures out social searching (combining intent-based, search driven advertising with social qualification), Google will be in trouble if they don't have a matching strategy.

That _if_ is a really big one. In the meantime, Google has lost its way. I'm using it less and less as it tries to be more and more.

The other big problem is I've lost faith in them to be good with all my data they hold. Once upon a time, "Don't be evil" seemed to be interpreted as "Be good"; now, they may not be outright evil, but I think they have moved away from "Be good". Because my email and search history contains more sensitive information than the stuff I allow on FB, that is concerning.

So, while social _may_ be important for Google, the bigger issue I see is that they've lost their identity. I no longer really understand who Google is and what it is trying to accomplish. Maybe that is inevitable at a company their size (Apple, an obvious counter to that, is anomalous in many ways).

In the end, I miss the simple search interface.

<comment><USER7> What's not simple about the current interface? Just because you can use extra features provided by Google+ doesn't mean you have to!

> I no longer really understand who Google is and what it is trying to > accomplish.

The same as it ever was - organize the world's information.

<comment><USER6> It's distracting, cluttered, and inundated with results that attempt to drive you to Google's own properties. It's the last one that bugs me the most. Valuable real estate and attention is being used in an attempt not to give me the best information for _me_ , but rather the best information for Google to have me look at.

> The same as it ever was - organize the world's information.

But too often lately, they seem to be forsaking the _world's_ information for their own.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Tim doesn't make a case for his statement here. While Google has grown large not only as a company but also in terms of businesses (it is no longer just a search company), it is extremely hard to still remain focussed and innovative as they are right now. Hard to see how this compares with Yahoo! at all...

<comment><USER9> As you grow as a company (especially if you grow quickly or through acquisitions), the more integration points between parts of the company to have.

You eventually reach a point where you are spending more time on integration parts of the company than innovating to keep ahead of competitors. At this point you are dead in the water while your competitors start to catch up.

Yahoo hit exactly this point. If Google is not careful they will also hit this point.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> No clue in the articles about how, or why. Just because Yahoo lost its way (if they did at all) doesn't mean everyone else has to as well.

Time on site is an important metric, no matter what Tim or Tom says.</comment>


Some of the world's biggest economies are on the brink of recession - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/23/investing/stocks-week-ahead/index.html <comment><USER2> Interesting that China is just a blurb in the article.

[https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Industry-in-focus/Virus- hit...](https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Industry-in-focus/Virus-hits-China-s- economic-heart-its-small-businesses)

65% of 1,506 Chinese SMEs surveyed in early February expect to run out of cash within 1 month, 85% within 3 months.

Chinese small business which account for 99.8% of registered companies in China and employ 79.4% of workers, according to the latest official statistics. They contribute more than 60% of gross domestic product and, for the government, more than 50% of tax revenue.

[https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/jpmorgan-now-expects- chi...](https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/jpmorgan-now-expects-china-q1-gdp- drop-1-crash-4-if-coronavirus-not-contained)

JPMorgan Now Expects China Q1 GDP To Drop To 1%, Crash To -4% If Coronavirus Is Not Contained

<comment><USER3> Good lord... those numbers cannot be real, that's terrifying.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> If we know a global recession is coming, is there anything we can do to profit off it it? Does gold, Bitcoin, etc. go up during recessions?

Or is the best strategy to just buy low (during recession) and sell high (after recession)?

<comment><USER5> You can short bubbles via long term put options, that's what I do. Tech (XLK, QQQ), green themes (PBW, TAN), borderline personality cults and ridiculous dreams (TSLA, SPCE), US corporate credit (JNK, LQD). Of course because it's options you always have to consider whether the market perception of IV isn't already too high. For example SPCE is a ridiculously good short but "the market knows" and the IV is ridiculous too.

Also no two recessions are 100% alike. Most importantly - will the next one be deflationary or inflationary? Even that is hard to say. Growth in credit suggests deflation, but then if we face mass bailouts then gold and oil will be the places to be. Also, the virus thingy may be quite inflationary (disruption of supply chains, no more stuff from China!) if it materializes. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not about "crisis/not crisis", but rather "what is currently severely mispriced, and will correct when the market volatility rises?". This can be either up or down in price.

Finally, if the world temperature goes to, say, +5*C or the virus is really super bad then this is risk that's not hedge-able via capital markets, because it will fuck up capital markets themselves. Think of this as counterparty risk.

<comment><USER6> > _Of course because it 's options you always have to consider whether the > market perception of IV isn't already too high. For example SPCE is a > ridiculously good short but "the market knows" and the IV is ridiculous > too._

So just use a spread?

<comment><USER5> You still pay a lot in IV even if you do a spread, i.e. the reward/risk is not that great (2022 puts on SPCE have an IV in excess of 100%... that's too much for me). And I don't have the stomach to sell options. But that's all my opinion, go ahead and do it if you think it makes sense.

<comment><USER6> You pay IV on one side and get it back on the other, don't you? AIUI high IV just means the spread won't start "paying off" until closer to expiry.

<comment><USER5> > You pay IV on one side and get it back on the other, don't you?

No. You get less on the other side. You should look up Black-Scholes to understand how option pricing works.

A put option's value comes from integrating the underlying lognormal distribution between 0 and the strike price. A spread's value comes from integrating the underlying distribution between the two spread strikes. Both heavily depend on IV (i.e. the sigma of the log-normal distribution).

Also, always think about the guy on the other side of the trade. Why would he sell you a spread cheaply if it's obvious that the underlying is very shitty and volatile? Options are bets on the probability distribution of some asset. High IV means "anything is possible". And if anything is possible then it stands that there's little money to be made on a move like "give me insurance against it going up/down". There is some money to be made on "I can underwrite the risk of it going down/up", i.e. on selling the options, i.e. selling the IV.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Someone else mentioned news outlets having low integrity ratings and I have to agree that many have crossed that threshold.

I remember channel-flipping past all of the outrage on daytime talk shows (Jerry! Jerry!) because they were trash, but that low-quality/short-sighted outrage somehow made its way into the news cycle over the decades. AI/ML filters will be a boon for information curation. Bipolar insights have no value whatsoever.

<comment><USER8> > Bipolar insights have no value whatsoever.

I love the extreme tension this sentence creates. Both within itself and with the rest of the authors post.

<comment><USER7> The bipolar statement is probably more apparent on televised news, but alternating between murder, crime, (fear).. Then rotating to a few feelgood stories is not a healthy cycle (now with new and improved outrage).

You could go your whole life without information like that and not be missing a thing.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> US: Record Trade deficit + record fiscal deficit + record govt debt + record corp debt (all during a period when economy is supposedly doing well) = time bomb

<comment><USER10> Why are you looking only at alleged (nominal -> inflation...) negative records?

Record low unemployment, highest stock indices, highest household incomes, low hispanic and african american poverty rates etc. etc.

Also, some of your negative indicators are the result of lower taxes = more wealth for tax payers.

<comment><USER11> > Record low unemployment, highest stock indices, highest household incomes, > low hispanic and african american poverty rates etc. etc

All of those points are true before any bust. Juicing an already hot economy with tax cuts and low interest rates is just stupid, leading to excessive inflation, bubbles, and ultimately a bust. If adults were running things, they would use taxation and interest rate as a lever, cut when the economy is bad, but raised when the economy is good: this would provide relief during bad times and prevent good times from overheating.

<comment><USER12> I never really thought about that, or put 2 and 2 together on taxes.

Why don't we have annual dynamic taxes? I'm sure there is a lot of nuance that would have to be worked out, but it seems like an excellent method for smoothing volatility.

<comment><USER11> Property taxes sort of are dynamic (they can go up or down depending on property values), interest rates are definitely supposed to be dynamic. It would probably be a good thing to apply to income taxes, but they are already progressive and if you lose your job, well...you don't have to pay them. Obama's temporary payroll tax cut was a bit clever in this regard, as lower income people pay mostly payroll taxes anyways (directly or indirectly).

<comment><USER13> Incorrect, property taxes don't go down because government spending always goes up. If property values go down the city government finds a way to not adjust down or increase rates. You could sue and get them to readjust down but next year they will just reset you back and you have to do it again guaranteed that it will cost you more to fight than to pay.

<comment><USER11> Property taxes have actually gone down before, but in order for the government to remain solvent, they often raise the rate for the next year if they can do it automatically. Or they can play shenanigans with appraisal values, but then fairness comes into play (e.g. if my $100k house is taxed as much as the $200k house nearby, but the $200k house is taxed exactly as it should be).

For property taxes to play their secondary role of forcing people to put their property to productive use (as opposed to using them for speculative investing), the tax is perfectly able to go up and down depending on the assessed value of the property. Of course, local governments also depend on the revenue, which becomes their primary purpose these days. However, societies that lack a property tax (e.g. China) suffer from a lot more speculative bubbles, making the tax useful in itself even if its revenue wasn't significant.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Are there any other sources that align with this. Sans TMZ-esque material CNN is too low on the credibility scale for such high-minded subject matter.

</comment><comment><USER15> ingredients for a perfect storm:

\- crumbling of tightly integrated supply chains

\- global recession

\- financial systems (especially in EU) which have never been reformed after 2008

\- droughts, floods, locusts, and wildfires

\- immigration crisis

\- never-ending war in ME

\- rise of nationalism and xenophobia

\- rampant spreading of mis-/disinformation

<comment><USER10> > financial systems (especially in EU) which have never been reformed after > 2008

[https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/banking- and-...](https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/banking-and- finance/financial-reforms-and-their-progress/progress-financial-reforms_en)

<comment><USER15> Last year The Economist had a good article on that[1]. The EU looks very different depending on whether you look South or North. None of the Northern counties are in good shape right now (Germany, France) and its suppliers of labor from the South who are on the brink since years aren't going to weather this IMO. German and French voters sure won't be happy to bail them out when things become hard.

[1] [https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/01/05/the-euro- enter...](https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/01/05/the-euro-enters-its- third-decade-in-need-of-reform)

 _> Southern discomfort

At the same time, southerners feel they are bearing all the pain of recovery. The politics of monetary union is more febrile as a result. After eight years of eye-watering austerity, Greek GDP per person is still far below its level in 2007 in real terms (see chart 3). In 2015 Syriza, a left-wing party, came to power promising to end austerity, before spectacularly reversing course when it became clear that Greece needed a third bail-out._

<comment><USER16> Why is he getting downvoted? That's a very real dichotomy that imo will be the reason of EU split if there is going to be one

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Living in a crossroads area for shipping readily shows me this is coming. Supply chains are freezing up. If I don't see as many tractor-trailer rigs on the road and not as many ships in the harbor then supply chains will freeze. "Just In Time" will break rather catastrophically for some companies.

Oddly enough, the trade war with China instigated by President Trump unintentionally has had a good outcome in light of the current coronavirus worries. Companies that went all in on offshoring to China started diversifying again where their plants happened to be located. That start to deleveraging might keep a few manufacturers afloat as some or all operations per company relocate.

</comment><comment><USER18> The author forgot to mention Brexit.

<comment><USER19> I voted Remain, but the forecast for a post-Brexit Britain is economically positive, at least for the short term.

That's why it's not mentioned.

<comment><USER20> No it's not.

The news this week is that the UK is looking to not honour the terms of the withdrawal agreement in order to avoid a Northern Ireland-UK border. This sort of behaviour is eroding trust not just with EU but Japan. Lack of a transition FTA for either would send the UK into recession.

Also look at UK's recent immigration policy announcement where they announced a move to a points based system. There is no low skilled visa for people who work in agriculture. That industry has already said they will see a significant decline over the long term.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Well, my bond mutual fund is up 21%, so there is that.

<comment> ur-whale Time to sell.

<comment><USER21> Really, bad advice. The outlook for bonds in 2020 is changing as the impact of Corona virus puts previous projections into question.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> It's all doom and gloom in the news. Best thing you can do for yourself is to stay off the news.

<comment><USER23> Check out Wikipedia's "Current events" section [0]. I feel it does the best job of providing the relevant factual updates about the world without all of the drama, clickbait and gossip.

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events)

<comment><USER24> I made a more readable version of this at [https://legiblenews.com/](https://legiblenews.com/) (works on mobile, supports dark mode, formatting is more readable, loads in under 200ms w/ 1 request and absolutely no JS) which scrapes Current Events once per day at 8p Pacific Time.

I jokingly say "it's a news website where if you click on a link, you might accidentally learn something"

<comment><USER25> This is great. Thank you for making it! Maybe you could run that cron job more often for people on the other side of the pond? Right now, I'm only seeing news for Saturday.

<comment><USER24> I've thought about that, but I intentionally want only one update per day to limit the "I gotta check the news" addiction and I've lined up the publishing to approximately when Wikipedia starts a new day.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> The entire economy is a pyramid scheme just begging to collapse. Google worth over $1 trillion, Microsoft worth over $1.36 trillion, Apple over $1.37 trillion, Amazon over $1 trillion. Bitcoin $200 billion. A lot of terrible unscalable and insecure cryptocurrencies worth over $1 billion each. Even IOTA cryptocurrency which experienced a massive hack followed by total failure of the network is still almost worth over $700 million. The thing failed completely and the market still thinks it's worth $700 million... These are more or less the same kind of people who participate in other mainstream stock markets. US national debt is at 23 trillion. Close to 0% interest rate for an entire decade.

We are way past the point where we should be worried; that point was probably 10 years ago. Everything everyone knows about the economy and value creation is wrong. It's a giant, fiat-fueled pyramid scheme and as soon as just a couple of semi-intelligent billionaires start to sell their stocks, it's going to collapse.

Unlike the 2008 crisis, this time, we don't even need to find a single specific cause. The next economic depression will have so many causes that it will be easier to explain what is NOT the cause.

<comment><USER27> If you look at market history the last ≈5 recessions have all occured with a regular intervals of about 7 years.

I think recessions are just a normal, emergent vent in an oscillatory system. It seems like putting one off artificially will lead to a more severe depression.

<comment><USER26> I agree. I think filter bubbles will be to blame for delaying the next recession.

Maybe the corona virus had an impact in terms of showing investors that big news can transcend filter bubbles and we are not immune from global panic.</comment></comment></comment>


Science is broken - <AUTHOR> https://aeon.co/essays/science-is-a-public-good-in-peril-heres-how-to-fix-it <comment><USER2> Science is at its best when it's an art. When it gets statistical, it gets incremental. Creativity and true transformation in thinking involves bending what's actually there and seeing through the noise. (Professor of molecular biology at top school here.)</comment>


The Genius Of Linux Is Community, Not Technology - <AUTHOR> http://readwrite.com/2013/12/19/the-genius-of-linux-is-community-not-technology?awesm=readwr.it_r0gn#!&awesm=~oqAALLLgtLRAag <comment><USER2> Never really replaced the desktop, but it is running on way more mobile devices than anything else.</comment>


Steel – Open-source command-line password manager - <AUTHOR> http://www.steelpasswordmanager.org/ <comment><USER2> > Password management belongs to the command line.

Not really. You don't want passwords in plain-text traveling around pipes or sockets with easy to sniff system-calls. You want a secure channel between your password manager and the application. Keepass2, for example, copies your password to the clipboard and _automatically_ erases the clipboard after a short timeout. (True secure channels don't exist yet in any OS as far as I'm aware.)

Upon reading the manual, steel _can_ communicate with X clipboard (by xclip), but it passes the passphrase through a pipe. It never clears the clipboard. To be "secure", it'd need to be an X11 application (i.e., NOT command-line) which would participate in the X11 selection protocol and provide password only when the user actually tries to paste it.

In addition, you need to "open" and "close" the steel database before using it. The manual does not explain what "opening" and "closing" does however. Does "open" temporarily decrypt the whole database?

Security is more than just applying strong crypto. I don't like the general design of this application; the discussion of general security concerns (side- channel attacks) is completely missing.

<comment><USER3> I use pass ( [http://www.passwordstore.org/](http://www.passwordstore.org/) )

It can copy your password to the clipboard, and erases it after 45 seconds (by default.) It's still implemented as a shell script and uses xclip.

Reading the shell script I can see they thought about some clipboard managers which store their entries in plain text:

      # Clipboard managers frequently write their history out in plaintext,
      # so we axe it here:
      qdbus org.kde.klipper /klipper org.kde.klipper.klipper.clearClipboardHistory &>/dev/null

<comment><USER4> So anything that monitors your clipboard (basically every spyware worth its salt) will have a copy of all your passwords then? That doesn't seem very secure.

<comment><USER5> That is the case for all password managers... A big loop hole imo but one that has to be weighed against having simpler, more similar passwords for services.

<comment><USER6> If you have a browser password manager, monitoring the clipboard will do nothing.

<comment><USER3> That only works for passwords you use on the web though.

<comment><USER4> Which includes the vast majority of exploitable passwords. Passwords that only work on my local machine are of less concern when it comes to being hacked by a random keylogger software.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Thanks for sharing your project. What other CLI password managers did you review, and in what ways did you want Steel to be different?

I noticed that, after being opened, the SQLite database appears to be stored on disk unencrypted, and must be manually re-encrypted with the "close" command. I think most password managers attempt to ensure that the unencrypted database is only ever in physical memory.

The interface uses pipable commands rather than an interactive shell. The reason given is so that it can integrate with other standard Unix tools. This means that the entry context must be supplied for every command, in this case by id. Another side-effect of the pipable command interface is that using the "replace" command to change the passphrase will echo the passphrase to the screen and leave that passphrase in the shell history.

The manual gives an example of piping to another utility:

      steel --show-passphrase 4 | xclip -selection clipboard

However, this seems a bit awkward for such a common task. Why not integrate xclip in to Steel?

<comment><USER8> Shameless self plug: YSPave ([https://github.com/creshal/yspave](https://github.com/creshal/yspave)) is CLI-based too, and has an interactive mode for cases like these.

(The database is also encrypted as long as possible and only decrypted on demand. Yes, it lacks a "clear clipboard" mode and shouldn't be written in Python, but other than that it addresses all the criticism this solution gets… Maybe I should give it a fancy bootstrapped homepage with an .io domain to gain attention.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> I currently use Pass and two things I prefer with it over Steel are:

\- Steel uses a SQLite db while Pass uses a directory of .gpg files for each password, which is easier to backup using git and simple file sync systems

\- Pass uses GPG to encrypt files which is reliable and preferable over rolling your own crypto

<comment><USER10> While using AES-256-CFB is not "rolling their own crypto", Steel has some other functionality around (see [https://gitlab.com/Rosvall/steel/blob/master/crypto.c](https://gitlab.com/Rosvall/steel/blob/master/crypto.c)) which provides bad implementations, namely generate_pass which seeds from timestamp and verify_hmac which is not a constant time comparison function.

<comment><USER11> Yes, it absolutely is[0] for essentially the exact examples you cite.

[0]: [http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/teaching/cs261-f12/misc/if.h...](http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/teaching/cs261-f12/misc/if.html)).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> If I read it correctly, it stores a bcrypt hash of passphrase in the file for verification, but then goes ahead and uses a salted SHA256 of the passphrase as the encryption key, compromising the whole idea of having computationally hard password hashing. If I'm right, it can easily win the WTF Crypto Award of the month.

<comment><USER13> I read it the same way. Tremendously bad!

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> I use pass ( [http://www.passwordstore.org/](http://www.passwordstore.org/) ) too. I don't see any good reason why someone should use steel over PasswordStore.

Its good to have competition, but without a significant improvement over the already brilliant `Pass` I don't see much value in switching over.

<comment><USER15> I'd call storing the domain of the password in plain text a metadata leak.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> After I wrote my "nermal" project (npm-installable JS authenticated-encryption container) I wrote a password manager as an example, which I called "tagaloop". Some documentation for it is available here:

[https://github.com/drostie/nermal/tree/master/examples](https://github.com/drostie/nermal/tree/master/examples)

In particular, I avoided the command-line interface _precisely_ because the other tool on that page, ncrypt, would tend to leak inline passwords and such to log files. For various reasons those options were necessary to perform the job it required (e.g. in a script which is chmod root 500, for example) but not required for its use (it will just prompt you for the info if you leave the flags off).

In particular, the -a "add" option in Steel will probably save passwords to ~/.bash_history, no?

<comment><USER17> Not only that, but command line options are generally not secure from other users on the system. Just running `ps -ef` can read command line options from any user. A more secure alternative would be running the program in an interactive mode.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I use an older project called pwsafe that is careful about what memory the passwords are stored in, and uses an AES encrypted flat file database for minimum calls. I've been very happy with it.

</comment><comment><USER19> I prefer using git-encrypt [https://github.com/shadowhand/git- encrypt](https://github.com/shadowhand/git-encrypt)

The concept is a bit different. The remote repository is always encrypted and the local is always not.

<comment><USER20> So anything that can read your disk has access to all your passwords?

<comment><USER21> There is always access control (rogue users) and disk encryption (offline attack).

Personally I tend to think that once you have malware running then you are basically owned.

<comment><USER22> Yes, so you should definitely do something that makes it infinitely easier to steal your passwords once you're compromised... why go through the trouble of installing a keylogger or other malware when they can just copy the contents of your home directory!

Edit: In case folks miss the point: just because security is hard, doesn't mean you should just throw up your hands. By this very same logic, why bother with passwords on your workstation? Or filesystem permissions?

Heck, if bitcoin wallet hacks have taught us anything, it's that good quality, local encryption is critical specifically _because_ a remote attacker could take over your machine. Why make their job easier?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> We use hashicorp vault to store password. Little bit hard to configure but works like a charm.

</comment><comment><USER24> Is it really using CFB mode without any kind of authentication? If so, mostly useless...

<comment><USER12> It actually uses HMAC-SHA256 to authenticate ciphertext, although with the same key as AES encryption.

<comment><USER24> It's worth mentioning it on the homepage, it looks very scary without it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> This is a pretty nice idea, but without a mobile app it would be very difficult to recommend.

<comment><USER26> Command line apps work pretty well on android, I use them every day.</comment></comment>


Twitter buzzing seconds after earthquake in NYC - <AUTHOR> http://poorbuthappy.com/ease/archives/2011/08/23/4892/twitter-buzzing-about-earthquake-in-nyc

<comment><USER2> I was right near the center of it. Was pretty scary. The building I'm in was shaking. Definitely made my day a bit more interesting.</comment>


With Driverless Cars Running Late, a Startup Tries Remote-Control Trucks - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-18/phantom-auto-expands-remote-driving-to-trucks-forklifts <comment><USER2> This is interesting, but I think these kinds of commercial vehicles are going to be the first things to be automated, long before passenger vehicles.</comment>


Experience the web like it's 1999 - <AUTHOR> http://56k.weworkweplay.com/

<comment><USER2> I never had the pleasure of owning a detached modem, but my Packard Bell PC from 1998 did come with a Winmodem 56K card. I discovered Telnet and the BBS, although those were already on the wane.

Oh, the memories!

</comment><comment> jack-r-abbit Oh the sweet sounds of connectivity.

</comment><comment> vezzy-fnord Funny how a lot of public WLAN networks have almost the same loading speed.

</comment><comment><USER3> panic attack</comment>


Google is down - What is going on this week? - <AUTHOR>

What is going on - git hub, google, level 3 was even down yesterday for some time any one want to talk about this? <comment><USER2> Irony = placeholder text at [http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/](http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/)

</comment><comment><USER3> Its normal for github to be down.</comment>


The Deal Jeff Bezos Got on Basecamp (2017) - <AUTHOR> https://m.signalvnoise.com/the-deal-jeff-bezos-got-on-basecamp/ <comment><USER2> > What Jason and I got from the deal was the total confidence to go the > distance.

In return for a significant slice of equity. In 20/20 hindsight then that doesn't seem like a great exchange for them. If they were a little less emotionally insecure they could be a lot more financially secure now. Of course most startups _should_ be emotionally insecure about their own prospects, and it usually takes a crystal ball to know if you should be one of those. But when you don't really need the cash venture capital is an awfully expensive security blanket.

</comment><comment><USER3> The real question is how you got to meet Jeff Bezos.</comment>


Turquoise Siberian lake loved by Instagrammers turns out to be toxic waste dump - <AUTHOR> https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48935401 <comment><USER2> A lot on social media is staged to look good. Now we see where people are using toxic and unsafe environments to stage pictures. What does this say about us? Those of us who build the tools leading people to do this and those of us who do go to places to do selfies like that?

<comment><USER3> How is this a staged picture if it's actually an interesting location and view? It's not like they're pretending they're actually at the maldives.

<comment><USER4> they are definitely pretending they are somewhere they are not

<comment><USER3> mmmm no they are not. The place is literally (colloquially) called "Novosibirsk Maldives" and many of the posts acknowledge their location and even tag the power station in the post: [https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/199067307495333/...](https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/199067307495333/-5/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Reminds me of this beautiful-but-poisonous "blue lagoon" that was dyed black to make it less appealing: [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england- nottinghamshire-22843481](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england- nottinghamshire-22843481)

</comment><comment><USER6> This is not new. "The grapes in that ad are covered in vaseline! The milk is white glue!" And so on. People like pretty pictures. Maybe this news will spur a cleanup effort (spoiler: nope)

<comment><USER7> Well the reason there won't be a cleanup is that the lake exists for the power plant and the plant is still running, the US has similar water features near many of their power plants. According to the plant it's not poisonous per say, just not a good place to swim for irritant and safety reasons, and you don't want to drink the water. There are probably far more toxic naturally occurring areas than this based on the lack of immediate health impacts to visitors.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> There's a real business model somewhere in here.

Buy/rent a small lake, turn it blue/pink/multi color, sell tickets to Instagrammers.

<comment><USER9> > There's a real business model somewhere in here.

[https://petapixel.com/2019/05/22/the-chinese-instagram- villa...](https://petapixel.com/2019/05/22/the-chinese-instagram-village/)

<comment><USER7> Isn't this just kind of like wedding photography before Instagram? Photos everyone else has already done in fake "spur of the moment" situations, you're selling illusion just like P.T. Barnum.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I laughed out loud. The vanity generation.

</comment><comment><USER11> Or just go to Lake Louise or Morraine Lake. The colour comes from rock flour.

</comment><comment><USER12> In America, people kill time at the beach. In Russia, time at the beach kills you.

</comment><comment><USER13> This seems appropriate, as Instagram is also a toxic waste dump.

<comment><USER14> Think of it as a poison honey pot for Instagram "influencers", to thin the herd and improve the gene pool.

Looks like there are some romantic AirBnB get-aways available near Love Canal:

[https://www.airbnb.com/s/Niagara--New-York--United- States/ho...](https://www.airbnb.com/s/Niagara--New-York--United- States/homes?refinement_paths%5B%5D=%2Fhomes&click_referer=t%3ASEE_ALL%7Csid%3A413f6911-878c-4fb3-895f-ed18639a082f%7Cst%3ALANDING_PAGE_MARQUEE&zoom=15&search_by_map=true&sw_lat=43.0760162614939&sw_lng=-78.96428419622436&ne_lat=43.09554260279421&ne_lng=-78.94312693151488&search_type=unknown&checkin=2019-08-01&checkout=2019-08-08&adults=1&place_id=ChIJqZePrpqE1IkRdVv2SU7kou0&s_tag=wf9L2K-v)

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

Also quite a few in Chernobyl with glowing reviews:

[https://www.airbnb.com/s/Chernobyl--Kyivs'ka-oblast-- Ukraine...](https://www.airbnb.com/s/Chernobyl--Kyivs'ka-oblast-- Ukraine/homes?refinement_paths%5B%5D=%2Fhomes&click_referer=t%3ASEE_ALL%7Csid%3A413f6911-878c-4fb3-895f-ed18639a082f%7Cst%3ALANDING_PAGE_MARQUEE&title_type=NONE&place_id=ChIJz6uY6ACPKkcRLF3926vOvBQ&s_tag=6ZAOb2fT&checkin=2019-08-01&checkout=2019-08-08&adults=1)

<comment><USER15> In both cases, it's really not dangerous to merely be there for a visit. Chernobyl's other reactors continued to operate until 2000, for example.

Don't go into the reactor sarcophagus, don't eat the soil at Love Canal, and you'll be fine for a romantic weekend.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> More allegory than the Bible</comment>


Short python script to save your Google reader data to couchdb - <AUTHOR> https://gist.github.com/Nazgolze/5479539

<comment><AUTHOR> The main purpose of this script is to save the dead feeds you may have in google reader that you want to hang on to (the information you won't get from using google takeout).

This just pulls the info out and nothing else.</comment>


Google Translate Beatboxing (click on the speaker icon) - <AUTHOR> http://translate.google.com/#de%7Cen%7Cpv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20kkkkkkkkkk%20bschk%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20kkkkkkkkkk%20bschk%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20kkkkkkkkkk%20bschk%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20kkkkkkkkkk%20bschk%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20kkkkkkkkkk%20bschk%20bschk%20bschk

<comment><USER2> This is a really really old hack. [<http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/29/google- beatbox/>]

EDIT: Better guide - [<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1952356>]

</comment><comment><USER3> Just awesome! :D

</comment><comment><USER4> Mind == blown</comment>


Mozilla is looking for help for its browser-agnostic Web documentation - <AUTHOR> http://hacks.mozilla.org/2012/03/helping-with-the-mdn-what-about-linking-to-us/

<comment><USER2> If you think w3schools is crap and the Open Web can do better, please join MDN and help build the best free and open Web documentation repository in the world. Already using MDN? Consider giving back by linking your standards articles to MDN or contributing docs or doc improvements. It's a big project, but so is the Open Web.

</comment><comment><USER3> I'm hoping that all that link love will push MDN up over w3schools in google search results. I always have to append MDN to my query terms to get the documentation I'm after. I'm never logged in to google, so I can't block all results from w3schools. It's a pity there aren't any per-browser (rather than per user) settings for to weigh search results differently. edit: Fiddling a bit, it seems like blocking w3schools is a moving target.. I have to block www.w3sch.. wwww.w3scho.. wap.w3scho... etc.

<comment><USER4> An other option would be to use DDG as your browser's (default) search engine and using bang-searches (`!mdn Array` in DDG will automatically redirect to MDN's search), or adding some sort of prefix for mdn (e.g. `j foo` to look for "foo" in JavaScript ~ MDN)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I think MDN is a noble project but a horrible website.

I find the site an absolute pain to use and every major change Mozilla has made over the past few years has made it worse.

To me, the site is badly structured, badly laid out and as slow as hell. I constantly feel like I'm fighting against it.

Much of the blame lies with the wiki software, which is confusing, cluttered and likely prevents any community from springing up around the site.

If I were Mozilla, I would rename it something like 'Web Doc Wiki' and move it over to stock MediaWiki installation. It might not be flashy but people are familiar with MediaWiki and people more likely to contribute to a site that looks like a wiki.

<comment><USER6> I agree. <http://dochub.io> is a pretty solid implementation of MDN.

<comment><USER7> This website has been a great tool for someone like me who only does occasional work on the web. I would love if all documentation looked this good.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> It's a shame their site is so slow. It often takes 10+ seconds to open a single MDN page, so sometimes I just click the w3schools link if I don't feel like waiting.

If only they used plain HTTP instead of HTTPS...

<comment><USER9> Indeed. Here's some statistically ignorant experiment I just did. Loading the _Function_ [1] document (not the whole page, just the document) takes around 1.6 s here:

      Connecting:  0.837 s
             SSL:  0.258 s
         Sending:  0     s
         Waiting:  0.767 s
       Receiving:  0.001 s

       Xfer Size: 14.26  KB (gzip)
          onload:  3.37  s  (primed cache)
                  12.78  s  (empty cache)

The SSL overhead is really a big deal, but waiting 0.8 s for what is basically static content just makes no sense. Meanwhile, in w3schools world, it takes around 0.2 s to get the "same" content [2]:

       Blocking:  0     s
        Sending:  0     s
        Waiting:  0.204 s
      Receiving:  0.037 s

      Xfer Size: 23.94  KB (plain)
         onload:  1.09  s  (primed cache)
                  1.82  s  (empty cache)

I don't know if I can compare the networking numbers here, but I definitely can compare the _onload_ result — MDC is annoyingly slow. Their content is excellent, they just need to improve the website performance to become the top Google result.

[1] [https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global...](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Function)

[2] <http://www.w3schools.com/js/js_functions.asp>

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I'll volunteer to write something about vendor prefixes.

</comment><comment><USER11> In my opinion, they should've applied to GSoC for this too.

<comment><USER12> Speaking in my capacity as someone involved with Django (which accepts Summer of Code proposals each year)... that doesn't fly. GSoC has an explicit ban on documentation projects.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> The fact that you can't document the web standards in a few pages demonstrates how badly designed it is. Instead of shaping humans to fit the system, the system should be simple enough that anyone can understand it. The limit is then just how creative and clever they can be with that understanding.

Remember when anyone could do some calculations in Basic and assembler? Now you have to absorb loads of "expert" knowledge to do anything interesting.

<comment><USER14> Computing is hard; let's go shopping.

<comment><USER13> The "computing is hard" excuse is a pathetic cop-out by people who can't see past their own self interest.</comment></comment></comment>


Foreign-born children of US citizens won't receive birthright citizenship [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/policymanual/updates/20190828-ResidenceForCitizenship.pdf <comment><USER2> Is this the correct incentive to give to diplomats, members of the military, etc, that we as a nation want and need to be physically overseas?

</comment><comment> java-man Is this an onion article?

<comment><USER3> It's utterly false.

The change affects only children born of NON-citizens who _later_ become US citizens, and all it means is that they have to file the appropriate form to claim citizenship for eligible children.

There is no change in who is eligible to claim citizenship. The submitter title is false.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Which tools and methods do you use to check for malware on your machine? - <AUTHOR> See title :) <comment><USER2> I have all the Windows security features off usually (defender, firewall) b/c it's a huge pain when they interfere with something I'm working on.

When I think something's already wrong, I use Malwarebytes (free version) to scan my computer. If I suspect something I've downloaded, I use VirusTotal to check it out.

[https://www.malwarebytes.com/pricing/](https://www.malwarebytes.com/pricing/)

[https://www.virustotal.com/](https://www.virustotal.com/)

</comment><comment><USER3> No malware-checking system is going to be anywhere near 100% effective. Although you should use antimalware on Windows, your strongest defense is preventative. Aside from being careful with what you download, using a modern (sandboxed) web browser, and using the full set of mandatory access control features built into Windows, I'd recommend using an adblocker to prevent malvertising and better control the code that your web browser executes.

On Linux, there's no good way to scan for malware because that's not the focus of most work done on Linux security. Use SELinux (or AppArmor, if that's your thing), a firewall, and only get software from trusted repositories. Verify the checksums of ISOs for live USBs and use the same sort of common-sense that you would on Windows. Furthermore, you might want to consider moving from Xorg to Wayland since any process running as your user on your display in Xorg can act as a keylogger[0].

[0]: [https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/170596/is-it- po...](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/170596/is-it-possible-to- do-exploit-free-linux-keylogging-with-non-root-client-only-x-w)

</comment><comment><USER4> Nice try, FBI. I use none. I am paranoid about what software I download, and I generally don't feel like I'm exposing an attack surface. To be fair, I think Windows Defender is running and Edge has incoming stuff scanned for malware, because I never turned that off.

And, um, on Ubuntu, apt packages are signed, right?

<comment><USER5> Well unless you or any software you use pulls packages from secondary sources like unverified git repos, npm, or pypi.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Terrible security advice in this thread, not surprising. What OS are you using? If you're using a Mac, try out Patrick Wardle's suite of free security software [https://objective-see.com/products.html](https://objective- see.com/products.html)

</comment><comment><USER7> I stick with the default Windows Defender feature because it's actually pretty comprehensive. If you have Avast or McAfee on your computer, I'm going to judge you.

If I know I have something, usually it's because I permit it through Windows Defender and experimenting with problematic file types, then I use Malwarebytes. I also take a good hard look at my programs lists and remove ones I don't need, review my start up programs, and etc.

</comment><comment><USER8> Debian with no malware tool, except ad blocking extensions for firefox. For windows friends, I recommend tools included in Windows + ad blockers + basic education about .exe files that are not the same as mp3s. I think that most problems come from ads and from trying to download movies/songs but downloading viruses instead.

</comment><comment><USER9> I use Qubes OS [0] and keep things strictly separated to minimize damage as much as possible. Besides that be careful what I download or visit online and use the standard tools if by chance I would think the system is compromised.

[0] [https://www.qubes-os.org/](https://www.qubes-os.org/)

</comment><comment><USER10> On windows I've had nice results cleaning other people PCs (mine too) using those three:

\- Malwarebytes \- Superantispyware \- Spybot Search & Destroy

</comment><comment><USER11> ps -ef.

I'm more concerned about something like chrome/steam deciding that it's appropriate to start itself on startup and look for updates than malware that labels itself malware and tries to avoid things like ps. If the sort of malware that avoids ps gets on your system you've already lost.

</comment><comment><USER12> Common Sense and Open Source software.</comment>


A Rising Call to Promote STEM Education and Cut Liberal Arts Funding - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/22/business/a-rising-call-to-promote-stem-education-and-cut-liberal-arts-funding.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0 <comment><USER2> To me the really depressing part of the article is that Engineers make $65K per year while education is at the bottom at $35K. Not sure where the next crop of engineers is going to come from without good educators.

I like the word TEEMS, for Technology Education Engineering Math and Science.

All of the successful engineers I know have an "arts" side. They are painters, sculptors, musicians, actors, SF fiction writers, etc. So cutting the arts out completely isn't a good idea for the future either.

<comment><USER3> The United States has a very poor attitude when it comes to education. Teachers are "paid too much", "work too little", etc... Yet without a strong foundation rooted in education we will see more or more individuals receiving sub-par experiences in school.

The counter-argument to this is that trade schools and apprenticeships are producing more hands-on training than the traditional educational model that the U.S. delivers. You start seeing speciality "schools" crop up with a focus on the "career" rather than an "education" (which I relate to being a broad / generalized introduction to topics / concepts and how they can be used).

Is there a perfect solution? Couldn't tell you; I'm the wrong person to ask (ex-teacher now working as a Linux SysAdmin). But there IS a problem and one we need to address as a nation if we want to remain competitive across all fields on a global scale.

<comment><USER4> Average teacher pay is around 42 thousand a year. Average household income is 52 thousand a year (the median is also close). So without working summers they make almost as much as most families.

[http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_K-12_Teachers/Salary](http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_K-12_Teachers/Salary) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States)

<comment><USER2> What does the working summers part of it have to do with how much they make? If you dug around you will find that most schools close the second week of June and the teachers are back the first or second week of August. So about 6-8 weeks.

I guess they could get paid less and get summer jobs as migrant fruit and vegetable pickers, or maybe lifeguard at the country club pool. Is that what you are suggesting?

Teachers shouldn't be average. Teachers are taking one of your most valuable possessions, your children, and teaching them skills like math, science, reading, etc. Why should they make less than you do? I'm sure you had some amazing teachers that motivated you to become the superstar you are today. Let's go back and replace them with "average teachers". Now lets run you through the school system again. Are you still a superstar or are you now some person at a min wage job? Teachers make a difference and we should acknowledge that and pay them accordingly.

People keep saying they want to make America Great, why not start with the resource that can do that, people with a great education. A super solid 12 year education to get everyone on a firm foundation and able to really make a difference.

Sorry if it sounds like a rant, but I see other countries make huge strides in education to improve their residents lives and I see the US cut ours down to create more workers that can only function in a minimum wage job.

<comment><USER4> The point is a SINGLE person is making almost as much of a family by not working all year. In addition the United states spends a lot of money on schools: [http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/apr/21/jeb...](http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/apr/21/jeb- bush/does-united-states-spend-more-student-most-countri/)

Next white students in the united states are doing better than most of Europe. Note that the United states does poorly on the international PISA tests. But if you break it down by race you will notice that the education is working very well for white students: [http://isteve.blogspot.com/2013/12/overall- pisa-rankings-inc...](http://isteve.blogspot.com/2013/12/overall-pisa- rankings-include-america.html)</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Have Some Sympathy - <AUTHOR> https://posthaven.com/dashboard#sites/8021

<comment><USER2> Can't read without making an account...</comment>


NASA Modeling Guru: Basic Comparison of Python, Julia, Matlab, IDL and Java - <AUTHOR> https://modelingguru.nasa.gov/docs/DOC-2783 <comment><USER2> I would love to see a newer version of Julia in there to see if they've fixed some of the problem areas.</comment>


Does Google need to copy us?  Spot the difference if any - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul-PqkfokqM <comment><USER2> No need to point this out. Google can do whatever they want to . Once Google, Amazon or FB targets you, your company is doomed. Maybe not immediately, but most definitely eventually.</comment>


Caught in the Hipster Trap - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/opinion/sunday/caught-in-the-hipster-trap.html

<comment><USER2> What utter nonsense. "Hipster culture" is a myth, and a poorly defined one at that. The author does not seem to know to what he is objecting. Clearly it's not anything so-called hipsters do or wear, since that is apparently everything. And it's not the people themselves, since that apparently includes everyone, including himself. The word "hipster" needs a break so that it can come back some day and have real meaning again. In the meantime, we'll have pointless complaints like this one setting this phantom category up as a cultural bogeyman capable of "co-opting" literally anything.</comment>


Average age for first cell phone? Eight - <AUTHOR> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/02/18/average-age-for-first-cell-phone-eight/ <comment><USER2> This is one of my pet peeves, and I know I'm showing my age because of it. I can't even articulate _why_ it gets me so annoyed to see 9 year olds with iphones. It's a cross somewhere between micro management, lack of necessity and being downright spoiled.

The only children that I can see with a legitimate need for cell phones are those with medical conditions, the rest should just go out and play without being on a digital leash.</comment>


Re-Ask HN: HN hiring threads became crowded, dumb job boards. Alternatives? - <AUTHOR>

HN hiring threads are not so personal anymore. Full of resume black holes.
Getting noticed is like a gambling, lottery... due to massive applications I guess.
It just got like a yet another dumb job board (Craigslist, Dice, Monster, lately Stackoverflow).
So are there any alternatives or maybe some ways to fix this on HN?
Thanks. <comment><USER2> I've had some success on the who's hiring thread by 1) showing off what I've done on a personal website, dribble, github, whatever. And 2) taking 5 minutes to poke around the employer's site and explain how your skills/interests/personal experiences are at all relevant.

</comment><comment><USER3> Although it doesn't change the substance, [http://hnhiring.me/](http://hnhiring.me/) changes the view to make it much easier to search and sort through the jobs.

Changing the substance of a job board is, at least in my mind, non-trivial. Hiring and finding work have always been difficult problems and the Internet is just taking a new stab at it with things like LinkedIN (horrible) indeed.com(OK not a terrible job search engine), Monster (spam) and others.</comment>


Ask HN: What can I do with extra electricity? - <AUTHOR> I'm looking at solar power systems, with the intention of eventually not being connected to the electrical grid at all and only having intermittent internet access.
In order to do that I need to over-provision my solar panels. Solar panels remain a lot cheaper than batteries, so for me at least it makes sense to get a lot of solar panels and only a few "hours" worth of batteries.
Let's assume that some sunny days I have an extra KW of power generation for ~8 hours. On overcast days I probably don't have any extra power, unless I'm not at home and can shut everything down.
What can I use the waste electricity for? <comment><USER2> I'm in Washington state and I'm not sure what latitude you live at, but for my house, my low, without snow on the panels, is about 8 kWh for an overcast day in December or January and my high is 107 kWh for a day in the middle of summer. For me to average out my needs I need a dam... like on the Columbia. In WA state, you don't sell the power, your extra power is future credit to your power needs. I'm on a heat pump and my highest demand is in the winter where lows dip to 15F or 25F. For me to save up enough energy on my own land would require more of a pond pumping scheme and it would be a massive undertaking. On the order of being able to store huge portions of energy for a quarter to a third of the year to get through winter. FYI, my system is Goldilocks's just right. I pay about $25/ year for extra power once my credits run out at the end of winter.

I've bought two different solar systems in two different states and the devil is in the details for your hypothetical situation. You need to understand average overcast days, ~90 percentile run of overcast days in your lowest intensity sun month, intensity of sun, angle of the sun, et c. Also, if you optimize for the worst days of the year, you could be reducing total energy output because your panels would be optimized for a lower sun angle.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm in Nova Scotia, Canada. So I'm expecting worse than that, but it's hard to get realistic numbers.

Those numbers are a fair bit worse than the worst cases I was looking at, which assumed winter panels would be ~25% efficient on average....

So that assumes a 3kw system is producing around 4kw-hours per day. I'll need to see if that's realistic.

<comment><USER2> The middle of Nova Scotia is about same latitude as me, but you guys probably get waaaaay more snow and I am on the desert side of WA state. We get a ton of sunshine. How are you going to clear off the snow? I have 54 panels and it is a big chore to do it without scratching the panels, so I don't even try. Snow slides off like a metal roof, so you have that.

Do you guys get more overcast days? If so your panels may behave more like my place on the west side of the Cascade mountains near Portland Oregon. Looking at production on that 2.2 kW system for this January, I see a non-snow low of 0.4 kWh with an average daily production of 1.6 kWh.

Take a look at my January production, including some days with 0kWh production due to a __dusting __of snow:

[https://i.stack.imgur.com/9qw18.jpg](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9qw18.jpg)

That system is 6 years old.

So, IFF you get a system, your power storage needs to survive whatever is the longest run you can imagine (+50% ?) of days with overcast or snow coming down.

<comment><AUTHOR> That program didn't exist last time I looked into it, I'll definitely be following up on it. I actually know some people who would be great candidates for small wind turbines under it, so I'll be mentioning it to them.

Another challenge is that the solar is part of an RV, which makes permanent grid tie challenging, but I'm definitely considering just "donating" it when I can at this point.

<comment><USER2> Unless you're sure that your donations on will be used __on-premise __immediately, then you will actually __cost __whoever is your host. (It may even have to be on the same 120V phase tap from the 240V coming off the street transformer, but I 'm not sure.) Standard electric meters are not sensitive to power direction - power going into the residence or power going out. They only detect volume of power movement, but not direction. When you buy a grid-tie system, the power company has to come out and swap your power meter so that the new one will essentially run backwards if you happen to have net power going back into the grid. Anyways, fully solar systems are harder at our latitudes than if you live in California or closer to the equator without the strong winter demands. Maybe just fail-over to propane as needed.

Power inverters need to be manufactured grid-tie style. They have a phase lock loop ( IIRC ) that ties into the phase of the grid and they need to _not_ generate power if power is down on the grid in grid-mode, otherwise guys working on the lines can be electrocuted when they think they have turned off power lines.

Also, if you're donating back, you need to be concerned about amperage on that circuit and it needs to be dedicated, in addition to following all your local power code. If you just so happen to generate 14Amps net and then a device on that same circuit consumes 28A, then the panel 15A breaker may not trip, but parts of your circuit have 28 Amps flowing:

                                Load
                                (28A)
                                  ^ <--- exceeding wire load
                                  |      ratings
                                  |
         solar_current->---14A--->+<</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment>14A--<--Breaker<--Panel
                                                    ^
                                                    |
                                          Not tripping cause
                                          it only sees 14A

</comment><comment><USER3> To minimize battery needs, anything that requires power. Charging power tools, drying clothes, pumping water, washing clothes, cooking food, running the fridge, running the AC, vacuum etc.

You can save a surprising amount of money by just running the most energy intensive appliances during peak solar.

</comment><comment><USER4> You can sell it to your local utility company. You will get paid for it, and another power plant somewhere (maybe a coal power plant) will need to produce 1 kW less power.

<comment><AUTHOR> Unfortunately that won't work in my municipality, as they only do that for larger customers. The problem is that it's not a "smart" grid, and having random customers pump power back into the grid can cause lines that they thought were dead to actually be energized during repairs. They need some way to shut off the buyback during repairs, and right now they don't have that.

Also I'm not sure that the amount of power I'd be putting back would actually pay for the basic connection fee. It would during the summer months, but during the winter it likely wouldn't, and seasonal connections aren't much cheaper.

I think that's generally the best bet if you can do it.

<comment><USER5> Most net metering arrangements require a manual power disconnect switch for your rooftop generation [1] for utility workers or first responders, and NEC requirements require inverters to shut down ("rapid shutdown") if they can't sync to the utility to prevent backfeeding power during maintenance (caveat: if you have local energy storage, the inverter will island and continue to provide power from local storage). I would encourage you to ask your municipality and their utility department what their net metering arrangements are; I would be happy to make such a phone call/inquiry on your behalf if you would prefer.

Is your utility Nova Scotia Power by chance? It appears they support net metering [2].

Everything I mention above will be cheaper than storage (which will start around $13k CAD).

[1] [http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/wp- content/uploads/2016/1...](http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/wp- content/uploads/2016/11/Safety-Disconnects.jpg) (AC disconnect in this image)

[2] [https://www.nspower.ca/your-home/save-money-energy/make- own-...](https://www.nspower.ca/your-home/save-money-energy/make-own- energy/enhanced-net-metering) (Nova Scotia Power: Enhanced Net Metering)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, the net meter looks to be a new pogrom. I wasn't previously aware of it.

<comment><USER5> Happy to help. Please share the net metering info to anyone who might be considering rooftop solar/distributed generation in your area!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I can highly recommend Gas diffusion. It consumes electricity like one might expect from a multistage refrigeration unit. The results will guarantee your permanent "off the grid" independence comparable to any other nation. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaseous_diffusion](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaseous_diffusion)

<comment><AUTHOR> Looks like a fun weekend project

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Grow some plants or algae faster by shining extra grow lights on them, in addition to sunlight?

</comment><comment><USER8> Check out joeyh's stuff, [https://joeyh.name/](https://joeyh.name/), esp [https://joeyh.name/offgrid/](https://joeyh.name/offgrid/)

Energy storage, whether purchased batteries or built gravity storage is likely most useful.

Having consistent access to power through predictable reserves makes energy way more useful to you. You can do laundry at night, or run a heater, etc.

Storing energy allows you to adapt your power usage to your needs and preferences, instead of adapting your needs and preferences to power availability—which has daily and seasonal limitations.

</comment><comment><USER9> Distributed computing for citizen science. BOINC, for example

</comment><comment><USER10> > What can I use the waste electricity for?

You can't. That's really the end of it.

Lots have tried and failed. You can pick a fun project that you might get some skills from but it's not really a real answer.

It won't beat batteries which you've already spec'd out.

Best you have is move chores when you have extra electricity. Washing, download torrents, watch TV, run the pool pump, heat water, dry food.

</comment><comment><USER11> I'd buy Tesla Powerwalls¹ and charge 'em up. One of them can store upto 13.5 kWh of energy and going by your comment below (190 kWh/30 days = 6.3 kWh/day, which seems in line with "I have an extra KW of power generation for ~8 hours" for peak days), it seems two of them costing $14k as per their calculator can handle 4 days worth of surplus.

Not sure if the economics would work out in your favor² but I personally consider going off-the-grid worth the cost.

¹[https://www.tesla.com/powerwall](https://www.tesla.com/powerwall)

²subsidies: [https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/powerwall/learn/incenti...](https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/powerwall/learn/incentives) (could potentially knock off 50% of the cost if you qualify)

<comment><USER12> For some time, Tesla were not selling the power walls to people that were off- grid or unwilling to put power back into the grid. Is this no longer their policy?

background: this is second hand knowledge based on watching hundreds of videos people have made, documenting their experience and all the steps to go off grid, so this could be outdated. Learning every facet of this is one of my hobbies.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_smelting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_smelting) ?

</comment><comment><USER14> Mine some crypto

<comment><USER15> I agree. I think that the OP must look carefully for a coin that is profitable when mined intermently (perhaps using common hardware instead of ASICs?). (I think most of the cost analysis assume that you are mining 24/7, and that is important for the amortization cost of the ASICs.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Fill a small water tower

</comment><comment><USER17> Gravity batteries. Get a million gallon Tank on 10-20m stilts, pump water into it with ONLY waste electricity.

Let water flow out of it and power a turbine during times where electricity is needed.

<comment><USER18> But then OP still has too much electricity — s/he just has too much electricity at different times!

<comment><USER12> Seems like a good opportunity to donate some power to the neighbors.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Wood pellets, irrigate, fill-up battery powered tools, turn on AC.

</comment><comment><USER20> Solar powered server?

[https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/about.html](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/about.html)

</comment><comment><USER21> energy efficient server:old link [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/11/diy_zero_energy_hom...](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/11/diy_zero_energy_home_server/?page=1)

Make hydrogen (H2)with electrolysis. Need to found a good technology for that, and be careful hydrogen is very explosive.

<comment><AUTHOR> Running a server isn't really a predictably intermittent load, and there are plenty of servers/computer already in my power budget.

Not sure what I'd do with a bunch of hydrogen. Fuel cells still aren't really a practical thing. I'd thought about maybe some kind of wood-gas biodiesel thing, but I don't know of any way to do that on a small scale with intermittent power.

<comment><USER22> Hydrogen stoves are in use in homes.

What stops fuel cells being practical?

<comment><AUTHOR> Mostly the bit where I can't actually buy them. Do you know of any good suppliers of kw-scale fuel cell systems that are cost-competitive to lithium or lead-acid batteries? Because that would be great, I just can't find them.

I think hydrogen storage is still one of the difficult parts.

<comment><USER22> I've never done any analyis on the performance of them. I should, the dual nature of hydrogen usage (cooking and power) makes it very intersting to me.

Hydrogen storage tank seems to be available but keeping it all under pressure, i've not seen many people talk about that.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Distill hydrogen for your new hydrogen car

</comment><comment><USER24> Get a Ryzen CPU and mine Monero with it.

</comment><comment><USER25> Create electric car charging station

</comment><comment><USER26> Gravity batteries!

<comment><USER17> This. Best idea so far. If you can implement it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Heat water?

<comment><AUTHOR> There are some intermittent things like drying my laundry that it makes sense to do only when I have extra power.

I'm probably going to go tankless propane for hot water heating though. Heating water takes a _lot_ of power, storing hot water produces a lot of waste heat, and in the winter when I could most make use of that waste heat is when I'm expecting to not have much of a power surplus.

If I could get a hot water tank that was well enough insulated...

It's a good point, I'll need to do some math, and it would probably need to be in addition to some type of tankless/propane heater, since I still need to shower in the winter when I don't have as much extra power.

<comment><USER28> Similarly, you could distill water for drinking if sources are not pristine.

<comment><AUTHOR> Probably a "water maker" for a boat, my understanding is that they use reverse-osmosis to desalinate water, so it's easier to have them take up small amounts of extra load. It's a nice self-contained unit that you can start and stop pretty much instantly.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Get an electric car?

<comment><AUTHOR> At 190kw hours it would take me like a month to get a full charge. Also probably peek hours would be when I'm not at home, and neither is the car.

I also worry that I'd end up filling it up in town and using the power at home.

Still, it would certainly fix my battery situation...

<comment><USER30> Something smaller and more bicycular then?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> Please don't increase your energy consumption just because you are generating an excess. As a world, we need to lower our energy use (as I'm sure you are well aware). I'd urge you to consider those extra watts as a much needed contribution to the cause.

<comment><USER32> That makes no sense. If the energy is here, what's the benefit of not using it?

<comment><USER4> Instead of consuming the extra energy, OP could also provide it to another customer through the grid, by selling it back to the utility company. This would reduce the total amount of energy that needs to be generated from non- renewable sources. If OP increases their own consumption instead, those non- renewable kWh are still being generated and causing environmental impact somewhere.

<comment><AUTHOR> This is being mounted on an RV, which is explicitly off-grid, and would only be intermittently connected at best. In my municipality they only do power buy-back from larger generators.

Also most of it _isn 't_ going through an inverter, I'm using direct DC-DC, which is much more power efficient for what I'm doing. So that means more cost for inverters, which I'd consider paying even if at the scale I'm working at it would take years for the equipment to pay for itself, but...

You can't simply tie an inverter into the grid and sell back to the power company, as that could mean that during repairs lines they _thought_ had no power were energized by some residential customer. You need special hardware that the power company can shut down remotely, and that's only available for larger customers.

Also I'm not sure if the price I'd be getting for that power would actually offset the monthly connection fee, making connecting to the grid and selling back extra power very likely cost more than just wasting the power, which is unfortunate.

So unfortunately grid-buyback that isn't really an option for me.

Which is why I'm looking at other options. I like the wood pellet one, in an ideal world I'd be able to do some kind of carbon capture or something, but I'm not seeing any good power-to-gas tech right now.

<comment><USER31> Thanks for the reply - makes perfect sense in your case.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>