This is how a great auto-response message looks like - <AUTHOR>

This auto-generated email was so nice that I though other startups here might benefit from learning one more way to keep your users happy:
--
We bet your email was intended for someone else -  likely the person who started or invited you to sign a GroupCard.
Alas, your email landed here with me, your loyal GroupCard autoresponder.  Though I'm friendly, it's unlikely that I'm who you really wanted to reach.
You should re-send your email, but directly to the intended recipient.
But if you're having difficulty, or if you have any feedback about GroupCard, we're here for you.  You can email our team at email@example.com.  Heck, you can even reach us on the phone at 1-800-505-0810.  .  We'll amaze you with how much we care and want to help.
Happy GroupCard'ing !
-Your Loyal GroupCard Autoresponder <comment><USER2> I can top that. I shot an email to Rentoid, an Aussie startup in Melbourne, after it came up on HN yesterday and here is auto responder message I got back.

\--

Thanks for your curiosity!

We don't get nearly as many questions as you might imagine at rentoid. We reckon it's because our site is pretty easy to use and hasn't got a million confusing things on every page, or maybe people think we won't answer the query and some computer will.

Sure it's an automated response this time, but a real, living, breathing, person who hasn't nearly had enough sunlight will respond to your question within a day or so. We figure if you cared enough to ask something, we should care enough to respond personally.

If your question is super-urgent give Steve a call on [private number] or Luke on [private number].

Cheers, The Rentoid team.

\--

Me likes a company with first names and mobile numbers :-)

<comment><USER3> Yeah - this is just the first part of it. The Rentoid crew are quite transparent here in Melbourne. Steve makes himself available for pretty much anyone who wants to run an idea past him and Luke is just an all around good guy who participates in the scene down here.

Rentoid are tops :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> "This is how a great auto-response message looks like"

No.

This is how a great auto-response message looks

or

This is what a great auto-response message looks like

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks :) I tried to fix it, but I guess it's too late.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I think this is technically a custom bounce-back message because you replied to their default "do not reply" address.

This is a great approach - especially over sending a standard bounce with an error like most mail servers are setup with by default.

Plus, this goes back to a past argument about whether to use do-not-reply addresses at all, and since it's very difficult to get around, this is a nice approach.

</comment><comment><USER6> Wow - as the guy who wrote that email, i'm honored by the praise on this thread!

In the case of this autoresponder- the people who get this actually were trying to send a message to a friend. So, we really wanted to handle this with care and make sure folks knew we anticipated what they were trying to do.

feel free to reach out to me directly at firstname.lastname@example.com</comment>


Black families fight to get fair discipline for their children in schools - <AUTHOR> http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/24/my-son-has-been-suspended-five-times-hes-3/

<comment><USER2> What an unusual front page HN story!

The preschool to prison pipeline is a phrase I hadn't heard before but I can believe it is absolutely a reality. The statistics are real and so is pernicious racial bias.

</comment><comment><USER3> A child who throws a chair - twice - and spits on other students deserves a suspension.

Is the American education system really that different to the Australian system?

<comment><USER4> She's arguing that the punishment / discipline is not fair.

      One after another, white mothers confessed the trouble
      their children had gotten into. Some of the behavior was
      similar to JJ's; some was much worse.

      Most startling: None of their children had been suspended.

<comment><USER5> Why would other mothers admit that their children were suspended?

It's entirely possible that unfair punishment is occurring but she needs a lot more than "the other mothers told me so" to prove it.

<comment><USER6> You know, you cannot always expect evidence of the type that scientists or courts demand.

Specially when dealing with a victim of systematic injustice, you have to take their claims seriously. Not at face value, mind you, but seriously enough to get up and gather your own set of evidence to either confirm of refute the claim.

What you just wrote is a thought stopper. There is no hard evidence of discrimination, therefore there's no discrimination at all. Maybe it is that _you, personally_ do not discriminate... but this attitude is exactly what enables the bigots amongst us to keep going with impunity.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> This post was killed by user flags.

<comment><USER8> It is interesting, but I don't really see it as HN material. It is too short and too content light to satisfy ones genuine curiousity and it has got nothing to do with tech.

<comment><USER9> It's 1100 words which seems about typical for HN submissions (based on a quick sampling of the current front page) and tech-related is not a requirement per the HN guidelines.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> tl;dr Black preschool children are punished at much higher rates for the same offences than children of other races; unintentional bias is endemic among entrants to the teaching profession.

<comment><USER11> That is mess up beyond all rational belief.</comment></comment>


For Their Eyes Only: The Commercialization of Digital Spying (2013) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://citizenlab.org/storage/finfisher/final/fortheireyesonly.pdf <comment><USER2> Morgan just gave a fantastic talk at Strange Loop: [https://youtu.be/k4ypqzOShZs](https://youtu.be/k4ypqzOShZs)</comment>


Key rotation in OpenSSH 6.8+ - <AUTHOR> http://blog.djm.net.au/2015/02/key-rotation-in-openssh-68.html

<comment><USER2> Will this all work by default?

E.g. other than simply being enabled by default (looks like it is), does OpenSSH automatically generate new host keys every time the new host key algorithm is started being supported? If it's system-dependent, e.g. rc(8)-based, [http://mdoc.su/o/rc.8](http://mdoc.su/o/rc.8), how do most systems behave here?

Also, looking at the code, [http://bxr.su/o/usr.bin/ssh/clientloop.c#client_input_hostke...](http://bxr.su/o/usr.bin/ssh/clientloop.c#client_input_hostkeys) will be calling [http://bxr.su/o/usr.bin/ssh/hostfile.c#hostfile_replace_entr...](http://bxr.su/o/usr.bin/ssh/hostfile.c#hostfile_replace_entries), doesn't it mean that it's quite easy for the attacker who can actually do MitM and has indeed obtained the keys, to effectively cause a race condition, and deprecate the non-exploited spare keys? Together with the existing key that has been compromised? In such a scenario, it sounds like the attacker could effectively replace the key they compromised (plus all the spare keys) with their own brand new key, which will then make the ssh client generate warnings should it try to connect to an sshd without MitM attack going on.

I'm kinda confused here -- is the possibility of such trick-playing not considered a big deal?

<comment><AUTHOR> I think the point here is changing from older RSA and DSA keys to newer ECDSA and ED25519 keys.

Most of the issue you're bringing up a prerequisite of obtaining and/or compromising the the target host's private keys, at which point most of the other attacks have little value - what's the point of MitM-ing a host if the SSH host keys only apply to that specific host, and you already have root on it?

The only issue would be if you could take advantage of a flaw in the ssh client and put arbitrary content in their ~/.ssh/known_hosts file, but I'm betting this would be pretty easy to mitigate.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I'm not sure is this really is much of an improvement. SSH keys (as opposed to ssh certs) have lots of trust issues, the main one being no way to properly revoke a key, or for a key to expire.

I'm not sure adding this to the ssh server is better than just telling people to use DNS RR-records (or use ssh certs, which narrows the problem to one of distributing the ssh CA cert).

[http://www.openssh.com/txt/rfc4255.txt](http://www.openssh.com/txt/rfc4255.txt)

[http://www.iana.org/assignments/dns-sshfp-rr- parameters/dns-...](http://www.iana.org/assignments/dns-sshfp-rr- parameters/dns-sshfp-rr-parameters.xhtml)

I've yet to get around to managing my ssh keys via "ssh ca/ssh certs" (certs are _relatively_ new -- at least when still running some Debian Old-stable LTS boxes...). Looks like this might help:

[https://github.com/cloudtools/ssh-ca](https://github.com/cloudtools/ssh-ca)

As far as I can tell, there is no support to store SSH (CA) Certs in DNS -- which is a shame. Would've made sense to just have a SRV-record for the (sub)domain?

</comment><comment><USER4> You also need a way to revoke old and/or compromised keys (so maybe also have an option to send keys that should be _removed_ from the known_hosts file) otherwise you can't use this to rotate to new keys: sure, clients will automatically know and trust the new key, but that's useless if they still trust the old/compromised key too.

<comment><USER5> Yes, ssh will remove keys that are not in the set that the server sends it. I've updated the blog post to mention this :)

<comment><USER4> That all makes a lot more sense now.</comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: FlyPx - <AUTHOR> http://flypx.com/?unl <comment><USER2> Wondering how many designers you have working there? Are they specialists in their specific categories (like UI/UX design for mobile)?</comment>


Sprite Tricks used in Amiga Games - <AUTHOR> http://www.codetapper.com/amiga/sprite-tricks/ via https://twitter.com/photonstorm/status/289508176397746179 <comment><USER2> Very cool stuff. Trying to figure out how various classic (mostly Sega Genesis, in my case) games pulled off their graphical effects was endlessly entertaining as a teenager. It's a shame that the art of cycle-accurate raster techniques had to die, but it's probably for the best that it no longer takes a savant to make games with rotating sprites ;)

Here's a relevant explanation of some of the techniques that classic "pseudo-3D" racers used:

<http://www.extentofthejam.com/pseudo/>

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5045756>

<comment><USER3> Indeed. But it wasn't that difficult. Actually I found it way easier with the "fake 3D" and rotating sprite and even "full screen rotating" (but it's only vertical columns of 8-pixels wide that are slightly shifted up and down) than doing "real" 3D using OpenGL or DirectX ; )

Applied on the PC in the nineties, in "World Rally Fever", published by Team 17:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avurGEuocqo>

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Its amazing how much knowledge and skill was needed to do even simple computer graphics in the 90ties.

Even today if you create a game, you will need to work alot more with Math and complicated algorithms than in your typical web/mobile app where its much more about architecture/design, getting data from X to Y and presenting it in a good way instead of the complex algorithms needed in game development.

Its fascinating, but sadly doesnt pay the bills for most people.

</comment><comment><USER5> Cached version: [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XgCJqd4...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XgCJqd4lmGYJ:www.codetapper.com/amiga/sprite- tricks/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> via <https://twitter.com/photonstorm/status/289508176397746179>

</comment><comment><USER6> Does anyone understand the usage of the term "copper" or "copperlists" as referenced in the attached articles?

<comment><USER2> I'm not as knowledgeable about the Amiga as I am about other classic systems, but the Copper was (according to Wikipedia) a component of the Amiga's graphics coprocessor that took very simple commands that one could make "programs" out of that would update video registers at times synchronized to the rendering of the display.

Back in the day, most cool graphical effects were done by using the CPU to update video memory at the precisely timed moments during the rendering of a frame. For example, if you changed the "scrolling speed" of a background between the drawing of every line, you could get a nifty "parallax scrolling" effect out of a machine with only 1 background layer. Or, you could change a color palette halfway through the screen to make it look like that part was underwater.

Some systems had interrupts that would fire in-between the drawing of lines to facilitate this. Other, simpler ones, like the NES and the C64, basically required the programmer to write perfectly timed, cycle accurate code that would poke the right values into video registers within a very small timing window.

The Amiga had a number of custom chipsets to make it easier to produce effects like this, and free the CPU from spinning idly and poking registers all the time. Looking at the wikipedia summary of its capabilities, I imagine console game programmers of the time would have killed for the ability to say "please write this value here at this exact moment, thank you."

It reminds me a bit of the SNES's HDMA (horizontal interrupt DMA) function, which allowed programmers to specify tables of data to be copied to certain VRAM registers in between the rendering of scanlines. Pretty much every SNES game with cool "mode 7" effects relied heavily on it.

<comment><USER7> Slight correction: the C64 certainly had raster interrupts, see <http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Raster_interrupt>

<comment><USER2> Whoops, that's a pretty big oversight. I was aware that the C64 had vblank and timer interrupts, but not that it could do hblank interrupts.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I was really hoping to see my favorite game Firepower covered here. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G4ngPXGGgw> :)

<comment><USER3> oh man the memories.

Amazingly cool game... But from a "technological" standpoint it wasn't anywhere near Shadow of the Beast or Agony.

But Firepower was quite arguably much better from the gameplay standpoint : )

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Thanks for posting this; this is really great stuff and still relevant to a lot of 2D indie devs.</comment>


Why I Wish My Competitors Well and You Should Too - <AUTHOR> http://venturefizz.com/blog/why-i-wish-my-competitors-well-and-you-should-too

<comment><USER2> I couldn't possibly treat all my competitors as enemies. Anywhere you can post your doings is my competitor.

</comment><comment><USER3> I wish my competitors well, and I wish myself better.

</comment><comment><USER4> Dude is continuously trolling for hits. Startups are his market so he writes for founders. His subjects are SO obvious pretexts.

Reeks of desperation. Let your PRODUCT speak for itself.

Have a little subtlety. Learn from Joel: he seldom blogged after Fogbugz, and he rarely blogged about bug systems anyway.

</comment><comment><USER5> The title of this is something I would have thought all start ups did as a matter of course.

Even big companies (Microsoft excluded) often go with that mantra. To start on the offensive before even beginning is dooming yourself to fail.</comment>


The Trouser Cords of Armenia (Et Cetera) - <AUTHOR> http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/09/06/trouser-cords-armenia-et-cetera/ <comment><USER2> Some of the stuff that hits the front page of this site just makes me shake my head and wonder what relevance it possibly has to this community and how in the world it got on the front page.

This might be the best example yet.

<comment><USER3> I guess "gratify intellectual curiosity" is indeed a broad category.

This is satisfyingly obscure :) .</comment></comment>


Bethnal Green Ventures: a UK accelerator programme for stuff that matters - <AUTHOR> http://bethnalgreenventures.com/ <comment><USER2> This just looks like a typical UK 'jobs for the boys' venture - draw a salary for three years, wrap it up, move onto the next one. Little surprise to see NESTA throwing money at it:

 _Bethnal Green Ventures is co-ordinated by Paul Miller. Paul has spent the last seven years learning how to start new organisations that use technology to solve social and environmental problems, primarily through School of Everything and Social Innovation Camp. Before that he worked at the think tank Demos and the sustainability charity Forum for the Future._

So basically he's a quango man, who's added a few tech names as 'advisors'.

Nothing will come out the other end. But it will keep a few Shoreditch hipsters gainfully employed.

<comment><USER3> Thanks for your support. I've actually worked to get this off the ground - unpaid - for the last two years but it's a ten year play for us.

Many more Team Advisors to come... just ran out of time in updating the site I'm afraid.

<comment><USER4> I wish you the best of luck if it's a real programme and not just grant & subsidy milking. That sounds really offensive, but it's not meant to be.

Do any of the alumni have a web-presence? Perhaps you could either link to their websites; or you could host small "about" pages for them?

You're going to get people thinking that this is just another quango product - something created to use a budget from some government organisation - so how could you address those concerns? How can you show that you're different?

<comment><USER3> I've popped links into our alumni page but with the caveat that the first test run was very different.

I guess I understand the concern that I'm just a quango/think tank guy but most of the useful stuff I've learned was as co-founder and CEO of School of Everything (www.schoolofeverything.com). We built a product, were finalists in the first round of Seedcamp, raised seed investment from angels including Esther Dyson and have a whole load of happy customers. We never became Google but the site does ok. I'm the first to admit I made lots of mistakes along the way which I hope I can help our teams avoid making again.

Would definitely welcome advice on how to show we're different.

<comment><USER5> Putting the info about your startup experience from the above comment on your part of the 'people' page would help. The reason people trusted YC early on was because everyone knew pg, rtm and tlb did Viaweb together, so they'd been through the whole of the startup process themselves.

So if you consider advice and mentoring a major part of the investment into the startups you fund in exchange for a lower cash valuation, you'll have to be very convincing that it really will add that much value.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> 6% for £12.5k isn't going to be enticing enough for what they're offering.

6% if you're YCombinator is one thing, there's track record, location, address book, mentors, who you get to pitch to, etc... and you can easily come to the conclusion that you've had value-for-equity.

But I read BGV's site carefully as I would consider my startup to be exactly what they are looking for, and I meet all of their requirements (we're even London based), but... I couldn't find on their site the value to my startup, and how the 6% translated into anything of substance to me.

If it's not the people (experienced, with contacts, track record, etc), then I'm looking at the money, and the money isn't enough to justify the equity given the weakness of the rest of the offering.

It feels like someone has tried to emulate YC without understand what the value of YC is.

<comment><USER7> I think you make a great point. People like Justin Kan going back through the YC process with a new startup (when the funding isn't a concern) just shows how much the people of YC and the YC brand matter, the money is only a part of it. Although YC didn't start in this position, the brand has built up over many years and I don't think the lack of people at the start will cause problems for BGV, but it will give them a hard time when being compared to the likes of YC.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I can't help but notice that there are a lot of accelerators being created in the UK at the minute. I am worried there will soon be more accelerator places than there are serious startups and I say this as a <http://oxygenaccelerator.com/> graduate.

<comment><USER9> Also see <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2380316>

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I heard great feedback from some of the people who took part in the first run of this program. It was spun out of "Social Innovation Camp", a series of hack weekends that I attended and found highly rewarding.

</comment><comment><USER11> I'm all for more things like this, especially in the UK, heck I'm currently in London working for a consulting company in a bank and would love to jump into a startup but I have to say that what they're expecting compared to what they're willing to put in seems a little...lopsided.

"Once a year, we work with a group of very early stage companies and provide them with up to £15,000 of investment and a three month programme of support"

"If we're going to tackle climate change, we need new products and services that will help people reduce their energy use by a factor of 10 not just by a few per cent."

I can't see £15,000 getting you anywhere with something of that scale, even if you're a seriously smart cookie basic operating costs still apply. . . especially considering London rent etc.

<comment><USER12> I imagine like YC (and other seed accelerators) the idea is to give you enough funding to build a prototype in three months which you can then use to raise further financing.

<comment><USER13> Except in SV you actually _can_ raise further funding on reasonable terms.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> The proliferation of cookie-cutter incubators isn't a good thing for London or any other city.

The value of Y Combinator is a combination of its brand, connections and the huge experience of the partners there. Compare the experience of the various YC partners[1] with those of any other incubator, and it's quickly apparent there's no competition. UK incubators seemed to be staffed by accountants, bankers and lawyers who emphasise teaching applications how to "write a business plan" rather than "make something people want"

1 - pg - Viaweb, pb - friendfeed & gmail, Garry - Posterous & Palantir, Geoff - RocketMail & Lala, Sam Altman - Loopt, Harj - Auctomatic. Etc.

</comment><comment><USER15> YC states fairly openly that it's looking for the outliers and that it makes its real money from the Dropboxes, AirBnBs etc. If the top incubators only make their money from the top companies in them then it makes me wonder whether if a market has already been tapped (London by Seedcamp, SF and further by YC etc) anyone else can make the returns they need.

Multiple VCs and Angels can exist in the same segment because funding at that stage is polygamous. You get funding from multiple angels or VCs so a number can compete. The ecosystem may not support many but it can support more than one.

If an incubator can only make its money from the top companies though and there is another incubator that already has the top companies in a particular market then do the economics actually work?

YC, Seedcamp, TechStars etc all arguably cover overlapping but different markets but I wonder whether the economics literally stop you dead from doing another incubator in SF or in London.

It strikes me that the only entrance is either to go above or below the incubator or go to a completely different market.

<comment><USER12> Well what's the bottle-neck ?

It's not as if there's a finite pool of disruptable markets or a limit on innovation (or at least one that we're anywhere close to).

The limit seems to essentially be on the talent side and PG has commented before that the best startups they've funded were often the last ones they decided to fund in a round which suggests that's plenty of talent that YC isn't getting.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I probably would apply to this programme because the founders seem to want to tackle real lasting problems: insurance, loneliness, health care prevention, etc... as opposed to an inbox optimizer. I wish YC had a branch dedicated solely to startups that have truly ambitious goals and want to actually improve the world.

</comment><comment><USER17> BGV is tackling an interesting niche- its the time when social start-ups shift from becoming a hobbby project to a serious full-time undertaking and the way I see it is that that 15k would be the start of someone going full-time on their venture. In terms of knowledge of social needs, and of social ventures, the team at BGV and the Young Foundation are doing some of the most interesting work in the UK. This programme could have a big impact on a small social venture, and a working relationship and ongoing support from them would be well worth the 6% in many cases.

</comment><comment><USER18> I see some insurmountable contradictions with this program.

They ask for solutions to some very complex problems yet give very little funds to do so. For that amount the most a startup can do is come up with the principles for a potentially workable solution for the problem, but not an actual execution to see if it's effective at all in a real-world basis. Let alone there are plenty of such theoretical solutions to the problems they name, there just isn't enough money to implement them.

</comment><comment><USER19> Within a few minutes of reading about Bethnal Green Ventures was about I knew not to apply. I am currently working on a startup and could use "good" help, but I got the impression BGV were all about make money for themselves with little other interests. I wasn't sure what exactly would be in it for me other than up to £15,000 - but one can always get a lone. Accelerator groups are more than just the money.

</comment><comment><USER20> different interests highlighted: great. But what about the programme itself? That is the value proposition for founders.

<comment><USER21> Yes my thoughts exactly. They are not selling themselves at all. Anyone here been through the programme?

<comment><USER3> This is actually the first time we've run the programme properly. We did a test run about 12 months ago but at that stage didn't have the money to invest. Even so the teams got a lot out of it I hope. Good Gym (www.goodgym.org) has probably progressed the most but it was a different set up then - they're a not-for-profit.

The value for teams will definitely come from our network which we're still adding to the site to show who's involved. I think maybe we're underselling ourselves by being a bit British about the whole thing. Any advice gratefully received.

<comment><USER22> So this:

 _Can I apply as an individual?

You can try but it's very unlikely that we'll fund you. We've found that a startup is much more likely to succeed when it's started by a small team rather than just by one individual._

Is a big load of bollocks then?

You're passing yourself off as experienced when you're anything but.

<comment><USER3> To be honest that comes from our experience from Social Innovation Camp. We've watched a lot of people trying to get ideas of the ground struggle if they don't have a team around them. It can be a pretty lonely business.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> It is frustrating that their Alumni page lists some groups they worked with, but does not have links to those people.

A google search for one returns some information, but it's 404 on the bethnalgreenventures website.

Perhaps some cultural notes about Bethnal Green - an area in the east end of London - would be useful?

I was born there, but left something like 40 years ago.

<comment><USER3> Links added to the alumni page now - sorry, just slipped my mind to update. Three of the projects are still running.

Bethnal Green is an interesting place. It's got a pretty strong heritage as a place where social reformers have created new things - the Open University for example. It also has some very good pubs.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Maybe helpful for the orga of the programme: Most accelerators underestimate the overhead for a young team to move for several weeks/months to london or fly back and forth for weeks. You should try to provide help or even space for that.

</comment><comment><USER24> Off-topic: I shall also name my startup after a Tube stop - I really enjoyed the city.

</comment><comment><USER25> they know their target audience: the 2006 Lara Croft model was from BG <http://www.itsvery.net/laracroft-karima-adebibe.html>

</comment><comment><USER26> Up to £15,000.

To be absolutely fair, it often seems that in the UK you'd be better off disguising your startup idea as a work of performance art and making an application to the Arts Council for a grant.

For an added bonus, you wouldn't have to give any of it back at the end, and if you can show that you did anything that was in the slightest bit similar to your original proposal and didn't just drink the money, then they are mightily impressed and offer you more free cash.

[edit] Just thought of the "Dada Tech Startup Incubator";

We dress startup founders in octopus costumes and teach them about semiotic forms and stuff, in order to get given money from the kind of well-heeled philanthropists who spend more on things like opera than they are willing to lend to small businesses.

We charge a compelling rate of 4% equity and a broken window full of the lost dreams of a hungry sparrow.

<comment><USER27> Brilliant!

<comment><USER26> Excellent, it looks as though I may have found my first customer.

Step this way McDaid, and we shall immediately start installing the green rubber flamingos.</comment></comment></comment>


Why the Amazon River Can't Be Crossed by Bridge (2018) - <AUTHOR> https://www.cntraveler.com/story/why-the-amazon-river-cant-be-crossed-by-bridge <comment><USER2> When I was young (I think I was 18 years old), me and my dad traveled across all the length of Amazon river (from Belém to Manaus) in a crowded boat sleeping on hammocks, it was a 6 days trip. [https://goo.gl/maps/BFkCPx1HR1n](https://goo.gl/maps/BFkCPx1HR1n)

In some places the river was really narrow and almost could be crossed by swimming, but there where times that I couldn't see any of the two margins because of its enormous width.

Is was a really great experience, got to talk to indigenous people, saw a lot of botos cor-de-rosa ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_river_dolphin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_river_dolphin)) and got to eat amazing local dishes.

<comment><USER3> How did you set this up? Doesn't seem like the kind of tourist package you'd see on TripAdvisor.

<comment><USER4> The river is / was the main highway, not sure about now with more year round roads etc, but when I was last in the area, long time ago now mind,you would just turn up and get on the boat. It wasn't comfortable, wasn't all that enjoyable after (x) hours and (y) days.

Lots of being bored, interspersed with the odd enjoyable / memorable moments. Which looking back on, is all you remember :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Always happy when bridges get discussed here. Having built (a couple of) bridges across the Mississippi, i can attest that it is possible to build a bridge across the Amazon. This headline is appears to be click bait

A river rising 30 feet is no big deal. I think the Amazon rises more than that actually. The Mississippi very often rises to 40 feet.More in some years. Here's a video of a 300yr flood hitting in the middle of bridge construction - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orj6B46PJbY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orj6B46PJbY) (skip and pause at 0:17)

<comment><USER6> >the river rises thirty feet, and crossings that were once three miles wide can balloon to thirty miles in a matter of weeks.

My impression wasn't so much that it was the 30 feet rise, but the fact that it added 27 miles to the width of the river. Does the Mississippi do that as well? (The Ohio/Monongahela/Allegheny are my baseline, so it's harder to comprehend rivers that do stuff like this!)

<comment><USER5> The Mississippi would, but doesn't to that scale today, because the Army Core has leveed/dyked in most places.

You can see in the pictures here [http://bit.ly/2u7f2ta](http://bit.ly/2u7f2ta) that there is a lot of "marsh" beyond where the river bank ends. You just have to extend the roadway as far as you like. You can see how the bridge extends beyond the river on both sides.

This particular bridge for example has 18 miles of approach roadways. Only about 1600 feet of that, spans the Mississippi.

In short, if flooding adds 27 miles or 270 miles of width, the engineering is pretty much the same. You just have to know, where to start and finish :-)

<comment><USER6> Very interesting! Thanks for this.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> > _For most of its length, the Amazon isn 't anywhere close to too wide to > bridge—in the dry season. But during the rainy season, the river rises > thirty feet, and crossings that were once three miles wide can balloon to > thirty miles in a matter of weeks. The soft sediment that makes up the river > bank is constantly eroding, and the river is often full of debris, including > floating vegetation islands called matupás, which can measure up to 10 > square acres. It's a civil engineer's worst nightmare._

Isn't this the predominance of what the ACE (Army Corps of Engineers) deals with when it comes to the Mississippi River[0]?

[0] - [https://www.tulane.edu/~bfleury/envirobio/enviroweb/FloodCon...](https://www.tulane.edu/~bfleury/envirobio/enviroweb/FloodControl.htm)

</comment><comment><USER8> _up to 10 square acres_

I cannot fathom this 4 dimensional unit!

<comment><USER9> That's because a fathom is a unit of length (or depth) so 4 in to 1 obviously isn't going to work.

<comment><USER10> What does work have to do with any of this? Sure, the water acts on the floating vegetation in the direction of displacement, but without a measure of the weight of the islands, it's somewhat meaningless.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> See also, the Darién Gap:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap)

First crossed overland by bicycle (or I guess _with_ bicycle) by Ian Hibell in 1973:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ylhWPCekdM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ylhWPCekdM)

</comment><comment><USER12> I was hoping for this to be a lot longer and include pictures.

</comment><comment><USER13> The Amazon pushes a tremendous amount of fresh water into the ocean:

>The river pushes a vast plume of fresh water into the ocean. The plume is about 400 kilometres (250 mi) long and between 100 and 200 kilometres (62 and 124 mi) wide. For centuries ships have reported fresh water near the Amazon's mouth yet well out of sight of land in what otherwise seemed to be the open ocean.

</comment><comment><USER14> There are several huge highway projects in the area that are linked directly to deforestation and other concerns as well.

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

</comment><comment><USER15> like some countries/societies jumped straight into cell/smartphones by-passing the landline stage, i think such areas like Amazon should and would go straight the way of "flying car" (all those multi-copters popping around e.g. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNxoHqZGYa0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNxoHqZGYa0) \- just add ICE/hybrid generator for range and tilt-able ducts for safety). Much less environmental damage, cheaper than whole road infrastructure and much faster to cover those distances.

<comment><USER16> Skipping the landline stage means skipping the need to stabilize the situation on the ground, particularly involving crime. There is a lot to be said for the side-effects of landlines, other utilities, a postal service, roads, and so on. Widely exposed public assets need protection, and so they get it, and thus the place is becalmed.

Cell towers are tiny little spots that can be fortified without much concern for the surrounding situation. They don't provide an incentive to care about any troubles in the area.

<comment><USER17> They have landlines and postal service in Baltimore, yet the murder rate is horrific.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> If they did build one, it's quite likely, as feared by some, to result in increased human activity in the vecinity of the basin. That's to say, expect some clearing of parts of the forest.

</comment><comment><USER19> Near its headwaters, the Amazon is not so wide, and runs through ~narrow canyons. I wouldn't be surprised if there were footbridges. I don't find images of any, though. But there is this: [https://planetsave.com/2010/07/23/amazon-river-10-friday- pho...](https://planetsave.com/2010/07/23/amazon-river-10-friday- photos/amazon-river-headwaters/)

<comment><USER20> That article reflects similar lessons learned in Netherland: rivers need space to expand. We've got a long and treasured history turning lakes and seas into land (polder), but recently, and somewhat controversially, we've started abandoning a few polders in order to give floods a better place to go than population centers.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Shouldn't ... but can't? Always can.

<comment><USER22> But the title "if you want to cross the Amazon by bridge, you'll first need to build one" isn't nearly as snappy.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Tracing the Amazon from its headwaters...

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-15.2762023,-71.6326301,334m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-15.2762023,-71.6326301,334m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-15.1768982,-71.6372406,233m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-15.1768982,-71.6372406,233m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a couple of bridges: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.8748328,-71.5192037,233m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.8748328,-71.5192037,233m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.8073581,-71.4882189,863m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.8073581,-71.4882189,863m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.7501513,-71.4792706,326m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.7501513,-71.4792706,326m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge (with some spectacular ancient ruins just north of it, wow!): [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.7317275,-71.4653133,372m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.7317275,-71.4653133,372m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.6865893,-71.4459353,271m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.6865893,-71.4459353,271m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.6503598,-71.4346162,335m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.6503598,-71.4346162,335m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.6068402,-71.4539496,370m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.6068402,-71.4539496,370m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.5375724,-71.4662274,376m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.5375724,-71.4662274,376m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.4966649,-71.4655178,619m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.4966649,-71.4655178,619m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.4821393,-71.4651525,932m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.4821393,-71.4651525,932m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge, fascinating remnants of high-intensity agriculture in the area. Clearly supported a much larger population during pre-Columbian times: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.4041017,-71.4689323,467m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.4041017,-71.4689323,467m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a couple of bridges, including a famous rope bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.3821426,-71.4849719,637m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.3821426,-71.4849719,637m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.2970991,-71.5081793,491m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.2970991,-71.5081793,491m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.2257273,-71.5213399,828m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.2257273,-71.5213399,828m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.1689771,-71.5576715,754m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.1689771,-71.5576715,754m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.1260513,-71.6607489,453m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-14.1260513,-71.6607489,453m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.9539948,-71.7544463,863m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.9539948,-71.7544463,863m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.932637,-71.7777958,853m/dat...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.932637,-71.7777958,853m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge, with Streetview! The former bridge looks pretty dodgy: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.8145316,-71.8335396,3a,60y,...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.8145316,-71.8335396,3a,60y,18.5h,84t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sv843XwPsUXbIPJanyqSdYw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.8304518,-71.942204,375m/dat...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.8304518,-71.942204,375m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.8211571,-71.9706923,320m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.8211571,-71.9706923,320m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge, with an ex-bridge just upstream: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.7749211,-72.0847456,168m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.7749211,-72.0847456,168m/data=!3m1!1e3)

I don't understand why there's a bridge here, but there is: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.77597,-72.0966336,194m/data...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.77597,-72.0966336,194m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a pre-bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.6966954,-72.2455627,451m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.6966954,-72.2455627,451m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.6901983,-72.3356296,515m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.6901983,-72.3356296,515m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge, with more streetview: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.5627059,-72.5751752,3a,60y,...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.5627059,-72.5751752,3a,60y,71.84h,91.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgeFdQ8Yatbwq3h3HcgQu_w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.4215974,-72.852207,437m/dat...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.4215974,-72.852207,437m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.4163366,-72.8835264,419m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.4163366,-72.8835264,419m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.4450156,-73.1816146,699m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.4450156,-73.1816146,699m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.3103693,-73.329247,409m/dat...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.3103693,-73.329247,409m/data=!3m1!1e3)

Now we're starting to get into lowlands jungle, but still, here's a bridge: [https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.6227864,-73.7872767,846m/da...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.6227864,-73.7872767,846m/data=!3m1!1e3)

...And I believe that is indeed the last one.

<comment><USER24> At least in Brazil, it's not considered truly the Amazon until the Rio Solimões and Rio Negro combine, which makes sense, as they are the two enormous tributaries that combine to form the mega-river. You're splitting hairs here, of course the tributaries have bridges across them.

That said I do agree that the whole premise of the article is pretty dumb, considering the Brazilians fairly easily (minus graft) built a bridge across the Rio Negro right before it becomes the Amazon. If they wanted to, they could do it after as well.

<comment><USER25> Interesting! Brazil calls it the Solimões, but most of the rest of the world just calls it the Amazon: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solim%C3%B5es_River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solim%C3%B5es_River)

On the US version of Google Maps, the Amazon starts where the Marañón and Ucayali rivers combine in Peru: [https://goo.gl/maps/ia7gCLD1k5M2](https://goo.gl/maps/ia7gCLD1k5M2)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> The _matupás_ mentioned in the article are also really interesting: [https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-science-and- legend...](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-science-and-legend-of- the-amazon-s-floating-forest-islands)

</comment><comment><USER27> Too wide

<comment><USER28> Too wide, width too variable with season, insufficient roads to justify the effort and expense.</comment></comment>


Dark Fiber - <AUTHOR> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_fibre <comment><USER2> True Story: I get asked... so many times; what is Dark Fiber and I can just not resist the opportunity to be a smart ass and say "it is evil fiber". Or something like that; fiber from the dark side, darth vader fiber etc. Then I try to coyly explain it. But it just always crack me up how many people, especially people who should know, what DF is. It's a goofy joke I know but most people chuckle about it once they understand what it is.</comment>


The Radium Girls - <AUTHOR> http://www.messynessychic.com/2015/07/02/the-radium-girls-and-the-generation-that-brushed-its-teeth-with-radioactive-toothepaste/ <comment><USER2> For those who want more on this, there's a recent book on this subject: "The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women" by Kate Moore [1]. I don't know much about it (just happened to notice it a couple days ago while looking for something else at Barnes and Noble), but it has good reviews at Amazon.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/Radium-Girls-Story-Americas- Shining/d...](https://www.amazon.com/Radium-Girls-Story-Americas- Shining/dp/149264935X/)

</comment><comment><USER3> "But the most baffling part about this story is not the fact that the general public had no idea that radium was so dangerous, but the fact that some people most certainly did. And yet, they sat back and watched as everyone around them was poisoning themselves."

Chilling. And also reminder of how people in the future might look back at those of us who sit by while our friends and family endorse the limitless power of alternative medicine.

<comment><USER4> At least alt-meds do nothing (usually). Radiating people is actively worse.

<comment><USER3> Agreed. Still, when people alt-meds are a valid alternative to chemo the net effect is the same.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> That web site is awful. It auto-plays obnoxious video ads for pharmaceuticals, and the mute button does nothing. It also pops up to ask you to sign up for some mailing list. It seemed to reach a new level of being annoying so I didn't even get to read the article.</comment>


Designers read this and developers will love you - <AUTHOR> http://photoshopetiquette.com

<comment><USER2> I love this manifesto. BUT.

This reminds me of a problem I've pondered for a long time now, without coming up with an answer. Why are web pages designed with Photoshop in the first place?

Photoshop was never meant to be used for web design, any more than Visio was meant to make wireframes. It's simply the best tool available for the job, and requires a lot of workarounds and good behavior on the part of the designer.

Spending days or even weeks designing Photoshop comps that then have to be cut up, converted, and manually translated into suitable graphics for coders to work with is inefficient, and often leads to final products that don't match the designer's work. Text is the most obvious example, but I'm sure anyone can think of myriad places where this happens.

Is there a tool that lets designers think about the structure coders will have to build WHILE they're designing the screens? I'm not talking about a WYSIWYG code generator—those have been tried over and over again, and they all suck. I'm talking about a tool that lets designers design, lets coders code, but helps the designer think about what the coder will have to do with the graphics, including keeping text as text, identifying UI elements that need to be reused, seeing how layouts will look when the browser resizes, etc.

If this tool doesn't exist, it sure would be a great project for someone to build.

<comment><USER3> Note to interested developers... there is a HUGE market for a disruptive tool in this space. If anyone is interested in working on such a tool, I'm game.

This is a constant frustration for web designers. Photoshop allows you to create fantastic visual effects, but the layout tools are abysmal. Fireworks is well... Fireworks – Adobe's "redheaded stepchild" in the tool chain. It's buggy with a slow, horrible UI. While some of Fireworks tools solve some of the layout problems (nine slice scaling, better vectors, grouping), their lack of decent masking and the horrible color picker and WTF interface actually slows designers down to where it become a draw.

<comment><USER4> The Illustrator-style layer selection is enough of a reason to use Fireworks over Photoshop. You spend more time trying to navigate the layers in a PSD than actually designing. Drives me crazy.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> These are basically the same things that make good code.

• Organising files = project structure

• Resource & layer naming = variable naming

• Using templates & sharing common elements = DRY

• Keeping vectors when rasterising = keeping source code when compiling

• Minimising filters, blending modes, colour overlays, etc. = KISS

• Grid = idioms and "design patterns"

• Understanding licensing = understanding licensing

• Proofreading = code review

• Browser compatibility = platform compatibility

• Conservation of file sizes = consideration of performance

</comment><comment><USER6> Thank you so much for this, I'll forward the link to a couple of developers I work with and I always have to explain how things should be done.

The last design I got was in pdf! :S

</comment><comment><USER7> In the USE LICENSED ICONS/PHOTOS, try this first:

[http://flickr.com/search/?l=4&q=hamster](http://flickr.com/search/?l=4&q=hamster)

support the Creative Commons!

<comment><USER8> "content requiring attribution"

That can be a real pain, design-wise and image-wise (I don't want to look cheap). Creative Commons is great, but requiring attribution means that it won't be used in a lot of projects.

<comment><USER7> Attribution doesn't necessarily mean it has to be in the users' face, just ask her/him if a line in the footer or in a credits page or even just in the source is OK.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> A quick win: Instead of Photoshop, which is overkill for web graphics, use Fireworks or Pixelmator.

<comment><USER10> A major high five for Fireworks. It's like the "object"-ness of InDesign and the "graphic manipulation"-ness of Photoshop had a beautiful baby.

Fireworks' master page is a great way to keep the skeleton of your site consistent across mocks.

I'm a huge fan of using Fireworks for mockups. A heartily second (and third, and fourth) of this recommendation.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I like the content - but not the tone - it's just a bit too snarky to send to a designer that you have to work with. Particularly if she's getting much of it right - and you've clashed over this stuff before.

<comment><USER12> I started to bookmark it because of the idea, but once I started reading the descriptions, I cannot agree more. I would be offended if someone sent this to me.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Can anyone expand on layer comps? Is this something that our designer can use to show different states? E.g. A list with items / a list without items (rather than 2 layer groups)

<comment><USER14> In a nutshell a layer comp is a saved state for your layers. It can include any/all of: visibility, position and layer style. A combination of these should let you create alternative views for practically any sets of states provided the original layers give you what you need.

For example, a navigation interface, complete with hover and selected states can be all done with the same text and icons (say) if you have a vector shape layer for icons, and then apply separate appearances for each interaction state.

The example you give can be done as simply as toggling the visibility of a layer you don't want to see, and moving other elements up to fill the void appropriately, then saving this as a separate comp.

<comment><USER12> That's a good description. Layer comps are one of the most underutilized PS features IMO.

I've used them myself to design alternative navigation styles for a site. For example, since the bulk of the site is the same, I managed a sample horizontal navigation in one layer group and a vertical navigation in a separate layer group. Layer comps allow you to progress on these simultaneously.

I've also used them as "snapshot" states before if I'm trying something experimental. It's a faster way to rollback than a chain of undos, etc.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Wonderful list, the only thing I'd add is to convert a PSD to sRGB before handing off if using a different color space.

Regarding export: the Monitor Color vs. Document Profile popup: <http://photoshopetiquette.com/#exporting> unless I'm mistaken, this only pertains to the preview of the optimized image within Photoshop.

And if you must embed a color profile on export, save it for photos only.

</comment><comment><USER16> I know this isn't the gospel and there is no right/wrong way to hand the files to the developers, but I was wondering if anyone else slice up all the images and organize them before handing it off to their developers?

Especially when drop shadows for images/png are involved, I tend to slice it all myself for pixel perfection and organize into appropriately file names for the developers.

<comment><USER17> I don't think a lot of people are still slicing up photoshop mockups? At least I hope not as the need for it should be fairly limited with CSS3.

<comment><USER18> In practice much of those go away with -- we need to support ie7 (or even ie8).

Sadly.

<comment><USER17> css3pie[0] fixes most of that!

[0]<http://css3pie.com/>

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Here are comparable thoughts in a more approachable, useful, and digestible manner -- <http://methodandcraft.com/articles/streamlining-the-handoff>.

</comment><comment><USER19> FYI its impossible to read on an iPhone, since the sidebar blocks the view. I tried to click the buttons on top, since they like close/hide buttons, but no reaction.

</comment><comment><USER3> All that work to create a responsive layout, then they put an omnipresent, fixed position social bar that covers the text when viewed on a phone.

<comment><USER20> These also often break Page Down on desktop browsers as well. After paging, I always have to scroll up a little bit to see the line of text where I left off.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> I absolutely love your sidebar. Permission to mooch? :)

</comment><comment><USER22> There's only one advice from me - ditch Photoshop and use InDesign. Do not ever bring PSD to me. Ever.

<comment><USER10> When I'm doing print design, I love me some InDesign. But I don't understand your comment.

How do you (you-you, not the proverbial "you") turn an INDD into good assets for the web?

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> I'm a frontend developer and I think some of these expectations make little sense. Giving a name to every layer is a lot of work and I don't care about it that much. I'll do my work with layers like "Layer 0 copy copy" as long as they're grouped. Having designer rename all the layers is a lot of work that would be better spent creatively. (Does your boss want to pay the designer for it?)

Another example: "#34 Be familiar with browser compatibility" - this is just _your_ , developer's job. I cannot imagine expecting a designer to know about IE6 limitations (and tons of hacks and techniques to overcome them).

That said, I agree with many points, like naming files properly (which costs almost nothing) or careful use of blending modes (which are a lot of pain for the developer). Or careful use of gradients, especially over repeating patterns (#22).

<comment><USER24> "this is just your, developer's job"

Shockingly, it's not. Most places I know of are moving away from a the designer and frontend developer positions. It's a big cost savings, not just in salary but in cycle time as well. Our designer sends us his designs in HTML. There is no bickering over fonts, no pixel perfection, no stupid photoshop-isms -filters, drop shadows, embossing, etc. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even have photoshop.

If you're a web designer and you can't do this, it's time to learn. You're a theoretical web designer drawing pictures of websites.

<comment><USER25> I couldn't disagree more. Good HTML/CSS/JS code is not easy. It's hard work to make it look right for all browsers.. and these days you use actual programming languages (i.e. less/Sass) instead of CSS, anyway. It's hard work involving programming expertise to implement all JavaScript bells and whistles a modern website is expected to have. So it requires a good front end PROGRAMMER to do.

On other hand, a good designer is a creative person. They're not coders and shouldn't be expected to muck around with code. They're artists, who draw beautiful designs from blank page. The need for separation of roles couldn't be clearer to me, and I run a company that makes websites.

<comment><USER26> Right off I wanted to disagree about the preprocessor use for CSS. I just can't see that something like those has taken off so much that it's on the same level as something like jQuery.

But then it made me curious, I can't say that since I have no numbers and it's just an assumption. Are there any indicators of how popular tools like less or sass have become as opposed to regular CSS?</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Zuckerberg Tries to Clarify Remarks About Holocaust Deniers - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/technology/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-holocaust-denial.html <comment><USER2> Zuckerberg has no really good move here. The human brain is simply not ready for the volume of crap ingestion that the Internet has enabled.

<comment><USER3> He has plenty of good moves, but he cares more about making money.

<comment><USER2> If you're asking him to shut down Facebook, you are asking him to relinquish an amount of power that maybe 5 people in history have walked away from.

<comment><USER4> They have policies against hate speech. They could attempt to enforce those in a sane/meaningful way.

Instead, much like Twitter, they seem to go out of their way to find ways to not use their own policies in the extremely clear cut cases.

<comment><USER5> The issue is... I don't agree w/ nor support those who say the earth is flat or holocaust didn't happen. It insults my intelligence, but it's not necessarily hate speech to say it didn't happen. It's ignorant speech for sure.

Hate speech would be to say 'jews deserved it', or 'x group deserved it', or 'I wish the holocaust really did happen'.. I've heard that kind of rhettoric on and off FB, and that should def. be removed. There's a difference between someone commenting, 'well, I don't believe that happened'...while everyone else is like, 'well you're a dumb fuck, w/e' and moves on.

I think Zuck did the right thing, made the right call. By taking away the platform he only makes them angrier, loses power of the platform, by making them think they still have a voice (even if it's buried so deep on the newsfeed that you'd need Elon Musk to bore a hole to find it), you acquiesce and de-escalate their emotions about 'not being heard' .. rather than ban the content outright.

Again threats, and real hate speech should be removed and policed, but some crazy shit should be just marginalized to the point it doesn't really matter.

<comment><USER4> I agree about flat Earthers. It's moronic but doesn't esslly hurt anyone.

I disagree about the holocaust.

<comment><USER5> I think there's a difference in denying an 'event' took place... and being blatantly racist, some people just really honestly believe that (because they're retarded or their parents were, and passed on that gene).

There's levels. I'm sure denying the moon landing hurts those who were there... There are people who deny that Columbus killed millions, and enslaved millions more in the short time he was here. -- It's offensive, but not something you can convince them they're wrong on.

I think if nobody SEES the post, does it really exist? I as user can see it so yay, FB didn't block me. While, I as another user, friend of first user cannot see it, so never happened...

That's honestly the best policy probably, I mean it's also got to be something AI can train for, because they're not going to pay people to read and approve EVER comment or post on fb, that'd be insane.

I don't understand how saying the holocaust didn't happen is considered threatening/hate speech per se, and not just mis-information. Again, I say this as a progressive, definitely against fascism here and Trump, but I also have Aspergers so have trouble sometimes 'feeling' the way others think I should feel about a subject, and logically it doesn't really elicit the same feeling as that Vice video, w/ the woman who didn't believe it happened, but wished it had - her wanting millions of jews dead is disgusting - more so, than just not believing it happened...

I guess, I don't feel that someone else's belief in historical events is as bad as other speech. I think there needs to be a fine line, and I agree where Mark drew that.

<comment><USER6> If you believe people learn from history, or learn from mistakes, then you must recognize that any attempt to diminish, reduce, suppress, discredit history is not mere misinformation. It's planned deception with a purpose that not well intentioned.

Perhaps innocently ignorant is "I've never heard of the holocaust, tell me more." Or even, "I've heard of the holocaust, but I have no concrete reasons to believe it happened, it seems incredible."

Malevolent, willfully destructive to civil discourse, bordering on fighting words, is "The holocaust did not happen. People who claim it did are liars."

But all of that is orthogonal to what Facebook's policy should be. No matter what they're going to run into trouble. The U.S. and E.U. have rather different ideas about the limits of free speech. And even greater differences exist around the world. And in that sense I think it doesn't matter what policy they go with as long as it's consistent, and the CEO doesn't say absurd things like holocaust deniers aren't intentionally getting it wrong, let alone try to give deniers a psychological evaluation. He needs to stick to policy decisions, not evaluate people's intent and end up sugar coating it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> This is very disappointing to read. It tells a lot of what the behind the scenes must look like.

Also good to see a mention of Sri Lanka in there. It took a network block to finally start seeing some level of response to hate speech reports in this country. I've reported text and video posts where extremist parties are stating that there's a higher race and other races should give way or get out of the country. I've also reported far more threatening foul languaged posts. In almost every case, I've received a batch of "nopes it's ok but thanks for trying. Have you considered blocking this person" type replies. After a while it's exhausting.

The attitude displayed in this post about premature worrying of slippery slopes is a good hint at why this happens.

Denial of certain events is actively harmful in reconciliation activities. Just because people aren't physically harmed, doesn't mean that they aren't harmed at all. Today when considering properties to rent I have to consider communities living around to ensure long term safety. There are businesses which are actively targeted to be boycotted based on the race of the owner.

From a tech company perspective, it's hard that you might alienate or give the impression of being unbiased. For anyone who might be starting a community, please consider the distance to a slippery slope before worrying about it.

Lying is not the same as making a mistake. Suggesting racial dominance is just as bad as advocating for racial harm. Facebook is running a thought experiment that's based on false equivalence. And I imagine the behind the scene discussions are full of "what if" type bike shedding.

As a tech community building products that allow amplifying voices we can and should do better.

<comment><USER8> >> I imagine the behind the scene discussions are full of "what if" type bike shedding

I'm pretty sure that all the behind the scene discussions are focused solely on how they can monetize specific segments of the platform with zero regard for the nature of the content

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> In some sense, the outrage mob over this reasonable statement is the contents of the Pandora's Box he opened coming back to bite him.

Not that I think it's deserved. Just sadly ironic.

<comment><USER4> It's deserved.

If you're going to let anything on your platform, people are going to post horrible hateful things. And when they do, other people will get justifiably mad about it.

When you're dumb enough to say that you think that's a good thing, you're going to get skewered in the press. Honestly, what could possibly come of saying you think it's OK to deny the holocaust?

Of course when you later so you miss spoke about that, no one's really going to believe you. Either you meant it and thus you're horrible person, or you didn't mean it and you're insanely naïve. Facebook's been around long enough and in enough scandals that you can't claim naïveté anymore.

If Facebook had a 100% anything goes policy then as much as people hated this the anti-holocaust stuff would be somewhat understandable. But when there are rules and limits on the platform but they don't seem to limit anything incredibly horrible, only articles rebutting that stuff... you've certainly marked yourself for criticism.

At times it's hard to imagine a way Facebook could act that would get them in more trouble.

<comment><USER9> I think he understands - and rightly so - that trying to control what can and can't be said on the platform means taking responsibility for everything that remains on the platform, now, in addition to it becoming a slippery slope situation: where do you draw the line?

That said, yeah, they've been digging themselves that hole for a while now. I don't think he deserves it _for this particular statement_ in the context of how they've seemed to shift away from the 'curated content' perspective for now.

<comment><USER4> I agree you have to draw a line, however they can't seem to draw one and stick to it.

I think they would just deserve strong criticism for this incident, but the reaction is certainly worse given everything that's been happening for the last few years.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Well I guess it's an american platform, so it'll work along american's definition of free speech.

I personally prefer having my twitter for example set to Germany. They have a sane approach there and it doesn't stifle debate; unless you're a neo nazi, in which case, I couldn't care less.

</comment><comment><USER11> What Zuck said was:

> _The principles that we have on what we remove from the service are: If it's > going to result in real harm, real physical harm, or if you're attacking > individuals, then that content shouldn't be on the platform._

> _There's a lot of categories of that that we can get into, but then there's > broad debate._

The outraged respondents are correct that there is no debate with holocaust deniers or Sandy Hook deniers. Zuck agrees.

But where there is debate is over what content should or should not be removed. Facebook can't be the authority entrusted with banning all uncertain, incorrect, or unkind speech from their platform, but they also can't be enablers of lynch mobs. There are many categories of speech between those extremes.

The debate is on where you've drawn the line, and he is saying that weak conspiracy theories are not something Facebook wants to take responsibility for quashing.

<comment><AUTHOR> Actually, he was saying blatant lies are not going to be removed from Facebook. His reason, that you can't tell "intent" is rather bizarre, in my opinion.

Instead of removing blatantly false posts, their plan is to exercise control over their news-feed distribution -- choosing how often these posts are being seen. The assumption is they'll do the right thing, and not distribute posts they know are blatantly false, such as denials of the Sandy Hook shooting.

However, that is a choice they can make. They could, in fact, choose to optimize distribution of false information based on their political needs. Who's to say they haven't done this already?

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> The moral justification for the largest war in history is illegal to be questioned (in an increasing number of jurisdictions). Such an outrage against freedom of thought and freedom of inquiry.

</comment><comment><USER3> He owns a giant media company, he makes a fortune off advertising, and doesn't want to be accountable for what he publishes. He's telling us he cares more about money than anything else. We should believe him.

</comment><comment><USER13> If we succeed in suppressing the speech of holocaust deniers in public fora, their speech will disseminate in private fora with less opportunity for public rebuttal. As a strategy for suppressing bad ideas, exclusion is inferior to discussion.

</comment><comment><USER14> This is absurd...he was clear the first time and clear the second time. I don't think he was even close to ambiguous about his position on the holocaust.

However, the real issue is that a company controlled by a single CEO is allowed to make broad social value judgments about what is and is not free speech. Facebook is as close to a public forum as any, and it's dangerous to assume they will always keep an open semi-libertarian approach to speech.

<comment><USER15> I don't know, it sounds like he's trying to not judge as much as possible, only removing posts actively promoting harm or harassing.

And what's the alternative to Zuck? Should Facebook be controlled by the U.S. government? A panel of elders? When is it okay to dismantle a company in these such cases? Who makes _that_ judgment?

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Oh, blah dee blah.

This is not the crux of the debate, regarding what Facebook gets wrong about the internet.

The problem isn't the decision criteria, for what's fair or foul within the confines of the company's policies, as reconciled with the general realities civilization confronts.

The truth is that, on some level, Facebook, as a simple matter of being a communication system, as ordinary as any telephone call, provides enough rope for you to hang yourself with. We all know this, and so do they. The idea for those operating the platform, is to build an anticipatory prediction of who might being tying nooses, either for themselves or others, and perhaps do something about the key player's actions.

In order for that principle to work, in some cases, it means letting bad things happen, or perhaps staging the appearance of bad incidents without real consequence.

Meanwhile, _The Problem_ with Facebook, is that it is a hyper-reality, airbrushed according to individual preferences. As such a hosting platform for arbitrary input, of nearly unbounded scope. Without reliable turing tests, based on real externalities, there's no way to discern bot garbage and provocateurs from the expressions of true believers. If Facebook were to reveal its secrets for discerning and differentiating between intentionally deceptive content and de novo factual information, it would effectively default on the very same cat-and-mouse game of discovering the noose tyers.

So this congressional hot seat and court of public opinion is simply a dog and pony show. Facebook will continue as usual, until a generation ages out, rendering it the new AOL, and fizzling into irrelevance.

At some point new technologies will grab the limelight, distract us all, and we'll pretty much forget about all the fuss of Trump and Facebook, just like we've mostly forgotten about Reagan and MTV.

</comment><comment><USER17> Obviously censoring holocaust denials on "(((Facebook)))" is going to stop holocaust deniers from denying the holocaust.

Edit: for those who struggle with sarcasm, this is what it looks like.

<comment><USER18> Unfortunately, inferring sarcasm is becoming a lost art.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Shopping in Japan - <AUTHOR> I will soon leave for a 2 weeks vacation in Kyoto. Can you suggest something smallish, possibly tech-related, that can only (or much more easily) acquired in Japan? As an example, years ago the legendary Toshiba Libretto was pretty hard to get outside of Japan. Of course it should be something that should work well outside Japan for someone (me) who does not know the language.<p>Any ideas? <comment><USER2> If you're a watch geek it's much easier to get Casio, Seiko (especially Grand Seiko), and Citizen watch models in Japan. Grand Seiko watches are gorgeous but not as well known outside of Japan.

If you can hit up a knife shop try to get a nice pair of Japanese scissors.

</comment><comment><USER3> I do not know the name of the shop, but there is a traditional silk woodcut shop in Tokyo. It's in Akasuka or Akasuka (these are both locations, but it's the tourist shopping area one).

The sell furniture from small boxes to large drawers and chests, with silk patterns embroidered on them. Super light wood. If what they claim as traditional is true, it's definitely something only in Japan, and not for long at that.

If you go to the shop, all I ask is that you tell me the name of the shop so I can try to look them up again.

They understand English there, kind of, and take credit card as well.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks - I am also interested in more traditional stuff, so I would love to find this place, but I will stay in Kyoto only so it is not very probable that I can get there. (I "restricted" my question gadgets not because I don't care about the rest, but because it seemed more "on topic" for HN).

<comment><USER4> Out of interest... why only Kyoto? Japan isn't a very large country and I suspect you'll find yourself bored after two weeks in a single city. Jump on the train to Osaka (one hour) at the very least!

<comment><AUTHOR> I have been to Japan once already, for another 2 weeks, and in that case I travelled around a bit more (see here, if you are interested: [http://pa- mar.net/Main/Places/BigInJapan.html](http://pa- mar.net/Main/Places/BigInJapan.html)). This time I decided to stay in Kyoto only because ... first of all just walking around is pretty interesting for me. When I visit a foreign city I can routinely walk 20+ kms/day just looking around and taking some pics. Also, I plan to train at a local dojo, and to take some time to take parts in workshop of traditional arts like Damascene.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Not quite a gadget but many varieties of Japanese Kit Kats are either only available or are much cheaper in Japan. A lot of people in the states aren't even aware that Kit Kats come in flavors there.

<comment><USER6> Yeah there were some really cool flavours like blueberry cheesecake last time I was over there (2 years ago). Since then in Australia we have seen some new flavours come in like salted caramel and mint but nothing quite as interesting.

Here's a photo I took over there (apple, blueberry cheesecake and hot Japanese chilli flavours):

[http://i.imgur.com/8pp2xlU.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/8pp2xlU.jpg)

<comment><USER5> Out of curiosity were you in Melbourne? I found many flavors there at international grocery stores. If you'd like to discuss more - @kicksopenminds on Twitter.

<comment><USER6> I live in Melbourne :)

Can't say I visit too many international grocery stores though, but I will keep my eyes peeled.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> If you have a PS4, I believe there are some exclusive controller colours [1]

[1] [http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B01BHKMLI0/ref=s9_simh_gw...](http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B01BHKMLI0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p63_d23_i1?pf_rd_m=AN1VRQENFRJN5&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=03N82N9M4PNWJG0VM88S&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=263612849&pf_rd_i=desktop)

</comment><comment><USER7> Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional 2 - mechanical Topre switches keyboard; relatively hard to get outside Japan.

<comment><AUTHOR> a bit too expensive for my taste, but yes, this is the kind of suggestions I was looking for.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> You can probably still get a better deal on a Zojirushi (or similar) water boiler or rice cooker. You can definitely get a better deal on an electric kotatsu or other household gadgets.

You can find anything you want in Osaka, which is a quick train ride away.

<comment><USER9> It would have to be one hell of a deal to make up for having to lug the damn thing around.

<comment><USER10> Protip: Have your stuff sent by Yamato courier directly to the airport. This includes your luggage! After several of my first stays in Japan, I found myself lugging unwieldy luggage (and even bicycles) through the subway. But, no need. Do as the locals and have your stuff shipped to the airport, and enjoy a light airport transfer with public transport.

<comment><AUTHOR> I did this on a suggestion from my tour operator when moving from Tokyo to Kyoto: I took a detour with light baggage to visit another couple places on the way to Kyoto, and my main luggage was expecting me in the hotel when I arrived. This could be a good idea for my trip back - I suppose they deliver it to a specified place in the airport and I can then just pick it up at the terminal?</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Bram Cohen with a startup idea - <AUTHOR> http://bramcohen.livejournal.com/47414.html

<comment><USER2> It probably won't work because it contradicts behavioral economics. Daniel Kahnemann won the nobel prize in economics in 1992 "for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty". One of his findings is that people tend to overreact to small probability events, but underreact to medium and large probabilities.

What that means in the case of this particular business model is that customers will be wary of reserving a table at an early stage where they will potentially pay a high price for the seating even though the probability of this happening is very low.

If you haven't heard of Kahnemann's work his nobel lecture is definitely worth watching - it will give you some great insights on pricing, auctions, and why the economy works as it does.

[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2002/...](http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2002/kahneman- lecture.html)

<comment><USER3> Didn't the black swan refer to Kahnemann? Drat, I've lent out my copy.

[http://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Impact-Highly- Improbable/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Impact-Highly- Improbable/dp/1400063515)

<comment><USER2> I haven't read, but maybe I should - just checked out the reviews on amazon.

It is interesting to note though how markets (and in particular stockmarkets) are heavily influenced by behavioral economics and traders inability to assess a situation correctly in statistical terms, which creates a non-equilibrium in the marketplace. I actually thought up a plan for exploiting this that might just work, unfortunately I am not a programmer so I will have a tough time implementing it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> heh i dont know if this would actually work in a restaurant.

how are they going to 'fulfill' the seating fee? does the user (restaurant goer) have to sign up while they wait and pay $5 with their CC in a little terminal before they sit down? if so, is this really any different from an online reservation service like OpenTable (the variation being you aren't actually getting anything in return from the service, just paying a fee)? are customers supposed to be happy with this?

the only way this could practically work is if the seating fee was charged to the bill when they are seated. how are you going to communicate this fee to the customer? tell them at the door? any restaurant that implements this will certainly solve the problem of over booking. they'll alienate all of their customers.

"welcome to Posh Food, where we are so pompous we charge you a floating fee for the privilege of dining here. right now it costs $8 just to sit down. cash or charge?"</comment>


Ask HN:Where can I find open sourced rails apps? - <AUTHOR>

If somebody is a novice programmer (in ruby on rails) then should he develop the app from scratch or use any open source app for his idea? Anybody know where I can find good open source rails app especially for developing a CMS?<p>Thanks <comment><USER2> Check out RailsApps - <https://github.com/RailsApps> and <http://railsapps.github.com/>. It's a bunch of open source Rails 3.2 example apps and tutorials. I found it extremely useful when building my first applications.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks Jaxon, This looks like a great place to start.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Not sure sepcifically about rails but I usually go to github and search for the keyword there. It shows me a list of all projects under that keyword and you can possibly filter through that to "watch" the ones you are interested in?

</comment><comment><USER4> check out copycopter and bcms as well.

Honestly I'd say this depends on your goals - are you trying to learn? Or just make something (either answer is fine)? If the former, build. The latter, plug something in.

</comment><comment><USER5> check out refinerycms</comment>


Stevey's Google Platforms Rant on SOAs (2011) - <AUTHOR> https://plus.google.com/112678702228711889851/posts/eVeouesvaVX

<comment><USER2> This has probably been posted here already, but I'm glad someone reposted it, because it's a great, great analysis of SOA without all the typical "synergy" bullshit aimed at selling corporate CIO's enterprise software that will achieve a negative ROI at best.</comment>