Show HN: Snap.js – Beautiful Facebook-style side menu in JavaScript - <AUTHOR>

Hello HN community. Usually, I write open source code and release it to this community for you to all enjoy, but last time i released this code, I expected more feedback than I had actually received. That being said, I would benefit greatly from some feedback, whether it is about my code or my process of publicizing it. Any help would be great!
https://github.com/jakiestfu/Snap.js
Enjoy! <comment><USER2> I would encourage you to add a LICENSE file to the git repo. I can't speak for anybody else, but when I'm looking at a project and the license isn't immediately apparent, it really diminishes my interest.

That aside, this looks very nice. Good work!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you, sincerely. I just added the license:)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> This is pretty neat! I don't have any meaningful feedback, since I couldn't find a way to break it :)

Just as an FYI, I was checking out Ratchet, and they are looking to add a shelf. Maybe this could be merged?

<comment><AUTHOR> I wish they would, but the dev team of Ratchet ignores me and it's frickin obnoxious/frustrating. I sent them a link but no go. Whatever! I can only make this as best as possible. Thanks for your kind words!

<comment><USER4> Did you submit a pull request?

<comment><AUTHOR> I did quite a while ago, but was ignored probably because of the quality of the pull. Since then, I had decided to tackle it again, and I have opened an issue as opposed to a pull request.

<https://github.com/maker/ratchet/issues/175>

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> It works really well, great job! And big thumbs up for not requiring any dependencies too!

Would be interested to know what browser support is like for older versions of Android/iOS and other phones too.

</comment><comment><USER5> I really like it. Haven't seen one better. Will probably implement it soon.

</comment><comment><USER6> Clickable link?

<comment><AUTHOR> How can I add a clickable link? Markdown?

<comment><USER6> No, you just have to add it as a comment.</comment></comment></comment>


Kim Jong-un has committed to denuclearisation, says South Korea - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/kim-jong-un-has-committed-to-denuclearisation-says-south-korea <comment><USER2> Why, exactly? I can't imagine that it's a wise move strategically, from a North Korean perspective. Denuclearisation seems absurd when your opponent isn't doing it.

<comment><USER3> Sanctions? The threat of being obliterated by a massive opponent? Pressure from China?

<comment><USER4> They've been pretty good at ignoring that for the past decades

<comment><USER3> They are cumulative though, and the efforts have been ramping up.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How do you handle your personal mail archive? - <AUTHOR> I have >25 years of personal mail in various mbox, MailDir, .pst and other formats, collected through the years; more recent stuff is also available on some gmail, fastmail and several other provider accounts.
Looking for email is an exercise in grepping all the mail stores, or looking at them through their respective software or service (Outlook, gmail, ...); It's not something I have to do often, but when I do, it's not easy; and I also don't know how long it will be possible -- mail providers go away and change their terms of service; Outlook from 2007 might stop working and Outlook 2020 might refuse to read old mailboxen.
So, I am looking for a way to create a central, usable, searchable personal mail archive, that I can keep updating and that I know will still be usable in another 25 years.
What's your recommended solution?
mailplier, enkive and other "mail archive" solution focus on legal archiving, but that is not my use case. I want it to be open source (at the very least, open protocol and open data format), and self hosted.
I'm on the path to just dump them all as maildir and index them with notmuch - but perhaps you have a better setup? <comment><USER2> Curious about your use case for twenty-five year old emails (and indirectly the anticipated use case for fifty year old emails).

<comment><AUTHOR> I hoard data like the rest of us....

And more seriously, I have had recently had to refer to a contract from 2002, which I didn't properly file a paper copy of, but did have in email; and things from 2007 and 2009 several times (the more recent, the more often).

I have had no use for emails older than 20 years (except nostalgic value) but there is no logical cutoff.

For the same reason I keep a complete backup of my 5TB disk, rather than only the 250GB I know for sure that I'll need - deciding what to keep is actually more expensive than keeping it all.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: How should I go about fulfilling these requirements? - <AUTHOR>

I've been tasked with updating an integration with Amazon Marketplace Web Service and Newgistics Fulfillment. If you were in my place and had an open slate besides these requirements, how would you go about achieving this (and what language would you use)? <comment><USER2> Did you get this done? Love to learn how it went.</comment>


Lou Reed's New Public Archive - <AUTHOR> http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/david-fricke-and-laurie-anderson-talk-new-lou-reed-archive-w469748 <comment><USER2> It's easy to forget that most of the Velvet Underground stuff was done in the 60's. So radically different from what was going on at the time. And so influential on what came after.

From the article - I'd love to see this stuff:

      Surprises seem to come out of nowhere. A Sony Walkman lightly coated with rust turns out to be a special
      edition, presented to Reed by the company, with a custom silver case made by Tiffany. A reissue copy of the
      Byrds' 1966 raga-jazz single "Eight Miles High" has a handwritten note inside the picture sleeve: "Thought you
      might enjoy a little more Coltrane." It is signed "Jimmy Page" – an early Reed fan who, as a Yardbird in 1968,
      was covered the Velvets' "I'm Waiting for the Man" on stage.

</comment><comment><USER3> I've never been able to tolerate Lou Reed's music __; the stuff I 've heard on the radio (esp "Walk on the Wild Side") strikes me as pretentious and not especially lyrical nor musical -- but I feel like I must be missing something as he is continuously heralded as a radical innovator of rock & punk music.

Help me here. What am I missing? What should I listen to in order to get a good cross-sampling of his work? Are those two tunes just "pop" or not representative of his work, or something else? I want to give him another chance, so to speak and I could use the guidance. Is there a particular song or two that showcases what he's all about?

 __Neil Young is another example. I can 't stand his music, however, I like Bruce Springsteen and I've heard the same remarks about his work. Go figure.

(edit: lol! I always thought "warewolves of london" was Lou Reed.)

<comment><USER4> It's a little hard to get a sense for how out-there The Velvet Underground was now that the kinds of sounds they were making in the late 60s are 'normalized,' so to speak. The best thing I can recommend, if this aspect interests you, is to listen to the top 10 songs from 1969:

1\. "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies

2\. "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension

3\. "I Can't Get Next to You" by The Temptations

4\. "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones

5\. "Everyday People" by Sly & the Family Stone

6\. "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe

7\. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" by Sly & the Family Stone

8\. "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Tom Jones

9\. "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations

10\. "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells

And then listen to VU's "The Velvet Underground" the same year. It's like they were living on a different planet.

At the end of this experiment, you might not emerge a Lou Reed fan. But you will at least be able to appreciate the vision, and to hear the influences VU had on later artists.

Edit: Reviewing your comment, I'd like to ask you to clarify what you mean by "pretentious" in reference to Walk on the Wild Side, a song that reference a transgender actress who exhibits remarkable composure while performing fellatio? The subject matter of the song -- black women, New York sexual deviants, hitch-hiking, pimping, being strung out on drugs... it strikes me as a the precise opposite of pretentious. Capturing a time and place, the sound and atmosphere, to anyone with an ear.

<comment><USER5> Well put. As a writer, Reed went into territories that even today would be considered taboo or at least out of the ordinary.

I heard a quote once that the The Velvet Underground and Nico album only sold 1000 copies when it came out. But every one of those 1000 people went and started a band.

<comment><USER6> That quote is popularly attributed to Brian Eno.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaAd59PiiQo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaAd59PiiQo)

 _early in the morning, I 'm so free_

 _early in the evening, I 'm so free_

I'm of the opinion that a lot of his most famous songs sound better on this live cd (lo mejor de lou reed) than the studio versions - Estoy Esperando Que el Hombre, Estoy tan Libre, Vicious, Sweet Jane, Heroina, Rock n roll, etc..

</comment><comment><USER8> Heroine.. its my wife and its my life.. The song covered it all the sedated bliss and depleted defeatedness of a addict...

</comment><comment><USER9> Like all rock legends, Lou continues to inspire every single time .. they don't make 'em like they used to.

EDIT: I mean, who doesn't still use tape, amiright kids?

<comment><USER10> Latest Aphex Twin EP (1) was sold on cassettes, so you are not far off :)

(1) [https://warpnet- media.s3.amazonaws.com/86a1a1adb9a901ee16566...](https://warpnet- media.s3.amazonaws.com/86a1a1adb9a901ee16566b8129d684ac99cab90b06c424611901ab38_485)

<comment><USER11> Still better than when Cheap Trick(?) Had their new album put out on 8-track a few years back.

<comment><USER9> Wake me up when we can print our own tape. Until then, there's not much difference between an SSD and a tape-roll; bother are not something I can grow in my kitchen.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Boop, a Scriptable Scratchpad for Developers - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/IvanMathy/Boop <comment><AUTHOR> And a GTK version is here: [https://github.com/mrbenshef/Boop- GTK](https://github.com/mrbenshef/Boop-GTK)</comment>


Admission and Orientation Manual, United States Penitentiary ADX Florence [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/flm/FLM_aohandbook.pdf <comment><AUTHOR> I was surprised by the sheer number of options that staff have for retaliating against inmates. Among the items in the "Prohibited Acts and Disciplinary Severity Scale" that have the maximum severity level of "Greatness" you find #197: "Use of the telephone to further criminal activity"; #109: "Refusing to provide a urine sample"; #198: "Interfering with a staff member in the performance of duties"; and the catch-all #199: "Conduct which disrupts or interferes with the security or orderly running of the institution". These violations are in the same category as killing somebody (#100) and they incur the strongest sanctions (longer incareation period, isolation). They are apparently more severe than fighting or extorting somebody (#201 and #204).</comment>


NetFlix Everywhere: Sorry Cable, You're History  - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-10/ff_netflix <comment><USER2> Like most people here, I would love to cancel my cable TV and TiVo subscriptions and just get all my content on demand. However, aside from streaming every movie and TV show, Netflix/iTunes/whatever also needs to nail these two features:

1) Live events. Sports, breaking news, presidential inaugurations, etc.

2) Same day for new TV episodes. I don't want to find out what happened in The Office at the water cooler the next day.

The other hurdle is that the cable companies practically have a monopoly on broadband in many areas. I can already see how the call to Comcast will go.

        "You're on the special TV+internet plan, which is $99/month."

        "OK, I just want internet now, so cancel the TV portion."

        "No problem, that brings your monthly bill to $98/month."

        ....

Wonderful.

<comment><USER3>
        "You're on the special TV+internet plan, which is $99/month."

        "OK, I just want internet now, so cancel the TV portion."

        "No problem, that brings your monthly bill to $98/month."

This is actually accurate. My cable Internet plan is $68 per month with Comcast. To get basic cable television would cost one dollar more (and yet I still don't want it, since I don't own a TV; which was stunning to the salesperson). I hate Comcast.

<comment><USER4> That's because if they charge you the extra dollar they get to count you as a customer to the advertisers.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I think if the cable industry had a platform for developers to make apps (like on iphone/android etc), the cable software could have been much better. Look at time-warner/comcast/at&t interface - they all suck so much yet there is no one to tell them the first thing about good design or functionality.

I think it is inevitable that this would change in the next few years (with entrants like apple or google in cable business) and you would have all the functionality of netflix on cable. This would be the end of dvds altogether and netflix would die as a business model just like blockbuster is dying today and video tapes died back in time.

<comment><USER6> They do, there are two but they're just starting to get traction.

tru2way is a standardized Java stack for set top boxes.

EBIF is a scaled down interactive TV software for legacy boxes that can't do a full java stack. It's just starting to get deployed.

Actually and Verizon is doing their own Lua based widget platform. But tru2way and EBIF are standardized so those will be run on multiple cable co's.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Netflix instant watch is such a killer feature. If they could arrange concurrent live broadcasts through Instant Watch, I'd even consent to watching commercials.

<comment><USER8> With a combination of Hulu for TV and Netflix for movies, live broadcasts are the only thing cable has left going for it. Once sports events are broadcasted over the internet as well cable TV will have been thoroughly supplanted.

<comment><USER9> HBO/Showtime are also a problem if you're into that sort of thing.

<comment><USER10> People already pay extra for HBO and Showtime. I really don't see any barrier to having people pay to stream HBO and Showtime rather than add it to their cable bill.

<comment><USER9> Sure, _if that was offered_.

<http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118008861.html>

"Pay TV outlets have responded by ramping up their proprietary video-on-demand services and keeping a tight rein on the availability of their shows on outside platforms. They aim to get subscribers hooked on the ease and convenience of using their services ... and keep them hooked."

Translation: You want HBO, you _must_ have cable. Bummer.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> The irony is that Netflix sees its top near-term competitor as RedBox, not the cable companies. Netflix has effectively eliminated (or at least hamstrung) Blockbuster and all of the other rental stores as predicted, and now they're going head to head with a kiosk company going after the value-conscious segment of the market. I find that fascinating. Slay the giant, and a little micro version of it pops up to nip at your heels.

</comment><comment><USER3> I just signed up for NetFlix this past weekend, and set it up on the XBox I bought to play Rock Band. It's dead awesome. The instant stuff is mostly what convinced me to sign up (though the availability of some stuff that can't be streamed anywhere currently is also a benefit).

I've been using Hulu and Amazon Unbox (both of which I wish would come to XBox!) and love them both. Netflix doesn't _quite_ match the Amazon experience, as far as video quality goes, but the selection is getting better (I'd canceled NetFlix about 1.5 years ago, because I wasn't watching DVDs anymore, and the streaming selection was dramatically worse than Hulu, but that lack of content begun to change).

</comment><comment><USER6> The Roku box is flat out an awesome deal.

That being said there's a whole next generation of TV's with internet access where you don't even need another box. I have a new LG that has both Netflix and Vudu (pay per play on-demand service). It also has the new Yahoo Widget engine and can connect over my home network to watch videos off my media server.

On Thursday at the Intel Developer Forum they are going to be announcing some really cool advances on the TV front.

<comment><USER9> TVs last 10 years; do you want to bet that "Yahoo Widget engine" will still be awesome in 2019? I'd rather have the box.

<comment><USER3> I doubt current generation TVs will last 10 years. They are now more like computers than traditional home electronics, and the computer life cycle is _dramatically_ shorter. I'd be surprised if TVs bought today average even seven years. It'll probably be about five. They're getting cheaper, bigger, more efficient, and more capable, with every generation.

Then again, 1080p is likely to be the maximum useful resolution for at least ten years (since most current "HD" content sources are actually 480 or 720), so maybe things will slow down once everyone has 1080p-capable TVs.

<comment><USER9> _I doubt current generation TVs will last 10 years._

And that's a bad thing that we shouldn't encourage IMO. I intentionally bought a "dumb" 1080p TV so that it would last. Since an "obsolescence inside" warning label for smart TVs isn't likely to catch on, maybe the cheaper/dumber TVs should be marketed as "future-proof" or "built to last".

<comment><USER3> I made no judgment call on whether it's a good thing. I don't think it is, but what I think is good isn't generally what the market does (otherwise everyone would be vegetarian, never wear baseball caps except when playing baseball or driving an 18-wheeler, and "Hummer" would not refer to a vehicle).

I just think technology in televisions have evolved to be more like televisions, and the cost/capability curve is shaping up somewhat similarly (I guess more similarly to computer monitors, but those still evolve much faster than TVs and are upgraded far more frequently; I replace my monitor about every 36 months, which is slightly less often than I buy a PC and about the same frequency as I replace my laptop).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> One thing I'm struck by is how willing Hastings is to kill a a feature or product that isn't quite ready. They wait until the timing is right and then change the game. "No" (or, "not yet") is often the better answer.</comment>


Best practices for Automatic login via notification emails? - <AUTHOR>

I'm developing a web app that sends the user an email notification to complete a lesson/tutorial. I've added the ability to automatically login the user via the link in that email. This featured has been added to several services around the internet, most notable, OKcupid.
Here's how I've set up my table: http://cl.ly/Q1K2
When a user visits a link via the email, something like: http://example.com/go/IbQlQW8Dn8PNXJFFwHQxwh/hdC4dXQJUPA0pU7I6eUiXawbnobYv0iThA [http:/example.com/go/`key`/`secret`]
The server first checks that the url isn't expired based on the date in the table. If it isn't expired, the user is automatically logged in using the `user_id` and then redirected to the given url in the `action` column. I used two separate values (`key` & `secret`) for the url just for added security (prevent fusking).
Now because of the nature of the site (video lessons), security isn't a huge concern, but I'd still like to know what best practices to consider.
• Should I limit the number of times a link can be used? • Currently I have the link expire 60 hours (3 days) from when the email is sent. Should this be lowered? • Obvious two risks for unauthorized access include someone forwarding the email or someone gaining access to the user's email account. Anything else to consider? <comment><USER2> I'd recommend expiring the link after a single use. A password-less login essentially trades something you know (a password) for something you have (a link). The security of a passwordless system depends on the security of the link... so if it expires once it's been used (which will usually be immediately), the risk associated with the link drops. This also prevents replay attacks.

I'm assuming your site's sessions are longer than the timeout of the sign-in link, so most users won't need to sign in multiple times in a short period anyway.

Also, a couple related links, if you haven't seen them:

[http://notes.xoxco.com/post/27999787765/is-it-time-for- passw...](http://notes.xoxco.com/post/27999787765/is-it-time-for-password- less-login) [https://nopassword.alexsmolen.com](https://nopassword.alexsmolen.com)</comment>


Aztec Kings Had Rules for Plagues, Including 'Do Not Be a Fool' - <AUTHOR> https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/05/10/aztec-king-rules-plague-covid-19-survival/ideas/essay/ <comment><USER2> > Do not be a fool. Do not rush your words, do not interrupt or confuse > people. Instead find, grasp, arrive at the truth. Make no one weep. Cause no > sadness. Injure no one. Do not show rage or frighten folks. Do not create a > scandal or speak with vanity. Do not ridicule. For vain words and mockery > are no longer your office. Never, of your own will, make yourself less, > diminished. Bring no scorn upon the nation, its leadership, the government.

Retract your teeth and claws. Gladden your people. Unite them, humor them, please them. Make your nation happy. Help each find their proper place. That way you'll be esteemed, renowned. And when our Lord extinguishes you, the old ones will weep and sigh.

Good advice, someone in the oval office should read it :)

<comment><USER3> The advice may sound good, but it clearly did not work.

<comment><USER4> A tweet that hit hard recently from patio11: [https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1258224216156954624](https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1258224216156954624)

> A gut punch of a paragraph in a 2010 vintage fantasy novel re: plague > response:

> They were intelligently planned procedures, quickly and efficiently carried > out, by men who knew what they were doing. They'd never worked in the past, > and this time was no exception.

<comment><USER5> But our plague response looked nothing like that. Our plague response looked like Chernobyl.

<comment><USER6> Well, the quote is that the plan, competently carried out, STILL didn't work, and had never worked in the past.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Hybrid Apps: The Art of Being in Two Places at Once - <AUTHOR> http://www.technewsworld.com/story/70716.html?wlc=1283184949

<comment><USER2> Is anyone using the Dropbox API to do backups? Synchronization is a tricky issue but full backups/restores might make some users happier.</comment>


Poll Everywhere (YC Summer 08) Asks The Crowd To Spice Up PowerPoint Presentations - <AUTHOR> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/18/poll-everywhere-asks-the-crowd-to-spice-up-powerpoint-presentations/ <comment><USER2> Can be very interesting for fund raisers. As people send donation through premium SMS, anyone can see the amount raised live.

Now, using an area code database they can integrate SMS polls with a map. "Text Iphone or whatever to 41411..." and we can see live the number of people who have Iphones or a certain product and where they live.

<comment><USER3> Premium SMS is a shady armpit of telecom. Non-profits actually can't do fundraising over premium SMS because the carriers take a 55% cut of revenues and are ashamed of it (they say they don't have a reliable process for certifying non-profit campaigns). They made an exception during Katrina. Our answer is to let people send a text message to pledge a donation at a live event, and process payment a different way later.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> For the founders: what's the going rate on a short code these days?

<comment><USER3> $2000/month minimum from the best service provider, mBlox. MO (from a cell phone) is free and actually pays you revenue share from carriers at volumes above 50K/mo. MT (the "spam direction") is 2.5-4 cents each.</comment></comment>


Rollup now has code-splitting and we need your help - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/rollup/rollup-now-has-code-splitting-and-we-need-your-help-46defd901c82 <comment><USER2> I love that there is a real effort for open source projects to seek distributed funding from the people getting benefit from all the hard work the contributors do. I don't have to buy a license, but I can support the projects I use regularly and it feels like the best of both worlds. I do wonder how sustainable funding will impact the rate of change in the Open Source / Javascript community. If you are actively investing in a project are you less likely to replace it as quickly with "the next thing" or volunteer to improve the tools that you are already using and donating to? It will be interesting to see!

<comment><USER3> I really don't like this attempt to seek donations for open source projects.

As an employee I don't want to donate my wage for tools I need for work. I would pay for a certification that demonstrates my knowledge.

As a business owner, I can't donate to something without a clear business case. I can pay for certification because I can use that for promotion and as I recently found out having employees certified can reduce insurance costs.

Open-source needs to learn how to work with business if it wants to not have to beg for donations. But I think a lot of the people who run open-source projects enjoy the piety that comes with begging for their noble projects survival.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Rollup's strength is its simplicity and focus.

It splits a fine-grained module graph into coarse-grained vanilla ES modules with zero duplication across fragments and no artificial overheads, e.g. no wrapping internal modules inside functions, and no runtime loader infrastructure.

A simple idea done well.

</comment><comment><USER5> One thing about open collective is that some packages are starting to include a post-install script that says "please donate via open collective".

For example, installing my react boilerplate package would install the bundlesize package as a dependency which would then show a prompt to donate via opencollective but not to my project, but rather the bundlesize project.

It has since been removed[0] but it is kind of misleading.

[0]: [https://github.com/siddharthkp/bundlesize/issues/167](https://github.com/siddharthkp/bundlesize/issues/167)

</comment><comment><USER6> Random and specific issue, does anyone know the current status of tree-shaking in three.js? There was some issue with not being able to shake through Object.defineProperty: [https://github.com/mrdoob/three.js/issues/10711](https://github.com/mrdoob/three.js/issues/10711)

<comment><USER7> This is how we are doing it in webpack, i think rollup can alias as well:

webpack.config.js

        alias: {
            three$: path.resolve('./three.js')
        }

and a local copy of three.js

        // Only export the things that are actually needed, cut out everything else

        export { WebGLRenderer } from 'three/src/renderers/WebGLRenderer.js';
        export { ShaderLib } from 'three/src/renderers/shaders/ShaderLib.js';
        export { UniformsLib } from 'three/src/renderers/shaders/UniformsLib.js';
        ...

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> "Rollup is a module builder" and here's a link to the main page: [https://rollupjs.org/guide/en](https://rollupjs.org/guide/en)

(Which is mentioned nowhere in that announcement.)

<comment><AUTHOR> That's a good point! Updated the first line of the post, thanks

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Rollup is great for bundling libraries. I'm looking forward to trying it for bundling apps.</comment>


Ask HN: Downloading PDFs from SlideShare Without JavaScript? - <AUTHOR> Is there a way to download PDFs from SlideShare without using a browser that supports javascript?<p>Ideally, I'm looking for a command-like tool like youtube-dl. <comment><USER2> I have a bash script that will do exactly what you want I suspect: [https://github.com/n-johnson/bin/blob/master/dl_slideshare.s...](https://github.com/n-johnson/bin/blob/master/dl_slideshare.sh). It needs imagemagick installed to build the PDF.

It's not robust and won't handle edge cases gracefully, but I've used it for a few hundred PDFs and they all worked.

The big downside is the slideshare slides are images, so the PDFs aren't searchable - they are just images.</comment>


Tired of ads on your Xbox dashboard? Reddit shows you how to block them - <AUTHOR> http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/09/tired-of-ads-on-your-xbox-dashboard-reddit-shows-you-how-to-block-them/ <comment><USER2> ..and we wonder why so many companies are going out of business...</comment>


The Bridge From Nowhere - <AUTHOR> http://nautil.us/issue/16/nothingness/the-bridge-from-nowhere

<comment><USER2> I've found that, at least for me personally, quantum mechanics is much less strange when you ignore the sensationalistic, new-age mysticism quips and focuses on the actual math itself. Let me give some examples:

"A particle travels through all possible paths at once and only chooses one when you look at it".

No, a particle's wavefunction is a vector in an abstract Hilbert space that _can be_ expressed as a linear combination of basis state vectors (|Ψ> = Σ α_i|Φ_i>), and it collapses (decohers) upon measurement to one of them with probability |α_i|^2 when those basis vectors correspond to the observable's eigenstates.

Or, if that's too complicated: a wavefunction of a particle is just a function that can be represented as the weighted sum of other functions, each representing a different path that the particle can traverse. When you measure the particle, the result corresponds to only one of those functions.

Perhaps the first explanation requires you to Google a little bit or pick up a math textbook if you're not familiar with some of the terms, and perhaps the second explanation isn't quite accurate enough, but goodness, they both make a heck of a lot more sense to me than some kind of magical "everything at once" phrase!

Another phrase, this one from the article: "The rules of quantum mechanics allow — actually, require — energy (and, by E=mc2, mass) to appear 'out of nowhere,' from nothing."

No they don't. HΨ = EΨ is the time-independent Schrödinger equation. E is a constant -- a real number. It doesn't change. Furthermore, the article goes on to mention the energy-time uncertainty principle, and a lot of other articles mention that energy can be "borrowed" to create virtual particles out of nothing. This also isn't true, for two reasons. Firstly, there is no energy- time uncertainty principle, because time isn't an operator. You _can_ derive a relationship between the two, but it's not the same kind as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. And secondly, virtual particles are a mathematical artifact of a technique called perturbation theory (a technique used in many fields, not just QM). Perturbation theory is just one means of solving an equation, and if you try to solve the equation with a different technique, you have no need for virtual particles.

I'm really glad that so many articles on quantum physics are "popping into existence". It's a cool subject. But I'm worried that these inaccurate little catchphrases I hear all the time are causing more headaches, confusion, and sensationalism than quantum mechanics already causes by itself alone.

(There are articles written by actual physicists and quantum information scientists that clarify physics concepts to non-scientists in an easily understandable, yet _also accurate_ way. Scott Aaronson and Matt Strassler are two that come to mind.)

</comment><comment><USER3> This essay is pretty painful. For a much more enjoyable take on the question, I highly recommend Holt's book [https://cmdev.com/isbn/0871403595](https://cmdev.com/isbn/0871403595). He talks to a number of philosophers and physicists whose opinions cover the spectrum from "the question is not worth asking" to "God is the answer", with a lot of interesting ground in between. [edit: fixed misremembered book]

<comment><USER4> I'd also recommend "Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story", by Jim Holt. [https://cmdev.com/isbn/0871403595](https://cmdev.com/isbn/0871403595)

<comment><USER3> That's actually the book I had in mind-thank you! My memory flaked on me.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I highly recommend Krauss' book A Universe From Nothing on this topic.

</comment><comment><USER6> The prime mover has been an issue for quite a while. I particularly like one of the earliest suggestions, namely _that which moves itself is immortal_ , though as an answer it creates more problems than it solves.</comment>


Ripple - <AUTHOR> https://ripple.com/ <comment><USER2> 1\. How do you monetize if the transactions are free?

2\. I can't access any of the links. They all prompt me for a browser authentication. It looks like your HTTPS connection is not configured properly.</comment>


Show HN: Video.bot (YC S20) – Like a chatbot, but with video-based interface - <AUTHOR> Hi HN,
Daniel here. I've just applied video.bot (http://video.bot/olivia) to YC S20.
Chatbots have been around for 30 years, but there's been zero interface evolution to date.
video.bot is asking people to rethink chatbots. Imagine them with a rich interface, like in personalized videos, but with interactions, like in a game.
That's what we're calling video.bot: bots with visual appealing that create 1 on 1 visual conversations on the fly AT SCALE.
Top Banks, Telecoms, Pharmas, etc. are using video.bot to make job offers, onboard new employees or customers, help patients / doctors, recommend investments, etc..
Check out a demo and have a personalized experience with Olívia:
http://video.bot/olivia
1. Choose to connect with Olívia
2. Allow her to get your name and photo (you can skip this part and watch it with my own data if you prefer)
3. Enjoy a personalized experience
Please let me know what you think and if you have any questions. <comment><USER2> Looks interesting, but there was less interaction than I expected. I couldn't pause the playback to ask a question. I had the same feeling that I get when I'm forced to sit on hold, or forced to watch a training video -- "why can't I skip to the end?"

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi gullyfur, yes I agree with you. In this case, it's a simple demo. But it's important to realize that it's a different approach. In the most cases, it's a non-linear storytelling. Considering that the videobot adapts itself to each person in real time, you cannot know in advance the fully story. It depends on what you know previously about the viewer, or his/her choices on the fly. So in the most cases playback controls may lose its meaning.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I suggest you rename to visuo bot.

<comment><AUTHOR> Interesting biolurker1, can you talk about this a little more? Why do you think this name is better? Thanks!</comment></comment>


Man removes feds' spy cam, they demand it back, he refuses and sues - <AUTHOR> https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/02/rancher-finds-creepy-and-un-american-spy-cam-tied-to-his-tree-sues-feds/ <comment><USER2> It sounds like if they would've just asked him, he might have allowed them to place the camera on his property, or arranged for some type of monetary compensation.

</comment><comment><USER3> > a 74-year-old rancher and attorney

Immediately you know this guy is awesome.

</comment><comment><USER4> spy cam or wall, you decide.

<comment><USER5> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma)</comment></comment>


Semantic Markup Is Virtuous - <AUTHOR> http://www.swellpath.com/2013/03/semantic-markup-is-virtuous/ <comment><USER2> Unfortunately no one (read: Google) is pushing adoption of microdata, and by ignoring microformats it just fragmented the landscape without any real benefits. This was news in 2010, by now _every_ website on earth should be using it - instead it's still confusing to choose and implement a schema, and you don't even know if it's going to be useful.

<comment><USER3> why isn't it equally confusing to choose and implement a microformat, when you don't even know if it's going to be useful?

And why do you think it didn't catch on in the past two years?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Most of my sites generate HTML programmatically, so it has always been relatively easy for me to add semantic markup to my sites.

An OK article, except I don't particularly like the emphasis on SEO. SEO in general turns me off - wasted effort when time is better spent on producing useful and/or interesting content.

Good semantic markup in all forms, RDF files to match HTML content files, etc., etc., all move us towards an much more useful web. Admittedly, adoption has been slow, but in my opinion semantic markup is so worth doing because everyone benefits in the long term.</comment>


Comcast, AT&T, WhatsApp All Score Low on New "Who Has Your Back?" List - <AUTHOR> https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/comcast-att-whatsapp-all-score-low-on-new-who-has-your-back-list/ <comment><USER2> Apparently, Adobe Flash's vulnerabilities don't count.</comment>


Irradiated: The hidden legacy of 70 years of atomic weaponry - <AUTHOR> http://media.mcclatchydc.com/static/features/irradiated/#story <comment><USER2> _At least 33,480 former nuclear workers who received compensation are dead_

Yes, and 100% of US soldiers who were shot at in the first world war are dead, even if none of the bullets ever hit them!

Counting deaths makes sense for a short-term event (e.g., X residents of Hiroshima died within a week of the bomb being dropped) but when you're looking at deaths over the course of 70 years, you need to either adjust for the number of individuals who would have died from natural causes or (much better) estimate how many QALYs were lost compared to their natural lifespan.

I have no doubt that there were real health and safety problems with the production and maintenance of the US nuclear arsenal -- particularly in the early days when the issues were poorly understood -- but statistics like the above do nothing to inform and a great deal to mislead, and should be avoided whenever possible.

<comment><USER3> Interesting perspective, but nobody tried to pretend that getting shot in the First World War didn't happen, or that being shot wasn't a problem. These workers were subjected to workplace dangers that were unacceptable in any other context, and many paid a dear price.

There are many deaths, cancer clusters and environmental impacts from nuclear weapons production.

<comment><USER2> I said _being shot at_. 100% of WW1 soldiers are dead even if none of the bullets hit them.

I'm not saying that nuclear weapons production didn't kill people; just that the statistic they cited is utterly useless.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I'm amazed of the unethical treatment of the workers whom handle the plutonium plates (Ralph Stanton). It's a shame that these companies are allowed to operate, it's also a shame that there exists other people whom are continuing this cycle, the doctors whom miss-treat them, the managers that are writing them up in-order to get them fired, the individuals that make the calls for alpha particle detectors to be removed from above the working area.

There was more text down here, but I'm at a loss of words.

</comment><comment><USER5> I'm told my grandfather photographed early atomic bomb tests, which is why my mother grew up on a Strategic Air Command base. He died in the 1980s, relatively young (though smoking contributed) and matters of his health and his pension were also subject to bureaucratic limbo.

My other grandfather trained to operate a Davey Crockett missile (the shoulder-launched missile with a M388 atomic warhead). I'm mostly just glad to live in a world where I worry about terrorism instead of global thermonuclear annihilation...

</comment><comment><USER6> Plutonium 238 is something we need a lot more of for deep space flight.

[http://kumar.party/2015/07/04/nasa-needs- plutonium%E2%80%8A-...](http://kumar.party/2015/07/04/nasa-needs- plutonium%E2%80%8A-%E2%80%8A238-for-interstellar-flight-the-only-viable- production-source-is-nuclear-weapons-production-waste/)

</comment><comment><USER7> Fascinating. But the site damn near killed my Firefox.

</comment><comment><USER8> Worth a read is the story of Karen Silkwood:

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

Also worth a watch is the film Silkwood based on her time at Kerr McGee:

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086312/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086312/)

</comment><comment><USER9> At least huge compensation amounts were paid, and the victims are remembered on this page and elsewhere.

In Soviet nuclear program, lots of human beings died for nothing, their names forgotten.

<comment><USER10> I thank the 3828 liquidators that cleaned up the worst of the Chernobyl roof, two minutes at a time.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfDa8tR25dk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfDa8tR25dk)

> died for nothing

While that is certainly true, it's worth remembering that most are still alive, though many are now having trouble in the healthcare system thanks to poor CCCP records (or finding those records now).

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> And we are spending another _trillion_ dollars on this?!

<comment><USER5> Hmm. I need perspective on 'trillion'. _calculates_

$1T is basically telling every employed person and factory in the USA that they're going to spend three weeks working to pay for the new nuclear weapons. I wonder how long that investment is good for.

<comment><USER12> That is the way to think about it. From my dad who worked for the government I learned something contrarian. The government doesn't waste much money at the level of a worker. The government wastes money at the program level. As an example the Reagan administration brought the USS Iowa out of mothballs. You can bet that the work done to upgrade her was done efficiently and economically (as efficiently and economically as any huge project like that goes). But on the big picture, they should have left her to rust.

Stuff like this is why I make comments about building public infrastructure. Say the critics are current, the California High Speed Rail project is a boondoggle. Well at least we get a high speed rail line out of the deal. Vs a couple thousand shiny new nukes which aren't useful to anyone really.</comment></comment></comment>


Blazing fast node.js: 10 performance tips from LinkedIn Mobile - <AUTHOR> http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=952157269&gid=3853987&type=member&item=83091217&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fengineering%2Elinkedin%2Ecom%2Fnodejs%2Fblazing-fast-nodejs-10-performance-tips-linkedin-mobile&urlhash=s_P3&goback=%2Egde_3853987_member_83091217

<comment><USER2> Great stuff! Some of it is applicable to non-Node.js web apps also.

I bought a book on Node.js and it all looks good, but the competitive performance with Ruby + Sinatra + Thin has kept me so far from using Node.js in anger.

</comment><comment><USER3> Fascinating stuff. Enjoyed this!</comment>


Microsoft wants developers to embrace Microsoft 365 and the Microsoft Graph - <AUTHOR> https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/07/microsoft-wants-developers-to-embrace-microsoft-365-and-the-microsoft-graph/ <comment><USER2> Good luck tbh, my experience with 365 is it being very end user focused. I wouldn't embrace it any time soon for development.</comment>


Ask HN: Examples of beautiful, nontrivial, code? - <AUTHOR>

I'm less interested in code snippets, and more interested in mid to large sized projects that a consensus of hackers find well designed.  Does this exist?  In any language? <comment><USER2> I think the JUnit code is well written. <http://github.com/KentBeck/junit></comment>


Linear Regression A Tale of a Transform - <AUTHOR> https://safwanahmad.github.io/2018/01/21/Linear-Regression-A-Tale-of-a-Transform.html <comment><USER2> I still wish I could find a short python code explains does linear regression, without the math.

Actually I think I should write a book about algorithms that are about math, but only with code, not math. I guess it would sell.

<comment><USER3> x = numpy.linalg.pinv(A) * b

There we go. Code is math; just math that is encoded for computers. I think the problem is programmers who are not used to reading math. The problem is not math, which is meant to be read by humans.

<comment><USER2> I mean python code, not something from numpy.

I know how to read math, but code is much more readable, and is much more relevant when describing a procedure than a one-line equation.

Not to mention paragraph long explanations which are missing the point of one simple thing it tries to explain.

> The problem is not math, which is meant to be read by humans.

Code is also meant to be read by humans. But math can be ambiguous because of different ways of writing the same thing or concept, meanwhile code is precisely defined and doesn't tolerate ambiguity.

<comment><USER3> I don't really see how you can justify your position, except as someone who finds code easier to read than math. People like that are mainly computer science people, who have had years of training staring at code, while there exists swathes of people out there in the science and math world who find code impenetrable.

So code is certainly not "much more relevant when describing a procedure" than a simple well defined equation.

And badly written articles explaining equations is not a reason to say that code is more readable or more relevant.

Math can be ambiguous, I will give you that, but a well written article should not have ambiguous terms.

Also, I don't want to go back and forth arguing that badly written math is less readable than well written code or that well written math code is more readable than badly written code.

<comment><USER2> Code can easily be tested, which makes it so much more usable and verifiable in my view. Not to mention how easily you can teach it, and how students can experiment with it on their own time.

Proving equations is much trickier. I also never understand why you always need to use proofs in maths to show you understand something, yet it's the only way. This makes it frustrating to do math. Even good mathematicians come up with flawed proofs, which I find weird. Meanwhile if you use data you can often visualize and test something.

Data is more concrete. I concede that you cannot express everything in code, but I'm amazed at how simple things in code can grow into unnecessarily complex math which becomes a barrier for many people.

> while there exists swathes of people out there in the science and math world > who find code impenetrable

I find that laughable. People who do well in math should be smart enough to learn how to code. Programming language are easily taught. It has become a necessity in any science field to be able to write code to do decent work.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


The worlds first Personal Brewery - <AUTHOR> http://www.williamswarn.com/

<comment><USER2> "Cold, carbonated" in 7 days.

That's not beer! That's vile fizzy fake-beer!

Real automated home breweries do exist: the Braumeister range from Germany spring to mind:

[http://www.speidels-braumeister.de/Eigenes-Bier-brauen- mit-d...](http://www.speidels-braumeister.de/Eigenes-Bier-brauen-mit-dem- Speidels-Braumeister:_:60.html)

... But you won't get anything drinkable in less than a month.</comment>


I shared someone's brain for the last 3 months - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@itsthisjustin/no-idea-is-unique-but-this-is-insane-a247ec80f6a7 <comment><USER2> The timing is pretty intriguing, since intentionally copying code and ideas that rapidly would actually be an impressive skill of its own. You are left with something that certainly would feel like mind reading.

Sometimes you see this sort of thing happen in movies. My personal belief is that at some point there was something unique happening on a grand level that triggered thoughts of a specific problem and its solution in both of you, yet subtle enough you might never backtrack and discover that commonality.

I hope that you both can move forward without the usual red tape that this would create if you were both megacorps. It's awesome that you both kept it civil and even had nice feedback for each other.

And remember, great minds think alike.</comment>


Ask HN: Patents for startups? - <AUTHOR>

I believe to have found a patentable software methodology. I consulted a patent attorney, and learned that a provisional patent application costs $3000. A year later, non-provisional application would cost $15000 + filing and drawing fees, coming close to $20000 per patent in total. Currently these costs are prohibitive, but on the other hand it makes sense to apply to protect our IP.<p>Do you have any experiences with applying for patents as a startup? Is there a workaround to avoid these costs? How good would a DIY patent application be? <comment><USER2> I have a LOT of experience in that field. We could talk for hours on the topic.

But let's start with the basics: even if you get a patent, the only purpose is so that you can later sue anyone who you think is copying you. That means at least another million dollars in legal fees right there. Is that what you are interested in? Or are you just trying to protect yourself from someone else patenting the same idea?

Usually, if it's software and web, it's not worth patenting, it's better to focus on getting a million users.</comment>


Interesting New Tech Startup of 2009 - <AUTHOR> http://dashes.com/anil/2009/08/the-most-interesting-new-tech-startup-of-2009.html

<comment><USER2> Since contests are so in vogue this year. Let's have a contest for people using public data APIs to find the biggest discrepancies in spending for different departments, etc.

Giving people data and a little bit of motivation will really show what can be done with this stuff.

<comment><USER3> Do you mean <http://www.sunlightlabs.com/contests/appsforamerica2/> ?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> _Recovery.gov, perhaps one of the best-known of the new sites, offering up details of how resources from the Recovery Act are being allocated._

Recovery.gov is know for costing $18 million for something that could be mimicked with a Wordpress theme and a flash slideshow.

Although I do find them interesting because they apparently have a pagerank of 10, higher than that of Congress, the Senate, the President, Yahoo, MSN, or iGoogle, and tied with Google itself.

<comment><USER5> Interesting side note: Recovery.gov runs on Drupal.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> This is a very good start IMO. I think they should try to monetize these websites and run like a corporation and then lower the taxes side-by-side. I dont see a reason why they should not. People will be paying money from all around the world and we (US tax payers) will be saving money. :)</comment>


Ask HN: How do I switch from Front End(Mobile) to Back End development - <AUTHOR> I've been working on Mobile Development for about 3 years. I've simply gotten bored of it. I'm good at it and enjoy solving the problems which come up due to fragmentation and the strict environment constraints.However this prevents me from focusing on actual self development and learning something because I spend more time focusing on compatibility and "That new API which reduces the number of clicks" and "that cool library which does that complicated feature of you".<p>I have tried my hand at developing a few backend applications which are hobby projects and I have show that to people too. Yet everyone seems to focus on my lack of knowledge on Data structures and Algorithms(I'm not from a Computer Science background). And moreover, given the current trend  a lot of companies need good Mobile Developers and will not let you get into any other domain once they know about these skills.
Are there folks who have successfully made such a switch? And how do you negotiate such switches with an organization. <comment><USER2> I would personally start with Node.js, and specifically Loopback. Its extremely powerful, and will make sense to you from an API perspective. Get an understanding of Models and get them attached to a local MySQL serve so you can Query data. If you are looking to move to full-stack, look into Angular2 for your client. If you have any specific questions, lmk on how to get started, please let me know!</comment>


Show HN: Discovery for Periscope, Meerkat, Twitch - <AUTHOR> http://www.sympl.tv/

<comment><USER2> It came back with nothing for many queries. How does it work?</comment>


$230M Still Can't Buy a Startup Original Design? - <AUTHOR> http://www.fastcodesign.com/3039119/fast-feed/230-million-still-cant-buy-a-startup-original-design?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=codesign-daily&position=1&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=11262014

<comment><USER2> It boggles my mind that there are multiple multimillion dollar startups who provide nothing more than what PGP delivered in the early 90s. GPG is free. The fact that they are arguing over the originality of the website's wallpaper is just surreal.

</comment><comment><USER3> While these two patterns appear to be quite similar, I wouldn't think there is anything wrong here - from a copyright/IP view. Design seems to be something that is fluid and shouldn't be held to the same standards as a molecular drug patent. As long as the branding isn't infringed, it seems okay. How many login patterns today are almost identical?

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> The argument here is why would you want to look so similar to your competitor when you have plenty of money to set yourself apart.</comment>


Fractionalizing Home Equity - <AUTHOR> https://avc.com/2019/09/fractionalizing-home-equity/ <comment><AUTHOR> My feeling about this is that there's a significant risk of predatory behavior, hard for individual homeowners to protect themselves from an aggressive company.

I don't personally know the Patch Homes guys, and I hope they'll behave ethically.

</comment><comment><USER2> This is a pretty terrible deal for the homeowner. They're selling a call option that is $X in-the-money. This is worth that $X, plus a premium for the optionality involved. Then there's the counterparty risk, where you're obligated to a variable lump-sum expense in ten years at a valuation under the control of the entity you've contracted with (and based on the initial valuation, also under that control).

</comment><comment><USER3> So who gets to hold the title? The home owner or does it change hand when they extract some equity? If not the owner, how do they ensure the get their cut? liens? How do they make sure the home owner doesn't extract equity multiple times from different groups? What if a life changing event happens that changes the plan of the owner from wanting to sell on the agreed date and they want to stay for a few more years? Will they be forced to sell? What if the market tanks and the house is underwater? Too many ways this can go kaput. IMO, keep things simply stupid. Don't mess with your home equity. It's not an ATM.

<comment><USER4> Apparently it's a call option on x% of the equity of your house expiring in 10 years. You are short 1 call contract but receive the premium upfront. If you sell your house before 10 years, you have to buy back the call option from Patch the company (more or less than you received depending on how the value changed).

Say you use Patch for your 1MM house, then sell it for 1.5MM 8 years later. You will be on the hook for 23%[1] or $345k.

As a homeowner, you're not really selling any equity, just a derivative based on your house's equity. If you don't sell by 10 years, I assume Patch the company can foreclose on your house if you can't deliver in cash 23% of your house's appraised value (how else would this be investable otherwise?).

The only way to be short is to own a house. But once these contracts are securitized, it's one derivative away from becoming shortable without owning the underlying (house). I'm sure investors taking the other side of these contracts will want insurance. Then you're back to synthetic CDOs.

I really hope this doesn't take off.

[1] [https://www.patchhomes.com/how-patch- works](https://www.patchhomes.com/how-patch-works)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I like the concept...but think I'd rather have a 1:1 title than financial engineering shenanigans tbh.

</comment><comment><USER6> Interesting concept. I'm curious if it would happen for other assets in the long run (cars, boats, etc.) Financing has seeped its way into everything.

</comment><comment><USER4> wasn't converting Americans' homes into spooky financial instruments one of the big reasons for the collapse?

<comment><USER7> This doesnt sound spooky to me, you have to own the housw before you can sell the upside option. Meaning you already have paid your house loan. Very niche product, mainly for old people.

<comment><USER8> FTA: _" Patch even covered three months of an owner's mortgage during a liquidity crunch for his small business_"

That doesn't sound paid-off to me.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> How does this compare to a home equity loan?

<comment><USER4> A traditional home equity loan only allows the lender to receive at maximum the principal + interest.

This thing allows the "lender" to receive an unlimited profit because the lender receives a percentage of the house's value regardless of how high it goes.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> > What Patch offers instead is to take a piece of your home equity (currently > limited to $250k maximum) and sell the upside on it to a investment fund.

Sometimes I can't help but feel that we deserve what's coming.

<comment><USER7> What's wrong with something like that? Ok, selling the upside might be stupid, but it also might make sense in some situations. I dont think this product will be wildly succesful and change a lot of things, just a niche thing.</comment></comment>


Dear Twitter: Here Is How to Fix Your API - <AUTHOR> http://www.betabeat.com/2011/09/09/dear-twitter-here-is-how-to-fix-your-api/

<comment><AUTHOR> It's a long but great read.

<comment> yo-mf Long and depressing. Unfortunately it is all true.</comment></comment>


300-mph train would whisk travelers from Vegas to Disneyland - <AUTHOR> http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2008-02-25-vegas-disneyland-train_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

<comment><AUTHOR> This sounds like the perfect application for a technology that really needs a pilot project here in the U.S.

<comment><USER2> I completely agree. The common wisdom is that modern passenger rail would fail in America. Really, I think that it can be a huge success, but only in local links.

Recent discussion in my area (Eastern Washington state) has broached the idea of a fast light rail service among the Spokane/Coeur D'alene area (tech center of E. Wa.) down to the Tri-Cities (which have a DoE National Lab and the Hanford Nuclear site) and the Moscow/Pullman access which has two big state universities (WSU and UI). Those kinds of local links can work and be a great thing for economic and intellectual interchange, I think. Trans-continental railways probably aren't the best solution for cross-country travel anymore, but locally I think they're the way to go.

Just look at the UK: light rail is a huge boon for commuters going to and from the London orbital.

Then again, IANARE (I Am Not A Railroad Engineer).

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> What ever happened to the maglev train that east coast cities were competing for? Did the funding for that fall through after they spent years talking about it?

<comment><USER4> I'm pretty sure that it fell through... Not sure why, even something like the slower 125 mph option would be perfect for the Tri-State area.

The only thing I don't get is their choices in starting locations: I guess Anaheim isn't that bad, but by having people drive an hour and a half to Victorville to take a high-speed train, they only gain an hour, two max. I'd think that they'd want the system to at least have the potential of being expandable; if the line started out of LA, they could eventually have it as a hub serving San Diego / the Bay.</comment></comment>


Mac EFI Update 2015-001: malicious root app may be able to modify EFI flash - <AUTHOR> https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204934

<comment><AUTHOR> Related CVE:

[http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/577140](http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/577140)

Applies to (at least) some DELL computers as well.

TLDR: There's a bug in some UEFI BIOSes that don't set the read-only flag when a computer comes back from sleep, thus allowing a malicious program to silently reflash the BIOS

More detailed analysis: [https://reverse.put.as/2015/05/29/the-empire-strikes- back-ap...](https://reverse.put.as/2015/05/29/the-empire-strikes-back-apple- how-your-mac-firmware-security-is-completely-broken/)</comment>


An hour with Marissa Mayer, C.E.O. and president of Yahoo. [video] - <AUTHOR> http://www.charlierose.com/watch/60698873 <comment><USER2> Personal search where it accesses your email and personal data can be abused to invade your privacy. Even using GPS to see where you drive. This is part of Siri and Cortana and everyone wants to do it. Windows 10 uses it and critics blast Microsoft for invading privacy.</comment>


Morgan Stanley to Buy E-Trade for $13B - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/business/dealbook/morgan-stanley-etrade.html <comment><USER2> I rely on Matt Levine to explain, more clearly than I could, how brokerages make money ("The Trades Will Be Free Now"):

[https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-02/the- tr...](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-02/the-trades-will- be-free-now)

Let me highlight a key passage:

"Even this understates the change, because the actual way that stock brokers work today is that you keep some cash in your brokerage account to fund potential trades, and the broker earns interest on that cash and pays you less than it earns, and all the trading stuff is almost irrelevant. ... Commissions are way down there; in 2018, they represented a bit less than 7% of Schwab's net revenue."

I don't think this is about consolidation in the brokerage space because of zero fees. I think this is about investment banks getting into the retail space (see Goldman's Apple card).

Once again, I rely on Matt Levine to explain it ("Goldman Has Some Boring Plans"):

[https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-01-29/goldma...](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-01-29/goldman- has-some-boring-plans)

The whole thing is worth a read, but here is one key paragraph:

"One way to interpret this is that Goldman has embarked on a quest to be boring. This interpretation seems plainly correct. The old Goldman approach—making a lot of money on lumpy investment-banking fees, risky balance-sheet-intensive trading, and both-lumpy-and-risky principal investing—is disfavored in modern banking. It is disfavored by regulation (the Volcker Rule, capital requirements) and by market conditions, but it is also particularly disfavored by Goldman's own investors, who want reliable recurring revenues."

Edit: I should add this interpretation is also the one offered by the author of the NY times article, although the author also claims that slashed fees played a role:

"It continues Morgan Stanley's strategy of increasingly focusing on asset management rather than investment banking and high-stakes trading, betting on steady fees over bigger paydays and bigger risks."

<comment><USER3> this is a good explanation too, and from a local.

[https://www.kalzumeus.com/2019/6/26/how-brokerages-make- mone...](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2019/6/26/how-brokerages-make-money/)

The writing was on the wall for E-Trade. Banking is in an ebb of consolidation. E-Trade and TD Ameritrade had to sell once Interactive Brokers / Schwab started that game of dropping commission. They didnt add enough other value besides stock trading. They are a component to a larger banking suite.

I have to think Wealthfront and Betterment are targets now too. I have to think American Express is still a viable target as well.

The next thing empires SHOULD be looking at, is overall life management software. Personal Capital, YNAB.

I am somewhat surprised nobody offers an abstracted savings account, that handles 401k, IRA, HSA, paying rent and bills, and access to credit. Instead of showing you the balance of each account, it would show you how much you have, how much you need in the future, and how much you can spend today. And then automatically apply extra cash to the best spots, and automatically use credit and pay it off. Using credit AS part of the budget process. Not completely dissimilar from Singapore's Central Provident Fund.

<comment> murph-almighty >I am somewhat surprised nobody offers an abstracted savings account, that handles 401k, IRA, HSA, paying rent and bills, and access to credit.

I think it'd be complicated to regulate from a risk perspective. Checking and savings accounts get insured by the FDIC, how do you insure a large pile of money invested practically everywhere in varying risky scenarios? You'd need to at least create a boundary between "FDIC-insured low interest funds" and "your results may vary but will probably be fine" funds.

<comment><USER4> Haven Money was an attempt at this (startup a friend/former coworker started to tackle this), but they recently sold to credit karma.

[https://havenmoney.com/](https://havenmoney.com/)

It was a cool idea - basically they'd auto invest some portion into a total market index, pick the best rates for things in your 401k, etc.

<comment><USER5> And credit karma was itself acquired recently.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> With the move to $0 order fees for online brokerages, not surprised to see more tie-ups. Even running the business at break-even, MS gets to market their other products to all E-Trade's customers.

That said, what's the current economic model for independent online brokerages?

Sell order flow? Rate arbitrage off uninvested assets?

<comment><USER7> There was a somewhat revealing interview by the people behind Flatex, a big discount broker from Germany [0].

Dutch source, do use a translator [https://www.tijd.be/markten- live/nieuws/algemeen/nieuwe-eige...](https://www.tijd.be/markten- live/nieuws/algemeen/nieuwe-eigenaar-degiro-de-prijzen-voor-onlinebeleggen- gaan-omhoog/10208604.html)

"Is it easier for a pan European company to keep big US competition like Robin Hood and Ameritrade out?

Niehage: 'The companies you name are very badly positioned for Europe. Their economic model is based on two pillars. Firstly, they want to offer everything for free. But if you offer all services for free, you have to earn money with the capital in the investors' accounts. That is possible in the US, where you can still get 2% of interest. In Europe, with zero interest rates, that's very different.'

And the second pillar of their economic model?

Niehage: 'That's the high frequency traders. As far as I know, Robin Hood sells its customer orders to this kind of parties. They are prepared to pay good money for that. According to the European MiFID II-regulation, that is illegal. Those two examples show that the US and EU markets are totally different. That's why American brokers have difficulties breaking into the EU market.' "

<comment><USER8> With 0% interest rates in Europe, do you think this will encourage large savers to get their money invested? I think the idea of negative interest rates is absurd however it might encourage Europeans to invest more money versus stashing in savings accounts

<comment><USER9> This is really going to end up biting everyone in the ass though.

What happens when we have another market crash and everyone is broke because they put money they would have saved into investments instead and now they have no safety net?

<comment><USER10> I don't understand negative interest rates at all, but _surely_ something is deeply broken behind this, and it will crash in one spectacular way or another.

<comment><USER11> It's a cost of having money, but not spending it. The central bank pays a negative interest on excess deposits. So banks are motivated to lend it out. (Eg. take on more risk.)

[https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecb.wp2283~2ccc0749...](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecb.wp2283~2ccc074964.en.pdf)

One problem that becomes a bit hard is that in the retail sector if interest rates go below zero people are willing to simply withdraw the money, which would hurt banks' ability to lend. (Eg. the central bank would have to add funding via some mechanism, such as lowering the fractional ratio, or QE . [Or paying interest on reserves. But that would go against the negative interest on excess reserves.])

The paper concludes that the negative interest rates resulted in more loans.

<comment><USER10> Yeah, but I'm worried about the underlying causes.

How did holding money become so worthless in the first place?

Can this really be natural, or is there massive central bank shenaningans behind it? Clearly savers lose, but who benefits?

<comment><USER11> Money is just a piece of the underlying monetary system, which is constantly priced based on what the economy using that money does.

If that economy expands without corresponding increase in the money supply, then prices go down (because there are more stuff, but the same amount of money, so the same amount of money now represent more stuff). But this represents a deflation, which would auto-magically counteract the expansion, because it would incentivize people to wait and spend just at the last minute. (Time value of money and all would revert, wages would fall, fixed amount mortgages would start to spiral out, and all the regular deflation doomsday scenarios.) So the central banks make sure that even in an expanding economy the money supply "stays ahead" of the expansion of the economy. Targeting 2%. (And usually falling short, so inflation is somewhere between 1-2%.)

So holding money did not became worthless, quite the opposite, holding cash is now better than holding it in a bank. But the central bank has only a few policy tools available, and one of them is the interest rate manipulation.

The central banks want to encourage people to make some investments, to take on some risk, or at least spend. Sure, one way is to simply fund the government, as that usually seems the least risky. And it's not like there's nothing to spend on - the Green New Deal and co, but governments are quite reluctant to do so.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Good time to revisit patio11's excellent article on discount brokerages:

[https://www.kalzumeus.com/2019/6/26/how-brokerages-make- mone...](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2019/6/26/how-brokerages-make-money/)

</comment><comment><USER13> As soon as everyone started going to $0 commissions overnight I feel like consolidation was inevitable.

<comment><USER14> My thought as well. Also just got an email yesterday that my investments at USAA are moving to Schwab.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> If you're considering using E-Trade you may want to consider that E-Trade does not take responsibility if they are hacked. They group cybersecurity events and software malfunction under "Force Majeure" events ("acts of God"). That means if your retirement savings vanish because they are hacked you're out of luck. See [https://content.etrade.com/etrade/estation/pdf/10118customer...](https://content.etrade.com/etrade/estation/pdf/10118customeragreement.pdf)

Fidelity and Vanguard don't have such clauses. Hope Morgan Stanley fixes this.

<comment><USER16> Do you believe the usual insurance programmes will not help in the event of a hack?

[https://us.etrade.com/l/f/asset-protection](https://us.etrade.com/l/f/asset- protection)

Basically everyone has $500k insured in their trading account. Are you concerned about people with more than that, or concerned that it wouldn't cover hacking?

<comment><USER17> FDIC payouts are extremely rare. As far as I know, it only kicks in if the entire bank fails. I don't think it covers fraud.

Having said that, I'd be surprised if E Trade were not legally required to cover losses in the event of account break ins, regardless of what their customer agreement says.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Also - likely a move to gain access to large 'dark pools' of mom&pop trades (orders) so that they aren't front run on institutional block trades & et cetera.

</comment><comment><USER19> Aw man, I just got moved from Capital One 360 Investing to E-Trade. Now I'll have to move to Morgan Stanley? Any way to just transfer my sh*t from E-Trade to Robinhood without just selling and re-buying, incurring a change in tax status? Seems Robinhood has unfortunately sunset that option...

<comment><USER8> Robinhood has terrible order execution. I switched to TDA after getting sick of limit orders executing nowhere near my limit price. Market orders were abysmal as well

<comment><USER20> Limit orders can only execute at the limit price or better. Are you saying that you were getting better prices than you expected, or am I completely misreading this?

<comment><USER8> Robinhood would ignore my limit and execute above it on buys

<comment><USER20> Super illegal if true: [https://www.finra.org/contact- finra/whistleblower](https://www.finra.org/contact-finra/whistleblower)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I wonder if the movement to zero transaction fees will facilitate the development and greater adoption of software written to implement passive investment strategies like indexing. Fees for funds that do passive strategies like indexing are already incredibly low, but there's no reason they can't be zero.

It ought to be pretty straightforward to implement this with some sanely written software connecting to your brokerage of choice. You may lose out on revenue streams like securities lending, but it's probably not that much anyway. Anyone have any experience with this?

</comment><comment><USER22> $13B is a more than 96% discount on the stated $360B asset value, what am I missing? Unless it means (or is including) assets held for clients in nominee accounts?

<comment><USER23> if you counted Assets under Management, Blackrock would have a valuation of 7 trillion. That clearly isnt the case.

They dont actually own the assets

<comment><USER22> I know that wouldn't be a normal inclusion for 'assets'; I was trying to understand the massive discount.

<comment><USER24> Company valuation only depends on future cash flows. If an asset is able to produce future cash flows, or can be sold to create cash flows, then this can be accounted for in valuation. In this article their mention of assets is actually assets under management (Link at end of comment). Assets under management still only factor in valuation based on their ability to generate future cash flows, as E-Trade have no claim to those assets. These cash flows have been taken into account, and then used to evaluate a $13 billion price tag. Elsewhere in the thread you can see how money is made from assets under management.

([https://www.brokerage-review.com/investing-firm/assets- under...](https://www.brokerage-review.com/investing-firm/assets-under- management/etrade-aum.aspx))

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> My prediction: JPM will make a bid for RobinHood.

<comment><USER26> Why? What edge does RobinHood have that JPM needs? Would they just be buying the meme-stock customer base? The "free trade" feature is a marketing decision, not a technological breakthrough.

<comment><USER25> Same reason Schwab bought td and Ms did this deal today... Expand out their younger millennial base and sell them more products.

Jpm has Chase as it's retail platform. But it lags behind in trading features.

Why not?

<comment><USER26> Ameritrade and Schwab are almost the same age and have similar customer bases. Schwab has superior economies of scale and can make more money per customer than Ameritrade. Schwab's move to no-fee trading put Ameritrade in distress (Ameritrade was more dependent on commissions than Schwab), which created the buying opportunity.

Which of those dynamics exists for Robinhood?</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Why is there no Harry Potter MMO yet? - <AUTHOR>

... I mean anyone can see the awesome story would lead to an awesome game, why is it not done yet? <comment><USER2> Go build it.</comment>


Is Google heading down the Yahoo path? - <AUTHOR> http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/07/12/is-google-heading-down-the-yahoo-path/

<comment><USER2> Perhaps the big difference between Google now and Yahoo then is: Google has more cash than they know what to do with. They aren't "taking a gamble" on some new markets, think of it more like VC. As long as they monetize a couple things in a pile of ideas, they win.

I think they do a pretty good job of keeping it from diluting their brand, too. Somewhere after GMail and Google docs, they stopped branding stuff outside their search business with a big bright Google logo -- rather, most things keep their own brands (YouTube, Lively, Orkut, etc.) even thought they are Google companies. As a result, if I ask my mom, "What's Google for?" She'll say, "Looking stuff up on the internet."

<comment><USER3> The problem is that they are not seen as a VC. So when one of their projects fails people say look google has failed, they are losing their focus, they have peaked and now they're going down.

And that means more money will go into stuff that google competitors are doing because now they can say to their investors, look, google can be beaten.

They will stop selling their businesses to google at the earliest possible moment. More startup founders will be willing and able to go it alone, and fewer will want to go work for google just to watch their baby flounder like all those other half hearted me too projects.

There's another reason why they cannot act like a VC. Much of what they do needs size and network effects. If people doubt that a particular app has a future, it doesn't get traction, which means it's not going to get big fast. An app by a big vendor that doesn't get big fast is not geeky and cool, it's dead in the water and totally uncool.

Microsoft has lost its influence long before their profits started to go down. That's why google absolutely needs focus and they need to be very convincing. They need to be so cool and then they need to say, oh and by the way, we'll crush any competition, so don't even try!

<comment><USER2> First, let me say, your comments are very insightful. You force me to amend my position a bit. :-)

Regarding your first point -- you are right. Google can't really be like VC. As a company, they are not expected to have failures. Looking at their trading history in 2008, it looks like concerns over stuff like monetizing YouTube is kicking them in the reputation.

I think, however, that they are also suffering from a thing that the media loves to do -- turn in its darlings. Once a "gee-whiz" media baby stops being exciting because of its newness, it is popular to try to take the "darker" angle on it. I think this started in the geek community with the Google in China business a few years ago, and now it's hitting the wider world. I think this would be a problem for Google regardless of their product strategy.

I also suspect that, while Google can't be like VC, they're not really like normal companies, either. I think people expect them to be a little more experimental and to fail a little bit more often -- although, on a smaller scale than YouTube. I think that people still think, "Small failures from Google are just signs of progress." It probably wouldn't hurt them to be a bit more conservative right now with their stock taking a dive.

Finally, I don't think that Google has lost their geek-hipness just yet. I, for one, still think tha Google spits out a couple interesting services every year. They aren't us cool as they used to be, and the Google cool factor will probably wear off for them eventually. But, as one of my co-founders says, they can "burn that bridge when they get to it."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Remember that 'Black Swan' article from a few days ago?

Minimize your downside extremal risk exposure, and maximize your upside extremal risk exposure (20%, Lively, etc.)?

Well, the writer of this piece apparently didn't. The instant any of these things starts draining resources directly from their core business, then GOOG investors can start panicking. Meanwhile, the GOOG seems to have taken the lessons of the market to heart. Not unlike YCombinator -- lots of little dollops of money into little baskets, most of which will never be seen again, but a handful of which can generate such absurd upside that the foregone dollops are but an afterthought. Google seems to get this.

You'd think their entire business was originally based on probable inference, or something...

</comment><comment><USER5> To me Google has the core search and advertising down stat. They have that monopoly and will do anything to keep it.

But like someone said they have so much cash and so many employees they can afford to get into every single market on the web. If it succeeds? Great, more money to the bottom line. If it fails? Oh well, we only lost .000001% of our resources trying for it.

And if its really a business they want to get into, one where they'll get a lot of pageviews for their ads, they'll just buy up the competition. Because they can afford to pay 100 million without really flinching.

<comment><USER6> Last point sounds like Yahoo.

Google should actually setup an incubator for external extrepeneurs, providing funds, infastructure and a supportive community - imagine the dealflow and ideas it'd receive.

It already has a VC:

[http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2007/tc200...](http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2007/tc20070831_697591.htm)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> If Google didn't come up with new things once in a while, the article we'd be reading would be called "Google is boring me" and the thesis would be "why doesn't google come up with anything new? they must be dying."

</comment><comment><USER8> Google has been like this for a long time. And its one of their biggest assets in my opinion!

Microsoft needs to keep a good focus. But Google and Yahoo? I don't think so. Obviously they shouldn't do something really unexpected, but if they can carry on improving and creating apps/sites - why the need to stop?

</comment><comment><USER9> Google considers everything it does a mechanism to get folks to use Google's properties and to create more ad-revenue.

A TV network analogy would be that Apps, Lively, Earth etc. are programs. We tune into Google because it has the best programs. And then get served ads.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Google have always said they had no interest in producing content themselves... some of those products are definitely reversals on that decision. That may be the right thing to do, but it's definitely a change.

</comment><comment><USER10> _What do you think: is the search giant losing focus of their core business?_

You have it backwards. It's the strength of their core business that enables them to make big bets on the future.

They've gotta know as well as anyone: in this industry if you milk your core business too long, it may become a dinosaur too quickly for you to react.

<comment><USER11> This matches my reaction too.

To elaborate a little, I don't see any attempts at other markets as a bad sign from google or as behaving yahoo-like as long as they stick to their core principles of simplicity for everyone, including the power users.</comment></comment>


Ask YC: Who's launching something soon? - <AUTHOR>

I'd like to get to know some more of the startups you people are launching. When's your launch date?<p>What are you launching? <comment><USER2> Just launched <http://markmail.org/> Mailing list search for open-source communities is the first thing out of the gate.

</comment><comment><USER3> We launched a few months ago: <http://prezentit.com>

<comment><USER4> Thumbs up for being in Spanish (I'm peruvian).

<comment><USER3> I'm peruvian too! thats cool, you can contact me if you want (mail in profile)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Jan. so top secret we couldn't apply to YC

</comment><comment><USER6> We're in stealth mode, so I can't tell you.

But...

If you highlight everything between

here

010010101100101001010010010100010101001111011010101010

and here,

and read it upside down in a mirror,

you'll know everything we are prepared to divulge now.

<comment><USER4> I don't get it. :(

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Beta in December, stealth mode. Fun fun fun.

</comment><comment><USER8> Cure for cancer. ETA 01/01/08

</comment><comment><USER9> Stealth mode is for hacks</comment>