Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (August 2011) - <AUTHOR> Please lead with either SEEKING WORK or SEEKING FREELANCER, your location and whether remote work is a possibility. <comment><USER5> SEEKING WORK -- London, England or remote

We're a duo of PhD computer scientists who have a wide range of development experience (control software, image processing, compilers, code analysis, web development). We are currently working on software for bug finding and have extensive expertise in static code analysis.

Looking to do freelance or contract work. We primarily work in Java but have experience with a wide range of languages such as C, C++, Python, Haskell, Scala, Ocaml.

Contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER6> SEEKING WORK: I'm thinking about taking on some remote work in the US from here in Italy during the month of August, when things in Europe grind to a halt. Rails would be the most obvious thing to work on, but I've done a lot over the years. Other languages I'd be interested in/have experience with are C, Tcl, Erlang, and mobile Java (J2ME/Android). Get in touch at firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER7> SEEKING FREELANCERS -- (NYC/Remote)

Need a web development generalist to do some frontend work (converting flash content into html/css/js), some PHP backend work (integrating new features into our wordpress sites), and developing some interesting backend tools (price tracking spiders, social crm dashboards, etc.)

Will be a smaller (10-20 hrs/wk) ongoing project for the right person.

firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER8> SEEKING FREELANCER

web/graphic designer for remote recurring work.

<comment><USER9> What the hell, HN? Downvoting people so you can be on top? Downvoting & upvoting needs to be disabled in these threads.

<comment><USER10> The downvote was probably because there's no way to contact this person.

<comment><USER9> Maybe, but at the time I made the comment, 75% of the posts had been downvoted.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> SEEKING FREELANCER - Remote We're a startup looking for a designer. Looking for someone to create our main website and a web-based mobile app (potentially iOS and Android in the future). Prefer someone who can also code up their design (not hand off a psd). Please send an intro and your portfolio to dlauer [a][t] gmail

</comment><comment><USER12> SEEKING FREELANCER - HTML & CSS, maybe C as well.

Looking for someone to potentially make our WebGUI look "sexy" as our colleagues in California would say. We have reached the limits of our HTML and CSS know-how.

The current WebGUI can be seen here: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y5tUtx63Tc>

The article that was posted on the Intel website: [http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/parallax- parallel-c...](http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/parallax-parallel- computing/)

If interested you can contact me at email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER13> SEEKING FREELANCER - Wake Forest, NC area (yes, I'm being rather specific) - PHP, CSS, some Java, comfortable with basic sysadmin skills, desire to learn new stuff as needed. (contact firstname.lastname@example.com)

</comment><comment><USER14> SEEKING FREELANCER (Los Angeles-USA or remote)

Consumer web startup is looking for Python/django developer with the following skills:

2/3 years of experience working with Python, Django, JQuery, Javascript, HTML * DBMS (PostgreSQL is a plus) * Amazon EC2 * Solid oral and written US English comprehension and communication skills * Mercurial * Apache2 / RabbitMQ * Django celery is a plus

o apply, please provide the following: 1) Link to your GitHub/Bitbucket profile 2) Links to public sites you've built 3) A paragraph about yourself 4) Your hourly rate 5) Two references

Reply to: email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER15> SEEKING FREELANCER (Australia, remote is fine)

Our startup, (RosterPlus.com.au), is looking for a CSS/HTML Master who is familiar with MVC frameworks, (like CakePHP), and jQuery.

Experience in design for multiple devices (phone, tablet, computer), and 'responsive' design is a must.

You will slot somewhere between our designer and lead developer. Strengths in either direction would be amazing.

Please send examples of UI you have been involved in coding, and anything you have done that works on mobile and/or tablet.

We also build web apps for some of our clients, so there is plenty to do if you have the hours!

</comment><comment><USER16> SEEKING FREELANCER -- Looking for someone to build a web client for our existing backend, which was developed for iOS and Android apps. We're in Chicago but remote is okay too.

Ruby preferred. The timeline would be around four weeks. There are relatively few screens that need to be built, but some slick JavaScript animations will be required.

A UX specialist who can also code the web client is doubly preferred, and additional work polishing the UIs of the existing mobile apps is available.

Please contact hnfreelance811 at gmail dot com. Links to past work are helpful.

</comment><comment><USER17> SEEKING RUBY FREELANCER -- prefer SF/bay area or Honolulu, but will consider remote. Expanded job desc: <http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/eng/2516664056.html>

To apply, please provide the following:

1) Link to your GitHub profile 2) Links to public sites you've built 3) A paragraph about yourself 4) Your hourly rate 5) Two references

Reply to: firstname.lastname@example.com

PS - <http://youtu.be/Eidtc55ZqoU>

</comment><comment><USER18> SEEKING WORK (remote - germany)

Allround hacker - programming for the last 18 years, professionally the last 12. worked on projects ranging from informix-c on sysV unix, to embedded node.js on ARM, from web framework in Common Lisp to embedded C++ for midi controllers, from neural networks on dspic to REST API in python.

I'm looking for projects where things need to get done, which are dirty (legacy codebases, nasty DB schemas, cpu cycles optimization, concurrency on 8-bit microcontrollers) or wildly interesting (encoding audio for error tolerant streaming, building custom controllers for lighting installations, ...).

I am currently working mostly in web programming (PHP, python, frontend javascript). My latest "let's do some opensource on a weekend project" was a mustache php compiler: <https://github.com/wesen/proust> .

outdated "artsy" portfolio: <http://portfolio.ruinwesen.com/>

CV: <http://bl0rg.net/~manuel/cv-english.pdf>

Contact: email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER19> SEEKING FREELANCER (or perhaps a mentor)

This request is much more basic than many of the others, sorry if that offends anyone. If anyone has any interest in mentoring a newbie, please let me know. I'm willing to offer whatever I can in return.

I started learning how to code recently, and I'm trying to launch my first product, an online video-based GMAT prep tool. I've built the site using PHP, MySQL, and unlisted YouTube videos. It "works," in the sense that I can give someone a username/pw and they can access everything.

I need help going from a somewhat functional site to a site that can charge money for a product. This includes: improving the horrible "design" (using a template is fine for now), making the log-in more secure, finding a better way to host the videos (if you think a better way is necessary), and setting up a way to accept payment (PayPal is fine for now).

I'm in New York City, so it would be nice but not crucial to work with someone here. If you're interested, or if you have any advice for me, please let me know. Thanks.

</comment><comment><USER20> SEEKING WORK: Canadian, legally capable of working in the US. Remote preferred.

Designer + Developer: JavaScript (Backbone, Knockout, Client-Side MVC, Node.JS), JasmineBDD, Python/Django, Java, PHP, HTML/CSS.

<http://careers.stackoverflow.com/davidmosher>

<http://krop.com/davidmosher>

</comment><comment><USER21> SEEKING WORK

Nomadic - currently in LA, flying to SF next week.

I've worked professionally with python, ocaml and erlang. I've worked in search ( <http://bit.ly/ji-texsearch-opt> , <https://github.com/jamii/texsearch> ), testing ( <http://bit.ly/ji-fuzzer> , <https://github.com/jamii/ocamlcheck> ), distributed systems ( <http://bit.ly/ji-mealy> ) and am making inroads into p2p ( <https://github.com/jamii/dissertation> , <http://bit.ly/ji-telehash> , <https://github.com/jamii/erl-telehash> ). I have a strong background in math (real analysis, probability, discrete maths) and computer science (randomized algorithms, AI / epistemic logic, machine learning).

I'm willing to work on anything but my main interests are distributed systems and p2p networks. My current project is described here <http://bit.ly/ji-mist> .

Right now I'm fully engaged but I will be available again around the end of August.

Resume (a bit out of date) - <http://bit.ly/ji-about>

Blog - <http://bit.ly/ji-blog>

Github - <https://github.com/jamii>

References - [http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=65525388#recommendat...](http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=65525388#recommendations)

</comment><comment><USER13> SEEKING FREELANCER - remote - content writers/contributors for javascript, groovy and web freelancing topics. email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER22> SEEKING FREELANCER We have a couple of opportunities through our partners, which include awesome startups like JUMIO (Daniel Mattes, Jajah exit for $207m, now on board with Eduardo Saverin, Facebook Co-Founder) - sign up and apply instantly with your skills: <http://www.twentypeople.com>

<comment><USER22> Companies/Startups, we can host your jobs for free. Contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com or sign up on the site. It's a limited test right now but getting pretty heated - it's free and early members enjoy upgrades later.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> SEEKING FREELANCER - (London, United Kingdom) Front-end Web Developer needed. PHP, JavaScript, jQuery, CSS, for several new web (and possibly mobile) applications for location based bookings.

Details: <http://uk.crunchboard.com/opening/detailjob.php?jid=11728>

Contact: email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER24> SEEKING WORK. From Porto, Portugal, E.U.; open for remote, but will possibly relocate

Backend:

* Currently Python/Javascript developer, Django mostly; Google Appengine skills (<https://bitbucket.org/zemanel/django-sentry-appengine>)

* Past experience with PHP, including some Zend Framework, Propel, ZetaComponents (formerly known as ezComponents)

* Past experience with Java in content management applications: Struts, Hibernate, Jboss Seam. Many beers ago.

* Built a small Node.js/Dojo project for NodeKnockout 2010 which got #10 ([http://www.slideshare.net/MyCatStoleMyPPT/tweetirc-presentat...](http://www.slideshare.net/MyCatStoleMyPPT/tweetirc-presentation))

Frontend javascript:

* Dojo Toolkit (preferred, including experience building a Dijit)

* JQuery

Tooling:

* virtualenv, pip, gondor[.io]

* Git, Mercurial, SVN

* <whatever you need may end up in here too>

Latest pet project (for HNSearch contest)

* <http://hnmood.appspot.com>

Links in my profile; will provide references by e-mail

</comment><comment><USER25> SEEKING WORK -- London, UK.

Python developer, aspiring data sleuth.

I want to help you extract knowledge from data -- and not just with stats.

From the data side, I've done a bunch of work on text and statistical analysis -- sentiment analysis, text classification, etc. Redis, nltk, shell-scripts and lots of python.

But more excited by the moments when you decide to walk away from all that. I've been working a bunch with investigative journalists, learning that there's a time to stop coding, pick up the phone, and figure out the real story.

So if you're trying to understand your data, drop me a line.

I'd prefer London on-site, but don't rule out remote or coming to where you are.

CV: <http://ohuiginn.net/docs/cvdanohuiginn_201107.pdf> <https://github.com/danohuiginn>

Oh, I can also do web backend and scaling work (django/turbogears/pylons/nginx/memcached/mysql).

<comment><USER26> What's your going rate? :-D

<comment><USER25> $50/hour

<comment><USER27> You're probably underselling yourself. Make that 50 quid/hr at least.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> SEEKING iOS FREELANCER Developer

Los Angeles. Remote work is possible.

More info here: <http://j.mp/qKivzY>

</comment><comment><USER29> SEEKING WORK -- Remote & Dili, East Timor

I am mostly a Java & Objective C (iPhone app) Software Engineer

For the last five years I worked on Java GUI apps and, for the last three mostly on a high throughtput data logging server application.

I also know some Python. I also used it for a personnal web scraping project on Google App Engine (sources on github).

A few years ago I did some consulting as a PHP (Drupal) Web Dev.

My latest project is here (iOS + Java) <http://www.displayator.com>

I am nicolasH on github: <https://github.com/nicolasH>

My Resume is on my website here: [http://www.niconomicon.net/content_nnmc/pages/Resume_Nicolas...](http://www.niconomicon.net/content_nnmc/pages/Resume_NicolasHoibian_2011_en.pdf)

Home page: <http://www.niconomicon.net/>

nicolas[at]niconomicon.net

</comment><comment><USER30> SEEKING WORK - Remote (I'm based in PA)

I'm a web developer and designer and I focus on developing web applications.

I have an eye for usability and well-placed pixels and take pride in my craft. I'm strong in both front-end (HTML5/CSS/JavaScript/jQuery) and back-end (PHP/CodeIgniter/MVC.NET) development and I'm able to take a product from the drawing board to release.

Recently I've started working with iOS and have one app in the store so far. I'd love the opportunity to work on more iOS apps and that's the kind of work that's most interesting to me right now.

Take a look at my portfolio for sample work (<http://www.consumedbycode.com/>) and github for some sample code (<https://github.com/parrots>). Contact details are on my portfolio.

</comment><comment><USER31> SEEKING WORK

Python, Tornado, Django, Google App Engine, Javascript (jQuery, learning Backbone.js), PostgreSQL, MySQL, Linux and VPS (Linode), MongoDB.

My Github repos: <https://github.com/ccarpenterg>

Some work in Python:

<http://todolist-app.appspot.com/>

<http://www.presidenciables2013.cl/>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2714360>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2674266>

<http://18.104.22.168/> (GeoRadio demo)

Blog: <http://ccarpenterg.posterous.com/>

Contact: email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER32> SEEKING FREELANCE WORK - Remote or on site (pay + per diem) USA

I'm a developer with a business degree and a hacker background so my experience is broad. I'm good with JavaScript, PHP, mySQL, HTML5, CSS3, web performance optimization (WPO), web app pen testing / security hardening. noSQL, NodeJS, jQuery, Piwik, CakePHP & other MVC frameworks. I can learn new languages, libraries and tech as needed.

I have 10+ years server side experience (including sys admin), 4 years client side experience. Client side / JS work preferred.

Github: <https://github.com/driverdan>

Profile site: <http://driverdan.com>

Blog: <http://razorfast.com>

</comment><comment> rush-tea SEEKING FREELANCER (Bay Area San Francisco, California, USA)

Looking for freelancers who are expert in PHP/MySQL AJAX, etc. I need someone to help me enhance and implement ideas on a social networking I am building on.

Must be local to Bay Area San Francisco, no exception. Please email to

firstname.lastname@example.com

Thanks.

</comment><comment><USER33> SEEKING WORK (remote)

Full-stack web applications and Android applications developer. Most effective in Javascript (both front/back end). Recently wrote a Node.js/MongoDB data- processing backend. I have also worked on Java/Spring/Oracle, PHP/CodeIgniter/MySQL applications in the past. Currently building a movie recommendation engine on my spare time (<http://bit.ly/qhDyjd>).

I am used to working remotely using skype, issue/project trackers and git/svn. Open to learn new technologies/languages.

Website: <http://bit.ly/qe7ALZ> Github: <http://bit.ly/ovMP3D>

</comment><comment><USER34> SEEKING FREELANCER:

Web designer who can knock out great looking landing pages, like: basecamphq.com sproutsocial.com cotweet.com

Can you knock out different comps of our current product pages? Can you create some visually delicious banners or other web graphics?

E-mail me: firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER35> SEEKING WORK -- Telecommute, or local to Cleveland

Experienced Webapp dev: Java, Wicket, Lucene/SOLR, Hibernate, Google App Engine, etc.

Work sample: I built <http://appgravity.com>.

I left a cushy job to pursue freelancing full-time in January. Since then I've been slogging it out on oDesk & Elance. Had a couple of great clients, but it's very hard to make a living on sites where so many people are expecting to re-create Facebook for $500.

I work efficiently. I don't require hand-holding. I produce high-quality code.

Contact info and more details at <http://armhold.com/contact>.

</comment><comment><USER36> SEEKING WORK - freelance or fulltime

C# (wcf, asp.net), Python, PHP, C/C++. ACM ICPC world finalist. Living in Vitória, Brazil, but very willing to travel or relocate (worldwide). Currently learning Android and iOS. Contact info in profile.

</comment><comment><USER37> SEEKING FREELANCER

Our Location: New York City or Los Angeles Your Location: Anywhere (only occasional onsite meetings, even if you are local.) Any may apply.

>> iOS development & Android development (2 location finder apps + 1 bubble- bobble style game = 6 apps total).

>> Server and API development (faceted searching with Solr or ElasticSearch, database design with MongoDB or postgres spatial.) You choose the language (python or ruby preferred) and help set the roadmap / timetable.

Reasonable, but not generous compensation, however, work through the end of the year at a minimum. Payment via oDesk or PayPal, no work restrictions.

Teams welcome.

</comment><comment><USER38> SEEKING WORK - Athens, GA or remote

Web developer experienced in JavaScript/CoffeeScript, Ruby, Perl, and Python. Eager to refine my HTML5/JS front-end development skills or to test my Node.js experience against serious workloads. After a few years of maintenance work, I look forward to making a new service or product viable. Those related to personal productivity or writing would excite me the most.

      GitHub - https://github.com/thirdtruck
      Example Web Work - http://www.rubyai.org/rubyai/
      HTML5/Canvas Prototype - http://www.rubyai.org/rubyai2/web

Email email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER39> SEEKING WORK -- Melbourne Australia or remote

Security solutions design, architecture or consulting

\- <http://security.stackexchange.com/users/1719/rakkhi>

\- Top answerer information security: <http://www.quora.com/Rakkhi- Samarasekera>

\- Klout score of 58 top influencer infosec: <http://klout.com/rakkhis>

\- Security blog: <http://www.rakkhis.com>

CV on request. Email rakkhi AT rakkhis.com or @rakkhis on Twitter.

</comment><comment><USER40> SEEKING WORK (remote - USA)

C# MVC web application developer. Currently working on an iPhone/Android app using sencha touch and phone gap. Background is primary with MS technologies - SQL Server, C#, ASP.net, ASP.net MVC, a little bit of VB.net when forced. Well versed in general web technologies - jquery, ajax, google maps, html5, etc. I've dabbled in many other languages such as python, ruby, and even did some mainframe coding when I got out of college.

I have been developing web apps for over 10 years now, dozens upon dozens of completed projects, small to large, all successful.

<comment><USER41> Angrycoder--we provide MS-centric web products (c#/.net/SQL) and are looking for some occasional contracted help with potential, assuming the combination works well. If you're interested, a GotoMeeting to see some examples of your work would be great. Please reply to dd81 aat LTGI.net

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> SEEKING WORK - Django/Python development, with jquery, html, css, based in the UK (Cornwall). Looking to fill about 10 hours a week with any remote projects. Will happily take on rescue/maintenance work.

</comment><comment><USER43> SEEKING WORK

iPhone/iPad, PHP, MySQL

Recently started looking for freelance opportunities. My day job is as a web developer for a state university.

I have 2 apps in the iTunes App Store and currently working on a third.

[http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cleveland-college- radio/id433...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cleveland-college- radio/id433687231?ls=1&mt=8)

[http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cleveland-state- university/id...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cleveland-state- university/id386527864?ls=1&mt=8)

<http://mcphersoncreative.com>

</comment><comment><USER44> SEEKING WORK

Currently in Denmark, I prefer remote work, but I would consider relocating for a great opportunity.

Mostly a Ruby coder working with Ruby on Rails. I'm also very efficient with javascript and jQuery.

Some of my recent projects:

<http://www.gipote.dk> # Helped them migrating to Rails 3 <http://flightlogger.net> # My own startup, an intranet for aviation schools

Some of the stuff I can do:

\- Integrate with payment provider. \- Scrape websites. \- Help you make a prototype for your idea.

You can contact me on email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER45> SEEKING WORK -- Anywhere in Australia (or remote) Java/Javascript/SQL, I have a pending permanent residence visa application and looking to relocate to Australia ASAP firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER46> SEEKING FREELANCER - <USER2>

NYC: Developing complete website from scratch in Drupal, including multimedia content, user registration and management, in education space. Opportunity for many more projects.

<comment><USER47> How can get in contact with you?

<comment><USER46> Here: <http://bit.ly/q7cKJM>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER48> SEEKING WORK -- Triangle area, North Carolina (or remote)

I'm looking for work on Ruby/Rails-based projects (or anything where my skill set would be useful). I have experience with all parts of the Rails stack:

      - Rails development and Ruby scripting/automation
      - Client-side Javscript/jQuery/CSS
      - Deployment to the cloud (I can set up and secure
        instances from scratch on multiple providers)

This account is a throw-away, contact me at hackernews.elbvh at gmail and I'll reply from my legit account.

</comment><comment><USER49> SEEKING WORK -- Remote / Freelance / Contract

I'm a front end development expert (jQuery, HTML5, CSS3, ETC ETC) with design and back end chops. Happiest working with Python / Django on the backend and interesting ideas on the front-end. Available for recurring work and interested in learning new things. I love working on products and doing client services. Totally not interested in working for equity on your neat idea.

<http://joshuablount.com/work> | email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER50> SEEKING WORK -- Boston, MA or remote

Server-side and mobile device developer. Developing mobile applications for iOS, Android and BlackBerry. Server-side communication done with JavaEE, Ruby on Rails or CakePHP.

Successful projects that I have launched myself include the CityReporter applications used by over 20 cities in the United States.

<http://plus1lab.com>

<http://plus1lab.com/cityreporter-iphone>

My email address is in my profile.

</comment><comment><USER51> SEEKING WORK (mostly RUBY, iOS, Python) (REMOTE)

Ruby on Rails developer for 3 years (mostly large, internal Rails sites). Before that developed desktop apps on the Mac for 5 years (using C++, some Cocoa, some Pascal).

I have about 1 day worth of availability myself, but I work with other freelancers if your project/position requires more time than that.

Github: <http://www.github.com/rwilcox>

Website: <http://www.wilcoxd.com>

</comment><comment><USER52> SEEKING WORK -- USA (willing to relocate) / remote

Strong machine learning experience (have heavily used / modified Random Forests, SVMs, DTs, Naive Bayes, deep learning, etc. in Matlab / Python), very good at finding patterns in data and exploiting those. I am interested in pushing the state of the art in machine learning and commercializing it. Also experienced with typical software development tools (Git, SVN, Java, C, etc.)

Contact seekingcoolstartup at gmail

</comment><comment><USER53> SEEKING WORK: College student with JavaScript (and JQUERY), Node.Js, ExpressJs, Django, Python, HTML/CSS experience. Hard worker, great student and fast learner, looking to get hands dirty. Available 20 hours a week. Philadelphia or remote. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com LinkedIn: <http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jennifer-rubinovitz/23/993/476>

</comment><comment><USER54> Seeking work (Boston, MA)

Current CS major at Northeastern University. Self-driven, passionate, and a quick learner. I've worked for:

Intuit, RunKeeper, Amazon, Pfizer

Currently seeking jobs in the Boston / Cambridge area. I have experience with turning visual prototypes into full web pages (HTML/CSS), Android development, J2EE service implementation and testing, Python/Django development, Clojure, and bits of iOS.

Resume:

<http://bit.ly/aalix-resume>

</comment><comment><USER55> SEEKING WORK (Remote anywhere, based in Slovenia,EU)

Designer of UI, Web, Mobile, Graphics and Identities. Also know print design. Love typography and nicely made apps. Working with different startups and can work on smaller or bigger projects. Can code my designs in HTML/CSS, also know @media-queries and practice responsive web design.

Portfolio of work: <http://yukaii.com> and requests here: email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER56> SEEKING WORK -- Remote

Designer based in Austin, TX. Have a reputation for being fast and am comfortable with both web and print design. I'd prefer to take on smaller jobs like landing pages, 1-2 page layouts, business cards, etc. which can be completed within 24 hours, but I'm open to work at a larger scale. Can produce HTML/CSS if required.

Portfolio here: <http://stevenkovar.com/portfolio>

</comment><comment><USER57> SEEKING WORK -- Boston, MA or remote

Full stack web developer, browser Javascript all the way down through the stack to DevOps stuff. I'm most effective in Python, Javascript, Java, and Go, in about that order. I've used most of the NoSQL DBs, Flask, Django, Celery, Node, jQuery, Amazon APIs, etc, etc. My increasingly outdated resume is at <http://www.njl.us/resume/>

<comment><USER14> Are you looking for freelance work or permanent position?

</comment></comment><comment><USER58> SEEKING FREELANCER

for iphone/android development

<comment><USER10> You have no contact info in your profile. How should people contact you?

</comment></comment><comment><USER59> SEEKING WEB UI DESIGNER

Los Angeles based startup is looking for a strong user interface designer for a web app. Must have a good eye for colors and layouts. The job requires designing a lot of pretty forms, buttons and overlays so your CSS must be top notch. JavaScript skills are helpful but not necessary. No programming skills are required. Send an email with screenshots or links to minimalist at lavabit dot com.

</comment><comment><USER60> SEEKING WORK (REMOTE or Seattle, WA, USA).

Java developer working mainly with Groovy/Grails/Java and Android. Looking for short-term FT (3 months or less) or any PT work.

Email / XMPP: firstname.lastname@example.com.

<http://about.me/petedoyle>

resume: [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18509454/persistent/hn/Resume- PeteDo...](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18509454/persistent/hn/Resume-PeteDoyle- July2011.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER61> Seeking Work - Remote/Freelance

Python/Django/jQuery, with extensive experience building e-commerce marketplaces. I have a research background, data analysis, playing around with NLP right now.

I run a django dev shop, currently taking gigs. Here's my portfolio:

<http://www.sidmitra.com/portfolio.html>

<http://www.cloudshuffle.com/>

</comment><comment><USER62> SEEKING WORK -- Boston, MA or remote

Mostly a Python coder, working with Django, Twisted, and whatever else. Have worked in product dev, QA, and operations/devops. Can work at high or low levels of systems.

<http://github.com/unshift> for some sample code, <http://unshift.net> for my new personal site, email in profile.

</comment><comment><USER61> Seeking Work - Remote/Freelance

Python/Django/jQuery, with extensive experience building e-commerce marketplaces. I have a research background, data analysis, playing around with NLP right now.

I run a django dev shop, currently taking gigs. Here's my portfolio:

<http://www.sidmitra.com/portfolio.html>

<http://www.cloudshuffle.com/>

</comment><comment><USER63> SEEKING WORK -- Atlanta, GA, USA or remote (willing to relocate)

Strong in Perl, C, C++ with a decent background HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Some experience in Python and PHP.

<http://github.com/simcop2387/> \-- code samples

<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21322452/resume.pdf>

contact at email@example.com or at (Six Seven Eight) 551-2387

</comment><comment><USER64> SEEKING WORK

PHP/JavaScript/HTML/CSS developer. I'm based in the UK, and happy with local or remote work.

I've over 5 years experience in PHP, and have used many frameworks, including CodeIgniter, CakePHP and Zend.

I've also got a lot of experience with CMSs including Wordpress and Expression Engine.

My email address is on my profile.

<http://mattbearman.co.uk>

<http://bugmuncher.com>

</comment><comment><USER65> SEEKING WORK: Fulltime or freelance. Seattle, WA or remote.

Worked with Java and Perl for a while, now trying to focus on "the other side." Marketing, market research, business development, optimizing business practices (the ability to write the occasional script really helps with a lot of this).

Also pretty experienced with building Wordpress and hacking and customizing themes.

email: firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER66> Seeking freelance work: JavaScript (browser and node.js), ruby, python, PHP. Boulder, CO or remote. Example project: <http://anigram.heroku.com/> GitHub account: <https://github.com/benatkin> (my email address is listed there)

</comment><comment><USER67> SEEKING [REMOTE] WORK

PHP/MySQL/JQuery/Memcached stack developer from Frankfurt, Germany

<http://udos.name> \- my skill profile

If you are doing an interesting web project, give me a ping: firstname.lastname@example.com. I'm primarily focused on remote work, but I also like to travel so I'm available for on-site meetings and such as necessary.

</comment><comment><USER68> SEEDING WORK. Austin, TX.

Highly skilled native iPhone, iPad, iOS ObjC development. Previous clients include Fortune 500s and the US DoD.

"Off the menu" we also do Python/Google AppEngine, PHP, and Mac development. There are 3 of us.

PLEASE NO profit sharing, unfunded ventures, etc.

Please contact through <http://drewcrawfordapps.com>.

</comment><comment><USER69> SEEKING WORK -- Worldwide (don't mind traveling) or remote -- based in Vienna, Austria

I've been working exclusively on iOS projects for the past 2.5 years and I'm looking for interesting/awesome iPhone/iPad projects to work on. Not interested in working for equity or profit sharing.

List of completed projects on request. Contact info is in my profile.

</comment><comment><USER70> SEEKING WORK – Central Europe, remote

Mainly PHP, HTML5, JavaScript, (... and such) and C. Quite experienced with MediaWiki and frameworks like Zend and Symfony. Looking for some small work (about 10 hours a week, may be more), maintenance, or quick fixes, additions, improvements, etc. Contact by electronic mail at carljcole at gmail.

</comment><comment><USER71> SEEKING WORK: Remote/ PeopleSoft/ MS SQL/ PHP/ Wordpress.

I have worked professionally in all of the above mentioned platforms. I am going to be in India for the next 6 mnths - 1 year and I am looking for remote work. I am happy to work on anything but really keen to work on the above mentioned skill set.

Pls email me at email@example.com

</comment><comment> x-sam SEEKING WORK: Software engineer — experience with Java, C/C++, PHP, JavaScript, GoLang, Prolog.

Mobile development: webos, windows phone, andoid. Web-services and applications: node.js(express,mongodb,jade,lue,etc),ccs3,javascript;LAMP stack with PHP,*SQL,etc.

Parallel and distributed systems and Golang for fun.

contact: x-sam(antispam symbol)brainscode.com

<comment> rush-tea Where are you located?

<comment> x-sam Currently Ukraine, Last year was in Germany. I'm able to work remotely.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER72> SEEKING WORK — Boston, MA or remote

Front-end web developer (HTML/CSS/JS) with a strong design background. Full- sweep design-to-code, interactive prototypes, WordPress/Drupal templating and config, Rails/Django View-level type stuff.

Portfolio is down for the moment but ping ericdfields [at] shortmail.com if interested in work samples.

</comment><comment><USER73> SEEKING WORK - preferably in Sydney or Australia but open to remote work also. RoR, JS, web site design and graphic design jobs are our favorite right now yet we also have iOS app development skills in house. <http://semblancesystems.com>.

</comment><comment><USER74> SEEKING WORK: August, through September or possibly through the end of the year. NYC but would prefer something I can also do remotely. Ruby, SQL databases, Unix, "Dev Ops." Recently, iOS and Python. Enjoy things like data scraping, data viz, and clever hacks. See resume link in my profile.

</comment><comment><USER75> SEEKING WORK (Providence, RI, USA or anywhere via TCP/IP)

Slightly out-of-date resume at <http://quadium.net/work/resume.pdf>

Contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com and it'll pop right up in my "clients" mail group.

(I normally live in Orlando but I'm in Providence for the summer)

</comment><comment><USER76> SEEKING WORK -- Boston (or remote)

I am a Ruby on Rails freelancer with some newfound availability. I can develop the whole stack, from database/system administration up to the front- end/design. My email is here: <http://techiferous.com/about>

</comment><comment><USER77> SEEKING WORK - Berlin, Germany or remote.

Hi! I'm Lorenz. I develop web applications using Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

I am also a certified Scrum Master and I can cover for your linux system administrator in a pinch.

Check out my website at <http://lorenzkitzmann.de>

</comment><comment><USER78> SEEKING FREELANCER - Baltimore, MD area preferred, remote possible.

* Seeking someone with fairly advanced PHP skills

team [at] bizelo.com

</comment><comment><USER79> SEEKING WORK.

USER INTERFACE / BRANDING / WEB DESIGN

I'm a senior UI/UX designer. Here are a few snapshots of previews works. <http://www.dribbble.com/nicogarcia> I have sucesfully worked remotelly with 10+ HNers only this year.

Drop me a line, email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER80> SEEKING WORK

We're a soon-to-be-founded software company that wants to offer consulting/contract work around Nokia's Qt.

If you're interested contact us via <http://woboq.com/>

We're based in Berlin but look for remote work everywhere.

We'll be available from around end of August.

</comment><comment><USER81> SEEKING WORK - Remote work. (I am based in Chiclayo, Perú.) Freelance Web Developer I'm work with PHP, CodeIgniter,WordPress, Joomla...and more. Fast and good job. Personal Site: <http://bit.ly/lDHkgG>

</comment><comment><USER82> SEEKING WORK - <USER4>

Web/Mobile UI designer - HTML5/CSS3/Photoshop - from concept to finished product.

Experienced working with developers, version control, template languages, Sass, Stylus, etc++ across time zones.

Portfolio site -> <http://nylira.com>

</comment><comment><USER83> C# .Net Port, Windows to Linux Mono .Net

Require a port of our .Net application from windows to Linux using Mono and MonoDev!!!

<http://www.scriptlance.com/projects/1312706670.shtml>

</comment><comment><USER84> SEEKING FREELANCER - content writing, copy writing. Remote work, 20 hours/month.

</comment><comment><USER85> SEELKING WORK - <USER4>

node.js, redis, mongodb

Willing to do complex back-end in node.js (load balancing, caching for search engine, websocket server, crawling, etc).

Other info: Currently bootstrapping a startup, but i'm willing to work on other things on the side

</comment><comment><USER86> SEEKING WORK - Amsterdam | Remote

Java (J2EE, Android), Ruby (RoR), Haskell, PHP (Different frameworks), Objective C/C++ (iPhone/iPad), C, Read assembler, AWS, Linode, Linux, MySQL, Postgresql, Redis, Hadoop, HBase, Solr, Big data.

hn [at] ab.tl

</comment><comment><USER87> SEEKING WORK -- Remote, Louisville, KY

Highly Skilled PHP/Ruby Developer look for interesting projects; experienced in building prototypes, mvps, etc.

No profit sharing, unfunded ventures, etc, etc, etc.

Email me at <hnusername>@gmail.com

</comment><comment><USER88> Seeking Freelance Work -- Denver, Co, Boulder, Co, Fort Collins, Co or Remote

Wordpress, PHP, SQL, HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery, Coldfusion, Java, C#

Portfolio:

<http://www.adambourg.com/>

</comment><comment><USER89> SEEKING WORK: PHP5 (preferably symfony2), jQuery, html5, css, git. LinkedIn profile <http://rs.linkedin.com/in/pentarim>

</comment><comment><USER90> SEEKING WORK: iOS, Python / Django, London based, remote work is possible. Please contact through <http://pollocksoftware.com>

</comment><comment><USER91> SEEKING [REMOTE] WORK -- Ohio, U.S.A.

Visual/UI Design. Front-end development.

Examples: <http://www.wellroundedgent.com> Contact: email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER92> SEEKING WORK

Antwerp area, Belgium Skills: Java, JavaScript, JQuery, PHP, ... Remote is possible

Not looking for "full-time" opportunities, rather for smaller projects that can be done over weekends/evenings.

</comment><comment><USER93> SEEKING WORK -- The Hague, Netherlands - Remote (relocating is a possibility too)

Web Design, HTML, CSS, WordPress development

<http://lauriliimatta.com>

</comment><comment><USER94> Minus is hiring in NYC or seeking freelancers in New York area.

Please check out <http://minus.com/pages/jobs> for more info.

Cheers

</comment><comment><USER95> Seeking work.ASP.NET 3.5 ,ASP.NET MVC,TSQL,Datamining,SQL Server 2008 admin & perfomance tuning .I'm based in Rabat ,Morocco.I can do remote work.

</comment><comment><USER96> SEEKING WORK: i want a Remote job on LAMP platform. You can check my profile in Google using "Mahabubul Hasan Odesk" you will have me on the first.

</comment><comment><USER97> Ruby Rockstar & JS Ninja SEEKING WORK -- Milano, Italy / Remote

Have an impressive profile. ruby, rails, node.js, backbone.js, jquery, socket.io, mongodb

abhishiv at gmail.com

</comment><comment> cool-RR SEEKING WORK -- Remote work. (I am based in Haifa, Israel.)

Python hacker. More details are here:

<http://ram.rachum.com/cv/>

</comment><comment><USER98> SEEKING WORK ruby on rails | web frontend (jquery, html5, css, etc.) | mobile apps | location: boston. remote: yes and welcomed.

</comment><comment><USER99> SEEKING WORK -- Cologne, Germany or remote -- preferably part-time

Web Developer & UX Architect

<http://mygnu.com>

</comment><comment><USER100> SEEKING WORK

Rails/Sinatra development and AdWords management> <http://ninthyard.com>

</comment><comment><USER101> SEEKING WORK - remote, UK. Web scraping and data extraction projects. Perl, Matlab and R. Contact: dmn001 [at[ gmail

</comment><comment><USER102> SEEKING WORK - c#, SQL, HTML / CSS / JS developer. Backend work preferred. Experienced in middleware / integration

</comment><comment><USER103> SEEKING WORK

UX Designer, Software Engineer - Experience with C, C++, Java and markup/scripting = HTML/CSS, JS. Remote work.

</comment><comment><USER104> SEEKING WORK Sydney, AU/Django/remote/casual. contact: see profile. (< 1 year experience freelancing)

</comment><comment><USER105> SEEKING WORK - Indian. python/django, System administration, Mysql replication, svn repo administration.

</comment><comment><USER106> SEEKING WORK: Python/Django, jQuery, iOS, PHP. NYC or remote. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER107> SEEKING WORK, Dubai, remote. Developer. C/Python/Django. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER108> Seeking Work -- Boston, MA Excel (VBA), Python and Matlab Guru Contact: weasky at gmail

</comment><comment><USER109> SEEKING WORK -- Remote / .NET / PHP / Flex / Freelance alan.chowky at gmail

</comment><comment><USER110> SEEKING WORK - Ruby ( RoR ), Android, Java, Python - Boulder, CO or REMOTE

</comment><comment><USER111> Seeking Rails Freelancer,

email firstname.lastname@example.com for more information.

</comment><comment><USER112> SEEKING WORK - iPhone/iPad - contact info in profile.

</comment><comment><USER113> SEEKING WORK.

Remote contractor accepting work in node.js. Contact info and more about me here <http://blobaum.com/></comment>


Ancient Rome's Collapse Is Written into Arctic Ice - <AUTHOR> https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/05/scientists-reclaim-the-long-lost-economic-history-of-rome/560339/?single_page=true <comment><USER2> Um, not entirely new. At least a couple decades back I read that there was a layer of soot deposited as soon as the Ancient Greeks discovered how to smelt/extract silver from local ore. They consumed vast forests doing just that, and the deposit could be read in Greenland's ice. Athen's Golden Age was at its base an economic change, they were crazy rich from all that silver, and their Owl coinage was very popular.</comment>


How Tom Hanks Became America's Historian in Chief - <AUTHOR> http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1969606,00.html <comment><USER2> TV series like Band of Brothers are not history, strictly speaking. They are fiction.

<comment><USER3> Uh? Where did you get that from? The Band of Brothers series is based on true stories from the men who fought in 101st. You even see the interviews with the guys now (10 years ago). Maybe some parts of it are romanticized but definitely based on true stories.

<comment><USER2> Didn't know that. Even so it seems very unlikely that they simply filmed the 1:1 memories.

OK then: but Saving Private Ryan definitely was just fiction? That was mentioned in the article along with BoB.

The reality is that in the long run these movies will be what people think of as history (as in it will be the only history they know). I think that is slightly disturbing.

<comment><USER4> History is always viewed through the lens of the person retelling it. Very few historical accounts are immune from the flourish of an author or historian eager to leave their view on the way things happened.

Strictly speaking, it doesn't matter if Saving Private Ryan was fiction, it depicts the reality of war quite well. The accuracy of dress, vehicles, weapons and command structures is enough to make it a useful film, even if the story is complete fiction.

<comment><USER2> Useful, yes - but few people will watch it that way. Nobody goes to see that movie just to see a realistically looking uniform.

<comment><USER4> True, but they will subconciously absorb the level of detail, such that when watching another, poor recreation of WW2 that they will see it as such.

I'm looking at this through the prism of any improvement in historical sense is better than nothing for the average joe, as long it isn't off by orders of magnitude.

<comment><USER2> It's hardly the accuracy of costumes that matters about history. What matters is motivations of people and reasons for stuff happening. Hollywood movies are especially bad at portraying that accurately.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Amazon staff punished for being ill - <AUTHOR> http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article5337770.ece

<comment><USER2> This is quite shocking. I thought better of Amazon.

</comment><comment><USER3> whats that thing about two sides to every story..?</comment>


Ask HN: Time for MS to Move in on Java? - <AUTHOR>

Given what has been going on with Oracle and Java, is there any indication that this would be a good time for MS to throw their weight behind Mono or to create their own cross-platform implementation of .Net?  Or, is it still more valuable for them to keep people on the MS stack? <comment><USER2> There is so much distrust for Microsoft, that I think even if they did throw their weight behind Mono they would get very little mind share. I think that the Java replacement will come out of the open source movement. I do not know who it will be or even if it is existing as of yet, but I think that Java will serve as an example to people when selecting the next big language.

There are a lot of interesting languages, unfortunately some of them require the JVM to operate, which binds them to the same restrictions as Java. There are the scripting languages such as Python and node.JS, which while interesting, have a tough road to battle for mind share due to the fact that they are scripting languages. I personally have no issue with scripting languages, but others do and so it will serve as a scarlet letter for those languages being the one.

There are others like Google's go that are open source and available. I do not know if a language such as go will become a dominant language in the foreseeable future, but do believe that it will be a language with similar licensing options and similar freedoms due to what has happened in the Java market.

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't think I agree that the next Java will come out of OSS community. I think the reason Java has become what it is has to do with the safety (no matter how illusionary that safety is) of a big company behind it.

<comment><USER2> Java became what it is today, because of the Microsoft monopoly, people where looking for any alternative platform to develop on, that did not have Microsoft lock-in.

The problem was that you still needed to deliver on Microsoft platforms to get any user base. Java offered a viable solution to that problem at the time because one could develop an application for the UNIX market while still keeping a foot in the Windows market, should the landscape shift.

With more and more server products moving the Microsoft, Java was a way to hedge staying on an alternative platform while still having a quick transition strategy to Microsoft should be required. Those market realities do not exist today and as always developer mind share is key to a language success, I would argue that it's the only key to a language of success.

It has been proven time and time again where the developers go the market follows. All languages that have gained popularity since Java have been open source languages with the exception of Objective-C and the .net languages. The two most dominant web languages PHP and Python are both open source language.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> It will always be more valuable for them to keep people locked-in to a stack they alone control. That does not preclude them from taking a position on the FUD Oracle and Apache are generating in the Java space.

Microsoft dominance is caused by 25% evil, 5% good product and 70% competitor stupidity.</comment>


Mac vs. PC: A Hunch Rematch - <AUTHOR> http://blog.hunch.com/?p=45344 <comment><USER2> As Windows has nearly 90% of the market and more than half the respondents of this survey, can windows user surveys results show anything beyond what the average is?? I would think any survey would be so skewed as to be useless.

Though I do like how the survey clearly points out that Mac users 'want to be perceived as unique and different'. I wonder how much that 'want to be perceived' further skews the data??</comment>


Make the web "flat" with this bookmarklet - <AUTHOR> http://dev.hubspot.com/blog/flatten-the-web-with-this-bookmarklet <comment><USER2> I've got a problem with the way people are implementing this 'flat UI' style and I think it's leading to a disastrous usability nightmare!

Some of the 'design' concepts represented by drop shadows, borders, and text- shadows are about _function_ , not (just) _aesthetics_ and when you remove those functional parts of a layout you are left with a less _usable_ layout.

Personally, I love the minimalism and rationalism in the design approach of Dieter Rams, who is (now) considered the father of the design style that Apple has made popular. I also love colour planar imagery (flat sections of colour) like vector illustrations and iconography.

The problem with how many people are implementing this flat style in UI is that we're letting go of valuable information that makes software and websites _usable_ in the first place. This style works great for static pieces (like print, or screen graphics that don't change) and of course looks clean and gorgeous in non-functioning Photoshop mockups - but when you get this style onto websites and into apps it's often done in a way that just falls flat of its full potential.

There's my 2¢. I've been lusting after minimalism in design approach and dying for when colour planar aesthetic style became popular, but now it's here too many people are doing it all wrong (even the big ones, like Apple with iOS7)

<comment><USER3> Along those lines, I'm curious how flat design looks to those who are color blind (8% of men), as it seems to rely primarily on color for distinguishing various UI elements.

<comment><USER4> I'm colorblind and I usually don't have an issue with flat design. I rather like it.

I do tend to rely more on light/dark than hue, and if a hue is too similar, light/dark is my only visual cue. For example, in similar shades of red and green, red usually "looks darker."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> The good thing about flat design is that people with terrible design skills like myself can now create sites using just rectangles and "background-color: blue;" and it will look modern.

<comment><USER6> That's not how flat ui design works. You can make single-color boxes and it won't look modern. Flat UI is about beautiful color palettes that are well matched and which convey the proper information without over embellishing. A few good examples:

[http://inspirationhut.net/wp- content/uploads/2013/08/23.png](http://inspirationhut.net/wp- content/uploads/2013/08/23.png) [http://maxcdn.webappers.com/img/2013/03/flat- ui.png](http://maxcdn.webappers.com/img/2013/03/flat-ui.png)

<comment><AUTHOR> Flat UI is not about beautiful color palettes.

Sure, color is an important tool at the disposal of a designer. But so are typography, layout, proportion, symmetry, hierarchy, contrast, and affordance. And those are just the static things! Designing good interactions additionally requires consideration of speed, motion, order, and timing.

Good design takes into account these qualities whether it's flat or not.

<comment><USER7> > Sure, color is an important tool at the disposal of a designer. But so are > typography, layout, proportion, symmetry, hierarchy, contrast, and > affordance. And those are just the static things! Designing good > interactions additionally requires consideration of speed, motion, order, > and timing.

Thats not what Flat UI is about , that's what graphic design is about.

Flat UI is a gimmick,and a fad. Non designers like it because there is nothing to it, anybody can make something look "Flat". It became an excuse for poor design skills, and pushing generic templates as design work.

<comment><USER8> Generalize much? There are plenty of bad designers not working 'flat'

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Can someone explain what the point of this is?

I realize that it will have more or less dramatic effects depending on the site, but in the two examples that Adam Schwartz chose to best demonstrate the effect, it seems to be just "remove shading and gradients." Why? Is someone out there offended by gradients? Why would you care?

Edit: Or is that the point, that it's meant to be a commentary on a design aesthetic? afschwartz's own cryptic response in this comment page suggests that it might be.

If so, the commentary seems to have escaped some commentators--one comment on the original says "Github looks much nicer with it enabled." Huh? I had to look at the side-by-side GitHub comparison for several seconds before I even saw the difference.

<comment><AUTHOR> I think these two earlier comments summarize my opinions pretty well:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6691171](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6691171) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6690477](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6690477)

<comment><USER9> Indeed so. I must have missed those earlier, or failed to recognize your name on them--I just saw your "thank you" response. Sorry if I was obtuse.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."

\-- Mark Twain

Flat design for flat design's sake is a signal that groupthink on this whole "flat" thing is beginning to reach ridiculous levels

</comment><comment><USER11> I wonder when designers will quit it with the "minimalistic interfaces are better (because I read it on a blog)" trend.

<comment><USER12> In about a year and a half, when people will have added enough useful features to their minimalist interfaces that they are no longer minimalist (but much more usable).

<comment><USER11> The "flat"/minimalist movement generally disregards the usability or usefulness of portraying information (see the NYC taxi door design for where this is frustrating[1])

[1] [http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/taxis-lose- thei...](http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/taxis-lose-their- axi/?_r=0)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> A neat little toy - but to me flat doesn't just mean a certain color scheme - it also means having a certain elegance to site interactions and a design philosophy that trends closer to minimalistic. None of these sites meet that criteria IMHO.

And that's not a bad thing. Variety is the spice of life. Decisions on design shouldn't be made based on trends - they should be based on usability. Some site benefit from simple interfaces and some benefit from complexity.

</comment><comment><USER14> A good "flat" design needs to be designed from the ground up. You can just remove gradients and shadows and expect to have an intuitive ux.

<comment><USER7> There is no good "flat" design. Removing all depth from a design is not good design.

<comment><USER14> "flat" is a pretty ambiguous and miss used word, hence the quotes. In fact, "flat" designs use depth more frequently (ie one ui element over another). the "flat" trend is more about removing superfluous (subjectively) design elements

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Some people need to use this bookmarklet when browsing HN (It removes the upvote and downvote arrows).

</comment><comment><USER16> There is a difference between flat and (more) usable. While I strongly question the necessity of shadows and gradients as a means to convey structure, they more often that not help convey functionality to the non- rational part of the user's brain. Particularly the github example comes to mind: it may be a blue circle, but only with a smooth blueish shadow does it convey the meaning of an LED that wants the user's attention.

A blanket removal of usually carefully designed interfaces comes close to art vandalism :) It might do good in some cases, but destroys the hard work put in many others.

</comment><comment><USER17> I really hope this is a commentary on how "flat" design is just an aesthetic. You can make your UI horrible or non-horrible whether you employ "flat" design or not.

<comment><USER18> It's not just an aesthetic, depth changes your perception of information hierarchy, can draw your eye, and can entice user actions depending on the real world analogues of the object.

<comment><USER4> Depth (or lack of depth) is part of the aesthetic.

That flat design is aesthetically different does not necessarily mean you no longer have an information hierarchy, or that it doesn't direct your eye, or that it does not entice user actions. It simply has different methods of accomplishing these tasks.

Since all of these tasks come through the visual approach and execution of the design, I'd say that falls well in line with the definition of "aesthetics."

[edited for spelling and style]

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Useful tool. The interesting part is scanning the images and seeing where the flatness works and the "3D" effect was unnecessary, vs. the parts where the 3D really does work quite well.

For example, the Twitter "Home" button looks much better with the 3D effect, whereas the Github "Edit/Raw/Blame/..." buttons don't really seem to need it at all.

<comment><USER18> "Needing" depth really depends on your interpretation. Yes the github buttons don't need depth to be buttons, but at the same time, their depth probably makes them feel more clickable, and draws more attention.

<comment><USER19> Yes, I wonder whether you could use this as an extra emphasis effect for certain buttons on a page, have the important buttons (sign up, buy, etc.) with depth, and the less important - but still necessary - just flat. Would be interesting to A/B test.

Having thought about it, a fair few websites already do this with certain confirmation dialogues. eg. They have the primary button with a prominant graphical style and the cancellation option as just a small standard html link.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> (Checks calendar) Yep, just about time for another HN Flat UI Whine-Fest (TM).

</comment><comment><USER21> This is pretty cool! Makes it easy to see the subtle difference a flat UI makes on a page.

Makes all my GMail icons dissappear though... lol

<comment><USER22> Makes the input border for the search field and the sign in button disappear on the main Google page as well.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> You should probably rename the bookmarklet from "Drag This To Your Bookmarks Bar" to something else

</comment><comment><USER24> Flat design is so much better. Gradients, shadows, etc. have no practical use.

</comment><comment><USER25> I think it's important for designers to remember the purpose of what people refer to as "flat" design isn't to unnecessarily flatten layouts, but rather to avoid unnecessarily adding skeuomorphism to them.

</comment><comment><USER26> No difference on HN :)

<comment><USER27> It removed the upvote/downvote links for me. Most sites I've tried it on it does next to nothing on.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Why would you want to do that?</comment>


Ubuntu 18.04 LTS optimised for security, multi-cloud, containers and AI - <AUTHOR> https://insights.ubuntu.com/2018/04/26/ubuntu-18-04-lts-optimised-for-security-multi-cloud-containers-ai <comment><USER2> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16931491](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16931491)

270+ comments

</comment><comment><USER3> Too bad the thing remains so freaking buggy. I have to reboot every 3-4 hours after years of 12.04-17.10 running for days, weeks even. I would pay to get stability back!</comment>


Speaking out against Sarah Sharp (2013) - <AUTHOR> https://lkml.org/lkml/2013/7/24/142 <comment><USER2> I like her, it seems like women in technology are divided.

on the one side you have the Randi Harper style bridage of ladies pushing for "Women in tech" which means treating women better than others and promoting women above men in cases where there is any choice (even if a man has better experience)

on the other side you have people like the author, and my old networking engineer colleague (who happened to be female) who are happy to be judged on their work!

I've said before that the concept of women in tech scares me (and been downvoted), not because women are better or worse- but because all I see from women in tech (the vocal minority) seem to be so shouty, so aggressive and so blind to the hypocrisy that I'm worried that any woman I hire -might- push people around (because they would automatically have an audience and there is a stigma that "the man" is doing something misogynistic)

I wish my only experience of females in technology was my previous network engineer, she did a good job, was promoted because of it, nobody had any issues with her gender, we never pandered to it and she never asked us to. It's not like people made sexual jokes .. ever, most jokes are about computers.. and it's definitely not like having a vagina makes you stupid around computers.

I wish the women who were pushing "WOMEN IN TECH" so adamantly would actually go to work in technology, instead of trying to make others do it.

<comment><USER3> > I wish the women who were pushing "WOMEN IN TECH" so adamantly would > actually go to work in technology, instead of trying to make others do it.

All of the prominent ones I'm aware of either do or did work in tech.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I concede it is possible someone might write a reasoned and balanced response to Sarah Sharp's blog post. This is not that response. It's lost all credibility by the first paragraph, and only serves to reinforce Sarah's original point about the unnecessary rudeness on the kernel mailing list.

OTOH, was _is_ interesting about this email is that it was posted on Wed, 24 Jul 2013, and Sarah's blog post was posted on Oct 2015. So I don't really understand was the motivation for posting this to HN is (shit stirring?) or what motivated the linked email.

<comment><USER5> Note the date: 2013. This isn't a response to the blog post at all. Seems to have been part of the initial conversation or shortly after.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm a total outsider to Linux kernel development, but this plays like a bad telenovela, I would have expected better from what seem to be intelligent people. And to keep it OT: no, it's not ok to tell someone "shut the fuck up!", like Linus Torvalds did, no matter the context. It doesn't solve anything, it's unprofessional, and it gives a very, very bad vibe. Not sure how come smart people can stand behind this ("To Linus: You're a hero to many of us.")

</comment><comment><USER7> I'm having trouble seeing past the ad hominem attacks:

"She's a bully. She bullies her husband."

"I couldn't be silent and stand by while Sarah bullied and assaulted this list with her profanity and self-indulgent narcissism."

... and Linus worshiping: "I know he's a big boy. But dare I say, Linus is too nice to tell this drama queen to bugger off."

"To Linus: You're a hero to many of us. Don't change. Please."

</comment><comment><USER8> I don't follow Linux development at all, so I have a hard time judging who's in the right here and who's to blame.

Somebody on Slashdot apparently found the relevant part of the archives where it all started [1]. After reading those posts, I feel like Sarah's reaction is comically overblown.

[http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=8123533&cid=506646...](http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=8123533&cid=50664697)

</comment><comment><USER9> > Linus' 'Shut the fuck up' was to a developer who refused to take > responsibility for his code, and blamed someone else's code.

I think this is what Sarah objected to. Criticism should be welcome, but is it asking too much of a 45 year old man to be civil with colleagues?

</comment><comment><USER10> Good grief. Why did this author try to turn it into a woman thing? I've seen a lot of people agreeing with Sarah that the environment was toxic and rude. Most of these people were men.

<comment><USER11> Because it's an obvious troll post.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Needs (2013) in the title.

More recent events ("3 days ago") discussed here:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10338094](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10338094)

"Linux kernel dev Sarah Sharp quits"

and here:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10331891](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10331891)

</comment><comment><USER13> Because a blunt, rude, & brutal response to the observation that the community around the kernel is blunt, rude, & brutal is obviously the way to go...

</comment><comment><USER14> "I can't cover this story ... it is like walking a tight rope." -Swapnil Bhartiya (On Google+ comment on this story over 75 comments there)

Seems like unless your on center you are dead on either side. This is really complex to me. I disagree with any thing I would comment about. I am certainly pro-women (My friends call me the male feminist) but than there is other aspects of the story that make me want to ask questions I don't necessarily want the answers to.

Just a sad story...

(edit one word for clarity)

</comment><comment><USER15> I'm suspicious. Google doesn't turn up a "Francesca V" as a kernel developer (only a Francesca A.) outside this post. Can anyone confirm or deny?

<comment><USER16> The next post says:

"I don't know if you're for real but if you are, you just hit the nail on the head!

I only wish this would've come earlier and put a timely end to this kindergarten bullshit."

Man do these people love them some drama.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> (2013)

</comment><comment><USER18> Since this is from 2013 apparently, can we get the year added to the header please?

</comment><comment><USER19> I pine for the days when the only drama I had to deal with was vim vs emacs.</comment>


Polls seem to be broken - <AUTHOR>

Were they disabled, or did a bug crop up? <comment><USER2> Bug; fixed; sorry.

<comment><AUTHOR> Interesting use of semicolons on that. :)

<comment><USER3> Bug, fixed; sorry?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Well, considering that you can enter all the text for a new poll, but when you click the Submit button you seem to end up at blank page, I'm going to vote for "bug". Otherwise, it's a really obtuse way to _disable_ the polls.

<comment><USER5> I was never sure how you could enter a new poll - it wasn't obvious.

<comment><USER4> <http://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll>

Provided you have at least +200 karma.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Yup, broken for me, too.</comment>


More Intelligible Mobile Sue-athon Chart - <AUTHOR> http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9ucqq8ZMD1qa34geo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1286451002&Signature=becBieF4u6jvrkK3aICQAEV41DM%3D <comment><USER2> What a strange infographic. Why are google & oracle on opposite sides, but nokia & quallcomm neighbors? Deliberate or accidental? It looks more "graphic" than "info".

<comment><USER3> The companies are placed in clockwise alphabetical order. Nothing sinister.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Source: <http://news.designlanguage.com/post/1252039209></comment>


Transform Ubuntu 12.04 Into Mac OS X Lion - <AUTHOR> http://sajithdilshan.github.com/blog/blog/2012/08/07/transform-ubuntu-12-dot-04-into-mac-os-x-lion/

<comment><USER2> A theme for Ubuntu that makes it look a little bit like OS X.

Why is this on the HN front page? _Why_?

<comment><USER3> Is it usually that easy to do in Ubuntu (or Linux) in general? I think customization using CSS is really great. Maybe we could discuss that?

<comment><USER4> I love it when the creators of complex systems use common and well-understood formats for configuration. The use of CSS for styling your window manager is genius and really speaks to their dedication to the project.

<comment><USER3> It's sad that they target users, not developers though. Imagine how awesome the ecosystem would be if many developers use it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> It's interesting to see Linux' customization power. It's not only look like a real OS X, it's also really easy to do. Can someone comment about the user experience? There should be many little things that's different between OS X and Ubuntu's experience right? I have not use OS X or Ubuntu much to comment, but if that's easy to change too, it will be a really interesting thing to see.

</comment><comment><USER5> I dont always use linux, but when i do i want it to look like something from the matrix

</comment><comment><USER6> It might look a little bit like OS X Lion, but it's missing over 200 features which make Lion... Lion, not to mention it doesn't even run OSX apps!

<comment><USER7> It looks pretty much the same as these Mac Transformation Kits they had for Windows a few years back. Anybody who ever used a Mac can clearly see that this ain't it. IMHO it pretty clearly fails in delivering what it promised, but if you like this half-mac, half-unity style, I guess you might like this.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Does it have the spinning rainbow of death?

</comment><comment><USER9> If it just had awesome trackpad support...

</comment><comment><USER10> Interesting and ugly.

<comment><USER3> the customization is ugly?

<comment><USER10> The possibilities of GTK theming are very interesting, but the result is ugly, it doesn't fit. See:

<http://f.cl.ly/items/3S033x090a370x1u0S3h/osx-ubuntu.png>

<http://f.cl.ly/items/0Y1H0X0l45272l2j401t/osx-ubuntu-2.png>

<http://f.cl.ly/items/1a3o1x2a0g0v161v062j/osx-ubuntu-3.png>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> ...why?

<comment><USER3> just to show off the power of customization in Ubuntu (or Linux in general)?

The GNOME-shell can be customized to behave like GNOME-2 to an extent. It might be interesting to see how far can we go...

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> thanks but no thanks</comment>


Twitter Exploit Warning: How Anyone Can Easily Snatch Your Direct Messages - <AUTHOR> http://searchenginewatch.com/3641416?asid=28be184e <comment><USER2> So... applications that you give your Twitter login information to can then misuse that information? Colour me surprised. </sarcasm>

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it seems like the author's sekrit hack is forcing people to log in to your wordpress site with their Twitter information, and then misusing that information. But frankly, I'm not logging into anything but Twitter with my Twitter information.

</comment><comment><USER3> uh. accessing your account, once you authenticate, is in the API.</comment>


Amiga: The Ultimate Retro Style Computer Case Project - <AUTHOR> https://oldschoolgameblog.com/2016/04/14/amiga-the-ultimate-retro-style-computer-case/ <comment><AUTHOR> A new Amiga project has been launched. It is officially Licensed by Amiga Inc. The aim is to create new cases for the classic Amiga 1200, as well as the upcoming Amiga Reloaded motherboards from Individual Computers.

</comment><comment><USER2> Will work with RaspberryPI 1B+/2 /3!</comment>


Australian Crowdfunding Site - <AUTHOR> http://www.fundbreak.com.au/

<comment><AUTHOR> Not connected with me in any way, but I've seen similar sites on HN before and thought our Aussie hackers might be interested.

<comment><USER2> Always good to see other aussies giving it a go.</comment></comment>


Report: 44% of Twitter Accounts Have Never Sent a Tweet - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/04/11/new-data-quantifies-dearth-of-tweeters-on-twitter/?mod=WSJBlog&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter <comment><USER2> So far for me there's a single big use-case for twitter, and it's the reason I went from a zero-tweeter to a "gee I should look like a normal, respectable upstanding Twitizen(?)[1]" user. For some very large companies, Twitter is apparently the best/only medium one can use to communicate with them about issues (regardless of how important they are).

I've found that when I _don 't_ want a response I can file a bug report or send an email. When I _do_ I can publicly whine on twitter and @-someone.

It sorta feels bad to do but it really does work.

The use case I'd _like_ to use twitter for is trying out some jokes/"deep thoughts", but I don't have enough followers so I just tweet them to the wind and I'll never how just how unfunny I really am. I can definitely understand why most people would use it as a follow-only service - it's somewhat depressing to knowingly broadcast to (almost) nobody.

[1] Wow that's been a word for _at least five years._ I guess that's not too surprising...

<comment><USER3> Do you add relevant hashtags to your jokes/deep thoughts? That would help them to be discovered by others.

<comment><USER2> For some but I find them super hard to use well and remain funny (funny to me at least). Lame example of hashtag use:

> #baseball combines the two things Americans love most: Perfect lawns and > arguments in hindsight about the decisions that professionals make.

I wrote this, but think it's funnier without the hashtag.

With many more I can think of things that I considered really funny, but had no conceivable way of adding hashtags without taking away from the brevity:

> I propose we start calling snow plow guys "Storm Troopers"

> The first stage of grief is learning to pronounce the disease.

Where could I hashtag those up without making them considerably less funny? I think the brevity is required for maximum "impact", and I don't wanna detract by putting a hashtag in the middle, because its the sentence equivalent of stressing a syllable awkwardly.

Some people on Twitter have turned this awkward word-stressing into an art. Comedian Rob Delaney comes to mind as an expert in maximizing the awkwardness of it.

<comment><USER4> A common method to avoid interfering with the statement you're trying to make is to mash as many hashtags in as possible after the fact.

<comment><USER5> Can you imagine that, though?

"The first stage of grief is learning to pronounce the disease #joke #black humour #funny #comedy"

You'd look like a colossal ass if you did that.

<comment><USER6> That is how twitter jokes look. It is part and parcel of the medium. Better to have the joke look like a twitter joke and get read by an audience, than to make it pure and read by nobody. Really, the hashtags are no more out of place than a smiley face on an email.

<comment><USER7> I don't use Twitter, but based on what I see on Instagram, I agree with the parent that those people look like asses. It comes off as whoring for followers, and a bit desperate.

I think it's different, however, if there are a few hashtags at the end which in themselves are jokes or metajokes and that add to the cleverness of the post, in the same way that XKCD alt-text does. A string of simple categories (#joke #jokes #funny #comedy) is just annoying.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Being a nobody on twitter can be extremely frustrating if you're tweeting and expecting anyone to pay attention.

I have about 100 followers. I know most of those are probably spam bots. For the remaining, many are inactive. Others have thousands of followers (zero chance of reading anything I write). Tweeting feels like writing in a diary. Or shouting in an empty field. I'm not surprised users avoid tweeting.

There's kind of this cool aspect where you can just respond to anyone and feel involved in a highly visible conversation. But you quickly realize you have a good chance of seeming like a creep for butting into a conversation that, though public, is really intended to be among friends.

<comment><USER9> This is a bit of a tangent but why allow spam bots to appear in your followers list? I too have about a hundred followers and I vet every single new follower. I take offense at any spammer that thinks they can just slip in there and be accepted, and I don't want potential new followers to look at my profile and see a bunch of obvious spammers.

This isn't a slight against you, we all budget our time for what's important to us and cultural norms vary. I'm just surprised when I see someone with a manageable number of followers and they allow spammers to join in. I check the profile, tweet history, and if it sets my bullshit detector off even slightly I block them and report them as spam.

Quality over quantity, always.

<comment><USER8> Hmmm, interesting. I just never considered that my responsibility. I'll think about doing that.

One problem with blocking bots is sometimes I really can't tell if they are bots. Bots often copy profile pictures, descriptions, and tweets from real users. Some real users tweet pretty cryptic stuff. And blocking feels like such a serious step; I wouldn't watch to risk false positives.

<comment><USER9> You are probably better at detecting bots than you think. The same way you can recognise phishing and spam due to spelling or syntax errors. If I get a new follower and the only contact they've made with me is via Twitter, and their tweets are totally odd or cryptic, they aren't adding to my experience so away they go.

I've only had one false positive I know of and it was one of my wife's friends. She had a profile picture of her teenage daughters and no tweet history. I thought 'what the hell is a teenage girl doing following me - guaranteed spammer' only to find out who it was the next day. I unblocked and no offense was taken and no harm done.

Still, I guess I'm a bit stricter than average and this is something that most people don't care about.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> My account is one of those 44%. I have nothing to say on Twitter, but having an account lets me follow the people that I want to. This still makes me an active user, though.

<comment><USER11> I'm even worse. I created a Twitter account a few years ago and immediately asked myself "why am I doing this?"

Logged out without sending a single tweet and never went back. I still get a few emails from them every month wondering what happened to me. Still can't figure out why I would need an account.

<comment><USER12> I used mine once to enter into to some contest. It's useful for doing that.

<comment><USER13> It's the new toss your business card into the bowl thing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I use Twitter to get news and updates from a few sources. And in this case, the headline is like saying the majority of newspaper readers have never written a newspaper article.

<comment><USER3> That's a great analogy and highlights what might be a core issue for Twitter: what it wants to be (an social network with lots of two-sided interaction) vs. what its users perceive it to be (a newswire).

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> The old keeps being new again.

Every time someone tries to create a new platform that will finally open up the Internet to the long-standing promise of widespread two-way communications, the same thing keeps happening: The platform turns into a broadcast medium where a few use it to promote something and the vast majority sit back and consume. BBS systems, E-mail, USENET, almost all message boards, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can change the protocol, make it Web-2.0, limit it to 140 characters, add AJAX, but you can't change human nature.

</comment><comment><USER16> A major issue was over looked - twitter @username squatting.

For example, I registered www.ameristartup.com a few weeks back. At the exact time I was creating the Facebook page someone else created the @ameristartup twitter account. To date the twitter account has remained inactive (no followers, no following, no tweets, no profile pic, ect...). I naively notified Twitter thinking they would have interest in curbing this type of behavior, but I received the form corporate response of f-off.

</comment><comment><USER17> I have never send a tweet and just use it as a news feed. Is there anything wrong with that?

<comment><USER18> Nope.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> This makes a lot of sense. For most users, it's a 1 way communication. Most of the 56% don't say a lot either. It's become very much a vehicle for people with things to promote.

</comment><comment><USER20> To spin this positively, Twitter should be happy their platform is considered a "medium" and not just "one-thing" to all users.

The idea that your Twitter feed is an unfiltered firehose, and that you can use Twitter how you want (follow, tweet, or not) makes it all the more powerful and redundant to shifting consumer trends.

As long as Twitter doesn't hork the various tools/services used to access the service, no one should "get sick" or be fatigued by Twitter as there is not one standard experience.

A family member of mine just signed up for Twitter but didn't want anyone to know for various reasons (they are not interested in gaining a "following"). They just wanted to follow a few folks/entities they're interested in and that's it. This is a good thing ... Twitter remains "useful" without dictating how my family member and others has to use it.

The "hands-off" approach should also appeal to businesses looking to partner with, or provide tie-ins to the Twitter service.

I would argue the more lightweight and open-ended Twitter is in regards to how it works, the better.

</comment><comment><USER21> I've created several accounts just for API access for various purposes. I wonder how many of those non-tweeters are dummy accounts for developers.

</comment><comment><USER22> It is the best RSS replacement. Let's me follow a lot of good sources, across multiple platforms. And not just sites, but individual, interesting people.

The DM feature? You can only message followers, kinda useless.

<comment><USER23> Twitter a terrible RSS replacement.

With RSS I just got the news/blog posts I care about, nothing more. Following people on twitter I get some good links but mostly a lot of noise about personal life crap I really don't care. Normally I stop following someone if the valuable links to noise ratio gets too low.

#notinterestedinwhereyouaredrinkingtonight

<comment><USER22> then follow sites. lots of them now have twitter feeds.

see @daringfireball vs. @gruber.

or the various @HN feeds.

<comment><USER24> So what do you do when you aren't looking at Twitter in the timespan in which it appears in your feed? Just never see those articles?

<comment><USER25> The same thing you do with RSS/Atom feeds. They don't magically disappear unless they're deleted. If you mean you think they would get buried under regular human tweets, you can make a list. I have a news list for this.

<comment><USER24> They do disappear off of your feed in which case you'll never see them again. There is no concept of "unread" tweets, like there is with RSS.

<comment><USER25> You can scroll down. The latter is true.

<comment><USER24> > You can scroll down.

Not if you check it once a day (or even once an _hour_ depending on how many things you follow), it's gone by then.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> I gave up on Twitter several months ago. I never really got much out of it. I also quit using G+ after I stopped playing Ingress. Facebook is time-limited to 1 minute per day using the StayFocusd extension in my browser. I've also created email filters that send all social network notifications to the trash.

And that's the folly of most of these social sites. They send you so much data that it eventually becomes a cacophony, and you just want the noise to go away. Instead of searching for notification settings on the respective sites, it's far easier to filter emails (it takes me 5 seconds to create a filter in GMail).

There's a very fine line between meaningful engagement online and annoying nagging. I can see why Facebook is focusing on chat apps, because I think they've discovered that having a social network that is, at its essence, a layer on top of email is a losing prospect. A chat app is a channel outside email that isn't easily dismantled by a filter.

</comment><comment><USER27> I have twitter, i find it useful. I follow local beer and burger guys. They always come up with great spots I've never been. Very useful. I also follow CEO's, which is also very informative. Its rare I feel the need to tweet myself, but that doesn't make me a less active user.

</comment><comment><USER24> The "stream" concept only works if you have a lot of followers, which most people do not. For those with < 200 followers the chances if anyone reading your tweet before it falls down the stream is so small that it becomes a waste to even try.

</comment><comment><USER28> I use Twitter feverishly (probably too much) - I probably annoy a lot of my followers with non-sequitur commentary and the random news article.

But what I REALLY derive value in, is it's my always streaming news source. Follow a dozen or so news sites (both local, world, and niche-focused, such as tech and marketing) and I'm always up to date on what's going on.

A well curated Twitter account is going to beat out almost any individual news source.

While I do know Twitter botting is a huge issue, I also (anecdotally) know a lot of people who only use Twitter for consumption who have never tweeted anything themselves.

<comment><USER29> I have been wondering what the value is of being continually up to date. One of my gripes with being on twitter is that you get to be up to date on things you don't particularly want to be up to date on. I wish there were an easy way to filter things out.

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> Considering the 1% rule of Internet culture (only 1% of the users of a website actively create new content, while the other 99% of the participants only lurk), 44% sounds quite good.

Sites like Twitter and reddit (and HN, to a lesser degree) probably get a higher proportion of contributing users than your average forum or Q&A site by lowering the barriers to contributing.

Reference: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_%28Internet_culture%2...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_%28Internet_culture%29)

</comment><comment><USER31> For me, Twitter works for hyper-local things. All the local media personalities live-tweet council meetings and the like, local politicians and businesses have active twitter accounts.

It's great for contacting the public face of something in a fashion that makes it impossible to handle the matter privately. Every business or elected- official is super-gracious and accommodating on Twitter because the world is watching.

</comment><comment><USER32> There's still a use case for non-sending accounts. Compared to email Twitter is a nicer way to receive promotional info. Senders are forced the keep their messages short, and there's no management time needed on the receivers part. I wish email headers would have a promotional & auto-delete/expire date tag for emails (of course it wouldn't work as companies would ignore it...).

</comment><comment><USER33> In my country noone uses twitter I know. I only used it once to message Digital Ocean why are they so slow. It worked out better than I expected, they responded in 5 mins and I could see others with the same problem. Other than that I really don't know why would I use it. I think for me reddit multis are the perfect solution.

</comment><comment><USER34> I assume that some (probably small) proportion of this 44% has used their account for direct messages, DMs, but these can't be detected? Also, how are protected accounts factoring into these stats? I couldn't find a link to the data itself and the article didn't make it clear how these two factors are being handled.

</comment><comment><USER35> To add to that, I've seen a fair number of short usernames with few or no followers/following that were created early on. When I couldn't find the ones I wanted, I gave up and used my own name.

I think a lot of those accounts were mopped up by folks who then lost interest or forgot their credentials/lost email addresses etc...

</comment><comment><USER36> I have a question:

If there is an dead account which never had any sort activity, is there some legal/moral way to get its username? I would like to buy it, but owner does not respond. There is also no trademark violation, so I can not use official way Twitter handles this cases.

</comment><comment><USER37> I've got less than 100 followers, most of them folks like @ToasterRepairDotCom and @PeoriaJobHunters

If I were to start sending tweets, I'd just be the electronic equivalent of the guy who hangs out on a bench in the park near my house muttering under his breath all day.

<comment><USER38> Having conversations with people and not just sending out a single tweet has helped me a little bit.

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> I don't even understand how to get started with Twitter. I might know like one person in real life who actively tweets. My only real exposure to Twitter "in real life" is through using it to post status updates/outages.

</comment><comment><USER6> So this looks like a powerlaw curve with a fat head and a short tail. I don't see this as a big deal - this means that 56% of people have engaged with a service. I think most people would be happy with that.

</comment><comment><USER40> Using twitter just to consume information is perfectly legit

</comment><comment><USER41> I have a twitter account which uses my 'real' name spelling purely for the purposes of squatting on the name.

</comment><comment><USER42> How many of the 13% of the twitter accounts that wrote at least 100 tweets are "robots"?

</comment><comment><USER43> I'd be interested in how many of the ones that have sent tweets were from hijacked accounts.

</comment><comment><USER44> this is a bit worrying, the news article claims that these are still active users regardless but as far as I know, I get random tweets from bots and strangers promoting their own thing and largely I don't have a very active engagement with Twitter.

</comment><comment><USER31> The other 56% are spammers.

</comment><comment><USER45> Of course. Twitter is more of a media-consumption platform.

</comment><comment><USER46> And those accounts have all the good usernames :(

</comment><comment><USER47> I believe this.

</comment><comment><USER48> By the way, is it any easier to get a handle that's inactive for like 7 years?

<comment><USER49> Is it that difficult? I got @kyan released for my company after several years of inactivity through a simple request, although I suppose it helped that we also own kyan.com and could prove we were actively branding ourselves as Kyan.

<comment><USER50> Do you hold the trademark? I've found they're unwilling to listen unless you can back it up with a registered trademark.

<comment><USER49> I don't believe we hold any registered trademark. We'd been branding ourselves as simply Kyan for over 5 years before gaining the Twitter handle, although our registered company name is Kyanmedia (which was our previous handle). The account had a few followers and a profile picture uploaded, but either had never tweeted or was private.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER51> with the amount of crap that the 56% spews, can you imagine the drivel overload if more of those 44% actually released their "thoughts" into the air?

also: who cares?</comment>