Kickstarter: They're Like Wreck-It-Ralph in a China Shop - <AUTHOR> http://www.goblinscomic.org/kickstarter-theyre-like-wreck-it-ralph-in-a-china-shop-and-each-piece-of-china-is-a-backer/ <comment><USER2> \- So A partnered with B and made a kickstarter campaign. From everybody's point of view, A and B is one entity.

\- The campaign was successful (funded), but B ran away.

\- Kickstarter is aware of that, but told all backers to remain calm, saying that the project will still continue.

\- A is upset, because not only he's screwed by B, now he needs to fulfil his promise, but without seeing a penny.

I don't understand, can't A get his shit together with B, or whatever, and still deliver, since well, you know, it's funded? From the perspective of everyone else, A/B is one entity, no?

<comment><USER3> On top of that, B was a dear friend of A. Lesson: never trust anyone in business. _Only the paranoid survive_.

Judging from her previous posts, I guess B had some sort of mental breakdown. Maybe too much stress, it often happens with hard deadlines. $182,000 don't make for a life changing hustle.

<comment><USER4> > $182,000 don't make for a life changing hustle.

That's half a millennium's income for the billion people on the planet who live on a dollar a day. There are plenty of folks for whom a few thousand dollars is life-changing.

<comment><USER5> Yes, if you were a Chinese peasant maybe making $8 an hour at McDonald's would sound great too, but that's not really meaningful to most of the people posting here.

<comment><USER6> In a country where people would kill you just for an iphone(and I'm not talking about China here), $182,000 is a lot of money.

> but that's not really meaningful to most of the people posting here

not sure on what planet you are living on. Most people here don't make that kind of money in a year.

<comment><USER5> I'd bet the vast majority of people here see $180k in four years or less. Talking about it in terms of people living on less than a dollar a day isn't really that meaningful for us.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Can't read because 25% of the text is in black over a black background

<comment><USER8> Turn of your adblocker

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'd like to buy a context, please.

<comment><USER10> This, I think: [http://www.goblinscomic.org/lowtide-update-for-goblins- alter...](http://www.goblinscomic.org/lowtide-update-for-goblins-alternate- realities/)

Short version: Creator partners with company to Kickstart a bunch of stuff. Company owner appears to have done a runner with the Kickstarter cash, leaving the creator to deal with the backlash from aggrieved fans when they don't even have access to the Kickstarter account in question. Kickstarter are not helping the situation, but then they're in an awkward position.

<comment><USER11> > they're in an awkward position.

Why claim the game is going to be made if it's clearly not the case? It sounds like some of the awkwardness is self-inflicted...

<comment><USER12> It seems pretty clear that the process that kicked off this mail to backers of this project is independent of any other part of Kickstarter that knows any of the details about how this particular project scammed its users.

It looks like this is a process that kicks off semi-autonomously as soon as an IP dispute happens; there is probably a button someone pushes somewhere to make it happen.

So the short answer is: that's canned text that does not perfectly apply to a situation where there's an IP dispute over a project that is _also_ a scam.

<comment><USER13> This. Either KS needs a few more canned email responses or maybe a team that can actually write custom emails. I would think that with all the money, law, and slobbering fans involved you'd might want to have at least someone who can handle these kinds of situations with care...but I guess the lazy approach is working for them...

Another thought: maybe KS really doesn't want to say that the project isn't going to happen as that would hurt their brand. If a KS canned email admitted some kind of failing, that could hurt their reputation in the eyes of backers everywhere. So they just have to stick with the ignorant canned email and just pass the blame on down to the project creators.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> First rule of Kickstarter: when things go south, Kickstarter isn't responsible for anything and you're on your own, backer or creator. I think they made it pretty clear.

<comment><USER14> I agree, but that leads me as a backer to try to validate the ability of creators to finish. The best way for me to evaluate that short of personally knowing the creator is to see if they have previous campaigns that finished well. This continues to turn Kickstarter into a pre-order store where all of the risk lies on the purchaser.

<comment><USER15> _I agree, but that leads me as a backer to try to validate the ability of creators to finish._

Hasn't this been pretty clear from day one? Kickstarter may not be perfect, but I feel like the one thing they've been pretty consistent on is that they don't have a lot of control over how the creators fulfill their obligations.

<comment><USER14> Yes, but it seems to me like the campaigns you can trust are from those creators which have started using Kickstarter as a pre-sell store. That's their choice as a platform, but I preferred the days of funding small businesses that chose to earn capital from their users instead of a bank. I think they've vastly changed the utility of Kickstarter to creators, resulting in companies built only around sales on Kickstarter, rather than as a means to start something outside.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Text-only version [https://www.instapaper.com/text?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goblinsco...](https://www.instapaper.com/text?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goblinscomic.org%2Fkickstarter- theyre-like-wreck-it-ralph-in-a-china-shop-and-each-piece-of-china-is-a- backer%2F)

</comment><comment><USER17> Uhh, isn't this when you file a lawsuit against your partner for failure to fulfill terms of the contract you agreed upon?

<comment><USER18> Is absconding with company funds a civil or criminal ... crime? If I'm an employee at a game company and take $182,000 out of the company till and walk away, I'm pretty sure it's a criminal matter. If the owner of the game company walks away with all the money, is that merely a civil case, failure to honor contracts?

<comment><USER19> There's civil liability in either case.

Whether there's criminal liability would be a question of US state law (as opposed to federal), so it could vary depending on the state. As one example, New York law seems to say (based on quick Googling) that there would be criminal liability if it could be shown that the defendant _intended_ to run away with the money instead of using it to fulfill the contract.

[http://www.nycrimblog.com/nycrim/2009/11/when-does-a- breach-...](http://www.nycrimblog.com/nycrim/2009/11/when-does-a-breach-of- contract-result-in-criminal-liability.html)

<comment><USER20> > Whether there's criminal liability would be a question of US state law (as > opposed to federal), so it could vary depending on the state.

Federal law could apply, as well, depending on the circumstances or means. I'm pretty sure I've seen cases where schemes where running away with the money was intended in -- that is, before particular parties were convinced to spend money that went to the company -- prosecuted under federal mail and/or wire fraud statutes

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Why is the link showing this on a Barracuda:

      The link you are accessing has been blocked by the
      Barracuda Web Filter because it contains content
      belonging to the category of: Violence & Terrorism

      If you believe this is an error or need to access this
      link please contact your administrator.

      URL: http://www.goblinscomic.org

<comment><USER22> The comic itself does contain violence, so from that perspective I don't think it's an unreasonable choice for a filter to label it 'Violence', and that's my guess as to why it was filtered. Having the category of 'Violence' conflated with 'Terrorism' is ridiculous.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Who is the guy posting this and what's his involvement? Where can I get some background?

Also, why did this just jump from like #2 to second page in just one page reload? Did someone flag it or how does it work? I see it happening a lot on HN; I remember some article on the front page and when I go back a couple of minutes later to read it it's gone.

</comment><comment><USER24> Here's a little more info about the company, the goblins comic guy contracted with. They also did another kickstarter for a card game for Kingdom of Loathing online game at around the same time. [https://www.reddit.com/r/kol/comments/2b9xs5/update_for_inte...](https://www.reddit.com/r/kol/comments/2b9xs5/update_for_international_backers_on_the_mr_card/) which was late and underdelivered and apparently the company tanked.

Also, apparently the comic creator doesn't even have the list of kickstarter backers, only the game company did. He can't even directly email people. I'm not sure how he's verifying who kickstarted the game.

</comment><comment><USER25> It seems as though this is the consequence of the new business models where the business (in this case Kickstarter), don't actually own anything. And for that reason, aren't legally obligated to actually do much.

This could be said for other sites like Uber, and AirBnb with similar business models. The good thing, in AirBnb's case, is there is an insurance policy for issues that happen.

Kickstarter definitely needs to do something (maybe a rating system) to stop these cases from happening as often as they do. As for the backers, maybe just spend less on the amount you're funding.

<comment><USER26> The thing is, it's simply a lie. The idea that the law doesn't cover these "innovative" and "disruptive" business models is an illusion.

Uber, AirBnB, Kickstarter etcetera, they're not doing anything fundamentally new, they've just added a new coat of paint to a very old business model. A business model that is in most cases already clearly regulated (especially outside the US), and, especially in the case of Uber, these companies are deliberately flouting these laws and regulations.

There is however a major difference in how these companies handle the problem. AirBnB constructively works with regulators to adapt both rules and its business practices. Uber treats the law with less respect than the Russian mob and thinks it can bully governments into surrendering consumer and labor protections. Kickstarter is mostly known for sticking its head in the sand an hoping things will blow over.

But in all cases, the law tends to cover exploiting, profiting from, soliciting and provoking illegal activity as well as the scams themselves. These companies do not operate in a legal vacuum, other than the Silicon Vally echo chamber.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> This sounds like an important issue. What is going on here?

</comment><comment><USER28> This is the perfect situation to sue. You will win.

Business is messy and sometimes when people act like dicks and take money but don't deliver, you need to sue. If you don't sue, you will get taken advantage of.

Asking for Kickstarter to fix a situation is fine, but really you need to sue your former business partner and ask for them to cover court fees and even go for damages to your reputation.

<comment><USER27> > This is the perfect situation to sue. You will win.

Sue for what? Kickstarter doesn't have any obligations, and there doesn't seem to be any formal agreements between the author of this post and the gamemaker... and finally the author of the post is Canadian while the game- maker is American.

Feel like figuring out the details of international trademark / copyright law to build up a case?

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Here is the KS page :

[http://web.archive.org/web/20140913060147/https://www.kickst...](http://web.archive.org/web/20140913060147/https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/336486938/goblins- alternate-realities)

Evertide Games is the creator of the project,not the OP's business.

</comment><comment><USER29> Doesn't the goblins comic guy still owe content from the fundraiser that bought him a house a few years ago, or has that been resolved?

</comment><comment><USER30> I feel her pain, but in my book it's inappropriate for her to be painting herself as a victim. A business in which she was a principal cheated 3,000 people out of $182,000. Now she's wailing about being inconvenienced. She should sit down and write a personal apology to each of the backers who've been more than inconvenienced.

<comment><USER31> Tarol did post a public apology a while back, this situation has been going on for a while. Today's rant is about Kickstarter not sending the apology or information to the backer list before, but now is able to do so with false information.

[http://www.goblinscomic.org/lowtide-update-for-goblins- alter...](http://www.goblinscomic.org/lowtide-update-for-goblins-alternate- realities/)</comment></comment>


Never thought playboy magazine could inspiration for developing WebApp. - <AUTHOR> http://getfbstuff.com/about

<comment><USER2> > Never thought playboy magazine could inspiration for developing WebApp [sic]

Your title no verb.</comment>


Show HN: Freelancers, reduce client delays on your web projects - <AUTHOR> http://clientflow.io/?hn

<comment><USER2> Is there a release date established?

I don't freelance anymore but when I was paying my bills with client work the biggest hold up was always waiting for feedback or deliverables. When juggling 2-3 small projects at a time, a hold up in one will grind the others to a halt.

This seems like a simple system to put in place and enforce accountability.

<comment><AUTHOR> Planning to launch late January 2014

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Can't wait to give this a spin!

</comment><comment><USER4> this is awesome!</comment>


Ask HN: Should I apply for YC fall batch? - <AUTHOR>

Hi,
I have a business background and I am non-technical. I started 2 small ventures as a teenager (both were profitable), and after that I have been in the regular corporate job for about a decade. Most of the places I interviewed for a job, they often suggested that I consider doing my own business as that's what lights me up during the discussions. I too wanted to, but never really got to it until recently. Though I have been involved with a lot of startup and related activities over the years.
I often faced a problem while at work, and started looking for available tools to solve that problem - couldn't find anything that directly solved this problem, though there are some round-about solutions available and off late, a few startups are trying to solve similar/related problem.
I thought that there might be others like me facing the same problem, so I went out asking my business associates and friends if they too faced the same problem - many said yes. Then I started thinking about a solution for this problem. The next step for me was to validate the business idea and the problem further. I met with a couple of senior executives from the silicon valley startup community - most of them said that the problem is worth solving, and encouraged me to go build a prototype solution. Since I am non-technical and the tool would require hackers to build it, so I thought of getting further validation from potential users - again, I got encouraging feedback. By then, I knew I had to do something about it.
So, I asked few engineer friends to help build the prototype. Though we didn't really get any far - as they had other commitments and couldn't spend the time required. Then, I started looking outside for potential technical co-founder - a Stanford student agreed to help out. Plus, I also roped in another solid technical guy as my advisor. We have built a very basic version of our app, and we are planning to go for a private alpha next month - and work with real users in shaping our application/tool.
I was also thinking of applying for the YC fall batch. But then suddenly, my Stanford co-founder decided to scale back his involvement as he has too many things going on in his life, and he feels he wouldn't be able to commit time required by our startup. Since our app is almost ready (some bugs need to be fixed), I hired a freelancer to help me finish the remaining work, so we can go ahead with our private alpha next month. Meanwhile, I am also looking for another technical co-founder.
But for now, I am a single, non-technical, female founder of a software startup, debating whether it is worth it to apply for YC right now and what are my chances. Having some traction for my app will make my case a bit stronger, but it will take some time to build that traction and YC application deadline is October 19th.
I thought of turning to the HN community for advice. What would you recommend?
Thanks. <comment><USER2> Since we care most about the people, it's hard to say without knowing more about you as an individual. But I get the impression you're rushing to make a deadline. You may want to consider simply waiting till the next cycle, which is only another 6 months more.

<comment><AUTHOR> If my Stanford co-founder wouldn't have scaled back his involvement recently, we were just on track to apply for the YC fall batch. Now, when he is not there as technical co-founder, the situation does becomes different. Earlier, our chances would have been good as we brought in a decent balance of complimentary skills to the founding team - we could have managed w/o traction (if I may say so). But as a single non-technical co-founder, showing traction becomes a must-have.

<comment><USER3> afaik yc doesn't penalize you for applying multiple times, and there's no cost to do it, other than the time involvement.

<comment><AUTHOR> It maybe true that YC won't penalize me for applying multiple times. Like I mentioned in my other response here, I would be far more confident of applying at this stage if I had a technical co-founder or traction. W/o either of these, my case doesn't appear very strong, at least for now... and that's why I have been going back-and-forth about applying right now or not.

Also, YC fall deadline is about 3 weeks away, and I don't want to make a hasty move wrt finding a technical co-founder.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> It costs nothing to try, right? But don't apply-gamble to get in Yc quickly, imo. Do your stuff and when you think you are ready, go for it.

<comment><AUTHOR> You are right - gambling does not make sense here. In the current situation, if I had either the technical co-founder, or demonstrated traction for my app, I would have been far more confident of my YC application.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Hi. Send me an e-mail (in my profile) if you are interested at all in a technical cofounder.

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks, will check out your profile and ping then.</comment></comment>


Apple will begin selling Macs with its own processors in 2021 - <AUTHOR> https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/report-apple-will-begin-selling-macs-with-its-own-processors-in-2021/ <comment><USER2> Existing discussion: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22954656](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22954656)</comment>


A Horror Story: How Private Equity Vampires Are Killing Everything - <AUTHOR> https://www.thenation.com/article/private-equity-deadspin/ <comment><USER2> Great podcast episode on the Deadspin thing and its relation to private equity.

[https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/364-human- deadspinal...](https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/364-human- deadspinality-project-feat-david-roth-11419)

</comment><comment><USER3> As a non-native speaker the word equity has always been a little puzzling.

According to the first meanings defined by dictionary.com this article might be about characteristically private but virtuous vampires:

"noun, plural eq·ui·ties.

(1) the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality: the equity of Solomon.

(2) something that is fair and just: the equities of our criminal-justice system."

<comment><USER4> Equity in the private equity sense refers to the financial term equity [1]. It should be contrasted with public equity, which is equity that is listed on an index which allows it to be purchased on the open market.

[1] Definition of equity

2a : the money value of a property or of an interest in a property in excess of claims or liens against it

b : the common stock of a corporation

c : a risk interest or ownership right in property

d : a right, claim, or interest existing or valid in equity

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> This was too full of rambling about actual vampires (hungarian legends and the like) and about the poor fashion sense of the newly rich, that you'll have to read at great length and with great focus in order to figure out if the article contains anything substantive about current events or current socioeconomic phenomena.

That's something I'm not willing to do.

<comment><USER6> That's only the first two paragraphs if you'd like to skip it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> So private equity buys a sports publication and see that they're not publishing anything related to sports, so they tell them "hey, please publish sports related articles" whereby the staff whines, quits, and is replaced? And this is a bad thing, how?

<comment><USER8> "[...] According to [Deadspin's] analytics department, since the start of the year, non-sports posts have on average double the traffic of sports posts."

\- [https://twitter.com/barry/status/1189942493355347973](https://twitter.com/barry/status/1189942493355347973)</comment></comment>


Show HN: Convert Your React Class Component to Functional Component and Vice-Versa - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/chrvadala/react-refactor <comment><AUTHOR> Hi guys, I made this tool that I use every day. I think that it automates a common boring task. I hope that you will find it useful.</comment>


Running in My Boxer Briefs - <AUTHOR> http://www.jasonshen.com/2011/running-in-boxer-briefs-my-first-5k-race/

<comment><USER2> I've had nightmares about showing up in public places without my pants on, and it actually happened to you! The photos are proof!

Inspiring story Jason. Inspiring because I know from previous posts you had a terrible knee injury, and inspiring because I feel like taking up running now.

I guess I owe you thanks!

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey blackboxx - when you face the nightmare, it's no longer so scary! =P I'm lucky to live in San Francisco, where much more scandalous activity happens and the sight of a guy running in his boxer briefs is not a big deal.

If you want some motivation to run, try reading _Born to Run_ by Chris McDougall. I'm almost done. Every chapter just makes you want to leave the house and start running. It's great.

<comment><USER2> I'm going to look for the book at the library. If I can't find it there, I'll buy it. Thanks again Jason!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Great story Jason. I just started running in my Vibram Five Fingers July of last year and I just reached my goal of 5km in 24 minutes.

I found that Runkeeper really helped with my motivation because I could see the smallest improvements.

<comment><AUTHOR> Nice time and great job hitting your goal reidman! VFF and Runkeeper are two of the three things that have gotten me into running. The last being the need to push myself. Great stuff.

<comment><USER3> Yeah there is that wall inside that you gotta break down. I'm in Canada so when Winter hit I stopped running but something inside just eventually clicked and I went out and started running in the snow.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I'd love to try the Vibrams, but is so far as I know they don't come in size 13 :)

<comment><USER5> It's by foot length: [http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/size_fit/size_conversion_ch...](http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/size_fit/size_conversion_chart.htm) though the largest is 12 1/4".</comment></comment>


Silvrback is now open to everyone – high-quality, Markdown-powered blogging - <AUTHOR> https://dsowers.silvrback.com/silvrback-is-now-open-to-everyone <comment><USER3> Looks very nice. I'd actually consider using this.

Questions:

* I like that you support tags. How do you browse tags?

* Customizable URL slugs: so if I want to date my archive URLs I have to manually type in '/archive/2013/10/07/slug' each time? Is there any way to template the archive URLs?

* How does your archive page scale when you have thousands of posts? [https://dsowers.silvrback.com/archive](https://dsowers.silvrback.com/archive)

* As others have mentioned, I'd really prefer a free trial than shell out money (I understand it's not much) and feel like I wasted it if I poke around for a few minutes and find it's not for me.

* I had a question about exporting data but someone already asked it :)

* "Your homepage... will show the latest three posts in full." Is this customizable? I often have a bunch of short posts that mostly serve to keep track of stuff I read and find it later. I'd rather show the last, say, week's worth of content instead of a fixed number of posts.

* Full text search?

<comment><USER4> I want to have my blog on a custom domain name... How do I set up my DNS to point at your system?

<comment><AUTHOR> Just click on "custom domain" in settings and it has instructions for you. If you need extra help, just send me an email.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Question - is there an export option included? A cursory glance around the pages doesn't turn anything up.

I've had to stage an emergency exodus of blog content from third party hosts more than once because reasons (most recently: Thanks OVH billing department!), so having content in a non-exportable site scares me a little, especially when I'll be using that site as my primary writing area.

<comment><USER6> Could you explain what happened with OVH? I currently have a couple of servers with them, and if there's something I should be wary of, I'd like to know.

<comment><USER5> I doubt this is something affecting a bunch of other people, but I lost a dedicated server there through a combination of my own ignorance, a dodgy spam filter, and their strange billing policies (instead of charging you month to month, they generate an invoice you have to log in to pay).

I hadn't touched this server in weeks, so they generated their invoice, the notification email got filed away as spam, and the server was disconnected (again the message being filed as spam).

It wasn't until almost a week after that I noticed something was up and called them. They advised me to open a ticket, I did, one day later the server disappeared from their control panel, and I have yet to receive a reply on that ticket.

The missing the billing and their messages getting spam filtered is completely on me, but the not answering a ticket and linking ticket-creating-account-ness the payment status of the server is totally on them.

Back to Hetzner, it seems. I didn't lose anything but my blog (which is Octopress and thankfully backed up to Bitbucket) and a couple of VMs I used for learning things.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Just to throw my 2 cents in, I recently switched from octopress to using silvrback at [http://vivekgani.com](http://vivekgani.com) \- here's why:

\- I work part-time as a contractor, and part-time on my side project. While I have a ton of blog design ideas, I lost a personal bet that I'd have them done by the end of September.

\- I have had lots of posts backlogged over the past several months. I was starting to have a fear of posting due to the design of my older site.

\- Octopress is wonderful, but to use it right you really need to be familiar with tagging your repos correctly / using a separate repo for your posts. I didn't want to think about all this in addition to all my usual pickiness about the front-end design.

\- I really didn't want to fiddle with wordpress. This is a personal blog, not something I plan to delegate to other content writers.

\- As glennf and others have mentioned, I didn't want to use medium, or any other free site. I want my own domain to be used, and occasionally look at google analytics.

So far, I'm happy with silvrback. Liking how it properly scales images when I use refer to them within a list, Markdown is the first class citizen, and psychologically I'm not thinking too hard about blog design for now. Yes, there's some UX annoyances with the initial release of silvrback, but I'm sure Damian's working on them.

Will I still be using it in couple years? Maybe not, but for a site that's only got a couple posts and already gotten a couple thousand visits and mentions from sites like hackaday & packlite.tumblr in the past week I'm happy enough with it.

</comment><comment><USER8> Why would anyone choose a closed source blog platform in this day and age, this is a serious question I truly don't understand why.

<comment><USER9> It's markdown so migrating is easy.

<comment><USER8> So this site disappears one day or is sold..markdown is irrelevant, since you do not control your data. There is plenty of markdown enabled open source blog software.

<comment><USER9> Fair point.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Rather than offering a free trial, you make everything paid upfront and offer a refund if they don't like it. I wonder if this strategy will net you more or less sales. My gut tells me that it will be less, because more people will be driven away by the fact that they can't even test it before paying, but who knows, really. Might be an interesting thing to A/B test and write about the results.

<comment><USER11> > _Rather than offering a free trial, you make everything paid upfront and > offer a refund if they don 't like it._

Financially identical deals can have wildly different uptakes.

You get better results from "Cash discount!" than from "Credit card surcharge", for example.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Already up and running on this. Thanks Damian!

I really like this layout compared to doing it myself with Octopress. It's much more convenient to have most of the decisions made for me because I tend to get into optimization paralysis.

</comment><comment><USER13> Is a hosted blogging site the best way to "own your own brand"?

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm using this phrase to contrast Silvrback with other content publishing sites such as Medium and Svbtle, which don't give you nearly as much freedom and ownership.

<comment><USER13> I understand your point and think it's not a bad line from a marketing standpoint, but the concept may not click with the intended audience.

Based on the app's features, I would say the audience is composed of tech- savvy developers / designers who want a lot of control over their content and want to establish their own brand.

I think many of those people will be inclined to blog on their own websites, where they can do all the hacking they want. Blogs are easy to establish, especially if you're shooting for a minimalistic feel.

Having said all this, I wonder if there's a way to make Silvrback available as a service that people can apply to their own sites? ...I'll admit that business isn't my strong suit, but I think this would be a great way to go if it can be made financially viable.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I just signed up and migrated (manually, as there doesn't seem to be any way to import stuff) my blog from tumblr.

[http://kristianoellegaard.silvrback.com/](http://kristianoellegaard.silvrback.com/) vs [http://blog.kristian.io/](http://blog.kristian.io/)

To be honest, I think it is a bit too minimal. With the tagline "own your brand", I find it strange that the site is completely white and generic - <USER2> exactly is my brand then? Not even my name or picture is in the header.

I was also hoping for the posibility to write a synopsis for each blog article, as I some very long and technical articles that I don't want to be displayed in its full length on the front page. This unfortunately isn't possible.

Furhtermore, I find the menu thing extremely strange. It took me a while to discover it and I don't think it's very user friendly.

I have to say that if the above things are not fixed, I don't think I would want to move my blog at all. Fortunately I signed up for the monthly plan.

Edit: Also, it would be cool to let me store the markdown documents in Dropbox, so I could use a proper editor (and also for import/export).

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey oellagaard. When you say, "I was also hoping for the possibility to write a synopsis for each blog article", where would you want that synopsis to show up? In the archive? Just curious about this idea. (I'm taking feature requests). Sorry if you find it to be too minimal and don't like the menu. I guess everyone has different tastes. I like your idea about storing the docs in dropbox.

<comment><USER14> I'd love for it to show up on the home page. Since some of my blog posts get a bit long, it would be cool to write a small synopsis of each article to let me user scroll through a few articles on the home page, without reading through the entirety of all each blog post.

I think it would be really cool if you could use the header from the bio page, for the rest of the site as well - then I think it would be less anonymous, e.g.: [http://kristianoellegaard.silvrback.com/bio](http://kristianoellegaard.silvrback.com/bio)

In the end the menu isn't a big problem - but I would really like the opportunity to put my name or a blog name on the top of the page.

<comment><AUTHOR> You actually can do this: "I think it would be really cool if you could use the header from the bio page, for the rest of the site as well - then I think it would be less anonymous, e.g.:"

In "Settings," there is a field called "short bio sentence." This bio sentence will show up next to your name on every post.

I'm still playing around with different home page variations. I will consider your request (or give people more options for their homepage). I'll let you know.

<comment><USER14> I wasn't thinking about the short bio sentence, what I want on the top of the page is [http://c.kristian.io/image/2b3X1P2y1Z3R](http://c.kristian.io/image/2b3X1P2y1Z3R) ;)

I think it would be cool with a few variations or options.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment> tech-no-logical Yet another blogging platform for which I need to use 'ctrl -', resulting in a content-width of less than 600 pixels, which looks ridiculous on a modern monitor.

I still don't get the 'large print' trend. Yes, I've read all the so-called 'pro's', but the content still looks ridiculously sparse to me.

<comment><USER15> Always surprised when I see comments like this. I have the opposite view. The font size of both the OP site (and Medium) is perfect for me and I wish more sites would depart from the web's 'tiny text' mistakes of the past.

I find a website with 'old-fashioned' 12px or lower text is like me holding my iPhone at arm's length. Don't get it.

Curious as to your monitor size/res and whether you use the computer leaning forwards/backwards. I'm a 28yr old with good eyesight, I lean back in my chair.

Also wonder if a lot of hackers are biased towards small text because they're used to their IDEs/terminals which default to pretty tiny fonts.

<comment><USER16> I'm not advocating the re-emergence of 12px text but the body text for Silvrback is 22px with 1.5 line-height. Medium is 1.45 and I believe 1.2 is _normal_. I feel like I'm reading a children's book with 2 sentences per page.

<comment><USER15> >> I believe 1.2 is normal

It's the default in browsers and what the 'normal' keyword means yes, but I don't think it's a good default, any more than the default font-size is. I think 1.5 is a pretty common recommendation in the world of typography. I don't really have any good references to back that up, but if you Google '1.5 line height best practice' there's some reading to be had (realise that's a highly scientific approach)!

>> I feel like I'm reading a children's book with 2 sentences per page.

Is that a problem? Perhaps they got it right with children's books. :) Is it comfortable on your eyes?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> This looks really nice. What are the advantages compared to some comparable blogging platforms out there? Couldn't I just use Octopress or Github Pages to achieve similar functionality?

</comment><comment><USER18> If you'd like to get even more speed, ensure your assets are minified, compressed and cacheable, and served directly from the filesystem if possible. There aren't any Cache-Control: or Expires: headers for those. It took nearly 1.5 seconds to retrieve [https://dsowers.silvrback.com/assets/application- cb034c94e2b...](https://dsowers.silvrback.com/assets/application- cb034c94e2bea7e99bb5eaef37b8e646.js), and time to first byte was 634ms.

</comment><comment><USER19> Silvrback is really nice and interesting. Why not reimagine publishing from the ground up using Markdown syntax?

This is what we're trying to do with [http://markdawn.com/](http://markdawn.com/). The reason I'm leaving a comment here is that the app is not ready for a "Show HN" yet (or maybe it's just a designer/engineer complex for not doing that at this time).

</comment><comment><USER20> Looks great. Need to check it out. Do you do all the rss and sitemap stuff too? Any features to help promote posts or drive SEO?

<comment><USER21> For a simple review, I wrote up my initial experience with Silvrback, after migrating over a blog from WordPress.

[http://jasonlotito.com/over-the-us](http://jasonlotito.com/over-the-us)

I should note that I've been very happy with Silvrback. It's easy to use, fast, and works as expected.

<comment><USER22> There's a

      Silvrback © 2013

at the bottom of the page of your post that I'm not should be there?

<comment><AUTHOR> You have full ownership over your data. I didn't mean for that copyright to suggest anything else and I'm removing it asap.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> It looks good. How does it differ from Ghost?

<comment><AUTHOR> Ghost requires installation and tinkering (plugins, themes, etc). Silvrback is designed to give you something that looks great and doesn't take up your time. I believe that people shouldn't spend any time building a personal blog. You should spend that time on your products instead.

I could be wrong, but I think Silvrback probably has much better syntax highlighting than Ghost (do they have it at all?) and it gives you a bio page so you can consolidate your brand.

<comment><USER8> Ghost is also open source, much like a lot of blog software. Syntax highlighting is mostly irrelevant due to most platforms using 3rd party bundles like prettify,Syntaxhighlighter, etc.

I'll take having an open source, easy to install, fully controllable platform over closed any day of the week, especially for something simple like a blog platform, and blogs are not about products unless that is what you consider yourself.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Is there a way to see the available colour schemes _without_ having to pay any money? Having created a colour scheme that's also called "Autumn" I'm wondering if it in this case would be mine or somebody else's (probably the latter).

</comment><comment><USER25> I'm also a very happy early Silvrback customer. It's fast, simple, attractive, and very easy to setup with your own domain: [http://self- proficient.com/](http://self-proficient.com/)

<comment><USER26> Everything is fast when you only have one post. :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> I really like the look of the bio page - might have to redo my own blog template :)

</comment><comment><USER28> I just opened an account and get really dissapointed when I found that your Logo (silvrback) it's all over my blog. We are already paying for your service, there is no need to put your logo all over OUR blog.

</comment><comment><USER29> This looks really cool, so I'll sound like an ass for saying this, but: for $6.99 / month, what do I get over a free blogging solution?

> Full ownership of your brand and data.

This is the only thing not provided by anyone else afaik.

</comment><comment><USER30> It looks interesting but if it can't be self hosted. I'm out.

</comment><comment><USER31> That's a great logo.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> Looks like a medium-svbtle hybrid. Nice effort.

</comment><comment><USER33> Are there any customization/theme options? Or is every Silvrback blog going to look the exact same?

</comment><comment><USER34> Is there anywhere I can actually try out the editor before signing up?

</comment><comment><USER35> What do the Markdown people think of things like NML: ([http://genius.cat-v.org/erik-naggum/xml-sgml-nml- lisp](http://genius.cat-v.org/erik-naggum/xml-sgml-nml-lisp))? Isn't this a much nicer way of working with HTML (especially with macros)? The syntax described in the link is compact and elegant, whereas markdown is smallish but basically ad hoc.</comment>


Ask HN: Easy way out or hard way freelancing? - <AUTHOR>

I left my high payed job 2 months ago and now I got an offer that is even better than the previous payed job...my dilemma is to take this job or continue freelancing and working on small projects for myself and looking for projects. The thing is it wasn't bad since I left my job, I have done some freelancing work and also some side small projects but the thing is I do not really like the part of freelancing where I need to look for clients and when I do find clients most of them do not have the kind of projects I am looking for. So I wouldn't really take this job offer but it is a lot of money and since my savings are going really fast it looks like an easy solution. What should I do? Should I post that I am looking for work on HN, because I think it is the best place to find good work and fun projects and not having to work for clients that have crappy projects and do not understand how the industry works. The thing is I am not sure how much long time work I would get from HN and how fast and that's why the easy way out to a high paying job looks like a good solution. <comment><USER2> Freelancing is not easy - you have to put in the time and effort to network. Work won't just come to you for some time unless you are constantly telling people that you're available and what you've done.

Posting on HN is good, but don't bet on most of the work landing. (Remember there are many freelancers on HN also responding to those posts). Partnering with other freelancers is also a good option to fill in gaps.

I would suggest contemplating why you left? The hours, the pay, the career progression, the responsibilities.

</comment><comment><USER3> If I were you, I'd get a piece of paper and a pen and write a pro/con columned list. It will help you get your thoughts together. I think the basis of a decision for freelancing vs. the job offer should be about your happiness and which one you prefer overall (all factors: salary + work environment etc...).

Good luck with your decision.</comment>


Ask HN: Is it safe to update to Windows 10 yet? - <AUTHOR> I've been running Windows 8.1 on my laptop for a while now. I really dislike Windows 8, and from what I have seen of 10 it does appear to be an improvement.<p>I just want to know whether the initial day 1 bugs have been ironed out enough that Windows 10 is worth installing now?<p>(Cue the Linux is better comments) <comment><USER2> Even that I enjoy using Linux for my day-to-day computing. I have to have a dual boot set-up for school projects.

Windows 10 is perhaps the best Windows I have used yet (since 95). I have an occasional bug (Shutdown doesn't work, mouse-pad hangs,.. nothing a restart or a driver update won't fix).

PS: Besides VisualStudio and Chrome, I hardly use it for anything else.

</comment><comment><USER3> I wonder the same thing, but I'm on Windows 7 (which I really like).

I'm mostly concerned about Virtual Box still working correctly, since I use virtual machines all day, every day, for school/grad work and hobbies.

<comment><AUTHOR> In your case it sounds like 'ain't broke, don't fix!'</comment></comment>


My Personal Linklog - <AUTHOR> http://msaavedra.com/posts/my-personal-linklog/ <comment><USER2> In the era of algorithmic recommendations, curated lists are worth gold. Good job.

May I suggest crawling the links and hosting a mirror? Maybe IPFS? We never know when a link will break in today's web.

<comment><USER3> Pages can be manually added to the internet archive:

[https://help.archive.org/hc/en- us/articles/360001513491-Save...](https://help.archive.org/hc/en- us/articles/360001513491-Save-Pages-in-the-Wayback-Machine)

<comment><USER2> TIL!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I miss these fixed recommendation lists from when like everyone had a personal blog.

</comment><comment><USER5> I keep a similar collection here. Less organized but I include ratings and little reviews.

[https://reviews.mgraczyk.com/](https://reviews.mgraczyk.com/)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for sharing! Impressive resume by the way.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I've build a static html generator that generates such a blog from emails, I send myself. 'Share via e-mail' works from almost any device and anywhere.

Subject goes to the link text Body to url

A bit hacky. But in case someone is interested: [https://github.com/6uhrmittag/bashblog](https://github.com/6uhrmittag/bashblog)

</comment><comment><USER7> One of the main use-cases of [https://histre.com/](https://histre.com/) (disclaimer: I built it) is to be able to save and organize links like this. If you're looking to do that easily, perhaps give it a try? :-)

<comment><AUTHOR> I'll check it out, looks good :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I have a "bookmark" post type on my site where I save things for later - [https://www.jvt.me/kind/bookmarks/](https://www.jvt.me/kind/bookmarks/) which I tag based on what it fits under, which I find useful for "here's something I may want to go back to, or others should see"

Also as an aside I thought the theme looked familiar - I use the same underlying theme but have customised it a bit over the base theme, cool!

<comment><AUTHOR> Ah, tags are a nice touch!

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> I have a similar collection of 2000+ sites on GitHub. I recently posted the repo on HN and it went to GitHub trending and stayed there for 2 days!

Here's the repo: [https://github.com/rsapkf/goodies](https://github.com/rsapkf/goodies)

</comment><comment><USER10> Reminds me of protopage where beside the default feeds, you could create your own list of links. Always useful to have a curated list.

[https://www.protopage.com/web/help/overview](https://www.protopage.com/web/help/overview)

</comment><comment><USER11> Cool.</comment>


How is your resisting to Google asking to merge Google account with youtube? - <AUTHOR>

I am bringing it on.! <comment><USER2> I use this

[http://kwerty.com/YouTube-User-Guard/](http://kwerty.com/YouTube-User-Guard/)

It lets you use an entirely separate Google account souly for YouTube. You sign in to YouTube once, click a button that says 'Stay signed in with this account' and then you remain signed in to Youtube with that accout forever, even while you sign in and out of other google accounts for other services. Only downside is that it's for Chrome only.

</comment><comment><USER3> [http://userscripts.org/scripts/source/153375.user.js](http://userscripts.org/scripts/source/153375.user.js)

</comment><comment><USER4> So far, I'm resisting. But it also means that I'm using youtube and google LESS, and less often logged in. I willmrather delete my youtube account rather then merging it with other accounts.

<comment><AUTHOR> you refer to greasemonkey script mentioned here? www.lessgoogle.com

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> You know you can merge to a nickname now, right? A custom Google+ Page with whatever name you want, completely unrelated from any real name profile.

<comment><AUTHOR> is this your final answer?

<comment><AUTHOR> It's me again. I answered like that because I thought you needed some time to think on your answer. Why do you think are other people caring too about this matter?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I cussed. I swore. They wore me down and won :(</comment>


Ask HN: What are the most exciting areas of research in CS right now? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> Explainable AI (XAI) [https://www.darpa.mil/program/explainable-artificial- intelli...](https://www.darpa.mil/program/explainable-artificial-intelligence)

<comment><USER3> This will be a critical component of AI adoption in high risk and/or highly regulated industries like health care, banking, utilities, etc.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I've seen Keenan Crane of CMU give some great applications of differential geometry to computational geometry and manufacturing/fabrication. He has a book on applied discrete differential geometry available here [1] and also a good youtube channel [2] with talks showing applications. A good nontechnical talk giving an overview of the basics and the motivation for the formalism is [3]. A nontechnical talk showing an application to fabrication is [4].

[1] [https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kmcrane/Projects/DGPDEC/](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kmcrane/Projects/DGPDEC/)

[2] [https://www.youtube.com/user/keenancrane/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/keenancrane/videos)

[3] [https://youtu.be/Mcal5Cy7r4E?t=408](https://youtu.be/Mcal5Cy7r4E?t=408)

[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiekJeTEQ-U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiekJeTEQ-U)

</comment><comment><USER5> Ternary computing (fashionable again because of IoTA platform), n-computing, quantum computing (this waiting for hardware breakthrough).

<comment><USER6> Ternary is fashionable again because of IOTA? As in the cryptocurrency/network?

...since when? To put it bluntly I don't think any mainstream academic community takes IOTA seriously. Its stated justifications for using ternary computing are pretty weak, theoretical benefits notwithstanding.

<comment><USER5> You're welcome, mainstream academic communities do a different job, though. I can see the long-term benefits in trying something technologically novel to accommodate a fully interconnected IoT planet but I am not paid by IOTA to evangelize, so, again, we will see what happens.

<comment><USER6> Sure, but we can agree IOTA hasn't made anything "fashionable" again right? If it's not being taken seriously by the research community and it hasn't otherwise driven material innovation, it's not setting any trends.

There has always been research interest in ternary computing. But I don't know a single serious research institution or group (even if not academic) which concurs with IOTA's approach.

<comment><USER5> Well, their vision is shared by industrial partners indeed. I presume we are seeing this from different perspectives (mine: industrial ability within some limitations; yours: full theoretical validation) and maybe we need to agree which is which for "exciting areas of research" and "fashionable"?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> This was asked recently and some really good topics mentioned:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17696271](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17696271)

</comment><comment><USER8> [http://www.arxiv-sanity.com/toptwtr](http://www.arxiv-sanity.com/toptwtr)

</comment><comment><USER9> Machine Learning is very marketable right now.

<comment><USER10> very insightful tyvm

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> algorithmic game theory</comment>


Pillow Sleep tracking alarm clock for iOS v.1.2 just released for FREE - <AUTHOR>

Pillow v.1.2 has just been released and it's available as free download.
It's a brand new website too. http://neybox.com/pillow <comment><USER2> I like the "export database by email" option - in lieu of an API, this is the next best thing. Probably not quite enough to shift me from Azumio Sleep Time though.</comment>


Ask HN: Follow Buttons vs. Share Buttons - <AUTHOR>

Some sites put follow buttons on their pages so people can easily follow the Twitter/FB accounts of the site owner. Some sites put share buttons up, so people can easily recommend the content to their followers. What do you think is better? <comment><USER2> I'd have thought 'share' just because more people get to then see your content. If you've got really great content then you want that to be shared by as many people as possible so it maximizes the amount of eyes on it.</comment>


Minimum Wages Set to Increase in Many States in 2017 - <AUTHOR> http://www.wsj.com/articles/minimum-wages-set-to-increase-in-many-states-in-2017-1483093806 <comment><USER2> Bad news for the low skilled. Good news for highly paid engineers.</comment>


Twitter Rolls Out New Web Profiles for Users - <AUTHOR> http://blog.marketmesuite.com/twitter-updates-profile-for-users/?src=hackernews

<comment><USER2> Tweet pinning seems kinda weird. Do people really want to feature a single tweet on their profile? Are they going to remember to change it or will pinned tweets just end up being old and useless?

I also liked how simple the current profiles look. This new design seems crowded to me.

<comment> mkr-hn I've got a few I might like to pin. For example, if I've recently written a new blog post or found some new thing, I'd want it to stay on top for a while.</comment></comment>


G1 Garbage Collector - <AUTHOR> http://www.theserverside.com/news/thread.tss?thread_id=54321

<comment><USER2> Call me sentimental but I really like Sun as a research institution in its own right, even if it hasn't been a spectacularly profitable company lately. The world would be a much poorer place if not for the innovations that have come out of Sun for the last couple of decades. Here's to hoping that Oracle intends to be a good steward of the intellectual wealth that has accumulated there.</comment>


Twitter reports strong user growth - <AUTHOR> https://www.apnews.com/dadb63eabeac49518fd4eafcd0610aeb <comment><USER2> bots != real people</comment>


Ask HN: Do You Talk to Strangers? - <AUTHOR> http://luunr.com/?go

<comment><USER2> Not intentionally, but I probably should.

I often have the best experiences when I'm forced to talk to someone I don't know, but it's always a bit too awkward for me at first.</comment>


Race, Genes, and IQ: How the Bell Curve Shaped Debates on Neuroplasticity - <AUTHOR> https://bostonreview.net/race/michael-e-staub-mismeasure-minds <comment><USER2> I like that this essay points out how the bell curve is NOT about nature over nurture — the authors concede that nurturing can work wonders, instead their argument is that environments that can help children advance are only worth it for a worthy few.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes for sure — which makes their argument all the more horrible, imo</comment></comment>


Lisp without parentheses: Lisp INdented  - <AUTHOR> http://www.genyris.com/ <comment><USER2> Yes, it has been a few months since the last person tried this.

</comment><comment><USER3> Am i the only one who likes lisp because of the parenthesis and the lack of syntax? The parens are the perfect way of representing the syntax trees, and you dont have to be bothered with remembering all the syntax and operators etc like with the other languages.

<comment><USER4> > the perfect way of representing the syntax trees

Humans don't think in syntax trees.

<comment><USER5> I do. When I think of algorithms I vaguely imagine DAG, which maps nicely to S-expr (the junction point maps to a tail function call).

In languages with syntax, I have to add syntactic fluff to satisfy the compiler, which is mostly an extra annoyance.

I don't say my way of thinking is the correct one. Some great programmers I respect have said they don't think in DAG (and naturally they choose languages other than Lisp as a primary tool).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Hm, this feels like comitting hara-kiri, but I actually found the eight queens sample:

<http://www.genyris.com/wiki?page=default/eightqueenssource>

A lot more readable than the 'regular' lisp version:

<http://obereed.net/queens/algorithm.html>

By automating the process of converting between 'indented' lisp and 'regular' lisp those that want it can have it and those that do not can simply ignore it.

<comment><USER7> True, having a round trip to Lisp's standardized format might make this usable. I have to wonder how much of Ruby's success is owed to being unable to trivially share Python code with strangers without most of our tools shredding the whitespace.

<comment><USER6> That's one of my pet peeves with python. Even sites like the django documentation suffer from this, cut&paste simply does not work in the python world and it is much poorer because of that.

It also can make debugging such a problem hell because you have to completely grok the code in order to spot the fact that the last line of a code block has somehow mysteriously jumped left 4 spaces.

And it makes refactoring code a major pain.

Braces rule compared to spaces.

<comment><USER8> _cut &paste simply does not work in the python world and it is much poorer because of that._

I think that might have made it much _better_!

<http://perldesignpatterns.com/?CutAndPasteProgramming>

<comment><USER6> Especially while learning a new language cut & paste is a pretty good way to get function definitions from the the tutorial into the interpreter.

Having to re-type a bunch of stuff that is already in a computer makes me feel like it is 1978 again.

<comment><USER9> Cut and paste is a good way to get the definitions from the tutorial into the interpreter _without reading them_.

Personally, I've only ever had a problem copy-pasting from the web. Even then, it is rare; a mild occasional annoyance well worth the price of the clutter free syntax.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Set the highlight color of your () to white. Solved.

<comment><USER11> Why are people up-voting this? This is a recipe for bugs.

<comment><USER12> I think (hope) that it was meant to be funny as opposed to being a serious advice.

<comment><USER13> I've done this with Ruby and set the color to light gray. My co-workers wanted to have C/Java-style parens around damn near everything (except when they didn't; the reasoning to omit them was something along the lines of, "But, see, _here_ it's a DSL." )

They strike me as line noise and make it harder to read many things, so I lightened up the color in my vim syntax files to give the appearance of more white space.

I had mixed results. Yes, it was far more readable to me, but there were times when a paren was missing or mistakenly added, or the spacing was off (another coding standard violation), and so on.

Now that I code on my own, the new coding standards say no parens unless required by the language. I also changed my syntax coloring back to more clearly show parens.

<comment><USER12> Heated debates amongst programmers (coworkers) about marginally important questions such as indenting styles, parenthesis usage, naming conventions, source code directory structure, etc. are always very amusing to observe. I usually sit back and just watch the show.

<comment><USER13> "I usually sit back and just watch the show."

Were that always an option. :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Best attempt at this has got to be Dylan. Latest, plausible, attempt is probably David Moon's PLOT (Programming for Old Timers):

<http://users.rcn.com/david-moon/PLOT/>

See how he does macros for a syntax-full language :-)

<http://users.rcn.com/david-moon/PLOT/Moon-ILC09.pdf>

</comment><comment><USER15> Either have parentheses and format by hand or use parentheses and have the editor format the text. Personally, I like the latter best. Easier to change stuff.

</comment><comment><USER16> Oh no, I have no parenthesis. I am not a dataset nor a function, how do I compute?

</comment><comment><USER17> Did you mean Python?

<comment><AUTHOR> Well not really, Pythons' syntax isn't homoiconic.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homoiconicity>

<comment><USER18> At least most of it isn't.</comment></comment></comment>


Tell HN: Stocks are not a zero sum game and high frequency trading is great - <AUTHOR>

Stocks represent distributed company ownership. Entrepreneurship (creating companies) has historically been positive value in aggregate.
The stock market is the aggregate of all publicly traded entrepreneurship.  Trading would be zero sum if and only if the value of that ownership is constant.  It is not.
A reasonable argument is that nobody knows what the growth rate of the market is and over short timescales it is kind of sort of constant, so you might as well think of it as so.  That response is really a knock against high frequency trading and not generally against dabbling in stocks.
[Most] High frequency trading and "investing" are basically the same thing on different timescales.
Value investing might be characterized as finding undervalued companies, purchasing them, then, as Ben Graham might put it, waiting for Mr. Market to correctly value the company.
There are flavors of HFT that aren't easily defensible, but much high frequency trading is basically the same as value investing, using a different definition of "undervalued", which happens to be measured in much smaller time intervals. <comment><USER2> Isn't "finding undervalued companies" fundamentally an infrequent activity? I don't see how it's possible to assess the value of a company relative to market price fast enough to make even 10 trades a day.

I would say High Frequency Trading is, by definition, not about value, but about price only.

<comment><AUTHOR> _Isn't "finding undervalued companies" fundamentally an infrequent activity_

I guess I don't understand why this is necessarily true. ACN supposedly might have traded $.01 on the day of the flash crash (busted). It rallied back after the fact. It was likely undervalued at $.01. If such price behavior were to be an annual, monthly, daily, or hourly occurence, it'd probably still be considered a mispricing of the stock. My position is that "correct" valuation (if such a thing exists) and frequency are entirely independent.

 _I don't see how it's possible to assess the value of a company relative to market price fast enough to make even 10 trades a day._

i think you're making a comment about the _speed_ at which valuation occurs. without sounding too obvious about the answer, computers are really fast at running numbers (not trying to be rude). there are all sorts of ways of valuing companies, even in the traditional space of "value investing". [http://www.fool.com/investing/beginning/how-to-value- stocks-...](http://www.fool.com/investing/beginning/how-to-value-stocks- introduction-to-valuation-meth.aspx) gives 5 broad methods to start. if there were a method that involved only objective numerical data, then that valuation could occur continuously throughout the day.

 _I would say High Frequency Trading is, by definition, not about value, but about price only._

I think the 2 are necessarily related. When Value = Market Price, the issue is fairly/correctly priced. When the two diverge, there is an opportunity. High frequency trading is concerned with finding issues that are underpriced with respect to the "true value". So in that sense, I think High Frequency Trading is certainly about price, as is "long term value investing".

[Collecting rebates and high frequency trading don't so much apply to the claim i'm making here]

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> > [Most] High frequency trading and "investing" are basically the same thing > on different timescales.

Yes, it's basically the same if you take out all the differences. Nothing said so far.

Also, investing is clearly not the only activity on markets (speculation, arbitrage, you name it), so let's not over simplify things.

Interesting reflection field, though.

</comment><comment><USER4> HFT is _not_ the same as long term investing. Being able to see orders before they happen makes it fundamentally different.

<comment><AUTHOR> flash orders is actually the main thing i was referring to when i said _"There are flavors of HFT that aren't easily defensible "_

a whole lot of HFT has nothing to do with seeing the orders before they happen.

"high frequency trading" encompasses a lot of different strategies (just like "computers" is a large and varied field).

imagine a high frequency strategy that finds mispriced securities, and trades them. as it happens, these trades tend to converge very quickly. would you consider this "fundamentally different" from long term investing (in any way other than the holding time horizon, which the agent can't possibly know before the trade actually realizes)?

<comment><USER4> Yes, I would. The definition of "mispriced", I would argue, is quite different. You could come up with all sorts of algorithms to trade in the midst of a bubble, and find "undervalued" companies on micro time scales. In the value investor's mind, the same companies are always overvalued. Value is relative in one case and absolute in the other.

Splitting hairs perhaps, but the fundamental approaches are different. I will give you that the hf mentality can certainly be applied over long time periods.

<comment><AUTHOR> define: mispriced = "value != market price"

Where you and i diverge is _"Value is relative in one case and absolute in the other."_

I think you're saying that HF Guy's definition of value is relative and Value Guy's definition of value is absolute.

If its even correct that any company has a single true value, I think this number is unknowable. Investors or traders make estimates of this value, and if their estimate deviates significantly from the market price, they transact with Mr. Market.

Nobody's estimate is more absolute or relative than any one else's.

edit: deleted a bunch of pointless words.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Who said it was a zero sum game?</comment>


Show HN: Sheet2Site – Turn Your Google Sheet into Website - <AUTHOR> https://sheet2site.com/?2 <comment><AUTHOR> Hi HN,

After 1 year of work I updated my tool that can generate a website from Google Sheets. It uses Google Sheet as a database.

In this update I add templates with different cards design for different use cases like: job-board, affiliate, events, tweets, map view (with Mapbox), table view (with data-tables). I also added some new features like search, filters and custom HTML. And finally I created API so you can make a JSON from your Google Sheet and use your own code.</comment>


An Interview with Zlatan Todoric, Open-Source Developer and Former Purism CTO - <AUTHOR> https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Zlatan-Todoric-Interview <comment><USER2> I always wondered why Purism seemed quite secretive around the status of Librem 5 HW. And it still continues, with the Librem 5's supposed shipping a month ago - I was interested in people's experiences so I regularly check youtube's newest videos. Noone has Librem 5 yet, if I judge by that. Yet if they were actually shipping people would have phones for three weeks already.

Seems like they've bitten off quite a chunk of really hard work, that they can't finish by themselves, which this article confirms.

It would be nice if they opened up a little about issues they're having. All they're doing by hiding things is helping spread rumors. For example this one:

[https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/phoronix/latest- phoron...](https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/phoronix/latest-phoronix- articles/1133747-an-interview-with-zlatan-todoric-open-source-developer- former-purism-cto?p=1133868#post1133868)

It doesn't help, that the rumors seem plausible. From the disassembly video, it was clear that the SoC has no cooling whatsoever, outside of the thermal connection to the mainboard. Power management is always an issue with mobile devices, so that doesn't surprise me either.

<comment><USER3> > For example this one:

Those are not just rumours. The CEO said they have to add heat pipes in next iteration. He also said he had to charge the phone twice a day (and all or almost all of Lunduke's pictures are taken with a phone connected to the charger, which is not the easiest way to proceed usually, so we can guess it is pretty much needed).

Also Purism is aware of the rumour about the theory that perhaps the phone can't really make calls (the 'In the wild' paragraph in [https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-aspen-batch-photo-and- video-u...](https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-aspen-batch-photo-and-video- update/) leaves no doubt about that). And yet they still haven't showed anything demonstrating otherwise, which would be super easy to do. So they let the rumour amplify...

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I'm a bit "ehhh" on someone publishing an interview to trash one of the very small handful of companies trying to upend the Android nightmare. There's a lot of value in multiple manufacturers working together to support this fledgling ecosystem of a true Linux phone.

Though without an assurance I can get it to work on my carrier, I'm hesitant to drop Librem 5 level money on my first true Linux phone... meanwhile, the PinePhone sits comfortably in "buy as a second phone for now" territory, and I'm anxiously waiting to hit the buy button on that one.

<comment><USER5> Pine is not overpromising things and is doing more organic growth which will sustain. That said, I can confirm that I saw Ubuntu Touch running on PinePhone.

<comment><USER6> I think that is fair to say but I was pretty mad at pine years ago when I bought their first product. There was definitely plenty of hype. They seem to have learned from that though.

I'm not doubting the things you said in the interview which certainly make it sound like a difficult place to work but it is easy to see that resentment colors your perspective. I might feel the same myself were I in your place.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> > _The phone_ […] _will have proprietary blobs_

That statement is hard to reconcile with the fact that the phone is allegedly compliant with, and is being submitted for, RYF certification¹, which it would never qualify for if the phone has binary blobs.

1\. " _And we are compliant with, and submitting for, the "Respects Your Freedom" certification from the Free Software Foundation._ " — [https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-shipping- announcement/](https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-shipping-announcement/)

<comment><USER8> Where does say Binary Blob end and Compiled to Silicon begin?

For example most CPU's are written in something like verilog or vhdl and include internal ram on the chip and include a prom with a little bit of code that handles start up tasks.

From what I can see Librem 5 is a general purpose computer with 2 sealed black box modem modules.

Yes, there can be any level of proprietary evil inside those seal boxes... and inside your disk drive controller of your PC.

The question then really is can that proprietary evil control the functions of your computer.

With the disk drive controller, probably pretty hard, with intel ME, probably pretty easy, with the Librem modems? My guess is probably pretty hard.

<comment><USER2> Yes, all kinds of these isolated controllers can control your computer in a meaningful way.

Modem can record audio or location and send it out on remote request when it's powered on. When modem is used to access internet it can add JS code to html pages and execute code that way.

Touch controller can record touches that look like pin entry (it can observe touches, and make some guesses about frequently repeated touch patterns after powerup/wakeup) and replay them after some secret swipe gesture. If UI patterns are known, touch controller can probably tap information out to a web page somewhere and hit submit.

Just because there's no direct access to memory, doesn't mean even these "sealed black boxes" can't affect/use software running on the main CPU via other channels.

Also if the drivers are not written in a manner that they consider devices they control hostile, I would be surprised if modem would not be able to return specially crafted/unexpected messages over USB that would allow for arbitrary code execution in the kernel or in userland.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> > Cloudflare (which was blocking Tor and users were rightly unhappy with this > because saying you're a privacy oriented company and blocking Tor access was > just not right)

 _Huge_ loss of credibility right there.

Me-as-CEO: We're shipping "only dozen or couple of hundred orders per month" and hemorraging money. We must prioritize.

CTO: Well you currently have no backups whatsoever.

Me-as-CEO: That certainly sounds like a priority. What do you propose?

CTO: Let's move away from one of the largest CDN in the U.S. to accommodate a potential Tor userbase

Me-as-CEO: Well, it's been great working with you.

<comment><USER10> Then you are a bad CEO not understanding your target audience

<comment><USER11> Since you can't anonymously purchase anything from Purism I don't think it was that much of an issue.

People aren't going to use ToR to purchase a device from a store that collects PII that defeats the purpose of using it its right there with using ToR to log into your Facebook account.

<comment><USER12> Still, using tor will help prevent yet one more data point from being used to construct a character profile of you.

Between privacy and less privacy, I think the answer is always privacy.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Are there any good Internet marketing books? - <AUTHOR> Just wondering if you guys can recommend any fundamental reading on internet marketing, advertising and related subjects (probably with more emphasis on theory such as knuth or cormen for programming).<p>Thanks. <comment><USER2> To get fundamentals and theory foundation, drop the "internet" part of your requirement. The internet is just another way to connect people.

All successful marketing comes down to a fundamental understanding of people, how we like to be spoken to, what captures our attention, and what messages stick.

Read my notes and excerpts on some of these books to get an idea if they're what you're looking for:

==

Small is the New Big - by Seth Godin

A "best-of" collection of small essays about marketing. Seth writes in general terms meant to give you perspective, change the way you think about marketing, and inspire you to actions, no matter how small, that make all the difference. Read anything by Seth Godin (as others here have said), but this is his best overview.

<http://sivers.org/book/SmallIsTheNewBig>

==

Made to Stick - by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

A deep analysis of what makes certain ideas or stories memorable.

<http://sivers.org/book/MadeToStick>

==

You, Inc - The Art of Selling Yourself - by Harry Beckwith

Harry Beckwith is amazing. Read everything by him. This is just his newest. He's the best at reminding you how basic human consideration translates into marketing.

<http://sivers.org/book/YouInc>

==

Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got - by Jay Abraham

Jay Abraham is an absolute marketing genius from an angle the others here don't cover. This gets you into his mindset, seeing profitable aspects in your business you never noticed before, and how to communicate them to your audience. Sorry I don't have notes on this one:

<http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312284543>

</comment><comment><USER3> 1) "Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer" (A/B Testing)

2) Aaron Wall's SEO Book - excellent primer for internet marketing and SEO - theory but with practice applied

3) The original Backrub/Pagerank paper

> probably with more emphasis on theory

Are you doing research for school? I know you asked for theory but you did say 'fundamental'. Just to throw it out there, _fundamentally_ , I believe the independent people (not large companies - that is different) making more money than we'd like to know through Internet marketing don't think in terms of theory - theory is easy - they try and try many different ways until something works. For example, Shoemoney:

"So with this Cornhusker quiz, it's a needed service because all these guys want to see where they are. It spreads virally, because they want to challenge their friends and see if they could do better than their friends. And the way to make money is, when they finish, if they score high enough, they're presented with a free trial to Netflix. [with his referral ID of course]"

<http://blog.mixergy.com/shoemoney-ads/>

</comment><comment><USER4> Four Steps to the Epiphany - Steve Blank

[http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steven- Blank/dp/09...](http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steven- Blank/dp/0976470705/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245936971&sr=8-1)

I've read tons of marketing books and went to school for business, but this one is the best for tech startups hands down.

<comment><USER5> Does anybody know how to get that book ("Four steps to Epiphany") in Europe - either as paperback or E-Book?

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I would recommend these books for a good grounding in marketing and fostering innovation:

       The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
       Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado by Geoffrey Moore
       Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker
       Marketing High Technology by William Davidow
       Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank
       Jumpstart Your Business Brain by Doug Hall
       E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
       Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & R. Mauborgne
       Influence The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
       The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
       Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinberg

For an article that summarizes key concepts see [http://skmurphy.com/wp- content/uploads/2007/04/Crucial%20Mar...](http://skmurphy.com/wp- content/uploads/2007/04/Crucial%20Marketing%20Concepts.pdf)

There is a companion slide deck here <http://www.skmurphy.com/f/SDForum061211.pdf>

</comment><comment><USER7> Breakthrough Advertising - Eugene Shwartz

Advertising Secrets of the Written Word - Claude Hopkins

Anything by Seth Godin

</comment><comment><USER8> Permission Marketing (Seth Godin)

[http://www.amazon.com/Permission-Marketing-Turning- Strangers...](http://www.amazon.com/Permission-Marketing-Turning-Strangers- Customers/dp/0684856360)

</comment><comment><USER9> I'm not sure that it exactly qualifies as marketing, but Avinash Kaushik's "Web Analytics: An Hour A Day" is really great on how to design for and think about project metrics on the net, which in my experience is one of the biggest advantages that the great guys are holding.

</comment><comment><USER10> For the marketing process I also recommend 4 Steps to the Epiphany. For more depth on the online advertising industry itself I don't think you'll find much print material that is good (Its still changing too fast). One of the best in- depth blogs on the subject that I have found is <http://www.jayweintraub.com/>

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Thanks everyone for suggestions.

Just for the reference, here is another related topic: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=193308>

</comment><comment><USER11> Call To Action: Secret Formulas To Improve Online Results

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

</comment><comment><USER12> Suggested reading list for a college level class:

<http://bit.ly/P2c5H></comment>


How Betfair improved their AngularJS apps with ng-lazy-render - <AUTHOR> https://andreduarte.info/2016/08/30/lazy-rendering-on-angularjs-with-ng-lazy-render/ <comment><USER2> Good job Andre!

</comment><comment><USER3> Great article.</comment>


San Francisco must end its self-inflicted housing woes - <AUTHOR> https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/San-Francisco-must-end-its-self-inflicted-housing-13525307.php <comment><USER2> I live in San Francisco.

Every time I visit pretty much any other city in the world I'm reminded of how refreshing it is to be somewhere that people who aren't on insane software engineer salaries can afford to live.

The selfish perspective is this: I can afford it here. My quality of life is greatly reduced by the fact that hardly anyone else can.

<comment><USER3> This captures my feeling exactly. I used to view SF as the ideal place to live, but economic forces that push SF towards an engineer-only tech monoculture make those who can afford to live there worse off as well.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I am constantly arguing with people in the SF area about housing. The most common arguments I hear (and these are not from NIMBY type entrenched interests) are that "if we build housing it will just be ultra-high cost housing for the rich" or "it will just be more gentrification" or "it will ruin our neighborhoods" (the implication being that new buildings will all be unappealing cookie cutter malls or something. I am constantly finding that your average run of the mill resident actively is against ANY kind of "pro building" arguments. It's really quite astonishing. Anyone else in the area find this attitude? I find hn to be generally pro "build more", so I'm wondering if anyone here has any links to studies, evidence or arguments to refute these seemingly ubiquitous views.

I find it incredibly frustrating.

<comment><USER5> Those people already have housing, and like SF enough to remain. They've already made it.

<comment><USER4> Although it's not like these people are homeowners. They are ALL renters! Suffering from the same incredibly high rent that we all do. That's kind of my point, I would expect homeowners to have this attitude, but not my fellow renters who are getting reamed every month by exorbitant rents.

<comment><USER6> > Suffering from the same incredibly high rent that we all do

Are you certain about this last point? SF has rent stabilization, so someone who has been in the same unit for many years might well be paying rents substantially below market.

Naturally, this makes rents that much higher for those who arrived recently or decided to move, and often leaves those with rent control 'trapped' in a situation where they can only afford to stay put.

It's a classic case of ameliorating a first-order effect while making second- order effects worse.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Or not, and techies and others can just move to more sanely-run cities instead of rushing the Bay area like lemmings.

<comment><USER8> It's a shame this is downvoted. Allowing people to vote with their feet seems the better solution here.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Why aren't there dozens of class action suits against the city?

<comment><USER10> People keep on electing the same kinds of supervisors. They hate the way the city of SF is run, but we keep electing the same kinds of people who perpetuate the problem.

Most of the mayors, including the current one, typically want to build, but the Supes have other "priorities" and loathe that developers might make a profit. Then, of course, we have neighbors who don't want to allow progress and want to nix most housing developments.</comment></comment>


What Makes a Great Logo – Four Critical Qualities That Nobody Talks About - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/swlh/what-makes-a-great-logo-c7b0e8c4b9e3 <comment><USER2> Sorry, but in my opinion the "Ind Luck" logo is no good. First, I don't even know what it says: is the second word "Luck" or "Buck" or "Cluck" or what? Second, it's too busy; it's what I see when I've had too many beers and can't focus my eyes. Third, reels of film are obsolete. Use a camera profile if you want a visual of a tool that's still being used.

<comment><USER3> It says "mindfuck." I thought it was an accidental "fuck" at first, then saw the "m" in "mind," then found the confirmation in the text. Agreed it's very busy and hard to parse visually. And ugly. An unfortunate example to end with.

<comment><USER2> Cussing? Okay, make that 4 reasons it's bad, not 3. When I cuss on Hacker News, I usually lose moderation points.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Pro tip: Try to keep the swastika:penis ratio below 0.25.

[https://boingboing.net/2019/01/16/slacks-new-logo-is-a- playd...](https://boingboing.net/2019/01/16/slacks-new-logo-is-a-playdoh.html)

<comment> stone-monkey Cheap swipes like this article really bug me. It's fostering snide comments and continuing the negative connotation with the manji symbol which was a religious symbol predating its nazi appropriation. If a company were to have the angled swastika displayed prominently in their logo, then sure - but not only is this not the case, but it's also just white space that they're projecting their prejudices on. I don't think there's anything wrong with criticism, but sometimes I feel like instead of contributing anything valuable to the internet, the majority of writers on these media sites are paid to either shit on things or to advertise it.

<comment><USER4> Professional logo designers should be expected to screen their work for swastikas and penises, or at least offer a refund or discount if any (or several) of them accidentally sneak through into the final design.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Let's talk about what makes a great logo. _Shows the exact classic examples everyone talks about._ Now look at these logos! _Shows two mediocre logos and calls them good._ See what I mean?

</comment><comment><USER6> Another important one:

The "faxable" criteria. This really means that it degrades well, down to single color, poor resolution, with noise, and yet still retains its recognition. Even if we intend the logo to only be used on screens, it helps distill the simplicity into something the brain easily remembers.

I'll disagree with the article about the ability of users to reproduce it. Logos are about branding, mental association and to some degree, identification between the person and the brand. Many popular logos have strong mind presence in people who are yet completely unable to reproduce it; "they know it when they see it".

<comment><USER7> There is also a practical advantage to this quality. Even if initially it's "only be used on screens" there are always going to be new places a company wants to put their logo, having it 'degrade' well means that the logo will maintain readability/recondition in many more situation. Business cards, letterhead, awards, shirts, all kinds of company 'swag'... if you can print it on a mini-kickball and it's still recognizable after it's half worn off... that's a winner.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> The most important feature of your logo is that it have the name of your company in easily readable text.

A HUGE percentage of even the largest companies in the world have their name as part of their corporate logo.

Is your company bigger and better known than Disney, Microsoft, Verizon, Ford, Amazon, or Facebook? If not, you should probably think twice about whether your arcane little graphic will be enough for your customers (and even more importantly your _prospective_ customers) to confidently ID and recall your brand. All those companies incorporate their name in their logo to this day.

Even the companies who can get away with just the graphic now--like Nike, Apple, McDonalds, etc.--started out with a logo that incorporated their name, in some cases for decades.

Here's the truth: text-free logos are the rare exception, and can't be confidently predicted. Your logo's job is to help people remember your brand name. Focus on that, and then, maybe, if the stars align, you can one day take off the text. But that should be an aspiration, not a design constraint on day one.

</comment><comment><USER9> Possibly they're not talked about because, other than the notion of cohesiveness, they're relatively unimportant compared with "fits perceived image of company", and sometimes entirely the wrong thing to prioritise.

Sure, Nike and adidas and McDonalds have logos which are easily hand drawn from memory, as does the average geometric shape stuck above the text in a half-assed 99designs submission. On the other hand, Coca Cola and KFC are really, really hard to draw properly and yet equally widely remembered and admired (an easy to draw shape also matters a lot less for a logo mostly printed on bottle labels and boxes and meant to convey fidelity to tradition than it does for one cut out of shoe leather and meant to look sleek in motion)

Being _remarkable_ is nice to aspire to, and yet there's nothing remarkable about the Nike or Pepsi logos cited (and whilst you could definitely make a case that the McDonalds "golden arches" logo is, most people familiar with the brand have never seen the architecture of the outlet that inspires it)

And of course, founder CEOs can be as self-aware about the relative unimportance of their own sense of aesthetics as manager CEOs

</comment><comment><USER10> Nitpicking but ..."Quality 3: The Founder Should Like It" is more about getting the logo approved (for a designer) and less about what makes great logo.

Then there's this "This means the designer is responsible for convincing the founder that their solution is the right one."

I found this funny because 25% of my job is usually convincing the client that my designs are good, despite their own (admittedly) bad taste/poor decisions.

</comment><comment><USER11> _most great entrepreneurs, know how to select and trust talented people_

Logos or not, this is the elusive character that I've been unconsciously seeking at companies. Whenever there is a significant mis-estimation or placement of talent/trust in upper management there are recurring issues that are hard to pinpoint. It is not enough to place an amount of trust commensurate with talent, both must be high for effectiveness.

</comment><comment><USER12> I am always wondering to what extent logo and company name matter. Google has rather boring logo yet they are successful. I guess that many people who heard for the first time about mobile apps framework Xamarin thought "hmm, this must be some medicine for diarrhea" but still this tool got pretty popular.

<comment><USER13> Logo and Branding are highly dependent on the success of the company than the other way around. Nike's logo is iconic because of the success of the company, it's not intrinsic to the shape itself. This is something I have to remind all my clients who send me a brief that essentially boils down to "Make me a billon-dollar logo."¹

I then have to remind them that the only way to do that is to actually build a company worth a billion dollars in revenue, then open Photoshop and draw a random squiggle.

¹Most common one is, "I need the logo to be world-class, like Apple or Microsoft."

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Suggesting that "every product, restaurant, and company [having] the exact same label set in the same type with the same colours" is a "Marxist dream" is totally not how that works, though.</comment>