Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/07/technology/alibaba-jack-ma-retiring.html <comment><USER3> "When you are 50 to 60 years old, spend time training and developing young people, the next generation," Ma added. "When you are over 60 years old, you better stay with your grandchildren."

[https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/30/jack-ma-dont-fear-making- mis...](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/30/jack-ma-dont-fear-making-mistakes-in- your-20s-and-30s.html)

<comment><USER4> I actually believe this - he is fulfilling his vision of the stages in life.

Sometimes there are no smokes and mirrors.

<comment><USER5> >Sometimes there are no smokes and mirrors.

This is hilariously ironic considering Alibaba is almost 100% smoke and mirrors.

<comment><USER6> How so?

<comment><USER7> I think they are referring to Alibaba (allegedly) being a front for the Chinese Communist Party to launder money.

<comment><USER5> "Hey, from the latest 20-F (page 118) we know that you've created about 600 new legal entities over the last two years under your "Enhancement" program, getting more friends, family and political cronies involved in the dilution of the Capital Structure. So, I guess my question is "how long is this bullshit going to go on?""

[https://deep-throat-ipo.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-calland- ope...](https://deep-throat-ipo.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-calland-open-letter- to-securities.html)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> > An Alibaba spokesman said Ma remains the company's executive chairman and > will provide transition plans over a significant period of time, contrary to > a New York Times article that said he was "stepping down" to "retire." The > Times story was taken out of context, and factually wrong, the spokesman > said.

[https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163376/jack...](https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163376/jack- ma-remain-alibabas-chairman-succession-plan-younger-talent)

<comment><USER9> Does it surprise you that The NY Times took something out of context and provided factually false info?

<comment><USER10> Yes, it does.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> The brewing trade war can't make running the company easy for Ma, considering Alibaba does more volume than eBay and Amazon combined as a portal to Chinese manufacturers. Taking into account that the company's listed on a US stock exchange yet still has to answer to government regulation back in China, I can't imagine he's having a good time being caught in the middle.

<comment><USER12> They'll be ok, even with the trade war. The majority (about 90%) of Alibaba's sales are domestic (Chinese). The rest is exports (not just to the US though): [https://www.statista.com/statistics/226793/e-commerce- revenu...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/226793/e-commerce-revenue-of- alibabacom/)

And read this if you want to get an idea of where their revenue comes from: [https://www.nasdaq.com/article/alibaba-baba- misses-q1-earnin...](https://www.nasdaq.com/article/alibaba-baba- misses-q1-earnings-estimates-beats-revenues-cm1012568)

<comment><USER13> >The majority (about 90%) of Alibaba's sales are domestic (Chinese)

But how many of those domestic customers get their own paycheck from exports? China is moving towards a more domestic-focused economy, but exports are still a big deal for them.

<comment><USER14> Did you try reading the above linked NASDAQ link?

Total overall revenues:

 _Alibaba reported revenues of RMB80.9 billion (US$12.23 billion), up 61% from the prior-year quarter. Also, revenues came in slightly above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of US$12.25 billion._

Total revenues related to selling exports:

 _· International commerce retail business (6% of the total revenues) - Revenues in the quarter were RMB4.3 billion (US$652 million), increasing 64% year over year. The increase was driven by robust GMV growth in two marketplaces, namely Lazada and AliExpress.

· International commerce wholesale business (2% of the total revenues) - <USER2> business generated revenues of RMB1.8 billion (US$278 million), increasing 14% from the prior-year quarter. The growth was due to an increase in the number of paying members on alibaba.com platform._

So a total of 8% of total revenues were due to selling exports. Plus, it's not clear how much of that revenue is from Lazada, which is not subject to US tariffs because its target market is Southeast Asia. If anything, everyone is suffering from US tariffs, so Lazada can only grow because it's a trade relationship that doesn't depend on the US.

<comment><USER15> I think you misunderstood what they were saying... That it's possible the domestic customers that make up the majority of Alibaba revenue may decrease their spending on the platform if their own incomes rely on exports.

<comment><USER16> as a chinese, we barely rely on export as you may already aware of. domestic economy doesn't change even a bit during trade war. simply because we are LARGE in many perpective. the cost of renting the house or buy one are on a up-hill. you may felt we should be affected, but the fact is that we use your tech(computer engineering) and change our life without much expense of research and development.

<comment><USER17> Everyone hurts from a trade war. As an American, you should know we have seen so much boasting lately that it sounds like the noise of young children.

<comment><USER16> i work in engineering and math so my eco-knowledge is limited. yes it seems we need to boast to keep economy grows and that's what domestic gov do. i am in age 22 and i was in euro 2 years ago, i been to shanghai, hang zhou, and if i may i could judge we haven't been really hurt. personally when i was little i can't afford whole day air-conditioner open, and i so couldn't i drive to anywhere far, but these days my family economy status didn't improve considerablely but appreantly they are cheap

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> The reason Jack Ma is stepping down from Alibaba is that he was becoming too powerful and influencial in China. Jack is very smart and knows that you can build your wealth and power until you begin to threaten the party, then you either need to step down or you will be forcefully taken down.

<comment><USER19> Interesting thought. Can you provide any historical examples of this?

<comment><USER20> You can look at his existing behavior for clues to that being the case. When he took control of Ant Financial from Alibaba, spinning it off, he gave himself 2/3 of the business. That diluted position would still be worth around $80-$90 billion today. Instead of holding onto that, he proceeded to massively dilute his ownership and control of Ant. The reason he did that, is the same reason he was allowed to take it away from Alibaba without proper compensation (Alibaba was majority owned by multiple foreign shareholders): strategic national interest, an edict from the government. The major banks are all directly state controlled. A very large share of all online transactions in China flow through Ant Financial, the government couldn't allow that to remain in one person's hands. Jack got his orders.

In China as a business person it's extremely dangerous to become too powerful or rich, especially now. Maybe you could have gotten away with it 15 years ago. China of today is very different from China of the late 1990s and 2000s.

If Jack Ma had held onto his original contrived Ant position, he'd nearly be the richest person on earth, with a potential chokehold on finance, industry and retail in China. That position could have plausibly been worth several hundred billion dollars to him personally over time. That's not something you want to aspire to currently in China.

<comment><USER21> That process began long before Alibaba ran into problems with Xi's people (and it was a petty dispute with lowest tier retainer)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I hope he's able to make a positive impact on education!

<comment><USER23> with the intensity he speaks and the clarity he has in what he speaks and given the fact he was a teacher, I fully expect him to actually make a positive impact

<comment><USER24> I wish all geeks who want to reform (save) education also had Ma's classroom experience. It's easy to tell other people how to do their jobs. Hard to actually do the job.

<comment><USER25> If I had one grain of wisdom I could impart to most geeks, it would be to impart the value of truly watching and listening.

That thing you're building? Find someone who's _really_ good at the _current_ way it's done.

Sit and watch them. Don't talk, just observe and understand.

After you've sat silently for awhile, then ask any questions you have.

Your product will be immeasurably better in at least one way.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Retire or get offed... Easy choice.

I am wondering how many years has China left, unconstrained kleptocracy can't last more than a few decades.

</comment><comment><USER27> > Ma will remain executive chairman while the plan is carried out. A New York > Times report that said he was "stepping down" to "retire" was out of > context, and factually wrong, an Alibaba spokesman said

[https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163376/jack...](https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163376/jack- ma-remain-alibabas-chairman-succession-plan-younger-talent)

</comment><comment><USER28> Jack Ma will be able to get more stuff done not being burdened by the Alibaba leader position. I guess it's just politics for his hands not to be tied and he could make bigger changes in China.

</comment><comment><USER29> Odds of a financial scandal in the next year?

<comment><USER5> "You couldn't successfully audit a good sized publicly held, domestic US Car Dealership for the fees that PWC Hong Kong charges to audit a global enterprise like Alibaba"

"I have no idea how PWC can audit this mess for the fees they charge. Every year, the hours of work required expand geometrically and the fees come in at about what you'd charge to audit a large US/Domestic publicly traded Car Dealership. Keep this in mind, Alibaba now has 920 Operating Units (Did I mention that?) scattered all over the globe, a massive Capital Structure "Enhancement", with many of these WFOE's and VIE's located in the PRC and all of these entities are audited from the PWC Hong Kong office. If I were trying to audit this we'd have substantial travel, staff time and training on both IFRS and GAAP accounting treatment and methods. All to be researched and applied to myriad business combinations, sales, mergers and divestitures. Incredibly, PWC Hong Kong does the whole thing, including tax services and consulting for US$12.8 million dollars ($13,900 per business unit @ US$12.8 million/920), up from US$ 8.4 Million the prior year. PWC is the the new "Dollar Store" of public accounting."

[https://deep-throat-ipo.blogspot.com/2018/08/the- baba-20-ffi...](https://deep-throat-ipo.blogspot.com/2018/08/the- baba-20-ffinancial-comedy-gold.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Enron 2019 confirmed.

</comment><comment><USER30> Fake News

</comment><comment><USER31> Didn't think Musk would outlast him.

</comment><comment><USER21> >Among China's biggest companies, Alibaba is viewed as one of the firms with the deepest ranks of management talent.

Claim going perpendicular to experience of every Alibaba employee I met.

A person who was singlehandedly running both business development and operations for all of Aliexpress has left the company after 5 years without a promotion.

The co has a reputation for squeezing work enthusiasm out from even most spirited people around.

<comment><USER32> Wouldn't that follow? If your talented management ranks run deep the only way up is out. He may be fantastic at what he does but if everyone above is also fantastic, the best thing you can do is raise compensation. Is that what happened?

<comment><USER33> It's also a huge company and one persons experience with their particular piece of upper management could be very different for 99% of the other people.

It's possible it was just some low-quality middle managers underneath the talent which blocked his recognition as well.

Jobs and wages are not finite resources either. If the person was legitimately producing value for the company, well beyond his own 'cost' to the company then smart management should have been able to find a way to keep him happy. Sometime it even comes down to communicating your value and making sure you're noticed.

Working hard isn't always sufficient on it's own sadly. Sometimes easy for managers to miss and believe that the other people chomping at the bit for the position are just as capable.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> It ain't working that bad so far. I mean we have increasing gap, but the 0.0001%, which arguably is pretty smart, is in the end using both their wealth and wisdom to try to selflessly make the world a better place.

I just checked the numbers and indeed, relative amount of money spend on philanthropy seems to be increasing[1][2], I couldn't find any global numbers though.

1\. [https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&...](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=42)

2\. [https://www.nptrust.org/philanthropic- resources/charitable-g...](https://www.nptrust.org/philanthropic- resources/charitable-giving-statistics/)

<comment><USER35> A Chinese company is probably a bad example since their real wages have been increasing, but do you think relative charity might be increasing because the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer? More people need help and the rich feel the pain less.

<comment><USER34> Just to be super clear, I don't think that the increasing gap is a good thing. I was just commenting on the fact that surprisingly many super rich people decide to go into philanthropy instead of letting their wealth dissolve within their families.

Buffet had a nice, pretty old article about why leaving huge loads of money to your children is a bad idea but I can't find it at the moment.

<comment><USER36> Considering that the gap also means increasing disdain against the rich, I'm not that surprised. Not saying it's all just PR and getting on the good side of the mob, but it's still true that before being revered for his philanthropy, Bill Gates was one of the most hated people in tech.

<comment><USER37> Among other tech people, right? Was he ever hated by random people in South Dakota?</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


The 1970 Kidnapping of an N.Y.U. Computer - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/nyregion/the-mathematicians-who-ended-the-kidnapping-of-an-nyu-computer.html <comment><USER2> I used that very computer a couple of years after these events occurred. It was a CDC 6600.[1]

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_6600](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_6600)

</comment><comment><USER3> I don't particularly like the title the NYT chose. The kidnapping ended when the protestors chose it to end. That, and the fact that when it mentions the occupation, you would think they used math to do it, when in fact it was hardly relevant. Not really clickbait, but not the most clear of titles.

Still, an interesting read of perspectives from a specific time in history. Very interesting that they would choose to target a computer of all things, though I'm guessing one of the men arrested must have been aware of its value.

<comment><USER4> _The kidnapping ended when the protestors chose it to end_

Well, no, it didn't _really_ end until the staff disarmed the bomb the protesters left behind.

What a bunch of feckless asshats. Lucky ones, too, since it appears that nobody served more than three months of prison time as a result.

<comment><USER3> It is true that they did save it; maybe I'm just being overly nitpicky. And yeah, these days the improvised bomb part would have gotten then in huge trouble on its own, though I'm guessing the whole hostage situation was dealt with more lightly because of the political context of the time.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4>
       "You have to understand we were caught up in this whole
       movement," he said last week in a telephone interview.
       "This was reaction to Nixon's invasion of Cambodia.
       There was a wave of protests everywhere. We thought it
       was important to do as much as we could to register that
       protest, and that's what we did."

Wow. The next time there's something as worthy of protest as the Vietnam War, I certainly hope we're smarter about how we protest it than these nitwits were.

This story reminded me of the time the Earth Liberation Front protested genetic engineering by firebombing a greenhouse ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington_fireb...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington_firebombing_incident)).

<comment><USER4> I would _kill_ to hear the explanation behind these downmods.

Because apparently it's cool to employ violence whenever you think it might do some good.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: How Do You Blog? - <AUTHOR> Questions (pick 1...n):
1. What's your process?
2. How did you start? What was hard? What was easy?
3. How do you stay motivated? Do you?
Bonus:
4. What were the struggles you had to overcome to develop a regular writing habit (e.g. shyness, self-consciousness, poor time management skills, etc...)? How did you do it? <comment><USER2> I don't know if my situation fits yours. I'm a crazy person.

My wiki ([https://philosopher.life](https://philosopher.life)) started out as a non-linear letter. That seed grew into a vine and then a garden. I write every day, even when I don't want to. I talk to myself and those who matter to me (even those I've not yet met or never will). I write because the stories we tell and retell ourselves and others are objectively valuable. I consider it my moral obligation and vocation to read, think, and write.

<comment><USER3> I couldn't really navigate your blog easily. Any posts you'd like to point me to that you think are good?

<comment><USER2> Blog is perhaps too weak a term; it is far more than that. I'm sorry that it's not intuitive or polished. It really isn't everyone's cup of tea. In a way, it is difficult to navigate because it's huge (much larger than most people would predict). There are currently +12,000 different pages inside the html file. Even the questions of what I think is Good, what is good in the wiki, and what it is good for, are core problems I wrestle with quite a bit inside it. I suggest that if it were to be useful to you, it would be in virtue of your patience and curiosity. I'm not trying to be obscure here, and it's not a mere game. I just don't know how to say it any better. I recommend wandering the entrance.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I write [https://wordsandbuttons.online/](https://wordsandbuttons.online/) \- a blog with interactive elements about maths and programming.

1\. Fishing an idea, investigating the details, programming a sketch of interactive elements. Then writing, and fitting the explorables to the narrative. Then editing. Then editing. And then editing. Then publishing, and apologizing for all the typos, errors, and mistakes that slipped through the editing process.

2\. I started writing for the university newspaper back in college and the habit stuck. The hardest part for me is writing in English. I don't have the fully developed sense of language so it's like cooking without the sense of smell. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it smells fish. I just can't tell. Programming and maintaining my own "platform" appeared to be much easier than it looks.

3\. There are two great motivational powers: making people you like happy; and proving people that don't believe in you wrong.

4\. In my case it was simple. When I was young, I couldn't stay doing anything regularly. Not only writing but exercising, learning, going to work, all that things. But people around me who were older didn't seem to have any trouble with that. So I just decided to get older. And I did. Eventually. Now writing and programming for the blog is just something that I do daily after work and on Saturdays.

</comment><comment><USER5> 1\. Most of the times I have (at least) 1 active coding project. While working on it, I note down whatever I consider "interesting" (i.e. something I figured out that might be of interest for other devs).

2\. I had "Oh, this might be interesting for others!" moments too many times.

3\. At the beginning it's easy (excitement). Then you need determination and consistency to keep doing it. I guess my list keeps growing, so I keep blogging.

4\. Shyness. Imposter syndrome. Then I realised that it's fine to be wrong sometimes. Worst-case scenario is that someone will tell you it's wrong and you will learn something new.

My blog: [https://www.rockandnull.com](https://www.rockandnull.com)

</comment><comment><USER6> I just started [https://journal.petrausch.info/](https://journal.petrausch.info/)

As the name indicates I try to run it as a public journal. I write down stuff I learned without setting me any targets. The target audience is myself. In the last years I solved a lot of problems and just forgot the details. Local Journaling tooling had a bad search. So I started the public journal to leverage the Google search.

</comment><comment><USER7> Yes.

1\. I get fascinated by some idea, start dumping notes about it, and over time turn them into a text - often in burst sessions where I output a lot of text, and then it either goes immediately up, or (if I care more) I let it lie for a few days, and then review and edit it.

2\. Back when I was a kid and was learning programming to make games, everyone in the local gamedev scene had a "dev blog", so I wanted to have one too.

3\. I don't. Every now and then I feel I finally have something to write about (see point 4.), and when that feeling becomes overwhelming, I sit down and craft a post.

4\. I didn't. The main struggle I have now: I feel I have nothing to write about that isn't already written much better by people much smarter than me. I don't feel the need to write for myself only - I have a folder named "mind- dumps" full of .org files, into which I stream my thoughts regularly. So if I want to publish something on my blog, I have to feel it's a contribution to the greater web of information. Curiously, I didn't have this problem as a kid - I'd just write down the things I've learned, mostly to show off to my friends who also had dev blogs and also wrote about things they've learned.

</comment><comment><USER8> 4\. What were the struggles you had to overcome to develop a regular writing habit (e.g. shyness, self-consciousness, poor time management skills, etc...)? How did you do it?

One thing that I've found helps is to set aside a specific time of day or week for and to create associated habits with your writing habit.

Maybe that's writing after you take a shower in the morning or after you brush your teeth - or maybe even after brushing your teeth but before showering. Maybe it's to always eat a specific breakfast before or while you write. If you write better or more willingly while under the influence of something (i.e. caffeine, THC, CBD, alcohol) remember to do that to start a writing sesh. YMMV but any sort of Pavlovian push in the right direction can't hurt, right?

PS: A lot of my examples are morning-centric because many writers report that early morning writing is best for them.[1]

[1] [https://jamesclear.com/daily-routines- writers](https://jamesclear.com/daily-routines-writers)

</comment><comment><USER9> I've been blogging about programming on Medium for 6 months now. I'm a part of the partner program, and I'm able to make about $100 a month, and tey to publish an article a month. This is probably where my motivation comes from, since I know I'm going to make at least a little money from the time it took me to write the blog. However I also publish some more articles on my personal site ([https://tdom.dev](https://tdom.dev)), since I'm not really a fan of medium. It's only good for reaching an audience. I would rather make 0 from my personal blog and get thes same amount of views as on medium, but oh well.

<comment><USER10> As long as you are reaching an audience right!

I like [https://dev.to](https://dev.to) for the same reason. There is no pay but still motivating for sure

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I had been meaning to blog for a long time. But I always found setting up my own blog to be cumbersome. Last summer I heard about Substack and just started writing. They make it quite easy. I used to write whenever I felt like it and then I started to do it once a week. It's certainly become more of a habit now and I am always thinking about what to write next.

I have always been obsessed about the stock market so that's what I started writing about: [https://playingfordoubles.substack.com/](https://playingfordoubles.substack.com/)

It's been a fun journey. It's fun to go back in time and have a diary of what I was thinking re: investment ideas and investment philosophy, and how things played out.

To answer your questions more directly 1) Process -- i try to have a list of topics and a date I want to publish by. I try to do my writing in 2 or 3 sittings. I dont write everyday.

2) I think I answered above.

3) At first it was a personal commitment to myself, then i started telling a few people about it, and now i guess its a combination of seeing more people reading the articles and also not wanting to lose my habit of writing every week.

4) Struggles - it's been a big time commitment. Also, yes, it's a bit odd to put yourself out there but now I actually use it to my advantage - since I write about stocks, if I dont feel comfortable writing about something, I probably shouldn't be investing that way!

</comment><comment><USER12> I write the blog: [http://DataGenetics.com](http://DataGenetics.com)

1\. Process: I keep a task list (using google tools) with a list of topic ideas. When I think of something I want to write about, or find interesting links, I place them there. There's typically about two dozen ideas at any time incubating.

2\. Start: I started the blog about a dozen years ago as a way to add depth to my website that was the front-end for my consulting business. I stopped consulting shortly after starting, and am now retired, but I keep the blog up on that site; I've built a following. It was easy to start. Ideas are easy; the hard part is finding the free time to write!

3\. Motivation. I love doing it. I get pleasure from writing. When I was a kid, I loved reading the works of Martin Gardner. I hope my blog could be seen some way as an homage to his works.

4\. No real struggles, but I made a conscious choice to not enable comments on my site. Comments will get you down. Everyone is a critic. Jerks will say "that's not special, I could have don that" (hmmm, but you didn't). My email address is not hard to find on the site if you want to get in contact with me. Don't fret too much about publishing; do what is right for you. There is a whole spectrum of 'advice' from people saying regular rapid cadence (even if you have nothing to say), through to only publish gems. I typically average about one post a week. Some of my posts are lightweight, others are heavyweights.

<comment><USER13> This is one of my favorite blogs. It's very well written. Thank you for sharing these interesting problems.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> 1\. For years I would simply start writing about stuff I was interested in. Now, I research more and write outlines, so I get more information density.

2\. I signed up on dev.to and wrote stuff about React/Webpack, because that was what I was working with at that time.

3\. Success motivated me. I started in 2017 and since then I got a book deal and starting in 2020 my main income is from blogging.

4\. Regularly finding new topics was my main problem.

[https://kay.is](https://kay.is)

</comment><comment><USER15> I used to blog quite regularly about a decade ago - but somewhere during my final year of uni I became insanely busy plus lost motivation. and it watered down with just a few occasional blogpost inbetween either for myself of guest blogposts for companies.

Since about half a year ago I blog semi-regularly on Medium. I know a lot of people on here don't like Medium links - although I had a few on the frontpage which was motivating.

To answer your questions:

1) I don't have a concrete one - I stumble something that peeks my interest, I try to understand the topic and then write down my thoughts on medium. Most of it is about Go.

2) I started in high school thinking my blogposts might help someone. I followed a lot of blogs myself and just liked the idea. It wasn't hard to start - as a teenager you always think you know everything so you're pretty careless. That didn't stay. :P

3) Honestly - I have no good answer to this because I regularly lose motivation. What I will say though - for all the dislike towards medium - seeing my stats does make me want to write more. A few of my blogposts are spontaniously shared on reddit / twitter, and are the first search result in google. So it generates daily traffic. I enjoy the idea that I'm actually helping people find an answer.

</comment><comment><USER16> 1\. I write on nights and weekends in short scheduled blocks of time. Our blog is about scaling product and engineering at a hypergrowth startup, and I've kept a running list of things that I've learned for about 5 years (over 50 pages of notes). When I want more content, I pull inspiration from that list.

2\. It wasn't hard to start, you just need to stay motivated. I also highly recommend picking a stupidly simple stack for your blog. Do not let technology choices or rabbit holes get in the way of writing! We use Jekyll + Gitlab for CD, you can see it here at [https://staysaasy.com/](https://staysaasy.com/) and it's stupidly simple and free to maintain.

3\. My engineering counterpart and I write our blog together. We're partners/counterparts at work and on our blog, and it's a huge motivator to have a partner in crime. I highly recommend this step!

4\. In order to write more candidly about potentially sensitive management/leadership topics, we write anonymously as our company is reasonably well known in tech circles. Discipline is the key. Block time and take notes on what you want to write about so that you're never lacking in inspiration.

</comment><comment> j-kent I'm just getting started, but here's my process so far. I've found that an idea for a post will just strike suddenly, usually at inopportune times for writing. So I try to capture as much as I can in that moment using voice-to- text on my phone using google keep or google docs. I also have keep a list of ideas and topics in google docs that I can capture if I'm on my work computer or on my phone.

Once I have my ideas a bit organized and some time to write I'll look through the list and pick one that still speaks to me. I'll start with an outline of the main points that I want to hit and from there it just feels natural to fill it out.

I think the most important thing to do when blogging is to actually decide to write, and not futz around with all the other technical things involved. Do what you need to do to get your blog up and running and compartmentalize the writing from that other stuff (hosting, plugins, analytics, etc.). You can spend weeks just messing with that stuff and not have a single article posted.

P.S. I'm using a Jekyll template hosted on Github pages to power my blog. it was the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to get up and running IMHO. I'm never going back to wordpress.

</comment><comment><USER17> I started by reading blogs. I wanted to contribute back to the same ecosystem that taught me so much (and I liked writing), so I started blogging about side projects on Blogger.

I soon found Digital Ocean's writing program. They were paying $200 for blog posts, which was a lot as a student in South Africa.

Money was fairly motivating, but soon the long and slow editing process got tiring, so I started freelance blogging for a few other sites instead.

Then I created GitHub page[0] with links to places that pay for writing and links to some resources I enjoyed for learning how to write better.

Now I'm convinced that the fact that more and more companies are paying amateur bloggers for content means that there's a nieche for more professionally written content, so (shameless plug) I launched Ritza[1] (I'm focussing on it full time from today only, so it's still very rough!)

[0] [https://github.com/sixhobbits/technical- writing/blob/master/...](https://github.com/sixhobbits/technical- writing/blob/master/write-for-us.md)

[1] [https://ritza.co](https://ritza.co)

<comment><USER18> Do you have tips for making money through technical writing other than writing for Digital Ocean or starting your own shop?

Student and writing enthusiast here

<comment><USER17> the github links to a bunch of other places that also pay. There is also whopaystechnicalwriters.com which has a link to a book that Philip recently published with more thorough advice.

otherwise write, write, write. There exists no method that will make you a better writer than writing a million words. (loosely paraphrasing patio11). Once you have published something it is much easier to find follow on clients. Publishers like PacktPub, Apress etc will usually happily take on inexperienced writers. They don't pay that well but they'll push you hard to get words out the door.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> 1\. Pick a topic -> look into topic -> write about topic -> post topic -> revise as I feel like it

Internet is an interesting medium because once it's out there, it's not really out there forever. You can change it as much as you want.

I started after reading that having a blog was beneficial. This was from a perspective of building a personal brand. At the beginning I was trying to do 1 per week, but I became burnt out on that, and noticed I wasn't really pursuing things I cared about.

I'm trying to get back into it this year, and only writing about stuff that actually catches my interest. This leads to having an irregular writing schedule. This is considered bad practice for building a brand, but I'm no longer worried about building a brand. I want to have a place to put my thoughts together, and put out there when I happen to have them.

Even with this change in perspective I've noticed my ability to write posts has gotten much better from when I started.

Simple: Gatsby.js, github, netlify stack at [https://carlchesterlloyd.com/](https://carlchesterlloyd.com/)

<comment><USER20> I agree that once I stopped being ego driven, quality went up. Weirdly this also happened when I stopped worrying about my career, I got better at doing my job (less stress)

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Here's my process wrt [https://reframing.substack.com/](https://reframing.substack.com/):

1\. Get an idea, write it down in Notes, mull over it for 2-3 weeks, do research and create an outline, write the article

2\. I had something to get out there, so I wrote something on Friday. Committed to myself that I'd do the same next week and I'm now 4 weeks in.

3\. I think of it as sharpening my writing muscle, especially with regard to what topics I choose and how I tell that story. I'm willing to consider a lot of my current work as a "throwaway" until I get better at my craft. Eventually, I'll develop a proper audience and hopefully, something will go viral.

4\. Perfectionism was a big one, previously I would always put things off until they're perfect. Now I have to ship every Friday so I'm less focused on getting it perfect. Another was that the story I want to tell shifts while writing it, hopefully, I get better at this over time.

</comment><comment><USER22> I mostly do link dumping at [https://plurrrr.com/](https://plurrrr.com/). I wrote the static blog generator that it uses myself, it's available at [https://github.com/john-bokma/tumblelog](https://github.com/john- bokma/tumblelog)

</comment><comment><USER23> 1\. I keep a percolating list of subjects -- writing fiction (SF&F), movies/books, philosophy (Zen in particular) -- and whenever I get a seed for a post, I just write down a blurb of it as a draft and then expand on it later. I may have more ideas than I can do justice to at any one time, but that's part of how the gears keep turning: there's never a shortage of material.

2\. I started blogging a long time ago -- more than 20 years, really -- but I was highly scattershot for a long time, and I'm not proud of a lot of the material I put out until about a decade or so ago. Focusing on a few topics of deep personal interest helped.

3\. See last sentence of #2.

4\. My biggest struggle was not feeling like I had nothing to offer anyone in terms of insight or whatnot. Eventually, I decided whatever it was that was _mine_ would be more than enough.

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

</comment><comment><USER24> 1\. Almost any non-trivial task I perform, I open a file in my code editor (Sublime) and start documenting what I'm doing (order and notes about the process) in Markdown.

If I think it's interesting and/or would be helpful to share so others don't have to spend the time I did trying to figure out how to do the same thing (half the time yes, half no), I'll copy and paste the markdown into a new blog post on my Drupal-powered blog, jeffgeerling.com.

If I have the time, I'll spend 10 min to 1 hour cleaning up the text and getting it to 'publish'able form, and publish the post. Every so often, if I think it's a post worth sharing more widely, I'll hold off on publishing until mid-morning US Eastern time on a weekday as around that time seems to give my writing more traction if posted on HN/Reddit/Twitter/etc. Otherwise many articles just go into the void, but get picked up by random obscure Google searches.

2\. I started writing in high school, just posting journal-style updates. In college I started posting some of these on a Xanga blog. Then I switched to a generated HTML blog, and for the past 8 years I've been using Drupal so I can easily edit on my phone as needed and have comments built in. The hardest part is writing, it's always hard to put down words that I'm okay with publishing. And choosing whether to actually publish what I write or not. It's also hard to keep comments from being horrible spam mess, which is why most people don't allow them. I think they provide a ton of benefit (especially for old content that would otherwise get stale and worthless) if you moderate them like I do, though, so I keep them.

3\. I stay motivated by finding my own blog posts in Google Search after Google Search—so many times I have to solve the same problem over and over again. The blog is kind of my brain dump, over time, so I devote less of my memory trying to remember random complex processes and more time doing new things.

</comment><comment><USER25> Re: #3 and #4, I just write when I have something I feel is worth sharing. Sometimes that happens twice in one week; sometimes I go a month or two without writing anything. I don't guilt myself about it. It's easy to be motivated when your own desire to share ideas is the only motivating force.

</comment><comment><USER26> My personal site is [https://www.michael1e.com/](https://www.michael1e.com/). I have my Bear app open on the side for quick notes. Sometimes, those notes will turn into a blog post.

1\. I usually write up about things I learned while trying to figure out problems. 2\. I started when I realized I googled things more than 3 times. I'd rather not google and have a knowledge base where I can do a quick search. 3\. I went from a few post a year, to maybe once every week. It's not easy at all. 4\. It's hard to write because I don't want to sound stupid or I worry that my writing doesn't make sense.

</comment><comment><USER27> I run a few blogs. When I don't have an inspiration, I switch to another. One I don't feel like blogging, I simply do some technical stuff. [https://unusualplaces.org](https://unusualplaces.org) [https://weirdrussia.com](https://weirdrussia.com) [https://tbilisi.blog](https://tbilisi.blog)

</comment><comment><USER28> When I started playing around with Raspberry Pi I had the problem that I had to re-solve problems I had solved before but couldn't remember quite how and had to re-google everything.

So I started my blog to document how I did it. This and work stories made it semi popular.

I added an email list last year and got a few thousand people signed up. Now I'm really concious about what to blog about or when I blog about something I am very hesitant to send the new post out to my subscribers. So that impacted me in a slightly negative way

[https://blog.haschek.at](https://blog.haschek.at)

</comment><comment><USER29> I've always had a passion for writing and started in school. During my studies at the university, I kept improving my writing skills and sought opportunities to get published. Now I blog at [https://custom- writing.org/blog](https://custom-writing.org/blog) helping students in their studying.

I always feel motivated and there are not many difficulties for me in the process.

</comment><comment><USER30> 1\. I write something when I'm in the mood and have done something tech- related I think others would stumble upon.

2\. I just made a github page for my domain. Easy.

3\. Going back to 1, it's all about my mood. If I've done something that I think others would benefit from, I'll probably do a quick write-up.

4\. I've always been writing on the internets, probably because I'm deaf and have always turned to the internet for communication.

My blog albeit small is [https://veb.co.nz](https://veb.co.nz)

</comment><comment><USER31> I run the blog, [http://blog.adnansiddiqi.me](http://blog.adnansiddiqi.me)

The main purpose of the blog to record what I learn. This blog also helped me to earn money directly and indirectly.

The process is simple: say I want to learn about Kafka and it's python library, I will study and make a toy app and will write all about it. After that I promote it on social media, medium etc.

</comment><comment><USER32> > 1\. What's your process?

Whenever I come across something that I find especially interesting (for me!) at work, I just write an article. I actually have a backlog of interesting stuff I'd like to blog about, so the subjects are not in short supply :-)

2\. How did you start? What was hard? What was easy?

Started 3/4 years ago. It's been always easy, although, I'm quite obsessive about the precision and depth of the subjects I write. In edge cases, I can pour dozens of hours into an article.

Also, sometimes it happens that research for an article leads to nowhere, for example because the article would end up being nothing interesting. Or because I'm not knowledgeable enough, and it's not practically possible to gather the knowledge required to write a consitently good article.

Some stats: almost 50 articles, around 74k words, currently 6k pageviews/month.

3\. How do you stay motivated? Do you?

Generally speaking, I do enjoy writing, although I definitely need to handle: 1. the stress of writing subjects that take dozens of hours to research and write 2. the loss of attractiveness that happens to subjects over time.

My best strategy for 2., has been to write _immediately_ about a subject, if I decide to write about it.

Definitely, rather than thinking "how to motivate myself to write an article", I think in terms of "how to remove the demotivating factors".

Regarding the external motivations, seeing the traffic growing is very satisfying, and it also brought me as a speaker to a famous conference, but it wouldn't motivate me if I wouldn't like to write.

4\. What were the struggles you had to overcome to develop a regular writing habit (e.g. shyness, self-consciousness, poor time management skills, etc...)? How did you do it?

Wrote in this in point 3. Something that may be worth adding, is that I write an article more or less once a month. It's quite comfortable as a rhythm, although of course, spending 8+ hours on something, even once a month, may be too stressful in the long term for some.

A consideration worth pointing out, after a quick glance at other posts, is that there are different article styles. I can't write an article in an hour even when I fully know the subject, because when I write 1. I extend the breadth and depth of the subject, 2. I may experiment for the fun of it 3. but also because there's lots of "padding" due to creating a path for the reader to make them easy to fully understand the subject.

</comment><comment><USER33> There's two kinds of blogs I write. Quick thought or deep dives.

For 'quick thoughts' the process I put myself into is 'write an email to a colleague' on the topic. If I can't write a draft in 30-60 mins, it's something I abandon it and don't stress about abandoning it. Maybe it'll change my thinking and still be a useful exercise.

For 'deep dives' this is closer to short book chapter. I start a Google Doc and chip away at it a bit at a time, get editor input, and end up chopping it in half 2-3 times! :)

I journal every night. And sometimes this is the stuff of proto blog posts. Mostly it's personal. But I do often get ideas from what I write.

On motivation,

Honestly my motivation comes from the love of coding & technology. If something lights me on fire, and really makes me excited, I feel like I really need to share. You can't hold me back!

Writing feels fairly natural to me. Like writing code. I can just jump into a project and start editing it and picking it up. Much like writing code, I often either get into 'refactoring' mode where I'm editing what I wrote previously. Or I start continuing on what I'm writing. It doesn't take much to start seeing what's wrong and start contributing...

Sorry, I don't have a lot of insight here. I have been writing a lot for a long time, and having a liberal arts background, they grill you to write, write, write!

On planning,

I find writers fall in a spectrum of gestalt, 'start writing' and let the structure fall out of the writing. Or on the other hand, people that outline down to the sentence level. I tend to be in the former, more gestalt category.

On editing,

For personal blogs, I have a group of friends that review each other's posts and offer suggestions. Usually not at the copy-editing level, but more at the conceptual level...

For company blogs, we have a PR firm that can help edit and offer suggestions for different 'personas' in our corporatists blog audience. I also have colleagues edit.

I regularly dark-launch my blog articles, share with close friends, and they point out my glaring typos, etc that evaded all editing.

On a 'regular habit',

I got a liberal arts degree (history!). Imagine instead of coding projects, you had writing projects. You had to write persuasively with lots of deadlines. My interest in history since high school really drove a lot of writing.

The best course I had was a senior touchpoint where we had to write our opinions on a single page. Very challenging experience to persuasively make your point in one page! We would workshop these and share them in a close group, and give good feedback.

I also found a supportive environment of peers at work that encourage writing

</comment><comment><USER34> 1.I usually try to write about things that both interest me and wish I have found when I started learning about subject X, the process is mostly doing a lot of reading and working out the ideas for example the most recent thing I published was a primer series about zkProofs.I did about 7 months of studying (largely sparse about ~1400 hours). I then start by writing multiple drafts, updating as I go, I have terrible writing skills but I try to accomodate as I go. I also tend to use pen and paper to develop any math that I need to explain.

2\. I started following the advice of Andrew Trask, blogged about HE when I was studying the topic first, then a few posts about Deep Learning.I wouldn't stick a difficulty level to it,to be fair writing largely depends on the person, _I think_ , for me it was hard because I was in a hurry to post and get feedback and trying to take my time so as not to do stupid things.

3\. Motivation isn't something I feel like I can control but when doing the writing, _not the research_ , I try to do it every morning.

4\. The thing I struggle most with is mental illness (Inattentive ADHD, Depression, Anxiety) hardest part is time management and overcoming the fear of humiliation, my fix for the first was to make the _writing week_ a routine, first thing after breakfast I spend a few hours writing and editing the latter I just faced it and published (great insofar).

Although I am not proud of my writing it gives me a tangible evaluation of what I learned in the past X weeks/months, like an exam. I also write things I don't publish such as sort essays, diaries or ramblings these I just put in notebooks.

A few more thoughts, I would say that getting your blogging process setup ready before you even start thinking about subjects helps along the way.This saves time later, I jumped between a few platforms but now I publish on write.as because it has markdown + latex without all the hassle.

I'd also recommend not to think of it as a duty but a creative adventure, something you do when you feel like. I tend to only write about niche topics or things I've been learning and related to tech (for example I've never blogged about physics or mathematics even though I keep studying both subjects).

Best of luck in your endeavors !

\- Edit (some posts I've written) :

\- [https://radicalrafi.github.io/posts/more-homomorphic- encrypt...](https://radicalrafi.github.io/posts/more-homomorphic-encryption/)

\- [https://radicalrafi.github.io/posts/homomorphic- encryption/](https://radicalrafi.github.io/posts/homomorphic-encryption/)

\- [https://radicalrafi.github.io/posts/secret- sharing/](https://radicalrafi.github.io/posts/secret-sharing/)

\- [https://write.as/knowledgeprover/zero-knowledge-proof- system...](https://write.as/knowledgeprover/zero-knowledge-proof-systems-a- primer)

</comment><comment><USER35> I am big into video games, and a couple of years ago I found a blog that really resonated with me. Same type of games that I want to play, and they were all fairly old. A couple of years ago I stopped playing modern video games and just kind of stuck in the past, and didn't have anyone to talk about them with, so I'd comment on this blog I used to read about older games and made some good friends that way.

Eventually I want to talk about my own gaming experiences, but mostly I wanted a place to log my thoughts about games I was playing, games that were coming out, and basically have a place that I could go to to trigger my own happy nostalgic thoughts experiences, but mostly I wanted a place to log my thoughts about games I was playing, games that were coming out, and basically have a place that I could go to to trigger my own happy nostalgic thoughts.

I'll be honest, I really wish I had chosen a different name, but I bought the WordPress plan already so I settled on [https://www.nostalgiatrigger.com](https://www.nostalgiatrigger.com). It doesn't roll off the tongue nor would it be the average person's cup of tea, but for the 5-6 people who comment and leave feedback, it's a cool little community.

Anyway, this is just my experience and it doesn't really answer the OPs original questions. If I go back and read my old material, it really comes off as pretentious and just overall atrocious, so to probably echo what everybody else is saying here, the trick is to just write as much as possible and don't try to focus on things like length or flow on the first time through. In fact don't even worry about editing anything, the editor will highlight any misspellings or grammatical errors, so let your mind go into stream of consciousness mode, just to get ideas down on paper.

Oh! And a recent tip for something that I've started doing a few months ago (typically while writing down initial thoughts while I'm playing a game for the first time), I leave Notes open on my phone so I can easily tap the microphone and speak sentences straight into a first draft. I realized that I spent the most time trying to figure out how to phrase certain things on the first draft, so by getting out actual well formed sentences as they came to me while I was playing a game, I was essentially removing the hardest part of writing from the equation.

I've been running this blog for about five or six years now, and also did some longform game review writing I've been running this blog for about five or six years now, and also did some longform game review writing on [https://www.thewellredmage.com](https://www.thewellredmage.com) a few years back, and getting started on a blank canvas is always the hardest part. So whatever works for you, try taking YOUR "hardest part" out of the equation.

</comment><comment><USER36> 1\. Process:

I usually write about things that interest me or things that I think will be useful to someone else. For example I have a series of articles that supplement an existing learning tool for a popular programming language. I wrote the articles as I worked my way through the tutorials as a way to solidify my own comprehension.

2\. How I got started:

I used to write a pseudonym blog on a subject that was controversial at the time but no longer is. That was with Blogger. I haven't touched in a decade but it's still out there.

For my blog under my own name I set up a WordPress site with Bluehost initially because it was easy and inexpensive. The low cost hosting on Bluehost leaves a lot to be desired and I eventually migrated to my own self- hosted solution. My self-hosted solution works well, but every now and then there is an issue to troubleshoot. Most people will consider my self-hosted solution to be overkill and I can't really disagree. I used a small Kubernetes cluster on Digital Ocean. The setup was easy enough. But I already had a lot of Kubernetes ops experience so there wasn't much of a learning curve. I would not recommend this to others. My reason for doing this is that my blog is just one of the apps hosted in the cluster. I kind of use it as a show piece for my work.

The hard part is when things go wrong. It can be kind of stressful to know that you traffic is suffering because of an issue that you are trying to resolve. Luckily, I've never had a traffic interruption to my blog, but I've borked things up with other apps a time or two.

3\. Staying Motivated:

I'll be honest this part is difficult. I really don't have that much content. I posted my 49th article yesterday and I've been at it since 2016. Some years I only published a couple of articles. So far I'm at 44,936 words total. I try to focus on quality over quantity. I write some short posts but usually my posts are 1500 words or more.

One thing I do is write down ideas for blog articles in a journal. Every now and then I actually write one of those. I have far more unwritten articles.

4\. Struggles:

Since my blog is under my real name I find that I am much more self-conscious compared to writing under a pseudonym. I generally tend to be selective about what articles I share because I don't really care for getting lit up by rude comments on social media sites. I'll usually try to seek out feedback in niche areas and small groups before I share with a larger audience. I'm always surprised by when an article becomes popular and I've had it happen a couple of times. It's always nice.

I'm also generally selective about what topics I'll write about. I rarely write opinion pieces or about controversial subjects because I don't want a potential employer to get the wrong idea. When I do I am careful about the language and tone that I use.</comment>


HIV as you've never seen it before - <AUTHOR> http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/nstv/2011/02/hiv-as-youve-never-seen-it-before.html <comment><USER2> That looks very complex for a structure. Are other viruses this elaborate in structure?

I have very limited knowledge of biology.

<comment><USER3> HIV is fairly large and complicated for a virus.

<comment><USER2> I just read on wikipedia about SIVcpz. Do you know if its structure is of similar complexity?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Am I the only one who thinks that actually looked creepy?

<comment><USER5> I thought it looked cuddly.

<comment><USER6> I wouldn't use the word "cuddly" to describe it, but the texture did remind me of a plush doll.

<comment><USER7> speaking of HIV and plush :) <http://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/hiv.html>

My ex got me one of those as a joke.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Incredible. The diameter of the HIV virus is ~90nm [1]

[1] <http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=90+nm>

</comment><comment><USER9> Is it at all ironic that it looks like the Death Star?

</comment><comment><USER10> A Web GL version of that model would be very welcome.

<comment><USER8> There is an older 3d Java simulation at <http://www.mcld.co.uk/hiv/?q=3D%20HIV></comment></comment>


Ask HN: As a non-tech solo founder, should I hire this dev to build my MVP? - <AUTHOR>

I've been working on an idea for a web app over the past several months, creating detailed mockups and designing the framework and functionality.  My goal is to build a company out of it as I believe the concept has potential and is built to fulfill a direct need I have in my full time job.  I have just started learning the basics of programming but feel that I wouldn't be able to reach the level of proficiency necessary to hack together a suitable MVP within any reasonable amount of time.  I have a bit of money saved up so I'm looking to hire somebody to build it for me.
I spoke with a Rails developer tonight who I was referred to by a freelance dev I met with to hash out the details of a functional spec, who has a lot of experience and is available to work on the project.  I am excited to learn more about his capabilities but find myself at a crossroads:
Do I pay a higher hourly rate now and get a clean app out there in the wild, or do I find somebody on elance or guru who will do it for cheap but might not be as clean?  As a non-tech founder, the goal is to gain enough traction with the app to eventually attract devs to work on it in a co-founder/CTO type role.  I have a bit of $ but not infinite and would definitely need a fair amount for legal fees and other costs associated with the business.  Curious to hear from anybody who has been in a similar situation before, or who has good advice to offer. <comment><USER2> Rails devs are a dime a dozen so unless you are attempting to entice one to join your company you shouldn't pay a high rate. There's no reason you couldn't find a good dev on elance etc. It might take you longer and you might have to start with offering smaller tasks until you find that right dev but it could end up being a quarter the cost.

If I was you AND I was in a rush AND I thought this particular dev may end up being interested in joining forces as a co-founder I'd consider paying him the high rate. Otherwise I'd offshore it.

</comment><comment><USER3> Unless you have prior experience in extracting exactly what you want from places like elance or guru, I say go with the Rails dev you spoke with/met.

</comment><comment><USER4> If he did ever completed a project like that from start to finnish, offer him 50% equity (less what you pay him up front)

If not, elance et all will give you same results.</comment>


Ask HN: Side Projects Gone Big - <AUTHOR>

This Ask HN made for a great thread a few years ago [1].<p>To quote from the original "I've heard many of you love to create side projects for fun, but I also heard that few of them actually took off and grow into a profitable business. So feel free to list if you have any. Statistics will be welcomed as well!"<p>[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1772224 <comment><USER2> www.lessonwell.com

I wouldn't say that this project of mine is "big" in the canonical sense, and it is only meagerly "profitable" by a loose interpretation of the word; but this has been a huge side project from my personal point of view. Essentially, I started this when I was teaching high school full-time and needed a better website for my calculus class. The "big" impact of this project is that it opened a door to a new career for me: I'm now a full-time software engineer and thus measure its profits on the order of my current salary, which is hugely significant to me.

</comment><comment><USER3> [http://grabaperch.com](http://grabaperch.com)

Started life as a side project of our consulting business, is now all that we do. Not big as in making us millionaires big, but it's a profitable business. I wrote about a lot of the story of Perch and the stuff we learned in my book (another side project!) [http://rachelandrew.co.uk/books/the-profitable-side- project](http://rachelandrew.co.uk/books/the-profitable-side-project)

</comment><comment><USER4> [https://www.expeditedssl.com](https://www.expeditedssl.com)

A Heroku add-on I made at assist with SSL installation. Really deliberately chose to build in someone else's ecosystem where I wouldn't have so much to do myself.</comment>


Ask HN single founders: How do you go on vacation? - <AUTHOR>

How do you take care of your startup (customer support especially) while you go on vacation? Or do you stay plugged in throughout your vacation anyway? <comment><USER2> A vacation is just a special case for a workday, right? If you're spending a lot of time daily on customer support, that is trading off with higher-impact scalable activities you could be doing, so you _probably_ want to minimize that. After you've minimized it, who cares if you're doing it from your office or from a hotel?

The most irksome thing about my work during my recent vacation was lugging my laptop everywhere. Apparently I banged it against something and now Dell is busy fixing it for me for $500. Grr. But other than that, it certainly wasn't preventing us from having a nice time.

Also, there are a lot of activities which aren't as critical as you think they are. I was used to doing bug fixes the day they were reported. That's nice, but that's not a law of nature, and you probably don't want to make your customers think it will always happen. If someone reports a bug during vacation and it isn't killing someone or taking the site down just tell them "Thank you. I'll see to it after I get back from vacation."

<comment><USER3> It sounds like you have an awesome lifestyle, but I'm not sure I agree with your definition of a vacation.

For me, the new definition of a vacation is being completely unplugged. Granted I don't have my own business yet, so presumably daily check-ins are OK/necessary - but even then I'm not sure I could properly 'disconnect' and relax.

It worries me that even for relatively low-level staff it's not uncommon to get email responses when they're "on vacation" nowadays.

<comment><USER4> Hard to completely disconnect when it's your business, solo or not. I think it's about finding a balance more than a complete disconnect.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Preventative customer support.

Your goal should be to minimize your customer support requirements. For the past two years I've treated every customer inquiry to my business as a bug requiring a fix.

If someone asks me for additional information about a product, I add a section to that product's description page or, alternatively, make the existing content clearer. If someone has trouble with a download, I improve the instructions sent with my payment confirmation email and perhaps increase the font size of the most critical links in the admin area. In-line instructions, such as those used by the 37 signals team, help greatly in this respect.

Over time this has worked and customer support requirements have dwindled, and with less emails to answer per day you can afford to be away from a machine for longer.

</comment><comment><USER6> I am lucky enough to have volunteers from the community who do various support roles. They can't do it all, but do about 90% of it, which makes my life way easier. I can take my laptop and do the tickets I need to do in about an hour every other day.

</comment><comment><USER7> I work while on vacation. In fact, I'm about 4 months into a 9 month round the world trip (@ an airbnb in Munich typing this right now). All I need is electricity and wifi, and I'm good to go anywhere in the world. Granted, I can't necessarily just drop the business for an extended amount of time, but that just means traveling a bit more slowly so I can factor in time for work.

</comment><comment><USER8> Basically handling only the urgent customer requests. We have quite good support system which fortunately does not require much human attention. Also an auto-reply letting people know I only deal with urgent requests.

Actually my problem was that I found myself working on many issues that were scheduled after vacation. Body was on vacation, mind wasn't.

</comment><comment><USER9> Travel to another city and work from there.

</comment><comment><USER10> You need to put someone else in charge and you need to trust that all will be taken care of.</comment>


The Ten Year Decline of Sony - <AUTHOR> http://www.notenoughshaders.com/2012/09/08/the-ten-year-decline-of-sony/ <comment><USER2> Blaming an engineering-centric culture for _bad_ corporate performance? That's... novel.

Sony has only one real problem: Sony. Merging an entertainment conglomerate with a hardware company was a dumb idea, because every product manager at Sony now has to get approval from two completely different companies with two completely different cultures in order to ship anything. At Sony, if the technology isn't proprietary enough, the DRM isn't annoying enough, or there are no clear opportunities to give the customer an enema with a fire hose, the product doesn't fly.

Blaming the engineers, wow. Good one.

<comment><USER3> I think the article does provide some compelling arguments to support this, though. To quote:

\--

Sony's strategy never comes together as a cohesive whole because their engineers are constantly in competition with each other to become famous for creating the next big proprietary format or gadget. There are so many proprietary formats or unnecessary electronics coming out of Sony that it makes Sony's overall strategy and identity very confusing. The engineers all want to be the guy who creates something as big as the Walkman or PlayStation, they are all competing for that recognition inside of the company. However their ideas are created based on the love for technology, not long-term profitability.

On April 2012, Hiroko Tabuchi wrote an article to the New York Times saying, "Sony remains dominated by proud, territorial engineers who often shun cooperation. For many of them, cost-cutting is the enemy of creativity — a legacy of Sony's co-founders, Mr. Morita and Masaru Ibuka, who tried to foster a culture of independence. But the founders had more success than recent executives in exerting control over division managers."

\--

This is certainly plausible, even if it's unfair to blame an engineering focus for Sony's failures. How else can you explain the fact that they STILL insist on using insane proprietary standards like ATRAC and even new Sony devices like the Vita use custom storage instead of standard (far less expensive) storage formats like SD cards? The fact that the PS3's absurd design got greenlit and made it all the way to ship is further evidence that engineers are given freedom to make myopic technology-focused choices.

<comment><USER4> _How else can you explain the fact that they STILL insist on using insane proprietary standards like ATRAC and even new Sony devices like the Vita use custom storage instead of standard (far less expensive) storage formats like SD cards?_

I don't know anything about the corporate culture at Sony, but I had assumed that their relentless, senseless pursuit of proprietary formats and interfaces (among other customer-hostile stupidity like the CD rootkit scandal) was a sign that wacky Sony marketers were running the show, not engineers.

Because pursuing a proprietary format is generally a _terrible_ engineering decision. If your product has to touch the outside world in some way, and there's already a de-facto standard way of doing that touching, you'll generally get your product done sooner and cheaper by using the de-facto standard. And the product will work better for the user, too. That is to say, it will be cheaper to make and it will also be worth a higher price. What engineer could say no to that?

If those decisions were driven by engineers, they must come from a very different engineering culture than anything I'm familiar with. Even if this really is the fault of engineering amok, blaming "arrogant corporate culture" might communicate the situation more clearly than blaming "engineers."

<comment><USER5> Relentless pursuit of building the Best possible thing irregardless of silly things like profits, market share and time to market sounds very much like engineers I've run into. As does eschewing standard or off the shelf solutions in favour of something you made yourself since you're obviously much smarter and anything you build yourself will be much better since it will be designed around solving your problem. Not to mention that many engineers I know love building and designing from scratch rather than using something already available, simply because that's much more fun.

<comment><USER6> So it's a double-whammy of Cult Personalities who are all afflicted with Not Invented Here syndrome. I can see how that would lead to some massive problems.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I worked at Sony until about 18 months ago (European TV Product Planning and Business Development getting content onto the TV Internet platform).

This data makes it look like it could be going down quicker than I thought but it did have major problems and no clear route through them.

I think a lot of the engineering problem is that now the growth has gone there isn't large amounts of fresh recruits bringing new ideas. It also isn't THE place to work anymore which it once was in Japan (think Google 8 years ago levels of cool). The engineers are now mostly managers and outsourcing large amounts of development (particularly software to India). Manufacturing is outsourced so the benefits of having deep understanding of production and being able to optimise the products for that just isn't there. These combined outsourcings may be essential for short term survival but rob further from capability to differentiate and innovate.

Exchange rates are also killing Sony (and the other Japanese manufacturers). Massive proportions of their costs are in Japan and inflexible but their income is significantly in dollars and euros. They would be much better off if they spread their costs to regions where their income is.

The end of CRTs removed Sony's price premium in TV and Samsung at the high end and LG at the low end are brutal competitors in an industry where no-one is making money. However it is almost impossible to escape the TV industry as that would completely kill all the Sony franchise retailers (and with it a lot of other electronics sales) and any potential position as an entertainment platform/gateway company. It would also be a big admission of defeat and a lot of jobs would disappear.

A lack of real leadership has been a core problem but I'm not sure there is any way to fix it now.

Don't get me wrong many of the products are still really good and even competitively priced but that doesn't mean Sony is profiting on them. In TVs I think the processing on the mid-high models is better than most competitors and the internet services are pretty competitive but there is a lack of nimbleness and imagination to really take a lead in anything other than picture quality. The PS3 is a good value product these days.

<comment><USER8> Man, I had a Sony Wega CRT, and I seriously couldn't tell the difference between it and the first incarnation of 720 flatscreens.

<comment><USER7> Yes the first flatscreens were rubbish and for interlace SD video the best type of screen is a CRT (the screen, the encoding and the transmission technology were all built around each other to actually gain benefit from the weaknesses).

However the deinterlacing, upconversion and motion interpolation are massively different now to the first models. Plus content is available in HD (progressive) formats and you can get 1080P models.

A 40" LCD can be moved by one person and a 36"CRT would probably need two people to move it at all, was full of nasty chemicals, used more power and takes up more space in the room. If you still have a CRT that you use much it is probably worth replacing it, the phosphors will be substantially diminished in brightness so power consumption will need to be higher to achieve the same colours/brightness as before and HD video is truly here now.

Progress is amazing (even if there are the odd dips on the way). I joined Sony just as they were killing the non flat screen products.

<comment><USER8> I probably spent $500+ moving that beast across the country and back!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Sony still hasn't apologized for multiple installations of rootkits on customer computers. I lost all interest in the company after they made those choices and I'm glad to see that a culture that tolerates such enmity towards their customers and disregard for copyright (they were illegally using GPL software in their rootkits as well) isn't doing well.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootki...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal)

<comment><USER10> You're waiting for an apology? Last I heard, the President of that division said he didn't understand why everyone was so mad. "Nobody knows what a rootkit is anyway, why should they care?" I don't think we're ever going to get an apology from them. If we did, it sure wouldn't make up for anything or change my mind about them. They're evil bloodsucking monsters bent on the destruction of quality technology.

I've been boycotting them since '05 due to that scandal. Fuck Sony.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I feel Sony never made the transition to software.

I have owned a lot of Sony products over the years and the older devices I had like VCRs (which had little software) where infinitely better. For example the a Blu-ray/Surround Sound System I bought a couple of months ago is terrible and maybe one of the worst products I have ever bought. It takes 60 seconds to boot up (So the Sony TV turns on and is displaying with in 5 seconds, but there is no sound through the sound system for a minute!!!) in addition, the DLNA client on the unit often becomes unresponsive and refuses to accept simple pause commands while watching video.

In today's world, if you can't do software well, you will fail.

PS: I loved my Minidisc player back in 1999 - I was sad it didn't have more success, well, up until I got my first iPod.

<comment><USER12> "I feel Sony never made the transition to software."

Actually it might be more accurate to say Sony has yet to make the transition to 'systems' away from 'solutions'.

I also found it kind of funny a person talks about Game Consoles when talking about Sony, that is a small part of Sony, historically Sony has sold products where they manufactured all of the key technologies. They were one of the first vertically integrated companies that I encountered. It can be very powerful to be integrated in that way because you control your own destiny, you make your own screens, you make your own electronics, you make your own machines to make your products.

They got disrupted by the Koreans and the Chinese who started picking out 'parts' of the things that Sony made and making those so that others could build 'Sony like' products without having to be vertically integrated. Samsung, Quanta, LG, Hyundai, Etc. All willing to sell the part you want against the others selling the same part, defacto standards emerge, change happens at the feature level not the function level. Everyone starts selling a 'flat screen' TV and while we argue over Plasma vs LCD we get motion compensation, viewing angle improvements, contrast tweaks, Etc.

So many things Sony did, and then tried to 'lock in' control. Their e-readers, their computers, their TVs, their media players, their game consoles. Lock in gave them control but people generally start rejecting external controls at about age 13 and rarely get more complacent as they get older :-).

It will be very interesting to see how they evolve (or don't). But their asset ratios aren't a problem it is their execution that is a problem.

<comment><USER13> > Lock in gave them control but people generally start rejecting external > controls at about age 13 and rarely get more complacent as they get older > :-)

I would like to agree with you but for the success of iOS, Facebook, wireless subscriptions.... At least in the US (I am not sure how much the US comprises Sony's profits) people care much less about actual capability than they do about convenience and marketing. Or at least that is what it feels like.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> One of my japanese colleagues told me not so long ago: " _In the 80s people in Japan were putting Sony stickers on their cars and motorbikes, because it was such a cool Brand. Now nobody would even think about doing it_ ".

That's how low Sony has fallen. Take this as a valuable lesson that all successful companies have to learn from: you have to keep fighting, and fight hard, to stay at the Top.

</comment><comment><USER15> Sony builds great products, and never follows up well. They poison their own name.

Walkman: the original portable media player. They improved battery life, they improved sound, they captured the high-end of the market and inspired competitors... but they could never reduce price while keeping sufficient quality to differentiate a genuine Walkman from a 60% cheaper competitor. Did they keep the high end? Sure, but they also produced crap indistinguishable from their competitors at the low end...

Repeat for CD players.

Repeat for DVD players.

Repeat for the VAIO laptops. Remember when a VAIO was always a high- performance ultra-portable? Now it means everything they do in computers.

<comment><USER14> Yeah, exactly. That's called Brand Dilution. Or Brand Flushing, in this particular case.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> In March 2010, Wired magazine had an article about how the CEO (Howard Stringer at the time) was going to save Sony. The headline says it all:

"Saving Sony: CEO Howard Stringer Plans to Focus on 3-D TV"

It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. Avatar, the film, came out in December 2009, was 3-D, and was hugely popular. You had to have a 3-D TV to watch it in 3D at home. Other movies were being made in 3D. 3D was the future. And then it wasn't.

[http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/03/ff_sony_howard_stringe...](http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/03/ff_sony_howard_stringer/)

<comment><USER14> Yes, somehow many people believed 3D TV screens would take off, and then they did not. There were a lot of consumer surveys implying otherwise, however there is no strong incentive to buy them. Could be chicken and Egg problem, or simply the TV technology is not impressive enough to justify the premium.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> As a longtime fanatic and now dismayed ex-user of Sony products, I'm startled at what all the analysis missed: the last 10% of the user interface. What we need is completion of the work done right with followup; what we get is "oh crap, ship it and forget it".

A simplistic example: my Sony BluRay player, upon completing any network activity, announces that it has completed the network activity. I don't want to acknowledge that, I want to get on with what I'm obviously going to do next. The same player features streaming video services which, next to Apple TV, look like some techie was told to slap on; the worst offender being the promotion app for "Salt" (movie premiering about the same time as the device) delivers what should be premium video quality in the worst ugliest over compressed dreck form.

Time and again it seems they take an otherwise fantastic product, and to meet a deadline slap together what's missing, shove it out the door, and never show any interest in supporting it thereafter.

<comment><USER18> Yeah, changing your PlayStation Store password on a PS3 with a PS3 controller is basically half-a-day project. And no, you can't play the game until you've authorized successfully with PlayStation Store because of some stupid add-on that's mandatory.

<comment><USER19> Yesterday I put in my credit card details into the PSN store as I wanted to buy the critically acclaimed "Journey"

Entering CC details + billing address just using the PS3 controller was an awfully tedious experience.

Initially I thought you could add money to your wallet via the PSN website but navigating that was even worse

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Also of interest is this:

The Ghosts of Sony <http://www.japansubculture.com/the-ghosts-of-sony/>

And if you want to see some past glory:

This Was Sony <http://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/this-was-sony/>

</comment><comment><USER14> Not a bad article, but obviously not written by someone who has much background in Finance nor Business. Saying that "Sony has a culture where it is OK to fail" is laughable, for example. How many companies out there are widely successful? Most of product launches are so-so or fail to meet their objectives, yet you do not see companies firing everyone every 6 months. Iterations are necessary until you hopefully find a good proposition. It takes time to get a hit. Now that's no excuse for Sony to keep pushing bad products out of their chains, but of course, every company allows employees to fail at least a few times. R&D is about trial and error.

Then I think the author is deeply wrong about quoting iSupply as a reliable source for the cost of hardware. iSupply has NO idea of what the hardware actually costs. They simply open a parts catalog and check how much each part would be sold, one by one, and add it up. That is downright ridiculous, because when Sony buys chips for their Playstation, they tell the supplier: "Make me THIS price because I will buy 10 millions of your chips" and they have huge advantage in negociations. So, iSupply and nobody else apart from the supplier and Sony themselves know the real Bill of Materials. The rest is pure speculations.

And saying Sony does not care about budget and is focused on engineers only sounds false to me. If that was the case why would they produce their Playstation outside of Japan? The Playstation 1 and 2 were the examples of frequent cost reduction through their lifetime - just like the PS3 did as well, with a big step down in price from the earlier years. I am pretty sure Sony does not LOSE money on PS Vita either, and probably keep some margin there to reduce the price later. Net, they are not losing money with the Vita, and there is no need to "kill" it. They may need to further invest in it, rather, for it to become a reasonably successful machine, but I am afraid they do not have much cash to heavily support it seeing their overall financial shape.

Finally, showing Return of Assets alone is meaningless. You have to compare Ra from one business to another business in the same fields. Ra only makes sense in comparison.

Let me add as well that comparing liabilities between Software heavy companies (like Google and Microsoft) does not make ANY sense, since Google and Microsoft do not own plants and manufacture much themselves (their may businesses are advertising and second, software). It would make much more sense to compare Sony's liabilities with Panasonic, Sharp, Mitsubishi... while there is not actual company that covers the exact same range of businesses as Sony.

Seriously, when you have no understanding of finances, writing this kind of articles using numbers you do not understand rather makes you look like a fool.

<comment><USER21> > How many companies out there are widely successful?

Obviously most companies mix successes and failures, but in recent years Sony has been pushing out an unreasonable number of failures with no successes to show for it.

I don't see any innovations coming out of Sony. I don't see them leading the way in any particular sector when it comes to consumer electronics. In audio products they're nobodies, in computing they make so-so non-descript equipment, in photography they've lost almost all the ground they once had to Canon and Nikon, in video they are being trounced by the likes of Samsung, LG, and Panasonic, and in cell phones they've just about been wiped off the face of the planet by Apple and Android handset manufacturers.

About the only sector they seem to be doing okay in is consoles, which from what I understand are not massively profitable, and are on the way out.

<comment><USER14> I live in Japan and Sony has a showroom in Tokyo where they showcase all their products in a single building. There is always some products I have never seen when I go there. Not sure I can call them innovative, though... a few years ago they had this egg-like music player that rolled on itself when playing music. Utterly useless and I have no idea how this kind of thing even made it to market. I am guessing there is some truth when this article mentions the power of engineers when I see such things come to life.

But let's not forget that Sony's marketing is equally terrible. Even when they have OK products they have no clear idea on how to sell them and how to differentiate versus competition. In Japan they still benefit from the complete absence of korean competitors (LG and Samsung are nowhere to be seen and that's hardly free market at work here) so I guess they can keep selling their overpriced TVs and Vaios for a while, but they are certainly taking a beating in other markets.

Yeah, I have not seen anything fantastic from Sony for a very, very long time. Net: we do not need Sony anymore. And if the information about the PS4 flowing around is correct. their next console will be as powerful as middle-range PC when it comes out in 2013(probably). Nothing to show off.

<comment><USER22> Can you elaborate on the absence of Korean electronics in Japan? I'm curious about this - is it a cultural bias or is protectionism more formal?

<comment><USER14> I am not exactly sure what is the exact reason, but I can guess the following: \- High tariff imposed on electronics from non-japanese companies (protectionism) \- Distributor <-> Maker mutual relationship to exclude cheaper alternative in order to maximize their profits and screw consumers

I highly doubt there would be some cultural bias - Japanese have no problem to work with Chinese when it is in their interest. I think they are probably very sensitive about letting Koreans take a bit on the Japanese market because they would wipe all the Japanese brands in no time if they did, at least for all TV and player systems.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> I wonder if it might be more accurate to trace the decline to Sony's purchase of Columbia. There's an intrinsic tension between the interest of the user of an electronic media consumption device and the producer of content, and Sony went from being on the side of the user — e.g. Probably being as annoyed by the tax on cassette tapes as users were — to straddling the fence.

Sony was a very successful company in 1989 when it bought Columbia, and its success masked the underlying problem.

You might draw an analogy to Apple here — as Apple becomes interested in revenue from content it will face the same tensions (and perhaps already does). Similarly, Apple makes most of its money from carrier subsidies now, and is perhaps perhaps is now as locked into the Evil carrier business model as its predecessors, even if it has thus far avoided junkware.

</comment><comment><USER24> Sony's problem is that they need the next big thing.

They had the Walkman, then the Playstation (and 2 and 3). Outside of that they are just like any other mid-level electronics brand to me.

Sony should invent something like a net-enabled helmet as a response to Google's goggles that uses a transparent screen with fluorescing e-ink for night use. Or maybe a personal home theater system where you wear the speakers and the music "moves with you". There really is no excuse not to be original.

Fear prohibits success. Lose fear and you will succeed. Risk must be taken. Be creative. These things must be embraced by any culture to succeed.

<comment><USER7> They are still trying to be innovative but products like this won't save them: <http://www.sony.co.uk/product/personal-3d-viewer/hmz-t2>

Yes this is actually a product available now from Sony. Innovative yes but not really likely to succeed. It also contains the personal home theatre system although the screens aren't transparent.

Now if they were really joining things up they would be making it into a gaming system to make a lighter, better resolution less laggy virtual reality system than those that knocked around in early nineties. That might actually sell some systems.

They need to be profitable in mass market products. But they can't differentiate there any more. They are relying on Google for the software (Android phones and Google TV) for their cutting edge models. They don't have the same degree of in house manufacturing to develop products and production processes at the cutting edge like they used to (Samsung do) and they aren't as good at managing/negotiating outsourced production as Apple are.

They do have content but that needs to survive as a business on its own and does exclusive deals with MSO's for TV and Film and anyone for music meaning that there is little exclusive to offer with their products whcih don't even get a much better deal than competitors.

<comment><USER24> What today's gaming systems are missing are an evolved way to get users involved in game development, the user interface for the system itself.

We need paid hardware running a free OS that everyone can contribute to and that is community managed, where the company makes money on the hardware and perhaps a service contract like a RedHat for gaming.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> Sony was famous because they made cool eccentric gadgets. Stuff like the Walkman. They still do it, except that that coolness has moved else where(read Apple). Its not that Sony is out. They have a very strong brand.

With Steve Jobs gone, Sony is one of those companies which will eat Apple's share of pie. Of course if Apple doesn't innovate hard enough, and just keeps pushing out incremental changes.

Want a television? Sony is still the go to brand.

</comment><comment><USER26> Sony sail flew for far to long on the wind of expensive, high-end TV's. TV's have become cheap, commodity items where "high-end" can now be had for less than $1000, and Sony has not followed up its leadership in the TV market with any other market in a substantial fashion (the relatively niche Playstation market notwithstanding).

</comment><comment> james-skemp My first thought was that this would be a real test of what happens to newer consoles where electronic downloads from a (closed) central source (DLC, patches, games) are no longer available.

But after reading the article and comments here, I'm not too worried about Sony vanishing quite yet.

<comment><USER27> I don't think Sony could "vanish", more like their valuation falls low enough that someone buys them up at a "steal" for the brand and patent / trademark portfolio if they get cheap enough.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Good.

I can't friggin stand Sony's business practices, and I hope they crash and burn.

They're predatory, arrogant, and self-congratulating. Always a new proprietary device or technology that they will attempt to shove down everyone's throat. Remember MiniDiscs? Or the SonyBMG rootkit thing?

</comment><comment><USER29> People DO realize that Sony is much more then "Playstation"?! I mean, this article is mostly worried about gaming.. Did the author even look at <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony> ?

</comment><comment><USER30> The consumer market is changing everyday.Sony don't want to change,still sell TV is a problem.

</comment><comment><USER31> Speaking of decline, I think Apple is starting what will be a epic landslide of biblical proportions. Tim Cook doesn't seem to have any vision at all. The iPhone 5 is a joke. It's a cop out. Tim Cook chickened out when he merely elongated the iPhone.

Now Apple has that "blue sky" program in effect for employees, and I'm even more convinced Tim is frantically searching for ideas to show him the way.

As for the late Steve Jobs, I was wondering if he had left some future plans for Tim, but apparently not. He was dying. Apple was the most awe-inspiring company in the world under Steve's leadership. He proved his point. I don't think he was concerned about how well Tim would do or even if Apple survives. The show was over for him, and I think it'll soon be over for Apple too.

<comment><USER32> You really believe that Steve Jobs, who was known for his ability to foresee what others in the industry couldn't, didn't plan one year ahead for one of his flagship products? No, the iPhone 5 almost certainly was a Jobs product.</comment></comment>


A Palestinian posted on Zuck wall — here's his story (translated from Arabic) - <AUTHOR> http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ar&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fkhalil-sh.blogspot.com%2Fp%2F2013.html

<comment><AUTHOR> English version: [http://khalil- sh.blogspot.com/p/facebook_16.html](http://khalil- sh.blogspot.com/p/facebook_16.html)

</comment><comment><USER2> thank you for sharing this , it was a full story that shows how facebook treats me reporting that exploit , and i got now choice than post to mark himself ,

regards</comment>


Show HN: ReactJS – Simple Line Icon Component - <AUTHOR> https://codepen.io/mjunaidi/pen/NWqjYNq <comment><USER2> These are great icons for those that don't want to import font awesome or another library! Thank you for making these!</comment>