Ask HN: If you had two months off between jobs what would you be doing? - <AUTHOR> Trying to get some ideas on how to spend my time off. <comment><USER3> I had three months off between jobs a couple of years ago. I did absolutely nothing, just sleep in, stay up late, read a few books, watch movies and play games.

After three months I almost felt like a human being again. That feeling was gone 2 days into the new job.

<comment><USER4> That's...alarming. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I think you might be in the wrong line of work if that's the case. Work can suck, but it shouldn't be that soul crushing.

<comment><USER3> Oh, it's not the wrong kind of work, it's just having a job at all. I'm autistic, having to be among people is just so exhausting. It's the cost of acting like a normal person.

Fortunately my current employer is very understanding, I work from home at least one day a week or more if I need it. I can tone down the act a little here, which is very helpful. Unfortunately I can't completely turn it off (I wouldn't be able to function that way). If it were up to me I wouldn't leave the house at all, unfortunately I need to eat, pay the mortgage, etc.

> Work can suck, but it shouldn't be that soul crushing.

Every job is soul crushing. Not because of the work, but because of the fact that you _have_ to do it. The fact you have _zero_ say in how you spend your time. The fact that you _have_ to interact with human beings. etc. There's no way around it.

<comment><USER4> I'd argue that it still might not fit you. If I'm hearing you correctly, you are in a software engineering position. That job unfortunately requires human interaction, as the problem of correctly designing and deploying software is HARD. It sounds like that isn't lost on you, though, and I can imagine having autism would make this job exceedingly difficult. It sounds like a pure programming job would be ideal for you, but I've never seen one personally. I honestly hope you find one. I just got out of a bad job and I know how taxing it can be.

I disagree that every job is soul crushing, though. At least not intrinsically so. Different jobs are good or bad based on the situation of the one performing it. We do have a choice in that we can choose not to perform that job (although for many that isn't really a true choice).

In any case, I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs. There are too many hard-ass managers with a "business mindset" that would rather avoid working with perfectly productive individuals such as yourself.

<comment><USER3> > It sounds like a pure programming job would be ideal for you, but I've never > seen one personally.

So far I have mainly worked for small startups in R&D type of roles, which suits me well. The problems start when the company starts to grow.

At my current job I was the only developer when I started, now we're at a dozen developers and they are talking about hiring a scrum master. That's kind of my sign to start looking, which is a bit sad because this employer has been really good to me. Experience has shown me, however, that sticking around too long when a company gets over a certain size is not a good idea.

> I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs.

They do. Honestly they've been great about it, but unfortunately that doesn't mean it's easy.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> If you ask me before I take the two months off, I would plan to write a novel, write, shoot and direct a movie, take the CFA, back test some trading algorithms, and write three apps (one game, one very useful app in a new industry I know nothing about, and some social app) while learning new languages (mandarin and some variant of lisp).

If you ask me after the two months, I most likely caught up on Westworld.

</comment><comment><USER6> This question depends very much on WHETHER OR NOT THE NEXT JOB IS ALREADY LINED UP.

If I don't have to worry about my unemployment, then for two months I would spend more time with my family and on personal interests that refresh my mind and spirit.

Otherwise, I would spend the two months networking and interviewing toward the next job. A job hunt IS a full-time job. Quite frankly, a more time-consuming and stressful job than being a computer programmer is.

<comment><USER7> Don't you read posts here? If you have a pulse you send an email or two and have a new FAANG job paying $400K in a couple days. </s>

Somewhat annoyingly (but not really), the one time I had 6 weeks or so off I did spend it job hunting. [This was during dot-bomb by way of context.] Somewhat annoyingly because the conversation I had with a company owner I knew literally about a couple of days after I was laid off led to an eventual job offer at the small company. But, of course, I didn't know that at the time.

And the job after that was the usual case of "How soon can you start?"

If I knew I'd have a couple months off, I'd quickly book tickets to someplace I wanted to take an extended vacation to.

<comment><USER8> > _And the job after that was the usual case of "How soon can you start?"_

That's when I would normally say that I've been planning a trip so I can start in 2 months. Then you can relax with your next role lined up.

It actually works really well for negotiation too. While interviewing say that you've been planning a trip/something else and that you weren't even really looking for a job but the position you're talking about was so interesting you thought it was worth exploring.

That helps because it gives the appearance of:

1\. Not being under financial pressure

2\. Having many options for employment that you can choose at will

Both are very helpful when negotiating. High end individuals usually won't have to rush into a new job right away and will often do some intercontinental travel or large personal project between roles.

<comment><USER7> That's all fair. But, in this case, it was a role that was created specifically for me and they really did want me to get started right away.

And I did somewhat split the difference. I had drawn up a short list of vacation spots and, as soon as I got confirmation of the offer, I booked a trip for 2-3 weeks.So it's not like I started the next day. (I also needed to ramp down in my then current position.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I just did that this summer. I saw a bunch of friends, went out a lot made more friends, traveled around my state to see old friends...

But the thing that was most satisfying was committing to volunteer work every single week. People complain so much about social injustice and how we should tax this and that... Very few will open their pockets or put the time in to _actually_ make a difference.

</comment><comment><USER10> Personally I'd turn off my electronics, grab some books and go hiking in the wilderness. At least for a couple weeks. You may never get a chance to be this "unplugged" again.

<comment><USER11> To be less extreme, I'd go road tripping, carrying a camera and tablet/e-reader and not a laptop.

<comment><USER10> To me, the point would be to unplug. Carrying around a camera and tablet defeats the entire purpose.

<comment><USER11> The camera is because photography is fun and the tablet is for information which is invaluable on the road, especially in case of natural disasters like wildfires. (Twitter came in handy for avoiding wildfire closures on my last trip). You also need a way to contact your bank/credit card if you start getting declined.

Just uninstall all your social media apps!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Absolutely travel. Traveling solo is a hugely rewarding experience. Stay in hostels to meet other people and make friends. If money is tight, choose a cheap area. If you like outdoor adventuring, combine it with rock climbing or summiting some mountains. (I can provide recommendations if you want)

</comment><comment><USER13> I had a similar situation, I just ran, hit the gym, dated and learned Clojure. Great times take me back.

</comment><comment><USER14> This actually happened to me before I started my current job. I was leaving a senior-level role as a .NET developer, and was moving over to be a standard- level developer in Ruby and Python. I left mid-way through November, thanks to a ton of holiday I had booked for Christmas, and decided to join in January instead of at a time when everything winds down in a lot of companies.

My Python knowledge was non-existent, so I spent most of my time sleeping in, and working my way through a set of Python books. I worked through Learn Python The Hard Way, and Data Structures and Algorithms in Python, and although I've not done much Python this year it gave me the best of both worlds. I was able to relax through the two months off, but keep my mind in code and get over the initial impostor syndrome I'd get from joining an established team with zero experience of their tools in anger.

Frankly, I still feel like my Ruby and Python skills are beginner-level, at best, but those two months helped me hit the ground running at my new job, and nearly a year later I've come to appreciate different languages as similar in many ways. I feel that I can start a new non-trivial project and (if given enough time) I can write working code in either to achieve a task - <USER2> I didn't feel before, which I put down to the two months holiday I took.

</comment><comment><USER15> Ask yourself what is the biggest thing you always stop yourself from doing because you "don't have enough time" and go for it. For me it would be working on more open source projects and ideas.

</comment><comment><USER16> I personally write blog posts I find interesting[1], catch up around the house (new jobs typically take up more time than old), and take long walks or runs (maybe play some video games or read).

Personally, I have trouble not being productive (or at least feeling productive). Often this leads me to pick up a news skill (eg cooking Indian cuisine, leaning Haskell, installing a news Linux district, etc).

Last time I had two months off I wrote a website to help you invest by tacking insiders at companies who speak publically: [https://projectpiglet.com/](https://projectpiglet.com/)

Incidentally, I'll likely be taking a month or so off shortly to just clean the garage and build a couple pieces of furniture. Along with taking care of my son (preturnity leave, but plan to leave him in day care a couple days a week).

[1] [https://austingwalters.com](https://austingwalters.com)

<comment><USER17> You want to provide a promo code?:)

Looks really cool! About to signup for the beta.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Spend some time with your family and friends. You could "combine" this with the many travel recommendations you are getting, by (1) visiting loved ones who live far from you or (2) traveling somewhere with them.

Enjoy your time off!

</comment><comment><USER19> Go see all my friends who are all over the world, and eat long dinners and drink nice wine and exercise everyday and catch up on my reading list and take aimless walks and prepare for my new job, but at a relaxed pace.

</comment><comment><USER20> A lot of folks would say travel, but last time I had a gap (3 weeks between jobs), I did the exact opposite. I made an ideal routine - I ran every morning, I started cooking, I read most evenings.

Between 11am and 4pm, I'd find some "work" to take care of - mostly home- related and some favors for family members. I kept saying I'd do something audacious - join an open source project, write an app, yadda-yadda - but this would just bring me down.

I can't be motivated to excel until I'm absolutely comfortable where I am. Sometimes it takes a few days of freedom to remember that.

</comment><comment><USER21> If I were single, I'd go stay at a particular Zen-inspired meditation retreat center farm that I've lived at before between jobs. It's a nice lifestyle of meditation, cooking/eating/cleaning, drinking tea, farming, etc.

</comment><comment><USER22> I just recently had 5 months off between jobs. I was already being recruited for other jobs so I never worried about finding a new one. I relaxed and also studied different things that I always wanted to but didn't have the time.I basically wanted to enjoy a summer with no stress for the first time in a long time. I would have taken 6 months off but my car had issues again so I decided to answer some of those recruiters. I had a new job in 2 weeks making almost double what I did before. But I say that with adding the caveat that I was underpaid at my last job.

</comment><comment><USER23> Open source development.

I often have long periods of time off - that's the nature of contracting. You only need to work all the time if you want toys. So right now I'm learning, training, and giving back.

<comment><USER24> This is the ideal situation for me. I very strongly value personal development and I feel it's impossible to get with a regular gig. I'd prefer work that's more transient in nature and gives me time to explore projects for learning and personal interest.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> I'd do nothing. Yes, a lot of that.

</comment><comment> atx-dev Two months is a long time. It's great to sleep in and stay up late and all that, but it can get old fast. Now is the perfect time to take care of some items on your bucket list. Don't have a bucket list? Great time to make one! On a tight budget? Take the time to catch-up with friends and family. Be a tourist in your area. Take some day trips to nearby areas. Seize the free time so that when you start back to work, you don't look back on it as a wasted opportunity!

</comment><comment><USER26> Travel, learn a language, read, code on a personal project, help others -- it could be anything.

One thing I've typically done is a breadth-first search of interests at that point in time, so I know how to direct my activities to get fulfillment out of life for the next few years. I've mainly been able to do that through reading a lot (nonfiction mostly). It's hard to do when you're full-time working.

</comment><comment><USER27> My only semi joking answer has been to hire a personal trainer and follow John Cena's workout regiment in an attempt to get truly sculpted - while I hit the gym frequently now, making it my job would let me get some awesome results.

Alternatively, I would take a hardcore tech break. Rent out a cabin in a remote area and just relax, write and hike all day. Maybe pick archery back up.

</comment><comment><USER28> I had 3 months between jobs 3 years ago. I watched all of Doctor Who (never watched it before) and just generally relaxed, ate healthy, and exercised. I also spent 2 weeks traveling. This was very useful because I was quite burned out from the previous job.

I have a year off between jobs right now (finance non compete) and I'm using the time to bootstrap a company

</comment><comment><USER29> With enough notice and time to prepare I'd drive the PanAmerica Highway from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia South America camping along the way. Only thing stopping me right now is time away from work. Might take more than 2 months though.

</comment><comment><USER30> I had these few months and rather casually I'm putting the finishing touches on a side project. It was also beneficiary during the job hunting.

I wish I had traveled more, but laziness and monitor addiction is real :)

</comment><comment><USER31> I just had 7 months off and I went travelling(mostly US and EU). Another time I did a huge chunk of South East Asia with 3 months. 2 months would also give you ample time to explore a lot of new places!

</comment><comment><USER32> I would finish a side project and hoping it would turn into something.

</comment><comment><USER33> I would travel to a new country I have not been before and explore the culture and food.

I would find a nice fiction novel to read, and I would try to build a habit of working out each day.

</comment><comment><USER34> If you don't already, workout every day! get in the habit while you have no excuse not to go. Once you get in the habit, you won't stop after you start working.

</comment><comment><USER35> Ride my motorcycle across the U.S. like this guy did.

[https://youtu.be/3OoEDJjE7RI](https://youtu.be/3OoEDJjE7RI)

</comment><comment><USER36> Relaxing. Siestas. Spending time with my kid, taking her to parks, playing with her. Taking wife to movies, dinner and reading books.

</comment><comment><USER37> I would try to set up a healthier lifestyle, primarily by working on establishing consistent exercise and eating patterns.

</comment><comment><USER38> Same thing I did when I had 6 days between jobs. Work on my side projects and have fun doing it. A lot of progress also!

</comment><comment><USER39> Probably just more of the same stuff I do in me free time. Work on music, cycling, beer drinking, and lots more sleep.

</comment><comment><USER40> I will study some math. Revisiting high school math textbooks. They really hide the application part in those years!

</comment><comment><USER41> I'd travel to a different country, read some books, meet some new people & go on dates.

</comment><comment><USER42> Divide my time between ML and crypto, trying to understand the fundamentals of each discipline.

</comment><comment><USER43> Studied and got an AWS certification. Played basketball. Traveled. It was a good summer.

<comment><USER44> How has the certification benefited you since then? I am considering working towards it as well.

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> Beware of "cool" things - it's a waste of time and money, likely dangerous for health. Skydiving and travelling to Cambodia or Mongolia is an unimpressive cliche.

Catch up on health (posture, sight, diet). Catch up with family. Sort out any outstanding paperwork (tax declarations, pension related). Sleep long. Read.

<comment> atom-morgan Skydiving is both fun and not that dangerous. It's "cool" for a reason.

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> Learn to use Blender. Or invent yet another new programming language.

</comment><comment><USER47> Solo backpacking in Central/South America or Asia.

</comment><comment><USER48> Go around visiting national parks for some eco-therapy

</comment><comment><USER49> I took a week off between my last job and current job. It really feels like you've dropped out of society. I don't recommend doing that for more than a week.

</comment><comment><USER50> Travel, read books, work on side projects

</comment><comment><USER51> I went on a 300 mile hike

</comment><comment><USER52> I'd go travelling.

</comment><comment><USER53> Riding my bike. A LOT.

</comment><comment> bra-ket finish editing a couple of wikipedia articles

</comment><comment><USER54> travel the world of course</comment>


The Next Real Estate Crisis - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessweek.com/print/lifestyle/content/jun2008/bw2008065_526168.htm <comment><USER2> Why do they never find anyone to interview for these articles who hasn't gone and made an apallingly stupid decision? Like this woman:

"The option ARM was initially a blessing and then a curse for Deborah Shaw, a 52-year-old systems analyst for Santa Cruz County, Calif. In 2004 she bought a $575,000 two-bedroom house with her boyfriend with a 40-year fixed mortgage. But when she and her boyfriend split..."

Even leaving aside the fact that it's a bad idea to buy a house with someone you're not married to, why would a 52-year-old get a 40-year mortgage anyway?</comment>


The dangers of operating a Tor exit node - <AUTHOR> http://calumog.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/why-you-need-balls-of-steel-to-operate-a-tor-exit-node/

<comment><USER2> Congratulations, now you understand who benefited when the media created the pedophilia scare.

I confess to being a total conspiracy theory nut on this topic, and go out of my way to defend "sex offenders" in any online discussion I come across. Sadly this is not enough. We're up against a monstrous evil machine made up of mostly good and well-intentioned humans and there's no apparent way to defeat it.

Think about it: who should we blame for the persecution and near ostracism of the article's author? The journalist who honestly warns the public about pedophiles? The media executives? The lawmakers? The police? The whole chain is structured to remove accountability, letting both idea creators and executives sleep peacefully with a clear conscience. The end result is the poor person facing a giant senseless Machine, thankful to be alive after narrowly avoiding its grinding gears. It doesn't have to be this way, people.

<comment><USER3> The problem with paedophilia is that it is extremely difficult to enforce. It is not as if a 5 year old kid will walk up to a police station and file a complaint. The internet made it near impossible to enforce paedophilia laws.

If the cops have to cause a mild inconvenience to 50 people to successfully prosecute one bad guy - then so be it.

<comment><USER4> > If the cops have to cause a mild inconvenience to 50 people to successfully > prosecute one bad guy - then so be it.

"mild inconvenience"?

If it's a "mild inconvenience", surely you won't mind paying for n instances, for non-trivial n. You've used 50 above, so let's start there.

Are you personally willing to pay for the "mild inconvenience" suffered by 50 innocent people?

What? You're not willing to pay? You're only willing for other people to pay?

<comment><USER3> > If it's a "mild inconvenience", surely you won't mind paying for n > instances, for non-trivial n.

For all crimes there is a false search rate. A good example is a normal drug "bust" or a stolen property bust.

And yes - with the enforcement of most laws there is an inconvenience. A good example is a traffic stop - they check your license, check if the driver is drunk, check if the car is stolen, check for outstanding warrants of arrest and they may search the car.

What is the right number of car stops by police to enforce the law?

CP is more difficult because people can do this without going outside the home. That just means that the police should occasionally check inside the home.

<comment><USER4> I'm not questioning that it's an inconvenience or that there will be false positives.

I'm pointing out that "mild" is inaccurate.

In ducking my question of how many of these "mild inconveniences" you're willing to pay for, you concede that point.

Let me suggest that the more costly the inconvenience, the lower the acceptable false positive rate. And, if the inconvenience is serious enough, the folks inconvenienced should be compensated. (And, no, you don't get to bargain away the compensation by letting them off of something else that you wouldn't have found without the false positive.)

One benefit from compensating folks who are "inconvenienced" is that forces the relevant parties to do a better job in minimizing the total cost (which is proportional to the false positive rate multiplied by the cost of the inconvenience).

It's amazing how people's priorities depend on who's paying.

<comment><USER3> In most countries, if the police performs any raid on your premises all costs (e.g. fixing doors) are paid for by the state. I also doubt that the cost of doors is that high (compared to other expenses).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> From the computers I've been asked by friends and family to repair of their malware epidemics lately, I could retitle this article "The dangers of operating Windows XP". Every single one has been in one botnet or another.

Tor is a sticky problem, sure, but uninformed law enforcement is as well. An IP is not a telephone number. With the onslaught of voip, soon a telephone number won't be either.

At least this case had a prosecution free resolution.

</comment><comment><USER6> Blogspam, flagged.

Original: [http://calumog.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/why-you-need- balls-o...](http://calumog.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/why-you-need-balls-of- steel-to-operate-a-tor-exit-node/)

<comment><USER7> It looks like the link now points there; I assume it was fixed. Shouldn't this comment be deleted now if that's the case?

<comment><USER6> I'd love to, but I can't delete it now. (Maybe after a while you can't or after a reply?)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> What I'd like to see is a way to enforce restrictions on the destinations you're willing to route as an exit node. I'm all for giving people living under restrictive regimes access to things like Wikipedia, but I don't particularly care to enable anonymous access to child pornography.

<comment><USER9> Either you have freedom of information, or you don't. All you're saying is that you want to write the rules yourself.

edit: What I mean, is it's a slippery slope. If you do the selection by yourself, you'll let out a lot of good stuff. If you trust somebody else to do the selection, that someone will be in time important enough to become either corrupt or a target, or both. Just imagine google excluding sites from its index on some subjective criteria.

You can't solve this kind of problem by limiting access to information. It's simply a bad strategy from the start, and like any design mistake it creates problems farther and farther away, when the issue is only one: a bunch of bits have been made illegal.

<comment><USER10> "a bunch of bits have been made illegal"

I strongly disagree with this idea that I've seen a few times, that somehow the law is irrationally and ridiculously making bits illegal whether in copyright or in pornography. Child pornography is illegal whether its printed on paper or stored as bits. That somehow it shouldn't be a crime just because of the fact that bits can be used to represent anything is a really bad argument.

<comment><USER11> Bits are information, so it makes sense to use them as evidence of a crime, but can the bits themselves really constitute a crime?

"Ooh, you put a zero next to that one. Naughty, naughty."

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I found this part at the end of the post amusing:

 _They need to be disciplined and retrained, and their senior managers need to be named and shamed, as they are an unacceptable risk to innocent members of the public, and the real criminals must be running rings around them._

There's absolutely no incentive for the police to understand these things (or let on that they do) and avoid freaking out "innocent" members of the public. Look at this example: this guy won't be running a Tor exit node again, so in a way, they got what they wanted.

</comment><comment><USER13> This is the type of article that should be passed out to everyone running an open Wifi network.

<comment><USER14> Hell yes. I thought of this sort of thing when I read Bruce Schneier's infamous piece about how it's a great idea to keep your wi-fi network open. [http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securityma...](http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2008/01/securitymatters_0110) Tor exit nodes and open-wifi let other people use your IP address, and for purposes of a search warrant you might as well let them use your name and face.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> How do the police even stumble on the fact that this guy was involved?

Did they take down a pedophilia source and then rip through the web server logs? (That seems legit.)

Or were they monitoring IP traffic on a larger scale, knew of a pedophilia source, let it continue running and simply harvested IP addresses that were connecting with it? (Sounds like a privacy issue.)

Regardless -- how does a good guy help without putting himself in legal hot water?

</comment><comment><USER15> Because of the ignorance of the police you need to be nuts to run a Tor exit node.

I don't much see the point in Tor anyhow, you want to be anonymous for some reason just use an unsecured WIFI AP or a proxy in another country, easy enough.

<comment><USER16> I think unsecured WIFI AP in Burma or China is a very precious commodity, if it even exists.

<comment><USER15> Then you think very wrong. It's trivial to find open WIFI all over China. Most restaurants and coffee shops have it.

I can see several from my apartment.

<comment><USER17> But, of course, the problem is that even with an open wifi there are quite a few websites that are blocked by the great firewall...

So using an open wifi doesn't solve the problem the way tor does. The other way is to have a server outside of china and use ssh to proxy through it but how many have a server they can access like that...

<comment><USER15> Anyone that cares can access the Internet at large in China. There's many http proxies that work quite fine. Most expats that care use a VPN tunnel to a service or corporate HQ. The rare person uses Tor but it's generally disfavored because it's unreliable and slow.

This is not the problem however. The vast majority of Chinese people in general don't really care about censorship. Far more due to language and culture than censorship the Internet is mostly an internal Chinese thing to Chinese for the purposes of entertainment, not information. Many view state censorship as doing its job to protect the majority from corrupt western influences.

But it seems most people in the west would like to prefer to imagine jackbooted thugs keeping the masses down through coercion and fear. The truth is rather worse, that of apathy, ignorance and a collectivist submission to authority.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Nice cover story</comment>


It's Charisma, Stupid (2004) - <AUTHOR> http://paulgraham.com/charisma.html <comment><USER2> As someone aptly put it on twitter (Nate Cohn), the "white working class" is voting like a minority block--and why would they not? The elites have ignored the working class (white and black) for ages and when they do think of them, white (and other) elites look down at them with the contempt of 'white privilege' while they, the elite whites, sit comfortably in their protected perches rarely exposing themselves to insecurity.

It's possible this is a consequence of overplaying identity politics used to try and counterbalance Trump's followers' politics. In other words the working class had their identity unintentially forged in the scrum of identity politics.

<comment><USER3> Trump runs as the anti-establishment candidate and with his charisma does a good job selling it. His candidacy reminds me of the movie Idiocracy.

<comment><USER4> I think the working class was really tired of Globalism. I'm as liberal as they get, but building in the cheapest country always bothered me.

I get hammered for this, but we buy Apple products. We pay a premium. We are told Apple has to build overseas, in order to sell us products at their low prices. Then they have the gut wrenching corporate problem of too much cash?

I'm sorry--it always bothered me.

That said, I'll be shocked if Trump succeeds in bringing back manufacturing. Those senators are not going to raise Tarriffs, or do anything to upset their corporate lobbiests.

<comment><USER5> > I think the working class was really tired of Globalism...I'm sorry--it > always bothered me.

It's not just globalism - it's global _competition_. Even if the US repeals NAFTA and other trade agreements and economically isolates itself, competition from Japan, China and Germany will remain.

The golden age of American manufacturing wasn't possible just because Glabalism wasn't in existence - it was possible because there was no competition since countries were rebuilding in the aftermath of WWII

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Hilary Clinton has and is highly unlikeable and her narrative is similar.

The DNC chose her over Sanders... would the results be different?

<comment><USER7> Both the super fiscally conservative and the more... unpleasant parts of Trump's voting block would never vote for someone as liberal as Sanders. I have a hard time believing anyone that would have voted for him would vote Trump, now if you think it would've swayed enough people who voted 3rd party to vote Sanders instead you might have something.

<comment><USER3> The thrust of the essay is that people don't vote by issues but by charisma - and Sanders has more charisma than Hillary. And he is also an anti- establishment candidate.

<comment><USER8> I'm not sure Sanders has more charisma than Hillary.

<comment><USER3> Maybe, maybe not, but it was so fun to watch and listen to Sanders - what a character. Hillary often feels scripted, forced and on message.

<comment><USER9> Is it fun? I think if you buy his story it might be fun. I feel pretty strong on my economics, and listening to Sanders talking was just disappointing.

When the hit-piece anecdote came up that Sanders was asked for leave a commune for lollygagging instead of working, it rang SO true for me. I know that it's overall a small irrelevant week in a whole life, but it really painted what kind of guy he is. [http://freebeacon.com/politics/bernie-sanders-asked-leave- hi...](http://freebeacon.com/politics/bernie-sanders-asked-leave-hippie- commune/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Wow. I think it applies perfectly today.

 _" Theory: In US presidential elections, the more charismatic candidate wins.

People who write about politics, whether on the left or the right, have a consistent bias: they take politics seriously. When one candidate beats another they look for political explanations. The country is shifting to the left, or the right. And that sort of shift can certainly be the result of a presidential election, which makes it easy to believe it was the cause.

But when I think about why I voted for Clinton over the first George Bush, it wasn't because I was shifting to the left. Clinton just seemed more dynamic. He seemed to want the job more. Bush seemed old and tired. I suspect it was the same for a lot of voters."_

</comment><comment><USER3> Trump is entertaining to watch. Even though I find him a buffoon I still find him fun to watch. Hillary has more experience, matches my views on policy but she is a bore to watch, I can't bear it.

(I'm Canadian, and our immigration server is now down due to the load).

</comment><comment><USER11> The election of an "Entertainer in Chief"

</comment><comment><USER12> It's a number of things:

Going against political correctness by voicing controversial but popular views on immigration and Islam.

Populist economics in a recession after two terms of Obama.

And of course a yuuuge charisma.

<comment><USER13> I don't find him particularly charismatic. I'd probably punch the dude in the mouth if I had to deal with him and his attitude in person.

But your points about populist economics are the bigger cause I believe. But then I'm a Bernie supporter who knew he could steal that issue from Trump. C'est la vie.

<comment><USER12> The fact the so many progressive's response is to want to "punch the dude in the mouth" is exactly the kind of oppresive political correctness Trump voters are rebelling against.

These scenes probably garnered even more support for Trump's rallies: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMux_UHmpvc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMux_UHmpvc)

<comment><USER14> Not exactly political correctness but it is contempt. I think the contempt for Trump and his supporters by the other side explains a lot of both the result and the incorrect predictions in advance of the election. A lot of the country literally could not imagine a Trump win.

<comment><USER12> The contempt stems from political correctness. Political correctness isn't some superficial outrage, it's the genuine belief that people who don't hold progressive beliefs are bad people who need to be punished. Trump can't convince progressives that his views are reasonable, but he can show that these views can't be repressed anymore.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> It surely helps and Trump exploited every opportunity, spared no effort to make sure he wins but charisma is generally not the path to the White House

[https://sociological-eye.blogspot.com/2016/11/does- charisma-...](https://sociological-eye.blogspot.com/2016/11/does-charisma-win- presidential-elections.html)

 _Overall, 6 of 29 modern elections were won by strongly charismatic leaders (Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, JFK); another 4 elections were won by well-liked but uncharismatic figures, Eisenhower and Reagan. About 80% of the time, an uncharismatic person wins the presidency._

<comment><USER16> BS. Reagan Like trump was a popular actor and was very charismatic.

Importantly Trump (likely) lost the popular vote by a large margin. But he focused on the few areas that actually count. Remember the extra 250 thousand Hillary voters in DC count for 3, the significantly smaller margin in Florida, and PA count for 49.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> This is from 2004. The title should be updated to reflect that.

<comment><USER18> That makes it even better</comment></comment>


Bitcoin might need a "Red Hat moment": a Bitcoin Bank - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/tech-talk/93c10270057c

<comment><USER2> it's called Coinbase

<comment><AUTHOR> Coinbase is doing a great job, so far. I still think that there will also be a need for a bigger, more estabilished company.</comment></comment>


The most puzzling Web platform bug I've encountered - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@laughinghan/the-most-puzzling-web-platform-bug-ive-encountered-48cacf2662ee#.uoizvhmce <comment><USER2> Pretty wild. Had a lot of problems with front-end web development, but never tried adjusting zoom level when debugging before. Nice find!</comment>


Let's Get Going with Org-Mode - <AUTHOR> https://beorg.app/orgmode/letsgetgoing/ <comment><USER4> This looks really good! I used to use org mode as part of my daily workflow, but now that I don't have to submit timesheets I've got out of the habit.

At the time, though, it was wonderful. Once I'd spent some time getting used to org-clock, it becamse a much less intrusive workflow than switching apps to log time. Plus, you get beautiful tables at the end of it detailing your day, and all your notes for each item if you need them.

I even wrote some (probably terrible) elisp to collect my day's time data and post the items to our timesheet API. Mainly so I could show off to my colleagues, but also something I would never even attempt in Vim.

Edit: found it! [https://pastebin.com/6EksUxAh](https://pastebin.com/6EksUxAh)

<comment><USER5> Hmmm. Personally I'm currently using Toggl: even though the backend is proprietary, the Mac tool is lightweight, well designed and, curiously, open source. However, I could use some divorce from proprietary services sucking up my detailed time records.

Could anyone please comment as to how Org-clock's recording interface compares to Toggl? Especially, can it respect me going afk and count it as a break after five minutes? Toggl has a great dialog for this, amounting to 'stop or continue.' As for the reporting side, I mostly need just a summary of my time- wasting achievements over a week.

I suppose that Org-clock doesn't leave the confines of Emacs itself? Which must limit its abilities in measuring the activity.

<comment><USER6> See the variable "org-clock-idle-time". This is Emacs, so _of course_ there is an option.

I'm not sure if I would use org-clock unless I were already programming in Emacs, but since that's mostly what I'm doing, it works great to keep track of contracting time.

<comment><USER7> Personally I could see myself using org-clock in isolation, even if just for the fact that I end up with a non-proprietary log. I've lost too much history to various different tools (some of them turned out less than ideal, some just went belly-up).

It's difficult to know though, because I started using org-clock alongside org-mode, and if you combine time-tracking with outlining, journalling, todo/project management, and a calendar, all of it well integrated, it's hard to imagine switching to something else.

EDIT: also, just remembered that one reason I quite using Toggl was that clocktables turned out much more powerful for analyzing/reporting my hours.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I was a bit shocked to see the author using the gui :) If you're already into Emacs the David O'Toole is better imho [https://orgmode.org/worg/org- tutorials/orgtutorial_dto.html](https://orgmode.org/worg/org- tutorials/orgtutorial_dto.html)

<comment><USER9> There are so many fantastic Org mode tutorials for users already familiar with Emacs. My goal here was to show users who've never touched Emacs before - <USER2> might be a little scared of it! - that it isn't really that hard. Most tutorials I've seen jump straight into configuring the agenda keyboard shortcut in a users Emacs configuration file. This would put the uses I'm trying to reach off straight away.

I intend a follow up article where keyboard shortcuts are used - and enforce they are a big part of the reason that Org mode can be so much more efficient than other task management solutions.

<comment><USER10> Of all the org mode apps, I like UI and ux of beorg most. But since I have android as my main device, 8 can't use it. Any plans for android port?

<comment><USER9> It's unlikely I will do an Android port any time soon - the likelihood is that beorg will stay iOS only. Orgzly is a great app for Android.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I've been using Org Mode ever since I saw that Literate DevOps presentation... and I'm not even in DevOps at all. It's just that using emacs and Org Mode creates the most usable documentation for recording what I've figured out and done that I've ever seen.

I'm sort of surprised it's not more popular because the productivity gains are pretty damn amazing.

<comment><USER12> Could you share how you use it exactly?

<comment><USER11> I use it more or less exactly how it was described here:

[http://howardism.org/Technical/Emacs/literate- devops.html](http://howardism.org/Technical/Emacs/literate-devops.html)

The only real additions relate to internal tools which we developed for our work (I do sensor development and integration).

<comment><USER13> I've been using org-mode for years, including w/ Babel and this guy blew me out of the water. Amazing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> If someone isn't quite ready for org-mode, but wants to try a lightweight todo list (and more) with some powerful features, there's the todo.txt format, which works with a variety of tools. (Or you might use org-mode for work projects, but todo.txt for personal.)

[http://todotxt.org/](http://todotxt.org/)

There are many programs that support todo.txt, including multiple Emacs modes.

For one of the Emacs modes, I have a few tweaks to the format and Emacs that let me use it as a lightweight todo list, calendar, and day planner.

[https://github.com/avillafiorita/todotxt- mode](https://github.com/avillafiorita/todotxt-mode)

[https://www.neilvandyke.org/todotxt/](https://www.neilvandyke.org/todotxt/)

<comment><USER15> I use just plain text file opened in plain text editor with following conventions:

      # Topic
      [ ] A task. @tag #ticket
        [ ] A subtask.
          [ ] A sub-sub-task.
      [+] Completed task.
      [-] Failed task.
      [.] Partially completed task. WIP.
      [!] Urgent task.
      [^] High priority task.

Easy to store. Easy to share. Easy to edit at any device with plain text editor.

The only feature I miss is grouping of sub-tasks. For example, I may want to group all subtasks from all projects(topics), which I need to do _at_ place X (e.g. at parents home), so I will prepare for them. I cannot select them all without using of SQL engine or grep like tool. If editor can highlight a search term, it helps, but for long lists it easy to miss.

<comment><USER16> keep going, you are 90% there to having a Markdown todo list like me! just use a dash and a space before the brackets and use "x" to indicate they are done. If you render the markdown in a browser you can use a mouse to click the checkboxes. Check out a markdown cheat sheet for more details.

Granted, you won't be able to use your special characters in the brackets..

<comment><USER15> IMHO, a preprocessor can be used to convert from square-brackets format into markdown format, e.g. to highlight urgent and high priority entries with different colors. Sometimes, I need to share my TODO list with a manager. However, even in it plain form, it works well. IMHO, same can be done with todo.txt and org-mode files.

Can you share more about how you generate HTML from your markdown, and how you share result, please?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I use beorg

I like beorg

But I'm beginning to think the correct solution for emacs org mode on iOS is something where I have a server running emacs with all my configurations and customizations, while the app is just a dumb ui that sends the commands to the server for processing. Beorg, or any app that isn't a full blown emacs implementation (which will never be allowed in the Apple app Store) will never be able to fit my customized workflow fully

Edit: just noticed there's no mention of beorg in the article so my comment might seem a little schizophrenic :-p

<comment><USER9> I'm not so sure that Apple wouldn't allow Emacs on the App Store - they are a lot more pragmatic than they used to be. There is a project called iSH which is currently on TestFlight - it gives you Linux via a usermode x86 emulator. It would be strange for Apple to approve for TestFlight if there was _no_ chance of it ever being approved for the App Store.

<comment><USER18> Beorg is halfway there with a sweet little Scheme REPL that you can use to customize the app and write scripts. If anyone makes a full-blown emacs for iOS that works well, I will buy it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I am surprised that nobody mentioned spacemacs[1] and its org-mode support. If you are used to vim shortcuts but want to give a chance to fully-supported org-mode, you should definitely try spacemacs.

Still, I don't think I am ever going to use spacemacs to write code, but for note-taking(with inline LaTeX preview)/todo/calendar, I am 100% happy with it.

[1] [http://spacemacs.org/](http://spacemacs.org/)

<comment><USER20> I want to like spacemacs, I really do, but using spacemacs is like having a bipolar cat. One moment it is nice and warm and cuddly, the next moment it's randomly knifing you and trying to assert dominance by missing the box.

<comment><USER21> Spacemacs doesn't magically liberate you from having to learn Emacs - <USER3> simply makes certain things more obvious, but also it obscures some other things. Be patient with it and you'll be rewarded. Whenever something breaks on my config due to an upstream change (a package gets updated with a breaking change) it usually takes me less than 2 minutes to triage that and find a workaround. It doesn't happen very often and I update packages multiple times a week.

<comment><USER20> > Spacemacs doesn't magically liberate you from having to learn Emacs

Understandable, and not an issue for me.

My first issue was that there is an error from the start in the main version. That bug was fixed, but syl20bnr refused to do a hotfix. To make matters worse the main download that a new user gets is 13 months old at this point.

So a new user can either install the hotfix themselves or move to the dev branch. A new user isn't informed that they should just be on the dev branch and that due amount of changes since the last main branch release that the new user is better off deleting everything and starting over straight from the dev branch.

<comment><USER21> experienced users know: it's better to be in development branch than in master. Sadly that's is the current state of affairs with Spacemacs. Development branch ironically is more stable - yes, things break sometimes, but they also get fixed rather quickly. AFAIK maintainers currently working on the next stable release and trying to figure out better strategies to move forward.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I love articles that explain by providing examples with how to click via a menu. I use the keyboard extensively, but learn via menu items, mouse clicks, ... first, only then will I find shortcuts to do things I want to do.

<comment><USER23> This is like learning music on the piano; one handed and slow. Perfect each band's performance, then put them together.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Slightly off topic, but I love the Org-mode feature of [[A link description][file:~/my-file::a line in the file]] style links. Is there an easy way to get just that feature in all my files? I'd love to be able to have Org links in code comments, for example, but I don't want to use Org code blocks.

<comment><USER18> Yes! You just have to bind the function `org-open-at-point-global` to a keystroke. This is what I have in my .emacs file:

        (global-set-key (kbd "C-c L") 'org-insert-link-global)
        (global-set-key (kbd "C-c O") 'org-open-at-point-global)

<comment><USER24> Awesome! Thank you! I'm new to Emacs, and the transition has been a bear, but things like this are well-worth the price of admission.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> I love emacs on linux but it always seems so slow for me on Windows and the scrolling feels janky.

<comment><USER26> To fix scrolling:

M-x customize-variable

mouse-wheel-progressive-speed

Toggle it off, then click on State/Save for Future Sessions.

<comment><USER26> For reference, it is possible to do the same thing completely from the top level menu option "Options"/"Customize Emacs"/"Top-level Customization Group":

From there, click "Editing", then "Mouse", then scroll down to "Mouse Wheel Progressive Speed" and click the arrow at the start of the line to fold out that option. Then do as described above; i.e. toggle the option _off_ and click the "State" button menu and choose "Save for Future Sessions".

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> org mode is a nice place to write a resume or quick white paper. It's easy to embed sequence diagrams with plant uml. Then send it to html or pdf, but I'd like to have an export to ms word or google docs for sharing. I know you can copy and paste the html output, but the styling comes out wrong in word. I want the word default Title 1,2,3 styling.

<comment><USER28> > diagrams with plant uml

...any tip on getting that working _faster_? (it takes seconds!!!) I generally prefer to edit the plantuml markup and see the diagram update _instantly_ (like ~<200ms) on the other half split. This is the workflow I have with VSCode + Markdown Preview Enhanced.

I prefer org mode deeper structure instead of markdown, but this kinds of usability stuff (there's also horrible latex formulas rendering, a thousand small papercuts that are fixable but nobody has time for that). From a practical perspective _nothing_ just works out-of-the box the way I want on Emacs, and I'm just to lazy to properly customize everything...

<comment><USER29> I assume those seconds are mainly JVM startup time. The existing ob-plantuml doesn't support sessions, so it evaluates every code block in a new instance of plantuml. Seems to me like should be possible to use the `-pipe`-option for plantuml so that you can send multiple code blocks to the same instance via stdin and get the images back via stdout. That's probably what VSCode does, but it doesn't seem like anyone has bothered to write that for Emacs so far.

<comment><USER30> Yep most likely -

[https://code.orgmode.org/bzg/org-mode/src/master/lisp/ob- pla...](https://code.orgmode.org/bzg/org-mode/src/master/lisp/ob-plantuml.el)

Seems like this might an opportunity for a graalvm build of plantuml... might be better then a server version but tbd.

[https://www.graalvm.org/](https://www.graalvm.org/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> How does org-mode compare to Todoist + gcal? Does it solve a different problem?

<comment><USER9> Depending on your point of view, Org mode has the advantage of being plain text and free software. It is a system you could still be using in 10-15 years time. Todoist might be have bought by Microsoft (or similar) by then and discontinued. This is probably a good reason why Org mode is appealing to academics who may be on a research project for many years - you need to be using something that is going to stay the course.

Org mode does a lot more than Todoist (literate programming, spreadsheet features which I personally use in project proposals for calculating costings, exporting complex documents, logging time, ...) However all that power might be a distraction depending on what you need the tool for :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> Despite being shocked (maybe it's not the right word) by the keyboardless use, I just want to add that for mobile users there is orgzly which allows you to access your org files.

<comment><USER33> On Android recently I've been more tempted to just use "termux" and to run emacs and org-mode locally, using git to sync files back-and-forth.

The main pain there is going to be the key combos required, which aren't exactly mobile-friendly, but they can be reconfigured...

<comment><USER5> If you're gonna be so masochistic, could at least slap Evil-mode on it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> I find emacs too slow on Mac, so I use vim (actually nvim) with jceb's vim- orgmode. Good enough emulation for me.

<comment><USER35> If startup time is the issue, you can use emacsclient for near instant starts.

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> He must be English because he uses the word 'rubbish'.

</comment><comment><USER37> "utility room" \- hello from a fellow Brit :)

<comment><USER4> Or the "futility room", as my Dad would call it.

<comment><USER9> Ha! That is a very apt description. My wife feels quite overwhelmed by ours at the moment. We can just about squeeze in to get to the piles of Play-Doh and the washing machine.

I never stopped to think that a utility room was a British thing :)</comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Pinecone – Easily design genetic devices - <AUTHOR> https://serotiny.bio/ <comment><AUTHOR> Justin here - cofounder of Serotiny. We've been building software to make the design of genetic tools efficient and straightforward. I'd be glad to to answer any questions about the software, it's capabilities, or the tech behind it. The hope is to enable a 'plain language' abstraction layer on top both DNA, and the knowledge/expertise required to manipulate DNA. We'd like for those without an expertise in cloning to be able to find, design and start using the genetic constructs they want.

Specifically Pinecone is our software to build novel proteins based on functionally annotated domains. With it you can build single proteins, combinatorial sets of proteins, and mutation libraries all without ever having to actually dig into a DNA sequence. Once you've built your novel genetic designs we help facilitate purchase of whatever deliverable is useful to you - double-stranded DNA, plasmid DNA, or purified protein.

Thanks to the the HN, Go, and Ember communities for their fantastic tools that allow a scientist to get software like this off up and running.</comment>


The Horizons of Instrument Design: A Conversation with Don Buchla (1982) - <AUTHOR> https://www.keyboardmag.com/artists/the-horizons-of-instrument-design-a-conversation-with-don-buchla <comment><USER4> Wow, I learned my synth chops on a Buchla synthesizer at Brandeis University in 1977.

The professor there claimed that the instrument was relatively useless since it couldn't produce a diatonic scale. I proved him wrong by using attenuators to dial down the sensitivity of the oscillator inputs to the point where they could be fine-tuned to recognizable notes on a twelve-tone octave.

Fun times!

</comment><comment> jim-jim-jim I've always liked the idea of electronic music that eschews keyboards and the 12 tones, but a lot of the stuff I've heard is, uh, wank.

I don't think the problem stems from the technology used or the musical ideas at play, but rather the fact that something like a Buchla or Max or whatever invites solitary improvisation, which rarely ends well. My criticism extends to all the bullshit made on conventional modular systems with standard keyboards as well. It's too easy to have fun and forget to write an actual song.

So I'm interested in hearing these tools used in a collaborative and polished setting. There's still a lot of potential there.

Here's Richard Boulanger playing some weird 3D controller (made by Max Mathews I think?) The piece is in Bohlen-Pierce scale. Yet it still sounds heartwarming and musical. I need more stuff like it in my life:

[https://youtube.com/watch?v=Jq8RIE3iDD4](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Jq8RIE3iDD4)

<comment><USER5> _> It's too easy to have fun and forget to write an actual song._

Like any other musical technique, improvisation takes time to master. In my view, this is simply a matter of the difference between a skilled performer/composer and an unskilled one. No surprises there; a skilled improvisor will keep you interested and avoid the meandering and drawn out "wank" that characterizes unskilled improvisation.

Of course, meandering and drawn out music has its place too, but I find it easy to tell when it's applied intently and for good reason and when it's not.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Anyone who wants to get into synthesizers would be wise to check out VCVRack - it is currently the best way to explore Eurorack-based modular synthesis without selling the kids:

[http://vcvrack.com/](http://vcvrack.com/)

Set it up, get an account, and add all the free plugins - then manage the plugins in the app, and voila - rejoice at having literally a THOUSAND new Eurorack modules to play with, virtually, for free...

Beware: modular synthesis is addictive and frustrating in equal amounts. Its a form of analog computing - meaning you won't get good results unless you program it from the ground up. But if you do, and if your system can handle it, you can gain access to a world of sounds that would normally have required thousands of dollars of investment .. truly one of the greatest value software packages out there at the moment. Can't thank Andrew Belt (VCVRack developer) enough for building the system he has, and delivering an open and easy model for people to use in exploring synthesis.

What's really interesting is the fact that a lot of the physical hardware manufacturers of Eurorack modules have embraced VCVRack as their sales promotion/prototyping/demo platform. So many great Eurorack modules are now available for free in software versions specifically for VCVRack ..

</comment><comment><USER7> I've been into synths for a long time but only relatively recently got into West Coast synthesis - I was intrigued by the fact that there was a completely different paradigm out there. I quickly started reading about Buchla and Serge, then tried the Ripplemaker iOS app and finally purchased an Erica Pico 3.

I really enjoy West Coast sounds, they are different from ordinary subtractive sounds, they can be a bit "cold" sometimes but if you strike the right balance you get crisp tones, you can create percussive sounds using the natural "pluckiness" of the vactrols and you can get really wild with waveshaping/FM.

Besides Morton Subotnick, some artists that have used Buchla and Serge synthesizers are Suzanne Ciani, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Alessandro Cortini.

Edit: another interesting aspect is the fact that Buchla and Serge synths contained ideas that influenced later synths like the Yamaha DX7 and the Casio CZ101 (and today, many successful contemporary synths are also based on those ideas). Often articles about the history of synthesis declare that "East Coast synthesis won" but that's not really the case.

</comment><comment><USER8> If you want something unique, like the Buchla 200, I highly recommend Wiard. A few modules are end of life but you can add in some Euro rack to add sequencing or other modulation sources.

[http://www.wiard.com/](http://www.wiard.com/)

</comment><comment><USER6> The synthesizer world is a strange one. I've been working in and around it for a few decades and noticed a few things.

First of all, the Germans are winning. The synth market would have fallen to pieces if there weren't so many German manufacturers making cool synthesizers. Americans play guitar, Germans prefer keys. This wouldn't be a problem except that most of the German synthesizers are physically designed by a single individual - and his horrid design choices have propagated throughout the industry. Such things as having knobs placed too close to each other, such that you can't grab one with thumb and forefinger without also disturbing another. Or having LED's that wash out the panel so you can't see anything under low light (stage) conditions. Or, endless menu's to scroll through. Or, you know, different brands looking altogether too similar, since their designs were copy/pasted from the same designer.

Another weird thing about this industry is that everyone thinks standards suck until they themselves invent one, and expect everyone else to comply with it. Synthesizers with, functionally, the same basic engine are nevertheless entirely incompatible with each other.

There are two kinds of synth user: players and tweakers.

Players want better factory presets and don't care about making great new sounds as long as they have their rhodes and DX mono bass and so on - <USER2> throw away the factory presets and want a better editing interface. This would be fine, except there is a secondary market of 'consultants' who write all the factory presets for most synth manufacturers, and they don't want their territory encroached on by tweakers. So, they have a lot to say about how complicated the UI should be, in order to protect their business model, and this propagates throughout the whole design phase, such that most synth UI's are a dogs breakfast of 'conveniently left out editing features that are not necessary because everyone just uses presets anyway'.

Its a very interesting market to observe from a tech perspective. Musicians are a fickle lot - 2 million new musicians are made every year (school music programs) which means that even if your product is mediocre, the new market bodies don't know better - you can get away with producing mundane things in those conditions. Musicians spend on average $500/month on new music gear (until GAS wears out/they get married), which means there is always a new toy to play with, even if its all been done before, so many times over.

<comment><USER9> I mean the German thing isn't that surprising: Europe is the home of electronic music these days and Germany really kicked things off and still to this day has the thriving performance and retail scene that keeps it all going, a lot of it centered around Germany (specifcally Berlin and Hamburg). Not that it doesn't happen elsewhere in the world, but it's like a religion in a place like Berlin.

Interesting what you say about players and tweakers. Personally I think that's a bit too binary, but it is interseting to see softsynths with more intuitive UI's finally coming out, like Pigments from Arturia.

<comment><USER6> >a bit too binary

Every synth manufacturer has to make this conclusion at some point. A surprisingly large number of synth customers never get past the presets - <USER3> a dirty little secret of the business.

Not that there's anything wrong with this, of course - but it does make designing a "one UI for all" kind of difficult. It also explains why so many of the 'big manufacturers' focus mostly on player- interfaces, eschewing the work required to make more detailed editing surfaces.

However this is all changing - look at companies like Modal, who led the way with providing as sophisticated interfaces as necessary for both end-user types ..</comment></comment></comment>


I Went Viral on Hacker News – Here is what happened - <AUTHOR> https://www.shivaprabhakaran.com/post/went-viral-on-hacker-news <comment><AUTHOR> A few days back one of my posts got a lot of traction on HN. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have pertaining to what happened, why I think it went viral etc.

</comment><comment><USER2> My guess is that the discrepancy between GA and the logs can be attributed to people running noscript or other ad blockers.</comment>


Blind optimization: bad - <AUTHOR> http://codeclimber.blogspot.com/2008/09/measure-twice-cut-once.html

<comment><USER2> _All it takes is a moment to hook up a profiler, and you will know FOR SURE where your performance problems are. Don't sit there thrashing away at shadows when you could be done and on to more important things. Diagnose, THEN fix; always in that order._

I couldn't have put it better myself.</comment>


Mac: Keyboard Shortcuts Killed by Bug - <AUTHOR> https://eclecticlight.co/2019/03/03/last-week-on-my-mac-keyboard-shortcuts-killed-by-bug/ <comment><USER2> I doubt it is developer apathy. It smells like a management issue. iOS is where the money is. I don't know anyone at apple, but here's how I imagine it is there:

Every OSX engineer probably has more bugs on their plate than can be fixed in one career, in addition to feature development tasks. The OSX team is severely understaffed both because it is not a priority at Apple, and because it is getting harder and harder to find engineers that are able to/willing to work on this kind of code - a Byzantine labyrinth of C flavors that's been accreting lines for decades.

The OSX team is in a desperate fight for recognition and status against the iOS team. They believe (and are probably right) that the only way to gain executive mind share there is to build out new visible features, no matter how useless. Witness dark theme, stacks, dynamic desktop, siri on the desktop, a steady stream of useless iPhone integrations, etc. All the troops are ordered to march relentlessly toward feature development. Stability and bug fixes be damned.

It bet it takes at least three weeks of focused effort and red tape macheteing to fix this bug and it is way down on someone's list. Even if you fix it the change won't make the next OSX key note at the annual IOScon or whatever it is called, so it won't help your career one iota.

Again - this is just how I imagine it is there. I don't really know.

<comment><USER3> There's no "OSX team" at Apple. That would go against Apple's whole corporate structure.

<comment><USER4> Surely there is some team that develops OS X. That is the OS X team.

<comment><USER5> Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but they are right. there isn't an OSX team. Apple doesn't slice things up that way. If there were an OSX team then surely there would be a manager for that team, right? The only person that could plausibly fill that role is Craig Federighi... but he arguably fills the same role for iOS, too.

In the Scott Forstall days, there was a distinct iOS team (Scott) and a distinct OSX team (Craig). now there isn't.

<comment><USER4> Sure, there is one exec, but there must be someone under him who is responsible for OS X.

<comment><USER6> Nope. Craig's directs are responsible for apps and all the platforms those apps ship on or cross-platform technologies that power apps.

<comment><USER7> I'm not sure what point you are trying to make here. macOS is a product. With releases, features, etc. Someone or some group of people must necessarily make decisions about what makes up "macOS 10.14.5". Even if that team is "Craig and his direct reports" or whatever, and even if that team has other responsibilities.

<comment><USER6> For example, I believe if macOS had a dedicated VP with specialized software teams like the type we are speculating here, my guess is we would have fewer bugs of this sort than we do now.

<comment><USER8> This is my take as well.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> It's a bug for sure, but conclusions like this are over the top for a single small bug:

> This isn't an Apple which has any concern over the quality of its products, > or for its users. It's just another leviathan corporation which has stopped > caring or taking pride. One small bug reveals a deep and pervasive problem.

I'd rather see a more measured approach to drawing conclusions from a single anecdote.

<comment><USER10> Straws break camel's backs. You can be sure this isn't the only, the first, or even the last time this particular developer has found a major bug. It's also safe to assume that past bugs they have reported (especially small usability bugs like this) have languished, or been closed as "will not fix".

At some point, the back is broken, the developer gives up on trying to help an obscenely profitable company QA their own products, and rants about the lack of care being shown.

<comment><USER11> The process for even submitting bugs is time-intensive, so much so that I started keeping a TODO list of bugs to report, which I never found the time for and wound up stopping even writing new bugs on it because I couldn't keep up.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> This bug is much more subtle that the author describes. I use keyboard shortcuts semi-regularly so I would've noticed this bug, especially if it had been around since 10.13. I never noticed it, but then I realized the author's screenshots are all dark themed. I use the light theme and cannot reproduce it under 10.14.4 with light theme.

If I toggle to dark theme, I can reproduce it, but not in a consistent way. Depending upon how I add and remove shortcuts and toggle themes, I can get just the last shortcut to display incorrectly, or all of them to display incorrectly, or none of them to. It's some odd interaction between dark/light themes and this panel.

<comment><USER13> I mean, they also had this bug for ages:

> There is, still, a long-standing MacOS bug where your balance may drift when > volume buttons are pressed while CPU is under heavy load.

[https://github.com/jamsinclair/ballast](https://github.com/jamsinclair/ballast)

[https://www.tunabellysoftware.com/balance_lock/](https://www.tunabellysoftware.com/balance_lock/)

<comment><USER14> ohhh ! that's what happened ! I had this happen to me a couple of month ago. I thought that my headphones were busted until I realized that OsX had decided to mess with the balance for no reason.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> > This isn't a subtle bug which only occurs in certain circumstances.

Sure it is. OP is an outlier in how they use this panel. Most people just use it to enable/disable the built-in menu commands, or to modify their accelerators.

One very common use-case for people who speak multiple languages is enabling the keyboard switcher accelerator. I expect that they have extensive tests for common use-cases like that.

On the other hand, I expect that the test suite they use probably only tests creating one or two custom keyboard shortcuts using the panel; and doesn't give them overly-long names. UX integration tests, above the level of the control library itself, aren't usually concerned with being fuzz tests on what happens when you have a whole bunch of something (long strings, many items) loaded into a control. Normally the control library itself takes care of that for you (and has its own trustworthy fuzzing/property-testing suite), so you only worry about ensuring that your view controller gets the data into the control's data binding in the right way.

I would guess that this bug is there because the view controller is summing up the lengths of the strings under a given section for some task; and then, later on, accidentally using that sum-of-lengths as the determinant for whether each string is too long to fit into its column and needs ellipsis...ing (eliding? elision?), rather than using each individual key's length. Totally plausible bug, it makes total sense that this is an _old_ bug that nobody discovered until now. It would seem that literally nobody has tried to do this until now.

Still, this is the type of thing that'll get fixed immediately if you file a Radar on it. Whatever the underlying problem is, it's on the view-controller layer, and definitely a simple fix; and there's no decisions or opinion required on what the fix should be; _and_ it doesn't require any specific expertise (like having knowledge of the kernel.) It's an "easy win" ticket someone would likely knock out the same day you submitted it.

The fact that it didn't get caught during any of the numerous betas since Sierra, really, _really_ implies that nobody ever thought to try this—users _or_ developers. (Because if someone _did_ report this bug in the beta, and it was still in the prod release, you can bet they would have blogged about it when that happened.)

<comment><USER16> > The fact that it didn't get caught during any of the numerous betas since > Sierra, really, really implies that nobody ever thought to try this—users or > developers.

There is another explanation. The author says that he was able to reproduce it always, but I use this feature all the time and I don't have that problem, so probably there are other factors that cause the bug.

You asume that nobody uses this feature, because probably you don't use it and because the author says that the bug is easy to reproduce. But without meaningful data is hard to say.

For example, most of the shortcuts that I put there are for Sketch, and AFAIK many designers using Sketch use this feature.

<comment><USER17> Did you try it? It takes less than a minute. I found I was one under the number of shortcuts necessary for the bug to appear.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> _> I cannot believe that they didn't open this pane and test it, even briefly_

Does this author really think that every developer, after every code commit, and before every release, manually goes through every single piece of functionality in an entire operating system, in every possible configuration, to ensure nothing regressed? That just does not happen. Either they write regression tests, or they document a feature and have QC evaluate it. But both of those can be error-prone, bugs happen, and there is absolutely no indication that anyone knew about the bugs. Refusing to report them because "they should have known about them anyway" is childish.

<comment><USER19> Agree; it's also not rendering the feature "unusable" or "killed" as hyperbolized in the article. It's a bug -- it's a very annoying bug -- but it's pretty middle of the road and doesn't actually prevent the user from doing anything.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> My complaint about this preferene pane - no wildcards in menu names.

macOS has a handy "Batch rename" feature in the contextual menu when you right click on files. The renaming GUI gives you options for sequential numbers, text replacement, prefixes, suffixes, inserting dates.

But the menu to open this is called "Rename X Items…" so you can't assign a keyboard shortcut to it. Might be 5 items, might be 2914 items. Without wildcards you'd have to make a different shortcut for every different quantity.

<comment><USER21> You can make an actual Automator service to do the batch renaming and then call it whatever you want. The Automator version also has more features than the Finder one.

<comment><USER17> This, but I think the more general point here would be that the system preferences panel is for dead simple stuff, and Apple does provide more powerful tools (namely, Automator and Applescript) if you need them.

I _love_ Applescript. My entire home entertainment setup basically runs on Applescript—each button on my Harmony remote triggers a different script.

There's no equivalent on Windows—you can use Autohotkey, kind of, but without any sort of Apple Event-esque specification it isn't nearly as useful/nice.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I tried this and for me, it's a minor bug.

Upon adding the third shortcut, the display of the "menu" name, indeed, shows as an ellipsis. But:

(1) the name is still visible through a tool tip (2) when I close the window and reopen, thingS display fine. (If I start editing again, I can get some weird ellipsis display again, though now by deleting items rather than add thing them)

Anyway, definitely a bug, but at least for me it's pretty easy to work around, so a pretty minor bug in a minor feature.

</comment><comment><USER23> "macOS is designed to be rich in features and highly adaptable to everyone's taste. It's also designed to be driven in a variety of ways, including extensive use of keyboard shortcuts."

Both of these statements are false.

<comment><USER24> How so?

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> lol: "The bug has occurred because of a simple programming error using what I believe Apple refers to as an Outline View. The error is that the first column width, containing the command names, has been set too narrow, and isn't adjustable by the user either. In coding terms, it's a trivially simple error which should take a few seconds to fix."

that makes no sense at all looking at the behaviour described. if you want to write an article complaining about someones business processes letting through unacceptable bugs, make sure you understand what is a computer. then perhaps learn to debug issues on it. once you can do that, perhaps you will be less tempted to write such a mess.

<comment><USER26> You began this post with with a sentence fragment and a massive quote from the article everyone just read wherein no particular point required a reference.

You used "lol" in written communication which makes you sound like a 12 year old girl texting her friends.

You then continued in mid stream and concluded a sentence that you never began.

You said "make sure you understand what is a computer" which makes zero sense whatsoever and joined several sentence fragments with periods.

Perhaps before critiquing someone else's communications it would be optimal if you were to improve your own.

Your entire communiqe could have been written like do.

"The author does not appear to understand how the software he is using actually works, perhaps he ought to clarify his understanding before writing so unclearly about it."

<comment><USER27> > Your entire communiqe could have been written like do.

It's not clear what was gained by your point-by-point rebuttal (of presentation rather than content), but it was worth it for this unproofread line.

<comment><USER26> That is funny and ironic.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> What's with the author's apparent pride in not reporting this to Apple? Even if you feel that developers shouldn't need users to report bugs—which seems like a weird assumption—refusing to report the bugs that affect you hurts you, not the developer.

(This is not to defend Apple's responses to Radar reports; I think probably anyone here has one or two sore spots of years-ignored bug reports. But at least they're there!)

</comment><comment><USER28> Tangent (or OT), something I've been struggling with as a new macOS user, how do I get keyboard repeats working? I understand they removed repeats so that a long press can offer accent characters.

I've done `defaults write -g KeyRepeat -int 5` or something like that and it kinda works but somehow doesn't feel "right" still. Am I missing something obvious?

<comment><USER29> I haven't experienced your problem on my Mac, but you might try adjusting InitialKeyRepeat, too. I believe the old default was 15 (225 ms). (The old default for KeyRepeat was 2 (30 ms).)

<comment><USER28> Wow significantly better, I was at 30/5\. I had tried lower settings (I think 10/1) at some point and logging in again was hilariously difficult so I stopped messing with it out of fear.

15/2 is beauty. Thanks a lot!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> Very recently a Chrome keyboard shortcut stopped working. It was a bug and they fixed it.

[https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=892480](https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=892480)

Bugs happen, it doesn't necessarily indicate anything systemic.

<comment><USER31> That bug was fixed in 14 days if I read that page right. The complaint here isn't just that the bug happened, but that it happened long ago, is fairly visible, and is still around a year later.

<comment><USER32> Because they actually bothered to file a bug report. The author thinks what's obvious to them must be obvious to everyone so didn't file anything. Of course it isn't going to be fixed in a timely fashion.

<comment><USER31> I have filed a few rdars. It's not a good investment of time in my experience.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> Apple used to be pretty good with Mac accessibility. Now, not so much.

<comment><USER34> And overall power usage. I think I probably know more shortcuts and optimizations on macOS than most people at Apple.

<comment><USER35> Have any tricks you want to share? My MBP 15" gets 2 hr tops unless its plugged in. Even with "mere" web browsing

<comment><USER36> Power usage, as in power user, as in "skilled user of software".

<comment><USER35> Yikes I'm an idiot

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> Lol. Even when that dialog worked as intended, it was total crap! It mostly worked for certain menu items only.

Fun game: try to remap Ctrl+a to select all, Ctrl+c to copy etc to mimic unix/windows. (or god forbid, to make your limited mobility device that cost thousands of dollars several years ago to work on your work provided macbook pro)

Every single app will behave differently and you will see how broken usability/accessibility is on OSX. Some examples for Ctrl+c:

on Firefox, Ctrl+c will move the cursor to the end of the text area while cmd+c will still work as copy, despite the menu hint showing Ctrl+c next to edit>copy.

On Notes.app it will work fine and cmd+c stops working (correctly).

On safari, calendar and most apple office stuff ctrl+c just do absolutely nothing. In some apps it shows ctrl+c next to edit>copy though, because why not

<comment><USER38> I'm not saying it is easy or logical, but it is possible.

System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard > Modifier Keys...

In this dialogue you can remap what the modifier keys means, so you can make the ctrl-button act as cmd and make the cmd-button act as ctrl.

Personally i use it to make the caps-lock key act as escape.

<comment><USER39> now you have the problem of making your crap accessibility hardware closed source firmware to send the caps lock key code instead of ctrl. Good luck with that.

<comment><USER40> You can change modifiers for different inputs. If you have another keyboard attached, it will give you the option to choose between that, and other keyboards, such as the built-in. They can have different modifier overrides.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> Bug aside, this from-the-outside-in way of creating keyboard shortcuts is a cool feature, that I bet a minority of even Mac powerusers are aware of.

See also "DefaultKeyBinding.dict" for more keyboard behavior possibilities, including stuff like ^W and ^U working in Cocoa text fields.

<comment><USER17> One great thing about macOS is that Apple provides a couple of tools to extend existing apps. The other really great one is Automator Services/Quick Actions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> BetterTouchTool - [https://folivora.ai/](https://folivora.ai/) \- patches over many of these "rough edges" in macOS, including the arbitrary-keyboard- shortcuts-for-menu-items requirement of the OP. I think it's generally true that while the polished-ness of Apple's own software has deteriorated somewhat, the ecosystem of utilities largely fills that gap... except where it comes to hardware, where the butterfly keyboard problems infuriate me daily to no end.

</comment><comment><USER17> > What is more, as far as I can see, this bug has existed since macOS High > Sierra 10.13.4, almost a year ago, in March 2018, if not before.

Hmm, I still have my main machine on High Sierra due to nVidia drivers (and Mojave's Apple Event Sandboxing being a giant PITA), and I can't replicate this on 10.13.6. The bug worked on my Mojave machine, however.

I wonder if the author is mistaken regarding how long the bug has been present. Or maybe it was introduced in 10.13.4, got fixed, and then was broken again?

</comment><comment><USER43> > In coding terms, it's a trivially simple error which should take a few > seconds to fix.

This is both a large assumption and a huge oversimplification. What about time to regression test, QA, deploy through the various inner rings/dogfooding groups, check accessibility, etc.?

It smacks of a writer who possibly has coded before as a hobbyist but never professionally.

</comment><comment><USER17> Wow. Looks like I never ran into this bug because I have one too few App Shortcuts set up (only two custom ones, as opposed to 3+).

And this has been in place since Sierra?! Wow!

I'm not convinced that Apple actually knows about this bug, but what does that say about their software testing...

</comment><comment><USER44> "I can feel it Dave", except that it seems that Apple can't feel it. MacOS is like HAL oe one of those robots that you see in movies that wanders around doing things that no longer make sense. This appears true for hardware as well - I used to long for the latest MacBook and now I am relieved that my 2012 is hanging in there because I don't want to spend all that money for a bad keyboard. Think about that for a minute - 2012 vs 2019!

Apple should open source their OS. They would not longer have to waste their time and energy pretending that the MacBook market matters to them. Developers would be happy with them - its a win win situation!!

</comment><comment><USER45> > Right now, if I open my list, it displays like yours, without any ellipses. > If I add and then remove a shortcut, half of the list spontaneously turns to > "…". But if I close and open System Preferences again, I'm back where I > started, with a properly displaying list

By the author's own admission (in the comments) this doesn't even seem like a major bug. His refusal to report it isn't helping anyone, and it's a display issue that's fixed by closing and re-opening a window. How was any keyboard shortcut actually killed here? What a terrible clickbaity headline.

</comment><comment><USER46> Related: ⌘-C randomly not working is one of my top issue with the new macOSes. It used to work perfectly fine a couple years ago.

</comment><comment><USER47> Why does he assume that the responsible engineers are aware of the bug?

<comment><USER45> His comments are full of people unable to reproduce it, yet he assumes people working on the OS are actively aware of and ignoring it intentionally.

</comment></comment><comment><USER48> please fix the keyboard bug that make it hot like lava....

can't even touch my mac without gloves</comment>


Aquameta chapter 2:  Beyond file-centric development - <AUTHOR> http://blog.aquameta.com/2016/01/06/intro-chpater2-filesystem/ <comment><USER2> Looks amazing, can't wait to see where this goes.</comment>


Here Active Listening - <AUTHOR> https://www.hereplus.me/ <comment><USER2> Is there any user. Could you share your application and experience?</comment>


Whole Foods to cut health-care benefits for 1,900 part-time employees in 2020 - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/whole-foods-to-cut-healthcare-for-1900-part-time-employees-in-2020.html <comment><USER2> Amazon is deadset on abusing their workers as much as possible to make a buck.

Wether its the intern turning a spec into code, then getting verbally lashed for 3 hours for not "being creative", or demanding 50+ hour weeks out of engineers on Amazon's Payments team.

No one should be so scared that they work an extra 12hrs on Saturday and another 6 on Sunday, but that seems to be SOP for certain employees in some departments of Amazon :c

<comment><USER3> Yeah I need to find a new team or company. I just did a 12 hour day, while sick. Never ending deadlines and high turnover... to be fair, my team used to be really fun. Things just changed.

<comment><USER4> Not things. Management or "vision".. bleh

<comment><USER5> If you are around my age (25 - 30) this is the only time in your working life unemployment was at a level that is in your favor. Use that leverage and use it fast.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> > "In order to better meet the needs of our business and create a more > equitable and efficient scheduling model, we are moving to a single-tier > part-time structure," a company spokesperson said in an email. "We are > providing Team Members with resources to find alternative healthcare > coverage options, or to explore full-time, healthcare-eligible positions > starting at 30 hours per week. All Whole Foods Market Team Members continue > to receive employment benefits including a 20% in-store discount."

How can you write this stuff with a straight face.

<comment><USER7> The Obamacare subsidies drive this.

Let's say a given employees health insurance coverage costs Amazon $5,000 a year to provide. If the employee was to purchase the same level of coverage on his or her own from a subsidized exchange, let's say it costs the employee $3,000 in out-of-pocket premiums. Amazon could then pay the employee less overall while apportioning $4,000 more to wages, and thereby both Amazon and the employee benefit... at the expense of other taxpayers, of course.

<comment><USER8> True, but the ACA is likely going away next summer, either partially or completely. This is based on the 9 or so rare cases where the Solicitor General did not act as defendants on a court case at the Supreme Court level. [See the table on pages 58-60. Note: there are better ways to represent the data in the table.]: [https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2...](https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2298&context=facpubs)

Do not get excited about the first 2 cases in the table being "clearly unconstitutional". Because to diehard conservatives (which is how the court is currently balanced), the healthcare law is "blatantly unconstitutional".

Not only that, this summer, at the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals level (the level right below the Supreme Court), the Department of Justice did an unprecedented move, historically, and joined the side of the plaintiffs. According to legal experts, the court case at this level could not have gone any worse for the defendants of the ACA.

The Republicans are doing this on purpose, as the final decision will come months before an election.

I have a rare disease and I require an extremely expensive orphan drug, so I know I am likely going to be in a bind within the next year. It is extremely upsetting to me, which is why I mention it. But, I am a dual national (I naturalized due to my health issues) of another developed country with universal healthcare, so I can always leave the US. I have basically given up the prospect of the US being my "home", even though it always has been. I basically feel unwelcome here, but it is merely my perception.

<comment><USER9> sorry to hear that... this is what i don't get about republicans. they could go for m4a or something similar and brand it as a win for entrepreneurship but i guess they are too beholden to the huge corporations that donate to their campaigns, pacs, and super pacs to ever go against that. the number of people that are stuck in deadend jobs just for the somewhat more affordable healthcare is too high.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> It will be interesting to see how this changes interactions between Amazon employees and impacted Whole Foods workers in downtown Seattle.

For their warehouses most employees are shielded away but with Whole Foods it's different. Amazon employees go there every day in the thousands. So, I'd imagine some kind of compassionate move by employees will occur in Seattle.

Or employees just stop going to avoid the awkwardness, and use delivery... we will see.

</comment><comment><USER11> This employer-gives-you-healthcare madness really needs to stop.

<comment><USER12> Employers providing healthcare is a part of the compensation package though, right? Couldn't people buy insurance by themselves if they wanted?

<comment><USER13> Yes, but I have a healthy family and the shittiest, pay nothing insurance would cost $1700 a month and growing. That's more than I pay for my mortgage. So it's true I could buy insurance if I wanted, but it's financially crippling and you get almost nothing for it.

It's a complete and utter scam.

Bernie Sanders recently asked people on Twitter what their most absurd medical bills were and the response was enlightening as to the current health care status in the US:

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2019/09/17/bernie- sand...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2019/09/17/bernie-sanders-what- was-your-most-absurd-medical-bill-here-is-the-response/#46bc5a691696)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> If health care cost continue growing faster than inflation, we will see many more articles like this.

</comment><comment><USER15> First "gig" economy and now this ? We need universal healthcare, like yesterday. Let's not be bonded to corporations to take care of our health.

</comment><comment><USER16> The 20% employee discount must certainly help. That almost evens out the markup on all their products over regular grocery store prices.

</comment><comment><USER17> This is just terrible system. They barely make anything and yet no benefits. Sometime it is best just to stay unemployed and let the government take care of them.

<comment><USER18> This is the part that is so screwed up about there not being a universal public option in the USA.

A universal public option already exists!, you just have to quit your job, and sell your house, and with a chronic condition remain completely destitute for the rest of your life.

How does that situation benefit anyone? Why not just let people work, have a life, and contribute to society, rather than demanding they remain poor for the grave sin of having medical issues.

<comment><USER19> I have a strange gut condition in which my doctor agrees with me that having a job that pays me would be very good for my health, possibly allowing me to actually heal, but I cannot lose my health insurance because without my medication I cannot digest any food.

The physical problems all began during depression from losing my job, and symptoms often subside when I do volunteer work or help family members with things and just feel useful. But it has been 2 years and I have not found another job that will give me health insurance. I can get freelance work sometimes so that is helpful and hopeful, but I actually have to be very careful not to make so much that I lose health insurance. This makes me very useless and unable to contribute to my family who has helped me out so much in this time. It is a constant misery, yet I am a tremendously able worker who loves to work, even very long hours.

I am not sure how legal it is for me to even have health insurance, but I have no shame either way. That would be laughable to worry about for anybody in my situation.

Working hard in American has never been materially appreciated in my experiences. This country is completely broken. You only want dishonest people who say and act in ways ways that make you feel happy. No respect for human dignity. Everything is salesmanship, and value is a measure of abstract emotional signaling. What should we expect? It is hardly ironic. It's what this society has been asking for as long as I have been alive.

<comment><USER20> I assume you know this. Have an LLC in a trusted person's name and ask to be paid via that and use the LLC tax ID when freelancing.

<comment><USER21> What is the net benefit of classifying as an employee of this LLC?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> What's crazy is the benefits cut was supposed to be here last Sunday but Amazon hid the fact that it was coming from a warehouse in China.</comment>


Show HN: A Vue webapp to build Vue webapps with API data - F117-DK https://jig.gy <comment> F117-DK Questions are more than welcome! :)</comment>


Ask HN: Successful webdev freelancers, what are your recommendations? - <AUTHOR> I am in the process of starting my freelance business which will focus on helping innovative companies, which are trying to change the status quo, with their web/app development and server challenges.
I was wondering, whether any successful freelancers in this field could quickly help me (and others) out by sharing their experiences:
* How did you end up serving specific clients, how did they find out about you?
* What do you do to spread the word about your work?
* Any general advice for a freelancer just starting out, something you wish you had known back in the days?
I am looking forward to your replies, thank you very much in advance for taking the time and effort to reply. <comment><USER2> Although this may not be helpful to you, when getting started I just showed cool stuff I built to my friends. Some friends of friends needed code written, and I did their projects. I've been doing this seventeen years now, with no advertising ever - just word of mouth from people I've worked with.

<comment><AUTHOR> I was thinking of doing something similar. I also believe that word of mouth can be very powerful. Referral bonuses are something else I am thinking of implementing, it is always nice to give back to people for their help.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience, I really appreciate it!</comment></comment>


Dynamic Rate Control when emulating old video game systems - <AUTHOR> https://byuu.net/audio/dynamic-rate-control <comment><AUTHOR> Note: I modified the title from the original, because I thought it would not provide enough information without context</comment>


Why were the /\ (min) and the \/ (max) operators abandoned in the C language? - <AUTHOR> https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/4965/why-were-the-min-and-the-max-operators-abandoned-in-the-c-language <comment><USER2> C is already dying why are we even talking about it? It should be in history books while us guys celebrate writing code in much superior languages :)</comment>