Tip any song or musician with Bitcoin - <AUTHOR> http://saycheers.co <comment><USER4> This is really amazing. I hope your service receives a lot of success.

One problem is that many people don't have bitcoin even if it is the best way to pay. Many people are uncomfortable buying bitcoins.

Amazon micropayment service lets you pay with credit card transaction anywhere from $0.05 to $9.99 with a 5% + .05 cent transaction fee. Which isn't as good as bitcoin but it is still pretty good as far as credit card fees go.

[https://payments.amazon.com/help/Amazon-Flexible-Payments- Se...](https://payments.amazon.com/help/Amazon-Flexible-Payments- Service/Creating-Managing-Your-Account/Amazon-Payments-Fees)

Many small micro-payments can really add up. This can be huge for content creators. I would really like to give tips to people who create educational science videos, open source software, open source hardware, write detailed tutorials for hardware and software projects, take the time to help me on forums, etc. Many content creators on the internet have helped me. I might not want to give a lot to each but I can give a small tip. Which can still make a difference to the creator if many people also do the same.

I think if they charged a fee for the tip it would be a more standard business model and people would not find it as exciting. It seems more direct to customer this way without the man in the middle dilemma for content creators. Also charging a fee in addition to the transaction fee would make it increasingly difficult to tip the creator a small amount. I think the fact they don't charge a fee on top of the transaction fee is out of necessity.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, thanks for the feedback! We agree that for now Bitcoins constrict us to a relatively small community - which is why we will be supporting credit cards in the near future! (And thanks for the link to Amazon micropayments +1!)

We plan to launch with only Bitcoins, and shortly thereafter add on credit card payments to go more mainstream.

Our mission is to enable anyone to tip any creator anywhere in the world - <USER2> educational content and others are definitely included in this! Music is just the starting point.

<comment><USER4> and maybe even for aid relief to charities in emergency situations

<comment><USER4> I signed up for the beta, I would love to help

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> My main concern is that I don't see how they get any money out of it. Normally I'm fine with free services, for obvious reasons, but it strikes me as concerning that this requires quite a bit of work and money, both over the long term, but they have no visible payoff. The only way I see it being viable in the long term is if they take our money. I'd like to see this as a % fee of some sort but I worry that it is either doomed or a scam.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, thanks for posting your concerns, and I understand where you're coming from. Our visible payoff is creating a social network around payments - <USER3> while we will never charge fees on tips, there are many other services we can introduce to generate revenue. One example is later on allowing creators to actually sell their content on our network (to their fans) or having premium artist accounts to help them manage, engage and grow their fanbase. Other than this, can you think of any other ways we can convince you (and others) that we are not a scam?

<comment><USER6> Co-founder here. To add.

We also have to look at a future where an artist like Justin Bieber could put up a BTC address on his Twitter profile. Taking a cut means the artist has a small reason to not want to sign up ("they take 1%-2%. I'm better off just sticking a BTC address on my Facebook").

<comment><USER7> _We also have to look at a future where an artist like Justin Bieber could put up a BTC address on his Twitter profile._

In this future of which you speak, are there any off-world colonies?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Hi everyone, Cheers Cofounder here. We're trying to make the world a smaller place, connecting fans with those that make what they love, and enabling content creators. We'd love to hear feedback on our platform. Cheers!

<comment><USER8> Any plans/interest in supporting dogecoin tips (sent as dogecoin to the artists). There community around dogecoin is, generally speaking, more amenable to tipping.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes! We're planning to integrate as many payment options as possible so this is definitely in the works.

<comment><USER8> Excellent, thanks!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> How will you avoid being sued by artist's representation (i.e. record labels, RIAA, etc)? I would also be highly concerned about validating the recipient of the money, especially since they're unlikely to reach out directly.

The best you could do is purchase music from the musician though the least- fee-laden service available, so they get the most money legally possible.

<comment><USER9> Incidentally, I've always wanted a service like this, but I couldn't get past those pesky issues.

It would be just as useful for authors and movie studios.

<comment><USER10> Thought of a similar concept a few months back. When it comes to not getting sued, as long as they're not providing content, then the tip is simply a donation. If the users use the tip as moral justification to then steal the music ("hey, the artist got more than he would have if I bought it, and screw the labels!"), then the onus is on the user.

As for getting the money to them, that's the question I want answered. I had conceived it as pledges rather than donations. I think people are more likely to pledge than they are to donate, which would get the service started a lot faster (and not problematic as long as you provide cc/banking/bitcoin details so that pledges are automatically deducted). Artists could then be contacted and told to claim their pledged donations.

<comment><AUTHOR> This is what we're aiming for - since there is no content being bought, it's really just a donation.

In terms of getting the money to the artists, this is definitely an important and difficult part - but we're going to start slowly, do things that don't scale and work it out from there. Out of interest, how do you see pledges and donations as different from a user's perspective?

Thanks for the feedback!

<comment><USER10> I typed out an email and thought I'd just leave it here as it answers your question:

Hi, I was thinking about something like this after reading Jaron Lanier's Who Owns the Future (which I recommend simply for his view on how a capitalist economy could subsist on micropayments, if you haven't read it).

The world needs something like this, if only because the concept of post- payment, if successful, would align expenditure and value to a degree that is impossible if you've paid for a good before you can consume it. If this got big, it would change the quality of music that is produced as musicians would strive to make music that lasts. It requires a very moral user base, but I think you can find one.

I saw in another comment that you might use analytics as a future premium feature. If you think of the donor's psychology, tipping an artist comes from a desire to benefit the person who has provided them with an enjoyable experience, but also as an indication that of all the artist's material, that song/album/video is the direction that the band should continue to go in. If a donor thinks he can influence a band's decisions, then I am convinced that he would be likely to give more (remember, we're dealing with a fairly well- educated morally inclined user base. Not all people think this way, but they do). If analytics is locked behind a paywall, then donors might not feel the same incentive to give. This is obviously problematic, since you seem to be leaning freemium rather than charging fees as a source of revenue, and need to think of good premium features that the free user base won't miss.

If you truly view this as tipping, as a means to correct the fact that musicians receive far too little of their music's sales, then the payment model makes sens. If users start to use your website as a moral justification to steal music (as I certainly would) then you're effectively cutting into the labels' revenue. Though I applaud that initially, if this starts to gain scale, I would consider allowing users to give the labels a small percentage of their donation, as the labels do play an important role in producing, marketing… though not as big a role as their current compensation would suggest. I doubt that labels would ever accept these donations, as it would be an admission to the inadequacy of today's music distribution model, but you would gain a reputation of being a fair player rather than a pirate.

Though it sounds like this is already the case, I would highlight to your users that what they are giving is a pledge: it's not guaranteed that artists will agree to accept these donations. The pledging mentality, like with kickstarter and co, makes people give more as expected expenditure = pledge x probability of acceptance. An economically inclined user might give $15 instead of $10 if he only thinks that there's a 2/3 chance of that

Finally, you should allow for users to supply and request content associated with artists, tracks, albums… Hey, I'm looking for guitar tabs for this song and am willing to pay x for it. First person pays the fee, other downloaders can tip the guy who made the tabs if they choose. Or, I'll make tabs for this song for $20, people can leave little tips, and once it hits $20, it gets sent over to them and is available to the rest of the community. If there's too much content being generated, use a reputation system to only show the best and keep the UI clean.

I may be thinking a little too niche because I play guitar, but this could extend into all sorts of other spaces like merchandise, though competing with ebay/amazon on that front probably isn't where you want to go with this. If you did get into selling physical goods, you could keep it pretty indie by only allowing user created content (a poster a user drew). Because you would be creating a market that doesn't really exist, you would be more justified in charging small fees for user to user interactions than for user to artist tips.

I'll stop rambling.

I look forward to following your progress.

<comment><USER6> Fantastic feedback. Thank you so much!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> 1\. Consider providing a 'status' of the money tipped, so people know the artist actually got the money and they didn't send it into a blackhole.

2\. Dogecoin is a must - shouldn't be too hard if you have Bitcoin already. The communities are very different.

3\. Services like Tinkercoin allow you to buy a small amount of Bitcoin with credit card. Consider adding this info for the fans to get a small amount of Bitcoins.

4\. There are some musicians in the space who are big into Bitcoin, like Tatiana Moroz. You can contact them to promote your site in the music and Bitcoin communities.

Good luck!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the feedback!

1 - We're definitely focusing on transparency around tip statuses.

2 - Yes, agreed!

3 - Good idea!

4 - Great, thanks!

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> If you don't take any fee from the tip, how does your product intend to make money? Just curious.

<comment><AUTHOR> Good question. For now we're just trying to make a product that both fans and artists are excited about and will use - a product we'd want to use. And since our initial product is tipping, we're committed to never taking a fee on these transactions. In the future, we may build-out a premium artist account, allowing them to get analytics around what is being Cheered, and built a platform for them to engage with and grow their fanbase. Additionally, while tipping will always be free, we could turn on product commerce where we may take a small fee.

<comment><USER12> Thanks for the insight! Always cool to see others product ideas and their approaches. Hope it works out for you!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I like the idea! How do you reach the artists if they don't have their own bitcoin wallets?

<comment><AUTHOR> We'll reach out to the artists and sign them up the Cheers - they will then be able to receive their tips in Bitcoin (recommended, and we'll help them set up a wallet) or fiat (slower, more complicated, minimum thresholds etc.). The exact process is still to be worked out.

<comment><USER13> I think you should expand this to more creative works besides music. Books, video, gaming, visual art, whatever.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, this is on our roadmap, and forms the core of our mission. To allow people to tip and reward creators of any kind, anywhere in the world!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Awesome idea. Hope this will work! I suggest you buy a ssl certificate. This will build trust.

<comment><AUTHOR> Very good point, thanks. This was just the landing page, but you're 100% right. _Adds to TODO list_.

<comment><USER15> Not that good. Will get trust from tech-savvy people, but I didn't notice, and 99% of all people certainly won't. Of course, the 1% are the ones likely to use BTC, but don't rest on your laurels once you are done with the SSL certs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Express your love for the artist with an underhanded political polemic!

</comment><comment><USER17> "Like a busker's hat... BUT WITH BITCOIN!"</comment>


Ask HN: Is there any startup works on global Internet payment system - <AUTHOR>

it uses both bank account and credit card
by the way, i living in Indonesia. I cant do transaction to overseas. Because my country has low internet penetration
I can only afford bank account credit card is quite expensive. I'm born christian and homless help me please.
I'm not asking for your money
paypal can transfers money directly into one's linked bank account i need such feature
paypal not support in my country <comment><USER2> Have you looked into Bitcoin?

<comment><AUTHOR> yea but its hard to withdraw</comment></comment>


JQuerify - <AUTHOR> http://www.learningjquery.com/2009/04/better-stronger-safer-jquerify-bookmarklet

<comment><USER2> I use this with Firebug all the time - it's a fantastic tool for exploring the jQuery API against the DOM of any web page. A lot of the time I'll use this technique to prototype a new feature "live" for one of my own sites.

</comment><comment><USER3> I much prefer this over the GreaseMonkey version

</comment><comment><USER4> You can get jQuerify button into Firebug by using FireQuery extension (<http://firequery.binaryage.com>).

Yes, a bookmarklet is more general solution, which works for every browser. In FireQuery it is just a convenience bonus feature.</comment>


How Do Unschoolers Turn Out? (2014) - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/09/how-do-unschoolers-turn-out/

<comment><USER2> I was unschooled from 1st grade through high school. Overall, the experience was great for me. I had time to do a bunch of different things (boat building, blacksmithing, metal casting, programming, ice boating, climbing and hiking, firework making). I'd simply not have been able to do all these things to the degree I did if I were studying 6 hours a day. That said, it made applying to university hard. I ended up going to a pretty bad school, the only place that would have me. I had gaps to fill once in university, but managed that quickly (earned a 4.0 my freshmen year).

However, I know people for whom unschooling was a disaster. They feel they were neglected and missed critical education. I will not unschool my children.

Oh, and I can't spell. Many unschooled people seem to be bad at spelling.

</comment><comment><USER3> Interesting survey, but it doesn't really rise to the level of a study. The respondents were all self-selected and many of the questions asked are requiring them to compare an experience they _did_ have to one that they didn't have, an obviously problematic approach. And no mention is made of their family economic background, which is has been shown in other studies to be a powerful predictor of later academic and financial success.</comment>


Greed's Saving Graces - <AUTHOR> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/15/AR2009051502201.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

<comment><USER2> The article says, _"Furthermore, everyone knows we are in our current economic pickle because greed, which slept through the Clinton administration, was awakened by the Bush administration's tax cuts and deregulation."_

However, many attribute the decline to the repeal of Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, during Clinton's reign: <http://www.investopedia.com/articles/03/071603.asp>

</comment><comment><USER3> No discussion of greed is complete without a word from Milton Friedman: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A>

<comment><USER4> _"Is it really true that political self-interest is somehow nobler than economic self-interest?"_

Taking out the adjective, self-interest is self interest.

However, general observation gathers a lot of evidence that beings with political self-interest are usually more aware of the effects of their "greed" on an environment. Especially the global environment. Economic self-interest is about _consume, consume, consume_ in order to _profit profit profit_. It matters not who or what is being ravaged. Political self-interest at least nudges people to stop, take a deep breath, and look at the effects of such a cycle on an environment. Political self-interest is perhaps more noble in that it requires one to view onesself in the larger context of his or her community at large.

Negative externalities, one of my favorite econ topics, are rarely addressed logically by beings who thrive on the _consume consume consume_ in order to _profit profit profit_ cycle.

(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_externalities>)

*edited ~ not enough sleep last night!

<comment><USER5> > Political self-interest at least nudges people to stop, take a deep breath, > and look at the effects of such a cycle on an environment.

No, it doesn't.

> Negative externalities, one of my favorite econ topics, are rarely addressed > logically

NE's in practice are just an excuse to power-grab.

Look at all of the measures that are supposedly motivated by NE. Notice the dominant response is "let's tax" but the money isn't used to address the externality.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Greed was alive and well during the Clinton administration. Has Mr. Will forgotten the dot com bubble?

I dislike George W. Bush as much as anyone else, but blaming him for everything is ignorant.</comment>


News or 'Trauma Porn'? Student Journalists Face Blowback on Campus - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/us/college-campus-journalists-newspapers.html <comment><AUTHOR> How is a protest going to have an impact if no media cover it?</comment>


Mu6.me is pending for sale - <AUTHOR> http://mu6.me/sale.php

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, I'm the founder of Mu6. If you have any questions about Mu6, please ask me here or via email email@example.com :)

</comment><comment><USER2> Interesting website</comment>


Chrome webstore hacked? - <AUTHOR> http://imgur.com/VYQve.png I totally didn't download those last 2 apps! How'd they get there? <comment><USER2> I've never used it, but what is out of place in this screenshot?</comment>


Eight (No, Nine) Problems With Big Data - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/opinion/eight-no-nine-problems-with-big-data.html

<comment><AUTHOR> _To select an example more or less at random, a book review that the actor Rob Lowe recently wrote for this newspaper contained nine trigrams such as "dumbed-down escapist fare" that had never before appeared anywhere in all the petabytes of text indexed by Google. To witness the limitations that big data can have with novelty, Google-translate "dumbed-down escapist fare" into German and then back into English: out comes the incoherent "scaled-flight fare."_

== Amusing anecdote.</comment>


Why Dividing by Zero Makes a Mechanical Calculator Go Berserk - <AUTHOR> https://popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a20152/dividing-by-zero-will-mechanical-calculator/ <comment><USER2> It doesn't hurt the mechanism. It just keeps subtracting zero until you push whatever division stop button is provided. Or, on the previous model, stop turning the crank.

The article provides links to YouTube videos supposedly explaining the mechanism. Those are videos for mechanical _analog_ computers used in Naval gunnery fire control.

</comment><comment><USER3> True story: Back when they were beta-ing a famous OS in its first 64-bit version, I found that dividing by zero actually crashed the calculator application. It turned out that they were taking the exception id (as reported by the OS), multiplying it by the size of a pointer, and using it as an offset in a table to find the address of the exception handler routine. (i.e. JMP [id*size+table]) Lo and behold, on the 64-bit version of the architecture, the highest bit was set on the exception id....

</comment><comment><USER4> >Watch here as a certified mathematician (we can only assume)

>Without a deep look inside this Facit ESA-01, it's hard to tell if this is exactly what's happening

I'm glad modern journalism has freed itself from the rigors of researching the things you want to write an article about.

<comment><USER5> Seriously, what a garbage article.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> It's interesting enough to know that I could possibly void my warranty by dividing by zero, rather than throw an annoying exception.

</comment><comment><USER7> Another bullshit article written about some random video found on YouTube with no context whatsoever. I hate this type of "journalism". TL;DR _" Without a deep look inside this Facit ESA-01, it's hard to tell if this is exactly what's happening"_

</comment><comment><USER8> I don't have whatever is needed to play webm files on Safari, so that 12 second video of the two gears downloads instead of playing inline.

That makes sense.

What does not make sense is the name of the video: TerrificVillainousHairstreak.webm

WTF?

<comment><USER9> There is an image/video hosting site (forget the name) which names your uploads like this automatically, presumably because it is easier to remember than a random base 64 string. I'm guessing the video was uploaded there before youtube.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Fraud is a business model, Do we fix it? - <AUTHOR> Online Payment Card Fraud (VISA/MC/AMEX/DSC)
Identity Theft Fraud
Can these types of fraud be stopped ?
Sure!
Should they be ?
Well, that's a good question. Fraud has become so widespread that companies are now willing to pay for fraud protection. We let it become so bad that fixing the problem will cause a disaster, thousands of people who once worked to reduce these types of fraud will have no purpose and thus no job. However, these carders[1] are becoming very aggressive, businesses are losing loads of money, and innovation is hurting in the payments space.
Do you think the loss of jobs is worth it?
[1] carders are the users of stolen payment/identity data <comment><USER2> People do these things because the rewards can outweigh the risk, either by skill or favorable circumstance.

To change that you have to make it where the rewards are not worth it risk. this is by increasing difficulty and closing those favorable circumstances.

</comment><comment><USER3> Flagged because this seems to be some idle threat.

To 'protect jobs' fraud detection is a bad thing. So fraud prevention should be reduced to encourage 'innovation'?

</comment><comment><USER4> Adjust the laws so that the following formula is true:

perceived_chance_of_getting_caught * perceived_penalty > perceived_benefits

</comment><comment><USER5> Fraud is not a business model.

<comment><AUTHOR> By definition, A business model is the way in which a company generates revenue and makes a profit from company operations[1].

Fraud is definitely a business model for companies such as LifeLock, Signifyd, etc. These companies only exist because of the fraud that exists today.

[1][http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/businessmodel.asp](http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/businessmodel.asp)</comment></comment>


#TrumpWon? trend vs. reality - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/i-data/trumpwon-trend-vs-reality-16cec3badd60#.g05osa6oi <comment><USER2> > Why is everyone so obsessed with this hashtag and the fact that it was in > Twitter's trending topics list the morning after the first presidential > debate?

Probably just surprised that Twitter even allowed it. If Twitter wasn't in the middle of trying to sell itself off, it would've probably been censored. But now that the acquisition is off the table, don't expect to see such hashtags again after the second debate.

</comment><comment><USER3> I'm not that familiar with trending hashtags on Twitter. It says the first hashtag was 6am Eastern Time. That's mid-day in Europe. I'd suggest this is planned. It was picked up by a few American cities (NY, Philly, DC) before it hit big in the UK. It was almost an hour later that it started picking up in other American cities around 7am for Boston, Charlotte, Chicago and Cleveland.

</comment><comment><USER4> Rent a couple servers in Russia, Send a couple of pro-Trump tweets, Publish this finding, Media will happily run with it

Voilà, Trump is now implicated</comment>


Cervical cancer is more deadly than previously thought - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/cervical-cancer-just-got-much-deadlier-because-scientists-fixed-a-math-error/ <comment><USER2> Cervical cancer is highly preventable. For more information and testing options see Planned Parenthood [https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/womens-health/pap- te...](https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/womens-health/pap-tests-hpv- tests)

<comment><USER3> Planned Parenthood is being eradicated in this country.

<comment><USER4> On that subject I wanted to ask:

Are the services that Planned Parenthood provide so economically unviable that they require the life support and political will of the US Government?

Why can't a competitor or even a Bill Gates philanthropic initiative be a private sector version of the same thing?

<comment><USER5> Here's a case that proves Planned Parenthood's unique function. PP offers rapid HIV testing. I get a test every year because you catch that shit early, the available treatments give you a nearly normal life.

Now this last year, I didn't go to PP for my annual lady check up for reasons that are long and boring.

So I asked my primary care physician during the annual everything else check up for a rapid test. She didn't have it and was surprised PP did. So instead of a finger prick I got a blood draw and waited. Weeks later I got a test report for everything else tested for (liver / diabetes / etc.) _except_ the HIV and other STD tests. I ended up having to call to get the results.

So compare the 10 minute HIV test with immediate results versus the 8 week odyssey for finding out my sexual health status.

Planned Parenthood is brilliant at what they do. They do it well. Primary care physicians are _shiat_ at reproductive health.

<comment><USER4> Okay, that sounds like a user experience problem, of which federal funding has nothing to do with?

A private organization could offer the same thing without needing to be "in network" like your PCP? I'm guessing

<comment><USER5> Normally, out of network means not covered by my insurance. Or covered at a greatly reduced rate.

If there were a private organization that was as earnest and competent at providing full service reproductive care up to and including abortive treatments, I would definitely consider them as an option. Such an organization does not exist as of today. I can't postpone medical care until such time an organization like that exists.

Ah! I have another story that demonstrates how awesome Planned Parenthood is. So I came back from overseas and needed a non-emergency but urgent visit. I had insurance. Overseas insurance. I called around to OBGYNs around town without having a local PCP. Obviously having just come from overseas, I didnt' have a local doctor. Nobody would take me. I told them I would pay 100% cash. Still no takers. Planned Parenthood did. They took my appointment, gave me a price, I paid 100% of the charge, and they filled out my foreign insurance paperwork in a foreign language.

Why is Planned Parenthood so much better at providing reproductive care and so much more accessible than OBGYNs?

<comment><USER4> Typically companies that can depend on the state to keep the lights on offer worse service.

Conceptually.

This sounds like a user experience situation, a commitment to customer service, that has nothing to do with their federal funding. Yes they would have to adjust or find a real revenue stream, but I think it is mutually exclusive, unless it just simply is economically unviable.

I would totally hope there is no disruption in service. I'm just trying to understand what advantages Planned Parenthood actually has in the marketplace - outside of being a political football - that prevents alternatives from being available.

<comment><USER5> They have presence in every state. Granted in North Dakota, they may have only 1 office. Anywhere in the country, I'm traveling in and out of network, or find myself as an edge case with a weird situation, raped on a business trip in an unfamiliar city, I know they are there for me with unbiased medical service & care.

[https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/local-state- offic...](https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/local-state- offices/planned-parenthood-health-centers-by-state)

I can't think of any other reproductive service public or private that has such nationwide coverage.

(Edit: sort of an afterthought... Planned Parenthood isn't the political football, it's the women in this country. I never hear about special restrictive legislation affecting the men who rely upon Planned Parenthood.)

<comment><USER4> I'm still scratching my head a little, so lets reframe it another way:

Why isn't it news that Planned Parenthood has a monopoly on this health service contract? (Perhaps their extended operational history made them the most qualified)

Why is the only part of that contract in question related to one of the services they provide?

I'll skim wikipedia, I suppose. I understand the convenience they offer and I don't expect to get the answers here. I think it will be non-news after they get defunded and continue operating on a fraction of the budget, I mean, or not.

<comment><USER5> I found this for you...

[https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/blog/how-federal- fun...](https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/blog/how-federal-funding- works-at-planned-parenthood)

PP doesn't have a monopoly on federal funding. In Oregon, at least, one provider for Medicaid services is Providence Hospital. Providence is a Catholic hospital which means they don't provide surgical or medicinal abortions. I can get a routine OBGYN check through Providence but if I'm pregnant and don't want to be, then Providence will refuse care.

On a personal note, I have a medical condition called endometrial hyperplasia which can be treated with an progesterone infused IUD or difficult-to-manage progesterone pill treatment taking only _some_ days of the 28 day cycle. Due to the need for routine biopsies, I ultimately decided to go with the pill (although I'm 2nd guessing the choice because it's so easy to screw up the pill dosing). I could tell the Providence doctor was really uncomfortable with the idea of providing an IUD. Many Catholics believe the IUD is an abortive type birth control and refuse to provide it. I may be going back to PP if I decide that an IUD is the better way to handle my condition. If I were more stupid or less able to deal with remembering odd calendar based dosing regimes, the IUD would be the only solution.

(Edit: I'd also recommend reading this article about the oversized impact of Catholic hospitals in Washington State.

[https://www.propublica.org/article/catholic-hospitals- grow-a...](https://www.propublica.org/article/catholic-hospitals-grow-and- with-them-questions-of-care).

Apparently PP was paid $2million to open a branch across from a hospital being taken over by Providence! Also note lack of emergency contraception for rape victims and mismanagement of miscarriages in Catholic hospitals.)

<comment><USER4> thanks! that was very insightful

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> >"The researchers found that black women have a mortality rate of 10.1 per 100,000. For white women, the rate is 4.7 per 100,000. Past estimates had those rates at 5.7 and 3.2, respectively."

Let's check the numbers here.

5.7 per 100,000 is 10.1 per 177,000. The rate of cervical cancer among black women with intact cervices is given as 10.1 per 100,000, and the change in estimate is ascribed solely to changing the methodology to consider only women with cervices, so 77,000 of that 177,000 had hysterectomies, or 43%. The corresponding number for white women is 30%.

This number seems far too high. I can't find a reliable source for the US, but [0] says "up to a fifth of women have had their womb removed by the age of 55" in the UK. Is the rate of hysterectomies really 43% for black women, or is someone lying about the statistics?

[0][https://www.womens-health-concern.org/help-and- advice/factsh...](https://www.womens-health-concern.org/help-and- advice/factsheets/hysterectomy/)

<comment><USER7> At one point, it was so common for an African-American woman to get an involuntary hysterectomy that it got its own euphemism: The Mississippi Appendectomy [0]

[0] [https://mississippiappendectomy.wordpress.com/about/](https://mississippiappendectomy.wordpress.com/about/) (That's the first result from big G, but you should be able to find more were you so inclined).

<comment> 08-15 Come on! All people who got their womb removed in the 1920s and 30s are dead now. They don't affect any statistics anymore, especially not those concerning women who had their womb removed by the age of 55.

I agree with GP, a rate of >40% hysterectomies sounds unbelievable.

<comment><USER5> You would like to think that forced sterilization is an old timey problem. It's not.

The state of California forcibly sterilized ~150 female inmates as late as 2010 [0].

More to read up on... [1]

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization#Unite...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization#United_States)

[1] [http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/forced- sterili...](http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/forced- sterilization/)

Edit: would love to know why this post was down voted. Is there a wellspring of support for sterilization without consent? Completely mystified at this point.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> What a bad title. It's not a math error, it's a methodological choice. Furthermore this is basically the linked NYT article cut in half.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/health/cervical-cancer- un...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/health/cervical-cancer-united- states-death-toll.html)

<comment><USER9> I agree. Hideous title. How did cervical cancer become more dangerous? Oh. It didn't.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> What are the chances of getting cervical cancer if you do have a cervix?

<comment><USER11> >"The researchers found that black women have a mortality rate of 10.1 per 100,000. For white women, the rate is 4.7 per 100,000. Past estimates had those rates at 5.7 and 3.2, respectively."

Mortality rate isn't really the chances of dying from the cancer though. It looks like a variation on the old frequencies vs probabilities confusion.

<comment><USER12> Methodological choice aside, I am primarily shocked by the size of the racial disparity (I mean, I have expected it, but not this big).

<comment><USER13> Black are generally more prone to the claws of sociological economic Literacy disparities.

Lesser education or of poorer quality, + poverty = bad/no sex ed.

This is true to most minorities that suffer(ed) from discrimination.

It's am uphill battle to Remedy this. I wonder where Hispanics would land. I assuse in-between.

Shocking numbers. Really.

<comment><USER14> Why wouldn't it just be genetically related like so many other diseases whose prevalence vary by race?

<comment><USER13> Because unlike regionally based illnesses we didn't discover a genetic disposition. And these things are well researched due to the need to control for variables. Hpv is prevalent globally, not at all a regional issue. Our genes treat it equally, because its prevalence normalised its effects.

Regional differences might actually cause a nasty strain of hpv to arise, and it would again effect us equally if infected.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Facebook's Beacon May Have Broken the Law  - <AUTHOR> http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/12/new-ways-facebo.html <comment><USER2> IIRC this law has amusing origins. During Robert Bork's confirmation hearings, the press reported that he'd rented some porn videos. Congress then rushed through a bill with amazing speed to prevent the same thing happening to them.

You can generally be sure the laws will provide a level of privacy sufficient to protect politicians. You may not be able to get privacy in the sense of anonymity (as public figures, politicians don't have it anyway), but it's likely to be illegal, for example, to record phone calls secretly, lest people who have illicit dealings with politicians record theirs.

</comment><comment><USER3> Here's a post from Netflix's Community Blog that's relevant:

[http://blog.netflix.com/2007/08/why-there-is-no-directory- of...](http://blog.netflix.com/2007/08/why-there-is-no-directory-of- netflix.html)

<comment><USER4> Amazing. Blockbuster's incompetence just never ceases to amaze me. They're in deep financial trouble, are closing stores and they don't even know about the law that's critical to their industry?! Wow.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Facebook seems to be racking up lawsuits at a pace set to break Microsoft's record.</comment>


Resistors and Potentiometers - <AUTHOR> http://audiodomain.blogspot.com/2014/06/resistors-potentiometers.html

<comment><USER2> It's simply wrong when it says resistance in a parallel configuration is:

       R_{total} = 1/R_{1} + 1/R_{2} + 1/R_{3}

The correct equation is:

       1/R_{total} = 1/R_{1} + 1/R_{2} + 1/R_{3}

or, equivalently:

       R_{total} = 1 / ( 1/R_{1} + 1/R_{2} + 1/R_{3} )

Then when the author works through the example it mysteriously changes from the incorrect version to the correct version with no word of explanation at all.

Is this really of value? I can't imagine why this has got an upvote, but I'd be happy to hear why something at this level is considered interesting.</comment>


Show HN: ContentRobin – the bot that helps you create awesome texts - <AUTHOR> http://telegram.me/ContentRobinBot <comment><AUTHOR> Hey everybody!

ContentRobin is a chatbot for companies who want to start content marketing but don't know how. This bot knows the answers to popular questions like "how to choose a topic", "how create a clickable headline" and even "when to post my story?"

It can assess how readable your articles are and, if you need, it will organise a free consultation with our content marketing experts.</comment>


What's Wrong with the Internet and How We Can Fix It: John Day Interview - <AUTHOR> http://loriemerson.net/2015/07/23/whats-wrong-with-the-internet-and-how-we-can-fix-it-interview-with-internet-pioneer-john-day/

<comment><USER2> Day seems to be complaining that the networks aren't centralized _enough_ with less-than perfectly hierarchical addresses (for efficiency of routing) and without lower level QoS levers. Neither of these things are good IMHO, but he certainly seems to think so.

</comment><comment><USER3> > _Engineers working on TCP decided that a 3-way exchange of messages (3-way > handshake) could be used at the beginning of a connection. This is what is > currently taught in all of the textbooks. However, in 1978 Richard Watson > made a startling discovery: the message exchange was not what achieved the > synchronization. It was explicitly bounding three timers. The messages are > basically irrelevant to the problem._

This: [https://www.rfc-editor.org/ien/ien193.pdf](https://www.rfc- editor.org/ien/ien193.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER4> > I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has said (in effect), "gosh, > you can't replace the whole Internet." There must be something in the water > these days. They told us that we would never replace the phone company, but > it didn't stop us and we did.

Well, lets get started then.

Edit: Although, I still admire human ability to adapt to a familiar kludge. It would be fun to see how long we can survive with this broken internet.

<comment><USER5> > Well, lets get started then.

Have you adopted IPv6, yet? ;)

Clearly, we wouldn't rebuild an IPv4 internet.

<comment><USER4> He said IPv6 solves a non-issue. I'm not sure I get it though.</comment></comment></comment>


Meet HN: Want to get together? - <AUTHOR> I recently read the article on finding friends over 30 (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17008944) and thought HN was as great a place as any to form social connections offline.<p>If you want to get together, post your city and what you'd be up for, or respond to one from someone else. <comment><AUTHOR> Philadelphia, PA

Lets grab some coffee, talk technology and design, build a project, make some art, see a show, do a hike, play some MTG.

</comment><comment><USER2> Hamburg readers?

</comment><comment><USER3> Indian HNers?</comment>


Ask HN: Which tech companies hire remote employees? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> I suspect that all of the big tech companies have at least a few remote employees. They tend to be people who can write their own tickets because they have distinguished themselves or have an arcane skill that the company can't do without.</comment>


Chatbots are the future of computing - <AUTHOR> https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/ibmpc-games/ <comment><USER2> i didn't see any chatbots on that page

<comment><AUTHOR> DOS was kind of a chatbot

<comment><USER2> First of all, there's nothing "chat" about DOS. If that was a chatbot you could call every existing digital device a "chatbot".

Second, ask yourself honestly, how is your site even remotely related to "chatbots are the future of computing". I almost flagged the post but didn't, maybe your project is something really cool. Please do justice to your own project and describe it correctly instead of blend into the latest meaningless buzzword of today.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN:Landing page feedback - <AUTHOR>

http://appynote.com/<p>Is it too busy? Does it convey a clear message? Does it make you want to try it out? <comment><USER2> Yep, it's too busy. There's too little contrast, too much positioning/layout inconsistency.

Take a look at this infographic for some tips: [http://blog.kissmetrics.com/landing-page-design- infographic/...](http://blog.kissmetrics.com/landing-page-design- infographic/?wide=1)

And maybe look at some of the landing pages featured on this blog post: [http://unbounce.com/landing-page-examples/built-using- unboun...](http://unbounce.com/landing-page-examples/built-using- unbounce/landing-page-design-showcase/)

<comment><AUTHOR> New & Improved: <http://www.appynote.com>

Verdict?

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I think you'd see immediate improvements doing the following;

\- Changing the font from (what I think is) Arial bold to pretty much anything else. A lot of nice web fonts out there nowadays.

\- Using simpler visual codes for text: every letter of 'APPs' doesn't have to be a different color and bigger font sized. The MSN messenger icon right in the middle of text is another example of complicated visual code - you could mention in a more appropriate place with text only.

\- Decreasing the amount of text and try to explain 'why' I need this.

\- It fits my screen, but it could be large for others. Having a vertical layout where you have the text at the top and screenshot(s) at the bottom might free up the cluttered feeling.

\- The vertical setup will help with the currently 'floating in space' feeling of some elements, like Supported browsers. I know they are aligned, but they feel isolated and floating.

\- A couple of more screenshots of what 'this is' with their relevant explanations. I wanted to see more to understand more.

\- More streamlined buttons for Try It, Login and "I want Appynote..." Login and Try it should be the main buttons here, but with its size, "I want Appynote..." steals all the attention.

I hope these help.

<comment><AUTHOR> I agree with your point about the prominence of the "I want APPYnote..." button.

My problem is that I am trying to appeal to both individual users and people who may want the software for an organization-wide deployment.

I know there are a lot cool fonts out there especially the Google fonts, but I am not really a designer, I do have my own taste which probably isn't the same for most people.

I choose the Arial font because I saw it used on Fogcreek software's page. Maybe I should hire a designer:)

Anyway I really appreciate the feedback and would definitely incorporate it into further improvements.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I have to admit, when the page loaded it did make me go 'whoa!'. It's like all of your sentences are vying for my attention simultaneously! :)

The bullet point text is almost the same size as your header text. That can be scaled down. A different font might also help the flow of the page more.

The gradient on the words APPS and NOTES doesn't really work.

I would try to include a higher res screen shot too as I was getting closer to the screen to see what it was you were showing me.

Also the Y and N in the logo being grey on the patterned background make it a bit hard to read. I'd say the name needs to be very distinct and clear.

I was a bit reluctant to hit the Try It button as I wasn't sure of the benefits of the app and I didn't know if it was paid, free etc.

I probably would have clicked through to a page showing more screenshots. A demo video would probably get people trying it too!

Hope that helps!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you!!

I couldn't tell if the "It's like all of your sentences are vying for my attention simultaneously" is a good or bad thing:)

Do you mean it was hard to follow from one sentence to the next? Or was the bulleted list effective in grabbing your attention?

I really appreciate these feedbacks guys:)

<comment><USER4> I think with the headers and bullet points being the same size it was hard to tell what to read first.

Like 5 people talking to you at once, each saying I'm important - listen to me! :D

You need to guide the user through the flow of information and font size plays a big part in that.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Clickable: <http://appynote.com/>

Feedback:

Be warned, I have a highly idiosyncratic point of view that lots of people don't agree with.

However ...

It tells me what it does, it doesn't tell me what problem it solves. I don't want to try to map your features to my problems, I want to see that you know what problems are, and that your app fixes them.

It also doesn't fit on my screen.

<comment><AUTHOR> I used some dynamic pixel calculations to size things which is probably why it doesn't fit on your screen...Can you tell me your screen specs?

About solving problems: I thought the tag line saying your APPs and your notes together, conveys the fact that students want a single point of access for all their work, both content and APPs.

<comment><USER5> 1024x768

      > I thought the tag line saying your APPs and your notes
      > together, conveys the fact that students want a single
      > point of access for all their work, ...

That's you telling me your solution to what you think my problem is, it's not stating clearly what my problem is. There's a difference. To most people I expect the difference is negligible or irrelevant, but to me it's telling me what you're going to do, and making me work out how what you do can solve some problem you think I have, but haven't articulated.

It's a point of view - you could consider it, then ignore it.

Or you could say:

        "With notes and APPs spread everywhere, APPynote
         can provide a single port of call to get them
         organized!"

Or something.

<comment><AUTHOR> Point taken...I would add that to my improvement Todo list...Thanks again for the feedback, really appreciate it.

<comment><USER5> You're welcome, but I meant what I said about my opinion being unusual. You need to do some A/B testing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Best advice: buy a pre-built theme on <http://www.woothemes.com/> or <http://themeforest.net/> or etc.

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks for the links, I often try to use existing themes, unfortunately they never quite deliver exactly what I want and I find myself having to modify them...

New & Improved: <http://www.appynote.com>

Verdict?</comment></comment>


Rewriting from scratch - <AUTHOR> https://gocardless.com/blog/starting-from-scratch/

<comment><USER2> So I know re-writing a technical system from scratch is always consider a big no-no. A couple of observations to counter that argument:

1\. Re-writing code is the Innovator's Solution to the Innovator's Dilemma.[0]

2\. Mozilla wouldn't exist today if the Netscape team didn't decide to rewrite their browser engine.[1]

3\. Isn't Basecamp New a rewrite?[2]

[0][http://www.amazon.com/The-Innovators-Solution-Sustaining- Suc...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Innovators-Solution-Sustaining- Successful/dp/1578518520) [1][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla#History](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla#History) [2][http://basecamp.com/new](http://basecamp.com/new)

Thoughts?

<comment><USER3> 1\. Without buying the book that sounds like a meaningless buzzword.

2\. Mozilla wouldn't exist today if the Netscape team didn't _destroy their company_ by deciding to rewrite their browser engine, no.

Whether we'd be worse or better off is an open question - a living commercial netscape could have kept the browser wars and associated innovation alive longer. On the opensource side maybe the better-architectured KHTML would have gathered more mindshare and funding and evolved into something like today's WebKit faster without the distraction of gecko.

<comment><USER2> > _that sounds like a meaningless buzzword._

I can assure you they are _not_ meaningless buzzwords. I'd recommend reading the book before commenting since your reply adds nothing to the discussion.

> _2\. Mozilla wouldn 't exist today if the Netscape team didn't destroy their > company_

Any source to back up the claim that the Netscape team maliciously destroyed the company? What would be their motive? From everything I've read the codebase was an absolute mess, hence the motivation for a re-write.

<comment><USER4> The code being a mess usually calls for refactoring not rewriting. As I understand it, the showstopper that made a rewrite necessary was that they had made the mistake (understandable since they were in a desperate hurry but mistake nonetheless) of using proprietary libraries.

<comment><USER5> Technical debt can accrue to the point where a piece of software is "bankrupt." Any successful refactoring amounts to extracting a subset and redoing everything else, which can practically amount to a rewrite.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> > Our old dashboards were at a local maximum, making it hard to iterate. > Introducing elements of a variable Direct Debit interface would have added > complexity, with no benefit until the whole new interface was ready.

> For a fundamental change in UI that lack of iteration wasn't acceptable. > Starting from scratch with an early beta let us to collect feedback on the > new interface immediately. Our speed of iteration was also increased as we > didn't have to worry about breaking an existing interface.

I would have said "I've created an unmaintainable mess.", but from now on, I'll be using your nice euphemisms. "Local maximum" ... yeah, sounds proactive and empowering. I'll have to work on delivering it with a straight face, though.

</comment><comment><USER7> In my opinion, It's ok to rewrite, if you finish, on time, and it works as expected.

You can see all kind of "rewrites" some with more luck, and others with worse. This one seems successful (I talk without numbers).

I've a personal pet project I'm always rewriting (from scratch). But, it's the single project in my life I can't validate the result, I've try many approaches. There is a few corner cases, were the only exit is to use unclean workarounds by language limitation... and even after a few renames and even language evolution, I think I'll retire "still rewriting from scratch" if I feel it can be better, and I've the freedom/budget/time to do it.

</comment><comment><USER8> Consider the Big Ball of Mud: [http://www.laputan.org/mud/](http://www.laputan.org/mud/)

This can be either a pattern or an antipattern, depending on your perspective. I tend to think of it as an antipattern. Rewrites are often driven by difficulty in refactoring more than fundamental flaws, but the refactoring problems are caused by coupling between layers/systems.

The problem with rewriting to avoid a refactoring is that you're most likely going to wind up with a shiny new Ball of Mud.

</comment><comment><USER9> There is a huge body of experience out there that does state this is insane and generally crashes and burns and fails horribly. Good on ya to go against the odds and win.

</comment><comment><USER10> In the article you didn't need to do a re-write of the entire site, just a re- design of the UI.

You needed to add functionality but you could have left the old working functionality.

Another case for a re-right is when the project uses old technology that is hard to maintain with the people you have.

Re-writing the system in a framework that your team understands will take less time than trying to understand another framework.</comment>


Living in Switzerland ruined me for America and its lousy work culture (2016) - <AUTHOR> https://www.vox.com/2015/7/21/8974435/switzerland-work-life-balance <comment><USER3> I've experienced a lot of these things since leaving the bay area and moving to Australia. The thing that surprised me most was similar to point #3 - <USER2> Australia the less fortunate are taken care of. One big mental drain I had in America was when my friends were sick but could do nothing about it. I had a roommate in Seattle who had severe dental problems and chronic tooth pain, but could do nothing about it because he simply couldn't afford it. I had another friend who had an oblique fracture in their arm, but _set it themselves and never went to the doctor_. All because healthcare was not only expensive, but _randomly expensive_. You never knew if you'd be leaving the hospital with a $100 medical bill or a $10,000 medical bill. I had great healthcare for all of my working career, but my friends often didn't, and it ate at me mentally. In Australia that's never been a point of stress. If you have a cold, you go to the doctor, and you always knew it'd be less than $200ish. There were no orders of magnitude more expensive surprises.

The rest of the points resonated highly with me as well, as aside from the maternity leave I've experienced them all. I have to move back to the Bay soon and I'm not looking forward to it. Every time I visit there's more homeless who've been pushed to the streets because the system in place simply doesn't work - Nordic countries, Switzerland, and Australia are simply better in so many aspects. There's a reason why the USA has fallen to #13 in HDI[1] and continues to fall.

The people of the USA have too much pride to change - we've been on top for so long that we often think we can't learn from other countries, and that we have everything figured out. The intro speech Jeff Daniels did in Newsroom [2] resonates here. It's time we looked at what policies actually work for the best of the populous.

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Dev...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index) [2] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyzDRc34l2g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyzDRc34l2g)

<comment><USER4> Same experience and background as you. I worked for Atlassian in Sydney from 2008-2013.

I found Australia to be a relative Utopia compared to the USA. After traveling around to other countries and living in Australia, then coming home, I realized that America is one of the most indoctrinated cultures I've experienced. We're indoctrinated with the idea of our own superiority. We can't see how much better other countries are doing modern life.

<comment><USER5> I currently live/work in the Bay Area, but am a Canadian ex-pat. Over the past year, I've had a series of health-related issues which have me chomping at the bit to either move back to Canada or another country which has a sane healthcare system. The issue with the states isn't just that you might go bankrupt over medical bills, I've found that there's also a huge disparity in quality of care. Back in Canada, you'd get the right care for your issue, cost be damned; however, in the states, the quality of care might also depend on who you have access to, per your insurance, which is royally fucked up. Its implicitly correlating the value of human life with earnings - better job? Better insurance.

There's more to life than base pay, stocks, and toys you can buy, and the Bay Area has proven to be one big trap and a lie, so over the next year or two, I'll be planning my escape to another country, be it back home, Australia, or somewhere in Europe.

<comment><USER6> Not saying your experience isn't valid but I've had several Canadian friends tell stories the other direction. They were amazed at the level of care they got in the Bay Area as opposed to Canada saying that yes care is available to everybody but you often have to wait a long time and it's generally mediocre. Grass is greener?

<comment><USER7> Unfortunately "high level of care" is a bit of an ambiguous term

It's easy to overdiagnose, push unnecessary procedures or exams or just prescribe the barely more efficient medication but that costs 10x more

So, higher level of care is good, sometimes the "base level" can leave you with issues, but most of the time, you just need that aspirine and off time

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Sure, but it's also really expensive to live in Switzerland. Not factoring in the cost of living over there is pretty disingenuous. And it's going to be a serious project to get residency there if you're not a Swiss citizen.

Edit: This is not an opinion, cost of living in Switzerland is highest in the world, twice as high as in the US. Even if you make twice as much money, you're basically making the same amount. And if food cost that much where I live, you're damn right I'm bringing a sandwich to the office. [https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of- living/rankings_by_country.js...](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of- living/rankings_by_country.jsp)

<comment><USER9> US and Canadian citizens can get Permit C (unconditional residency permit) after 5 years on Permit B (employment-bound permit). Citizenship is 5 more years after that. For EU citizens I think it's even simpler. For all other countries it's 10+10 years.

<comment><USER10> In theory. I looked into emigrating to Switzerland a few years ago and I was told that getting a work permit was nearly impossible as a US citizen. Swiss companies have to prove that they can't find an EU passport holder with the expertise necessary for the job before they can hire an American or any other non-EU passport holder.

Unless something has changed?

<comment><USER11> What that really means is that they need to have a job ad open for 3 months that they didn't hire someone else into before they can justify hiring a non- EU citizen. It helps if you're doing something specialized or have some intersection of skills for the justification, but it isn't insurmountable, just hard enough so that they only get the people who really want it.

<comment><USER10> Do you know an American or Canadian who was hired this way? Or is this speculation?

<comment><USER11> Me, twice (I changed jobs). However what I do is fairly specialized, so I'm not surprised they weren't able to find someone qualified in 3 months.

The other part of making it hard is so that the employer doesn't undertake the effort unless they really need the person and can't do with a local. I know the company made an exception for me, as they did for one other employee, but for the most part their policy is not to hire non-Swiss/EU citizens due to the administrative burden.

<comment><USER10> Thanks for setting me straight! I'll give it another shot after I've chosen a handle for my T-shape. I'm probably a bit too generalized to pull this off right now.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I recently moved from working for a US company to working for a CH one. There's some disadvantages, like people not giving their all at work slowing things down. Compared to the previous role, it's glacial. But no on call, 6 weeks vacation, and 8% pension contribution from the company that I don't even have to match is a good trade-off. Work is always going to be frustrating, but I'm at a point in my life that I'd rather be frustrated at being forced to work a maximum of 37.5 hours per week (tracked with timesheets) than frustrated at unrealistic deadlines and the cult of appearing to get things done.

<comment><USER13> What's the deal with people putting 120% efforts at work. It's clear that this is not necessary (for example - Switzerland is just fine). Put a steady 60-80% and bump it up to 100% when things get rough. I truly don't get it, sometimes it feels like people simply want to spend lives at work rather than do something else.

<comment><USER14> Why do so many technology breakthroughs and successful companies get founded in the US, compared to Europe, then? Why do so many Europeans go off to work for US companies? There must be something beneficial about the US approach.

<comment><USER12> I know this is a troll but: VCs have more funding available and are less risk- adverse, employees are easier to underpay/overwork (rip unions), corporate oversight is less burdensome.

This is the first job outside of the public sector that I've seen union materials prominently displayed on internal notice boards.

<comment><USER14> > I know this is a troll

I can't understand how my point could be considered trolling.

People seem to vote with their feet - they often choose US employers over European ones.

The employers with the best conditions and pay in Europe are often US employers! For example local offices of Google.

<comment><USER15> > The employers with the best conditions and pay in Europe are often US > employers!

Could this be because theyre being subsidized by an exploited American workforce? They're certainly profiting off weaker data regulation in the USA.

Anyway, it seems trolly because it'd be like arguing "well the Egyptians have pyramids, and the non slave holding civilizations don't. Clearly they're doing SOMETHING right."

Lots of people are leaving America, as well. Most can't afford to. The ones that can afford international lifestyles aren't really burdened as much by the negative aspects of America - they can get good insurance through a company that can afford it, they can afford to Lyft everywhere to make up for the lack of public transit, they can flex during salary negotiations for longer PTO.

How many impoverished in Europe are "voting with their feet" to come to the first world country with the worst safety net out of all of them? Imagine the innovations that could come from America if it actually invested in its population.

The idea that Europe is not innovative is a bit of a myth anyway. This is a fun read: [https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation/facts- figure...](https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation/facts- figures/scoreboards_en)

Btw, Sweden is measured as the "most innovative" country in the EU. So in a system of first world countries with socialized education and healthcare, and despite detractors on this forum of their allegedly "high cost of living" they're still standing out amongst their peers.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Some prior discussions:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9924166](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9924166)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9987816](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9987816)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13303544](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13303544)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13482285](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13482285)

This is actually a 2015 article, not 2016.

</comment><comment><USER17> On top of that Switzerland has one-third of the US's GHG emissions per capita

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

</comment><comment><USER18> My father worked for decades for a Fortune 100 company in the US as a manager and then worked in Switzerland for a few years.

In both scenarios, he had a comfortable life. The US company provided great benefits, a pension, good work hours, and the job in Switzerland was even better.

When I discuss what it's like to work in the technology sector, he doesn't understand it. 1099 contract work with extremely expensive health coverage? I should get a job that provides benefits! Daily long hours or death marches? I need to find a company that provides a better "work/life" balance. Start-ups that don't pay you now but "you have a chance at equity"? I should find one that succeeds.

I'll keep trying.

<comment><USER19> Are you keep trying because you hope for striking gold sometime or because you can't find a job that resembles the jobs your father worked?

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> I moved to the US (from France), 15 years ago, I think I made the right choice for a 21 year old in 2004. But today I wouldn't recommend it, by virtually every metric except economic growth, and by most intangibles, I feel that the US had not improved enough and even in many cases declined. The state of education, infrastructure, healthcare, inequality, population health, etc. are worrying.

15 years ago it was a no brainer for most people to consider the US as a career and life option, nowadays I think it's only the case for a certain type of people.

</comment><comment><USER21> I personally find Switzerland boring and expensive. And I'm not sure your work culture is going to be that different if you work at Google or another tech company.

If I go back to Europe I would go to Portugal or Italy or Spain. These countries are laid back, cheap, have good weather and good food. What else do you want?

London and some cities in France like Bordeaux or Montpellier are insanely fun too.

<comment><USER22> > These countries are laid back

Have you worked in Italy or Spain? I'm Spanish and laid back at work is not a thing. The main reason I moved to Sweden is for is better work life balance.

Never go to live where you go for vacations, you will be very disappointed.

<comment><USER23> @kartan, are siestas still a thing in Spain? I always imagined workers in Spain roll into work around 10, work till 2, then a 2-hour break, and then go home around 6. I guess that's wrong?

<comment><USER24> Depends on the location and sector. Many restaurants still have siestas, maybe not in the tourist-centers of the big cities, but on the country side for sure.

Just like the US and other federated states, Spain has a lot of diversity within it's borders, and a lot of social/economic questions needs the context of "where" to be answered correctly.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> There's a lot to like here, but

> The Swiss have a culture of professional part-time work ...

Coincidentally, this is the very day that one of the top stories on Swiss broadsheet Tages Anzeiger is about how more people would like to work part- time, but can't because of family commitments: [https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sonntagszeitung/nur-8-prozent-d...](https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sonntagszeitung/nur-8-prozent- der-eltern-wollen-vollzeit-arbeiten/story/11662472)

EDIT: to quote for example "Rund drei Viertel der Eltern mit Vollzeitjob geben das höhere Einkommen als wichtigen Grund für ihr Arbeitspensum an."

Three quarters of parents with full-time jobs said the higher income was an important reason for their full-time work.

Later on it discusses the cost of living and of childcare for a family.

EDIT2: I don't know if it's deliberate that Vox put a video of "Why we should all move to SWEDEN" at the bottom, but I certainly chuckled.

<comment><USER26> That seems fine to me? The point of part time work is that you can choose between money or time.

In the US there is no choice, generally speaking, as a coder. You can get $120k for 40 hours, but there aren't many $60k for 20 hours jobs available. You have to freelance basically which is 3 years up front hustle.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Previous HN discussion: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9987816](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9987816)

</comment><comment><USER28> So the USA is fucked up when it comes to work/life balance and the US has no social system worth anything. Who knew? Well, we _all_ knew. The US has been the laughing stock of the world for decades and the only ones who haven't noticed are the americans. No news here.

<comment><USER29> > The US has been the laughing stock of the world for decades and the only > ones who haven't noticed are the americans.

Right, it's not like the world has benefited at all from modern innovations from the US. Like the Internet or the US' contributions to medical science and technology or humanitarian efforts. And why they're not using Google, iPhones or Android devices, watching American movies, etc.

Also please explain why so many have bothered to immigrate to the US in a bid to improve their lives? You think they moved to the laughing stock when they were already in a better situation? Your claim is insulting to American immigrants.

It's also worth noting that over half of unicorn startups and Fortune 500 have immigrant founders. The system is working better than most and has helped the entire world in concrete ways. Does it have flaws? Absolutely. Huge flaws. But let's aim to improve it, not throw the baby out with the bath water.

<comment><USER30> > Then please explain why so many have bothered to immigrate here and started > hugely successful companies?

Because the US has cheap labor (read: low pay) compared to Switzerland?

<comment><USER29> No, considering most are from places with far cheaper labor. Like India and Asia.

Hiring in the US is expensive with high salaries (especially in tech) and healthcare costs.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> > America is the most rich and powerful country in the world

Source needed.

<comment><USER32> Highest GDP + most powerful military doesn't cut it for you?

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> Transportation is the biggest difference between the us and a lot of the rest of the world. Switzerland is the size of a small New England state. Mass transit is a tough thing to scale.

That said I've noticed that a lot of the jobs in the us that would be considered "glamorous" are by and large the lowest paying jobs with the longest hours. Looking past the status of a company and career and looking into the practical details of a job will make finding a fulfilling and well paying job easier. All in all I think the article is not really apples to apples but has some valid points.

<comment><USER34> I never understood that argument - Bay Area, the (arguably) richest place on this planet is smaller then Switzerland and it's transit system is catastrophic in comparison to SBB still.

I get that you can't cover Alabama with Swiss railways, but why the heck is traveling from Zurich a Swiss mountain top in the middle of nowhere still faster and more convenient than getting from SF to Mountain View?

<comment><USER35> The thing that pisses me off the most about the Bay Area transit system is how slow it is compared to taking a car. I don't understand how you can build a rail system that ends up taking 2x longer to get from point A to point B. Even aside from the spotty coverage it's ridiculous how the train can take longer from station to station than driving

<comment><USER36> I, too, can't believe how many times I've been Caltrain in an Uber Pool.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Is Switzerland producing anything like SpaceX? Or Google? Or Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Tesla, Stripe, Y Combinator?

More importantly, would we have produced these with their system? If so, then great, but let's see the evidence.

No problem to have a work culture preference, and things could definitely be improved(!!), but I think we're kidding ourselves that there are no tradeoffs and everything would simply be better. And that we'd still have the same rate of innovation.

Also a lot of people like that stores are open on Sundays.

<comment><USER37> The US has a population 40 times higher, that's not really a fair comparison.

Also: Nestle, Logitech? Just because they don't have shiny frontmen doesn't mean they aren't worthy.

Google also has a large AI research department in Switzerland.

<comment><USER38> You might want to bear Nestle's corporate ethics in mind before touting them as something to be proud of.

<comment><USER37> Ah yes, Google and SpaceX are well known for their impeccable corporate ethics</comment></comment></comment></comment>


How Do Computers Generate Random Numbers? - <AUTHOR> https://digitalbunker.dev/2020/09/08/how-do-computers-generate-random-numbers/ <comment><USER2> 1\. You don't turn PRNG into "true" RNGs simply by picking seeds from environmental randomness. The seed is just the initial state, as long as the output is generated by a deterministic algorithm, by definition it's a PRNG. At the very best you can make a CSPRNG, but not a "true" RNG.

2\. The dice roll example is _not_ uniform distribution, I think this is a common pitfall when generating random integers of a range. `randomNumber % 6` results in a slight bias towards 0 and 1, since 2^31 % 6 == 2, there are more numbers in the range [0, 2^31-1] that map to 0 and 1 than those that map to 2...5. To make it uniform, for example, you should always discard if `randomNumber < 2` and regenerate another number for use.

<comment><USER3> #2 reminds me of Benford's Law, which I recently learned about and find truly fascinating.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford%27s_law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford%27s_law)

<comment><USER4> Interesting.

On first pass, Benford's Law looks a lot like Zipf's Law.

What differentiates Benford's Law from Zipf's Law?

<comment><USER5> From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipf%27s_law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipf%27s_law) :

> It has been argued that Benford's law is a special bounded case of Zipf's > law,[22] with the connection between these two laws being explained by their > both originating from scale invariant functional relations from statistical > physics and critical phenomena.[24] The ratios of probabilities in Benford's > law are not constant. The leading digits of data satisfying Zipf's law with > s = 1 satisfy Benford's law.

<comment><USER4> Thank you!

I'll take some time to try and better understand your post.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Cloudflare has a fun solution to this involving lava lamps[0][1]

[0] [https://blog.cloudflare.com/randomness-101-lavarand-in- produ...](https://blog.cloudflare.com/randomness-101-lavarand-in-production/)

[1] [https://blog.cloudflare.com/lavarand-in-production-the- nitty...](https://blog.cloudflare.com/lavarand-in-production-the-nitty-gritty- technical-details/)

</comment><comment><USER7> Just out of layman's curiosity, what would be the problem or difficulty of somehow connecting a more compact type of radio telescope that detects some level of cosmic background radiation and hooking that up to a computer. Would this not be a guaranteed way of generating truly random numbers for any need flawlessly?

I know that serious radio telescopes cost way more than any random person could afford to pay but I've certainly seen plans for smaller DIY homemade models.

<comment><USER8> A small radiation source works well, although the data rate is low.[1]

The idea is to count the number of events (beta particles here) per time interval. Do this twice. If count A > count B, output a 1. If count A < count B, output a 0. If count A = count B, skip that result. Von Neumann came up with that trick.

Don't use the low-order bit of the count. That has a bias.

[1] [https://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/](https://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/)

<comment><USER9> The Von Neumann extractor is interesting.

> Von Neumann's originally proposes the following technique for getting an > unbiased result from a biased coin :

> > If independence of successive tosses is assumed, we can reconstruct a > 50-50 chance out of even a badly biased coin by tossing twice. If we get > heads-heads or tails-tails, we reject the tosses and try again. If we get > heads-tails (or tails-heads), we accept the result as heads (or tails).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> The chart shows the distribution of "10,000 dice rolls," yet each potential value, 1-6, has between 6000 and 7000 hits, indicating the true number of rolls to be between 36,000 and 42,000.

<comment><AUTHOR> You're absolutely right. The attached code was for 40K and I just mislabeled the graph. I've updated it - thanks for catching that!

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> The Mersenne-Twister approach should certainly not be studied anymore, even if some popular old libraries still use it. It fell long out of favor, is too slow, and not good enough.

Modern PRNG's can be tested with Dieharder, TestU01 or STS and benchmarked. This article only talks about primitive old LCG's (not any good one) or MT.

<comment><AUTHOR> When you say Mersenne-Twister isn't good enough, what are the other shortcomings apart from speed? It seems that even modern versions of Python are continuing to use it...

<comment><USER12> Its slow, large, and statistically worse than modern PRNGs- and jumping ahead takes longer and a more complicated algorithm.

Even a truncated 128-bit LCG has far better properties.

See [https://www.pcg-random.org/index.html](https://www.pcg- random.org/index.html)

The homepage might come across as a a little overzealous (for example ChaCha quality listed as good rather than excellent), but generally has good points.

<comment><USER13> However, this page claims PCG is rather bad: [http://pcg.di.unimi.it/pcg.php](http://pcg.di.unimi.it/pcg.php)

They recommend to use their xoshiro PRNG.

<comment><USER12> That author has a history of extreme bias and almost-vindictive personal attacks on the author of PCG. See the reddit comments:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/8jbkgy/the_wra...](https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/8jbkgy/the_wrapup_on_pcg_generators/)

And the PCG author's response: [https://www.pcg-random.org/posts/on-vignas- pcg-critique.html](https://www.pcg-random.org/posts/on-vignas-pcg- critique.html)

For example, for one of his arguments, he specifically chose a generator called pcg32_once_insecure, which the PCG author does not recommend due to its invertible output function!

Personally, I have read both arguments in detail and I would always use PCG or even a truncated LCG over xoshiro, which has a large size in comparison, potentially worse statistical properties, and no gain- faster in some benchmarks and slower in others.

<comment><USER13> Well, I had only skimmed the page

But I am using xoshiro in my projects, because I thought xor was simpler than multiplication.

<comment><USER12> Yeah, xor is simpler than multiplication in terms of hardware complexity- luckily, we have the multiplication circuits built in, so may as well take advantage of them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> My favourite is this one: [https://preshing.com/20121224/how-to-generate-a- sequence-of-...](https://preshing.com/20121224/how-to-generate-a-sequence-of- unique-random-integers/)

* Creates a sequence of unique integers

* Uses prime numbers that are congruent to P = 3 (mod 4).

* A single iteration has noticable patterns but applying it twice already results in randomness that is sufficiently good for many use cases.

* It is "embarrassingly parallel", a simple mapping of randomValue = randomize(i). You can calculate unique and deterministic random numbers from input i in parallel threads with no sync between threads.

* Since it is a unique mapping of i to r, you can use it to shuffle data sets virtually instantly. Take the index of a value in the original array, and use it to compute the target index in the shuffled array.

* I've used it to shuffle up to 800 million items per second on a GPU, including the time it took to transfer the data from RAM to GPU. So without the IO, you could probably shuffle billions of values per second, probably mostly bound by GPU bandwidth. E.g., 700GB/s and each item is 70 bytes -> could perhabs shuffle 10 billion items per second.

</comment><comment><USER15> Is a hardware random number generator that would use environment or electrical sensors to generate noise expensive or hard to manufacture? I would assume this should be part of any standard motherboard given the importance of cryptography. Or does it create an attack vector?

<comment><USER16> Cryptography doesn't depend on random numbers for its random seed. It depends on unpredictable numbers. These are not the same thing. As long as no-one can predict what the next number will be it doesn't matter how "random" they are. TFA is sufficiently vague it's unclear if the author understands this.

The more I read it, the more confused the article appears to be (e.g. mersenne twister is NOT a good example of a modern or high quality PRNG). For more about secure random numbers in Linux, I'd suggest reading [0].

0: [https://buttondown.email/cryptography- dispatches/archive/cry...](https://buttondown.email/cryptography- dispatches/archive/cryptography-dispatches-the-linux-csprng-is-now/)

<comment><USER17> I wouldn't be so universal with this statement.

Some cryptosystems really do need uniform randomness (ECDSA) rather than just negligible probability of choosing values. Other cryptosystems depend on not reusing values, though the values could be predictable. Sometimes there are subtle shifts in these needs based on modes (AES/CBC vs AES/GCM is a good example).

<comment><USER16> Thanks for the comment, yes I should have phrased that very differently.

What I was trying to say is that the kernel CSPRNG (exact mechanism depends on version) mixes together a bunch of things that aren't truly random from an information-theoretical perspective in order to produce uniform random output from the CSPRNG function - and that it doesn't actually matter that those sources aren't information-theoretically random. That'll teach me to comment in haste!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> For those interested, one can get from a uniform distribution to pretty much any defined statistical distribution using just the uniform random number generator and the inverse cumulative distribution function of the desired random distribution. A useful trick for non-standard distributions with no function available in your prefered language.

Example from matlab: [https://www.mathworks.com/help/stats/generate-random- numbers...](https://www.mathworks.com/help/stats/generate-random-numbers- using-the-uniform-distribution-inversion-method.html)

</comment><comment><USER19> Roll20 has an interesting way of generating random numbers as well - [https://wiki.roll20.net/QuantumRoll](https://wiki.roll20.net/QuantumRoll)

</comment><comment><USER20> My personal favorite RNG is the logistical map. x_{n+1} = 4x_n(1-x_n). There is no hidden seed beyond the current output. Thus if you have a scientific calculator that lets you refer to the value on screen then you can rig it into an RNG. Seeing a simple, non-programmable machine "misbehave" and act random melts my mind a little.

<comment><USER21> That's still just a linear congruential PRNG with state sizeof(unsigned int). LCG is simple and has well-known flaws.

<comment><USER20> No it is not an LCG. When you distribute the terms there is a -4x_n^2. Therefore it is non-linear.</comment></comment></comment>


C database connection pool library - <AUTHOR> http://tildeslash.com/libzdb/

<comment><USER2> _Can I use libzdb in my iOS or Mac OS X app?_

 _Yes[...]_

Except it's GPLed, so it can't be used in any closed-source apps, or any apps that you want to distribute on the App Store, without an explicit exception.

If you're not married to the license for philosophical reasons (which I would respect, it's your right), I'd suggest a change to something simple like BSD.

This would, of course, allow someone to take your code, change it, and not release their changes, but it would also make it usable to the majority of programmers.

<comment><USER3> Author here.

       >.."distribute on the App Store, without an explicit exception".

That is a good idea, thank you. I'll add such an exception so libzdb can be used by any iOS/OSX open source app on the app store. I'm a big fan of Open Source Projects and happy if they can find some alternative income such as from the app store. Growl for instance seems to do good there which I'm glad to see.

Otherwise, my goal with using GPL is to preserve the concept of copyleft with the library. The GPL only applies if you plan to distribute libzdb to third parties. In that case, my hope and the reason I use GPL is that any modification done to libzdb can be contributed back so others can benefit. Otherwise, you can do whatever you want with libzdb without any restrictions.

<comment><USER4> Isn't there a license that requires giving back modifications without "contaminating" the whole program?

<comment><USER5> LGPL would require distributors to make changes to the library available, but not affect the licensing of any application built on top of it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> FWIW, I went to the website, clicked Documentation, and when nothing changed on the site except the button I started to wonder if the site was offline or my web browser had locked up. Then I clicked another link, noticed my scrollbar changed size, and realized you were updating content below the bottom of my screen due to the unusually enormous header.

<comment><USER7> I like the design with the big header, but the page could scroll page when a section link is clicked.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Showing example code on the home page is a great idea, having the small thumbnail with the expand icon made it easy to jump in and see what their API looks like. Going to give this library a try soon :)

</comment><comment><USER9> have you considered a varargs call for setting parameters with type codes? so something like

        PreparedStatement_setArgs(p, 's', "a string", 'i', 42, 'f', 3.1415926);

would set arguments 1-3. i know it's not "OO", but i have done something similar in an internal lib for work and it's very useful and easy to use.

[edit] the number of parameters is assumed equal to the number of '?' in the query. i also have something similar for reading results from the ResultSet, but that required pointers and a count, and was much more likely to lead to errors.

<comment><USER3>
       > have you considered a varargs call for setting parameters with type codes?

Varargs are supported when building a prepared statement, but not for setting wildcards values. I see what you mean and how the client code can be made more compact. Still, I believe setting one by one value by explicit type may be better for readability, is less error prone and as you say, is more OO and orthogonal.

<comment><USER9> just trying to make it easier to use...

one more thing that i assume must work this way, but you don't seem to have documented, is how to test for exceptions. i guess SQL_Exception (a return value, right?) is false when there's no error?

related: do you have any examples that include all the error handling that would be necessary in a real app? how do you display the exception details (it seems to be an opaque type) to the user? perhaps i am missing something here (can't even find exception in the clickable API image)?

(wish i had known about this a few months ago as it would have saved me some work - thanks).

<comment><USER3> Thanks. The documentation for exceptions may be some clicks away, but it's there. Here's a direct link. <http://www.tildeslash.com/libzdb/api- docs/Exception_8h.html> Exceptions are a "true" exception implementation based on the Except code from David Hanson's excellent CII book. This makes it possible to write more compact code without peppering your C code with return code tests.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Look good, but does it work on Windows? It's not on the operating system list.

If it does, I might very well use this in the future.

Edit: Saw it was GPL. Well it looks good at least.

</comment><comment><USER11> i have a _fundamental_ question regarding this: instead of a pool of connections, is it possible to have an event-loop based aysnc-io in place ? this is with little experience with db's...

</comment><comment><USER12> Great presentation, and implementation looks good too.

</comment><comment><USER13> Good presentation (among other things).</comment>


RenderMan Price Restructuring - <AUTHOR> http://renderman.pixar.com/view/non-commercial <comment><USER2> There are too many mature renderers and the competition is intense.

The current popular actively developed ones are: V-Ray (which we use in [http://Clara.io](http://Clara.io)), Arnold, Maxwell, Pixar's RenderMan, and KeyShot.

Less popular but actively developed ones are: RedShift, Furry Ball, 3Delight, NVIDIA iRay, Octane/Bridge...

And then the ones that are integrated into the 3D packages themselves like Blender's Cycles, Modo's renderer, Cinema 4D's renderer, Houdini's Mantra, Mental Images (included in most Autodesk products.)

Then the smaller opensource ones: Sunflow, Lux, Corona, Mitsuba, Pixie...

That is a lot of renderers and I am sure that I am missing quite a few.

<comment><USER3> How many of those take advantage of GPU floating point power? This is no longer a nice to have sort of thing, but a critical one, since as the new Mac Pro shows, there's going to be orders of magnitude more GPU than CPU power available in newer workstations.

I've seem some, like Furry Ball, that support only CUDA, but very few are vendor agnostic with OpenCL. I hope AMD tries to fix this.

<comment><USER4> I don't think it's a critical feature for a commercial renderer.

\- CPU renders typically might use 32Gb memory (or more).

\- most rendering is done on a render farm which won't have GPUs (unless you maintain a gnu render farm).

There are good reasons why commercial renderers are avoiding the GPU, at least for now.

<comment><USER5> Xeon Phi may well cement this further. Knight's Landing, due in 2015, is going to feature 72 Atom cores (288 threads) with AVX, socketed in a standard Xeon motherboard.

In situations where your problem domain doesn't fit comfortably within the memory restrictions of a GPU, or porting a legacy code base difficult, this could be a very interesting option.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon_Phi#Knights_Landing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon_Phi#Knights_Landing)

<comment><USER2> It is a non-starter for the successful commercial renderers because the majority of their market already has render farms with standard CPUs. Also studios generally use a mix of tools and if only one of them is optimized for Xeon Phi's that isn't enough of a motivation to spend the money on Xeon Phi's.

It is generally a no go in the mainstream rendering market, although cloud- based renderers can use specialized solutions.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> It's not mentioned in the text of the post itself, but the $495 price represents a 75% discount on the previous price. A far more detailed overview is here for those interested: [http://www.fxguide.com/featured/rendermanris- and-the-start-o...](http://www.fxguide.com/featured/rendermanris-and-the- start-of-next-25-years/)

<comment><USER7> Also less than half the price of Arnold and VRay now...

It's possible they were hemorrhaging money thanks to the Arnold and VRay competition over the past few years.

Looks like ILM are being "coerced" into using PRMan again from what I hear...

But either way, it sounds like either they're willing to take a hit on the profits, or they're expecting to make up for it from renderfarm expansions...

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I feel like the main takeaway is that they recognized non-commercial use of this crazy expensive software to be legitimate. I think this covers 80% of the use cases where people turn to piracy instead. Good on Pixar. Lets see if Adobe follows suit sometime soon. I know some design students who don't buy a lot of textbooks but have a hole in their pocket from Creative Suite.

<comment><USER9> >I know some design students who don't buy a lot of textbooks but have a hole in their pocket from Creative Suite.

An educational license for Adobe Creative Cloud, which covers virtually all of Adobe's products, is $300 a year. I'm sorry, but if you are in art school and can't afford to pay that there is something very, very wrong and it's not with the price. Many schools even have a site license and you only pay a nominal fee or nothing at all for Adobe CC while enrolled.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> At $495 per license and free for non-commercial use, this is a pretty big deal. Interesting to see how Keyshot will respond to this.

<comment><USER2> KeyShot is more for static product rendering and not the animation market where RenderMan is targeted towards. So I am not sure there is direct competition between the two.

<comment><USER10> Agreed, but they've been marketing Keyshot at the animation space lately (it's all over their website) and I've heard it labeled as 'poor man's Pixar'.

<comment><USER2> Animation for product rendering though:

[https://www.keyshot.com/3d-animation/](https://www.keyshot.com/3d-animation/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> > For non-commercial users we are making Renderman free.

</comment><comment><USER12> So, now that RenderMan is free for non-commercial use, what do people consider to be the contenders for best-in-class free software for modeling, animating, lighting, etc?

If you wanted to set up an all-free environment to learn, what's the list of software you would use?

<comment><USER2> I'm highly biased, but I think our project, [http://Clara.io](http://Clara.io), is the least hassles for learning the basics. But it is more limited than the other more established programs.

[http://www.blender.org](http://www.blender.org) is the primary desktop open source solution.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> When (if at all) will it be feasible for a bunch of kids in a garage to make a feature-length realistic-cgi movie? Assume computing on the public cloud, movie budget $1M.

<comment><USER14> The big cost driver in making animated movies isn't in the software or tools anymore and hasn't been for some time now; the big cost driver is now in authoring all of the assets and content that you actually need. It takes a ton of really talented people to create all of the photorealistic detailed models and animation and whatnot that you need to make a CG movie look convincing. Artists are way more expensive than computers.

<comment><USER15> > Artists are way more expensive than computers

YC disciples totally need to Disrupt The Heck Out Of That Niche

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> There's also RenderMan On Demand, which seemed like an interesting but odd fit:

[https://www.renderman-on-demand.com/](https://www.renderman-on-demand.com/)

Maybe useful if you hit crunch mode, I guess.

</comment><comment><USER16> OT: So I was in Marin County in 1991, all excited after my interview with Pixar. Drove my rented car back to the airport and hopped on the shuttle to the main terminal. Sat in my seat just as another guy struggled to get a box I recognized as a small computer onto the shuttle. He looked at me and I got up to help him but he had someone he was with who showed up and they lifted the box together.

The first guy was Ed Catmull in the video. I recognized him but didn't know what to say and he got into some deep discussion with the guy he was with.

I got a job offer from Pixar but turned them down cause my first child was just born and, at the time, I was concerned about Pixar's stability which turned out to be a correct belief back then. Instead, I accepted an offer from Silicon Graphics and sat next to Jim Clark in the lunch room as much as I could.

<comment><USER17> Do you have any advice for non-graphics programmers (save for a few undergrad/grad classes) who want to get into graphics? (still fairly early in career)

<comment><USER15> Outperforming everyone contributing to shadertoy.com might be a start ;)</comment></comment></comment>