Number of Firms by Employment Size of the Enterprise - <AUTHOR> http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/datasets/number-of-firms-by-employment-size-o/versions/1 <comment><USER2> Here's a cleaned up data set that graphs properly: [http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/datasets/number-...](http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/datasets/number- of-firms-by-employment-size-o-2/versions/1)

and Here's a visualization using the time-treemap to compare sector growth: [http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/t...](http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/treemap- of-proportion-of-us-firms-by)

and here's a stacked area graph that shows it all at once, although it's not as nice for comparison purposes: [http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/u...](http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/us- employment-by-firm-size-1988-2006)

<comment><USER3> The stacked area graph is perfect -- if you check the "% of items shown" option: [http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/e...](http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/e6c1b12ece4211ddaed4000255111976/comments/f5cc78a4ce5911ddaed4000255111976)

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> These statistics are relevant to Paul Graham's recent essay. They show that the number of firms with large numbers of employees is growing faster than the number with small numbers of employees. The years covered by the data are 1988-2001; it would be better to have more recent data, and also to have data broken down by field. It's possible that the US Census Office (which is the source of these data) has more recent figures, but I haven't checked.

With these limitations understood, the data here still contradict the essay's assumption that there is a trend toward smaller companies.

<comment><USER3> The data includes 1988-2006. Many-Eyes is just trying to hide the data (click "view as text")...

</comment></comment><comment><USER2> Shame that this seems to confuse many-eyes' visualizations. This would be perfect for their time-treemap, if it could pivot the data correctly.

Edit: Looks like the numbers were just uploaded in a non-standard way, i'm going to remove the ticks and reupload

<comment><USER3> Thanks. I had submitted a bug report, but didn't realize that it was the ticks that were causing the trouble. They may want to fix that anyway though...</comment></comment>


The Four Possible Timelines for Life Returning to Normal - <AUTHOR> https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-social-distancing-over-back-to-normal/608752/ <comment><USER2> What happened to The Atlantic!? How did they forget to add "five years, because Trump!!!"?</comment>


India locates lander lost on final approach to moon - <AUTHOR> https://apnews.com/8533918d2dd348d6819057968182c6f4 <comment><USER2> All: please don't take this thread, or any other HN thread, into nationalistic flamewar. It breaks the site guidelines and is off topic here.

If your comment might contain flamebait, please edit it until it clearly doesn't.

<comment><USER3> Thank you for consistently and tirelessly following through on these guidelines throughout.

It is hard work and we (well, many of us) appreciate it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> More information on the video here: [https://www.indiatoday.in/science/chandrayaan-2-mission/vide...](https://www.indiatoday.in/science/chandrayaan-2-mission/video/chandrayaan2-orbiter- locates-lander-vikram-on-moon-yet-to-establish-contact-1596866-2019-09-08)

It was located via thermal image which I find interesting for something that far away.

<comment><USER5> It was spotted from the satellite which carried it there and is now orbiting the moon. Not too far I guess.

<comment><USER6> That's actually a pretty great accomplishment to find it so quickly. When Apollo 11's Eagle was on the moon no one could figure out where it was. The orbiter couldn't spot it and mission control had all these detailed maps and telemetry and couldn't get the right spot based on data and descriptions from the astronauts of what they were looking at. Seeing something on the moon is hard.

<comment><USER7> Something designed as an unmanned orbiter will have better sensors than a "man in a can" like the Apollo Command Module.

<comment><USER5> Also the 50 years factor. Digital camera that we use today started to sell in the market at around year 2000. And then those were only VGA resolution 640x480 pixel.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Landing on extraterrestrial objects is really difficult. Even the US, which is the champion at this, has had a number of failures. I trust the Indian engineers will figure out what went wrong, keep trying, and eventually succeed, maybe on the very next mission.

Also, the mission includes an orbiter with a number of scientific instruments for studying the Moon which is still going strong.

</comment><comment><USER9> What a bummer. Would be cool if it survived. Let's see, hope they can figure out details and share learnings.

</comment><comment><USER10> They are going to try to connect with the rover for 15days.

</comment><comment><USER11> "It must've been a hard landing."

<comment><USER12> According to this video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xKJG00-S_c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xKJG00-S_c), end velocity was probably around 100m/s (also that the lander started tumbling at the end stage)

I have the impression that would leave a big mark

<comment><USER13> Love Scott Manley's videos. Wonder how long 'till we get a re-enactment in KSP.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Any chance the rover might have survived? Also I wish it was more a ball than a shape that could tip over!

</comment><comment><USER15> After seeing the way the Pakistani minister of science was tweeting about this, then the negative comments like the one in this very thread by an account created 6 minutes ago, I can't help but assume that the enemies of India must represent the majority of the negative sentiment about this attempt.

ISRO should be very proud of their accomplishments. The people saying that India should worry about their starving population first and foremost don't understand that:

a.) populations feed themselves, there is no government on Earth that has ever successfully fed its population

b.) ISRO has been able to recover a large part of its costs by launching foreign payloads

c.) ISRO provides non-bureaucratic pencil pushing jobs for Indians, in particular the sorts of jobs for some of the brightest Indians who would otherwise be very likely to leave the country for better prospects

d.) We all benefit from the sort of science being done here, today

<comment><USER16> Actually it's not as much as enemies of India. I have seen fairly negative comments about India's accomplishments from neutral folks.

My own understanding is that India's rise makes people uncomfortable because they can no longer think that there's this mass of people who's worse off than them. India's accomplishments challenge their worldview and their place in it. I have indeed noticed this trend amongst people who aren't well off themselves. They are extra vocal and vicious in their attacks.

Earlier, this used to affect me. And I would try to correct them, even have arguments. But I have accepted this now. India and others should just ignore them as it's not really a constructive criticism and double down on all growth attempts

<comment><USER17> There may also be bad sentiment leaking over from the media blackout and ethnic cleansing in Kashmir. FWIW I think that's silly and stupid to take it out on the space agency, but it's also human.

<comment><USER18> As per guidelines.."Please don't use HN for racial or national or religious or ethnic or any other kind of flamebait. This is all off topic for HN, and we ban accounts that post like this repeatedly."

Im gonna say it because Dang apparently isnt (to this comment)

<comment><USER19> Thank you. I want to add an aside here: I have chronically abused the rules of this site in the past. I was ignorant as to the mission of Hacker News and how it can help me! I realized that my ideas are worth having a slow, measured conversation punctuated by facts and understanding of other views just as well as my own. I was falling into a trap of politicizing truth and losing my way in the process.

I'm thankful dang gave me the opportunity to change.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I think something gone wrong in estimating [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation_of_the_Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation_of_the_Moon) and/or [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field_of_the_Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field_of_the_Moon)

And I suspect ISRO compromised on critical aspects during simulation due to cost cutting.

<comment><USER21> Do you have any evidence to support your assertions of this being a likely cause, or that cost cutting could be to blame?

<comment><USER22> One of the prominent claims about the mission is its low cost, which makes that a reasonable hypothesis.

<comment><USER23> This implies nothing. We have more man power with low pays compared to US.

We have launched many more successful launches which cost nothing compared to NASA</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Working as a CEO, being and entrepreneur - <AUTHOR> http://tumblr.bjornjeffery.com/post/50316041279/working-as-a-ceo-being-an-entrepreneur

<comment><USER2> I always say "I run a small company" and leave it as that. I've never really liked the term entrepreneur as it conjures up a certain image in people's minds and it's not always a good one in the UK.

If people want more specifics I say that I am "a technical director, but in a 2 person company that just means I make the coffee before meetings!" I'm normally much more interested in what they have to say about what they do.

<comment><AUTHOR> Still, "I run a small company" gives me a certain picture just like entrepreneur does. I think entrepreneur in that sense are more open, yet positive.

<comment><USER3> I identify myself as running a small company as well, and while it's likely to give some people a particular impression, I think that impression is likely to be a bit more accurate than "entrepreneur," which to me could have much more vague bounds for interpretation.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I prefer to tell people I'm the Chief Email Officer. It accurately describes what I do most of the time as CEO.</comment>


The Complex Debate over Silicon Valley's Embrace of Content Moderation - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/technology/twitter-trump-facebook-moderation.html <comment><USER2> Legacy media attacks new media for being unmoderated. Then it attacks it for being moderated. Its almost as if its just trying to demonise the competition and producing division to do so...</comment>


The Measure of Man – Human Factors in Design (1966) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://design.data.free.fr/RUCHE/documents/Ergonomie%20Henry%20DREYFUS.pdf <comment><USER2> Really interesting podcast about this from a design perspective here - [https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/on- average/](https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/on-average/)

It explores some unexpected impacts of this research and of the idea that we can ever design for an 'average' user

</comment><comment><USER3> R.S. Bridger's Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics provides a fantastic overview of all things ergonomics. The 2nd or 3rd edition are relatively up to date if you want to save some money

[https://smile.amazon.com/Introduction-Factors-Ergonomics- Rob...](https://smile.amazon.com/Introduction-Factors-Ergonomics-Robert- Bridger/dp/1498795943/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?keywords=rs+bridger+human+factors&qid=1553559109&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmr1)

</comment><comment><USER4> If anyone is interested in a modern evolution of this handbook, take a look at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Design Handbook. It's loaded with information about how to engineer things for humans.

[https://www.amazon.com/Human-Factors-Ergonomics-Design- Handb...](https://www.amazon.com/Human-Factors-Ergonomics-Design-Handbook- ebook/dp/B01EITUJ5Y/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Human+Factors+and+Design+Handbook&qid=1553556873&s=gateway&sr=8-3)

</comment><comment><USER5> The "bible" of Architects was, and still is, Neufert.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architects%27_Data](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architects%27_Data)

</comment><comment><USER6> uh oh, according to this I am the 97 percintile height but 127% the weight...

Does anyone have this information for American in the 2000s?

We can call it the McDonald's effect...</comment>


A gadget that makes car hacking easier - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/2015/03/60-gadget-thatll-make-car-hacking-easier-ever/

<comment><USER2> That is what I do not understand: why does everybody who is going to do "car hacking" thinks he needs to build his own device. There are cheap CAN adapters available. There are lots of dev boards from those different chip makers available. There are Arduino shields and BeagleBone capes available.

I just got some cheap Chinese Bluetooth adapters for myself.

</comment><comment><USER3> You can already buy a CAN gateway for less than $60. $15 is a more appropriate sale price.

</comment><comment><USER4> Some of the comments on the article claim that this is different because it allows write access. But some quick research tells me that some vehicles do allow write via CAN/ODB-II and others don't. It hasn't been explained why this guys effort is any different.

<comment><USER3> There are multiple application protocols. The OBD2 spec includes PHYs and an application protocol. One of the PHYs is CAN-bus, and since the CARB application does not do everything (or much of anything) useful to a manufacturer, they implement additional applications. Some of these manufacturer specific applications require authentication to perform some operations such as flash write or certain eeprom writes.</comment></comment>


Congress Scolds the FCC for Making the Cable Set Top Box Market More Competitive - <AUTHOR> https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160505/07462134350/congress-scolds-fcc-making-cable-set-top-box-market-more-competitive.shtml <comment><USER2> Sounds like someone didn't get paid off. Glad the FCC is actually trying to do some good. I think congress and cable company executives are really out of touch, especially with millennials. I think cable companies will sink like the Titanic if they don't wake up to the new reality.

</comment><comment><USER3> One issue I have is that it specifies (in its current form) all functionality. I don't have an issue with restricting rental through cable services to first party hardware (and can see viable security reasons for doing so). Aside from that though, I'm in complete agreement.</comment>


Ask HN: What's the best ad-blocking, privacy-enhancing extension set up? - <AUTHOR> There are a bunch of privacy enhancing and ad-blocking extensions out there, but it's impossible to figure out where their features are unique and where they overlap. Of course, too much overlap, and they start slowing down your browser.
My goal is to make my browser as private as possible with minimal damage to my usual browsing experience. For example:
- LSO and Flash: Blocked.
 - As many third party cookies blocked as possible without breakage.
 - JavaScript works most of the time?
 - Ads are blocked
 - Various forms of fingerprinting are blocked/disabled
 - HTTPS is used as much as possible
 - etc.
I'm currently using Privacy Badger + uBlock Origin + HTTPS Everywhere. It feels like a lot already, but there's also Ghostery, RequestPolicy, and a million others. <comment><USER3> > Various forms of fingerprinting are blocked/disabled

Be very careful with that. If you're one the few who have the features disabled on a compatible browser, you make your configuration more unique and it becomes easy to identify you.

I'd would also advice not to spoof the User-Agent since the browser can be detected thanks to other parameters and if those ones contradict the User- Agent that's a very specific fingerprint.

I'd also advice not to enable the DNT (Do Not Track) header since it does nothing at all and is used by a minority, so it increases your entropy too.

The combination of your three extensions is very fine as far as I can tell. This is what I would advice in addition to them:

\- Whitelist _first-party_ cookie. Make them be deleted when you close the browser (in the privacy settings of Firefox) and whitelist the few sites you need them to be remembered. To whitelist a site on Firefox, click on the thing at the left of its url on the address bar (either a planet or a lock), click on 'More informations...', go to the Permissions tab, scroll to 'Set cookie', uncheck 'Use default' and click the 'Allow' radio button.

Many websites include arbitrary JavaScript that they grabbed in the documentation of some statistic tool or something like that. Such scripts, running directly in the site's pages, can then access first-party cookies.

\- Use something else than Google. If you can't deprive yourself of Google results relevance, then use StartPage, it's a Google proxy. They make money by displaying non-targeted self-hosted ads. Unfortunately, I fear that Google might be able to identify you thanks to your queries themselves. Otherwise, just use DuckDuckGo.

\- Use your history and bookmarks. Search engines are for discovering new content. To find something you have already seen or to reach a website you already visited, use your history. Ctrl+Shift+H. Or just type some word you remember in the address bar and pick the correct suggestion.

\- Use search keywords ([https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-search-from- address...](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-search-from-address- bar)). They allow you to associate a keyword to about any search form anywhere and then search this form directly in the address bar. This also will reduce your search engine usage.

You should also know that when your browser performs a third-party request, the recipient of the request can know the page you're coming from thanks to the HTTP referer header. It can be disabled in about:config ([http://www.technipages.com/firefox-enable-disable- referrer](http://www.technipages.com/firefox-enable-disable-referrer)), but I'm not sure it would be a good idea, first because of what I've said about fingerprints in the beginning, second because it might break some websites.

</comment><comment><USER4> I use uBlock Origin [1] along with the EFF's Privacy Badger [2].

Hard to say how well it really works for privacy without really digging in to exactly what private info I'm leaking across the web but I haven't seen an ad in ages.

[1] [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock- origin/cjpa...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock- origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en)

[2] [https://www.eff.org/privacybadger](https://www.eff.org/privacybadger)

<comment><USER5> uBlock Origin is also available on Firefox ([https://addons.mozilla.org/en- US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en- US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/)), as is Privacy Badger.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> You're pretty much covered. uBlock Origin + Privacy Badger is awesome.

You can add something like Tab Cookies or Self Destructing Cookies. You can also add something like uMatrix to the mix.

If you really want to go far, add a "User-Agent Switcher" type extension.

I wouldn't add more than this though, it starts to be overkill. Also do note: I used to use noscript and it works well, but going from 0 JS on a domain to all JS on a domain isn't ideal. If you want ultimate security, add noscript as well but maintain the others so that when you whitelist a url you can still expect to be safe.

<comment><USER7> from the page it looks like privacy badger is similar to noscript, care to explain how it's better than noscript?

noscript also has "forbid", "temporarily allow", and "allow" settings for blocking domains

<comment><USER8> They're both good at different things:

NoScript blocks Javascript/Flash/etc. based either on a list you import, or on a case-by-case basis. I use it as a security measure, blocking potentially harmful content by default and enabling it only if I need it for the site to function.

Privacy Badger is not designed for security so much as it is for protection against non-consensual tracking. It observes which third-parties store high- entropy cookies on your device. If it sees a third-party domain doing so across three different first-party websites, it automatically blocks requests for _any_ content to that third-party from your browser.

So I'd say the big differences are Privacy Badger is set-and-forget, while NoScript isn't; Privacy Badger protects against different tracking (including pixel tags); NoScript protects against some first-party tracking (if you don't allow JS on a first-party domain) and security dangers.

Full disclosure: I work for EFF which makes Privacy Badger.

<comment><USER7> thanks for answering!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> > My goal is to make my browser as private as possible with minimal damage to > my usual browsing experience.

Not very long ago I wrote a guide documenting my specific configuration which has precisely this goal in mind [1].

The short version: disable third-party cookies, enable tracking protection (Firefox only), use uBlock Origin with some extra filters, use HTTPS everywhere, Enforce Click-to-Play and Disable Unnecessary Plug-ins.

One tweak I don't cover in the guide that I think I like is disabling custom fonts. In Firefox this is under Options > Content > Advanced > uncheck "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above". The privacy benefit here is probably negligible, but I quite like that I don't have to wait for giant remote fonts on everyone's blog to load.

[1] [https://brashear.me/blog/2015/08/11/hardening-firefox-to- pro...](https://brashear.me/blog/2015/08/11/hardening-firefox-to-protect- privacy/)

<comment><USER10> I use basically this setup with one additional plugin: Noscript. But this has more to do with browser safety than privacy, in that I don't want some shady third party site getting to run whatever JS they want on my machine.

<comment><USER9> I made myself use NoScript for a few days. I was quite surprised at how performant the web suddenly was, but quite discouraged at how often I had to unbreak websites. Because of that I don't run it anymore, but understand why people do.

<comment><USER10> Hah, yep, but after a while you get good at guessing which third party sites will unbreak the current page. And sometimes you realize the content isn't worth letting all the garbage run on your computer.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I use uBlock Origin to block ads and Ghostery to block social media foo (and trackers, of course). Ghostery makes it easy to enable stuff you want to use all the time (Gravatar, Typekit, etc.) and to temporarily enable stuff like Twitter buttons, Soundcloud player, etc. On top of that I use HTTPS Everywhere.

When I feel the need for real privacy I use the Tor Browser.

// Oh, and I also disable all the fancy features in Chrome and most plugins.

</comment><comment><USER12> I use HTTPS Everywhere, uBlock Origin, Random Agent Spoofer with almost everything checked, Self Destructing Cookies and uMatrix.

I do not recommend Ghostery at all, since it is closed source and it collects your data through GhostRank, if enabled.

<comment><USER13> I think this is a good setup. Not leaking metadata is uber uber important [1]. I feel that by revealing my weird setup e.g., mutt as a mail client I'm really easy to track.

Getting fingerprinted via font browser metrics is also a major worry of mine [2]. Especially if running an exotic setup, it's easy to stand out.

[1] [http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/may/10/we-kill- peo...](http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/may/10/we-kill-people-based- metadata/)

[2] [http://www.guanotronic.com/~serge/papers/fc15-fonts.pdf](http://www.guanotronic.com/~serge/papers/fc15-fonts.pdf)

<comment><USER14> I think too this is a good setup.

Self-Destructing Cookies, especially, is rarely mentioned in such discussions, but is a godsend to enable cookies for the convenience of staying logged only in domains you trust (e.g. I have: archlinux.org, feedly.com, mozilla.org, stackoverflow.com, ycombinator.com) but _not breaking_ sites that depend on them (e.g. no gmail if you simply disable them).

Also, if you use Firefox, enabling `privacy.trackingprotection.enabled` in about:config is a good no-addon-required first step [1].

[1] [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Polaris#Tracking_protection](https://wiki.mozilla.org/Polaris#Tracking_protection)

<comment><USER13> Yes, but what's the overlap with uBlock Origin of privacy.trackingprotection? It's very unclear to me. After some experiments and log inspections when it was released I concluded uBlock was a superset. Maybe I'm wrong though.

<comment><USER14> Asked myself the same question, did the same experiment, and reached the same conclusion :) .

Another unclear thing is the update rate/policy of privacy.trackingprotection's blacklist.

<comment><USER13> Good to hear :)

What's your addon setup then?

<comment><USER14> Mostly the same as emanuelmaues above, just a bit lighter: uBlock Origin, Self-Destructing Cookies. Differences:

\- No HTTPS Everywhere because I (think I) remember to check for HTTPS when it matters, and access those sensitive sites via bookmarks, where I ensure HTTPS is used.

\- No uMatrix because it's too much of a hassle, I'm okay with the 90% provided by uBlock Origin.

\- A common custom user agent via (firefox / about:config) `general.useragent.override` rather than Random Agent Spoofer, which pops UAs sometimes so obscure that Google freaks out and serves me a no-js version. I'd use it if it provided a choice like "Random among the last five <Firefox> versions on <any os>", currently to do this I'd have to manually exclude tons of browsers.

(Off-topic) out of the privacy stuff and back into regular addons land,

\- dotjs to spruce up custom js in a few sites. When GitHub Enterprise say "maybe, someday" to your feature request, that means "do it yourself" ^^.

\- (Not an addon, but worth mentioning) userContent.css to manually uncruft/simplify sites I frequently visit. I prefer this to Stylish, it's all in a single .css file in my profile folder; simple to edit and sync across work/home.

\- FlashDisable to pretend I do _not_ have flash (to ensure html5 vid is served in priority, many non-top tier video hosts still serve Flash by default) but be able to activate it quickly when needed (flash game, video with no html5 alternative).

\- HighlightAll because I'm so used to this feature from all text editors that I take it for granted even in a browser.

\- VimFx to keep my hands on the home row as much as possible.

And you, anything crispy to share?

<comment><USER13> Nice. I just use vimperator with a couple of commands to make switching around proxies simple. Or custom search keywords with multiple arguments autocompleted.

Apart from that ublock origin, https everywhere and privacy badger. Nothing fancy.

<comment><USER14> Hey, I didn't know about multiple arguments in search keywords! Are you talking about [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Multiple_parameter_keyword_searche...](http://kb.mozillazine.org/Multiple_parameter_keyword_searches) ?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> In addition to all the plugins that everyone has listed, I'm also interested in hearing about the default settings that should/need to be disabled in Chrome or Firefox so as to prevent most/all of the "dial-home" features. For example, unchecking the features in Chrome > Settings > Show advanced settings > Privacy, like "Use a web service to detect spelling errors" or the offer to translate pages further below.

While perhaps not as potentially malicious as 3rd party websites, I think that a discussion regarding privacy in web browsers themselves is a useful one.

Some discussion here: [http://thesimplecomputer.info/the-private-life-of- chromium-b...](http://thesimplecomputer.info/the-private-life-of-chromium- browsers)

</comment><comment><USER16> If you're willing to go through the headaches of having to reload some pages multiple times, a combination of NoScript and RequestPolicy Continued (not the original RequestPolicy) may be your best bet.

For sites that you visit regularly you can simply whitelist them; for rarer sites you may have to reload pages 2-4 times as you allow requests out to CDNs, etc. and allow JS.

I run that way in Firefox as my daily driver, but have Chrome much less locked down with uBlock Origin for things that I just can't get working right. Chrome is also the only version of Flash installed.

I also tend to do most purchasing (or at least checkouts) in Chrome - <USER2> to get stuff all set then have the order go screwy because you have to reload the payments page several times to make it work.

</comment><comment><USER17> Few folk using Ghostery... but I thought Ghostery was the plugin backed by the advertising industry that just fed your data back to them anyway?

I use AdBlock (original) and Disconnect. Perhaps Disconnect does something with my data too _shrug_

<comment><USER18> Ghost Rank is opt-in, and it does help the advertising industry: [0]

>We rely on Ghostery users who opt-in to participate in a feature called Ghostrank®, which sends us anonymous information about the data collection technology they see, and where they see them. We take that information, add our analysis, and sell it to companies to help them audit and manage their relationships with these marketing tools. None of the information we share is about our users, nor is it stored in a way that could be used to trace back to our users.

Ghostrank® is off by default, meaning you can use Ghostery without sharing anything with us if you prefer. (But please opt-in! It is how we keep Ghostery free and continue to make it the best tool out there!)

Further, from their privacy policy: [1]

>The Ghostrank information we collect helps to increase our tracker intelligence, and to improve our products and solutions for businesses. We do not use any collected information to track individuals or to target ads to them. Ghostrank data may be licensed commercially and incorporated into our solutions for businesses. To learn more, contact Ghostery at firstname.lastname@example.com or visit www.ghosteryenterprise.com.

Disconnect is monetized through user payments: [2]

>We are a consumer software company and rely on payments from our users. We believe basic privacy protection should be available to everybody, irrespective of the ability to pay. In support of that goal, we have a two- part pricing model. For our desktop browser extensions, users can "pay what they want." For our mobile software applications we offer a Basic free version and a Premium paid version that has additional benefits. Payments help sustain our work and also support nonprofits that share our corporate values.

[0] [https://www.ghostery.com/en/faq/how-does-ghostery-make- money...](https://www.ghostery.com/en/faq/how-does-ghostery-make-money-from- the-add-on/)

[1] [https://addons.mozilla.org/en- US/firefox/addon/ghostery/priv...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en- US/firefox/addon/ghostery/privacy/)

[2] [https://disconnect.me/help#how-do-you-make- money-](https://disconnect.me/help#how-do-you-make-money-)

<comment><USER19> Thanks for this. I just installed ghostery and I'm still reading up on it. I don't have a problem with advertising and people making money and studying usage. I do have a problem with attempts at tracking individual users and trying to create individual user profiles. I like how you started your list at zero.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> here its a performance review of some of them uBlock origin seems the best performance wise, [https://www.raymond.cc/blog/10-ad-blocking-extensions- tested...](https://www.raymond.cc/blog/10-ad-blocking-extensions-tested-for- best-performance/view-all/)

</comment><comment><USER13> What's the overlap between uBlock Origin and other plugins like Ghostery or Privacy Badger? Or even uMatrix?

<comment><USER8> One major difference is that Privacy Badger doesn't use a blacklist like the others and really isn't designed for the purpose of ad-blocking. It's designed to prevent non-consensual tracking, so it observes which third-party domains try to store high-entropy cookies, and if it sees a third-party domain doing so across multiple first-party sites, blocks any further third-party requests to that domain.

Full disclosure: I work at EFF, which makes Privacy Badger.

<comment><USER13> That's good. What plugin setup do you recommend on Firefox to protect ourselves?

Furthermore, I'm concerned about useragent and font metadata attacks. Any recommendations for these?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Drop this in your hosts file and set up a refresh script to replace it periodically.

[http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/hosts](http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/hosts)

<comment><USER22> I sincerely hope you don't do this. You're trusting that the people who run that site won't turn malicious in the future; and since your link uses http, you are also trusting that the same applies to their ISP, your ISP, or anyone in between!

<comment><USER23> Yeah, someone might hijack localhost's address. They might even be so nefarious as to submit RFCs to make that address range publicly routable.

<comment><USER24> Not the person you are responding to, but it's obvious he's referring to the suggestion that you automatically update the hosts file from the URL.

> set up a refresh script to replace it periodically.

Especially considering the https version of the page isn't valid.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> Flash is not installed, so there is no need to block. For Adblocking I use Bluhell Firewall, to stop tracking Ghostery and Self-destructing cookies. On top of that I run noScript to kill remaining junk. And because I like to encrypt: HttpsEverywhere.

</comment><comment><USER26> I use Ghostery, uBlock and ClickToPlugin on Safari, and stopped using any other extensions since I came across a couple that were trojans for injecting ads.

</comment><comment><USER27> I had nice results blocking ads with squid+adzapper.

The nice thing is that it does not slow down firefox, ad opposed to the adblock plus extension.

</comment><comment><USER28> uBlock origin and subscribe to relevant feeds. It's simple, lightweight and covers both privacy / security and ads.

<comment><AUTHOR> You mean to RSS feeds instead of going to actual websites?

<comment><USER29> I think mrmondo refers to the "lists" that the ABP-family of extensions support. They are lists of domains and regexes to block, and maintained generally by third parties (not the addon developer).

Some of these lists are specific to geographic regions.

<comment><USER28> Yes indeed, sorry :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> Privoxy and, for Firefox, BetterPrivacy and Self-Destructing Cookies.

<comment><USER31> I second privoxy. I never see ads and the memory usage is low, 0.1% on my 8GB laptop. I use it along with polipo (a caching proxy).

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> AVG Privacy Fix, HTTPS Everywhere, Ghostery.</comment>


Ask HN: What are you using for http load testing? - <AUTHOR> I'm looking for something more flexible than apache ab, but not as heavy weight as JMeter. Ideally I'd like to be able to specify some random values in urls or post requests. My environment is linux/ubuntu. What are you using these days? <comment><USER2> I like to use wrk[1] for quick/spot testing:

* It allows me to focus on latency versus throughput independently

* It has tools for testing performance on pipelined requests (very important in my space)

* It supports scripting complex authentication processes (like magic headers and oauth2)

* It supports scripting fuzzing (random values) for URLs and POST requests

[1]: [https://github.com/wg/wrk](https://github.com/wg/wrk)

For wide-area load testing, I _simply buy some advertising_ since that gives me cheap access to millions of simultaneous users.

<comment><USER3> We use wrk since we are often load testing fairly simple services, occasionally with some Lua for cache busting. It's a great tool. Would love if it supported http2 since I work on CDN type stuff where that matters.

I love your 2nd approach (advertising). Any pointers to how to get started?

<comment><USER2> go-wrk[1] promises HTTP/2 support and is similar to wrk. I don't have a lot of experience with it though.

[1]: [https://github.com/tsliwowicz/go-wrk](https://github.com/tsliwowicz/go- wrk)

If you want to purchase advertising for this purpose, I'm happy to help with this. My contact details are linked through my profile.

\- Your HTTP endpoints will need to be whitelisted with traffic quality groups and creative scanners (This can take a week or so). I recommend using a separate dns domain name for this since adblockers tend to subscribe to these lists.

\- Your JavaScript should not be abusive. There are subjective tests for this. Generally doing an image request or some POST data of a few kb isn't going to be an issue. Some ad servers (like sizmek) download 2mb "test images" to exercise their bandwidth from some locations (like the US).

\- Costs vary based on device, region, the web page the ads are on, and silly things like demographic. Some of these factors are interesting to benchmarkers but others are not. Thinking about what you actually need to test can help keep your costs efficient.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Here is a good list — [https://github.com/denji/awesome-http- benchmark](https://github.com/denji/awesome-http-benchmark)

It includes the good ones like Vegeta, Siege, Goad, Hey, Httpref, Gatling, among others.

</comment><comment><USER5> Locust. [https://locust.io](https://locust.io)

<comment><USER6> +1. Our team also uses Locust.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> From the Microsoft world:

WCAT: [https://www.iis.net/downloads/community/2007/05/wcat-63-x86](https://www.iis.net/downloads/community/2007/05/wcat-63-x86) (pretty old and quite manual, but found it really effective, can control many clients distributing the load)

West Wind's WebSurge: [https://websurge.west-wind.com/](https://websurge.west- wind.com/) Bloody good bit of kit and very easy to user

Bombadier: [https://github.com/codesenberg/bombardier](https://github.com/codesenberg/bombardier) Very fast Go HTTP(S) benchmarking.

And Netling: [https://github.com/hallatore/Netling](https://github.com/hallatore/Netling) I just really like it.

</comment><comment><USER8> > not as heavy weight as JMeter

JMeter is indeed a tad heavier, but I find it's much more user friendly as in, you spend a couple of hours to build basic tests, or afternoon and have learned most of its functionality. It also has a variety of ways implementing this randomized user behavior [1].

[https://tpaschalis.github.io/jmeter-random-user- actions/](https://tpaschalis.github.io/jmeter-random-user-actions/)

</comment><comment><USER9> You can definitely do all those things with JMeter, although the user experience is pretty naf, Gatling[3] is definitely much better at that front if you're comfortable writing Scala.

When it comes to Protocol Level Testing, those two tools are still pretty much the best bang for buck, and by far the most popular open source load generators.

If the target you're hitting is a web app and you want to create a more realistic load scenario without crafting individual requests, check out a tool called Flood Chrome, which uses thousands of instances of Google Chrome[1] to generate load. It uses the same scripting language as SeleniumJS, so it's quite easy to learn.

Also on the topic of Flood [2], they're a very good platform for abstracting away the server orchestration and results collection you'll face when you try to scale up from 1 to N servers running either Gatling or JMeter.

[1]: [https://chrome.flood.io/](https://chrome.flood.io/)

[2]: [https://flood.io/](https://flood.io/)

[3]: [https://gatling.io/](https://gatling.io/)

</comment><comment><USER10> I use tsung - [https://smalldata.tech/blog/2015/08/26/load-testing-using- ts...](https://smalldata.tech/blog/2015/08/26/load-testing-using-tsung)

</comment><comment><USER11> Vegeta. [https://github.com/tsenart/vegeta](https://github.com/tsenart/vegeta). The following post covers an approach for generating some randomness. [https://thisdata.com/blog/load-testing-api-interfaces- with-g...](https://thisdata.com/blog/load-testing-api-interfaces-with-go-and- vegeta).

</comment><comment><USER3> Load testing can be hard. Wrk works for me for the most part but it's not ideal for complex flows (say e-commerce trying to simulate a real browse and checkout complete with typeahead search).

However the smarter apps can have problems too. I've pinned all available cores on fairly beefy machines because they are gunzipping bodies (behaving more like a real browser).

If you are at a scale where you need really good testing I recommend that you think of wrk results as comparable to a unit test and something like jmeter as comparable to an integration test. It's not worth the effort for most companies but where I work we serve a decent amount of traffic and downtime costs 6 figures per minute so good performance engineering and good business overlap.

</comment><comment><USER12> Gatling ([https://gatling.io](https://gatling.io))

</comment><comment><USER13> Artillery via AWS lambda [https://github.com/Nordstrom/serverless- artillery](https://github.com/Nordstrom/serverless-artillery)

</comment><comment><USER14> Bees with machineguns [https://github.com/newsapps/beeswithmachineguns](https://github.com/newsapps/beeswithmachineguns)

</comment><comment><USER15> I use hey[1].

Shameless plug:

I have developed a small tool called vex [2] ( using PHP ) for this purpose but it's not feature complete.

[1] [https://github.com/rakyll/hey](https://github.com/rakyll/hey) [2] [https://github.com/vamsiikrishna/vex](https://github.com/vamsiikrishna/vex)

</comment><comment><USER16> Customers

<comment><USER17> +1

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Jmeter is de facto in telecom , it's far from perfect but it let you define complex flows quick , the pain is that you need to ménage the test plans on the server to run all the jmx files I wish there was full web interface on the server already

</comment><comment><USER19> [https://hackernoon.com/to-start-thinking-about-load- testing-...](https://hackernoon.com/to-start-thinking-about-load- testing-e68384b24a12)

</comment><comment><USER20> We use JMeter and run them on AWS load generators using redline13.com

</comment><comment><USER21> One ot the best tools for load testing on ubuntu is yandex tank.

</comment><comment><USER22> I really like using goad.

[https://github.com/goadapp/goad](https://github.com/goadapp/goad)

<comment><USER23> httperf.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> [https://github.com/giltene/wrk2](https://github.com/giltene/wrk2)

</comment><comment><USER25> [https://gettaurus.org/](https://gettaurus.org/) \+ BlazeMeter (for reports)

</comment><comment><USER26> k6 by Load Impact: [https://k6.io](https://k6.io)

</comment><comment><USER27> a mix of ab and vegeta ( [https://github.com/tsenart/vegeta](https://github.com/tsenart/vegeta) ). More and more vegeta lately, thou.

</comment><comment><USER28> Siege

</comment><comment><USER29> apache benchmark (ab) is a good alternative for simple test scenarios

</comment><comment><USER30> HN users.</comment>


How should I spend my last summer? - <AUTHOR>

It is my last summer of freedom after finishing university. In the fall, I will be joining one of the big tech companies in the bay area. I am weighing the options between traveling for a couple of months in southeast asia or learning to code with hackreactor (hackreactor.com). I'd love any input on what would be most valuable! <comment><USER2> Travel. You will always be able to learn to code on your own time, but how often will you have the opportunity to see the world?

After university, I spent four or five months in Thailand; the experiences I had broadened me as a person and remain among my most cherished memories.

<comment><USER3> This.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> It sounds like you don't know how to code, so in what capacity are you joining the big tech company in the bay area (what kind of job role)?

<comment><AUTHOR> On the business side, but product is very interesting to me.

<comment><AUTHOR> My true aspiration is to start my own company one day. I know I will never be an engineer rockstar, but I see the value in having a strong understanding of code.</comment></comment></comment>


Is your @m.facebook.com email wierd too? Bug? - <AUTHOR> http://www.facebook.com/mobile/?v=web Mine says: Upload via email Use a personalised upload email address to post status updates or send photos and videos straight to your profile. Your personal email address is: email@example.com<p>Is it totally random or a bug? <comment><AUTHOR> Mine says:

Upload via email Use a personalised upload email address to post status updates or send photos and videos straight to your profile. Your personal email address is: firstname.lastname@example.com

Is it totally random or a bug?</comment>


Linus Torvalds Blasts PC Industry, Praises Chromebook Pixel - <AUTHOR> http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2013/03/06/linux-founder-linus-torvalds-blasts-pc-industry-praises-googles-chromebook-pixel/?utm_campaign=techtwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social <comment><USER2> Still think it is pricey compared to the specs on the Macbook Air.

<comment><USER3> You don't get 1TB Cloud storage for 3 years on Macbook Air.</comment></comment>


America the great, yea right - <AUTHOR> http://c-1-d.tumblr.com/post/54176906770/america-the-great-yeah-right

<comment><USER2> TLDR:

A guy brainwashed by American propaganda as a child realizes America has problems too. Then writes a self-important article about it.

</comment><comment><USER3> While you've shared some pretty good articles, this one just seems like inflammatory linkbait.

</comment><comment><USER4> Why is it that so many people are so in love with America, anyway? I guess I was too, when I was a teenager, which I can attribute to the prevalence of American pop-culture (how many Western countries show more native movies than American movies? France, maybe, and..?). What do people expect would happen if they moved to the US, from another first world country? That their life is magically going to be better, freer, etc? I have never been, so I don't know, but it seems that that doesn't stop many people who hasn't been there either from assuming that life there would be fantastic.

For that matter, how would the NSA spying interfere with this romantized life? I'd if you were unaware of it to begin it, most likely not at all (not that that is an excuse for the spying).</comment>


Effective Concurrency: Prefer Using Active Objects Instead of Naked Threads - <AUTHOR> http://www.drdobbs.com/go-parallel/article/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=SVC1LT5JKANHDQE1GHPSKH4ATMY32JVN?articleID=225700095 <comment><USER2> Ok, I've written a system very similar to what Herb describes, and on one hand, its definitely a good abstraction and prevents a lot of the silly mistakes I've made.

What it doesn't really give you, is any superior way to handle transactions between your two actors. You'll still have the same race condition/deadlock issues you would with plain ol' locks/threads.

So on one hand, its a step forward, but on the other hand, it doesn't solve the problem that _really_ needs solving.</comment>


Medieval Africans Had a Unique Process for Purifying Gold with Glass - <AUTHOR> https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-african-gold <comment><USER2> What does the material efficiency for the gold look like? Is there room for improvement? Can statistical physics tell us something about purification effficiency? Is there room for improvement?

Or is it strictly of historical interest?

Can this decrease mercury pollution of the environment, especially by the poorer small scale gold refinement? Or has that already been succesfully replaced world wide?

Edit: I have no clue why this got downvoted? I don't mind being downvoted, but please don't squander an opportunity for interesting discussion?

<comment><USER3> Yes, I'm a little curious too. Presumably Africans had lead available (right?) so does the choice of glass imply that it was superior to lead? Or, since Europeans also had glass, is it vice-versa (maybe lead requires better furnaces to be workable or some other technical requirement)?

<comment><USER2> Glass has a much higher melting temperature than lead, so it's the other way around, but this might explain why Europeans stayed with lead.

I don't know if the Africans lacked lead, perhaps lead was simply valued more than scrap glass?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> "...According to Walton, Europeans in the 10th and 11th centuries purified their gold through cupellation, a process in which lead is mixed with gold laced with impurities, and then heated in a furnace until the droplets of purer gold can be skimmed off. But in the case of medieval West Africans, "They were taking the ore and other raw materials from the river and mixing it with glass," says Walton. Since gold is inert, it doesn't fully dissolve into melted glass, while impurities and other materials do, making this "a really novel way of using recycled glass material."....."

<comment><USER5> so basically molten glass sponge .. very interesting

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Africa is such a huge continent, why not say "Medieval Malians"? How much of an information does "Medieval Eurasians invented gunpowder" have?

<comment><USER7> Because many of the currently known national boundaries didn't exist back then, and the tribal delineations would be wholly unfamiliar to their audience.

<comment><USER8> Just to say you're not completely right. the mali empire existed back then.</comment></comment></comment>


The Rise of SYDNI or YAGNI is Only About Problems, not Solutions - <AUTHOR> http://jasonsupdates.posterous.com/the-rise-of-sydni-or-yagni-is-only-about-prob

<comment><USER2> Sometimes You Do Need It vs. You Ain't Gonna Need It. I suppose he is arguing Einstein's make it as simple as possible but no simpler. I look at YAGNI as a filter not a hard and fast design principle. When starting a non trivial project, I sketch out the design and requirements. Then I apply YAGNI to eliminate the cruft and those features that are nice to have but would delay the first release.

<comment><AUTHOR> There's no vs here. :-)

SYDNI and YAGNI are 100% complimentary. I just chose the name partly because I think YAGNI gets a disproportionate amount of attention due to having a catchy acronym.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Quote from the article:

 _Which life support machine would you rather be hooked up to?_

 _1\. A machine whose software developers always did the simplest thing possible_

 _2\. A machine whose software developers went out of their way to anticipate possible problems and planned for each of them_

I don't think that is an apt description of what YAGNI is about. I think the choices would be more like:

1\. A machine whose software developers always did the simplest thing possible

2\. A machine whose software developers went out of their way to abstract the code for possible future expansion, uses a custom rule engine written in a custom domain specific scripting language that is compiled down to XML and finally loaded into an SQL server database cluster with failover support.

To me, that is the kind of over-engineering that YAGNI is all about.

<comment><AUTHOR> This is a very valid point. However, please bear in mind that I wasn't addressing the _application_ of YAGNI as much as I was addressing the _misapplication_ of YAGNI.</comment></comment>


Adblock2Privoxy – Convert adblock config files to privoxy format - <AUTHOR> https://projects.zubr.me/wiki/adblock2privoxy

<comment><USER2> Now for uTor to see this, that'd be great!</comment>


The night I met Einstein - <AUTHOR> http://akshar.co.in/blog/archives/47 <comment><USER2> Great story. Great writing.

I felt like I was in the room observing this encounter take place.

This was very nice to read, or rather, to experience :)

The joy of wonder!

Thanks for the post

</comment><comment><USER3> "Nonsense! said Einstein. It proves everything!"

This was the most important lesson I ever got from my mentor, who was an industrial engineer. He claimed that if you can do it once, you can do it again. Anyone. Anything.

That one belief has dramatically changed almost every project I've ever done.

I just like the way Einstein said it better.

</comment><comment><USER4> I want to highlight a point "start from the basics".

Most of our teachers (in tunisia) ruined studies by starting and giving students hard exercices to do, which makes them fear and afraid from science.

</comment><comment><USER5> My favorite part of this story is actually where the author admits that he categorically loathes any music that doesn't have a catchy hook and someone singing words he can follow.

A pet peeve of mine has always been how _everyone_ claims to like music. When there are people who dislike ice cream, people who dislike movies, people who dislike sports, people who dislike dancing...why is it that you never meet anyone who will admit to disliking music? That always annoyed me as a musician who's met many people who can't possibly actually enjoy music considering their listening tastes. Yet, because of social pressure, these people will never publicly admit to disliking music.

So it's refreshing to hear from someone who admits to feeling zero affection for music. There are people who admit this about visual art. People who say this about drama. But it's rare to meet someone who will admit this about music,

<comment><USER6> Also consider that if you're a musician, people are less likely to say that they dislike music to your face, out of politeness.

I don't think it's so much cultural pressure as it is unusual. It's like meeting somebody who doesn't like art. It is so common and there are so many kinds out there that categorically disliking it entirely is strange. Most people probably do not want to be seen as strange.

It's also possible that in Western culture, not liking music is traditionally associated with something sinister. For instance, in _Julius Caesar_ , Cassius is described as follows

      "...He reads much,
      He is a great observer, and he looks
      Quite through the deeds of men. He loves no plays,
      As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music.
      Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
      As if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his spirit
      That could be mov'd to smile at anything.
      Such men as he be never at heart's ease
      While they behold a greater than themselves,
      And therefore are they very dangerous."

which contrasts with the more sympathetic character, Brutus, and his love of music.

<comment><USER7> There's a more explicitly anti-tone-deaf example in The Merchant of Venice: "The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night And his affections dark as Erebus: Let no such man be trusted."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I am touched by this story. Any chance of it being true? (not that it matters, truth being beauty an' all).

<comment><USER9> I definitely believe it could be true. I don't think the music story would be out of character for Einstein.

One of my academic advisors was Professor Robert Borkenstein (he invented the breathalyzer, among other things.) Before he got into academia, he had worked as a police captain and forensics advisor to various organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police. I was visiting Borkenstein's office once, long after he became a Professor Emeritus, and I commented on some artwork he had on the wall. I was really just making small- talk out of nervousness, and I hadn't really even looked at the drawings beyond a quick glance. Borkenstein perked up and asked me to really examine the drawings, and tell him what I thought about them. They were just sketches and doodles, mostly...nothing elaborate. I was going to just say they were 'nice" out of courtesy, when I realized a few of them were signed...by Albert Einstein.

It turned out that Borkenstein had worked as a guard for Einstein and some of the other scientists involved in the US nuclear efforts when he was younger. He wasn't supposed to interact with any of them, he was just there to help insure their protection. One day, Bob was so curious about the mechanics of something they were discussing that he forgot his place and asked a question. Einstein apparently spent quite a bit of time explaining the confusing concept, and became fond of Bob and his curiosity. He recognized that Bob had a very inventive mind and apparently wanted to encourage it, so whenever Bob worked a shift, Einstein would chat with him. Einstein had drawn most of the sketches on the wall to explain various concepts, although some of them were just absent-minded sketches. He let Bob keep them when the protection detail ended.

The sketches meant a great deal to Bob, and I think he had kept them somewhere in his office for his entire career. I also think the sketches (and personal attention from Einstein) helped provide some of the impetus for Bob's inventing career. Unfortunately, I don't recall all of the details Bob gave when telling his story about the Einstein discussions, but I remember that he was very reverential, awed that Einstein had taken the time to discuss important things with a guard. I think Einstein was genuinely fascinated with how other people view the world...and they say a new perspective is worth XXX IQ points, right?

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Cool story, but what Einstein does here--escorting a stranger out of a concert for a private music listening training session--is downright strange and socially odd, by most standards. Did he feel he had a license to do this because he was one of the most famous people in the world? Or was he so wrapped up in his own brilliance that he didn't even notice what was a bit socially deviant?

<comment><USER11> What is the benefit of not being "a bit socially deviant"?

<comment><USER12> Yours ? Not being regarded as "odd".

Society's ? Not having to deal with the friction created by eccentrics.

<comment><USER13> Heaven forbid society should have to deal with something different! Do you actually believe this or are you just playing the advocate?

<comment><USER12> I believe this, AND I was just playing the advocate. Note that belief and approval are orthogonal. I think this is really happening, altough I do not really approve it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> feels made up.

<comment><USER15> That or the author knows time travel.He was born in 1986 <http://akshar.co.in/blog/about-2>

<comment><USER16> The actual author is <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Weidman> and is 96 years old.

<comment><USER15> Ah, tells me how much I scan. I was unable to see Weidman reference even on second reading, and had to search

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I call shenanigans on Dr Einstein.

"Sheep May Safely Graze" is as pop-ish as Bach can get and it would not have been surprising if Bing Crosby put lyrics to it and sang it.

<comment><USER18> As an introduction of Bach's music to someone whose previous music appreciation extended to Bing Crosby it seems perfectly appropriate.

Now if only our nation's science and math teachers could open their students' eyes to the beauties of understanding the world.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> My grandmother met Einstein in Germany before the war. He was outside doing some gardening and she was visiting a friend at the house.

<comment><USER20> How does it concern this topic?

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> agreed≥</comment>


Google's 2010 holiday doodle: its 'most ambitious one yet' - <AUTHOR> http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/25/googles-2010-holiday-doodle-its-most-ambitious-one-yet/

<comment><USER2> This is essentially blog-spam. The WSJ link they provide in the source has a lot more information: [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870477460457603...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704774604576035500936272100.html?mod=rss_whats_news_technology)

<comment><AUTHOR> Well, not my blog and I don't subscribe to the WSJ because most of the articles don't really relate to me.

After reading the WSJ article, I find that just because it is longer doesn't mean it provides me with any more useful information that the Engadget summary.

I think I will stick with Engadget still, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: What is your advice to new HN user? - <AUTHOR> Sorry if this question is already asked. I am new to HN. Is there any tutorial? <comment><USER2> A bucket list type answer:

Don't just sit on the front page. Check out new, comment on someone's new submit. Or try digging up your favorite articles for others to check out. Maybe you'll hit the lotto(front page). Read some Ask:HN. Research something you'd normally use google for using the site search functionality. Try to build up your points to be able to get down vote functionality. Make two accounts and have an alter ego. Try using a throw away. Get into a conversation and consistently check on it/grow it so that you really feel like you're talking to others on here. Quit just lurking. Make some friends and try upvoting each others stuff(not recommended). See if you can find out the real identity of a random poster. Read someone's comment history. Find ways to make your passions relevant and post it! And of course be smart as hell so OP wants to hire you and you end up making six figures cause you cracked HN instead of noobing out on the front page forever...

In other words, HN is ridiculously dope, so discover for yourself how many ways to use it. my 2c.

<comment><USER3> I've been here for about a year and I just now noticed the search at the bottom of the page.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Enjoy browsing, reading, and getting some sense of what this community is about.

When commenting - try to be insightful and add some value to the discussion, not just jokes or emotional reactions. If you think of a comment as a small blog post - you will do well.

Add your website link or email to your profile, if you write something great, there's a chance people will want to contact you or learn more about you.

Try to avoid getting too addicted to it =) Instead of browsing HN directly(and refreshing the page for updates), consider using these tools:

[https://hndigest.com/](https://hndigest.com/) \- daily/weekly email digest of the top posts.

[http://hnreplies.com/](http://hnreplies.com/) \- receive email notifications about replies to your posts.

[http://hnrss.org](http://hnrss.org) \- customizable rss feed of new posts/comments.

</comment><comment><USER5> The HN community is a subset of the tech community, so take everything (especially the latest hype and politics/ideological stuff) with a gain of salt. Also, as with all online communities, beware that some people view HN with disgust due to negative experiences in the past.

</comment><comment><USER6> Don't become so addicted you don't do anything else. Honestly, take an hour or two once a week to enjoy procrastinating, reading up on the latest Hacker News, answering the Ask HN questions, but don't become so enamored by it that you aren't doing anything else. Don't go on Facebook either.

Go do something productive with your time.

</comment><comment> le-mark Note at the bottom of this page are links titled "Guidelines" and "FAQ". Those are you go tos. Welcome!

</comment><comment><USER7> [https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html) [https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

</comment><comment><USER8> The ancient advice to new forums of "Lurk more" applies.

</comment><comment><USER9> If you're conservative, be conservative with stating your conservative opinions. I find that conservative viewpoints are generally unwelcome here.

Same goes for religion, if that's applicable.

Stick with tech topics, and you're generally safe.

I wish I could say this weren't the case, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯.

As far as sections, like someone else said... don't just stick to the front page.

Personally, I find a lot of value in the "Ask HN:" section, and the conversations that result from those questions.

</comment><comment><USER10> Comment like everybody is judging.

</comment><comment><USER11> There's an unspoken scorched earth policy for lame humour and Reddit-style puns (which, btw, is marvelous). Also, intellectual honesty will take you far.

</comment><comment><USER12> It seems a bit colder here. HN is content oriented. No profile pics, no rep. It matters more what you say than who you are.

</comment><comment><USER13> Install HN Theme [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hackernews- theme/n...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hackernews- theme/ngjchhmppjcijklbnigfhhjdajkpjhil)

</comment><comment><USER14> The best comments are at the top, _AND the bottom_.

</comment><comment><USER15> Don't care about your Karma or downvotes on your comments. It's the internet and someone will hate anything you say.

</comment><comment><USER16> be as helpful as you can to others.

don't take anything personal, this is a very large diverse community with different viewpoints.

</comment><comment><USER17> Don't say anything anti-sjw otherwise you will be censored

</comment><comment><USER18> Act like a sheep or you'll be constantly down voted

<comment><USER18> ^^^ case in point ;-)</comment></comment>


The iPad is strangely antisocial - <AUTHOR> http://www.sgmitch.com/blog/2010/01/apple-ipad-an-antisocial-device/

<comment><USER2> Most punditry that I read on the web suffers from the same flaw: the author is so into their own decision-making calculus that they do not consider that others have different ways of thinking. This author is no exception. She looks at the icons on her iPhone, sees that she has loaded it with social apps, and assumes not just that other people are no different from her, but also that the device itself (a smartphone) is "inherently social".

Speak for yourself, social butterfly. My iPhone is my device to use as I wish, and if I'm an individual who loves solitude, then the way I use the device will reflect that.

<comment><USER3> Marketing a product is about knowing your audience. You have to make certain assumptions.

For the vast majority of computer users out there, the ability to have email, chat, or other "social" interactions pushed to them is taken for granted. I think she has a very very good point.

Of course the author is writing from their own viewpoint, and I think her observation is fairly valid.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> _It's possible the iPad will allow apps to have push notifications with audible alerts_

that got me wondering about the hardware differences between the ipad and iphone.

has anyone looked at the sdk yet that can verify whether the ipad os works the same with respect to push notifications? does the ipad have the hardware to vibrate? when you push the power button on it does it just shut off the display like an iphone or go completely to sleep like a laptop? if it's completely sleeping, does it wake up on a timer to display notifications like calendar alerts? but then how can it handle incoming push notifications from applications if the wireless radios are off? with a month-long standby time i have to imagine it's a pretty deep sleep and can't keep the wireless/3g radio on that entire time. my kindle can only survive about a week with the 3g radio on while not doing anything.

</comment><comment><USER5> You're supposed to sit on the couch and share it with another person, showing them your vacation photos or cute kitty videos on YouTube or a movie or something. That's a lot more "social" than abstracting human contact behind text messages and webcams.

<comment><USER6> That only works if the other person is withing sharing range. It sucks for talking to people in other town/states/countries.

<comment><USER5> See, the problem is the idea that "social" technologies necessarily mean telecommunications. There are a lot of technologies for talking to people who live far away from you, what's missing is technologies for socializing with people in person. In this sense, maybe having an IPS screen with 178 degrees of viewing angle fulfills more unmet social needs than just another IM client or VOIP app or videoconferencing technology.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Good insights in this article, though Apple might argue that they see a social dimension in a pad that can be held on one's lap and shared between people who are physically present (it's unclear if the display is easily viewable off- axis, but I've heard no complaints about it).

I agree with electromagnetic that the lack of a webcam is a mistake. Perhaps a later version will allow for multitasking so you can chit-chat via skype or Goggle Voice while surfing or using apps, but it's a shortcoming in the first version. Of course, I expect that part of the reason for the 2 month delay between announcement and availability is to gather feedback of the kind we're discussing here.

<comment><USER8> The marketing material from Apple specifically says that the screen is good even from the sides. Of course, it would have to be seen in real life, but at least they're conscious that it could be an issue.

For the lack of camera, I find that puzzling. Because it's an obvious thing to put there and Apple has been putting iSights everywhere for many years now. So, I'm curious to know why they didn't put one "on purpose".

Your mention of multitasking while using Skype or Google Voice made me realize that it is in fact important. All the time while I'm on a video call on Skype, I go online to check out a website or find a link that I want to share. In that use-case that'd be pretty limiting…

<comment><USER2> Pandora, Last.fm, etc. are other good examples where at least one process in the background would be nice.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> "By leaving out two features ..."

If you introduce a product with distinct features X, Y and Z, then you'll sell that product to everyone interested in it and who require X, Y and Z.

If you introduce product V1 with only X, you'll get the X people, and most of Y and Z people will sit it out.

But then you introduce an upgrade, V2 that includes X _and_ Y. Now you'll sell to some of the Y people. But also, some of the X people will buy it again, to have the full experience of X and Y.

Then introduce V3 with X, Y and Z. New customers, and a percentage of repeat customers who have now bought the product two and three times.

</comment><comment><USER10> Your don't trade in your phone to buy an iPad.

i.e. devices aren't social, their use is. And their use doesn't preclude the use of other devices. Ergo not every device needs to be useful for everything.

e.g. the iPod functionality of the iPad is technically terrible. Does Apple expect you'll carry that thing around to listen to music? But therein lies the rub: you don't. You have an iPod for that.

 _My guess_ is that the camera feature in the iPad SDK has more to do with a bluetooth interaction between mobile OS X devices than future iPad hardware plans.

</comment><comment><USER11> So I wonder. All these people who claim that the iPad cannot do this, cannot do that. What do they base these claims on, considering they most likely haven't been able to use one yet (other than the very few people who got to use a prototype or demonstration model)?

My old Palm Pilot is "modal", but you can still happily switch between apps, do something else, come back and pick up where you left off. It would make perfect sense for the iPad to have a similar system at least, so you could e.g. download a picture from your browser, edit it in another app, then use it in a presentation using KeyNote, all without breaking stride.

It would also make sense to have some sort of notification bar or other system telling you that you have mail, tweets, facebook comments, IM messages, whatever.

(Granted, playing music might be a different story, as that would make for a heavier load on the processor as a background process.)

Did Apple make explicit statements about this? Did they state that this definitely isn't possible? Or are we just guessing?

(In case there is actual proof of this, please post a link or so. The articles I've read so far have done nothing to back up their claims.)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> I've always felt the same way about iTunes. Listening to music, sometimes, is a very social thing. I often find myself tweeting the song I'm listening to, or the lyrics I just heard. iTunes supports none of this.

The iPod (line) – same thing. This is where Zune has done some innovating. In realizing that music is social, they've created features that let you temporarily share songs and see what others are listening to.

There's no technical reasons why Apple would need to leave these features out. Traditionally Apple hasn't fully grasped the power of the open web, much less social.

But things are starting to change. Their acquisition of Lala is a huge deal. I can't remember them ever acquiring a website — and a VERY social website on top of that. I'm ready for Apple to take these to the next level by injecting social into their products. They should start with the iPod audio player interfaces (iTunes, iPod, iPhone, iPad). Let us Tweet, Facebook, Copy a Link, Share With A Friend.

<comment><USER12> iChat and Skype both can change your status to be the current iTunes music. You could write an app that plugs into this API and Tweet.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes but Apple hasn't.

<comment><USER12> I prefer the Genius features.

However, what you want may come down the pipeline in the future: <http://mashable.com/2009/09/09/itunes-twitter-facebook/>

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> The lack of a camera was a seriously incompetent move by apple, especially considering that they've placed one in the Nano, which has none of the potentials for use like the iPad.

I'm sorry, but this is 2010, I've rarely seen a cell phone without a camera since 2000. Apple has even pioneered placing them in devices that have no need as a gimmick. So someone at Apple HQ was having serious brain farts when they decided to let the iPad go to production without even a single camera in it.

The iPad _requires_ a self-portrait camera for video chat and the ever popular self-pic, but it also needs a camera for taking pictures and recording the environ.

<comment><USER4> holding that giant ipad up with two hands to take a picture of something seems kind of awkward. an iphone or ipod nano can easily be steadied in one hand to take a picture.

<comment><USER14> I was going to say that it would only be a little awkward, but then I remembered once again that I'm not representative of their target market. It's certainly an issue.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> I'm also surprised at the complete lack of connectivity between an iPad and an iPhone/iPod/iPod Touch. It would seem to me to be a very "minority report" type of situation, with a larger device for regular use, and a simple set of gestures to swipe some data over to your iPhone for on the run portability.</comment>


Travel, Budget Beds, and the Homeless - <AUTHOR> https://www.ricksteves.com/about-rick/trinity-place <comment><USER2> I'm much more to the left than the right. But I would still say that "charitable housing" and "affordable housing" are terrible solutions to the housing crisis.

It's better to just allow anyone to build housing that's safe and healthy. Especially, housing for drug addicts or the abused sounds great except it puts people in a weird situation - what happens if they stop being in that category? What happens when the only housing available is for drug addicts and you just happen to be poor?

<comment><USER3> An interesting thing I noticed while traveling in Central America is that in the poorest of the poor places on earth, there is no such thing as homelessness really. Anybody can just build a shack anywhere and have some amount of shelter and a place to call home. It's not what you would call a 'home' in the us, but it's more dignified that sleeping on a street corner in LA.

<comment><USER4> In lots of places, the poor have a right to exchange comfort, safety, dignity, etc. for other things they value more. In USA, they don't have that right. The artificial constraints that we all face to some extent, hit the poor the hardest.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I like what Rick Steves is doing. His initial approach targeted a specific demographic serviced by a specific charity and it seems like this model is working. That specific demographic -- single moms going through the YWCA most likely is also targeting local people needing help.

Having lived in Santa Cruz for 27+ years, it's a compassionate community on the coast and is very expensive to live in. It also has exacerbated levels of homelessness, crime, and drug issues not experienced by other cities in the county (to the same degree) -- it doesn't know when to say "no". It has become a destination for the homeless, those wanting to live by their own rules, and those seeking to getaway -- some even claim people are put on a bus in other communities to get out of town and go to Santa Cruz.

A story in the local paper -- [http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/lifestyle/20171225/a-tale-o...](http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/lifestyle/20171225/a-tale- of-two-homeless-people-in-santa-cruz-dining-at-the-mah-on-christmas)

Highlighted are someone homeless for 20+ years not from Santa Cruz but living there and one recently from Ohio. The city recently set up a "camp" near the river in town. The first OD death in the camp (there have been two) was someone recently from out of the area.

My point? Homelessness and mental illness and drug issues are problems. However, tolerant attitudes like those in Santa Cruz attract people from out of area that make it next to impossible to actually deal with the shear numbers. Yet, local compassionate policies refuse to try and handle the obvious problem -- you can't help everyone. A city of 60k can only do so much.

This is an issue that needs to be solved regionally. While people are free to move about, every community should not be obligated to put the needs of the newly arrived ahead of those who have been facing challenges locally.

<comment><USER2> _However, tolerant attitudes like those in Santa Cruz attract people from out of area that make it next to impossible to actually deal with the shear numbers._

There are no cities "tolerant of homelessness" though there may be cities less tolerant than others.

If you think that tolerance is a source of the problem, do you imagine an intolerance race as the solution? I mean, as far as I can tell, the intolerance race is already happening and it's only making America more awful all around. Constant police harassment is the norm as a means of dealing with homelessness nearly everywhere - given that it's essentially illegal to live without a home in the US.

And even with an intolerance race, cities with nice weather are going to be at a disadvantage. If no cities offer services, it's still nicer to be rousted from the side of the road at 3:00 am from a place with nice weather and pleasant views.

So, instead of viscous, mean-spirit carping, perhaps we could think about how to actually solve this problem.

<comment><USER5> Tolerance: \- camping ban lifted \- "petty" crimes often not even given a citation — most property crimes \- bike theft not even investigated — police need to witness \- drug crimes not cited \- parking violations not cited if vehicle known to be a homeless person \- city sanctioned Camp was supposed to have rules, instead people shoot up and other things with no ramifications

In a sense the city has set up a two tier system of enforcement - cite those that can pay, don't for those that can't unless the crime is violent. This includes bail levels for the same crime, most drugged out tweakers are caught and released where a working stiff will have a hefty bail amount to deal with.

The problem can be more easily solved by helping those who are local and sending those who aren't back to where they are from (or a system to charge the originating towns).

<comment><USER2> _The problem can be more easily solved by helping those who are local and sending those who aren't back to where they are from (or a system to charge the originating towns)._

Really? How would sending them back work? Establish an "internal passport" system for the US so immigration from Iowa to California would perhaps require someone to provide address to the proper authorities? They have a system like that in China.

And yeah, there is a reason people don't want to be homeless in Iowa in the winter.

Edit: and yeah, what you describe is so much "tolerance" as what happens when the legal system can't afford to jail every single homeless person. So really, you sort of need to actually solve the problem which indeed can't be just put on local governments.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> All fine, but the courts bear more responsibility than the average man for the absence of fathers in children's lives.

</comment><comment><USER7> How is this different than him renting the building(s) and donating the money to YWCA? (other than saving on taxes)

<comment><USER8> "I would suffer none of the headaches that I would have if I had rented out the units as a landlord."

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> How does he pay property tax?

<comment><USER10> From the Article:

"During this time, they'll charge a small rent to its clients who stay in Trinity Place in order to have a budget covering taxes, insurance, utilities, and general maintenance."

Its basically the charity version of Section 8 Housing where people pay the minimum needed to maintain the property.</comment></comment>


Quantum mechanics technique allows for pushing past 'Rayleigh's curse' - <AUTHOR> http://phys.org/news/2016-09-quantum-mechanics-technique-rayleigh-curse.html <comment><USER2> Paper at [http://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.6.0310...](http://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.6.031033)</comment>


A product designer's take on IFTTT - <AUTHOR> http://ranarenoir.com/ifttt

<comment><AUTHOR> I recently found myself having a lot of ideas on how to make IFTTT more accesible as a product. All feedback is greatly appreciated!</comment>


Michael Moritz on Klarna's $155M Round - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/10/moritz-klarna/

<comment><USER2> The whole concept reminds me a bit of the "bagel guy" in Freakonomics. If I remember correctly, he had an ~85% payment rate when it was strictly on the honour system.

I'd be curious to know their payment rate. On one hand you'd expect it to go up since they actually have the name and e-mail address of the buyer (the bagel guy had nothing). But on the other hand, the whole impersonal nature of the internet might increase fraud. Could go either way.

(for those who haven't read Freakonomics, the "bagel" guy would drop off a box of bagels in an office and pick up the remaining bagels and the proceeds at the end of the day)

<comment><USER3> I implemented Klarna as a payment option in one e-shop recently. Said e-shop operates in Denmark, Sweden and (as of this week) Norway, but the Klarna option is only available in Sweden. The owner said that without this option it wasn't worth even opening the Swedish version.

Klarna also requires your Social Security Number, in those countries which use it, as well as other information: <http://integration.klarna.com/en/testing/test-persons> .

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Not being in Europe and not wanting to buy something; anyone with experience with the service want to explain how it works in detail? Their website is somewhat vague on the process.

How do they enforce payment? What's the penalty for not paying?

<comment><USER5> I've used Klarna once or twice when shopping online. The basic concept doesn't require a lot of details, I should think: You buy something, Klarna sends you an invoice, you pay it just like any other invoice.

I assume failure to pay is handled just like all other consumer debts. First they send you a couple of reminders, then they sell the debt to a debt collection agency.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> They use a lot of Erlang at Klarna. I think one of the "original Erlang guys" from Ericsson works there.</comment>


So You Want to Trade Crypto - Technical Analysis (Part 3) - <AUTHOR> https://blog.alpaca.markets/blog/2018/5/29/h204g28abgzx8472wb8e5nvgfnwbcw <comment><AUTHOR> Hi there! This is the 3rd post about trading crypto... this time, we wrote about what we think about technical analysis in crypto trading, which we think pretty important.</comment>


Court OKs FCC Decision That One ISP Counts as a Competitive Marketplace - <AUTHOR> https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180830/12033340545/court-rules-fine-if-fcc-wants-to-deem-just-one-available-isp-as-competition.shtml <comment><USER2> Clearly, the courts are deferring this mess to the court of politics.

Poor representative government, representing the public interest poorly is a civic matter, not a legal one.

At some point, all of us need to think hatd about basic priorities, and then vote, do politicking, run for office, do business accordingly, or this is by implied consent, OK.

Frankly, there is no way this is OK, meaningful competition.

One could argue, satellite Internet, the various major efforts to connect are threats to telecoms. Agreed, but failure to encourage competition in each of those spaces is not market chouce or efficiency rewards for innovation either.

Doing just that is a competition between the means, OTA, wire, fiber, etc... the end game being a few entities controlling and pricing the resource.

In this scenario, people can expect the least per dollar, rather than the most per dollar where competition is robust.</comment>


Ask HN: Looking for female developers. Is this ok? - <AUTHOR>

I work in a pretty small team of devs and devops and would love to see some diversity in the team. However, is it valid or proper to look specifically for female developers? Is it ok to be mention in the job ad? Any examples of job descriptions that do specify female developers? <comment><USER2> > I work in a pretty small team of devs and devops and would love to see some > diversity in the team.

This is great and a very acceptable goal.

> However, is it valid or proper to look specifically for female developers?

Yes, it is, but...

> Is it ok to be mention in the job ad?

No. Absolutely not.

Try to reframe your thoughts here. You're not looking for a female developer because she is a woman. You're looking for a female developer because it will give your team a set of viewpoints and skills that aren't necessarily provided by a man.

Focus on her skills and the benefits she brings to the team, rather than on her gender. You need to find a female dev that contributes as much as, if not more than, any other member of your team (regardless of gender). Hiring a good dev that's female over a great dev that's male is not only discrimination, but also a poor business choice.

</comment><comment><USER3> IANAL, but I am almost positive you can not specify in a job ad a preference for any sex, race, disability, etc... With that said you could adjust your ad placement so they are seen by females more than males. However, if a male (or anyone else for that matter) applies you can't discriminate against them and say you are only looking for females.

</comment><comment><USER4> Mentioning this in the job description is probably not a good idea, but only hiring female developers is your prerogative.

Specifically requesting female developers in your ad will undoubtedly get the opposite of your intention. People who are good developers who happen to be women, will not come to a company looking for female developers because they would want to be hired on merit. Those who do come with a "looking for female developers" caveat, will be subpar very likely, and/or more trouble than they are worth.

Think of it from the other side. The ad says "looking for male developers" \-- what kind of men would reply to that?

<comment><AUTHOR> Completely understand. However, from our past 5 job ads, we've had 0 female applicants.

<comment><USER4> Make an alliance with a coder school catering to women specifically, and work with the founders of that organization.

<comment><AUTHOR> Know of any examples?

<comment><USER4> Well, what kind of code are you looking to have written?

i.e. what languages, frameworks, libraries, etc.

<comment><AUTHOR> Looking for backend devs with languages in ruby/php/javacsript.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Diversity? Presumably you're also interested in hiring other nationalities, people who were trained in different fields, people who are coming from different functional areas, people who fit within various other of Belbin's team roles, more variety in terms of the Big Five personality traits, different MBTIs, people who have different intrinsic motivations for employment, people who exhibit different levels of creativity, and so on?

Or no? By 'diversity' you just mean girls? Why do you want girls?

<comment><USER6> 'Diversity' only works for gender, skin color and sexual orientation.

<comment><USER5> That's a limited view of what diversity means, and doesn't jive with full interpretations of it by researchers in the area of organisational behaviour, which would include ethnicity, culture, modes of learning, level of education, ability, and on and on and on. It certainly doesn't just mean 'gender'.

You also can't hire or not hire somebody because of those things you mentioned by the way.

<comment><USER6> My comment was sarcastic. I do agree with you. To me 'diversity' is much more meaningful when you talk about where a person was born, where they grew up, what they studied, what they are interested in, etc.

<comment><USER5> Ah apologies. Not only do I agree with you, but what you're saying IS what 'diversity' is meant to represent.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> As others have mentioned, it is not optimal for you to specify female devs only within your job ad. A more productive approach is to write a straightforward ad[1], include your openness to a diverse workforce and widen your ad circulation by contacting organizations that contain high #s of underrepresented populations in tech[2][3].

[1]Interesting discussion on words that alienate people from underrepresented communities: [https://storify.com/kissane/job-listings-that-don-t- alienate](https://storify.com/kissane/job-listings-that-don-t-alienate)

[2] You didn't mention your location, many online groups are global and may have members in your area. Most have mailing lists, so their admins can post your job ad. The "An incomplete list of women's tech communities" section of this site lists over 30 female tech groups: [http://www.hiremorewomenintech.com/](http://www.hiremorewomenintech.com/)

[3] There are many related tech groups on Facebook too. You can search and message their admins about posting your ad. I also recommend searching and posting related questions on Twitter.

</comment><comment><USER8> * Advertise on the alumnae networks of Women's colleges.

* Reach out to women specifically and ask them to apply

* Hire diversity experts to help you (e.g. Ashe Dryden)

* Describe your company and its benefits in ways that women value (or add benefits that women value) -- talk to women to find out what that might be.

* Look critically at yourself and see if there are things about your company that make women not want to work there and change those things.

* Give yourself enough time to find women applicants.

</comment><comment><USER9> Because that is illegal, people usually discriminate (in favor of women, men, whites, blacks, whatever) with euphemisms like "Diversity." (Discrimination against the old usually less euphemistic, with terms like "we have a young, energetic workforce.)

</comment><comment><USER10> Just identify traits/characteristics/experiences that your team is lacking and look for these. Don't think there's any developer characteristics that would be strongly skewed based on sex, so probably you're just doing it wrong.

</comment><comment><USER11> > is it valid or proper to look specifically for female developers? Yes, and > it's a desirable competitive advantage.

> Any examples of job descriptions? Pro-tip: You won't find tech girls by > mentioning it in job ads. *You must go out and find/meet/attract them in > person. This is a hyper-competitive sport.

Here's an article on Google's quest to get more women in tech > [http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/24/tech/innovation/women-at- i-o/](http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/24/tech/innovation/women-at-i-o/)

Ping me if you need help.

</comment><comment><USER12> I wonder how many black men are on your team.

</comment><comment><USER13> The way to do it is to do things that result in female developers applying for the job, to ultimately create the situation where the BEST candidate HAPPENS TO BE a female developer. Don't hire (or not hire) BECAUSE someone is male or female.

</comment><comment><USER14> Read this: [http://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/44172/how-to- he...](http://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/44172/how-to-help-women- feel-welcome-on-a-male-dominated-team)

</comment><comment><USER15> Hire a recruiter and instruct him/her that "the candidate slate must be diverse."</comment>


Where to meet founders? When to seek funding? - <AUTHOR>

I recently moved to Palo Alto and don't know many people or how the startup process works (if there is such a process).
I'm an everything developer and am currently building an App prototype for an idea of mine. I think it has a lot of potential and would fill an important niche.
Given that I'm a developer and can build out the infrastructure/backend/mockups+app myself, what makes more sense? Should I seek funding and then try to "hire" people, or should I try to meet would-be co-founders first?
I'm not trying to be greedy by doing it all myself; equity-hoarding is a solid way to sink your potential. I simply don't know the point at which I should really seek out others. I also don't know where I should go to meet people who would be a good match.
I've been to local entrepreneur Meetups and haven't had much luck in finding people to work with. It almost seems like getting seed funding might make more sense and then I can simply post job ads.
I think I can move aggressively with a proper designer, another developer, and marketing help.
Thank you for any advice you might have! <comment><USER2> This is not an answer to your question, but I'm curious - have you shown your prototype to any potential customers/users yet? I may be wrong, but your post makes me guess that you had a bunch of ideas, chose the one which seemed most promising to you, and started coding. It's worth stopping for a reality check.

The first step to convincing others (co-founders, employees, investors) is convincing yourself. Learning from customers/users will help.

If I'm wrong, and that part is covered, you may want to spend some time making a monthly financial plan for the first 2 years of your business. List out all the revenues and costs you expect to have (on a cash basis, not P&L). Be generous in assuming costs, and conservative in estimating revenues. That will (i) force you to think about all the things you'll need to do and (ii) give you a way to determine whether and how much external funding you need.

</comment><comment><USER3> I am not sure what your idea is, but there are lot of assumptions you are making. 1\. You are assuming you will get funding in near future 2\. You are assuming you will get employees once you get funding 3\. You are assuming your idea + execution will make it big

Let me tell you 99.9% of people have same belief about what they do or ideate. I can't be a better judge of what idea you have or your execution policy. Good idea to start this off is to build relationships (people, engineers, investors). Don't ask for money, ask for advice. Don't try to recruit, try to influence. Don't go to metopes, organize one...these will lead you to right foundations for your startup

</comment><comment><USER4> Meetups are great to meet a large audience, but you don't get quality time with people that way. That's why I did launch[1] the concept of meeting a small group of people (typically 4) over lunch. I believe that it's a great format: an hour lunch is the right amount of time to chat with a small group, find common interests, how we can help each other, while remaining a low-key, no pressure environment.

[1] [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id926598094](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id926598094)

</comment><comment><USER5> As for the process, I think Sam Altman's startup class at Stanford might be the best intro resource out there: [http://startupclass.samaltman.com/](http://startupclass.samaltman.com/). It's a lot of information, from a lot of different people, but it's fairly comprehensive, and the matter-of-fact style is extremely orienting.

</comment><comment><USER5> Regarding co-founders, my non-expert advice is to only look inside your own co-worker/friend network. While there's a lot of data that points to 2-3 co- founders being a good number, I tend to think going solo is better than finding a stranger to co-found with. Founding a startup with a stranger adds another huge variable to the equation.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you! For both replies. I don't know many people yet, since I'm new to the Bay Area.. So solo may be a better bet for now.</comment></comment>