Demonizing Edward Snowden - <AUTHOR> http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2013/06/demonizing-edward-snowden-which-side-are-you-on.html

<comment><USER2> The article misattributes this quote:

        An unnamed senior Administration official joined the Snowden-bashing
        chorus, telling reporters, "Mr. Snowden's claim that he is
        focussed on supporting transparency, freedom of the press, and
        protection of individual rights and democracy is belied by the
        protectors he has potentially chosen: China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela,
        and Ecuador. His failure to criticize these regimes suggests that his
        true motive throughout has been to injure the national security of
        the U.S., not to advance Internet freedom and free speech."

This wasn't some "unnamed senior Administration official"; it was the White House spokesman, Jay Carney, speaking in this afternoon's press briefing. It's an official statement of the White House. Here's the video and transcript:

[http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and- video/video/2013/06/24/...](http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and- video/video/2013/06/24/press-briefing#transcript)</comment>


An Open Letter to Google: Google Alerts Now Useless - <AUTHOR> http://thefinancialbrand.com/28346/google-alerts-broken/ <comment><USER2> Anyone accusing The Financial Brand of "lazy journalism" hasn't spent much time on the site. The Financial Brand uses Google Alerts to find new financial institutions starting out on Facebook. If you are assuming that The Financial Brand simply copy-pastes press releases from Google Alerts, you are way off base. Google Alerts are used to find things like [http://thefinancialbrand.com/28070/50-of-the-most- spectacula...](http://thefinancialbrand.com/28070/50-of-the-most-spectacular- website-designs-in-banking/) Google Alerts are used to identify banks and credit unions that are undergoing name changes and rebrands. All these are used as first-hand sources for original articles.

The site is not an "aggregation" service. Regular readers of The Financial Brand know this.

And FYI - I'd pay for the service if that what Google needs.

Sincerely,

Jeffry Pilcher, Publisher The Financial Brand

<comment><USER3> Not sure why people are downvoting you for coming and explaining the facts to us.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I have to say anecdotally that I have noticed my voluminous alerts reporting much less data. When we got TechCrunched I got a hit, but a piece in Gigaom took 4 days to hit my Google Alert. That's a fairly large web property with a good PageRank, so I'm not sure why it would take so long.

Anyways, does anyone have an alternative service they can suggest?

<comment><USER5> I'd like to recommend <https://intigi.com> as an alternative to Google Alerts. I'm one of the co-founders. We started building Intigi 2 years ago because we were frustrated with the limited query abilities of Google Alerts. Intigi is currently positioned for Marketers, however it's incredibly useful for anybody who wants to track online information:

Intigi gives you the power of Lucene indexed search on the newest articles on the web. You can subscribe to Intigi curated sources, or add your own RSS feeds or Twitter home timeline, and then filter results using powerful Lucene queries (fields, boosting, phrases, slop, wildcards, stop words) and other filters (social signals, word count, publishing date, presence of image or video). Intigi delivers results once per day or once per week via email, or you can view results in realtime through the web interface.

Disclaimers: I'm one of the co-founders and it's a for-pay product.

<comment><USER4> Can I make a suggestion?

I think your product looks really cool, but doing a 30 day trial on a product like this doesn't make sense to me. I may not even be able to validate the products usefulness in 30 days.

What I would suggest is that, as a marketing professional, I have a TON of topics I'd like to monitor. Why not let me monitor 1 topic forever and then force me to pay if I want more?

I guess I'm more interested in why this isn't a freemium product. What was the thought process?

<comment><USER6> I'm another Intigi cofounder. Great point on the freemium approach.

The reason we haven't pulled the trigger on this to date is twofold. First, we're a bootstrapped startup and we've been cautious about our burn rate (e.g., scaling infrastructure before we've achieved product/market fit and a sustainable revenue model). Second, for some time our product wasn't fully self-service. We were concerned about the support issues that would come with a significant growth in our user base, especially free users, potentially outside our target market.

We've now progressed beyond these two issues, and will launch a freemium model soon, with 1 or 2 interests and cached results that are updated once or twice per day.

I'd appreciate any other feedback, and happy to answer questions by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.

<comment><USER4> I'll send you an email. I happen to also work at a bootstrapped startup but we're at ~25 peeps so I can share a tip or two :).

I'll share some details of how we weathered the support issues :).

<comment><USER6> Sounds great. Looking forward to hearing from you!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Anyone else getting bored of people whining about Google products they never paid for when there are alternatives, both free and pay-for?

<comment><USER8> " Google products they never paid for"

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment (bitching about free services feels like entitlement), but Google presents an interesting challenge here because the free services die without even trying or offering a paid version. I wonder what would happen if, instead of just axing services, google started charging.

<comment><USER9> The news still goes crazy over it. When Google started charging for heavy use of the Maps API, people claimed Google was performing Microsoft-esque anti- competitive tactics.

<comment><USER10> The difference there is that Google Maps was used on a majority of all products that featured maps (outside in-house things from Microsoft, or special partnerships). Google Alerts, Reader, Finance, et al are products they have been closing/breaking/disregarding for _lack_ of interest, which is a completely opposite problem from the Maps example.

<comment><USER11> The difference there was really that the iPhone used Maps and that that needed to be monetized.

<comment><USER12> the iphone maps app was from google (until the contract expired, and apple created their own)... how could charging themselves for api use be a monetization strategy?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> While the essence of the message is fair, there are just way too many ads and moving parts on the page to read it. I could have mistaked it for forbes.com (to be fair, though, they don't have a big fullpage ad before the content)

I dont begrudge websites that use ads, but in this case it really detracted from readability

<comment><AUTHOR> Really? This is how it looks on my PC, in Google Chrome.... <http://imgur.com/NIQb4rU>

<comment><USER8> They changed that specific article's rendering. When I and others looked earlier today, it was a real mess.

My original comment was near the top when "jpilcher" showed up (based on his responses, it was roughly 1-2 hours after I saw the article) and I suspect he read the comments and changed that specific page.

Other articles still show the old format: [http://thefinancialbrand.com/28313/cool-vehicle-designs- from...](http://thefinancialbrand.com/28313/cool-vehicle-designs-from- financial-institutions/)

(Notice the size of the ad on the right side as well as the interstitial ads)

<http://i.imgur.com/RekSTWf.jpg>

<comment><AUTHOR> Ah, sneaky! This is what it looks like here, at the moment <http://imgur.com/tvcjehW>

The layout didn't attract my attention when I read the piece and posted it here. It felt like a fairly ordinary commercial site...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I absolutely get fewer of these. I would blame it on getting less press about our company, but they used to alert me when we posted new blog posts on our own company blog, and I never receive those anymore. I can confirm that Google Alerts we used to receive have stopped coming.

</comment><comment><USER14> I started using mention (<https://en.mention.net/>) which I came across on HN itself and I must say I'm really satisfied with it.

I use it mainly for alerts about apps and services I develop and it does a good job of alerting me whenever someone mentions it on websites as well as in tweets etc.

<comment><USER15> Perfect example of a horror ui. It took me so long just to set up a simple alert, that now I hate mention.

<comment><USER16> I'm co-founder and lead designer at mention. I'll be glad to hear you tell us more about your experience. Can you send us an email at email@example.com?

We're currently working on the new version and first experience is one of our priority.

<comment><USER15> Its been a while. Let me try to remember... One thing was that at some point in the signup process it kicked me to another domain. erwaehnung.de or something. First it felt like i was tricked into something. Then I thought "ok, some ugly SEO stuff" and was a bit annoyed.

The other thing was that after signing up, I was not logged in. Since I already forgot my password (put in some crap) i had to use the reset-password thingy.

I remember, that later I had some problems adding keywords. I dont know why anymore, sorry.

I have to say, that your service is _good_. Only the ui was annoying.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Just wanted to share how I came to use Google Alerts, because out of any software I have ever used it is the strangest introduction. In 2010 I started V-BLOOD, LLC and began distributing a blood red, vampire themed energy drink in small glass dram vials. V-Blood was doing well so I wanted to expand the product line with glass vials full of sour candy called "sour fairy dust". The supplier of the sour candy happened to be the creator of Jelly Belly. As it turned out we both had backgrounds in law and I was lucky enough to gain a mentor for V-Blood. In addition to the million other insights he gave me into the candy/convection industry, he insisted I use Google Alerts for energy drinks, candy, vampires, ect...

If Google lets Alerts go to the wayside it is a major opportunity in search for start-ups. Maybe most would disagree but I see Alerts as a stand alone product and not simply a feature for Google.

</comment><comment><USER18> Uh, those alerts appear to be set to find "Only the best results" rather than "All Results". So, yeah, you're getting fewer of them.

Or am I missing something?

<comment><USER19> I have a variety of Alerts set to both Best and All. Both have seen substantial falls in hits over the years. (And really, did you think no one would've pointed this out yet if that were the real cause?)

<comment><USER18> Well, every alert shown in the screenshots is set that way.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I have a dozen or so Google alerts in my set of RSS feeds (that I've just moved over[0] to Newsblur). I haven't noticed any major degradation, but I haven't tried to test the system. Can anyone suggest an alternative?

[0]<http://lee-phillips.org/newsblurred/>

</comment><comment><USER21> Yahoo has apparently updated its Alert, or they're updating. Their last alert email looked different and updated in design.

You can also grab Bing's RSS feed which will update based on the time criteria you define with the keywords.

I've been noticing a decline with Google Alerts for a while.

</comment><comment><USER22> My experience with Blogger began after G acquired it, and it never changed (over a few hundred posts) ... just languished, like someone got a new toy and got tired of it.

"Embrace, extend, extinguish"? Maybe, or was there no potential profit in it? Reminds me of when Apple let Hypercard stagnate, then assigned someone to overhaul it, then quit that with it half-finished ... just before declaring HC "over".

</comment><comment><USER23> "Google has lost touch with its core business model: search"

Those type of statements always bother me. Google probably knows what their core business model is.

<comment><USER24> Their core business model isn't search. It's advertising.

<comment><USER25> ...on search results. Let's not split hairs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> So, is there a good comparable service? I know there is a bunch of social- media trackers, but Google Alerts (used to) search everything.

</comment><comment><USER27> Seems to me that with something like curl or lynx, diff, a crontab, and a bit of hacking you could pretty easily come up with a script that periodically ran a search query and emailed you any new results since the last time it ran.

</comment><comment><USER28> SEOmoz's Fresh Web Explorer is a great substitute for Google Alerts, and it was launched partially for this reason. It's not instantaneous, but it allows you many of the same functions as Alerts, with a much bigger spread.

Tool: <http://freshwebexplorer.seomoz.org> Post with More Depth On Usage: <http://www.seomoz.org/blog/announcing-fresh-web-explorer>

</comment><comment><USER29> I built <http://www.feed-alert.com> for my own uses. Would consider building on it, if it grabs any notice.

<comment><USER30> Haven't had a chance to fully test it out, but I love the interface. Never change.

</comment></comment><comment><USER31> I love how every single journalist have lost it.

remember when i used to work for a huge newspaper, the Ombudsmen opening op-ed column talked about the journalists never leaving the newsroom anymore, just sitting there regurgitating news from the TV or the internet. and maybe making a couple phone calls.

</comment><comment><USER32> Is an open letter just a blog post you start with "Dear such-and-such"?

Please stop saying open letter. Just delete the "Dear such-and-such" part and remove "An Open Letter to such-and-such" from the title. Now look, it looks just like a normal blog post minus the pretence.

<comment><USER33> The "classical" definition of an open letter is a correspondence from person/entity A to person/entity B, which is published for general viewing rather than mailed. The goal of such things is to demonstrate a point of view, and action on that view, for others. As a form of rhetoric it is reasonably persuasive if done well.

So to answer your rhetorical question :-) of _"Is an open letter just a blog post you start with 'Dear such-and-such'?"_ , Of course it is, it is a rhetorical argument made in the form of a correspondence. Making such arguments in the form of an essay or allegory are also common.

<comment><USER34> What strange knowledge you bring from outside the blogosphere. Where is this "classical" world you speak of? ;-)

<comment><USER33> lol, I certainly can't vouch for it, others [1] before me have used it to great effect however.

[1] [http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/benjamin- franklin...](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/benjamin-franklin- publishes-an-open-letter-to-lord-north)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> I was never a user of Google Alerts until recently and noticed I rarely get emails. However, performing a search will reveal something completely different. By the time a Google Alert gets to me, I've already seen the site.

Google Alerts is largely useless for me.

</comment><comment><USER36> How soon until Google Alerts is retired, I wonder.

</comment><comment><USER37> I haven't noticed an issue myself, though I would be interested in hearing the average quality of each item over time (ie if the fewer items you are getting are the cream of the crop of the formerly larger amount).

</comment><comment><USER38> If you have an OS X or Linux machine just use a cron job to do daily google searches. Certainly less than a page of Python.

</comment><comment><USER39> I don't want to read a financial blog if the majority of their content just comes from a google search anyways. I hate when news sites just quote verbatim from a source (or worse, another article) with no extra analysis or anything thrown in. I would far prefer to just read the original and make my own conclusions.

</comment><comment><USER40> I've found that google alerts rarely reports new hits on my terms anymore. I know this because I also use their time tools in search to find new hits, and what it finds almost never comes in as an alert anymore. When it does it's often quite old.

</comment><comment><USER41> I did not realize this either due to extensive email traffic but it makes sense. I took time and added a couple alerts the other day. If it is broken, why have us spend time and rely on it.

</comment><comment><USER42> I know the author of this post and notified him it had made the front page of Hacker News.

Thought it was ironic to find out from a person vs. Google Alerts.

</comment><comment><USER43> > Google has lost touch with its core business model: search.

It's not and it's never been their "core business model", sadly. It's their hook.

</comment><comment><USER44> Again anecdotal but Google Alerts is definitely broken. I hope Twitter is sensing a big opportunity here.

</comment><comment><USER45> <http://tattlerapp.com/> does this work?

</comment><comment><USER46> I wonder if Google Alerts will even survive until the next spring cleaning

</comment><comment><USER47> why not try presstler if you want to find out about ur brand? <http://presstler.com></comment>


Free VPNs are a privacy nightmare. You shouldn't download them - <AUTHOR> https://www.wired.co.uk/article/free-vpn-android-ios-privacy <comment><USER2> Like this article says towards the end, I would just recommend ProtonVPN for anyone looking for a casual free VPN service. None of the free services is going to be enough for fast streaming or downloads anyway.

For those who trust the "cloud" and just want (only) a VPN service under their control are capable of logging in to servers and running some commands, I'd recommend Algo [1] with WireGuard.

[1]: [https://github.com/trailofbits/algo](https://github.com/trailofbits/algo)

<comment><USER3> It depends what you're using a VPN for.

If you're looking for anonimity, using a VPS with Algo is counterproductive as you now have a single IP you're always using and that only you yourself is using. This is worse than your Dynamic IP on your home/phone connection. For this purpose commercial providers are better because you're hiding in a crowd.

If you're just looking to encrypt your traffic on an untrusted wifi or trying to connect to your own services, then Algo is great. I use it too for that purpose.

<comment><USER2> I agree. But the simplicity of deploying Algo (for those who can) means that you can always spin up a new instance, use it and trash it regularly to avoid being tied to a single IP (though I'm not convinced that hiding in a crowd based on IP address is going to be of help; it would still require several other mitigating measures in place against tracking).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> The whole idea of VPNs (or extra hops in general[0]) providing security is very context specific. For the vast majority of people they seemingly chose to trust a VPN provider over their ISP which is hard to justify.

If you don't have a reason to be afraid of surveillance the best thing to do is nothing.

[0] usually even worse if not VPNs used by many

<comment><USER5> >The whole idea of VPNs (or extra hops in general[0]) providing security is very context specific. For the vast majority of people they seemingly chose to trust a VPN provider over their ISP which is hard to justify.

The whole idea of VPNs and why I encourage people to use them is so that when they're sitting on public wifi at a coffee shop, their traffic is going out encrypted. It has almost nothing to do with hiding from authorities or authorities surveilling you. It has everything to do with the kiddiot in the corner hoping to steal a login because your mom re-used the same one 400 times and her favorite cross-stitch site doesn't use SSL.

<comment><USER4> Well, using public WiFi is a good example of a situation where there is a reasonable expectation of tampering. Point is there's no easy win if you don't adequately understand your threat model.

If you then end up using the VPN even when you're not on an untrusted network then it's questionable.

The concern with VPNs isn't state level players either. Much more likely to have a rouge admin or hackers at a VPN provider than a big ISP. They get to see your clear text connections too.

Not even talking about minor concerns like the fact that some VPNs won't put you behind a NAT like most networks would. Had an http proxy running and was sending tons of spam traffic to Russian and Ukrainian (I hope that's all they were doing!) websites for weeks before I realized I had to lock down ingress traffic myself.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I deploy this[0] to my own personal EC2 on AWS where I also deploy many other small, hacky projects for personal use. I didn't create this but whoever did, it's a remarkable and very easy to use setup. Highly recommend it. I give access to it to my close friends and family. They love it!

[0] [https://github.com/mobilejazz/docker-ipsec-vpn- server](https://github.com/mobilejazz/docker-ipsec-vpn-server)

<comment><USER7> Would you mind sharing how much this usually costs you a month?

The EC2 is easy to figure out, but the network traffic I have a harder time with

<comment><USER6> I pay $60 for t3.medium on N. Virginia , without any EBS volumes attached. An additional $2 for Route 53 also. (VAT included)

The average traffic consists of:

\- 2 people heavily using it, video streaming and stuff.

\- 2 people using it every once in a while per week, mainly for social network sites.

This much data usage only costs $0.11 as of August 2020.

A much smaller instance would work if it is gonna be used solely by this container. I believe you can get away with as cheap as $20.

<comment><USER7> Thanks for such a thorough answer! Somehow I thought the network costs would be worse. I have a micro with some room to spare, it's quite possible I could pull this off at very little marginal cost.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> General rule: If you're not paying you're not the customer, you're the product ;)

However they contradict themselves a bit by recommending ProtonVPN and Windscribe at the end. So there ARE good free VPNs. But they're promotions with the intent on you becoming the customer in the future.

</comment><comment><USER8> Free VPNs are great for evading censorship. For everything else, you need you'd probably be better of using VPN + Tor.

</comment><comment><USER9> [https://bitmask.net/](https://bitmask.net/)

</comment><comment><USER10> I use NordVPN. Is it safe?

<comment><USER9> No. Use Bitmask

<comment><USER10> Reasons being?

<comment><USER11> They've been compromised at the hypervisory level before.

<comment><USER10> Oops</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Microsoft .NET Native - <AUTHOR> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/vstudio/dotnetnative

<comment><USER2> Native as in .net framework not needed as in I can run on XP without the trying to install .net?

<comment><USER3> Since it only builds Windows Store apps for ARM and x64, and since Windows Store only supports Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, no.</comment></comment>


ASUS PQ321Q 4k 32" Monitor first look - <AUTHOR> http://www.anandtech.com/show/7145/asus-pq321q-first-look

<comment><USER2> That thing is waaaay overpriced. Seiki (a big cheapo chinese manufacturer) has a 4k 50" "tv" that is currently selling for under $1,000 on amazon:

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXF7I9M/](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXF7I9M/)

One problem with using the Seiki for a PC monitor is a maximum 30Hz refresh rate at that resolution. However you won't notice the difference between a 30Hz display and a 60Hz display unless playing video games. Movies are 24hz and tv shows are 30hz (25hz in the UK). I have a lot of experience using one of those old Viewsonic 3840x2400 monitors (same as IBM T220) which also ran at roughly 30Hz.

I think the Seiki would make a perfect monitor if it were only 40" \- I love my 30" \+ rotated 24" set up now. Apparently a 39" version is due any day now. Model number SE39UY04. MSRP $700.

On a personal note... I've waited a decade for higher dpi monitors to become mainstream. Just in the last year or so I've noticed my near-field eyesight starting to go. Ironic for me that just as these things start to show up, I start to become less able to use them.

<comment><USER3> _However you won 't notice the difference between a 30Hz display and a 60Hz display unless playing video games._

Try moving your mouse around. Try dragging a window around. Then try it on a 120Hz monitor. You _will_ notice the significantly greater fluidity of motion added by each step up in refresh rate, even with bottom-of-the-line USB mice, which report at 125Hz.

 _Movies are 24hz and tv shows are 30hz (25hz in the UK)._

Sports, news, and daytime dramas (yarg) are typically 50Hz or 60Hz, so they will be less fluid on a 30Hz display. Also, watching a 24Hz movie on a 30Hz monitor will make for a terribly juddery experience. The video will appear to "chunk" every 4 input frames/5 output frames, or 6 times per second.

\----

All that said, for static design work, coding, writing, etc., 4K at 30Hz would still be very useful if you can put up with the less natural feel to basic system movements.

<comment><USER4> These TVs are 24p capable as well, so you don't have to worry about jerky motion as long as you sync at the right refresh rate.

An unboxing review of that TV: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXBu9nxLN78](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXBu9nxLN78)

<comment><USER5> The video review does not have favourable things to say about it (flickering issues, lighting issues, etc.). I wonder though if the 39' Seiki 4K TV (going for $699) contains any sort of upgrade improving on the issues found in the 50' Seiki TV: [http://www.amazon.com/Seiki-Digital-SE39UY04-39-Inch- Ultra/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Seiki-Digital-SE39UY04-39-Inch- Ultra/dp/B00DOPGO2G/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1373836572&sr=1-2&keywords=seiki+4k)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I imagine that along with the price tag the main issue for this thing is software support (or lack thereof).

How is HighDPI support in Linux these days?

<comment><USER7> This is a medium DPI monitor, not anywhere close to high DPI. At 138 DPI, its pixel density is a bit lower than my ThinkPad W520's 141 DPI.

So you have nothing to worry about regarding DPI; every Linux distro I've tried works fine on this kind of pixel density.

The only question would be the sheer number of pixels on the screen.

<comment><USER8> > The only question would be the sheer number of pixels on the screen.

Which on Linux is a big, big question. My experience is that a 2x2 array of 2560x1440 displays is simply not reliable under Linux. The same worked fine with Windows. The total number of pixels is one factor that seems to trip up Xorg (or something); the above setup had a total resolution of 5120x2880, yet a 1x3 array totalling 4320x2560 worked fine. This was last year, on multiple machines with various graphics cards (but just one card in a given machine).

So I don't know why, but it seems that somewhere between 4320 and 5120 linear pixels, or between 11 and 15 total megapixels, Xorg or some other part of Linux (but probably Xorg) has problems. This Asus screen is 3840x2160 which means two of them together (16.5 MP) will likely not work (there's a chance if they're oriented vertically so the max linear resolution is 4320), and three in any configuration is very likely to fail.

Using many displays and getting very high resolution on Linux has been a bad situation for a long time now. Some hardware configurations just won't work (but are fine with Windows); others will hard-lock sometimes; still others will mostly be OK but once in two weeks freak out and spew artifacts everywhere. It's a real mess, and nobody seems to "own" fixing it.

<comment><USER9> maybe drivers? I had lot of problems with 4 screens and proprietary AMD drivers. Open source drivers solved all problems.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> That monitor fulfills a dream of mine. The price, however, is a nightmare.

</comment><comment><USER11> Monitor manufacturer's REALLY need to start uniformly implementing some sort of remote control, for input source at least. KVMs are pretty expensive, these monitors generally have several inputs for multiple PCs (or other sources). Why not just have a USB-based protocol for switching the active source? or infra-red?

</comment><comment><USER12> People bash Mac users for paying hundreds of dollars extra for style and marketing. But some of the extra cost does go somewhere: the display. I haven't been able to find _anything_ approaching the pixel density of my 13" Macbook Air for less than $400. Name brands are more like $1000.

<comment><USER13> The 13-inch Macbook Air has a native resolution of 1440x900, which is a fairly low pixel density for a laptop and only slightly better than typical desktop monitors. Any modern[1] laptop should exceed the MBA's pixel density, and high-end laptops (Macbook Pro, Chromebook Pixel) nearly double it.

For any given pixel density a 32-inch panel will be much more expensive than a 13-inch panel, so it doesn't make much sense to compare a laptop screen to a desktop. A better Apple product to compare with is the Cinema Display, which has a 2560x1440 resolution at 27 inches and is priced the same as any other equivalently specced monitor.

[1] The 13-inch MBA has not had a screen refresh in years.

<comment><USER12> Is there a consumer Windows laptop available at Best Buy or similar that has:

1) a solid state drive and 2) a display with Apple-level pixel density

for substantially less than a Mac? Closest I've gotten is configuring the ThinkPad T430 online up to $930, in which case we're not talking about that much cost savings.

I agree with you that any modern laptop _should_ exceed its pixel density. But take a look at your local Best Buy. Even the 15" displays are usually 1366x768. Some of the most expensive Ultrabooks might be 1080p, but those prices are Apple-level anyway.

I'm between HS and college right now, so people are asking me for laptop recommendations. Most of them oppose Macs because they believe they'd be paying extra just for prestige, and I have a hard time finding them similar quality Windows hardware for any cheaper. Which leads me to conclude that Mac users are _not_ just paying for prestige.

<comment><USER13>
      > Is there a consumer Windows laptop available at Best Buy or similar

You will not find good deals at Best Buy, on any product. Their business is selling low-value junk at hugely inflated prices, to customers who are unwilling or unable to purchase via the Internet.

      > Most of them oppose Macs because they believe they'd
      > be paying extra just for prestige

This may have been true ten years ago, but Apple's relentless optimization of their supply and manufacturing pipelines mean that their hardware is often less expensive than spec-equivalent competitors[1]. If you want a laptop as good as a Macbook, you'll be paying a price similar to a Macbook.

If you want a laptop with a decent screen and solid-state disk, there's a hard price floor imposed by the component manufacturing costs. Your best option if price is a strong constraint is to keep an eye on the manufacturers' sites for refurbished devices. See [http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac](http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac) or [http://outlet.lenovo.com/](http://outlet.lenovo.com/) as examples.

[1] Excluding accessories such as RAM, which are often marked up by 200-300% compared to high-quality third party products.

<comment><USER12> I understand all of this, but the people who ask me for laptop recommendations don't want to hear it.

Refurbs are a good point that I had forgotten about. Often, though, only higher-end machines are available (for the same price as a new low-end machine) and the base-level models don't come down in price much.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> what i want to know is what graphics card/driver can decode video at that resolution?

</comment><comment><USER15> Time to sell a kidney I guess.

</comment><comment><USER16> $3,500. Ouch.

<comment><USER17> Hope its not like 1440p screens that never came down in price. I just want 150 - 200 PPI at 22 - 27" between $200 and $400.

<comment><USER18> You can get Korean 27" 1440p for around $300 these days.

[http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-QNIX-QX2710-LED- Evolution-27-256...](http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-QNIX-QX2710-LED- Evolution-27-2560x1440-WQHD-PLS-Computer-Monitor- Matte-/121117252582?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item1c33269be6)

<comment><USER19> I've had two failures out of three of these we ordered. RMA is a huge pain as well.

<comment><USER20> A)Your experience isn't typical.

B)You can spend an extra ~$30 for a "pixel perfect" unit.

<comment><USER4> Actually, the pixel perfect units are not any different. Go read: [http://www.overclock.net/t/1384767/official-the-korean- pls-m...](http://www.overclock.net/t/1384767/official-the-korean-pls-monitor- club-qnix-x-star)

<comment><USER20> They're exactly the same, except the seller turned it on beforehand to check for defects.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How do people know they're being talked about on HN? - <AUTHOR>

Repeatedly on HN, this will happen.  Someone will mention something, like for instance someone says something about a16z, and the next thing Mark Andreessen is commenting back in the thread.
Or someone says "X company is bullshit!" and 5 minutes later you see in the thread, "CEO of X Company here..  We're not bullshit".
Some of these people are famous and I would think, not hanging out staring at HN (in these particular threads no less) all day.
How are they being alerted that their company etc.. is being discussed and able to respond so quickly? <comment><USER2> [http://HNWatcher.com](http://HNWatcher.com) is a free service we launched to do so ;)

<comment><USER3> Any plans to expand it to more sites?

<comment><USER2> Possibly to Reddit. Which service do you have in mind?

<comment><USER4> Twitter

<comment><USER5> Mention.com might be worth looking into for that.

<comment><USER6> Hey there, I'm the Community Manager for mention and I'd be happy to answer any and all questions! alex at mention dot com - we're always here to help!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> There are many ways. Google Alerts, companies' traffic logs seeing many Hacker News referrers (most likely), word of mouth...

<comment><USER2> Google Alert does not seem to work at all for HN

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Somebody tells them about it. It could be somebody who hangs out on HN that sees it, or somebody at the company that watches web traffic referrals or uses something like HNWatcher that julien421 mentioned.

</comment><comment><USER9> using something like [http://hnwatcher.com](http://hnwatcher.com)

</comment><comment> vezzy-fnord Several scenarios:

1) They are, in fact, hanging out at HN more than you think.

2) They routinely type their names into the search box, out of curiosity or to gauge their publicity.

3) (unlikely) They're continuing the age-old trend of kibozing (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Parry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Parry)), where they write scripts that crawl and grep for certain terms, so that they may respond. I'm not sure how HN handles bots, and if anyone actually does this here.

<comment><USER10> #3 isn't too hard if you use the HNStream API ([http://hnstream.com/](http://hnstream.com/))

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> also - to get emails when someone replies to you: hnnotify.com</comment>


Steve Wozniak: How I Invented the Personal Computer (Video) - <AUTHOR> http://fora.tv/2006/09/26/Steve_Wozniak#Steve_Wozniak_Remembers_Building_the_First_Apple

<comment><USER2> If you have enough time, you might want to read Steve Wozniak's interview from Founders At Work. It's very long and detailed!

<http://www.foundersatwork.com/steve-wozniak.html>

<comment><USER3> even if you dont have enough time, his book 'Iwoz' is a _must_ read ! :-)

<comment><USER4> I didn't enjoy his book. Woz is someone who did something great, made a lot of money, and then stopped.

To each his own I suppose, it's just really disappointed to read about someone who was, in all regards, brilliant and probably a genius. And then... For him to simply stop after a few years. Very sad.

One thing that particularly bothered me was why he went back to try and make a calculator after the personal computer?

<comment><USER5> "why he went back to try and make a calculator after the personal computer?"

Maybe his goal is not to create an industry, but to have (and give people) a lot of fun. Apparently, he has a different concept of success than most people.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Nice video, the Founders at Work story goes into much more detail, IMO, it's one of the best "chapters" in that book!

</comment><comment><USER7> The passion that flows through this man's veins every time he speaks is amazing. Just listening to him makes me want to turn toothpicks into treasure.

</comment><comment><USER8> Anyone have a link to this video that doesn't require Flash to be installed to download it?

</comment><comment><USER9> It's hard to understand why the personal computer wasn't invented by a large company.

<comment><USER10> It's actually very unusual for a big company to do anything technically innovative. Most innovation happens in startups; if we are successful big companies may offer to buy us.

Apple and Google are the elephant-sized exceptions here (but still they make a lot of acquisitions).

PS: Steve Wozniak was one of my favourite chapters in Founders at Work.

<comment><USER5> The late Apple is more about masterful execution than innovation proper. OSX is Unix (and a rehash of NeXT's OS), the Macs are x86 PCs (and even run Windows), neither iPods nor iPhones were the first in their categories. They merely were the first to be done right.

IIRC, the last time I saw Apple really breaking new ground was with the Newton. Before that, with the Lisa. The Mac was merely a cheaper, less functional, Lisa.

It was a Lisa, masterfully executed though...</comment></comment></comment>


The Big Red Word vs. the Little Green Man - <AUTHOR> http://www.slate.com/id/2246107/

<comment><USER2> I can't help but think of the USA's reluctance to adopt the metric system. The admirable sense of individualism and autonomy that so characterises the USian national identity seems to be something of an obstacle when it comes to adopting international standards.

I expect in practice there is relatively little difference in performance, especially under emergency lighting conditions, but the running man is just such a beautifully elegant symbol that I can't help but favour it. I find the international ideals that have driven pictographic communication rather moving; It's the same feeling I get scanning the departure board in an international railway station and seeing all the myriad places, peoples and cultures that are all joined up by modernity.

</comment><comment><USER3> Running? How do we know he's not skating or dancing?</comment>


Amazon releases Reserved Instances - <AUTHOR> http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/

<comment><USER2> This is a duplicate! <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=514635></comment>


Not Smart: Warner Music Issues DMCA Takedown On Larry Lessig Presentation - <AUTHOR> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090428/1738424686.shtml <comment><USER2> The video in question:

<http://blip.tv/file/1937322>

And yes, Lessig is going to fight this.

</comment><comment><USER3> According to one of the comments from slashdot, Lessig goes beyond fair use in his presentation:

\</comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>----

He uses a 50 second clip of The Muppet Show's "Ma Na Ma Na" [1] which is a very short skit track of about 2:29 minutes. He shows it being set to an Anime Music video mash up of Vampire Hunter D Blood Lust. I can't seem to track down who would be the rights holder of this track but I'm guessing it's Warner. I have only seen 15 minutes of his presentation so it's possible there are other violations.

Larry: Non-free Audio Fair Use for music constitutes 10% or 30 seconds of a song (which ever is shorter) and it must be in a low enough quality (didn't investigate the audio on this video to find out if it satisfied Ogg quality of 0 rule). For the rest of the 15 minutes I saw you looked fine but this stuck out at me. Pick your battles wisely and adhere to this rule next time.

\</comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>--

Source: [http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1216733&cid=27765265](http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1216733&cid=27765265)

[1] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lgcQUQZBtE&feature=relat...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lgcQUQZBtE&feature=related)

<comment><USER4> This is a load of nonsense, of course. Wikipedia's guidelines for fair use within Wikipedia (which is what the above quotes, unattributed) are _not_ based on any specific legal doctrine about what exactly is fair use.

Suggesting that Lessig violated copyright law because he didn't follow Wikipedia's guidelines is absurd. Here are the criteria that would be tested in court. They are not numeric, they are matters of judgment:

<http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html>

<comment><USER5> Yeah, I'm not at all convinced that it is infringing.

1\. It can definitely be argued that it is for an educational use, and I can't think of any valid argument that it is for a commercial purpose.

2\. It's a user created music video, so he has a case here.

3\. Warner might have a good argument here. Lessig did use about 50s of the song.

4\. I really don't see Lessig's presentation as having a useful replacement for the song.

Lessig starts playing a lot of copyrighted material around 9 minutes into the presentation to illustrate remixes.The Muppets song is played at about the 11.00 min mark. The presentation is about 50 minutes long, so I really doubt that his purpose was to violate copyright law or to even play a specific song.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Once again, everyone in the tech industry assumes everyone not in the tech industry is stupid. That seems like exactly who I'd want to issue a takedown notice to if I were Warner (assuming I had a reasonably compelling case, which I make no judgment on here since I'm not an IP attorney, and I'm guessing neither is the author).

<comment><USER7> Why would you want to issue a take down notice to one of the most well known IP lawyers out there? Big business thrives on settlements, not landmark court cases. How do you think big media got away with suing individuals for torrenting for so long? They forced settlements before an actual decision could be made. Hell, they even dropped cases they thought they were losing, not wanting to risk the impact of an unfavorable decision. Lessig wont settle, and that's why issuing a takedown notice to him is bad for Warner. Lessig will try to take the whole thing to the Supreme Court if he has to.

<comment><USER6> Why would you not want to issue a take down notice to one of the most well- known IP lawyers out there? Warner isn't doing it to directly profit off of the case, just as they weren't with torrentors. The pittance they got from those settlements was irrelevant. Their goal is deterrent.

I'd bet anything that one of two things are the case. 1, this is some sort of mishap, carried out by an automated program that scans for IP, or some low level employee hired to issue DMCA notices (or the latter in conjunction with the former.) Or 2, the industry has a list of high profile enemies who they've just been waiting for to screw up, and they finally caught the biggest of them doing something their legal minds think has a reasonable shot of being proven a violation of fair use in court.

If it's the latter, I'd do it too if I were them.

<comment><USER8> For a copyright precedent, this strikes me as a terrible, terrible case for them. dreish is correct about the nature of Fair Use, and furher remember that underlying those court-generated criteria for Fair Use lies the fact that Free Speech actually trumps copyright law; the First Amendment is an amendment, whereas the Constitutional provision for copyright is in the Constitution proper, not an amendment. They've been harmonized, at least in theory (so no, you don't get to just claim Free Speech destroys copyright entirely), but if there is a conflict, the 1st wins.

And this is political free speech, debating how the law works. This is "copyright infringement"/Fair Use at the highest standard of education and political debate, where the courts should most fear to tread. Obviously he could take it too far, but given the fuzziness of Fair Use and how it tends to be ruled this is nowhere near egregious violation.

I favor the automated failure theory. If they were out to make a point I'm sure they could find something more clear, and a target less well defended (and funded) than a famous law professor. There's little upside for them here (even if they win, they only create a martyr) and some downside.

<comment><USER8> The problem with mattmaroon citing this message as an example of... whatever it is he's accusing me of... is that I actually _have_ studied this topic, from primary sources, and been learning about it for years now. Perhaps he doesn't know enough about the topic to recognize that.

He misinterprets my first line as claiming this is setting a precedent. No, I'm talking about how they would want this to _turn into something_ that sets this up as a precedent, because simply a random fight is pointless expense.

Secondly... unless you can bring a lawyer in to disprove my points, I, like I said, have actually been studying this stuff for a while and am reasonably confident on this point. This is, Constitutionally, a bad case for Warner, and _precisely because I don't think they are stupid_ , give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this was an at-least semi-automated process gone wrong. _That_ certainly happens often enough, after all.

Other explanations exist; simple intimidation, some "larger" plan, the belief they can ram it through with enough money, an order from a non-lawyer on top going against lawyerly advice.

Frankly, assuming that companies _always_ act rationally, even given the information available from their point of view, is naive and not supported by the facts, a point I've seen from the inside of plenty of tech and non-tech companies. Going off on people for failing to assume this is not justified.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Tesla Motors, Inc. Is Now Officially Tesla, Inc - <AUTHOR> https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/01/tesla-motors-inc-is-now-officially-tesla-inc/ <comment><USER2> "On January 9, 2007, Apple Computer, Inc. (the "Company") amended Article I of its Restated Articles of Incorporation solely to change the corporate name from "Apple Computer, Inc." to "Apple Inc." The name change and amendment were completed pursuant to Section 1110(d) of the California Corporations Code through a merger of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Apple Inc., with and into the Company. A copy of the Company's Certificate of Ownership, as filed with the Secretary of State of the State of California, amending Article I of the Company's Restated Articles of Incorporation solely to reflect the Company's new corporate name, is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.1 and is incorporated herein by reference."

[http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/cgi/convert/pdf/APPLEINC8K.pdf?pdf...](http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/cgi/convert/pdf/APPLEINC8K.pdf?pdf=1&repo=tenk&ipage=4589126&num=-2&pdf=1&xml=1&cik=320193&odef=8&rid=12&quest=1&dn=2&dn=3)

<comment><USER3> Apple had a name conflict with a 60's band which used the name "Apple Records". That was settled around the time the iPod came out.

<comment><USER4> Actually the company was called Apple Corps and it was not a band: [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sosumi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sosumi)

<comment><USER5> I mean, it's wholly owned by The Beatles and their estates, and AFAICT it's sole raison d'être is to protect their IP.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> This seems in large part to reflect their expansion in to battery and solar technology following the aquision of SolarCity. However, I wonder when products such as SolarRoof and Powerwall 2 will be become available. When I read/viewed the promotional material for those products I got the impression that they would be "hitting the shelves" early 2017. Perhaps I was mistaken.

The Powerwall 2 order page[1] used to read "Installations begin in January 2017." I just checked back and it now reads "February 2017." On March 1, will it change to "March 2017?"

I am a very serious potential customer (dad needs help ordering a power backup solution for his medical devices) and sent a detailed email asking for more information. I didn't want to put down a deposit without more details about whether the products are available, if my area is suitable, and when installation would start ("January - no, February - no, March - actually, check back this summer" wouldn't be acceptable for my use case). I didn't hear back for a few weeks.

I just followed up again. Hopefully they respond this time, but I would imagine that I am probably going to go with another battery backup solution (or a gas-based generator solution) at this point.

[1][https://www.tesla.com/powerwall](https://www.tesla.com/powerwall)

</comment><comment><USER7> Will be interesting to see what product categories they enter in the future. Currently they have cars and batteries, but there's got to be a good change they're planning on entering a new product category soon.

Any thoughts on what they might bring to market?

<comment><USER8> I'm hoping homes.

There's lots of energy to be saved in better home construction, and factory- made homes can be made more cheaply than on-site built homes.

That's the one I've been hoping for ever since I saw the solar roof.

<comment><USER9> Also looking at the German standards for low or even positive energy homes I see a huge potential for energy efficient homes in the US (but also other markets).

<comment><USER10> Im waiting for the day that a "positive energy" trumps energy efficiency in germany. With solar prices dropping we may get to the point that it is cheaper to not insulate or otherwise reduce energy use and instead achieve positive energy entirely by slapping on more solar panels. Zero-carbon is a net measurement. You dont actually need to be efficient in terms of total energy use.

<comment><USER11> This has already started to a degree, as people trying to build net-zero homes find that at a certain point the cost (in money/effort/carbon/energy) to add further insulation exceeds the cost of adding heat to the home via adding solar PV. I believe retro-fits of older homes hit this point earlier, since it can be harder to insulate them beyond the low hanging fruit.

Obviously as PV price continues to drop, this point will be met earlier and earlier.

<comment><USER10> Ive observed this already in off-grid situation where the priorities are different (no net metering, power not used/stored is power abandoned) but when it hits the mainstream it could make a real dent in home construction/insulation biz.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I wonder if there is a plan, likely in a later future, in which SpaceX and Tesla merge. Like Tesla and Solar City I could see Elon blurring the lines between SpaceX and Tesla on various projects.

<comment><USER13> While rockets do need lots of energy to make thrust, and both companies are built around smart people there's really nothing else in common between SpaceX and Tesla. SpaceX is high-risk shipping, Tesla makes consumer goods. SpaceX makes vehicles with hydrocarbon propellants, the whole point of Tesla is to remove the hydrocarbons from vehicles. And there's no reason to put Tesla at risk if SpaceX runs into a string of bad luck.

<comment><USER14> Elon wants to commercialize Mars (SpaceX), he'll need renewable energy to do it (Tesla). His end goals warrant a strong partnership between the two.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> To me it looks like they have always wanted the simpler name, but were able to sort out the legal and trademark issues only now. Same for Apple, probably.

</comment><comment><USER16> Now they need the Twitter handle.

</comment><comment><USER17> So what are people's expectations of what industry Tesla expands into next? I am curious as outside their space operations the rest is highly tied to battery technology. Is there room for new products there?

<comment><USER18> I hope his long game is launching solar arrays into space and beaming the power back to earth, effectively combining Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and SpaceX

<comment><USER19> Musk is actually very critical of solar power in space. He says it's very inefficient due to the lack of atmosphere to "pre-filter" the energy[1]. He believes nuclear power is the way to go in space.

[1] [http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a8101/elon- musk-o...](http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a8101/elon-musk-on- spacex-tesla-and-why-space-solar-power-must-die-13386162/)

<comment><USER20> Neither "nuclear" nor "filter" appear in the text of that interview.

Here's the paragraph:

 _One thing we learned today: While Musk loves electric cars and spaceflight, there 's one thing he hates: space solar power. "You'd have to convert photon to electron to photon back to electron. What's the conversion rate?" he says, getting riled up for the first time during his talk. "Stab that bloody thing in the heart!"_

He's talking about space based solar power for terrestrial consumption. Solar cells actually generate more electricity without the atmosphere filtering the solar spectrum. But in LEO they can't stay aligned with a ground receiver. Beyond LEO they face enough charged particle radiation damage that standard silicon cells degrade too quickly, so you have to use more expensive cells. And all solar power satellite schemes rely on converting solar electricity to microwave energy in space and converting back to electricity on the ground; that's the lossy "photon to electron to photon back to electron" conversion that he (rightfully, IMO) gets riled up about.

As I see it, the solar power satellite concept could only sound plausible in the 1970s. That was back when both silicon and gallium arsenide solar cells were exotic and before the Space Shuttle had actually flown, so people could still use its ridiculously optimistic on-paper attributes to plan SPS construction. When it turned out that the Shuttle was _not_ going to fly anywhere close to 50 times per year, and the costs per flight went up commensurately, that was a major setback. The falling cost of terrestrial PV modules based on crystalline silicon undermined another rationale for SPS. It made a lot more sense to think about exotic, expensive installation locations when the solar hardware itself was expensive regardless of location. The third setback, the falling cost of battery storage, is currently underway. A geosynchronous solar power satellite can deliver power even when it's night on Earth, but the relative value of that too is falling.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I'm going to build a house in a few years time. I have a feeling there will be a lot of Tesla branded stuff in (and on) it.</comment>


Have we missed the oppurtunity to make the 'next big' web startup? - <AUTHOR> http://meecube.com/?p=26

<comment><USER2> Lets extrapolate on that data a bit. Granted we don't have much to extrapolate on but lets put it like this.

1950-1970 = 20 years. 1970 + 20 = 1990.

So by that logic those who are ~20 right now at the end of this, IMO, "bubble" so by that theory we should be pretty experienced in starting start ups in the next 10 years and by that time new opportunity will open up.

In short: No.

</comment><comment><USER3> Opportunity is always there, anytime and anywhere. The real questions are 1)if you can discover it. 2)if you are ready to catch it.

Few years later, when we look back, I am sure that you will find some "big" companies started at 2011/2012, which is NOW.

</comment><comment><USER4> So the premise is that people around the same age were born around the same time?</comment>


Next.com - <AUTHOR> http://next.com

<comment><USER2> I was looking for the punchline... I guess in a way this is very Steve Jobsian, buying next.com for however much and making it the apple website

the store.apple.com link doesn't work... any link taking you away from the next domain wont work... odd.

well if you go to next.com/buy and use the find a store or find a re-seller menus you can get away from next.com, curiouser and curiouser

<comment><USER3> It was bought in July of 1994¹ for a company called NeXT that Steve Jobs started in 1985² and sold to Apple in 1996³.

After which he had a second "boardroom coup"[4] which he won; going on to become the CEO for a second time[5].

The first coup he lost[6], resigned, and started NeXT[7]. Due to horrible sales of the Lisa[8], Apple III[9], and original Macintosh ref:1984-86[10], Jobs wasn't trusted to make sound business decisions[11]. NeXT didn't sell many machines either; only 50k over its 11 years[12]; one of which TBL used to make the World Wide Web[13].

The nextgen Mac OS was scrapped in favor of a nextgen NeXTStep[14], branded as OS X[15] [16].

Fun Fact: I own zero Apple products except for some stock I bought in 1998 (after trying a rhapsody developer preview) and one NeXTStation color turbo I got at a surplus sale in early 2001 (in my parents garage, up in the rafters; call it an investment). Best $1,000 and $25 I've ever spent, respectively.

[1] <http://who.is/whois/next.com>

[2] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT#1985.E2.80.931986:_Foundin...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT#1985.E2.80.931986:_Founding_NeXT)

[3] [http://news.cnet.com/Apple-acquires- Next,-Jobs/2100-1001_3-2...](http://news.cnet.com/Apple-acquires- Next,-Jobs/2100-1001_3-256914.html)

[4] [http://news.cnet.com/Amelio,-Hancock-out-of- Apple/2009-1001_...](http://news.cnet.com/Amelio,-Hancock-out-of- Apple/2009-1001_3-201299.html)

[5] [http://news.cnet.com/Jobs-named-interim-Apple- CEO/2100-1001_...](http://news.cnet.com/Jobs-named-interim-Apple- CEO/2100-1001_3-203260.html)

[6] [http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JiAyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3...](http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JiAyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=36UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3149%2C1449072)

[7] [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1987/...](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1987/03/02/68751/index.htm)

[8] [http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dxEhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J...](http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dxEhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JHQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1199%2C1760162)

[9] [http://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/16/business/apple-expands- pro...](http://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/16/business/apple-expands-product- line.html)

[10] [http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CgwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T...](http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CgwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TXMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1100%2C2407604)

[11] [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1985/...](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1985/08/05/66254/index.htm)

[12] <http://www.crunchbase.com/company/next-computer>

[13] <http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/WorldWideWeb.html>

[14] [http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/january/new0114c...](http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/january/new0114c.htm)

[15] [http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/12/business/rhapsody-s-out- os...](http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/12/business/rhapsody-s-out-os-x-in-in- shift-of-gear-at-apple.html)

[16] [http://www.rhapsodyos.org/misc/rhap_timeline/Rhapsody_Timeli...](http://www.rhapsodyos.org/misc/rhap_timeline/Rhapsody_Timeline_1.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> archive.org[1] shows that the URL has redirected to apple.com since at least 2007. There are no entries between 2001 and 2007, but the last one for 2001 has a delayed redirect to apple.com/enterprise. This delayed redirect to the apple.com domain took place sometime between February and December 1998. Before that, next.com just loaded Apple Enterprise content.

The last pre-acquisition snapshot is from April 18, 1997: [http://web.archive.org/web/19970418052856/http://www.next.co...](http://web.archive.org/web/19970418052856/http://www.next.com/)

1: <http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://next.com>

<comment><USER5> It's a mirror rather than a redirect though. And I notice there's no rel=canonical tag. Not like Apple needs it, anyway.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> LOL is that supposed to imply that apple is the next thing? xD okay... presumptuous much?

<comment><USER7> You've got it all wrong. The domain refers to the company that Steve Jobs founded when he was first kicked out of Apple in the 80's. The company name is actually spelt like this, "NeXT" Apple purchased the company back in 1996 which is why the domain points to the Apple site.

<comment><USER8> Yup - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT#1985.E2.80.931986:_Foundin...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT#1985.E2.80.931986:_Founding_NeXT)</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Best way to digitize and translate printed articles? - <AUTHOR> I have a bunch of newspaper clippings and pages from old articles about my grandfather, all in Swedish.
I would like to digitize all articles and translate them to English in a semi-automated way. I know little Swedish so I can't translate them myself, plus there's over 100 article clippings.
Has anyone ever been through this process or something similar? I would appreciate any tips on what software to use. <comment><USER2> Theres a series of Optical Character Recognition repos that should help you with task #1. They are all based around Google's Tesseract. If I remember correctly this is one of the top=> [https://github.com/danielquinn/paperless](https://github.com/danielquinn/paperless) I've used project naptha in the past... and little known fact that google docs can do the OCR automatically too.

regarding the translation... never had to do it. sorry!

<comment><AUTHOR> Paperless looks great, thanks!</comment></comment>


When to assume neural networks can solve a problem - <AUTHOR> https://blog.cerebralab.com/When_to_assume_neural_networks_can_solve_a_problem <comment><USER3> "That's why building a product recommendation algorithm was a hot topic 20 years ago, but nowadays everyone and their mom can just get a WordPress plugin for it and get close to Amazon's level."

Well, I haven't had a remotely relevant Amazon recommendation in 5 to 10 years. Unless you count read a book by the exact same author as a useful recommendation.

<comment><USER4> At least on my account, it seems like Amazon has given up on recommendations and is just suggesting I buy the same things again.

I wouldn't be shocked if it's actually quite a bit more accurate then real predictions, but it does lead to funny things like "You already bought this book? How about a second copy?"

<comment><USER5> I wonder if the same book recommendations are happening because people might just be buying products like these for gifts. Something like I liked this book, so you should read it to.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I've made a neural network where you feed it a problem and it will tell you if a neural network will solve it. I call it a Neural decider. Getting weird results when I feed it to itself though.

<comment><USER7> Neuroboros?

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> This reminds me of an oldie, but goodie: [http://thedailywtf.com/articles/No%2C_We_Need_a_Neural_Netwo...](http://thedailywtf.com/articles/No%2C_We_Need_a_Neural_Network)

<comment><USER9> Wow, I had never read this gem before. Made me laugh, thanks for sharing this piece! I'm surprised they did not ask him to log everything in a blockchain :)

<comment><USER10> Check the date -- the article predates the Bitcoin white paper by two years. (It also predates most of the modern "deep learning" hype.)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Here is a take from Google AI on when to use ML: [https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/problem- frami...](https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/problem-framing/good)

"You should understand the problem well enough to list some potential solutions to test first to find the best model" and "it shouldn't be used for a problem that conventional programming can solve" like hard coding a symbolic rule.

<comment><USER12> Unless it's fizzbuzz:

[https://joelgrus.com/2016/05/23/fizz-buzz-in- tensorflow/](https://joelgrus.com/2016/05/23/fizz-buzz-in-tensorflow/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> it seems that neural networks have problem for computing the maximum function, and a human can compute the maximum easily, so it seems that the three heuristic rules don't work in this case.

(1) [https://datascience.stackexchange.com/questions/56676/can- ma...](https://datascience.stackexchange.com/questions/56676/can-machine- learning-learn-a-function-like-finding-maximum-from-a-list)

<comment><USER14> You're referring to about whether a generic one-size-fits-all model will do well, but ML is full of bespoke models. It would be simple to build _a_ neural network that can compute (and differentiate through) the max function to within some arbitrary epsilon, even though the most generic model (feed forward network) won't do great.

<comment><AUTHOR> > l (feed forward network) won't do great.

See my answer below, in the case of this problem a generic feed-forward network, even a simple one, will work.

Not any ffn, but assuming you are using an efficient architecture search it will probably find one that works.

There's other numerical problems where this doesn't hold but that's another story.

<comment><USER14> You demonstrated it for a reeeeeeeallly constrained version of the problem. Do you expect your solution would generalize to many lists? Because it would be easy to make a neural network that does, while your toy example (and larger generalizations) probably won't generalize super well.

x_i = ith list element from list x

y = sum(x_i * softmax(k * x)_i)

This one parameter, arbitrarily wide network one will get arbitrarily close to the max function.

This is a super toy version of why attention is so effective. It can pick stuff.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> > 3\. A neural network can solve problems that a human can solve with small- > sized datapoints and little to no context

I like this rule, because it is actionable. Its easy to take a sample of your data, (in the case of images) lower the quality to 20x20 pixels and get see if you, or another person can do the classification task. Audio could be handled similarly.

</comment><comment><USER16> When a neural network solved a problem, it means it found the algebraic function it needs to solve the problem.

> Once it found the algebraic function, there is no need to run the problem to > the neural network. We can sideload the problem to a simple program that > takes input and gives an output. This strategy can help to free up the GPU > for next set of problem.

<comment><USER17> How would one extract an algebraic function from the network's weights? Why would the function the network approximates necessarily be algebraic?

<comment><USER18> The function would simply be a chain of multiplications and (typically) non- linear transformations.

For classification problems, there is often a final non-linear transformation, like a softmax.

Example with ReLu activation:

Output_i = max((input_i * weight_i),0)

<comment><USER19> I don't understand. The example you gave is not an algebraic function.

<comment><USER18> You are correct. It is possible to construct a linear neural network, where an algebraic function could be extracted, but in practice, almost all networks use non-linear activation functions.

In the case of a linear network, the function would be a dot product between the input and the weights: 𝑥1𝑤1+𝑥2𝑤2+𝑥3𝑤3 ... for all inputs (xi) and weights (wi)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I don't understand why the author thinks that the PAC learning framework is not useful. PAC gives quick back-of-napkin math for estimating how long it might take to train a network, what kind of quality level is acceptable for inputs, etc.

<comment><USER21> I disagree, PAC bounds are usually way too loose to be useful in practice when it comes to NNs. I think part of the reason is that the way we measure model complexity for NNs does not correspond very well with their ability to generalize, as we've seen with recent papers like deep double descent [1].

Anecdotally, I was of the main authors of the AdaNet framework [2] where we used (approximate) Rademacher complexity (closely related to PAC) to bound the complexity of our learned ensemble models. We never got good results using the complexity measure and would basically turn it off for any practical problem we solved.

[1]: [https://openai.com/blog/deep-double- descent](https://openai.com/blog/deep-double-descent)

[2]: [https://github.com/tensorflow/adanet](https://github.com/tensorflow/adanet)

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> What is the current state of NN in the context of AI state of the art?

</comment><comment><USER23> I've been hearing about deep learning revolutionizing "everything" for the past 8 years. So, can someone name me any significant impact it made on figuring out what to do about the recent epidemic? If not, I think it's worth reflecting on what value we get out of the technology that sucked up so much of our intellectual, financial and computational resources.

<comment><USER24> If you're listening to people who claim any one technology solves "everything" \--- and believing them --- then _you_ are the fool.

There's no silver bullet. Deep Learning has made huge strides in noise reduction, image and video processing (self driving cars), lidar processing, medical imaging, etc, but it's not made any progress in knitting, tooth brushing, dog walking, or many other tasks ill suited for deep learning - <USER2> clearly not everything.

<comment><USER25> That's been the general vibe the popular tech press has been spouting for awhile. That NNs are somehow a major step towards AGI, which'll 'capture the lightcone of the future' to quote Sam Altman.

At some point, we'll realize that AGI is the modern alchemy. Ironically, alchemy's penultimate goal was to construct a homoculus, which is essentially the goal of AGI.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus#Alchemy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus#Alchemy)

"The allegorical text suggests to the reader that the ultimate goal of alchemy is not chrysopoeia, but it is instead the artificial generation of humans."

<comment><USER26> _Penultimate_ means the second last thing in a set. In the alphabet, 'y' is the penultimate letter.

<comment><USER25> The last thing is 'profit'!

<comment><USER26> Ha! Makes sense then. :)</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Scheme Is Love - <AUTHOR> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163729.aspx <comment><USER2> An utterly commonplace article in itself, but to see this written by Don Box is surreal.

<comment><USER3> I'd never heard of him before, so I looked him up:

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

I did like the article though, even though there wasn't much to it. One of these days when I have some time, I'm going to write a LISP/Scheme compiler for .NET/CLR...my goal is to get Arc running on .NET, specifically for IIS7 since it has better support for MVC applications.

<comment><USER4> I don't think it is possible to implement continuations on top of the CLR.

<comment><USER3> Isn't this basically what the 'yield' keyword does in C# (for enumerating values)? If not, can someone explain the difference?

<comment><USER5> ... Heh, no, yield isn't the same as a continuation.

Yield, for iterators at least, is basically just calling a function that you've passed in.

In Ruby (and now C#) and many other languages, there's what appears to be syntactic sugar around this idiom, and especially in C# it's a bear to follow what's happening because of the sea of syntax.

But all that's really happening is, you pass in an anonymous function, and when the iterator calls yield(x), it calls that anonymous function with x.

In C#, you're saying

      okay, for this foreach doodle with a variable i, HereIsAnInterator(initialized) {

        but you can imagine this whole block as
        a function that gets called with i
        every time yield() is called.

      }

Behind the scenes, the stuff between the braces gets turned into a function f, and attached to HereIsAnIterator, accessible via (at least) yield().

Yield for iterators is just sugar around an anonymous function.

Continuations are a whole other bag o worms. (edit: originally invented as a powerful memory-wasting device, some people now find them almost useful ;) ).

<comment><USER6> That may be one way to implement iterators, but it's nothing like the method C# actually uses. See e.g. the series starting at [http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2009/07/09/iterato...](http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2009/07/09/iterator- blocks-part-one.aspx)

<comment><USER5> :P Look, I felt dirty enough just reading the C# code for an idiomatic usage of an iterator ...

Obviously, in a compiled language that you control, you could take that block and turn its contents into a method of a class for speed.

Conceptually, much easier to understand the base case: that you're passing in an anonymous function.

In ruby, since they let you pass blocks around as objects, suddenly, poof, you can understand _and_ implement ruby's iteration, just by learning about blocks and seeing a snippet of code.

I like how, when they're talking about how to handle ITERATION, they say "we thought about coroutines; we thought about continuations; we settled on what we've got now" ... thinking about how I'd do it in CL (if I were writing a library to make iterator-style programming more friendly, perhaps as a macro), I have to say I wouldn't have immediately thought of using either of those. :P

Of course, I suppose for their target market, features that let you "roll your own x", for almost any x, are far too dangerous to allow. Ugh.

C# code makes mr_luc sad.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Two New Mac OSX Trojans - <AUTHOR> http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001461.html

<comment><USER2> very loose definition of 'new' article is from june 2008</comment>


Cheap, 'safe' drug kills most cancers - <AUTHOR> http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10971-cheap-safe-drug-kills-most-cancers.html

<comment><USER2> [http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/05/...](http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/05/cure- for-cancer-resurfaces-and.html)

<comment><USER3> The second article, posted by cat, seems to indicate that DCA works: 4 out 5 patients had their life span extended. What is curious is that follow-up (expensive) double blind tests were not performed. Was it because there was no money to be made because DCA is not patentable or was it because the efficacy was marginal?</comment></comment>


Windows is so irrelevant - <AUTHOR> http://uiorean.ro/world/2010/01/windows-is-so-irrelevant/

<comment><USER2> Microsoft sold a large amount of Windows 7 licenses - see: <http://beta.thehindu.com/business/article96694.ece>

People use Windows because they like it and they can do a lot of work with this operating system. Stop believing that people use Windows because they are forced to.

As for the rest of this article, I have the feeling I'm being fed with a list of peremptory choices based on little or no field experience.

I'd like to see more examples of strategic choices of choosing an OS vs another and the impact it had on a deployment.

<comment><USER3> I bought a mac book because it could run windows. I installed windows on it and i have tried unsuccessfully to get into the mac side of things. The dvd player doesn't work under windows, so i boot to mac to watch movies and such, but I always go back to windows.

Under Mac, I don't like the way the mouse moves. I don't like the window resizing. I don't like that I can't maximize a window. I don't like it isn't really all that stable. I get the spinny rainbow wheel. I've seen other people's macs lock up in the middle of a presentation. I find the mac constricting.

You may disagree with me, which is fine. But to say that people use windows because they are forced to isn't true. I use windows because I prefer it. Maybe it's just familiar. I dunno. I started out on Apple IIe's decades ago, but I don't really have a problem with windows. I think most microsoft issues are religious. When you add up the hardware and the software for a PC, they're much cheaper than macs. The hardware is nice, but I probably won't buy another one for myself.

EDIT: I do wonder sometimes if I'm "holding myself back" by not learning another environment. I do understand the advantages to *nix and another reason I bought the mac was the underlying kernel for the OS. Perhaps I just got locked in. I don't find it unsettling though.

<comment><USER4> Much of the dislike for Microsoft is historical. At various points, Microsoft has beaten competitors by means other than making the best product at the best price, and some of us don't really like doing business with that sort of company.

There's also the fact that some versions of Windows have been less than shining examples of the art of computer programming. Perceptions of a brand take a while to improve. 7 doesn't seem too bad, but Vista wasn't exactly universally loved, and some of us still remember Windows ME.

As for price - my Thinkpad was only cheaper than a Macbook Pro because it was refurbished. I don't think it's fair to compare either to a lower-priced consumer-grade PC with similar specs on paper.

<comment><USER5> Because Apple does not throw its own weight around? Ok.

<comment><USER4> I'm not defending Apple here. I'm explaining why people don't like Microsoft.

<comment><USER3> Perhaps you're also describing why people will come to dislike Apple in the future?

<comment><USER4> Perhaps, but I think people dislike Apple now (and probably in the future) because of their insistence on a locked-down and controlled experience regardless of what users and third-party developers want.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> > I will stay away from free products based on Linux and some comodity > servers, I will focus only on commercially supported products with provide > reliability.

A company will feel no shame in using Linux and commodity servers. Not everything needs to have a support contract attached to it, quite the contrary.

My rule is simpler: laptops are macs, servers are linux on commodity machines (or VPS) and windows sits in virtual machines for testing.

<comment><USER7> I believe it was meant as a thought experiment - even when actively avoiding free solutions, your best shot is a non-microsoft setup. That's how I understood the article.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> The article is taking one of two stances, but never formally (or clearly) states which. Either it's arguing that Windows is irrelevant because there is comparable software for no cost, or that the continued existence of Windows as an OS is pointless.

I'll freely admit that I host _all_ my websites on a Linux machine. As a web server Linux is just better for PHP & Ruby. My development is on a Dell Studio 1555 with Windows 7, since I cannot afford the Mac price tag (I even got this one on a $150 off sale!).

But I still don't see why a $20 billion market is "irrelevant".

Now, that $20 billion is partly due to the fact of all the pent up demand for a working version of Vista. Remember that when ME flopped XP sold quite well... so it's not irrational to assume that W7 has prospered thanks to the failure of Vista.

</comment><comment><USER9> ... and so is Linux, apparently, since the world is about to switch to Macs on the desktop. That comes naturally once the admins have had to to learn BSD by picking non-Linux-based server/backend solutions. Excuse me while I go hold my breath.

<comment><USER10> Indeed. And while OSX might have a BSD heritage the command line isn't exactly where it's at with OSX.

Strikes me as being written by someone that does more reading than building.

<comment><USER11> OSX makes me feel nostalgic. Every time I open the terminal, I feel like I am on a VT-100 running Unix on a VAX...

Seriously: having no package management as a central part of the OS is so 70's... The next step could be charging extra for compilers...

<comment><USER12> Installing MacPorts is trivial.

<comment><USER13> Have you ever tried to delete every file that a .pkg installation creates on your hard drive, good luck! I think this is what he was trying to say, even slackware has a better package management than OS X... MacPorts mitigate this for some software but not all, but I still prefer pkgsrc.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> No mention of Sunacle hardware and software?</comment>


Grad Students Are Freaking Out About the GOP Tax Plan. They Should Be - <AUTHOR> https://www.wired.com/story/grad-students-are-freaking-out-about-the-gops-tax-plan-they-should-be/ <comment><USER2> this is difficult to take this seriously when there are people facing real issues out there

<comment><USER3> Define "real issues". Also, explain how other issues change the impact that this new tax code will have on students.

I agree that US's tax code needs to be reformed. I think we need to start working with a much, much smaller budget, because expenditures like the F35 are getting to the point where it's just not justified anymore (400bln for a jet that still isn't complete). The proposed solution would take a group already deep in debt and drastically increase their taxation rate. This is not the solution.</comment></comment>


LinkedIn Is Acquiring Contacts Start-Up Rapportive (YC S10) - <AUTHOR> http://allthingsd.com/20120207/linkedin-is-acquiring-contacts-start-up-rapportive/

<comment><USER2> Rapportive is best amongst the products that add social profiles so this is an awesome outcome. Congratulations to the team!

I always wondered how they could turn it into a business, though. Its useful but tough to say you'd pay for it and Google and others could add it easily, which they have done.

<comment><USER3> One of my Fav tool. I hope its here to stay :) I am not sure if its talent hire.

Rappotive can go to places where even google can't. Google People ( alternative to rappotive ) gives you info only from Google network. They are restricted in a way to go beyond their own network.

Truly a great product ! Congrats to the team.

Sometimes I wonder if its the investors who push for this acquisition. Reading though their blog it seemed Rappotive was building a premium product.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I hope this doesnt get shut down. Rapportive is one of the few things I use _every_ day. LinkedIn kept CardMunch going so I hope they do the same with Rapportive.

<comment><USER5> I doubt they'll shut it down. This is likely a play to compete with Xobni's Smartr for Gmail (though they have a bit different functionality).

<http://www.xobni.com/download/gmail>

<comment><USER6> Is that a market that LinkedIn want to compete in? I can see a tenuous link, but it doesn't seem to be part of their core business. I am sure that time will tell, but I suspect that they bought Rapportive for the talent.

<comment><USER7> Linkedin is completely embedded in my email experience, and they have Rapportive to thank for it. I suspect I'm not the only one, so it probably makes sense to keep the service running.

<comment><USER6> I didn't realise it was such a big deal. Any chance you could spell out what the key benefits are to you? I use LinkedIn to read up (i.e. spy) on people quite a bit if I am going to be working with them but I don't know why this would be useful for people who are already emailing me.

<comment><USER7> Sure. The key benefit in a nutshell: it makes context switching less painful.

I'm introduced by email to a lot of people I don't know - new and potential customers, new and potential partners, lots and lots of potential hires, etc. A fair number of these introductions evolve into two-way conversations. And, as probably everybody here, my overall dose of email is way too high.

The result of all this is constant context switching between too many mental threads. Rapportive makes each context switch slightly easier. In aggregate that saves me immense amounts of mental cycles.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Title should be "LinkedIn may be acquiring Rapportive".

Neither company has commented, and Gannes' unnamed source doesn't appear to know whether the deal has closed.

<comment> why-el is acquiring works too, as they are in process of getting acquired. :)

<comment><USER8> For context, this submission's original title on HN was "LinkedIn Acquires Contacts Start-Up Rapportive (YC S10)". About an hour ago, it was changed to "is acquiring" to better reflect the linked article's headline on AllThingsD, as I'd suggested above.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I invested in etacts which didn't get very far, so I ended up passing on Rapportive. Wonder if I made a mistake.

<comment><USER10> At this point it looks like you might have answered your own question.

<comment><USER9> Not all acquisitions are good for investors.

<comment><USER11> Based on numbers from TechCrunch, looks like investors got a 3.75x.

According to TC: Rapportive raised 1M on 3M pre and got acquired for 15M.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Wow, congratulations! I wonder if they'll post about how being bought by a public corporation is different from a late-stage private startup.

</comment><comment><USER13> Great for them! I've used Rapportive for a while and always been happy with the service, even though I've never paid a dime.

</comment><comment><USER7> Congrats to a fellow YCS10 company! The Rapportive team rocks.

</comment><comment><USER14> Great tool & a great outcome for Rahul & team. Congratulations.

Has been one of the most useful tools for me as it just pulls up all the necessary profile information based on email id. Hope it doesn't get shut down or trivialized because of the acquisition.

</comment><comment><USER15> Not a half bad deal, as long as LinkedIn doesn't screw with the already working systems Rapportive has. Maybe they can add more data from LinkedIn profiles with it?

</comment><comment><USER16> Congrats to the founders! I hope they keep it going as it is. Maybe with some deeper LinkedIn integration! (that would be great)

</comment><comment><USER17> This bodes well for the other start-ups in the personal CRM arena, Contactually, Xobni, etc. More funding and M&A to follow.

</comment><comment><USER18> I think the business model is definitely to sell to someone else consolidating in the sector. I use this and have used Xobni but don't need the services enough to pay for them like most people I suspect. It's genuinely useful for people who don't know how their email search works and for those who want to track people down though.

</comment><comment><USER19> Used this product from its early beta. It is pretty useful. Happy for the Rapportive team. They have slacked off in the recent past, probably because of the acquisition. I have started using Xobni's Smartr for the past week, because of their mobile app.

</comment><comment><USER20> Did Gmail not integrate similar functionality into the latest version? A good acquire.

</comment><comment><USER21> Anyone have any insight into LinkedIn's strategy with this acquisition? Have seen them nab a few other companies in the space. Talent grabs? Curious to hear your thoughts.

</comment><comment><USER22> Great, now I'll have to stop using this tool. Rapportive is great, but who knows how long before I'll have to opt out of LinkedIn putting my photo next to ads or something crazy like that. Not that a company would ever do something so audacious...but never know.

</comment><comment><USER23> Wow, congratulations guys.

</comment><comment><USER24> Odds that LinkedIn shuts the service down if they are acquired?

<comment><USER8> Not as high as many other companies. They've acquired 2 consumer-facing startups so far: CardMunch, which they rebranded and re-released, and Connected, which they've kept going without any changes.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> I think the word "acquired" is used a bit too loosely these days. If this business' operations get shut down then it's not really an exit in the traditional sense, and I don't think people shouldn't be congratulating a whole company for giving up, quitting their jobs, and getting 9-5 jobs at a corporation.</comment>