A theory on how insulin resistance, metabolic disease begin - <AUTHOR> http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-09-theory-insulin-resistance-metabolic-disease.html <comment><USER2> My capstone project was actually about how sugar affects metabolism. There is a lot of interesting research and unexpected interactions in this area.

One of the things that is most interesting is that they have found the same proteins that form our taste buds in the walls of our small intestine. It appears that the gut "tastes" food and "tells" the body what kind of food is coming and how to prepare for it. One of these pathways ends up producing insulin.

The interesting thing when it comes to sugar is that sweetness is not directly correlated with caloric content (or glycemic index, which is the measure of the sugar insulin actually works on). An obvious example are artificial sugars, which taste incredibly sweet and have zero calories. Natural sugars vary in sweetness as well though - using sucrose/table sugar as a baseline, fructose is 1.73 times sweeter for its caloric content. Furthermore, fructose a glycemic index of 19, compared to 55 for table sugar.

This is really interesting because body regulates hormone levels with feedback loops. So, if the taste buds in your gut taste sweetness and initially trigger a release of insulin that would be appropriate for table sugar, you could have 5 times more insulin floating around in your blood stream than your body was expecting. This might trigger some of these sugar taste buds to stop sending the signal to release insulin when they taste sweetness.

Worst case scenario is when someone drinks a diet pop on an empty stomach. All of the sudden there is the HUGE burst of sweetness, with no sugar in the bloodstream for the insulin to bind to.

This might seem very speculative, but there is some physical evidence that the body actually behaves this way. When a gastric bypass is preformed, a length of the small intestine closest to the stomach is removed. This section would have the most deactivated "taste buds", since it would be receiving the full load of unabsorbed sugars from the stomach. "Taste buds" further down the small intestine would not be deactivated because they haven't been triggering falsely.

Indeed, after the surgery, people appear to lose weight much faster than expected based on their previous metabolic rate, and their diabetic symptoms decrease far more than expected as well.

The question I get asked the most after talking about this is whether it's better to drink diet pop or normal pop. Unfortunately, it appears the best thing to do is to not drink pop at all. Limiting your sugar intake is a good idea for a lot of reasons, and soda is just far too sweet and/or too sugary to be healthy as a regular part of your diet.

<comment><USER3> Interesting. What do you think about sugarless gum? I chew it because it helps with my acid reflux. I'm wondering if it might cause a spike in insulin, like diet soda would.

I guess one good thing is I usually chew it after a meal, but I do occasionally chew on an empty stomach if I'm having trouble burping.

<comment><USER4> The amount of artificial sweetener in a can of diet soda is going to weigh an order of magnitude more than your one piece of gum (which is mostly made of an undisgestible polymer anyway, with very little in the way of actual flavorings). You might as well dissolve a packet of splenda in an eye dropper and take a few drops.

<comment><USER5> I understand the GP's comment a bit differently. What matters is how much the taste buds are stimulated, not the amount of artificial sweeteners. If that is true, the sugarless chewing gum is many many times worse than the diet soda. The drink passes through your mouth in a few seconds, the gum stays in contact with your tong for half an hour (or more).

<comment><USER2> Ah, I see. I guess I've been unclear. The taste buds in your mouth don't cause the insulin response. There are separate taste buds embedded in the wall of your small intestine that activate the insulin response, and play a role in insulin resistance.

On a somewhat related note, my non-expert opinion is that sugarless gum is probably still better for you than gum with actual sugar in it for reasons relating to oral heath.

<comment><USER3> Thanks for the clarification. Much clearer now.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> And here's the link to the paper itself: [http://www.jci.org/articles/view/81993](http://www.jci.org/articles/view/81993)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> I think this is the most interesting point:

>The new findings suggest fatty liver disease may be a red herring, Herman said. The likely cause of insulin resistance may not be the buildup of fat in the liver, as commonly believed, but rather the processes activated by ChREBP, which may then contribute to the development of both fatty liver and increased glucose production.

</comment><comment><USER7> >> If we can develop drugs to target this process, this may be a way to prevent the process early in the development of the disease

Always gotta come up with a new drug. Why not just eat a diet with no added sugar?

<comment><USER8> There's no money in eating less sugar.

These pharmaceutical companies are interested in one thing - making money, and therefore they need everyone to be a "customer" by taking one of their pills every day. This means even if there are simple (i.e. non patent-able) solutions to health problems, you won't see them pushing it - instead you'll see them ACTIVELY work to prevent it.

A good example is the recent case where these companies have spent $880 million in the last 10 years working against marijuana legalization, even though studies are showing that it can work as a good pain killer replacement for the more deadly opioids that they are eager to hand out.

See: [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4d69f4b41cbc475ca42f424524003...](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4d69f4b41cbc475ca42f424524003d21/drugmakers- fought-state-opioid-limits-amid-crisis)

<comment><USER9> While I can agree that the blame for continued marijuana criminalization falls to some extent with pharma companies, I don't think that I can 100% agree with the sugar aspect.

If pharma develops a pill for this it's because people want to eat sugar. This will be the same for pills that eliminate hangovers (should they exist), why not just quit drinking?

Simple answer is that people want to do these things, and neither should be criminalized, nor should marijuana be criminalized. Eliminating the side- effects of these products will probably be dangerous (with even more side- effects, but different ones), but I guarantee that there will still be a market for them -- especially if people can eat and drink what they want and avoid obesity, even at the cost of other aspects of their health.

I really dislike pharma for attempting to continue criminalizing things like marijuana and kratom, but to apply the same logic to a pill that keeps people from gaining weight or avoiding diabetes while eating what they want is an entirely separate issue ethically and logically.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> What about people who eat high fruit and blame diabetes on fat intake? Can someone elaborate? These two individuals are crushing more than 30 fruits a day with high glycemic loads

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

[http://mindfuldiabetic.com/coaching/](http://mindfuldiabetic.com/coaching/)

<comment><USER11> They are probably wrong about the fat causing problems...

That said, if they are eating raw, whole, fruits with most of their fiber intact (and from the look of their site, they are) they are reducing the glycemic index of the foods they eat.

Many processed foods are bad, not simply because they are processed, but that a massive amount of the fiber in the original food is removed. Fiber is a glycemic moderator, foods with high fibers have lower glycemic indexes. For example if you juice an orange, you've pretty much made kool-aid, it's junk food now. If you instead try to eat as many oranges in a glass of orange juice you would feel full before you finished and consumed a lower amount of calories because of that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Does this mean insulin resistance can be partially mitigated by switching to glucose and avoiding fructose completely?

</comment><comment><USER13> tl; dr: A mouse study (corroborated by _in vitro_ experiments with human liver tissue) found that a liver signaling protein, ChREBP, is activated by fructose consumption and causes the liver to produce glucose in a way that isn't shut down by high insulin levels. IMO this is not so much a "new theory" as an insight into the behavior of a particular pathway that would be part of a theory.

</comment><comment><USER14> The only misleading word here is "new."

Edit: Thanks admins for fixing.

<comment><USER15> I haven't heard of ChREBP before. Is it something that has been well known in the research community for awhile? Has there been consensus as to its role in the disease pathway, or is it recent?

(I took two semesters of immunology in my biochem undergrad--courses that I would have expected to cover this. I was never exposed to literature or material on this protein. I also haven't heard of it in the primary literature I do occasionally still read.)

<comment><USER14> The most major finding, which appears to be this:

> The study found that fructose initiates a process that causes the liver to > keep making glucose and raising blood glucose levels, even as insulin tries > to keep glucose production in check.

Is not ground-breaking. It's how the liver metabolizes fructose. The liver can't respond to insulin because it _needs_ to metabolize the fructose.

<comment><USER15> I don't think that's fair. This is just a press publication; we'd need the actual paper to see what its specific claims are. Besides, very little in science is "ground-breaking" at first. Scientific progress happens most often through an accumulation of evidence over time.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> The connection to the consumption of animal products to diabetes is rarely the focus but we know there is a big connection. Consider Kempner's Rice Diet which used sugar to successfully treat diabetes! So I doubt sugar is a sufficient condition. This is politics not science.

<comment><USER17> I've never heard of a connection between consuming animal products and diabetes. Perhaps you can expand on this.

<comment><USER18> I recognize the text pattern from before. Pretty sure I've dealt with this user before, on articles about Diabetes.

In the end, it's a whole lot of breathlessness about veganism will "fix diabetes". Of course, no citations, or cited articles that are completely 180deg out of phase.

I know what worked for me, was a form of Atkins diet (extremely low carbohydrate diet) backed up with my glucometer. I plot trends of foods, and how they respond to me. My limit is 140mG/dL, where we know neurons in agar petri dish die.

Yes, my diet consists of a lot more meats, veggies, cheese, some nuts, some 'dryer' fruits. But no bread, rice, sugar, or things that cause my body to rise.

<comment><USER14> What fruits do you allow yourself to eat? I've cut out fruits entirely and miss them greatly.

<comment><USER18> My experience is, I can still have: blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries (well, some), a little bit of apple (we're talking about splitting a tart apple half with wife), and some grapes.

It's not 100% true, but the more tart, the better in terms of sugars. More fiber also helps slow down absorption... But 10g fructose = 10g fructose, no matter what else you put with it.

EDIT: I figured these out the hard way. Go get a cheap glucometer. ReliOn brand is good at Wal-Mart. $25 meter, 9$/50 strips. And eat foods you like. Test before you eat, and 1/2 hour increments afterwards for 2 hours. Wash- rinse-repeat :) Make your own decisions based on your own health data.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Fear of the Launch - <AUTHOR> http://www.startupclarity.com/blog/fear-of-the-launch/ <comment><USER2> Hi Charlie. I'm glad you finally revealed yourself. You're writing fantastic articles and help others find the motivation to push forward. This is going to be so much better now that you are out in the open.

</comment><comment><USER3> Resonates so much. So, so many people never launch because of that fear. Good advice to reduce all the pressure on the single launch event. You can launch as many times as you want.</comment>


Weekend hack: A little tiled window manager for OS X - <AUTHOR> http://github.com/fjolnir/Spectacle

<comment><USER2> I've been using Spectacle for a while and I am working on a port of Xmonad to OSX:

<https://github.com/pufuwozu/osxmonad>

So I was really interested in trying out this fork. A couple of problems:

* Doesn't look like tiling is automatic, you still have to tell each window which side of the screen to tile on (by using Command+Option)

* I was using it for a minute before it crashed - which I didn't even notice

If those two little problems were fixed I think I could definitely use this until I get my version of Xmonad working properly.

<comment><AUTHOR> * I'm not planning to make it automatically manage all windows. That would never work correctly on os x, unless you have a huge display. One thing I'm adding is to make it keep windows that have been tiled already, at their correct size (so if you move a window from the left to the right, the remaining windows on the left will also be resized correctly)

* The crash, I will obviously have to fix :)

<comment><USER3> > That would never work correctly on os x, unless you have a huge display.

That seems like a non sequitur. The whole point of a tiling window manager is that you can map windows in and out of the grid -- they don't all have to be on screen at once.

<comment><AUTHOR> There's no way for me to know the min/max size of a window in order to verify it can be automatically inserted into the grid. A lot of mac apps set their minimum window sizes to an annoyingly large value, making tiling those windows impossible on my 11" macbook air.

Also keeping track of individual windows through the accessibility api is not a trivial task

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Looks great; been looking for something like this. I've really enjoyed using Slate[1] for OSX window management - it has great file based configuration and lots of options - often wish it had something a bit more straightforward like automatic tiling window layouts.

[1] <https://github.com/jigish/slate>

<comment><USER5> I submitted Slate separately after seeing this post ;)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Looks similar to [Divvy](<http://mizage.com/divvy/>), which I bought a while ago and now use about every 30 seconds ;)

<comment><USER7> I use Divvy also, which I love and couldn't imagine not having it anymore. Any advantage to this one?

<comment><AUTHOR> ..well, it tiles your windows

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Tyler came so close to Xmonad on OS X but for some reason there is a stall in development. The explicit nature of this doesn't quite make it a tiling window manager; however, it is definitely one of the best options I have found for the Mac platform so far. Kudos for the fork and I hope it grows!

</comment><comment><USER9> _"This is a fork that turns Spectacles into a tiled window manager, that means that if you move a window to the left/right and one already occupies that space, both are resized to fit."_

Is this the new definition of a tiling window manager?

<comment><USER10> I could see this behavoir "if you move a window to the left/right and one already occupies that space, both are resized to fit". What happens exactly?

<comment><USER9> I am not sure what you are asking. If you "could see" the behavior what is it that you do not understand about what happens?

Not trying to be a nitpicky jerk, genuinely interested in answering your question if I can.

<comment><USER10> Sorry. I meant "I couldn't see".

When I move a second window to left-half of the screen with Cmd+opt+Left, it just resizes and moves there on top of the previous window, the 2 windows aren't tiled one at the top, one at the bottom of the left-half of the screen. I assumed that's what it should do.

<comment><AUTHOR> Maybe you downloaded from spectacleapp.com rather than <https://github.com/fjolnir/spectacle/downloads> which is the binary for this fork.

<comment><USER10> This is embarrassing. Yes, that's that I did. Thanks :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I've been using xmonad on arch linux for five months now and it's been amazing. Rock solid stability and no wasted space on the screen, no wasted time arranging windows. Multi-monitor support is second to none. I can't go back.

<comment><USER12> My tools of choice for over two years now. I've had a very similar experience, xmonad is simply the most stable (read: consistent) window manger I've used.

At work I need to use a mac, however, and SizeUp has been good to me. Can't wait to try this one.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> I've been trying to find a good window management tool for OS X since I switched in January. This is the first free tool I've found.

I installed the binary but have a really weird issue. It takes 10-15 seconds from the time I press a key to the time that the action is taken. During this time period, the Spectacle icon on the menu bar has a spinning cursor.

Maybe I'll try the original Spectacle app to see if there's a difference and I'll report the issue.

<comment><AUTHOR> Please do, it's happened once on this machine as well. And didn't go away until I restarted the computer. Seems like the accessibility system gets thrown in some sort of weird state.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Is there a binary available? App store?

edit: Ah, just saw the link to <http://spectacleapp.com/>

<comment><USER14> Actually dont see much advantage of the many features of moom. (<http://manytricks.com/moom/>) Which I have been using now for quite a while and am very happy with.

<comment><USER15> For some people, free is an advantage.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I played around with Safari, Chrome, Terminal, MacVim and iTerm. It works for Safari, Chrome and Terminal, but moving MacVim and iTerm to the left doesn't tile them, they just occupy the left of the screen entirely.

MacVim and iTerm also are slightly wider when at the left and slightly narrower when at the right (their left + right width fills the entire screen).

Anyone else experience this too?

</comment><comment><USER16> Exactly what I've been needing! Downloading it.

I've felt so useless on OSX after having started using a dynamic tiling wm at work.

</comment><comment><USER17> I use SizeUp <http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/>

</comment><comment><USER18> Dude, you keep churning out awesome things. I was just looking at the tiny lua cocoa bridge, really well done.

</comment><comment><USER19> As an avid Spectacle user, I look forward to giving this fork a try!

</comment><comment><USER20> port search shiftit

ShiftIt @1.5 (aqua) Managing windows size and position in OS X

<comment><USER5> I don't think ShiftIt has been updated since 10.6</comment></comment>


What to choose – web design or web development? - <AUTHOR> Hi everyone!
First of all, i'm sorry for my english :) But i need your help and recommendations.
It so happens that I am equally well aware of the coding and have creative abilities. The last couple of years doing the sites, writing the code (html, css, small part of jquery) and do the design.
But... I can not decide which direction to choose?
Serious web-development requires maximum immersion in it (it's not just html, css, js, but php, ajax, mysql, etc). And many people believe that there will be no time for design. On the other hand, a lot of opinions think that a web-designer should know html, css, js and even a little more. What is the truth? :) I'm from Russia, i was born in Ukraine, and we have a opinion, that web-designer - is a person who is engaged in design only. He does not write the codeб does not know the php and only creates design.
Is it possible to be a man of the two in one? (web-design and web-development)
Is it worth it?
Or is it better to choose one thing (web-design or web-development) and to deal with it all?
Thank you for attention! <comment><USER2> I think if you have a good eye for design and you are a good coder you can do both. I'm no designer but I have a love of writing code and learning about software development and I am, at the moment, a front end developer. I don't design things, but I can put together something that looks OK. You will find people who can do both. You will also find areas of work where the requirement to be an expert or really good at one or the other mean that you cannot devote enough time to the other for it to be worth your while.

</comment><comment><USER3> Try to engage in small projects that allow you to test the waters and decide for yourself which one you like best. These fields are related but differ greatly in many respects. For example, client interaction is very profound for web designers.</comment>


Startups: Execute 8 times faster by solving the real problems ahead of you - <AUTHOR> http://eventlake.posterous.com/dont-solve-problems-that-may-occur-solve-prob-40104

<comment><USER2> Read Rework. :-)

<comment><AUTHOR> Already read it but didn't learn the lessons. ;-) I had to fail to really learn it

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I really wanted to execute 9 times faster.</comment>


Microsoft Support for Windows 7 Is Ending Next Month - <AUTHOR> https://expd8.com/microsoft-support-for-windows-7-is-ended-soon/ <comment><USER2> From the article:

>The first option is to buy the Windows 10 upgrade. The second option is to purchase an Office 365 subscription, which comes with a Windows 10 upgrade included.

I am not sure if this still works so I would not use this in a business environment without consulting a Windows licensing expert. Also someone who deals with licensing on Windows devices could probably clarify why this option shouldn't be done.

With all that said, as of 2 months ago I ran the windows 10 media creation tool on a personal computer with Windows 7 Pro installed. This allowed me to upgraded the PC to windows 10 and retain all apps/personal files for free. Now the computer has Windows 10 Pro, and the license activated and appears valid.

I do not want to advocate doing something illegal or get someone in licensing problems, I just wanted to make people aware that running the Media Creation tool on a PC with a valid Win 7 install will upgrade it to Windows 10 and appear valid/activated when finished.</comment>


Ask HN: Why there is a rise in WiFi hotspot market? - <AUTHOR> Despite the fact that the mobile internet is more affordable nowadays, all the reports I could find online claims that the WiFi hotspot market is expanding year by year.
There is a certain increase in demand in the markets where people, before the rise of mobile internet, had to want, because there wasn't other options. i.e: cafes, restaurants, inter-city busses and etc. And right now even though the mobile internet has become more accessible and affordable, the demand in these areas still seem to be persistent and even increasing. I've talked to many people and all say the same thing: "We don't connect to WiFi in cafes or restaurants or buses anymore. We use the mobile net".
What is the reason this market is expanding? What I'm missing?
Any ideas? <comment><USER2> The cancer that is marketing/advertising is driving this. It's true that people don't need a hotspot (the experience connecting to one is also awful, and often the backhaul is a single, shitty DSL connection anyway so much slower than even 3G).

Marketing/advertising pushes this to retailers as yet another way to stalk customers, get their details, etc and I guess the snake oil is working if the market is expanding. It's artificially created demand though; outside of the very low class everyone has access to more than enough mobile data and very few actually need to use these hotspots. Eventually the bubble is gonna pop.

</comment><comment><USER3> > We don't connect to WiFi in cafes or restaurants or buses anymore. We use > the mobile net.

My bet is that this comes only from people with full time jobs. The world is still full of youth or unemployment where free WiFi still makes sense.

And with a more affordable data plan there is also a increasing amount of data to be transferred with higher bitrates, more megapixels and more video content in general -- I guess it equals out for an everyday user.

</comment><comment><USER4> In the city I'm living in (Italy) buildings are old (and with 2 ft stone walls, on average) so that mobile phones can only rely on wifi when you are indoors. I think this may apply to any old (like several centuries old) city. I don't know if cities of this kind are enough to make a statistically relevant case.

</comment><comment><USER5> Do people really use cellular on laptops? Also, cellular is still painfully expensive in the US, and even unlimited plans get throttled.

</comment><comment><USER6> Does that include people who are travelling?</comment>


Ask HN: Why hasn't anyone made a mobile app for Phabricator? - <AUTHOR> Recently we switched to Phabricator, and I can't wrap my brain around how such a sophisticated tool, has no way to check in via Android/iOS apps.
edit, thanks marvel_boy for asking for some more info:
Short Description: Phabricator is an open-source software development platform. In Wikimedia, Phabricator is used for project management, software bug reporting and feature requests (see How to report a bug), and in the future also for code review in an integrated fashion. Link: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Phabricator
Here is a link to Wikimedia's Phabricator in action: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/ <comment><USER2> Phabricator is built by 2 people (I am the designer half of the team) so bandwidth for a mobile app is essentially nill. It is designed & built fully responsive though, and light on the wire. You should be able to use the web version on your phone with no issues.

<comment><AUTHOR> Well, you guys have made a product my team loves. I will look into making a simple android widget for my company this week based on phabricator's mobile webpage. High likelyhood that I'll be thwarted by my lack of Java skills, but if not I will definitely let you know how it goes. Thanks for all your work.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> This looks like a very nimble Jira/Confluence replacement (of sorts). Has anyone got any experience moving from the Atlassian products to Phabricator? I'd be interested to hear how you found the migration and what the gotchas are.

</comment><comment><USER4> How much are you willing to pay for a Phabricator app?

<comment><AUTHOR> Actually, I was thinking of making it myself to learn more about mobile apps as it's been awhile since I made my first and only.

Though, as I looked into Phabricator I realized it was very extensive, and I was surprised and very curious why a mobile app didn't exist. I thought maybe there was a reason I didn't understand yet.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> What is Phabricator? Any link?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks marvel_boy. As I learned this week, it is a software project management tool.

Short Description: Phabricator is an open-source software development platform. In Wikimedia, Phabricator is used for project management, software bug reporting and feature requests (see How to report a bug), and in the future also for code review in an integrated fashion. Link: [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Phabricator](https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Phabricator)

Here is a link to Wikimedia's Phabricator in action: [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/](https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/)</comment></comment>


NASA predicted human caused 'ice age' in 1971... - <AUTHOR> http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=275267681833290

<comment><USER2> Let me preface this by saying that the 1971 doom-prophecies do cast a bad light on global warming and the change of opinion needs to be publicly addressed by Hansen.

Now, having said that...this article appears to have been written in an Exxon boardroom by a committee of chuckling robber-barrons in top hats...being served a puree made from the hearts of orphans.

<comment><USER3> Logic 101: just because Exxon might have written a report against AGW it doesn't automatically mean that it's false and can be dismissed without further consideration

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

<comment><USER4> It doesn't mean that it can immediately be dismissed, but you can certainly take into account prior or perceived behaviour of a party when making a claim, especially if they have strong economic motive to deceive you.

<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=691641>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> What is it with this crusade against people who have a problem with large amounts of C02 emissions? Why believe people who, for the most part, have every reason to lie (Hannity, Glenn Beck, Exxon executives) over the majority of credentialed scientists? Experiment for you: Take 2 thermometers. Take 2 bottles. Put a thermometer in 1. Close it. Set a match on fire. Put it in the second bottle, enclosed with the thermometer (this will cause CO2 to be created). Read both thermometers after a few hours, to negate any temperature difference that may be caused by the fire. One will read a higher temperature. Guess which one? Guess why? Mail results to Fox News for extra credit. [/Flame off]

<comment><USER3> Why would that simple experiment with bottles be analogous to our atmosphere?

<comment><USER4> The first bottle contains the ratio of elements as contained in our atmosphere. The second has an increased ratio of C02 in proportion to the remaining nitrogen, oxygen, and trace elements. The CO2 bottle would have a greater thermal retention coefficient than the bottle with the normal proportion and would exhibit a greater increase in temperature if exposed to sunlight. Greater ratio of Co2, greater ratio of IR energy retention.

<comment><USER3> Our atmosphere has clouds, aerosols, cosmic rays and solar forcing effects too. Plus the bottle experiment assumes that there will be no scaling problems.

<comment><USER5> Sure. And there are plenty more effects you haven't even mentioned. What about the changing population ratio between people with white skin and dark skin? More dark skin means more heat absorption which means more global warming.

Of course the effect is probably 1 zillionth the size of the effect of CO2, but apparently thats irrelevant to global warming skeptics. I'll admit the effect cosmic rays on cloud formation is quite creative, but I think their are even more ridiculous and irrelevant effects out their if you were really trying.

The only honest scientific rebuttal of AGW at this stage is a model inclusive of all known effects (including CO2) that predicts current temperature patterns better than AGW models do. Positing inputs to the system without reference to magnitude and other inputs is absolutely insufficient.

<comment><USER3> "The only honest scientific rebuttal of AGW at this stage is a model inclusive of all known effects (including CO2) that predicts current temperature patterns better than AGW models do."

It would be sufficient rebuttal of the AGW model to simply show that temperatures don't rise as predicted. A model to predict the future stands or falls on it's ability to predict the future.

For example if I had a model of the stock market that failed to predict the market that model couldn't be be considered to be correct so long as nobody could come up with a better model. The failure of my stock market model to predict the future would be enough to show that my model didn't work.

<comment><USER5> I concede that the future is the absolute measure of a prediction. But its not a very powerful tool for deciding to act or not in any situation before that future arrives.

If you had a stock market model that's based on very observable micro effects and your model predicts past stock prices well, would you use it to invest? Of course the answer very much depends on your levels of certainty, but if you don't invest now you won't make any money.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> You see? You see? Sometimes scientists are _wrong_! Since experts are unable to predict the possibly dramatic results of climate change, it means we, who know nothing about meteorology or climate modelling, have carte blanche to ignore everything they say and pollute as much as possible!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to drive my 1.5 children to Little League in a Hummer.</comment>


What I Know About Being Sick at Work (2018) - <AUTHOR> https://blog.bonnieeisenman.com/blog/being-sick-at-work/ <comment><USER2> > _One of my coworkers was really insistent on me going, so I finally snapped, > "$NAME, I'll go if you'll push my wheelchair the whole day!" This was Very > Awkward, but IMO I was just surfacing the existing awkwardness: my very > well-meaning coworker was already making it awkward by not believing me > about my own abilities. Sometimes a Bad Joke can snap people into realizing > what they're doing._

I would be totally down to push a coworker in a wheelchair if they really did want to go and this was the only thing preventing them from joining us. Like my response to that woulda been "sure"

</comment><comment><USER3> > Over-justifying myself

That one resonated a lot. It looks to me like in a lot of micromanaged places people need to over-explain why they need to Work From Home or leave early or take a sick day. I have struggled with that also but for the last couple of months I have decided to state the fact without any justification. For example "I will leave at 2PM today" or "I'm taking a sick day today".

If you (over)justify yourself it sounds like you don't have a good enough reason to start with. And on top of that I'm an adult and don't need to justify myself for those type of things.

</comment><comment><USER4> This is a really thoughtful article.

Expectations and norms are what come to mind.

For orgs: expect that disabilities can be invisible and need accommodations

For individuals: expect that you will need to advocate for yourself (especially before awareness grows)

I think that's a good starting place (not an end point!) to get orgs to what Bonnie says:

> _People take their cues from you, if you act like your accommodations are > normal other people will tend to react similarly._

From there orgs can work to deliberately increase their awareness > understanding > and accommodation of disabilities any of their talent may have.

</comment><comment><USER5> Very thoughtful author. I would like to get her thoughts on where a employeer should draw the line on staying that a disability cannot be accommodated. For example, someone who had a light sensitivity as well as PTSD may need to work in a dark quiet environment. How far does the company go to support that need?

<comment><USER6> If the company wants employment to be a success, rather than a temporary period of grudging extraction of value through pain, then they have to go as far as is necessary to accommodate the employee.

The details will be different for every case, but generous work from home rules can help a lot.

<comment><USER7> Why? It's not self-evident that _as far as is necessary_ is the correct answer here. If the costs are far outstripping the value delivered by the employee, then at the very least it's become a question of disabled rights, and not a business decision.

There's clearly a limit to the reasonable accommodations we can expect of an employer.

<comment><USER8> I don't know if you realize what you've done here.

They said accommodate as far as is _necessary_. _Necessary_ literally means that it is _needed_. There is a statement of correctness built into the word.

And you are objecting that necessary is needed? As in, wait wait a moment here. I think we should do less than necessary.

Arguing where to draw that line is one thing. But as worded, you appear to be advocating below minimum requirements.

<comment><USER7> You've misread me.

The question is as follows: how much accommodation should be made for an employee with a disability?

The answer is clearly not _As much as is necessary to enable the employment of that person, regardless of the cost or circumstance_.

pjc50 appeared to be suggesting exactly this answer, hence my reply.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment> Joe-Z Great post! The general point of "being honest with yourself and the people around you" is something much more people should take to heart, regardless of any existing medical conditions. It makes life so much easier and once you have a clearly defined problem you can start working on an effective solution. It all comes down to software engineering, really ;)

</comment><comment><USER9> I don't need accomodations at work, personally. However, I am a big advocate for making sure that the people who do feel included. Maybe it's because I'm a minority in other ways.

I interviewed at a very large company and it was very nice when the recruiter asked me directly if I need accomodations for the interview. That's the good thing about large companies, they tend to put much more thought into that sort of thing.

Sounds to me this woman would benefit from one of those walkers with a built in seat. They have built in storage which would accomodate a laptop and there would always be a seat.

<comment><USER10> > I don't need accomodations at work, personally. However, I am a big advocate > for making sure

Yeah, this post reminded me of the adage about programming for accessibility: the need for assistance doesn't even need to be permanent; we're all "disabled", or going to be, at some point, and in different ways and degrees.

Having a culture of normality around people adjusting their environment as needed benefits everyone. (Including the business, in the end!)

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I did like this article a lot. I recently acquired asthma out of the blue and struggled a lot with asking people to accomodate. Need vs Request is especially hard. I've had breathing issues when we changed the office building but real estate said it's too expensive to call in cleaners out of their usual once-a-year schedule, even when my manager chimed in. I was afraid to escalate past that because I didn't want to be a hassle. As a result I had to suffer through it for 6 months before I changed teams and moved buildings. Looking back on it I should've made a statement and stuck with it because the 6 months of wheezing and subpar work because I was constantly suffering wasn't worth it to me or my company.

</comment><comment><USER12> I really liked this article. A lot of the things mentioned seem to be necessary because the author has "passing privilege", but some are necessary due to poor management practices. Stand ups and in person meetings are two spots where this frequently happens.

I've inherited teams where everyone needs to stand during standup, or worse, where they do the push-up/plank thing if you want to speak. It shouldn't take a great manager to realize these actions are exclusionary and have nothing to do with their job. Yes, I've gotten pushback from teams when I've told them to stop doing it during "their standup", but that's something we need to do as leaders.

Likewise for meetings, if you're holding a meeting and people are standing or sitting on the floor, ask yourself, why are they there, how should they participate, and what should they take out of a meeting. It's unlikely they'll be able to meet those goals in the physical space you've secured. As the person running the meeting, it's your job to change the location rather than drumming on because it two weeks to schedule the meeting.

Great managers think about these things ahead of time rather than setting up exclusionary environments.

<comment><USER13> > they do the push-up/plank thing if you want to speak

I don't know what that specific practice is, and I think I really really don't want to know.

<comment><USER14> You have to plank while speaking, in order to motivate people to speak succinctly. Obviously disadvantages people who aren't physically fit as they literally don't get to contribute as much!

<comment><USER15> What does "plank" mean in this situation? Dict doesn't seem to help.

<comment><USER16> It's a sort of exercise where you hold yourself in a position as though you're going to do a push up, so supporting your body weight on your feet and either hands or your forearms while suspending your body a few inches off the floor. The aim is to just hold this position for as long as you can, normally.

See: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plank_(exercise)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plank_\(exercise\))

Good core exercise, probably inappropriate for meetings.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Let the Phone Pick Up the Tab - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2007/tc20070508_554969.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories <comment><USER2> I saw no mention of textpayme. Do they stand a chance against big players?</comment>


Sandy Munro Talks About Tesla in China - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DucRxWz_58 <comment><AUTHOR> basically, sandy says that while elon's business antics are a separate thing, but from a purely manufacturing/engineering point of view, Tesla is miles ahead.

And with whatever cost savings they will make in china, this will make it all the worthwhile, especially since Elon Musk seems to be getting special treatment from the Chinese government, that even existing Chinese companies like NIO don't seem to be getting.

He says that his tesla model 3 report breakdown is selling as hot cakes, which means a lot of car companies want to copy Tesla's homework.

And while he still has a lot of criticisms for many of the manufacturing processes, he now thinks that perhaps tesla might not have been wrong by bring such obviously outsourced items such as seats.</comment>


Vim.js - JavaScript port of Vim - <AUTHOR> http://coolwanglu.github.io/vim.js/web/vim.html <comment><USER2> Rule 34 for software: If it exists, there IS a javascript port of it.

<comment><USER3> That would be Atwood's Law: any application that can be written in JavaScript, will eventually be written in JavaScript.

[http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/07/the-principle-of- le...](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/07/the-principle-of-least- power.html)

And tlrobinson's Law (or corollary?): Any submission to Hacker News about a novel JavaScript program will contain a comment referencing Atwood's Law.

[https://twitter.com/tlrobinson/status/395636386671235072](https://twitter.com/tlrobinson/status/395636386671235072)

<comment><USER4> PatientZero's law: Any submission to Hacker News about a novel Java script program containing a reference to Atwood's law will contain a reference to tlrobinson's law.

;-)

<comment><USER5> ...authored by tlrobinson?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm normally unimpressed by applications ported to javascript. However, this actually has me excited. I would love to be able to edit all my Dropbox text files with a web interface. If anyone here works for Dropbox, I beg you to integrate this!

<comment><USER7> [http://dillinger.io/](http://dillinger.io/) you already can

<comment><USER8> There is also [http://stackedit.io](http://stackedit.io)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Really cool! It even supported doing things like:

        inoremap jj <Esc>`^

Backspace ended up triggering the browser's back action though. Other than that, this is really nice.

Edit: After looking at the source, this seems to make use of emscripten to reuse Vim's existing source code. This really makes me wonder what other cool things we can bring over to the client side.

<comment><USER10> … There are still browsers that use backspace for navigation?

(I'm a little surprised by this because I've seen _so_ many complaints about it leading to data loss.)

<comment><USER11> _I_ use backspace for navigation. What's the alternative? Use a mouse?

<comment><USER12> Alt-Left.

<comment><USER13> On Mac OS X, the standard shortcut is Command-[ instead (and Command-] is Forward).

<comment><USER14> I generally use three fingers swipe to the left.

<comment><USER15> As do I. Actually, if I have a mouse, I tend to right click, then hit back, it's the first option.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> This... Plus Gmail... Man that's fantastic. I have sent an embarrassing number of emails that end with :wq.

Once you try Vim, it's really hard to go back. I also tried using mutt instead of GMail, and while it gets me 90% of the way there, the lack of graphical preview of attachments and things like filters and HelloSign make GMails web interface more useful.

<comment><USER17> Who uses :wq when you can use :x?

<comment><USER16> I save very often using :w. When I want to save and exit my brain is now hard- wired to do :wq. It would probably take a year for me to train myself to use :x, which is arguably just as slow since I have to reach down with my ring finger instead of up. Not saying anyone should switch, just that it would be hard for me to do so.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> All the three letter motions I tried don't work. Without them this is more vi then vim. caw ci" ca( all don't work.

<comment><USER19> It is built with the compiler flag: --with-features=tiny.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> For Vimium users: don't forget to enter the insert mode in your browser first ;)

</comment><comment><USER21> This is pretty cool. Backspace not working for me though in Chrome.

<comment><USER22> Same here, Chrome on Debian.

Backspace and ESC not working, so after I enter a mode I'm stuck in it forever.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> did you port ncurses using emscripten? This could enable bringing a large portion of GNU over to the browser as a cloud-based app. Stallman's nightmare, in other words.

</comment><comment> jay-anderson It works amazingly well. However don't split windows then use ctrl-w j to switch. The browser captures ctrl-w first and closes the tab. Other ctrl-* combinations don't work probably for similar reasons.

</comment><comment><USER24> See also [http://codemirror.net/demo/vim.html](http://codemirror.net/demo/vim.html) (though that's only the editor component, not a whole vim implementation)

<comment><USER25> this is not vim, this is some incomplete bindings implementation.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Who wants to make a javascript emacs? you could call it emscriptenmacs..

<comment><USER27> ymacs (Fabrice Bellards Emacs "clone") is installed in jslinux.

<comment><USER28> Ymacs is written by Mihai Bazon. It has nothing to do with Bellard. [http://www.ymacs.org/](http://www.ymacs.org/)

Edit: And it's _written_ in JS, not ported.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> I tried it, and now I'm confused and angry! Seems right to me.

</comment><comment><USER30> Cool. Now go build NERDTree and Ctrl-P and come back. Then I will use it

<comment><USER31> You still use those?

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> I really hope someone will patch it into the IPython notebook (or at least enable the codemirror vim keybindings). If I can find the time to learn some javascript I'll give it a go myself.

</comment><comment><USER33> nice but `backspace` then I returned to > [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6899072](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6899072)

<comment><USER34> same here, cool idea though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> Can anyone think of a sane way to make this integrate with github?

<comment><USER36> I found a solution for this - [http://lauris.h-s.io/2013/12/13/github-vim- editor/](http://lauris.h-s.io/2013/12/13/github-vim-editor/)

<comment><USER35> Thanks! I was trying to get my head around why vim mode wasn't working. This works great.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> Lots of comments seem to expect some further web integration with various services but this looks like more of a prototype/proof-of-concept using emscripten.

Cool nonetheless.

</comment><comment><USER38> While this is impressive, I find it surprisingly slow compared to much more demanding applications with bigger code bases compiled via Emscripten. Any ideas why?

<comment><USER19> Well, I don't know what you mean by slow, but it could be the use of setTimeout() every 10ms to simulate[1] Vim's synchronous busy-wait is affecting responsiveness.

Lu mentioned[2] on vim_dev that it was necessary to write a hack for this portion.

[1] [https://github.com/coolwanglu/vim.js/blob/master/web/vim_lib...](https://github.com/coolwanglu/vim.js/blob/master/web/vim_lib.js#L478)

[2] [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/vim_dev/AQTHbUHijgg](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/vim_dev/AQTHbUHijgg)

<comment><USER39> Yeah, I hit this same road-block when trying to port vim to JS and gave up because it didn't seem worth it after that. If only vim ran a regular event loop, it would have been such an easy port, compared to what they had to do here. When figuring out how I could overcome it, I remember reading accounts of KDE developers trying to embed vim into their widgets and failing over and over. In the end, there was a solution to "embed" vim with some special IPC the netbeans IDE developers put into vim, but you had to run vim as a separate process for that to work - which is not possible on the web as it stands today. The numerous synchronous busy-wait loops in vim killed all approaches I had considered, so kudos to these guys for figuring out a way, even if it's slow.

<comment><USER19> There's an event loop patch on vim_dev being played with. Maybe in the next 12 months we will see some action with that approach or the other "timers" approach submitted (and ignored by Bram) by the floobits devs.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> Very slow (unusable) on a MacBook Air 1.4GHz 4GB RAM using Chromium 30.0.1589.0 (215899). I suppose it's the price of using an emscripten port.

</comment><comment><USER41> OMG you made my day, split window and window navigation, tabbing is all there!!!

Just need we need now is syntax highlighting and color torte :P

Fantastic work!

</comment><comment><USER42> Waiting for os.js, javascript port of X operating system. And js.js, javascript port of javascript. Javascripteption anyone?

<comment><USER27> There are already several PC emulators in JS, and there are at least two Javascript interpreters in JS:

This one is Spidermonkey compiled with Emscripten: [https://github.com/jterrace/js.js/](https://github.com/jterrace/js.js/)

And this one is a test-bed for new JS language features (or at least meant to be - don't know how far along it is): [https://github.com/mozilla/narcissus](https://github.com/mozilla/narcissus)

</comment></comment><comment><USER43> Wow, I can use hjkl to move my cursor !!!

</comment><comment><USER44> Kinda cool as a demo, but too many vim shortcuts are hijacked by the browser for this to be useful to me.

</comment><comment><USER45> Very cool! I know code mirror had vim mode but this. This is something way more awesome.

</comment><comment><USER46> Out of curiosity, any reason why the vim script isn't minified if it is so huge?

</comment><comment><USER47> Genuinely much more impressive than I was expecting! Well done!

</comment><comment><USER48> Too slow for me on FF.

<comment><USER49> Too slow for me on Chrome.

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> so... what exactly am i supposed to do with no file system?

<comment><USER51> Fork it and have it save in _localStorage_ , or _POST_ (ajax or _< form>_) it to your host site for saving.

One idea could be to bundle it with haste[1] or similar.

[1] [https://github.com/seejohnrun/haste- server](https://github.com/seejohnrun/haste-server)

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> Why not Acme.js yet?

</comment><comment><USER53> fantastic! One issue - I keep hitting is using the backspace key in chrome is mapped to the back button... so it keeps taking me back here..

</comment><comment><USER54> Totally failed when I tried backward-delete-word.

</comment><comment><USER55> Ctrl-[ and Ctrl-c don't work :'(

Still good job!

<comment><USER56> Ctrl-[ seems to work for me

</comment></comment><comment><USER57> I use Vim for everything, this is great!

</comment><comment><USER58> Can it take in custom vim rc files?

</comment><comment><USER59> "ciw" doesn't work.

</comment><comment><USER60> Hrm ctrl+w dang.</comment>


Show HN: Remote team work hours visualizer - <AUTHOR>

I am currently working with seven people in different timezones and I needed to see when they would answer my emails or when I could chat with them.
Although Amy did offer a tool to solve this problem (http://everytimezone.com/), I found it too confusing for my simple brain.
This is how is born the Remote Team Work Hours tool! (I am competing with Microsoft on the longest product name, any suggestion?).
I would love to hear your feedback and how this tool could be improved to be more useful.
Cheers!
link: http://taskarmy.com/remote_team_work_hours <comment><USER2> I like it. The main tool has nice UI and looks clean, but the surroundings are a bit distracting. Get rid of the extra clutter, throw it up on a stand-alone domain with nicer chrome, and it'll be at top of HN in a few minutes :)</comment>


Twitter Bootstrap Progress Bar - a jQuery Plugin For Multi-Colored Progress Bars - <AUTHOR> http://geersch.github.com/bootstrap-progressbar/ <comment><USER2> I hate to be a scrooge, but Bootstrap already supports multi-colored progress bars:

<http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/components.html#progress>

Check out the "Stacked" example.</comment>


NVIDIA is shaking up the parallel programming world - <AUTHOR> http://www.geek.com/nvidia-is-shaking-up-the-parallel-programming-world/

<comment><USER2> Is this article for real? It's 8 short paragraphs long, and a single sentence at the end indicates that nVidia has big plans without any details, facts, or techniques. The link to "more info" at EE Times is broken, and there is no indication of "shaking things up." The article is entirely subjective, and misses out on all the finer points of parallel programming....

<comment><USER3> There are definitely real applications out there:

<http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/gpu/>

And nvidia has an api to do it:

<http://www.nvidia.com/object/cuda_develop.html>

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Watching NVidia make this transition has been fascinating. The world changed when a guy wrote a log(n) sort in a graphics shader. GPU's were really dumb parallel processors that could only work w/ 4x4 matrices. Now they are much smarter general purpose parallel processors with languages and debugging tools. The GPU is not just for graphics anymore. When I read the orange book years ago, [http://www.amazon.com/OpenGL-R-Shading- Language-2nd/dp/03213...](http://www.amazon.com/OpenGL-R-Shading- Language-2nd/dp/0321334892), I told my sister on Wall St. that NVidia would soon be competing in the same space as intel.

</comment><comment><USER5> quick summary: don't waste your time reading it.</comment>


compose2kube – Convert docker-compose Service Files to Kubernetes Objects - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/kelseyhightower/compose2kube <comment><AUTHOR> This joins the plethora of tools:

\- docker-compose to HYPER_ [0] [1]

\- docker-compose to Amazon ECS [2] [3]

It makes sense to standardize the docker-compose file as it's specific to the Docker ecosystem and these tools cannot do such a great job given this limitation.

[0]: [https://hyper.sh/](https://hyper.sh/)

[1]: [https://pypi.python.org/pypi/hyper- compose](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/hyper-compose)

[2]: [https://pypi.python.org/pypi/container- transform](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/container-transform)

[3]: [http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonECS/latest/developerguide/c...](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonECS/latest/developerguide/cmd- ecs-cli-compose.html)</comment>


Don't get too excited about some recent brighter economic news - <AUTHOR> http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13761823&source=features_box_main <comment><USER2> Remarkable facts about The Economist:

\- It is a British newspaper published in London, although only 13% of its copies are sold in the United Kingdom. 57% are sold in North America, 17% in Continental Europe, and 10% in Asia.

\- It doesn't actually focus on the economy that much. Most content is political.

\- It is liberal in the classical sense. That is, it favors both personal and economical freedom.

\- Articles don't mention the name of the author.

<comment><USER3> is there anyone who does not favour personal and economic freedom in a democracy?

<comment><USER4> Well (in a very rough sense) the Democrats campaign for personal freedoms and seek to control economic ones more (pro-choice yet more regulation). Likewise, the Republicans want economic freedoms and seek to control personal ones (low taxes, deregulation, yet ban abortion and gay marriage).

Obviously, any time you generalize a party into two vectors like this, it's not exact, and I'm sure there are numerous cases of policies from both parties that don't fit this nice little mold, but I think that is what the OP was trying to point out. The Economist's definition of 'liberal' does not mean 'democrat' as it does in most of America today. They espouse 'classical liberalism', which is more libertarian in nature, but not taken to the extreme. (They, for instance, support the idea of central banks and fiat money, and a carbon tax or cap and trade scheme.)

I'm not really old enough to remember, but my understanding is that the Republican party used to be more aligned to these views before they embraced the religious right to win elections.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> It might be worth a note that the second derivative of _a few select_ markets are improving. I wish I wrote down the other links.

[http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/05/horray-second- derivat...](http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/05/horray-second-derivative- of.html)

</comment><comment><USER3> _This example highlights the difficulty of extrapolating from a single month or quarter of data_

yet the comparison of the data that this article makes is that of this period with a historical period.

I think the author misses the context, the fact that we have been and perhaps still are in a recession. To compare the now with the booming years of say 2005 we all know that there has been a decrees.

Being in a recession, the comparison with say last year or last quarter makes total sense, not to be used as optimism but realistically to see the trend.

The FT says we have bottomed out, I only wonder if we have learned the lessons, or whether this cycle of boom and doom will continue as always.

</comment><comment><USER6> Articles and reports like these should not be made. This because it actually _hurts_ the economy by discouraging the public. I'm sure many people spent at least a teeny bit more the last few days _because_ of these signs of hope (which most likely led to more factory production, etc.) and now the media comes and shatters them. Not good.

<comment><USER7> I highly disagree. To argue that articles like this have a macro effect on the economy (short term) is categorically false. If we want to focus on economic recovery as a function of consumer spending then we really can't zero in on a strong correlation between magazine articles and how the public feels about the economy without the data to back that up.

Furthermore, it is absolutely essential that everyone learns more about the current recession and are realistic about a recovery.

[http://baselinescenario.com/2009/05/25/recession-and- recover...](http://baselinescenario.com/2009/05/25/recession-and-recovery-how- long/)

I would in fact argue that economic education for the public helps the economy, because if more people are educated on the many factors that contributed to the current recession (negative U.S. savings rate being one major one) then they now have the knowledge to change their actions. On a wide scale (larger percentage of people saving more) this would have a net positive effect on the economy.

<comment><USER8> Agree. It's almost impossible to determine the correlation, if it exists at all.

On your later point, ironically if everyone now decided to save more, this would not have a positive effect on the economy.

<comment><USER7> I think saving right now is one of the smartest financial moves families can make. One reason being that if people have a stronger asset base then you not only have the ability to transfer value over periods of time, but you are in more sound financial condition when you buy a house. Think about the scale of the sub prime mortgage market, then think about how things would have turned out during the housing boom (2005, 2006, early 2007) if even 30% of those subprime borrowers had more savings to their names (the vast majority had none). While the financial crisis would have still occurred, maybe banks wouldn't have been hit as hard because a larger percentage of people saving could possibly translate into less people defaulting on their mortgages.

The second reason is the resulting taxpayer bailout of the financial institutions. The increase in taxes from all of these recent programs aimed at removing toxic assets from banks balance sheets, increasing liquidity in the credit markets, etc. haven't even hit taxpayers yet. Saving now enables people to react better financially when taxes rise later down the road. I don't think increased consumer spending (on credit) is as reliable a metric of the overall health of the economy as it was, because while the U.S. is a credit driven economy, using lots of credit and having any or little savings are one of those things that led us to where we are now.

<comment><USER6> I also believe saving is what families should do, but capitalist economies are based on spending. If everyone saves everything, and spends nothing - or next to nothing - on non-essential commodities, companies will suffer. And we don't need more bankrupt businesses.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


The Lo-Fi Voices That Speak for America - <AUTHOR> https://www.politico.com/interactives/2019/magazine-am-radio-still-matters/ <comment><USER2> I like the premise of the article but why aren't podcasts cited as more influential than radio? Not only is AM propagation not needed for a podcast but it's purely democratic: you have something to say you can publish it. And podcasts are very popular. Everyone knows Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss are reaching audiences in the millions but even smaller podcasts like the No Agenda Show are reaching audiences larger than cable news shows.

<comment><USER3> Most people don't listen to podcasts - its not a general audience kind of thing - as someone who travels frequently even I find myself listening not infrequently to terrestrial radio

<comment><USER4> Is AM radio a general audience thing? I don't know many people that listen to it and the ones that do are all older. I know a whole lot of people that listen to podcasts. Maybe it's more of a difference among generations? I can't think of that last time I listened to the radio in a car. These days, I only use Spotify and a podcast app.

<comment><USER5> You might be in a tech bubble.

<comment><USER4> I live in rural Vermont.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> https//chat.whatsapp.com/46vCwsj146l4FKNaYm8sfB</comment>


Adafruit deemed an essential service to make Personal Protection Equipment - <AUTHOR> https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/03/22/covid/ <comment><USER2> Adafruit make circuit boards and microelectronics in Manhattan. In that blog post,

      Adafruit Industries located at 150 Varick Street, New York,
      NY 10013 by Executive Order 202.6, "Essential Business" by
      New York State: https://esd.ny.gov/guidance-executive-order-2026

And Adafruit belongs to the "microelectronics/semi-conductor" category so they are exempted in the "3\. Essential manufacturing including". This rule is mostly designed to let the upstate NY's multiple multi-billion semi-conductor industry's fabs (Cree Marcy fab, GlobalFoundries multiple fabs) remain open.

</comment><comment><USER3> Anyone in the NYC area/interested in helping NYC should read [https://jakehlee.github.io/nyc-makers-vs- covid/](https://jakehlee.github.io/nyc-makers-vs-covid/) or [https://nycmakesppe.com/](https://nycmakesppe.com/) same site, different URL

</comment><comment><USER4> > We are also working with NYC to explore disposable open-source low-cost face > shields.

That's interesting, is that supposed to be used on top of the face mask (surgical, N95 etc.) or is that supposed to be used as standalone protection equipment at low risk environment?

I wonder whether it would be put through thorough tests such as NIOSH ratings, before being used?

I'm asking this because I have made a 'Qualitative Filter' based Facemask[1], to be used as last resort when nothing better is available.

[1]DIY Qualitative filter face mask - [https://abishekmuthian.com/diy- qualitative-filter-face-mask/](https://abishekmuthian.com/diy-qualitative- filter-face-mask/)

</comment><comment><USER5> Interesting perspective!

</comment><comment><USER6> Great list of equipment and their roles in production!

</comment><comment><USER7> > Adafruit is a 100% woman-owned, loan-free, VC-free, profitable, USA > Manufacturing company.

Cool

<comment><USER8> Open hardware, gold standard tutorials, open source libraries.

But holy cow, they need to charge a premium to make it work. I'm always conflicted between supporting them or just going to ebay or alibaba.

<comment><USER9> They target hobbyists (like me) so if they mark things up, it's worth it IMO. The value add-on they provide is that they have s curated selection of items, everything you buy from them has associated tutorials which help you incorporate them into your projects.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Adafruit is a great show-off business for New York City (tech, manufacturing, woman-owned) so even though the PPE angle here is quite dubious the governor and mayor are doing this as a favor.

<comment><USER11> > Adafruit is a great show-off business for New York City (tech, > manufacturing, woman-owned)

They also make quality products and turn a profit, unlike most VC backed "tech" startups like Uber and WeWork.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> 3d printing janky masks.. is that really essential?

<comment><USER13> Faceshields != masks. Those lend themselves a bit better to printing than proper masks (since it's mostly a sheet of transparent plastic + one plastic piece to hold it)

<comment><USER12> Do you have the link to an STL so I can print one? I have an Ender 3 Pro

<comment><USER14> I printed these [https://budmen.com/](https://budmen.com/) until I ran out of PLA. I don't honestly have any knowledge about their effectiveness, but while my city is under shelter-in-place it seemed as good a way as any to pass the time.

I saw a few different designs for 3D printed PPE out there - I went for this one because the materials were all things I could source and they were one of the only places I saw that would help coordinate matching you up with medical professionals that want what you've printed.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ten paying clients later. - <AUTHOR> http://www.noeltock.com/startups/ten-paying-clients-later/

<comment><USER2> Thanks for the behind the scenes look at what you're doing. Restaurant websites are nearly universally bad - perhaps one of the worst industries on the web in proportion to how much people visit their sites, so it's great to see some good stuff going on.

I like how you're personally contacting clients. Obviously that won't scale once you've got dozens or hundreds of clients (and I believe you'll have that, soon), but for now that's a fantastic way to get great feedback and make those first clients feel very special.

You say you don't have a good way of explaining the importance/benefit of microdata to clients - why not? What have you tried, and what do they not understand about it? I'm curious as to what reactions you've gotten - I think that could/should be a fairly big selling point if you're able to execute on it well, but obviously it's not much of a selling point if the prospect (or client) doesn't understand the value.

<comment><USER3> Right. Website restaurants are usually overloaded with annoying flash and -- _gasp_ \-- music and/or other noises that tends to blare out loud when it's least convenient and most embarrassing. It's a case of poor taste gone even more horribly wrong.

Looks like the OP should have plenty of business - but one thing I've noticed is that many people who otherwise have a good sense of taste and decency for interior-decorating have none of that when it comes to web design, so they might not even notice how bad their websites are...

<comment><AUTHOR> Definitely on the money there. We have users that try to push neon colors or wildly crazy background images, and usually I just try to talk to them directly. It's definitely a case of them trying to reflect their establishments atmosphere though (i.e. interior design as you point out, music, mood, lighting, etc.). We'll keep fighting it though :)

<comment><USER2> Sounds like you could benefit from some (carefully thought out) blog posts/knowledgebase docs on how to build a successful website.

<comment><AUTHOR> Here's my start to that :) better-restaurant-websites.com

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Noel, nice article and good luck with your venture, one tiny pet peeve of mine i'd like to bring up with you is the slider on your homepage, when you click the left/right buttons it has that ugly focus outline (at least on my linux FF) and you can easily get rid of it with:

        onlick="this.blur()"

or perhaps a more elegant jquery solution

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks Tam, appreciate that. Wasn't aware of that focus on FF/Linux, I really hate those outlines :/ We have a new webby, but will definitely fix for now. Cheers again!

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Fatal error: Call to a member function set_defaults() on a non-object in /home/noeltock/public_html/wp-content/plugins/google-analytics-for- wordpress/googleanalytics.php on line 1517

Hope they're not paying for WordPress consulting.

<comment><AUTHOR> Should be working again, analytics plug-in couldn't deal with the heat ;)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Thanks for sharing. I'm in a similar journey and this was very helpful and insipring to me. Wishing you success :)</comment>


Ask HN: Has anyone gone from work to academia post mid 30's? - <AUTHOR> I'm 42 and meh.  I've run my own company, worked in a couple startups, and am employed by a big-4 now.  I see the people above me and blech:  I could get on a bigger stage "architecting" bigger projects but who cares.<p>I feel my heart is in academia.  I've felt that for years.  Has anyone made the jump this late in the game? <comment><USER2> I tried. I got my master's degree and ran screaming. It took me a few months to to design and produce my thesis experiment, and a year and a half to finagle the politics required to run it.

Small fishes fighting each other over scraps, and children who couldn't deal with graduation.

Furthermore, you had better have all the money you will ever need already stashed away.

</comment><comment><USER3> Apparently the job market is hot in computer science:

[https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/09/no-clear- solu...](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/09/no-clear-solution- nationwide-shortage-computer-science-professors)

In any case, if you're thinking of enrolling in a Ph.D. program, I strongly urge you to investigate the job market first. In math (my field), the job market is difficult and becoming more so. Apparently it is more so in the humanities and social sciences, less so in statistics.

</comment><comment><USER4> Academia as in attending school, or going into teaching or research?

I am considering this to bolster my skills and career options, either for ECE or full CS degree. I don't have the accomplishments you do. Instead I see academia as one of several possible solutions to change a dead-end career.

However the million dollar question is how I can survive college full-time when I also need a job to pay all of my bills. Financial aid options are not as flexible as they were when going for your first Bachelor's degree. And then there's the problem of time management in your 30's and beyond...

</comment><comment><USER5> Do you have a Phd? if not then its another 5-8 years of effort before you even qualify to apply for any meaningful academic position.

And as others have mentioned on this thread, you better have savings to last you a decade before considering such an endeavor.

<comment><USER6> It just seems so impractical. Our society really needs a way people can change careers in middle age. It's almost impossible right now without a ton of sacrifice.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I too listened to my heart and after years of thinking about it, made the jump.

I too worked as a contractor for many of the top consulting firms. In my late 40's I returned to academia to a do a PhD in software engineering. Graduated last year and back on the consulting trail. The years doing the PhD were an emotional roller coaster ride, but that is par for that course. I have no regrets having had that "adventure". But for me continuing on as a Post-Doc or doing more adjunct teaching are unappealing. Becoming a F/T academic is rather difficult, lots of applicants for every position advertised and you need to have an impressive list of papers, etc to be considered.

</comment><comment><USER8> What about academia appeals to you? You enjoy writing grant proposals? What are you expecting?

</comment><comment><USER9> I personally know two people who quit high paying industry jobs and moved to reputable research grant universities (within US) as Assistant Professors in their late 30s. This was about 8 years ago. Fast forward to the present, one guy is a full professor while the other is still an associate professor. The difference was that one used his expertise and experience to write and get more grants, publish more papers, and is popular for his research (both inside and outside the university). The other is known for his teaching (within the university), took it slow and didn't publish as much.

I also know another guy who got his PhD, moved to academia (research lab and all), quit and moved to gaming industry to code, worked for 5 years, and now moved back to academia (once again, research lab and all). Then there is another person who got his PhD, worked as a post-doc, worked as an Assistant Professor, quit because he didn't enjoy it, and now is working next to me, enjoying an industry position.

I think all of them are truly enjoying what they do. I guess the question for you is what would you like the most?

There are several questions that you'd have to answer for yourself:

(1) Are you in for teaching? Or are you into research, i.e., having freedom in what you work on? Keep in mind that if you join as a Assistant Prof. on a tenure-track role, you'd still have to prove yourself in the long run. This could mean working on some projects that you may/may not enjoy in the short term.

(2) If you are in for the teaching, do you care about where you teach? Community colleges or small universities are always looking for people to teach (as a full time professor, or as a part time lecturer). Do you differentiate between these as much over the love of teaching?

(3) You probably could try out guest lecturing to check if you truly enjoy teaching. Or maybe teach just for a semester, if that is any appealing.

I personally have a PhD, wanted to be in academia for a long time but jumped to industry for numerous personal reasons. This is my 5th year in industry and I love what I work on. However, I still feel that my heart is in academia. To get a reality check, I'll be guest-/co-lecturing several sessions of a course at a public university this fall. I'm curious how things will turn out. Good luck to you too!

</comment><comment><USER10> The other comments about grant proposals and politics is true in a lot of instances. For a different approach, look at a liberal arts college that has a CS program: [https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2017/2/212444-liberal-arts- ac...](https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2017/2/212444-liberal-arts-academia- wants-you/fulltext)

</comment><comment><USER11> Well, I am headed back to school for an Economics degree. Not quite what you are asking for but I do hope to teach afterwards as well as launch a startup based upon some economic concepts I have been thinking about.

I have held a few academic jobs then went to corporate, then back to academia. It wasn't a hard adjustment to go back. It was harder for me to go back to corporate jobs after.

</comment><comment><USER12> For what it's worth my wife's uncle quite his job as a civil engineer at 50 and went to grad school to study social anthropology. Despite starting so late he still managed to end up as an Associate Professor, the author of several well regarded books and papers and was generally considered authority in his niche.

</comment><comment><USER12> Although I'm not 'in' academia I do work 30% on a research project at a University. I find it a rewarding balance between keeping up with what is happening in research and getting to participate in that world without having to completely give up my connections with industry.

</comment><comment><USER13> I would say early to mid 30s is quite common. You can do a post-doc or get a research scientist position in the industry after your PhD, and work for couple of years or so before you apply for academic positions. Something like PhD->Watson/MSR->academic role is not uncommon.

</comment><comment><USER14> My dad has worked in banking and credit risk for 35 years and then quit, and is now working on his PhD - he found a passion in teaching. He graduates with it in August. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have - feel free to email me (contact info in profile).

<comment><USER6> Is it weird being the old guy in classes? That's honestly what I'd worry the most about.

<comment><USER15> I think it's only weird if you make it weird. I often spent time with the older students on my course.</comment></comment></comment>


GET vs POST in terms of security - <AUTHOR> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/198462/get-versus-post-in-terms-of-security/1744404#1744404 <comment><USER2> The difference between GET and POST is interface-related, not security- related. A better example for why you avoid GET for non-idempotent operations is to prevent a webcrawler from coming along and innocently making massive changes to your site just by following links. Security-wise, there's little difference between the two, it's trival for the client to change the type of request. (If I can't get some guy on a forum by embedding a picture, I'll send him a link to some website I control where there's a hidden <form> that posts to the site I want.) CSRF is only preventable by putting secret tokens in your forms that get echoed in the submission request (or by double-submitting the cookie as I do, but tptacek will be in here shortly to tell me why that is so silly).

<comment><USER3> There is one security difference. POST doesn't leave the data in the URL bar at the top of the browser. I sure would rather a site submit my credit card via POST than via GET.

<comment><USER4> In addition to tzs' comment above, POST parameters do not get logged by the web server either (default Apache logging, etc), unless you're using a module like mod_security to log POST data.

Besides, don't use GET for non-idempotent requests (those which change state). That's just webapp development 101.

Edited for clarity.

<comment><USER5> Either I'm completely misunderstanding your grammar, or you don't understand what idempotent means... idempotent and state-changing are almost opposites.

<comment><USER6> _You_ don't understand what idempotent means. An action is idempotent if repeating it does not change the result. For example, multiplying by zero is idempotent, 0 * x is the same as 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * x. But of course it changes something, as 0 * x is clearly not x in the general case.

In the http case, GET and HEAD should not change any state (be safe and idempotent), PUT and DELETE should change state but be idempotent, and POST can do whatever it wants. <http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec9.html>

<comment><USER5> Maybe you saw the text after @marcinw changed his text? I agree with you, of course I will say that most http GET actions I see are trivially idempotent -- that is to say they are idempotent because they don't change the state at all.

<comment><USER6> No, I saw the original version that cautioned against state changing idempotent GET requests. The changed version is actually worse, as it only cautions against non-idempotent GETs, which is not enough. State changing idempotent requests via GET are quite as bad.

In fact, idempotency is irrelevant for GET, as GET requests should be safe, which trivially implies that they are idempotent. So requiring idempotency in addition to safety does nothing except making the prose harder to read.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> This bit me in the ass once and I learned my lesson.

I was working at a social networking startup and I created a Groups feature which allowed users to create their own groups with a forum and a photo gallery and a member list, news feed and so on.

Then one day a user sent us an email claiming her group was displaying erratic behavior (users randomly banned, posts randomly deleted, etc). It took us weeks to figure it out, but our ops guy eventually helped us track it down to Google Web Accelerator, which was pre-fetching URLs displayed on the page via GET (links labeled "Ban" and "Delete").

This unintentionally effected a similar "Confused Agent" exploit since the app was misusing HTTP in precisely the manor described in this post.

Google Web Accelerator has since been discontinued for precisely this reason.

<http://webaccelerator.google.com/webmasterhelp.html>

<comment><USER8> Upvote just for being confident enough to mention that - everyone has an embarrassing learning experience like that in their history.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> The example there is one of a cross-site request forgery (CSRF or XSRF). They pose a solution for POST requests, namely, the "Anti-Forgery Token". This is the right way to stop CSRF on post forms.

However, this is a defense which works just as well for GET requests. Just put a nonce in the URL. /do.php?action=delete&id=3&nonce=88e3a6fe57854f2ed18c. Solves it just as well. (Another common solution is to duplicate the session cookie in the URL.) It is not bad form to have a get request which changes state so long as there is a nonce in the URL.

Edit: URL was being truncated.

<comment><USER10> ... and you just broke bookmarks ...

Why do people insist on hammering in the screws, and screwing in the nails?

If you want to send data from the browser back to the server, use a post. It isn't difficult!

Is the motivation behind this secretly that there is some retarded 3rd party framework in play here that doesn't support post? Something like Ruby on Rails or Django or some weird ass Java REST library???

<comment><USER9> There's no reason to bookmark the "Delete this email" link (a la SquirrelMail, RoundCube). Sometimes links make sense to use, and it's possible to safely make GET requests change state when you need to.

Edit:

Now that I think about it, why would you want to bookmark a link which modified state? The only time to use a nonce is to make it secure against CSRF attacks. You can't bookmark them when they're a post anyways, so you don't lose anything. Am I wrong somewhere?

<comment><USER11> Because links are links, and you are setting the wrong expectation by changing state via one.

<comment><USER9> I would disagree. Go to google, search anything. Notice that clicking a link is what sets safe search. It's a GET request. It's not all that unusual.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> As one of the commenters pointed out, CSRF is just as possible with POST requests as it is with GET requests...

<comment><USER13> Why is this so? It seems like I can do a CSRF attack via any BB as just a normal forum user who can place an href in a message. How does one do that with a POST? Sorry if this is obvious.

<comment><USER14> If the attacker can add a form and script to a page, then the attacker can arrange for the form to automatically POST using script.

If the attacker cannot add a form and script directly to the forum, then the attacker can try to trick the victim into following a link to a page where the attacker can add these elements.

Switching from GET to POST makes the attack more difficult because social engineering is required, but it does not eliminate the problem.

<comment><USER15> Yes, but the attacker can _not_ get the browser to silently fetch the page (regardless of whether Javascript is disabled) just by sticking, say, an  tag somewhere.

<comment><USER16> Therefore it is important to use tokens.

Another way (or in addition to using tokens) is to not expose hard delete functionality to the front-end period.

One thing I've done is to create a 'recycle' table in the database with a unique ID.

Also give every table in your database a deleted column.

If something gets deleted, create a new row in the 'recycle' table and use that ID to populate the 'deleted' column of all the rows that were deleted. This way each delete associates itself to multiple rows.

This offers you the ability to "undo" any delete + all associated rows with the delete from an admin interface that is not exposed publicly to web users.

This way, you have 3 tiers of protection:

\- tokens

\- a soft delete that you can easily undo

\- backup copy of the db if all else fails

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> It doesn't matter if you use GET or POST. If you don't sign requests, you don't know where they are coming from.

In the API we've implemented recently in our company (e-commerce search-as-a- service) we use request signing exactly according to Amazon's AWS specs.

<comment><USER18> I don't think it is a matter of _where_ it came from, it is a matter of _who_ it came from.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> There are two additional security features POST has that GET does not:

1- POSTs cannot be forwarded

2- some browsers (webkit only I believe) require a client to interact with a domain before they can POST to it-- this means iframes cannot POST.

When it comes to XSRF, they are equally (in)secure.

</comment><comment><USER20> Don't use GET (delete) requests for operations that are intended to modify content. Some browser plugins follow/crawl links which could inadvertently ruin the users day ;-)

</comment><comment><USER21> And dont forget the refeerer header that will contain any GET data. I've spoted several sites with this flaw by just looking at the data in my visit log.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> This is probably an atypical type of thread for HN but I figured I'd share anyway. It's pretty obvious once you read it but I was a bit curious on the topic regarding SSL/https and sending data via GET. I'd never thought of posting an "image" (or whatever) for an admin to see that could contain harmful data in its URL.</comment>


Spy Chief Complains That Edward Snowden Sped Up Spread of Encryption by 7 Years - <AUTHOR> https://theintercept.com/2016/04/25/spy-chief-complains-that-edward-snowden-sped-up-spread-of-encryption-by-7-years/ <comment><USER2> How can he even say that with a straight face? Those guys really need to be professional lyers.

Terrorists, criminals and freedom fighters always used latest encryption tech in hostile environments to protect themselves. Just look e.g. at the files from the South African underground who made it public.

What Clapper (government, military, police, congress) really cares about is mass decryption of the populations communication.

</comment><comment><USER3> If you were given a prediction three years ago that an event would occur in seven years' time, and due to unforeseen circumstances said event occurred today, it would have been four years ahead of schedule. Not seven. Forgive me if I'm uncomfortable that the Director of National Intelligence fails to understand a word problem that would make a fourth grader roll their eyes.

</comment><comment><USER4> Well that's a good thing for all of us including Clapper himself whether he recognizes this or not.

</comment><comment><USER5> Sounds right. I work for a _major_ Internet company and we locked down everything tight post-Snowden.</comment>


After Ratings Drop, Ford Reworks Unpopular Touch Screens - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/business/after-ratings-drop-ford-reworks-touch-screens.html

<comment><USER2> Ah, this brings back memories of the old "If Detroit designed cars like Microsoft designed software" jokes of the late 90s...

I once had the opportunity to chat with Woz. Somehow we got on the subject of cars and he told me that he had a Toyota and a Mercedes. He explained that the Toyota had all the latest and greatest technology. More features than you could shake a stick at, so to speak. But! To cram in all those features, the engineers had a monumental task. The end result was that you, as the driver, were forced to adapt to the car.

On the other hand, he told me, while the Mercedes had less features you could _tell_ that the first thing the designers had drawn in, when sketching out the design, was the driver.

<comment><USER3> Right. The fundamental problem here is that the old school buttons and dials have a hidden logic to them: namely that you can distinguish and grasp them without taking your eyes from the road.

This seems like a general UI consideration for physical objects. If the object is being aimed at something or demands the use of vision, the affordances should be designed for sight-free operation. Examples: a gun's trigger, a camera's button, a car's gear shift, a microscope's stage adjustment.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> For comparison, here are before and after shots for the XM radio display --

Before: [http://image.automobilemag.com/f/29104541+w750+st0/2011-ford...](http://image.automobilemag.com/f/29104541+w750+st0/2011-ford- edge-SEL-mytouch-screen.jpg)

After: [http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/myford...](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/myfordtouchsiriusradio- screen.jpg)

<comment><USER5> so I opened these two images in two tabs, and now looking at them I honestly don't know which is the "improved" one. The black/red one looks a lot less messy, but still kinda like a first draft from a high school student. the other one's just plain horrible though, so I'll guess the black/red one

<comment><USER6> Ignore(for now ;p) the looks this was a usability upgrade.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I think since Ford is sending the upgrade USB sticks directly to customers it would now be quite easy for someone with malicious intent to send out fake "upgrade" USB sticks to unsuspecting Ford owners. I'm not sure how dangerous it would be from a safety, ram-car-into-tree, point of view but certainly they would have access to any GPS data.

<comment><USER8> I'd be very surprised if a system like that doesn't check a signature before applying an update.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Touchscreens don't belong in cars. Many states are banning texting while driving, but auto manufacturers are adding basically the same distracting user experience in their cars and calling it a feature.

<comment><USER10> Actually (and annoyingly) in many vehicles the controls are disabled while the vehicle is in motion. This is _very_ inconvenient when you have a passenger trying to operate the console (such as input destination or do other actions) but the car won't let you because you're not completely stopped.

<comment><USER6> mmm, a fix for that (not perfect) could be to activate the screen when the passenger airbag is on (since most cars now have a sensor in the seat). Sure the driver can still play with the screen but if you have a passenger it shouldn't be off. Alternatively the screen could be setup so the viewing angle changes when there is a passenger (I believe that's possible but I might be wrong.)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I'm not sure how bad Ford's touchscreen was, but this problem isn't unique to them - car UIs in general still feel way behind what we are capable of. The touchscreen on my 2011 Lexus is pretty disappointing - not very intuitive and often really slow - and feels like something you'd expect from a 10 year old car. I can't imagine Ford's offering being much worse.

To be honest, I'd rather see more investment into Siri-like voice capabilities in a car, rather than improving the touchscreen. Some navigation tasks might be a little tricky, but I think most car-related tasks lend themselves well to voice interaction, and it is certainly less distracting than messing with a touchscreen.

</comment><comment><USER12> Oh man, MyTouch was garbage. Complete crap. I test drove a Flex and was just amazed at how awful it was. No touch feedback, sluggish response, dynamic knobs and buttons meant you couldn't operate it blindly, and a milky backlit LCD screen that still messed with your night vision even when it was supposed to be displaying black. (OLED would do better here.)

I was stunned. I'm a geek and I think it's crap. I can't imagine technoluddites being any more charitable.

</comment><comment><USER13> You may laugh, but when Sync/MyTouch hangs in my EDGE all I have to do is: stop my car, shut down engine, open driver door, close driver door, start the engine - and it reboots!!! : )

</comment><comment><USER14> Where, oh _where_ is the Apple of this space?

<comment><USER2> Here, I'd wager: [http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model?class=S&mod...](http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model?class=S&model=S600V)

 _Edit_ : Skip to the "Audio & Entertainment" section to see how you can have modern technology without the confusion. Especially check out the "SPLITVIEW front-seat entertainment system". A screen that can show separate views to the driver and front seat passenger? Yes, please!

<comment><USER12> nit: that's not unique in the class

<comment><USER15> Range Rovers have that too and I think the Jaguar XF.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Map Design: Why the Magnifying Glass is a Terrible Symbol for Zooming-in - <AUTHOR> http://www.41latitude.com/post/456326787/magnifying-glass

<comment><USER2> Perhaps more appropriately titled "How map software could be more consistent with the magnifying glass metaphor".

</comment><comment><USER3> What a pointless misunderstanding.

They're all simply better than the metaphor. Obviously a physical magnifying glass held over a piece of paper cannot create or remove information, only scale it.

"Zooming in" in software, however, involves a complete replacement. And at every level, the most(/best) set of information is displayed. When zoomed out at, i.e., Miami, the word "Miami" displayed at a readable size covers up nearby towns. When zoomed in a bit, there's more small towns that can be displayed (collectively covering up Miami).

Moreover: this is probably even the right/best thing to do. At a wide zoom, you probably want the big cities as landmarks. Slightly tighter in, one is more likely to be familiar with the area, and want to know the smaller details. Tight enough again, Miami is the only thing left in view, so it is labeled.

This is not broken, or bad in any way.

<comment><AUTHOR> A "pointless misunderstanding"? Average users don't understand the "complete replacement" that happens when you zoom-in. It's confusing to them.

"Slightly tighter in, one is more likely to be familiar with the area, and want to know the smaller details."

Someone usually consults a map because they aren't familiar with an area. Do you look at a map to find your way home every day from work/school?

The point of zooming-in is to offer a clearer view. How are you doing that if you're removing details? Instead of creating clarity for the user, you're creating chaos.

"When zoomed in a bit, there's more small towns that can be displayed (collectively covering up Miami)."

Except that the average user is more likely to be using the map to reference Miami and not the smaller towns. Larger cities are of greatly more interest to the average user than the small towns surrounding them; this creates a more than reasonable case for continuing to display the larger cities as you zoom- in. Just consider how many people vacation in Miami as opposed to Hialeah, the city that Miami is replaced with as you zoom-in.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> See also: is the magnifying glass a symbol for zoom or for search?

<comment><USER2> It's a symbol for obtaining refined detail within a certain subset of the whole. The description matches both, yeah?

<comment><USER4> Not exactly. The magnifying glass for search is an allusion to the Sherlock Holmes-ian private detective, who "searches" for clues and almost always carries a magnifying glass, which often is used in the detection of clues. The fact that there are two completely different functions which use the same common iconography is inconvenient.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> IIRC this behaviour can be controlled with SLD's in GeoServer.</comment>