Decision fatigue - <AUTHOR> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_fatigue <comment><USER2> Someone is probably going to quote that study where they say decision fatigue doesn't exist, and I'm going to head you off right now: It exists, everyone on HN has experienced it, and one of the best tools a successful businessman has is being able to differentiate between which decisions actually need their input, and none of us use that tool enough.

Case in point: it is 2 pm, I am on HN replying to this.

Also, someone is going to probably recommend reading "Thinking Fast and Slow". It's not at the top of my list of books to read, but you should read it once just so you understand the references to it.

<comment><USER3> I had a very, very illuminating discussion with the guy in charge of repairs when my kitchen sprung a leak.

Kitchen layout is constrained a lot by physics, and again by ergonomics, and the customer's theories on how the kitchen should be don't always allow for these. He confessed that the reason they bombard you with a million tile and color and flooring and countertop options is to induce decision fatigue.

So that when they hit you with the news that the sink can go in exactly two places and which one do you want, you just answer instead of fighting them on the stuff they know, care about, and cannot change no matter how long you monologue about it.

I don't know if I was more shocked that they had this figured out, or that software developers _don 't_.

<comment><USER4> By "physics" do you mean actual laws of physics, or "which wall contains the plumbing"?

<comment><USER5> You can't put the sink upside-down and have it pour up.

<comment><USER6> Not with that attitude!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> > For instance, judges in court have been shown to make poorer-quality > decisions late in the day than they do early in the day.

This references the study "Extraneous factors in judicial decisions": [https://www.pnas.org/content/108/17/6889](https://www.pnas.org/content/108/17/6889)

Here's an article, which has been posted on HN a few times, about why the conclusions of that study don't make sense: [https://nautil.us/blog/impossibly-hungry- judges](https://nautil.us/blog/impossibly-hungry-judges)

Here's a concise HN comment about how the observed effect is explained without decision fatigue: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14703990](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14703990)

<comment><USER8> Decision Fatigue is like muscle fatigue in that it is mostly due to the waning of glycogen feeding your brain. When the cause is lack of glycogen due to hunger, as in the case of judges who have good snack discipline, they exhibit it just before meal times. When the cause is lack of glycogen from high insulin due to sugary snacks (as provided by your typical startup) you exhibit decision fatigue after you eat candy or drink soda. Exercise helps because it it raises your resting metabolic rate so more glycogen is flowing through your body at any one time. Stimulants help because they increase hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine which also increase metabolic rate.

There are secondary effects like nutrient deficiencies that can result in low essential neurotransmitters. And also if you stay focused on one thing, I think Troxler Fading can increase the the energy draw your brain needs to stay focused on that one thing.

Probably as important is complexity/uncertainty. If glycogen delivery is your capacity to work, complexity/uncertainty is the primary demand that the work has on your brain. So if you can keep redrawing/refactoring your problem in simple terms, I find you can keep going when others cannot.

<comment><USER9> Everything you said is precisely what is controversial and under question these days regarding both decision fatigue and ego depletion. The original experiments proposing such theories have failed to replicate.

<comment><USER8> Are you saying you can share experiments that show optimal levels of glucose in the body are not directly proportional to optimal decision endurance? I'd love to see something that refutes this, I can't imagine what it would look like when I have found it so easy to evidence the relationship in myself and others.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I noticed that I have a "decision-quota" that I can spend every day, and sometimes I spend a lot of this energy on trivial tasks.

So I created a small tool a while ago to learn Vue and to help me with this: [https://roulettecarnival.com/](https://roulettecarnival.com/) , it's not close to be finished but it kinda works. I also use it with my team to make trivial decisions more fun.

<comment><USER11> Awesome! This reminds me of something similar I built, called Bracket Based Decision Making!

Site here: [https://bracket-based-decision- making.firebaseapp.com/](https://bracket-based-decision- making.firebaseapp.com/) Code here: [https://github.com/weaversam8/bracket- based-decision-making](https://github.com/weaversam8/bracket-based-decision- making)

<comment><USER12> Quick review:

Very neat presentation. I often work out this sort of thing in my head or on paper.

I was confused by the wording initially. "Enter a list of what you want to decide" sounded to me like I should enter separate decisions ("What should I eat for lunch?", "When should I mow the lawn?", …). Perhaps word it as "Enter the alternatives you are trying to decide between".

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Decision fatigue is also major problem associated with the use of stimulants.

Decision fatigue is a problem with exhaustion of cognitive endurance rather than a problem with cognitive overload. The former, like physical endurance exhaustion, occurs from becoming tired due to exercise over time without sufficient rest. The later occurs in a short time when the variables comprising a single, or focused set of, decision overwhelm the performance of a timely or adequate decision/response.

When a person becomes tired from continuous exercise, whether physical or mental, there are symptoms that occur that negatively impact performance. These symptoms are a way of telling you that the body is entering a state of heightened stress that can be resolved, to some degree, by appropriate rest. Stimulants work in the body to increase some performance factors while simultaneously impairing the association between exhaustion with the need for rest.

While these results from the use of stimulants can increase performance in a short term they are not a substitute for rest. Performance will degrade once the short-term high from the stimulant fades and especially as continued use results in tolerance to potentially catastrophic results.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3880463/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3880463/)

<comment><USER14> Thank you for this. I am prescribed 50mg Elvanse and feel slightly worried about its long term effects - and also feel its effectiveness decreasing. I don't know where this ends. I don't want to keep increasing the dose, but without it I'm very ineffective.

<comment><USER13> Yeah, don't do that. Visit with your doctor to discuss your options. Last year I ran an IG investigation about a person who was fired without documentation because of their declining performance resulting from prescription drug tolerance.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> The Paradox Of Choice is about part of this (how people want choices but become paralysed by too many)

It's one of my favourite TED talks ever. Highly recommend: [https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choi...](https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice?language=en)

It's also a book which I'm sure you can find on your own if you like the talk.

<comment><USER16> It's one of my favorite talks and books as well. It really opened up my eyes to how I am often trying to maximize in a lot of ways in my life and that it was making me miserable. Now I try to limit places where I expend that mental energy and make sure it's worth it, and be okay with just "satisficing" where it really won't make a big difference.

<comment><USER15> If you like that did you also watch the one based on the book 'Stumbling Upon Happiness'

[https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_the_surprising_science...](https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_the_surprising_science_of_happiness/up- next)

It seems to me almost like a scientific proof of Buddhism. This also made me really think about why I was perusing certain goals or not.

The basic premise is that humans think they're really good at predicting what will make them happy, when in reality we totally suck at it and make lots of deliberate choices that are bound to make us unhappy.

<comment><USER16> Yes! I watched that video as well around the same time and read the book. (Admittedly I was in a "positive psychology" kick at the time and was consuming anything about happiness.)

I like your summary. An even more general way to look at is that we have less control over our minds (and moods) than we expect, so don't stress about it. :)

<comment><USER17> I too read many books on Positive Psychology and can highly recommend for you an attempt to unify the field into a cohesive whole:

 _The Good Life: Unifying the Philosophy and Psychology of Well-Being_ by Michael Bishop

[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YD26TIS/ref=dbs_a_def_r...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YD26TIS/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0)

The author points out how the current field is fragmented with no underlying theory, and he provides one by reconciling the demands of psychologists and philosophers who have thought and written about this topic.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> The aviation community has developed a lot of interesting insights into human decision making. The concept of "pilot workload" is important. Most accidents happen under high pilot workload. An example of high workload is the takeoff: the pilot must make decisions about thrust, flaps, landing gear, pitch, altitude, and heading all within a brief window.

The autopilot helps reduce workload during those brief high-workload moments. It's also critical for reducing decision fatigue on long flights.

[https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Portal:OGHFA](https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Portal:OGHFA)

</comment><comment><USER18> I'm a hard believer in decision fatigue, and live my life accordingly. By doing so I've noticed that I've dramatically increased my quality of life - and quite frankly I no longer have "brain dead days".

My favourite mechanism for doing so is prepping my clothes, prepping my my next day, and preparing my lunch - all the night before. Similarly knowing what we'll eat for dinner the next night. It might not work for everyone else - and I'm not the planner type, but this has dramatically improved my life.

<comment><USER19> You might have autism then, my younger adult brother has to habitually organize his week before hand, clothes, meals, etc to cope with it. It certainly helps him focus during the week.

<comment><USER18> Nope - I don't any any of those needs (few in general actually). It's more that this possible decision point is gone. It's uplifting, at least for me.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Note that the commonly cited example of judges being more likely to grant bail earlier in the morning and immediately after lunch is at least partly due to a confounder: The cases where the accused has a lawyer go first.

<comment><USER21> Also, easier cases often go first.

<comment><USER22> Surprised there was no control for that sort of thing.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> I think this is common for entrepreneurs. I've found focusing on my personal mental health has generally been positive for my company.

For example, I nap now whenever I want. Whether I lost sleep b/c of some late night problem or just stress, I vigilantly make sure I get enough sleep. Exercise is huge too. Your mental state builds on your physical state.

</comment><comment><USER24> In software, UI design and in creative fields, this is a real thing. If you have unlimited options (like in music production), you spend all of your time on a tangent-tangent-tangent caught up in decision after decision.

</comment><comment><USER25> Decision Fatigue: when you spend all your daily quota deciding which HN articles to read.

</comment><comment><USER26> A great method to help you track decision fatigue is the spoon theory [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory).

Basically; start the day with X number of spoons. Every time you make a decision, take away a spoon. Spoons run out? Your day is done!

<comment><USER27> Now I need to decide how many spoons to start the day with.

Am I allowed to use the spoon for the decision of what to have for lunch to eat it or has soup just become much more costly?

<comment><USER26> Start with 7 spoons. Or 8. It doesn't really matter because you just need something to start with, then you adjust it if it's too little (you had more energy after running out of spoons) or too many (you ran out of energy but still had spoons left).

It's up to you what you spend spoons on. If you find that deciding what to eat is mentally costly, then yes, spend a spoon. Or set a habit to not make decisions about food and eat the same thing for lunch.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> I think Decision Fatigue has a long and rich treatment in the Buddhist and specifically Zen tradition. One of the true practical daily takeaways from Zen teachings I can share is that dithering and hesitation are acute forms of suffering and akin to a broken record repeating.

A zen master may deliberate on a question, but will never dither. When presented with a choice, do the thinking it deserves but no more.

A simple example: you're looking at a menu and they all look good. Pick the first one or the one closest to your finger. It doesn't matter.

Also, don't cheat and be deferential; "I don't know, which would _you_ like?" Practice actively choosing. It'll do wonders in your daily life.

</comment><comment><USER17> A very related concept & book: _Paradox of Choice_

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

The book was excellent, made me more-cognizant of choices and about having a strategy for dealing with it all (statisficing rather than maximizing).

Great short summary by the author in his classic TED talk: [https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choi...](https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice?language=en)

</comment><comment><USER29> Choosing a shirt and tie doesn't contribute to decision fatigue in fact modern professional dress is designed to mitigate decision fatigue in many small and subtle ways without reducing the process of dressing to absurdity

</comment><comment><USER30> I wonder if decision fatigue is related to our search for novelty. The decisions might be exciting at first, but then the novelty wears off and we become less interested.

</comment><comment><USER31> I usually set a time limit of how long it takes for me to make a decision

Once I write something I don't go back to fix it until after its done

</comment><comment><USER32> Bandwidth is finite.</comment>


I collected a list of visa friendly countries in the world - <AUTHOR> https://visalist.io/visa/ranking <comment><USER2> Your source for geographic locations of countries might be contentious especially for countries that are within multiple regions, and your developing / developed status is _definitely_ so. I would love to see your data sources on that.

<comment><AUTHOR> I got this data from Wikipedia

<comment><USER2> Consider using direct sources like the CIA World Factbook instead of Wikipedia. I took a cursory look at your data and I've spotted a few inaccuracies fairly quickly. Getting basic facts wrong about a country doesn't inspire confidence about the freshness of the visa information.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Also worth looking at:

[https://www.passportindex.org/comparebyPassport.php?p1=us&fl...](https://www.passportindex.org/comparebyPassport.php?p1=us&fl=&s=yes)

<comment><AUTHOR> That's for passport, where as this is how easy and accommodating a country is for Tourists

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> What is the data source? For visa to Russia from Norway, the app says applicant must meet in person. However, the Russian visa center in Oslo is this: "If you don't have an opportunity to come in person to one of the Russian visa centers to apply for a visa, you can do it by mail."

[https://tass-norway.no/en/](https://tass-norway.no/en/)

</comment><comment><USER5> Intesreting site, thanks for sharing. If it yours I strongly suggest improving performances on mobile as well as removing the top menu while scrolling if you want to keep the banner ad.

<comment><AUTHOR> I have placed it behind cloudflare. Thanks for the feedback.

<comment><USER5> I was speaking of the site itself, not the hosting. It was slow on my phone. I confess that my phone is low end

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> You'd want to do some proof reading and corrections. When I open the site, the title says "Visa rakings on the ...". There's a typo there on what should be "rankings".

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. Fixed it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Nice but advertisement is violent :D

</comment><comment><USER8> This is amazing! Nice way to visualise visa friendly countries on a map. Good job! Now visa list has become my go to site for finding visa requirements

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks</comment></comment>


Startup Quote: John Doerr, Partner, KPCB - <AUTHOR> http://startupquote.com/post/9321949381/your-biggest-challenge-will-be-building-a-great

<comment><AUTHOR> Your biggest challenge will be building a great team.

\- John Doerr

<http://startupquote.com/post/9321949381/></comment>


Porsche to take all-electric Mission E concept to production - <AUTHOR> http://www.gizmag.com/porsche-mission-e-production/40786/ <comment><USER2> Should be a decent competitor (2020) for the _next_ Tesla Roadster (2019).</comment>


ReDex as a docker container - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/yongjhih/docker-redex <comment><USER2> Is "Run X... in docker!" particularly noteworthy for most values of X?

<comment><USER3> Let us see. I propose an experiment.

Write a dockerfile for running echo in docker.

If it gets onto the front page, then we as an industry have gone too far.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Wow... That's a lot of dependencies. Why not release a docker container that builds the final product?

<comment><AUTHOR> The doc of deps chapter is for source build. It's released as docker container.</comment></comment>


Playtomic Brings Mobile Analytics to Android, Heatmaps For Unity - <AUTHOR> http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2011/11/16/playtomic-analytics/

<comment><USER2> Great article. I am totally looking for analytics for my Android games. The heatmaps look amazing in Unity.

</comment><comment><USER3> Whats wrong with using Flurry for analytics and its custom Event API for heatmaps? I don't get it ..

</comment><comment><USER4> this is awesome news! Have been using them on my browser games, will definitely use them for mobile.</comment>


The case against layoffs:  they often backfire - <AUTHOR> http://www.newsweek.com/id/233131?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+newsweek%2FTopNews+%28UPDATED+-+Newsweek+Top+Stories%29 <comment><USER2> There are entire companies formed by bitter ex employees who will never work for Electronic Arts again.

I agree with everything in this article. It just really nails it.

<comment><USER3> SAP was founded by former IBM employees who weren't allowed to do the project inside of IBM.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> FTA: "...about one third of the companies that had laid people off subsequently rehired some of them as contractors because they still needed their skills."

This happened to me a few months ago, I was made redundant by my employer only to be immediately rehired as a contractor because they need my skills. Now they have to pay me more than before and I get to work from home and use the saved commuting time on bootstrapping my startup. I'd never go back as an employee now. So it was a pretty inefficient cost cutting scheme on their part.

<comment><USER5> You might be surprised at the amount of money they save by not having you as an employee.

They save a few thousand a year on your desk; thousands on unemployment taxes in many states; SS and income tax contributions; healthcare benefits, stock awards, and bonus schemes; etc.

Regardless, it's not necessarily intended to be a pure cost-cutting scheme: switching you to being a contractor essentially improves their liquidity.

It's a little like someone with lots of cash getting a mortgage to buy a house: they could afford it, but they'd rather pay a little more over time to get additional flexibility.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Is the job market that bad for us techies; web designers, developers, Internet marketers, SEO and such? Which fields are suffering the most? Ones that don't require special skill sets?

Where I live and fortunately (mid Atlantic region) there are always many job postings for web design/development on craigslist. My viewpoint Im not seeing all the unemployed; even with friends.

<comment><USER7> Assuming you're a male between the ages of 25 and 44 with a college education, probably not that bad. The New York Times did a good infographic:

[http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/econo...](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/economy/unemployment- lines.html)

<comment><USER8> Of the factors you listed, it looks like being 25+ and having a college degree are the main ones. The unemployment rate is almost as low for 45+ as for 25-44 among college graduates, and the unemployment rate for women in those groups is actually lower than for men (the lowest unemployment of all groups in the infographic is for white women 25-44 with college degrees).

(edit: thanks greatly for the link, btw. it looks like it's been up for a few months, but I missed it the first time around.)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> > A study of 141 layoff announcements between 1979 and 1997 found negative > stock returns to companies announcing layoffs, with larger and permanent > layoffs leading to greater negative effects.

The simpler explanation is that companies in the worst straits are likely to make the deepest cuts when performing layoffs.

</comment><comment><USER10> Well,

At best, this is an argument for postponing layoffs at long as practical. If you in a declining industry, for example, layoffs are inevitable.

Indeed, the goal of keeping as many employees as possible is nice but if it causes the entire corporation to go bankrupt, you haven't avoid layoffs.

It seems like the best policy for an organization would be maximum honesty, minimum practical layoffs and giving all employee a shot at switching positions within the organization.

But these generalization really are hard. Intel has profited while laying-off people through continuous internal competition. It could be brutal but it worked for keeping the company profitable.

<comment><USER8> Some can be avoided by not doing cyclic shedding/adding of workers. The justification for layoffs in a downturn followed by hires in an upturn is that it cuts costs: if you fire someone today and then hire someone else two years from now when things pick up, you've saved two years of salary/benefits over just keeping them on payroll through the downturn. I see this article as providing an argument that maybe saving that two years of salary isn't worth it.

(There are other problems in that particular case, like companies that follow that hiring/layoff model always being a step behind in recoveries--- they're never well placed to catch booms early, because they spend the first year desperately scrambling to hire talent instead.)

<comment><USER11> _if you fire someone today and then hire someone else two years from now when things pick up, you've saved two years of salary/benefits over just keeping them on payroll through the downturn._

The problem with that thinking is that there are costs involved in laying someone off and hiring anew two years later. And you have paid those costs to get no productivity out of them. I read an article some years ago that indicated that one company which paid top salaries for its industry saved money by doing so because they spent so much less on the hiring process and on training, and also because of general quality of work and customer satisfaction, because their employees tended to stick around. I have also read that one company/industry which laid people off suffered 10 years down the road when they found they had no one in the pipeline to fill managerial positions as they came open. So the (potential) costs involved here are not just the salary involved.

<comment><USER10> _The problem with that thinking is that there are costs involved in laying someone off and hiring anew two years later. And you have paid those costs to get no productivity out of them._

Uh, suppose that when you originally fired the person, you simply didn't have the money to pay their salary? At that point, there is no thinking involved, just a decision that's forced on you. And like a lot of desperation cost- cutting, it might indeed cost you more money in the long run. But saving that long-run money won't help if you can't pay rent and buy food next month.

 _I read an article some years ago that indicated that one company which paid top salaries for its industry saved money by doing so because they spent so much less on the hiring process and on training, and also because of general quality of work and customer satisfaction, because their employees tended to stick around._

That is if a company is in a niche producing items which haven't simply become commodities.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> On one page: <http://www.newsweek.com/id/233131/output/print>

</comment><comment><USER13> There are two sides to this -- layoffs are acts of desperation, and layoffs can be good for a company's health.

Here's what I mean.

The corporate world seems to have Layoff Fever. So many of the 2009 layoffs seemed as though they were inspired solely by herd mentality, and perhaps by a desperate attempt to please investors. Layoffs cost a lot of money in severance packages, decreased ability to execute, and probably more. A layoff is a bet against the future.

Conversely, though, if you've ever worked at a larger company, you may have noticed people who don't actually seem to do anything except play political games and collect paychecks. It's corporate welfare; they take more away from a company than they contribute. Those people should be laid off in any economy. Unfortunately, because of their political savvy, they usually survive at least the first rounds.

<comment><AUTHOR> Those people shouldn't be laid off. They should be fired. There's a _big_ difference.

<comment><USER13> They should be fired, but in practice they rarely are.

There's not really a big difference between a firing and a layoff, except in terms of scale. Rarely are whole groups of employees fired, but layoffs are -- well, precisely that.

When planning layoffs, managers are usually told to identify the "dead wood" in their organizations -- unproductive, wasteful souls. That'd include our corporate politicians, and in some cases, they are actually included.

<comment><USER14> Because the "identify your deadwood" request is often only used when planning layoffs, managers who don't want to appear uncooperative may warehouse deadwood in good times to have something to sacrifice in bad times.

"Why does so-and-so still work here?" can sometimes truthfully be answered "So we'll have someone to lay off when the company calls for 10% cuts."</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ending factory farming as soon as possible - <AUTHOR> https://80000hours.org/2017/09/lewis-bollard-end-factory-farming/ <comment><USER2> Looking through the different approaches on the list, I am missing one large one. Fishermen are currently throwing away a majority of caught fish because people only buy a very small selection of species (which also differ between nations). We could more than double the amount of fish meat that get eaten without changing the number of fish being killed, and yet for mostly cultural reasons we don't.

<comment><USER3> While I'd rather see mass fishing stopped entirely (and I don't eat fish, or any other meat, on ethical grounds), that's a valid point. I often think of the fact that lobster was once considered trash, or only to be consumed by the lowest classes, and only through an effective marketing campaign did it become a luxury food.

But, realistically, many ocean ecosystems are already on the brink of collapse. Merely increasing production won't save those ecosystems; though maybe it'd stave it off for a few years. Our industrial economies have produced seemingly limitless consumption and waste.

When you add up all of the wasted food at every stage of our agricultural systems, it is staggering. It's not just fish that's being wasted, it's everything. Solving the waste problem is more boring than growing meat in a lab, but it might be more effective at reducing hunger and reducing ecological destruction.

<comment><USER2> The waste problem in the other points of the production chain is indeed massive and solvable. The idea that fresh produce is sent to stores only to have a fraction being bought is a massive waste in both food and introduction of additional middle man. Online markets for food could fix this, but I have yet to see one that can compete on prices. It might happen once transport costs go down.

To go back to marine ecosystem, those that are on the brink of collapse is so mainly because of 3 causes. Pollution, invasive species, and over overfishing towards specific fish stocks. Both invasive species and overpopulation caused by eutrophication could actually use an increase in fishing in order to increase biodiversity, but a common element in both is that no one want to pay for it. To my knowledge it actually common problem in many fresh water lakes.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I think lab-grown meat (if it ever becomes economically feasible) is the only thing that can ever put a dent in factory farming.

<comment><USER5> I'm all for lab-grown meat but I do question if you'll ever fully satisfy the meat lovers. In my opinion, a better approach would be a hybrid meat/fake meat option which would still make a huge dent in factory farming but appeal to the palates of those who love their cheeseburger.

If we can cut down "real" meat consumption by even half, you could in theory make all cows free range.

<comment><USER6> I don't know about other meat lovers, but yours truly can't wait for lab-grown meat to be a thing so he can finally stop killing animals for food.

<comment><USER7> Out of curiosity, what's stopping you from going vegan or vegetarian in the interim?

<comment><USER6> Pretty much only this equation:

meat tastiness * degree it affects me > immorality of killing animals * degree it affects me

<comment><USER8> Yeah, "vegan in the head but not in the plate", I think our ranks are growing haha

<comment><USER6> Exactly that. One of these days, someone will give me a choice between a normal, horrifyingly-grown slab of meat and a slightly-more-expensive-but- ethically-grown one, and then we'll see who's a hypocrite!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I really can't fathom the dogmatic line on vegans/vegetarians when it comes to insect farming for human consumption...

They talk about it toward 2:20 (I do like how they had a full transcript and ToC so you can jump around in the audio).

In any case, my take away was that because there might be some chance of a "net negative" life for insects in farms, we shouldn't be looking to replace some of our protein needs by insects.

Given the sheer amount of ecological damage that is being done to the planet with each season of industrial animal farming, I really don't understand why we're not looking at lab-grown insects as the MVP for "lab-grown meat".

The problems needing to be solved to make crickets/mealworm protein a scaled operation that could reduce the demand on chicken/beef/pork are much easier than growing meat in a lab (feel pretty confident in this claim, open to rebuttal).

How many cows would be saved every year if just 1 major fast-food burger joint switched to 50/50 mealworm-beef burgers? Would anyone even notice if Taco Bell switched their taco meat to be 50% ground crickets?

What resources are required to make lab grown meat anyways? Where are they sourced from? What habitats are collapsing to provide the necessary solvents/catalysts/preservatives/energy/etc for whatever solutions it needs to grow in? What are the negative externalities of this lab-growing process? What does that look like at the scale necessary to take even 20% of the current beef demand?

We're twisting our britches over what a cricket or mealworm might feel in a factory farm setting, yet they are basically the perfect little machines for turning carbohydrates, water and air into essential human-accessible proteins and vitamins (crickets have a ton of B12, just like red meat). They're the perfect stop-gap solution until the lab meat is ready for prime-time.

Also, insect-farming waste products are typically just great compost and fertilizer and you could basically grow insects underground (mealworms love the dark) and grow their substrate/feed above them. I think calories/acre would be another useful measurement to look at when trying to evaluate which direction human agriculture should be headed.

Alright, __TL;DR __\- Insect farming is low hanging fruit for alleviating the ecological pressure of factory animal farming which is being ignored for no good reason. /rant

</comment><comment><USER10> Thanks for posting this to Hacker News! Very interesting interview covering all aspects of the animal welfare movement. I'm passing on the link to my activist daughters and nieces.

</comment><comment><USER11> Just pointing out an unintended consequence I saw in a cartoon:

As soon as nobody farms cows for meat, milk, and leather, cows will become an endangered species/extinct because nobody will pay to keep them alive. And there's not much space where they could survive on their own in the wild.

<comment><USER12> I don't think the main issue is with farming in general, but with factory farming. Raising farm animals in a humane way is a huge improvement.

<comment><USER13> Who is going to be pay for the raised cost then. Government tax?

<comment><USER14> Many people (/me included) already buy sustainably-raised meat direct from farmers. It's better tasting and often cheaper than meat in the supermarket.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Looking forward to listening to this!

</comment><comment><USER16> I don't think most people really care about animals suffering, or not. However, most people do care about themselves and their children.

Long to short, factor farming generates a lot of ground level pollution. Furthermore, those animals also generate a lot of greenhouse gases. Frame the problem in terms of human suffering and more people are likely to pay attention.

Years ago there was a NY Times Sunday magazine feature article on factor pig farming. It was enlightening. Unfortunately, I've searched for it and can't seem to find it. If you can find, do read it.

p.s. Growing crops to be fed to farm animals is also very inefficient. More people would have more food if we all ate less animal protein.

<comment><USER17> I see 3 main reasons:

1\. Environmental -- For "our children" as you call it. This assumes that countries have gov'ts that give a shit and are not totally controlled by the industry (essentially the mega shareholders)

2\. Health -- Plant-based (especially _whole_ plant food) diet is much, much healthier than the a diet that contains several serving of meat/dairy/eggs per week (many have that in a day). This is ALSO an argument for the children, as they will learn from us. (We could not tell kids to not smoke, we have to stop ourselves too!)

3\. Ethical -- Whole categories of abuse towards fellow earthlings (poor, women, slaves, lower-caste, captured enemies, etc.) were generally accepted as permissible, yet are now near unanimously condemned. It is not unfathomable that animals --that are currently still being permissibly abused for being of a different species-- may get added to that list.

Also the ethical reason will have a huge impact on "our children". As we have seen with the other steps we made in awareness, it is totally worth making these steps.

Peace.

<comment><USER16> I agree with all those reasons. But the majority of people don't care unless you make it personal. Making the world a better place isn't good enough, it's too abstract. You have to answer "What's in it for me?"

<comment><USER17> I was replying to a post roughly answering "what's in it for me" by "what's in it for your children". All wanted to show that the 3 main reasons for going vegan/plant-based all have a strong "for the children" side to them.

There's a huge influx of people in the vegan/plant-based communities from very health conscious people. Many of them believe that science is showing that it allows them to live healthier/happier/longer/stronger.

Is that not a good answer to "What's in it for me?" :)

<comment><USER16> Yes and no. It's all true but too deep for most people. One punch to the nose works better than 3 body blows ;)

<comment><USER17> I tend to pick different strategies for the amount of time I have of someones attention.

But you're advocating the one blow will be from the "personal health" angle. With little time on my hands I usually also go for this angle, simply because I believe that all the people who'd want to be vegan/vegetarian "for the animals" would be so by now. The health angle still has a kind of novelty/news aspect to it (while being more personal and urgent then the environment angle).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Am I the only one who wonders how what the actual difference in suffering is in free range vs. factory farming? There might be a lot of projection going on - people imagining themselves in the same circumstance as the animals and missing the mark because of the differences between our sense of life and that of other animals.

As an example, I once spoke to a person who thought the movie _The March of the Penguins_ was horrific because the penguins just stood there week after week in the freezing cold doing nothing. That may be perfectly fine for a penguin. It might even be like what a adept meditator would experience in a life of meditation.

<comment><USER19> Animals aren't totally different than us. We share a lot of similarities biologically, and even in our brain structures. It's safe to assume that herd animals need a decent amount of space to roam around, and that crowding is stressful and possibly causes mental illnesses.

This is even more true of animals like pigs. Imagine dogs living their lives out in kennels. Also consider the change in behavior in zoo animals when their habitats are redesigned to more closely resemble their native habitats.

<comment><USER18> Thanks. That really has me wondering about the penguins now. Hundreds of thousands of years and evolution has made no accommodation for their emotional well being.

<comment><USER19> Why would evolution make an accommodation for their emotional well being if the penguins are fit enough in their environment to pass their genes on?

That being said, I have no idea what it's like to be a penguin, or how much they suffer. I did watch March of the Penguins and it seemed the males huddling together deep in Antarctica during the winter were uncomfortable.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


First Sale - Davidson v Internet Gateway (the bnetd case) - <AUTHOR> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2009090111072988

<comment><AUTHOR> I thought this analysis might provide some useful legal understanding to those of us starting software businesses.</comment>


Learn Lua in 15 Minutes (2013) - <AUTHOR> http://tylerneylon.com/a/learn-lua/ <comment><USER2> Lua is a funky little language and runtime but it is absolutely perfect for scripting in the domain that it was designed for: embedded.

I used to do a lot of game dev and it was incredible for testing different interactions/movements etc at runtime just to get all the inputs right and then implement in the game code. It has saved me probably 1,000s of man-hours in my career. Nowadays I use it in NGINX for high-velocity requests that are just backed by Redis. Lua, LuaJIT, and Redis have made me a lot of money in my career. I'm forever indebted to their incredible creators and community.

<comment><USER3> How does it compare to TCL?

I understand that the fact of the matter is that Lua dominates, but I'm curious if there are technical reasons or "right thing/right time" kind of luck, after TCL's star dimmed.

<comment><USER4> Don't know much about TCL. But, if you are familiar with JavaScript, Lua ended up being semantically a much cleaner, simpler JS without all the WOT?? and committees to please.

It is small, fast, simple, powerful and easy to embed.

It's also very easy to contain in that the standard library is small and most of that can be removed easily. Isolating Lua's allocation arena and controlling Lua's GC is pretty easy.

<comment><USER5> All the little operators that make things nice like += are missing. Their object implementation is meta-tables, so every single codebase does stuff in fundamentally different paradigms. Operator overloading in such a dynamic language makes things extremely hard to understand. While `"0" == 0` is false, the language will still sloppily convert between floats and ints and will also convert strings to numbers in other places. Worst of all, array indexes are base 1.

<comment><USER6> Lua manages to surprise even Javascript developers with how bad its standard library is.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Author here. I'm delighted to see this is still interesting / useful to folks. In case anyone is curious, here's a short origin story for this tutorial.

I learned Lua for a game jam - during the course of the game jam itself. Like many, I found it a bit weird at first. 1-indexing feels wonky (you get used to it, though); now that I use Python all day, I would miss syntax shortcuts like list comprehensions going back to Lua.

When I was a kid, I learned C from a little pocket reference book while building little self-motivated projects. I still think this is the best way to learn - have a project in mind, and just enough fundamental examples to get you there.

I threw together the Lua tutorial mostly in one sitting, spending some time to edit, and going back and forth on how to keep the whole thing runnable while still explaining how external modules worked. Shortly after publication, Adam Bard contacted me with his idea for learnxinyminutes.com. I said great idea and ok'd the inclusion of the tutorial on Adam's site. Adam invited others to write their own similar-style tutorials, and his site grew up quickly.

Lua itself is a truly beautiful language, though I understand this is not a popular opinion. It's beautiful because you can learn the entire language, through and through, quickly. Memory and comprehension of the language itself get out of the way, so the only hard problems left are your decisions about what to do with the language. (You ask "How will I?" vs "How can I?") Instead of being feature rich through added features, it's feature rich through good language design. I expect some will disagree with me, but as one comparison point, consider the complete syntax of Lua:

[https://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#8](https://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#8)

versus, say, Chapters 11-14 of the ECMAScript spec:

[https://tc39.es/ecma262/#sec-ecmascript-language-lexical- gra...](https://tc39.es/ecma262/#sec-ecmascript-language-lexical-grammar)

It's not apples-to-apples - the ECMAScript spec is spelling things out in detail, while the Lua section is an overview - but it's still a thought- provoking contrast.

<comment><USER8> > Lua itself is a truly beautiful language, though I understand this is not a > popular opinion.

I think most people who actually _use_ Lua come away marveling at its elegance and simplicity. The ones that don't get stuck at "arrays start at 1?! What a garbage language!" In fact, this is a fairly good way to tell if someone has a well-reasoned opinion about Lua ;) (I will put up Go as a counter-example: "hurr durr no generics" is a meme complaint but it remains one once you actually use the language…)

<comment><USER9> I've used julia and lua and tend to think if people complain about indexes starting at 1 instead of C's offsets starting at 0, they can't be working on anything too difficult, because it just isn't a big issue in the grand scheme of things.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Lua + LuaJIT has been a great combination when it comes to Kong[1] which I believe is the largest open source OpenResty application. Not only we can leverage the underlying NGINX networking primitives for fast non blocking IO, we can also hook into each request and response via Lua to provide APIM functionality and run the whole thing on the piece of art that is LuaJIT[2] created by the legendary Mike Pall.

I have to admit it does have its quirks (Lua lists have a base index of 1 instead of 0), but so far it's been phenomenal. As far as I know, Cloudflare is also leveraging the same stack (OpenResty) for their global CDN.

Disclaimer: I am a Kong contributor.

[1] - [https://github.com/Kong/kong](https://github.com/Kong/kong)

[2] - [https://luajit.org/](https://luajit.org/)

</comment><comment><USER11> I grant that it would have gone over 15 minutes, but it's a pity that such a pithy summary doesn't cover coroutines or environments at all.

Coroutines are what elevate Lua beyond "a better Javascript" into something truly great, while first-class environments, although something you won't reach for often, allow for some things which just aren't possible any other way.

</comment><comment><USER12> OpenResty embeds Lua in nginx, the results are out-of-this-world speed and power. I know OpenResty can be used for complex projects but I always used it for just that little extra simple configuration can't do.

</comment><comment><USER13> I've only encountered Lua in a game context

The first few releases of the "Monkey Island" series from LucasArts head a grimy pirate-themed tavern called the "S.C.U.M.M. Bar" (for Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion).

When they transitioned to a "3d" experience and switched engines/tooling, the SCUMM Bar was replaced with tiki-style called "Lua Bar": [https://monkeyisland.fandom.com/wiki/Scumm_Bar](https://monkeyisland.fandom.com/wiki/Scumm_Bar)

</comment><comment><USER14> Discussed at the time: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5935320](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5935320)

</comment><comment><USER15> feel the need to bring up the wonderful [https://learnxinyminutes.com](https://learnxinyminutes.com), which has a ton of references just like this for other languages. It actually looks like the lua file there is the exact same one linked!

<comment><USER16> It looks the same, because he is the author of that page

[https://github.com/adambard/learnxinyminutes- docs/commit/9b4...](https://github.com/adambard/learnxinyminutes- docs/commit/9b451ce38e4a721d8e5f9aee40483950654f2546#diff-7afcf759f7294538191b6c31dc1aec8cR3)

</comment></comment><comment><USER17>
      -- Indices start at 1 !! SO CRAZY!

As of a few years ago, I use Lua regularly in my day job and this one still baffles me. In Lua, the first element in a list is index 1, rather than 0.

<comment><USER18> In contrast, indices starting at 0 always baffled me in other languages. In pretty much any real-world scenario, you always start at 1 (it's literally "the first element" as in "1st"). It always seemed to me like language developers for some odd reason decided to apply spatial coordinates to arrays.

<comment><USER19> [https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD08xx/E...](https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD08xx/EWD831.html)

<comment><USER20> This always seems to pop up in these discussions but I don't think I am terribly convinced by his argument. For example, he doesn't mention that option (c) is better than option (a) if you need to iterate backwards. In that case option (a) becomes option (b), which everyone can agree objectively sucks :)

<comment><USER21> Yes! Reverse ranges in Python are awkward for this reason. The reverse of `range(0, 5)` (i.e. [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]) isn't `range(5, 0, -1)`, it's `range(4, -1, -1)`.

I think it would be better if the end-points were "low" and "high" rather than "start" and "stop", so the reverse of `range(0, 5)` would simply be `range(0, 5, -1)`.

<comment> bad-apple I think Rust has another good alternative to this, although it might be cheating a little: you can just write (lo..hi).rev(). That way, the common case of going forwards is nice, and the case of going backward isn't much worse.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> As someone who works with lua/nginx seeing a variable declared without `local` makes me immediately nervous as it's creating a global. Maybe start with a `local`?

</comment><comment><USER23> "Read a compilation of Lua basics in 15 minutes"

<comment><USER24> If you've got decent programming experience, that's all it takes.

I started learning Lua and began working on a game within an hour without needing to reference language documentation much at all. It's a language without many secrets.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Can anyone recommend IDEs for Lua? I've used Visual Studio Community for C# and Eclipse for Java and been really happy with them. Mainly looking for code auto-completion and debugger. Right now I'm doing a small game with C# and Otter2d, but Lua with löve2d seems interesting.

<comment><USER26> ZeroBrane Studio

[https://studio.zerobrane.com/](https://studio.zerobrane.com/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> I used Lua back in 2012 to perform call processing for SIP messages. It was one of the first interprovider solutions for video calls. It was our best option over TCL/JS to provide fast processing of text, eventually we allowed users to enable it in Cisco Callmanager and SBCs.

</comment><comment><USER28> Great! My interested in Lua was actually sparked by knowing you could write pandoc plugins with it.

</comment><comment><USER29> Thanks for the post! It greatly improved my understanding of Lua, which I've followed but never used in a project. I'd love to see more tutorials like this, which assume the reader is a programmer but not in that particular language.

</comment><comment><USER30> Perfect. Just started using IceSL ([https://icesl.loria.fr/](https://icesl.loria.fr/)) as an alternative to OpenSCAD for designing things to 3D print, and its scripting is all Lua-based.

</comment><comment><USER31> I really dislike that many languages still allow you to do strings with single _or_ double quotes. Why not just choose one and stick with it? It's another pedantic thing that allow people argue about the "best way"

<comment><USER32> Because it lets you use single quotes ("isn't") or double quotes ('error: "%s"') without escaping ('isn\'t', "error: \"%s\"").

A rare case where readability and consistency may _not_ be the same. (Let's not argue about this, it's subjective. I'm aware of the obvious counter- and counter-counter-arguments, such as syntax hilighting and greppability.)

<comment><USER31> The problem is that a single quote will often times appear in strings as well, and sometimes (like in the case of bash) can't even be escaped. So you end up requiring double quotes either way.

Why not just settle permanently on double quotes? This is what Go and other languages did and I think it's a good idea.

<comment><USER2> > This is what Go and other languages did and I think it's a good idea.

Well Lua is about 30 years old and Go is, what, 10 years old? I would expect a language that is barely a decade old to improve on past ideas and mistakes.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> If this guy's here: your ssl cert is expired.

EDIT: oh never mind, it's just borked? HN hug of death?

</comment><comment><USER34> Hah. Anyone else grew up making Wow mods? Little did I know how much I'd miss that

</comment><comment><USER35> I always wanted to learn this to make World Of Warcraft online addins!

</comment><comment><USER36> Luajit + sol2. It rocks.

</comment><comment><USER37> 4 places I use lua: mpv, notion (window manager), sysdig, gimp

</comment><comment><USER38> Well that's the first language where I've responded negatively to the comment syntax - and I've worked with tcl.

Also, seriously? Double is more than enough for integers? No. No. No. I'm not going to attack every single line of this article, so lets just say I was triggered.

My daily use languages are Verilog, Python and Tcl.

Edit: I'll actually backtrack to say that this post does a great job of demonstrating things that are non-obvious.

<comment><USER39> What's wrong with the comment syntax?

> Also, seriously? Double is more than enough for integers?

Not saying that I like it, but it's the same as Javascript. If I recall right, Lua is heavily influenced by JS.

<comment><USER40> I don't think it's influenced by js: [http://www.lua.org/doc/hopl.pdf](http://www.lua.org/doc/hopl.pdf)

<comment><USER39> Must have been just the impression I got. When I read about it many years ago, I thought it was very much like JS except with a different syntax. I mean, besides the number thing, it uses prototypes for inheritance, and its "tables" are very much like JS objects in the way of how o.x == o["x"] for example, or how arrays are basically built on them (though augmented with a little syntax- sugar). I don't know of other languages that share these characteristics.

<comment><USER41> Lua is older than Javascript so if anything it is Javascript which took inspiration from Lua.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER42> More like 30 minutes, but okay</comment>


Map of worldwide undersea cables - <AUTHOR> http://www.cablemap.info/ <comment><USER2> If this interests you, Neal Stephenson's chronicle the FLAG cable getting laid is required reading: <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html>

<comment><USER3> Is there any magazine today like the _Wired_ of the mid-1990s?

<comment> mkr-hn Is Ars Technica close?

<comment><USER4> No, not really. In fairness, a lot of old Wired articles were also really bad.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Whoa, nice error:

        Server Error in '/' Application.
        The process cannot access the file 'C:\Users\www.womble.co.za\cable_map\landing_stations.js' because it is being used by another process.

        Line 236:  public void PutFileContents(string filename, string txt)
        Line 237:  {
        Line 238:      TextWriter tw = new StreamWriter(filename);
        Line 239:      tw.Write(txt);
        Line 240:      tw.Close();

It seems that there is a race condition where each web request tries to open this file, and Windows doesn't let you have the file open multiple times (at least with the chosen options).

</comment><comment><USER2> If people near San Luis Obispo are interested in seeing the maps of the cable landings there, check out the library at Cuesta College, they have a huge binder there mapping out the full route of cables from where they land in Los Osos to San Luis Obispo.

I also spoke with an electrician who worked at the landing site in Los Osos, he said that the building is very nondescript and that the stairwell has a huge mural of what one might see if they were actually in the water, and not in a stairwell.

</comment><comment><USER6> Quite a lot of those cables split in the middle of the ocean but zooming in I don't see any islands. What would such an undersea junction look like? Or would it be a platform?

<comment><USER7> I have a feeling they're actually separate cables that are laid at the same time. Maybe they're even bound together in some way. It would be interesting to know for sure.

EDIT: it turns out the cables do actually branch, using one of these: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_branching_unit>

<comment><USER8> Here are some images and information I found on these types of units.

[http://www.fujitsu.com/global/services/telecom/solution/subm...](http://www.fujitsu.com/global/services/telecom/solution/submarine/)

[http://global.mitsubishielectric.com/bu/communication/transm...](http://global.mitsubishielectric.com/bu/communication/transmission/submarine/products/wetplant.html)

<http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6809934.html>

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

<http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6534712.html>

[http://www.techcentral.co.za/aboard-the-ship-that-keeps- sa-c...](http://www.techcentral.co.za/aboard-the-ship-that-keeps-sa-connected- a-photo-essay/10553/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Why is there a 5TBps line from the northern part of mainland Norway up to Svalbard? Is there much telecomms there?

<comment><USER10> From Svalbard you can see pretty much every polar orbit once per orbit, plus Norway is politically stable and very liberal with research licenses there, plus it's warm for the latitude. So there's demand from the kind of people who have polar-orbiting satellites that produce a lot of data.

<comment><USER11> Just to confirm your arguments, I'm quoting from from <http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article545833.ece>: "Although stretching cable for about 3,000 kilometers from Andoeya to Longyearbyen seems inconvenient, the spot has been carefully chosen. Svalbard Satellite Station (SvalSat) has specialized in retrieving data from satellites in polar orbit..."

And then from <http://www.ksat.no/Products/Svalsat.htm>: "The satellite coverage at this latitude holds unique opportunities and SvalSat is the only commercial ground station in the world able to provide all-orbit-support (14 of 14 orbits) to owners and operators of polar orbiting satellites."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> You can't scroll across the Pacific, you can't even see the lines across the Pacific as whole with both ends. But Bing maps can do that, what's wrong here? It's quite a problem with this type of map.

</comment><comment><USER13> Not very surprising, but there is a perfect correlation between the major "junctions" and Amazon's 4 data centers spanning the world, situated in North California (us-west-1), North Virginia (us-east-1), Ireland (eu-west-1) and Singapore (ap-southeast-1).

Recently I published an article describing how we find the closest data center using GeoIP and indexing, might be of interest. <http://www.turnkeylinux.org/blog/geoip-amazon-regions>

</comment><comment><USER14> Pretty interesting stuff. I was hoping to correlate some of my traceroutes with these cables to figure out how my own international traffic is routed, but it seems that with the rise of optical routing, not enough intermediate hops show up for me to figure it out. For example, San Jose to Copenhagen seems to be a single hop for me, so I have no idea what transatlantic cable my data takes:

      xe-9-3-0.sjc10.ip4.tinet.net
      xe-1-2-0.cph10.ip4.tinet.net

<comment><USER15> It could be Layer II routed - then the intermediate hops won't show up in traceroute (a Layer III protocol)

<comment><USER14> Ah yeah, that's probably more likely than layer 1 routing. There does seem to be an increase in it, though; unless I'm mistaken, I seem to recall that 10 years ago it was a bit easier to get a rough idea of the geographical hops a packet was taking. It seems quite a few large providers these days only do one layer 3 hop, so all you see is the entry and exit at the borders of their network.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Map of worldwide cell towers <http://client0.cellmaps.com/tabs.html#cellmaps_intl_tab> is also interesting

<comment><USER17> You can definitely see why 3g service is so much better in Europe, Japan and Korea than in the U.S.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Hoped if I zoomed in close enough I would be able to find the taps. But still awesome.

</comment><comment><USER19> what's the diameter of one of these cables? are they literally laid on the ocean floor?

<comment><USER20> You can see one at <http://www.itnewsafrica.com/?p=3111>

And yes, they are laid on the floor, mostly. In shallows they may be armored against sharks or plowed in to protect against anchors.

The Neal Stephenson, WIRED article is an excellent read, but honestly unless you have a new Safari or some bookmarklet to extract the content from the surrounding flashing lights and popping ads you will probably go blind before you finish it.

<comment><USER21> Printable version: <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I find it absolutely mind-blogging that this is truly how our communication/internet infrastructure is implemented. Its almost unbelievable to me.

</comment><comment><USER23> Plenty more of interest at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_telegraph_cable>, which covers the first transatlantic telegraph cable. Anything to do with electrical communications that smells of rubber and seawater makes me happy.

</comment><comment><USER24> Guam has more cables going into it than all of Australia or Africa.

<comment><USER25> Thanks to the presence of the US military.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> I get a really icky page error. The .NET server is even very helpfully showing me the first four lines of the PutFileContents() function.

<comment><USER27> I have the same experience -- I'm getting very familiar ASP.NET crash page. They didn't even bother to setup custom error page for production web site. \--- The process cannot access the file 'C:\Users\www.womble.co.za\cable_map\landing_stations.js' because it is being used by another process. \---

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> How vulnerable are the cables to physical attack (i.e., drag something heavy and sharp along the ocean floor)?

<comment><USER29> There are about 50 repairs in the Atlantic each year. The cables are damaged by anchors and fishing lines and even things like shark bites and whale entanglements.

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> Ok - I'm curious. How do you lay a cable across the Atlantic Ocean - a length that spans thousands of miles?

<comment><USER31> I thought about this too, so I let my imagination wander:

Solution 1: Perhaps there's a ship pulling a cable attached to a reel, and it periodically drops the cable in the ocean with an anchor weight. The first few times they did this, the engineers miscalculated the length of the cable. As the ship sailed on, the reel got ripped from the ship's hull, the boat sank and the captain didn't have a connection to send an SOS. Ironically, the connection was at the bottom of the ocean, still attached to the reel.

Solution 2: Organize dolphins to pull cables across the Atlantic. Unfortunately, the spinner dolphin species was chosen, resulting in many miles of twisted fiber-optic cable. As you know, having kinks in fiber-optic cables is a bad thing.

Solution 3: Use the Blues Brothers' car (with a cop engine, cop suspension and cop brakes), roll up the windows and drive across the sea floor, laying the cable down. I think this is how they actually did it

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> While I'm glad they actually managed to include NZ, they could make it a little more convenient to view...

</comment><comment><USER33> Is that map complete? Almost none of the cables seem to touch Russia.

</comment><comment><USER34> my name fouy and iy love pc</comment>


BitTorrent study challenges videogame piracy misconceptions - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/15/bittorrent-gaming-study <comment><USER2> I would be interested in if anyone ever did a categorization of torrenters. I have assumed for a while that serial downloading makes up a decent chunk of pirating, but how much would be very important. Basically if you have someone who downloads a game a day, they might need to be treated differently from a more "casual" torrenter.

Of course my thoughts are pure conjecture, finding if that is true or not would add an interesting bit to discussions about this.

</comment><comment><USER3> Here's the problem: Assume you were made CEO of a publisher tomorrow. Are you going to put your money where your mouth is and not take measures to mitigate freeloading? Remember, just the perception of risk can be bad. Shareholders will not be reassured by self-serving, unproven theories about how no one was going to pay for those copies anyways.</comment>


Javascript SetInterval With Context - <AUTHOR> http://javascriptisawesome.blogspot.com/2011/11/setinterval-with-context.html

<comment><USER2> The reason why `this` is set to the window is because of the way the `this` keyword is bound in JavaScript. It is bound at call time.

If at call time it is being called on an object, it will have the value of that object. Otherwise it will have the value of window.

        var obj = { f: function () { return this; } };

        // returns the object
        obj.f()

        // returns window
        var f = obj.f;
        f();

What is happening here is that the setTimeout() calls the lambda at some later point, and it's no longer in the context of the object.

An alternate fix for the issue would be:

        var obj = (function () {
            var that = {};

            that.doSomethingLater = function () {
                setTimeout(function () { console.log(that); }, 1000);
            };

            return that;
        })();

        obj.doSomethingLater();

An article on the subject (that also talks about call and apply): [http://www.robertsosinski.com/2009/04/28/binding-scope-in- ja...](http://www.robertsosinski.com/2009/04/28/binding-scope-in-javascript/)</comment>


Ask HN: What are you working on? - <AUTHOR>

It's been a while since we had one of these.<p>Tell us about your startup/side project! Url: What it does: Are you looking for anything? (Feedback/Hiring/etc) <comment><USER2> Few months ago I scanned a list of domains on the web, randomly selected from the top 100k alexa list for common vulnerabilities and oh boy lots of websites are insecure, ranging all the way from xss to sqli.

Anyway, it inspired me to create an online security scanner. Right now I'm focusing on just Wordpress based websites but I'll expand if this gains any traction. Currently it scans for outdated installations, common sql injection, xss, vulnerable plugins and themes along with common shell files. It's been really fun to build so far. Aiming to finish it by the end of next week. Haven't got a domain yet, but I have screenshots of the prototype:

[http://i.imgur.com/MetVr9E.png](http://i.imgur.com/MetVr9E.png)

[http://i.imgur.com/QRKXLNU.png](http://i.imgur.com/QRKXLNU.png)

</comment><comment><USER3> I am working on a CMS for Meteor.js called Azimuth: [http://azimuthc.ms](http://azimuthc.ms)

Its pretty beta so looking for developer feedback/bug reports/pull requests.

<comment><USER4> Cool project. Just an FYI, all of the text on your site is very hard to read and sort of garbled from my machine.

Chrome Version 28.0.1500.71 m Windows 7, 32bit

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> We have built BayesHive, a web application for Bayesian statistics that allows users to upload their own data and then build statistical models using a point-and-click user interface. This works with simple models and data or with much more complicated time-series data using stochastic differential equations that allow you to forecast financial timeseries or price options in a probabilistic way. Analysis results end up in literate documents that you can edit and share, and more complicated models based on specific equations can also be shared so other users can run shared model against their data.

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

We also just released as open source our AngularJS+D3 visualisation library: [http://openbrainsrc.github.io/Radian/index.html](http://openbrainsrc.github.io/Radian/index.html)

EDIT: link

</comment><comment><USER6> I just last night finished the last piece I wanted to accomplish on my high altitude fully spherical imagery project.

[https://plus.google.com/107235276879849058634/posts/XUWE6zSx...](https://plus.google.com/107235276879849058634/posts/XUWE6zSxJTJ)

As seen here a few months ago [http://robotrising.org/2013/01/operation- stratosphere-conclu...](http://robotrising.org/2013/01/operation-stratosphere- conclusion/)

I'm contemplating doing a computer vision-based telescope tracker next.

</comment><comment><USER7> I'm working on an independent web publishing platform with decentralized social networking features:

[http://idno.co/](http://idno.co/)

You can see me kick the tires over at:

[http://werd.io/](http://werd.io/)

I'm considering funding further development through a patronage model (like NPR: "brought to you by ..."). I wonder if anyone else here has attempted anything like this?

</comment><comment><USER8> I'm working on [http://boardgamehub.co](http://boardgamehub.co), and my consulting practice at [http://ulisesrmzroche.github.io](http://ulisesrmzroche.github.io). I'd be happy to get feedback, since everything is so new I haven't gotten much further than empathy stage.

Board Game Hub is the newest way to play boardgames. Instead of having to teach your friends or meet strangers in internet forums, the web app matches people up by the board game they want to play and, once all the logistics are in place, sets up a gaming night at a board game store for them. There is also a premium version where users can become Guild Founders and, with their fame and renown now tracked, put their reputations against other Guilds in a highly competitive social gaming network.

As a consultant, I build high quality startups on a low budget. Providing web development, marketing, and explainer video services. I'm also still working on honing the target market, because it seems like so many people want wordpress stuff.

</comment><comment><USER9> I'm working on a geofencing platform that allows content and services to be associated with a specific geographic location.

www.iamnear.com

Really geared for developers so any developer feedback would be greatly appreciated. :-) If you do decide to check it out please use a desktop first. Mobile version is for testing geofences.

</comment><comment><USER10> I have been working on a service that provides build automation for mobile apps. I welcome any feedback.

[https://appramp.io/](https://appramp.io/)

Right now working on ironing out some kinks in the build system and making some UI changes. I should be ready to do an official Show HN very soon.

</comment><comment><USER11> We're building matchist to a) help freelance developers find worthwhile work while getting paid on time, every time ([http://matchist.com/talent](http://matchist.com/talent)) and b) help clients find quality developers to handle anything from simple website builds to complex API integrations.

</comment><comment><USER12> I've been building this Hacker News web app over the past couple days: [http://hn.meteor.com/](http://hn.meteor.com/)

The code's on GitHub: [https://github.com/zacharydenton/hackerreader](https://github.com/zacharydenton/hackerreader)

</comment><comment><USER13> I've been working on a book on machine learning that targets people at an application developer level of skill.

Here's my first chapter, on text classification: [https://gist.github.com/zacstewart/5978000](https://gist.github.com/zacstewart/5978000)

</comment><comment><USER14> This evening I made a fresh release of my new console mail client, which is entirely scriptable through lua:

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

Recently it has become my full-time mail-client, which is pretty good.

</comment><comment><USER15> The project I've just finished working on is called Anonymous IRC. The idea is that, especially recently, not everyone feels comfortable being monitored. Once you are done chatting, all your information is erased.

[http://anonirc.co](http://anonirc.co)

</comment><comment><USER16> I'm working in a new publishing platform, made with HTML5, CSS3 and SVG, mostly that we use on mobile versions too for making short or long stylized texts. It's called [http://notegraphy.com](http://notegraphy.com).

</comment><comment><USER17> Online Spaced Repetition software that actually looks and feels good: [http://cardflashapp.com](http://cardflashapp.com) (or at least that's the plan)

</comment><comment><USER18> I'm starting to build a blog about product design: [http://www.thomazz.com](http://www.thomazz.com)

</comment><comment><USER19> a 2D game to sharpen OpenGL skills</comment>


Ask HN: If you were to make HN today, which platform/framework would you use? - <AUTHOR>

I was thinking of making my own version of HN and wanted to decide upon which platform would be best(if any) for such a project. I'm sure this can be accomplished using any of the numerous frameworks/technologies out there, but is there something specific which comes to mind? <comment><USER2> to my mind, it's less about the language and much more about the server architecture. Squid caching proxies, memcache, which db to use (mySQL, noSQL etc), etc. The actual dev framework is just a matter of taste and experience. It's the server architecture that's going to be responsible for performance/uptime issues.

</comment><comment><USER3> cobol on cogs</comment>


Another Blow for the Future of Corals - <AUTHOR> https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/09/great-spawning-corals-becoming-undone/597466/ <comment><USER2> I have the good fortune to work on an island surrounded by "super corals". The spawning this year seemed to be synchronized and right on schedule.

Life is adaptable, and while that does not excuse our behavior it does give me hope for the future of our reefs.

Reefs are the oldest ecosystems on the planet, they will survive the damage we are doing to the planet. Our species however may not.

If you are at all interested in coral conservation there are several organizations that organize reef cleanup, ghost net removal, and coral farming projects. I highly encourage you to consider volunteering some of your time during your next vacation. It's a rewarding activity that will also have you working in some of the most beautiful locations in the world.

<comment><USER3> > Reefs are the oldest ecosystems on the planet, they will survive the damage > we are doing to the planet. Our species however may not.

My understanding is that this is very much in doubt. According to the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C [1],

> The risks of climate-induced impacts are projected to be higher at 2°C than > those at global warming of 1.5°C (high confidence). Coral reefs, for > example, are projected to decline by a further 70–90% at 1.5°C (high > confidence) with larger losses (>99%) at 2°C (very high confidence). The > risk of irreversible loss of many marine and coastal ecosystems increases > with global warming, especially at 2°C or more (high confidence).

Coral reefs are so old, and have survived so many changes, because they are adaptable to many different environmental conditions, including temperature. The threat to them, as I understand it, is that global warming will happen so quickly that they will be unable to adapt by migrating in latitude or evolving defenses.

[1] [https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/SR15...](https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/SR15_SPM_version_report_LR.pdf)

<comment><USER2> They survived meteor impacts that lit the atmosphere on fire and blocked out the sun for years, life finds a way.

What we are doing to the environment is catastrophic, but it is not the hardest thing it has had to endure.

Just as an example, despite nearly world wide bleaching my house reef is expanding by over 2 meters a year and the pace is accelerating.

Some species thrive as others die, those that can adapt will take the place of the ones that can't. That doesn't mean that we should stop trying to undo the damage we have already done, but I try to avoid the defeatist attitude that many environmentalists seem to pushing these days.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Nature is wonderful it always gives us signs of distress. But we as species who have transformed earth due to our behaviour are too late to take action on these signs.

Majority will trade distant future for today's comfort. We only have hopes on minority warriors and scientists who see this sign and force us to take action before it's too late.

Hopefully we do a better scientific study and take action as quickly as possible to first understand the signs and mitigate the effects to make our earth more balanced.

We as a society should have a stronger scientific temperament which will help us to take action. We should give up selfish behaviour and skeptics like the popular leaders in some countries denying climate changes by human for the sake of power, politics and votes.

We should denounce it, before we become extinct due to irreversible damage.

<comment><USER5> _Majority will trade distant future for today 's comfort. We only have hopes on minority warriors and scientists who see this sign and force us to take action before it's too late._

There are probably a series of decisions that we could have make as a worldwide civilization that does not involves the notion of sacrifice whatsoever.

<comment><USER6> I really don't think so. The cheap and easy thing has always been to burn the fossil fuels, cut down the forests, fish until there are no more fish, and hunt until there are no more prey. The only hope for the future is if we care for it.

<comment><USER7> What about emerging countries increasing women's education and having fewer children much later?

<comment><USER6> What about it?

<comment><USER8> Instead of beating around the bush and choose easy targets such as fossil fuels and forests, do something about it.

<comment><USER6> Ah, so... you think more people should be working on this? I'm under the impression everyone in those poor countries with high birth rates is already working to move themselves or their country into a better economic position, and when they do, birth rates will fall and resource consumption will still go up, because rich people consume more resources, even when there are fewer of them. How does that solve the problem of the so-called "easy targets" like fossil fuels and forests?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> The reefs are already lost. We've already emitted enough GHG to raise temperatures sufficiently to kill most of them and there are no signs that we'll stay below 2° of warming. At 2° all coral reefs will die.

<comment><USER10> Then how do we explain the huge number of fossil reefs in the geological record from times when temperatures were much warmer and C02 levels were around 10 times as high as they are today?

Besides if the temperature warms 2 degrees won't corals adapted to tropical waters colonize currently colder waters that are at that point perfectly suited?

<comment><USER11> _won 't corals adapted to tropical waters colonize currently colder waters that are at that point perfectly suited?_

What, they just call up American Vanlines to come pack their shit and move them 10 degrees north? No, temperature change will happen quickly enough that the coral will die before they migrate.

<comment><USER10> Corals produce polyps that are mobile early in life and wash all over. They won't have any trouble moving if temperatures change. In fact it's already been observed to happen.

[https://www.nature.com/news/2011/110121/full/news.2011.33.ht...](https://www.nature.com/news/2011/110121/full/news.2011.33.html)

Corals are not going to die out in 30 years, 50 years, probably not before humans die out. Corals have been around for a long time and are highly adaptable.

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

For fun you can look at temps and C02 levels during Devonian period. No glaciers, much warmer than today. Very high C02 because carbon we are burning today had not been sequestered yet. Yet a coral reef was formed, a big one.

<comment><USER9> You'd better call up the IPCC and tell them of your findings, because they believe that 99% of the coral will be dead in a 2° world with high confidence. Currently our emissions are on a path for much stronger warming that even that.

<comment><USER10> Appeal to authority isn't really an argument though.

I've laid the fact I know of out, you are free to believe what you want.

<comment><USER9> I'm not an expert on coral reef ecology, and probably neither are you. Believing the scientists who are is the natural choice.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Stuff changing too quickly is what makes an extinction event.</comment>


Ignition: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants (1972) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf <comment><USER2> The book was out of print for a while, and this PDF was the only way to,read it for less than $400. But now it's back in print for $17: [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813595835/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813595835/) Basically the same content, highly worth reading in either format.

He addresses the calamity that engineers don't read several times in the book - formulations are attempted a few years after someone proved it didn't work. Makes me wonder if a similar approach wouldn't be advisable in programming...

<comment><USER3> It's also available on Audible in audiobook format too.

[https://www.audible.com/pd/B07CTTXLL6](https://www.audible.com/pd/B07CTTXLL6)

<comment><USER4> Thank you for making me aware.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> It's been submitted before, but it's come to hand again, and I'm reminded once more just how much of a fantastic read this is:

"A fluorine-aluminum fire is something to see - from a safe distance"

"Everyone who uses a computer has, from time to time, a mad urge to attack the precocious abacus with an axe."

"... a fearsome cutting torch burning powdered aluminum with gaseous flourine"

I have to admit that:

        "What if I replace a hydroxide
         group with flourine"

is a question I've never asked myself.

<comment><USER5> My favorite quote from Ignition is this description of Chlorine Trifluoride (CTF):

It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.

<comment><USER6> That's hilarious, never thought about rust being another reason we are here today.

<comment><USER7> I've forgotten the reference but read an engineer mention they tried stainless steel tanks for some application. And they all developed pin hole leaks from pit corrosion in less time than it took a plain steel tank to rust through.

Also a suspended concrete ceiling above a swimming pool that fell into the pool, thankfully at night when it was closed. The designer thought stainless tiebars wouldn't rust in the humid environment above the pool. They didn't. They developed chlorine mediated stress crack corrosion.

Me every time I've seen someone naive deal with a materials problem it's been sadness and tears.

<comment><USER8> Not sure if there were several such swimming pool incidents, but the one I recall in Uster, Switzerland, happened during business hours and 12 people were killed: [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la- xpm-1985-05-10-mn-18105-...](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la- xpm-1985-05-10-mn-18105-story.html)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment> orbital-decay An amazing read which makes Kerbal Space Program look like a documentary based on real life events. See also: Things I Won't Work With [0] series by Derek Lowe, another long time HN favorite on dangerous chemistry.

[0] [https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/thin...](https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/things- i-wont-work-with)

<comment><USER9> You beat me to it! Such a wonderful read!

I pray I am never exposed to the FOOF family of chemicals :)

<comment><USER10> Never a good idea to be playing with Satan's kimchi!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I'd like to throw out a mention for a book that takes one of the topics from _Ignition!_ and covers it in depth. _The Green Flame_ [https://www.amazon.com/Green-Flame-Andrew-Dequasie- ebook/dp/...](https://www.amazon.com/Green-Flame-Andrew-Dequasie- ebook/dp/B00C9Q06YS) is a book about the Borane fuels project, which is covered briefly in the chapter of _Ignition!_ on exotic fuels, and will probably be a worthwhile read for anyone who loves _Ignition!_.

</comment><comment><USER12> The introduction is by Isaac Asimov (!), who says that John Clark was a great science fiction writer, who, when he stopped writing, allowed lesser authors like Asimov (!!!) to come to prominence. An amazing (and amazingly gracious) statement.

</comment><comment><USER13> The full title has a bang (!) in it, pun most assuredly intended. One of my favorite books about science of all time, and don't miss the author of the forward.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, the bang was there when I submitted it, removed by the submission process, and so I edited the title to put it back. The title as I eventually submitted it was:

IGNITION! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John D. Clark

Subsequently that was modified by the mods.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Another fantastic memoir you'll find recommended on chemistry blogs is Max Gergel's _Excuse Me Sir, Would You Like to Buy a Kilo of Isopropyl Bromide?_

[http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/books/gergel_isopropyl...](http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/books/gergel_isopropyl_bromide.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER15> A thread from 2017: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15155394](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15155394)

2015: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10683778](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10683778)

<comment><USER16> Aaaand it's still "one of the best technical books ever written."

Anyone marginally interested in the periodic table of the elements or rockets needs to read this.

"if you, gentle reader, have never seen a nervous rocket mechanic, complete with monkey suit, being buzzed by nine thousand demented bats and trying to beat them off with a shovel, there is something missing from your experience. "

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> I will upvote this every single time it surfaces, without shame.

</comment><comment><USER18> I have the book on my Kindle and it seems quite good but I found it hard to read without much chemistry knowledge.

I studied Physics so there are some parts I can understand but nonetheless it felt like I wasn't truly able to appreciate the book.

It's cool that such a specialised book exists though.

</comment><comment><USER19> My friend was wondering why we don't use ATP as rocket fuel? You can't get any better than the energy currency of the cell.

<comment><USER20> Think about it this way: are cells in the business of needing the _maximum_ amount of energy per volume / weight, at the expense of explosive instability?

Or would the be better off making a trade off for less efficient performance in exchange for more stability and biocompatibility?</comment></comment>


Pros and Cons of joining a start-up incubator - <AUTHOR> http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2011/04/04/the-pros-and-cons-of-joining-a-start-up-incubator/

<comment><USER2> "Incubators tend to focus on the 'low hanging fruits', the companies that are either very easy to make profitable or very easy to 'flip' to a larger party in a tech acquisition or a team acquisition. Various incubator operators are on the record stating that they are 'in for the long haul' but the statistics do not bear this out and incubators tend to stay away from companies that really intend to 'change the world'."

I have no idea if this is true of the others, but for the record, it is certainly not true of us. It's one of our guiding principles that the ideas with the biggest potential usually seem borderline crazy, and we consciously seek them out.

</comment><comment><USER3> "The 'change the world' companies are typically not launched from incubators, though there is no reason why that should continue to be the case."

I wonder if this is simply because incubators of the YC variety are still such a new idea that we really don't know yet whether they'll produce a Google or Facebook yet. I doubt there's a deliberate focus on safe bets going on, since it seems to me it's in their best interest to take more risks if they're investing such a small amount at such an early stage.

<comment><USER2> Yes, that's exactly right. The way we invest (a large number of small bets) means that it makes less sense for us to be conservative than it does for any other investor. So either JM is writing about other "incubators" or he's been misled by the fact that it takes a while for the world-changing companies to emerge as such. At year 2, Microsoft or Google or Facebook would not have seemed world-changing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Does the author have any direct experience in an incubator, and if so which one(s)? Might be better written from an insider perspective.

</comment><comment><USER5> "If you plan on signing up for an incubator try to get an idea of how much time there is allocated by the various partners in the incubator for this mentoring and maybe talk to some alumni to see how well that worked out in practice."

This is actually something I have been wondering about. Can anyone give feedback in regard to this? pre-emptive thanks

<comment><USER6> I can't help myself, I'm always extremely skeptical when incubators and YC- like startup programmes have long lists of mentors and/or when the mentors have no actual skin in the game. What are their motivations for mentoring, exactly, if they hold no equity? They usually hold a full time job elsewhere and do the mentoring on the side. Even if the motivations are purely selfless (yeah, right) I question the utility of the advice they give under the circumstances. Very few seem to have their ear quite so close to the startup ground as YC.

That said, talking to founders of portfolio companies seems to be an established (and sane) part of due diligence before accepting _any_ kind of investment. I'd say you should apply it to seed/incubator stage as well. (after all, you're usually giving away equity at a fairly low valuation on paper - you can't measure advice, so you can hardly make the transfer of equity contingent on its quality)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Having actually worked in an incubated start-up, I can say this article is overstating both the pros and cons of working in one.</comment>


X264's abstraction layer for cross-platform x86 assembly: now free to use - <AUTHOR> http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/?p=191

<comment><USER2> That's really neat Jason, what with all the 'assembly is dead' stuff that gets bandied around it's nice to see people keeping the art alive and collaborating at this level.

<comment><AUTHOR> Assembly has never been dead in the realm of multimedia processing, or for that matter, anywhere that you have to do an enormous amount of SIMD-able number crunching.

Find a video (en|de)coder without SIMD and you've found an unusable piece of software.

There's a reason that Intel focuses so much on SIMD instructions and arithmetic units with each new chip release: if not for SIMD or dedicated hardware, it would be physically impossible to decode 1080p video on almost any modern machine.

<comment><USER3> _Find a video (en|de)coder without SIMD and you've found an unusable piece of software._

Also worth noting that these video decoders tend to crash hard on invalid input. Tradeoffs.

<comment><AUTHOR> Not a tradeoff; that's just bad input checking. Most of ffmpeg's decoders have heavy checks in them--crashes are usually bugs (missing checks). Yes, the checks have a small speed cost, but it's at most 1-2%, probably less.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> This is good stuff. It will make writing assembly on Intel at least slightly less painful.

I am still amazed we don't have an x86 assembler that is anywhere near what DSP people use. I mean, we still have to track register usage manually and do manual instruction reordering to improve performance! The x86 world could learn a lot from the DSP world here (Texas Instruments tools are a good example).

<comment><USER3> _I am still amazed we don't have an x86 assembler that is anywhere near what DSP people use._

I believe these are called "compilers".

<comment><USER3> Seriously, you're downmodding this? Write some C sometime, and watch the compiler output perfectly-optimized assembly for your architecture. You write a high-level solution to the problem, the compiler makes it work efficiently.

If it doesn't, it's a compiler bug, and should be fixed at that level.

<comment><USER5> I program C signal processing code on x86. Sure, it's usually sufficient for my needs, but "perfectly-optimized assembly"? Not for those tight loops where you really want it. It's decent and if you hold the compiler's hand will get vectorized somewhat, but the code is still heavy.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


How do I submit blog on Hacker News? It keeps saying my account is too new? - <AUTHOR> Everytime I submit a blog url, It shoots the message of being too new on Hacker News. My account is 50 days old. Can anyone guide me? <comment><USER2> Try again and post back here. If this is here, then you may be ok.

After that, click the support link at the bottom to email dang / Daniel. He's super helpful and will help you get this sorted out.

<comment><USER3> Yep, Hacker News might be the only online forum that has customer service!

<comment><USER2> Customer service that also rate limits users and will explain why if you ask, quite possibly without prompt as well, I beat dang to the first email and he said he was about to reply in the comments.

This interaction only solidified my trust in the community and the people behind it.</comment></comment></comment>


If 30% of Apple's revenue is skimmed, it will end up with $2billion in losses. - <AUTHOR> http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/fql1x/if_another_entity_takes_30_of_apples_revenue_it/

<comment><USER2> This is a breathtakingly inane argument. Yes, if an evil spirit took away Apple's profits they would not have profits anymore. In other news, if my grandmother had balls she'd be my grandfather.

However, the evil spirits do not exist: There is no entity that can upset Apple's entire business model by blocking their retail channel. This is _not_ a coincidence, and it is not because Best Buy and Wal-Mart and the cellular carriers are run by angels and saints. It is because Apple recognized the importance of consumer sales ten years ago and deliberately built a retail channel of their own, with patience and focus and at great expense. The result is so valuable that companies will apparently pay 30% of gross revenue to access it.

If you hate Apple's deal, find an alternative. If the alternative does not exist, build it. Surely Apple is not the only company on earth that can possibly make a decent product. And if they are, they should charge accordingly.</comment>


Async JavaScript book released - <AUTHOR> http://leanpub.com/asyncjs

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm the author, ask me anything.

This is my second book; the first was <http://pragprog.com/book/tbcoffee/coffeescript>.

I ran a Kickstarter in February to try to attract advance buzz: [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/869786663/async- javascri...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/869786663/async-javascript- book)

</comment><comment><USER2> Bought a copy for my Kindle. Unlike many tech books sold as epub, the code formatting is great. Very readable on a variety of devices.

Looking forward to reading it soon.

</comment><comment><USER3> Whats the third book going to be about... I wonder...

</comment><comment><USER4> if this is just half as good as the first one (coffee script), it's worth it already.</comment>


Short on Money, Cities Around the World Try Making Their Own - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-07/a-depression-era-idea-gets-a-new-look-local-money <comment><USER2> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Tire_money](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Tire_money)</comment>