Ask HN: Correct response to Russian election bots/propoganda campaigns? - <AUTHOR> In Vladimir Putin's own words, there were thousands of Russians hacking systems, comment systems, and social media to influence the US presidential election. Similar tactics continue across the globe today. What does HN think can and/or should be done? <comment><USER2> First perhaps look at what the US has been doing around the world for decades, "hacking elections" and worse.

And then ask why any other nation-state should refrain from doing the same.

<comment><USER3> Perhaps _morally,_ they have no reason to refrain (except that "they did it first" isn't a moral stance, it's just an excuse). But _practically_ , we have good reason to try to make it not affect us...

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> What _really_ needs to happen is that people need to start thinking much more skeptically about stuff their friends retweet/like on Facebook/forward on email/otherwise endorse in some fashion.

And also they need to think a lot more critically about what they see in the "news", since the news organizations have shown themselves to be biased, sometimes significantly. They even (maybe especially) need to not blindly accept stuff that comes from their preferred news source.

But that takes debugging _people_ , not just algorithms. That's a hard problem to solve...

<comment><USER4> Actually you can protect yourself by _NOT_ using facebook and developing tools to put yourself in a filter bubble you control as opposed to one that controls you.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Anything the US do as a response I hope Brazil do the same against the spying, hacking and social media influence US has been using against the country to overthrow and delegitimate the elected government in 2016 to dismantle BRICS (a group comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

</comment><comment><USER6> Cut the cables.

<comment><USER3> That's not practical. But if we did it, Russia will just hire people in Ukraine or Togo or somewhere to do it for them.

Or did you mean "cut _all_ the cables"? That's even less practical...

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Nothing, really. Nothing negative at least. Russia has broken no laws, is only guilty of being shady in the same manner as we are lol. I think we're overreacting to what essentially amounts to a symptom of a disease. The real problem isn't Russia expressing an opinion, but how it was presented. They did sneaky things TM like we all do. The reason being open diplomacy in a paranoid world is challenging.

Why not offer the world a vote, since every American fart in the wind has the potential to impact everyone's life, economy, food supply, etc. The world is pissed, like Americans, that the USG doesn't listen and take everyone's interests into account. We've developed a bad habit as a world here, of mistrust, secrets, and information wars. I think that the world [other nations and their people] feel they should have a voice, and I agree.

Russia can't run political ads openly, obviously, but why not? If myself, Rush Limbaugh, or David Duke can buy an ad, why not? State clearly whose opinion it is, and be done with it. If Justin Beiber put out an anti-trump campaign, would everyone panic? Besides, read the reports, no harm was done or could have been done. RT was the most watched news on YouTube with over 5 billion views. A few Facebook ads or tweets made all the difference? If they were gonna change peoples' opinions, wtf was another $200k USD gonna do? Don't forget they were approached and asked to buy ads in the first place.

Perhaps their arguments bear consideration since we've spent over half a century examining each other and analyzing each other's systems for flaws and coming up with every creative way imaginable to rebut the rationale, suggest improvements to processes, and criticize legislature. Such an opinion sounds valuable as hell to me. I love when people tell me I'm ate up, please do so I know.

Is it so hard to accept that Americans might agree with non-Americans on issues? WTF is so terrifying? I went to elementary school during the Cold War in a school which was an underground bomb shelter designed with 18 ft. of reinforced concrete to withstand nuclear strikes in the area. We heard every piece of propaganda there was to hear, I met Reagan on the playground, and I'm a Veteran now myself. The brainwashing failed I guess because I still, rather more than ever, think we need to grow up and re-prioritize our efforts. Why can we not accept that we're on the same dirt ball? We're neighbors in fact, with so much in common that it's laughable.

I gave it a _lot_ of thought, and realized there is really no way I can understand Russians. After spending over a year studying Russian language, culture, intercultural communication, and history, I realized everything I thought was wrong. We've been misled quite badly on both sides by assumptions, misgivings, preemptive fuckery, and old emotions. How many of your friends know we got Alaska from Russia, or about Valentina Tereshkova? I mean we're being guided by the provably unfounded opinions of people not qualified to even have an informed perspective on the subject, to everyone's detriment.

Invite Russia to roast us, and have a public analysis of the feedback. Let's act like we give a shit and hear them out instead of forcing these silly spy games as our only means of discourse. Look how fast people flipped out when Trump wanted to establish a line to Putin. Wtf? Because 'I'm not talking to you because you don't think just like me' always works wonderfully, no?

To go a step further we could declare amnesty for all offenses in the spirit of understanding, truly forgive each other, and invite our governments to literally come over and talk. No secrets, complete data exchange. Invite Russian agents to NORAD, sit down and do an AMA. Tour the Kremlin with US officials. We think they did this, they think we did that, maybe we did maybe they did... Labor stories.

I'd bet if we laid all the cards on the table for each other and agreed to a cooperative path forward with an exchange of intelligence, defense, science, and medical information, we would find atrocities we never imagined on both sides as well as tons of wrong assumptions. Can't we have a laugh, exchange some glares, and hug before walking out before the press to announce that the notion of destabilizing the free world is over, and the games are too? That from this moment forward, we will consider our impact on _all_ people of _all_ nations and abandon the fallacious thinking that either of us has the right answers all the time?

Or are we really so self-serving that we cannot bear criticism of our beliefs and methods, even when we cause harm to others. Fuck 'em then? Frustration leads to wanting to feel this way, but nobody really means it and we all pay for it when we give up.

Or maybe I'm crazy. o/ There is no Deep and Mysterious Russian Soul, and Americans are so ignorant they can't even see how ignorant they are. Accept this and be friends without completely agreeing on everything? Maybe? Sounds like just having respect for others to me, which is also having respect for yourself.

As an experiment, here is a Soviet propaganda film from 1979. Check it out, at the time it seemed extremist, insulting, a danger to the free world... But how does it look now? Did we change, or did perceptions? Does the concept, the warning about dangers of western extravagance, seem unfair or untrue to you?

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRSsybt9wAo&t=518s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRSsybt9wAo&t=518s)</comment>


Anti Urination Devices in Norwich - <AUTHOR> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti_urination_devices_in_Norwich <comment><USER2> Hostile architecture discussion from yesterday:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20621709](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20621709)</comment>


How to prepare for interviews? - <AUTHOR>

Hi,
I am a developer in India and have been working with mainly Python in the backend - though I also work on the front-end. I have also developed complete production-level apps as a freelancer. I also have some very basic work on my Github.
I am trying for a job in the US. I've had 2 interviews but it didn't work out though according to me, one of them went really well. I think I am not prepared enough for interviews. My question is - How do I prepare for interviews before I start trying again? <comment><USER2> It's hard to tell without knowing more about your interview experience. In general, Americans are a bit less formal about interviews, especially at small firms; they see the interview as an opportunity to gauge your personality and see what you will be like to work with. It's good to show curiosity about your potential employer, and interview them as well, rather than being a passive subject for the interviewer to investigate. It's more important to demonstrate a healthy thought process than to necessarily have the right answers; never be afraid to say that you don't know something, but always be ready to describe how you'd rectify that problem if you had to solve a problem in a hurry.</comment>


The Bengali Click Farmer - <AUTHOR> http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/the-bengali-click-farmer/ <comment><USER2> It's a sharp and well-written review that highlights the inherent/implied hypocrisy in a social-awareness documentary. Thank you for sharing the thoughtful article.</comment>


The No Procrastination Challenge - <AUTHOR> http://zenhabits.net/procrastinateless/

<comment><USER2> That's a cool experiment. Feels like something from Getting Things Done, which is a great book. Also kind of feels like Ben Franklin-ish, who made very specific and conscious attempts to improve himself.

Are you doing this, or did you just think it was cool and wanted to share?</comment>


Programs compiled by Go 1.11 allocate an unreasonable amount of virtual memory - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/golang/go/issues/28114 <comment><USER2> Unreasonable according to you. :)

The nice thing about virtual memory is that it's, well, virtual. It costs you almost nothing until you've touched it. (Fun exercise for the reader: measure the kernel overhead for an unused 1 TiB VMA.) But creating huge spaces--that terabyte mmap wasn't theoretical--that stay untouched is hugely algorithmically useful, especially for things like malloc implementations.

Why does it bother people? Two reasons. First is mlock to avoid swap. This is solvable in much better ways--I'm a fan of disabling swap in many cases anyway. Second is that, absent cgroups, it's difficult to put hard limits on memory usage in Linux. So people, looking under the streetlight, put limits on virtual usage, even though that's not what they care about limiting! Then they get angry when you break it. My refrain here, as in many cases (see for example measuring process CPU time spent in kernel mode): "X is impossible" doesn't justify Y unless Y correctly solves the problem X does.

(I spent years in charge of a major memory allocator so this is a battle I've fought too many times.)

<comment><USER3> You cannot possibly be serious:

package main

func main() { for { } }

Using 100mb+ of memory?

<comment><USER4> It is not "using" but allocating the addresses. The committed memory will be vastly smaller. This is how virtual memory works.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Check out GHC 8.0+ where the same program will allocate a terabyte of virtual memory ;)

That said, I don't find it unreasonable at all. Just reserving some bits in the address space isn't unreasonable. It makes the real allocation code simpler.

<comment><USER6> Yes, we are running a Haskell based HTTPS redirector and people noticed this.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Impact:

> The significant increase in virtual memory usage is usually not an issue, > however security sensitive programs often lock their memory, causing a far > greater performance degradation on low-spec computer hosts.

<comment><USER8> I'd love some further explanation here:

what does locking memory mean in this context? For what purpose do security sensitive programs lock their memory? what is the performance degradation that happens with low-spec computers?

<comment><USER9> > _what does locking memory mean in this context?_

I think the person is referring to the mlock() and mlockall() functions (or equivalents on other OS), which keep pages resident / prevents pages from being paged out. Forces them to remain in RAM.

It can be used to, e.g., prevent an encryption key or password from being swapped out to disk, where it might then be recoverable. (Personally, this is why I encrypt swap.)

> _what is the performance degradation that happens with low-spec computers?_

Locking a larger portion of RAM means less room for the OS to page out unused pages and free up the space for other programs.

While one can try to selectively lock buffers with sensitive data with mlock(), you have to be sure they aren't copied into other buffers that aren't locked (and could thus be subsequently paged out). If you're writing a UI program that displays or receives those in a widget, this might be harder (you might not have access to the internal buffer of the widget, as it is an "implementation detail" of your library), and locking the entire process might be a simpler solution (albeit being a bigger hammer).

<comment><USER10> My understanding was that mlock doesn't really keep the page from being paged out, since it can't even begin to do that in the hibernation case, or if you're running as a VM who's guest RAM wasn't mlocked.

What it does is keep a canonical version of the page in memory. That's useful being able to deterministically touch a piece of memory, but it doesn't really help you as far as making sure the page never touches disk.

<comment><USER9> I hadn't considered hibernation, and indeed, a deeper reading of the manual confirms that hibernation doesn't count, which is rather interesting (given the implications of hitting disk), but I don't really see a good way around it, short of aborting the hibernation, or providing a mechanism to inform the program that those pages were lost. The man page (later, annoyingly, after its initial description) notes this:

> _Memory locking has two main applications: real-time algorithms and high- > security data processing. Real-time applications require deterministic > timing, and, like scheduling, paging is one major cause of unexpected > program execution delays. Real-time applications will usually also switch to > a real-time scheduler with sched_setscheduler(2). Cryptographic security > software often handles critical bytes like passwords or secret keys as data > structures. As a result of paging, these secrets could be transferred onto a > persistent swap store medium, where they might be accessible to the enemy > long after the security software has erased the secrets in RAM and > terminated. (But be aware that the suspend mode on laptops and some desktop > computers will save a copy of the system 's RAM to disk, regardless of > memory locks.)_

I would be rather disappointed if a hypervisor swapped out my guest (at least, in a context like AWS; I suppose if you're just running qemu on your laptop, that's a different matter), but I hadn't considered that either, and it is certainly possible.

<comment><USER10> IMO, the right answer is to better define your threat model. Are you concerned about someone pulling the HDD and reading the swap? Use an FDE scheme that covers your swap too. Are you concerned about someone getting access to the swap file programmatically? At that point they have so many other ways of slurping the memory out of your process that it's a lost cause.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I do this in some programs, it makes many pieces of coding much easier if I know I will never have to move some objects as they grow.

The ideal for me would be a function that marked some memory as "these addresses are taken, do not give them out to malloc, or anything else", but which still required me to actually "ask" for the memory before using it, so it didn't look like I was using 64gb of memory at startup. Is that possible?

<comment><USER12> _> The ideal for me would be a function that marked some memory as "these addresses are taken, do not give them out to malloc, or anything else", but which still required me to actually "ask" for the memory before using it, so it didn't look like I was using 64gb of memory at startup. Is that possible?_

So you want to reserve memory, basically the way malloc does, depriving any other process of that memory, but you then want to reserve it _again_ , and also somehow hide that the memory has been reserved?

What exactly is the benefit except making it not look like you're using the memory? Actually, what's the benefit of that in itself?

<comment><USER11> No, I want, in my address space, to say to the kernel "when you decide what bit of my memory map to return from mmap and friends, don't use these addresses.". That shouldn't cost anything, except storing the blocks I want reserving.

This is surprisingly hard to do in user space. You can tell mmap where to put allocations, but not where not to put them. Also it's hard to control what your Libc's malloc will do.

<comment><USER13> You can do this with mmap(). Just use PROT_NONE, you'll get a mapping but you can't read, write, or execute it.

Sure, it will show up in the "virtual memory" usage of your process. That's just how the virtual memory accounting works.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


MS unveils Digits wrist mounted hand-gesture sensor, for phones, games and more - <AUTHOR> http://www.edge-online.com/news/microsoft-unveils-digits-wrist-mounted-hand-gesture-sensor-for-phones-games-and-more/ <comment><USER2> I bet Gary inspired this one.</comment>


New Embedded Database Support with ASP.NET - <AUTHOR> http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/06/30/new-embedded-database-support-with-asp-net.aspx <comment><USER2> This looks awesome - solves a lot of deployment issues for sites that only need lightweight CRUD operations.</comment>


Ask HN: How do you deal with continuous requests for cooperation? - <AUTHOR>

I get requests for cooperations and meetings day-in and day-out (mostly also for another business I am working on) and I don't really know how to handle these situations. That is also the reason why I have stopped networking because I simply don't want to deal with all the people that send me mails that "we should do something together".
My problem:
1. I don't want to "close the door" on a potential deal or cooperation because what might not be an opportunity now, could turn into something interesting later on.
2. I can't (and don't want to) spend time meeting people when I actually should work on my products.
What is your approach to deal with this dilemma of keeping people interested and open but at the same time staying focused on your current tasks and goals?
Any recommendations to filter out the promising ones from the not-promising ones? <comment><USER2> Revel in it. Anyone asking you for cooperation is in a segment of that population that's less than 1%.

What you need to do is get their contacts and spend 15 minutes of your time _understanding_ their business. Got it? Now lock that face, image and line of work into your mind and put away their card in the rolodex.

You don't realize it, but if you keep doing that, you will become one of highly coveted people in the business: the connector. Even if you never work with any of them directly, you can introduce people to each other and your social network gains and becomes profitable, thanks to you.

The highest business relationship you can have with someone is to become their trusted advisor. Their confidant. Their go to guy for problem solving. People in high positions have many people asking them questions, many people offering them solutions for a fee, but few who genuinely want to listen to them and share their professional experiences as _friends_.

Whatever you can do yourself, or with paid employees, pales in comparison to what everyone you know, along with their paid employees, can do together.

When you are in that role, you can delegate entire companies to become a wing of your small firm. But always keep your mutual best interest in mind: no one likes a take take take only person, or a bully.

Guard your reputation with your life: recommend only people you trust. Suggest people to others in their "rank"; never introduce a high value C-level executive to someone you're sure is a kickass tax-form chef, even if you would use the shady little accountant yourself, introducing him to the big boss makes you look cheap. Introduce people to each other who you know could benefit each other personally and professionally. So you know an amazing underground film director who can make both indie films, and awe-inspiring corporate promotion videos; if you know this director is an uncontrollable social renegade, and a pot-head to boot, STEP IN and manage the guy, don't unleash him on the board-room and expect good karma to come your way after their "profitable" cooperation producing the company's annual event. You are responsible for people you introduce to each other, make sure the relationship can work right from the start, but if you're unsure, be at hand to make it happen (if it doesn't work out; there are at least two people in your immediate network who don't trust your judgement; and this rotten segment grows proportional to how many others in your network they both know and talk to.)

blah blah blah, I am sure this is gonna go way over HN's head :-/

<comment><USER3> "blah blah blah, I am sure this is gonna go way over HN's head :-/"

Well, not everyone's head, at least. :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Personally, I will have lunch with just about anyone who wants to show up somewhere that I am. gotta eat anyhow, right? it takes a little longer.

I don't have much advice on where to go from there, though; I'm free with advice, but I productize my, uh, outputs.

I've personally been getting lots of merger/buyout flirtation; but I've got little interest in selling unless you want silly valuations, and it seems that my company is worth about 1 year of earnings, and it's worth a lot more than that to me, so uh, no go.

still, just knowing people in your industry is a very good thing. And you've gotta eat anyhow, right? so go have lunch with people. It's kinda fun, too.

</comment><comment><USER5> Hi [name]

I'd love to work with you on your [idea/concept/plan for world domination], it sounds really [promising/cool/awesome/sexy]!

Right now, I've got [n] things on the go right now, and as you can imagine that takes up a lot of my time. I'm always interested in looking for new opportunities, but it's only fair to dedicate my time properly.

Tell you what, would you be willing to brainstorm a bit regarding your [idea/concept/plan for world domination]? I'd like to know more about your vision, the way you'd see me fitting in, and how you'd see things progressing.

Give me a good outline that I can ponder for a little while, then if it looks promising, we can meet for lunch and discuss it. I'm more than willing to drop [business 1/business 2] if your [idea/concept/plan for world domination] is more interesting!

Look forward to hearing from you!

[your name]

(tl;dr: if you force the prospect to qualify the venture in a nice way, it will instantly filter not-promising ones and only use your time up with stuff that might be worth acting on)

</comment><comment><USER6> Opportunities really do come out of nowhere. It's risky to leave any unexplored.

But use a priority queue. In other words, feel free to turn people down while you're busy, but don't forget who you've said "no" to. Over time, a person's priority goes up, just like when you're fixing bugs. If you've said "no" 3 times to a lunch, eventually you should say "yes" even if you are still busy.

</comment><comment><USER7> Prioritize according to what you want to get done. Trying to keep lots of options open will keep you from getting much accomplished. You must ruthlessly prune what options you maintain to what will serve your ends.

</comment><comment><USER8> Make it plain you're busy, but be interested anyway. You never know what comes your way, one day you may find the golden opportunity knocking on your door, it would be a waste if you found you nailed it shut.</comment>


Windows XP support ends two years from now - <AUTHOR> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/07/windows_xp_two_years_until_support_ends/

<comment><USER2> How close is ReactOS to being able to replace WinXP?</comment>


The village and the girl - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-dd0e6fd5-12fc-4a4a-a0eb-4ef064900f92 <comment><USER2> Could we stop talking about the fucking layout and talk about the article?

China's culture, people, and most of all economy is opaque to most outsiders and I think it's fascinating. They built an entire city from nothing in just a few years, just... on a whim. Because the leaders thought that would be best for the country as a whole. It's fascinating and scary and amazing, and I can't think of another place that works even similar to this.

Yet it seems that us westerners largely ignore China except in terms of imports and exports. Why? Is it the language? The lack of widespread cultural exports? I mean most people know very little about China as a country compared to how important they are on the world's stage. In fact you could pick almost any other country with a respectable GDP and I could tell you a whole lot more about it.

<comment><USER3> Regarding that last sentence, given that most such countries would be European countries, or one of the US or the Canada, it is clearly normal what is the reason you would have more words about it, it is simply a familiar culture. China's culture is fascinating because it is opaque, or rather, because it was opaque, but by now less so. By time, as westerners get to know it more and more, it will be less relevant and/or fascinating, and contemporaneously rot. As westerner tourists are fascinated by some places, these places quickly become fake, they become parodies of themselves and ultimately tourist traps. Eminönü, Venice, Napoli, others, southeast asia, in these places there has been left nothing authentic. The fascination and interest of westerner tourists is such a plague that it has killed some of the most characteristic and beautiful parts of the world. So I'd rather be happier if china went undiscovered, than it be discovered and used up.

<comment><USER4> It's funny you say that. I just spent about a month in China, particularly Beijing. Because Beijing is probably the center of tourism from overseas in China, you might think it's very touristy, and it is. But the domestic tourist market is so much larger than the foreign one that it's already, as you say, "discovered and used up." Other tourist sites in China are similar, though less so.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I will differ from most of the comments here, I enjoyed they layout and thought it added to the story. I am on a desktop with FF.

As for the story it is a solemn reminder millions of people work hard jobs and make life easier for others. I hope Xiao Zhang's life will continue to get a bit easier as the years go on.

<comment><USER6> Definitely following on from the format that the NYT pioneered. IT's wel done, if you have a high-res modern desktop interface. Reminds me of trying to read WIRED in the 90s. Actually worth the extra effort.

I don't like the politically uncritical boosterish content, however.

<comment><USER7> It's impossible to read, though.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> A very well written article, but there was one line that struck me, yet seems totally brushed off by the author.

"...his father killed himself by drinking rat poison after a family argument over money".

I can imagine, but will never truly understand the kind of hardship and turmoil the family suffered between greed, family value and survival.

<comment><USER9> I don't think it was "brushed off". The main storyline in the article was the differences in lives and outlook across three generations of women: the main character, her mother and her daughter. The husband was a part of this story. The story of _his_ father much less so. It was already a long article; the writer can't afford to branch out into the stories of all the surrounding relatives too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I didn't have a single problem reading this article.

<comment><USER11> Agreed. However I didn't find it makes the whole experience better either.

<comment><USER12> I had a difference experience to you. Although I didn't get much out of the embedded videos. The still photographs had more impact for me. Just my $0.02. It is a good article.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Maybe the interface is misguided, but it is difficult to pull-off to this level, and I find that it does give an overall feeling of connection to the memory threads of rural chinese life.

I am blocking the flash content; someone else must claim my great uncle's fortune. But it is still a great improvement on what was acceptable content degradation a few years ago.

(edit- So overall I'd say there is far from anything wrong with this article, and it provides an important type of impression that we lacked when I was studying rural china, decades ago.)

</comment><comment><USER14> A living advertisement for browser extensions like Readability, Clearly, etc. that actually allow you to read articles like this.

<comment><USER15> Or just disable Javascript.

Everyone's trying to outdo "What is Code" and so we'll be dealing with this kind of journalistic showmanship for the next few months.

Edit: The article is very well written and truly touching. It feels like reading _The Good Earth_ all over again. In another way, it reads like a story about American Settlers from the 1800s. It's sad to hear about people abiding solely through subsistence farming, but it's heartening to hear they're surviving.

And from the comfort of an office building, I feel obligated to reflect on my relative privileges. They are beyond realistic counting. This imbalance fills me with unresolved guilt.

<comment><USER14> I just tried disabling javascript but it did not have the desired effect of removing the "parallax" type effect when scrolling. I tried one of the two browser extensions I mentioned, Clearly, and it worked well.

<comment><USER16> In firefox: View -> page style -> no style.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> These "immersive" stories will disappear once the realization that the ROI on them doesn't work. Expensive to create, but no income generated because no-one reads them because they are annoying.

The only companies left using them will be those with no concern about ROI such as here; the state-funded BBC.

I'm sure it looks good on the designer's CV though. Who cares about the people who have to actually read the content...

<comment><USER18> That's what I used to think about all-flash websites.

They did go away, more or less, but only because the Web became that same pixel-per-pixel full-designer-control application platform, with all the same obnoxious problems that made us hate Flash, minus the binary blob.

The overwhelming majority of websites would be better served by simple HTML3 with no javascript at all. Or rather, their users would be better served.

<comment><USER19> > the Web became that same pixel-per-pixel full-designer-control application > platform, with all the same obnoxious problems that made us hate Flash, > minus the binary blob.

Browsers now disable right click?

<comment><USER20> > Browsers now disable right click?

Hasn't that always been possible using JS? I know that Firefox in its distant past once had an option to not allow websites to catch right clicks, but it's been gone for quite a while.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> If ppl are interested more in this topic, Last train home is a good documentary to look at.

</comment><comment><USER22> > they're unwilling to invest any more in the house in case it's earmarked for > demolition in the next phase of city development.

This sentence stood out for me. It's interesting that China is pushing for urbanization for its people and that some of those people (like Xiao Zhang in the article) are impatiently waiting for the better life to come, but I wonder about the long-term consequences of this -- how many people will simply be conditioned to not improve/work on their lot in fear/hope that the government will provide?

</comment><comment><USER23> For those who want to read more:

Earlier BBC article about the building of Wuix New Town: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/5103100.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/5103100.stm)

Looks like it's been a bit of a case study for the BBC.

</comment><comment><USER24> > Built with Shorthand

Site: [http://shorthand.com/](http://shorthand.com/)

I couldn't find a feedback link, but there is an employment email address - firstname.lastname@example.com - It'd be interesting to hear their response to some of the feedback here.

</comment><comment><USER7> Is there a readable version of this article?

</comment><comment><USER25> Wow, I really hope that brick-scroll doesn't catch on.

</comment><comment><USER7> Flagged as unreadable.

</comment><comment><USER26> Why do they feel the need to have stories with the scrolley page css of doom? I want to read the text, maybe with a few intersparsed pictures ... please bring back sane reading format of websites.

</comment><comment><USER27> I was going to read the article, but all the Verge-tastic CSS is too distracting.

<comment><USER28> Having CSS disabled doesn't help unless you go through the effort of removing images as well, as they are repeated twice (and sometimes 3 times). The paragraph structuring is also terrible.

<comment><USER27> Firefox's reading mode is also confused.

<comment><USER29> For some reason Firefox reading mode starts about half way down the article.

<comment><USER30> I can't read it at all without just removing the style. Insane. Fascinating article though, worth the effort.

Pages used to have a "printable version" button, whatever happened to those?</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Depression and job - <AUTHOR> I have a good job. It pays well. I work with intelligent people. It's programming in a trading company (which doesn't align with my values that much).
Lately I've been feeling depressed and overwhelmed and burnout from all the work that I have to do and some personal stuff in my life.
I wake up every morning feeling anxious, I am starting to have panick attacks at work and I have lost my concentration and the ability to think straight. The other day I started crying while talking to a collegue.
What should I do? Is quitting this job a good idea?
edit: i'm seeing a therapist lately and got some meds but I think this lifestyle is not for me anyways. <comment><USER2> * Leave work after 8 hours without making excuses

* Go to bed at the same time every night

* Get at least 7 hours of sleep. Try for 8.

* Stop drinking alcohol and using drugs

* Eat better. Cook your own meals. Do meal prep to make it easier.

* Start exercising. Start 3x per week, 15 min of HIIT per day.

* Drink a large glass of water when you wake up. Drink water throughout the day.

* Don't drink more than one cup of coffee per day

* Don't use sleeping pills

* Work hard during your 8 hours and let it go when you leave.

* Say "No" more at work. Do it with a smile.

* Do a few minutes of stretching and meditation every day.

* Start looking for another job. Put the feelers out. Set up notifications. Take it easy and schedule one or two phone calls per week. Think of it like fishing. You're just chilling out and casting your line and reeling it in. Sooner or later you'll hook something nice.

* Go for a 30-60min walk every day

* Get off of social media. Do more things in the real world.

* Spend more time at work conversing with people you like. Invite them to lunch. Go for walks with them. Go for drinks occasionally.

* Don't be in a rush to quit. Keep earning your good money until you catch the big fish.

* Eliminate all stress-inducing things and people in your life with extreme prejudice.

* When you feel fatigued, rest.

* Reconnect with true friends and family who lift you up. Disconnect with those that bring you down.

* Pick a hobby that makes you happy and do it at least 2x per week.

* Push back on everything possible at work. Does someone REALLY need "all the work [you] have to do" or are you taking it on unnecessarily. Again, say "No".

* Talk to your boss about taking a break or reducing workload. Let them know you're feeling overwhelmed. Ask for help and/or possibly a change.

* Reconsider meds from your therapist unless you have been diagnosed with an actual condition. Meds fix one thing and break several other things. Self-medicate with sleep, food and exercise but commit to not missing your "medication".

<comment><USER3> Super solid advice here, If I need to only pick 3 immediate actions.

* Get at least 7 hours of sleep. Try for 8.

* Do a few minutes of stretching and meditation every day. (use Headspace or Calm applications)

And my personal recommendation:

* Sit and stand with your back straight. (This raises your confidence and assertiveness; then makes you feel in control; then reduces anxiety, and finally improve your health).

<comment><USER4> Seconding and thirding the point on getting good sleep: "Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew P. Walker" [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we- sleep](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep) "An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming. Within the brain, sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming mollifies painful memories and creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge to inspire creativity."

<comment><AUTHOR> It's difficult to sleep well when depressed.

Lately I wake up in panic, with only 3hours of bad sleep

<comment><USER4> True. And as a feedback loop, lack of sleep causes people to be more anxious because the calming part of the brain is too tired to function well.

Good sleep is also needed for the brain to process emotional situations to work through them. Sometimes the situation is so much that we wake up from that. The book on sleep by Matthew Walker has a section on treating PTSD and veterans awaking from bad dreams that they ultimately needed to get through to process their fears.

That book also has some suggestions for getting more and better sleep -- many of which have been mentioned in replies to your post.

They include things like:

* go to bed and wake up at the same time every day

* avoid caffeine from any sources after 2 pm (or depending on your metabolism, earlier or maybe even at all)

* avoid alcohol as it interferes with good sleep

* avoid electronic screens before bedtime

* especially avoid blue LEDs before bedtime (use something like Flux on laptops)

* have the bedroom be cooler at night

* don't stay awake in bed -- get up and go back to bed when you are sleepy to associate bed with sleeping

* avoid exercise or heavy eating for at least a couple of hours before going to sleep

He even suggests setting an alarm as a reminder to tell you when to go to sleep.

Here are some other ideas I collected for moving from depression onto an upward spiral of improvement: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15455259](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15455259)

Of course, it is all easier said than done when you are depressed. Sometimes one small positive step can lead to another though. It helps a lot if you have a supportive community.

Good luck!

P.S. If you decide to change jobs, consider looking at idealist.org and also reading "Disciplined Minds" by Schmidt and "The Three Boxes of Life" by Bolles.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> If it were me, I'd just quit. Fuck. That. Shit.

Life is too short to be depressed, or so much as be bored or at a dead end.

If your company doesn't align with your values, then all the more reason to leave.

If you have some personal projects you want to work on, build up some funds so you con quit and comfortably take a sabbatical and then spend some time applying for positions in the latter half of it.

Do you have family and friends? Chances are at least one of them will help you if times get tough. If you have a support network, remember that you can use it.

If you are crying at work, that means your job isn't as valuable as you think it is. It probably sucks.

If you have sick time, use a bunch of it so you can calm down and rationally decide what your exit strategy will be.

By the way, I recently quit my job with nothing lined up. The company was great, but I had personal projects I wanted time for and needed a change. This is a thing people do, and they usually survive it. Don't buy the social pressure that says working hard is a virtue in and of itself, or that you're a bum because you quit for your own health and are "unemployed".

One day not too long from now, you'll look back at this job and wonder why you put up with it for so long.

<comment><AUTHOR> I've already lived this situation in a previous job. I'm somehow afraid this might reproduce itself..

It's a mixture of working under pressure and fear of authority figure that comes from abandonment childhood trauma...

Also I don't connect with any collègue really. Like in the deep level, contemplating kind of thing.

<comment><USER5> That's tough, and I feel for you. As someone else mentioned, maybe it's a good idea to reevaluate if this career is right for you? That's not to say I think you shouldn't try to persevere, but it's a valid question to ask yourself.

It sounds like you're doing the right thing by getting therapy, based on what you describe. That's probably something I should have done, rather than work through my problems alone. It's certainly possible to do the latter, but it takes a _long_ time.

Connecting with colleagues in any meaningful way is really a rarity. In the 5 year career I've had being a full-time programmer, I've only meet about 3 people with whom I've been able to really connect with, and only one of those in any sort of deep level(as in we've kept in touch long after we both moved on). I don't know what you are like, but it's possible that the way you socialize is just different from most people. A lot of people are happy with very surface-level interactions, which is why they can be happy going to parties because they can talk about meaningless drivel and be satisfied with the sort of safety provided by not really rocking the boat in any way. Maybe you are one of those people, or maybe you're like I am in that I have no interest in speaking their language but value depth when it comes along. Either way, understanding that can help you look for a work environment that better suits who you are.

Still, either way, connecting with people doesn't happen very often. I long desired to connect with people(I'm relatively bad at this) in part because I struggled in childhood to make friends who weren't going to later stab me in the back. It was difficult to come to the conclusion that I don't actually need connection as much as I thought, but once I did, it was quite freeing because I could better value connections(as opposed to having a level of desperation for it) and also be perfectly content on being by myself and doing my own thing.

Back to the career thing... what other sort of institutions have you worked for? No offense, but financial institutions are the kind of places I specifically choose not to work for. Ask anyone who knows me, and they'll say I've passed up jobs because they were for financial institutions. :) A lot of people are fine with them, but it's not for me. If you've only worked for similar places in the past, maybe your outlook on your career is jaded in part because you don't know how good it can actually be? Just a thought. If, for example, you've previously only worked for other financial firms or marketing firms, then you might not know how good you can realistically have it.

The job I just left was at a non-profit public media organization. What I really liked about that company, despite some minor shortcomings, is that I could believe in the mission, which is important for me. If I worked somewhere that was solely interested in milking the customers of money, I'd lose interest in short order. Maybe a non-profit organization is a good place for you to work? Since they have a limited income, they tend to be more flexible and understanding with their employees since they would prefer to keep them around rather than lose them during critical times.

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't believe in the mission of my work. I actually feel guilty. The mentality around me feels just plain wrong.

And collecting with collègues, I think I'm just like you. Superficial chit- chat is difficult for me and I prefer when people get personal or just plain real on the discussion. Something I cannot find where I am because people are just superficial most of the time (well that's my point of view while being depressed).

I've only worked for a bank and this trading firm but I have always felt the pressure I put myself and the comparison to others. I can't be laid-back and take it easy.. It's unnatural and fake it til you make it is hard for me.

<comment><USER5> Try not to feel so guilty. :) We all can't always be working on something we believe in; mathematically, it's highly improbable. I'm sure there are also many people who work in your office who don't care for the firm's mission, although they have coping mechanisms to hide their apathy and vulnerabilities, so it can seem like they all love what they do and that you're the wrong one in the picture. Most people are naturally team players and maintain a certain image because they need the structure and support of the perceived team. I've never worked that way, so a lot of my life has been spent feeling out of place because my group's mission is clearly bunk but everyone else behaves as if it isn't. Believe you me, that's lead to a lot of depression.

These days I'm much more content and at peace with these things about people and workplaces that aren't going to change themselves. While I wouldn't say to never look up to other people whom have qualities you aspire to, comparing yourself to others is a losing game because the people we've been talking about are really just illusions; those team players who go with the flow and support bad missions, who seem to have everything we don't, are usually putting on an image. We usually don't know who these people really are, but I can assure you that most of them are living hum-drum lives and deal with their own sort of problems brought on by the baggage that comes with maintaining a conventional life. I don't begrudge them of this observation, as it's often just their calling to be this way, but their true selves are simply not my true self.

Ok, I'm going to get a little cliche here, but those who are exceptional are usually not the type of people who go along with hopeless missions or simply do what's expected of them. Now I'm not saying that I or you have to aspire to be exceptional, yet the reason I bring this up is that there is _no shame_ in being someone like you, and not the people you work with.

I've found much more happiness in setting my own standards for who I want to be, not comparing myself to other people. It feels healthy because I've learned that such standards to only myself and not others has lead to much less disappointment in life; when I am disappointed with something, it's purely on me and I can take steps to try to resolve it.

In relation to that, you clearly have a strength in that you seem like a highly-driven person (that's how I'm interpreting what you said anyway). I normally don't like giving out advice, because everyone is different, but if I were you I would take that drivenness and direct it towards something else. I've not worked for a bank or a trading firm, but I imagine that the way that they function is extremely old-school. When companies and industries become highly-established, they will always tend towards a stable equilibrium that is less focused on efficiency or innovation, which can be hampering for people who want more than just the status quo but very hospitable to people who are willing to just go with the flow (i.e. are laid back and take things easy).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> All that I can say is that I truly empathize with how you feel. I also see a therapist and take meds for a combination of PTSD/anxiety/depression, and I just realized that I'm very close to crossing the line into some pretty severe burnout, so I just accepted a job that's closer to home and I expect will be less demanding.

If you feel like the job is taking its toll it probably won't hurt to look elsewhere. I enjoy my current job, but it started demanding 10-12 hour days, working on vacation days, and time away from my family. Once I hit that point it was a sign that something needed to change, and I didn't see the job changing anytime soon.

Do what's best for you and the important people in your life. Never feel guilty about it. And for the love of god, don't deal with it the way I do, which is shutting down and not communicating with people who can help.

<comment><AUTHOR> Good you got to job easier to go to that will make you happier.

I also suffer from ptsd from childhood. I feel alone and abandoned very often.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> My drive/ambition for my job was driving me nuts. I started getting hives - for the first time in my life - from the stress.

The best thing I did was move from San Francisco to the northwoods near lake superior. You can buy a house out here for <$30k. After that, all you have to pay are utility + food bills, which is like $300 a month (vs $1800/mo rent in CA).

With cost of living being so low, you can a single one-off tech job and not have to worry about working for the next few months.

It is fantastic to be so free.

Just my experience but maybe you can gain something from it?

<comment><AUTHOR> 'one-off tech'? Yes your experience is awesome.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> > What should I do? Is quitting this job a good idea?

yes, absolutely. I've been there. I've burnt out twice and i'm working on my third. (not proud of that statement at all). In my experience it's not a question of if it will get better. It's only a question of how many coping techniques you can put in place to extend the time before you loose it completely (and probably dramatically). Also note that the stress associated with burnout is hard on the body. Want a heart attack at a young age? keep courting burnout....

If i were you i'd also do some serious internal searching regarding if this _carrer_ might also be worth quitting. I dunno, maybe you love programming, in which case the question is more how to find a way to make a living at it that doesn't keep burning you out.

I quit and did something i loved that was completely unrelated to programming for four months. it was amazing. it was life changing. Now i'm back in a co. and my values aren't well aligned and it's burning me out again. I will quit. I will do the thing i love, and i'll probably never work for The Man again. I still love programming. I'll keep doing it. Just, not for the man, and on my own schedule. I'll probably end up making a fraction of my current income, and it'll be worth every penny.

You sound like you're into the pretty severe end of burnout. My opinion is that no amount of money is worth that. Do whatever it takes to take care of yourself and live your daily life in a way that makes you smile, regardless of if it involves a pay cut.

also, major kudos for getting the help of a therapist. and good luck.

<comment><AUTHOR> What was your other thing that you did?

I like doing yoga and teaching programming..

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Do the therapist thing, exercise, eat right, etc...That is all important. Good pay, Good job, blah blah. None of that is really relevant, that is some externally defined bullshit. If you are burning out and waking up with anxiety you need to back up and figure out the root cause. I just suffered through 2 months of this for the 10th time in the last 20 years. This time it was a bit more intense.

I have been through enough shit in my life, fire arms in my face in foreign countries, losing loved ones, the list goes on like most folks. None of that shook me like this recent bout of corporate fuckery.

I think you need to dig deep and analyze all of the variables. Without knowing more about your personal life, age and financial position it is hard to say what the right thing to do is in a socially acceptable sense. If there are stress triggers you need to figure out how to manage those.

End of the day it is probably just a bad fit. It could simply be "toxic" for you. The pay/resume cred doesn't matter if it makes you miserable and degrades your mental/emotional/physical well being.

A bad fit is a bad fit. Chalk it up to life experience and apply what you learn as you continue on down the path. All the money, social acceptance, don't take it for granted, first world problems stuff isn't something to get hung up on. Dead that noise. Look at your life, who you were, how you have acted in the past, who you are today, there are always patterns and a root cause.

You need to focus on the self. What makes sense for YOU. If you are miserable just roll out. If you can take a week or three off, do that. Communicate with HR or your boss, keep it real. It takes some stones to be open and honest about this kind of thing but you might be surprised at what kind of support you can receive.

Worst case just go to the doc and then let HR know. I am willing to bet that you can take a month or more off via personal leave with no real consequence due to "job related" illness. When in doubt, review your handy dandy corporate handbook.

Start to take control of the situation. It is your life. Own it. Don't throw yourself under the bus for no reason. Make change, don't be a victim...especially not to your own sub-conscious acrobatics.

<comment><AUTHOR> 10 times in 20 years. Wow. How do you deal with it? What causes your thing? How long does it last? Do you feel shame (I do) when depressed?

<comment><USER9> Over time I have simply learned to just navigate it better. I view all of this on a continuum. I don't compartmentalize things into categories like depression...it is simply part of the human experience.

Most of it is internal, it flares up when I engage in things that aren't a natural fit for me. That could be related to interpersonal relationships, jobs, moving to a location that doesn't make sense or similar. Each year that passes I become more self aware and it let's me navigate this world a bit more effectively.

I am a very empathetic person, I don't do well with this "me, me, me" world. For years I would always put others in front of myself so that constantly lead to major flare ups. Self neglect is in no way a healthy approach to life. I am mildly allergic to capitalism and "the machine" which does complicate day to day life here in the US.

The length of each cycle depends on how many things are layered into the mix at any given time. It could last a few weeks to 3-4 months. Eventually I would just wear myself out until I was forced to make change.

Luckily I do not ever feel shame. I got lucky on that one. I don't really look for any external approval in life so it is easier to not get caught up in a negative loop regarding self-esteem, self-worth. There is no harsher critic of myself than me.

The last bout was fierce. After months of waking up feeling physically sick, I am finally getting through that but there are still triggers. (The weekly scheduled meetings, the "ding" from incoming emails, and similar lead to minor flare ups)

I think taking time to fully define success and what it means to you at this point in your life is critical. The more I go after $, the more unnatural it feels. I think many of us get sucked into this misguided notion that financial success=security/freedom, when in reality it is simply perceived that way. It is not a tangible, real thing.

Either way, you are acknowledging it and trying to figure it all out. Those are the hard steps, facing it and holding yourself accountable in some capacity (not in excess;)

Once you start making changes you will be empowered. Nobody can take that away from you, if it starts to dissipate that is on you. Fight for it. Run with it.

<comment><AUTHOR> I have suicidal ideations, shame and start isolating myself.. This is hard because I wait for people to come toward me but these people don't care so you just end up feeling alone and depressed.

I hope to figure this out in my life.

What do you mean by physically sick? Can you interact with people normally?

Me me world is difficult for me too but also because I find it difficult to handle stuff just by myself

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Most people in the comments are telling you to quit, but is it really your job that's depressing you or have you pushed yourself too hard for too long?

How long have you been at this job?

Do you have personal hobbies or projects you like to work on?

These are all questions you need to ask yourself.

We often tend to rely on our jobs to push our intellectual curiosity and provide satisfaction by challenging us to greater heights. Unfortunately, most jobs become mundane after the first project goes live. Hence why most developers average 2 years or less at a job. It's our failure to communicate and set expectations with our superiors, that drives us to the brink, isolates us, and ultimately makes us quit. Alas, the grass ain't always greener and more often than not, you find yourself in the same situation.

If there's one thing I've learned from all of the previous employers I've left, it's that the anxiety build up leading up to handing in that 2 weeks notice could have been entirely avoided, had we just had an open conversation of where we want to be in our careers. Communication is key.

Before you decide to quit, I'd say take a long vacation. 2 weeks minimum, or a month if permissible. Make sure to completely remove yourself from your current environment (go to another country).

Doing so will recharge your batteries, help disconnect you from the daily grind, and realign your thoughts on what's important. A crystal clear view of what path to take. After you come back, whether you've decided to stay or leave your current employer, you will feel 100 times more confident in the decision you make.

Sounds like burnout and anxiety has gotten the best of you right now.

Relax. Take a deep breath. Go on a long vacation. Make a decision.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for your comment. Lots of insight

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Hey there, I'm a developer, I live in NYC and speak about this stuff sometimes (baugues.com/depression). If you're in NYC, would be happy to grab coffee next week.

<comment><USER4> I watched your heartfelt video full of great advice. Thank you for making it.

As one more piece of the puzzle, since you mentioned several times doing you best work at night and it being hard to get up in the morning, I can wonder how much of various stresses for many people may come from perhaps being a night owl in an early-morning lark business culture?

Also in one study, even just one night of missed sleep can lead to bipolar cycling in some people -- discussed by Matthew Walker in his book "Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams".

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Have you tried to take a break? A 2-3 week break. By pausing your life you'll free up more space in your brain to think about what is next for you. Quitting could be the solution, but there is a chance that it might aggravate things. Surround yourself with family and close friends too. Communicate with them, talking about your problems with people who really care about you will help.

As a first step though - Go back to your therapist ASAP and tell him/her the meds don't do anything.

</comment><comment><USER13> If you haven't taken time off with vacation days. I suggest you do for at least week to relax.

Take a step back to relax and think about yourself. Understand what's going on with your life and important to you.

I wouldn't quit yet until after you think about the situation.

Open yourself to people close to you. It might be hard, but I am sure they care for you and will listen to what you have to say.

<comment><AUTHOR> I have opened myself to almost everyone near me.

No one can help but me.

The shame and guilt is deep inside me. It's me who's lost now. They try to be there but still...

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Another vote for re-assessing this job and whether it is a good fit for you. I can vouch from personal experience that things that kill your soul have a huge effect from which it is sometimes difficult to bounce back. Many of these places count on your presumably youthful and abundant energy to ride to their dreams but by burning out, you may never be able to get to yours.

We all get one life in our current form and the challenge in this world, just like those standardized exams, is to figure out what is good/relevant and what is not - you are already ahead if you identified the not-good/irrelevant so toss it and go find something that is good for you instead. Edit: I would advise though that rebound is a thing so don't jump too hastily into a worse position - advice from trusted mentors is friends is what you need to either see the value in the current role and/or a future opportunity.

<comment><AUTHOR> I've already felt like this in almost all my jobs. Something about working alone and feeling abandoned in face of responsabilites and stress

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I've been there, about 3 years I was sooo down, which was while I co-founded a company. So there was this day when I didn't show up in the office with a cheesy excuse - which was not my style at all. One of my co-founders said then a week later we wants to stop the venture. I wanted to continue but actually this was the best thing ever. I should have stopped all that crap a year ago.

Before that stupid job my situation wasn't perfect but I was getting along. This has put me back a lot, both personally and professionally.

I strongly hint you to re-think your whole situation. Maybe you can take a longer time off and spend that time alone. Also hearing that you work at a trading company, those aren't exactly the most empathizing types of people.

I assume you have the qualifications to find a new job easily, maybe not such a unique one but still.

Don't be stupid and go with the head through the wall.

<comment><AUTHOR> I really feel the lack of empathy. But I need this more than those around me :/ which makes me feel special

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> It depends on the situation - would you be worse off with unemployment mentally? I would recommend getting another job lined up first. I know in my case lack of a mental challenge created a nasty feedback loop leaving me too dismotivated to start a helpful side project and made me worse at interviewing.

I have found it helpful to try to be open to yourself about your emotions and not holding back as much as you can get away with. Repression is a bad move for depression. Is it the hours? The pointlessness? Feeling that on some level working there is betraying your ideals? Lack of a social connection?

The root or excaberator is generally personal. For instance I have heard many accounts of superficial success but persistent depression until they realized they were living in the closet. Meanwhile others seem to truly lack an underlying cause other than brain chemistry going rogue.

</comment><comment><USER17> Maybe you should see if taking a few weeks off from work is possible.

I won't advise you about depression since I don't qualify to do so,but I do know changing your environment can have a significant psychological impact. It could make things better or worse.

When a program doesn't work right you need someone who understands how programs work, to debug them,analyze the root cause and implement a fix. Doesn't have to be a therapist,just find someone who qualifies and let them debug you.

Edit: Interesting post on hn you might find useful: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17523475](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17523475)

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm already seeing a therapist and she believes I've lived a weird childhood

<comment><USER17> Yeah,we all have lol. Something about the critical development period (pre 13)

<comment><AUTHOR> I've lived abandonment, verbal and physical svuse, bullying and a war :)

<comment><USER17> Just don't give up then. In a race what matters is how you finished not how you started.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I know how you feel. I started my career as a programmer in a good company but I felt like you described: anxious, burnout and overwhelmed.

Quitting is not the answer. You would probably face the same situation in your next job. It's mostly how WE perceive the world around us.

Seek professional help if you can afford it. These things worked for me that I suggest you try right a way:

* Read/listen a good book (how to stop worrying and start living, or similar self-help books) * Eat and sleep well, exercise. There are a lot of internet resources on this.

Good luck.

<comment><AUTHOR> I have negative talk in my head. Compare myself with those that are better than me. And stress way too fast. What did you do? How are you now? How old are you..?

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Are you 100% sure of the root cause of your depression? You may quit your job but if that was not the reason you would be back on square one. My suggestion ask yourself some difficult and honest questions without any emotional context. Based on the answers make a decision. Speak with your therapist and use her/him as your sounding board. But make sure you know the root cause before you make you next move. Most of us "think" we know why but its not necessarily the right answer.

<comment><USER20> Great question. I've found sometimes in hindsight that when I was unhappy I changed a thing that was easy to change, rather than the thing most responsible for my unhappiness.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> > I have a good job...(which doesn't align with my values that much)...Lately > I've been feeling depressed and overwhelmed and burnout from all the work > that I have to do...I wake up every morning feeling anxious, I am starting > to have panick attacks at work...The other day I started crying while > talking to a collegue...

Why do you think your job is good?

Provided you have some job alternatives: what's is this job giving you that you wont be able to get in some other job?

What keeps you working there?

<comment><AUTHOR> I think job is good as what my parents would consider a good job.. :(

<comment><USER21> Do you believe your parents are going to think the same if they get to know that this job is getting you ill?

Even if you quit your job or not, you will have to find a solution to your situation, because if you don´t, you are risking getting really really ill.

<comment><AUTHOR> I talked to them about this, they were like : "well how will you earn money?"

I feel like it has never been about me, but about my achievements. This has fucked up my sense of self.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> A lot of comments are focusing on the burnout aspect, but I think you should pay careful attention during the workday to see if there is anything (or any person) that is triggering your anxious feelings. You may subconsciously be picking up on some people's behavior that you know is off and amplifying that (for good reason). Your anxiety may be a survival instinct rather than a result of exhaustion so please keep that in mind.

<comment><AUTHOR> I perceive everything like I'm being thrown away from the group. Often feel out of it. Especially when I'm tired and I don't like the job.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> I think you're burned out and the personal stuff in your life is taking more of a toll than you think. I think you need to take some time off work, i.e. "mental health/self-care" days. Take at least one day off to just do nothing and chill out. You can use the other days to take care of your personal stuff. Take as much time as you need.

Also, if you're gonna quit your job, this is probably one of the safest times to do it.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks <3

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> I too have been struggling with this a lot recently. I get myself into a state of high panic/stress, seemingly over nothing, and find it very difficult to get back down.

It doesn't interrupt my sleep all that much but it completely ruins my waking hours. I have to be very mindful not to let those thoughts creep into my head but sometimes I loose the battle.

Stay strong and don't give up!

<comment><AUTHOR> Same. Dark thoughts about me. Comparing myself etc. Especially if I work alone in the big project. Something about being stuck that recalls my childhood trauma.. (not sure if true or me making the link because of depressed. The trauma is true just I'm not sure the link is real)

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Recently left a job because it was not aligning with my values. Have to rely on freelance projects for a while.

This is not a professional advice, but IMO if the job doesn't match your values, you feel depressed thinking about, and aren't in position to change anything - better walk away while you are sane enough to take the decision.

Best of luck with your future endeavors.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you. Do you work remotely?

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Can you start with taking some time off to get your bearings, even if you need to take some unpaid?

And not sure if it'd help with your level of anxiety, but a few of my colleagues have told me CBD helps them relax without clouding their mind.

<comment><AUTHOR> I ordered some actually :) will try and tell you

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Work with friends or whatever to find a new position before you end the one you have.

Unemployment is very depressing. Avoid it. One week or two is okay.

<comment><AUTHOR> There's always the possibility to find work on upwork etc to do freelance stuff.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> See if you can find a friend or companion to go on vacation with you for at least 8 days. No laptop and no cellphone if possible.

</comment><comment><USER29> Do you enjoy your job? Could you find another one that would be more fulfilling/less stressful?

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't enjoy it no. But I get to get bored easily with every job I have.

<comment><USER29> If you found a less stressful job, wouldn't that be worth it?

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm not even sure.. at the moment I'm lost. :)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Finding secrets by decompiling Python bytecode in public repositories - <AUTHOR> https://blog.jse.li/posts/pyc/ <comment><USER2> Same applies to native code, it is just a matter of tooling.</comment>


Ask HN: Something that is to Word like what Sketch is to Photoshop? - <AUTHOR> I find Word (and Pages) cumbersome to use. Is there something that is to Word like what Sketch is to Photoshop? Sketch is so to-the-point and simple still powerful. I'd like a "word processor" that is like Sketch in those regards.
Maybe I should use InDesign? I used InDesign in a graphics design class I took because I as a software engineer wanted to get a better understanding of graphical design. From my experience at that time InDesign didn't have much support for layouting a large mass of text across multiple pages. It felt more like a tool used to manually lay out a number of boxes with text inside them inbetween graphical features and images.
I don't think I want LaTex; I don't want to have to learn an entire language before I can layout two pages with some images and text. <comment><USER2> Document automation: [https://www.hotdocs.com/products](https://www.hotdocs.com/products) [https://www.activedocs.com/](https://www.activedocs.com/)

[https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/writer/](https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/writer/) [https://extensions.libreoffice.org/templates/](https://extensions.libreoffice.org/templates/)

</comment><comment><USER3> I am after the same thing, I use markdown + pandoc for myself but I think there is a real market for a simplified word processor like you're describing that can use complex templates. Think of like a business where they want people to use a standard format (font, heading, margins). It's all too easy to fuck those things up in word just by misclicking something when all you want to do is write and use a standard template.</comment>


Ask HN: Recommended News Sites - <AUTHOR>

I know many of us now use Twitter, HN, and Reddit for our news, but are there are other sites that are must have news sites for software developers?  Even more mainstream like CNet?<p>I think I've narrowed to far in on HN and Twitter, and realize that I am missing out somewhat, especially on domain specific news (security). <comment><USER2> I usually like the news chosen by [http://thetechblock.com/](http://thetechblock.com/) and their design is really clean.</comment>


Gif.js – JavaScript GIF encoding library - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/jnordberg/gif.js

<comment><USER2> There seems to be a lack of dithering in the resulting images on the test page that makes the banding in smooth gradient regions very noticeable. But other than that, amazing job! Maybe it is just a settings issue.

</comment><comment><USER3> This is a killer library, it worked much better than our previous solution to gif-encoding on the frontend.

shameless plug: If you want to see a fun production use case of the gif.js library, check out [https://imgflip.com/images-to- gif](https://imgflip.com/images-to-gif)

</comment><comment><USER4> I wonder how fast it would be without WebWorkers? Is it worth the complexity?

<comment><USER5> I haven't tried the library, so I can't attest to how fast/slow it is, but I think the point of using web workers is so that the gif can be produced asynchronously, without hanging the whole tab. So if you're producing a really giant image, yes, it would be worth it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Why bother with gif these days, and why in the browser?

<comment><USER7> To those downvoting, what use cases make GIFs better than HTML 5

<comment><USER6> I don't follow your comment, but I should have been more explicit:

gif is a waste of bandwidth compared to a soundless webm

<comment><USER8> Gifs work everywhere. They're heavy, but support is pretty much guaranteed. That's still not the case for webm.

<comment><USER6> If you're OK with screwing over Safari/IE users, you'll have pretty good support. You could engineer a browser-based fallback to gif, but honestly I wouldn't bother.

I'd imagine we can create an impetus to support it if we actually used it more

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> What is the rules for resubmitting old stuff? I remember this Git repo was posted 8 months back and double checked with the search at the bottom.</comment>


Why do the testes of most mammals hang outside their bodies? - <AUTHOR> http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2015/08/13/why_do_the_testes_of_most_mammals_hang_outside_their_bodies.html <comment><USER2> It's a design flaw. Sperm production requires a temperature lower that body temp.</comment>