Overlock – IoT Exception Tracking - <AUTHOR> https://overlock.io/ <comment><USER3> The problem here is that most IoT devices are not running Linux, they're microcontroller-based and this offers no solution for these types of devices.

Also, data-reduction is of prime importance for IoT devices, does Overlock have any tricks to play here?

<comment><USER4> From our research, it seems that a lot more of the hardware is running linux than we would've expected [1]. This makes linux a great starting point - <USER2> you are right there's other platforms to look at too.

Regarding data use - you're completely right. In previous production IoT projects we've worked on we've had in excess of 10X more debug data than actual useful information coming out, lest we're not able to debug problems! We've got a few tricks up our sleeve, the main one being that this only sends data when there is an exception.

[1]: [https://ianskerrett.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/iot- developer-t...](https://ianskerrett.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/iot-developer- trends-2017-edition/) (Point 4)

<comment><USER3> In my experience, the Linux-based devices tend to be low-unit-number type devices such as gateways (or prototypes). Also, that point 4 in the link does not have the most common type of embedded OS... i.e. "None". Bare metal is very common. Another point here is that (according to that link), Raspbian is the most common. That indicates the data is coming from the "Maker" community, not the professional embedded developers... we don't tend to use RPi's for much.

Anything that will be remotely cost-sensitive (as anything produced in large numbers will be) will tend to be microcontroller-based.

Like you say, part of the solution is only sending the data that is needed. I would imagine another part of the solution that you could implement is some sort of shared string-table and hence transmitting only event-codes.

<comment><USER4> We're really targeting gateways at the moment. Obviously, having overlock running on end devices would be ideal, and is certainly a future goal. For the moment though, running on the gateway seems to provide the most utility and is easily acheivable given the proliferation of linux based gateways.

Compression is also certainly on the cards, but really comes in to its own once we have the clients running on resource-constrained devices.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> How is this specifically different and/or more well suited to IoT/IoS than a regular logging/APM service?

<comment><USER4> There are 2 main areas we're focusing on for an MVP: 1) Automatically pulling in state and logs for associated nodes because IoT devices are all about how data moves through a system. Errors are often due to mistakes in code in other nodes, so we're trying to make it easier to pin this class of problem down. They're generally really hard to reproduce and only occur 'in the field'. 2) Allowing really simple logging of 'lifecycle events' because IoT devices are generally powered for months/years at a time in an uncontrolled environment compared to other software.

We've got loads of other things we want to do in this space too, but we feel that these two are what's missing from exception tracking at the moment. We believe that IoT needs better tooling to get more reliable and secure.

<comment><USER6> The question was how your solution is better than a hosted logging solution. An "automatically pulling in state and logs for associated nodes" requirement is achieved in cloud log hosting by placing tags on the logs. This tag and this tag are correlated, so show these things to the user, for example. This is accomplished with a search engine. This is assuming all data is sent to centralized storage.

I was, in part, responsible for creating a cloud logging service. I've never heard the term "lifecycle events" before, but it sounds like something where a device has a life and over time it has events occur, some of which are logged, and some of which are not. Whether or not sending these logs in a controlled way or not would not seem to matter much if the logging was aggregated in a centralized location. The "benefits" of not sending all log data from a device are not presumed to be that important, given bandwidth is cheap and storage even cheaper, increasingly over time for both.

Controlling what information is and is not sent from a device might be interesting (assuming correlation with this and this device, log to here), but you can't depend on the device to have the room for storing that stuff for long, or having much intelligence in sending it on (unless you run something like Particle's devices which have some cloud connected logic built in).

A dedicated edge device for this task might be interesting, but some IoT use cases won't have those edge devices available (at least for some time) on customer premise (home?), so logging to the cloud is presumed to be the only solution here. This reminds me, Microsoft just released some IoT stuff recently that may be related.

The question for how your product compares to existing cloud logging solutions will continue to resurface for y'all. Figuring out a good answer to that may make all the difference in how you go to market!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I work for overlock, we're trying to build a debugging tool which specifically addresses the unique needs of distributed systems. We're really looking for early feedback and for companies who are deploying IoT systems. Happy to answer any questions!

<comment><USER7> Congratulations on your beta launch! Really interesting.

Some questions: FAQ reads that channel from devices to Overlock employs MQTT(S). I guess that means MQTT-SN, using TLS layer for authentication. Which auth methods do you support? Do you support validation of the client and the server? Can the gateway act as such also for Overlock or do devices need to open the MQTT channel directly?

<comment><USER4> Thanks!

That should probably be written as secure-MQTT, I'll get that changed. So we are just using vanilla MQTT over TLS.

We're currently using token-based authentication but certainly open to supporting other options. Did you have any suggestions?

I'm not quite sure what you mean about validation? In general, the gateway will already be in communication with the end devices over whatever protocol they're using. So it makes sense to log state etc. from the gateway for those devices. In that sense, the gateway does act as a gateway for overlock.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> So this is Sentry but closed source and specifically focusing on embedded platforms?

<comment><AUTHOR> We'll be open sourcing large parts of it when it's out of private beta

<comment><USER8> I can run a full copy of Sentry from source, which is a major difference from "large parts" being open sourced. Admittedly, I can't do any of the payment stuff and run a direct competitor, but the rest is there.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Who in the world needs this.

<comment><USER10> A lot of people today. A lot more tomorrow.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> If your IoT platform is even _capable_ of exceptions, you're doing it wrong and at too high a level.

<comment><USER12> I'm not sure I understand this comment at all. What do you mean "_capable_ of exceptions"? And why would that be doing it wrong. I can't tell if you are saying anything at all or just being inflammatory.

<comment><USER11> If you're not doing minimalist bare metal (which will not support exceptions), you're burdening your users with greater power requirements, bugs, and required firmware updates (or security holes) for the life of the device. Don't put Linux on there. Make it do the bare minimum it has to do, expose minimal interfaces, and flash it into your MCU forever. Folks who design IoT should be planning for a mean lifetime of 20 years for their products. And no, I'm not going to buy shit that requires me to update firmware on three dozen different things in my house.

<comment><USER12> the firmware update angel is orthogonal to wether or not you have linux or bare metal. I don't have a strong opinion about Linux on IoT, but I do think that if you really want a mean lifetime of 20 years then your IoT device is going to need to be upgradeable, the internet is going to change and you are going to have to make changes. Also I'm not insane enough to think that I could write network drivers for bare metal and DNS resolvers without pulling in libraries, and HTTP code, etc. At some point you will realize that you will save yourself a lot of headaches with Linux and be far more likely to get your 20 year life out of your IoT devices.

<comment><USER11> Well, if I were to speak as a homeowner and not an engineer, I don't give a rats ass what's going to change. At most, I'd agree to upgrade _one_ device in my house, not every single little IoT trinket embedded in the walls. And then not too often, say once every 5 years or so. That necessitates simple, well tested code that does the bare minimum it has to do, and runs on a low power MCU where Linux in its full form can't run.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: GIFpitch – your elevator pitch in an animated GIF - <AUTHOR> https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gifpitch-animated-gif-your/id1016716708?mt=8

<comment><AUTHOR> I'd be happy to hear any feedback you might have on this side project. My friend and I spent about a month developing it as a tool for entrepreneurs to help refine their pitch.</comment>


Ask HN: Please review my RoR web app - <AUTHOR>

This website if for auto fans to post the latest images news relating to cars, bikes, etc. http://carindustrie.com Please review the good, bad, and the ugly.  Thanks <comment><USER2> To be honest it just looks like a wordpress blog with content from <http://www.freshnessmag.com/> (e.g. [http://www.freshnessmag.com/2010/11/22/steinway-sons-x- bmw-7...](http://www.freshnessmag.com/2010/11/22/steinway-sons-x-bmw-7-series- composition/))

I don't get the USP..</comment>


Possible hidden Latin warning about NSA in TrueCrypt's suicide note - <AUTHOR> http://boingboing.net/2014/06/17/possible-hidden-latin-warning.html

<comment><USER2> _The bad Latin is bad enough that anyone can credibly state that it 's a hugely unlikely coincidence, but still only a coincidence._

Well, at that point the argument becomes irrefutable. "The fact that the evidence is weak is actually making it stronger, because they have to make it look weak."

This is Bible Code stuff. I'm unconvinced.</comment>


Founder-GitHUb: Why Liberal Arts Colleges are failing to teach anything useful - <AUTHOR> http://www.pjhyett.com/posts/70-why-liberal-arts-colleges-are-failing-to-teach-anything-useful <comment><USER2> Eh, the experience I had at my liberal arts school was very different from the author's, but with only 3-4 CS professors a lot of it just comes down to quality and philosophies of the faculty about what students should be learning. It just so happens that mine were particularly badass.

The only thing that frustrated me were all the unrelated courses I was required to take as part of my liberal arts education. I'm probably better off for having a well rounded education, but it was frustrating having to miss some interesting CS courses because the schedule conflicted with some other class I didn't care about but absolutely had to take...</comment>


Steady decline in burglaries because "Everybody has everything now" - <AUTHOR> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88074698

<comment><USER2> I've noticed this too. I think the decline has been going on longer than 30 years. It's because stuff isn't valuable anymore.

<comment><USER3> As the value of stuff accelerates exponentially toward zero, the only thing that matters is social status. I suspect that in the future most burglaries will fall into one of two categories:

A) The object being stolen confers social status (e.g. iPhone)

B) The act of stealing confers social status in the individual's social circle

<comment><USER4> In most non-hacker circles, an iPhone is just another cell phone, except that it is advertised so much that many are getting annoyed with it. ("Okay, I get it, it's a phone with a browser and it plays music....") For that reason, the idea that an iPhone confers social status really jumps out at me, because it just doesn't seem true.

<comment><USER5> THe BART police in SF suggest you not wear white earphones because it might get you robbed. This implies that there's still quite a bit of status associated w/ iPods and iPhones.

<comment><USER4> Does it have to imply status, or simply that it's easy to sell them quickly on craigslist? I'm not saying an iPod or iPhone isn't the best solution for many people, just that I don't really think of them as conferring status in the same way that, say, a cell (car) phone did 10 years ago, or a Ferrari does today.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> What about the fact that it is far easier to steal your credit card/identity and then just buy the stuff one wants, instead of trying to find someone with the stuff you want and then stealing it.

</comment><comment><USER7> Not one mention of the most likely cause, which is demographics. Break-ins are a young person's game, the number of young people have declined.

</comment><comment><USER8> Freakonomics has an interesting perspective: It is due to the legalization of abortion. The authors do make a good case for it. I tend to lean towards this explanation which amounts to less poor young people.

<comment><USER9> That was for crime in general, though. The article here mentioned that the statistics for other crimes were different from burglary.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> More here:

[http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/03...](http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/03/why- have-burgla.html)

<comment><USER11> Great link, thanks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Burglaries per:

     	United Kingdom:   	13.8321 per 1,000 people

    	United States:   	7.09996 per 1,000 people

Murders per:

            United States:          0.042802 per 1,000 people

     	United Kingdom:   	0.0140633 per 1,000 people

My suggestion: The wide availability of guns makes murder easier in the United States (for obvious reasons) and Burglary harder (...since so many homeowners have guns, and shooting burglars is generally legal, burglars tend to avoid the practice.)

<comment><AUTHOR> Or maybe window glass is thicker in the UK or one of another of the zillion other possible explanations for this statistic.

<comment><USER12> Heck, NPR is basing their theory on anecdotes from an ex-con. At least I'm putting up some numbers. Obviously, statistics like the above are a result of extremely complex systems. I tried to compare two countries with similar population make-ups, similar economies, similar legal traditions, etc, but you can only remove so many factors. Actual experimentation in social science, by contrast, tends to result in unholy bloodbaths.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I read a 365tomorrows story that talked about how burglaries of the future will involve the burglars dumping trash in your residence, instead of stealing something.

</comment><comment><USER14> Fear not, as one group of criminals falls, another rises. These new ones don't know how to pick a (physical) lock, but they sure as hell are taking in some serious cash via identity theft.

</comment><comment><USER15> I can think of a lot of other reasons why burglaries have declined, such as improved street policing and the sharp rise in other types of crime linked to drug use, such as identity theft.

</comment><comment><USER7> Oh, and just one counterexample to the "Everybody has everything now.":

Canon 1Ds Mark III - 21 megapixels, full frame sensor, $8k.

I lust for it, but don't own one.

<comment><USER16> But how big is the black market for one of those?

<comment><USER17> And how lucky do you have to be to steal one of those? Will you know it when you see it?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> What about the availability of credit? It's probably easier to buy the big TV on credit now than to steal it.</comment>


Microgravity.io - <AUTHOR> https://microgravity.io <comment><AUTHOR> Why isn't anyone upvoting this? It's a rock solid polished multiplayer browser space game created by two teenagers in their free time. Inspiring, right? Yet the other day some undeniably terrible and unplayable garbage called Space Frigates received 179 upvotes and reached the front page. Also worth noting is the Show HN post of the Pickle Rick text console which was objectively depressingly bad and for some reason was also upvoted to the front page last week.

Is it just that people here feel they can relate more to embarrassingly bad unfinished mediocre experimental projects because it's what they are usually creating themselves? I'm not trying to sound mean, it's an honest question. I'm trying to understand why people vote the way they do here. Do people have such a strong preference of feeling like they are participating in a real-time show-and-tell of their own unfinished projects that they'll actively avoid upvoting actual polished completed products since those shatter the illusion?</comment>


Google confident Android will beat iPhones - <AUTHOR> http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2008/03/15/google_confident_android_will_beat_iphones/7367/

<comment><USER2> so am i, especially after looking into the iphone SDK</comment>


Warren Spector wants game designers to work on non-combat A.I. - <AUTHOR> http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/10/warren-spector-wants-designers-to-work-on-non-combat-ai/

<comment><USER2> The Left 4 Dead has an AI Director, which seems to match Spector's "virtual dungeon master".

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5600544></comment>


The NFL yellow line explained - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh9af_gXxlM

<comment><USER2> I am always amazed at the ability to manipulate the video feed in real time to put things into it that aren't really here. The billboard ads always amaze me. But what they are planning for the America's cup astonishes me. Back computing the position of a helicopter video feed so that surface features on the water remain stationary [1] its going to be pretty wild.

[1] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh3ZB8xNrRg&feature=playe...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh3ZB8xNrRg&feature=player_detailpage&list=PL4766FD5124F8C928#t=130s)

</comment><comment><USER3> Thats awesome.Now if only the players on the field could actually see it so they could make sure to get the first down. Hate those QB's who throw 5 yard slants when they need 10 yards for a First Down.</comment>


Ask HN: freelance/self-employed/startup visas by country? - <AUTHOR> Context: I'm a US citizen and developer interested in living in Europe and freelancing for a global client base. I have found mentions of programs in Sweden, Germany, etc.
I'm assembling a list (https://airtable.com/shrmNwymDiSsLCbAg/tblhYTLAEMfzEKgUc) for personal reference that also includes links to public experiences of previous applicants and various service providers. I wanted to check with the community to ensure I'm not duplicating something that already exists before investing more effort.
The requirements for these visas seem to overlap across nations so I am also exploring the feasibility of developing a "Common App" for myself to facilitate applying to multiple countries without having to re-enter information. I'm also considering developing a concierge service to smooth the process for others if there is interest.
If someone has already built this, would like to collaborate, or otherwise has any thoughts or experiences they would like to share, I'd love to hear about all of that as well. <comment><USER2> What about US itself?

<comment><AUTHOR> Great question! The US immigration landscape is...challenging. I tried to build something to help with US permanent residency a few years ago: [https://youtu.be/kL1KkjEWkCA](https://youtu.be/kL1KkjEWkCA)

If you (or anyone else) would like to collaborate on the US, please contact me at hm788 at protonmail dot com and I'll add you to the airtable.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> neat idea!

I'm also looking at Berlin, Colombia, Montreal, Korea. Literally, no longer tied down to a place.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! I just added Colombia and Korea to the list.

Do you mind if I reach out to learn more about your evaluation process?

<comment><USER3> please do my email is in my profile.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Very cool. Thanks for doing this.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! I'm also investigating and adding information for Asia and Latin America based programs as well.

The ideal situation I imagine would be to secure a permanent residency/citizenship track freelancer/self-employed/ startup visa for each major region with the visas allowing access to other countries in the regions (Schengen zone for German/Swedish/Estonian visas, etc.)</comment></comment>


Grand Decentral Station - The operating system for the open web - <AUTHOR> http://decentralize.it/ <comment><USER2> I fail to see the point. What value does GDS add? All of the functions mentioned on that page can already be done through services that are made for those purposes, without needing to tie into a giant monolithic OS. Overall, it really sounds like a Google App Engine or AppScale clone.

Unless I am mistaken about the way that you're using the term "self-hosted". If you actually mean that the users are going to be installing self-hosted apps on their own GDS instances, then this is much more unique.</comment>


Dropbox is testing two-factor authentication - <AUTHOR> https://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=66910

<comment><USER2> I tried it and it seems to work well enough. It supports various authenticators (I used the Google Authenticator app on my iPhone, since I'm already using it for Gmail).

</comment><comment><USER3> I hope they realize this isn't going to make their password digests any harder to crack. Last I heard, the only measure they actually took was to add some salt to a single round of SHA-256.</comment>


What Makes the iPhone 6S Waterproof - <AUTHOR> http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a17602/iphone-6s-waterproof-ifixit/ <comment><USER2> I think waterproof is a bit of an overstatement. I think it would be to reduce the chances of sweat and humidity affecting the phone.

<comment><USER3> Water-resistant probably is the better term, but _" a video from YouTuber Zach Straley shows the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus functioning underwater for an hour and emerging pretty much unscathed."_ seems fairly waterproof to me, given what the competition write about their waterproof phones [http://support.sonymobile.com/global- en/dm/waterproof/](http://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/dm/waterproof/)

<comment><USER4> Water pressure goes up pretty quickly with depth which means items that are completely water resistant at very shallow depths can quickly lose their water resistance.

Plus, any seals may not be statistically perfect and could degrade over time.

The reason why Apple hasn't marketed the claim is likely the one most people assume: They don't want to be responsible for warranty repairs for any water damage until they're confident about their process.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Since you can't replace the battery, or at least you're not supposed to, I'm surprised the whole unit isn't welded shut at the factory. Ultrasonic welding will work, even for dissimilar materials, and there are techniques for doing it close to electronic components without damage.[1]

[1] [http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=10045](http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=10045)

<comment><USER6> Can ultrasonic welds come apart? I think it's Apple's intention that consumers aren't supposed to replace the batteries but instead Apple technicians

<comment><USER5> Why bother? Apple's manufacturing cost isn't that high. When the battery dies, Apple can just sell you a new one with a trade-in.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I know this was probably some washed up hack of an editor and not the author of the actual story but the title reads:

> Here's What's Making the iPhone 6S Secretly Waterproof > You only have to > tear it open to find out

And the article then concludes.

>OK so there's definitely some waterproofing at work here. Then why didn't Apple mention it? Probably because it isn't complete. The headphone jack and speaker grill are still vulnerable to water damage, so the phone isn't really waterproof. At least not yet. It's understandable that Apple wouldn't want to advertise a feature while it's still half-baked.

What in the actual fuck? Not only is this an attempt to garner readers with a click-baity article title, the SAME ARTICLE explicitly contradicts the click- bait headline. Honestly can't get much shittier than this.

<comment><USER8> I also enjoyed this gem:

 _iFixit even found what appear to be silicone seals around the logic gates of the iPhone 's logic board._

That really helps build my trust for Popular Mechanics.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> The operating system of course! (It also lets you charge the battery by placing the phone in a microwave.)</comment>


Peter Kaufman on the Multidisciplinary Approach to Thinking - <AUTHOR> http://latticeworkinvesting.com/2018/04/06/peter-kaufman-on-the-multidisciplinary-approach-to-thinking/ <comment><AUTHOR> So why is it important to be a multidisciplinary thinker? The answer comes from the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein who said, 'To understand is to know what to do.' Could there be anything that sounds simpler than that? And yet it's a genius line, to understand is to know what to do. How many mistakes you make when you understand something? You don't make any mistakes. Where do mistakes come from? They come from blind spots, a lack of understanding. Why do you need to be multidisciplinary in your thinking? Because as the Japanese proverb says, 'The frog in the well knows nothing of the mighty ocean.' You may know everything there is to know about your specialty, your silo, your well, but how are you going to make any good decisions in life…the complex systems of life, the dynamic system of life…if all you know is one well?</comment>


Seeking lessons from China's long economic boom - <AUTHOR> https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/12/14/seeking-lessons-from-chinas-long-economic-boom <comment><AUTHOR> [http://archive.is/J5lHe](http://archive.is/J5lHe)</comment>


Why every statistician should know about cross-validation - n-s-f http://robjhyndman.com/hyndsight/crossvalidation/ <comment><AUTHOR> It's sad to hear that some statisticians don't think they need cross validation. It's not a vapid trend: there are sound statistical reasons to prefer it over other resampling methods like the bootstrap in many applications.</comment>


Hooking up brains to machines could be the 'next big thing' for gaming - <AUTHOR> https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/09/15/hooking-up-brains-to-machines-could-be-the-next-big-thing-for-gaming/ <comment><USER2> I think free software really matters here. I really do not want companies storing the information from a BMI on their servers and I would actually take the time to audit any software to be certain of this.

Free software is a good enough requirement for read-only devices, but I would never use a read-write device that was not also formally verified. This is one of those things where "move fast and break things" means that your customers will break you.

<comment><USER3> Or... you will break your customers.

<comment><USER4> [https://youtu.be/WxlxqMmCKMg](https://youtu.be/WxlxqMmCKMg)

<comment><USER5> To people wondering, this is a 3 minute Corridor Digital video called "Early Access Matrix"

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Didn't Musk talk about something like this in the Rogan interview recently?

<comment><USER7> Check out [https://www.neuralink.com](https://www.neuralink.com)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Wow, keyboard-free programming.

It sounds both incredibly interesting and a little frightening. I'd hate to think of the kinds of metrics that might be applied to professional programmers.

<comment><USER9> Imo if we develop the ability to connect people with machines in a high bandwidth and high fidelity way the world will change completely.

<comment><USER10> Even low-bandwidth with good fidelity would change everything.

Mobile devices, for example, would become much more useful.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I do think it could be possible to use an EEG to get ahead of a mouse click faster than the hands and perhaps cut off some milliseconds in delay.

But I don't believe that Elon Musk's Neuralink will ever offer anything of value to a non-disabled person. I only hope that in their attempts they create better interfaces for disabled people. Perhaps even get people waking again. For people who can already walk and use a mobile phone I doubt a brain implant will be much use. It's hard to beat eyes and ears for getting information in.

</comment><comment><USER12> It's pretty nifty seeing the impetus for high-tech innovation shift from military applications to entertainment possibilities.</comment>


Ask HN: Directory of Development Agencies? - <AUTHOR>

Looking for a directory of development agencies in the USA. If none is available, may you post your contact info?<p>I'm building a lead generation system for web agencies and would like to demo it to them (for free). <comment><USER2> [http://andrewluke.net](http://andrewluke.net)

You may contact through site.</comment>


Picture Hanging Knot (2017) - <AUTHOR> http://blog.ukpictureframingsupplies.co.uk/picture-framing-information/picture-framing-a-picture-cord-knot/ <comment><USER2> If this were a taught unstretchable string, the tension in the string ends up _infinite_ and the compression in the picture frame also _infinite_.

Obviously the string has a little stretch, but even so, the tension in the string is proportional to 1/sin(angle), which for very small angles makes very large amounts of tension, which will eventually bend or warp the frame.

Instead, you should deliberately leave a reasonable amount of slack, and the tension in the string will then stay under 3x the frames weight, which it will be able to handle forever.

</comment><comment><USER3> Knot related: [https://media.giphy.com/media/SwgCIQuqu7ay3exAVe/giphy.gif](https://media.giphy.com/media/SwgCIQuqu7ay3exAVe/giphy.gif)

I've seen it in a FB math group with the text: Applications of knot theory :)

<comment><USER4> I watched it 5 times and can't figure it out. Explain to me this sorcery.

<comment><USER5> Perhaps you find the reversed gif helpful: [https://imgur.com/a/hwzePnS](https://imgur.com/a/hwzePnS)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I started using a taught line hitch with cotton cord for hanging pictures.

The taut line hitch makes it easy to adjust the height without moving the nail and the cotton cord helps keep the taut line hitch from slipping (vs says monofilament).

<comment><USER7> The taut line hitch is a great knot to know for lots of situations; once you learn it, you'll find yourself using it in a number of different ways. It's great for adding guy lines to a tent fly, or hanging a tarp in the woods for camping. I've used it to tie small gifts together at the holidays.

<comment><USER8> I like the Farrimond Friction Hitch[0] for this.

It's essentially a quick release Prussik tied with the working end.

You can use a toggle, or slip a second bight through the first to prevent accidental untying.

Big benefit is that it is faster to tie in longer lengths of cord and it's faster to undo, being quick release.

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

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I've always used a twisted wire, or Ashley's bend

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley%27s_bend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley%27s_bend)

<comment><USER10> Came here to say this. Top tip: wire can be twisted by using a drill or electric screwdriver.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Alright, I really don't get this. Where does the final nail go? Is there anything that prevents the picture from becoming un-level? Is there a tiny hole for the nail?

<comment><USER12> The nail goes in the wall, then you put the string over the nail. You can move the frame left and right on the nail to make it level. You can also have more than one nail for more stability, in which case you just use a level to make them straight.

<comment><USER11> So it seems like this project is quite literally, how to tie a very tight cord between the edges of the frame.

<comment><USER13> Yes. And your comment is quite literally just words in a specific order.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Close-up photos sure would help me see the details better, particularly whether the cord is passing over or under.

For any heavy or large art I tend to use a french cleat(s):

[https://www.govart.com/cleat-flare-10-inch- pair.aspx](https://www.govart.com/cleat-flare-10-inch-pair.aspx)

<comment><USER15> I feel like that merely reduces the problem to figuring out how to mount a 10"/25cm wide Al extrusion on a piece of potentially arbitrary width. Where would you mount that on a stretched canvas, for instance?

<comment><USER14> On the stretchers, of course. Not all french cleats are 10". Some of mine are 1/2" and I use two sets. Once hung, the art never gets crooked.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> The answer is a bowline or sheet bend (same knot). They show how to do it with pictures.

<comment><USER17> It depends what material you're tying. For twine, sure; if you're hanging a 30 kg artwork you probably want to use steel wire, and pretty much any kind of knot is unsuitable here.

<comment> semi-extrinsic Rubbish. Stuff like e.g. boats in the multi-tonne weight class are secured by tying knots every day. Spearfishers. Mountain climbers. I could go on.

Get some 2 mm Dyneema rope, which has an average breaking strength of 300 kg, run it through some D-rings and tie it with an Alpine Butterfly. You will be able to do pullups off that artwork if you want.

<comment><USER18> This all depends on what you're hanging. If hanging art worth more than $100, use steel cable. Museums and galleries all use steel cable because it is easier and nicer to work with. dyneema is strong, but not chemically stable and will degrade over time with exposure to atmosphere and light (though obviously there isn't a lot of light behind a piece of art on the wall).

<comment> semi-extrinsic I agree that it's easier to work with - you don't need to know any knots, just twist it and it stays. So that's a definite benefit.

But when it comes to UV and chemical resistance, I don't see how one would get any degradation in a museum setting. Dyneema is used in heavy industrial applications like mooring lines and tugboats for very large ships with lifespans over ten years. Unless you're hanging up something that you're not taking down for a century, it shouldn't be a worry.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Relatedly, this seems like a good place to mention the wonderful Ian's Shoelace Site: [https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/)

</comment><comment><USER20> Knots have always fascinated me. I keep "The Morrow Guide to Knots" handy to look at when I'm bored and I think mentally tying the knots is as much (or even more) fun than physically doing it.

If you are interested here is a non-affilate link:

[https://www.amazon.com/Morrow-Guide-Knots-Sailing- Climbing/d...](https://www.amazon.com/Morrow-Guide-Knots-Sailing- Climbing/dp/0688012264)

</comment><comment><USER21> Huh. Me, I've always used soft iron twisted wire.

</comment><comment><USER22> Parents were photographers for ~40 years and I've framed countless pieces.

We always just used wire.

</comment><comment><USER10> I use wire in place of string. It is easier to hook wire onto a screw in the wall than string. Also... I always use two screws instead of one. That way the frame remains level.

</comment><comment><USER23> Step 6 is a doozy.

</comment><comment><USER24> What? No. A reef knot will never pull apart under tension and allows you to have a flat knot with a loop. Its also way easier to tie and you could make multiple passes if you want.

<comment><USER25> this isn't just bad advice, it's dangerous. i wouldn't want to drive behind somebody that tied down an external load with only reef knots.

<comment><USER26> Everyone should learn a tie down knot. Way too many people use unsafe knots (such as an overhand) to tie loads down because that's all they know.

A truckers hitch is as simple as it gets:

1\. Tie a loop in the middle of the cord (I like the alpine butterfly but any loop, eg a figure 8 is fine)

2\. Put the cord through your anchor point and the newly made loop.

3\. Pull it tight and tie it off with a half-hitch.

You now have a 2:1 mechanical advantage, meaning you can tighten a load twice as much as you normally can. It also won't loosen itself, and you only have to untie one knot to remove the entire system.</comment></comment></comment>


Steam Play Compatibility Reports - <AUTHOR> https://spcr.netlify.com/ <comment><USER2> If you haven't been following it: "Steam Play" is the product name for Valve's repackaging of dkvk and Wine together inside their Linux client. (Lots of the code is open sourced at [https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/)

>Steam Play allows you to purchase your games once and play anywhere. Whether you have purchased your Steam Play enabled game on a Mac or PC (both Windows and Linux), you will be able to play on the other platform free of charge.

I've been using it for a few games, and the experience is great. There are lots of folks finally deleting their Windows setups and moving to Linux full time because they can finally play their AAA titles on Linux without any installation hassles.

<comment><USER3> I'm pretty sure this is exactly Valve's planned impact. Like everybody else who builds atop another's platform, I think they're nervous that Microsoft could decimate their business on a whim.

<comment><USER4> Well then it's really great that Microsoft is going around buying up things like LinkedIn and GitHub, so that people who base their livelihoods on those products are similarly secure. /sarcasm

<comment><USER5> Github has drop-in replacements. Windows...not so much.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I suspect their rating system doesn't factor in hardware differences between the platinum reports: two of the games in their top 27 have serious issues with AMD graphics cards as far as I can tell.

Wolfenstein: The New Order appears to only run for people with Nvidia graphics cards and crashes on boot with a fairly fundamental OpenGL error on AMD. (You can actually see this if you click on Wolfenstein on their website, every Nvidia report is platinum and every AMD report is "Borked").

Skyrim runs at maybe 40 fps on my Vega 64 at 1600x900 high settings, which is an absolutely insane loss of performance (on Windows it could run at >100 fps @ 2560x1440) and puts it into "not playable" territory for me. Again this issue doesn't seem to exist on Nvidia.

<comment><USER7> Note most AMD issues are tied to the opengl compatibility profile. Up until the just released mesa 18.2 that profile was stuck at 3.1, now it's at 4.4.

<comment><USER8> Can you elaborate on this?

<comment><USER7> This is described in detail in: [https://www.khronos.org/opengl/wiki/OpenGL_Context#OpenGL_3....](https://www.khronos.org/opengl/wiki/OpenGL_Context#OpenGL_3.2_and_Profiles)

Up until 18.2, if using 'compatibility' profiles with mesa, you'd be stuck at opengl 3.3.

This is solved; I'm already running 18.2 and game compatibility through Proton has indeed improved.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> This is useful. Up to now I'd seen the spreadsheet being collated on /r/linux_gaming but even at a few days old that was starting to get to be a sprawling mess. This site has a winehq style medal system and captures drivers etc for each report which makes it much easier to peruse and digest.

It's also encouraging just how many games are gold and platinum.

</comment><comment><USER10> First, this is a great, thanks.

Second, hijacking 'CTRL-F to focus' makes searching through all the data extremely unpleasant.

Edit: There are multiple complaints about this on your discord. Maybe give us a little checkbox? Something we can disable if we'd prefer to do it a different way?

<comment><USER11> > Second, hijacking 'CTRL-F to focus' makes searching through all the data > extremely unpleasant.

Also, don't think you can work around this bug by disabling javascript... you get a completely blank screen if JS is disabled. This is not good design.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> It took a moment to realize the term Steam Play is a bit overloaded here. It refers to titles that are cross platform and apparently more recently it refers to the Proton-based emulation layer as well.

<comment><USER13> I think it's intentional; this way if you can see a title being "Steam Play" you can simply assume it'll run on your system. If it were differentiated then you'd have "Steam Play as in real crossplatform" and "Steam Play but we emulate".

Eliminating differences IMO would reduce confusion for the average user, they don't want to care about it. They want to click "Play" and have the game run.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Somewhat tangential. I have a few games that really push the edge of my laptop's capabilities. These games often have Windows and Linux support (without Steam Play). I find myself installing and testing them all on both OSes to see which works best.

Is it generally universally true that Windows will always be the faster option? If not, is there a market for capturing "which os is best?" somewhere?

</comment><comment><USER15> i was initially excited at the idea of running steam play for windows titles but there are major issues.

\- steamos locks you down to titles that are pre-approved, such as doom \-- doom still runs with a wine mouse overlay bug that causes the cursor to freeze instantly on clicks.

trying to get around the lockdown, I decided to run steam in devuan with vulkan libraries and the beta client.

\- titles like borderlands 2 run fine, as they are natively supported. \- titles such as fallout new vegas still freeze before load. \- doom now freezes at 99% load and does not progress, also requires the renderapi forced parameter for Vulkan.

its also worth mentioning that Valve assumes users outside the SteamOS arena are aware they need to install vulkan. they do a good job reminding users of package dependencies on first launch, however.

</comment><comment><USER7> Not fond of the infinite scrolling.

I'd rather have a plaintext table that actually has all games listed.

Because of this, the site seems only useful if you're looking up a specific name.</comment>


Continuous Deployment, Minimum Viable Products & the 5 Whys: A Podcast - <AUTHOR> http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2273

<comment><USER2> This guy is really good. Thanks for sharing.

<comment><USER3> The reason the military guys got this so fast was that they already knew what he was talking about.

the idea he is really talking about is John Boyd's OODA cycle[1]. It's a conceptual idea for decision making - a fast iterative feedback and decision cycle.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_loop>

EDIT: Oh. I just got to the part where he simply says "This is based on the OODA loop by a fighter pilot named John Boyd..."

This is an /excellent/ book on the subject. [http://www.amazon.com/Science- Strategy-War-Strategic-History...](http://www.amazon.com/Science-Strategy-War- Strategic-History/dp/0415371031)

<comment><USER3> Great audio lecture from Boyd himself. This one 10 minute video gets right down to the core of the idea in one go.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuY5NcRvBbU&feature=respo...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuY5NcRvBbU&feature=response_watch)

I can't recommend Discourse on winning and losing, Creation and Destruction and Conceptual spiral more.</comment></comment></comment>


The Ultimate Guide To A/B Testing - <AUTHOR> http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/06/24/the-ultimate-guide-to-a-b-testing/

<comment><USER2> While the A/B testing content is interesting as well, this is also a good example of how to get your product onto authority sites (solve a problem for them, such as their lack of authoritatively presented content about an area you're expert in) and an example of how you can grow your market via out- teaching the competition.

Anyone ever wondered how you compete with a competitor who has more money than God and gives the product away for free? This is one way. (Clocking the competition in product quality is also an option. In this case, a surprisingly achievable option. Every time I show off Visual Website Optimizer it knocks socks off versus the product from the big ad company.)

<comment><USER3> _Every time I show off Visual Website Optimizer it knocks socks off versus the product from the big ad company.)_

A tangential question: Do you have any similar recommendation for an Analytics tool that knocks socks off vs the free product from the big ad company?

I know there are several competitors out there, but I haven't heard the pitch yet that would lead me to switch.

<comment><USER4> I am working for an analytics company and it really depends on your needs as there are dozens and dozens of tools out there. We are specializing in indivualisation, integration of other data and the ability to filter and segment on any recorded data, but that comes at quite a hefty price tag and it requires some time and knowledge to really be of use to a company. So I hesitate to recommend ourselves to startups, which are not really heavily into analytics.

Mixpanel offers some good stuff for web applications. If you want, shoot me an email and let me know, what you are doing and what you need and I can perhaps make a recommendation.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> One problem: he never discuses how to analyze the results. That is a pretty big missing piece for an "ultimate" guide. There should be some discussion of statistical tests. Yes, it may seem obvious, but there have been A/B case studies posted to HN where nobody performed any inferential statistics at all. If you don't do any statistics, you don't have all the information you need to make a decision. Results that may look conclusive may not be conclusive at all.

<comment><USER6> By inferential statistics, are you referring to confidence intervals and tests for significance, or is there more to it than that?

<comment><USER7> There's a huge black art to interpreting data. It's not just confidence intervals and significance tests: you also need to watch _very_ closely for any sources of bias in your data. Different user populations, unexpected feature interactions, bugs in your logging code, changes in the site midway through your experiment period, etc.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Some of those tools look great for doing A/B testing for websites but are there any guidelines out there on programming design patterns to implement A/B testing in generic software? I'm reluctant to litter my code with statements like:

      if (userid % 2 == 0) {
        //do test A logic
      }else{
        //do test B logic
      }

<comment><USER2> You mean software not running on a server? Well, if you've got a Java enterprise programmer's love for design patterns, you could do A/B tests using a Strategy pattern. And if you wanted to decouple that from your code, you could have the Strategies created by a Factory. And if you configured your StrategyFactory in XML then you would never have any A/B testing code in your code at all... and this topic is giving me flashbacks so I'm going to stop now.

The nuts and bolts of doing this in downloadable software are not extraordinarily difficult. Pick a unique random identifier at install time, report random identifier with reports of conversion to the central server. (Passing it as a query parameter when folks open your website from within the app is so easy it is almost cheating. You can also ask for folks for a "hardware ID" to generate their license key, or something similar.)

See the presentation Paras linked to if you need implementation advice.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> I think statistical significance is the more important thing in a/b testing, but they only included links to external sources. It's hard to tell the difference between coincidence and real difference between two versions when changing simple things like button colors and I still feel ignorant about the subject.

<comment><AUTHOR> Do you think external sources weren't enough? Main statistical tools used for A/B testing are G-Test, Chi-Square test and Z-test (after assuming sum of binomial variables as normal distribution).

<comment><USER9> What I was trying to say is that in a "definitive guide" about ab testing I would expect to find some of it. You've done a great job linking all the external resources, and I probably couldn't have done it better, but I'd personally have appreciated more about statistical significance so that I could have understood the links you have included better.

<comment><AUTHOR> Sure, point well taken. My only fear was that discussing statistical significance may have made the article a bit intimidating but yes, if I were to call it "ultimate guide", I should have discussed it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Why is everyone obsessed with AB testing sign up button color? Sure, it's easy to test, but it's such a tiny factor, in amongst huge things like copywriting, page layout and the inter-page structuring of user journeys...

<comment><AUTHOR> That's because that is the most "oh-wow" example you can give to a person who has never tried AB testing before. Lot of people still don't do A/B testing because they either don't know about it or they don't think it works. Sign up button color examples works well for educating both types of people.

<comment><USER11> Still, even if the reaction is an "oh-wow" ... it still takes work to do, even for simple things like changing the color of a button.

And since we are talking about statistical confidence, you may end up waisting time instead of doing more meaningful work ... so I don't think A/B testing helps when you're small, unless you have the resources to spare.

I am happy to read about tools/advices that I can use. Nice article.

<comment><AUTHOR> >so I don't think A/B testing helps when you're small, unless you have the resources to spare.

May not be necessarily true. I recently blogged on this topic [http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/split-testing- blog/optimiz...](http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/split-testing- blog/optimization-vs-validation-two-distinct-uses-of-ab-testing/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Hey - I work in design innovation for a very large online travel company (e.g., Expedia, Priceline, Booking). Here are some additional thoughts (1) Don't get obsessed with statistical significance. 95% is an arbitrary number - sometimes you need to make decisions and a 70% probability of one option being better, while not ideal, can be enough to support a decision. (2) Volume! You hear of case studies where people changed a color and conversion went up 20%, but that rarely happens in the real world. With smaller improvements you need A LOT of volume to get statistical significance, so think about what measurement really matters - sometimes there are proxies for conversion that require less traffic (e.g., click through vs. conversion) (3) Tradeoffs and attribution. It's easy to make conclusions like "this element increased conversion - so it's good" but sometimes page elements can improve a desired outcome at the expense of other things. For example, we did an A/B on a hotel page that increased conversion on that specific hotel, so people concluded it must be good, but it came at the expense of cross-selling other hotels.

<comment><AUTHOR> I am pretty amazed at your point of concluding test results even at 70% confidence. Do you do it in cases when stakes are not high or is it norm?

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> I just get the impression that someone who wants to do A/B testing after reading this article will just create a different version of the website, and probably analyze the average of the results in each version and end up deciding solely on that.

Hope they don't miss the second point of the do's, it should be more emphasized:

> Don't conclude too early. There is a concept called "statistical confidence" > that determines whether your test results are significant (that is, whether > you should take the results seriously). It prevents you from reading too > much into the results if you have only a few conversions or visitors for > each variation. Most A/B testing tools report statistical confidence, but if > you are testing manually, consider accounting for it with an online > calculator.

By the way, Excel can do it.

</comment><comment><USER14> I would love to see someone _with artistic talent_ create A/Button.com. I've tried a number of Windows based button generators, and they all sucked. Same could be said for the on-line tools I've seen. Recommendations are welcome.

</comment><comment><USER15> Warning: I've read it is possible that A/B testing extreme differences might get wrongly diagnosed as cloaking by the search engines. My guess this is more likely to happen with a server-side A/B test as opposed to a javascript- implemented A/B test.

</comment><comment><USER16> This site may interest you guys: <http://www.abtests.com/>

</comment><comment><USER17> Great post paras!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you :)</comment></comment>


Scream – virtual network sound card for Windows - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/duncanthrax/scream <comment><USER2> Proprietary, but there's also Dante Virtual Soundcard.

</comment><comment><USER3> This approach has a rather severe disadvantage: packet loss. Especially in crowded WiFi networks the performance is going to be dismal.

There are many codecs that address this such as G.711 codec. PCM is not the right approach.

<comment><USER4> To be precise, G.711 _is_ PCM but with a much lower bitrate (and correspondingly lower quality.)

<comment><USER3> You are absolutely right. I have used an incorrect source. The search was for forward error-correction in modern protocols... G.711 has neither properties. SMPTE2022-5/7 have such provisions, but I am not an expert in these protocols.

Would an expert like to chime in? What are good (open) protocols to do home- streaming with low latency given occasional packet-loss (< 10%)?

<comment><USER5> You sounded quite expert in your first post.

<comment><USER3> Well, I know for sure that PCM is not the right format for these kind of applications. However, I couldn't remember the abbreviation for the protocols anymore.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> So what do you use this for? Playing audio back in a large room like a restaurant?

<comment><USER7> With this you can cheaply replicate a Sonos style whole home networked music system, by having the recievers be something like some raspberry pi zeros wired up to some amplified speakers.

Ive been wary of stuff like Sonos due to the cost and the proprietary nature of the tech, but this Scream driver seems to be a nice simple alternative.

<comment><USER8> I don't have a sonos but isn't one of the selling points the fact that clients are kept in sync? Does this actually do that? Shairport-sync does.

<comment><USER7> Well, if the receivers are always-on, and listening for the UDP packets from the Windows PC, then surely any lag causing de-syncs would be minimal - in the millisecond range.

For a one-speaker-per-room setup, it would probably be 'good enough'.

Needs investigation I think.

<comment><USER8> I think you'll be surprised how quickly it drives you nuts (if there's ever the situation where you are hearing another speaker). There's also the rather brilliant [https://github.com/badaix/snapcast](https://github.com/badaix/snapcast) if you do want sonos-like synchronised playback.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Does anyone know any ios apps that can act as a multicast reciever?

</comment><comment><USER10> Wait... so you are unable to install drivers unless signed by MS now? Wtf...

<comment><USER11> You can disable driver signing enforcement if you want to install drivers without having them signed.

Driver signing enforcement enhances the security of the OS by preventing malware from installing kernel mode drivers that would hypothetically have unlimited access to the device without the consent or knowledge of the user.

There really is no downside to this.

<comment><USER12> afaik you cannot just 'disable' it. You have to disable it every time you boot the computer, and secure boot has to be disabled. I would agree with you if microsofts signing process was 21st century and anyone could do it through proper channels but last time I checked it's archaic and targetable by anyone wanting to make a virus anyways. [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17195758](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17195758)

<comment><USER13> _> You have to disable it every time you boot the computer_

This is straight-up untrue. You disable it to install the driver. It's fine after that.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Are there any plans for JACK support?</comment>


Ask HN: Which domain is better for startup - <AUTHOR>

HopeLoop.com HopeHit.com Receiv.es Receives.org<p>For innovation driven, donation related project <comment><USER2> I like Receives.org, but it's kind of the opposite of what it sounds like you're doing.

<comment><AUTHOR> how about receiv.es

<comment><USER2> I'm not a big fan of creative domain spelling, but aside from that it sounds like a site where the users would be _giving_?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> I like HopeHit.com best.</comment>


Show HN: Gaze – A CLI that helps you focus on writing code - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/wtetsu/gaze <comment><USER2> I tend to code exactly this way - vi in one terminal, and <up-arrow><enter> in another terminal (tmux, actually) to test it. I will definitely be trying this out since it would save me a lot of tapping and clicking when I'm experimenting or refactoring.

<comment><USER2> I just added:

        - ext: .lisp
          cmd: sbcl --script {{file}}

to ~/.gaze.yml and it works like a charm. I was looking for something like this for a while.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, thank you for using. And great! It's the usage I exactly assumed!

<comment><USER2> You should have a donation link. I've been fiddling with gaze off and on this eve. I love that I can simply write a quick test under my (defun ...) and then :w, which is already my habit, to see if it works. This erases all the hubbub I have to do in between saving and testing. A perfect niche. Gaze exactly soothes a common pain point.

It is going to be part of my workflow, and at least worth a beer or highly caffeinated beverage.

<comment><AUTHOR> I really appreciate your lovely comments!</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Autofocus System - Get Everything Done - <AUTHOR> http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-system/ <comment><USER2> I think this approach has some rather nice features:

1\. There is no need to try and break a task down into smaller steps before entering it into the list. When you come to work on it you probably have had a chance to think about it some more and it will be obvious if there are any sub-tasks.

2\. There is no schedule and the granularity is (inifinitely) variable. This helps avoid needless analysis or planning.

3\. Garbage-colletion. If you perform a task that invalidates some easlier items on your lists the dismissal process should catch that without having to review or re-analyse the complete list looking for dependencies.

So for a system that is appears free-form and light on rules it actually has some substance. The only issue I can see is one that asimjalis commented on where one task can take too much time. I think that then it is appropriate to wind up the pomodoro.

</comment><comment><USER3> I've been using this for a year and a bit now. Its stuck for me because it is light on rules I think. No other system has been as successful for me at harnessing structured procrastination.

</comment><comment><USER4> Be aware there at least 5 variants of this system. His latest is called Super Focus and tries to account for the arrival of unscheduled urgent tasks, see the discussion forum for the most recent description.

<comment><USER5> Link?

<comment><USER6> The discussion forums seem to be the place where the ideas are being iterated.

Here's how 'Super Focus' differs from Auto Focus : <http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/1317396>

But there are iterations from there... ('approved' current summary from forum): <http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/1321345>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Love it. Seems like the perfect compromise between no system and a too-rigid system.

I wouldn't call it "Getting Everything Done" so much as "Getting (Some) Things Done".

</comment><comment><USER8> One of my problems is that sometimes I get sucked into tasks and lose track of time. Some small bug at work or some quirk in the build system can suck up my whole day if I am not careful. It can easily suck up hours. Not sure if this Autofocus idea will address that. There is no time built into it. There is no egg timer.

<comment><USER9> It does take time into account : "This system can be quite addictive (at least that's what I've found) so you may find it a good idea to set strict working hours. Stop dead when the time is up, and start again at the same place when it's time to start again. I admit I am not very good at following this advice myself!"

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> So, I'm sorry I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer here but basically his 'system' is; make a big long list, scan that list for things you want to do, ignore the things you don't want to do, do the thing(s) you 'feel' like doing and, when completed, draw a line through the thing you just did.

That qualifies as a 'system'?

<comment><USER11> um, yes?

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I'd love to see this as a small app, but couldn't find anything with a quick googling. Does anyone know of a small app to help with this (on OS X or the web) and help save trees?

<comment><USER13> Any normal todo-list app could do. Actually any text editor such as notepad.

<comment><USER14> This is funny - people are slowly forgetting that our computers are cabable of running software other than the browser.

Imagine a future where your typical homeuser buys her computer from a browser company. Instead of buying Macs or PC's, instead of IBM's or HP's, people go and buy a Firefox terminal, or an Opera terminal, or a Safari terminal.

Ofcourse, the computer could run any browser, but the browser is locked into it and starts automatically on start up. Kinda like how people are buying Vodafone cellphones these days. Vodaphone doesn't make the phone, Nokia or Samsung does, but Vodaphone has it's SIM-card locked into it. The phones could just as well be sold without a SIM-card so you could buy one yourself from any phone company, but it's just more handy and easy this way.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Seems like you could almost use TeuxDeux <http://teuxdeux.com/> with this system.

1\. To start add everything to the 'Today' column

2\. Look through, action what catches your eye, dismiss any items to the 'someday' list

3\. Completed items just get crossed off, if it's a recurring task, cross off and re-add to the next days column or for speed just drag it across

4\. Incomplete tasks auto rollover at the end of the day

Granted it's not perfect for this system but it might work.

</comment><comment><USER16> Seems nice to me. I've always had issues with getting stressed out by an overly large list and feeling like I was forgetting things in the clutter.

</comment><comment><USER17> Interesting system. Might make a decent smartphone app.

<comment><USER18> It seems to me that the actual writing of things in ink on paper makes them more real to your emotional mind, which is the point of the system. (Your mileage will almost certainly vary.)

If I didn't have to wake the family up to rummage around for a notebook, I'd start right this minute.</comment></comment>


How to Disable New Material UI in Chrome 69 - <AUTHOR> https://winaero.com/blog/disable-new-rounded-ui-in-chrome-69/ <comment><USER3> Ta. I had to do that. Tldr - <USER2>

        chrome://flags/#top-chrome-md

into the address bar and then change the layout from 'default' to 'normal'</comment>


NASA chief throws shade at SpaceX ahead of Elon Musk's Starship update - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-admin-throws-shade-at-spacex-ahead-of-elon-musk-starship-update/ <comment><AUTHOR> > Bridenstine dropped an unexpected statement on Twitter on Friday, writing, > "I am looking forward to the SpaceX announcement tomorrow. In the meantime, > Commercial Crew is years behind schedule. NASA expects to see the same level > of enthusiasm focused on the investments of the American taxpayer. It's time > to deliver."</comment>


Findings, July 2012 - <AUTHOR> http://harpers.org/archive/2012/07/0083984

<comment><USER2> Exhausting to read.

Would be so much better with footnotes and hyperlinks.

<comment><AUTHOR> Ummm, while the findings are real (in the sense that they have actually been published), this is supposed to be humorous. I feel like I'm trying to explain a joke here...

<comment><USER2> Harpers doesn't always translate well to the web for me.

On the web, when I read a list of semi interesting things, I want to be able to learn more about a few of them, not just digest it as a mass of fragments that, when considered as a whole, speak to the humor of the zeitgeist.

In print, over a bagel on a Sunday morning, Harpers and I might be better synchronized. :)</comment></comment></comment>


Idiomatic monads in Rust - <AUTHOR> https://varkor.github.io/blog/2019/03/28/idiomatic-monads-in-rust.html <comment><USER2> Here they come! Hide everyone. The Haskell'ers has come to Rust.

(no ill meaning, I like Haskell and think monads are an interesting idea and concepts. I am excited to see what can be done with them in a language more focused on performance. This is also a very approachable walk through of the problems)</comment>


Show HN: Re:search, Amazon product review search and insights for sellers - <AUTHOR> https://research.oneiros.cc/ <comment><AUTHOR> While reading random posts here I realised that there is a slew of people selling stuff on Amazon, relying on customer product reviews as their main source of feedback.

As Amazon does very little to make searching through these reviews friendly I decided to build something to facilitate getting useful info out of product review data.

There is a short video on the [landing page]([http://research.oneiros.cc](http://research.oneiros.cc)) you can watch in case below is TL:DR.

The basic idea is that you _subscribe_ to products , the app scrapes reviews from Amazon (.com and .co.uk ATM). The user than has the ability to search through the reviews as well as get some basic breakdowns of words and phrases people use as part of positive or negative reviews (courtesy of a basic lexical analysis).

As this is a sort of `alpha` signup is of course free and fast ( _no email verification ;)_ ), and due to my puny infra each user is limited to five products.

Anyway all feedback is welcome and extremely appreciated.</comment>


Android vs. iOS Development: Which Platform Is Better in 2017? - <AUTHOR> http://stormotion.io/blog/android-vs-ios-development-which-platform-is-better-in-2017/ <comment><USER2> >The main difficulty lies in the fragmentation.

>dev time

stopped reading after that. another piece of garbage comparison.

</comment><comment><USER3> I still think that iOS is better for an MVP, because it just simply has better animations and you need to support not as many devices

<comment><USER4> But don't you think that since Android 5.0 release the situation with animations has significantly improved?

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Great analytics, thanks for that!</comment>


Feedback on my website?  - <AUTHOR> http://www.oddfuturemusic.com

<comment><USER2> Not sure what your objective is with the site so I have made some assumptions and here are few simple things I would do:

a)Get more info above the fold. There is so much space which can be utilised. Ex: The left category bar can be pulled up so viewers at first glance can see the entire inventory and choose directly without having to scroll down. Give them the answer before they ask. b)Since albums/art work are the main part of your site I would suggest getting a slider/carousel style template so you can give more info in less space. Ex: TheFilmReview.com (see how they use the slider to their advantage, not perfectly done but you get the idea). c) Since this is a music oriented website, give it more life. Here are a few examples how a music/band websites should look: <http://www.mybandtheme.com/features/17-beautiful-layouts/> d)Single page websites, especially ones which do not have enough relevant content/information, and redirect users to other sites forcing them to purchase products are a hard sell. I would suggest once they click on one of the albums take them to a dedicated page where there is some info about the album (history/concept/production) and on that page populate your affiliate links or redirect people from there. Give users info they are seeking and that will lead to purchase. All a quick redirect with no relevant info leads to is a high bounce rate.

Hope this helps.

</comment><comment><USER3> A few mechanical things: after you click on back to top the left sides highlighted link is wrong, it would be cooler if clicking on the tab on the left caused a scroll to the appropriate section, im not such a fan of the pink, and lastly, i think the content needs some sort of frame; it looks weird alone. i like the navigation style though. It would be annoying to click on each of the albums and then going back to get more IMO. So, I think it would be cool if a left click caused a modal window to appear with a middle click causing it to open in a new tab. I hope this helps!

</comment><comment><USER4> Not sure I understand it, but I like that its different and works well on mobile.

Are all these album covers of one band?</comment>


AVC.fm: Fred Wilson's blog automatically podcasted with the VoiceBunny API - <AUTHOR> http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/02/22/avc-fm-fred-wilsons-blog-podcasted-sans-fred-wilson/

<comment><USER2> Looks awesome!</comment>


Alarm mixed with glee as world is glued to U.S. protest coverage - <AUTHOR> https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/01/george-floyd-protests-world-294051 <comment><USER2> I know this isn't a time for laughing but I nearly spit out my drink when it said China was speaking out about our police brutality, and Russia was lecturing us on media freedoms. They can't be unaware of how comical that is.

<comment><USER3> Orrrrr, everyone thinks their home isn't as bad as it actually is, including you?

<comment><USER2> I'm fully aware that my home is spiraling into disaster. But we still have a ways to go before we're on the same level as either of those places. The way things are going we may get there sooner rather than later, but we have a ways to go regardless. China is the global poster-child for police brutality, and Russia for state-run propaganda media.

<comment><USER3> > Russia for state-run propaganda media.

Who owns the national media outlets you've grown to trust?

Who pays for the commercials on those channels?

What stories can't those outlets run, without risking those advertising dollars?

Etc.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: RSS feed for user comments? - <AUTHOR>

There's a handful of commentors that I deeply respect and enjoy reading. (Not that I don't respect and enjoy everyone else, just not quite so much.)<p>Is there any type of RSS feed for a user's comments? <comment><USER2> Search for HackerFollow.</comment>


Did Nintendo download a Mario ROM and sell it back to us? - <AUTHOR> http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-01-18-did-nintendo-download-a-mario-rom-and-sell-it-back-to-us <comment><USER4> If they actually did what this video is suggesting, it's interesting, but there's nothing actually wrong with it. Yes, Nintendo says that third-party emulation is something they disagree with. But Nintendo isn't a third party. They actually own the system and games in question. If they actually did download a ROM (and I'm not convinced they did, they could have used the same tools and produced an identical ROM), while they say it's illegal for the ROM provider to provide said ROM, it's not illegal for Nintendo to use the ROM since it's their intellectual property.

<comment><USER5> I generally agree, but then there's the matter of lying about it. Why do that, if they're in the right?

I think the answer is that there are some _subtle_ ways that doing this sends a message they don't want to send. Like, for example, that the illegal emulation community facilitated the existence of Virtual Console. That's a bad message for their point of view, because it legitimizes the idea that ROM sharing serves the archival purpose that some of its proponents claim it serves.

And that's a legitimate point. So what's wrong with what they've done is nuanced, but I think it's definitely there.

<comment><USER4> Maybe they're not lying.

Or, alternatively, maybe a contractor was responsible for this (even the video suggests this explanation), and simply told Nintendo they didn't download the ROM.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> The ROM is their copyright, so this is the same thing as someone at Universal records 'torrenting one of their artist's discographies and selling it on a DVD instead of using their own archives (though this analogy holds true only if Nintendo acquired an originally unauthorized ROM dump made by an unaffiliated third-party and simply repackaged it in the Virtual Console - <USER2> could also just be the case that Nintendo made their own ROM dump but used the same tools as the scurvy pirates, that way it would still have the same ROM file header).

I'm far more interested to learn if the Virtual Console itself uses any open- source code to power the emulator - and if it means there's a potential GPL or other copyleft license violation going on - because that would be deliciously ironic for their very strong anti-(unauthorized)-emulation stance - <USER3> better endorsement than to have your own open-source emulator repurposed by Nintendo themselves?

<comment><USER7> It's a little more than the torrenting analogy. The ROM is in a format that was developed by and for emulators that they claim should not exist. They relied on the work put in by emulator creators that they tried to fight into nonexistence.

Your last paragraph is pertinent question. But even if not an infringement, it is surely hypocrisy of the highest order.

<comment><USER8> How is it hypocritical? Hypocritical would be if Nintendo was caught illegally writing emulators of someone else's software.

All they're doing is cutting their losses, they haven't done anything that conflicts with their stance on emulators.

<comment><USER9> ROM dump people argue making a ROM is proper software archival, Nintendo disagree with that.

The thing is, if Nintendo needed the ROM for whatever reason because it was an archive, then Nintendo would be wrong in saying ROM is not archival.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> See Reddit thread when the article was posted yesterday: [https://reddit.com/r/Games/comments/5oxgd3/eurogamer_did_nin...](https://reddit.com/r/Games/comments/5oxgd3/eurogamer_did_nintendo_download_a_mario_rom_and/)

Consensus is that this is OK since Nintendo technically has copyright still.

<comment><USER11> The speculation I read in that thread was basically that if ripped properly into the .NES format, you would wind up with identical versions (for that game, and many--but not all--others).

<comment><USER12> No. NES files as used today contain a few dozen bytes at the start which are used to tell emulators a little bit about the type of hardware that needs to be emulated. This header appears in the ROMs that Nintendo is selling. Nintendo would not have invented precisely the same header as is used by unofficial emulators by chance.

Note that no one is claiming that this is illegal on Nintendo's part.

<comment><USER4> Nobody's suggesting that they chanced upon the same header. That's ridiculous. The suggestion is that they're using the same tools to rip the ROM, and/or they're just re-using the format because it's a pre-existing format that does the job.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Midway downloaded a ROM of Spy Hunter to get access to the game's sound effects for a pre-smartphone mobile port, and then had the ROM site shut down for copyright infringement.

Happens all the time.

</comment><comment><USER14> I recall in the N64 emulation days (back when the best that anyone could accomplish was emulate the loading intro sequence), emu writers would get recruited by Nintendo, and then be forced to drop the project due to "conflict of interest".

I'm curious if they were hired for their skills, or just to kill their side- projects.

Probably started far earlier than the N64 days.

<comment><USER15> The guys that made Starfox got hired based on their ability to circumvent the copy protection on the gameboy [1].

So Nintendo, like many software companies do hire hackers based on things that Nintendo don't condone.

 _Proud of his team 's sneaky subterfuge, San wasted no time getting the results in front of Nintendo's key staff. "I turned up at Nintendo's booth at that year's CES and tried to find the most senior person at Nintendo at that time, which turned out to be Don James," he says. "I walked up to him and showed him our game, and his jaw dropped - both for the demo itself and also the way it defeated their protection. He roped in Wayne Shirk and Tony Harman to see the demo and they were extremely impressed with what we could do, and our enthusiasm. I told them we wanted to work with them and had a talented team in London, and that we were good at 3D games."_

[1] [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-07-04-born-slippy- the...](http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-07-04-born-slippy-the-making- of-star-fox)

<comment><USER16> Poacher-turned-gamekeeper is an age-old practice.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I want to know why wouldn't Nintendo put the effort into doing their own ROM dumps?

<comment><USER18> Why bother? Who knows how much work it might be to get a physical copy of a 20+ year old game and the hardware to dump it.

It also might have been outsourced and the developer just took a lazy shortcut.

<comment><USER17> I'd hope Nintendo has copy of Super Mario Bros. in their possession.

Since they made the system that read the cartridges in the first place. Modding it to dump ROMs shouldn't be much trouble

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Why did the page redirect me to [http://www.moddb.com/games/superhot/makeitsuperhot](http://www.moddb.com/games/superhot/makeitsuperhot) ?!

</comment><comment><USER20> This reminds me of when I used to do outdoor movie setups for a municipality's parks/culture group. We would obtain the necessary license for public performance of the film, and with that came a loaner DVD, but then I'd feed the projector from a laptop using a torrented Bluray rip for the higher quality. I'd then delete the file without playing it under any other circumstance. Not piracy, amirite?

<comment><USER21> I hate those DVDs with a passion... the password protection is a bit much.

It wasn't so long ago that they still came on VHS, too.

<comment><USER20> I actually didn't know about the password... we were popping them into a consumer DVD player and they just played. But between fiddling with remotes and the audience seeing the OSD play/pause I just got sick of it and switched over to the laptop... which has no optical drive, but does have a torrent client :)

<comment><USER21> Ah, might just be certain distributors or studios then. I did a similar movies in the park event many times and we tended to show Disney movies.

I miss wrangling giant inflatable screens sometimes but quickly come to my senses.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> [Edit: nevermind, I think I misread]

<comment><USER23> You've left out the context of that quote to invert what the sentence actually said. Fayzullin's entire statement was:

        "[...] If you see that your .NES file DOES NOT match any
         of the ones found online, it is likely to be their own ROM dump.
         I have cut the ROM content out of the Wii file
         you sent me and it indeed matches the .NES file found online."

> it does not appear that they downloaded a Mario ROM

That is literally the opposite of what Fayzullin said.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Uh... of _course_ it's going to match a ROM found online -- because it's the same ROM, from the same cartridge. It'd be weird if it didn't match.

<comment><USER6> Even in the cartridge days, game-devs still worked on patches and improvements for later publishing runs, so there can be many different versions of a cartridge game - and maybe the devs might have had even more recent builds of games that never got published because the publisher ended the run - so it's odd for Nintendo to go for the 'easy' route of repackaging an arbitrary version found online, compared to going through their own archives for something more recent, and presumably, of higher quality.

<comment><USER24> Sure, Nintendo make several versions of each cartridge. But they've all been dumped and put on the internet. Whichever version Nintendo chooses to release in their new emulator, it'll already have been dumped by someone else years before.</comment></comment></comment>