Samsung DeX - <AUTHOR> http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/apps/samsung-dex/ <comment><USER3> It's definitely neat, but I feel like this has been done before without success -- examples like the Motorola Atrix, Windows Continuum, and even the cancelled Ubuntu Phone come to mind. (And, going further back in time, let's not forget the Palm Foleo!)

It seems like a neat idea on the surface though, so I wonder why as a concept the phone-connected-to-desktop-peripherals thing hasn't gained more traction. My suspicion is that there isn't really a target user that this makes more sense for. Who happens to keep desktop peripherals on their desk but only does lightweight productivity tasks? CEOs who only answer email? Certainly not software developers or even accounting people.

<comment><USER4> I think the biggest problem is the price point.

The person who most wants to use their phone as a PC is the person who can't afford spending $4000 on the entire suite of Apple devices.

That person probably also can't afford a $100 dock (let alone a $300 one) for their phone.

When someone makes a USB-C/Thunderbolt/Intel/Windows device that is phone sized but runs legacy Windows applications (like MS Paint and Quickbooks and 90s-era video games), and connects with commodity connectors, then the idea stands a chance.

(IMHO, Windows Continuum died because of a chicken-and-egg problem -- no iOS devs wanted to pay $1000 for Visual Studio plus a Windows laptop, but no users used the phone because key apps were missing.)

<comment><USER5> I don't think the price comparison is fair. If someone spends 700$ on a phone, he would be ok spending 200$ if the system does work smoothly.

What I think people are more skeptic about is performance and user experience.

<comment><USER6> Except most people don't think of themselves as "someone who spends $700 on a phone", they pay $x9.95/month for $y00 minutes talktime plus $zGB of data and they get a "free" phone every two years... I doubt any of those people would think it's a good idea to spend an extra ~$15/month for a thing that lets them plug a screen/keyboard/mouse into their "free" phone.

<comment><USER7> Not everywhere.

Here in Europe, contracts are the exception not the rule.

Most people just charge with 15 to 20 euros their SIM card whenever they feel like it, and have to pay full price for mobile phone.

Or pay it in rates to only have it unlocked from the network at the end of two years, so they are going to use that phone until it dies or gets stolen.

<comment><USER8> > Here in Europe, contracts are the exception not the rule.

I'm pretty sure that hasn't been true for years.

<comment><USER7> Data to back it up please, since you are pretty sure?

"Around 70% of customers in Western Europe and China use prepaid phones with the figure rising to over 90% for customers in India and Africa"

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

I only know people with contracts regarding iPhone, which is the only affordable way to get them new in many of the European countries.

<comment><USER8>
        > while in Europe the proportion is 50%, reaching 75% in
        > Northwestern Europe as compared to 40% in South-Eastern
        > European states.

[https://www.globalrewardsolutions.com/wp- content/uploads/GRS...](https://www.globalrewardsolutions.com/wp- content/uploads/GRS-Mobile-Top-up_Wireless-Market-Statistics-2015.pdf)

Data is from 2015. Given the overall trend I wouldn't be surprised if even more people have switched to contract by now.

<comment><USER7> Thanks. I do confess as south-european that probably my reality is a bit biased, as you can still see on the report.

But I do agree from 2012 to 2015 it did change in the direction you meant.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> >blah blah did it first

Tablets had been done before without success, then Apple released the iPad. You don't have to be first to market to win. The failure of others in the same segment is not a predictor of future failure.

Execution is everything.

I was already doing this in 2013 with a Nexus 5. I had a wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, wireless display connection, wireless charging, and Linux for Android running Ubuntu. It was terrible, because all the wireless things created lag, it was like screen sharing on a bad connection with someone in Asia. I bought a slimport cable and it was still terrible. USB 2.0 simply didn't have the bandwidth to push FHD display resolution without artifacts.

I see USB-C in the bottom of that stand. If that's USB-C 3.1 gen2 then it has 10GBps and enough bandwidth to push 4K at a decent refresh rate. I see the potential to have a wired keyboard and mouse using the monitor as a USB hub. This is already a much better solution than has been offered before by other companies.

<comment><USER10> > ...enough bandwidth to push 4K at a decent refresh rate.

What general productivity task at mobile compute scale would optimally leverage 4K resolution at a decent refresh rate?

<comment><USER11> Photoshop, perhaps?

The DeX already runs a version of Photoshop, and the Samsung store folks were pushing the DeX as an option for website development, especially as their browser supports both desktop & mobile modes. (If I recall correctly, I think he even said the desktop browser has some developer tools built-in, but I haven't been back to the store to check that.)

<comment><USER10> I'm not certain Photoshop can be classified as _general productivity_ , but if we gave it the benefit of the doubt anyways and further assumed end-users would somehow benefit immensely from such a high resolution, then I'm still not seeing were _decent refresh rate_ fits snuggly into the imperative.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I've been using a Dex for about 6 months, exclusively, including now. It has some annoying bugs: * you can't select text very well, only in some cases (for example in the browser address bar) * some applications simply can't run (for example firefox mobile), but they are very few * zoom with the scroll doesn't work in most cases (google maps) * can't zoom in with the scroll in the browser , and when it does, the increments are very high, can't be customized and they are forgotten when you close the page. * all pages open in mobile mode and you have to click "desktop mode" for each and every one of them that is not displayed like you want. * reading PDFs is impossible because you can't customize the zoom (may be a deal breaker for students), and with a big monitor you get big text, not possible to read. * most bitcoin wallets don't work with the ledger nano s on android, (I use my work computer for transactions).

But despite these, overall it's been a decent experience. I download torrents like I did on my PC, I watch movies. I have all my data with me at all times, which I like very much. I used to have a laptop but it was mostly furniture; with a small kid at home I didn't have time to even open it in most nights. And when I did have time, all I did was watch a movie or download a torrent, which is what I do with the Dex anyway.

I wish it would've had a USB 3.0 port.

<comment><USER13> Perhaps a silly question but are you able to access the DeX data in Android and vice versa?

<comment><USER12> Yes, you can. There is no separation between the data, it's the same data, you access it normally from both. There's even Total Command for Android, which works very similar to the windows version.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I've decided that this avenue to integration isn't really what I want. I'm not super interested in a big screen connected to a phone that can barely drive it and a solid game.

But I do really really want to simplify my life in terms of identity and storage. I'd like to simply have the same view of data on all my devices, with probably my phone acting as a central source of truth in terms of identity and carrying around a hot cache of important data.

But I don't just mean using dropbox everywhere. That's really clunky to me. I want it to be better, but no one's really put it all together right yet.

I feel like plan9 was on to a lot of this stuff a long time ago but it fizzled out, an idea ahead of its time, with bits and pieces of its ideas taken out of context and rendered largely useless (please don't tell me linux does filesystem namespaces now, it's really not the same).

<comment><USER15> This might not be the right crowd, but iCloud is really the un-clunky storage accessible from everywhere. It's just so well integrated between the phone, macbook, ipad, web. Worth it. I spend like $9-10 per month for 2TB of storage. with auto sync of my photos (which is where it really shines)

<comment><USER16> Yeah he's literally described iCloud. Even though it's moved into some dropbox competitor, that's really the secondary usecase for it.

<comment><USER17> The thing is I find my iCloud files are forming a canonical documents folder across my devices, whereas I always felt Dropbox was distinct from my documents folder.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I don't think this is something that people actually want or have real painful need for today. If you already have a big monitor like that then you probably already have a desktop computer. If you don't, then you probably already have a laptop. If you have neither, then I doubt you're the type of user who's going to get this today and a monitor to go along with it because your needs are probably already filled by an iPad or similar.

It's a cool trick though.

<comment><USER19> I would love this. I'm sick of lugging a heavy aluminum notebook around. I want to drop my phone into a cradle or have it wirelessly connect to a KVM setup so I can launch into a desktop session for running tmux and a browser.

Wish this worked with iOS.

<comment><USER20> Many of the newer laptops aren't very heavy at all. My Macbook Air is aluminum and can fit in a small backpack/messenger bag.

Unless you just want to not be carrying anything.

<comment><USER21> Thinkpads have gotten shockingly thin and light, all while improving spilled liquid resistance and enhancing the cooling. The T440 and newer seems to have been a complete redesign, a 14 inch laptop that weighs 1.8kg and is neither too big or too small.

Slap a 1080p or 2560p panel in it, and the laptop is a monster!

<comment><USER22> For lightness I think the x series are a much better choice. I've been using an x201 for many years now. Even at its old age, it's suprisingly light to today's standards and has decent battery life.

<comment><USER21> Yeah, hooked a friend up with an x230 iirc for cheap, and she really likes it. 12" form factor just isn't for me though, I had a x100e for a month as a loaner, and man was its screen small (nevermind the spaceheater OG APU it had). Made me thankful for 14" screens and newer process technology allowing AMD and Intel to make chips that don't melt my legs!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> If you think this is cool, check out Maru, an open-source project that turns your phone into a PC: [https://maruos.com/#/](https://maruos.com/#/)

Maru has stable builds available for the Nexus 5 and 7 right now and we have some early builds for newer devices like the HTC 10 on the way. We are always looking for contributors to improve and help port Maru to the latest devices so please stop by our Github if you're interested!

[https://github.com/maruos/maruos](https://github.com/maruos/maruos)

</comment><comment><USER24> What I really want is a macbook air form factor laptop with nothing but a battery, a keyboard and a screen that has a slot where the touchpad would be for a phone. Use the phone for storage, cpu and touchpad with the extra screen area and battery life of a laptop.

</comment><comment><USER25> I've already replaced my desktop with a laptop, looking forward to the day I can consolidate everything onto one device. This looks like a step in the right direction.

<comment><USER26> It would be more compelling to me if they could also dock it into a laptop shell with USB and Ethernet ports. If I'm going someplace for more than a day I'm going to bring my laptop, I don't want to lug around a monitor. It doesn't really replace my laptop, it only replaces my docking station.

<comment><USER27> Like the Lapdock for the HP Elite x3?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> DeX is quite good but unfortunately only available on the top Samsung phones. I think the target market would be people that don't necessarily need a PC for most of the time. Someone that needs a bigger screen to easily do banking or word processing.

DeX has one HDMI port (1080p), two USB 2.0 and one Ethernet.

I can't wait for the Linux on Galaxy project to see how working with Ubuntu through DeX would feel like.

</comment><comment><USER29> Pretty impressive. Considering that it also allows you to login to a remote windows machine. Lots of enterprise companies use Windows and citrix receiver as a way to login remotely, this makes very useful when you are travelling just with your phone.

<comment><USER30> > _just with your phone_

... and a DeX station.

<comment><USER31> You could get a much cheaper (mine was $20) slimport/displayport usb-c to hdmi converter. That's all the phone is looking for to launch the DeX environment.

The dongle version of the station works even better cuz it can lay flat on my desk and the finger print scanner is easy to reach.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> It's about time! I thought I will never say this. Ever. But. Go Samsung!

<comment><USER33> Hasn't this been out since the S8 series was released?

</comment></comment><comment><USER34> I feel like they're solving the right problem. Not sure if it's the right solution though.

If 2 years down, Android and ChromeOS merged their foundation components and Pixel 5 switched between Android UI and ChromeOS UI when docked, I think it would totally make sense.

Not sure I'm interested in a Samsung Android and a self baked OS from Samsung.

<comment><USER35> I know that core developers behind EFL have been begging their upper management for this kind of hardware running Tizen, which would make a lot more sense than hacking Android into something it's not really made for.

Alas Tizen on mobile has been only used for sub $100 phones targeted at developing markets.

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> I just want the modern equivalent of a VT100 or X Terminal. No plugging in a phone. Just sit down at a generic terminal, log in - maybe with a hardware ID token like Sun used to offer - and there is my stuff.

Local display performance should be snappy, but compute done in the cloud with a resource level I can choose at appropriate expense.

Timeshared machines were wonderful for usability. PCs took over due to performance per dollar. 25 years later can I have my cake and eat it too, please?

Edit: yes, I know about Chromebooks. I never tried the high-end Pixel, but the cheap ones had underpowered local compute and were disappointing.

</comment><comment><USER37> Neat. Why does have a USB 2 port though? Why not USB 3? (It has a USB-C port, but I don't understand why it has a slow USB 2 port when it could have a backwards-compatible USB 3 port of the same type.)

</comment><comment><USER38> Okay, I will reformulate my reply here since I read all the answers just now. As I said earlier, I backered a promising lapdock with the Smartphone as the central source of power.

It allows you to plug your phone to a laptop device with a 13" screen, trackpad and speakers. I am just dropping you this here if you want more information about the Mirabook from Miraxess : [https://miraxess.com/miraxess- products/mirabook/](https://miraxess.com/miraxess-products/mirabook/)

<comment><USER39> I like that a lot!

Unfortunately I don't see a release date and I don't see how I can easily check if my device is compatible (it's USB C - OnePlus 5, but "Smartphone with DisplayPort over USB C technology"? I don't know).

If this were available NOW and .. ship/sell to me, then I'd give this a try in a heartbeat.

<comment><USER38> Yeah, just like Sentio, it is not available already. First beta testers will receive it in January, I hope I will be a part of it! Then, first deliveries will come to May according to their news.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> In long term, this could change everything. In the short term, the tech is cool but I'm having trouble imagining how I would use this.

In the short-term:

Would I set this up at home for personal use? Likely not as I would have my laptop already for this purpose. At home, I would want the flexibility to be able to move between my desk and couch, at least.

Would I use this at work? I already have a powerful work laptop - this would definitely not substitute.

If my employer had many traveling employees, would they setup DeX workstations for those who are visiting for a few hours? Maybe. For work use, it's too limited in power and applications to be a serious competitor.

In the long term: If I were a casual user of tech, whose primary needs were email, documents, videos and photos, would this let me not buy a separate laptop altogether? Yes - possibly. This is the killer use case. Eventually, the phone will get more and more powerful and internet speeds will get faster. For the casual tech user of email, documents, media and web browsing, this will more than suffice. Having two machines to buy and maintain, that do the same thing for you, will seem clunky and out-dated.

</comment><comment><USER41> The Huawei mate 10 series has desktop mode that requires only a cable, which is more convenient as a portable solution:

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2017/10/16/huaweis- mate-...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2017/10/16/huaweis- mate-10-makes-samsung-dex-look-pointless/#495ebdab39ab)

</comment><comment><USER42> I actually think this is part of a pretty clever / sensible strategy.

The GearVR transforms the phone into a pretty decent VR headset. Now this accessory will transform the phone into a workable desktop computer.

Maybe it's been done before, and maybe the market for the device is limited; but it does position Samsung as a supplier of versatile and ubiquitous devices.

</comment><comment><USER43> How long until I'm able to have my Ubuntu environment on a phone and plug it directly into my monitor, keyboard, and mouse? We already have the OS and peripherals, what's missing? It's not storage on the phone; Apple is selling 256GB iPhones. Is it the processing power?

<comment><USER44> Samsung is currently working on Linux for Galaxy which is exactly this.

Also, the processors in your phone are closer to desktop performance that you might think. If you put any weight in GeekBench scores, single core scores for the new A11 are about the same as the single core scores for the Ryzen 1800x.

<comment><USER45> For all of 5 minutes until it's thermally throttled. They never tell you that on the "GeekBench". But yes, for those 5 minutes, it has somewhat the same performance as one of the eight processors on the 1800x.

Frankly, 1/8th 1800x and a whole A11 is about the same power budget, so that's not entirely surprising.

<comment><USER46> Yeah, also even if you could get rid of the thermal throttling, you're still dumping all that heat into the phone's body which could overheat/damage other components.

<comment><USER45> Most notably you're dumping it into the battery, which is already heating up itself just fine having to supply the extra current for your full CPU power burst. And sustained high temperatures are a surefire way to rapidly diminish the capacity of LiIon batteries. So I guess it's a good thing they have external power and a fan, even though it's dubious how much that does given the battery isn't seeing any of that airflow and is in the usual protective sleeve that doesn't exactly help thermal conductivity.

There is a reason Tesla watercool every individual metal 18650 cell.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER47> I've got an S8+ (great phone!) and haven't tried this.

When I can have a fully fledged Linux desktop on my device, parallel to the native phone services and with pocket-portable screen connectivity I will stop carrying a laptop. My 2013 Apple MBP is dying, and the replacement won't be Apple, since 95% of all I use on Apple is open source anyway, and the prices are stupid. Looking at NUC/BRIX devices, phones, etc.

Samsung, please make out of the box Linux a priority. The cloud stuff is useless here in China (Google/MS/Samsung) and I just want to use my own device as I see fit.

<comment><USER31> Bro, don't worry too much about the full linuxness of it. The s8+ is a beauty with brains and even without the official dock (mine's $20 from some chinese dropshipper) and it's been incredible with access to the android bash and more with debian being able to run on the device hardware itself. I highly reccomend you try it out, I've been testing out video editing on it and never thought I could give up final cut and a mac but I find it hard to go back.

Check out some of the stuff I've made using the s8+ and a dex dongle [https://www.youtube.com/c/DennisAleynikov](https://www.youtube.com/c/DennisAleynikov)

<comment><USER48> Can you link your dock?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER49> I really like the idea of only having a phone and being able to have a desktop experience without a separate machine. I am pretty invested product and physiologically wise in the Apple ecosystem and would love to see them go in this direction. They already have development workflows that make it relatively easy to modify the layout and functionality of apps for phones up to large iPad Pros and this could be seen as just another form factor which needs to be accounted for.

</comment><comment><USER50> Very interesting product - my guess is that past attempts failed because of distribution and marketing strategies. (Motorola Atrix, Windows Continuum, etc).

Enterprise companies with large workforces seems like an interesting market for this. Employees would only receive a phone (no laptop), doable when work relies on MS Excel + email. For instance, consulting and sales orgs seem especially interesting, given their mobile workforces and lack of fixed office seating.

</comment><comment><USER51> "Some things are just easier on a desktop, like sending an email, bolding text, or copying and pasting between apps."

Are these the best examples they could come up with?

<comment><USER52> If you're trying to get shit done all of these are pretty high on my "number of times per day performed" list

</comment></comment><comment><USER53> On the Oreo beta for Samsung s8, dex works with any usb-c to hdmi. Also, Samsung is getting Linux distros to run side by side for development purposes

</comment><comment><USER54> Is this new? I am pretty sure I was in a MediaMrkt in Rotterdam a couple weeks ago and I saw this, I didn't even realize it was a big thing.

<comment><USER55> I'm wondering too. I have seen tv ads of this device months ago on Brazilian tv.

</comment></comment><comment><USER56> DeX is okay. As an Android developer who's had to support it, I'd say it's similar to Chromebook (as an alternative to Android phone/tablet development), except it's got its own set of undocumented idiosyncrasies. Highly don't recommend using it with Android < 7.1.1 either (it supports back to 7.0).

</comment><comment><USER57> I think this is a good idea. The reason being this looks like a "path of least resistance", since people already own phones, and it will get a lot of traction very quickly.

So far what I've seen is that when you keep a phone connected to power, the battery eventually degrades faster. I hope they solved that problem for this product.

</comment><comment><USER58> Man, lots of disclaimers here :/

* UI of the actual product may be different.

* Microsoft Office requires users to purchase licenses.

* Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint require a download to use.

* DeX Station and HDMI / Charging cable are sold separately.

* Screen image simulated.

* Certain apps may not run or require license (for purchase) on Samsung DeX.

* DeX Station supports Galaxy S8/S8+ and Note8.

</comment><comment><USER59> Odd use case for this, but one that would immediately solve about 8 of my 10 current headaches - put these in meeting rooms.

No more WiDi to set up, no more meeting room PC's, no more cable spaghetti. Just drop your phone in, grab the wireless keyboard/mouse and start boring people to death.

</comment><comment><USER60> Very cool. I wonder how much crossover or competition there's going to be between Dex and Chromebooks, considering that lots of Chrome OS laptops are running android apps now.

I guess it's a race to see whether Samsung phones can become desktops before Chromebooks can become phones

<comment><USER61> Samsung's on both sides of that game, so it's win-win for them.

</comment></comment><comment><USER62> It costs $20 in parts to put a SoC in the docking setup and obviate the need for the phone, and thanks to the Cloud you can seamlessly transition files from device to device. This doesn't seem to solve a problem anyone has.

</comment><comment><USER63> This is nifty, although I wouldn't see myself using it. For starters, it looks like it's closed source, which makes it a non-starter for me. I'm personally trying to move away from locked-down hardware and ecosystems, although admittedly it is surprisingly difficult.

Furthermore, I already have a very powerful desktop hooked up to a large screen. I want to be able to leverage its power! So what I'd really like is a way to easily transfer activities or work between devices.

The best execution of this I've seen so far is from Apple, with iOS and macOS's continuity features. Unfortunately, I have an Android phone, which means I can't use that functionality.

Transferring files between devices is still such a huge pain! Between Apple devices, AirDrop has the best experience I've used. My cross-platform solution is running an HTTP server (`python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8080`) and zipping up the files I want to send. Since zeroconf is widely available, it's usually not much hassle to type in the address. If I'm dealing with devices on different networks, I use instant.io.

Here's a typical scenario for me: I arrive at home and want to play a game on my desktop while I continue to listen to the audiobook playing on my phone. In that case I'd love to pipe the audio from the game to my phone's headphones. That would let me move around to the bathroom and kitchen without having to pause the audiobook, let me know if the game match is starting so I can rush back, and avoid being a noisy neighbor with obnoxiously loud speakers.

There's so much more potential for ease of use improvements! For example, while programming, since my desktop is much more powerful, I'd love to offload builds from my laptop when I'm at home. I know I can setup things manually, but it's a lot of hassle and usually ends up kinda brittle. Then if I take my laptop out to some place without network connectivity, I'll have to stop everything and perform additional setup.

</comment><comment><USER64> That bezel-free desktop display in the first image, is that a real Samsung product?

<comment><USER65> Looks like the LC27F591FDNXZA to me, but that the compositing of the desktop image has cheated a bit to make it seem like there's just a bit less dead space than there truly is.

<comment><USER66> They do know how to name products!

<comment><USER67> They missed the chance to name it "Galaxy LC27F591FDNXZA".

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER68> Bit of an odd comment but - as an observation around the branding - <USER2> Australian's pronounce 'DeX' it sounds like 'Dicks'.

I'm not having a go but I did also find it genuinely funny.

</comment><comment><USER69> I think as a standalone product DeX will fail or have very limited adoption. Now if all the players can get together and make it some sort of industry standard then you have something.

</comment><comment><USER70> My chrome tab hangs dead from this page. My computer is an Apple's Mac Pro with Intel Xeon @ 3.5 Ghz and 32 Gb or RAM. Is that not enough to browse the internet nowadays?

</comment><comment><USER71> How does it work? What OS is there? Some kind of Windows for ARM? How does it work in parallel with Android? Or is it just Android but with resizable overlapping windows?

</comment><comment><USER72> I have one on my desk for few months already, but I use it only as a charger :-)

If enough people vote here (AMA style?), I'll be motivated to connect kbd and monitor and do some tests :)

</comment><comment><USER73> Just really need a phone to run a full OS when plugged in. Why would anybody who is a serious user want to use a mobile OS for anything other than simple tasks.

</comment><comment><USER27> It feels weird that more than half of the highlighted apps are from Microsoft, which had its own implementation of this

</comment><comment><USER74> [Totally OT] I swear I first read "SamSex Dung" ... I probably have to consult my therapist right now.

</comment><comment><USER75> I really was wondering for some time why this is not possible for smartphones if a gameboy can do it.

</comment><comment><USER76> I long for the day I can put my phone into a VR headset and get a virtual desktop environment.

</comment><comment><USER77> If I wanted a Windows phone... #teampixel

Seriously, Android, OTG cable, chromecast and a powered USB hub. Done.

</comment><comment><USER78> *not a decentralized exchange

</comment><comment><USER79> Productive?

Where is the innovation in portable screens/keyboards?

I will stick to a surface pro.

</comment><comment><USER80> Which Street and What Street?

</comment><comment><USER7> Canonical and Microsoft were there first, not sure if I want to see Samsung winning it.

<comment><USER81> didn't canonical give up

<comment><USER59> MS also feels like they've given up, seeing as they've ditched their phones.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER82> So I just bought an HP Elite x3 this month. (Yes, I did.) And it's by far the best phone I've ever put my hands on. It boggles the mind that someone would buy... anything else, given this now is available on Verizon.

...But Continuum feels pointless to me, I left the dock in the box. I have computers anywhere I am going to use a full computer. Or my Surface Pro. I guess maybe this sort of thing might be appealing to the "mobile only" crowd who never owns a PC again?

<comment><USER33> A Windows mobile device? I think that's why most people would buy anything else.

<comment><USER82> There really isn't many other viable options if security is important to you. There's iPhone and what's left of Windows Mobile. Even the Pixel won't get the KRACK patch until December, everyone else patched it in October.

Windows Mobile gives me the feature set of a Android with the security competency of an iPhone.</comment></comment></comment>


Wanted: Better Defenses of Peter Thiel - <AUTHOR> http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/wanted-better-defenses-of-peter-thiel <comment><USER2> I don't a dog in this fight, but my opinion is that it is OK to privately pay legal expenses for someone else.

Was it legal? Apparently yes. So, what is the problem?

Edit: to be fair, I am a little biased because Thiel's book 'Zero to One' was very useful, and I have never got value from Gawker.

</comment><comment><USER3> These are the options according to the author.

Option 1.

Thiel clandestinely funds lawsuits. This makes him a Bad Man, distributing cats paws and using them to pervert the public interest.

Option 2.

Thiel openly funds lawsuits. This enables him to:

2.1. Give a heads up to his adversaries. Sporting chance perhaps.

2.2. Be vilified as contributing to chilling effects by spreading fear of being sued in the media establishment. Needless to say the Bad Man is perverting the public interest.

Huh. His logic just eats itself. He also says a number of things about the law I suspect cannot be true since he has to fall back on claiming Thiel is defying the laws of countries that don't exist today and which in any case would not apply to the United States if they did. I don't have the time to critique his other claims, I really don't.

</comment><comment><USER4> The author is not nearly insightful enough to justify his inflammatory tone.

<comment><USER5> Can you substantiate this?

<comment><USER3> Not worried about any trash talk like labeling people cowards (from my perspective it's like calling you into the light to get a better shot with a different barrel) but the author doesn't want to consider that the public and private interests can be aligned. He has a point about Foucault. The rest isn't well argued, he is hand waving frantically so you don't consider the facts he's leaving out.

<comment><USER5> This still just seems unsubstantiated. Can you point to what is hand waving or what important things are left out?

<comment><USER3> Am tired. Also tipsy. So bear that in mind.

>Indeed, what Thiel is doing used to be illegal.

It isn't legally relevant that Anglo-Norman laws would find Thiel guilty of something. They're from a different time and place to us. That's hand waving if we're talking legality.

Now let's talk of selectively leaving facts out.

Supposing there exist laws for chamberty and barratry in our society. Ok. Now has Thiel violated them?

Chamberty isn't worth discussing because not even Gawker believes he did it for money.

Barratry is defined in the article as vexatious litigation or incitement to it. What's left out is that Thiel did not incite litigation by searching for a person who could hypothetically sue Gawker and then proceed to financially motivate them. He found somebody definitely wanted to sue (I might be correct to say that he was already in the process of this) Gawker and supported that effort financially.

It is vexatious litigation? No. This is when a frivolous lawsuit or meritless motions are repeatedly launched. This is left out. Hogan/Terry's lawsuit had merit and the judge evidently must have found it be be a straight forward black and white case of wrongdoing judging from the fact she awarded more compensation than requested (I think). Again, relevant information left out.

If there existed a variety of bullshit lawsuits against Gawker, they would definitely be making us aware of that and pointing to Peter Thiel as the originator. Since they are not we can be reasonably sure they do not exist.

<comment><USER5> You unjustifiably dismiss champerty. Champerty is not merely participating in the financial outcome of another's legal result, rather it is participating in "the subject matter of the action." In this case, it's reasonable to argue Thiel is maintaining the suit in order to participate in the status or personal satisfaction of ensuring Gawker must pay a ruinous amount of money. In fact, that is _the_ primary issue: that he is doing it because he personally doesn't like Gawker and derives personal pleasure from participating in Gawker's ruin. Champerty is, unarguably, highly relevant.

I agree that it's not vexatious litigation. Most probably the litigation already existed and was deemed reasonable as it proceeded to be heard.

Regarding your final paragraph, there actually is some question as to how many suits Thiel has helped support. If evidence were found that the common link was Gawker, that would heighten suspicion. Whether any of them were "bullshit" would be open for the asking. And even if they were permissible suits by the letter of the law, Thiel's actions could still be worthy of significant criticism and warning in regards to effects on press freedom.

A lot of the defenses I see for Thiel go along the lines of "but what he's doing is legal by the letter of the law." I find this silly, because most of the criticism in this situation is focused on saying that it's _morally wrong_ and violates the spirit of the law, and might be a good prompt to ask questions about legal reform.

<comment><USER3> > A lot of the defenses I see for Thiel go along the lines of "but what he's > doing is legal by the letter of the law." I find this silly, because most of > the criticism in this situation is focused on saying that it's morally wrong > and violates the spirit of the law.

Frankly this is the argument you should have started with because Champerty is a throwback to a time trial by torture was probably also a legal principal. It is a distraction.

Obviously morality and legality are not the same thing, but the people arguing that he did not break the law usually think that he also did the right thing morally.

It is just that arguing over morality is much more convoluted then talking of legality. Legality is our most black/white argument so it's the one we tend to use in an argument. Makes sense, right?

Morality is unlike the law in that the law strives for one interpretation. There exists a left wing morality and a right wing morality that have considerable overlap but which are two different sets. The funny thing to Thiel supporters is that the Left are contorting themselves into pretzels because the Robin Hood principal of taking from the rich and giving to the poor looks pretty funny here. That's why 75%+ of HN and arstechnica is on our side. Gawker went too far by egalitarian eyes as well.

The truth is that this is a media war. It is about the establishment, the media, getting their yuckiest, loudest member taken out. The media feels discomfiture because Gawker represented the edge of how far you could go, and now that they are gone they have to redraw the boundaries of what is permissible so they don't meet a similar fate.

Since we do not live in Stalinist Russia, this is fine.

Otherwise the media is unimpeachable, always free from guilt and wrongdoing. That seems unlikely to everyone.

So. Media people of the world. Climb down off the high horses. Take your lashings. You richly deserve them. Then quit whining and get back to doing decent journalism. Or you know. Maybe get a new job if you cannot do that.

Taking about Champerty makes you look like sore losers and you know it.

<comment><USER5> > Taking about Champerty makes you look like sore losers and you know it.

This is weirdly personal, since I am not a member of the media and have no vested interest in the outcome. I'm interested in the moral implications, more for philosophical curiosity's sake, but it is very telling to me that you resort to this sort of statement and continue to say a lot of unsubstantiated things as excuses to dismiss champerty without actually dealing with it.

> now that they are gone they have to redraw the boundaries of what is > permissible so they don't meet a similar fate.

That's a good way of putting it -- Thiel is attempting a certain kind of moral gerrymandering, which many people find to be quite obviously more frightening than the boundary transgressions he's using as his personal gerrymandering excuse.

There will always be boundaries between these different sectors. I completely agree that Gawker straddled that boundary. The worrying thing is that a single wealthy person gets to redraw the boundary to suit his personal whims, with essentially no input from society at large (who, seemingly, derive lots of value from the service Gawker provides, evidenced by their willingness to pay Gawker with attention and dollars).

Libertarian bros like Thiel (and you see this constantly in the HN echo chamber) love to come out in support of blurring legal boundaries, e.g. Uber being required to treat drivers as employees, because it is supposedly how society innovates away from stagnant laws that "should" be ignored by powerful companies to deliver value that customers indicate they want via paying dollars. Easier to ask for forgiveness for breaking or bending the law than to let your innovation be stifled while you ask for permission.

Yet when it's inconvenient for them, such as in this situation with Gawker, they don't seem to care if people generally find it valuable (imputed from Gawker's success) and conveniently they suddenly _do_ care about the specific letter of the law (something that, contrary to your blowhard comments above, is _not_ of general interest when debating these things -- unless happening to focus on the letter of the law is convenient for the tech culture tribe in some given debate). Unsurprisingly hypocritical just like everyone else.

<comment><USER3> > This is weirdly personal, since I am not a member of the media and have no > vested interest in the outcome. I'm interested in the moral implications, > more for philosophical curiosity's sake, but it is very telling to me that > you resort to this sort of statement and continue to say a lot of > unsubstantiated things as excuses to dismiss champerty without actually > dealing with it.

I apologize for implying you were one. It is just that after the TPM person used the word Champerty suddenly news outlets online started to use the word in a similar fashion within hours of each other (Qz, Vox). I have to wonder if that is coordinated in some way (like a party line) so I had the impression the media is piling on what I consider to be a poor line of argument. Indeed if you do a search of Thiel and Champerty you have a host of somewhat dodgy (urls I've never seen before) news websites pushing Champerty-Thiel stories.

dailyreadlist.com onenewspage.com newsreality.com onlinegetnews.com webnewspost.com nationwidenewsbulletin.com veryinternationalpeople.com us.otpisal.com worldwidenewshub.com contacto-latino.com everydayreportage.com newsjs.com grabpage.info regator.com

Never heard of them.

Some of them are probably real... but I have to wonder about astroturfing.

I realize that news syndication exists but Champerty is an unusual old word and I would wonder if some unscrupulous media organization (naming no names) decided to make a great deal of noise using it so that a typical person using a search engine would be left with a distinct impression of illegality on Thiel's part, which is of course not actually true as we discussed.

My impression of the media remains the same but my irritation is not at you personally since you are at least providing a rational line of argument, you just got tagged along with all the champerty word using people as I flicked through my tabs.

> That's a good way of putting it -- Thiel is attempting a certain kind of > moral gerrymandering, which many people find to be quite obviously more > frightening than the boundary transgressions he's using as his personal > gerrymandering excuse. > > There will always be boundaries between these > different sectors. I completely agree that Gawker straddled that boundary. > The worrying thing is that a single wealthy person gets to redraw the > boundary to suit his personal whims, with essentially no input from society > at large (who, seemingly, derive lots of value from the service Gawker > provides, evidenced by their willingness to pay Gawker with attention and > dollars).

Now we're getting to the heart of the thing. Gawker used its employees hunting down salacious gossip and its treasure trove to then ward off attacks by lawyers in order to stretch moral boundaries.

It then broke those boundaries by engaging in illegality and immoral behavior repeatedly. It stole private information from people. It stole stories from other journalists. Nick Denton hid profits from Gawker overseas to avoid tax. It was used by politicians and activists to launch hit jobs or character assassinations.

That is why Gawker should be put back into its box. But nobody could put the lid on the box because an organization with a talent for destroying reputations is scary to people with influence and some politcos and media people like having Gawker around to run their dirty work for them.

Then...! Peter Thiel and Hulk Hogan. I'm sure you remember the ending of The Dark Knight. Why it was just like that. :-)

"And we'll hunt him. But he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight."

Mind The Dark Knight was a thoroughly conservative perspective.

> Libertarian bros like Thiel (and you see this constantly in the HN echo > chamber) love to come out in support of blurring legal boundaries, e.g. Uber > being required to treat drivers as employees, because it is supposedly how > society innovates away from stagnant laws that "should" be ignored by > powerful companies to deliver value that customers indicate they want via > paying dollars. Easier to ask for forgiveness for breaking or bending the > law than to let your innovation be stifled while you ask for permission.

It's not being inconsistent. Most geeks are chaotic evil/neutral/good not lawful evil/neutral/good. Some companies break the law and do good. Some stay within the law and do bad. I think I made a distinction between morality and legality already above. Thiel incidentally is very much anti-Uber since he owns shares in its competition and calls Uber the most ethically challenged company in SV. You really can't knock libertarians on this basis, there's a wide spectrum of opposing thought on this issue within our ranks.

> Yet when it's inconvenient for them, such as in this situation with Gawker, > they don't seem to care if people generally find it valuable (imputed from > Gawker's success) and conveniently they suddenly do care about the specific > letter of the law (something that, contrary to your blowhard comments above, > is not of general interest when debating these things -- unless happening to > focus on the letter of the law is convenient for the tech culture tribe in > some given debate). Unsurprisingly hypocritical just like everyone else.

And now we're back to name calling. What was your argument again? That people who argue that he didn't do anything wrong legally are amoral hypocrites? I'm sure they'd argue back that they're stating the facts which they'd consider to be a stronger line than tenuously invoking non-existent laws.

We do have a moral code. But as I already said, moral codes are different for different people. Sometimes they overlap and sometimes they don't. I think we've reached an impasse so now I leave the argument.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


How Exercise May Protect Against Depression - <AUTHOR> http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/how-exercise-may-protect-against-depression/?src=me <comment><USER2> I'm glad to see the article, but if you're interested in the effects of physical exercise over the brain in general - not only depression, but brain development, neuronal growth, memory retention, degenerative brain diseases - you should read "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain" [1].

It's a great book, summarizing all the studies and discoveries around brain health and the link with body biochemistry and exercise over the past 50 years. Not the typical common wisdom of "exercise is good for you", but a more serious and deep analysis of why it is good, and what _exactly_ it does to your brain, at a biochemical level.

As a person that always knew how much exercise is important for the body - _but always hated exercising_ \- this book gave a reason to pause and re-think my priorities.

If you care about your brain, read at least the sample chapters and see if you like it.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science- Exercise-B...](http://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise- Brain/dp/0316113514)

<comment><USER3> As a person who always hated exercising, too, I can tell you that it's just a matter of starting and then stick to it until "something" clicks and makes you crave exercise like you crave food or sleep. If knowing what's the neurological basis that makes exercise so useful for our body, is what keeps you going, that's great. But really, any reason will do. My reason: proving to myself that I have a stronger will strength than I used to think and believe for so many years. When I don't exercise (for me that means also practicing Ashtanga Yoga) for like a week because of external reasons, I experienced a deep slash of depression -- real depression, like seeing everything black, totally unmotivated self-loathing and so forth. Luckily, it's just a matter of getting a good hour of intense excercise and the day after I'm back on track. There's definitively something chemical going on there.

Thanks for the book suggestion

<comment><USER4> Can anyone comment if just walking counts for exercising?

<comment><USER5> Yes it does.

[http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/walking-for- exer...](http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/walking-for-exercise)

[http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/in- depth/wa...](http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/in- depth/walking/art-20046261)

If you're particularly overweight or have joint/back or other health issues you may want to consult your physician about how to improve past a slower paced walk. But if your joints and heart are otherwise healthy, it's pretty good exercise for getting in better shape, losing/maintaining weight, and for getting to spend some time outside in the sun and fresh air.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> It takes some time to find some exercise that works for you. I hated the gym, running bored me, I didn't really fit in with the fightsport crowd in my city (all started classes were filled young kids, you might have better luck in a bigger city!) but swimming has been awesome so far. I used to stay in shape by cycling to work everyday but over the years I have become fatter, slower, less attractive, depressed and far less sharp.

I swim almost an hour everyday and during the weekends I sometimes go for 3-4 hours and it has done wonders for my depression, it also enhances your mental clarity and swimming is a great way to work out those hard recursion or architectural problems.

I used to deal with overwhelming negative emotions in less constructive ways, some days I still swim to "destroy", endorphins also work great for emotional pain so after that I usually feel a lot better.

I hear great things about climbing from other programmers. If you're depressed find something that you enjoy as a exercise, once you get the basics down it becomes a "flow" not much different from programming :)

I also take some St John's Wort, some vitamin D and I replaced most breakfasts with Soylent. So far it has done wonders in fighting my depression.

<comment><USER7> Running isn't boring, boring is just an excuse. If you were really running or if you were really exercising you'd be in too much pain to be bored. Running is a form of self torture pure and simple.

The people who tell you they enjoy running are really saying that they've disciplined themselves to master the pain. I mean, sure you get endorphins when you run, but the pain component of long distance running is far more intense then any high you can receive from endorphins. In essence people who truly exercise have conditioned themselves to the point where the negative effects of exercise become inconsequential and the benefits begin to outweigh the pain.

Make no mistake. Real Exercise isn't about finding something you simply enjoy and love. It is very intense work and something that you need to learn to love; kind of like programming.

<comment><USER7> I got voted down for this comment. Please let me know if you ever ran 10 miles and was totally bored by the experience.

<comment><USER7> Unfortunately I can't relate to the responses. It's hard for me to comprehend how you can be bored and in total pain or out of breath at the same time. It's like saying there's a knife in your shoulder and you're still bored...

<comment><USER8> No long distance runner I have ever met has described running as "total pain".

Several look brighter and clearly feel happier after running 2-4 miles. It's nearly rejuvenating for them.

Unless they are quite literally masochists, I don't think they spend those 2-4 miles in pure misery.

<comment><USER7> You're right poor choice of words I'm just trying to emphasize that there's enough misery to prevent you from being bored.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Exercise, and in particular 30 minutes or more, every day, has been successful as one of the best forms of preventive medicine out there. It's highly effective against progression in depression, anxiety, knee arthritis, frank diabetes, and many other illnesses. One of the best videos that illustrates the benefits is 23 1/2 by Dr. Mike Evans: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo)

We based our app on the notion of moving at least 30 minutes every day. We've had very positive feedback from people that cope with depression and/or anxiety. Would love your feedback: [http://human.co](http://human.co)

</comment><comment><USER10> We need to be careful with what they're saying.

> Scientists have also known that exercise seems to cushion against > depression. Working out somehow makes people and animals emotionally > resilient,

Many people translate this to mean "exercise can treat depression".

Here's one meta analysis that suggests exercise is a weak treatment for depression.

[http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD004366/DEPRESSN_exercise- for...](http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD004366/DEPRESSN_exercise-for- depression)

> Exercise is moderately more effective than no therapy for reducing symptoms > of depression.

But also

> The reviewers also note that when only high-quality studies were included, > the difference between exercise and no therapy is less conclusive.

> Exercise is no more effective than antidepressants for reducing symptoms of > depression, although this conclusion is based on a small number of studies.

> Exercise is no more effective than psychological therapies for reducing > symptoms of depression, although this conclusion is based on small number of > studies.

I'd like to see better research that controls for things like social networks (a person might be more likely to go jogging with friends than alone, for example) and other confounding factors.

<comment><USER11> there are other studies including meta studies which show that exercise is an effective treatment with the lowest rate of relapse:

[http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/for- depres...](http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/for-depression- prescribing-exercise-before-medication/284587/)

we need more studies

<comment><USER10> Did you read any of the research quoted by the Atlantic article, or just the Atlantic article?

And did you bother to read the link I posted? Because it says

> The reviewers recommend that future research should look in more detail at > what types of exercise could most benefit people with depression, and the > number and duration of sessions which are of most benefit. Further larger > trials are needed to find out whether exercise is as effective as > antidepressants or psychological treatments

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Excerpt:

 _So the scientists looked for which processes were being most notably intensified in their PGC-1alpha1-rich mice. They found one in particular, involving a substance called kynurenine that accumulates in human and animal bloodstreams after stress. Kynurenine can pass the blood-brain barrier and, in animal studies, has been shown to cause damaging inflammation in the brain, leading, it is thought, to depression.

But in the mice with high levels of PGC-1alpha1, the kynurenine produced by stress was set upon almost immediately by another protein expressed in response to signals from the PGC-1alpha1. This protein changed the kynurenine, breaking it into its component parts, which, interestingly, could not pass the blood-brain barrier._

I imagine this is hardly the whole story, but it is interesting that they were able to identify a specific component. Something else that I would think is relevant is that the lymphatic system is dramatically sped up during exercise. It is pumped by you working your muscles rather than by your circulatory system, even though it is kind of part of your circulatory system (because lymph is basically fluid from the blood but with major blood components removed). (Though the brain has a separate mechanism: It moves lymph when you sleep.)

</comment><comment><USER13> Yoga and long walks work great in fighting my depression.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I notice a HUGE difference in my attitude and motivation if I sit for too long.

<comment><USER14> Citalopram, 1.5 hours at the gym, and Dolce's Lean living have worked wonders for me.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> This is definitely not monumentally new advice but it is something that many people overlook when people are diagnosed with depression.

When people exercise it creates habits, these habits become something that allow people to have something positive to look forward to during their daily routine.

Depressions roots are tied to falling into a cycle of not doing things, by breaking that cycle you give yourself an opportunity to decrease your depression.

I'm the founder of a health and wellness startup that hopes to help people create habits and personalize their health regimes.

From the Harvard article, "How does exercise relieve depression? For many years, experts have known that exercise enhances the action of endorphins, chemicals that circulate throughout the body. Endorphins improve natural immunity and reduce the perception of pain. They may also serve to improve mood. Another theory is that exercise stimulates the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which may directly improve mood."

To read more check here. [http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Exercise-and- Depressi...](http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Exercise-and-Depression- report-excerpt.htm)

</comment><comment><USER16> Press release and links here: [http://ki.se/en/news/how-physical-exercise- protects-the-brai...](http://ki.se/en/news/how-physical-exercise-protects-the- brain-from-stress-induced-depression)

(and previous post of the press release and links here: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8385525](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8385525))

</comment><comment><USER17> I learned that's true thanks to this app [http://human.co](http://human.co) and their simple concept: move 30mins or more every day to stay healthy (the #daily30), inspired by "23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?" by D. Mike Evans

</comment><comment><USER18> I experienced this on the extreme that I immediately freed of my depressive thoughts upon doing some push ups, that I started working out regularly. I know that it's a fact by experience.

</comment><comment><USER19> I've found that establishing a habit of exercise first thing after climbing out of bed really works.

The important thing is to not "break the chain". Even if you can only exercise a little on a particular day, do that little bit.

I decided to do burpees every day last April and have only missed it 2 days while on vacation.

Based on this article though, I'm going to change it to something more aerobic. I think burpees are so intense I can't do them for long enough to get the aerobic benefit.

</comment><comment><USER20> I started an exercise regime (basically in an elliptical machine for 30 mins every day) six months back. I hurt my kness and it still hurts. I will see a sports doctor -- but any suggestions?

</comment><comment><USER21> If you try to work out much when tired and stressed you're just going to increase the odds of getting sick. The article makes the mistake of suggesting exercise when already stressed. I think the point here is that fitness is protective. It's too late if you're already feeling a bit burned out. The thing to do in that case is restful relaxation.

<comment><USER22> Source? I don't think that's true at all.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> > In the meantime, if work and other pressures mount, it may be a good idea to > go for a jog

This is not new, nor exciting advice. However I do think it's sound. Personally speaking, exercise allows me to work harder and play harder. It acts as sort of a mental refresh and barrier. If my work stress starts to evade my relaxation time, it often overlaps with me skipping out at the gym

<comment><USER16> _That_ is not new advice.

By contrast the finding that well-trained muscles protect against depression by a mechanism involving breaking down kynurenine peripherally and thus preventing it from entering the brain is both new and in my opinion very exciting. After the fact it makes sense, but I would not have predicted it.

Incidentally, kynurenic acid in the brain is also implicated in schizophrenia, which makes me wonder if this will have explanation value beyond depression as well.

I find this an unexpected and delightful discovery.</comment></comment>


What's New for Visual C++ Developers in VS2013 Preview - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2013/06/27/what-s-new-for-visual-c-developers-in-vs2013-preview.aspx

<comment><USER2> And here is another post which gives more detail about C++11/14 STL features: [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2013/06/28/c-11-14-st...](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2013/06/28/c-11-14-stl- features-fixes-and-breaking-changes-in-vs-2013.aspx)</comment>


Critiqued coronavirus simulation gets thumbs up from code-checking efforts - <AUTHOR> https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01685-y <comment><AUTHOR> See also various previous discussions on the code quality e.g.: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23222338](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23222338)

<comment><USER2> I think the critique on the code quality was wrong and right at the same time:

\- Wrong, because the model may have other problems (it has been criticized because it did not reflect reality in some situations, for example when applied to Sweden) which aren't related to code at all;

\- Wrong, because it would have been far more important to discuss on the merits and demerits of the model, rather than its implementation;

\- Correct, because bad code in academia is a known and widespread problem (I am guilty of it, too).</comment></comment>


Selected for Google Glass to run political experiments - <AUTHOR> http://ozeanmedia.com/ozean-media/ozean-selected-for-google-glass-explorers/ We are soliciting ideas for possible political field experiments using Google Glass.  I have faith that Hackernews will deliver FANTASTIC ideas. <comment><AUTHOR> Currently, we are busy racking our brains and designing all types of field experiments that we could possibly do in a campaign setting once we get our hands on Glass. However, we thought we would ask you, because WE KNOW HACKERNEWS WILL HAVE FANTASTIC IDEAS!

For political campaigns, what are possible experiments we can run with Google Glass?</comment>


Ask HN: Is there a Hacker News endpoint for the "Tell HN" posts? - <AUTHOR> If you google "site:news.ycombinator.com tell hn", you can see that there are a lot of posts which have the "Tell HN" prefix. Is there an actual end point for this similar to the "Ask HN"?<p>I looked at the "lists" at the bottom of the page but it doesn't list it. <comment><USER2> You can build a simple webpage for yourself using the APIs

Here is the start point -

[https://hacker- news.firebaseio.com/v0/showstories.json?print...](https://hacker- news.firebaseio.com/v0/showstories.json?print=pretty)

More - [https://github.com/HackerNews/API](https://github.com/HackerNews/API)

This could be a plain html page, which you can bookmark and check daily.

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry, I think you misunderstood my question. I am asking whether there is a particular page which already exists which shows all the "Tell HN:" posts. Similar to how [http://news.ycombinator.com/ask](http://news.ycombinator.com/ask)

shows the posts for "Ask HN:" and [http://news.ycombinator.com/show](http://news.ycombinator.com/show) shows the posts for "Show HN:".

So is there something like [http://news.ycombinator.com/tell](http://news.ycombinator.com/tell)

?

<comment><USER3> It was never a category. In the last 12 months there were 125 such posts, so 1 every 3 days. Some 'merry christmas' and 'this site is down'. In the last month it was 7 (that already includes this current post).

[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=%22tell%20hn%22&sort=byPopular...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=%22tell%20hn%22&sort=byPopularity&prefix=false&page=0&dateRange=pastYear&type=story)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Another is "Launch HN" which only YC companies seems to use. Maybe there's post launch marketing checklist with an item to post on HN.</comment>


Hndir.com doubles to 500 college-enrolled hackers - <AUTHOR> http://jmtame.posterous.com/hndircom-now-up-to-500-college-hackers

<comment><USER2> Hndir rejects my .ac.uk email address. You'll probably want to fix that if you want it to work for schools in the UK.

<comment><USER3> it also rejects .ca emails for schools in canada (i.e. uwaterloo.ca)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> It put me in the incorrect school. Good idea but work on that email validation

</comment><comment><USER5> My college uses the edu.ph domain. So I can't register too.</comment>


Dear Tumblr And Instapaper Genius Marco Arment: We're Sorry You're Not A Fan - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-arment-2011-9?op=1 <comment><USER2> Also posted here: <http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=3030723>

</comment><comment><USER3> its going to be fun watching this back and forth.

</comment><comment><USER4> touché!</comment>


Fastest Scheme (and one of the fastest in any language) compiler lacking devs - momo-reina http://community.schemewiki.org/?Stalin

<comment><AUTHOR> Scheme is usually used as a scripting language, but the fact that it is licensed under the GPL will prevent most companies from using it.</comment>


Show HN: Paperstencil – cross between word processor and web form - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/bitstat/paperstencil

<comment><USER2> Interesting concept. At our company we use MachForm ([http://www.appnitro.com/](http://www.appnitro.com/))

It really is a php clone (but more powerful) of WUFOO ([http://www.wufoo.com/](http://www.wufoo.com/)) but no subscription needed.

</comment><comment><USER3> Interesting, it's definitely a competitor to SharePoint if coupled with other services. There is just something about the graphics that makes me feel it's dated unfortunately. And apparently vulnerable to Heartbleed.

<comment><AUTHOR> heartbleed vulnerability is gone. Have fixed it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Congratulations! This is the best implementation of narrative form builder I have seen. And, it is admirable that you are releasing the code for your service with Apache license.

We (JotForm) tried to do one on an internal hackathon ( [http://www.jotform.com/narrative-forms/](http://www.jotform.com/narrative- forms/) ) but it didn't work really well and we didn't receive much excitement from our users about it. So, we didn't develop it further. But, I've always found narrative forms amazing. I wonder why more sites are not using it.

</comment><comment><USER5> Maybe something to replace the deprecated Microsoft InfoPath form services on SharePoint server.

If one can write "form rules" in JavaScript or like InfoPath in a graphical rule language, that would be awesome.

</comment><comment><USER6> Looks good. I love the concept. I have couple of questions:

Is it possible to create lookup tables which then can be used in the form for data input? For e.g. Contacts: that get populated from my address book table? etc ...

Also is there a workflow process in the pipeline?

Good work!

<comment><AUTHOR> Code shall be easily extended to accommodate these features. Shoot an email to email@example.com, will help you on that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> This looks handy, I might use this as a part of a super-side project to get my 73yo relative to stop creating exams using MS Word. (Years and years of exams/tests, locked up inside zillions of MS Word files!)

Can this handle nested conditional forms?

<comment><AUTHOR> It doesn't have support for nested forms.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I've got to recommend SaaS Formstack ([http://www.formstack.com](http://www.formstack.com))

\- All the correct security procedures are taken care of by them plus there team is extremely responsive.

</comment><comment><USER9> Overall design of product is not very good. Also, you should probably not use the word "Render" for a consumer app; maybe "Publish" or "View"?

<comment><AUTHOR> it is our early release of the product (More focus was on the functionality). We will improve look and feel (such as icons, theme, etc) in general in our next iteration.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> This looks great! It would look better if the font wasn't monospaced (if you're looking for suggestions, I love the free Google font "Oxygen").

</comment><comment><USER9> I think that serif font looks bad. Especially when it's small like in the footer.

</comment><comment><USER11> looks good!

Is there some functionality to save and resume later (from end-customer perspective)? Would be nice if I could give out unique URLs to a form, which then autosave anything entered there.

</comment><comment><USER12> A datepicker seems missing.</comment>


Mobile-Initiated payments: a possible solution (maybe) - <AUTHOR> http://www.fastchicken.co.nz/2012/10/24/more-on-payments-a-possible-mobile-payment-solution/

<comment><AUTHOR> Mostly a discussion topic, tho with a workable flow (assuming I didn't miss anything stupid).</comment>


Houdini was an inventor, but didn't want anybody to know - <AUTHOR> http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/harry-houdini-ingenious-innovator-didnt-want-anybody-know-180961078/ <comment><USER2> Maybe to the general public this is considered a secret, but not to professionals, who even without proof would know that based on his style of performance he had to be inventing "magic" to perform the tricks he did.

One of Houdini's best tricks was the volume of muscle he had, which was intentionally larger than any bone mass that would obstruct the removal of any constraint applied to him. He simply tense up as the constraint was applied, then relax after he was hidden from the public's all seeing eye.

As Houdini said himself, "my brain is the key that sets me free."

<comment><USER3> Not that I know much about horses, but I took a western horseriding class as a kid and they taught me that horses do the same thing when you saddle them - expand their bellies so you can't tighten the saddles too much. The instructor would give them a healthy slap in the ribcage to make them relax and then cinch it up.

<comment><USER4> Wouldn't that make it difficult for them to breathe, reducing their performance?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> The interpretation of intellectual property law in this is completely wrong.

* Patents must have disclosure because the trade-off of monopoly rights is that you make your invention publicly available and _further the arts and sciences._

* Copyright doesn't cover functional elements - it didn't then, and it doesn't now.

* He simply kept things secret - we'd call them trade secrets today.

The description of intellectual property in this article is very misleading. The Smithsonian should do better than this.

</comment><comment><USER6> Houdini's name is inspired by Robert-Houdin, who was himself a great inventor. Back in the 1870, his electric chime that allowed people at the gate to ring a bell far away in his home across the garden was considered magic; ditto the "treasure chest" that stuck to the ground thanks to a big electromagnet.

His book "Comment on devient sorcier" ("How to be a sorcerer") explains many of his tricks in detail.

Some are incredibly difficult though... to the point I wonder if he actually gives the real explanation :)

</comment><comment><USER7> Houdini performed at the Paramount theater in downtown Austin over 100 years ago. If you visit that beautifully restored theater today for any performance (I've seen Sheryl Crow and Penn and Teller there amongst others), look for a hole in the decorated ceiling on the left side in the front. It is claimed that Houdini put it there for a levitation illusion.

<comment><USER2> There's some debate how the "Houdini hole"[1] in the ceiling got there: "The story that Charlie Root told me is a little different than what they say now. There is a national organization of magicians who are sure it was Harry Houdini who cut the hole in order to insert some sort of apparatus to levitate a woman. But, Charlie, who in 1971 was one of the only living people who had been in the theater during its glory days, told me it was Harry Blackstone, a magician who was nowhere near as famous as Houdini. That's all I know. I have no idea if someone has been up there to see if there was something up there."[2]

[1] Photo of "Houdini Hole" [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iiUFWI6Wdlo/VM52B-US1lI/AAAAAAAAbk...](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iiUFWI6Wdlo/VM52B-US1lI/AAAAAAAAbkw/0BuDhROFUAI/s1600/HoudiniHole.jpg)

[2] [http://www.austinmonthly.com/Austin- Amplified/September-2015...](http://www.austinmonthly.com/Austin- Amplified/September-2015/10-Things-You-May-Not-Know-About-the-Paramount- Theatre/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> > _The technology of a patent needs to be clearly explained so that other > people can avoid infringing on it._

No, it's the opposite. It needs to be clearly explained so that other people can imitate and _licence_ it.

Sure, it's very useless for a magician who needs to keep tricks hidden, but the purpose of the patent system isn't to keep people from infringing, it's to let inventors profit from their inventions (so that they invent more).

<comment><USER9> As a software engineer I (quite cynically) have viewed patents as a way to protect IP and force people to pay you for using your solution.

Do people frequently use the patent system (either for software or product design) as a catalogue of tools and building blocks they can use?

I imagine it must be quite time consuming and painful to go through the licensing process. Would be cool if parents all had associated licensing terms and costs declared up front!

<comment><USER10> Nobody reads patents as a "catalogue of tools and building blocks they can use". Nobody reads patents even to learn.

The only time anyone reads patents--at least computing patents--is if you're preparing a new patent and need citations, or you plan to sue someone, or if someone was suing you over a patent.

Current computing patents are written in such obtuse legal language and with such generalities to make the claims as broad as possible, that they are impossible to understand unless you already understand the invention. Also, they tend to be incredibly long.

As someone who's had the displeasure of writing a couple patents and reading many more, I can't imagine a worse way to learn about a subject than reading patents. I'd rather read academic papers, study the object directly (take it apart, read the source code), talk to experts, or attend conferences.

EDIT: I'm not talking about nice mechanical patents from 200 years ago like the cotton gin. I'm talking about computing patents today.

<comment><USER11> _" Nobody reads patents even to learn."_

Even if patents were great learning sources, it would still be better not to read them before they expire. Infringing on a patent you know of is more expensive than infringing on one you don't know of, so, it's better to not read patents at all so that, if it comes to that, you can confidently state that you didn't know of the patent.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Amongst the odd little details about Houdini: he employed HP Lovecraft as a ghostwriter.

<comment><USER2> "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" (1924), a short story ghost written by HP Lovecraft:

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

<comment><USER13> You can read it here: [http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/up.aspx](http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/up.aspx)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Fascinating article - I focused my magic learning as an escape artist magician at 13. I remember going down long dark water slides in handcuffs trying to "pick them" before I reached the bottom.

</comment><comment><USER15> Reading a biography of Houdini a few years ago, I realized how much of his magic was based on what we would today call "hacking." For example: he studied the various handcuff and lockmakers' pruducts, and would then determine ahead of time which models were used by a particular police department. He then would know exactly what kind master keys to hide on (or in) his body in order to escape from any jail cell.

</comment><comment><USER16> Did this article redirect anyone else to a bevy of mobile ads?

</comment><comment><USER17> > Houdini was an inventor, but didn't want anybody to know

So you post it on here?! ;) (Kidding, this is neat.)

</comment><comment><USER18> > _The technology of a patent needs to be clearly explained so that other > people can avoid infringing on it._

No. It needs to be clearly explained so that people can benefit from actually _using_ the invention once the patent expires.

<comment><USER19> I realize you're trying to make a political point, but the article isn't wrong.

Obviously both are legitimate considerations, but the quoted reason is why the patent system isn't useful for magic tricks. If you were just worried about public benefit, you could have the UPO seal the contents of such patents until after expiration. That clearly wouldn't work for exactly the reason the article gives.

<comment><USER20> I believe he's trying to make an historical point for political purposes, which isn't quite the same thing.</comment></comment></comment>


Ex-Uber exec wants to build a private city for Silicon Valley techies - <AUTHOR> https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-exec-private-charter-city-silicon-valley-techies-2020-6 <comment><USER2> I think this is the most acceptable solution for everyone involved.

The people not living in big cities certainly do not seem to want big city techies and their politics migrating there, and it'll be easier for them to start their diverse eateries and bespoke coffee roasters from the ground up in their segregated city.

If there's one thing we can hope to see come to life in the 2020s, let it be this.

</comment><comment><USER3> It's hard to imagine a more boring place than a city full of only techies.

</comment><comment><USER4> $200 million, that's seems kind of cheap to build an entirely new city

</comment><comment><USER5> Isolation makes diversity better, right?

<comment><USER6> Cultural fit and all that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Separate but equal?</comment>


Ask HN: Are we complicit in the NSA dragnet? - <AUTHOR>

In Day After Trinity there's a scene where one researcher  describes the scientists' reaction to the Hiroshima bomb.  "Our first thought," he says, "was thank god it wasn't a dud."  Only later did they consider the moral implications brought on by technology that kills 80,000 people in one fell swoop (which, to this day, consumes much of the energy of global diplomacy).<p>My question is: to what degree are programmers like us complicit in the NSA dragnet?  What can we do to be more wary of making technology work second and understanding implications first? <comment><USER2> [thanks for asking this. i had always wondered how those physicists felt / could have done what they did. and now i read your question and understand them much better.]

</comment><comment><USER3> Yes.</comment>


Uber's New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/18/technology/ola-uber-australia-india.html <comment><USER2> In the Indian market, Ola does a few things better than Uber. For example, they have an OTP, which is a 4-digit numerical code you need to provide to the driver at the start of every ride. In a low-trust market like India, this is instrumental in helping certain people pre-pay for this sort of service. Secondly, they've long had more options than Uber in types of service they provide: ie, rickshaw, car rentals, etc. And finally, they've also recently introduced ola credit, which is really convenient for me as I take short, low- cost rides to and fro work, and credit is sufficient to allow me to pay at one go at the end of the week.

There is a perception that Ola has a lower quality of drivers in the Indian market, but I doubt such a thing would be replicated in Australia. That said, I've gotten quite a few stinkers from both services, so I'm sure that the bias in Indian middle/upper-middle classes against native companies plays strongly into the perception of Ola drivers as worse than Uber.

<comment><USER3> Why do you think India is a low trust market ?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Ola has been a pretty interesting company. They have tried a lot of things like integrating auto ricks into their network (which Uber has copied now), including Wifi, on board entertainment, pool pass, membership rates etc. They even had boat service when Chennai (my city) was flooded. I wish them good luck!

<comment><USER5> In India, Ola also seems to have nicer car models than Uber, at least at the cheapest price point without sharing your ride with a stranger. Coupled with the wi-fi and the entertainment system (to put on whatever of the limited Apple Music set you choose) made most of my friends in Bangalore prefer it.

<comment><USER6> Ola also always more expensive than Uber when I was in India for a few weeks. And another anecdotal feedback is all of my friends felt Uber had better crop of drivers and service than Ola.

<comment><USER4> I am the grand parent poster - have stopped using Ola as Uber drivers are more predictable. Also they have weird KYC requirements and wanted to send physical documents for Ola Money, blocking my money without that.

<comment><USER7> And that one. I did my PayTM KYC long before Aadhaar became the silver bullet. PayTM have the ₹10,000 limit per month without the KYC and my Uber bill usually got exhausted by the middle of the month. Heck, I can use the same PayTM balance to eat corn on the streets.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> (Sydney resident)

Taxify launched here in December with 50% off rides, people jumped on board and ditched Uber.

50% rides ended - everyone went back to Uber, including myself.

Can't seen this ending any differently unless Ola is significantly cheaper.

____

Just tried to sign up for Ola and they couldn't even send me the verification text to sign up with.

<comment><USER9> It keeps Uber honest. I have no idea at any time if Uber surge pricing is reasonable, being able to check against another app will help.

<comment><USER8> Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that there is competition but the vast majority of people just care about a car that turns up on time and doesn't cost them a fortune.

If Taxify/Ola aren't doing anything majorly different from Uber then there's no reason for people to switch away from a service that proven to work.

<comment><USER10> Anecdotally Singapore has (local) Grab and Uber. People seem to use both, I personally made far better experiences with Grab.

Superficially they're the same, still there seems to be room for both and I personally prefer the Uber alternative more.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Ola drivers are probably not on HN, which is a shame because that would have revealed a more balanced picture.

Ola drivers are often dealt a short end of the stick by Ola. Ola knows this, and gets away with it because many of the drivers come from a financial background where they do not have much of a choice. Drivers face ridiculous delays in getting paid their share of the ride, that is, if they get paid at all. You would often encounter Ola drivers insisting on getting paid by cash rather than Ola money.

Ola's software backend leaves a lot to be desired, losing track of money is quite frequent, used to be routine before.

I don't expect commentary from Ola drivers but hope some Ola engineers will comment on their engineering backend and culture: lack of work life balance, insane hours, continuous firefights to keep their service afloat, just about barely in spite of being staffed by way more engineers than Uber India.

Someone privy to the details claimed -- "The marvel is not that the bear dances well, but that the bear dances at all." I am not sure if things have changed, they are rolling in so much investor money that they really don't have strong incentives to.

</comment><comment><USER12> It's nice to get some competition for Uber.

In Melbourne we now have Taxify, Uber and GoCatch.

A forth in the mix would be great.

</comment><comment><USER13> I'm guessing drivers will sign up to this along with Uber, Taxify and GoCatch and keep flicking between them or just use a bunch of phones with one acting as a hotspot. Which ever pays the best will take priority.

</comment><comment><USER14> Some stats:

Taxify has had 130k downloads in the last 4 months. Ola is at 24k for about 1 month.

Far cry from Uber which does that in almost 2 days

<comment><USER15> Those are worldwide stats, no? That's not going to tell you much about Australian ride sharing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> In case, like me, you're unfamiliar with the term "Upstart" in this context. I found a few vague definitions that boil down to:

Startups are entrepreneurial businesses that start with external funding.

Upstarts are businesses that start without significant external funding.

<comment><USER17> Doesn't "upstart" have a slightly negative connotation?

<comment><USER18> Not particularly. Most would interpret it here as "plucky". Small player tackling bigger players, having to work a bit harder and smarter, etc.

<comment><USER17> Interesting. I thought this word is often used by incumbents to look down at the newcomer. English is not my first language so it's good to learn these subtleties.

<comment><USER19> To me it does come off as vaguely negative - in context, perhaps hinting at skepticism of whether the company will succeed in overtaking Uber. But if so, only mildly; the word definitely has its positive connotations too.

<comment><USER20> When startups were "cool" and people weren't so keen to their puffery and PR hacks or vaporware smoke tests, it was positive.

However, these days you almost certainly want to be known as a "business" by anyone who matters, and one with good reviews.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Australians get ready for questions/requests like

a. Can you please cancel OLA ride and book a ride on Uber or vice versa? #incentives #UberOLATwosome

b. Cash or OLA Money?

<comment><USER22> They'll struggle to get anywhere asking for cash. Australians generally carry little to no cash around

<comment><USER23> Really?

As someone who has spent a long time in New Zealand it was striking to me how many places you needed cash for in Australia. EFTPOS is not ubiquitous there like it is here.

<comment><USER24> New Zealand for whatever reason I used cash a lot too. Australia you can pay stuff for small sums like $1 on card almost everywhere so no point to carry cash most of the time

<comment><USER25> You can do the same in NZ - it's called eftpos / PayPass (PayWave in Aus). Cash is rarely needed in NZ if you're a local.

If you only carry credit cards though you're going to need some cash.

<comment><USER26> FWIW, PayPass and PayWave are the trademarked terms used by MasterCard and Visa internationally (respectively) for contactless payment</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Native Apps Are Part of the Web - <AUTHOR> http://daringfireball.net/2014/11/native_apps_are_part_of_the_web <comment><USER2> Gruber gets this one wrong. Native apps are part of the internet, but they are not part of the Web. The Web is what you browse with a web browser. To be part of the web, you need to support hyperlinks both incoming and outgoing.

Yes, the line is fuzzy on the boundaries. Some websites, like Facebook, expose relatively few links. Some apps, like YouTube, expose links for all their content---though of course YouTube was a website before it was an app. But the vast majority of native apps are not part of the Web and its ludicrous to claim otherwise.

As for "open" vs. "closed", he's right that different people have different meanings. For me what makes a platform "open" is that you can develop and distribute an application for it without approval or permission. In this sense the web (and MacOS) are vastly more open than iOS. But according to Gruber, "GPL software isn't 'open'". Next he'll argue that up is down and black is white.

<comment><USER3> > But according to Gruber, "GPL software isn't 'open'"

You stripped the context - "...in the way that BSD software is".

> But the weird thing about a truly open platform is that its openness allows > closed things to be built on top of it.

His point was that you can't (easily) build closed things on GPL software the way you can with BSD software.

<comment><USER2> I understood the point, but it doesn't make sense in the context of the article. The difference between GPL and BSD-licensed software is in how you can use the source. Neither web applications or native applications depend on the source code of the platform they are running on. There are plenty of "closed" things that run on GPL software, like the linux kernel.</comment></comment></comment>


History Is on the Side of Tax Cuts - <AUTHOR> https://fee.org/articles/history-is-on-the-side-of-tax-cuts/ <comment><USER2> \--If I decided to do one less picture, that meant other people at the studio in lower tax brackets wouldn't work as much either; the effect filtered down, and there were fewer jobs available. I remember one scene in the Knute Rockne picture that had only a farmer and a horse in it on location that created work for 70 people.

Because people would watch one less picture if he was in it? or someone else would get an opportunity to play in his role? And someone else would get the opportunity to complain about making so much the government takes most of it.

Don't get me wrong there is a balance, but the argument to always lower taxes makes no sense.

<comment><USER2> you need to tax corporate profits because that's where the money is.

besides they seem to be doing ok with the tax rates their at.

[http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/corporate- prof...](http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/corporate-profits)

Corp profits $1611.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016

6% of companies make 50% of U.S. profit

Personal income increased to about 16.01 trillion U.S. dollars in 2016

Household Saving Rate in the United States increased to 5.90 percent in March from 5.60 percent in February of 2017

which leaves about 890 billion people aren't spending.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> One can also read this as an argument for extremely high taxation for a while so one can cut it later and get growth.</comment>


Show HN: The Million Dollar Video. $12 per second - <AUTHOR> http://www.milliondollar.video <comment><USER2> There was a similar idea but with images instead of video some 10 years ago [0]. Most pixels were sold within 6-7 months or so.

[0]: [http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/](http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/)

<comment><AUTHOR> I had already mentioned them in the FAQ :).

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Dude, people do not tolerate 5 seconds YouTube ad how in the world will they watch 24 hours one?

</comment><comment><USER4> Were the Reddit videos really paid for? Pretty awesome if so, but would also be a very good way to (apologies in advance for using this term) "growth hack" if you just threw them in for free yourself ;)

<comment><AUTHOR> The reddit videos are just one minute samples of the whole videos that I put myself in the video for free :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I guess it would be more interesting to watch than the film Empire by Andy Warhol. It is just a camera pointed at the empire state building for 8 hours. Then there is his 5-hour film of someone sleeping.

</comment><comment><USER6> Cool/funny idea. Why are there two videos on the YouTube channel, and where did its current content come from? It all looks like commercial video.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. The first video is blocked in some countries. I had Included some funny Ads in the video and it has been taken down in some countries. In Fact I will remove it. The rest of the videos are Open Source Videos (Blender foudation), a couple trailers, and a few one minutes parts of reddit's Formative videos. Hopefully more videos soon from other people :).

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Are you saying that the creator of that bunny video paid $7200 to put the video into this video?</comment>


Bad Interview experience - <AUTHOR>

Well today I had my worst interview in my 3 year career as software developer. I am mobile developer and did a remote interview with some guys from abroad. They didn't know much of the language I develop (Java) but have bunch of experience as embedded C developers. So they have the mindset. Anyway, the interview went well, I started presenting my projects, and then the guy from the other side asked me some trivial questions on which, me, thinking that I would show-off even further did a total mess. Then one of them called me on my phone directly and said something like "The first interview went very well. We've chosen you to go further and get you employed as technical lead, but today - it was a mess." Tomorrow they'll tell me if I am in or out yet. What I wanna say, even though I feel as rubbish right now, since I am not sure whether it will impact my future professional career or not, would like to advice you to keep track and pay attention on those very tiny little segments of the material you'll be interviewed about.<p>Also, would like to ask experienced employees what are your thoughts on this, even if you can share some success stories simillar to this, just to make the feeling of wrongness go away. pathetic? yes, but still, sincere. <comment><USER2> Flaky,

First of all, there are a bizillion jobs out there. Don't be discouraged because you might not get this ONE.

Second... it's a phone interview. Tough. Speaking different technologies. Tougher.

So you botched an interview. Big deal. Happens to everybody for many reasons. It's better to botch a few when you're 3 years into a career than when you apply to that Software Architect position at Big Company X.

You ever written code that was littered with bugs? It happens, you go back and fix it. You learn.

Just do the same with this situation and put it behind you.

<comment><AUTHOR> wow. thanks man! :) after a while, if I rethink it, it's just as in an IQ test, you cannot always deliver the same good results. Sometimes you will, others not. What I learned is that my personal character is what they should be after, and I am ready for new challenges, knowledge and dedication.

thanks for the kind words!</comment></comment>


Can parts of a living entity be alive in their own right? - <AUTHOR> http://www.colinmcginn.net/the-concept-of-life/#.XsUyI5MzYWo <comment><AUTHOR> 'We may think we know what "life" is, or means, at a literal level. But, in general, definitions of "life" boil down to oppositions between "life" and "non-life" — circular arguments that never seek to specify the boundary between the two. For example: If life exists in a given entity, can parts of that entity be alive in their own right? "It would be wrong to say that the molecules in an organism are living things, but it isn't a stretch to say that the gross organs that compose a body are themselves living things"'</comment>


Inside Google Translate - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GdSC1Z1Kzs&feature=youtu.be

<comment><USER2> Does anyone know what software is used for the animation?</comment>