In Math Cram Sessions, Solving for Why - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/07/well/family/in-math-cram-sessions-solving-for-why.html <comment><USER2> Yeah, private tutoring is the best. The custom, just-in-time curriculum that a tutor can prepare is the most efficient way to learn. I think equally important is the transmission of a relaxed, exploratory attitude towards the STEM subjects. When a learner sees their teacher take on positive attitudes towards complexity, they too develop this attitude and can go on to solve problems on their own.

Unfortunately, this transfer of attitude works in the negative direction too. If the teacher is out of their comfort zone (e.g. parent touching math for the first time in 20 years), then the learner might pick up on the anxiety and start to consider the subject to be unpleasant or hard---if your parent was stressing out about helping you with algebra, then algebra must be a thing of formidable complexity!

As another example, you can think of a teacher bored with the subject (e.g. prof who is teaching this course for the 17th time this semester) who will then transmit "this is stupid shit you have to know, because you're forced to take this course" attitude and students will pick up on this too...

Luckily these days there are really good resources (youtube, free books, interactive demos) so hopefully we'll have more STEM people in the future. We won't make 100% of the population into STEM-experts, but it's not unrealistic to hope that everyone can become at least STEM-literate. I'd like to believe that I contribute to this with my books. This one in particular would be good for adult readers who want to rekindle their relationship with the subject: [https://www.amazon.com/dp/099200103X/noBSmath](https://www.amazon.com/dp/099200103X/noBSmath)

<comment><USER3> > Yeah, private tutoring is the best. The custom, just-in-time curriculum that > a tutor can prepare is the most efficient way to learn.

I really disagree with your choice of words here, specifically, "just-in- time". This makes it seem like the tutor is teaching things to the student right before they need it for an exam, which is an unfortunate effect I've seen happen because in the long run it doesn't really teach anything. But where a private tutor really does excel is having a better understanding of how to tailor the curriculum to the student (this includes both simplifying or making it more challenging, depending on the student and the topic).

<comment><USER2> Ah no, my intended meaning of "just-in-time" was definitely not in the sense of just-in-time-for-the-exam. In fact I think there is very little use for last-minute cramming... at most you can survive the test, but definitely not build fluency or understanding.

I was using "just-in-time" in the sense of just-in-time-for-the-lesson, e.g., if the tutor wants to teach concept X which requires knowledge of prerequisite concepts α1, α2, and α3, then the tutor can provide a quick review of these concepts before explaining X. Tutors can do this "custom filling in of gaps," whereas in a groups setting the teacher might be forced to say "you should know this already."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> As much as the Common Core standards are criticized here in California, I have to say that the emphasis on the "why" behind every operation is really fantastic. It's usually in the last section of each homework, but it provides a good discussion point when going over the homework each night.

Asking students to answer questions like the following are easy to zip through, but they provide a good place to pause and find a way to connect the physical mechanics of a solution to the reasoning behind it: "How would you explain to someone else why the fraction 1/2 greater than 1/4?" or "Why doesn't angle-angle-angle show congruence but angle-side-angle does?"

I've also noticed that the Common Core brings in advanced topics earlier without announcing to the student that it is an advanced topic. Ideas from algebra are brought in at natural points of the discussion rather than making a big deal of it. By the time that they realize they're learning algebra, they are already into many of the "rules" that would have otherwise been taught by rote. If you understand why you have to multiply both sides 5 to find out x/5 = 30, it feels much less arbitrary when the rules are made more explicit later.

<comment><USER5> I haven't worked in an american classroom, but as a math educator, thought the CommonCore looked great when it was first rolling out.

Math education is (kind of strangely) a bit of a battlefield in the US (maybe not so strangely, when everything else seems to be, too)... I think a big part of it is prevalent math anxiety - perhaps embarrassment at seeing unfamiliar things on the kid's homework. Along with this, there's still lingering bad PR from the 'New Math' of the seventies, which made it somehow acceptable to make the argument that we should stick to teaching math the same way forever. (Especially for people who believe that math hasn't changed since Newton.)

<comment><USER6> Agreed, I can't stand the way we teach math in the US. I love math enough to have accidentally gotten a minor in it, but especially high school does nothing but train kids to hate math. My calculus class in high school was a net negative, since teaching to the test just caused many of my friends to switch away from STEM majors in college (if Calc 1 was that horrible, why become an engineer ahd have to suffer even more?).

One of these friends went on to become a forensic accountant, so she obviously couldn't hate math that much, but that calculus class was traumatic enough that she summarily dismissed a biology major in college. I think one of the main pain points, which my dad was able to tutor me through, was understanding why. Learning calculus (or any math, for that matter) as just a list of mechanical steps is awful, whereas learning why we perform the mechanical steps allows one to glimpse the beauty behind math. I wonder how many children we've ruined this beautiful subject for?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I think understanding the why of mathematics makes all the difference between forgetting it soon after an exam, and being able to use it later in life.

I sometimes find myself needing to return to something I once knew in high- school / university to solve some problem, not being able to remember the specific methods, but the underlying bigger picture of the concepts comes back to me, and I can make progress from there.

</comment><comment><USER8> > Or why his first-generation ABC ("American-born Chinese") children were more > interested in sports or the humanities than studying fractions and common > denominators.

This could have just as easily been written: "Or why his first-generation ABC children were more interested in putting a ball in a hoop and learning languages that nobody speaks anymore than in noticing and thinking about the patterns and structure in the world around them."

Framing the same underlying idea can disparage one thing while elevating another.

<comment><USER9> More importantly, it gives the reader a keen insight into the father's perspective -- which the author is trying to convey, and not many people would be familiar with.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> "This was the key. If you knew hhhhwwhy you didn't have to memorize equations, or solve equations in the exact same way they did in the book..."

I feel like this is a valuable lesson a lot of people could benefit from.

<comment><USER11> Knowing "why" is exteremely helpful in many cases. But let's not forget that, on the other hand, memorization plays a huge part in learning, and not only in mathematics. Learning "why" multiplication works will not help you to retain the multiplication table in your head. (Also, in many cases the answer to a question "why" you might get will be plain wrong - sometimes because the correct answer is too complicated, sometimes for other reasons.)

<comment><USER10> Memorizing multiplication tables is over rated. Seeing connections between those early multiples up to 12 is more interesting. Can be helpful I suppose in factorization.

Maybe I just don't trust my memory (as in how am I sure that 7*8 is 56) and why I despise rote memorization and rather retain memory from use and practice.

Regardless a good example of something to remember in math is the quadratic formula Still enjoyable to derive and 'see' why it works but also just used so much. That said, I wouldn't encourage memorizing it without first understanding it.

<comment><USER12> The best is the 9's table, how all the digits add up to 9. My mom's an elementary teacher and there's always a few third graders who figure that out on their own and love it.

<comment><USER10> Additionally 9 * n = [n-1, 10-n] for n = 2-11; where n-1 is the digit in the 10's place and 10-n in the single place. This just an aesthetic curiosity. I know the pattern continues for larger n I've just never bothered to generalize it. Also never compared it to other bases.

<comment><USER5> It's not an aesthetic curiosity at all! 10 is equal to 1 mod 9... So suppose X is written in base 10 (a0 * 10^0 + a1 * 10^1 + a2 * 10^3 +...) and you want to find X mod 9. Then all of the 10^k's are just 1 (mod 9), so you just get the sum of the digits.

So if X is divisible by 9, then the sum of the digits (mod 9) is zero.

Same works for 3 (x is div by 3 iff the sum of the digits id divisible by 3). And 11 gets an /alternating/ sum of the digits, since 10 is -1 mod 11...

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> A good example of why well educated parents is more important than getting into the "the best schools".

<comment><USER14> Isn't that just a matter of chicken and the egg timing tautology? The parents are well educated presumably because they went to good schools.

<comment><USER15> Not necessarily - many parents highly value education and encourage their kids despite and/or because they don't have much themselves. Recent immigrants are a good example of this phenomenon.

<comment><USER14> I don't disagree with that statement, but rb808 specifically cited "well educated parents".

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Feynman on why questions:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36GT2zI8lVA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36GT2zI8lVA)

</comment><comment><USER17> > A ball is thrown off a building at a speed of 15m/s and at 30 degrees to the > horizontal. If the building is 100m tall, how far from the base of the > building will the ball land? g=9.8m/s²

280.17 metres, right?

<comment><USER11> Depends on whether the angle is above or below the horizontal. (The ball won't make it this far regardless.)

<comment><USER18> That's a good point. I'm not one for details and I just assumed it above the horizontal because it makes it a touch more interesting.</comment></comment></comment>


US government is entitled to all Snowden book proceeds, judge rules - <AUTHOR> https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/12/us-government-is-entitled-to-all-snowden-book-proceeds-judge-rules/ <comment><USER2> If Snowden has no chance of getting any income from his book, let's boycott the official book and download unauthorized copies from Library Genesis instead. And perhaps, donate to the Freedom of the Press Foundation. But at least, don't buy the official book and send money to the U.S. Government.

<comment> Paul-ish What about the publisher, who took on legal risk publishing Snowden's book? If they don't make money, there is no incentive to publish this sort of book in the future.

<comment><USER3> Will the publisher get any of the money, even if people bought the book?

<comment><USER4> The ruling names his publishers as "parties necessary to accord relief, but [the US Gov] has not asserted independent claims against them". So if I'm parsing that right (IANAL), the publishers are required to remit Snowden's share to the government, but the ruling doesn't appear to require the publishers themselves to forfeit their own revenues/profits.

[https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp- content/uploads/2019/12/snowd...](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp- content/uploads/2019/12/snowden_book_ruling.pdf)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> > The judge also ruled that Snowden had breached his contractual > responsibilities by giving speeches at the TED conference and other venues. > Each of these speeches included slides with materials that were marked as > classified.

There was another front page story today about a judge claiming that the wiki claims could not be tried because they could not confirm whether the government was indeed spying. Which is it: are the leaked documents real or fake? Awfully convenient interpretations

<comment><USER6> Appropriating Snowden's revenue streams is literally the only way the establishment can actually punish him in the foreseeable future.

Wikipedia is doing the right thing by pursuing the NSA legally, but they really have no chance at all, because of the legal framework upon which the NSA's power is built.

I see the connection you're pointing out, but I don't see any way anyone could legally act upon it. (Sans maybe a Congressional act)

<comment><AUTHOR> I wonder if maybe one can buy the book and print it yourself or through Blurb [1] and then just donate the amount?

[1] [https://www.blurb.com/](https://www.blurb.com/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment> Joe-Z Here's a link to donate for Snowden:

[https://edwardsnowden.com/de/donate/](https://edwardsnowden.com/de/donate/)

Also I will be downloading an illegal copy of his book today. And I'm not even that big a fan of him.

EDIT: Removed some profanity, sorry

<comment><AUTHOR> > And I'm not even that big a fan of him.

We are but vessels for our claim to fame.

You can see this with Nobel prize winners, rich tycoons, great writers, and so forth.

Often in mathematics, a thing is not named after the person who discovered it. I think that mathematicians as a joke even made a theorem about this and then didn't name it after the guy who pointed it out.

With Snowden, I think it was more the fact that _he was the whistleblower_. You could argue that he just did it for this reason or that reason. But he is now the vessel for that point in history.

<comment><USER7> Don't forget that he first tried to go about it the legal way. Escalate to higher ups, where he was promptly ignored.

<comment><AUTHOR> I didn't know that. Did you know this before or is it in the book?

<comment><USER7> Haven't read the book. This is from when the story started breaking.

According to accounts he had a hardcover constitution at his desk. He used it to back up his arguments but again 'who cares nerd, get back to your work'.

Other things that pop to my mind was that he was given some super high clearance so he could do favors for his boss (doing their job) as they were too lazy. And of course no one cared then, nor they cared afterwards.

Reading about this whole story popped my bubble of ignorance how government agencies are run. They are run same as any big corporation, run by career BSers often lazy and incompetent. But they are protected by same type of people (naturally).

<comment> Joe-Z >'who cares nerd, get back to your work'

That's pretty much it. The first time I really understood Snowden was when he was on the Joe Rogan podcast (think of JRE what you will...). It really drove home the point of the profanity* of evil. Just people going about their daily business, not thinking too much about it.

*this doesn't seem to be the correct word here. If you're a native english speaker please tell me what's the right phrase to use here

<comment><USER8> Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Possibly the most important point is that they are not preventing the publication, or even going so far as to deny its content; they are asking that the profits be awarded to them because the subjects of the book are confidential.

</comment><comment><USER9> Better title "Judge rules Snowden signed contract to give all book proceeds to US government".

USG is not appropriating his proceeds just because he is accused of a crime, they have been given it by a judge because Snowden signed a contract to that effect. If he had signed a contract to give book proceeds to Elon Musk or Katy Perry then presumably the judge would have upheld that too.

</comment><comment><USER10> Is it possible to donate to Snowden?

<comment><USER11> I don't know the legalities for U.S. citizens, but I'd welcome suggestions for other appropriate charities, too. I'm certainly going to donate a multiple of the book price to _someone_.

<comment><USER12> In the US, the EFF has been a long-time champion of freedom in the digital age. They're probably the most Snowden-esque nonprofit you can donate to, as they provide pro bono legal help in the defense of freedom in the digital realm ([https://www.eff.org/pages/legal- assistance](https://www.eff.org/pages/legal-assistance)).

There's also the Wikimedia Foundation which has of course been responsible for the distribution of a lot of free information around the world.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> It's "nice" to see that judges immediately see a breach of contract but the illegality of NSA's actions are swept under the rug. Truly the land of the free to do exactly as they're told.

</comment><comment><USER14> Why didn't his lawyers catch that? I'm sure he's had lawyers reviewing his contracts with publishers and whatnot, so surely they must be aware of his employment contract.

</comment><comment><USER15> Isn't Snowden's book literally his auto-biography? How exactly does it contain classified material?

</comment><comment><USER16> Well of course they did. This is one of those times where it's easy to see the real law of the land is whatever the government feels like doing. It's all a dog and pony show. What I find surprising is that Snowden didn't know that. He's not going to win a game where his competition makes up the rules as they go along.

<comment><USER17> Huh? He literally signed a contract saying he would forfeit to the US government any money from books containing classified material - and the judge is holding him to it. It's right there in black and white.

<comment><USER3> The government promised to uphold the Constitution too, but that didn't go all too well…</comment></comment></comment>


The Best Overall Database - <AUTHOR> http://www.dbta.com/Editorial/Trends-and-Applications/Best-Database-Overall%C2%AD-105362.aspx

<comment><USER2> ilovepostgresql.com/best-overall-database/guess-what/its-postgresql</comment>


VoiceLabs exits voice analytics; recommends Dashbot for migration - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@artemerritt/dashbot-welcomes-voicelabs-users-2b715e9b0f2e <comment><USER2> Hi all, we posted simple migration steps to import your data and get set up here: [https://www.dashbot.io/voicelabs](https://www.dashbot.io/voicelabs)

</comment><comment><USER3> I just migrated and dashbot is amazing.</comment>


Show HN: Vector Toy – Visualize and manipulate vector field functions - <AUTHOR> http://dandelany.github.io/vector-toy/ <comment><AUTHOR> Hi! This is a side project I've been working on for a couple weeks, inspired by the famous Nullschool Earth wind map.[1] I wanted to implement the same style of visualization for arbitrary 2D vector field functions, and to do so in a way that allows you to experiment with the functions direct-manipulation- style in the browser. Hope you enjoy playing with it as much as I do :) A few notes:

\- The code is available on Github [2], bugs/feature requests/PRs welcome.

\- High-quality renders can be made by setting Fade to zero, # of Particles to a high number, and Line Width to a low number.

\- Add interactivity easily by using the globals `mouseX` and `mouseY` in the vector functions, which represent the mouse cursor's current X and Y coordinates in the _field 's_ coordinate system (not pixel coords).

\- The URL contains all of your settings, so you can share what you make by using the built-in link shortener at the top. Note that these links allow execution of arbitrary JS, so be aware that links from others may crash your tab or redirect you somewhere else. Never host this code on a domain where XSRF-style attack could be a concern.

\- Some challenges, for the adventurous... Try to make a human face or figure, a Starry Night styled sky, or a realistic cross section of a fruit. Then send it to me so I can include it as one of the default presets, since I failed to make them myself :)

[1] [http://earth.nullschool.net/](http://earth.nullschool.net/) [2] [https://github.com/dandelany/vector-toy](https://github.com/dandelany/vector- toy)

<comment><USER2> A very rough pixel face:

[https://dandelany.github.io/vector- toy/?s=eyJpc1BvbGFyIjpmYW...](https://dandelany.github.io/vector- toy/?s=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)

</comment></comment><comment><USER2> Including mouseX and mouseY in the functions is fun.

</comment><comment><USER3> Looks awesome! +1</comment>


6" of intrusion can be fatal in car accidents: 6 milliseconds at 65 mph [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/frtesv9.pdf <comment><AUTHOR> I was just thinking about RADM Hopper's copper nanosecond and it popped into my head that, in planning for nuclear war, that could be a very viseral way to motivate people to write clean code: distance traveled before catastrophe. I suppose 6 milliseconds is generally considered a long time in computer land, but one could imagine 1000 developers each allowing themselves 6 microseconds, and all of a sudden, code ate all 6 inches.</comment>


Amtrak Train Was Over Speed Limit Before It Derailed - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/18/us/amtrak-derailment-washington.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news <comment><USER2>
        train had been traveling more than
        twice the speed limit before it
        derailed, or at 80 miles per hour
        instead of the allowable 30 m.p.h.

The only thing a locomotive engineer has to do is to manage the speed of the train[1]. Yet, whenever they kill innocent, helpless people, or cause immense damage by failing to fulfill their sole responsibility, they go unpunished. NTSB jumps in to make excuses.

"We need positive train control," everyone chants.

Why are the engineers needed again?

[1]: [https://jobs.amtrak.com/go/Locomotive-Engineer- Jobs/400414/](https://jobs.amtrak.com/go/Locomotive-Engineer-Jobs/400414/)

<comment><USER3> If we grant that they need PCT, and it is installed but not enabled on this track, who is to blame?

<comment><USER2> First, I do not grant that they need PCT. It may be a nice to have, but an engineer ought to be able to do the one job s/he is supposed to do.

I would understand if tolerances were so tight that an error of a few MPG above the limit caused the disaster. In that case, I would grant that they need more than PCT, and blame Amtrak. However, when someone is doing more than 80 MPH in a 30 MPH zone, s/he doesn't get to deflect blame to anything or anybody else.

I am impressed by NTSB's willingness to hold harmless people who do that. If a pilot were one-hundredth as reckless, s/he would not have a career.

There is also this:

        A train derailed July 2 southwest of Tacoma
        near Steilacoom, Wash., threatening to send
        several rail cars plunging into Puget Sound.

High speed was the cause, the engineer only got suspended, presumably because no one died. I presume for every deadly accident there are at least five accidents with no deaths, and 50 close calls due to speed.

Remember, the only job of the engineer is to regulate the speed of the train.

I am all for firing all the engineers if every time they kill people they will use the PCT excuse.

[1]: [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/12/18/amtrak...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/12/18/amtraks- cascades-rail-lines-saw-derailment-july/961382001/)

<comment><USER3> You can blame the locomotive engineer as much as you feel to sate your anger -- still, people have died and been injured.

Meanwhile, it is a fact that _fail-safe engineering controls would have prevented the disaster._

And what if the locomotive engineer has a heart attack, leading to a deadly accident? will you blame him?

<comment><USER2> My anger is directed towards the press and NTSB who rush to hold engineers harmless in these accidents.

As for heart attacks, AFAIK this has been standard equipment for ages:

        Locomotives have a deadman pedal that must
        be constantly pressed and periodically
        released to ensure the driver is still there
        and awake.[1]

So, when a train is traveling at almost three times the appropriate speed, it is being done on purpose.

My argument is simple: If engineers will not be held to responsible when people die because of a speeding train, then what's the point of having an engineer?

[1]: [https://www.quora.com/What-if-the-train-driver-gets-a- heart-...](https://www.quora.com/What-if-the-train-driver-gets-a-heart-attack- while-driving-a-train)

<comment><USER2> It turns out an "alerter" is required equipment[1]:

        on or after November 8, 1999 a working alerter
        or deadman control shall be provided in the
        controlling locomotive of each passenger train
        operating in other than cab signal[2], automatic train[3]
        control, or automatic train stop[4] territory.

[1]: [https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/238.237](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/238.237)

[2]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_signalling#Cab_signalling_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_signalling#Cab_signalling_systems_in_the_United_States)

[3]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_train_control#United...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_train_control#United_States)

[4]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_train_stop#United_St...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_train_stop#United_States)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Going 80 mph in a 30-mph-limited curve is the immediate cause of the disaster.

Apparently positive train control (PTC) was installed for that track, and would have prevented the disaster -- but it was _not enabled._ That gets us one step closer to a root cause.

<comment><USER3> Let's dig further into the root causes.

WSJ: "An anti-crash system for trains designed to thwart serious accidents of human error, such as derailments from over-speeding, wasn't activated, according to an Amtrak spokeswoman. The deadline to install such systems, known as positive train control [PCT], is December 2018." [1]

PCT [2] was mandated by Congress in October 2008. It was required to be deployed and activated by 2015; however in October 2015 the deadline was pushed another three years, to December 2018. [3]

Meanwhile, some form of train protection system has been operational in Europe for over one hundred years, and automated train control has been deployed in Japan since the 60s. [4]

[1] [https://www.wsj.com/articles/amtrak-train-derails-near- seatt...](https://www.wsj.com/articles/amtrak-train-derails-near- seattle-1513616460)

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

[3] [https://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/congress-approves- rai...](https://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/congress-approves-railroad- safety-delay-215260)

[4] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_train_control#Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_train_control#Japan)

<comment><USER2> If you drive more than 80 MPH in a 30 MPH zone, you don't get to blame anyone or anything else.

<comment><USER3> Regardless of how much an individual is to blame or not, fail-safe controls are a proper part of engineering practice, for two fundamental reasons: unknown unknowns, and human fallibility.

<comment><USER2> The root cause is an engineer who drives the train at almost three times the speed limit --- not lack of PTC. The answer is to hold engineers accountable when they recklessly kill people.

Do you think these same engineers who flaunt speed limits now will be more or less likely to do dangerous things when there PTC? Does having PTC mean absolutely no chance of an accident when an engineer behaves recklessly?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> This looks like a carbon copy of the 2015 derailment in Philadelphia. I'm not sure if Amtrak is competent to operate a high-speed rail service safely anywhere in the USA.

<comment><USER5> despicable. If the engineers are incompetent, is it time technology displace them entirely?</comment></comment>


Ask HN: What's in a name?... or in a tag line?... - <AUTHOR>

Hi, I'm about to embark on a new startup (which is a pivoted idea from a previous startup) called Smug Owl and I want to get the messaging and tone right of the couple of lines of copy that we put on the 'register your interest' page. This copy intentionally doesn't go into too much detail but it should give people coming to the site enough of an idea to register their interest.
Rather than tell you what the startup is I thought I would put the 2 options I have come up with for the mentioned copy.
I would love it if you could help me out by telling me: 1. What do you think my startup is, based on this copy? 2. Would you sign up? (why or why not?)
Any thoughts welcome. You can be constructively cruel if you like. Thanks in advance :) BTW, this is in the style of a dictionary definition.
Option 1:
Smug Owl [smuhg oul] - Great, recommended audio for the urban commuter
- noun 1 . Busy commuter who conveniently enjoys audio recommendations hand picked by well informed guides.
Option 2:
Smug Owl [smuhg oul] - Great, recommended audio for the urban commuter
- noun 1 . Busy commuter who conveniently enjoys periodical audio recommendations selected by knowledgable curators. <comment><USER2> Briefly. I like the name. The format of the copy is confusing. The text sounds slightly off.

In a little more detail. On format, why is there a tagline in the middle of a dictionary definition? I can see using a dictionary definition format and I can see using a name and tagline format, but I can't see mixing the two. At first, I started reading it as a name and tagline and wondered why there was a pronunciation guide in the name. Then I realize it was a definition and was confused as to what "great, recommended audio for the urban commuter" had to do with the definition. I would drop the tagline altogether unless the design of the page somehow makes it obvious that the tagline and definition are completely separate entities.

On the text, please don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds somewhat non- native. I don't think I have ever heard anyone describe something as "great, recommended." In fact, if you Google "great recommended" in quotes, most of the results are clearly poorly written (like "what some great recommended psp games"). I feel the same way about "conveniently enjoys", which only has 247 results on Google when quoted, including this page.

A little restructuring of the text might make it read a little more smoothly as well. Perhaps, "Busy commuter who enjoys hand-picked audio recommendations from well-informed guides."

Finally, "audio recommendations" is vague. What kind of audio do you mean? Music? Poetry? Speeches? Anything and everything? If this is supposed to be clear, I would make it clear in the copy. If it's supposed to be vague, I guess that's OK too, as long as it's deliberate.

</comment><comment><USER3> "periodical" is a word used by people trying to get you to sign up to their spammy newsletter.

Other than that, both options are about the same aren't they? You're doing curated music recommendation.

This is a minute detail, why are you worrying about it?

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, thanks for the feedback. I like the simpler re-structured sentence you've suggested.

I'm not offended about the non-native comment - I presume you are trying to say that some of the copy sounds like it's been written by someone who speaks english as a second language? This is interesting because it has been worked on by 3 native english speakers (one of them is also an english lit. graduate!). Maybe the problem is actually the fact that three people are working on this copy and another problem being that we are all very close to the product.

We would like to say more about the type of content - it's not music, so the fact that you think it is, is not good. It's all spoken word programmes (audio documentaries, interviews, discussions, stories etc.). Does 'spoken word programmes' sound like a good way to explain this type of content?

I also agree about the periodical comment. The fact that we will be pushing you content on a periodical basis is more of a detail for later explanation. Maybe the word 'regular' sounds better than 'periodical'.

<comment><AUTHOR> Oops, I forgot to ask where are you based? We are in the UK and I though it may be relevant to your non-native comment. We definitely want something which is universally appealing and understood.

<comment><AUTHOR> The dictionary definition format combined with a tag line is confusing indeed. I've dropped the tag line and it looks clearer on the page.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Peter Montgomery Has Died - <AUTHOR> https://iacr.org/people/PeterMontgomery.html <comment><USER2> I worked on the crypto team at Microsoft, which Peter Montgomery worked with to integrate various algorithms. He was quite nice and also quite unforgettable. RIP

</comment><comment><USER3> It seems so tragic to me that there are so many people that bust their ass their whole life to save up for retirement at 65, only to die 5 years later.

It makes me almost not even want to bother saving up for retirement...

<comment><USER4> Don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Your money would pass on to your estate/partner/children.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Jesus how many people are gonna die today?

<comment><USER6> There was some analysis of celebrity deaths in 2016 that was interesting [0][1]. Analyses disagree on whether 2016 was particularly deadly for celebrities, but they generally agree that there are more people we consider celebrities dying each year.

[0] [https://medium.com/@jasoncrease/was-2016-especially- dangerou...](https://medium.com/@jasoncrease/was-2016-especially-dangerous- for-celebrities-79d79b9fae02)

[1] [https://macro.media.mit.edu/2017/](https://macro.media.mit.edu/2017/)

<comment><USER7> There are also more people total, and more people considered celebrities

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> First Pop Smoke now Peter ;(</comment>


57 Things I've Learned Founding 3 Tech Companies - <AUTHOR> http://betashop.com/mobile/post/1417413108 <comment><USER2> excellent list, cheers for sharing.

<comment><AUTHOR> Sure dude!

<comment><USER2> Stuff like this that make me visit HN ;)</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Has any of your Gmail emails gone missing? - <AUTHOR> At the moment I have 5 instances where incoming emails sent to my free Gmail address at different times from different company servers have gone missing - they are nowhere to be found: not in all mail, not in trash, not in spam. The senders didn't get any error or bounced back messages.
I'm really pissed off because all the emails were really important and I was only able to confirm that they've ever being sent via phone call. Oddly enough but Google has "emails gone missing" support form which I filled out. https://support.google.com/mail/contact/missingemails?rd%3D1
Now what should I use instead? I'm ready to pay for a more reliable email provider. Who would think that Gmail isn't?
P.S. I also found this comment here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12247401
"GMail once ate (bypassed spam and instantly deleted it, silently) an email filled with travel itinerary for an interview, causing me to miss the flight booked for me and the company I was interviewing with to have to book a second one (~$1k). If you find this hard to believe, go check your spam folder and see how many emails you have. Do you think you're really only getting ~1 spam message a day? This is the dark side of Google's spam filtering." <comment><USER2> I moved to Fastmail to avoid such issues. They are reliable and, as a paying customer, it is easy to reach human support. They also escalate issues to the developers quickly, if necessary.

What I miss are some of Google's innovations beyond IMAP e-mail. Labels allowed for some work flows that cannot be realized with folders.

<comment><USER3> IMAP does labels too. Your client may not use them usefully though.

<comment><USER2> I know. But as long as neither Fastmail's (great) web interface nor any mail client known to me builds an interface with them that is comparable to Gmail's labels they are really not useful.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I personally use Office 365 for my domain, and man it rocks. I know there are some other email-only services out there, and some people are hell-bent towards Microsoft, but I can definitely say it has been the most reliable service I've used to date.

Also, for my purposes, the Office Suite is a nice plus.

If you have your own domain but don't need all the Office stuff, take a look at Outlook Premium[0].

Other options I know of are FastMail[1], and I've heard Rackspace email is reliable.

[0]: [https://premium.outlook.com/](https://premium.outlook.com/)

[1]: [https://fastmail.com/](https://fastmail.com/)

</comment><comment><USER5> I once sent a table (that was html formatted) and gmail unceremoniously truncated it (without any warning). Googling around, it turns out that there's a known html size limit of 102k for gmail. That was something of an unpleasant surprise, given that I'd sort of come to expect that either the mail would be sent unmodified, or I'd be informed if there was an error. I now end up bcc- ing another account of mine if the mail is important.

</comment><comment><USER6> If I might hijack the thread a little: I'm thinking of moving away from Google Apps (or GSuite) to another provider, but what about the access to Apps bought with that account? Is there any way to bulk transfer the licences to a normal gmail account?

</comment><comment><USER7> Protonmail has been reliable and unlike gmail, it uses client side encryption. Android, ios and web clients have a minimal gmail feel.

[https://protonmail.com/](https://protonmail.com/)

</comment><comment><USER8> I've noticed two sent messages weren't in my sent folder on separate occasions. Found it really odd.

ie, they were sent, no longer drafts, and not stuck in the outbox.

Is it just the spam filter?</comment>


Was UK source of massive denial of service attack on US? - <AUTHOR> http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/security/cybercrime/news/index.cfm?newsid=15693

<comment><USER2> Story says the source of the attacks was Uk. That is a fair comment. the UK should have sufficient control to prevent ISPs and datacentres in its geography launching this sort of attack, regardless of who commissioned it in the first place. It is perfectly feasible that the attack was bought 'off the shelf' - but it is important ot find the site from which the attack was launched, as well as the ultimate controllers. Remember McCollo?

</comment><comment><USER3> The title is misleading; the source might be a UK based server but actually that would suggest to me it is entirely unlikely that the _attackers_ originate from the UK

It's not hard to buy servers in the UK from abroad - and doing so is sensible (and these crackers seem sensible) because it is one extra layer of security :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Good point, the attack has been traced back to an IP address in the UK. At this point they don't know the actual source, but authorities are investigating all possibilities. That raises a whole other conversation about law enforcement in UK and whether it has the skills or resources to aid investigation.

<comment><USER3> It does ;)

(disclaimer: I work in the UK doing computer forensics)

Actually no that is nto true - it 100% depends on who's jurisdiction it comes under. Some authorities are _superb_ on the technical abilities, others are somewhat clueless.

</comment></comment></comment><comment> onreact-com "The results contradict assertions made by some in the US and South Korean governments that North Korea was behind the attack. Security analysts had been skeptical of the claims, which were reportedly made in off-the-record briefings and for which proof was never delivered."

Exactly. As I said before claiming NK did it is utter nonsense. They don't have the resources for it.

<comment><USER3> I've met North Koreans who are reasonably savvy crackers.

Similairly there are a few rich NK's with the resources to purchase a bot net from a russian gang.

This attack isnt rocket science (either in ability or cost).

<comment> onreact-com Did you actually read the article? They traced it to the UK.

<comment><USER3> Quote:

 _through this has been able to discover the master server.

That server has an IP address in the 195.90.118.x range, Nguyen said.

The address is registered to Global Digital Broadcast in the UK. _

The _server_ is in the UK. That means nothing (believe me - this is my job :)).

<comment> onreact-com At least they traced something. The other guys just said it's NK without even testing.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How do you record your thoughts? - <AUTHOR> Wherever you are, if you have a thought you want to record, how do you do it?  What if it includes illustrations as well as text?  What devices are ideal for this?  Is dictation software good?<p>Some of my own ideas as far as devices:<p>* Pencil and paper - Pros: Lightweight, flexible.  Supports illustrations and complex layouts.  Cons: Hard to edit or search retrospectively.  Low bandwidth text entry.  Requires space to store.  Easier to lose/damage than well-backed-up digital content.<p>* Laptop (e.g. MacBook Air, MacBookPro, or EeePC) - Pros: Fast text entry.  Searchable and editable content.  Cons: Unpleasant to carry around everywhere.  Illustrations and complex layouts are awkward.<p>* Tablet - Pros: Fast text entry.  Supports illustrations and complex layouts.  Searchable and editable content.  Cons: Unpleasant to carry around everywhere.  No Mac tablets.<p>* iPhone (or G-1, etc.) - Pros: I've always got it with me anyways.  Content in searchable and editable form.  Cons: Low bandwidth text entry.  Very small display area.  Illustrations and complex layouts are awkward. <comment><USER4> I find myself needing short term storage for ideas ("What should I try to do today?" "What needs to go in this class?") and long term storage for ideas ("Why does the screenshot on the home page link to an image which you have to close to continue interacting with the site instead of linking into to a conversion funnel?").

Short term ideas go in cheap little $1.50 notebooks. I hang on to them because I'm a packrat but I don't ever actively search in them. (I actually tried to prevent a coffee ring on my table the other day with a notebook, and realized that it had the feature list for BCC 1.0 in it.)

Long term ideas go into searchable storage because if you can't find them you might as well not have had them. My blog works fine for my business, since I don't believe in competitively sensitive information and because explaining to 3rd parties sharpens my thinking frequently. At my day job, where they will not let me just stuff my work product on the public Internet, we use wikis. If you haven't done this before, try it for a few weeks, it will revolutionize the way you work. ("How do we set up the test server environment?" "Ask Bob." "Bob quit last year." "Awww shucks." -> "How do we set up the test server environment?" "Did you search the Wiki?" "Oh yeah. But it doesn't mention what version of the DB to use." "Well, when you find it out, Wiki it.")

<comment><USER5> To add to this, try a convention I read about--possibly here: only answer questions with wiki posts.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I have a text file on my desktop where I keep ideas.

When I come up with some off-the-wall idea, usually x264-development-related, I throw it into the text file; it rarely takes more than a dozen words. I'm not writing it for someone else, I'm writing it for myself--all I need is enough so that I remember what I was thinking when I have time to try the idea later.

I'll often do this when developing normally as well; I'm working on X, and my thought process with X produces some idea that applies to Y, so I throw it into the list and try it later rather than breaking my concentration on X.

<comment><USER7> But what if some new idea hits you while not sitting in front of the desktop?

<comment><USER6> I use a laptop, not a desktop, and it's always with me (almost).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I use Evernote. It OCRs text out of photos I take on my iPhone. I try to take a photo of anything which gave me an idea, and usually looking at the note is enough to trigger the idea again. That text is searchable.

I take pictures of whiteboards whenever I've been doing design. It can't OCR my handwriting well, so I usually use the iPhone's text entry to tag it with a few words before I save the note.

<comment><USER9> I agree with Evernote, it is awesome in so many ways. Moreso for retrieving stuff you read 12 months ago. I rarely add my own notes, but you can do that.

But as good as it is, it could be so much better, its search engine is really quite bad, not to mention the UI. But its by far the best thing I've found, I love it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> The best way to record your thoughts and ideas and commit them to memory is to explain them to another person. Try it as often as the nature of your thoughts permits; it's really effective.

<comment><USER11> I agree. Most people don't care about my drivel so I talk to EverNote's "voice notes" on my iPhone, then review what I was going on about on the desktop version later.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Everyday meeting notes: low-cost A4 pad. This is my short-term memory - <USER2> rarely look more than 2 weeks back.

Strategy/product thinking: A5(?) Moleskine notebook. This is my long-term memory. It takes longer to fill and I love looking back on it.

To-do list: single sheet of A4 with 'job' and 'next action' pairs. I re-write this every few days.

<comment><USER13> Notepad and a huge list. which i decided to turn into a web based todolist manager <http://totdo.com> ,but I'm still transitioning to it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> I have a directory called "ideas" full of text files, one per idea - <USER3> a programming project or blog post. I use the simplest outline format imaginable: broken english sentences indented with tabs.. no concern for punctuation or grammer.

Ideas typically evolve in my head faster than I can outline them, so I try to get points written as quickly as possible. I make each point atomic, breaking compound points into sub-trees. I try not to edit myself, but I will restructure the outline as I go because that seems to feed back into the creative process and help the idea take shape.

Lately, I've been holding back this process because I already have more ideas than I will ever have time to realize and I could easily spend all my available time coming up with more :(

The key to effective brainstorming is to minimize obstruction and distraction. Recording your ideas should be effortless and impartial. The ideal system will be different for each person, but when in doubt, start _simple_ and complicate only as needed.

</comment><comment><USER15> I usually email myself notes with some keywords attached. Since I use gmail, it's easy to search for them later.

<comment><USER16> Good for long term storage and where you might not know where or when the thoughts are needed. There are security issues for sensitive data.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> I record quick thoughts with pen and paper on a small pad I carry with me everywhere.

For more intensive work I use mindmapping. Either on whiteboard, or using <http://thoughtmuse.com> (disclaimer: I'm the founder of ThoughtMuse)

</comment><comment><USER18> I have a 1 inch binder with three dividers. There is plain paper, lined paper and graph paper with a final section with spare paper for each sections. I have 3 regular folders in there and a pouch containing a 6 inch triangle and typically a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil, occasionally 0.7mm but almost always one of these [http://www.amazon.com/Pentel-P1035C-Mechanical-Pencil- Metall...](http://www.amazon.com/Pentel-P1035C-Mechanical-Pencil- Metallic/dp/B0006SW6YY) . That takes care of most general ideas and architecture diagrams and mockups and such. Tasks go into bugzilla and text/source goes into files in git. I don't find anything but pencil and paper fast enough for certain things, including tablets.

</comment><comment><USER19> Drawing. I draw them and try to make them beautiful, not just throwaway squiggles. My thoughts come fast and translating them into words is like having to edit a paper at the same time as the idea is taking influence over my mind.

One day, a ladybug went to a caterpillar and said to him, "You have so many legs! How do you decide which leg goes in front of the other when you walk?"

He thought about it for a moment and told her, "Well it's easy, you just put this one in front of this one in front of this one in front of this one......." and while proudly demonstrating his abilities to her, he toppled over like a dumb ass!

Another alternative is I'll use my BlackBerry's voice notes to rattle something off and save it to make sense of later. :)

</comment><comment><USER20> If I'm in front of a computer I dump everything into OmniFocus <http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/>. It will sync across multiple machines so my notes are always up to date on all the different machines.

Voodoo Pad <http://www.flyingmeat.com/voodoopad/> is also good for longer writing pieces - it's like a personal wiki system. It also syncs across machine.

Oh, and I always carry a little Moleskine <http://www.moleskine.com/>

Still forget some things though :-)

<comment><AUTHOR> Are Moleskines really worth the cost compared to Mead? If so, why?

<comment><USER21> Plenty of people seem to swear by them.

But here's the thing - it's not so much the cost (in absolute sums, it's not that large). It's whether you use it. You obviously sweat over costs; perhaps this sweating can be a cudgel to force you to write down whatever. The more a moleskine isn't worth buying, the more you will find yourself compelled to use it. Then wouldn't you be better off in the end?

<comment><AUTHOR> Actually, then I'd be making the sunk cost fallacy -- thinking something deserves more investment simply because I already spent more on it.

In any event, I'm not sweating over costs. If it really is worth $11 more per pad, then I'm fine with that. I just don't want to pay for a hip brand for no reason.

<comment><USER21> > Actually, then I'd be making the sunk cost fallacy -- thinking something > deserves more investment simply because I already spent more on it.

Yes, you would. But as I said, if that motivates you to actually use it, then it's a net gain.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I've found that it's really useful for me to write down my thoughts. In the past I assumed that I would remember any worthwhile ideas, but I've found that's not the case at all.

When I'm not at my computer, I use iPhone Notes (about to switch to Simplenote) for short notes and a small notebook if possible when I want to do serious brainstorming. When I'm at my computer I usually use a personal MoinMoin wiki (MoinX). For todo lists I use Things on my iPhone and laptop.

</comment><comment><USER23> I get a lot of ideas when I'm in the car or otherwise don't have a piece of paper handy, and unfortunately they slip away too easily. I haven't gotten one yet but, I'm thinking that a Sansa Clip with voice recording (~$40, different models) on my keychain might work (hmm, might need a lanyard). Many times I've wished I had one. You'd get the 'talk it out aloud' advantage, a record, and the indispensable ease, even easier than typing.

</comment><comment><USER24> Protip: the less you think about this the better. Bics and napkins, your editor, whatever.

<comment><USER25> I second this. Consistency is key, however, since if you don't have the ability to retrieve old notes, the endeavor is fruitless.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Emacs, org-mode; and my org-file is in version control.

</comment><comment><USER16> Great question, thanks for asking. Once can differentiate between having sparks, thoughts, ideas and completed works.

When I was writing a blog, I built up insights and mental pictures in my mind until they became too intense to hold with integrity without written expression and publication (in the lead up, little notes may be jotted down in a text file). After publication the intelligence could integrated from the sub-conscious but without the emotion and I'd then delete the text file: from informal to formal. If one looks at ideas and thoughts as transformative, then recording and developing takes an enhanced meaning as such. Of course recording something may be as simple as some arbitrary account information without any of this framework.

The issue I was thinking was: How do you think your thoughts? If you lie in bed awake at night, are you thinking a stream of words? I used to think in words, but find my mind has changed.

<comment><AUTHOR> I usually have an imaginary conversation with an imaginary person, like I'm explaining the ideas to them. The problem is, there's no permanence to that, and even if I record it, I don't want to listen back to my spoken words at the same speed it took to say them.

This is one reason I'm strongly considering dictation software.

<comment><USER16> At some point you might want to remember the pool of thoughts just experienced and summarize in point form.

<comment><AUTHOR> You mean the thoughts I experienced while writing that comment?

<comment><USER16> The imaginary conversation, whilst in it, remember the interesting parts. At the end of it, jot those interesting parts down.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> Depends on the season. When it's time for loose jeans, I carry around a Moleskine. I only ever write, not draw/doodle, but actually putting pen[cil] to paper makes me more likely to sit down and brainstorm out a few other ideas while I've got it out. It's also helpful in that, when you later store the thought somewhere more permanent, you have the opportunity to reinterpret and rephrase it to fit with any additions or updates you pondered to it since.

When I have fewer pockets, I make do with my iPhone. Though most of my thoughts are ideas, not plans, I find [the iPhone app] Things to be quite helpful in getting them down and sorted away, even without a correspondent Mac.

</comment><comment><USER28> I use Quotepad on my PC

<http://quotepad.info/>

It's a rebranding of Notesholder Lite

screenshot:

[http://notes.aklabs.com/images/notesholder-desktop-sticky- no...](http://notes.aklabs.com/images/notesholder-desktop-sticky-notes.gif)

</comment><comment><USER29> I always carry a small Rhodia notebook in my back pocket. They have very sturdy covers and won't come apart or get torn up. Everything goes into it: todos, ideas, notes about things I've just seen, heard, or read. I also like to keep some of those post-it bookmarks and some stamps stuck in the back against the cardboard backing. When I come home everything gets dumped where it needs to go, like my daily todo list, address book, or whatever.

I also keep a few text files going with books to read, movies to watch, and sights and attractions I'd like to visit.

I should add that these notebooks are _much_ cheaper than moleskines :)

</comment><comment><USER25> When I'm away from a computer, I stick to loose paper products. For lecture notes, this means US Letter copy paper. For scribble notes, this means 3x5 notecards. I'm looking to get a sheet-feed scanner to digitize all of this eventually.

When I'm at my computer, I use a mixture of OneNote and Emacs org-mode. I have a Tablet PC, and I make a point of abusing OneNote for handwriting recognition.

When I have a note or set of notes reasonably finalized in OneNote, it's just a matter of copying the recognized text into an Emacs buffer and making a mark on the note in OneNote saying that I'm now tracking it in org-mode.

</comment><comment><USER30> I use A4 paper sheets I got from photocopier shop that they give me for free( bad photocopies, half pages clear). They are great for trying different things.

Very important: I use good quality, fine tip, Universal highlighters. COLORS ARE ESENTIAL. And of course mindmaps.

I use a voice grabber with software for transcription, but I don't like how it works.

I have a cheap canon camera for taking photos I save.

On computer:I have done my own software(not public released yet) for it. I use Ubuntu, and don't like what currently exist today, so I made my own tablet- friendly or headphone friendly tools.

</comment><comment><USER31> Most of the times, I use the voice recorder on my mobile phone. Vocally expressing a thought is much easier and unconfined. Writing stuff down often results in me forgetting things in between.

</comment><comment><USER32> I have a fairly large paper notebook in my bag which is great for sketching interface mockups and taking related notes.

When I'm at a computer I use a password protected server-side tiddlywiki (pytw). But that's mostly a place to get stuff out of my head and out of my INBOX (think GTD). I don't think these ideas are particularly good or valuable, and rarely need to search through them. Having it accessible from anywhere over the internet is useful, though I mostly use it from work and home.

</comment><comment><USER33> I tried lots of things and nothing beats the pencil and paper method. Notes on the concepts or high-level ideas go into a notebook, notes and sketches for an ongoing stuff such as UI designs, ToDo lists, random thoughts on current project - on separate sheets of paper. Latter are not meant for keeping beyond several weeks, and so they are shredded periodically.

(edit) Vectorized UI sketches are kept of course in the graphics editor files, backed up, replicated and what not.

</comment><comment><USER34> A mixture of several topic-specific Moleskines, some A4 pads, post-its, blog, diary and word processing or calendar software. If it's a thought that's linked to something else, or a date, I often (in true GTD style) associate it with that date or object. Most of the time it's my "work", "home" or "daily" moleskine that gets the brunt though. And although they're not searchable, it's so much fun flipping back through them...

</comment><comment><USER35> I use Gmail.

I set up a second account which forwards to the first and gets sorted into it's own inbox using Gmail's multi-inbox feature.

This way, I simply email myself anytime I want to remember something for later.

there are a number of reasons this works well:

-Email is a common interface and I'll see it daily so stuff stays in the front of my mind.

-Can be added to/updated from any number of devices including my phone, ipod, computer

-Searchable and chronological.

-Updated/new information can be added by replying to the original thread.

</comment><comment><USER36> I have been in search of a solution to this problem for many years. (The quest is chronicled in this blog entry: <http://www.loper-os.org/?p=8>)

Until my own system is complete, I will continue using a standard "moleskin" notebook (expensive, but I fill it up very slowly and I doubt that a cheap one would stand up to several years of sharing a pocket with a set of keys.)

</comment><comment><USER37> I have a personal stenographer.

</comment><comment><USER38> I try to think less! (Or, more specifically, focus my thoughts completely on supporting the actions at hand).

I also have tended to jot stuff down on scraps of paper, and then collect those scraps into folders on different subjects, but I've realized that I rarely go back and look at them.

To quote Rudyard Kipling's poem _If_ : "If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim"

<comment><AUTHOR> The purpose of writing is about 90% to clarify what you're thinking, and only about 10% to read again later.

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> With a thoughtrecorder. I mean, that's what they were invented for right ?

/jk Exercise for the reader : What would a thought recorder be like ?

</comment><comment><USER40> Way too many single papers, cut off parts from other papers, backsides of papers, old envelopes and so on. I cannot think as creative when I am in front of a computer, I tend to think more logically and concentrated. For me thoughts need creative freedom and that comes best when I am doing things in the house.

</comment><comment><USER41> I prefer the pencil and paper route. I have a notebook in which I scribble my thoughts. It's a pain to search for something, but then there's the added advantage of finding something totally unexpected scribbled in there when you're searching for something else.

</comment><comment><USER42> I use CintaNotes (<http://cintanotes.com>). It's really well suited for quick saving and finding little bits of information. Hot keys are highly configurable too, so that you can use Win key for example.

</comment><comment><USER43> Google notebook is pretty good and i mostly use that. autosave, search, tagging. They don't develop it anymore apparently but it's still usable. <http://www.google.com/notebook>

<comment><USER44> I used to use google notepad. But since google doesn't support it any more, I thought, it's a good idea to switch. I started using evernote after that. They make it very easy to import your existing entries from google notepad too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> Pocketmod - <http://www.pocketmod.com>

In my phone which is not expensive & feature rich like an iPhone or G1. I key in stuff with T9 in to an sms & save it :)

On sticky notes which comes with Ubuntu.

On sides of lecture notes :)

</comment><comment><USER46> I keep a to-do list broken down by project plus misc things like blog, aims etc. It's lightweight and online so it's easy to access from 3 of the 4 options above. I just add the thought as a task and come back to it when I'm ready.

</comment><comment><USER47> When I'm within reach of my Emacs, I use org-remember to create an idea entry. Otherwise, I usually carry enough calendar sheets on whose backsides I can keep ideas fresh until I can enter them into a computer.

</comment><comment><USER48> I have tried using Lion Kimbro's method. It was very interesting but too intense for people wanting to be efficient.

<http://www.speakeasy.org/~lion/nb/>

</comment><comment><USER49> Legal pads- for working through something complex, I just divide the issue out among multiple pages and build up to a solution page that ties it all together.

</comment><comment><USER50> Assuming I can't get to my blog - which is my preferred method, as it forces me to be clear and concise - I scribble with pencil and paper.

</comment><comment><USER51> With an Ono-Sendai.

</comment><comment><USER16> I create text files and use EditPlus for writing. I then place the text files in a folder and name each file appropriately.

</comment><comment><USER52> I usually record my thoughts by writing an email to a friend. We each do this for each other: serve as an audience.

</comment><comment><USER53> I draw a "mindmap". It's a simple, star-like diagram, with lots of drawings. Try it out, it's worth it.

</comment><comment><USER54> I am sending my ideas to my own email... My inbox got a bit messy lately....

</comment><comment><USER55> iPod touch for writing things down on the go, but text files or drawings on my laptop when I'm using it. Everything gets synced back from my iPod, so I always have my ideas in a searchable form on my laptop.

</comment><comment><USER56> I use jdarkroom on ubuntu/writeroom on mac.

</comment><comment><USER57> I blog them. Seriously. Blogging is about explaining my ideas to whoever wants to read them, and thus it forces me to be clear and precise. It allows me to find flaws in my own reasoning.

I blog for myself: when I re-read my old posts, I feel like a stranger to them. It's hard to load the old ideas to my brain, so to say, but the fact that I wrote them in a way that would be clear to someone else allows me to understand them. If I didn't blog my thoughts, I would instead write a quick and dirty note on paper, and 2 years later when I found it again, I would have no clue what my original thoughts were...

<comment><USER19> Voted up for pragmatic clarity and a sense of affinity for your approach!

<comment><USER58> Those are some mighty big words.

<comment><USER59> I think we have ourselves a READER.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER60> I use my iPod Touch's Notes app to jot down things I need to do, buy or remember. It's cumbersome, but since it's the device I carry around, it's the obvious choice.

<comment><AUTHOR> I also do that for to-dos and reminders. But what about longer, more structured, narrative thoughts? Paragraphs and mini-essays, in other words.

<comment><USER61> iPhone OS 3.0 has a Voice Recorder built in that works pretty well. I've recorded 10 minute blog posts by just casually talking into the mike.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER62> I like Wikidpad. <http://wikidpad.sourceforge.net/></comment>


The Sovereign Keys Project - <AUTHOR> https://www.eff.org/sovereign-keys

<comment><USER2> What happens if a domain name changes hands legitimately? Maybe the old owner of the domain would have to sign off on the turnover?

But what if the turnover was because of domain-squatting, and the old owner doesn't want to hand over their domain, but they might be legitimately forced to anyway?

Or what if the old owner just stops paying for their domain and disappears, and someone else buys it later but can't authenticate their ownership because the old sovereign key is still around?

I don't know of a good answer to these questions. I'm not sure there is an answer that will still provide the level of security that the EFF wants (which I like).

The fundamental problem seems to be this: we have a bunch of identifiers (domain names in this case) and we want to associate them with people or organizations. How do we verify that identifiers can be transferred to different people or organizations, but only in some "legitimate" way? The only known solution is to have some other entity verify that the identifier->person mapping is legitimate. But this relies on the other entity to be trustworthy, which is what the EFF doesn't like.

</comment><comment><USER3> How does this solution deal with the "Citibank problem"? (a website with a huge number of SSL keys from multiple certificate authorities)

A great talk from last DefCon <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Wl2FW2TcA>

<comment><USER4> Since sovereign keys are an optional extra layer of protection, it doesn't have to support every configuration. But I think Citibank could just sign all their SSL keys with their sovereign key.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I may be misreading the summaries, but it seems like this is sort of a "bitcoin-like" style protocol, albeit with the history dags being stored centrally, plus additional machinery for all the standard certificate functionality. Am I interpreting this proposal correctly?

<comment><USER6> It's not really bitcoin-like other than the fact the store is append only. There aren't any DAGs in SK. There aren't really any DAGs in the bitcoin blockchain either (correction: bitcoin transactions - not blocks - do actually form a DAG). There is a tree with a single "correct" path that everyone eventually agrees on (the one which had the most work/computation go into it).

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> If I understand correctly, this proposal uses a globally-shared append-only log (like the Bitcoin blockchain) as a shared cache of server keys (like SSH's caching of the key first seen with a new endpoint).

Once the 'right' key is pushed into the global cache, you can't fool any users who can access that cache.

Revocation or recovery from the 'right' key itself being compromised or lost is still not really handled, though some ideas are discussed in the draft design. But at least later Certificate Authority compromises can't ruin the security provided by a server's declared long-lived key, once it's been registered in the global cache, as long as the server itself manages its own key well.

<comment><USER6> From the proposal it doesn't sound like it's even a single log, but that each timeline server has its own log. I'm assuming when you publish your SK you send it to all of the timeline servers. So there will be 10-30 global append- only logs which are then mirrored by lots of SK mirroring servers. So not really like the bitcoin blockchain.

update: From the overview it definitely does sound like a single log, but the draft doesn't seem to specify how entries are submitted, replicated, or kept consistent between the timeline servers. This doc seems to hint at some of that: [https://git.eff.org/?p=sovereign- keys.git;a=blob;f=issues/ti...](https://git.eff.org/?p=sovereign- keys.git;a=blob;f=issues/timing-corner- cases.txt;h=ff2bd76b271aacc10b40e77596fba50ece07b70a;hb=HEAD#l71)

They do handle the key-being-comprised problem. When you register you can list third party keys you trust, which can be used to re-register in case of a key being comprised and revoked (by you).

But you're right they don't handle the key being lost problem (make sure you back it up!)</comment></comment>


Visualize move, protection and threat status in chess - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/ology/Chess-Inspector <comment><USER2> Cool!

I've been thinking to make the exact same thing in Javascript using Chess.js and Chessboard.js

[https://github.com/jhlywa/chess.js/blob/master/README.md](https://github.com/jhlywa/chess.js/blob/master/README.md) [http://chessboardjs.com/](http://chessboardjs.com/)

I got a half-working version and will opensource the code once it's ready.

I think it could be a nice tool to help people starting with the game, but also as an analysis tool for more advanced players.

[Edit] I just uploaded what I did so far on a server, just in case you want to take a look

[http://www.hotpixel.mx/chess/index.html](http://www.hotpixel.mx/chess/index.html)

my idea is to use little icons (now really terrible looking) with numbers and playing with opacity to give an idea of the strength for each square of the board. I still have some problems in some cases displaying incorrect numbers, but I hope to fix that as soon as I have some spare time :)

<comment><USER3> Nice. Hope it'd be good if you visualize how opponent's move could affect for the player in the other end.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Cool, good idea!

I have a couple bits of cosmetic feedback for you:

I would like the chess pieces to appear much larger within each of their squares, ala [http://www.365chess.com/opening.php](http://www.365chess.com/opening.php)

Also, the green border around protected cells is difficult for me to discern. (Might be due to my colorblindness.)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you for your feedback!

I can definitely make the pieces larger. I will experiment...

The the tiny green border is definitely difficult to discern. I will think about how to display protection status more effectively. :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> This is neat!

I was working on something similar recently: [https://github.com/blevinstein/chess_assistant/blob/master/s...](https://github.com/blevinstein/chess_assistant/blob/master/screenshot-2015-02-04.png)

I had been thinking about ways to analyze the graph of "threats", so I focused on which pieces were threatening which. I wanted to eventually extend this to also include which pieces were threatening which squares, but never got that far.

</comment><comment><USER6> Would be nice if there was also an "advanced" mode. Only highlight pieces that have less defenders than attackers. And highlight pins.

And I assume even more advanced modes highlight perhaps central squares that might be obtained and which open lines. See [https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Strategy/Open_lines](https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Strategy/Open_lines) for a nice example.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hm. If I were an advanced player I might be up to creating an advanced mode! ;-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Very cool idea? Do you have a demo or write up about how it works? also would like to know how one can use it.

<comment><AUTHOR> It's not a very detailed explanation but the write-up is here: [http://techn.ology.net/visualize-move-protection-and- threat-...](http://techn.ology.net/visualize-move-protection-and-threat- status-in-chess/)

It's written as a server program in Perl, but it's relatively easy to install and run on your own computer:

> git clone [https://github.com/ology/Chess- > Inspector.git](https://github.com/ology/Chess-Inspector.git)

> cd Chess-Inspector

> perl Makefile.PL

> make

> sudo make install

> perl bin/app.pl

Then open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000) in your web browser. Voila!

<comment><AUTHOR> These instructions are incorrect. Please check out the repo README. (Basically relace all the "make stuff" with `sudo cpan .`)</comment></comment></comment>


Tell HN: Revoltlike.com - Revolt like an Egyptian - <AUTHOR> http://www.revoltlike.com/ To help support the cleanup & transition, I made Revoltlike.com tonight. Very simple - buy a tshirt, and all profits will be going to charities in Egypt. <comment><USER2> It would probably inspire more confidence to at least name the charity that you are planning on donating the money to. Donating to "Egypt" is great, but a lot of folks these days are wary of donation sites (like this one) that tend to spring up after major disasters without a clear plan of action. We've all been a little too burned by the Haiti charities that took a 40% cut off the top of all donations[1].

Also, you say "100% of sales" -- does that mean you are essentially eating the cost of the t-shirt itself? Or do you mean "100% of profits"?

[1] [http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2010/0114/Wyclef-Jean-Yele- re...](http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2010/0114/Wyclef-Jean-Yele-relief-Is- this-best-way-to-help-Haiti)</comment>


Is SPF Simply Too Hard for Application Developers? - <AUTHOR> http://bsdly.blogspot.com/2016/10/is-spf-simply-too-hard-for-application.html <comment><USER2> No, it's not. It's just that application developers rarely understand how _e- mail_ works.</comment>


Cyber Threat Intelligence - An Oxymoron Without The Context Of YOUR Exposure - <AUTHOR> http://www.informationsecuritybuzz.com/dynamic-cyber-threat-intelligence-pretty-potentially-pointless/

<comment><AUTHOR> To Buy or Not To Buy? A hype free guide to help thrash out the real operational value-add for your business.</comment>


Microsoft's Midori operating-system skunkworks project soldiers on - <AUTHOR> http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-midori-operating-system-skunkworks-project-soldiers-on-7000007110/ <comment><USER2> It's always amazing to me to read about all those promising projects from Microsoft research groups, yet none of it seems to make its way to paying customers. I still remember the courier as well as that zero lag touch screen demo - super important stuff that could set apart Microsoft from their competition right about now. If only their management were as good as their engineers.</comment>


The fastest growing Online Fitness Community is a startup worth observing - <AUTHOR> http://www.businesshackers.com/2007/07/26/the-fastest-growing-online-fitness-community-is-a-startup-worth-observing/

<comment><USER2> Do you really have 1 million readers? That's incredible! It doesn't seem like the site has been around that long. I remember seeing that byline for many months, however. Did you multiply 10,000 hits per day times 365?</comment>


Show HN: Cubebrush Launches New Marketplace for Artists - <AUTHOR> https://cubebrush.co/ <comment><USER2> Interesting, nice clean look.</comment>