Hacker School User's Manual - <AUTHOR> https://www.hackerschool.com/manual

<comment><USER2> A lot of programmers I know could really learn from the "social rules" on this page. There's no need to try to prove oneself to be the smartest in the room on every topic. It takes a lot more balls to say "wow, I really can't even remember whether the syntax was X->Y() or X.Y()!"

The "well-actually" problem is particularly rampant on HN.

<comment><USER3> I don't think that "well-actually" comments online have a fraction of the negative social effects that they do in a really life situation.

<comment><USER4> agreed.

in a 3 person private conversation, a factual inaccuracy that is not central to the point isn't going to harm the participants. Online, the conversation is public. People who don't know what they're talking about should be politely called out before they stir up FUD or otherwise cause harm.

(i am a hackerschool alum)

<comment><USER5> I think the focus is on pedantic corrections that are entirely irrelevant to the discussion and serve only to make the commenter feel superior. For example, see this recent thread [1].

The first commenter proposes a device that would use a Molex connector. The second points out that the device needs to interface with a wire not found on the Molex 8981 connector, a useful correction. The third makes the inane observation that Molex the company makes many connectors, when it is obvious that the first two commenters were referring to the Molex 8981 connector specifically.

[1] <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5638420>

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> After reading, I really want to experience Hacker School sometime in the near future.

I checked out the application, though, and noticed something that's pretty odd, if not downright disrespectful. At the bottom of the application there's a lone checkbox labeled "I'm a Woman". Given the behavior of the following checkbox, it's clear that the point of this box is to indicate that financial aid is available for female applicants. Regardless, the presence of a field labeled as such, given that it seems to suggest that the default gender of a hacker is male, is pretty jarring.

I get it, but surely a couple of radio buttons labeled "Boy" and "Girl" could do the job just as well as the checkbox.

<comment><USER7> I see your point, but as an 'un-graduate', I've never been part of a less- sexist community. I'd also point out that being forced to choose between boy and girl, as opposed to having the option to identify as a woman, is difficult for some. Hacker School has had some awesome transgenders!

<comment><USER7> And apply. It's beyond amazing.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> One of their rules seems odd. To "Feign" means to pretend. Do they mean that people actually pretend to be surprised about someone's lack of knowledge?

I would have thought the more common problem is when people are _honestly_ surprised about someone's lack of knowledge, and then show it. That hurts more. I can usually tell if someone trying to show themselves off as a bigshot. That doesn't bother me as much as if someone genuinely thinks I'm ignorant about something that I ought to know.

Better to say, "Please feign unsurprise when you encounter ignorance." Or better yet, don't use the word "feign." Just tell participants that they may encounter people from a variety of backgrounds, and they should not assume that every understands what everyone else is talking about.

<comment><USER9> > Do they mean that people actually pretend to be surprised about someone's > lack of knowledge?

Yes, I think so, or at least the common reaction is usually over-dramatized. I've observed this behavior in friends, colleagues, and in myself. When learning about someone's lack of knowledge, it's very common for the other party to react with "Really?! You don't know xyz??" I think 99% of the time the person saying this is not _actually_ surprised, and does not _actually_ need confirmation by asking again "You don't know xyz??" It's just a social tic ends up being kind of exclusionary and negative.

> Just tell participants that they may encounter people from a variety of > backgrounds, and they should not assume that every understands what everyone > else is talking about.

This is fine and well, and I'm sure the people running HS would agree with this, but tbh it is a little obvious sounding. The thing with avoiding "feigning surprise" is that some people (like myself!) might not even realize that they do this. After I read about this rule of theirs last year, I've been trying to cut down and was a bit saddened to realize how much I do it.

It's a pretty similar attitude to this comic, in the sense of adding a twist to the more general form the rule that you proposed. Recognizing that this is a positive opportunity for sharing some neat factoid instead of an opportunity to put someone down is not obvious, unfortunately.

<http://xkcd.com/105/>

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I really like the civility rules. One thing I've learned about programming is that, like creative writing, the insecurity only gets _worse_ as you get better. (I'm sure that once you have fuck-you money or the consulting pipeline that's essentially the same thing, that changes, but it takes time to get there.) It's paradoxical.

For one thing, there's hard-core dimensionality in what we do. There are things I consider to be huge areas of computer science that I know nothing about, and many of those didn't even exist when I was in school.

It's really admirable that they're paying attention to the behaviors ("well, actually" and unsolicited advice) that make this worse and cause communication breakdowns. Of course, tone is more important than what is actually said, but that can't be legislated.

<comment><USER11> Paradoxical as it sounds, that's a pretty accurate observation. You get better the more insecure you are.

I've struggled to find an explanation for this, the closest being Prospect Theory. The theory states that people make decisions based on the potential value of losses and gains rather than the final outcome.

My best guess is that less secure people worry more about not looking bad rather than the final outcome. They optimize for minimizing losses, and are thus represented on the bottom left quadrant of the theory graph[1].

Which means the less confident you are the more successful you are[2].

[1] - <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Valuefun.jpg>

[2] - [http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/07/less_confident_people_are_mo...](http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/07/less_confident_people_are_more_su.html)

<comment><USER12> I think it's accurate in certain problem domains, and the causality runs both ways.

I think that for technical tasks, ones with a good deal of depth that need to be performed precisely, insecurity correlates highly with success. For two reasons. One is that insecurity is a very potent emotional driver: if you think that being good at X is going to give your life meaning, then you'll probably spend a lot of time getting good at X. Time spent mastering a subject is probably the best predictor of how good you get at it.

The other works in the other direction. The more skilled you get at something, the more you understand the complexities of the problem domain, in sort of a reverse Dunning-Kruger effect. And so as you become more successful, you start seeing that your knowledge, _as a fraction of the total knowledge out there_ , is much less than you thought. The result is insecurity.

For people tasks, where a significant part of your success is convincing other people to go along with you, success is correlated with confidence. There's a game-theoretical explanation for that. When evaluating the credibility of a proposal, a random person has very little information to go on. They also know that the person proposing it has _more_ information than they do. So a major information channel for them is how sure the proposer seems to be of their proposal, and they naturally follow subconscious signals that telegraph how the proposer _really_ feels about himself.

Whether high confidence or low confidence is better for you depends on which stage of your career you're at, and also who you're talking to. In particular, you don't want to project high confidence when the listener has backchannels that can tell them unequivocally that you're wrong: you lose all credibility then, which makes you seem deathly insecure. When the listener has poor or no information, though, you want to project high confidence because that's the only information they have available to them. When evaluating yourself, you'd ideally want to have no confidence as that would give you the greatest drive to improve. Unfortunately, confidence doesn't work that way: it's very difficult to have no confidence and then suddenly "turn it on" for an important client. Instead, an optimum solution usually involves having supreme confidence in your ability to _learn_ anything required for the job, no confidence that you actually _know_ anything right now, and the ability to fudge the distinction between those when you talk to other people.

The scientific method actually enshrines this into a well-known process.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I wish it wasn't such a hassle getting a VISA to the US..

<comment><USER14> A tourist visa is enough to do Hacker School. You don't earn any money, you don't pay for the school and it's not a real school anyway.

The only problem is explaining the program to the Immigration Officer. Mentioning "Hacker" or "School" is not recommended. I used the phrase "programming workshops" :)

<comment><USER13> I'm getting an F1 visa for grad school and the earliest I can enter the US is August. I'll have to get a visitor visa, go to hackerschool, fly back, get my F1 and re-enter the US. That's just too much of a hassle.

I guess I'll just try next time.. and I hope Norvig stays for a few more batches.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> I'd love to do something like this in London. Inspired by the manual, I've created a signup page at hackerschoollondon.launchrock.com Perhaps we can get one going here if there's some interest.

n.b. Hacker School have asked me to stop using their name - I don't mean to mislead or imply any affiliation with them. I'll change it shortly. But I do want to copy the idea :)

</comment><comment><USER16> This manual makes me even more glad that I applied.

</comment><comment><USER17> <http://i.imgur.com/m0en5Vj.png>

I could have used better fonts.

</comment><comment><USER18> codeacadamy and hackerschool should get together.

</comment><comment><USER19> For github junkies, fork here: <https://github.com/shaohua/Hacker-School- Users-Manual>

<comment><USER20> I appreciate that you're excited and mean well, but would you please delete this repository? We haven't licensed the manual, and this could easily mislead people (and will quickly fall out of date -- we've already fixed two small issues since publishing this afternoon).

<comment> grey-area Well, actually, there's still an error in the first paragraph you might want to correct:

 _We've decided to published[sic] it in the hope_

You're welcome :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Fixed. Thanks for pointing it out.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> "So how exactly do we make money? Right now, we have recruiting agreements with a small set of companies, and for each Hacker School alum they hire, _they pay us 25% of that person's first year salary, excluding bonus_ , as long as that person stays at the company at least 90 days."

rofl

</comment><comment><USER22> lol 'social rules'.

Sounds more like a cult, like they're grooming you for corporate serfdom. Having the most bitter basement dwelling neckbeard with a self taught PHD ream you out thoroughly and colorfully on a public mailing list for a less than perfect commit is a true hacker tradition. It's usually pretty hilarious, and prepares you for when you show up to defcon or the chaos congress and meet real actual hackers who shockingly will not have any social rules.

This school will groom good employees, not hackers. It's a bootcamp that uses 'hacker' for marketing. It's great this exists for people who want to work doing code, but 1980s MIT AI lab Stallman would prob be kicked out the first day, same with every other hacker throughout history.</comment>


Amazon eyes Carrefour acquisition - <AUTHOR> https://www.retaildetail.eu/en/news/food/amazon-eyes-carrefour-acquisition <comment><USER2> This is a story about a newspaper reporting a rumor. That's way too flimsy to be on topic.

On HN, we wait until a thing actually happens. There's no harm in doing so, and then there's substance to discuss.

[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=by:dang%20%22actually%20happen...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=by:dang%20%22actually%20happens%22&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment)

</comment><comment><USER3> I'm French, and I can tell you Carrefour is a very famous brand in France. So to me there is no way Amazon will buy it, I just don't see this being accepted by public opinion, and thus by the French government.

<comment><USER4> > I just don't see this being accepted by public opinion, and thus by the > French government

Do they have a word to say on the issue?

<comment><USER5> I'm also interested in hearing how willing the French government is to prevent the acquisition of a French private company. I'd think this should be up to the owners of the company in question, but the people of France may disagree with me.

<comment><USER3> There is a rich legal background surrounding mergers and acquisitions in financial markets, not to mention the antitrust laws.

The French government can even write new laws if need be. France is only theoretically capitalistic, in practice the weight of the government is heavy on companies.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Carrefour is a big chain. About 12,000 stores. About 20x as many stores as Whole Foods. Most of them are convenience stores. That would give Amazon a very visible brick-and-mortar presence in Europe, approaching 7-11 in the US.

A chain of convenience stores is useful to Amazon. They'll all get Amazon Lockers, of course. You'll be able to get everything Amazon sells at those stores, if you just order ahead. They'll probably have same-day delivery to their own stores.

Small scale retail in France is going to take a big hit from this.

<comment><USER4> > A chain of convenience stores is useful to Amazon. They'll all get Amazon > Lockers, of course. You'll be able to get everything Amazon sells at those > stores, if you just order ahead.

I don't know how much it costs Amazon but this is already the case. I always get my Amazon products from the Carrefour next door.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Carrefour is a state of crisis both internally (the newly appointed ceo is quoted as having "vowed to clean the mess", several high ranking executives have been shown the door or been effectively demoted) and externally (shares have been tumbling for quite a while).

Anything is possible but, to me, an attempt to raise valuation is the most likely explanation. Sources are always "analysts" who seem to have skin in the game.

</comment><comment><USER8> Why would I, as a European, want to buy my groceries from an American company? It's not like the big shopping malls like Walmart or Costco are so appealing. Surely we can manage a suitable groceries network on our own.

<comment><USER9> Your comment points to the fact that the globalisation project we've embarked on for close to 70 years is either sick or dying... What does it matter if the company still employs Europeans and supports local economies?

<comment><USER10> American business culture/ethic writ large is not really very compatible (or welcoming) of others' practices. Hegemony sucks when you're under it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> > For competitors like Ahold Delhaize, it would be another blow

I'm not sure that's a very good example of a competitor. Carrefour is French, Ahold is Dutch. They don't compete in France, nor in the Netherlands. They both have supermarkets in Belgium, though. Furthermore, Carrefour is known for their hypermarkets which are much larger than regular supermarkets.

<comment><USER7> Delhaize is a major player on the US market via its "food lion" brand (off the top of my head about 2k stores).

Ahold Delhaize merger is rumored to be a failure. There is an on going war between Dutch and Belgian executives. Recently a Dutch has been appointed ceo of the belgian entity, which was not very well received at all.

Ahold Delhaize is a competitor to Carrefour not only in Belgium but also in eastern Europe (but these are still relatively small markets).

Afaik they have no shops in Latin America nor China, where Carrefour has strong positions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Carrefour is quite present in North Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia..) as well, this would give Amazon quite the global reach!

<comment><USER13> Carrefour has also stores in Asia (e.g. a honking big branch in Shenyang, near the financial center).

Edit: Google maps finds eleven Carrefour stores in Shenyang alone.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> > "Cheuvreux analysts as saying that dispite these rumours, they still feel a > collaboration with Google would be more probable for Carrefour than an > acquisition by Amazon."

I wonder why they think that? What could collaboration with Google bring?

<comment><USER15> Technology and exposure. Product Search is quite big, if just hasn't been capitalized on enough (other than by Amazon)

<comment><USER7> Digital is a notorious pain point for Carrefour. Their CDO has been replaced last week by a long time coworker of Alexandre Bompart (newly appointed CEO of Groupe Carrefour).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Finally, my American friends will know something about Carrefour.

<comment><USER17> Don't worry, some of them are still trying to figure out the psychedelic logo.

<comment><USER18> Spoiler: it's a C.

<comment><USER17> Oh come on, put a proper spoiler tag around that, people aren't ready for that kind of truth.

Here: [https://pastebin.com/4FAB8Fuy](https://pastebin.com/4FAB8Fuy)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Don't forget that Carrefour also have shops in Brazil, China, Taiwan...

</comment><comment><USER20> AI is not going to rule the world. It will be Amazon.

</comment><comment><USER21> [https://stallman.org/amazon.html](https://stallman.org/amazon.html)

> Amazon has so much power over the US retail economy that it imposes its > power over all participants.

> If it is going to be a monopoly, it should be regulated like other > monopolies. Or perhaps more.

> Amazon has so much market share that its sheer size distorts the market.

> We should not allow a company to have a share over around 10% of any market. > If in a certain field a single dominant company is beneficial for society, > that means it is a natural monopoly, and should be served by a regulated > utility.

<comment><USER22> And yet no rant on the 6 other companies with larger US sales revenue [https://stores.org/stores-top-retailers-2017/](https://stores.org/stores-top- retailers-2017/). I like that subtle inferred redefinition of "monopoly" as well. Maybe we can just use "decapoly" though. Or how about "rmsnotlikopoly"?</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Secure and minimalist linux distros? - rob-alarcon

Recently somehow my Credit and Debit card information was stolen (maybe I have some malware in my Win8 machine), I'm searching for a secure and minimalist linux distro so I can create a VM to do just online transactions over secure Networks (like home). I found this document http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/linux-distros-paranoid-secure-distros-si/ that talks about LPS, Tails and Surprise!. What do you think? <comment><AUTHOR> I'd say good ole debian would accomplish your goals, but I'll defer to commenters with more ornate tin-foil hats.

</comment><comment> rob-alarcon Look what is on the front page today [http://goto.ucsd.edu/quark/](http://goto.ucsd.edu/quark/)

</comment><comment><USER2> I'm surprised nobody has linked [http://crunchbang.org/](http://crunchbang.org/)

</comment><comment><USER3> just run 2 browsers man

</comment><comment><USER4> Bruce Schneier uses Tails: [https://tails.boum.org/](https://tails.boum.org/)

>Since I started working with Snowden's documents, I have been using GPG, Silent Circle, Tails, OTR, TrueCrypt, BleachBit, and a few other things I'm not going to write about.

[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-how-to- rema...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-how-to-remain- secure-surveillance)</comment>


This is how the Gnu Linux file system hierarchy should be in the 21st century - <AUTHOR> http://www.gobolinux.org/?page=at_a_glance <comment><USER2> This is the first time I have seen something so revolutionary that is also backwards compatable.

I'd say that this is the future of the excosystem. If they had just kept all file names lower cased.

I use ZSH now, so it's not a big problem, but for bash this would annoy me.

</comment><comment><USER3> Indeed! In fact something like it should have been the norm for awhile now.

<comment><AUTHOR> It is also backward compatible with the default Gnu Linux file system hierarchy. They did a grate work !</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Have you ever integrated RFID / BLE tags in your software? - <AUTHOR> Hi HN-
I'm the founder of Gingr (gingrapp.com). We're a SaaS product that is geared towards pet care facilities which helps small business owners operate more efficiently. Think a POS+ERP+CRM for a specific niche industry.
We recently thought up a new feature that we want to implement. However, it requires a hardware piece. Basically, we want to add a feature where:
- The business issues a tag to their customer
- When the customer arrives at the business the tag is read
- When a tag is read, it notifies our software with the tag ID
- Our software will locate that customer in our system and bring up their record for easy access at the reception desk
Range is key here. Would definitely need to be contactless. Ideally the tag could be read when the customer enters the parking lot, before they even step foot in the building.
The problem is that nobody on our team has experience working with RFID/BLE/NFC/etc.. technology. I'm wondering if anyone here on HN does have experience in this realm. What technology did you pick and why?
I did find a company called Kontakt (kontakt.io) that sells BLE readers/beacons. My concern is that they may be a small company that could disappear tomorrow. Does anyone here have experience with them?
Also open to paying someone to consult with us on this project- specifically around identifying hardware to use.
Didn't know where else to reach out, so I'm posting here! If this is against the rules, I'm sorry and please feel free to delete it. <comment><USER2> If you are doing it from the parking lot you don't need RFID/BLE/NFC you can use GPS. If you want to do indoor proximity via your app you can use a beacon with the sdks for iOS ([https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corelocation/deter...](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corelocation/determining_the_proximity_to_an_ibeacon)) and android ([https://developers.google.com/beacons/](https://developers.google.com/beacons/)). Estimote is probably one of the most popular beacon hardware makers [https://estimote.com/](https://estimote.com/) There are many.

If you really need to do this without a customer app, that has location services turned, on then you will need to use some service provider like kontakt.io. If you search for indoor location tracking there are lots of them.

Also note there are some privacy issues here. I wouldn't want to carry around a BLE card just so the staff at a petstore know that I am in their parking lot.

Also there is the cost of giving these to users, ultimately the customer will have to cover that cost, which I wouldn't want to do.</comment>


How I Made $19,000 on the App Store While Learning to Code - <AUTHOR> http://nathanbarry.com/how-i-made-19000-on-the-app-store-while-learning-to-code

<comment><USER2> This is almost a year old. Previous discussion: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3238834>

<comment><USER3> Yes, this has been discussed plenty when it was written. Though people new to the App Store may still find it useful.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Algorithms Resources for Beginners? - <AUTHOR>

I am a beginning web developer with no CS background. I've had a year of experience with ruby and some haskell. I'm hungry to dig deep into this material to use in my own projects and just for learning and challenge, but every resource I've found requires a CS background.  What are good resources for learning algorithms for total beginners? Thanks! <comment><USER2> I'm a self taught developer and I have built my own algorithms.

This is probably the most important resource: [http://www.businessinsider.com/jack-dorsey-on- programmers-20...](http://www.businessinsider.com/jack-dorsey-on- programmers-2013-3)

If you really are coding what you want, you will figure it out. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. CS degree is not needed.

</comment><comment><USER3> just one thing: computer science ist not about programming. CS is about the math involved in solving problems using a specific set of instructions in a manner sufficiently specific that it can be implemented. It is intimidating at first and quite helpful once mastered. Don't avoid it and don't let it deter you.

build a tool set of algorithms and you will begin to understand. Then you will want to study cs (possibly). resources:

Introduction to Algorithms by Leiserson, Rivest et al.

Algorithms, Sedgewick

Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice by Foley

[http://bookboon.com/en](http://bookboon.com/en) free ebooks about math, cs, programming, office...

</comment><comment><USER4> This question was answered aptly on quora, perhaps something from this link will be helpful for you - [http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-learner- friendly-reso...](http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-learner-friendly- resources-for-learning-about-algorithms)</comment>


Visualize this, software bugs as coloured dots - <AUTHOR> http://fuzz-box.blogspot.com/2011/05/visualize-this-software-bugs-as.html Some developers, many many issues. How does it look?
The graph shows how developers are connected to the various issues as they are submitted in a bug tracking system. The issues and the developers are colour coded. <comment><AUTHOR> Some developers, many many issues. How does it look? The graph shows how developers are connected to the various issues as they are submitted in a bug tracking system. The issues and the developers are colour coded.

</comment><comment><USER2> The visual is overly complex for the information it provides.</comment>


Amazon TextBuyIt - <AUTHOR> http://payments.amazon.com/sdui/sdui/productsServices?sn=mobileShopping/whatIsIt <comment><USER2> The name is suspiciously similar to TextPayMe (noun verb pro-noun). Other than that, it sounds awesome.

</comment><comment><USER3> This can be especially useful in a bookstore.</comment>


Elf Worker: Magic for code - <AUTHOR> https://elfworker.com <comment><USER2> I love the idea of this like with Magic from a few months ago. But I got burned by them, so not really willing to try this.</comment>


Ask HN: Frustrations with PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOX compliance? - <AUTHOR>

Hi everyone,
I am curious to hear about other people's frustrations with PCI-DSS, HIPAA, or SOX compliance.
From an IT perspective, one of the biggest frustrations I have is with the man-power required to satisfy keeping up with the requirements.  A lot of the guidelines are common sense, but the overhead for maintaining change management, documented policies/procedures, approvals, audits, etc are tough.  Certainly, in the ideal sense these things are great to have but in reality it is tough to make time for them when you've got other business needs to satisfy.
What are some of your biggest frustrations with compliance and what are some tools you use to 'cope'?
Cheers! <comment><USER2> Read The Visible Ops Handbook [1], implement what they talk about, it is an easy read too. On the tools site: puppet [2]. Puppet allows you to bake these controls into your infrastructure and monitor if things change.

p.s. I also read "The Phoenix Project" [3] a couple days ago and it give some good ideas on how to stop in insanity.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Visible-Ops-Handbook-Implementing- Prac...](http://www.amazon.com/Visible-Ops-Handbook-Implementing- Practical/dp/0975568612)

[2] <https://puppetlabs.com/>

[3] [http://www.amazon.ca/The-Phoenix-Project-Business- ebook/dp/B...](http://www.amazon.ca/The-Phoenix-Project-Business- ebook/dp/B00AZRBLHO)

<comment><AUTHOR> Do you use any particular tools to track approvals to changes, policies etc?

<comment><USER2> We just use RT [1] and TWiki [2]. Changes come in as ticket in RT [1] and we discuses them at change management meetings (document these in the TWiki [2]). We document everthing in the TWiki. If someone comes and asks for our change management policy, we point them at the TWiki, which talks about puppet, and then we can show them the change management minutes, etc. We have a light process and it seems to work.

[1] <http://bestpractical.com/rt/>

[2] <http://twiki.org/>

<comment><AUTHOR> A case management system and a wiki has typically been how I have done this. It can be a little tough though because these tools aren't necessarily built for this type of workflow. Perhaps RT does a better job than some of the other options which really want to be a support ticketing system or a bug tracking system rather than a change management system.

<comment><USER2> Yeah, we only have 4 people in ops and about 20 in development. We have daily standup where the ops guys and 1 person from dev meet (total 5 people). We discuss what is happening Past and Next 24 -- this takes about 10 minutes. The process is super light.

We also use puppet with git. This allows us to version everything that goes into production via a puppet tweak. This is great for rolling back changes or getting an of what was deployed. Like I said, read that visible ops handbook.

<comment><AUTHOR> What about audits of user accounts and access control?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> I wonder myself, I'm trying to find information about PCI-DSS.

I Program the integrations from online stores to payment gateways. None of my programs saves any credit card info, yet I'm not sure if I can state that their PCI compliance?

"Merchant / Services" I can understand, but what about a "piece" of software?

<comment><AUTHOR> Does cardholder data ever pass through your infrastructure in any form?

<comment><USER3> In magento, yes... but the full information is held for a small amount time. The module is self hold no card info its a run once and then destroy.

<comment><AUTHOR> Not that I am an auditor, but if the data ever hits your environment then you have a level of compliance to maintain.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Instead of payment, an app dev owns a % of app sales for the lifetime of the app - <AUTHOR>

On the surface this sounds like a crazy idea, but I would love to hear opinions on it.  This works for the company if the company did not have the manpower or capital to support the apps.  It may work for the developer as a steady stream of reoccurring revenue while he/she continues working on other projects.
A lot of details would need to be ironed out such as percentage of app sales/banner ad sales.  The app developer would actually own the app, but the company would own the data.
What do you guys think?  Does this have any traction or has it been done before? <comment><USER2> I had some experience with this.

\- Define the % in different ranges. When the sales is less than X, you got them all. \- The company may stop their effort on this product. \- You may disagree with the company. Maybe you should get a better % for yourself, if you want to take control. \- You'd better to get an inital pay.

It's, basically, co-found a project.

You need value your self's work, the company's work, and the potetioal of this thing, etc.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm not sure if you are leaning one way or the other. You find this to be somewhat of a good idea to pursue.. and for which party?</comment></comment>


Hack your GitHub contributions calendar - <AUTHOR>

I built an app that helps you to "draw" anything on your GitHub contributions calendar: https://github.com/IonicaBizau/github-contributions<p>For example, I love GitHub, so I created "I ♥ GitHub" message: https://github.com/IonicaBizau <comment><USER2> gratz, you have just ruined github contributions calendar.

<comment><AUTHOR> That's art. :P</comment></comment>


Startup Cofounders: Have you ever found a cofounder where.... - <AUTHOR> ...you two couldn't find an idea you both were passionate/excited about?<p>How did you proceed? <comment><USER2> I would have to say that finding the rught cofounder is the biggest challenge. I worked with friends of mine for 2 years and things fell apart. So choose your cofounders wisely.

Also keep everything very clear between the two. Document everything. My new co-founder is an awesome dude. Since day 1 our chemistry was great, however I got him to sign all the documents just in case.

Here is how things worked with my current co-founder. He wanted to help me build the product I was working on cause it was his passion. He gave me a hand. We didnt think of each other as partners. We just enjoyed working together. He got excited when his proof of concept was well recieved by customers. Then he started to committ take less shifts at work to committ to the project. He acted as my co-founder without even me asking him. Then we agreed to start a business and became co-founders.

Great guy! I love working with him! But to this day, I get everything in document so he knows everything is crystal clear.

<comment><USER3> Everyone make sure you follow the advice on documenting everything. Never feel ashamed about asking people to help you with that. It's ridiculous how much trouble and angry/crazy/malicious person can cause you. And when that happens, suddenly every record and document you have will be invaluable.

<comment><USER2> True story happened to my friend. His partner walked away, he kept working on his business. Then his partner came back and took piece of the business. He won, but all the headache he had to go through!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Maybe you both just don't mesh that well. Nothing wrong with that.

If you actively wait for good opportunities, and sharpen your skills along the way, you'll be in an enviable position all along your journey.

<comment><AUTHOR> can you explain what you mean by: "If you actively wait for good opportunities, and sharpen your skills along the way, you'll be in an enviable position all along your journey."

<comment><USER4> There's this meme in the startup community of founders making large sacrifices and taking huge risks to keep a startup dream from dying. Just because you take large risks doesn't mean you will be rewarded for them. Much like buying millions of dollars worth of lotto tickets will probably end in a bad outcome.

So instead of rushing with a cofounder to force a brilliant idea out, just keep working on your skills. One of the most important skills is recognizing good opportunities. Constantly refine yourself, keeping your eyes open, and pounce when a good opportunity presents itself.

<comment><AUTHOR> I think that is sage advice, appreciate you posting on here its been helpful

<comment><USER2> My definition of actively waiting is that you keep building something.

Initially me and my co- started building our version of Amazon dash. We helped each other. This allowed me to learn his character and he learned mine.

Then we came up with an idea. While he was taking care of tech, I would simply work on business administration stuff. Also just apply for grants, you dont have to submit it, but you will know how to do it.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Reading recommendations for understanding food allergies? - <AUTHOR> The prevalence of food allergies is increasing in the USA, at least, if not around the world. In my case, I have two daughters with serious food allergies and sensitivities. I'd like to educate myself on this issue, and I'd be grateful for some recommendations about where to start. Thanks! <comment><USER3> Pathologist here, I use FDA-approved antibodies in my daily practice. I'm going to assume you're a hacker and you're looking for what I'll call "Haynes Manual" understanding. Any textbook on molecular biology or immunology would be a good start. Conversely, I would strongly advise avoiding anything from any internet personality with an opinion on this stuff.

The medical part of the internet is extremely skewed because the subject matter is rather complicated. There are experts trying desperately to stay in their lanes and keep up high walls by only publishing in serious scientific journals, and there's the YouTubers and bloggers inviting you into their pits of crazy. Even if you're trying to understand a fairly simple system, like a modern drive-by-wire Honda Accord, YouTube is likely to lead you astray before you find the right answer. When it comes to biomedical systems, most social media types are telling you to pour sugar in your gas tank, and the right answer has never, and may never, be posted in that forum.

The compromise is to read a textbook. Sort of like a Haynes manual isn't actually going to teach you the finer points of adiabatic expansion, but you can get reliable information about how your car is put together.

</comment><comment><USER4> To the extent that you mean IgE allergies, ordinary medical care is rather sound; but where non-IgE sensitivities-you-can-still-die-from are concerned, practitioner knowledge is much thinner on the ground,and the science far more recent. You won't find much in textbooks, just journal articles. Look into MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome) and Dr. Afrin's book "Never bet against Occam" is the best starting point for that; although one point of view. Note that some usually-missed-no-matter-how-many-doctors-you-see diagnoses (esp in the young) such as Anylosing Spondylitis and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome involve such sensitivities. Whether you children have these are not, they'll almost always be quick to reassure you they don't. Extraordinarily severe underdiagnosis (90%) in both cases.

</comment><comment><USER5> Not a doctor but same experience and took a scientific approach which at the end was just about removing food and having a clean home. I wrote a short comment about this before [1] but will expand here:

1/ You need to know the kind of reaction they have. Go to the allergist. If they are gastrointestinal or if they are respiratory or of another kind. The first type can be solved after one year, the second is more dangerous with risk of anaphylactic shock.

2/ The allergist will do a blood study and patch tests. If it is respiratory it will show specific immunoglobulin types. If it is gastrointestinal it is probable there will not be immune system reactions then it is about trial and error, incorporating one by one the top 8 allergenes within an interval of 15 days. Some reactions are delayed until 15 days. It is important in these cases to 100% isolate traces of food with specific crockery for the child including cleaning sponge, etc.

My first daughter was cured after the first year, the second one continue to have issues with some cheeses and "dulce de leche" [2] and rice. These produce hippus and some small behavior changes, nothing terrible.

[1] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15082349](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15082349)

[2] [https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_de_leche?wprov=sfla1](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_de_leche?wprov=sfla1)

<comment><USER4> This is true for IgE allergies, but many (sometimes life-threatening) mast cell reactions don't involve IgE and are very difficult to diagnose, since tryptase levels are very hard to measure properly, and the specific variant (alpha) of tryptase is relevant, and that pretty much requires a genetic study only available from one source right now.

It is always good to find triggers - but these can be very numerous (often secondary or transient) in MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome.) Tough job, if MCAS is at work.

<comment><USER5> > and that pretty much requires a genetic study only available from one source > right now.

What is the source?

I forgot to mention that both daughters had blood in the stools after eating allergens. This is commonly connected with cow's milk protein intolerance but can happen with other allergens.

<comment><USER4> [https://www.genebygene.com/products/TPSAB1-Copy-Number--- Cli...](https://www.genebygene.com/products/TPSAB1-Copy-Number---Clinical)

This is the original study, the test may derive from its authors: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5397297/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5397297/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> From my perspective as someone who suffers from IBS I understand why there is debate about seeing gastroenterologist & dietician vs a naturopath.

From what I have read, I think the reality is that gut based science including microbiome research is an emerging field with a lot of research in flux and it may be years before we fully understand everything. Because of this and just like deep learning you see a number of papers coming out almost everyday about diet, microbiome, brain-gut interaction, probiotics, prebiotics etc. Out of these a lot of the research needs to be backed up and there is just not enough yet to fully show a specific plan.

Unfortunately a number of gastroenterologists dont seem to keep up with research and I have even had one doctor tell me that everything is in my head. Things like these make you lose confidence in doctors and its understandable why some people turn to naturopaths even though a lot of it is quackery. I recommend working with a good gastroenterologist and a dietician to personalize your diet.

For IBS related personally I recommend following research coming out of Monash university.

I also recommend books Mind-Gut interaction by Emeran Mayer and The Good Gut by the Sonnenburgs

</comment><comment><USER7> Be wary and skeptical of what you see on the internet regarding allergies. There are a lot of people trying to push quackery to make a quick buck online.

</comment><comment><USER8> I have an unusual food allergy to poultry. I had the same question - <USER2> deeper understanding so I could better manage my life.

I searched online, had family in the medical research hunt for papers and finally made an appointment with a renowned allergist in DC - I flew there just for the appointment.

I left disappointed. My allergy is too unusual, there is no research available. What I need does not exist. For the common allergies - like kids and nuts - there are plenty.

The net/net from my experience is seek out an allergist, and be very specific in your requests.

</comment><comment><USER9> My friend's mom started this [http://www.foodallergybooks.com/](http://www.foodallergybooks.com/). My friend has fatal food allergies (nuts and others) and has to carry around an epi-pen and has an extremely limited diet. Not sure if this is the best resource, but you can contact her to ask any questions you may have.

</comment><comment><USER10> My recommendation is that you read this regarding food allergies.

What I do is (1) avoid the medical community like the plague (except for dentists); (2) take other advice without immediate rejection, unless it is plainly wrong, but skeptically nontheless; (3) over a long time gather relevant information and always be on the lookout for it; (4) try some of this information in practice with personal experiments to see if and how it works and do not expect it to work forever if it works at first; (6) try to define what exactly you mean by "food allergy" preferably before attempting to fix it.

Generally what has helped me has been a balanced lifestyle with moderation in all aspects including diet, sleep, exercise, work, play and spirit, since they all interplay, but this balance may be highly individualized and can take some trial, error and instrospection to determine and may vary with time. In USA society work can typically be a big imbalance and has been so for me.

My experience is that much of what people commonly call food and other "allergies" is due to cumulative negative emotional responses or stress often coinciding with a lack of happiness in life. In such cases the cure is to find and be that hapiness.

</comment><comment><USER11> A good place to start is Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), a non- profit that sponsors and is connected with a good number of doctors and researchers studying the subject: [https://www.foodallergy.org/](https://www.foodallergy.org/)

</comment><comment><USER12> I once talked to someone who suggested that allergies may be indicative of undiagnosed parasitic infections. I didn't understand the medical stuff well enough to remember it such that I could repeat it here. I'm just tossing that out as a suggested angle to read up on.

Best.

<comment><USER13> When I was looking into my own food "hypersensitivities" this was actually mentioned by the gastroenterologist, but I had an endoscopy and other tests, which ruled out that theory.

So could be an issue, but may not.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> pre-note: the allergies are examples, as I'm not sure the specifics here.

The money you'd spend on just going to a specialist will far outclass what you are going to find online. They are able to isolate exactly what is causing the allergy and intolerance.

Personally, I don't think that food allergies are increasing so much as there is a wider understanding of allergies and intolerances (there is a difference). Conditions that were unclassified 20 years ago are now acknowledged as real conditions. Only a few years ago, people who would complain of being allergic to "hypo-allergenic" foods like bananas, plums, cherries, and so on were laughed out of the office and called hypochondriacs. Dust, pollen, and peanuts, and similar were classed as allergens. Today, the story is different. The relationship between seasonal allergies and food allergies is better understood. For example, you can be allergic to a certain tree, which only blooms in fall, and that tree will trigger a food allergy that only expresses itself during the fall. This doesn't mean you should start eating an allergen during the off-seasons (IMO).

I live with a lot of allergies and intolerances. My best advice is to simply stay away from what can make your daughters sick. Unfortunately, they will end up discovering allergies the hard way, and you can only support them by trying to recognize what is going to make them ill. If you open an orange and they are sneezing, stop buying and eating oranges. Everyone will have to make some sacrifices for them, but at the same time, learn to differentiate between what is okay and not okay to eat around them.

There is nothing more irritating than eating a piece of strawberry cake and apologizing to them for eating that in front of them. To them, you are eating poison, so it's no loss to them.

And FFS, please for all things lovely, don't ever ever ever sneak an allergen into their food to see what happens. That's incredibly rude, and yep, their friends and boyfriends are going to do this to them (ugh).

I will say that there are various reactions. For me, I know what I can and cannot eat. If I get something on accident, I'll simply toss up in about 15 minutes, which is much better than the reactions I used to get.

Please just listen to your doctor. Get the allergy shots, and get the epi-pen if needed.

I would also (lightly) advise that the issues with allergies is compounded because a lot of people don't understand nutrition at all. Adkins is good, bad, neutral? What? I'm nearing 40, have good general health, and look about 10 years younger than my age. I know of a few others with a similar range of allergies who are in amazing general health. A friend's relative plays professional sports and can eat maybe 10 things without getting ill. While it emotionally hurts to see someone who can't eat all the "healthy" stuff, just remember that it is poison to their body, and you just have to work with what you have.

Hope that helps.

<comment><USER4> But good luck finding a specialist highly conversant with MCAS if your allergies are not IgE reactions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I am not going to try to debate "gwn7".

Please do your own research while seeing a Gastroenterologist or registered Dietitian. Specifically a specialist you are referred to from your primary care doctor. Do not go looking for a Naturopath or GAPS practitioner!

Please also do look into blogs that have debunked the people mentioned in that comment.

Please, please, please do not blindly follow the advice given by the comment by "gwn7".

Some discussions that I feel you might find informative:

[https://medium.com/@ZDoggMD/naturopathy-is-99-9-bull-hit- but...](https://medium.com/@ZDoggMD/naturopathy-is-99-9-bull-hit-but-heres- what-that-0-1-can-teach-us-a99de55e1948)

[https://badsciencedebunked.com/2015/09/10/trick-or-tweet- dr-...](https://badsciencedebunked.com/2015/09/10/trick-or-tweet-dr-mark- hyman-exposed/)

[https://angry-chef.com/blog/want-to-see-something-really- sca...](https://angry-chef.com/blog/want-to-see-something-really-scary)

[https://www.naturopathicdiaries.com/](https://www.naturopathicdiaries.com/)

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

[https://www.theringer.com/2017/1/5/16041098/dr-joseph- mercol...](https://www.theringer.com/2017/1/5/16041098/dr-joseph-mercola- natural-health-website-bc1ac5e6ebc)

[https://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/mercola.html](https://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/mercola.html)

[https://owndoc.com/diet/gaps-scam/](https://owndoc.com/diet/gaps-scam/)

I wish you luck in finding the correct medical treatments for your daughters' conditions.

<comment><USER16> It's very surprising how much diet affects health. Very few members of the medical community have much knowledge of nutrition and a lot of the medical journal information is flat out misleading.

For example, I've had two bowel resections (first at age 12) and have been living with Crohn's and Colitis for over 20 years. Without those resources you've listed, I'd be stuck on monthly cyanocobalamin injections due to a terminal ileum resection. With those resources advice, I tried methylcobalamin and was able to absorb B12 orally. One less monthly injection for me.

I've also discovered a link between copper and angular cheilitis and many others. Most medical journals will point you in the direction of pharmaceuticals, which definitely have their place but also don't always work. I've been on many strong immunosuppressive medications most of my life and they do work.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Not reading recommendations, but here are a few keywords of topics that are directly connected to food allergies:

\- leaky gut

\- gut flora / gut microbiota / intestinal bacteria

\- autoimmune disease - food allergy connection

\- scd, gaps, paleo, autoimmune diets

And some people whose online/offline content may be helpful regarding the topics above:

\- Mark Hyman

\- Joe Mercola

\- Natasha Campbell Mc-Bride

While educating yourself is extremely important, finding the right professional is priceless (which is really hard these days). I'd recommend to look for a functional medicine practitioner, or a good naturopath, or maybe a gaps practitioner.

Good luck with your daughters. Digestive disorders can breed all kinds of other health issues; so I'd recommend trying to cure their allergies (it's possible for many people if not all) before accepting to live with them.

<comment><USER18> As a parent of a child with multiple life-threatening food allergies, I cannot stress enough the degree to which the references you've posted are actively harmful.

The quackery promoted by some of the people you've mentioned can have real consequences for people who have anaphylactic reactions to foods.

<comment><USER19> Without knowing anything about the specifics of the subject or these particular people, I think that if you are going to make such an argument, you need to say more or provide compelling source of your own that convincingly support this position.

Otherwise, this seems like an unsubstantiated ad hominem.</comment></comment></comment>


Which Companies Have the Highest Gross Profit per Employee? - <AUTHOR> https://priceonomics.com/which-companies-have-the-highest-gross-profit-per/ <comment><USER2> While this article only focuses on public companies I have also thought that Valve would be highest on this list due to their relatively low employee count (~360 according to wikipedia).</comment>


A Simple Breakdown on How to Get Website Traffic - <AUTHOR> http://ryanborn.net/how-to-get-traffic-to-your-website/ A high level, simplified perspective on how to get visitors to your website. <comment><USER2> 3 ways to sound credible: 1\. don't use "your" when you mean "you're"

I stopped reading after that.</comment>


Don't Skimp on Your Metadata! - <AUTHOR> http://www.terraframe.com/pages/Dont-Skimp-on-Your-Metadata.html

<comment><USER2> dude, the font on that page is horrible. Lucida Grande at size 12px? Its unreadable in Firefox.</comment>


Code Rush, the Mozilla Documentary from 2000 - <AUTHOR> http://waxy.org/2008/06/code_rush/ <comment><USER2> An great documentary, if you're interested in this kind of thing.

<comment><USER2> Also, jwz's resignation from Netscape letter: <http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nomo.html>

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Thanks for posting this. Great stuff.</comment>


FreedomCP private beta: SaaS control panel for Python & PHP apps on Ubuntu - <AUTHOR> https://freedomcp.com/

<comment><USER2> This is neat; I've just signed up for the beta.

I'm curious to know what the difference will be between the "free" and "pro" options. What kind of pricing (ballpark) do you think you'll have?

<comment><USER3> Thanks for signing up. We plan to keep the basic app and server management free. What you see in the current private beta will all remain free.

Pricing is a hard question to answer before we're ready to commit to it. At the moment, we're focused on learning what people need and continuing to improve our free tier. Definitely let us know (firstname.lastname@example.com) if there is specific functionality you'd like to see.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I just checked out the product and it looks good so far. This could be a nice step in-between PaaS and running your own servers, which I'm guessing is the sweet spot you guys are going for.

The main (and obvious) downside is that I'm a little hesitant to install an unknown agent on my server that runs arbitrary commands from a 3rd party (even if they are only run at my request and on my behalf). Namely, it's not hard to imagine a scenario in which your central server gets compromised and then goes on to compromise all your customers connected servers. Do you guys have any plans to mitigate this risk or ease the minds of people worried about the security issues like me?

<comment><USER3> I definitely understand your security concerns. My background is actually in security research. The architecture we're implementing will prevent arbitrary code execution on your servers if we were compromised by ensuring only signed code is executed. And, of course, code signing will be done offline.

Relatedly, here's some of my research on creating software update and deployment systems that are resilient to compromise:

[https://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~jsamuel/papers/survivable- key...](https://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~jsamuel/papers/survivable-key- compromise-ccs2010.pdf)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Ok just spun up a test server with digitalcloud on the beta, very easy to set up. One thing I'd like to know more about is security/hardening on a vanilla install.

I'd happily move a live site over to test if I know what's been done under the hood as part of the install.

Either way I see this doing well.

<comment><USER3> Thanks for testing us out and for the positive words.

We don't do any additional server hardening at the moment. Our focus on security right now is primarily on the security of our software and how we configure services. Depending on demand, we'll consider how soon these additional features are added.

We'll be adding more documentation soon and that will include architecture and security docs that explain exactly how FreedomCP works and what gets installed. Some of those details are in flux as we're still early in development. Feel free to email email@example.com with specific questions until we have more documentation.

Also, we're looking for people passionate about both server management and security. If anyone's interested, check out our jobs page at <https://angel.co/freedomcp/jobs>

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Great stuff, Kelvin..

Look forward to run some of my apps there.

</comment><comment><USER7> Looks awesome!

</comment><comment><USER8> Open source?

<comment><USER3> Hi, cofounder here. It's not open source. The FreedomCP agent that runs on your servers is written in Python and can be audited but most of the code resides on our side as it's a hosted service.

<comment><USER8> I noticed, am using it now and so far its really good. It delivers as promised. Thank you for the nice free plan.</comment></comment></comment>


5 Ways to a Healthy Mental Well-Being in Remote Teams - <AUTHOR> https://standups.io/blog/healthy-mental-well-being-in-remote-teams/ <comment><AUTHOR> Work & mental health are tied together, even more, now with remote work becoming more mainstream.

It is well-known that working from home and being lonely in general can trigger mental health issues.

I wrote these actionable ways to help your remote team to stay mentally healthy while working distributed.</comment>


Google Cloud Networking Incident - <AUTHOR> https://status.cloud.google.com/incident/cloud-networking/18018 <comment><USER2> This is a duplicate of [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18436187](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18436187). There's more information in that thread.

</comment><comment><USER3> IP addresses being advertised... Someone in China diverting traffic again?

<comment><USER4> This link[1] was posted in work chat, author believes it is a Russian ISP and Chinese telecom

[1] [https://twitter.com/thousandeyes/status/1062102171506765825?...](https://twitter.com/thousandeyes/status/1062102171506765825?s=20)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> [https://twitter.com/thousandeyes/status/1062102171506765825](https://twitter.com/thousandeyes/status/1062102171506765825)</comment>


I made a simple infographic to track Covid-19's stats - <AUTHOR> https://www.fivilab.com/covid <comment><USER2> I very strongly recommend against putting pages like this up, unless you are qualified, especially with claims like "always updated", and especially as you are giving medical advice like "stay at home".

Some years ago, when I lived in a boat, I wanted better presentation of the river conditions (which you would look at if you wanted to go out for a cruise). I put something similar together. It scraped the UK's Environment Agency website and showed the status of various stretches of the River Thames on a Google Map. Just for fun.

I got an angry email when the scraper broke and the data got out of date. "You're putting lives at risk". I took his point, and took the site down.

The odds are much higher in this case. It might seem like a nice portfolio piece, but could be dangerous.

<comment><AUTHOR> Really thanks for your suggestions!

I made this infographic since I was not able to quickly understand the number on the official website. I would take it as a 'general' website, and I think that people know that they should check the official website in order to have something 100% reliable.

Also, the line at the end is a simple suggestion that any government is trying to say to the population to avoid overcrowding of hospitals. But I will edit the phrase to be lighter and less 'instructive'.

<comment><USER3> > I made this infographic since I was not able to quickly understand the > number on the official website. I would take it as a 'general' website, and > I think that people know that they should check the official website in > order to have something 100% reliable.

No, I know enough people that don't. Look into the low educated part of your family (if you have that part). In my family the low educated people will believe anything that says Stanford or Harvard without any source other than just typing it. Heck, they would almost see this comment as reputable.

In your visualization, the data for The Netherlands is wrong by a few days. It's not 804, it's 1135. I remember it to be 950+ yesterday. My source is the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment [1]. Apparently your source is John Hopkins? I'm not entirely sure, I quickly skimmed it. But I don't want old information on HN.

It has a nice design though. But because of its exponential nature and my knowledge of humans being terrible on it, I'm on edge. I don't want misinformation or stale data.

[1] [https://www.rivm.nl/coronavirus-kaart-van- nederland](https://www.rivm.nl/coronavirus-kaart-van-nederland)

<comment><AUTHOR> I just inserted a disclaimer on the top. Thank you for the suggestions!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I am questioning accuracy compared to [https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.h...](https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6)

e.g. czech republic has 0 cases in the infographic which is false, at the time of writing this comment there are 253 cases

source: ministry of health [https://datastudio.google.com/reporting/0fd3a4d8-1fec-4414-8...](https://datastudio.google.com/reporting/0fd3a4d8-1fec-4414-8c20-ceaf8ee2f952/page/xpXIB) (which is from [https://onemocneni- aktualne.mzcr.cz/covid-19](https://onemocneni-aktualne.mzcr.cz/covid-19) )

<comment><USER5> Interestingly this uses JHU data [1] (with lag because they don't push in real time), yet somehow managed to omit part of the data, e.g. 8k cases in South Korea completely missing.

[1] [https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19](https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> My 2 cents:

\- Use dense and small fonts, there is no need to follow the current trends of massive typography \- Create a layout that is easy to follow \- Do not highjack the scroll wheel (if you're in the zoomable region of the map, I can't scroll because it zooms instead)

</comment><comment><USER7> Shouldn't mortality rate be determined by total dead out of total recovered? Doing it the other way, total dead out of total infected, assumes everyone infected will recover.

<comment><USER8> I've read that dead / recovered overestimates since cases that end in death tend to close more quickly than cases that end with a recovery. Neither are great though and dead / cases underestimates since some of those cases might end in death as you say.

Bottom line is it's hard to get good estimates and we should let epidemiologists do their job.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Would be cool to have a country selector. It's the "all politics is local" effect, since the global numbers really have no meaning except academic.

</comment><comment><USER10> I can't scroll if any chart is under the scroll point (iPhone).

Anyway, please don't shade countries by number of cases and use percent of population instead.

<comment><AUTHOR> I think it's due to the interactive graphs. Try to scroll pressing on an empty section!

<comment><USER10> I know why, but with full-width graphs that take up most of the screen, the scrolling issue is a real problem. As none of the graphs have content that needs to scroll within their viewport, you need to set the height/width/overflow/display to a combination that doesn't cause this.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Why is South Korea missing from the stats?

<comment><AUTHOR> Just fixed it, thank you!

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I like it. There are some scrolling issues on touch devices conflicting with the interactive charts.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yep, I'm just trying to fix it! Thank you :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> statistics with references[1]

[1] [https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/)

</comment><comment><USER14> please consider not using a pie chart.

<comment><USER15> The pie chart is fine. They can be bad when one wants to compare several similar categories, but they are fine when used to compare a part to a whole. Also it has a hole in the middle, which mitigates the problem of visual angle comparison.

It's not good to blindly follow rules, just because it's fashionable to say a certain thing. Especially in the fields of data visualization and user experience, which are mostly pseudoscience bullshit anyway...</comment></comment>


Externalising your provider credentials with Terraform - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@omkar_80824/reading-environment-variables-in-a-terraform-file-2df5adafeca5 <comment><USER2> Terraform "externalizes" your provider credentials by default.

<comment><AUTHOR> You can find the usage in the official docs as well [https://www.terraform.io/docs/providers/aws/index.html](https://www.terraform.io/docs/providers/aws/index.html)</comment></comment>