iPad becomes 'most quickly adopted non-phone electronic product'  - <AUTHOR> http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/05/ipad-becomes-most-quickly-adopted-non-phone-electronic-product/

<comment><USER2> The iPad [1] is showing up in surprising places. I first started to suspect that it might substantially change how we use and perceive computers after my sister told me that instead of magazines the hairdresser recently offered her an iPad. This is not some trendy big-town hairdresser [2], this happened in a small town in Germany. My sister loved being able to check Facebook [3] while her hair were cut. There is just something different about the iPad [1], it has qualities which make it ideal for certain uses, uses for which laptops or netbooks are just not right.

[1] It's only the iPad now but I'm sure there will be many similar devices in the future.

[2] Ok, maybe somewhat trendy: <http://www.projecth.net/>

[3] The privacy implications make me cringe. I suspect that many customers forget to log out, but that's just a software problem and doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

(This comment is a re-run: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1732887>)

<comment><USER3> > It's only the iPad now but I'm sure there will be many similar devices in > the future.

There will be, but that doesn't mean they'll have the quality and drive to show up. They've mostly been non-show so far.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> My company in the last 3 weeks has deployed about 6 iPads to executives for mobile email via the Exchange 2007 client. I have never heard such raves about a device, and I was skeptical when we did it. "I just hit the button, and boom there's my email", "I can see it, unlike my blackberry." "Doesn't piss me off."

These guys like this device to a degree that surprises me, and for most of them, it is good enough, and does enough to keep them productive.

</comment><comment><USER5> I have owned many different mobile devices over the years, but the iPad is the first to become a requisite device for resting on the couch and watching TV. In fact, when I want to sit down and watch some TV and I can't find the iPad I go berserk and tear the house apart looking for it.

</comment><comment><USER6> I'm not surprised. What does surprise me is how lonely my laptop has gotten since I grabbed an iPad.

A significant chunk of my computer time belongs to reading, research, and light communication via email or Twitter. For these tasks, the iPad is infinitely better than my laptop. It generates no heat, which is huge for comfort. Its form factor works in bed, in a comfy chair, on the couch, even in the tub (with a ziplock bag, natch).

The battery life is excellent, and would be extraordinary if not for the weight it adds (edit: turns out this is bullshit, see below). I'm most excited to ditch my laptop during travel. There's nothing I need from a computer that my iPad can't do during travel.

It's best to see the iPad as an application console, the way a DS is a portable game console. Sure, there's a bunch of stuff it can't do relative to an honest-to-god computer. But that doesn't really matter, since its portability and form factor make using it for the things it's great at doing so much fun.

<comment><USER7> I agree with your points (iPad user here) but I don't think decreasing the battery size would amount to a huge savings in mass. According to Marco Arment (no link alas, on mobile), the glass display is the most massive component of the device.

But I agree, it's a tad hefty.

<comment><USER8> <http://www.marco.org/524984926>

The main contributors to weight boil down to 28% glass, 21% battery, 20% back panel. No easy answers making naive cuts to any of them.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> A quote from the article (quoting someone else):

> "there's not much a PC can do that you can't do on an iPad."

iPad can't run user programs! (without permission from Apple, anyway). What a load of bollocks...wow.

<comment><USER10> Maybe it'd be better phrased as "there's not much that most PC users actually do with their PC that they couldn't do with an iPad".

<comment><USER11> Things like run Flash, play WoW, or swap between a handful of tabs (including streaming Pandora) and few running apps (like Word, Excel, and IM client) are all pretty common things for most users I know. These aren't the geeks, but just people who actually use their computers.

<comment><AUTHOR> You can download iWork: Pages for Word, Numbers for Excel, Keynote for PowerPoint. It does the exact same stuff, easier, and for far cheaper ($30 vs $150 or more). I'll give you WoW and Flash but I don't think "most" people play WoW or even care about Flash. There are plenty of IM clients.

<comment><USER11> I've used both Pages and Numbers (but not Keynote) on iPad, and those are poor excuses for productivity apps. They remind me of circa 2002 web apps (or worse, circa 2010 versions of Google Apps).

My point wasn't that none of these (in my last bunch) was unavailable, but using them all at once, is not reasonable in my use with the iPad (hence the use of the term "swap between"). For example I'm using GoTo Meeting right now, on this web browser, have Word, and VS open right now, with 18 open tabs. Most people probably don't have 18 tabs open nor VS, but what I described in my original post is pretty common. On the iPad it is just completely unreasonable to work this way, and you're left with a much less productive environment.

The end result isn't a bad product, but one different than a laptop.

<comment><USER12> The article quote is simply a refutation of the meme that the iPad is a toy or consumption-only machine. Whether it can do _everything_ someone might want a desk machine for is irrelevant. You're arguing against a claim no-one made.

<comment><USER11> This was the post I was arguing against:

"there's not much that most PC users actually do with their PC that they couldn't do with an iPad"."

I pointed out a couple of things where the software isn't available. And another being a use scenario that is much less comfortable. I'm directly arguing an exact quote made by a poster.

<comment><USER12> That quote says "there's not much" and you responded with... not much.

Popular as it is, PC gaming isn't something _most_ PC users actually do. Flash is a better argument, but ultimately people don't _do_ things with Flash. They do things that some sites use Flash to enable. Some of those activities are unavailable, but many are available via native clients and formats. So saying it doesn't do Flash serves as a helpful shorthand, but if most of the things most people use flash for are available in other ways, the actual impact still arguably falls in the range of "not much of it can't be done with an iPad".

And the quote says nothing about relative levels of comfort or capability in doing PC tasks, so the multitasking scenarios still aren't relevant.

<comment><USER11> I think that's a lot more than "not much", but if you want to play that game. How about this list. This is a list of things that a LOT of people do. Maybe not 50% of users but a very sizeable proportion.

1) Connect to a printer and print.

2) Get data from a USB key.

3) Can the iPad connect to AD domains? This I honestly don't know, but if it can't thats another big one. Not big for home use, but huge outside the home.

4) Upload pictures, e.g., connect a camera to it and upload pictures to the device. A super common home use, less common in the business world.

5) Host all of my media content. Even my mom has about 100GB of media content on her laptop now.

And lets be clear... a WinMo 5.0 device can do a lot of what most users do on a PC. It can read and write Word and Excel docs. You can check email, browse the web, and even make calls. Yet its absurd to say that the Treo 700 is virtually a PC replacement.

The thing that is interesting about PCs is the long tail. Its not that there are just four things that everyone does (word processing, email, web, pictures). Its that I edit professional quality HD video on my computer and do app development. He plays first person shooters. They use it for their LOB app. He uses it for their video kiosk app. She uses it to access and distribute business intelligence dashboards. He uses it to do photo editing. They use it to monitor various sensors that are hooked up.

And the comfort thing which you dismiss is pretty darn important too. The Windows 7 slates can do EVERYTHING a PC does. It just does most of them a LOT worse. Simply doing things isn't really the same as "doing things".

But if you're happy with your iPad, more power to you. I'll wait to the 7" comes out and I'll use it largely as an ebook reader. It just doesn't do what I need it to do, and it doesn't do what virtually anyone I know needs a laptop to do. But clearly there are some people who exist for which their computing needs are sufficiently satisfied by such a device.

<comment><USER12> > _"It just doesn't do what I need it to do"_

Yet you're trying to use your personal needs to counter claims about whether the bulk of average, non-technical people, are going to run into roadblocks.

> _"Simply doing things isn't really the same as "doing things""_

Clearly, you need to try one out. The iPad is orders of magnitude more useful and effective than Windows slates.

e.g. both _can_ do photo editing and no-one's going to ask either to run photoshop, but regular people will get _far_ more done, _far_ more easily, with an iPad.

It not only _does_ these things, it does them _usably well_.

As to your list: 1\. Printing (unfortunately) will happen shortly.

2\. USB keys are a notable bummer, but like with Flash, USB is a means to an end. It's horribly popular, so it _is_ a pain point, but how often are regular people swapping USB sticks? In my experience, when you get an iOS device, you get a dropbox account shortly after. (Yes, even my mother. She loves Dropbox.)

3\. _People_ don't connect to domains.

4\. Yeah, it connects to cameras.

5\. Do people ask every device to _host_ all of their media content? Most iPods aren't holding _all_ of their owner's media. Most netbooks aren't holding _all_ of their owner's media. That's never been much of a barrier. As long as a considerable swath can be held locally and the rest is accessible, regular people apparently couldn't care less.

<comment><USER11> I love how you change the argument. But in any case.

First, I have tried one. In fact I owned one. If you go back far enough in HN I even talk about it. I generally liked it, but found it too heavy. I'm waiting for the 7" version. With that said, I don't think it can do most of what a PC can do, but I don't think that's its goal either.

And I never claimed that a Win7 slate is more effective than the iPad. In fact it was you who claimed that effectivness wasn't the metric being discussed, but purely capability. 1) So printing isn't there.

2) OK, so now an alternative is something that is slower, requires an account, and only really works at all with an internet connection.

3) I'm not even sure what that means. There are probably more AD users than there are owneers of all iOS devices combined. Certainly at least iPads. If you use your PC for work there is a very good chance your on a domain.

5) This isn't about "every device".... it's about PCs. Most people don't even claim netbooks are real PC replacements. They're meant to be a portable secondary device. No one I know has a netbook as their primary box.

It just seems that many iPad owners contort themselves into pretzels to prove that the iPad is more powerful than any other device at any price point ever conceived. It's simply not. I realize you iPad may have fixed your paralysis, but you still can't print from it.

<comment><USER12> > _"I love how you change the argument"_

I think I've been fairly consistent in defending the core statement. You're the one who appears to be consistently misunderstanding the statements you take issue with.

To wit: > _"I don't think it can do most of what a PC can do,"_

No one claimed anything remotely close to that. What was said was: of the things that most PC users _do_ , most of it _can be done_ on an iPad. (implicitly: usably well; not in that kinda-sorta-technically way that accompanies talks about windows slates, symbian phones, etc.)

How is it that you can recognize no-one expects netbooks to be PC replacements and you can dismiss their limitations due position as secondary devices, but you can't see the same of the iPad? A device that --unlike a netbook-- can't even be used unless you sync it with a primary PC?

> _"It just seems that many iPad owners contort themselves into pretzels to > prove that the iPad is more powerful than any other device at any price > point ever conceived."_

Again: No-one said anything remotely close to that in the article or in this thread.

<comment><USER11> Here's the quote again: "there's not much that most PC users actually do with their PC that they couldn't do with an iPad"

I've listed several things. What exactly is "not much" and what are "most PC users", I don't know. I've listed several things that a lot of PC users do.

I've given concrete things like Flash (or Silverlight). Not sure if there is JVM for it, but there's certainly no CLR. Of course these get dismissed as not being important.

Hardcore gaming. Apparently a niche industry now. It's an industry big enough to help drive PC sales, but apparently a blip for iPads.

Side-loading, USB keys, printing -- mere inconveniences, as minor as missing a mute button.

Didn't even mention things like watch DVDs or CDs, but that's old technology right? What about BluRay? Streaming over iTunes is the way better solution anyways.

Burning CDs/DVDs? Why would you do that when you can just put stuff on DropBox?

And then less concrete things like workflow difficulty. Such as the current browser tabs being ridiculously slow, and the fact that one can't have a spreadsheet calculating in the background while reading a report. Because clearly unless you do things the way Apple prescribed, you're doing it wrong.

The iPad doesn't fit this quote: "there's not much that most PC users actually do with their PC that they couldn't do with an iPad".

A FAR better quote is, "The iPad does somethings your PC does, but some things it doesn't do. OTOH, some experiences are better on the iPad. It's a different kind of device".

<comment><USER12> I think both quotes work perfectly well. I'm not reading into the first whatever it is you think the second avoids.

"much" I personally quantify on the basis of "things a normal user does at least weekly". If half the things a normal user does weekly can't be reasonably done on the iPad, that's 'much'. If we're down to one or two things, that's not much.

"most PC users" I personally define as the people who are primarily concerned with outcomes as opposed to technologies. The kind who don't care whether a device does or doesn't 'do' Flash; they only care when a site they visit doesn't do the things they want it to do.

To approximate 'much' and 'most PC users', try this: Suppose you're on vacation for a week. You take the iPad with you to the lounge for happy hour and leave the laptop in the room.

(You're on vacation to get away from the corporate concerns that normal users don't have. You're in the lounge to give us a threshold to determine if an outcome is realistically feasible or not.)

How many things might you want to do during a week of happy hours, where you'd rather go back to your room to use the laptop, rather than just use the iPad?

i.e. If you'd rather go up to use the laptop, then the iPad's capability is moot, because it's too onerous even if it exists. And if the better interface isn't worth the five minute walk, then the iPad 'can' do that task, even if not ideally.

Crunching that spreadsheet might be less annoying if you could browse during the process, but if the wait is only a minute or two, you'd probably just grumble about the lack of backgrounding and stay where you were.

A more serious spreadsheet might be worth the walk. But how often would those come up?

Similarly, you might want some files that are on a USB key. Now, do you just take the key upstairs, or can you get those files with an alternative workflow that is less annoying that going up to the room? (e.g. downloading the files directly to the iPad if they're on a server. Or emailing the person who gave you the key and asking them to email a zip file. or otherwise post them.)

If there's a lot of data, or if you keep important stuff on there as a matter of course, then it's probably easier to just run up to the room.

But how often are you accessing data that's only on a thumb-drive and inconvenient enough to get another way that you hop on that elevator?

etc.

The workflow problem is, in my mind, a far more serious problem than a lack of flash or usb mass storage support. It's the unavoidable barrier that prevents the iPad being remotely arguable as suitable as a primary device for any user. Until that's addressed --while still not a toy-- the iPad will forever be a secondary device.

<comment><USER11> Your scenario doesn't work for me since I think more people spend time using computers in the office, rather than while on vacation.

But if I am on vacation, I'm going to the lounge with neither my laptop nor my iPad. I'm taking the Kindle, because I'm going to deck of the lounge to enjoy some sun, while I catch up on some books I've neglected for real work over the past year. I am on vacation, right? :=)

<comment><USER12> > _"I think more people spend time using computers in the office, rather than > while on vacation."_ There you go, you're thinking about the wrong people. > The iPad, as a consumer product, is aimed at home users. Business users have > different needs and they absolutely run into more of the iPad's limitations.

The example is set on vacation just to get you into the mindset of a home user: computing for pleasure, family use.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Messaging done right - <AUTHOR> https://dklo.co/ <comment><USER2> Unfortunately, it never loads for me. Just shows the loading bar animation over and over.

<comment><USER3> What browser are you using ? Are you on mobile ? Dikalo does not not work on web mobile.</comment></comment>


What Is the Geometry of the Universe? - <AUTHOR> https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-the-geometry-of-the-universe-20200316/ <comment><USER2> Quanta is such a top notch publication. I am consistently impressed with the quality of their writing.

Great article on geometry, particularly a nice explanation of the flat torus, and of whether things can or cannot be measured locally.

<comment><USER3> Quanta is really good, I agree. It seems to me like a reincarnation of Popular Science at its peak. If you like similar work, check out Nautilus. For more philosophical tangents, Aeon is great as well.

<comment><USER4> +1. Seems Firefox (or Pocket) is always suggesting articles from those 3 places to me in the new tab, and I'm happy for that.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> You know how Saturn's North Pole is a hexagon? It wouldn't surprise me if someday we find some shape to the universe that isn't smoothly circular because of some fundamental force that we don't understand yet. I'd vote for a hexagon, since if you stack a bunch of circles, that's the shape you get (the other circles being other universes). Plus bees are probably interdimensional beings.

<comment><USER6> Every now and then I read some far-out scientific paper, and I'm pretty sure it's real, but I get fascinated with the question of how I _really_ know that it's not pseudo-science by some crank.

Example:

"In this section, we investigate the band structures of plasmonic ribbons with four types of boundary conditions, i.e. zigzag, bearded zigzag, armchair, and bearded armchair"

(from "The existence of topological edge states in honeycomb plasmonic lattices")

<comment><USER7> A real crank would try to use professional-sounding language, only someone completely secure in their field would call sometime a "bearded armchair." ;)

<comment><USER8> naming things is hard.

I now have this mental image of the author sat there for three hours trying to come up with a name, and then just exploding with "fuckit! I don't care what it's called! It doesn't matter. I was sat in an armchair when I thought of it, so armchair it is! If they can have strange quarks, I can have armchairs"

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I think anyone who has experience playing old video games can intuit the first 1/3 of the article from this experience. Think of one of those spaceship games played on a 2D screen, where you can exit out the right side and re-enter through the left, at the same vertical coordinate. That's a 2D torus, or R^2/Z^2. And one can easily extend this by one dimension to generate a possible physical universe. The generalization is that now you are in a 3D room shaped like a cube, where you can fly into the ceiling and come out the floor (same with the left/right, front/back walls). This is R^3/Z^3, the simplest space like ours that isn't "infinite" (while finite, it might still be very big, and that's why we shouldn't expect to be able to detect this situation by simply shining a light and waiting to see it from behind).

<comment><USER10> Hyperrogue[1] takes place in hyperbolic space. Definitely a good way to gain an intuition for it. It offers several different projections, so you can try them out. It's also open source[2].

1: [https://roguetemple.com/z/hyper/](https://roguetemple.com/z/hyper/)

2: [https://github.com/zenorogue/hyperrogue](https://github.com/zenorogue/hyperrogue)

<comment><USER11> Another game to check out in this vein is hypernom, developed by henry segerman, vi hart, and some other people that I don't remember: [http://hypernom.com/](http://hypernom.com/)

<comment><USER12> In a less principled way, there's also 'Antichamber' and 'Tea for God'.

Both use Escher-like spaces that are locally Euclidean but don't connect in proper ways. Eg if you go 360 degrees around a column, you might arrive at a different place in the level from where you started.

In Antichamber it's an interesting gimmick. In 'Tea For God' the mechanic is actually useful, because it's a way to fold a big level into the small boundaries of the VR space you defined on the Oculus Quest in your living room.

<comment><USER13> Here is my blogpost on various weird geometries used in games: [https://medium.com/@ZenoRogue/non-euclidean-geometry-and- gam...](https://medium.com/@ZenoRogue/non-euclidean-geometry-and-games- fb46989320d4)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> This is great. For anyone who wants to dive a bit deeper I would highly recommend the book _The Shape of Space_ by Jeffrey Weeks. It's a wonderful insight into topology that can be enjoyed by anyone with high school math or above. I've even spotted it in the small library for graduate students at the Cambridge University maths department.

Definitely my favourite maths book.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/599877.The_Shape_of_Spac...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/599877.The_Shape_of_Space)

<comment><USER15> thanks - seems like a book worth reading

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> If you want to get an intuition for the weirder curvatures of 3D space, there's a playable "curved space simulator" created by topologist Jeff Weeks called Curved Spaces. I remember it from a while back, but apparently it recently got an update! Some combinations of curvatures and tilings get really funky to navigate.

[http://www.geometrygames.org/CurvedSpaces/index.html.en](http://www.geometrygames.org/CurvedSpaces/index.html.en)

</comment><comment><USER17> The article mentions topology but I feel like most everything in physics is geometrically oriented and makes no particular topology rules, just normal continuity. I feel like the next discovery will be topological in nature. Some relativity of topology that fixes locality.

</comment><comment><USER18> I don't understand how they do the comparison between the torus and sphere. First to take a rectangular paper as an example for a torus and then say some parts would stretch doesn't make a scientific comparison to a sphere. As I understand the only difference between a sphere and a torus geometrical is that as a flat piece the sharp tops are cut of a flat piece of sphere. See link for picture of flat sphere: [https://www.cadforum.cz/img/petals.gif](https://www.cadforum.cz/img/petals.gif)

<comment><USER19> One way to see the difference is to consider a loop on the sphere or torus. On a sphere, any loop can always be drawn tighter until it is a point. On a torus, there will be some loops that cannot be drawn tight, as they go 'through the hole'. Another way is to imagine the sphere and the torus are hairy. You can comb a torus such that all hairs lie in more or less the same direction as their neighbours - if you try this with a sphere, there will be at least one point where the hairs completely diverge.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> When we are whole brain emulations in the cloud, we can experiment with upgrades to our hippocampus to work with alternate geometries. There's no particular reason to assume that our current one is optimal for thinking. Maybe different geometries are better for different tasks. We could match the dimensionality of the workspace to the problem space. Want to visualize 7 dimensional data? Project it in 7 dimensional space with your brain adjusted to make it feel natural.

<comment><USER21> Characters in Greg Egan's hard sci-fi book Diaspora do this

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> Alternate geometries are interesting but it seems pretty clear that a flat universe is the simplest conclude when what we observe in the large scale is a flat universe (this is the case in most sophisticated observations despite general relativity demonstrating local curvature).

I think that the motivation for a universe that's bounded in some fashion comes from the philosophical paradoxes that come from an infinite universe. But I don't, maybe just deal with them.

</comment><comment><USER23> This article helped me to understand a great talk by Lawrence Krauss which then became the book A Universe from Nothing.

</comment><comment><USER24> I remember asking someone maybe a physicist since space is curved why do we locally see it has relatively flat.

<comment><USER25> The radius of curvature is much bigger than distances we daily measure, for a similar reason when dealing with small distances on the surface of the earth you can use flat, Euclidean geometry. We can measure the curvature of space(time), for example, Gravity Probe A managed to measure the curvature of space-time in the vicinity of earth.

<comment><USER26> I followed the gravity probe b experiment when it was happening. It tried to measure two effects of Einstein's theory. In layman terms how far should one be to see the curvature of spacetime? My son was asking and I couldn't offer an explanation as to how much the earth curves the spacetime around it. How could one use gravitational force value of 9.8 m/s2 help in grasping it the curvature of spacetime, since that is something we are aware of.

<comment><USER25> As curvature of space is affecting measurments of distances in angles, the curvature of spacetime is affecting both measurements of time and distance.

Concerning the curvature of space: If you measure sum of angles of triangle on the surface of earth, it will be grater than 180 deagrees thanks to positive curvature of earth surface. For triangle in your backyard the diference will be immesurable, but if your measure traingle with segments spanning for 6 thousends kilometers sum of the angles will be closer to 270 deg than 180 deg.

For the spacetime in the vicinity of earth you don't have to necessarly think about large distances, here ([https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/2pu2o0/is_there...](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/2pu2o0/is_there_any_time_dilation_between_us_and_the/cn03iuf/)) someone calculated diference for two clocks so you can se scale :

"If so the clocks on Earth's surface and 7km down would see a relative drift of 0.001ns per second, so the lower clock would tick that much slower as viewed by someone on the surface. At that rate over the course of a billion years the surface clock would pull ahead by 525.6 minutes."

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> Haven't read this yet, but another good question is why can't we know the topology of the universe.

</comment><comment><USER28> Dodecahedron :-)

<comment><USER29> Your snarky remark carries much more mathematical depth than it appears on the surface.

There exists a 3-manifold that is homologous to a 3-sphere but not homeomomorphic to it; the so-called Poincaré homology sphere:

> > [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homology_sphere&o...](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homology_sphere&oldid=911674219#Poincar%C3%A9_homology_sphere)

Among the homology 3-spheres (besides the 3-sphere itself), the Poincaré homology sphere is the only one with a finite fundamental group.

Now for the plot twists:

1\. A possible construction of the Poincaré homology sphere starts with a dodecahedron.

2\. The fundamental group of the Poincaré homology sphere is the binary icosahedral group ([https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Binary_icosahedra...](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Binary_icosahedral_group&oldid=940730315)), which is an extension of the symmetry group of the dodecahedron/icosahedron.

3\. The _huge_ plot twist: What does this all have to do with the question "What Is the Geometry of the Universe?"? Let me quote the Wikipedia article:

"In 2003, lack of structure on the largest scales (above 60 degrees) in the cosmic microwave background as observed for one year by the WMAP spacecraft led to the suggestion, by Jean-Pierre Luminet of the Observatoire de Paris and colleagues, that the shape of the universe is a Poincaré sphere. In 2008, astronomers found the best orientation on the sky for the model and confirmed some of the predictions of the model, using three years of observations by the WMAP spacecraft. As of 2016, the publication of data analysis from the Planck spacecraft suggests that there is no observable non-trivial topology to the universe."

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> The universe is a spheroid region, 705m in diameter.

</comment><comment><USER31> tldr; We don't know.

</comment><comment><USER15> When I was in school (not a physics major) I imagined universe as a 3 dimensional sphere, S3, which is a surface of a 4-dimensional ball that constantly inflates since Big Bang - hence the flow of time.

I wonder if that model can be easily disproven given what we know now?

<comment><USER32> I imagined exactly the same. However, Planck experiments show that the universe is flat. It means, our theory was wrong - or the sphere is so big that we can't notice its curvature, thinking we're living on a flat 4-dimentional surface (almost like with Earth in ancient times)

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> According to a proper philosophy there is no way to know. Only to have socially constructed consensus (hello, mr.Khun)

Let me remind you that abstract concepts like dimensions, does not exist outside human minds.

The question itself contain a type error: the concept is not applicable.

<comment><USER34> I don't see how the question contains a type error, any more than the question of the earth being round contains a type error.

<comment><USER33> Philosophy of science is an easy subject and a person of reasonable intelligence could grasp the principles without any difficulty.

The current contest is not of experimentally verified facts, but of fancy abstract models. For funding and the high social status of an abstract "researcher".

The vastly complex and expensive devices for "experiments" are made according to the current model - a layer upon layers of socially constructed abstractions. This is no different from theology.

You could also read about positivism and acceptance of the limits of what could be known (not accepted or believed).

<comment><USER35> Yes, the difficulty of making machines to test these ideas makes their results less trustworthy. But you're applying am uneven amount of ontological skepticism here. You talk about the 'limits of what could be known', but this applies just as much to your own senses or the existence of society as it does to the validity of scientific models.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How should I land my next consulting gig(s)? - <AUTHOR>

Like any good HNer, I've been working on speculative projects, expanding my skillset with side work, and paying the bills while having a blast consulting for startups for the last couple of years. However, for a number of personal reasons, I need to spend the next 6-9 months maximizing my cash income. I want to put this into effect starting in early August. So that means I have one month to put the necessary client list/portfolio/resume together to start making this happen.
As a programmer, I am very proficient in building Django web apps. I can write the necessary SQL, python, javascript, and css to build every part of a Django app, and then do the system administration necessary to deploy on AWS using EC2. I can also rig up a CDN to work seemlessly with the app using S3 and Cloudfront. I have built GIS applications using GeoDjango and PostGIS, and I have constructed social video apps by implementing Encoding.com as a service to prepare raw video files for consumption on the web.
I am also moderately proficient in programming PHP, Java, and C#. I have built web apps in PHP, and desktop apps in Java and C#. I have dabbled with Android applications and iPhone apps, but nothing I would show off.
I also have some experience doing SEO, social media marketing, and content marketing. Many of my clients have needed their apps promoted after they were built, and I was always happy to oblige when I could.
I have also worked with biometrics technology including fingerprints for government contractors. This was as much a business analyst role as it was a programming gig, as I had to help answer RFPs, make checklists, and work around reems and reems of regulations to build applications that met very large bureaucratic requirements.
I only have two real requirements for my next gig(s):
1) Work remotely. I live in North East Ohio, and I don't plan on leaving, but I wouldn't mind traveling one or two weeks out of every month to service clients who need on-site help.
2) $60.00-$999999.99USD/hr contracting rate. (OT: Why can't I use &infin; here?)
So what should I do for the next 30 days to achieve this? Should I target some large company and learn the requisite buzzwords to impress them? Should I learn some new language or technology? Polish some skill that I already have? Should I build something using my current skillset, or with some new technology? Should I put a website for my consultancy together to market myself? Should I do that using latest technology x, y, and z? Or should I just slap something up on Tumblr?
I'm willing to do anything (moral) over the next 4 weeks to put myself into a position to maximize my income, and I'm open to all and every idea HNers may have. Let me hear them. <comment><USER2> If you are targeting start-ups, I would place a more specific skills description on your web site. Not picking-up, but:

Postgres - what exactly can you do? Set-up master-slave replication? Set pgbouncer, else? Do it on AWS? Using RAID? xfs FS?

What did your projects handle? 100 uniqs, 10'000 uniqs, more?

nginx - one server, 10 nodes cluster, 100 nodes cluster?

Your LinkedIn has too much marketing speak [that's OK on LinkedIn], but instead of

-Rackous Rackous was founded as a streaming media website aimed at eliminating the fragmentation consumers face as ........ vices ensured a wide-range of compatibility. Rackous' stack inlcuded MongoDB, Amazon Cloudfront and S3, Django, and Flowplayer or an optional HTML5 Player for devices without Flash.

I would put, for example:

Can implement[ed] complete web solution for media upload, encoding/decoding, storage and streaming using [Red5, Flash, else] in 2 weeks.

or

Can implement[ed] video chat/web conference/etc using ... in .. days.

with emphasis on execution - what you did, therefore can do.

Also, there was HN Hiring people post a week ago.

And there was great post of the guy who started freelancing a couple of months ago. Also he had excellent recap of skills. Did not keep the link, web site in bluish colors. May be other guys can recall?

<comment><AUTHOR> It seems like your advice is to go through my various Job seeking profiles (GitHub, LinkedIn, Indeed.com, Monster, Dice.com) and re-word them with metrics to show what I can do in a more quantitative way.

In my case, none of the startups I've worked for have gotten much traction. They handled maybe 100 uniqs. Is there some way I could prove I could build an application that can handle 10,000 uniques without actually building one? Maybe building a simple app, and then using BrowserMob or Blitz.io to show what kind of load I can support?

Do you think that taking those steps will lead to me getting a gig in August? I'm trying to optimize the job-finding process. I know I'll be working in August, what I'm trying to figure out is how I can optimize my income.

<comment><USER2> re 1 par -> No.

My advice is:

1\. focus on 3 places - your web site, GitHub and LinkedIn. I wouldn't bother about others.

2\. Your web site - add button for Resume/About me on front page; add clear readable resume-like description of your skills; make it technical enough, so that visitors understand what you can do.

Not sure how to explain this, but when I was hiring for IT/finance jobs, after 30-50 resumes I could easily separate good folks based on the way how they described their achivements.

3\. GitHub - if I would be a recruiter, I would expect to see more stuff [prior projects], unless those were proprietary.

4\. LinkedIn - too many buzzwords and marketing speak for my liking, but may be OK for suits, don't know.

>> Is there some way I could prove I could build an application that can handle 10,000 uniques without actually building one?

Sure there is. Without building - no. Should not be difficult - get 3-5 VMs on AWS, set-up three tier (1 nginx -> 2-3 uwsgi/gunicorns -> 1 postgres) - yes, either blitz.io or [this is a tricky one] - post challenge on HN. I recall someone did this with WP. Just one example. Can be somth else.

The key is - your achivements shall be aligned with your strengths/skills shall be aligned with your representation [website, LI, GH] shall be aligned with which gigs you target/want.

The above will not guarantee a gig [it is Step 1], but imrove your success probability.

My view.....

<comment><AUTHOR> This is the most applicable advice I've gotten. I really appreciate it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> One of my own ideas was to build a website for my consultancy. It would have three sections, one for Programming, one for SEO, and one for business analytics.

I would build the site using Django and Twitter bootstrap and deploy it on AWS. I'd host the blog on Tumblr and market the site with content marketing and social media.

Then I'd collect all of the email addresses that I've amassed from HR personnel and recruiters over the years and announce the grand opening of my consultancy's website.

I'd also like to build a time bidding app so potential clients can bid on my time, sort of like what others have done including this guy: <http://www.thisiscool.com/buytime.htm>

I think this would be a great way to use my time, but I don't know if it maximizes my earnings potential. It certainly wouldn't add too much to my skillset, so I'm not sure if it's the best route.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Another idea I had was to spend the month honing my iPhone and Android app abilities, and then launch 2 apps for each device by the end of the month that would show off my skills as a developer.

I think it would take a good chunk of time to go solely into development for myself in order to start making money, so this would be used as a way to gain development talent that I could use in consulting.

The problem with this idea is that I would have to use all of my time developing (which I like) and almost none of my time marketing myself, which seems necessary. This idea may need more time to do in order to start landing contracts by August.</comment>


Ask HN: What would you change to make meetings productive? - <AUTHOR> Hello HN,
We'd love to hear your thoughts on your most keenly felt pain points wrt meetings and how you'd like to see them fixed esp. wrt conference calls or video conferencing.
All suggestions and moonshot ideas are welcome. Who knows, we may be so impressed that we may build it for you :)
Thanks,
The folks at izi.ai <comment><USER2> I'd have everyone who ever leads a meeting read the book "meetings matter"</comment>


OpenWrt 19.07 - <AUTHOR> https://openwrt.org/releases/19.07/notes-19.07.0 <comment><USER3> How hard is it to get devices included into OpenWRT's Table of Hardware, or official releases?

I have an End-Of-Life'd SG-1000 from PFsense developer NetGate [https://www.netgate.com/solutions/pfsense/sg-1000.html](https://www.netgate.com/solutions/pfsense/sg-1000.html)

The thing no longer gets updates as of October 2019 and was never particularly well supported, but feels like an absolutely perfect OpenWRT target

I've poked at it on and off with regard to getting Linux running, as it seems to be heavily based off a standard, old Ti SoC "evaluation board" and it /mostly/ works

The problem I've run into though with the upstream kernel is the ethernet NIC's appear to be linked. If you unplug either interface, they both stop responding until they are both reconnected to active devices. I'm not well- versed enough with ARM DeviceTree to figure out what the issue is, nor do I want to buy the Ti hardware SDK to test it with

The old 4.4.3-yocto files Netgate sent me do appear to work with it, and the DeviceTree even works up to 4.19-LTS with minimal modification [https://intelminer.com/pflin.zip](https://intelminer.com/pflin.zip)

<comment><USER4> Maybe it would be easier to get help when you ask this on the OpenWRT mailing list or IRC [https://openwrt.org/contact](https://openwrt.org/contact)

<comment><USER5> It might be, but most people's experience of mailing lists involves them getting their head blown off for daring to ask a question without three year's solid experience in the area.

(I have no idea if OpenWRT in particular is like this, but there's enough out there that people don't make them their first port of call.)

<comment><USER6> OpenWRT has communication problems. Sometime ago I tried to report a bug in the build system. It took them about two weeks to recognize that there's indeed a problem and went over like this:

/me: Bug in the build system. This is how to reproduce.

/they: Bug in Linux kernel. Not our problem.

/they: Bug is closed, upstream issue.

/me: No, toolchain bug. Here is proof.

/they: need logs

/me: here's logs

/me: here's a clumsy fix

/they: that's so stupid

/they: and your linux installation is broken

/me: no it's not, see here, working as intended

/they: you don't understand cross-compiling

/me: look here, you are setting up the cross-compilation all wrong

/they: kernel bug, fixed upstream

/me: not that again

/me: here's build logs, cross-compilation issue

/they: you are stupid, your linux installation is broken

/me: linux installation is just fine, but you are relying on a debian-ism

/me: here's patch

/they: ok, send to mailing list for review

/they: IRC says patch stupid

/they: we've merged our patch

They really need to work on being not hostile and clannish. Never had any issue on other mailing lists, and those weren't the Kumbaya-required kind with a code of conduct.

<comment><USER7> I mirror your experience. People are hostile and always interpret in the worst possible way. It is very difficult to defuse a situation, it's like walking on eggshells while blindfolded with a heavy backpack. I don't like their community at all.

<comment><USER6> The persistent unwillingness to engage and the inclination to dismiss was remarkable. Rachelbythebay had something somewhere about patches kept private and not submitted because no one wants to put up with an unreasonable or arrogant maintainer. All her observations apply here. Who would put up with the concentrated obnoxiousness?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Please note that the popular TP-Link Archer C7 v2 is affected by a bug or two which drops 5Ghz WiFi performance significantly. Some people are reporting the link quality is so bad even SSH is unusable.

As always, back up your config, and make a note of your working firmware before upgrading. I'm going to sit this one out for a bit :).

<comment><USER9> My short story with router above:

> Get one for my parents, flash it with OpenWRT - 200mbps down - not crazy but > enough for them

> One year later, update with an "optimized" version - 600mbps down - <USER2>

> One year later, update with latest - down to 200mbps and can't find the > build I've used previously!

<comment><USER10> Always, always, always save those ROMs. Same for BIOS/UEFI updates for your mobos.

You won't regret it.

<comment><USER10> ...and also your phone ROMs, if you flash them. And drivers. And everything else you need to operate your devices.

I have a Moto G2 a.k.a. "Titan" (2014), flashed it to LineageOS, bricked it three years ago, got another phone, recently checked it out again, and couldn't download LineageOS for it anymore.

Luckily, MicroG still had a ROM for it, and now it works fine, but I'd've preferred the pure LOS version, as it runs Android 7, on which Google Play Services is not an absolute necessity (with Android 8, you need it to get push notifications).

I believe I can still get the source code for it and compile it myself, but I've never done that for an Android ROM before, and I'm not particularly keen on trying that out now.

My point being: Your devices could, in theory, live forever, but the files for it (ROMs and drivers) may not always be available, and knowing the internet, won't.

In my field (industrial IT), it's not uncommon to still have PCs running on Intel Core2 systems, but more and more vendors are dropping the product pages and driver files for them. Pentium 4s are also still being used, but good luck finding drivers for them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Interesting bug observed in 19.07 by users of some routers: the unit will perpetually boot into failsafe mode despite not being triggered to do so. Recompiling with the failsafe module removed from the build solves the problem, but exposes what is possibly the root cause - configuration changes remain only as long as the router is powered on despite being saved, nothing persists through a reboot of the router, and the unit will always start up with the default config.

I had to test it on my (deprecated) Netgear EX2700 and could confirm the exact same problem. Other than the lack of configuration persistence, 19.07 performs just great and I was pleased with many of the new features and changes. Unfortunately I'll have to stick with 18.06.6 as I have power outtages every now and then.

<comment><USER12> Sounds like this known issue, mentioned in the release notes:

 _Images for some device became too big to support a persistent overlay, causing such models to lose configuration after a reboot. If you experience this problem, please report the affected device in the forum and consider downgrading to OpenWrt 18.06 or using the Image Builder to pack a smaller custom image._

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> OpenWRT is great.

This release brings all devices up to the same (mostly) unpatched Linux kernel, 4.14.

For the popular Tp-link Archer C7 routers (and family?) you finally get soft off-loading with the new ath79 device-tree, meaning the device can now handle routing 600mbps+ where it before would only route 350mbps+. That's massive!

The new client-side GUI is noticeably snappier on slow routers.

I've already upgraded all the 5 units I have in my home network, and I'm feeling it. I've kept settings despite recommendations against doing so, and I've had zero problems. Super-smooth!

Props to the team and everyone involved. Despite their modesty this was quite a release!

<comment><USER14> I have an old C7v2 to that was the basis of my household's network until I upgraded to an EdgeRouter + Unifi APs.

The C7 was fine for a while but in the end got extremely unreliable, even in partial roles as only a router (with wifi disabled) and then later as only a an AP (with the DHCP server disabled). Currently it's unplugged because any time it was turned on, devices would roam to it and get stuck there with no connectivity.

I should try upgrading it to the latest OpenWRT and see if things are any better.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> How does everyone feel about the security of OpenWRT? vs Tomato?

What about say configuring my own OpenBSD server to act as a router? I am out of my intellectual depth here but I feel like that would be more secure than Linux in general if we are going for max security.

As governments and private equity groups continue to buy out whatever hosting provider, VPN, Registrar, etc they can find...I feel like Open Source is a pretty soft target in the grand scheme of things. I am trying to become somewhat ruthless in analyzing my dependencies when it comes to software.

NOTE: another commenter mentioned a TP-Link product. Those devices are absolutely insecure to the core of their firmware for the time being. 7 days ago I discovered their completely open _production_ Elasticsearch API server for their entire camera and IOT platform in the United States. It has now been remediated but that event puts under suspicion anything else the company deals with via the TP-Link brand out of Shenzhen.

<comment><USER16> I can recommend building your own OpenBSD router. Installing OpenBSD is easy, and once you have it installed the base system contains everything you need to set up a router along with _excellent_ documentation for everything. OpenBSD people also take security seriously, so if you stick with the base system, you'll be fine. That said, you'd be fine on Linux too, depending on the distribution; it's not like Linux-based systems are somehow fundamentally insecure.

I really can't stress enough how good the documentation is; in the Linux world I'm used to googling and wikis and whatnot because most man pages for the components of a distro are either nonexistent or incomplete, but with OpenBSD, you'll do fine with just man and apropos. It's considered a bug if the documentation is missing something.

OpenBSD is a fantastic OS for learning about all kinds of UNIX and networking stuff if you're not opposed to spending some time reading good quality documentation.

<comment><USER17> Any recommendations for hardware to run an OpenBSD router on? Support for ARM and MIPS devices seems pretty limited, leaving x86 stuff like Protectli or PC- Engines (which are both pretty expensive for what you get).

<comment><USER18> PCEngines is the way to go from what I have seen.

I installed OpenBSD on an APU2C4 and it has been rock solid for the last year and a bit.

In terms of cost you will be hard pressed to find a x86 SOC with 4 I tel NICs and a serial port at a cheaper price.

<comment><USER17> I'd imagine its plenty enough for a home internet router, but it stings a bit to pay ~$150 for a system with a 2013 CPU (and a very low end one, at that).

<comment><USER19> OpenBSD will run fine in this role on sub-US$50 refurb Core 2 PC or a sub-$100 Atom box if power is an issue. Even a P2/P3 can keep up with anything but the highest end broadband.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> While we're on an OpenWrt thread: what's the best way if any to get a view of "who's using the bandwidth right now" on it ?

Not the process, not the remote host, not the monthly agreggate, but which connected device wifi or lan is using what, total or by host.

(use case; figuring out whose phone/laptop/tablet/tv/whatever is suddenly eating all the bandwidth in my home from time to time)

I'm using 18.06.05. A nice view in LuCI would be perfect but something that need to ssh is fine too.

<comment><USER21> On openwrt I like small utils. As ssh is fine: having a look adhoc who is a bandwith hog, I check with iftop and press "t" to cycle to one-line-sent view and "s" to aggregate to the receiver see [https://openwrt.org/docs/guide- user/services/network_monitor...](https://openwrt.org/docs/guide- user/services/network_monitoring/bwmon#using_iftop) \- there's no key yet to toggle per item total amount, but this can be had by using "show-totals" in an .iftoprc file:

        line-display: one-line-sent
        hide-source: yes
        dns-resolution: yes
        show-totals: yes
        show-bars: yes
        use-bytes: yes
        sort: 10s

downside is: iftop as far as I know can't filter multiple interfaces, so you'd need to check them separately with -i eth0 / -i wlan0. If you're mainly concerned about latency, give the package "sqm-scripts" a try. You're sacrificing a bit of bandwith for active queue management. So a VoIP session is not affected by a download.

<comment><USER20> Thanks, that seems to be exactly what I wish !

Already using sqm (and I love it) but it's for use cases like when a laptop that hasn't been used in a while is started by someone to charge before watching a movie and steam/dropbox/windows on said laptop start hogging everything. In a residential area where we're still depending on ~10 Mbps adsl, identifying the device can be a need.

> downside is: iftop as far as I know can't filter multiple interfaces, so > you'd need to check them separately with -i eth0 / -i wlan0.

Since I care only about lan <=> wan, doesn't that mean I just need to check on wan ? And all clients would be there, no matter if they're connected to the router through lan or by wifi ?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I've been disappointed with every consumer grade router out there. Countless bugs from annoying hiccups to a daily reboot. I feel like I've replaced my router every couple of years, never spending less than $150, up to $250.

Finally I splurged for a UniFi Dream Machine a couple of months ago and I could not be happier.

Nothing against the OpenWrt folks of course, but the reason these projects exist is the router vendors just suck. I won't give them any more of my $ (Linksys, Netgear, ASUS in my case.)

<comment><USER23> They should just all adopt OpenWRT (with their custom UI) and invest in it. Like Android for smartphones.

All router firmware is terrible in some ways, and has been for decades -_-

<comment><USER24> That was my thinking with going with MerlinWRT. I splurged and got an Asus ax88u, then spent two weeks trying to get it to work before returning it. I do think part of the issue is WiFi technology is diverse enough that the latest and greatest are optimized around 5Ghz and newer specs whereas a lot of IOT (which I use) is still old school 2.4. Anyway I tried OpenWRT for a while but went back to DD-WRT on an Archer C9 which has been just about perfect for my usage.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> It's worth noting that OpenWRT doesn't just run on "embedded"/"dedicated" OEM router hardware: it works _great_ on any x86-based system (often sold as "pfSense" boxes, etc.) as well and offers a lot of great functionality.

<comment><USER26> pfSense is a completely different product and not related to OpenWrt at all. It even isn't based on Linux, but on FreeBSD.

<comment><USER27> I assume GP is aware of that, and from what I understand, he is pointing out that OpenWRT also happens to run great on various x86 hardware/SBCs sold as "pfsense boxes".

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> Got WPA3 working with it, yaay! [https://gist.github.com/est31/d92d17acbb4ea152296f9b38764cd7...](https://gist.github.com/est31/d92d17acbb4ea152296f9b38764cd791#gistcomment-3134561)

<comment><USER21> to encourage others.. wpa3 for me was install of one package (opkg install --force-overwrite hostapd-openssl) and changing one config line (encryption = 'sae'). Client had no issue connecting (wpa_supplicant 2.9 on ubuntu 19.10, though only nmcli shows the connection as wpa3). The various dragonblood attacks are mitigated in current hostapd if I'm not mistaken.

<comment><USER28> If you only have WPA3-capable devices on your network, setting encryption=sae is fine. I have to support WPA3 incapable devices and thus need to use the sae-mixed option (also the wpa_supplicant patch I use requires wpa2-psk support).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> There was a time when I had the free time to install dd-wrt on a brand "new" Linksys WRT54G and fiddle with tons of features but today I'm completely satisfied by my FRITZ!Box(1) that requires near zero active maintenance. I don't get thousand of features, but all the ones I need at home.

I'm honestly curious: why do you guys use OpenWRT, dd-wrt, tomato etc.? Re- using old hardware? Flashing bugged cheap routers that work bad with official firmware (that's never going to be fixed probably)? Need a specific feature not normally available on home net devices? Just enthusiast about the project or simply enjoying the hacking?

(1) I spent a few euros more on it than the typical home network appliances but I gained them back in quality, reliability, active support and development: no crappy hardware, no bugged software and zero issue with my 15+ WiFi devices in my house in a year.

<comment><USER30> I updated my router to this release today. Then I setup:

1\. DNS over HTTPS to cloudflare so that my DNS doesn't leak.

2\. Hurricane Electric's tunnelbroker, so that I can access the IPv6 web.

3\. Dynamic DNS so that I can address my home connection anywhere, even if my IP changes.

4\. Wiregaurd so that I can access everything on my home network.

I tend to agree that most people should just buy Ubiquiti SOHO gear and be done with it, but at least for me, this is cheaper and a bit more fun.

<comment><USER31> For #3 I use ZeroTier (but this of course won't let me access fridge of coffee machine remotely because i can't install ZT on them :) )

but anything else goes, especially #4 WireGuard.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> I'm running 19.07 since the first release candidate on Ubiquiti gear, no issues so far, with uptimes of weeks.

<comment><USER33> As ubiquiti is the apple of routers and they do have very good routers and software, what is the motivation for putting openwrt?

<comment><USER34> Run OpenWRT on some Edgerouter Xs in my house and for me it's consistency of the interface/configuration between all of my network devices and also full control. Runs OpenWRT quite well.

<comment><USER35> I am considering doing the same. What kind of performance are you seeing running OpenWRT? I know with EdgeOS performance is lackluster without using the NAT offloading module.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER36> Nothing is very clear, but I get the impression that:

\- targets labeled "ar71xx" can only use the old driver, and will probably not be supported in future releases. Consider replacing such equipment.

\- targets labeled "ath79" have already been ported (or started out?) with the new driver, and owners may ignore the whole topic.

\- targets labeled "ar71xx-to-ath79" have a commitment for support for the new driver, so that all future releases should work with this hardware (even though this latest release still uses the old driver).

Can somebody confirm whether this is an accurate understanding?

I have tp-link AC1750v5 routers, identified with the third bullet above. Can I ignore this, or do I have to do something to switch it to the new driver?

<comment><USER37> There is no driver change, only changes in the way the device is supported by the kernel (mach files in ar71xx, Device Tree in ath79)

The "ar71xx-ath79" target is used in the wiki for devices that are supported both in ar71xx and ath79, there should be 19.07.0 images for both.

In any case, use ath79 for new devices, and migrate from ar71xx to ath79 on existing devices.

There is a guide here: [https://openwrt.org/docs/guide- user/installation/ar71xx.to.a...](https://openwrt.org/docs/guide- user/installation/ar71xx.to.ath79)

<comment><USER36> OK, so it appears that changing to the new "driver configuration" mainly affects what names the devices have in /dev and /sys, which would make your current router configuration not work, without some active translation, first.

So, when you install the new boot image, you choose which, and if you choose the ath79 one, then when you restore the configuration, something runs to translate it for the new names. Presumably, then, if everything seems to work, you make a new backup with the new settings, and everybody can forget the old names.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> I just installed this today and have been struggling with the WPA3 on my Linksys all evening. I finally gave up for the evening, and opened HN, to find these release notes at the top of the front page.

Some of my specific issues were addressed, if I had simply bothered to read the release notes carefully. Instead, I found my update file, and updated. When WPA3 didn't show up, I poked around forums for workarounds and finally found some answers that helped. Now my other clients couldn't connect/stay connected, even to the WPA2. These notes clearly mention this, as well as the libup issue I solved via - -force-upgrading

<comment><USER39> Those linksys routers have a driver that has had its development killed by the NXP buyout of Marvell.

</comment></comment><comment><USER40> Not that I've tried to make it do anything fancy, but I've been using it since the -rc1 and it has been flawless for me. Just posted about it [http://snafuhall.com/home-lan-2-openwrt- router.html](http://snafuhall.com/home-lan-2-openwrt-router.html)

I really appreciate the effort the OpenWRT folks have put in to collecting useful snippets of documentation for odd cases and uses. Sure it might could be better organized but it's _there_ at least.

</comment><comment><USER36> What is this about a LEDE / openwrt fork? Should I be looking at LEDE instead?

What about the FreeWRT fork? Is it alive / lively / up-to-date / running ahead?

<comment><USER41> LEDE merged back into OpenWRT [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenWrt#History](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenWrt#History)

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> Sooo... if I want to move my VPN (WireGuard) termination from my Raspbian to a more dedicated device like a royter, what are the option at a reasonable price (say, 100$ or €, as I am european) and reasonable power? Better if with integrated wifi controller and antennae. And which distribution besides OpenWRT? Thanks!

<comment><USER43> You should start with the OpenWRT wiki.

<comment><USER42> Had already a look at it but I asked here because I wanted some opinions from the HN crowd. Nevermind...</comment></comment></comment>


Lavaboom Encrypted Email Startup Declares Bankruptcy - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/20/lavaboom-deadpools/

<comment><USER2> There seems to be some kind of drama around what is going on at Lavaboom:

[https://blog.protonmail.ch/lavaboom-alternative-and- transiti...](https://blog.protonmail.ch/lavaboom-alternative-and-transition/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/3gghyd/im_totally_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/3gghyd/im_totally_ignorant_about_internet_privacy_but/ctz0f4g)</comment>