Social anxiety is crippling my life, what can I do to stop it? - <AUTHOR> Apologies if this is not the appropriate place to ask this question,  I guess I'm hoping that there are other "introverts" on here that have been in similar circumstances and can offer me advice.
I turn 21 in a few months and I currently don't have any close friends and it is really starting to get me down.  All through my life I've always been "that quiet person" and I have self-diagnosed myself with some form of moderate social anxiety.
I had a large group of friends during high school and somewhat of a social life but I mostly just tagged along with the group and never became close friends with anyone.  Following the end of high school I slowly lost contact with these people.  My anxiety kept me from making any effort to stay in touch even though I wanted to.  It's silly, but my brain processed it like this "if they don't invite me to things I guess they are not interested in hanging out with me".  Ever since then I haven't had much of a social life outside of my university classes.
I'm not totally awkward, for example I did a great job when I had to do a presentation in front of my class. I was comfortable giving it because I was well prepared and I had already practiced it a few times. So I'm ok with public speaking but conversations scare the crap out of me and I can't seem to fix it.
After I get past the initial fear of starting a conversation I'm ok with small talk but I don't know how to have an interesting conversation. How do I go from meeting someone in class to becoming their friend outside of class? This simply doesn't come naturally to me.
I'm aware that I need to be more proactive and start working hard to build meaningful friendships rather than just letting them dwindle. Any advice on how to go about it? <comment><USER2> You shouldn't really have to 'try' in a conversation. If it feels that way, it's fine to just be quiet until you feel like talking (if ever). Learning to be comfortable with silence around others is one of the keys to beating social anxiety. That horrible awkwardness you feel when you can't think of the 'right' thing to say is the core of it all.

Friendly quiet people are as well liked as anyone. If the other person feels awkward, so what? Let the encounter end. No need for you to feel awkward too. If you can learn to meet people without getting stressed out because you don't click with most of them for whatever reason, it becomes much easier and more natural to meet people, and you'll have a better chance of finding your kind of people amidst all the madness. Have low expectations and occasionally you will be pleasantly surprised.

The best way to meet others is to _do_ things with people. Look for any possible way to do things you like with others, whether it's a hobby, sport, game, working, studying, painting, whatever. This removes the need for much conversation and the ones you have will be easier and more genuine because there's something to talk about that gets the ball rolling.

Also, it couldn't hurt to take mdma with a group of nice people if you get the chance.

<comment><AUTHOR> I like the do idea. I've always been passive and waited for others to make decisions and organize the activity.

I'm embarrassed that I made this post now as I'm sure this is obvious to most people.

<comment><USER2> It may sound obvious, but it's pretty deep in easier said than done territory.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> I strongly recommend seeing a behavioral therapist. This is exactly the kind of thing they're trained for. It's what I did over a year ago, although for other reasons. It saved me a bunch of time and agony, although therapy can be pretty harsh sometimes as well.

Regarding social anxiety: I was pretty much the same at your age, and I think the reason was simply a severe lack of self-esteem resulting in excessive self-consciousness. One thing that helped me was to realize that everyone is insecure to some degree, and that everyone is at least a bit worried about what other people think about them. Once I had realized that, I tried to make other people feel comfortable around me instead of worrying why I felt so uncomfortable. But this takes practice and time, which is why I still recommend seeing a professional. And when I say it takes time, then I mean that it takes time to to overcome the fear to do the things you're afraid of. Once you've done this a few times (or even just once), change can happen very quickly.

Try to worry less about people thinking of you as "the quiet guy". They probably don't think as much about you as you believe they do. They mostly think about how they appear to others, just more moderately than you (hopefully).

I'm confident that you'll overcome your anxiety sooner or later if you don't just ignore the issue, which you're not doing. So chin up!

<comment><USER4> What else did the professional tell you that helped? I'd rather just read a blogpost about it than pay per hour :)

<comment><USER3> What fooandbarify said. Especially: a therapist holds you accountable. He or she will try to keep you focused on things that are unpleasant to keep working on, which is necessary in order to overcome a problematic behavioral pattern, whereas without supervision you might waste a lot of time trying to find shortcuts or esoteric solutions that make you feel good about yourself for some time but ultimately fail to solve your problems (productivity pr0n, anyone?).

And keep in mind that a therapist is also -- to some extent -- an analyst. So he or she might expose things you wouldn't have been able to figure out yourself, either because you're not professionally trained, or because you're part of the problem.

And sorry, there's no such thing as therapy by proxy. It's a very interactive thing.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I can tell you one thing: it gets much easier later because when you're older you'll think less about what other people think about you and more about what you think about other people. The other side of the coin is that you'll become much more picky about who you would consider an interesting person.

Another great divider that I've observed is that there are two kinds of people: emotional and analytic. The trick is to know (at least at the time) which one you are and which one the other person is, as they don't mix very well. Between an emotional and an analytic personality there's very little to talk about really because the world looks so different when seen mostly through emotions versus mostly through analytic cognition.

For example, if we have even an excuse for a common interest I hit it off easily with the same kind of a person yet despite the fact that I do have _some_ social skills it's a fucking deadend with the other kind of a person. There's just nothing to share and nothing to tell that resonates at all with the other. Not even the weather actually.

<comment><USER2> "Between an emotional and an analytic personality there's very little to talk about really because the world looks so different when seen mostly through emotions versus mostly through analytic cognition."

Wouldn't seeing the world differently offer _more_ to talk about?

<comment><USER5> You could suppose so but lacking common words, common perceptions, common anything it becomes pretty hard to communicate.

At best you'll just end up arguing about the meaning of things—and usually the situation further implies a different style and way of arguing.

Not that you couldn't do meaningless smalltalk with just about anyone but that doesn't give much to either one, much less make them friends easily.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> As a guy in a similar situation, the important thing to remember is the law of the conservation of energy.

Put energy into a system, energy has to come out somewhere.

In other words, if you make an effort with relationships, said relationships will make an effort with you. Personally I often simply forget to do this (rather than being fueled by some sort of anxiety), but really with modern means of communication there's just no excuse.

Go sit on facebook, when a person says something _communicate_. Like it, post a comment. Whatever. This alone is enough to build at least a bit of a relationship, then just ask them out for coffee. You'd be surprised how easy it is to get people out for drinks if you just so much as ask.

From that point on it's just about maintaining a sufficient level of contact, because that's really all that friendship is - closeness.

Oh and another thing to remember: "Hi" is an _excellent_ ice breaker.

</comment><comment><USER7> I use to be highly constricted by my social anxiety when I was younger, I couldn't drive in a car, go to a restaurant, I couldn't eat in public, or during a family dinner.

The best thing I ever did was make the realization that what was holding me back was myself and knowing this allowed me to take a "fuck this shit" attitude towards the entire situation. Over time, I regained my life and was able to do things that are considered normal. I also went to a psychiatrist for a while to learn some coping methods like breathing exercises.

You can beat it, I still at times have problems with anxiety but they are nothing compared to what they once were.

My overall best advice is to get yourself in the proper mental state.

</comment><comment><USER8> Talk to a professional. It's possible an anti-anxiety medication could have a profound effect, or simply talking through the underlying thought process that's keeping you isolated may be the ticket.

I have very similar thoughts and I can sympathize with how crappy it feels. I'm always worried that I'm doing or saying something stupid, and I can't really stop thinking that whoever I'm interacting with must think I'm an idiot. Knowing that there's a schism between reality and your perception of the situation is a good start though.

Something I'm starting to do is look for groups related to my interest that interact both online and in person. I'm really into iPhone photography, so I've been getting to know other local enthusiasts though Flickr and Instagram. Meeting in person is much more comfortable, since there's already some connection and common interest.

If you happen to be in the Toronto area, I'll take you out for a beer and we know at least 1 thing in common we can talk about. :)

<comment><USER9> That's a good point. anxiousThrowawy, where are you located?

If you're in the Montreal area I might be able to find a therapist willing to work at least initially for free.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I could say about a few things I notice about myself \- I generally don't get past small talk only when I am too much in my head not thinking about the other person. Whenever I start thinking about them, I generally get past that hurdle (given that other person is willing, too). \- Also, when I start judging people in my head, or trying to find out if being a friend with the OP would help me in someway, I lose the conversation.

This is what I try to do to fix it: \- I try to be humble - without even thinking of bragging about anything (even if I should :)) \- take genuine interest (without crossing the line) in OP (e.g. work, education etc) and reduce 'I's from the conversation.

As johnny22 said, join an activity/class you like or have been thinking of taking, develop an interest, and talk to people, respect them, discuss the activity with them; and smalltalk generally leads to 'hi-hello' and gradually to friendship.

All the best.

edit: grammar

</comment><comment><USER11> You should probably start looking to see where folks of shared interests hang out or attend relevant events. It helps with both starting a conversion and keeping one going.

If things click then conversation will likely move outside the event and into people's own lives. That's when the friendships start.

YMMV(but worked for me)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, I'll start looking for events and meetups in my area. It's probably a good opportunity for me to get some other interests outside of technology too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> This is a problem that I had down to the word ( except being able to give presentations, you got me on that ), and fixed.

Here is my short guide.

1: Read everything written here - <http://30sleeps.com/blog/> , particularly the old stuff is relevant.

2: Find 2-3 groups of people who you know none of. Many people do this at university. This is a clean slate. Worst case, you never talk to these people again.

3: ( This plan does not involve becoming a drunk ) Booze. Varying quantities of it. In different situations. Watch how you act, if you act differently or get over your social anxiety, watch how you do it, and the results that you get.

4: Back to sober. Make an absolute fool of yourself being overconfident. Don't be a _huge_ asshole, people do have feelings. Keep in mind things that you learned in steps 1 and 3. Watch what happens. Make mistakes. Do it wrong.

5: Apply lessons learned in everyday life.

That is abstract. Tangibly, I did 1, 3, then 2. Step 2 was local games of Manhunt, and university Debate. Step 4 was me acting much like my drunk self. Mixing in the behavior I saw in more confident people. I did this at manhunt and I did this on trips to debate tournaments. When it got too stressful, I listened to "Come on Sea Legs" by Immaculate Machine. Over and Over again. Gradually ramped it up, made myself say yes to every opportunity. Went out on a limb more and more.

It probably helped that debate forced me to stand in front of people and talk with no more than 15 minutes preparation. I was really really godawful at first, and got better. Remember, you will fail a lot. Don't do Toastmasters. Do open mic night, do karaoke, ideally do debate at your local university ( they will have absolutely 0 problem with this at most universities )

My end result was a personality which shares a lot with my drunk ( more honest, to the point ) self. It also shares a lot with the more confident friends I have had through my life. In no way do I feel that I am "faking" it (anymore). Getting rid of the social anxiety wholesale solved _everything_ else. Including the not knowing how to have an interesting conversation.

</comment><comment><USER13> I pretty much suck in a group setting. I mean I can follow okay, of course, but I rarely interject anything. This used to bother me but now I have mostly accepted this is the way I am. In a one-on-one setting, I am much more "normal". I talk a regular amount and if it's something I'm passionate about, I talk a lot. So I am rarely in large groups of friends, as some people are, but rather have a few friends that I hang out with individually. And the people that I do tend to hang out with tend to be outgoing types, or at least talkative people, so that we complement each other. All of this is just to say, work with what ya got, rather than trying to be someone you're not.

As for how to get from point A (small talk) to point B (friendship) I would just keep in mind a few upcoming things and take the opportunity to invite someone out when it arises. Like keep tabs on upcoming events (concerts, festivals, etc) that sorta interest you and then if there's someone you want to get to know better, just mention it and see what you think. Or even if you mention that you both like roller blading (or whatever) you can make an open ended offer to invite them out. Even if they are not interested in that particular thing, if they want to get to know you better too, they will offer something back, then or later. Some people will say always say yes but don't mean it, but that's pretty easy to spot when they don't follow through, but no biggie.

I met a mom at random at a park and she mentioned that she wanted to do more playdates with her kid, and I offered that she could call me and we could set one up, and now she's my best friend. I've met lots of moms before and since, and some we even met for a playdate, but we didn't click as well so we didn't really make a friendship out of it. I think when it comes to making friends, I would say, cast a wide net early on and just be really open to hanging out with people without the pressure of this being a long term friend.

</comment><comment><USER14> If there's one book you read in getting over this, I recommend this:

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie [http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence- People/dp/14...](http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence- People/dp/1439167346/)

It's definitely worked for me in helping tackle my problems problems with social interactions.

</comment><comment><USER15> Step 1: Talk to a mental health professional. I know you probably think that whatever's bothering you isn't serious enough to talk to a shrink, but when you have no friends to confide in, that is EXACTLY what you need.

Step 2: Find people like you. Look on Meetup.com for groups of people with shyness or social anxiety. You'd be surprised how comfortable you can be in a group when you know everyone else in the group has the same irrational fear of social situations.

Two simple steps and, given time, you'll feel better and even start becoming more outgoing. You won't turn into an extrovert, but it's all a game of inches.

I also find that, in small and controlled doses AND ONLY IF YOU HAVE LOTS OF SELF CONTROL, social lubricants like alcohol or marijuana can also help to overcome social anxiety. Your mileage may vary, so always err on the side of caution and avoid anything of that nature that you don't KNOW for a fact that you can keep yourself in control of.

</comment><comment><USER16> Take comfort in the fact that a huge number of people feel the same way - conversations with strangers or even friends can be nerve-wracking.

I had counselling for anxiety problems not too long ago. You are unique and so I can't offer any specific advice other than if you can afford it, or get it free (eg. in the UK on the NHS for example) then it will help, and you will feel better. Try to find a counsellor who has specific experience with anxiety or depression issues (most will) and talk to them openly about your fears.

If you can't get counselling, then find someone who's opinions you respect and try asking them about it. I was hugely surprised once I told people I was getting therapy, and many of my friends were in similar situations! It might appear like other people are confident and sociable and have loads of friends, but lots of people are just as scared as you are.

</comment><comment><USER17> If it stays bad, and doesn't get better, you may be suffering from a form of depression, and you may need some degree of professional help. Do it sooner rather than later, there is no point in suffering unnecessarily.

</comment><comment><USER18> I don't mean to sound facetious, but it is simple - you must pick up the phone and maintain relationships by talking to people and organising to see them. No magic formula here, just take action.

<comment><AUTHOR> You're right, I've been making this into a much bigger problem than it is. In the past I've always assumed that nobody is interested, I need to work on my confidence and assume that by default everyone is interested until they say no.

Thanks

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Rejection Therapy <http://www.rejectiontherapy.com> is a game that helps people overcome shyness and social anxiety by taking on small challenges. Each challenge increases your comfort zone and your confidence.

I've done the 30 day Rejection Therapy challenge and, while it wasn't easy by a long shot, it did help me immensely. I'm much more comfortable starting small talk with strangers than I was before.

Remember, your comfort zone is elastic. If you don't stretch it, it will retract.

<comment><USER4> I'm curious about your experience, so please elaborate more if there's anything interesting you can share.

<comment><USER19> Sure, hit me up on my email and I'll answer any questions you have.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Some people just aren't cut out for society. They're called outcasts and they're either stood on or revered as Gods, in India anyway. Here they're just stood on. Most important is not to have unreasonable expectations of how to fit in. Freedom from hope or fear - that's the goal. Watch your mind - that's the method. And if you like, send me your birthday, time & place and we look at the hand you were dealt: email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER21> Find things to do with other people: work,volunteer work, sports if you can do sports and don't dislike the level of conversation. If the conversation arises naturally out of what you're doing, it won't scare you; you'll be absorbed in the conversation rather than trying to figure out how to get it started.

But I agree with what seems to be the consensus here: talk to somebody like a therapist, who will have seen such concerns before.

[edit: spelling]

</comment><comment><USER22> Start a new hobby, either singing, or acting. That's how I confronted my social anxiety.

<comment><USER9> Several introverted coworkers swear by theater acting classes (and/or improv nowadays).

Seems to have done wonders for a few of them.

I've always meant to take some, but never got around to doing it (you can guess I'm prone to procrastinate :P ).

I did do some Tango classes, and I think they helped (though I'm still clumsy).

<comment><USER22> Life is all about practice. No one is born knowing. As for procrastination, I find identifying the very next step that can be done in 5 minutes can push a project forward. For example, acting classes, a possible first step is, spend 5 minutes on craigslist and see if there are any classes nearby. Call them up and inquire.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Hack: Accept yourself, and don't try to be social. This takes the pressure off of being social, and enables you to handle social situation in relaxed state.

You ain't perfect - nobody is. Remember and accept it.

</comment><comment><USER24> "Self diagnosing" can be dangerous, and you should probably seek out some professional guidance as well - possibly two or three to see if there's any consensus.

I want to say I felt the same during the highschool->university transition. I think I did have similar attitudes for several years. One of the only things I learned during that period is that self-pity is not attractive or desirable on any level - eventually it wasn't even attractive to myself.

You may not be destined to have a lot of friends outside of class or work, and that's _100% fine_. I've never had _many_ friends, but I do work at having deeper friendships with the ones I do have, and I've found that's something that can only come with a mixture of time and experience. As we've grown up and apart, my few friends and I stay in touch, and it's been great. I'd rather have these few strong friendships than a bunch of the casual "hi-hello" kind.

You made all these "friends" in HS simply because of shared geography - everyone was forced to be in school, so there wasn't much of a choice. It's natural that most of those 'friendships' won't survive. Don't dwell on the fact most of them weren't solid or strong in the first place. Even if many of them appeared strong, solid and "for life", trust me, 99% of them aren't.

You may want to consider taking some acting lessons and/or public speaking lessons - joining a local toastmasters group, for example. If your public speaking is good, you'll naturally have a point of conversation with people, and that will naturally lead to many other tangents, yet in a controlled space.

One of the things I've learned over the years is that many people lack a self- confidence, or at least feel awkward in social situations. Not everyone, of course, but many more than I'd guessed. I'd assumed everyone else already had it 'figured out', and that assumption has led to some bad decisions over the years (based on assuming people were intentionally excluding me, for example). Be assertive/proactive, even when you don't feel it (that's where the acting lessons come in) and you'll be regarded as such - people judge you by the behaviours you exhibit, not what you think inside your head.

 _I_ consider myself an introvert - scored highly _I_ on Meyers-Briggs for years - but most people who know me might consider me an extrovert these days. I may even have changed some over 20 years on Meyers-Briggs, but I still consider many of the core _I_ traits to be mine. However, I've learned to be able to be 'on' socially, which has led to some good friendships based on professional interests, and some of those are leading to stronger friendships outside the original shared interests. Only time will tell for certain, but I'm enjoying seeing where they lead.

I also realize I'm now talking past your original point a little bit by not addressing the 'friends' thing as much as just 'being in public'. Being in public and groups of shared interests will lead to some friendships forming, but few will form if you're a wallflower who never talks to anyone.

Trust me, you can change over time, but you need to adjust how you think of other people, and you need to be forceful in getting what you want. If you see someone you think you'd like to know better, ask them to grab a cup of coffee, or instigate that with a few people from work or a local club. Meeting outside the regular group/work setting can let you develop/craft/express more of your own public persona without violating any of the norms of the original group. You can see how people react, and make changes accordingly. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Lastly, don't work hard at building _meaningful_ relationships. Well... don't ignore them, but the most meaningful friendships I have are ones I don't have to 'work' at so much, because the other person is just as interested in keeping it going. My deepest friendships now started off very casually, at work/school, and in one case we really didn't even like each other at first. We each assumed too much about the other.

"Work" at friendships - yes - you need to sacrifice your own time for the other person, but if they're never giving back to you, it's not a friendship, you're being used, so get out.

You're young. You can change your life and attitudes and behaviours to be whatever you want. Don't waste this time.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. I've decided that I will talk to my doctor about this and I will ask him about going to a behavioral therapist. I can see that speaking to someone that understands will help me stay accountable. I've read material on social anxiety in the past but that hasn't had much of an affect and this thread has helped me realize that there is no need to continue to try and go it alone.

Thanks to everyone for their comments, I've read them all and I really appreciate the support. I'm determined to make this the turning point.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Go out to a nightclub and pop some ecstasy. You'll get over the social anxiety pretty quickly.

<comment><USER26> I know this is half in jest, but it is ashamed that X is not getting more attention and being taken serious as a mental health drug. We have such a taboo against anything that creates the dirty "euphoria" word in a patient. When some time euphoria is exactly what the patient needs.

I spent 2 years on Paxil for anxiety issues and spent 2 months sick as could be, in full blown withdraws, because at the time no one knew that Paxil would make you physically dependent (absolute worst withdraws I have ever been through).

Because Paxil was not euphoric no one seems to have a problem with the fact that it causes heavy physical dependance, even though it causes the same physical dependance as other "abused" drugs. I would argue worse, Paxil was the worst withdraws I ever went through, thousands of times worse than smoking or other substances.

Anyways, I am rambling. Point is, we as a society are so hypocritical, we claim we don't want to create addicts yet we hand out highly physically addictive substances like Paxil, but because it does not create euphoria, it is OK because no one is getting "high". We need to get past euphoria as a dirty word and start giving people that clearly have imbalances of chemical that make them feel good medicine that simulates or elevates chemicals that make them feel good. Trust me, the hell of feeling like crap is far worse than someone becoming dependent on a chemical that makes them feel normal. So I have to agree with the parent, get a small dose of X and see if it works for you, when it comes to mental health you have to find what works legal or not.</comment></comment>


The Statistical Crisis in Science - <AUTHOR> http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2014/6/the-statistical-crisis-in-science/99999

<comment><USER2> So at least two people reading this seem to think it's about using science in the context of their pet peeves. It's not.

It's about using a statistical test for a data dependent hypothesis and interpreting the test as if it were used for a data-independent hypothesis. That's all.

It's not about using statistics in politics or finance. It's about first looking at the data, then formulating a hypothesis, then running a standard test which is based on the idea that you chose the hypothesis independently of the data. This is a problem in any field.

<comment><USER3> So actually, I think the idea that data-dependent hypotheses are bad is fundamentally wrong, and is based on a misunderstanding of probability.

The reason you'd avoid data-dependent hypotheses is simple: if the data comes from a process with some sort of randomness in it, then there will usually be things that appear to be interesting patterns but are in fact random artifacts. If you look at your data, you may be tempted to formulate a hypothesis based on these random artifacts. It may pass statistical tests (because the data you have does contain the pattern), but it is not, in fact, causal. To avoid this, you maintain the discipline of only making hypotheses _before_ you look at your data, which means that you can't see a random effect and then guess that it's real.

The problem is, this doesn't mean that if your hypothesis passes a statistical test, the result must be causal. It only lowers the probability - there is still a chance that your hypothesis was wrong, but your data happens to contain a random fluctuation that makes it look right. The only way to protect against _this_ danger is to continuously gather data and re-evaluate your hypotheses, while understanding that there is always some probability that the effect you think you see is really random noise.

And once you're doing this continuous monitoring anyway, then there's no reason to reject data-dependent hypotheses. By definition, if the effect you're seeing is a random occurrence, then it should go away with more data. If it doesn't go away, then maybe you've found something that you wouldn't have been able to guess in advance, which is good! And if you see a random effect, form a hypothesis that passes some test, and then assume that your hypothesis must be true, then the problem is not your data, but rather that you misunderstand how probability works.

In short, avoiding data-dependent hypotheses is a hack that only reduces the probability of an error that you should be avoiding entirely anyway. Once you accept this and start avoiding the error, there's no reason to avoid data- dependent hypotheses, and they can be quite useful.

<comment><USER4> Yes! I think any good statistician would agree with all of that and emphasize the importance of how you present your conclusions. Forming "data-dependent hypotheses" is part of what most statistician's call "exploratory data analysis" (EDA). When presenting EDA findings, we should use terms like "association", "relationship", "correlation", "possible", and not words like "cause", "effect", "p-value", "test", etc.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Not only errors and misuse of statistics and misapplying of probability theory, but also abstract modeling in general.

The very idea of modeling dynamic abstract processes such as finance markets, which itself are mere abstractions is a non-science, it is misuse of pseudo- scientific methods and mathematics, and what we have seen so far is nothing but failures.

Too abstract or flawed abstractions and wrong premises cannot be fixed by any amount of math or modeling. They only has to be discarded.

The famous "subject/object" false dichotomy in philosophy is the good example too. People could spent ages modeling reality using non-existent abstractions.

Today all these multiverse "theories" are mere speculations about whether Siva, Brama or Visnu is the most powerful, forgetting that all these were nothing but anthropomorphic abstractions of the different aspects of one reality.

The notion that so-called "modern science" is a new religion (a contest of unproven speculations) is already quite old.

btw, a good example of the reductionist mindset (instead of pilling up abstractions) could be the Upanishadic reduction of all the Gods to one Brahman, to which Einstein accidentally discovered a formula - E = mc2, where _c_ is a constant, implying that there is no time in the Universe).

<comment><USER6> You are throwing the baby out with the bath water, with respect to financial modelling. Yes, there are failures, and, yes, the models are severely imperfect.

We reduced the risk on a portfolio of 2 billion Euro, from a about a billion Euro to a risk of about 50 million Euro using hedging. The remaining 50 million was mostly basis risk, i.e., the mismatch between the underlying instruments in the liabilities and the hedge assets.

Using a similar logic to yours, senior management argued that we introduced a new risk called basis risk by trading derivatives.

<comment><USER5> What is wrong with financial modeling, in my opinion, is not only that models cannot grasp too complex "reality", but that it is changing while you are finishing your model, so no statistical "snapshot" or data-set is even close to be correct.

Also, so-called Black swans could occur only within such models. There is no chance that one day c or even g could change (no matter what "scientists" used to say in journals).

Btw, finance is a business, not science.)

<comment><USER6> Yeah, so, I'm guessing you don't do a lot of financial modelling.

<comment><USER5> Not everyone is so lucky.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Scientists have tried over at least the past few hundred years (depending on your definitions) to build, from scratch, a perspective on the world which is as free from human bias as possible. At the moment, the jewel in the crown is quantum physics: an inherently statistical theory, so detached from human biases and assumptions that many smart people have struggled to understand or accept it, despite its incredible predictive power.

At the heart of the whole process is statistical inference: generalising the results of experiments or observations to the Universe as a whole. A "statistical crisis in science" would be terrible news. We may have been standing on the shoulders of the misinformed, rather than giants. Our "achievements", from particle accelerators to nukes and moon rockets, could have been flukes; if the underlying statistical approach of science was flawed, the predicted behaviour and safety margins of these devices could have been way off. We may be routinely bringing the world to the edge of catastrophe, if we don't understand the consequences of our actions.

Oh wait, it seems like some "political scientists" have noticed that their results tend to be influenced by external factors. I hope they realise the irony in their choice of examples:

> As a hypothetical example, suppose a researcher is interested in how > Democrats and Republicans perform differently in a short mathematics test > when it is expressed in two different contexts, involving either healthcare > or the military.

The article criticises scientists' ability to navigate the statistical minefield of biases, probability estimates, modelling assumptions, etc. in a world of external, political factors like competitive funding, positive publication bias, etc. and they choose an example of _measuring how political factors affect people 's math skills_!

To me, that seems the sociological equivalent of trying to measure the thermal expansion of a ruler by reading its markings. What do you know, it's still 30cm!

<comment> semi-extrinsic Saying that quantum mechanics is an inherently statistical theory is a blatant misrepresentation. Precisely the point that makes QM so weird is that it is _not_ caused by statistics. In a (properly set up) double slit experiment, a single electron is simultaneously travelling through both slits and causing an interference pattern.

<comment><USER8> >Saying that quantum mechanics is an inherently statistical theory is a blatant misrepresentation.

Every axiomatic QM formulation (for example, [0]) I have ever seen has an axiom a statistical statement, usually about observables.

Can you provide a set of axioms reproducing QM without such an axiom?

If not, then it's inherently a statistical theory.

In your example, where a single electron lands is completely governed by a probability distribution that is determined by the setup of the test.

[0] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirac%E2%80%93von_Neumann_axiom...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirac%E2%80%93von_Neumann_axioms)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> "all models are wrong, but some are useful." \- George Box [1]

George Box expressed early my general feeling about statistics, it is a very useful tool but remember the limitations of the methods, the data, and the people applying them. I would like to seen an emphasis on openness and transparency with data so others can replicate the analysis and the community can come up with ways to make best practices accessible to anyone.

[1] [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_E._P._Box](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_E._P._Box)

</comment><comment><USER10> A good (in my opinion) trend in physics in the past decade or two has been the rise of "blind" analyses[1]. Basically, the entire analysis is predetermined, before looking at the data. Once all the details are nailed down and everyone agrees with the approach, the blinds are taken off. There's no room for "p-hacking".

This has some disadvantages, though. It requires a good understanding of the experiment so that you can figure out what an analysis will actually tell you. It's difficult to do a blind analysis on a brand new apparatus, since there can always be unanticipated problems with the data. As an example, one dark matter experiment invited a reporter to their unblinding. At first, it looked like they'd detected dark matter, but then they had to throw out most of the events because they were due to unanticipated noise in one of the photomultiplier tubes[2].

[1] [http://www.slac.stanford.edu/econf/C030908/papers/TUIT001.pd...](http://www.slac.stanford.edu/econf/C030908/papers/TUIT001.pdf) is a quick review.

[2] [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/science/space/14dark.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/science/space/14dark.html)

</comment><comment><USER11> I really don't understand the meaning of this sentence (below). Perhaps somebody could explain?

> As a hypothetical example, suppose a researcher is interested in how > Democrats and Republicans perform differently in a short mathematics test > when it is expressed in two different contexts, involving either healthcare > or the military.

<comment><USER12> There was a paper recently that found people did poorly in math problems if the naive, wrong solution confirmed their political views: [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2319992](http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2319992)

It's been making its rounds in the popular media with headlines like "Politics makes you dumb".

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> > In general, p-values are based on what would have happened under other > possible data sets. As a hypothetical example, suppose a researcher is > interested in how Democrats and Republicans perform differently in a short > mathematics test when it is expressed in two different contexts, involving > either healthcare or the military. [...] At this point a huge number of > possible comparisons could be performed, all consistent with the > researcher's theory. For example, the null hypothesis could be rejected > (with statistical significance) among men and not among women—explicable > under the theory that men are more ideological than women.

The meaning of a p-value is expressed in terms of what would have happened with a different data set, yes, but that different data set would have arisen through a different random sampling from the population. The explanation above seems to completely misunderstand the issue.

</comment><comment><USER14> Between the failings in statistics and those in modeling, there's a whole lot of science that's on shaky ground.</comment>


Bower development is stopped. Move to npm, if you haven't already - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/nachocoloma/status/663622545162280960 <comment><USER2> Looks like a sad state of affairs for that project. While I think Bower is a great product, I have often wondered why not use NPM for everything in the first place anyway.</comment>


Twitter is testing a new reply design - <AUTHOR> https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/28/complaining-about-twitter-on-twitter/ <comment><USER2> One day entire books will be written about how Twitter, a company with lots of time, money, millions of users and hundreds of the smartest people in tech were somehow unable to get anything right, ever.

It's fascinating.

<comment><USER3> There seems to have been an inflection point in 2014 at which they stopped shipping product updates.

<comment><USER4> It kind of all went downhill since when Twitter essentially banned third-party developers from the platform (or at least all Twitter client makers).

Third-party Twitter client-makers could've offered users an experience Twitter itself seems unable to offer - such as much better anti-abuse systems, better spam protection, better identification of bots, and so on.

But no, Twitter had to ban them so it can "control the experience" (as in offer you whatever type of ads they wanted and not have to deal with client makers when pushing them to users).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Twitter is terrible, I was just victim of one new way of spamming.

Some beard company started liking a tweet of mine because it mentioned the danish word for "beard", they then unlike it, and a day later they like it again, so daily I get a new notification from them.

When people call them out on this behaviour, they just tell them to mute them: [https://twitter.com/Golden_beards/status/793083513708961792](https://twitter.com/Golden_beards/status/793083513708961792)

They have so many engineers, but they can't or won't interfere with this.

I have never been so close to delete my profile than today.

<comment><USER6> Serious question: how would you expect Twitter to deal with this, at a platform level? Put in a limit on how often the "like" toggle can be triggered? Or how many times it may be triggered on and off?

<comment><USER7> I have worked programming Twitter spam bots, and depending on your behaviour using the platform, it's like you build up a score, and when you reach a certain threshold, you get banned.

Everything that triggers a notification increases your score, and certainly favouriting tweets does so--but you have to be extra annoying for you to get banned doing this.

You can also get shadowbanned, which means your interactions trigger no notifications and your tweets simply disappear from everywhere. So if you're spamming you probably want to check every once in a while if your account is shadowbanned (by triggering a notification directed to a "control" account and seeing if it goes through) but there's no way to remove a shadowban: not even disabling/reenabling your account will remove it. It expires after a few days though.

There are "hard" rate limits in place as well (amount of favs/minute), but those can be avoided by using the API key of an official app. (Don't be mistaken--you build up a "spam" score anyway.)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I don't know why everyone is so negative on Twitter trying to experiment with an improvement to an experience that most people tend to agree is a lousy one. It's a "test," after all.

I agree that the new design they're testing isn't the best solution, and that they could tweak it in a better direction -- but there are better avenues for feedback that are more constructive to building a better Twitter UX.

<comment><USER9> I'm a huge Twitter fan, and not a Twitter conservative stick in the mud who reflexively opposes all changes.

However, I think in this instance, users are baffled as to why Twitter would even trial this functionality when it betrays a lack of understanding of what is usable, and what is going to promote terrible user experiences. i.e. this reply functionality would seem to exacerbate the problem of being stuck in endless convos where other people leave your handle in long after you stopped taking part. It's almost as if the devs don't use Twitter...

<comment><USER10> Devil's advocate: Maybe they're challenging their own assumptions about the twitter experience?

This is something you often do in game design: Rather than say "pah, that'll never work", you try it out and see what happens.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Frankly it's disturbing that a billion dollar company is having UI issues at this level. Google, Microsoft, Apple and lots of other hi-tech companies have the same problem and I don't understand why considering the brain power and money they have.

<comment><USER12> Institutional inability to make decisions and stick to them. When you have that many people in one place, it's just constant meetings. Smaller teams are able to get proportionally a lot more done because they are not gridlocked.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> > and tapping on the 'others' link in a reply, revealing an additional pop up > pane with the participants

They love popups enormously and made this antipattern popular over whole web. First their Bootstrap which has popups became popular and then everyone started to see popups as standard web feature. Now lots of websites have complex UIs inside popups (usually with its own forward/back navigation) and nested popups. Popups are used to "fix" scrolling amnesia — instead of following link, content is opened in popup (infinite scroll is also highly popularized by twitter).

<comment><USER3> Yeah I agree. I'm not against the idea of the user staying on the same page to get more content, but for example when you click a tweet on the web to expand it and see replies, I would have designed e.g. a pane that 'slides in' from the right and can be closed by sliding out, rather than the frankly amateurish overlay.

Also compare the way Facebook will let you 'expand in place' when you click see more/show replies/etc. rather than overlay their feed with a popup.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> On a related note, didn't Twitter recently say that they were excluding links from the 140 char limit? I could have sworn they implemented that, but now I see links taking up space again. What on earth are they up to over there...

<comment> at-fates-hands They did but I've found its hit or miss sometimes. It's really weird, on my account (been a user since 08') sometimes it doesn't count them and sometimes it truncates longer links and takes the rest of the link and subtracts it from the character count.

Here's the article about them not counting links in character count:

[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-16/twitter-t...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-16/twitter- to-stop-counting-photos-and-links-in-140-character-limit)

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> I've also been in the test for this new Reply since last week. It's got advantages and disadvantages. All the @'s in messages can make them cluttered, but the new way of tracking who's involved in the conversation results in "in reply to Joe Schmoe and others", so I don't know who "others" are unless I dig deeper. That's not great.

I think this feature could stand a bit more time in the oven before it is made the default experience.

<comment><USER15> Can you remove people from being replied to ? Didn't look like it.

Also seems to remove the ability to show everyone a reply via the ".@foo" convention.

<comment><USER14> I think you still can do that manually, but it is awkward. I think it's clearly an attempt to make Twitter more welcoming to new folks.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> I haven't read the article yet, but one of Twitter's biggest problems is that they listen to their whiny users too much. Facebook will roll out updates that change large parts of the interface to great protest, and then see increased engagement and growth because they are actually improvements. Twitter needs to get past the musings of backseat designers in the media and their crankiest users and start improving their product.

EDIT: Just read the article, and as I thought, it looks like a promising experiment. They are removing direct user control over who will be notified by replies in favor of handling it automatically. This also cleans up the interface a bit by removing long chains of usernames from the front of every reply. I can't say if it's ultimately going to stick, but it's a step in the right direction.

<comment><USER17> Twitter don't listen to their users at all. Changes like this one wouldn't get past their userbase because they make the experience worse.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I am hating this change a lot. I have been using the service for eight years now and the fact that a tweet started with @whatever was the visual indication that it was a reply. Now they have to ruin that too. I don't know, I sometimes feel like they are trying to piss me off or something.

</comment><comment><USER18> I hate that it's impossible to see a full tree of replies to a certain tweet in reddit(HN)-like form. Maybe there's an app for that?

</comment><comment><USER19> Google+ in 140 characters.

Hint the problem has been solved decades ago , called tree-like comments.

<comment><USER20> I don't think that works for an interface that has to live and die on a phone screen.

<comment><USER21> I use a reddit app for X hours per day, works perfectly fine.

<comment><USER19> Twitter is basically reddit without subreddits.

<comment><USER21> And (well defined starting points of) topics/threads.

I use reddit a lot, and I use twitter as little as possible because I hate the experience of using it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Honestly, looking at the screenshots I don't even know what's going on.</comment>


First contact: what if we find not organic life but ET's AI? – Aeon Essays - <AUTHOR> https://aeon.co/essays/first-contact-what-if-we-find-not-organic-life-but-ets-ai?__twitter_impression=true <comment><USER2> The article discusses the history of the concept, but completely misses Disney's fair treatment of the topic in Flight of the Navigator(1) CA. 1986;)

1\. [https://youtu.be/gVebPEYiq2o](https://youtu.be/gVebPEYiq2o)</comment>


Keeping your JavaScript bundle size in check - <AUTHOR> https://www.debugbear.com/blog/reducing-javascript-bundle-size <comment><USER2> Quick note to the author if they see this.

The lodash Babel plug-in automatically takes care of only importing the used functions to keep your lodash imports under control. I'd recommend adding that note to your lodash section.

Thanks for taking the time to put this together! Always helpful.

<comment><USER3> That is the common recommendation.

I've always been confused why that approach is preferred over a general purpose tree shaker.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: I have a not secure ssl certificate  on my netlify hosted static page - <AUTHOR> I hosted my static site on Netlify, and was given an SSL certificate after adding a custom domain name by changing its DNS servers, and it has been working fine but today after doing a prelaunch on product hunt(https://www.producthunt.com/posts/repetil) my site is showing a not secure tool bar notification in chrome due to my certificate being invalid because it was issued to netlify, and I am left wondering if I am the only one with this issue. <comment><USER2> Looks alright to me. Chrome, Firefox and [https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.repetil.t...](https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.repetil.tech)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks I guess it was a glitch or something</comment></comment>


Ask HN: How do you visualize your personal robot chef - <AUTHOR> After the 25k robot barista, I have been thinking about a robot chef at home. Here are some thoughts:
1. A robot chef would mean that the kitchen itself is a 'robot' which means appliances are plotted and the whole space is an automaton. (I struggle to articulate this. Please indicate if this makes sense or if I need to clarify with more words)
2. Obviously there would be a cloud component to 'feed' family recipes to the cooking arm. Maybe a weekly input or a rotating library of recipes and preferences.
3. Dishes from the bot can be rated and offered suggestions.
4. The cooking arm is connected to the 'smart' pantry and the 'smart' fridge. This would enable the kitchen intelligence to figure what's running low and what needs to be refilled.
5. The smart pantry and smart fridge can be connected to a local grocery stores or online where it can make its orders.
6. I really like the idea of a hydroponic kitchen unit..like a fridge or a pantry shelf where the bot can tend to growing herbs or greens when it's not cooking.
7. Maybe it's not one robotic cooking arm but a set of kitchen arms(for heat, for washing etc).
8. The pantry containers will also likely have to be customized as will be the shelves.
9. This will be great for large kitchens or institutional kitchens too. Perfect for people with allergies and food intolerances.
10. How do we make it learn? Perhaps the 'chef' arm has to stare down a 10 lb bag of rice and 5 lb of beans and have to feed the family for a month. I also like the kitchen intelligence to make up its own recipes because the human side can control nutrition. No more than 10 lbs of Rice for a month. And so much protein per week. The combinations of nutrients can be the variable recipes. It's a good way to track and control personal nutrition.
11. This is all hypothetical as a scenario from a story or something. All inputs welcome except something like it's not going to be economical or who would do it when you can buy frozen food and heat it up etc. this is more like a meandering product/concept visualization. <comment><USER2> You're late in the game.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKCVol2iWcc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKCVol2iWcc)

<comment><AUTHOR> I think they should have started with something simple. And stuck to a repertoire and keep adding to it. Like soups or salads or sautéed or specific dishes which have the same cooking protocol.

For this reason, it would be better in institutional kitchens. Like..chicken noodle soup for 1000 school kids or in a prison or for catering. Here too, scale would matter.</comment></comment>


The Busy Trap - <AUTHOR> http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/

<comment><USER2> This is an intriguing article, which sparked a significant discussion on HN some from 18 months (or so) ago. The discussion there is closed (of course), but there might be some value in seeing what HN of 18 months ago thought worth saying:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4184317](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4184317) (68 comments)

There are other submissions, a few of which have a handful of comments:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6863866](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6863866)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6317998](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6317998)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4199336](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4199336)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4193531](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4193531) \- points to the related Google Tech Talk, "No Time to Think" : [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHGcvj3JiGA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHGcvj3JiGA)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4185305](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4185305)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4184651](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4184651) (3 comments)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4183452](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4183452)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4183314](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4183314)

Related - Have You Fallen Into The Busy Trap? :

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4185397](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4185397)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4274349](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4274349)</comment>


Andy Rubin Unleashed Android on the World. Now Watch Him Do the Same with AI - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/2016/02/android-inventor-andy-rubin-playground-artificial-intelligence/ <comment><USER2> 1000 words into the article and just found out what it is about.</comment>


Google Nexus One has built in potty mouth reduction. | That Critic Guy - <AUTHOR> http://www.thatcriticguy.com/article/google-nexus-one-has-built-potty-mouth-reduction <comment><USER2> Blog spam of reuters story: [http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2010/01/22/google's-nexus...](http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2010/01/22/google's-nexus- one-muzzles-the-foul-mouthed/)

To the submitter, rather than submitting everything you blog about (as evidenced here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=sinbsd>), maybe you should cut back until some people start up-voting your stuff.</comment>


Google Launches Free, Legal Music Downloads in China - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2009/03/reuters_us_google_china <comment><USER2> So the moral of the story is convince everyone you know to only pirate music until the piracy rate is above 90%. Then wait for Google to allow for free legal downloads paid for by advertising. Brilliant.

</comment><comment><USER3> We've had this music search engine here for a while, the catalog is fairly limited though.</comment>


Ask HN: What are some of the best Tutorials/Resources on How to Build an IPhone App? - <AUTHOR> What are some of the best Tutorials/Resources on How to Build an IPhone App? <comment><USER2> Assuming you already know a bit of C and that you like learning by tutorial I'd recommend working through "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" 3rd Ed. by Aaron Hillegass. You will get a good tutorial-based introduction to Objective C, Xcode/Interface Builder and the design patterns used to build both OSX and iPhone apps. (iPhone is not mentioned in the book at all but the general patterns are the same.)

Be sure to understand the retain/release memory model as the garbage collector is not avail. on the iPhone.

With the background you gain from Hillegass you'll find it very easy to pick up the differences between OSX development (which uses AppKit) and the iPhone development (which uses UIKit). There is a lot of good information found at the iPhone Dev. Program's website which bridges the gap.

The tutorial approach is always a little frustrating to me personally as often details are glossed over and the topics are not covered systematically but if you supplement the tutorial with the information provided by Apple you can resolve all the little annoyances as they come up.

Finally I recommend watching the videos Apple's prepared about iPhone development.

Good luck and have fun!

<comment><USER3> I second this. The book is pretty relevant even to iPhone programming.

Coming mainly from a Windows background, personally, I've found the hardest thing has been getting used to the OSX/iPhone memory management which can bite in unpredictable ways when you get it wrong.

However, the iPhone SDK comes with many demos and working code which is great for working through when you need a particular behavior. Don't discount Mac examples either, as much of the foundation code still works, even on the iPhone.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Check this out - hope this helps -

[http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/iphone-application-and- webs...](http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/iphone-application-and-website- development-all-tools-and-tutorials-you-need/)

<http://icodeblog.com/category/iphone-programming-tutorials/>

<comment><USER5> thank you for the links!

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Lecture notes from the iPhone App class at Stanford: <http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/cgi-bin/index.php>

</comment><comment><USER7> A simple post from Flickr that I found here yesterday:

[http://code.flickr.com/blog/2008/10/27/lessons-learned- while...](http://code.flickr.com/blog/2008/10/27/lessons-learned-while- building-an-iphone-site/)

</comment><comment><USER8> I've been reading the new Pragmatic Programmer book, which is still in beta form. The final printed book will be released in December 2008. It's pretty good, and walks you through step-by-step. I must admit, it's been difficult so far since I had zero experience with Objective C, XCode, Cocoa, etc., but hopefully the concepts will click soon.

<http://www.pragprog.com/titles/amiphd/iphone-sdk-development>

</comment><comment><USER9> I recommend you to enroll on the iPhone Developer Program (it's free if you plan initially to develop for the iPhone simulator only). I recommend you then to download Apple's documents under 'Getting Started Documents', including memory management and play with the tutorials. Apple has plenty of resources on their program, they did a good job supporting developers. Good luck!

</comment><comment><USER10> It's still early days, but myself and Dan Grigsby launched <http://www.mobileorchard.com/> a couple of weeks ago.

We already have an iPhone developers' podcast (first episode is an interview with Hampton Catlin, who's selling 1000 copies of his app each day) and are trying to link to interesting iPhone developer related stuff over time. It's getting better each week :) You can also follow us on Twitter at <http://twitter.com/MobileOrchard>

As an example of what we have, try: [http://www.mobileorchard.com/9-places-to- publicize-your-ipho...](http://www.mobileorchard.com/9-places-to-publicize- your-iphone-app/) \- 9 places to publicize your iPhone app :)

</comment><comment><USER11> This is a related post I put together earlier this month: [http://www.trending.us/2008/10/08/11-places-to-get- started-w...](http://www.trending.us/2008/10/08/11-places-to-get-started-with- iphone-app-development/)

</comment><comment><USER12> The website is not that exciting, but the tutorial videos are amazing. I suggest checking out the alpha slider tutorial. <http://www.iphonedevcentral.org/>

</comment><comment><USER13> <http://iphonedevcentral.org/home.php>

<http://www.iphonesdkarticles.com/>

</comment><comment><USER14> Get Erica Sudan's ebook. It's worth it and you'll learn a lot. Then just dive in and go for it.

</comment><comment><USER15> Learn Cocoa. Seriously.</comment>


Build around your discovery mechanism - <AUTHOR> http://blog.cubeofm.com/build-around-your-discovery-mechanism

<comment><USER2> As they say, location, location, location. I started an ISP in Oklahoma back in the mid 90s. Instead of running a ton of advertising to drive traffic to the phones or website, I opened a store front in an 800 sqft unit attached to the front of the local Best Buy. I did my selling in person, and used some unique branding to help people remember us. This worked because a) dialup ISPs sold to a localized area, and b) the newness of the Internet scared people. I lost count of how many computers passed through our doors getting configured correctly for access.

In a pure online play, I think the equivalent of location is channel strategy. Find partners who are a close fit to your offering, and work hard to form a good relationship with them early on. If you can provide a service to their customers that adds value, it's a win for both sides.

</comment><comment><USER3> The busy-shopping-street analogy is something I've been thinking about before; what is an online shopping street? It seems to me Max couldn't really find the online equivalent either: both Apple's App Store and Facebook have plenty quiet streets I'm sure, so building a business on those platforms does not equal building on a busy street.

Is there really a way of building my business next-door to yours - in the sense that I'll catch customers walking out your door?

<comment><USER4> It's keywords and the first page in the SERP.

<comment><USER3> I think that's different.

On a shopping street, I don't have to be looking for a book store to run into one. I might not buy anything the first time, but now I know it's there. And every time I walk out the clothing store, I'm reminded the book store is next door.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm not sure building the delivery first, and then the product is a good idea. Analogously, it's like buying a lot on a busy street, and taking out ads for a shoe store, then only building a store, and buying inventory, _after_ people are coming to buy shoes.

This does not seem to me like a good way to encourage repeat business.

<comment><AUTHOR> To me, it's more akin to first finding a location for your business before you decide on the type of business. For example, if I want to start a bar, I don't first purchase all the equipment for the bar, and then find an available location - rather, I first ensure there is a good location at a good price, and then I rent the place and then build the bar.

A bar at a bad location is very difficult to keep profitable.</comment></comment>


Show HN: Free API to block disposable emails - <AUTHOR> https://www.validator.pizza <comment><USER2> I hate it, when sites make me register. I hate it even more when they refuse a mailinator address. Because then I have to use a throwaway yahoo/live/gmail whatever address and its yet another step to log into that one to get the activation link.

What is an example of a site that needs to refuse users that use mailinator and co?

<comment><AUTHOR> Every time you give something for free after a user registers.

<comment><USER3> Other than "the service" which often relies on users as much as users rely on it; what are you talking about specifically?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Hi there, for different projects, I had to prevent users to register with disposable emails. So in order to have a centralised domain list, always up to date, I made a small API.

I maintain the list of disposable domains myself by doing monitoring and using custom crawlers. Feedbacks appreciated :)

</comment><comment><USER4> Interesting API, but this will probably end up as one of those "It helps" things.

</comment><comment><USER5> What guarantees you won't sell emails you collect ?

<comment><AUTHOR> If you don't trust me, you can use the domain method. This way you don't send the email, but only the domain :)</comment></comment>


PyPy 2.6.0 released - <AUTHOR> http://morepypy.blogspot.com/2015/06/pypy-260-release.html

<comment><USER4> A few data points and questions:

\- it appears PyPy performance improvements have begun to plateau [1]

\- what's not measured is memory consumption in comparision to CPython. I've read anecdotal evidence that indicates PyPy is increase in memory usage [2]

\- I also have not found a chart that depicts how compatible PyPy is vs CPython. If someone had a chart of this over time, that'd be great.

[1] [http://speed.pypy.org/](http://speed.pypy.org/) [2] [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29000279/pypy-memory- usag...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29000279/pypy-memory-usage- increasing-over-time)

<comment><AUTHOR> Performance improvements have been driven by user-reported slowdowns. The more users that report performance problems, the more the entire community profits. There are more performance improvements on the way: STM [1] will do away with the GIL in a transparent way, we have a GSOC underway to teach the JIT to use SIMD coprocessor commands, and hopefully CFFI 1.1 [2] will smooth the corners where there is no escape from C code.

Memory use is very application dependent. I cannot improve on the answer given to the question on SO.

As far as compatibility goes, PyPy 2.6.0 uses the CPython 2.7.9 stdlib - <USER2> python code is 100% compatible (barring bugs). Packages such as Pillow [3] have made sure they are PyPy friendly even where they use C code.

Numpy [4] is still a work-in-progress but much of it already works (we are implementing version 1.9.0 for now). The surface area is huge and very wrinkled, so it will take some time to finish all the corners.

Please try it out and let us know if your code doesn't run.

[1] [http://pypy.org/tmdonate2.html](http://pypy.org/tmdonate2.html)

[2] [https://cffi.readthedocs.org](https://cffi.readthedocs.org)

[3] [https://python-pillow.github.io](https://python-pillow.github.io)

[4] [http://buildbot.pypy.org/numpy- status/latest.html](http://buildbot.pypy.org/numpy-status/latest.html)

<comment><USER5> > PyPy 2.6.0 uses the CPython 2.7.9 stdlib - pure python code is 100% > compatible (barring bugs)

Is it possible to use PyPy with py2exe or freeze so that I can distribute a Python application to someone so that they don't have to go and install PyPy to get performance benefits?

<comment><USER6> I'd like to propose a different approach to that problem, one that also addresses the issue of startup time: a boot image. I got the name from the Avian JVM ([https://github.com/ReadyTalk/avian](https://github.com/ReadyTalk/avian)), but a similar concept can be seen at least as far back as GNU Emacs in the 90s. The idea is that as part of the build process, you load all of a program's code and initial data into memory, then dump the heap. Then at startup, you just have to map the heap back into memory, and possibly fix up pointers if you can't load everything at the same address as before. Of course, you'd have to make sure that none of the objects in the saved heap contain handles to external resources like files. Also, for PyPy, which is JIT-compiling a language that's not really amenable to static compilation, the boot image initialization process could include a custom script to run functions that are known to be hot, to warm up the JIT compiler and include the compiled code in the boot image.

<comment><USER7> Many Common Lisps seem to redistribute applications this way - <USER3> suggestion. Do you know of any tools that would help someone pull off a coredump for arbitrary Python code?

<comment><USER6> Re: Common Lisps implementing this, yeah, I'd noticed that SBCL did this. Speaking of SBCL, a disadvantage of boot images is that the implementation is sometimes non-portable; for example, SBCL's Windows support is still experimental. To answer your question, I'm pretty sure that support for a boot image would have to be baked into PyPy, or whatever Python implementation you want to use.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I have been benefitted a lot by PyPy.

I made a search engine[1] in python for one of my university course project. It had to process 30+ GB of html files.

I got a 2x improvement by using PyPy and completed indexing the dataset in 11 hours as compared to projected 22 hours. The only explanation I can think of is that my work was compute intensive and involved a lot of loops and accessing data in dictionaries.

[1] [https://github.com/shobhit6993/webGrep](https://github.com/shobhit6993/webGrep)

<comment><USER9> A factor of two doesn't sound that great actually. You can get similar speedups by "compiling" an arbitrary python module using cython. Of course you can usually do much better than a factor of two if you think carefully about type annotations and CPython overhead.

<comment><USER10> > A factor of two doesn't sound that great actually.

A factor of two sounds great to me, especially if he didn't have to write Cython-specific code. That's a nice, easy win with a noticeable impact.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I know that instead of asking I should either go and donate more money, or go and do the coding myself, but: is it possible at all that PyPy devs can focus and produce a stable PyPy for python 3.3 (at least)?

Looks like it's almost there (but this _almost_ stretches over many years now), it just needs a little push.

<comment><USER12> So it's very hard to get all PyPy devs to focus on Python 3.3. Money can change the direction, but there are also features that are important to us, like warmup time and STM that we don't want to give up for 3.3.

Additionally, 3.3 has very little business value. _All_ PyPy customers use Python 2 (the ones that can buy commercial support at least) and small performance improvements matter more to them.

<comment><USER13> > All PyPy customers use Python 2

Well yes, your customers will generally pay for the product that actually works and is useful now, and not the experimental and incomplete one that's several versions behind.

<comment><USER11> Exactly. At this point, 7 years since python 3.0 was first released, PyPy's lack of interest towards it is starting to harm the community.

<comment><USER12> And this sort of attitude is exactly why I hate Python 3 personally. "Work for free on Python 3 adoption or you're harming the Python community".

<comment><USER11> > And this sort of attitude is exactly why I hate Python 3 personally. "Work > for free on Python 3 adoption or you're harming the Python community".

Sorry if I offended you with my comment, it wasn't my intent.

I guess there is a way to view this in a different light: PyPy is a _major_ Python implementation, that is used by a lot of people. There creates ~some~ responsibility.

Also, using "hate" word is precisely the problem -- it's not a first time I hear that from PyPy devs. I just hope that you hate only that aspect of the whole "Python 3 Saga", not the language itself.

<comment><USER12> to answer just one aspect of your post - I have absolutely nothing against python 3 as a language :-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> PyPy 2.6.0 - "Cameo Charm" since PyPy looks best in profile</comment>


Ask HN: How do you manage ideas, tasks, notes and other stuff? - <AUTHOR>

I have tried almost all the tools but nothing scales well. What do you use and how? <comment><USER3> Org-mode for in-class notes, since I'm a student.

Gitit personal wiki for technical information (my blog post: <[http://nathantypanski.com/blog/2014-07-09-personal- wiki.html...](http://nathantypanski.com/blog/2014-07-09-personal-wiki.html>)).

Google Calendar has my schedule, including where I am at any time during the day. It syncs with my phone, laptop, and tablet. While I would prefer something plaintext (like Org-Mode offers) the Android compatibility is not as good.

Google Tasks (integrated with calendar) and Google Keep for on-the-go notes and tasks.

Paper notes in two-column Cornell style in bound notebooks <[http://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/27l7tx/whats_you...](http://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/27l7tx/whats_your_goto_note_taking_method/ci2axla>).

</comment><comment><USER4> I use a set of plain text files in a directory that is synced between all of my machines. This is flexible and basic enough that it can be adapted to any use case or productivity system as necessary. When I need a more specific workflow, I can develop something on top of it. Staying with plain text and having reliable file sync is just a foundation.

I access the files with a fluid interactive interface and full text search provided by Notational Velocity / nvALT ([http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/](http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/)), for when I'm in a graphical environment, or my own NV-inspired shell script([https://github.com/lfam/n](https://github.com/lfam/n)) for when I'm in a console. My primitive script has Bash and Zsh completion and gets out of my way pretty well... could be improved a lot, though.

I use Syncthing ([http://syncthing.net/](http://syncthing.net/)) to sync this directory between my devices. Syncthing is a FOSS decentralized file sync program that works on Linux, OS X, Windows, FreeBSD, and Solaris. Plus there is a work in progress Android app. I recommend it highly if you are looking for a FOSS alternative to Dropbox or BitTorrent Sync. _It works right now_ which is saying a lot compared to its competitors, and it is truly decentralized (no server / client architecture like Seafile).

If anyone here is an Android developer, they could use your help, especially with the filesystem.

I've been meaning to explore org-mode. Maybe next time I take a long plane ride.

</comment><comment><USER5> Ideas/Notes: Google Keep & OneNote Tasks: Outlook Tasks

I can not recommend Outlook Tasks enough. I'd used Outlook for years never giving this more than a cursory glance. A few months back our entire office was placed on an outlook training course. I went in thinking this would be a waste of a day, yes a whole day on Outlook! It was worth it and I came out a convert for some functionality i'd not explored properly, tasks being one. You have to spend the time to restructure the layouts (best thing is open task view next to the calendar and default to this view not email) and build categories. Then have the discipline to put things in tasks (Ctrl-shift-k). If in a team you can allocate them task too. The latter is great for me as I tend to pass on jobs, assume they will be done and then forget about them til I need it. This helps track these smaller easily forgotten tasks well. I'd really recommend giving it a go.

With OneNote, this is quite powerful but you have to take the time to structure & set it up. But once done it is super efficient to store loads of notes.

I realised I sound like a bit of a MS fan-boy, but I have tried loads of the usual suggestions and found these 2 products work really well together. But like most MS products it take a little learning/effort to get the benefit.

</comment><comment><USER6> I use TiddlyWiki ([http://tiddlywiki.com/](http://tiddlywiki.com/)) for research notes and daily work logs. At home, I track productive time (e.g., studying, reading books) using a timer, listing the amount of time devoted to each subject/book (per day) in a tab-separated file. I have not needed any sort of organizer for scheduling or for remembering good ideas.

<comment><USER7> Your workflow sounds eerily similar to how mine used to be. I'm working on Catalist ([http://www.catalist.me](http://www.catalist.me)) and would love to connect. I've built in a timer (via a Play button) to easily time your tasks so might be worth exploring.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> For many years, i have tried many things:

\- Apps such as Wonderlist, Clear...

\- Entries in my GMail Calender

\- Notes App on my Phone

\- Post-it notes

\- Writing reminder emails to myself

At the end of the day, nothing really worked for me. What DID work for me: a Whiteboard on my front door.

I have all my project ideas, to-do lists and appointments on there.

</comment><comment><USER9> I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Evernote. Unless I am misunderstanding your question.

I just save things in Evernote. Physical documents get scanned and uploaded. I also use BitTorrent Sync for things like music and videos. Extremely sensitive stuff like banking documents are encrypted and synced as well. I don't upload that stuff.

</comment><comment><USER10> So, i bring three things wherever i go:

\- Sticky notes: Yes, a small sticky notes is enough. I write down all my to- do list _at that day_ in that small sticky notes. If my todos do not fit on single sticky note paper, i must write it on another paper (for another day).

\- A small book: B5/A5 size is good. It is very effective when i am unable to pick up my phone (e.g.: in commuter). I write most of my ideas there.

\- Google Keep (within my Phone): Seriously, i have tried Evernote, Springpad, etc, and nothing suits my usecase. I don't need categories, tags, etc. What i need is stream, because i don't care my old notes. I don't care about reminder a month ago to buy a juice for my mom. I only care about newer notes.

</comment><comment><USER7> I noticed OP has asked similar questions in the past and it just shows how the problem hasn't really been addressed properly.

I've been working on Catalist to solve this exact issue and that too, for teams. The premise is that by having your checklists, pipelines, and notes all in one place you can actually have full context of what you need to do. It also makes it easy to take a shot at visualizing productivity through additional signals like time tracking, general activity, and more.

Sign up for a free trial ([http://www.catalist.me](http://www.catalist.me))

</comment><comment><USER11> I use Evernote for capturing and Asana for task management (both personal and work projects). I have used a lot of tools in the past (Omnifocus, Simplenote, text files, Emacs org-mode, Trello, Google tasks..., Clear) but I'm quite happy with my current setup. Now that Asana has a native app, both work well- enough in desktop, mobile and tablet.

Some people try to use one tool (for example Evernote) for everything, but in my opinion there are benefits to separate ideas, writings, sketches from tasks that need to be done.

</comment><comment><USER12> I've played with a few different things, but right now I just have a plain text file at the top-level of my dropbox directory, as a rough short-term notes and to-do list. Then I turn these into work task as all-day events in my google calendar. I shuffle them around the calendar to plan out my week. When completed, I delete each of them. For each month, I keep a simple plaintext record of each item finished this way. Makes it pretty easy to put together quarterly or annual performance reports.

</comment><comment><USER13> A post-it note on my desk if I need a reminder for something today/tomorrow. Notepad.exe for copying/pasting code, URLs, numbers while working. Trello for everything else.

</comment><comment><USER14> I'm a huge fan of Vimwiki ([https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki](https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki)).

I've got multiple wikis for different projects I work on. I keep the wikis in a Dropbox folder to sync them across devices.

Since I use markdown for my Vimwiki files, I can edit them fairly easily - <USER2> use Editorial on iOS when I'm away from a computer.

</comment><comment><USER15> I use Trello, and then I have it sync with Google Calendar. That way, I can handle individual tasks with the flexibility that Trello allows, but use Google Calendar when I need a broad picture of due dates.

For me, to-do lists are far too limiting. Trello strikes the right balance, however, when it comes to customizability.

<comment><USER16> +1 for Trello I link to Google Docs for anything I can't fit into it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Notational Velocity (and nvAlt) synced with SimpleNote through Dropbox, so I can access it anywhere. Works like a charm, simple enough so that the setup does not get in the way of anything and I need not have to think about it when note-taking, but robust enough to be everywhere whenever I want it.

</comment><comment><USER18> Asana for projects and structured/hierarchical lists, ideation, etc. Evernote for more detailed note-taking. Use asana to point to google docs, dropbox files, etc.

</comment><comment><USER19> Org-mode, gcal, notebook/pen/paper.

Keep it all in text, avoid vendor lock in. My workflow is timeless and needs to outlast the latest trend.

</comment><comment><USER20> Recent thread: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8270759](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8270759)

</comment><comment><USER21> a big fan of keep.google.com

I just throw everything in there and color code it. been using it for a year or so

</comment><comment><USER22> hackpad</comment>