Ask HN: If I believe there's a tech bubble, how should I proceed? - <AUTHOR>

Basically, in the event that we're entering a tech bubble, how do I as an entrepreneur capitalize on that? I'm already building a product, haven't sought investment and want to know what I should avoid to maximize my chances of success.<p>Discuss! <comment><USER2> This is from my completely anecdotal observations so take it with that grain of salt. But I actually think a bubble is good for people like you. To explain that let me give you my advice...

1\. Ramp up as quickly as possible. If there is a bubble than it will pop and funding will dry up. So you need to get funded as soon as possible.

2\. Run Lean. Take whatever funding you get and figure out how to live off it for as long as possible. That means staying on Ramen for the time being.

Here's the reason for my advice. People treat the end of the first bubble like it was a dead period with no investments. That is not how I remember it. There was maybe 6 months where funding dried up but after that investors went looking for slightly safer bets. Companies that had survived the collapse and still appeared to be running well. Those companies had their pick of the VCs.

Most VCs will tell you their #1 criteria for funding is smart founders. Nothing proves how smart you are than out living your competitors. So if you can build a good product and survive the initial burst I think you're golden.

At least that's my 2 cents.

<comment><AUTHOR> Good points. My biggest question was if funding was a good idea. Seems like the general consensus is to get it while it's easy.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Don't build bubbly products.

Startup/VC bubble seems to be a very popular topic in hacker circles, as if all web businesses might get wiped out when the bubble "bursts".

It's wrong to think of all startups as being susceptible to the same sorts of valuation bubble concerns -- tons of "web startups are just businesses with a web component". Tons of web startups are just retail outlets that happen to do most of their business on the web.

Airbnb, Etsy, Amazon, etc just connect buyers and sellers, which is something brick and mortar retail outlets have been doing for time eternal. The valuation of Color doesn't affect their (Airbnb's, Etsy's, Amazon's) business model.

Don't build bubbly products. Investors will always invest in cashflow, whether its web based or otherwise.

Edit: Clarify ambiguous referent.

<comment><AUTHOR> Well, I'd disagree that Color's valuation doesn't affect their business model. When you take $40M then you're saying a few things including: we're going to build a great (ala expensive) team, we're going to build it fast, and we're going to get users right away. That impacts one's business model greatly.

Also, I don't want to build products to appease investors. Cashflow is the goal, investors are a less important detail if you want to go that route.

<comment><USER3> That was unclear on my part. What I meant is that Color's valuation doesn't affect _Amazon's_ business (obviously a simplification and subject to some overlapping macroeconomic factors).

i.e. Who cares if some investments are bubbly, so long as you're building businesses that are less susceptible to bubble dynamics.

Editing previous comment to reflect the original intent.

<comment><AUTHOR> Gotcha. I agree with that. So I was curious if taking funding now has any implications that are not present if there wasn't bubbly activity.

Your point about building a business regardless is the key though.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> It seems to me that any "bubble" which exists is on the funding side, I'm not seeing a ton of seemingly irrational exits (which is the strange thing about this "bubble")

Seems to me the smart play is to try to get as much startup funding as you can right now, build a really long runway and a huge, sustainable company.

<comment><AUTHOR> Interesting. So you're saying to capitalize on the money which is being made available. I was wondering what the pros and cons of this are.

I agree that the bubble exists on the funding side. When you take investments aren't you then participating and abiding by the rules of the bubble?

I was wondering if staying away from the funding (bootstrapping maybe) would let you make decisions that didn't include pressure from the bubble.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> There was an interesting link here the other day, a post titled "What are the picks and shovels of the digital Gold Rush?". It makes some good points.

[http://erehweb.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/what-are-the- picks-a...](http://erehweb.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/what-are-the-picks-and- shovels-of-the-digital-gold-rush/)

Other than that, take advantage of the number of willing investors!

</comment><comment><USER6> bubbles shake out all the weak hands so when it is over everyone left standing hits it big. We barely made it through 2009, but we have more in sales in 3 months than all of last year.

It is difficult to internalize how hard you need to work to hoard cash before a recession, especially when times seem great and money is easy. Even after surviving the 2001 and 2009 recessions it is easy to get sloppy when you have a lot of money in the bank account. We knew the 2009 recession was coming in 2007 and it was still dicey.

Also I dont think we are near another recession, this bubble will have some time to play out.

</comment><comment><USER7> "Disregard hype, acquire savings", whether by taking on project work at high rates or getting investments (if you feel you need them).

A bubble is a good time to build your reserves, especially if you're aware it's a bubble and stay frugal. This'll put you in a good position during the inevitable slump.

</comment><comment><USER8> Invest in things that you believe can actually be self sustaining.

Stay away from things people think are easy to do and look at things people think are hard to do. And then figure out where people are very wrong about the latter, as they often are.

</comment><comment><USER9> Gold rush? Sell shovels and picks!

I'm not kidding. Find a way to supply something to the people seeking to get rich. And profit from their efforts whether they succeed or not.

</comment><comment><USER10> While it's painful when the bubble pops, it does serve to clean out all the shit that shouldn't have been funded in the first place.

</comment><comment><USER11> Go ahead at full speed — the best time to start a startup is when everyone else is running away.

</comment><comment><USER12> Well, I'm proceeding by shorting Netflix in about 6 hours. We'll see how that goes.</comment>


TurboTax and H&R Block Saw Free Tax Filing as a Threat - <AUTHOR> https://www.propublica.org/article/intuit-turbotax-h-r-block-gutted-free-tax-filing-internal-memo <comment><AUTHOR> FWIW, Turbotax/H&R's hiding of their Free File site pages was discussed here about a week ago: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19758126](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19758126)

They have since made their pages discoverable by search engines and have denied that it was intentional obfuscation. But the news in TFA is that apparently someone at (or formerly at) H&R leaked internal documents with explicit guidance:

> _"Do not send clients to this Web Site unless they are specifically calling > about the Free File program," the guidance states, referring to the site > with the company's free option. "We want to send users to our paid products > before the free product, if at all possible."_

(there's also interviews with former employees recalling meetings)

This is all "news" because Congress is considering a bipartisan tax reform bill that includes a law that would _block the IRS from creating its own official Free File program. Senator Ron Wyden, the bill 's co-sponsor, is now having second thoughts [0] and yesterday, NY Gov. Cuomo ordered a state investigation into the tax prep companies [1].

[0] [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/taxpayer-first-act-free- file_...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/taxpayer-first-act-free- file_n_5cc9fb90e4b0d123954db6f4)

[1] [https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-calls- depart...](https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-calls-department- financial-services-and-department-taxation-and-finance)

edit: _changed "permanently block" to "block"

<comment><USER2> Is there even a reason we have to file? My understanding is that if you don't file, the IRS knows about your W2 or 1099s anyway and will punish you, so what's even the point of filing yourself? Just have the IRS send a check or bill in the mail in April and end this nonsense industry.

<comment><USER3> In addition to the penalty you'd incur, the IRS is unlikely to dig into your deductions and credits with your fervor, so they will likely compute a number that is "quite suboptimal".

There are also multiple ways of doing things, and picking one path may be strategic to you (if you expect more or less income in the following years). Giving up on this flexibility and its ramifications will affect your outcome negatively.

For simple filings, yes, it should be possible for them to give you a bill that is close to what you'd compute yourself.

This is my experience for the US system.

<comment><USER4> I think the general idea would be for the IRS to provide you with the completed tax return. This should be sufficient for a vast majority of people who only earn employment income.

You would then review the return and could update/file a return if you have additional deductions or business income that would not otherwise be reported to the IRS.

I believe the UK and some other European countries already have this system.

<comment><USER5> The UK tends to do its tax incentives a different way.

The government favours them as subsidies at point of purchase, rather than something you do at the end of the year. That actually works out a lot nicer as a tax payer, as you don't need to have the full amount of money up-front, and also means you're way less likely to miss out on some of them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> A similar trick exists for credit reports.

The real site for Government-mandated free credit reports:

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

(See "[https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-a- copy...](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-a-copy-of-my- credit-reports-en-5/"))

The highly publicized deceptive site designed to get you to sign up for a service you don't need:

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

<comment><USER7> The fact that the "real" website doesn't have a .gov tld is an ongoing travesty.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I am not really in the camp of blaming either of these companies or any tax filing companies for issues like this.

The real blame is Congress for making such a complex tax system will all their attempts to keep their offices secure. The tax system used to have meaning but generations of politicians found they could reward and punish with it and they did so with abandon.

The system should never had become so complex as to need a program. If your middle class or higher the chances you need more than 1040A/1040EZ put you into the category it just isn't worth the risk to do them without guidance and that is where Congress should be taken to task.

Now one good effect of that "Republican" tax change was the standard deduction got pushed so high most people will never need to itemize again. It also increased the progressiveness of the tax system by that and other changes. I guess if we cannot rid ourselves of all those tax laws that make itemization the punish/reward system it is then just raising the standard deduction is best.

<comment><USER9> > The system should never had become so complex as to need a program.

Actually there were bills in congress that would have made it so a program wasn't needed because the government would file on your behalf ([https://slate.com/business/2019/04/turbotax-bipartisan- tax-f...](https://slate.com/business/2019/04/turbotax-bipartisan-tax-filing- bill-win-for-lobbyists-ron-wyden.html)). In most cases the government knows enough about you to calculate your taxes for you. Turbotax lobbied the government to kill these bills because it would have destroyed their business model.

So the reason you have to use a complicated form or program to file, is entirely Turbotax's fault because they have lobbied the government from making it simpler for users.

Of course a bigger root cause is that lobbying is undermining our democracy.

<comment><USER10> > Turbotax lobbied the government to kill these bills because it would have > destroyed their business model.

"Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution." — Clay Shirky

<comment><USER11> Well it's still Congress's fault for being scammed by a corporation.

In way, US is run by corporations so I think this was by design.

This is a country for corporations, run by corporations.

What's written on US passports is a lie.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I've heard anecdotally from people working in non-profit agencies assisting with tax preparation that there was extensive lobbying to prevent changes that would make it easier to file for the earned income tax credit.

The average return for those applicable is ~$2,500, which is a huge amount for people who qualify, lost so Intuit and H&R block can better market their product.

[https://www.eitc.irs.gov/partner-toolkit/basic-marketing- com...](https://www.eitc.irs.gov/partner-toolkit/basic-marketing- communication-materials/eitc-fast-facts/eitc-fast-facts)

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/us- policy/2019/04/30/research...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/us- policy/2019/04/30/researchers-say-theres-simple-way-reduce-suicides-increase- minimum-wage/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.01bbed4bc306)

</comment><comment><USER13> Although it doesn't do the filing for you this guy has a great excel program that handles many tax forms. I have been using his stuff for years.

[https://sites.google.com/site/excel1040/home/](https://sites.google.com/site/excel1040/home/)

<comment><USER14> It's funny how sometimes the best utilities are just really complex Excel sheets. Amazing how versatile Excel can be.

I homebrew beer and use a tool called Bru'n Water to calculate what adjustments I need to make to my source water to match the characteristics of the style of beer. Once again it's just a massive excel file. Water and style information goes in, water additions (calcium sulfate, lactic acid, etc) comes out.

[https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/](https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> The issue is more than free filing. Everything seems to be broken.

I helped my brother in law file for an extension through the IRS web site. The IRS directed us to private companies including TurboTax to file the extension. We clicked on the free TurboTax link which nowhere had an ability to file for an extension!

I finally told my brother in law to print the extension form and mail it to the IRS.

The IRS should not include a link to something that doesn't exist.

Yikes!

<comment><USER16> > I finally told my brother in law to print the extension form and mail it to > the IRS.

What was wrong with this to begin with?

<comment><USER17> You're taking things that are already in a computer system (IRS Database of Income) and putting them back on paper to be snail mailed to them, then hopefully OCR'd or manually entered instead of directly inputting it to their website. Huge waste of time, taxpayer dollars, and prone to errors.

<comment><USER16> an extension is already in the IRS database?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I used to use TaxActOnline but this year it was asking for $80 simply because I had a 1099 for a couple months of 2018.

I switched to FreeTaxUSA and did everything for free (well for me because I live in TEXAS)...

I definitely think the US should have it's own system that individual states can extend however. The so-called "free" ones find any reason they can to swindle you.

I used TaxActOnline exclusively for all my taxes for the past 15 years and never paid more than $12 for any given year - so I will never be using them again.

<comment><USER19> FreeTaxUSA seems to work pretty well. I'll gladly pay $15 for help walking through the process. $80 is just unreasonable.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> It would be amazing if the US had an equivalent of the CBO for determining the impact of legislation on the annual total of labor-hours. Are there any estimates how many less labor-hours would be necessary if the US handled tax returns more efficiently (eg. sent out prefilled forms)?

</comment><comment><USER21> Can anybody suggest an alternative program that will help me file? I know I could probably do this myself, but I prefer having software validate my returns.

It seems like this is something an indie developer could create, but maybe its too complicated and too risky?

<comment><USER22> I don't see how anyone can produce tax software, resolve bugs and issues, and keep it up to date with current tax code without charging money for it. It's too bad that paying taxes is this difficult.

<comment><USER23> That's why it's a good idea to pay the IRS with tax dollars to create their own free efile facility.

<comment><USER24> That's exactly the answer

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> If they signed a deal with the IRS how come they stil control how the product is displayed? Shouldn't this free filing app be part of the IRS site, or directly linked from the IRS site (click here to file your taxes...)?

<comment><USER26> [https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal- taxes-f...](https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for- free)

I haven't tried it, and some people tell of getting the runaround when trying to actually use it, but there it is.

<comment><USER27> Yes, there it is.

That page is literally 1 click from the main irs.gov site. Granted, it's "below the fold", most people will have to scroll down just a little bit. But there it is: IRS Free File.

Go ahead, naysayers, downvote me all you want, but I'll say this: if you can't find that page and investigate if it applies to you, then you _deserve to pay to file_.

It's a totally different discussion if the links from the IRS site lead to dark patterns and tricks. That's a legitimate topic of discussion.

But not the existence of IRS Free File itself. That's just fine. About the only way it could be easier to find that page would be if it were "above the fold".

<comment><USER28> Most people won't type in [https://www.irs.gov/](https://www.irs.gov/) directly, they will start with a search. Here's what might happen: [https://www.propublica.org/article/turbotax-just-tricked- you...](https://www.propublica.org/article/turbotax-just-tricked-you-into- paying-to-file-your-taxes)

<comment><USER27> _Most people won 't type in [https://www.irs.gov/](https://www.irs.gov/) directly_

I didn't type that directly either. I just typed irs.gov and magically wound up in the right place. :)

But you're right, most people don't grok the WWW enough to go directly to a site. Which, as an engineer, drives me crazy. I don't want _magic_ , I want to understand what's happening. I _need_ to understand what's happening.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> "Saw" \- "See", there - now that title is correct...

</comment><comment><USER30> How many articles are we going to have on this?

<comment><USER31> As many as it takes for Congress to change the asinine laws that make it so the IRS has us search for and input information it already has about us.

<comment><USER32> I seriously doubt Congress browses HN. Your cause would be better served by taking actual action, like writing your congressperson

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> Just curious, is there any value to making a clone of H&R Block / Intuit and making it open source (with also hosted somewhere)? It probably takes only a weekend for me to do this and I'll be happy to do it if there is significant interest from my fellow HNers.

Besides, fuck Intuit, never been a fan of them for the exact reasons mentioned in the article.

<comment><USER34> > It probably takes only a weekend for me to do this

Seriously? I know there are "10x" developers out there (I actually have worked alongside one extensively) but the PDF export of all the forms and IRS eFile integration alone seems like it would take a little longer than a weekend, even for an extremely prolific developer.

<comment><USER33> Thanks for the advice, I didn't think it would be this complex when I posted the comment. Because, where I live, it's really a breeze to file taxes online. So, I had my mind setup ("How hard could this be?") until I saw another commenter's linked PDF that had about 200+ pages of spec.

<comment><USER35> > 200

Heh you are off by an order of magnitude there. The linked pdf is only pub 17. There are numerous other publications you'd need to include to actually implement fully correct software for this.

For one relatively trivial example, if we see page 255 of pub 17, it describes the tax computation work sheet. But wait, there's more! If you have dividends or capital gains, you need a different worksheet, which is in a different publication, Mario.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER36> The number of anti-TurboTax articles lately ...

I get it, filing taxes could be easier but it isn't - on the scale of things to worry about, is it really that important? What about on the scale of things that government is inefficient at - does this rank in the top 1000?

Again, I'm not saying we can't improve it, and I agree with calls for the IRS (and CRA) to send pre-filled forms. What I'm calling into question is the outsize coverage that this particular issue got over the last few weeks as certain Democratic nominees (Elizabeth Warren) decided this was the path to their relevance.

<comment><USER37> I'm a Brit, so ab outsider - but isn't the big issue here that a private company has been able to successfully lobby to get laws changed to make it illegal for tax filing to be free?

I'm not aufait with the US tax system, so please correct me if I've got that wrong.

<comment><USER36> >but isn't the big issue here that a private company has been able to successfully lobby to get laws changed to make it illegal for tax filing to be free?

Why would it be a 'big issue'? There is no human right to super easy tax filing. Interest groups, whether they be corps, or unions or activists, will lobby to get laws they like passed. Par for course whether you're in United States or Britain.

<comment><USER37> > Why would it be a 'big issue'?

Let me flip that around - why _wouldn 't_ it be? Surely corporations shouldn't have the power to change laws to let them squeeze citizens for every cent? Surely laws should be there for the _benefit_ of the populace?

> lobby to get laws they like passed. Par for course whether you're in United > States or Britain

Lobbying is indeed a thing in the UK, but not remotely to the degree it is in the US. And on this specific issue, there isn't even a remote possibility that the UK would legislate against free tax filing, regardless of ludicrous lobbying (and I say this as someone with a very low opinion of UK politics).

<comment><USER36> >Let me flip that around - why wouldn't it be?

Because it isn't a big deal.

>Surely corporations shouldn't have the power to change laws to let them squeeze citizens for every cent?

They don't have the power to change laws. Congress makes laws. Corporations certainly have a right to lobby government, just like unions, just like citizens, just like activists, just like non-profits.

>Lobbying is indeed a thing in the UK, but not remotely to the degree it is in the US

I'm not sure what standard you use to make this assertion.

>And on this specific issue, there isn't even a remote possibility that the UK would legislate against free tax filing

What are you talking about? You can file for free in United States. That's not at issue. People are complaining that IRS doesn't send a simpler pre-filled tax form. They are also complaining that TurboTax and H&R block does not advertise free filing options [1].

[1] [https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal- taxes-f...](https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for- free)</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


IBM and Google Team Up to Tackle Developer Security Challenges - <AUTHOR> https://developer.ibm.com/dwblog/2017/grafeas/ <comment><USER2> The Google blog lists a number of companies that are implementing Grafeas.

[https://cloudplatform.googleblog.com/2017/10/introducing- gra...](https://cloudplatform.googleblog.com/2017/10/introducing-grafeas-open- source-api-.html)

The GitHub repository is here. [https://github.com/Grafeas/Grafeas](https://github.com/Grafeas/Grafeas)

The GitHub README.md has the most concise description of Grafeas, which is a metadata API specification. It further explaisn note and occurrence. I think that reading through the README.md of the Grafeas project first might help to understand the blogs by Google and IBM.

[https://github.com/Grafeas/Grafeas/blob/master/README.md](https://github.com/Grafeas/Grafeas/blob/master/README.md)

When can I use this as part of the IBM Cloud? Any speculation? Can I use it on the Google Cloud? It seems like Black Duck integrating it with the Google Cloud [https://blog.blackducksoftware.com/black-duck-google- grafeas](https://blog.blackducksoftware.com/black-duck-google-grafeas)

Or, do I need to install this myself?

<comment><USER3> Thank you for your interest in Grafeas and the IBM Cloud.

Yes we do have plans to integrate Grafeas and Kritis with the IBM Cloud Container Service as well as extend Grafeas with security services such as Vulnerability Advisor. Timing TBD. Until that time, I expect that the grafeas.io site will eventually have instructions to install and run Grafeas locally or within various cloud providers.

\- Dan

<comment><USER2> @danberg, thanks for the information. If you have any updates, please post them here.

It looks like the README.md for Grafeas was updated a few times in the last few days.

[https://github.com/Grafeas/Grafeas/commits/master/README.md](https://github.com/Grafeas/Grafeas/commits/master/README.md)

This section of the README.md is interesting:

TODO:Document the process for adding a new kind to the spec and generating the model, documents, and client libraries to include that kind. #38

Hopefully, these types of things will be fully explained when we see companies like IBM commercialize Grafeas and offer it as a service.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER2> I just saw this TechCrunch article on the topic by Frederic Lardinois [https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/12/google-ibm-and-others- laun...](https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/12/google-ibm-and-others-launch-new- open-source-api-for-keeping-tabs-on-software-supply- chains/?ncid=mobilenavtrend)</comment>


Show HN: Mixfont, a font generator for modern pairings - <AUTHOR> https://www.mixfont.com <comment><AUTHOR> Hi HN community, wanted to share a side project that I've been hacking around on. I wanted to make a really easy way to generate new font pairing ideas, and showcase them as if they were part of a real app or website. It turned into Mixfont ([https://www.mixfont.com](https://www.mixfont.com)) and I hope it can be helpful when choosing fonts for your next project. Would love to hear your thoughts!

</comment><comment><USER2> Seems like it works better on desktop than mobile but overall I like the concept. Google Fonts is pretty good at visualizing the fonts in a normal text style, but I like how this tool creates the pairings and shows them in different ways. Nice work for a side project

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the feedback and really appreciate the support!</comment></comment>


How Different Groups Spend Their Day - <AUTHOR>

http://www.nytimes.com//interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html <comment><AUTHOR> I wondered how internet usage featured in this, so I referred to <http://www.bls.gov/tus/> In there it says "Computer or Internet use may be coded as work, education, volunteering, or relaxing, depending on how the respondent identified the activity during data collection". So the answer is that it is spread all through depending on what the user was using the internet for at the time. This includes shopping.</comment>


Ask HN: Website feedback - <AUTHOR>

I'm not a web developer, at all. I would like to put up a website as a landing page, to help get more extra work.
Can you guys give me feedback? How can I make this look better? I'm trying to keep it short, sweet, to the point.
I know I'm asking for trouble. I hope you'll be nice.
It's at longviewbits.com <comment><USER2> My suggestions :

\- reduce line height to make text easier to read

\- add your logo/name in the header nav (top-left maybe)

\- make your Github/Twitter accounts more visible than tiny icons in the footer

\- talking about footer, it probably should be highlight how to contact you - being able to contact you only through a "Support" form seems quite unfriendly

\- add an About page telling a bit about yourself, where you are located, ...

\- probably better leave the Testimonials page out until you can fill it [http://www.longviewbits.com/testimonials/](http://www.longviewbits.com/testimonials/) \- an empty Testimonials page doesn't provide any positive value</comment>


Ask HN: email@example.com and email@example.com should be considered 2 different accounts? - <AUTHOR> assuming your websites has a sign-up and you provide some free credit/usage for each new sign ups.
In gmail and GSuite accounts (not sure if other email services does the same) you can do the +1 trick.
Add +N after your username and receive the email in the same sandbox (which is actually useful in many cases).
The point is, knowing that, do you consider
user@gmail user+1@gmail user+2@gmail user+3@gmail user+4@gmail user+5@gmail
as 6 different and unrelated accounts in your db?
it is fair to _regex_ the email and remove the +1  trick? <comment><USER2> What is the value of the resource you're providing with each signup? Running a regex is only worth it if you're offering value that you have to pay for, like a free tshirt or some paid compute credits. And even then, it's only a problem if you have insufficient cash to cover the abuse.

If however you're offering LOW COST items (ex: digital goods, or a free month of your SAAS), then absolutely do not filter these. Search for them afterward and contact them. These are some of your most valuable users: people who are willing to put up with the pain of creating new logins over and over again just to use your service. Find out what they love. Find out what it would take for them to start paying. They can provide intelligence far in excess of the free service credits you're providing.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for sharing this prospective.

</comment></comment><comment> tony-allan You should always treat that case as distinct email addresses.

If you have problems with one person signing up multiple times then this won't fix it for you. There are many other ways a person can have lots of email addresses. You will waste a lot of time chasing your tail.

I reasonably use plus style addresses to establish different identities and I generally pass on a website if their registration or other processes assumes things about my address or disallow valid characters in an email address.

I also don't try and rip-off a website by abusing their free services.

</comment><comment><USER3> You should treat them as unique, Google is not the only e-mail provider.

You can use that knowledge in constructing your anti-spam heuristics though.

</comment><comment><USER4> A plus sign is allowed in the user part of email addresses. Though it's most commonly used as a tag (and I've only seen it used that way) it could be used as an actual address and since the receiving mail server decides how to handle it you have no way of knowing.

If you choose to strip the tag I'd only do so when processing a new signup and make sure that the user can login with his email@example.com and that all email goes to that address.

</comment><comment> a-saleh The best solution to this problem I heard was to along these lines:

* have a separation between accounts and users. Account is the entity that pays for the service. Usually account has users associated.

* collect payment/credit card information on account creation

This way, you don't really care about user+1, because you have their payment info already, and can assume at least some intention to pay after their free tier is up.

There are many legitimate reasons why somebody while doing evaluation would create several users, i.e. I do firstname.lastname@example.com as well as firstname.lastname@example.com in few services.

If you find out that too many of your customers are not willing to pay, look at it more as a business problem, trying to reach better customers that you can charge more, rather than to better enforce some account de-duplication.

I think I heard this approach from patio11, Amy Hoy or some interview on Mixergy?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you, I like the idea of rules. Billing, user, admin etc.

The issue with the credit card verification before trying the product is that as a user, I do not like that approach.

I want to try first and eventually pay. That is the experience I'd like to offer.

<comment><USER5> The best approach to credit cards, imho, is the Heroku one: you get a little bit of stuff no questions asked, but you get twice the free stuff if you validate a CC. This way, the user has an incentive to put a CC down even if she's not going to pay right away, which is good in itself (because you can then leverage it by making it extra-easy to impulse-buy later, as well as improving the quality of your db).

For the record, I am one of those people using + as a tag, just so my username a bit different site by site but still easy enough to remember (yeah I use a password manager, but a little bit extra hygiene never hurt anyone). I'd be incredibly pissed off if sites started trying to be clever with it; I guess I could tolerate a duplicate detector, as long as it doesn't stop me from signing up as soon as a + is detected.

If you see people abusing it, I would have a "hunting" routine and gently ask the worst offenders to shape up lest they get banned.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> For max portability, you should not try to notice that these variants might be the same account.

</comment><comment><USER7> The address extension is not always a + symbol.

The . in a Gmail user is a NOOP.

I treat them all as unique

</comment><comment><USER8> This is one of my favorite tricks for testing web apps. The only downside is getting your inbox blown up when the company runs an email blast, but it's nothing a filter can't catch.

I think these patterns are generally negative for most ecommerce companies (you've priced too low, you're signing up tons of low-LTV customers at huge CPA, etc.) and good for SaaS companies that can solicit feedback or otherwise monetize their "frequent triers".

</comment><comment><USER9> In GSuite it's also possible to redirect all unmatched addresses to some email address, e.g., firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com all go to email@example.com

You should consider asking phone verification, or keep a credit card of file.

<comment> tony-allan If you take up the suggestions here you will need to convince me that you are not abusing an important identifier and that you can protect my data.

My default answer for most sites is that I don't trust you with my phone number (e.g. Facebook using recovery phone as an undisclosed identifier) and certainly not my credit card number in some random database.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> There are email providers other than gmail. In many of these systems, the "+" character indicates a truly distinct email rather than an alias.

</comment><comment><USER11> Me too, I'd treat them as unique, even those some big companies aren't, most do, so I'd just go with the flow.

</comment><comment><USER12> Just don't accept email addresses with a + in them.</comment>


Google's official app market found hosting malicious Android apps—again - Suraj-Sun http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/04/googles-official-app-market-found-hosting-malicious-android-appsagain.ars

<comment><AUTHOR> _In the background and without warning, they also obtained the phone number and a unique identifier of the infected device and sent the information in clear text to a remote server under the control of the software developers._

Is this abnormal behavior for a mobile app? Hell, wasn't Path uploading your entire address book to its' servers? Oh, I guess that's different because it was over SSL.</comment>


Show HN: Talent Seekers that Pay to Contact you Through Email - <AUTHOR>

	I'm starting up a website called http://www.ubercapable.com/professionals.html , for people that have in demand skills want to filter out BS and serious offers to prevent them from wasting your time.
It's currently in beta and active. The way it works is when you sign up we create an email address for you. And when anyone emails you at this email address they will have to pay certain price to reach you. We will then send you a notification in which you could accept or deny this request.
When you accept this request we will link you and requester up to engage in conversation with them and the money they paid to talk will be waiting for you. <comment><USER2> How do you make money? What's the referral fee?</comment>


Top Algorithms for Coding Interview - <AUTHOR> http://www.programcreek.com/2012/11/top-10-algorithms-for-coding-interview/

<comment><USER2> Thanks for the post. You made a typo on 'toCharyArray' \- I'm pretty sure that's not a method :)</comment>


Millions are already benefiting from the shale revolution - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@weirgroup/the-future-s-green-and-that-means-a-key-role-for-fracking-8ba694b05574 <comment><USER2> Saving you some clicks: (from the link) "This is an extended version of a column written for the UK Times newspaper by Weir Group CEO Keith Cochrane and published on 28 September 2015. "

(from wiki) "The Weir Group plc is an engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company operates in over 70 countries employing approximately 14,000 people focused on mining, oil and gas and power markets."</comment>


Tell HN: Personalized streaming video workouts (my second start-up) - <AUTHOR>

I very recently soft-launched http://www.physicalfix.com, my second start-up. While it is still very much a work in progress, I thought I'd share it here since health and fitness seems to be something HN cares about and also because I value the feedback this community can offer.
The basic premise is this: We provide you with highly personalized and customized streaming video workouts with a 'virtual training partner'. The partner will do the complete workout along with you and provide tips on proper form as well as provide some motivation.
We also have a food log, activity log, and weight chart. We tried to tie these all together so that when you do a workout it shows up in your activity log and when you enter some food it'll calculate your caloric balance and forecast your weight in the future.
We've got a ton of features planned like mobile apps, augmented reality workouts, an educational series to help people learn about health, fitness and nutrition as well integrations with things like the withings scale.
What do you guys think? <comment><USER2> Looking briefly at your pricing plans, and having just done some in person personal training, I would like to have access to a personal training but don't necessarily need that access 24/7. If I could send an e-mail with a 24 hour response time or something with your basic plan that would be perfect.

Other than that it definitely looks good and I think could be a great alternative to spending $75 a session with a personal trainer at the gym.

<comment><AUTHOR> We have considered, and are still considering, single serve workouts. If there is a big demand for something like that, we'll probably implement it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> So I'm supposed to bring my laptop into the gym with me?

I love the idea, but man would it feel awkward looking at a computer or my phone screen in the gym to make sure my benchpress technique is right.

If this is geared more towards body-weight exercises, what is your advantage over something like P90X or Insanity?

<comment><AUTHOR> Well, the original goal was for it to be workouts you do at home. The value proposition is that you can get a gym quality workout with a personal trainer in the comfort of your home without having to pay gym membership fees or for an expensive personal trainer.

That said, we do plan on writing apps for both iOS and Andriod so you can take it with you to the gym if you would like to. It's not JUST body weight exercises though and we have exercises for dumbbells and exercise bands (things people are likely to have at home). And we do plan on adding exercises that incorporate gym or home gym equipment as well.

The advantage over something like p90X or Insanity is that these workouts are customized for you based on your current fitness levels and your fitness goals by an actual personal trainer. Every workout is unique and different so you're not doing the same thing week in and week out. It's not just some generic program that is the same for everyone who is doing it.

<comment><USER3> Initially I am getting a strange feeling about the idea. It is likely just because I am not your target market. I work out 4-5 days a week and would rather pay the $40/month for a gym membership with top of the line equipment instead of the convenience of working out at home. The gym is where I let off steam by myself without the fiance right next to me.

I don't want to shoot down your idea, but I do see a few problems with it...

1) At my gym, I can bring my fiance as my plus 1 every time. Your web app doesn't scale the same way.

2) Anyone that already works out has a major outlay of cash to spend to get up and running. Dumbbells, exercise bands, maybe a few kettle balls... PLUS the membership fee.

3) Solitude. I can't get away from my family when I am at home. At the gym I am in my own little world.

For people that just exercise (ie no complex weight training) and are willing to watch it on their computer, I think the idea is great. But I also think you'll see more success if you target a specific class of gym-goers.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> I put together a quick video for those wondering what the actual video workouts look like for the basic tier: <http://sproutvideo.com/videos/e898d2ba1d1de2cc60?type=hd>

(hosted on my other start-up)

</comment><comment><USER4> so it's sorta like buying a workout tape, except the exercises are personalized for you? that seems pretty clever and useful. i don't know much about this space... is anyone else doing this?

<comment><USER5> I don't know who else is applying this to workouts specifically, but the same technique would be worth trying for all kinds of applications: tutoring, dance, music lessons, foreign language.

<comment><USER6> What's the advantage over in-person tutoring, dance, music lessons et cetera?

If it's cost, it'd better be significantly cheaper.

<comment><USER5> _What's the advantage over in-person tutoring, dance, music lessons et cetera?_

You can break the geographical boundaries. If the best math tutor in the country lives in New York, and I live in Arizona, I'm out of luck. I worked for Kaplan, College Network, Sylvan Learning Center, and Veritas Prep...this was always the problem. If you live in Manhattan, you're in a great place to find GMAT tutors. If you live in Wyoming, your choices are more limited (noting against Wyoming, but people with high GMAT scores and MBA's tend to be on Wall Street). A system like this would allow equal access to great tutors, regardless of location. I know someone who flew a tutor from New York to Miami for tutoring. So it's not always about price. If I can get a better tutor online than I can get within driving distance, I'll pay the same or more.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> clickable link: <http://www.physicalfix.com></comment>


Ask HN: How do you pay for your trash? - <AUTHOR> Do you pay a flat rate or are you billed per bin/sack?
Are you able to share your approximate location?
Currently building a small side-project in that space. <comment><USER2> Reduce first, then reuse, then recycle. It doesn't seem like that much work to me and my lifestyle doesn't seem Spartan but I think we generate 1/4 the trash of many people.

After all that the family fills up a compact car full of trash in about two months that costs $10 to dispose of at the tipping facility.

</comment><comment><USER3> Flat rate, and billed twice: once by the city for trash removal (billed on the electricity bill since the city has a monopoly), and once by the rental company for trash valet service (the valet moves the trash bags from the apartment doors to the central trash container). Location: Austin, Texas, USA.

</comment><comment><USER4> Taxes. The city handles all trash pickup with no charge directly to property owners or tenants afaik.

That's to avoid a sanitation crisis as was common in the 19thC where people would just dump their trash on the street (or worse, in the parks) to avoid paying to have it collected.

Location: NYC

</comment><comment><USER5> City of Marion Ohio takes care of the trash here. I pay a flat $22 per month. I'm single if that matters to your inquiry.</comment>


Moving efficiently in the CLI - <AUTHOR> https://clementc.github.io/blog/2018/01/25/moving_cli/ <comment><USER2> Here's a few more that the diagram is missing, along with a function I created that inserts these commands (in dark gray so it's not intrusive) every time I start ZSH shell, like flash cards.

Keep in mind, most of these work anywhere in OS X, not just in the terminal.

Put this in your .bashrc or .zshrc

        # MOTD
        function echo_color() {
          local color="$1"
          printf "${color}$2\033[0m\n"
        }
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-f  Move forward"
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-b  Move backward"
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-p  Move up"
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-n  Move down"
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-a  Jump to beginning of line"
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-e  Jump to end of line"
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-d  Delete forward"
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-h  Delete backward"
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-k  Delete forward to end of line"
        echo_color "\033[0;90m" "c-u  Delete entire line"

<comment><USER3> Nice idea and important quick-movements.

However as a Vim user (mostly motivated by the fact that I can move around pressing single keys which I find more "wrist-ergonomic" \- potential fast navigation is a nice plus), I always wonder how heavy emacs users deal with CTRL-acrobatics and movement - do you use c-f/c-b for going forward/backward or the usual cursor keys?

For vi users it makes sense to set $readline (~/.inputrc) to vi-style, so for completion here the vi-style bindings (although probably obvious if you used to Vim).

      l "Move forward"
      h "Move backward"
      k "Move up" (step history backward)
      j "Move down" (step history forward)
      ^ "Jump to beginning of line"
      $ "Jump to end of line"

Deleting works as usual with `d` combinations. Furthermore it is convenient to search the history via `/`.

<comment><USER4> Honestly, I press both ctrl keys with my palms: [http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html](http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/swap_CapsLock_Ctrl.html)

I'm hearing people say that "that's impossible" or "it's weird", but I've used this method for ~2 years now. It has become muscle memory.

<comment><USER5> It is the BEST method.

I put a little pad over the Ctrl Keys to press it easily with muy palm.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6>
        set -o vi

Vi keys in the editor, Emacs on the CLI? This has never made any sense to me.

[https://popcon.debian.org/main/editors/by_inst](https://popcon.debian.org/main/editors/by_inst)

<comment><USER7> I came here to post that, glad you beat me to it. Reaching for that control key? Ouch. Though I guess when you use vi keybindings, you are occasionally reaching for the escape key.

But, there is something to be said for meeting people where they are. If folks know the emacs keybindings, let them 'control' away!

<comment><USER8> As a dyed in the wool Vi user. I still want ctrl where I can reach it easily.

Ctrl-[ for escape and when in Insert mode, ctrl-h backspace; ctrl-w delete word; ctrl-u delete line; Ctrl-m return; ctrl-i tab, etc.

<comment><USER9> Im a broken record in this thread right now... for goodness sake, remap capslock to ctrl!!

<comment><USER10> That's the first thing I do when I start a new MBP.

<comment><USER8> Yep, me too. The second thing I do is to remap the right alt key (used to be a numeric keypad 'enter' key back on my original MacBook Pro) to a second ctrl key.

I'm always confused by laptop designers who only include one ctrl key. How are we supposed to properly touch type modifiers otherwise?

<comment><USER11> > I'm always confused ...

Just stating the obvious: you're not their target consumer.

<comment><USER8> Maybe, there's probably some truth to that.

Apple do make it easy to remap the Alt key though and include a terminal and CLI commands by default so they must have some interest in business from people like me. ;)

(I would like to start a campaign to get the Mac Unix science page back again [https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple-drops- science-...](https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple-drops-science-as- core-market-web-page-deleted))

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Those shortcuts are a subset of those offered by GNU Readline, which is e.g. used by Bash and emulated by Zsh. Readline can offer Emacs-like (by default) or Vi-like keybindings:

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

</comment><comment><USER13> I recently discovered that macOS has native support for these Emacs key bindings ([https://jblevins.org/log/kbd](https://jblevins.org/log/kbd)) on it's textfields. This includes things like text editors, browser address bars, input fields and of course all terminal emulators.

I still prefer Vim as my editor, but learned these key combo's because they are just so portable.

<comment><USER14> Except option as meta (terminal excepted). I just want to M-f and M-b through words and I cannot.

<comment><USER15> Good news! If you add these shortcuts to the override file in your home directory it will override the alt-special-character behavior.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> To memorise moving around the cli:

C-f -> f for forward

C-b -> b for backward

C-p -> p for previous

C-n -> n for next

C-a -> a for Anfang

C-e -> e for Ende

C-k -> k for kill forward

C-u -> just memorise this one. It's the one you use when you suspect you've mistyped a password in ssh or login shell.

Alt/meta sometimes does what Ctrl does, but bigger.

BONUS TIP: In GNU screen, you can use C-a-a for C-a to jump to the beginning of the line. Now you no longer have a reason to passionately _hate_ the default C-a meta-binding for screen. You're welcome.

</comment><comment><USER17> This is handy. But it would be far more handy to show _exactly_ where the cursor goes. Moving left-ward puts the cursor at the beginning of the word. Moving right-ward puts the cursor one-past-the-end of the word, not at the last letter as is depicted in the diagram.

Anyway, it's far more intuitive to use arrow keys with modifiers:

* control + left-arrow = alt + b

* control + right-arrow = alt + f

* alt + backspace = control + w

I get super upset (pet peeve) when programs don't support word navigation like this.

What I would _like_ would be for someone to build a web app which allows you to select what modifiers you want for each of the shortcuts, and then has a button which would generate configuration files for various programs (vim, emacs, tmux, gnome-terminal, etc) that you can download or copy/paste. That would be grand.

<comment><USER18> Arrow keys are slower than letters, since you have to move your hand.

<comment><USER17> Not all keyboards are laid out the same.

<comment><USER18> There's no value in nitpicking. 99% of keyboards are standard qwerty.

<comment><USER9> And 100% of those keyboards can have simple keys remapped

<comment><USER18> What does that have to do with anything? The claim is that arrow keys are more intuitive keybindings. If you're remapping keys, then the familiarity of keys is irrelevant.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> They are simply basic Emacs keystrokes. They also work in Mac text fields.

Exception: ^U and ^W are old unix "cooked" io keystrokes but the relevant Emacs ones also work (e.g. meta-delete instead of ^W).

<comment><USER20> They're readline keybindings. Anything which uses readline will support them.

<comment><USER19> I am well aware of this as Brian Fox wrote readline at my suggestion and we were both by then Emacs users of many many years.

However the mac text widget doesn't use readline.

edit:s/than/then/

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> If you like to use the mouse:

In Terminal.app on macOS, alt + mouse click will move your cursor anywhere. I am not sure how exactly this works. It also seems to work while I am inside Terminal.app and logged on to a remote Linux system.

Also, simply clicking works while running a shell in Emacs using M-x shell

</comment><comment><USER22> If anyone else likes linux tools explained visually heres one for htop:

[https://codeahoy.com/2017/01/20/hhtop-explained- visually/](https://codeahoy.com/2017/01/20/hhtop-explained-visually/)

</comment><comment><USER23> Random tidbit: back when Mac OS X first mapped these bindings to Cocoa, it became possible to use them for evil -- to exploit OS X to grant access it wasn't supposed to. [1]

For example if you had a screensaver with a password prompt, you could type some characters, then: 1\. ctrl-a 2\. ctrl-k 3\. ctrl-y ...repeat steps 1-3 several times and hit enter.

The screensaver would crash to desktop, or on the logon prompt, you'd crash to the console mode available by entering >console as a username.

I think these were largely patched by 10.3.0.[2]

[1] [https://www.cnet.com/news/mac-os-x-screensaver-security- cras...](https://www.cnet.com/news/mac-os-x-screensaver-security-crashing- screen-effects/) [2] [https://apple.slashdot.org/story/03/07/05/187203/screensaver...](https://apple.slashdot.org/story/03/07/05/187203/screensaver- bug-in-mac-os-x)

</comment><comment><USER24> I moved to a 60% keyboard the past year and I wish I'd taken the time to research this. This is a lifesaver.

</comment><comment><USER25> For Mac (iTerm) users, thanks to this thread [https://stackoverflow.com/a/29403520/5233291](https://stackoverflow.com/a/29403520/5233291) you can easily configure

      - alt+arrow to jump words,
      - cmd+arrow to jump to start/end of line,
      - cmd+z/cmd+shift+z for undo/redo,
      - alt+delete to delete word

Just discovered it, it's amazing

</comment><comment><USER26> I believe these work because of readline, and the standard text controls in MacOS use readline...

Learning keyboard shortcuts is very beneficial, at least in cases where you often do the same things. CMD or Ctrl L is one of my favorites (jump to address text box in most browsers).

It's a bit like coffee^h^h code (wow, autocorrect) optimization; a few improvements in a few places can save an immense amount of work or time.

<comment><USER27> The standard text boxes on macOS don't use readline, they use NSText*, which happens to implement similar things to the defaults for readline (because they were created by people who used Emacs a lot, and readline defaults to Emacs style). This is really only important because readline customizations won't affect macOS text boxes — but it will affect readline programs on macOS, including bash.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> As lovely as this diagram is, are there any explanations as to _why_ these are the characters used? I know a few of them but don't see any overall pattern. Is there a logic to it, or do you just have to memorize it?

 _Update: Never mind. Turns out alt+most keys on macOS just types special characters, making the ones I didn 't know useless to me anyway :-D_

<comment><USER29> From Emacs: F/B are forward/back, D=delete, K=kill. E=end, and A was probably used because S was already Search. W=word, maybe? Not sure how U came about here (it's something different in Emacs).

BTW, if you're using Terminal.app, you have to explicitly enable "Use Option as Meta key" in the preferences.

<comment><USER30> ^H comes from ASCII.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> My favorite X-windows customization for improving the CLI experience (though it helps with all editing) is cranking up the key repeat rate to a lot higher than is possible in GUI control panels (and lowering the repeat delay):

xset r rate 160 80

I haven't found how to do this in OSX yet, but there is probably a way.

<comment><USER32> > I haven't found how to do this in OSX yet, but there is probably a way.

      defaults write -g KeyRepeat -int 0.02

[https://github.com/herrbischoff/awesome-macos-command- line](https://github.com/herrbischoff/awesome-macos-command-line)

<comment><USER31> I never got that to work somehow. I'm sure I have the wrong OSX version.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> Thanks for sharing! I've been using C-A/E a lot, but not really Alt-B/F. Wondering if there is a way to swap Alt-B/F to Ctrl-B/F? Moving between words seems much useful than going one char forward/backward, and arrow keys get those covered.

</comment><comment><USER34> The terminal might be the most ubiquitous piece of software between *nix flavors, if there's a single application you should probably learn the defaults for, it's gonna be that one.

Last thing you want to do is look like an idiot trying to fix your friend's computer because you can't even remember how to get around in their default bash shell.

This gives me an interesting idea, though... Are there any "portable shell" applications that painlessly provide a mechanism for storing your preferred shell, necessary dependencies and configuration files on a thumb drive that's as easy to use as `/mnt/shelldrive/zsh`?

</comment><comment><USER35> I want a shortcut that moves from current location to 50% of the remainder.

<comment><USER36> Ohh, this would be interesting, assuming the jump would diminish by 50% each time the shortcut was hit!

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> In macOS, you can use Karabiner Elements[1] and enable a set of complex modification rules[2] to remap these to a more intuitive key combinations.

[1] [https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner- Elements](https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-Elements) [2] [https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/complex_modifications/#termin...](https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/complex_modifications/#terminal_navi)

</comment><comment><USER38> This is covered within the first 2-3 minutes of the Emacs tutorial, along with some other shortcuts for moving around.

Run "emacs" and then press C-h t (Control-H then T) to start the tutorial.

Or you can read it [1], but the tutorial is interactive, so open it in Emacs if you have it.

[1] [http://www.cs.put.poznan.pl/anstroinski/data/uploads/sop1/ma...](http://www.cs.put.poznan.pl/anstroinski/data/uploads/sop1/materials/tutorial.txt)

</comment><comment><USER39> I sometimes wish to "delete forward/backward until character X" (where X might be one of the quotes, a dash, period, etc). I know about Ctrl-W, but that will use a fixed definition of what a word is, while what I need will depend on the context. Is this possible in readline's emacs mode, or is it time to bite the bullet and learn vi?

<comment><USER40> d/X in vi - you'll never go back

</comment></comment><comment> why-el Some of these actually work in a surprising number of places, for instance in the URL bar of both Safari and Chrome (assuming OSX). In fact I am so used to them that when they are missing they are the first reminder I am not in my preferred platform (or running a program that does not respect them).

</comment><comment><USER41> I use cntr -a cntrl e all the time.

I use the default mac terminal. I was excited because I'm always forward and backing up in previous commands.

But alas... Alt F and Alt B just print characters (ĺ). I tried to see if there was a configuration I could set, but to no avail. Maybe I need a better terminal.

<comment><USER42> The configuration is in Terminal Preferences -> Keyboard -> Use Option as Meta key

<comment><USER41> That works. Thanks! though you have to set it for each terminal type. (I use 3 colors...). It was a little annoying but done.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> Here's a gist I made awhile ago for moving around and other useful shortcuts and tools.

[https://gist.github.com/yelinaung/849c78c40784c56e05f5a04dde...](https://gist.github.com/yelinaung/849c78c40784c56e05f5a04dded9082d)

</comment><comment><USER44> I use i3wm and always feel left out of these kinds of tips, because i3wm uses Alt for all kinds of Window Management stuff. If I do Alt-F, my shell goes fullscreen, because i3wm is setup to do that.

Any tips for i3wm users that have these kinds of keybind conflicts ?

<comment><USER45> I use Super instead of Alt. When I changed to i3 I instantly knew that alt would conflict with everything in terminals.

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> My favorite recent find in iPython is "alt-9-backspace" which deletes 9 "words" back. In my case clearing a uuid string in a Django ORM query:

MyModel.objects.filter(UUID='123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426655440000')

<comment><USER38> Alt+<number>, command is Emacs / readline etc for "Repeat this command number times".

The number doesn't have to be a single digit, so Alt-3, Alt-6, Backspace, or Alt-3, Alt-6, Ctrl-H also work (delete 36 characters.)

(Your command would normally be described is Alt-9, Alt-Backspace; or M-9 M-Backspace; to show the Alt/"Meta" key is held for both strokes.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER47> The diagram is awesome! It helps in remembering these shortcuts better.

<comment><USER48> Yes _VERY_ nice diagram.

</comment></comment><comment><USER49> I use most of these on a regular computer but this is very helpful for something like Termux. My smartphone doesn't even have arrow keys! The diagram is very helpful.

</comment><comment><USER50> More command line tips: [https://talk.linuxtoy.org/cli- tips/#2](https://talk.linuxtoy.org/cli-tips/#2)

</comment><comment><USER51> In the OS X Terminal, is there yet a way to simultaneously get a working alt key and the ability to type characters like []\/ when using an European KB layout?

</comment><comment><USER52> What about the arrow keys? Home/End? Delete? Backspace?

Seems pretty silly to key CTRL-something when there are dedicated buttons for the functions already.

</comment><comment><USER53> I always wanted these! I've been using cmd/alt and arrow keys by accident many times but no luck. Thank you!

</comment><comment><USER54> All those, and ctl-r <chars><ret> for searching history.

<comment><USER54> Also -- ctl-r <chars> ctl-r ctl-r ret

To match two commands containing <chars>

</comment></comment><comment><USER55> My dream command is

[somekey] + up

that scrolls through history sorted by frequency of use.

<comment><USER56> I've used this for years:

[https://github.com/dvorka/hstr](https://github.com/dvorka/hstr)

</comment></comment><comment><USER57> I'll just be over here, using acme.

<comment><USER27> Hi! Where did you find a good 3-button mouse these days? Are you still living off a hoard collected from back when?

</comment></comment><comment><USER58> $ set -o vi

</comment><comment><USER59> lol no.

> set -o vi

</comment><comment><USER60> set -o vi

</comment><comment><USER61> set -o vi

</comment><comment><USER62> oh my god. i cant be the only one here who had no idea these existed. thank you

</comment><comment><USER63> Chris Pizzi taught me all these little tricks while we worked at Ezyield.com. Thanks Chris!

</comment><comment><USER64> we need this because first apple and later others ditched the navigation keys from keyboard. good old days with home, end , page up/down delete keys etc. nowadays they fuck with function keys first they replaced it with screen dim and sound now the touchbar , future is not bright!

<comment><USER65> > they replaced it with screen dim and sound now the touchbar , future is not > bright!

Well, sure; that's because you've used the screen dimmer.</comment></comment>


Apple Introduces Search Ads Basic - <AUTHOR> https://searchads.apple.com/basic/ <comment><USER2> Since others in the thread are discussing a lack of "targeting" and such, see also "Search Ads Advanced" [0], which allows you to "refine your audience" \-- "by gender, age, and show your ads only to devices located in specific geographic areas."

[0]: [https://searchads.apple.com/advanced/](https://searchads.apple.com/advanced/)

<comment><USER3> That's not very targeted. Real targeting would be using the contents of your email, iMessages, browsing history, etc.

<comment> yoz-y I will assume that you do not actually want this. However I do feel that there could be a bit of more targeting options without being creepy.

For example Apple could infer categories of users according to their Appstore profile and permit you to target people by their trade.

<comment><USER4> Also if DuckDuckGo can target you based on what you're searching there and then, is that not targeting? It's not stalk based targeted advertising, but you're still an ideal target since they're showing you something you're searching for, in some cases it might not be fully relevant to what you wanted, but close enough to be shown (not sure how highly relevant DuckDuckGo ads become relative to search terms).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> How long before we see a post that people are being fooled into installing some copycat apps which are nearly identical to original apps but are getting promoted by Search Ad Basics?

<comment><USER6> Isn't Apple's detailed vetting the difference between the App Store and Google Play? Apple should be able to catch these scammer apps.

<comment><USER7> Maybe 5 years ago, but I don't think they have any quality bar now. For every decent quality game on the app store there are dozens of terrible clones: [https://youtu.be/yU6WC4dpaHM?t=12s](https://youtu.be/yU6WC4dpaHM?t=12s)

<comment><USER8> Omg that first one even uses the default Unity player model, it looks worse than most Ludum Dare games

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> The App Store ads are a disgrace. 100% of my older relatives get fooled and install the first app that comes up in App Store when searching for something.

The only thing that gives Apple an edge over Google/Amazon is that they are not an ads company or retail shop.

Such a pity seeing them to want to move into that space.

<comment><USER10> There are even ads now in the News app.

I mean, I paid $1k for the iPhone X and iOS, why the hell do the native apps come with ads?

What's next? Ads in Calendar and Mail?

<comment><USER11> Those ads are probably to pay the news companies, not Apple. They probably don't get any money from Apple so they need some revenue to justify licensing their content for Apple news.

<comment><USER12> Yes. If there weren't ads, publishers would make no money on their content and it would make no sense to publish through Apple News.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I hate to whine but I hope ads are clearly labeled as ads, and also that this doesn't replace their efforts to make the app store and app discovery more friendly.

<comment><USER14> Apple's help docs show how the ads appear: [https://searchads.apple.com/v/help- basic/a/images/overview/h...](https://searchads.apple.com/v/help- basic/a/images/overview/how-ads-look_large_2x.jpg)

They seem quite clearly marked as ads.

<comment><USER9> Yet my elderly parents(50+ and 60+) and quite a few non-techie friends tap on the first result that comes up when I ask them to install an App.

It's a reason to not buy them a premium Apple device next time.

<comment><USER15> Is the Play store better about this?

<comment><USER16> No, but Apple is supposed to be better than Google about this.

What a shame.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Related:

I think many companies can run their ads as pay for performance. eBay's ads are a fixed cost of the product sale - the higher you set it, the more often your ad shows but you only pay if it leads to a sale.

Platforms simply have so much data and scale they can do a much better job of targeting than their customers can. It's not efficient for lots of marketers to test out lots of ads, carefully track conversions, and decide what to spend on. Just let the platform maximize ads given a certain amount per sale, and the platform will naturally target based on what converts best (and since this is Amazon scale or Facebook scale, they can do these tests automatically for every campaign and get statistically significant results very quickly).

I wish Amazon would roll out eBay style ads. They have all the data and could do a much better job than sellers, and could capture a significant portion of the added value it would provide.

</comment><comment><USER18> Wow, I just set this up for an app and it took less than 60 seconds. That's surprisingly fast. Good job Apple.

<comment><USER19> Its definitely fast, but... is it actually going to be effective for the cost? Probably not in the long term.

Having used this "one click" setup on Twitter and Facebook before I know these campaigns are increasingly ineffective.

That said, the App Store is a different kind of ecosystem so things could go differently.

<comment><USER20> It's pay-per-user-install so I think it is very easy to determine if it is worth it for you/

<comment><USER21> This will canibalize part of your organic traffic thus even if the cost per install is lower than your users lifetime value this is not obvious.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Advertisers love segmenting and targeting their audience. With Apple's stance on privacy, how effective will these days be?

In other words - I thought it was widely understood that Apple made excellent products and was poor in services that required personalization.

<comment><USER23> > With Apple's stance on privacy, how effective will these days be?

IMO Apple's stance on privacy is a bit smoke and mirrors when they allow tracking services like flurry to exist in apps.

<comment><USER19> I don't think we can hold Apple responsible for 3rd parties like Flurry. Those companies will always find a way to do what they do because there is incredible value in having access to such data (as a developer).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> The better question is what is the purpose?

Don't apps sell themselves?

This seems incredibly similar to pay per click.

Just because someone downloads and an app doesn't mean that they're going to use it.

If only there was some sort of retention statistic on how often an app is downloaded and deleted.

I just hope that quality does not suffer. I'm genuinely curious to see if this will drive user engagement/retention

<comment><USER25> Apps haven't sold themselves for a while now, unless you have a specific reason people should share you (see HQ Trivia's growth.) If you build the world's best todo app it will have zero traction without a massive marketing budget because the competition is already settled. And if you build something new, but niche, you have the same problem - you need to get to the top of search results, but you can't do that without download quantity.

You do get retention stats from Apple, I think it also breaks it down via source (organic vs search ad). Also I'm not sure why people are just realizing this now, these ads have existed for the past 6 months or so. This is just a way to set it up faster for people that don't want to configure their targeting.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> > No expertise needed. > > Setting up your account is easy. Simply tell us > your app > and monthly budget. Our intelligent automation creates your > ad > and matches it to interested users.

Wow -- you don't have to have any marketing competence whatsoever. Just pay Apple per install and they'll magic it up.

</comment><comment><USER27> And here we go, slipperiest of slopes

</comment><comment><USER28> To me this looks like an indirect way for Apple to extract more money from developers.

Since it's so easy to set up a campaign that does not lose money (it's pay per install), imagine _every_ developer setting up a campaign with their app's price as maximum bid (ignoring revenue shares to simplify). Lots of installs, but zero revenue for developers.

</comment><comment><USER29> I don't want to buy installs, I want more engagement that I can't buy but need to deliver.

<comment><USER30> This is about risk. You want less risk and so does Apple. Since app quality is a crap shoot, they won't and don't need to offer that kind of model. Likewise, you should build into your model how much you can afford to spend knowing some subset of installs will be lower quality.

</comment></comment><comment> yoz-y Apple store had search ads for a while now, does this mean that they are out of beta?

</comment><comment><USER31> I can't see how this is different from payola. (Saying that Google does it too is not an argument, btw.)

</comment><comment><USER32> The ads are very insidious. I've never seen such deceptive ads on the Google Play store, but here we are on the App Store.

</comment><comment><USER33> Ah, damn. There goes Apple's Privacy Favoritism.

<comment><USER34> [https://searchads.apple.com/privacy/](https://searchads.apple.com/privacy/)

> No user tracking - Search Ads does not profile users based on their search > queries, and no data from other Apple Apps — including Health, Apple Pay and > HomeKit — is used to deliver ads.

> No data sharing - No individual user data is exposed to advertisers, only > aggregate campaign delivery information is made available.

<comment><USER35> For how long, though? If this service will become successful (which it likely will be), there will be a huge monetization opportunity by allowing more targeted ads e.g. based on other app installs.

<comment><USER36> Apple is in the hardware business. They don't want to get into ads.

<comment><USER37> Without meaning to be a tit;

> Search Ads Basic

Why does this not count as "getting into ads"? Genuinely don't see the difference. And to be fair, the product kinda puzzles me in the first place. Is it really only an ad at the top of app store search pages?

<comment><USER36> Let me clarify for you: They're not _seriously_ in the ads business and they never will because it's full of privacy issues. They're using ads here to help people find the app they're looking for - that's it. It's contained within the App Store to help people find ads. How much rev has apple made from iAd? Prob not a lot

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment> tim-- > Available in U.S. storefront only.

Wait, what? Why is it only in U.S. storefronts? Does this mean I have to walk into an Apple store to get the Ads?

<comment><USER38> no it means that ads are only being rolled out to the US app store at the moment

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> [off-topic] Is the MacBook Pro 15 available in gold now? [https://searchads.apple.com/v/basic/a/images/overview/hero_m...](https://searchads.apple.com/v/basic/a/images/overview/hero_medium_2x.jpg)</comment>


Cheap, fast, wireless connectivity won't happen without more fiber - <AUTHOR> https://backchannel.com/the-next-generation-of-wireless-5g-is-all-hype-1790239b8ca8#.oz3rmbyil <comment><USER2> Back at the start of the decade, i followed a certain startup in Moscow closely [1]. They wanted to provide 4G to the city.

For perspective, back in 2009 there wasn't even 3G in Russia - the frequencies were all owned by the military, and companies were still trying to wrestle them.

The most interesting part was the scope of the project - the startup nearly went broke not for the need to install 4G equipment, but for the need to build an entire fiber backbone to power that equipment. They invested heavily into building the network that would carry the mobile traffic to the internet al large.

They nearly went broke... And then they became the only service provider giving 4G in a 12 million soul city that knew nothing better than GPRS. It didn't last long, but for a time they more or less had a license to print money.

Last time i checked, that backbone they built is still used by every other provider that built a 3G/4G network since then.

So, yeah. Fiber was the right investment.

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

<comment><USER3> _It didn 't last long, but for a time they more or less had a license to print money._

My impression, perhaps wrong, is that most people won't build large, fixed infrastructure in Russia for fear of it being seized by the state or someone with state backing (see e.g. [http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/3427198/banking...](http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/3427198/banking- and-capital-markets-emerging-markets/bill-browder-puts-putin-on-notice-with- expos-of-corruption.html#/.V60PVI7NATk)).

<comment><USER4> I wouldn't build a Fiber network in the current U.S. climate for the same reason.

<comment><USER5> Really? While you might be required to lease it at market rate I don't see where the gov't would allow or help someone to seize it.

<comment><USER6> Isn't that just as bad as it getting seized though?

Is this 'Market Rate' the same 'Market Rate' you get reimbursed when you loose your place to civil forfeiture?

<comment><USER7> *Eminent domain

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> In the US 5G isn't really too useful for the users, as long as 4G is priced way too expensive. On my US SIM card I pay $10 per GB. On my Austrian SIM card I pay 26 Euros a month for a LTE flatrate (without any hidden caps and with unlimited tethering allowed). Wireless data is so cheap there that many people cancel their wired connection and only use LTE instead.

Why would I need 5G on a connection where I can't use more than a few GB because it gets too expensive otherwise?

<comment><USER9> You're not wrong in the sense that 5G isn't actually that much of value for the users directly, however there are many other reasons that directly benefit the users.

Telco's pay 2 big costs for running a cellular data network: Infrastructure and Spectrum licensing. Your cost of data is supposed to cover these two with an added profit for the telco. What 5G brings to the table is faster data, which means you are able to transfer you file quicker, which means the average spectrum usage per "facebook load" is lower since the transmission happens much faster. Instead of you occupying that spectrum for 30 sec while loading over GPRS, you instead fetch all the files in less than a second, making the average potential bandwidth in the network much higher for everyone, thus lowering the price per gigabyte.

In addition to that, with 5G the phone can fetch data much more fast which means the radio can enter power-saving mode much faster. If a page on 4G takes 4 seconds to download and on 5G takes 1 second, it might end up being a 4X reduction (i'm stretching it for the sake of the example) due to the radio not having to be powered for that long.

So the consumer wins on pricing and battery consumption while the networks can squeeze more out of the already occupied spectrum.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I've been guilty lately about getting a little overhyped about 5g, mainly because of the possibility of p2p connectivity. Device-to-device would obviously be really useful for IoT applications, which it seems like a lot of industry research has been focused on. A few links from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G#Research](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G#Research) to 5g literature:

[https://arxiv.org/pdf/1503.00674.pdf](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1503.00674.pdf)

[https://www.ericsson.com/research-blog/5g/device-device- comm...](https://www.ericsson.com/research-blog/5g/device-device- communications/)

[http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=tru...](http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&tp=&arnumber=6815897)

I'm just talking out of my rear end now, but it'd be so cool if devices could form 5g mesh connections without connecting to the backbone. I enjoy imagining what it would be like if we could do for connectivity what bittorrent did for file hosting.

<comment><USER11> Adhoc Wi-Fi is not being supported by Google on Android [0]... What makes you think that they would allow p2p on 5g?

0\. [https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=82](https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=82)

<comment><USER10> > What makes you think that they would allow p2p on 5g?

That's a good point. The answer that comes to mind (again, just pulling this out of my rear end) is that Google would benefit from more people having more ubiquitous and cheap internet access. As long as at least one device somewhere in a given mesh is connected to the backbone, so is the whole mesh, and then more Google ads can be seen. In other words, for similar reasons as Google Fiber.

And then I'd think Android Wear/TV/Auto devices could benefit from better p2p connectivity as well.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> When Verizon talks about "wireless fiber" they are talking about fiber to the corner or fiber to the curb and then using mm-wave the last "100 Meters" so to speak. FiOS has been tremendously successful but one of the more difficult aspects is getting the fiber that last little bit into homes and offices. Getting fiber up and down the streets is no cake walk either but once done, the second part is extending it the rest of the way. The idea of using mm-wave technology to get it from the corner or curb to your living room is a great idea. If it can be made to work, it can deliver 3-5Gbps without having to have your yard torn up.

5G is a marketing term, but not necessarily a totally bad one. It generally refers to converged network technology that will more seamlessly integrate more aspect such as traditional BB, IoT, Mobility and so on. That is a pretty long term goal of course. Using 5G fixed wireless to provide BB to your home without extending fiber all the way into your house is just one aspect of 5G, one small application, but probably one of the more immediately possible and potentially profitable ones.

<comment><USER13> If Fios has been so successful, why aren't they building any more of it?

<comment><USER14> Because of the profit margin on wireless, and the ability to artificially increase profits are so much greater. People wouldn't stand for per GB pricing on FIOS because they're used to unlimited. The wireless industry has managed to perpetuate this idea that bandwidth on wireless is an extremely limited resource and they abuse it to no end.

<comment><USER4> > Because of the profit margin on wireless, and the ability to artificially > increase profits are so much greater.

How is the ability to "artificially increase profits" "so much greater" in a market where everyone has 3-4 options than in a market where you're almost guaranteed to be the only game in town?

Verizon charges - and people pay - $10/GB for extra data for the same reason Apple charges $100 to for a few extra $$ of flash memory. It's classic price discrimination. You sell the minimum 90% of people are okay with, then charge a ton more for the price-insensitive customers.

<comment><USER15> > _Verizon charges - and people pay - $10 /GB for extra data for the same > reason Apple charges $100 for a few extra $$ of flash memory._

Because consumers continue to pay those amounts.

<comment><USER4> But why can't Verizon just do the same for FiOS? And why don't consumers just get TMobile unlimited for $70?

<comment><USER14> Because Verizon has created an artificial monopoly by buying up the vast majority of the most coveted spectrum. The only reason T-Mobile is even in business still is because of the failed AT&T acquisition which netted them more valuable spectrum than they had ever or would ever have been able to get via the government auctions.

AT&T can somewhat compete, but the failed T-Mobile deal hurt them far worse than anyone seems to be acknowledging.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> > Verizon launched its 4G LTE network in the US covering 93% of the population > it needed about 30,000 towers, each one of which had to have a fiber > connection

I'm curious whether this is true. Base stations are usually connected to the backbone network using microwave connections. The average bases station has a capacity of under 300mbits, so it would really be something if Verizon managed to connect all its base stations with fiber

</comment><comment><USER17> Often when people talk fiber it's the idea of going to the home. If all you need is fiber backhaul to an antenna it's a mucc simpler problem and cheaper. Aside, you can hook up many antennas with other means of connectivity if need be.

</comment><comment><USER18> In Russia, Saint-Petersburg fiber is in every home. In one year (i guess) government remove old phone and replace it with fiber + router in almost every apartment in the city. I think doing fiber is not that hard if you need to make it.

<comment><USER19> Interesting. Is the fiber placed in the ground or on poles? It makes a huge difference in terms of cost.

<comment><USER18> Under ground and fiber comes directly to apartment

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> _A leading tech VC in New York, someone who is viewed as a thought leader, said to me not long ago, "Why do you keep talking about fiber? Everything's going wireless."_

I hope she sent him a link to TFA. Any guesses as to who it is?

<comment><USER21> Being a VC i suspect he was talking from the economic point of view. There is likely to be a higher ROI on wireless than wired networks, as they are usage billed rather than flat rate.

<comment><USER22> remember that you pay _significantly_ for handsets; client are carved off from wired cost in the minds of consumers. Also, no one, god included is making another bit of capacity for wireless networks (in the shannon limit sense) any time ever. In cities (where the money is) they are contended and they are contended at just the times and places you don't want.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> This doesn't sound massively practical, but if it succeeds then we'll see a huge infrastructure boost globally.

</comment><comment><USER24> >> _Let's explore the implications of these two things: the need for a standard and the need for fiber._

I respect Susan Crawford's writing and am in general agreement with her consistent drumbeat for fiber upgrades as one of _the_ competitive edges for any country that can afford the capital costs of deploying last-mile dark fiber to more homes and buildings.

This particular article misses the history of how every standard ratified by 3GPP has always been characterized by telecommunication providers and vendors jockeying for influence and position to realize their vision of a standard that aligns with their own agendas. HTTP/2's ratification building upon Google's reference SPDY implementation is a more extreme analogy of a single player seemingly exerting much more influence or contributions to a particular standard[1]. Crawford acknowledges this reality towards the end of her article: " _Ericsson is teaming up with SK Telecom to test 5G applications [...] [and] they're probably hoping to force the adoption of a global standard that matches their own commercial plans so that they can get a head start._ "

Carriers will execute plays from the same playbook by generating hype for 5G devices, while commencing commercial and technical explorations over the next few years as we get closer to 2020 3GPP 5G standards ratification. As the hype builds and initial flagship/anchor cell sites/cities come online, data caps will only be raised gradually, not at all commensurate or proportional to the increase in speeds that 5G promises (when standing right next to the tower).

"Cheap, fast and ubiquitous" is Crawford's article tagline, but carriers are for-profit businesses and generally for new technologies exclusively choose the last two and drop the first since only high-ARPU early adopters with disposable incomes can afford the new 5G devices that will be released.

One final point is that will help carriers manage 5G tower field deployments are WiFi offloading. Despite known short-range limitations of higher frequency spectrum, improved WiFi/cellular handoff technology[2] and convergence of fixed and wireless assets under single organizational umbrellas will give some [US] carriers more ammunition to play up the 5G hype while backhaul, aggregation points, peering and long-term capital outlays become a reality over the next decade.

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

[2] [https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2015/01/05/lte- wi-f...](https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2015/01/05/lte-wi-fi-and- back-call-continuity-brings-next-generation-calling)

</comment><comment><USER25> Tell this to the Australian's who keep voting for the Liberals</comment>


The Pentagon is building a 'self-aware' killer robot army fueled by social media - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/the-pentagon-is-building-a-self-aware-killer-robot-army-fueled-by-social-media-bd1b55944298 <comment><USER2> Is _Captain America: Winter Soldier_ a documentary?

This is outrageous, yet predictable.

</comment><comment><USER3> What the HELL? I don't even know where to start on this.</comment>


Europe's controversial overhaul of online copyright receives final approval - <AUTHOR> https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/26/18280726/europe-copyright-directive <comment> phoe-krk Already discussed at [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19490869](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19490869)

</comment><comment><USER2> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19490869](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19490869)

</comment><comment><USER3> Where do i find who voted how, so i don't vote them during the EU Vote in May?

<comment><USER4> [https://saveyourinternet.eu/act/](https://saveyourinternet.eu/act/)

Click on your country and you'll get a list. Those are from a previous vote so won't be entirely accurate, but it'll be close enough.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> It will be interesting to see how Brexit jives with this bit of policy news in the rest of the EU.</comment>


Take a look at Uber's first pitch deck from 2008 - <AUTHOR> https://www.recode.net/2017/8/23/16189048/uber-pitch-deck-2008-ubercab-travis-kalanick-founder-startup <comment><USER2> So they made their best case scenario, but they didn't make their realistic success scenario (yet).

</comment><comment><USER3> Fascinating that they mentioned taxi medallions as part of their market and benefits analysis, yet completely ignored regulatory hurdles... you gotta wonder if that was accidental or deliberate. I want to say accidental, but given what we've seen from their leadership, I'm not so sure...

<comment><USER4> At that point they intended to be a taxi company, they actually got their current idea from... Lyft. They first tried to ligate and stop them and when they failed, they pivoted and out executed them

<comment><USER3> That would seem to only emphasize my point... if you're planning to be a taxi company, it would seem you'd be even _more_ likely to fall afoul of regulations if you don't play by the rules designed to cover taxi companies.

In short: I don't think your comment actually addresses my point.

Again, they're basically silent on this topic in the deck, which might be accidental, but feels like an odd omission. If I read between the lines, it seems like they thought that because they avoid street hails, and because it was pitched as an invite-only service, somehow they puts them outside the existing regulatory structure. In hindsight, it's pretty clear that was at best a very naive assumption.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Note how Uber doesn't even mention plans for an Android app in 2008. Fast forward 10 years, 80% of smartphone shipments are Android phones.

<comment><USER6> They also supported the text-message version as a primary use case. I don't think they do that anymore; you have to use an external service [1] to get that functionality.

Btw, you might be interested in this snapshot of the Uber home page from January 2011: [https://web.archive.org/web/20110109084838/http://www.uber.c...](https://web.archive.org/web/20110109084838/http://www.uber.com/learn)

[1] [https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/06/15/no- smartph...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/06/15/no-smartphone- now-you-can-hail-an-uber-via-text-message-textber/)</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Should I leave my new job before layoffs start? - <AUTHOR> I'm having a bit of a dilemma about my career, and I value the advice and insights that everyone at HN provide.
I'm an AWS architect in a job I just started about 6 months ago. It was recently announced that the company I'm working for will be undergoing layoffs (up to 20% of the company). They made it clear all positions are in scope, even those of new employees. The catch here is that they won't be announcing the IT layoffs until mid-February; they have started in other parts of the company, but are leaving us for the end.
They've also made it clear that the solution architecture role will be changing from specialist focus, to be entirely generalist. Meaning, rather than focusing on AWS specifically, I could be working on 3 projects at once, none of them dealing with cloud at all, and maybe even having to architect for mainframe systems. I understand the SA role is generalist, but I am trying to focus my career specifically on cloud architecture, and this is definitely not the role I was hired for.
So this brings me to my question: I get a lot of inquiries about my availability for other cloud SA roles - can I start looking now and talking to these other companies, even though I've only been here for 6 months? Or do I stick it out and take the risk of either getting laid off, or that I'll end up in a role that is completely different from what I want to do? <comment><USER2> Yeah it's going to be harder to find another job once you are laid off. Also unemployment tops out at 940 a month can you pay your rent on 900 a month, unemployment hasn't been increased here since 1976 being laid off is a disaster unless you really don't need to work to start with.

</comment><comment><USER3> Is this where you want to be? Are loyal to the job, value the position? Then stick it out, understanding it will likely be tough to find a new gig. If you don't want to be working at a place that makes you uneasy, then move on. Control your destiny? A new employer should understand. If they are laying off people, you and they might be best served by freeing up the capital. Could always talk to your manager about your concerns. I'd prefer my team to come talk to me about their concerns then holding it or jumping ship.

</comment><comment><USER4> _Definitely_ start looking now! Good grief! It's not the slightest bit unethical under the circumstances.</comment>


Rust your ARM microcontroller - <AUTHOR> http://blog.japaric.io/quickstart/? <comment><USER2> You have to login just to view the price, I guess. Forget that</comment>


TurboPFor:Fastest Integer Compression+Inverted Index. PForDelta,Bit Packing, - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/powturbo/TurboPFor/blob/master/README.md

<comment><AUTHOR> \- __Direct Access __w /o decompression

\- Fastest __Variable Byte __implementation

\- Novel __Variable Simple __faster than simple16, better than simple8-b

\- Scalar __Bit Packing __decoding as fast as SIMD-Packing

\- Bit Packing incl. __Direct Access /Update __w / zero decompression

\- Fastest and most efficient __SIMD Bit Packing __

\- Fastest SIMD- __Elias Fano __implementation

\- Novel __TurboPFor __(PFor /PForDelta) with direct access or bulk decoding. More efficient than __ANY __other "integer compression" scheme.

\</comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>-----

* __Inverted Index + Intersections __

\- Novel __Intersections w / skip intervals __, decompress the min. #blocks

\- __2000! __queries /sec on GOV2 (25 MB docid) on a __SINGLE __core

\- __Parallel Query Processing __on Multicores. __7000! __queries /sec, __quad __core CPU</comment>