I don't know who I am anymore and I can't tell anyone - <AUTHOR> Inspired by "I'm burning out and I can't tell anyone". My story is about the same. I think I'm at the stage that comes after the burning out.
I'm a single, 30yo, systems architect at a quite known and popular Web company (top 30). I also have a strong open-source persona and pretty useful projects out there (overall around 2000 watchers, I guess). HN score of about 1400, all from feedback on projects I've released.
I'm the guy who always get a crazy eyebrow raised when people hear I don't have my own start up yet. I get tons of offers from CTOs, CEOs and founders to co-found/participate, and I usually think of the people offering them as misguided and naive. And if we're anonymous, let me throw in that I used to be a hacker, cracker, around 13 years ago, when I was in high school.
End background.
I find myself waking up at 8:30am, at work at 9:30am, finishing up at 19:30-20:00pm and at home by 21:30pm tops (I'm not living in the US). I still have most of my vacation quota unused. This leaves me with about 3 hours of free time where I do my open source work. Of that I allocate 1 hour to my girlfriend daily. I tried managing my life the traditional ways, and non-traditional ways (kanban). I even tried putting home tasks on a kanban and trying to measure velocity. All to get more time out of a day, more efficiently. I'm constantly in burn-out mode, but I found that I can take it. I become depressed, agonized, my back is killing me (even though I am in top shape -- used to compete athletically) and I cry like a girl alone sometimes. But then I pick myself up and move on; pick a task and do it.
Hero? no.
I got back to my home town yesterday (writing this hung over). Met my old friends: married + kids, and the sorts. Simple jobs (bus driver, photographer), 0-stress.
Where am I? where is the _exquisite_ systems architect? yes, I solve crazy problems (over 100M users), scalability and performance is my motto, but still struggling with a couple hours of free time per day, making my employer's dream come true (On several occasions, I had direct first hand influence on company's success -- i.e. if no me, no success, or at least considerable fiasco).
I have no friends (its quite hard to keep in touch when you have a couple hours a day, which you already use up). I barely see my family.
I'm not half the man I used to be, before the University-startup-startup-startup-enterprise-startup jobs run.
Should I give up everything to be a bus driver, a photographer, and move to a quiet town, leave the city and all of my skills and knowledge? I don't know who I am anymore. That's the question that bothers me.
Anyone recognizes this? <comment><USER2> When was the last time you spent all day hanging out with your girlfriend, doing nothing but wasting time? I think a lot of us at HN have a hard time "wasting time" by doing nothing. I know I personally feel very unproductive spending an entire weekend not working on personal projects.

But it's important. My girlfriend and I just spent all Saturday walking around downtown Boston window shopping because the weather was so lovely. It was a great, relaxing day - it felt like vacation.

So do that. Hell, use up some of your vacation days. Your company will survive without you for a week or three.

And stop working so much. Seriously. Set a time and go home regardless of if you have "finished" your stuff for the day. It's a hamster wheel of work and you'll never go home if you have just one more thing to finish.

</comment><comment><USER3> Man, use some of that vacation time. And during it cut all tech ties. Take a bunch of books -- good books (not tech ones, although science is OK), can even be eBooks (if on a device without Net access!) -- and do nothing but relax and read and think. Look, the human _mind_ needs time for reflection, for expansion. Without it, you get caught up in the cycle you're in right now, with seeming no way out. It's not just your back that's aching, it's your _mind_. You just don't recognize it.

</comment><comment><USER4> Starting a business is not the solution, since all of the problems you describe apply equally well to a lot of founders, and especially founders without funding for whom you can add "poor" and "lonely" to the list of adjectives you use to describe your own insane lifestyle. Would you be happy working for yourself, but stuck at home all the time?

So fix the problem... scale yourself back to eight hours a day. Make it a point to leave the office by 6:30. After a month of this shift this up to normal closing time. There is no need to ask permission: if someone asks say you have something in the evenings after work. If this is a problem waltz into a more reasonable position.

That said, one practical suggestion is that if you're changing your work hours, you need to get into the office at or before 9:00am, since it is common for managers to perceive staff as coming in late, but very rare for them to recognize the sheer amount of time put in working late. You also don't want to spend a lot of time at the office talking about your new evening activities while you're getting people conditioned to your working non-insane hours. You want the only noticeable shift in your behavior to be the fact you leave at a reasonable hour. After a month or two you won't need to worry about this, but if you give into the temptation it might be perceived as flaunting authority.

</comment><comment><USER5> Spolsky would advise a sabbatical.

<http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000076.html>

I've considered taking a "normal-job-as-sabbatical" several times (e.g., being a welder for a year).

(also, consider that humans tend to adjust their problem-severity-sensitivity knob to their current level of input. e.g., the bus driver in your home town is probably really stressed out about this "problems". this puts you in the rare position of possibly being able to truly achieve 0-stress in one of those "normal" jobs, as long as you can keep your current perspective on what "real" stress is).

</comment><comment><USER6> The problem is not your job.

The problem is your relationship with your job.

While others will suggest that you take a vacation (and I do agree), it wont fix the underlying problem which will just re-occur when you resume work (or another type of work).

You need to learn to be still even when your external circumstances are chaotic.

For this reason, I would highly recommend you take up meditation.

Start with 10-30 minutes per day in the morning where you still your mind. It will be difficult at first, but after 2-3 few weeks you'll get the hang of it and you'll notice that your mind will start to go back to the quiet space in your developed during the morning meditation.

You don't mention which city you are in, but I can personally vouch for Kadampa Buddhist centers as good teachers where the general classes are very light on doctrine and heavy on practical skills. You should be able to find them by searching for "Kadampa <your city>". You may also find other teachers, but I wouldn't be able to give you any idea of the quality. That said, it's likely that any class will be better than no class.

In a practical way, this will enable you to make better decisions and see the bigger picture. After a shorter time that you would think, you'll start to feel like you are the driver, rather than just a passenger stumbling from one chaotic and intense situation to the next.

Good luck!

</comment><comment><USER7> I totally understand where you're coming from. I'm not as successful as you, but I can relate. I'm single, 26yo, sr front end engineer at a company that was just acquired as a direct result of a project I pitched and worked on. I used to spend 12+ hours working every day convincing myself that I was passionate about the project and didn't care too much about it eating into my personal time.

I'm still lost and fairly unhappy on most days so obviously I don't have much figured out. The only thing I can suggest is that you need to discover your hobbies, and it cannot be anything work related. I love to draw, design, sculpt, etc; I even got a full ride for art which I gave up and paid for an engineering degree. After working for a year, I managed to convince myself that programming was my hobby and left no time for anything else.

Recently I have committed to an 8-9 hour work day. I give myself time to draw and to read and I've been happier since. The hardest part is to allow yourself to work less and take those vacations, to recognize the little things you've always wanted to do and actually follow up with it... like work remotely for a month in a random city, take a glass-blowing session with your girlfriend.

You probably don't nee d a permanent break from your career, just a better balance in life.

</comment><comment><USER8> I read into this that you have no idea where you're going to. You're running this race and suddenly you're asking yourself why you are running at all.

This is going to sound cliché, but honestly I think it's your age. I remember at your age calling a friend once and telling him how great my life should be - I was wealthy, single, living in foreign lands, doing the best job, known in my industry, yet totally lonely. I felt guilty too about everything I had.

Sometime, I don't know when exactly, I just realised, you really have no control over your life. What happens happens, there is no reason for your life or mine so don't search for one.

When you get that, you realise that everyone is is in the same boat. Some people get different results by chance. It helps that you have skills, but don't try and run the race, if actually you don't feel like running it. Who really cares who wins anyway?

I'll tell you the thing that puts me straight: I think of Mark Zuckerberg. he has everything yet, could he really just go back-packing in India like others his age? Could he just decide to pack up and move to Paris for the kicks? The point I want to make is that success has it's limitations, it's responsabilities too.

If it's going to happen to you it will, but if it doesn't well that's just fine too.

</comment><comment><USER9> Hey, I've totally been there, done that, although i've never been productive on the scale that you are.

I really did give up my life, leave the city and try to go do something else. Let me tell you - everyone has a stressful job, even the bus driver or the photographer (imagine dealing with screaming kids or bridezillas for a job- that's where most photographers income comes from).

You mention writing this hung over and I have an observation, with no judgement attached - drinking on a regular basis screws up a lot of stuff in your life, and often causes depression. This part of your life might warrant some deep self-examination?

In the end, I got a job I absolutely love (no longer self employed, and happy about that), in a place I love. I don't love every minute of it, nobody ever does, but on whole there's more love than hate. I've also deeply examined and changed my drinking habbits, and that has literally changed my life.

My email is in my profile. Feel free to contact me if you ever want to talk.

[edit]Others have talked about vacation. Vacation is good and important, especially if you travel, but if you don't change your life you're just coming back to the same crap you left.

</comment><comment><USER10> _Should I give up everything to be a bus driver, a photographer, and move to a quiet town...

Anyone recognizes this?_

I do recognize this, though not anywhere near as severe.

I keep telling myself that if I ever were to get so bad that my non-work life and health quality drop significantly, I'll drop everything and become an Alpaca farmer (that was a running joke when I was in uni, but nowadays I feel like perhaps someday I'd like to do that for real).

I don't have as much experience with high pressure work and burn out as you do, but a few years ago, before I quit my job to work on startups and contract stuff, I was getting pretty burnt out working in telecoms. Similar deal, though not as severe (I didn't work as long hours, for example, but I rarely used my holiday time). Also, some personal stuff made the burnout all the worse. I quit my job and took a month to relax before starting contract work and other projects. Looking back, I think its very important to make sure you use your holiday time and to disconnect yourself completely from anything work related (which for me means to stay away from the computer altogether as much as I can).

</comment><comment><USER11> It's hard to give advice here because you state _what_ you're doing, but not _why_.

Why do you work so much? Do you need the money? Are you too timid to say no? Are you looking for a promotion? Do you love the game?

On top of all that work, why do you spend even more time on open source projects? Do you still have something to prove? Is this a source of entertainment or anxiety?

The fact is, you're extremely talented and could create almost any work arrangement you fancy. There's no need to quit IT and become a bus driver.

But again, what you should do now depends entirely on why you're currently working so much.

For what it's worth, I've been there before. I almost sold everything and moved to Costa Rica. Instead, I sold everything and made less radical changes.

One of the reasons I worked so much was because everything I owned had monthly payments. Selling everything solved that. Once you don't need to make a lot of money to pay your bills the world opens up for you.

Suddenly you can walk into your boss's office and say, "look, this is how it's going to be...". If she says no, then you walk. I really can't express enough the difference not _needing_ money makes. Most people are desperate for money and it shows. The confidence you get from not needing a paycheck for the next year shows even louder because it's so unusual.

Now, I typically do consulting work 4 days per week and work on my start-up at nights and on Fridays. On the weekend I hang out with friends, surf, snow board, skate, and sometimes do more work (if nothing else is available). I also take a ridiculous amount of vacations, some just a few days and some for a week, but typically about every 3 months. That's what keeps me going.

<comment><AUTHOR> You've got a valid point. I've neglected to say why.. In my case, I rose up from the slums; I used to steal internet (56k modem time), that's why I needed to be a hacker. I used to steal software for realizing my dreams of becoming a programmer; that's why I needed to become a cracker. I told myself that one day I'll give back - that's one of the reasons I'm doing open source. If I look down, there is no safety net. If I let go, I fall down hard. That's how economy looks like for me.

On the other side of the coin, I am competitive, I like to do things right and I hate when things go wrong. I also love to help other people and contribute (remembering where I come from). I also am obsessive about not letting anyone down. So yea, I guess many geeks have these traits, don't they?

<comment><USER12> > That's how economy looks like for me.

So fix your the economy.

Periodically sacrificing open source work in favor of building a small online business that would provide you perceivable passive income—the safety net—seems like an option.

This also can be given back in numerous ways—as open-sourcing software you'll employ for you business, as writing about what you did to help others get less financially dependent as well.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> First of all, I can certainly empathize with you, and very I'm sorry to hear you're going through this difficult time. Most of the advice offered in this thread is quite practical, and it's great to see such a close-knit support group here at Hacker News.

My advice is simple; as cliche as it may seem, take the time to read The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. This book addresses most of the psychology behind your discontent and offers a slew of energizing solutions that should help get you out of the proverbial rut.

If I may, here's a great poem a wise man once shared with me:

Take time to think...It is the source of all power Take time to read...It is the foundation of all wisdom Take time to play...It is the source of perpetual youth Take time to be aware...It is the opportunity to help others Take time to love and be loved...It is life's greatest gift Take time to laugh...It is the music of the soul Take time to be friendly...It is the road to happiness Take time to dream...It is what the future is made of Take time to give...It is too short a day to be selfish Take time to work...It is the price of success*

*in healthy doses

[http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Workweek-Anywhere- Expanded/...](http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Workweek-Anywhere- Expanded/dp/0307465357/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332304895&sr=8-1)

<comment><USER14> Great suggestion in regards to 4HWW, it definitely adds perspective and the concept of the mini-retirements is great.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> oh shit, you have to allocate an hour to your girlfriend, that right there is a problem.

You have no down time, I dont mean time working on your open source pojects, i mean time when you watch movie, read a book, walk the dog, go to the cinema or for a meal or soemthing. 3 hours in the evening is barely enough time to wind down from a day at work and get ready to sleep.

hope you get good advice that helps you. All i can say is try to re-prioritise your life rather than your work.

</comment><comment><USER14> I commented earlier about 4HWW from Tim Ferris, but one post from the his blog has continued to resonate and help me through the ups and downs, especially when you feel like you have hit the wall.

It is actually about a letter written by Seneca a famous Stoic philosopher. Take 30mins to read, will be worth it. Stoic philosophy in general has really helped me build a framework/value system.

Excerpt: "It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested."

[http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/04/24/on-the- short...](http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/04/24/on-the-shortness-of- life-an-introduction-to-seneca/)

I am 26/running my own distribution company + working full time sales/bus dev for enterprise tech company/side FB game project - applying for YC/Working PT as Crossfit instructor and training (exercise is a great break)/Living in Norway on my own (away from family/friends but still stay in touch online as I can).

Hope it helps!

</comment><comment><USER16> Your hours make me cringe. Is it possible for you to get to work earlier and get off earlier? I personally find myself much happier when I am arriving in the office between 7:30 - 8:30. Other than that trust me, giving up your life wouldn't help anything. People in small towns have 'loads' of stress. Those bus-drivers and photographers barely make ends-meat and they work just as many, if not more hours than you do. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence; until you realize you just stepped in a cow-pie.

You mention having a bad back; try finding a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu studio; it will definitely help your strength and is more low-impact at the beginning grappling stages (look for a smaller studio). Make sure you tell them about your back and they should help you work on it and will make sure you aren't being hurt more.

Give up open source; at-least scale it back for awhile. You need to be worrying more about you when you're this worn out.

-Don't- give up that girlfriend.

</comment><comment><USER17> "I still have most of my vacation quota unused"

I'm not a doc, and so if someone here thinks this is horrible advice please let it be known.

I think several members here have suggested taking a vacation. Take one, a long one, go see fam, spend it traveling with your GF, or both or neither...whatever you want. Take one as long as you can 4wks, even if a week is unpaid, if you have the option.

Start with that, it doesn't rewrite your life, and let your mind calm down and then start evaluating what you think might work. Talk to people who care, talk to your parents, girlfriend, a buddy, me if you need an ear. Get it out first, then look for a ideas to make your life happier.

Maybe you need better hours and need to tell your employer, maybe a new 9-5 job, and hack away on some side project, or just maybe that bus driver job and to hell with this all, but being hunger-over, crying, stressed, you are in reactionary mode. I've been there for one reason or another, don't make an extreme change in this state.

</comment><comment><USER18> Are you being scapegoated for stuff or bullied in some other way at work? I've seen that burnout usually stems from some injustice that you are unable to avoid or otherwise control - leaving you feeling hopeless and burned out. My wife and I worked for Microsoft (at the headquarters in Redmond) for years and we became extremely burned out. Even after we were no longer employeed we had to write a book about it to sort out what really happened to us and what the causes for our burnout were. Just know that you are not alone and you're not crazy! Typically those that are scapegoated, or at least subjected to situations leading to burnout, typically have a talent that others are jealous of. You'll make it through this - do your own research into burnout and bullying it may help. Find someone that you can talk to about your situation to help you sort it out emotionally. I had my wife for support.

<comment><USER19> "typically have a talent that others are jealous of": This is truly a problem not just for the gifted but often for anyone who actually gives a shit.

Another consideration is that often when you are helping someone get what they want, they can feel inferior and/or powerless (i.e they are not programmers, tech is a black hole to them etc). On top of that often internally they feel unworthy and so strike out at the very person helping their success. Weird but it's happened to me.

<comment><USER18> We (my wife and I) read your reply and completely agree with your point! We have both experienced this ourselves.

<comment><USER19> I've had to grow a thick skin and focus on being the person I want to be, without getting caught up in outcomes. And learn empathy.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Of course!

Well, the quiet town bit and the no stress bit, anyway. I like what I do, I just don't feel like doing it every waking hour of my life. I have years where I just want to move to someplace quiet and slow-paced and spend as much time as possible with my wife. (And when we have kids, that's exactly what we'll do.)

Your skill set is so sought after these days. My current company would surely _jump_ at the chance to give you some contract work.

If I were you, I would leave the job, take a year, and rent a place in that quiet town. I would line up a little contract work, which frankly, won't be hard. I would bill by the hour and work less than eight hour days. I would drink beers with my friends and hang out in backyards. After the year, I would reevaluate - quiet towns have their pros, but they also have their cons.

It's not your skills that are causing you pain here, it's what you're doing with them. Your abilities _can_ be used to make you happy.

</comment><comment><USER21> You'll feel better if your work has a purpose. Find a big problem and help solve it. But focus on one problem to solve, dont spread yourself too thin. And give your brain a little time to decompress.

Its hard to discern your goals from your post. I'm guessing that you are striving for recognition as a great developer (could explain pouring all your spare time into open source, and corroborated by your self description). If so, thats a painful goal that won't be satisfied.

Any time you spend to benefit others will feel rewarding. A bus driver directly sees who he benefits, but you can too. Maybe the problems you're solving are too arcane. Maybe you'd feel more rewarded being more involved with end users.

</comment><comment><USER22> I know what you mean, but keep in mind the grass is always greener on the other side. It might sound idealistic now to be the bus driver but as a smart guy, which I assume you are, you will go insane doing something like that. You weren't meant to do that.

It sounds like you need more human connection, and for that I recommend time off as well as equal effort into personal relationships. Human interaction is one of the deepest needs for even introverts and I think that will go a long way in helping you discover who you are. After all, how much can you know about yourself when you are constantly focusing on other things?

</comment><comment><USER23> I don't know you, but I feel similarly. I think ambition drives us to stay up late and arise early. It's not a common trait in mankind I'm finding.

This may be silly, but are you keeping up with the basics? Do you make time to exercise? To write down your day in a journal? To recreate somehow daily? Simple things like this I've found are essential for my personal mental well- being.

Another point a prof taught me--take time to celebrate small accomplishments. Fix a particularly nasty bug? Go for a short walk, or shoot some hoops in the hallway trashcan. That way you aren't deluded with problems like a bad day of rain.

Good luck, friend.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you, your advise sounds great. Going to basics is always good.

<comment><USER23> By deluded, I meant inundated!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Seriously, take a vacation. Take your girlfriend. Go someplace far away and relaxing, and stay off the internet. I only get five days of vacation a year, but I damn sure take them. Vacation is my reset button.

</comment><comment><USER25> Most of the advice seems very sound.

I just wanted to add that, since you seem very commited to the company you work for, why not try to learn to delegate?

I'm sure there are some very bright and ambitious younger professionals in your company you could take under your wing (or ask for staffing) and delegate some non-critical work (or even critical if under your supervision).

It might be more work short term, but it'll be better long term. And it always pays to get backup - if you're indispensable, you can't make career choices, scale down on work as suggested or go on vacations.

</comment><comment><USER19> joedoe,

I do:

After a really crappy end (for me) at a start-up in 2005, I took a look: Divorced, burnt, stressed, unresolved personal problems. I quit, dropped out, threw in the trowel. Studied yoga, learnt green home building, bought ground in Arizona and Baja, Mexico to create eco-villages. Deliberately did NOTHING in IT.

Well, the Housing collapse killed my eco-villages, at least for now. And I found that my brain, which was used to full-stack one-man-army development, was succumbing to the "devil will find work for idle minds to do" paradigm. Which was mostly dwell on what I missed working 70 hr weeks. All bad.

Now I'm getting back in the game, albeit slowly (my brains, they is a mush; and the tools are way diff than 2005). It's hard but exhilarating. My advice, which I am implementing, is:

May I suggest a long walk? Like a month? The Appalachian trail, or that walk in Spain featured in "The Way" movie.

Then go back to work on something YOU CARE ABOUT, and do your work using the eight hour burn. Forget about being a hero - no one remembers and no one pays for it. Do more than your fair share, and do it with integrity.

You'll need to schedule activities that will make you put down the mouse and get out of the house.

Life is a marathon - you will die trying to sprint the whole way. Maybe not if you're a skinny Kenyan.

</comment><comment><USER26> I found I was in a similar situation and I recently decided to go back to school. I have a MS already but now I want to do soomething I find fun and cool again. That is why I went to Uni. in the first place. So I signed up for another MS program. Find a program near you and actually take two or more years off the rat race and become a person that is discovering new ideas and fun again. Hell get a phd...

</comment><comment><USER27> You need to need break; from your job, from hacking. Take a vacation and engage in something that doesn't involve code. Go bowling, or fishing, or to Italy. Whatever.

When you return, you will probably feel a lot better about all those things that feel tired right now. And no, you probably won't be happy driving a bus (for long anyways), but don't be afraid to try that too ;-)

</comment><comment><USER28> Did you get into the run of startups because it was fun and you enjoyed it and you were good at it?

Now you're doing it because a)you have the skills b)people are pleased with your work.

Sounds like the level of excitement has faded to zero.

Make your own dream come true for a change

</comment><comment><USER29> _Should I give up everything to be a bus driver, a photographer, and move to a quiet town, leave the city and all of my skills and knowledge?_

If you like what you do just take a less demanding job in your field.

</comment><comment><USER30> Get out of the company. Find yourself something laid back where you can see your family as much as you would like. Sounds like you have the resume to push telecommuting during hiring negotiations.

</comment><comment><USER31> _Should I give up everything to be a bus driver, a photographer, and move to a quiet town, leave the city and all of my skills and knowledge?_

Nah, just take a really long vacation. Like a year or two.

</comment><comment><USER32> _> I'm a single, 30yo, systems architect at a quite known and popular Web company (top 30)._

but then you say:

 _> Of that I allocate 1 hour to my girlfriend daily._

...?

<comment><AUTHOR> I allow myself to be honest. Single as in "not married". I spend an hour of quality time with my girlfriend, out of the 3 or 4 hours I get a day.

<comment><USER33> you know, the formal definition of single, I thought was to be not married. In forms, they ask if you're single or married.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> Do what I always contemplate doing in these situations: go work on a kibbutz for 6 months until your head is clear.

</comment><comment><USER35> * Where am I? where is the _exquisite_ systems architect? yes, I solve crazy problems (over 100M users), scalability and performance is my motto, but still struggling with a couple hours of free time per day, making my employer's dream come true*

How did you went from thinking that solving problems is nice and fun (ok), to thinking that the way to go about it is to work as a expandable human slave to your bosses benefit (not ok)?

Even the problems you get to solve are not that much impressive in the grand scheme of things. Scaling some service to 100M users != solving cancer. Yours and 1000 other companies already do it.

Don't get tricked into the whole company culture --except if you have a share of the company. And even then, your life is worth more.

Where would you be in 50 years? Exactly.

</comment><comment><USER36> I think that you accomplished everything already and it´s time to think broader...Something like build a rocket to conquer Mars or finished starvation or know every country in this world....Our brain is selfish and angry, they need more and more challenges, they like to go out and discovery (until die)...Do it, or he will not stops to bother you.

(PS: no native english, help me and correct my writing)

</comment><comment><USER37> You need to get some religion, Seriously!</comment>


The innovation gap - <AUTHOR> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575354863772223910.html

<comment><USER2> For full text: [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22virtue+of+their+hard+work....](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22virtue+of+their+hard+work.+We+believe+in+the+free+flow%22+site%3Awsj.com)

Has the usual mutually contradictory recommendations of encouraging more American youth into science careers while making sure they won't make much money by importing foreigners. To no one's surprise (well, not mine) he joined the workforce in 1979, before things got too crowded in his field of chemistry (that's when I started college and was starting to notice that biology wasn't looking to be a good career choice).

</comment><comment><USER3> WSJ subscription required.</comment>


The End of Artefacts - <AUTHOR> https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-019-0514-8 <comment><USER2> I wonder if we and the units will survive long enough to see some of these units start breaking down due to physics. Though I guess that would be so far into the future, that there is simply no way.</comment>


Maza – Like Pi-hole but local and using your operating system - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/tanrax/maza-ad-blocking <comment><USER3> I've been using [https://nextdns.io/](https://nextdns.io/) for a while and I really like it. You can do DNS over HTTPS through Firefox (sadly not on an OS level in Windows for example, but that's fine -- I'm sure OS level support works better on Linux), and it supports a lot of user-level customization. You can add and remove entire blocklists, you can black/white-list specific domains, see logs of your blocks, some analytics, create your own redirects etc. and it doesn't cost you a thing. The main website does a pretty good job of explaining the selling points.

You can use it as-is but if you want user-specific configuration you'll get a custom URL that looks something like "[https://dns.nextdns.io/c8g88a"](https://dns.nextdns.io/c8g88a"), and whatever comes in that way will use your settings and will be logged as per your configuration (of course, you can disable logging).

<comment><USER4> I've just looked into this - it looks excellent. Can I ask: is this an all- round superior solution to running your own pi-hole?

I set up dual redundant pi-holes on raspberry pi 4s on my home network but switching all devices to NextDNS would give me access to filtered DNS even when away from home, plus save me the trouble of running two raspis (including two Ubuntu instances) just for that purpose.

Could anyone knowledgeable in such things suggest any downsides to a wholesale switch?

<comment><USER5> I recently spent a bunch of time comparing NextDNS vs PiHole. The reality is their features-sets are pretty close, but I eventually settled on NextDNS and here were some of my takeaways:

      NextDNS Pros:
      * Can use NextDNS on any network (thanks to their apps or just regular DNS-over-HTTP/TLS).
        * (Could get similar functionality on PiHole with a remote hosted PiHole + VPN, but much more complex to setup)
      * NextDNS allows for multiple different configuration setups per account (so you can fine-tune your blocking/filtering differently for different devices).
        * (PiHole AFIK only supports a single configuration)
      * NextDNS IMHO had the superior UI. With more powerful config options.
        * In reality with some extra manual config/coding you could probably get PiHole to do most of what is in the config for NextDNS, but it would take some work.

      PiHole Pros:
      * PiHole is open source.
        * The NextDNS server code is closed-source, but they do have an open-source CLI client.
      * PiHole is self-hosted (much better from a privacy perspective).
        * But you do get all the downsides of being responsible for hosting something as central as a DNS server yourself...

<comment><USER6> Another PiHole pro is that it can work for every device in your house (if you set it up that way).

<comment><USER7> You could also setup PiVPN[1] on the same Raspberry Pi running Pi-hole with Wireguard and setup all your mobile devices to automatically connect back home when they're off the home wifi.I've had this setup running for a couple of months now and couldn't be happier with it.

[1]: [https://github.com/pivpn/pivpn](https://github.com/pivpn/pivpn)

<comment><USER8> I am using pihole and WireGuard. How did you set it up so that you automatically connect back home when you are off your home network?

<comment><USER7> The WireGuard apps for iOS and OSX have a configuration section titled "On- demand activation" that lets you do this. On the iOS app, I have it set to activate on cellular connection and WiFi connections to routers if the SSID != my home router's SSID. Likewise on OSX, except for the cellular option.

<comment><USER8> Awesome, thank you. I am not sure how I missed that previously.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Who is this for, what's the point?

If you're using a computer on which installing this software is an alternative, you can install a web browser with an ad blocker, which performs much better than DNS based filters.

If you're not using such a computer, Pi-Hole proves DNS filtering and this software doesn't.

What's the use-case between these two that isn't already covered?

<comment><USER10> Just for the sake of argument - to block trackers that are built into other software, eg. chat clients and some such.

<comment><USER11> Pi-hole already does that. You can run pi-hole on your local OS with Docker. It's 5 minutes to install.

<comment><USER12> Aside from competition being a good thing, Docker itself introduces attack vectors.

<comment><USER9> Surely not more so than curling scripts from the web and executing them as root, which is the exact install procedure described for this program.

<comment><USER13> IMHO, it's way easier to check the script content before sudoing and validate its security than validate the Docker ecosystem.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Or if you already run dsnmasq you can:

\- uncomment this in your dnsmasq.conf:

            addn-hosts=/etc/banner_add_hosts

\- put this in a file in /etc/cron.daily:

            wget -O /etc/banner_add_hosts 'https://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/serverlist.php?showintro=0&mimetype=plaintext'

<comment><USER15> yep, i do this on my edge OPNSense appliance, except with

[https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts](https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts)

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I found there is a docker container of pihole which means it can run on anything including Windows! I tried it and it works in a docker container on windows just fine! pihole docker steps: (prereq: install docker [https://www.docker.com/products/docker- desktop](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop))

1.setup your docker-compose.yml file with the one listed on pihole page [https://hub.docker.com/r/pihole/pihole/](https://hub.docker.com/r/pihole/pihole/) (starts with version: '3').

2\. save and do "docker-compose up -d"

3\. do "docker ps" and ensure your pihole is running.

4\. Go to network settings and set your DNS to 127.0.0.1 and ::1 like this: [https://mayakron.altervista.org/wikibase/show.php?id=Acrylic...](https://mayakron.altervista.org/wikibase/show.php?id=AcrylicWindows10Configuration)

5\. if the docker container is ever stopped, you will need to reverse the setup step 4 to get back internet.

Hope that helps all you windows users who want a DNS blocker pihole on your machines!

<comment><USER17> I've been doing this for the past year or so.

couldn't run pihole network wide because too many shady "deal /discount" sites my girlfriend uses kept breaking, so this was my alternative.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I've been using adguard's dns to block ads on my phone* because pi-hole isn't an option for me at the moment.

Also set it on a colleague's phone and he's thanked me severally for it.

* (dns.adguard.com

private DNS in network settings on android pie)

<comment><USER19> Similar to that I've been using NextDNS - in addition to the adblock you also get custom whitelist/blacklist, analytics... and also supports DNS-over-TLS (works well with Android's Private DNS feature) and DNS-over-Https

See: [https://nextdns.io/](https://nextdns.io/)

<comment><USER20> What can the analytics tell me?

<comment><USER3> I've been using nextdns and I like it: for one thing, it can tell you the amount of blocked DNS queries, but it's also very helpful for troubleshooting since you can see the log of what was blocked, when, and why (which blocklist). You can then completely disable the blocklist, or whitelist specific entries if you prefer. It's a level of customization that I don't believe other DNS adblockers provide since many of them are designed to "just work".

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Fwiw, you can run Pi-hole locally just fine. But using the hosts file like Maza does may be a little bit faster than running a DNS-server.

</comment><comment><USER22> Network Wide > Pi-hole

Browser > Ublock

Local System > hosts-file

Android (root) > Adaway (does hosts-file)

<comment><USER23> Android non root > Intra looks like vpn but its a DNS use with NextDNS

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> the one reason i use pihole is to block ads network-wide. this kinda defeats that purpose.

<comment><USER25> yes, but you have pihole for that... this is if you don't need or want to issue a network wide block

<comment><USER24> i couldn't think of an use case for this? can you explain what would you use this for? if you already have pihole?

<comment><USER26> For use on a laptop that you take into other networks (coffee shops, friends houses, work / client businesses).

For use on a desktop in a network you do not control (e.g. many devs have complete local control over their own machine)

<comment><USER27> > For use on a laptop that you take into other networks

I VPN to my home (and by extension my Pi-hole server) when on that kind of network. A local ad-blocker doesn't prevent MITM or malicious DNS servers. Maza won't help if DHCP is handing out the IP for a server that claims google.com is a CNAME to hereisyourvirus.xyz or if the router is transparently redirecting DNS traffic so you don't even know what DNS server you are hitting. Which means you have to use DoH or DoT as well.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> On Windows, a large hosts file may lead to noticeably slower name resolution performance. Maybe it's less of a problem on Linux/macOS...?

<comment><USER29> I learned this the hard a few years back. The lookup performance was good enough, but every time I woke the computer up from sleep or rebooted it, it would spend ten minutes maxing out one or two cores trying to process a hosts file blocking all known malware/spyware/adware domains.

This took me ages to find the cause of, I had to use a lot of highly-escalated debuggers and such to figure out what the "system" process was trying to do that was costing so much time. Once I cleared out the hosts file, the problem was resolved.

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> I'm looking for a simple tool to setup and switch to DNS over HTTPS at the OS level (MacOS, in this case), with no success.

With it, I would simply switch to one of the many pi-holed/filtered DOH services[0] out there, or even roll my own on a cheap VPS.

On iOS there is DNSCloak which is excellent, Android 9+ has built-in support (Private DNS).

[0]: like pi-dns.com or blahdns.com

<comment><USER31> Out of ignorance, how does DNS Cloak differ/compare to NextDNS?

<comment><USER30> NextDNS is a commercial solution, there will be more limits to the free plan when it will be out of beta. DNSCloak is just a tool that let you choose different DNS resolvers, even your very own.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> For anyone running OpenWRT, you can install the adblock package to accomplish roughly the same thing as Pi-hole does. I don't believe it supports some advanced features like DoH/DoT or DNS resolution (e.g. a1b2c3.example.com -> ad-server-that-should-be-blocked.com), but it does the basics - custom host file sources, additional blacklist rules, whitelisting, and quick enable/disable for troubleshooting.

It also has an option to force all DNS traffic (port 53, so again it won't catch DoH/DoT) to go through the router. Occasionally I forget I've done this and tried `dig foo.bar @188.8.131.52` and gotten confused until I remember that my router is forcing that DNS lookup to go through it first, and then through the router's configured DNS resolver.

<comment><USER33> You can use dnsmasq on OpenWRT and other packages that void the need for an additional pi-hole.

</comment></comment><comment><USER34> I'm using this whenever I have a working server lying around. Unbound works great.

[https://github.com/gbxyz/unbound-block- hosts](https://github.com/gbxyz/unbound-block-hosts)

</comment><comment><USER35> I use pihole for my entire home network as primary DNS and opendns for secondary (long time user of opendns, since before Cisco bought it). I also have VPN setup for remote access (esp. for mobile). I use ublock origin at the browser level.

These are layers of protection from undesired content (ads, malware, porn, etc.). If one fails, hopefully the next layer will provide desired protection.

I have kids approaching teen years. There is no magic bullet, and we still monitor and limit their screen time.

How would you improve this setup? Just curious.

<comment><USER36> Are you trying to shield your teenage kids from seeing porn by accident or actively seeking it out? If it's the later you've already lost - <USER2> they have 4G.

<comment><USER37> Or at least one friend whose parents aren't tech savvy, and aren't home.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> I'm using simple [https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts](https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts). Puts everything into hosts file.

</comment><comment><USER39> I wonder why the pi-hole tram doesn't also offer a paid tier (that they host), to help those who can't or don't want to roll their own?

It could help fund future development and maintrnance costs.

<comment><USER11> Maybe they already have a full-time job?

Anyway, it's free software. Anyone in the world can do that if they want. You can do that.

Also, it's poorly scoped. Pihole is just an app. Any ownclowd provider can more efficiently host it along with a bundle of every other app people want to "own" but not run locally.

<comment><USER40> While this is true, I'd put much more trust in the PiHole team than I would some random corp - by the very nature of what they've built, and how they licensed it, I'd expect them to be privacy centric. By paying for such a service, I'd also feel like I was contributing to the ongoing maintenance of PiHole by the core team.

I think the GP's suggestion is a fantastic one!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> I just started to write this in Rust a few months back. Thanks for this project it is fixing most of my problems with Pi-hole.

</comment><comment><USER42> Can someone explain how the use case differs from simply using a well-curated hosts file? (like Steven Black's)

<comment><USER43> There's some issues with them being too big and using a lot of resources.

You can even find comments about it on this thread

</comment></comment><comment><USER44> Great work! One suggestion: please make blocklists configurable.

<comment><AUTHOR> It is not difficult, I take note to implement it.

<comment><USER45> That was my thought exactly when I decided to upgrade the very much analogous script [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/notracking/hosts- blocklist...](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/notracking/hosts-blocklists- scripts/master/notracking_update) . The end result sort of works, but I deeply regret not using sane language for the task. Result: [https://gist.github.com/ingvar- lynn/f0b84d5f750bd2e555d3f1de...](https://gist.github.com/ingvar- lynn/f0b84d5f750bd2e555d3f1ded6ef159e)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER46> I have a docker-compose.yml locally with:

dnsmasq -> pihole -> stubby

The first dnsmasq is for local .test domains for dev. Works well for when i'm not on one of my networks.

<comment><USER27> Why not configure your local .test domains in your Pi-hole? That's also dnsmasq, you can use the same configuration options.

<comment><USER43> > Works well for when i'm not on one of my networks.

On the go is the key here.

<comment><USER27> What do you mean? There's nothing preventing him from running Pi-hole and stubby locally in Docker. That was how I interpreted his comment.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Oh, this is a wrapper for running dnsmasq. It's lighter weight than pihole but less user firendly.

Not sure why the readme tries to obscure that.

[https://github.com/tanrax/maza-ad- blocking/blob/master/maza](https://github.com/tanrax/maza-ad- blocking/blob/master/maza)

<comment><USER27> > Not sure why the readme tries to obscure that.

I don't think it does, dnsmasq is optional. It does configure dnsmasq regardless, but that configuration only applies if you install and enable dnsmasq. As far as I can see, the script does none of that nor does it change /etc/resolv.conf. The readme is very clear about needing dnsmasq for wildcard blocking.

The script also modifies the host file which will apply regardless.

</comment></comment><comment><USER47> The point of Pi-Hole is that you can't hack it that easily compared to software installed on your local computer.

<comment><USER48> How is it supposed to be harder to hack? I thought the main point is to have the blocking enabled in the whole network, including devices like smartphones.

<comment><USER47> Because the Pi-Hole doesn't run untrusted code, like a personal computer does (e.g. Javascript, installed applications, etc.). Same holds for smartphones.

<comment><USER49> I'd consider the web-based administration interface to be "untrusted code" \-- and there just a remote code execution vulnerability (due to _very_ insufficient input validation of MAC addresses) discussed here yesterday [0] .

[0]: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22714661](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22714661)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


The $68k Fish: The future of salmon in the Pacific Northwest - <AUTHOR> https://harpers.org/archive/2019/11/the-68000-fish-salmon-columbia-river/ <comment><USER2> One of my favourite times out fishing was down on the beach during the salmon run. I wasn't even fishing for salmon, but there was about 20 bald eagles on the beach with me all fishing. One by one while I was there they'd catch a salmon and fly off with it until there was just me and one lonely eagle who just couldn't get one left. When I left it was still going at it.

</comment><comment><USER3> "Bonneville, actually two different dams linked by an island, is the lowest and largest of the Columbia dams,"

Bonneville is the 5th largest (by height) of the Columbia dams and 8th largest (by generating capacity). There are 2 taller dams in British Columbia and 2 others in Washington state. The Bonneville is the largest dam he would have passed driving but that's not what he wrote.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dams_in_the_Columbia_R...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dams_in_the_Columbia_River_watershed#Main_stem_Columbia_River_dams)

</comment><comment><USER4> It's likely that entire salmon runs are being caught in the north pacific by 15 mile long Chinese drag nets. These fish may not be around much longer.

<comment><USER5> Source?

<comment><USER6> > Source?

Notaries are difficult to find at open sea, but is a believable suspicion

[https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/3358/trading- tails...](https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/3358/trading-tails-salmon- russia.pdf)

</comment></comment></comment><comment> huy-nguyen If you're interested in exploring further, check out Salmon Explorer ([http://salmonexplorer.ca](http://salmonexplorer.ca)), an interactive website I worked on at my previous company to help people understand the status of salmon in British Columbia.

</comment><comment><USER7> Now there are sea lions swimming up the river to eat the salmon. I saw one while fishing in a tiny river connected to the Willamette.

<comment><USER8> They go quite a ways up river. I think all the way to Willamette Falls near Oregon City. I live in Downtown Portland and see them in the river regularly. Sometimes they climb up onto the floating docks just north of Downtown to sun themselves.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> > Biologists determined that not one of them was hatchery-born—they were all > wild fish, whose robust natural paternity and hardy stream upbringing had > given them a distinct advantage in surviving the return trip to Idaho. The > hatchery fish were weaker, raised in tubs and selected from a narrow genetic > slice that lowered their adaptability to a changing climate. Even though > they outnumbered the natural-born salmon by millions, the failure rate in > this case was so high that the vast sums of money spent in upper Idaho had > not purchased a single hatchery success.

That's a pretty good metaphor for the cost of coddling our children that Jonathan Haidt goes on about. By valuing our offsprings' safety so highly we're effectively raising hatchlings in tubs, as opposed to wild fish gifted with a hardy stream upbringing.

<comment><USER10> The success of the wild salmon isn't just down to a "hardy upbringing", though; it mostly comes down to the fact that, for every one wild _adult_ salmon we see, there are thousands that died (probably by being eaten) as eggs or fry. That's a huge selection pressure toward inclusive genetic fitness, such that genetic fitness in the wild population as a whole is maintained at a high level over generations.

I'm not sure there's really a way to translate that effect to human beings in any ethical way, regardless of how you feel about safety. It'd go well beyond "not coddling." (In fact, I'm not even sure if it's possible for an apex predator to be R-selected. We'd likely have to do it ourselves, _Battle Royale_ style.)

<comment><USER11> >I'm not sure there's really a way to translate that effect to human beings in any ethical way, regardless of how you feel about safety.

It's unclear to me what you would want to select for. Being physically fit? Being smart? Being motivated? Being ethical? Being friendly?

<comment><USER12> It's not clear at all. I think we'd instead select against undesirable traits. If intelligence and fitness are too varied to select for we could select against lack of intelligence or lack of physical fitness. Say I've had cancer at a young age I'm out but we can't decide on body type. I can't even imagine how to avoid antisocial behavior, which is fine since any attempt at this Is dystopian.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I don't understand why they don't introduce more generic diversity and why they don't have things like water keys in the water. It doesn't like it's too difficult to have assumed this would be the outcome. It's like having somebody that has stayed indoors watching tv until they were 10 to complete against a kid that has been outside running around and playing in the streets.

<comment><USER14> I used to work at a hatchery raising steelhead and coho salmon. The number of adults we could take from the river for spawning were limited both by how many we could find and by the department of fish and game. Importing genetics from other rivers would introduce those genes into the wild fish population, and should really be avoided. Most fish return to their home stream, and are specially adapted to those conditions. "Adding more genetic diversity" is something everyone wants but is not necessarily easy.

<comment><USER13> So people are allowed to fish and kill a lot of them and you guys are more limited on fire many you can fish to reproduce? Wow, I never cease to be surprised by how stupid government can be.

<comment><USER15> > _Wow, I never cease to be surprised by how stupid government can be._

Past certain level of efficiency, there's likely something of the trade-off triangle ("good, fast, cheap, pick two"), and two of its vertices are "smart" and "democratic".

People are allowed to fish and kill more than protect and reproduce, because the "kill" side has a lot of people with money, who don't give a damn about ecology or even long-term viability of their businesses, whereas the "protect" side that does the reproduction is also the same people who set up limits on what to do with the fish, so they kind of obey their own rules.

<comment><USER16> There's also the fact that sport fishermen (e.g. Trout Unlimited) and hunters (e.g. Ducks Unlimited) are responsible for motivating and driving a lot of conservation efforts both directly and through policy work (presumably including lobbying).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> [https://web.archive.org/web/20191019141048/https://harpers.o...](https://web.archive.org/web/20191019141048/https://harpers.org/archive/2019/11/the-68000-fish- salmon-columbia-river/)

</comment><comment><USER18> The Good Rain By Timothy Egan is a great book that talks about how important the Salmon are to the PNW

[https://www.timothyeganbooks.com/the-good- rain](https://www.timothyeganbooks.com/the-good-rain)</comment>


The Ins, Outs, and Pitfalls of Converting Reactjs.org to Use Hooks - <AUTHOR> https://kickstartcoding.online/learn/articles/converting-reactjsorg-use-hooks/ <comment><AUTHOR> Hey all,

We converted the React JS documentation to use functional components and hooks first in all the examples! This is specifically for folks who are learning to use React JS for the first time, but using the functional and hooks syntax. Hope it's useful!

This post describes the process we used to convert it, what we learned along the way, and how to go about making modifications in general. Let me know any feedback, or if you found anything about our project useful. Also, we always welcome contributors!

(Also, since this question came up last time: Dan Abramov and Rachel Nabors replied to our announcement saying they're working on the same thing, but suggested until they're done folks can just use our version. [https://twitter.com/rachelnabors/status/1301509897633308678?...](https://twitter.com/rachelnabors/status/1301509897633308678?s=20) )</comment>


Figma mockups connected to AirTable for a working Nativeapp (BravoStudio) - <AUTHOR> https://youtu.be/EaLWH0RSe1U <comment><AUTHOR> Not connected with them. Here is a their website [https://www.bravostudio.app/](https://www.bravostudio.app/)</comment>


College is a waste of time - <AUTHOR> http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/03/stephens.college/ <comment><USER2> > _That's why I'm leading UnCollege: a social movement empowering individuals > to take their education beyond the classroom. Imagine if millions of my > peers copying their professors' words verbatim started problem-solving in > the real world. Imagine if we started our own companies, our own projects > and our own organizations. Imagine if we went back to learning as practiced > in French salons, gathering to discuss, challenge and support each other in > improving the human condition._

Dale grossly overestimates how smart most 18-year-old college students are. If you want to make college obsolete, start by making high school harder, to prepare them to be independent at adult age. Saying "no college" to the students who actually need it is detrimental. After attending college for a year which ended a few weeks ago (yes, I dropped out), I can make a decent guess that throwing many of them in the wild will not yield the incredible results that Dale postulates (and I would, in a perfect world, wish for.)

He says it himself: "sociology professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa say that 36% of college graduates showed no improvement in critical thinking, complex reasoning or writing after four years of college" ... yet (1 – 0.36) = 64% of college students _do_ show an improvement.

I'd imagine that Dale talks and hangs out with pretty smart young people (edit: and those that are skipping college themselves), so perhaps he has a heavy confirmation bias that doesn't consider the 90% of everyone else.

Your thoughts are welcome.

<comment><USER3> _I'd imagine that Dale talks and hangs out with pretty smart young people, so that there is a big confirmation bias that doesn't consider the 90% of everyone else._

Or does he? The stuff he says is pretty similar to people I knew who I didn't think were very bright. But who doesn't think they're smart? Everyone thinks what they're doing is the right thing.

And at age 19 half the people I knew had opinions about everything, from education, to how we should really go about curing cancer, to how we could have won the Vietnam War in just a few years.

19 year olds with opinions that have little basis in reality is not a new phenomenom -- although of course there are also some genuinely bright ones.

<comment><USER4> I also have trouble accepting statements about college from someone who attended one for less than a year. I don't think there is a set-in-stone college experience, and it seems from his article that his experience differed sharply from mine.

(The differences between good and bad colleges are, of course, usually missing from these sorts of discussions...I have difficulty taking seriously anyone who can critique or discuss "college" as if it were one monolithic program.)

<comment><USER5> +1 to that.

College is not to teach you "how to be successful" or "become a better coder". In this case, it's about giving you the tools to learn to think. (...I think this doesn't apply for med school, though)

<comment><USER6> There's also the huge network of people you meet that help you later in your career. I've lost track of the number of people I know who have been given job offers from old friends/fraternity brothers/faculty they kept in touch with.

I have my current job because of an alumni from my school. There's a lot more to the college experience than just the diploma.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> He's missing the point.

College isn't entirely about learning things in the classroom, it's four years where young, hopefully creative people get to have almost nothing to do but think and create. The overwhelming majority of people in the world don't get to work in cool offices, on cool problems, with cool co-workers who want to solve difficult problems with them. The majority of us spend our days under fluorescent lights working on mundane business-intelligence type things. Not to say that creativity cannot be found in anything, but sitting in my dorm hacking until all hours of the morning because I didn't _really_ have to go to class is certainly more conducive to creativity than working an 8:00-6:00 and going to bed at 10:00 because I have to be up in the morning.

While college might not really offer much in the way of knowledge acquisition (at least until grad school), it _would_ does offer the time to work on things you're passionate about, and network with other people of similar inclinations.

I dropped out of college when I was 19, and it was one of the dumbest things I've ever done. For somebody who is already a member of the silicon valley set, this might be good advice, for everybody else this train of thought is parasitic.

(I'm not saying that networking and hacking and soforth isn't possible when you're working a "real" job [hell, I spend almost every waking second I'm not spending at my job hacking and writing and networking], I'm just saying that college is a better environment for it)

<comment><USER8> What on Earth college are you talking about? "Almost nothing to do but think and create?" This isn't a commune, it's a school. There's coursework and homework and studying and some extracurricular activities, and once you're done with all that I suppose you can "think and create", but nowhere and nohow is that the goal or reality of college, except _maybe_ a visual arts college.

If your college left you with nothing but "time to think and create", dropping out was absolutely the right choice! The entire point (until PhD studies) is that you should be learning and doing things according to some curriculum; if you're not there for the curriculum, what are you doing there at all?

<comment><USER9> University exposed me to a broad array of topics in my field. It allowed me to explore my interests and specialize in a particular area. It gave me the opportunity to hack, tinker, discuss with my peers, get to know the literature, gain discipline and control over my life, build a basic network, learn the craft from professors, learn to write, find information, think about how to build a business, design systems in my mind, etc. All without the distractions of a job.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Blanket statements like this are foolish. My own college experience had a lot of regurgitation, but whether you make productive use out of your time there is completely within your hands. I was able to do challenging, hands-on research, make connections that lead to my last two jobs, and build a solid resume.

However, if you choose to party it up all the time, and/or only do the bare minimum to get through, you probably shouldn't bother.

</comment><comment><USER11> I think he's got a lot of good points.

"conformity rather than independence" - Very few classes grade on content, rather than A,B,C,D. I'll admit there are some, though, especially in software development and literature.

"competition rather than collaboration" - I've actually had classes that graded on a legit curve. that meant the bottom X% of the class failed, no matter how well they did. Just because others -in that class- were better. I've only ever been in 1 group-project class. (And group-project classes have their own problems.)

"regurgitation rather than learning" - It's incredibly difficult to test for learned knowledge, rather than just memorization.

"theory rather than application" - Colleges don't generally teach enough to get to the 'application' part. Even medical school has students intern for months before they have enough practical experience to actually do the job.

I think the time is rapidly approaching where we are going to have to tailor the education to the subject, instead of the other way around. Doctors need a tremendous amount of memorization to do their jobs. The current system can work fairly well for them. Software developers, on the other hand, need a tremendous amount of practice, and rote memorization is pretty much useless.

Existing schools are not prepared for this change. Most of them will resist it mightily until someone comes along and forces them out of the game because of it.

<comment><USER3> _I've only ever been in 1 group-project class._

When I was in college group projects were extremely common. As were group- projects for clubs. The SW engineering sequence was all group based. The compiler sequence was group project based. OS was group project based. And architecture was group project based.

 _It's incredibly difficult to test for learned knowledge, rather than just memorization._

Is it really? Most of my tests were open book or take home. You'd think that this would negate 90% of the benefit of memorization.

<comment><USER12> "You'd think that this would negate 90% of the benefit of memorization."

Particularly math classes. Memorization was almost meaningless and tests could be open book for all the prof cared.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> This isn't the first anti-college discussion to come up recently... not even the first in the last 24 hours.

What it boils down to for me is that SOME colleges are not helping their students. People are using this partial failure, and extrapolating it into these arguments that all higher education is worthless.

This isn't good logic, much less good advice.

<comment><USER14> You're missing the point. It's time to challenge the traditional education business model. This is the digital age where information is cheap -- and college Institutions have no incentive to capitalize on this. They don't want to drive down their costs, why would they? Education should be like any other service and made available to _anyone_ who wants it. Not to the richest kid. Not the kid with the highest GPA. Anyone.

No one is arguing specialized education is bad, but there are much more efficient ways of getting there.

<comment><USER15> But college isn't about information gathering. And the Internet doesn't make eduction available to anyone. Public libraries make information available to anyone.

<comment><USER14> I agree that information isn't education. I disagree that the internet doesn't make education available -- you have to know where to find it.

Now that you told me what college isn't about, what _is_ it about? And why must it be threatened by a modern business model?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> At the end of the day, College is what you make of it. No one can force you to really get involved, participate in team projects etc. You have to have the internal drive to make the most of your opportunity.

It is also getting annoying to see another article by someone not going to school writing about why its a waste of time. How does he know? If he graduated and then noticed that nothing he learned applied or helped him in anyway, then he could say its a waste of time. In the authors case, he is getting paid not to go to school. Moreover, all schools are not created equal. Some are better at exposing you to team projects, cross discipline assignments, understanding "why" and not just the "how".

<comment><USER17> In my case he perfectly describes most of my lower division courses. Memorization, no group work, theory. The problem is he's making assumptions about an entire degree based on at most a year of education. At a liberal arts college.

Once you get past the prerequisites and basic classwork, it's a world of difference. I feel bad for the people who will be missing out on some truly great educational experiences because this kid couldn't stick it out for more than a few semesters. Few people will have his success rate right out of high school.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Hmm... a 19-year old dissing college. This sounds like that little kid in the movie commercial who argues Lebron > Jordan. You weren't _there_ , man.

</comment><comment><USER12> "Imagine if millions of my peers copying their professors' words verbatim..."

Not once did I ever do this. Most of my very rewarding classes involved constant debating with my professors. Also, not one of my professors would even have accepted this as actual work.

College was extremely rewarding for me. Particularly the first two years which made me step out of my lonesome knowledge ghetto and into new areas I previously thought useless.

The real negative is cost. Right now college burdens graduates with sizable debt forcing them into what amounts to very comfortable (historically speaking) serfdom.

</comment><comment><USER19> "We can be productive members of society without submitting to academic or corporate institutions." -- says the guy writing for .... CNN.com

</comment><comment><USER20> Looks like a PR stunt to promote his company. Also, to promote whatever Peter Theil is doing.

<comment><USER21> It may be shameless promotion, but the fact is, he managed to get a platform (CNN) on which to do it. One could argue that he's off to a good start.

<comment><USER20> I agree with you on that point but the article seems like fluff in IMHO. That is the point I was trying to make.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> College is a system created to create employees so it's not surprising many entrepreneurs think of it as a waste of time (and money, especially in the expensive US system)

Most people however are better off as employees, starting a company is not easy and many want to work 9-5, have a family and a balanced life, with a good salary. Going to college gets you on that track.

<comment><USER23> "College is a system created to create employees so it's not surprising many entrepreneurs think of it as a waste of time (and money, especially in the expensive US system)"

This isn't really true. Universities got started in the Middle Ages to a) collect what knowledge existed, especially from Greek and Roman sources and b) to a lesser extent, train religious authorities and theologians. In the U.S., universities got going to basically create gentlemen, and later to create scholars and researchers (Menand goes over a lot of this in his book _The Marketplace of Ideas_ : [http://jseliger.com/2010/01/21/problems-in-the- academy-louis...](http://jseliger.com/2010/01/21/problems-in-the-academy- louis-menands-the-marketplace-of-ideas-reform-and-resistance-in-the-american- university/)).

Today, a lot of colleges and college majors focus on creating employees, but that's a relatively recent shift that only began taking place on a large scale circa 1980, as far as I can tell. That's when the number of business majors, relative to the liberal arts and sciences, really takes off in the U.S. I don't know enough about the European situation to comment on it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Just don't get too carried away in the whole "college is useless" craze. People that don't need college probably don't need anyone to tell them that. They are already doing that. Probably the result of all those anti-college campaigns will mostly be providing an excuse to ones looking for a silly one.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to stop anyone from saying what they believe is true (well, I do agree with them). Just pointing out a fact and I'm mostly talking about the short term effect. In the mid-long run I'm sure we're looking at major changes to the concepts of education as a whole.

</comment><comment><USER25> > He says college rewards conformity and competition, not collaboration, > theory

Wow I never considered the collaboration vs competition argument, but it makes perfect sense. I have seen one too many students with perfect grades who don't know how to teamwork and learn from others.

I now strongly believe that colleges have to reconsider their entire approach to curricula -- the emphasis on students not sharing their work with others can be counterproductive, in my opinion.

</comment><comment><USER26> I did plenty of group work at Georgia Tech. Built several working robots in teams, a video game, a bus monitoring device, and various other software projects.

I think SOME colleges do not do group work, often because they fear it hard to evaluate the individual contribution of people in groups.

<comment><USER5> I agree with this. Here, I do PLENTY of group work. Business plans, software, use cases, etc.... EVERYTHING is made in group.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> College shows you can take on a very large multi-year project and finish it. Not a trivial point.

</comment><comment><USER28> While I agree strongly with most of the author's thesis, the zero sum aspect to this debate is tiresome. And I say this as a dropout myself.

Both sides go out of their way to justify their all-or nothing positions based on their particular experiences, as reassurance that their decision (dropping out or going into debt for their degree-du-jour) was the right one.

Everyone learns & processes information differently. Everyone has a different set of goals. All pieces like this do is bring out the traditional combatants on both sides of the divide, with the same tired arguments.

Hopefully at some point, we'll reach a point where both positions can be held in equal regard.

</comment><comment><USER29> His statements are absolutely true... about a handful of fields people go to school for:

Computer Sciences, absolutely. Mechanical & Architectural Engineering, sure. Mathematics & Physics, possibly, if you're gifted at it. Biology & Chemistry... maybe, but it'd take a LOT of study

None of this applies for fields that you can't be self-taught or learned on the job. Medical, Law, Business... these are all things that need to be taught in a formal setting.

Given the author's mention of StackOverflow and LinkedIn, I'm inclined to think his perspective is skewed towards education involving the programming and web development.

<comment><USER30> I'd leave chemistry off the list: lab work is essential, and very few individuals have the money or the permits to obtain the chemicals you work with in a chem-majors class. I don't know biology well enough to talk, but I suspect that molecular bio at least suffers from the same problems as chem. And you can self-teach physics theory, but experimental physics can require some very specialized and expensive equipment. Not to mention the opportunities to work in research labs, which is where I did most of my education...

<comment><USER29> You're right, I should have said "a lot of study, and somebody willing to let you play in their lab."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> It just occurred to me that the anti-college backlash follows inevitably from the decline of the classical liberal arts education. Since "education" is now, in our society's view, nothing more than job training, why bother with it at all? Just skip it and go straight to the job, or start your own business. No "education" required.

Education as civilizing self-development is something other than schooling and training, but our institutions have abandoned that, if they ever provided it in the first place. I think they did use to, but only for a tiny elite.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Not sure I agree, but I submitted this article because I'm interested in the inevitable discussion to follow.

</comment><comment><USER32> Everybody, jump on the "education is a bubble and a waste" bandwagon!

<comment><USER33> I was going to say the same thing, there real issues with college and education but the whole debate right now is starting to feel like a lot of sensationalism.

I went to college and did Mathematics. Why? Cause it looked cool. Was I good at it? Not really I had a hard time with many of my classes but I enjoyed the material. It was interesting even if useless. It's all about what you want to get out of college. I wanted to learn something interesting. The best part is it wasn't useless at all in the end. Nobody really cares about what your degree is in except for some specific jobs and get it cheap (that even goes for Ivy schools, they are now cheaper than many private sub Ivy schools due to Financial aid).

<comment><USER32> Exactly. I get the feeling people are looking at the success of education in financial terms, when the issue is bigger than that.

If someone spends $100,000 on school and they don't make that after graduating, people label it as a failure.

College's worth shouldn't be evaluated in a purely financial context.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> It is useful to distinguish between two issues -- the usefulness of a college education and the cost of said education. The costs of a college education in the US today are completely unjustifiable IMHO and I agree with those who say that there surely must be better use for your money. On the other hand, it seems that dismissing college education itself qua education is a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Let's leave aside the question of whether a college education improves your critical thinking -- I claim that a good college education _properly_ trains you in the fundamentals that you need to master before going on to doing greater things. The obvious caveat is that there are a whole bunch of vocations for which such training has little or no value -- I get that. But do we really want to create a society where a whole generation has little or no training to invent, for example, the next breakthrough transistor technology?

</comment><comment><USER35> I think that the college system is terribly broken.

In my view, college is broken in 3 ways:

1\. It is too expensive -- this severely limits talented people from going to college

Hopefully, online, free college lectures will go a long way to remedy this situation.

2\. Brilliant PhDs are not able to find jobs in their area

This is not about money but about the ability to do research and about the ability for these people to contribute in their chosen fields.

3\. The Wrong People are going to college

People are going to college because they don't know what else to do and because everyone tells them it's what you should do.

College should be optional for jobs. Some of the most brilliant engineers that I have worked with are self-taught without a college degree.

You don't need college to be educated and you don't need a college degree to make lots of money.

College is the entry point to the academic community which should be regularly enriched by the world's best talent.

For many people, it is the ritual, the sports, the experience, and the opportunity to explore ideas for the first time that makes college so worthwhile.

</comment><comment><USER36> Although he makes some valid points, it seems a bit foolish to me that a 19 year old, who has barely been in college to just flat out deny it's usefulness. I recently graduated, and though there are a lot of things I would change about college, I don't regret going there.

I made great connections, made life long friends, and (most importantly) learned a lot. Most of what I learned was because of my own efforts, however, that seed of curiosity that pushed me to learn was usually thanks to something mentioned in a class, or because of a conversation with a professor, or because of me going the extra mile in my projects, or because of the research I had looked to work on.

Overall, I'm not saying that you need college to succeed, and I'm not saying that there isn't alot to criticize about college. However, before you knock it down, try it out. You may not regret it.

</comment><comment><USER4> This article merely proves the point that Thiel's coverage on HN has pounded into the ground: smart, driven kids interested in entrepreneurship don't need college.

What seems to be missing from these kinds of discussions is a focus on what kinds of college programs we should be emulating.

</comment><comment><USER37> _I left college two months ago because it rewards [...] competition rather than collaboration_

Let me get this straight -- the whole premise of the Thiel Fellowship seems to be to get bright kids out of the doldrums of higher education and into the real world where they can start competitive businesses, and yet this kid says he doesn't like college because it rewards competition?!

And, I don't really agree with that premise in the first place. If anything, college rewards the appearance of collaboration -- when I was college, I ended up in numerous group projects where at least one person was completely worthless and contributed nothing besides their name on the written report's cover page.

</comment><comment><USER38> Where I grew up, entreprenuership without a college degree meant being on the other side of the law. Without my Ivy League degree I'm afraid, most of the people I know now would be clamoring about ending my food stamp benefits. College was often boring, and I sucked at Technical Writing, but I'd never have the opportunities if I "unColleged" myself. Maybe if I grew up in the same neighborhood as I live in now, I'd think like him too. For many kids growing up in the inner cities, places where "local VCs" will litterally take your knee caps, college is a much wiser choice.

</comment><comment><USER39> The article—appropriately, perhaps—reads like a high school essay from a smart student. Grammatically correct, logical, structured but stiff.

I guess the biggest thing that college gave me wasn't knowledge, it was a firing range where I could practice shooting without actually harming anyone. If I think of myself when I was 18-20, if I was actually put into a position of responsibility my net contribution would be negative.

There are certainly exceptions, but the net value of an unexperienced 18 year old is negative. He costs more to the company (in mentoring and mistakes) than the value he provides.

</comment><comment><USER40> I'm officially calling the nocollege movement a bubble and a direct byproduct of the tech bubble. Tech is hot and for some sound reasons, no doubt, but there aren't enough fundamentals to justify the same folks who used to think higher education was the ticket to prosperity now thinking it's starting a software business straight out of school.

If I were graduating high school this year, I'd go counter cyclical and get the PhD, hoping to land the comfortable government job and ride out the depression there.

</comment><comment><USER41> The author is 19 years old, so I'm guessing he dropped out pretty early. I don't think he was actually in college long enough to even know that it was a waste of time for him.

I loved college, especially a lot of the stuff that happened well after I turned 19. I feel really lucky that college forced me to learn so much stuff. Otherwise my mind would have gotten stuck in a narrower path.

</comment><comment><USER42> I've never heard of anyone learning thermodynamics/static/mechanical design/fluid dynamics/heat transfer/etc from a group of people gathering to discuss, challenge and support each other (other than in a school).

Technological advancement has a lot to do with "improving the human condition" and the majority of significant advances come from those who have been through higher education.

</comment><comment><USER43> College is more than learning the material, it's also about learning about yourself. Most of the time, it's your first taste of freedom and it's one of the only times where you aren't really a kid anymore and you aren't stuck working in a 9-5.

You can still get these experiences without going to college, but it's not that easy.

</comment><comment><USER44> NPR disagrees:

[http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo- way/2011/05/24/136612905/new...](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo- way/2011/05/24/136612905/new-study-estimates-the-worth-of-college-majors)

</comment><comment><USER45> Does the education system in the US need to be changed? Absolutely 100% agree that it does. Do 18-19 year old people have the world figured out? Not by a long shot, but they sure think they do.

</comment><comment><USER46> I'm curious to see the success rate of entrepreneurs without college degrees vs. those with degrees, however you might define success and over whatever time horizon. What do you think?

</comment><comment><USER47> in 30 years, we'll be "remember the UnCollege movement? yeah, we really wanted to change the world at that time".

definitely a good movement to demand for change in education, will it revolutionize the system? probably not.

</comment><comment><USER48> ...says CNN which has hosts read Twitter status updates.

</comment><comment><USER49> I'm not going to make any comments regarding the article, but this is a topic I've been annoyed with for some time now. From 2000 to 2004 I spent a lot of my time getting better at building websites, starting with learning HTML on my own before taking a class on it at school in 2004. I excelled in the only programming class available at my high school, easily keeping up with the second year students. When I graduated I had several websites using PHP/MySQL and was still building my skills every day. For my senior project I was asked to show everyone my passion and demoed a website I had created with a content management system and showed the code.

I had no idea what I was doing at the time, but I got stuff done and everyone around me thought I was really good at what I did. This was never something I bragged about, I have always been completely aware of how little I understand about everything.

Then I went to apply for college. I had wild dreams of just picking classes that interested me and taking them, learning all sorts of complicated tools and programming languages. Imagine my surprise when I instead was asked to take basic math, english and other uninteresting refresher courses. I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't know what the program I wanted was called so I ended up in a CIS program. I lost most of my passion for programming and making websites at that time. I switched schools, got an internship that turned into a job, but it's just a completely worthless experience for me.

I'm visiting in an advanced HTML class right now and they are going over techniques I used EIGHT YEARS AGO. I used these skills in my high school HTML class where no one else could. Worse, these skills they are teaching are now outdated and trivial. The LAMP stack isn't hot and new anymore, and now I just get annoyed when people get excited about being able to use it because it is so basic and trivial to use.

It deeply saddens me that I've wasted my time at college; I could have instead worked on personal projects for the past 6 years since starting and I would have not wasted money on tuition, student loans and my time on worthless classes like I'm still taking. When I bring up how little I've gotten out of my education that I've paid tens of thousands of dollars for the response I get is "You'll have a degree that you can show to future employers!" Sorry, I'd rather have a portfolio of work than something that just shows I have had minimal experience at trivial applications of a variety of subjects.

I used to be passionate on doing personal projects and all of the skills necessary towards my goals in life, then I went to college and had all of that ambition sucked out of me, replaced with worthless boring classes that wasted my time. You're probably thinking "why not just work on these projects while going to school/work for the past six years?" I could have, but those around me made it seem like college and working were more important. The mindset became "I'm going to college and working, what more do you want?" My parents didn't realize that I will probably make every dollar for the rest of my life using a computer. Instead, they just saw someone wasting their time on a computer and berated me at every opportunity. I'm just now realizing that I need to quit listening to those people and need to just work on whatever seems valuable to me.

<comment><USER50> This is why you go to grad schools to learn skills, and use college to study the liberal arts, exploring all those dumb useless subjects that no one thinks is worth studying anymore but in fact they teach you how to think critically, be creative, and realize that the world isn't just coders, lawyers, doctors, and businessmen.

I ended up skipping a lot of classes in college while daytrading, but I took the most bizarre liberal arts classes I could find and did most of the reading on my own time.

</comment></comment><comment><USER51> I attend Baruch College in NYC, which is a city-funded school. My tuition is <$6000 yearly, and I am extremely happy with my classes. Required courses for the business school include business law, micro and macro economics, calculus, statistics, accounting, and other highly useful courses. The school is in the city, so I've found it very easy to get a marketing position at a start-up while in school. I've gotten to meet and speak to the CFO of JP Morgan and Tommy Hilfiger, and got his daughters input on an idea. Connections with professors have been very useful, and often fascinating. The emphasis on communication intensive courses has noticeably improved my skill.

I am extremely happy with my college experience, and would certainly recommend it for the opportunity cost.</comment>


Concepts lacking in computer science academia - <AUTHOR> https://mbbaig.blog/2017/08/20/what-is-lacking-in-computer-science-university-programs/ <comment><USER2> Computer Science is an odd field.

In the early 1970s, IBM failed to produce a multitasking, multi-user timesharing system that customers could stand.

Academic researchers developed VM, a virtual machines system. IBM's lack of a coherent operating system vision became a non-issue because a site could run different operating systems at the same time under VM. Circa 1980 a mainframe developer would spin up an OS instance in a VM, and spin up more OS instances in the VM if they want to run more tasks.

Although many think of mainframes as dinosaurs, it took PCs 30 years to get to that point.

There is part of computer science which is timeless, which is part of mathematics. There is also part of it that is so future-oriented, that the ideas will only bear fruit 20 or 30 years from now.

The 4-yr university aims to educate you for a lifetime, not to get your first job.

<comment><AUTHOR> I agree that there are parts of the program that are timeless. Those parts as I mentioned are very useful. But I feel clean code at very least should be part of that. Even if frameworks aren't.

But the first thing we do when getting out of university is look for a job. And uni is supposed to prepare for you that in my opinion.</comment></comment>


On Starting a Top Syndicate and Turning Tinder into #1 Revenue App [audio] - <AUTHOR> http://thesyndicate.vc/ts-jeff-morris-jr-on-starting-a-top-angellist-syndicate-while-turning-tinder-into-1-revenue-app-in-world/ <comment><USER2> This is probably off-topic for an interview with the "Director of Product Management – Revenue" but having started using Tinder I'm a little shocked at how buggy the app is for such a huge moneymaker.

I'm on iOS, so maybe Android gets all the QA... er, love.

(Also I'm pretty sure one's view of the Tinderverse is skewed to enhance the subscription, um, stickiness. Which might not be so off-topic.)

<comment><USER3> Tinder on iOS also is buggy, at least in my experience.

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry to hear that! If you have any specific feedback or bugs, definitely let me know. I'm @jmj on Twitter.

<comment><USER4> Personally I have a app crashing bug on android where a certain person shows up (always a few swipes in) and the app goes down. This means I get maybe 1-4 swipes before I have to relaunch.

The account always shows up strangely with a large blue gradient over the image with a star, and a blue star next to her name.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Great episode!</comment>


Xbox password flaw exposed by five-year-old boy - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26879185 <comment><USER2> I would expect thing youngster will be the first person added to the Matasano 12 and under minor league squad :)

It's great that he discovered this, but even better (and speaks to his emerging character) that he told his father even though it meant losing access to the XBox's parental controls.

</comment><comment><USER3> In an interview with local news station KGTV, Kristoffer said: "I was like yea!" Haha, this is great! Such enthusiasm over the matter.

</comment><comment><USER4> "The company also gave him four free games, $50 (£30), and a year-long subscription to Xbox Live." .. wondering the titles!</comment>


RPG.net bans vocal Trump/Trump Administration support - <AUTHOR> https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?835849-New-Ban-Do-Not-Post-In-Support-of-Trump-or-his-Administration <comment><USER2> Nobody should be forced to pretend evil isn't evil just because a lot of people embrace it.

<comment><USER3> So who get's to define evil? It's incredibly dangerous game to restrict free speech in this way and force political alignment .. no one is forcing anyone to agree with anything anyone says, but to outright ban certain topics of discussion is a dark road to follow.

<comment><AUTHOR> > So who get's to define evil?

The people who are running the site?

> but to outright ban certain topics of discussion is a dark road to follow

Is there any actual useful discussion site (which excludes the various *chans) that allows unfettered discussion?

<comment><USER3> There are two things that need to be understood, there is the discourse and then there is the way the discourse is conducted - which can very easily break the law. HN does not restrict discourse, just how it is conducted. What rpg.net has done is restrict discourse; instead of it's conduct. As I said, a dark road to follow.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: What are examples of large websites without JavaScript? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> I think you'll have a difficult time finding large, public websites that don't use any JS.</comment>


Facebook closes down 6%, wiping out more than $30B in market value - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/30/facebook-plunges-at-open-wiping-out-more-than-50-billion-in-market-value.html <comment><USER2> > Facebook said privacy improvements on Apple's iPhones and Google's Android > software could hurt its ability to target advertising.

If improved privacy is hurting your product it should really make you think about what you're creating.

</comment><comment><USER3> I predict that given Facebook's gigantic size even if they reduce their ability to target individuals they will still keep their revenue stream intact since there's no other mammoth force that can target so many people with so little effort. Facebook will win no matter what happens.</comment>


DNS over HTTP statistic: 22 packets per query - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/PowerDNS_Bert/status/1064290946731384832 <comment><USER2> Lest people jump to slow.. if you amortise a connection overhead longterm, the delay component of multi round trip session with crypto and jump over privacy may be worth it.

I used stubby heavily in China. I know it's dns over tls not DoH but the same comments seem to come up in both.

Bert is a reductionist. He wants simpler DNS. DoH may be complex but it's also beneficial.</comment>


Thoughts on Linux - <AUTHOR> http://www.shiningrocksoftware.com/2016-04-09-thoughts-on-linux/ <comment><USER2> If you start with blaming "linux" for installing problems you should at least mention the distribution used. There are like 100 or more different installers out there and a good portion does suck indeed with non default configurations.</comment>


Austria 'rejects far-right president, electing Van der Bellen' - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36362505 <comment><AUTHOR> Now we look at you, USA.

<comment><USER2> ha! the only other option is far-left. not a great selection here...</comment></comment>


U.S. suspends nuclear arms treaty with Russia - <AUTHOR> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-us-announces-withdrawal-from-nuclear-arms-treaty-with-russia/ <comment><USER2> Related: interviews with Daniel Ellsberg who leaked The Pentagon Papers about cold-war nuclear strategy and military politics. [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvq2Qc- bxroT2xV7b9pOB...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvq2Qc- bxroT2xV7b9pOB8aa4hB9WCmxo)

Spoiler alert: Dr. Strangelove and its nemisis, Fail-Safe, were historically- accurate documentaries.</comment>