A simple explanation of Chinese characters - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@adrieng/a-simple-explanation-of-chinese-characters-50f922ebe4e6#.hykxyoal9 <comment><USER2> From my experience, this article brushes a very rosy picture of the Chinese language.

The bottom line is that even for a native speaker, if you encounter a new character, chances are you don't know what it means or how to pronounce it. If it's simple enough, you may guess, but that's it.

Learning Chinese means memorizing characters. A lot of them. It takes over a decade to teach a Chinese kid to even read a simple magazine.

Combine this with the use of tones, and you get a pretty complicated mess. You can't use tones to communicate things like irony, anger or doubt. You have to play on volume. You're losing a lot of expressiveness and subtlety in the process.

This is why building a search engine in Chinese is so hard. You can't apply a Porter stemming algorithm for example; there's no concept of stem or etymology (no apparently logical one at least).

Moreover, combining one character before (or after) another can change the meaning entirely. Adding a third one can again change things. Since you don't separate words with spaces in Chinese, good luck figuring things out programmatically. Things in Chinese are heavily relying on context.

Learning Chinese can be an interesting challenge, but understand that it will mostly rely on memorizing characters with little to no logic or trick to help you do so.

<comment><USER3> >> Combine this with the use of tones, and you get a pretty complicated mess. You can't use tones to communicate things like irony, anger or doubt. You have to play on volume. You're losing a lot of expressiveness and subtlety in the process.

This seems a bit like linguistic relativity. Native speakers don't have problems with tones. It is a challenge for second language learners of Chinese who don't speak a tonal language. Likewise, stress patterns in English are a challenge for second language learners but native speakers don't struggle with it.

There is a lot of word play in Chinese. Just because a syllable has a raising tone does not mean it is the exact same pitch as another syllable with a raising tone later in the phrase, rather the syllables follow the same pattern of starting from a lower pitch and go to a higher one. You can also make vowels longer or shorter.

>> Things in Chinese are heavily relying on context.

That's the case for most languages. What does 'hit' mean in English?

He hit me. Give me a hit. That show is a hit. He hit a tree with his car. I hit a new high. The boss ordered a hit on him. Tomorrow we will be hit by a storm. They hit it off well. She hit on him. That hits close to home. Let's hit the road.

<comment><USER4> > Likewise, stress patterns in English are a challenge for second language > learners but native speakers don't struggle with it.

This really is key. "Tones" are hugely important in English. A simple sentence like "I didn't steal your money" has at least five different meanings depending on which word gets stressed.

Imagine trying to learn this stuff from scratch as a non-native speaker! How do you even teach that? Are there actual rules for it, or do you just have to figure it out?

At least with Chinese, tones are just part of the pronunciation. A particular word (syllable, really) has a particular tone, and that's it.

<comment><USER5> You don't have to put stress on any words on that sentence in English, and it will be sound perfectly fine. The vast majority of sentences don't stress particular words.

<comment><USER6> You're missing the point.

\- _I_ didn't steal your money

\- I _didn 't_ steal your money

\- I didn't _steal_ your money

\- I didn't steal _your_ money

\- I didn't steal your _money_

In each case, there is an implication that is missing in the flat, no stressed version.

<comment><USER5> You could do that.

But it's not a part of a typical sentence.

You can also add implications by the gestures you make in between words. That doesn't make English complicated, that's just an irrelevant thing you can do.

Calling such a thing 'hugely important' is just wrong. I didn't miss the point, I think the point has no connection with actual speech.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> If you want to learn to write Chinese characters, I recommend Skritter mobile app. It took me only a month to commit about 300 characters to memory with 85% accuracy (incidentally, mostly the same 300 characters I had completely forgotten when I learned them 10 years ago)

I would recommend up front, to spend more time practicing speaking and listening, and not obsess too much about the characters, although you will eventually need to learn them. I learned the opposite way and I regret it, in the sense that I spent a lot of time learning to read Chinese, especially vocabulary through Pinyin, and while I know about 1000 words now, enough for basic conversation, my listening skills are horrible. I can speak, but I don't recognize what people are saying in response because I mentally spend too much time trying to assemble the phonemes and translate them via "slow brain"

The best thing you can do to learn honestly, is to join a group, or find native speakers to practice with. Today it's easier than ever with online chat through HelloChinese or Verbling, or other mechanisms over Skype or Hangouts. I found lots of local groups on meetup.com where native speakers help learners practice Chinese and in return, native English speakers help them with their English. Something about face-to-face practice helps burn things into your mental muscle memory more than independent study via reading.

<comment><AUTHOR> Skritter is not only more efficient than other methods of learning Chinese writing by orders of magnitude, it's also fun to use.

<comment><USER7> Yep, it's like an addictive game, trying to "burn down" the count in the upper left.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> There are many reasons why Chinese is difficult for English speakers to learn.

(1) There are many thousands of characters, so you're effectively learning two languages at once: spoken Mandarin and written Chinese. Reading Chineasy might help you get started won't help much after that. Alphabetic languages have at most a few dozen characters.

(2) There are no cognates. German and Swedish, for example, have lots of cognates recognizable to English speakers.

(3) There are very few loan words. There are lots of English words in Japanese, and lots of Japanese words in English.

(4) There's a huge cultural gap.

(5) There are different languages all called Chinese. Learning Putonghua won't help you much with pre-revolutionary (1911) texts, as they were written in Classical Chinese.

(6) Unless you go to China, the Chinese people you meet will usually speak better English than you will Mandarin, so conversations will lapse into English.

On the plus side: The tones are the least of your problems, and pronouncing Chinese isn't much harder than many other languages. Chinese grammar is dead simple. It has a fixed word order, which is similar to English, and there's no inflexion. I'm also told that once you know a certain number of characters (still several thousand), you can easily guess and infer unfamiliar words. The Practical Chinese Reader series stops using English altogether once you reach Book 5. (It's been superseded by more modern texts.)

<comment><USER9> I'm learning Mandarin right now and I love the grammar. I studied Spanish in high school and the lack of conjugation in Chinese is superb. I even feel sorry for people learning English now.

        我是很酷。
        (Wǒ shì hěn kù.)
        I am cool.

        你是很酷。
        (Nǐ shì hěn kù.)
        You are cool.

        他是很酷。
        (Tā shì hěn kù.)
        He is cool.

        她是很酷。
        (Tā shì hěn kù.)
        She is cool.

        我们是很酷。
        (Wǒmen shì hěn kù.)
        We are cool.

        他们是很酷。
        (Tāmen shì hěn kù.)
        They are cool.

That 是 (shì) stays consistent through all the sentences. Love it. Also the fact that 他,她,and 它 (he, she, and it) all have the same pronunciation (tā).

<comment><AUTHOR> Actually, you don't even need to use a verb here. 我很酷(Wǒ hěn kù)is enough. This is probably something you didn't learn yet. You should think of it as a sort of tarzan-talk: "Me very cool!". If you use 是, you actually put on emphasis on the sentence. Like: "You're not cool.", "I AM cool!".

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> This article glides over the process of learning Chinese but the nature of the language makes it significantly harder to learn: [http://pinyin.info/readings/texts/moser.html](http://pinyin.info/readings/texts/moser.html)

<comment><USER11> That (nice!) article gives 9 reasons. Only 6 of them are applicable in 2015.

#3 is now irrelevant because people don't write with pens. They type on their phones or, when at work, on their laptops.

#5 is no longer true, as dictionaries are now on Pleco. Yes, I found it hard to look up words in a paper dictionary when I started learning. But, for today's learners, their first dictionary is Pleco on iOS/Android, and this pain is gone.

#7 is a weird one. You only need _one_ romanization method (Pinyin) to learn Chinese, or to look up the standard (Mandarin) pronunciation of a new character. When would I ever need to use or read Wade-Giles, or any other romanization method, unless I'm reading the romanized version of a Taiwan/HK person's surname?

<comment><USER12> > _#3 is now irrelevant because people don 't write with pens. They type on > their phones or, when at work, on their laptops._

First of all, this isn't true. Every convenience store in China sells pens. Billions of pens are sold per year in China. Even at the _tech_ company where I worked in China, everyone had a pen or pencil and some wrote notes with them. People often used markers and wrote things on whiteboards, too. It was pretty much the same in that sense as English speaking places.

Secondly, the main point in #3 wasn't about writing. It was about _learning_. If you see a few taquerias in Mexico with "Taqueria" written in the sign, you'll learn a new word and how to pronounce it. You might later realize you've been hearing the word "taqueria" in a radio commercial and suddenly understand more of it. In China, you could enter a post office, see 郵局 written on it and hear the word 郵局 in conversation every day for a month and still not understand what it is people are saying. _That_ is why the writing system slows learners down, even if comprehension is their goal.

<comment><USER11> You're right, especially about the reinforcement bit.

There are some characters that I can recognise, because I've seen them often enough on Taobao, but don't come up in every day conversation. So, I don't know how to pronounce them, and wouldn't recognise them if someone said them out loud.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I should mention the Mark Rosenfelder's thorough introduction to Chinese characters [1].

[1] [http://www.zompist.com/yingzi/yingzi.htm](http://www.zompist.com/yingzi/yingzi.htm)

</comment><comment><USER14> Relatedly, people might find Tan Huey Peng's "Fun with Chinese Characters" series of books enjoyable. Each entry offers an archaic writing, and its current form, outlining the origins of each, as well as the stroke ordering.

Sadly, it seems the series fell out of print, but it's available on iBooks (but not Kindle, apparently):

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fun-with-chinese- characters...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fun-with-chinese- characters/id546957317?mt=11)

</comment><comment><USER15> > The last part I interpret as something like: "the mainstream idea of shared > production", in other words, communism.

This is something I love about Finnish as well. I don't know enough Finnish to say if it's a general pattern, but I've noticed that a comet is a "tail-star", a toad is a "crust-frog", the world is the "land-air" and there's a couple of other examples I've collected over the years. I'd love to learn that language.

</comment><comment><USER16> I'm no sinologist but found this book fascinating: "The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy" by John DeFrancis (ISBN 978-0824810689)

</comment><comment><USER17> Strokes aren't important only for muscle memory and how to remember the characters--the order also helps with symmetry and the overall shape/size of the finished character.

</comment><comment><USER18> Another fun part of Chinese is that most characters are monosyllabic. This makes numbers easy to remember and, on average, Chinese speakers can remember a few more random digits than English speakers can.

<comment><USER19> Actually, ALL Chinese characters are monosyllabic.

<comment><USER20> Well... 小孩儿 is only two syllables.

<comment><USER21> That's a contraction.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> > this article brushes a very rosy picture of the Chinese language.

That's a nice euphemism. From my experience Chinese is a historically grown mess.

<comment><USER23> There are only two kinds of languages - the ones with historical baggage, and the ones nobody uses.</comment></comment>


Share Buttons? Ha. Facebook Just Schooled The Internet. Again. - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/22/button-down/

<comment><USER2> This article is annoyingly breathless about these new features.

I seem to stubbornly remain in the minority by thinking that, in the long term, Facebook doesn't matter. It's fluff. It's wildly popular, people love it, but it's still fluff. People like fluff.

The timeline is nice. It's... yeah, it's nice. I get it. And people will use it and love it, but it doesn't change a damn thing about the world. It's just nice.

Automatically sharing what you're playing on Spotify with your friends? Sure, that's nice... and companies will go crazy about what this means for virality and engagement and all those fun words. But ultimately, it's fluff.

Does any of that come even CLOSE to justifying "Facebook pulled an Apple"? Comparing the smartphone and tablet future as imagined by Apple, with all that implies in terms of accessibility and availability of computing, to... a digital scrapbook and a music ticker?

</comment><comment><USER3> Funny how you can always pick the TC headlines.

Anyhow, I thought this was interesting regardless. The last section sounds like sharing by default and it doesn't strike me as revolutionary, just creepy. Guess what, I don't want everything I do to be automatically shared with my 'friends', because for the most part they don't care, and in some cases I don't want (some of them) to know.

To finish off, the "Facebook has been kicking ass and _taking names_." line at the start is sounding decidedly disturbing in recent times with all the kerfuffle about real names from mobs like Blizzard and Google.

</comment><comment><USER4> So the replacement for me manually hitting 'share' when I want to share things is to share everything?

Signal to noise ratio. I sent out a few updates that I think are important and I want my friends to know about. I don't blast them with every fool song I listen to, tv show I watch, or underwear I wear. I only send them what I want them to know about.

</comment><comment><USER5> In this Google v. Facebook thing people seem to forget that G+ isn't Google's core business but Facebook is Facebook's so the bigger investment in social is going to come from them.

</comment><comment><USER6> Sometimes I think this whole "G+ is gonna take over Facebook" mentality is just nonsense that the media themselves are trying to spread, not regular folks like us... Yes, people do think G+ has potential, but there's hardly anyone making a commotion about how it will overtake FB. It's just mostly people who want linkbait.

<comment><USER7> Then there are those like me that argue that G+ is for business/organizations.</comment></comment>


Unicorns, Syndicates and the tools to track them - <AUTHOR> http://premoney.io/unicorns-syndicates-tools-track-introducing-indicate-io/

<comment><USER3> So, _where_ exactly is the data coming from?

I realize that's likely a trade secret, but there's a difference between having data and _good_ data, and "analysts working around the clock validating [the data]" doesn't help when the data is flat-out _missing_.

<comment><USER4> Gotta agree. If a company is private then this info isn't public and can't be audited like a publicly traded company. You're relying on non public data from Hush hush, secret sources or sites which allow you to trade shares in private. You gotta wonder though, how accurate is this data?

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> This (indicate.io) And Mattermark seem to be doing similar things - <USER2> (sometimes superficial) data on startups in order to score them and sell that data to investors, press, or competitors.

If this becomes widespread, it'll be interesting to see the impact, both in what types of startups have a biased advantage and what "gaming the system" will look like.</comment>


Announcing BigCouch 0.4 - <AUTHOR> http://blog.cloudant.com/bigcouch-zero-point-four/

<comment><USER2> Very cool to see this release; for the Couch folks out there that love the master-master replication but need sharding (disparate ranges of data in certain data centers) BigCouch brings one of the cooler features of Cassandra and MongoDB (datacenters) to CouchDB deployments.

Then the donation to Apache on top of that, very cool move and congrats to the Cloudant team. Here's to a lot of success moving the community and clients forward.

</comment><comment><USER3> I might as well ask it first -- when does it go live on cloudant.com?

</comment><comment><USER4> Very cool - I am updating by building from source right now.

Cloudant runs their business on BigCouch and I think tat it is very cool of them to open source it.</comment>


Russian E-Warriors Render Aircraft Carriers Useless - <AUTHOR> http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150824/1026127241/jamming-radar-missiles-planes.html <comment><USER2> tldr: jamming can interrupt a carrier air group's activities

Aircraft and missile IFF, GPS, ILS, coms, etc. are indeed RF dependent and can indeed be jammed, hacked, spoofed, EMP'ed and snooped. But, IMO, none of this really news. RF measures and countermeasures have always--and will continue to --leapfrog each other. For example, switching to UWB will make jamming and snooping much harder.

It's also not the end of an air wing to have some channels denied. It might slow things down but the navy is pretty good at backup plans. For example, planes fly just swell without radios, pilots can follow paper maps, and iron bombs will continue to fall downwards.</comment>


Ask HN: Why am I such a bad programmer? - <AUTHOR> Hello.
I signed up with an anonymous account because i'm ashamed of myself. My co-worker tells me that i'm a really bad programmer. He says that my code is WET and full of leaky abstractions. What should I do?
Please help me
Thanks. <comment><USER2> Code up to professional quality in your free time.

Learn new tools frequently, and apply lessons from new languages into old languages.

Write your own compilers and interpreters, in order to understand the requirements, expectations, difficulties, and habits of compiler and interpreter implementations.

Design your own languages, in order to understand the requirements, expectations, difficulties, and habits of usable language design.

Give yourself at _least_ ten years to become a half-decent programmer. Anyone who considers themselves half-decent who hasn't been doing it for a decade is probably kidding themselves; anyone who is considered by their peers to be half-decent who hasn't been doing it for at least a decade is probably surrounding themselves with incompetent peers.

Listen to your coworker. Get his _specific_ complaints, determine what _general_ rules you can gather that would assuage his concerns, and ask him if those general rules are the correct ones. If he can't give you specific complaints and general rules, he's talking out of his ass and playing status games; if he can, then no matter his manner of speaking, his criticism is constructive and valid. After all, bad code is a big problem, and at best puts extra work onto your coworkers.

If you cannot ask your coworker what he means by his criticisms, then you're probably sunk, unless some other coworker can explain it. But, as a junior dev, your code probably _is_ bad -- the state of the industry is bad, and most code is awful, including that written by people who are ostensibly senior -- and you will benefit immensely from learning to write better code.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you!

I wrote a Lisp interpreter once. It was fun! I have been coding for 10 years by the way. How do I know if my code is bad, or if my coworker is just being judgmental (as some people here are suggesting)? Are you a good developer?

Thanks

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> The WET criticism relates to not following the maxim of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself)

There have been some long threads here about other people's evolution as programmers and what kinds of things they felt helped them improve. I don't have one in mind right now, but maybe you could find one.

You could also try reading a couple of software engineering books that talk about some of these concepts. Wikipedia mentions _The Pragmatic Programmer_ , and there's also _Code Complete_ and others. (I haven't read either of those.)

Here's a list of the best "software engineering" books, although the focus of these is incredibly varied and some probably wouldn't be relevant to you.

[http://noop.nl/2008/06/top-100-best-software-engineering- boo...](http://noop.nl/2008/06/top-100-best-software-engineering-books- ever.html)

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi.

Thank you. I have read the wikipedia entry but I have to say that DRY seems obvious to me. Is this really a thing? Am i missing something? I just try to write code that is easy to read. And I try to reuse code as often as it makes sense.

That list of books looks good by the way. Thank you

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> It's better to know that you're not a good developer than to think you are, blissfully unaware of the problems in your code. I've worked with plenty of people with "good reputations" that have failed to deliver a clean product, or have criticised code that works well for not being optimal in their eyes.

It's important to know why the code you've written is not considered good, so ask your co-worker about the problems he/she has noticed. If they are legitimate problems then highlight them with your line manager, and offer a solution/fix that will improve your code. No one is perfect, and more often than not good programmers are those who iterate and adapt to changing requirements. If they notice problems with their solution, they'll happily point them out, and will offer a solution.

Ask what you can do to fix the problems, and once you have your solution it's unlikely that you'll make that problem again.

<comment><AUTHOR> Some people are never happy and always judge others. How do I know if my coworker will ever be happy with my code? What if he just hates me? I can't tell the difference :(

<comment><USER4> It's a tricky one. I can tell a chef when their food tastes like shit, but I can't cook like a chef can, and I probably couldn't tell him/her what he needs to do to make their food taste better. It might not even be a bad meal! It might just be different to what I'm used to.

It's entirely possible that your co-worker doesn't know what would improve your code, but simply knowing that it can be improved can be a useful thing, as it urges you to explore other options. Since your co-worker has said that your code is "WET" (I assume the opposite of DRY?) this should lead you to look into what makes code DRY in your language, and through this, learning if your code is repeated for a reason or not.

As a personal anecdote, on a recent project a junior developer slated some of my Razor code because I wasn't using EditorTemplates for the forms on the site. After a month or two on the project, that developer quickly learned why I didn't bother with EditorTemplates. Fields that seemed similar weren't similar at all at times. The project requirements were changing weekly, and ultimately I was able to make changes quickly while he was fiddling with his DisplayTemplates/EditorTemplates, trying to make them work reliably across multiple different scenarios.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Are you sure he's not just trying to be funny?

Can you ask him how to make your code better or point you to resources that might help?

How long have you been writing code? Maybe it will just take time and experience to improve.

<comment><AUTHOR> i have been writing code for 10 years

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Because you provide too little info.

<comment><AUTHOR> _info_ early 20th century abbreviation of _information_.

 _information_ latin: informatio, from the verb informare. information is that which informs!

 _informare_ in-: in (into) forma: forma (a form)

Something is missing; informare, into a form.

ddorian43, I inform you: I am trying my best. Let me explain:

Information can be thought of as the resolution of uncertainty. The maximum of information coincides strangely with maximal unpredictability or noise!

What else? Claude Shannon proved in 1937 in what is probably the most consequential MA thesis, that simple telegraph switching relays can implement by means of their different interconnections the whole of Boolean algebra.

Eleven years later the same Claude Shannon published an even more groundbreaking paper: "A Mathematical Theory of Communication". The paper asserts that:

"The fundamental problem of communication is that of reproducing at one point, either exactly or approximately, a message selected at another point."

We all know how influential this is, right? But is it enough info(rmation)? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

<comment><USER6> You're already improving! Congrats!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Well as to whether your code is WET or DRY you can probably figure that out yourself, as far as the leaky abstractions read [http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.htm...](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html) consider that and ask for some specific examples where you've been leaking.

<comment><AUTHOR> Where have I been leaking? Hm. You can probably tell by the WET spots.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I write code using two passes. First pass is WET and full of leaky abstractions, to test which API calls I would be making. Second pass I delete it all and rewrite it DRY and beautiful. If you don't already try incorporate a second pass in your work flow.

<comment><AUTHOR> smart! thank you

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Find better co-workers.

<comment><AUTHOR> thank you!

where can i find them? do you know what WET means?

<comment><USER10> I am guessing they are using WET as the opposite of adhering to the DRY principle: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself)

In my humble experience, anyone who can't constructively criticize others' code is probably a bad programmer themselves.

You may very well be a bad programmer. Almost all of us are. It is good if you are perfect out of the gate, but it is also good to get things done, and keep improving.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you nains

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> WET means that you're using too many Widgets that Excite them Transistors (WET). Stop using them!

Also, when you have an abstract data type, and you hav a memory leak, it is called a leaky abstraction.

Your coworker is a great person and you should try to convince him to adopt you as only he will show you how to be a great boy!

Now get outta here and go play!

<comment><AUTHOR> I love this answer :D</comment></comment>


Restaurant industry asks Congress for $240B in aid to survive coronavirus - <AUTHOR> https://www.marketwatch.com/story/restaurant-industry-asks-congress-for-240-billion-in-federal-aid-to-survive-coronavirus-2020-04-20 <comment><USER2> Let's play devil's advocate (for lack of better word) here:

Such bailout would be paid by the taxpayer.

On the other hand, I suppose that if there is no bailout, many, if not most restaurants will go bankrupt. However I'm sure they have already laid off their staff so the impact on employment will be small.

Thus, all in all, is it really worth bailing then out? People will reopen new restaurants after this mess and it will be cheap to do so if equipment and premises are plentiful.

It seems that a bailout would really help the banks, which are set to face a mountain of bad debts if whole industries start to fold...</comment>


How to build a cult brand in a crowded market: lessons from A24 - <AUTHOR> https://www.junction43.co/blog/lessons-from-a24-how-to-build-cult-brand-in-crowded-market <comment><USER2> So I suppose I should have heard of A24...

<comment><AUTHOR> Maybe you've seen some of their films? If not, highly recommend checking out Ex Machina :)

<comment><USER2> Yes, I followed the link and saw that mentioned. I did see that film and really liked it!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Nitpick, but grey on white text, gaaahhh!

But, I had to laugh when I found the RGB is 0x666666 :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Yeah, you are right! We darkened it a bit now :D</comment></comment>


How Hackers Hijacked a Bank's Entire Online Operation - <AUTHOR> https://www.wired.com/2017/04/hackers-hijacked-banks-entire-online-operation/ <comment><AUTHOR> Now it's on Schneier. I liked this comment (there):

> Amazing this doesn't happen more often... > Isn't there enough Mafias in the > world having a big enough budget to buy one of the "zero days" accumulated > by the "secret" services and making some spare cash, few billions of it...

Specially considering that you just need one insider (in the case, at registro.br) that would change the DNS. fly away 30 minutes after the charging, go live in a non-cooperative country, profit.</comment>


Google: a natural monopoly? - <AUTHOR> http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/07/technology/yang_google.fortune/ <comment><USER2> Who is this James Stewart guy and why is he acting so dumb regarding monopolies?

First why redefine the standard economics term "Natural Monopoly"?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_monopoly>

Why then define this new thing he names a 'natural monopoly' as 'lawful' when he himself points out that monopolies aren't illegal, only abusing monopoly power.

Which is an interesting paradox, as this Stewart character claims monopolies aren't necessarily bad, when standard economics claims they are, and standard law allows them only to the degree that they don't maximise profits in a way that is not only allowed but encouraged in any other business i.e. you can _be_ a monopoly, as long as you don't _act_ like one.</comment>


HP installs system-slowing spyware on its PCs - <AUTHOR> https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/28/hp-quietly-installs-system-slowing-spyware-on-its-pcs/ <comment><USER2> > All of the reports I've seen so far emphasize the point that HP (or > Microsoft?) has installed this "telemetry" program without advising > customers or requesting permission to install.

It is now well established that if you choose to run Windows you're going to be playing this game of cat and mouse until the end of time. You simply are not in full control of the OS.

<comment><USER3> It's not just the OS.

Any closed-source, non-free software - drivers, productivity tools, games - all pose the same danger.

And it's not just software - binary firmware blobs (including ones found in most ARM-based SBC, such as Raspberry Pi) should be seen as potentially dangerous. Not to mention Intel's Management Engine and such.

<comment><USER4> True - but I'd argue that the dangers aren't equal, and they are also not constant. Windows 7 wasn't nearly as invasive as Windows 10, for example.

While the argument often seen from the FSF - that all non-free software is dangerous - is technically true, it's about the same level of true as "all software is dangerous if you can't read the source code," in which case, all software is dangerous to everyone who isn't a software engineer.

Even though all non-free software has this issue, we should still be vigilant about fighting and curtailing it where we can. Proprietary software isn't going away, and the harm is real, so we need to encourage its lessening.

<comment><USER5> > all software is dangerous to everyone who isn't a software engineer

And even everyone who is, unless that engineer understands every language and hardware component in play, and is able to spot subtle vulnerabilities at a glance.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> This kind of thing is hardly new. PC makers have been preloading software for a fee at least since the 90s. It should come as no surprise that such software doesn't always align with the user's best interests.

It's common with phones too. My new Sony phone came with several Sony apps as well as _Facebook_ installed as non-removable system apps. None of these are necessary for proper function, as it can run a third-party build of Android that doesn't include any of them.

Facebook in particular is an odd one. I can understand preloading it since it's very popular, but why the hell is it a system app?

<comment><USER7> I just switched to Android after being an iOS user since the iPhone 4. Honestly the fact that I have this stupid "Bixby" button on the side of the Note 8, almost perfectly in the middle, that I hit by accident maybe every third time I pick the phone up, is infuriating. No way to uninstall it, no way to turn it off, just a ~30% chance of launching some stupid app I don't want to use every time I pick the phone up.

I'm sure it will get better over time but I don't want to have to change the way I _pick up my phone_ to avoid Samsung's garbageware.

<comment><USER8> The weird part about people complaining about the Bixby button is the fact they bought it.

Like why buy it? Did you not see the button when you looked at the product? Did you not read any reviews?

So many other phones to select from and users are buying a phone with a button they don't want.

Companies continue to get away with these poor design decisions and forcing this system-wide apps because we continue to buy their products.

<comment><USER9> > _The weird part about people complaining about the Bixby button is the fact > they bought it._

If it's the best phone otherwise, why not buy it? It's not a deal-breaker; it's just annoying.

<comment><USER6> > _If it 's the best phone otherwise_

Is it? I'm not up to date on the latest models, but in the past when I've compared Samsung's flagships to others, there wasn't a really obvious winner. I always found it a little weird that Samsung got such a large share of the market.

<comment><USER10> The Galaxy Note series is, to my knowledge, the only smartphone on the market that comes with a stylus. Some of us really like that (Galaxy Note 4 owner here).

I really wish Apple would ship a phone with a stylus, but we know it's against their religion. His Steveness spake thus: thou shalt not use a stylus with a phone! And it was so in all Appledom.

<comment><USER9> Is there something special about that particular stylus? Does anything prevent you from getting a third-party one for a different phone? Or does the phone also have a nifty slot for it?

<comment><USER11> It's got a full digitiser integrated into the display. The pen can detect 4096 or some such levels of pressure. It can detect hover. The pen and screen work flawlessly underwater. There is literally no other phone with these capability.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Lenovo only got fined 3.5M? Cheap, not counting the reputation hit anyway.

If anyone knows how to slow down systems with their software, it's definitely HP. Haven't used one in awhile, but you could get a boost similar to going from a mechanical hard drive to an SSD by reloading the OS without all their bloatware. I wonder, has any security researchers ever thought about going back to circa-2005 printer software to see what it was up to?

<comment><USER13> It wasn't just the malware, they also got tagged for root certificates and then there was a third thing I forget now. It's a pattern of abuse.

Either way, that fine is just a minor expense compared to their $300B revenue. It won't even show up on a summary report. Punishments are supposed to hurt if you want behavior to change.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Far more detail here: [https://www.ghacks.net/2017/11/27/hp-installing-hp- touchpoin...](https://www.ghacks.net/2017/11/27/hp-installing-hp-touchpoint- analytics-client-telemetry-service/)

</comment><comment><USER15> Microsoft makes it much easier these days to download an install image of Windows 10 that's devoid of non-Microsoft crapware. They're also kept up to date, so if you download Windows 10 ISO today, you will get version 1709 (fall creator's update).

And during an update [1] it seems smart enough to get most of the model specific drivers installed. The things that remain for one off download and install from the manufacturer web site are firmware updates.

The next time I do a clean install, I won't install HP's Support Assistant. It's OK UI/Ux, a bit laggy to discover what updates to apply, but more importantly it regularly fails to inform of and install firmware updates, even though they appear on that model's support page.

[1] Windows Update times are incredibly shitty. On a system fully updated as of 2017-09-25, and then not used at all (Fedora is my main OS) until last weekend, it took 7 hours and 6 reboots to get it updated. That includes one update with "Getting Windows Ready Don't turn off your computer" for 4+ hours. I have never had macOS or any Linux distro take more than 10 minutes for a minor update, or more than an hour (slow embedded spinning rust system) for a major version update. It's obscene and any wonder why people prefer to opt out and end up with riskier systems as a result.

</comment><comment><USER16> A technical analysis of what the service is doing would be nice. Right now the article is basically just a collection of user complaints from the HP forum. And to be clear, I don't doubt that it's happening, but some actual analysis would be nice. Even if it's just a screenshot of the system resources monitor.

<comment><USER17> Unfortunately the last thing we're going to get from an Engadget article is anything resembling technical analysis. The author refers to the software as a "driver" twice.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> This link is a summary of [https://www.computerworld.com/article/3238512/microsoft- wind...](https://www.computerworld.com/article/3238512/microsoft-windows/hp- stealthily-installs-new-spyware-called-hp-touchpoint-analytics-client.html)

</comment><comment><USER19> I quite like how the title says _its_ instead of e.g customers.

 _Lenovo has only just settled a massive $3.5 million fine for preinstalling adware on laptops without users ' consent, and now it seems HP is getting in on the stealth installation action, too._

How is that a massive fine? Instead of deterring anyone, it looks more like a bargain.

<comment><USER20> That's absolutely outrageous. And now that the outrage has died down they're denying that they did anything wrong either.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> This is (again) why I would not consider owning a computer with a manufacturer-installed OS. Even Linux.

<comment><USER22> I used to be this way but eventually I got to the point where I'm willing to run macos just to have things like working suspend/resume and WiFi/Bluetooth that won't require periodic fiddling when some jerk decides to embrace systemd.

<comment><USER23> How long ago was this? The last time I had problems with suspend or WiFi, even on brand-new laptops, was maybe 8 years ago.

<comment><USER22> 2015

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Windows laptops always did this. First thing you need to do when buying windows laptop is to do a clean install of whatever system you want.

</comment><comment><USER25> I can't believe HP is popular as a desktop and laptop hardware vendor. Their products are absolute shit and the prices aren't low enough to make up for it.

They remind me of the ultra cheap office pens that I bought once. I was new and my boss sent me out to get a box. When I got back he used one and said "these are too cheap, we use these every day". He was right.

If you are buying a laptop get a Thinkpad or a Mac. If you are want a desktop and don't play games get a Dell.

<comment><USER26> In the valley and some big US cities you have choices but in the rest of the world, HP is highly valued not because their quality but for their support, even with the basic one they will send a representative in less than 72 hours with the spare part. Lenovo, Dell, Samsung, Asus et al would take weeks if not months for the shipment part to arrive (most of the times without a representative to install it) or ask to send back the laptop just to get it back with the same issue a couple of months later.

On point: HP and Apple are the worst companies to buy a laptop, expensive as hell but they usually have local support staff in your city. Also Thinkpad suck, they feel super cheap for the price they ask and install even worst spyware preloaded.

<comment><USER27> I've been in a different country, with a broken dell laptop keyboard, and the dell guy arrived the next day. When I pointed out I needed a US keyboard not a UK keyboard, he went out to his van and got one. The next day, onsite is ~$300. Its worth it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> Well what's the issue ? just suffer 6 months and then spend 600$ on a new machine with, finally, the latest intel cpu, octocore, capable of making even hard computing tasks like idleing fast !

</snark>

I think we oughta make a common repo + windows service to remove crapware.

        [user-complaints] -> [scripts] -> IO happiness

<comment><USER29> There are already plenty: [https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+telemetry+github](https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+telemetry+github)

But as someone above already noted, it really is a cat & mouse game with MS. Things that worked yesterday will not work today, after MS silently installs new updates.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that MS has full-time staff dedicated to _fixing_ any issues the most popular of these tools modify.

<comment><USER30> This is why after over a decade of supporting their crap as a sysadmin, I've gone completely gnu+Linux. Windows 8/10 were simply the last straw, plus I realized RMS was right the whole time.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> Did nvidia get permission when installing telemetry for their drivers?

</comment><comment><USER32> windows, aptly named for the thing you should be chucking it out of :D as for vendors installing vendor software... whats new? really people are mad about this? what about their smart phones... they must have blood pressure issues throwing a fit over this nonsense. if you want a good running laptop where you are in control of the software chose linux, or if you prefer windows, atleast install and manage it yourself... don't need to have all this vendor nonsense if you dont want it. just re-install it clean!

</comment><comment><USER33> > One complaint on the HP support site says: "It's been making my computer > work so hard I can hear it like cranking away and the light in the back of > my computer is flashing rapidly in-tune with the cranking. In Task Manager I > can see it starting and stopping numerous applications."

How can an app be so poorly implemented? This had to have been noticed in QA and yet some exec prioritized gathering user analytics of user experience. How pathetic!

<comment><USER34> It may only behave like that in some particular conditions which didn't come up in QA.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> I'm told national labs won't touch Lenovo PCs since superfish (despite the fact that from what I can tell business models were not affected). Is HP next?

</comment><comment><USER36> So why did HP do this? Their customers, which are mostly big companies, don't like it. Were they pressured to do so by a government agency? Did their in- house "analytics" people get out of control? Why won't HP say anything?

<comment><USER37> HP Enterprise is a different thing. Those big companies are customers HP actually cares about and they don't push things like this on them. They also honor warranties for them and respond to support calls.

The HP that sells laptops in department stores is consumer-hostile and sees the purchasers of their computers as cash cows to be farmed out to third parties and upsold remote support plans when the computer has a problem. And problems will inevitably occur since the machines are built with such poor quality control.

It's sad to see a brand new computer be slower than one that is 10 years old but can't be used because it has the wrong operating system.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> First step when you buy an HP laptop: format and install an official copy of windows from Microsoft. The hardware is usually good. The software is usually crap.

</comment><comment><USER38> Install a program like Fiddler and watch the call-homes roll in. It's truly amazing how many request are made while the computer is ostensibly doing nothing.

</comment><comment><USER39> I bought my kids a couple of HP laptops back in the day. First step was always a reformat. But back then I had an MSDN account and the wherewithal to set the machines up the way I wanted, which many people do not. For myself I have not bought an OEM system for many years. I always build my own and if I need windows I buy an OEM disk. There's not much money in computers anymore so the manufacturers try to monetize them essentially the way news sites try to monetize stories.

</comment><comment><USER40> Does anyone know the domain this data is being transmitted to?

Seems to be fixable via hosts file blocking.

<comment><USER41> It's more than just the data being sent back. The fact that it's present and is causing systems to slow down is a huge concern.

I personally don't know of anyone that uses a HP system for personal use. When I think of HP or Dell, I think of bloatware.

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> The first thing to do with such new PC is to wipe out Windows and install Linux.</comment>


Fusker - a NodeJS security system that attacks back - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/wearefractal/fusker

<comment><USER2> The idea of a firewall of some sort for web applications seems like a good idea, but this particular one seems rather lame. For example, here's the complete code that implements the 'local file inclusion' attack detection:

      var url = require('url');

      exports.check = function (req, res) {
    	if (req.url.indexOf('../') > -1) {
    		fusker.handleAttack('LFI', req, res);
    	}
      };

[https://github.com/wearefractal/fusker/blob/master/lib/detec...](https://github.com/wearefractal/fusker/blob/master/lib/detectives/lfi.js)

That's very simplistic and I wouldn't be surprised if you could get round it with trickery like ..%2F or similar encodings since if you dig in it's being passed the req from the http Node.js module and using the .url parameter. That returns the full URL from the request itself.

And check out how SQL injection is detected: [https://github.com/wearefractal/fusker/blob/master/lib/detec...](https://github.com/wearefractal/fusker/blob/master/lib/detectives/sqli.js) It appears to be completely unimplemented.

Also, the whole 'fight back' idea is a bad one. We've seen from the spam world that fighting back tends to create collateral damage. If someone is attacking your web site then it's best just to silently discard attacks, after all if an attack back is detected that gives the attacker information.

Also, blacklisting IP addresses on the Internet is quite a dangerous thing to do. The IP address being presented to the end web site may well come from a company or from an ISP where there are many, many legitimate users on the same IP. A blacklist needs to be managed carefully to avoid an attacker knocking out a large group of legitimate users.

<comment><AUTHOR> Blacklisting is done for small temporary amounts of time

And yes, some things are not finished yet. The project was started a matter of hours ago and not even close to it's full potential

EDIT: Keep in mind you are the one who decides what modules and payloads to use. Blacklisting is optional

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> It "attacks back" in this case by redirecting users to various other sites. The fun thing about applications like this one is that they make for a great self-inflicting DoS; all I have to do, as an attacker, is run a script that launches lame attacks with spoofed IPs against a fusker site. With not too much trouble, I could cause your website to redirect a lot of your U.S. customers to goatse, or whatever module you decide to use.

Hate to be a killjoy, but things like this are usually not a good idea. Unfortunately, somebody has to rediscover that every six months or so.

edit: nevermind, I was going off of hilariously out-of-date information. TCP ISNs haven't been easy to predict in -- _gulp_ \-- about a decade. Damn, now I feel old.

<comment><USER4> > is run a script that launches lame attacks with spoofed IPs against a fusker > site

How do you spoof your IP in TCP? If you spoof your source address you shouldn't be able to get past the handshake.

<comment><USER2> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCP_sequence_prediction_attack>

You spoof the IP address you are sending from and then predict the TCP sequence number so you can make it look as though you are receiving the replies (even though they are going to another machine since you spoofed the IP address).

Such an attack was proposed by Hacker News' very own rtm: <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1948>

<comment><USER3> Unfortunately for my original point, it looks like my info was waaaay out of date, and most OSs started using cryptographically random ISNs years ago.

My bad, sorry for the noise.

edit: I suppose this means it's time for me to finally discard my copy of Inside TCP/IP, third edition. :-(

<comment><USER5> Don't just throw it away; it's great for ergonomics. Most people's monitors are way too far below eye level.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> OP/Creator here

Entire project was created in a matter of hours so it's pretty basic for now. Not a fan of the "this is lame shitsux" mentality going around but I'll get used to it. All included modules will become much more sophisticated with time so please hold those comments off until I get more than 2 hours to put towards the project

If you have any detection/payload suggestions please comment in here and I will most likely add them. Keep in mind that this is all for the lulz

If you have anything you want to add, feel free to fork!

<comment><USER6> Well, it would help if a link were posted when the project is in a more mature state. When something is linked and upvoted, people will judge it by the current quality, not some future state of the project.

Good luck though!

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Completely misses the point of XSS and XSRF attacks. In those scenarios the 'attacking' browser is actually the attacker's victim. If you use this module, an attacker can link a victim to you and have your 'defences' arbitrarily attack them, making you part of the problem, not the solution.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hmm... this never occurred to me. The future of the project is going to be socket.io packet analysis with detectives. The current http request analysis is really weak and not intended to be the main focus

If you want to prevent this from happening there will be http-xss and socket- xss detectives in the future, just leave out the http-xss to keep it safe. Optionally you could always set your payloads to logging only

<comment><USER8> If it's not intended to be the main focus, why are you bothering to demo it now? Why not wait and show us something even slightly representative of what your project is supposed to be like?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Not to belabor the point, since other people have assessed this library quite well, but:

1\. Detecting XSS by looking for '<', '>', '(', or ')' in the URL is a very naive approach. It can be bypassed fairly easily and many XSS vectors could have payloads constructed that bypass this filter. Also, you're likely to get some false positives for a certain subset of applications, since parenthesis have legitimate uses.

2\. I'm not sure on what basis the first part of the CSRF protection is valid or what it's trying to protect. Is it looking for an Accept header for application/json?

3\. The second part of the CSRF protection, which looks at the referer header, seems buggy and easy to bypass. What is it trying to accomplish? Right now, it seems like it blocks POST requests where the referer is set and contains the server's hostname (which valid requests will have).

4\. Detecting CSRF by looking for non-GET/POST methods is a bad idea unless your application specifically constrains itself to those two methods. Many modern applications are using PUT and DELETE internally for routing purposes.

5\. Detecting LFI in the URL by looking for ../ is, again, naive (although less likely to lead to false positives than the XSS testing).

6\. The most "objectionable" part here seems to be the "fight back" options. There are definitely some legitimate concerns about an attacker being able to get a targeted user banned from a site (after all, you can't distinguish between a failed CSRF that an attacker is sending and a failed CSRF that an attacker tried to convince a target to send). For the most part though, I don't think they're a big deal for a small, independent site that opts-in to them: they sound a lot like the Miserable Users mod for VB (<http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=93258>)

That being said, no system that operates like a WAF is going to be perfect. The idea of a mod_security-like system for node.js is very cool though. I just think the way you tried to launch it here, with no indication on GitHub or otherwise that it's not a finished product, has led to some backlash. :-)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the suggestions. All of the detections are extremely primitive right now, I didn't get a lot of time to put work into them (the whole project has roughly 2-3 hours of time into it) but tomorrow they will be improved.

As I said to someone in another comment, the main purpose of the framework is socket.io packet analysis. The http detectives are merely for testing at this point while the framework itself matures

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I love the idea, but I think the fighting-back tricks are a bit disappointing. I expected stuff like "uses its own botnet to ddos the attacker". Yeah yeah, stupid, not realistic. But redirecting to goatse? Come on. That's less exciting than a garfield comic.

</comment><comment><USER11> At the very least it should be using the asyncness of node to hold malicious connections open forever, bogging down any synchronous attack tools. Although, I doubt there are any such attack tools out there these days.

</comment><comment><USER12> It's all fun and games to imagine attackers and script kiddies having trouble with this. But its scary to think what might happen if one the innocent visitors/customers are marked as attackers by mistake.

</comment><comment><USER13> be careful with anything that "attacks back", the legality of that is still being phrased.

yes, i know that it doesn't "really" "attack back" but when you phrase it that way you're going to raise some hackles.

<comment><USER8> "Attacking back" with shock images may be genuinely legally problematic, given the untested new Tennessee law on the subject. [http://arstechnica.com/tech- policy/news/2011/06/tenn-law-ban...](http://arstechnica.com/tech- policy/news/2011/06/tenn-law-bans-posting-images-that-cause-emotional- distress.ars) . Using the included nimp payload is even more legally problematic since it actually does redirect the user to a site that contains malicious code.

I think this project, much like all "offensive security" projects, is fundamentally misguided. At best, this project loudly alerts the hacker every time an attack is detected, providing an easy way to black-box test the service's attack detection criteria. At worst, it provides an easy way for jerks to goatse, Last Measure, etc. third parties using the webmaster's site. While I understand the kind of spiteful thrill that would come from redirecting a (maybe not) attacker to a shocking image, quietly stopping and logging the attack is always the best option.

<comment><AUTHOR> Don't enable any payloads besides blacklisting then. Problem solved

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> The solution to this is not to launch a counter attack on the attacker, but to automatically launch automated collaborative investigation where evidence is gathered to try to nudge the attacker into doing something that reveals his location/identity.

1\. Software notices inappropriate behavior.

2\. Launches a honeypot service with lots of holes in it to give attacker opportunity to get root.

3\. Root takes them to a locked down part of the computer.

4\. Have the system project a computer where the admins are complete fools, making the attackers feel a false sense of security.

5\. Send investigation information about the attacker to other servers running this software, ask other servers to "Help me find the bozo using this spoofed IP address". If you see someone transmitting on this IP, help me find its true origin.

The software could recursively trace right back to the ISP that is hosting the computer of the attacker. Don't have it launch a counter attack, the goal here is not to send the attacker to goatse (he probably enjoys it). The counterattack should be in the form of a policeman tapping the attacker on the shoulder and saying: "you have the right to remain silent".

The answer is not fighting back immediately, it's sun tzu's legendary advice, let the enemy think they have gamed your box, so they launch a bolder move, then you catch them with their hand in the cookie jar.

<comment><USER15> How exactly is this "recursive trace" going to work? As soon as you get to a computer the attacker controls he can subvert whatever mechanism you're thinking of.

<comment><USER16> If you were clever with virtualization software, you could let the VM guest get taken over, and use heuristics on the host to detect where they were coming from.</comment></comment></comment>


How Hackathons Work - <AUTHOR> http://blog.mhacks.org/post/41200252073/how-hackathons-work

<comment><USER2> They forgot the part about how hackathons are a weekend of stress, fatigue, and an overall deterioration of the body.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hackathons are a lot like gyms. As much as it breaks down your body, you grow stronger because of it!

<comment><USER3> As long as you eat healthy and don't sit the whole time.

<comment><USER4> Neither of which ever happen during hackathons.

<comment><AUTHOR> truth haha

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> it'd be cool to see what happens inside producing a hackathon

<comment><AUTHOR> CRAZINESS</comment></comment>


State of Linux Usability 2020 - <AUTHOR> https://dev.to/lawzava/state-of-linux-usability-2020-1654 <comment><USER2> I wasted a lot of my time evangelising Linux for many years.

The equivalent in the motor world is to try to get everybody to drive Mazdas because 'They're Better!'.

I happily drive my Mercedes and I happily use Linux Mint on my Desktop. But if Joe next door wants to use Windows and drive his Ford, who am I to make him think otherwise?

I'm probably an outlier, but I've never used Windows as my everyday desktop OS. I moved from MSDOS to UNIX around 1991 and then from UNIX to Linux in 2001. Everything I want to do on my computer is done with Linux and without Windows.</comment>


MoviePass Sues Subscription Rival Sinemia for Patent Infringement - <AUTHOR> http://variety.com/2018/film/news/moviepass-sues-sinemia-1202709289/ <comment><AUTHOR> From [https://www.scribd.com/document/372247208/Patent-1-Infringem...](https://www.scribd.com/document/372247208/Patent-1-Infringement):

[https://imgur.com/a/EQcKZ](https://imgur.com/a/EQcKZ) I am not a lawyer, but I am shocked, I think, at Movie pass trying to sue and including these of part of their claim.</comment>


Ask HN: What Non-Tech Product or Service Do You Want? - <AUTHOR>

I don't have the skills or desire to develop a tech product or service. But I would like to make something -- be an entrepreneur.
The HN community is a unique one. I've been a reader for awhile now, and would be grateful if you shared your thoughts.
So, what do you want?
*I respect what goes on at HN and apologize if this does not meet HN submission guidelines. <comment><USER2> I want premade food delivered to my house every day. I want it to cost around $7/meal. I want it to taste better than cardboard. Perhaps, I'm asking for too much and perhaps my price range is too low.

I found MagicKitchen.com but they have bad reviews.

Grocery shopping, cooking or even picking up food from a restaurant is a huge time sink. I would gladly commit to a recurring monthly charge from a service like this.

Here's the "tech" part, to make this HN friendly: I want to be able to pause delivery online, shuffle my menu around and maybe even change the delivery address for a day or two.

</comment><comment><USER3> Self cleaning bathrooms. A whole premade bathroom made out of 1 gaint piece of plastic or fiberglass so no crevices. It is sort of designed like the inside of a dishwasher with a drain,etc to clean it. (I hope you don't mind I'm posting a couple different ideas.)

</comment><comment><USER3> All restaurant menus should have pictures of each dish. I notice I always end up ordering something on the menu that there happens to be a picture of, so why not show every item so I can compare and actually see what I'm getting.

</comment><comment><USER4> Ice cream in a can, just like Reddiwip.

</comment><comment><USER5> A quiet home environment. A quiet work environment. I'm not anti-social; I just want to be able to escape others' noise and distraction when I am trying to concentrate or to rest.</comment>


You'll Accomplish More Without a To-Do List - <AUTHOR> https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/331552 <comment><USER2> Perhaps, but a simple to-do list still serves as a very reliable method for getting something done.</comment>


Red Programming Language 0.6.4 - <AUTHOR> https://www.red-lang.org/2018/12/064-simple-gc-and-pure-red-gui-console.html <comment><USER2> Red is a breath of fresh air for me. It is very pleasant to use and I can see myself using it more and more, specially to build personal tools. I invite everyone to check it out.</comment>


Creative Destruction and Inequality - <AUTHOR> http://www.digitopoly.org/2016/01/04/creative-destruction-and-inequality/ <comment><AUTHOR> This is interesting:

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

In yesterday's post, I reacted to Paul Graham's much talked about essay on inequality by suggesting that the premise — entrepreneurship causes inequality — is far from obvious. Indeed, I conjectured that if things were working as they should, entrepreneurship would tend to decrease inequality. My argument was based on where the entrepreneur started in the income distribution, where they ended, what their innovation did to the incomes of others and what they ended up doing with the wealth they accrued. Suffice it to say, that's alot of moving parts and I will admit that it was hard to see how it fit together.</comment>


Play with iOS 7 stop watch, and learn how fast is your fingers & phone touch - <AUTHOR>

Open clock start stop watch now start pressing lap button as fast as you can and see how short lap times you can achieve, my maximum is 8 milli seconds ;)<p>(Thought to share this fun as saw a post regarding the iOS touch is 2.5 faster than android) <comment><USER2> 1\. How do you get 8ms? The stopwatch only shows centiseconds.

2\. You probably mean _minimum_ , rather than maximum.

3\. I got that down to 0.05 s (50 milliseconds) by using two fingers on an iPad. That took about 30 seconds, and I also got a .06 in that time, so it probably can be improved upon.

<comment><AUTHOR> yeah you are right its centiseconds and minimum.</comment></comment>


It's Time to Ditch the ICBM, America's Thermonuclear Dinosaur - <AUTHOR> https://warisboring.com/op-ed-its-time-to-ditch-the-icbm-america-s-thermonuclear-dinosaur-b2ca199a5574#.lltqfgnv4 <comment><USER2> The book _Command and Control_ by Eric Schlossler does paint a pretty grim picture of the ICBM situation. It's probably a miracle none of these have detonated by accident or by deliberate sabotage at this point.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_Control_(book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_Control_\(book\))</comment>


DNC just open-sourced their voter registration platform - <AUTHOR> http://democrats.github.com/voter-registration/ <comment><USER2> This application is very, very simple; it's a practically the starting skeleton of a modern Rails/Devise application.

One useful reason to bookmark it: it's a pretty good how-to for "any web application whose purpose is to spit out PDF files that need to follow a specific format". There are a LOT of business processes that work like that.

<comment><USER3> > One useful reason to bookmark it: it's a pretty good how-to for "any web > application whose purpose is to spit out PDF files that need to follow a > specific format".

As others have pointed out, the (not really open source) license doesn't allow any uses for other purposes.

<comment><USER2> It would be silly to copy an application this simple verbatim, but that same property makes it very easy to read.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> The first part of the software license looks to be BSD/MIT-like with the _to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,..._ sentence, but then there's this paragraph:

 _This permission does not include: (a) any use of the Software other than for its intended purpose; or (b) any use of the Software in any manner that violates applicable law. Any use of the Software other than as specifically authorized herein is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein._

<comment><USER5> In particular this means that this is anything but open source (at least if you go by the OSI definition, which I do).

<comment><USER6> It also precludes it from being free software, as defined by the FSF.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I like how the registration form shows the form validation errors inline: <http://i.imgur.com/U5QL1.png>

Looking at the source view([https://github.com/democrats/voter- registration/blob/master/...](https://github.com/democrats/voter- registration/blob/master/app/views/register/_form.html.erb)) it doesn't seems there is some extra markup, unless I am missing something.

So, How can I implement the same in my rails app?

<comment><USER8> That's simple_form at work. Great little gem.

<comment><USER7> Thanks for pointing that out :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Wouldn't a better strategy be a Twilio app that calls voters and informs them that they are registered to vote already?

<comment><USER10> The point of this software is to make it easier for people who have never registered before to register. The Democratic party probably spent their resources on this because they think that a large percentage of unregistered voters come from demographic groups that tend to vote for Democrats, such as recent college grads who were not yet old enough to vote in the 2008 election.

How would your strategy improve the expected outcome for the Democrats?

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I worked as a Rails dev at the DNC in 2010-2011. I pushed for open-sourcing our fully-featured voter reg. Rails app back then, but didn't find much support for the idea. The political world is pretty wary of "giving code away" because the opposition will use it, etc. So, progress?

We were allowed to open-source some infrastructure code back then: <https://github.com/dnclabs>

Hopefully they'll continue working on this tool and make it something worth using and contributing to. I've tried to convince several political orgs. I worked for in the past to do this, but so far none have bitten.

</comment><comment><USER12> Maybe it's just my screen, but I find that shade of grey to be incredibly difficult to read.

I do like the trend towards technological openness though, hopefully we'll be seeing more of this sort of thing.

</comment><comment><USER13> This will be helpful for the DNC to register the dead people and dogs needed to win elections this year with national unemployment at 8.3%.

<comment><USER14> Perfect handle.</comment></comment>


Fending off Zombieload attacks will crush your performance - <AUTHOR> https://www.zdnet.com/article/fending-off-zombieload-attacks-will-crush-your-performance/ <comment><USER2> but as yet we dont even know that there are attacks to fend off, its still only been done PoC</comment>


Watch Navy's New Laser Cannon, Mounted on a Ship, Kill a Drone - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/04/laser-warfare-system/ <comment><USER2> How does it do against maneuvering targets? The classic sci-fi defense would be to start turning. This wouldn't be so much to avoid the beam as it would be to distribute the energy of the beam across the hull. Also, the drone could produce an aerosolized "smokescreen" whose particles are sized to disperse most of the laser's energy. Such a system could adjust to many different frequencies, making the drone harder to kill. By attacking in a swarm and using such tactics, one could swamp the laser's ability to down the drones.

</comment><comment><USER3> That's a fake. Real laser weapons like seen in Star Wars and The Terminator can be seen coming out of the gun at very fast speeds of hundreds of miles an hour. Also, a blaster like Han Solo had would have blow up that drone as soon as the red laser blast hit it.</comment>


Principles of Recruiting from Keith Rabois - <AUTHOR> http://blog.entelo.com/8-principles-of-recruiting-from-keith-rabois

<comment><USER2> A lot of these sound like conventional wisdom (although "it should be reflected on your calendar" is smart), but the "Fifth Principle" \--- "To be extraordinary at recruiting, it is crucial to be extra-ordinary at assessing candidates" \--- is I think absolutely true, and not said often enough.

</comment><comment><USER3> Sorry for this buzzkill comment, but this is one reason hanging out with startup founders can be intolerable in some cases.

Now I don't think focusing on recruiting or only going to events in which you are actively recruiting people is wrong, it isn't. You are more than entitled to do everything in your power to help your company succeed, and recruiting is obviously a major part of that. However, go too crazy with it and you start to get into the realm of people who knock on random doors and proselytize their religion.

<comment><USER4> I was recently at a hostel on the other side of the world and received not one but two startup pitches from Bay-area "innovators". The exact type of behavior I had been trying to escape... absolutely ruined that evening in my mind.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I wish there was some lip-service to the actual interviewing process. The interviewing process seems to be the pain point in recruiting with the vast majority of startups I've been to.

Nothing telegraph's a company's poor management like a silly interview process. Make sure there's a purpose to each stage of your interview process, don't just throw your whole team, one by one, into a conference room with a candidate with no direction.

<comment><USER6> Interview process at startups, never had the pleasure, but keep in mind that they are new by definition. It's arguable that many large corporations don't have a good interview process. Imagine a limited funded startup. The amount of time to train a person to be a good interviewer, coming up with relavent questions, calibrating what a typical answer actually is vs. the answers you think you'll get.

If the company is rapidly growing then they may require employees who never been an interviewer to become interviewers (hopefully some shadowing and training is involved).

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Summary: Article about how everyone in a company should be recruiting.

Recruited/recruiting for some notable companies. Current managers are heavily engaged in recruiting and I'm quite lucky . Working with some other companies, managers were MIA(missing in action) for long periods of time. Example, present candidates, don't hear back from managers for over a month x_X.

For extremely large corporations the recruitment function is increasingly being outsourced, in fact a candidate might not even know they're talking to an outsourced company. Here's my post on this:

[http://withdavidli.blogspot.com/2014/05/what-is-rpo- recruitm...](http://withdavidli.blogspot.com/2014/05/what-is-rpo-recruitment- process.html)

Use of agencies, RPOs, and high amounts of contracted recruiters gives a company more flexibility with their budget, as headcounts can change dramatically in any given year.

</comment><comment><USER7> Maybe companies wouldn't have much trouble recruiting engineers if they tried to lure us with, _gasp_ , higher pay, and not just free drinks, video game nights, and vapid promises.

When companies stop treating devs as juveniles, or people who desire to work "on cool problems" without care for compensation (while those working in sales/business roles, and founders, sure care about making money), they'll have an easier time hiring.

<comment><USER8> _" When companies stop treating devs as juveniles"_

The problem, of course, is that most devs _are_ juveniles. At least in startupland.

<comment><USER9> I don't know about "most", but the _target_ of most startups is definitely on the lower end of the age spectrum. It's easier pay and treat them worse, because they don't know any better and generally haven't sufficient experience to recognize that "the next big thing" they're working on isn't.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Interviewing a candidate well is a separate skill set from knowing how to code well. Most companies who select the interviewers confuse the two types of skills.</comment>


Kindle Fire UX Decisions Lead To Free Downloads - <AUTHOR> http://gesturetheory.com/blog/2011/11/kindle-fire-how-to-download-any-book-for-free/ <comment><USER2> I noticed the same thing about the kindle not deleting books when I was using Kindle Library Lending. I had 30% of the book left, and my loan was up, but I never left the book. I could turn the kindle (e ink version) on/off just never went to the front page.

Finished book, went to front page and it was deleted. It's actually quite refreshing to see the choice being made on the side of the consumer for once.</comment>


ICANN and Verisign Announce Proposed Amendment to .COM Registry Agreement - <AUTHOR> https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2-2020-01-03-en <comment><USER2> Highlight:

 _Under the amended Cooperative Agreement, the Department of Commerce noted that the domain name marketplace had grown more dynamic and concluded that it was in the public interest that, among other things, Verisign and ICANN may agree to amend the .COM Registry Agreement to permit an increase to the price for .COM registry services, up to a maximum of 7 percent in each of the final four years of each six-year period (the first six-year period commenced on Oct. 26, 2018). The proposed agreement announced today updates the .COM RA to reflect those changes. ICANN is not a price regulator and defers to the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Justice for the regulation of pricing for .COM registry services._

This is one of the more interesting trends seemingly caused by the current administration (both of the departments listed have come under new, Republican ruling under the current administration).

Not the first time that Verisign has made some actions that were hostile to the common good while the Department of Commerce was controlled by Republicans, but the first time they've gotten this blatant about it (and, notably, that ICANN has cooperated):

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verisign#2003:_Site_Finder_leg...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verisign#2003:_Site_Finder_legal_case)

</comment><comment><USER3> Public comment opened January 3rd, and ends February 14th

[https://www.icann.org/public-comments/com- amendment-3-2020-0...](https://www.icann.org/public-comments/com- amendment-3-2020-01-03-en)

</comment><comment><USER4> The change is as follows:

>> Verisign and ICANN may agree to amend the .COM Registry Agreement to permit an increase to the price for .COM registry services, up to a maximum of 7 percent in each of the final four years of each six-year period (the first six-year period commenced on Oct. 26, 2018).

<comment><USER3> That's not the only change though, to be clear

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Wild idea: make verisign verify that all new .com registrations belong to a commercial business and issie a X509 cert. If they want to charge more, make them work more.

<comment><USER6> What about sole proprietors doing business?

<comment><USER5> Sure,so long as they are not engaging in commerce strictly as a consumer.</comment></comment></comment>


ThePirateBay now counting DOWN rather than up - <AUTHOR> http://www.thepiratebay.se/ <comment><USER2> Danger: Accidentally clicked on it. It spun my iPhone into a tight loop with a fake security dialog and a toll free number to call. I was unable to close the tab or get off the page fast enough to keep it from coming back. I finally had to get into settings and turn off javascript to regain use of my browser.

</comment><comment><USER3> Anyone have any idea what this means?

<comment><USER4> Looks like a count-down timer for New Year's day, and with the month counter gone awry because of the inverted logic of trying to count down to a day in the past.

<comment><USER5> Yup, this is pretty common mistake when people do these timers. Also note in the JS it set the date to `var date = new Date(2015, 01, 01);` i.e New Years Day. So it's not some message that it will be back up in 30 days or anything like that :(</comment></comment></comment>


VW inadvertently offers a peek at the interior of its ID.3 EV - <AUTHOR> https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/14/vw-id-3-interior-revealed-early/ <comment> King-Aaron I'm interested to see how these "touchscreens for everything" designs of interiors will fare after a decade (etc) in summer temperatures

<comment><AUTHOR> Probably pretty well if they're automotive grade screens built for those conditions. Not so well if they're industrial grade screens:

[https://www.thedrive.com/tech/27989/teslas-screen-saga- shows...](https://www.thedrive.com/tech/27989/teslas-screen-saga-shows-why- automotive-grade-matters)

</comment></comment><comment><USER2> Will it support Apple CarPlay?

<comment><AUTHOR> The VW Golf and e-Golf do, so maybe the ID.3 will as well:

[https://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/available- models/](https://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/available-models/)</comment></comment>


Buyback Bitcoin After Checkout - <AUTHOR> http://blog.coinbase.com/post/89402160917/buyback-bitcoin-after-checkout <comment><USER2> Makes it just as easy as paying in local currency!

At this point I don't understand the need for bitcoin. The buyer is effectively paying in local currency by buying back, the vendor is effectively receiving local currency by having it convert on purchase.

Why include coinbase in that transaction? Where is the need for bitcoin to be involved at all?

<comment><USER3> First, because both of those steps are optional: the seller can choose whether to keep bitcoin or local currency, and the buyer can choose whether to keep bitcoin in stock or buy it as needed.

Second, because convert-transmit-unconvert still bypasses many of the painful aspects of other money transfer mechanisms. Both buyer and seller only interact with entities they trust (coinbase and their bank), no credit cards (and associated fees, chargebacks, and headaches) get involved, and the transmission process in the middle uses bitcoin in lieu of ACH or similar (avoiding many potential risks, reversals, and the various Bad Things that can usually happen if you pay directly from a bank account).

<comment><USER4> "Second, because convert-transmit-unconvert still bypasses many of the painful aspects of other money transfer mechanisms."

Using a credit card online or 1-click checkout isn't painful.

"Both buyer and seller only interact with entities they trust (coinbase and their bank)"

Pretty sure most people trust the bank that issued their credit card.

"no credit cards (and associated fees, chargebacks, and headaches)"

No chargebacks may be good for merchants, but not for consumers (no protection). Most of the CC fees are reimbursed to the customer in the form of rewards. In France for example, usual debit card fees are 0.5%, and credit cards with rewards are 2%-4%. In Australia, the government intervened and all card fees are < 0.5%. This was good for merchants but customers now don't get rewards/cashback/points on their card.

"the transmission process in the middle uses bitcoin in lieu of ACH or similar (avoiding many potential risks, reversals, and the various Bad Things that can usually happen if you pay directly from a bank account)"

Not sure what those "many bad things" are. I recently received subpar merchandise from a merchant; called my bank that morning, the transaction was reversed, almost no questions asked. There was a follow-up "investigation" that was in my favor. The fact that I can reverse transactions gives me peace of mind, otherwise known as consumer protection.

It's just seeming more and more to me that companies in the bitcoin merchant space are trying to find infinitesimally small optimizations they want to address in the current credit card system using bitcoin. It seems that they're trying to find (or sometimes create) a problem to fit bitcoin, instead of using bitcoin to solve an already existing problem.

I think they'll slowly find out, as Coinbase may be with this new feature, that bitcoin is actually not a good currency to be used directly, but rather as an efficient value transfer mechanism, under the hood. In other words, that the real value is in the blockchain, not in bitcoin itself. But I may be wrong.

In any case, I'm sticking to my credit card (and soon, tap-tap mobile wallet). Bitcoin doesn't really solve a problem for consumers in consumer-to-merchant transactions; mainly because, well, there really isn't a problem to solve to begin with.

<comment><USER5> "Using a credit card online or 1-click checkout isn't painful."

I've heard this from a number of people as an argument for why Bitcoin isn't needed. It only holds true for a very limited world view though. That being people who are well off and have a credit card.

Consider that something like 30% of _Americans_ don't have a credit card. How do you suppose they buy things on Amazon in 1-click? What happens if you live in a area known for high rates of credit card fraud so merchant's refuse to send credit card orders to your address? There are an infinite number of scenarios where credit cards don't work for people Bitcoin solves a lot of them. Bitcoin is like the long tail of financial products.

<comment><USER6> How do you suppose they are buying Bitcoin? I expect the ones doing transactions with Amazon are mostly using debit cards or buying prepaid cards somewhere.

It's a nice hypothetical use of a distributed transaction system, but it's not how the people you are talking about are accessing the financial system, they are much more likely to either not buy things from Amazon or to get a prepaid card at Walmart.

<comment><USER5> That's the point. Accepting bitcoin opens up new markets an online business that weren't accessible before because of deficiencies in the available payment systems. If you have a history of financial difficulty then you probably can't get a credit card or debit card let alone a bank account. Have you ever looked at the fees on a pre-paid card? Many if not most are highly exploitative.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Right now you only have the choice of a transaction with chargeback guarentees and other credit card niceities.

With something like bitcoin as an option, you have the option to drop that fraud overage charge, when you aren't worried about the other party (like in a repeated business scenario, such as amazon, or for a tiny purchase, or other things of that nature).

</comment><comment><USER8> So... basically it lets you pay in dollars?

<comment><USER9> ... using a third party.

Paypal refuse multiple type of transaction, it's why so much Indiegogo campaign had their funds frozen at the beginning. If we can't trust Paypal to keep our funds, who can we trust? No one it seems...

Bitcoin is an alternative, you don't have to stick with Paypal, you have alternatives, you can go with Coinbase, Btc-e, Bitstamp, Bitpay or even on of your local Bitcoin reseller in the street.

It's basically saying Paypal is bad because you pay in dollars...

For me Bitcoin was never a full currency, it's more like an independent intermediate currency. Dollars > Bitcoin > Dollars (or Euro, Yens, Pounds, etc...).

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Yes, because it's not about spending bitcoin, it's about compelling merchants to adopt it, thus inflating the bubble, thus giving one the benefits of hoarding a deflationary currency.

<comment><USER11> yup, and if you're not involved, you're losing out, because a lot of people are making MILLIONS</comment></comment>


3D Printed Bikini - <AUTHOR> http://www.continuuminum.com/post/6258925957/introducing-n12-our-3d-printed-bikini

<comment><USER3> There is something disturbingly wrong with how that font is rendering in Firefox 4. Completely unreadable.

<comment><USER4> Preferences → Content → Fonts & Colors → Advanced → Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above

Untick that box, set the Firefox defaults to something attractive like Droid Sans, and rejoice at how readable the Web becomes.

<comment><USER5> Turn off the stylesheet and it's readable again, and you don't have to change any persistent settings.

View → Page Style → No Style

<comment><USER4> Turning off the stylesheet on every page as I browse the web would be a hassle; much better to change a setting once and never have to worry about it again. About the only pages I've found that aren't improved by enforcing a sensible font-choice are pages designed to showcase CSS3 font embedding - <USER2> those are pretty rare.

I do wish browsers would have a per-host "allow custom fonts" setting, alongside the tradition per-host "allow images" and "allow cookies" settings. With the potential security implications of downloadable fonts, it seems only sensible - but nobody seems interested in implementing such a thing. :(

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> _Please_ get rid of that Railway font. Its awful and impossible to read.

<comment><USER7> I cannot imagine the Internet without Readable ( <http://readable.tastefulwords.com/> ). It's like Readability but not slow. Oh, and customizable!

<comment><USER8> Thank you! I've been looking for something else ever since Readbility switched to their newer, heavier, slower version.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I wish they had more closeups of the material. How does it fit together? Is it like chain mail, but made from plastic?

<comment><USER10> They have a very good description at: [http://www.continuuminum.com/post/6255702581/n12-technical-d...](http://www.continuuminum.com/post/6255702581/n12-technical- description)

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I was going to order one to give away just to see what it looks like, but damn, 250$ %( Is that all markup or is it really just that expensive to print these things?

<comment><USER12> It's just expensive... We wish it were cheaper, by this is about as cheap as 3D printing gets.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Love it. Anyone know how the material responds to sustained heat? I'm thinking 4 - 5 hours in 80 - 95 degree weather. Pretty standard in places like Miami, FL, Puerto Rico, etc..

</comment><comment><USER14> Is it just me, or does the bikini seem to fit the model rather poorly?

<comment><USER15> How difficult would it be to adjust the model from a 3D scan of the person and therefore always have a perfect fit? For instance, using this kind of techno : <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rhXC3TWZwg> (disclaimer - I'm a cofounder of VLAM)

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> What a horrible photo. He's about 2 stops too hot.

<comment><USER16> I guess people like not being able to make anything out because the picture is overexposed?

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> I occasionally get to work with Natalia Allen of Design Futurist, and I know she's currently working on something similar to this in it's early stages.

</comment><comment><USER18> Sammich not included [/fark] ...</comment>