Ask HN: What is your Home Page in your browser? - <AUTHOR> Just curious to know if it is not private <comment><USER2> I use Google now, but I used to use a custom-made start page. It had:

      * an auto-focus search bar linked to Google
      * a bunch of links to my most-visited sites
      * the current snapshot from one of my university's webcams
        (which will auto-refresh if you hovered your mouse on it)
      * a little area for a note to myself that I could edit with a password

You can see the page at <http://mrzwolinski.com/start/> if you're curious.

</comment><comment><USER3> "Reopen last session".

I used to have firefox open with tens of tabs, now I make it a point to keep it at 6. If I open anything I make sure to read it right then and there, or make a judgment call to pass; if it's something I will need later I look at the title and abstract out some googleable keywords. Lately, Searchyc has replaced google for me for research!

I also try to keep active work and research on two separate browsers. I have an instance of Opera open to API documentation and stuff I need to get work done. Firefox is for business and keeping a look on industry.

I use Sage, the FF feed-reader plugin and I monitor _business_ news; no tech, no programming, no blogs, just business announcements, mergers and acquisitions and stuff related to my work. Whenever I start to lose focus, I take a few hours off to read that and I am inspired immediately. I am in advertising, focused on a specific geographic region, so any business initiative there, new project or whatever is just perfect news :-)

<comment><USER4> This.

I use Chrome and Firefox. I keep work related sites in Firefox, and personal sites in Chrome.

I'll often open tabs of interesting things in Chrome to read when I lose focus at work, or need a break. Sometimes I can have up to 30 tabs of crap, at which point I need to decide which ones I'll actually read, and which one's I think I'll read, then close all but the ones I know I'll actually read.

If I have to read a lot of interrelated articles or am doing personal research, I'll pull a Chrome tab out and keep it as a separate window.

The thing I love about Chrome is that with the "restore pages that were last open" option is that it opens all tabs in all windows, not just the main window, and if for some reason it doesn't reopen all the tabs, it has a list of recently closed tab groups you can open with a single click.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random>

When I have time and it's not a stub, or if I just want something to do, I read some of the article. A few times it's been interesting.

</comment><comment><USER6> Hacker News.

Why delay the inevitable?

</comment><comment><USER7> Google Chrome's start page. (my top 8 visited websites)

<comment><USER8> Seconded. In all likelihood, when I'm open my browser I'm going to one of these 8 so this just makes sense for me.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> about:blank

<comment><USER10> about:blank

firefox with tabkit and when I open a new window it is likely I am starting a new thread of thought

^n new window with focus in url bar no time for loading or change of focus I want to get started

readline style emacs bindings for editing in the url is a must for me

a good set of quick searches helps

      - g http://google.com/search?q=%s
      - gau http://google.com.au/search?hl=en&meta=cr%3DcountryAU&q=%s
      - wp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%s
      - shn http://searchyc.com/%s
      - etc ...

Using the keyword/quick search feature I find the url bar becomes a kind of command line interface to the internet with a series of 1-3 char commands that can get me where I need to go.

<comment><USER11> I use a search engine home page for the same reason. Used to be google, now it's bing because I like seeing the picture of the day.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> <http://start.io>

Totally customisable, good-looking start pages based on a really well-designed CMS. You can make some of your links private and some public.

I didn't make it, I just really like it. One of the guys that _did_ make it works at Tumblr.

</comment><comment><USER13> <http://watrcoolr.us/> \-- one of epi0Bauqu's projects. I think the UI is very appealing to those of us who prefer to focus on exactly one thing at a time. And hate clutter. And like to use the keyboard.

</comment><comment><USER14> Just google.com, plan and simple.

</comment><comment><USER15>
       javascript:(function(){readStyle='style-ebook';readSize='size-medium';readMargin='margin-wide';_readability_script=document.createElement('SCRIPT');_readability_script.type='text/javascript';_readability_script.src='http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/js/readability.js?x='+(Math.random());document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(_readability_script);_readability_css=document.createElement('LINK');_readability_css.rel='stylesheet';_readability_css.href='http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/css/readability.css';_readability_css.type='text/css';_readability_css.media='screen';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(_readability_css);_readability_print_css=document.createElement('LINK');_readability_print_css.rel='stylesheet';_readability_print_css.href='http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/css/readability-print.css';_readability_print_css.media='print';_readability_print_css.type='text/css';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(_readability_print_css);})();

That is the readability bookmarklet. It's not helpful for the homepage itself but it gives that "Home"-Button a purpose. This is my workaround because Firefox doesn't support Bookmark-Buttons on the button bar. I can now just hit the "Home" Button on any page and readability will work its magic.

</comment><comment><USER16> Homepage???? Wait people shut down their browsers? like, ever?

I haven't seen the homepage in months, I think it's still that default "welcome to Ubuntu" page but I really have no clue.

<comment><USER17> I recommend FF 2.x. You'll be restarting it at a vigorous pace then. But at least the address bar and tabs aren't completely ruined.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random>

</comment><comment><USER19> localhost + a HEADER.HTML that reads '
Do work!
'

</comment><comment><USER20> <http://www.google.com/ig>

I did the random wikipedia link once and ended up getting Ginger Lynn...Not good when at work.

</comment><comment><USER21> The Firefox "Speed Dial" add-on.

<https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4810>

<comment><USER22> Opera Speed Dial in my case, with links to HN, Google Reader, local traffic information, online banking and some others I rarely use.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> [http://icewm.sourcearchive.com/documentation/1.2.30/bindkey_...](http://icewm.sourcearchive.com/documentation/1.2.30/bindkey_8h-source.html)

It's the only accurate documentation I could find of the hotkeys for the ice window manager. I was studying it for a while, getting cool at magically rearranging windows at my whim.

</comment><comment><USER24> The results page of <http://www.whatpeoplearesayingaboutus.com>

It's just a bunch of frames in tabs that allow me to see any new references to products/projects I'm involved with. I find it helpful to have product comments in my face every time I start my browser.

</comment><comment><USER25> The Speed dial page on Opera browser. It has Google reader, Gmail, Facebook and Twitter on it.

</comment><comment><USER26> A personalized Google home page on my main browser.

On other browsers I use, it is some page I frequently visit in that browser (often because of website-browser compatibility issues, or to experiment with the look of certain pages in different browsers).

</comment><comment><USER27> A bookmarks page I made at <http://toxicpixel.org/pod/jma> ... years ago was just a flat html file, now is a rails project I infrequently attempt to update in various ways.

</comment><comment><USER28> I rarely do a fresh start of firefox, so its immaterial to me what my homepage is.

</comment><comment><USER29> Google Apps Gmail, Google Apps Calendar, Google Reader, Google Voice, Facebook I _rarely_ click the "home" button but I like having these three up when i start a new browser session.

</comment><comment><USER30> New windows go to Safari's Top Sites. New tabs go to about:blank.

<comment><USER31> Wow, thank you so much for that comment. I've been so annoyed with how long it was taking to open a new tab in Safari because of the 3D eye candy top sites thing, but changing it to a blank page has made it infinitely faster.

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> [http://www.google.com/firefox?client=firefox-a&rls=org.m...](http://www.google.com/firefox?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en- US:official)

</comment><comment><USER33> My Backpackit.com Inbox. I've been implementing a bit of GTD task management in my life and having this page pop-up first thing (and stay up all day) has been very helpful.

</comment><comment><USER34> <http://runwayapp.com>

I find it's quite helpful to have my to-do list be the first thing that pops up at me when I launch a browser.

<comment><USER35> thanks, this is brilliant, gonna try it and see if it has an effect. (for me it would be google tasks)

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> <http://en.wikipedia.org>

Has "Featured article", "In the news", "Did you know...", and "On this day...". It's very awesome.

</comment><comment><USER37> The most recent page(s) that I visited. I almost never shut down the browser, so it usually has a half dozen tabs with my commonly-visited sites already up.

</comment><comment><USER38> On Safari, it's TopSites. On Firefox, it's HN (used to be Digg). The only time I ever really hit the home page is when I reboot, which isn't all that often.

</comment><comment><USER39> I use opera and it has a quick dial with currently 16 sites, including hacker news and several projects I'm working on and forums I'm involved in.

</comment><comment><USER40> file:///c:/my/scripts/home.htm

c:\my is under Subversion control, allowing me to sync and propagate changes made on any home or work PC which has my setup to all the others (next time I use them). Created this setup (first using CVS) about 10 years ago...

I also have easily accessible Google/Wikipedia/Craigslist/MSDN searches setup in my text editor, which these days get used more than the search-forms in my home page.

</comment><comment><USER41> It used to be google.com, no login. Now, it's Ubuntu's Google, start.ubuntu.com/version. I've been too busy to change it.

</comment><comment><USER42> about:mozilla on Firefox, because it makes me laugh. With every new release of Firefox, I enjoy hoping it has changed.

</comment><comment><USER43> I have been using BackpackIt to set up a PMarca style productivity page with to do lists.

So far it has been pretty successful.

</comment><comment><USER44> A webpage that tells me the ip address of my router at home. Useful for when I'm out of the country.

</comment><comment><USER45> blank - clean screen, clean mind :-)

</comment><comment><USER46> About half a dozen tabs. Google Reader, google.com and a few community sites I frequent.

</comment><comment><USER47> <http://www.quakelive.com>

</comment><comment><USER48> <https://mail.google.com>

</comment><comment><USER49> <http://www.google.ca/ig>

</comment><comment><USER50> I didn't even know! I had to check. On Chrome, it's google.com.

</comment><comment><USER51> A blank page.

<comment><USER49> genius, that's a great idea

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> A matrix of 12 most visited sites.

</comment><comment><USER53> get the speedial plugin for firefox. Without hyperbole it will change your life.

</comment><comment><USER54> Safari: NYT Firefox: Techmeme

</comment><comment><USER55> Wolframalpha

</comment><comment><USER56> My Yahoo!

<comment><USER57> Me too. Been that way for years.

Actually what I typically do when I open Firefox is open a folder called "Morning" and at the bottom select "Open All in Tabs". That way I see everything I care about (HN included).

</comment></comment><comment><USER58> iGoogle

</comment><comment><USER59> cnn.com</comment>


Learn Kubernetes the Hard Way the Cheap and Easy Way - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@zwischenzugs/learn-kubernetes-the-hard-way-the-easy-and-cheap-way-6f82b665ccd9#.krj5be2yi <comment><AUTHOR> Original git repo that this implements locally:

[https://github.com/kelseyhightower/kubernetes-the-hard- way](https://github.com/kelseyhightower/kubernetes-the-hard-way)

Original HN discussion

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12323187](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12323187)</comment>


Fluid Paint - <AUTHOR> http://david.li/paint/ <comment><USER2> At first I was "meh", then I saw the texture and was "wow" \- amazing stuff</comment>


Free 18GB Dropbox account now possible through referrals - <AUTHOR> http://www.geek.com/articles/news/free-18gb-dropbox-account-now-possible-through-referrals-2012044/ <comment><USER2> I have 24GB of free Dropbox space:

<https://www.dropbox.com/gs> <https://www.dropbox.com/free> <https://www.dropbox.com/edu> <https://www.dropbox.com/referrals>

I also have the newest version where they implemented the camera import feature which gave you extra space.

</comment><comment><USER3> One thing I'm a bit uncomfortable with on the Dropbox referal system is that once you refer someone you get their email address (<https://www.dropbox.com/account/referrals>). I'm not sure if that's really right as all our referrals come from clicks on a link on one of our tutorials and they will not be aware I now have their email address. It's a pretty good phishing opportunity (eg, thanks for installing DropBox yesterday at 1.30pm, please login here for extra free space!).

I emailed DropBox about this a month or so ago but didn't get a reply.

DropBox should be especially sensitive to opportunities for phishers in my opinion!

<comment> mike-cardwell I found that very weird too. I've used Dropbox referral links a couple of times in blog posts. When somebody clicks them and proceeds to sign up, Dropbox tells me their email address.

That's _clearly_ not ok. They shouldn't need to be told this. It should be obvious.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Even better, it looks like it was retroactive (I just got a notice the my free space has increased)

</comment><comment><USER5> Or just create set up some Google Ads to do the hard-work for you, for a couple bucks (or free if you can get some AdWord vouchers): [http://lifehacker.com/5854955/how-to-max-out-your-dropbox- re...](http://lifehacker.com/5854955/how-to-max-out-your-dropbox-referrals- with-google-adwords-for-free)

If I were DropBox, I wouldn't mind this one bit, they're basically getting the public to pay for their ads. Genius on both fronts :)

<comment><USER6> Mechanical Turk works just fine for this with no risk of bans. Maxed out my referrals in a day for about $10, and I was probably too generous.

<comment><USER7> Unfortunately, this only works for people with a US address.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Wonder if the plan to also double the space you get on <https://www.dropbox.com/edu>

<comment><USER9> I was also wondering that... it'd be nice if they did, and made it retroactive. I didn't know about the Google Ads link that JonoW posted, I'll have to look into that!

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> This is right before Google releases the Google Drive and there'll be a mass exodus to Google Drive.. Coincidence? I think not.

<comment><USER11> The simple reason I love Dropbox has less to do with space, but ease of use on ALL my devices. Currently syncs my files on my Ipod touch,Nexus S,Linux boxes, and Android transformer prime tablet. I even use it as a trigger to kick off a reverse ssh tunnel from my VPS nodes, (since I allow Openssh to only listen on localhost). The way it seamlessly co-exists with my exiting setup and not get in the way is grand.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Or you could get a real job and earn some money, so that you could just pay for storage with money rather than with tedious recommendation work.

<comment><USER13> Exactly.

How much of your time is $10 worth? You can get 50gb a month for that.

<comment><USER14> If I spend half an hour maxing my free space and use Dropbox for a year that's $120 I didn't spend, which values my time at $240/hr.

It's all relative.</comment></comment></comment>


U.S. federal individual income tax rates history, 1913-2011 - <AUTHOR> http://qntm.org/tax <comment><USER2> Are these figures inflation adjusted?

Tax bracket creep is a big effect that can't be ignored.

</comment><comment><USER3> Informative as they are, the graphs don't show the complete information. For example, they don't show the effects of various deductions and other ways the actual tax for individuals can be reduced, and they don't show the treatment of capital gain, so for example, you can't draw a conclusion about any period of time being more tax-heavy than another.

<comment><USER4> I don't know, to me it looked like taxes were higher during war years. The graph shows taxes dropping between WW1 and WW2, remaining elevated throughout the Cold War and increasing when the US participated in armed conflict, and then going down the last two decades. At least that's the general trend I saw in the graph.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm surprised that the "progressiveness" is so slight. Not much knee to the curve for low-income folks.

<comment><USER6> The baseline is taxable income, which is calculated after exemptions and deductions. Those exemptions and deductions make a much larger difference at the low end than the tax rate. We really aren't seeing what's happening at the low end in this graphic.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Yes, the largest problem with the graphs is that so much work is being done by the phrase "taxable income".

Imagine Joe Example makes $500,000 per year, and faces an average tax rate of 80%, but through various quirks of the tax code he can deduct $400,000. He pays $20,000 in taxes on his $100,000 in "taxable income". Next year a tax reform bill is passed; his tax rate drops to 40%, but deductions are completely removed. He now pays $200,000 in taxes. In other words, his tax rate halves, but the tax he pays increases by 1000%.

Deductions matter! The headline rate is, frankly, one of the less important variables in how a tax system works.

(A smaller problem with these graphs is that it only shows income tax. That's only one of many taxes, and for the rich and poor, it's often not the most important one. Payroll, capital gains, and dividends matter too! As do sales taxes, property taxes, and even corporate taxes...)</comment>


How the Nike Vaporfly War Was Lost - <AUTHOR> https://www.outsideonline.com/2408971/nike-vaporfly-controversy <comment><USER2> A lot of people with tech backgrounds seem pretty pro-Vaporfly. As a (former?) competitive runner you might find my anti-Vaporfly perspective interesting.

To me, running is a non-mechanically-aided sport. The moment a shoe attempts to store and return mechanical energy in the stride, to me, that's a different sport.

We already know that people can go faster and farther with mechanical aid, if you use big enough springs on your feet. Look at the discussion around Pistorius' blades. Let alone something like putting wheels on your shoes.

So we know from first principles that there's going to be some limit to the mechanical advantage that footwear is allowed to provide. The only question is where to draw the line.

Now you could draw the line at providing any mechanical advantage at all, and keep the sport the same as it's been since the dawn of time. Or you could draw the line a little bit farther along, making the sport partially about the runner and partially about the technology. I see no coherent reason to do the latter, except for shoe companies' profits. It hurts the fairness of the sport, it takes a bunch of fun out of it, it transfers a whole bunch of money from a previously-dirt-cheap sport to the shoe companies, etc.

<comment><USER3> So, you must be suggesting that all runners wear the same shoes or run barefoot? Because naturally, every different model of shoe will have slight variance in running performance -- even those shoes within the "legal" band.

If we treat running more like Formula 1 racing, for instance, the sport is elevated beyond just that of runner vs. runner (or in F1, racer vs. racer). Technology improvements the the highest level allow for technology improvements for the rest of world, beyond the sport. This is one of my favorite aspects of F1 racing... the constant innovation that happens in these vehicles, and how that innovation reverberates through the auto industry in the form of aerodynamics, fuel efficiency, weight:stability improvements, and so on.

I hear where you are coming from, but isn't the existence of the Vaporfly essential to push all footwear technology forward?

<comment><USER4> > _treat running more like Formula 1 racing_

There's the issue though isn't it?

There's no F1 at the Olympics.

So running can be changed to be all about tech, but then the Olympic Committee is gonna have a bit to say about things. They have to treat all sports fairly after all. Add to that the fact that they've already proved that nothing is sacred when they dumped wrestling. (Wrestling was, at least to my mind, one of the original sports even in antiquity. They had no problem at all jettisoning it.) And you end up in an environment where Track and Field has to be a bit careful about where we step. We already have, let's say, not the best reputation because of doping. We really didn't need any new headaches. (In all honesty though, I think the wrestling thing woke a lot of sports federations up. A lot of sports are being a bit more careful about things these days. So trying to avoid the attention of the Olympic Committee is definitely not just Track and Field.)

<comment><USER3> > There's no F1 at the Olympics.

Well sure. But there IS skiing in the Olympics, and that is a sport that is defined by (pun) cutting-edge technology. The constant jockeying for slight improvements makes all skis that much better. Of course, we remember the "cheat suits" worn by some lugers a Winter Olympics' ago, which was a pretty controversial thing but all considered I was on the side of "well, they just showed up better equipped..."

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> My problem with the complains of the Vaporfly is that we're not talking a few extra million F1 dollars just to stay competitive, or a $10K bicycle, or even a $500 tennis racket. Vaporflys are $250. In the world of competitive anything, that's _cheap_ , and only about twice the price of regular racing flats. Add a $50 pair of shorts and a shirt, hey, the only reason you're not setting world records is because you suck, not because of your equipment.

So if the shoes make a difference, tear up that Adidas contract and go run for Nike. Or go tell your current shoe sponsor to get off their arse and make a competitive shoe.

<comment> compiler-guy Vaporflys are only good for 2-3 races, so if you run competitively, you are looking at six pairs a year or so. Which is quite a bit more than $250.

<comment><USER6> Still a far-cry even from a proper competition bicycle.

<comment><USER7> I used to be an amateur road racing cyclist (no sponsorship or anything). The out of pocket expenses are not trivial. For a decent bike, looking around $5k and it won't even come with pedals. Pedals will set you back a moth $200-300. Shoes are around the same price. Mind you, this a little over entry level (you could probably get a bike in $2k range if you're talented enough).

For serious professional racing, the costs can be quite a bit higher. High end bikes, especially time trial, can easily be $20k.

Those are up front costs. Some of which are semi reoccurring. You put in enough miles, there are going to be accidents, you're going to go through tires and brakes. I dont recall what brake pads cost, but I think they were relatively cheap, like $15 per set. Racing tires were more expensive at $45 a piece. I used to go through at least 2 sets of tires per year, assuming no punctures.

I'm also on my second road bike, after having been hit by a car on a training ride (car ran a stop sign and T-boned me). Thing about carbon fiber: you really cant repair it. You have to replace it. When I got hit by the car, it cracked the frame, bent both wheels, ruined the pedals, fucked up the shifters and handlebar; basically totalled the bike. Also, screwed up my +$200 shoes.

So yeah, cycling is definitely more equipment intensive than even $300 running shoes.

I also used to be a distance runner in high school, and replaced my shoes far too infrequently (basically only when my feet grew).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> It sounds like the correct approach was eventually selected - set boundaries for what a shoe "is" \- sole thickness, etc - and ban prototypes from competition. The first limits tech progress somewhat, but also ensures all sponsoring companies have a fair shot. The second ensures that less affluent nations and non-contracted athletes have a fair shot.

Cycling has similar rules - World Tour riders must ride bikes that meet a laundry list of criteria (double-triangle frame, saddle placement in relation to pedals to limit aero, etc) and all equipment must be available retail. Within those boundaries, innovation still occurs - material tech, aero testing, etc all happen, just within a smaller defined set of rules.

</comment><comment><USER9> Seems like running shoe Luddism to me. I've been using Brooks PureFlow shoes for years. They just happen to be at the slowest running shoe ever created. I'm looking forward to what happens to my running times in Nike vapor fly shoes if only because I love technology. Good thing I never want to compete and I'm also oldAF.

<comment><USER10> How often do you purchase new running shoes, and retire the old ones?

<comment><USER11> Strava tells me "experts recommend" replacing shoes at 300-500 miles. I've got about 6 pair of the same running shoes that I rotate through. I can definitely say the cushioning wears down at some point, but haven't retired enough shoes to say for sure when. Over 500 miles for me, typically, though sometimes I notice a pair I haven't worn in awhile bugs me, then forget about it. Then they turn into gym shoes, or carwash shoes, or...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> This reminds me of a great passage in Ray Bradbury's _Dandelion Wine_ ; I remember reading it 50 years ago! It captured the feelings I had about getting a new pair of shoes, the main character is musing over how to explain to his dad why he needs new shoes:

> Somehow the people who made tennis shoes knew what boys needed and wanted. > They put marshmallows and coiled springs in the soles and they wove the rest > out of grasses bleached and fired in the wilderness. Somewhere deep in the > soft loam of the shoes the thin hard sinews of the buck deer were hidden. > The people that made the shoes must have watched a lot of winds blow the > trees and a lot of rivers going down to the lakes. Whatever it was, it was > in the shoes, and it was summer.

> Douglas tried to get all this in words.

> "Yes," said Father, "but what's wrong with last year's sneakers? Why can't > you dig them out of the closet?"

> Well, he felt sorry for boys who lived in California where they wore tennis > shoes all year and never knew what it was to get winter off your feet, peel > off the iron leather shoes all full of snow and rain and run barefoot for a > day and then lace on the first new tennis shoes of the season, which was > better than barefoot. The magic was always in the new pair of shoes. The > magic might die by the first of September, but now in late June there was > still plenty of magic, and shoes like these could jump you over trees and > rivers and houses. And if you wanted, they could jump you over fences and > sidewalks and dogs.

> "Don't you see?" said Douglas. "I just can't use last year's pair."

> For last year's pair were dead inside. They had been fine when he started > them out, last year. But by the end of summer, every year, you always found > out, you always knew, you couldn't really jump over rivers and trees and > houses in them, and they were dead. But this was a new year, and he felt > that this time, with this new pair of shoes, he could do anything, anything > at all.

So, yes, I want the new shoes.

</comment><comment><USER13> I was always torn about the implications of Vaporflys. I can respect the fact that they skew the competition, but how is this any different than cycling? Pay a ton of money to reduce drag coefficient, moment of angular inertia, and weight to maximize energy return. The article even points out similarities in midsole thickness, ZoomX foam, and the Carbon fiber plate with other previous shoes that were completely legal with the IAAF. I love my Vaporflys and I run noticeably faster in them, but I think the most underrated thing about them is that they're way softer on the joints, and greatly improve running stability. They have the potential to make running safer and more accessible. Personally, I'd rather see more people maintaining and improving their fitness than some legacy goal post.

<comment><USER14> Cycling wouldn't exist without the mechanical component. Performance of that component is an integral part of the sport.

<comment><USER7> There are also stringent restrictions on the mechanical components from the governing body, UCI.

edit: wrong acronym

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> I can attest that running on a thick plated pair of shoes like the Zoom Fly SP I had is exhilarating, especially after training in other "normal" shoes.

I see how the competition should measure athleticism and not a sponsor/athlete unit, but all recent records have been broken because of technology, let's be honest. I suggest you watch this TEDx for reference: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8COaMKbNrX0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8COaMKbNrX0)

</comment><comment><USER16> Lots of equipment-intensive sports like cycling fair well enough with regulations.

It's just a shame that a pure a sport such as running is being hit by a similar arms race.

</comment><comment><USER17> As a materials scientist, it is sad to see athletics ban technology improvements.

Similar to how automakers are able to test new technology with luxury buyers, and how the technology eventually reaches the masses; it would be great to consider elite (luxury) athletics a human+technology element.

There are a lot of technologies that companies are unwilling to try if there is not a mass market. You need the elite performers to create a mass market and be a testing ground for performance/health enhancement.

</comment><comment><USER18> problem: pre-release shoes favor a tiny number of already-famous athletes

proposed solution: athletes must use gear that's been GA for N years (5?), i.e. enough time to profuse into the market and for competitors to catch up.

problem: wealthy athletes have an unfair advantage over less wealthy athletes.

proposed solution: only allowed to use gear whose total price is below X. (street price? list price? I'm sure there's a solution...)

<comment><USER19> "All runners shall be barefoot" is the only natural solution to the argument, as the problem is posed if I'm reading this correctly.

Swimming's handling of the sharkskin suits is likely a good precedent for a rational settling of the argument, perhaps?

<comment><USER20> Let's just go back to naked athletics like the good old days of Grecian olympics.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I'm torn because I can see both sides. On the one hand, yay technology. On the other, as a former competitive cyclist, I understand why it's important to keep it grounded in the basics. I was unhappy when bicycle racing quickly adopted the electronic shifting - I felt that was a step away from the bicycle's original design. Just felt wrong.

</comment><comment><USER22> one of the reasons that swimming records have continued to fall is they changed other rules to make swim faster while enacting stricter rules on suites. There is now a wedge on swimming blocks that allow for faster starts (a little like track starting blocks) They have also changed the breaststroke turn rule to allow for a dolphin kick.

</comment><comment><USER23> The _exact_ same controversy happened a few years ago in competitive swimming when those full-body suits were causing world records to get annihilated. I like the solution that FINA put in place: only jammers (thigh-length shorts) are now allowed.

Because the argument is that if the difference between two top level athletes is just their shoes or their swimsuits, what's the point of the competition anyway? I mean, a swimmer would also be a lot faster if they wore fins, but then what's the point? Why not just create a more level playing field in running where the shoe technology shouldn't matter.

</comment><comment><USER24> From a triathlete's perspective it's interesting to watch this, since bike technology has become quite more advanced over the years, whereas running has not improved as much. Of course there's much more that goes into the bike and components than what goes into a running shoe. The UCI does have regulations around the frame where the manufacturers have to meet those standards. But those standards are mostly related to safety, whereas the IAAF standards that were recently imposed are more related to making a level playing field.

</comment><comment><USER25> It seems like pretty much all sports have rules that limit how much technology can improve performance. I have always though it would be fun to do a mythbusters-style show that tried to see just how much faster/farther/longer people could go with no limits on mechanical aids (as long as there weren't motors). So how far could you hit a golf ball if there were no rules on how the club or the ball were made, how fast could someone swim if there were no rules on what you could wear, etc.

</comment><comment><USER26> It's an interesting conundrum - where does skill end and technology pick up the slack? This has played out so many places from the speedsuits in competitive swimming, to space-age materials used for baseball bats and golf clubs, and now running shoes. While these things probably won't help the average Joe much, even a minute change at the top end can mean the difference between millions of dollars in winnings and sponsorships.

<comment><USER27> > won't help the average Joe much

Exactly, it's only a 4% edge. That's going to take my marathon time all the way from DNF right down to the amazing pace of DNF.

> difference between millions of dollars in winnings and sponsorships.

Worth the the $250 investment then.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> I commend the innovation involved in this shoe, but I wish this shoe did not exist. If you buy the shoe you are buying an advantage, but if you don't, you risk getting passed by those who do. With Boston qualifying times getting faster each year, people on the bubble will have no choice. With a cost of $250 and a shoe that only lasts two or three races, running got more expensive.

</comment><comment><USER29> Artificial imitations on technology just ruin things.

Make the rules something along the lines of making sure that the shoes are available to all:

* Must be commercially available to all competitors

* Must have been available for 6 months and have had minimum sales of say 5000 units more than 3 months ago

* Price must be below $250 to allow all competitors to buy them

* Some limitations to customisation

<comment><USER30> So you would be ok with running races being won not necessarily by the best runners, but by the racers with the best tech? Would you be ok with any of these? How about other sports, like jumping events, or basketball? I don't see anything wrong with rules limiting technology to keep a sport as it's supposed to be.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WnbD0YVAlE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WnbD0YVAlE)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70IpV0C6icY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70IpV0C6icY)

<comment><USER31> In the first one: So long as they are available to the general public (easily!) and meet the other guidelines: Sure. They are still obviously shoes. Runners would choose which tech they want to go with and since there are price restraints and rules about them being available to everyone for _months_ , I don't see an issue. The sport is going to look the same to everyone else. It isn't going to change anything: It isn't like professional runners are going to be using cheap, bottom-of-the-line running shoes any more than a swimmer is going to wear baggy swimming shorts. I don't mind customizing shoes based on activity and weight and so on.

In your second example, he isn't testing shoes. His shoes are still on his feet as he uses the things. Obviously those wouldn't be left in running because you aren't _really_ running. I'd understand much more if we were talking about amputees, and then it would really depend on how it compares to two-legged folks doing things (I don't know the advantage/disadvantage compares here).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> BTW here are some pictures and more details on the Alphafly Next%: [https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a30783617/nike-alphafly- ne...](https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a30783617/nike-alphafly-next- percent/)

Released 2 days after the rule change.

<comment><USER33> That whole Next% feels like they named it due to a email software glitch that didn't replace a variable name. lol

</comment></comment><comment><USER34> To me this comes down to answering "what is the simplest possible definition of a shoe?"

A shoe could be anything without moving parts that attaches to your foot.

No moving parts rules out skates. Foot attachment (below ankle only) rules out jumping stilts.

Does this definition allow for any shoes that feel like obvious cheats?

<comment><USER35> It rules out all modern shoes. And you'd have to make new ones out of concrete or thick metals. Though wooden clogs would likely be ok, though I doubt you'd want to run in those.

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> I don't mind what anyone wears as long as you can buy a pair for $49 and run 1000 miles in them.

What's not cool is it being acceptable to use $250 to buy ones way into success, and it's even less cool teaching the kids that money is required for attaining goals. Goodness knows they are under enough pressure on that front as it is.

Perhaps a World Rally Championship style homologation, but where shoe manufacturers have to show they've sold X thousand pairs at Y multiples of the local Big Mac price, as proof of availability to general public at a price that doesn't promote consumerist elitism. But where's the profit in that?

<comment><USER27> > World Rally Championship style

Such an odd example to choose. World Rally Cars are built on production 1.6-litre four-cylinder cars, but feature turbochargers, anti-lag systems, four-wheel-drive, sequential gearboxes, aerodynamic parts and other enhancements bringing the price of a WRC car to around US$1 million.

Only $250 to have the exact same shoes as Eliud Kipchoge, wow!

<comment><USER36> When I was a teenager the "555" Impreza WRC seemed reasonably priced for consumers to buy. But the point was about homologation — competing with products that are general available to amateurs — ensuring accessibility to the sport.

Rally driving is indeed pretty niche, so the entry fee for wannabe drivers being the cost of a reasonably specialist mass produced car seems fair.

For running: the audience is wider and the cost should be lower. Race organizers that put a price cap on equipment help to hold back the tide of performance being affected by gear instead of grit.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> Christ. Of all the litany of legitimate charges against the 36 billion dollar shoe company Nike, this feels absolutely comical. We basically slept through 35 years of sweatshops and child labor --and the Paradise papers tax evasion scandal-- to hand Nike free advertisement for their shoes that are too fast.

This is not a scandal, its cheap advertising.

<comment><USER38> Yeah I was going to say, normally the only people that see the performance of a shoe are spectators of the sport. Now everyone gets to know about Vaporfly and how awesome they are.</comment></comment>


Interactive data visualisations on UK funding rounds - <AUTHOR> https://uktechdata.count.co/ <comment><USER2> Interesting. Is this data available for download?

</comment><comment><USER3> This is a whole database on startup info.</comment>


Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission - <AUTHOR> http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2013/12/09/protesters-block-google-bus-in-s-f-mission/ <comment><USER2> I don't get it. The buses are cutting down on personal driving (a universally acknowledged evil), and paying for permits to use the stops (generating revenue for the city). Would these people rather the Google employees all drive personal vehicles, increasing wear and tear on the roads, congestion, pollution, etc., costing the city money?

Also, is it really the companies fault that the value of housing in the area is going up because they exist? Can you really expect them to get up and leave?

I don't really see what the companies are getting out of this in the first place. They don't have to shuttle their employees in to work, could save a whole lot of money by not renting/buying buses, but they do and it does nothing but positive things for the employees, the city, and the environment.

<comment><USER3> No. At least the ones I've heard from, they want employees of companies in the South Bay and Peninsula to live outside of San Francisco. They believe that the mass influx of money is driving long time residents out, and that building more housing is the wrong solution. I remember reading one article that suggested there should be a wait list to get to live in the city.

<comment><USER4> Right, and that simply does not work in a free country. These people moved to SF a while back, but they still displaced the local culture that was before them, and now they are settled in and they think they rightfully own the place. The draconian zoning laws and anti-development sentiment is only gonna hurt these people more, since the cost of living is being driven up artificially and the people they are trying to ward off are gonna move in no matter what.

<comment><USER5> Reminds me of this story posted by moxie[0] a while back:

There's an old wobbly story: A wobbly was riding a freight train across the midwest one summer, in between jobs. The train sided out in the middle of nowhere, and it was scorching hot, so the wobbly got off the train and started walking down a dirt road.

After a couple of miles, the road passed by an apple orchard. The wobbly hopped over the fence, and sat down to rest under the shade of a big apple tree.

The wobbly sat there enjoying the shade for 20 minutes, until a farmer came across him. "You can't be here!" exclaimed the farmer, "This is my land!"

The wobbly looked up at the farmer and asked "Really? What makes it your land?"

"What are you talking about you dirty tramp, I inherited it from my father!" replied the farmer, almost bewildered at such an indignant question.

"Hmm, and what made it _his_ land?" asked the wobbly.

"Why, he inherited it from _his_ father!" replied the farmer, now really angry. "It's been in my family for three generations!"

"And what made it your grandfather's land?" asked the wobbly.

The farmer, now barely able to contain himself, yelled proudly "Why! My grandpappy _fought the indians_ for it!"

The wobbly nodded, stood up, pulled back his sleeves, and replied "Uh huh. Then I'll fight you for it, _right now._ "

[0] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5222540](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5222540) (Moxie's original post with comments)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> From [http://www.sfbg.com/googleshoutdown](http://www.sfbg.com/googleshoutdown):

UPDATE 12:32pm: Various tips have streamed in that this shout-out was staged. Protest organizer Leslie Dreyer talked to us on the phone and verified that this person's identity was Max Bell Alper, a union organizer from Oakland. This person was not a Google employee, and Dreyer was not able to verify if Alper was there in the morning with the group of 20-30 protesters. The Guardian is attempting to contact Alper for comment. Dreyer said she, as an organizer, was unaware that the "performance" had been planned. We are following this as it develops.

<comment><USER7> The article linked here doesn't mention the "faux Googler" at all. Not sure why you're posting this comment on this particular article.

<comment><USER8> It elaborates on the nature of the protest that was occurring.

<comment><USER7> It elaborates on the actions of one individual, who may or may not have had anything to do with the rest of the protesters, and distracts from the actual complaints (valid or not) those protesters have.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> This op-ed does a better job at explaining how some non-tech residents of San Francisco feel about the buses.

      When your experience of a big city is a seamless parade of hip restaurants
      and privately funded transportation, it's easy to overlook the things that
      cities need, like filled potholes and a reliable transit system. San Franciscans
      feel resentful about the technology industry's lack of civic and community
      engagement, and the Google bus is our daily reminder.

[http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Why-we-re-invisible- to-...](http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Why-we-re-invisible-to-Google- bus-riders-4467574.php)

<comment><USER9> I personally think it has to do with wealthier people doing what they want regardless of what the community wants.

Similar outrage flared after the Sean Parker wedding. Regardless of what he actually did at the site, regardless that he paid a fine after the fact, regardless that it created jobs (I know a guy who worked for the lighting company) he pulled the ask-for-forgiveness-rather-than-permission stunt and did what he wanted to do, community & regulations be damned. He got what he wanted: a magical wedding in a beautiful, protected area of Big Sur.

<comment><USER10> [http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/06/sean- par...](http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/06/sean-parker- responds-to-redwoods-wedding-criticism-and-his-defense-is-actually-pretty- convincing/276553/)

How dare he donate millions of dollars to conserve and restore Big Sur.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I get the rationale of targeting Google's private bus fleet. There's nothing like a giant bus billboard rolling through your neighborhood to remind you of gentrification and the exorbitant rent prices. I do, however, find it pretty difficult to sympathize with the protesters. Would these people have preferred everyone on the bus to have driven their cars instead?

I suppose you could argue that the buses themselves are enabling gentrification, because if they weren't there, more people might stay in the valley instead of living in the city. That's a pretty tenuous connection though because you could argue that it would have happened anyway (I did the commute over ten years ago between Potrero and Palo Alto).

If Google wanted to alleviate some of the vitriol, they could offer to allow non-Googlers to use the bus (like Stanford's Marguerite system) either for free or some kind of nominal charge. I realize that's a headache, but instead of getting bad publicity, they turn it on its head and the "two tier" comments ring pretty hollow.

<comment><USER10> SFans don't want to ride the buses. The protestors complaint is that SF should be for people who work in SF.

<comment><USER11> Auslander raus!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> It's a fake. The guy is an activist and is named Max Bell Alper.

[http://www.makingchangemedia.org/about-the- team/](http://www.makingchangemedia.org/about-the-team/)

[http://www.gettyimages.no/detail/news-photo/occupy-wall- stre...](http://www.gettyimages.no/detail/news-photo/occupy-wall-street-west- protestor-max-bell-alper-of-news-photo/137422522)

<comment><USER7> As my sibling poster pointed out, this article doesn't mention "the guy" at all.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> It is entirely unclear what they are protesting, other than 'not working at Google.'

The alleged trespass of using 'public infrastructure for private profit' is unsupported. People pick up and drop off people at the sidewalk (required, no stopping in the middle of the street).

The staged appearance of a guy who is a union organizer (reported elsewhere) added a bit of melodrama.

Looking at the action critically, what is to be gained by calling attention to Google, Facebook, and others providing their own bus fleets?

<comment><USER14> My guess is that the protests are targeted more generally at gentrification. People of privilege moving to the Mission, mostly ignoring the culture of the neighborhood and it's long-time residents, fueling out of control rent increases, slowly destroying a cultural landmark.

I suspect the damage has more to do with CA property tax and SF's NIMBy zoning laws than silicon valley bussing, but they do have a point that it's a real problem. Not sure what the solution is. This protest doesn't seem to be it, but I applaud them for taking a MVP stab at it. Time to iterate now, protesters!

<comment><USER15> But then again, to push the conservatism to the extreme, not much of the actual original SF Ohlone native culture is still remaining.

<comment><USER16> This. The Mission is a giant game of musical chairs, and it's weird how anyone thinks the people who have only been there since the 1950s deserve to have it forever.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Hopefully, people can work together to what I think could be 2-3 good outcomes that help alleviate some of these very real problems:

1\. Public Transportation: both inter & intra-city transportation is very poor. It's extremely hard to travel between neighborhoods in San Francisco, and it's a huge reason people rely so much on Lyft and other providers in the city. Also, it's really difficult to travel between SF and Oakland (as well as other cities). Creating better / more infrastructure that connects these two should help ease supply constraints that cause these price spikes in the first place. Not sure how feasible this is...especially looking at other cities experience in public transportation (example: bay bridge).

2\. More supply. One of the effects of previous legislation to keep the SF "neighborhood feel" was that it constrained new supply coming into the market. Unfortunately, it takes a few years for new units to come into the market, and it's obvious it's not keeping pace with demand. There of course needs to be a balance vs. keeping SF's historic appeal, but maybe the previous compromise leaned too heavily against putting up new units.

3\. Government subsidies / rent control to help ease rapid price hikes. I'm not as big of a fan of these, but largely because I don't quite understand all the economic/social effects.

</comment><comment><USER15> I just moved to the area and have little context, wondering what solution are the local residents fighting for? I'd imagine going back to an idyllic agrarian past is probably not viable. Is the proposal for companies to pay a special municipal tax for zoning special loading curb areas (which I'd imagine UPS and taxis and the likes will have to pay as well for using public infrastructure)? Is it for higher income or newer residents to pay a special tax to give to lower income or older residents which can be used to fund affordable housing projects? What is the proposed solution that can be put into a legislation?

</comment><comment><USER18> Anyone find it lame how people are tweeting about an incident instead of communicating with each other when they're like 10 feet away?

Don't expect to reason with protesters if you're not even willing to talk to them. Way to be the uptight sheltered techies you're being made out to be. That being said, I don't think it's legal to block a vehicle, and protesters would probably be better served doing something productive rather than complaining immaturely in this matter.

Shame on everyone!

<comment><USER19> I am not obligated to "reason" with anyone who stops me, illegally, and demands my attention. I don't see why it's different for the average Google employee.

<comment><USER20> They blocked in a bus that was illegally parked. No one forced you to get on the bus that was violating city codes.

What these people are complaining about is a two tiered system, where one set of laws apply to the people who live in the city and another set apply to corporations like Google. Why should that bus get to do something that common citizens are not allowed to, simply because it's owned by a company instead of a person?

<comment><USER19> That's not what I said.

What I said is that I'm not obligated to "reason" with someone that illegally demands my attention. Maybe abortion doctors should be obligated to "reason" with pro-life protestors, to open a conversation? Hey, a lot of time those guys aren't even breaking the law.

What the OP calls being an "uptight techie" I call being an ordinary human being in an allegedly civilized country.

<comment><USER21> You seemed to miss the guys point. If you park somewhere illegally and someone blocks you in, getting upset that they are doing something illegal while ignoring the fact that you are doing something similarly illegal everyday is pretty weird imo...

<comment><USER15> It's a pretty generic 'taking the law in your own hand' argument though. If you illegally double park and as consequence, I illegally shoot you and your whole family, debating what I did is besides the point since the real debate should be about why you double parked.

<comment><USER22> That analogy is just a _tiny_ bit more extreme then what actually happened.

<comment><USER15> Ya, it's a ridiculous example but I'm just pointing out the difficulty of codifying vigilantism into law. If illegally killing people who double park is not appropriate, is stealing their TV appropriate? Is hacking their email account appropriate? Who can appropriately be a vigilante? Is it appropriate for a victim who suffered physical injuries? Is it appropriate for a victim who felt offended? Is it appropriate for an eye witness? Is it appropriate for someone who saw it online?

<comment><USER22> This was a peaceful protest, not vigilante justice. Some people were unable to get to work on time. Where's the outrage about union workers not being able to get to work during a picketed protest?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> > "Public $$$$, Private Gains,"

That's true, and the right solution is to remove public funding from transportation. Then there's no downside to private gains.

<comment><USER24> private highways?

<comment><USER25> sure, why not?

<comment><USER26> You know, we actually tried that for a while (search for Turnpike System or Turnpike Trusts on wikipedia), and it was an unmitigated disaster. Because turnpike operators had what were effectively local monopolies, they collected absurdly high fees and often spent as little as possible on routine maintenance, resulting in high cost / low quality roads. This was a major impediment to free trade, as it drove shipping costs to prohibitively high levels. The socialization of roads that took place during the Victorian era, along with the growth of the railroad industry, helped usher in the period of great economic and industrial expansion that lead to the Gilded Age.

<comment><USER27> The Turnpike trusts were just government organizations that attempted to fund government roads with a per-use toll. They were a far cry from private road systems.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> They should be protesting city hall and public unions for their anti- development behavior.

<comment><USER29> Agreed. San Francisco has an artificial cap on supply as demand continues to rise.

It doesn't take more than the first 40 seconds of an economics class to figure out what's going to happen to the price.

You can either decrease demand or increase supply. And good luck kicking people out of San Francisco.

(As a side note, if I worked for google I'd live as close as possible in Mountain View. But I'm not the nightlife type.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> Does anyone know what the sign "Fine $271; Total Fine (2011-2013) $1 Billion" refers to? [https://twitter.com/maxbatt/status/410097083081695233/photo/...](https://twitter.com/maxbatt/status/410097083081695233/photo/1/large)

<comment><USER20> I'm not sure about the $1billion, but the $271 fine is what we as regular citizens would get if we tried to pick people up from the bus stop. The complaint is that the two tiered system- one where normal citizens have to follow the rules, while corporations can do whatever they please- and the fine is simply one example of that.

<comment><USER31> > The bus operators — private companies like Google, Facebook, Apple and > Genentech — would pay for permits to use the Muni stops

Looks like that issue is being taken care of.

<comment><USER20> Yeah, it's nice to know that if I break the rules I can get the city to retroactively change them for me, assuming I have enough money.

<comment><USER30> Curious: if you disagree with a permitting process for the private buses, what would you prefer the outcome to be?

<comment><USER21> That seems like a mighty straw man. He never said he disagreed with the permit process. He simply disagrees with the idea that these companies have been able to park illegally with no consequence for years and instead of just writing them tickets, as the city would do for a normal person, they decide to give them permits to prevent them from having to break the law hundreds of times a day.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> I applaud them for creating a mini-Twitter firestorm in the process. It's a shame the local media misidentified one of the actors (one of them playing an angry Googler)

</comment><comment><USER33> Xenophobia is a natural reaction to competition for scarce resources.</comment>


Writer Evan Ratliff Tried to Vanish: Here's What Happened - <AUTHOR> https://www.wired.com/2009/11/ff-vanish2/ <comment><USER2> (2009)

Some discussion from that time: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=955793](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=955793)</comment>


Ask HN: Indeed 'Ruby' trends - what do you think? - <AUTHOR> http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby%2C+java%2C+python%2C+perl&l=&relative=1 This graph was passed around at work today. Although the number of postings about ruby is low, the relative (growth) is amazingly high.
What do you think?
Edit: My own take a few years back - http://jobalytics.tamersalama.com/ <comment><USER2> That trend is relative. Here it is in absolute terms:

[http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby,+java,+python,+perl&#...
Ruby started out with hardly any postings, so its relative growth is astronomical.

<comment><USER3> [http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=java,+ruby,+f%23,+scala,+c...](http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=java,+ruby,+f%23,+scala,+clojure&l=&relative=1)

Relatively, clojure wins, and f# fluctuates quite a bit and ends up at where ruby is.

[http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=java,+ruby,+f%23,+scala,+c...](http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=java,+ruby,+f%23,+scala,+clojure)

Absolutely, the graph basically tells a completely inverse story.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Based on this other URL:

[http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby%2C+drupal&l=](http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby%2C+drupal&l=)

and some clicking back and forth between the "Absolute" and "Relative" scales... I don't know what to think. The "Relative" numbers make no sense, so I wouldn't trust them for any purpose whatsoever. "Percentage growth: 375000?" I wish I could erase those graphs from my mind lest my subconscious be tainted by the memory of a single pixel.

Someone needs some unit tests, or perhaps a math teacher.

<comment><USER2> Example: at the beginning of the time period there was 1 Drupal posting, and now there are 3751. Each increase of 1 represents an additional 100% growth over the original, so you have 3750 * 100% = 375,000% growth.

A poor way to measure rapid growth, but that seems to be their system.

<comment><USER4> I think you're probably correct, but "poor" is much too generous a description of such a methodology. It rates at least an "awful", and "garbage" is not unwarranted.

Consider that it is only an accident of fate that there was merely 1 Drupal posting at time 0. If there had been two, I guess the entire trendline would be half as big.

Or consider this even wackier example:

[http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby%2C+mongodb&l=&...](http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby%2C+mongodb&l=&relative=1)

This goes to show that the algorithm is at least smart enough not to explode when dividing by zero. (There were, I'm pretty sure, zero mentions of "MongoDB" in job postings in 2005.) But, then, what does _this_ graph measure? What are we dividing by for MongoDB? The number of postings at some arbitrary later time?

<comment><USER5> What's the proper way to do this?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Any Ruby vs. Python comparison here is probably tainted by the fact that Rails often becomes "Ruby and Rails" or even just "Ruby" in recruiterspeak. You don't see a lot of reqs for "Python and Django" or "Python and Tornado".

</comment><comment><USER7> The 'relative' graph is rubbish. The 'absolute' graph says something that I think is fairly obvious: If you want a job, you'll have an easier time finding it if you can write Java (or C++, or C#).

I did a bit of clicking around, and most of the Ruby jobs were for Ruby on Rails, which is a little disappointing, but not surprising.

Most of the Python jobs seem to mention python as a secondary skill next to PHP, or are otherwise a massive mash of keywords. Which is even more disappointing; even though I'm more of a Ruby guy, Python is an excellent language for any serious number crunching. I can't think of _anything_ in any other general-purpose language that comes close to SciPy/NumPy.

</comment><comment><USER8> Regional searches show less of a steady upward trend: [http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby+boston,+ruby+%22san+f...](http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby+boston,+ruby+%22san+francisco%22,+ruby+atlanta&l=&relative=1)

</comment><comment><USER9> Look at the wild fluctuations for c++:

[http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=python+toronto,+perl+toron...](http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=python+toronto,+perl+toronto,+ruby+toronto,+java+toronto,+c%2B%2B+toronto,+c+toronto&l=&relative=1)

Or Perl:

[http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=python+toronto,+perl+toron...](http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=python+toronto,+perl+toronto,+ruby+toronto&l=&relative=1)

</comment><comment><USER10> And I add erlang: [http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby,+java,+python,+perl,+...](http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=ruby,+java,+python,+perl,+erlang&l=&relative=1)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> My own take a few years back - <http://jobalytics.tamersalama.com/></comment>


Show HN: Tool for creating a decision matrix - <AUTHOR> https://mmorosky.github.io/decisionmatrix/ <comment><AUTHOR> I've found the decision matrix method to be great for helping me make tough decisions in a rational, objective way.

Since it can be a bit complicated to make a decision matrix from scratch, I put together a small tool for streamlining the steps of creating one. I also tried to add in some bonus aspects, like being able to represent the level of uncertainty in each choice, or to change the overall visualization style.

If you like geeking out about this kind of stuff, please give it a try. I welcome any feedback. (Just don't look at the awful spaghetti code) :)

The writeup: [https://medium.com/@mmorosky/decide-better-with-the- decision...](https://medium.com/@mmorosky/decide-better-with-the-decision- matrix-f39c0d078154)

The tool itself: [https://mmorosky.github.io/decisionmatrix/](https://mmorosky.github.io/decisionmatrix/)

<comment><USER2> I use emacs for that kind of things, but under the hood it's solving linear equation [https://turbocafe.keybase.pub/blog/#org3482ee6](https://turbocafe.keybase.pub/blog/#org3482ee6)</comment></comment>


F.A.S.T Mask - magnetic-pi Hi HN!
There have been a lot of news stories about PPE shortages for medical personal around the world, especially when it comes to masks, shields, and eye protection. I've even heard stories about people having to use the same N95 masks for days on end. I am not really sure how much this will help. I had an idea that I built over the weekend after reading about the death of 26 year old Dr. Usama Riaz, which was a result of treating people with Covid-19 despite not having any form or PPE. I thought there must be a cheaper solution where his face could have been covered, and some solution for using a filter that could be easily sanitized and reused. It's heartbreaking that such a selfless person had to die so young. Perhaps if I could have gotten this out there sooner, as it would have been better than the nothing Dr. Riaz was using.
His story inspired me to design something I call the Filter Adapted Snorkel Tube (F.A.S.T) Mask. I am by no means a an expert in the medical device space, but rather just a nerd with 3D printer, ideas a plenty, some talents, and time to spare. The design objectives I hoped to achieve for this project were:

    1. Protect users' entire face.
    2. Keep the filter as isolated and clean as possible. (No facial oil contamination and mitigate direct body fluid exposure.)
    3. No tooling required. KISS!
    4. Easy sterilization.
    5. Reusability.
    6. Parts must be easily acquirable globally.
    7. Provide a consistent seal between the filter and filter holder.
 I'd love any feedback and/or improvement suggestions. I have some other ideas I've been kicking around like adding a HEPA filter mod, since there seems to be an abundance of HEPA filters available that can filter at 0.3 microns. I actually ordered one off Amazon today, and I should be able to have a proof of concept ready by Sunday or Monday.
Here's a link to the project:
https://github.com/magnetic-pi/fast-mask
Stay safe out there everyone! <comment><AUTHOR> It's great to see so many people being inspired to help. Being able to 3D print these with silicone rubber should improve the mask's seal as well as its durability. It should also be able to survive numerous sterilization attempts.

<comment> magnetic-pi Thanks! I really appreciate the support! The snorkel mask already has a rubber fitting where the snorkel attachment gets attached to. So this is really just a easy plug and play solution. Though I think a rubber ring around the outside would be an excellent idea for an even better seal. Thanks for the feedback!

</comment></comment><comment><USER2> I would recommend removing the referral link from the Amazon products, it doesn't necessarily leave the greatest impression if you are profiting from this.

<comment> magnetic-pi I am not profiting from this at all. I even put the licensing info at the bottom of the README. The F.A.S.T parts are completely open source for any and all to use forever. I made this to help people, not to profit from it. :) I put the link in with the specific mask I used for this project, so that they could make a working version without alterations their first try. I am willing to make alterations if people want to use this with other masks. Thanks for taking the time to look at the project and for providing feedback! I really appreciate it.

<comment><USER2> The amazon links listed on the repo have a referral id, meaning that (someone either you or someone else) is getting a referral fee from every purchase.

> I am not profiting from this at all.

If this is true please remove the referral from the amazon links, is totally fine to list the actual masks and items; the referral link not so much.

<comment> magnetic-pi Oh! I initially copied the links from my browser and didn't think about the referral code. Sorry! I fixed it now. Could you please confirm it's fixed now? Thanks!</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: What is a good "coming soon" page? Studies? Examples? - <AUTHOR>

I'm helping a friend design/develop a new site, and want to put on a "coming soon" page, with an ability for the user to leave an email address or connect to facebook. Has anybody done any tests here? what to put in? what to leave out? <comment><USER2> Some examples you might find useful:

[http://blog.templatemonster.com/2010/06/11/55-coming-soon- pa...](http://blog.templatemonster.com/2010/06/11/55-coming-soon-pages/)

[http://blogs.sitepoint.com/2009/05/14/design-a-successful- co...](http://blogs.sitepoint.com/2009/05/14/design-a-successful-coming-soon- page/)

</comment><comment><USER3> Hmm, how do I say this without sounding shameless? I just launched Capturely (<http://www.capturely.com>) to help people, especially web designers, make Coming Soon pages. It takes care of all the backend stuff for you. I'll stop there, though, before this starts to sound like an ad.

From all the Coming Soon pages that I've looked at (quite a few, lately), they all have the headline, short description and an email form. It's far from real data, but hey, that's how pretty much everyone else does it. I'd be curious to run some real tests though, which, hopefully, Capturely will let me do.

<comment><USER4> Someone else in this thread mentioned 'unbounce'. (I can't remember who mentioned, but I'll upvote.)

You should go check out their landing page templates -- they're quite good. In fact, they're so good that I had to go and edit my 'coming soon' page, even though I'd told myself I wouldn't.

<comment><USER3> Yep, Unbounce does have some pretty great templates. I'm working on a system for templates. If all goes well, I'll get some "whoa, those look great" sorts of templates soon enough.

And thanks for pointing out the Chrome overflow problem. I just fixed it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> So much for Coming soon? Just put on an sign-up and 1 line about you.

Focus on shipping instead of building 'Coming Soon' pages.

Just come! Ship!

</comment><comment><USER6> <http://soontyphoon.com> is coming soon. On it I collect an email address, and give the opportunity to tweet about it.

But honestly, it's more important to get some text up than to collect info. You want to get google cranking, and unless you have some way of driving _lots_ of traffic, you won't get many to join your mailing list. ymmv

</comment><comment><USER7> I'm using this on my latest project. You can't beat the price :)

<http://themeforest.net/item/its-coming/111152>

</comment><comment><USER8> You should definitely check out this recent thread:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1878559>

</comment><comment><USER9> I would check out <http://www.unbounce.com>. It's a landing page platform.

<comment><USER10> I agree, very simple to use and allows for A/B testing too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> <http://collectivejam.com> \-- I saw conversions of around 20%

</comment><comment><USER12> wordpress + launchpad theme + feedburner

</comment><comment><USER4> I'm interested to hear this too. On the one hand, I went with a minimal 'give me your email' address form that I could make as attractive as possible without putting too much effort into it -- on the other hand, now that it's out there, I feel like I should have my value prop, an intro, a _reason_ to leave your email address.

It's very difficult to leave it as a static page when I know that it can be better, but I'm fighting the urge to keep tweaking the prelaunch page and instead, keep working on product. I do have a deadline to meet, after all.

Here's what I went with: <http://plumrss.com/></comment>


What features would you like to see in an elderly care home sensing system? - <AUTHOR> We are doing a year long student team project on developing a home monitoring system for the elderly, and looking for input on what actual caregivers (in our case, children of elderly parents) would like to see in such a system.
We know a few things: people do not like to hang sensors/monitors from their necks (identifies them as incapable), may have trouble charging any wearables on their hands (forget, lose charger, ...), do not like intrusive monitoring (so, has to be passive), and would like to feel empowered to help themselves.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you <comment><USER2> My parents, particularly my mom, had to take care of one of my grandparents for several years. One thing you should consider is that many people who must care for an elderly parent are themselves a little older, probably at least middle-aged. These people may not be tech savvy, so I think a system that is easy to use, understand, and troubleshoot would be important.

</comment><comment><USER3> Not directly relevant:

[http://www.smh.com.au/national/jyls-journey-to-aged-care- i-f...](http://www.smh.com.au/national/jyls-journey-to-aged-care-i-feel-like- part-of-me-is-lost-20170921-gymj83.html)

I just read an article on aged care this morning.

</comment><comment><USER4> #1 Fall in shower #2 Talk for help #3 Anomly detection in movment around the house

</comment><comment><USER5> There are tables with inductive chargers built in, you can't lose those.</comment>


How My Illness Forced Me to Leave My Job and Take Control of My Life - <AUTHOR> http://notthegolfer.com/2014/12/31/year-in-review-2014-part-1/

<comment><USER2> > Having an illness is a full time job. And my boss is an asshole.

This is exactly true in my experience. When I was sick (very treatable form of cancer) I was _always_ exhausted. I've never been that tired before or since. Concentrating on anything work-related was a huge challenge, and I'm grateful that my employer at the time was able to accommodate me.

</comment><comment><USER3> @raelshark your site cannot take the load.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yep, just went down. Beefing it up now. Thanks!

Edit: Should be good now.</comment></comment>