Apple Targets Launch of Apple TV+ in November for $9.99 - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-19/apple-is-targeting-launch-of-apple-video-service-by-november <comment><USER2> I will be very surprised if Apple manages to grow this into a bona fide Netflix etc. competitor. Disney's Disney+ / Hulu / ESPN+ bundle is four dollars a month more than Apple TV+ - with just Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney classics, I'd expect it to be a winner, but there's even more than that. What does Apple hope to offer better than even smaller streaming services like Crackle (Sony) or CBS All Access?

Amazon, like Apple, has plenty of money to pour into entertainment if they decide they want to. But if it's not profitable why should Apple keep spending on its own service? Netflix, though, is in the biggest trouble, I think; anecdotally people seem to think of Amazon and Hulu content as better-quality on average than Netflix. Disney is spending a massive amount of money on its upcoming original shows obviously trying to compete with Amazon or maybe even HBO. (And meanwhile who knows whether Warner has any idea what they're doing with HBO - look at their DC Universe compared with Marvel.)

In the end it's an amazing time to work in the entertainment industry. And to pirate media.

<comment><USER3> I still don't understand why services don't attempt to bundle more. All my media is pirated, which conveniently ends up in a single app.

I'd probably consider a $10-15/AUD streaming service if it included _all_ the music, movies and party-music-video playlists I need /in one app/. It'd be a pretty tactical move to bundle that all into a decent internet plan, too.

But judging by the TV shows my sickchill server and automatically nabs and pushes to my plex server my tastes would require 4-5 separate services and be in the range of $40-60/month, so I guess I'll keep doing what I currently do.

<comment><USER4> I don't imagine $15 for all that is enough to keep producing content, they'll happily lose you to piracy in the hopes of keeping and retaining a larger audience who will pay.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I watched Apple's live presentation with Oprah and other stars, and I was very enthusiastic about having another platform.

Since then, we got Amazon Prime for the bundled media (I had been on my brother's business Prime membership that did not include video).

Amazon did a good job of integrating other paid services like Netflix, HBO Now, and CBS streaming. The user experience is actually pretty good, and the only hardware needed is a very inexpensive Firestick that our daughter and son in law gave us.

With no cable or satellite service, good internet, and monthly costs of $10 Prime, $15 Netflix, $6 CBS (for Star Trek), and $15 HBO Now, we have way more entertainment than we could every watch, and a reasonable cost. Friends who can't give up cable are stuck because they are addicted to channel surfing the "news" shows, which I argue is a really unhealthy activity. No new and no commercials works for me.

<comment><USER6> FWIW Amazon Prime has been brutal about VPNs over the last few years, at least the ones I've tried. I'm still a Prime customer but even some Prime Originals can't be viewed in Europe and I haven't had much success with the standard (paid) VPN experience.

Apple, on the other hand, is happy to sell me anything from the US store and let me download or stream it anywhere in the EU when I'm there.

I imagine people affected by this make up a negligible part of the market, but I find it a compelling differentiator. Not that I'd give up Prime... in addition to the whole "ship to nowheresville" thing, Patriot[0] bought them this cinephile's loyalty for at least a few years.

[0]: [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4687882/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4687882/)

<comment><USER7> Amazon Prime, like Netflix, streams a lot of licensed content. Part of the license is about territory which forces these companies into policing VPNs.

<comment><USER6> Yes, but is it not odd that this applies to some original content, and that Apple apparently views things differently?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> > Analysts have suggested Apple TV+ could top 100 million subscribers in the > next half-decade, which would make it a major challenger to Netflix and > Amazon.

Doesn't Prime have 100 million US subscribers now? And Netflix is something like 60 million. I guess these analysts predict they'll both stagnate while Apple will grow from 0 to 100 million in 5 years?

<comment><USER9> Prime is an odd one though since nobody subscribes to Prime Video specifically, it's a value add included with their Prime membership. Is it fair to compare that number to Netflix or Apple TV when they're both stand alone products?

<comment><USER10> I know this is just for the US but just to clarify. The Prime Video included in your Prime subscription is only available in a few countries (US, DE, GB,...) all other countries have primevideo.com which is a stand-alone video only subscription.

<comment><USER11> That may be because Amazon Prime doesn't make sense in some countries. Example: Free two day delivery doesn't make sense if you can expect free/cheap next-day delivery from local webshops.

Other Amazon Prime benefits requires that Amazon have a local presence in your country or area, so it makes sense that it's limited to countries where Amazon at least have distribution centers.

<comment><USER12> Just to add to your comment, Amazon Prime also doesn't make sense in countries with a fairly poor Amazon presence / high shipping costs. E.g. Canada.

<comment><USER9> I'm in Canada (lower mainland) and have Prime. The free same/next day shipping makes it worth it for us. We don't order a ton, but probably 15-20 times per year is enough to justify it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Well, there you have it. Back to paying $100/month for tv/video

<comment><USER14> If internet was 50 of that you would have to be subscribed to 5 of these to pay that much. That seems like way more than I've ever had since cord cutting. On top of that it's highly likely people will drop one or two a lot more easily when their current fav show is done.

<comment><USER15> I think there is a large portion of people who already have netflix and a streaming music service. A good portion of those already have Prime as well. I'd imagine most cord cutters would be comfortable doing 2 video+1 music.

I do $15 for netflix (4k, allows 4 streams. mom & bro use extra). I use Youtube Premium as it provides the best value to me (access to google play music & ad-free youtube/originals). That is another $11. I'd love to have CBS All-Access but thats not happening just for Star Trek. Maybe they will be changing their service after the CBS/Viacom merger which would give them a HUGE back catalog of good snack content to appease subscribers as they grow their originals.

The new disney+ bundle (with Hulu ad supported, and espn is $15 i think). Unbundle is $7.

Then you have HBO Max coming which should be AT LEAST $15 (the current price of HBO go).

I'd bet there will be a new crackdown on account sharing with these services to maximize subscriber count. Piracy is going to be coming back in a big way. Access to a friends PLEX account is gonna be the new happiness.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> They should've bundled this into Apple Music or at the very least made it a $5 upcharge to bundle the two.

<comment><USER17> I rather have the second option.

Amazon Prime went up around the time they bundle their online streaming. IIRC.

I'd like to have more choices and if I wanted a service or not.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> The current rumors point to Disney+ being fully interoperable with a Apple's ecosystem (Apple TV channels, launching on Apple's platforms, etc), and _not_ interoperable with Amazon's platform or devices.

I'm curious whether Apple has worked out a Disney bundle.

$10/mo seems high for their initial launch.

<comment><USER19> > The current rumors point to Disney+ being fully interoperable with a Apple's > ecosystem (Apple TV channels, launching on Apple's platforms, etc), and not > interoperable with Amazon's platform or devices

What I heard (and I thought it was announcement, not mere rumour) was that Disney+ was actively working to be available not only on Amazon devices, but actually as an add-on in Prime video the same way HBO Now and a number of other streaming services that are also standalones are.

<comment><USER20> Actually Gizmodo and Engadget are reporting this as well. Amazon is the only media device company that Disney+ isn't launching on.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Well there seems to be a lot of negativity tomwards this launch. 9.99 seems reasonable, and their lineups of originals sound pretty good. I'd rather pay $10 for this than Netflix to be honest which has tons of content most of which is absolutely terrible. Between hbo and Apple, I could have an amazing lineup of shows and movies for $22/month. Sounds like a good deal to me.

I for one am excited about this and will probably subscribe. I spend a heck of a lot more than 120/year on a lot of random stuff that doesn't provide nearly the value of this.

<comment><USER22> The Apple originals aren't out yet so why do say it's an amazing lineup? While not everything is a hit Netflix does have solid original content but Apple is not a content company. I'm taking more of a wait and see approach here. Good content is not easy.

<comment><USER23> Yeah, all we have so far is the names attached and a few words said on a big stage. We know very little about the shows, and obviously the people working on it will try to make it sound as good as they can. If I had a penny for every time some actor hyped up a movie or show that ended up being awful...

And I agree, Netflix goes for a wider breadth, but they have a significant number of quality and original content. Shows like Maniac, Our Planet, Russian Doll, Master of None, Ozark, Stranger Things, American Vandal and so on. There's something on there for everyone, and enough that you're never out of shows to watch.

<comment><USER24> I invest a lot of time with netflix and watch everything possible (tv series wise). I'm down to a handful of series but I'm ignoring certain categories (superheros, kids, teen and period pieces, some cooking/gameshows).

I find the libruary is getting thinner. Quality shows produced outside of netflix are disappearing and no new replacements. Popular netflix shows are cancelled or the next season takes 1.5 years. Seasons are usually the minimum (10 shows or less).

Not sure netflix is going to win in the content war and may lose in the usability arena when other providers start launching have better browsing experiences.

Two under the radar shows: Bruno and Brownsville

<comment><USER23> I agree that a lot of shows are cut off after 2-3 seasons, and that there are fewer external shows, but I disagree that there's no replacement. There are so many new shows added every week or month. Sure most of it may not appeal to you directly, but generally I've found that there's at least 2-3 good new shows/specials/movies per month for me.

Again, most of the shows I named in my previous post were from the last year alone. It is sometimes hard to find good stuff though in the huge pile of shows.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> We need this space to become so fragmented that, in its final phase, you end up paying the copyright holder directly... just need to find a way to make the process easy for the user

</comment><comment><USER26> I don't get why they don't just slowly ramp up this model to figure out how and if it works. I assume Netflix has troves of data on viewer preferences and what types of shows would work. Apple is just dumping half of Netflix's budget blindly into a bunch of shows.

<comment><AUTHOR> I suppose they know what people buy in the iTunes Store. That's something.

<comment><USER26> I woulds say that people buying things in itunes stores is << Netflix views and ratings.

<comment><USER27> Why? When people buy things in the iTunes Store it means they think it's actually worth money. Once you have a Netflix subscription, watching shows there is free, so views is a signal of interest but not a great signal of whether the viewer meaningfully values the show.

<comment><USER28> Lots of diversity with who watches Netflix. Not as much with iTunes visual media buying.

<comment><USER27> What's your source on diversity of people who buy things on iTunes?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> I knew this would be coming eventually, I just expected it 10 years ago, not now. The one non-subscription device I own finally goes subscription.

They are so late to the game. Just yesterday there were articles here about subscription fatigue. After GoT ended, I dumped everything except a minimal Hulu subscription, and I'm starting to wonder why I'm keeping that around.

I have a lot of questions about this, including how they plan to sell me on their subscription model, which will clearly compete with the backlog of shows and movies that were already bought on iTunes at a price they were notorious for commodotizing, in addition to the other streaming services that they offer over their own hardware (Hulu, Netflix, HBO, CBS), all of which have their own content monopolies. The one thing that might do it for me is if they managed to get a monopoly on BigTen Network, that would get them a dedicated customer for 6 or 7 months out of the year, depending on how the season goes.

<comment><USER30> I know Apple had some history with Disney (well, Steve Jobs had history with Pixar), so I wonder if they'll have some sort of deal to include Disney content in this.

Because if they don't, I have a really hard time seeing Apple's content library at $10 competing _at all_ with Disney+ at $7.

An alternate theory, Apple has other subscription services (Music and upcoming Arcade) that could be bundled together at a discount to give them a competitive offering.

Since they're finally trying to make a serious push on Apple TV as a gaming platform (in that it's getting PS3/XB1 controller support) it would make some sense to try and rope people into both subscriptions. If music rides along and gets people to switch from Spotify, that's a bonus.

<comment><USER31> But isn't Disney+ only Disney properties and family-friendly content? Apple seems more like a HBO or Netflix.

<comment><USER32> You have to remember Disney includes Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and 20th Century Fox, which includes the Simpsons. They advertise 30 seasons of the Simpsons on the Disney plus landing page.

<comment><USER31> So Disney+ will have original content for mature audiences content from Fox? I totally think it'll be a monster hit but it seems like if you're not interested in the franchises and want to watch truly original series / content you need an HBO or Netflix.

<comment><USER33> Family friendly will be Disney+ everything and the kitchen sink will be Hulu

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> They're producing original content, too. I saw a trailer today for a feature film from Apple w/an A-list cast.

</comment><comment><USER35> Has Apple ever really pursued being an ISP? I feel like competing with bundled cable Internet at least in the US is going to be the main thing holding back potential cord cutters sometime soon. I don't have cable but still pay Cox $100 for my internet, and every time I go looking for alternatives nothing really looks much better.

<comment><USER36> YouTube TV is fantastic, and even after they raised the price to $50, it's still cheaper for me to use YouTube TV + Comcast internet. YTV is better and cheaper than any cable TV package I've got access to, even if I bundle.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> it would only be worth it if they provided entire itunes movie catalog. prime, netflix, disneylife and nowtv covers all other bases already

</comment><comment><USER38> I'd like to have somebody compete with YouTubeTV. They are very expensive now ($50/month).

</comment><comment><USER39> Actually it's only $9.70 a month with 3% back on Apple services with your Apple Card! You're practically getting 1/3rd of a month for free every year.

</comment><comment><USER40> Stopping innovative hardware to focus on subscription services is a sad day for Apple. Banking on people forgetting to cancel a monthly subscription to keep profit margins up is certainly a way to make a buck but for a company that used to be a world beater this is a whimper.

<comment><USER36> Apple has infinite resources. There's no reason they can't do both.

<comment><USER40> Im not sure if you have seen their keyboards lately (for starters) but they are definitely not doing one of those things anymore.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> Unless they're killing one or more of Netflix, Prime, and Crave, they're just making the world a worse place with this.

Remember that brief period when that thing where you had to decide which cable channels you wanted had died, and all you needed was Netflix, before the present day where you have to decide which of a whole handful of streaming service you should subscribe to?

<comment><USER42> > that brief period when that thing where you had to decide which cable > channels you wanted had died, and all you needed was Netflix

This was never the case; Netflix always missed a huge chunk of content that cable providers had. Apple is just providing another service that provides _more_ content. They're not "taking away" from you with this new service.

</comment></comment><comment><USER43> Ah one more paid subscription service to consume more content and waste more time...no thanks! I think as more of these services are launched, torrents will gain more popularity. Not everyone is going to subscribe to everything. Maybe a group of friends will share accounts but that is it

<comment><USER42> Lucky for everybody, you only have to subscribe to one or two of these services to have more content than you could possibly consume in a lifetime

<comment><USER43> It doesn't matter if a platform has more content than anyone can watch on their lifetime. What matters is, how much content worth watching a platform has.

Think about this - for watching GoT I had to subscribe to HBO and to watch some Marvel movie I go to Disney Plus. I keep on switching.</comment></comment></comment>


Verizon ends standalone DSL service, requires landline bundle - <AUTHOR> http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/17/technology/verizon-dsl/index.htm

<comment><USER2> This is horrible move! Why would I want a service I don't need? If they are not profitable on a dry loop then they should increase the price of that specific service.

I am grandfathered in unless I move or change my speed. Even still, I am leaving Verizon because of this move. It just rubs me the wrong way and I do not want to do business with them anymore. Comcast's modem is already on the way and Verizon will be cancelled in a few days.</comment>


Spotify hosts questionable content - <AUTHOR> https://www.vox.com/2018/7/31/17634030/spotify-infowars-controversy-facebook-youtube <comment><USER2> This may be an unpopular opinion: What happened to our capacity to just ignore and in our own circles mock whackos like Alex Jones? He's been a laughing stock here in Austin for years, and personally...I kind of enjoy watching his show on YouTube in a real, genuine and non-snarky way because his gesticulating, shock-jock radio style is just humorous (read: hilarious, I mean...gay frogs? Come on. That's funny.

Just the notion of it is funny. Not that there's anything wrong with two consenting adult frogs doing the dirty, but watching an evolved human being lose their mind over the sexual orientation, proclivities and preferences of amphibians gets me going every time. I don't want that to go away.

Unless I missed something-which I probably have-of him advocating extreme violence (physical or political) against groups of people, he's just a weird person with a platform and a weirder audience.</comment>


Backing Up My Kindle Ebooks (2018) - <AUTHOR> https://www.sonyaellenmann.com/2018/09/back-up-kindle-files-mac.html <comment><USER2> Calibre is great, if you configure it properly.

By default, converting books to another format will change the layout! Destroying the original formatting by default is unacceptable behaviour to be honest, so user beware.

For Kindle, I suggest using the KindleUnpack plugin instead; which can extract the EPUB file embedded in the AZW/KF8 format file losslessly for use with EPUB based readers without having to worry about Calibre's conversion messing up the formatting.

<comment><USER3> I had no idea that an EPUB file was embedded in the weird Amazon formats.

I mostly agree that you want to avoid "transcoding" an EPUB. But the formatting on some official EPUBs is so bad that I like to use readers that can override the built-in formatting. I like to choose the font, spacing, hyphenation, and justification myself. (Full justification and hyphenation are my bugbears--I think they are never appropriate on smaller screens, as they lead to large rivers and too many words broken up, but are fine on large ones.)

<comment><USER4> There isn't an EPUB "embedded" in Kindle formats. The Kindle format is based on the pre-Kindle Mobipocket format (that's why unDRMed Kindle books often have an extension of .mobi). EPUB didn't even exist when this format was created. Making an EPUB (or any other format) from a Kindle book involves converting, which is always going to introduce changes in formatting. People can argue that one program or another does a better job at doing it, but there's no way around it.

<comment><USER5> There's another layer to the format onion, even. The .mobi file, without DRM, is a PalmOS resource collection file [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRC_(Palm_OS)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRC_\(Palm_OS\)) since mobipocket

<comment><USER5> (I just looked and saw that I didn't finish that sentence: since mobipocket was primarily a PalmOS application at its peak.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Sometimes it's just better to pirate the books even if you've paid for them. The formatting and error correction is usually better and they stick to epub and mobi standards.

As an aside: I was helping a friend out who owned a Kindle recently and shocked to learn it can't read mobi or epub. Why would anyone buy such a crap e-reader?

<comment><USER7> Kindles are awesome e-readers. They can read .mobi files, the battery time is in weeks and the e-ink display is very easy on the eyes.

<comment><USER8> Yes but they don't support epub, which is frustrating (at least mine doesn't). Easy problem to fix but it seems the majority of ebooks online follow this format.

<comment><USER9> Installing KOreader after a jailbreak let's you read whatever you want. (And connect to OPDS servers)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> While I try to buy non-DRM books when I can, I'm still willing to buy DRM'd books as long as the DRM is pretty breakable(and I back them up immediately most of the time). If the books on Amazon, Google, B&N, etc were to suddenly have unbroken DRM, I'd stop buying DRM'd ebooks until that issue was "fixed". Every ebook DRM format(except maybe Apple) is already trivially removable, so I wish they'd drop the farce and go DRM free already.

<comment><USER11> > Every ebook DRM format(except maybe Apple) is already trivially removable

AFAIK, Amazon's latest DRM on KFX files hasn't been broken yet. That came out in 2015. Some people get around it by getting the book in the older format, but then you lose all the advanced typography stuff that KFX supports.

<comment><USER12> Removing DRM from KFX works since March [1].

[1] [https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2019/03/30/dedrm- tools-6...](https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2019/03/30/dedrm- tools-6-6-3-released/)

<comment><USER11> I think Amazon patched their PC client and e-reader firmware to fix the hole. I don't think the DeDRM works on a KFX you download today.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I've backed up my eBooks from time to time & cracked some books over the years that I had purchased & wanted to put on another device but a lot of the time I don't worry about it.

I got my first kindle in 2010 and bounced over to Barnes & Noble for a while with a Nook but then came back to the Amazon ecosystem. I've bought hundreds of books over the years.

But just like paper books there are a lot of books that I read once and never look at again. They aren't priceless treasured objects for me.

The thing with Amazon.. people complain a lot, but their ecosystem just works the best in the eBook space. I actually find it a lot less annoying than some of the shenanigans with other digital stores like the iTunes store over the years. I haven't tried Kobo but B&N was always a hot mess compared to Amazon. Tons of annoyances in the store & device software that Amazon had right from day 1. And you were paying more for a worse experience.

<comment><USER14> Fair, but just like I've never needed my photo backups, when I _do_ need them (if I ever do), I'll be very, very, very glad I put in the ~3 hours of work or so a month it takes to ensure my photos are all backed up.

<comment><USER15> Doesn't Amazon let you re-download your books on your kindle?

That's a little different than photos in that once the photo is gone, you don't have the opportunity to capture it again.

<comment><USER12> Assuming Amazon doesn't just decide to delete it [1], sure.

[1] [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18am...](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html)

<comment><USER15> Seems that those books were added to the store by a company that didn't have the rights. I'm not sure that's a widespread problem.

<comment><USER12> I'm not sure the distinction is relevant. The fact is, Amazon can and will remove your books at any time and there is nothing you can do about it.

<comment><USER15> Right, but in setting a pattern of behavior that they will remove books whenever they want, Amazon only seems to do it when there are bad actors involved.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Some of the DRM failures are real: kindle DRM updates and some forms don't strip in calibre IIRC. But that aside, this is all pretty much what I do.

I feel uncomfortable about the legalities but I do not like the social contact being written in this way, against any consumer interest and without discussion.

Buying books is important. Authors deserve their pay. DRM is like book cancer.

</comment><comment><USER17> Don't forget to backup your marks and highlights also. I made that mistake once, and then lost my Kindle. Lost years worth of highlights and notes, so now I set up a bash script to automatically sync them to a Git repo when my Kindle is plugged into my laptop.

<comment><USER18> Your bookmarks and highlights are synced to the cloud. You should be able to read them online on: [http://read.amazon.com/notebook](http://read.amazon.com/notebook)

From the kindle you can also export all the highlights of a book to your email. It's a lot better to read it on your email. The kindle device reader note reading experience is subpar.

<comment><USER17> Yes, but only for the books you purchase through Amazon. If you import DRM free books (or presumably re-import DRM free versions of Amazon purchases) or personal docs, the notes on those won't be saved.

<comment><USER19> And that's a big use case. I use Kindle for most of my reading and import many other documents (papers, DRM free books I bought and such).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> By coincidence I was doing this last night because I got a new eReader (non- Kindle). I found the most reliable method was to go the the "Manage Content and Devices" page on my Amazon account and manually download each book. This method downloads a single file for each book to your machine and its in a format Calibre and DeDRM can work with. It took a while even though I only had ~80 books but it was worth the effort.

<comment><USER21> I went to that page but there is no way to download the books. What's the name of the link/button to use?

<comment><USER22> That page should have a list of books you own. On the left side of each row for each book, there should be a light gray button that looks like: [...] It's under the "Actions" column, second to the left. Click that and there should be a popup that contains a link _" Download & transfer via USB"_

I believe this link will _only_ be available if your account has a real kindle (e.g. eink or fire) registered to it. It encrypts the downloaded file for whichever registered kindle you select from a list of all your registered kindles and apps, with the apps grayed out so you can only select actual kindles.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> The easiest ebook format to strip DRM from is the Adobe DRM that various stores use. I only buy ebooks from the Google Play book store now, since DRM removal is so straightforward. (Same deDRM calibre plugin, but you just get a single encrypted ePub you can download, and adding it to calibre gives you a DRM-free ePub, which is a more industry-standard format. Converting to or from KFX or AZW3 can be error-prone.)

<comment><AUTHOR> I mentioned this in the post :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> What are folks using for Audible? Open Audible? It wasn't pulling my library correctly last time I tried.

<comment><USER24> 1\. Download your own AAX files (using the Audible download manager or search around for some ways to do it w/o the download manager). 2\. Find out your 'activation keys' using ffprobe and the inAudible-NG project, see instructions here: [https://github.com/inAudible- NG/tables/blob/master/README.md](https://github.com/inAudible- NG/tables/blob/master/README.md). Needs to be done only once for your Audible account. 3\. Use ffmpeg with --activation_bytes to convert AAX to MP3 or other formats, either directly or with a nice script like this one that'll divide into chapters: [https://github.com/KrumpetPirate/AAXtoMP3](https://github.com/KrumpetPirate/AAXtoMP3)

OpenAudible looks like a nice tool that'll automate all of these steps for you.

<comment><USER25> Why is transcoding necessary even if the AAC option is used? (I was under the impression that audible used aac under the hood.) Is this avoidable?

<comment><USER24> I'm not sure. Possibly if you try ffmpeg's -a copy and such, it'll simply extract the AAC. Let me know if it works for you. I've always wanted mp3 in the past so I didn't mind the transcoding.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> I figured out how to finally get this to work. For Mac OS, you have to install an old version of the Kindle App. Version 1.23.1 appears to be the last version that downloads AZW3 formatted ebooks that can then be converted to EPUB easily with the DeDRM plugin. All later versions appear to be broken. Also, the Kindle app will silently update to the latest version unless you turn off the auto-update option. I converted all of my paid books to epub and not buying any more through Amazon. This post inspired me to do this before it is too late and the old version is no longer compatible to future OS versions.

</comment><comment><USER27> In April, Microsoft announced customers who bought books through its ebook store would lose access starting in July.

[https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47810367](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47810367)

</comment><comment><USER28> There are other reasons for doing this. Even if Kindle market would function forever and Amazon won't delete books remotely there is still a possibility that your account could be breached, for example by social engineering means. And if malicious person can access your account he can delete everything there, forever. If someone will steal your Steam account you can restore it completely, most likely. If Amazon acc is stolen - goodbye everything. And support won't restore or refund anything. (support itself is good)

</comment><comment><USER29> It's a neat exercise but one I gave up on years ago. Now I avoid the hassle by buying a book and then pirating a copy for my archive.

</comment><comment><USER30> this only works with purchased books. if you sent an epub to your kindle, it will not show up in the devices section of the amazon website.

<comment><USER31> But then you must already have the file as an epub... so what are you trying to accomplish?

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> I have this great idea for a business: "ewhiteout" for ebooks.

Basically you can selectively "patch" ebooks to censor profanity, sex scenes, violence, (and more) depending on your tastes and on what you like (and don't like) to consume.

However, this is extremely unpopular with authors/publishers for the same reason that censoring movies is extremely unpopular with Hollywood (hence why companies like VidAngel are constantly mired in legal issues despite widespread popularity with consumers).

Honestly, I don't understand why since at the end of the day everyone gets paid, and indeed get paid _more_ than they normally would have (I guess it's more of a "you are altering my art so people can consume it in ways I didn't intend" attitude). But in my mind it's no different from using whiteout on a physical book or picking out the mushrooms (or whatever you don't like) in some chef's dish.

Basically, I've already built the tech to do this for myself privately (and have patch files for ASoIaF and a dozen other epubs), but I will never share it (I've even considered FOSS) except with close family and friends even though I know it would be wildly popular in places like Utah because I fear legal pursuit from authors/publishers (and since you must break DRM in order for the tech to work, I don't see a way out).

<comment><USER33> > Honestly, I don't understand why since at the end of the day everyone gets > paid, and indeed get paid more than they normally would have (I guess it's > more of a "you are altering my art so people can consume it in ways I didn't > intend" attitude).

The problem with "you are altering my art so people can consume it in ways I didn't intend" can be a purely economic one, as it's misrepresenting the "brand" that is the author. If you removed the "vulgar" things than you are changing the product in a non-controlled way. It's why some directors or writers remove their names after producers or whatever external controllers get a hold of it. It doesn't represent their creative abilities. They could put out two versions, but I think that the opinions of most authors that if the sex scene could be removed, it didn't need to be there, and it wouldn't have been there in the first place.

It's removing an aspect of the brand.

<comment><USER32> The way I see it: it's not me or my company altering the brand, it's the _consumers themselves_ altering the brand so that they can enjoy it more fully.

How is a consumer altering a movie experience or book experience any different from a consumer altering a:

\- music experience (remix, etc.)

\- food experience (customizing a chef's dish)

\- video game experience (with game genie, mods, etc.)

\- picture experience (with photoshop, memes, etc.)

?

People create derivative works all the time of all media types to suit their tastes, dreams, and whims - I don't see why that should be illegal as long as they aren't trying to resell it or create a competing brand.

<comment><USER34> Why not just consume media you don't find offensive in the first place? Would you feel differently if I wanted to _insert_ sex scenes in to movies that didn't have them?

<comment><USER32> > Why not just consume media you don't find offensive in the first place?

FOMO, mainly? You feel left out when all of your coworkers are talking about GoT everyday... if only there were a way to consume it in a way that met your standards and you could participate in the discussions too...

> Would you feel differently if I wanted to _insert_ sex scenes in to movies > that didn't have them?

Not at all! If that's what you want to do, you should be able to do it on your own copy! Or if you wanted to replace the main character with Thomas the Tank Engine, whatever floats your boat, that's great.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> I find that a number of Kindle books I've purchased at the beginning say:

"The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied so that you can enjoy reading it on your personal devices"...

So I assume either they don't have kindle DRM, or it is ethical (possibly legally allowed) to remove the kindle DRM.

<comment><USER36> Publishers (including self-publishers) can choose whether to apply DRM to books on Amazon as part of the uploading process, and not all publishers do so. Tor and Baen, for instance, don't use DRM on any of their titles.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> I did a review of the varying e-readers 9 or 10 years ago and decided on the Nook based on standards support. I still use a Nook and never had any problems like this.

</comment><comment><USER38> How legal is stripping the DRM like this? Can one get in trouble for this?

<comment><USER39> > _Use of Kindle Content_. [...]. _Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to > you_ by the Content Provider. The Content Provider may include additional > terms for use within its Kindle Content. Those terms will also apply, but > this Agreement will govern in the event of a conflict. Some Kindle Content, > such as interactive or highly formatted content, may not be available to you > on all Kindle Applications.

> [...]

> _Termination_. Your rights under this Agreement will automatically terminate > if you fail to comply with any term of this Agreement. [...].

[https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_left_v4_sib?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201014950)

So you may get in trouble if you're caught doing stupid things, yes. Will they bother though? Unlikely.

<comment><USER40> physical books are so much better for this reason and generally cheaper

<comment><USER41> They are not "generally cheaper" (ebooks are usually about 30-50% cheaper), and much less convenient if you travel a lot.

<comment><USER40> also you have to buy a device to read them on

<comment><USER42> Once.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> I periodically go through and back up my Kindle to Calibre.

I have a fairly enormous ebook library, and I don't care to have it exploded due to, e.g., some error in the kindle software api.

</comment><comment><USER44> Anyone know of a good way to browse & put pdfs into the kindle? The Amazon PC application purports to do as much but is really bad at it.

<comment><USER45> Easiest way I know of is to email it to the kindle, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle/email](https://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle/email)

Haven't done it often, but it seems to work fine.

<comment><USER3> You can use this app, too

[https://www.willus.com/k2pdfopt/](https://www.willus.com/k2pdfopt/)

to pre-process them in various ways so they are actually readable on a Kindle. (Crop whitespace, flip to landscape etc)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER46> The ones that fail are the new encryption.

To remove that you need another add on and the serial from the kindle as key

Don't have the name of it with me now sorry

<comment><USER47> If I remember correctly the process is described in the README of the DeDRM plugin that can be downloaded from GitHub: [https://github.com/apprenticeharper/DeDRM_tools/blob/master/...](https://github.com/apprenticeharper/DeDRM_tools/blob/master/README.md) (and I am talking about the README file inside the zip you download there).

</comment></comment><comment><USER48> I've downloaded all my books but I'm holding off cracking the DRM until I need to.

<comment><USER11> > I'm holding off cracking the DRM until I need to

Last time I checked, there was no crack for Amazon's latest version of their DRM (KF8 files). A workaround exists where you get Amazon to wrap the content in the old DRM, but then you lose all the typography improvements in the KF8 file.

</comment></comment><comment><USER49> This doesn't work anymore.

You need to download old Kindle app where it's possible.

<comment><USER31> Or download the files from your "Manage Your Content and Devices" page using the "download and transfer using USB" link which gives you the older AZW3 format.

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> anyone know how to do this for audible books?

</comment><comment><USER51> 2018

</comment><comment><USER52> Why is this article so high up? It's a blog post by an Amazon associate who fails at following basic instructions (dedrm tells you how to remove the new DRM and how to do it without a physical device)

"hacker news"

<comment><USER53> It's probably not high up because it's a great blog post, but it sparked a discussion and with the news from a few days ago that some big provider's ebooks will stop working because of DRM issues it's a topic on people's minds.

</comment></comment><comment><USER54> Or instead of messing with propertiary programs one could set up an rsync job to pull the books from the actual device. DeDRM still required, btw. But do humans really requires a guide how to backup stuff from a frickin' mass storage device? I hate this like the 1000 different "10 hammock mistakes" video on youtube, where all of them telling the same things. Ah, she is member of "Amazon Associates" program so this article is just a bs for more clicks.

<comment><USER55> She didn't have a phsyical kindle device available.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: I've got one user. What's the best way to get more? - <AUTHOR> I created a small application, and got one user. It's absolutely a hobby project -- so I'm not advertising, and I'm not looking for thousands of users. That being said, it's exciting to have people use things you make! I'd like to get small numbers of people to use it, but I'm not sure how.<p>What are some low-key ways you have grown hobby projects? Is it just something you let happen naturally? <comment><USER2> Read this book ASAP

[http://tractionbook.com/](http://tractionbook.com/)

and read [https://growthhackers.com/](https://growthhackers.com/) to get ideas

Another trick - post your URL in Ask HN posts ;)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you for the recommendations! I'm always up for a good book.

The book seems like it's targeted for rapid growth rather than the small/steady growth I'm looking for. Is that the case? I'd be interested in reading it either way, but I'd like to hear more.

The URL is [http://www.scriptcat.io](http://www.scriptcat.io) :)

<comment><USER3> The book is great and definitely about systematic steady growth.

You can get the gist of it from this Slideshare: [http://www.slideshare.net/jwmares/traction-trumps- everything](http://www.slideshare.net/jwmares/traction-trumps-everything)

But the basic exercise is to go through each of the 19 different channels and see if there's something you could do and then pick the couple that make the most sense, try those and repeat.

So for Scriptcat it'd be something like:

CONTENT MARKETING Write interesting content for port best practices, what to check, what should be open when.

FB/Twitter Ads You'd need to charge to cover the costs of this, but you could see ads like: "Do you know what your ports are doing while you sleep?"

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Partner with ISPs to get their signups using your system. Some of them have add-on ecosystems.

What you're looking for is a system where you can put X in and get Y users out of it (ideally without a lot of time and effort on your part). I think you're already a good way along the path because you've created a useful service.

<comment><AUTHOR> Wow, thanks for the great info! I just bought the book, I'm excited to get into it. Your ISP suggestion is really interesting... it's got me thinking about a lot of channels/partnerships I hadn't even considered.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Product Hunt is a great (and free) place to start

Personal Networks, writing blog posts about what you've learned, interact with people (genuinely) on twitter (and obviously link your project in your account), Reddit is also good. With any of these respect the community and don't spam them (you don't seem the type given your post here, thought I would mention anyways)

If its technical and you know where the people are who benefit go and interact with them. Help them with something they need help with. Then get them to try it, find issues, fix 'em, rinse repeat.

It takes a lot of footwork!

<comment><USER5> PH isn't great because of lack of transparency. See related discussions.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10739875](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10739875)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10741827](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10741827)

There's OpenHunt, it's slowly gaining momentum www.openhunt.co

<comment><USER6> If "ask hn" is any measure, OpenHunt is actually rapidly losing what little momentum it had.

<comment><USER7> yeah I kept checking it ever since is was featured here but it seems to be on the way down. very few submissions with very little votes. too bad. it's a good idea.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> We are in a similar place right now. I'm looking forward to seeing what people have to say.

Blight of the Immortals only has about 50 daily active users. We would like to grow a little to get a better idea about what people like and don't like about the game.

[https://blight.ironhelmet.com](https://blight.ironhelmet.com)

We've run some Facebook and Google ads and it looks like it costs around 35 - 40c a click. We only get about 10% sign-up so we are paying about $4 a user. (From what I have read that's about what to expect)

We still have a lot of cool stuff to add, but we make about $2 per new account, so I guess that means we are about halfway there :)

<comment><USER9> Let me give you my user experience and see if you can help us play your game more: About seven of us played a game of Blight of the Immortals in turn-based mode, namely because we all have jobs and would be unable to get to the devices appropriately. The turn-based functionality is an add-on that causes immense game issues where characters can be held for long periods of time in stun spells, sometimes because of recharge rates and other items indefinitely. That being said, we love the game, just the quirks of having the turn base sit on top of the real-time throws some wrenches in.

The items for you to take this up a notch are the following: 1\. Update things from time to time to make it newer-ish. The game does not feel like it has changed any of the times that we have played it over the four years (has it been that long)

2\. Turn based for the die-hard workers.

3\. Figure out the Iron Key for paying to play for a period of time. That really worked out for getting us to have one person pay for a key and then we could all play. If a person wants to get new friends to start a separate game, then you have an in for a new key purchase.

4\. Ask your users, send an e-mail out to everybody and ask them what their issues are. Ask those that love it to post on their facebook / twitter / etc.

<comment><USER8> Hey Agustus, Thanks very much for the feedback!

The new Blight of the Immortals is an all new game built on the ashes of the old game.

The game infact didn't change from about 2010 when I stopped working on it till just a few months ago when we opened up a beta of the new game.

We haven't reached out to the players of the old game because we're still fleshing out the content and adding new features. We've started doing a little advertising to see how well things like the home page and tutorial are working.

When the only traffic to the site is ads, you can get a good idea of how the game stands on its own.

The only way the game will be big "success" is if we generate enough cash to do paid user acquisition.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Is the app you are talking about the one in your profile? If so I personally think it's great. I am sure you will find few more users now that you posted here.

If I were you I would personally go to small-mid-big biz in your area and pitch them this tool. I know that Internet is the thing but real money and connections are offline....just a hint....

<comment><AUTHOR> That's the one! I'm glad you like it :)

I think talking to businesses personally would be great, but I wouldn't even know where to start with that. Do you have any suggestions? (books, articles, personal experience?)

<comment><USER10> You just have to do it. Either be bold and go straight to their doors or schedule 5 minute meeting with person in charge. Try to get the meeting with people with budgets and not with us monkeys that run their equipment for peanuts ;)

There is no silver bullet for this and while books and articles can be of help it will never describe what you do and feel once you are before people you are pitching your product. You have to overcome any issues with that yourself. You just have to do it. I am still sometimes anxious so don't worry. It's normal...

People will tell you to post on the Internet but they know jack shajt. You will get freeloaders and hardly any feedback from those users. Once you land 3 serious biz users those are gold mines. Better spend the time and $200 for a dinner with them.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I also wrote a few years ago an "nmap as a service" tool, had some challenges like false positives, how to authorize automatically, slowness, UDP ports, using different origin IPs in case I was blocked etc. OP email me if you want to exchange notes.

<comment><AUTHOR> That would be great! I'm at work now, so I'll shoot you an email tonight (I'm assuming it's the one in your profile?).

<comment><USER11> yep

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> "Do things that don't scale"

[http://paulgraham.com/ds.html](http://paulgraham.com/ds.html)

<comment><AUTHOR> I read that! It was definitely a catalyst for this question. I emailed my one user and let them know I'd be happy to personally help in any way I could. No response yet :)

<comment><AUTHOR> I want to reply to afarrell, but I can't.

I think going to meetups would be great! That might actually be my best bet since it's person-to-person and majority technical. It's definitely the target audience at least.

My site is [http://www.scriptcat.io](http://www.scriptcat.io) \-- basically, it emails you if it detects a new open port. "Pingdom for open ports"

(Edit: I could've sworn afarrell's post initially asked what the project was)

<comment><USER13> If a post doesn't have a reply link, click on the timestamp and you should see a reply form there. I believe this is done to discourage deep, nested arguments.

<comment><AUTHOR> Nice, thanks for the tip!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "hobby" project but if prospective got a whiff of such a thing, I suspect they'd pass. I would at least try to exude more seriousness about the product, unless it's a game or something frivolous.

<comment><AUTHOR> That's a really interesting point. Maybe "hobby project" wasn't the best word choice. I just wanted to emphasize that I'm not looking for rocket-ship growth (or even money), just a way to slowly get users who will find use in my app.

<comment><USER14> You can be very serious about something while not striving for rocket ship growth. "Hobby" makes it sound like you'd have no qualms shutting it down with a moment's notice which prospective customers can frequently detect and is obviously not compelling.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Nobody is going to simply stumble across your application, so it's your job to start promoting it! That doesn't mean paying for advertising, but marketing doesn't always cost money.

If you're keen to have more people use it, you need to be able to clearly answer:

What is the benefit of using your application? What does your tool do to make people's lives easier/better? How can people access your application?

Then you start with your own social networks. Explicitly ask people to use your tool as testers, find people who you think would benefit and approach them directly. Tell people why it's cool and ask them to share it - then go from there.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the response!

I think one of my issues is that the app provides a technical service, so it's limited to programmer friends who are all mostly work acquaintances. I'm not sure why, but I was hesitant to share it in the workplace. I suppose it's as good a place as any!

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I read a little bit about what your app does -- scan for open ports.

I think "native" promotion is the best. Figure out who your best customers could be and start watching ports on all their websites. Whenever one changes, send an automated email saying something like:

"We noticed a potential vulnrubility in your site, if you'd like to know if this happens again, reach out to me"

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for taking a look at it! I like the idea of "native" promotion, and I think you just made me realize another problem I have -- I'm not actually sure who my best customers could be. I've just thought of it very broadly as "people with websites". I'll think more about that...

<comment><USER16> rethink it as "people who care A LOT about having their website hacked"

maybe as the other commenter said, you don't send a million emails, instead you could do a twitter account or some other social media way to do it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> One strategy that sometimes works is to help people see the tie between your app/product and something else that's already popular.

One of the other comments here notes that your application does some kind of scanning for open ports. Assuming the application has some kind of integration...

That might be easy to link to, for example, Docker. A blog post showing how to "automate security validation for newly created containers" might have a broader audience that just "port scanning". Especially if you provide working code, and some path to integrate more than just your app.

</comment><comment><USER18> I have the same problem, my project is extremely niche and I hoped it would spread by word of mouth. I don't really use social media, so I don't self- promote it. The big boost came when I posted my project on a specific subreddit and it got a large number of upvotes. However the wave of users died off quickly and a year later I get like 10 users per day and maybe once per month it gets mentioned somewhere on the Internet.

</comment><comment><USER19> What is the application? Sharing it here could be a start?

<comment><AUTHOR> Right now, it's a tool that emails you if a new port opens up on your site. "Pingdom for open ports". I built it in response to a couple friends who got their sites hacked after deploying updates with mongodb or elasticsearch ports open.

The site is [http://www.scriptcat.io](http://www.scriptcat.io) (I submitted it to HN previously).

<comment><USER20> You know have a new user. Why does it say I have reached the max number of sites when I try to add a second?

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey! Thank you! I limited the number of sites you can add by default to discourage malicious use -- I've updated your account so you can have 10. Let me know if you need more!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Firstly, since it is a hobby, tell a few friends about it -- see if they would get on your application, get some feedback from them and move on accordingly.

</comment><comment><USER22> . u already started by asking for help

\- invite folks you know on an "sure to open your email/answer ur slack/im/sms" message and

\-- invite folks you know little bit outside of that circle

\--- invite folks in forums your' involved with (give/take)

\--- invite folks on ur mostly active social media account

\---- you can submit to betalist.com if it's beta private only

\---- you can submit to producthunt.com if it's live and ready to be used

</comment><comment><USER23> Why don't you ask your one user to help you?

<comment><AUTHOR> My first step after getting that one user was to "do things that don't scale". So I sent him/her a personal email letting them know I hoped they found the service helpful, and that I'd be happy to help out in any way possible. And to tell a friend.

No response yet!

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Please watch this first and I am sure you come back here with more enlightenment.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v47WEyeSMSA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v47WEyeSMSA)

</comment><comment><USER13> You could post it here for feedback: [https://www.reddit.com/r/sideproject](https://www.reddit.com/r/sideproject)

</comment><comment><USER25> if it is something any regular person on the street would use, get some business cards focused on the application with the website and start handing them out.

Who is your one user? Do they fit any particular category? Ask them if they have friends that would use your software.

</comment><comment><USER26> Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Depending on your network, a casual post here and there can be noticed by a few dozen people or more.

</comment><comment><USER27> one help would be to post a link so we can check it out.

</comment><comment><USER28> You need SSL for starters...</comment>


Show HN: How to create and implement a form using AMP - <AUTHOR> https://blog.arengu.com/how-to-create-implement-forms-amp-pages/ <comment><USER2> IIRC Show HN shouldn't be used for blog posts</comment>


Apparatus: graphics editor and programming environment for interactive diagrams - <AUTHOR> http://aprt.us/ <comment><USER2> Definitely influenced by Bret Victor's talk/prototype: [http://worrydream.com/#!/DrawingDynamicVisualizationsTalk](http://worrydream.com/#!/DrawingDynamicVisualizationsTalk)

And credited so: [http://aprt.us/#development](http://aprt.us/#development)

Looks cool, on a plane without a PC. Will have to try it out when I land.

<comment><USER3> Even this image has Bret listed as author: [http://aprt.us/editor/?load=doc/examples/Star.json](http://aprt.us/editor/?load=doc/examples/Star.json)

<comment><USER4> Also this one which is amazing: [http://aprt.us/editor/?load=doc/examples/Potted%20Plant.json](http://aprt.us/editor/?load=doc/examples/Potted%20Plant.json)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I can only hugely commend the creators. Interactive charts for pedagogical purposes are a big win for me, as I work in a fairly complex domain where a moving picture can make all the difference between understanding immediately, and having to explain a static chart with 1000 long words. This beats animated gifs hands down and in my personal opinion, the interface is beautiful. Kudos and looking forward to embeddable.

</comment><comment><USER6> All of this stuff is coming out of SAP Labs. They've got some truly awesome people doing great work there.

[http://www.cdglabs.org](http://www.cdglabs.org)

</comment><comment><USER7> This could be the best thing ever.

I'm a guy who types in SVG diagrams manually. They're normally simple enough and it's easier to get the alignments when you type in the coordinates. But tools like this could change it. I'll keep eyes on this. Thanks for sharing.

<comment><USER8> Yes! I've looked for something like this. I would love to use this to build UI on iOS. So far you have to resort to Paintcode that generates code but I rather have something agnostic.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Why doesn't it have an undo key?

<comment><USER10> There's an undo menu item.

It's kind of cute. It's more like a proof of concept, or minimal viable product, at this point. Bring it up to the level of Inkscape, so you can do most of the things .svg files can represent, and it will be useful.

(Inkscape is a great piece of free software, one of the few pieces of free graphics software on Linux that doesn't come from a command line mindset. Also runs on Windows and Mac.)

<comment><USER11> Inkscape is awesome. Unfortunately one of the things its used for _a lot_ is designing for a laser cutter which is _not_ it's strong point: it can't really do precise stuff like you can in Solidworks with dimensioning and relations. I'd love an OSS solution for vector drawing that has dimensioning and relations, if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

<comment><USER10> True. Inkscape, unfortunately, doesn't really understand dimensions. Internally, it uses "px" as a unit, although SVG understands "mm" and "in". Corel Draw is more serious about dimensions and units, which is needed when you're talking to a laser cutter. SVG users have asked for the opposite feature: roundoff to pixel boundaries, instead of floating point coordinates.[1] SVG's internal representation is a text string of a number with a decimal point, but it's up to the program writing the file to decide how many digits to put after the decimal point. And, of course, you'll get rounding errors going back and forth from text representation to internal floating point representation.

[1] [https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/951655](https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/951655)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Is there an OSQA.net alternative written in Ruby or PHP? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><USER2> Shapado is written with Ruby on Rails.

Code: <https://github.com/patcito/shapado> Main site: <http://shapado.com/></comment>


Ask HN: Would you use an online personal trainer? - <AUTHOR>

Thinking about signing up for a long distance endurance mountain bike race next year and am having a hard time finding a niche trainer. What do you all think about one-on-one personal trainers via the internet? Seems like there is something to be said about checking in with someone and being accountable to another person. <comment><USER2> The personal trainer advantage is the form fixing ability in my opinion. The motivation of being held accountable is a huge part too, but having someone there to help make sure that Im doing the exercise right and helping me push myself during my workout is the reason for me to get one.</comment>


Show HN: Super simple static web hosting - <AUTHOR> https://tiiny.host <comment><AUTHOR> Hey guys I built this to greatly simplify hosting. All feedback appreciated.

Here's a common question I get:

Q: How is this different to github pages, netlify, surge.sh etc?

A:

\- No knowledge of git or cmd line required (great for beginners)

\- Sites you upload disappear within 7 days. Great for prototyping and temporarily hosting stuff to share.

\- Unlimited subdomains (not the case with github pages)

\- No registration required (you can remain anonymous)

<comment><USER2> this looks great. Is there any way to download a site before they disappear?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! Yep with the premium version, any site you upload is automatically archived upon expiry so you never lose it. You can download archives whenever you want.</comment></comment></comment>


Can Everlane Become the Next J.Crew? - <AUTHOR> http://www.racked.com/2015/10/8/9442455/everlane-expansion <comment><USER2> I am an Everlane fan (wearing one of their tees right now, actually), but I find their low/no-markup marketing message to be a turn-off.

For example, the shirt I'm wearing is $22, but they claim a comparable shirt costs $50. The reality is it feels like a $22 t-shirt. I know what to expect from a $50 t-shirt — almost always a $20 shirt with a $30 logo. Occasionally a $50+ t-shirt has something special going on (usually in the thickness/stitching), but the Everlane shirts are standard quality with a cut that fits me well. And the "comparable value" inflation of the women's clothing seems even worse.

The style is enough; would rather not be told I'm getting a special deal that I don't think I'm getting.

</comment><comment><USER3> Liked this quote a lot:

 _" They have very thorough sizing information on their site and they treat customers really well," Ariella Major, a 25-year-old marketing associate and Everlane devotee, says. "Their marketing emails are very inviting and they send you really nice personal emails too. You can tell a thoughtful person wrote it."_

A marketer praising the work of another marketer; "you can tell a thoughtful marketing intern wrote it!"

</comment><comment> what-no-tests It's great to see ethics enter the equation, along with quality.

The constant focus on price alone is simply a race to zero, where the consumer wins initially but ultimately loses when quality is sacrificed to keep costs going down and margin up.

</comment><comment><USER4> I first heard of Everlane when I saw an ad for their white t-shirts, which seemed to be their main (only?) product at the time. They were boasting about having the same quality as other brands, but for a much lower price.

The price, it turned out, was outrageous and hilarious[1], and I immediately decided Everlane was a brand for suckers.

<comment><USER5> I think the price is in line with the quality, at least for the ones I've bought. I was less impressed with their sweaters, but I'm very pleased with my t-shirts.</comment></comment>


SE: Why did Stanley Kubrick include these scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey? - <AUTHOR> https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/174520/why-did-stanley-kubrick-include-these-scenes-in-2001-a-space-odyssey <comment><USER2> I can't recommend these two YouTube channels enough:

* Every Frame a Painting [0]

* Nerdwriter1 [1]

They've really increased my appreciation for film and film-making overall. I feel like my movie-watching has changed significantly too. Movies that previously seemed boring now have handles into which I can relate and feel. Really good stuff.

[0] [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjFqcJQXGZ6T6sxyFB-5i6A](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjFqcJQXGZ6T6sxyFB-5i6A)

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJkMlOu7faDgqh4PfzbpLdg](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJkMlOu7faDgqh4PfzbpLdg)

</comment><comment><USER3> Pardon my being naive, but I find it amazing how exchanges on StackExchange are always so high-level and civil. I know very little about StackExchange itself, how have they achieved that kind of quality?

As a follow-up question, why are all communities not doing the same?</comment>


Ouya Coder Develops Fix For Ouya Controller Problems - <AUTHOR> http://gamewoof.com/news/ouya-controller-updatethe-developer-of-the-code-that-fixed-ouyas-controller-talks-and-so-does-ouya/

<comment><USER2> I hope for OUYA's sake that a firmware update actually fixes this. To state the obvious, it would be painful to have to replace all of the controllers that are already out there.

</comment><comment><USER3> I wonder if they could support XBox controllers. I don't even really like the OUYA controller feel, independent of this issue.</comment>


The Nvidia Shield Tablet Review - <AUTHOR> http://www.anandtech.com/show/8296/the-nvidia-shield-tablet-review

<comment><USER2> I was waiting for over half a year for the next shield and am very disappointed it's a tablet. I liked the original shield because it allows to stream PC games throughout my house, so that I can play them on my couch or in bed. The other awesome thing is playing emulators on the go. With the tablet I can't do any of those properly, because the controller is not built in and I need to have a place to set up the tablet. So I can't play it on the train or anywhere in my house excepts my desk or my dining room table. If you already have a tablet (or 2 in my case) and wanted this as a gaming device, then that's a bummer. It's too bad. Everything that targets hardcore gamers fails.

<comment><USER3> same feeling here, I don't understand the switch, the interesting thing about the Shield was the form factor. Now it only provide a moderate aventage over existing tablet + Xbox controller

<comment><USER4> It's not a switch. The point of the Shield line is to create a market for Tegra chips. Adding a second form factor is an attempt to broaden their potential customer base, and more directly compete with traditional tablets. The original Shield is still for sale. (I love mine, and I am certainly open to buying another revision of the original shield with a K1 at some point, but this isn't in place of that.)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> An example of regular glibc Linux running on Nvidia Jetson TK1 board (same chipset as in Shield) on fully open stack (nouveau + Wayland):

[http://www.codethink.co.uk/2014/06/12/no-secret-sauce- just-o...](http://www.codethink.co.uk/2014/06/12/no-secret-sauce-just-open- source)

I wonder if there are open drivers for other components in Shield (WiFi, accelerometer, etc.) to enable running fully open stack on it. I'd really like to have something like Nemo or Plasma Active running on top of Wayland there.

<comment><USER6> (I work for NVIDIA, but not on the Shield team, and am speaking only in a personal capacity, not a corporate capacity.)

There has been a source release to build Android, at least [0] -- the open source teams, I've found, are very very careful about pushing source the same day they push binaries of updates. I think that WiFi and accelerometer bits are in the kernel, and since they're in the kernel, the source is available [1]. It looks like the binary blobs are for camera, GPS, GPU, and Icera (3G/LTE radio); if you're using Nouveau, then although GPU usage may not be the most power-efficient, you should have most of what you need to run the system.

[0] [http://nv- tegra.nvidia.com/gitweb/?p=manifest/android/binary...](http://nv- tegra.nvidia.com/gitweb/?p=manifest/android/binary.git;a=blob_plain;f=README;hb=rel- st8-r2.2-partner)

[1] [http://nv- tegra.nvidia.com/gitweb/?p=linux-3.10.git;a=shortl...](http://nv- tegra.nvidia.com/gitweb/?p=linux-3.10.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/rel- st8-r2.2)

<comment><USER5> Thanks, that sounds promising! 3G/LTE is rarely open, and I'd go for the WiFi model anyway if anything. Touchscreen driver is also critical for a tablet though.

Do you know if Linux for Tegra R19 ([https://developer.nvidia.com/linux-tegra- rel-19](https://developer.nvidia.com/linux-tegra-rel-19)) is using those kernel drivers for WiFi/accelerometer, or that's a bare minimum release?

Also, if this isn't of course under some NDA and etc, do you know if Nvidia plan to merge development of the closed Tegra driver with nouveau for K1? Since Nvidia contributed some code already, may be they consider switching to the same approach like Intel?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I'm somewhat disturbed by the fact that Samsung (and Apple) seems to be the only one that is pushing for >= 10" tablets. I had a Galaxy Tab S Pro which is not that great (heard the Note line is very good). I ended up gifting it to my dad and I bought myself an iPad, even though I'm heavily invested in Android.

Nexus 10 has no successor, and LG is not coming out with anything with that diagonal, and now this.

<comment><USER8> I have a 21 inch "tablet" hanging on my office wall, it's pretty useful as a dashboard and I can put it on a standing desk for typing up emails and watching videos, [http://www8.hp.com/us/en/ads/aio- products/slate21-pro.html](http://www8.hp.com/us/en/ads/aio- products/slate21-pro.html)

<comment><USER2> would be nice if it wasn't power cord bound.

<comment><USER8> Not really, it's heavy, like ~14 pounds.

It's definitely useful though, a good niche product between desktop computer and tablet.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> If only it had 4-8GB RAM. I could actually see myself do stuff on it other than play games. It comes with a stylus and SD card slot! That's almost my whole checklist for a dream tablet:

1\. stylus with good support

2\. SD card slot

3\. powerful hardware

4\. lots of RAM

I can't understand why they put so little in.

<comment><USER8> They might have tested it and found that it just wasn't an advantage to having more RAM.

The RAM they have in there is pretty fast and the SSD to RAM might be fast enough and Android's RAM management good enough that more than 2GB just isn't necessary (but I haven't seen those tests, just guessing).

There could also be a battery life reason.

It looks like the test/dev/beta version of the Shield did have 4GB of RAM, so I'm guessing there was a decent reason they reduced it.

[http://www.droid-life.com/2014/04/23/nvidia-shield-2-gets- be...](http://www.droid-life.com/2014/04/23/nvidia-shield-2-gets-benchmarked- tegra-k1-soc-and-4gb-of-ram/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Interesting why they didn't license Wacom tech like Samsung did for the Note family.</comment>


DotJS.eu, a conference in Paris on Nov 30th with jashkenas, fat, mrdoob ... - <AUTHOR> http://www.dotjs.eu

<comment><USER2> Nice venue! <http://www.dotjs.eu/venue>

</comment><comment><USER3> The animated footer is amazing.

<comment><USER4> It's an interactive Voronoi Diagram: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronoi_diagram>

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> 100 euros seems a bit too much for me, especially that I'm not interested in Javascript, but I would love to get in touch with the hacker's community here in Paris.

Does anyone know how or where can I get to know them? What are the upcoming conferences happening in the area? What are the active communities?

<comment><USER6> There's LeWeb in december: <http://www.leweb.co/>

<comment><USER7> LeWeb isn't really for hackers (just look at the price...)

We do a Hacker News meetup called <http://parishackers.org> Next meetup should be on June 28th!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Mr. Doob? What an interesting _nom de plume_...

<comment><USER7> ;-)

For those who don't know him, he's the creator of Three.js and made great JS demos like <http://ro.me> or <http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com>

<comment><USER9> Three.js is amazing all demos are here : <http://mrdoob.github.com/three.js/>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> this looks great. Any chance we can get a schedule of the talks? I didn't find them on the website.

<comment><USER7> Sessions should run from 9am to 6pm with gates opening at 8am but we don't have a precise schedule yet.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> The google map on the venue page is a bit too large for mobile browsers. Once you scroll down too far, the map takes over the screen and it's no longer possible to navigate the page.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the feedback, I've reduced the height of the maps.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Things to ask a potential Cofounder - <AUTHOR>

I'm just looking for suggestions from people of the kind of things to ask when you're thinking of teaming up with a potential co-founder. I think it could be helpful for HN to share this knowledge, so suggestions please. <comment><AUTHOR> Jacquesm in IRC suggested that you always specify what each co-founders minimum time commitment would be.

</comment><comment><USER2> What skills do they offer?

Have they previous experience with startups?

Who do they know who can help your startup?

What is their actual goal with the business? (i.e. quick sale vs long term growth)

What is their work ethic? (and does it match yours?)

What personal projects are they working on?

Just a few ideas, I'm sure there's loads more you'll need to know before teaming up.</comment>


Ask HN: What newsletters do you read and recommend? - <AUTHOR> I really enjoy JavaScript Weekly (http://javascriptweekly.com) and DataScience Weekly (http://datascienceweekly.org) so am looking for some more good ones. What does everyone recommend? <comment><USER2> I read Rubyweekly. The most others i subscribed are boring.</comment>


The Ins and Outs of CSS Resets - <AUTHOR> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/scriptjunkie/gg257960.aspx <comment><USER2> Ah, the bitter-sweet comedy of corporate PR.

The sole purpose of these articles is show IE9 casually in screenshots alongside with real browsers, in an attempt to upgrade its public image from "the cancer of the internet" to "just another browser, like all the others".

This is in sharp contrast to regular CSS articles where IE is either not mentioned at all, or only at the very end, in the obligatory "IE hack" paragraph. I have _never_ before seen a CSS article treat IE as "just another browser" like this one.

Dear Microsoft. If you really want to restore some of the developer mindshare that you have lost (if that's even possible after 10 years of IE6) then spare us your smoke & mirrors.

Instead use your resources to exterminate IE6-IE8 from the internet _quickly_ , whatever it takes. As of today these trainwracks still account for ~50% of the traffic and that means we, the developers that you are suddenly trying to be friends with, still have to support them.

It doesn't help us that, according to you, IE9 is suddenly awesome and standards compliant. When we sit down in front of our little text editors then we _still_ have to put all those nasty hacks in. Your image in the web community is going nowhere before that changes. No matter how much money you spend on TV ads and PR blogs.</comment>