Protein mania: the rich world's new diet obsession - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/04/protein-mania-the-rich-worlds-new-diet-obsession <comment><USER2> As someone who does sports professionally, I highly recommend talking to dietitian and doing specialized medical examination before doing any diets or taking food supplements.

Just consuming more protein does not mean "weight loss" or "more muscles" because extra protein will be converted to glucose thanks to gluconeogenesis and then some of it will convert to fat. Too much protein could also lead to kidney/liver issues as well as atherosclerosis or other health conditions.

When you work out regularly or semi-professionally you will grow muscle mass that will lead to weight loss: workout -> more muscle mass -> more energy consumption -> weight loss.

Last but not least, not all protein created equal: you also have to balance animal and plant protein. There're also slow and fast digested proteins (casein/whey).

As they say, do not try this at home and talk to your doctor.

<comment><USER3> There is actually no scientific proof for the claim that too much protein can harm the kidneys or liver. The science that created that myth was badly flawed.

Edit: see [https://examine.com/nutrition/can-eating-too-much-protein- be...](https://examine.com/nutrition/can-eating-too-much-protein-be-bad-for- you/) for a nice write up including sources

<comment><USER4> That is trivially untrue just from cats - as obligate carnivores they have "overclocked" kidneys such that they can drink sea water and gain hydration. This serves them regardless of fresh water availability due to their need to break down so much protein for calories and will quickly suffer ammonia poisoning if given they lack sufficient argine while digesting a meal. And yet the kidneys are still a common thing to start failing in old age and call for a lower protein diet to counteract. Again in an obligate carnivore with less intestinal length.

It is true that we aren't obligate carnivores but the underlying mechanism for damage exists regardless of how well it is countered.

<comment><USER5> Humans are not cats. There is no data supporting any of what you mention in people. Protien is perfectly safe. Are you going to argue we die without carbs next? Got a single citation to your point?

<comment><USER4> The dose makes the poision in everything - it is just a statement that it isn't perfectly safe and nothing is. Oxygen can cause cancer. The point was that if even a far more specialized species could have problems with proteins there is a mechanism for damage from too much - what that ammount may be is another question. Just like too much carbohydrates can overwhelm the pancreas too much protein may overwhelm the kidneys and liver.

I had done extensive feline research recently for a fiction side project and will give my links - I had one that described the metabolic process specifically.

<comment><USER4> Bizarrely and disappointingly I'm finding less than expected when looking through my history. Here are a few relevant bits.

[https://pets.thenest.com/lowprotein-cat-food-cats-kidney- dis...](https://pets.thenest.com/lowprotein-cat-food-cats-kidney- disease-9912.html)

[https://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-what-exactly- is...](https://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-what-exactly-is-an- obligate-carnivore)

[https://www.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajplegacy.1959.19...](https://www.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajplegacy.1918.104.22.1683#)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I've been studying the metric Protein Per Dollar for the last 3 years. Some conclusions(feel free to google or check my profile for the link, didnt want to self promote)-

>Lentils and Beans are the highest Protein Per Dollar items, (~100g/$), Flour technically is among this as well

>Chicken Breast and Milk(likely because its government subsidized) are around 50g protein/$. Some pork(around 2$/lb is competitive)

>Eggs, ground beef, and tilapia are closer to 30g protein per dollar

After that, protein gets expensive.

>20g protein per dollar is pretty good for fast food, try the dollar menu.

Most protein powder is crazy overpriced. I found Myprotein Impact and Cytosport are 60-50g protein per dollar.

We eat for 20$/week per person, and we both lift heavy weights.

As mentioned, I have these studies on my website if anyone is interested [http://efficiencyiseverything.com/food/](http://efficiencyiseverything.com/food/)

<comment><USER7> > Chicken Breast and Milk(likely because its government subsidized) are around > 50g protein/$.

This might be about the feed conversion ratio:

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

US chickens need 1.6 g of feed per g of mass; cows, pigs, and sheep don't get much better than 4 g of feed per g of mass.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I tried eating a meat-only diet for a few months, and have mostly continued with some veg added. What I've found is that this is the most satiating diet I've ever tried after five decades of trying. I've also done a lot of high fat paleo, so I'm sure that for me the satiating element is the protein. I've also been a raw vegan and about everything else in between.

Protein fills me up and makes me stop eating far faster than the other macro nutrients. So I'm not worried about getting too much. Unlike with say low quality carbs, high quality proteins are self limiting. My body just tells me no more! If I want to know if I'm genuinely hungry I just ask myself if I want some meat. If not, I'm not.

IMHO, after a lifetime of mostly failed experimentation, (for those of us who can afford it) putting high quality high protein foods at the center of your diet is the most effective way to control and reverse obesity.

<comment><USER9> Exactly same experience. Tried vegetarian, vegan, paleo, strict paleo, carnivore.

My actual best was eating beef only. I lost 6kg in a month without trying to lose weight. I had almost no hunger. I ate at 6pm my first meal on a couple of occasions, and normally wouldn't feel any hunger until 1-2 pm.

<comment><USER10> Have you tried like, you know, a regular healthy, balanced diet? Real foods, mostly plants, not too much? Just funny you didn't include that. As a side note, the Mediterranean diet has been ranked the top diet by nutritionists several years running.

<comment><USER11> Is there an official specific Mediterranean diet? Is it the Mediterranean of Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, or Egypt, etc.? And from what era/period, because my understanding is that those places are seeing significant increases in chronic metabolic disease as well.

From what I've read, Mediterranean means something sorta along the lines of "natural whole foods, not much meat, lots of olive oil nuts and salads" \-- and this is vague nutrition advice which can apply to almost any non- exclusionary diet.

<comment><USER10> I really don't know, as I don't really research diets and just see that headline year after year. My point was just that, as you said, the most recommended diet isn't going to be one with some sort of gimmick - limit your cals to this number, your carbs, to this number, only eat during these times, don't eat this one entire food group, etc. The general guidelines of Mediterranean diets seem pretty good to me, and I'm totally on board with a little red wine every day.

<comment><USER11> I agree that this sounds like a pleasant and sustainable diet. However, like many diets, it all depends on your starting point. I'm skeptical that this is an effective weight-loss diet in the sense that an obese person or someone with a chronic metabolic illness (CVD, T2D, high blood pressure) will lose weight on. Anecdotally 5 years ago I followed this diet about and I put on weight.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> "if you are worrying about the amount of protein in your diet, then you are almost certainly eating more than enough."

I wonder where that author got that from... last I checked whenever I don't eat enough protein my hair and nails get brittle and fall, my skin gets dry, and I get random muscle pain...

I had those issues for years and years of my life, and tried everything, only after I went to a almost zero carb diet (that at the time I didn't even knew it had a name, it was just something random I tried after trying everything else) that those issues went away... and as soon I eat "recommended" level of protein instead of eatingn "too much", the problems return.

<comment><USER13> I respect your anecdote, but there are many other factors that could be in play here (for example vitamins that you get along with whatever protein source you use).

If you'd like to suggest that everyone is eating too little protein, you should setup a double-blind study with a few hundred participants.

<comment><USER14> From my understanding, if I were a doctor I'd want to check on the person's B vitamin levels, particularly biotin. There are metabolic disorders that affect the body's ability to absorb biotin, and it could be that there's something off with the intestinal bacteria that normally produce the bulk of our needed biotin.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> > if you are worrying about the amount of protein in your diet, then you are > almost certainly eating more than enough. This is the paradox of our new > protein obsession.

This is off to a very bad start. Enough is not the same as optimal. Some of us strive for more than enough.

<comment><USER16> What's the difference between enough and optimal in this context? What results would each level produce?

<comment><USER15> If someone is working out regularly but not over the top strenuously, but feels sore the next day every time, the first course is to increase protein.

<comment><USER14> This is, quite simply, horrible advice.

If you are strength training regularly and slowly increasing the weights you are using, mild muscle soreness should be expected. If the soreness is bothering them, there are several options that are known to help - stretching, additional warmup or cool down exercises, ice, heat, or massage.

The signs that could suggest a protein deficiency are decreasing muscle mass, weakness, and/or swelling, but even then you would suggest a trip to the doctor, not simply to increase protein intake.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> How can the protein obsession be called new when I remember it being all the rage in the early 2000s? I've been hearing constantly about Atkins like diets since that time.

<comment><USER10> Because it's a fairly recent thing that every freakin thing has to be labeled with protein in big letters on the box now. Cereal, waffles, whatever you can think of comes in these high protein versions, or just more visibly advertises the protein which has always existed in it. Low carb started popularly as an Atkins thing exclusively, now there tons of variants of low carb diets.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> We in the first world are overcomplicating eating. This leads to food obsession and disordered eating overall. Restrictive diets as such are more of problem than a solution as they again create unhealthy food focus. Diet industry is an extremely powerful entity as you can see even in the comments here, where every single person has been deeply influenced by contradictory data.

We should focus much more on experiences of living, how our bodies feel when we consume foods overall and looking to balance out natural sources of foods with modern sources without losing quality of life.

</comment><comment><USER19> "if you are worrying about the amount of protein in your diet, then you are almost certainly eating more than enough."

This is not strictly true for every diet. If you consume a plant based diet and don't eat meat substitutes, you can quite easily come in below the recommended protein level.

In my case, eating a calorie restricted vegan diet to lose weight, consuming sufficient proteins to meet the 0.8g/kg baseline while maintaining a caloric deficit requires daily planning. It's by no means impossible, but you do have to think about it.

Also seitan is your friend.

<comment><USER17> I love seitan, but I'm not sure it's necessarily healthy. A lot has to be removed from wheat gluten. Probably soy/tempeh are better for being Whole Foods

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Very recently there was an article in the NYT about the benefits of eating protein, and more so than the recommended amount, if you're trying to increase strength (something that's != body building). It benefits everyone, esp at older age.

A review of studies showed a clear advantage of high protein diet.

</comment><comment><USER21> It's amazing how easily people are alienated. I'm immune to this protein fad. As I still have a working rational mind. But people are obsessed with protein. Dozens of eggs. Whey protein. Chicken, chicken etc. It's appalling.

<comment><USER6> Post an average day of eating, someone(or I) will calculate your protein/day.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> what food groups is your body designed to process?

[https://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/blood-type- diet](https://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/blood-type-diet)

Whenever the vegan/protein fight begins, I always wonder if the vegan has considered their body design and chemical composition.

What enzymes are best supported by their natural internal chemistry?

How does this affect the internal biome that breaks down the food they eat and how their body uses the results?

Speaking as an old-fashiioned O+, the more ribeye's I eat, the better I feel, but my body craves the fast acting sugars that are so destructive to my endocrine system.

</comment><comment><USER23> I was looking at a traditional Portuguese recipe book and (besides the sweets!) it's steiking how protein rich their food is. If it doesn't have fish, chicken or meat, it's got beans, vegetables, lupins etc

</comment><comment><USER24> What's the problem with being aware? It's difficult to accidentally eat the minimum requirements for protein, without overeating carbs/fats.

</comment><comment><USER25> No one talks about the side affects of eating meat. :)

<comment><USER26> What are the side effects of eating meat?

<comment><USER27> Meat sweats.

Fogo de Chao....mmmmmmm

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> It's probably worth remembering that high-protein diets (remembering that western diets tend to already be quite high-protein to begin with) are a risk factor for kidney stones. Generally I'm predisposed to being quite skeptical of fad diets with extreme elements like focusing on one macro nutrient group almost to the exclusion of others.</comment>


Ask HN: How do you manage non urgent new problems? - <AUTHOR> I used to make a list of things that I needed to do and stacked new questions or problems under my list. Over the last week I tried addressing the most recently discovered non urgent problems first and it's been feeling more productive. What do you do? <comment><USER2> I used a slightly modified version of Stephen Covey's time management matrix (urgent vs non-urgent, important vs non–important). My modification is that things that fall into the not-urgent/not-important bucket get retained if they're educational, otherwise I discard them.</comment>


Show HN: A slightly better serverless plugin directory - <AUTHOR> https://www.serverlessconsultants.com/plugins/ <comment><AUTHOR> Hi i'd love feedback on this if you're an active serverless user. What other stats would be helpful?</comment>


Tinyexpr: parser, compiler, and evaluation engine in C for math expressions - <AUTHOR> https://codeplea.com/tinyexpr <comment><USER2> fish shell uses tinyexpr for its math implementation. It's great, the perfect little focused library.

</comment><comment><USER3> I wrote this. I'm glad to see it posted. Happy to answer any questions.

</comment><comment><USER4> How does it compare with Djikstra's stunting algorithm?

<comment><USER3> It's apples and oranges really. I would say that it's easier to use recursive descent to parse a full programming language though.

Shunting yard works very well if you want to parse math expressions into postfix notation. It is then really easy to run postfix notation into bytecode on a stack-based virtual machine.

For comparison, here is a shunting yard based math expression evaluator in Javascript that I wrote before writing TinyExpr: [https://github.com/codeplea/rimath](https://github.com/codeplea/rimath)</comment></comment>


Show HN: A Command-Line Time Tracker - <AUTHOR> Let me start by saying thank you for taking the time to review it. I hope it is useful to someone.
It can be downloaded and reviewed at no cost with the following offer code: hackernews, to be entered during the purchasing process.
Reviews on the software itself, and marketing advice on how to grow sales is appreciated.
Site: http://baileyssoftware.com/
Notes:
- I am aware of the @gmail address used, but I don't want to pay for a service (e.g. https://gsuite.google.com/) until I have the monthly income to support it. - If there is enough interest I plan to add more features such as exporting to csv. <comment><AUTHOR> I have changed the code to be 50% now that some time has passed and unfortunately there have been no reviews.</comment>


Here's How Much Real Estate $1 Million Buys You in Every Major U.S. City - <AUTHOR> http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2014/03/17/real_estate_market_how_much_does_1_million_buy_you_in_every_major_u_s_city.html

<comment><USER2> This is dumb, because its in large part a measure of where city boundaries are drawn, as demonstrated by the New York example. The equivalent of SF isn't NYC, it's Manhattan. The city boundaries are just drawn such that NYC includes Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, and SF excludes the corresponding places in the Bay area (Oakland, etc). Looking at a city-wide average doesn't tell you much.

DC also seems off, again because of the boundaries. The average excludes places in Arlington and Maryland that are spatially and in terms of density part of the city. The fact that Arlington is part of Virginia is a historical accident (was part of DC, taken back during Civil War). It doesn't reflect any real property of the city. Many places in Arlington are much quicker on the Metro to downtown than many places in DC.

</comment><comment><USER3> I remember when we bought our current house in 2007. It was the top of the market and for fun we looked at what we could buy in different parts of the country for the same money.

In NYC we found a listing for an empty lot. It was pretty bad looking. I think you might have been able to fit two compact cars side by side on it.

SF wasn't much better, but at least had a dwelling of some kind on it.

Detroid was...well you could have bought a street full of condemned houses.

So we decided to look outside of cities and came across a listing in Arkansas. At first we didn't understand it because it was just an aerial photo of some greenery and some houses. Finally we realized, that _was_ the listing, it was 150 acres with 5 buildings, one of them was a 2700 sq ft home, there were two guest homes and a 5 car garage and some other kind of large barn structure. The listing assured the potential buyer that the property was zoned in such a way it could be subdivided into lots "as small as 5 acres".

The only way they could get a photo of it all was from the air.

</comment><comment><USER4> If anyone's wondering, I did the math with Rome to add some international perspective. It sits right between SF and Boston: 1915 sq. feet.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> No surprise that SF is the most expensive.

<comment><USER5> It's not, Manhattan is.</comment></comment>


Guido Van Rossum: 21 Years of Py, From Pet Project to Prog Lang of the Year - <AUTHOR> http://mvdirona.com/jrh/TalksAndPapers/GuidoVanRossum_21_years_of_python.pdf <comment><AUTHOR> James Hamilton's notes from the talk: [http://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2011/05/23/GuidoVanRossum21...](http://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2011/05/23/GuidoVanRossum21YearsOfPython.aspx)

<comment><USER2> Correction from the notes and the talk slides, re: PyCon "2012-2013: Toronto; 2014-2015: Bay area"

s/Toronto/Santa Clara

s/Bay area/Montreal

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Did some digging couldn't find out if this was taped as well. Any one have a link?

<comment><USER4> Amazon taped all of our talks, but I don't think they're for external distribution because Amazon engineers were asking questions involving internal information.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Try Floss Weekly #11 for a similar talk:

<http://twit.tv/floss11>

</comment><comment><USER6> What does he mean by "Design iterations based on user testing"?

<comment><USER7> The design was tested on users and changed to fit their needs?

<comment><USER8> It seems clear to people who know the jargon :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> By whose measure is it the "programming language of the year?"

<comment><USER10> "Python has twice been awarded as TIOBE Programming Language of the Year (2007, 2010), which is given to the language with the greatest growth in popularity over the course of the year (as measured by the TIOBE index)."

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)></comment></comment>


An Apology for the Internet – From the People Who Built It - <AUTHOR> http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/04/an-apology-for-the-internet-from-the-people-who-built-it.html <comment><USER3> This is article is content-free.

Not only does it not name who apologied (apart from Zuckerberg, who definitely didn't invent the internet). I was expecting a quote from aim Berners-Lee given the title.

Then beyond that, it talks about how the internet is polarised - <USER2> immediately calling whole sites bigoted and implying Trump was elected because of Islamophobia.</comment>


Jade: A Desktop Environment Built with Webkit2, JavaScript and Python - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> The link to the repo appears to be missing. I think that it is probably [https://github.com/codesardine/Jadesktop](https://github.com/codesardine/Jadesktop).</comment>


Apple Plans MacBook And MacBook Pro Kaby Lake Refresh For WWDC - <AUTHOR> http://hothardware.com/news/apple-plans-macbook-and-macbook-pro-kaby-lake-refresh-wwdc <comment><USER2> It's probably the wrong thread to share my hopes for the next-gen but still. My family owns four 2016 models (maxxed out both 13 inch and 15 inch, a pair used at a day job and a pair is personal) and we all experience similar issues:

a) Touch Bar reacting to fingers that are accidentally touch it while resting. Causes a lot of volume and Esc triggers. Latter is particularly annoying at it usually cleans Slack/Skype/other active text input.

b) Keyboard quality is terrible. My work machine does not respond to Option and Control presses anymore. My wife's machine has similar issues with up/down arrows.

c) I don't get why Apple changed default/native resolution to be non-retina trading extra screen real estate for image quality.

b) Last but certainly not least as mentioned on all previous MacBook threads starting October 2016: running Docker/minikube/Chrome/Slack and et voila: you have 4GB of RAM left. I'm not even talking about ML/Data Science work: AMD GPUs are way behind even 1050 at the moment and I doubt that their new offering that is meant to compete with nVidia P100 will ever make it into a laptop.

Personally I think this news isn't real. Intel "promises" to release Cannonlake this year (thanks, AMD!) and I don't see much sense in either updating MacBooks with Kaby Lake nor releasing them just after 8 months after last refresh. That's the CPU that you get when company stops trying.

If they are going to mention MacBook Pro, I'd probably expect them to do a small price drop but not a refresh.

<comment><USER3> I have the non touchbar version. The keyboard is the one thing that has surprised me. I've done a complete 180 and love it. I bought this to replace my 2008 Macbook and at first found the travel too shallow but now I can actually type much faster than on the old one and I'm convinced it's better. I hope that any of the issues you mention come up within the 1 year warranty period though.

Your issues about the touch bar are the reason I bought the non touch bar version, I use function keys too much to have the physical ones gone, also I'd rather not have it go to sleep and prefer to have the bigger battery. EDIT: just adding that I did spend time testing the touch bar version in the Apple store as the price difference was not a major factor for this type of one time purchase for me, and I think if it's a good idea to do so if you live near one.

<comment><USER2> I wasn't unhappy about new keyboard feel but rather quality of keyboard itself. Eventually I'll bring it for repair, I think that should be covered indeed.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I really hope they open up to the idea of making more non touchbar models.

<comment><USER5> Agreed. I found it ironic that Apple considers the function area unused space so in their "Pro" line they replace it with something they view to be more usable but it seems most pro software[1] already made use of function keys, it's the consumer MacBook line that would miss the function row the least.

[1] Software dev tools

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I love my Late 2011 17" matte MacBook Pro. I dread the day that I will have to settle for a new MBP. I will probably end up getting a refurbished 17" off of eBay or something instead.

<comment><USER7> I almost bought one of those the other day. Well technically I was looking at the matte 15 in MCP. It is a shame how much Apple has gottan rid of. According to past OS updates wouldn't you run into the issue that it wouldn't run the lasted OS?

<comment><USER6> I'm still on Mavericks 10.9.5. Works great, I see no reason to update. It's a workhorse at its current state, no need to mess with what works so well.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Given the news about a Core i9 leak ([https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/15/intel- could-be-about-to-re...](https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/15/intel-could-be- about-to-release-a-very-expensive-core-i9-cpu/)) I would not be surprised if Apple had cut a deal with Intel to make a sku for the macbook pro.

<comment><USER9> Those CPUs in the leak have TDP values of over 100W. Not very suitable for slim laptops like MBP. Or was there something for mobile market as well?

<comment><USER8> There was no discussion of a mobile SKU that I could see, which is what made me wonder when I read the news. If you look at Intel presentations, and over the years I've looked at a lot of them, they tend to present 'complete' families of their lines. So the budget sku, the high power sku, the low power sku, the enthusiast sku, etc. the ones you would put in laptops seemed to be missing.

There are probably more than one possible explanations about that, but one that has happened in the past has been a vendor has asked for (and received) Intel's commitment to give them all of the early production.

And so I thought "I wonder if this is the part in the rumoured Surface Pro 5?" but it wasn't because Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop. And now we here "ooh, big Apple announcement coming up." and I note that the last Macbook pro announcement was underwhelming to say the least, and Microsoft is making annoying[1] noises about how their laptop is faster/thinner/better than anything Apple makes, and _that_ makes me wonder if Apple decided to do something about it and make an update to the Macbook pro that they _knew_ No one else would be able to beat because they bought exclusive early access to the chip that they use.

Entirely speculation at this point of course, and I will not be shocked to be completely wrong here. But I also wouldn't be surprised if this is what they announce.

[1] Annoying to Apple but fun for consumers as they get more choices and the competition keeps everyone on their toes.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> It beats me why they don't just update their MacBook Air. This is the computer that serve most people's needs.

It's by far the sleekest (the MacBook and MacBook Pro being thicker and heavier), it's not exactly cheap but it's priced just right at around 1,000 euro, it's not fast enough for graphics work or gaming but it really serves the need of 90 percent of college kids and professionals who just need internet, emailing, a text editor and a spreadsheet, and to be able to watch a movie and save pictures. And maybe do some light hacking.

Update the MacBook Air and I would buy it right away.

</comment><comment><USER11> Didn't see any word as to if this refresh would also be improving any of the other criticisms of the 2016 model like the RAM for example. Does anyone have any inside information or insight on that?

<comment><USER12> The ram issue was purportedly about battery life. The 2016 mbp uses LPDDR3 ram, which limited the device to 16GB.[0] They couldn't use LPDDR4 ram, even though it was available at the time, because Skylake chipsets didn't support it.

If the rumors are true that this year's model will use Kaby Lake, which will open up for the possibility of LPDDR4 and higher capacities.

[0] [https://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/28/new-macbook-pros- no-32g...](https://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/28/new-macbook-pros-no-32gb-ram- battery-life/)

<comment><USER13> Doesn't look like Kaby Lake supports LPDDR4: [http://ark.intel.com/products/97462/](http://ark.intel.com/products/97462/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Is there any information on how well the latest MBP model has sold? I want to see Apple's bottom line being hit by the poor decision making. I personally went for a dell XPS 13 (and I'm regretting it, but that's another story).

<comment><USER15> Apple doesn't report out MBP numbers separately, it bundles them with all products in the Mac line.

Mac product sales declined 10% YoY from 25.4B in 2015 to 22.8B in 2016. Units shipped were also down 10% YoY from 20.6M to 18.5M. Apple's explanation: _Mac net sales and unit sales decreased during 2016 compared to 2015. The year- over-year decline in Mac unit sales during 2016 was at rates similar to the overall market. The effect of weakness in most foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar also negatively impacted Mac net sales._

The entire Mac line only makes up ~10% of Apple's revenues, whereas iPhone sales generate ~60% of revenue, so the MBP (guesstimate: 1-2% of overall revenue?) is not hugely important to Apple.

[http://investor.apple.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1628280-16-...](http://investor.apple.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1628280-16-20309&CIK=320193)

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I'm hoping we'll see some Ryzen in Apple computers before long.

</comment><comment><USER17> I would like a refresh of the MacBook Pro that would include much-requested features, like one additional row of keys (including the ESC key), ports that you can connect something to (like USB-A) and an SD card slot. I would have no problem with the new laptop being slightly thicker than the current generation, especially if we could get good, reliable keyboards.

I'd upgrade my MacBook Pro in an instant, gladly paying a price premium for those (premium) features.

<comment><USER18> Yeah, I was expecting to upgrade my personal 2014 when the 2016s were announced, but "slightly faster but worse in every other way, oh and also we raised the price a bunch" was... not a compelling sales pitch.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Arg, kills the resale value of my Dec 2016 pro.

<comment><USER20> The ever known MacBook problem :D

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> It seems like Kaby Lake is so last year. When they actually come up with something exciting like they used to?

</comment><comment><USER22> Kaby Lake laptops started rolling out a week or two after the new Macbooks were available. Apple must have decided it wasn't worth waiting that extra week or two? Or was there something else going on?

<comment><USER23> Probably a big difference between "available" and available at the quantities needed to satisfy the millions(?) of people waiting for an updated MBP

<comment><USER22> Yeah, that's very possible. I was just surprised at the time, because I bought a Kaby Lake based laptop from Asus in early November, but they don't move units like Apple does.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Seems like fake news. Apple rarely introduces new hardware in WWDC. And the ammount of references to the Surface Laptop make it read a bit like sarcasm, even though it surely does not seem intended.

"Part of the motivation with these upgrades is to remain competitive with Microsoft and its newly introduced Surface Laptop"

<comment><USER25> I don't think this is true - 2013's WWDC had new macbook airs, for example: [https://thenextweb.com/apple/2013/06/10/everything- announced...](https://thenextweb.com/apple/2013/06/10/everything-announced-at- apples-wwdc-2013-keynote-in-one-handy-list/)

<comment><USER26> While it may be true that Apple sometimes released hardware at WWDC in the last decade, there's still the elephant in the room; Why have no big name sites like fool.com or wsj put their name on this "leak" if it is real? When there's real hardware coming, those guys usually get the inside scoop (and preview hardware if weeks from release). They'd be furious if Apple let small beans sites scoop them.

[https://www.wsj.com/news/technology](https://www.wsj.com/news/technology)

Not one mention of Apple anywhere.*

*laptops

<comment><USER27> Bloomberg reported it: [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-16/apple- sai...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-16/apple-said-to-plan- laptop-upgrades-as-microsoft-enters-market)

<comment><USER26> >>big name

>Bloomberg

I stand by my post. Bloomberg spams HN for traffic. They don't get inside scoops from Apple.

<comment><USER28> The article was written by Mark Gurman who had an excellent rumor track record when he was at 9to5mac.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Looking for advice – how to persuade writers to publish on my platform? - <AUTHOR> Hey, everyone! I'm working on a startup fictionhub.io, it is a fiction publishing platform, sort of like Medium but for fiction. I've made a lot of progress lately - the website is pretty solid and almost complete, the traffic and twitter following are growing slowly but steadily.
Now my biggest challenge is to attract good writers to the platform, and I'm looking for advice on how to do that. My idea is that Fiction Hub would give writers exposure to the audience, because it is way easier to get discovered when publishing on a community platform instead of the personal blog. I tweet every published story and send the best ones to our subscribers in the weekly digest. People can subscribe to writers, and that way they can grow their audience. In the future I want to make it possible for writers to sell their stories.
But attracting new writers to kickstart the community is still pretty hard. I've had some success with simply cold emailing people and asking them if they want to contribute, but now I'm looking for a more scalable way.
What would you do in my place? Do you have any advice?
Also, does anybody know how Medium got their first contributors? <comment><USER2> > I've had some success with simply cold emailing people

That's great. Sometimes you have to do things that don't scale, in other words be persistent [http://paulgraham.com/ds.html](http://paulgraham.com/ds.html)</comment>


SnapTalent (YC W08) Shuts Down - <AUTHOR> http://www.snaptalent.com/

<comment><USER2> They did a good job by being honest and I think it is probably a great idea to get out of the online job recruitment sector.

I just wish they would have read over that goodbye note, or at least spell checked it.

<comment><USER3> It would be nice if they switched course without announcing they're going out of business. Reminds me of this:

<http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html>

AppJet did a good job following that advice IMO, but Heroku takes the cake. They didn't just change direction. They kept the old product alive, too.

Edit: I was wrong. AppJet kept some of their old stuff around, too! I can't wait to check it out. <http://appjet.com/dev-archive.html>

<comment><USER4> According to the letter they already switched course and it didn't work out.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Finally, a failure. I'm tired with all the success stories.

<comment><USER6> Most failures just wither away and die. They rarely announce it.

<comment><USER7> And how many of those failures actually pay back investors instead of burning through all their cash first?

This is quite possibly the most responsible failure I've ever read about.

<comment><USER8> Odeo. Except that in hindsight, I think the investors may've wished that Ev kept their money and started Twitter out of the same company...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Sumon and crew will be successful at whatever they do next, there's no doubt about that. By giving the money back to investors and being fully transparent, they've also shown that they're classy and full of integrity. Seriously, mucho respect for this move. Curious to see what they do next.

<comment><USER10> Why is it classy to throw in the towel? The letter doesn't suggest that investors asked for their money back. This is the worst case scenario given my understanding of the VC market. It sounds like the team has lost their momentum, but certainly they have learned something in the process. If they dissolve the company and start something new which becomes successful, the original investors get nothing. There's nothing wrong with that from a morality perspective, but don't assume that investors want their money back - their reasons for investing might be complex.

<comment><USER9> They had two years in the bank. They knew the risks and the likelihood of what would have happened. They could have been paid themselves for 2 years, tried a lot of different things, and potentially wasted the money. That is how it usually goes. Instead they cut their losses. I'm pretty sure the investors would rather have their money back than nothing at all.

<comment><USER10> By "they", I assume that you meant the founders. Did the founders have personal losses to be cut?

> I'm pretty sure the investors would rather have their money back than > nothing at all.

Did you ask them? Are you yourself a VC investor? Its rather possible that investors saw promising talent and wanted to buy 2 years of their time.

<comment><USER11> The investors could have said "No, keep the money, do something else." Who would turn that down?

<comment><USER4> Who knows, maybe they did ?

Maybe they felt like being free from the extra duties having 'foreign' capital brings with it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Good luck! It's never fun to read about a young startup closing its doors, but I'm sure you'll do great things with these experiences.

A quick question: I've been reading a lot about the theory of customer development lately (mostly via Eric Ries's blog and The Four Steps to the Epiphany). I know hindsight is 20/20, and I apologize in advance if it sounds like I'm just rubbing salt in your wounds, but I'd love to know what you think about this...

It sounds like your experience is a good example of a company that might have benefited by putting as much effort into finding the initial customers as in product development. Working closely with these earlyvangelists from the start might have helped you learn whether the product being built solves real pain points and to learn how and to what extent these earlyvangelists would be able to deploy the product internally.

I personally think it would be very difficult to do anything _but_ build product in the three months leading up to demo day. The time it would take to locate and engage potential customers seems mammoth. Perhaps the product delivered on demo day is used to secure additional funding, and then as the demo product used to find market fit.

Anyway, I'm no expert in this stuff, which is why I'd really like to know your thoughts.

Best of luck with your next company!

<comment><USER13> We did start applying Steve Blank's stuff in Q4 '08 when we began to change direction to focus on college, but we applied it poorly. There are a number of reasons why, many are too long to explain here. I'll be writing up some posts on what went wrong and post them here so hopefully that will prompt further useful discussion.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Spent 1.5 years as lead Product for Yahoo HotJobs and this post is spot-on -- nicely captured. To put it rather bluntly there is more innovation happening in most small sized municipal utilities (see the Palo Alto Green program) then in the online job recruitment space. Given how incredibly important talent is to companies the CEO needs to reset incentive structures for their HR organizations.

</comment><comment><USER15> I'm sure the SnapTalent guys started working on something new before even posting that good-bye

<comment><USER13> It takes a long time to shut down a company. We stopped working on Snaptalent almost 4 months ago. I'm hoping to get some time in the near future to write some posts going into more detail about what went wrong. There are definitely a lot of takeaways that are being practically applied to my new project.

<comment><USER16> are you selling assets/domain? or folding into another venture?

<comment><USER13> Company is being liquidated. All the other founders and I are doing separate things now.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> too bad, undoubtedly a result of the collision of a bunch of bad circumstances.

good to see that they're able to analyze and learn from the situation at hand and have the fortitude and responsibility to make the call to shut it down before they crashed and burned.

</comment><comment><USER18> Except for a couple of typos ('are' instead of 'our'), this is an extremely articulate and informative statement which will no doubt help them justify this decision to future funders or employers. Very impressive.

<comment><USER19> If you think language like the following is "extremely articulate" or "informative", well, please do not send me anything to read.

 _The decision has primarily dictated by market conditions and opportunity cost which in aggregate would mean we probably wouldn't have been able to show the kind of results we wanted to make this a big company in this market._

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> HiddenNetwork (<http://www.hiddennetwork.com/>) which had a very similar business to SnapTalents first service also recently shut down. I think both of these affirm that advertising jobs to people who aren't looking for jobs isn't the best business model. (Job boards frequented by good people can be a lucrative business though, see 37signals, etc)

</comment><comment><USER21> "In November 2008, we transitioned from this product to identify an opportunity to try and focus on how recruitment products could be adapted for the Facebook generation. We hoped that our experience of consumer products and frustrations of this generation would allow us to deliver an amazing product."

Frustrations of this generation?

<comment><USER22> knowing the difference between how technology can work, and how it does work in real life.

at least for me.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Couple guys from my University started Jobloft.com and they were recently acquired - although this was before the recession.

</comment><comment><USER24> Does anyone know if they tried to sell the company?

</comment><comment><USER25> You gave it a go, which is more than you can say about most people. So, good job.

Good luck in whatever endeavors you head to next.

</comment><comment><USER26> so sorry to hear this.

</comment><comment><USER27> Recruiters and HR are the worst people to deal with in the entire technology industry.

<comment><USER28> What about lawyers?

<comment><USER27> Depends on if you're paying.</comment></comment></comment>


Amoco Oil Company Looked at Cold Fusion, Confirmed Energy Gains - <AUTHOR> http://newenergytimes.com/v2/library/1994/1994Lautzenhiser-Amoco-Cold-Fusion-Short.pdf

<comment><AUTHOR> 3 different versions of the report are available here: [http://blog.newenergytimes.com/2011/12/27/amoco-oil- company-...](http://blog.newenergytimes.com/2011/12/27/amoco-oil-company- looked-at-lenr-in-1990/)</comment>


CoeLux: Artificial Sunlight That's Real Enough to Trick Your Camera and Brain - <AUTHOR> http://petapixel.com/2015/02/09/coelux-artificial-sunlight-thats-good-enough-fool-cameras-brain/ <comment><USER2> Sadly they write little substantial about the internal construction principle so I'm making an educated guess:

Based on the pictures one can see that relatively hard shadows are created as expected by a point-like light source (like a far away sun). Also in the movie it can be seen that the 'sun' moves with the camera when the camera moves.

The hard shadows would be created if all light emitting the 'window' are almost parallel, which would require some kind of optics. So I'm guessing that the 'skylight' is made of a slightly curved backside supporting a large number of white LEDs. Each LED then would have a small lense so that all light is emitted within a very narrow angle. The slight curvature of the backside would then lead to the apparent movement of the light-source if the camera moves. (Because one would look into the opening angle of a different portion of the LEDs)

The blue color itself is a layer of nano-particles leading imitating Rayleigh scattering of the atmosphere.

</comment><comment><USER3> More info in this June 2014 article: [http://www.gizmag.com/coelux- skylight/32469/](http://www.gizmag.com/coelux-skylight/32469/)

</comment><comment><USER4> Very nice but I have a feeling that this will have mid 4 figures price tag attached to it if not higher.

<comment><USER5> "CoeLux currently costs £40,000 (~$61,000) to buy and up to £5,000 (~$7,600) for installation."

<comment><USER4> Missed that and jesus christ that's high i would've guessed around 10k including install but damn.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Settle this simple elegant vs. readable disagreement - <AUTHOR>

Consider these 2 statements, which identically detect an iPod or iPhone:
if (/ip(hone|od)/i.test(navigator.userAgent))
if (/iphone|ipod/i.test(navigator.userAgent))
Which would you use? I argue for the second, as it is simple, clear, easy for maintainers to quickly grok. I think simplicity is more important.
My colleague argues for the purity and elegance of the first solution. He thinks purity/elegance is most important.
Anyone have an opinion on this? <comment><USER2> In my opinion you should usually not code for DRY when the repetition is "accidental," only when it expresses a principle from your domain (your "business logic"). Sharing "ip" between "iphone" and "ipod" seems like a perfect example of accidentally DRY. I think your colleague is trying too hard. Code should be boring!

</comment><comment><USER3> I like the second a lot more. It's just easier to read without knowing anything else.

</comment><comment><USER4> Art is subjective. Structure is forever.

The first statement is indeed nice and elegant. A small work of art from a coding perspective. However, maintaining in the future will be a pain in the ass. Because art is the eye of the beholder. And future beholders won't appreciate it as much.

On the other hand, the second statement is structured. You know exactly with what you're dealing with. It's ugly. But it's a building block. Anybody can understand it and use it immediately.

So tell your colleague to make a screenshot of the first one and frame it on his wall. Then use the second statement in production. Code must always be generic. Personalization only leads to technical debt.

</comment><comment><USER5> I recommend encouraging your colleague to pursue a career as a Lisp hacker. Their inclination toward parentheses makes them look like a natural.

On the other hand, it may be wise to caution them against a career in the arts: An aesthetic judgement that extra parentheses express purity is of dubious quality.

</comment><comment><USER6> If we are to be very picky I'd say

if (/ip(od|hone)/i.test(navigator.userAgent))

is easier to figure out than

if (/ip(hone|od)/i.test(navigator.userAgent))

for some reason.</comment>


VC's: Experienced 50 year old with good ideas. Will you talk to me? - <AUTHOR> For context:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6932327
I have a ton of business and tech experience. I've launched several garage businesses. One did really well but the economy, circumstances and a perennially under-funded state (hardware is capital intensive) killed it.  All were interesting experiences.
I've never raised any money. I self-funded everything I've ever done. The last one to the tune of over half a million dollars of my own money. I am no stranger to being all-in and putting it all on the line for something I believe in.
Circumstances are different now. Either I take my time and bootstrap from small to large projects or look for investors.
Sadly, I will not move to SV and I will not live on noodles.  Bummer.
I have identified two opportunities I think have merit.
The first is a pure software web/mobile service.  As is often the case, it is a twist on existing product.  I believe the twist is what makes it very interesting, gives it wide appeal and could make it huge.  It can go global.  I have a 70 page deck covering just about every aspect of this venture.  No, it's not a new Facebook.  It's a B-to-B, C-to-C (and permutations thereof) service.
The second is a novel use of quadcopters. No regulatory issues I am aware of. Sizable world-wide appeal. This is definitely a case of first-mover advantage.  With proper funding and support, execution would be fast and painless.  This wouldn't be a an R&D project. This is a D project. Define, develop and go to manufacturing. Heard of "live long and prosper"? This one is "move fast and conquer". Probably the Klingon version. I don't have a deck on this one. It's a recent discovery of mine and I've put zero time into developing a deck. With one video I can show anyone this is a good idea.
Looking for a low impedance bank account to help launch either or both of these. <comment><USER2> Ideas are a dime a dozen. It's the execution that matters. Show investors traction, growth, or profit — if you can't reach any of those milestones, rinse and repeat until you do — now you're ready to talk to investors, but wait, now you've reached a point where you don't need investors anymore.

I actively avoid entrepreneurs that are looking for an investment as a form of business validation. An entrepreneurs job is to validate ideas, to find something that sticks.

<comment><USER3> >Ideas are a dime a dozen. It's the execution that matters.

Bad ideas are a dime a dozen. Ideas that are good and early on have solid evidence that they are good are rare.

Here are some ideas that, just as ideas, should be valuable to VCs:

(1) An algorithm that shows that P = NP and is fast. Why? Because it could commonly save 5-15% of costs in transportation, logistics, Internet backbone design, manufacturing, and allocation of resources more generally.

(2) A computer operating system that is nearly 100% compatible with Windows and can run any software safely, even _malware_.

(3) An algorithm that can implement the _fundamental theorem of arithmetic_ , that is, factor integers of thousands of digits into a product of prime numbers quickly.

> but wait, now you've reached a point where you don't need investors anymore.

Not exactly true in all cases, but there is a major point here. E.g., recently I added the cost of high quality parts for a server in a mid-tower case -- 8 core processor at 4.0 GHz, 32 GB of ECC main memory, 10+ TB of hard disk -- ~$1500. Can get a wire rack shelf unit from Sam's Club, 18" x 48" x 72", and could put about 12 of those servers on a rack. That's a LOT of computing. If have a Web site that can keep that computing busy and send with the Web pages ads at, net, $2 per 1000 ads sent, can support a family in style:

Suppose can send a Web page for 400,000 bits, have 4 ads per page, half fill upload bandwidth of 15 Mbps 24 x 7, and get paid $2 per 1000 ads displayed. Then get monthly revenue of

2 * 4 * 15 * 10 __6 * 3600 * 24 * 30 / ( 2 * 400,000 * 1000 ) = 388,800

dollars. A year of that and have as cash as much as many series A equity rounds.

<comment><USER4> I agree. The reason people think ideas are "a dime a dozen" is because everyone overrates their ideas and you can't really measure the value of an idea unless it's executed. However, I must admit that after years of experience I must say the statement is not really true. 80% of the ideas suck. Plain and simple.

It doesn't matter if you are in the Valley or if you are super smart, some people are not made to create/innovate, only execute based on someone's idea. But those people who are able to create are an exception.

Have you ever met someone without a degree or any experience, looking at your product and telling you 100 ways to improve it?I met a guy/wonderkid or whatever that was able to do just that, and he is working for a hedge fund now as far as I know. It took him 20 min to give us an entire improvement plan on how to increase revenue without any papers or anything prepared.We had even backup plans and future competitor moves. He basically humiliated my A+ employee stars who were struggling for months.I was shocked.

<comment><USER3> > you can't really measure the value of an idea unless it's executed

Well, thankfully for US national security, the US DoD has been doing just this with batting average much higher than for VCs for 70+ years. Examples include the proximity fuse, sonar, radar, the atomic bomb, the U-2, the SR-71, GPS, and more -- all of these were funded just from proposals just on paper, without any 'execution', and came out fine.

For projects by entrepreneurs, my guess to do something similar is (1) pick a big problem, one where clearly a new and good or much better solution will be warmly embraced by the market, (2) do some research, original, powerful, valuable, to get the desired solution and a high barrier to entry. (3) Do (1) and (2) so that the solution can be delivered by software in a Web server costing $2000-. Then go live, get the revenue, grow the server capacity, etc. It's what I'm trying to do. Current obstacle: Windows and trying to use XCACLS and CACLS to delete a file system directory that doesn't want to be deleted. Previous obstacle: Poor Microsoft documentation for the differences between GUIDs and SqlGuids and how to convert between them. Previous obstacle: A virus from the security problems with Flash and the fact that Windows doesn't know how to run malware safely. Previous obstacle: The fact that Microsoft's ASP.NET is much easier to work with when inserting Namespaces, DLLs, and source code than Visual Basic .NET. Previous obstacles: A long list more from Microsoft. The work uniquely mine has all been fast, fun, easy, without delays. But I'm getting past the Microsoft nonsense.

Problem sponsors at DoD, DARPA, and NSF are used to being able to evaluate projects just on paper with high batting average. Apparently VCs don't want to do any such things.

> 80%

All the percentages on what arrives in a VC's in-box don't mean much because what a VC has to find are exceptional projects; that is, what the average project is, or what most of the projects are, is not very relevant -- again because what's required are exceptional projects. How exceptional? There has been a claim by A16H that there are only about 15 projects a year worth a Series A. If VCs would learn to read as well as, say, NSF problem sponsors, then there might be a few more, not a lot yet, but a few.

A problem of information technology entrepreneur project 'ideas' is that they are usually just a short description of what the product/service does, a description like might be given to a prospective customer/user. So, with such an 'idea' and description, usually there is no good way to evaluate it. E.g., how the heck, early on, to evaluate Twitter? Twitter fails my (1) about solving a big problem. Since it was not clear that Twitter would solve a big problem, it was difficult to evaluate.

What is wanted for (1), for an extreme example, is, say, a safe, effective, cheap one pill cure for any cancer -- there we don't have to wait for 'traction'.

As in my (1), a 'good' information technology project should have significant value as easy to see. And as for such a pill, want to stand on some research for an especially powerful, valuable solution with barrier to entry. The VCs just are not thinking this way.

It is quite possible for a person to be bright without education. If the field they are working in, e.g., computing, doesn't really require a lot of formal education, then a person can be bright and good in that field without formal education. But, doing really well in a Ph.D. program in a top research university tends to confirm that someone is 'bright'!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I am not a VC, so take this with a grain of salt...

I know some VCs who are happy to fund 50 year olds with track records and traction. That said, there is a lot of negativity here.

1 - By stating you age you are already implying defeat by age discrimination.

2 - You mention a lot of things that aren't your fault with the one that did "Really well." All of these things are probably true, but they do sound like excuses.

3 - Saying "I will not move to SV and I will not live on noodles" again oozes negativity. A VC will say, "Why will I suck it up if they won't?" There may be a much more positive way to say what you're trying to say.

4 - "Looking for a low impedance bank account" sounds a lot like "Looking for a sucker."

I may be completely be off base. You probably have great ideas, and are very committed. It's just not coming off that way. Again, this is coming from an observer, and not a VC. I sincerely hope you find a way to pull this off.

</comment><comment><USER6> Start a blog on both your ideas. with a way for people to sign up with email. check out twitter and follow people that might be potential customers. next look at a kickstart campaign for the quadcopter idea. For the mobile here's a way for you to build your app. check out [http://www.coronalabs.com/](http://www.coronalabs.com/): it's $16/mo. you can build a mvp to field test your assumptions.

<comment><USER6> ...and/or start finding angel investors at least 100 of them and pitch. if they don't bite find out the one thing that the 1first one is most hesitant about. fix it. my guess is though if you haven't commited any of your own money/time its' going to be harder. also try the same process for potential customers. or find someone that's willing to work with you to sell.

<comment><AUTHOR> Here's the problem with that approach: It takes a long time and you are invariably going to talk to a lot of people who have money and nothing else to contribute. The only type of money you want as an entrepreneur is smart money. Just because someone is a VC it doesn't automatically mean they have value beyond what they might be able to contribute financially. Not a put-down. It's just a fact.

If I assume that, on average, each of the 100 VC pitches you are suggesting require, say, five hours of work that means 500 hours would be devoted to this effort. The truth is likely a much larger number. If I have to take that approach I would much rather bootstrap by using some of the smaller opportunities I've identified (Kicstarter being an interesting domain for such projects) and work my way up to the larger projects.

I am serious about business. I'd rather talk to five well-qualified people than engage in endless dances with those who will only waste your time. I am not saying this out of an enlarged ego. I am saying this out of experience.

How do you know which category they fall into? Well, experience in business is a big part of that.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Ditto. Send me money.

<comment><AUTHOR> Money comes with side effects and it also comes in various grades. At the extremes you'll find smart money and dumb money. The latter is the most dangerous.

Not all money is created equal.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> what's the best way to contact you?

<comment><AUTHOR> Email address now in my profile. Here it is:

email@example.com

I'd appreciate contact with identifying information such a LinkedIn profile. I'll reply in kind, of course.</comment></comment>


It seems that thefts are increasing - <AUTHOR> https://www.hpherald.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/it-seems-that-thefts-are-increasing/article_427d3702-a5c5-11ea-b94e-7ba9191144e0.html <comment><USER2> > 451: Unavailable due to legal reasons > We recognize you are attempting to > access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area > (EEA) including the EU which enforces the General Data Protection Regulation > (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time. For any issues, > contact firstname.lastname@example.com or call 1-773-643-8533.

I don't know enough about GDPR to understand if this is a correct interpretation of serving websites to Europe, but it sure looks odd to me.

</comment><comment><USER3> This page is blocked in Europe</comment>


Valve joins the Linux Foundation - <AUTHOR> http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/12/04/valve-joins-linux-foundation-prepares-linux-powered-steam-os-steam-machines/ <comment><USER2> Also of note, at the end:

 _" The Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) Foundation [1], a nonprofit consortium founded by AMD, ARM, Qualcomm and Samsung, among others to develop open-standard specifications for parallel computing, and startup Cloudius Systems are also joining the Linux Foundation today."_

[1]:[http://hsafoundation.com/](http://hsafoundation.com/)

<comment><USER3> I hope something interesting will come out of HSA/OpenCL 2.0 in the next couple of years, and that heterogeneous computing will start becoming more practical for more types of programs.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> It will be interesting to see whether Valve can encourage the move to Linux gaming. Their biggest asset at this time is the distribution model of Steam, but that's not sufficient to get the big publishers to develop for OSX, never mind Linux.

Edit: Valve's game list: [http://www.valvesoftware.com/games/](http://www.valvesoftware.com/games/)

<comment><USER5> OS X is not a good platform for gaming. It has a significantly smaller user base of which only an even more significantly smaller are gamers. Playing on a MacBook (or at least on my MacBook) is impossible, and I wouldn't buy an iMac for gaming.

On the other hand, you can put Linux on anything (for free!), from your mom's 2002 pc to the latest generation hot stuff. This means there is indeed a potential, and somebody just has to set the foundation.

<comment><USER6> You seem to be contradicting yourself. Gaming doesn't work on OS X because it has too small a user base, but Linux's user base is much smaller. Playing on a Macbook is impossible (presumably for performance reasons?), but you talk about putting Linux on a 2002 PC for gaming. And Linux may or may not run on the latest generation hot stuff, depending on how much time you want to spend to get your newest graphics card working.

I'm not sure what potential you are talking about. If gaming doesn't work on OS X, I can't see it working on Linux.

As an aside, Linux gaming would seem to me to suffer the same fate as the Android market times about a billion. Too many possible variations and massive platform fragmentation. It sounds like a development nightmare.

<comment><USER7> > Gaming doesn't work on OS X because it has too small a user base, but > Linux's user base is much smaller.

There's an estimated 20 million Ubuntu users worldwide, probably another 10 million or so of other Linux distros. Not to mention, Linux (and thus Steam OS) is easily installed.

Adoption isn't a problem. Gaming on OSX doesn't work as well as on a PC because you can't put OSX on custom hardware.

> As an aside, Linux gaming would seem to me to suffer the same fate as the > Android market times about a billion. Too many possible variations and > massive platform fragmentation. It sounds like a development nightmare.

You sound like an iOS developer. It's not like every Windows PC has the same screen resolution and hardware, yet it's the biggest gaming platform...

Have you ever developed anything for the desktop? It's not particularly difficult to get things to run on computers with different hardware...

<comment><USER8> _Not to mention, Linux (and thus Steam OS) is easily installed._

I updated my desktop to Linux Mint 16 today and discovered that neither Steam nor Wine will install on it. Steam seems to be supported on Ubuntu 12.10 (although it does work on 13.04).

<comment><USER7> Your problem is using Linux Mint...

Both Steam and Wine work perfectly on Ubuntu 13.10 (I'm running both on my 13.10 laptop).

<comment><USER6> > Your problem is using Linux Mint...

I think you just provided a shining example of the potential problems linux gaming faces...

<comment><USER7> I've used Steam successfully with Ubuntu, SUSE, Fedora, Arch, Manjaro...

Mint is just a buggy distro, I used it once upon a time, it's simply not stable.

<comment><USER9> Ubuntu is just a buggy distro, I used it once upon a time, it's simply not stable.

Fedora is just a buggy distro, I used it once upon a time, it's simply not stable.

Arch is just a buggy distro, I used it once upon a time, it's simply not stable.

We could play this game all day to make stinkytaco's point.

<comment><USER7> You're right, any bleeding edge Linux can be unstable.

But I'd put an app into production on any of the ones listed over Mint.

Either way, the fact that Steam doesn't work on Mint is Mint's problem, not Steam's...

<comment><USER10> Because none of you seem to be reading anything outside your own little threadwars:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6847940](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6847940)

"Steam is included in the Linux Mint 16 repositories and you shouldn't have issues installing it from the package manager. Or you can always "apt-get install steam". Like most Linux applications, you are better off installing the application from the package manager instead of from the upstream website."

now stop spreading FUD.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> While this is great, its a bit sad that Valve is mostly doing all of this now, because they fear losing their dominance on windows to the native Store in Win 8.x

In the end its a win-win for everyone if it works out, just their motives are questionable.

<comment><USER12> Before Windows 8, Valve seemingly couldn't care less about Linux! It bothers me how Valve tries to make itself out to be Linux's best friend nowadays. They also talk about open source a lot despite them ever releasing only proprietary software.

<comment><USER13> Leaks from years ago show that the Steam client and Source have both had Linux versions in development since around the time of the Mac beta in 2010 (two years before Windows 8) [0]. Also they've supported Linux servers forever, so you can hardly say they couldn't care less. Also also, haven't they pushed some stuff upstream and spurred interest and development in open source drivers? That's more than many companies that publish proprietary software on Linux.

Windows 8 may have pushed them over the line, and they may only be moving to Linux in order to make more money. Is that really a problem though? I think it's the breakthrough into the mainstream that Linux has been waiting for for decades.

[0] [http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=valve_ste...](http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=valve_steam_announcement&num=1)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> If we introduced the Linus-Gates number by analogy with the Erdős-Bacon number [1] but for code, what would Gabe Newell's Linus-Gates number be today?

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s%E2%80%93Bacon_numbe...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s%E2%80%93Bacon_number)

<comment><USER15> Did Gabe and Gates write any substantial code? At least lately? I don't think we could relate them.

<comment><USER16> Gabe was the 271st employee at Microsoft[0] and "was the producer on the first three releases of Windows"[1], so I suppose that, even if he hasn't contributed to the very same code as Bill Gates did, there must be an earlier employee who has. I don't estimate his Gates code number to be more than 2.

[0] [http://www.giantbomb.com/gabe- newell/3040-4498/](http://www.giantbomb.com/gabe-newell/3040-4498/)

[1] [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/172835/interviews/creat...](http://www.computerandvideogames.com/172835/interviews/creative- minds-gabe-newell/)

<comment><USER15> Oh I forgot Gabe worked at MS, in that case, yeah, it must be pretty low. Gabe worked both at Valve and MS, and both companies have submitted code to the Linux Kernel.

<comment><USER17> Gabe was not just "release producer" at MS, he was the driving force behind windows gaming (port of Doom from DOS to windows)

[http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/167253-gabe-newell-made- wi...](http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/167253-gabe-newell-made-windows-a- viable-gaming-platform-and-linux-is-next)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I must say, I'm surprised by how many naysayers there are, considering Gabe thinks Linux is the future of gaming. There really is no technical reason why this can't happen, we just need to make it happen...

<comment><USER18> Agreed. After years of haranguing Nvidia, for example, it wasn't until Valve started pushing linux gaming that Nvidia FINALLY started clearing the air a bit on their atrocious driver support.

Valve has a lot of influence in PC gaming. Whether it's enough to raise linux as a preferred platform for PC gaming, only time will tell, but I hope it does.

<comment><USER19> Developers (should) prefer using Linux over OS X.

Mac gaming languishes like it always has.

Pro video users have jumped shipped (still waiting for the new Mac Pro sometime this month, 18 months after Tim Cook teased folks after WWDC, years after any serious update)

What future OS X?!

<comment><USER20> Pro video users have jumped ship from Macs? To what?

<comment><USER21> Could be referring to the micro-exodus of users after Final Cut X came out, but then of all my friends in film and video none have switched _from_ Mac since then, only to...

<comment><USER22> I'd love to do most of my amateur video editing on my powerful ubuntu desktop instead of my macbook air. Is there a good community around any particular video studio project for linux?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Right now the only thing keeping me from running linux full time is the Adobe Master Collection (PS AI LR ID AE...)

<comment><USER2> Will it run in a Windows VM on Linux?

<comment><USER24> photoshop is slow enough natively. Running in a VM might be good enough if you use it occasionally, but for people who use it daily I doubt it.

<comment><USER25> And why would you go that far out of your way if PS it's your primary tool? What would you gain by having a Linux box around your Photoshop install?

Once you strip away specialized tool suits and programs that actually sit on top of the OS, most users just need sound, mouse, keyboard, and monitor support so they can run chrome or firefox. Most OSs handle this just fine, so the real deciding factor in your OS should be the tool chain you need to run.

It's so backwards and kludgy to pick your os then try make your toolchain work on top of it.

<comment><USER26> Adobe is backwards and kludgy and needs to get with the future, get with Linux, get with the program.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> And here it is, straight from the horse's mouth: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8PMUvuHK4g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8PMUvuHK4g)

<comment><USER28> Wow that's the most childish video graphic I've ever seen.

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> DOSBox and Wine make Linux quite perfect for gaming.

Interestingly, for some games, running the Windows version in Wine works better than running a native Linux version they've made of the game. E.g. the native Linux version will complain that some library .so is not the correct version, or that it cannot connect to X, etc...

<comment><USER30> I appreciate and use Wine quite a bit, but it's far from perfect. A lot of things just plain crash from the get go.

Also, I wish that Steam on Linux would attempt to install and run Windows games via Wine. If I want to play, for instance, Spelunky, I need to close Linux Steam (can't log in in multiple clients, last time I checked) and open Windows Steam in Wine. Maybe there's a way to get Wine games to run in Linux Steam, I don't know. It would just be cool if it did it by default.

<comment><USER31> Yeah, I've only had success about 3/4 of the time I've used Wine. Maybe less. That's still 3/4 more than 0, so I absolutely _love_ it, but it's definitely not perfect.

<comment><USER29> Often if something doesn't work, winetricks helps get the right components, and sometimes also settings like the one where Wine creates a "desktop" window inside of which the game gets ran.

<comment><USER31> Often. And that's why I've achieved 3/4 success rate. But finding the magic winetricks incantations, even with the help of winehq.org, can be an enormous time-sink with low guarantee of success once you've exhausted the standard DirectX/VCRedist stuff.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> (Link)[0] to the actual announcement.

[0]: [http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news- media/announcements/2013...](http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news- media/announcements/2013/12/cloudius-systems-hsa-foundation-and-valve-join- linux-foundation)

</comment><comment><USER33> Until Linux fixes its desktop story I'm going to stick with my Windows PC.

<comment><USER34> What's broken about it?

<comment><USER35> Well linux have 10 main desktop managers that are under development right now. Each and every one of them does roughly 80% of what I want from a desktop. And I have uncomfortable experience on all.

<comment><USER36> What's a desktop manager? I know about desktop environments, of which there seem to be 4-5 for Linux, and I know about window managers, of which there are many, thankfully.

Please list the "10 main desktop managers" so I can familiarize myself with them. Thanks.

<comment><USER37> Haha, you've gotta love these armchair Linux critics man.

<comment><USER35> Indeed, call a person that sincerely tries for the last 3 months to move to Linux as a daily driver armchair critic.

I could live with slightly wooden DE, I could live with the fact that my speakers are buzzing while there are phones connected.

The only real dealbreaker is lack of decent file search in Linux. I want something that delivers the speed of search of Everything and has realtime update. No luck so far.

<comment><USER37> Have you looked into KDE? KDE has a pretty complex file search/tag system called Nepomuk: [http://userbase.kde.org/Nepomuk](http://userbase.kde.org/Nepomuk)

<comment><USER35> Nepomuk is indexer, and I am not sure it starts indexing on volume mount, also not sure if it is hooked into fnotify. Everything is reads straight from the NTFS journal - it is really smart little utility that has become my main launcher for everything. But I have not found current in development project that could be used like that - rlocate was closest but it is dead from 3 years.

<comment><USER37> Nepomuk is not the indexer, Strigi is. And Strigi has inotify support AFAIK.

EDIT: This is an older post, but I think it shows exactly that: [http://www.afiestas.org/nepomuk-is-not-fast-is- instant/](http://www.afiestas.org/nepomuk-is-not-fast-is-instant/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> These guys have so much smarts and common sense, congratulations guys. I'm enjoying Steam on Ubuntu, holding true to my promise to buy games and play them. Even bigger news for me, now I can look forward to purchasing a Steam Machine down the road. Sorry Roku, you've been great but you may have just gotten steam rolled.

</comment><comment><USER38> I would love to have a bit more motivation to set up a linux partition. Getting pretty tired of developing on windows...

<comment><USER39> Once you start developing against the POSIX API you will notice how beautiful it is and how horrendous the Win32 API is in comparison. :)

<comment><USER40>
        Once you start developing against the POSIX API you will notice how beautiful it is and how horrendous the Win32 API is in comparison. :)

Yeah, that POSIX standard for displaying windows on Windows is much more beautiful than Win32.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> That video is painful to watch. Here's the source of those video clips of Gabe: [http://youtu.be/Gzn6E2m3otg?t=12s](http://youtu.be/Gzn6E2m3otg?t=12s) It's from LinuxCon in September.

</comment><comment><USER42> Personally I think the movement to Linux will greatly help Linux, but will hurt gamers. My opinion. We will see what the future holds.

<comment><USER2> Not a gamer, why would that be?

<comment><USER42> Because game companies will likely delay games, cut corners to get cross- platform and claim its too hard, but still charge the same price for less content.

If that makes sense.

<comment><USER43> I doubt it.

Most indy studios use a tool like Unity or gameplay3d to build games, which can already target Linux.

Triple AAA titles from studios like EA already have OpenGL ports for the PS3/PS4, so it's just a matter of adding a layer to interact with X and the input APIs. With their huge amount of resources and budgets, this is child's play.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER44> What does this mean for Nvidia and AMD?

<comment><USER35> Nothing. The people that buy 250 watt, 300mm^2 GPUs to play games will continue to buy them.

<comment><USER45> Yep, they'll buy from one of them. How will they choose?

I think free drivers will become important. But maybe I'm wrong, and they'll just get the one that consume more watts.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER46> The one thing that has forced me keep Windows on my PC is the fact that most games require it. Hearing that such a large player in the gaming industry wants to move to Linux is really fantastic news.

<comment><USER47> The only thing that bugs me is that driver support is lagging behind so bad on Linux. I remember when Linus said something about why you should buy ATI for linux gaming. Because they have open source drivers.. In the end I returned my ATI card.

My older Turion x64/hd3650 something laptop is still struggling with whatever flavor Linux. Still a work in progresss to get my Samsung 40" full hd TV through HDMI detected as something other than a 7" tablet screen..hmm.

<comment><USER48> Try again, I'm using my HP Minilaptop with AMD components on (X)ubuntu or Linux Mint, 32 inch samsung is detected better in Linux then it is in Windows. (automatically runs it Full HD compared to Windows' 1366x768 )

<comment><USER47> Cool, could you hint me which version(s) of (x)ubuntu and mint are working out for you? I couldn't get passed the Mint login screen after installation. Couldn't drop to tty either. System froze over :( I'm now on ubuntu 12.04 which seems better, but still.. HDMI/dual monitor is bugging me out.

<comment><USER10> Kubuntu 13.10 (or the latest Chakra if you don't like *buntu) should work, and solve your HDMI pain.

<comment><USER47> thanks!!</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Import Evernote to OneNote – finally - <AUTHOR> https://blogs.office.com/2016/03/11/make-the-move-from-evernote-to-onenote-today/ <comment><USER2> Once the Mac one gets released I'll probably move from Evernote permanently.

</comment><comment><USER3> Had to see that coming. I think there is an opportunity for Evernote to make a big privacy play here ala Apple but it is getting harder and harder to figure out what advantages Evernote has here.</comment>


Morning Routine - <AUTHOR>

As I sit down at my desk, unlock my machine and sip the first life-affirming sip from my cup of coffee I'm thinking about what constitutes a good morning routine. Whether you work for yourself or someone else.<p>What do you do in the morning to focus your mind to get done what you need to get done? <comment><USER2> I actually don't unlock my laptop but instead take a look at my "cheat sheet" of "What do I want to achieve". It consists of three pages: (1) a personal code of conduct and ethical guidance (a long list of copy and pasted things from all over the web as well as things I've read as well as things I've seen and experiences and learned over the years that I think I should do); (2) a long-term goals (rather static); (3) weekly objectives (NOT tasks!).

Before I commit myself of spending time of something I ask myself: how does that contribute to any of my goals for this week, or any long term goal, or is in line with my ethics code? I then make a list of things I need to do today or want to learn or think would make sense for today.

THEN I open my calendar and task list and check and prioritize my activities: decline meetings that are not aligned with my objectives; prioritize tasks that are essential for today or this week; defer tasks that are not urgent; make sure I have enough time in the day.

I also know which hours of the day I am most productive for coding vs. reading vs. relaxing vs. writing vs. learning -- trying to mill through Excel Sheets at 2pm is a bad idea.

This morning routine also prevents me from procastination and "reading up" on "interesting sites" \-- once you realize what's ahead of you today, how that contributes to something you always wanted to do or learn, you probably realize how to spend time better and feel more satisfied.

</comment><comment><USER3> Sit down with my energy drink and breakfast sandwich while reading through logs from the previous day.

</comment><comment><USER4> Item 1. Close hacker news :)</comment>