Yeah, I'm sick. Read all about it - <AUTHOR> http://forgetamnesia.tumblr.com/post/103477584226/yeah-im-sick-read-all-about-it <comment><USER2> This is a very unfortunate story, and it's also very unfortunate that the author hasn't been helped by medical science. The author's subjective suffering should not be up for debate. Idiopathic pain and fatigue disorders are impossibly frustrating to diagnose and treat, and have a tremendous negative impact in a person's quality of life.

That said, this post has many hallmarks of pseudoscience, and I'm afraid that the author may be invested in pseudo-scientific diagnoses to his own detriment.

For example, he is very specific about the genetic origins of his disorder and even enumerates three very specific downstream effects of his genetic polymorphisms (low catecholamine levels, 'toxin' retention, and high elimination rates of various minerals). However, any genetic disorders that are well-understood enough to detect and enumerate like this would absolutely have a name and associated diagnosis.

Furthermore, the specific factors he lists (low serotonin and dopamine, high toxin retention, high mineral elimination) map more closely to pseudoscientific principles than they do to actually medical conditions. For example, his claim that his body specifically stores 'toxins' such as benzene and mercury while 'normal' people's bodies eliminate the same toxins is a classic pseudoscientific explanation that has no basis in reality.

Again, I'm not suggesting that he isn't suffering or that his symptoms aren't actually happening. But the amount of pseudoscience in this post makes me concerned that he is moving in the wrong direction or even entering a cycle of worsening his own symptoms with his pre-occupation with pseudoscientific diagnoses and insistence that mainstream medicine can't understand his symptoms.

This is a surprisingly common scenario, common enough that it has its own diagnosis: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_symptom_disorder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_symptom_disorder) The greatest hurdle in treating a somatic symptom disorder is convincing the patient that mental health treatment will be beneficial to their symptoms, which are largely physical. As a consequence, many sufferers turn to alternative medicine which provides comforting but largely false physical explanations for their symptoms involving disorders such as high toxin levels, low mineral levels, and low serotonin and dopamine levels, which is precisely what the author insists is causing his symptoms.

<comment><USER3> Pseudoscience is not necessarily bad. Most of psychology and philosophy, for instance, is essentially pseudoscience.

<comment><USER4> Can you share your definition of pseudoscience? You are clearly using quite a different one from the rest of the commenters here. Under the usual definitions, philosophy is neither science nor pseudoscience, and psychology is firmly in the realm of science.

<comment><USER3> Pseudoscience is a non-scientific practice which people ~generally assume~ to be scientific.

There are many areas of philosophy which people believe are done via science. I'd say metaphysics is a pseudoscience because people assume it's akin to physics.

Most modern psychology (not all of it, and not psychiatry) is based on Freud and Lacan's psychoanalytic practice. This practice people generally assume to be scientific because their health insurance covers it, but it has no scientific basis.

I'd also say some people assume political theory to be scientific, as many mistake it for economics and sociology which ~are~ scientific. Political theory is not.

EDIT: Aesthetics and philosophy of mind are other areas which people mistakenly think involve neurobiology, but they don't.

<comment><USER4> I think you may be behind the times when it comes to psychology. Modern psychology looks down on Freud and isn't based on it at all. As of a couple of decades ago, parts of psychology would probably be well classified as pseudoscience, but that isn't the case anymore.

The ~generally assume~ is an interesting bit. Dictionary definitions of the term typically go with something more like "practices which _claim_ to be scientific". Its not terribly fair to philosophers to call them practicers of pseudoscience just because the layperson sees "physics" and assumes "metaphysics" must be science.

But, then again, life isn't fair. Metaphysics _is_ a pretty misleading name.

<comment><USER3> Modern psychology looks down on Freud almost entirely because of the advancements of Lacan in the 60s. Despite this, psychology is still ~based~ on Freud.

You're right about the "generally assume" part. I had my definition wrong. But I still think it pertains to psychoanalysis specifically, because Freud definitely advertised his methods as scientific.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm reading into this, but I would hazard a guess that it appears he plays a lot of video games or surfs the web/blogs (he seems to have a lot to write about games, etc), and his roommates probably see this and react negatively to it, especially when he complains about being tired all the time. It's not normal for good people to act like jackasses, so it feels like there's something more to this story than just them not understanding that he has an illness.

Out of curiosity, if there is no name for this illness he has, what sort of treatments does he do that require 2-3 trips to the hospital per week? Is he getting dialysis or blood transfusions?

<comment><USER6> You're kind of proving his point, aren't you? Your default assumption is that his roommates are probably right. What if he had crippling fibromyalgia? Or some horrendous cancer?

> especially when he complains about being tired all the time

He never said he complains all the time. He says he _is_ tired; he did not say he complains that he is tired all the time. So why did you immediately conclude he must complain all the time?

See, I read the point of the post as this: when you have a disease with no name -- no one can classify you as having a _thing_. You just have symptoms. I read his point as being that people sympathize with those who have a disease, but if you can't name your disease, it's almost as if you didn't have one. And hence his roommate who decided it'd be awesome to ride their exercise bike in his room as a form of punishment for not having a better sleep schedule. His roommate couldn't sympathize.

Here's an exercise: you know how recent security exploits all have fun little names? And how those exploits have all gotten fairly extensive press mentions as a result? Do you think they would have had the same if they were left nameless, as most exploits in the past were?

<comment><USER7> When he's complaining about a disease with no name, it might be worthwhile to provide a bit more medical background about the progress of his illness. Like many 'woe is me' stories on the internet, this left me with a lot more questions than answers and reading it ultimately proved to be a waste of my time. I feel sorry for the author but found his account of problems too incoherent to puzzle out, apart from the fact that he feels terrible and can only work about 30 hours in a good week. Maybe he needs to apply for disability and spend his limited uptime working on small-scale games rather than big commercial ones involving massive workloads and crunch time etc.

<comment><AUTHOR> The post isn't about explaining his disease. That's just a little background info. It's not trying to defend being sick all the time, since that's really not something he should have to do. The post is just describing what it's like to be that sick all the time.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Wow, a lot of the replies here are so typical of what _genuinely sick people experience every day_. You don't need to posit a cause, you don't need to suggest cures and you don't need to critique his lifestyle.

The point of the article is not to try to explain all of that shit to you, but to try to make you understand what it's like to be _that sick all the time_. Try to take in that message first, and when you think you have the slightest idea what it's like to live like that, _maybe_ you are then qualified to add a response.

<comment><USER9> >Try to take in that message first, and when you think you have the slightest idea what it's like to live like that, maybe you are then qualified to add a response.

How ridiculous. Just because a person isn't suffering or doesnt have a true understanding of the same agony as the blogger, doesn't mean they are not allowed to offer help.

Whats so wrong with people trying to help? Should we just say - "Thanks for the insight. Now back to my own world"

<comment><USER8> > _" Whats so wrong with people trying to help?"_

Because most of the 'help' is in the form of unsolicited advice, well-intended as it might be, and tends to be naive, unhelpful, disheartening, demotivating or downright insulting.

OP outlines what that feels like:

 _" These people are, in most aspects of their lives, good people. Honestly, couldn't recommend them enough. But where my illness is concerned, they felt they had license to act like complete jackasses because they couldn't understand what I was going through."_

Sure, anyone can help, but very few of the comments on here are _helpful_.

<comment><USER10> As someone with numerous debilitating diseases myself; the whole thing just doesn't ring very true with me. It was a 6 year process of being moved from specialist to specialist and every test you can imagine being run to understand what was wrong with me.

During that whole time almost everyone I encountered was very sympathetic and understanding.

It is also difficult as a patient not to be jaded. There are "patients" out there trying to scam the system that just want some doctor to sign a disability claim so they can collect a check without getting a job. I've met numerous individuals where this is the case. Then I see the doctors and they keep telling me that I should consider going on disability or find a less stressful line of work, because of my health. They tell me that it is only a matter of time before things get so bad I will no longer be able to make a choice.

I have a friend that has terminal cancer who plans to work until he dies. There are plenty of desk jobs; if this guy can sit up playing video games and such; he can likely hold down a job.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Did you take flouroquinolone or other bacteriocidal antibiotics, or take statins/steroids? These things are known to cause mitochondrial disorder which can manifest in lots of ways but the predominant similarities are pain, fatigue, and improper response to exercise (it taking a toll on you as opposed to making you stronger).

Edit: They're also pretty much ignored/under-represented by the medical community.

I suppose me saying "known" was somewhat misattributed because they're known by researchers, not by doctors.

<comment><USER12> I'm sorry, but the writer wrote a piece about how his sickness doesn't have a name, how he is REALLY REALLY sick, to the extent of going to the hospital 3 days a week. And your first comment is to essentially try to diagnose his problem as something (seemingly) relatively simple?

Really?

Edit: It's extremely unlikely that with his state, he hasn't known of everything we could have suggested. And since someone is saying that I'm appealing to authority, I'm not. I didn't mean to say that the doctor knew best, but rather him, the writer, have done his research and knew about his condition.

And as for whether the comment I'm replying to is "helping". That's the point I'm trying to make. He's helping the same way as the writer's roommate is "helping".

The point I was trying to make is that, half of the post was about how hard it is for people outside himself to know about his condition. And to my interpretation, it's better to just take his words. With that in mind, it feels incredibly ironic that the first comment in the topic is essentially someone trying to guess what's the issue. And no, I'm also not trying to help, because that's also the point: he doesn't need my help, there is nothing I, an internet stranger could have helped. And from the tone of the post, I wasn't aware that he was looking for information, merely expressing his frustration. I'm sharing my sympathy with him, and if we meet one day, I've love to buy him a beer. As of now, I'd just take his words, and shudder when realizing there are many type of odd disorder out there.

I realized the tone wasn't necessary, and I apologize for that.

<comment><USER13> In the book "What do you care what other people think?" there's a story where Feynman had a good idea that his wife might be suffering from tuberculosis, but he restrained himself from saying anything because the symptoms were so simple and obvious that he figured the doctors had already ruled out tuberculosis as a possibility. His wife died sometime later because she was diagnosed and treated for it too late.

I don't think relying on professionals to be perfect is a good idea.

<comment><USER14> That doesn't match my memory of the book, nor Wikipedia's short mention that when they married they knew she had it and the prognosis wasn't great. More significantly, she died in 1945, when the first drug that could touch tuberculosis was still in the very early experimental stage.

<comment><USER13> I remember it vividly. The story was about a doctor running up to another doctor, in front of Feynman's wife and her family, and was excited to the point of being rude, asking things like "Did you check for X?!" where X was a symptom of tuberculosis that Feynman had also noticed. The doctor was admonished for his behavior and for "making the patient feel uncomfortable" and was brushed off, even though he was on the right track and would have diagnosed the tuberculosis sooner. Feynman could have stepped in and said "Well, actually, I also noticed X," but the social pressures of the situation persuaded him to stay quiet, which turned out to be regrettable.

It probably isn't in Wikipedia because it isn't in Surely You're Joking, which is freely available online, whereas you have to buy the other book which has this story. But the story is definitely in there.

EDIT: Here's the story: [http://pastebin.com/NeP4Ka70](http://pastebin.com/NeP4Ka70)

Some summary:

...

As soon as I hear about [the disease] I go down to the library at Princeton and look up lymphatic diseases, and find "Swelling of the Lymphatic Glands. (1) Tuberculosis of the lymphatic glands. This is very easy to diagnose…"—so I figure this isn't what Arlene has, because the doctors are having trouble trying to figure it out.

...

The county hospital gave Arlene all sorts of tests and X-ray treatments for this "Hodgkin's disease—?" and there were special meetings to discuss this peculiar case. I remember waiting for her outside, in the hall. When the meeting was over, the nurse wheeled her out in a wheelchair. All of a sudden a little guy comes running out of the meeting room and catches up with us. "Tell me," he says, out of breath, "do you spit up blood? Have you ever coughed up blood?" The nurse says, "Go away! Go away! What kind of thing is that to ask of a patient!"—and brushes him away. Then she turned to us and said, "That man is a doctor from the neighborhood who comes to the meetings and is always making trouble. That's not the kind of thing to ask of a patient!" I didn't catch on. The doctor was checking a certain possibility, and if I had been smart, I would have asked him what it was.

...

[A long time passes, and Arlene's condition worsens. The doctors finally perform a biopsy to figure out what's wrong.]

...

When I got to Arlene's house, she showed me the report. It said, "Biopsy shows tuberculosis of the lymphatic gland." That really got me. I mean, that was the first goddamn thing on the list! I passed it by, because the book said it was easy to diagnose, and because the doctors were having so much trouble trying to figure out what it was. I assumed they had checked the obvious case. And it was the obvious case: the man who had come running out of the meeting room asking "Do you spit up blood?" had the right idea. He knew what it probably was!

I felt like a jerk, because I had passed over the obvious possibility by using circumstantial evidence—which isn't any good—and by assuming the doctors were more intelligent than they were. Otherwise, I would have suggested it right off, and perhaps the doctor would have diagnosed Arlene's disease way back then as "tuberculosis of the lymphatic gland—?" I was a dope. I've learned, since then.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> What's the best way to deal with something like this as a friend of someone with something remarkably similar?

I have a close friend who's always going to see specialists with some ailment or another. One of the things he has is low magnesium and zinc just like this author. He's also suffered from bouts of unexplained amnesia (is that where the author got the name for his blog from? If so maybe they actually have the same thing!?). His sleep schedule is completely screwed to the extent that i hardly see him and he never gets sunlight. He has serotonin and dopamine issues. I actually checked the blog in detail to make sure it's not the same person. It isn't. Just a weird coincidence.

He's never been diagnosed with anything specific either.

Like the friends of this guy in this story I honestly do suspect he is lazy. I see him playing 100+ hours a week on his steam profile and he plays more than just steam games. He's currently well into his 30's and he's missing out on life.

I actually don't know what to do. I honestly feel that tough love would help him more than anything. In this article this guy says his friends keep him up saying "You need to force yourself to have a better sleep schedule.". I'm tempted to do the same for my friend to try and get him into a sensible sleep schedule. I guess that's wrong but i can completely understand it.

Leaving it at status quo is unacceptable in my opinion. Even with a disability he's still not making the most of life - the ridiculous sleep schedule where he never see's the sun has to stop. Giving him time to sort his shit out doesn't work. He's been like that for 15 years now.

<comment><USER16> How another person lives his life is _fundamentally_ his decision, and it is not your responsibility to fix him. Your frustration with him is _your_ problem, not his. At first blush, I would recommend either accept him or walk away, for your benefit and his.

<comment><USER9> Sounds a bit harsh, i think the OP is looking for advice on how to deal with it. Saying accept it or walk away is not really adding to the conversation.

My suggestion would be to start to talk to your friend about how you feel about his/her situation. Try and get an understanding of just how they are feeling.

Dont just come into a conversation with all your advice ready to go because it will make your friend back off.

Be prepared to spend sometime to get to understand the underlying causes behind his/her need to shut down and not live life.

There are probably some deep seated fears and stresses which are causing him/her to be this way.

Walking away and just turning a blind eye to them is not going to help anyone.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> It sounds like you actually have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - everything you say is very typical of CFS. I actually suffered from CFS myself, but have now fully recovered - I run my own business, and I'm a private pilot as well.

CFS is very treatable and you can recover from it. Unfortunately there is a lot of BS and quackery out there, making it difficult for patients to get the right information. Feel free to email me at firstname.lastname@example.com.

<comment><USER18> Is racking pain characteristic of CFS?

<comment><USER17> Yes, it can be. Some people have a lot of pain, others have none. The term ME tends to be used when pain is present. Also fibromyalgia overlaps to a very large extent with CFS, and pain is one of its main symptoms.

The problem is that all patients have slightly different symptoms and there is no definitive test as yet, so it makes it difficult to diagnose.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I'm not sure I understand. Any of it... How can he be sick for nine years and the doctors don't have a name for what's wrong with him? Is it one medical condition, or does he suffer from depression and poor liver function and malabsorption? What kind of government aid is he seeking, and why is he being denied (as opposed to studied to find out what's wrong)?

Lastly, who is he? I googled Forgot Amnesia and didn't find anything of note. Not that his identity has anything to do with his illness or his struggle, but it would help put some identity and background to the story. Is he well known? Is he rich and famous? Is he poor and struggling? He says he's a writer and an indie dev, has he done anything I would know of, or does he have a storefront where I could buy something to help his finances?

For a story titled "Read all about it", it doesn't really say much. I feel like I want to help, but now I just feel bad for someone I don't know and can't do anything about.

<comment><USER20> I made a more detailed comment downthread, but in the pediatric rare disease world, ten years is generally considered a fairly typical amount of time before one can finally get a diagnosis, and that's for diagnoses that are actually known/identifiable/understood.

The easiest way to explain this is that doctors typically don't want to diagnose life-long conditions if they've never seen them before. So your family doctor will send you to an internist, who will send you to an internist at the local academic medical center, who sends you to three specialists at the same medical center, who don't know what it is. Then you get a referral to someone in another city who specializes in something someone thinks it might be – that guy has diagnosed 10 people with this rare disease. You fly out, and he says "nope, you're not it."

Wash, rinse, cry, repeat.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> I also have pretty significant health issues, not anywhere near as bad as this person, but life-impacting. People do have a tendency to just think you are lazy, even after you have explained your condition to them. For example, sometimes I have a lot of trouble getting up early or even at a normal time. People would tell me I need to get to bed earlier when I actually went to bed at the exact same time as them and woke up feeling exhausted and had to go back to sleep.

There are lots of things that cause fatigue and other issues that can be practically or actually debilitating but either don't have a diagnosis or don't have a diagnosis that sounds bad enough, and people decide to blame the victim.

Part of that might be giving too much credit to doctors.

</comment><comment><USER22> If you're looking for a job, I'd give ThoughtWorks ([http://www.thoughtworks.com/](http://www.thoughtworks.com/)) a try. They are a very unique company, very open and very inclusive.

</comment><comment><USER23> About the issue with it hasn't got a name: wouldn't be a human biologist be interested in researching this thing? Plus getting his or her name to name the disease?

<comment><USER20> I know more about the pediatric cases, but fwiw... There are TONS of 'conditions' that don't have a name (quotes only because that may not always be the right term).

Sometimes it's not that simple – sometimes it's a matter of doctors trying to see if it's actually an unusual presentation of an existing condition. That's the usual focus for the first few years of dealing with a rare condition: the search for a diagnosis. You may have a dozen symptoms, and a given condition may overlap with eight of them, and with six of another, and with ten of another, but something stands in the way of getting a diagnosis.

Eventually, you may have exhausted your options for diagnoses. None of the existing conditions fit what you have, for one reason or another. At that point, the best you can hope for is to find other people who match what you have. Get a small cohort together, and maybe the NIH will fund a grant through the Undiagnosed Diseases Program or something.

It's long, uncertain, and frustrating. We're working on stuff to help folks like these (though kids, mostly) over at Kinsights, and it's heart-wrenching to hear about and watch this process unfold.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> It is sickening that a talented guy can't get a job just because he needs to work part time to manage a disease.

<comment><USER25> Really? Sickening? There are any number of candidates available that _won 't_ require special consideration to manage a disease, so why should someone solely take on the charity burden of giving _this_ fellow a job?

<comment><USER24> No charity is required. Infact it is profitable to hire this guy. What is required is getting rid of pointless constraints.

Part time? You get a talented developer for 30 hours a week, paying the same hourly rate as everyone else.

Working from home? Depending on the role he may be even more productive than those in the office. I have just two more words to say about it: 37 Signals.

<comment><USER25> > _No charity is required. Infact it is profitable to hire this guy. What is > required is getting rid of pointless constraints._

Pointless constraints like being a reliable employee?

> _Part time? You get a talented developer for 30 hours a week, paying the > same hourly rate as everyone else._

Why would you want a part time engineer if you can have an (at least!) equally talented full time engineer?

> _Working from home? Depending on the role he may be even more productive > than those in the office.

If you want an employee that can work from home, there are plenty of them that won't be sick half the time.

> _I have just two more words to say about it: 37 Signals.*

What does 37 Signals have to do with anything? There's _nothing_ to indicate that cargo culting a small aspect of their company's working model has _anything_ to do with creating a similar outcome.

<comment><USER24> Who said he is unreliable? Maybe he is, in which case that is a different matter.

I find that 'work from home' jobs tend to pay less and therein lies the balance. The advantage to the employer is to pay less for the employee and save on office space. The advantage to the employee is obviously the flexibility that gives them and not needing to commute.

30 hours is part time but it isn't like asking for 10 hours a week. It is almost full time (40hours). I hear a lot on HN and other places online about American companies requiring lots of hours of their developers even though they are supposed to work 40hours. So that could be the difference we are seeing. In Europe/Australia this is not expected generally, except in certain industries like Finance.

37 signals are successful despite letting people work from home. I had a previous employer who isn't famous or anything but had many developers work from other countries with time zone challenges. It can be done.

In a pure, zero-charity, capitalist world there should still be jobs for people with diseases like this who can work. They have something to offer and the market will meet a fair price on it. It may be a lower price than a fit person, but there could still be a beneficial situation to both the employer and the employee.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Maybe folks at MetaMed could be of some help? The company goal is to help people with rare&hard to diagnose problems by focusing a team of specialized researches on sifting through available medical knowledge.

</comment><comment><USER10> Ok, guess this is share and tell day...

When I read this article I just think of someone that seems to be keeping themselves down.

But the truth of the matter is that many people that are very sick and in a shit load of pain or even dying are still out busting their asses on a daily basis doing their work come hell or high water.

I'm not saying this from the perspective of some outsider, I am one of those people; I'm one medically screwed up piece of work.

Here is a list of all of the various diseases/syndromes I have been actually medically diagnosed with.

Type 1 Diabetes

Stiff person syndrome

Abnormal antibody syndrome

Benign fasciculation cramp syndrome

(This one is really a load of fun. Basically this means I have severe muscle spasms all over my body; sometimes so bad that I will fall or injure myself and flop around looking like someone with epilepsy. Unlike epilepsy though, this is not a seizure, so when it happens I'm awake for the whole damn thing. Is a god damn riot. Seriously wish I could whip this shit out on demand I'd be the life of the party. The "benign" part just means "this one's not fatal".)

Alopecia

Hashimoto's disease

Asthma

Autoimmune arthritis

Autoimmune polyglandular syndrome, Type 1

My kitchen cabinet looks like a pharmacy because I'm on so many damn drugs, between the muscle relaxants, pain killers, insulin, and more. I'm on the top shelf stuff, the kinds of prescriptions where the doctor still fills out the prescription on real paper because it's required by law since this shit is so powerful and so addictive.

Add to this I have health problems that can't be accounted for by the things the doctors have been able to pin down. Like the fact that I can't stand up to fast or I'll pass out; they know it's because my blood pressure drops way too low, but they still can't figure out why. Or the fact that I sometimes suffer temporary paralysis. Imagine waking up and not being able to get up; I'm not talking about where your arm fell asleep because laid on it and cut off the circulation. I'm talking about waking up and laying there for an hour unable to move or even speak; trying to moan or make some kind of noise until my wife finally wakes up so she can lift me out of bed and move my limbs around until they start working again.

I've had doctors visits where the doctor told me it was a miracle I hadn't been brought in on a stretcher, and visits where they've told me that (and I'm going to have to paraphrase here), as bad as I am they just don't know how much longer I have.

On my good days I'm on muscle relaxants and pain killers and I still am in horrible pain throughout my whole body. There is the pain that is always there and then there are the shootings pains that double me over, or my muscles locking up to where I can't move. And those are the good days; where I get my ass out of bed and go to work anyway. Every 3 months like clockwork I go back in to the doctor and they look me over and run tests and occasionally they will bring in some young new doctor and tell them how "interesting" of a patient I am; and just in case you are somehow unsure you don't ever want to be an "interesting" patient.

On my really bad days I call in sick to work and then I take enough pain killers and muscle relaxants to knock myself unconscious and I just pray for the pain to get a little better.

Everyday I wake up, I breathe a little sigh of relief that I lived another day. Then I get off my ass and get back in the game, because today really might just be my last.

</comment><comment><USER27> As a person with over a decade of life (16-28) characterized by health issues, this resonates. It can get better. I've been mostly normal for 3 years and I'm well-treated, although YC/HN-style startups are out of the question (can't risk going without insurance).

Health problems are like many natural disasters (e.g. hurricanes, earthquakes, heat waves) where it's not the event itself that kills people and causes suffering so much as _human_ failures: looting, under-maintained infrastructure, incompetence by trusted service providers and malfeasance by insurers and various unscrupulous opportunists.

When you're sick, the health problem itself is challenging. The continuing onslaught of people failing you (which you'll frequently blame yourself for, especially if it's not clear what's wrong with you) or exploiting your (no matter how intermittent) weakness is demoralizing.

Now that I'm well I fight back against human failure and indecency and I will not stop.

</comment><comment><USER28> you might want to checkout out [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkfnUm7uH7o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkfnUm7uH7o)

(How to Create a Healthy Electrical Environment in Our Technology-Driven World)</comment>


T-38C passes in front of the Sun at supersonic speed, revealing shock waves - <AUTHOR> http://imgur.com/ozGT87I <comment><USER2> In case you are also wondering what a T-38C is, it is a plane. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_T-38_Talon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_T-38_Talon)

<comment><USER3> I didn't realize it was supersonic:

Maximum speed: Mach 1.3 (858 mph, 1,381 km/h)

<comment><USER4> Neither did I. Is it customary for trainers to be capable of supersonic flight? The T-6 we use in the Navy is a turboprop whose flight envelope is well under transonic speeds, let alone supersonic ones.

<comment><USER5> It was a fad of the era which followed on from the excitement of all-jet training ( which itself declined in the 1970s ).

The British RAF looked at the T-38 as inspiration but the subsequent Jaguar turned out as an attack aircraft.

The Japanese then looked at the original supersonic training concept of the Jaguar and cloned it as the T-2, larger than the T-38 but likewise still in service.

The few other forces who ended-up using T-38s did so as a result of FMS credits rather than actual need or validity, since the US had nothing to offer comparable to the subsonic Hawk and Alpha Jet.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> This is known as Schlieren imaging. The refraction of the light changes with the density of the air, resulting in a nice way to visualize the shockwave.

</comment><comment><USER3> Seeing multiple parallel lines (I'm guessing condensation from the pressure wave?) makes me wonder if the boom you hear is actually multiple nearly simultaneous booms.

<comment><USER7> it does -- and designing the plane to shape the shockwaves can reduce the perceived boom volume [http://www.nasa.gov/aero/centers_tackle_sonic_boom.html](http://www.nasa.gov/aero/centers_tackle_sonic_boom.html)

<comment><USER8> When I was a child (Gosh, nearly thirty years ago now - where did it all go wrong?) I used to draw relatively snub-nosed planes that had an array of lasers firing so that they settled on a movable point ahead making a 'virtual nose'. The lasers could then diverge and move the concentrated focal point forward as it went faster, making the 'nose longer'.

I always wondered whether there was anything in that, but I'm too stupid to work it out.</comment></comment></comment>


Open sourcing node-publisher - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/zendesk-engineering/open-sourcing-node-publisher-eb2150c1fb6a <comment><USER2> Adding another tool/process has associated costs. What are the benefits of node-publisher that outweigh just using travis CI or whatnot?

<comment><USER3> Releasing a new version of a package usually happens from the developer's terminal and it's a manual process, prone to human error. The tool just automates what otherwise would be done manually.

<comment><USER2> Hmm yeah that's true. Unlike CI this is manual. But other than that this looks a whole lot like CI. Do we need to improve tooling for publishing a CI pipeline and allowing it's invocation, with arguments, on the command line?

<comment><USER3> I'm not quite sure if I understand your question completely. The tool should not be used to trigger a CI pipeline. The idea behind node-publisher was to prevent broken packages being published. A CI helps us in the prevention of these errors before a branch is merged into master. Node-publisher helps with the last mile in those cases where the publishing itself is more complicated than just calling `yarn publish patch` or similar.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Fun With Turbolinks and Rails 4 - <AUTHOR> http://www.yonbergman.com/2013/07/29/fun-with-turbolinks/

<comment><USER2> You really need a signup process that doesn't involve Facebook.</comment>


Is the Main Character Missing? Maybe Not. - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/business/media/02garfield.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss <comment><USER2> Link to actual site mentioned in the article: <http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/>

Some pieces are really amusing, but I'd like to see the original + modified version together. ;)

</comment><comment><USER3> "I don't think I'm the only person to think this up, but I hypothesize that if you remove all the text of Garfield's speech, or thoughts, or whatever that is, that it become an oddly surrealist comic. "

<http://www.truthandbeautybombs.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4997>

From January 2006. Thanks for doing your research, New York Times!

</comment><comment><USER4> Existential anger is the new existential depression. I don't know why I'm here, but I'm really pissed off about it.</comment>


U.S. Judge Rejects Uber's Proposed $100M Settlement with Drivers - <AUTHOR> http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-judge-rejects-ubers-proposed-100-million-settlement-with-drivers-1471560362 <comment><USER2> So it's murky with Uber, as far as classifying the drivers as independent vs employees. On one end, the drivers work their own hours, own their own car, and are "kinda" their own boss. On the other, they have to go through mandatory training as part of their job, have to keep minimum hours on the platform to keep their job, can't solicit tips, and don't have as much freedom to decide to decline a passenger (as far as I understand Uber will lower their internal rating if they don't accept passengers, so they're penalized when they/lack freedom to decline a passenger).

I don't know all of the specifics, but from what I've read Uber is taking more control from the driver than what a normal employer employing an independent contractor does and it really is hard to argue that they're fully independent contractors. There is the argument that there should be a third classification for cases like this because the employment law is outdated, but generally speaking, I would be surprised if this goes to jury that Uber would win even with their amazing counsel. If they lost this lawsuit, their main business model would be severely hurt (fully driverless cars are not realistic for multiple reasons in the next 3-5 years, let's not kid ourselves) and their valuation would take a big hit. Uber has an uphill battle with this if they have to go through the entire process, and has a lot at stake.

<comment><USER3> For clarity:

"Mandatory training": A 7 minute video explaining how the system works the first time you log in to the driver app

"Minimum hours": One ride every 6 months

"Cant decline": Being online in the driver app indicates willingness to drive. Going offline is two taps.

<comment><USER4> >"Cant decline": Being online in the driver app indicates willingness to drive. Going offline is two taps.

Can they refuse a specific customer?

<comment><USER3> It's been a year or so since I drove last, but I don't recall the ability to see a customer's identity or destination before accepting their ride.

That would mean that declining a ride can only possibly mean that you were not actually ready despite signaling being ready (by being online in the app).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> "Prior to the judge's ruling, San Francisco-based Uber indicated it had a long-term solution to the debate about driver classification: driverless vehicles. Uber said earlier Thursday it plans to begin testing autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh as soon as this month, featuring technology that would eventually make human drivers obsolete."

Well I guess that's one way to accelerate innovation lol

<comment><USER6> If the human drivers become painpoint this innovation is going to go a lot faster. I think driver of the world can untie and pressurize the government to stop this innovation in infancy :P

<comment><USER7> Stopping innovation is what I'm all about!

Actually I dislike uber because of how they flout regulations and hurt workers. But if they get rid of the workers altogether, It would be hard to complain. Especially if fairs become a fraction of the price.

<comment><USER8> _Especially if fairs become a fraction of the price._

I wonder if prices will drop that much. Is owning and maintaining a massive fleet of driver-less cars really that much cheaper than just paying a bunch drivers that own and maintain their own car?

<comment><USER9> Yes it is.

First, efficiency of utilisation: Driverless cars can be driven around the clock (modulo maintenance and refueling time), so car depreciation/maintenance gets amortised amongst more passengers.

Second, efficiency of scale in maintenance: It is extremely unlikely that the maintenance costs that uber drivers take on - buying parts retail and taking their car to the nearest garage for repairs - are lower than what would be a dedicated factory-like maintenance shop for thousands of automatic cabs.

And third of course: direct wage costs of the driver once you subtract car maintenance from fares is still a lot bigger than zero, so eliminating that saves money.

<comment><USER8> _Driverless cars can be driven around the clock_

So in theory can normal cars. Many taxi companies (and I'm assuming at least some Uber drivers) share one car between 2-5 drivers to maximize the time on the road.

The other aspect you're not considering is that even after you take economies of scale into account a driverless car will almost certainly cost more than the market price of the current median Uber car. I'm guessing that $3000-5000 will get you a perfectly Uber-worthy car that will give you years of fairly trouble free use. What will a driverless car cost?

And that is ignoring the fact that most Uber drivers would have owned and maintained a car even if they had had a different job, so the only 'cost' is the marginal cost of extra maintenance being used as an Uber car causes.

Also I wouldn't be surprised if maintenance costs will also be higher at least in the short-to-medium term due the complicated and experimental nature of the components involved.

So even if there are long term savings I imagine that they will take a long time to materialize and even longer to show up in fare-prices, unless Uber decides to subsidize driverless fare to kick start the market.

<comment><USER10> Taxi's drive around looking for fares. Uber can better optimize the time used through an algorithm. I'm betting there's a lot of time wasted for cabs that rely on street hails.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> It's 2016 and drivers have to sue to try and get basic employment benefits from a company. They have to first overcome a clause which tries to enforce mandatory arbitration to prevent class action lawsuits.

I use Uber, but I don't like Uber.

> Founders and investors say reclassifying contractors as employees could > drive up their labor costs by at least 20%, upending their pricing models > and making their services more expensive.

... too bad?

> As employees they would likely have more stringent work schedules and other > requirements like wearing a uniform and undergoing time-consuming training.

But it's 2016. Tell them they have a cap of X hours per week and just track hours worked using your app.

A uniform? Why?

Time-consuming training? To do the job better? Isn't that better for everyone?

> Drivers would also be allowed to post signs in their cars soliciting tips > from riders.

See, I think this should be the other way around. As "contractors" who is uber to tell them they can't do that?

Fuck tipping though. The day I have to start giving Uber drivers tips is the day I start finding another service. Actually it's not even that, it's the convenience of the app. if I can toss in an extra little bit when I go to rate the driver I would be okay with that. I'm not subsidizing uber fares by tacking on 20%. I refuse. Raise your prices.

I still don't get how uber can call their drivers contractors.

edit: To clarify on the tip thing. Some guy let me take my dog (in a crate) in his van on an uber trip. Helped me get her in and out (big dog) as well. I'd be happy to give him a good tip for that. I object to the idea that adequate service deserves extra. I'd rather just pay a fair amount (probably a bit more than now really).

edit the second: Wait, I thought the contractor status issue was already decided in california and uber lost? They get to pay a one time fee to get around the law?

<comment><USER12> Every single taxi driver is a contractor - why do you think Uber should be different?

<comment><USER13> Most single taxi driver can be tipped and set a price for a fair themselves. why do you think Uber should be different ? /s

<comment><USER14> Taxi prices are set by the local government in every US city I've ever seen.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Online Regex Tester for PHP, PCRE, Python, Golang and JavaScript - <AUTHOR> https://regex101.com/ <comment><USER2> Been using this for years, and it's incredibly helpful. Thanks!

<comment><USER3> Same here! Many thanks from me as well.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I was surprised to see this listed here today, as I've been using it for years and thought it would have been a very well known tool by now. Thanks for making this and for anyone who hasn't used it before, give it a try on your next "regex fail day", it won't disappoint!

</comment><comment><USER5> Love the idea, it's so easy to be thinking in one dialect when you need another.

Also would it be feasible to add Java 'Pattern' regex syntax as well?

</comment><comment><USER6> Only thing missing is ability to compare different regexs against each other

</comment><comment><USER7> great tool! well worth checking out if you haven't already!

</comment><comment><USER8> thanks</comment>


Kindle edition of Effective Programming by Jeff Atwood (Coding Horror) for $0.00 - <AUTHOR> http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Programming-More-Writing-ebook/dp/B008HUMTO0/ <comment><USER2> This seems to basically be a bunch of Jeff's blog posts in book form. Some of it is interesting to facilitate discussions but how much more "effective" a programmer it will make you seems pretty dubious.

I would recommend reading the book "code complete" for more specific tips about thinking about the code you write.

<comment><USER3> I second the recommendation for Code Complete. If you're looking for tactical construction advice, better to take it from someone with an established history of having constructed software.

<comment><USER4> There's no doubt that it's a very extensive book on software development and a very good one but I personally don't recommend it. If one really wants to know about software development, I find that it's much better to join an open source project and discuss the development of the project with other people than just reading about software development. It's almost the same thing as learning everything about an internal combustion engine but having no idea how to fix one.

In hindsight perhaps I shouldn't have bought the kindle edition of the book (Code Complete) because it's a very large book and it's not those kinds of books where we must read from cover to cover and I don't think it's very practical to read those books in a kindle but perhaps it's just me. Just my 2 cents.

<comment> why-el I agree with this. As a senior, I followed Jeff's recommendation and bought Code Complete, but I found that a lot of it is becoming mainstream language. A book that thought me more personally is Effective Java, because I think some of its sections go way beyond Java and touch on some serious issues developers deal with, like how you structure and document APIs, when to use some patterns and so on..

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Is there some way to get alerted about other such $0 offers from Kindle?

</comment><comment><USER6> You mean the guy who thinks you should email yourself your passwords to store them safely?

<comment><USER7> The funny thing is that many sites does password reset via email anyway.

<comment><USER8> Most passwords resets do not mail you the password; they usually mail you a unique URL which you can use to reset the password, which often generates a second mail telling you the password was changed.

That prevents anyone from "sneaking" into your account, even if the can snoop your mail / copy your inbox. You'll see the intrusion, and you'll be unable to log into the service after the password is changed.

Storing the password in plain-text in your inbox has none of that protection.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Looks like the offer has now ended. I'm seeing the US version for $4.79 and the UK version is £3.02.

<comment><USER10> True. It was $0 for me yesterday but not today. This reinforces my unhealthy belief that I must check my news feeds constantly throughout the day, everyday, nonstop, lest I miss out on... saving $5. :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I have never picked up a software dev book and used it to learn development, mostly just learned by doing. I was curious though, how do most of you read these things? Do you practice while reading, or can I take my iPad to a secluded area and just read my way through it? Any response would be appreciate, thanks!

<comment> why-el The method that works for me:

1\. Give the book a quick read. Essentially just to know what it covered and how the book approaches/covers the topics you are interested in.

2\. Now that you know what the book covers and have a fuzzy idea about it, go straight to the section that concerns you most as the need arrises.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> No such love for us Nook users. I checked Atwood's site for maybe a posting pointing to a free epub version, no go there either. Sad panda.

<comment><USER13> You still can buy it for the kindle pc app. Then, with Calibre, you can remove the DRM and convert it to epub or whatever format is suitable for the nook.

<comment><USER14> > Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited

There is no DRM on this book, luckily enough.

<comment><USER15> But its still in Amazon's ebook format. Calibre allows you to convert it to something a Nook can read.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> I could be wrong, but doesn't the author make no money from these "deals" and have no say in whether they happen? I'm not sure that's something I'd like to do to an author I like.

<comment><USER17> The publisher gets a minimum royalty/commission per sale, regardless of how Amazon discounts promotion, except in the case where the publisher joins the Free X of the Day rotation.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> It says $6.60 when I check the page. Because I'm browsing from outside the US? [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B008HUMTO0&linkCode=as2&tag=asdfdsa-20)

<comment><USER5> I think the offer is closed. I was able to download the free copy from outside US. Maybe just a 24 hour offer.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Due to copyright restrictions, the Kindle title you're trying to purchase is not available in your country: Germany.

<comment><USER20> Unless, of course, you were to look at amazon.de, where the book is just as freely available as at amazon.co.uk or amazon.com.

At least it was a few hours ago. Now it is back to its normal price.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> I think, that this kind of post ir misleading. During past month there has been several of those "Kindle edition for free", which does not represent actual price (at least for people not from USA). Same here - edition I see (from Latvia) is priced at $7.59.

</comment><comment><USER22> Awesome eBook for free is awesome. Just bought it for my Kindle and for sure I'll be reading this during the weekend.

Thanks for the tip! ;)

<comment><AUTHOR> You're welcome :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Not in the UK - why TF not?

<comment><USER24> Amazon.com redirects to the UK homepage when you click "Continue shopping on Amazon UK" for some bizarre reason.

<comment><USER25> Although a lot of pathnames match across US-UK, I don't think they've fully harmonised all the IDs or have any efficient way to tell which ones actually match. So apparently they're just playing safe by redirecting to homepage.

I'm not surprised as even those geo-targeted "Continue shopping" messages are fairly recent. I once wrote a Teleporter script to switch between Amazons (<http://softwareas.com/domain-teleporter-greasemonkey-script>) and if they're redirecting to homepage, it's still useful!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> 100% of Jeff's posts are must reads. You'll agree with some, disagree with others, but all of them make you think. Worth twice the $0 cost!!!

<comment><USER27> Yeah. This should be awesome. twice the $0 also means $0 too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Sweet, I look forward to reading this. Thanks

</comment><comment><USER29> Just in time for the long weekend! :)

<comment><USER29> Oh my, did I not say thank you!?

Thank you for the link! I love Jeff Atwood! CodingHorror.com's RSS is one of my favorite Google Reader Feeds

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> <http://xkcd.com/1098/>

</comment><comment><USER31> Thanks for the link

</comment><comment><USER32> Not in Europe.

</comment><comment><USER33> US: [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B008HUMTO0&linkCode=as2&tag=asdfdsa-20) UK: [http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_s...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=2506&creative=9298&creativeASIN=B008HUMTO0&link_code=as3&tag=shopweek-21) DE: [http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_a...](http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=2514&creative=9386&creativeASIN=B008HUMTO0&link_code=as3&tag=shopweek0f-21) FR: [http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_a...](http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=shopweek00-21&link_code=as3&camp=2522&creative=9474&creativeASIN=B008HUMTO0) ES: [http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_a...](http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=shopweek06-21&linkCode=as2&camp=3626&creative=24790&creativeASIN=B008HUMTO0) IT: [http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_a...](http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B008HUMTO0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=shopweek0a-21&linkCode=as2&camp=3370&creative=23322&creativeASIN=B008HUMTO0)

</comment><comment><USER34> Great Book</comment>


Uber's vice president of product and growth Ed Baker has resigned - <AUTHOR> http://www.recode.net/2017/3/3/14805384/uber-ed-baker-resigns-travis-kalanick <comment><USER2> At this point, it doesn't matter whether he's leaving because of accusations or if he's leaving because of everyone _else 's_ accusations – let's assume the latter because that's more charitable.

This is what a PR tailspin looks like. All your good people will leave, all your bad people will have to be fired, and consumer demand and driver supply will be affected. Perception is reality, and that means Uber are in real trouble here and it's gonna cost them a lot – maybe most of the exec suite – to get out of it.

The key question is: who benefits? This is corporate politics by insurgent means, so I wonder who is emptying their opposition research briefing against Uber and why. Could even be an investor who wants to force leadership out, possibly as a prelude to driving Uber to an exit.

Those tactics don't work unless the dirt exists, so this really, really doesn't excuse anything which Uber may (and, on the balance of probabilities, there's more than likely fire to go with this smoke) have done. And I don't think it's likely the individuals alleging harassment in particular are part of this at all, so anyone coming trying to impugn their motivations can go pound sand; but, as a byproduct of their legit and serious grievances, they created the environment where this kind of power-play can be made.

So who benefits?

<comment><USER3> "Ultimately the root of any conspiracy theory is a strong desire to believe that someone, somewhere, is competent at what they're doing." -Amy Dentata

<comment><USER2> Point taken :-)

But I don't think I'm advancing a conspiracy theory. There's a genuine crisis at Uber, and that's the important issue here; if a hundredth of what's been alleged is true then that's the main event here and all of this is really Valley inside-baseball navel-gazing. Let's not draw moral false equivalences here.

Still, as a student of Valley dynamics, one has to acknowledge that realpolitik exists whenever things go really wrong. Given that, it's worth wondering whether any parties can _take advantage of those conditions_ , especially given the non-existent state of board oversight in tightly-held SV companies. Chris Sacca and Mitch Kapor have already gone to the press on this (publically), so it's not even that much of a reach.

This is, in some really grim ways, an opportunity which doesn't come around very often.

<comment><USER4> There doesn't have to be a _single_ actor who benefits for there to be realpolitik. It could be that the the company has pissed off a number of people on the way up (this is a virtual certainty), and now that they smell blood in the water, they're all coming out. Think "information cascade", not "nefarious actor".

<comment><USER5> Information cascade does not necessarily mean no nefarious actor or actors. While I'm not saying there IS a vast conspiracy to take down Uber, I too have felt that there is a concerted push for negative PR on Uber, with the timing of the releases of bad news a bit too neat. Uber's troubles have been on top of the news cycle for a few weeks now for various things.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> _> Baker was seen "making out" at an internal Uber event held in Miami three years ago, which was seen by some employees. There was no suggestion of any sexual harassment on his part and the encounter was apparently consensual._

Is that it? I was expecting something a little more scandalous.

<comment><USER7> Whether it is a problem or not depends on what the relationship was between the two people in the org chart.

<comment><USER8> I cannot imagine being a VP and engaging in this behavior, even if the person was under another VP. It's extremely unprofessional.

<comment><USER7> There's a line between 'unprofessional' and 'illegal'.

The org chart will tell you the difference.

<comment><USER9> It's not illegal for a boss to kiss or even sleep with an underling, as long as the encounter is consensual. It's fucked up, but not illegal.

<comment><USER10> Not illegal, but almost always a major violation of company protocol and a very good reason to get fired with prejudice. But Uber seems like the kind of corporate culture where that kind of thing is tolerated, if not basically encouraged.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> This is not going to be a popular oppipion here, but when does this start being a witch hunt? Disgruntled employees sending anonymous tips to Arianna Huffington over seeing employees make out at a party. There was no evidence of misconduct, yet they printed the story and included the "incident".

<comment><USER12> I'm not sure what you think "evidence" is, but eyewitness accounts are traditionally considered evidence.

<comment><USER11> So kissing at a party which was most likely consensual is now evidence? Give me a break.

You do realize that inter-company relationships and hookups happen all the time right? How is two consenting adults sexual harassment? This is still innocent until proven guilty right? Maybe not.

<comment><USER13> On what basis do you establish "most likely consensual"? If the makeout partner was a subordinate, they may very well have been coerced, EVEN in a setting such as that. Risk takers thrive on risk taking behavior.

<comment><USER14> > On what basis do you establish "most likely consensual"

It says so in the article.

<comment><USER13> Um, no. "most likely" != "apparently"

> There was no suggestion of any sexual harassment on his part and the > encounter was apparently consensual.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> It's rather unfortunate (or maybe deliberate) for him that one can't tell if he's leaving because of the bad press or because he was one of those "high performers" mentioned in the medium posts.

<comment><USER16> I think it's pretty obvious

> For example, one person anonymously tipped off board member Arianna > Huffington — who is one of the people conducting a wider-ranging > investigation into sexism and sexual harassment at the company — via an > email that Baker had engaged in a sexual encounter with another employee.

<comment><USER17> How the fuck is this obvious. Consensual relationships between two adults if nothing to be ashamed this.

Now office relationships are illegal too? This is ridiculous

<comment><USER18> It's very common for relationships between superiors-subordinates to be banned or to have very specific steps which must be taken. Of course, for a superior to be 'making out' with someone at an event is potentially a whole different thing.

<comment><USER19> And nowhere did it say that she was his subordinate...

<comment><USER20> Chances are... she is. It's Uber.

<comment><USER17> Easy with your pitchfork jabroni, you might hurt yourself

<comment><USER20> Did I say something incorrect? He's a VP of product. Statistically, most women at Uber are his subordinate.

<comment><USER19> A subordinate in the context of a business org structure means someone who reports up into him, whether directly or indirectly. If the person reports up into someone who is his peer, say, the VP of Finance or VP of Marketing, then you would not refer to the person as his subordinate. And, in most (US) companies, a relationship between him and such a person in a different section of the company would not be considered problematic or against policy.

<comment><USER20> I see, so most employees in Product would be his subordinate but not someone in a different organization, and this is typically the line at which American coorporations consider a relationship problematic? Thanks for the clarification.

<comment><USER19> Yeah, only a small number of co's would prohibit relationships altogether. It's pretty common to prohibit it in ones where there is a (direct or indirect) reporting relationship.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> '''Specifically, said sources, Baker was seen "making out" at an internal Uber event held in Miami three years ago which was seen by some employees. There was no suggestion of any sexual harassment on his part and the encounter was apparently consensual'''

How is consentual making out at a party in Miami can in any way be considered a bad thing? That what those events are made for. I can't believe this is the real motive.

<comment><USER22> He sexually harassed employees, which is not consensual. The make out was seen by many people which is why it's in print. It doesn't mean he didn't do other inappropriate things. This article doesn't even scratch the surface of what this guy did. Lucky for him he was able to exist at the company for as long as he did.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Wanting to spend time getting a government gig certainly is a departure from the standard "focus on spending more time with my family".

</comment><comment><USER24> I can not imagine Kalanick surviving.

<comment><USER13> > Kalanick quickly apologized for his words and admitted, for the first time, > that he needs to "grow up."

I see the board using that statement against him.

<comment><USER25> I expect the board are the ones that said exactly that phrase to him. Seemingly he remembered.

<comment><USER13> Maybe. I'm just thinking the board cannot support a CEO of a $70B firm whose personal assessment of himself is he needs to grow up. It also provides the perfect excuse to remove him, the major obstacle to Uber's IPO.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> "Before joining the company, Ed Baker -- VP of growth -- founded two dating sites, one of which was acquired by Facebook in 2011"

[http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/14/technology/uber-corporate- cu...](http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/14/technology/uber-corporate-culture/)

</comment><comment><USER27> Never apologize folks, it doesn't actually engender any sympathy, especially when you are a billionaire.

<comment><USER28> If you're referring to his blog post entitled "profound apology" where he makes no mention of this very public sexual harrassment thing and on the whole apologizes for a video where he did nothing wrong: yeah, don't do that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> All my friends deleted their Uber accounts. Most of the in the last 3 weeks. I think UBER now has a cancer and everyone noticed this.

</comment><comment><USER30> Couldn't stomach continuing to work for such an ethically derisory company.

</comment><comment><USER31> Any clues on if it's related to the investigations?</comment>


San Francisco hits 106 degrees, breaking record - <AUTHOR> http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Hey-San-Francisco-get-ready-for-the-heat-12166706.php <comment><USER2> It's 8pm here in the Bay Area and my home is reading 91.8 degrees with the sun down and all my windows open. I remember when I moved here in 2002 and my first landlord told me, "You're in the Bay, you don't need an air conditioner."

That's still true, though. We only have heat like this around September with a little overlap before and after. It's pretty unpleasant for that six or so weeks, however. It's noticeably worse than 15 yrs ago, too.

<comment><USER3> > You're in the Bay, you don't need an air conditioner.

Wow he must have been an iron man. Maybe in SF you don't, but you go a bit south and you so much do. I've spent lots of money setting up AC in my current house and now I am feeling it's worth it. I'm relatively ok with heat but 100+ is too much even for me.

<comment><USER4> Humans survived without A/C for most of their existence. While it is common today it really is a luxury.

<comment><USER5> Humans also didn't live in a lot of environments that were enabled by A/C.

<comment><USER4> Like where? Early human civilizations started in some of the hottest places on earth.

<comment><USER6> Climate in the "Fertile Crescent" during the Neolithic was cooler and wetter than it is today.

And even today it is not really among the hottest places on Earth.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I'm sitting in Noe Valley on the top floor of an A/C-less apartment

Please kill me, or send ice

<comment><USER8> Cool showers can help. Even room-temperature water is great at transferring heat away from your body as long as the room is at less than human body temperature. Also, if you have a fan, this is a great time to point it directly at you. If you don't have a fan, Walgreens should be open for the next sixteen minutes.

(I'm in similar straits at the moment, but feeling fine.)

<comment><USER9> I've been told hot showers are better. Opens your pores allowing your body to cool itself. I don't know if it is "true", but from personal experience, it works.

<comment><USER10> I'm sorry, but please think very carefully about this. Exactly how would "closed pores" change thermal regulation? You don't need a biology degree to work out that this is at best a minor effect compared to evaporation.

You're bathing yourself in hot water which will raise your body temperature. Afterwards it'll evaporate and remove some of that energy and by compariosn, yeah it'll be cooler.

But you can get the exact same effect by taking a cold shower.

<comment><USER11> > _Exactly how would "closed pores" change thermal regulation?_

Less sweat, where the cooling mechanism is evaporation.

<comment><USER12> It doesn't matter at all if the water evaporating from your skin is sweat or from the shower, the phase change is what transfers thermal energy from your body. So, cold water will remove slightly more heat warming to the point of evaporation (about 4 joules per gram per degree Celsius difference) but the latent heat of evaporation of water is about 2000 joules per gram, which is much more than the difference between hot and cold water. So it doesn't matter that much whether the water is cold or hot, just that it evaporates off your skin and takes the heat with it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> 41 Celsius, for the rest of us.

<comment><USER14> 41 is definitely warm but I think San Francisco has a pretty gentle climate in general. For comparison Melbourne Australia has a climate which is mostly similar to San Francisco but we also get temperatures over 41 Celsius every summer. Usually we get a couple of weeks in that range each year. Our record temperature was 47 Celcius (116 Fahrenheit).

<comment><USER15> San Francisco has one of the strangest microclimates in the world, with the mountains and the bay and the ocean all surrounding it on three sides.

Mark Twain once (didn't, apparently, say, but it holds up) said "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

<comment><USER16> The main thing keeping SF cool in the summer is a cold ocean due to the current coming from Alaska, high coastal ranges north and south of SF, and the large central valley to the east. The air in the central valley heats up and rises causing a strong flow of cool air to move from over the Pacific Ocean, across San Francisco and the Bay, into the central valley. This keeps the Bay area relatively cool in the summers. Sometimes this flow is interrupted for various reasons and things can heat up quite quickly. Especially if the wind starts bring in hot air from the east.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> It doesn't feel that bad either. I thought I'd be miserable but this dry heat is painless compared to 90s in the East.

<comment><USER18> Yeah, it's a dry heat, thankfully. 100° without humidity is better than 90° with 80% humidity, IMO. Fans are much more effective when it's dry; when it's humid, the evaporative cooling that they're supposed to create doesn't work as efficiently.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Good night to sleep in your Tesla. [https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-tesla-camper- mode/](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-tesla-camper-mode/)

</comment><comment><USER20> It got to 105 up here in Portland earlier this month. Remember to keep your windows open at night and try not to die if you can help it.

<comment><USER21> Been doing that over in the Sierra Nevada foothills, except that last few days - as the smoke from the Yosemite Fires is hanging around all night (nasty stuff).

Big thing is, if you can, open the windows at night/early morning and then close em up before it gets warm. Then keep windows AND curtains closed all day till later in the evening (after 7pm) when the temperatures go down. Curtains are a big insulator from the sunlight generated heat.

<comment><USER22> In Spain and elsewhere in the Mediterranean all of the homes have functional wooden shutters. I suppose it is for this exact same reason.

<comment><USER23> It works much better when the walls are made of brick or stone. No matter how much insulation you stuff into a modern drywall, it will never match the thermal mass of solid stone.

<comment><USER24> Yeah, my wife and her family are big proponents of the "crank up the AC at night to save money during the day!" thing and it's just not very effective when talking about "modern" wood-frame-and-drywall homes.

Edit: They also seem to think that this somehow makes sense when the temperature at night is below 70F. My wife (an otherwise intelligent person) insists on running the window unit AC at night with the thermostat set at 68F even when it's 65F outside. I've tried every "logical" alternative... adding ambient fan noise to match the air conditioner's soothing rumble... window- mounted fans to bring the cool air inside... I dunno, I've given up. Costs a few hundred extra bucks per summer but it's not the hill I want to die on. God knows I spend money on things _she_ finds useless!

(OK, in her defense, the AC spits out cool _dry_ air instead of the cool _damp_ air the outside world often provides here in the Philadelphia area, which borders on a tropical climate in the summer)

<comment><USER25> The A/C acts as a dehumidifier so it will be more cooling than just a fan

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> As a resident of TX, you have my condolences. Here we measure the intensity of our summers in terms of the number of days over 100 (typically around 4 weeks I'd guess). OTOH, SF rarely experiences temperatures that high in any year. OTOOH, because of that I'm guessing few people have AC. So yeah.. I feel for you.

<comment><USER27> Condolences?

As citizens of the largest industrial nation whose president not only doesn't believe in climate change, but is even working actively to bury it: You don't get condolences, you get to apologize to the rest of the world and realize that you too need to work on fixing this.

<comment><USER28> Dude, there's no reason to make his words political. Texas gets temps like this regularly, and thankfully they built their houses with AC, but some probably have dealt with not having AC for some part of the summer (in places like Texas or Florida it's required to have functioning AC by law, depending on where you're at, just like water and electricity). He didn't say anything about climate change, or anything about politics, so there's no reason to bring it into the discussion.

<comment><USER27> This isn't political, this is about a country dragging the rest of the world along into death, and then commiserating itself not about how bad its own actions are, but about how bad the death feels.

<comment><USER28> Would you say the same thing to a victim of Hurricane Harvey?

<comment><USER27> Pretty sure the first thought of all of those who are of fully able mind in that group is "fuck the white house".

That said, no, because these people are in extraordinary circumstances and don't have time to calmly sit down and think things through rationally. (Comparing storm flood victims with people who're a bit warm is a bit silly.)

<comment><USER28> No, it's not about the comparison of people who are in hot temps to hurricane victims. It's about the root cause, which is global warming, that causes both, and because of that they don't deserve sympathy because of the position of politicians.

<comment><USER27> It's a comparison you made and it's a silly argument to try because it moves the conversation away from the context it was in.

The person who's a bit warm does not deserve nor need condolences, instead they and the person tempted to send the condolences should see it as a wake-up call.

The storm flood victim doesn't need a wake-up call. They had theirs. And they probably also don't care about "thoughts and prayers" when their very life is at stake. They're not in a soccer match where the audience cheering actually does anything for them.

<comment><USER29> This subthread isn't too civil. There's no reason to be aggressive. It's good that you care about climate change, but forcing your beliefs on others isn't a popular move.

A better way to do it would be to point to this as an example of a possible climate change, otherwise both sides become even more entrenched in their beliefs.

<comment><USER27> If i thought anyone here needed convincing that climate change is already killing the planet, then your comment would be worthwhile. As it is i think there are only people here who close their eyes to it because they cannot handle staring that horror in the eyes every single day.

Can you substantiate why you think there are people here who need convincing, as opposed to reminding?

(Also, quite frankly, you seem to write as if you yourself think 'it is only a theory' instead of it being cruelly real and deadly fact. Is this the case?)

<comment><USER29> I was referring to the idea that you should actively shame people for not holding your same views. You're overplaying your hand in this, since it's not at all clear to average people that there even is a threat.

Say I did believe that climate change was a hoax. What then? Should I be excluded from the community? Should it be used to question my decisions, destroy my career, hound me for it? Should it follow me around?

I don't believe that, but your logic taken to its conclusion doesn't paint a pretty picture for the world. I wouldn't want people to behave like that to each other. Being able to disagree is a fundamental right, necessary for discourse and debate to work at all. If you vilify a position you lose the benefits of this.

<comment><USER27> Two points: I asked why you think there are people here who don't believe in climate changing killing the planet right now, but you went down an orthogonal path; that second paragraph also veers way off track from the original context.

You're a nice person and try to be nice, but i will not acceed to giving the HN userbase that kind of coddling, because the people posting here are not average. Not about an issue of life death for the entire human race. You care about someone feeling sad. I care about whether children 2-3 generations down the line from now get to die a natural death. Do you think the former is more important than the latter?

<comment><USER29> You remind me of Barrett from FF7. They killin' the planet, Cloud! Good memories.

I think it's very far from obvious that children 2-3 generations from now will die horribly due to climate change. It's clear that it's a real phenomenon, but the impact remains to be seen. People have also been predicting doomsday scenarios roughly since people were people, yet the planet finds a way around them and life goes on.

It's not really about being nice. It's more like, if there were evidence that climate change will absolutely lead to large-scale death and destruction, then it wouldn't be necessary to make it a moral imperative to care about it. As it stands, it's very hard to _prove_ that it will. And without proof, the idea that people should be shamed for being skeptical doesn't really add up.

<comment><USER27> > I think it's very far from obvious

I have nothing left to say to you then that i haven't said above.

<comment><USER29> Well, why do this? What's the point of alienating people for no reason? It's not realistic to show up with no evidence and claim that children will die horribly just to make your point.

<comment><USER27> Because there's exactly three types of people in this equation:

1\. Those without the prerequisites and means to access on education. (Think people with no internet.)

2\. Those who are willing to consider the horror of this directly, if reminded of it.

3\. Those who do not want to it to be real and refuse to educate themselves on their own accord because it would mean confronting a literal existential horror.

You're 3. as evidenced by the fact that you ask me for evidence when you could just google, and find pages like this immediately: [https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon- dioxide/](https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/)

<comment><USER29> Not really. I asked for evidence that climate change would lead directly to children dying in horrible ways, not that it exists.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in... _shit_."

\- Mark "Citation Needed" Twain

</comment><comment><USER31> That is hot IMHO. Grew up in Houston where it was hot and humid. Here in Nashville it is a balmy 59 degrees today but that is the result of Harvey and we have had 2 days of nonstop drizzle/light rain.all next week it is unseasonably cool....in the 70s to low 80s. Had a week in August this year in the 80s already. Climate change must be driving it as that is unheard of here.

Typically August through early September are high 90s and we usually have 10-12 days of the month over 100. Humidity is usually anywhere from 40-80 percent. I don't think I could live without AC but it is the humidity not the temperature that gets me.

Hope you all get a break in the temp soon. When it is so hot you cannot comfortably sleep fans and or AC are a must in my book.

</comment><comment><USER32> I wonder if AC will pay for itself in resale value in the Peninsula these days.

Just added it earlier this year and I'm damn thankful for it right now. Our neighbor recently sold and I remember talking to the agent at the open house. We were both standing there dripping sweat on a heat wave day. Now if I sold I'd hope for a heat wave because it would magnify the presence of AC.

</comment><comment><USER33> My tech dudes and dudettes in the Bay, I feel for you. Kind of. 95 degrees in 20% humidity...it could have been worse John. A lot worse. Try networking 8 connection machines and debugging 2 million lines of code in 95% humidity at 95 degrees in NYC.

But seriously. I get why it's a big deal and when someone isn't used to heat like this, it can overwhelm you. Just hydrate hydrate hydrate. And If you feel like making something this weekend to cool off, build an evaporative cooler. Check out: [http://www.instructables.com/id/Swamp- Cooler-1/](http://www.instructables.com/id/Swamp-Cooler-1/).

</comment><comment><USER34> WET A T-SHIRT AND WRING IT OUT WELL, THEN PUT IT ON.

You can get by with temperatures up to at least 100 degrees this way. Personal experience from heat waves in Europe where many people do not believe in air conditioning.

<comment><USER35> Reminds me of this: [https://www.vox.com/2015/3/23/8278085/singapore-lee-kuan- yew...](https://www.vox.com/2015/3/23/8278085/singapore-lee-kuan-yew-air- conditioning)

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> It was this day I discovered I no longer own shorts.

<comment><USER37> Find a pair of scissors, _make_ shorts.

</comment></comment><comment><USER38> After living in Davis for university, coming back to the Bay Area feels like a walk in the park. I used to be bothered a lot more by the heat than I am now.

On the other hand, I can't stand, say, Atlanta. I guess they say you should live in California at some point, but just not first. Humidity is something I just can't seem to adapt to.

<comment><USER39> I was just telling people the same thing. Davis in the summer is just like being in hell, but with far fewer people.

</comment></comment><comment><USER40> There are plenty of days where I miss living in the bay area.

Today is not one of them.

</comment><comment><USER41> This is why I prefer living in the basement of my own house (I live in Queens, NYC). Also I don't have carpet, and also not wooden floor (only upstairsnin the living room). Helps dissipate heat. Also room has enough space / gaps more surface areas to dissipate heat.

</comment><comment><USER42> The worst part about solar with PG&E is a power outage kills your production without a battery.

Today I should have been able to easily offset a bit of demand on the grid during peak time, but they apparently couldn't keep the power consistently on in San Jose!

</comment><comment><USER43> On the bright side, we just spent a lovely evening sharing drinks with friends at Alamo Square park... Warm nice nights like this one are rare in SF

</comment><comment><USER44> 106°F is 41°C just in case anyone else completely lost

</comment><comment><USER45> My AC went out about 2 years ago, and I've been meaning to have it fixed, but realistically, it gets really bad around maybe 2 weeks of the year here in SoCal. For the really bad days, we just rent a hotel room. It was a 104 yesterday, just finished checking in.

</comment><comment><USER46> Forecast for next Wednesday here in beautiful Austin is high of 86F and sunny. This can't possibly be Texas.

 _lets ignore that 10 " of rain we got last weekend...

_also my company is hiring. jk but seriously.

</comment><comment><USER47> I've been wondering if the heat will take down a few data centers in this area. I guess reddit is hosted on AWS, however, so its current outage is not related.

</comment><comment><USER48> 110 deg F inland near Sacramento. ugg

<comment><USER38> Yes but Davis is fun for taking walks at midnight when it gets like that. Safe and warm with a subtle cool night time breeze mixed in.

<comment><USER48> Indeed. Pair that with a beer at the BeerShoppe, and a burger at Burger and Brews.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER49> It was 106 ℉ in Palo Alto today, and over 75 ℉ in the middle of the night.

</comment><comment><USER50> All recorded time. 200 years is a blink of an eye on planetary scale.

</comment><comment><USER51> I'm going jogging tomorrow to CSRA just for a fun of it

Anyone wanna join?

</comment><comment><USER52> Local HD is sold out of standalone A/C units...

<comment><USER53> Amazon?

<comment><USER54> It's supposed to cool back down by Sunday/Monday, so probably not worth it this time around (though definitely handy to have for the next).

<comment><USER55> My central unit was out, I bought 2 window units for $400. AC was fixed in a couple of days. I could have gotten a hotel room cheaper, but I'm more than happy to just put those units in garage in case it happens again. It seems kinda silly to have an Apple Watch on my wrist, but no back up plan for staying cool. (Granted, I'm in Houston ....)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER56> Psst....Ahmedabad hit 46C 2-3 years back.

</comment><comment><USER57> Guys, I guess your climate really is mild. I walked a few miles to the Sam Jose airport and noticed it was warm.

Had no idea San Fran was setting records :)

(Lived in Texas, Florida, Utah.)

<comment><USER58> Lots of my town is hotter than yours in this thread

<comment><USER57> I can see why so many people like living in California.

<comment><USER59> SFBA has a great climate.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER60> And here I am thinking of going mining in 115F (46C) temps tomorrow.

</comment><comment><USER61> SF hits 106 degrees and it's earth shattering. It's around 100 almost everyday in places like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur.

<comment> Tech-Noir The _highest temperatures ever recorded_ for (tropical cities) Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur are still lower than this San Francisco temperature.

</comment></comment><comment><USER62> So you mean it finally stopped being chilly in San Francisco?

</comment><comment><USER63> So is it a 500 year heat wave? I need all meteorological events reported in terms of centuries now.

<comment><USER64> Ceasar! The heat-wave is flanking our western border as we speak!

The cold-front is to the north!!

We have enough food and blankets to last the month, but once the winter hits, our troops shall be decimated!!!!

\---

Oh I thought you said centurions

<comment><USER65> You sound like you were just listening to Dan Carlin's latest history podcast.[1]

[1] [http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-60-the- cel...](http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-60-the-celtic- holocaust/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER66> "San Francisco summers typically mean coats, space heaters and high heating bills. Air conditioning in city homes, well, it's not even a thing."

Author used the wrong tense here. He should have used the past tense. Air conditioning is an absolute must these days though so are coats and high heating bills (mainly in old buildings with bad windows/insulation). Same thing in the northwest (except the coats). I don't see many new places being built without AC in either location. This heat has been the norm for years and it's not going to go away. It's global warming anyone can feel and experience. Only idiots still cling on to their climate change denial bullshit at the expense of the rest of society.

<comment><USER67> It's been hotter than hell up here in Portland. Over the last five years, at least three summers have seemed hotter than any summer I can remember. This August was the hottest on record:

[http://www.wweek.com/news/2017/09/01/this-past-august-was- po...](http://www.wweek.com/news/2017/09/01/this-past-august-was-portlands- hottest-year-on-record-and-its-going-to-get-very-hot-again-this-labor-day- weekend/)

And I believe it! It's gotten to the point that a forecast of ~80 is a huge relief. Used to be I thought 80 was hot. The worst of it has been the nights when it doesn't even cool down much -- it's hard to sleep without AC. I'm planning to get AC set up this year. I don't think I can stand another summer without it.

<comment><USER68> I have A/C in the Portland area but the upstairs of my house never cools well. I added an ecobee thermostat with the room sensors and that's helped immensely. Now my bedroom upstairs can actually cool to 75 even though it might be 67 downstairs where the thermostat is. It hasn't saved me any money, but it has made this summer bearable at least.</comment></comment></comment>


An Annoying Open Problem  - <AUTHOR> http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/an-annoying-open-problem/ <comment><USER2> Is there a layman-readable proof or proof-sketch of the reduction from Group Isomorphism to Graph Isomorphism? Is the method constructive, so that every group reduces to a corresponding graph in an understandable way?

I have a somewhat cranky reason for asking. In evolutionary algorithms, a _mutation_ operator is one which transforms an existing genome into a single new one. One can study the behaviour of an operator by drawing an edge from old to new genomes, for every possible genome, and studying the resulting graph. A _crossover_ operator takes two parent genomes to produce a new one. No-one really has a satisfactory method of studying crossover analogous to that for mutation. The problem is we need edges to lead from pairs of nodes to single nodes. So kind of like hyperedges but not exactly. I've been hoping for a while that there is an answer in existing graph theory.

Crossover is also kind of like a group operation, but again not exactly. So that's why the idea of mapping a group to a graph is interesting.

<comment><USER3> You might want to look at the definition of Cayley graphs : <http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayley_graph>

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I was really surprised to learn that this is still an open problem.

<comment><USER5> There are a lot of simple heuristics (like score sequences) which get close but can't handle a lot of annoying corner cases.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Zeke was my theory and algorithms prof in college. Kind of hard to wrap your head around these sort of problems.

</comment><comment><USER7> Naive question. Can the cycle structure of two groups be used to optimize comparison, just as the Poles used in WWII to catalog all the possible rotor configurations of an Enigma machine?

<comment><USER8> Yes, but this won't help you with the general case.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Does anyone know of any good test cases for GI ?

I have a GI algorithm or heuristic but I don't know how to evaluate it compared to the current algorithms.

</comment><comment><USER8> Is graph isomorphism known to be in P or not in P? The article seems to suggest that it is known not to be in P, but I haven't heard anything about this.

<comment><USER5> Ladner's theorem established that if NP != P, then there exists "NP-easy" problems which are in NP but not in P.

It has been shown that if P != NP, then GI is in that valley.

<comment><USER9> _It has been shown that if P != NP, then GI is in that valley._

Could you point to a reference? Is this true even if P != NP, but NP = coNP?

<comment><USER10> This pdf (<http://www.cs.princeton.edu/theory/complexity/ipchap.pdf>) which is a draft chapter from a book by Arora and Barak, shows that if GI is NP- complete, then the polynomial hierarchy collapses to the second level. Collapse to the first level is when NP=coNP. So this is slightly weaker even than that.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Living in my car, working on a start-up - <AUTHOR> http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/living-in-my-car-working-on-a-start-up/2012/03/19/gIQAyAMCPS_story.html

<comment><USER2> Living in the Valley has its benefits, but living in a car to start an alarm clock start-up... hum... yeah.

<comment><USER3> The guy's story is being covered by the Washington Post. How many people have heard his name now that never would have otherwise? I agree that - in and of itself - the whole "living in your car" thing is a bit dodgy... but if he plays his cards right, just the PR boost from this whole adventure could be a tremendous perk.

Of course, if he's successful, you have to wonder how long it'll take for a rash of copycats to decide to move to Palo Alto and sleep in their cars while they build startups...

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Man, the guy's a marketer, you got to give him that.

I can't wait until my next trip to SF in 6 months, when I can play the "Homeless Bum, or Homeless Founder?" game! ;)</comment>