Gitbucket – The easily installable Github clone powered by Scala - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/takezoe/gitbucket/blob/master/README.md <comment><USER2> I just slapped it on my server works great. Easier to maintain than GitLab, though with way less features. Probably not something for a company to use, there i'd go with gitlab, but it's just perfect for your own private server, instead of using the ugly cgit or something.

<comment><USER3> Not to get on a Scala flamewar but for people considering this, take into consideration that Scala is pretty hard and with different paradigms, so if you ever want to do a little fix yourself, this might not be trivial. While RoR has also it's particularities, it is easier IMO to hack something away if you would need to even if you're not proficient in it.

<comment><USER4> Scala is my favorite language and it's really powerful and flexible, but that also makes code potentially really hard to read if the author didn't write the code with readability in mind.

<comment><USER5> Random comment: having an actual answer to the "what's your favorite language" question isn't a good thing.

<comment><USER6> I code for fun. Having a favorite language isn't a "good thing" why?

Because some manager-type smuck thinks I should be more flexible?

Even top notch programmers like Carmack and Torvalds have a favorite language.

<comment><USER7> > Even top notch programmers like Carmack and Torvalds have a favorite > language.

Yes, true, but they're not married to their choice.

<comment><USER6> After they're programmed for 20+ years in the language, and with them considered job offers or projects based on the language use, when exactly it's not considered "married"?

<comment><USER7> > ... when exactly it's not considered "married"?

Easy to test on a case-by-case basis -- either a person can or can't drop one language and become productive in another in a short time. If they can, then they're not married to a single language, unlike cybernetic swans who mate for life.

<comment><USER6> Well, what if Torvalds can't get productive in Lisp or Haskell? Does that make him any less of a programmer?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6494478](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6494478)

</comment><comment><USER9> It's clever branding and nice.

If it could use Heroku as backends for repos, now that would probably break HK's freemium model.

The other point is that bitbucket has unlimited private repos for free and github has unlimited public ones for free. In a business setting, I can't see the time and cost of maintaining code services except as a backup, or if you are Goldman Sachs imprisoning your ex-employees or a defense contractor working on missiles. (Setting up giolite + active directory + Crowd + JIRA + FishEye was a chore I'd rather not repeat.)

It looks a little nicer than gitlab, but has anyone had recent experience with gitlab, redmine or github enterprise?

Ultimately though, github could threaten C&D against the authors if it were to take off because it's such a design ripoff. Although it has almost no commercial viability it's neat for its own sake.

<comment><USER10> We use Gitlab for about 30 people. The last versions are really neat. The UX is perhaps better with Github, but Gitlab is easier to learn and use, especially for small organisations.

I am always reluctant to use "clones" like gitbucket... If the usage is not the same, why making a clone? Indeed, it is always easier to copy a brand but is it worthwhile?

<comment><USER11> Thanks for mentioning GitLab Cyndll! I hope you like the UI update in 6.5 and let us know if there is anything else we can improve. I'm a GitLab.com co- founder.

<comment><USER12> You currently offer Gitlab cloud for free : if you could have a flat storage- based fee model, and throw in some backups, that could be a great way to monetize.

alternatively, would love it if you could partner with one of the smaller git providers - like RepositoryHosting or XP-Dev.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> If anyone is looking for similar stuff, I have also been testing RhodeCode ( which despite being GPLv3 seems to be free for only 20 devs ). It installs with an interactive python script in minutes on RHEL and is much better.

</comment><comment><USER14> Took me a couple minutes to find a link to a demo site: [http://gitbucket.herokuapp.com/](http://gitbucket.herokuapp.com/)

EDIT: credentials are root/root

<comment><USER15> The demo link should be right at the top of the GitHub description, as it should be with all projects that have demos.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> many thanks for the work. with so much things on github some distribution is good. it would nice to make this into a packer image and be able to boot it up on AWS on a click (better than heroku).

the other one is: [https://github.com/gitlabhq/gitlabhq](https://github.com/gitlabhq/gitlabhq)

</comment><comment><USER17> Are there screenshots?

<comment><USER18> This blog post has some screenshots: [http://takezoe.blogspot.com/2013/09/gitbucket-15-released.ht...](http://takezoe.blogspot.com/2013/09/gitbucket-15-released.html)

<comment><USER19> I'm just curious, but isn't that design/look copyrighted to GitHub, or it doesn't matter because GitBucket isn't commercial meaning that they don't make any profits out of the copy?

<comment><USER20> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6494609](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6494609)

It has been asked.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Gitbucket is hosted on github, which made me smile.

Is it ready for production use? Does anyone on HN use it?

I'd be interested in having a local install for a corporate environment if it could be easily set up to mirror a private github.com repository. Decentralised github!

</comment><comment><USER22> Having tried to setup a few local git repositories myself, I do appreciate the easy install part. This is a really handy tool for a small company that is not much into figuring out all the details of gitorious or gitlab.

Keep up the good work guys!

</comment><comment><USER23> I did the same tool, when begin learn scala, with jgit and apache project libraries it was enough simple. [https://github.com/btd/luna](https://github.com/btd/luna)

</comment><comment><USER24> I managed to bring in existing repositories by creating a bare repo in the webapp then replacing the created folder with my real repository (or just symlink to it).

Is there a streamlined way of doing that?

<comment><USER25> You should be able to just create an empty repo at the destination and use git's own `git push --all` to bring in your existing repository.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Technically powered by JGit too (which powers Gerrit, Gitblit and other tools): [http://eclipse.org/jgit/](http://eclipse.org/jgit/)

</comment><comment><USER27> Looks like there are hardly any automated tests for this project?

</comment><comment><USER28> I still don't get why the guy couldn't make a different look from github. It just makes him look like a copycat.

</comment><comment><USER29> Cool! How does this compare to Gitorious?

</comment><comment><USER30> Friendface</comment>


Meet Review App – new open source app to improve code review processes - <AUTHOR> https://netguru.co/blog/code-review-open-source <comment><USER2> It's interesting to see somebody else working on a code review tool for GitHub, but I was trying to figure out how it compares to Reviewable.io and there's really not enough information in the blog post to tell. Any chance you could add some screenshots, or a running demo instance, so it would be easier to check out? Thanks.</comment>


'Oral sex' definition prompts dictionary ban in US schools - <AUTHOR> http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/25/oral-sex-dictionary-ban-us-schools

<comment><USER2> Just imagine, children might understand the words they are using.

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

I can see a 'redacted' version of the dictionaries for next year.

And endless deliberation over whether 'dick' should be removed completely or whether only one of the meanings should be removed.</comment>


When Big Companies Are Dead But Don't Know It - <AUTHOR> http://steveblank.com/2010/06/07/when-big-companies-are-dead-but-don%e2%80%99t-know-it/ <comment><USER2> Did anyone guess the name of this mysterious company ? Given that they're worth 4 billion today, I think they could be well known to some HN members.

Also, the part about "getting their technology written into legislation" aka regulatory capture aka monopoly ? Sounds completely legit guys !

<comment><USER3> Rovi, formerly Macrovision.

Just search for companies that have had Steve Blank as a board member.

<comment><USER4> I'd like to explicitly point out that Macrovision, engaged as it has been in copying restriction technology (even getting their standard to be required by law), probably meets the definition of "evil" for a lot of hacker types. I'm not really expressing an opinion here so much as spreading the cognitive dissonance; many people who like Steve Blank probably don't like Macrovision very much.

<comment><USER5> Wow, great catch. Additionally, the software business which was spun off became Flexera (InstallShield), who are one of the nastiest groups of folks I've ever tried to do business with.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> "Microsoft fits this description. Their failures in multiple markets is no longer just a failure of management but a failure of board governance. (Hard to fix when the major shareholder is the lifelong friend of his handpicked replacement.)"

Strong and direct words, but I have to agree. What we see as outsiders is the acting of the CEO, but his actions are backed by the board and they are responsible for the direction of the company. Just wondering when the change of leader ship will come.

<comment><USER7> What are the fixes for this kind of failure scenario? (Bad CEO, _and_ bad board)?

IMO, a previous employer was in this scenario. The CEO was not effective, and the board didn't replace him because of a combination of apathy and personal relationships.

Is it up to the shareholders to stir up the board?

<comment><USER8> Either the shareholders revolt, or the company slowly loses customers and talent.

It seems it's been a long time coming :(

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> From the related "Elephants Can Dance" post:

 _Over the last 35 years venture capital has funded nimble new entrants...who exist to exploit discontinuities in technology or customer behavior._

<http://steveblank.com/2009/06/22/2392/>

The key phrase to me is, "exploit discontinuities in technology or customer behavior." The shift to mp3 and downloaded music was exactly one of these. Current pains experienced by mobile users are the small cracks which will grow into the future fault lines whose shear energies can be tapped into.

</comment><comment><USER10> This begs the age old question: How much capacity for change do we really have?</comment>


Amazing new 3D face detection technology from Japan (vid) - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqAIKtDWab8 <comment><USER2> Amazing! Now we just need similar quality japanese to english language translation. Any takers? :-)

</comment><comment><USER3> Didn't understand much but you might appreciate this: <http://tele- immersion.citris-uc.org/projects>. And guess what? It is from Berkeley =)</comment>


New Chinese virus 'will have infected hundreds' - <AUTHOR> https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51148303 <comment><USER2> A general reminder: the conditions of almost all meat agriculture completely unnecessarily risks evolving a worldwide pandemic pathogen. This in addition to: air, water and soil pollution, climate change and antimicrobial resistances. Throw in animal welfare, but most people don't care based on their actions.

Thousands of animals peeing, pooping and sleeping in such close proximity, combined with close proximity to people who raise them, is the biggest risk. It would be like putting every human in submarine-sized Uyghur concentration camps (or "cruise ships" if you want to call them), and then being "surprised" about pneumococcal or norovirus outbreaks.

</comment><comment><USER3> Interesting use of the future perfect. I guess it suggests they have confidence in their models!</comment>


Why Bother With Cucumber Testing? | Jack Kinsella - Rails Developer Berlin - <AUTHOR> http://www.jackkinsella.ie/2011/09/26/why-bother-with-cucumber-testing.html <comment><USER2> I agree, and wish more common sense was exercised in this area, but unfortunately there are many concepts in the community that are just adopted wholesale.</comment>


Microsoft Share Price and Google Employment Interest - <AUTHOR> http://www.bloomberg.com/blogs/paul-kedrosky/2011/05/microsoft-share-price-and-google-employment-interest.html

<comment><USER2> Assuming there is any causation in this correlation (which is highly unlikely), shouldn't there be an inverse correlation instead?

<comment><USER3> Yes, especially since it seems like that's what the author wants to imply. In reality, I think we're seeing Google hiring volume marching with the broad tech outlook, here proxied by MSFT.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> There are was research paper, which found correlations between Moon phases and a stock market.

If you desperately looking for something, eventually you will find it ;)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> But, when I go to the correlate site and search for MSFT it returns:

# 0.8571msftr # 0.8282qqqq # 0.8167quote msft # 0.7909proquin # 0.7706wmt # 0.7612sbux # 0.7525slb # 0.7345fas 109 # 0.7340thestreet # 0.7334glw

What am I missing?

<comment><USER5> Those are searches for the string MSFT. The article uses the share price data that the author uploaded. See how the chart is labeled "User uploaded activity for MSFT and US Web Search activity for google interview questions."

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> why do you think Google opened office in Kirkland, WA, right next to main Microsoft campus and did open house shows for quite some time?

</comment><comment><USER7> Has "Enter your own data" been working for other people? I've gotten "Oops! Please try again later." consistently since it launched.

</comment><comment><USER8> I wonder what the results would be if you substitute Apple for Google.</comment>


Show HN: Koyeb – A Global Cloud Storage Platform - <AUTHOR> https://www.koyeb.com <comment><USER2> Hey Yann.

Congrats on launching. The site looks good, although I was having trouble getting your pricing page to come up.

Is this just BLOB object storage? Do you have a maximum file size for storage? What is the bandwidth between clouds for transfer? Do you provide DNS for CDN scenarios? If data is replicated across clouds, what is the update protocol?

<comment><USER3> Thanks :) Pretty weird for the pricing page, thanks for the feedback!

# Is this just BLOB object storage? Yes, we're focused on blob/object storage for now. We believe there is a huge lack of simple solutions to automate data movements between cloud providers and that's the first thing we're looking to tackle.

# Do you have a maximum file size for storage? We have no limit on file size for transfers, actually the limiting factor is going to be the providers as S3 is for instance limited to 5TB. For data processing, we will have some limitations depending on wether the processing can be done by chunks or not.

# What is the bandwidth between clouds for transfer? For the bandwidth, it actually not only depends of us but also of the source and destinations Providers but we can easily scale to 10s of Gb/s.

# Do you provide DNS for CDN scenarios? What is your use case with DNS and CDN? We don't do that yet.

# If data is replicated across clouds, what is the update protocol? We deal with all S3 compliant providers at the moment and plan to support all main object storage providers.

We will fuel our documentation with your questions, thanks! If you have a use case in mind, I would be happy to further discuss it with you, I'm reachable on twitter on the same nickname. :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Hi there! I'm Yann, Co-Founder of Koyeb, feel free to ask me anything. We're looking for feedback :)</comment>


How would you improve the company you work for? - <AUTHOR> If you could do one (or a few) things, what would you do to improve the company you work for? <comment><USER2> If you wanna really help, write documentation and remove legacy. At the same time push for processes and ways of working which ensure this happens timely.

</comment><comment><USER3> I would automate our deployments as they take up a lot of my time ensuring things went smoothly. Also, our git workflow leaves something to be desired. We have way too many "revert revert revert" commits.

<comment><AUTHOR> Why do you have so many reverts?

<comment><USER3> I luckily have not fallen into that habit. I am saying that our cross-team repositories have many of those commits because we don't value feature branches enough.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I would remove management and replace them with new reasonable folks who understand software development and valuing customers.

I would also create more interesting products.

</comment><comment><USER5> Hrm, tough question. I heard this advice many years ago, though:

What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.

<comment><AUTHOR> What about your customers?

<comment><USER6> Some other company can start up to handle them, or they can move to competitors.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Unemployed now.

But normally I just tell the senior guys what's wrong. As a month-old employee, I once emailed the COO at 2 AM telling them we could use the technology to rate sites and make millions.

COO was not impressed but he liked employees speaking up and encouraged me to email him more.

<comment><AUTHOR> Did the company end up making millions because of your email?

<comment><USER7> No, the company never made millions.

I did quit the company and did a startup based around one of those ideas. I didn't make millions either.

However, some of the ideas we brought up, like news aggregation and recipe aggregation were done by startups valued at millions.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> remove 80% of management

<comment><USER9> hallelujah !

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> 1\. Better inter-department communication.

2\. More well-defined policies and procedures.

<comment><AUTHOR> How would you do 1?

<comment><USER10> Well for some background, I'm an IT guy at a public library.

We often get requests, but no/little reasoning behind them. We also don't get to meet (officially) with other departments and discuss what they want/need from us, other than maybe a few minutes to chat here and there. There's also no interdepartmental "suggestions box" sort of idea. I'd love to share ideas with and from other staff members. Connecting that with point #2 above, we have a committee that controls all policy and procedures, it's not the departments themselves that get to make it. As an IT department we have no onboarding/offboarding policy+procedure or a well defined updated policy for our public computers.

I've been trying to push something like Slack to my manager but he's fairly apathetic to the idea. Even just more of an ability to suggest and get suggestions would be awesome.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Flexible working hours, less rebasing, try to get others to adhere to coding standards, clearer/more detailed project specs/designs etc

<comment><AUTHOR> > try to get others to adhere to coding standards, clearer/more detailed > project specs/designs

Is this not standard?

<comment><USER12> If by "standard" you mean "something every software developer on the planet wishes for" then I'd say so!

<comment><AUTHOR> Then who are the "others"?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I'd have them focus on achieving strategic goals.

<comment><AUTHOR> What do they focus on at the moment if not strategic goals?

<comment><USER14> Probably tactical goals.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> better training systems. it takes a long time to get new hires up to speed. anything that can improve this is worth it

<comment><AUTHOR> That's a good idea. Do you have idea for a generic strategy for training or is it case-by-case basis?

<comment><USER15> most of the time it is as simple as having an internal twiki with a writeup that includes an overview and how to do some particular process.

Other times you need a screen video with voice overlay.

It comes down to the amount of complexity involved.

Even having a dictionary of terms specific to the product or a simple legend that maps out where things are helps.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Fewer meetings.

<comment><USER17> How many meetings do you have a day and do you feel that you need to be in all of them? And does this include only formal meetings or informal ones as well? I've started to limit my meetings to a maximum of 3 a day and usually 1-2. I've also cut daily standups to 2 days a week, although I suspect that 3x a week may be better fit.

<comment><AUTHOR> Cutting standups to twice a week would be ideal but it was a big thing to bring in agile in my place so it seems like it would undo a lot of good work.</comment></comment></comment>


Apple Offers Royalty-free Licensing for nano-SIM Patents - <AUTHOR> http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_offers_royalty-free_licensing_for_nano-sim_patents/ <comment><USER2> Can't we just get rid of physical SIM cards all together and just make the auth data easily loadable into mobile phones like SSL certificate or SSH private keys? Making them smaller seems heading the wrong way. Remind me of <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3744268>

<comment><USER3> Embedding this information into a physical card is the simplest way to guarantee uniqueness to control use.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Ironically the picture shows a mini-SIM card.

The actual cards haven't been finalized, but this compares sizes: <http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/03/21/apple-nano-sim/>

<comment><USER5> Even those look like micro-sims to me, judging by the info on wikipedia

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

<comment><USER4> Right you are. Thanks, and fixed.

<comment><USER5> I'm kind of wondering how much smaller they can get. Going any smaller than micro would appear to me to need a new pad to talk to the chip on, which might make adapters more difficult to make.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> It's a trap!</comment>


Trump Plans New Curbs on Chinese Investment, Tech Exports to China - dis-sys https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-plans-new-curbs-on-chinese-investment-tech-exports-to-china-1529883988 <comment><AUTHOR> Trump trying to balance the US government budget..</comment>


Telex.cc: a new ISP-based anti-censorship network - <AUTHOR> https://telex.cc

<comment><AUTHOR> While the name seems like a poor choice given all of the previous technology like telegraphic exchanges, this research project looks interesting. Capable of transferring HD flash video through real-world firewalls in place in China, it looks like a promising alternative to proxy servers and Tor networks. Its reliance on the benevolence of a centralized ISP, however, is a pretty obvious weakness.</comment>


Ask HN: Is it possible 2019-nCoV is already endemic? - <AUTHOR> Armchair virologist / epidemiologist, studied viral biochem in college. Hoping somebody can direct my thinking here, and maybe tell me what I'm missing?
Is it possible that 2019-nCoV is already endemic and the outbreak in Wuhan just represents a particularly virulent strain?
The "ease of transmission"  — asymptomatic, across 12 floors of a building, etc — Occam's razor might suggest it's simply a previously unidentified mild pathogen and a recent mutation is wreaking more havoc in Wuhan than the typical presentation — which, under this hypothesis, would be very mild.
The facts as I understand them are that sick people we test for 2019-nCoV sometimes have it. But we only test people (right now) with connections to Wuhan.
Assuming we keep finding asymptomatic transmission cases pop up, we're faced with two possibilities; this is the fastest-transmitting and most robust coronavirus we've ever seen OR people keep turning up infected because it's already endemic in the global population.
If my assumptions are correct about how we're testing for the virus right now there's huge sampling bias, both hypotheses will produce identical results unless we start testing control groups in completely unrelated areas.
Is there something I'm missing? Can any real epidemiologists weigh in? I would think folks at the WHO / CDC must already be thinking about this? <comment><USER2> This article gives more info on the most probable source of the virus. In 2004, Chinese researchers discovered a bat cave with a virus 96% genetically similar to the coronavirus spreading today.

> _"We found viruses in bats that could infect human cells in a lab," he > said._

> _The team drew samples from people who lived near the bat caves and found > that three per cent of them had developed antibodies to the viruses — > proving that the strains can and have infected humans in the past._

Responding to your question, it's very possible the virus is endemic to the region & a particularly virulent strain is spreading.

[https://nationalpost.com/news/world/cave-full-of-bats-in- chi...](https://nationalpost.com/news/world/cave-full-of-bats-in-china- identified-as-source-of-virus-almost-identical-to-the-one-killing-hundreds- today)

</comment><comment><USER3> Australia has in some states added nCov-19 to the standard testing panel for all respiratory illnesses, and we haven't seen a spike in detection so far. I'd expect to see an increased detection rate if it was in-fact endemic.</comment>


Genius Faceplate Puts USB Ports on Your Wall with No Wiring Needed - <AUTHOR> http://gizmodo.com/genius-faceplate-puts-usb-ports-on-your-wall-with-no-wi-1693186539/+stephentotilo <comment><USER2> I have something really cool like this, but it's portable and it came with my phone and it was free.</comment>


The coming economic crash and how to stop it - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@teamwarren/the-coming-economic-crash-and-how-to-stop-it-355703da148b <comment><USER2> Warning: Elizabeth Warren on Medium. There's a lot of "here's what I've been doing", and "follow my policy proposals to avoid a crash". Oh, and of course, "Trump is driving us toward the crash".

She may in fact be right. But right or wrong, she _definitely_ is campaigning.</comment>


Reservoirs are contributing 1.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions - <AUTHOR> http://reflectionsonwater.org/blog/2016/10/7/damwho-knew <comment><USER2> A lot of rice production involves standing water (and the burning of rice straw between seasons), and so rice farming is a major contributor to GHG emissions:

[http://www.southasia.ox.ac.uk/sites/sias/files/documents/GHG...](http://www.southasia.ox.ac.uk/sites/sias/files/documents/GHG%20emissions%20from%20rice%20-%20%20working%20paper.pdf)

It also happens to be a staple for over 60% of the world's population. And unlike transportation and energy, obvious substitutes are much harder to identify.

The more I read about novel sources of GHG the more intractable this problem appears absent geoengineering.

<comment><USER3> Global warming is going to require a massive, species-wide effort to counteract. The problem gets worse every day. When do we decide to stop?

We're already pretty far gone. Now it's a matter of controlling how Earth- shattering the damage is.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I found this article confusing:

>There are three main differences between man-made reservoirs and lakes:

>1\. Man-made reservoirs require flooding terrestrial land, supplying a large pulse of dead organic matter from trees and grasslands. The timescale of how this happens to natural lakes is much longer.

>2\. Man-made reservoirs experience greater fluctuations than natural lakes. As reservoirs reduce in volume, the weight of the water over the sediments drop freeing even more methane molecules from the confines of their origin.

>3\. Man-made reservoirs are often closer to human activities, such as agricultural run-off containing fertilizers that can promote the growth of organic matter in the water.

Here one-off effects are mixed with ongoing effects which makes limited sense. Also agricultural run-off is mixed in. But if that is not producing methane in the reservoir then in will be producing methane elsewhere - cause and effect is mixed up. Then later on the alternative:

> Groundwater recharge basins are regularly maintained to have less organic > matter at the bottom, since it can clog the percolation of water into > groundwater aquifers beneath. In addition, recharge basins are shallower > than man-made reservoirs and periodically become empty during dry periods > when less water is available to recharge groundwater.

I'm confused about a shallower basin being less problematic as the methane is produced by the wet sediment. A shallower basin for the same amount of hydro power would be much larger.

What is miss is putting the generated methane in relationship with the generated energy.

<comment><USER5> To borrow a phrase from Sheldon Brown, "As always, Bill Mollison has the answer." :)

(for those unfamiliar with what I affectionately call the "Perma-cult": [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Mollison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Mollison))

> _So, it seems as though hydropower is not as clean as we once thought. But > that's isn't a good reason to be ripping out dams. Hydropower generation > often replaces much dirtier sources of energy, such as coal and even natural > gas. In addition, dams provide us a wide range of public benefits such as > flood control, recreation, and water management._

It sounds like the Permaculture strategy of disfavoring singular large dams (huge concrete construction projects) and favoring smaller "farm dams" (cheap earthen construction) is the way to go. The smaller scale means more surface area:volume, increasing the equilibrium oxygen level in the water and reducing methanogenesis.

Also, the typical Permaculture dam construction practice is to scrape off and conserve all the topsoil from the inside of the dam. This should further reduce methane production (which also represents squandered biomass, ie stored carbon). This technique is practical on the scale of a farm dam, but totally impractical for a huge reservoir.

Farm dams have cost advantages in flood control and water management over monolithic dam projects, since they're near to the big consumers of water (farms). So the largest diversion canals and tunnels never need to be built. Simple gravity-fed water run through plastic pipes serves for irrigation purposes, so it improves on-farm water security.

> _groundwater storage may be a 'cleaner' alternative. Groundwater recharge > basins are regularly maintained to have less organic matter at the bottom, > since it can clog the percolation of water into groundwater aquifers > beneath. In addition, recharge basins are shallower than man-made reservoirs > and periodically become empty during dry periods when less water is > available to recharge groundwater. This periodic drying out helps keep soils > aerated, whereas man-made reservoirs can stay inundated with water for > longer periods of time._

I wonder how "groundwater recharge basins" differ from swales (long on-contour ditches)? They also intercept large quantities of runoff and divert it to recharging groundwater. They also require minimal earth movement, since it's a small surface feature compared to farm dams. Swales can also feed into dams, dramatically increasing their total catchment _and_ infiltration capacity (since before the dam overflows, it floods and soaks the length of the swale).

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E79C9tdcgEA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E79C9tdcgEA)

[http://permaculturenews.org/category/earthworks-earth- resour...](http://permaculturenews.org/category/earthworks-earth- resources/dams/)

<comment><USER6> Small hydroelectric is extremely efficient.

You can get efficiencies of above 80%. In larger installations 90% or more. It's expensive but beats the shite out of solar and wind over time. You can also, if you have an application for physical energy, roughly double the output.

In addition almost all energy storage capacity for the grid is pumped storage from hydroelectric stations. I think it is massively overlooked merely because most people are interesting in scaling and these people overlook the fact that A: most things do not scale and B: long term maintenance matters. You can run a hydro plant with next to no maintenance for 100 years. I can't think of anything close to it and they can easily be fixed or repaired.

It annoys me that micro and small hydro aren't talked about more.

<comment><USER7> _You can get efficiencies of above 80%. In larger installations 90% or more._

 _You can also, if you have an application for physical energy, roughly double the output._

Could you explain the apparent contradiction? How are you calculating a 90% efficiency such that it's possible to get another 90% of "physical" energy?

<comment><USER6> Sure.

With a hydroelectric turbine you can produce electrical power (by black magic as far as I'm concerned) or mechanical power.

There is a terrific documentary called Ben's Mill on such a mechanical application here:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2KJbRHO76s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2KJbRHO76s)

That will explain visually how mechanical power can be coached into performing useful work. It's also worth watching just to see the cows reaction to their new water vessel at the end, they are like animals out of Disneyland.

Mechanical power when converted to electrical power undergoes a drop in performance (similar to other power conversions, something is lost).

There is a fascinating article here on the subject, I quote:

"The hydro power installations in use today are actually less efficient than those of earlier centuries"

"Direct hydropower is at least twice as economically viable as a hydroelectric operation with the same rate of energy production."

[http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2013/08/direct- hydropower.htm...](http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2013/08/direct- hydropower.html)

Also take a look at this:

[http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2013/09/power-from-the-tap- wa...](http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2013/09/power-from-the-tap-water- motors.html)

That is hacking if I ever saw it! I intend to construct a micro hydroelectric plant myself, so ask away if you've any questions. I love the idea of marrying up old school technology with modern technology. I also have a terrific idea for lighting using heliostats, which combines tech literally thousands of years old with the latest in machine learning.

<comment><USER8> That's not even close to an explanation.

If 1kg of water descends 1m the most power you can hope to extract from that is U = m x g x h or 1 * 1 * 9.8 ~ 10 J ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_energy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_energy))

If you can extract 90% of that, it's 9J. If you can double that efficiency, it's 18J. Which would make the "over unity" generator folks on YouTube pretty happy, but the universe generally says you can't really do.

So which is it? Is hydro 90% efficient, or can you get double the power output if you want mechanical energy? You can't have both.

<comment><USER6> Hmmm. I'm not claiming to defy physics although I see how it came across that way. That was not my intention.

If you read the literature you can see why I was phrasing it like that so perhaps I too was misled.

[http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/eng...](http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/eng4431)

The potential energy harvest from a hydro setup must be 90% of available energy.

In practice half is lost due to the reasons outlined in the low tech magazine article I linked to. So the electricity production is lower than if we had the turbine hooked up to a motor. The other possibility is that small scale hydro is of a lower efficiency and that this explains the paradox. That is: the literature is talking of a large scale operation that can achieve 90% efficiency but smaller schemes incur losses that explain why converting a small hydro setup back to providing mechanical energy can double the output.

<comment><USER8> Assembling and paraphrasing your information:

Turning the shaft horsepower from a hydro turbine into electricity, transmitting it through wires, transformers, etc, and turning it back into shaft horsepower through motors, etc is inefficient due to conversion losses. Just using the shaft horsepower directly incurs none of those conversion losses. They can be substantial enough in some situations to approach 50%. This doesn't mean you can harvest more energy than the water can provide, it means that by eliminating losses you can USE more of the energy that the water provides, instead of losing it to heat or noise or whatever other conversion losses.

That's an explanation. What you have linked to and hinted at is only the start of one.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> According to the report, they supposedly underestimated methane production by 25%.

What surprised me more though was that even going be the previous value (which I'll simply assume to be 1.5%/1.25=1.2%), that sounds like a _lot_ of greenhouse gas contribution for a resource which in 2014 "only" contributed 3.8% to global energy consumption, according to [1].

[1] [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption)

<comment><USER10> but energy isn't their main benefit. flood control and proving water to cities and even farms is the main benefit. throw in the recreational opportunities, increased tax base because all that lake front is worth something, and it seems they are more than worth it.

to be honest I walked into that article expecting another dam killer tirade with an all new reason to take down more and was pleasantly surprised they defend the use of them in the end

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Direct link to the study:

[http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/10/0...](http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/10/02/biosci.biw117.full.pdf)

If you see "Failed to load PDF document", clicking "Reload" will load the PDF.

</comment><comment><USER12> Methane isn't the most potent greenhouse gas as stated in the article. Water vapor is both the most potent and the most abundant. It also has a positive feedback loop so the hotter the Earth gets, the more water vapor goes into the atmosphere!

<comment><USER13> A reason to not include water vapor in a list of "greenhouse gases" is its short lifetime in the atmosphere. If you inject extra water vapor there, it rains down and exits the atmosphere in a matter of days, whereas methane etc stay for years --- humans emitting water vapor vs. CO2/etc to the atmosphere has very different relevance for the physics. Of course, the vapor does have effect on the radiation physics, and the fact that the equilibrium concentration depends on temperature leads to the positive feedbacks.

<comment><USER5> This exactly. What matters is the _equilibrium_ concentration of water vapor.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I hotly disagree. Reservoir who empty at drought season typically have immeasurable methane output during good season. -- Lake bed dries up and bakes in the sun. For that, we can rule out Lake Folsom, California.

</comment><comment><USER15> This can be seen as good news, I suspect. Now we have identified a substantial source of the gasses it gives us an opportunity to look at how we can fix it. Oygenation? Stirring?

<comment><USER16> Perhaps these shade balls could work. It does mention that they inhibit microbial growth and slow evaporation.

[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150812-shade- ball...](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150812-shade-balls-los- angeles-California-drought-water-environment/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Why does this article talk about cow burps in connection with methane? Surely that's cow farts? Or do cows somehow produce methane while cud chewing?

<comment><USER18> I think ruminants including cows do significantly contribute to methane emissions by burping.

"Cows don't emit 400 quarts of daily flatulence, as the term is usually understood. According to Professor Johnson, they emit 400 quarts' worth of burps,known in polite circles as eructation." [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/832/do-cow-and- term...](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/832/do-cow-and-termite- flatulence-threaten-the-earths-atmosphere)

<comment><USER19> And it is fairly self-evident when you think of it: cows are ruminants, and the process of rumination means fermentation before digestion. Methane is released in this fermentation, so it naturally comes as burping, not flatulence.</comment></comment></comment>


About 6.002x - <AUTHOR> https://6002x.mitx.mit.edu/

<comment><USER2> It's interesting that MITx is being explicit that their courses will be hard. This provides an interesting market differentiation in the online learning space. The recent Stanford classes & Udacity seem to be aiming for a much more general audience.

<comment> X-Istence That's not true. The Stanford AI class up front said that it required a lot of math. I ended up dropping out because I couldn't catch up quickly enough with the math requirement to complete the course as well.

<comment><USER3> So for those of us who would like to take this course _eventually_ but don't necessarily have the appropriate math experience in, oh, the last decade or so, are there resources online (or even by book) which would give adequate preparation in a reasonable timeframe?

<comment><USER4> Stanford's AI class listed some Khan Academy videos as prerequisites. I saved the list, you can see them here:

Probability: <http://delicious.com/stacks/view/TMPTxM>

Linear algebra: <http://delicious.com/stacks/view/IqJHli>

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Finally made an account on HackerNews just for this post. The class is definitely worth taking, especially if you'd like to have a better understanding of Fourier Transformations.

<comment><USER6> Are Fourier Transforms covered in 6.002x? I took 6.002 many years ago, and transforms (Fourier Transforms, Laplace Transforms, Z-Transforms, etc.) were covered in 6.003 (Signals and Systems), not much in 6.002 (Intro to Circuits).

<comment><USER7> I checked the current course catalog, as I was confused in the same way. It seems like 6.003 is still the main intro class that covers various frequency domain transforms: <[http://student.mit.edu/catalog/search.cgi?search=6.003&s...](http://student.mit.edu/catalog/search.cgi?search=6.003&style=verbatim>);

<comment><USER5> My bad... I always confused 6.002 & 6.003 because I took them both last semester...

<comment><USER8> based on the cal analogues I took, that seems like a bad idea.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'm nearing completion of an EE at UT Austin, and this MIT class seems to condense 2 or 3 different semesters of material. I can't decide if this is a good approach or not.

On one hand, you take one broad class that introduces you to many different topics. Then you delve into whatever is necessary for your degree.

On the other, you do deeper (but still introductory-level) examinations of each topic, still with the option to go deeper if you desire.

Ultimately, I don't think either is a clear winner. I don't remember enough out of my intro circuits class to do a thing with a second-order circuit without reviewing theory for a bit first.

</comment><comment><USER10> The mini-bio of Gerald Sussman on the right-hand side states that "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs .. is universally acknowledged as one of the top ten textbooks in computer science".

I'm curious why they explicitely speak about the top _ten_.

Which are the other 9?

<comment> iso8859-1 What would you want them to say? Top 100? Too modest. Top 3? Too cocky.

<comment><USER10> This is a misunderstanding. You can read my question as "According to [..] the SICP is one of the top 10 CS books. Which, do you think, are those?"

I'm just interested because it seems SICP is THE book on programming, and I wonder: Which other CS books are that prominent? The only one I can think of, is "Artificial Intelligence - A Modern Approach" by Russell and Norvig.

<comment><USER11> This is probably going to devolve again into a long discussion, but here's the books with an academic bent that I was most impressed with (many of them 25 years ago, of course):

"Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools" by Alfred V. Aho, Ravi Sethi and Jeffrey D. Ullman (a.k.a the "Dragon Book") "The Art of Computer Programming" by Donald Knuth "Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages and Computation" by John E. Hopcroft and Jeffrey D. Ullman

An amazing book, despite the fact that the core thesis of the first edition, that we were on the verge of permanent world domination by RISC architectures, turned out to be dead wrong:

"Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach" John L. Hennessy and David A. Patterson

Two books by Niklaus Wirth (A bit out of fashion, maybe because they were written in the "wrong" languages, and maybe because they were TOO concise in today's world of shovelware books. Wirth is the Strunk & White of CS writers):

"Algorithms and Data Structures" by Niklaus Wirth "Compiler Construction" by Niklaus Wirth

This book might be the one that impressed me most in my undergraduate studies, although I can't say I've done much with what I read there:

"Parallel Program Design: A Foundation" by K. Mani Chandy and Jayadev Misra

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> The interesting part about this class is that it is a lab class, yet it is trying to be accessible to anyone and everyone around the world. It will be interesting to see the logistics of how the MITx people handle grading, forums, homework, questions, and all the hard systems problems when 6.002x finally gets underway.

The other question is how will this compare to 6.002 as it is currently taught at MIT - will 6.002x be at the same standard? You as a student in 6.002x won't have the same chance to interact with your classmates as in a traditional MIT course, so can it be considered the same type of class? This all remains to be seen.

</comment><comment><USER13> I'm just starting to study EE in Australia at UQ, so I'm definitely going to be looking at this and seeing how it compares to my EE courses here.</comment>


Show HN: Line.do Reloaded - <AUTHOR> https://line.do/cults-through-the-ages/cpb/vertical

<comment><AUTHOR> We have been working on a timeline based storytelling experience for the last 1,5 years with line.do. Line.do is a way to create and read contextual/sequential stories via timelines. We have changed the whole reading experience yesterday and hungry for feedbacks. Thanks.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> The story behind the new layout is here: [http://arm.ag/post/109579073716/the- story-of-line-dos-new-ti...](http://arm.ag/post/109579073716/the-story-of- line-dos-new-timeline-layout)</comment>


KDE developers release stable images for the the Pinebook - <AUTHOR> https://dot.kde.org/2018/08/22/kde-plasma-arm-laptop-pinebook <comment><AUTHOR> The Pinebook is a small, inexpensive and light netbook built around the PINE64 SBC that can (now) run a full KDE Plasma desktop.

<comment><USER2> When "Apple" or "Dotan Cohen" are mentioned in the title, I'll understand that no explanation is needed. But when tiny companies and products that are completely unknown are presented, an explanation is proper. The title should have been "KDE developers release stable images for smartphone-powered laptop".

That said, the device seems decent for the price. It looks like a Macbook clone, but with an ISO keyboard layout. The screen resolution is horrendous, and with only 2 GiB of RAM and 16 GiB of storage, the device is too weak for any real use case.

<comment><USER3> It's particularly egregious because the original article title says "...on ARM laptop Pinebook".

</comment></comment></comment><comment> another-cuppa I wonder what the speed is like. I bought a netbook as soon as I could back in 2007 or so. I still run my Dell Mini 9 to this day. Back then I wanted to be able to hack on emacs in bed (seriously). I never actually did that much because using a keyboard (especially a very small keyboard) in bed isn't very comfortable. But the other point was this was a portable computer I could actually afford (it was less than £200). The computer also has no moving parts whatsoever which I found very cool. It's powered by 32 bit Atom and these days I find even Lubuntu has unsatisfactory performance. So it now run Gentoo with a minimal kernel and just enough to run i3wm with Firefox and emacs on there.

I guess the ARM64 is more powerful than my Atom. But it still only has 2GB of memory which is the same as my netbook! (I might have upgraded my RAM, I can't remember).</comment>


Ruby In The Web Browser using IronRuby and Silverlight - <AUTHOR> http://www.rubyinside.com/ironruby-silverlight-ruby-in-browser-3192.html

<comment><USER2> This is extremely slick, don't let your anti-microsoft feelings makes you miss out on this!</comment>


7 easy ways to expose your website to hackers - <AUTHOR> http://blog.cloudbric.com/2015/08/7-easy-ways-to-expose-your-website-to.html

<comment><USER2> Nice Post! this are some basic security masseurs that ever website owner should take that helps a lot...</comment>


Show HN: Word suggestion based on partial word input - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/chris-kuo/Autocompleter <comment><AUTHOR> A partial word suggestion engine based on trie. This is an one evening project after discussion on ways to implement such an engine. Handles up to two input errors (misspelling/missing letters). Dictionary is based on word frequency list from Mr. Norvig.

Next on to do list is to implement a quick interactive demo. Feel free to submit any pull request or bug reports!

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Update: added simple interactive demo using ncurses.</comment>


Strache Caught on Camera in Ibiza - <AUTHOR> https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/strache-caught-on-camera-in-ibiza-secret-recordings-a-1267959.html <comment><USER2> The glaring difference between this and scandals of similar extent in the US is that Strache already resigned (and Austria might actually see reelections soon), while the POTUS is still in office. Beats me!

<comment><USER3> What is the equivalent video for Trump? The situations are not parallel.

<comment><USER4> I don't think they're different just because a video isn't present - but what saved Trump was that everyone either ignored all the illegal stuff he asked them to do, or were just too incompetent to pull it off.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> We are still waiting for the chancellor's decision if he is going to end this government. Kickl and Hofer have to resign too and the prosecution should definitely look into the association they used to channel campaign money into their accounts! Let's see how wise this boy of a leader is!

</comment><comment><USER6> "patriots"</comment>


Fab.com Is To Groupon What Facebook Is To MySpace - <AUTHOR> http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/09/14/fab-com-is-to-facebook-what-groupon-is-to-myspace/

<comment><USER2> I read and totally agree & believe on this: "Fab's founders sound undeterred, anyway. "Our margins are much higher than a fashion site and we don't deal with seasonality or liquidation," says Goldberg. "A lot of people are going to turn around six months from now and see we are the fastest growing business in the space, period."

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi Yibili. Would you mind posting your comment on the site so I can reply there? I promise we won't spam you! [http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/09/14/fab- co...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/09/14/fab-com-is-to- facebook-what-groupon-is-to-myspace/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Fab's daily emails are full of interesting products, so even if I don't buy something for a while I don't feel like I wasted any time browsing. With groupon, I found their emails annoying so I unsubscribed.

The transition from a gay networking site to a design deals company has been amazingly fast.

<comment><AUTHOR> These comments are terrific. Would you two mind posting on the site so I can reply there? [http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/09/14/fab- co...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/09/14/fab-com-is-to- facebook-what-groupon-is-to-myspace/)</comment></comment>


The College For-Profits Should Fear - <AUTHOR> http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2011/features/the_college_forprofits_should031640.php

<comment><USER2> The key paragraph:

 _"WGU's answer to the status quo is to offer a degree that is based on competency rather than time. By gathering information from employers, industry experts, and academics, Western Governors formulates a detailed, institution- wide sense of what every graduate of a given degree program needs to know. Then they work backward from there, defining what every student who has taken a given course needs to know. As they go, they design assessments—tests—of all those competencies. "Essentially," says Kevin Kinser, a professor of education at the State University of New York at Albany, "they're creating a bar exam for each point along the way that leads to a degree.""_

</comment><comment><USER3> The one they should really worry about is Khan Academy:

1\. Free

2\. Gamification of learning (aka certification)

3\. Social web integrated into learning (a network to see your certifications)

4\. Inverting the traditional model - do your homework in class watch vids/read at night at home.

KA is on the way toward replacing traditional degrees the same way Stackoverflow and Github are replacing traditional resumes.

<comment><USER4> Really? I guess I am in minotrity, but after watching a few lessons on KA I I left with impression that quality of teaching is quite poor. Educational videos may be one part of education, but they cannot replace all. Teachers are there to stay for a long long time and it has nothing todo with technology.

<comment><USER5> I don't know about the quality of the other subjects (since I don't know enough about them to judge him) but I do know that his economy lectures were pretty good.

<comment><USER6> A halfway engaged HS physics teacher would do far better than the videos I sampled on basic kinematics and newtons laws.

The stuff there is just _begging_ for in person demos.

From what I've seen, KA is better than nothing, or a really indifferent teacher. But If you have a better than average teacher, they're going to far surpass KA.

<comment><USER7> Reminds me of the quote, "Any teacher that can be replaced by a computer, deserves to be."

I love the quote, but of course, I am concerned that in our push to move to computer-based learning, we push out the teachers who _can't_ be replaced by a computer.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> The 30% profit margin University of Phoenix makes is a signal to other investors to enter the field and innovate! This is a feature not a bug of markets. Non-profit just means they are maximizing more opaque measures of success. Of course the accreditation barriers to entry are still quite innovation stifling.

also, I'd be shocked if WGU doesn't come under fire for 'disparate impact', otherwise known as racism at some point.

<comment><USER9> how does racism play into this?

<comment><USER8> Sorry, talking about the history of standardized testing will get me downvoted. Guess how I know.

</comment></comment></comment><comment> buff-a FTA: _Those fixed standards enable a world of variation. At Western Governors, students aren't asked to sit in a class any longer than it takes for them to demonstrate that they have mastered the material. In fact, they aren't asked to sit in a "class" at all._

This article seems to suggest that at other US universities, you actually have to show up to classes to pass them? Is that actually the case????

<comment><USER10> (Response to above, and most of its responses.)

I understand that you can not show up and pass a class, but why in the world would you spend all that money and time on a physical university if you aren't going to go to class? Why not just read a book and get a job?

<comment> eric-hu Sadly, because of what a degree means. This goes doubly so for a degree from a "big name".

I strongly disagree with this sentiment, but I can't deny that a majority of people I meet will be impressed with someone who went to MIT, Yale or Harvard. Likewise, I think a majority of people (albeit a lesser-majority) will have reservations about someone with "only" a high school education.

In most industries, you won't find people saying "show me what you can do" before you show them you have a degree. The tech industry is far more egalitarian in this sense, which is awesome.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> WGU consists of 4 colleges: Teachers', Business, IT, and Health Professions. All well and good but I wish quality online programs were also offered in Math, Natural Sciences, Biological Sciences, Computer Science, Writing, Humanities, etc... In my view a good College of Arts and Sciences is what makes University good. A great Engineering program would be awesome too.

</comment><comment><USER12> Seneca College in Toronto has a similar thing going for its Computer Programming diploma. Or at least, this was the case when I went there:

1) You can take an exam for a class at the beginning of the semester if you think you know the material. There is a cost of this exam, but if you pass, then you save money on taking the whole class... and time too.

2) You must complete every single assignment to pass a given class. Your assignments must work 100%. You'll be graded on style.

3) Every class was offered every semester - even during the summer semester. And there was a section for most classes at night.

There's just one issue: I thought universities were supposed to teach you how to learn, while community colleges were meant for specific job-related skills.

Shouldn't doctors, lawyers, nurses, computer programmers etc... all be getting their job-specific diplomas, just like the mechanics and the electricians? And shouldn't 'degrees' be more research oriented anyway? Why are degrees more valued when whats needed in most cases is someone with a specific skill? Do people with degrees really think that people with diplomas are incapable of learning? Do employers feel this way?

<comment> barry-cotter Re: your last paragraph

Degrees are less about learning than making sure you will do a certain amount of work for at least two years and more usually four, even if the work is dumb. So it signals intelligence and conscientiousness.

Having a degree tells people you're at least capable of being a member of the middle class. You're intelligent and biddable enough. Elite university graduates also got some implicit training in the social norms of the upper classes, and by virtue of the intense competition to get in you can be sure anyone who graduated from them is smart. More accurately, anyone they accepted, the dropout rate for top tier US universities is very low (except for Caltech).

And yes, people with degrees do think people without are dumber, and employers likewise, because its true. And alternative certifications for different modes of training/types of knowledge fall prey to the same problems. Having separate, respected educational systems, rather than one for the real people and one for the losers requires relatively low social mobility, or at least hard social mobility.

Seneca College sounds real cool.

<comment><USER13> > the dropout rate for top tier US universities is very low

The dropout rate for non-engineering schools is pretty low. Engineering schools are all over the map. Caltech is a bit silly to compare to larger schools due to the fact Caltech enrolls <1k undergrads.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> single page: [http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2...](http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2011/features/the_college_forprofits_should031640.php?page=all&print=true)

</comment><comment><USER15> I took a bachelors from WGU because I dropped out of college many years ago and went out of the country. I came back and just wanted one to say I had a bachelors. I can say I practically learned nothing from WGU and the coursework was incredibly easy. This is for the IT degree. To be fair to them, most courses were IT certifications. So the real problem was the IT certifications were useless, I mean really, what use is Security+ and related certs. Anyway that is my opinion. I did some IT admin work first, then got more into programming with Ruby on Rails. Probably my path is a bit atypical.

<comment><USER16> As someone who has interviewed candidates from physical universities with IT degrees I can say the same is probably true of them. I see candidates all the time who can recite the OSI Model by heart but can't figure out a Windows XP system isn't connecting to the network because it doesn't have an IP Address.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> I found this article really interesting, Read all the way through it on my phone and made sure to come online to comment.

I have to find myself agreeing that the competency based off of actual employers is one of the best way to get stuff done. And now if KA can get actual teachers and setup actual accreditation systems then all these for- profit groups will be under even more pressure. As people that want these services to thrive I feel the best way for us to allow this to happen is to help them market their schools. Blog posts etc etc that link to the site will hopefully make a google search for "online college" send WGU and Khan to the top.

I for one may be signing up. (I already attend Khan to learn about linear algebra.) Having a business degree from WGU would round out my current repertoire rather nicely I think.

</comment><comment><USER13> WGU seems to be looked at askance from some googling by positions seeking MBAs

</comment><comment><USER18> IS WGU the only college of this kind?

<comment><USER19> Some time ago I toyed with the idea of getting a grad degree for "resume dressing" purposes optimized for price/prestige/convenience. I was pleasantly surprised that there quite a few options after you get over the signal vs. noise problem: finding legit, accredited schools in the sea of diploma mills who spends a ton on marketing on spam (just google "online degree").

The best place I've found to do research on accredited programs (both undergrad & grad) school that cater to adult students is <http://www.degreeinfo.com/forum.php>. It is the home of a community of people who are good at hacking the diploma game and share their info readily. Folks there tend to favor schools that are in the spirit of this school in the OP article (price/prestige/convenience) but there is quite a good range of schools discussed (for example Duke U.'s MBA program tends to be reviewed favorably as is Delaware for undergrad). There even intrepid individuals there who had foregone the traditional 4 year, "physical seat" undergrad for 2 years of working part-time and distance learning (can be with CLEP exams and the right program).

<comment><USER18> Nice Link!

I've had experience with Baker College <http://www.baker.edu/> in the past, Online Degree... but it was a time-based / attendance base system... WGU "Competence" based accredited degrees seems pretty bad-ass...</comment></comment></comment>


A Gigantic Nazi City That Was Never Built - <AUTHOR> http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-gigantic-nazi-city-that-was-never-built <comment><USER2> It's too bad the article is only drawing and has no picture of the models, because they are in fact utterly inane: [http://www.amusingplanet.com/2016/06/the- schwerbelastungskor...](http://www.amusingplanet.com/2016/06/the- schwerbelastungskorper-and-hitlers.html)

And the "load bearing" of the Schwerbelastungskörper (which you can "visit"[0]) was not explained: Berlin is marshy soil, it was unclear whether its grounds could even support the arch without sinking, the concrete cylinder was set up to measure how fast it would sink (it sank 18cm over the duration of the test, the project was deemed feasible if it sank less than 6): [http://andberlin.com/2012/05/07/hitlers-folly- schwerbelastun...](http://andberlin.com/2012/05/07/hitlers-folly- schwerbelastungskorper/)

[0] [http://www.schwerbelastungskoerper.de](http://www.schwerbelastungskoerper.de)

<comment><USER3> Warning to others: that first link had some crazy spam that opened a cacophony of external links to various adverts and was on the verge of crashing Chrome for Android before I killed the process.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> The buildings from "The Man in the High Castle" now make a lot more sense... neat they used this for historical accuracy.

</comment><comment><USER5> Nazi architecture was intimidating and larger-than-life. Which was the point: an individual walking into the Reich Chancellery was meant to feel very, very tiny compared to the state. Dwarfed by the impact of the massive stone, what outside concerns could compare?

There was never really any historical basis or long-standing traditions to lend the Nazis a sort of gravitas, much as they might have wanted it. They believed themselves to be "the master race," yet lacked the sort of history to support their conclusions. So they appropriated everything they could get their hands on to suggest otherwise. The swastika was stolen from Hindu culture and used to suggest that its thousands of years of meaning use _there_ were the result of ancient Aryan ancestors. Nietzsche's work was butchered perverted by his horrible excuse for a sister and her husband to support Nazi ideology. Hitler's theory of ruin value, and the idea of a "Thousand-Year Reich" flipped the lack of historical gravitas on its head, borrowing against an ancient future that didn't exist in order to support their ideology in the present.

If he could build buildings that made Roman ruins look positively provincial, centuries of awe and inspiration towards them could be leveraged by the Nazis. Difficulties and setbacks in the war could be overshadowed in the minds of the German people by the immense power of his buildings. Architecture, for Hitler, was a weapon:

[https://thefunambulist.net/architectural-projects/the- funamb...](https://thefunambulist.net/architectural-projects/the-funambulist- papers-47-nazi-architecture-as-affective-weapon-by-gaston-gordillo)

Anyhow, Hitler's idea of a Welthauptstadt Germania betrayed his global ambitions years before the first shot was fired.

</comment><comment><USER6> This is about Welthauptstadt Germania, the Nazi plans for Berlin:

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

[http://www.essential- architecture.com/G-BER/GERMANY/TEN/TEN-...](http://www.essential- architecture.com/G-BER/GERMANY/TEN/TEN-NS-10.htm)

</comment><comment><USER7> To Speer's rescue, the problem was the Berlin main train station too far outside. So he came up with the plan to move it the center, and from there the ministries along the new avenue. Problem was that he had to demolish too many buildings with too many inhabitants. It was not that easy as in Hausmann's Paris who did the same. And planning with Hitler was a nightmare as he constantly interfered and new everything better.

<comment><USER8> Fuehrefeaturecreep plagued most nazi projects.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> This must be Berlin as depicted in Amazon's Man in the High Castle. In the 2nd season they show a massive pantheon.

<comment><USER10> Yep - as a (very amateur) student of history, when Joe arrived in Berlin and we began to see glimpses of what the city looked like in the 1960s, I was really drawn into the story.

Albert Speer published an autobiography, and it's a very interesting read. It's even more interesting when you read other contemporary accounts of the events and people he describes, because it becomes very apparent that Speer whitewashes much of what went on in order to frame himself as less guilty of the crimes that were committed in that era. Whether he did so to deceive others or to deceive himself is an open question.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Most of the concentration camps were built around quarries. By the end of the war there was a lot of fresh cut stone in rail depots around Germany waiting to be used. The intent was to use it for these megaprojects.

Ever wonder how West Germany rebuilt so quickly and so beautifully?

<comment><USER12> Marshall Plan? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan)

<comment><USER13> Plus education and (business) knowledge that survived the war

I find it rather strange that people think that money alone can make a country long-term prosperous.

<comment><USER14> To be fair, education requires a lot of money, in teaching and even more so in lost labor.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Still at Guantánamo - <AUTHOR> https://www.dawn.com/news/1539457/still-at-guantanamo <comment><USER3> It doesn't matter how secret the details of this case may need to be for military reasons, when due process itself has been redacted beyond recognition I can no longer see the difference between this and a kangaroo court.

</comment><comment><USER4> Unbelievable, let him go, please. Why are we so afraid to let him walk away? Do we really cherish our lives so much that we're afraid of this guy? Do we really cherish our lives so much that we won't give this guy due process? Are we really going to torture a man, then lock him up his entire life - for what?

I say _we_ , but, of course, I don't mean literally _we_ , I mean culture and people in charge. If we change the culture, politicians will change - <USER2> in power will change. Stop fearing for your lives sooo much.

Do you realize that Jesus let people kill him without physical retort? And we're afraid that this guy _might_ be violent?

And this isn't just about one man, it's about making sure this never happens again.

</comment><comment><USER5> You may be interested to hear the ongoing podcast series "The Other Latif" from NPR and RadioLab producer Latif Nasser.

[https://www.npr.org/podcasts/809233558/the-other- latif](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/809233558/the-other-latif)

</comment><comment><USER6> This is beyond tragic. How Guantanamo lasted through the Obama years is beyond me. To close it was his first promise and his first promise broken.

</comment><comment><USER7> Guantanamo un-American. I do not support it. Presidents including Obama have tried to close it. Congress - the absolute worst of the three Federal branches - has stopped it. It's another problem in a whole line of problems their inability to act has caused.

</comment><comment><USER8> Under what chapter in international law is this lawful? Earnest question.

<comment><USER9> Nothing about Guantanamo bay is legal. Cuba has requested we leave and stopped taking payments for the "lease" of the land there. It being illegal means nothing if there's nobody that'll do anything about the US's crimes.</comment></comment>


Why do we develop high blood pressure? - <AUTHOR> http://exactlyscience.com/archives/11183.html <comment><USER2> Blogspam of

[https://www.physoc.org/press-release/2017/why-do-we- develop-...](https://www.physoc.org/press-release/2017/why-do-we-develop-high- blood-pressure)

with author credit stripped out.</comment>


Will Sony Unveil the Playstation 4 on February 20? - <AUTHOR> http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/will_sony_unveil_playstation_4_february_20101

<comment><USER2> Sounds like it.</comment>


Microsoft founders cast shadow over Seattle - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/us/27allen.html?hp

<comment><USER2> Do I have to pick? Aren't they both giant assholes?</comment>


Obama's Secret Weapon In The South is 129 Million Years Old - <AUTHOR> http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/10/02/162163801/obama-s-secret-weapon-in-the-south-small-dead-but-still-kickin <comment><USER2> Considering that Obama was trounced in those states and thus won no votes in the Electorial College, it is hardly a "secret weapon." Were it one, the consistency of its Democratic lean in previous elections, would call into question that it was his.

The article just promotes an ignorant sort of racial understanding while missing the really curious relationship between agriculture and his campaigns.

Obama's secret weapon has been Iowa.

<comment><USER3> Or money+incumbency

Roosevelt,Truman,Eisenhower,Johnson,Nixon,Reagan,Clinton,BushII all had plenty of time to plan for 2nd term.

Of course so did Ford, Carter and Bush I.

There may not be enough samples to get a good p-value, but more often than not the recipe of "just don't mess up too bad" gets a another term for a sitting President.

<comment><USER4> Paul Graham wrote an essay on this. The most charismatic candidate is elected, every time: <http://www.paulgraham.com/charisma.html>

<comment><USER5> The theory does accord with the last several general elections, but it doesn't seem to accord with primaries. For example, Herman Cain, Howard Dean, and Mike Huckabee all lost out to less charismatic candidates. Since primaries are now decided on a similar basis to general elections--debate performance, fundraising, retail politics--it seems like these data points ought to be included.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I think this is a great answer to people who ask why we still need things like affirmative action. Here you have a continuing demographic phenomenon that can be traced directly back to slave ownership patterns hundreds of years ago. It should be noted also that the black belt is also a terribly poor stretch of the country.

Unfortunately, it appears that socioeconomic patterns are imprinted more deeply than anyone would want, and more deeply than a lot of people would like to admit.

<comment><USER7> The problem with affirmative action is that it is based on race. It is racist. In fact it isn't just based on race, it is based on skin colour - since some mixed black-white people with white skin can be discriminated against.

America needs to put race on the sidelines and start thinking in terms of class. You should help the disadvantaged or poor regardless of their great great grandparent's struggles.

Affirmative action should exist; but it should be entirely based on parental income, growing up in a poor area, or other disadvantaged indicators. Not race, not ethnicity, and not gender. These things don't prove you're poor or disadvantaged.

<comment><USER6> The justification and rationale for race-based affirmative action is somewhat different from anything favoring people of low socioeconomic class generally. It has to do with correcting specific and massive historical wrongs in which our government was complicit, not lifting up disadvantaged people generally. Conflating the two is a little silly. If I destroy your house, you're not going to be happy if I make amends through a general program of urban renewal in your neighborhood.

A lot of people don't believe that Americans of today should be liable for the actions of Americans then. But none of us today were alive at the time America consented to the Constitution, just as none of us today were alive at the time America imported millions of blacks into slavery. Yet we are nonetheless bound by the agreement our forefathers made in 1789! The document attesting to that agreement is also the document that protected and enshrined slavery in America for several more generations. I believe we are bound by that too. I believe the government created in that document, which still exists today, is bound by the obligation created by its sanctioning of slavery just as it is bound by treaties entered into at the time or treasury bonds issued at the time.

It is of course impossible to try to remedy all the mistakes of the past. But that doesn't mean it is pointless to try and remedy any mistakes of the past. And this is a big one that still has lasting and major effects today.

<comment><USER7> Let's accept that rational; but that does leave one question: when does this end? If we have no way to measure the damage then how do we measure the resolution of the damage? Do we continue this for 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 years? Or do we simply never end it?

Do we try to "correct" it so there are literally no poor people of a particular ethnicity? How realistic is that?

<comment><USER8> How about until there no longer is any significant racism that systematically disadvantages black people?

<comment><USER9> Instead we have a system that systematically disadvantages non black people. Just stop discriminating. Either way. No reason to have one or the other have an advantage.

We just had a black man elected to his second term as president, so I think that's a pretty good sign we aren't that racist. This wouldn't have happened a few decades ago.

<comment><USER10> > We just had a black man elected to his second term as president, so I think > that's a pretty good sign we aren't that racist.

Sir, I say this with as much respect as I can muster: Absent significant study, it is absolutely not the place of someone who is a member of the racial majority to declare the extent or impact of racism. You simply have no idea what you're talking about.

A mixed race man was, indeed, elected to high office. He was elected over the objections of people who claimed him to be, among other things:

\- A Kenyan

\- A secret muslim

\- A liar inelegible for the presidency under the terms of Section I, Article II of the United States constitution

These claims have been made and repeated for over four years. They are made, in part, because Barack Obama _looks different from the men who have previously run the country._ They are repeated because that fact scares the absolute shit out of a certain subset of the country.

Racism – far from vanquished – has proven to be a politically expedient tool. (Though, thankfully, one with toxic side effects.)

Have we made progress since the civil war and the civil rights movement? Yeah.

But racism is an ugly, nasty force that persists in both overt and subtle ways. It's not over. And for the people who must still grapple with its effects, it's a big problem.

<comment><USER11> > Absent significant study, it is absolutely not the place of someone who is a > member of the racial majority to declare the extent or impact of racism. You > simply have no idea what you're talking about.

The opposite is also true: "Absent significant study, it is absolutely not the place of someone who is a member of the racial minority to declare the extent or impact of racism." Why not say simply it is not the place of someone to declare the extent or impact of racism without study?

Also I believe you are assuming the race of the parent. For all you know they could be a member of a racial minority.

More to the point what is our goal WRT racism? To eliminate associating traits with a person purely based on their race that are not backed up by a correlation? If that's the case affirmative actively works against that goal.

<comment><USER10> > Also I believe you are assuming the race of the parent. For all you know > they could be a member of a racial minority.

You believe incorrectly. I did my homework.

[http://geekpolitics.com/wp- content/uploads/2008/12/derekclar...](http://geekpolitics.com/wp- content/uploads/2008/12/derekclark2.jpg)

But the rest of silliness about white people having it harder than minorities was the giveaway.

> The opposite is also true: "Absent significant study, it is absolutely not > the place of someone who is a member of the racial minority to declare the > extent or impact of racism." Why not say simply it is not the place of > someone to declare the extent or impact of racism without study?

Being a minority can be a graduate level course on the extent and impact of racism. In America, most blacks and hispanics have had ample time to study up, sadly. And if you're from anywhere in the vicinity of the Middle East, god help you.

<comment><USER12> >> But the rest of silliness about white people having it harder than minorities was the giveaway.

I grew up poor, light skin (white?) part Scottish descent small part Native American Indian. I trained myself to get into the profession I love, buying my own books and writing code in several languages for a dozen years on the side while maintaining a full time job and family, before I started writing code for pay.

No one person in America deserves more than any one else based on the color of their skin.

<comment><USER13> Right, but you're light skinned. Imagine that, in addition to all the hardships you probably had to overcome, you also had to deal with systemic racism because you had dark skin.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I live in Birmingham AL and the existence of the black belt is common knowledge here. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Belt_(U.S._region)>

As a kid, I assumed it was called the black belt because of the black people, not knowing it's because the soil is black.

<comment><USER15> A neighboring town's motto was, "The blackest soil and the whitest people."

Despite people's assurances that "white" in this case simply means "good", I always had mixed feelings about it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I've been fascinated with geology ever since I realised that it is really history on an epic scale (living in Edinburgh also helps) - one book that really opened my eyes to the subject is Richard Fortey's _The Earth: An Intimate History_ :

[http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Intimate-History-Richard- Fortey/...](http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Intimate-History-Richard- Fortey/dp/0375706208)

<comment><USER17> There is a book that connects large-scale geology with the human-scale history by arguing how the former affects the later. It's <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel> "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond.

<comment><USER18> This is a great book. It's fascinating to consider how much of world history has been influenced by where wheat was first cultivated.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> This article is nothing more than blog spam. Yeah, it provides a link back to the original post, but that's about it. Even most of the images are lifted.

<comment><USER20> "blog spam" aka packaging and reporting a story from elsewhere, a basic part of journalism. People around here really try too hard to be indignant.

<comment><USER21> A part which made more sense in the days when you could only read your local newspaper, so you didn't have easy access to the original story.

When the original story is just a click away, a repackager only adds value if he/she expands on the original in some material way -- coming at the story from a different perspective, say, or adding facts or background information that were not present in the original.

This post does none of that. It's a straight-up rewrite of the original, with no new contributions to the story. It makes the same points and even uses the same illustrations as the original. It does cite the original and link to it, but there's nothing in the new piece that would make it a more authoritative version of the story than the old one.

I generally don't oppose people posting links to blogs, but in this case it really does seem like sending people straight to the original post would have been the classier thing to do.

<comment><USER22> > but in this case it really does seem like sending people straight to the > original post would have been the classier thing to do.

I think the poster has said it was an oversight; that the links to the original article were missed.

In this case it would have been nice to post to the original article, but as you say they're pretty similar.

I think it's much worse when some document is released, and then eight different tech blogs have a minimal but opinionated write up which each get posted to HN, and then people don't reply in the threads but on their own blogs, and then the tech blogs pick up each other's coverage.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> How is this Obama's 'secret weapon'? There is an electoral college, and he lost these states by a landslide.

</comment><comment><USER24> _The Republican Party (also called the GOP, for "Grand Old Party") is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery activists in 1854, it dominated politics nationally for most of the period from 1860 to 1932._

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_\(United_States\))

</comment><comment> brown9-2 I would like to see the red-blue county map compared with a map of how populous those counties are.

Focusing on just the geography of which counties are which color can be very misleading when some counties have a million residents and some have thousands. The focus on county as a unit makes it easy to mistake size of county, and the resulting size of each color, as indicative of the overall vote total.

</comment><comment><USER25> Wow, fascinating. I was about to stop reading when you said it's because of plankton... I'm glad I didn't!

</comment><comment><USER26> How exactly is this a "secret weapon"? Obama did not carry any of the states in this region except perhaps Florida (it's still being counted), which is not even among the states with these swatches of ancient plankton deposits.

Also, if you look at the map it's clear the blue patches are clustered around major highways and rivers, which is where the population centers will obviously be. As we've seen before, the Democratic / Republican divide is very strongly along the lines of urban vs. rural. There doesn't seem to be any mention in the article of how that factors into this. Obviously there is a bit of chicken & egg thing going on with population and highways, but you would think there could at least have been some discussion of this.

<comment><USER27> Plausible, but it turns out to be mistaken.

Look at this map of results in South Carolina:

[http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/President/2012/S...](http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/President/2012/SC)

County population is negatively correlated with voting for Obama.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Obama didn't win any of those states, so how is it a secret weapon?

</comment><comment><USER29> I find it pretty funny that it sounds like the author's implying black people will vote for Obama.

Then again, he did win somewhere from 90% to 98% of their vote [1], so the assumption is based in truth somewhere.

[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2229225/Presidential...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2229225/Presidential- election-2012-Record-number-Hispanic-voters-head-polls.html)

</comment><comment><USER30> Summary: a lot of black people voted for Obama, giving him the edge in certain states.

<comment><USER31> Actually, he didn't win any of the states discussed in the article.

He did however get a huge majority of the black vote which probably propelled him to win in the swing states of NC and OH.

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> Interesting how this got no attention when it was posted 9 days ago, and takes off this time: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4714274>

</comment><comment><USER33> This is more about slavery than plankton.

Fertile land does not equal Obama votes.

<comment><USER34> Fertile land in the south did definitely correlate with Obama votes, as the article made clear.

<comment><USER35> Yeah, just like slabs of thick bedrock in lower New York correlate with Obama votes, since it enabled large highrises to be constructed in a small, densely populated area. How far back are we willing to go to draw these correlations?

<comment><USER34> IT was more than a correlation. He traced the connection. What has bedrock to do with New York voters? I'd be interested to hear that story.

<comment><USER36> Exactly, it's a story at best. The article claims that Plankton -> Soil -> Slaves -> Black People don't move -> Obama support. The first 2 connections are obvious, but the second two do not necessarily connect in any rational way. It's like saying Bedrock -> Highrises -> ???? -> Obama. The first connection works, but the other two would be pure speculation at best.

<comment><USER34> You read it as more than a storey. Ok.

What's mysterious about people staying in the same place for generations? My people have been in Iowa since the Civil War too.

<comment><USER36> Well, it not only implies that black people don't move, but white people DO move. Either that or it assumes that the ratio of black to white was much greater than it likely was. It also assumes a lot of other things.

<comment><USER34> Was it Samuel Clemens that observer, what a harvest of speculation you get from a little statistics?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> _The problem with affirmative action is that it is based on race_

The problem with the need for affirmative action is that it was the outcrop of slavery,which was based on race.

</comment><comment><USER38> More supporters living in some areas doesn't change the number of supporters. So not sure how this is a secret weapon.

</comment><comment><USER39> Obama's secret weapon this Tuesday was Mitt Romney.

John Huntsman, had he have won the primaries, would have won the election.

</comment><comment><USER40> i don't know about this. this band basically traces the southern coastline. to me the simplest explanation is that coastlines (because they are richer) are largely white, so that inland populations in the south will be more black.

</comment><comment><USER41> Reminds me of "Connections" TV show.

</comment><comment><USER42> The butterfly effect in full effect!

</comment><comment><USER43> this is great!

</comment><comment><USER44> Pseudoscience

</comment><comment><USER45> I guess the conservatives get to reap what their racist, pro-slavery ancestors sowed.

<comment><USER46> Wasn't it the Republican party that ended slavery, and the Democratic party that supported it?

<comment><USER47> The Republican and Democratic parties have shifted their ideals greatly over a few centuries. The founders of the republican party would not recognize (and would likely be repulsed by) the platform and behavior of the modern Republican party. I'd wager the same is true for Democrats.

<comment><USER46> I wasn't making a serious point, just highlighting how fatuous the parent comment was.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER48> After an election there are so many stories like this explaining why certain voting patterns were pre-determined, or at least extremely likely.

Strangely, people don't write so certainly _before_ the election.

I'd be far more impressed with this type of story if it was published before the election.

<comment><USER49> October 10, 201212:49 PM

A month before the election.</comment></comment>


A set of dotfiles for i3 window manager users - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/dikiaap/dotfiles <comment><USER2> Looks nice. Could you put together an install script?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. Yes, will do. Maybe should wait a few days until stable.</comment></comment>


My experience with Minitest and RSpec - <AUTHOR> http://tenderlovemaking.com/2015/01/23/my-experience-with-minitest-and-rspec.html <comment><USER2> It sounds like he likes Minitest better for everything except that the output doesn't make it easy to run only the failing tests. Seems like that should be an easy patch if he just wants to be able to copy/paste like the Rspec output.

He's got a pros/cons for each, but the cons for Rspec seem like deal breakers: the DSL is weird and it's tough to tell what's going on. Minitest is just Ruby classes, plain and simple.

This is my own issue with Rspec (and apparently DHH's as well). Rspec's almost-english syntax has never appealed to me. I can never remember if it's `this.should eq(that)` or `this == that` or `expect(this).to be_that`...and those are only the variations I've seen in the last 24 hours. I'm a programmer—I can read code. `assert this` is all I need.</comment>


Cloud just got easier - <AUTHOR> https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-makes-cloud-contract-more-customer-friendly-rivals-224556349--finance.html <comment><USER2> I think the title should be updated to match the article:

"Amazon makes cloud contract more customer-friendly as rivals loom"

This isn't about making anything easier other than legal questions around Amazon's contracts.</comment>


Sherpa Travel API – Returns VISA requirements, vaccinations, travel advisories - <AUTHOR> https://documenter.getpostman.com/view/1143537/sherpa-api/6YsXxJt?ref=producthunt <comment><USER2> looks great! I'd definitely be looking forward to use your service as soon you accept applications from non US and Canadian citizens.</comment>


An introduction to Impedance - <AUTHOR> http://audiodomain.blogspot.com/2014/07/impedance.html

<comment><USER2> Good primer on an important electronic sub-topic.

Anyone doing audio or other sensor-handling circuitry should be well enough versed in this so that their designs come out just as well or better intuitively in at least this one respect than they do when the equations are carefully figured in advance.</comment>


Ask HN: Will Internet Explorer borwser ever get insignificant to world? - <AUTHOR>

As a web developer my life has turned into a misery when I need to write separate for for IE6 IE7 and IE8. The so called higher versions doesnt seem to be backward compatible.
Adherence to w3c standards is in disarray which makes it difficult to run firefox targeted code on IE.
To add to all these problems the IE developer toolbar sucks a big time (literaly). I can imagine the hours I have wasted figuring out where is the error in my javascript with IE.
PNG transparency is missing in IE6.
Despite of all these problems IE is said to rule the market. how ?
What does statistics suggest ? Will it ever get so insignificant that clients would stop demanding compatibility with IE?
Is that going to come in my lifetime? <comment><USER2> I have four seperate CSS files for our site - one for everyone and one each for IE6, IE7, and IE8. The IE6 file is huge compared to IE7 and IE8 so that's the one I care about. I save my graphics as GIFs so that I can avoid the IE6 PNG transparency issue but IE7 and IE8 render those fine.

So for me I care about "When will IE6 die?" I figure that I'll be able to completely get rid of it in about two years. Will IE ever go away? No - that's just silly. They have a 3/4 market share so why would MSFT want that to go away?

</comment><comment><USER3> Mozilla's Asa Dotzler recently posted an interesting bit about Internet Explorer's market share:

[http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/2009/06/mileston...](http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/2009/06/milestone_weeke.html)

IE will always be significant while Microsoft and Windows remain significant, but the news isn't all bad - IE7 is more standards-compliant than IE6 was, and IE8 is even more standards-compliant again, so it'll be much easier to make site designs that don't turn to crap in IE as time goes on. If Windows 7 gains any significant traction, putting IE8 onto people's desktops and removing the IE6 option, things will get better even faster.

Look on the bright side; things could be worse - you _could_ have to make pages work in IE 5.5 as well.</comment>


Ask HN: Which Linode Datacenter to choose? - <AUTHOR> When you sign up for Linode, you get to choose what datacenter your server is in.
Can anyone share their experience with the different datacenters? Other than 'choose a datacenter close to your users' can you offer advice on choosing the best datacenter? <comment><USER2> I'd go with the one closest to you. The datacentres are quite far apart geographically, we moved ours to the London datacentre shortly after it went online because the lag to the states while not being unusable was noticeable enough to be annoying.

</comment><comment><USER3> Unless you have your user-base or a another web service that you use geographically located nearby, this is a non-issue.</comment>


WebAssembly and SIMD - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/wasmer/webassembly-and-simd-13badb9bf1a8 <comment><USER2> Exciting news!

Question to @syrusakbary - When is wasmer support in Windows likely to reach beta status? Would mingw-64 be a better Windows target than Win32, for porting unix-y wasmer code, especially related to WASI?

Thank You

<comment><AUTHOR> I have good news! Wasmer has already reached beta status in Windows. WASI is already supported there as well (Emscripten still needs some love, but we are working on it)

With this release we also added support for the LLVM backend in Windows, so you can also run WebAssembly-SIMD programs in Windows!

Regarding mingw-64 being a better target than Win32 for porting unix-y programs into WebAssembly that's probably right since the POSIX gap is smaller.

<comment><USER2> That's great news! Thank you to the entire wasmer team for this awesome software.</comment></comment></comment>