America's Millennials Are Waking Up to a Grim Financial Future - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-21/america-s-millennials-are-waking-up-to-a-grim-financial-future <comment><USER3> Here's my grim reality I'm just waking up to now as a millennial.

Married with $100k in student loans between the two of us. Her first job out of college paid $30k with no benefits. No matter, I had the money making tech degree, we'd be fine. My first job out of college was $100k, so I didn't see a problem there.

Three year later I'm facing mounting healthcare costs incurred even with top notch gold plated tech insurance. Most of my salary the last 3 years went to my landlord and the government. The remainder went to student loans and medical costs, so I don't have much in the way of savings even after earning $300k. And somehow I still owe $100k in student loans.

And my $100k tech job didn't come with retirement benefits so I don't have any retirement savings yet. It did however come with a generous stock grant. But then again, the company folded and now I don't have a job or insurance.

And now I'm a full time caregiver for my wife, with no health insurance, trying to get a job, with $100k in non-dischargable debt, looking to get on welfare, but at the same time reading about how our government wants to take even that away.

So that's what I'm doing this weekend.

<comment><USER4> I'm sorry about your personal struggles, and hope things look up for you and your wife soon.

There is something that millennials together can do differently, though -- _vote_.

Millenial turnout is terribly low in the US. [https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2016/05/16/pew2ft_16.05.13_...](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2016/05/16/pew2ft_16.05.13_millennialvoters_turnout_custom-87c6d172f313bd060db92427b4f47e0dd2987783-s700-c85.png) (So, yes, one party has made it a mission to suppress turnout; yes, Election Day is a work day, which makes it harder for working people to vote; etc. -- we can change all that, but first we have to work in the system as it is today.) And that means that boomers and the wealthy have had a _much_ larger influence over society than young people. (The Piketty theory is that the West went through a few decades of stability after the 1970s and that made many people complacent, especially the young, allowing the wealthy and corporations to acquire power. Given the last two years, the time for complacency is ending.)

In particular, a better social safety net and a better education cost and education loan system would make for a fairer playing field for all. The only way you and I in America are going to get that is if we all vote - <USER2> young people.

And in your particular case, the biggest travesty is the non-dischargeability of educational debt. That's a hard problem - both universities and the loan companies are at fault for lobbying for and setting up this system. But we need to fix it.

Again sorry for your current situation and I hope it looks up soon.

<comment><USER5> > the biggest travesty is the non-dischargeability of educational debt

There's no doubt that non-dischargeable student can be really rough for a lot of people. I'm not in insurance or anything, but it seems like if we just implemented the simplest fix, i.e. let people declare bankrupcy to forgive student loans, the math might just not pencil out to make it feasible to grant any student loans.

For instance I couldn't take out an $80k loan to start a business with instead of getting a student loan, no bank would give it to me. So there's definitely something special about student loans and the way in which they're so easy to get without needing good credit or any collateral behind them.

And if they could be forgiven by declaring bankruptcy, what would stop lots of people from doing that right after they graduate? For a lot of young people (including myself at that age), your total cumulative assets are worth approximately nothing when you graduate. And it's not like you're gonna be able to buy a house within 7 years of graduating anyway so the hit to your credit score of a bankruptcy might not be that bad.

It really doesn't seem like there's a silver bullet solution to help people finance the massive cost of college easily. What's the best solution here? Is it possible to reduce the underlying cost structure of higher education enough to make a big enough difference?

<comment><USER6> > _What 's the best solution here?_

Let lenders vary interest rates by institution and major. Also, give lenders a choice: (a) loans dischargeable in court like any debt or (b) non- dischargeable loans where total payments in a calendar year are capped as a fraction of AGI.

This combination incentivises lenders to communicate employment and wage information from the labor market to students deciding where to go for school and what to study.

<comment><USER5> Pretty sure b. already exists, there are consolidation programs where you can get your monthly payment capped at a percentage of your salary. The downside is just like with paying the minimum due on a credit card, the interest can really screw you. In some cases the amount you can afford to pay may even be less than the interest.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> It seems like this came to a head around the time of the occupy wall street protests (is it 10 years ago now?). The public consciousness became aware of the way our political/financial systems were in a kind of symbiotic conspiracy to vacuum up productivity gains, there was huge pressure to do something about it despite the media's constant stream of 'nothing to see here'..... and then nothing happened. The popular culture of the west instead decended into this en masse flame war around gender, race, sexuality etc.

Seems like there was a huge opportunity that was foiled or just missed and this is possibly going to be the result of it.

<comment><USER8> > masse flame war around gender, race, sexuality etc.

I don't think its a flame war as much as a reckoning. Its like saying the Civil Rights movement was a flame war; that is how deep changes happen in a society and culture.

Specifically w.r.t the #MeToo movement, I think women demanding more compensation and better workplace environment ends up benefiting everyone (even if the movement's primary concern is with other things).

If there is one thing this horrible Presidency has accomplished, it is more political participation among Americans; a recognition of the importance of politics and of voting. That perhaps is the greatest opportunity in this generation.

<comment><USER9> The problem is that these issues are so emotional they completely sideline any discussion of economic well being or economic issues in general. As long as they dominate attention other issues just don't come up.

<comment><USER8> "issues" like disproportionate incarceration for minorities, sexual harassment for women, you mean? They may not be directly economic at first but building a society that is more just and equal is certainly the easiest path to increasing prosperity and well being.

<comment><USER9> I wish we could address both at once but recent history seems to suggest that we can't. I think the problem is with how these issues interact with other issues when projected down onto the demographics of the voting population.

The problem is that these issue cross-cut each other in almost exactly an X pattern. The majority of the working class is socially conservative, traditional, and religious, so any culture war issue tends to be a fault line that neatly divides the voting bloc that would otherwise care about economic equality.

I would like us to have racial and gender equality but unfortunately it might mean we get to all be equal and poor.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> >For some reason that period of tremendous growth barely helped millennials.

I don't think it's just us, though it probably disproportionately is. What wealth small and medium towns had has moved to cities, you just won't have a good job unless you move to the city.

Something about it all seems so sinister. Not everyone can be an engineer or a doctor. If society is to function people need to be able to live a reasonable life just being mildly productive.

<comment><USER11> > If society is to function people need to be able to live a reasonable life > just being mildly productive.

One of my criticisms of neoliberal economics/politics is it doesn't consider stable meaningful jobs that your can support a family on as a necessary output of the economic system.

<comment><USER12> Because it factors in the idea that people need to be incentivized to work. If people can free ride on something then they will.

I am definitely in that group. If i can have a decent living on social welfare programs then i definitely would not work. Working sucks. I just hate the idea of working or satisfying customer's needs because it represents a master/slave type relationship.

<comment><USER10> At least how we organize work today, it sucks tremendously hard. Someone might pretend he likes it, but no one likes waking up at 6am, commuting both ways, and effectively losing half his day doing something he might not enjoy. There's no real reason most work needs to be like that either besides the momentum of the status-quo.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I believe there are some solutions to help alleviate the situation.

Introduce land value tax.

In the countries using it, stop the mandatory Ponzi scheme retirement pyramid where young people are forced to pay a sizeable part of their paycheck while having no hope of receiving any in 30-40 years - that's straight up, time- delayed stealing.

Close the tax gaps used by corporations.

Provide free healthcare so people don't get ruined by medical emergencies.

Stop the student loan madness, provide free university education.

Restrict mortgage lending - it makes the property prices baloon in the long run and encourages housing bubbles.

Most importantly, start treating renewable energy and emissions seriously because we are destroying this planet with a speed with which we probably won't have to worry about economy after a few more generations.

Unfortunately, all of those would require enormous political changes and are impossible to implement.

<comment><USER6> > _all of those would require enormous political changes and are impossible to > implement_

Because our generation doesn't vote [1].

[1] [http://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2017/07/31/millennials-...](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2017/07/31/millennials-and-gen-xers-outvoted-boomers-and-older- generations-in-2016-election/)

<comment><USER14> They also are clustered in coastal cities and votes there are worth less than votes elsewhere for reasons.

I wonder how much of turnout downturn is just rational: If half my city didn't vote it wouldn't have made a lick of difference for the last national election. Probably wouldn't have mattered if the whole city didn't vote, because I live in coastal California.

<comment><USER6> > _votes there are worth less than votes elsewhere for reasons_

139 million Americans voted in 2016's general election [1]. Of that, 34 million were millennials, or 49% of millennial eligible voters [2].

69% of Boomers voted [2]. If a similar fraction of millennials voted, we'd have had 48 million votes [a]. That would bring our share of the vote to 31% [b], the same as boomers [c].

Geographic effects act on the margins. Bringing 14 million additional voters to the polls will change outcomes and change legislative priorities regardless of how they are distributed.

[1] [http://www.electproject.org/2016g](http://www.electproject.org/2016g)

[2] [http://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2017/07/31/millennials-...](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2017/07/31/millennials-and-gen-xers-outvoted-boomers-and-older- generations-in-2016-election/)

[a] _(34 x 10^6 / 0.49) _ 0.69*

[b] _(48 x 10^6 - 34 x 10^6) /(48 x 10^6 - 34 x 10^6 + 139 x 10^6)_

[c] _48.1 x 10^6 / (48 x 10^6 - 34 x 10^6 + 139 x 10^6)_

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> I feel like all of these "us vs them articles" (us = millennials, which I am one, and them = baby boomers, who are my parents age) are red herrings.

Do you _really_ believe that your mother/grandmother is the enemy here? My belief is that who you're _actually_ imagining when you read this article is some fat-cat corporate executive in a suit and tie who is old enough to reap the largess of Reagonomics. They _happen_ to be 60+, but in actuality, the distinguishing feature is that they're rich.

My dad is a retired firefighter and Vietnam vet, and my mom is a executive admin. These are two people who should not be blamed for the cards the youth have been dealt.

It's the Elite. The Controlling Class. Whatever you want to call it, they enacted policies some decades ago to benefit only them, and now they're reaping those rewards at a staggering pace. And they're quite happy that you have found someone else to blame besides them.

Even the "Top 1% vs Us 99%ers" is the same kind of thing. They're happy your anger is centered at plastic surgeons and defense attorneys. The _real_ wealth is in the 0.01%, the people who don't have to work (and haven't for generations) and want to keep it that way.

As long as you are blaming someone else, they're safe and happy to keep pulling the strings on society. But I'm not going to take a cop-out excuse of blaming the grandmother down the street who has been living in the same 1800 sq ft home she bought with her husband and 3 kids in the 70s and hasn't ever update the decor in her kitchen.

</comment><comment><USER16> Somewhat ironic that this is being posted on Hackernews, where if I had to guess the average salary for millennials here is 3X the national average.

Seems most of us here already found the answer: learn something about the fastest growing sector of the economy and participate in the future instead of lamenting the present.

If you're waiting for government action to create a better distribution of wealth in the only developed country where poor people actually vote _against_ a public safety net you're going to be disappointed.

It's just not going to happen politically in the US for decades so your only option is to play ball in the system as it is now and _vote_ in the meantime.

<comment><USER17> _> Seems most of us here already found the answer: learn something about the fastest growing sector of the economy and participate in the future instead of lamenting the present._

That's so callous. Would you say the same if computers had turned out a dud, a fringe curiosity nothing more? If the fastest growing sector of the economy had instead turned out to be MMA cage fighting? Or perhaps you're physically inclined; imagine whatever it is you would be vigourously annoyed doing. Cobra wrestling. No-chute skydiving with plane re-entry.

I really wonder about those parallel universes. About what the parallel you would have said, there, to the elite in their cobra wrestling ivory tower, lamenting those lazy plebs. They should just man up and start hitting the serpentine goldmine!

Or was it, like, a reverse psychology point, where precisely by explicitly pointing out the absurdity of the only solution, you realise just how untenable our current predicament is?

<comment><USER16> If the fastest growing sector of our economy was cobra wrestling, I would be telling everybody that the solution to their economic woes would be to _get involved in cobra wrestling._ It's not callous, it's pretty simple logic.

Complaining that you don't like how everything is changing into Cobra wrestling won't change the fact that it's happening.

Even if you're physically not suited to cobra wrestling, there would many many tertiary jobs and functions needed to support that growing sector you could enter. Cobra wrestling promoter. Cobra wrestling trainer. Cobra wrestling gym manager. Cobra wrestling photographer. Cobra wrestling filmographer. Cobra wrestling transport.

What would be your better solution for people? Try to get government to artificially support the no-longer needed computer workers so they can still pretend they make money from working on computers?

<comment><USER12> I completely agree with what you are saying. People like to live in this world thinking that only government can solve problems but the truth is most change has come from a few visionaries who decided it was time for change and worked diligently to make it happen.

You want free universal Healthcare? Build a system that does that.

Free university? Build it.

Solution to global warming? Solve it by inventing new technology.

Be the change you want to see in the world and dont let anyone tell you that you cant do it because history is filled with the tales of those who have done what was once thought of as impossible.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Indian Millennial here. Lived in the US(for work) for around 4 years and returned to India. So I know a little about what I'm talking about.

I am yet to understand why US millennials have all these troubles, or is it just perceived by them as such? Because frankly, comparatively speaking food is not expensive in the US. Even on minimum wage you can eat the best, healthy food there is. Infrastructure is just a whole country Disneyland. Opportunities are higher than all of human history including the present combined. Schooling is free. You can afford a good car for minimal monthly payments. You get pure drinking water, and more importantly unlike the third world countries, you get to breathe the purest air possible. Its not hard to exercise and maintain good health either.

Gaining any skill or knowledge has never been more easier, than it is today.

I understand if you had a unfortunate health complication beyond your control, or you are disabled at birth. But for healthy people, there isn't much you can complain about.

Sorry for sounding rude here. This sounds a lot more like decadence, than any real problem.

<comment><USER19> > Lived in the US(for work) for around 4 years and returned to India. So I > know a little about what I'm talking about.

The US is a huge country; living in it for 4 years for work — unless that work is, I dunno, leading a large cross-regional socioeconomic study — will leave you knowing pretty close to nothing about it related to the issues you discuss.

> I am yet to understand why US millennials have all these troubles

Because radical shifts in US tax policy over the past several decades have changed the arc of financial prospects for the non-elite much faster than cultural expectations have adapted.

> Even on minimum wage you can eat the best, healthy food there is

No, you can't. On minimum wage you can't even afford minimal (as in, not so substandard as to be condemned and illegal for habitation) shelter in much of the country, much less shelter + "the best, healthy" unprepared food + food storage and prep equipment, or shelter + "the best, healthy" prepared food.

> Infrastructure is just a whole country Disneyland.

It's really not, you need to see more of the country if you think it is. (Unless by "Disneyland" you mean "glitzy facade that's hollow underneath", which is closer to true, but even there much of the country lacks even the facade.)

> Opportunities are higher than all of human history including the present > combined.

That's not even abstractly possible, much less true.

> Schooling is free.

But often absymally bad.

> You can afford a good car for minimal monthly payments.

Median used car price in the US is just under $20,000; median auto loan interest is 4.20% (for used cars probably higher, because the most credit- worthy people are more likely to buy new cars.) On a 60 month loan with zero down, that's 50+ hours at federal minimum wage to make the monthly payment.

> You get pure drinking water,

No, you don't, in many cases, though _awareness_ of this (except for Flint, MI, which is not unique in its toxic lead levels though perhaps unique in the manner by which that occurred) is poor.

<comment><USER18> I understand where you are coming from. I lived in Bay Area, CA. Chances are I saw the best parts of the US. And yes I travelled mostly to Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey where the top knowledge work people live.

My point is US citizens are still well off than all of humanity together(Though I give it to you, certain parts of Europe are equal if not better). Rice, Lentils, Meat and Vegetables are not expensive in the US. Learning to cook today is getting a smart phone, and a having an internet connection. Running doesn't take much money to do. So you can eat healthy and live healthy. Education is bad in some places and yet way better than what you get in other countries.

Learning how to save or personal finance is basically knowing basic arithmetic.

And yes, a nation wide freeway system is great transit infrastructure. Nissan Versa is cheap. And learning anything today is the cost of internet bandwidth.

And US is still largely a very free country. Where there are tons of opportunities for anyone who wants to show up and try.

Most of what I'm writing is bootstrap level resources you need to start, And these are not hard to do with wages delivering Pizzas at dominoes.

It largely feels like Millennials in US need some reality check. If you can't succeed in a country as awesome as the US. Chances are you won't survive weeks in other countries.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> It's surprising the article leaves out medical expenses. There's this one mention:

 _The same 2017 survey found 27 percent skipping medical treatments because they can't afford them._

In the end, I suspect that medical costs driven to astronomical levels by retirees is what will do the most financial damage to millennials.

<comment><USER21> Medical costs in the US are driven by the only healthcare system in the first- world that puts profit at the center instead of people.

<comment><USER22> I'm sure the largest generation in retirement entering late-life doesn't help with the situation.

Provides ripe opportunity for jacking up health care costs on age 50+ ailments/treatments.

<comment><USER21> It doesn't but other nations such as Japan have a much older shifted demographic and their costs are much better managed. All other first world nations have better cost and overall performance outcomes in their healthcare than the US.

None of them allow private companies to dictate drug and procedure prices.

The US dedicates 50% more of it's GDP to healthcare than Japan does, despite having more favorable demographics for need of services by age. (see fig 2 [1])

[1] [https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Country-Note- JAPAN-O...](https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Country-Note-JAPAN-OECD- Health-Statistics-2015.pdf)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Just waking up to it? I'm an older millennial 33 and I've been awake for a long time.

My friends who didn't get PTSD in the war spent the first 8 years of our career in a recession so when the market grew had no money in the market to capitalize on that. And even as a healthy person with good health care and six figures in my bank I worry I can get wiped out by a medical emergency.

I think it's more like: other people are finally realizing what millennials have been living with their entire adult life so far.

</comment><comment><USER24> Here is the thing central banks are printing exponential debt money from nothing. Most people from youth generations cannot afford to buy affordable houses priced with that debt.. You could even say younger people are exponential debt slaves working for the old and rich. Having kids myself I do not feel this system is fair.

<comment><USER25> >central banks are printing exponential debt money from nothing

Source? Didn't QE end a while ago?

<comment><USER26> OP said "central banks", as in plural. The ECB, BOJ, and SNB are doing a bang- up job to inflate global asset prices. As for the Fed, their balance sheet unwind rate has been a mere rounding error thus far.

<comment><USER11> I saw a chart that broke out the rise in various prices over the last ten years as the banks injected vast amounts of capital. Things like stocks and real estate went up 150-250%. Things that make up 'core inflation' went up 17%.

As someone in my 50's I've come to look at my remaining working years as an asset. The central banks did a bang up job of devaluing that.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> I don't know how to thank this private company who just grant me a loan, I never believe it was real till i got my loan credited into my account and i promise them i will tell the whole world their benevolent and kindness towards their company, they are still 100% ready to give more loan to serious and needy people, contact them via email for more info firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER28> Single-paycheck family here. We've got the first of 3 kids in college now, 2 and 3 are not far behind.

We hammer on scholarship preparation, hard. Our college boy works paid internships each summer. The kids are all in band, good for small scholarships at little effort.

We are fine so far. Good luck to others on this path. Avoid the debt, it can be one.

</comment><comment><USER29> I wonder if this is just the inevitable trend that all great societies move towards--adding social safety nets programs to lessen the impact that "luck" and "timing" having with individual success.

<comment><USER30> My impression is that they move toward chaos. Rome used "bread and circuses" to keep the people occupied. Meanwhile power concentrated into the emperor.

There's probably no exact trend. But that golden eras are easier to identify.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Ha, ironic they chose a picture with an avocado in it.

Seriously, the current age feels like the mid 80s. If that holds true, the millenials will be fine.

</comment><comment><USER31> It's a messed up world for a young adult, but it's also full of more _accessible_ potential than ever.

If people would stop and make an honest assessment of their situation, why they're not where they want to be, commit to grinding until they get there, and actually DO IT...things would be better.

Unfortunately it's become fashionable to point fingers, assign blame, and make a ruckus about being 'oppressed'. That may get you more Twitter followers, but it won't lead to economic betterment.

<comment><USER32> As a millennial, this is why my generation is pathetic.

I'm not sure where I read this, but a quote that really resonates with me as a millennial who went out and found / fought for nearly all their opportunities "I love being a millennial, because it's so easy to be better than most of my generation".

<comment><USER33> I'd invite that person to consider how much of her/his success is due to luck and I'd draw parallels with the peasant who working twice as much and providing more grain is allowed a bit more privilege.

I'm all for meritocracy. But only if the game is fair.

<comment><USER34> It's more than a bit hyperbolic to compare our current economic setup with that of medieval serfdom. The difference in economic mobility is extreme.

Yes, we have some issues we need to sort out - NIMBYs and zoning laws tamping down on new housing supply in cities, and a broken healthcare market are the largest ones. But it's dangerous to forget that the system we have is overall overwhelmingly better for most people than what came before the 1900s, let alone before the 1400s.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> This assumes basic income won't become law

<comment><USER36> I can't imagine a more grim scenario than whole populations being entirely reliant on government money.

I'm not decided on where I sit on basic income yet, on the one hand, it might become a necessity as jobs vanish, but on the other hand, it consolidates a lot of power into a benevolent state, one which has not shown it's ability to stay benevolent.

<comment><USER37> I would love to have enough money for basic living necessities (healthy food, rent, utilities, clothing, healthcare) provided by the government. I'd never work again.

<comment><USER38> That's a very honest answer and is also one that argues against such a system. I also wonder if you feel the same way about a true BI of maybe $10K per year plus the equivalent of Medicaid (very limited doctor network) in the US.

<comment><USER37> At $10k/year I would move somewhere cheap in the midwest and use my savings to buy a home with cash. I require expensive prescriptions to live and if those were covered I'd be fine. If not, I'd stay put, continue to work for decent insurance, and just bank the $10k/year.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER39> At some point is the media going to realize that most millenials are adults, and have been for a while?

<comment><USER40> While many articles erroneously refer to 12 year olds as millennials, I don't think this article falls into the trap. They clearly define the age ranges they are bucketing into millennial at the outset and continue the analysis from there.

</comment></comment><comment><USER41> I would argue that the wealth gap is symptomatic of a degeneration of culture and education in this country. I am in my late 20s, and even when I was graduating it was apparent that most students in my cohort simply were not leaving school with the skills to function as adults, let alone be productive members of society.

Same in college, 18-21 year old children. And now these same children look desperately for others to blame, while in reality we have a growing proportion of incompetent workers performing increasingly meaningless tasks, walled away behind miles of red tape and a Goliath of bureaucracy.

American popular culture places little value on education and self- improvement. The windfall that was WWII is dwindling, while other nations take steps to optimize the very parts of their labor pipeline that we in the U.S. neglect.

Millennials are waking up to a decline that they are ill-equipped to reverse. Twitter, Facebook, et al. are only hastening the degradation of western culture, accelerating an existing, emergent glamorization of shallow materialism over knowledgeability and competence.

<comment><USER30> The government could fully employ people in digging holes in the ground and filling them, alternately. But that'd be too shallow, so the machinations of government employ the many.

The free market is built on ends - singular goods and services. But the living world is not. What dies or is consumed today feeds the survivors for tomorrow. A sparrow could never be reimbursed by a hawk for its life. But eventually the hawks raw materials rejoin the worlds supply and plays its part in supplying for more life. Life on earth takes energy from the sun or earth, ultimately - that's the "end" that fuels all life. Humanity does itself the greatest disservice in defining goods and services as ends in themselves. Humanity ought to "close the loop" - find a way to survive and thrive through redefining how humanity works such that it obeys that the only end that the earth actually receives is energy from the sun or earth.</comment></comment>


Microsoft is becoming cool again - <AUTHOR> http://ericsink.com/entries/microsoft_loves_developers.html

<comment><USER2> "again"?

<comment><USER3> Exactly my question. And not from the perspective of an MS hater.

Is there anyone here that ever considered them "cool" from the outside, or knew anyone who thought that? I suppose it could have been cool to work inside, before the antitrust case and before downloading linux was communism and before Balmer, and before they became a hypercorp.

But, cool from the outside? I must have missed that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> No it isn't.</comment>


Flipkart's Flyte Mp3 Store shutting down - <AUTHOR> http://i.imgur.com/KIBCvwW.png

<comment><USER2> They have not specified any reason for closing Flyte though.

[Edit] Found post on NextBigWhat where they have explained it.

        "We have realized that the music downloads business in India will not reach scale unless several problem areas such as music piracy and easy micro-payments etc are solved in great depth. Which is why, we feel that at present, it makes sense to take a step back from Flyte MP3s and revisit the digital music market opportunity at a later stage."</comment>


A game-changing fill for the LHC - <AUTHOR> http://user.web.cern.ch/user/news/2010/100924.html <comment><USER2> "Inverse nanobarns"? WTF? I've never heard of the unit "barn", but a nanobarn just sounds like its about to spew out nanounicorns followed by nanoblackholes.

But its cool to see their progress and how they're slowly ramping up the power and beams to split instead of just going full throttle all at once.

<comment><USER3> The "barn" unit is quite useful in everyday life. For instance a barn megaparsec is a convenient measure of volume of powdered sugar, since 1 barn megaparsec of powdered sugar has 10 calories.</comment></comment>


Behind the Virus Report That Jarred the U.S. and the U.K. To Action - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/world/europe/coronavirus-imperial-college-johnson.html <comment><USER2> Here is the link to the report itself - [https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial- college/medicine/s...](https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial- college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI- modelling-16-03-2020.pdf)

[https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease- ana...](https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/news --wuhan-coronavirus/)

The report is published on March 16th. However, US and UK government started taking action on the first week of March, so I am not sure how the story says this report led "U.S" and "U.K" to take action.

</comment><comment><USER3> Sanction and fine the Chinese communist party and their officers for the catastrophe they inflicted on the world. Never again.

<comment><USER4> That's nonsense and borderline racism. This comment is the proof that Corona is our generation's Gravilo Princip. The most likely first order consequence is a lot of dead people but it's the second and third order consequences that scare me the most. You can already smell the thirst for blood and the need for escape goats.

<comment><USER3> Communism is not a race and Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China are responsible and should be held accountable.

<comment><USER5> Lots of people are responsible -- SARS should have been a wake-up call for everyone -- but yes, the CCP shares a large portion of the responsibility.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Orwell - <AUTHOR> http://store.steampowered.com/app/491950/ <comment><AUTHOR> Literally ran in to this by chance. Despite only taking four hours, it was literally the best game I have ever played, period. It should be compulsory annual gaming for all technology industry workers!</comment>


ITC Rules HTC Android Smartphones Violate Apple Patents - <AUTHOR> http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/itc_rules_htc_android_smartphones_violate_apple_patents/ <comment><USER2> Though it is too early for Apple to claim victory, it is a first step forward against Android

HTC is already paying Microsoft for patent licensing, if it has to pay Apple as well then margins would be hit badly</comment>


Ask HN: For a first-time Apple owner, what development tools do you recommend? - <AUTHOR>

I'm buying a new 15" MBP w/Retina on Friday and I'm very foreign to the Apple software ecosystem. I'm planning on using Vim/Sublime Text 2 for my editors unless someone has a contender in mind. <comment><USER2> Sublime 2 and vim are great choices, I use them myself.

I started developing on linux, and it's really carried over to my mac, so I use the Terminal command line frequently and never really use xcode.

I strongly recommend homebrew [1], it's great for installing stuff, and I've never had a problem with it.

Another neat tool is Dash [2], which is a documentation searcher/viewer. If you like that kind of thing, it's great.

One thing I bought which was really useful was Witch [3], which brings back a more traditional alt-tab (command-tab) menu, where you can switch between windows instead of applications. It also lets you quit selected applications from the command-tab menu, among other things. Worth getting.

Another little app I sometimes use it Go2Shell [4] to open a terminal window in the current directory from finder. And you can use the built in `open` command to do the reverse. `open` is quite useful, so you can use whatever default application to open a file from the command line.

Another neat tool is `pmset noidle` (power manager set no idle), which stops your computer from sleeping or dimming the screen. Saves you from this situation (<http://xkcd.com/196/>)

[1]: <http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/>

[2]: <http://kapeli.com/dash/>

[3]: <http://manytricks.com/witch/>

[4]: <http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/go2shell/id445770608?mt=12>

<comment><USER3> To do the same thing as 'pmset noidle', I install Caffiene, free from the Mac App Store.

<comment><USER2> Hey, in Mountain Lion, they added a caffeinate command to do the same thing from the command line, but with timers and stuff. [http://apple.blogoverflow.com/2012/07/interesting-new- unix-c...](http://apple.blogoverflow.com/2012/07/interesting-new-unix- commandsbinaries-in-os-x-mountain-lion/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> It would have been more helpful if you said what kind of development you were trying to do. I'll assume you are talking about web development... Others have mentioned good editors and the such. For FTP I would say Forklift over Transmit, but most of those tools are just preference. Find one that you like.

However, the ABSOLUTE BEST DEVELOPMENT TOOL for OS X has to be Sequel Pro [1]. I have not found a single other program like it on any operating system. I'm serious, I use a Mac at work solely for Sequel Pro, and my Linux box for everything else. If you are doing a lot of MySQL administration it is an invaluable tool. It gives you an extremely powerful GUI along with direct console access. Better yet its free!

[1]: <http://www.sequelpro.com/>

On a side note, if anybody knows of anything even close to as good as Sequel Pro for Linux, I will literally send you 1 Bitcoin right now. EDIT: Don't say Workbench or Emma, because I've used them and they don't come close.

<comment><AUTHOR> I do a lot of web development (student job) but also general programming (CS major). Definitely going to check this out, thanks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I've been doing ruby on rails development building a web app for 3 months now and use the below which weren't too hard to pickup and assist noobs like us.

iTerm2 terminal replacement <http://www.iterm2.com/#/section/home>

SublimeText editor <http://www.sublimetext.com/>

Solarized themes (terminal defaults burn your eyes out) <http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized>

Keyboard-based window moving/resizing tool <http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/>

If you're planning on doing Ruby on Rails web dev then get this 1-click installer to simplify setup: <http://railsinstaller.org/>

<comment><USER6> > If you're planning on doing Ruby on Rails web dev then get this 1-click > installer to simplify setup: <http://railsinstaller.org/>

Also, YMMV, but you might want to look at Ruby version managers such as rvm [1] or rbenv [2]

[1]: <https://rvm.io/>

[2]: <http://rbenv.org/>

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> 1\. Xcode: you'll need this to compile open source software on your Mac 2\. Homebrew - Awesome Mac package manager: <https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew> 3\. iTerm2 - Replacement for Mac terminal: <http://www.iterm2.com/#/section/home> 4\. zsh - replacement for bash shell 5\. oh my zsh!: config scripts for Zsh: <https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh> 6\. MacVim (brew install MacVim) 7\. QuickSilver (Mac app launcher): <http://qsapp.com/index.php> 8\. Git (brew install git)

<comment><USER2> What does iterm2 have to offer over the built in terminal?

Also, more line-breaks would be nice...

<comment><USER8> For starters, iTerm 2 has great profile/color management, split panes (horizontal or vertical) within the same window, and not-so-broken ANSI coloring.

<comment><USER2> Terminal has profile/colour management, and screen does any pane splitting for me, and what's wrong with and ANSI colouring?

<comment><USER8> I found colors in Terminal to be lacking, and heard great things about iTerm 2. Sounds like you have your setup exactly as you want it, though.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Are you a web developer or otherwise? If you're a web developer, I recommend (in addition to Sublime Text 2 and other apps mentioned by other people here) Sequel Pro if you work with MySQL; TextWrangler/BBEdit for searching and editing text files; PHPStorm (Or Eclipse) for a good IDE with debugging capabilities; Keepass for password management; and 'On the job' for time tracking/invoicing.

<comment><AUTHOR> I do a lot of web development so thank you!

<comment><USER9> Also I love TotalTerminal and TotalFinder for a quick keyboard stroke away from tabbed terminal and finder visors.

</comment></comment></comment><comment> one-two Textmate, Transmit, and Navicat ALL DAY

</comment><comment><USER10> In terms of utilities. Would recommend:

1) iStat Menus

2) Menu Meters

3) Hazel

4) Going to System Preferences -> Languages & Text -> Input Sources and checking the "Keyboard and Character View" in the list and the "Show input menu in menu bar" checkbox. This will give you quick access to the Unicode characters.

5) In the /System/Library/CoreServices folder is some 'hidden' system apps e.g. Wi-Fi Diagnostics.

6) Growl and Hiss for Notifications.

<comment><USER11> 4) In most programs you can reach the Characters View via [alt][cmd][t]. Avoids clutter in the menu bar.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I use Coda quite a bit on Mac and iPad.

It is handy if you do a lot of editing config files/HTML on remote servers. And the Git integration albeit clunky is handy to have.</comment>


Teaching Robots to Learn and Do Things via Deep Neural Networks - <AUTHOR> https://www.hindawi.com/journals/complexity/2017/1895897/ <comment><USER2> Skynet IRL?</comment>


Amazing robotic dustpan for greasy material - <AUTHOR> http://furukawakiko.com/tech/page285.html

<comment><USER2> Even more impressive when the sauce was smeared everywhere.

Apparently this will be used for handling dough in industrial bakeries.

<comment><USER3> Yeah, that part (at 1:40) was when I started getting interested.

Mind, it at least looked like it was leaving residue.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I wonder if it only works on that particular surface (whatever it is made of).

I say this mainly because it looks similar to the material that the 'dustpan' tray/conveyor is made from.</comment>


Anti-surveillance dogma is costing lives - <AUTHOR> There is video of the SL bomber who attacked the church. The ringleader of the attacks was an extremist known to SL intelligence.
In SV you pat yourselves on the back at your virtue when you block your employers from supplying surveillance technology, or undermine and refuse to work on projects that do.
What if you were as proactive as spreading security technology as you are at spreading your supposed values? What if SL already had face-recognition surveillance cameras and a system that linked targets to intelligence about threats and notified in real time of their movements?
Is it not conceivable that these attackers and their extremist links could not have been so spotted on their way that morning? And stopped?
When you talk about surveillance as an enabler of evil, are you quite sure you have your values straight? Or could it be you who has things backwards and, with your certainty of your virtue, costing lives by delaying and denying the spread of useful security technology?
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/04/25/sri-lankan-islamist-group-claims-bombing-mastermind-expelled-for-preaching-hate/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa-udwGUkp8 <comment><USER2> > There is video of the SL bomber who attacked the church. The ringleader of > the attacks was an extremist known to SL intelligence.

You said it yourself. For such cases, law enforcement could easily get warrants from judges. Most judges rubber-stamp most warrants anyway. You'll also find that in the vast majority of recent terrorist attacks, the people doing them were not only "known to intelligence agencies", but had previously been arrested, etc.

The issue many here have is with _mass surveillance_ , which by definition means _surveillance of innocents_. Not only does this produce a very high "noise to signal" ratio (one of the reasons why the NSA is giving up on the phone records surveillance program now), making it _more_ difficult for them to catch the _actual bad guys_ , but it also sets up a system in which those having that power can easily abuse it.

<comment><AUTHOR> high noise to signal seems easy problem for tech to solve.

you seem to say what I'm proposing wouldn't have helped. I think you don't care to see how it can.

these systems already work in places where people's values aren't backward.

you talk about abuse of power, but don't you think you're abusing the power you have by preventing these systems spreading.

I'm beginning to see that silicon valley is fine with surveillance as long as they hold the control themselves. when it comes to building systems for government, for all the countries, they lose their minds. I think because they are afraid they will lose control. when they build those information and control systems for themselves and to impose their values they're cool with that.

and they're cool with that even when it costs lives.

about morality? is just them hiding.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -Benjamin Franklin

<comment><AUTHOR> well he was saying that as representative of the new government that couldn't afford to safe guard its citizens yet.

but use a quote to end thinking always a good way to avoid dogma.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Why do people cite breitbart like it's an actual source of trustworthy information

<comment><AUTHOR> confirmation bias in action.</comment></comment>


What Is Hyperledger? - <AUTHOR> https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-hyperledger/ <comment><USER2> Here's a good comment that I found on Reddit, contrasting Ethereum and Hyperledger:

\---

Hyperledger isn't a specific technology. It's a Linux Foundation banner project for multiple blockchain and DLT technologies, each of which have different characteristics:

See [https://www.hyperledger.org/projects](https://www.hyperledger.org/projects)

The common theme to them all is that they are permissioned, and none involve cryptocurrencies.

Monax's Burrow project (formerly ErisDB) was recently accepted, which is a permissioned EVM (Ethereum virtual machine) node implementation. So now the other Hyperledger projects have the option of integrating an Ethereum virtual machine into their codebases too.

[https://github.com/hyperledger/burrow](https://github.com/hyperledger/burrow)

Fabric is the dominant project within HL. It was developed as OpenChain by IBM and contributed to Hyperledger at inception, and has been working towards a 1.0 release which is imminent. It is the basis of the IBM Blockchain commercial offering, and is getting a lot of traction in Enterprise settings.

[https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/](https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/)

The primary aim of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) is to build an extension/variant of the public Ethereum specification to cover the additional use-cases which Enterprises need to get into production - along the themes of scalability (usually just pluggable consensus), privacy and confidentiality and permissioning. JPM Quorum is an example of an Ethereum fork seeking to meet those needs:

[https://github.com/jpmorganchase/quorum](https://github.com/jpmorganchase/quorum)

Many of us see all of the public/consortium/private use-cases as being something which will likely converge over the next few years. Sufficiently modular codebases should be able to handle them all, with dynamic composition of components. We are working towards the creation of an extended Ethereum meeting all those needs.

\---

<comment><USER3> It would be funny if someone creates a cryptocurrency by forking Sawtooth or Fabric.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> This article might be a wake up call for anyone that still doubts the utility of such projects, and the amount of research that goes into them.</comment>


The secret of Groupon's success is … good writing & Email?  - <AUTHOR> http://venturebeat.com/2010/09/15/demo-the-secret-of-groupons-success-is-good-writing/ <comment><USER2> Aggressively targeting women who have money and enjoy spending money instead of young men who don't have money and enjoy stealing the product isn't hurting their financial performance, either.

<comment><USER3> Except when my girl uses it to try and get a discount on some health session things locally and no coupon ever materialises and the money is seemingly impossible to get a refund on.

You cannot imagine the bad press she's telling all of her friends. There's not much I can imagine being more powerful than one of the key people in a little social group starting with "You wouldn't believe how bad this company is, I think it's just a scam.".

Anecdotal it clearly is, but once you have the opportunity to sell the same time and energy that is put into copy should be put into customer service. Especially when your company can be affected by third parties not pulling their weight.

<comment><USER4> Doesn't Groupon have a no-questions-asked refund policy?

<comment><USER3> It does... but she seems unable to gain access to her account. She's getting email updates, but can't login. Password reminder emails aren't coming through so she can't reset. It just says her email isn't recognised even though she made a purchase. She's only got the one email so it's not like she's confused about which email she used.

She's emailed Groupon a few times and tried to contact the supplier of the classes she purchased... no response from either. So she's now just venting at anyone who will listen, which is me a lot of the time but more effectively her friends.

<comment><USER3> I've just had her login using Facebook Connect to see if that was what she had done originally, but apparently not.

I'm just encouraging her to give the bank a call and do a chargeback.

She clearly was charged, clearly hasn't received any coupon or class, hasn't received responses to customer services, cannot login and is being treated like her account doesn't exist. A chargeback seems to be the only option.

Though now I've tried to talk her through all possible scenarios I totally get why she's really pissed at Groupon.

<comment><USER5> Try giving them a call maybe?

From their contact page: <http://www.groupon.com/contact-us>

Having trouble using Groupon? Email Groupon at email@example.com or call 1 (877) 788-7858 (during normal business hours, central time)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Consistent, short, engaging; writing and video are the most undervalued part of any consumer facing company. Good copy reinforces a "brand personality" which leads to a feeling of connection.

Whenever I consult I always tell companies, a company cant and never will be considered a "friend" by any consumer. A company wont help you move places, go drinknig with you, or give you personal advice. The goal companies should aim for is to make a company/brand feel like a "familiar acquaintance." If people feel a companies brand personality is consistent and they are comfortable with the company existing some place in the web of their life to be called upon in a limited number of scenarios they are doing the most you can do.

See: Virgin, GroupOn, Google

</comment><comment><USER7> The BIGGEST secret to groupon's success is....being able to convince store owners to give REAL, REAL good coupons!

That is the OVERWHELMING value of groupon--which is why I question their longterm strategy. Store owners will at some point figure out that they can give the same type of super-awesome coupon online and get similar value as groupon provides only in this case they don't need to give 50-60% of the revenue to groupon.

Groupon is basically made possible due to the spread of crappy coupons in the past decade. When coupons originated, _all_ coupons rocked. I remember as a kid in India, when a coupon appeared in a paper, it was rare and the paper would _sell out_. Literally sell out! All because it had a coupon. And by definition, a coupon meant _real_ savings--not 10 cents off your dinner.

</comment><comment><USER8> Groupon's editorial manual describes in detail their approach to copywriting: <https://docs.google.com/View?id=dmv9rbh_11gtqx983t>

I just started working on a groupon clone. Dev site: dealhill.com. If you're working on one too, feel free to email me. It would be cool to share knowledge and discuss strategy.

<comment><USER9> Upvoted for the link to the manual, not for the copycat site. ;)

<comment><USER8> Ignored for explaining your vote, not for the cheap attack. ;)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> David Ogilvy's book, Confessions of an Ad Man; makes this point even more clearly: Good copy can lead to successful businesses.

<comment><USER11> Yap. Especially in the case of Groupon, many of their articles read like poetry--very daring imagery and voice. They are doing as much service to the people who subscribe to their emails as to the brands who have the honor to get the Groupon face-lift.

It is a very refreshing model compared to most other startups where as far as I can see, paid no attention to copywriting.

<comment><USER12> Woot would be another example of a startup with great copy. I buy something like 0.5-1% of all Woots that I see - but I keep checking them because at least 20% of the descriptions make me "lol".

<comment><USER11> Yeah, and another one I like (that's probably not new by now) is ThinkGeek. The beauty of this is probably how drastically different they all are :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> In my limited experience with the site, Groupon appears to use fake images of discounts coupled with the region's name in their web ads and web site in order to entice new users, not letting the users know that no discounts for the advertised area actually exist until after they sign up. If this is an old practice, this may factor into their "secret of success", as well.

<comment><USER12> It's the "AdultFriendFinder" advertising model!

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> "Groupon's approach was shaped by its constraints..." It's all about the constraints. "Constraints shape and focus problems, and provide clear challenges to overcome as well as inspiration. Creativity, in fact, thrives best when constrained" Points for whoever can name the author of the quote.

<comment><USER15> uh the Lady...but I think there are historic layers behind this quote

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I buy a couple Groupons per month, but I've never read their emails entirely. The secret to their success with me is cheap prices for fun activities that I would have otherwise never done.

</comment><comment><USER17> I receive and usually read the Groupon emails even though I'm yet to actually buy anything, but I think that the emails are significant because they make it easy to share Groupon deals with friends. As I said I haven't actually bought anything but fairly often people ask me if I know about "that coupon thing" many of these conversations end with me forwarding a deal email or two, or just adding their email address to Groupon's mailing list (with their permission of course).

</comment><comment><USER18> I know that laws of suppply/demands are at play here but it is strange that Groupon would attribute their success to good copy yet pay writers only a merger salary of $35k.

source: [http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0830/entrepreneurs- groupon...](http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0830/entrepreneurs-groupon- facebook-twitter-next-web-phenom_2.html)

</comment><comment><USER19> I heard a rumor that, internally, they think the secret to their success is their referral program.

</comment><comment><USER20> Nobody likes a grammar Nazi, but second paragraph, last sentence. Perhaps they should have learned from Groupon? :)

</comment><comment><USER21> their success is probably more because business owners are willing to provide a massive discount to get the Groupon exposure, $120 million funding and an enormous subscription base.

their copywriting is quite lame.

<comment><USER22> I don't think you know much about copywriting if you say that.

I've studied their landing pages and emails. Groupon has fantastic clear,benefit-driven copy and landing page design, and they split test everything fanatically.

That's the real secret to their success- constant iteration and improvement. They're one of the few American companies to truly master kaizen, and the results are easy to see.

<comment><USER23> "Groupon has fantastic clear , benefit-driven copy and landing page design , and they split test everything fanatically ."

Care to provide us with references or examples?</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Why Do Bitcoin Startups Need Funds In "Real Money"? - <AUTHOR>

If Bitcoin is the "future of money", then, I owuld expect them to start, operate and being a profitable corporate based upon Bitcoins only.<p>To me this is a bit like those "SaaS" products out there which require desktop installation... <comment><USER2> In the case of Coinbase, they moved $15 million in Bitcoin with a fee of 1%, that's only $150k. They need more than that to pay salaries and operating expenses. You can grow much quicker with an investment instead of being held down by how much profit you have.

</comment><comment><USER3> Isn't that like asking why Visa would use checks in the early days of its existence?</comment>


Results of Mozilla's SOPA blackout - <AUTHOR> http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2012/01/19/firefox-users-engage-congress-sopa-strike-stats/ <comment><USER2> So according to this, ~1 million emails were sent to various members of congress in opposition to SOPA/PIPA, various congressmen who were major supporters of the legislation are backing down off of it and no longer support it, nearly every major website went dark in opposition to it, it's made major news, and on and on and on....why is this still being discussed?

It's clear that Congress no longer represents it's constituents, but instead represents it's campaign funders. It's like Congress has just decided to finally end the farce and declare "we're bought and sold!"

</comment><comment> Tim-Boss 30,000,000 hits 360,000 resulting emails

= 1.2% conversion, if my sleep deprived brain is still working!

Was anyone expecting more?

<comment><USER3> That math misses some details. There were 30MM hits to about:home, which didn't have an email form. It just had a link to <http://mozilla.org/sopa>, which got about 2MM hits.

The SOPA page has a big link to the EFF. The EFF site has a tiny box where you can put your zip in to send an email.

So, with all those steps, 1.2% isn't bad. The point of Mozilla's efforts wasn't to just send mail. We were trying to educate people. And 30MM people read about SOPA.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I had a person call me who thought the _entire_ Internet was participating in the protest because of Mozilla blacking out his start page.

I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't true.</comment>


Hallway Testing in the Cafeteria - <AUTHOR> http://www.patent-blaster.com/hallway_testing_in_the_cafeteria/

<comment><USER2> Pretty good way to do your initial user testing.</comment>


Mapping and Visualization - <AUTHOR> https://scottreinhard.com/Mapping-and-Visualization <comment><AUTHOR> A lot of the data comes from NYC open data, and the results are gorgeous (especially the hydrology)

See previously: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18837481](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18837481)</comment>


What It Takes to Be in the 1% Around the World - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-07/how-to-be-in-the-richest-1-around-the-world <comment><AUTHOR> Curious what people think about this - is this the right metric? What about being top 1% of wealth instead of income?

Also, is country the right granularity? Take the US for example. It is so vast that being 1% overall is rarely going to be relevant. Your daily life is affected by the wealth in the area where you live, so it makes more sense to see what it takes to be in the 1% in your neighborhood (say 50 km/30mi radius)</comment>


ShowHN: Freelancers Assistant - <AUTHOR> http://www.freelancersassistant.com/

<comment><USER2> hey, this is a good idea. hope it gains ground.</comment>


(Dis)Functional Bowling (FP/TDD debate) - <AUTHOR> http://alaska-kamtchatka.blogspot.com/2009/07/disfunctional-bowling.html

<comment><USER2> There's nothing like a totally contrived example to prove absolutely nothing about the efficacy of any given methodology or programming paradigm.</comment>


The first autonomous, entirely soft robot - <AUTHOR> http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/08/the-first-autonomous-entirely-soft-robot/ <comment><USER2> I love project and it's a great implementation of novel ideas all slapped into one package, but I do take some issues with how they describe it.

It might make it under a liberal definition of 'robot', but it certainly doesn't fit under what people think of as robots in a modern society. Also, it's just an oscillator in a novel implementation, not 'autonomous'. It's like saying my oscillating fan is autonomous.

Awesome progress, look forward to future development, but a little to hyped up for my tastes.

<comment><USER3> Even among experts, there is no consistent, widely-accepted definition of "robot"...

<comment><USER4> The term is actually very well defined:

>> a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer.

The Mars rovers... robots. Squishybot here is a technology platform demonstrator. It shows that you _could_ build one with these techniques.

<comment><USER3> So... your dishwasher, printer, washing machine, oven, and thermostat? All carry out "complex actions automatically" and are controlled by computers. No one would consider these "robots".

With all due respect, there is no agreed-upon definition. (As someone with a PhD in robotics, CEO of a robotics company, & robotics journalist for 10+ years. Even my old academic advisor and I had contention around 3D printers.) If that's not enough, here's a proper source: [http://robohub.org/robohub- roundtable-why-is-it-so-difficult...](http://robohub.org/robohub-roundtable- why-is-it-so-difficult-to-define-robot/)

The best definition I've ever heard: A robot is a device that doesn't work (yet); as soon as it works, it is renamed (Vacuum robot => Roomba; clothes cleaning robot => washing machine; etc.)

<comment><USER5> > washing machine, oven, and thermostat? ... No one would consider these > "robots".

> clothes cleaning robot => washing machine; etc.

So do you think a washing machine is a robot?

<comment><USER3> Nope. It already works.

<comment><USER5> But that would mean that washing machines were at one time considered robots, but now they aren't ... Ohh, okay, I like that definition too.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> From metafilter: "They call it the first fully autonomous soft-bodied robot, but I prefer to think of it as the first pneumatically self-propelled Wacky Wall Walker." (user 'Strange Interlude')

Actually pretty true.

<comment> semi-extrinsic It is. And when you think of it that way, why not replace the pretty unsafe [1] hydrogen peroxide with compressed air instead? Academic exercises aside, I don't see how a flow control valve is any less "soft" than having a platinum catalyst. But hey, they're chemists, and when what you have is a hammer...

[1] Wikipedia says "pure hydrogen peroxide will explode if heated to boiling, will cause serious contact burns to the skin and can set materials alight on contact." Not to mention it's been widely used for bomb manufacture by terrorists, so today trying to obtain anything stronger than 1% H2O2 as a normal person gets you on a watchlist, or even a phone call from the FBI/local equivalent.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Great idea, though it probably comes to description of things like 'robot'.

To be more precise, from the article I understood that this is a 'soft equivalent of a simple electronic oscillator'.

So, probably, I will not call this a robot (but probably we would never have heard of this if not the click-baity title), but it's neat idea which could be worked on further.

<comment><USER8> That's its control system. What's interesting is that all of its actuators are soft. You can imagine that a set of simple soft components like that simple oscillator, combined with some small rigid components containing a microcontroller, would belike a full soft robot.

<comment><USER9> Some definitions of 'robot' require a sensor too?

<comment><USER10> In the broadest definition, a sensor is an object whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment, and then provide a corresponding output. [1]

If we follow the above definition given on the Wikipedia then some important and interesting issues arise:

Is sensor not a device that behaves in certain manner to some energy stimulus and thus allows us to connect outer energy to the autonomous system (robot) being developed?

Should a sensor always transduce to electronic energy form?

e.g. a gear lever in a bike is not a sensor? it senses (may be pressure) and thus allows the system (the bike) to sense some outside stimulus.

Please feel free to define sensor in a different manner if you disagree with [1].

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

<comment> semi-extrinsic I agree you can have completely non-electronic sensors. Case in point: the sensor wand on a Flying Moth sailboat:

[http://www.sailmagazine.com/racing/regattas/learning-to- fly-...](http://www.sailmagazine.com/racing/regattas/learning-to-fly-2/)

<comment><USER11> Or, you know, eyes.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> This is a soft, squishy octopus robot with a translucent skin that is super- simple and does almost nothing, but as I was watching it on video, all I could think was that, sooner or later, we will have soft and squishy (and perhaps translucent) robots around us, doing all sorts of things. _All_ of this robot's components are soft.

I don't know if it will take 10 or 50 years, but the _soft_ robots are coming; and they will have supple skin and squishy synthetic organs, not metal surfaces and 'boxy' components.

<comment><USER13> And they will take over all jobs requiring soft skills.

<comment><USER14> Pleasurebots?

<comment><USER15> Will still require some hard parts.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> This is "autonomous" at the windup toy level.

Festo, the German robotics company, is way ahead in autonomous soft robots. See their "Air Ray" fly around[1] Each year, Festo makes motion controllers and robots, especially high-precision pneumatic devices. Each year, they build something awesome. They do have some rigid components, but if they wanted to build one with fluidic logic, they certainly could.

Their Smart Bird is spectacular.[2]

Festo is a big, family-owned engineering company. 18,700 employees. founded in 1925. Annual sales €2.64 billion. One of the most innovative companies in mechanical engineering, yet a totally different business model than Silicon Valley's.

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3-wIICjAhE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3-wIICjAhE) [2] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnR8fDW3Ilo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnR8fDW3Ilo)

</comment><comment><USER17> Fluidics [1] has a long history. For better or worse, it has had a very limited use so far. With the advent of 3-D printing, I am hoping to see more interesting projects based on it. On the other hand, fluidics may not be able to stand on its own as a viable technology; it is possible that the most promising ideas will come from combining fluidics, micro-mechanics, electromagnetics, electronics, and optics.

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

</comment><comment><USER18> If that's "completely autonomous", then steam engines are artificially intelligent.

Can it actually walk? The video just shows it waving its arms.

<comment><USER19> "Autonomous" in the sense that it does not requires external power supply, rather than intelligent.

I agree that the title is a bit missleading, but the rest of the article is clear about this: (e.g. when they say: "Fuel sources for soft robots have always relied on some type of rigid components," )

Edit: clarity

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Nice! but I'm not sure whether we can call that a robot :)

</comment><comment> gene-h What I don't understand is how this got published in Nature. This work, while cool isn't that novel. Microfluidic logic and soft actuators have been around for some time. Combining the two is not that impressive and more worthy of an engineering journal than nature.

</comment><comment><USER21> It is my first time hearing the term soft robot and had a hard time realising what a "soft" robot means as "robot" is hardwired to mechanical and electronic parts in my mind. After reading the article, absolutely eye opening!

<comment><USER22> There's a subfield called soft robotics, which Baymax from the film Big Hero 6 was inspired by: [http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2014/october/octobe...](http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2014/october/october29_baymax.html).

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> I see a lot of people arguing about the significance of soft robotics. What none of the seem to understand is the real significance for most people: The ability to build Baymax IRL.

Seriously, it would be adorable _and_ useful. Somebody help out CMU so that this happens sooner.

</comment><comment><USER24> Completely autonomous and no electronics?

That's not a robot, that's a child.

</comment><comment><USER25> Is that considered to be a robot?

</comment><comment><USER26> Can we change the URL to [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-08/hjap- tfa08161...](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-08/hjap- tfa081616.php) ? The Eureka Alert page is much more detailed.

<comment><USER27> We've updated the link from [http://sciencenewsjournal.com/new-soft-robot- completely-auto...](http://sciencenewsjournal.com/new-soft-robot-completely- autonomous-no-electronics/) to the Harvard release page. There was also a previous submission which got a good number of upvotes, but not much discussion: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12341843](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12341843).</comment></comment>


Adventures in Self Publishing - <AUTHOR> https://www.petekeen.net/adventures-in-self-publishing

<comment><USER2> Oh hey, thanks for posting :)

These numbers are somewhat outdated. As of today the total is slightly over $34k.

There was quite a discussion when this was first on HN over a year ago, as well: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6320333](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6320333)

</comment><comment><USER3> This is awesome.

<comment><USER2> Thanks!</comment></comment>


HN Proposition: 5 first MVPs greenlighted - <AUTHOR> http://hnproposition.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/first-5-mvps-green-lighted.html

<comment><AUTHOR> For those who missed the story, this is related to: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5037694></comment>


Show HN: Automatic unit test generator for JavaScript functions - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/ncthis/saul <comment><AUTHOR> Author here. Feedback is much appreciated. I built this in my free time so I could have more time to write well-tested code, and reduce grunt work. It's abusing the module loading system a little bit - so looking for any advice that can ease things over there.</comment>


PM at Microsoft (2005) - <AUTHOR> https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/techtalk/2005/12/16/pm-at-microsoft/ <comment><USER2> Yep, this one's a classic. When asked to explain what I did in my day job, I used to refer to Sinofsky's example: "I'm a program manager, that is, somebody that neither programs nor manages anyone."

</comment><comment><USER3> Steven Sinofsky, there's a name I haven't heard in a while.</comment>


Unexpected Side Effects of Going Sugar Free - <AUTHOR> https://www.michaelmackie.com/the-unexpected-side-effects-of-going-sugar-free <comment><USER2> I dropped sugar and severely reduced carbs 4 years ago. It was hard to do, but I made a game of it: I'd resist as long as I could, and then binge. Then next time I had to go that same duration without, plus at least one day. So 5 days, then binge 1 day, then 6 days, then 7 days, then 12, then 13, etc etc. By the time I reached 6 months without binging, I'd lost the craving. 2 years later, I couldn't stand eating it on any quantity over a gram or so. I also increased my fiber intake when eating carbs to better regulate the insulin response. Oh, also I eat a mostly veggie diet, with meat protein maybe once or twice a week.

Results:

I have zero body odor. It might be a combination of using water only to wash, but my wife has marveled on many occasions how I don't smell like anything at all (except the top of my head apparently, which smells like a baby's). I can (and have) gone 4 days without bathing and she couldn't tell the difference.

My weight is down to normal. I wear size 33/34 jeans like I did in high school.

I eat 2 meals a day (breakfast and dinner) and am rarely hungry otherwise. When I do get hungry, I usually eat figs and nuts. I only drink water and sometimes tea.

My sleep is about the same as always.

My energy is much higher, although I still like an afternoon nap for 15 mins. No more carb crashing.

No more acne or skin problems. Another thing my wife marvels e over and is jealous of is my skin softness.

</comment><comment><USER3> Going sugar-free is great and I am certainly not knocking the overall strategy to reduce wasted/empty carbohydrates. Just understand that not ingesting something that has sugar in the nutritional facts doesn't mean your body doesn't produce glucose, the simplest sugar of all.

If your body needs energy it will convert carbohydrate stores to glucose. Even if you go keto and ingest 0 carbohydrates, you can still convert substrates to glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis.

I say all of this because I always worry about people who go SOMETHING-free, whether it's sugar-free, fat-free, carb-free, etc. Someone reads a person is sugar free but their body isn't exactly free of sugar. They just haven't ingested it and that's a big difference. And I say this because even if you don't go sugar free you can achieve roughly the same effects provided you keep the junk sugar (i.e. candy bars, soda) to a minimum.

I do strength sports and I have 30g of sugar with my workout drink during every workout. My resting glucose is 90 (near ideal) and all of my blood markers are healthy. Outside of that I have virtually 0 added sugar but plenty of carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. In other words, living life in moderation can produce amazing results and doesn't require a monastic devotion to be completely free of something.

One last thing I will say is that the human body is so complex. The OP isn't just going sugar free. He is also exercising and making other lifestyle choices. That combined with the power of all of that positive reinforcement and changes only magnifies the other effects he is seeing. It's just too hard to solely attribute a sugar-free diet to all of these positive effects. It's really that his whole _lifestyle_ has improved so he's seeing positive changes in lots of places...perhaps even changes where they have nothing to do with all of this but he attributes it as such (not sure x2 hair growth is really correlated to reduced sugar intake).

</comment><comment><USER4> I've also given up sugar (it's been about 2 years). Just wanted to compare results.

Hair growth - nothing noticeable. Sleep - still tend to being a night owl. No after-lunch sleepiness - agree on this, I still even eat carbs (no gluten, no sugar for reasons). Sex drive - no noticeable change. Acne - sugar and chocolate used to cause breakouts for me. Always hungry - not really, but again, I eat carbs.

Good for OP for giving that garbage up. It was the hardest of all the foods I've cut out of my life (gluten, caffeine, sugar, sodium nitrites, msg). Curious if OP had the same experience, but I went through full withdrawal each time I cut it out (it took a few tries).

</comment><comment><USER5> Is there a Chrome extension that blocks any scripts that override scroll behavior? The scroll behavior on this site is so obnoxious I don't want to read the article.

<comment><USER6> I literally closed the window because of this as a reflex to knowing ill have a poor reading experience - surprised me.</comment></comment>


Are you finding the root cause? - <AUTHOR> http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1174-are-you-finding-the-root-cause <comment><USER2> "There are only 3 ways to find the root cause of a problem:

1\. Right Way

2\. Wrong way

3\. 37 Signals way."

\- comment on SvN (Mike)</comment>


Ask YC: Best areas for startups to relocate to Silicon Valley? - <AUTHOR>

PG, I'm convinced. I'm putting to put my house up for sale and moving to Silicon Valley. I have only visited SF/Bay Area a few times but spent most of my time near Berkeley. What are the best areas to move to for startups?
<comment><USER3> Berkeley Pluses: \- Everything is in walking distance if you live around downtown - from the grocery shops, to the many many good, cheap (compared to East Coast) restaurants, and the BART (subway) that takes you to San Francisco in 20 - 25 minutes.

\- Office space, the last time I checked was about $2 per square foot. Check: [http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/off/eby?query=&minAsk...](http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/off/eby?query=&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max&minSqft=min&maxSqft=max&neighborhood=48)

\- University town - the campus libraries are among the best places are awesome. The Berkely gym and the downtown YMCA here are also really excellent.

\- The weather is really nice - not as cold and windy as SF, and not as hot as San Jose. It warms up and cools down very gradually here - and usually stays between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius. \- The parks and the marina are great. There is pretty good hiking, and the sailing club here will get you sailing (or wind-surfing)! For cheap! (www.cal-sailing.org).

Cons: \- It is dirty in places - it doesn't smell though. \- There are lots of homeless people here - quite harmless. \- Everything shuts down early. Berkeley is a town more than a city. There are two 'night-clubs' - only one is worth any time - the other is a dirty (in a bad way) hole in the ground. Only a couple of bars and restaurants are open late - thankfully they're quite good. Lucky for you, San Francisco is less than half an hour away by public transit. There's a bus that drives back every half an hour all night long.

Non-issues: \- "Activism". big deal - some people like to protest - they don't come in your way or bother you. You are invited to participate and the locals can be engaging and opinionated if you talk to them. This is one of the most educated places I've ever lived in - that is a good thing.

Conclusion: \- Berkeley is great! You can raise your kids here. You can live in a relatively quite place but live very close to two main cities - <USER2> and San Fran - so you can go crazy and then return to relax and work in a quieter place.

<comment><USER4> I agree. Berkeley beats hands down all other clown towns in the Peninsula. It actually feels like a real town (more similiar to Cambridge, MA, or Someriville than anything else). It has great food (i mean really good, cheap), and it is walkable to a certain extent. There is mass transportation to SF. SF would be my first choice, then Berkeley second. The rest of the Bay area is a big soul drenching Strip Mall Wasteland.

Palo Alto is not that bad, except the smug attitude of the people there, and it is so expensive. It doesn't really feel like a town. More like a suburb, with one main avenue (university ave.). Nothing too exiting.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I settled on Mountain View, and have been happy with the choice. The downtown, despite aspersions on its character by alaskamiller, is actually quite nice. More Asian food than you can shake a stick at (some of it very good), a couple of great little Asian markets (I just got back from one of them, where I bought everything I needed for a good vegetable soup, some Jasmine green tea, and some nice looking apples for cheap). Having shopping, and especially restaurants, within easy walking distance is now my primary concern in choosing where to live.

I'm renting a house a few blocks from Castro St., and I like the whole town quite a lot. It's not San Francisco, and right now, that's probably good--I would go to rock shows three or four times a week if I could walk to the club. I've got work to do right now, and don't need the distraction. Presumably, if you're starting up, you also have work to do.

That said, being around other startups has value, too. The YC guys often get together in the city, and I'd love to go, but I rarely have a car handy (and I hate driving/parking in the city, anyway). If I lived nearby, I'd walk, or catch a bus. But taking the train (which stops running at a ridiculously early hour) from here to there isn't an option. Once things are spinning nicely, I'll probably move to the city, or possibly back to Austin.

</comment><comment><USER6> Berkeley is dirty, expensive, and everything closes at 9pm sharp. Anticorporatism is strong so most shops are coops or expensive food stores. The college environment and the college kids somewhat make up for it, the atmosphere is hard to beat.

San Francisco is crowded, expensive, and it's a second-rate NYC. But the proximity to everything and everyone again makes up for a lot, especially for cuisine and nightlife. Driving is pain, housing is a pain.

Milpitas is cheap, full of housing, but next to the city dump. It smells in the summer and since there's so much suburban sprawl, you'll drive for half an hour before reaching the highway. Everything closes early too, there's no downtown or nightlife.

Mountain View: tract homes suburban sprawl. Mountain View has one long strip called Castro street that masquerades as a downtown on certain days. Other than that it's just old 60's tract housing style (you'll find this to be the case for almost all of Silicon Valley).

Sunnyvale is like a pseudo commercial zone where all the warehouses and tiny offices are. Imagine playing SimCity and watching your purple zone languishing. That's Sunnyvale. It's definitely cheaper though to live because of this effect. There's a Fry's and Costco here, meaning you don't need to go anywhere else.

Cupertino/Saratoga has one big hit: Apple. There's no downtown, everything closes at 9pm sharp. Cupertino is essentially where everyone commutes back to after working in SF or Sunnyvale. There are an abundance of police officers because of the odd arrangement the city has with the county to generate revenue. Saratoga is up in the hills which is pretty but basically excludes anyone without a seven digit network.

Palo Alto is schizophrenic in that it doesn't know whether it's a farm town, college town, ritzy retreat, or corporate shill. Stanford is here and the surrounding area outside of Stanford is great. Sand Hill Road is right outside, there's a strip that act as the downtown, significantly longer than Castro. But because of Stanford it attracts quite a lot of companies to move here which in turn forces house pricing through the roof. Facebook is based here and they pay their employees an extra $600 to live within a 1 mile radius, meaning your chances are next to nothing to get a nice place. Watch out for East Palo Alto, that's not a place you want to be.

Santa Clara is like the ice cream center of a cake. It slowly melts into either layer but in the mean time it acts as the barrier between the sponge up top and the ghetto area on the bottom. This is where most people go because of the lower housing pricing due to market pressures. It's not a bad area, but then again it's not the sunny disposition you would expect California to be known for. This is also where my stolen car ended up at. Twice.

East San Jose. This isn't meant to be racist: east San Jose is where most of the poor live, there's a huge Mexican and Vietnamese community here. This is also where the low-rent and section-8 apartments are and where most of the illegal immigrants will bus from to find work at Home Depot in other areas. This isn't in any way to degenerate them, but this is just how the city is broken up into. Go more east and near the mountains and you end up at this ritzy and rich community called Silver Creek where they built thousands of big houses. You can drive for an hour here and still not see the main highway.

San Jose itself is huge. In fact, it's bigger than San Francisco, ranking itself as the 3rd biggest city in California. There's a downtown, but it's not as glamorous as say New York nor LA. Plenty of clubs to go to but it's almost always full of cop cars, low riders, scrapers with big wheels, and sound system that's enough to shatter glass. Quite a lot of companies are here though, Adobe for one, and the recent clamor for city living has caused quite a few skyscrapers to go up for loft living and the like. Prepare to pluck down more than $750k for a 900sq ft loft with sky high windows that look directly into a depressing airport. Oh, at least they have the courtesy to shut off the airport after 9pm (apparently everyone sleeps at 9 in Silicon Valley). There's multiple museums though, but they have enough content to last you through maybe 3 weekends.

This turned out more pessimistic than I had originally intended it to be. It's not to say I hate Silicon Valley, but the wide-eyed optimism has worn off. Don't think it's a dreamland, it's just an certain area where lots of people have moved into. The new trend now is to tear down unoccupied commercial zones (caused by the first dot-com boom) and remaking them as condos. Expensive condos. It's only getting more and more people to come in. Traffic is annoying. Stuff is expensive. There's houses everywhere. And most areas lack charm.

So in summation, where would I go?

With a bit more money saved up, I would much prefer Palo Alto, it's by far the best area, a 30 minute drive to the City (that's what we call San Francisco) and close proximity to Mountain View. If I just need a cheap place to stay? Santa Clara. If I want to live the California life? San Francisco. If I have a family? Cupertino. If I really really really want to have a house? Milpitas.

Don't take this post as gospel though. I've only been living here for 15 years and can't say I have truly captured ever nuance of Silicon Valley.

Addendum: Oakland. It's in a renovation stage. What used to be a horrifying place to live at is now being revitalized for business and as a contra to SF. The popular trend amongst my friends and smaller startups is live in SF or Fremont/Union City and rent an office in Oakland. You can find a huge 1500 sq ft open loft/warehouse type office for less than $1.50/sqft. I still wouldn't live in Oakland though.

<comment><USER7> You didn't mention Redwood City. This is where I moved to four months ago, and I love it. The downtown is small, but beautiful with many restaurants most of them have outside seating because the weather is so nice. Actually, Redwood City uses the slogan "Climate best by government test". And I would agree; we got only 3 cloudy days in the last 4 months. It's not too hot and not too cold. And, it's not as expensive as other places. As for location, it's close to the 101, and it's half-way between San Francisco and Sunnyvale, so you're not too far for any event in the city or the valley.

<comment><USER6> In my mind I kind of lumped Redwood City, and that whole Atherton area, in with Palo Alto. Redwood City indeed is a very nice place, there's decent housing, a friend of mine whose parents are pastors were able to buy a house with a pool, and there's this atmosphere around that particular area that's just unique. I think it's a combination of expensive cars, luxury housing, and smart people that makes me want to do better.

East Menlo Park is kind of ghetto though.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> It'd be awesome if YC owned some apartment buildings in Palo Alto and rented the rooms to YC founders for (mostly) cash + equity. Seems totally logical given that most YC investment goes into overpriced rent already and renting is such a big distraction. YCScaper seems exactly like the kind of "proxy for demand" good startups take their cues from ;-)

<comment><USER9> Paul Graham has a garage

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Imagine a bullseye with Palo Alto at the center.

Palo Alto's very expensive, unfortunately. Mountain View might be a good bet. Not crushingly expensive, and has something of a downtown.

<comment><USER11> Where would you put the bullseye in Cambridge? I only ask because we just opened up shop in Kendall Square because that's where I put it, but you might have a better idea.

<comment><USER12> MIT, but it's not really a fair question because the Boston startup scene isn't shaped like a bullseye. It's really two lines, following major traffic arteries. The city corridor is along the Red Line, from Davis to South Station. The suburb corridor is Route 128, from Rt. 3 in Burlington to Needham.

Both of them don't really drop off with distance - Davis (near the end of the red line) is as much of a startup center than Central, and Burlington (the northern end of the 128 corridor) is more of one than Weston (though this isn't really fair: Weston is a bedroom community for all the venture capitalists that fund them). They do, however, drop off dramatically if you move laterally: Billerica and Carlisle are rural bedroom communities, dramatically different from the high-tech industries in neighboring Bedford and Burlington.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> We like Berkeley for what we're doing. The area is very nice, there's activism in the air, there's a lot of good, cheap food, rent is comparatively inexpensive and we can walk right into the libraries that we need to.

The library thing is really key for me, though we're not sure what the situation is elsewhere (Like Stanford, say).

</comment><comment><USER14> Don't discount Fremont/Union City (Maybe even Hayward) - its central; crime is low @ least in Fremont; and Hayward is making a great effort to revamp their downtown. UC is bland - but convinient.

<comment><USER15> The last time I was in that area, we lived in Hayward, because my wife was doing an internship at a biotech company, and we only had one car, so she rode her bike. One thing that always made us laugh was the bank downtown with the cornerstone that had a date on it like 1978. Coming from Italy, where you regularly walk by buildings that are 100-200-500... a few nearly a thousand years old, it's kind of silly.

We were bored to tears in Hayward in terms of having a social life, and usually drove up to Berkeley.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I'd recommend Emeryville or (parts of) Oakland. It's well-priced, right across the Bay from SF (<10min BART ride and you're downtown), easy access to the major freeways.

</comment><comment><USER17> More than half the YC startups in the Bay Area are in SF I think. and about half of them in the yscraper :).

There are quite a few startups in SF and quite a lot tech stuff happens here. Some benefits to moving to Palo Alto, since it can be cheaper their and less distractions.

<comment><AUTHOR> I've heard of the famed 'Y-Scraper', where in SF is it?

<comment><USER16> It's the Crystal Tower Apartments - Lombard and Taylor I think.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> This is a great thread. I would love to hear some more personal experiences with various areas. I am looking to live somewhere on the cheap, self-funding and learning for a few months before meeting a couple of co-founders and trying to build something.

</comment><comment><USER19> DONOT MOVE TO COLMA! That place is 50% cemetery and where I spent my summer :). Maybe if you were right by the BART or something, but either go further north to San Fran or South to the Valley.

I'd recommend San Fran as its a lot more exciting than Palo Alto. Living in an exciting area is extremely motivating.

</comment><comment><USER20> i hope someone answers this as i plan to move there soon myself

</comment><comment><USER21> The pensinula is probably best. It's the area that extends south from SF to San Jose. Home of Palo Alto, San Mateo, Mountain View, Los Altos, other towns you've heard of. Nothing in the SF area is cheap, but if you're renting, you can find things you can probably afford.</comment>


Uber had special team to obstruct legal cases and spy on rivals, court told - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/28/uber-court-waymo-trade-secrets-trial <comment><USER2> We need a competitor to Uber in Australia. I do not want to support Uber, but the alternatives are.. taxi's. GoCatch is the only other local competitor, which is basically an app on top of the taxi network. It would be nice to see Lyft, or a similar service out of Asia, open up locally to create some competition.</comment>


WebMynd and Heroku Hosting Giant Robot Building in Dolores Park for FireFox 3 Launch - <AUTHOR> http://webmynd.pingg.com/Firefox3 Some of the things and people you may see at the event...<p>The construction of a giant FireFox Gran Paradiso Robot Cryogenic Liquid Nitrogen icecream making Trevor Blackwell and Anybots robots in the wild Kite flying General picnic activities Free food and drink (but all are encouraged to bring extra) <comment><AUTHOR> This should be a lot of fun. Liquid Nitrogen icecream making and lots of YC folk and Mozilla luminaries. Come ready to make a giant robot!</comment>


Resources for a programmer to learn UI/UX design? - <AUTHOR> My manager has recently asked me to fill in for UI/UX design on my team.
Like most programmers, my design has a tendency to be very functional and not so pretty. I feel I have a decent eye when it comes to actually implementing designs and I am decent at suggesting changes that improve the design and flow of a given page or design.
What I feel I'm lacking is the creativity to actually start designs. I tend to focus too much on the technical side (which, in my defense, has been my job for the last 5+ years) and not so much on the user facing design.
I'm guessing I just need practice and I'll be able to learn, but as I said, the starting point is my biggest hurdle at this point.
I'm wondering if anyone has some suggestions for overcoming this? Resources, tips, stories, etc? <comment><USER2> I'm a front-end developer who studied graphic design. A very important part of UX is app flow and navigating users through your interface in a seamless, graceful way.

When I was studying UI/UX something that helped me a lot was reading Google Material guidelines. Even if you're not using a Material UI library (like @angular/material), the guideline thoroughly explains what a good UI/UX should feel like, look like, and work.

Some links: \- [https://material.io/design/](https://material.io/design/) \- [https://www.usability.gov/about- us/index.html](https://www.usability.gov/about-us/index.html) (this is more for government websites, but still a good source of information) \- [https://medium.com/@fluidui](https://medium.com/@fluidui) (FluidUI is an online tool for creating user stories and design prototypes, in their Medium blog they have a vast list of resources and detailed information. \- [https://theblog.adobe.com/4-golden-rules-ui- design/](https://theblog.adobe.com/4-golden-rules-ui-design/) (very good read)

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, that's really helpful. I'll check out the links you sent!</comment></comment>