Biggest patent troll of 2014 gives up, drops appeal - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/03/biggest-patent-troll-of-2014-gives-up-drops-appeal/ <comment><USER2> If they're a shell company, I wonder if they'll actually end up paying the fee or just declare bankruptcy and start another shell company. Can the owners be made to pay the fee?

<comment><USER3> Only certain things can pierce the corporate shield, like unpaid workers comp. Legal fees, thankfully, don't.

Of course patent trolling always becomes a discussion of corporate shielding instead of the conversation we need to have: a radical reform of the patent system and a re-thinking of what should be patentable, especially in the software world.

This conversation always gets derailed by the tort reform crowd on the right or the anti-corporate shield crowd on the left. Those are just symptoms to a larger problem and both of those things (torts, shields) exist for valid reasons. Fix patents instead.

<comment><USER4> The patent wars are hardly a recent phenomenon. They go back to tremendous and crippling fights over the telegraph, telephone, auto, movies, radio, television and airplanes.

It's a bit hard to see how patents promoted anything - they mostly seemed to retard progress. The airplane patent wars were so bad that aircraft development shifted overseas out of reach of US patent courts. The movie industry packed up and left for Hollywood to evade patent courts. Industry progress on the TV happened only when the patents expired. And on and on.

<comment><USER5> Even further back, to steam engines.

<comment><USER6> Absolutely. James Watt didn't invent steam engine but came up with an innovative design that gave him a big advantage. He based this on other, unpatented, technologies. Then he sued the living day lights out of all his competitors and if argue prevented innovation for years.

<comment><USER7> Unpatented? Not quite. Savery's patent (which Newcomen licensed because it would last longer than any he could have gotten himself) had long since expired, and Boulton and Watt had to work around Pickard's patent on the crank (!) using planetary gears.

<comment><USER5> Yeah, the planetary gears they came up with were pretty crazy. Everyone switched to the crank, once the patent ran out.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> The ArsTechnica piece says the judge ruled the patent invalid. I assume that overrides the USPTO?

"eDekka's patent, which had been used to sue a wide array of online retailers, described nothing more than "the abstract idea of storing and labeling information," Gilstrap found. Those were "routine tasks that could be performed by a human" and didn't meet the standard for getting a patent. Gilstrap ruled the patent invalid."

<comment><USER9> > The ArsTechnica piece says the judge ruled the patent invalid. I assume that > overrides the USPTO?

Correct.

If the USPTO or the Federal Court invalidates it, it is invalid and stays that way.

[http://www.uspto.gov/patents-maintaining-patent/patent- litig...](http://www.uspto.gov/patents-maintaining-patent/patent- litigation/about-patents)

> In general, patents can stay in force for up to 20 years from the time of > filing although the actual length of a patent's life can vary depending on a > variety of factors. More information about patent term, and an explanation > of how to estimate whether a patent has expired, is available on the Patent > Term Calculator webpage. Also, note that the claims of a patent can be > invalidated by federal courts and/or the USPTO only prior to their > expiration date.

<comment><USER10> Wish we could do this for extending Copyrights so that Disney gets their Golden Ticket for Mickey Mouse and everything else gets to be Public Domain.

Make it cost $20,000,000 to file the motion, a million to every Senator's campaign fund and $25,000 for every Representative and $2,000,000 for the Chairman of every committee.

That way it is just upfront who wins a special copyright extension and everyone else get's Anne Frank's Diary, the rest of Sherlock Holmes and the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

<comment><USER11> What does patent law have to do with Mickey Mouse?

<comment><USER12> Why is this downvoted? Copyright and patents are two completely separate things.

<comment><USER10> Yes that is 100% why I said I wish this could be done for COPYRIGHTS. Guess this is the new Hacker News read a portion and then down vote. (This will get down voted by at least two people.

If there was no Disney there would be now Copyright Extensions where we have No Public Domain works entering the US system for the last 30 years.

[http://artlawjournal.com/mickey-mouse-keeps-changing- copyrig...](http://artlawjournal.com/mickey-mouse-keeps-changing-copyright- law/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Didn't they pass some law making patent trolling a lot harder to do? People keep telling me this, but this behavior seems to continue.

<comment><USER14> There is a proposal to make it slightly harder to troll called the "Innovation Act." You can look it up on [http://thomas.loc.gov](http://thomas.loc.gov)

IT has not passed.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> How the hell does something like this get granted a patent? [https://www.google.com/patents/US6266674](https://www.google.com/patents/US6266674)

<comment><USER16> It gets worse. [https://docs.google.com/a/google.com/viewer?url=www.google.c...](https://docs.google.com/a/google.com/viewer?url=www.google.com/patents/US4195707.pdf)

Talking between two tin cans and a length of string.

<comment><USER17> Did you read the patent? That's not tin cans and a string. It's an improvement that allows it to be packaged in cereal and assembled by the end-user.

Sure it's not complicated, but novel inventions aren't always complex. This is a unique-enough idea that it probably deserves the patent.

<comment><USER16> The "claims" portion of the patent does not reference any of that. The scope of the grant is wider than you think.

<comment><USER18> The claims establish the legal bounds of a patent, however, they must be read in light of what is disclosed in the specifications. The enforceable scope of this patent is fairly limited.

<comment><USER16> You would think so, but in practice, that's not really what happens. NCR, for example, successfully settled with many companies "infringing" on their ancient patents with their ecommerce sites. The patents predated ecommerce, and made reference to things like microfiche.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Oracle To Sun Customers (And IBM): We're In It To Win It - <AUTHOR> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/10/oracle-to-sun-customers-and-ibm-were-in-it-to-win-it/

<comment><USER2> <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=815124></comment>


Next Generation KDE Plasma Notifications - <AUTHOR> https://blog.broulik.de/2019/05/next-generation-plasma-notifications/ <comment><USER3> Not sure why there's so much negativity in this thread. Thanks for spending the time to improve this. I love that KDE can show notifications from my phone via KDE Connect. It's not without its problems (the design could improve, and I'd love support for android quick respond actions if they're possible) but overall seems like great work.

<comment><USER4> I've been using KDE Connect on my phone with GSConnect in Gnome and I can safely say that KDE connect is what made me boot Linux more than Windows. I've been dual booting for ages but the ability to copy text and send files across the network with a standardised interface made my life a load easier.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Does it solve the infinite appending issue though?

Basically, every Slack message would append to the same notification, so after 4-5 notifications, I'd just see old ones and a ... line, making the notifications useless. This also went for the update centre, etc.

Also when notifications decide to just stay on screen indefinitely because of... Reasons.

<comment><USER6> >infinite appending issue though?

I've never experienced this. Particularly, I don't experience this with Discord, and Discord is to Slack what a bee is to an ant, which is why I juxtapose it. (And I would ask if it might be something on the Slack side, but you say it happens with everything.)

>Also when notifications decide to just stay on screen indefinitely

Never had this either.

Might have been bugs. If you're on Ubuntu or another point release distro, those kinds of bugs also stick around, IME, because your DE version stays stagnant and the bugs are only fixed in subsequent versions.

<comment><USER7> On the other hand, I've had it with Slack, Discord, Skype, and most anything that uses the OS notification system; using Ubuntu 14.04 and 16.04. So while it's not KDE, it's certainly something relatable.

<comment><USER5> You might be on to something, I had it with Kubuntu, but not, as far as I can remember, with Manjaro or KDE SUSE.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Is lack of horizontal padding part of the KDE aesthetic?

<comment><USER7> Lack of horizontal padding? What padding do you want? There's clear whitespace between everything.

I for one definitely like and _want_ more compact information. I definitely do _not_ like the trend for making information more sparse. Leave that for your blog; business runs on information.

<comment><USER9> The most egregious example that stood out to me here is the x-padding between the edge of the notification panel and any text inside the panel is less than the padding between the notification title and the text below it.

The problem isn't that they need more padding, it's that their padding makes no sense. If they made a design decision to have tight padding that would be one thing, but they've got a horizontal layout with tight padding in the horizontal direction and wide padding in the vertical.

here's a really quick-and-dirty edit to even out the padding around each text block to be equal to the line height, which actually tightens up the total density by correcting the too-high line height in the notification text: [https://imgur.com/uVcY6Sw](https://imgur.com/uVcY6Sw)

<comment><USER7> That is still a _context-sensitive opinion_.

Programmatically, that assumes that that information is available (query a font rasterizer: where is the first pixel? consider also kerning and foreign languages; also query icon: where is the first non-background pixel? consider also theme information where _window background_ might not show the icon well!).

Programmatically, you've un-aligned everything: now the amount of whitespace at the top of the notification is different than the amount of whitespace on the left of the notification.

Sure _you_ might say it looks better. But how much time do you think it would require to make it look "pretty" (for _you_ )? As-is, it's _functional_ and isn't _ugly_. If you want to improve it, then go contribute to the libraries and applications being used.

<comment><USER10> _> As-is, it's functional and isn't ugly_

As you're keen to point out regarding everyone else's comments, that's your opinion.

Personally I think it's _functional and ugly_. They could skip the drop shadow, the subtle transparency, the big icon on the right, the rounded corners, and just draw a white box. As long as they fixed the left padding it would look better than this.

Lots of attention to detail on the wrong things before they have the basics, IMO.

EDIT: Here's one for all you folks that aren't bothered by iffy typography [https://i.imgur.com/4tBNA0w.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/4tBNA0w.jpg)

<comment><USER11> > Lots of attention to detail on the wrong things before they have the basics, > IMO.

thanks you pretty much perfectly summarized KDE

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> every few weeks KDE forgets all my panels because of connecting/disconnecting external displays and KDE having horrible multi display support. KDE is so full of bugs like that its really frustrating, like the task manager forgetting which screen they are on or shift getting stuck when connecting an external keyword, etc. etc. But I've made my peace with all the bugs being a fact of life, using it for 8+ years.

<comment><USER12> You are not alone. I really like KDE and enjoy using it mostly but it's full of bugs but every other day I'll attempt to use GNOME and I'm back in no time.

I'll share the display issues - something deep inside calls random() on monitor resolution and position - I'm sure!

I've switched to Arc Dark and Numix Circle Icons and it's not ugly anymore. I don't know why they still ship Breeze with that broken padding by default.

But it's really getting better every release.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Gnome and KDE seem so close in polish these days, it's hard to decide which one to run and I keep on going back and forward.

<comment><USER14> personally I find gnome's filesselector unusable, whereas kde's is great.

<comment><USER15> Last I tried, you couldn't type direct paths into the fileselector or the file browser, basically requiring that you mouse your way around. I found that extremely aggravating and went back to KDE almost immediately.

<comment><USER16> Ctrl+L has always worked for me, it highlights the path field.

<comment><USER7> Having a key sequence is fine. Remembering the key sequence is annoying. Every OS and UI wants to have it different. Modern OSes even get rid of hints and text so people don't even know that a key sequence is available.

<comment><USER17> This shortcut has been the same on MacOS, Windows, and most Linux DEs for ages. Can't please everyone, I guess.

<comment><USER18> This is true, but having just a keyboard shortcut is still a disaster for discoverability. I've used Windows a fair bit and have spent a decade using various Linux DEs; it was only two weeks ago that I discovered Ctrl+L.

It's a wonderful shortcut, useful in browsers and a huge number of other applications, but having buttons and menus and other UI features - which may take up a tiny bit of space and piss off designers who want ultra simple UIs - are what allow people to become good at using software naturally, without having to actively seek out knowledge from the few enlightened ones.

<comment><USER19> > I've used Windows a fair bit and have spent a decade using various Linux > DEs; it was only two weeks ago that I discovered Ctrl+L.

It wasn't available in Explorer until recently.

More specifically: sometimes I have to work with Windows 2008 servers and it is not available there.

I think in older Windows Explorers you could use an F-key or something but I don't work that much with Windows anymore.

> but having buttons and menus and other UI features - which may take up a > tiny bit of space and piss off designers who want ultra simple UIs - <USER2> > what allow people to become good at using software naturally, without having > to actively seek out knowledge from the few enlightened ones.

I tvink we agree. I have had a feeling for a while that a lot of the simplification of UX we have done in the last 10 years is more dumbification, and that by removing the learning curve we've also removed the learning.

Do I mean software should be hard to use? No. Use as clear ux as possible but if you are designing power user apps for existing power users (or people that should become power users) don't be afraid to add some configurability.

If I should try to come up with one rule of thumb: if a ux designer is removing options the users want they _might_ be dumbing down the UX instead of simplifying it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I can't be the only one that dislikes KDE's typography.

I see that notification pane and aside from color, nothing gives it typographical hierarchy. It just looks odd to me.

<comment><USER21> _This_ has always been the problem with KDE and the reason I can not switch.

KDE UI never gets Typography, spacing/padding, or alignment correct.

It's a shame because they are so close on most other criteria.

<comment><USER22> I agree. That said I switched to KDE a few weeks ago and turned into a fan boy during the configuration process. I'm very happy with my current configuration (probably a mix of it actually being good and the Ikea effect). I love that you can just configure almost anything almost exactly to your liking with not all that much effort.

I'm not a huge fan of the default configuration, but the ability to completely change it (with the many panel options) is just amazing (kind of contrary to GNOME).

I think I have figured out at least part of the reason for the spacings always feeling just a bit (or very) off (although I think it's bearable with my theme):

Their Kirigami design support library has a set of pre defined spacings and sizes developers are advised to rigidly stick to. These probably break down in many contexts and might not even be chosen well in the first place.

Another reason might be that KDE doesn't have a design group that is as strong as Gnome's and KDE might not be organized top-down as much (which is probably related to financing).

I think you can fix or mitigate well a lot of the mistakes (Qt is great) by using a good Qt curve theme.

<comment><USER23> You're correct that KDE's design group isn't organized from the top down. While that might be a problem for a company, I think it's actually a good thing for a community of volunteers because communities need to grow. Everyone has their own lives outside of the work they do for KDE, so it's important that the work load is spread across many people. Anyone can start start designing for KDE, you just need to talk to other KDE designers and submit patches.

I am a fairly new KDE designer who started contributing icons in the spring of 2018 because it was easy and fun.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Looks good! Kudos to the developers who put time in this!

</comment><comment><USER25> Over-engineered notifications

</comment><comment><USER26> Why KDE keeps rewriting every single component every few years? Is that because of improper design/planification or because of bad implementation?

<comment><USER27> > The old notification plasmoid was originally written in 2011

Where "few years" means 8 years? :D By all means rewrite software when it is 8 years old. A lot has changed in that time and the author notes that user expectations have changed, which leads me to the...

...false dichotomy you offered. User expectations and the code base not supporting those is the stated reason.</comment></comment>


Ireland Lacrosse sacrifice place in 'Medicine Game' tournament for greater good - <AUTHOR> https://www.rte.ie/sport/other-sport/2020/0905/1163463-iroquois-nationals-lacrosse-ireland-world-games/ <comment><USER2> Reminds me of Jack Sock vs. Lleyton Hewitt act of sportsmanship: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvhLq09FaZg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvhLq09FaZg)</comment>


Ask HN: Web Fundamentals for a Newb - <AUTHOR>

I know it is common for non-hackers interested in web development to ask how to get started, but I think my question is a variation and has not been covered in depth. I apologize if I missed a previous discussion addressing this issue.
I am attempting to teach myself Rails and have also made a concerted effort to understand Ruby. I have heard on many occasions that it is advisable to understand what problems Rails solves in order to use the framework to its full benefit and my little bit of experience supports this claim. While my study of Ruby has definitely helped me to understand some of the magic of Rails, there are holes in my understanding that Ruby knowledge alone will not solve.
My weakness is in understanding web fundamentals, and I would like to take a step back from Rails to do kind of a survey of those fundamentals. In particular, I know I need to read up on webservers and CGI. Any particular recommendations on either subject? I also wonder what other subjects I should be reading up on? Are there any books out there that do a survey of web stuff but are  relatively technology agnostic? Any particular terms I should be googling for? (I do have a basic knowledge of html and css as well as a very rudimentary knowledge of mysql syntax).
Another area I would like to focus on is how to design the architecture of the web app itself, particularly in a MVC framework. The books I am using are tutorial-based but they never really address how to figure out what your models should be, etc. They just tell you how to make models in Rails. Any suggestions on this front?
I think that I should probably also learn some basics of database design even though ActiveRecord makes it tempting and easy to ignore. Is this a correct assessment?
To make a long post short, I am looking for advice on non-Ruby and non-Rails skills that I need to develop web apps. I know this is a great group of people to ask and appreciate any and all direction. <comment><USER2> In general, you always have to take into account the Law of Leaky Abstractions ( [http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.htm...](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html) ).

No matter how convenient a new abstraction might make things, it will some day "leak". If you don't know anything about the layer underneath, at that point, you're pretty shafted.

Some abstractions are more leaky than others. ActiveRecord is a very leaky abstraction. Make sure you have a solid grounding in database usage, db model design, normalisation, etc

As for the web in general, your stack of abstractions reads something like: ActionController > MVC for web apps > CGI-BIN/Servlets > HTTP > TCP > IP > ...

You can probably stop around HTTP or TCP and be ok.

I don't think you'll find a single book that covers all that, but maybe someone will have some suggestions.

Please note you don't need to become an expert at all this stuff - but you need to have a pretty good idea how it all fits together.

<comment><USER3> Good points, but you made that sound kind of complicated.

Here's an example of a Leaky Abstraction. My programming language is called Ben (hey that's my name!) --

# build_webpage()

Tada. Fire up your browser, point it to localhost and bam! you have your own personal webpage with a photo section and a forum. See how easy it was.

Then you think to yourself, wait -- I want a classified ads section, too!

Ah, this is when the big leak happens.

My Ben framework doesn't include that bit, so you are going to have to dive down into the C that I wrote Ben with and muddle about it to write that code yourself.

It gets nastier too.

You could probably hack together a classified ads section in your favorite language in a couple hours, but since you've bet the farm on Ben, you have to get up to speed on how my framework works and you have to use my language of choice.

The abstraction is now leaking so much that you get out PHP and just do it all by hand.

<comment><USER4> What point are you trying to make here? That using frameworks is bad because they won't magically solve all your problems? That no magic fix exists? That everybody should use PHP? That C is a bad language for writing a web programming DSL?

<comment><USER5> It takes 10 years to get good at anything. This quote is from OOAD.

>>The amateur software engineer is always in search of magic, some sensa- tional method or tool whose application promises to render software development trivial. __It is the mark of the professional software engineer to know that no such panacea exists. __Amateurs often want to follow cook-book steps; professionals know that such approaches to development usually lead to inept design products, born of a progression of lies, and behind which developers can shield themselves from accepting responsi-bility for earlier misguided decisions. The amateur software engineer either ignores documentation altogether or follows a process that is docu-mentation-driven, worrying more about how these paper products look to the customer than about the substance they contain. The professional acknowledges the importance of creating certain documents but never does so at the expense of making sensible architectural innovations. The process of object-oriented analysis and design cannot be described in a cookbook, yet it is sufficiently well defined as to offer a predictable and repeatable process for the mature software development organization.

Frameworks are just fine, tools are just fine, any language is just fine. It is all about the skill of the person using it. I have seen good PHP code. I have seen bad Python code. It is about the developer, their understanding and how much they can handle of the system. If a framework lessens what they need to know to something they can manage at their level then it will work.

The job of a good engineer, is to take something complex and make it simple. So there are and will always be great tools to help people get better and the best will dig deeper and after 8-10 years it seems like most of the marketing and b.s. and jungle of software starts to come clear.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm in somewhat the same boat as you, except using python and django. I've found this book to be pretty helpful in terms of a general understanding of web programming: <http://philip.greenspun.com/seia/>

<comment><USER7> I second the SEIA recommendation - it helped me out a lot when I started. I also suggest the HTTP definitive guide book. <http://www.http-guide.com/> .

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> You might want to learn PHP first, especially if you're new to programming. Not only is PHP easy to learn, but it is also useful for quickly testing out simpler webpages.

By learning PHP, you'll also learn how web programming is traditionally done and the basics of how the web works. Once finished, you'll clearly see how Rails makes certain aspects of web programming easier, even for things like form validation.

I recommend a book like "PHP 6 and MySQL 5" which is very easy to read, and definitely type in the examples! [http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Dynamic-Web- Sites/dp/0321525...](http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Dynamic-Web- Sites/dp/032152599X).

<comment><USER3> Over and over and over, I've made this same recommendation when someone is new to the art and is banging on the Rails train: Do PHP first.

You have nothing to lose learning PHP. I love Rails, but I use PHP in a pinch. Hell, even DHH said he fired up PHP recently and liked how quickly he could wire up small bits.

Rails is too magical and mystical. If you don't understand the lifecycle of web requests, you are going to be shafted really quickly when Rails starts its magic tricks.

<comment><AUTHOR> I am reluctant to do PHP because of time contraints. I am working on this stuff after work, and at some point I would like to actually be able to build something. Anything. When someone says do PHP, my visceral reaction is no.

However, if the experts here think that PHP would be a worthwhile detour even though I plan to go with Rails, then I'll go with that. I guess I'd just like some assurance that I can pick up the basics this way and that I can do so in a reasonable amount of time.

Yes, I know patience is a virtue, but I just want to make sure that my time is spent as productively as possible. I do very much appreciate the advice from everyone.

<comment><USER8> I actually learned Rails after knowing PHP, and I felt that my knowledge of web fundamentals (generally, how web sites are built and architected) was greatly enhanced by my PHP knowledge. It also gives you an appreciation of what Rails makes easy!

If you're familiar with a C-based programming language, then PHP will be very fast to pick up. And, if you want to "actually be able to build something," with PHP you'll absolutely at least _feel_ like you can haha.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Don't skimp on the database design. It can make your life a lot easier if you're model is tight.

Learn how to think about your data model as Entities and Attributes and the relationships between them.

Then find a tutorial on database normalization and learn it. It's not hard, but it might take 2 or 3 run throughs before it clicks.

Learn to be comfortable at the *nix command line if you plan to be hosting your app on a shared host or Virtual Private Server.

Most of all; don't get caught up in fads. It's easy to get the impression that you need to learn AJAX, Rails (no wait, Merb!), S3 and EC2, distributed programming, jQuery, ad infinitum, all at once. You don't.

Here's some Google terms:

"Database normalization"

"entity relationship diagram"

"Unix shell commands"

</comment><comment><USER10> It's certainly useful to know how things got to where they are, but it's not always necessary. Even in history circles people debate how important history is if the lessons can be handed down via knowledge of good-practices.

If you want to know _how good you've got it_ now, I'd start with building a site that uses entirely static content. After you've got a few pages, make a change that affects all of these pages. You'll see how static pages lead to redundancy and a lesson will be learned.

Then setup a cgi based commenting system in either c or perl, which would arguably represent the start of interactive web sites. From here, you'll see that there are things you'd like to store, like a username, and you'll understand how frameworks make following a user easy.

Once you've done these two things, add some database support for the comments and a way to search the comments.

I'd say, after these three things, you'll have a pretty good understanding of how slick things like rails are and you can go back to being as productive as possible with respect for the problems it's solving. There's definitely more to learn on this topic, but it might border on distraction at this point.

<comment><USER11> In other words, you need to understand the problem before you can make sense of the solution.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Start with these 2 books from Philip Greenspun:

\- Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing

\- Internet Application Workbook,

<http://philip.greenspun.com/books/>

</comment><comment><USER13> The key to writing good web apps is to remember that the web part of the web app is just that, a part. It's not the whole application. An ideally- structured web application will be a normal application with a thin layer of glue to make it talk to the web. Usually your framework provides the glue, but it seems that most developers try to make the framework a religion and way of life instead of a glue. This leads to unmaintainable and untestable applications.

Anyway, the rule of thumb is... if critical code can't be executed without starting a web server, your app is designed wrong. (I've seen developers that write all their tests in Selenium. This is a huge waste of time; make sure you can test the backend code without making web requests. Only use Selenium to test JavaScript! Even then, Test::More from the JSAN is quicker.)

I've given lots of talks about this, if you want more details. Here is a web- specific one:

<http://www.jrock.us/fp2008/catalyst/start.html>

(left click to advance the slideshow)

Here is a non-web-specific one: <http://www.jrock.us/ppw2007/testmore/testmore.txt>

If you want to see it as a slideshow, try this:

[http://www.jrock.us/ppw2007/testmore/takahashi.xul?data=test...](http://www.jrock.us/ppw2007/testmore/takahashi.xul?data=testmore.txt#page1)

but on my machine, recent versions of firefox seem to not execute takahashi.xul correctly. So just read the text file ;)

Anyway, have fun.

</comment><comment><USER14> >> I am attempting to teach myself Rails and have also made a concerted effort to understand Ruby.

There's your problem number one - trying to use and excel at Rails without understanding Ruby means that even if you become a moderately proficient Rails user, you won't know what you're doing, and will be unable to process past something you have a cookbook answer for. You can drive a car without understanding how an engine works (and assume that when you press the pedal down, "magic happens" and you accelerate), but to become a great driver you have to understand what makes the car go, and how to react to and optimize your behaviors for that.

Ruby is a language that does more than Rails. Rails is a framework that's written in Ruby.

Learn the language first; then you'll know what's actually happening with Rails and what those commands mean. Net result is that you'll be a better Rails user, and you'll be able to use Ruby for many other things and in novel ways.

Separately, learn about database normalization and design. For this, start with the mantra "down, not across" - your tables should be much longer than they are wide, even if this means multiple tables.

<comment><USER15> Sound advice. I recommend 4 books: Black's ruby for Rails and Matz's first edition in English Ruby in a Nutshell. Black's book is a great intro to exactly the techniques of method_missing, mixins, class_eval, #included, etc, you need to understand the world of rails source and plugins/gems. 1st edition Ruby in Nutshell covers ruby 1.6, is small enough that you can read the whole thing carefully several times. The 2nd edition, by Flanagan and Matz, is also a must-have reference, but not something you read straight through.

Also recommended: the ruby/metaprogramming chapters in Ediger's "Advanced Rails" (oreilly) and Rappin's "Professional Rails" (Wrox). All excellent resources

Also, for javascript/ ajax: Flanagan's JS reference, and Crockford's "JS, the Good parts"

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Great question... I am somewhat in the same boat you are, but about a year further. One really good website that I found has filled in some gaps for me is <http://www.buildingwebapps.com> (although I haven't seen the specific issues you've mentioned).

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I probably need more fundamental knowledge of algorithms, and computer science in general than the things you mentioned.

</comment><comment><USER17> Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-based Software Architectures (<http://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/top.htm>) is a very readable dissertation on Web architecture. It is the definitive source on REST. Architecture of the World Wide Web (<http://www.w3.org/TR/webarch/>) is also worth a visit.</comment>


Unison Language March Update - <AUTHOR> http://unisonweb.org/2019-03-29/updates.html#post-start <comment><USER2> Super project Unison. I actually used the Unison method of having code identified by hash in my own project as I thought Unison has so many cool concepts</comment>


Ask HN: Parents of 2 month old baby. Going nuts with stress - <AUTHOR>

I never thought I will ask HN for this but since this place is awesome in terms of advice on life events, I have decided to share my story. I hope that this post does not come as attention seeking or anything like that. I genuinely want to hear your opinions on our case.
So basically we just became proud and happy parents of a baby girl and she is just about 2 months old. Perfectly healthy baby and everything that matters is in good shape. Now, I understand that becoming a parent with a newborn is challenging and I am not expecting an easy way out but the stress has been phenomenal. We kind of planned things but were sloppy here and there and suddenly find us in a lot of stress. We have family support around us but they cannot be there every day including the nights which are toughest.  Our baby wakes up every 3 hours on average for milk and her mother is pumping milk. We are facing difficult nights and even though my wife is still in her maternity leave, I have to go to work and leave our house latest by 7:30 AM. We tried babysitter to help out but it did not turn out well (not the focus of this post). Last night, my wife was almost yelling at the baby because she won't drink the milk and it was really frustrating. This needs to change.
Our own relationship (wife and I) seems shaky suddenly and she has started resenting me. I don't know if it is temporary but it is not pretty. I am trying to be patient with her thinking it could be the hormones etc. but every other day, there is something new that she blames me for. I m not taking it personally but it is hard.
Question is: other than family support, google (babycenter.com etc.), what else can we do to figure things out better ? I am sure there are many experienced parents on HN and any advice for dealing with a newborn will be useful. I just seem to be lost right now even though I am usually a very confident and "I know what I am doing" kind of person. Not in this case :( Wife does not even know I am posting on HN. <comment><USER4> Congratulations! In a year from now, this will seem only trivial, and you both will be enjoying your beautiful kid. As a father of two, I have some advice for you:

\- things will get better. Slowly, but still. Take it day by day, and accept that times are really, really tough right now. Acceptance is the key here.

\- at least consider to stop breast feeding. My wife had similar issues as yours, and the sleep deprivation was killing her. I know there's a big pro- breastfeeding lobby, but there are no convincing and significant scientific studies that say conclusively that breastfeeding is better OR worse for your child. We gave our 2nd formula after a week or two, and we were all happy with it.

\- do what feels good, trust your instincts. Don't listen too close to other people's good advice. Including this one.

\- get someone to babysit for a weekend. Gt a decent night sleep and do something funwith your wife. She'll appreciate it more than you think!

\- most of all: try to enjoy the little moments... Her sleeping in your arms, on your lap... They grow up so damn fast you wouldn't believe it!

Best of luck!

</comment><comment><USER5> When my wife was pregnant, I called my friend Greg - not for advice, though his earlier lesson when I had to cancel something was "Repeat after me. I don't know. I will have to ask my wife."

Anyway, Greg wasn't home, but I talked to Julie, this was some years ago. She explained thus:

 _For the next year, you are number three. Baby is first. Mom is second. And then you. Unless you have a dog. Then you are number four._

Right now, your beloved is not only lacking sleep. Her body also has a unique hormone balance that does things like foster lactation. This is something you experience, not run according to plan.

However, your experience at two months is not unusual. We had one similar. I mentioned it to my neighbor Bill across the alley. Get a swing.

Not the bouncy seat. A swing. The one with the rigid arms that does nothing but go back and forth - they come with motors. Bill gave me one that was wound by hand. It was good enough.

Put your child in the swing and let 'er rip. Don't feel guilty. Get some peace. Know that it only gets more wonderful over time.

Good Luck.

<comment><AUTHOR> oh yea. already got a swing and it is useful (not always but mostly). Baby is responding well to the swing. we have alternatives as well. pretty much a swing, secure sleeper, a different kind of sleeper with vibrations (dont even know what it is called). Thx for the suggestions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Yes those first two months suck and every child is different. One thing that my wife and I did was that she would pump and go to bed at around 8/9 pm. I would stay up with the baby monitor and the baby was my responsibility till around 1am. If the baby got up I had to deal with it. I also gave our kid a bit of formula as the last bottle before I went to bed. The rumors were true, our child was fuller longer and slept longer. This gave my wife and I pretty close to a full night sleep.

One more thing that people will tell you is that you need to put your child on a schedule. Really, the child ends up making their own schedule, but you can influence the schedule. In the evenings pick a time that you want your kid to go to sleep, and don't let that kid out of his bedroom. Keep the lights dim and don't offer up any stimuli other than basic soothing. Hum a lullaby, really don't worry nobody can hear you. During the day don't let your child nap for longer than 2 hours. Wake them up, feed them and play with them. Start this two hour cycle every day at the same time, and don't let them sleep in. If they sleep in and don't consistently wake up every two hours they will never get on the day night sleep cycle.

We eventually got our child to sleep through the night. We put him down at 8pm every day consistently and he would sleep till around 6:30am. This all will take a bit of time, but wow is the whole family better. Well, until teething, my child just turned 1 and he his next tooth coming in is a molar. This is a whole other post.

One problem that we did have is pooping. That kid had the hardest time pooping. When you rock your kid to bed don't rock them like you see in the movies. Try a couple different positions. One that worked for us was holding them like a (American) football with their head on the outside of your elbow, and your arm and hand supporting their body.

All the books say to put your child on his back to sleep. Supposedly the statistics say that your child is more at risk of sids if they sleep on their stomach, but when we put our kid on his stomach there was a bit more pressure applied to his stomach and that pressure seemed to help. If your child is having a problem pooping say and I'll post more about it.

</comment><comment><USER7> Our experience was that the first 4 or 5 months is exactly like that. You learn to cat nap, sleep and soothe the baby in short shifts. Think of it as being in the military now. Dads (co-parenting ones anyway) need to expect to be partial zombies at work for a while if they are giving Mom proper breaks at night.

One mistake my niece made: While you are drilled about "breast milk is best" until you feel like an abusive parent to think otherwise, sometimes babies reject mother's milk. Talk to your pediatrician but formula might make it easier on everyone.

I'm sure everyone has suggested the "What to expect..." books. They offer tons of baby hacks that could make your nights easier.

Also, being exhausted and mad at the adorable screaming ball of primal needs is normal (sometimes) but if it lapses into post-partum depression, that's a serious thing that involves tsunamis of hormones and brain chemistry. You can't expect to jolly her out of that and needs to brought to the attention of a professional.

Hang in there. Our oldest had colic which required nearly round the clock rocking but once we hardened ourselves to the daunting routine and got tuned to what he wanted we were able to zombie-shuffle our way through.

<comment><AUTHOR> "adorable screaming ball of primal needs". You made me chuckle!! Thx for the advice.

<comment><USER7> You're welcome. I forgot to say that the best way (IMHO) to tell "baby blues" from full-blown post-partum depression is sleep. After a weekend of you or your family taking a lot of the night shift where your wife has gotten good chunks of uninterrupted sleep, if she is still deeply blue with funk, anger or depression it could be more serious. If not, she just needs more nighttime breaks during the week.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Not that you need one more thing to do, but my wife and I (proud parents of 4, with our youngest also 2 months old), have found this book to be very helpful in learning how to guide a newborn into a good sleeping schedule.

[http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Baby-Wise-Giving- Nighttime/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Baby-Wise-Giving- Nighttime/dp/1932740139)

If you just do one thing from that book, choose to regulate the sleep/eat/awake cycle of your child.

And now some generic pointers you may have already heard:

\- Every child is different, but parenting approaches not so much. Pick an approach that emphasizes the goals you want to achieve (regulate sleep, minimize crying, parental free time, etc.) and _adapt it_ to your child in the particulars (approach says feed every 3 hours, but Sally is hungry after 2.5).

\- Getting enough sleep is hard, but important, for both of you. If family can watch the baby so one or both of you get naps, absolutely take advantage of that.

\- Be patient with your spouse, assume her intentions are good and give her the benefit of the doubt.

\- In a time when your wife is resentful of you, ask her directly if there's anything you can do to alleviate some burden from her.

\- Parenting is a constant reminder that you don't know what you're doing, so don't feel bad about that. Bill Watterson put it rather well in C&H: [http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main- qimg-a0c61445794a690aa3a00f4...](http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main- qimg-a0c61445794a690aa3a00f49cbf88504)

\- It _does get easier_ , especially when the kid drops a middle-of-the-night feeding.

Lastly, I just want to say that you aren't alone, our 7 week old is still up every 3 hours through the night, and lately our oldest has been waking up at 4:30 (which does not coincide with a time that we're up with the youngest). This has been the hardest lack of sleep to adjust to out of our 4 kids, and my wife is exhausted. Still, we're as close as a couple as we've ever been, and you only get that from doing whatever it takes to _survive_ the hard times with someone else.

<comment><AUTHOR> First, you have my respect for raising 4 kids. I mean it in a good way :). Some good advice there. Looking at the book for sure. I think like many others are saying, the sleep cycle will get better but it is never too early to start trying out techniques. For example, we are using crib, swing, secure sleeper etc. to try and put her to sleep in addition to me walking her around on my shoulders or sitting with her in our laps.

<comment><USER8> Every child adds a new dynamic to your life, and our lives are very dynamic at this point ;-)

Two other things I want to mention:

\- Kids are incredibly resilient. They will not break even if you make mistakes.

\- Crying and fussing is not always a sign that you need to do something. Babies cry. If your child has a clean diaper, isn't hungry, and doesn't need to burp, there's no harm done in letting them cry themselves to sleep in a crib, in a room by themselves.

Many people nowadays, parents included, consider those to be very _harsh_ ideas. But really, it won't harm the child or you (physically, mentally, emotionally) to let them cry themselves to sleep.

<comment><AUTHOR> I am very intrigued by the idea of "let them cry to sleep". I will talk to the pediatrician about it but does this really work ? Also does it harm the baby in any way ? Honestly, 2 mins of her crying makes us get up and take her in our arms.

<comment><USER9> You must not use controlled crying techniques until the child is at least 6 months old - that's about the age that children can cry voluntarily.

Before that point the only reason they cry is to tell you that they need something. To stop them crying you have to address that need. They're either hungry, or cold, or hot, or have trapped wind, or lonely.

There is plenty of conflicting research, but I chose to pick the research that supports my point of view. (Which is all supporting 'attachment parenting'.)

When you do start the technique it is _NOT_ 'just leave them to cry'. The child cries. You go in and calm her without taking her from the crib. You then leave before she's gone back to sleep. If she cries you wait one minute, then go back in and calm her, then leave again. If she cries you wait 2 minutes. You repeat this, adding a minute on each time.

Sometimes she might not settle at all. You can stay in the room. Don't make eye contact. Make loud sshhhsss noises. Pat her on the back. Don't take her from the cot unless there's a need to.

It's important to set aside 2 weeks for this process. Usually it doesn't take that long, most children settle in after 2 or 3 nights. But you must be consistent.

<comment><USER8> I'd like to respectfully disagree.

> There is plenty of conflicting research, but I chose to pick the research > that supports my point of view.

I'm in the same boat as you here, I've heard arguments from both sides, and eventually you have to pick the one that "feels right". It's hardly a data- driven decision.

> Before that point the only reason they cry is to tell you that they need > something. To stop them crying you have to address that need. They're either > hungry, or cold, or hot, or have trapped wind, or [are] lonely.

Or, again, you've set up their expectations about _what happens next_ and they're letting you know they're ready for it.

> <snip self-soothing technique> > It's important to set aside 2 weeks for > this process. Usually it doesn't take that long, most children settle in > after 2 or 3 nights. But you must be consistent.

See, I don't think this whole technique is substantially different from doing the same thing at 6 weeks. The reason "controlled crying" involves so much in- and-out of the bedroom, is because you are _re-training_ the child's expectations. You've spent 6 months telling the child "If you cry when you don't need anything else, I'll pick you up" and so of course you have to ease them into it, because it's an unexpected change of the routine.

The goal is the same, the result is the same, the effect on the child is the same, the only difference is that Baby-wise says that a child of 6 weeks is capable of learning how to sleep, whereas "controlled crying" is saying a child must be 6 months.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Parent of triplets on a throwaway account here. Some of this may come across as rude, sorry.

\- You have one baby, you truly don't know the meaning of stress.

\- Talk with and listen to other good parents at work/in your life.

\- The What To Expect... books were gold for us as first-time (x3) parents.

\- Your kid will be perfectly okay if they're on formula (but definitely give as much breast milk as you can).

\- Alternate night-feeding duties between you and your wife. Then be glad you don't have two hands and three babies to feed by yourself on that shift.

\- While doing all of this and the night shifts, I still had to work 40-50 hours a week at a job. I was mostly unproductive for 6 months.

\- _Man up_ and support your wife. All I hear is me, me, me. Your wife is under way more stress than you and her body is still recovering (physically/hormonally). Our situation was compounded by a serious episode of post-partum depression. Fortunately, we got through that intact.

\- This time will be over quickly and some day you will actually look back and miss it.

 _> Last night, my wife was almost yelling at the baby because she won't drink the milk and it was really frustrating. This needs to change._

Try to be understanding of her stress and do anything you can to alleviate it.

 _> Our baby wakes up every 3 hours on average for milk and her mother is pumping milk._

She can pump during the day and put the milk in the fridge.

 _> Our own relationship (wife and I) seems shaky suddenly and she has started resenting me._

You need to communicate. You need to understand your wife is healing and under the stress of much more responsibility than you. Try not to take the resenting personally. Support her any way you can.

And yes, I learned all of this the hard way by making a lot of the above mistakes.

</comment><comment><USER11> My best advice - get into a parents group. We formed our own group from the parents attending the same childbirth class. Your local child development council should be able to help you out if necessary.

It's VITAL to have a support system and to know that you're not the only parents to have these feeling and issues. There is NO substitute for personal interaction and commiseration. Even if you have parents and babysitters available, you need people to validate the feeling you're having which are normal and common.

The group we formed lasted for many years and was very helpful while raising our 2 kids.

</comment><comment><USER12> Because you're still working, you get 8-9 hours a day off from being responsible for the immediate care of the baby. Your wife probably feels like she gets zero hours off. Is she eager to get back to work or just to get out of the house and get a few hours off? Could you work from home a few days a week or drop down to 30 hours a week so she could have some time to feel like a professional more than a mom? You're both really stressed and your lives have changed a lot, but hers has changed more than yours, at least for now. Can you leave the baby with her grandparents and go away for a weekend?

I agree that a bit of formula is going to be fine for the baby. The more important thing is a happy, loving set of parents who aren't resentful of the awesome thing they made. If the crying and not sleeping doesn't stop soon, it could be attributable to an allergy or food sensitivity. Your wife can either go on a super bland and shitty elimination diet, or you could talk to your doctor and see if formula exists for super allergic kids and just try him on that for a few weeks and see if it gets better. Food allergies are really common nowadays, and it's an easy thing to fix.

</comment><comment><USER13> Getting a sleep pattern set is absolutely critical the first eight weeks. We have an almost 3 year old (she) and a 9 month old (he). She was set at her 3rd week and him at his 4th or 5th. Both were non-breastfeed but are months ahead on all milestones. Declare a night time regime and follow it strictly. Say 9PM is when you want them to sleep. At 8:30PM have a little one-on-one with the baby. Change their diaper for the night, put on PJs or night gown, make their bottle for the night. At 8 weeks they should be at 4 or more oz. We've had our son at 6oz since about 3 months. Mix the breast milk with a scoop of rice- based formula or even a baby rice cereal. The rice starches will naturally take longer to digest, keeping your baby happier and fuller longer throughout the night. Enfamil, Similac, and even store brands from Target, Walmart, and Sam's Club work well. Talk to your doctor about setting a sleep pattern as well.

</comment><comment><USER14> Firstly is your wife pumping milk,why not let the baby breast-feed directly?Its painful for awhile but will make your life a lot easier in the long run as its vastly simpler than bottles.

Secondly why are both getting up?Its only one baby! It does not need two adults to get up at the same time at night. Wife can feed the baby directly every 3 hours,you sleep through most of the night.Your wife can also sleep during the day as she as still at home and get help.

Babies sleep a lot and you cant set a schedule for a 2 month old so work around her needs.When you get home your wife gets out for a walk for a bit and then you can watch a movie together and relax when she is napping,do some non- baby related things each day and realise as new parents you are definitely worrying too much (we were the same on our first one).

Is she colicy? This could cause postpartum depression in your wife(and maybe even you) quite easily.

</comment><comment><USER9> 1) Lack of sleep is used as a form of torture in some countries. Your wife needs to be able to sleep whenever the child is asleep.

2) Feeding is often something that people worry about. Check with a health visitor / doctor; if the baby is thriving then everything is okay. Maybe try different teats? Make sure the milk is the right temperature. Try different chairs.

If none of that is working you could offer to do alternate nights for a week. This allows her to get at least some rest.

Your wife needs support through the day. She needs to have time just for herself, and time with friends, and time with friends and the child.

Post natal blues and post natal depression do happen and are normal, so support your wife if she wants to get treatment.

Things do get a bit better when the child is sleeping longer. After about 6 months you can start techniques to help your child sleep through the night.

<comment><USER8> > Things do get a bit better when the child is sleeping longer. After about 6 > months you can start techniques to help your child sleep through the night.

With the caveat that every child is different, there's no reason to delay "sleep-through-the-night techniques" until a child is 6 months old. We've found that by explicitly managing the eating schedule of our children, they've developed routines that get them sleeping through the night between 8 and 10 weeks.

Newborns are constantly adapting to the world around them. If __you __have a routine in place, they'll figure out how to adapt to it, and that can translate directly to more sleep for parents and happier parent <-> child bonding times. If it didn't have such a huge impact on parental quality of life, I'd say it doesn't matter how you approach getting them to sleep through the night. But it _does_ have a huge impact, so it's foolish not to consider that when determining your approach to raising a newborn.

<comment><USER9> > With the caveat that every child is different, there's no reason to delay > "sleep-through-the-night techniques" until a child is 6 months old.

I meant 'controlled crying' techniques, which must not be used before the child is 6 months old.

<comment><USER8> Hadn't ever heard it called "controlled crying" before. It looks like this is also called "self-soothing".

From reading the first few articles on a google search of the topic, this looks very similar in nature to the Baby-wise technique of establishing a routine which will cause the child to settle into a nighttime routine and let them sleep through the night.

Why wait until the child is 6 months old? I didn't see any reasons given on the (admittedly few) articles I read. Children crave routine, and ISTM that the best time to establish one is as soon as the _parents_ are ready for it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> We are expecting our first baby in a couple of months too. So, no real experience here but I want to share some info that I gathered from different sources, in case it might be helpful.

If the baby cries at night and don't want to eat its a sign to look for another reasons. There's non obvious one: gases in the tummy. They appear because of an adrenalin which baby got with the milk. If mother is angry/stressed an adrenalin goes into her blood and then into milk. The baby eats, his tummy filles with gases, he cries, mother wakes up stressed and so on... The way to get out of this loop is to decrease the amount of stress for the mother. I know it's hard, because of harmones rage in her blood but you need to be a psychologist here and try to calm he down.

Like they say, keep calm and carry on. It should get better in few weeks.

<comment><USER8> Congratulations! I hope everything goes well for you!

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> It sounds like a major source of tension is breast feeding. Have you looked into hiring a breast feeding coach?

Another note is that babies in my experience are oddly perceptive to the parents being stressed out or tense (not in any sort of damaging way). Try to do anything you guys possibly can to relax... massage, walks, whatever, etc etc and you may find she feeds better and is generally easier on you guys.

Lastly your situation is more common than unique. At the worst you'll muddle through it and look back and say thank god thats over. It feels like torture now but you guys will be fine - every couple Ive known in your situation goes through some form of this with a new child.

<comment><AUTHOR> The thing with breast feeding is that my wife is soon to go back to work and she will have to pump anyway. So she chose to pump from the beginning (for better or worse). I think I have to be more proactive to her needs and try and do some things differently.

<comment><USER8> I understand the reasoning here, and the pump is a wonderful piece of technology to make use of, but there's still something very _mechanical_ about pumping. If it's an option, your wife may find it more relaxing to try breastfeeding on occasion.

<comment><AUTHOR> totally agreed. she has actually started trying it lately but not 100%.

<comment><USER17> I don't understand choosing the pump from the beginning... People choose that as a solo option and not an additional means? Is it a nipple thing? | (sorry if too personal, just hacking) Isn't it natural comfort for a woman to breast feed? Brings the connection together? I do not know everything about brains and emotion bit it kind of makes sense, just like making love to her.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> <http://www.dunstanbaby.com/>

The stress may come from the crying of your child. My older brother and his wife had the same stress problems (don't know about the resentment part), but mainly due to the fact that they couldn't understand what the baby wants from his crying. The frustration of not being able to appease that cry can in fact produce great stress, try the Baby Listener's advice. It worked for my brother and his wife. Search for videos about it.

</comment><comment><USER19> Infants wake when hungry, so duration of sleep begins as a function of stomach capacity. Within a month your daughter should be sleeping six hours a night at least.

Meanwhile, if your wife is expressing milk, you should share the small hours duty: spell her for a couple of nights to let her make a dent in her sleep deficit. (I confess that I did not, but I was not asked to.) And sometimes, the infant just needs to be walked around for 10 or 15 minutes--you can do that part.

</comment><comment><USER20> Warning: I have no experience with parenting.

In my opinion you need someone who has lot of experiencing taking care of a 2 month old and have them with you for few days so that you and your wife can connect with each other and realize the beautiful phase you guys are going through.

My guess is that both of you are overwhelmed right now which can always make things seem worse than they are.

<comment><AUTHOR> I agree. I am trying to get one of our parents (from either side) to come and stay with us for a couple of months. Thanks for the advice.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Are you breastfeeding or just pumping milk? The act of breastfeeding typically soothes and knocks the baby right out.

</comment><comment><USER8> All my advice in one word: <http://i.imgur.com/ectqP.gif>

</comment><comment><USER22> Congratulations! But this _is_ a highly stressful time for parents. Be gentle with each other (it sounds like you are doing that) - both of you are not getting enough sleep, your bodies are still adapting, and you are learning a ton of new things. Do not hesitate to ask family and friends for much more help - this is a time to lean on those close to you, and you give them the nice gift of allowing them to help.

This rough time will pass, most probably in a matter of a few more weeks. You will increasingly be able to cope. Do keep consulting with your pediatrician with _any_ questions - it's ok to ask as many questions as you have. None of us are born knowing how to care for a new baby. If your baby's weight is on target, don't worry so much about occasional feeding difficulties.

If you can afford, absolutely get someone to help with household tasks - <USER2> cleaning, shopping, cooking. Talk to the people at work and rearrange some things temporarily - most all of us understand the stress of a new baby - <USER3> you shift your work hours? Can you work from home temporarily? Can you work three or four days a week instead of five, etc? Can you take some paternity leave?

Postpartum blues are common and will pass quickly, but have a low threshold for either of you to get an evaluation from MD if depression develops. Keep talking to friends and family and let people know what you're going through.

Humor is a strong and highly mature defense. If in 10 years you're going to laugh about today's 4AM emergency diaper change, you might as well just start laughing now.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thx. Tryhing a few of the options you mentioned. I totally know that we will laugh it off very soon. Hoping for that.</comment></comment>


The Unified Theory of Ram Dass - <AUTHOR> https://www.gq.com/story/the-unified-theory-of-ram-dass <comment><USER2> It feels important to emphasise that Ram Dass is not a guru by his own definition:

 _Unity of God, guru, and Self is the higher truth, and if your veil of attachment is very thin, you may be able, like Ramana, to penetrate directly to that essence in the heart._

 _But most of us, to get through our busy human incarnation and the profusion of forms we find in our lives, need guidance and help. Seeing the guru as separate from oneself is a way to approach it in steps of lesser truths. It's a first step toward becoming the One. The reality of the guru or guide as separate from oneself is a method or vehicle for coming to God. It's using a relationship with a separate entity, dualism, to get to the One, to the reality that the guru is identical with your inmost being._

i.e. God=Guru=Self, see: [https://www.ramdass.org/god-guru- self/](https://www.ramdass.org/god-guru-self/)

However, of all the things Ram Dass has said and done, the mantra (from the article) is all we really need to remember:

 _"So I accomplish the move from head to heart, in part with mantra: I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness." With each repetition of the mantra, Ram Dass slowly begins charting the daily process of moving his consciousness out of his thinking mind and toward his open, present, compassionate heart—from ego land to soul land._

 _"All the universe is love," he continues. "And I 'm loving all of the universe.… Everything—everything—has love in it."_

<3

<comment><USER3> What does it actually mean to say that all the universe is love, and that everything has love in it? Is this more a way in which he is choosing to view things, or an actual statement of fact?

<comment><USER2> I think that the statement "all the universe is love" is the ultimate example of a "Darwinian Truth" (I hesitate to reference Jordan Peterson here, but it's another useful definition: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_Q2qgdYB3I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_Q2qgdYB3I)). I believe that in order for us humans to survive and thrive in life, individually and collectively, it is a truth must ultimately be consciously acknowledged. After all, we each represent projections of maternal lineage founded on an unbroken chain of our mothers' unconditional love for us. This way of viewing things is therefore primary since it has been there since very the beginnings of individual awareness. The original fact.

As to exactly how you personally should interpret "all the universe is love", well, it's a very personal thing. Perhaps the most general way to convey how that feels to me is: extend your deep inner-child maternal love outwards to encompass the rest of humanity, the Earth's ecosystem, and the natural conditions that gave rise to life itself. Like the feeling of warm sunshine on a cold day.

<comment><USER3> From what I've read of Jordan Peterson, he seems like a reasonable guy on many topics, but I don't agree with Darwinian Truth. The only truth is what I experience. Everything outside of that is a game of language, including Jordan Peterson's and Harris's arguments.

I don't see how invoking Jordan Peterson's 'Darwinian Truth' gives any weight to the claim that all the universe is love. I would agree that you could indeed hold it to be an axiom.

You might believe that it is beneficial for humans to hold this axiom to be true and act accordingly, but this is still your subjective opinion. It supposes that humans are a worthy universal end, and the axiom remains an axiom.

I don't know what you mean by unbroken maternal lineage. My maternal experience was very much broken. From what my mother has told me, so was hers.

What is the extension of deep inner child maternal love to encompass the test of humanity? Is it not just another way of saying that you just wish that everything were hunky dory? Things don't seem to work that way in Darwin's world.

I don't want to disregard the idea of unconditional love for family and beyond. Many people can afford it. However, many people can't, and it isn't a truth that we must strive towards either.

There is a multitude of subjective value systems which man has chosen to live by, ostensibly, collectively and in private. Some have chosen to build empires, never having children. Some have chosen to build loving families. In neither case is it guaranteed that a majority will wake up smiling and feeling happy every day. That's fine too.

<comment><USER2> > I would agree that you could indeed hold it to be an axiom.

Challenge accepted, I will play your language game :)

> You might believe that it is beneficial for humans to hold this axiom to be > true and act accordingly, but this is still your subjective opinion.

I live in quiet certainty that one day, eventually, everyone will be holding this same opinion and hold this axiom to be true. I do not necessarily expect to still be around to witness it personally.

By unbroken maternal lineage I am referring to the 9 months of sufficient love and nurturing required for a mother to produce a baby human, as has happened 100% consistently and successfully for millennia to arrive at each one of us. Any love received post-birth is a bonus. I accept that this view is harder to appreciate in some circumstances and is often obscured by many layers of trauma.

> Is it not just another way of saying that you just wish that everything were > hunky dory?

I think to hold the perspective I'm describing you have to let go of seeing the problems in the world as problems. Things are simply happening. Suffering is happening. Life is unfolding. At some level I'm certainly still entertaining a wish that everything might yet work out to be hunky dory, but these days I can readily accept that such a wish will only ever be an illusion. I guess that is my second axiom.

You might enjoy briefly hearing Alan Watts tell The Story of the Chinese Farmer which beautifully expresses this general acceptance of life as it is currently: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX0OARBqBp0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX0OARBqBp0)

> Many people can afford it. However, many people can't, and it isn't a truth > that we must strive towards

Many people might think they can't afford to love because life can grow intense and feel very serious sometimes, even dangerous, but love is free and it is always the best course of action. What else could each of us be striving towards if not a world with more love (even if only for ourselves)?

> In neither case is it guaranteed that a majority will wake up smiling and > feeling happy every day. That's fine too.

I agree, that's fine. Sadness is just as meaningful a feeling as happiness. These are just feelings.

<comment><USER3> Thanks for linking the video. I completely agree with that mindset.

I'm really not sure what to say regarding the love, though. I'll leave it here.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I have always enjoyed listening to recordings of Ram Dass at various points during his life (much more than I've enjoyed his writings). I have issues with a lot of his beliefs at various points, but his compassion always shines through and I feel like he is being honest with his listeners about his experience of his spiritual journey, even if sometimes he is seeing things through muddy waters. He is imperfect, and searching, and he is very generous and genuine in sharing his experiences. I don't usually feel like I am getting grand truths from him, other than the insight into one seeker's subjective (and powerful) experiences.

</comment><comment><USER5> It makes me happy to see this article here. I have always been impressed with the way Ram Dass has traveled through life.

<comment><USER6> I agree that the message is beautiful. I do have reservations however about gurus, in that the ones I'm aware of tend to live in isolated places where they are worshiped. I feel like it's easy to love and support others when you have peace, quiet, love and support in abundance around you. I'd like to see how these individuals operate in higher stress situations and if they've really perfected the art of love or if it's more a product of their circumstances.

<comment><USER7> Agreed. A lot of famous gurus are just very charismatic people that live a very nice life and don't really have to deal with the drudgeries of the life most regular people live. When you look under the cover a lot of them are abusive and really not nice people.

I think there are only very few people that are really spiritually enlightened and they are not necessarily the famous gurus.

I know nothing about Ram Dad's but when I was more involved in yoga I saw some very shady behavior of public gurus.

<comment><USER8> I agree with you, but I don't necessarily see a conflict between someone "teaching" me (what a guru basically is: a teacher, in a way) and other facets of their personality.

I've had many teachers that were superb at imparting their lessons while living with the foibles and flaws of being real people. You take what you need from the teacher and move on.

An example in popular culture: someone like Bill Cosby, who I am sure influenced countless people to be better people. Well, it turned out that he had major problems (to put it mildly!). Does that negate the "lessons" that he imparted in another aspect of his life? I would argue no.

I know you aren't negating this argument in your post, but I just wanted to say this and chose your post to glom onto! :)

<comment><USER7> With self help, spiritual and health people I have decided only to listen to people who live their own teachings. I have seen famous yoga teachers talk about the benefits of yoga while popping large amounts of Ibuprofen daily because their practice injured them.

Same for some gurus who outwardly are serene and friendly people but their ashram is a dictatorship that terrorizes and manipulates people. There is also a lot of sexual abuse going on. Ram Dass himself did questionable things.

I think bad behavior negates the teachings or at least diminishes them by a lot. How am I supposed to know something works if it doesn't work for the teacher?

Unfortunately there are only a few authentic gurus and teachers.

<comment><USER9> "There is a false saying: "How can someone who can't save himself save others?" Supposing I have the key to your chains, why should your lock and my lock be the same?"

\- Nietzsche

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> After a 2 year long burn-out his book 'Be Here Now' brought back balance, a peace of mind, and incredible love and joy in my life.

<comment><USER11> It's a placebo. The peace was always within you.

<comment><USER12> While that may be true, if it was the reading of this book that brought that peace of mind to him, why try to discredit his fondness of the book so dismissively? Everyone needs guidance from time to time, does it really matter where the guidance comes from?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I've always been conflicted by these gurus, so let me play devil's advocate and present some things I found when I researched Ram Dass / Neem Karoli Baba a while ago:

[http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/dass.html](http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/dass.html)

Some interesting tales by Ram Dass about how Neem Karoli read his mind, ingested ginormous amounts of LSD without any effect, etc; here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb2BWvRN090](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb2BWvRN090)

The specific story about the Baba reading Ram Dass' mind and informing him that he was thinking about his mother and that she had died of spleen failure stayed with me. Maybe he was informed the previous night that a Professor from the US was arriving whose mother died recently of spleen failure and the rest was about creating an illusion of omniscience?

In any case, a large number of these gurus turn out to be sexual predators, and it is absolutely crushing to those who follow them to discover this.

UG "masturbation is better than meditation" Krishnamurti was a much needed respite from these masters of bullshit for me, personally.

<comment><USER14> >sexual predators

Yeah, these guys give off slimy vibes, but I wonder if this term is a little harsh. Women associate willingly with these men, and ostensibly enjoy doing so. If all participants are willing, what is the difference between predation and normal human interaction? Is it not normal for women to be drawn to power and influence?

<comment><USER13> Great point. Unless the guru is advocating the virtues of celibacy, there is no hypocrisy involved.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2516424/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2516424/) is an interesting documentary about the complicated, ambivalent relationship between Alpert and Leary, made when Leary was dying. Leary, characteristically, turned his death into a spectacle, but I find Alpert the more interesting of the two.

<comment><USER16> I highly recommend How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan. He convincingly illustrates how detrimental to serious research were Leary and his penchant for the spectacular.

<comment><USER17> I wholeheartedly second the recommendation. I also want to point out that Pollan's treatment of Leary's influence is certainly more nuanced than that. Here's a key quote:

> _When I asked Rick Doblin if he worries about another backlash, he pointed > out that our culture has come a long way from the 1960s and has shown a > remarkable ability to digest a great many of the cultural novelties first > cooked up during that era.

"That was a very different time. People wouldn't even talk about cancer or death then. Women were tranquilized to give birth; men weren't allowed in the delivery room! Yoga and meditation were totally weird. Now mindfulness is mainstream and everyone does yoga, and there are birthing centers and hospices all over. We've integrated all these things into our culture. And now I think we're ready to integrate psychedelics."

Doblin points out that many of the people now in charge of our institutions are of a generation well acquainted with these molecules. This, he suggests, is the true legacy of Timothy Leary. It's all well and good for today's researchers to disdain his "antics" and blame him for derailing the first wave of research, and yet, as Doblin points out with a smile, "there would be no second wave if Leary hadn't turned on a whole generation." Indeed. Consider the case of Paul Summergrad, who has spoken publicly of his own youthful use of psychedelics. In a videotaped interview with Ram Dass that was shown at the 2015 meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, he told his colleagues that an acid trip he took in college had been formative in his intellectual development. (Jeffrey Lieberman, another past president of the American Psychiatric Association, has also written of the insights gleaned from his youthful experiments with LSD.)_

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> On a personal level I find detachment and neutrality to be helpful for reducing anxiety and stress, but on a societal level it sounds like a recipe for mass complacency in the face of oppression.

</comment><comment><USER19> I had his Be Here Now book in University. I didn't know he had a podcast. I'll have to add it.

I had a friend I was tripping on acid with, back in grad school, and he picked up the Be Here Now book, read the intro and said, "Wait, did he seriously change his name to 'Rammed ass?!'" .. I've always wondered about his intent after that. :-P

<comment><USER20> Ram Dass (dāsa=devotee (of Lord Rama)).

You might have known other people with similar last name (eg: Anil Dash).

The most common pronunciation is "Das"

<comment><USER21> Why does anyone feel the need to take on a new name just because you change your religion? I never understood that. I have had epiphanies that dramatically changed my world-view, but I never thought "Now I must take a new name". I'm not criticizing those who do this, since people change their names all the time anyway, but I'm genuinely curious why this phenomenon is so common when people change their religion?

<comment><USER22> This is what I understand - in the Hindu tradition (perhaps it's similar in Buddhist and Catholic traditions) you are supposed to enter a new life when you become a Sannyasi (monk). One of the initial rituals in many schools is to perform funeral rites for your former self. Through this process, you renounce your family, relations, and what you think of as your "identity". Then the guru gives a new name to the monk. Afterwards, monks are prohibited from talking about their purvashrama (previous life).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Understanding and living his message (or any other non-dualist teacher) is the #1 to do if you want a successful startup.

(Really, it's the recipe for a successful life. In fact, when you've tasted what he's offering, you may find that stock options, sales funnels, and customer acquisition costs no longer excite you.)

<comment><USER24> I feel like if you're excited by those things you will have more success running a startup, no?

<comment><USER25> Your focus would be completely misplaced.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Be Here Now is a really great book.

</comment><comment><USER11> Gurus are people who get paid for just being charismatic. That's it.

<comment><USER27> You obviously haven't met a Unix Guru.

<comment><USER28> We don't have HN Gold to give, so please take an update instead.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> The most effective rape drug ever, turning adults into children who can be exploited.

"I got dismissed from Harvard because I had given psychedelics to an undergraduate. We had agreed with the dean that we would not give psychedelics to undergraduates." Ram Dass flashes a mischievous grin. "He was an attractive kid." So do you suspect, I ask, that Maharajji had a hand in making you attracted to men because it would ultimately lead you to him? "I suspect," he replies with a nod. "He's a rascal." "Maharajji?" I ask. "Yeah," Ram Dass says.

There are truths to be seen through the eyes of a child, but there's also the rape-facilitation, too.

<comment><USER30> Other than this article, I'm pretty much unfamiliar with Ram Dass, so I'm curious what leads you to believe some form of rape took place. Is there something in Ramm Dass' past that the article doesn't cover? I feel like I must be missing something, surely it's not the drug use alone that has led you to believe this, right?

<comment><USER31> You really don't get it? He was using drugs to seduce his students from a position of power and influence over them. That wasn't cool even in 1967.

<comment><USER30> Fair point,

I definitely should have been more charitable in my reading, I got stuck on this:

> The most effective rape drug ever, turning adults into children who can be > exploited

I was looking to tease out some clarification, because the implication that these drugs turn _adults_ into children and prime them for rape seems like a strange leap from my perspective.

I'll happily chalk it up to my lack of charitable reading and assume in good faith the commenter was referring to the drugs combined with the power dynamics.

<comment><USER31> I think "turning adults into children" is just a reference to using drugs to reduce their inhibitions and/or ability to resist. Not much different from getting someone drunk.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> Oh, that guy. See this New York Times article from 1977.[1]

 _" Over the course of several years, Alpert claimed to have taken some 300 acid trips. Inevitably, the problem became one of facing the blandness of coming down.... Once, he says he and five others locked themselves in a building for three weeks and dropped 400 micrograms of LSD every four hours. Still; when the trip was over, it was over. Finished. Done. In "Be Here Now," Ram Dass describes the pain: "It was as if you'd come into the kingdom of heaven and seen how it all is, and then you got cast out again." Looking for a way to get up there and stay up there, maybe even without drugs ... Alpert split for India."_

Today. tuned out, turned off, and dropped out of sight.

[1] [https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/04/archives/confessions- of-a...](https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/04/archives/confessions-of-an- american-guru-ram-dass.html)

</comment><comment><USER33> TLDR. What's the theory?</comment>


Ask HN: Legal implications of ICO? - <AUTHOR> Hello, can someone point to resource which would describe the legality of ICOs?
A lot of coverage mentions "scam" and almost all ICOs say "can't be bought by US and EU citizens"
Is there a blog post / paper on that? <comment><USER2> It's somewhat uncharted territory, and I am not a lawyer.

But the non-lawyer consensus seems to be that if you're seeking or accepting _investment_ through your ICO, rather than selling something that is useful to your customers and already exists, you are in effect selling an unlicensed security to unaccredited investors, and in the US this is extremely illegal and regulated by the SEC.

You could Google [ICO unlicensed security] to read more about this take.

<comment><AUTHOR> thank you, just did Google.

Are there any examples of ICO companies getting in trouble because of SEC?

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> There's various advice on this page:

[https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/](https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/)

<comment><AUTHOR> I meant Initial Coin Offering</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Is there any open source tool for creating simple CRUD Apps? - <AUTHOR> Is there any tools that can make making CRUD apps easier ?
It should allow creating forms for data input and updates and it should be preferably open-source.
I am thinking more like metabase for creating dashboards, does any such tool exists ?
I am using Rails currently <comment><USER2> Checkout Daptin [https://github.com/daptin/daptin](https://github.com/daptin/daptin)

I have build a lot of crud apps with daptin as the backend. I have been building daptin since about 2 years now.

Daptin will be able to give you much more than just CRUD. Things like authentication/authorization/user management. Maybe you would want OTP based login in future, maybe not. There are a lot of features like that.

It's written in golang so you can get a single independent binary which can run anywhere. There is a docker image as well if you prefer that.

</comment><comment><USER3> If you are familiar with Rails, I would strongly recommend investigating Django.

Here's why:

\- Django admin gives you all the CRUD you need

\- ORM to design your models, simple or complex

\- Baked in user auth system

\- Secure defaults

\- Host of pre-built plugins (Django apps)

\- Python 3 is a solid language you will love

\- Ability to extend in the future if the need arises

</comment><comment><USER4> Hi, yes, this is what Retool is for! ([https://retool.com](https://retool.com))

It's like Metabase, but instead of for buliding dashboards, it's for building CRUD apps. LMK if you have any feedback? We've been working on it for a bit now.

Thanks!

<comment><USER5> This seems like a cool product, something that we could use.

However our main ERP system doesn't have an API, so I've been building a custom scraper that feeds into a Django app, which allows custom tooling around our data.

This would have been perfect if it allowed for building scrapers to feed the custom db.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Have you looked at:

* Hasura ([https://hasura.io/](https://hasura.io/))

* [https://www.prisma.io/](https://www.prisma.io/)

* [https://www.graphile.org/postgraphile/](https://www.graphile.org/postgraphile/)

<comment><USER7> Related Hasura comment: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22787313](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22787313)

<comment><USER8> Wow epic comment.

Serious question though, why post hog & metabase? Dont they overlap?

<comment><USER9> Sort of. They're capable of analytics, but Metabase is a Business Intelligence tool, and Posthog is focused on user interaction/website analytics.

They both give you incredibly useful data, but different kinds. Metabase lets you analyze trends/relationships in your overall database-layer data. Posthog lets you analyze how users are interacting with your website/app and where your traffic is coming from.

It's like Tableau vs Mixpanel/Amplitude.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Try [https://github.com/anvil-works/anvil-runtime](https://github.com/anvil- works/anvil-runtime)

No JavaScript nonsense all python code

<comment><USER11> I would say that in the world of Web applications Python is the nonsense :)

<comment><USER12> Mind explaining why you believe so?

<comment><USER11> Well, not a belief more like a practicaly oriented mindset :)

In any modern web application you most probably will end up using Javascript for the frontend part, and you have plenty of choice for the backend, which actually includes some really good options both in Javascript and Typescript.

So choosing Python makes you swtich languages between FE and BE.

Then if we are talking about the BE, Javascript is usually more performant, there is bigger choice of libraries and frameworks, and the tooling is simply better ( and improving).

And then there is the async story. Yes Python has a way to write async code, but is more like a patch on top of fully synchronous language rather than full solution, not to mention the very crippled syntax of Python that doesn't let you write anonymous functions.

<comment><USER10> Yes all true but if I am familiar with php or python I should be able to create an web application without learning javascript. This was possible few years back so if it is not possible anymore then it is a regression IMHO. anvil.works also makes it possible so it is great for creating my apps.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> With admin/client part builder, all open source and can be self-hosted:

(Node) [https://strapi.io/](https://strapi.io/)

(PHP) [https://directus.io/](https://directus.io/)

(PHP) [https://getcockpit.com/](https://getcockpit.com/)

</comment><comment><USER14> Rails has active admin and a couple of similar options.

I've built quite complex apps with activeadmin, it's worth looking at.

<comment><USER15> I've built whole apps out of active_scaffold. Really powerful, but still able to be flexible.

[https://github.com/activescaffold/active_scaffold](https://github.com/activescaffold/active_scaffold)

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> React admin is a pretty good framework I've worked with. It's mature and very pleasant to deal with. It's also got data providers for many different databases.

[https://github.com/marmelab/react-admin](https://github.com/marmelab/react- admin)

</comment><comment><USER17> Flask-Admin[^1] lets you set up CRUD apps easily. You declare your model and it automatically builds up the CRUD views, which you can restrict, with templates you can customize, and views you can override.

[^1]: [https://flask-admin.readthedocs.io/en/latest/](https://flask- admin.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)

</comment><comment><USER18> JHipster: [https://www.jhipster.tech/](https://www.jhipster.tech/)

<comment><USER19> I've been using JHipster for a month now and it's really allowed me to get my side projects off the ground in no time. The CI-CD generator was a huge help too.

<comment><USER18> I'd be curious to know your use cases. I once used it to rewrite a mainframe application.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I've seen people mention react admin on here, but I haven't gotten round to trying it out myself.

</comment><comment><USER21> I've used strapi in production apps. Works great, and has a graphql plugin. I'd recommend it!

</comment><comment><USER22> Literally everything does CRUD. Easier is a mirage you'll never reach. I say add Snippets for common things and more file generating and keep cracking with Rails. You'll speed up in no time.

</comment><comment><USER23> Since you're using Rails, ActiveAdmin is pretty slick. It's an entirely new DSL (see: potential technical debt), but once you get the hang of it, it's hard to beat.

There's also [https://github.com/activeadmin/inherited_resources](https://github.com/activeadmin/inherited_resources) which is what ActiveAdmin uses under the hood. This will take away a lot of the pain of creating said forms.

Obviously you could `rails g scaffold` too.

</comment><comment><USER24> I've been playing with hyperfiddle (clojure): [http://www.hyperfiddle.net/](http://www.hyperfiddle.net/)

<comment><USER25> +1 for Hyperfiddle. Solid, powerful, visionary product.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> CouchDB+PouchDB: Serve pages directly from DB

Jasonelle[0]: Write mobile native apps using JSON

[0] [https://jasonelle.com](https://jasonelle.com)

</comment><comment><USER27> You're on Rails, just scaffold everything.

Any solution that provides a UI for you over database tables is going to feel clunky after a while. If your purpose is to just get something up, use Rails scaffold and throw some bootstrap at it.

When you reach the point where you need more sophistication in your UI, then you can more easily pivot from a set of templates created from scaffold vs. getting locked into something like Active Admin.

</comment><comment><USER28> Use Active Admin for your dashboards. Inherited resources for controllers, which generates a set of restful actions for a model. And simple form for your forms. They're all rails ready ruby gems.

This covers 60-80% of the most basic CRUD use cases. Though with any reasonably robust real world application you'll still need to write a lot of more specific, custom logic for the pages that are critical to your domain.

</comment><comment><USER29> If python is considerable, I'd recommend Flask AppBuilder :[https://github.com/dpgaspar/Flask- AppBuilder](https://github.com/dpgaspar/Flask-AppBuilder) I used it myself in a freelance project

It has pretty everything I needed

</comment><comment><USER30> Yii Framework for PHP has a pretty decent CRUD generation tool integrated into it.

[https://www.yiiframework.com/doc/guide/2.0/en/start- gii](https://www.yiiframework.com/doc/guide/2.0/en/start-gii)

</comment><comment><USER31> If you're into Node/Typescript you should have a look at Warthog. It looks a lot like the old Prisma 1 [https://github.com/goldcaddy77/warthog](https://github.com/goldcaddy77/warthog)

</comment><comment><USER32> Elixir + Phoenix + Pow (although very soon there will be 'mix phx. gen auth' [https://hexdocs.pm/phx_gen_auth/overview.html](https://hexdocs.pm/phx_gen_auth/overview.html))

</comment><comment><USER33> django-admin [https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.0/ref/contrib/admin/](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.0/ref/contrib/admin/)

<comment><USER34> Also flask—admin for flask: [https://github.com/flask-admin/flask- admin](https://github.com/flask-admin/flask-admin)

I find flask-admin easier to customize than django's admin. The django ecosystem has a ton of libraries to add functionality to django admin though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> There is also Yazz Pilot, works on nodejs, docker, k8s or as an .exe or binary. [https://github.com/zubairq/pilot](https://github.com/zubairq/pilot)

</comment><comment><USER36> [https://www.userfrosting.com/](https://www.userfrosting.com/) is a good start if you need multiple users and ACLs.

</comment><comment><USER37> Have you looked at openxava ([https://www.openxava.org/](https://www.openxava.org/))

</comment><comment><USER38> Django's admin is pretty good.

</comment><comment><USER39> I've been seeking a terminal based CRUD for ages.

</comment><comment><USER40> We're working on some futurology like technology, and something like this will be possible by the end of the quarter. If you'd like to follow along:

[https://github.com/hofstadter-io/hof](https://github.com/hofstadter-io/hof) (core tech)

[https://github.com/hofstadter-io/_saas](https://github.com/hofstadter- io/_saas) (open source "SaaS" to replace all those services you pay for today, and the primary example of building applications in hof-land)

</comment><comment><USER41> divjoy.com is good for simple CRUD apps

</comment><comment><USER42> FYI: In the Perl world, CGI::Formbuilder + HTML::Template is a really comprehensive form-centric way of writing CRUD applications.

[https://metacpan.org/pod/CGI::FormBuilder](https://metacpan.org/pod/CGI::FormBuilder)</comment>


Show HN: ProductVote.co a product hunting alternative perhaps - <AUTHOR> http://productvote.co <comment><AUTHOR> Reading [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10739875](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10739875)

I thought it might be an idea to make an alternative. Thoughts?

<comment><USER2> Completing the tutorial for Telescope and doing _nothing beyond that_ isn't something you should probably be showing, especially as a Show HN.

If you polish it up and add a _significant_ amount of custom functionality, maybe.

<comment><USER3> Our comments should probably deliver substantive feedback. This is a dismissal, and a disheartening one at that. This is exactly the kind of criticism that could have been leveled against HN itself on day one. The amount of custom functionality isn't relevant to whether something is executed well.

I've upvoted this thread. It's probably not executed well, but I like the author's audacity. Good on them. I hope a thousand others follow suit.

<comment><USER2> At the moment, there is nothing to give feedback _about_. (I wasn't being snide with the "completed the Telescope tutorial" comment; see the Telescope demo at [http://www.telescopeapp.org/](http://www.telescopeapp.org/)). Which is why I suggested that functionality be added as the primary improvement to make it more competitive.

<comment><AUTHOR> I only thought it might be of interest as a topical reply to the discussion on Product Hunt biasing their results to favour themselves. Technically it's not terribly interesting.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>