OpenAirplane, FlyOtto Shut Down Operations - <AUTHOR> https://www.flyingmag.com/story/news/openairplane-flyotto-shut-down-operations/ <comment><USER2> To make a small fortune in aviation, first start with a large fortune.

I think the idea of renting an airplane away from home is moderately appealing and I've done it 3 times (none via OpenAirplane), but each time with a local instructor, because I wasn't going to use an away-from-base rental airplane for purposeful travel.

The desire to rent an airplane without an instructor (what OA enabled) isn't that much higher for me than renting one with an instructor. In Iceland, I wanted to fly around and look at the terrain and nature. I flew the airplane, but have the instructor knowing where we were, all the radio procedures, and having a "walk up, get in, fly, go pay, walk away" experience was worth the modest instructor fee. Same with the two rentals I did in Florida; in those cases, I was trying out new aircraft as a potential type to purchase and had no reason not to have an experienced instructor on board (in fact, it was a big plus).

Now, the fact that I didn't do what OA is best at means that maybe I don't really see the advantage. If we're going somewhere within about 700 miles, we probably have our airplane with us. If we're going farther than that, we're probably not going to then want to rent an airplane to sight-see _and_ need to not have an instructor on board. If we go to Hawaii, we'll surely rent an airplane and instructor.

I feel bad for the obviously passionate founders who had their company fail to thrive.

<comment><USER3> > To make a small fortune in aviation, first start with a large fortune.

This opinion seems shared by Richard Branson, who famously said "if you want to become a millionaire, start as a billionaire and start and airline"!

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> > Pilots who are members must complete a checkout every 12 months to remain > current in the network (in the same make/model as the airplane they are > checked out in), as well as receive a "local knowledge briefing" once a > year. Before signing up, you'll also need to obtain your own renter's > insurance with a minimum of $250,000 in liability coverage.

I'm not seeing any common sense in the founders.

1\. For most people, doing an extra checkout is a deal breaker.

2\. Same with the 10% (or more) additional cost. I wonder if that disqualifies block time discounts as well.

3\. Also requiring renters insurance, which although recommended, most people don't have.

However, if you already lived near an OA location, and you squint hard, it could make sense for a handful of pilots - just not enough to ever make a profitable business.

There's an article about Blackbird linked to this article. They were trying to do the "hold out" Part 135 charters but regulated under Part 91 thing that the FAA never allows, and never will.

<comment><USER5> My flying ebbs and flows with life, seasons, weather, etc...since I'll often go a few months without flying, I found OA checkouts were a great way of knocking the rust off. I would study up on the knowledge, and then the ~1 hour of flight time with an instructor for the annual OA checkout was enough for me to get comfortable again. (I never felt like I needed to spend flight time preparing for the OA checkouts.) And the OA checkout could also count as a flight review. So I guess the bottom line is that for me, I could always roll an OA checkout into time when I'd want to be flying with an instructor anyway.

I never got charged more for OA than the published rental rates...but all the places where I did my checkouts had me fill out one extra sheet of paper so that an OA checkout _also_ counted as a checkout for their own insurance rules. So if I was flying with a place a lot, I'd just do the checkout there and buy block time from them and rent under their non-OA policy. Basically, OA was great for everywhere other than one's local FBO, for which it was still typically a better deal to just rent under the terms of their standard non-OA policy.

Renter's insurance would be a tough sell for a lot of people; my local FBO already required it so I was good to go. (My local FBO is great, but they're also the only place I know that does dry rentals where you're not insured by their policy...weird, I know)

<comment><USER4> > I found OA checkouts were a great way of knocking the rust off.

That's a great attitude, and one I have adopted.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Off topic: Credit where credit is due, that site is doing an amazing job of thwarting AdBlockers. I thought for a moment I had disabled it, but no, 90+ items blocked and I'm still seeing ads everywhere due to obfuscated class names and same origin image hosting.

<comment><USER7> Agreed, I've got ABP and pi-hole and I still see ads, in addition to the chum bucket of sponsored links at the end.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I loved the concept. My home FBO supported it, so was thinking I'd be styling since I traveled very frequently for work. I was never once able to just say 'here is my medical, insurance, and OpenAirplane signoff - and use a C152/C172/C182 just like all the others. Every single one basically wanted a one hour checkout or so, which is what most FBOs do when you are renting.

<comment><USER4> Wait, were you an OA customer? Tell us more!

Yeah, there's incredible freedom if you have all the paperwork and own your own Mooney or other fast airplane.

Anything short of that in flying is a harsh, toe-stubbing reality unless you stay local VFR.

<comment><USER8> Not much to tell. My home FBO was OA, so I did it as part of getting my PPL. Traveled heavy (Mon-Fri, all over the US) for work and never once found an airport that would rent without a checkout. Always an easy checkout... but an extra $50-100 depending on the location for an unwanted instructor.

<comment><USER4> > never once found an airport that would rent without a checkout.

I've never heard of an insurance requirement for the checkout, so I believe it's an FBO requirement. I think it's reasonable because local procedures vary, but that invalidates the OA business model.

Also, FBOs vary in expectations. I've rented at some places where tow bar use was 100% mandatory, and others that didn't own any and just said, "push at the wing root."

In Hawaii there's no cross-wind limits, and in California if the wind sock flutters, everybody's grounded.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


If anything, what do you listen to while you work and why? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><AUTHOR> Stumbled across [0] and it really worked for me. What are your aids for concentration and focus?

[0] [http://musicforprogramming.net/](http://musicforprogramming.net/)</comment>


Show HN: Give ID – Get rewarded for fundraising - <AUTHOR> https://giveid.org/fundraise <comment><AUTHOR> Hi Hacker News!

We are hoping to get some feedback on a new feature that we just launched that is intended to help foundations greatly accelerate their fundraising efforts via crowdsourcing.

The idea behind the new feature, called Give ID Rewards, is to encourage nonprofit supporters to fundraise on a foundation's behalf by incentivizing them with desirable rewards that can be obtained by meeting fundraising goals. Our initial version will allow fundraisers to earn a $20 Amazon gift card for raising $500 and a $50 Amazon gift card for raising $1000 for a foundation of their choosing, but will be expanded to include other reward options in the future.

We are hoping that this feature is able to accelerate a foundation's ability to raise funds for their highest priority campaigns by providing supporters with the opportunity to earn tangible, desirable rewards for their fundraising efforts instead of relying on their good will alone.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!</comment>


Mastodon.social is an open-source Twitter competitor that's growing like crazy - <AUTHOR> http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/4/15177856/mastodon-social-network-twitter-clone <comment><AUTHOR> While [https://Mastodon.social](https://Mastodon.social) registrations are closed to keep the site up during the flood, it's all open-source and federated, so you can equivalently join [https://mastodon.club](https://mastodon.club) or [https://mastodon.xyz](https://mastodon.xyz) instead, and still communicate perfectly well with mastodon.social users (or other GNU Social implementations).

</comment><comment><USER2> Parallel discussion of another article about Mastodon: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14034674](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14034674)</comment>


Save for the web - <AUTHOR> http://faxtion.co.uk/articles/save-for-web

<comment><USER2> 56K connections certainly made an impression. You still see "(56k warning)" or simply "(56k)" in topic titles in forums. Really, anyone still using dial-up in 2010 probably just assumes everything will be slow as dirt by default.</comment>


EpicPlays.com – Search and Keep Track of Games You Want to Play - <AUTHOR> http://www.epicplays.com/

<comment><USER2> Do people not use .txt files anymore? Is there... really a need for a site like this? The site looks nice though.

I wish you good luck. Simply because Sveny looks like a nice guy...er... viking.

<comment><AUTHOR> This is a dear friend and previous startup partner of mine's new site. Looks great and the gaming community is a very passionate, interesting group to target. I, myself, am no longer a gamer...my life and job couldn't sustain the mild addiction I had to EVE, WOW, Half-Life, Counter-Strike, etc.

I'm wondering how they deal with game discovery, especially with indy games, this tends to be an issue for the most passionate / hardcore gamers.</comment></comment>


Which service to print and deliver individual stickers? - <AUTHOR>

I'm shopping around for sites that can do very small print runs of vinyl stickers and drop ship single pieces out.
I'm not based in the US and looking to ship primarily to US so this might be a better way than printing locally and shipping myself.
Any recommendation? <comment><USER2> I've recent heard of this place - you can buy 250 custom black and white stickers for $21.

<https://www.stickerguy.com/index.html>

</comment><comment><USER3> Teelaunch can take good care of you. <https://teelaunch.com>

</comment><comment><USER4> I'm interested too some service that does printing... and cutting to custom shapes...

As for just printing CafePress.com does it (color on white, a few different sizes), $markup might be more than you want though...</comment>


BestBuy will sell Nexus S for $529 Unlocked (or $199 w/ 2 year contract) - <AUTHOR> http://www.bby.com/2010/12/06/best-buy-mobile-partners-with-google-to-exclusively-launch-nexus-s-smart-phone/ <comment><USER2> So buying it unlocked in the UK will work out to £200 more expensive?? Here's where I ask if any HNer coming to London from the USA would be willing to bring one down here :)

Is there something technically different with the phone that prevents this arbitrage? What do they mean by " _optimized for T-Mobile's network_ "?

<comment><USER3> This occurs far too often in my view and it's always coined on "exchange rates". I'm not sure what sort of optimisations they could make other than being preloaded with T-Mobiles network settings since it is supposed to be the pure experience.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Most interesting to me, it sounds like Best Buy will own the support role instead of punting to Google like T-Mobile did with the N1.

</comment><comment><USER5> And how much for their "extended warranty"?

<comment><USER6> What I'm wondering is if you can still get an unlocked phone for $199 if you sign up for the plan. It would be more attractive to know that you can still walk away from the plan with a phone you can use elsewhere.

<comment><USER7> Elsewhere geographically, sure. But you'll still be stuck with a contract early termination fee.

<comment><USER6> True, but if you have to move for whatever reason that just becomes a cost of the move. It would be a shame to have to get a new phone on the other end of the move (in addition to the early termination fee) if you've got one that works perfectly fine now, no?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> technically shouldn't you be able to unlock it and use it on any network?

<comment><USER9> Sure, but that doesn't get you out of the contract.

<comment><USER10> Well, don't buy it with a contract then.

<comment><USER9> It's only locked in the first place if you buy it with a contract.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Roomerly - Find the perfect roommate. - <AUTHOR> http://roomer.ly

<comment><USER2> Funny this popped up. I was just having a chat with a classmate about how he ended up finding his roommates for his shared Brooklyn apartment on Craigslist, and how I would never have the guts to do that.

So are you a vetting service for roommates, like I enter a list of preferences and you give me a list of roommates that have all been vetted (i.e. not serial killers)? Or are you building a platform for anyone looking for a roommate to connect with others? I think you'd find people who'd pay for a vetting-like service, particularly students who are studying abroad out and in the US.

In any case, how are you hoping to acquire users? You're essentially trying to beat out Craigslist. You might want to take the Airbnb approach by posting ads there that redirect to profiles on your site.

In any case, good luck!

<comment><AUTHOR> This has been a solo side project for me for a few months now. I had to find a roommate and sifting through Craigslist felt clunky. It's more the latter. A simple way for people looking for a roommate to connect with one another.

There are a lot of improvements and features that I have planned for the future.

I'm new to the "product launch" thing. I'm going to be trying some facebook ads and tweeting at people looking for roommates. They seem to be a fairly vocal community on social networks so they're not difficult to find and interact with.

The Airbnb approach sounds like a great idea. Thanks!

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I wish I could use this with critical mass in my home city of Montreal. I just searched HN for 'roommates' thinking, "there's gotta be a better way to do this! someone must've talked about it." And here we are.

Searching for a new home with other people is indeed tiring. I wish you well!</comment>


Track in detail who clicks on your links - <AUTHOR> http://poprl.com/stats/03f

<comment><AUTHOR> Pushed out this feature today. Wanted some feedback and traffic from the community.</comment>


GroundworkCSS 2 Released - <AUTHOR> http://groundworkcss.github.io/ GroundworkCSS 2 released a few minutes ago <comment><AUTHOR> Being the author of this framework, I'd love to have feedback and any issues reported on the github page. [https://github.com/groundworkcss/groundwork/issues?state=ope...](https://github.com/groundworkcss/groundwork/issues?state=open)</comment>


This App Puts Congress In Your Pocket - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@bartolah/this-app-puts-congress-in-your-pocket-bd08a5ca5b7

<comment><AUTHOR> This is my first post on Medium where I tried to explain why we decided to start Countable. I'd love your thoughts. Thanks.</comment>


Show HN: Mintable – Roll-your-own Mint clone for managing personal finances - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/kevinschaich/mintable <comment><USER2> How is this not just a copy of this?

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18838127](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18838127)

[https://github.com/yyx990803/build-your-own- mint](https://github.com/yyx990803/build-your-own-mint)

What additional have you added?

<comment><USER3> At least some semicolons where added. But the author is open about its heritage:

[https://github.com/kevinschaich/mintable/commits/master/scri...](https://github.com/kevinschaich/mintable/commits/master/scripts/saveEnv.js)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> What are the core differences between this and evan you's mint clone[1]?

edit: I read to the bottom and saw that this is a fork, but if all it does is add defaults ("This repo is a lot more opinionated about defaults and gives you a working transaction spreadsheet out of the box"), why not contribute those defaults upstream rather than fork?

1\. [https://github.com/yyx990803/build-your-own- mint](https://github.com/yyx990803/build-your-own-mint)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the feedback! I updated the README with a detailed comparison which also hopefully explains why they became incompatible.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> if its just for your personal finance i would rather use firefly because it does not use third party services and is open source.

[https://firefly-iii.org](https://firefly-iii.org)

[https://github.com/firefly-iii/firefly-iii](https://github.com/firefly- iii/firefly-iii)

<comment><USER6> Firefly looks like a better choice. The mint clone uses Plaid, a financial intermediary that has been heavily criticized on this forum.

Firefly uses Spectre. Anyone know of security or privacy issues with using that?

<comment><USER7> Hi! I've created Firefly III. I want to note that the tool doesn't require you to use Spectre. It's one of the available ways to kickstart your financial administration.

Personally, I would always do this by hand.

<comment><USER6> Cool, thanks for your reply.

What does by hand mean in this case? Entering all of the data myself? Is there a way to import CSV data of portfolio and transaction information?

<comment><USER7> Yes, by hand. I strongly recommend it if you want to get a feel for your finances. But yes, there is a CSV import too.

<comment><USER6> Cool. I will give this a try in the near future.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Apologies for having to be this person in the room.

I won't be jumping at the opportunity to funnel my PII through something developed by an employee of Palantir. (Effectively a mass surveillance company.)

<comment><USER9> It's open source

<comment><USER10> "Open source" has absolutely nothing to do with GP's concerns. For an example why the concern has merit: Chromium is open source, yet it still routes every single thing you type into the Omnibox through Google's servers, even if you abandon the search and delete what you typed before pressing "Enter".

<comment><USER11> It has everything to do with that, because we can see the source and see whether it does anything like that, and build it from source ourselves.

<comment><USER12> Where is Google Sheets source?

<comment><USER13> [https://www.collaboraoffice.com/code/](https://www.collaboraoffice.com/code/) [edit] Plus [https://nextcloud.com/collaboraonline/](https://nextcloud.com/collaboraonline/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Uhh, are there any reasons for the single emoji commit messages?

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey – apologize and thanks for the feedback! I saw this on another repo and thought it was a cool idea just for the initial release. All the "fire" commits were just README edits and polish, will be sure to post more helpful comments moving forward! :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> For those like me who didn't know, mint is a web-based personal financial management service (mint.com). This is a clone that uses Google sheets as a backend.

</comment><comment><USER16> How the data tracking here?

Can I avoid to share my core financial data with third party services?

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey! Mintable relies on Plaid for fetching transactional data but you're free to plug in whatever Google Sheets alternative you prefer!

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> This would be perfect if I don't have to sign up for Plaid and give them my password. I can download CSV's from Bank of America site. Has someone written a small piece of code to read the CSVs and populate "Mintable"? Scrapers anybody?

</comment><comment><USER18> Since we are on the topic, I would like to know if we have any alternatives to Plaid APIs?

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey! Not currently – but please feel free to discuss and contribute here!

[https://github.com/kevinschaich/mintable/issues/2](https://github.com/kevinschaich/mintable/issues/2)

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Previous discussion:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18838127](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18838127)

</comment><comment><USER20> Anything to handle business finances?

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey! Out of the box there's nothing groundbreaking. I find what works for me is to include a column to mark individual expenses as "business related", and then calculate a total at the end of the month that I make sure to get reimbursed for through expense reports.

At the core though, this is just a spreadsheet, so you can add custom formulas and analytics to your heart's content!</comment></comment>


Citing Cybercrime, FBI Director doesn't bank online - <AUTHOR> http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/321410/citing_cybercrime_fbi_director_doesn_t_bank_online

<comment><USER2> Am I crazy in believing that in this day and age an FBI Director should be Internet savvy or else he/she should not hold that position?

<comment><USER3> "After changing our passwords, I tried to pass the incident off to my wife ... as a teachable moment," he said. "To which she deftly replied, 'Well, it is not my teachable moment. However, it is our money. No more Internet banking for you."

Mueller said he considers online banking "very safe" but that "just in my household, we don't use it."

It sounds more like Mr. Mueller's wife wears the pants in that relationship than anything else.

<comment><USER4> Online banking is most certainly not the hill I'd like to die on w/r/t arguments with my wife.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> "Though he stopped before handing over any sensitive information, the incident put an end to Mueller's online banking. "After changing our passwords, I tried to pass the incident off to my wife ... as a teachable moment," he said. "To which she deftly replied, 'Well, it is not my teachable moment. However, it is our money. No more Internet banking for you."

Citing Cybercrime, real reason is wifely decree.</comment>


Ask HN: KPI's for Developers / Metrics for Devs? - <AUTHOR> We didn't ship the things we wanted to last quarter because we were too ambitious in setting goals (we should have committed less)...and our director also happened to leave mid-quarter. The leadership team is now asking us to implement KPI's. The rest of the company has them, so shouldn't the dev team? In their best world, every individual in the company would have KPI's...so you can see when someone is doing their shit and if they're not, you can address it.
Honestly, I'm skeptical. "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." (Goodhart's Law). I especially don't believe in individual KPI's.
What kinds of metrics could we look at using to satisfy the rest of the company without making devs lives harder? How hard should we push back against individual KPI's? Are individual KPI's even possible? What about team KPI's? Are there any good books or articles out there that can help solve this problem?
Thanks! <comment><USER2> I found _Accelerate_ [0] by Dr. Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim has a lot of good analysis on metrics one might use.

I think it's important to keep in mind that ultimately a dev is part of team that delivers value for a company, so the metrics one uses needs to take that into account. It can definitely be harder if others in the group (company, team, whatever level you want to consider) are viewing things on a more isolated, individual level, but I think it's in part those isolated, individual level metrics that keep one from viewing the bigger picture and one's role in it. You have to figure out what metrics you can put into place that are meaningful and practical for your given situation. I think _Accelerate_ can provide a good starting point for what those metrics can be. Along with OKRs[1] for goal setting, I think you can find something that works for you.

[0]: [https://itrevolution.com/book/accelerate/](https://itrevolution.com/book/accelerate/)

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

</comment><comment><USER3> One approach I can recommend _against_ : making "% of sprint commitments completed" a KPI. When that was implemented, suddenly time estimates (we used hours instead of story points) on everything tripled.

<comment><AUTHOR> That's fair.

Exactly the kind of measurement I'd like to avoid. Same thing with velocity. If that's the metric, it makes you want to bloat estimates, create additional tickets with lots of points, and you are insensitivized into avoiding helping eachother out because it doesn't help your individual points.</comment></comment>


Craniopagus Twins Share a Brain and See Out of Each Others Eyes - <AUTHOR> http://www.cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/m/features/the-hogan-twins-share-a-brain-and-see-out-of-each-others-eyes <comment><USER2> This is incredible. As we approach the technological capability of direct brain-to-brain communication, cases like this serve as an example of what is in store for us. Our brains are in some sense already multiple consciousness that communicate and collaborate with one another. It could be that connecting to other minds is more natural than we might realize.

<comment><USER3> No, this isn't going to work like that; these girls have had incredible levels of plasticity in their brains to be able to accommodate each other's functions in ways that are difficult for anyone but them to comprehend.

Take for example the case of people who have never seen from birth and are given sight through retinal implants; they can see colours and images and patterns but their brains can make no sense of the input - they sense no depth, shapes, relations between words and images, shadows meaning three dimensionality, etc. etc. that we all take for granted. Those neurones have been put to alternative use already and in some ways you really can't teach an old dog new tricks.

<comment><USER4> I think one of the simplest ways to illustrate this is with sounds. Humans who spend their early years in an environment devoid of certain sounds lose the ability to differentiate those sounds. The classical example that many seem aware of are Japanese speakers who have trouble distinguishing l and r sounds. Every language has some sounds missing, and so any given person should be able to find two sounds they can't distinguish unless they were raised in a multi- lingual household from birth which covered all the sounds.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> With the fear of sounding rude, this is incredibly cool. In the hope we have some neuro experts here on HN:

1\. When the article says they can switch to self control, does that mean one brain can control 2 or more people?

2\. Does learning behaviour stem from the problem of limited brain resources as it is shared between 2?

3\. Can they assume control of the other persons body, and control it simountanously?

Thank you in advance Edit: Formatting

<comment><USER6> 3) They can control a subset of the other persons limbs.

Seeing out of 3 eyes seems like a much stranger sensory system. It's not going to simply extend to a wider field of view because someone else is controlling the focus.

<comment><USER7> Is there even just a singular focus? Normally, both of a persons eyes are facing a singular direction which makes a large area of shared vision between the eyes (which allows a focus point anywhere in that field of vision). But with eyes which are pointed in a different direction this seems less likely. Does anyone have more info?

<comment><USER8> I have one normal eye and one eye that has no lens, so I only see vague shapes and colors in that eye.

There's no shared focus, per se. (The bad eye literally can't focus at all)

I don't typically "pay attention" to the bad eye. Usually, they are "separate" and I ignore the bad eye. Sometimes I have really funny lapses in depth perception. Driving at night when the road is wet (and there are lots of weird reflections) is particularly tough. I can't see 3D movies... _mostly._ Sometimes that magical 3D effect kicks in for a second or two. When it happens, it's pretty cool. Then it goes away. haha.

But, my brain does seem to assemble information from both eyes somehow. I can actually play most sports pretty well. I'm pretty decent at softball and tennis.

I also avoided a serious car accident once thanks to that shitty eye. Was nearly broadsided right in the driver's door by somebody on my "blind" side, but that eye alerted me to an oncoming car (jackass running a red light) approaching at fairly high speed. She sheared my front bumper clean off (instead of plowing into my door, possibly killing me because it was a tiny little sports car with little side impact protection) because I hit the brakes at the last fraction of a second.

I would wager that the conjoined twins' experience may be _something_ like this. (Obviously, with more eyes involved)

<comment><USER9> Interesting points, John. Would like to read more about your experiences. Are you anywhere on the interwebs?

<comment><USER8> I'm flattered! I don't have much of a web presence these days but feel free to use my contact info in my profile or reply here if you have any questions.

As far as I know my experiences are fairly typical for people in my situation though; I'm not sure I have anything unique to say. =)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> An amazing long-form article on these twins from the NY Times: [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/magazine/could- conjoined-t...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/magazine/could-conjoined- twins-share-a-mind.html)

And a previous CBC documentary is on YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKwT1Ol3nY0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKwT1Ol3nY0)

<comment><USER11> Fwiw I didn't find the NYT article had a lot more interesting stuff beyond the CBC article. It looks like it was written before they knew as much about the twins.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> They have their brains fused together and can still walk and talk? The flexibility of the growing brain never ceases to amaze me. It shows how robust the whole process of growing from a single cell really is. A human can grow in uncountable ways.

Given how the twins share sensory inputs, I wonder how memory and imagination works for them. As they "hear" each other thinking, do they also share common memories? If one remembers a scene, will the other remember it the same way? Or will it have to be narrated between them?

When one reads a book, will the other get the story? I would guess so. But will they share the imagined parts, or will they imagine the scenes individually?

<comment><USER13> _> do they also share common memories?_

Indeed! The way I see it, identity derives from memory. So to the extent (if any) that they share _identical_ memories they are strictly the _same person_. Beyond that I would guess there may be some (false) identification with behaviours of the other twin, in a manner redolent of Gazzaniga and Sperry's famous split brain experiment:

[https://physics.weber.edu/carroll/honors/split_brain.htm](https://physics.weber.edu/carroll/honors/split_brain.htm)

<comment><USER14> redolent means to smell of. you mean reminiscent

<comment><USER13> Shouldn't you begin your sentences with capital letters? :-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> That they can "talk" to each other in their minds is very interesting to me. I've always wondered whether as humans our experiences are internally similar or not. Do you see my green as red? And so on. But if these girls can understand each other's thoughts that indicates that thoughts are similar. It means they share the same internal logic. Really this could be a good evidence to support the idea that we all think alike. I hope they grow up and their brains are able to mature normally. They will probably always have to share the body though, sadly.

<comment><USER16> I wish there was more info on this alleged ability.

It shouldn't be hard to show only Tatiana a picture of a number/person/etc, ask her to think about it, and see whether Krista can tell.

Somehow it doesn't add up with the rest (shared motor abilities through the thalamus), and sounds more like the poetic but bogus claims that many twins make about one another.

<comment><USER17> it's a little difficult when they can see out of each other's eyes. granted one of them can only see out of one of the other's eyes, it's still difficult and probably so unique/case-by-case that it would be difficult to come to any conclusions

<comment><USER18> Since each of them has a "non-shared" eye, testing this is kind of straightforward, we can retry the same experiments that have been performed for split-hemisphere patients (where the left-brain personality has access only to the right eye and vice versa).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> They have a "read"-access to each others thoughts. Also, they have a "write"-access to each others motor areas. The question I cannot stop thinking about is whether they have a "write"-access to each other thoughts??? Can one of them MAKE THINK the other of something different the other being thinking of? The "self" by Damassio was a self-as-process plus a self-as-object... How can one of them think of herself, if another one is thinking by her mind about something different at that moment.... hmm. No I am lost. Anyway, what would be a "self" in their case?

</comment><comment><USER20> I actually find articles like this fairly upsetting to see. Presumably, it hits some nerve for me in terms of wanting to have a full and "normal" life in spite of my genetic disorder. In some sense, I can _pass_ for normal in a way that conjoined twins cannot. In another sense, no, I will never be normal. The degree of social friction I face over that fact is more problematic in some ways than the physical limitations.

Conjoined twins are so obviously and undeniably different that I just cringe at the idea of the social impact. It very much strikes me as "Hell is other people." I hope their social experience is more positive and supportive than I imagine.

A couple of dead comments suggest conjoined twins cannot have a sex life. So, I will just post this here:

 _Determined to live as normal a life they could, Chang and Eng settled on their small plantation and bought slaves to do the work they could not do themselves. Using their adopted name "Bunker", they married local women on April 13, 1843. Chang wed Adelaide Yates (1823-1917), while Eng married her sister, Sarah Anne (1822-1892). The twins also became naturalized American citizens.

The couples shared a bed built for four in their Traphill home. Chang and Adelaide would become the parents of twelve children. Eng and Sarah had ten. However, Chichester disputes this number of children, stating Eng had 11.[11] After a number of years, the sisters began to dislike each other[12] and separate households were set up west of Mount Airy, North Carolina in the town of White Plains. The brothers would alternately spend three days at each home._

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

<comment><USER21> I feel like conjoined at the hip is a bit different from conjoined in the brain.

<comment><USER22> Purely from a logistical perspective, I feel like joined-at-the-brain would be easier.

<comment><USER21> Yes, but logistical considerations weren't really my point.

It's debatable whether these girls are one girl or two girls, from a personality / sense-of-self perspective.

I personally could see myself being in a relationship with someone that had a conjoined twin. The only barriers are awkwardness and how much time I get to spend with them if the other twin has it's own SO/social life/etc.

Conjoined at the brain is totally different. Are they two individuals? Are they one with different personalities? Are they the same personality with two different physical manifestations? I feel like it would just be so hard with our culture's concept of love and self.

Does she love me? Do they love me? Does half of her hate me? It's just so mind-numbingly complicated.

<comment><USER22> > _It 's debatable whether these girls are one girl or two girls, from a > personality / sense-of-self perspective._

No it's not. They have externally distinguishable personalities, and they refer to themselves as separate people. I don't see any reason not to take their word for it.

And even if they were one and a half people, I don't see the issue as long as all one-and-a-half of them are into it. And if they're not, it's not as if having conflicted feelings about someone is alien to normal human experience. It would certainly be an odd situation, but hardly insurmountable.

<comment><USER21> Your left and right brain would probably identify as different people if your non-dominant hemisphere could talk.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> From a general ai perspective, these girls show us the possibility of having multiple self-iterating recursive identities share the same physical and mental resources.

From a philosophical perspective I applaud Mother Nature for spitting on our idea of limited identity in such a compellingly materialistic way. The Ship of Theseus is a good wikipedia search for a thinker's first thoughts about identity.

And from a human perspective, these girls will show us the struggles and triumphs of two individuals pioneering so far from the central finite curve of human experience, and with such a supportive mother like that, I believe they will do it in spades.

<comment><USER24> > I applaud Mother Nature for spitting on our idea of limited identity

The true mother nature's plan was probably killing the mother and both girls at birth time. I would thank the obstetrician at charge and his/her team instead.

<comment><USER25> Flip side of that is Mother Nature also made the doctors who made it possible for them to live. We can't view the doctors as some outside force.

<comment><USER26> By that logic all technology is "natural" and there is no distinction between the inventions of man and the creations of nature/god. Such logic sidelines self reflection, leading to horrible places.

<comment><USER27> No, it just means that self reflection must be based on something other than an arbitrary and meaningless distinction between things that existed before humanity and things that existed after humanity.

<comment><USER28> So climate change is a natural phenomenon under that interpretation?

<comment><USER29> If we see ourselves as part of nature, but with a unique ability to impact more of nature than most other forces within nature, I think we would have a greater imperative to rectify mistakes we have made, vs seeing issues like climate change as mostly impact "others."

<comment><USER30> If you ever get the chance, I recommend the book Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn.

<comment><USER29> Thanks - I'll check it out!

<comment><USER30> It's a philosophical work about leavers and takers and what is the nature of both nature and humans, as well as their role in it. It's told from the perspective of a man taking instruction from a speaking ape.

It is something I've read many times and get something new every time I read it. Given the context of this thread, I'm not sure I could recommend a more salient book.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> Incredible. I can't wait to see the twin grow up, become doctors, study the human brain and give a TED talk about their discovery.

<comment><USER32> That would be amazing, but unlikely, since they were described as having lower than normal IQ. Watching the videos makes that obvious as well.

<comment><USER33> That doesn't need to mean much. IQ tests are basically meaningless for their complex experiences.

<comment><USER34> Meaningless insofar as that goes, but being fairly clever is necessary to become a physician.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> in the video it was interesting how they found it more difficult to see through eachothers eyes than to sense touch, and futhermore some kinds of seeing were easier than others: they found it easier to identify colours than shapes. Is this because only certain data is transmitted across, or because they're not conscious of some information ?

<comment><USER36> I'm fascinated by the idea that they can apparently communicate using their connection- maybe that's the mechanism by which they can share limited visual information. I want to know more about their shared inner dialogue.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> Do they share the same dreams? Can one be awake while the other is asleep, and if so, can she experience the dream, or parts of it, while being fully conscious?

</comment><comment><USER38> Makes me think of the CGP Grey "You are two" video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfYbgdo8e-8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfYbgdo8e-8)

</comment><comment><USER39> I wonder why they are considered two different persons at this point. I am not entirely sure the justification of separate identity here should be the two obvious separate "bodies" (gastrointestinal tracts, limbs, etc)!

All that matters for the same identity to me is the brain. If one can read the thoughts of the other so easily, in my book it is the same person.

Disclaimer: am resident in Neurology with a background in Anatomy

<comment><USER40> It would appear that they perceive themselves as separate. They don't simply share a brain; there seems to be two of most structures. The brains are, however, highly intertwined.

<comment><USER41> That's the interesting part, did the people raising them condition them to think they were two people? If they had treated then as one person, would they behave like one person? The brain is amazing and super weird.

<comment><USER42> Would you have thought you were two people, if the people raising you conditioned you to think you were two people? If they had treated you as two persons, would you (two) behave like two persons?

Also something to ponder.

And heck, as disturbing: what about two (regular) twins raised as one person...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> Wow what an incredibly difficult way to live, even stranger that the person you share a brain with you will never physically see with your own eyes, because of the join angle. Hopefully one day scientists figure out a safe way to separate them.

<comment><USER44> Why separate them? It sounds like they're so deeply interconnected that it would be a destructive as separating your own arm from your body or having a lobotomy.

All humans have difficulty living. We have to walk and eat and sleep and can't ever stop breathing or we'll die. These girls just have it different. Maybe harder but since they haven't experienced any different, they're probably not too fussed, just as we don't hope to avoid having to breathe all day long.

<comment><USER43> How are you equating breathing to be as difficult as being physically connected to another person 24/7 exactly? Additionally because of the join angle, you can never hold your head straight, meaning your view of the world is constantly from a 45 angle.

The world is not designed with you in mind - you cannot drive, likely not able to sit comfortably on an airplane, or even walk up stairs or go through single doors without turning to the side. Try putting food in your mouth from an angle or even having a drink. What about just sitting in a chair? And how will you have relationships with other people? Equating all this to breathing is a serious lacking of empathy on your part.

<comment><USER45> > The world is not designed with you in mind

So what. Humans can be incredibly creative. There are problems everywhere that people overcome every day.

For a brief look into the incredible ways people adapt to disabilities, I recommend watching this[1] Smarter Every Day video.

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CtnrK3qx_Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CtnrK3qx_Y)

<comment><USER46> Yeah, the world is also not designed for people with no legs, or people with no arms, etc. Yet people with those handicaps demonstrate amazing abilities to adapt and with the help of technology, they can overcome their limitations even better.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER47> WOW This is incredible! How come this isn't on every main media site? I have so many questions! Are both vertebrae connected to the same brain? They have to be. How can they have different personalities?

</comment><comment><USER48> If two minds share the same brain, this means the brain is not the mind.

<comment><USER49> Its just means it can multitask

<comment><USER50> Who knows what it really 'means'. (And meaning, at least as represented by posters here, seems to vary a fair bit based on oxen ownership.)

It seems to indicate that both concepts are more fluid than feels comfortable. To some extent, it feels related to bandwidth/latency/maybe the direct linkage and chemical interaction between brains - as that increases, the boundaries become blurrier.

Peter Watts had great fun with this idea in _Echopraxia_ ([http://www.rifters.com/](http://www.rifters.com/) ).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> My neck hurts just looking at them. I hope they aren't in pain</comment>


Facebook acquires Mapillary - <AUTHOR> https://blog.mapillary.com/news/2020/06/18/Mapillary-joins-Facebook.html <comment><USER2> Mapillary is cool technology and important to OpenStreetMap in many ways: 1) Satellite imagery only gets you so far regarding object visibility and recognition. 2) GPS locations and traces are inaccurate. 3) Google's ecosystem provides a street view and to meet expectations, OSM should have one too.

Do you boycott React, which Facebook provides as Open Source as a contribution to the JavaScript ecosystem?

Do you boycott Mapillary, which Facebook provides as Open Data as a contribution to the OpenStreetMap ecosystem? Many parts of the system are Open Source too: [https://github.com/mapillary](https://github.com/mapillary)

</comment><comment><USER3> I wonder if the OSM Community will draw any long-term conclusions about trusting especially VC-backed companies from the fate of both Mapillary and MapZen in the last year as well as earlier back-turns such as MapQuest.

In these cases, it always seemed to me, as an occasional editor, like the OSM community was maybe overly eager to rely on services provided by external companies with not enough concern given to long-term risks. But beggars can't be chosers of course.

<comment><USER4> I doubt this will be any kind of soul-searching moment for the OSM community. OSM contributors make use of hundreds of different imagery sources from volunteer, corporate, and government sources. Few mappers will be particularly interested in the nitty-gritty of the funding. If the imagery is available with a compatible license, it will be used in mapping. If not, mapping will still happen, possibly more slowly. (On-the-ground survey is always the gold standard.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Uh, ok, but for those who never heard of Mapillary, what does that _actually_ mean? Is it still something notable, even though we don't see it? I mean, Facebook buys tons of stuff, it's not always clear how a particular acquisition is interesting.

FWIW, "Mapillary's involvement in OpenStreetMap" part doesn't explain to me what this stuff really has to do with OSM either.

<comment><USER6> Mapillary is basically the Google Street View part of OSM. There are a couple of other street view offerings though.

Given that Google Maps was mainly built directly from street view (and gps) this is important.

Additionally, recently, both fb and mapillary were using ML tech on images and maps to extract info for a kind of automated mapping.

<comment><USER7> Though it's not "part of OSM" \- it's an entirely separate project (set up as a VC-funded commercial entity, rather than a non-profit Foundation like OSM). It does allow OSM to use its imagery and API for mapping purposes.

<comment><USER8> That "part of OSM" describes the good relationship the OSM community had with Mapillary up until this moment.

Also I'm quite sure if they hadn't "allow" OSM to use its images, their photo database would have been much smaller.

<comment><USER9> Facebook uses OpenStreetMap for many map displays so they may have an incentive to improve OSM and continue maintaining the good relationship between Mapillary and OSM. Facebook has contributed tools to OSM before, e.g. the RapiD editor [1], though I don't think they are used much.

[1] [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/RapiD](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/RapiD)

<comment><USER8> I'm not sure how this is related to the comment before but what do you think would happen if Facebook started misusing data of Mapillary for example? Do you seriously think OSM would "lock them out" or something?

<comment><USER10> Not possible. FB can use OSM data to build their own maps like everybody else does.

<comment><USER11> Ish. If Facebook violate the OSM licence, then that's illegal and something could be done about that. Though the OSMF would never be able to seriously legally sue Facebook. One side has considerably more money than the other.

But if Facebook abided by the OSM licence, but did things the OSM community really didn't like, the OSM project could shun them. Not accept sponsor ship, block FB's RapiD software from making map changes, eject them as a corporate member from the foundation, etc. They'd still be able to use the data, but they'd be a persona non grata.

<comment><USER8> So in short:

Nothing would hurt Facebook at all.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> It will be interesting to see how effective facebook's rampup of"opensource" OSM infrastructure will be.

They have bought other mapping companies, which on the surface look like they are able to generate city scale point clouds. Combine those with mapillary's very compelling annotation framework, and the resources to do street sign detection, it looks like Facebook/OSM will be able to dramatically lower the cost to entry for people wanting high quality fully featured maps.

This is facebook of course, so it equally turn to shit. But one has to at least hope for a better outcome

</comment><comment><USER13> Previous discussion from 2 days ago: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23564854](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23564854)

<comment><USER14> Normally we'd mark this one a dupe, but it looks like that thread was underwater the whole time ([http://hnrankings.info/23564854/](http://hnrankings.info/23564854/)), meaning it never made the front page. That's usually an indication of greater interest, so we'll leave this one up.

Yes, it's on our list to write software to detect such cases.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Never heard of Mapillary, but does that mean that web requests to OSM shovel data to Facebook now? The article is too opaque and euphemistic to allow practical conclusions.

Mapillary can "journey" wherever they want as long as they don't take me, as their non-user, with them.

<comment><USER16> No direct impact on OSM services.

Mapillary is/was a private for profit company that allows people to extract information from their crowd sourced photos and then add it to OpenStreetMap. So a road sign or business name or whatever.

This arrangement encouraged lots of OSM users to contribute photos to Mapillary, as it is a nice way to add information to OSM (and to enable others to add information).

The indirect impact on OSM services is that turning on the view of the Mapillary images in an OSM editor will request that data from Mapillary servers (which are now Facebook servers). So you _can_ go to the OpenStreetMap website and engage in an activity where you request data from Facebook servers. But you have to sign in, activate the editor and then activate the view of the images for that to happen.

A lot of the people that contributed heavily to Mapillary are disappointed with this outcome, as they have strong feelings about Facebook. I've contributed a little bit to Mapillary and will likely continue to do so, as I'm not trying to create an open data street view commons, I'm using it as a convenience.

<comment><USER17> it would take a lot of convincing for me to welcome Facebook into any project I'm part of. I've pointed out to one of their POs that they are violating OSMs copyright by not showing any attribution when browsing on mobile. I'm not confident it will ever be fixed. When they ask to be integrated into a project they're already abusing, the answer should be hard no. I'll reply to this comment if they start respecting OSMs copyright (unless comments get locked?). Just musing... but where do I file a DMCA?

<comment><USER16> Their use of the data is subject to section 4.3 of the ODBL. The language there demands a notice "reasonably calculated" to make the user "aware" of the data source. It doesn't demand on map attribution.

Attribution on the map is a clear, easy way to meet that bar (and acknowledges the many OSM contributors that see a prominent notice as being necessary to meet the license), but it isn't clear that the court tested bar will be so high.

Note that I'm not drawing "We'll see you in court" as a good way for a company to act towards a community, just commenting on where and how their obligations are defined.

<comment><USER17> Well, browse to a FB page on mobile, and play "find the data source". When you lose that game, I'd say they did not "make the user aware".

<comment><USER18> Especially when the FB map guys go on podcasts and brag about how they use the data source and how advanced they are.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> This is probably related to Facebook Aquila [0] drone project with the ambition to deliver internet to the whole world. MVP successful in 2016 and more developments in 2020.

With Tesla launching Starlink it wouldn't be a surprise with Zuckerberg's competitiveness that he upgrades this specific part in his gameplay.

In the words of Jim Collins to maximize the impact of the limited supply of gunpowder companies should first try to hit the the target with a riffle and with the knowledge of a success, aim the canon and hit the target at first attempt.

[0] [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Aquila](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Aquila)

</comment><comment><USER20> Possibilities of this acquisition are endless. For instance, combine the location data in the Facebook App with the street view to identify which businesses people are at - and charge higher ad prices to those users who were previously saw an ad for that business.

<comment><USER21> Do they have street view equivalent data? My understanding was they have crowdsourced images/panoramas which are overlayed on a map using the geotags.

I'm not sure how that's even useful as anything other than a curiosity.

Perhaps I've missed something

<comment><USER22> One can use OsmAnd a bit like street view in places where Mapillary images are available.

<comment><USER21> I had a look but found it doesn't at all work like streetview

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> 5 edits on OSM since 2014 I can't see his interest on OSM

<comment><USER16> It's not incongruous to like and support OpenStreetMap and then also find editing tedious and so look for other ways to contribute.

Like say using VC funding to create a company that makes tens of millions of photos available for people that are editing OSM.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Translation for those who don't speak marketing: Facebook bought Mapillary.

<comment><USER25> Is seems that they really do not want to admit that they have been bought. They make it sound like that they are in a partnership or something.

<comment><USER26> I don't understand this decision. Do they really think that creative wording will keep people from figuring it out? And once people figure it out, the "creative wording" just makes them look dishonest. Is it just about preventing news websites from being able to use "FB bought us" as a direct quote?

<comment><USER27> This is not the announcement post but in the very first sentence it says "Today we announced that Mapillary has joined Facebook", linking to [https://blog.mapillary.com/news/2020/06/18/Mapillary- joins-F...](https://blog.mapillary.com/news/2020/06/18/Mapillary-joins- Facebook.html)

Seems pretty clear to me.

<comment><USER28> I agree that's pretty clear, but I can also see how "joins" can read like a partnership or some other collaboration and not outright ownership.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Admins, consider changing the link to [https://blog.mapillary.com/news/2020/06/18/Mapillary- joins-F...](https://blog.mapillary.com/news/2020/06/18/Mapillary-joins- Facebook.html) \-- the current link implies that this is directly related to OpenStreetMap, when in truth it's just a blog ("diary") of a Mapillary employee hosted under his OSM user account.

<comment><USER14> Ok, changed from [https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/jesolem/diary/393358](https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/jesolem/diary/393358).

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> Stop letting them buy companies. The lack of ethics and trust they have from people should preclude any of this from happening

<comment><USER29> Those who downvoted me: how're you enjoying your job at Facebook?</comment></comment>


John Thomas Financial: The Other Side of Wall Street - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-28/john-thomas-financial-the-other-side-of-wall-street

<comment><USER2> I like the headline's attempt to imply that there is another side of Wall Street that is respectable and above-board.

</comment><comment><USER3> "John Thomas" is a British slang reference to male genitalia, so this broker name is pretty apt since they were out to screw everyone they came in contact with.

I'm not sure if that was intentional or not, but it sure is funny.</comment>


At Pike Place Market, seniors and kids work well together - <AUTHOR> https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/at-pike-place-market-seniors-and-kids-work-well-together-and-schools-and-daycares-nationwide-are-noticing/ <comment><USER2> >> ... regularly invites older adults to interact with the children.

I'm not convinced about this. I know a couple teachers. They are always getting sick right after the school year begins. Kids are germ factories. Their immune systems are still in a learning mode. I'm not sure that it is the safest thing for elderly people to spend time with large numbers of random children.

Anecdotally, a few years back my city created an "inter-generational playground" in a local park. It did not go well. Old people cannot play the physical games that kids want to play. Sand and grass were removed because it was difficult for older people to walk on. Net result: kids falling onto cement. We need to keep kids more physically active, not restrain them to safely accommodate the presence of elderly people in the playground.

<comment><USER3> > Their immune systems are still in a learning mode. I'm not sure that it is > the safest thing for elderly people to spend time with large numbers of > random children.

Their immune systems seem to be in hyperdrive in my experience; a painful, wearying plague that puts me on my back is barely a speed bump for my son...just more sniffles and snot production. I think it's more their hygiene habits are still in a learning mode!

As a parent and spouse of a preschool teacher, though, the kids aren't randomly selected to go to these events. It's just common courtesy to not bring your kid to interact with other kids, visit friends in the hospital, or visit with seniors when they're sick. The trouble comes when parents schedule themselves to be unavailable when their kids are supposed to be at a child care or event that prohibits sick kids and then rationalize/deny the symptoms.

But as far as the seniors go, my infant/toddler/preschooler is perpetually the most popular person in the building when we go to visit Great-Grandma at her assisted living center (assuming there aren't other kids about). People come out of the woodwork when he giggles, and the nurses all say that it's great for them. Carpeted rooms with chairs and toys/activities that need some grown- up help are probably better formats for interaction than a concrete playground, though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Pike Place Market is so great and popular, cities should really build more markets like it (including Seattle).

<comment><USER5> I have a bit of an issue with places which get coöpted and eventually dependent on tourism. Some tourism is good, but places which depend and target tourists don't serve the local community as well. I hate when things become spectacles.

<comment><USER6> I'm of two minds. I rarely go there as there are "too many tourists". Even when I worked within walking distance, I wouldn't eat lunch there for the same reason. OTOH, were it not for those icky tourists, would Pike Place stay open? I know of similar venues across the country that were on the verge of being torn down until they were turned into tourist-attracting spectacles.

<comment><USER5> There is that dilemma. Traditional role (serving locals) vs modern role of serving tourists who're looking for something that defines a place (among other reasons). I understand that things change, the economy changes and things modernize. It's not all that different from gentrification. I guess, in a best of both worlds, it would be measured and not so kitsch.

I think things jump the shark when in the manner of "the measurement becomes the goal" So, like if something incidentally attracts some tourists that's great --but once the location targets and begins to specialize with tourists in mind, then it's changed, for the worse, with respect to the local community.

<comment><USER7> Markets are not places where locals and tourists go for the same reasons. There's little overlap in what a tourist would buy compared to a local: most tourists aren't interested in deals on toilet paper and dish soap, and locals aren't interested in City Name Tchotchkes. Most locals find supermarkets and malls to be far superior places to shop.

<comment><USER8> That's mostly a function of only malls and supermarkets really being legal to build though. You couldn't build something like Pike Place Market today in most communities.

And as far as malls go, those are also dying in large numbers in the States now that their traditional department store anchor tenants are shriveling up.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> [http://archive.is/ws5GD](http://archive.is/ws5GD)</comment>


Hedge fund star calls for Microsoft CEO to go - <AUTHOR> http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/25/us-microsoft-idUSTRE74O8BQ20110525

<comment><USER2> Something tells me that Einhorn may get his head bitten off by Ballmer for this. I completely concur with Einhorn in this matter, although, I'm sure a lot of people do nowadays. The question is, how many levels below Ballmer also need to be replaced? Maybe the entire executive management team is stuck in the past, not just Ballmer?</comment>


BIAS: Bluetooth Impersonation AttackS - <AUTHOR> https://francozappa.github.io/about-bias/ <comment><AUTHOR> In the news:

[https://www.zdnet.com/article/smartphones-laptops-iot- device...](https://www.zdnet.com/article/smartphones-laptops-iot-devices- vulnerable-to-new-bias-bluetooth-attack/)

'TL;DR: The Bluetooth standard provides authentication mechanisms based on a long term pairing key, which are designed to protect against impersonation attacks. The BIAS attacks from our new paper demonstrate that those mechanisms are broken, and that an attacker can exploit them to impersonate any Bluetooth master or slave device. Our attacks are standard-compliant, and can be combined with other attacks, including the KNOB attack. In the paper, we also describe a low cost implementation of the attacks and our evaluation results on 30 unique Bluetooth devices using 28 unique Bluetooth chips.'</comment>


Show HN: Anybody can modify www.mitt-romney.net - <AUTHOR> http://setup.mitt-romney.net/

<comment><USER2> I don't see how this could possibly go wrong...

<comment><USER3> I see this as a great opportunity to gather more info about this slimeball</comment></comment>


The Steve Bartman Incident - <AUTHOR> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bartman_incident <comment><USER2> Wow.

> The loose ball was snatched up by a Chicago lawyer and sold at an auction in > December 2003. Grant DePorter purchased it for $113,824.16 on behalf of > Harry Caray's Restaurant Group. On February 26, 2004, it was publicly > detonated by special effects expert Michael Lantieri.

> In 2005, the remains of the ball were used by the restaurant in a pasta > sauce. While no part of the ball itself was in the sauce, the ball was > boiled and the steam captured, distilled, and added to the final concoction.

> Today, the remains of the ball are on display at the Chicago Sports Museum, > while further remains are amid various artifacts at the restaurant itself.</comment>


Ask HN: Startup idea – have capital but no relationships. Advice? - <AUTHOR> My background is investing and not technical. I am interested in doing a startup for an idea of mine. Capital isn't my problem...I don't know the right people. My whole network is mostly investment geeks, and I really don't have the foggiest idea how to find the right programmers (initially I am looking for a couple ETL experts) or how to evaluate them even if I found them. Any thoughts? Heck, this is practically a job posting in some sense. Thanks <comment><USER2> Your whole network might be investment geeks but someone will likely know someone else who is doing tech. Start with your closest circle of friends and work outwards.

I've tried looking on LinkedIn for the right skillset but it didn't turn out well. Eventually, we had communication issues and he decided to part ways.

Capital isn't your problem. Team isn't your problem either. Sales and product/market fit is. So go out there and talk to people about your idea and see if anyone's willing to buy from you before even building anything.

</comment><comment><USER3> Maybe instead of hiring perms or getting cofounders you can explore the venue of hiring contractors for specific tasks (product management, development, etc).

It's less risky and you can build good relationships with who constantly gives value to your project, eventually getting them on a more permanent basis.

</comment><comment><USER4> You might want to look out for meetups or something similar where you find potential technical co-founder. Check if any of your high school friends (basically people you know could be a good fit, teamwise) work in tech.

Hope this helps.

</comment><comment><USER5> 1\. is your idea technically feasible? 2\. can you line up customers? 3\. find a tech recruiter/contracting company and hire someone to make it. also, make sure you own the code.</comment>


'House of Cards' characters are too competent to be believable - <AUTHOR> http://reason.com/archives/2014/02/11/evil-house-of-cards-characters-are-too-c

<comment><AUTHOR> "I wish things were that ruthlessly efficient," President Barack Obama has said of Netflix's original series, House of Cards: "It's like Kevin Spacey, man, this guy's getting a lot of stuff done."</comment>


Show HN: Launching our first iOS game, BAMF - <AUTHOR>

I am from Double Stallion Games, and yesterday was the global launch of our first iOS game, Big Action Mega Fight!, or BAMF! for short. It's now sitting at #70 overall for iPad games on the US App Store and we're pretty stoked about it. Meanwhile, an Android version is in the works and coming soon.
Most notably, we developed the game thanks to the support of an incubator/accelerator called Execution Labs, which was founded in Montréal and accepted its first cohort this past January (2013). Its model is similar to a miniature Y Combinator, focused specifically on mobile games. We get seed money, office space, mentor advice, and valuable connections over the 6 to 9 month program, in exchange for temporary profit share and equity.
I would love to get some feedback about the game from everyone, or answer any questions regarding our development, launch or marketing, efforts as well as our incubator experience.
Landing page: http://bigactionmegafight.com/
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPkuRGbjJyw
App Store page: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id672277660?mt=8 <comment><USER3> Great game! Reminds me one game on NES.

Since you posted on HN, some technical details wouldn't hurt I guess - <USER2> engine, tools were used, etc...

Also, free apps with IAPs are really trendy nowadays. Is the market really bad for "old school" paid model?

<comment><AUTHOR> The game was built with Cocos2d-x [1], a C++ port of the excellent Cocos2d game engine, and Marmalade [2], our cross-platform SDK/OS abstraction layer so we can port it quickly to other platforms like Android, WP8 and BB10.

The main reason we went for the freemium model (aka free with IAPs) is because, as a first-time developer building a new IP, it's basically impossible to get your game noticed if you charge money for it. Competing with free is a really hard sell on an App Store with 700k+ apps... If we were already well known (e.g. NimbleBit) or had some solid IP backing us up (e.g. Star Wars) I think it would still be perfectly feasible to make a successful premium game, but we have neither for now!

[1] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocos2d](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocos2d)

[2] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmalade_%28SDK%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmalade_%28SDK%29)

<comment><USER3> Thanks for the interesting answer!

As for the engine - Cocos2d-x is already cross-platform, including the platforms you've listed, I believe, so I didn't quite understand where does Marmalade fit?

<comment><AUTHOR> Cocos2d-x handles the game engine side of things really well (scene graph, asset management, input handling, etc.) and all that runs cross-platform without any issues.

But Marmalade comes in real handy for all the platform-specific stuff like in- app purchase support, game services (achievements and leaderboards) and the like. The Marmalade team provides us with custom-built extensions for each platform. And if ever we run into anything else they haven't built for us already, they have an excellent Extension Development Kit (EDK) that lets us easily call native code (Objective-C for iPhone, Java for Android, etc.) from within our main C++ app. We've been using it extensively, in fact [1], and we're really pleased with it.

Finally, as a nice little bonus, their deployment and signing tools are also really slick, as they let us deploy straight to an iOS device with two clicks _from our Windows machines_ , which is much appreciated by us non-Mac OS X fanboys!

[1] [https://github.com/dblstallion](https://github.com/dblstallion)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Game looks awesome and fun!

I personally don't play games on my Iphone5, but it would be cool if there was a PC port that you can throw on steam.

<comment><AUTHOR> Oh man I would love to get this game on Steam. Not sure it would be a great fit for the platform though, as such traditionally hardcore gamers can be rather hostile to freemium. Some day we might rebalance it to be a premium game if we get the chance!

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Game looks fantastic! How is your business model doing? Only purchase option is the $4.99 coin doubler, seems risky.

<comment><AUTHOR> We actually have a full set of In-App Purchases (IAPs) ranging from $2 to $99, as well as the $5 coin doubler.

That being said, we're not trying to monetize by being heavy-handed and squeezing players for money with paywalls and the like. Instead, our in-game premium currency serves the purpose of "shortcut money" to alleviate frustration or grind. The game has been balanced to be pretty generous with giving out premium currency, and pretty easy to continuously play without pay, because then we can just monetize on ads instead. Better to make slightly less money from happy players than lots of money from pissed ones, we think!</comment></comment>


Paul Buchheit's LiPo battery caught fire last night and burned up home office - <AUTHOR> http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151853367220548&set=a.16449395547.68470.672745547&type=1&theater

<comment><USER2> LiPo's are used extensively in RC flight now (main power source for electric flight) and that group knows first-hand the dangers of these batteries. In fact, you can buy "charge bags" that are non-flammable incase your cell bursts into flame during a charge.

Great batteries, but very susceptible to over and undercharging with sometimes disastrous results. I basically never leave the room when I charge mine.</comment>


Music Beta by Google - <AUTHOR> http://music.google.com

<comment><USER2> Why are you submitting this now? I feel like most people on HN have known about this since I/O or shortly after in May.</comment>


Show HN: MAC Address Vendor Lookup - <AUTHOR> http://www.macvendors.com/

<comment><AUTHOR> This is the first project of mine I have actually launched. I'm a huge procrastinator and am prone to leaving projects half finished but pushed through and got this one live. Hopefully others can find it useful too!</comment>


Spotify acquires audio detection startup Sonalytic - <AUTHOR> https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/07/spotify-acquires-audio-detection-startup-sonalytic/ <comment><USER2> Spotify bought echonest and shut down their api, resulting in the demise of this awesome website: [http://labs.echonest.com/Uploader/index.html](http://labs.echonest.com/Uploader/index.html)

<comment><USER3> It seems to work fine for me? I just searched for Nothing Else Matters by Metallica and am listening to it on endless mode.

<comment><USER4> According to their Reddit, it's going to ggo offline in the next week or two.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/infinitejukebox/comments/5wh9hn/met...](https://www.reddit.com/r/infinitejukebox/comments/5wh9hn/meta_say_goodbye_to_the_infinite_jukebox/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Didn't spotify take on $1 billion in convertible debt last year?

What's happened with that? From what I remember it was under not so good conditions for spotify.

</comment><comment><USER6> How does this differ from the echo nest that they acquired?

[http://the.echonest.com/](http://the.echonest.com/)

</comment><comment><USER7> The Music Ally article on the acquisition is also a good read: [http://musically.com/2017/03/07/spotify-buys-startup- sonalyt...](http://musically.com/2017/03/07/spotify-buys-startup-sonalytic- heres-primer/).

</comment><comment><USER8> The patent on the technology is a solid read: [https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf;jsessionid...](https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf;jsessionid=FF0819442729239AA5DA0A178AFE0DCE.wapp2nC?docId=WO2016189307&recNum=1&maxRec=&office=&prevFilter=&sortOption=&queryString=&tab=PCTDescription)

<comment><USER9> @anonu the jsessionid param was giving me some issues.

Here's an alternate that should work:

[https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO20...](https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2016189307&recNum=1&maxRec=&office=&prevFilter=&sortOption=&queryString=&tab=PCTDescription)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Just out of curiosity, is there a similar technology for "shazaming" video footage?

<comment><USER11> I've wondered similar but, for Youtube at least, there doesn't seem to be a frame-level API. You can pull a video and analyze it yourself, but you'd basically need to download all of youtube.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> you could record/analyse and recreate a concert using the album/single releases</comment>


Y Combinator Demo Day Spring 2009 - <AUTHOR> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/18/y-combinator-demo-day-spring-2009/

<comment><USER2> Congrats to everyone!

reMail: what will you guys be doing differently then the new iPhone email search announcement from yesterday?

and

Wattvision: what are you guys doing differently then Googles plan for web based energy readings?

<comment><USER3> _Wattvision: what are you guys doing differently then Googles plan for web based energy readings?_

Well, for one thing, Wattvision _exists_. Google put out a press release. For another, Wattvision works with existing power meters. Google (and pretty much everybody else) is waiting for the magical day that everybody gets new meters.

(Just to be clear, I'm not part of Wattvision.)

<comment><USER4> To an outside observer, Wattvision doesn't exist yet either :). But given that I doubt I'll be getting a new meter anytime soon, it does seem a better bet. If anyone from Wattvision is reading, I would love to be a beta tester...

<comment><USER5> Hi Avi -- email me at savraj [at] wattvision.com and we'll see what we can do! And Gruseom is spot on with his answers -- thanks Gruseom!

<comment><USER6> I would like to beta test as well. I live in an apartment though so I guess I'll have to convince our officemanager to install this at work. Will give it a shot if you need beta testers.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Congrats!

I'm intrigued that YC is doing more non-web/non-SW startups: Wattvision and Propable in this batch. Does YC add just as much value in such different areas?

<comment><USER8> One of the basic premises of my firm (Shirlaws) is that all businesses are the same once you remove what they actually do.

In other words, the business advice, perspective and experience YC bring will apply just as well.

Note - this is based on my understanding, which is that YC help with the business not sitting down and helping you code.

<comment><USER9> _all businesses are the same once you remove what they actually do_

no offense, but this makes almost no sense. I mean, I guess when you remove what reader's digest, ycombinator, and my local model train shop all actually do, they're "the same" in that they have customers and exist to make a profit, but that's hardly a practical or helpful piece of information.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Why there were only 15 or 16 startups? Was it the initial number or have some companies not made it to the Demo Day?

<comment><USER11> airBnB did not present

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I happen to now that the largest energy supplier in Germany has a concept similar to what wattvision is doing. The dude who was working on it was working at the same lab as I was, and he told me about the concept. It's some type of infrared thing you put on top of your meter, and it sends the signal per wlan and desktop client to the web.

So, the wattvision idea seems like it's going to be the new hotness in coming months.

</comment><comment><USER11> This is a great list of the YC start-ups that launched, but doesn't look like it's an actual writeup of the event.

Was much more exciting in person.

Companies were phenomenal.

</comment><comment><USER13> It seems that most of those companies have already launched. In the past, wasnt' demo day the point where everyone launched?

<comment><USER14> Demo day is for investors. No one ever launches on demo day. More people that are launched before demo day the better it is.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I hope this doesn't turn into a "let's pick winners and losers" thing today. We can do that tomorrow.

Let's just congratulate all 16 teams on being accepted into YC and for making it to Demo Day successfully. I hope you're all getting wildly drunk and then sleep for a very long time tomorrow morning.

<comment><USER16> They presumably wouldn't be getting drunk tonight, because there is a second (identical) day of Demo Day tomorrow. We can't fit all the investors into our building at once, so Demo Day is now actually 2 days.

<comment><USER15> That is _incredible_. There are that many legitimate investors are still out there? Wow. I'm just so impressed with YC.

(Send them my way. If they won't travel to Chicago, I'll come out to GDC next week. :) )

<comment><USER16> The audience today was one of the most encouraging signs I've seen that the recession is not going to shut down the startup world. Not just the number of people, but the degree of interest they had. You could not have told there was anything amiss with the economy if you didn't already know.

<comment><USER17> The technical term is "flight to quality" and it's actually an indicator of economic hard times.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> wow! wattvision is _exactly_ the idea I had for a personal project.

<comment><USER19> that was the idea my ex-startup did: i-conserve.com (it's been since sold to getgreenbox.com)

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> wattvision sounds interesting, hadn't heard of it previously</comment>


Facebook down-ish? - <AUTHOR> Once logged in, the facebook page shows nothing. Looks like it's been reported since 10:15ish CT today. https://twitter.com/ReportOutage/status/918132129988513792 <comment><USER2> I've been observing problems with my profile only loading the page skeleton but none of the content. Every once in a while, some of the content will go through, but if I try to click through to a subpage (e.g. my photos), I just get the skeleton.

One group I'm in gives me an error page when I try to load it on desktop, but it works on mobile (I thought I'd been banned at first). Other groups seem to be working fine, though. And the Android app is working.

Edit: Well, I thought they were. I'm getting blank pages in other groups now.

Edit over an hour later: Everything seems to be working again.

</comment><comment><USER3> The Facebook dev status page doesn't show any errors when I'm logged out, but fails to load when I'm logged in.

[https://developers.facebook.com/status/dashboard/](https://developers.facebook.com/status/dashboard/)

</comment><comment><USER4> Still down here too in Paris. I wonder how many millions in revenue they're losing per minute, not to mention businesses that rely on it too. I hope they recover soon.

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't think it's geographic. I can't access facebook, but the guy sitting at the desk next to me can...

<comment><USER5> Same here, my co-workers access it fine but I can't

<comment><USER4> It works for me on the mobile app but not on desktop.

Edit: posting anything from the mobile app doesn't work either and I only see posts from 1 hour ago and later so I guess it's down on mobile too.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I get a message that they're down for maintenance. Odd time to be down for that kind of thing.

</comment><comment><USER7> Instagram appears to have recovered, at least in the Pacific Northwest

</comment><comment><USER8> We've been getting http 500 errors from their API.

</comment><comment><USER9> Successfully down, in India and Singapore.

</comment><comment><USER9> Any possible DDOS?</comment>


The NSA and Snowden: Securing the All-Seeing Eye - <AUTHOR> http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2014/5/174340-the-nsa-and-snowden/fulltext

<comment><USER2> Ironic how a security agency is more focused on data mining citizens than securing itself or the said data that it's gathering. I wonder if this trend will grow world-wide not just in the US but elsewhere as the means to do mass surveillance become cheaper and easier to do, all at the cost of doing it well and making sure said data isn't leaked.</comment>


Google Taking Street View To The Depths Of The Amazon - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/19/google-taking-street-view-to-the-depths-of-the-amazon/

<comment><USER2> As much as I'd like to browse the depths of the Amazon from Google Maps, we still don't have Street View in Buenos Aires. Google please fix this!

</comment><comment><USER3> What I want is google Street view on every human-walkable area on Earth, including walmart isles, mountain hiking paths, and the white house.

Monetize it by allowing companies to put advertisements in strategic places.

<comment><AUTHOR> I like this idea.. Walmart isles would be funny and helpful

<comment><USER3> I'm completely serious, often times I'm wondering if a walmart super-center has the section I'm looking for or is one of those half super centers without the section I'm looking for.

<comment><AUTHOR> I do remember reading somewhere about Google wanting you to be able to view the interior of stores, I will try and find the link.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Tabs Outliner – amazing Chrome extension that helps organizing tabs and windows - <AUTHOR> https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tabs-outliner/eggkanocgddhmamlbiijnphhppkpkmkl <comment><AUTHOR> I am not affiliated with it any way! I promise!

I just wanted to share it here, because I am sure many of you know what it feels to be overwhelmed by a browser session counting some 500ish tabs. Even when you just want to work on those last 10 active tabs and keeping the other 490 in an unloaded state (using Firefox tabs grouping hopefully), loading the browser is painfully slow, and running performance is so much heavily affected by that.

Given I am presently going through a test switch from Firefox to Chrome (I am sad about it, but can't afford anymore slow JS performance), I decided to look out for something similar to "All Tabs Helper" I was using in Firefox (which adds a thin bar below the address bar, where you have tabs for calling each group of tabs in session), but then I discovered this and... well, it's a game changer, you have to try it.

For additional sweetness I recommend it using with Lazy Tabs.

Hope it helps!</comment>


Avoid Monsanto products with Buycott - <AUTHOR> http://www.buycott.com

<comment><USER2> I don't get this whole anti-Monsanto movement.. who is behind it?

</comment><comment><USER3> Would prefer a Chrome extension.</comment>


Button Design Over the Years – The Dribbble Timeline - <AUTHOR> https://www.toptal.com/designers/ui/button-design-dribbble-timeline <comment><USER2> One world. Simplification :)</comment>


SPF30 – A Spam Prevention PHP Library W/DES Encryption - <AUTHOR> http://www.jqueryin.com/2010/04/26/spf33-spam-blocking-prevention-php-library/

<comment><AUTHOR> A comment regarding the usage of DES has already been brought up so I figure I'll address that issue here.

Unfortunately it's difficult to use any variant of blowfish as I was unable to easily convert the encrypted string into a UTF-8 compatible key to be used as a valid INPUT element name. There's a reason behind the madness of using DES.

PHP and JavaScript both have functioning single-DES encryption implementations which is why I went this route. I had anticipated using a more secure method of two-way encryption but I found it was increasingly difficult to handle all scenarios of unicode chars. The main intention of encrypting the form fields was to obfuscate the field names from bots so they could not auto-populate fields with names like "name" and "email".

With that being said, I may have gone a little overboard here by adding the encryption to the spam prevention library...</comment>


Zoom Just Failed Its Biggest Test. Its Apology Is an Extraordinary Example of EI - <AUTHOR> https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/zoom-just-failed-its-biggest-test-its-apology-is-an-extraordinary-example-of-emotional-intelligence.html <comment><USER2> What does it say about the "EI" of its users to expect an apology though? That is a much deeper and more interesting topic. Do you really wish for that because a service failed? Is it required for you to make peace with zoom?

This is a standard issue corporate apology. Being sorry, pronouncing personal involvement and responsibility. My company would post this too, there is little emotional intelligence involved that would lead to such a decision.

Granted, I am angry at my provider if something goes wrong. An apology might be nice, but pales in comparison for getting to know the reason.

</comment><comment><USER3> eh. talk is free. post mortems need effort. sla/refunds/compensation actually cost money.</comment>


Utah Data Center - <AUTHOR> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center

<comment><USER2> Bumblehive (the Utah datacenter) is just one of many massive infrastructure investment programs NSA is working on. Fort Meade and San Antonio are already online at a similar scale to Utah, with another facility in Maryland breaking ground.

The NSA is Baltimore Gas & Electric's biggest customer, even before the expansion.

<comment><AUTHOR> Really? We would see that data in FERC <http://www.ferc.gov/docs- filing/eqr.asp#.UbFZk_ZATns>

<comment><USER2> Feel free to start digging, but from a quick glance your link seems to apply to wholesale rates between power companies. I really doubt commercial customer data is reported.

<comment><AUTHOR> You could do something data science-ish and look at how much power Baltimore Electric is buying in comparison to other companies, whilst controlling with Census data and perhaps other industrial activity data, see if there is really a gap in the power they are buying for the type of demand they should getting in a comparable scenario.

<comment><USER2> I know from personal conversations, but I found a public article citing the same: [http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2006-08-06/news/0608060158_...](http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2006-08-06/news/0608060158_1_agency- power-surges-nsa)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> The bit that really amuses me is that the Americans are going ballistic because their own government is spying on them but as a foreign citizen they think it's perfectly OK for their own government to spy on me.

Sublime.

<comment><USER4> I don't think our 4th amendment applies to foreigners, does it? I do agree with your sentiment though.

<comment><USER3> Indeed but wouldn't the world be a wonderful place if your constitution did apply (and was followed of course) worldwide.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> For a sense of scale, when this facility was designed, it was planned to hold more storage than existed _on the entire planet_.

<comment><USER6> I figured -- and I also figured why that was. They probably plan on storing a copy of most of it there... :/

<comment><USER7> I bet they're not even going to seed back. Bastards.

<comment><USER6> Hahaha, indeed! +1

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> On a related note. The Utah Libertas Institute says they'll be interviewing William Binney a whistleblower who worked for the NSA.

 _"Tomorrow we'll also be interviewing William Binney, the whistleblower who worked at the NSA for over 30 years and quit after they started targeting innocent Americans. He has some fascinating insight on exactly what the agency does, and with the data center being built in Utah, has a message to deliver to us.

What questions would you like us to ask him?"_

<https://www.facebook.com/libertasutah/posts/584519078248420>

<comment><USER9> I've listed to William Binney a few months back on the Joe Rogan Experience talking about this. Very interesting.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Who are the people designing NSA software? It seems like this technology should make Google's "big data" techniques seem like amateur hour. Are these guys the cream of the crop or what?

</comment><comment><USER11> $2B build + $2B in hardware - that we know about. Probably much more going into this project. These data centers are probably true works of art inside and out. From a technical standpoint, the NSA has some of the most advanced technologies available today. Most aren't even available to the commercial market; Intel has been making custom silicon for the NSA for a decade. They are on the cutting edge.

<comment><USER12> _$2B build + $2B in hardware_

Meanwhile entire families are on the streets and there is rampant unemployment. I thought the government was supposed to be for the people, not against them.

<comment><USER10> And it's not like these investments serve any public good. They don't get commercialized or taught to the public/industry like NASA, DARPA, etc... and what terrorist attacks have they stopped? Kids still shoot up schools. People drive car bombs into Times Square (street vendors stop them). They blow up marathons. They get on planes with bombs in their shoes (passengers stop them, not the NSA).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> _"designed to be a primary storage resource capable of storing data on the scale of yottabytes"_

That's more than 1000x the total annual internet traffic. With a budget of a few billion USD, a yottabyte is several orders of magnitude beyond current market rates.

<comment><USER14> Yes, but you can still get a lot of storage for that kind of money.

2 billion USD in hard drives = 10 million 4 TB drives = 40 Exabytes = 6 GB per person in the world

<comment><USER15> Might as well just manufacture your own hard drives if you want to play this game. Optimized for Accumulo, with built in hardware encryption.

<comment><USER6> It would be highly ironic if they encrypt data there.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Even if a machine can store 50 TB (say 5TB in subsequent years _10 disks), to store 1 yottabyte (10^12 TB), you would need 2_ 10^10 machines, or 10 billion machines. And I can't even start to think of the datacenter network topology..

<comment><USER17> What do you mean by "machine"? Your point is well taken, however. You can fit 80 3.5" drives in a commodity 4U enclosure, say 3.2 PB raw per rack with 4TB hard drives and only two head nodes. Then we only need a mere 312,000,000 racks to get to a yottabyte. At 30 square feet per rack, that's 10 billion square feet, or 360 square miles. So. I think the 'yotta' is either anticipating a massive improvement in storage density, or the Wikipedia editor was a bit off...

<comment><USER18> The goal may not to make it all accessible simultaneously. They may archive to disk then remove the disks when they are full and put in storage.

<comment><USER17> At 80 drives in 4U, removing the drives from racks is only going to improve density by a small percentage. Perhaps by removing any walking space between the racks you could bring it down to 180 square miles from 360. HDD are more volumetrically dense than tape.

Any way you look at it, a yottabyte is going to occupy an enormous amount of physical space.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> This is probably more informative on the matter: <http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/>

</comment><comment><USER20> Perhaps something similar to this, but in far far larger scale.

<http://blog.backblaze.com/category/storage-pod/></comment>


Facebook to face fresh anti-trust investigation - <AUTHOR> https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49611947 <comment><USER2> If this is at all similar to the antitrust investigation I don't think they'll have to look far to show that FB used consumer data inappropriately and manipulated advertising prices.

<comment><USER3> > FB used consumer data inappropriately

I remember a few articles, say the 2-factor phone numbers used for advertising.

> and manipulated advertising prices.

I don't remember this though. Do you have a link somewhere?

<comment><USER2> I'm biased, but found these to be interesting reads. We'll see as the cases play out though. [https://fitsmallbusiness.com/how-much-does-facebook- advertis...](https://fitsmallbusiness.com/how-much-does-facebook-advertising- cost/)

[https://www.vox.com/2018/3/7/17087468/facebook-ad-prices- inc...](https://www.vox.com/2018/3/7/17087468/facebook-ad-prices-increase- algorithm-news-feed)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> twitter, snapchat, youtube

all huge platforms

Facebook isn't even close to a monopoly.

</comment><comment><USER5> _Facebook has previously claimed it is not a monopoly and said consumers can choose how to connect with friends online._

Valid point.

<comment><USER6> If all your friends are on Facebook, then it's not really a choice.

<comment><USER7> 1) The dynamics of your social network aren't FB's problem (legally)

2) Your friends being on FB doesn't preclude them from being on other social networks</comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Obscura – Create proxy emails in one click - <AUTHOR> https://obscura.one <comment><AUTHOR> Hey Hacker News! I'm Tim, one of the makers of this app. Feel free to offer feedback or ask any questions.</comment>