Convert any Python file into a single line of code - odeke-em https://github.com/csvoss/oneliner <comment><AUTHOR> +1 for the amusing faq. And I think this is a cool project. I'll use it just to learn better ways to make one-liners for use in other shell scripts and makefiles. Python has always been harder than the other languages I know to make one-liners, but on occasion it's quite useful.

<comment><USER2> On what occasion would a one-liner be useful? I'm genuinely curious, because I can't think of any such case, but I wouldn't doubt there being a few.

<comment><USER3> Command line use. You grep some files, and think, "man, this really needs this ONE LITTLE FILTER". So, you pipe it to `perl -e "..."`, and soon have a very short program that you iterate on a few times to make sure you have right, and then you pipe it through the rest of the toolchain.

I don't write Perl much anymore, but that was far and away my __favorite__ way to use it. I love coding in Python now, more than I ever liked programming in any language (except perhaps lisp), but I still don't feel I can use it on the command line that way.

In the context of a Python program, I can't see the value of a Lovecraftian lambda (unless maybe in code golf comments?), but I found this article very appealing mainly because it's quite a feat. Doing anything nontrivial in a lambda is a pain in the ass, so the fact that someone wrote a tool to do it is awesome.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> For a very limited definition of "any python file".

Still brings me back to highschool, where we toyed with that kind of tricks (someone builds something, the others try to figure out how it works). Fun times!

<comment><USER5> Yeah, like trying to do a C file without semicolons

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I in the distant past when I was still in Uni attempted to do something similar, though I never finished it. I think I should take up my project again and try to finish it this time. I got stuck last time trying to figure out how to do a try/catch.

The one big thing I notice this is doing "wrong", is that it is not linear in recursion depth: Each statement increases the stack depth by 1. The way around this is to instead sequence the commands using arrays, since python guarantees the execution order is left to right. So his example could have been rewritten as:

      (lambda s: [s.__setitem__('x', 3), s.__setitem__('y', 4), print(s['x'] < s['y'] < 5)])({})

(though for this example you could just modify the result of globals())

Then you can also do trickery to get for and while loops into generator expressions as opposed to lambdas. The hard part is handling continues and breaks. For instance:

      while <cond>:
        <stmts>

can get compiled into something like

      list(<compiled_stmts> for _ in itertools.takewhile(lambda _: <compiled_cond>, itertools.cycle([1])))

(though you'll want to replace list with a function that evaluates the iterator but doesn't take up O(N) space where N is the number of iterations, something like a no-op accumulator)

To handle breaks and continues, you'd have to make your <compiled_stmts> be aware that a break/continue was called (a flag on some meta table was my plan), so they can terminate early. You'd also have to change <compiled_cond> to terminate the loop (on a break) and reset the continue flag.

</comment><comment><USER7> Nice.

This made me think of this video with Jim Weirich demonstrating functional patterns, transformations and the Y combinator:

[https://vimeo.com/45140590](https://vimeo.com/45140590)

Highly recommened. It's very related to what seems to be going on here, and actually quite funny.

</comment><comment><USER8> > Your code was not valid: 'try-except' is an open problem.

Well that was disappointing...

</comment><comment><USER9> First try: Your code could not be one-lined. Open problem: try-except

Second try: Your code could not be one-lined. Open problem: yield

Third try: Your code could not be one-lined. Open problem: raise

Fourth try: Your code could not be one-lined. Not yet implemented: classdef

So, any file without class definitions, try/except/raise/yield (and probably some more). Not my definition of 'any' :)

</comment><comment><USER10> > However, since while loops and for loops are implemented with recursion, you > might encounter maximum recursion depth exceeded errors during runtime if > your loops go on for too long.

Okay, this was enough to scare me away from it :)

</comment><comment><USER11> _Why pass up a perfectly good excuse to abuse lambda functions, ternary expressions, list comprehensions, and even the occasional Y combinator? Never pass up an opportunity to use the Y combinator._

^^ Legendary

</comment><comment><USER12> I formatted one of the converted examples for easier reading

[http://pastebin.com/SEMHXkd6](http://pastebin.com/SEMHXkd6)

</comment><comment><USER13> Call me when the results are compliant with PEP8

<comment><USER14> Brrring

<comment><USER13> haha, I think the resulting one liners are a little over 80 characters :)

<comment><USER14> Eh, you can insert newlines wherever you want and it'll still work, plus the "80 char line" rule is at the top of the list of PEP8 rules you can break.

<comment><USER13> True, but then it's not on one line anymore, and the code likely ends up on more lines. If only there was some other version of the code that took up less lines and characters... :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> > Space: O(n). No code is ever duplicated, so the one-lined code produced is > linear in the size of the input code.

Seems like a non sequitur?

<comment><USER16> I'm not sure why you think that. Do you mean that normally, in this context "space" means the memory usage of a program, which isn't particularly related to the size of the program?

In which case, yeah, it's a little incongruous. The "space" bit is talking about the textual representation of the program produced, while the "time" bit is talking about the runtime characteristics of the program.

<comment><USER17> Oh, you're right, I'm using "space" incorrectly. Fixed :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> +1 for Y Combinator :)

</comment><comment><USER19> is it me or is it continuation passing style ?

</comment><comment><USER20> Import pythonfile</comment>


Why Keras Creator François Chollet Should Study His History - <AUTHOR> http://d.hatena.ne.jp/shi3z/20170519/1495174655 <comment><USER2> We probably need some background to get this story</comment>


Kiva Now Allows You to Lend to US Small Businesses - <AUTHOR> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/kiva_now_allows_you_to_invest_in_us_small_business.php

<comment><USER2> I have mixed feelings about this:

#1, I hope Kiva dots all the is and crosses all the ts more than Prosper did, or they might also feel the wrath of financial regulators.

#2, While I love the idea of loaning to entrepreneurs to improve their standings (and did it on Prosper), it is hella-risky and I don't see that 2% delinquency rate being maintained. One thing I learned through hard experience with Prosper: there is a reason banks are banks.

#3, That 2% delinquency rate is, how do I put this gently, creative accounting. Kiva's lending partners routinely do things like rolling over loans to avoid having to tarnish their near-perfect records -- the original $100 loan isn't four years past due, it is a $500 loan now which is paying as agreed (to the new, updated terms). They also use collection tactics that in the US would be illegal (you know all those social pressure things, you'd better repay the loan for your chicken or we'll tell your cousin you cost him the loan for his cow? That has been done here before. Legislatures were not neutral about the practice, which is why we have laws like the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which prohibits 3rd party disclosure of the fact of indebtedness, to say nothing of asking someone's cousin to be your enforcer. The FDCPA might not apply directly to Kiva's partners, but similar laws exist in all 50 states.)

The triple digit interest rates that some international Kiva parters charge, to compensate for the we-can't-call-it-default-risk, also probably won't fly that well here. Bad news: it isn't automatically profitable to give loans to poor people at normal US credit card interest rates. As mentioned previously, there is a reason banks are banks. Look at Prosper defaults on business loans -- off the top of my head, in the lower credit grades they exceeded _forty percent_.

</comment><comment><USER3> It's only slightly misleading to say Kiva lets you lend to small businesses, but downright false for RWW to say it lets you invest in them. If you can't get any return on the loan, it's simply not an investment.

<comment><USER4> It's not a zero interest loan, is it?

Lending is the most common form of investment, and it's comparatively safe. Equity investment is what's risky and dangerous (unless you get into junk bonds, or lending to bankrupt companies).

<comment><USER5> It's not a zero-interest loan, but the Kiva "field partner" pockets the interest, so there's no possibility of return. From their website:

"Lending to the working poor through Kiva involves risk of principal loss. Kiva does not guarantee repayment nor do we offer a financial return on your loan. "

<comment><USER6> What are the regulatory obstacles to running a business that does offer a small return? I have to assume there are some, no, or else you get loan sharks.

<comment><USER7> That's what Prosper was doing but the SEC forced them to temporarily stop lending and jump through more hoops.

[http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/26/sec-outlines-its- reason...](http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/26/sec-outlines-its-reasoning- for-shutting-down-p2p-lender-prosper/)

I'm not sure where they sit now, but when you browsed Prosper you could find people requesting loans for business (not just personal items like cars).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I wonder how well the "think of it as a donation" model will work when it is Americans lending to Americans? I don't have any poor expectations or anything, it just feels a little different somehow because of our cultural baggage. I'm curious to see how it goes over.

<comment><USER9> Me too. There has to be some sort of psychological shift. Kiva has been a way to help _the poor_ in the theoretical the _developing world,_ That place with starving sad ad children that's plagued by everything & $1 a day can make such a difference in a child's life.

When it's US-2-US, you are going to be associating this with something more real. I have no idea if it'll be associated positively or negatively .

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> It will be interesting to see if the delinquency/default rate of domestic loans is less than or greater than international micro-loans which are reported to be at only about 2%

</comment><comment><USER11> they should partner with YCom or setup a secondary market for folks that didn fit the niche focus of Ycom, so young startups can get cash from a broad community. maybe its a whole separate biz concept loosely modeled after YC and Kiva.

</comment><comment><USER12> I've been lending to Kiva for the past two years, and for me, it's been a fulfilling experience. I think I definitely feel a connection to the people I'm lending to through reading their stories and knowing what my loan is going towards. Now that it's open to US small businesses, I thought I would be on the bandwagon since there's a lot of need just on our front doorsteps. However, the current opportunities listed on Kiva in the US are a little uninspiring. I'm not sure whether it's purely psychological in the sense that these people are closer to home (have the perception of already being more fortunate), but I don't feel as though I'm helping someone overcome poverty by paying for advertising for their business. Maybe it's just a different kind of poverty manifested here at home.

</comment><comment><USER13> One of Kiva's featured United States entrepreneurs is working down the street from where I live. I dropped by and bought a sandwich because I was curious.

On one hand, it's interesting to personally meet the beneficiary of microfinancing. On the other hand, it's interesting to think there are some days that she makes more than me.

Here's the kiva link to her profile: [http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about...](http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=113783)

</comment><comment><USER14> Kiva ranks up there with Better Place as most inspiring types of companies to create post-success.

World changing ideas.

</comment><comment><USER15> That's frickin sweet, I've been waiting for this. Boom!

</comment><comment> farticus-rex it would be fun to autogenerate a thousand or so fake profiles and see if you could earn six figures on this

<comment><USER16> Yes, _please_ spend your talent and energy destroying value and undercutting any innovation that others create.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: What music do you listen to be more productive at work? - <AUTHOR>

I found that the quietness of night helps me think more clearly but I do not want to mess up circadian rhythm. I am a programmer but that does not matter I guess. I would really appreciate if you could share the music that helps you concentrate during the day. <comment><USER2> I discovered soma.fm a few weeks ago and it's been on ever since. It has a lot of good ambient stations with no lyrics and good variety. It's good for leaving on for long periods of time to concentrate. Also check out musicforprogramming.net.

</comment><comment><USER3> Maybe this can help you: [http://www.codercowboy.com/2014/12/26/music-to-code- by-2014/](http://www.codercowboy.com/2014/12/26/music-to-code-by-2014/)

</comment><comment><USER4> Jean Michel Jarre

</comment><comment><USER5> Kinda depends on what mood I'm in, and/or what I'm working on. I'm a heavy- metal / hard-rock guy primarily, but when I need to focus I find that metal/rock is too disruptive because I get too into the song. So a lot of times when I'm coding I go for some kind of electronic music: Trance, House, Techno, some kind of Euro-pop, or maybe go old-skool and listen to some 80's era new wave or Hi-NRG or whatever. I usually prefer music without vocals, but sometimes I can tolerate vocals.

And then sometimes I just go for pop music, whether it is 70's, 80's, or contemporary or whatever. Belinda Carlisle one time, Lady Gaga the next. _shrug_

An example or two:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViN2bRGrBx8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViN2bRGrBx8)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXa9tXcMhXQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXa9tXcMhXQ)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAtV2q6mLJs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAtV2q6mLJs)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13oJajXx0M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13oJajXx0M)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXfkEJvSll8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXfkEJvSll8)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYJBcr1LDg4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYJBcr1LDg4)</comment>


A barber shop on wheels that you book via an app - happy-go-lucky https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-47711610 <comment><AUTHOR> Barbers and female hair dressers offer a service and sell an experience. That's why you get coffee and magazines and all that. And that's why he has a van he drives his tools around in.

Thing is, all you need for the job fits in a bag, and barbers have been mobile forever. Sure, you had to sit on your own chair in your own living room listening to your own stereo. Another bonus is that it's one of those rare trades where you make things disappear instead of creating stuff, so the tax man rarely catches you.

Source: My father did everything hair related for 40 years on multiple continents.

</comment><comment><USER2> I always found it strange that services like doctors, dentists, barbers, etc. are generally open the same hours as the majority of their customer base (9-5ers).

If a doctor, barber, dentist wanted to win my business literally all they would have to is shift their hours to accommodate office workers (e.g. like boutique fitness class hours open before work, after work, and lunch hours) and weekends.

<comment><USER3> is it really such a big deal to take sick time or just leave work for these types of appointments though?

<comment><USER4> Not for the hn user base maybe, but for a lot of people it is. I worked part time out of college, only job I could find, worked 36 hours a week, anymore and they'd would have to give me benefits. If I had to take time off that came out of my pocket. This is a reality for a lot of people.

<comment><USER5> This exactly. I haven't had to take time off work for any personal reason or because I was sick in years - and then I was actually in the hospital. I can work from home, catch up on the weekend etc. But my wife can't exactly work from home as a special needs bus driver.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I switched to cutting my own hair about 6 years ago. My cut is a simple #6 clipper on the top (#5 in the hottest part of the summer) and #3/#2 on the sides and back. (The numbers are "how many 1/8 inches?")

I can cut my own hair at home anytime I want (the real benefit/driver behind it) in about 7-10 minutes, including cleanup. Because it's at home, I cut it right before a shower (dry), sweep up with my hand and dispose of the hair, and take the shower.

I bought Amazon B001JJBC9Y ($60) and B001T0HHB0 ($25) and am happy with those.

(Unless I told you, you'd never know I cut my own hair.)

<comment><USER7> How are people getting their neckline? I've done it _almost_ myself for 12 years, but I've always needed someone else to drive the clipper blades directly into the base of my neck with no comb to get a clean edge. Looks unfinished if I don't do it, seems impossible to get a nice straight line myself from that angle. Any ideas?

<comment><USER8> I self cut and fade at the edges, but I think the keys to doing this correctly are:

1\. Good visibility of the back and sides of your head. Either a 3 way mirror, or some kind of video setup with your phone and a laptop.

2\. Patience and practice. The muscle memory and hand eye coordination needed to handle the clippers correctly takes some time. If you cut your hair once every couple of weeks, that's approximately 25 reps per year, which really isn't that much considering the spacing between reps is so long.

Edit: I missed that you have been doing this for 12 years. That's longer than I've been at it ~3 years.

Another thing that helps is watching YouTube vids of legit barbers. There are a ton of different techniques that accomplish the same thing, you might find some new insights into ones that work for you.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I saw these folks at AfrotechFest[1] in London last year, which one of my colleagues helped organise, talking about their entrepreneurial experience. Really great to see them getting mainstream media coverage, and I wish them all the best. The idea of getting into a van full of blades with strangers was definitely joked about on stage, and if they can salve that concern then they must be doing a good job!

[https://www.afrotechfest.co.uk/](https://www.afrotechfest.co.uk/)

<comment><USER10> that's a silly concern lol

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> The killer idea here is actually combining this with Uber. Get a mediocre haircut while on your way somewhere.

<comment><USER12> Just don't hit a pothole while they're cleaning up the length around your ear with some scissors.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> > The increasing number of black professionals may mean that the relatively > high cost of a Trim-It cut - £25 - is not an obstacle to growth.

As with every Uber for X thing, price is not a problem for winners of knowledge economy. For the rest it might be cheaper to do it themselves specially since trimming kits are quite cheap nowadays.

</comment><comment><USER14> Awesome positive story for black entrepreneurship in UK, which we don't get to see that often. An inspirational read.

</comment><comment><USER15> In the US there is [https://www.getshortcut.co/](https://www.getshortcut.co/) \- which has a slightly different model. They'll come into your house with a setup to cut your hair, clean up, etc.

IIRC their prices are significantly higher ($50-$75) but they pitch themselves more for the "you have a big presentation tomorrow at 9am and we'll come to your house tonight at 10pm" crowd.

<comment><USER16> You have to clean up your own hairs too. They don't bring a broom, I think

<comment><USER17> Why make such a lazy assumption?

From their FAQ:

Q: Won't my floor end up covered with hair?

A: Our barber credo says it all – no hair left behind! Every Shortcut barber carries a drop cloth, so your space stays clean and tidy.

<comment><USER16> It's logically conceivable that they added it within five minutes of me posting the comment

<comment><USER18> Go check the wayback machine then

<comment><USER19> It's possible they paid off the wayback machine to make it look like they did it when they opened. /s

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I could certainly see this catching on. We've got mobile dentistry, mobile car detailing, mobile restaurants, this is just one more thing.

It cuts down on facility overhead, it opens up a wider base of people you can serve, and I can see no reason people wouldn't like to have their stylist come to them rather than go to them.

<comment><USER21> In the time it takes to drive to a customer, park, and set up, a barber could probably do 3 or 4 haircuts if he were working in a shop. Are customers willing to pay 4x or more for that convenience? Probably some are, but enough to sustain the idea?

I could see the food truck approach maybe working better. Set up for the day or a few hours in a commercial area, and let local customers come to you.

<comment><USER20> I think your analysis is incomplete.

What does it cost to rent a chair in a salon? (what is the operational expense (opex) of the current method)

What percentage of time that the salon is open, is the chair in use? (what is the haircut operational time)

What percentage of customers don't use your chair because they can't get to your location? (substitution value of stylists in a free market)

What percentage of your customers are 'regular' versus 'walk in'? (opportunity cost vs monthly recurring revenue (MRR))

I haven't done the research but I could certainly imagine in places like the Bay Area where rents are high that this could be a better system for a stylist than the traditional one.

<comment><USER21> Agreed, all of that matters. Also, another big difference from Uber is that the vast majority of adults can drive, so their pool of potential drivers is large. Barbering is a niche skill and in many areas is regulated. I can't just download an app and start working unless I'm already a trained and licensed barber. Then I'd need to own or rent the van outfitted with the chair and other equipment. The scaling model is vastly more constrained than Uber.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> What makes this idea interesting is that it may be frequently possible for him to line up several clients at the same location (at an office, etc) at the same time increasing his efficiency.

I would love it if a haircut van came to our office once a week.

</comment><comment><USER23> Here is my setup in basement for the last 2 decades. [https://imgur.com/a/REOqZIK](https://imgur.com/a/REOqZIK). I lean over an old newspaper to catch clippings.

<comment><USER24> We need to see the results :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> great to see this company getting love. the founder chronicled how he raised £225,000 just 7 days before his company was about run to out of cash and close shop [https://twitter.com/mrtrimit/status/1064613173658099712](https://twitter.com/mrtrimit/status/1064613173658099712)

they also recently raised money from Backstage Capital [https://medium.com/greenroom/backstage-london- cohort-1-3a96c...](https://medium.com/greenroom/backstage-london- cohort-1-3a96ceb15048)

</comment><comment><USER26> A guy I was working with in San Diego was doing this 5 years ago. In the office we used to make fun of the idea because we thought it was terrible: Who wants to get a haircut in the parking lot and then go back into the office with little bits of hair all over your head and neck?

<comment><USER27> My godfather was doing this in the late 90s. He took an RV and retrofitted it to be a salon. His problem is that his (white collar) clientele didn't want to pay the premium to be on site, and the driving time ate up his margins. I think, had he been younger and had more room to pivot his business plan, it might have worked.

The travel time versus a stationary area is the hardest to overcome.

<comment><USER28> > The travel time versus a stationary area is the hardest to overcome.

I think you have hit the nail on the head there. I have seen the hairdo-in-a- van in LA so the idea is far from novel, it is new to the UK though.

I actually can't think of anywhere in the UK where parking up in a van is that easy. There isn't the zoning in the way that the U.S. has it. Parking is always going to be tricky.

The workaround is to drive your customer from outside his house (on a steep hill) to some car-park or layby. But you have lost ten minutes at best doing that. A pro barber shop can make good money in that time.

There is also a restriction on how far the service can go. You are not going to be washing hair unless you are spending time filling and emptying tanks of water.

The trick is probably to get industrial estate businesses. An out of town industrial estate might lake a decent high street near by. If you can rock up there and get half a dozen or more customers done then that cuts down on the travel time.

The 'app' aspect doesn't cut down on the fundamental travel time problem. Most hairdressers have some type of trainee able to do phones, sweep the floor, wash the towels and be more versatile than an 'app'. I am therefore not sure how valuable the 'app' can be.

I think the RV is a better starting point than a Transit. In the UK market a camper van with some pop up top and some windows would be a better starting point, e.g. a modern VW rather than a retro one.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Pro tip: Find out where retirees hang out and then park your van there. Better still, do house calls for those who have difficulty leaving the house.

Getting my parents to the hair cutter takes planning, etc. It's a much bigger deal than most people (with younger more able parents) realize.

</comment><comment><USER30> I had to do a double take on that headline.

I live in Korea and I thought this was about prostitution. In Korea, barber shop poles are used to identify locations of brothels etc.

Anyway, I can see more and more use cases like this for certain segments of the population, e.g. elderly. Great idea!

<comment><USER31> >>>In Korea, barber shop poles are used to identify locations of brothels

What identifies barbershops then?

<comment><USER32> Stripper poles?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> I cut it myself. I started about 2 years ago. I wish I would have done it years ago. Long on top,short on sides and back and I am done in less than 20 mins including clean up. I found a clipper that vacuums as it cut so there is not much hair to clean up when done. It rocks.

Here it is on Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/Remington-HKVAC2000A-Haircut- Trimmer-...](https://www.amazon.com/Remington-HKVAC2000A-Haircut-Trimmer- Clippers/dp/B00OLV3UN8/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=hair+clipper+vacuum&qid=1553996263&s=gateway&sr=8-4)

</comment><comment><USER34> It'a great that it works, but it's not a new thing AFAIK.

Google had this kind of barbers in Mountain View a long time ago in its parking lot if I recall correctly.

<comment><USER35> Yeah I used to get my hair cut there. Convenient that it was at work and you can book your time online.

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> Sounds like a great idea though I must admit I thought we were past the _Uber for X_ phase of startup ideas.

<comment><USER37> By "Uber for X" do you mean "services that can only be offered in person and come to you"? Because that business model was present long before Uber and will likely be present until the extinction of mankind. Just because you've associated it with a meme doesn't make it a phase.

<comment><USER38> > will likely be present until the extinction of mankind

I agree with most of your comment except this. Are you really saying that you don't think we can eventually automate on-demand services in every domain we can conceive?

<comment><USER37> How do you propose receiving a haircut if nobody—or nothing—cuts it (and you don't physically go somewhere)?

<comment><USER39> Nano drones with scissors

<comment><USER37> And folks would still be saying "Uber for Nano drones with scissors"

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> Price? :)

</comment><comment><USER41> sweeneytodd.co.uk</comment>


AngelPad Opens Up Its Summer 2011 Applications - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/13/angelpad-2/

<comment><USER2> I was part of the winter batch 2011 at AngelPad and just have to smile a little when I read comments on TC about how much money you get for how much of the company (5% for 25k, or 6% for 20k...).

Out of personal experience I can say that the money is like the least important thing in this program. What you are really buying yourself with the 6% of your company are 4 fundamental things: \- Data Points in the Market \- Social Proof \- Network For Fund Raising and Exposure \- Great, Super Driven, Smart Friends (other founders)

Data Points in the Market: With data points I mean advice. As a founder of your company you are staring at your problem for too long. You forget to think outside the box. Feedback and advice from an experienced PM/Hacker/Founder help you avoid mistakes. But be aware, each advice no matter who it comes from is just ONE data point in the market. You need to collect many of them and then decide for yourself and for your company what is best. AngelPad with its 5 mentors, helps you get direct/fast access to these data points on a weekly basis.

Social Proof: Being part of AngelPad and getting through the application process (4% roughly get accepted) is social proof. Potential future employees or investors see this as validation that you are smart because someone already did the homework/reference checks for them.

Network For Fund Raising and Exposure: The amount of intros they can make to investors is amazing. We got 20 meetings lined up with top angels and VCs in no time.

Great, Super Driven, Smart Friends (other founders): Last but not least, all the other founders are super helpful, friendly and in a nutshell just an awesome environment to be in. They are all super driven and smart. Value this relationship. Stay in touch with them. Make an effort to connect. These are the people are your first users, the first ones who recommend you and the first ones who make an effort to comment/help you with your product.

</comment><comment><USER3> I was a cofounder in the second batch of AngelPad (www.crittercism.com) Here's why I would recommend AngelPad:

\- Coworking space: received a lot of great feedback and help from the other cofounders. We also became pretty good friends with all of the other teams.

\- Founder experience: a lot of the other founders had a lot of work experience. One founder was the first product manager at youtube, first employee at slide.

\- Industry connections: a lot of the mentors are still in industry (VPs at LinkedIn, Facebook, etc). The google mafia is VERY WELL connected. Basically, you can pretty much get access to anyone you need to be successful, from top VCs to the CEO of twitter.

\- Mentors: we had five mentors that were impressively available (Thomas Korte met with every team every monday for 30 minutes and you met with another mentor usually at least once a week). I exchanged emails at 2am with one of the mentors throughout the program! All of the mentors are amazing and people you really look forward to working with.

</comment><comment><USER4> I learned and and grew more in the intensive 2 months @ AngelPad than in any 2 months of my life post college. The only other time was I learned as much when I traveled through countries.

The mentors can make intros to many of the top VCs and angels when you're fundraising. Their advice all make sense at the end. One of my favorites was speakers every week.

In addition to the mentorship, I liked the sense of community @ AngelPad. Startup life is unique - others can't relate to it as much. AP was its own support network (like a gender-neutral frat).

</comment><comment><USER5> Ironic to promote this on HN but you do need options in life. :) Don't trust what you read. Talk to folks who went to the various incubators and find out what works best for you. AngelPad worked really well for us due to the more hands-on mentoring model, laser focus by ex-Google PMs (the AP mentors) on the stuff that matters and the intensity of DemoDay prep. Stay away from AngelPad if you want a cushy startup life :)

</comment><comment><USER6> I'm curious to how AngelPad companies do post incubation and what the resumes of the founders look like: (1) Does AngelPad typically look for Google/FB experience or are they okay with founders without that type of experience, (2) How many AngelPad companies have gone on to raise money (how much does AngelPad help with that) or grow significantly?

</comment><comment><USER7> This was one of the best experiences of my life, you won't regret applying. Had the wonderful opportunity of getting to know the other founders whilst working side by side and going through preparing for DDay, DDay and fundraising together. The mentors are amazing and their advice has been invaluable.

<comment><USER8> I _completely_ agree :) great folks all around -- top notch founders and advisors.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> In the TechCrunch article they quote you on the following:

"... Our founders are a little older than the typical incubator crowd, with some experience... "

Can you elaborate? Why? Is Angelpad less hacker-oriented in comparison to YC? How do you relate?

<comment><USER10> I won't answer for Thomas, but:

No, I definitely wouldn't say angelPad is less hacker-oriented. It just means their 'market niche' is more about experienced individuals, with some work experience at startups, etc. Of course, our class (I was in W11) had both experienced people who were on the scale of Product Manager at Youtube to just great coders. AngelPad is like an older, wiser YC that seemed to seek to build companies with slightly bigger ideas than YC, focused on more hands-on mentorship.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I was a founder in the 2nd batch and I second everything mentioned so far. What most impressed me were the mentors. They are incredible in terms of experience, networking and make themselves available 24/7.

</comment><comment><USER12> A really solid experience with great mentors, founders and speakers.</comment>


Ask HN: What are the best books you've read that few others have? - <AUTHOR> <comment> le-mark Non fiction and IT related:

Algorithmics The spirit of computing: this is a really great exploration of 'algorithmic' thinking, accessible to anyone:

[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2378136.Algorithmics](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2378136.Algorithmics)

Soul of a new machine: the book won the pulitzer, it's about now defunct Data General and implementing a new machine in the early 80's:

[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7090.The_Soul_of_a_New_Ma...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7090.The_Soul_of_a_New_Machine)

Fiction:

Marooned in Realtime: Vernor Vinge on a group of people who missed the singularity, and try to understand what happened. A damn good detective story too:

[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/167847.Marooned_in_Realti...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/167847.Marooned_in_Realtime)

</comment><comment><USER2> Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

Very thought provoking look at recycling and design for eventual recycling.

</comment><comment><USER3> It might not be read much only because it was recently released but Homo Deus by Yuval Harari is off the chain.

This dude can explain grand ideas encompassing human civilization in (relatively) simple, brief, and entertaining language and I can't get enough of it. I think Homo Deus's forward focus will appeal to the HN crowd more than his more famous Sapiens.

<comment><USER4> I felt like Homo Deus was largely a retread of Sapiens. Some of his speculations about the various forms of humanism that have arisen in the 20th century were interesting, but for most of the book it felt like he was treading very familiar ground. It seemed like Harari was in a rush to release another book after the runaway success of Sapiens, and because of that he didn't take his time writing it. Sapiens was very concise and felt like the product of years of careful thought. Homo Deus felt like it was rushed in comparison. Still a good read, don't get me wrong.

For a similar type of book I would recommend Howard Bloom's Lucifer Principle and Global Brain. They both take a similarly broad scientific perspective on human history and behavior, and both are fun reads.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I love the idea of looking for overlooked gems. Here are a few of mine:

Infinite in All Directions, Freeman Dyson : just a book of his thoughts, but I really appreciated his perspective on respect between religion/spirituality and science.

Ignition! An informal history of liquid rocket propellants, J.D. Clark : I picked up a copy of this in a roadside bookstore on a lark. Entertaining tales of people blowing themselves up in the name of science.

Apollo 11 Press kit : My grandmother was a journalist for Florida Today during the space race, and she gave me her copy. It is amazing to see how much detail was provided. I don't know if our modern press ever gets press kits like these, but it was not dumbed-down much at all, which was very nice to see.

The Adventures of Samurai Cat, Mark Rogers : Silly fun. Kind of like if Bored of the Rings had been written by Jerry Bruckheimer and Spider Jerusalem.

Into the cool, Sagan and Schnieder : about complexity and thermodynamics. Written for a layperson, I still learned a lot from it.

Order out of Chaos, Prigogine and Stengers : More thermo, also written for lay audience, also learned a lot from it.

Controlled Thermonuclear Reactions, L. Artsimovich : Of all the plasma physics books I have read (many) this is the one I remember most. Rather out-of-date now, it contains loads of information about the early Soviet fusion program, with pictures and discussion of now-forgotten experiments.

</comment><comment><USER6> Understanding good idioms in Java, instead of learning from scattered pieces of folk knowledge:

* [http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/effectivejava-136174....](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/effectivejava-136174.html)

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1vQf4qyMXg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1vQf4qyMXg) (a talk by the author)

Corner cases in the Java programming language:

* [http://www.javapuzzlers.com/](http://www.javapuzzlers.com/)

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbp-3BJWsU8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbp-3BJWsU8) (a talk by the author)

<comment><USER7> Not sure if trolling or serious...

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> He Is There And He Is Not Silent, by Francis Schaeffer. A very deep philosophical argument for the existence of God. (By "deep", I don't mean a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. I mean connecting first principles to concrete conclusions in a very direct way.)

</comment><comment><USER9> Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa

The Story is breathtaking and the teachings are divine. It currently has the potential to change my life, i even marked some sentences and put tapes to important pages that concern my life.

<comment><USER10> Good book. You might also like the manga 'Vagabond' which is loosely based on Eiji's work.

<comment><USER9> thanks for the tip

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> In Search of Lost Time. It's definitely famous and well-known, but I think it's far more talked about than actually read. Proust is a philosopher and psychologist more than a novelist, and large chunks of the book are basically just philosophical essays, but its still probably the greatest novel I've read. I think it's one of the greatest achievement of the human mind to date and it has more to say about the human experience than anything since, as far as I can tell.

</comment><comment><USER11> I really enjoyed "Software and Mind", which I first read about on HN, though the discussion was short and people didn't seem to like the author's angle much. It's largely about how "mechanistic theories of software" hold us back, how programmers aren't getting to exercise their brains, and how most people are giving more and more control of their life up to others in order to avoid having to program. Avoiding programming becomes more of a goal than expanding the mind.

The author is very passionate about all this - and I think most people would find the intensity off-putting. He manages to fill ~800 pages. I am not sure I agree with everything. While it resonated strongly, I'm also not that bummed out about the ability to launch a website from scratch in 5 minutes. But, in much the same way I feel about the writing of Nassim Taleb, despite having many statements that are incendiary and possibly wrong, it approaches a topic from an angle that you probably haven't been getting elsewhere.

I immediately thought of this book when I read the question because I've never met anyone who has read it or who has any interest in reading it after hearing about it.

</comment><comment><USER12> [http://www.erasmatazz.com/library/the-mind/history-of- thinki...](http://www.erasmatazz.com/library/the-mind/history-of- thinking/index.html)

History of thinking is the book which Sapiens / Homo Deus would like to be. I think it is one of the best complete arguments on the nature of our relationship to computers.

</comment><comment><USER13> "Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers".

If you've ever read "Code" by Charles Petzold, it's as illuminating as that was.

Also a little bit tragic, makes you realize there is a lot of fun and beauty and even social history in math. I didn't realize there is also a lot of complaints in how math is taught, and that the arithmetic we all learn is considered the most boring part.

</comment><comment><USER14> Rory Stewart, _The Prince of the Marshes_. It's about general dysfunction in the early Iraq War, but it's also about the meaning of life. Perhaps it's just how Stewart writes? (His _The Places In Between_ is also well worth reading, but is much better known.)

Tony Horwitz, all works -- especially _Baghdad Without a Map_ (which will leave you with a much healthier view of the modern Middle East) and _Confederates in the Attic_ (a dress-rehearsal for the Age of Trump?).

Pearl Buck, _Sons_. (Best to read _The Good Earth_ first, but you've probably already read it.) I doubt it's a very accurate depiction of China, and the characters' morality is hair-raising (while the narrator is so far off the deep end that he/she is impossible to take seriously); but it's a memorable adventure story firmly grounded in the plausible, and it dramatizes some important lessons about the dangers that can afflict families and middle age.

</comment><comment><USER15> Human Revolution

[http://www.joseitoda.org/religious/hr.html](http://www.joseitoda.org/religious/hr.html)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

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

<comment><USER16> You practice Nicherin Buddhism? If so can you give your experience?

<comment><USER15> Sure! What would you like to know?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Robert Kalpan: The Ends of the Earth: A Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy

It's a part travel book, a part geopolitical analysis. In the hindsight, Kaplan was probably wrong on many things, and his views were US and West centric, but personally it was inspiring read, a travel book that was much more than a travel book.

<comment><USER14> Not a bad idea -- I've only read his book on the formerly-Ottoman world (_Eastward to Tartary_, I think), but this sounds worth looking up.

Have you come across Tony Horwitz? He's goofier than Kaplan, but his writing scratches the same itch.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I always really enjoyed Travels by Michael Crichton. Considering how popular he is I've never spoken to anyone else who's read it. It gave me a lot to think about in my early 20s.

I also enjoyed Jonathon Livingston Seagull, which seems to have fallen out of favour recently.

<comment><USER13> I love Michael Crichton and I've never read this book. Why did you suggest it?

<comment><USER18> I wouldn't find out too much about it before you read it but it's an autobiography covering his medical school days, travelling and inner travels. It's entertaining and thought provoking.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> More Money Than God - very inspirational and a glimpse into some of the best minds on the planet...

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

</comment><comment><USER20> Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity (by David Galenson)

Influential to someone whose practices and path to success in engineering doesn't follow the normal pattern but is still valid. (At least it was influential to me.)

<comment><USER21> I took his class in college and it is one of the few decisions I completely regret in life.

The point he makes in the book is in fact very interesting (essentially, the lifepaths of creative individuals fall into two discernible categories: innovators, whose main contributions are early in the career and slowly fade, and those who slowly master a craft, whose most noteworthy contributions come later in life), and the techniques he marshals to study it in different context noteworthy, but it would have made for a great two week class. Instead, Galenson spent the entire time basically assigning everything he ever wrote -- which made the same point over, and over, and over again -- and constantly berated students who tried to respectfully dialogue with him.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your post, but every mention I see of him just elicits this visceral reaction in me and I just needed to get it off my chest.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> Being Direct by Lester Wunderman. Best book on direct marketing in the world IMO. I currently do high level marketing consulting, would not have happened without thia book. Way better than Ogilvy on Advertising.

</comment><comment><USER23> Racing the Beam: [https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/racing- beam](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/racing-beam)

Its about how hard it was to program the Atari 2600 and the clever tricks required to get the most out of the machine. One of my favorite anecdotes was that in I believe Yars revenge, one of the sound effects was produce by reusing a section of code as sound data because it sounded good enough.

</comment><comment><USER24> The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. Chinese Science Fiction, really different perspective of hard questions particularly from a Western perspective.

<comment><USER25> Wonderful series

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> I'm sure a lot of people have read it, but it's the best book for me. The Tao Te Ching (I have the Stephen Mitchell translation).

</comment><comment><USER27> "Modern Times" and "The Birth of the Modern" by Paul Johnson which cover world history from 1919-1989 and 1815-1830 respectively. Amazing histories written in a breadth and exploratory depth that illuminate so much of the past and make the present more understandable.

</comment><comment><USER28> Hagakure and Mishima, at least that's the direct translation of the ex-yu title. The book is amazing, dragging you into a world of proper spiritual and personal behavior worthy of a samurai. Read it as a kid and it had a great influence on shaping me as a person.

</comment><comment><USER29> A Treatise on Painting by Leonardo Da Vinci [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Urbinas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Urbinas)

</comment><comment><USER30> 'In search of stupidity'. Talks about tech companies that boom then flop. Overarching lesson seemed to be don't get arrogant and stop listening to your customers.

</comment><comment><USER31> Noir by KW Jeter

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noir_(novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noir_\(novel\))

My username isn't a co-incidence.

</comment><comment><USER32> Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. Jam packed with ideas crucial to the next 100-150 years. I reference these the way more insufferable people reference Ayn Rand.

</comment><comment><USER33> If you like history, I would highly recommend:

Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson.

Probably one of the best books about the Civil War that has been written.

</comment><comment><USER34> Roma Æterna - Robert Silverberg

The Happiness Hypothesis - Jonathan Haidt

Alamut - Vladimir Bartol

Non Stop - Brian Aldiss

A fortune teller told me - Tiziano Terzani

</comment><comment><USER35> Adrift on the Sea of Rains by Ian Sales

A Dream of Wessex by Christopher Priest

</comment><comment><USER36> Quantum Psychology by Robert Anton Wilson

Zima Blue by Alastair Reynolds

</comment><comment><USER37> Nexus trilogy by Ramez Naam - Sapiens / Homo Deus

</comment><comment><USER9> I am so thankful for this Thread tbh :3

</comment><comment><USER38> Pale Blue Dot by Sagan

</comment><comment><USER39> The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

It's hard to describe. Rather, the story is easy to describe: it concerns the travel of a man from a future age. Nothing is what it seems.

There was a moment when I realized "Oh shit. This is real." The book may be fiction but almost nothing about it is fake. The Big Questions, in History, in Philosophy, in Politics, in Theology, in Technological Progress, in interpreting reality, it's all there.

Most non-fiction work of fiction I've ever read, and the best one, above Tolkien, above the Bible, it towers above all texts I have read.

It will take multiple reads to understand what it is saying, different parts will appeal to you each time.

In terms of the people you know: imagine that Stewart Brand, Peter Thiel and Christopher Nolan somehow had a lovechild - it would be The Book of the New Sun.

<comment><USER40> "Nothing is that it seems" typically makes for a horrible experience, for me at least. Can you explain it any better than that?

<comment><USER39> Typically I'd agree. I don't mean the text has no answers or is subjective - the text does contain the answers to nearly every puzzling thing within it, if you can see it. Wolfe is an engineer and the pieces fit together. Neil Gaiman has a nice essay on how to read it properly (Gene Wolfe is the favorite author of many famous authors you've heard of):

[https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0704.htm](https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0704.htm)

The main character is an unreliable narrator.

However consider all the veils that would have to be cast aside to understand reality:

1\. The narrator could be lying to you. 2\. The narrator could not understand what is truly happening. 3\. The narrator may have mental models which are not accurate. 4\. The narrator may be passing on inaccurate information or lies. 5\. The narrator may be using words in a way that you think you understand, but do not. 6\. The narrator may be expecting you to implicitly understand something that you do not e.g. we make certain assumptions about information because the Internet now exists, something similar exists in the world of the New Sun. 7\. The narrator may be using the language of metaphor to describe something that is quite real but not what we think it is. 8\. The narrator may not be one person. This won't make sense until you read the book. 9\. The narrator could be telling you the truth, but you merely do not understand what he is really saying. 10\. The narrator may not be lying at all, merely leaving out information that makes him look bad.

I could go on for many more points. I found thinking of Vernadsky's theories useful while reading it. If reading Gene Wolfe does not fire up your neurons, nothing will.

Again: the answers are in the text, it is not subjective in my experience, but you're going to have to think real hard _on many different levels_. Your understanding of the New Sun's world will be in flux for the duration of the book. Gene Wolfe gives you the answer, but he gives it once so you have to pay close attention. If something puzzles you, tuck it away and keep reading.

<comment><USER41> That's a good list. I'm curious about what you're referring to in 6. The only thing I can think of is beneath Nessus, but I can't for the life of me recall how it plays into what Severian writes (or perhaps rather what he doesn't). It's been a few long years since I was last there though.

<comment><USER39> I'm rereading now and have spotted a third example: <spoiler alert>

Severian describes how Master Gurloes is an educated man and that he talks to other people/beings through something like a radio network at the top of the Tower.

It was phrased like this:

"He was the only one of our guild - Master Palaemon not excepted - who was unafraid of the energies there and the unseen mouths who spoke sometimes to human beings and sometimes to other mouths in other towers and keeps."</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: most common hosts of URL submissions? - <AUTHOR>

Has anyone done an analysis of the relative frequency of the submission hosts?  That is, which websites get linked to most from Hacker News?  (It would also be interesting to filter for submissions which made it to the home page or got a certain number of votes.) <comment><USER2> <http://top.searchyc.com/domains>

<http://top.searchyc.com/domains_by_points>

<http://top.searchyc.com/domains_by_average_points>

</comment><comment><USER3> <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=680104>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=679937></comment>


Apple unveils iTunes U for iPad - <AUTHOR> http://www.bgr.com/2012/01/19/apple-unveils-itunes-u-app-for-ipad/ <comment><USER2> This announcement in particular stood out as meaningful to me, because it seems with the iTunes U app, Apple is taking on Blackboard.

There are few products that, as a student, more directly inhibit education than Blackboard. Ripe for disruption? More like rotting on the ground.

<comment><USER3> We can only hope. My university use(d|s) a competitor (sorry, name escapes me, though I supported it for a year or two) that was also crap. It's _terrifying_ just how horrible these systems are.

<comment><USER4> Was it Moodle by chance? That's the only competitor to Blackboard I've ever seen.

<comment><USER5> The university I attend recently switched to using Desire2Learn, a competitor which for many years was fighting a legal battle with Blackboard. I haven't used the software extensively yet, but my first impressions are that it's considerably better than the embarrassingly poor system employed before.

<comment><USER3> D2L: That was the one, thanks :) It did a lot, but we also had to do an _enormous_ amount by hand because it was simply impossible to automate <x>. And rather mind-numbing pain whenever someone got married, and their name and/or email address changed.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I think Apple has the potential to change the way we handle information in both schools and hospitals (and of course private practices). Both of these are usually still using outdated Hardware/Software from ~2000 so they will have to be replaced in the near future.

I just don't know if it's good for a school to buy into a closed environment, like the one Apple provides.

<comment><USER7> Don't most schools already buy into Microsoft's closed environment?

<comment><USER8> Does Microsoft charge you a fee to develop and sell an app? No. But once you're locked into the iApps, iBooks, iTunes U, iUniverse - Apple gets its 30% off the top. And no alternatives are allowed.

<comment><USER9> Uh, yes, Microsoft DOES charge you a fee...it's called "paying out the ass for your tools".

What did Visual Studio Enterprise cost last time I looked for a small company (like a start up)? $1600 a pop. More than what's needed for a Mac Mini, an iPod Touch, and a Apple Developer License/Cert.

The same tools (XCode) cost $5.

(And you'd still have to pay for your hardware/OS on top of that $1600). And that's not counting MSDN fees, either.

Make no mistake: Microsoft milks its marketshare of developers just as much as anyone else. It's just a different way of pricing.

<comment><USER10> Mircosoft is also working towards launching it's own walled garden with a 70/30 split, from what I hear, due in late 2012. So then, they'll be a double stab

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> So, who else just downloaded more courses than they can possibly manage to watch?

</comment><comment><USER12> Wasn't this always there?

<comment><USER11> The video lectures were there, and the UI was the same as watching a podcast. Abstracting iTunes U into its own app allowed Apple to add course materials without it cluttering up the "Videos" app.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Now we just need iTunes U for Linux... Or better yet, the universities using it should provide the lectures in some open format as well.

<comment><USER10> So write it.</comment></comment>


Configuring logging for Clojure applications - <AUTHOR> http://blog.malcolmsparks.com/?p=37 <comment><USER2> Awesome! The library looks great, I'll be using it in my next Clojure program.</comment>


Making research papers easier for people to understand. What do you think? - <AUTHOR> So we all know how painful it can be to understand research papers. So I was thinking of creating this tool that allows people who have read a research paper to connect with each other. So potentially, all the readers who have read "paper A" can connect with each other and its author (maybe).
The connection would allow one to post questions about the paper, and the question would then go to everyone who had previously interacted with this community (people who have read this paper before). Past question and answers are saved to benefit new readers.
This way, we can benefit readers by giving them more clarity on the subject. And we can benefit authors by giving them insights into how their paper was received by the community.
There are many problems with this model - like why would anyone apart from the author answer etc... but the general idea is above.
What do you awesome people think about this?? Any comments will be appreciated. <comment><USER2> I like the idea. But speaking as a research mathematician, I cannot imagine that such a system will can be adopted in the math communities. You have quite a lot challenges to solve in this domain:

1\. Only very few people actually read a certain paper. Of course it depends, but usually papers are only interesting for a handful of mathematicians world wide.

2\. The access to papers is not centralized or can be controlled. You cannot know who read which paper. Often preprints are circulating via email. Published papers may be behind a pay wall.

3\. How do you want to detect whether somebody really read a paper, let alone understand it?

4\. Surprisingly many mathematicians are eccentric and hostile against computers (and programming). E.g. older people refuse to use new tools like LaTex and prefer TeX. I only know a few mathematicians, who use git/hg to make collaborative writing easier. Usually people emails documents back und forth instead. Cannot imagine, that a critical mass of mathematicians starts logging into some fancy new app. I also suspect that many people don't want to be tracked for what they read. After all, research is competitive.

Cannot speak about other research communities though.</comment>


The Future of Nautilus - <AUTHOR> http://linuxart.com/log/archives/2010/06/20/the-future-of-nautilus/

<comment><USER2> Nautilus is always going to be hobbled by the huge padding that gnome's default themes put between text and object borders. It's just hard when you can only fit 50% as much information in the same number of pixels. That was one of the big things that drove me away from Linux and is still an ongoing problem when I have to work with Gnome programs.

<comment><USER3> The Gnome UI (gnome-panel, nautilus, etc) generally takes up a huge amount of screen space. I've found that I'm pretty happy with aewm and Thunar.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/116444/nautilus-ui-experiments.png>

Looks pretty!

</comment><comment><USER5> Don't remove the "go up a directory button," PLEASE. Finder and Explorer try to mask the file tree structure through little UI gimmicks like this and it drives me crazy.

Better search integration would be great. Improved indexing support via GVFS (or whatever) to make search lightning fast combined with a well placed search bar would make my life easier.

</comment><comment><USER6> Why does everyone wanna remake nautilus from scratch all of a sudden? This is the third project of this type I've bumped into in the last week. Maybe they should join efforts.

Contextual file manager : [http://seilo.geekyogre.com/2010/06/first-sezen- screencast-an...](http://seilo.geekyogre.com/2010/06/first-sezen-screencast- an-introduction-to-sexy-simple-searching/)

Log File Manager : [http://www.seifsallam.co.cc/2010/06/how-file-manager- should-...](http://www.seifsallam.co.cc/2010/06/how-file-manager-should- be.html)

</comment><comment><USER7> I really wonder why the nautilus developers aren't working the the Elementary[1] developers more. Nautilus-Elementary is basically a fork of nautilus at this point, and already it is much better and does a lot of the things this article proposes to add. It just seems like a bit of a waste of everyone's time.

[1] <http://www.elementary-project.com/discover.html>

</comment><comment><USER8> Perhaps a better question: can it start in under 30 seconds? If you don't use Nautilus for your desktop, opening those file browser windows is a serious drag!

</comment><comment><USER3> I'm curious to know how much user testing goes into the design of the Gnome desktop environment (and KDE, for that matter). Designing a visually elegant interface is one thing, but that can mean nothing during actual user interaction.

</comment><comment><USER9> Is it this <http://www.xfce.org/projects/thunar/> ?

</comment><comment><USER10> Why not ditch Nautilus and use directly Rox, or thunar instead? :)</comment>


Security for building modern web apps - <AUTHOR> http://dadario.com.br/security-for-building-modern-web-apps/

<comment><USER2> Thanks for sharing, this is a great guideline</comment>


Show HN: My Android app, SemiSilent - <AUTHOR>

Long time lurker, short time member.  A few weeks ago I released my new Android app, SemiSilent, which allows you to whitelist contacts so that they ring your phone even when it's on silent mode.  I've found it useful when on call or when my wife is working hours that I'm sleeping.  I've already released a few updates, and I'm working on adding a few more based on feedback I've gotten.
I'd appreciate any feedback you'd have, whether it's feature requests, criticisms, thoughts on how to market, or any other wisdom you'd care to share.
My site with information: http://www.lyote.com/p/semisilent.html Android Market link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.lyote.SemiSilent
Thanks! <comment><USER2> It's a great idea, and if I still had my Droid I would be a customer. I just complained about this over the weekend when at 4:00AM I got a series of texts from a friend in a different time zone. He does it regularly (I don't think it's funny, but I'm not going to unfriend him because of it).

Usually I turn my phone off at night, but we were out of town and needed it on in case there was a problem with our kids that were being cared for by family. It sucked being on vacation, one of the few times I get to rest and sleep in, just to be alarmed at 4:00AM because of an inconsiderate friend trying to be funny.

Many, many use cases for your app. I don't care for the name though. Call me anytime, AlwaysOnForYou, ... I dunno. Just my opinion. Good job and good luck!

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm glad you found the idea useful. I guess if not liking my apps name is the worst criticism I get I'm doing ok. I'm not unwilling to change the name though, so I'll take a look at possible alternatives and see what I can come up with.

Thanks for the feedback!

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I'm forwarding your link to some friends who work consistently rotating shifts and need to be accessible. It seems like doctors, nurses, and sysadmins would be potential users. I'll ping you if they have any feedback.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, your friends sound like they would be good potential candidates. I look forwards to hearing what feedback they have.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Great idea!</comment>


A programmer's personal story about finding a job in this economy - <AUTHOR> http://shadowcoding.blogspot.com/2009/12/life-update.html <comment><USER2> I also went for a job with a military contractor a couple of months ago. The first thing that the interviewer asked was "what are your views on the Afghan war?". I gave him my views, but stopped myself after a few sentences as he looked increasingly horrified. Needless to say, I didn't get the job, but I wasn't disappointed because a job which required me to become closely involved in a cause that I didn't believe in wouldn't have suited me.

<comment><USER3> I'm surprised this question would get asked--first because of possible legal problems with asking questions political in nature, second because in my experience the employer doesn't really care what you think as long as you do the work. Also, there are quite a lot of left-leaning folks working for military contractors that may or may not support a particular action but are professional enough not to let that get in the way of their job.

<comment><USER4> A few years back I interviewed with a company that manufactured potentiometers. They had a bunch of government contracts and the like.

At one point my technical interviewer (and soon-to-be supervisor), Jerry, looked me square in the eye and said, "You realize you'll be making parts that kill people, right?"

To this day it still bothers me that I took the job, but I really needed it at the time so I justified it out: someone else would make them anyway, and besides, I wasn't the guy giving the orders.

There was a news report a while back that a Hellfire missile had been used to kill some number of people in Afghanistan. It's likely, given the timeframes involved, that I made sure that at least one of the parts on that particular missile functioned correctly.

<comment><USER5> Good. Personally, I'm glad a competent engineer was responsible for making a weapon of war function successfully (even if it was being misused -- let's not forget that it _is_ actually important to have a technologically-advanced arsenal, regardless of our personal political views about how that arsenal should be used).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I've been getting a fairly steady flow of recruiters emails for the last 3 months looking for people. Even a few .Net jobs, and the recruiters know I'm not a .Net person. Since my last job search I've started helping the recruiters connect with people even if I'm not interested at the time. If they send me a job post I try and send it around to my network of people. If I hear of someone looking I forward them the posts I get.

I see it two ways one I'm helping people get jobs which I think is very important, and two it keeps me in the loop for when I'm looking. The recruiters remember me and help me out.

I wish this guy was in my contact list. He wouldn't have gotten so desperate. But, if you're a programmer get to know some recruiters make sure you know them and they know you. Don't wait until you're looking.

<comment><USER7> Ok, a question from an (almost finished) student: how do you get to know recruiters? In my experience, recruiters are generally temps that come and go. In the last couple internships I've had, I changed recruiters at least once in each hiring process. Even if I wanted to keep in touch with a recruiter, I wouldn't know how, since they seem to move on in a matter of months.

Is there a different class of recruiters you're referring to? Or am I just unlucky?

<comment><USER6> Starting out is always tough. Your experience has been somewhat unlucky and somewhat true. Recruiters your age are going to have a high turn over. Lots of people get out of school and go into high tech recruiting. There's no barrier to entry, but it takes a lot of hard work to stay one. They bop around for 3-6 months, and if they don't show some aptitude they get cycled out. See if you can get to know people a little older and have been out there a couple of years. Don't just work with one recruiter. Have several from different companies looking for you.

Go to your local user group meetings. Java, Ruby, Php, Python, .Net, Flex, whatever. (If you get too niche chances are you'll strike out). Typically there are always someone there handing out business cards, or job postings. Take it and send them a nice email introducing yourself the next day along with your resume.

If you have friends that have been out of school for a while try and connect with them. They might know of good people to put you in contact with.

LinkedIn is like crack for recruiters. Make sure you're on there and have some of your experience on there. Connect with people. You'll start to see who is a recruiter very quickly (500+ connections) chances are they're a recruiter. LinkedIn helps you keep in contact with recruiters if they move companies too.

Put your resume on Dice. It can take a month before that pays off because it takes a while for your resume to make the rounds.

The economy sucks, but IT is bouncing back quicker than other sectors.

<comment><USER8> Thank you. I'm a sophomore CS student who's recently been going through huge amounts of "I'm never going to be qualified or find a job" moments and this post is the single most helpful thing I've seen.

I think right now my biggest weakness is that while I've done bits of work in a variety of languages, I don't have one that I'm really fluent in and thus could try to get recruited for. But the ideas you have here and the information in this whole thread will definitely be helpful as I try to orient myself towards the market.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> It's also interesting, apropos of the recent interest in StackOverflow Careers and the discussions on HN, that this guy has a pretty spectacular StackOverflow rep and still was having trouble finding a job. I wonder if he knew of the Careers/jobs portion of StackOverflow and if he used it at all. Of course it's anecdotal but seems odd if Joel's theory stands up that this fellow had such a hard time getting a job.

<comment><USER3> There are a vast number of people--hiring managers and developers alike, good and bad--who haven't heard of Stack Overflow, or Joel Spolsky.

<comment><USER10> Those developers must never google any programming questions then.

<comment><USER11> I know I Google almost every day for something programming related. I know someone else (who writes credit card processing software in Java in a large team) and apparently most off their coding questions are answered in-house. She tells me it's frowned upon to use outside solutions or non-standards coding.

<comment><USER10> I suppose that makes some sense in a large codebase where often it's hard to know what problems have already been solved, but I can't help but feel like using the open source world in this capacity means that I have a much larger pool of talent to draw from.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Wow. Seattle, SF, NYC, etc. must be little islands of prosperity for programmers... Still seems pretty active. The OP went to Charlestown, SC ("home")... I wonder if he tried remote work? It seems like if he was willing to work retail/gas stations that he could find SOMEONE who would pay him $10/hr to do junior coding working from abroad AT VERY LEAST...

</comment><comment><USER13> Never thought it would be that hard to find a job as a developer. I seem to never have enough developers.

<comment><USER14> Depends on a lot of things: where he is geographically sounds pretty good, but he also doesn't have a lot of team experience, and many (most?) places seem to discount most solo hobbyist experience, for a variety of good and bad reasons.

It's hard to find many kinds of developers, but other kinds (and experience levels!) are lucky if they have a job at all right now.

I'm in the enviable position of having about 11 years of full-time experience at coding, and ten or so more amateur/hobbyist/kid years before that, so I can still pretty much dictate terms to most employers. But a lot of people, especially people without as much education and experience, are having a tough time right now.

<comment><AUTHOR> >> _...where he is geographically sounds pretty good..._

His current post is misleading because it sounds like he is currently in Seattle where the tech job market is fairly good relative to other places.

However, he _was_ in Seattle but then moved to Charleston, SC where his story begins. <http://shadowcoding.blogspot.com/2009/07/moving.html>

Given that bit of info it explains a lot about his struggles to find work.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Pretty interesting story, and it's cool that he was able to bounce back. In some areas, programmers seem to have lots of opportunities, even while there are few jobs in other fields.

</comment><comment><USER16> I think this guys problem is that he knows mostly .net, and that's it. He might be pretty good at it, but shoehorning yourself into one technology stack is not good.

Anyway, It might be a problem of the location also. I know that in Boston people are having trouble finding jobs too. It seems that in Sillicon Valley there is always demand for really good engineers.

If you are really good, you will find something for sure.

<comment><USER17> > shoehorning yourself into one technology stack is not good

on the contrary, specialization is how you get to be more than a trivially replaceable cog in the machine.

<comment><USER18> I beg to differ. Both in the past and now - where I've been on both ends of the recruiting stick for web developer, it is _incredibly hard_ finding someone with enough breadth to tackle what you do.

Someone who speaks fluent HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, Perl, Python, MySQL, Oracle and god knows what else is a _lot_ harder to hire than someone who knows C# and Oracle. I'm not talking about trivial "I've heard of it" knowledge, I mean working knowledge. These guys are rare and very hard to replace.

<comment><USER19> _I mean working knowledge_

Yeah, but what does Google not know? ;0þ

<comment><USER20> _When_ to use those technologies.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> His lack of team experience really would be a big downer for getting a job. Glad to see he found something.

</comment><comment><USER22> I found my current job in a week, actually I wasn't even looking. I said hey what if I moved to Boston (was living in MN at the time) so i posted my resume on Dice, an hour later I got my first email.. a week later I was at an interview in Boston. Of course that was just after the stock market crashed, I don't think the full repercussions had hit.

But I can understand having difficulty if he prefers to be a lone wolf.</comment>


Ask HN: Who is the most positive impactful person you know? - <AUTHOR> I help out with a positive news podcast at my high school and we're looking to interview people that have made a positive impact! We've currently interviewed people like Austen Allred and TurboVote.
You can find the podcast here, https://anchor.fm/somethinggoodhappened
Please give interview suggestions! <comment><USER2> Leonard Susskind, a theoritical physicist at Stanford.

He has open, free video lectures that cover an entire 4 year cirruculum of a physics degree in his personal website called Theoritical Minimum.

<comment><USER3> Yep, he has an extremely charming personality judging from his videos. Something similar is about Robert Sapolski, also from Stanford. Love watching these guys lecture. Natural born teachers.

<comment><USER2> I suspect our Youtube accounts are doppelgangers. o/

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> My high school physics teacher. She taught me the importance of being a good human being. And that being kind and empathetic to others is the best thing a person can do. That honesty and integrity are more important than winning. And she also taught me elementary physics.

</comment><comment><USER5> Richard Stallman: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stallman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stallman)

<comment><USER6> How is Stallman a redirect to RMS's page? Shouldn't it go to a disambiguation or name page?

<comment><USER5> Here is the answer: [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stallman&redirect...](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stallman&redirect=no)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Bill Murray.

Netflix has a new release about him, named "The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man."

Highly recommended.

</comment><comment><USER8> Sal Khan from Khan Academy.

<comment><USER9> I still remember his video on fractional reserve lending and how banks effectively up printing money doing so.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Will MacAskill[1] for his contributions to launching the effective altruism movement, which has gone on to inspire many other people to take a much more rigorous and active perspective on doing good.

[1] - Many others were involved, but I know the most about his contributions.

<comment><USER11> For anyone not familiar with EA or Will MacAskill, I highly recommend these podcasts:

Tim Ferriss: [https://tim.blog/2015/11/22/will- macaskill/](https://tim.blog/2015/11/22/will-macaskill/)

Sam Harris: [https://samharris.org/podcasts/being-good-and-doing- good/](https://samharris.org/podcasts/being-good-and-doing-good/)

Joe Rogan: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buyBzK5yM-s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buyBzK5yM-s)

Also, short Economist article on EA: [https://www.economist.com/international/2018/06/02/can- effec...](https://www.economist.com/international/2018/06/02/can-effective- altruism-maximise-the-bang-for-each-charitable-buck)

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> John Carmack. First, by making one of the most memorable game of my childhood. Second, by inspiring me and a few of my friends via Masters of Doom [1], with his tweets, videos, by being a Craftsman, the embodiment of a great programmer. Masters of Doom helped one of my colleagues to ignite his passion for coding again, after a long exposure to mind-numbing corporate work.

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

</comment><comment><USER13> Prabhu Ramachandran [1], author of Mayavi [2]

The amount of high quality work he does, all the while being positive, cheerful and friendly is a trait to imbibe and admire.

I am privileged to have him as a mentor, friend, philosopher and guide.

[1] [https://www.aero.iitb.ac.in/~prabhu/](https://www.aero.iitb.ac.in/~prabhu/)

[2] [https://github.com/enthought/mayavi](https://github.com/enthought/mayavi)

</comment><comment><USER14> I'm going to change it a little to the people I've met that have had a sizable impact on the world.

I've _met_ Sam Altman briefly last year. His involvement with YC the past several years and co-founding OpenAI have directly and indirectly touched thousands of jobs.

I've also _met_ Michael Seibel. His involvement with YC the past several years has directly and indirectly touched thousands of jobs. His co-founding of Junstin.tv allowed it to exist, it is now evolved into twitch.tv which has allowed some creators and gamers to actually earn a living streaming and has created tons of micro-communities for video games and table top fans to both play and watch.

Aside from them, I don't really know (nor have I met) anyone else that I feel has directly and indirectly had as much of an impact on society as those two although...

I have very casually known, but never met, Kate Bornstein since our mutual participation in the Save Caprica campaign. She's certainly been a bastion of hope for many LGBT persons. She's semi-active on various social media. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bornstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bornstein)

</comment><comment><USER15> Jon Kabat-Zinn

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat- Zinn](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn)

</comment><comment><USER16> Richard Feynman. You could pretend to ask him questions and play sound bites of his interviews/lectures :)

</comment><comment><USER17> Mom

</comment><comment><USER18> Kent Beck and Andrei Alexandrescu.

Andrei is quite amazing to me...

Clearly capable of writing code that is wonderful... and incomprehensible to mortal man.... but wonderfully focused on not doing that.

On making it comprehensible, and producing facilities that are friendly and nice and doing so with a kindly attitude.

Kent, in addition to the stuff he has done on the TDD front... [https://www.infoq.com/presentations/self- image/](https://www.infoq.com/presentations/self-image/)

</comment><comment><USER19> Bill Gates

<comment><USER20> At the moment I am readig Factfullness from Hans Rosling [1].

He is very positive about the changes of the last (100) years.

Bill Gates is one of those people who contributed a lot to these positive changes.

[1] ISBN: 978-12-50-12381-7

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Would love to hear your definition "impact". On a personal level? On a business level? On a global level even? I think it is really difficult to define what impact even means. Sometimes impact is realized even long after someone has died, think F. Scott Fitzgerald ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby#Legacy_and_mo...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby#Legacy_and_modern_analysis))

</comment><comment><USER22> Derek Sivers

</comment><comment><USER23> Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen - His company saved the lives of about 10 million people (my wild ass guess) with approximately one million water purifiers and something like 1 billion mosquito nets distributed in Africa. (See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestergaard_Frandsen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestergaard_Frandsen))

</comment><comment><USER24> Steve Gleason, former NFL player & ALS survivor & Congressional Gold Medal recipient: [http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-360/0ap3000001010997/Steve- Gle...](http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-360/0ap3000001010997/Steve-Gleason-I- feel-like-I-ve-conquered-ALS)

</comment><comment><USER25> Milton Friedman. Remarkable economist and very bright person. A noblr prize winner. Defender of the free market. What is remarkable about him is the simple way to argue bringing natural human behavior and historical examples.

</comment><comment><USER26> Alon Geva: He has really practical and straightforward questions for spiritual awakening: [https://www.youtube.com/user/awakeningrightnow](https://www.youtube.com/user/awakeningrightnow)

</comment><comment><USER27> Kevin Adler of Miracle Messages. They reunite long lost homeless people with their families. I'm sure Kevin would be happy to do your podcast.

[https://miraclemessages.org/](https://miraclemessages.org/)

</comment><comment><USER28> Christopher Hitchens. His impact on me is so powerful that for the last 4 years I have my ringtone and sms alert tone set to him saying "There are no final solutions. There is no absolute truth"

<comment><USER29> "there is no absolute truth" sounds awful like a statement of absolute truth

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> The urban landscape is changing from auto-centric to human-centric (pedestrian areas, bike-lanes, light-rail). Jan Gehl and Janette Sadik-Khan are two prominent examples, but there are many others.

</comment><comment><USER31> Dr. Michael Greger. [1]

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

</comment><comment><USER32> Murray Gell-Mann

</comment><comment><USER33> Scott Hanselman

</comment><comment><USER34> Dawa Tarchin Phillips -- he teaches mindfulness and leadership skills in schools and around the world.

</comment><comment><USER35> Read the question and was about to suggest Austen Allred when I read the rest of your post. :)

</comment><comment><USER26> Ocean Whitehawk: Spiritual teacher who has completely changed the lives of her students.

www.oceanwhitehawk.com

</comment><comment><USER22> Tim Ferriss

</comment><comment><USER36> Spock

</comment><comment><USER37> It won't be anyone that uses the word 'impactful'.

</comment><comment><USER38> J. R. R. Tolkien

</comment><comment><USER39> François Chollet

<comment><USER40> Really? Sell me on this one. Keras is great, but socially he leads people to be careless about AI safety, which is hugely negative.

</comment></comment><comment><USER41> Jocko Willink

</comment><comment><USER42> Robin Hanson

<comment><USER43> The sex redistribution guy?

<comment><USER42> Ok, I found Hanson's view on "sex redistribution" in his blog [http://www.overcomingbias.com/2018/04/two-types-of- envy.html](http://www.overcomingbias.com/2018/04/two-types-of-envy.html)

Mad world: It is ok for the US president to pay prostitutes, restrict sex- redistributing websites and it is ok for the first lady to sell body. What is not ok is to advocate more liberal sex policies for scientists.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER44> Tom Bilyue from Impact Theory.

</comment><comment><USER45> My parents.

</comment><comment><USER46> Paul Graham

</comment><comment><USER47> Elon Musk

<comment><USER48> This will be a controversial answer for some reasons I think are misplaced. In my opinion Elon Musk seems like he has a potent toxic side to his personality, and he doesn't seem to have a very good grasp of certain things. He also legitimately seems delusional at times.

However in terms of bringing awareness, optimism, and a willingness to actively work on engineering solutions to long-term existential threats to humanity I think his impact on our culture is often understated.

<comment><USER49> If someone has a historical record of making delusions become reality, then I think they aren't really delusional.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> George Washington

</comment><comment><USER23> Sir Isaac Newton

</comment><comment><USER50> Alan Watts

</comment><comment><USER51> 1) John Carmack

</comment><comment><USER52> Jesus

</comment><comment><USER53> I kinda like Warren Buffett

</comment><comment><USER23> Edward Jenner & Louis Pasteur (vaccines)

</comment><comment><USER54> Jesus

</comment><comment><USER55> Steve Jobs

<comment><USER56> His availability for interview is greatly exaggerated.

<comment><USER21> oh man, I miss him almost every day

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER57> Jordan Peterson

<comment><USER58> This is a 'brave' answer...

<comment><USER44> It's a fine answer. He spends his time railing against Marxism, Postmodernism, SJW culture and telling people to take responsibility. His main messages seem to boil down to become resilient and don't destroy the world.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Should beginner programmers use code formatters from day one? - <AUTHOR> I taught JavaScript awhile back and I regret not using prettier from day one. I think using a formatter lets new learners focus on the tricker parts of the language rather than the style thereof. <comment><USER2> Yes. I think all professional programmers should be using as many tools as they can from day 1. Tools like linters, filewatchers mapped to tests, IDEs (or well equipped editors). All of these tools help drive code quality and productivity and thusly should be seen as much a part of their career as knowing the nuances of their choice language, design patterns or details about any other part of their stack.

<comment><USER3> ...and then there we are with professional programmers who can't run javac without fully-blown IDE, don't know that you can package class files to a JAR to ship a program, and think that you need two dozen different tools with their quirky configuration to ship a trivial web page to present static text.

No, programmers should start with the simplest tools and learn on concrete examples why and what for the more complex ones are needed (or that they are completely redundant and unnecessary).

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> No. Without freedom to mess around and experiment with different styles, how are you supposed to learn why it matters, let alone develop your own style?

(Reading/modifying nicely-written code is a good exercise to try early on, though...)

I'm somewhat alarmed about how ubiquitous these formatting tools have become. Seems like a step towards stamping out any trace of individuality, and making programming an assembly-line job rather than a craft.

</comment><comment><USER5> I think you should use a linter for sure. I look at it like spellcheck. If you allow the computer to just "fix" it for you, you will reinforce the incorrect spelling. I always backspace and retype the incorrect word so that I learn the correct spelling (and in turn, the correct combination of keys to press). I do the same thing with linters. I have it configured in my IDE that linting errors are underlined in red, like a syntax error. This forces me to go back and retype the correct syntax and style.

</comment><comment><USER6> I think the first thing to teach/learn is to set up a linter which includes strict formatting rules.

Formatter, editor, etc. should remain a personal choice.

</comment><comment><USER7> Certainly a good idea if they're going to work with others. As an important aid to the learning process? Probably not.</comment>


Cumulonimbus releases pressureNET 1.2: barometer network for Android tablets - <AUTHOR> https://market.android.com/details?id=ca.cumulonimbus.barometernetwork&1.2

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm the dev of pressureNET. We're building a network of barometers (currently about 500 active users) that are inside Android devices, currently the Xoom and soon the Galaxy Nexus. Using this information going into the future, we're hoping to improve short-term weather prediction and forecasting, on the 1-hour to 1-day scale. We intend to correlate our data will local radar data to provide more accurate predictions. You can read more (and see our source code, of course) on our blog at cumulonimbus.ca.

New in version 1.2 is the ability for users to see graphs of pressure readings over time, our first step at putting the data in context to prepare for future work on predictions.

Also, for the HN crowd, I'll add that Cumulonimbus Software (that's us) is currently writing a business plan and looking for funding. If you'd like to get in touch with us, email us at email@example.com.</comment>