Show HN: We allow teachers to print out "Scantrons" and scan for results via fax - <AUTHOR> http://kiteedu.com/#

<comment><USER2> Given that "Powerful analytics" tells most teachers "You're on the wrong website", I might have skipped that sentence and gone directly to the problem which they actually care about that you purport to solve.

n.b. I love the idea of launching a new Heroku instance for demo accounts... though one questions why Heroku would let you do that. You should probably rethink that interaction design, though. "Setup Demo" suggests a lot of work -- unify the two steps into one and then give it a call-to-action that suggests a low-friction experience. I don't know, "See It In Action" or something. Similarly, virtually anything beats "Create New Account."

As always, please test confident statements I make regarding relative conversion rates. I do, because I flub guesses all the time.

<comment><USER3> Agree, the copy on the landing page doesn't seem to read "hey teachers, this is for you!", it comes off a bit more of "hey tech guys check out this SAAS app we made for teachers".

Regardless Kite looks absolutely brilliant and likely will be a real game changer for countless teachers. Awesome work

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! Yeah. Going to rework that. Lots of great feedback here.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I ended up showing the website to my wife (a former K-12 Teacher with a special ed/restraint endorsement in the Commonwealth of Kentucky), who is now working on her Doctorate in Education.

Her initial reaction was, "think of how much this is going to save the schools in budget and in time!", followed by "I wonder how much this is going to cost a district." Locally, the schools here are spending less than 10K/year on software for teachers, and that amount gets cut back a little bit each year: Teachers are frequently purchasing (or pirating) software for use in their classroom when they find software that has educational or productive merit. Your biggest hurdle will probably be getting the price points set correctly...but with that said...the wife loves it and went to show it off to a few of her friends who are still in the public educational system here who claimed it was, 'neat' and even a self-admitted technophobe mentioned that it looked better than the system that they're currently using.

Good job and great work -- this has a lot of potential to be a gamechanger for teachers.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! I guess it's not immediately apparent, the application itself is free.

Our monetization strategy comes from content (we sell third party content in our store similar to Apple's App Store). This is still in the pipeline, however.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> This is one of the most interesting companies I've seen posted on HN in a while. Good luck achieving market penetration.

I'd put up a pdf of a generated assignment that can be scan/fax graded online right away in an easy to access fashion. That is what I most wanted to take a look at, and it looks like the demo won't render the document.

Do you put a QR code on each assignment to uniquely identify a student? So papers have to be handed out precisely to each student? Or do you have students bubble in names/identification numbers?

How are you going to handle the kind of problems that would be created by using this technology in a class of <8th graders? Crumpled/dog eared papers, intentional attempts to make forms hard to computer read. Have you thought about linking to Amazon's Mechanical Turk to have human grading of difficult to parse entries?

Is your product going to be crushed by computers/tablets for every student in future classroom environments? If assignments are all digital (i.e some college textbook environments like 'Mastering Physics') the scan to grade edge slips out. Especially when providers can offer prewritten educational material questions/exams/content as part of their platform.

<comment><AUTHOR> Every sheet of paper uniquely identifies the student and assignment. One thing we're going to do to make this less annoying is to remember the order the students' assignments were faxed in and just print it backwards the next time the teacher hits print.

Nothing is in place to handle the unfortunate way children choose to transport their homework at the moment; what we do have is that our recognition tech is fairly robust (it handles fax).

Further we've discussed methods of inferring who an unreadable assignment might belong to or having the teacher just step in and view the broken images themselves and do that part by hand.

It's not something we've invested a whole lot of time in figuring out yet, but something we know we will have to think about in the near future.

And in regards to MTurk, yes, we've considered it and romanced the idea of using it for free response type questions.

Our mission is to introduce technology into the classroom. We have computer/tablet based solutions now, but the classroom is currently still in a place where paper and pencil are king. But when they evolve, so will we. :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> You know, I saw when this website was posted earlier.

I think it's awesome you provide both faxing and scanning interfaces.

I had two questions: 1\. Where are you based? Why don't you have a snail mail address on your website? It's not even clear you are based in the U.S.

2\. On a more stat based note: When you analyze the data, are you merely analyzing the students, or are you providing IRT analysis for the test questions themselves? Do you provide support for A/B testing of test types, or dynamic testing in your online interface?

Because to me, those are things your average teacher can't do, but knowing how well each question and each test assesses students modeled as a function of student ability means that your assessments aren't just easier, but can be made better at measuring ability.

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

<comment><AUTHOR> Hello!

1\. Los Angeles, CA. I didn't think snail mail was necessary, but I guess we could throw it on there.

2\. We're basically analyzing students. Our content is aligned to the common core standards, so we can figure out what standards students are weak in. These are very, very simple analytics that we're providing right now (that teachers can action upon).

Later on we plan to do more adaptive learning type stuff.

I'm going to read the IRT link, haven't seen that yet.

Thanks!

<comment><USER7> A physical address and contact info on your site shows that you are a real company and above-board (i.e. not a scam operation).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Push the scantron-less grading. That's your biggest selling point, hands down. A pack of 500 forms (see link below) retails for $60; you'd be saving school districts literally tens of thousands of dollars per year.

[https://store.scantron.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?sect...](https://store.scantron.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?section=10700&item=42622&sitex=10022:22372:US)

Also, I can't seem to get my PDFs to generate. Anyone else experiencing this?

<comment><AUTHOR> Checking. Edit: DNS hasn't resolved for our print server. We're going to hotfix it real quick.

<comment><USER8> That's what I call support. Awesome!

EDIT: Looks to be working!

<comment><AUTHOR> PDFs should be generating now. Thanks! :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> What are the privacy implications of a teacher giving students' grade information to a third party? I was under the impression the law (in US) required a parent's release. Is it possible for your admins to view grade data?

<comment><USER10> You're correct. The teachers can not give student data to a third party without a proper contract for data transfer. However, I will give them credit for having a clear, fair and simple terms of service and privacy policy but it doesn't look like a lawyer was involved with their creation (it wouldn't be so simple or clear if a lawyer wrote it) so they probably haven't sought council for the rest of the business either.

<comment><USER11> This is an aside, but many lawyers view it as their job to protect your company from legal liability to maximum extent possible. But any half-way decent lawyer should be willing to take directions like "limit the privacy policy to the page" and "cut out extraneous legalese."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Neat concept and a well designed site, I hope you guys get some market penetration as I'm sure this would be a huge burden relief for teachers everywhere.

A few suggestions: If I were you I'd make the login button stand out more by having the orange rectangle always visible. Teachers aren't the most tech savvy bunch, and having the login button blend in as much as it does currently will probably confuse/frustrate alot of them.

Also, its probably best to refrain from using the word "Scantron." Its a registered trademark of Scantron Corporation, and as they're technologically WAY behind you guys, their probably going to get pretty trigger-happy with litigation if they see their monopoly threatened.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks!

Yeah, we don't use the word anywhere on our site, but figured it might be okay to use in the title of an HN post.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Just curious: have you actually talked to many teachers? Shown them the site and asked for feedback?

I feel like your landing page is way off from what a teacher would be expecting. Don't get me wrong, _I_ like it, but that doesn't mean it converts well with your target market.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yeah, we're getting a lot of that from HNers, we're working on a new layout and will talk to some teachers before we push it up. Thanks!

<comment><USER13> They should probably be a lot more involved than "talk to some teachers before we push it up".

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Wow. Two in one week. Just a few days ago I came across: <http://www.gradecam.com/> which does something very similar but with document cameras rather than fax machines.

 _It's great to see tools like these being built for those outside the tech bubble._

</comment><comment><USER15> This is exciting!

Do you plan to offer API support? I would be very interested in having students fax the exam sheet to Kite, and then pulling the question marks (and image?) from your service.

Also, will educators have to use your exam sheets?

Can you read barcodes?

<comment><AUTHOR> Educators build the assignment in our application (writing their own questions or using them from a question bank later on). In order for our product to read the fax, it needs to have been created from our application.

Currently no API support, sorry.

<comment><USER15> Could educators import the question bank? If so, would it work with Moodle's XML format (<http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/Moodle_XML_format>)

<comment><AUTHOR> That looks like an excellent next feature for us to build. :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Agree with the previous sentiment-this seems geared towards showcasing a cool tech demo rather than the teachers themselves. Put the scrantron scanning upfront, as that's the main draw and detail the painless process to do it.

</comment><comment><USER17> Would students in the class be able to login and see their grades? It would be awesome to integrate this with LMS platforms like Blackboard.

</comment><comment><USER18> Really curious as to how you're implementing the fax feature. Is it an in- house solution, or are you guys using somebody's API?

<comment><AUTHOR> In house solution--well, bundling together a couple of different open source libs (QR code detection, openCV).

<comment><USER19> what about the fax communications api? or are you guys interfacing with physical copper lines via some kind of fax server?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> The UI on your home page is terrific! So well designed... did you do that in- house or contract it out?

<comment><AUTHOR> In house! By me, so thanks! :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Most modern copiers offer scan-and-email functionality. This might be much simpler than faxing.

<comment><AUTHOR> You are correct! And they can be faxed to us as well. We just don't publicize it (yet).

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> This is a beautifully designed site. I absolutely love the sliding signup/sign in sheets.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks!

<comment><USER23> I would suggest changing the behavior of pushing the entire page down to one where just the username and password boxes descend from the top and situate themselves next to a stationary Login button. I don't like when the page moves from underneath my cursor, which happens with homepage takeover ads.

Have you gotten any feedback about the domain name? kite-e-d-u-dot-com could be confused as kite.edu.com

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Instead of faxing have you guys thought about OCR via a webcam/mobile phone/scanner?

</comment><comment><USER25> i looked at the source code, all seems so very nicely done. can u shed some light on the underlying technology? i see you use some twitter bootstrap, but the ui elements look like your own (i like) and backbone right?

<comment><AUTHOR> Yup! RoR, Backbone, heavily modified bootstrap(v1), Haskell for the scan/print feature.</comment></comment>


Man's high-tech paradise lost: bionic eye removed - <AUTHOR> http://www.thewhig.com/2012/11/28/mans-high-tech-paradise-lost <comment><USER2> > But the biggest problem facing the 16 patients who had signed up for the > surgery was that the lead doctor, William H. Dobelle, was ill. He died while > the 16th patient was still recovering from surgery in hospital.

> The project ended with his death.

> "When he died, there was no medical journal on the 16 patients, with myself > being the first one implanted. Nothing was ever written and documented.

What the fuck? An experimental surgical procedure is being conducted, and nothing is recorded outside on elderly doctor's brain?

<comment><USER3> It's also odd that the patients had to pay for the experimental surgery. This doesn't sound like a serious clinical trial, it sounds like a hack performed by some back-alley doc in a dystopic science fiction story...

<comment><USER4> > it sounds like a hack performed by some back-alley doc in a dystopic science > fiction story...

I mean, they did manage to give him back his sight for a limited period of time, that's pretty amazing technology if you ask me, not the kind a hack would achieve, but yes, it's very unfortunate that he lost it again, that must be some terrible pain.

I agree it might not sound too professional, but it seems to me that it's more about how this article is putting it and the reality may be more complex.

<comment><USER5> The style of experimentation that he did definitely fits the definition of "hack" in the sense of the hacker spirit, i.e. he didn't really care for anything other than getting it working. "F*ck the regulations, if these people want to see again then that's what I'm going to make happen."

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Ive done quite a bit of research on this recently. The device is a microelectrode array (MEA), Id hazard a guess that it started failing after 8 weeks because of glial scaring that isolates the device from the nervous tissue. For those interested I just wrote a paper about these and proposes some solutions to these issues: [https://www.dropbox.com/s/93nfqy9luojfwa3/MECH%20450A.rev0.p...](https://www.dropbox.com/s/93nfqy9luojfwa3/MECH%20450A.rev0.pdf)

There is a boat load of research going into MEAs these days.

<comment><USER7> _Deus Ex: Human Revolution_ borrows from some of that current-science for its somewhat-dystopic world of the 2027. People with augments are reliant on Neuropozyne, a drug to prevent scarring and rejection.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Wired Magazine article about him having the bionic eye installed: [http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/vision_pr.html](http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/vision_pr.html)

<comment><USER8> One of my friends is "one of the techs" in that article when the dude has the seizure. He doesn't like talking about his adventure to Portugal with the insane mad scientist surgeon.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> > _"There I met people who were blind as well. (Blind) people over there were > so included in society I almost didn't think about my blindness for a time._

> _"Then, when I came back here I realized that part of why I was chasing > these dreams of seeing again was because that's the way, in this society, I > can be included. Despite the fact that when I'm right here working on my > property, I'm not traumatized by my vision loss because I've moved on. I'm > able to do what I need to do. It's just that when I'm among society, I'm > told I am not really allowed to eat, because we will not give you a job, > because you cannot see."_

</comment><comment><USER10> You can actually do prosthetic vision without surgery, thanks to the magic (and I use the word advisedly :) ) of sensory substitution: [http://www.seeingwithsound.com/](http://www.seeingwithsound.com/) [http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~kuipers/readings/Bach-y-Rita- natur...](http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~kuipers/readings/Bach-y-Rita- nature-69.pdf) . The latency of sound-based sensory-subsitution systems is very high though.

<comment><USER11> I remember the story of a guy who could ride a bicycle by using his tongue to make a loud sound that bounces off of objects. Not sure if it's real, but it sounds plausible.

And this. All of these are amazing.

<comment><USER12> Here we go: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19524962](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19524962)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> > He says the loss of his sight, the second time, was more profound to him > than the first, because it was permanent.

Why was the first time non-permanent while the second time was? Did the system damage his visual system in his brain?

<comment><USER14> There is most likely extensive damage now due to taking the interface out, so there might not be enough neural substance to attach anything to anymore.

> Did the system damage his visual system in his brain?

I know of no working system that attaches directly to the optic nerve, and the article is very light on details. I assume these implants worked by projecting light on retina remnants. In cases where the eye is destroyed but some of the light-sensing apparatus is still intact, there is the potential for a device that sends light directly into the remaining rods and cones.

This is different from a direct electrical interface, which remains the holy grail of brain-machine interfaces.

<comment><USER6> I doubt they would have removed the Microelectrode arrays from the brain, that would have caused serious damage as the MEAs would be encapsulated in glial scar tissue. The article made it sound like they just removed the two jacks from his skull.

The devices were probably Utah Microelectrode Arrays(MEAs) the MEAs were no doubt implanted on the visual cortex on the cerebral cortex to induce phospehnes.

This is no holy grail, and MEAs have provided computer-brain interfaces since the 80's.

check out my other comments in the thread for more information

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Why did the devices start to fail after 8 weeks? Was it because of the infection?

Are there any similar devices that have been installed in people that have been more successful?

$100,000+ for 8 weeks of sight is very sad to think about.

What was the approximate resolution of the image that he saw?

WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES!

<comment><USER5> That works out to ~$100/hr.

> What was the approximate resolution of the image that he saw?

From the article it says he saw well enough to _drive_ , so it must've been pretty good.

> WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES!

"Carol never wore her safety goggles. Now she doesn't need them."

<comment><USER15> The Wired article that someone else linked to says that the resolution was 32 x 32 (1024), if that's the same person.

The amazing part is that the brain quickly learns to interpret the signals and can create an image.

I wonder if the brains image is a higher resolution than the camera considering it's basically processing the raw data and can apply very complex "algorithms" to the data to present an image.

I wasn't saying the price was too high, just that it's interesting to think about how lucky we are to have sight for free and that people with not very much money would spend everything just for the chance to regain a small amount of vision.

<comment><USER16> There is more. Perhaps its better to encourage the research of methods that can restore vision partly. If you think about it, the low vision is workable to a lot of these people, who have known the complete darkness called blindness.

Maybe start off in the same manner as the television research. First black and white, low resolution then onwards to full sight. It shouldn't be "All or Nothing" always. Low cost procedures are really the need of the hour.

Some people do think like this indeed, but majority of people don't. Articles like this are nice reminders for this.

<comment><USER15> I'm not sure that the device itself is the costly part though (other than the research to develop it). The main cost right now seems to be the surgery, brain surgery ain't cheap, especially when it's experimental procedures. An easier surgery is really what is needed. If surgeons could just lift up the eye and clamp the device onto the optical nerve then the cost would decrease dramatically.

There are some research teams working on the lower cost method.

[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2195683/Bioni...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2195683/Bionic- eye-breakthrough-Australian-woman-receives-radical-world-implant.html)

Most of the transplants are lower resolution to reduce device size (smaller computer components and battery). If you can perfect the lower resolution device then increasing the resolution and adding colors would be relatively easy.

I'm amazed that scientists can "talk" to the brain and how successful some of these procedures have been, truly fascinating times we live in.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurostimulation#Visual_Prosthe...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurostimulation#Visual_Prosthesis)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%E2%80%93computer_interfac...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%E2%80%93computer_interface)

I was about to say that you'll never see a BCI kickstarter, but sure enough there is one: [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openbci/openbci-an- open...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openbci/openbci-an-open-source- brain-computer-interface-fo)

It can't talk back to the brain unfortunately, but it's a step in the right direction.

[http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/BTO/](http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/BTO/) was launched 5 days ago (NOT an April fools joke), usually DARPA does a pretty good job of rapidly advancing technology.

[http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2014/04/01.aspx](http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2014/04/01.aspx)

[http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/BTO/Programs/Reliable_Neural-I...](http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/BTO/Programs/Reliable_Neural- Interface_Technology_RE_NET.aspx)

I guess the true holy-grail for this would be to pack in some "putty" into the eye-socket and let the eye re-grow based on your DNA, I doubt that will be available soon but a biological solution to blindness should definitely be explored as well.

<comment><USER16> I know the main problem right now is the fact that the eye's optical nerve can't regenerate. If it does works like optical fiber, maybe something could be made to mend the optical nerve using optical fiber.

Stem cell technology seems ever elusive, but still if not that, than this.

Thanks for the kickstarter and darpa link, it seems really interesting.

<comment><USER15> "the fact that the eye's optical nerve can't regenerate"

It might not regenerate on it's own, but that doesn't mean it can't regenerate.

[http://www.childrenshospital.org/news-and- events/2012/may-20...](http://www.childrenshospital.org/news-and- events/2012/may-2012/first-light-scientists-regenerate-the-optic-nerve- restore-some-components-of-vision)

"A team at Boston Children's Hospital reports a three-pronged intervention that not only got optic nerve fibers to grow the full length of the visual pathway (from retina to the visual areas of the brain), but also restored some basic elements of vision in live mice."

[http://webvision.med.utah.edu/2012/07/full-length-axon- regen...](http://webvision.med.utah.edu/2012/07/full-length-axon-regeneration- in-the-adult-mouse-optic-nerve-and-partial-recovery-of-simple-visual- behaviors/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> >He had the jacks removed from his skull at Kingston General Hospital in 2010 as they were infecting badly, due to being made of titanium.

I was under the impression that titanium was one of the few materials considered to be safe for human implantation.

<comment><USER18> The way I understand it is this : if an implant is nice and smooth and well integrated with it's surrounding tissue then a titanium implant is safe. Safe in the sense that the immune system won't attack it just because it's there, like it would with metal or frankly almost any substance (the 2 exceptions are titanium and gold, just ask someone with earrings what happens if you insert a silver or metal earring near a scratch).

If the implant has sharp edges, or rips into the surrounding tissue, or otherwise causes cells to die or prevents repair of damaged tissue somehow, the immune system will go looking for a culprit[1]. If it decides that the implant is the culprit, bad luck. It will attempt to surround the implant and expel it. Depending on the size this may or may not work (this is what happens to splinters of wood that get into your body, for example). This can even cause the immune system to decide a bone is the culprit, if it does you have rheumatoid arthritis (it's a condition that you are very likely to get if you live long enough)

Furthermore, implants may actually infect, as in a bacterial colony may develop on their surface (because the contact surface with the immune system is much smaller, an infection has a bigger chance to maintain that position. Always keep in mind that the immune system wins against bacteria not because it's better or smarter, but because it has 80kg of cells working logistics for it). The same can happen to bones.

[1] To be exact, cells have an "alarm" signal molecule floating inside them. If the cell is ordered to commit suicide (apoptosis), it will put out an enzyme that neutralizes this alarm molecule before ripping itself to shreds, the same will happen if the immune system orders a cell to eat itself (autophagy). But if the cell dies for some other reason (e.g. getting ripped to shreds, explosion due to infection, ...) the alarm signal will be spread into the surrounding tissue where the immune system can find it. When it finds it, it will come in force to check out the situation. If it keeps seeing this signal without finding a cause, the immune system will go insane/react badly.

<comment><USER15> The "jacks" they are referring to are the openings in the skin where the wires come out of, I'm guessing one for data and one for power.

Artificial openings in the body are very difficult to keep from getting infected.

[http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/images/FF.Sight...](http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/images/FF.Sight.SH.29337.r2_f.jpg)

<comment><USER19> So why not use RF for data, and magnetic induction for power?

<comment><USER6> This would be prohibitively large to implant in the brain. Betavoltaics could provide a novel power source, I believe they are used in some pacemakers. RF would be a problem because cancer.

People forget that magnetic induction can also be used for data and power transfer simultaneously, I believe they use this approach with some cochlear implants.

<comment><USER20> > RF would be a problem because cancer.

Could you provide some evidence for this?

Also, isn't magnetic induction basically RF?

<comment><USER6> electromagnetic radiation(photons) is VERY VERY VERY different from magnetic fields(fucking magnets how do they work?) the driving physics behind magnetic induction.

Yes RF is non-ionizing, but research linking it to cancer is generally inconclusive. So I concede I was too bold saying RF causes cancer, but right now we just don't know.

It would probably be possible to power it with RF power harvesting and multiplex the MEA with a MSP430. Now that would be a fun research project.

<comment><USER20> In order to transfer power using magnetic induction you need a _variable in time_ magnetic field, which causes a variable in time electric field to appear. That seems to me to be exactly the description of an electromagnetic wave.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> The important takeaway is that the social effects of being blind are very big. They could be mitigated entirely without technology, with cultural changes.

<comment><USER22> This argument can be made for many different disabilities (mental as well as physical). While I don't think we should stop pursuing development of cures we should refocus our efforts on enabling the afflicted to live the life they want.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> What's going to happen when things like this become common and they're attached to storage devices? Like when we have BMIs and neuro prosthetics, how will copyright law be enforced? will there be a special "data control agency" that has access to my BMI to make sure I don't copy any information I don't own? Hopefully we'll have some sane laws regarding copyright and software patents by that time. IMO we're on our way to a point where the government needs to step in and keep this kind of hardware/software open source and imho they also need to make laws that make not reporting a bug a semi-serious crime, and very serious crime for agencies that exploit bugs in secret.

<comment><USER5> Our eyes are already attached to a mass storage (and processing) device, and although it has a very high capacity, it tends to be rather lossy and have high error rates. :-)

It will certainly be an interesting future, and I hope it is one where information becomes even more free.

<comment><USER24> That mass storage device can even be permanently damaged if dropped on the floor :)

<comment><USER25> Rather less damaged by various magnetic fields though, than is typical.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Talk about bad luck! Loosing the sight in one eye at a time in two separate, but almost exact incidents

<comment><USER27> I'm sorry to say this but it sounds like bad risk management. At 17 he lost one eye to flying metal. At that point he might have chosen to be more cautious with his remaining eye, e.g. wearing some form of glasses at all times. But just three years later he lost the second eye...in the same sort of accident. It's not good luck, but it isn't only bad luck.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> People do realize that this technology is now proven to work, right? And because you can now do everything the wireless way (including the charging part), and using off-the-shelf components (you just need to find a subset of components that can be easily "approved for medical use"), and you'll have 99% less risk of infection!

Basically the successors of this technology should already be on the market now! They aren't simply because nobody found a way to make a huge profits and medical doctors are too technophobes and/or drowning in other problems that need their immediate attention to afford take risk* and make the effort of begging the government to fund this.

<comment><USER29> This is still unproven. There are only a few (¿one?) anecdotes of the experimental subjects, and they can't show how amazingly good the result were because the device no longer works.

Another comment says that the device resolution was 32x32 (this article says that they see "dots"), it's much better than a 0x0 resolution, but it's the resolution of an icon. If you have ever drawn an icon, you'd know that 32x32 is not too much.

There are similar device for audition, but the wires don't go directly to the brain. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant)

Let's hope that this camera device or a similar device gets fixed until it's useful in the long term. But it's important to remember that there are a lot of technical details that need to get fixed, and a lot of clinical test to prove that it's not a scam, snake oil, an optimistic misrepresentation or any combination of them.

<comment><USER28> To be honest, it was probably a dead-end tech that could've worked, but will probably not be developed because other approaches are kind of safer and worked on by more reputable scientists: [http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/278/1711/1489...](http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/278/1711/1489.short) (this one is 38x40, and it's probably easier to get it higher res too :) )

But when it was first tested, it was what seemed to work best, but was abandoned because of the place it was developed in and the (lack of) scientific reputation of the person working on it. The thing with these kinds of things is that you need "proof by engineering and experiment", so if you don't throw money at them before knowing how well they work, you'll never know if they work at all... or you'll never have more than one working technology to choose from. The whole "fund just the best ideas" approach in medical engineering is disastrous imho because the problem space is so huge that you never know what might turn out to work and for what, and at the same time, you obviously can't just do "garage/basement experiments" on these kinds of things, so any equivalent of "wacky garage experiments" actually needs to be funded... this technology was a nice "exploration" of one way to solve a problem.

</comment></comment></comment><comment> T-A This kind of implant is commercially available now: [http://2-sight.eu/ee/home-ee](http://2-sight.eu/ee/home-ee)

<comment><USER30> Interesting that your nick is "T-A". Tessier-Ashpool?

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Also: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_prosthesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_prosthesis)

</comment><comment><USER31> bionic eye</comment>


Gabe Newell: Linux is a "Get-out-of-jail free pass for our industry" - <AUTHOR> http://www.geekwire.com/2013/valve-cofounder-gabe-newell-linux-getoutofjail-free-pass-industry/ <comment><USER4> I suppose this is why the FSF has gone on and on about "free as in freedom", and not about the practical benefits for developers in releasing source code to the public.

I understand that Gabe does not want to play by the app-store rule, be that Apple or Microsoft. They want to be free to develop their business, their business model, free from dictated rules of a third party.

In a world where every user device is locked down under DRM, there won't be a get-out-of-jail free pass called Linux. If all obvious and commonly used aspects of computing are patented, then we won't have a Linux that can be shipped by something like Steam. Anti-DRM and anti-patent clauses, like those in GPLv3 and the Apache license are not anti-business. They are pro-freedom for companies to decide their own fate.

If we want to keep this get-out-of-jail free pass for the industry, we need to maintain it and banish DRM and patents to the dustheap. It's that simple today. It won't be that simple tomorrow.

<comment><USER5> Minor nitpick: there are no anti-DRM clauses in the Apache license and the one in the GPLv3 only refers to DRM preventing replacing of the GPLv3 software.

<comment><USER4> Thanks. I included Apache license because FSF copied the text regarding patents from Apache and copy pasted it directly into GPLv3 (they later added a trailing sentence about patent agreements).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> For all my love for Steam, Valve, Linux and Newell himself, I cannot help but gag a little every time he opens his mouth as of late.

Not a single fuck was given about Linux prior to the release of Win 8. Then, suddenly, once Valve's profit margins and business model is threatened the company shows some interest. This is all--of course--perfectly rational behavior, but there's no need to be all righteous about it and feed into our superiority complexes as Linux users. We don't want an 'us vs them' mentality here. What we want is for all the Windows users to get curious and come explore what Linux has to offer, not dig in and defend their OS just because they were pissed off by smug flamebait rethoric.

<comment><USER7> Not really. Years ago people mentioned they found extra code for what looked like a linux version somewhere in some steam package or development kit or whatever it was. This was years and years ago. Valve downplayed it. Of course now it's obvious they've been planning and experimenting with linux this whole time. They've gotten higher frame rates in Left 4 Dead 2 on Linux than on Windows on the same hardware so, they have quiet a vested interest in this thing.

I think they're in this for the long run. The biggest threat to consoles is Steam and consoles after all, are just crippled PCs.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> The explosion of Android as a platform has shown quite clearly both the power and flexibility of the Linux kernel, and the usefulness of hiding the complexity and providing a platform-neutral API. The VM-backed programming environment is what Valve perceive as the new gaming market here: they don't want just a console, they want their own iDevice or Kindle Fire.

Mr. Newell mentioned that Valve's games were shifting to a free-to-play scheme. The Steam Box might be something like this: a Linux-based OS, some sort of runtime/VM, a game-writing API (Source-based API?) and an online, on- console marketplace. Whether the VM is Android or even based on Java at all would remain to be seen.

The basic Source (or successor) engine might be distributed built into the Steam Box, with expansions ranging from full-on games to amusing hats available for immediate purchase and automatic delivery. Probably some back- catalog goodies will ship with the box/be registered to your Steam account, too.

<comment><USER9> Would game developers really want to make games for a VM? Don't most big games usually try to squeeze as much out of the hardware as possible? (Genuinely curious... I know next to nothing about the gaming world.)

<comment><USER10> And what would the point be? Massive loss of performance by going through a VM - only to save 30 bucks on licence cost for e.g. Windows? Any game dev wants the most performance they can get their hands on.

<comment><USER11> If the gatekeeper (apple/ms/whatever) decides to tighten the screws, taking not 30% of your revenue, but, say, 70% revenue - then fsck the performance, it may be quite reasonable to do major changes in art, gameplay and coding practices just to fit to a more lucrative market model.

And, as is well known, simply the existence and theoretical threat of a plan B (in Gabe's case, Linux) ensures a much better negotiation position and a better (more fair?) plan A.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I'm not particularly into video games, but I thought his whole talk about thinking of their games as a platform to enable their users commerce was very interesting.

I also now understand their decision to hire an in-house economist. They're looking at creating a much more sophisticated market.

</comment><comment><USER13> I'm an IT pro,so I run Linux servers for my job, but I'm also a gamer, and dual booting is a pain in the ass. Trust me, I would love to make Linux my primary desktop, and every few months when I have some time, I give it another serious shot. But I always end up back to dual booting.

Years ago, I was happy with OSS audio system, but that is controlled by one company so the FOSSies have done their best to replace it with a far inferior ALSA. This caused me so many headaches back in the day and still bothers me with its high latency. But lately my issue has been with the graphics subsystem. For my X1900 I have to chose between open source drivers with terrible performance and bugs or proprietary drivers that don't work with modern kernels.

Finally, X windows and gaming don't seem to mix. Here is a case, where I think Linux needs to change the interface. I think Wayland may be the answer. If not, at least X11 with decent full screen support would be a godsend.

So from my perspective for Linux to make it, it would have to use :

1) OSSv4 Audio Subsystem (FOSSies it's GPL'd already get over it)

2) Stable graphics driver interface ( or FOSSies stop breaking ATI and Nvidia's drivers )

3) Modern Display Server - maybe Wayland or throwing out all the kruff in X11 and fixing Full Screen graphics in games

<comment><USER14> 1) You can actually install it and use it. Personally I had some difficulties with some missing card-features, but other then that it worked fine.

2) Both NVidia/ATI and Foss is at fault: one should go open source, the other should should do as you say :)

3) X11 is deemed beyond fixable. But you can run Wayland today. (It has X11 server-for-wayland.) The reason I didn't try yet is because it won't run my WM. (Well as far as I know anyway.)

<comment><USER13> All good points. You're right, MS did remov hardware accelerated sound support in Vista, but that doesn't exuse Other OS's for lacking it. Back when I was composing and Mixing the "upgrade" to ALSA caused me a major headache, eventually leading me to hacking it out. Where windows has always just worked.

For the video drivers, I'm running Visa driver under Win7. The kernel dev's could take a cue from MS on this one. By breaking the proprietary drivers, they've ensured I use windows for gaming on this setup.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> We should all applaud the huge advance gaming will bring to Linux. Just the side effects from the engineering are huge—nevermind the enormous political and financial benefits that gaming brings to Linux.

Next up, naturally: Steam for Android.

<comment><USER16> They already have an app, now they just need to actually sell stuff with it.

<comment><USER17> They do sell stuff with it, just not for Android.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I'd love to see Valve bankroll some hefty Wine development and/or buy out Cedega/WineX/Transgaming, in my opinion that's the holy grail for what needs to be done.

Getting 99% of the games on Steam working out of the box with DirectX compatibility layer with in-house testing can and should be done, and is a better step than providing a VM layer right now.

I'd also like to see them contribute to OpenGL and get it up to DirectX standards in terms of API ease of use and maturity. It simply isn't as good, and until it is developers will continue to target DirectX.

</comment><comment><USER10> While it's all well and good that Linux is getting more press in regards to gaming these days, I'm still not seeing a massive push on the game developer side. Yes, there are the indie developers who will jump on it, especially those developing in Unity since it deploys to Linux and the others natively. But look how long it takes the major developers to even publish on OSX - <USER2> that has a much bigger (and much better known for customers willing to pay extra) market share.

Personally I'm working on all three platforms and I have reasons (and personal preferences) for each. I want my web servers to run Linux or BSD. I want my mobile computer to run OSX. And I want my work machine to run Windows. In each cases it's a mix of a need for certain applications and a preference for a certain workflow. Sometimes it's even something ridiculous like hating (HATING!) the way mouse acceleration works in OSX....

So, anyway, the way Gabe Newell tries to force an OS-war with his rhetoric is getting on my nerves. Steam is making him shitloads of money. And it'll continue to do so, regardless of Windows 8. And I love that he's opening up the market for Linux, but let's face it, Linux still isn't quite there as an end user desktop system. And unless it is, why should people switch and start purchasing their games on Linux, when they still do their everyday stuff in Win and OSX.

<comment><USER19> This is a hen-and-egg-problem. No games for Linux are published, hence no market exists. And since no market exists, no games are published.

However, the Humble Bundles _strongly_ suggest that there is in fact a market for Linux gaming, considering the Linux users consistently paid the most for the bundles[1], often _significantly_ more than the Windows users and more than even OS X users usually perceived to readily pay a premium.

[1]: <http://cheesetalks.twolofbees.com/humble/>

<comment><USER20> And still the Linux ports on the Humble Bundle are buggy and painful to play (some examples here: <https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=154932>)

<comment><USER19> That makes it even more interesting, doesn't it? They are willing to pay for having _something at all_ , _even_ if it is somewhat bug-ridden or not quite as fast or not quite as perfect as it could be.

That _should_ emphasise even more that it might be worth pouring additional resources into development. Whether it will be done is another question, steered by corporate politics, risk-assessment etc. etc.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I have heard a number of times about how great Gabe is for bringing Steam to Linux. Isn't it just the case that the only reason Steam is on Linux is because Valve are making a console? Would Steam for Linux really exist without this console?

Windows 8 is a fine gaming platform and the Windows store is... useless. It brings crappy tablet games to the PC. I think he is over reacting to the damage Windows 8 will do to his business. I think his motivation towards Linux only came into existence when he saw the Windows Licensing cost on a console.

<comment><USER22> > I think he is over reacting to the damage Windows 8 will do to his business.

He's not worried about everyone buying Windows 8, he's worried about no one buying it:

[http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/display/20130204235238_Gl...](http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/display/20130204235238_Global_Adoption_of_Microsoft_Windows_8_Climbs_to_2_26_in_January_Report.html)

Windows 8 isn't an existential threat to Valve because there are some UI tweaks, it's a threat because Valve is tethered to Microsoft, and for some, Windows 8 has not inspired much confidence.

<comment><USER23> Thankfully, we don't have to guess about this particular metric, or use silly results based on web-surfing of certain websites. Almost 9% of Steam users are already on Windows 8:

<http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey#cat0>

8.76% is much higher than 2.26%.

<comment><USER22> The salient point isn't "Win 8 adoption is x%."

> silly results

Please don't do this.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> For your AAA full-fledged games to work on Linux, it's not just Valve - <USER3> Big-iron game engines such as RAGE, CryENGINE, FrostBite 2, etc also need to be ported and supported. Only then will AAA game makers be able to support Linux games.

</comment><comment><USER25> An open platform with the accessibility and raw power of a living room console can only lead to bold new forms of gameplay elements both in hardware and the games. A common argument made in favour of strongly controlled console markets is that it ensures quality, which i don't understand. I think good content will always find its way to the players no matter how crowded the market is with crappy titles. And Steam is not abandoning it's own storefront.

</comment><comment><USER26> I feel like the title of this article was a little misleading, it makes it sound like he's chiding the industry for relying on use of linux and open- source software to make them look good (android is linux-based? yay it must be the best!), which I would kind of agree with. He's actually saying that it's there as a fail-safe for the possibility of Microsoft and Apple walling off their ecosystems from tinkerers and developers (which I also agree with).

</comment><comment><USER27> Isn't the Sony PS3 operating system largely based on Linux?

This is much more about what you let customers do with machines. There's a tension between "anything goes" (and rampant piracy and cheating) and total lockdown. Big companies seem to go the route of sealing everything up. It's unclear that this is totally necessary.

<comment><USER28> AFAIK no, but it did have an option to install a gimped Linux OS for some time, before Sony took that away.</comment></comment>


My Roommate's a Genius - <AUTHOR> http://www.farhadg.com/post/33834177117/genius-roommate <comment><USER2> That is far more impressive than my one attempt at modifying my bed, which no one would attach the word "genius" to...the most likely word I would have earned was "special".

I was living in a small rectangular room at Caltech, with the door on one of the short sides and a window and radiator on the other short side. My bed was a rectangular framework that the mattress sat on top of. The long sides of the bed were parallel to the long sides of the room, said orientation being forced by the narrowness of the room.

The pillow side of the bed was toward the window and radiator. I decided I'd rather sleep with my feet on that side and my head on the other side.

One afternoon, I set about reorienting the bed to accomplish this. Because of the narrowness of the room, both horizontally and vertically, it was quite a challenge to flip the bed around, but after quite a struggle I accomplished it. While I was doing this, a small crowd had gathered to watch (but not help...the bastards).

After I finished, the spectators pointed out that the bed frame and mattress were symmetrical, and the sleeping orientation was determined entirely by what side you tucked the sheets under and where you put the pillow. Flipping the sleeping orientation would have taken a normal person 10 seconds.

Doh!

<comment><USER3> My self-esteem is absolutely crushed, every time I encounter one of those everyday puzzles, which includes fitting a very tight cover on my mattress.

I wish I could reduce it to some algorithmic problem, but by the end of the day, I look like someone wrestling an alligator, as I struggle to put it on.

<comment><USER4> Start on the far end and pull the sheets towards you. That is, if your bed is next to a wall or two (as usual), start with the corners next to it, this way you never have to kneel over the sheets. If possible you can also move the bed and walk around.

This one took me a while to figure out, but was proud when I did. :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Some responses in this thread surprise me, I thought the mindset exposed in this article was something most _hackers_ shared. Therefore, after reading the post, I expected a bunch of mildly negative comments of people who built a lot of awesome things in their spare time. Well, I was wrong.

Anecdotal but surprising, my fellow musician friends are more prone to what I believe to be the _hacker_ thinking than most of the software programmers I work with. Maybe it is because of some unfortunate psychological barrier, or the result of a strong focus on computer related things and discard for the rest, I honestly don't know.

Anyways, what this roommate did is super cool, and I'd suggest everyone here to start hacking outside of their comfort zone, it can be very rewarding for some. Building things feels great, and being able to apply your hacker thinking to various things is a very useful skill to have.

<comment><USER6> I had pretty serious musical training that lasted for a few years. Anyways, my teachers were crazy imaginative. They would also build stuff from what looked like scraps - insulated and strengthened jacks, book shelves, studio monitor stands, etc, etc.

I wonder what makes them tick like this!

<comment><USER7> I've never had serious musical training, but I've spent a lot of time picking tunes with old folkies. A lot of those guys are absolutely the same when it comes to this sort of creativity, and I picked up a lot of advice that I like to think has stuck with me ever since. I remember I was nervous as hell when I'd just started heading along to jams - here was me, having learned a bit about scales and a few chords, yet wondering how I could ever contribute to the wonderful sounds this group was creating. It was an old gentleman in his 70s who just turned around, saw me sat there overwhelmed, trying to figure out what was going on, and said "We've got seven notes in a scale, and most of these tunes'll barely use half of 'em!".

Music, at its heart, is the ultimate in making do with what you have - I just think that folkies are more likely to admit it!

<comment><USER8> Completely agree with the last sentence.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Wow, that's awesome. I only wish I had anywhere near that capacity.

Unfortunately, I think my developer mindset actually makes physical hacking a lot harder due to 2 phenomena:

1\. Code is cheap. Materials are not. I'm used to being able to churn out additional code with basically no cost to get things done, not to repurposing existing code (this is different from refactoring to abstractions).

2\. Laziness is a quality in software development, but a major obstacle in physical development. I'll quickly abandon physical projects because I can't find an optimally efficient hack to finish things in minimal time.

<comment><USER10> Disagree completely:

1\. Materials are cheap, how much did the roommate spend?

2\. Laziness in code and physical is exactly the same psychological fuel: being bored doing always the same annoying task (eg remove the things to make room for the pizzas) is a strong incentive to find a hack to avoid the bore (add a contraption on the side of the table).

A former colleague was a great hacker, and he also did his own rollerblades, and built a part of his house.

I am some kind of software hacker too (daylong in python internals) and I did fix a car with a stone, I did elevated bed on two shelves, and currently I'm transforming a dead pot plant root into a nice piece of arte povera.

Another way for software and physical world hacking to be similar: in both cases, many people believe it to be hard, are afraid or somewhat restrained, but nearly all it takes is to just say to oneself "it's easy, let's try". While there are a few people with a brain that is no fit for fiddling with computers or screwdrivers, most of them who think they can't do it just never tried.

<comment><USER11> Disagree completely:

1\. I've gone into hardware stores for small DIY tasks and parts/materials are not stuff you can buy with spare change. Tools and equipment are even more expensive.

2\. Getting up and doing something physical for some of us takes a lot more effort than a mentally strenuous task.

<comment><USER10> Tools and equipment: It seems that the roommate did not use a lot of them. You can buy the best electronic screwdriver but you can also very often achieve the same result with a cheap screwdriver or even a kitchen knife.

For me digging deep into some code base, grepping the docs, reading some code in language I am not familiar with or that I dislike is exhausting, mentally and physically. I actually sweat a lot doing that, and it is the kind of sweat that stinks. Doing some woodwork is often less tiring, and the sweat it produces does not smell that bad.

<comment><USER9> > Tools and equipment: It seems that the roommate did not use a lot of them. > You can buy the best electronic screwdriver but you can also very often > achieve the same result with a cheap screwdriver or even a kitchen knife.

But the point is only that he only had _one_ door. No room for trying it, breaking the door, and then trying again (your door is broken). Coding is the opposite: you get infinite retries.

> For me digging deep into some code base, grepping the docs, reading some > code in language I am not familiar with or that I dislike is exhausting, > mentally and physically. I actually sweat a lot doing that, and it is the > kind of sweat that stinks. Doing some woodwork is often less tiring, and the > sweat it produces does not smell that bad.

I envy you. I love everything on a computer (and never exhausting). Doing anything physical makes me completely miserable (possibly because I'm in terrible shape).

<comment><USER10> One door: sure that's a difference but not that significant. You can measure it and try in mentally in different positions. You have to think twice before sawing but actually in code you also have steps where thinking twice I'd required, eg choosing a framework, a data structure.

Shape: not sure it can be helpful but you could try to convince yourself that it's only in your head. I have seen very fat people doing physical work and enjoying it, maybe needed more frequent pauses, and but quite able to do anything except crawling under the table.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Clicked it expecting some rubbish. Left in amazement at this guy's ingenuity. I always find it incredible when people can repurpose stuff like this because I usually need everything just right. This is great.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm glad you enjoyed it. I enjoy it even more living with him. Maybe I'll ask him to come on and explain what inspires him and how he thinks...

<comment><USER13> I loved the story, and I wish I was still living in my old apartment, where I'd done similar stuff (though not to the same extent!). So much fun to repurpose things!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Respect.

You see some of this sort of thing from the blue collar part of society in the US - "yankee ingenuity" is what it sometimes gets called here.

This is an essay by Tom Wolfe about Noyce and Intel that has similar overtones:

[http://www.stanford.edu/class/e140/e140a/content/noyce.html](http://www.stanford.edu/class/e140/e140a/content/noyce.html)

<comment><AUTHOR> Awesome! Thanks for the article!

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I would not call his roomate genius in context the article infers.

But, noticing extreme lack of interest in modifying your enviroment in a practical way (or lack of perception that your enviroment can be easily improved) amongst the general populace, yeh. He's an outstanding dude. These things tend to be uncommon.

It's not genius though. Far from it. Don't devalue genius.

<comment><USER16> Curious, what or who do you consider to be genius?

<comment><USER15> People being able to create accurate and novel mental models of reality of a large scope. And I'm already throwing up a defense stating that rearranging furniture is not that. Added 'of a large scope' in edit to power up my defense.

As a side note, I value even more geniuses that make models of the process of modelling. Meta-geniuses, so to speak. Not many of those though. One needs only to see into our progress concerning artificial intelligence to confirm that.

EDIT:

I'm curious about something else... Sentences starting with "I'm curious" usually present an attack in a form of preparation for the punchline upon the expected answer. Not a general rule, but I'm usually right interpreting them as such in both cyber and real world. Was yours one? What did you think I was to answer? If 'yes', what was the presupposed killer line or were you to improvise? Was it premeditated at all?

I _am_ genuinely curious. :)

<comment><USER5> Not that I dismiss your definition, but it requires me to stretch my mind a lot to see Mozart as someone "able to create accurate and novel mental models of reality of a large scope", so either I don't get it yet, or you wouldn't consider him a genius.

About your parent post, maybe the poster was simply trying to start a constructive discussion. It is HN, after all.

<comment><USER15> While I'm familiar with Mozart's works, I'm not familiar with the spirit of the age, so it's hard to judge.

From what I know, he was well trained from early childhood, had talent to boot, and lucky enough to end up composing on the court. Being a workaholic helped too.

I'm almost refraining from making a judgement, but if I had to force it - no, he's no genius in my book. Once again, I really could be right as well as wrong about that. That doesn't prevent me from having a pet hypothesis that him, being labeled as prodigy right off the bat, got him into a situation where he was allowed to compose tunes that would appeal to many, as opposed to your generic court composer, who bows to kings wishes. Which is a sort of little revolution right there - court approved pop music. For all I know, he's the 18th century's Lady Gaga.

But not to stop your point right there, I can say that Frank Zappa would qualify as genius for me. I can really follow his music and feel his firm grasp of rhythmic patterns along different sections as well as his control of general timbre. He even called his process of music composing/performing as "sculpting the air". I can sense him creating a quite literal model of reality right there. And, unlike for Mozart, I kind of have much more information about the current state of the matter when Zappa came in.

Amongst other musicians I consider genius - Iannis Xenakis, Arnold Schoenberg, John Cage, Edgard Varèse... You'll find them usually labeled as _experimental_ or _avant-garde_. Many quacks in that genre though.

<comment><USER17> Mozart's symphonic works alone are more complex than what Gaga does. Take the 40th, the harmonies, the transitions, the sheer beauty of it. Despite the huge technical challenges of composing for a Symphony, still add that much beauty to it. And then there are vocal works, Opera, chamber groups... He was a huge influence on Beethoven, and a couple other cats... Mozart beats Gaga in complexity and inspiration. I feel funny having actually typed this comment...

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> In third world countries I am always so amazed at what people come up with when building things. When I set out to start a project it usually involves making a list, and then going to Lowes or Home Depot (hardware stores). People who don't have that luxury just repurpose other things, and usually always does the job for them. My friends in another country actually seem to enjoy their hack-together process very much.

<comment><USER19> In my previous company there was a guy who used to run a tea stall. The entire stall was a extreme model of furniture hacking.

Not sure where he got his ideas from. His front door could be turned into a cash register + counter + door at the same time.

The store was full of furniture hacks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> In my opinion, that guy is a true hacker.

<comment><AUTHOR> You should see what he's hacking these days.

<comment><USER21> Now you got me curious. Can you share?

<comment><AUTHOR> He's doesn't like the shape of the phone for playing games for an extended period of time, so he's hacking up a pretty sweet setup. I'll post up when it's finished...

<comment><USER22> I'm genuinely curious what he could do with a 3D printer...

<comment><AUTHOR> In fact, I introduced him to 3D printers when I started reading Makers and he was absolutely blown away. He literally could not believe it it was real. He has sketches of many things he wants to build.

<comment><USER22> I bet he would really benefit from all of the different fasteners and replacement parts that you can make. There are lots of great inexpensive printers on the market right now! We're trying to make the software easier to use because it's one of the biggest barriers to entry right now. I'd love to get in touch with him firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Hacking reality is the toughest type of hacking I think. Kudos to your roommate and I hope he achieves his dream.

<comment><USER24> No it isn't. You aren't a very good hacker if you can hack in only a tiny subset of the world.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Please fix your website so I can read your article. There is no scroll bar.

<comment><USER26> I can see a scroll-bar but no text (javascript disabled here). What a naive way to design a website! I wouldn't be so snarky if this was a one-off instance. Sadly, this trend is catching up.

Edit: Cut down the snarkiness.

The OP's openness to criticism is appreciated.

<comment><AUTHOR> Will do... Thanks for the suggestion.

<comment><USER27> HTTPSeverywhere (ff-plugin) killed it for me, no text but a scrollbar. After disabling - no scrollbar but text.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> My son is this way (I wouldn't call him genius, but his aptitude to seeing potential solutions is astounding.) It's being able to see a solution from existing pieces, requiring visualization and great spatial reasoning. I'm not sure it can be learned; there is something about it that's quite innate to a person.

<comment><USER29> I think the problem is that it is unlearned too easily. Being forced to modify your thinking to succeed in school or the workforce is what stifles this kind of creativity. I feel like I used to have gifts like that, but somehow lost it along the way

<comment><USER28> Great point. We constantly challenge him to find solutions from things that aren't obvious, pushing him to be resourceful.

You're right about the environment. Creativity often isn't well-aligned with traditional learning patterns.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> I always respect someone who can look at a block of marble, and see Venus underneath it all. Great article!

<comment><USER31> Can't remember who said that sculpting is easy, you just need to remove all the excess marble. (Michelangelo?)

Some other guy said design is editing: it's about removing all the ugliness so that only beauty remains.

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> What I'd really love is to hear some of the music he's written.

<comment><AUTHOR> You would be amazed! He held a concert at the Beijing University and we were all inspired.

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> The guy creativity is good, but sleeping/eating/working in the bed is a terrible idea. Moreover he is using a projector, meaning the needs to be in the dark...

<comment><USER34> Well, he _is_ a student...

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> This is a refreshing reminder to dig deeper. I'm always waiting for the right tool to come around to do the job (cheap hi-res 3d printing for example) but sometimes a good enough solution just might be sitting in front of you. Thanks for this!

</comment><comment><USER36> This reminds me of a few people I knew in college. I think certain people just have a better spatial awareness that lets them hack their physical surroundings, and with my friends it tended to happen a lot with the mechanical engineers. One roommate I had would build custom furniture kind of like this guy, to make the most out of his small room. He had a large television, a couch, a computer desk, a bed, a wardrobe, and a dresser in the same space where I had trouble even having the last 4 things, and he could fit all that in there by his clever use of space aided by custom fixtures that he built out of 2x4s.

</comment><comment><USER37> Reminds me of a project I built this spring:

[http://imgur.com/a/HLbWF](http://imgur.com/a/HLbWF)

</comment><comment><USER38> If he's such a genius, ask him how to leave the scrollbar on your blog.

<comment><AUTHOR> Haha, ok, I'll do so next time :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> I'm now reading about a systemized approach to this idea in a book called "Inside The Box".

It details ways to innovate and create original products/services by narrowing or constraining ones options for solving a problem.

I think we are all capable of this type of "genius" and the book's authors describe a simple process for achieving it.

[http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Box-Creativity-Breakthrough- Res...](http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Box-Creativity-Breakthrough- Results/dp/1451659253)

</comment><comment><USER40> Very cool.

But did he extend your bed to make you happy, or to score those free extra parts?

I suppose I will have to go to my grave never knowing for sure.

Although it looks like your bed is a little saggy, right in the lumbar...

</comment><comment><USER41> Really beautiful piece on the mind of a maker.

<comment><AUTHOR> I appreciate that!

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> I know I'm not a genius, but I've read the whole thing and I still have no idea how the bed was rearranged. Did I miss a diagram or something obvious like that?

<comment><USER43> It looks like the bed had spare wood (struts underneath or maybe a larger headboard), and he went ahead and cut (?) the sideboards in half, removed the excess wood from wherever, and added them in the middle of the cut sideboards (like a leaf in a table).

I imagine that if the mattress were removed, the modification would become more apparent. Alternatively, a "before" picture would also probably make it more obvious. But, who takes a "before" picture of their bed?

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> My apologies for the poor functionality of the site. I went ahead and threw up a quick theme to help with the disabled JS and no scrollbar issue.

Thanks for pointing them out.

</comment><comment><USER44> Lets stop watering down the genius label. It should require more than a modicum of ingenuity and intellect to be called a genius.

</comment><comment><USER45> I used to have an apartment where the heat didn't really work. I could run it all day and it'd still be freezing inside. Rather than fight it I just shut the heat off and went to get a space heater. Well the room was open so even sitting right next to it didn't really cut it.

So I went to Lowes and got a bunch of PVC pipe and angle couplings. I built a 5x5x6ft enclosure and threw a bunch of blankets/sheets on it to make a little room inside a room to hold my desk, me and my space heater. I was nice and comfy all winter.

Another time I needed a desk for my computer and didn't have much money to work with. This was around the time that whole "FedEx box furniture" thing hit the Internet. I worked at a little pack-and-ship place and we had a bunch of extra UPS boxes so I nabbed them and some tape and went nuts. It took some tweaking before it would accept the weight of my CRT, but eventually it did.

<comment><USER46> Thank you for the enclosure idea! Will implement your idea again if I happen to have a ridiculously huge and cold room like I did last year again.

</comment></comment><comment><USER47> It's an iterative process, and the guy made a gamble. "Let's just do it the best way possible!" is a great place to start for any project. Only after you hit obstacles should compromise be made.

That's all he did. It's awesome, though. Awesome things usually can be described in simple terms.

</comment><comment><USER48> I was hoping he'd find some way to double-hinge the wardrobe door so it could function as both a door and a desk! Still obviously very cool and far more than I could do (or more importantly, as you say, even come up with).

<comment><AUTHOR> Good idea! I'll pass it onto him.

</comment></comment><comment><USER49> Yeah the dude is smart and creative. But for all you HN fellows who find this so impressive, you must not have much creativity of your own. Or more likely I suspect you've never had the freedom to experiment like this.

</comment><comment><USER50> Someone isn't getting their deposit back.

</comment><comment><USER51> So he built some stuff in the real world rather than digitally? Wow, that is very worthy of the word 'Genius'.

Meanwhile: [http://www.instructables.com/](http://www.instructables.com/)

</comment><comment><USER52> This reminds me of an old video of a student's room [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmuVD0X-fEE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmuVD0X-fEE)

</comment><comment><USER53> This reminds me of a time when Lifehacker was about hacking and not just 'use this software...'.

In my family, we had this unspoken contest for the best ways to fix things. My Mom would use coat hangers, toothpicks and glue like they were going out of style.

Doesn't help the argument that I have an autographed photo of MacGuyver.[1]

[1] [http://imgur.com/1wMDJy9](http://imgur.com/1wMDJy9)

</comment><comment><USER54> I love this kind of ingenuity to modify things. I have to admit in my old age I'm getting a little out of touch and I don't relate very well with crafting your bedroom into living quarters. Though I remember the days of having roommates, no money, and your bedroom is your only personal space. It's cool to take a look at what you have and use it to your advantage.

</comment><comment><USER55> it's amazing how limited we get as we have more things at our disposal. I remember coding basic as a kid and for hours i could come up with cool ideas and functioning programs. now all i think about is how to optimize and make things run faster by following codes already written by someone else! kudos to him..

</comment><comment><USER56> My brother is very much the same. He's about to turn 14 and can make anything, out of almost anything. Both of my Grandfathers shared the same aptitude for this.

As a developer I feel I can apply these skills, but to code, whereas they're physically able to see an object or an end result.

I wish I could!

</comment><comment><USER57> Students are very easily impressed.

</comment><comment><USER58> (Say after me : )

Creativity isn't so much about making pink patterns on the wall as it is about solving the problem at hand using the available time, tools and materials.

OTOH: If that means splashing pink paint on the wall, that will do as well.

</comment><comment><USER59> Makes me wonder what the roommate could build in a cave with a box of scraps.

</comment><comment><USER29> I want to hire this guy

</comment><comment><USER60> It's well known music and math are intrinsically related. Apparently, music and engineering are as well.

</comment><comment><USER61> He's a MacGyver. I wonder what he'll build if he is unleashed on a large American junk yard.

</comment><comment><USER62> Now THAT is "Hacker News"!

</comment><comment><USER63> This is truly inspirational. You could have added the photo of the genius along with this post.

</comment><comment><USER64> Really enjoyed reading this. Really hope this type of posts make to the frontpage more often.

</comment><comment><USER65> Whatever happened to scrollbars?

</comment><comment><USER66> You're right. That's fucking genius.

Talk about a work-from-home desk...

</comment><comment><USER67> the word "bricolage" fits nicely: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricolage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricolage)

</comment><comment><USER68> Pretty sure you're living with MacGyver.

</comment><comment><USER69> jarang-jarang indonesian featured on HN.

<comment><USER70> tapi namanya Zhang. Ga terlalu indonesia.

</comment></comment><comment><USER71> awesome, and great to see TR quoted.

</comment><comment><USER72> So, do you own your apartment or are you cool paying out your deposit for a wardrobe door?</comment>


Snowflake completes largest-ever software IPO - <AUTHOR> https://www.ft.com/content/eb8e37c9-b4a5-4b4c-a3cf-2eeac98a8f2b <comment><USER2> Nice add asshat. Link goes directly to there subscription page.</comment>


The constantly fresh list of online communities about digital marketing - <AUTHOR> https://hustlecool.com/blog/communities-list/?s=hn <comment><AUTHOR> I compiled a list of communities about digital marketing, social media management or any other form of online entrepreneurship (naturally, hackernews is in it).

This list was started for my own personal needs, but I soon realized it would be a useful resource to anyone interested in building a voice and authority online.

The goal is to keep this list fresh and relevant so that it can become an evergreen resource for entrepreneurs everywhere.

There are a lot of entries (200+!), but I know I'm missing some communities around these topics.

I hope you guys find value in this list, but I also ask that you let me know if I'm missing some great community.</comment>


What I learned today: Startup culture - <AUTHOR> http://www.venturebent.com/2011/07/what-i-learned-today-startup-culture/

<comment><USER2> There are some great themes expressed here, but I would tread carefully.

After growing a company from 4 people to 50 people, I've learned that shaping culture is a lot like shaping the personalities of your children. You can strongly influence as much as possible, lead by example, etc., but in the end, they will be who they will be.

As has been reiterated ad nauseum, it is really difficult to assess someone's personality through the hiring process, no matter which latest and greatest interviewing techniques you use. And, each person will contribute to molding your culture in very subtle ways. Yes, you can shape the big things, like corporate vision, etc., but in the end the culture is the sum total of the personalities involved, and it takes on a life of its own. And, if you try to shape it too much, you'll end up hiring people just like you, and then the real problems will start...

Also, as a former Enron employee, as I read through the "culture foundations" listed by the author, it struck me that these were exactly the culture foundations that CEO Jeff Skilling espoused, especially "meritocracy" and the "survival of the fittest". It didn't work out so well. I have never worked in such a competitive place, and as many former Enron employees have mentioned in books, documentaries, etc., the competitive environment was very counter productive in that it totally destroyed teamwork; everyone was out for themselves. The only place where it maybe worked was with the traders, but even then they would screw each other (and thus the company) in a heartbeat to get a deal done that would benefit them personally.

Be careful with this advice.

<comment> eric-hu I remember reading a job description for one of the YCombinator startups. For any new hire, they offered $2k to the hire in the first 6 months if he/she decided it wasn't a good fit. I forget the specific company, but this sounds like a really good way to "assess" someone's personality (i.e. let the employee do the assessing and reward them for recognizing a strong disparity.

I was pretty turned off by the article of this post. I feel like "vision" and "survival of the fittest" go against what Google has been known for encouraging: 20% time for creative products. Sure, a select few have made successful products like gmail. Others have completed products that didn't take off. You can look at these developers as dead weight and cut them off, but there'll be backlash with the other developers. Who would want to explore a creative, risky idea when he can just spend more time on his main project?

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Agree for the most part with this list. I think another important thing is to find people that aren't so fixed on their title.

When I was in 7th grade, I worked for an insurance company doing computer consultation, and all too often I saw this unfortunate mentality that someone didn't want to do something because it wasn't in their job description. I never had a problem doing even the most mundane of things (and naturally, finding a way to make them a bit more fun!) because I knew that these things were for the betterment of the company as a whole.

When I look for valuable people today, this is a huge thing for me. I saw a developer's profile just last night and took note because he had mentioned how he would willingly offer himself up to do some of the mundane things so that it would free up other talent. Ultimately, this shows great humility and makes it clear that one has the company's best interests in mind, not just his or her own.

Edit: To be clear, I don't mind that one should _always_ be doing the mundane things, I want developers or any employee to have fun and do what they're best at, but they should be willing (and hopefully even excited) to take on any role in the company that can help.

</comment><comment><USER4> While a reward structure is crucial, I feel there's more to business culture than a proper positive feedback loop. What about attitudes, creativity, fun, competition, and atmosphere?</comment>