Bad branding exercise: Westinghouse logo on a prisoner's electric chair hood - <AUTHOR> http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/an-american-prisoner-sentenced-to-death-is-strapped-into-a-news-photo/3436847

<comment><USER2> WeeGee was a crime photographer. This W logo - the logo might not be the only thing that's not real about the image.

([http://weegeeweegeeweegee.net/2013/03/07/ny-daily-news- posts...](http://weegeeweegeeweegee.net/2013/03/07/ny-daily-news- posts-12-weegee-photos-on-the-internet/))

> _6\. "Macabre was Weegee's specialty. Case in point, the photographer took > this shot of an American prisoner strapped into a chair in a gas chamber as > he is sentenced to death."_

> _The W logo on the American prisoner's head is a hand drawn Westinghouse > (Westinghouse Electric) logo on a wax figure (self-correction: probably not > at the National Wax Museum in Washington D.C., while making the film > Shangri-La, instead, it's probably in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London) > of Caryl Chessman… Macabre and humor, etc._

<comment><USER3> Yeah, the logo is certainly not real because Westinghouse didn't invent or manufacture the original electric chair. But it's easy to guess why the logo might have appeared.

"Edison opposed capital punishment, but his desire to disparage the use of alternating current led to the invention of the electric chair. Harold P. Brown, who was being secretly paid by Edison, built the first electric chair for the state of New York to promote the idea that alternating current was deadlier than DC."

See - War Of Currents: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents#Edison.27s_publ...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents#Edison.27s_publicity_campaign)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> And particularly since the photo description, and appearance of the device, is a gas chamber.

<comment><USER5> Which makes me wonder even more: what is this picture really showing? Was it staged by someone with a Westinghouse-satirizing or -critical perspective? (Might the modern equivalent be a Tesla logo, especially if there are ever any fatalities due to a battery/charging problem?)

<comment><USER6> It could be a leftover hood from the electric chair. I imagine it's more important to cover the face of someone being electrocuted to death than being gassed, at least from the observer's standpoint.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I think that depends on public opinion at the time, no? [http://www.gallup.com/poll/1606/death- penalty.aspx](http://www.gallup.com/poll/1606/death-penalty.aspx)

<comment><USER8> Brand associations, like Pavlovian associations, are very primitive, subconscious and emotional. The most important thing advertising needs to do (besides simply identify the brand) is to link the brand with positive, uplifting feelings. Coke and McDonalds are probably the best at doing this.

Even if you are the most fervent death penalty supporter, this branded hood will not make you crave more Westinghouse products.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Looks like an editing job from closer inspection. The logo is too straight and parallel to the camera.

</comment><comment><USER10> This may have been an unfortunate tactic used in the feud between Westinghouse and Edison: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents)

<comment><USER11> Definitely not. The picture is dated to around 1945, about half a century after the War of Currents had ended.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: $95,000 .cloud domain names – has the world gone crazy? - <AUTHOR> So I'm digging around for a good domain name.  Maybe a ".cloud" domain?
Turns out alot of them are available ......
https://www.godaddy.com/domains/searchresults.aspx?checkAvail=1&tmskey=&domainToCheck=fast&tld=.cloud&key=dpp_leaf_cloud
@ $95,000 per domain! Has the world gone nuts? <comment><USER2> 126,100€ for med.cloud !!! What's so special about these domain names ?</comment>


Show HN: How to Find a Job as a Software Developer in Switzerland – Guide - <AUTHOR> https://swissdevjobs.ch/blog/how-to-find-job-as-software-developer-in-switzerland-complete-guide <comment><USER2> Would tend to say the salaries on the jobs listed there are a little on the low side compared to what you could probably get for those jobs. As it's targeting developers outside of Switzerland, perhaps that's led to a bias downwards.

It's common story for people findig their first job in Switzerland to end up with a low end salary thinking its high. Then they find out how much it costs to live here...

<comment><AUTHOR> It might be that you can sometimes get a higher salary than advertised but they values are provided directly by the companies posting the jobs and they seem in the range of PayScale: [https://www.payscale.com/research/CH/Job=Software_Engineer/S...](https://www.payscale.com/research/CH/Job=Software_Engineer/Salary/8d55ae7f/Zurich)

In the end you can find a Senior earning 250k CHF annually and one earning 100k, there are many factors that come into play.

It's also important to consider both salaries and costs of living but I would say from my 2 year experience here that you can live better than in Silicon Valley and save in the same time.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I think Berlin, Germany provides a much better value for money for software developers, because one would need to earn 200k in Zurich to maintain the same standard of life that requires only 100k in Berlin[1].

Switzerland is a great choice for someone who just wants to save as much money as he can during a short period of time before moving somewhere else, or for people working in non-tech industries, who would make very little doing the same job in other parts of Europe.

Still, there are much more enjoyable places to be in Europe for someone without kids, and much more cheaper for someone with.

[1] [https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of- living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of- living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Germany&city1=Berlin&country2=Switzerland&city2=Zurich)

<comment><AUTHOR> Good points.

Berlin has definitively a bigger Startup scene and generally more companies to pick from than Zurich.

In terms of salary you have to also account for taxes (100k in Germany will be taxed at around 45% and in Switzerland (Zurich) around 30%.

<comment><USER4> Well yes, but some Swiss taxes are applied at the point of sale e.g. trash bags, which are very expensive. It's not straightforward to compare salaries in these circumstances.

<comment><USER5> You can buy a bag a day and it will cost you less than half a percent of your net income.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> If you want to go to Switzerland and earn 200k, just go to Google and get promoted there. It's far the most fun workplace in Zurich.

It also helps if you're a female intern/step intern, the male-female ratio for interns is about 1:5 .

</comment><comment><USER7> Yes. Swiss has it all. Would be interested to hear about tech scene there. As well as where to source the finest shokolade ;)

<comment><USER8> I realised that Switzerland is not a favourable country to move to if you are planning to start a family or have more kids.

"Under federal legislation, gainfully employed mothers are entitled to maternity leave, but there is no law granting fathers the right to paternity leave." [0]

Add to that, the cost of health care and child care:

"half day" day-care system. [1] Subsidised day-care is at 50-150CHF a day! [2]

If you are looking to re-locate to an EU country, you might find better options where work/life balance is greater AND cost of living is lower. [3] However, the pay-scale is probably adjusted to the cost of living.

[0] [https://www.ch.ch/en/paternity-leave/](https://www.ch.ch/en/paternity- leave/) [1] [https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/children-and- childcare/...](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/children-and- childcare/41292356) [2] [https://www.expat.com/en/guide/europe/switzerland/10476-chil...](https://www.expat.com/en/guide/europe/switzerland/10476-child- care-in-switzerland.html) [3] Estonia, Sweden, Finland, pdf => [https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=19932&langId=e...](https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=19932&langId=en)

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, if you consider a 4 person family it starts to get pricey. Basically, for a lot of my friends it meant that one of the parents would be a stay-at-home parent.

On the other hand, if you are single - there is probably not a better place in Europe, even in the world to work as a Developer, save a substantial part of your salary and have good work life balance in the same time: [https://www.quora.com/Is-130K-CHF-total-annual-gross-a- good-...](https://www.quora.com/Is-130K-CHF-total-annual-gross-a-good-salary- to-live-in-Switzerland)

<comment><USER8> Not all family members would consider relocating and leaving their current jobs to become a full time stay-at-home parent, solely because of the cost of living. On the other hand, I know many would appreciate the chance of being full-time with the kids and why not do it in Switzerland.

Its just something to really think about should you be in a position where you might relocate. Either to make sure you can afford child care or that your partner is ok with not working.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> If you have questions for about living and working in Switzerland as a Software Engineer let me know: [https://twitter.com/SwissDevJobs/status/1109728672297177088](https://twitter.com/SwissDevJobs/status/1109728672297177088)

I plan a few more articles to describe it from my current >2 year experience.

The topics that will be touched:

\- IT market in Switzerland: startups, BigCorp and other companies

\- SV vs Switzerland for living and working

</comment><comment><USER9> Would be really nice if this can be done to more countries. I'm interested to know how things look in the whole EU.</comment>


Why NDEs are More than just Hallucinations - <AUTHOR> http://www.glparchives.com/spirituality/why-ndes-are-more-than-just-hallucinations/

<comment><USER2> Oh look, another badly written, anecdotal piece on NDEs. Without sources.</comment>


Jailed for a Text: China's Censors Are Spying on Mobile Chat Groups - <AUTHOR> https://www.wsj.com/articles/jailed-for-a-text-chinas-censors-are-spying-on-mobile-chat-groups-1512665007 <comment><USER3> A chilling read. I use WeChat because I have a few friends in China. I am glad I have read this. I have never talked to them about China's internal politics for fear that something like this might exist. Now I know it is worse than I even thought possible. I cannot even tell them this article exists.

I believe (hope?) that this will be the death of social media in the long run, at least in authoritarian states. No one is going to use these forums if it means they or their family members can be put in jail for a joke. This is straight out of 1984, and that can be said with 0 hyperbole. When they start using ML to detect dissidents who speak in coded language, we will truly have a real live thought police. Christ almighty.

<comment><USER4> It's heading there in other countries, it's just not done by the government yet except in extreme cases. I already can't do anything on social media which could piss off my employer. It makes sense that I can't talk shit about them or leak info, but I also can only share certain political opinions - <USER2> example, while I'm sure my employer would be fine if I told them I voted for Hillary and supported gay marriage, I'm not so sure they would be fine if I told them I voted for Trump or was involved in union/labor politics. Of course there would be no direct consequences to either, but HR and managers would know (because they check) and it would affect their opinions of me negatively.

And now it's happening with advertisement too. Tell your friend you just took a pregnancy test via FB messenger and now every advertiser on the internet knows just what to sell you. Most people don't really care about this yet, but most people don't realize that this kind of thing could be used in the future for all sorts of dystopian shit. All this data is being stored. I think Google is treating my data pretty responsibly at the moment, but I could see it being used for anything from background checks (e.g. checking search history or message logs for indicators of illegal activity) to blackmail.

On a tangential sidenote, I read an article about Snap recently about how they're trying to position themselves as a different kind of social media company. They don't (yet) perform highly sophisticated targeted advertising and don't save a lot of actual content data. You typically are only connected to your actual friends, not some random guy from your high school class, your aunt, your ex-girlfriend, and your coworker. There's also no public profile for employers to search for and snoop around. Of course these are typically the case for any tool focused on direct messaging but I hope as Snap expands they can be both successful _and_ keep these fantastic qualities.

<comment><USER5> I don't see how a jail term can be even compared to losing a job and tracking by Facebook to government surveillance programs. You can opt out of it just by not using FB or by using a fake name. Go try to opt out of chinese censorship program.

Regarding Snapchat - the company that cares about privacy wouldn't require so many permissions (including a permission to receive SMS messages).

<comment><USER4> First, I'm not directly comparing losing a job to going to jail, I'm saying that things are not so different here. Of course going to jail is much worse than losing a job but when you consider all of the negatives of losing a job (for an average person, not someone in tech) I'd still say it's one of the worst things that can happen to you aside from being the victim of a crime or natural disaster, losing a close family member or friend, and going to jail/prison.

Also, you can opt out of Wechat just as you can opt out of FB, so I'm not sure I see your point. Sure you can't opt out of chinese censorship in general but the chilling effect in both cases is where I see the analogy. It's bad for online platforms to do that whether by coercion or direct force.

<comment><USER6> Not that I disagree with you on the overall direction, but I guess the question here is how easy it would be to opt out of this sort of thing in China, given the extent of their "great firewall".

At present, in Western nations, it is somewhat easy to, say, self-host certain social media platforms (from Wordpress to Mastodon) for friends and family and whatnot that could be used for more private, less advertiser-monitored social media interaction. Assuming you get buy in among your friends, this pretty much avoids issues with advertiser and employer snooping that you have on large social media sites. You can then keep your Facebooks and Twitters for your "public face" (or ditch them entirely).

I don't know if the same applies in China.

<comment><USER5> To host a website in China you need to get a permit [1]. You can host the site outside, but I am not sure if it will be always accessible.

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

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> For whoever this is news to, check out this XinhuaNet[0] article on holding group administrators accountable for things said in their groups. That they're able to view things is implicit in that. Then check out the pushes for Real Name Identification with online services[1] and phone numbers [2]. Check out the social credit system[3], mandatory by 2020[4]. The national face recognition system [5]. Its actually kinda incredible.

[0][http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/08/c_136592568.htm](http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/08/c_136592568.htm) [1][https://ifex.org/china/2017/09/06/ban-anonymous- content/](https://ifex.org/china/2017/09/06/ban-anonymous-content/) [2][https://www.techinasia.com/china-start-enforcing-realname- mo...](https://www.techinasia.com/china-start-enforcing-realname-mobile- registration-government-claims#)! [3][https://www.wired.co.uk/article/chinese- government-social-cr...](https://www.wired.co.uk/article/chinese-government- social-credit-score-privacy-invasion) [4][https://investmentwatchblog.com/in- china-every-citizen-is-be...](https://investmentwatchblog.com/in-china-every- citizen-is-being-assigned-a-credit-score-that-drops-if-a-person-buys-and- plays-video-games-or-posts-political-comments-online-without-prior-permission- or-even-if-social-me/) [5][https://technode.com/2017/10/13/china-makes- progress-on-its-...](https://technode.com/2017/10/13/china-makes-progress-on- its-national-facial-recognition-surveillance-system/)

<comment><USER8> If by "incredible" you mean "a dystopian hellscape" then yes, it is. And with this comment I probably just eliminated any possibility of a Chinese visa!

<comment><USER7> See, that's why you just say that it's an incredible technological achievement. Gotta work on those Social Credit scores.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Not surprised by this, for a long time, China's official policy is: all UGC must under control, or just blocked by GFW.

So the real-name system applied to weibo(twitter)/zhihu(quora)/wechat/phone numbers/forums.....

</comment><comment><USER10> Just one more bit of evidence that China's current government is anathema to a peaceful, progressive world.

</comment><comment><USER11> This article only highlights the importance of end-to-end encryption.

<comment><USER12> I'm not sure what you mean by end-to-end encryption.

It's a group chat, so it's more likely all messages are processed on server and then relayed to every people in the group. The easiest way to monitoring that kind of chat messages is .... install monitoring software directly on server.

And as far as I know, many (If not all) commonly used domestic chat software in China are monitored by the government.

So, it's a rather common sense in China to NOT chat on some specific topic during some specific period (Or, don't talk about it at all) online.

It's not an end-to-end encryption problem, it is the problem of National security (What ever that means to CCP) v.s. Individual freedom.

<comment><USER3> OP must mean GPG or something like that (where users control their own keys), but there is nothing to stop the government from holding you to demand your private key and the passphrase you use to unlock it.

The only real answer is to avoid using the internet for any meaningful political or community dialogue if you live in an authoritarian state that might use that dialogue against you. That is a truly depressing thought.

<comment><USER12> If you look though the history, you will found democracy in the entire history of China is very rare thing (Republic Of China is short lived).

So, I'm not so surprised that we Chinese end up with an authoritarian government model we currently have here.

First, let me clear one thing: It's not saying you can't blame the government for any wrong doing at all. In fact, I (and other people) do that all the time on the online forum operated by local government (I consider our local government is a fairly open one, so it's may not apply to other local governments). But you have to learn to avoid some topic that may get you into trouble.

This case is an example. If my guess is right: He's talking about a high ranking official of central government, who recently got exposed by a guy call GuoWengui[0] and been removed from a very important position.

In China, this kind of case by nature is very sensitive, CCP don't want to see anyone talking about it.

I'm not saying everybody should follow CCP's No Talk Rule though, I believe all kinds of censorship is bad. However, consider is very hard to change people's (Including government officials) mindset after thousands of years of authoritarianism, sometime it's better to save yourself from those troubles, and let time do it's work to upgrade the society first.

The hope is that, through years of advancement on science and economy etc (in short, productivity), the importance of individual can eventually out weight authoritarianism, and force the government to reform to an more advanced one.

Until then though, that censorship will stay.

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

And, hey, there are lot's of places people can talk about those very sensitive topic, like ... Twitter? Why doing so on a domestic online service and then worrying about getting trouble because of that.

<comment><USER13> Well, if you look into history if the west, you also find not soo much democracy. A bit more and with the US a bit longer, but for the most parts we have been under empire rule as well.

So it is good, that you are optimistic about things to change, but I also see the other side, with smartphones acting as spying devices enabling true surveilance everywhere, which could fortify authoritarianism, rather than deconstruct it.

But in general I am also optimistic that eventually things will improve, even if it takes some generations..

<comment><USER12> I'm optimistic because I believe in the future, people are the most important element of productivity.

So as long as that won't change, all country will eventually lean towards democracy if they want to survive in the global competition.

Surveillance or spying devices won't stop that trend.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> If you intend to spend any time in China, and your friends are intelligent and decent people, your friends are probably already censoring themselves (even outside of China), fearing it may have repercussions toward you.

</comment><comment><USER15> Paywall bypass:

[https://archive.is/20171208003957/https://www.wsj.com/articl...](https://archive.is/20171208003957/https://www.wsj.com/articles/jailed- for-a-text-chinas-censors-are-spying-on-mobile-chat-groups-1512665007)

</comment><comment><USER16> It's not just China,

[http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27616696](http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27616696)

</comment><comment><USER17> Currently in Beijing traveling and I'm surprised HN isn't blocked. The link (obviously) is.

<comment><USER18> or slack or github for that matter although intermittent outages are part of the hair pulling fun

<comment><USER17> Or (amazingly) reddit.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Not sure why this is any surprise. It is only a matter of time before it is done in the US as well (at least done openly)

<comment><USER20> The NSA is watching, but they are not censors.

<comment><USER21> The NSA collects the data - they're not the ones who take action about it. They supply the info to the CIA, FBI, DEA, and so forth.

Their data sharing was expanded just before Obama left office: [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/politics/nsa-gets- more...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/politics/nsa-gets-more- latitude-to-share-intercepted-communications.html)

"Previously, the N.S.A. filtered information before sharing intercepted communications with another agency, like the C.I.A. or the intelligence branches of the F.B.I. and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The N.S.A.'s analysts passed on only information they deemed pertinent, screening out the identities of innocent people and irrelevant personal information.

Now, other intelligence agencies will be able to search directly through raw repositories of communications intercepted by the N.S.A. and then apply such rules for "minimizing" privacy intrusions."

<comment><USER20> The CIA, FBI, DEA etc are not 'censors' either.

They are law enforcement.

Censorship of US citizens for the purposes of state propaganda is a whole other different thing than anything the CIA/FBI/DEA does. And FYI the CIA may be proactively involved involved in propaganda, like helping some Hollywood movies ... but they are not running around tell you not to say bad things about Trump on Facebook, is my point.

<comment><USER21> My point is that if there were to be any censor/like actions conducted by the government, it would not be the NSA carrying it out. It would be law enforcement.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I can't figure out how to get past the WSJ paywall. In any case, here is another relatively high-profile case of being detained for using WeChat:

[http://www.zeit.de/feature/freedom-of-press-china-zhang- miao...](http://www.zeit.de/feature/freedom-of-press-china-zhang-miao- imprisonment)

</comment><comment><USER23> But what if it's for a good cause, like deplatforming Nazis?

Oh, I see, what's going on, nevermind.

<comment><USER24> Tencent is one of the backers of Discord, a service that os very...flexible about who the rules are enforced on. Now i think we can see why.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> the US is already shutting down "Russian-backed" twitter accounts that tries to "sabotage the government".

Who is to decide what's backed by Russia, eh?

<comment><USER26> In a democratic country like U.S., they will not jail you for your tweets that try to sabotage the government, besides closing your account.

You can say anything in a democratic country, except when you are forced to shut up.

<comment><USER27> In US, if you say anything bad about US leaders, maybe you have trouble at the border when you go on holiday. In Russia, you can say anything about US leaders, and nobody will care.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> It's not a big deal in China. We all said "Big brother is watching you guys.". The first thing occurred to my mind that somedays ago I posted a thread for R.I.P someone, and you know what? Account have been banned just a few seconds. WhatsApp & telegram & VPN are blocked in China for a very long time. WeChat is the most popular app in China, the chat group is oversaw by the brother for some reason named "for country and people security". What a big joke. YES, Apple is helping spying people for the GOV :(</comment>


Tesla hires Andrej Karpathy - <AUTHOR> https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/20/tesla-hires-deep-learning-expert-andrej-karpathy-to-lead-autopilot-vision <comment><USER2> What this really reflects is that Tesla has painted itself into a corner. They've shipped vehicles with a weak sensor suite that's claimed to be sufficient to support self-driving, leaving the software for later. Tesla, unlike everybody else who's serious, doesn't have a LIDAR.

Now, it's "later", their software demos are about where Google was in 2010, and Tesla has a big problem. This is a really hard problem to do with cameras alone. Deep learning is useful, but it's not magic, and it's not strong AI. No wonder their head of automatic driving quit. Karpathy may bail in a few months, once he realizes he's joined a death march.

If anything, Tesla should have learned by now that you don't want to need to recognize objects to avoid them. The Mobileye system works that way, being very focused on identifying moving cars, pedestrians, and bicycles. It's led to at least four high speed crashes with stationary objects it didn't identify as obstacles. This is pathetic. We had avoidance of big stationary objects working in the DARPA Grand Challenge back in 2005.

With a good LIDAR, you get a point cloud. This tells you where there's something. Maybe you can identify some of the "somethings", but if there's an unidentified object out there, you know it's there. The planner can plot a course that stays on the road surface and doesn't hit anything. Object recognition is mostly for identifying other road users and trying to predict their behavior.

Compare Chris Urmson's talk and videos at SXSW 2016 [1] with Tesla's demo videos from last month.[2] Notice how aware the Google/Waymo vehicle is of what other road users are doing, and how it has a comprehensive overview of the situation. See Urmson show how it handled encountering unusual situations such as someone in a powered wheelchair chasing a duck with a broom. Note Urmson's detailed analysis of how a Google car scraped the side of a bus at 2MPH while maneuvering around sandbags placed in the parking lane.

Now watch Tesla's sped-up video, slowed down to normal speed. (1/4 speed is about right for viewing.) Tesla wouldn't even detect small sandbags; they don't even see traffic cones. Note how few roadside objects they mark. If it's outside the lines, they just don't care. There's not enough info to take evasive action in an emergency. Or even avoid a pothole.

Prediction: 2020 will be the year the big players have self-driving. It will use LIDAR, cameras, and radars. Continental will have a good low-cost LIDAR using the technology from Advanced Scientific Concepts at an affordable price point.

Tesla will try to ship a self-driving system before that while trying to avoid financial responsibility for crashes. People will die because of this.

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj- rK8V-rik](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj-rK8V-rik) [2] [https://player.vimeo.com/video/192179727](https://player.vimeo.com/video/192179727)

<comment><USER3> As far as I know, no car manufacturer ships cars equipped with LIDAR. Nor do they seem to have a camera setup as extensive as Tesla. So I fail to see how Tesla has painted itself into a corner. The worst case is, that they are not reaching full autonomy with the current hardware setup. It certainly would be a big marketing blunder if they don't, but if necessary they can add LIDAR to the production, if they choose to.

<comment><USER4> I think Nissan has bet that in a few years, LIDAR will be inexpensive: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfRqNAhAe6c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfRqNAhAe6c)

<comment><USER5> I wonder if I want to put my money betting on this how should I proceed?

<comment><USER6> Invest in the trucking industry?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Since it seems to be a thing to report that X person specializing in machine learning has moved from Y company to Z, it makes me wonder if other areas of computer science is seen as relevant by the general public.

One rarely hears Dr. John Doe from Florida State University (or insert non- Standford university here) in Distributed systems has moved from Microsoft Research to NetApp. These are arbitrary names. The point is you rarely hear about people from other areas of CS outside of machine learning/universities outside of Stanford moving from one company to another. The field of CS is vast and there are multitude of practical and theoretical problems outside of machine learning that are worth looking into (ones that aren't currently considered hip or cool by the public).

<comment><USER8> This same thing is an issue in many scientific disciplines. How many people can even name an area of physics research that isn't particle physics or general relativity, for example?

<comment><USER9> Biomedical

<comment><USER10> biomedical physics?

<comment><USER11> Next big thing. Get in on the ground floor

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Seems to be taking Chris Lattner's place:

[https://twitter.com/clattner_llvm/status/877341760812232704](https://twitter.com/clattner_llvm/status/877341760812232704)

<comment><USER13> Wow! Tesla's official statement: _" Chris just wasn't the right fit for Tesla, and we've decided to make a change. We wish him the best."_ [0]

Chris's response: _" Turns out that Tesla isn't a good fit for me after all. I'm interested to hear about interesting roles for a seasoned engineering leader!"_

I don't think I've ever seen a tech company throw an employee under the bus so publicly. I wonder what Lattner did to warrant such a public separation?

[0] [https://electrek.co/2017/06/20/tesla-autopilot-chris- lattner...](https://electrek.co/2017/06/20/tesla-autopilot-chris-lattner- software-vision/)

<comment><USER14> Don't people like it here when a company does not indulge in pc bullshit. I think Tesla statement is to the point.

<comment><USER15> You have to be careful how you let people go if you want to attract good talent. There is always a chance of a misfit, and the right thing to do is to part ways as soon either party realizes it, but you want to do this in a way that is not unnecessarily damaging to either party's reputation. Otherwise, good people with a reputation may think twice about working with you.

<comment><USER16> Reputation is for B players. Chris Lattner can go work for any company in the world that can afford him.

A players don't look at company's reputation, they look at things that actually matter.

<comment><USER15> You are contradicting yourself. Being an A player is your reputation. No one is going to hire your into a senior level role without you first having a good reputation.

<comment><USER16> A players don't worry about getting hired into senior level roles.

They don't worry about their reputation either.

If you worry about any of that, you're not an A player :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I follow Karpathy on Twitter and really enjoy his blog. I do fear that his impact in Tesla could be less than his impact at openai. Openai had some fundamentally great research and ideas.

I wish him that best though. Hopefully some of Tesla algorithms will be open source someday and those of us who can't afford a Tesla will be able to use it as well.

<comment><USER18> Tesla: "All Our Patent Are Belong To You"[0]

0:[https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong- you](https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you)

<comment><USER19> Not relevant. The software may not be patented but also just not published. You would have to reverse engineer it to get at the algorithms, and the car is surely heavily encrypted.

It's like Musk said with SpaceX: publishing patents is just like putting out a recipe book for China.

<comment><USER18> it's also a recipe for future generations... or a backup if you will...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Interesting, to move from an Elon-Musk-chaired non-profit to an Elon-Musk- owned for-profit.

<comment><USER21> Open AI was always a pipeline for Musk. Use other people's donations to attract and identify the talent, then move them under his payroll.

I guess that's a win win for the employees and for Musk. Not sure how many other supporters Open AI has, though I doubt that's what they had in mind when they donated to support that effort.

<comment><USER22> It's not like Musk doesn't donate to OpenAI himself..

<comment><USER21> That he spends money to find talent for his own company isn't so surprising. He's just done it in a new, slightly abstract way

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Anyone have any insight into what the top ML people are being paid right now?

<comment><USER13> The equity packages tend to be in the tens of millions for a 4-year vest.

Source: I am a manager who has given offers to top-tier ML experts.

<comment><USER24> If you are a hiring manager for top-tier ML experts, why would you be trying to inflate market value with outrageous claims?

<comment><USER13> I guarantee you that my comments here will not influence the market rate for top-tier ML experts.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> Karpathy. Car pathy.

* I hate myself for this.

<comment><USER26> You may enjoy (or hate) Wikipedia's article on aptronyms: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptronym](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptronym)

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Andrej paired with chip guru Jim Keller [1] (vice president of autopilot hardware engineering) should be an amazing combo.

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Keller_(engineer)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Keller_\(engineer\))

</comment><comment><USER28> I think he'll regret accepting the position. Impossible deadlines are going to force him out in under 12 months.

<comment><USER29> As much as I want to see Tesla and Elon Musk succeed, I wouldn't work for one of this companies. So I agree.

<comment><USER30> Likewise. As notorious as Amazon became for it's negative work/life balance, it seems like every Musk-run company is at least twice as bad. People regularly throw out 80hr/week numbers when discussing life at SpaceX. Thanks, but no thanks.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> So where does this leave openAi?

<comment><USER31> OpenAI is a weird animal. Their research seems generally less impactful than rest of the top tier labs out there. But they do have great people on the team. Is it because their engineering infrastructure is subpar?

<comment><USER32> Depends on how you see it though; the most impactful stuff is not necessarily the most reported in the media. As always, the media lags these things and so the public don't get to see shit coming.

<comment><USER31> I am pretty catching up-to-date with this field, and I didn't really get my DL(AI though it is pointless buzzword) news from media.

As far as I can remember, most important research from OpenAI is InfoGAN. Others feel somewhat below outstanding. Their open source record on the other hand is pretty solid, gym/universe and various implementations and testing of existing models does live up to the openness in their name.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> This is great to hear. Andrej has contributed a lot to DL students worldwide, what with his lectures online and his writeups, that I'm glad he's continuing his upward trajectory. A very inspiring person.

</comment><comment><USER34> Haven't thought that Andrej is such a big star in tech and deep learning communities. Which him all the best, his deep learning course was amazing

</comment><comment><USER35> How old is Andrej Karpathy ? Unable to find on google.

<comment><USER36> From his website, he entered his BSc in 2005, suggesting he'd be about 30.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> so it's done for other car industries :/

</comment><comment><USER38> If A.I. can't fold my laundry, I wouldn't trust it with my car.

<comment><USER39> Driving a car is currently specialised, as is folding laundry. The opportunity for autonomous vehicles is clear; you can start with replacing the cost of paying every person around the world who drives for a living with profit equivalent to their income. (likely at somewhat less than 100% efficiency, but who cares because of the massive scale?)

The next bit would be converting private trips into automated rides; replacing car ownership. The unit profits will decrease as part of this effort, but the opportunity is again huge.

How will you monetise laundry folding automation? At best you can replace just some of the people at all the commercial laundries and turn that into profit, but many laundries may hire one person who does everything. For home use you could sell a machine, but how much would you need to charge for it for that to equal recurring revenue from autonomous vehicles and how much are people willing to pay for a laundry robot? (even robotic vacuums are still quite niche despite probably being more convenient and costing less than LaundryBot)

<comment><USER40> > replacing the cost of paying every person around the world who drives for a > living with profit equivalent to their income

That's not how it works, because your competitors will undercut you. Then you will undercut them, and continue the race to the bottom until the natural price is reached.

<comment><USER39> The efficiency will certainly be a lot less than 100%, and it does seem likely that at least two companies might bring the tech to market within a couple of years of each other. I think whatever the starting price point is, there will probably be so much of a demand/supply gap that the initial price point will hold for a number of years.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> Wonderful news!

</comment><comment><USER42> What is so hackerynews about this ? Hackernews is turning facebooky with low quality content.</comment>


Vmail - A Gmail client in Vim - <AUTHOR> http://danielchoi.com/software/vmail.html

<comment><USER2> "Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can."

Jamie Zawinski, Jargon file entry

<comment><USER3> It's funny but also explains Facebook's new move!

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> One awesome thing about this is a lot of the time when the web frontend to Gmail is down, POP3/IMAP remain accessible - so vmail would be a great drop in there. (As would a myriad of other MUAs). As a vim zealot myself, I salute you for this commendable idea.

<comment><AUTHOR> I just posted the link -- I didn't write the plugin. :)

On the topic of Gmail downtime: Vmail's method (use IMAP) isn't quite as robust as, say, Mutt + offlineimap, but it's a hell of a lot easier to configure.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> If anyone is wondering how it works: the vim script (vmail.vim) sets up a series of buffers. It uses regular Unix shell commands to vmail_client to populate them and interact with mail, such as flagging messages. vmail_client is some Ruby code that communicates with the Ruby vmail server process using DRb. The vmail server does the heavy lifting of interacting with gmail itself.

</comment><comment><USER6> You've accidentally got emacs in my vim.

<comment><USER7> Exactly. Good thing it's a plugin. I've always loved how the vim core stays so pared down into not-much-more than vi, which is 99% of the time all I need.

I have difficulty understanding why a text editor needs to be anything but a text editor.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> is this the hacker target the guy earlier in the week was talking about? put in your gmail creds, they get swiped up and you lose your gmail account? This would be the exact thing that would get lots of hacker news accts :)

<comment><USER9> Don't you have this problem with any 3rd party email client that doesn't use OAuth? With bigger projects it's going to be pretty improbable that a malicious commit will get pushed to the trunk, but still, with small projects and hacks like this it's always a possibility.

<comment><USER8> I was more talking about someone posting a thread on HN earlier in the week that said someone was going to post something to fuck with HN users to get their personal info.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I'll switch when it can convert image attachments to ascii inline, I don't want to open a separate program to look at all those adorable pictures of kittens in my inbox.

<comment><AUTHOR> If you use Mutt on OS X, you can.

Download Apple's ASCIIMoviePlayer[1] and put the binary from the zip file in your path.

Add the following line to your .mailcap:

        image/jpeg; ASCIIMoviePlayer %s && read WAIT

Select an attachment in Mutt and hit return.

Enjoy kittens.

Of course, since it's ASCII __Movie __Player it will also play videos if you add the appropriate lines to your .mailcap.

EDIT: Oh, and make sure your terminal is at least 180 characters wide. There doesn't seem to be a way to make ASCIIMoviePlayer output a smaller size.

[1]: [http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#samplecode/ASCIIMovi...](http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#samplecode/ASCIIMoviePlayerSample/Introduction/Intro.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> mutt + imap + gmail = awesome.

There is just something about a simple plain text email interface with the power of an editor that makes life so much easier.

<comment><USER12> Does that setup handle gmail's concept of labeling? Such as archiving messages?

<comment><USER13> <http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=77657> is a nifty little chart showing how to accomplish Gmail actions from within the IMAP client of your choice.

If you delete a message from the inbox, then it gets archived. If you move it to [Gmail]/Spam or [Gmail]/Trash and _then_ delete it, then it will really delete it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I'm still a heavy mutt user. But I have to acknowledge, that being able to use Google Search and Google Contacts is a nice to have.

Though I can live without search - mutt is awesome here, too. Having contacts in sync, though - is really nice. I will take the high road and write a sync script here, soon.

Anyone interested in collaborating in a soon to come github repo for it?

<comment><USER15> I like mutt a lot. The keybindings are awesome. I like that it comes with native gpg support.

That said, I like (and use) Apple Mail a lot. The gpg plugin is what makes mail.app usable for me. I do not ever send non-pgp-signed email.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Contacts autocompletion - cool. The lack of this feature is what kept me away from text-only email clients.

</comment><comment><USER17> Has anyone figured out how to set the encoding and content-type for an attachment? Or has it not implemented as yet?

I really do love it though. I wish I saw this a few days ago, just did my first mutt setup (took me a few hours, I am very slow). The contact autocompletion is nice. Is there a reason for one not being able to just to generate the whole contact list ?

</comment><comment><USER18> Cool stuff :) Played with it briefly. Need to find a way to see only unread mails in my priority inbox. gmail allows doing a "is:unread is:important" to get there (apart from the straight route of clicking on the priority-inbox link).

BTW, though vmail intro talks of Vim 7.3, I am not seeing any issue with getting vmail on my Vim 7.2. Guess it is recent enough.

</comment><comment><USER19> I can't express how awesome this is...I was literally thinking about how great it would be to gmail in vim the other day. rad++

</comment><comment><USER20> I have been trying this out. It's great.

Some key bindings do conflict such as C-p with Yankring. Also, need to be able to configure to use with _links_ or elinks and not just _lynx_.

I hope the author keeps working on this.

</comment><comment><USER21> jwz's prophecy comes true once again.

</comment><comment><USER22> I'm thinking, you know, there used to be complaints about vi being an operating system with a lousy text editor.

Oh, wait, that was emacs, wasn't it. Hmmmm.

</comment><comment><USER23> Meh One can do this already with mutt using IMAP directly with Gmail using vim as the composer.

</comment><comment><USER24> I just use pine+IMAP with vim as the external composer. Much easier and does the job!

</comment><comment><USER25> Don't use vim, but the stuff Dan Choi builds is high quality

</comment><comment><USER26> I like Vim...do I like it _that_ much? Hmmmmmm

<comment><USER27> For quite some time while I was in college, I read mail through a Vim plugin that I wrote for the purpose. I like Vim that much. However, I can't imagine using Vim to access Gmail for daily use, because Gmail actually does email _well_ (unlike just about every other email client I've used).

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> I can't upvote this enough.

</comment><comment><USER29> pure awesomeness! :)</comment>


Tarsnap exploit bounty - <AUTHOR> http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2015-08-21-tarsnap-1000-exploit-bounty.html <comment><USER2> I will match this bounty. Colin's word on whether it should be awarded is final, and Colin can reach out to me to tell me who I have to pay up to (or, if the recipient would prefer, I can transfer money to Colin and he can just double the bounty).

Colin: if you post this bounty publicly anywhere, you have my permission to note also my commitment to match the bounty, which will remain ongoing until either (a) your bounty changes, or (b) I notify you otherwise (which is unlikely).

Good luck, everyone. I will be surprised and happy if this HN comment costs me anything. :)

<comment><USER3> Funny, I was just about to send you an email asking if you wanted to try your hand at this, given that you're much better at this sort of thing than I am. :-)

 _you have my permission to note also my commitment to match the bounty_

Thanks! I've updated the blog post with a link to this comment.

<comment><USER2> Just to be candid: putting an extra $1000 into the pot is _way_ less costly than me spending the time trying (and almost certainly failing) to get a heap overflow in Tarsnap working (even if were an easy one). Also: it's an easy bet for me to make, because at the figures we're talking about, I think we might be unlikely to attract the right talent. :P

But if there was anyone whose code I would bet on, your name at the top of the list anyways!

<comment><USER3> To be equally candid: I didn't think you would want the $1000, but I thought you might enjoy the challenge. Similarly, I think the people who are most likely to win this are going to be more interested by the puzzle than by the money. The $1000 is there mainly as linkbait to increase the odds that the right people hear about this.

 _But if there was anyone whose code I would bet on, your name at the top of the list anyways!_

Well, we've already established that the code was wrong...

<comment><USER4> > Well, we've already established that the code was wrong...

Hah, it's been a while since I read:

[http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2011-01-18-tarsnap- critical-...](http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2011-01-18-tarsnap-critical- security-bug.html)

Makes me feel a little less bad for the Debian issue with (way!) too low entropy in key-generation.

Refactoring code using crypto dangerous :-/

Have you considered creating a 2.0 on top of NaCL? I could see that it would probably not be a good idea to _actually_ throw out all the existing tarsnap- code etc -- I generally just mean if you'd want to move to a simple, yet "batteries-included"/shrink-wrapped crypto library?

<comment><USER3> That's part of why I have code in libcperciva which is shared with other projects -- the new AESNI code in tarsnap was all tested via its inclusion in spiped and scrypt before it came into this tarsnap release.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Just to be 200% clear: cperciva is offering $1000 for an exploit of a bug in Tarsnap 1.0.35 that he already fixed in the current 1.0.36 version?!

<comment><USER3> Yes. Or more precisely, for a demonstration of how the bug can be exploited -- I'm not looking for something "weaponized".

I think if someone manages to exploit this bug, the details will be very interesting, and I think it's worth paying for "interesting".

<comment><USER2> I also like the very public illustration of how not all memory corruption bugs are easily exploitable (or, occasionally, meaningfully exploitable at all).

Also an illustration of how unlikely it is that serious exploit developers are going to spend time writing a complicated Tarsnap exploit. :)

<comment><USER3> You may be right, but I hope people won't take away the message that bugs like this don't matter.

Fix bugs! Update your systems! If in doubt, assume that potential vulnerabilities are exploitable!

<comment><USER6> My takeaway has always been "It's easier to fix a memory corruption bug than it is to determine if the bug is exploitable"

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> > No bounty if you're in Iran, North Korea, or some other problem countries.

I'm a Tarsnap user from Iran. I'm not interested in these bounties anyways, but the phrase "problem countries" feels a little strange to me.

<comment><USER3> As elahd hypothesized, this is the trade-sanctions thing -- if someone from Iran would win and there's some way I can legally pay out the bounty, I'll do it, but I don't want to be in the position of owing someone a bounty but having geopolitics prevent me from paying it.

The reference to "other problem countries" is simply because I can't keep track of which countries are on the list right now... I'm pretty sure Iraq, Syria, and Libya have all gone onto Canada's list at some point recently but some or all of them may be back off the list. Sorry if it seemed a bit pithy; given how often I see no-sanctioned-countries clauses online I figured that residents of said countries would know if they were likely to be affected.

<comment><USER8> I'm not from any of those countries, but the wording struck me as really unfortunate. People from those countries could likely take it as a slight upon themselves. I think it is fair that people, who are not causing these "problems" themselves, identify themselves with their country because of its history and culture, even though they possibly do not agree with their government's policies. They already have to suffer enough because of the policy of many Western countries towards their country.

<comment><USER3> _the wording struck me as really unfortunate_

You're right. In hindsight I should have been clearer about the issue I was trying to address there. I _am_ clearer in the bug bounty page on the tarsnap website, but my blog is written in less formal language, and I allowed myself to slip from informal into imprecise.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Original reporter here. I was starting to worry when this will ever get fixed. I am not skilled in exploit development and I basically just found the bug by accident so I won't take the challenge.

</comment><comment><USER10> Props to Tarsnap team for doing stuff like this. They set quite a good example for others in design, implementation, and combating exploits. Always liked their work. Especially the hilarious and overly-generous pricing scheme. Truly original. ;)

<comment><USER11> You're going to be _even more_ impressed when you realize that "they" should be "he." :)

<comment><USER12> Colin actually commented a couple days ago that he finally hired a minion.

<comment><USER11> Oh, cool. Thanks for letting me know.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> ISTM this could cost you more than $1000? Wouldn't Ariel Ben Yehuda deserve a bonus over the $100 if the reported bug could be exploited?

<comment><USER3> Yes, I might reassess that bounty.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> I don't understand why people still consider it acceptable to write security critical software in languages like C.

<comment><USER15> > I don't understand why people still consider it acceptable to write security > critical software in languages like C.

What would you rather it be written in, a language that is itself written in C?

<comment><USER16> Most languages I can think of that would be better than C have solid non-C implementations. Ada has GNAT, a free software compiler that is itself written in Ada. Rust's compiler is in Rust (and, years ago, OCaml), though it uses LLVM, which is C++, for code generation. Go's reference implementation is I believe fully Go, although parts are mechanically translated from C. OCaml is mostly written in OCaml. etc.

Besides, the problem is not that C is malware, it's that it's a bad language to write in. Once code exists in C, you _can_ make it solid ([https://sel4.systems](https://sel4.systems) is the logical extreme of that). So using a C-language compiler but doing actual development in not-C gives you way more defense-in-depth than doing day-to-day work in C.

<comment><USER17> As much as I love Rust, I think it's a bit early to be using it in heavy production.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: The Outergraph – Do all your shopping online on your travels - <AUTHOR> http://www.theoutergraph.com

<comment><AUTHOR> A short description:

The Outergraph offers travellers the possibility to do all their shopping online while abroad, as an alternative to the time consuming classic travel shopping. No more walks from store to store, fitting rooms or carrying bags. Travellers can now browse the city online and make better shopping decisions, as The Outergraph curates and displays only products from quality local brands and top retailers, while sharing their brand stories through a special menu. All orders are comfortably delivered to the hotels the next day, but travellers can also shop before arrival or even from home.

The Outergraph is also an option for those who are not planning to travel in the near future. All partner brands have international delivery options. The Outergraph of London is now live.</comment>


What is the Shadow DOM anyway? - <AUTHOR> https://blog.rowan.website/2018/02/15/what-the-shit-is-the-shadow-dom-anyway/ <comment><USER2> Isn't it what powers the dark web?

</comment><comment><USER3> It's the place where  doesn't do anything at all.</comment>


Ask HN: Startup lawyers in Waterloo - <AUTHOR>

Hey Waterloo hackers. Does anyone know of a good startup lawyer in Waterloo, Canada? Thanks. <comment><USER2> I haven't had first hand experience with lawyers here, but if you go to UW you can try meeting with the ombudsman for a recommendation/referral.

Some business lawyers in the Waterloo area: <http://www.waterloo- lawyer.ca/index.php?lawyers=business></comment>


Sergio Marchionne Dies Aged 66 - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-25/fiat-s-founding-family-puts-a-jeep-selling-brit-behind-the-wheel <comment><USER2> [Dupe] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17608080](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17608080)

<comment><USER3> [https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html)

please don't point to upvote-less, comment-less submissions as dupes.

<comment><USER2> Sorry. Thought I was being helpful here. Can you explain why the system allows the same link to be posted multiple times? I seem to remember a time when it filtered them out (at least for me).

<comment><USER3> You'd have to ask the mods for details, but I think that it got changed to be in line with the rules, and only block new submissions if the previous one had upvotes or discussions. It might still trigger for a very short time without those, not sure. Especially since in practice there's often multiple URLs for the same story (sometimes even on the same site, with tracking crap in the URL, AMP versions, ...), so it can't be relied on anyways.

With way ranking works, if an initial submission gets no upvotes it's basically necessary to submit it again to give it a chance - of course if it has been submitted a lot and none got traction, submitting yet another one likely isn't useful either.

<comment><USER2> > _and only block new submissions if the previous one had upvotes or > discussions._

If it's based on upvotes, there must be a threshold, because the link I provided appears to have been upvoted by someone. All the more reason why I am confused about being dinged for my 'error.'

<comment><USER3> I think 20-ish or having reached the front page (which if initial upvotes are quick can happen with less) is a useful guideline.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


The Top 35 Startups that TechCrunch Missed Out On - <AUTHOR> http://startupplays.com/blog/top-35-startups-in-tech-that-techcrunch-missed-out-on-ma-2012/ These are the Top 35 Tech Startups that TechCrunch doesn't know about and didn't cover in May 2012 <comment><USER2> GoClapp team is proud to be featured in 3rd.</comment>


Demographics Is Destiny - <AUTHOR> http://speirs.org/2008/07/16/demographics-is-destiny/ <comment><USER2> From the developer's Twitter stream: "I'm seeing the exact same ratio for Exposure: 2819 free, 67 paid right now."

Exposure Premium costs $9.99 to download from the iTunes store.

In a later twitter, he raises a concern about the iPhone app review process slowing down bug fixes he needs to get out.

<http://search.twitter.com/search?q=fraserspeirs>

</comment><comment><USER3> On a related note, what are the odds for alternative programming languages for the iPhone to appear? I think interpreters are forbidden, but hopefully other "compiling" languages would be possible? I don't know Objective-C, but my first impression wasn't favorable (no garbage collection on the iPhone).

<comment><USER4> Why are interpreters forbidden?

<comment><USER3> Because Apple wants to control what applications can run on the iPhone. With an interpreter installed, you could just download the software from anywhere and run it through the interpreter without installing it, bypassing Apple's controls.</comment></comment></comment>


iOS push notifications (APNS): some security considerations - <AUTHOR> https://www.online24.nl/blog/ios-push-notification-apns-flaw/

<comment><USER2> I believe the author just has a technical misunderstanding of the way APNS works. In no ways is APNS aware of accounts logged in or logged out of a service - all of this happens on the app developer's server backend. The author's case is properly laid out, but the fault is of the app developer rather than APNS. Developers should take note - this is indeed a valid race condition.

APNS is simply an exchange between a remote service (ex. Twitter) and an application that has registered for remote notifications (ex. Twitter app). APNS knows nothing more than the key that it provided to Twitter to identify this device in a remote push context.

<comment><USER3> And when an account is logged out, the app should be calling

       [[UIApplication sharedApplication] unregisterForRemoteNotifications];

which should unregister it from iOS, even if the network connection isn't available, right? If the call makes it back to Apple's servers, future push notifications shouldn't even get to the device, but even if they do, shouldn't iOS see that it's no longer valid for the application and not display it, bouncing it back to Apple's servers so the token will show up on their Feedback server? Unless I'm mistaken, unregistering for notifications will remove the application from the device's Notification Center settings.

<comment><USER4> But the original owner still wants to receive push, so you shouldn't unregister. This isn't apple's problem, this is that the twitter app's server doesn't know they logged out and continues to send messages to the phone.

<comment><USER3> If you logged out of the application, it should unregister. It should only re- register when you log back in (which would require communication with Twitter's servers, which would update the APNS token to point to the correct account). This is how I handle APNS tokens in my Pushover app.

<comment><USER5> I think you are missing the point. It is a multi-user app. The first user didn't logout when the second login, both were logged in at the same time.

The _real_ solution is to wait for server acknowledge to delete the account from the phone.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> That article is completely wrong from a technical perspective...

</comment><comment><USER7> Also, not all apps have an explicit "delete account" option. I've experienced scenarios where I've received push notifications when I'm actually signed out of the app (I've seen this behavior on the Google+ and Airbnb apps, for instance) I guess it really is up to the application developer to send push notifications only for active sessions.

</comment><comment><USER8> Pretty easy fix for this: don't login on someone else's phone. In the hypothetical, the guy could just login to Twitter via Safari (using the web client). This is a full-featured solution, and you can logout like any web service when you're done.

</comment><comment><USER9> Ugh, this guy got APNS wrong. An app never needs to register a device with Apple. It's not Apple who sends something, it's still the developer via APNS.</comment>


Financial Modelling for Startups - <AUTHOR> http://www.madintelligence.com/financial-modelling-question-page/

<comment><AUTHOR> If anybody would leave feedback so I can improve the content I would be very thankful.

<comment><USER2> A couple of items that would help the initial page:

\- the page title would be better represented as "Financial Modelling Ebook" or similar

\- a simple book image with the book title would be a quick way of making it obvious what you offering

<comment><AUTHOR> Just updated. The response to this has been way beyond my wildest thoughts. Thank you!

<comment><USER2> Those updates would also be good on the sales web page.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Build Better Software. A service to help improve code quality. - <AUTHOR> http://www.buildbettersoftware.com/

<comment><AUTHOR> So the work to launch a new service is obviously quite a bit less than what it takes to offer a new product, but I'm curious if HN thinks there's a market for this sort of thing or not?

I'm debating wether we need to target the education aspects of it more than the end product. This seems like a great service, but I'm not sure its marketed in the right manner.

Is there a better way to market this that might hit software team leads a little better? Anything that might be a turn-off to them in it?

</comment><comment><USER2> > We'll build you an automated test suite that ensures the most important > parts of your application _never break again_. [emphasis added]

This is an unsupportable claim -- it cannot be done. The Turing Halting problem, and its connection to Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems, prevent it from being possible.

All the above claim tells us is that the people behind the claim are ignorant of the most basic principles of computer science.

<comment><AUTHOR> The test suite is really only a small part of the service, the other half is the included training along with a set of rules that developers should never be allowed to deliver code with broken tests.

I completely agree that the test suite on its own doesn't give much, but I envision this to be more of a training course with an added bonus of a deliverable.

<comment><USER2> > The test suite is really only a small part of the service ...

All I am saying is the claim is false, and it's the first thing people will see. Those who understand computer science will instantly realize it's an impossible and maybe intentionally misleading claim.

If all you want to attract are ignorant, possibly litigous customers, no problem.

The problem is with copy writing -- you need to hire a good copy writer. Consider this example -- a patent medicine manufacturer discovers his product is just like all the others, and is no better in any way. He might want to say (honestly) "Our product is just like all the others".

But instead he hires a skilled copy writer, who pens this gem: "No product, at any price, can cure your headache faster than ours!" It's very true, and also very clever.

<comment><AUTHOR> Advice like this is exactly why I posted this here. I've updated the wording and I'll take a closer look at all of it.

Thank you very much for your feedback, I really appreciate it.

<comment><USER2> Yours is a constructive response to constructive criticism. So thank you.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Building the UberBot on CodeFights - <AUTHOR> https://eng.uber.com/uberbot/ <comment><USER2> I was trying to remember where I heard "UberBot" before... it was from [http://bigwords.com](http://bigwords.com)! The best textbook search aggregator that existed back in 2007 or so... [http://i.imgur.com/2i84pdW.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/2i84pdW.jpg)

</comment><comment><USER3> Wow, a blog post by Uber that does not contain the phrase "driver-partner" :p</comment>


Ask HN: Javascript code generation library? - <AUTHOR>

I'm looking for a Javascript code generation library that is written in Javascript. I've used CodeModel in Java - https://codemodel.dev.java.net/ - and was hoping to find something similar (or better) for Javascript.
What I'm trying to do is create a visual programming environment where a user would drag and drop blocks to generate Javascript code. If anyone has used the LEGO Mindstorm IDE from a few years ago, I want to basically duplicate that but for Javascript.
I tried Googl'ing but the results are completely overwhelmed by SEO spam and things to generate buttons.
Edit: added an explanation of what I'm trying to accomplish. <comment><USER2> For those of us not familiar with CodeModel it would be more useful if we had an idea of what you're trying to do?

Are you looking to generate code because you want to write a DSL (or full language) and have it spit out valid JavaScript? Jison (<http://zaach.github.com/jison/>) does that.

If you're looking for code generation just because you're coming from Java and think you need to generate code because everything is so complex and that simple tasks require 5+ classes, each implementing more interfaces than that, and… well, you're in luck. JavaScript is _much_ simpler than that. Welcome to modern languages. :-)

</comment><comment><USER3> Ometa/JS (<http://www.tinlizzie.org/ometa/>) can be used for code generation, though it's fairly general rather than tailored specifically to that. It's a generalization of a PEG parser that can go the other way as well: it can match on sequences of characters to build up an AST, and can also match sequences of Javascript objects (like nested lists representing an AST) to convert them to other things. It doesn't have the big library of built-in expression types that CodeModel looks like it has, though (JForLoop, JConditional, etc.).</comment>


London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-09-22/london-s-uber-ban-is-a-big-brexit-mistake <comment><USER2> This same argument was made when Austin required fingerprinting for drivers and Uber and Lyft left.

What happened? Their was a flourishing of new ride share companies, including a local nonprofit, RideAustin. Yes, at first, these apps were nowhere near the level of Uber/Lyft, but they quickly improved, especially RideAustin. The prices were slightly higher, but it seemed those prices reflected the actual cost of the service without the VC subsidy.

I dread taking a taxi and I'm no friend of the formerly entrenched taxi companies, but this idea that making some sensible regulations that these multibillion dollar VC-subsidized tech companies need to follow is "anti- innovation" is BS.

<comment><USER3> You forgot the end of that story. They let Uber and Lyft back in[1] and the apps that had sprouted up instantly got crushed[2].

[1] [https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/14/15803138/austin-uber- lyft-t...](https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/14/15803138/austin-uber-lyft- transportation-ride-hailing-return)

[2] [https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2017/06/06/uber- lyft...](https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2017/06/06/uber-lyft-squash- their-first-austin-ridesharing.html)

<comment><USER4> Yeah, Uber and Lyft spent VC money to lobby the state government to override what the Austin voters decided.

So much for the will of the consumer, eh?

But, hey, that's what "DISRUPTION!" looks like nowadays, right?

<comment><USER3> > So much for the will of the consumer, eh?

I think demand is a better proxy for the will of consumers than any law or legislation. If the citizens of Austin refuse to use Uber or Lyft they will disappear without any legislation.

<comment><USER5> The tourists have more sway as consumers than the citizens do. There's more of them, they're more likely to use a ride-sharing service, and they're more likely to choose Uber of Lyft over a local brand just from the name recognition.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> This article is stupid, Uber was not caught unawares and has been in repeated violation of several requirements for operating in London.

This isn't the end of some libertarian utopian dream of innovation, but rather uber's continued blatant disregard of local laws.

<comment><USER7> It's not really stupid if you realize it's very likely an Uber PR piece masquerading as an article :). In that sense, it makes quite a bit of sense!

<comment><USER8> It is written by a good well known exonomist, so i doubt it inthis case

<comment><USER9> Exonomists can be purchased.

<comment><USER10> Wait, I thought exonomist was a typo. Does it mean anything different than economist?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> So bending over backwards and making companies not follow the law is "stifling technology companies". As others have pointed out Uber could play by the rules if they wanted to.

<comment><USER12> Could they? Isn't their whole business model using VC money to create predatory pricing and dominate everything? I think Uber is rotten as a premise, and when you take the bad behavior out, barring a sudden and miraculous breakthrough in automated automobiles, they're not viable.

<comment><USER13> Yep, I have no idea how they have any customers with all the bad press they get.

The goal is to kill the competition and treat their drivers and customers like crap in doing so.

<comment><USER14> They treat their customers very well, that's why they've been so successful.

<comment><USER15> Oh really? I gave up using Uber when I watched a ride go from $9 to $22, then back down to $12 after I killed the app and reopened it. Lyft pulls much the same shit, but killing and reopening will get me within a few cents of that initial $9 price.

Ultimately, it just means I set my life up such that neither Uber or Lyft can hold me hostage with insane spikes in pricing. Thus I bike and drive more than I'd like.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> I find it interesting that the article fails to mention the reason behind the bans. Perhaps they expect us to already know that it's due to problems with driver background checks. (correct me if I'm wrong)

Then again, if the argument is that in a pure libertarian system consumers would drive out bad actors like this, I'm not sure that this line of thinking would hold. The convenience of a cheap ride would seem to be worth the cost of the seemingly small chance that a user might be assaulted if the world worked this way.

<comment><USER13> Due to driver checks and also having software which actively tried to hide Ubers activities from regulators.

<comment><USER17> There is no proof of that being used in London. Also all the drivers in London are certified drivers.

<comment><USER13> It was given as a reason in the press release so there is obviously suspicion of it at least.

[http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and- tech/new...](http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and- tech/news/greyball-uber-london-ban-creepy-feature-what-is-it-a7961641.html)

<comment><USER17> If so then they should mentioned incidences which lead to this suspicion. Both mayor and uber has failed to make it clear what the reason of contention is between them. The rules which uber is not following should have been listed instead of arbitrary statements like Uber failed to report crimes by their drivers . This can happen only if victim decides to report to uber instead of police which sounds very unlikely scenario to me.

<comment><USER18> That's nonsense. If you have a dispute between you and a company, everyone will expect you to talk to the company first. If it turns out that your dispute relates to breach of the law (for instance, improper racial discrimination of clients), you might not necessarily realise you have the ability to report it to the police. To say it sounds like a very unlikely scenario to you makes it sound like you're trying to find reasons to defend Uber, not trying to interpret the scene fairly.

<comment><USER19> No, it's not.

If you have suffered something that you think is a crime, call the cops (in the UK they are pretty okay for these things).

If you had a very bad experience, but maybe not a full blown crime, you might decide to make a 1.0 star rating and complain to the company.

There could be systemic problems (racial discrimination), but even in those cases, there are concrete victims, that can report it to authorities (to the TfL for example).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> This is some economist from George Mason University who claims markets are the answer to everything.[1] There's a whole bunch of those guys at George Mason, available to write advertorials on demand.

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

</comment><comment><USER21> Totally click bait article.

Snip: Transportation authority didn't ban because of job security or localization. It didn't renew Uber license because Uber is not following local authority guidelines.

</comment><comment><USER22> 100 quid heathrow to the City vs 30 uber. Good or bad, time to pay triple again.

<comment><USER23> Well, thirty from notting hill to heathrow by mini cab for me. If you mean the actual city that would maybe 55. Not sure if you mean the city, say Liverpool Street, or west end something. In any case that extra cash went straight to the driver I'd guess. Black cabs cost more, but for completeness, I'm guessing you didn't need to pay that much.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> TfL and the Greater London Authority being controlled by notable Brexiteers like Sadiq Khan, of course...

<comment><USER25> Sadiq Khan a notable brexiteer?

I'm calling you a liar!

Two options: You provide _reputable_ sources to back this assertion of yours. In which case I will profusely, unconditionally and publicly apologize.

Otherwise my assertion that you're a liar stands.

Note that no English tabloid product, nor anything Breitbart counts as a reputable source in this context.

<comment><USER26> parent post sounds like sarcasm to me.

<comment><USER25> If so, my bad that I didn't get it.

In any case it was not very sarcastically phrased. And given the bullshit people believe nowadays such things really need to be called out.

<comment><USER24> My apologies, I'm an Australian, and anything that an Australian says should be assumed to be sarcastic until proven otherwise.

<comment><USER25> In that case: Please accept my apologies.

I really took your comment at face value. It's just that the current trend of Obama being a muslim terrorist sympathizer, Hillary Clinton running a child porn ring out of a pizza parlor and other such utter shit (and a significant amount of people actually believing that) makes me want gnaw off the wall paper.

Mea culpa!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> Set Uber aside for the bigger picture:

Brexit is UK's "Donald Trump": a manifestation of projected socioeconomic angst in a self-defeating manner that doesn't address inequality at the policy level. It's like suggesting California secede: good luck with trade policies, printing a currency, forming a military and so on. It's civilizational "reorg" churn that accomplishes nothing, eg, mob nonsense. If people collectively possessed integrity and moral courage, they would directly call out what they felt was inequity instead of scapegoating this group, that trade arrangement or a startup.</comment>


Microsoft HoloLens delivers Star Wars holographic message we've been waiting for - e-sushi http://mashable.com/2016/03/26/microsoft-hololens-holoportation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29 <comment><AUTHOR> There is a huge difference between demo and reality.</comment>


Electric food – the new sci-fi diet that could save our planet - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/31/electric-food-sci-fi-diet-planet-food-animals-environment <comment><AUTHOR> I've been reading about various paths from chemotrophic organisms to human- edible food for a long time, mostly as an offshoot of my interest in human deep space exploration. Most of the efforts I've read about start with methanotrophs, but it seems like it could be more energetically efficient to start with hydrogen. Starting with hydrogen also simplifies the hardware since you don't need a separate reactor to combine hydrogen and carbon dioxide.

The reason to look into chemotrophic pathways is because photosynthesis under artificial lighting is _really_ inefficient, even with modern LED lights. Vertical farming is great for making premium-quality salad greens and herbs, but absurdly expensive and resource-intensive for providing all of a person's food. Food production that starts with chemotrophs and renewable hydrogen instead of phototrophs and renewable lighting has the potential to deliver much more nutrition per-dollar and per-acre, while still delivering many of the benefits touted by vertical farming (low water use, less long-distance transportation of food, using land that is otherwise unsuited for agriculture).</comment>


Facebook agrees with misogyny - <AUTHOR> http://kimchi-woman.blogspot.com/2015/06/kimchi-woman-facebook-page.html

<comment><AUTHOR> and Facebook also told me that Anti-LGBT Movement([https://www.facebook.com/pages/%EB%8F%99%EC%84%B1%EC%95%A0%E...](https://www.facebook.com/pages/%EB%8F%99%EC%84%B1%EC%95%A0%EB%B0%98%EB%8C%80%EC%9A%B4%EB%8F%99/983297698377611)) doesn't violate Facebook Community Standard.</comment>