Ancient horse-dung bacteria is helping locate where Hannibal crossed the Alps - <AUTHOR> http://theconversation.com/how-ancient-horse-dung-bacteria-is-helping-our-team-locate-where-hannibal-crossed-the-alps-57135 <comment> awinter-py Awesome & terrifying. The scary side of this is when you wonder: how much trace evidence of the past is evaporating unseen because we don't know how to use it yet?

Archaeologists have been on a fundraising kick for the last few years to discover and preserve new ice age sites being uncovered by climate change. That's cool but this trace chemical analysis is even cooler.

Also check out the research on doggerland, the submerged landscape between england and norway. We are fairly sure from pollen and topography that this land was inhabited ~13kya, and have recovered some artifacts from dredging and fishing, but underwater archaeology is optimized for excavating wrecks; the techniques don't exist yet to discover ancient human habitation of submerged land.

</comment><comment><USER2> That is some fascinating sh*t.</comment>


Ask HN: How can felons find programming jobs? - <AUTHOR> I've been unemployed for 12 months, went to jail 7 months ago for 2 months, applied for dozens of jobs per week for the past 5 months straight, and almost every single one of them has turned me down because I have a felony.
I've tried not disclosing it, disclosing it early, disclosing it in the middle of the interview process, and disclosing it at the end when they make me an offer. They all turn me down.
Half of them are judgmental turn-downs - they won't return my call and never get back to me, because they think poorly of me.
Half are policy - Goldman Sachs made me an offer last month, but withdrew it this morning due to their policy against hiring felons.
I only have enough money to last us through April, and that's literally because our local parish gave us a $1,000 check out of nowhere, which adds to what's left over from our tax return.
I'm a hard worker with a wife and 5 kids to support. I just need a job, but nobody will hire me due to my background. Any pointers or advice would be greatly appreciated. Especially any pointers on where to actually find a job.
Because I'm still on probation, I can't move out of state and can either work remote or local (greater Chicago area). Most of the jobs out here require 3+ years in C# which I don't have and don't feel comfortable lying about either.
For more background, the felony is from flashing someone (while drunk) who was just under 17 years old. This was the second offense (the other was years ago). They are inexcusable and disgusting offenses, but they are permanently on my background.
EDIT #1: my crime was in 4 local major newspapers, and all 4 online news articles show up when you google my name, so hiding my background is not really a possibility here. About 4 months ago, a small local software firm, which would have been an amazing job, said "I know you said you're looking for 70k, but we'd like to offer you 75k", and I asked them to give me a few days to think it over, which he was happy to do. Then they never responded to my calls after that, presumably because they found out about this.
EDIT #2: I am no longer able to reply to anyone here, since HN now says "slow down, you're posting too fast" when I try, so, um, sorry if I don't reply to you before that resets (probably tomorrow). <comment><USER2> Im going to give you some either great advice or bad advice - only time will tell.

First of all take ANY job you can get - this means starbucks is on the table - Get back to work, even part time.

Second if you have skills then start putting them to use - open source, build your own thing what ever. At least 2-3 hours a day of WORK. Google up non profits that help fellons find jobs and ask them if they can use your services as a volunteer. You never know where opportunity will come from.

Third, start a blog. Tell your story, put your real name on it. It is compelling and your looking to make a change. Show your work, name the companies that reject you - you have probably given out enough info for me to find out who you are any way just own it.

My last hint - lots of "temp agencys" and "placement agencies" will happily take you on as someone they can place. Most of them don't care if you were a rapist or a murder - it wasn't a financial crime so your fairly safe to employ. I once worked at one and they ran background checks for finance ONLY - everything else was kosher.

<comment><USER3> I agree with 99% of this. I don't think there's any value in publicly naming the companies that have rejected you, and there is a potential that it would be detrimental (how would a potential employer view that?). I just don't think the risk (however slight) outweighs the (practically nonexistent) reward.

<comment><USER2> Your dead wrong.

For years there was "no value" in discussing salary... but companies were allowed to ask you "how much did you make at your last job".

So we have/had a system that is "pro company" and "anti-worker" that took a LONG time to change and let a lot of things that we probably always would have been upset about go on.

There is value in publicly naming the company that didn't hire him. It stops someone else in his position from wasting their time. The only entity that benefits from him NOT disclosing the policy is the hiring company.

It "might" make a company look bad if it got out that they DO or DONT hire people who were once criminals - and then we get into a larger set of questions.

Is their policy a stealth racial bias? Is the purpose of the justice system to lock people up and then create social shunning or reform?

This is another case where tradition and the status quo does not make sense.

<comment><USER3> I agree with your position when taking a global scope. When looking at it in the narrow scope of the OP's position and goals, I don't see any benefit for them.

<comment><USER2> If everyone takes that stance then NOTHING changes - your suggesting apathy - this is how the status quo remains in place.

OP literally has nothing to loose and everything to gain by being honest about his situation - the knowledge is already public and working against him.

Also thank you for sharing - happy for the dialog!

<comment><USER4> Another interpretation is that we can achieve a moral victory even without asking more disadvantaged members of society to make a sacrifice for dubious gain.

If one believes that moral conduct ought to have a relationship with moral results, then one must also coldly ask what sort of results one truly expects from this.

<comment><USER2> We continue to build technology without thoughts of consequences. OP's issue IS one of technology. What 20 years ago would have required actual WORK is now a service any one can utilize. Companies that never would have asked for criminal and financial history now do so as a matter of course, because it is cheep, because they can.

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

\-- Martin Niemöller

If those who have these issues don't stand up and speak (and to a larger audience than HN) how are they going to get the attention for us to speak up for them? OP has been punished, he should speak out that he is CONTINUING to be punishes, he IS a sacrifice.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Some ideas for you, take anything you like:

* Check out the porn industry. They are always pushing boundaries of what is possible with tech and felons frequently work in the industry.

* Military service is a "customary shortcut to public affirmation". It may be possible to enlist in some branch somewhere and request a waiver for your felony.

* Improve your portfolio. If you are a good enough developer, people will overlook certain things.

* Find a desperate entrepreneur who will pay you the bare minimum cash to support your family, along with some equity.

* Start learning C#, it's actually a great language, loved by man.

<comment><USER6> I know C#, learned it over winter break a few years ago, but have not used it for 3+ years in a professional setting. That's the issue. Even if I try to make hobby apps with it, nobody will hire me for a job using it. Unless I look for entry-level jobs, but even then a recent college grad is a better choice than me.

<comment><USER7> The C# ecosystem might be less than ideal for you to spend your time learning. Start thinking about how certain programming languages might correlate with certain types of industries. You're going to want to target companies that are less likely to bother checking in to your background, and if they do, are less likely to care. Think more along the lines of hipster startup development and less along the lines of conservative enterprise development. This might mean focusing your efforts on learning the Javascript of Python ecosystems instead.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Please contact me (firstname.lastname@example.com) We're the first for-profit recruitment platform for people with records. We work with many large, national employers, as well as many tech companies. (We're a YC company) We have amassed a community of 1 million + active job seekers, and are providing significant HR solutions to big companies. I believe we can help you. (No charge of any kind to an applicant.)

</comment><comment><USER9> Hi OP, another felon looking for a job here, I got out this January after serving 11 months. I would encourage you to apply for whatever government benefits you qualify for, if you haven't already. Just like you I've had offers rescinded after the background check. Doesn't feel great, but you have to keep at it. As someone else said: Get a job. Get any job. Right now I'm working at a commercial fish market doing manual labor. At the same time, I'm teaching myself Android development so that I have a portfolio I can show prospective employers. If I still can't get a job I'm going to try freelancing.

>Because I'm still on probation, I can't move out of state

This may not be true. I'm on Federal probation, not state, so it may be different, but you can have your probation transferred to another state. The receiving state must agree to accept you, which may be an issue as a sex offender. Best of luck.

<comment><USER7> I'm a federal felon myself and have found success by applying to companies based in states/cities which have "banned the box" for private employers. I'm currently working in a very respectable software engineering position, in a region which hasn't banned the box. The largest part of this companies workforce however, is based in an office located in a state which HAS banned the box for private employers. They never had a felony conviction checkbox for me to check on the job application, and they didn't bother running a background check which included the federal system. I've found that probably only around 50% of companies will include a federal background check. When it comes to background checks for housing or background checks for recruiting agencies, virtually none of them will do this.

<comment><USER10> I'd be interested in talking to you more about your situation. How does one reach you?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> There is a YC company that is looking at this -- [https://www.70millionjobs.com/](https://www.70millionjobs.com/) (YC S17). Might be worth trying out. Good luck.

</comment><comment><USER12> Edit: this occurred to me after posting and may be more important than anything else: _have you entirely stopped drinking (or using any intoxicants /drugs should IL join the legal pot states)?_

If you have a history of getting drunk enough to show terrible judgement but haven't stopped drinking, then you're still showing terrible judgement.

\---

Well, stay away from financial and medical - both are going to have background check requirements that may also explicitly bar felons. Anything handling cash or card payments is likely also out based on PCI.

I think the two things I'm going to suggest are setting up a company or at least a DBA (so searches are on the company name not yours) and focusing on things you can do that are outside company networks. Assuming you have technical skills appropriate to HN and some level of design skills, website development may be a place to start. Since you're in Chicago, I'd consider going to WordCamp Chicago in April - it's cheap and informative, even if you start out with static site generators and not WordPress (which has concerns of its own like needing updates and maintenance).

</comment><comment><USER13> You have paid your debt to society, you should not continue to be punished in perpetuity.

Perhaps make an LLC, and use your middle name in place of your last name when communicating with people? Or legally change your last name? That way they pay you as a contractor, with checks to your business, and no one is the wiser. You are in survival mode now, I wouldn't let pride keep you from changing your name.

<comment><USER14> > Or legally change your last name?

I think there are laws (in most states?) against changing your name if you're a registered sex offender. But trying to get a job using a middle name instead of a first/last name is a decent idea.

<comment><USER15> A name change doesn't remove the legal requirement to register as a sex offender.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> You're definitely targeting the wrong companies if you are applying to Goldman Sachs. Apply to work remotely for a Bay Area startup like a YC company. They don't run background checks as frequently or as well and they often don't care about whether their remote employees are felons (while they might care about on-site employees).

<comment><USER6> Since November I have applied at every type of job: silicon valley start-ups with just a few people, software consulting firms with a dozen or two dozen consultants, and large corporations like GS. Initially GS told me the felony wouldn't be an issue, made me an offer, and dragged me along for about 4 weeks after that, reassuring me the job was a sure thing. Only this morning they changed their mind out of nowhere. Otherwise I wouldn't have wasted so much time with them, as I was up-front with them early on.

<comment><USER7> As a felon myself, I have never had anything good come out of early disclosure. I think your best bet would be to target jobs in areas that have "banned the box" for private employers (I believe Chicago is one of these cities). If you receive a conditional offer of employment, they will most likely run a background check at that point. Some lower quality background checking services can provide surprisingly incomplete results. More than likely though, it will return your conviction history. Once you get that call from the HR representative questioning the conviction, simply state that you didn't feel it was relevant to the position being applied for. Refer them to the EEOC guidelines on hiring people with felony convictions (especially the part about individualized assessments). These guidelines are merely a suggestion, but it might be enough to sway the mind of someone in the company who has that discretion.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> My best advice on where to find work is look for smaller companies or for remote work with foreign companies. Small startups and the like often don't have the ability or the time to run background checks. It's not worth it for them. And many countries outside the US have laws against discriminating against people with criminal history. For example if you look for remote job for a Canadian company you'd probably have a decent chance of finding something. The salaries going both of these routes are lower though.

Also look into getting your records sealed. If you situation is really as you've describe a judge may be willing to help you out here.

Also check out [https://www.70millionjobs.com/](https://www.70millionjobs.com/)

<comment><USER6> Oh, also I should mention, my crime was in 4 major local newspapers, and those online news articles are the first 4 results of googling my name. So it's not really something I can hide, at all.

<comment><USER18> Most people don't check past the first page of results. If you can establish a robust online presence for your name, that may move those results down in the listings.

I am not advocating that you lie, deceive or hide anything. I am suggesting you establish a positive internet presence so that ugly stuff is not the only information available about you.

Vanessa Williams lost her Miss America crown to scandal over nude photos. The entire world knows that. That information never went away, yet she was eventually deemed respectable enough to do work on music for a Disney film, Pocahontas.

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

I don't know if this is your only handle on HN or if it is a sock puppet used for talking about controversial issues, but I will suggest you abandon it after you are done responding to this discussion and establish a positive presence on the site. The fact that you have a history of arguing about sexual subjects under the handle of _sexoffender_ looks really messed up.

It's possible that is just you being naive and dumb, but it makes me wonder what other stuff you may be doing that may be making employers think that hiring you is just a scandal waiting to happen.

Because I recognized your handle due to this bizarre choice you have made to talk about sexual subjects and parenting choices under this handle. I recall wanting to debate you and choosing to refrain because I felt like no good would come of it.

So I think you need to take a long, hard look at some of the social signalling you are doing. I will suggest therapy and journaling to sort out some of your sexual issues.

Please note, that is intended as kind and supportive. I spent plenty of time in therapy for my own sexual issues. I'm not trying to be ugly here.

<comment><USER19> They made the name out of frustration and highlighting how reciculously easy it is to become a sex offender. Its not some.faulty social.signaling.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> > Half of them are judgmental turn-downs - they won't return my call and never > get back to me, because they think poorly of me.

I'm not at all downplaying your difficulties, but it may help to know that many people without felonies on their records endure this same lack of communication from perspective employers. In some cases, it may have nothing to do with the felony.

I hope you find a great job.

</comment><comment><USER21> Not sure this is what you're looking for, but I listened to a podcast about an organization (Defy Ventures) that helps formerly incarcerated people kick off entrepreneurial careers:

[https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/con-jobs-inmate- entreprene...](https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/con-jobs-inmate-entrepreneur- catherine-hoke)

</comment><comment><USER22> I really hope you find something, and never having being in your situation, it's hard to know whether I'm being helpful or not. But have you considered working on open source bug bounties?

Here's some bounties available in C#

[https://www.bountysource.com/bounties/search?direction=desc&...](https://www.bountysource.com/bounties/search?direction=desc&order=bounty_total&can_add_bounty=all&languages=28&trackers=&per_page=50&page=1)

</comment><comment><USER23> Felon here!

Being a felon has impacted my life in several ways. I'm going on almost 10 years of being labeled a felon, so I have some stories to tell as to how it's impacted my life:

I've struggled with relationships ("omg my parents Googled you"), friendships ("I googled you"), finding a place to live ("sorry, we don't accept people with a criminal history like yours"), bank accounts ("sorry, we can't give you a bank account due to your criminal history"), payment processing accounts ("sorry, we can't accept you to process payments on our platform because of your criminal history")... list goes on.

But I've never, ever had a problem finding work. Maybe it's because of how I go about finding work.

I don't work in corporate environments by choice, as I'm just a terrible fit. I've worked with headhunters without issue, and I've applied to Who is Hirings without issue. I've worked as a business entity with larger-ish companies without issue too (but they're still small enough to not be super corporate)

It's one of the first things I tell people when I wouldn't work under a registered entity: "just a heads up there is no way in hell I'll pass any sort of background check whatsoever"

Somewhat ironically, what's on Google, or any news outlet, is significantly less severe than what a thorough and complete background check will show because of how the courts proceeded (at least for me)

Would love to talk more about getting you in the right direction. Email's in my profile.

</comment><comment><USER24> I think you are in hard place because of the the current culture. It seems that in the present climate, a business would hire someone that actually killed people while driving drunk before someone who flashed someone while drunk.

<comment><USER25> We're not just talking about "flashing" someone while drunk, we're talking about exposing oneself to a minor, twice. Once may be seen as a "drunk mistake", etc. Twice is a pattern that will make people think twice. Not to mention people generally don't like hiring sex offenders.

<comment><USER26> Maybe the OP has a drinking problem that he's working on. Who knows? Regardless of the offense, there's no reason to ostracize him from society and employment after he's done his time.

<comment><USER25> I'm not ostracizing him, just pointing out that exposing yourself to a child is a very serious crime. Found the articles about OP and it pretty well explains why he's having a hard time finding a job. IMO he should just start his own company, because most software companies aren't going to hire a sex offender.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> This is a wonderful startup in Las Vegas. They definitely hire Felons.

[https://pigeonly.com/about/#careers](https://pigeonly.com/about/#careers)

Any chance your former employer would take you back on a reduced salary, while you work on your portfolio/freelancing/rehabilitating your record?

Why don't you have references?

I think long term you should focus on changing your name and getting a good profile and work history on UpWork. This could lead to a steady job, and no one will ever check your background for freelance jobs.

Why was the crime of flashing a 17 year old published in 4 major newspapers?

<comment><USER25> Because he was already a sex offender and it happened in a residential area, the parents contacted the police obviously.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Chicago is a tough market for ex-cons. Illinois never lets the conviction drop off your background check, and a lot of companies won't hire a felon, period, even if it's for aggravated jaywalking or grossly negligent mis-parking on your 18th birthday.

You're _not_ going to get a job in Chicago in software or IT unless you start your own business or work remote.

Apply at Goodwill or somewhere else known to hire non-violent, non-theft felons, to pay the short-term bills. Then you'll have to form an LLC and work through the business name. It will limit your opportunities until you can leave the area.

</comment><comment><USER29> Project-based contract work / freelancing? A good portfolio, some networking, and interviewing well could get you some gigs. Not being an employee would probably reduce any risk-averse corporate refusals.

<comment><USER6> For that I would need references (I have none), a good portfolio (I have none), or the ability to start off making almost no money (my family would starve).

<comment><USER30> You're just like every other entry level developer in the industry then. The only thing that is setting you apart is the conviction. Yes it will be harder, but with the items you just specified, everyone else is dealing with too. Get a portfolio (make one), get references (find some), and don't let your family starve. Take any job you can to make money while always looking for that better one, working on the references and portfolio. This is no different advice than what I'd tell any other developer starting out.

<comment><USER31> I fully concur. Find your first reference today(mayhaps, someone from your parish).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> At least around me (SF Bay area), social service/healthcare non-profits are open to hiring felons, and do so regularly. At my current job, the best boss I've ever had revealed she was a felon at her going-away party on her last day. Organizations with missions focused on building life/parenting skills actively seek people who have learned from their mistakes, and who want to help others do the same.

</comment><comment><USER33> Send an email to: firstname.lastname@example.com

I think I have some contacts you can try out. Small companies, especially ones with minimal public interaction should be good targets.

</comment><comment><USER34> Check this out: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14911467](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14911467)

Mind you, I did a quick search in the Chicago area for developer jobs, found a bunch of them have written n+ years of experience required. But give it a shot, and read the comment threads too. At the very least, hope it's a bit of inspiration. Good luck.

</comment><comment><USER35> It's a tough bag, and unfortunate, because there are some really talented folks left swinging in the wind. Case in point - Kevin Mitnick, but that is a solid example to follow and take advice on post-computer access from yore. You don't exactly need the programmer job, considering there are many options for fronting a self-employed avenue and doing the consultant thing. The comments so far are much around small companies and beyond because the need is there more than the rigors of corporate American which places a premium on vetted resources w/o a mark on the record.

Hope this helps. There is plenty of work to be had and the avenues are wide and paved with honest wages if you advertise and remove yourself from the past and work towards the culture.

G'luck!

</comment><comment><USER36> Even without the record I would expect you to have a hard time. I'm surprised you're getting offers. Try to keep in mind that there are people who 1) Have 3+ years experience, 2) Have portfolios, 3) Have references, 4) Have clean records, and 5) Still can't find work. Yes, it happens, believe me. So, you're going to have to get way, way, way back in line behind those people. And that's fair.

In the meantime, just get whatever work you can.

<comment><USER6> I have several years of experience but it's all niche or outdated tech, hard to find jobs in it even without the felony.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> 70Mjobs was created to solve exactly this issue . Don't know how useful they have been. But might be worth a try

</comment><comment><USER38> so,

My heart goes out to you brother. I can give constructive advice:

1\. Set your expectations.

Many things in life now are more challenging for you. You're a second class citizen now. Expending your mental energy hating that, or feeling victimized by it, will paralyze you. Instead, spend that energy identifying your specific challenges and planning how to deal with them.

2\. Expect failure and rejection. Use each one to refine your approach.

Rejection is a part of life now, but that's okay. Just like sales is a contact game, so is the job hunt. You may need to make 50x more applications than a non-felon to get serious consideration. That's not fair, but fair doesn't matter. Just make those application, and approach each one as if it matters. Use your network. Write good cover letters. Be ready to sell yourself as someone who is a better hire. Be ready to answer tough questions honestly, and with humility.

3\. Recovery from a criminal conviction is a marathon, not a sprint.

While you reach for what you want to happen, you need to be willing to take whatever you can get.

Set realistic goals. Probation is HARD. It's very oppressive, but it's a necessary component of our system. You can't stay free, and improve your life, if you fail at probation. Know your conditions inside and out, better than your PO does. Never make them question your compliance or honesty. Put yourself out, to never put them out.

I wasn't able to get back into programming until I was off probation. What employer wants to be told "If you hire me, federal agents reserve the right to search your office at any time, including copying all the contents of my work computer, and all network attached data too."

4\. Lay the groundwork to sell yourself.

You need to have more to offer than a college grad with a CS degree. Find, or refine, your specialty. Be spectacularly good at something specific and specialized. Be prepared to prove that value to an employer. The downtime with no job is terrible. But use it to improve your marketability. Then you can reach out to people who need that specialty. Find others with similar skills on IRC, mailing lists, boards like stackoverflow and HN. Learn to cold contact somebody and say "I see you're into $skillset, I like what you have to say on that. I work with it a lot too. Do you know anybody that's hiring with that need?" Us programmers love to make referrals... most orgs pay a big bounty for bringing in a new hire.

5\. Don't give up.

Stay positive, especially when it hurts the most. For your family. For your friends, and the people around you. Don't become one of those guys who has given up, who is always full of victimization and anger. On a long enough timeline, as your trouble move further into the past, you will find more success. Give everybody a chance to treat you like a human being. Sometimes you'll be pleasantly surprised.

My background:

I dealt with a similar situation. I was convicted of a sex offense conspiracy, because some people I was associated with committed some very serious crimes. To get their prison time cut in half, they implicated several others along with them. I had a fantastic career before the 7 years in prison. I also had sensational news coverage. A slow news week, my face was on the 10pm news every day for a week. You can imagine how well that went over at the county jail.

After prison, life was HARD. Those fucking scars, man. Most people will never comprehend what you're going through, and frankly they're never going to care.

I had a similar experience with Goldman Sachs. They contacted me and asked me to interview, because they liked my hackerrank code in a few contests. I aced the phone screen. They basically demanded I fly to meet them right away. Two days later, I got a form rejection letter in E-Mail, as if I had submitted an application but was being declined for an interview.

After probation, I started seeking remote work nationally. I applied to everything I qualified for on the HN Who's Hiring posts. It took me about 3 months to find a job. Now I work as a full-time contractor for a small firm, with zero benefits, for acceptable pay. They never asked about criminal history, so we never had that conversation. I like to pretend they wouldn't fire me, but we both know how that goes. I'm hoping this can lead to full-time employment, or at least strengthen my future employment prospects. But the work is really fun, and the people are great too.

I still live poor. I drive a 22yr old car. I carry a shitty old phone. All my furniture came from goodwill for $20. I save every dollar, because I need to be prepared for the hard times. I can't pretend hard times aren't coming again, but I'm going to be ready. I'll greet them with a smile, like an old friend.

<comment><USER39> The brick wall happens with full-time employment.

\- You can still do consulting/contracting or act on behalf of your own company.

\- Build website for "your company" and describe services you offering that are matching your skillset.

\- You can still look for job at upwork.com (or whatever sites there are). Granted - you'll be competing with bottomfishers from developing countries - but the point is to make your expertise known. This may evolve into good business relationships down the road.

\- You can still participate in contests (as a company) and build your hackerrank or whatnot. If asked to work for someone - tell them you only do consulting/projects on behalf of your own company, not as individual.

\- You can still hire others as consultants to do work for you or for customers you find need your skills. Again - acting as a business, not as individual.

</comment></comment><comment><USER40> > For more background, the felony is from flashing someone (while drunk) who > was just under 17 years old. This was the second offense (the other was > years ago). They are inexcusable and disgusting offenses, but they are > permanently on my background.

Just a side note, why are these felonies? Or even crimes to begin with? It's not like you tried to force yourself on those underage girls or rape them. In Europe, there are many nude beaches where girls under 18 regularly go to with their families.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that it's harassment and unwanted on the part of the girls. But I am surprised that it is a felony and not a misdemeanor.

<comment><USER41> You don't know the details.

<comment><USER42> I don't think I can imagine a situation where exposing yourself in public merits 7 months in jail and permanently making it almost impossible to find employment.</comment></comment></comment>


JSpec: JavaScript Testing Framework - <AUTHOR> http://visionmedia.github.com/jspec/

<comment><USER2> I've been using evidence.js so far, but this looks much better organized (and can be more easily integrated with other environments)

</comment><comment><USER3> I think this is absolutely awesome. It has all the beauty of rspec and it's javascript.</comment>


Bug 649408 - (nativehtml5) Support Native HTML5 - <AUTHOR> http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/649408

<comment><USER2> Precious: "Are we sure Microsoft didn't fat-finger that blog post and really meant "naïve HTML5" rather than "native HTML5"?"

</comment><comment><USER3> Why are stories like this getting really high on the front page, and then rapidly descending? Is this an artifact of the flag link being more visible now?</comment>


Microsoft experimented with a 4-day workweek, and productivity jumped by 40% - tj-teej https://www.insider.com/microsoft-4-day-work-week-boosts-productivity-2019-11 <comment><AUTHOR> Strange that the article doesn't talk about how Microsoft is rolling out this change worldwide. You'd think they would - a zero-cost intervention that increases productivity 40%? Slam dunk!

So what's more likely, that MSFT management is publicizing this result but not planning to implement it, or that this lightly-sourced Business Insider piece that talks mostly about a different company is dramatically overstating things to get clicks?

</comment><comment><USER2> How do they measure productivity?

<comment><USER3> According to this CNN article ([https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/04/tech/microsoft- japan-workweek...](https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/04/tech/microsoft-japan- workweek-productivity/index.html)), they measured "sales by employee" and compared with the previous year.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Any US based experiments?

</comment><comment><USER5> Why did they stop?</comment>


Tauthon: Fork of Python 2.7 with new syntax, builtins, libraries from Python 3 - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/naftaliharris/tauthon <comment><USER2> Why not just update to python 3?

<comment><USER3> One reason might be that Python 3 was not designed alongside automated migration tools. Moving a codebase from Python 2 to Python 3 comes with _some_ of the same challenges as moving a codebase from C++ to Java: latent bugs are likely in a large code base. [1] It's worth considering that a performance critical application may call out to the Foreign Function Interface (FFI) and therefore porting from Python 2 to Python 3 involves modifying and debugging C libraries in addition to code in written in Python 2. All with 0.50 probability of below average regression test coverage in the codebase.

[1]: Without a big win comparable to managed memory.

<comment><USER2> So better is to use community fork of Python 2 with new features which are not compatible with Python 2 nor Python 3. Additionally most of public libraries switched to Python 3 and Python 2 will be not supported (and probably will not be compatible with this fork). What are guarantee that this run time will fix issues, security bugs or it will not lose support after a day?

<comment><USER3> Whether or not it is better in a situation depends on actual circumstances and the specific context. Better and worse alternatives are matters of engineering analysis not theory or ideology or morals.

At best, people running Python 2 do not have any good choices. Python 3 may or may not be the best among bad options. But it may not even be an option at all if the code is in production and there's not a good business case for migration.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Mondo bank taking £1m crowdfunding investment - <AUTHOR> https://getmondo.co.uk/blog/2016/02/15/invest-in-mondo/ <comment><USER2> Disclaimer: I'm seriously considering investing in this. There was a very good talk about their back end infrastructure at NDC London that makes me confident in their tech chops. Some of the value add concepts on their website look really useful for attracting customers.

Crucially I'm aware of just how much legacy cruft is holding back more established retail banks. In the same way that things like newer airlines can offer much better customer service at cheaper rates than the established competition Mondo seems to have real potential to disrupt and innovate. Plus there is a still a significant anti-banker mood where being a retail only operation could be of significant benefit.

Finally banking has a pretty high barrier to entry, Mondo seems to have the backing and management experience to get a licence. However it isn't something that loads of Uber for X types or Samwer-esque clones can spring up overnight.

<comment><USER3> Got a link to the talk/slides? As someone who works in a bank I'd be really interested what a truly green field approach looks like!

<comment><USER2> Slides are at [https://speakerdeck.com/mattheath/handing-failure-in- microse...](https://speakerdeck.com/mattheath/handing-failure-in-microservice- architectures) Sadly not many of the videos are up yet. I'm pretty certain they were recording all of the sessions so they should be coming at some point via NDC.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Here is a nice talk their founder did at London Hacker News Meetup [https://vimeo.com/136918188](https://vimeo.com/136918188)

</comment><comment><USER5> It's unclear from the blog, but will Mondo be using Crowdcube's A/B shares?

A lot of Crowdcube investments issue two types of share depending on the investment size. At the higher end the A shares are regular shares, but smaller investors usually get B shares that are not equal and grant fewer rights.

The very simple question for Mondo, are all of the shares that you'll be offering via Crowdcube on the same terms as the shares that Passion have for their GBP 5m in the same round?

<comment><USER6> This as well as £/shares seems like two key things that haven't been answered.

<comment><USER7> [I work at Mondo!] Investment will be at the same valuation as our VC investor - £24m pre-money.

We'll be releasing details of terms & share-class next week before the investment goes live. There are a few regulatory questions we need to settle first.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> To me this seems like an opportunity to skip the waiting line of 30,000 people for a payment of £10. In terms of the investment opportunity, it seems that - like most of CrowdCube investments - it is hard to tell if and how this could turn into anything profitable:

 _> We estimate we'll raise another £10m to launch as a bank in Q4 2016, although this may vary, and further capital raises will be necessary as the bank expands its balance sheet_

E.g. in further investment rounds could the crowd investors be able to sell of their shares? Do we even get shares for this investment? I will probably invest, and probably a small amount, to understand more on how this crowd funding really works (and to see if I can get a return in the next 10 years).

</comment><comment><USER9> I've been using their card for about 2 weeks, and I'll be investing whatever I can afford for sure! It's a fantastic product.

</comment><comment><USER10> As usual with these things: What about app/server security. Simple token verification is prone to abuse (malware) and spoofing is becoming a bigger issue on mobile only platforms than ever before.

Server abuse is difficult, but not impossible and since getting a banking licence usually does not verify any security measures, I'm wondering what they already did (or didn't) do.

(I'm well aware of the state-of-the-art, and the usual less than so, security of banking apps).

<comment><USER11> [I work at Mondo] You raise a good point, indeed. Security is something we take very seriously. As others have stated already on this thread, groups that target banks are incredibly sophisticated and well capitalised. All other banks face the same issues, of course, but unlike them we can't afford to simply write off losses to cybercrime.

We see Mondo as an opportunity to build a great security culture from the ground up. We're currently hiring a Head of Security role in London: [https://getmondo.co.uk/careers](https://getmondo.co.uk/careers)

If you know anyone that

\- is an excellent communicator

\- likes to code and does so regularly

\- can think like a black hat (CVEs and PoCs please!)

\- doesn't mind writing the occasional policy document

please send them my way: firstname.lastname@example.com

BTW, at the moment we are not holding customer balances or approving transactions so we're not a particularly juicy target, yet. That said, we've already conducted pen tests and invited a number of security firms to come and break our software :)

<comment><USER12> FWIW, I saw that ad. Looks very interesting, but I think you may have a challenge getting someone who is a Vuln researcher/pen tester type (who most commonly have CVEs, PoCs to their name) who also has a decent knowledge of banking security, policies etc and also is looking to graduate out of technical work into team management...

Most of the pentesters/vuln researchers I know aren't huge fans of writing ISO2700x style policies documents (actually thinking about it there aren't many people who are fans of that kind of thing!)

if you're looking for non-traditional advertising routes for this you might want to post on /r/netsec's hiring thread [https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/3zfj6v/rnetsecs_q1_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/3zfj6v/rnetsecs_q1_2016_information_security_hiring/)

<comment><USER11> Thanks a lot for the link :)

I'd rather hire a CISO that understands security and teach them how to think like a regulator than vice versa! Heck, I have long hair myself and didn't have any contact with policy documents until just over a year ago. And both our CTO and CEO like to write code.

Basically, we're looking for our Alex Stamos. Any more ideas you have how we might find somebody like that and avoid the stigma of the "Bank CISO" job would be much appreciated.

<comment><USER10> [rant mode] From personal experience I can say that true crypto knowledge is not needed as a Bank CISO. Just keep repeating 'hardware token only, hardware token only' and everyone will trust you opinion at the expense customer experience and true security. The reason that most banks use the identifier+card method is because they don't want to change. (or don't see the benefit of an improved customer journey without actual loss of security and improved/lowered cost) [/rant mode]

<comment><USER13> [I work at Mondo]

>at the expense customer experience and true security

I always call this "lazy security"[1] and it's what you get when you hire some security professionals to "make it secure". It's a mistake to separate security from product design, the two should inform each other to come up with a compelling product that remains secure. Separating them misaligns interests, the security team will push for a change that improves security irrespective of any impact it may have on user experience.

I think Touch ID is a great example of how a novel solution can improve both security and usability.

At Mondo we are committed to investing time and energy into finding these solutions, security at the expense of user experience is a last resort.

[1][https://medium.com/@danielchatfield/lazy- security-32acc31fbd...](https://medium.com/@danielchatfield/lazy- security-32acc31fbd59#.r24fbb4lc)

<comment><USER10> I have to comment on touch ID: Biometrics are in no way an authoritative option for the simple fact that they cannot be replaced. You can identify the user with it, sure. But you should never use them to authorize anything because if stolen or compromised, the user cannot change it. While you might say the scanner + data storage is secure, this is just temporal and can change over time. As revocation of the biometrics is identical to revoking the user, this is to be avoided for authorizing transactions.

You can, however, identify the user with something like biometrics, and afterwards request an authorization of the transaction with something else (possession of key (good), +pin (better), or easiest a simple 'yes'(less than good)).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Very interesting. As far as Mondo goes, it's great so far - am on the alpha program and have been using it for almost a month now and very impressed by it. Using it abroad was the main selling point, as that's always a mess otherwise. Basically how banking _should_ be in a modern day and age, even though it's only with a prepaid debit card at the moment.

<comment> grey-area Can you or anyone else using the alpha give a bit more detail about what you love about it?

How is the app compared to say Barclays or some other mainstream bank? Is everything via the app rather than the website?

They have an API I think which is pretty cool for a bank, and I'm seriously interested. Disappointed to hear they won't be doing business accounts too, but I guess they want to stay focussed for now.

<comment><USER7> Someone just posted a write-up [https://medium.com/@johnwmidgley/going- fullmondo-8a536bc758a...](https://medium.com/@johnwmidgley/going- fullmondo-8a536bc758a0#.vtwypshl2)

<comment><USER15> Using a debit card just seems like throwing away what should easily be 1%+ in terms of possible rewards value by using a credit card instead? Not to mention stronger protections.

<comment><USER16> On the other hand though (at least in my experience in the UK) there are still retailers such as airlines/hotels/transport companies that will penalise you for using a credit card.

I've even seen in small shops signs that say they only accept debit cards.

On the other hand most UK current accounts at the moment are giving decent rates on balances (my bank gives me 3% on balances between £3000-£20,000 as well as direct debit cashback on bills and utilities).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Hmm, what's the difference between this and Simple? Other than that it is available in UK?

<comment><USER18> With Simple, the banking services are provided by a third party bank, so Simple provides a usability layer on top of an existing bank's services.

With Mondo, they are looking to actually become a bank.

So on a usability level, you may not actually see much difference, but on another, it would seem like Mondo are fundamentally different as they will have a level of flexibility to decide which banking services to provide to customers. Although that's not so say that Simple couldn't use third party services, they may not have the same level of independence which Mondo wants/will have.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> I must admit i'm considering investing, depending on what other details are announced when they are announced.

What i'd really like to see is a London centric bank (or perhaps building society), one that understands the rental market and the ownership market. It's insane that people (myself) pay more to rent somewhere than to buy somewhere, yet are hamstrung by the fact that either they don't earn enough to afford to buy, or don't have a deposit to afford to buy.

I thought Metro Bank might be that, but i think they're more focussed on expanding outside of London.

<comment><USER20> Mondo are looking at expanding outside of London. They have/had had an event in Manchester to onboard people

<comment><USER19> No doubt, and they'd be silly not to. I like Mondo, but i'm not sure there's a crying need for Mondo... I just think London needs it's own bank.

<comment><USER20> Just out of curiosity why do you think London needs it's own bank?

<comment><USER19> Unfortunately I don't think I'm well read enough to give a proper answer.

However, the housing market in London is all over the place, and there isn't a bank that has a direct interest in helping people on to the housing ladder in London. I think if you had a London centric bank that understood the housing situation and it's customers needs well, you'd capture a great sample of the capital.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> The fact that Mondo does not yet currently have a banking license in the UK is a big risk. If you're thinking of investing consider the value of that investment should the licence application fail.

<comment><USER22> It is unlikely to fail irrevocably because, as some of the background articles explain, there is evidence that UK regulators are actively trying to foster competition at the moment, "the Prudential Regulation Authority's fast-track licensing regime"[0], partly in response to past abuse of trust by the incumbents. I was impressed with UK response to recent crises, issuing reports detailing very concrete measures to resolve institutional problems. As so much of the UK economy relies upon finance, they do have a bit of a reputation to uphold and cannot simply say one thing and do another indefinitely. At some point they have to give... it's a license, not exactly Elgin's marbles.

[0] [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/first- direct...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/first-direct-boss- and-metro-bank-founder-to-launch-digital-bank-atom-9248711.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Separate to the risks of investing, what are the risks of actually using Mondo as a bank?

I really like the idea but can't shake the worry of a huge financial loss is it actually possible?

<comment><USER11> I work at Mondo. We will be a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and all customer deposits will be insured up to £75k per person.

During our current alpha test (and before we have a banking license), your funds are actually held by our partner bank Wirecard.

 _Edit: The internet beat me to it. My work here is done :)_

<comment><USER24> This answer doesn't say anything about being better. Or even different. If someone asks the question "What are the risks of using this service?" and the response is "Here's the legal minimum we have to do" then that doesn't really fill me with confidence that you're trying to be better than my current bank.

That isn't to say you won't be better. Maybe you will be. It's just that your answer here gives no indication.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> >We aren't a bank yet, but we are applying to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for authorisation to become one.

I don't want to be negative, but this is a huge consideration.

After 2008, unfortunately, regulations have made it much more difficult to incorporate a bank and comply with the law. Is a million enough for that?

<comment><USER4> Other way round. UK have regulators have realised there is a lack of competition in banking arena and have made it much easier to start new banks. Several challenger banks have already received their licenses under the new rules

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Will they allow customers to buy and sell bitcoins without freezing their accounts? That would be nice and novel for a UK bank.

<comment><USER13> [I work at Mondo]

Like any bank we will have an anti-fraud engine that proactively declines transactions that have a high risk of fraud. We are going to work very hard to ensure the false positive rate is very low.

That being said, the system will never be perfect and I'm sure you can appreciate that it may be common for fraudsters to purchase bitcoin which could cause some legitimate transactions get blocked.

If you have any questions feel free to email me email@example.com

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> The dude in the video editing 3 Go files on the same screen with Atom :P I wish I was brave enough to do that.

<comment><USER28> That was me ;) Atom's great until you save and goimports locks up the whole UI. Think that is the protobuf interface used by the client and server in our tracing tool, so handy having them all open! [https://github.com/mondough/phosphor](https://github.com/mondough/phosphor)

<comment><USER27> I know, I used atom for a couple months until I found VSCode, it's lightning fast compared to Atom and has a great go plugin I contributed to a couple of times :) Oh, and goimports/goreturns don't lock anything, and the editor even highlights their changes :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> There was a similar offering in the US called [https://www.simple.com/](https://www.simple.com/). Looking at their blog it seems that they launched back in 2010?

I wonder how they're getting on? Anybody got any metrics?

<comment><USER30> Simple were quite different, they weren't actually a bank, they were essentially a nice front-end on an existing bank (from a regulatory perspective), and onto traditional banking software (from a tech perspective). The Mondo pitch deck available on their investor page explains some of these differences.

<comment><USER29> Interesting thanks for the heads up, I don't know why I thought Simple were a bank - good marketing I guess.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> I wanted to invest in Mondo when I first heard about it 6 months ago and was disappointed. This has brightened my day, I just wish I could use it in the US. I know it's coming, and I can't wait for the future.

</comment><comment><USER32> I'm really excited about this. I can understand why they've started with iOS, but I've not been able to find anything about their plans for Android, which is a bit disappointing.

<comment><USER20> Mondo has an API at least, so you can still use Mondo with a 3rd party app :)

<comment><USER27> I wouldn't give my bank credentials fora 3rd party app. Even if you forgo trust, what happens when something goes wrong and the bank doesn't take responsibility for the 3rd party app?

<comment><USER20> At the very least it won't be nearly as bad as some of the existing 3rd party apps which need all of your credentials to work properly. Mondo uses OAuth and can just shut off the application really easily.

I know the whole 3rd party thing is a little dodgy sounding, but at the very least Mondo could end up taking on a good 3rd party one and making it an official app (like Reddit did)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Does Mondo allow the user to keep track how their money is being invested? With current technology that shouldn't be an issue.

<comment><USER11> [I work at Mondo] Yes please! We're currently working out what form that will take exactly.

Why do you ask this? I'm keen to hear what you'd like to see from us :)

During our current alpha test we don't invest your money at all. It's just kept in cash with our partner bank Wirecard.</comment></comment>


Netflix's new AI tweaks each scene to make video look good even on slow Internet - <AUTHOR> https://qz.com/920857/netflix-nflx-uses-ai-in-its-new-codec-to-compress-video-scene-by-scene <comment><USER2> They aren't the first to do something like this, although previous approaches I know of train deep neural networks to learn the difference between original and downsampled images and thus enable them to interpolate from lower-quality material.

Magic Pony Technology (acquired by twitter last year) did something like this (can't find the source right now, was just a press article). There is a video [1] where they showed a side-by-side of the low-quality video and the improved one, it's quite interesting technology I think, albeit very different from what Netflix seems to be doing.

[1] [https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601258/artificial- intelli...](https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601258/artificial-intelligence- can-now-design-realistic-video-and-game-imagery/)</comment>


High-Frequency Trading Is Nearing the Ultimate Speed Limit - <AUTHOR> https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602135/high-frequency-trading-is-nearing-the-ultimate-speed-limit/ <comment><USER2> Their "is hft good or is it bad? it's opinion! <but look at all these scary things they are "responsible" for>" bit is really disappointing. I see it in articles all over the place and it's really lazy research and reporting. Isn't this article about the tech? Why are we suddenly having an extremely off-the- cuff discussion on whether HFT is "good or bad"?

Also, I have trouble reading the tone of the article. I hope the "making trades in the past" and "until someone manages to break the laws of physics" are completely in jest. I know it's probably a joke, but it's a poor enough excuse for one that it just leaves me wondering if they might actually be somewhat serious.

<comment><USER3> "Isn't this article about the tech? Why are we suddenly having an extremely off-the-cuff discussion on whether HFT is "good or bad"?"

Since when is tech automatically amoral? I mean sure, the technology itself doesn't care, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't. You can discuss both simultaneously.

Regarding the "laws of physics." Quantum mechanics does open up several possibilities for violating the speed of causality.[1] There is nothing that says any of the laws are fundamental truths, they are simply the way things always work, so far as we know. It's quite likely we will find exceptions.

1: [http://www.bmeacham.com/whatswhat/Quantum.html#2.3.Causal%20...](http://www.bmeacham.com/whatswhat/Quantum.html#2.3.Causal%20Discontinuity%7Coutline)

<comment><USER4> QM does not open up any avenues for violating causality. bmeacham.com is crackpot based on my reading the first 2 paragraphs.

Usually, misunderstandings about causality come from a naive reading of the terms "advanced" and "retarded" solutions to wave equations, which also show up in classical electromagnetic theory.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green's_function_(many- body_th...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green's_function_\(many- body_theory\))

<comment><USER3> Ok. Here is a better source for you: [https://arxiv.org/abs/1401.0167](https://arxiv.org/abs/1401.0167)

bmeacham was just the first search result that was trying to explain the general concept I was referring to, so I don't have to write an article in the comments :)

<comment><USER5> That paper is discussing nonlinear quantum mechanics, models of which are almost always internally inconsistent. More importantly, it's just speculation; the kind of quantum mechanics that has been confirmed in the lab is linear.

It's well known that quantum mechanics does not violate causality (when defined appropriately in terms of actual observations).

<comment><USER3> But my whole point was speculating that it's possible, not that it's proven to be true. So of course I am citing speculative sources, this is speculation... :\

<comment><USER5> Although it may sound like it, I don't believe it's splitting hairs to draw an important distinction between (a) speculation that might be observable in our lifetime, or might have relevance to stock trading, and (b) speculation that has fundamental inconsistencies with deep principles on which the entire known body of physics knowledge is based, and which would revolutionize our understanding of the universe and the nature of reality if true. Here's another way to say it: time travel is _strictly less crazy_ than acausality.

Sorry, not trying to be a buzzkill :)

<comment><USER3> Not a problem. I prefer learning to being right :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> The perspective I have on HFT is the following: it's a dubious endeavor which in itself does not seem to bring any real value into the world (quite a subjective opinion, I am open to hear yours). However, the pursuit of this endeavor can bear some interesting ' technological' fruits which might some day help humanity in a more concrete ways. I would be glad to review my perspective given a constructive conversation with an insider.

<comment><USER7> Like low frequency trading, HFT makes the market more efficient, at least theoretically. The same logic that makes low frequency trading beneficial makes HFT beneficial, although HFT may not be as beneficial as low frequency trading.

<comment><USER8> Right. Arbitrage is generally a matchmaking problem. You identify people who want to trade with each other but can't find each other directly, and you facilitate a trade between them for a small fee, taking on some risk.

The result is that if you want to sell, you're less likely to sell below much below the going rate if there are decent arbrigateurs around. If you want to buy, you probably won't have to pay too much of a premium over the market price.

Another point: assuming prices move "smoothly," as arbers get faster they make less and less money. Their profits go in proportion to the "crossing of the spread," so they make more money when the guy who wants to buy is willing to pay a lot more than the guy selling is asking. But if the buyer slowly puts his bid price up and up, the Nash equilibrium strategy for competing arbers is not to wait for a fat payout, because someone else will get it ahead of you -- you snatch up the deal as soon as it appears, when the spread has only just crossed enough for you to make a tiny profit. In the limit of arbitrarily fast arbitrage being detected and acted on, with no cost of executing orders, the arbers make no money at all, and the value traders buy and sell at the same price (paying nothing for the matchmaking service.)

Edit: market making is a different beast, and needs different supporting arguments. Providing a better price than the next guy seems like a worthy public service, though.

And of course this shouldn't whitewash abuses like front-running, which really do make markets worse.

<comment><USER9> > Right. Arbitrage is generally a matchmaking problem. You identify people who > want to trade with each other but can't find each other directly, and you > facilitate a trade between them for a small fee, taking on some risk.

But how can they not find each other? They're in the same market. Too often it seems like it's "I'd like to buy X for $10", but "X is being sold for $9.99 from Y, so I'll buy that up and mark it up a penny as a service instead of having the other guy just buy it directly for that price."

Basically it's making money off of the information asymmetry from having faster machines than the guy who is buying for real. There is almost no risk, the only way to be left holding the bag is if the seller cancels in the 50ish nanoseconds it takes you to buy up the original stock and relist it at the new price". At the end of the day your outstanding risk is 0 unless you've screwed up real bad.

And of course once you have the system in place to do this, it's easy to see a trade for X at $10 and buy up all of the X to relist at $10.00. Here there is slightly more risk since the original buyer may not re-bid at $10.01, but even then as long as you stick to stocks that are moving regularly the risk is small.

<comment><USER10> > They're in the same market

No they aren't in the same market. There are a large number of different pools and small exchanges where trading happens. The limitations of physics mean each forum will have different prices at different times. Different forums also have different rules on who may trade and in what way.

HFT Helps arbitrage away these differences. Lowering the spread between differing markets. HFT can also play a part in ensuring correlation of related assets like futures.

<comment><USER9> Isn't that moot though? Every trading house is going to have all of the markets baked into their systems. There aren't going to be any companies that only trade on only one particular exchange unless they have some advantage on that exchange that they can't get on other exchanges. Even then I expect them to cross reference the other exchanges to make sure their preferred market isn't out of whack.

<comment><USER10> This gets very complicated mostly because its physically impossible to guarantee the best price in all exchanges at the exact point the order was entered. You simply cannot transmit the order fast enough.

Brokers are required to fill at the National Best Bid and Offer price which is specifically defined as the best bid on the national quotation system. However the NQS can only update so fast. Your broker may well know it can get a better price on a specific exchange.

Fidelity will actually keep track of when it gets you a better price and inform you with their "Price Improvement" statistics. Other brokerages will sell your orderflow and let a third party take the difference instead.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> The article omits the key component of transmitting information between venues. For lines between continents, the improvements are orders of magnitude greater than the ones discussed in this article.

</comment><comment><USER12> Wait till you try trading on an exchange without liquidity robots.

It kind of sucks

<comment><USER13> Why? because the bid/ask spread is bigger?

<comment><USER14> Yup, how it was in the "good old days" of open outcry floor traders. Say you want to move your pension funds around a bit? It might take a week for you to get to your final position, and the market has moved against you in the meantime. I perfectly efficient market, however it is achieved, is good for everyone, including the trading firms.

<comment><USER13> Your statement rests on the assumption that taking a week to make trades where there is a non-market-maker buyer is worse because the market "might" move down. The market "might" also move up (and if it's true that the market moves up over time, that's more likely). I don't think you've made a strong argument. What you're calling efficiency is actually expedience, because more work must be expended to achieve the same result, but the work happens in a shorter time-frame.

<comment><USER10> You make trades based upon the information available at the time. If your information says market X will move down and Y will move up - you want your trade completed before that happens. Any changes between the time the decision is made and when the trades are executed are referred to as slip. Assuming you're original trade decision was correct this slip will be against you.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Hopefully something falls out of this akin to the military driving our technology. While the planet dies from an overdose of gluttony, but at least we get some cool technology.

<comment><USER16> The situation is highly artificial but I guess you can't predict the long term benefits of new technology. Ultimately it's just a faster responding switch :/ Bet that company is going to make quite a bit for themselves at 20k a unit.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> It's MetamAko, not *o.</comment>


Achieving overnight success: Kevin Systrom - <AUTHOR> http://joel.is/post/22436341176/achieving-overnight-success-kevin-systrom

<comment><USER2> I loved this.To loosely quote PG: "You shouldn't be focusing on the end goal or final dream, but questioning what opportunities you have at hand and picking from those" or to put simply don't be so future oriented you never know what opportunities will be available then so you should focus on your opportunities now.

</comment><comment><USER3> We all have dots (events in our lives) that when connected backward from a result lead us to believe that it was these experiences that lead to the result. The human mind is very good at making these connections.

How many other people have had similar experiences with the exception of the end result.

It makes for good story telling, but aside from that, it doesn't show us the way to creating the next big thing.

<comment><USER4> The blog doesn't give us a recipe to create the next big thing. It just explains the only way to make it.

<comment><USER3> I assume you meant 'one way to make it', not 'only way to make it'

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> This sounds like a classic con: _Kevin met Steve Anderson from Baseline ventures, and during the meeting Kevin got texts notifying him that people were joining Burbn. Steve knew some of the people signing up, and was intrigued enough to decide there must be something here. In this meeting Kevin secured his first $50,000 of investment for Burbn._

I don't believe those texts were purely organic, but I'm impressed all the same.

<comment><USER6> Stuff like this happens all the time in a community at this scale.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I don't really know if there is much to analyze. The guy went to Stanford and had the priviledge to meet other great folks with the same passion. His connections and this environment is what made him successful.

<comment><USER8> That's a nice excuse, but I don't buy it.

First of all, most people who went to Stanford don't found an Instagram.

Secondly, anyone can now apply to YC and make connections with great people.

<comment><USER7> I'm not selling you an excuse. I'm just saying this certainly played a big part of why he became successful. Stanford has a solid track record for successful start-ups.

In my opinion, applying to YC and hoping to get in versus having staff members on university campus with connections to students who now operate prestigious tech companies and being able to walk the same path they have are 2 entirely different experiences.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> > have access to Adam D'Angelo (Facebook's first CTO) when he had scaling > problems with Instagram.

It was even more fantastic than that.

> "Who's, like, the smartest person I know who I can call up?" Mr. Systrom > remembered thinking. He scrolled through his phone and found his man: Adam > D'Angelo, a former chief technology officer at Facebook. They had met at a > party seven years earlier, over beers in red plastic cups, at the Sigma Nu > fraternity at Stanford University. That night in October 2010, Mr. D'Angelo > became Instagram's lifeline.

[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/technology/instagram- found...](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/technology/instagram-founders- were-helped-by-bay-area-connections.html?pagewanted=all)

<comment><USER10> _at the Sigma Nu fraternity_

Crucial detail, that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Never got to use burbn, but it's mentioned a couple of places that:

"Burbn was a mobile check-in app built purely in HTML5." then "When you checked in on Burbn, you could post a video or a picture."

 _how_ was this done? You can seemingly only do this with some versions of Android - certainly not iOS or Windows. Any more info on how they/he did this?

<comment><USER12> IIRC The HTML5 version of burbn was a mobile browser app, which was actually rewrote as a native iPhone app before Kevin and Mike realised that it was too cluttered and over-run with features. This then lead them to removing everything aside from photos, likes and comments and rebranding as Instagram

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> His github account is nothing really special though just saying

</comment><comment><USER14> Many aspiring entrepreneurs seem to think there is such thing as a 'get rich quick' startup - when the reality is far from this (see <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3908088>)

Additionally, films like the Social Network seem to propagate this myth/stereotype.

So great job Joel for hopefully helping to dispel some of these myths.

</comment><comment><USER15> He had opportunities and he made most of every single opportunity. And thats the difference between successful people and wannabes. I remember one quote - "A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds". And it is totally applicable to Kevin.

</comment><comment><USER16> Good analysis Joel. Good to see you blossom into a successful tech entrepreneur (and a famous one now - the north west love you!). www.edocr.com must be one of the few tech companies to had the privilege to work with both OnePage and Buffer, and hopefully whatever you do after Buffer!

I am glad you did not take my advice on Buffer! You saw an opportunity (I didn't see) and went after it.

We should review edocr/buffer integration after we launch Hootsuite app! Will let you know as soon as we go live!

Keep up the good work mate!

</comment><comment><USER17> Thanks to this article I discovered Buffer.

Installed the Chrome extension and discovered HN snap-evolved an "add to buffer" organ that creeped me out a little bit. I think I like it.

<comment><USER18> Haha, glad you like it :-) Let me know if I can help with anything.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> The article is basically notes taken from his Foundation interview with Kevin Rose they did a few months ago > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nld8B9l1aRE> . Very cool guy. Other foundation episodes are also golden.

<comment><USER20> Ah, that's where I remember this stuff from. Yes, this is a great series, and it's amazing how similar everyone's early-age start in technology was. Doom and Basic are common themes.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> It was not exactly overnight, but as a result of small steps in his life. A really great job, nevertheless.

<comment><USER22> It wasn't at all overnight, I do believe that's Joel's point with the title. It might be a point that's lost on cargo culters building the next dozen photo apps, but it's what happened with Instagram.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> great article. i have more respect for the guy after seeing that progression. it is not a trivial thing to switch into google corp dev. he must have a presence that pushes him up.

</comment><comment><USER24> This is a fantastic article - something wannabes definitely need to be seeing - Instagram started when he was TWELVE YEARS OLD. I hope this article goes into a series like uses.this.

I personally also got a kick out of this one because I had an extremely similar 'start' - Doom levels and script kiddie maliciousness - amazing. Unfortunately it starts to diverge when he got accepted into Stanford and started kickin' it with internet billionaires and instead I went to UCSD and spent most of my free time drinking microbrews by the beach LOL.

Guess that's why I'm not the guy who made Instagram! Now I know. :)

<comment><USER25> Yeah, I was blown away by the opportunities available at Stanford (that he made the most of) to work and hobnob with internet luminaries. It really seemed to add jet fuel to his trajectory.

<comment><USER26> I was surprised that he found the introductory computer science class at Stanford difficult. If this guy can succeed, how can somebody like me who worked through half of SICP independently at age 16 fail? I don't think I'm exceptionally smart for an HN user, but I was surprised how little intelligence is needed before it stops being the main bottleneck (apparently).

<comment><USER27> Intelligence has many aspects, of which the ability to understand complicated "analytic stuff" from books is only a part. There's also intelligence in getting things done and avoiding dumb mistakes in complicated and uncertain situations, which seem to play the greater role in startups.

<comment><USER26> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_factor_(psychometrics)>

Of course it's not the only cognitive attribute that's important (I don't know of any evidence that ability to get things done correlates with _g_ ).

BTW, realized that the article didn't explicitly state that the computer science class was introductory, which changes things somewhat.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> > When he got AOL, Kevin made programs in Visual Basic to boot people offline

That's just great. The world's most successful entrepeneur used to be a AOL%#$r script kiddie.

Kidding aside, nice tl;dr; summary of his success. I still believe U$ 1 billion for a startup was a bit too much to pay, kind of hard to understand for mere mortals like myself who also tinkered with Gorillas.BAS in QBasic but actually never kicked anyone off AOL using Visual Basic!</comment>


Ask HN: What's the best desk/chair combo for developers? - <AUTHOR> Feel free to mention other things that you rely on for your setup. <comment><USER2> I'm a fan of the Steelcase Leap for a chair; I switched to it from an Aeron a while ago and my back has been much happier:

[http://www.steelcase.com/en/products/category/seating/task/l...](http://www.steelcase.com/en/products/category/seating/task/leap/pages/overview.aspx)

I do recommend going to a showroom and giving a few a spin. It may not tell you if you're picking the exact right chair, but it will help you avoid the wrong ones.

<comment><USER3> I have both an Aeron and Steelcase Leap.

I hate the Aeron. The Leap is definitely more comfortable for me. Making it ideal for the extra long days.

What bugs me the most about my Aeron is that it has a spring recline/rock and the seat feels overly shallow. I have a size B chair (fully loaded with every option available) and I'm barely over 5 feet. Those are my biggest gripes.

The Leap reclines, this is my favorite feature. It doesn't rock or have a spring like mechanism. The seat shallowness is adjustable too.

For a desk, I currently have an Anthro Standard Fit, but I'm upgrading to a sit/stand desk shortly.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I think Aeron is the best and definitely worth it.

The best write up I've seen explaining the pro's and con's of an Aeron is here: [http://www.amazon.com/review/R1MUWGLPM341EB/](http://www.amazon.com/review/R1MUWGLPM341EB/)

I was also doing this research and definitely Aeron is the way to go. My other chair after sitting in it for hours caused my lower back to hurt so bad. If you sit for hours on end working like most of us here, Aeron is the only choice you can be sure to cure lower back pain.

Make sure to get the lower lumbar support "Pad" not the "PostureFit" option. The above link explains why PostureFit is more or less useless even though it is a few bucks cheaper.

As for Desks, I love this stainless steel one, it's relatively cheap and looks pretty awesome and easy to keep clean: [http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S69871067/](http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S69871067/)

I've had both the chair and desk for years, and they still look brand new.

Hope that helps!

</comment><comment><USER5> I _just_ bought a Herman Miller Aeron.. and made a big desk with trestle table legs and a door.

It's by far the best chair I've ever had. Totally worth it. The desk is exactly the height I want - the size I want.. because I made it so. :)

Go for the chair that fits you best - even if expensive. You're going to be sitting in it for 8hrs+ a day, right?

</comment><comment><USER6> Or get the best of both and get an Aeron lab stool and use with a sit/stand desk. You can stand when you want to, and just pull up the stool to sit.

[http://www.hermanmiller.com/content/hermanmiller/english/pro...](http://www.hermanmiller.com/content/hermanmiller/english/products/solutions/healthcare/products/seating/stools.html)

</comment><comment><USER7> Not sure about the desk, but Herman Miller Aeron chair without a doubt.

Best acquisition I've made. Expensive at first, but with good care it can last 10+ years easy.

I've had a problem with mine recently ( _six_ years after purchase). The nice folks from Herman Miller promptly replaced half of it, and took care of the shipping both ways. They all come with a standard 10 yrs warranty when purchased from an authorized dealer.

</comment><comment><USER8> I went with an adjustable sitting/standing GeekDesk and a economy adjustable mesh back/memory foam seat chair. The desk was worth the money, it goes up and down a few times a day, excellent when you need a high worktable; I feel healthier for getting it. The chair, is quite comfortable but I've never sat in an Aeron to know the difference I think I would have liked it to be full mesh.

</comment><comment><USER9> I've sat in Aeron chairs and never been that impressed with them. I got my ideal chair for $170 or so at Ikea and i'm incredibly happy with it. I have one at home and one in the office now.

I'm not sure if there's a better desk ideal than the GeekDesk with the motorized height adjustment.

<comment><USER10> Which chair from ikea did you get?

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I've worked 40-50 hours/week at an adjustable stand-up desk for three years now. No chair. I rarely move the desk from it's highest setting. I do get tired on a rare occasion and sit in a recliner with my laptop on my lap.

</comment><comment><USER12> I envy you guys from the 1st world - an Aeron costs exactly my monthly salary around here, if you can find one. The less famous models like Steelcase, you would have to import. (I've got an Aeron knockoff a few months ago)

</comment><comment><USER13> herman miller embody.

after using the aeron, steelcase leap, and humanscale freedom i finally tried the embody. fell in love instantly. employers paid for previous chairs (they were in the office), but i paid for the embody. best decision ever made. spinal disc herniation what?

</comment><comment><USER14> Standing desk.... google for many DIY solutions.</comment>