Imgur, please don't be the next TinyPic or ImageShack - <AUTHOR> https://dillpickle.github.io/imgur-please-dont-be-the-next-tinypic-or-imageshack.html <comment><USER2> Let's dig a bit deeper and ask _why_ is imgur doing these things? The fact is image uploading is one of the most commoditized services you can offer. Long term, the most you could possibly get out of that is razor-thin margins, assuming Google, Amazon, or Microsoft doesn't just walk in one day and crush your entire business with one fell swoop. Clearly, imgur is trying to build some competitive advantages around their business - namely network effect by creating a community on top of their content destination. They're comparing the Facebook to Dropbox and asking which business model looks better. I'm sure they realize this makes straight image uploading slightly more of a hassle, but from their perspective the business benefits of community far outweigh the loss efficiency-oriented uploaders. They know it's annoying and they don't care.

<comment><USER3> > _I 'm sure they realize this makes straight image uploading slightly more of > a hassle, but from their perspective the business benefits of community far > outweigh the loss efficiency-oriented uploaders. They know it's annoying and > they don't care._

Which means they'll most likely die quickly. Nobody cares about their "business side", they were an Internet No 1. image hosting because they were hassle-free and mostly bullshit-free. What I expect to see is most users leaving to someone willing to provide no-bullshit upload service, and imgur to crawl into hole and die, like PhotoBucket or ImageShack.

The sad thing is, many links will probably get broken. Web, unfortunately, is extremely fragile.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I discovered the redirect behavior about 6 months ago, which generated a lot of controversy: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7190952](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7190952)

Interestingly, some of the arguments then were "What did you expect from a free startup?" and "Who cares? You still see the image."

Recently (post-$50M), I've seen this behavior when clicking random imgur links on the web from unaffected sites, but have been unable to reproduce it using spoofing tricks.

<comment><USER5> I kinda agree with them. Imgur has to make the money it needs to survive. It is really the only viable option in the long term.

That said, I do find myself using alternatives [e.g. mediacrush] more and more. Its just not worth bothering with Imgur.

<comment><USER6> Imgur was profitable from day 1.

What they are doing now is called greed.

<comment><USER7> Once you take VC money, greed is necessary - your customers are the VCs, and they expect a several multiples exit.

<comment><USER3> That's why we're probably bound to replace our image hosting services every few years. It's a waste of good links though, that will get broken in the desperate attempt to recoup for fleeing users.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Imgur is providing a valuable service. It doesn't ruffle my feathers if they want to expand upon it. I really don't think Imageshack.us, Tinypic, or Photobucket are fair comparisons.

Back in the day, imageshack & photobucket were all we had to upload photos into albums because Facebook hadn't taken off and MySpace didn't know what it was doing. After Facebook, the disconnect of User <-> Photos was gone. It was clear, these are _my_ photos and look I'm even tagged in them. Imageshack and Photobucket seem to have pivoted to try to stay competitive. Tinypic is hardly worth mentioning because its quality is poor. Imgur's isn't.

So where do you go if you really just like popular photos? Imgur. The fact that they have a community that dislikes Reddit should be indicative of the success of their additions. Would you rather they stagnate and forever provide free image hosting? Who's going to pick up the bill after awhile? They _need_ to do this.. and I think they're being pretty smart about it.

As a normal internet user, your points don't really stand out to me as a reason why I should start to become weary of imgur. If they piss enough people off, they'll get burned and another image hosting site will rise up to replace it (because seriously, it's not that hard of a technical problem).

Finally, as a personal note, I don't really appreciate commentary that doesn't at least try outline the pros of what they're doing. Oh no, they added a small button to create memes with? oh the horror..

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the constructive criticism at the bottom -- I'll try to be more neutral and remember to give arguments for both sides (this was my first blog post).

<comment><USER8> Thanks for understanding :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> The direct link redirecting and the extremely annoying "memebase" rebranding were the last straws for me as well.

[http://mediacru.sh](http://mediacru.sh) is a great alternative with a much more minimalist interface, and is free and open source ([https://github.com/MediaCrush/MediaCrush](https://github.com/MediaCrush/MediaCrush))

<comment><USER10> Thanks for mentioning us! I'm one of the lead devs for MediaCrush. I think what sets it apart from the traditional list of promising but eventually failed image hosts is two things:

\- It's open source, so you can fork it if we screw up

\- We are not a business and do not have a bottom line

I've recognized this pattern as well, and we hope to end it.

<comment><USER11> MediaCrush is indeed nice. I didn't know about it. Imgur can be painstakingly slow. A fast and right to the point image uploading service is quite refreshing.

I have a few questions.

1\. Do you have accounts to store pics?

2\. It would be nice if after uploading pictures the page would show all possible links like embed and share.

3\. Do you plan to implement something like delete in 30 days?

Thanks.

<comment><USER10> 1\. No, but you can use the default localStorage mechanism. We've been slowly working on accounts for a while now, but it's not a priority.

2\. Click "share" on the view page

3\. No, but an external service could hook into MediaCrush to provide that

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Imgur is just following in the fine tradition of software that hit a sweetspot then kept adding new features.

See ACDSee, Nero Burning Rom, etc etc.

Jeff Atwood wrote about this in 2007. It's a great shame that websites aren't listening to the mistakes made by previous software authors. [http://blog.codinghorror.com/why-does-software- spoil/](http://blog.codinghorror.com/why-does-software-spoil/)

<comment><USER13> Nero... Perfect for a brief moment... Then WtF waaa is al this stuff and why does it all work poorly?

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Imgur is of little consequence. When it becomes too annoying to use it will no doubt be replaced.

"This is the sixth time we have destroyed Zion and we have become exceedingly efficient at it."

<comment><USER3> I'm just sad for the content that will go missing. Internet is a fast- forgetting place, it's damn hard to find anything beyond few years ago, because most of the links are broken.

<comment><USER15> Please donate to the Internet Archive, then!

[https://archive.org/donate/](https://archive.org/donate/)

They constantly have (or fund) projects archiving services being deleted, etc.

For example, _right now_ they are archiving an immense amount of Twitch.tv VODs which will be deleted in just a few days. This is an example archive which has recently been uploaded:

[https://archive.org/details/archiveteam_twitchtv_leech1_2014...](https://archive.org/details/archiveteam_twitchtv_leech1_20140814052241)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> It seems that breaking point when all changes to bad is when smart, fun and game changing startup accepts round of funds let by one of the main Tech Funds.

Is it coincidence, or are they legally or in any other way pressured to do it?

It seems most startups follow this route and I thought Imgur will be one of those exceptions. I was wrong it seems.

<comment><USER3> I read a book by Felix Dennis (was featured on HN when he died), in which he strongly recommends against taking VC money for the very reasons pointed out in commends here - VCs will want to get their returns, they'll be merciless, so you'll have to either become a shark or let your company die.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> > Flash being enabled even very shortly drains the batteries of a lot of > mobile and laptop devices.

Flash enables multiple uploads on legacy browsers. Just enabling Flash for something simple like an uploader should not drain batteries.

Back in 2010, when Steve Jobs wrote a letter demonizing Flash, he had some points. Many complex banner ads were being made in Flash, and disabling the plugin led to static image ads being shown. Static images are much easier to display than streaming videos. What's worthwhile to note is that as HTML5 banners progress, with animations and video, we'll be faced with the same problem.

Regardless, Jobs' letter had a noticeable and lasting effect on many worldviews.

</comment><comment><USER17> I already loathe uploading images there to quickly share something because I have to wait for the home page to load all the thumbnail, and all the heavy javascript. Then I click upload and I have to wait for the javascript for -that- to load.

Imgur used to be so fast and quick to use, feature creep is going to be the death of it.

Something as simple as image hosting should not really take so long to load.

</comment><comment><USER18> I actually enjoy the community at Imgur.

To me it seems Imgur has 2 uses:

      1) Image hosting

      2) Viral image community

One doesn't have to go with the other, but also they can work together.

As for their redirect behaviour? I don't think that's an issue at all. If you don't want to get that page, host it yourself.

<comment><USER9> >I actually enjoy the community at Imgur.

I couldn't disagree more. Comments in the reddit default subs are bad enough when compared to the kind of discussion you see on HN, but comments on imgur are a mixture of the kinds of things you'll see on 9gag or funnyjunk fused with some of the worst of reddit's default subs' communities. They're absolute drivel, and they're only going to get worse because Imgur is specifically trying to attract these kind of people now.

<comment><USER18> Comparing Imgur to HN is comparing apples to oranges in my opinion, they have different purposes and target audiences.

Target audiences:

      Imgur - General public.

      HN - Technical people, hackers, business people, founders.

Purposes:

      Imgur - People submit funny/touching/stupid/whatever images and people post comments

      HN - People post interesting/thought-provoking articles/sites and discuss them.

<comment><USER12> Imgur used to have a great community. Even though it was a large community it was still good fun.

Now? Not so much.

I'm not sure how the community collapsed so fast or if it can be rescued.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Worse was when they ran noisy auto-play video adverts last month. Every time I viewed an image, I was faced with "HEYY WAZAAAPP!!! JUSTIN BEIBER!!!" nonsense.

I'm in Europe, the USA didn't get them, so there wasn't so much of a fuss. They managed to get away with it. Appalling and cynical.

<comment><USER20> That probably wasn't deliberate on their part. My own experience with running ads is that the networks sell slots to each other in some sort of human centipede-esque manner. And some of the lower levels of this selling centipede get shady and will run abusive ads. You just have to watch out for them and block them / report them to your own network when you can.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Too late, sorry.

</comment><comment><USER22> "Oh no, a free web site isn't behaving the way that I want it to!"

I don't know if it's just because I'm old, but people need to stop whining about how free websites are behaving. If we were paying customers, then I believe we should have a voice in how the product works but if we're using it for free, then this feeling of entitlement has to stop.

Beggars can't be choosers. And whoever owns imgur has to make money as well, they're entitled to do whatever it takes to make as much money as they can, and if they lose you as a customer but make more money, that is their prerogative.

<comment><USER9> Beggars absolutely can be choosers here, because there are tons of competing sites, many of which don't have any of the annoying features that imgur has been adding in recent months.

Imgur obviously needs money to stay afloat, but there are less annoying ways they could have gone about it.

Reddit has been bleeding money for years, probably more money than Imgur has yearly and for a longer time span, but they still have not compromised the integrity or usability of their site to gain money. They rely only on non- intrusive ads, Reddit gold, and donations.

4chan is in an even worse state, and has also only been making money through their 4chan Pass semi-donation feature.

Imgur could have created a new subdomain for the "new" site, or could have setup some entirely different applications that integrate with the main site, instead of detracting from the main product. As a company, they have a right to do what they want to make money, but as users most of us will always keep moving to the best solution once the old ones start shooting themselves in the foot.

Companies whose business model is to provide only a single free service for a massive userbase will always have to balance revenue and user alienation. Reddit and Imgur are leaning on opposite sides of that scale at the moment.

Honestly, I would consider an acquisition (by Google or whoever) to be a much better solution for everyone involved compared to the things they're trying now in desperation to get more revenue.

<comment><USER22> Then switch. Stop whining about it. If this is as big of a problem as the OP purports, and if people start leaving in droves, then imgur will die. This is the risk that they are taking, and they know this and so do you and the OP. So just switch. Stop whining about it.

<comment><USER23> Whining about it _is_ switching. Since nearly everyone views far more images than they upload, which image host they spend the most time interacting with is dictated by what other people choose. Complaining about the currently popular choice is perhaps not the most effective way to get people to switch, but it is also not entirely ineffective.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Folding AT home: What if you could help find a cure? - <AUTHOR> https://folding.stanford.edu/

<comment><AUTHOR> "Help Stanford University scientists studying Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and many cancers by simply running a piece of software on your computer."</comment>


Covid-19 Broke the Economy. What If We Don't Fix It? - <AUTHOR> https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qj4ka5/covid-19-broke-the-economy-what-if-we-dont-fix-it <comment><USER2> Maybe the English link is better:

[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qj4ka5/covid-19-broke- the...](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qj4ka5/covid-19-broke-the-economy- what-if-we-dont-fix-it)</comment>


Show HN: Search for ingredients to pair with other ingredients - <AUTHOR> https://www.kulinarian.com/flavor-pairings/ <comment><USER2> I looked up 'potato' and ended up with a lot of obscure but delicious options. Looks like a win to me. I do have a little suggestion btw: Any reasons you did not put the search bar on the middle of the screen on the mobile version? I think that would be more intuitive for the user.

Anyways this is an amazing project, good luck!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you for the kind words and feedback. The search bar should be centered on all screens, but others have said similar things, so it sounds like I have some styling issues to deal with. Thanks again!

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> For flavor pairings for your kitchen bookshelf I highly recommend: [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4443485-the-flavor- bible](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4443485-the-flavor-bible)

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes indeed, I have both the original and vegetarian versions, they are outstanding. I would also recommend the "Flavor Matrix" which leans more towards theory and technique, rather than just being a reference; [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544809963](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544809963)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I found out unusual pairings from [https://www.foodnavigator- usa.com/Article/2013/03/12/The-sci...](https://www.foodnavigator- usa.com/Article/2013/03/12/The-science-behind-food-pairing-Why-pineapple-blue- cheese-match) and [https://www.foodpairing.com](https://www.foodpairing.com)

</comment><comment><USER5> I searched for ginger and the few I clicked and checked had no ginger in the recipe or description. I tried messing with the advanced search as well but maybe I am doing something wrong there. I guess it's finding me dishes that go well with some dish I have with ginger?

<comment><USER6> There seems to be a bug where I had to search twice to get relevant results.

For example I typed "pumpkin", hit enter, the url is updated to [https://www.kulinarian.com/recipes/?search=pumpkin](https://www.kulinarian.com/recipes/?search=pumpkin) and the spinner shows. But then it loads what is probably generic results (dunkaroo dip, salmon burgers..) . Then I hit enter again, and finally get relevant results loading.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm assuming you're talking about the general recipe search bar in the top nav? If so, I can't replicate that issue. Which OS/browser versions are you using?

<comment><USER6> Safari 12 (latest). I didn't see any errors in console

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks again, I'll look into it

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Now if it knew what I had bought from the grocery store, their expiry dates, and how much time I had to make a meal and then it could tell me what to make.

Maybe it could tell me what to buy at the grocery store as well...

And maybe it could track my calories.

This needs to all be integrated together.

<comment><AUTHOR> That's a great idea with a lot of moving parts, so it would definitely be a fun challenge. I'm currently working on a "pantry search" to help you find recipes with the exact ingredients you have on hand.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> See also apps like Chef Watson, MyFridgeFood which suggest recipes based on ingredients you already have available at home.

<comment><AUTHOR> Is Chef Watson still a thing? Their original site/app seems to be dead.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Can't read the pairings on my iPhone as they are cut from screen ...

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for letting me know, some others have had similar issues, so I think I have some css bugs to fix.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Searched for egg yolk and lemon, empty results (Firefox on iOS)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for alerting me to this, I'll see what I can find</comment></comment>


The HN Digest trial - <AUTHOR> http://hndigest.wordpress.com/

<comment><USER2> It isn't the article that I usually spend the most time reading. It's in the comments where most of HN's learning value lies, and thus where most of my time is spent. If the summaries included an outline of the opinions/takeaways/great resources mentioned in the comments, that would make the product that much more worthwhile.

I also tend to hoard links. If there's a great thread on Haskell, for example, I'll bookmark it (save it to Pocket), with the intention of going back to the thread if/when in the future I decide to learn Haskell.

Ultimately, though, the problem is that whether or not I pay for this depends on whether this tool actually weans me off HN. If the summaries are so high quality as to get me off HN (except to post comments myself), I would pay $50 a month for this. If I still find myself reading threads by myself on HN, I wouldn't pay anything.

<comment><AUTHOR> A couple of excellent points there! You're right, so much of the value is in the comments. I guess it comes down to scale. There is a minimum threshold required to justify producing the summaries. The more subs, the more features can be justified.

To your point on hoarding links, a comment came through from the form that they would like to see tagging functionality. I wonder if there's something there?

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I love the idea, but I don't know why your poll didn't include a $0 option. Personally, I would prefer to simply "be interested" in an ad or two on your site every once in a while if I enjoy the service. I think you need to show people that your digested articles are worth >= $3 per month before you start charging. Get some dedicated readers who really value the service by doing it for free/with ads at first, then change to a subscription-based service. Maybe even offer a short "early adopter" program where those who sign up early can read for free after you start charging. Just my opinion.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi Alex, I think a free option would be a great idea for a summary service with a larger market, I just don't know if the HN audience could sustain it. If I get a ton of responses who are just curious but not many willing to pay I will come back to that as a concept.

On gauging the quality of the service, I've included a sample digest on the site which I hope helps. However I take your point. People may well want to see that the level of quality is sustained.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> If this service interests you, you can also subscribe for free to my Hacker News daily summary at [http://hnsummaries.com/](http://hnsummaries.com/)

(the summaries are automatically generated)

</comment><comment><USER5> What's the difference between this service and the Hacker Newsletter I already get for free? [http://www.hackernewsletter.com/](http://www.hackernewsletter.com/)

edit: "free" in the sense that I do not pay anything. However, there usually is a sponsored ad (obviously geared towards the HN community) with the weekly email.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi Sam, Hacker Newsletter provides a list of the most popular links, whereas HN Digest summarises those posts. The idea being, you might want to get the gist of an article without reading the whole thing. I'm pretty sure Hacker Newsletter has been around for quite a while, so it's interesting that they have been able to make the free model work.

<comment><USER5> Are all these summaries going to be hand-written? Who will be writing them, how many people would you have on backup in case you can't write the summaries for that day? -- Since, you know, people would be paying for the service.

With the Hacker Newsletter, if I don't get it sometimes, I don't really care, since it's free. However, if I were paying for a service I might feel different about it.

I wouldn't mind trying it, but I don't think I'd pay for it. But, who knows, others might! Good luck to you.

<comment><USER5> Here's an Idea: See how many people show interest in paying for it, and how many do not want to pay for it. If it's worth it, let the people not wanting to pay for it summarize it for "free" access to your service, now you don't have to write the summaries, you just approve others' summaries.

Just an idea, also sounds like a fun project :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Awesome, awesome idea. Love it! Maybe they get a bio link out of it or similar.

<comment><USER5> Maybe if a user writes 5-10 summaries in a month, and his summary gets picked, he/she get's access for free the next month. Can't wait to see what you do now :D

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I would love to see this fly. I can't count the number of 1000+ word articles I've read that could have been reasonably summarized in a paragraph or two. Sure, there are long articles that are so engrossing or relevant that you wouldn't want to skip a sentence, but in my experience they turn out to be the rare exception.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks Jayro, five people have expressed interest in the few minutes this post has been up, so fingers crossed!

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> For Techzing (techzinglive.com) fans, this idea came out of Jason and Justin debating the merits of a 'TL;DR for Hacker News' service on a recent podcast. I figured it would be simple enough to test, hence, HN Digest.

</comment><comment><USER7> I have a small app which provides you daily archive of HN [http://ankushhn.herokuapp.com/days?date=20130501](http://ankushhn.herokuapp.com/days?date=20130501)

</comment><comment><USER8> instead of asking people what they would pay, just ask them to pay.

asking people what they would pay is so weak in the age of the internet and stripe.

</comment><comment><USER9> If this manages to summarize well, including explanation of complex long technical articles, and top comments - SUATMM</comment>


Could be Microsoft's most important product in 2020. If it works - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnet.com/features/this-could-be-microsofts-most-important-product-in-2020-if-it-works/ <comment><USER2> Did I miss the argument for why this approach is superior to paper ballots?

Is it because there's a QR code, and a human-readable printout of your choices that you take home? If so, doesn't this introduce the danger of someone standing outside the voting place intimidating people to show their results?</comment>


We're launching soon a new iPhone instant dating app. Appreciate your opinion. - <AUTHOR> http://youtu.be/FRLVfz-Wm2U

<comment><USER2> Do you not constantly read about all the lawsuits over these apps? Do you seriously think some girl is going to want to go out with some random guy on a whim? I'd be terrified to meet the person who would be using this app.

And seriously? A "rap" video as your advertisement? That has got to be the _worst_ way to get your point across.

No one needs a new "dating app" and all your "customers" are just going to be creepers. Before long, you'll get sued for child endangerment or some such thing.

<comment><AUTHOR> Raikia, I really appreciate your feedback and warnings. You are probably right in some points, however I can't agree that no one needs it. I know a lot of people who are interested in such apps (women too). There are people who look at this app from another point of view - when I'm alone, I can go out and meet someone random (in a bar, club etc.). I can use such app as well.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> To explain it better, think: Foursquare for dating.</comment>


Machine Learning Books That Helped Me Level Up as a Data Scientist - <AUTHOR> https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/05/3-machine-learning-books-helped-level-up-data-scientist.html <comment><USER2> Blogspam of

[http://www.datastuff.tech/data-science/3-machine-learning- bo...](http://www.datastuff.tech/data-science/3-machine-learning-books-that- helped-me-level-up-as-a-data-scientist/)

with Amazon affiliate links (strikingloo-20)</comment>


Interactive computational neuroscience – part 1, spiking neurons - <AUTHOR> http://jackterwilliger.com/biological-neural-networks-part-i-spiking-neurons/ <comment><USER2> Thanks for this! I've been trying to find something quantitative about modeling neurons for a while now but everything seems to be either basic research ("when we poke the rat we get 50hZ spikes of 5mV in the temporal lobe" type information) or handwavey qualitative pop-sci ("neurons link together to make a magical biological computer"). This is great. :)

</comment><comment><USER3> Such a great article, during college I made a simple simulation connecting 40000 Izhikevich neurons in a squared layout, which generated some neat behaviors [1] - your article helped me understand better what was happening there. However I still find myself curious about the visible patters that emerge, would be great to have an article covering the dynamics of multiple neurons.

[1] - [https://vimeo.com/25477585](https://vimeo.com/25477585)

</comment><comment><USER4> Nice! It bothers me a bit that in the first scroll plot, it says "input current (mV): -5" \- not only because current is measured in A, but also because I don't know how the input is applied and how the membrane potential is measured.

</comment><comment><USER5> this is awesome - i ll be recommending it as an intro to students interested in comp-neuro .

</comment><comment><USER6> I've always been interested in this aspect of neuroscience but didn't realize 'computational' was a sub-field of its own. This is an amazing discovery for me. Can anyone else recommend any articles or (online) courses?

<comment><USER7> Also, the reference at the bottom of the article is a classic introductory text in the field:

[https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780262541855](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780262541855)

Or the free textbook from Izhikevich: [https://www.izhikevich.org/publications/dsn.pdf](https://www.izhikevich.org/publications/dsn.pdf)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Very nicely written.

The way dynamical systems are explained is nice and refreshing, esp keeping novices in mind.

Definitely recommending to the team.

</comment><comment><USER9> Well done, this is both comprehensive and interactive.</comment>


David Miranda Heathrow detention: No 10 'kept abreast of operation' - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23769324

<comment><AUTHOR> The article rehashes some old stuff. ...but the point is that the Home Office is officially supporting the action. The key quote is near the end:

 _" If the police believe that an individual is in possession of highly sensitive stolen information that would help terrorism, then they should act and the law provides them with a framework to do that. Those who oppose this sort of action need to think about what they are condoning."_

So, if you oppose this sort of action, you are condoning terrorism. What does that make you? Hmmm... Not sure I like where this is heading.

</comment><comment><USER2> The interesting thing isn't so much that HO defends the action, which was fully expected, but that it's twisted the position so it no longer has to defend an abuse of a law designed to specifically deal with terrorism. The difference between 'carrying documents to terrorists' and 'carrying documents that if leaked by accident to terrorists would have large national security implications' is _huge_.

If you're carrying classified documents relating to a country's national security apparatus the likelihood is they're going to find something to trap you on, but the way they're going about it is thoroughly dishonest and sleazy. If you oppose the action of retrieving information and abusing one of our laws, then you must be in favour of terrorism and on the list you go.

It's another warning basically, keep your head down or face the consequences. Add it on with the U.S. gov pushing for _60_ years for Manning, and high level members of the UK government threatening legal action against a newspaper if they don't turn over/destroy material facts in an ongoing series of investigative journalism.

<comment><USER3> Yep, they could just as well say "You have lots of money in your bank account, which could be used to support terrorism". Or: "You've been making anti- government tweets. That could inspire terrorism."

With a bit of twisted logic, anyone and anything can be connected in some way to terrorism, which is why vague laws like these allow governments to violate the rights of anyone for any reason, as this incident clearly demonstrates.

<comment><USER2> The funny thing is it means anyone carrying information related to state security, even if they're involved with it at a senior level, could be pulled under Section 7 in an airport. There's the potential for data leaks there, possibly in an even greater way due to the rampant lack of ability when it comes to technology in the UK government.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Personally I think that if terrorists want to destroy our way of life then they're going to need to do it themselves -- I won't do it for them by supporting draconian, baseless, and broad-sweeping laws that delegate powers to people with questionable motives.

If we ask these politicians how long it will take to stop the terrorist threat then I'm certain they'd respond "Years, decades, however long it takes."

Safety, at all costs, is a prison cell.

<comment><USER5> > if terrorists want to destroy our way of life

We should stop thinking the things that we've been brainwashed with.

The basics are really simple: Don't be a d#ck and people will not hate you (and crazies will not be able to recruit "terrorists").

(If we had the chance to really get to know the people we call "terrorists", we'd find that even they would like to live their lives in peace and respect, before anything else, just like the rest of us.)

<comment><USER6> It's funny how much people bought Bush's "they hate us for our freedom" line.

Generally, they hate us for screwing over their part of the world. Osama's stated goal was to get the US out of Saudi Arabia. (He succeeded.) Killing a ton of people in Iraq hasn't helped either. And there's plenty more.

The idea that they hate us because we're allowed to speak out against our government or whatever is just silly. I'm sure they delight in millions of Americans being forced to remove their shoes in airports, but that's not their _goal_.

<comment><USER4> It's not that they hate our freedom, it's that they fear we will "bring" freedom to them. Unions, human rights (especially women's rights), and some other cornerstones of Western society are absolutely foreign to them, and some relish in the fact that foreigners don't want to live in their lands.

They fear the breaking down of cultural and economic barriers.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I have noticed a tendency to refer to Edward Snowden as anything but 'whistleblower' in the American press. Now, however, even the BBC seems to be using the term 'fugitive'.

Strange as it may seem, the Danish press[0] refers to Mr Snowden as 'whistleblower', although my largest issue with this usage is that the word is not Danish, but I applaud the sentiment.

I wonder what the term used is in other countries.

[0] I can confirm that _Politiken_ (left-leaning), _Information_ (far left) and _Berlingske Tidende_ (right wing) refers to Snowden as a whistleblower.

<comment> k-mcgrady Technically he is a fugitive and whistleblower.

Fugitive: A person who has escaped from a place or is in hiding, esp. to avoid arrest or persecution.

However I understand your point. The word makes it sound like he has done something wrong.

<comment><USER8> That is technically true, but also horribly unfair since there are a lot of connotations around people being fugitives that don't fit in this case.

[http://lesswrong.com/lw/e95/the_noncentral_fallacy_the_worst...](http://lesswrong.com/lw/e95/the_noncentral_fallacy_the_worst_argument_in_the/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Way to go, BBC: choosing the darkest possible picture of David Miranda, where he's tired and distraught, so that he can look like a "brownie terrorist" as much as possible. Very classy.

I'm not saying they should have airbrushed him WillSmith-style, but he looks a much more regular chap in here: [http://static.guim.co.uk/sys- images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/20...](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys- images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/8/19/1376928526343/David-Miranda-010.jpg)

<comment><USER10> Actually, to me he looks darker and terroristier in your picture, due to being photographed against a light background.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> The article is a 5 sentences "breaking news" piece not really worth reading. There is a single official quote which goes:

 _The Home Office has defended the detention, saying police must act if they think someone has "stolen information that would help terrorism"._

I guess it's easier when you just have to phone the White House instead of having to write your own policies :(

</comment><comment><USER12> _If the police believe that an individual is in possession of highly sensitive stolen information that would help terrorism, then they should act_

Yeah, well let's say you could remotely justify the warped logic that journalism is terrorism (which you cannot but let's just suppose).

You didn't just seize their possessions, you seized the individual for the full nine hours you were allowed and didn't charge them with anything. So, this was premeditated harassment because they told the US government they were going to hold him while he was still on the flight. You just wanted him to suffer.

</comment><comment><USER13> I really wish the BBC would link to original sources, and also that the Home Office would publish statements first on the website[1] where there is (currently) no mention of any statement.

[1] [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publica...](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=all&topics\[\]=all&departments\[\]=home- office&world_locations\[\]=all&direction=before&date=2013-09-01&commit=Refresh+results)

<comment><USER14> Indeed.

The BBC don't cite sources - they state everything as fact and editorialise terribly. You don't know if you're reading a product press release (like their tech news comes across as) or a political statement from the government (which ALL of their health news comes across as).

This makes me distrust them more than most I think.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> _But the Home Office has defended the detention, saying police must act if they think someone has "stolen information that would help terrorism"._

Can obviously be extended to:

But the Home Office has defended the detention, saying police must act if they think someone has "stolen property that would help terrorism".

And therefore anti-terrorism laws can be used in any scenario involving anything that could possibly be useful to terrorists (cars, boats, wheelbarrows...).

</comment><comment><USER14> Let me rephrase: "The Home Office" is defending the airport detention.

I doubt anyone in this country agrees with them under the circumstances[1] and by no means do they act on behalf of us.

[1] bar some Daily Mail reading crackheads.

</comment><comment><USER16> let's see....

News about the guardian's hard drives being destroyed, the Miranda detention, and Groklaw shutting down all at once today? It is not a good day.

<comment><USER17> One in a succession of many!

I had to laugh at myself when the one glimmer of hope in my taking of this recent series of events, was the distraction of John Carmack joining Oculus Rift. I went from quite thorough disillusionment to dreaming of the future of technology, just for the few hours afterwards.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Miranda was held under the Terrorism Act. The interpretation of terrorism as defined by the act can be found here.

[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/section/1](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/section/1)

I'm no lawyer, but I'm sure some of you reading this have knowledge of the law. I would like to know how this act can be applied in these circumstances.

<comment> grey-area We haven't heard from the Home Office or the police _why_ this was legal, only that they think it was. So we don't really have any substantiated arguments as to how a person could be held under a terrorism law for questioning about journalists.

I'd be very interested to hear them argue that it was legal in front of a judge, so I'm pleased Miranda has now taken legal action. Let's hope that it gets past letters from his lawyers and the government try to justify their position in court.

EDIT - letter to the home office just released:

[http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/aug/20/dav...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/aug/20/david- miranda-letter-home-office)

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> This title is confusing : "UK defends Miranda airport detention".

The article itself says "David Miranda in legal challenge over seized data". Also it seems to be a small blurb of an unofficial comment since there doesn't seem to be a link to an original, official, source.

<comment><USER20> This was formerly the correct title of the BBC's article, but the source article has since been modified.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> The actual title is "David Miranda in legal challenge over seized data", not "UK defends Miranda airport detention", it looks like it has been changed on the BBC site.

</comment><comment><USER22> Just what precisely is this "No 10" business?

So, like, "No 10" says it's justified. I don't understand what "No 10" is.

<comment><USER23> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Downing_Street](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Downing_Street)

<comment><USER22> Ah... so does that make them 8 below a "number two"?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> On this ongoing battle between secret services and that journalist, I side with nobody, except OLJC.

</comment><comment><USER25> I think this would be a great time for the Queen to speech up and prove she is not just a touristic attraction.

Unfortunately I know well she won't dispel my frustrations

<comment><USER26> Really? And blow the monarchy's neutrality? Defy the voted for will of the people?

Given the tone of your post, can I assume you would want her to do this in order to undermine the monarchy?

<comment><USER25> I don't get it... Why this would undermine monarchy?

You are saying that british people EXPECTS the queen to do nothing when people are doing shit?

Wtf of system is that?

<comment><USER27> Basically, the British monarchy continues to exist _because_ it does nothing. The prime minister is elected by the people if he does something the people don't like, they can elect someone else. If the Queen does something the people don't like, their only recourse is to abolish the monarchy.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Microsoft OneDrive is experiencing intermittent issues affecting all users - <AUTHOR> https://portal.office.com/servicestatus <comment><USER2> It's not intermittent for me. I can't log in at all, despite repeated attempts.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm having that experience as well to be honest but I thought I would respect the wording on their status page for the submission title.

There is a parallel thread which mentions Skype as being affected too.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13924838](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13924838)

I guess this across all of Microsoft's offerings.

<comment><USER2> I would not be surprised if it was. The specific problem I'm having is that the domain login.live.com is failing to load. Given that this domain handles logins for all of Microsoft's services, it's not surprising to me that a failure here would cause failures across a number of other services.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> The service status page has been updated with a comment that they're deploying a fix:

 _Current status: We 're deploying a fix to restore service. Users should begin to experience service restoration as the fix is rolled out._

<comment><AUTHOR> The fix worked for the login issues but there are additional issues with the OneDrive service:

 _Current status: We 've determined that the previously resolved issue had some residual impact to the service configuration for OneDrive. We're performing an analysis of the affected systems to determine what further steps are needed for full recovery._

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> XBox live as well. I'm guessing it's all across Microsoft

</comment><comment><USER4> As for me, I can't log in to my Skype account at all</comment>


The Rise of Dismal Science Fiction - <AUTHOR> https://slate.com/technology/2018/03/how-science-fiction-helps-us-understand-our-economic-system.html <comment><USER3> Manu Saadia's _Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek_ is kinda the reverse: it's an examination of Star Trek's post-scarcity economy, how matter replicators change everything, and what people do with their free time when they don't have to work.

There's a big hole in Star Trek canon of how Earth transitioned from ST:TOS to the post-scarcity economy of ST:TNG. I would love to see Star Trek delve explore that era instead of rebooting and rehashing so many prequals.

Here is a transcript from an NPR interview with Paul Krugman about Saadia's book:

[https://www.marketplace.org/2016/09/07/world/economist- paul-...](https://www.marketplace.org/2016/09/07/world/economist-paul-krugman- ponders-sci-fi-economics-star-trek)

<comment><USER4> The problem of telling the story of that transition is that it's like trying to go into detail about the physics in Cochrane's ship in _First Contact_ —the writer would be trying to explain a completely made-up thing (warp drive or the TNG socio-economic system) that itself is nothing more than a handwave to allow stories to be told.

<comment><USER5> Not really. It would be trying to describe the human element of the technology. We'd not be trying to explain the post-scarcity utopia, but -how humans first reacted to it-.

Look at how humans act now. We have more than enough resources for everyone on earth to have sufficient food. And yet some starve. Why? Because of distribution problems, of corruption, etc. We expect people to work if they want to eat. Why? Because we culturally view it a moral failing if someone doesn't work without good reason (and even then we view those who have reason with suspicion). Look at the discussion around automation + UBI. Even if we assume automation can handle all the work that has to be done, people take the stance that it won't/shouldn't work, that it will only destabilize the economy, rather than improving everyone's lives. A replicator is just another form of automation in that regard, and there would be plenty of people who could object to it.

Just because we have the technology doesn't mean it's initially available to everyone. And even when there's enough availability of the tech, some humans will try and regulate it, to protect the existing interests, and other selfish reasons, with various rationales. That would be -interesting-. Moreover, it would, like all good scifi, reflect our current society, by showing the same attitudes and concerns currently at play, but in a different, futuristic context (one that ideally challenges people's perceptions, but without the baggage that causes them to instinctively get defensive).

I think it could make damned good television. Though, I think, it would be a far cry from what we expect from 'Star Trek'.

<comment><USER6> Incentives shape behavior, and we grow weak and unsatisfied without working against resistance. Without exertion, there is no strength. Consider the rapid deterioration of the human body when deprived of gravity.

In the Federation of Planets, what happens to adults who don't feel like making their own challenges or doing much of anything aside from having as many children as possible? Are they allowed to reproduce? This creates rather massive selection pressure. Somebody somewhere is going to have a gene encoding wanting to make maximum possible babies, and it's going to swamp your population in a few rapidly paced generations. The inevitability of this circumstance is total.

Television exploring the overcoming of this, the human condition, could be a profound thing. Perhaps STNG neglects to show us the teeming planets of "welfare dropouts", where reproduction is limited by space, and Federation ships stop by to recruit the few ambitious worthies who yearn for a challenge other than sleeping in the same room as 300 family members?

As a kid, I wondered about this, and my parents explained that the lazy Star Fleet kids go into a transporter beam and never come out, and their parents so happy to be done with backtalk that they aren't even sorry about it. This would be a feasible selection pressure, except for the case of double mutants possessing both fecundity and nurturing instincts, a possibility of which my parents were clearly unaware. (Just kidding. This would be hilarious, though.)

Alternatively, perhaps Starfleet regularly purges the population of lazy bastards? Like, when the population of San Francisco gets too high, if you are more than two generations removed from a successful Star Fleet veteran, you get vaporized? This would explain how Star Fleet Academy is located there without having to pay staff more than Google or even anything at all.

I would be totally binge watch a Trek exploring friction between Google and Star Fleet in the San Fran real estate market. Couldn't possibly be worse than Voyager........

<comment><USER7> > what happens to adults who don't feel like making their own challenges or > doing much of anything aside from having as many children as possible?

This is contradicted by the real world experience that when you give people education and contraceptives they really don't do this. There are not that many people who really enjoy the process that much - it's called "labour" for a reason.

Star Trek is likely to be the sort of utopia where boys and girls get reversibly vaccinated against pregnancy in childhood, and having unconsidered or large numbers of children is socially frowned upon.

Now, in Iain M Banks' _Culture_ , it's spelled out. There is no space pressure and there are trillions of humans, but it's also sufficiently post-human that characters can get pregnant, abort a pregnancy, change gender, or get high simply by sitting down and willing it to happen, telling the nanobots in their bloodstream to do their thing.

<comment><USER8> You're exactly right. The unexplained question in Star Trek isn't why they don't have uncontrollable population growth, it's how do they get enough people to have babies to maintain a stable population on Earth and still have some people leftover to start colonies.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Charles Stross incorporates economics into a _lot_ of his writing. His two related novels Saturn's Children and Neptune's Brood are all about the economics of a post-human society. The latter of the two has a really interesting take on crypto-currency.

His Merchant Princes series is all about how a dimensional travelers exploit lack of economic knowledge in parallel worlds with less developed economies.

And Halting State and Rule 34, two near future novels, both touch on economics and related themes quite a bit.

<comment><USER10> I really enjoy reading Charlie's work, especially the speculation around transition societies. You can add _Accelerando_ to the list of his works that include some serious consideration of economics (in a way that whilst reading you don't think, 'eww - economics' :)

Actually, _Singularity Sky_ also has a lot of good - and stealthy - <USER2> material.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I don't even know how an article managed to mention dystopias and blade runner, in 2018, without even a mention of "Altered Carbon". That, and it ignores that "The Expanse" was a series of novels (I think there's like... eight books now?) a long time before it was a TV series. The novels go into a great deal more detail on the lives of the Belters and how the political situation depicted came about.

<comment><USER12> The expanse has a little bit of what might count as hard sci-fi and the rest is just milking it for adventure storytelling in an admittedly capturing manner.

<comment><USER13> The Expanse takes pains to treat space travel, combat, and so on in a hard sci-fi way to the point of making it seem rather mundane. But you're right- the point of the series is about the human element, which is actually relevant to the OP-

>> Okay, so what you're really asking me there is if this is hard science fiction. The answer is an emphatic no. I have nothing but respect for well written hard science fiction, and I wanted everything in the book to be plausible enough that it doesn't get in the way. But the rigorous how-to with the math shown? It's not that story. This is working man's science fiction. It's like in Alien, we meet the crew of the Nostromo doing their jobs in this very blue collar environment. They're truckers, right? Why is there a room in the Nostromo where water leaks down off of chains suspended from the ceiling? Because it looks cool and makes the world feel a little messy. It gives you the feel of the world. Ridley Scott doesn't explain why that room exists, and when most people watch the film, it never even occurs to them to ask. What kind of drive does the Nostromo use? I bet no one walked out of the film asking that question. I wanted to tell a story about humans living and working in a well populated solar system. I wanted to convey a feeling for what that would be like, and then tell a story about the people who live there.

[https://www.orbitbooks.net/interview/james-s-a- corey-2/](https://www.orbitbooks.net/interview/james-s-a-corey-2/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> _Blade Runner_ the film has remarkably little economics in it, it's more of a post-colonial treatment: some runaway slaves from the colonies have escaped back to the motherland, where they are subjected to pseudo-scientific tests to deem them subhuman so they can be executed.

The original PKD novel is much stranger and explicitly mentions a World War Three which has made a large number of animal species extinct. It's much more focused on the questions of mechanical substitutes for emotional relationships and the affect on the self.

</comment><comment><USER14> The film Tomorrowland (by Brad Bird) is a wonderful take on this. Like Iron Giant, it bombed in theaters. And somewhat ironically, got some of the worst reviews of any good movie I can think of.

<comment><USER15> I love Tomorrowland and I recommend it to all my friends. I'm sad it bombed; I only discovered it accidentally on Netflix last year. Now I rewatch it from time to time to get a boost of motivation and positive energy.

I love this movie because it's _positive_ about humans and future - which is unlike pretty much anything made in the last two decades. (Hell, it even goes meta on that point.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> As I started reading this, I had to recheck the date. Because this is such an old topic. I mean, haven't Stephenson and crew beaten it to death? And then he went and wrote _D.O.D.O._ , which lacks even the thin edge of hope in _Seveneves_. Both of which I love, by the way.

<comment><USER17> SF is the only literary form to focus consistently on politics and economics. This goes back past Heinlein to the pulps of the 30s and 40s.

<comment><USER16> And further back, if you consider Swift's _Gulliver 's Travels_ (1726) to be SF. There is a flying island, after all.

SF and fantasy give authors much greater leeway to challenge cherished beliefs. Because it's all so preposterous.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> But no mention of PKD (Philip K. Dick) and his novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", on which the movie "Blade Runner" is based.. ?

</comment><comment><USER19> To add to the recommendations, I'd like to mention Kim Stanley Robinson's "New York 2140" which is heavily focused on the economic structures that he posits will arrive after future catastrophes driven by climate change. And the rather smug interludes are witty and amusing and somewhat depressing all at the same time.

</comment><comment><USER20> I think this article could have used a few more Amazon affiliate links. I always enjoy a well-researched article with lots of irrelevant cross- references.

</comment><comment><USER21> The examples in the articles used the economic ideas only as a building block, not as the primary motivation for writing the novels.

I don't believe that Blade Runner is about recession more than the AI and humanity. Where good fiction uses ideas to supplement world-building, bad one would build the world to illustrate an idea.

</comment><comment><USER22> John Brunner, Ursula Leguin and Alfred Bester (to name just a few) were covering this ground back in 60s and 70s.

<comment><USER23> not to mention Philip K. Dick</comment></comment>


Ask HN: What is your 10 year plan? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> I plan on becoming financially independent within 3-5 years (FIRE movement). I love making things though, so then I might do one of these (or a combination):

\- Continue working. I am very happy at my current company, and I know there are some other great companies where I wouldn't mind working.

\- Make open source or projects. I've done many OSS projects and I can see myself doing more. However, the direction where web OSS is going is very dangerous, might not be worth it at all within 5 years [https://github.com/franciscop/](https://github.com/franciscop/)

\- Make small but nice products, I have many things I like solving with software like [https://core.cards/](https://core.cards/)

\- Create my own startup, who knows.

</comment><comment><USER3> \- Get [https://able.bio](https://able.bio) off the ground and go full-time on it.

\- Use Able influence to set up training and work facilities for programming in rural communities across South Africa (my home country). Enable them to export code to bring income to their communities.

\- 2 kids and at least 1 dog.

\- Buy and convert a barn in southern Sweden.

\- Learn about C++, compilers and networking protocols.

<comment><AUTHOR> Long lost sibling, is that you? =) I am from the DRC living in SA and have been thinking of ways to build training and work facilities back home for youngsters! Been contemplating how to use a TopCoder type model, idk.

And dogs, I love dogs.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Pay off house mortgage, scale my salary up to 40%</comment>


On Android Cameras - <AUTHOR> http://cianclarke.com/blog/?p=184

<comment><USER2> OP:

>> But wait, what's this? Is that a home screen I see? But of course! There's the memos app, and there's your contacts, and there's the web browser.

>> It turns out, this is just another unfortunate example of Samsung getting it all wrong.

I think Samsung deserves a bit of slack on their first kick at the can. Look at the other two Android cameras - the Polaroid and the Nikon - did they get it right? If I was going to bet on who will get Android right on a camera first, I'd pick Samsung over Nikon.

Give it a few software iterations, when everyone understands what Android's fit is with a dedicated camera, and things will get better.

While it's easy to make an argument for Apple getting things right on the first time, the bottom line is that Samsung isn't Apple and never will be.

<comment><AUTHOR> Very fair point - I wasn't even aware Nikon had an attempt, thanks for pointing this out! I agree, after a few iterations they likely will get it right, and I'm looking forward to when they do! I just think they've had some seriously massive oversights that would have been relatively easy to resolve.

<comment><USER2> The one thing that Samsung's camera division does well is listen to feedback. I imagine they'll be seeing what the early adopters on this camera will say.

Because of user feedback, their NX camera line (which I think needs to go Android) actually has one of the most complete (and affordable) lens ecosystems for mirrorless cameras. It's a highly underrated platform.</comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Memospeak – Memorize texts with speech recognition - <AUTHOR> https://memospeak.herokuapp.com <comment><AUTHOR> I created this app to practice memorizing and thus improve my memory. It can be anything from song lyrics to Shakespeare poems. It's a simple tool but I have plenty of ideas how to make it better, let me know what you think :)

PS. Right now it's Chrome only but I will work on that!</comment>


Cryptographer Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending NSA History Conference - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.fas.org/secrecy/2013/10/shamir/

<comment><USER2> I'm a bit surprised this isn't receiving more attention here. Thus a bit of context for those uncertain whether to click through:

 _In this email message to colleagues, Israeli cryptographer Adi Shamir recounts the difficulties he faced in getting a visa to attend the 2013 Cryptologic History Symposium sponsored by the National Security Agency. Adi Shamir is the "S" in the RSA public-key algorithm and is "one of the finest cryptologists in the world today," according to historian David Kahn._

Shamir's quoted message is concise and informative and well worth the read.

I find this extremely concerning. Science in the Americas continues to be sabotaged by politics. (And it is a further reflection that I had to consider the possible state-generated repercussions of using the word "sabotage" in my comment. (I.e. the keyword count is going high in this post).)

Nonetheless, that does appear to be what's happening. Politically, economically. Muzzled speech in the U.S. and in Canada. Etc.</comment>