Japan's economy falls back into recession - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34829408 <comment><USER3> A -0.008 rate of GDP growth in a country with a -0.009 rate of working age labor force growth is actually positive growth, albeit slow. It is not in any realistic sense a recession.

Japan continues to be the first world nation with the best long term prospects for its citizens. The present standard of living is not clearly exceeded anywhere in the world.

Of course, adjustment to and recovery from severe overpopulation is going to create some difficulties over the next half century. It's nothing the country can't adjust to.

<comment><USER4> > best long term prospects for its citizens

Seems like you are conveniently ignoring the 300+ % of Japan's GDP of Public debt. Yeah, a bright future.

<comment><USER5> Most of that is internal debt, which is very different from over sea debt.

<comment><USER6> Why? (Not disputing, just would like to have a clear explanation.)

<comment><USER5> Lot's of reasons the most obvious is it does not impact trade or currency. However, from a repayment standpoint the debt payments are generally taxable which reduces the effective interest rate dramatically.

Hypothetical example: Interest rates are 8%, inflation is 5% = 3% over inflation. Now tax that 8% at 30% and your paying 5.6% - 5% inflation = 0.6% effective rate. (Assuming you don't let interest compound tax free.)

<comment><USER7> It most definitely affects the currency, and the currency of course affects trade.

The core difference between internal and external debt - or more precisely debt denominated in a country's sovereign currency vs. foreign currency - <USER2> that a country can typically always avoid defaulting on domestic debt by printing more money, despite typical "independence" of central banks. Rates on domestic debt can also be controlled in a similar way.

The Japanese Central Bank is currently undertaking a quantitative easing program of gargantuan proportions, which basically means that they create new money every month and use it to buy Japanese government bonds. They are, albeit indirectly, creating money and loaning it to the government, which then uses it to run a large deficit. Government social programs are significant. The effect on the currency has been dramatic, with the JPY depreciating nearly 40% over the last three years versus the dollar. The central is bank is expected by many analysts to expand the program in the near future.

Although the stated intention is to generate inflation, a cynic might suggest that without such massive buying by the central bank, the governments enormous debt load would soon be at risk of becoming unsustainable - JGB interest rates could easily become unserviceable as investors become more concerned.

<comment><USER5> QE is a separate and complex thing. Without going into M1 vs M2 etc. It creates short term virtual money while bonds are out there at the cost of destroying real money in the long term when there paid back.

If you actually want to create currency there better off buying junk bonds that don't get paid back. That or sell the bonds for less than they paid for them.

<comment><USER8> You understand the Japanese Central Bank is purchasing Securities (stocks), not simply Bonds like The US Fed did during QE and still does as it is currently rolling over all of the bonds and Mortgage Backed Securities which are maturing

<comment><USER5> This has the same issue. Dividends plus any gains when they sell the stocks remove currency from circulation.

<comment><USER8> Not at all considering the Japanese are using this to fund the nation's pension system, all of that currency goes back into circulation

<comment><USER5> ? That does not sound like QE as it does not add any new money into the system.

Unless you mean they create money to buy the stuff, and then give the proceeds to the pension system.

<comment><USER8> That is exactly what the Japanese Central Bank is doing, were you unaware?

[http://www.wsj.com/articles/boj-helps-tokyo-stocks-to- soar-1...](http://www.wsj.com/articles/boj-helps-tokyo-stocks-to- soar-1426065432)

<comment><USER5> "Analysts say the bank's action has been a significant driver of Japan's stock-market rally in recent months, _combined with hefty purchases by the $1.1 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund._ "

That sounds like there both buying stock, not that there is a handoff between the two. Quantitative easing is specifically something Central Banks do when they buy stuff using money created from thin air. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_creation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_creation)

My point, is after a central bank buy something be it stocks, bonds, gold or pogo sticks with money created on the spot they add money to the economy. But, if they sell it for more than they bought them for then even more money is removed from circulation.

<comment><USER8> Where exactly do you think the JCB is getting that money? Its a form of QE whether you want to acknowledge it is or not. The rest of the world's economists agree

The BoJ's most obvious easing option is more asset purchases. Despite the doubts of some market participants, BoJ officials do not think there is any practical obstacle to buying faster than the current pace of Y80tn a year. It could also expand the scope of purchases to assets such as local government debt, buy longer-term securities, as the US Federal Reserve did under Operation Twist, or — particularly likely given recent market falls — buy more exchange traded funds tracking the Japanese stock market. "We expect the BoJ will do more of the same — increasing the pace of purchases and buying more ETFs," says Kiichi Murashima, a Citigroup analyst."

[http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d0867f3a-6b24-11e5-aca9-d8754...](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d0867f3a-6b24-11e5-aca9-d87542bf8673.html#axzz3rsZQ3UVY)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> While the west complains about immigration and the issues arising from it, here's the other side of the problem.

Japan has not grown significantly in the past 20 years and it _won 't grow_ again. [http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/gdp](http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/gdp)

<comment><USER10> > _Japan has not grown significantly in the past 20 years and it won 't grow > again._

You mean, Japan won't grow again _this year_? Or ever?

Interestingly, back in the 1980s, we Americans thought Japan was going to take over in every market: automotive manufacturing, high tech and consumer electronics, software, even space travel eventually. They were buying up iconic American properties like Rockefeller Center, and Japanese culture was all the rage.

Then something strange happened in the '90s: the Internet. Suddenly the Americans (and some Europeans) roared back into first place and left Japan just idling by the side of the road. It was a remarkable turnaround.

By the same token, I would expect Japan eventually to bounce back from its current doldrums. China is a huge challenge to Japanese manufacturers, but they are still incredibly clever and innovative. Their aging population may do a number on that innovation, though; a new baby boom is probably their best hope.

<comment><USER11> >Interestingly, back in the 1980s, we Americans thought Japan was going to take over in every market: automotive manufacturing, high tech and consumer electronics, software, even space travel eventually. They were buying up iconic American properties like Rockefeller Center, and Japanese culture was all the rage. > >Then something strange happened in the '90s: the Internet.

The Internet had nothing to do with it. Japan was simply in the midst of a titanic property bubble which subsequently popped:

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

<comment><USER12> That's only a part of it. Between 1960 and 1985 Japan's per capita GDP quintupled (even adjusting for inflation). That huge economic growth on the back of a strong manufacturing and high-technology base made Japan seem like it had unstoppable economic momentum. But, of course, it didn't. Japan's economy is still very large and very advanced but it stopped growing and hasn't been able to keep up with innovation in the rest of the world.

<comment><USER11> >That's only a part of it. Between 1960 and 1985 Japan's per capita GDP quintupled

Yeah, and a lot of that was phony growth caused by debt and unsustainable asset price rises.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Japan's trend growth is zero. This is business as usual, not bad economy. If we want recession to mean bad economy, definition of recession for Japan needs to be revised.

See [http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=31307](http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=31307).

<comment><USER4> > This is business as usual, not bad economy

Japan needs actually steady growth if it is to tackle its public debt sooner or later. Or then drastic measures will have to be taken at some point.

<comment><USER3> The public debt can be traded away with the high foreign exchange reserves or inflated away if it becomes a problem. There's no need to worry too much about it now as all the creditors seem eager to roll it over at low rates forever.

Drastic measures are not on the horizon.

<comment><USER4> Inflation of public debt is just destroying Savings and Private investment, which is the opposite of what you want for a growing Economy.

<comment><USER3> I'm not recommending hyperinflation. Countries like Japan and the USA with their current levels of debt will someday have to inflate or they will have to renounce the debt officially. That is a mathematical certainty.

But that day is a long way off. Low inflation is better. If exchange rates are out of balance, such as in Japan in 2010, inflation in the prices of only imports should be sufficient and that should be moderate at worst.

In any case it's nothing to worry about now.

<comment><USER14> Remember the late 90s, when Fed chairman Greenspan was terrified the national debt might actually be paid off someday (denying the rich an investment in our future taxes)?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> For a country like Japan which has a declining workforce and population. Maybe it would give a clearer picture to look at GDP pr. worker or GDP pr. populus?

I am not so sure it would look so bad then.

PS: The tourism section surely is booming. :-)

<comment><USER16> It looks really bad in fact. Their place in terms of GDP per capita is a disaster.

In 1987 they matched and then surpassed the US on GDP per capita. Within ten years from today they'll be at half (or less) the GDP per capita level of the US.

If Japan continues with their blatantly failed Yen destruction policies (meant to debase their debt), they'll rapidly sink below other countries they used to tower over on GDP per capita, such as Spain or New Zealand.

Preliminary 2015 figures peg their GDP per capita at 24th, at $32k. The US is nearly $56k by comparison.

<comment><USER3> This is a classic example of the problems with using real GDP as a measure of anything. The US GDP counts crime and corruption as positive contributors to the economy; the error is so deeply embedded in the idea of GDP that economists have a name for it: the Broken Window Fallacy. Japan's GDP counts the world's most efficient urban infrastructure, best rail system, and world's best urban zoning, transit, and development practices against it because it makes unsubsidized city living relatively cheap. Inflation calculations in both countries are nothing but political propaganda.

If you measure cost of living against typical wages, Japan outperforms the USA and far surpasses the UK and almost all of Europe. Just compute a budget including owning a home in a good school district in a safe neighborhood. Don't forget health care and owning two or three cars in the USA. Add back in the value of all the untaxed employer provided benefits in Japan.

<comment><USER17> >Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.

-Robert Kennedy, Speech at the University of Kansas at Lawrence (18 March 1968)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Something to keep in mind is that Japan is very impacted by the economy of China: Not just direct exports and tourism, but as the rest of Asia suffers from the slow down in China that also impacts Japanese exports as well. And on the tech side many Japanese brands from Sharp to Sony haven't been doing too well.

</comment><comment><USER19> Excuse the over-simplification, but is the Japanese government's reluctance to proactively stimulate their economy built partially on a desire to secure the pension for a few more years (both as a product of cultural expectations and the appeasing mostly elderly voter-base)?

<comment><USER20> It is likely a major piece of the puzzle and will also be due to reverence of their elderly.

<comment><USER19> Ah yes, that's what I meant by "cultural expectations," but "reverence" is certainly a far more succinct way to describe it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Plus global trade is down. I am afraid the future is looking a bit darker than usual.

</comment><comment><USER22> Taxing themselves out of growth. Effectively their tax rates are too high on individuals and business that there is no incentive to spend or grow. Similar reason why any supposed US recovery has been anemic.

<comment><USER23> We've got the fourth _lowest_ tax rate among OECD convention countries (if we're looking at taxes vs GDP). Look at it from a perspective of rates on $100k gross income, and we're still not even in the top 50%.

I don't think any US economic issues can be laid at the feet of our tax rates with that in mind.

Interestingly enough, Japan is usually only 3 positions above us in Tax/GDP, and 9 positions above us in Tax/$100K, which calls the thesis of this article into question...

<comment><USER10> US corporate tax rates are the highest among developed countries, however. Capital gains are also taxed higher in the U.S. than most other OECD countries.

Perhaps it all balances out between lower personal and higher corporate; I don't know. But there are so many other factors involved--debt, military activity, outsourcing trends, health and fitness, weather--that one can't realistically call out taxation as a major cause of macroeconomic trends.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> But Japans central bank has printed more money and longer than most countries and it still does not work in making its economy grow.

Western countries has copied Japans money printing expecting it to work better for us than in Japan. "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." \- Albert Einstein

We will need to engineer a new economic system that can deal with climate change which requires less physical goods. Valuing things more like renewable energy, repair ability, upgrade ability.

<comment><USER25> The policy responses in the west have been very different from in Japan. For a start Europe only started doing anything like QE this year, and only in a very limited fashion compared to the US or Britain.

If you look at the US and Britain, they did carry out extensive money printing operations in the form of QE, but they also let their economy take the hit hard and early in the form of bankruptcies, job losses and housing devaluation. As a result, their economies have largely been through the pain. The US economy particularly has bounced back and it actually doing pretty well in global terms with growth of 3.7%. That's hardly 'the same results' as in Japan.

So Europe followed a completely different path and is still stuck with low growth, while America and Britain did use QE but avoided falling back into recession. It's not as if everything's come up roses in the West, we still have major challenges to deal with, but how things have panned out is completely different.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Can I help you be more awesome today? (No strings. Inquire within.) - <AUTHOR>

Every once in a while, I throw up an offer to give free help. If it's something I can do in 10-15 minutes, I'm happy to oblige (within reason).
- I'm a full stack web developer (LAMP primarily),
- I've helped a lot with personal development-type things (resume critique, self improvement suggestions, etc),
- I've done my share of business model and product pitch reviews,
- I'm an early adopter and provide strong/constructive feedback, - I've got great aesthetics and design sense
So if there's something I can help you with, just ask here or @mikegreenberg on Twitter. :)
Cheers! <comment><USER2> What's your advice for landing a really cool job that you enjoy right out of college? Not just getting a job that you take because you need to have a job and end up despising.

<comment><AUTHOR> Oh, man. Time and time again, I see these college students go to these craptacular job fairs, all vying for the same entry-level QA and testing gigs in their white-collar, paisley-pattern ties. They were all destined to a life of Office Space-like professional routine. Here are a few suggestions for things I've tried:

1\. Believe it or not, really cool jobs are available all over the place these days (and are more likely than not in some other city). Consider relocating. _Consider it very seriously._ It's not reasonable for everyone, but the life experiences to be had are worth the effort now and it will be the easiest opportunity you'll ever have to do so. (I'll be 30 soon, with a wife and 2 kids and have been trying to move for almost 5 years without ever finding the perfect opportunity. (PS: There is no such thing as a perfect opportunity.))

2\. Do things the are interesting and outside the norm. (This is not limited to just skillsets...I'm talking about your personality and mannerisms, too!) These things may not land you a job, but they will be intriguing to your potential employers and keep you stuck in their mind as they continue the interview process. Example: I wrote an email to a potential job that I wouldn't be totally bummed if I didn't nail it. (Read it below, if you dare.) While this seems a little too casual, I did a lot of research into the office culture (beer fridays, sombrero day, casual atmosphere) and didn't feel like it would be too over the line. Do things like this and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised with the results. (PS: They never responded.)

3\. Find ways to improve yourself and network with influential people around your community. (Especially if you intend to stick around.) I live in South Florida and there's not a huge tech community here. So instead of attempting to get out and meet everyone possible (I'm not a networking, hustler-type guy) I decided to get everyone to come to ME. So I spend an aggregate day or so preparing an event called Hack and Tell (<http://hackandtell.org>) that gets great turnout, puts me in front of very interesting people and has done more for me than any other professional endeavor has to date! You are seen as a person who can get shit done without financial incentive (a huge signal to some people), know how to organize and pay attention to detail, and is professional experience no matter which way you slice it.

There are many more things you can do, but this is a great start. Remember that an extra-ordinary job is for extra-ordinary people. So be what you want! :)

</comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>

Subject: Mike Greenberg wants to join the crusade as your next Software Engineer!

Body: Dear Pervayors of Product X (and gainful employment):

My name is Mike Greenberg. I happened across your request for a sexy, humorous and talented software engineer to join your ranks. (Link to job posting.) Unfortunately, I only satisfy two of these requirements, but hope you would consider this email as a gesture of good-will that I will be the best damn software engineer I know how to be regardless of my shortcomings!

A little about me... I'm a Pisces and somewhat fanatical of process, hacking (of all sorts) and attention to detail. I take pride in my work (especially when I enjoy what I'm working on) and know how to rise to the occasion when it hits the fan. I'm extremely creative and have privately studied a number of unrelated and interesting subject-matter like design, studio art, analog film development, piano, robotics, life-process/self improvement, martial arts, yoga, mountain biking, and racquetball. As a result of mentally wondering around over the past 29 years, I've since endeavored to become a modern renaissance man and want to carpe diem with the best of them.

On top of all of this, and likely most interesting to you, I can program computers to do fun things. And I'm hoping that you're the sort of company who would like the sort of fun things I program them to do. Of relevance to your job description, I started a hosting company fresh out of high school. I understand at a deep fundamental level how the internet works. From OSI to API, Al Gore to IPv6 (j/k about Al Gore). If you're still reading and my casual (yet persuasive) banter has not caused any furrowing of brows, please take a quick glance at my resume at <http://careers.stackoverflow.com/mikegreenberg/>. Therein, I mention a few other neat things I've worked on which I haven't mentioned above. I greatly appreciate your time and effort reading forward. Looking forward to hearing from you!

With great sincerity, Mike Greenberg

<http://careers.stackoverflow.com/mikegreenberg/>

</comment><comment></comment><comment>

<comment><USER3> The things that get you jobs are extraordinary things that show you are smart and get stuff done:

\- you organized hacker meetup

\- you launched a sideproject/startup

\- you wrote an ebook on a new programming language

\- you traveled around the world for a year

\- etc.

Try to make your resume look fun, and you'll attract fun employers.

<comment><AUTHOR> Couldn't agree more. This all falls into the "stuff I'd do without getting paid" category which brings a lot of weight, especially to an initial, entry- level job interview.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Mike, this is very nice of you to offer. How is the tech-job market in So Fl? Any tips etc?

<comment><USER5> I'd like to chime in with a different POV on this:

There is a decent amount of Agency/Studio/Dev Houses here & they are often hiring.

On top of that, there are a nice amount of "corporate" jobs, on a weekly basis, I see at least 5-7 PHP jobs, 1-3 Sys Admin jobs & the occasional Ruby/Python job come through my inbox.

Lastly, There are also is a small bunch of "cool" startup companies, like CareCloud, 3DCart, CloudShopper, Myxer, ImANeed (Pancake Movement), LiveBall (ioninteractive), Dashboard CRM, SyncPad (39, inc), DevStructure!, Luxset, Pikchur (only partly here), WebbyNode, Veddio & VoxMed. Who may not always be hiring, but are definitely doing really cool/worthwhile things.

As far as tips, just be involved with the community - it will open up so many opportunities for you!

<comment><USER4> Thanks sir! :-)

My fiance is from Ft. Ld and wants us to move there.

<comment><USER5> oh, also, you'll probably find this helpful: [http://www.quora.com/What-is- the-Miami-FL-startup-scene-like...](http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-Miami-FL- startup-scene-like-these-days)

<comment><USER4> Wow, this was amazing.

Abbas

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Hey Mike, two questions.

1) SaveMyInbox.com is growing fast, and has now a scalable backend. What would you do with it?

2) I do develop a bit in Ruby, have a BSc in Computer Engineering but don't consider myself a ninja developer. I'm 24, currently working in VC, and moving to the Valley in a month where I'll be looking for a job. Given the current job market, would you suggest looking at Software Engineering or positions or aiming at other positions where I think I could be a better fit? (Product, Developer Evangelist, etc.)

Thanks so much for offering your help :)

<comment><AUTHOR> 1) The idea seems to have traction. You've figured out how to scale the back end. You've got all the pieces in place to grow this into a business, if that's what you want.

I'm not certain what sort of business model you've been thinking about for this venture or if you were just putting it together to play with it. If you want to make money, start charging for it. Test the waters by asking what your existing customers would pay for something like this. (Consider telling them the best responses will get free lifetime accounts or something similar so you minimize the "I'll give a low price so I don't get charged too much down the road" thinking.)

The price doesn't have to be right, but pay attention to what your customers do as you raise and lower to find a sweet spot. Give your existing customer a sizable "thank you" gesture when you announce pricing. See how people continue to use your service and how they continue to convert. Figure out which demographics each individual falls into and try to understand how to tap the rest of the market that they represent.

Once you have a good idea on what your target market is, search engine marketing and a solid social-sharing campaign might be a good tactic. Since Dropbox customers are already familiar with the "give this to friends, get free stuff" model, this sort of sharing campaign may convert better than others who just copying because of its popularity. Try to connect your sharing campaign into Dropbox's sharing model/message somehow for some emotional influence with customers who already love Dropbox. Think "For each of your friends you brought to Dropbox, we'll match the love! For those who start using SaveMyInbox, we'll double it!"

I have some other ideas, but this is the general direction I'd move in if you were trying to monetize it. If you're not interested in running this as a business, then flip it and move on. This is assuming you've met all the goals you were trying to meet with this project. Drive it as long its satisfying (and fun).

2) I don't necessarily consider myself the best software engineer either, however the demand will require B and C-listers, too. So if you want to get better at development, it never hurts to keep up with it. It'll be easier now to get a job as a sub-par programmer and get better from the experience than it will be once the market shifts the demand away. Just understand that by taking this route, if you don't improve to the levels that your employer expects, you might quickly find yourself out of a job. Further, you're only 24. Granted, we're seeing rockstar developers at the age of 18, but that's not necessarily par for the course. I'm pushing 30 and I'm definitely not cut out to be an awesome programmer EVER (because the younger crowd has more time available to accelerate past my current speed of improvement). So I make my strengths up in my diversity of skills, my ability to work with and for people better than the young cowboy programmer, and to be better at recognizing opportunity to employ my assortment of skills and improve myself while remaining in the workforce.

I don't mean to side-step your question, but I hope my thoughts will help you think differently about your situation. It's not just about having to adapt yourself to future conditions, it's also about taking advantages of where you are now (physically and spatially) going forward. Regardless of what field you prefer to work in (you're working in your preferred field, right?), you will be a commodity as long as your work makes people want to collaborate with you. Bottom line. :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I don't need anything at the moment but wanted to say thank you for help you've given in the past (reviewing our site when we had a hic-cup) and you're awesome for offering! Sally @ peerbackers.com!

<comment><AUTHOR> I was happy to help. Very sorry I couldn't do more when you asked. :) (And it means a great deal more that (it seems) you registered an account just to say this!)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Mike, thanks for the offer. I'm always looking for more advice on how we should market our product, and any additional advice/insight would be tremendous.

Our product: PostageApp (<http://www.postageapp.com>)

It's a B2B product, and I'm doing a lot of cold calls/email, creating a lot of content, trying to forge partnerships, and relying on our well designed UI and features.

Any critique you may have and/or insights? Thanks again!

</comment><comment><USER9> Would love any feedback you might have on <http://parkgrades.com/> (particularly the home page)...

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry about the slow reply. ParkGrades is a GREAT idea. There's similar things put up by the city, but they typically pale in comparison. This also does a pretty decent job of find all of our local parks near us (which many sites like this have failed miserably at).

Excellent call to action. "Search for Parks" is the #1 thing to do at your site and you put that basically front-and-center all over the place. Many developers tend to miss this. Good job!

A few things that I thought were curious:

\- After searching, I see "Museum Amenities" and then filter-like links which will reduce the result set to locations with certain characteristics. The title/purpose of this block here creates some end-user conflict on how to interact with it. You might consider changing the name to reflect it's purpose rather than it's description. (like "Filter by Amenity")

\- On the park search page, consider a different way to your "Advanced Search" description underneath. I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me to do, so you might want to have some sort of text fields with greyed-out, pre-populated examples. Try to use common conventions anywhere possible. Look at advanced search forms and try to get good ideas on how to lay them out.

\- The links to connect to Facebook, Twitter, RSS on the main page is offset from the elements themselves. In other words, the area to actually click a link is about 10px left of where they would line up with the image they represent. This was giving me unusual visual feedback on what was clickable and made me "miss" the click when I tried to click through. You're probably losing some valuable click-throughs here.

\- It looks like you're using Drupal for this site. I've noticed lots of areas where the design could be "tightened up". If you're still testing the market, that's one thing, but consider paying attention to this in the near future before any large-scale launches. Additionally, I think Drupal is a VERY extensible and fantastic CMS, but it's a BITCH to configure and manage. Keep this in mind going forward as you don't want to be too invested in a product that will ultimately hold back your site's long-term ambitions. Once you've validated the market, you should be thinking about how your technical choices will affect your product in the medium-long-term (1-3 years). Many people will say It's hard to plan this far ahead (especially with technology's current pace) but if you know that your site will really require the flexibility of Drupal versus a simpler CMS, you'd be better off knowing that sooner than later.

\- Open up your comments! There's no reason you can't use something like Disqus for handling it. You get better engagement and is one less hurdle for eventually acquiring users. (I've seen an implementation somewhere which onboards a Disqus account into a native user registration after a certain amount of repeat engagement with a user.)

These are just a few suggestions off the top of my head. I can go into detail about any of these if I was ambiguous.

<comment><USER9> Thank you -- much appreciated! I'll definitely work on: _Improving the usability of the Amenity filters_ Re-writing/replacing the "Advanced Search" function and/or instructions. I agree, it's way too much work to figure out right now. _Correcting links, exploring Disqus for comments_ Drupal is a pain but since I had zero programming experience, it's relatively easy to learn. I'm currently learning Rails and believe it or not, Drupal was a decent introduction to the programming world (for a total novice)

Thanks again, Mike, really cool to help like this!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Love this thread Mike.

To the others, I can vouch for Mike giving great feedback, and being a class act.

<comment><AUTHOR> You are a sexy, sexy man. (It's okay to feel a little awkward post-kiss.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Hey Mike, I have a technical question.

We need to set up a LAMP server that runs VPN for some remote printers. What hosting solution to choose that allows for setting up and tuning of VPN for our needs with as little constraints as possible?

Thanks!

</comment><comment><USER12> How does one start a HackAndTell meetup? I'd like to maybe start one in the Milwaukee area.

<comment><AUTHOR> To borrow a line from Nike: Just do it.

Flippancy aside, that's all it takes. The guy who started it in New York (Andrew) was very open to letting me mix/mash the format as it fit with the local need. (I found that the 5 minute limit was not needed so far.) And being part of a bigger movement adds to the credibility of the event and Andrew was happy to let me use the name. All the promo, sweat, oompfh and (most importantly) longevity/staying power is self-provided.

(And further, even if he didn't let me use the name, that probably wouldn't have stopped me. That sort of mentality helps.)

<comment><USER12> Cool, I think its a really good idea! Thanks for the encouragement.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> That's very gentlemanly of you. Tell me what you think of my favorite toy project: <http://textchannels.com/>

<comment><AUTHOR> Text Channels seems like a well organized and thought-out project. That said, it's not something that I'd use. It feels like a re-implementation of RSS with some social filters applied. While this works for some people, I have not yet found a social filter that I trust to accurately disseminate content to me. Personally, I prefer RSS over this because I can control specifically the sources that I'm interested in. TextChannels seems to allow a custom channel to be created, but why would I do this and _hope_ that the social filter is applied the way I want. If there is add'l value that I'm missing from this product, it's not obvious to me. If this is the case, I would work at refining your value proposition to illustrate something more than "social news aggregator".

If you'd like more specific feedback, make your request as specific as possible and I'll focus on that.

<comment><USER13> thank you!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> What are some interesting and out of the norm things that you do?

<comment><AUTHOR> From my color letter email: "I'm extremely creative and have privately studied a number of unrelated and interesting subject-matter like design, studio art, analog film development, piano, robotics, life-process/self improvement, martial arts, yoga, mountain biking, and racquetball. As a result of mentally wondering around over the past 29 years, I've since endeavored to become a modern renaissance man and want to carpe diem with the best of them."

From my blog: <http://nobulb.com/personas/>

I put a LARGE amount of my life online. I realize this goes against what a lot of people feel is appropriate, but my line of work (web engineer...but that title lacks) requires a strong online presence. It just so happens that I'm working on a project which will help online identity management and could solve a lot of the problems that people have with exposing themselves online (and not THAT sort of exposing either).

As far as out-of-the-norm mannerisms and and personality traits: I'm rather blunt. Many people are caught off guard, but I make this work for me because I am constructive and not condescending. I pay a LOT of attention to how people interact and take a lot of effort to use my actions to support my statements and not give off the impression of disinterest and holier-than-thou. Most of the time this works well, but it has gotten me into trouble on occasion. This is a risk I'm very willing to accept given the many opportunities it has yielded.

I'm very much of the mentality to "Ask for forgiveness, not for permission." This goes hand-in-hand with the previous point and allows me to do the things I wouldn't normally and "Poke the Box" (as Seth Godin would put it).

I wasn't always this way and made an effort to be more extroverted. I'm not suggesting that you try to be something you're not. I'm suggesting that you mold yourself into the person you aspire to be. So these traits are tools that I've developed after watching how successful people interact and execute.</comment></comment>


Why Prioritize SENS Research for Human Longevity? - <AUTHOR> http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2013/03/why-prioritize-sens-research-for-human-longevity.php <comment><AUTHOR> Also worth noting for this audience, I suppose, is that Peter Thiel has provided significant support for SENS research. See, for example:

[http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2006/09/peter-thiel- giv.p...](http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2006/09/peter-thiel-giv.php)

The Bay Area is a hub for aging research in general - there are a number of important labs nearby (and more in LA), and the SENS Research Foundation has its research center there. That whole highly networked group of people merges at the edges with the tech entrepreneur community and the life science entrepreneur community in the area. See this grassroots group for example, as representative of the overlap, that runs salons and meetings at Y Combinator HQ:

<http://healthextension.co/>

</comment><comment><USER2> There's a super-fundamental discovery about ageing--and a possible "cure" to ageing--that longevity researchers seem to be WAY TOO cautious in discussing and pursuing.

These are telomeres.

Telomeres are a DNA pattern that sets a hard limit on the number of times a cell will divide (and thus repair itself). When the limit is reached, cells stop dividing (then accumulate damage and age). The limit for humans is something like 70 cellular divisions if I remember right.

If you can find a way to lengthen or reset telomeres, you'd have cellular immortality.

The first time I heard about it ten years ago, it blew my mind. To me, this is the biologist's equivalent of a proof that P=NP would be to a computer scientist. I expected enormous interest and research into this, and billions of dollars poured into it, but I'm amazed that it hasn't happened and most people still have never heard of telomeres.

Why isn't there an Apollo-mission-let's-devote-the-resources-of-the-whole- country effort into this? I think it comes down to fear of researching or financing anything with the word "immortality" in it. You'd sound like a crackpot even though the science is sound.

A brief intro on telomeres: [http://www.news-medical.net/health/Telomere-What- are-Telomer...](http://www.news-medical.net/health/Telomere-What-are- Telomeres.aspx)

<comment><USER3> Telomeres exist to prevent out of control cell reproduction, ie cancer. Turn them off and you get a very high cancer rate.

That's not to say we can't end aging by extending them, but it's not that simple.

<comment><USER4> _> Turn them off and you get a very high cancer rate._

Or rather, enable telomere repair mechanisms, and you get a higher cancer rate. One of the things cancers must do in order to keep existing is to activate teleomerase or the alt telomere repair mechanism.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> SNES appears not to be a technology, it's a research group. <http://www.sens.org/>

Humorously, I can't find where on their website the acronym is defined.

Also, most of the pages in the research section advise us to read _Ending Aging_ , a book written by the foundation's "Chief Science Officer".

<comment><USER6> Super Nintendo Entertainment System

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> "After advancing beyond the normal reproductive lifespan, the selective forces of Mother Nature abandon us like a delinquent parent abandoning a crying baby. She leaves us alone, scared, and subject to destruction from disorder."

<http://www.genetics.org/content/156/3/927.short>

</comment><comment><USER8> SENS is worth reading about in the broader context of longevity research. Here are some things I've enjoyed reading on this topic: <http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/longevity/>

</comment><comment><USER9> It's rather mind blowing to consider the effects on society if an affordable way of doubling our lifespans is found. Talk about disruption.

<comment><USER10> Exactly. Once a method to significantly lengthen human lifespan is found, the challenge then becomes: where do the natural resources come from to support such an expanding world population. When that day of great scientific discovery arrives, we may all be on a calorie restricted diet, whether we choose to or not.

<comment><USER11> It won't be a new problem, it will just accelerate the pace.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Some interesting material on Aubrey de Grey, the former Computer Scientist, now Biogerontologist behind SENS

[1] TED 2007 - A Roadmap to end aging

[2] TedMed 2009

[3] Documentary: Would you like to live forever

[4] Book: Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime

I also wonder if he is on calorie restriction [5], i think it's quite possible

[1] <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iYpxRXlboQ>

[2] <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgLRhxvRlKg>

[3] <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YNTMrarUBE>

[4] [http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Aging-Rejuvenation- Breakthrough...](http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Aging-Rejuvenation- Breakthroughs- Lifetime/dp/0312367074/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364678256&sr=8-1&keywords=aubrey+de+grey)

[5] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction>

<comment><USER13> > I also wonder if he is on calorie restriction [5], i think it's quite > possible

He was at least a decade or so ago. I remember it as a factoid in a piece Discover magazine did about him and his research.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> It took me a momemt to realize that retro gaming wasn't part of this research.

</comment><comment><USER15> Prioritize ban for selling sugar, and you will see longevity jump with no effort of super-whooper-money-sawing-science.

<comment><USER16> It will help the averages by bringing up the bottom and middle, but I think anyone seriously going after SENS doesn't care about that as much as he cares about the outliers (ie himself) who presumably do all that stuff already.

<comment><USER15> We usually come to life-saving diet decisions in our 30-s or 40-s. Imagine the society where people are not eating junk for the first half of their life. Can any SENS do it?

Then go to state department of health and see the stats, where we can dig the eye-opening data, e.g. all the science of last 50 years added only 4 monthes of longevity for those who are already at their sixties. Do you beleive any SANS is addressing the right problem? I personally do not.

<comment><USER17> Diets and exercises are good for damage prevention, when proven, sure. However, they are not damage repair toolkit or maintenance tool for the human body, nor could we replace our hearts, organs, and other damaged parts on demand, like a car mechanics. No matter how well you eat, it is inevitable that our parts will get worn out or starts malfunctioning in old age as a result of cumulative damage.

(Yes, we do have artificial hearts, organs transplants, and so on but they have drawbacks until we improve them...)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Someone Is Selling a Genuine FBI Surveillance Van on EBay - <AUTHOR> https://www.geek.com/culture/someone-is-selling-a-genuine-fbi-surveillance-van-on-ebay-1708878/ <comment><USER2> I was in SF when a police undercover van raided a building. I wanted to see if I examined the van closely, there would be something salient about it that would make it easy to spot a police van in the future.

Even though the van was rather beat up. It had almost brand new tires with excellent treads on it.

my takeaway was, the cars have to be maintained really well and have reliable engines and tires, even thought they are dressed to not stand out.

BTW, the police didn't like me so intently looking at their car and they IDed me and played their intimidations game a bit.

<comment><USER3> > my takeaway was, the cars have to be maintained really well and have > reliable engines and tires,

Not true. A department I interned with would use civil asset forfeit vehicles as-is for undercover jobs.

New tires and engines aren't important; they aren't using these for pursuits, and authenticity is the #1 most important form of camoflauge in these situations-- your agent's life is often at risk. Having such obvious tells (like whitewall tires, no hubcaps on govt vehicles, etc) is a good way to get them killed and your investigation compromised.

<comment><USER4> Does whitewall tires mean something other than those tires which have white side-walls such as seen on classic cars?

<comment><USER3> Nope, that's exactly it.

[https://goo.gl/images/fpH49i](https://goo.gl/images/fpH49i)

It isn't limited to whitewalls specifically-- tire styles are passing fads like any other. When specific tires start falling out of favor with consumers, any vehicle still rocking (new) ones of the deprecated type was presumed to be part of a fleet or motor pool. Fleet procurement tends not to concern itself with staying trendy.

Police spycraft has advanced since the 60s though so to avoid these issues they borrow from the pre-auction pool.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I honestly was expecting this not to be anything interesting. And then he opens up the van and it looks quite legit.

Never thought about one of these including a toilet before, but that makes a lot of sense.

</comment><comment><USER5> Unfortunately this auction ended in July:

[https://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-Classic-FBI-Surveillance- Van-S...](https://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-Classic-FBI-Surveillance-Van-Super- low-miles-1owner-/182673210638)

<comment><USER6> Yeah, it's old news. Already covered by numerous sites back in June and July.

<comment><USER7> This article is from July as well.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I keep thinking parking a fully equipped van on a parking meter in San Francisco every day would be a very cost effective 'rental' option instead of paying for square footage in a building.

This would be even better with built in (except non private) khazi, and you'd be able to put the kettle on when you saw your meeting attendees coming down the street on your surveillance equipment....

<comment><USER9> Unless you moved around a lot, the cops would probably catch on to you and ding you for some sort of city code that prevents living in a van.

Back when I was in college, I actually seriously looked at buying a boat and docking it Emeryville, as the boat payments and docking fee would have been cheaper than rent. Unfortunately the marina had a 10 year wait list for live- aboard slips.

<comment><USER10> Isn't the way around that wait list to buy a boat that already has a slip?

<comment><USER9> Yeah but those cost a lot more because of the premium on already having a slip. Also you get an old decrepit boat that needs a lot of maintenance.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Same chassis my class B motorhome is built on :-). I like the built in track slide for the chair. I've always thought it would be fun to convert a travel trailer into a mobile engineering lab and if I do, that will be how I rig the chairs.

<comment><USER12> Have you ever seen Steve Roberts' mobile engineering rig on his live aboard motor yacht? Might be of interest to you.

[https://microship.com/meet-datawake/](https://microship.com/meet-datawake/)

<comment><USER11> That is pretty cool, I have not seen it. I knew he was getting something new but this is pretty cool!

Steve Roberts and I have been friends since the 80's. Back in the Winnebikeo days he showed me how to create fiberglass enclosures using glass over corrugated cardboard structures.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> That is a really heavy ad with a complete black out modal overlay and the main prize front and center for all readers to witness :)

</comment><comment><USER14> I presume the audio sources would have been bugs placed in nearby structures, etc.?

</comment><comment><USER15> To have this sitting in front of my house would be perfect, seeing that my WIFI SSID is SURVEILLANCE_VAN_53! Seeing old police cruiser around are all too common. That would be great to see auctions that provided old FBI surveillance vehicles.

<comment><USER16> Are you in North Virginia by chance? Or is that SSID a common joke?

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Thing sold for $18,700, who would spend that much on one?

<comment><USER18> Someone who really wants to monitor some things but doesn't have time to roll their own?

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Agent 20. Please open the door.

Yes, Sir.

</comment><comment><USER20> If this van's a-rockin', your civil rights are a-bein' violated.</comment>


How, When, And Why Script Loaders Are Appropriate - <AUTHOR> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/scriptjunkie/hh227261.aspx

<comment><USER2> The only thing I've used a script loader for modules that may or may not be needed at runtime. For instance, UI components. My application may have 50 UI components but a page may only use 5 of those. To concat all 50 components into one script would be wasteful.</comment>


Apple Pulls BitTorrent iPhone App from Store - <AUTHOR> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/apple_pulls_bittorrent_iphone_app_from_store.php

<comment><USER2> It may be that the fact this is a BitTorrent app has little or nothing to do with it being pulled...

The article mentioned that to even use the app it requires a premium ImageShack membership. I'm not an iPhone developer, but from what I've read online, this itself is a violation of the terms, and may be the reason for pulling the app. While I don't have the exact rule on hand, it is something along the lines that your app can't require a paid membership to use, unless you're able to offer a trial/signup in the app.

I'm more inclined to believe this especially because it sounds like this isn't a BitTorrent downloader, but just a manager, which I don't really see as an issue.

<comment><USER3> The Spotify app requires a premium membership and Apple has no problems with that. The British Airways app requires a British Airways Executive Club membership and Apple has no problem with that. Requiring (free or paid) membership is only a problem in the App Store if it's unreasonable, e.g. the core functionality of the app would work without a membership.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Can anyone elaborate on what developer guidelines would an app implementing a form of BitTorrent client violate?

<comment><USER5> Well, from the guidelines - it violates this guideline:

22.4 Apps that enable illegal file sharing will be rejected

Also in general, bittorrent is maily used to download copyrighted content illegally. I mean comeon, all bittorrent users know it and use it for that.

Secondly, I really dont think iphone is good for bittorrent also -- i mean you would continuously loose battery and bandwidth. Also its background multi- tasking does not allow more than 10 minutes of downloading so it will not work properly in the first place. Thats why, this app was merely monitoring and managing download queues happening on a server. So its better in terms of implementation but still voilates copyright guidelines and illegal files sharing guidelines.

<comment><USER6> _Also in general, bittorrent is maily used to download copyrighted content illegally. I mean comeon, all bittorrent users know it and use it for that._

It's a pity though. BitTorrent is advanced technology that should be used more widely and beyond file-sharing, for example by music and video artists and software vendors.

<comment><USER7> There are significant deployments of BT among software vendors. You probably already know about them, but in case you don't, off the top of my head, Blizzard uses BitTorrent to distribute patches for WoW and most Linux distributions use torrents to distribute ISOs. Both perfectly legal, legitimate, and great uses of BitTorrent.

I wish that BitTorrent usage was more prolific among legit large downloads too, it would really help with corruption, etc. BitTorrent is really the simplest way to fix a large file that mostly downloaded correctly but has a few corrupt chunks; the torrent client resolves that problem automatically for already-downloaded files and fixes it on-the-fly on downloads it handles.

It is really annoying to download a 350MB service pack from Microsoft at 300kb/s and then have to download the whole thing again because "the file was corrupt". I don't know if MS just has shoddy servers or what but I've had that happen multiple times. Large torrent swarms, which Microsoft could easily populate itself but may not even need to, usually max out a client's connection and then the corruption thing would never happen.

I should try to sell consulting services on torrents to MS at some point I guess.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Well that didn't take long at all.</comment>


RPCS3 Progress Report: September 2018 - <AUTHOR> https://rpcs3.net/blog/2018/11/04/progress-report-september-2018/ <comment><USER2> If you're interested in this stuff and haven't seen it yet, Dolphin's progress reports are wonderful as well.

[https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2018/11/01/dolphin-progress- rep...](https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2018/11/01/dolphin-progress-report-sept- and-oct-2018/)

<comment><USER3> For anyone who, like me, has never heard of these projects, RPCS3 is a Sony Playstation 3 emulator. Dolphin is an emulator for the Nintendo GameCube and Wii.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I absolutely love these. I look forward to each new dolphin update for the progress reports.</comment>


Oral History of John Backus (2006) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2013/05/102657970-05-01-acc.pdf <comment><USER2> Fascinating read! I mean, all those interviews are. But I like how open and down-to-earth Mr. Backus was in this interview.

My favorite part (I think) is his description of his experiences as a visiting professor at Berkeley: "Never gave a lecture, just sat around in the engineering building. At the end of the year they were so pleased with my performance they invited me to be a visiting professor for another year. Again, never gave a lecture [...]"

</comment><comment><USER3> Most interesting. He does not convey a real sense of enthusiasm, or even engagement with his own work: on the other hand, Booch interviewed him when he was 80.

<comment><USER4> His later work on functional programming was more or less a failure even by his own words:

Backus: But it was ultimately unsuccessful because it couldn't take in all the peripheral stuff that you had. Booch: Your functional programming work was unsuccessful. Backus: Yes.

But also the video adds more colour he's got a dry sarcastic personality.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Booch: Your functional programming work was going down such a different path, of pushing simplicity and power of expressiveness and the like.

Backus: But it was ultimately unsuccessful because it coul dn't take in all the peripheral stuff that you had.

Booch: Your functional programming work was unsuccessful.

Backus: Yes.

Booch: Let's dwell upon that for a moment, because there were some other papers that I saw after your Turing Award lecture ["Can Programming Be Liberat ed From the von Neummann Style", 1977] which was also a turning point. Because I'd describe it as a wake-up call to the language developers and programmers, saying there's a different way of look ing at the world here. The world was going down a very different path. Let me pursue that point of why you think it didn't succeed.

Backus: Well, because the fundamental paradigm did not in clude a way of dealing with real time. It was a way of saying how to transform this thing into that thing, but there was no element of time involved, and that was where it got hung up.

Booch: That's a problem you wrestled with for literally years.

Backus: Yeah, and unsuccessfully.

[...]

Booch: What would be your advice to somebody that would want to take up the banner of functional programming? Where would you suggest they begin, and what hard problems would you like them to pursue?

Backus: Well, trying to functionalize all the input/output stuff.

Booch: Helping it talk to the real world.

Backus: Yes.

Booch: Do you think there's a class of problems for which functional programming is better suited to solving than contemporary languages?

Backus: Well, any problem that just wants to transform some piece of data into another piece, I'd say functional programming is better suited to that.

[...]

Backus: Well, that remains to be seen. Actually that functional programming was an effort to try to go up a level, so that you didn't have to keep saying how to do everything, but rather say what you wanted done. That idea of saying what you want done bumps up against a lot of problems in input and output, and stuff like that.

Booch: All those real things.

Backus: But that's basically where it should go.

[...]

Backus: Well, yes. If they can really bet on software that will make it possible to say what you want done rather than how to do it. I think that would be nice.

Booch: Here's a philosophical question, speaking of softwar e. Is the world a better place because of all the software that's been written in your lifetime, or not?

Backus: Well, in human terms, probably not. Because it just takes us further and further away from human affairs. But as far as economic, and welfare, it's done a lot of good. So it's a mixed bag.

Booch: It is a mixed bag, it really is. You strike me as just an amazingly very human and gentle and caring person from that answer, and I absolutely love that. Where do we go from here? What do you think is going to happen in my lifetime?

Backus: Well, I don't know. But I don't envy you, I'm afraid. I think that we're getting more and more technological and less and less human oriented. And as a country, we're getting tremendously aggressive, and we're going to pay for it. So it's a tough call.

Booch: I'll sleep well tonight now. <laughs> I meet with a lot of people who are considering, should they pursue a career in software or not, hardware or software, anything in th is space at all. Any advice you might offer? If you were to talk to somebody, say in high school or something like that, saying, "Gee, what should I do here?", what would you say to that person?

Backus: Well, don't go into software. It's just such a complicated mess that you just frazzle your brains trying to do anything worthwhile.

Booch: Understood. Looking back on it all, have you had fun?

Backus: Yeah, I had a lot of fun.

Booch: And the most fun you talked about was the Fortran days and the SSEC...

Backus: Yeah, that was a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun too working on the functional programming stuff.

<comment><USER6> The interview on YouTube. It's an hour and 27 minutes. The audio quality seems excellent.

[https://www.hooktube.com/watch?v=dDsWTyLEgbk](https://www.hooktube.com/watch?v=dDsWTyLEgbk)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Video version:

[https://archive.org/details/youtube- dDsWTyLEgbk](https://archive.org/details/youtube-dDsWTyLEgbk)</comment>


Is it possible to get real support from Steam? - <AUTHOR> I accidentally double purchased an item on Steam (item was listed as 2 different DLCs so I thought I was purchasing 2 different items).  Requested refund on one of the DLCs with details of what had happened.  Steam just sends automated "refund request rejected" email.  Apparently no way to get actual support.
Steam sucks; how do you actually get support?
More details here.
http://steamcommunity.com/app/325180/discussions/0/405691491108971709/
---- UPDATE ----
Interestingly I also posted on the Steam subreddit looking for how I might get help and moderators immediately deleted the post. <comment><USER2> Short answer: You don't. You can threaten to take it to social media on your support ticket, and maybe threaten a chargeback in the support ticket. That often gets their attention.

Small warning: avoid _actually_ doing a chargeback at all costs. If you do it without permission from Steam, expect your account to be permanently banned, and with their already awful support you're probably never going to get it back.</comment>


Facebook moves to ban white nationalist and separatist content on its platform - <AUTHOR> https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/27/18284174/facebook-ban-white-nationalist-separatist-content <comment><USER2> "Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you're really in favor of free speech, then you're in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you're not in favor of free speech." \- Noam Chomsky</comment>


Wow, too good to be true - <AUTHOR> https://youtu.be/m59H11iUcIE

<comment><USER2> There are some more details on their kickstarter page, but not much: [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1152958674/the- sensel-m...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1152958674/the-sensel-morph- interaction-evolved)

I'm curious about the durability.. for example, do the sensors become permanently deformed? I suppose you could compensate for this to some degree in software.

I'm wondering if you can convert a capacitive sensor into a pressure sensor by putting a conductive array on a springy material.

When is the transparent version coming so that it can be used for a touch screen?

</comment><comment><USER3> The original title is better: "You Can Use A Real Paintbrush With This "Sensel Trackpad""</comment>


I "Leaked" the story about the Biometric EarPods. But I'm not proud of it - <AUTHOR> http://earpodsecret.tumblr.com/post/84812960647/sorry <comment><USER2> It's not the OP's fault, it's lack of integrity in the press.

You start by propagating a rumor on some insignificant source like Secret, then a blogger picks it up. The blogger gets noticed by people on Twitter, who catch the attention of some small news source. Bigger newspapers notice that the story is blossoming in the lower echelons and they pick it up. Suddenly, something which carries zero truth has become fact in a cascade of increasing credibility.

This is the problem with modern online media. When more clicks mean more money, the incentives will favor rumors and lies. And this doesn't only happen by accident, as in the OP's case, but it's done over and over again by media manipulators who have realized that it's a bug in the system that's easily abused for fun and profit.

<comment><USER3> > "lack of integrity in the press"

> "macRUMORS.com"

<comment><USER4> I enjoy reading macRUMORS.com. The name says it all, it's interesting to see what people think will happen but I don't rely on anything I see on the site. I would hope this is how all of their readers act.

<comment><USER5> I think this highlights something I've thought about recently.

I've realized reading the "news" is a skill. Particularly, HN. As a reader, you need to be able to quickly differentiate what matters and what doesn't; what's bias and what's not, what has actual substance and what doesn't; and what the stories mean in the grand scheme. Also, and most importantly, you have to be able to _move on_.

It's so easy to get distracted and sucked into the k-hole of news. News should educate and inform your worldview. But remember there's plenty of unsubstantiated ruminations and pointless, heavily-biased garbage out there.

Modern civilization is extremely complex; so much so that even seemingly cut- and-dry news stories are simply beyond full comprehension and understanding of what _actually_ is going on.

My reading strategy for news is to allow a particular story to be substantiated by more than a few known trusted sources, but, again, to remember that it's just a distant narrative and to move on.

The Ukraine situation is a great example. I'm not from the Ukraine and don't know many Ukrainians so for me it's just another news story. It brings up interesting geopolitical, human rights and economic problems but for me it's still a distant narrative. I have friends who are in the same position as me, but seem to believe it's the beginning of WWIII; again, flying down the news k-hole.

Or the ferry disaster in South Korea. Or the Malaysian flight disaster. All sad but intriguing(they both raise questions such as: how could these happen? why did the leadership respond they way they did?), but one can only speculate on the implications what these stories _mean_ beyond them being tragedies.

People will write speculations about these events; I can't let someone's speculation or assumptions to run wild within my mind because it's just not news. Again, it's important to differentiate real news from everything else.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> There's really no need to apologize for this in my opinion. If people decide to trust a complete non-source that's their problem.

It's actually a fascinating demonstration of the dynamics of these rumors.

<comment><USER7> It's a long shot that the poster would have actually endangered anyone's position at Apple, but I suppose it's already a somewhat long shot that he managed to nail both the patent and an area of expertise of a recent hire, all without any prior context. Given that, I think this was the right thing to do.

<comment><USER8> Even if it did manage to get somebody at Apple in trouble, the fault lies entirely with Apple laying down false accusations with insufficient evidence, not with the guy who made a lucky guess and didn't even do it intentionally.

<comment><USER9> Yes, but Apple's actual shitty behaviour or this hypothetical shitty behaviour might stop someone putting food on the table.

If someone loses their job over this, the fact it's just Apple being arseholes won't be of much comfort to the newly unemployed (unless it's a lucrative wrongful dismissal suit I guess.)

Does anyone have any confidence in Apple doing the right thing by its employees or indeed customers?

<comment><USER8> I don't mean to imply that Apple wouldn't do it. Just saying that if we're assigning blame, that's where it should go.

As for putting food on the table, in general I'd agree, but do ex-Apple employees in SV really have trouble finding new jobs?

<comment><USER10> They do if they want to work for Google, Adobe, Intel...

[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/technology/settlement- sili...](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/technology/settlement-silicon- valley-antitrust-case.html)

[http://pando.com/2014/03/27/how-steve-jobs-forced-google- to-...](http://pando.com/2014/03/27/how-steve-jobs-forced-google-to-cancel- its-plan-to-open-a-paris-office/)

<comment><USER8> 1\. That's not being done anymore.

2\. Even if it was, it didn't apply to people who have been fired.

3\. Even if it did, there are lots of other places for programmers to work.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> The thing is that made-up or not, this is a _really good idea_. An idea whose time has come. Something like it is probably inevitable.

Everywhere you go, you see people walking around with Apple headphones in their ears much of the time. The hardware connected to those headphones doesn't merely send music out to the ears from the phone, it also accepts signals in the other direction to enable microphone input and a few buttons for pause/play and volume up/down. So sending other sorts of signals back doesn't require any new hardware on the phone.

There currently exist devices that take body temperature by sticking a sensor in the ear. Apple has a history of sticking all sorts of tiny sensors in their phones to enable new software features. So why not an earbud thermometer?

If they stuck a temperature sensor in the headphone it would enable these features:

(1) an plain old on-demand thermometer app. Think you might have a fever? There's an app for that! Wonder what temperature it is outside? Same app! A temperature sensor inside the phone mostly tells you how hot the battery and processor are but a temperature sensor in the earbud tells you your own temperature (when you're wearing them) or the ambient local temperature (when you take them out). Both are useful information.

(2) A background thermometer-based health check. Listen to music on headphones and the iPhone can warn you if you have a fever or are overheating during a workout.

Even without more speculative features - blood sugar or blood pressure testing - this is _doable_. Somebody will make this product.

<comment><USER12> Meh, I think the idea is thin.

So I can have biometrics info only when i _stick something in my head_? Quantified Self or whatever you want to call it is certainly big business, but it NEEDS passive data collection to ever be a mainstream success. Thus the fitbit, and possibly the iWatch. "Just stick these sensors in your ears" is not a good solution to this. And "All the info you want about what your body is doing while you listen to music" is not exactly what I'm going after when I use these apps.

<comment><USER11> Having the _option_ of getting biometrics when you _stick something in your head_ doesn't prevent getting data other ways too. Me, I listen to podcasts for an hour a day or so while my phone is in my pocket and the only thing touching my body directly is the earbuds. It'd be easy for the phone to be passively collecting data during that time - any time I'm listening to something via headphones - and it wouldn't require me to change my behavior or carry yet another device around.

I live in New York, so I listen via earbuds while I take the subway. In California a lot of people listen via earbuds while they go jogging or work out at the gym. There are almost certainly _enough_ people who listen via earbuds daily to make that feature "a mainstream success", even if it doesn't match your own use case. If you never use the earbuds, you don't have to buy the earbuds that do biometric monitoring. Or you can ignore that feature.

There already exist apps that check your pulse (using the camera) and that check your sleeping patterns (you leave the phone charging on your bed; it uses the motion sensor). This would be just one more _option_ along those lines.

But I'm curious: What _would_ you consider "a good solution to this"?

<comment><USER12> Something you can wear passively. Like a watch, bracelet, hell a toe ring. But earbuds are an awful UX for a sensor IMO.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Biometric EarPods are real -- but the product is called The Dash, made in Munich by Bragi. The Dash monitors movements like pace, steps, cadence and distance as well as heart rate, oxygen saturation and energy spent. Two tiny LEDs emit low intensity red and infrared light into the capillaries in the ear. The optical reflection of the emitted light reveal the relative amount of red and white blood cells more than 50 times every second. A precise heart rate and oxygen saturation level is calculated with the data.

The Dash Kickstarter is already fully funded; I'm a backer waiting with eager anticipation. [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellobragi/the-dash- wir...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellobragi/the-dash-wireless- smart-in-ear-headphones)

<comment><USER14> I wouldn't go as far as to say they are "real" yet - they are still working on the prototype: [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellobragi/the-dash- wir...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellobragi/the-dash-wireless- smart-in-ear-headphones/posts)

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> If anything, this story calls out the sensationalism of a tech press that just sucks up anything it can find and runs with it as a story. We've seen unsubstantiated "reporting" of Apple rumors like this for years, and these stories never add anything valuable to the discussion. I'm glad this fake rumor got so much traction. Maybe enough people have egg on their faces that we will do better in the future. But probably not.

<comment><USER16> > Maybe enough people have egg on their faces that we will do better in the > future. But probably not.

This definitely won't do anything to stem the unsubstantiated rumors. It's all about page views and entertainment.

There is an audience for these types of things (that is probably growing?), so it will continue. I'm sure many, like myself, don't care if they are fake either. Much of it is just something somewhat entertaining to read when browsing the web.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> The part toward the end where he talks about Apple hiring someone who deals with biometrics makes you wonder why more companies don't "float" ideas to see how much traction they might get with the market. An easy and cheap way to see if there's even a market for an idea. Yeah, you tip your hand a bit toward the competition, but if you're truly good at what you do, the competition doesn't matter anyway.

<comment><USER18> > makes you wonder why more companies don't "float" ideas to see how much > traction they might get

How do you know they don't? Whether to test the waters of consumer reception, or to decoy me-too competitors into doing something foolish, it's too good an idea to pass up, and I think it's reasonable to suspect Apple of having done both in the past -- see, for example, the persistent rumors around the "Apple Phone" which cropped up a couple of years before the iPhone did, and the similar rumors around the "iWatch", which, being the bad idea it is, seems less likely to materialize with every passing day, but which has certainly convinced Samsung et al that it's worth investing in that bad idea just in case Apple knows something they don't.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> This was obviously fake because measuring blood pressure isn't something you can do via the ear canal in a non-intrusive way.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_pressure#Measurement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_pressure#Measurement)

Kind of sad that even a single person believed this. Why is everyone so willing to forego scepticism?

<comment><USER20> Suitably advanced technology is magic and so most people (who don't really know what blood pressure is, nor how it's measured) will be happy to believe that some widget you can plug into your smart phone will do all kinds of stuff.

Also, UK papers are happy to fill their pages with nonsense. They are not saying it's true. They are reporting someone else saying it's true.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> This makes me wonder how many actual products were dreamed up "on the shitter".

<comment><USER22> I keep a notebook in the bathroom...

<comment><USER23> in case you run out of TP?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Companies could start "leaking" things via secret to make it useless as a means of real leaking. Personally, I think that in this new information age, that is going to be the only way to get privacy, either for corps or individuals. Decreasing the signal is infeasible, but increasing noise is certainly possible.

</comment><comment><USER25> See, these great ideas will now come to market, save numerous lives and improve quality of life for people, and you're going to get nothing.

I have an idea. We come up with a shitter station for you since this is where your great ideas come from. We'll serve you up with food and fun. You just make the business you do.

</comment><comment><USER26> The article reads like an excerpt from Foucault's Pendulum if perhaps a bit less sinister.

</comment><comment><USER27> I told my wife's uncle about the biometric EarPods. He happens to be one of the most renown ear specialist in the world.

His response: it actually makes sense, it's 20 year old technology.

Apparently, you can measure things like oxygen from your ears. Quite possibly other stuff as well.

I personally think it's be a great to see something like this exist one day.

</comment><comment><USER28> Don't apologize. This is hilarious.

</comment><comment><USER29> Noble words, and quite possible. But it also sounds like a great way of protecting his leak source.

Either way, good form.

</comment><comment><USER30> I think people have become numb to "Apple leaks" given the volume.

For a while the Yahoo homepage had a Kardashian article EVERY SINGLE DAY. Now, it seems that iPhone 6 "news" is in the same situation on the site. Correlate from that what you will.

</comment><comment><USER31> Good. These "news" outlets need to learn how to source their news correctly and not from some anonymous online crap. Hopefully egg on their face here makes them think a little harder about using stuff like this as a source in the future.

</comment><comment><USER32> This makes me think of the State Farm commercial, "They can't put anything on the Internet that isn't true."

Bonjour indeed.

</comment><comment><USER33> Possibly a real leak now trying to be disguised as an external fake leak?

</comment><comment><USER34> This is the most responsible and humble disclosure of a fake leak I've seen in my life.

Even though this guy/gal started it all, if we felt a little more responsible about the effect of the words we say and write like that, it'd be a better world out there.

It's easy to just wave your hand and say it's just bullshit rumor, but yes, it does have effect on people at Apple and the industry as a whole. The very fact of realizing this is more than most people can understand.

<comment><USER35> They didn't intentionally start a rumor. They didn't even try to make it sound realistic. Shouldn't we blame the press instead, for lending credibility an unsubstantiated rumor by an anonymous source?

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> >but I'm still sorry for any stress I caused anybody at Apple or who works with Apple.

Wow.</comment>


Typographic CSS Posters - <AUTHOR> http://designinformer.com/css-posters/

<comment><USER2> uh, at least two of the posters are easy to create in "normal" css too...

<comment><USER3> yes they are, actually most of it is just normal CSS.</comment></comment>


People who divide like an amoeba thought experiment - <AUTHOR> https://thoughtexperiments.net/people-who-divide-like-an-amoeba/ <comment><USER2> > "Will I survive?" seems, I said, equivalent to "Will there be some person > alive who is the same person as me?"

Although taking these two questions as equivalent does simplify the thought experiment, it goes so strongly against my intuition that I find it incredibly unsatisfying. Of course, I know that doesn't make me right. But, If the stream of consciousness that my mind is currently experiencing ceases to exist, it gives me no comfort to think that someone exactly like me would live on. However, I recognize that this statement is filled with a ton of metaphysical baggage, and Occam's razor may suggest Parfit is correct to eliminate the concept of personal identity. I do wonder though if we really can properly describe our reality without the concept of personal identity.

<comment><USER3> Let me add, how do we know that this situation isn't already the case? How do we know that other people's stream of consciousness is distinct from our own? Why do we ascribe importance to that?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> The Ship of Theseus was gaining and losing mass at a molecular level constantly.

So from a scientific analysis, it is the concept that remains, and the materials/constituency of the whole are details that must be abstracted (unless you have a way to diff at the molecular and/or subatomic level).

From an philosophical view of identity, I don't see much in past works that recognize how a person changes through their life path - I would most certainly make some different decisions than the 20y ago self - does that mean I am a different person? If not, then how do you determine identity? For every moment could it possibly be that you are a different person, and there are infinite instances of "you"?

<comment><USER5> From a physics standpoint every single electron is the same electron they have the same identity and that's not a problem.

Which is why I think this argument is ridiculous. People approach philosophy trying to get their mutually contradictory assumptions to work out rather than accept some assumptions are wrong. Human identity is a social construct not a physical one, so it only needs to work in human terms.

PS: Yes, that means I and You have no well defined meaning, they also don't need a well defined meaning to be useful.

<comment><USER4> > From a physics standpoint every single electron is the same electron they > have the same identity and that's not a problem.

Cite? This is an unproven hypothesis.

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

I don't mean there is only one electron ever or something like that, just you can't actually distinguish them. There is also math which works better if Electrons have no identity.

"The fact that particles can be identical has important consequences in statistical mechanics. Calculations in statistical mechanics rely on probabilistic arguments, which are sensitive to whether or not the objects being studied are identical."

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I think it's useful to think about this issue from an Effective Field Theory perspective. This implies that there are hierarchical descriptions about the world and higher level descriptions may not apply to lower level phenomena (though they are derived from lower level). E.g. a roomful of air has temperature and pressure but a single air molecule has none of those properties. Here. temperature and pressure are higher level properties which arise from a large number of molecules. Similarly, the concept of personal identity is very useful in everyday circumstances, but it breaks down when we consider amoeba/teletransporter like thought experiments.

</comment><comment><USER7> The story reminds me of something my grandfather told me when I was young. He used to shave with a straight razor because, "a straight razor will last you forever, I've only had to change the blade once and the handle twice."

That might have been the first time I recognized identity as a construct, though it wasn't until much later that I began to think of "things", including people, as constantly changing.

</comment><comment><USER8> Eliezer has a fun version of the amoeba: beings with two-dimensional (but highly folded) sheet brains who reproduce like DNA - at what point in the process are there two consciousnesses rather than one? [http://lesswrong.com/lw/ps/where_physics_meets_experience/](http://lesswrong.com/lw/ps/where_physics_meets_experience/)

</comment><comment><USER9> In the Ship of Theseus case, no-one is disputing the facts of the matter, and, for the most part, this is so for the other thought experiments presented here. The issue seems to be one of language - yet language does not seem to be deficient, given that we agree on the facts, and that agreement is reached through language. Perhaps the issue is in our intuitions about what we expect language to be able to do.

As is always the case, someone (in this case, Parfit) says 'we have to give up the notion of X', where X in this case is personal identity, but that seems to me to be an over-reaction; instead, all we have to do is to accept that there are corner cases where our intuitions about the universality of language do not work. For the most part, we can talk about personal identity without problems, but in the corners, we have to be more specific.

We have lived our lives with ambiguous language, so is it that much of a stretch to accept that that's all there is, that there is no Platonic-ideal, complete-and-sound language no matter how careful we are with definitions and usage?

</comment><comment><USER10> Take the House of Commons, which is the lower house of parliament in the UK. It is made of constituent members (whom some liken to planks...), which are routinely replaced. It remains the lower house of parliament, despite switching out all components on a routine basis. If you collected the ex- members of the House of Commons and made an identical grouping of people out of them, you would not have a second House of Commons - you'd just have a gathering of people. Abstract concepts don't nail themselves to physical objects.

Besides, create an entirely new ship out of the discarded planks, and the question becomes not "is that Theseus's ship?", but "why is Theseus removing perfectly functional planks from his ship and replacing them with identical ones?". :)

</comment><comment><USER11> I know there is no scientific evidence of a spirit or soul inside a person. But, given that most world religions teach that every person has a spirit/soul which is somehow connected to your identity/consciousness, I think it will be really interesting to see if any of these thought experiments do (or don't) actually happen experimentally.

What does it mean for religion if conscious AI emerges, or someone has half of their brain implanted into a second body, and both bodies are conscious entities that think they are the original?

What does it mean for religion if even in 1000 years conscious AI never emerges, and if it's impossible to get two halves of a brain to "wake up" in two different bodies?

</comment><comment><USER12> If you like that you might enjoy this [https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1844268691/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?i...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1844268691/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479231468&sr=1-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Katsunari+Nishihara)

<comment><USER13> Very tempted to order that - do you mind telling me a little more if you have the time? Thanks, either way.

<comment><USER12> Ok, here goes, I'm a layman so I'll do my best...It proposes a different evolutionary path by looking at the origin of functions and postulates that our consciousness may be a whole body construct created by our organs in concert. For example he looks at the origin of the eye and traces it back to the first creatures exhibiting the ability to move towards light, he hypothesizes that within that creature there is a form of consciousness in that the decision to move towards the light is one that can only be made from within a conscious entity. So as humans we are a mish mash of signals being sent from all around our body and what we call consciousness is the brain's ability to not only receive the signals but also adjust what signals are being sent closing the loop, it's disruptive literature from a very intelligent scientist with a very impressive track list of achievements in the creation of artificial organs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> The notion of self identity or "sameness" is fundamental to our understanding of the world. Or is it? This post explores how philosophy makes use of thought experiments to demonstrate how problematic our notion of self identity really is.</comment>


Is there any products that you can by that have an ESP32? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> like sonos wifi switches?

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't think those are using the ESP32</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Computer science neophyte needs a book recommendations - <AUTHOR>

Alright, so I'm the non-technical half of a small Chicago startup, and I want to learn to code. I have fought my way through Programming PHP and JavaScript: In A Nutshell, and HTML: The Definitive Guide, (not in that order), and I'm beginning to think that I'm not the type of person to just learn things piecemeal. I'm looking for a book which explains (in words, as opposed to diagrams) the architecture and operations of a computer from the hardware on up. I want to know what causes a parse error, and where this lies in the hierarchy between the CPU and what gets rendered in the GUI.
Seriously, this is the most curious I've been about something since I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was six.
Can anyone recommend a comprehensive, rigorous explanation of computing and computer programming? I'd be much obliged. <comment><USER2> _Code Complete 2nd edition_ \-- Every good programming practice and why to use it.

 _Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs_ \-- the book explains core computer science concepts, including abstraction, recursion, interpreters and metalinguistic abstraction, and teaches modular programming. Also what MIT used to use as their intro to CompSci textbook

 _Introduction to algorithms (Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, Stein)_ \-- Explains various algorithms and their benefits/drawbacks

 _The Mythical Man-Month_ \-- What project management for software looks like when done right (and wrong)

 _Head-First Design Patterns_ \-- Head First series is a little goofy, but you _will_ remember how an Observer pattern works after going through their goofy examples. Gang of Four's design pattern book will put you to sleep.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, Joe.

I'm making my way through another HN user's recommendation, Code. I've heard good things about The Mythical Man Month (especially from my more technical startup-involved friends), so I think that might be next on my list. As for SICP, I'm a tad intimidated, but it seems approachable enough.

Regarding the other suggestions, they too will be read. Thank you for these.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I've always found understanding the lower-level workings of computers to be very enlightening. After I finished with this text, programming and syntax made perfect sense. You may never need the bits on Assembly language, but the knowledge itself of the transition from hardware instructions to programming languages is extremely beneficial.

<http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072467509/>

</comment><comment><USER4> If you want to learn it from the bottom up, read Code.

[http://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware- Softwa...](http://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware- Software/dp/0735611319)

It's a page turner and you'll know more about computers than many developers. You still won't be a programming guru from this, but its a great holistic approach that you can then supplement.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. I've seen Code at my local B&N (and of course, on Amazon), and I've come close to buying it.

I'm getting it tomorrow.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I would recommend "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" <[http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/>](http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/>);

This book is a classic in Computer Science and it explains, discusses various programming concepts ... mainly from the compiler/interpreter point of view.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks.</comment></comment>


Most of us are Polaroid investors - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@trace_cohen/most-of-us-are-polaroid-investors-b01db5a79769 <comment><USER2> Misleading title: it isn't about the Polaroid (POHC) but rather about relying on regular (sometimes relatively infrequent) 'snapshots' of a firm's performance.</comment>


Google Circles - Show All (Except Ones I Don't Want) - <AUTHOR>

Google Circles needs to allow users to select the circles in the feed that they want to see.
For example, I have the following circles:
News Friends Work Family
I only want to see the 'News' Circle when I ask for it.
I want to see some checkbox along the side of the list that allows me to select the given ones that I want to see at any given time.
Most of the time this would be:
Friends Work Family
My 2 cents. <comment><USER2> See

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2759385>

which addresses that point and more.</comment>


Show HN: Realtime Chatroom Built with Laravel and VueJS - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/ahmedkhan847/chatwithlaravelandvue <comment><USER2> From the article that this code is from:

> In today's article, I am going to create a chatroom using Laravel 5.4, > Pusher and VueJs. Since these tools are popular and almost every developer > has heard of them, I will skip the theoretical introductions and discussions > and go straight to the fun part.

I, uh, I don't think almost every developer has heard of them. Even making the names links would help.

<comment><USER3> I'd say if you're a PHP dev, you'd know what Laravel is. And Vue is up there with React/Angular in popularity for Javascript devs.

Pusher is the only odd one; You'd probably only hear about it if you've looked into real-time communication technologies.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I must be so old.

I spend all day sitting on an IRC style 'chatroom' with a bunch of friends, that was written about decade ago.

It uses a combination of javascript ('ajax') on the client side, and crappy ASP on the backend (because the only server at the time that was available was a Windows server).

The comms is very simple asynchronous polling and formatting/parsing javascript. In fact the only updates over time have really been all client side to take advantage of new browser features. It works through firewalls and proxies (which websockets _still_ do not) - basically anywhere you can see a modern webpage.

My rambling point is... you don't need all these frameworks to push a message to a server, and fetch back a list of new ones. In fact for low volume handful-of-users chat traffic _you don 't even need a database_ (gasp!).

I know we should all avoid re-inventing the wheel where possible, but are you (not 'you' the OP, but 'you' the fictional reader) really a web developer, if all you are doing is gluing ever changing frameworks together ??

<comment><USER5> > and crappy ASP on the backend (because the only server at the time that was > available was a Windows server).

I don't think there was ever a time that people didn't have alternatives to windows server and ASP.

Maybe there was a time that ASP was more popular than the alternatives, but I personally haven't observed such thing.

<comment><USER6> I think he quite literally means the only server available to host it on was a windows server, although I still don't see why that limits you to asp at all.

<comment><USER5> Oh.. my bad.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


JavaScript: You Shouldn't Use Moment.js - <AUTHOR> https://inventi.studio/en/blog/why-you-shouldnt-use-moment-js?src=hackernews <comment><AUTHOR> Did you know that moment(new Date(ISO8601_DATE_HERE) is 7 times faster than just moment(ISO8601_DATE_HERE)?

We wrote an article about Moment.js quirks and compared it to the other available libraries.</comment>


Vim Plugin for Razer Chroma: Keyboard LEDs Switch Colors in Insert/Normal Mode - <AUTHOR> https://vimeo.com/175987019 <comment><USER2> Nice idea! I'm not a vim user (Emacs) but I could imagine something similar being useful for highlighting specific shortcuts when you press a modifier or possible subsequent presses in the middle of a key sequence.

The new Das Keyboard they marketed by being on Kickstarter is trying to find some productivity improvements from RGB backlighting too. Not sure I'm convinced by their use cases so far but I'm sure some good ideas will come out of that.</comment>