Apple Q2 2012: 35.1M iPhones, 11.8M iPads, 4M Macs, and 7.7M iPods - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/24/apple-q2-2012-35-1m-iphones-11-8m-ipads-4m-macs-and-7-7m-ipods/ <comment><USER2> They sold roughly 60M units of high margin products in one quarter. They are printing money for years now. One of the quotes usually around this is "they did not meet the expectations of analysts" and i really dislike it. Hopefully someday we will move away from quarter performance.

<comment><USER3> Analysts were actually below what was posted this quarter. Next quarter looks to be disappointing for analysts, they are aiming higher and Apple's guidance is lower ...

<comment><USER4> Apple always low-balls their guidance and it is always well below most analyst estimates, so nothing to go on there.

Even their "bad" quarter Q4 2011 had a guidance of $25 billion and $5.50 earnings per share with actual numbers of $28.27 billion and $7.03 a share (which was up from $20.34 billion and $4.64 per share in Q4 2010).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> $6.5 million in PROFIT generated every hour. Mindblowing.

</comment><comment><USER6> To get this into perspective: <https://mobile.twitter.com/#!/asymco>

"The largest company grew earnings by 94%."

<comment><USER7> To get that into perspective, is that year-over-year or sequentially?

<comment><USER8> comparisons are always yoy. comparing the current quarter with the previous quarter doesn't make sense due to seasonality (holiday season, summer, etc.).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> [http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/04/24Apple-Reports- Seco...](http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/04/24Apple-Reports-Second- Quarter-Results.html)

</comment><comment><USER10> AAPL is up ~8% in after hours trading

</comment><comment><USER11> Is above $600 again and all of a sudden the panic disappeared.

</comment><comment><USER3> 94% growth Year-over-year. Any other company doing that well?

</comment><comment><USER12> "Overall hardware sales decreased from its record previous quarter but with the notable exception of the iPods: they're up from the same quarter a year ago." > "However, the iPod didn't fare so well: Sales are down 15% over last year's quarter."

What?

<comment><USER12> Also...

"In that period Apple sold 37.04M iPhones, 15.43M iPads, and 5.2M Macs. Even the iPad sold well with 15.4M units."

Being a journalist keeps getting easier...

<comment><USER13> So 3 iPads for every Mac. The average selling price of an iPad is ~$600 [1], so if the average selling price of macs are less than $1800 (likely), _the iPad is bigger in revenue than the Mac._

1: [http://www.ipadjailbreak.com/2012/01/ipad-average-selling- pr...](http://www.ipadjailbreak.com/2012/01/ipad-average-selling-price.html)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Looks like they beat estimates on the iPhone(though still down from the last quarter) and failed to meet estimates of 4.4M Macs and 13M iPads.

<comment><USER14> Last quarter was a holiday quarter, so I think the drop in iPhone sales is expected. They only sold 2 million fewer in this quarter, which I think is pretty amazing.

<comment><USER15> i remember one analyst telling, chinese new year is important for smartphone sales too. but the big question is why is ipad/mac sales are below expectations? didnt the new ipad help much?

edit: analyst expectations are averaged from <http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-q2-2012-earnings-2012-4>

<comment><USER16> Because "expectations" are just wild-ass guesses.

iPad sales are up 150% year over year. How that's disappointing, I'll never know.

<comment><USER17> I'll tell you why that can be described as disappointing. Apple is extremely profitable. Sales are climbing at a great rate. Shares of ownership (and by proxy, a share in that profit) are priced according to this wild growth and profitability. The market buys stock based on this expected growth and return. When the expected return is less than the actual return, this is disappointing EVEN IF THE RETURN IS 150%.

This like buying an expensive sports car and having it ONLY go 150MPH when similarly priced cars can reach 200MPH. 150MPH is great compared to a stock Honda Civic, but you will be disappointed when your friends best you with their supercars, because you paid so much. Apple stock is a supercar stock, so when it doesn't perform at supercar standards, the market is disappointed.

<comment><USER18> First: the market is actually not disappointed. If that were the case, the stock would not be up substantially by real people spending money to buy the stock on the basis of this news. The market likes this news, the (clueless) writers at media outlets were disappointed.

Your analogy also misses on a number of levels. But to make it crystal clear, I'll correct it. Today's results are like buying an economy car in a price band where similarly priced cars can reach 60 MPH and finding out that yours goes 800 MPH and being disappointed. For a share of AAPL is priced more like a Kia than a Ferrari relative to its growth.

To clarify: the stock is not expensive by any classical valuation metric. The stock is trading at a multiple of < 16, which is lower than companies in much slower-growing businesses. For example: McDonald's (18), Procter & Gamble (20), Coke (20). In fact, the Dow Jones index of utility stocks trades at a higher earnings multiple. And now there's a dividend in case 100% EPS growth isn't enough for an investor. So unless your idea of an expensive high-flying stock is a stodgy utility, AAPL is absolutely not priced for wild growth and profitability.

<comment><USER4> Amazon has been trading at 137.4 P/E ratio. Now there is a stock priced for wild growth and profitability, Apple is a cheap stock in comparison.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Sincere – Read and write about feelings - <AUTHOR> https://www.sincere.chat/ <comment><USER2> This is a really cool idea... Not overly complicated or anything, really clean display.

Honestly, I was a little skeptical about it having any real utility (I'm sorry).. but as it turns out, I could see how it'd be helpful right away.

Just a couple of really honest and transparent posts right up top... You can see how that would be reassuring against any sort of insecurity that one might feel about their own emotions/thoughts. Nice concept.</comment>


Apple rejects appeal from email app Hey - <AUTHOR> https://www.axios.com/apple-rejects-appeal-from-e-mail-app-hey-4ea2f994-2d8c-49e9-9713-6db35b3aea84.html <comment><USER2> Some people here seem to be responding to all of this inappropriately.

The simple fact is that Apple is injecting itself as an intermediary in the payment process and extracting a preposterously oversized commission for no meaningful added value.

And it's easy to see that Apple knows what they're doing is wrong. They strictly prohibit developers from signaling that there's an extra cost for purchases made through Apple's system or that there are alternative payment options available. A well-informed consumer would be a clear threat to Apple's gravy train.

This system should have never emerged to begin with. It's highly unethical and, given the direction things are taking [1], will likely be found in violation of antitrust laws.

[1] [https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/13/supreme-court-rules- agains...](https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/13/supreme-court-rules-against- apple-allowing-an-app-store-antitrust-case-to-proceed/)

<comment><USER3> I don't disagree.

But you do realize you could also be describing the credit card market?

<comment><USER4> I think most people understand that the parent could be describing credit card markets, and I don't think that anyone is trying to make the case that credit card companies don't also take anti-competitive actions.

But the typical credit card fee is ~3%, which is literally an order of magnitude less, and Visa/Mastercard/etc also don't prohibit their merchants from accepting other forms of payment.

<comment><USER3> They do, in fact, make agreements with merchants to lock out other forms of payment. It isn't universal, true.

They also contractually forbid merchants from taking actions that could make the fee more apparent to consumers, which drives up prices for non-credit customers, although there isn't a direct analog for Apple I can think of.

<comment><USER5> > _They also contractually forbid merchants from taking actions that could > make the fee more apparent to consumers_

Has this changed over time, though? I often see a lot of brick-and-mortar merchants advertising different prices for cash/debit vs. credit. I probably see it most often at gas stations, but I see it in regular retail stores and restaurants sometimes as well. I moved to a new house earlier this year and even the movers offered a lower price for cash.

<comment><USER6> Definitely. In the U.S. at least, there were literally laws in place prohibiting merchants from mentioning credit card surcharges or changing prices accordingly, although details varied by state. Supreme Court ruled against one a few years ago on a free speech basis [1]. Now more, if not all, are being challenged.

[1] [https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=c1069ffd- dafb...](https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=c1069ffd- dafb-48a1-af14-b75c908244bf) (hopefully the link works)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> If Apple are taking issue with this being a "consumer" email service, Fastmail[0] have exactly the same setup, download the app but have to go to website (no direct links) to signup and pay. How is it not also blocked?

My only thoughts are that fastmail is also accessible through imap and has corporate accounts with centralised billing. If Basecamp add company accounts to Hay, which they have always said is coming later in the year, does that not fix the problem?

[0] [https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/fastmail-email- calendar/id9313...](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/fastmail-email- calendar/id931370077)

<comment><USER8> Heck if we're talking about inconsistency we don't even have to look at other apps. Apple itself already approved Hey (and it is in the App Store right now), but is now rejecting updates, simply because it got assigned to a different agent this time around.

<comment><USER9> This time, the agent is Tim Cook.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> The problem is, Apple taking a cut from service where they

       don't own the device (you bought it from them; you own it)
       don't provide the network (you contract for that yourself)
       don't provide the content

Its just some kind of strong-arm tactic - they do it because they can. Like some bouncer outside a club who demands money, but is not employed by the club nor the act. Just standing in the door and demanding money, and you have to pay because you want to get in.

All this splitting hairs over exactly who they strong-arm and who they don't is beside the point.

<comment><USER11> And the console makers? Google Play? The movie theaters? Amazon? Spotify?

<comment><USER12> Google Play is a bad example here because you can absolutely use app stores like F-Droid or Amazon to get content onto your device.

Arguably, they have problems as well, but it's not an apples to apples (no pun intended) comparison.

One has a completely locked down ecosystem that people are worried to speak against lest they lose access to it.

The other has alternatives, albeit ones without huge traction. It does allow you to make decisions about whether Google Play gives value (discovery, etc).

<comment><USER11> So how has that worked out for developers who chose to use alternate stores?

<comment><USER13> You are confusing market access and distribution. If I wanted alot of eyes on my app and I saw a benefit from the appstore then I would pay the 30%.

All I want is being able to give to MY customers, who I paid MY money to acquire, a native app. Apple is refusing to allow this, unless I pay protection money. Textbook rent seeking

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Apple has an abusive relationship with developers. I bet this harkens back to Jobs being pissed about jailbreaking and having to open up the platform. I think the culture still reflects that basic misunderstanding at the company. It's ironic, because it's the apps and developers that made the iPhone what it is - case in point, "There's an app for that," which they actually went and trademarked. [https://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/10/12/app.for.that/inde...](https://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/10/12/app.for.that/index.html)

<comment><USER11> You have no idea about how Nintendo and all of the console makers treat developers. Roku won't let commercial streaming apps on their platform without making a deal with them.

<comment><USER15> Seems to be a case of whataboutism. Just because someone is doing it doesn't make it any less wrong.

<comment><USER11> It's how the industry has worked from day one. "Wrong" is an opinion. In a legal sense it's "precedent". This is how the entire industry works. Before Apple, software developers only got a 30% to 40% cut to be in carriers app stores. Yes they had app stores where you could buy J2ME apps. Most retailers have a far greater wholesale to retail margin than 30%.

<comment><USER5> > _"Wrong" is an opinion._

So people aren't allowed to have opinions anymore?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> > The company notes that the store has been operating for more than a decade > and has never raised fees

"We've never asked for more than a third of your income, what's the problem?"

<comment><USER17> That's absolutely hilarious and tone deaf at the same time. Lol.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> If apple would just insist on taking it's cut from ads and indirect revenue from surveillance and spyware, so many of these problems would go away. Apple currently effectively subsidizes the surveillance of its users with adware and spyware apps getting free ride.

The only problem with this approach is that it's basically completely unworkable. But other than that minor issue, it's a great idea. Maybe the ad revenue side of things could be done, but the spyware side is hard to even come up with a theoretical valuation.

While it's theory only, one could even theorize gmail having to put a valuation on the user profile data gathered and give Apple a cut. Either that or stop surveilling its users.

<comment><USER11> Are people actually asking Apple to get in the ad business? It's already a step too far that they sell ads on the App Store.

<comment><USER19> They were in the ad business years ago with iAd. [https://developer.apple.com/support/iad/](https://developer.apple.com/support/iad/)

<comment><USER11> And it was a complete disaster.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> What's infuriating is Apple's inconsistency. Some apps offer subscriptions outside of the app store and are still there (including Basecamp!)

<comment><USER21> EDIT: Having deployed a few apps in the past which required login and not being harassed, I thought something else was going on.

This seems to be an unspoken policy change. I'm joining the outrage bandwagon now.

> What's infuriating is Apple's inconsistency. Some apps offer subscriptions > outside of the app store and are still there (including Basecamp!)

That doesn't violate guidelines. Unless your app takes users outside of the app store to purchase stuff(including the subscription itself) without in app purchases.

Having an app requiring login is ok. It doesn't matter that the login is protecting a paid service.

<comment><USER22> > _Unless your app takes users outside of the app store to purchase > stuff(including the subscription itself) without in app purchases._

Where did Hey take users outside of the app?

<comment><USER21> 'Hey' itself may not be doing this right now, I don't know. I was referring to:

> 3.1.1 In-App Purchase:

        If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, (by way of example: subscriptions, in-game currencies, game levels, access to premium content, or unlocking a full version), you must use in-app purchase. Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, etc. Apps and their metadata may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase.

<comment><USER11> This isn't true for most of the OTT streaming cable TV apps. They all require subscriptions.

<comment><USER23> There's a special clause for this type of "reader" apps and it allows external subscriptions.

"3.1.3(a) "Reader" Apps: Apps may allow a user to access previously purchased content or content subscriptions (specifically: magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video, access to professional databases, VoIP, cloud storage, and approved services such as classroom management apps), provided that you agree not to directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchasing methods are not designed to discourage use of in-app purchase."

Looks like for example Netflix app does even show a link to their registration page. You can only login to existing account.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> I don't think picking a fight with Apple as a PR strategy is a good move. The rules on the app store are very clear, if you're charging a subscription for functionality you're providing through an iOS app, that subscription must be available through Apple's payment system. I know people don't like that, but it's not unexpected. So given that Hey knew the rules, it seems a bit manipulative for them to submit their app and then go on a massive PR campaign about how outraged they are. I understand that they may feel that the app store rules are unfair, but this whole fanfare seems ridiculous to me. Instead they seem to think that they're going to benefit from picking a fight with Apple - it reminds of small youtubers who make expose videos about big youtubers to try and get people''s attention.

<comment><USER11> It is very unclear. The rule has been that you cannot advertise that it requires a subscription or provide a link.

There are literally a dozen apps that I am personally aware of that require subscriptions and don't allow in app subscriptions.

\- Netflix

\- Sling TV

\- ATT Now (DirecTVNow)

\- ACloudGuru

\- Kindle

\- Youtube TV

\- Spotify

\- Microsoft Office

\- Hulu Live TV (not regular Hulu)

<comment><USER25> They have a specific section in the rules for "Reader" apps like Netflix and Spotify. It's not unclear, it's been there since 2018.

<comment><USER26> How is "reading my email from the hey server" different from "reading a video from the netflix server"?

Neither app functions without a separate, non apple subscription. The main criticism of Hey, from apples perspective, is that the app doesnt just work when you download it, but the same applies to netflix.

I personally think Hey could get around it by adding some other kind of feature to the app, like a way to read their blog. When it opens on IOS you have a "sign in" or "continue with the free version" and the free version aggregates basecamp marketing copies, as long as that free version isnt just a webview, but some enhanced native experience.

Can they also advertise the cost of their service, through the applepay experience, as "x+30% apple tax"?

With how much of their app is server side (nearly all of it, minus the translation from HTML to native,) I wonder how much they can get away with, without updating the client.

The other interesting thing about this dynamic is, Apple shipped Leopard with Ruby on Rails, which Basecamp created. So in the past, Apple took Basecamp's open source code to make OSX more valuable, but now when Basecamp wants to benefits its users, at no real cost to Apple, Apple says "not without paying us our cut." Maybe not morally wrong, but at least stinks of bad karma.

<comment><USER25> Read the full statement that Apple gave to Hey and the media [1]. If Hey made their email client a standard works with any email account then it'd be fine without in-app purchases. The specific Hey service could be purchased outside the App Store if they want to avoid giving Apple a cut.

[1] [https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1273719726196187136](https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1273719726196187136)

<comment><USER26> I don't think Hey wants to be an email client that works with other providers. They should make their free feature something else entirely.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> > _" All the rules they're citing should apply to Gmail and Outlook as well," > Hansson told Axios. "_

I agree Apple is being inconsistent here, but not vis a vis gmail and outlook. Those are free services, so they're not the right comparison. Apple doesn't require IAP for these because there is no payment involved.

Netflix, on the other hand, proves that Apple does allow apps that are useless unless the user has a separate subscription.

<comment><USER22> Google does charge for additional Gmail storage in the form of Google One.

<comment><USER28> The Gmail app is not tied to the Gmail email service. It can be used to access non-Gmail accounts. Google Photos and Google Drive both allow in-app purchasing of additional storage space billed through Apple.

Edit: Added statement about Gmail app working with non-Gmail email accounts.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Why don't these rules apply to banking apps then?

I wouldn't consider them business-only as most individuals interacting with the App Store have bank accounts, so that argument breaks down.

I wouldn't consider them stictly "reader" apps as you can perform many non- passive things in many banking apps (make deposits, iniatiate transfers to and from accounts, pay bills, etc), so that argument doesn't stick either.

You can't use the app unless you have a (most of the time) paid account.

<comment><USER30> You need to go though KYC and other custom checks to get a bank account and it's a heavily regulated process.

</comment></comment><comment><USER31> This letter is actually astonishing. In this letter Apple:

* Chastises them for making free apps in the past

* Reminds them they've had to distribute their apps for free (almost as if they should be grateful and now give them some money)

* States they would accept their app if it provided unrelated functionality or access to competitor products (who are oddly not subject to the same rules).

* Implies that everyone is following the rules but them (which is demonstrably false even if you accept the "Reader" and "Business" definitions they provide)

Also, according to DHH, they leaked this letter to the press before sending it to the Basecamp CEO. Nice.

The argument is so strange, it's almost as if "email" is a special term of art that causes Apple to categorize this app in a way that is not is not consistent with other SaaS products. Even with that said, there are no other similar email apps like Superhuman that are subject to these rules. If I was a Chat or Email based SaaS company CEO and I relied on the iPhone to complete my multi-platform value prop, I would be very worried about this happening to my already approved app.

<comment><USER22> > _Reminds they 've had to distribute their apps for free_

Apple has never had to distribute any application for free since you need to pay $99 per year to have anything listed on the App Store.

<comment><USER32> but that $99 charge is really a way to reduce trolls and scams. For regular us devs it almost meaningless, it blocks poor people in the west and third world devs.

<comment><USER22> If there were 10,000 developers on the App Store, their yearly membership fees come to a total of $990,000.

That's pretty good revenue for troll/scam reduction.

Now do the same math for the actual number of active App Store devs.

<comment><USER24> Apple's revenue in 2019 was 260.2 billion dollars.

<comment><USER22> Yes and?

<comment><USER32> That million doesn't mean anything to them is what 200 billion in revenue means

<comment><USER22> It should probably be pointed out that this whole fight is about Apple not getting 30% of $99 on whatever signups the iOS application for a pre-release email platform would generate.

And Apple has boasted about having over 20 million registered iOS developers. Who knows how many of them are actively paying the subscription at the same time, but it's probably still a very large number.

<comment><USER24> If you think that developer licenses are even in the same order of magnitude as the value of 30% of in-app purchases I think your intuition is way off.

<comment> dylan-m 30% of in app purchases where the frictionless Apple IAP approach is deemed less valuable by the developer*

There's a very important distinction here. If Apple made their own in-app purchase API optional instead of mandatory, it isn't like every single developer would ditch it overnight. Apple's system is legitimately useful in a huge number of situations, and everyone knows that. It just isn't wanted _here_, and that should be okay.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> Does iOS support PWAs yet? I'd have thought that PWAs would have all the features required for an email application at this point.

Apparently 20% of Apple's revenue comes from their marketplaces (music, apps, etc), but in terms of profit it's probably significantly higher since the costs ought to be much lower than their hardware.

So it seems like there's a decent chance that at least third of their profit could get wiped out by PWAs in the long run. You'd think they'd be treating developers a little better.

<comment><USER34> my understanding is that their on-device browser monopoly (Safari) cripples many capabilities of PWAs, like for instance push notifications.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> Maybe it's time for Hey to go full PWA. Sunk costs with the native app though

<comment><USER36> Apple doesn't allow push notifications for PWAs, a fairly essential feature for an email app

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> > Apple typically gets 30% of in-app subscriptions for the first year and 15% > of renewals.

I think that 30% then 15% commission are both way too high. Apple should be able to charge a modest commission fee to be on their App Store but that price is way too high. Maybe 5% then 3% would be more reasonable.

But the worst part about this is that Apple is so inconsistent with its enforcement. There is an anti-competitive element to Apple's enforcement behavior that is very concerning. I'm surprised that Tim Cook has allowed this behavior. Long term this will hurt app developers and Tim should understand that.

</comment><comment><USER38> \- An app does not need to be part of the appstore to function

\- It's Apple's store - not a community project, fascinated how people seem to think they are accountable to some higher authority - it's also totally optional

\- Apple is the one being consistent

\- HEY is also built by one of the most attention seeking developers in the world, who's sole purpose seems to be criticising large corporations on Twitter

\- I like ownership of my data - not a manifesto by a closed door company based on "promises" and feel good messages

</comment><comment><USER39> Probably naive question, but couldn't they markup the In-App-Subscription by whatever % of cut Apple is taking? The same is done by restaurants for things like Uber Eat/Postmate: they have their prices on their menu, and a marked-up price on these platforms.

downvotes: mind explaining why my naive question is not a worthy contribution/question? or if you just disagree, I'm genuinely interested in understanding what I'm not grasping.

<comment><USER31> > The same is done by restaurants for things like Uber Eat/Postmate: they have > their prices on their menu, and a marked-up price on these platforms

I do not believe Apple's tax for IAP applies for physical goods or services. Only digital products or goods. If those companies are charging more, it might be for another reason.

> 3.1.5 Physical Goods and Services Outside of the App: If your app enables > people to purchase goods or services that will be consumed outside of the > app, you must use purchase methods other than in-app purchase to collect > those payments, such as Apple Pay or traditional credit card entry. Apps may > facilitate transmission of approved virtual currencies (e.g. Bitcoin, > DogeCoin) provided that they do so in compliance with all state and federal > laws for the territories in which the app functions.

> but couldn't they markup the In-App-Subscription by whatever % of cut Apple > is taking?

They can do this but they are not allowed to inform their customers on the iOS app that the prices are lower elsewhere

> Section 3.1.3(b) Multiplatform Services: Apps that operate across multiple > platforms may allow users to access content, subscriptions, or features they > have acquired elsewhere, including consumable items in multi-platform games, > provided those items are also available as in-app purchases within the app. > You must not directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing > method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about > other purchasing methods must not discourage use of in-app purchase.

<comment><USER22> > _I do not believe Apple 's tax for IAP applies for physical goods or > services. Only digital products or goods. If those companies are charging > more, it might be for another reason._

Food delivery apps have their own commissions.

<comment><USER31> Source? I believe you, but I am interested in learning more and I'm not finding anything. Would love to read if you have a link handy.

<comment><USER22> [https://www.saddlebackbbq.com/how-google-doordash-grubhub- co...](https://www.saddlebackbbq.com/how-google-doordash-grubhub-conspire- screw-local-restaurants)

You can find plenty of stuff on HN alone if you search for "grubhub" (and probably with any other food delivery app name).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> Not defending Apple here, but I see commenters making different sorts of comparisons and saying that Apple is taking an unfairly large cut. Can someone do an objective comparison with publishers of print and ebooks and what commissions they take before the author gets paid (please consider all kinds of publishers and publishing platforms)? AFAIK, that industry is far worse (look at pragprog.com to see what's considered a fantastic rate), and hardly any reader/consumer seems to be complaining.

<comment><USER2> I find it odd that so many people are relying on the "well they do it too argument", as if Apple has a monopoly on monopolistic business practices.

If you want an example of a horrible middleman in publishing that's slowly being extinguished by rebelling counterparties, take a look at Elsevier.

<comment><USER40> If at all my earlier comment was misunderstood, my intent was not to point or justify Apple's policies by implying that "someone else is doing worse, so it's ok for Apple to do this" on the cuts it takes. It's just that the comparisons seem highly selective and dismissive of counter-arguments (there was one such point about video game consoles that was dismissed too).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> The big problem with Apple and Nintendo is that compared to other companies, they don't have enough rules for app submission written out, and that many of the rules are vague enough to be subject to individual interpretation. The end result is chaos.

</comment><comment><USER42> From the article

> could work within Apple's rules by allowing the app to function as a reader > for standard e-mail, while also offering Hey subscriptions

This is apple's new stance or is it conventional wisdom for store policy?

If only Hey also worked with regular mail all would have been well?

<comment><USER8> It was a suggestion on how to update their app to comply with the policy - basically offer a free version that's just like any other email app.

<comment><USER4> I would personally love to see Hey come back with a free Apple version of their service which gives the user a hilariously long @hey.com email address and lets them use it.

<comment><USER17> Yeah, like the digital equivalent of work to rule. 1MB storage, no attachments, forced signature, etc.. It would be hilarious to see Apple respond to that because it's still more ethical than all the trial subscription scams they allow on the app store.

<comment><USER4> I wouldn't even put any limits on the account (outside of the fact that your address would be an exceptionally unfriendly string.

Since this sign up is through Apple, I assume Hey would have the device ID, and could limit repeat/duplicate/spam sign ups in some way.

I am also assuming that the marginal cost of hosting an account is trivial.

In this situation, _worst case_, someone creates a free account, likes how it works, and then has to pay $99 elsewhere in order to get a reasonable address.

This would kind of be the definition of malicious compliance. And honestly, ya, I would love it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> Here's another possible solution. Make the "Hey" app a general e-mail client for all e-mail clients that support the "Hey" protocol, whatever that is. Publish a rough draft of the protocol and call it a day.

</comment><comment><USER44> Why does Basecamp refuse (?) to add the in-app subscription? Is it only to avoid sharing their revenues with Apple or are there other reasons?

(sorry I'm not that familiar with this topic and didn't follow the whole story)

<comment><USER17> 30% (then 15% forever) of revenue is a huge amount of money. If Hey thinks they're following the rules and the app got approved the first time, Hey might already be committed to pricing that's going to be hard to change. It could break their business model.

It's also really obvious it's nothing more than rent seeking because Apple adds almost no value. The infrastructure for payments, updates, etc. on other platforms is still needed, so I'm sure the only reason they're even using the Apple app store is because it's the only way to distribute their app. 15% of lifetime revenue for Apple to host some update files is a really bad deal.

IMHO if Apple approved it "by mistake" the first time they should have just owned the mistake and granted Hey a one-off exemption from the rules.

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> Apple is certainly an illegal monopoly for not allowing other game/app stores on its handheld devices and dictating the terms and conditions for developers. And hiding behind the DMCA to ban circumvention tools for its intrusive DRM. And competing against its own third-party developers. Bring on the anti-trust lawsuits!

Fortunately we don't have to patronize Apple's evil monopoly on handheld gaming and game/app stores anymore. As for me, I'll go back to playing Animal Crossing, which I bought on Nintendo's eShop on my Nintendo Switch! (Then I'll maybe I'll lay down some tracks with Korg Gadget and write some code in SmileBASIC. Maybe I'll buy some DLC for my favorite games also - all from the Nintendo eShop, naturally.)

/s

</comment><comment><USER46> I just can't enraged by a platform enforcing their rules. Don't use their platform, or play by their rules?

<comment><USER47> One of the issues that is brought up in the article is that they enforce their rules selectively.

"All the rules they're citing should apply to Gmail and Outlook as well," Hansson told Axios. "So it's laughable that they state that we must follow the rules that everyone follows when it's plain as day that not everyone follows the same rules."

<comment><USER46> I know it's frustrating, but similarly I enforce my diet selectively. It's their prerogative, right?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER48> It's a pity that so many companies have effectively locked themselves inside the walled garden. They did it willingly too and it's fantastic until it's not.

Every time the topic of Apples app store rules comes up on HN the general consensus always seems to be that the rules are fair.

Now that a highly visible company is kicking up a fuss it'll be interesting to see if Apple even responds

</comment><comment><USER49> It continues to amaze me that Apple is picking this fight the week before WWDC.

We know that the EU is already looking at Apple, and now the US seems to be making noise about it.

And they decide to have this fight.

I usually understand Apple but this one… eludes me.

<comment><USER22> Even more bizarre considering Hey is not even publicly available yet. They could have easily deferred this fight without it having any effect on the absolutely miniscule number of new clients that are getting in before the general availability.

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> The news I read yesterday [0] (from Hey's founder?) painted Apple as the obvious villain.

Today's news (the above link) shows a slightly differnet picture.

> "The Hey Email app is marketed as an email app on the App Store, but when > users download your app, it does not work," Apple said in a letter to > Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on Thursday. "Users cannot use the app to access > email or perform any useful function until after they go to the Basecamp > website for Hey Email and purchase a license to use the Hey Email app."

Basically Hey doesn't work as a standalone free app. The user has to download it AND subscribe somehow. Apple basically dictates, the developers either 1) offer some Reader-like free features, or 2) pay the Apple tax and build the subscription feature with IAP.

I am not saying the 30% tax is justifiable.

The logic behind Apple's rejection doesn't seem completely unreasonable to me.

[0] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23542937](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23542937)

<comment><USER51> This is how the Netflix app works.

<comment><USER52> How so? I'm looking at the Netflix app in the App store right now and it offers in app purchases. I don't have to sign up before using it. I can sign up in the app (I'm assuming based on this screenshot from the App Store - [https://imgur.com/a/t6AqwEx](https://imgur.com/a/t6AqwEx)). I already have an account. Not going to jump through hoops to try it out.

Edited: added screenshot

<comment><USER22> > _I can sign up in the app_

You absolutely can't. The first thing you see when you download the app is a info string telling you how you can't sign up inside the app.

[https://miro.medium.com/1*-mAqC-14gV7zNvWdn_SNxA.jpeg](https://miro.medium.com/1*-mAqC-14gV7zNvWdn_SNxA.jpeg)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER53> Apples idea of the future is one I no longer want any part in.

</comment><comment><USER22> > _" The Hey Email app is marketed as an email app on the App Store, but when > users download your app, it does not work," Apple said in a letter to > Basecamp CEO Jason Fried on Thursday. "Users cannot use the app to access > email or perform any useful function until after they go to the Basecamp > website for Hey Email and purchase a license to use the Hey Email app."_

Imagine if all applications on the App Store had to work straight out of the box without any kind of interaction with any kind of an external service. Even my bank would be barred from the App Store since I actually need to get in my car and drive to the bank in order to have an account for the damn thing.

Rival bank's application doesn't even allow you to login even if you have an account if you have not logged into that account at the bank's website at least once. So much for working out of the box.

Banking apps do not have an exception in the App Store Review Guidelines, so I don't really understand why they're getting off so easily.

</comment><comment><USER21> EDIT: I'm retracting my statement. This is how things used to work. I don't see any changes to the policy. Yet, the app is still not getting approved. And it is not taking users to its own payment portal.

So I got no clue WTF is going on.

> In rejecting Hey's appeal, Apple notes that the developers could work within > Apple's rules by allowing the app to function as a reader for standard > e-mail, while also offering Hey subscriptions from its Web site. > Alternatively, it says Hey can add an in-app subscription option, sharing > revenue on those purchased within the app while keeping all subscription > revenue earned outside of Apple's ecosystem.

1) Don't handle payments inside the app at all, do everything payment-related on the website.

2) Implement in app purchases

These are the options. "Hey" should pick one.

<comment><USER54> They already did #1. Apple is saying they have to do #2.</comment></comment>


Swiss voters reject campaign to radically alter banking system - <AUTHOR> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-vote-sovereign/swiss-voters-reject-campaign-to-radically-alter-banking-system-idUSKBN1J60C0 <comment><AUTHOR> This was interesting to me:

> The vote, called under Switzerland's system of direct democracy after > gathering more than 100,000 signatures, wanted to make the Swiss National > Bank (SNB) the only body authorized to create money in the country.

> Contrary to common belief, most money in the world is not produced by > central banks but is instead created electronically by commercial lenders > when they lend beyond the deposits they hold for savers.</comment>


Remote Monitoring of Network Connections with Arduino and LEDs - <AUTHOR> http://www.inputoutput.io/remote-monitoring-network-connections-arduino-leds/

<comment><USER2> Just wondering if this guy got paid to do this. Not that I dislike fun, but... I'm glad it wasn't my dime.</comment>


Underused Power-Features of Nnn - <AUTHOR> https://dev.to/kodekat/10-underused-power-features-of-nnn-7e0 <comment><AUTHOR> Covers the following:

      1. Pick files from multiple locations and pass to a command
      2. Pin a frequently visited a directory
      3. Filter filtered entries
      4. Mount and modify archives
      5. Hovered file path in $nnn
      6. Preview and edit files
      7. Prompt shortcuts
      8. Running custom commands with hotkeys
      9. Selection from multiple locations
      10. Create dirs or files with tree, duplicate anywhere</comment>


Code reviews at Google - <AUTHOR> http://thebogles.com/blog/2010/06/code-reviews-at-google/

<comment><USER2> After my experience with code reviews at Google, I came to the conclusion that Mondrian had some definite deficiencies. On the other hand, later at Mozilla, we did code reviews without any real tool support at all. That was a lot worse. I wrote up some of my thoughts in a blog post which you can find at [http://curtisb.posterous.com/what-should-mozilla-look-for- in...](http://curtisb.posterous.com/what-should-mozilla-look-for-in-an- automated).

<comment><USER3> > Mondrian had some definite deficiencies

You mean like its approximately two 8s uptime? :P I do think you're spot on about how Mondrian encourages the nit-picking and doesn't do enough to encourage structural discussions. On the other hand, maybe those discussions should be had before there's any code to review. So . . . meh. Tough problem.

<comment><USER4> I found structural discussions took place in the free form areas of mondrian, and knit-picking was a direct result of two aspects: 1) An strict, but oft changed style guideline 2) The requirement to say _something_ beyond LGTM to prove that the code review was thorough.

The one aspect I missed at Google compared to other large software companies was design document reviews. I found that in writing and disseminating such documents a lot of good work was done.

<comment><USER2> _I found structural discussions took place in the free form areas of mondrian, ..._

I wonder if this part of Mondrian has been improved since I was at Google. There was a freeform area, but it wasn't really good for much, as I recall.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> <http://www.fogcreek.com/kiln/> has almost all the features mentioned and they are really really useful. Free for up to two users with the students and startup discount. The free link takes a bit of digging to find if I remember correctly.

edit:

kiln: <http://www.fogcreek.com/Kiln/StudentAndStartup.html>

Better yet sign up for fogbugz and add kiln on to fogbugz:

<http://www.fogcreek.com/fogbugz/StudentAndStartup.html>

</comment><comment><USER6> I've been using gerrit extensively lately. It's a great review system on top of git.

I work with people around the world on software -- including people I've never met who decide to contribute a change (which enters the same workflow as a project lead). It's just awesome.

</comment><comment> brown9-2 Blog currently seems down, Google's cached version: [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&q=cac...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&q=cache:http://thebogles.com/blog/2010/06/code- reviews-at-google/&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=)

</comment><comment><USER7> The open source implementation, Rietveld [ <http://code.google.com/p/rietveld> ], sounds very interesting. Perhaps it could be used in programming classes and might also fit in with pair programming training.

<comment><USER8> does using Rietveld mean that one has to use the app-engine ?

<comment><USER6> gerrit was originally a port of rietveld for git, but is its own thing now. You run it on your own machine.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I see that Rietveld is only a part of Mondrian or at least described as "not the full Mondrian tool". Googlers, what are the differences between the two. Wonder why the full Mondrian tool couldn't be released.

</comment><comment><USER10> I like Atlassian's Crucible for code reviews. Worth checking out if you have some budget for this sort of thing</comment>


One step beyond: the ascent of mountain runner Kílian Jornet - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/sep/06/one-step-beyond-the-ascent-of-mountain-runner-kilian-jornet <comment><USER2> For a lay person, could someone please explain how the kind of endurance runs he does are fundamentally different from the paved-road marathons Kipchoge wins? If anything, he has an edge and should be able to master the paved ones too due to being able to run in lower oxygen environments isn't it

<comment><USER3> He ran the Pikes Peak marathon in 3:27min. The Pikes Peak Marathon course starts here at 6,300 feet, before climbing more than 7,700 feet to Pikes Peak's summit at 14,115 feet. It then returns to the start. It is on trails (not great ones). It has switchbacks. Kipchoge's course had a total of 18m of elevation gain, and a net of around 5m...it was on roads with corners designed to not slow him down. Kilian's runs aren't just about speed or optimization they are also about significant skill. It's the tortoise and the hare...I don't know Kilian's outright best road marathon time, but I'll bet it would be extremely competitive but not world class. Eliad would win a road 50k (31mi) I'd bet, but I would put my money on Kilian for a head to head trail marathon or a moutnain race, or a 50miler.

As a point of comparison Jim Walmsley holds the outright record at the Western States 100, his pace was 8:30min/mi. He also holds the 50 mile world record at 4:50:08 (5:48min/mile). He ran the US olympic marathon trials this year...he finished 22nd with a 2:15:05 (5:10min/mi pace).

Funny enough, 2:15 seems to be a common marathon time for elite ultra and mountain runners [0]. Those last 15mins are HARD, the last 3min are beyond my comprehension as a person who prefers ultras and mountain races over the road marathon scene. But so is a marathon at altitude with 7,700 ft of climbing. So is a 50 miler at nearly marathon pace. Give them a road marathon, Eliad will crush the other two. A mountain course with tons of climbing and scrambles and choss, I'll pick Kilian. A reasonable but very long course (>50k), I'm going to pick Jim. They are just hard in very different ways. It's like comparing a rally car to formula one car to a le mans car...different optimizations.

[0] [https://www.fastrunning.com/training/marathon- training/kilia...](https://www.fastrunning.com/training/marathon- training/kilian-jornet-run-210-marathon/10982)

<comment><USER4> Kilian was supposed to run his first road marathon in Valencia IIRC, not sure if it's canceled, but he's been doing a lot of track work. And last year he took like 5 minutes off Wyatt's Sierre Zinal course record, so you never know with Kilian.

<comment><USER5> I'm curious of the result. Jornet will do extremely well for sure, but probably far from the best in the discipline. Kind of what happened in the Mayweather/McGregor boxing match.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> If you like this check out Mediocre Amateur on YouTube. Great Mountains

<comment><USER7> In the same vein take a look at tvmountain, also on YouTube. Little to no talking, almost never any music, just the sound of crampons & the ice axe. I find it strangely relaxing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> That guy beat me by 12 hours at Western States 100!

<comment><USER4> Humblebrag :) Good job, that means you were way under the cutoff.</comment></comment>


YouAttest.com Cloud Based Governance Tool for Okta Looking for Beta Testers - <AUTHOR> Hi everyone, we've built a tool called YouAttest and our V1 deals with Attestation and Certification campaigns for users on the Okta platform.  We only want people to test and provide feedback and only against preview environments.
Tool supports SSO with Okta as well using OIDC Tool is built in AWS and is multi tenant API integration allows you to start a campaign, delegate review assignments to others with Okta and certify or revoke that access to the application. Tool will then remove access to the application via API and provide a report.
Please sign up if you have any interest and we'll review and reach out!
https://youattest.com/index.php/2019/01/31/beta-testing-to-commence-feb-2019/ <comment><USER2> This looks really solid.

This looks like the first stand-alone tool I have seen for attestation of user permissions for Okta

What I like is the ability for auditors to delegate and attest to the roles - without given these auditors control of the Okta admin console.

Impressive.</comment>


Ask HN: Choosing a developer on Rent-a-coder? - <AUTHOR>

I'm dipping my toe into the water of outsourcing some code.  I'd appreciate any tips, suggestions and recommendations on how to navigate the various rent-a-coder sites. <comment><USER2> From experience:

Be extremely articulate on what you want regarding features, implementation language, how/where the core should run and so forth.

Don't accept offers to work outside of the RAC structure until you have a good working relationship with a particular developer.

Communicate frequently, at least every other day on progress and updates.

Test EVERYTHING.

If at all possible, have some comparison site in mind. It's easier for someone to code something like Y, vs. creating an entirely new concept from scratch.</comment>


Lessons from Cellphones on Distribution of Wealth - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/science/lessons-from-cellphones-on-distribution-of-wealth.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront <comment><USER2> That the poor in Africa can have a cellphone... I get a kick out of watching reruns of "Dallas". The mega rich oilmen depicted in that series did not have cellphones. But because some people pioneered cellphones and got rich, then because of that the poor in Africa are in someways richer than the oilmen of "Dallas".

<comment><USER3> > then because of that the poor in Africa are in someways richer than the > oilmen of "Dallas".

Not really; they're still poor, what actually happened is the world changed making things only once not available to anyone available to everyone. That really has no bearing on rich vs poor. Saying I'm richer today than Henry the VIII is clearly wrong, even though I have access to much greater technology and can do things he couldn't, he's was still vastly wealthier with the ability to do whatever he wanted.

<comment><USER4> Could he fly to another part of the country? Could he easily and cheaply avoid water/waste borne disease, eat fruit in winter, or call someone from his phone while on the road? He would have paid large portions of his wealth to do any of these things. So yes, nearly everyone is richer than good ol Henry.

<comment><USER5> I am pretty sure the comment you are replying to addressed all of that.

"... I have access to much greater technology ..."

<comment><USER4> Wish HN had a an notification option for responses. But I thought I made clear that with all Henry's wealth and a strong desire to purchase the results of modern technology, he couldn't get them. So he could command the labor of many times as many people as a modern poor person, but he couldn't use that labor to accomplish nearly as much as many poor people can today. Is he wealthier? I guess it depends on what you value more. Being able to have someone bring you dirty water from a well on command, or having to get your own purified clean water from the tap in your house.

<comment><USER3> Wealth is power and freedom, not access to stuff; I have to work for a living, Henry the VIII was a king with the power of life and death over others, he was wealthier by any reasonable measure. My access to greater tech doesn't make me wealthier.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Full text of the study is here:

[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/350/6264/1073.full](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/350/6264/1073.full)

<comment><USER7> Do you know what "wealth" is academically? (I don't) How much of it access to capital (credit worthiness), ownership of property, influence over the commons (political power)?

The last one is tricky. If one society says say, all water is privatized and you need x amount for your factory then you purchase it. If another says all water is communal, then you need to assuage the community to permit you x amount.

At the end you have the effectively the same thing and these two people have the same "water wealth". Measuring generalized wealth quantitatively however, I don't know what that means.

<comment><USER8> Your answer is in the study[1] (see section 1D) which was modeled to align broadly with the Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey[2]

[1] [http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2015/11/24/350.6264....](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2015/11/24/350.6264.1073.DC1/Blumenstock.SM.pdf)

[2] [http://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-FR259-DHS- Fin...](http://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-FR259-DHS-Final- Reports.cfm)

<comment><USER7> Awesome ... I have my reading for this evening. Thanks.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Today's Idea: Embeddable web forms, accessible via API - <AUTHOR> Well, even if I'm a software developer, I like drag & drop, and creating forms without many hasle.
Most of the time I write some new app (hobby), it doesn't get too big: some admin panel, few forms, few tables I need to do over and over same work: tables, models, validators, forms, handle errors....boring stuff.
I want to create a service (if it doesn't exist already) that would allow me to create forms via a web interface (form builder), allow some post submit actions (hooks or something) and get the data via an API.
Data could be stored on service's servers and deleted anytime a delete command is issued via API or web interface. <comment><AUTHOR> I found out that jotform has an api, but didn't read the docs.

</comment><comment><USER2> Like Google Forms + Google Spreadsheet?

</comment><comment><USER3> maybe ylu are talking about RAD software. there is many, i suggest you to try

wakanda screendy aurelia

happy coding</comment>


How to reach VC's in New York? - <AUTHOR>

I have a business idea and presently working on it. How could i reach to VC's in new york to discuss my idea for seed funding? What should be my approach to fix a meeting with them? <comment><USER2> Here are two things that I've done in the past that worked well for me.

1) Use AngelList ([http://angel.co](http://angel.co)) to search for investors that have funded companies similar to yours (but, that don't compete with you) and filter that even further by NY. This will provide you a good list to work from.

2) Find these investors on LinkedIn and see if you have a second connection to any of them that can provide you an intro.

This has worked very well for me in the past. As well as that, go to as many startup meetups & events and network your ass off. Keep growing your network and use it for intros. Cold emails & cold calls don't really work unfortunately.

When contacting VCs, don't go for a pitch straightaway. Instead, ask to pick their brain about a few things and get advice from them. Play the vanity card and work your way in this manner.

It's always best to go through multiple avenues to get an intro rather than a cold email directly to the VC.

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks for your reply. This will help.</comment></comment>


Test your Color IQ - <AUTHOR> http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77

<comment><USER2> This took me about 5 mins -- score 0. Gender: female, age range: 16-19.

My method: I first grouped them in a rough approximation, and then treated it like a bubble sort -- I compared two at a time and moved them if one was closer to the goal color.

<comment><USER3> I scored 904. I opened the page, clicked "Score test," and got back to work. It took me about 5 seconds. ;)

<comment><USER4> Same; almost.

I did the first row, clicked score, and noticed that I did well in that range. Then, I didn't waste my time with the others.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> If you have problems with red and green tones, take this test (if you haven't already):

<http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/ishihara.html>

</comment><comment><USER6> I can't wait to hang my perfect score on the fridge.

</comment><comment><USER7> I scored 0. My strategy: first group the colors roughly by their "greenness", "brownness", etc., and then blur vision by going slightly cross-eyed, making it easier to see faults in the gradient. Adjust accordingly.

<comment><USER8> Yeah, I got a 4 the first time, and then a 0 doing the magic-eye trick. (On a Macbook Pro LCD.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'm a sucker for charts, so I hope X-rite releases some bell-curves based on the cumulative data they're collecting here.

The eye's lens tends to develop a yellow tint over time, so that suggests the older age ranges would have more points in the cyan range. And colorblindness is more common in men, so that might show up too. Or, more likely, the charts would just show which group has the best monitors. Useful marketing information, anyway.

</comment><comment><USER10> For those with good scores, was this effortless? I ended up running out of patience. Spending longer would have given better results, but does that miss the point?

<comment><USER11> It does take some time, and it depends on your screen. Some TFTs have terrible colour resolution depending on gamma setting. (nowhere near 16M distinct colours) Lower-end CRTs will make it difficult too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I'm glad I didn't become a graphic designer.

I would suck.

</comment><comment> daniel-cussen Seeing as other people sounded like they had a hard time, I took a long time taking the test. My eyes hurt after a while (I think it's because the light cones get saturated) so I'm taking a break. After ten minutes of taking this, I literally couldn't see straight; the lines on the page looked like squiggles.

Update: got 19 (best is 0). Small problems across the map, in yellows, cyans, light purples, and pinks.

<http://i35.tinypic.com/2lm6mi1.jpg>

</comment><comment><USER13> Scored a 4 on my laptop LCD, all problems in the cyans. I found that it helped to do it kind of like a MergeSort: separate hues into 3 groups at the extremes / middle, sort each group separately, then correct any errors where they overlap.

<http://i33.tinypic.com/650keu.png>

</comment><comment><USER14> Scored 18. All my troubles were in the Greens. Anyone know if that's significant? Monitor? Or I just suck at green?

<comment><AUTHOR> I scored 80 on my CRT, but 0 on my LCD. Obviously the monitor is a very determining factor. So either you re a bit weaker in the greens, either it's your monitor that is. I would bet on the second possibility.

<comment><USER15> Scored 0 on Samsung 17" CRT :) It felt so good when I was sucking at javascript hacks.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> 4 is pretty good. :)

I would have thought that brightness would have been the main factor in a monitor, surely all the hues are relative. You aren't trying to pick something colour realistic from life, you are just ranking relative to the rest of the screen.

</comment><comment><USER17> I think it'd be more fun to write a bit of javascript to do it.

</comment><comment><USER18> Wow! It really sucks being colour blind -- I scored 51 :(. Thankfully I'm not the designer at my startup.

I wish I saved a screenshot to share my embarrassment.

<comment><USER19> strangely enough, this was your 51st backtype comment... and you had 51 people following you at the time...

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Perfect 0

<http://www.ur-ban.com/galleryv2/d/15493-2/perfect_colour.png>

<comment><USER21> Me too! Surprised me, actually :)

I wonder how many other people in my age group there were, it didn't say... It does look like men from 20-29 mostly fared really well according to the graph, but it would be cool to see more detail anyway.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> After a lot of squinting I ended up with 4. I seem to have trouble in the bluish range. My eyes are hurting now.

</comment><comment><USER23> I only did the first bar, but I got all of those right. Some of them might have just been luck though.

</comment><comment><USER24> I see this as much a color sorting ability as it is a demonstration of your monitors color accuracy.

<comment><USER24> I should add I tried the test on my laptop yesterday and scored a 90?, tried it on my cinema display today and scored a 7.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> My score was 12 (on an old laptop screen). Cyans ruined my "intelligence" :)

</comment><comment><USER26> I'm pretty happy with my score or 11... male, 20-29

</comment><comment><USER27> Your score: 0

You have perfect color vision!

</comment><comment><USER28> 20 - arh im going blind

</comment><comment><USER29> scored 0 on acer laptops' lcd.

</comment><comment><USER30> Score 37. On my laptop LCD. This was pretty damn hard :P

As a geek nitpick: Not sure I'd refer to this as "colour IQ", as I don't see how this relates to _intelligence_.

<comment><AUTHOR> I would argue that there is indeed some kind of "color affinity", if we don't want to call it color intelligence. My father is a painter, and at some workshops people often asked him how to get some specific color or another. He told me that it was a problem he didn't understood, because he never encountered it even when he started painting. Colors just come easily to him, in a intuitive way, he never had to read theory about it.

To me, there is some parallelism with the guys who are gifted at math or logic : there are a lot of things that come intuitively to them where others have to struggle. The difference is that we are more prone to call them smart than people with other sort of abilities (musicians, painters, etc.).</comment></comment>


UK music industry pushes for a new tax on CD copying - <AUTHOR> http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/26/uk-music-industry-copy-tax/

<comment><USER2> I can't remember the last time I even bought a CD. It must be approaching ten years now.

Spotify sates my music needs. The CD reading capable devices I own I can probably enumerate on one hand.</comment>


Rome is on the verge of collapse and needs urgent repairs (2015) - <AUTHOR> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11741933/Rome-is-on-the-verge-of-collapse-and-needs-urgent-repair-leaders-warn.html <comment><USER2> Bring Giuliani's method to the city!</comment>


Notes on Category Theory with examples from basic mathematics - <AUTHOR> https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.10642 <comment><USER2> The examples are more varied and developed than in other treatments I've seen, it's a good library addition. Thanks to Perrone for taking the effort. I'm liking the section relating univeresal contruction with representable functor.</comment>


"How's My Driving?" for Everyone - <AUTHOR> http://www.blinkrapp.com

<comment><USER2> So if I see someone driving while texting, this app wants me to...open the app while I'm driving and leave them a message?

Because lets be honest, I'm not going to remember the license plate info of the guy who just cut me off on the highway when I get to somewhere safe enough to do this.

Not trying to be snarky but this seems limited to parking situations or instances where you are a passenger in order for it to be used safely.

</comment><comment><USER3> Is the editable website a feature or what ?</comment>


Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler tax deals 'illegal' in Europe - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34591476 <comment><USER2> Good. I don't understand why companies need to be bribed to come to markets. Want to sell your goods, great, pay the same taxes every other company pays. This is nothing more than government subsidies for specific private companies.

<comment><USER3> I have no problem if an area is trying to land a major contributor to the area in jobs and future revenues. Giving tax breaks to get such tend to pay back in that you get support businesses cropping up to support the original beneficiary.

These deals however just don't appear to provide any benefit to the areas affected, only to the companies. Is there a big pool of political contributions in countries like these? Do they have the equivalent of PACs and such?

<comment> the-dude Starbucks has a roastery in The Netherlands, so that means jobs at least.

<comment><USER4> Modern business only hires profiles that are in short supply already. So, they went to The Netherlands to exacerbate the shortages of skilled labour while doing nothing for the insufficiently skilled unemployed ones. "Jobs" are never a valid motivation to do anything, because the ones who don't have them, will never have them.

<comment><USER5> Does coffee roasting really require that high-skill labor?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Just for the record, the Netherlands has been proudly advertising their tax deals for years.

See this presentation[1], slide 12. Right from the horses mouth:

        Reason 7 [to have a holding company in Holland]:
        Fiscal climate: Very competitive tax climate from
        its far-reaching tax treaty network to the
        possibility to conclude socalled[sic] advance
        tax rulings.

Utterly blatant. And notice the logo of Starbucks next to it. The Dutch government _advertises_ that Starbucks pays practically nothing in tax, in order to undercut other EU countries.

These tax deals usually take the form of a fixed tax guarantee: the company agrees to place their holding company in the Netherlands and pay X euros in tax for the next N years (2 to 5), regardless of their actual revenue or profit. For the Dutch government this is just free tax revenue and if they don't make a sweetheart deal with the multinational the holding company would end up in Luxembourg or Ireland instead. This way the multinational can make the countries fight for the most preposterously low offer.

[1]: [https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/binaries/rijksoverheid/document...](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/binaries/rijksoverheid/documenten/publicaties/2014/05/09/presentatie- over-het-nederlandse-vestigingsklimaat/presentatie-over-het-nederlandse- vestigingsklimaat.pdf)

<comment><USER7> Starbucks also promised to create jobs in the Netherlands by locating their European coffee bean processing plant there. Extra jobs and tax revenue sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

<comment><USER8> The problem is the "race to the bottom" as countries have to offer better and better deals to outbid each other. It's a tragedy of the commons issue.

<comment><USER9> Just throwing this out there with no idea of the reality of it, but maybe it is a good thing to have some downward pressure on tax rates from large multinationals because without that it could end up just being a 'race to the top' with countries continually ratcheting up rates unchecked.

<comment><USER10> What's more common is that the large multinationals get a targeted carve-out only usable by large multinationals, with the tax burden shifted to individuals and small businesses. A small business cannot practically take advantage of arrangements like "double Irish with a Dutch sandwich".

<comment><USER11> The corporate tax rate is not as important because taxes will still be paid on payroll and other uses of the money. The effective tax rate is not going to change much as the corporate tax rate changes because so much of the companies expenses are going to payroll and bonuses.

<comment><USER12> The goal of corporate taxes is to collect revenue from profits when a foreign entity own the company. Taxing people only works when the owners live in your country. Worse, high personal tax rates can encourage wealthy people to leave your country either on paper or directly.

PS: If your corporate tax rate is zero, then your country is often better off discouraging foreign investment.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> In 100 years we're going to look back and realize what a waste of time and effort corporate income taxes are. And what amount of time was wasted trying to levy and avoid them.

In the end, you can recover the same money by taxing dividends and income accordingly, and it's far more difficult to hide those (a person's residency is less ambiguous than a corporation; and while you can try to play games, with proper enforcement you will end up in jail for doing it).

Of course any politician will get castigated for suggesting removing the tax entirely, but that's just politics and not sound economic policy.

<comment><USER14> The problem is that you remove corporation tax and next thing you know, everybody has a personal "corporation" owning all his belonging, totally untaxed. Something most people do already, btw, because corporation taxes are usually much lower than income ones.

 _> a person's residency is less ambiguous than a corporation_

Lol, the opposite is actually true. A corporation is required to have a legal address, without which it simply doesn't exist; a person can have "no fixed abode" and still exist just fine. In fact, a favourite tax-dodging trick is to be officially registered as living on a boat, or not spending more than a certain amount of time in any country.

 _> with proper enforcement you will end up in jail for doing it_

That's very unlikely, when you directly or indirectly influence most people making the rules... which you always do, if you're rich, regardless of age or country.

<comment><USER15> > The problem is that you remove corporation tax and next thing you know, > everybody has a personal "corporation" owning all his belonging, totally > untaxed.

Property tax is independent of corporate income tax. Moreover, putting income- generating assets in the hands of a corporation to avoid personal income tax is what happens today (the corporation is just incorporated overseas), so no change there.

> Lol, the opposite is actually true. A corporation is required to have a > legal address, without which it simply doesn't exist

He's using the wrong word. It isn't that a corporation's address is ambiguous, it's that it's arbitrary. You can incorporate your business in whichever jurisdiction has the most favorable taxes. You can't file your personal taxes there unless you actually live and have citizenship there.

> In fact, a favourite tax-dodging trick is to be officially registered as > living on a boat, or not spending more than a certain amount of time in any > country.

Which is clearly illegal unless you actually do. And I don't think that works in the US since US personal income tax is collected from everyone with US citizenship regardless of residency.

<comment><USER14> _> Property tax is independent of corporate income tax._

Politically, it's very much not, at least not anymore. As we said, property is now a concept almost entirely linked to companies, on the scale we're talking about. Very few people directly own the personal corporate jets they fly around in (this is just an example, please don't nitpick -- you can replace it with pretty much any item of significant value you can think of, with very few exceptions).

 _> You can incorporate your business in whichever jurisdiction has the most favorable taxes. You can't file your personal taxes there unless you actually live and have citizenship there._

That's unfortunately not the case. The UK has non-dom arrangements for non- citizens spending significant time there; most countries will have something similar -- the only exception being the US, which can sort-of strong-arm its own citizens because of its exceptional power and reach. In most cases, the global elite can shop around for their preferred residency, Montecarlo being the pioneer in this sort of market.

 _> [living on a boat] is clearly illegal unless you actually do._

Unless you're famous enough that authorities can easily clock the time you spend here or there, determining where you live X days per year in this day and age is extremely difficult.

This is why a lot of famous people move to Montecarlo then have to eventually switch back: unlike your average industrialist, they're very easy to keep track of, being a small elite with entire industries dedicated to tracking their movements and publicise them. Why did they think of moving to Montecarlo in the first place? Because that's perfectly normal among the "regularly rich".

 _> And I don't think that works in the US_

Yes, the US is an exception. Most other countries accomodate this exception in their legal code, because their interest is to attract wealthy US citizens to their shores. You cannot extend this norm to all countries, nor would it be likely to survive the day the US stopped to be the dominant superpower it currently is.

<comment><USER5> \- Corporate jets are not the kind of property that is taxed in most places (are there _any_ jurisdictions that tax this kind of property?!) -- in all cases I know of, property tax is applied to real estate, and I suspect is mostly borne by individuals.

\- Shopping for preferred residency is not what this is about -- if you actually live in Monte Carlo, it only stands to reason that you would be paying taxes in Monte Carlo.

\- This exact time clocking actually happens everywhere all the time (e.g. take Florida residency as an example, or US tax residency for that matter)

<comment><USER16> Switzerland has "property" (wealth) tax over all assets (movable or not).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> There are a lot of stories lately that throw the idea of "union" in "European Union" into question. The tax discrepancies are just part of the picture; the varied immigration policies are also getting a lot of attention. Hopefully the EU can find a way to see itself as a truly unified whole, which would be of great benefit to the world.

<comment><USER18> The European Union is very diverse, with many different peoples and cultures and languages. This can be a source of strength but we also have to be mindful of our different needs. We saw that during the "PIIGS" crisis.

The Mediterranean countries badly needed to inflate their currencies to alleviate their crippling debt burden. Germany on the other hand wanted a strong currency. Because they all had the same currency only of those two parties could win. That was Germany and we still see the repercussions in the southern Europe.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Up to €30 million repayments since 2012? Is that it? these companies have billions of revenue and yet that's all they have to pay? How about fining them and the countries for doing so? This just seems wholly unfair.

This may be a small step in getting global players to play fairer, but from what I can tell this is still cheating the system and depriving countries and their citizens of badly needed tax income. All while competing unfairly with smaller non-global companies.

I don't get why the EU still hasn't managed to get this under control.

<comment><USER20> It's profits that get taxed, not revenues. By the way, Starbucks had an effective tax rate of close to 35% in 2014. So it's not like they aren't paying any taxes. The whole issue is about that mythical concept of a "fair share" of taxes.

My idea of "fair" would be to make taxes porportionate to the extent to which public infrastructures of a country are used. That may be easier to achieve through fees than through taxes, which would come closer to your idea of taxing revenues.

<comment><USER21> I'd posit that a far better way to judge tax contributions would be to compare them to a company's market cap. That's where we'll likely see stark realization that multi-national corporations are living the good life.

<comment><USER5> The problem with that is that changes in market cap don't directly translate to taxable income -- and when they do, they do already get taxed through capital gains.

<comment><USER20> Capital gains tax is paid by the owners of the company when they dispose of shares, not by the corporation itself.

But I agree that using market cap is not a good basis for taxation. Most companies don't even have a market cap as they are not publicly traded. And among those that do it would hurt the most innovative companies disproportionatly.

Companies would start paying dividends way too early to keep the share price low instead of investing and growing the business. Tesla has a market cap of $27bn. They would pay more than half of what GM pays in taxes if market cap was used as a basis.

I'd rather they use that money to keep innovating and tax them later on when they make a real profit and use a greater share of public infrastructures.

<comment><USER21> I'm definitely not suggesting it's necessarily the correct way to approach taxation.

I think it's probably a "more fair" alternative to the current state of things. And perhaps worthy of being part of the discussion.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Sounds like the states should be on the hook rather than the corporations. Sneaky sneaky Netherlands and Luxembourg. Betraying your own union for self gain! How unsocial of y'all.

<comment><USER23> Indeed; as a matter of fact, they should be. This is a textbook coordination problem.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> We should value companies not by earnings but by tax contributions.

<comment><USER25> Hm.... cap dividends relative to tax payments?

<comment><USER26> Or just tax dividends with a not neglect-able rate.</comment></comment></comment>


How to Build a Thorium Reactor at Home - <AUTHOR> https://sparkonit.com/2019/05/24/build-thorium-reactor-home/ <comment><USER2> Blogspam with barely any details.</comment>


Non-addictive CRISPR-edited tobacco could help eliminate smoking - sahin-boydas https://www.newscientist.com/article/2207636-non-addictive-crispr-edited-tobacco-could-help-eliminate-smoking/ <comment><AUTHOR> Nicotine isn't what makes tobacco carcinogenic. I don't see how this wouldn't have the opposite effect and encourage people to smoke more.</comment>


Show HN: Bail While You Can – Escape Coronavirus in Bali - <AUTHOR> https://bailwhileyoucan.com <comment><USER2> Exactly - I have gotten ill in Bali once - its not pretty... they can cremate you there and toss your ashes into the sea before you can spell Corona.

<comment><USER3> Even though they have a rabies epidemic, there is literally no where on the island where you can get the rabies vaccine. So if you get bitten by a monkey (which like 1/3rd of people who visit Bali do) then you need to get helicoptered off the island. This just strikes me as being beyond dumb.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Going to a place with no hospitals during a global pandemic? Bold strategy.

</comment><comment><USER4> The description says 2000 and the title says 1200</comment>


Do Sisters Make Us Happier?  - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/10/do-sisters-make-us-happier/

<comment><USER2> It sounds like the question should be do women make us Happier

</comment><comment><USER3> If you know what I mean.</comment>


Bigger, better, cheaper: wind power is flourishing in the US - <AUTHOR> http://www.vox.com/2016/8/19/12549516/wind-power-2015 <comment><USER2> The real coup will happen when energy storage catches up with wind/solar production. The biggest problem with wind/solar, imho, is that they don't map well to how the electrical grid works. Power is produced by the sun shining and the wind blowing, whether or not that matches consumption. The doesn't well match the baseline + peak load model that currently drives the grid (and maps well to highly stable sources like nuclear and coal).

Once storage becomes common and cheap, the grid can be stabilized. Take advantage of cheap production (sun is shining, wind is blowing) and store the surplus, then feed the stored surplus back into the grid when the plants aren't producing. It's a whole different model, one that can support highly optimized computerized pricing and arbitrage. It will maximize the performance cycles of solar/wind.</comment>


How can a programmer learn to design websites that don't suck - <AUTHOR> http://vascop.github.com/blog/2012/07/25/how-can-a-programmer-learn-to-design-websites-that-dont-suck.html <comment><USER3> I think many programmers don't put an emphasis on design because they think it doesn't matter. They would rather get something done rather than make it look good. There is nothing wrong with this approach, but I would say the first step is to realize that design is important, too.

Many people say, "oh, well, I don't have design skills". I think everyone has design skills, it's just something you have to work at. And the first step is to pay attention. I like this line from the article: "I started to look at things, and I saw what looked right and I tried to memorize it." That's basically the advice I would give too. Even if you can't design, you can tell what looks professional from what looks half-baked. The next time you come across a well-designed site, ask yourself, what makes this so much better than other sites? Is it the way things are laid out? The choice of font? The colors?

And once you have a good foundation, look to the details. Consistency in spacing or alignment, emphasis of elements, etc. Use your instinct - <USER2> something looks bad or unprofessional, fix it.

That's really all there is to it.

<comment><USER4> I think many programmers don't put an emphasis on design because it's really frikin hard. A really good visual design is like a really good system design. It takes a lot of thought, experience, and a ton of work to achieve.

With enough experience you'll get significantly better, and like programming there are some core concepts that will continue to be useful. However, like programming, it's also changing constantly and requires effort and passion to keep up with it.

One person can certainly achieve both, but it's definitely not an afterthought; "oh yeah, I need to do a little design here, shouldn't take too long".

<comment><USER5> I'm a programmer, and I care about it. And I agree that it's really frikin hard.

I can look at a design and know if it's good or bad. That's easy. Knowing _why_ and how to fix it is the hard part.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> The first thing you'll notice in this article is that each section header is closer to the previous paragraph than to the next one.

<comment><USER7> Also the text is fully justified, which is generally not the way to go on the web.

<comment><USER8> Maybe out of context, but I really hate justified text.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'm currently reading "Design for Hackers". It's an interesting book and with some parts it's made me think differently with how I see things.

I know a lot of people will probably dismiss "learning how to design something" as "don't try it" or "if you're coder then you're not going to get it" but I kinda disagree. It doesn't hurt for someone from a coding background to learn about design or to try design themselves, or at least know what makes a good design. Even knowing just a little bit could be beneficial.

<comment><USER10> Oldies but goodies - _The Mac is not a typewriter_ and _Beyond the Mac is not a typewriter_ by Robyn Williams. It's not Mac-specific, and both have a lot of examples of how you can improve design.

Fairly eye-opening if you're not used to having a design eye. Even simple things like alignment and grouping related things can have a big impact.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Read Bret Victor's amazing post on the subject: <http://worrydream.com/MagicInk/>

</comment><comment><USER12> I don't think "Never use absolute positioning" is sound advice.

It has it's place and is a perfectly valid way to position things. And once you know how Absolute works in relation to containing divs, it's quite simple to use absolute in a flexible way.

<comment><USER13> IMO, absolute positioning is one of those "don't use until it you know when to use it, at which point you won't need a guide like this" things. It's good advice until you have the foundational knowledge to disregard good advice when appropriate.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Design requires effort and practice just like anything else.

SmashingMagazine, Forrst, and The Non-Designer's Design Book are all great on teaching fundamentals and talking about things you should keep in mind.

Programmers can learn quite a bit of it just like anything else.

</comment><comment><USER15> Hey! I bought Woody Landing for a project I'm launching soon. It's a nice one.

Another good resource for learning design is the eBook: <http://bootstrappingdesign.com/>

<comment><USER16> Man, $39 seems like a terrible price point for that. Forty bucks is a really good price for a well-designed, full-color hardcover book, not an e-book. $10 and I would've bought it already, but now I'm just queuing it up on Goodreads to _maybe_ buy at some point in future.

EDIT: wording

<comment><USER15> Seriously? $39 is a great deal for learning something so absolutely fundamental to working on the web.

A good theme from themeforest will run you $10-$30. If you stick 100% to the theme you'll look generic (also true with twitter bootstrap), if you deviate to differentiate but don't know what you are doing you'll still end up with a mess.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> The recommendation here is essentially "Start with this very common design (a Bootstrap theme), then add/change {something}, and voila!" which is obviously missing a significant "something" in terms of instruction. I believe that there is a way to acquire design intuition of the kind I seek as a programmer to bridge me into more robust design work, even if it takes time and practice, but reading another article telling me to use Bootstrap themes isn't it.

</comment><comment><USER8> I think the best way to get into this is to follow web design blogs and inspiration galleries. From my experience, designing websites becomes a lot easier after experience. Also, in terms of CSS, LESS and SASS are really great, everyone should use them.

</comment><comment><USER18> Just let your interest in design be bigger than your interest in programming for a little while.

</comment><comment><USER19> copy paste some css?

</comment><comment><USER20> What worked for me was to constantly look at designs in templatemonster and try to write down the reasons they looked good; then I would try to create one design using those ideas. Of course, I also read a lot of Photoshop tutorials.

</comment><comment><USER21> 1\. Don't Try. 2\. See 1.

Seriously. Some people have artistic skills and sensibilities. Most don't. So you're much better off spending a small amount of money to get a proper designer to help you out.

<comment><USER22> It is absurd to generalise like this and tell people not to try without knowing their background and goals.

While I personally don't see the point in spending my time learning design skills, this is because my current goal is to move away from doing the work myself to managing others doing the work.

Assuming your statement that only some people have artistic skills is correct, and even assuming the proportion is very low for the statement to be interesting, you're still making an assumption that people with artistic skills and sensibilities are always aware of them. What does e.g. a 22 year old "programmer" have to lose trying their hand at a new skill? They may discover a passion or talent they never realised they had and your advice would see them miss this opportunity.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> That is one expensive ebook. $39 bucks!?</comment>


A First Guide to PostScript - <AUTHOR> http://www.tailrecursive.org/postscript/postscript.html

<comment><USER2> Postscript is a surprisingly useful print file format although it's use does require taking time to learn (what is effectively) a stack based programming language.

If you are wondering just what the key advantages are - well you end up with a compact, re-usable file structure that is searchable and (broadly) human sensible. An excellent format for archiving documents once they have been generated.</comment>