Ask HN: Does mint.com store banking passwords in plaintext? - <AUTHOR> I just tried signing up for Mint.com and was astonished when it asked for my banking password; I thought for sure they had some sort of better arrangement than that. If Mint is signing into my bank account directly, rather than using some sort of secure API to access it, then that must mean they're storing bank account passwords in plaintext, does it not?<p>I am certain I must be wrong, as this would be preposterous, but I would really like to hear if anyone knows how this actually works before I give them that sort of information. <comment><USER2> Mint's 2010 VP of Engineering answers this question on Quora: [http://www.quora.com/How-do-mint-com-and-similar-websites- av...](http://www.quora.com/How-do-mint-com-and-similar-websites-avoid- storing-passwords-in-plain-text/answer/David-K-Michaels?share=1)

Apparently, it's stored encrypted but will be decrypted on-the-fly when Mint needs to refresh your banking data.

Edit: Here's the patent he referred to that handles the decryption: [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph- Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=H...](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph- Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search- bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/8566952)

<comment><AUTHOR> That's perfect, thanks. Answers question precisely.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I don't know about Mint, but a lot of companies use Yodlee, which provides an API so that if a user gives you their banking credentials, you can pass those to Yodlee and access their bank account. I think Yodlee is basically a giant screen-scraping project that uses the credentials to log in via the bank's HTML login form and get account details. I think it's a pretty expensive API to use. This whole thing seems crazy to me. I can't imagine entrusting another company with my banking password! And as the Mint Quora answer says, this system basically requires them to store your bank password with reversible encryption.

<comment><USER4> Fun fact about Yodlee: if you link a bank account to a PayPal account, by the very act of doing so, you grant Yodlee and PayPal power of attorney

Makes ya think about the fine print with sites that deal with bank account details.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Regardless of how Mint.com secures the passwords, simply supplying the password to a 3rd-party such as Mint likely violates the TOS for your bank. Whether this would become an issue should your account become compromised (via Mint or something completely unrelated) is impossible to say, but it's enough to have made me stay away from Mint.

</comment><comment><USER6> The guys who sold Mint.com probably felt a huge load/mess taken off their backs. The engineering needed to support their entire operations probably required a ton of maintenance.

Also, I chose not to use Mint because a lot of banks LOCK you out when they detect a login from an IP that isn't usually yours.

</comment><comment><USER7> I'm amazed banks don't provide a read only login to use with services like Mint. I never understood providing your banking full access username/password to any service.

</comment><comment><USER8> Pretty safe to assume that nobody you give credentials or personal data to stores any of it in a strongly encrypted fashion.</comment>


The Complete Guide to Property Wrappers in Swift 5 - <AUTHOR> https://www.vadimbulavin.com/swift-5-property-wrappers/ <comment><USER2> Apple is failing big in making the language ever more complex while also not documenting it. The longer I observe the situation the less likely it becomes that I ever switch from Obj-C to Swift.</comment>


YAML: YAML Ain't Markup Language - <AUTHOR> http://www.yaml.org/spec/1.2/spec.html <comment><USER2> This is old news. Is there some reason this link has been posted ? What does @aegean wish to discuss.

I've used YAML quite a bit. However, unlike XML, content can get jumbled if there are say "-" inside a field. Complex content won't work with YAML. I once came across a ruby website builder that used YAML for its pages (i think it was called hobix, in the days of _why/redhanded). The YAML would get saved to a file, but when reading it would throw errors due to the content within a field.

So i ditched YAML and used pstore (unfortunately this is ruby specific and not a text file). XML has CDATA or similar tags to mark such data.</comment>


Embedded OS Development in Rust on Raspberry Pi 3 and 4 - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/rust-embedded/rust-raspi3-OS-tutorials <comment><USER2> The definition of embedded progressively loosens. RPi is a desktop that fits in your pocket. Very luxurious.</comment>


Facing 'doomsday' scenario, scientists consider fleeing Brazil - <AUTHOR> http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/facing-doomsday-scenario-scientists-consider-fleeing-brazil <comment><USER2> This is a misleading headline, it should say that budget cuts for science research has led to some scientists moving abroad for work.

</comment><comment><USER3> Come to Canada!</comment>


AMD and OTOY Working Together on "Fastest Supercomputer Ever" - <AUTHOR> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/08/amd-and-otoy-working-together-on-fastest-supercomputer-ever/

<comment><USER2> Maybe it will attract special effects houses, but the killer will be bandwidth. I suspect there will be better PC rendering engines before they get this thing going.</comment>


Mouse cursor disappears when my refrigerator turns off - <AUTHOR> https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/55pbqp/mouse_cursor_disappears_when_my_refrigerator/ <comment><USER2> Known bug #1568604: "Mouse cursor lost when unlocking with Intel graphics"[1]. There are many suspend/resume/power management events which can cause the cursor to disappear. The refrigerator cycling is probably causing a brief power dip or surge which the computer interprets as a power cycling event. There's a fix, and it's gradually going into the various Linux distros.

When this happens, try CTRL-ALT-F1 followed by CTRL-ALT-F7. That switches the display to text mode and back. If that restores the cursor, this is the problem.

[1] [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg- video...](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video- intel/+bug/1568604)

<comment><USER3> Arch has been distributing git builds of xf86-video-intel for a while, since there haven't been any releases in almost 2 years. The bug was fixed over a month ago and the latest Arch build is only a few days old. Its even noted as being fixed on Arch in the bug comments [0].

So, probably not that.

[0] [https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=94677](https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=94677)

<comment><USER2> If you can get the cursor to disappear with the display still running, the bug is related to this bug. Maybe the fix isn't complete enough.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I think thinkpads of that generation had RF shielding issues.

I had a W520 that would crash whenever it was moved across a table or removed from a backpack. Turns out the shielding on the RAM door was faulty and the static charge generated by friction on the bottom of the case was enough to corrupt the ram contents and crash the laptop. Talk about a bizarre failure.

</comment><comment><USER5> "Try another refrigerator" pretty much sums up internet help.

<comment><USER6> Just wait until you find out that it sums up everything from auto repair to diagnostic medicine...

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I think my old Optical USB mouse had a ferrite bead just for this. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrite_bead](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrite_bead)

</comment><comment><USER8> I really wanted this to be about a smart refrigerator stealing a wireless mouse's signal from the desktop trackpad, or something of the sort. Though the plausible explanation[1] is just as pathological (albeit not as nefarious).

[1]: [https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/55pbqp/mouse_cur...](https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/55pbqp/mouse_cursor_disappears_when_my_refrigerator/d8cqc2c)

</comment><comment><USER9> ctrl+f "ground": no results.

I'd bet it's a grounding issue.

<comment><USER10> Probably not grounding, but quite probably some kind of voltage dip.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I have a similar issue.

Sometimes, but not every time, when I turn on a particular halogen lamp using the same outlet as a particular computer, it triggers USB detection and I get kernel messages on /dev/console as if I was plugging in a USB device.

This is a BSD kernel.

<comment><USER12> Now, if you had some kind of home automation switching the lights you could implement a really slow communication protocol as a USB device driver.</comment></comment>


Revel Pharmaceuticals: Glucosepane chemistry for aging damage repair - <AUTHOR> https://www.revelpharmaceuticals.com/ <comment><USER2> AGE crosslink breakers are the dream man. I remember when Alteon's AGE breaker ALT-711 started getting hot... they were waiting on stage 2 clinical trials to measure arterial stiffness and ED shit, and it didn't live up to the hype. The stock cratered 95% in one day, and two days before I was desperately trying to get an e-trade account set up so I could invest.

This is why I don't invest.</comment>


Senate's Patent Act is a Big Win for Startups - <AUTHOR> http://engine.is/issues/ip/senates-patent-act-is-a-big-win-for-startups/5303

<comment><USER2> For those who want to improve patent quality, let the patent office keep its funds so it can invest in updated technology and hiring and training patent examiners. Currently, those applying for patents pay fees to the patent office, but congress takes most of the money for other stuff (e.g., pet projects in their districts). Let the patent office keep its funds paid for by patent applicants, so they can be re-invested in the system.

<comment><USER3> That would create a corrupting incentive for the USPTO to encourage and accept more patent filings, which is the opposite of what they should be doing.

<comment><USER2> @omellet You make an interesting point. The patent office doesn't really encourage the filing of patent applications though. Instead, it examines patent applications after they are filed.

<comment><USER4> Their point is that the Patent Office would have a "perverse incentive" to encourage/increase the number of filings and the numbers of patents it grants if the Office were allowed to keep the proceeds raised from fees, which you correctly point out is not the case right now.

<comment><USER2> @wavefunction. I see their point, but I don't quite follow their logic. I don't think the patent office has much control over how many people file patent applications, they just examine them once they are filed. For example, the patent office doesn't advertise during the superbowl. If they have less resources to examine the filed patent applications, then they will not be able to examine them as effectively.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> It's marginally better for startups. Something that would be a big-win is the nullification of the entire idea of software patents.

<comment><USER2> @jgmmo You raise an interesting question about software patents. Many people think that physical hardware devices, like an improved portable GPS device for my car, or a police radar gun, should be patent eligible. Many of those same people think that an app that performs the same functions in a mobile device should not be patent eligible. It could be argued, however, that in these cases, the hardware and software are really implementations of the same "invention."

<comment><USER5> I only stopped at software due to the audience. I personally am not sure I believe the idea of intellectual property is defensible, at all.

It's hard for me to imagine why someone, somewhere, should be allowed to dictate how I am or am not allowed to use my resources just because 'they thought of it first'. Especially since I am of the belief that there is no original thought.

"There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages." ― Mark Twain

<comment><USER6> Its entirely to encourage innovation. A commerce thing. If you improve a pump, and try to sell it, and BigPumpsCo instantly copies the better design, then what motivation to make better pumps?

<comment><USER5> The term for a patent is 20 years, according to my limited understanding. That's an enormous amount of time to be able to legally have a monopoly on something like 'playing video on the internet', 'in-app purchasing', etc.

Do you think when a company owns a process like that, for 20 years, that it improves innovation?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I'll never understand how low quality patents even pass, and how they can be valid in court.

<comment><USER8> I think part of the bad patent problem is that at certain points in time the patent office's backlog of unexamined patents had gotten so long they had to relax their review standards somewhat just because they didn't have enough reviewers for the volume of patents they needed to review.

<comment><USER2> @elihu Many people would agree with that point.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Url changed from [http://avc.com/2015/05/the-patent- act/](http://avc.com/2015/05/the-patent-act/), which points to this.</comment>


A Handmade Executable File (2015) - <AUTHOR> https://www.bigmessowires.com/2015/10/08/a-handmade-executable-file/ <comment><USER2> I remember the previous record was 97 bytes:

[https://webserver2.tecgraf.puc- rio.br/~ismael/Cursos/YC++/ap...](https://webserver2.tecgraf.puc- rio.br/~ismael/Cursos/YC++/apostilas/win32_xcoff_pe/tyne- example/Tiny%20PE.htm)

But I'm not sure if those will run on anything newer than WinXP.

<comment><USER3> It might work on 32bit Windows 10 but I've not tested it. The smallest of the Tiny PE files that runs on 64bit is 296 bytes, which is close to the 268 bytes mentioned in the article.

It falls down when removing the data directories so I guess modern 64bit Windows is stricter about that.

<comment><USER3> After some investigation I'm pretty sure 268 bytes is indeed a hard limit for reasons that are mostly explained on the tiny pe page

> The PE specification says that the number of data directories is specified > in the NumberOfRvaAndSizes header field and the size of the PE optional > header is variable. If we set NumberOfRvaAndSizes to 0 and decrease > SizeOfOptionalHeader, we can remove the data directories from the file.

> Most functions that read the data directories check if NumberOfRvaAndSizes > is large enough to avoid accessing invalid memory. The only exception is the > Debug directory on Windows XP. If the size of the Debug directory is not 0, > regardless of NumberOfRvaAndSizes, the loader will crash with an access > violation in ntdll!LdrpCheckForSecuROMImage. We need to ensure that the > dword at offset 0x94 from the beginning of the optional header is always 0. > In our PE file this address is outside the memory mapped file and is zeroed > by the OS.

In Windows 10 (and probably Vista & 7) this memory isn't "zeroed by the OS", so we have to set it in the PE file. This appears to be a hard limit on the minimum size.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I have a similar script which stuffs a minimal PE header in front of a perl script which then executes said script. [https://st.aticpan.org/source/RURBAN/C-DynaLib-0.61/script/p...](https://st.aticpan.org/source/RURBAN/C-DynaLib-0.61/script/pl2exe.pl)

</comment><comment><USER5> Back when I was in high school and trying to wrap my head around assembly language and how CPUs and operating systems worked and all that fun stuff, I ended up learning _just enough_ x86 machine code to implement small DOS COM programs directly in a hex editor.

I've long since forgotten how to do most of this, but just for fun, I went back today and tried to work some of it out again. (So please forgive me if I make a mistake in my write up! It's been ~15 years since I last did this...)

Here's a very short DOS COM program to print "Hello, world!" to the console -- annotations as to the assembly code and ASCII data are on the right. As you can see, this is short enough to enter by hand into a hex editor without too much trouble:

        B4 09                       mov AH, 09h
        BA 0B 01                    mov DX, 010Bh
        CD 21                       int 21h
        B4 4C                       mov AH, 4Ch
        CD 21                       int 21h
        48 65 6C 6C 6F 2C 20        Hello,<space>
        57 6F 72 6C 64 21           World!
        0D 0A 24                    \r\n$

DOS COM files are extremely simple. They simply contain the machine code and data with no headers or other junk to worry about. Since it doesn't include any information about where the program expects to be loaded in memory, they are always loaded starting at the fixed address of 0x100. (i.e. 256 bytes into memory) DOS puts other information into the first 256 bytes -- like the command line arguments.

This program uses DOS's general purpose interrupt, 21h (i.e. hex 21 -- which is 33 in decimal) to perform two operations. When int 21h is executed, the CPU hands control to DOS's interrupt handler to determine what to do. For interrupt 21h, DOS looks at the high byte of the AX register (AH). For the first operation, this is 09h, which indicates that we want DOS to write a $-terminated string to the output console. (I have no idea why DOS used $-terminated strings instead of null terminated strings.) The address of the first byte we want copied to the output is stored in the DX register. If you count the number of bytes from the start of the program until we get to the 'H' (hex 48) in "Hello, World!" you'll see that it is 11 bytes from the start of the program (bear in mind, we start counting from 0). In hex, the decimal number 11 is writen as 0B. Since, as mentioned earlier, DOS COM programs start executing at 0x100, the actual address that the string will be loaded into is consequently 0x100+0x0B = 0x010B. Intel processors are little-endian, which means that we need to write the bytes of this 16-bit address _backwards_ in the file (i.e. the "little end" comes first). Thus, the code "BA 0B 01" to load 0x010B into the 16-bit DX register. (BA being the "MOV DX" part of the instruction.)

Ok -- short aside -- _technically_ what I wrote above is not quite the full story, as the address that gets printed is actually DS:DX (DS being the "data segment" register), not just the address in the DX register. Early x86 had some unusual ideas about ways of addressing memory and used a segmented memory model. Basically, the 8086 had 20 pins allocated for specifying a memory address to future proof it up to the enormous memory size of _an entire megabyte_ \-- admittedly, that probably seemed outrageously huge in 1976 -- but the registers were only 16-bits wide. In order to address the additional memory, the designers took a 16-bit number from one register (such as DS), shifted it by four bits (so that it filled up the top-most 16 of the 20 pins), and _added_ another 16-bit address to that to get the full 20-bit address accessible by the chip. So, DS:DX would refer to the 20-bit address (DS<<4 + DX). This had some benefits for compiler writers at the time, but confused _the hell_ out of a lot of other programmers since bytes were not uniquely addressed (e.g. 0000:0010 and 0001:0000 both evaluate to 0x00010 in the 20-bit linear address space). As memory sizes grew and grew, this didn't work out so well, and has been abandoned in newer processor modes. Alright, that's enough of an aside! The entire program here is small enough to fit in one segment (it's only 27 bytes long!), so we don't need to worry about segments -- but I thought it might be interesting to some people as a historical curiousity.

The second interrupt we use is 21h with AH set to 4Ch. Executing this interrupt tells DOS that we want to end the program. Obviously, we need to quit, otherwise, it will continue on and try to execute the data string, then whatever other gargabe is in memory. Simple enough.

Well, that's about it. I don't know if this will still work on recent incarnations of Windows natively -- I suspect the last version it would work on is probably 32-bit Windows 7 -- but it can be run under DOSBox if not. Just get a hex editor, and have at it. :D

Here are some links that might be interesting if you want to know more about this stuff:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_memory_segmentation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_memory_segmentation)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8086](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8086)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Program_segment_prefix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Program_segment_prefix) \-- i.e. what's in the first 256 bytes for COM programs on DOS

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

[http://spike.scu.edu.au/~barry/interrupts.html](http://spike.scu.edu.au/~barry/interrupts.html) \-- list of DOS 21h interrupt commands

<comment><USER6> In the old days you could have just made an empty file and renamed it with a .com extension, and it would have executed.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Why would it return 44?? What madness is this?!

<comment><USER8> The code in the .TEXT section looks like this:

      push 44
      pop eax
      ret

So it assigns 44 to eax (in a slightly convoluted way) and returns.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Is it organic and grass-fed though?

Anyway, I wonder if that's how the 1980s - 1990s viruses were replicating.</comment>


Using MySQL as a NoSQL - A story for exceeding 750,000 qps on a commodity server - <AUTHOR> http://yoshinorimatsunobu.blogspot.com/2010/10/using-mysql-as-nosql-story-for.html <comment> mike-cardwell Neat. I didn't know you could do anything like that with MySQL. Does Postgres have an equivalent? I wouldn't move from an SQL DB to a NoSQL key/value store without a significant performance improvement. Seems like you can tune MySQL far more than I realised...

<comment><USER2> InnoDB was initially designed as a KVS. MySQL only added the SQL frontend to it.

Initially, MySQL also supported BerkeleyDB, another KVS, but as for now they dropped the support.

From InnoDB's point of view, MySQL is just a client, as is HandlerSocket the author is using.

PostgreSQL's storage engine is much more closely integrated into the system and has no low-level API easily available from the outside.

<comment><USER3> Yes, InnoDB was standalone. But it had it's own SQL parser and things like Stored Procedures as well ;) It was rudimentary, but I don't know if KVS is the best description.

How MySQL and InnoDB talk is very much a K<->V / row based relationship.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Interesting that bypassing the SQL part of MySQL would increase performance by that much. In the comments he says that prepared statements would still be slower but it would be useful to see some numbers on his hardware to compare with.

<comment> mike-cardwell I agree that the figures would be useful. His response in the comments was reasonable though:

"Prepared Statement is still expensive in MySQL. It avoids SQL parsing, but it still has to open/lock/unlock/close tables, make query execution plans, etc."

<comment><USER5> The whole point of the article is to measure QPS, so I think it's fair to want numbers to back up that statement instead of speculating.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> So, if you're bypassing most of the bits of an RDBMS, what do you actually gain? Is the InnoDB storage engine that much superior compared to other products? Or is it about the management and admin features, e.g. sharding, replication?

<comment><USER2> _So, if you're bypassing most of the bits of an RDBMS, what do you actually gain?_

Speed.

 _Is the InnoDB storage engine that much superior compared to other products?_

InnoDB is faster than MySQL over InnoDB.

<comment><USER6> Sorry about the awkwardly worded question. What I meant is, what do you actually get from using MySQL? I can understand that a lot of people aren't willing to make a switch to some dedicated KVS, but going through all that effort would seem to require the same amount of time, if not more. So there has to be something about using MySQL that makes it worth using even in this stripped down configuration.

<comment> mike-cardwell I think the idea is that you store your data in a relational model and access it using SQL. But for things that need to be looked up a lot, and very quickly, rather than tagging on a KV store in front of MySQL, use the method he describes instead.

This way you don't end up duplicating the cache, it is shared between the two different types of lookups. You also don't end up with data inconsistancies. And yet you get the speed that a dedicated KV store would have got you anyway.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> There was a little discussion when this article was posted here three weeks ago: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1807527>

(OT: under what circumstances are duplicate submissions allowed? There's nothing in the FAQ or the Guidelines.)

<comment><AUTHOR> Interesting… I didn't bother searching for a previous discussion as I was under the impression that when you submit a URL that was already submitted you were simply taken to that page and upvoted it.

<comment><USER8> I think this is what should happen, or at least the duplication should be noted to the poster before they commit their new entry.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Pretty cool. It seems this kind of hack would also integrate well into the Drizzle project as it's designed for light weight pluggable storage. I'm curious if this has any impact on thread buffers and the number of clients MySQL can accept. It's great to be able to perform 750k QPS, but if you're still limited to a few thousand clients, other solutions may be preferable.

</comment><comment><USER10> Cool project. It's great to see people doing things like this. On the other hand, I don't know that it would be useful for many people. Note this caveat near the end.

> No benefit for HDD bound workloads

Which is most workloads.

The author cites the expense of memory as the drawback to memcache. It's true, a large pool of dedicated memcache machines can be quite expensive. However, the given technology only works when the database fits in memory. If the database fits, then a cached subset of it certainly will fit as well. So memcache will only use a single server. One server is not a major expense compared to overhauling an application to marry it to a custom MySQL extension.

Also consider what happens if the database ever does grow beyond memory capacity. If you're using memcache, you might just need to add more cache servers. With HandlerSocket you'd have to... switch to memcache. Then add more cache servers.

<comment><USER2> "HDD bound" here means that not all data fits into the cache.

Given the average RAM size on even an entry-level server (some 16 or maybe even 8 GB) and the average size of a database (same 8GB on <http://musicbrainz.org/>, the largest online music database), I wouldn't claim that it's "most workloads".

<comment><USER11> If we're comparing anecdotes, the _smallest_ database I deal with on any given day is 50GB. Enterprise applications trap lots of data. I don't know that most of our queries are HDD bound, but a significant portion of them are.

<comment><USER2> OK, OK. Most of _your_ workloads are HDD bound.

<comment><USER11> Isn't that the definition of anecdote?</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Which language do you prefer for back end development? - <AUTHOR> Just based on the quality of tools available, not the quantity or specific language quirks. <comment> git-pull Python is the best.

I converted from PHP -> Python a long long time ago. But it was my first programming language.

PHP and Laravel is excellent. In particular, Laravel developers come across as very intelligent to me. In the end though, Python has multi-spectrum dominance.

Post about Python's tools: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15957273](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15957273)

Python has Django ([https://www.djangoproject.com/](https://www.djangoproject.com/)). It's 90% as good as Laravel. Which means it's very, very good.

But the thing with Python is it owns PHP when you're doing non-website stuff. If you can be convinced to give up Laravel (it may be hard), Python is easily the best choice.

Python has PEP standards PEP8 (code style) and PEP257 (code docs) long before PHP PSR's became a thing.

Scraping. Normalizing data. Python can handle big data sets. Machine Learning/AI.

Has documentation via Sphinx. Here's an example of one of my projects: [https://cihai.git-pull.com](https://cihai.git-pull.com). Here's an example of generated API docs: [https://cihai.git- pull.com/en/latest/api.html](https://cihai.git-pull.com/en/latest/api.html).

The nature of being "Pythonic" spreads into open source code, and later into teams, so the libraries you pull in have a familiar style.

OOP is implemented better in python. That rubs off onto the quality of the libraries and how enjoyable they are to implement.

In my opinion, once you get a hang of Python, it's much easier to read than PHP.

<comment><USER2> I've done php, ruby, go, c++, c, java, javascript, and python and I must say I prefer python the most for generic server side stuff. Super well organized and documented. Just the right amount of abstraction. I like c++ for lower level stuff, where python starts to fall off. Go is growing on me but its still so much easier to be productive in C++ in most realistic situations. I use C only when I can't use C++, which is rare.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> PHP. Laravel is an absolute joy to work with. Everything is pretty much intuitive with a lot of sane defaults that allows a new guy go get running quickly with the codebase. And it integrates with pretty much everything.

When I really need to squeeze out performance, I simply switch to Phalcon. Granted it needs some time to configure up due to its nature and it has less community packages and integrations compared to Laravel but the performance gains are absolutely worth it.

</comment><comment><USER4> I prefer PHP because:

* rapid prototyping (You can write clean code but you don't have to)

* Incredible ecosystem

* Smart Frameworks: Laravel, Lumen

* The language is evolving (PHP7 etc.)

* Easy to learn and easy to use

</comment><comment><USER5> Java and Python are the two I have done the most with. They are pretty close, but java doesn't seem to have anything like Django. I have gotten paid a lot more for Java work though.

</comment><comment><USER6> I converted from PHP/Laravel to Go about two years ago. Performance is amazing. Plays well with k8s. There are several good frameworks, but I'm, so far, just using straight Go.

IoT integration is fabulous - see [https://gobot.io](https://gobot.io)

</comment><comment><USER7> Go/Ruby/whatever--tons of good options, and I still regularly see startups posting PHP jobs (especially Laravel).

It's funny, because with so much happening in the front-end, the back-end largely seems like a "solved" problem. (Even if that isn't strictly true, and I expect the pendulum will eventually swing back, along with more efforts aimed at complete integration.)

</comment><comment><USER8> C# and for web applications, there's ASP.NET (Core or ASP.NET MVC 4/5)

* Visual Studio for debugging * Unit Testing Tools * Package manager (Nuget, NPM integrated for front-end if your doing client-side development as well)

</comment><comment><USER9> Ruby. There are quite a lot of fantastic and well maintained gems, great tooling, easy to use, and a joy to develop in.

</comment><comment><USER10> PHP is paying my bills aswell, but I prefer Node.js which has zillions of open-source packages.

</comment><comment><USER11> First of all, I don't think there is anything out there that could beat Java + IntelliJ + Spring boot.

It does not matter if you use WebStorm, Clion, Rider ?, one must admit that IntelliJ is a Java IDE at its heart.

It's very hard to describe how amazing the tooling is because you cannot describe a color to blind people. This is not meant to be offensive.

There is one way I could at least try it. If you are using Vim/Emacs and everything feels like 'flying', that feeling multiplied by 3.

That's what IntelliJ + Java is. If you then also install the Vim plugin, you got the best of both worlds.

I did asp.net mvc with C# and VS, it's not even close. I did Rails a few years, not comparable ... I tried to so many languages and frameworks, nothing comes even close to IntelliJ+Java+Spring boot.

Since I'm already procrastinating, I'd like to kill a few myths about Java and web development in Java.

1\. OMG XML. I cannot remember the last time I had to dive into XML.

2\. I can hit refresh and instantly see changes, can you do that in Java?

Yes, every modern web framework has hot-reload, you don't wait, you just save and hit the browser reload button. It almost feels like a scripting language.

3\. How about ORM's and DB access in general ? We got the mother of all ORM's, hibernate but if don't like ORM's there are great alternatives.

Jooq[0], which feels almost like SQL:

create.selectFrom(BOOK) .where(BOOK.PUBLISHED_IN.eq(2011)) .orderBy(BOOK.TITLE)

There is also Spring data JPA ( sits on top of hibernate ), which pushes the abstraction to the limit. Imagine we got a User class with properties name, age, gender.

You could just create a method like this:

User findByNameAndAge(String name, Integer age);

That's it, spring JPA[1] would automatically understand what you meant by that, it would create the query for you.

The Spring framework in general has probably everything you would ever need in a project, no matter how small or big it is. If for some weird reason, I'd need a lib that tries to communicate with aliens, I'd probably look for it in the Spring framework because someone probably already wrote that lib.

Security out of the box, you can configure it like you please. I must admit that it's not as awesome as Rails Devise[2].

4\. But Java sucks !

Well you can use Kotlin if you really hate Java but let me ask you, when was the last time you used Java?

What If I would tell you that the folks who are working on Java are smart fucks who made many impossible things possible. If you know Java 5, many things have changed.

memberNames.stream().filter((s) -> s.startsWith("A")) .map(String::toUpperCase) .forEach(System.out::println);

Java now supports functional programming ( it's not like Scala but hey ... it's alright )

Most likely the next update[3] will bring this:

var user = new User("john");

Real threading, raw power, amazing mature libs, huge eco system, this blows every language or eco system out of the water.

I could talk for hours about how awesome Java is but I'll stop here.

If you are creating a single page application, take a look at Jhipster[4], which combines Angular with Spring boot with many useful generators, it's a out of the box solution with many options.

As a freelancer, I also must say that the pay is much better than let's say PHP, Ruby or Python.

If one of my side projects gets traction, I can hire freelancer in a heartbeat, Spring has > 40% market share, naturally there are many devs available.

If you can't stand Spring, there are also many other great frameworks like Play!, Dropwizard etc etc ...

[0] [https://www.jooq.org](https://www.jooq.org) [1] [https://spring.io/guides/gs/accessing-data- jpa/](https://spring.io/guides/gs/accessing-data-jpa/) [2] [https://github.com/plataformatec/devise](https://github.com/plataformatec/devise) [3] [http://openjdk.java.net/jeps/286](http://openjdk.java.net/jeps/286) [4] [http://www.jhipster.tech](http://www.jhipster.tech)

</comment><comment><USER12> PHP using Laravel. It's brilliant to work with.

I've been playing around with Node.js too and whilst it's an excellent tool, I always find myself coming back to Laravel.

</comment><comment><USER13> PHP pays most of my bills, too. Used to write a lot of Perl, too, but that's fallen by the wayside. I'm integrating more Python and Node.js, but the lion's share is still PHP.

</comment><comment><USER14> PHP is the backend language that currently pays my bills. PhpStorm and Xdebug are mature enough, so are the frameworks such as Laravel.

</comment><comment><USER15> I guess depends what you do, for my stock trading robots I chose Python, just because of some of the financial libraries, (which I didn't use in the end)... it has a shitty syntax, and any language would do in my case, but I am not a developer so take my advice with a grain of salt: the end result is what matters...

</comment><comment><USER16> My default is Groovy, based on a myriad of different factors.</comment>


Show HN: Openring, a free and decentralized network of blogs - <AUTHOR> https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/openring <comment><USER2> This article gives a good rundown of what a webring was.

[https://www.hover.com/blog/what-ever-happened-to- webrings/](https://www.hover.com/blog/what-ever-happened-to-webrings/)

> A webring contained a list of websites that all contained a similar theme. A > single moderator — or Ringmaster — was in charge of approving and adding > each website to a webring. Sites participating in a webring would then place > the ring's navigation box at the bottom of their site, which would bring > visitors to whichever site was next or previous in the list (depending on > which option they selected). If a visitor was on the last site in the list > and clicked next, the list would loop back and load the first website in the > list, in essence forming a ring of websites.

</comment><comment><USER3> If this is widely adopted, it would be quite straightforward to crawl and graph a network of all the blogs in the ring. This would be really cool! Search sucks for finding good blogs in my experience.

Is there anything in the output html that would make this crawling easier to do?

RSS seems to persist because it's on by default on almost all blogging platforms. How can we make this into an on by default option in the main static site generators and CMS's?

<comment><USER4> How would you go about getting that information on existing blogs? A great many blogs have 'blogrolls' but scraping that information seems far more time- consuming than it ought to be due to the variations in layout etc. etc.

<comment><USER5> Wordpress-based blog proprietors are likely to maintain their blogrolls using Wordpress's Links feature. Because this is a standard module that produces more or less the same output across all WP blogs, it is rather easy to parse for and scrape.

However, if this Show HN tool is for static-site generator-based blogs, then individual bloggers may have more leeway on how to format their blogrolls.

<comment><USER4> I'll give that a look. It's been a while since I checked into it but I've been wanting to map a particular blog network for a long time so that sounds very helpful.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> It's interesting that none of the comments so far complain about the size of the binary (13MB!). Nodejs and Electron projects get flak for this all the time, but Go somehow gets away with it.

<comment><USER7> I think the larger complaint about electron is the memory usage, not disk space usage. Go may have large binaries, but they run fast and efficient.

<comment><USER8> Exactly. Who cares about 13MB disk usage in this day and age? But RAM is still too easily exhausted on a workstation with a decent amount of multitasking going on.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> What do everyone use for feed reader !? My old phone used to have a built in feed reader. And my old browser also used to have a feed reader. Looked on Google play and there where very little to choose from. Thinking of creating my own feed reader ... Or have "blogging" moved over to "Youtubing" and the occasional podcast !?

<comment><USER10> I'm a lifetime subscriber to Feedly ([https://feedly.com](https://feedly.com)) which has behaved sanely since I joined and claims to have mobile apps but I'm not the target audience for reading blogs on my phone.

There are also quite a few self-hosted options, the most famous one that springs to mind is TinyTinyRSS ([https://tt-rss.org/](https://tt-rss.org/)) but I'm sure there are folks who have more experience with any alternatives [https://alternativeto.net/software/tiny-tiny- rss/](https://alternativeto.net/software/tiny-tiny-rss/)

<comment><USER11> Feedly is excellent. If they only added decent feed management to their Android client (unsubscribing from a post level in particular), it would be perfect.

<comment><USER12> Coming soon

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Looks nice. Is there any reason to use getopt over flag in Go?

How do you find the experience with sr.ht?

<comment><USER14> I prefer getopt because it's more succinct and more standardized.

I made sr.ht :) I can't give you an unbiased opinion, but naturally I think it's quite nice given that I designed it explicitly to suit my needs. Check out the marketing page for some more details:

[https://sourcehut.org](https://sourcehut.org)

<comment><USER15> Might I ask whether you have any intention to revisit this issue? [https://todo.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/todo.sr.ht/176](https://todo.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/todo.sr.ht/176)

<comment><USER16> That was a disappointing response. The overall design is ok but this really felt out of place. Hopefully he realizes that and stops blaming the "puritanical jerks" as he himself said.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> What's the use case for something like this ?

Looks a bit like what any RSS reader would provide. Or maybe it's meant to publish links to other blogs on a separate site, which could work if the articles have a somewhat permissive license, I guess.

<comment><USER18> It allows bloggers that want to keep control over their own platform and content (read: not use Medium) to be part of a bigger network of selfhosted blogs. Like in the good old days.

I for one hope it catches on

<comment><USER19> How does it solve curation & search?

Edit: I'm asking because I suspect your answer is going to be "it doesn't/that's not the point/who cares?" But people who read blogs will just flock to the centralized services that solve curation & search quite effectively and keep users reading. And then this centralized service will have strong incentives to become _more_ centralized, not less, and decentralized solutions like this one never really gain traction and become functionally irrelevant.

<comment><USER20> _But people who read blogs will just flock to the centralized services that solve curation & search quite effectively and keep users reading._

I don't think that's true. People read blogs by writers they like (they go directly to that writer) , or about topics that interest them (they follow links from a website or social account about that topic) , or because they're looking for a specific post about a specific thing (eg they Googled). None of those things are best served by gathering writers on a single centralised platform. In fact, so long as blog posts are open the reader probably doesn't care how the posts are published. (Side note: this is the flaw in Medium. No one want the subscribe to the Netflix of blogs. People might pay to access their favourite writer, but not in the long term.)

Centralized blog platforms serve the _writer_. They're easy, they often have good tools, and they have an audience, although I doubt that's actually very useful to most writers - just having more readers without caring who they are is pure vanity. You want relevant interested readers if your blog is going to be effective promotion for you.

Ultimately, blog platforms are fine. Writers are a great customer base to have. Just don't kid yourself blog platforms benefit readers. They don't.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> ah, what's old is new again. i can't wait to get my 1999 on! =)

the subtitle is a little more informative: "A webring for static site generators." i'm glad to see this kind of the movement toward self- deplatforming.

i wonder how comments are both attributable and decentralized? i'm not a fan of comments being blog posts themselves (which would be one solution to this), as they're often "less formal" than a post and should reflect that.

<comment><USER22> To be fair, lots of people (certainly I) think we took a series of wrong turns on the information superhighway in the 2000s, toward a dangerous level of centralization, so...maybe looking backward is good.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> TL;DR, because comments to date suggest people don't bother reading the link:

1/ Yes, it's a blogroll.

2/ It's meant for _static_ site generators.

3/ It solves curation and search by you doing the curating yourself, in the form of providing links to RSS feeds of the blogs you like.

Looks really nice. I think I'll hook it up to my generator.

<comment><USER24> To be fair, there's not that much information apart from the technical usage on that link. I read it but it's not that easy to parse what it's for and what it looks like.

<comment><USER25> The bottom of the post includes an image that shows you exactly what it looks like.

<comment><USER24> I got that, but if you don't know what a "webring" is I can understand how it's not that obvious at first.

I understood what it's about after reading it in detail but I don't blame people who have questions here. That's all I'm saying.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> love it! i always wondered what happened to the good old blogroll

<comment><USER27> Interesting quote from Brad Enslen about Google's possible role in this:

> Search engines in general but Google in particular: they have warped the way > we build websites, many websites used to have a splash or landing page > first: "You have reached the Gates of Marlborodor" (complete with MIDI > music) and a big Enter button. Search engines decided they didn't like that > so word spread to get rid of them. Rumors spread that large link pages (for > surfing) might be considered "link farms" (and yes on SEO sites they were > but these things eventually trickle down to little personal site webmasters > too) so these started to be phased out. Then the worry was Blogrolls might > be considered link farms so they slowly started to be phased out. Then the > biggie: when Google deliberately filtered out all the free hosted sites from > the SERP's (they were not removed completely just sent back to page 10 or so > of the Google SERP's) and traffic to Tripod and Geocities plummeted. Why? > Because they were taking up space in the first 20 organic returns knocking > out corporate and commercial sites and the sites likely to become paying > customers were complaining.

Comment is from here: [https://www.kickscondor.com/when-the-social-silos- fall/#comm...](https://www.kickscondor.com/when-the-social-silos- fall/#comments)

Blogrolls are returning here and there. Here's one I saw recently: [https://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2019/06/04/blogroll/](https://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2019/06/04/blogroll/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> I always liked the concept of webrings as a vehicle of discovery, but in practice it was always terrible. Nobody curated what could or could not be part of a ring so you were absolutely not finding good pages by clicking on the "next site" link.

They have potential, but there are nuances to make them worth using

</comment><comment><USER29> I liked this, and added it to my site: [https://www.jefftk.com/p/openring](https://www.jefftk.com/p/openring)

</comment><comment><USER30> Very cool! Since I already have my feeds sitting locally in my feed reader's db, it'd be cool if I could just pipe that out to Openring somehow.

<comment><USER30> Hmmm oh I suppose if I just exposed my feed reader's aggregated feed as an rss feed over a local http server, I could just point Openring at that! I might try to whip that together this afternoon! (I use newsboat in case anyone else is interested in such a thing.)

<comment><USER14> Actually, I'm afraid this won't work (but I would be interested in seeing if you could write a patch for it). Openring is designed to only use up to one article from each feed, to keep the set of links diverse.

<comment><USER31> All RSS readers support import/export feeds in OPML format. Maybe you could support that format as the input to Openring?

<comment><USER14> Patches welcome! I think this would be a great addition.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> Wow this gave me a serious flashback to late 90's websites and all the links to other sites in a network.

</comment><comment><USER33> This should be a Jekyll plugin as well. Maybe when I get time.

</comment><comment><USER34> Post this is right-leaning communities. Right-wing thought leaders are really getting hammered by major platforms right now and they could really drive adoption if they take up your product.

</comment><comment><USER35> Is it just me, or is this just an automated way to steal other people's content and put it on your blog without their permission?

> ...fetch the latest 3 articles from among your sources... Then you can > include this file with your static site generator's normal file include > mechanism.

<comment><USER14> It only fetches the first 256 characters and links through to the article on your own site... I guess if you don't like it you can send me a DMCA request.

<comment><USER29> Seems like it's only the first 255 characters /pedant</comment></comment></comment>


Automating with convention: Introducing sub - <AUTHOR> http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3264-automating-with-convention-introducing-sub

<comment><USER2> We've been using python Baker[1] to achieve the similar thing with a little bit of extra flexibility. Occasionally we call out to bash but most scripts are written in python.

The sub-commands are handled simply by having a primary baker that calls the execute method on the children: 'b git' => 'import git; git.execute(['b git'] + argv)'

[1] <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Baker/1.1>

</comment><comment><USER3> Is it correct to say that support have access to all data on the production databases of all products?

<comment><USER4> One assumes that all usage of 37 is logged and reported to the user privacy and data security team, and that any attempt to connect to those databases in any other fashion is a firable offense.</comment></comment>


Interpreting, Enforcing and Changing the GNU GPL: Combining Linux and ZFS - <AUTHOR> https://www.fsf.org/licensing/zfs-and-linux <comment><USER2> I began reading this expecting to find a statement, one way or the other, on whether including ZFS support (such as Ubuntu is doing) was "acceptable" in the FSF's eyes.

There really wasn't a firm statement, but there are a few key points:

> _Likewise, the copyright holders of ZFS (the version that is actually used) > can give permission to use it under the GNU GPL, version 2 or later, in > addition to any other license. This would make it possible to combine that > version with Linux without violating the license of Linux. This would be the > ideal resolution and we urge the copyright holders of ZFS to do so._

Personally, I don't see that happening anytime soon.

> _Some copyright holders choose not to enforce their licenses in specific > situations.9 That enables users to operate as if permission were granted. > However, this does not alter the meaning of the GNU GPL, and does not cause > uses that the GPL disallows to either suddenly or slowly become permitted by > the GPL. Such acquiescence is not the case in regard to linking Linux and > ZFS; indeed, some Linux copyright holders have said they consider this > copyright infringement. We have explained above the reasons why that is so._

> _The FSF is not a copyright holder of Linux, except for small pieces copied > from programs which we released under the Lesser GPL or GPL plus exceptions, > and perhaps an obscure processor port. We do not presume on the strength of > these pieces of code to tell the developers of Linux proper how to approach > GPL enforcement for Linux, and we won 't advocate a choice as if we had a > say. However, we enthusiastically encourage enforcement of the GPL on Linux > in accord with the Principles of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement, and we > wish the enforcers success in bringing violators into compliance, thus > maintaining the GPL's integrity so it can defend users' freedom._

From those statements, I think it's clear that the FSF believes that including ZFS support is a violation of the GPL.

It also made me think (because of their mention of "license termination") that the FSF might consider "terminating" Ubuntu's (Canonical's) license to distribute any "GNU software" (i.e., software to which the copyright is held by the GNU Project / FSF). Such a move would be unprecedented and devastating to Ubuntu.

<comment><USER3> >> Likewise, the copyright holders of ZFS (the version that is actually used) can give permission to use it under the GNU GPL

> Personally, I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Remembering reading that the author of ZFS has said that they would prefer if ZFS had been licensed Apache license rather than CDDL. Its not their decision to make, but it goes to show that there is people are interested in such license change.

<comment><USER4> The Apache license isn't GPLv2 compatible either so it wouldn't allow ZFS to be integrated into Linux either.</comment></comment></comment>


The cloud scales faster than your budget (an interview with Corey Quinn) - <AUTHOR> https://read.acloud.guru/the-cloud-scales-faster-than-your-budget-4460e328edd9 <comment><USER2> It was great to chat with Forrest about this, particularly given that he stripped out all of the stupid things I said and made me sound smart.

<comment><USER3> Indeed. Stupid you is the most entertaining version of you!</comment></comment>


Show HN: Zencastr – Record your podcast guests in top quality from their browser - <AUTHOR> https://zencastr.com

<comment><AUTHOR> I use the WebRTC and Web Audio API to capture the users audio from their microphone, compress it in chunks, and then upload it to the hosts dropbox account. This all happens in the browser. The server simply serves the app and sends some websocket messages back and forth so the host can start/stop the recording.

</comment><comment><USER2> Very cool! what tech stack did you use to develop it?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! MongoDB, Node.js, Koa.js, Backbone.js, WebRTC, Web Audio API, Dropbox

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> "Top quality" is misleading since the bottleneck in podcast sound quality is recording hardware (e.g. microphones)

<comment><AUTHOR> That depends on how bad your internet connection varies. Skype compression artifacts can be brutal. But yes, you are correct in that the microphone makes a big difference as well as the room you record in.

edit: grammar

<comment><USER4> That's the primary problem with using Skype for podcasting: you have no control over codec selection. When Skype detects network disruptions, it automatically changes codec to reduce bandwidth usage. Granted, if your network cant transport at the higher quality codec, you're going to get drops in audio anyway. Personally, I'd prefer the control though. It's easier to wait out a brief disruption in bandwidth than it is to coax Skype back up to a better quality codec.</comment></comment></comment>


UK emergency phone and internet data storage law to be brought in - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28237108 <comment><USER2> Oh for fuck's sake, really. And the LibDems agreed to this? Fuck them too. WTF.

If anyone wants to fight this, please donate a few pounds a month to these guys, they're brilliant: [https://www.openrightsgroup.org/join/](https://www.openrightsgroup.org/join/)

<comment><USER3> And there I was feeling a little sorry for the LibDems after their euro defeat, hoping that they still had some sense of morality.

The main UK parties are siding this and fracking. The political landscape in Britain is looking very bleak.

<comment><USER4> All the more reason to encourage a vote for an independent Scotland on Sept 18th. You'll be doing Scotland a favour and there will be a friendly place to stay if things get too fucked up south of the border.

<comment><USER5> Yes, this is definitely true. All of the issues that rich countries have with their governments and privacy will certainly not apply to that mystical, magical, tartan land, whose politicians shit rainbows.

<comment><USER4> It's simply a matter of scale. You can ignore the fantasy economics touted by the politicians. For the most part, unless the country becomes a Banana Republic there simply won't be the resources available (and hopefully the will) to run a surveillance state. I also adhere to the, almost certainly naive, view that smaller European countries (at least in the vicinity of our close friends in Scandanavia) are generally better run with less likelihood of vested interests running amok.

EDIT: It can't be any worse than the path we are already on.

<comment><USER6> When it comes to surveillance, Scandinavia is not a beacon. Sweden has their notorious law that allows any signal passing the borders to be intercepted by military intelligence. Since most of Norways traffic out of the country goes via Sweden, that's caused a few issues...

And Norwegian security services have decades worth of history of blatantly illegal politically motivated surveillance (basically anyone to the left of the Norwegian equivalent of Labour used to be under extensive surveillance - some of it so blatant it was clearly intended to intimidate rather than uncover anything; it was supposedly stopped in the mid 90's, but given that the security services were illegally monitoring the head of the parliamentary committee investigating them _while_ he was investigating them gives me zero confidence anything has changed)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment> UVB-76 Disgraceful. All we have to do is mention "national security" and we can enshrine whichever human rights violation we fancy into legislation?

<comment><USER7> Please don't assume that your view on what constitutes a human right represents that of the majority of the population. Which, after all, is what government represents.

<comment><USER8> I don't think most "democratic" governments in their current form are a very accurate representation of what people want. The way it works now is that people get to vote _once every 4 years_ on some campaign _promises_ that likely won't be implemented. And then the voted in government/parliament can basically do whatever it wants.

Also, you're wrong. The human rights in Europe are not "up for debate". It's the _law_ , and the highest Court in Europe has ruled that such data retention is _illegal_. You don't get to say "yeah, but I don't think those are _really_ human rights".

<comment><USER7> If that were the case it wouldn't be possible for the government to create a new law that over-ruled the highest court in Europe, surely...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> For those who haven't been following UK politics, there used to be an EU-wide law doing this. That law was created and pushed for by a previous UK government, and the reason they did it as an EU law rather than a UK one was to avoid all the pesky democratic accountability involved in passing UK laws. The ECJ recently squashed the existing law, so they tried to sneak a UK one in by not telling most MPs about the vote and got publicly rumbled by Tom Watson MP last night.

<comment><USER10> That's a perfectly good review of the situation.

You know when they try and sneak something in that the system is broken. The question we have to ask:

Do these people really represent our best interests at this point in time?

If the answer is no, something needs to be done, but over 100 years of population pacification (since the world wars) and the recent 30 years of entertainment-driven culture has sucked the energy away from any dissidents.

It's all working nicely for everyone, until one day it doesn't.

<comment><USER3> The energy is still there, it's just misdirected.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> We begin therefore where they are determined not to end, with the question whether any form of democratic self-government, anywhere, is consistent with the kind of massive, pervasive, surveillance into which the Unites States government has led not only us but the world.

This should not actually be a complicated inquiry.

[http://snowdenandthefuture.info/events.html](http://snowdenandthefuture.info/events.html)

Surveillance is not an end toward totalitarianism, it is totalitarianism itself.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/europe-24385999](http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/europe-24385999)

</comment><comment><USER12> I doubt that retaining this kind of information is going to make the UK any safer. The truly dangerous people are going to know that their calls and texts are being monitored, so they'll just start communicating in more secure ways: using VPNs or Tor to get to web sites in other countries, having face to face meetings, etc.

Just as in the U.S., the national surveillance apparatus is going to be used to go after drug dealers rather than terrorists, but the justification is always going to be "fighting terrorism", since that's what always seems to convince people to give up their civil liberties.

</comment><comment><USER13> Any legislation they like is put through because the population are distracted by shiny iPhones and are too busy hating each other to notice or find the energy to take action in response. "Quick, let's get this through before the pedo news really dies out" (Britain is being fed news of pedophile celebrities and government ministers at the moment, causing 'outrage')

</comment><comment><USER14> > _" More controversially the new law will also produce what is being > described as a "clearer legal framework" to allow access to the content of > calls, texts and emails after a warrant is signed by a senior government > minister."_

Government ministers can sign warrants? Is this new? It does _not_ sound like a good idea.

<comment><USER15> The Home Secretary has a wide range of powers to authorize all kinds of things that aren't a good idea, like secret trials and "public interest immunity certificates". I believe they can also direct the Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute (or not) crimes.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> "The law will include a so-called sunset clause - ensuring that these powers will die in 2016 - so there will be a longer and wider debate about what replaces them."

Because something has to replace them, right? Can't just not do anything. Got to keep the country safe... /s

<comment><USER17> This smells like a rat. They appear to be introducing this law to protect their _current_ activities, which were declared "invalid" by the European Court of Justice.

The sunset clause is an attempt to prolong the debate to the point where the public loses interest, at which point all that needs to be passed in 2016 is a simple "confirmation of existing practice" for this to become permanent.

I wonder, though, how much the European Court's ruling is binding on the UK, and if they would fall foul of it if this law is passed.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> _"...all-party talks agreed that this law would enshrine existing rights and not be used to extend them..."_

I am certain that they will sneak more powers into this bill than they had before.

<comment><USER5> Can you give more details on who "they" are, and any insight you have in to the nefarious schemes they're hatching?

<comment><USER18> The government, police and security services.

I never mentioned any 'nefarious schemes' so you appear to have filled that in yourself. My guess is that GCHQ and others have demanded more powers (some of which to cover stuff that they already did but they knew was illegal all along)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Write to your MP about this today - it has a much bigger impact than complaining on HN:

[https://www.writetothem.com/](https://www.writetothem.com/)

<comment><USER20> Sadly, the law will be passed before their researcher gets round to reading your letter.

<comment><USER21> >their researcher

Read unpaid intern.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> This is how "democracy" works. Courts declare something illegal. Government changes the laws. All without the consent of the ruled.

</comment><comment><USER23> Don't the security services have this data already? Through Tempora/XKeyscore etc. So national security should already be covered.

<comment><USER2> "The government is tacitly admitting that our current data retention laws are illegal and that they are required to re-legislate..." \- [https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press/releases/threat-of- leg...](https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press/releases/threat-of-legal-action- not-terrorism-behind-calls-for-emergency-data-retention-legislation)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Fuck them all to hell.

I have nothing more to say.

</comment><comment><USER24> Time to acquire a taste for victory gin...</comment>


Report says no major MacBook Pro upgrade is coming this year - <AUTHOR> http://bgr.com/2018/01/15/macbook-pro-2018-rumors-upgrade/ <comment><USER2> That's entirely believable. Apple has just brought out the iMac Pro and they said they're bringing out a new Pro machine this year. I would only expect the MBP to get component upgrades. Though it'd be nice if one of those upgrades included the option for 32Gb RAM.</comment>


DIY science: should you try this at home? - <AUTHOR> http://m.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/feb/03/jon-ronson-diy-science-experiments?cat=science&type=article <comment><USER2> The article mostly ranges from silliness to fear-mongering, but at least it ends on a rational note:

"Allow me to translate Ms Wilderman's words into plain English," wrote Robert Bruce Thompson, the author of Illustrated Guide To Home Chemistry Experiments. "'Mr Deeb hasn't actually violated any law or regulation that I can find, but I don't like what he's doing because I'm ignorant and irrationally afraid of chemicals, so I'll abuse my power to steal his property and shut him down.' There's a word for what just happened in Massachusetts. Tyranny."

"Robert Bruce Thompson, the author of Illustrated Guide To Home Chemistry Experiments", also the author of PC Hardware in a Nutshell and other O'Reilly books.</comment>


Questions to Ask Your Interviewer during a Job Interview - <AUTHOR> http://asserttrue.blogspot.com/2010/02/nine-questions-to-ask-during-job.html

<comment><USER2> >>Questions that show an undue interest in time off or avoidance of overtime. It may be that the job involves no overtime per se, but I still never liked getting the impression, early in a job interview, that the person was already looking for opportunities to take time off. (The first question out of your mouth should not be: "When do I get to take vacation time?") It speaks to a certain work ethic.

If you are sensitive about overtime, you save everybody a lot of bad blood by being up-front about it. Relationships are about setting expectations.</comment>


IOS 4.3.3: All Users In 1 Week; Android 2.3: 4% Of Users In 5 Months - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/04/iphone-location-update-android-update/ <comment><USER2> The stats in the title are interesting in their own right, but the article itself reads like an advertisement.

The author seems to be flabbergasted by the fact that android devices and the decisions surrounding them are not made by a single company.

Walled gardens have their perks. More open ecosystems have their own perks, they're just different.

<comment><USER3> I think the author's point is that Android users aren't really even getting the "open" perk in exchange for the "fast updates" perk - as evidenced by Google's capitulation to carriers on tethering. The way I read it, his point is that it seems (for the end user) things are just as closed as iOS, and you don't even get the updates.

Personally I think this is going to be _the_ Android issue to come. Apple customers can expect significant upgrades to the functionality of their phone over the lifetime of the device, Android users cannot even expect bugs to get fixed. WP7 users... I'm not sure they can really expect _anything_.

<comment><USER4> Both Apple and Google are chipping away at the carriers. You can't just throw ultimatums at the big players in the arena and expect them to say "Oh ok. We'll make it all open, sure!".

Apple has capitulated on a number of issues. So has Google. But you know what? We now have phones that are orders of magnitude more open than they've ever been thanks to the quid-pro-quo of those two pioneering companies. Google initially came on too strong, but found they didn't have the clout to push the level of openness they wanted, and so now they're taking a gentler approach.

The carriers need to see a benefit to themselves before they move, and even then they'll move very slowly. Google and Apple know this, which is why they apply pressure gently and steadily. They understand and exploit the politics, which is why they are so successful.

The proof is in the pudding. Just look at the market share.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> If you want Google to update your phone, buy Google's phone.

It would seem obvious that OEM phones are ultimately under the control of the OEMs (and the carriers); it has always been this way. I don't see Android getting updates in the same way a Windows PC receives them until, like the PC, OEMs allow phones to be commoditized and users don't have to root them to install a new OS.

<comment><USER3> > _"It would seem obvious that OEM phones are ultimately under the control of > the OEMs (and the carriers)"_

I'd argue this is not at all obvious to lay users. The marketing for Android devices is plastered with its name and logo. Not to mention, users are used to the PC ecosystem - your Dell Windows machine gets updates from Microsoft. So why doesn't your Samsung Android phone get updates from Google?

The _reality_ is that, for many reasons, the OEMs and carriers have a death grip on device updates, but IMO this is entirely opposite to consumer expectation, and Apple will continue to ride this point to the bank until someone steps up and fixes it.

This reminds me of the way laptop video cards used to be. Your NVidia chipset (that your OEM has no problems advertising and slapping stickers on) will never get an update from NVidia. You have to get updated drivers from your OEM _only_. Naturally video cards never got updated, resulting in a gigantic compatibility nightmare. Eventually NVidia got the OEMs in line and now issues updates themselves. Google _must_ do this if it wants Android as an ecosystem to have a future.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> The Desire HD and other devices are getting upgrades to 2.3 these days. New flagship devices like the SGS II have it too. So it won't stay 4%.

I hope that device manufacturers have improved their processes, and are able to ship updates sooner from now on. If you are not sure about that, and want Android, just get a Nexus S.

</comment><comment><USER7> Well, there is one issue: iOS 4.3.3 can _never_ reach 100% penetration. The iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G don't get iOS 4.3.x, so they'll never get the "tracking" issue resolved, unless they jailbreak (voids warranty and unsuppoted). There are comparatively less of those devices out there at this point, but it's still a significant amount of devices.

Eventually, Apple will have to resolve this. Not everyone updates their device every two years, and the number of each model they leave behind just keeps increasing.

(This is similar to the fix for the browser-based jailbreak (JailbreakMe): the original iPhone and iPod touch will always be vulnerable, unless they use the fix available once jailbroken.)

</comment><comment><USER8> It's not surprising since there is an incentive for device manufacturers and carriers not to push an update: more new device sales.</comment>


Pacemaker explosions in crematoria - <AUTHOR> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1279940/ <comment><USER2> Iain Banks uses this as a hilarious opening line to The Crow Road:

"It was the day my grandmother exploded."

</comment><comment><USER3> Favorite factoid: one (discontinued) power source for pacemakers is evidently Pu-238.

[http://osrp.lanl.gov/pacemakers.shtml](http://osrp.lanl.gov/pacemakers.shtml)

<comment><USER4> It is also mentioned in the featured article.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I really think that if folks had a better understanding of what happens in cremation, embalmed entombment and unembalmed burial that we would see a massive societal shift towards unembalmed burial.

Cremation, in particular, is a nasty bit of business. Those 'ashes' aren't actually ashes: they're bone meal.

The morticians I know would never be cremated, nor wish their loved ones to be (I don't know all the morticians in the world, of course: no doubt there are many who would be fine with it).

<comment><USER6> So what happens exactly that bothers you? After burning whatever remains is put through a grinder? If it is that, why does it bother you?

Or are you saying people are given fake remains? If so: {{citation}}

<comment><USER5> > So what happens exactly that bothers you?

The corpse is roasted, the fat melting (a fire hazard with extremely fat people), the charred and finally most of the organic compounds evaporate, leaving behind the skeleton, medical devices and any other such detritus (e.g. shrapnel). The furnace is then opened and the bones are raked out; an attendant removes anything which could damage the grinder and grinds the bones into meal (it's great for roses!).

> If it is that, why does it bother you?

Grinding a human being into dust doesn't bother you?

<comment><USER6> > > If it is that, why does it bother you?

> Grinding a human being into dust doesn't bother you?

For one, that is not an answer. For the other, no it doesn't. The brain is shut down. All that's left is cells which individually may still have some life, but are bound to die quickly anyhow. And particularly after being burned they're all guaranteed to be dead, so the grinding does not harm any living being anymore.

Does the grinding bother you more than the burning?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Easy (but VERY controversial) solution: people with pacemakers must have a tattoo in the wrist or somewhere else.

On a separate note, maybe we should all have a tattoo with some basic info: name (optional), blood type, chronic diseases (diabetes for example), medication allergies, pacemakers, etc.

Kinda like the SS tattoos, but without the SS part, naturally.

<comment><USER8> Or use a metal detector first?

<comment><USER7> Again, pretty expensive to equip every single crematorium around the world with metal detectors.

<comment><USER9> The lowest price I saw on Amazon was $18.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I'm aware of a scheme in the UK where Doctors got paid for signing the forms post death certifying a pacemaker is not present in the body. At the end of the week these doctors could collect their not insignificant (roughy £100 a body) 'ash cash'.

<comment><USER4> What would be the point of this? (Also, do you have a source?)

<comment><USER11> Well presumably a doctor is trusted to have access to medical records in a way that a crematorium isn't - or has the training to perform a physical examination if they don't have those records.

<comment><USER4> Okay. I got the impression that something illegitimate was going on.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I'm just a little bit disappointed that the references section does not cite the French singer Charles Trenet:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0KWyWwVp0E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0KWyWwVp0E)

</comment><comment><USER13> have xray machines installed at all crematoria... along with good quality kitchen knife.</comment>


'The Wake' Is an Unlikely Hit in an Imaginary Language (2015) - <AUTHOR> https://www.npr.org/2015/08/27/434970724/the-wake-is-an-unlikely-hit-in-an-imaginary-language <comment><USER2> >> Kingsnorth said this is because the words we use to describe our world shape our perception of it.

That's the concept of Linguistic relativity, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis:

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

        The strong version says that language determines thought and that linguistic categories limit and determine cognitive categories.
        The weak version says that linguistic categories and usage only influence thought and decisions.

My understanding is that this idea is controversial and in any case, difficult to demonstrate, because it's mostly impossible to know one's thoughts without asking them to put them into words, and also because language understanding is subjective and it's impossible to understand what someone is saying without placing it in the context of our knowledge and understanding of the world in the first place.

<comment><USER3> The strong version is hilariously easy to destroy: if you're cognitively limited to your language, then you cannot create new words, let alone new concepts. Since it is patently false that no new words or new concepts are created, by Modus Tollens, it is also false that you are cognitively limited to your language.

The weak version seems true to me. I think it is absolutely the case that your language colors your thought.

<comment><USER4> > The strong version is hilariously easy to destroy: if you're cognitively > limited to your language, then you cannot create new words, let alone new > concepts.

It depends on what's the thing you define a language. It might be that dictionary and grammar are only a kind of projection of a more blurry, hidden structure - a language "core". Think of how children sometimes invent new words and how these words immediately "click" with fluent speakers even if they mean shit.

IANAL(inguist) so take it with a grain of salt.

<comment><USER4> Oh, and another thing. Knowing a word is not a 0 or 1 kind of situation. More often than not if you're not sure about some word you're able to successfully guess some of its meaning or at least a sentiment associated with it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I actually just picked up 'The Wake' a couple of weeks ago. There is definitely a learning curve to Kingsnorth's "shadow tongue," but once you get the hang of it, it is very immersive and rewarding to read. It really gives you a sense of foreign place and time, as a story set in 1066 should. What surprised me is how effective it is at establishing a perspective from which you can really feel the relationship that these characters have with the world around them. I picked it up because the premise sounded interesting, and was totally blown away with how fun it is to read—I would definitely recommend checking it out.

<comment><USER6> Thanks for the recommendation, I just might do that. I was relieved to see it has a glossary[0] so you're not completely at sea. I remember getting all the way through Trainspotting without realizing that there was a glossary in the back of the book, which was a facepalm moment.

[0]: [https://unbound.com/books/the- wake/updates/glossary](https://unbound.com/books/the-wake/updates/glossary)

<comment><USER5> Oh yes—I should have mentioned the glossary. Thanks for calling that out—it is absolutely necessary in making it an enjoyable read. Once you get a grasp on it though, it's pretty easy to infer meaning of new words as you go.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> If you like _The Wake_ , you might also enjoy _Riddley Walker_ ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddley_Walker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddley_Walker)), which uses an imaginary psuedo-iron-age dialect transcribed phonetically:

"On my naming day when I come 12 I gone front spear and kilt a wyld boar he parbly ben the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs any how there hadnt ben none for a long time befor him nor I aint looking to see none agen."

<comment><USER8> > psuedo-iron-age

It's not, it's just phonetic transcription of modern urban English with some SMS-style typing errors thrown in.

Really disappointed with the crappy low-effort linguistics in that book.

<comment><USER9> Couldn't disagree more, many of the words are halfway between two other words or are deconstructions of existing words fragmenting and refracting their meaning though Ridley's understanding of the world. To give the most obvious example; Eusa is a confusion of St Eustace, the USA and Jesus with a rich web of meaning and myth springing from that conflation. The spelling speaks to how the transition from oral to written tradition can crystallise the meaning of myths, fixing their meaning.

<comment><USER10> Except iron age english looks like this:

cwæð þæt se Ælmihtiga eorðan worhte, wlitebeorhtne wang, swa wæter bebugeð, gesette sigehreþig sunnan ond monan leoman to leohte landbuendum, ond gefrætwade foldan sceatas leomum ond leafum, lif eac gesceop rynna gehwylcum þara ðe cwice hwyrfaþ.--- Swa þa drihtguman dreamum lifdon, eadiglice, oð ðæt an ongan fyrene fremman feond on helle; wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold, fen ond fæsten; fifelcynnes eard wonsæli wer weardode hwile, siþðan him Scyppend forscrifen hæfde in Caines cynne--- þone cwealm gewræc ece Drihten, þæs þe he Abel slog; ne gefeah he þære fæhðe, ac hehine feor forwræc, Metod for þy mane mancynne fram. Þanon untydras ealle on wocon, eotenas ond ylfe ond orcneas, swylce gigantas, þa wið Gode wunnon

Which is nothing like phonetic modern english, and thus his point.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Aleksander Gołubiew wrote historic novels in Polish "archaized" in similar manner. I especially like his "Bolesław Chrobry" series, also set in 10th-11th century, but in Poland. Sadly it wasn't translated to English, it's a very interesting book. Kinda like Game of Thrones but higher percentage of real history and no fantasy elements (other than people believing in folklore).

It's very funny experience to read it, at first you struggle, then you stop noticing it. Reading the third book you catch yourself using the more useful words when you think.

<comment><USER4> I feel like you always have to bend the language to match the context. I think it was Sapkowski on his Narrenturm series (which happens to be set in the late Middle Ages) who said that even though he didn't want to specifically archaize the language he couldn't use a modern version of it either. Some new words/concepts like "computer" or "holocaust" would feel out of place and be immediately spotted by the reader.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Not mentioned in this NPR article, but Kingsnorth is also one of the main people behind the Dark Mountain Project, an attempt to formulate a cultural response to our ongoing ecological collapse: [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/magazine/its-the-end- of-t...](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/magazine/its-the-end-of-the-world- as-we-know-it-and-he-feels-fine.html)

</comment><comment><USER13> When I read "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess, I found myself using many words from the slang language he invented, an amalgamation of Russian and English. (The slang language got minimal treatment in the film, you'll have to read the book). I'll have to read The Wake to see if it happens again. I still remember "horrorshow", it means good or cool, comes from the Russian "khorosho".

<comment><USER14> Also "otchkies" meaning "glasses". Means the same in Russian. I'll say it in English every once and a while.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I've not heard of this particular novel before, but presume it is about Hereward the Wake[1], which is indeed listed on the Wikipedia page. His story is fascinating and a couple of years ago I read a number of different books about him[2], with half an idea to write something myself. I'm really pleased someone else has written a new work about Hereward.

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

[2] [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereward_the_Wake_(novel)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereward_the_Wake_\(novel\))

<comment><USER16> From the Wikipedia article you linked: "Man Booker Prize long-listed The Wake (2014) by Paul Kingsnorth is a historical novel written in a shadow version of old English telling the story of another resistance fighter in the fens whose actions are regularly compared to Hereward."

<comment><USER15> Yes, I mentioned that in my comment. I just hadn't come across this one before. My reading around Hereward was prior to its publication (maybe I should have said a few, rather than a couple of years ago. Time flies).

<comment><AUTHOR> I've read _The Wake_ , and it's really not accurate to say it's "about" Hereward. Hereward doesn't really figure into its story at all, except as an offstage personage we hear about occasionally when his actions are compared to those of the protagonist, Buccmaster of Holland.

 _The Wake_ isn't a lightly fictionalized biography of an historical figure. It's something much richer and more imaginative than that. If you're interested in the period, I would definitely recommend it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Plain text version:

[https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=434970724](https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=434970724)

</comment><comment><USER18> This book is really pleasant and would definitely recommend. It is emotionally taxing at times but packed with wild imagery/poetry.</comment>


A Lean Laptop Built for Speed and Handling Everyday Tasks - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/technology/personaltech/24laptop.html?em&ex=1217304000&en=fa31faf93c93cf10&ei=5087%0A <comment><USER2> "Most important, the laptop comes in blue, pink, white and brown, ensuring that buyers can find an Aspire One to match their luggage or living room décor."

Yeesh.

<comment><USER3> None of those colors really match my luggage or living room decor well. :P

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I'm waiting for people to sort out the little quirks of getting Ubuntu on it, at which point I will likely cough up for one. This Linpus thing that comes on it looks awful, but the device itself is rather appealing.

</comment><comment><USER5> the MSI wind has gotten good reviews, tho i haven't found one in person. 10", XP, $500, only in white, black or pink

<http://www.msimobile.com/library/2008/0603.aspx>

</comment><comment><USER6> It uses Linux and XP Home? I'm confused.

</comment><comment><USER7> expensive.</comment>


Freeman Dyson on Heresy, Climate Change, and Science - <AUTHOR> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/03/dyson_on_heresy.html

<comment><USER2> While I love econtalk and listen to it every week - I'm actually a bit surprised that it's this podcast that made it to the front page. To me it felt a bit meandering and russ really seems to struggle at points in keeping the conversation going.

Some of the recent podcasts that I thought were much more deserving of front page-hood:

[http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/02/cowen_on_the_gr.htm...](http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/02/cowen_on_the_gr.html) <http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/01/deer_on_autism.html>

[http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/01/hanson_on_the_t.htm...](http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/01/hanson_on_the_t.html)

These three were incredibly thought provoking and still have my mind in a flurry. Check them out if you haven't.

</comment><comment><USER3> I disagree with his views on climate change — but I loved his insights into space travel vs. space science. Definitely a podcast worth listening to...

</comment><comment><USER4> Dyson does have a point about "fudge factors" incorporated into current models, which is why it's such a shame the recent Orbiting Carbon Observatory and Glory satellite launches failed. Climate change _is_ real, but we still need more eyes in the sky.

Here's hoping SpaceX and their ilk help reduce launch costs enough that these failures aren't so disastrous.

</comment><comment><USER5> This is old news. Freeman's "heretical ideas" were expressed in 2007 in Brockman's online journal, <http://www.edge.org>. There was also the NY Times article published in 2009, <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/magazine/29Dyson-t.html>. Freeman Dyson is wrong in this instance; I, for one, wonder why a credible scientist and thinker would choose to take a scientifically unsupportable position.

<comment><USER6> > wonder why a credible scientist and thinker would choose to take a > scientifically unsupportable position.

He doesn't think it is scientifically unsupportable clearly.</comment></comment>


What to Write About - <AUTHOR> http://sachagreif.com/what-to-write-about/

<comment><USER2> More important is _who_ you write for. Different audience-writer feedback systems optimise for different things. Pithy, data-heavy, and ephemeral HN comments won't port handsomely to a foreign policy op-ed, which values flow and lucidity less than brevity.

I am most proud of my short essays, often on humanitarian or mathematical topica, emailed to a few close friends, colleagues, and academics. Perhaps this is out of nostalgia given how much my long-form writing has degraded over the years.

<comment><AUTHOR> Good point. But I wouldn't say it's _more_ important, for the simple reason that you can write for the wrong audience or with the wrong tone, and still get writing practice and slowly sharpen up your writing skills.

But if you don't know _what_ to write about, you might very well never get started at all.

<comment><USER2> If you write the wrong thing for the right audience you should find out rather quickly. If you write the wrong thing for nobody, or worse, a huddle of idiots, you will not find out how bad you are or have bad habits encouraged.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Or here's a novel idea: instead of looking for things to write about (like, "My Top Ten Rails Tips" or "How This Single Mom Made Bank From Home Only Three Hours A Day"), why not just only write when you have something to write about?

That is to say, wait until you have something that is so important or cool to you that you have to show the world!

<comment><AUTHOR> This is not a good idea for a simple reason: you need the practice.

The only way to get better at writing is to write. So I strongly suggest you make an active effort to regularly find things to write about, instead of just waiting for inspiration to strike.

Now on the other hand that doesn't mean you necessarily need to publish everything you write. If it sucks, keep it in your drafts folder and maybe revisit it later.

<comment><USER3> The oft-repeated soundbite, "The only way to get better at writing is to write" certainly bears a fair amount of truth. And I definitely agree with you, inasmuch as you say that practice writing should remain unpublished until polished.

But I suggest that reading, as a complementary activity, can also improve your writing quite a bit. In fact, it's probably the case that if the sorts of people who insist on writing one vapid article per day as "practice" would write a bit less and read a bit more, they might even learn something.

In my (rather short so far) life, I've found for my part that where the received wisdom is to trade dignity and professionalism for practice and experience, something along the lines of the opposite tends to work pretty well. My experience is that you don't need to "throw it all out there" and produce a large body of substandard work in order to learn to do good work (although, this certainly does work for many people). I've been more happy with systematic approaches, where one tries to improve skills not by public brute force, but rather by private practice, emulation, and deliberation.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by Hacker News.

<comment><USER5> Why do you feel so?

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> These suggestions are helpful to me. I tried writing for 15 minutes every day this year, but I really had a hard time finding what to write.

</comment><comment><USER7> That is biggest problem I have on my blog. What to write about. This helped a little but not a huge amount. Still stuck.

<comment><AUTHOR> Well, are we talking about a personal blog or startup blog? What market are you in? And what are your goals for your blog?</comment></comment>


Air pollution (PM10) in Delhi goes off the charts, literally maxed out at 999 - <AUTHOR> http://web.archive.org/web/20191120160218/http://aqicn.org/city/delhi/national-institute-of-malaria-research--sector-8--dwarka/ <comment><AUTHOR> Here's a live link: [http://aqicn.org/city/delhi/national-institute-of- malaria-re...](http://aqicn.org/city/delhi/national-institute-of-malaria- research--sector-8--dwarka/)

And archive screenshot: [http://web.archive.org/web/20191120160234/http://web.archive...](http://web.archive.org/web/20191120160234/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/http://aqicn.org/city/delhi/national- institute-of-malaria-research--sector-8--dwarka/)</comment>


Cover-Up in Chicago - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/opinion/cover-up-in-chicago.html <comment><USER2> All these accusations of the cover-up seem to imply that it was just to "delay" the release. That's certainly bad.

But it seems to me that the had _no_ intention of ever releasing the videos, of ever charging the officer.

The intention was not to delay justice, but to suppress it entirely.</comment>


Ask PG: Can you paste paperwork used to get YC startups incorporated? - <AUTHOR>

I'm in CA, and about to form a corporation. I've read lots of conflicting things on the web. I was going to pay to talk to a lawyer. Then it hit me, YC does this all the time, numerous times a year. They must have this process highly optimized.
Can you share the documents you use to get YC startups incorporated, along with administrative info (things like: pay franchise tax every year) that needs to be covered?
Thanks! <comment><USER2> Good idea. We should do something like this. I can't do it, though. Jessica is the one who does all this stuff. Maybe she'll post something. But if she does it won't be soon, because she is busy now getting this summer's startups set up.

<comment><USER3> It's be great if you could. I just talked to Yokum this past Friday and he conceded that these docs aren't out there: [http://www.sachinagarwal.com/how- to-legally-incorporate-your...](http://www.sachinagarwal.com/how-to-legally- incorporate-your-startup-quick)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> One useful resource: (Just in case, if you have not seen it before.)

<http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/>

Some previous related discussions here:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41308>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37112>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=244009>

</comment><comment><USER5> The trick with incorporation is not the formation of the company as seen by the secretary of state's office. As a previous poster pointed out, that's a standard form with nothing that will make or break your startup.

What matters initially is the founder agreement structure. Later on, the terms of the first round of funding.

YC and TheFunded.com already put out there terms for funding and terms for founders. I believe with license to use on your own startup.

</comment><comment><USER6> I dunno how it is in CA, but here you just fill out a simple form on the state website to incorporate. I don't think pg posting the YC info will help you very much, since its very basic stuff like name and address.

The administrative things, you don't really need YC specific info either, just ask one of many CA based startups on here.

</comment><comment><USER7> What I'd appreciate seeing is the YC shareholder's agreement. It will be time for us to incorporate soon, but we've been putting it off because we don't know how to handle setting up things like a dispute resolution mechanism, vesting, terms in case one of the founders wants to sell to a third-party, etc.

</comment><comment><USER8> YC isn't a charity. They compete in a marketplace like any other business. Any optimization you speak of is a competitive advantage. Why would they comply with your request?

Somewhat relevant:

[http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/23/adeo-ressi-fights- atroc...](http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/23/adeo-ressi-fights-atrocities- of-investors-with-new-class-of-founder-stock/)

<comment><AUTHOR> What do I have to lose by asking?

<comment><USER8> I never implied that you had anything to lose; I think it's an interesting question.

I asked, "why would they comply with your request" because I was interested if you thought it made sense for them to do so.

I suppose it comes down to whether they gain more through such a release via others contributing back and improving the process, paperwork, etc. while keeping in mind the insight and potential efficiencies provided to competitors in doing so.

Has anyone tried an open source/creative commons type licensing and repository for standard legal documents? Does such a thing exist?

<comment><USER4> Series AA Equity Financing Documents have been open sourced by Y Combinator.

<http://www.ycombinator.com/seriesaa.html></comment></comment></comment></comment>