A Type of Programming - <AUTHOR> https://atypeofprogramming.com/ <comment><USER4> I wish the title was more descriptive (" _which_ type of programming?") or that the introduction said _something_ about the direction of the book.

As it is the only reason I would have for continuing is that I already wanted to read it. But "it's a book about programming" is not much of a sales pitch.

I guess if you love the style that is the reason to continue?

Scrolling to the end, a better title might be "An Introduction to Haskell" and you need to provide your email address to read more than the first few pages.

Sigh.

I find the grandiosity hard to resist ("a whole _type_ of programming, wow, sounds neat!") but the author really seems to want to take us for a ride first.

Edit: After he takes your email he asks for 5 euros to get access. Scammy.

<comment><USER5> Wow. "Sign up to read more. You will have immediate access ...", followed by an enter-your-email box. Do that and you immediately hit a paywall. No "immediate access" for you.

That's ouright fraudulent, and I'm flagging this submission for it.

<comment><USER6> Yup, also annoyed by the dark pattern. To add insult to injury, below $20, it removes the option to pay with a card, and only allows bitcoin - <USER2> approach to tax, perhaps! Whatever the reason, I don't use bitcoin, and even if I wasn't already annoyed by the bait and switch, I wouldn't be bothered jumping through so many hoops. What a shame, the content looked as if it might be good, but no chance of me giving money with that level of disrespect for the reader.

<comment><USER7> Thank you for your input. I'm sorry you felt this, I'll try to improve the user experience. I'll appreciate any ideas you may have about how to improve this.

I am glad you enjoyed what you read, though :)

<comment><USER6> Ok, I see you've added some text in terms of "Buy your copy to read more" which is a start (although it's probably too far from the email capture for people to associate them, and it doesn't stand out from the rest of the body text). But if you want to be transparent, include the pricing there. And if I'm really going to think it's transparent, don't ask for my email without a) really needing it (i.e. as part of a transaction I've signalled clear intent towards) and b) making it clear how it will be used (in normal sized type!)

For me, the bottom of that page could be something in essence like "Buy the book now for a 'pay what you want' price and get immediate access to X content." I'm not sure you'd need much more (email can come as part of that process, and I'd ditch the bitcoin only payments for certain levels - <USER3> simplify it and if you need the bottom price to be slightly more to cover card fees, just increase the price to cover them).

Put it all front and centre - if it's a commercial book, that's fine - don't try and hide it, show the value it has and make it very easy to give you money.

<comment><USER7> I think you have some very interesting ideas, thank you for your feedback. I'll be improving the sign-up process taking these comments into account :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> This is such a beautiful book. The writing brings Vonnegut to mind.

<comment><USER8> Looks as good as "Building Git", which I'm currently enjoying. [https://shop.jcoglan.com/building-git/](https://shop.jcoglan.com/building- git/)

If it will get me over the monad hump with Haskell, all the better.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> I really enjoyed reading the first chapter, and I was looking forward to purchasing the book, but like others, I'm really turned off by your purchase process. Entering email and getting to a payment page where the easy ways to pay disappear below 20 EUR is really, really annoying. If you were to fix the purchase process and publish some sort of chapter outline of your book, I'd almost certainly purchase a copy.

</comment><comment><USER10> I would suggest putting the summary at the top, perhaps with a smooth- scrolling "Jump to main text" link.

</comment><comment><USER11> Could do with an executive summary at the top so that one doesn't have to wade through a lot of text to find out what the document is for.

</comment><comment><USER12> Flagged - I know complaining about paywalls is against the rules, but this is not a regular paywall - this is a scummy "lemme add you to my mailing list and only then will you find out I _also_ want money" kind of paywall. (According to other commenters, I'm not willing to enter my email.)

In case the author is reading - I actually quite like this "first chapter free" shareware model of book sales, it's just the misdirection I take offense to.

Also if you're asking for peoples email addresses please be up front about _all_ of the reasons you want them.

<comment><USER7> Thanks for your input. The email address is so that you can login afterwards, whenever there are new book chapters to be read. I'll clarify this, thanks!

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Previous discussion: [https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/bbjq1o/a_type_of_p...](https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/bbjq1o/a_type_of_programming/)</comment>


Parsing with Derivatives – Functional Pearl - <AUTHOR> http://blog.klipse.tech/clojure/2016/10/02/parsing-with-derivatives-regular.html <comment><AUTHOR> Paper is here: [http://matt.might.net/papers/might2011derivatives.pdf](http://matt.might.net/papers/might2011derivatives.pdf)</comment>


Show HN: Layluh – Watch videos and livestreams without distractions - <AUTHOR> https://www.layluh.com/ <comment><AUTHOR> Hey everyone, this is just a small app I made. I basically turned DF Tube (the extension) into a website and added support for a few websites like YouTube, Vimeo, Bitchute, and Twitch.

It works like outline.com too, so take any URL from these sites and add 'layluh.com' before it (layluh.com/URL).

Tech stack isn't that exciting. Just Node.js and JavaScript.

</comment><comment><USER2> Thank you for that! My toddler can now watch safely without ads </comment>


Israel Successfully Hacked ISIS Computers and Trump Leaked It to the Russians - <AUTHOR> http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/1.795260 <comment><USER2> If this was classified, and only Russian officials have been given this leaked info, why would they let the press (NYT in this case) publish this? i.e if Russian officials were the only one this was originally leaked too, then ISIS would still have no idea that Israel had hacked their systems.</comment>


Foreign Entrepreneurs Eye StartUp Visa Act - <AUTHOR> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576020001550357580.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

<comment><USER2> It is a good start, but here is another good idea to the lawmakers.

How about automatic Green Card to any H-1B holder that has been working in the US for more than 5 years.

1\. To get a H-1B there is a prevailing wage that the employer has to pay. Enforce that well to avoid body shops type of miss usage.

2\. If you were continuously paid that prevailing wage, that means that there is need for that skill your bring.

5th year the green card should be in the mail. I bet a lot of current H-1B holders are itching to start a startup, but they just can't easily walk away from jobs, or their statuses will be jeopardized.

I have to remember the HN community that there is a lot of good talent that are holding H-1Bs. Many of them went to US universities and transitioned from F-1 to H-1B. By the fifth year of employment they will reach 27, a good age to start something yours.

But unfortunately a lot of H-1B holders have to wait for years, and go through massive bureaucratic procedures to convert to a GC. Only lawyers and large employers profit from the current status.

When mobility of employers is restricted by artificial means, the economy and public in general looses some, while only few actors win/make a profit out of it.

Continuous employment for 5 years with good salaries is a good balance to show that there is a need for said foreigner.

<comment><USER3> How would define a prevailing wage given that in the same company two people with the same job title could be making vastly different sums of money ?

<comment><USER4> It's defined by the federal government by region and classification. The classifications are pretty formalized as part of the visa process.

<comment><USER3> My point was the data is wrong. It classifies someone doing php work for a small non-profit as the same as someone developer high-frequency trading systems for an investment bank, even though in reality there can be an order of magnitude difference in salaries.

The whole concept of "prevailing wage" is a sham in high-skill occupations. It's a hangover from blue-collar jobs.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I sincerely hope that the congress takes a good look at this in detail and pass the bill. This would help a lot of H1 Visa struggling with huge talent and obnoxious job fits, and their urge to start something in the states. Go Startup Visa!

</comment><comment><USER6> People are tracking all the evolution of startup visa on <http://startupvisa.com/>

</comment><comment><USER7> As a Canadian, I'm actually a little appalled by this. Toronto and Vancouver are hotbeds for gaming, are fast becoming thriving startup communities, and need smart, motivated entrepreneurs more than ever... why can't Mr. Wong stick around and do some good for his country if he has already secured funding?

<comment><USER8> cal5k, Investors who invest money in your startup don't want to travel 3 hours (to Vancouver) 8-12 hours (to toronto) to manage their investment.

That is one important factor that makes startups in Toronto and Vancouver very unattractive. Most Silicon Valley investor invest money in your startup based on the fact that you are going to be within an hour distance away. It is easier for them to manage, especially when they have multiple investments. And that is why Brian can't easily just take the funding and move to Vancouver or Toronto and set up shop.

And I haven't even started talking about the difference between Canada - SFO/Mountain View with regards to talent pool and networking.

The point is, in general and this applies to 'most' companies (although not all), if you want your startup to be successful, you move to Silicon Valley. The difference is absolutely unbelievable.

<comment><USER7> This also says a lot about the Canadian VC industry - it's small and risk- averse. It's a real problem and one that I'm in the early stages of trying to tackle. I'm a big believer that Canada can become a hotbed of tech innovation and startups. With that said, we're nowhere near there yet.

Also, there are plenty of VCs much closer to Toronto - New York, for example. Toronto is starting to become an attractive place to invest for New York-based VCs.

We have some excellent talent in Canada, and some really great government programs around research & innovation.

And you don't "have" to move to Silicon Valley. It's a cool place and it certainly has the right conditions for success, but it sort of fucks our country when all of our most ambitious entrepreneurs feel like they need to go to Silicon Valley to succeed. That's just not true, and I'd like to see more entrepreneurs thinking bigger right here at home.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Interesting that it is trying to create jobs in a sector where demand mostly outstrips supply, but specifically looks to exclude the lower growth sectors that often supply the bulk of the jobs that have gone missing in the last few years.

<comment><USER10> Not sure how you figure. The scarcity that they are targeting here is the intersect between entrepreneurs with a higher probability of success. Venture capital/angel investors follow whichever sectors offer the greatest growth / future economic value. The article does not suggest that there is any sector that is being targeted.

<comment><USER9> Would you be happier if I had said sectors instead of a sector? Or do you have in mind a sector that gets a significant amount of venture funding that also suffers from high unemployment?

Most venture also wants to see ideas that can scale well non-linearly with employee count. This leads to the few ballpark successes being pretty job light compared to their revenue. Which is better for the economy, cash hoarding and dividends or continual reinvestment in expanding into new markets?</comment></comment></comment>


The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast Is Moving to Spotify - <AUTHOR> https://youtu.be/X8bVqI2j8o4 <comment><USER2> I only occasionally listen to Rogan's podcasts.

I appreciate that he likely got a good deal out of it, but Spotify's ongoing efforts to link podcasts and their consumption platforms are upsetting to say the least, and I'm rather disappointed that Rogan decided to go along with it.

Rogan has spoken at length with many personalities both part of and versed in smaller alternative media outlets and their ongoing struggles associated with censorship and platform lock-in. Rogan himself has even gone so far as to espouse the value to be found in the openness of the podcasting ecosystem. I'm aware that he has to make money somehow, but getting in bed with Spotify seems wrong in light of all that.

But I could be off base. I'm assuming that Spotify does not publish RSS feeds for its exclusive content?</comment>


Why is Facebook blue? The science behind colors in marketing - <AUTHOR> http://www.ma-no.org/en/content/index_why-is-facebook-blue-the-science-behind-colors-in-marketing_1498.php

<comment><USER2> Original article: [http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-colors-in- marketing...](http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-colors-in-marketing- why-is-facebook-blue)

<comment><USER3> THANK YOU. I was thinking to myself "Wow they even took the examples straight off of Buffer's website".

Shame on this company for blatantly stealing content without attribution.

EDIT: Before I feel foolish, there is a disclaimer at the bottom that says "Reprinted with permission from Buffer", so I might've overreacted a tad. I'll leave my original comment intact as a monument to my shame.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> The AB test example where everything was kept the same except the color of the button should be taken with a grain of salt. Many elements on the page are green and there's almost no trace of red, so obviously changing the button color to red would instantly make it stand out more. That's an issue of contrast, not color preference.

</comment><comment><USER5> I doubt this was ever intended. There's screenshots of Facebook back when it was TheFaceBook.com, and it has maintained the same scheme ever since.

</comment><comment><USER6> Is this the same in reverse? What about a black background with white text?</comment>


Twitter co-founder just invested in Lookup. Know more - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessinsider.in/Twitter-co-founder-just-invested-in-Lookup-Know-more/articleshow/47358357.cms

<comment><AUTHOR> Lookup lets you chat with local businesses and shops to make reservations, book appointments, find product availability, enquire prices and many more. - www.lookup.to</comment>


Windows 8 designer: Why Microsoft forced Metro on us all - <AUTHOR> http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57619024-75/windows-8-designer-why-microsoft-forced-metro-on-us-all/ <comment><USER2> It took some getting used to, but I now much prefer Windows 8 to Windows 7 on my laptop (that said, I still use W7 on my desktop PC).

Why? It simply allows me to do much more without touching the touchpad. I power on the laptop, press Ctrl+Alt+Del, start typing my password without having to awkwardly alt+tab around as I would in W7. I log in to the desktop, press Win and start typing c,h,r...enter, Chrome starts. I press Ctrl+L, type a URL or a search, scroll on the page using pgdown or pgup... only having to use the touchpad if I want to click on a link or select some text.

Sure, I could do much of this in W7 if I wanted to, but W7's start menu search is far inferior to W8's Metro search, and I would have to ALT+TAB a lot more around if I wanted to avoid using the touchpad.

<comment><USER3> > but W7's start menu search is far inferior to W8's Metro search

That's interesting because I personally consider Win8's start screen search far inferior to Win7's start menu. Neither come close to being as powerful and as useful as OSX's spotlight, but I honestly felt Win7 did a finer job.

<comment><USER4> That's arguably but the thing most people don't realize is that Win 8 is the more keyboard centric version of Windows and that in a laptop is priceless :)

<comment><USER5> Only because they _force_ you to use the keyboard more for shortcuts, because they've hidden so much from the screen for the sake of "simplicity", which ironically makes the UI harder to use.

It's also the exact opposite of what the author is saying, because it's the power users that would (probably) use keyboard shortcuts, not normal users.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> > Try to add a powerful new feature to Windows, and casual users balk. One > example Miller cited is multiple desktops, a feature in OS X and Linux, but > still not built into Windows. Each time Microsoft conducted user tests on > multiple desktops, casual users got confused, prompting the company to cut > it.

The same feature's confusing to causal OS X and Linux users, too. Which is most definitively _not a problem_ , because casual users won't be coming into contact with that feature, anyway. OS X is a single-desktop interface until you actively choose to create a second desktop. Most Linux setups behave roughly the same. On territory this well-trodden, it should have required precisely zero lateral thinking for Microsoft to figure out how to respond to that focus group result.

Similarly, when Apple added a tablet-inspired application launcher to OS X, they figured out a great way to make it both easy-to-access and non- disruptive, without displacing any existing workflows. The launcher's there and works well for users who want it, and is effectively non-existent for users who don't.

That anecdote from the article, if true, is yet another delightfully pithy illustration of Microsoft's fundamental difficulty with UX: They don't grasp the difference between "one size fits all" and "all fit one size".

</comment><comment><USER7> "Does Microsoft need to force-feed us a not-so-good version of Windows before we can get something better?"

Am I the only one that remembers the hate from the Windows XP start menu?

<comment><USER8> There was hate for the XP Start Menu? I remember everyone loving that. Don't recall any hate, maybe I missed it.

<comment><USER9> See: [http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r3054233-Those-who-call- XP-s...](http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r3054233-Those-who-call-XP-s- interface-Fisher-Price)

<comment><USER10> Sure, people made fun of XP's default theme for its superficial look. The complaints about Metro, however, are almost entirely about functionality.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> IMHO, one huge thing they got wrong with Windows 8 Metro/"Modern UI" on non- touch computers was to repurpose the right mouse button in a completely unexpected way.

On a Windows 8 tablet, you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the "control bar" of a Metro application (I don't know what is the official name of that UI element). This is crucial to know because the bar is hidden by default, yet it contains fundamental actions like deleting a message in Mail or navigating to a URL in Internet Explorer.

When using a mouse instead, you're supposed to right-click to bring up the "control bar". This is completely non-discoverable and also goes against every established UI convention: for the past 20+ years, the right button has been used for context menus, but suddenly in Metro it brings up a hidden application-global menu instead.

Windows 8.1 tried to fix this by adding a button in the corner that brings up the bar, so at least you can find it by clicking around. But that's still not good enough. The bar makes sense on a tablet where screen real estate is limited and the swipe feels very natural, but on a desktop it's just a bad toolbar implementation that adds extra mouse navigation to simple tasks because people never figure out the right-click shortcut.

</comment><comment><USER12> The casual users I know who have been exposed to Windows 8 have uniformly had the reaction _" WTF?"_, often violently and expletiveladenly expressed.

<comment><USER13> People don't like any kind of change. My daughter has no reference about what is "normal" or how computer interfaces _should_ look. She is quite happy with the win8 interface and took to it like a duck to water.

<comment><USER10> > People don't like any kind of change.

I hear this view constantly, but it's just absurd. I started using OS X for the first time just a year ago and generally loved it, even though it's very different in many ways to Windows or KDE/GNOME. The multi-touch trackpad gestures are particularly useful. You don't get complaints when you offer users significant new functionality.

Good change is good. Bad change is bad. Sideways change is also probably bad.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Did we really need insider information to confirm that Windows 8 was designed strictly for casual users?

<comment><USER15> It's news to me. I had no idea Windows 8 was designed for _any_ users.

<comment><USER11> It's pretty great on tablets. Maybe that wasn't the right design target, but clearly it was designed for some users.

<comment><USER16> Case in point:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCKWn1zjejE#t=0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCKWn1zjejE#t=0)

[http://davidhewson.com/2014/02/10/revising-without-paper- fin...](http://davidhewson.com/2014/02/10/revising-without-paper-finally-it- works/)

Doing a complete book edit without paper (stylus only), or drawing and publishing web comics is now possible on a tablet.

Windows8 is the only content-creation tablet device right now. The Samsung Galaxy Tab (Android) tries to do the same with their Wacom stylus and everything... but the experience just isn't the same.

When you can actually use _real_ Photoshop, Word, One Note, and have the best handwriting recognition software... the Stylus on Win8 is far above everyone else.

Stylus machines are rare... but you still have some choice. Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, Dell Venue Pro (8 and 11), Asus Vivotab Note, Lenovo Helix, and Lenovo Thinkpad.

So the price range is between $300 (Intel Atom based Vivotab Note) and $2000 (Lenovo Helix Intel i7 with 8 GB of RAM) for Windows8 based stylus tablets.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> They say they contacted MS to verify his identity but didn't include their reply. From reading this article without the context of the reddit thread I would venture to guess if he really was then it is past tense now.

<comment><USER18> Seems he still works there according TFA:

"CNET contacted Microsoft to verify the identify of the self-dubbed Windows UX designer. A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed that Miller does work for the company but declined to reveal any details about his specific role."

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> >In one respect, Miller is saying that Windows 8 was the price we had to pay to get to a smoother and friendlier Windows 9. If so, is that really the best way to treat your customers? Does Microsoft need to force-feed us a not-so- good version of Windows before we can get something better? Or was Windows 8 an unnecessary slip-up on the road to the future?

What a load of trash. People need to stop judging Microsoft products in terms of unreleased products. I understand that the hackers et al. who use the power features in Windows are upset that MS changed the game on them, but putting Metro as the forefront of the UI was, as the article describes, a necessary step in getting users to actually use it.

Metro UI is quite good for browsing content and navigating to the things that you're certain to want. It's good looking and it works pretty well. Just because it's your launch screen doesn't mean it's supposed to be the only tool you ever need. If you log on to windows 8 to check facebook, it's awesome. If you log on to manage hard drive partitions, you're going to need to be looking elsewhere.

Microsoft is trying to make products for the consumer market. If you want to blame anybody for Metro, blame Apple. iOS and other simple, clean user experiences showed consumers that there is a better way than the old desktop standards. The applications you want can be at your fingertips, instead of in a button in the corner. Microsoft HAD to make the initial experience of the UI simpler to stay competitive in the modern market for personal computing.

</comment><comment><USER20> Casual users are like sheep. Sometimes, you gotta force 'em for their own good.

The author is correct, Metro is the heaven for all those grandmas and family relatives who before would call/mail us on "how do I power on the computer"-type problems. Now, you put 'em in front of a Metro PC and boom, your incoming calls reduce by half.

<comment><USER21> The problem is, we don't live in the year 2003. Grandma has a PC.

Sure, she doesn't know how to "use" it in the grand sense that we savvy users might. But, she knows how to do things. She knows how to Facebook, she knows how to send an email. Unlike us, she doesn't think of these things as general concepts. They're very specific, down to the smallest detail. Email for her _is_ hotmail.com

Now, grandma is presented with Metro (or as I like to call it, The Boxes). The small, basic knowledge she gathered over time that gave her freedom of communication is now worth nothing. Perhaps she'll explore, and perhaps over time she might find that the interface is in fact easier to use. The problem is she wants to send an email _now_ , and none (and I really mean NONE) of the anchors, symbols or paradigms she's used to even exist anymore.

On a tablet, this makes sense. She can intuitively poke around and maybe get to the email app. She's not used to touching a screen, and the opportunity gives her a chance to learn something new.

With a mouse and keyboard, she doesn't know what to click on. She's never clicked on text and had it perform an action. "Charms" bar? Corner of the screen? Ha.

Now imagine we're not only talking about grandma, but instead average non- technical office worker. Not only does said office worker need to send the email now, she needs to send a dozen yesterday. She has no time to learn something new. Her company paid good money for a device that's supposed to save time.

I agree that this article gets to the bottom of the issue, though. Microsoft has underestimated its users.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> How far will this divide go? There is a desktop version skype and a metro version (ditto with IE). I recently cringed when I had to explain to a casual user that they should be using the desktop version of Skype instead of the metro version. Having to explain that there are two different versions of Skype was jarring and bizarre.

</comment><comment><USER23> This actually makes me hopeful. It was looking a lot like Windows 8 was the first step toward phasing out the desktop entirely. Certainly providing the simplest, most streamlined default experience for casual users makes sense, for the reasons specified. If they're explicitly thinking that that will then allow them to provide more advanced tools for power users as well, since they will no longer be right on the surface to confuse casual users, that's fantastic. Makes me hopeful that Windows 9 will continue the trend shared by Microsoft OSes and Star Trek movies.

</comment><comment><USER5> Funny because it's the _casual_ users that are staying away from Windows 8. At least the "power users", if they really have no choice but using Windows 8, at least they can get around it. But casual users have no idea how to do that, and they are also who will be the most bothered by the "sudden change" in how Windows works.

</comment><comment><USER24>
      self-described UX designer

The "self-described" here seems redundant and patronising. It sounds like " _so-called_ UX designer" or " _supposed_ UX designer". This is presumably the guy's actual job title; do you see CNet saying "self-described CEO"? Nope.

<comment><USER11> Did you read the article?

Cnet tried to confirm his job title, but Microsoft didn't want to provide that information; hence "self-described".

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> If you ever wonder why complaints about Metro rarely involve system administrators it is because Microsoft started the interface redesign at the command line with PowerShell.

And for a GUI, Metro provides significant and logical access from the keyboard.

<comment><USER26> I've never heard this. I stopped spinning up Windows Server 2012 VMs and went back to 2008R2 instead because I absolutely detested Metro on the server (I happily installed Win8 on my laptop and have a Surface too so it's not about hating on Win8), it destroyed the ability to multitask.

From a sysadmin perspective maybe hardcore Powershell jockeys don't mind it as much but if that's the case Windows Server 2012 has a GUI less install option that would suit them even better than Metro.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> If Microsoft purposely did that with the intention of making the desktop default in Windows 9, that's kind of smart trick. A cruel, but smart one, that is if they do make the desktop in Windows 9..

<comment><USER28> The Windows 8 pricing does seem to support the theory that Microsoft knew it wasn't good. The non-upgrade version was much cheaper than it was for previous iterations of Windows.

<comment><USER27> Yea but you take that also as them needing to compensate for the loss of sales, so a higher price for less volume. Or you could take it one step further and suggest they did it so that less people would buy it (because of the higher cost), thus making Windows 9 that much more appealing in comparison.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Funny enough, there's no proof this guy was a Windows 8 designer.

Wonder if this is a case of "It's true because it's on the internet"

</comment><comment><USER30> Interesting; I've just switched to Mac from PC and the thing I love more than anything is the virtual desktops.

Windows is just painful to use nowadays.

</comment><comment><USER31> I see it as a big push to monetize screen real estate just like what's happening with xbox.

</comment><comment><USER32> "It was for your good." Pure spin, no content. Flagged.

<comment><USER33> Did you actually read it?

He's saying that by splitting windows they can add all sorts of power features to desktop, while not messing with the more casual users since they stay on metro.

Personally a little option box that turns on those power features and defaults to off makes more sense to me <shurg>. Like how Pine (and Alpine) do it.

<comment><USER32> What you refer to doesn't change my observation of the article as just a spin. Specifically, this:

"Now that the casual users are aware of their new pasture, we can start tailoring. It will be a while before the power users start seeing the benefits of this (that's why I said they'd benefit in the long run). Right now we still have a lot of work to do on making Metro seem tasty for those casual users, and that's going to divert our attention for a while. But once it's purring along smoothly, we'll start making the desktop more advanced. We'll add things that we couldn't before."

Bull. They just did what they thought was the best for them: "everything must be Windows (even if we try to catch up with Apple's success.)"

<comment><USER33> I'm OK with you calling it spin, but don't say "no content" because that's not accurate.

<comment><USER32> "Somebody on the internet claims that he is from Microsoft, it is unconfirmed but here's what he writes (and nothing new is inside)"

Content? Not for me. Waste of time. Including this one, having to explain. I'm surprised you see that much worth in the article to even discuss it with me. Do you have any direct involvements? That would explain...

<comment><USER33> > it is unconfirmed

It actually was confirmed.

> I'm surprised you see that much worth in the article to even discuss it with > me.

A bit - is their strategy of splitting power and basic really the way to go? I don't agree, but it's a valid argument even if I disagree.

You claim no content, but there is content - the very argument I repeated in the paragraph above this one.

> Do you have any direct involvements? That would explain...

No, it would not explain. Not only do I not work for Microsoft I hardly ever even use any of their products. Linux for me, and I used OS/2 for many years.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


The SoftBank Investment in Zume Pizza - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-13/inside-the-firings-at-softbank-s-robot-pizza-startup <comment><AUTHOR> _Eventually, [co-founder Julia] Collins's team gave up on the dream of baking the pies while driving to customers, according to two people familiar with the matter. The cheese tended to run everywhere as the trucks turned or hit bumps in the road. Instead, the oven trucks began parking in central locations, with runner cars or mopeds transporting the cooked pies._

<comment><USER2> That jumped out at me as well. It seems to me that what the team actually gave up was the entire business model, because what they did instead was not really much different than what most pizza parlors do.</comment></comment>


Debate: Can the Internet handle big breaking news? - <AUTHOR> http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10273854-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 <comment><USER2> No! We clearly need television! And newspapers! And teletypes! And carrier pigeons! And Paul Revere!

Twitter went down (which never happens!), so obviously, the Internet simply can't handle the demands of delivering the news.

OK, I'm calmer now that I've got that out.

</comment><comment><USER3> The whole article is just fluff and filler-text, not backed up by any facts whatsoever.

He mentions a few _websites_ going down (which is not "the internet") and he falsely claims google had trouble (which still wouldn't be "the internet" even if it was true).

 _But this is a systemic problem with the Internet, or perhaps put more accurately, the Web. The more people who demand the service provided by an information Web site, the harder it gets for that site to provide that information_

Yeah right. Actually that's a systemic problem with that particular website then, not with the internet. He completely misses the point about the distributed nature of the internet: "Big breaking news" spreads like wildfire across many sites. So when CNN (not the internet) buckles under load then there is a good chance that you'll still be able to fetch it from a few thousand other sites.

</comment><comment><USER4> The _internet_ handled it fine. Certain websites didn't. An automatic scaling system using something like Amazon Web Services and a lot of varnish caches would have handled this fine. Unfortunately certain blogging platforms decide to have dozens of queries per page which really slows things down.

</comment><comment><USER5> "Even Google was unable to handle the load."

I was under the impression that Google's problem was due to an automated attack response, not due to bandwidth issues.

Also, the article cited: <http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10273325-93.html> has been updated to say that only CNN "appeared sluggish." It may be true that the news on the Internet was crippled, but there's basically no hard evidence suggesting it from the source he cited.

</comment><comment><USER6> Well, the Internet services I used while I merrily ignored the vile circus around Mr. Jackson's death all kept working great.

</comment><comment><USER7> It just did...</comment>


What the Bubble Got Right (2004) - <AUTHOR> http://www.paulgraham.com/bubble.html

<comment><USER2> Quote of the day:

"If your software miscalculates the path of a space probe, you can't finesse your way out of trouble by saying that your code is patriotic, or avant-garde, or any of the other dodges people use in nontechnical fields."

</comment><comment><USER3> Its not often I agree completely with all the points in an article, but this one made me think there must be more to PG than I've given him credit for. Well worth bookmarking.</comment>


Why Trotsky Believed It Was Moral to Kill the Tsar's Children - <AUTHOR> https://fee.org/articles/why-trotsky-believed-it-was-moral-to-kill-the-tsars-children/ <comment><USER2> You can't end an essay on morality with this one-liner...

        > Jon also served as an intern in the
        > speechwriting department under George W. Bush.

I wonder if the "torture" thing started his reflection on whether the ends justify the means.

<comment><USER3> Nice catch.

> whether the ends justify the means.

I went around and around all this when I was a lot younger and eventually decided the means really are the ends. Because that's what we live with constantly.

The means have to justify themselves.

I'm with you guys trying to white wash his participation in banal murder by compering himself favorable to someone with a worse rep.</comment></comment>


mjg59 – Microsoft's Compromised Secure Boot Implementation - <AUTHOR> http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/44223.html <comment><USER2> This is a much clearer explanation than others I've seen.</comment>


Show HN: My bootstrapped sideproject app, Movie Trailers and Showtimes - <AUTHOR> https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/movies-trailers-showtimes/id954721891?mt=8
I'm proud to show you the latest version of my passion project Marquee - an app for discovering movies, showtimes and trailers. It's chockfull of little details that make the app a pleasure to use.
Rather than try to raise funding and pursue this full time, I've chosen to do this on 'Hard Mode' and treat it as a side project until it gets more traction. I realize that probably creates a catch 22 situation. How can I get traction if I don't devote time to it. Given my current life situation, it's a little tough to drop everything and "go for it".
Any feedback and advice on the app is greatly appreciated. <comment><USER2> Sorry to be blunt but "Rather than try to raise funding and pursue this full time"? Do you really think you'd be able to raise money for a movie trailer app?

<comment><AUTHOR> Not blunt at all. Probably not until there's huge traction.

<comment><USER3> And after that? How do you plan to make money with the app?

<comment><AUTHOR> There's already some monetization opportunities in the app - iTunes affiliate. Video ads, etc.

We also have potential partnership opportunities and other revshare opportunities coming.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Do you planning optimize your app for ipad? I'm even can't see app icon, just white square.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, eventually. So much to do. That's probably next.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Nice man, I used Flixster for a while, but just noticed some REALLY annoying ads on that app ... space for improvement!

</comment><comment><USER6> "Hard mode" is raising outside money. Easier (and often better!) mode, is to delay raising outside money.

Your current employer is usually a far better investor to (unknowingly) fund your projects anyway.</comment>


Show HN: Amna - a information manager that helps get work done - <AUTHOR> https://getamna.com <comment><AUTHOR> Hey HN. I'm Ravi - maker behind Amna. I built Amna because I found myself pulled in a lot directions. At work, I was a PM - so always juggling multiple projects. At home, I would be working on amna and attending local meetups. On the side, I would volunteer as a TA to teach CS. It wasn't that the work in each area was super challenging, but keeping up everything was. Sharepoint at work, Google Drive at Home. A work computer, a personal computer. It was super frustrating to keep up with everything.

What I really wanted was a better personal management tool that helped me stay on top and squash my tasks. I also didn't want to convince my entire team or company to use it. So whatever I built, it had to be private and local-first. Didn't want to stream sensitive work things to the cloud.

Amna works like a personal todo-list. You deep dive into a task and are provided the tools to get the task done in one place. For now, it provides a browser and text editor. A built-in browser is awesome, it works just like Chrome, and is sufficient for research, paying bills and filling forms. For example, I just created a task called "Launch Amna to Online Forums", and am using the built-in editor in the space to type this out, and the browser to submit this post. I can simply keep monitoring this task for updates, rather than it getting lost in a sea of tabs. If I have an idea for work, I simply have to flip to my "Work" headspace and jump into a task there. Switching and resuming tasks are seamless. When you dive into a task, it serves a kind of context lock and helps you focus on the task at hand. After I complete a task, I can search for it again if I need it. I also wrote up a blog post with some user reseach I did on overall information patterns - take a peek if it sounds interesting.

If you're writing essays, doing research, or hunting for jobs, you should definently try out the beta. It'll just feel organized. Drop your email on the landing page, and I'll get in touch.

Feedback appreciated :)

<comment><USER2> Hey, looks interesting, kind of like you're building your own chromium-based browser. What's been the hardest part so far?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for checking it out. The browser is indeed chromium based - and it blends into the larger app as a component.

The most difficult part was actually managing scope creep. I think when building productivity tools, it can be easy to try and optimize everything and be a place for everything. So drawing the line at focus work and really pushing on those items was critical to stay grounded.</comment></comment></comment>


Fortnite-Maker Aims for Steam's Head with Epic Games Store - <AUTHOR> https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/04/fortnite-maker-aims-for-steams-head-with-epic-games-store/ <comment><AUTHOR> I guess this explains Valve improving the revenue share a bit on Steam recently.

Also, at first I wasn't thinking this would be much of anything (yet another storefront), but the kicker per the article is that those developing in Unreal Engine would not pay a percentage for the use of Unreal Engine (~5%) on top of the store cut (~12%). That would probably be huge for developers so I could see this one actually taking off.</comment>


Asana Status - <AUTHOR> http://www.asanastatus.com/

<comment><USER2> I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but, what is this webpage for?

<comment><USER3> I'm guessing it's tongue in cheek? Or at least, this is what I typically see for the Asana Android app.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Seems to just be a loading bar and nothing else...

<comment><USER5> I think it is to show that usually all you see when using Asana is the loading screen?

<comment><USER6> I use Asana at work, and it loads just fine for me. So, if this is supposed to be a joke, it's not funny.</comment></comment></comment>


Platform for discovering premium resources for developers - <AUTHOR> Today is my birthday so I think it's a good time to launch a new project: https://codestash.co/
I'm happy to share with you: Codestash, a platform for sharing and discovering premium resources for developers.
A while ago I launched React Milkshake, a paid boilerplate for React developers, and I was looking for a place like Dribbble or Uplabs but for developers, so I could share something about this project. Although there are many paid boilerplates out there, there wasn't a nice place to discover these things.
That's why I built Codestash. I later decided to not just focus on boilerplates, but also on premium themes, templates, and tools.
This is my very first version, and I think there is a lot of room for improvements, but I'm happy with this first MVP and I hope people will like it! <comment><AUTHOR> You can check it out here: [https://codestash.co/](https://codestash.co/)</comment>


$6,000+ of app design ebook sales today - <AUTHOR> http://nathanbarry.com/learned-selling-6000-ebook-today/ <comment><USER2> Nathan - congrats buddy!

There are a few key takeaways _anyone_ who has a product, or wants to create a product, should take note of.

* Email lists are very, very important. I was also able to market my freelancing book to 2,000+ freelancers on my Planscope list. Like Nathan with his weekly list, I had a huge head start.

* Additionally, the theory that you can't sell to the HN audience is bunk. When I wrote a post similar to Nathan's about how I netted $2k in presales, I made another $1k that day alone off HN traffic. And I'm absolutely certain that Nathan is making sales right now from HN. Something to keep in mind: HN doesn't like being sent to marketing sites. HN wants immediate and direct value. So instead of just showing off your latest product, put together a post about what technical or promotional hurdles you went through putting together your product - i.e., sell through education. __Look at my submissions to see this in action for both my products. __

* Increase customer LTV wherever possible. You could pay Nathan $29 for the book, which triggers as an OK price to pay for most of us. Now that you're interested, for $30 more you can get some videos and PSDs. These people came for one thing and left with another, the same underlying theory supermarkets use to upsell you at the checkout line.

* Nathan now has a mailing list of people who have _already taken out their credit cards for him_ in the past. This is pure gold.

<comment><USER3> _Email lists are very, very important. I was also able to market my freelancing book to 2,000+ freelancers on my Planscope list._

I'll second this (along with the scores of people I've discussed this topic with) because I accidentally turned this into my full-time business!

I started my Ruby Weekly newsletter merely with the goal of promoting books and screencasts I wanted to make but it has gone a bit _too_ well and now I have 75k subscribers to speak with. Sadly still no books.. but the training and screencasts have gone well.

<comment><USER2> And because you're dishing out a weekly email, you're keeping the list healthy and motivated.

I've made the mistake (and I know a lot of other's have too) of: build email list, silence, silence, silence, SELL SELL SELL. ...And then Mailchimp contacts you about your unsubscribe rate being too high :-)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Update: I am now at $11,536.90 in less than 24 hours of sales. I guess I can cross "Make $10,000 in one day" off my bucket list!

<comment><USER5> Awesome! Congrats!

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I just bought the book and the preview chapter is what convinced me that the book was worth owning. The content was new to me and it was obvious you've put in a lot of effort. I'm just at the beginning stages of iOS development and I thought reading your book now will be a good start to get me thinking differently about app development.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> I contributed to that $6k with a book purchase today. Nicely done Nathan!

<comment><USER4> Thanks Rob! I always appreciate the support.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> How much of this marketing for an ebook do you think applies for a conventional book launch through a publisher? I guess that question also applies to any other tangible product for that matter?

<comment><USER4> Since I haven't done traditional publishing, I don't really know. But I do know that in a traditional format it would take a lot more work for considerably less revenue.

I really think for technical books/guides like this digital publishing is the way to go.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I have a question, for you Nathan, or even anyone who has published an ebook. Do you think a large portion of your success is due to the commercial nature of the book? (You help people make better apps, which makes them money) Or, is it just one among many factors?

I ask because I am contemplating writing an ebook, but it's more of a self- help-style book. Nothing cheesy, I promise. But the premise is more of "I'll help you accomplish X" rather than "I'll help you build beautiful apps/achieve Y technical feature."

Thanks a ton, and good luck.

<comment><USER4> Really it comes down to proving value. The price and content doesn't matter (very much) if the value is there. People like Chris Guillebeau (<http://chrisguillebeau>) sell digital guides on all kinds of subjects and do well.

Though generally something that helps people make money will be easier to justify. Send me an email (firstname.lastname@example.com) with more info and I'd be happy to give more detailed feedback.

<comment><USER8> Great answer, I really appreciate it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Nathan, I almost completely missed this. I woke up to it on HN. Yes, I did get your email yesterday around 8:30am but when I read it on my iPhone, I skimmed right to the center section, with the 4 icons, which is now my routine after getting it for months. Your book has been coming for a while so didn't actually notice that it shipped.

Anyway, I'd suggest a more prominent headline in your next newsletter, or even include the different versions. Heck, why not just dedicate half an issue to discussing it?

<comment><USER4> I didn't want to seem like I was spamming my list by focusing on it too much. Though I will continue to mention it in the coming weeks.

Thanks for subscribing to the newsletter!

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> During the gold rush the people who made money were the ones who sold the tools. Same logic applies here. (nothing against that btw it is just how it works)

<comment><USER4> I've made money on both sides. $40k on selling apps, now $7k selling the book (the tool in your analogy). I think it is good to do both.

<comment><USER10> That's great Nathan and Thanks for sharing as well.

Truly inspiring for all the folks sitting on Xcode day in an day out

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Awesome article.

Question about Gumroad - it looks like you are able to make purchases directly from your site <http://nathanbarry.com/app-design-handbook/> and not have to be directed to <https://gumroad.com/l/AppDesign>. Is this the norm for Gumroad or did you have to add anything custom to the process?

<comment><USER4> That is standard with Gumroad using their modal feature. It was really easy to setup!

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> This is a fantastic article, I learned a ton.

Unfortunately when I went to buy the product, it dead locks chrome at 100% process usage, and it breaks scrolling in a bad way.

I also don't like the pricing: \- give me an obvious choice like the Economist. At the bottom there should be a launch day offer for $80 that gives me the full package for being a pre-review adopter. I need your product, but as it stands there was no clear package to choose.

<comment><USER2> I like having the tiered pricing, but I would probably minimize the 50 user license package.

You should absolutely test this assumption, but I might try:

$49 -> book

$249 -> book + Photoshop originals + X hours of premium tutorial videos + Obj-C PDF + sample project

You'll get +$10 for the baseline purchase, and I think a lot of people who are willing to drop $50 might be _very_ persuaded to almost 5x their price for the value you're putting in the fully loaded package. You're solving a real pain, and people who do this for a living drop money on pain killers.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> I'm always happy when a geek makes money, way to go!

<comment><USER4> Me too. I love these success stories, so I make sure to share my own revenue numbers.

<comment><USER14> Congrats! I love it when money making geeks share revenue numbers.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> I emailed you this morning, read your blog entries and bought the book about 20 minutes later.... very good stuff.

</comment><comment><USER16> Awesome stuff.

Two things I thought would significantly boost your sales:

1) Try book reviews by bloggers 2) Run deals on AppSumo, etc?

<comment><USER4> If I had my launch planned better I would have had book reviews go live today. But unfortunately I got overwhelmed and didn't get that done. Maybe next time!

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> No money to be made in the App store, much to be made teaching people how to build apps. Kudos.

<comment><USER18> Teaching people commercially relevant skills which bill out at $150 an hour is a great thing for everyone involved. (And in that light this is possibly _severely underpriced_. I love the packaging options available, but I think there is probably also a packaging option for selling the same benefit to customers at 10X the prices on this page right now.)

<comment><USER4> I knew at some point you would tell me it was underpriced! :)

Patrick, thanks for all your encouragement and reminders to charge based on value. Without that I would have picked a much lower price and probably made half the money.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Love that you used Gumroad for the sales. :)

<comment><USER4> Me too. They are fantastic! I plan to post a detailed review later on.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Great post Nathan. What tools did you use to author the ebook and are you looking beyond pdf format?

<comment><USER20> Yes! I would like to know a bit more about the tools used to create the ebook too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Congratulations Nathan. Great article, great landing page for your book too.

</comment><comment><USER22> I just bought a copy. Looking forward to great designed apps.

<comment><USER23> How long did it take to get the confirmation email? I've been waiting over 3 hours now.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> You've probably heard the following parable:

Little Bull: "Let's run down the hill and make sweet love to a couple of cows."

Big Bull: "I got a better idea, let's walk down and make sweet love to them all."

When you have content of a transient nature, you got to get the going while the going is good. An ebook launch like this will get the job done.

However, if you write a book that will blow people's minds and change a culture or an industry forever, you don't need the big launch. The name of your book will be whispered into the ears of others for a long time. You will get your sales.

The latter is a lot harder to do, but I'm hoping I can do just that.

Watch this space.

<comment><USER4> I agree that you want the book to truly influence people, but I think you'd be surprised how important a strong launch is. Don't underestimate the importance of making a big splash right away.</comment></comment>


What It's Like to Build a Startup in Gaza - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/2014/10/like-build-startup-gaza-strip-bombs-drop/ <comment><USER2> I am sure that this article will turn into a political flamewar nightmare, but I really appreciate these kids trying. I live in much better circumstances and I am not sure I could stick my neck. By comparison, my reasons seem silly.

I know some Gazans like elsewhere in the Arab world, but I have never asked them what internet connectivity is like in the Strip. Things are so bad with infrastructure stability, I could not believe they had functioning internet during routine bombardment and military operations, especially enough for startups.

Very interesting article, but I have one pet peeve. The word is halas, it is routinely translated khalas or 5alas (from خلاص). I have studied Arabic now approaching ten years, and I have never seen this mistake before.

What is funny is that, when mocking expats and foreigners trying to integrate culturally and linguistically in Arab cities (I was a target of this of course), this is like always the first word (then maashi, ok, then in shaa allah, God willing) every expat who spends time in the MENA region sprinkles into their speech. Almost always is it used in the incorrect context, with moronically extreme overuse.

The journalist could have easily Googled this: halas tells you nothing on Google, while the first result for me for khalas is Yahoo Answers, where someone asks how to use that word.

<comment><USER3> Interesting point about _khalas_. Romanization of "ha" is problematic, "kh" is often used as you state ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B8%AA%C4%81%CA%BE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B8%AA%C4%81%CA%BE)). But for speakers who don't normally use this sound, e.g. English, this can lead to mispronunciation, where it is replaced by a "k" using backformation based on this transliteration. For example _khan_ is usually pronounced as _kahn_ in the US (as in "The Wrath of ..." or for a more recent one: Khaleesi) which is quite off. In this case using "h" would have been better perhaps.

As the Wikipedia page mentions some IE languages also have this sound, but in this case it is generally transliterated as "ch", not "kh", e.g. Loch Ness, which adds to the confusion.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> As an Israeli, I think this is the way to solve this conflict.

Because educated people like them, who want to live a normal life and build a career are the ones who can make a change. Its sad that so many people have to suffer because of a smaller number of religious fanatics that launch rockets from hospitals, dig tunnels into Israel, and are even against peace.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Palestinian_militancy_camp...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Palestinian_militancy_campaign)

These people are the kind people who can change that. I really hope these guys succeed in their projects!

<comment><USER5> How? If Gaza was democratic, like before the 2007 Hamas coop d'etat, I can see how educated people would help.How would they matter? i'm pretty sure if you asked today, almost everyone in Gaza would prefer the Hamas to just go away.

If we judge from history, what they need now is some sort of civil war.

<comment><USER6> I'm not a starry eyed idealist (most of the time) to think everyone can hold hands and bring peace to the world, but there has to be a peaceful resolution to this somehow.

A civil war is the absolute worst thing that can happen now as that will only bring unimaginable misery and horror to those who are already suffering on all sides of this conflict. Those who stand to profit the most, both politically and economically, will stand clear while shouting the loudest as usual while the most vulnerable and least inclined to commit violence will get caught in the fire.

<comment><USER5> Yes , a civil war would be awful, but maybe as a result we'll see democracy in Gaza and a chance for peace with Israel.

On the other hand, is there any other realistic scenario where Hamas is replaced by a peaceful party? Or even Hamas being transformed into a peaceful party ? I'd love to hear a realistic one.

<comment><USER7> >On the other hand, is there any other realistic scenario where Hamas is replaced by a peaceful party? Or even Hamas being transformed into a peaceful party ? I'd love to hear a realistic one.

Yes: the casualties mount until unconditional surrender becomes their best option.

No, that was not supposed to be a pleasant statement to read.

<comment><USER5> Than what happens ? who takes control of the west bank ?

Most likely answer is a big mess, other militant groups and tribes(hamulut) fighting for control. kind like a civil war.And than who ever wins, you got a new terrorist organization. Hopefully we get one that is willing to work with Israel. But we might not.

But a civil war with the purpose of peace, by peaceful citizens ? Maybe that'll work.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I am always amazed to hear how people live there.

When I went to university, I remember meeting a guy from Gaza at a house party. At first, it was a bit of shock, because all the sudden this very distant place, which had spawned countless debates in my government and international politics classes, stopped being quite so far and became very real. I imagine I asked all the typical questions for a foreigner, particularly one informed by US media outlets. However, like this article, the most interesting thing was talking about every day life. He and I traded stories from our high school days, going to parties, first concerts, dating. Reading this now, it things look things have gotten worse, but I will never forget that realization that all over the world, people are just people.

Good luck to these guys. Grinding in a startup isn't easy and I can't imagine doing it in a war zone helps.

<comment><USER9> I had a similar experience when I met someone from Iraq, all of a sudden Iraq was not some desolate place I only saw in the news, but somewhere I knew someone from. It really is incredible how different your perspective is simply by meeting someone from somewhere you only had an abstract concept of. The world really does feel smaller now.

<comment><USER10> Nationalism really holds the world back, pro,opting an us apps them kind of mentality. When really we are all very much the same, you will meet amazing people all around the world.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Any idea on how we can help these guys and girls? Sending physical supplies has a low chance of getting through Israel's blockade. Can they somehow be connected to the Internet in a resilient way that survives bombs and restrictions?

<comment><USER6> Ubiquiti was linked here a little while ago [http://www.ubnt.com/broadband](http://www.ubnt.com/broadband) Their point-to- point wireless can travel a fair distance, but I don't know how resilient it can be. Something similar that is resistant to jamming (possibly frequency hopping, spread-spectrum) might be what's needed to bridge the gap to the wider internet.

Of course, any emanating signal strong enough may attract fire as well, so local communication may be limited to mesh networks similar to what's being used now during the Hong Kong protests.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I actually believe that technologists can't ethically remain aloof from politics, global geopolitics, or even military systems. There are too many lives at stake.

I urge technologists who are concerned about this humanitarian crisis to look at a map of the area in question and research propaganda and global geopolitics in general.

</comment><comment><USER13> There are creative, smart people everywhere

</comment><comment><USER14> "Initiated by a Hamas attack on Israel, the most recent conflict" Please avoid such ignorant and biased comments. You actually don't need them for the article.

</comment><comment><USER15> I nearly escaped a terrorist attack that sent 20 soldiers to the hospital in Jerusalem in 2008 when I purchased a candy bar at the last moment. I was in Israel during "Cast Lead", Israel's 2008 incursion into Gaza. I also know someone whose pregnant wife was killed when a Hamas terrorist bombed a Jerusalem family restaurant that I had earlier attended.

The article states that Israeli initiated a blockade of Gaza when Hamas won the election and that building materials and people are unable to enter or leave Gaza as a result. This is an incorrect statement because Israel does not surround Gaza, rather its ___border to the West is with Egypt which also closed their border, the Rafah Junction_ __. In fact, the current President of Egypt, Sisi really hates Hamas (Hamas is the Gaza branch of The Muslim Brotherhood). The Muslim Brotherhood and other forms of militant Islam are threats of stability to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and other Arab countries. Both Egypt and Saudi Arabia were very supportive of Israel attacking Gaza in the recent conflict. President Sisi worked very hard to close the illegal tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.

The cause of the suffering in Gaza is that Hamas shoots missiles into Israel. Those missiles and other war goods and concrete for making tunnels into Israel were smuggled through underground tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. Thus, the key to the safety of Gazan civilians is the closing of those tunnels and the demilitarization of Gaza/Hamas. Since Hamas took over Gaza in 2006, they have been shooting missiles into Israel, yet neither the US or other members of the International Community had until recently worked with Egypt to close those tunnels.

We all feel terrible that innocent civilians in Gaza are being killed (just as innocent civilians in Germany and Japan were killed in WW II). Ultimately, the people who elected Hamas (just as those Germans who decided to follow Hitler) are ultimately responsible for the deaths of their fellow civilians.

<comment><USER16> You're right, the tunnels can't exist, for the sake of Israel's security. You're also right when you say that Sisi (a tyrant) hates Hamas and he worked to close the tunnels.

What you fail to mention is that Egypt eliminated over 1,300 illegal tunnels along their border without killing a single civilian. Israel on the other hand, murdered over 1,500 civilians in the process of dismantling the illegal tunnels on their border. This was no accident, it was calculated murder on the part of the Israeli government.

<comment><USER15> The Egyptians flooded the tunnels with sewage on the Egyptian side. The tunnels, unlike the ones from Gaza into Israel are not used to kill civilians, nor is Hamas shooting missiles into Egypt.

You might be interested in the words of British Colonel Kemp, who was in charge of all British forces in Afghanistan:

"Kemp pointed out that, during the operation, there was approximately one civilian casualty for ever terrorist killed by the IDF, whereas the average in the world is four civilians for every combatant, and that, when taking into consideration Hamas's use of human shields, this shows how careful the IDF is.

"No army in the world acts with as much discretion and great care as the IDF in order to minimize damage. The US and the UK are careful, but not as much as Israel," he told the committee." [http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli- Conflict/Former-British-co...](http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli- Conflict/Former-British-commander-in-Afghanistan-No-army-acts-with-as-much- discretion-as-IDF-does-374382)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17>
        "Initiated by a Hamas attack on Israel"

Narrow interpretations like these show either an ignorance of events or arrogant bias, and are not that hard to avoid as a writer if you actually try.

<comment> jsz- Technically, the recent conflict was in fact, initiated by Hamas.

<comment><USER18> Technically it wasn't at all. It's a lot more complex than people think. But do we really want to have this conversation?

<comment> jsz- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is very complicated I agree. But the latest events were triggered by Hammas organization. That's all..

<comment><USER18> > _the latest events were triggered by Hammas organization_

Perhaps I'd take the comment a bit more seriously if you actually knew how to spell the name of the political party you're accusing and didn't create this account 1 hour ago just to reply to an article about Startups in Gaza that 'Hammas' triggered the latest events.

Again, the situation is far more complex. There is no evidence that Hamas leadership was aware of, much less called for the kidnapping. It appears it was a lone cell. It's tragic, no less, but not grounds to trigger a war against an organisation who wasn't aware or responsible, especially not if it leaves over a thousand civilians dead and entire neighborhoods destroyed as collateral damage. Similarly, when a Palestinian boy was brutally beaten, kidnapped and burned alive days after by people unaffiliated with the IDF, there were obviously no grounds for anyone to start a war against the IDF, especially not if it'd leave over a thousand civilians dead.

The aftermath of the kidnapping was important. On the phonecall that one of the kids made to report their kidnapping shots are heard, and that same day the bloody car is found in which the boys died. The Israeli government at that time knew the boys weren't alive, yet staged a campaign to round up members of a political party that they had no evidence to tie to the kidnapping. The kidnapping was used as a carte blanche under the pretense of a rescue operation, while it was obvious from the start there was sadly no rescuing to do. About 400 people were arrested, several houses were demolished and 10 Palestinians were killed in these raids.

Imagine if Hamas went into Israel and arrested 400 people of the Likud party, killing 10 and demolishing homes, after being accused of killing innocent children without any evidence tying them to these crimes. (of course, ignoring the ironic fact that it's well-documented that the IDF did kill roughly 500 Palestinian children this year, like the kids playing football on the beach this summer)

From there it escalated. Now let's look at the backdrop to this event. Hamas and Fatah sought to form a unity government, which was supported by virtually all of the planet including indeed the US, the UN and the EU, China, India, Russia etc. Israel was the only party who opposed it and immediately after announced building of 1500 houses in West Bank settlements, which may I remind you, are illegally occupied territory under international law, a fact that is again quite universally recognized by just about everyone except Israel. Again, imagine two political parties choosing to come together with the support of the entire world, one country opposing who promptly increases settlements in illegally occupied territories of the land governed by these two parties forming a unity government.

This is the context in which such tragic events happen. People don't kidnap others as an extracurricular activity, and so it's doubly myopic to say it were kidnappings happening purely in isolation that triggered this. If I occupy part of your house, control your doorsteps, your electricity, your water, your fridge, oppose your political self-determination and announce to occupy extra parts of your house, and you hit me, and I start a war with you, it's myopic to simply say 'you hitting me triggered this war'. It's simply more complex than that and it does nobody good to take all these shortcuts.

Obviously these settlements as a reaction to a political decision of two parties, and the subsequent raids, arrests, demolishing and killings of one of those parties, with the consequence of thousands of civilians dead, is the way of provocation and escalation, not diplomacy.

Again, it's all much more complex.

<comment> jsz- Perhaps I'd take your comment more seriously if you didn't call Hamas a political party.

But seriously - I have so much to say about what you wrote, but I don't think HN meant for this kind of discussion.

So, back to on topic stuff: is RAILS really dead?

<comment><USER18> It's quite clearly a political party. If that means you think I'm trying to legitimize them, I'm not, I'm very comfortable in saying I deplore many of their brutal actions and in also calling them a terrorist organisation.

But it is also a political party that participated and won in elections. Whether elections were free or completely closed isn't relevant to basic terminology. Dictatorships have political parties, too. I'm assuming you also wouldn't have called Hezbollah a political party, or the NSDAP, or the CCP? Just because they do shitty things doesn't mean we can't use basic terminology to describe them.

I really respect you withholding comment on anything else for the sake of keeping things on topic. Kudos. I'll make sure to do the same.

<comment><USER19> It's sad that you're being downvoted for a reasonable and factually-based comment. This isn't reddit, folks.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Dammit, HN, don't do it. [http://xkcd.com/787/](http://xkcd.com/787/)

<comment><USER21> This article is, technically, sort of on-topic for this site, so I didn't flag it, but you can see how easily anything even remotely political goes off the rails and turns nasty. Maybe I should hit the 'flag' button.

<comment><USER17> I appreciate HN most for insights or debates on non-technical issues. So I wouldn't flag for it being OT. You may flag however for it getting too controversial. However, this will just a continued reality for anything in relation to Israel and Palestine for our life times.

<comment><USER22> Yes, I go to Hacker News to read things which aren't controversial. Sigh.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> "Hamas—the democratically empowered Islamic organization determined to reclaim Palestine from Israel"

If you mean hanging your political opponents from bridges and executing them in the public square, then yeah, Hamas is "democratically empowered".

And the Hamas charter states its goal is the destruction of the state of Israel, not merely reclaiming land.

<comment><USER10> Hamas won the elections in Gaza, which were supervised by Israel and the United States. Israel is also committed to the destruction of Gaza it would seem, by bombs, and the colonization of the West Bank.

Remember Israel kicked Palestineans out of their homes during the 1948 war, simply appopriated their property and didn't allow them to return by passing an absentee landlord law.

<comment><USER24> Hamas did win the elections in 06 - I followed them and they won on a platform of promising better social programs thantheir opponents.

That was um - 8 years ago. In the immediate aftermath their actions drew sanctions from the US, EU, UN and Russia, on the entire Palestinian Authority, and they wound up splitting from the unified government and taking over Gaza. That led to the sanctions being lifted against the PA and imposed on Gaza alone. Then they had a civil war with Fatah over control of Gaza (which to be fair was just as much if not more Fatah's initiative) and wound up killing and expelling the rival Fatah government members from Gaza entirely. After this, a blockade was imposed on Gaza by both Israel and Egypt, as Hamas secured its iron grip on Gaza and routinely affirmed its ideological goal to "liberate" Palestine from the Zionists - a completely impractical diplomatic position that harmed the Gaza population enormously for the next decade.

Not that Hamas was too concerned about that. They were getting funding from Islamic states and went to work securing the Gaza strip and consolidating its power. To its credit, Gaza is tribal (the clans are called Hamullas) and it plunged into anarchy in the aftermath of Israeli withdrawal and resettlement of all Israelis from the Gaza strip. You can appreciate the situation preceding these elections by reading some news articles from the time:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/17/international/middleeast/1...](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/17/international/middleeast/17mideast.html?pagewanted=print)

It is in this environment that Hamas, an organization committed to an ideology that it placed above the lives of Israelis and indeed Gazans - came to prominence. Since that election there have been no fair and free elections. I don't think the mark of a democracy is that they have one election and the majority party drive out the rest of the government and maintain an iron grip for the next couple decades. They are closer to the Kim regime in North Korea. Hamas's governancd has been terrible for the Gazans by perpetuating their blockade, and Hamas itself has become almost completely internationally isolated. In this latest war, an unprecedented number of nations including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE have joined the chorus calling for their disarmament.

So I would take issue with the idea that Hamas is somehow a legitimate and good government for the people of Gaza. Before this war, most of them wanted to get rid of Hamas! Having said that, operations like this cause people to support Hamas who they now would elect over Fatah leaders if elections were held today. This itself is sad because as has been shown over and over Hamas perpetuates the suffering of Palestinians. Not just because of international sanctions and nearbcomplete isolation, and not just because of expanding Sunni Sharia which hurts less Islamically religious Palestinians including Christians, etc. but at the root because they put their ideology ahead of human lives. Any ideology in power - whether nazism, communism, or in this case a fanatical belief that "All Palestine is a waqf to Islam until the end of the world" which is in their charter - leads to mass death. After all technically speaking Hitler may have been democratically elected. So we should guard against this.

Having said that, I think Revisionist Zionism is the ideology that empowers the radicals on the Palestinian side, whether religious or not. Not all Zionism but Revisionist zionism, which traces its roots to Jabotinsky but ultimately found expression in such groups as Lehi and Irgun. Menachem Begin was despised by the main leaders of Israel such as Ben Gurion and the entire Labor party. It is interesting to note that at that time Israel was within the "1967 lines" and got even more threats from various Arab countries, that said they shouldn't have a state at all. Besides launching actul military attacks against Israel, many Arab countries also expelled Jews (a sort of Jewish Nakba, the main difference being that Jews had a state that welcomed them, a state which the Arab League nations wanted to destroy without regard to how many people lived in it).

Not many people talk about this but the expelled Jews were able to find a home in Israel and swell its population. In fact most Jews in Israel came to Israel as refugees - whether from the Holocaust in Europe or the expulsion from Arab countries BEFORE 1967. Some went to Israel, others went to the US, China and Western countries. They were able to get asylum and their children have become citizens!

Meanwhile millions of Palestinian refugees do not get the same treatment, even and especially from the Arab League countries that are supposedly championing their "cause" to begin with!

Their actual treatment by these countries is appalling. Did you know that over half of the people considered "Palestinian" live OUTSIDE Israel, te West Bank and Gaza? For GENERATIONS they have lived as refugees with NO citizenship. Think about that - you live in a segregated "refugee camp" and barred (in countries such as Lebanon) from owning property or holding many jobs (doctor, lawyer etc.) Your children born in the land - no matter how many generations - do not get citizenship and spend their lives in the same situation.

This is ACTUAL apartheid and it has been artificially perpetuated by many Arab League countries, while claiming it is for their own good. It's not a joke, the Jordanian govt has consistently said this as a talking point as recently as in the last decade. They refuse to give asylum specifically to Palestinians - even the ones fleeing the civil war in Syria. They simply drive them back over the border (whatever the UN conventions about that may be.

There is an element of realpolitik here that most Western "free Gaza" protestors miss. Arab countries HAVE tried to take in Palestinians but experienced their own problems with the PLO. This idea that Palestinians should have their own state has played out in more theaters than Israel. The Jordanian government had a civil war with the PLO after it annexed the West Bank and it does not want to go back to that dark time again. Kuwait expelled Palestinians because the PLO sided with Saddam in the Gulf war. Lebanon's Hezbollah formed out of a Shiite minority funded by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran as much against the influx of Sunni Palestinians (the PLO was based IN Lebanon at the time) as the Israeli army's activities in Lebanon. And just as recently as last year, Assad committed genuine war crimes against his Palestinian population living in refugee camps, such as cutting off food and starving tens of thousand of Palestinians in a camp that used to be the largest one in Syria with hundreds of thousands.

[http://www.timesofisrael.com/three-years-of-civil-war-in- syr...](http://www.timesofisrael.com/three-years-of-civil-war-in-syria-no-end- in-sight/)

So instead of the neatly packaged narrative of "Israel vs Palestinians" look at it as people, governments and ideas. How many millions of people and their generations of children living in Arab countries have to suffer because of the excuse that the policy supports building a Palestinian state in Palestine? Imagine if Jews were told by European nations that they had to live in 21st century ghettos for as many generations as it took until Israel was established. Not even the USSR - a militantly atheistic country - treated them this badly. Palestinian nationalism wasnt even a dominant movement until the PLO, and like all movements to forma state and get power, the PLO had its share of corruption. But millions of Palestinians have to pay the price, not at Israel's hands but other countries as well. Actualy, arguably speaking the Palestinians who live in Israel proper have the same quality of life as in Western countries such as Canada where they have real opportunities (the singer Nasri for example, whose song is currently topping the charts, is of Palestinian descent). And if they get their own state, there are legitimate reasons to worry it won't be very tolerant of Jews, Christians and will most likely be a Sunni Sharia state.

So I guess there is a point to my whole essay that I wound up writing here. Look at people, look at governments and international coalitions and talk about ways those those governments can work together to benefit the people at large, economy, real infrastructure, and protections for minorities. There are no easy solutions but if international programs are put in place, with a realistic roadmap and accountability, and governments each do their part, we can solve these problems brick by brick. Expecting Israel to do it all alone is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Look at the new geopolitical alliances in the Arab and Persian world because of ideological jihadist threats like ISIS, look at te unprecedented will to disarm Hamas, and start there. Let's start helping people.

[http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=172](http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=172)

[http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=174](http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=174)

<comment><USER10> I agree with much of what you said. I am fully aware of the conditions Palistineans live in. It is appalling. Look Hamas does have a lot of issues, but you're not mentioning the causes of these issues, namely the continue humiliating circumstances which Israel imposes on Palestineans, the apartheid state which they have to endure, not to mention the terrorist bombings and targeted assassinations conducted by Israel. In such an environment of terror, extreme parties are bound to come into power. And of course this suits Israel because then they can deligitimize the Palistineans even more.

<comment><USER24> Yeah I take your point. Before 1967 one could hardly make that point but after the 6-day war Israel has inherited responsibility for the Palestinian populations of West Bank and Gaza.

I guess the main thing I wanted to stress is that singling out Israel perpetuates the problems of Palestinians all around the world. It's perverse how the BDS movement and others expect Israel to magically fix all the problems. Egypt participates in the blockade, and the sanctions against Hamas were done by many other countries besides Israel. At the end of the day one should see how policies of governments affect regular Palestinians, and mot just focus on Israel's governent alone. It's pretty clear that Hamas has been terrible for Gazans, and it's sad that they don't really care. When they lost a lot of their outside funding they agreed to a unity government so they could continue to get paid by the PA. They hardly ever have seriously cosidered working with the rest of the world besides Israel on a roadmap where they disarm in exchange for raising the blockade and $50B in investment to develop Gaza's natural gas and tourism industries. It's not like the other countries werent offering such terms. Hamas is just super focused on retaking ALL the land including Israel, an unrealistic goal but hey, they sterted as a "militant resistant movement" and they had to compete for mindshare as the "authentic" Islamic movement that wouldn't sell out. This doesnt serve the people they "govern" very well.

Just this summer that all came to a head: [http://english.al- akhbar.com/node/20887](http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/20887)

The Arab world except Qatar pretty much gave up on Hamas - Shiite regimes like Assad have been attacked by them and Sunni regimes like Saudis realized that sunni militants are a bigger threat than Israel. They put the Islamic Brotherhood on a terror list along with ISIS and they were the ones who helped back the military coup in Egypt. Egypt participates in the blockade of Gaza as well.

In short the region should solve the problem not Israel alone. All those BDS movements that single out Israel keep perpetuating the insanity imho.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> What bothers me is that Hamas (and jihad-driven islamists in general) are seemingly a minority, even in Gaza. Why don't you build a reservation for them or something?

There are many parties who are interested in re-igniting the conflict, for example those who sell weaponry. Clearly neither Israelis nor Gazans (talking about general population, like 99.9% of the people) are enjoying the moment.

(I personally wrote many loc in a shelter, to a soundtrack of sirens and explosions — islamists' rockets aren't even targeted at something specific, they just continuously bomb more populated areas in Israel, major cities.)

<comment><USER18> _Why don 't you build a reservation for them or something?_

Seems to me all of Gaza is a reservation, as are the bantustans in the West Bank...

I really don't mean to incite any political conversation here. I enjoy it, but I don't think HN is the right platform for any meaningful discussion, unless it's targeted to be. But this thread is about startups in harsh conditions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Get ready to hear indirectly from IDF PR the standard line of defence of their recent actions. "They started it!"

</comment><comment><USER27> Uh oh, get ready for being called "anti-semetic" if you even remotely show any sympathy for these kids...

I came across an article a while ago about some Palestinian kids inventing a device to convert plastic waste to petrol. I think it's amazing that amidst a world of hell, they are still trying to apply their minds: [http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/occupation-cant-stifle- innova...](http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/occupation-cant-stifle-innovation/)

<comment><USER28> It seems like almost everyone was sympathetic with them.</comment></comment>


Airbnb is raising $1B in debt, its second fundraising round in 2 weeks - <AUTHOR> https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-raising-1-billion-debt-second-funding-deal-two-weeks-2020-4 <comment><USER2> I'm curious how much extra cash can help. Surely it'll help keep office workers paid and leases above water, but that can't replace all the home owners that are going to bankrupt once the extra revenue disappears, especially the ones that took whole units off the market to just rent them on AirBnB.

Once that network is broken, how hard is it for AirBnB to return to normal?</comment>


Changing the gig economy to be skill and knowledge based - <AUTHOR> http://gignoble.com/interview-with-john-thomas-connor-co-founder-of-helpwith <comment><AUTHOR> This is the first part of the interview, there will be a second part posted next week that goes into more details.

I'd love to answer any questions.</comment>


What is the Definition of Big Data? - <AUTHOR> http://setandbma.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/definition-of-big-data/

<comment><USER2> "Cannot be handled" and "inefficiently or slowly handled" are not the same thing. Almost all big data applications can be trivially implemented in basic scripting languages, and most can be handled quite easily using SQL. Big Data is more about speed than it is about quantity.</comment>


Japanese Carrier NTT DoCoMo Hacked, Credit Card info Leaked for #StopCISPA - <AUTHOR> http://www.cyberwarnews.info/2013/04/27/japanese-mobile-operator-ntt-docomo-hacked-credit-card-information-leaked-for-stopcispa/

<comment><USER2> As great as it is that they're targeting these CISPA supporters, there really needs to be a way to prevent the collateral damage (regular users who now have their credit card information leaked). While this will certainly hurt the company, the potential consequences are much graver to the service's innocent users.

Actions like these may even, out of fear, bring people to ignorantly support CISPA thinking it will make their personal information safe from such attacks.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Apparently the source of the leak is from:

      NTT DoCoMo USA INC
      NTTA New York Data Center</comment>


Final Report on the August 14, 2003 Blackout (2004) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/oeprod/DocumentsandMedia/BlackoutFinal-Web.pdf <comment><USER2> When the blackout happened, my parents were driving home from another city hours away. They stopped for gas to refill, and discovered that all gas stations everywhere were out of power, and therefore could not pump gas.

My mother told me later how suddenly terrifying the situation became.

There is no power. Your car may not have enough fuel to get home to your kids. We do not know when there will be power again. It may be in an hour, or next week. You are 100 miles from home- a distance that used to be an inconvenience but suddenly might be an impossibility. The phone system may not be working either, or may not for very much longer. You have whatever money you're holding in cash right now to pay for your needs.

We are dependent on our technology in ways we cannot even see.

(They pulled into the driving running on the last fumes in the tank, fortunately)

<comment><USER3> When the Tubbs Fire happened north of the SF Bay last year, it cut off the few Internet links to the Eureka area in Northern California. ATM machines were down as a result, as were the phone lines. If you were stuck somewhere without gas, and without cash, you were really out of luck.

This kind of thing can happen at any moment and yet how many people are really prepared?

<comment><USER4> Fact: 70% of residents in the 3 counties (Napa, Lake, Sonoma) had FULL telecom outage (no internet, phone, cell) for 2-3 days. Power was out for 2 days at our house.

When your entire profession and skillset is based on the internet, and computers, etc. -- and those things simply cease to exist for all practical purposes - that is a bad feeling.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> One of my favourite anecdotes about the 2003 blackout is this exchange[1]:

Other Operator: "Hey, do you think you could help out the 345 voltage a little?"

Eastlake 5 Operator: "Buddy, I am — yeah, I'll push it to my max max. You're only going to get a little bit."

Other Operator: "That's okay, that's all I can ask."

Eastlake Unit 5 tripped on overload shortly after this, removing reactive power capability from the system and further destabilizing it.

Human error and lack of situational awareness (Midwest ISO's state estimator, a software program that is supposed to continually evaluate power system conditions and alert operators when they are in or near a region of instability, was offline) played a big role.

[1] [https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Professionalism/Northeast_Blac...](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Professionalism/Northeast_Blackout_of_2003)

</comment><comment><USER6> Also see: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003)

</comment><comment><USER7> I remember this blackout. I was in college at the time and this was a big deal back in Long Island. A lot of us got together and had a lot of fun in the dark as everything was shut down including labs, libraries. It turned out to be a great fun time with friends while we sat and discussed our lives without power.

<comment><USER8> This is probably a dumb idea, but wouldn't it be cool to have scheduled blackouts like this from time to time?

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> TLDR; Caused by trees. And poor planning.

FirstEnergy didn't adequately trim trees in the right of way for a 345 kV line. On a hot day, due to other outages, the load on that line caused the conductor to heat, expand, sag, and then electricity shorted to the tree. Protection equipment removed the line from service, but with the loss of that transmission capacity, other lines also exceeded their capacity with their protection equipment tripping them offline. Planning criteria should have 1) prevented the first line from having as much load as it did, and 2) prevented the loss of the first line from causing cascading failures.

Page 18 is a good place to start if you don't have the patience for the full 238 page report.

<comment><USER10> That's not a fully accurate situation.

The most damning thing is that _FirstEnergy didn 't realize their system was falling apart._ They lost alarm notifications at 2:14, and didn't realize that things were bad for another hour and a half. The first transmission line to fail completely [1] wasn't discovered by anyone until after the blackout, and FirstEnergy was called about the first transmission line failure but they dismissed it as a fluke because they received no notification of its failure. It took several people calling them asking about line failures before they realized that they weren't seeing their internal notifications, and by that time, their system was pretty much one minor thing away from disaster.

The only actual recourse they would have had at that point would have been to start disconnecting people from their system. That takes time, and by the time they realized that they were in such an emergency, it was too late. The system was already collapsing and the full blackout was just 20 minutes away.

[1] The Star-South Canton transmission line crossed company boundaries and failed twice then immediately automatically reconnected before failing for good a third time. The first failure precedes the Harding-Chamberlain failure, while the other two failures occurred after two lines were off for good, so this line's failure is considered the third failure.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> i was in the basement of a largish building. our office was down there, and we'd got used to the hum of all the internals at the other end of the building (hvac mostly, but...other ambient power noises in general).

4ish pm (ann arbor area)... boom. no power. pitch black. in a basement. with no sounds. no ambient hum of the hvac. nothing, save a single red 'exit' emergency light. we made our way upstairs and outside, and ... yep - the whole town was shut down. took a while to realize it was a good portion of the northeast!

looking back, I was quite surprised no one was caught in an elevator. there were only 4 floors, and it was 4pm, so things were slow, but... they did get used regularly.</comment>