How an argument with Hawking suggested the Universe is a hologram - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/07/how-an-argument-with-hawking-suggested-the-universe-is-a-hologram.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

<comment><USER2> _What was missing from the discussion was an attempt to tackle one of the issues that plagues string theory: the math may all work out and it could provide a convenient way of looking at the world, but is it actually related to anything in the actual, physical Universe? Nobody even attempted to tackle that question._

I was surprised and happy to read this part. With my multiple attempts (and mostly failing) to understand quantum mechanics or string theory, I got the impression that this topic is never approached, and that omission never explained. If you're going to try to convince someone that our universe has multiple parallel futures, you should be ready to explain how that relates to our lives.

I think that's what lead me to the _impression_ \- as an _outsider_ \- that fascinating sounding things like the many-worlds interpretation are beautiful ideas that do not exist outside of equations, they're a kind of science fiction, a kind that is backed by mathematics and published in journals.

<comment><USER3> _If you're going to try to convince someone that our universe has multiple parallel futures, you should be ready to explain how that relates to our lives._

Isn't it a bit presumptuous to demand that any theoretical truth about the nature of the entire universe should be relatable to the life of a human?

<comment><USER4> It is not presumptuous. The very human is the one pondering about this 'truth': it very well relates to him as the 'nature' of the Universe contains man within it, does it not? So whatever nature the Universe follows, so does man.

If it were the case that there are multiple parallel futures, then we ask ourselves:

How do I navigate myself to the best-possible future for me and those who surround me?

It is your very actions day by day that determine where it is that you go.

<comment><USER5> _So whatever nature the Universe follows, so does man._

Sure, but that doesn't mean that humans are able to understand nature in a way that relates to them, at least not on all levels. We weren't built for large and small scales, our brain is only intuitively familiar with human scales. A second to a century. One millimeter to 100 kilometer. A few centimeters per day to a few dozen kilometers per hour.

I don't think _intuitiveness_ should be a deciding factor when it comes to describing nature.

<comment><USER4> "Doesn't mean that humans are able to understand.."

I guess all of the work in physics, chemistry and other sciences of the past thousands years was all in delusion?

Nothing was learned, nothing.

<comment><USER5> You are missing half a sentence there.

It looks like humans are very capable of understanding non-human-scale nature, just not intuitively.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I love it when the "quirks" break the whole theory. This is what happened in the late 1800's; there were only minor flaws in Physics that needed to be ironed out.

Of course, when that started, the garment caught on fire.

</comment><comment><USER2> How does this relate with Talbot's perspective(s) on the universe as a hologram?

<http://twm.co.nz/hologram.html>

<comment><USER7> Hawking et. al. are arguing about an idea that has equations and some sort of potential physical meaning, and in accordance with the Correspondence Principle [1] has only the most subtle of impact on the rest of physics as we know it, if true. It's an idea that can be disproved, and may have been disproved: <http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/hologram-universe/>

The essay you linked to is Deepak Chopra-style quanto-babble with little content that can actually be translated into something meaningful in the real world. Indeed, one must ask the question, if "reductionist" scientists are so fundamentally wrong about everything, then how come they can so successfully predict so much? Is there some physical experiment that can be run that this will produce better predictions for?

So, I'd say the relationship is that Hawking et al are doing science, and Talbot is using their work as the seed for his internal random number generator.

[1]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correspondence_principle>

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I like to try and keep up with physics and am interested in astronomy but this stuff really goes straight over my head. If this is correct what are the implications?

</comment><comment><USER9> > "When Hawking says 'rubbish,'" he said, "you've lost the argument."

I hope this is an exaggerated anecdote and not actually the case.

</comment><comment><USER10> I was surprised that the article did not mention entropy even once. It rather used the term 'information content'.</comment>


How Clustrix does distributed SQL (It's impressive) - <AUTHOR> http://www.clustrix.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/clustrix-whitepaper-01-no-on-sql-mysql-object-key-value-store-database-scaling.pdf <comment><USER2> Sounds a lot like the HyPra / ClustRa system.

[http://books.google.com/books?id=KH_kfSsMu80C&dq=HypRa+C...](http://books.google.com/books?id=KH_kfSsMu80C&dq=HypRa+ClustRa+parallel+Database&source=gbs_navlinks_s)

<comment><USER3> You mean the Clustra that was acquired by Sun and renamed HADB? I used it, and as far as I can remember, the HADB fault-tolerant story was that each node has a mirror that takes over if the first fails; and it's basically all in-memory. The Clustrix redundancy granularity is much finer, and everything is on disk.

<comment><USER2> I never worked with one, but I believe the HyPra system included disks (as shown on page 148. [http://books.google.com/books?id=KH_kfSsMu80C&pg=PA148](http://books.google.com/books?id=KH_kfSsMu80C&pg=PA148) ). I recall it was one of the earlier systems to achieve high transaction rates by logging updates to memories of multiple replicas (described on page 181: [http://books.google.com/books?id=KH_kfSsMu80C&pg=PA181](http://books.google.com/books?id=KH_kfSsMu80C&pg=PA181) ).

<comment><USER3> Clustra/HADB did use disks (can't have all your data disappear if you turn off the cluster!) but a running system was in-mem in operation -- if your database was much bigger than the RAM available it was unusable. (I never used Hypra.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> What's interesting to me is that they're selling this as an appliance, and a high end one at that. They're using Infiniband networking and seven SSDs per appliance. That's some serious cost. Their overall software design as described in the white paper isn't that new or interesting IMO. Teradata and others have been doing very similar things for a long time.

<comment><USER5> As far as I know, no has a system like ours that can actually scale OLTP workloads. Warehousing/Analytics databases are very different beast. Can you point me at an OLTP system that I can expand without taking any loss of availability? How about supporting online schema changes?

Infiniband ports cost less than 10GE right now. There's really nothing that ties our architecture to IB. It's all about price/performance. When a better/cheaper technology becomes more available, we'll switch to that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Very interesting white paper. (I didn't realize that Clustix is a YCombinator company -- they're class of 2006.)

<comment><USER5> And we're always looking to hire good engineers with skills in distributed systems development.

<http://www.clustrix.com/about/careers/></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Where to get news on latest hardware/product updates? - <AUTHOR> I'm a mechanical engineer by training but interested in tech stuff. Have been reading HN for a while and wonder if there's something the same or similar to HN, but tailored for hardware/physical product. Thanks! <comment><USER2> You could try reddit. It has subreddits and multireddits (packages of subreddits) on all sorts of specialized topics you can subscribe to. I'm not a computer scientist but you can search/explore suggested multireddits by topics, and subscribe to lists curated by other users.

<comment><AUTHOR> Got it, thanks!

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> [http://blog.fictiv.com/posts/](http://blog.fictiv.com/posts/)

Fictiv's Hardware Weekly is usually a good place to start. They're a prototyping shop in Oakland.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks much!</comment></comment>


Never Worry About Slow Queries Again: Manage Your SQL Plan - <AUTHOR> https://pingcap.com/blog/sql-plan-management-never-worry-about-slow-queries-again/ <comment><USER2> Specific to TiDB. Not generally applicable.</comment>


Robot's Delight: Japanese robots rap about their artificial intelligence - <AUTHOR> http://robohub.org/robots-delight-japanese-robots-rap-about-their-artificial-intelligence/ <comment><USER2> This is the best thing i saw today !

<comment><AUTHOR> It's still making my life, I must admit. So damn catchy.</comment></comment>


Lawrence Lessig Responds to ASCAP Attack on Creative Commons - <AUTHOR> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-lessig/ascaps-attack-on-creative_b_641965.html

<comment><USER2> If everybody stop pirating but don't want to pay, then they will flock over to copyleft materials. Suddenly, copyleft folks will make lot more money than people like ASCAP since some of them do have business models. As one HN reader puts it, _"The enemy of Gimp is pirated Photoshop"_.

Copyleft businessmen do have a strong incentive in having corporations implementing ways to make pirating copyright materials more expensive/risky, but not use it themselves.

In a way, the RIAA, ASCAP, and other copyright organization are unwitting accomplice in the rise of copyleft and copyfree entrepreneurs, however fews exist.

</comment><comment><USER3> The Copyleft movement recognizes that some people want to release their works for free, and created multiple channels to do so, all based on a solid legal framework. And these channels provide a spectrum of how much you want to allow.

I think deep down the ASCAP just cannot stomach why anyone would release their work for free.

<comment><AUTHOR> Plus the irony that Copyleft relies on strong copyright to protect the freedoms they argue for. It is about as anti-pirate as you can get.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Dear ASCAP,

About that word "free" that you keep bandying about... I don't think it means what you think it means.

</comment><comment><USER5> The beauty of Creative Commons is that the more stringently copyright is policed the more the public will have little option but to engage with media under CC licenses.

People naturally want to share things which they find entertaining with their friends, and I see this as a psychological trait which is hard to suppress and isn't going away any time soon because it's a fundamental aspect of human culture. In a theoretical world of perfect copyright policing the only way to stay fully engaged in cultural exchange will be via media with CC type permissions.

</comment><comment><USER6> Why is there this level of cluelessness in an organization of such far- reaching influence? Don't these people know how to use Google?

<comment><USER7> Don't attribute to stupidity what you can attribute to malice...

<comment><USER6> I don't see what they really have to gain. Perhaps they are trying to eliminate "the competition?"

<comment><USER7> Every year they manage to extend the current situation is worth billions.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Valuation the easy way - <AUTHOR> http://blog.experimenthouse.com/2008/07/valuation-easy-way.html

<comment><USER2> Very good post. But I was wondering how you value your ideas up front? Also, any scope for going back and revaluing it (e.g. if it brought in much more revenue than expected, with little work required i.e. little dilution) during your regular valuation meetings?

I'd be interested to know, a year down the line, whether these frequent meetings ultimately were a productive and motivational use of your time? On reading your article, it certainly seems like a good way to do things, but it'd be nice to have it run its course and then view it in retrospect!

<comment><AUTHOR> As far as valuing ideas up front, we plotted them at discrete points in the creative process. There was one particular "critical" meeting we used early on as a landmark, because a lot of our product ideas came out that day. We would ask ourselves "what % of our value was idea X before that meeting?" Then we would extrapolate it to a year out, to see if the slope of decay looked right to us. With some linear interpolation, we came up with a number along its decay line that represented its value today.

Revaluing things retrospectively isn't something that we've talked about yet but it's certainly a space for further exploration. I think our hope is that there will be enough time delay between someone proposing an idea and its valuation that we'll have some actual customer data or feedback that we can evaluate.

As to the long-term viability of our system, only time will tell :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> FWIW, PG seems to believe that there was a correlation between people who spend lots of time/energy/thought on stuff like this and failure.

I think you'd get similar value by setting an initial partnership allocation (50-50 or 33-33-33 is best-- if they don't bring equal value, find a partner who does), vesting it over 4 years, and meeting every quarter for a "Do we all feel like everyone's holding up their end?" meeting.

<comment><AUTHOR> I suspect 2.5 hours is far less time and energy than most startup founders put into allocating shares. It's not something that we spent weeks or months on. We actually spent more time blogging about it than doing the actual allocation, and I think the increase in productivity associated with happy hackers was a net win.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Interesting article. Although, I'm not sure about the following statement: "Entry-level developers seem to make about 75k-90k a year in most places." That's seems to be a bit overestimated, at least for an entry-level web developer.

<comment><AUTHOR> It certainly seemed to be the case for the particular hypothetical developers we would be hiring (the specific languages and technologies we use).

Your mileage may vary, but the general concept (paying market rates) still holds.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Who do you do these monthly valuations with? Investors? Co-Founders?

<comment><AUTHOR> Obviously the part about valuing the work was referring to work performed by the founders.

Investors were involved in the process as well. It is easy to "value" an investment--it obviously already has number associated with it ;-)

I can obviously forsee issues arising if investors are not on board with this sort of valuation system. We were able to dangle the carrot of giving them some additional rights in our operating agreement, which seemed to make them happy.

<comment><USER3> Um yeah-- valuation (as most people refer to it) is the process of valuing a company. And no-- valuing an investment doesn't have a number attached to it until you negotiate one (which is the hard problem that PG refers to). If I invest $100k in your company, sure-- I've invested $100k. But at what valuation? Is your company worth $1m post-money, thus giving me 10% ownership? Or is it worth $200k post-money, giving me a 50% stake?

That's the hard part.

Regarding investors not being on board... I'd go a bit farther and say that your system is likely a fundraising death-sentence unless you are already a runaway success who can make the rules. No one is going to invest in a company with a shifting cap table and no formal vesting.

I'm all for innovation, but I don't think you're buying anything here other than additional risk. In this case, the convention method actually works pretty well.</comment></comment></comment>


HTML Notepad – HTML WYSIWYG editor for the rest of us - <AUTHOR> https://html-notepad.com/ <comment><USER2> I can honestly see myself using this program to take general notes. It's light enough, and outputs in HTML (which, unlike markdown, can be displayed correctly on any computer that has a browser).

<comment><USER3> Half the point of markdown is that it is readable and understandable both in it's plain text form and it's HTML form though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> really interesting project, ill try it!</comment>


The $20 Starbucks Test - <AUTHOR> The "$20 Starbucks Test" is the best test of a startup idea. You don't even need a prototype. You just need to get to your local coffee, walk up to strangers and talk to them about your startup idea pretending it's your brother's. Then collect feedback.
Great... great ?! However good this idea might be, some might have some problem to strike up a conversion with a random stranger.
How would you (have you) overcome this ? What pushed you to do it ? Do you have any idea of a startup-idea-test that does not involve coding ?
Any advice welcome. <comment><USER2> One gotcha with the Starbucks approach is that it's very dependent on how much the audience for your startup overlaps the audience for Starbucks. This is going to heavily depend on both your startup and your area - asking random people at my local Midwestern coffee shop about a new AP database-as-a-service is not going to go well, but it might at some spots in SF.

One approach I've seen used to counteract that issue is the old "landing page without a product", where you use targeted ads to put your landing page in front of people who might be interested.

There's a second gotcha, common to both approaches: there's a significant leap between "gets excited about the product / signs up for the mailing list" and "actually pays for the thing".

<comment><USER3> The story patio11/Mckenzie tells about Appointment Reminder is about half way down the page here (search page for 'chicago'):

[https://www.conversionaid.com/podcast/patrick-mckenzie- kalzu...](https://www.conversionaid.com/podcast/patrick-mckenzie-kalzumeus/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> If you're launching a startup and you can't approach and talk to someone you're going to have a hard time running a business.

<comment><USER5> This x1000

If you can't talk to people but you want to start a business you've got 3 options;

1\. Work with someone with less spaghetti in their pockets 2\. Work out a way of removing to spaghetti from your pockets 3\. Don't start a business

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> How about the $5 DMV test? There's a bunch more people there, and they're all bored stiff!

</comment><comment><USER7> I have talked to literally hundreds of people off the street, coffee shops, etc. about my startup ideas. In all honesty, most of them were a waste of time.

Now, I take a different approach. I talk to my friend's friend's friends until I find the _right_ customers to talk to. I contact my friends and ask who they know and then I ask who they know and so on. Its pretty easy once you get going. And a warm intro is an easy way to get the time you need.

Other resources are LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, Quora, etc. Find someone on there that has an interest in the idea you are working on. After you have a short interview ask who they know. Once you get the referrals flowing its very easy to find enough people to talk to.

A great read on this topic is Talking to Humans. A couple of takeaways: 1\. Approach talking to others as a way to question your assumptions. 2\. Ask for stories. People do a better job telling a specific story about their life, rather than answering hypothetical questions. 3\. Look for clues, workarounds, passions, and pains.

\- [https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Humans-Success- understanding-...](https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Humans-Success- understanding-customers-ebook/dp/B00NSUEUL4)

</comment><comment><USER8> _The "$20 Starbucks Test" is the best test of a startup idea._

Is that best in a quantifiable sense, or best as in "the one I like most"?

<comment><AUTHOR> It is the best in that you will have the maximum amount of feedback/suggestions/critics. It helps you discuss with your potential users and helps you refine your ideas. It's one aspect people critically need at the beginning. It's one aspect people do not have with the anything that uses ads on internet (landscape+ads to see if some facets of your idea are successful, or prototype+ads).

<comment><USER8> _It is the best in that you will have the maximum amount of feedback /suggestions/critics._

I can't imagine that's true. In a couple of hours I reckon you could talk to _maybe_ 20 people in a busy Starbucks. Spending a couple of hours writing a great Show HN or Producthunt post _could_ get you more feedback from a wider audience without costing you $20.

 _It helps you discuss with your potential users and helps you refine your ideas. It 's one aspect people critically need at the beginning._

Strangers in a coffee shop aren't "potential users", even if they think they are (nor are HN readers for that matter). Any randomly selected group is effectively useless for gathering data - there's too much noise and not enough signal.

If you want good feedback you need to approach people you know are actual potential customers. You can't rely on luck. Go to places where they gather - user groups, meet ups, websites, etc.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I just started reading The Mom Test. I highly recommend it. Your questions, even pretending to be about your brothers idea, are still introducing a bias. You will get bad data. The book shows what type of questions you should be asking to avoid these issues.

</comment><comment><USER10> Aaron Patzer used a similar approach for Mint, but asked people what they thought of what eventually became "bank level security" on his website. I think that's a better approach for the random stranger feedback.

If you want to know if there's demand for your startup, you could simply build a website and pitch it to people, however, you won't truly know if there's demand until you build something that provides value and ask people for money. (Just like DoorDash & Flexport did) Even then you'll face distribution problems but that's another story :)

</comment><comment><USER11> $20 could buy you a lot of honest opinions on Mechanical Turk. I've been considering this route lately. I believe it even lets you solicit work from people based on specific demographic data.

</comment><comment><USER12> That's a waste of time and $20. You validate your startup idea by trying to sell it and seeing if someone actually sends you money.

Sometimes people will give you positive feedback and blow smoke up your ass saying it's a great idea, but the real test is if you asked them for $XX right now for the thing, would they give you the money?

</comment><comment><USER13> Based on your description, I don't see where the "$20" comes in. Are you buying people coffee for their opinions?

Sorry to be negative, but spending more money on a scientific survey would give you believable data to work with. This sounds like a waste of both time and money.

</comment><comment><USER14> This is what [https://www.usertesting.com/](https://www.usertesting.com/) is for.

</comment><comment><USER15> Unless your startup is about coffee i highly doubt it. Create a landing page and spend the $20 on SEO</comment>


The Mammoth Cometh - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/magazine/the-mammoth-cometh.html <comment><USER2> The quote at the end of the article really struck me:

"We are as gods, and might as well get good at it."

I think that this is something that everyone involved with technology and science should think about. The fear of what we can create should never stop us from creating, but should instead serve as an impetus for more enlightened uses. I think that, as we have the ability to create biological diversity, we should do so (albeit in a responsible way). The same goes for every other technology that is being developed.

<comment><USER3> The quote is taken form the Whole Earth Catalog [1]. Jobs referenced it a lot the quote you are using is its first line. Its last line which is often attributed to Jobs is in fact the, "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

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

<comment><USER4> The reference -- and the concern about tinkering with the tree of life -- goes a bit further back:

"And YHVH said, Behold, the man _is become as one of us_ , to know good and evil; and now -- lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever -- let us send him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." \-- Genesis 3:22-3:24

(Nb.: Citation of religious text does not imply endorsement thereof.)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> The counterargument to fears about disease is ridiculous:

> But nature is totally random.

Does David Haussler _really_ believe that? That whatever species exist in an ecosystem today is just some random set? That evolution is noise in the background? How would he characterize natural selection? Would he say we shouldn't care about invasive species at all, since what we humans introduce can't be any worse than "totally random"?

It's a bad argument, and the NYT should not have let him get away with it. They even go so far as to use part of it in a pull quote!

</comment><comment><USER6> Paywall is stopping me - any way to see this once I have reached my 10 articles per month limit?

<comment><USER7> > any way to see this once I have reached my 10 articles per month limit?

Yes, by purchasing a subscription or waiting until next month.

Sidenote: Does asking for instructions to bypass DRM (however weak) on copyrighted material put anyone that responds in the position of committing contributory copyright infringement? Secondary liability is a real thing in the US at least.

<comment><USER8> No need to be a dick about it.

They made the paywall easy to bypass intentionally.

<comment><USER9> Yes, because they expect people to follow an honor system. If you find that much value where you find yourself reading more than the limit, they want you to pay. Does that not seem fair?

<comment><USER8> If they wanted to use an honor system, they wouldn't have a paywall at all. The two are mutually exclusive.

They want to _encourage_ people to pay without _forcing_ them, because the latter would result in a significant decrease in their readership. They still want non-paying readers to help spread their articles, and they still get ad revenue from them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> "We spared no expense."

</comment><comment><USER11> I'm fine with them bringing back the Mammoth since it at least was recent, but I do have some concerns about other animals. We probably should not bring back any apex predators for a while (T Rex or for the love of all that's holy a Meglaodon).

I am a bit concerned that it will not survive with the evolution of other things (e.g. disease).

</comment><comment><USER12> Might be some money in a Wooly Mammoth wool clothing line.

<comment><USER13> Am I the only one who wants them to be brought back so I can have a Wooly Mammoth steak?

mmmm....Mammoth Steak

<comment><USER12> the people who tried elephant steak did'nt go so far with their recommendation;

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> the other application of all these new forms of life will be their eventual use in making other planets, namely Mars habitable or less inhospitable. Granted that view is based on my reading Red Mars currently

</comment><comment><USER15> That is way too long for web,let alone mobile, consumption. What's the TL;DR version?</comment>


Atlassian: An update on our security breach - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.atlassian.com/news/2010/04/oh_man_what_a_day_an_update_on_our_security_breach.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AllAtlassianBlogs+(Atlassian+Blogs)&utm_content=Twitter

<comment><AUTHOR> _"... Firstly, we made a big error. For this we are, of course, extremely sorry. The legacy customer database, with passwords stored in plain text, was a liability. Even though it wasn't active, it should have been deleted. There's no logical explanation for why it wasn't, other than as we moved off one project, and on to the next one, we dropped the ball and screwed up. ..."_

Plain text for passwords fast, but not good.

<comment><USER2> It is kind of amazing they did this, and the fact they didn't fix it when they could, speaks of negligence. I appreciate the honesty and the "No Bullshit" stance.

Still you have to wonder, Atlassian is building organizational communication tools, they are also using them their own development and business process, It gives pause when you consider the software they develop to actually do the job the are claiming it helps to achieve.

Isn't the whole point of this type of software, is to help stuff like that not happen by enhancing organizational communication?

<comment><USER3> They switched to dogfooding their own product in 2008, and you'll note that accounts created after that are not affected.

<comment><USER4> What the hell is "dogfooding"?

<comment><USER5> Using your own product internally. From "eating your own dogfood."

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_one%27s_own_dog_food>

<comment><USER4> I didn't know that had a name. Thanks.

<comment><USER6> It's an adage that's been verbed into a gerund because the verb it would have been based on didn't exist.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE MISTAKES EVER!!!!

<comment><USER8> This isn't forgetting the milk, this is forgetting your anniversary.

<comment><USER9> Or "Honey I'm home" "Hi. Where's the Baby?"</comment></comment></comment>


Binance & Coinbase Twitter Accounts Hacked - <AUTHOR> https://mobile.twitter.com/binance/status/1283479863840722944 <comment><AUTHOR> Also the following account: [https://mobile.twitter.com/binance/status/128347986384072294...](https://mobile.twitter.com/binance/status/1283479863840722944) and Gemini: [https://mobile.twitter.com/Gemini/status/1283483560087871488](https://mobile.twitter.com/Gemini/status/1283483560087871488) Coinbase: [https://mobile.twitter.com/coinbase/status/12834854149181030...](https://mobile.twitter.com/coinbase/status/1283485414918103040)

They all sent a tweet with the follwing content and pinned it:

"We have partnered with CryptoForHealth and are giving back 5000 BTC to the community.

See more here : [http://cryptoforhealth.com"](http://cryptoforhealth.com")

Update: @coinbase just deleted the tweet

</comment><comment><USER2> Feels more like a twitter exploit. Just about every prominent crypto account is pushing this scam out.

<comment><USER3> As is Elon's. Not envious of those who have to clean up this mess at Twitter</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Are conferences worth it? - <AUTHOR>

There will be a conference, called Rupy (http://http://13.rupy.eu/) and I'm trying to decide if it worth the time and money to go. I find the ticket pricey for a couple of talks, in a world where there are a tons of videos/books available online for free in this topic, and I think I could spend those three days better.
Obvious disadvantages are wasting time to travel and such, and paying for the ticket. Are there any advantages going to conferences opposed to learning from online materials? <comment><USER2> The biggest thing you miss out on are:

1\. In person networking, be it other attendees or other vendors

2\. Hackathons

3\. Knowledge not covered in the talks that would later be uploaded as videos

4\. After parties and event

5\. The ability to ask questions specific to speakers, etc

Not necessarily in that order or anything. If most of those don't matter to you, skip</comment>


A Linux Kernel Module For Reading/Writing MSRs - <AUTHOR> http://www.mindfruit.co.uk/2012/11/a-linux-kernel-module-for.html <comment><USER2> Model-specific register, in case you were wondering: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model- specific_register](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-specific_register)

</comment><comment><USER3> Firstly, the Linux kernel already provides easy accessors for the MSRs, see arch/x86/include/asm/msr.h. Secondly, have you investigated the existing msr- tools package, and the existing driver for msr accesses? (see /dev/cpu/<n>/msr in usermode and arch/x86/kernel/msr.c providing the functionality).

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, I've looked at those, and presume the original author has too. You are definitely right that most users will find the built in functionality a better choice. My current interest is currently on how to allow low overhead self- profiling of user code without root access. I found this code to be a good introduction to what's happening under the hood, and possibly a good base for creating a PMU specific module to extend access to non-root non-SYS_CAP_RAWIO users.

It sounds like you have some familiarity with this. If you have thoughts, I'd love to hear on the Likwid developers list: [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/likwid- developers](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/likwid-developers)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Does anyone know if any mmap support can be added in .ko to allow for read, write of msr be done via pointer dereferencing instead of ioctl?

I think that is be much less overhead for profiling if possible.

<comment><AUTHOR> While this can be done for the uncore PCI counters, I don't think there is any reasonable way to do this for the MSRs. And you'd still be relying on the kernel to service your request since 'wrmsr' and 'rdmsr' can only be executed from Ring 0 (kernel mode).

But if your goal is to reduce overhead, you can read the performance counters with 'rdpmc', which can be configured to be usable from Ring 3 (user level). This is a route that I'm currently pursuing. More details in some of the messages here: [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/likwid- developers](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/likwid-developers)

This link about mapping PCI configuration space to be accessible to non-root users might be useful too: [http://www.cs.usfca.edu/~cruse/cs698f11/uhci.c](http://www.cs.usfca.edu/~cruse/cs698f11/uhci.c)</comment></comment>


NASDAQ cancelling some trades made today between 2:40 and 3:00 EST - <AUTHOR> http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=MarketSystemStatus

<comment><USER2> Sucks to be me, I sold at the beginning of the drop, but outside of the range of canceled trades -- now it's over my sell price, so I lose money for being quick :(.

<comment><USER3> If it was an error, this is the wrong way to think about things. People who had short positions with GTC limits deep into the range traveled also could have made a bundle. The limit orders would have executed damn fast.

If this was an error though, Nasdaq (or I assume the clearing houses more precisely) are doing exactly the right thing. Imagine if they didn't reverse the orders and it came out that a wall street firm happened to make 10% on a huge position today. With the way things are, someone would break out the guillotine.

(Edit: Bias Note: I've had May Put options at 118 on SPY since Tuesday. I did not close my position, so feel free to accuse me of being jealous ;))

<comment><USER2> Oh I'm not complaining that trades are being canceled. My thing is that if it hadn't been an error, then I would have been in a good position by selling early. But since it seems to have been an error, then my selling early disqualifies me from getting the order canceled, so I lose out for making what seemed like the right move at the time.

<comment><USER3> Ah okay. Then yes, I agree with you in in that case. Going from an expected single day 10% return to not a single day 10% return is unpleasant.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Here is the press release: <http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/TraderNews.aspx?id=ETA2010-30>

</comment><comment><USER5> I always enjoy reading about the IT screw ups of very large corporations, because how can one of my clients be too angry with me in the rare situation when something goes awry on our servers? No one is immune from mistakes.

</comment><comment><USER6> This is normal procedure. In the US, if a trade is an obvious rip-off to one party, the exchange usually cancels it. It's better to be horribly incompetent and off by 50% than marginally incompetent and make a trade that's 0.5% bad.

In Japan, on the other hand...

<comment><USER7> Yep. In most of the western world "accidental" trades are normally reversed over a handshake, japan has a much more mercenary attitude of "you screw up you lose".</comment></comment>


Software Contracts in the Age of React - <AUTHOR> https://www.gorillastack.com/news/software-contracts-in-the-age-of-react/ <comment><USER2> Great read</comment>


Google: The Beginning - <AUTHOR> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304911104576444363668512764.html?mod=rss_Technology <comment><USER2> If you like this article, you would probably enjoy Stephen Levy's book In The Plex:

[http://www.amazon.com/Plex-Google-Thinks-Works- Shapes/dp/141...](http://www.amazon.com/Plex-Google-Thinks-Works- Shapes/dp/1416596585)

<comment><USER3> You'd probably enjoy the forthcoming book which this article is promoting - it's pretty much an extract from it.

<comment><USER4> I've read both, and I greatly preferred "In the Plex". It seemed like a book that really had a thoughtful (if sympathetic) view into Google's inner workings. Levy's book drew from numerous interviews, and wove them together into a narrative that had structure, meaning, and was a great read.

"I'm Feeling Lucky" is a more personal book; It gets a LOT more into the nitty-gritty of personal politics, which can be interesting in a ValleyWag way, but didn't necessarily make me feel like I understood Google in a more meaningful way.

I got a lot of insight into Edwards' family, his mindset, and a much lower- level view into the Google offices.. But if you're only going to read one, read the Levy book.

<comment><USER5> "It gets a LOT more into the nitty-gritty of personal politics"

That's the feeling I get from the author's last few posts that have made it to the top of HN.

It seems very superficial and focused on how he felt versus something substantial.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Not directly relevant, but on the subject of Google in foreign languages.

Every time I visit a foreign country and use a local computer there, the default search language is in this local language (in spite of me being logged in into my non-local google account). One can click to search in English, but the next search is shown in this language again. And "google.com" redirects to "google.local country". If you stay abroad long enough, it is a great way to learn some Pavlov reflexes in obsessive clicking.

Definitely a first world problem, but if someone could let folks like me know how to address that issue, that would wonderful.

<comment><USER7> <http://www.google.com/ncr>

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Article does not make me want to read the book -- all the anecdotes are about how his marketing education didn't apply to Google. Every one of his stories are "I told Sergey to do it this way, he didn't listen and was wildly successful."

</comment><comment><USER9> Seeing this guy give a talk next week.</comment>


Brexit can now be legally voided due to corruption, Dr Ewan McGaughey - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLIQLlt0h4M <comment><USER2> Unhinged</comment>


It's Not Just a Bitcoin Bubble – It's Far Worse - <AUTHOR> https://seekingalpha.com/article/4130195-just-bitcoin-bubble-far-worse <comment><USER3> Seekingalpha needs to seek a better quality content and better quality writers.

Researching stocks - I finding these "wisdom" advisory gems from seekingalpha:

"While I wish I had held on to [stock that shoot up] until now (instead of selling post-Q2), I wouldn't be holding past this point."

In other words the writer affirms that he is a bad stock picker and immediately offers stock picking advise.

Lol

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't think you should take stock picking advice from any writer on SA. A lot of articles are conjecture and a fun read, nothing more.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> > That being said, blockchain technology is not Bitcoin. Blockchain technology > will likely be revolutionary, while Bitcoin is essentially worthless.

People keep saying this but what exactly is the value proposition of blockchain again?

<comment><USER5> Triple-entry accounting, basically. There was an article on here a few months ago that went into depth on the issue.

Double-entry accounting made it much harder to cook the books (a record of where money is coming from and a record of where it is going). Blockchains store every transaction within the coin itself and are validated by the entire network as valid transactions.

People promote Bitcoin as anonymous, but it's actually the opposite - <USER2> transaction is traceable and open source, even if the accounts are not tied to a person directly.

There are uses for this but I think the unintended consequences remain to be seen. I think of how people were able to be identified by that Netflix ratings datadump a few years ago, so imagine how easy it would be if Bitcoin became a common currency? I am not positive this is possible (I think it is?) but imagine I buy an apple from Whole Foods and pay with Bitcoin. Now I know what account they use and I can go back through the blockchain to see every other transaction they've ever made: bam, now I know all financial data about Whole Foods over Bitcoin including which accounts pay them the most and the datestamps of those transactions.

<comment><USER6> Is this the article you're referring to?

[https://hackernoon.com/why-everyone-missed-the-most- importan...](https://hackernoon.com/why-everyone-missed-the-most-important- invention-in-the-last-500-years-c90b0151c169)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> As a developer I've had many people reach out to me on how they can "bring their business to the blockchain". It's a stretch for most of them but there seems to be some fever among non-technical CEOs that they need to ride this wave.

<comment><USER8> When I hear this my eyes roll back so far in my head they come back around.

<comment><USER9> Why? Its a new technology, people (who are unable to understand or grasp technology are curious) want to get involved with it. Mobile phones, computers, lots of things fell into this category at some point. You should pardon their ignorance.

<comment><USER10> If you replace "blockchain" with "database" and the application still makes sense, then you should not do "blockchain", at least for now.

Not all apps benefit by being on blockchain, on the contrary they are needlessly complicated.

There is a reason Netflix does not use torrents, centralized systems are efficient. Unless the application demands "trustless", no point touching it.

<comment><USER9> You are missing my point entirely.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Each Bitcoin transaction uses 100 - 200kwh. It's absurd if you think about it. Isn't this going to be what dooms block chain let alone Bitcoin?

<comment><USER12> A bitcoin transaction does NOT use mining energy. Transaction rate and energy use are independent. The media always gets this wrong. It's like saying each bit on a CD-ROM "use fuel" when it's shipped on a mail truck.

<comment><USER13> But there is a cost for each bit. It's amortized. Because at some point you need a second cd, which increases fuel a tiny bit, and lowers the amirtized cost per bit. At some point you need a bigger truck and then a second truck, suddenly the cost jumps up a whole lot.

Transactions are limited in number. Each transaction costs.

<comment><USER12> No. Transactions are NOT limited by the energy consumption of miners. Miners hash a fixed size 80-byte block header, regardless of how many transactions are in the block.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> For what it's worth, there are 2 insights here:

1\. _Cryptocurrency_ is a bubble.

2\. Surface-level associations or mere mentions of associations with cryptocurrency is a bubble.

Both are reliant on the vague "bubble" term, but I think #2 is the conversation that not enough people are having. Most people I know who discuss cryptocurrency on a daily basis care next to nothing about what it is for, or the technology involved. They are entirely captivated by something limited to _buzz_ , and anything beyond that or in oppositition to it is processed by them as unsavory.

This observation, at least, decidingly bysteps debate over whether cryptocurrency has value, and points to the incredible amount of willful delusion invited by it's fans. This phenomenon is of course attributed to so much of how late capitalism persists. But, when it happens on such a bloated level around something that should by any sober account be a critical ordeal, there is some significance to that conversation.

The particular observations of mere phonetical and marginal associations with blockchain leading to overnight exhorbitant values should be understood as a very seperate discussion from _"Is crypto a bubble?"_.

</comment><comment><USER15> Have the greedy every changed the world, for the better?

Bitcoin adopters continue to religiously engage the same fraud that was adopted by initial promoters, peddling fantasies about decentralization, anonymity, transaction costs and taking on the global banking system. None of this is real, and on the last the slightest hint of adoption by the establishment send prices soaring and palpable excitement among supporters.

So if it has no utility, with supporters who lie, then where are the absurd valuations coming from? Bitcoin exists without relation to economics, demand, utility or value, and with negative externalities for efficiency and the environment making rational discussion redundant.

Why bother creating value to generate revenue, when you can print the revenue, literally. It's like a group of people get together to make IOU tokens and are convinced the world will one day accept their paper. Well if it has some utility the world may, but not simply because you want to gain something for nothing.

<comment><USER12> You don't know what you are talking about.

I use Bitcoin to transact with my brother overseas. It's decentralized. It works.

Yes there is an absurd bubble going on. But bubbles are expected with revolutionary technologies (18th century train companies, 19th century car companies, 1990s dot com bubble...)

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> > So, if it can't be used as a currency to buy anything, and when you "invest" > in it you're not having any ownership in a company, what is it truly worth? > What is a fake coin in your electronic wallet truly worth?

What is SeekingAlpha.com truly worth? What is a fake newspaper on your electronic screen truly worth? What is the software you used to write the article worth?

The value of digital assets lies in their usefulness, and how many people use them. The usefulness of the software "Bitcoin" is that it allows people to store a record of value -- like the numbers in your bank account -- in a reliable, secure, trust-worthy, fungible way that is practically immune to corruption, control, and seizure, and can be transferred to anyone else anywhere in the world almost instantly, for practically free.

But that's just Bitcoin, the very first of its kind. The thriving technology ecosystem that Bitcoin birthed is boiling over with potential.

</comment><comment><USER17> Far too simplistic view IMHO.

</comment><comment><USER18> Outline link for those who run into the signup wall:

[https://outline.com/U9qckd](https://outline.com/U9qckd)

</comment><comment><USER19> This has been said over and over again among enthusiasts — I don't really know what value this article adds, in all honesty.

<comment><AUTHOR> He is drawing comparisons to the dot-com bubble, specifically adding "Blockchain" to the company name vs added "e" or "com" in the 90's to dramatically increase valuations.

I worked during the dot-com bubble when my company added a ".com" to the company name. I remember being told to drop what I was doing and go through all our UI and make sure the .com branding was there so marketing can UAT it by 3pm.

<comment><USER20> I think the point the post you were replying to was making is that comparisons to the .com bubble have been made for years and years.

<comment><USER19> Exactly.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Here come the naysayers.

>What is a fake coin in your electronic wallet truly worth?

How much is the piece of paper in your wallet worth?

Maybe bitcoin will burn and crash or maybe it will be a million dollars a piece. We don't know. People are buying bitcoin and that is driving the prices up. South Korea has been the biggest buyer of BTC (perhaps fear of NK?)

Don't confuse the value of a cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) with companies that are riding it's wave

<comment><USER22> The piece of paper in my pocket is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, an institution that has kept that faith for 241 years and that has the faith of the world. The planet is absolutely full of greater fools that have, do, and will continue to value the dollar.

That "fake coin" in my electronic wallet is backed by algorithms. The greater fools giving it value are and have been, as far as I can see, excited mostly by profiting on the speculation of it. Who actually uses bitcoin outside of trying to profit from the bubble or just for the novelty of using it?

The dollar is backed by the wealth and economy of the nation, the coin exclusively by greater fools and it's rarity.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> _Register for FREE to finish reading this article_

I don´t think so, clickbait

</comment><comment><USER24> Bitcoin is not a bubble, it's a pin.

<comment><USER25> I made the huge mistake of not investing more when I first heard about it back in 2011... back then, investing a month of rent could have now made me rich forever.

Bitcoin has some serious problems to overcome as a real consumer currency, but it seems clear that some crypto-currency will eventually become ubiquitous.

As far as the speculation game, Bitcoin is just barely starting to reach consumer investors. Whether it's a bubble or not, I'm not sure, but it has a long way to go.</comment></comment>


DIY Healthcare For Startups - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/30/diy-health-reform

<comment><AUTHOR> This is an interesting article with some real solutions for those individuals or startups who might not be able to get in on a group plan. Some of the ideas seem to be relatively low cost while providing at least some form of access to a doctor.

How important is health coverage to you? What has your experience been as far as health coverage in the startup sector?</comment>


Rate My Side/Weekend Project [abt.io] - <AUTHOR>

Hi,
I just packaged a nifty tool we've been successfully using to help us pick a winner among a set of logos / designs / ideas / ...
http://abt.io/ is basically a "Facemash" for pretty much anything. You upload images or text, you share a link on your social networks, and your friends & followers give you the answer you are looking for.
I'd love to get your feedback on the usefulness of this tool for startups & projects. It's entirely free, and I hope it'll be useful to some of you!
PS: Somebody got that algo on the Harvard dorm window back in 03 ?
Cheers,
-stan <comment><USER2> The site would really be helped by a WYSIWYG editor. What you see is what you get.

Basically, a new user creating an A/B test isn't going to understand the flow and terminology of the site. The workflow is quite confusing really.

But a new test taker will understand how the site works immediately upon seeing a pre-created test. A question and two pictures on the same page, simple.

To bridge that gap, make the test creation process look like the final result. Make it feel as if you're filling in the page with your info, rather than uploading separate pieces of info. Something like:

<http://i.imgur.com/BzsNy.png>

</comment><comment><USER3> Clickable link: <http://abt.io/>

Some more details: <http://abt.io/discover.html>

<comment><USER4> Nitpick: Are you the OP? If so, why the different HN handles?

<comment><AUTHOR> mismatch due to a "You're submitting too fast. Please slow down. Thanks."

Sorry for that.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I was thinking of doing something similar to this. I'm partially glad you didn't take the route I had in mind.

As for the facemash algo I think it was the ELO rating system. (when I watched the social network I squealed inside cause I recognized it instantly) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system>

<comment><AUTHOR> Cool link! Thanks!!

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Simple, but looks like it could be very useful.

I noticed that images are loaded in their original size - causes the page to "jump" when they're resized. Wouldn't it be better to resize them on the server?

</comment><comment><USER7> This is very cool, it would be hard to make it simpler. Gathering feedback in a simple and efficient way is not an easy task.

Kudos for the reference to Facemash. Would you open source it ?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! It is based on some technical blocks that should be open sourced as soon as they get a little more mature. Don't hesitate to have a look to <http://abt.io/tech> for more info.

Cheers!</comment></comment>


Where to submit your startup? - <AUTHOR>

I have launched my first start up ever, Poucher (http://poucherapp.com) and I can say among all the things I have tried Hacker News, even though without a single comment, helped a lot with the traffic.
Here comes my question though and I'm sure many people like me tried to figure out the answer. Assuming that you've just launched your startup, weekend project or hobby how would you get it heard?
Which site would you submit your startup that takes less than 10 minutes. The reason why I am pointing out the 10 minutes is because most sites require 48 hours to review your project. <comment><USER2> You might look into betalist.com, [http://momb.socio- kybernetics.net/](http://momb.socio-kybernetics.net/), and relevant reddits. Reaching out and interacting with relevant people over Twitter sounds like a good idea too.

</comment><comment><USER3> You should submit it to sites that are directly relevant to your customers. Don't confuse "traffic" for "good traffic".

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks a lot for the comment. That really makes sense. If you have reviewed the site, would you recommend a few that you find relevant?

<comment><USER3> Places where restaurant and food aficionados hang out? I don't know where that is but there will be communities devoted to them. Also foodie blogs. Maybe gourmet recipe sites.

Less good sources of traffic would be app review sites, maybe lifestyle sites, where the traffic will still be well targeted.</comment></comment></comment>


U.S. developers have the numbers, but China and Russia have the skills - <AUTHOR> http://www.javaworld.com/article/3114124/careers/us-developers-have-the-numbers-but-china-and-russia-have-the-skills.html <comment><USER2> obvious ad.</comment>


Ask HN: Issue tracker for startups – does it sound like a good idea? - <AUTHOR> IMO established companies are hard to convert.  Since there are many startups out there, I guess it's probably easier to get them as customers. <comment><USER2> How is an issue tracker SaaS for startups different from an issue tracker for established small companies?

<comment><AUTHOR> For established companies I was just thinking about the companies that already have some tool at hand for issue tracking. If the small companies that you mentioned haven't started with an issue tracking software, it's the same to me.

I should probably s/startups/companies not using issue trackers/ but that looks... long :-)</comment></comment>


Guide to Linear Regression (2015) - <AUTHOR> http://alexhwoods.com/guide-to-linear-regression/ <comment><USER2> Any summary of linear regression ought to at least point out that the "cost function", which depending on the circumstances is often viewed as modeling the variance in the data, is typically limited to one data coordinate. That is, the separations to the fit line to be minimized go entirely along the y-axis; which has the effect of assuming that there's perfect knowledge of the x value. And while that can be the case for some sampling protocols, it is also often not the case. So please consider including something like:

If there is uncertainty in both the x and y coordinates then one needs to pursue alternate approaches which admit variation in both, one of the most popular being "Deming regression"[1]

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

<comment><USER3> Can you give examples? It seems to me that in my cases, I never use X='temperature' as a predictor, but rather X='temperature reported by thermometer', and this is of course always known with 100% accuracy. In a predictive context, that's all we need. Are you referring to a social science context?

<comment><USER2> Here's an easy one to conceptualize: A good friend of mine is a state hydrologist. He crawls over streams with a ladder-like platform and at increments lowers a depth gauge to eventually estimate the stream's volume flow rate. For a number of reasons (including wild weather conditions) the cross stream increment is known only to an inch or so, that's the uncertainty in X, the depth gauge reading has another uncertainty in Y. These are applied to a function where the slope, via Deming regression, gives him an estimate of the flow rate. By the bye, most lab thermometers i've dealt with have an accuracy of about 0.1°C

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I believe Frank Harrell's Regression Modeling Strategies is one of the best references for performing regression analysis.

website: [http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/Main/RmS](http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/Main/RmS) Amazon book: [http://amzn.to/1UdPWOv](http://amzn.to/1UdPWOv)

<comment><USER5> Yep, there is really no other book like Harrell. There's a 2015 edition with some good improvements too. Definitely not an introduction, though – it assumes you already know how regression works and preferably have already used it quite a bit in practice. For an introduction, I might recommend Downey's Think Stats [1] for a gentle introduction, Kutner's Applied Linear Statistical Models for a more traditional, mathy introduction or Gelman and Hill's Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical [2] for something in- depth but still very approachable.

[1] [http://greenteapress.com/thinkstats2/](http://greenteapress.com/thinkstats2/)

[2] [http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/arm/](http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/arm/)

<comment><USER4> great points. it's not an intro to regression book. although Harrell's examples are very well laid out and easy to follow.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Yikes, no discussion of how one might interpret this model, what its assumptions are, and how to assess validity or fit? Look elsewhere--this is not the guide to linear regression anyone should be looking for.

<comment><USER7> We wrote a couple docs about regression. I'd be curious to get folks' feedback.

Guide itself: [http://docs.statwing.com/user-friendly-guide-to- regression/](http://docs.statwing.com/user-friendly-guide-to-regression/)

Perhaps more interestingly to a lot of folks in this crowd, a guide to interpreting residuals: [http://docs.statwing.com/interpreting-residual-plots- to-impr...](http://docs.statwing.com/interpreting-residual-plots-to-improve- your-regression/)

One valid critique is that the approach we describe is not super rigorous, there's more "add a variable and see if it sticks" and "explore a bunch of bivariate relationships to decide what to include" then you'd want to do if you were publishing a paper on your findings. To our minds, though, this approach is more realistic for the use cases we're more concerned about, like analyzing an ad hoc survey. You can always consider your results to be exploratory and then validate later. (Note that these docs occasionally refer to Statwing, our product, but really could be used for any tool).

Criticism is welcome.

<comment><USER8> Just as two quick comments, confidence intervals != prediction intervals. One gives a range around a true mean value, the other gives a range around where the variable may actually fall (prediction intervals are bigger).

You may also want to mention adjusted R^2 as a measure of quality of the model. I've never heard of AICR before, the standard metrics for quality of the model are AIC/BIC (and sometimes Mallus Cp).

Edit: fixed sloppy wording about confidence interval.

<comment><USER7> The prediction interval thing was sloppy, good catch.

The r^2 and AICR comments reflect the fact that these docs were built around Statwing's regression capabilities, which default to m-estimation instead of OLS. There's no adjusted r^2 for that, which I agree is a better measure when available, and it uses AICR, where the R stands for "robust". But still a good catch, since I didn't caveat ahead of time that we were only talking about robust methods (and we don't note it in the docs).

Much appreciated.

<comment><USER9> OLS is an M-estimator.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Multivariate statistics is something I really wish was covered better.

In my work as an engineer I use multiple linear regression from time to time. The best method I've found is forward selection stepwise approach. I've never really seen a simple explanation of how it works (it was introduced to me by a statistician at my work) but it is useful when you have many variables and you want to see how significant a single variable is relative to overall regression. The impression I get is pure stats people really dislike stepwise modelling.

More recently I've been looking into something called PCA (Principle Component Analysis) and PLS (projection to latent structure) after I came across it in a PHD thesis. I've yet to find a decent simple explanation about how it works though. Unfortunately my work no longer employees a statistician.

</comment><comment><USER11> IMHO, a very confusing thing about Linear Regression is that there's widespread disagreement about whether the data are supposed to be Normally Distributed or not, and on how to measure said Normality.

<comment><USER5> You're right, there is lots of confusion in the topic and not all texts on regression get it right. Theoretically, linear regression depends only on a normally distributed outcome variable, the predictors don't have to be normally distributed. Practically speaking even that requirement can mostly be ignored: OLS is fairly insensitive to non-normal outcomes. Violations of the assumptions of regression usually don't affect the estimates much, they mainly affect the uncertainty around those parameter estimates -- the standard errors. This too is easily solved: use bootstrapping to calculate the standard errors.

In short: you can't just throw linear regression at anything and expect to get reasonable results, but it's pretty damn close.

<comment><USER9> Even that normality is not required; see, for instance, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauss%E2%80%93Markov_theorem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauss%E2%80%93Markov_theorem).

<comment><USER5> Good catch. Outcome (or error, which boils down to the same thing) can't just be anything either, though, e.g. a common pattern is that the variance in an outcome increases when the predictor increases (e.g. a machine behaves more erratically when it spins faster) and that can mess with estimates.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Windpipe transplant success in UK child (Crafted from his Stem Cells) - <AUTHOR> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8576493.stm

<comment><USER2> Imagine the possiblities the future holds! What if we could use a 3D printer to build collagen (or similar) base strucutre, then simply deposite the raw cells onto it and expect it to grow into a new organ? Organ donors would be obsolete!

<comment><USER3> Let incorporate all sort of exotic technologies that's emerging out of material science as well!

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Ever better and better cancer treatment combined with ever better and better lab grown organs could make for an interesting (and expensive!) future.</comment>


Open-source blueprints for a tiny nuclear reactor - <AUTHOR> https://www.open-100.com/ <comment><USER2> These are artistic 3D models of different parts of a fictional miniature nuclear reactor, right? Am I missing something here?

</comment><comment><USER3> Can any knowledgeable person comment on the accuracy / balance of this claim? I distrust promotional materials, but to an ignorant lay person this is intriguing:

 _Standard light water reactors are proliferation-resistant by their very physics. As with uranium, plutonium is only a proliferation risk in a highly enriched form; but in a light water reactors, plutonium-240 (isotopically diluting) accumulates in a manner which renders the plutonium-239 (weapons- grade) useless. This characteristic differentiates Power Reactors (Light Water, Boiling Water) from Production Reactors (RBMK, Heavy Water Reactors). OPEN100 is based on a standard Pressurized (Light) Water Reactor._

</comment><comment><USER4> I've just finished watching the Chernobyl mini-series.

This strikes me as equal part fascinating, equal part terrifying.

</comment><comment><USER5> I know that Bezos is betting on fusion, but dropping a couple billion on implementing this would be a game changer and would be a PR coup for him.

</comment><comment><USER6> "Ah yes, let's build a park around a nuclear reactor"

<comment><USER3> Are they wrong, here?

 _Irrespective of plant location there is no hazard to public health from the meltdown of a light water reactor. In the case of any nuclear accident there are two possible paths for radionuclides to affect humans, direct physical proximity or biological uptake; in the case of a light water reactor accident, neither apply. The potential of being directly exposed to a dangerous level of radiation outside of the reactor facility is negligible due to the distance based fall-off rate of radiation (the inverse square law).

People who are outside of the nuclear reactor building itself would be a sufficient distance to prevent exposure. Regarding biological uptake, for radionuclides to reach concentrations high enough to pose a hazard to human health, they must pass through several stages of environmental re- concentration: deposition across a farm field, followed by cow grazing, followed by milk ingestion. As demonstrated by Fukushima, the quantities of radiation released in the case of a light water reactor accident are so low, less than 30 grams of I-131, even environmental concentration isn't sufficient to cause harm.

Thus, whether this type of nuclear reactor was in the middle of a city or a country field, as long as there are no humans in the reactor room itself, there is no practical means by which a person could be affected. This is of course to be differentiated from a graphite reactor that can catch fire, increasing the distribution of radionuclides to the environment. Given this understanding, OPEN100 visualizations and models do not preclude siting near population centers. While many countries have regulatory restrictions on nuclear plant placement, we challenge this counterproductive restriction to show a vision of what is possible._

<comment><USER7> There is no consensual definition of a "negligible" radiation, as, for example, some induce solid cancers 10 to 15 years after exposition. Risk calculus is heavily tainted by hypothesis, mainly about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis)

The amount of victims of the Chernobyl disaster may be up to 965,000, see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl:_Consequences_of_the...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl:_Consequences_of_the_Catastrophe_for_People_and_the_Environment)

Think also of radionucleides in groundwater, drank by millions during many years... Nuclear waster repositories must, by law, be sealed for 1 million years.

AFAIK all Fukushima's plant reactors were either inactive or scramed (shut down) when the disaster happened, the outcome with fully active reactors may be different.

Fuku cleanup is not neglectable, see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_disaster_cleanup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_disaster_cleanup)

Don't forget nuke hot waste, left as a gift for future generations. Officially 'managed', yet there is no exploited repository.

Add combustible dependency (not so much known uranium reserves, no mastered way to obtain it w/o mining, in a not-so-distant future some may have to wage war in order to obtain some...), and nuclear proliferation (weapons).

Add the NIMBY effect.

Then consider that many other approaches alleviate all those burdens while showing an IMHO much better and more realistic vision, for example: [https://www.cell.com/one- earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(19)30225-...](https://www.cell.com/one- earth/fulltext/S2590-3322\(19\)30225-8)</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Do you use a personal financial advisor? - <AUTHOR> If so, how are they compensated? <comment><USER2> Not anymore... better spend the time to educate yourself, because you are the only one, who really cares about your own financial future... Even if you pay the adviser for a result, e.g. percentage of the winnings, he will never cover a percentage of the losses you might incur... And I would never trust a "free" advice, which means he'll most likely be compensated based on a commission, mutual funds are the perfect example... For insurance or mortgage I would get quotes from different brokers and re-negotiate with my bank based on that...

</comment><comment><USER3> Not worth it.</comment>


Psychiatrists: the drug pushers - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/03/will-self-psychiatrist-drug-medication <comment><USER2> Thanks for this link - it gives a good summary of the state of the industry... which hasn't changed much since 2013 (when this piece was published).</comment>


A window manager of OSX that _actually_ works - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/fjolnir/xnomad#xnomad

<comment><USER2> This sounds awesome, hopefully fullscreen works across multiple monitors.

But after:

a) moving xnomad.default to ~/.xnomad

b) running the binary

Nothing happens, on OS X 10.8.

<comment><USER3> Same result for me! Running 10.8.2

<comment><USER4> Works here, 10.8.2. You do need more than one window open on your system for a perceivable effect.

OP, at current I'm typing from an 11" netbook, so I don't exactly find this useful. But I'll be giving it a try on my desktop, I feel it will be better there.</comment></comment></comment>


Storm's first birthday - <AUTHOR> http://nathanmarz.com/blog/storms-1st-birthday.html

<comment><USER2> What I'd like to understand at a glance about Storm is durability, idempotency, and specifically those two things in the face of all your standard failure modes.

Is Storm something that is going to get 99.9% of my data there which is good enough for some side-channel processing like ad targeting, or is it something that's D durable in the strongest sense of the word? If I'm ultimately delivering data to something that is 5 9's durable, or better yet S3 10-11 9's durable, is Storm going to be my "low point" of durability?

<comment><USER3> Storm supports transactional topologies that can provide durability. They are dependent on a spout that is repeatable- where you can request the failed input again. [https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm/wiki/Transactional- topol...](https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm/wiki/Transactional-topologies)

<comment><AUTHOR> Actually transactional topologies are superseded by Trident, which is much easier to use:

<https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm/wiki/Trident-tutorial>

Here's an explanation on how Trident achieves fully fault-tolerant, idempotent semantics:

<https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm/wiki/Trident-state>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Nice to see this. I started trying to implement storm towards the beginning of this year since it seems like something I've wanted/reimplemented partially so many times and just found it to be so time consuming trying to get good resources or find a community for misc support that I gave up and reimplemented simple parts of it as I needed to.

I'm off the buy the books and bookmark this page for future reference. Great work Nathan.

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry to hear that you had trouble finding support for your issues. The mailing list is very well trafficked so hopefully you have more luck there next time.

<comment><USER4> No need to apologize, it was quite early in the development of the project(and expected). I'm just glad to see the progress you've made in a year and look forward to implementing Storm to solve a few of our issues in the near future.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Even if you have no use for storm, I'd strongly suggest you check out the wiki on github and browse the source code. It is IMO the nicest, cleanest, most exciting OSS project out there.

<https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm>

<comment><USER6> Can you expand on that? What's nice and clean and exciting about it?

Someone else posted link to Apache Kafka developed at LinkedIn.

<http://incubator.apache.org/kafka/design.html>

It seems like they address similar use cases... it would be interesting see a comparison.

<comment><USER5> Oh easy questions:

The code itself is nice and clean, take a look yourself (chosen randomly) [1][2]

It's exciting because if you've ever done any real time processing of data streams at scale or even been daunted by the idea of it, and you read the wiki, it's clear storm is an exciting option. It does for Big Data Streams what Hadoop did for Big Data.

Kafka is interesting, but they don't really address similar use cases. They are more complimentary and in fact storm has a spout implementation for kafka[3].

[1] [https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm/blob/master/src/clj/back...](https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm/blob/master/src/clj/backtype/storm/daemon/supervisor.clj) [2] [https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm/blob/master/src/jvm/back...](https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm/blob/master/src/jvm/backtype/storm/task/ShellBolt.java) [3] [https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm- contrib/tree/master/stor...](https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm- contrib/tree/master/storm-kafka)

<comment><USER7> _They are more complimentary and in fact storm has a spout implementation for kafka_

I would add to this that a lot of Storm users (myself included) use Storm together with Kafka - that is, Kafka is used to get data into (and possibly out of) Storm while Storm does the actual processing. Kafka is more along the lines of Kestrel and RabbitMQ.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> One of my major wishlist items for Storm is an end-to-end tutorial on how to get it working for a non-JVM language. I'm not a JVM coder, nor do I know much about it, and the documentation on how to get it working for Python is hard to follow at best, IMHO.

<comment><USER3> There's about a 9 page chapter in the new storm book (more of a large pamphlet really) on that. [http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Storm-Jonathan- Leibius...](http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Storm-Jonathan- Leibiusky/dp/1449324010)

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Keep up the good work, Nathan. I presented Storm as a tech-talk at Formspring and no question, you made my job easy by building a platform that makes it easy to get a topology running without a ton of boilerplate.

</comment><comment><USER10> I've used Storm for a couple of projects and really liked it. It significantly simplifies building real time data pipelines and makes deploying them KISS easy. I'm really excited to see some improved metrics coming out as well--if I had one gripe with Storm .7 it was that I wanted some more metrics to monitor cluster performance. Congrats on a year and keep up the good work, Storm is awesome!

</comment><comment><USER11> I know this has been repeated ad nauseum, but I'd really like to see blogs put what their product is somewhere on the page.

<comment><USER12> LMDDGTFY <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=storm>

Hmmm...

<comment><USER13> <https://github.com/nathanmarz/storm/wiki>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I've been using Storm for a few weeks and it works great, especially Trident, which I've been using for the past 2 or so weeks. Nathan has also been very helpful answering my n00b questions :)

</comment><comment><USER14> so trident is apparently a high level api for Storm, but I don't see any mention of it in the Storm book. Is that right?

I am very interested in Storm, but wondering if the book is already out of date.

<comment><USER3> It is a little bit out of date, in that it doesn't cover anything in 8.0, but most of the basic stuff didn't change, it was more of new features being added.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Are there plans to integrate Storm with Datomic?

<comment><AUTHOR> Not by the core team, though I think you could make a pretty cool Trident state implementation for Datomic.</comment></comment>


Conversation with Arthur Whitney, programming language designer - <AUTHOR> http://mags.acm.org/queue/20090203/?pm=2&zin=170&u1=texterity&pg=12&z=107 <comment><USER2> It's a must read because it's so far outside our normal experience. First the languages are derivatives of APL that do one thing very well and nothing else. Don't try doing a web page in APL. Second, the programs efficiently process billion and trillion line databases in a tightly constrained environment. Third, Whitley throws away everything every few years and reimplements from scratch, even the parts that work. He talked about millions of hours of running time without an error. Pretty amazing.

It got me to thinking about the virtues of simplicity instead of the increasing complexity that we are getting into.

<comment><USER3> _[Whitney's] languages are derivatives of APL that do one thing very well and nothing else._

I don't think that's fair. They are general-purpose languages. It's true that they've mostly been used on certain classes of problems so far, but that could just be a historical accident. Who's to say what people would make with them if they found a broader audience?

Whitney is not someone who thinks in special cases.

Edit: I agree with everything else you said, though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Thanks for posting this.

There's a reasonable argument that APL and derivatives are more expressive than lisp and its derivatives, at the expensive of having a much larger startup cost in terms of things you have to know.

I suspect that in another few years the old-school APL alphabet will be positioned to start making a comeback, via in-software, touch-screen 'keyboards' (thereby eliminating the expense of a very small run of 'funny symbol' keyboards).

</comment><comment><USER5> It's a bit hard to read in the web format, so you might want to download it as a PDF: [http://mags.acm.org/queue/20090203/templates/download_offlin...](http://mags.acm.org/queue/20090203/templates/download_offline)

</comment><comment><USER6> I really enjoyed reading that. As russell said, it is far outside my experience, but it is more like I wished my experience would have been.

I read an article on APL back in the early 80s and it sounded wonderful, but I never had an occasion to learn or use it. The closest thing for me now are list operations in Python and the collection functions I'm learning in Clojure right now.

<comment><USER7> Consider that Arthur's software sells for 25K per core and 8 cores is pretty much a minimum. And that the sole executable is < 300K. Now re-read the article :D.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> What an absolute treat. Whitney has done things which, if he hadn't done them, would be called impossible. It's such a shame that his work isn't widely available. There's a whole world inside those 300 kb. It's the only thing I've seen that got me as excited as Lisp.

</comment><comment><USER8> Tip: Click on the image to zoom in. This crucial functionality is so well- hidden you could call it an easter egg. Horrible usability.</comment>


Chinese EV maker Nio dangles 'zero down payment' to pursue sales target - <AUTHOR> https://kr-asia.com/chinese-ev-maker-nio-rolls-out-a-zero-down-payment-policy-in-shanghai-to-pursuit-annual-sales-target <comment><AUTHOR> Super aggressive Chinese EV makers.</comment>


The Video-First Future of Ecommerce - <AUTHOR> https://a16z.com/2019/12/05/video-first-ecommerce/ <comment><USER2> This article is extremely cringe inducing. I absolutely hate apps like TikTok and Instagram, Snapchat - take your pick. It feels like all of the most sugar- coated and decadent aspects of pure consumerism have been wrapped up and distilled into a toxic stew, delivered by IV drip right into the patient because we're all ADHD due to... the screens.

So, let me see if I get this right - the future is I have to watch hours of influencers before I inform my purchases? Weird, I mean I kind of like some light forms of entertainment, but the thought that all my purchasing and spending habits will be mediated by fake, passive forms of ad-based information delivery all by the most noxious personalities on the Web gives me the chills.

Thanks but I'll pass. Appreciate the heads up that this is what the SV thought leadership is up to though!</comment>


Apple Loses Top Laptop Rating - <AUTHOR> http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/laptop-brand-ratings <comment><USER2> I've used the new MBP since its release. It's fine. I have no issues with the battery and came to like the keyboard and screen.

The anti-MBP threads in HN is tiring. How many threads have we had on this? How many threads will we have on this filled with the same kind comments?

The current top comment is the same as the top comments in the previous threads. I almost think at this point people post these links and post anti- MBP comments for easy karma.

I'd rather see HN discuss something else at this point. If you don't like the new MBP don't buy it. It's fine for my programming needs. Maybe not yours, but let's discuss something else at this point on HN.

<comment><USER3> It's not that the new MBP isn't "fine" \- it's just that the gap with competitors has closed _a lot_. People asking me which laptop to buy used always be a very simple answer ("Buy a Macbook"). They were head and shoulders better than anything else. But it's down to mere inches now and the additional drawbacks which I won't go into here since as you rightly say they've been covered _ad nauseum_ \- are far more glaring now than they would have been a few years ago.

<comment><USER2> That's Apples problem. Hopefully Apple gets the message that consumers want actual pro laptops. What I'm suggesting is let's discuss something more important on HN at this point.

<comment><USER3> Well with respect, you brought it up ...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> > The company's MacBooks are slim, powerful and well-built, but you'll need > pile of money and a bagful of dongles. The company's support and warranty > options are second to none.

Mmm...

So, the only reason why the MacBook Pro isn't first is the price? It doesn't make any sense.

I bought the Late-2016 MacBook Pro (no touchbar, of course), and it's the best laptop I've ever used by a long shot.

I wasn't happy to have to pay more than I used to (EUR 1490 vs. EUR 1199), but being a developer my machine is important, and with my hourly wage the expense is justified if I can be more productive. Thanks to the improved keyboard, I'm more productive as I can type faster and more enjoyably. I also used to have a MacBook Air, and I _love_ the HiDPI display.

I don't have a bag full of dongles, so I have no idea what that's about. I attach the laptop to an external monitor, so I have 1 adapter that I keep plugged into the HDMI cable. It's got 2 USB3 ports, HDMI, and another USB-C port. I never bring it with me or use it besides for the monitor, though.

I definitely would not want to replace my current laptop with a plastic Lenovo to save $300 (or whatever).

I guess laptopmag.com is trying to ride the MacBook bitching wave one last time to get some visitors.

<comment><USER5> While you may be happy with not being able to plug in anything except USB-C while away from your desk, many are not. What happens if you go to a friend's house and they give you a flash drive with 20GB of photos to look at? What happens if you go travelling and need to get the pictures off your camera's SD card? What if you get given a flash drive with your client's work on it just before taking a flight?

I don't doubt that for some people the dongle situation isn't a problem, and I'd be happy to accept these limitations from a cheap chromebook or a tablet. But the temerity to put out a laptop with these limitations (never mind the 16GB of RAM limit since 2011) while plastering on a "Pro" label astnoshes me; IMO it really dilutes the brand, and it seems I'm not the only one.

<comment><USER4> I do have a dongle, but I don't mind and have never had to take it out when I did bring it with me.

As for the "Pro", it just means "Premium". Not "for professional software develoepers".

<comment><USER5> And if they'd called it the MacBook Premium I'd be happy.

But if you are a professional photographer, video editor, animator, mechanical/civil/chemical engineer, or yes, a software developer, and want a truly "Pro" grade laptop, Apple doesn't make something suitable for you. Instead I'd have to recommend Dell's Professional line, eg the Precision 5520, which can be customised to have Professional things such as a security cable lock, 32GB RAM, an SSD as well as an extra HDD, and the choice between a high- resolution IGZO touch screen and a 1080p matt screen.

It also comes with more than one type of port for maximum compatibility without needing a bag full of dongles or a bulky dock. And frankly, it looks just as good, if not better, than the MacBook.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Is this a particularly prestigious publication or something? Otherwise it seems to be some random award.

<comment><USER7> No, it's not a prestigious publication or special as this article already was on HN previously, and discussions on how it's just meaningless non statically valid ratings from internal staff. Alas, many cling to any chance to sing the old song of Apple is doomed, it can't innovate, x wouldn't have happened if Steve was alive, how people are threatening to switch, etc. But with Apple's uncharacteristic Mac Pro announcement perhaps years of griping can eventually move the needle, so I suppose whatever works for people.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I purchased an MacBook Pro with touchbar to replace my Surface Pro 3. I was tired of 4-5 hour battery life on the Surface. From high school to early career, I always stuck with Apple products until the switch to Surface a years back.

It has been a tough transition to a non-touch screen. I understand the following statement doesn't have a logical foundation...I just hate staring at the touchbar. I don't like that its there, it is never useful. TouchID on a laptop is genius. USB C, I can get use to. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel on that one, but I miss the magsafe connector. I like the bigger trackpad, great! I give the machine a solid 8/10.

I would love if Apple released an iPad Pro + Macbook thing. Perhaps, I can never go back from a device with touch + pen + convertible to tablet device. I am attempting to live in harmony with the touchbar, but something feels just a tad of the mark with the new Pro.

<comment><USER9> Me too would love the iPad pro + Macbook thing. I would bet decent money it's in the pipeline but they are squeezing profit from Macbook lines just because they can. Next up i reckon will be a touchscreen Macbook, which is well needed i reckon. Then what you describe.

<comment><USER10> Apple made it clear in their roundtable discussion with selected journalists earlier this month that they don't have plans for a mac with a touchscreen.

[https://www.macrumors.com/2017/04/05/apple-no-plans-for- touc...](https://www.macrumors.com/2017/04/05/apple-no-plans-for-touchscreen- or-arm-based-macs/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Been using Apple since I was 10 (First computer was a PowerPC). Have owned most iPhones and all around been an Apple fanboy.

The latest macbook was the last straw, a 40% increase in price is not acceptable. I switched to a Nexus (and loving it). I bought a macbook for Uni (2015 model - The loss of ports and addition of a battery draining touchbar doesn't appeal) but only due to the fact that I needed something that would perform well and last all day. (Gaming laptops only last 2-5hrs).

Unless they unveil some version with ports reinstated and a huge battery (16+ hrs) I don't see myself ever going back.

<comment><USER12> I have grown to like the USB-C port on my new MacBook. I bought the matching LG ultra-def monitor that acts as a charging station and a hub, providing 3 extra USB-C ports, one of which I just keep a dongle for USB 2.

My only complaint is the high cost.

<comment><USER11> Depends on your use. The only ports I don't use on my mac are the Mini dvi. I use both USBs daily, HDMI when at friends, and the SD card slot for loading pictures from clients - and don't want to carry adapters around with me. The loss of MagSafe is another big one.

Kinda defeats the purpose having a nice sleek macbook only having to plug something like this into it

[http://cdn.bgr.com/2016/12/macbook-pro-2016-hyperdrive- all-i...](http://cdn.bgr.com/2016/12/macbook-pro-2016-hyperdrive-all-in-one- adapter-kickstarter-2.jpg?quality=98&strip=all&strip=all)

<comment><USER13> Apple has always been early on technology changes like USB-C, in a couple years we'll look back on this like when the iMac dropped the floppy drive. USB-C is obviously better, it's just a matter of time before everything uses it.

<comment><USER14> Apple has been anything _but_ early on USB-C.

<comment><USER13> How many laptop had only USB-C before the MacBook in early 2015? The spec was only finalized in August 2014.

<comment><USER5> And then they released new laptops in late 2015 with no USB-C ports. _And_ 2 iterations of phones.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Note that this is ranking the companies for their laptop business as a whole. It doesn't say anything about particular individual laptops made by those companies. It's not clear that these rankings say anything useful to someone whose goal is to choose a laptop to buy.

It is quite possible that company X could handily outrank company Y, but for every segment of the laptop market that they both participate in Y's offering beats X's.

It looks like the main reason Apple is #5 on their ranking is a low score in "value & selection". Apple gets 6 points out of a possible 15. The top 4 get 14, 15, 15, and 14.

For that component of the score, they "[...] awarded points for offering a wide range of laptop types (budget, business, gaming, etc.) and for providing aggressive pricing".

Only Microsoft got a lower "value & selection" score (5). Microsoft also got slammed on innovation because the only new model since the last evaluation was the Surface Book with Performance Base, and that only changed the base. They got nailed on design too for not offering more colors for the Surface book.

Yet they call the Surface Pro 4 still "the best detachable on the market", and the Surface Book Pro with Performance Base "One of the most powerful 13-inch, non-gaming systems currently on the market", and say that Microsoft remains "a clear leader in 2-in-1 innovation".

</comment><comment><USER16> If Razer can fit a GTX 1060 into a 14-inch chassis, why can't Apple? There's definitely a market of users who barely unplug their laptop while doing serious work/play, but want the option of portability. Getting a gaming/video- editing desktop forces a lifestyle change if I need to take my computer somewhere or relocate. Most places I go, I can usually find a plug if I'm doing serious work. Make a laptop as thick as the 2011 MBP with a real graphics card and the same renowned build quality please. Billions of dollars and no sense; squandered on accessory watches, dongles and pads, which barely qualify as computers for anyone in the power-user user-base and devs.

</comment><comment><USER17> Competition is good. I have no particular affinity for Apple being "#1" on a list -- I much prefer there being several companies constantly one-upping each other to make more laptops that suit my current and future needs.

</comment><comment><USER18> Previously [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14079562](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14079562)

</comment><comment><USER19> One thing I don't understand: why are there no laptop manufacturers apart than Apple putting effort into making a better trackpad?

<comment><USER20> Great question - this is actually one of the few reasons that I still recommend Macs at this point...

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Stock up on the late-2015 MBP ya'll.</comment>