Easy beautiful software architecture diagrams - <AUTHOR> https://archbee.aiurlabs.com <comment><USER2> Played with it for a couple minutes

1\. Login system is cool, love that.

2\. After creating the "board," I couldn't really figure out what to do next.

3\. Popping a modal when you click ANYWHERE on the canvas was frustrating. It wasn't really my intention of putting it there?

4\. I don't understand what the hexagons are for, or how they map to your grid system.

5\. I wanted to create the same diagram as what you guys demonstrate on your homepage, but couldn't figure out how to create the logos?

6\. This seems like just another diagramming tool to me. I was hoping for a tool that was more constrained/opinionated/whatever such that it could _help me_ create a nice diagram of my architecture.

Overall I think there's a lot of potential here! Seems early.

Edit: Formatting

<comment><AUTHOR> 1\. :)

2\. Will try to make it obvious what to do next;

3\. Modal pops up so you can search components like the ones on our homepage and simple geometric forms too. That modal is also callable by Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + F;

4\. Hexagons are there just for design purposes right now. Once upon a time, the grid system used to snap to the hexagons, but we replaced it with a square grid, because it's harder to make good looking diagrams like that;

5\. See point 3;

6\. What you are hoping for is exactly what we aim for. A constrained/opinionated solution that lets you create beautiful diagrams with little effort.

x. It's early and we're trying to gather as much feedback as possible to improve the UX/UI, this is why we released it as beta.

Thanks for checking it out, and for the feedback!

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Am I missing something? How do we see the tool?

Edit:ugh the archbee logo at the top does nothing on mobile

<comment><AUTHOR> Welp, I thought clicking the title takes you to the website :)

<comment><USER3> It does. But your website doesn't work on mobile

<comment><AUTHOR> Not mobile friendly yet. Landing works, nothing else though. Ugly AF :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Looks nice, but I'd like to play more before signing up. It was painful to make a few test.

(tip: If you are stuck in the signup page, to go again to the initial you must click the logo.)

Also, the hexagonal grid is nice but is misleading, because the objects are aligned I a square grid.

</comment><comment><USER5> I like the simplicity of the UI, but I can't seem to make straight lines horizontal lines between components, and I wish there were more options for annotating things (text, short description of a relation, etc).

Also most importantly, where is the option to export to an image or some other format?

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> [https://archbee.aiurlabs.com](https://archbee.aiurlabs.com)</comment>


Snowden: I Left the NSA Clues, But They Couldn't Find Them - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/2014/08/snowden-breadcrumbs/

<comment><USER2> I believe Snowden is saying that they _do_ have info on what information he has.

I think this implies that any attempts to talk about amnesty for Snowden on the condition that he reveals what he took is not a genuine conversation.

On the other hand, if you view Snowden as an adversary, you wouldn't believe him when he says, "I intentionally left clues." When you look through what he could have taken, see the alien landings or whatever, and you don't see his "breadcrumbs" on those files, you probably still shit your pants, because it is actually possible he is lying, and does have a copy of those Roswell documents (or whatever it is, I don't think it's literally aliens).

But if you don't believe him, then why would you trust him to give you everything he took?

<comment><USER3> Right, I guess it's a question whether you see him as a wayward whistleblower who is otherwise on the side of the American people, or a wily double-agent who is using this to cover his disclosure of sensitive information to foreign powers. The NSA and CIA are used to dealing with the latter so it is their default; they want to throw the former into the same bucket and use the same tactics/propaganda against them.

To me it seems a dangerous game to give US intelligence any more information about what you know. At every turn they're going to use what they know Snowden knows. For example, if they really did have absolute knowledge of what Snowden took, they'd be able to craft a story that took the leaked information into account but protected all the shady stuff they're doing that Snowden didn't take.

Given that our government doesn't even consider punishing US intelligence leaders when they outright lie to Congress, maybe they don't need to worry about getting the story straight.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> He also made them a cookie, but he eated it</comment>


Neutron Star Collision Data Falsifies Dark Matter Emulators - <AUTHOR> https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.06168v1 <comment><USER2> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15550553](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15550553) was posted a bit earlier, plus for highly specialized papers we tend to prefer the best popular article on the topic (though that one may not be the best).

</comment><comment><USER3> Could someone explain this in layman's terms? I'm confused as to what is meant by a "Dark Matter Emulator".

<comment><USER4> One idea about dark matter is that the laws of gravity are just different at large scale. This measurement rules out some of those theories ...

> the [measurement] enables us to test a certain class of modified gravity > theories, which dispense with the dark matter paradigm and reproduce > Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) like behavior in the non-relativistic > limit. Such modified theories of gravity have been dubbed "Dark Matter > Emulators". Some examples of these Dark Matter (DM) emulator theories > include Bekenstein's TeVeS theory and Moffat's Scalar-Tensor-Vector gravity > theory

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Does anyone know if this has any effect on Erik Verlinde's theory of gravity?

</comment><comment><USER6> (deleted)

<comment><USER7> Bell's theorem?</comment></comment>


Fandrop - Please vote for our startup in the #fnDemo contest - <AUTHOR> https://www.fandrop.com/drop/never-search-for-jobs-or-talent-again-venturocket-connects-the-right-people-with-the-perfect-jobs-faster <comment><AUTHOR> We get 10 votes for every tweet, so please share! Thanks!</comment>


Need some legal advice on debt collection - <AUTHOR>

I was in the US for a number of years, international student. Had a baby and as a result of that got hit with a lot of health bills - that I am still paying although I went back to my home country.
I got promised a job when I graduated, but due to the recession - it didn't work out too well. I was able to work remotely, but that has since fallen through.
I had a car while I was up there and was making my payments consistently for a while - but after I moved and ran out of cash and income, I have decided to not pay it right now (mainly because I have to put my kid through school, etc.).
Now I am being notified by a debt collection attorney, and I have 35 days to reply in writing otherwise I will be liable for not just the outstanding debt, the interest and possibly the attorney fees of the company.
I no longer live in the US, and if I wanted to I could just walk away from it - but I believe in honoring my obligations (I have been doing that for my credit cards and hospital bills still outstanding).
What do I do? Do I contact the debt collection agency or do I get an attorney? I am kinda strapped for cash right now, so can't afford an attorney.
Once I get my cash and income situation taken care of, in the next few months, I would definitely be willing to settle it - but I don't want to just ignore it and then get hit with a big bill in a few years - or possible immigration issues.
I would prefer not to burn my bridges, and would like to go back to the US (if I need to) without having to look over my shoulder. So I would really like to get this taken care of.
Thoughts? <comment><USER3> I don't see any need for an attorney-- just get in touch with the debt collection agency, and see if you can work out a payment plan-- some kind of "good faith" payment until you're in a position to make a settlement.

Of course, this would have been much easier for you if you had dealt with it earlier, before it got to the debt collection attorney. As as business owner who has to deal with past-due debts, I can tell you that we're almost always willing to work something out with the debtor prior to handing it over to a third party, but once it is in the third party's hands, they're in charge of the show, and they want to recover their costs, too.

<comment><AUTHOR> I didn't want to get in touch with them, before getting legal advice - <USER2> fear of incriminating myself or doing something unwise before getting proper counsel.

I did try to deal with it earlier, with the car company, but the terms of a settlement were still too onerous. They wanted a lump sum figure (albeit with a 30% discount) - which was still way too high for me.

If I had the certainty of future cash flows, I would have pressed to get it resolved earlier - but I knew that my cash flows would be in jeopardy in a few months, so figured it would be best not to get into such an arrangement.

I do plan on working out something in the future though....once I can get through this.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> If you're abroad, there is essentially nothing they can do to collect from you. You want the pain minimizing steps?

Dear Collector:

I am writing you regarding account number #12345, in response to your letter bearing $SOME_IDENTIFYING_INFORMATION.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act says that you are not to contact any consumer who gives you written notice that they are inconvenienced by your contact. This letter constitutes your official notice under the FDCPA. You are statutorily permitted exactly one additional communication, delivered via the postal mail, indicating that you have received this instruction.

For your information, I have returned to $NATION. It is not economically feasible to resolve our differences via the legal process at present, but I will contact you again in a few months to discuss disposition of this matter.

Regards,

You

 _a few months pass_

Dear Creditor:

I am writing you regarding debt #12345, continuing our discussion of $DATE. As you recall, I invoked the FDCPA protection against inconvenient contact, and you have since honored your legal obligations to not contact me.

I am prepared to extend you an offer to resolve this matter. As of your last letter, you indicated that I owed $5,400.00 and that you were going to charge interest and legal fees in addition. I am prepared to offer you $5,400.00, delivered immediately, in full satisfaction of this debt.

This is the best resolution your client will receive, and it avoids a costly legal battle which will be complicated by the international issues in this case. I urge you to accept it.

You have my permission to contact me once, via the postal mail, of your final disposition of this matter. If you accept, your acceptance should be in writing and include the language "We accept your offer of $5,400 in full satisfaction of all debts between $YOU and $CLIENT." I will send you a cashier's check via courier immediately, and that will conclude our dealings together.

If you do not accept, please note that the FDCPA prohibition against contacting me outside the above exemption still applies.

Regards,

\---

You'll note that they have an option not discussed, which is to sue you. They will probably not do this, because suing someone outside the country very quickly becomes a six figure proposition even for the most trivial of matters.

As a foreign visitor, you may not be aware of how debt collection in the United States operates. Many Americans are similarly unaware. While they talk like bulldogs, their hands are _very_ tied by consumer protection legislation, and short of suing you there is very vanishingly little they can do without your consent (well, report you to credit agencies). They have no channel to the American immigration authorities and if they intimate that they do, they just violated federal law in a very serious fashion.

My expertise on the laws regarding consumer finance and debt collection is not that of a lawyer (and owes itself to a funny story about the difficulty of disambiguating names in a database), this is not legal advice, yadda yadda.

<comment><USER5> If you send them this letter, they may stop calling you, but will figure out a way to harass your wife or your mother.

<comment><USER4> They're only allowed to contact third parties to find "location information" for you. If they have successfully made contact with you already, and you have forbidden them from further contact, speaking to any third party about the debt is a per se violation of the FDCPA.

(Your wife is you and vice versa, for the purposes of the FDCPA. Barring them from speaking to you bars them to speak to her.)

If it happens, take a day off work and sue them. You will win.

Edited to add: Forgot to mention, always send mail certified if you are harboring plans of suing people for ignoring its contents. It costs $5 or so and you get written confirmation from the post office that they received the mail, which is admissable in court.</comment></comment></comment>


Mapillary Now Able to Recognize and Label Objects in the Wild - <AUTHOR> http://blog.mapillary.com/update/2016/09/27/semantic-segmentation-object-recognition.html <comment><USER2> They apply CNNs to label pixels. The result could be used to improve other computer vision tasks. Applied to maps they think it would be good to measure vegetation density or the availability and sidewalks.

Hmm... okay.? I dunno what I expected.

</comment><comment><USER3> >Here is a short list of areas where semantic segmentation is available: Graz, Paris, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Dar es Salaam, and Mexico City.

If the method is general, why only these areas?

<comment><USER4> It's because we need to upgrade and optimize some of the backend storage layout in order to cope with the data produced.

(I'm part of the Mapillary team)

<comment><USER3> Thanks for elucidating - makes sense.</comment></comment></comment>


Where is the Hibernate option in Windows 8? - <AUTHOR> http://superuser.com/questions/494407/where-is-the-hibernate-option-in-windows-8

<comment><USER2> Shut down is the former Hibernate now. That's why it wakes a lot faster from a boot than the "regular shutdown" of Windows 7. Better hope you're not going to get into freezes or such with Windows 8.</comment>


WallStreet Crisis Covered with Slinkset - <AUTHOR> http://bankertimes.com

<comment><USER2> You know what would be awesome? If Slinkset sites used Disqus.

Most sites powered by Slinkset will only get hit by the early adopter / tech savvy crowd so I think using Disqus wouldn't hurt it at all.

<comment><USER3> We've heard that at least once before. It's worth looking into.</comment></comment>


World's languages traced back to single African mother tongue - <AUTHOR> https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-04-15/worlds-languages-traced-back-single-african-mother-tongue-scientists <comment><USER2> This quote stood out to me:

 _Atkinson also hypothesized that languages with the most sounds would be the oldest, while those spoken by smaller breakaway groups would utilize fewer sounds as variation and complexity diminished._

What could possibly be the reason for this effect?</comment>


"Minimum Viable Lawyering" - <AUTHOR> http://jordancooper.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/minimum-viable-lawyering/

<comment><USER2> _Before we get into how to manage cost, let me start by saying that one of the most important things you can do when working with a law firm is invest in building a real relationship with your lawyer. Don't worry about the clock, just worry about getting to a point of real trust and mutual respect. It will pay for itself 10x._

Nice piece, and the best way to get value, and to avoid abuses, is to have a strong bond of trust. After nearly three decades in the field, I can strongly affirm that it really does work that way.

Ditto for the downside as well. A sloppy approach to managing legal costs can get real expensive in a hurry. The "minimum viable" approach is one very good way to keep things in line as long as it is always coupled with a good strategic overview of what needs to get done and when (which is why to have a good working relationship who gives you that perspective).

<comment><AUTHOR> you're a lawyer? anything I missed or was wrong about?

<comment><USER2> Yes, I have done startups in Silicon Valley for nearly three decades.

You have hit upon the core principle of using legal resources wisely, as needed, and with a practical focus. The flip side is that your lawyer needs to have a similar practical focus, which in practice typically translates into working with an experienced partner whose philosophy is consistent with your own (as you state in your piece).

I don't think I would add anything to your main theme (related themes would include try to get estimates for specific projects, or negotiate fixed fees for discrete projects for which this makes sense; monitor how projects are staffed so as not to incur significant double-billing; don't let green lawyers get themselves educated at your company's expense, etc. - but these are all really just a part of what works itself out routinely and easily if you once have a solid working relationship with a trusted partner and are thus subsumed under your broad theme, which you nicely articulated).</comment></comment></comment>


10,000+ web design and development resources from over 100 websites - <AUTHOR> http://techsmashed.com/category/webdesign/

<comment><AUTHOR> Check out 4 years of web design, web development, graphics and mobile application development resources in one place</comment>


To Stay Relevant in a Career, Workers Train Nonstop - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/business/to-stay-relevant-in-a-career-workers-train-nonstop.html?ref=business <comment><USER3> The need for continuous education is accelerating for a lot of careers. I have taken 4 online classes this year, I have bought at least 12 technical books (probably read about half of the pages in them) and I am working on writing a new book (actually a revised edition of my old Java AI book).

I probably spend 1 hour on these self learning activities for every 2 hours I spend making money on my business (consulting). I am comfortable with this investment for two reasons. First, I feel like this provides me with a secure long term business. Second, the learning time is fun and relaxing - not as much as my hobbies hiking, cooking, and music, but still, I count studying time as a form of recreation.

</comment><comment><USER4> My dad went from helping out at my grandfather's high street shop to designing satellite test rigs, and ending up specialising in conveyer systems of all things.

My partner's dad went from painting ships in Chatham dockyards to helping design and build nuclear submarines, power stations & containment facilities, and ended up working in nuclear medicine.

Neither of 'em went to university.

Continual on-the-job learning doesn't seem like a terribly new thing...

</comment><comment><USER5> There are two type of knowledge: timeless, and changing specifics.

API, libraries, and platform are specifics. It's something you learn and throw away (eventually).

Continuous deployment, unit testing, debugging, basic programming knowledge, are timeless.

One thing to keep in mind: Even timeless knowledge will be subjected to decay if you don't practice it.

<comment><USER6> I'd say there were 3 kinds: the timeless stuff is _actual computer science_ , y'know, the hard stuff: maths. The long-lived knowledge is things that have stood the test of time, e.g. languages like SQL and C (and its toolchain) - but I wouldn't gamble on C being around as long as say, the quicksort algorithm. C++ and Perl and Python probably fall at the outer edge of this category, we'll know in 10 years. People who know these things well won't have any trouble finding work in the near future, even if they don't put any extra effort in (but show me this kind of programmer who doesn't anyway, just because it's fun).

Then there is stuff that you need to know _right now_ which is really just the whims of fashion, the latest abstraction layer over Javascript (JQuery? Coffeescript? I lose track) or web framework and the latest fad methodology (Scrum, TDD or whatever). This is stuff that ages very quickly, in just a year's time your skills could be obsolete. I pick up just as much of these kinds of skills as I need, but there's no point investing serious time into them. These guys are running flat out just to keep up. It must be exhausting.

5 years mastering C is an investment in your future. 5 years mastering MongoDB probably isn't.

<comment><USER7> > 5 years mastering C is an investment in your future. 5 years mastering > MongoDB probably isn't.

Replace C with COBOL and MongoDB with MySQL.

I've thought about this recently, and I think Java may replace C as the investment. There's so many companies now that depend on it, that knowing the JVM and it's... oddities is an investment.

I think MongoDB now is a bet. It may actually pan out, but we will not know until 10+ years out.

<comment><USER8> Hadoop will make Java more and more relevant.

<comment><USER9> Assuming something better than Hadoop doesn't come out. From what I've heard from folks who have used Hadoop and then used MapReduce, that's not really a safe bet.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I've been coding for over 20 years, and I can't say I find it "exhausting" having to learn new languages, tools and techniques. On the contrary, learning new things keeps me from getting bored.

Also, constant learning is already a prerequisite for programmers, since coding to a large extent is a discovery process. You learn and discover more about the problem as you develop the solution.

</comment><comment><USER11> The article implies that this is a new phenomenon brought on by the advent of computers. Computers have certainly accelerated this trend but certain occupations have had this problem since before computers were ubiquitous. For example doctors have to regularly submit proof of continuous learning or they lose their license to practice.

<comment><USER12> Same thing for me as a CPA. Even though I'm not specialized in actually putting an entry into the books or doing taxes, I still have to keep up with forty formal hours of training a year. Courses have to be approved by state societies before they'll even count for continuing education.

<comment><USER13> What is your specialization? At my firm and position level CPE is just a paid day of learning which is great.

<comment><USER12> IT internal controls and audit support.

Also, I don't just work for a CPA firm, I _am_ a CPA. Subject to all the CPE requirements set by the state society if I want to maintain my title. For me this year, my requirements were satisfied by six paid days of learning but I could have done it through a series of one-hour online courses if I hated myself.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> This is an especially important point for coders. In my 23 year professional life I've had 4 very different careers, involving 7 major platform changes, at least a dozen different languages and more SDK documentation that I can remember.

It's not like technology or the rate of change will be slowing down in the future either.

So, learning how to learn efficiently is an important tech skill.

<comment><USER15> I do this constantly, even if my explorations never get beyond surface exploration of new things. My career has moved from electrical engineer->(non- IT) systems engineer->real-time algorithms software engineer (C)->non-real- time algorithms software engineer (Java). Over this course (so far) I have worked in a dozen languages, and may have a dozen more in the next decade. I also try to keep myself astride the hardware-software boundary as best I can.

My most frustrating professional experience so far was working in a sequestered program in my prior company where almost everyone in engineering leadership positions had been doing the same damn thing for 20+ years and could not understand why anyone would want to keep learning and trying out new technologies. In fact, showing too much interest in technologies unrelated to the program could be interpreted negatively.[1] I'm both amazed and horrified that such an attitude could persist in this day and age in such a company, but I guess that comes from the program's somewhat unique situation.

[1] The old guard on this program had the attitude that you could spend your entire career on it and its derivatives, so there was no reason to want to leave unless you were unhappy, in which case there must be something wrong with you.

<comment><USER16> Just out of interest, were the old guard who refused to learn the (non-IT) systems engineers? I've had similar experiences with senior engineers and am trying to work out how (or whether) the field should be saved

<comment><USER15> They were by-and-large the systems engineers. Most had math or physics degrees (BS->PhD), and the rest had various engineering degrees. The bigger problem in this case, though, is the isolation of this project from everything else. Its hard for me to explain properly without the details I can't provide, but in short this group had a really hard problem to solve, and did so. Some people built their entire careers on this, and they developed this destructive attitude that is part Not Invented Here and part superiority complex. The result was that whatever a handful of the senior engineers though was the best approach was the direction "development"[1] went, no matter the evidence to the contrary.

I don't think this is indicative of the discipline as a whole. The discipline is necessary in many market segments. Even software companies have systems engineers; they just call them software architects. I'm not sure what could be done about a situation like I described above, though.

If you want to discuss this more offline, you can get my contact info from my profile.

[1] "Development" in this case was taking obsolete algorithm code, hacking in new functionality as quickly as possible, and forcing it to work with minimal perceived effort in the top-level system where all the software was being written from scratch.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> This just seems obvious to me. Granted, I'm only 16 and have had but one foray into the world of corporate employment, but the notion that someone can learn a skill early in their life and practice it indefinitely without expanding or improving upon it literally makes me want to laugh. The world simply moves at too rapid a pace not to constantly be learning.

The need to improve yourself as an employee doesn't exactly count as news. Intellectual stasis is career death.

<comment><USER18> You seem to be mocking a claim that no one is making, namely, that it's reasonable to expect salary increases throughout one's career while relying _exclusively_ on some limited initial training. The claim actually being made is that in any career, of the self-improvement necessary for advancement, some fraction can be realized during normal, paid work hours, and that the size of this fraction is trending downward.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> As society speeds up, Eric Hoffers great quote becomes increasingly relevant:

"In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists."

</comment><comment><USER20> As a developer, in addition to retraining yourself, you also may need to change jobs fairly often. Often it's the only way to utilize and develop newly acquired skills if you want to stay relevant and make the skill acquisition worth it.

However, I think it's easy to get caught into the rat race and overlook what it means to be "irrelevant". If I look back at my coworkers who stayed behind (in terms of training and advancement), most of them have very fulfilling lives with more work/life balance and stability. They just made certain compromises in terms of having jobs thrown at them all the time or in having higher salaries.

I'm still trying to find my own personal balance here, especially as I've grown older and had my family responsibilities increase.

<comment><USER21> > _As a developer, in addition to retraining yourself, you also may need to > change jobs fairly often. Often it's the only way to utilize and develop > newly acquired skills if you want to stay relevant and make the skill > acquisition worth it._

This is a good point. It is very easy to pigeonholed on a big company project to work for five years, but only get "one year of experience, five times."

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> A less aggressive method is to attempt to achieve things that you're not sure how to do you. Learning is built in to every project, then.

</comment><comment><USER23> But isn't this the way it is in tech? No one cares if you have a solid grasp of the fundamentals that rarely (if ever) change. Its all about knowing the trendy platform/language du jour. Which, I'd think, is a bad thing-it encourages people to hop onto fads to learn in order to get jobs, but I'm not sure if it really encourages people to learn fundamentals.

<comment><USER24> Depends greatly on the domain. While certainly true for areas in which products are created within months if not weeks and new technologies come and go every few months, it's very different for areas in which product development stage lasts for years and active product maintenance lasts for a decade or two.

It seems that further the domain is away from the fundamental concepts, the more it relies on ad-hoc stuff. I guess that's what abstraction layers and exposure to "general public" does, lots of leaky abstractions going to all directions imaginable. Perhaps someone finds this progress fascinating, I certainly don't.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Communist Manifesto, 1848.

Take some time to read it - even if you don't agree with the ideas - <USER2> indulge in that 19th century prescience.

<comment><USER26> For those who don't have spare time, care to relate the manifesto to the parent article ?

<comment><USER27> The most widely read political tract of all time, at less than 50 pages. I think you owe it to yourself to see what the fuss is all about.

My understanding is that Marx, and op, sees this constant training as a negative. Workers sell their skills and time; constant obselesence of works' skills to keep up with the Capitalists' automation of the job, in persuit of higher efficiency and lower costs (i.e. salary), is, in my understanding of Marx's ideas, a Bad Thing(TM).

This is not because Marx is a luddite and the workers anti-intellectuals, but because constant training weakens the labor guilds and unions. Workers cannot form any sort of long-term professional union if their skills are being obseleted constantly. This destruction of independent labor renders us all subservient to Capital and Capitalists, who are the only ones afforded the luxury of being in charge of their future and destiny.

<comment><USER28> So innovation is a capitalist plot. Got it.

<comment><USER27> What a cheap way to oversimplify what I wrote.

Do you seriously think Socialist societies are not capable of technological advances?

Marxism is an economic framework, and there is no way avoiding technological advances in an economy. It's just that in Marxism, innovation comes from workers and joint stakeholders of the means of production. Not owners of Capital.

The software market is MUCH closer to the Marxist ideal than a Capitalist free market, specially in Free Software. But I don't expect to get an intelligent conversation here,so, alas ..

<comment><USER28> "Do you seriously think Socialist societies are not capable of technological advances?"

Construct one and we'll see. Previous attempts basically turned into murderous oligarchies. To me, that places Marxism outside the realm of practical consideration, since it seems impossible to actually implement.

Less flippantly, it's always been engineers and inventors rather than investors (capitalists) who are responsible for innovation.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Some minor training might be needed to stay relevant - that's true in any job.

But if you find yourself in need of almost continuous training, like the guy described in the article, you have a problem

Leaving aside the medical problems (memory problems, attention issues):

1) Maybe you have badly invested your time, ie. in knowledge with a negative interest rate (ie a fad - the technology du-jour which will be outdated tomorrow) - then you need to keep pumping knowledge. Your problem is not in the learning, but in the choice of the topic - i.e. learn something else!

2) Maybe also you are not specializing enough, i.e. carving your niche in a domain where you knowledge would create a significant barrier of entry? But that'd be another way of saying your topic has a positive interest rate and that you are just compounding interest!

In both cases, it seems to me to be a problem of a wrong choice (leaving aside the fact that you shouldn't resent what you are doing, if you really love it)

So do something else, find your where your competitive advantage is or where your passions leads you.</comment>


VCs swipe left on dating apps - <AUTHOR> https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/14/vcs-swipe-left-on-dating-apps/ <comment><USER2> Let's be honest. Many "VCs" are just geeks who got a windfall on some deal they were involved in and suddenly find themselves in positions of power/authority. Just because a person suddenly as money/equity to invest doesn't mean they are Warren Buffett. Few people can truly determine the value of a product or company in the future (even WB). Just take a look at what post 2001 dot com era has done to the startup and tech world. Uber is still negative to an astounding degree, and countless other companies have been funded that have no clear path to profitability. And look at the SF real estate market. Briefly wealthy nerds have bought properties with little regard for their real value, artificially (or realistically-temporarily) driving up the prices. It means nothing to the few players involved because their salaries are significant compared to the masses and the properties available. It's the euphoria that has pushed the US into new and incredibly absurd territory which can, frankly, allow for the absurd political climate that we see now. This whole "VC" idea is bunk, because it is based on the "fake" (sorry to use the popular word) economics that have created never-profitable dot-coms that have been bought by barely-profitable dot-coms where the early players cash out while leaving the stupid average people to suffer the AOL sized losses.

<comment><USER3> I've started to get the same impression. It seems like VCs, as a result of one or two past successes, now attribute to themselves omniscience when it comes to choosing companies.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> "Funding for the past year is down [to $47M] from $280 million invested during the prior 12 months. (Though to be fair,the lion's share of that, $240 million, went to China-based dating app Baihe, a decade-old category leader.)"

In other words, when you throw out one outlier, funding actually went up from $40M to $47M.

<comment><USER5> Numbers ruin a good (or an entirely fabricated)story once again. ;)

<comment><USER6> There's presumably a good story -- Baihe -- it's just not the one they decided to tell.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Had to drill into the article to realize "swipe left" meant "interest declined". I met my wife right when Tinder and other dating apps took off so I missed the whole dating app wave.

<comment><USER8> You aren't the only one. It was not good form to write a headline that is only interpretable by a minority of the audience.

<comment><USER9> I suspect people who understand the reference are not the minority of the audience. I've never even used Tinder and I'm familiar with the idiom just from reading tech news.

<comment><USER10> C'mon, "swipe" was in top 10 words of the year 2015 according to Collins Dictionary

swipe (verb): to move a finger across a touchscreen on a mobile phone in order to approve (swipe right) or dismiss (swipe left) an image

[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/05/binge- watch-20...](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/05/binge- watch-2015-word-of-the-year-collins)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> VCs have never really had an interest in dating startups. They summarize it nicely here: "Often they're strategically mismatched. VCs look for a loyal, active, long-term user base, and dating apps tend to attract periodic, short- term users. Monetization is also a challenge, as paid apps have to compete with free ones. There also are few deep-pocketed acquirers with interest in the space."

<comment><USER8> There's probably room for a service that doesn't just match people up, but helps to manage the relationship indefinitely into the future. A sort of dating plus relationship coach. I am also reminded, more cynically, of letter writing in the movie Her.

<comment><USER12> This is why I think Facebook is ultimately "just" the most successful dating site/app. It matured from facilitating college hookups to sharing baby photos with family. It's the definitive place to find out that your co-worker got divorced, that your high school crush is single again, or that your ex moved across the country and got in amazing shape.

The "relationship coach" is your audience of friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances who see quite clearly how successful your romantic life is by what you (or your partner) share (or don't).

I can't imagine many "matching" services/features that would make very good businesses. Unless exclusively focused on hookups, cheating, or escorts, but then naturally a harder pitch to investors.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Past articles[1] have gone into detail about how bad the churn and cost of customer acquisition is with dating sites. At best if you succeed at bringing a couple together, you've lost two customers at once.

[1] [http://andrewchen.co/why-investors-dont-fund- dating/](http://andrewchen.co/why-investors-dont-fund-dating/)

<comment><USER14> A whole season of startup podcast is devoted to following a dating startup and there's much discussion of the dynamics of the space: [https://gimletmedia.com/episode/origin-story- season-2-1-2-3-...](https://gimletmedia.com/episode/origin-story- season-2-1-2-3-4/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> The dating app I'd like to see/make is the one that figures out how to ban/deal with lewd men scaring away so many women.

I've heard from so many women how they tried for a few days and just got DTF (down to f*ck?) messsges they left discussed. I'm surprised any women actually say on the sites.

Unfortunately no good ideas spring to mind.

<comment><USER16> Bayesian classifier should be able to correctly categorize these simple overused messages, right?

<comment><USER17> The problem is, sometimes they work. See [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13657508](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13657508). One of the reasons OkCupid didn't ban duplicate messages is that often they led to successful exchanges.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> IAC seems to be doing just fine with Tinder. IAC had Ask Jeeves, now Ask, one of the early search engines, and they run About.com, Vimeo, and some similar sites. They keep lumbering along with those. In dating, they're #1. They own Match, OkCupid, Tinder, Meetic, Twoo, PlentyOfFish, OurTime, BlackPeopleMeet and FriendScout24.

IAC is a spinoff of Barry Diller's Home Shopping Network, moderately large, somewhat boring, and profitable. Not a bad place to end up.

Someone to approach if you have a working online business and want to sell out.

</comment><comment><USER19> VCs also swipe left on Blockchain. I think we are going to see more "spaces" being abandoned left and right as we are entering the end of low interest rate capital.

<comment><USER20> The blockchain model is able to self fund itself. What is called 'traditional' is undermined by blockchain projects, so every body trying to be an intermediary blockchain service simply subsidizes the building of tools that accelerate their obsolescence along with the industry they were trying to disrupt.

The VC model is a round peg for a square hole in the blockchain space.

As a single datapoint: Melonport's offering was crowdfunded in two minutes today, and that was on top of the Ethereum blockchain. And you should watch what is dubbed the "ICO" space.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> I'd like to see one vaguely like OkCupid, but with validation for everything.

A few things can be automatically checked, so they are free. Validating that you can send/receive email at a particular address is such a case.

Other things cost money to check, so there is a charge, and of course a markup. (this is the profit; nothing else to annoy people) For example, a credit score could be validated for a few dollars. For more money, they can fly somebody out to measure how big you are. Common things get standardized prices, but there is no limit to what you can ask them to verify. They can check property records, DNA, police reports, stock ownership, body parts, ancestry... the sky is the limit, from the mundane to the offensive.

</comment><comment><USER22> Lots of exceptions to the rule though. This startup just raised a massive (private) round: [http://mashable.com/2017/02/02/hater-dating- app/](http://mashable.com/2017/02/02/hater-dating-app/)

</comment><comment><USER23> Dating apps are kind of like social networking sites. They both take a tremendous amount of money to get off the ground and are very difficult to monetize.

Tinder was different because the goal is not to have a long-term relationship (and leave the app).</comment>


Ask HN: What's so awesome about static types - <AUTHOR>

I like dynamic languages a lot.  To me, I can get way more reuse from a library without having to use monads or some similar construct.  Still, there are a bunch of smart people in the Scala/Haskell/ML camps that love static typing.  What's the benefit? <comment><USER2> The really big one is "deterministic" static analysis of code. What I mean by deterministic is that in non-dynamic languages it's possible to find all references to variables, functions and classes with 100% certainty just by looking at the code.

This leads to 2 killer features:

\- 100% reliable refactoring

\- Sophisticated code navigation (call graph, inheritance graphs, go to definition are 3 that I used dozens of times a day, for example)

Of course, even languages that are traditionally thought of as static, like Java, have some dynamic features, so the above "100%" isn't quite reached in practice.

</comment><comment><USER3> The strongest benefit of static types for me is: You can have different forms of polymorphism if you have static type information. For example, the visitor pattern from OO-languages is obsolete in languages with enough type information available, because they can just dispatch on all argument types. For example, python or ruby cannot do such a multiple dispatch without any extra effort.</comment>


The self-doubt and depression hit after completing an MVP development - <AUTHOR> https://200wordsaday.com/words/post-development-depression-24135c2ef326b02d3 <comment><USER2> The method I like to use is to intertwine MVP development and customer feedback together as I incrementally build an MVP. So you should start with identifying your target customer and get them involved in the building of the MVP from day one.</comment>


MH17 Crash Explained - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDiLEyT9spI <comment><AUTHOR> Amazing video presented by the dutch comission investigating the "accident". Turns out it wasn't an accident as a russian missile hit the cockpit and made the flight crash.

What's dismaying of all this is to see all consipracionists continue with their beliefs that's all planned by occident even though presented by hard evidence. Evidence studied by scientists from different countries and during more than 2 years of harsh scrutiny by all governments involved. ConsiprationistS will never believe somEthing presented as official version no matter what but always believe their own version despite the lack of all evidence or remotely logical explanation.

World keeps spinning despite consiparationists but it would still be frustrating if you were one of these scientists making so much effort to put some light on difficult issues just to see their theories "debunked" in a one minute video on youtube.</comment>


Ask HN: Whats your million dollar app idea that you never built? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> Why "million dollar"? Sure being financially secure is great, but are people working in the industry now really just in it for the money?

I guess we know the answer with VC founders, but are technical people really not interested in making cool things that let them live a comfortable life?

</comment><comment><USER3> I wanted to be first to market on a big data cluster with heavy emphasis on built in/plug and play ML for other startups and small businesses. Not the kind of thing you can have a go at from Dad's garage.

</comment><comment><USER4> I've always felt there was more niche money in marketplaces.</comment>


MSFT Word's autoshape: is it copyright protected?  - <AUTHOR>

I wish to have users on my website the ability to draw shapes (similar to what you find in Microsoft Word "autoshape"). Shapes such as arrows, circles, etc. My questions are: 1) Is this protected by Microsoft? 2) If yes, are there similar codes (not copyright to program shapes?) 3) How difficult is it to write a program, where the user is given the opportunity to draw shapes on a website?<p>Sorry in advance if this is all elementary questions. I am a non-techie and trying to learn. <comment><USER2> 1\. Drawing shapes on the computer is not protected by microsoft copyright or patents. The actual code is and the name "Autoshape" may be. 2\. <http://code.google.com/p/svg-edit/> 3\. Doing it well is not trivial.

For the web I'd recommend SVG <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics></comment>


Idea Sunday – In Real Life? [Bay Area] - <AUTHOR>

I'm a big fan of the weekly threads on HN every sunday where people list business and product ideas. I'm wondering if anyone is interested in doing that at an in-person gathering.
It would be a great way to connect with people and casually brainstorm ideas. Anyone interested? <comment><USER2> Sharing ideas is a double edged sword. Once you leave, you enter some touchy territory where people think (or, just as bad, you FEAR people think) you copied their ideas, when you actually already had the idea yourself. It's better to just not show up to this kind of thing.

Even if the ideas are all "freely given" that doesn't solve all the problems. Some of the problems are problems of perception, and some are problems of inhibition, some are relationship problems, and some are legal problems.

Hacking sessions, where you actually get stuff done, on the other hand, are great. Idea sessions, not so much. Just my two cents.

<comment><USER3> >Sharing ideas is a double edged sword. Once you leave, you enter some touchy territory where people think (or, just as bad, you FEAR people think) you copied their ideas, when you actually already had the idea yourself. It's better to just not show up to this kind of thing.

This is the reason authors (especially famous authors) will often refuse to read fan works or manuscripts or acknowledge reading fan fiction forums - anything they write in the future with even a remote resemblance to anything they read by a fan is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

That said... Idea Sunday is an awesome idea. And Screenshot Saturday.</comment></comment>


.NET developers: how clean up to 15 GB on your hard drive - <AUTHOR> https://bytescout.com/blog/2019/09/are-you-a-net-developer-check-how-to-clean-15-gb-of-free-space-occupied-by-old-versions-and-updates-of-net-core.html <comment><USER2> I have a 128 GB Surface Pro 4, and I realized I had like 3 GB of free space left... mostly due to Visual Studio. It had VS2015 at one time, removing it to install VS2017 hadn't removed all of the VS2015 parts completely either. And removing VS2017 left tons of stuff behind as well.

Apparently every time I updated VS2017, it would go install the latest Windows SDK and .NET Core version, leading me to have a solid handful of each. The uninstaller seems to not be aware of all the various bits and bobs the installer adds, and doesn't even ask you if you want to remove them.

</comment><comment><USER3> Careful with this, I believe if you target .net core 2.1 and you have 2.1 and 2.2 installed, and remove 2.1 then you're code will NOT run.</comment>


Why Johnny Can't Add Without a Calculator - <AUTHOR> http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/math_learning_software_and_other_technology_are_hurting_education_.single.html

<comment><USER2> The section regarding textbooks and the conflicting agencas of the teachers (use what is good and what works) and the principals (use the new shiny ones) reminded me of Richard Feynman's stint on a textbook selection committee: <http://www.textbookleague.org/103feyn.htm>

Compare this from the article:

      "[T]he standard geometry book for Fairfax County, which is
      used in schools around the country, tries to explain what
      a mathematical point is by analogy to pixels on TV
      screens, which are not in fact point-like."

With This:

      "[T]he books were so lousy. They were false. They were
      hurried. They would try to be rigorous, but they would use
      examples (like automobiles in the street for "sets") which
      were almost OK, but in which there were always some
      subtleties."

Feyman continues:

      "The definitions weren't accurate. Everything was a little
      bit ambiguous -- they weren't smart enough to understand
      what was meant by "rigor." They were faking it. They were
      teaching something they didn't understand, and which was,
      in fact, useless, at that time, for the child."

</comment><comment><USER3> The thing I learned about learning math is that you have to do a lot of problems. That's it. That's the trick.

Also, It's helpful to read a lot of different explanations/developments of a concept until I find one that makes sense.</comment>


Why the Mobile Opportunity is Different and Bigger than the Web - <AUTHOR> http://commutingvc.com/2010/11/15/why-the-mobile-opportunity-is-different-and-bigger-than-the-web/

<comment><USER2> Comparing mobile internet "growth" to desktop internet growth is a little misleading. It's like comparing DVD player growth to VCR growth. Obviously DVD players grew much faster because the infrastructure (having a TV set) and comfortability with the technology was already there.

Desktop internet growth was closely tied to the overall growth of the internet-- as the net became more useful, more people started using it. A lot of what makes mobile internet useful, on the other hand, was already created.</comment>


App Inventor for Android - <AUTHOR> http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/# <comment><USER2> The barrier to entry to creating basic applications shouldn't be programming syntax knowledge, so I applaud this move by Google. There are millions of people who think logically and systematically and could write down on paper the architecture for a great program but they just don't know how to program.

I haven't checked this out entirely yet, but if it does what it's suppsed to do well then this will ultimately be a good thing for quality applications from a wider domain space.</comment>


The Joy of Text: James Wood's Inspired Reading - <AUTHOR> https://www.bookforum.com/print/2605/james-wood-s-inspired-reading-23862 <comment><USER2> Worth noting this is not James Woods, the known actor and hater. This is James Wood, the author and literary critic.

<comment><USER3> Thanks for clarifying, as I was wondering why anybody would listen to what James Woods has to say...

<comment><USER2> He's still useful. If, for some reason, you find yourself agreeing with him, you immediately know you're wrong.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> James Woods is among my least favorite writers. His previous book "How Fiction Works" was condescending and pretentious. This essay collection is no different.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/books/review/Kirn-t.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/books/review/Kirn-t.html)

</comment><comment><USER5> Reading this as the work of actor James Woods is funny, but reading it as a literal sentient, personified, block of wood is even better: "What are we to think, then, about a critic criticizing a critic? Do I intend to get you to see Sebald or Roth as I see Wood seeing them? But of course, to see Wood as I see him is, in part, to see how Wood sees."

</comment><comment><USER6> If he gets really excited about something, it's usually worth checking out. That makes him a useful critic.</comment>


New study: Social distancing could be needed until 2022 - <AUTHOR> https://nuadox.com/post/615500611887235072/social-distancing-2022 <comment><USER2> Blogspam of

[https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/04/14/scie...](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/04/14/science.abb5793)</comment>


It would cost us $232 a year for an ad-free internet - <AUTHOR> http://m.fastcompany.com/3034670/fast-feed/it-would-cost-each-user-232-a-year-for-an-ad-free-internet-study-finds

<comment><USER2> This analysis misses the point that, if Internet access was subsidized either by direct fee collection from end users, or by way of public funds, advertisements would reappear unless they were declared illegal, because it's a way to make money. And if advertisements _were_ declared illegal, someone would sue in federal court on free-speech grounds.

Advertising is here to stay, regardless of such arguments, because advertising is too much like protected speech to be controllable.</comment>


This $16,000 robot uses artificial intelligence to sort and fold laundry - <AUTHOR> https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/10/16865506/laundroid-laundry-folding-machine-foldimate-ces-2018 <comment><USER2> A practical laundry folding robot that really worked is something in the "take my money take it take it!" category for me. I'd easily pay thousands of dollars for one.

<comment><USER3> If this can get down to the $2-3000 range every upper middle class household in the country will buy one...

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Coming soon to your favourite login page: "Select all squares with neatly folded laundry. If there are none, click skip"</comment>


The World's Best Bounty Hunter Is 4-Foot-11. Here's How She Hunts - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/12/skip-tracing-ryan-mullen/all/1 <comment><USER2> Its strange how casually they mention her friends who are in law enforcement who do illegal searches for her.

<comment><USER3> Not at all strange, people have gotten used to being surveilled is all. Maybe she can help find the missing node.js guy as mentioned here:

[http://blog.izs.me/post/72990767417/a-member-of-our- communit...](http://blog.izs.me/post/72990767417/a-member-of-our-community-is- missing-help-find-him)

<comment><USER4> We could raise some money... I don't know the guy, but still the idea is intriguing... Are we sure the guy actually WANTS to be found?

<comment><USER3> That's an interesting point, some people just want to disappear. I read a long time ago when I was younger, on a local BBS, a guide to fully disappearing. Some people just don't want to be found; this can be true freedom depending on who you ask.

<comment><USER2> If so he convinced me with his final broadcasts.

[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536683/Yahoo- hires-...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536683/Yahoo-hires- private-investigator-missing-programmer-Luke-Arduini.html)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> > To track down the fleet of Caterpillar wheel loaders taken by the Peruvians, > Gomez reached out to the estranged wife of the family's patriarch

In other news, the estranged wife of a Peruvian crime boss turned up dead at 8:30 this morning...

<comment><USER6> I read this with great sadness. In the culture of grift, the highest form of con is when you induce someone to do something they know is wrong, like a 419 scam where you convince the mark to impersonate a dead person in exchange for a fee that never materializes.

The rationalization is that whatever happens to the mark is their responsibility, as they decided to knowingly break the law.

Playing on someone's false feelings of betrayal is nowhere near this, and exposing them to the very real possibility of execution, just so you can make a few bucks?

I call that psychopathic. This woman is entirely without scruples, she does this and boasts of it when interviewed.

<comment><USER5> It doesn't bother me that much that she deceived this woman in her investigation. But the fact that she essentially identified this source in a magazine article is pretty horrifying IMO.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> my biggest takeaway from the article:

"The most troubling lesson she learned from Mullen, Gomez says, is how readily misleading information can migrate from a posting on an Internet forum to official status. "In a second, what's false becomes true," she observes. "All it takes is for one person to put it on the record." That seems to be what happened with Mullen's Most Wanted status. A spokeswoman from the US Marshals Service told WIRED that Deputy Sheasby knew nothing about a $2 million cybertheft by Mullen until he was told by "an investigator," and that he'd passed on the story only because he felt obliged to make other investigators aware of everything he had heard."

Looks like the barrier between social network/forums etc. & official record are pretty porous.

</comment><comment><USER8> Skip tracing is not bounty hunting but it makes for a great article title. Skip tracing is finding a debtor for a lender. The bounty hunter gets the collection or asset from the debtor.

<comment><USER9> She does both. If you read to the end she actually went and recovered the asset which in this case was a boat.

<comment><USER8> I think it was seized by law enforcement because it was part of a crime yet technically she was there so I guess it could be bounty hunting.

<comment><USER10>
      Skip tracing is not bounty hunting but it makes for a great article title.

and then

      I think...

You wouldn't think that if you had read the article where it said that LE handed the asset (boat) to her shortly after Mullen's arrest. And that she's a bounty hunter, as well as a skip tracer.

It's really handy to read the source material before going around correcting people.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> How is it even possible to rank bounty hunters? This article's title is just sensationalist link bait.

<comment><USER12> Her height has nothing to do with anything, but people like those sorts of details. Maybe we instinctively feel that a 4' 11' woman with the last name of Gomez gets under-estimated constantly, so it makes her success more satisfying to us.

<comment><USER13> Her height has to do with people's assumption that bounty hunting is primarily a physical, violent activity: going and wrestling a dude into submission and then slapping handcuffs on him and dragging him to the police station.

The reason they mention that a very small woman is very successful at it is to point out that success is not predicated in being able to win fights with fugitives.

<comment><USER12> I assume that is what hired muscle is for. She's the brains of the outfit. Did anyone else think 10 grand was kind of low for this particular job? They did mention she would get the reward money, but didn't say how much that was.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> $10k for what looks like a few months work. Looks like a successful case of outsourcing, but the thought of private law enforcement, mercenaries intruding into people's lives and chasing people with guns doesn't sit very well with me. Who is responsible if everything goes wrong?

<comment><USER15> > Who is responsible if everything goes wrong?

The responsible parties. "Everything" and "wrong" are utterly vague. But, assume you mean something like Mullen tries to escape and her bodyguard shoots him in the back. It would be up to local DA if they wanted to prosecute, perhaps including bounty hunter as accomplice. Mullen's family could sue for wrongful death.

tldr; laws don't magically disappear just cause bounty hunters are involved.

<comment><USER14> Of course, but suing an individual vs a government body has very different dynamics, plus the whole operation has less clear rules and responsibilities for the involved, not to mention training etc. I guess the victim/family would have a smaller chance of financial compensation. I'd rather have police be police, can we friendly disagree?

<comment><USER16> Yeah individuals generally don't have police unions and an entire corrupt system to protect (sorry, I mean prosecute) them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Now that she revealed her face, identity and some of her methods, she'll be much easier to avoid.

<comment><USER10> Nearly all of a skip tracer's work involves online research and covert surveillance, not being face to face with the mark.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Good story. The insightful bit, perhaps not unlike [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_%28countermeasure%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_%28countermeasure%29) :

 _The most troubling lesson she learned from Mullen, Gomez says, is how readily misleading information can migrate from a posting on an Internet forum to official status. "In a second, what's false becomes true," she observes. "All it takes is for one person to put it on the record."_

P.S. Wired's comments are worth a look.

</comment><comment><USER19> So apparently the only thing this guy had going for him was that he could print checks with magnetic ink and fake a caller id. Both are trivial. Wow.

<comment><USER20> The more interesting story here is how he was able to confuse authorities for years by creating a slew of fictitious identities online. A good chunk of the privacy debate focuses on anonymity, but stories like these suggest that increasing the noise-to-signal ratio may be even more effective.

<comment><USER21> That, plus the fact that it was the social contacts that broke him.

If you could break all social and family ties, you could probably get away with a lot. But you'd also be alone and vulnerable in the world. Tough choice.

Maybe the master criminals build up separate identities with separate networks of social relationships.

<comment><USER22> That would make p̶s̶y̶c̶h̶o̶p̶a̶t̶h̶s sociopaths pretty much the créme de la créme, which doesn't come as a surprise, given their prominence among the world most grisly killers.

<comment><USER21> That makes sense. Psychopaths burn everybody close to them, so their relationships have a pretty short shelf-life anyway.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Glad it is just thieves and not terrorists that can so easily fool law enforcement and private contractors have to be used.

<comment><USER24> Another view is that law enforcement worries less about the thieves, and more about perpetrators of violent crimes, or crimes that cost society more than what these thieves perpetrate.

<comment><USER23> Law enforcement constantly uses that excuse "we can't be bothered with that, we need to focus on the big stuff".

Except the big stuff never happens because they typically have big lawyers and bigger payoffs to politicians.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> Anyone know what makes the "Mastercheck Keypad and Printer" so special? I can buy cheap magnetic toner and put it in my laser printer to get magnetic encoded checks, but my understanding is most banks don't rely on that much any more in favor of optical recognition. That was one bit that seemed a bit hyperbolic.

<comment><USER26> Sounds like he was using that for a long time, maybe a decade. He was just ahead of the curve...

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> This'll make a good "Catch Me If you Can 2"

<comment><USER28> 2 Catch Me If 2 Can

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> I'd love to read an article about that computer she was "forced" to build at age 10. Now _that_ sounds fascinating.

</comment><comment><USER30> Who does the photos for these? They are clearly just using unrelated images and fitting in a certain number of pictures per page.

Good stories do not need to be embellished with images of apartment windows or empty parking lots.

<comment><USER31> The images are certainly related. Under each it even gives you the reason why.

However, if you are arguing that the images are ineffective I might agree. It looks like this article was included in the Print edition so I'd imagine the photos were chosen to match with the article's layout there as opposed to the online version.

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> what was disappointing about the article was no pictures of Mullen, his cars, yacht or properties.

</comment><comment><USER33> _The most troubling lesson she learned from Mullen, Gomez says, is how readily misleading information can migrate from a posting on an Internet forum to official status. "In a second, what's false becomes true," she observes. "All it takes is for one person to put it on the record."_

I guess everyone finally learned that information on the internet can be false. :-)

</comment><comment><USER34> I am reminded of recovery specialist [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Hardberger](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Hardberger)

</comment><comment><USER35> I think more than anything, writing an article on a bounty hunter is plain dangerous.

</comment><comment><USER36> ~40% of high-speed check processing machines run FreeBSD 4.x-6.x

</comment><comment><USER37> ah, the neoliberal media once again glorifying their weapons of economic doom, the debt collectors. These demons should be demonized instead.

</comment><comment><USER38> Now I want to read another Stephanie Plum novel.

Just kidding. I wouldn't really read that fluff. Honest.</comment>


Google Checkout : How to Not Write Error Messages - <AUTHOR> http://particletree.com/notebook/google-checkout-how-to-not-write-error-messages/ <comment><USER2> I think I saw this exact same error when trying to buy the Business Edition of Google Custom Search. It took an email to customer support to get it fixed (I emailed Friday, and it was fixed on Monday, so not a terrible turnaround on solving the problem)...though I never knew what was wrong, because the error was absolutely devoid of meaning.

</comment><comment><USER3> There are so many things that suck about Google Checkout that it's just pointless to rant. Chris could spend the next two months, I bet, writing "Google Checkout: How Not to..." posts.

</comment><comment><USER4> Should be titled "How not to write error messages"...

</comment><comment><USER5> I love the intelligent comments below the article. A particularly insightful gem:

        Google sucks !

Amazing that he can't even get the punctuation right on a two-word sentence.</comment>


Clojure for non-Lisp programmers - <AUTHOR> http://www.moxleystratton.com/article/clojure/for-non-lisp-programmers

<comment><USER2> That's great. Now, for the hacker-angle on the piece: How do I use this to do something useful in way that's smarter than how I'd do it in Python or Java?

And no, I don't consider an algorithm to calculate a Fibonacci sequence particularly useful.

<comment><USER3> Use agents (<http://clojure.org/agents>) and write an implementation of a ray tracer that uses many cores.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> That's a fairly old article, but I think it's a pretty good introduction to get your feet in Clojure wet if you don't have a Lisp background (at least, it was useful to me).

I also bought the Programming Clojure book from Pragprog last night. Would anyone be interested in a review? (once I read it)

<comment><USER5> Isn't it early for a review? <http://www.pragprog.com/titles/shcloj/programming-clojure> seems to indicate that the book is still "in beta".

<comment><USER4> Yes, it is in beta, but afaik it's also the only book about Clojure available and I could not find any meaningful discussions (or even synopses) about it before I bought.

Supposedly the final version is due in May anyways and I can always update my review since I'll get access to the final book for free once it's out.</comment></comment></comment>


How to list all the targets on a Makefile - <AUTHOR> https://diamantidis.github.io/tips/2020/07/01/list-makefile-targets <comment><USER2> When you install bash-completion on your system, usually a function is defined to autocomplete make rules for you. It works with all projects, as it does not rely on the rules being specially marked. ([https://github.com/scop/bash- completion/blob/master/completi...](https://github.com/scop/bash- completion/blob/master/completions/make))

Before I knew about it, I had written a similar thing:

        # Autocomplete make rules
        _make () {
            local cur prev words cword cmdline
            _init_completion || return

            # command to generate the rules
            words="$(make  -pRrq |\
                awk -v RS= -F: '/^# File/,/^# Finished Make data base/ {if ($1 !~ "^[#.]") {print $1}}' |\
                sort | egrep -v -e '^[^[:alnum:]]' | xargs)"

            COMPREPLY+=( $( compgen -W "$words" -- $cur) )
        }
        if declare -f _init_completion > /dev/null; then
            complete -F _make make
        fi

It relies on `make -pRrq`, that is a very useful command to debug your makefiles, especially in a big project. The option `-p` prints the make data- base, -R and -r removes the implicit rules and variables, and -q indicates only asking make a question about current state, avoid executing anything.

Well, it worked for a time, but the bash-completion one is nicer (though much, much more complex). Very nice however to know about `-pRrq`, definitely helps when working on big projects.

<comment><USER3> This is a good point. One big problem with solutions that match the text of the makefile is that they don't catch dynamically-generated targets.

I have makefiles used for data-crunching that are parametrically-generated using $foreach in gnu make. One typical use case is "make these plots for all the data, for 10% of the data, or for just one example" \- with targets generated by a $foreach(...) construct.

Asking make to regurgitate the targets it knows about catches these guys, grep doesn't.

There are many other examples of dynamically-generated rules, such as using macros that create rules via gnu make's "define".

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> You want this:

      apt install remake
      remake --tasks
      remake --targets

The "remake" tool is "GNU make" \+ some extra bells/whistles, most notably a REALLY usefule interactive debugger. It's 100% compatible with GNU make because it _is_ GNU Make. And you can ask it for --tasks and --targets.

</comment><comment><USER5> The `sed` and `grep` syntax isn't always portable to non-Gnu versions of the tools. The following version doesn't use gnu-isms for `grep` and `awk` for and works on both BSD's and MacOS, sorting and printing comments printed after the ##. Does require on Gnu make for $(MAKEFILE_LIST), but the filename of the Makefile can be used instead:

        help: ## Print help for each target
             @grep '^[[:alnum:]_-]*:.* ##' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) \
             | sort | awk 'BEGIN {FS=":.* ## "}; {printf "%-25s %s\n", $$1, $$2};'

</comment><comment><USER6> The article recommends `.DEFAULT_GOAL := help` which causes make to display the help message when the user doesn't specify a target.

But this breaks the classic incantation:

        ./configure
        make
        make install

<comment><USER7> if i'm remembering correctly, and autoconf-style project guidelines have the default target as 'all', so 'make all' for the second step should usually work

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> While we're at it, a small tip:

      make -p

(or `make -pn` when you're inside a directory with a Makefile and you don't want to trigger the default target as a side effect) lists all rules including implicit ones, which is great for discovering useful builtin variables. For instance,

      $ make -p | grep '^LINK.c'
      LINK.cc = $(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) $(TARGET_ARCH)
      LINK.c = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) $(TARGET_ARCH)
      LINK.cpp = $(LINK.cc)

</comment><comment><USER9> 'make' is the language that I hold up as an example when I say, "When you are developing a new programming language, do the debugger EARLY because you're going to need one anyway."

Debugging multi-million-line makefiles is not fun when all you have is echo, and one shot every few hours at a race condition that _hopefully_ your debugging output won't perturb.

<comment><USER10> What kind of a workload would require a multi-million-line Makefile? Honestly curious...

<comment><USER11> Up until a few years ago, all of android was built with thousands of makefiles, totaling millions of line easily

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> This feels like functionality which should be handled within make itself.

The world has too many 'make' replacements. I feel like we just need an incrementally improved make. GNU Make has enough inertia that it isn't going away, but making it slightly easier to use while not confusing old folks like me seems like a win for the community.

<comment><USER13> > This feels like functionality which should be handled within make itself.

make -p gets you mostly there.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Just type "make <tab>" in fish, because it does it out of the box :)

Here are the full completions: [https://github.com/fish-shell/fish- shell/blob/master/share/c...](https://github.com/fish-shell/fish- shell/blob/master/share/completions/make.fish)

<comment><USER15> "make <tab> <tab>" in bash ...

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I have another version based on awk[1], which instead of listing all targets, it will only list targets with a help message in the format of `@: #`, e.g.

        install:
            @: # Install the application to the given PREFIX.
            @: # Unless specified otherwise, PREFIX defaults to /usr/local

which will generates

        Usage: make TARGET

        You must run make with one of the following targets to continue:
        Run make VERBOSE=1 TARGET for verbose log.

        help:
                Print this help

        install:
                Install the application to the given PREFIX.
                Unless specified otherwise, PREFIX defaults to /usr/local

It doesn't read from MAKEFILE_LIST, though.

[1]: [https://gist.github.com/sirn/6a2f4c0b1cb917ef54b1fb813330d8e...](https://gist.github.com/sirn/6a2f4c0b1cb917ef54b1fb813330d8e8)

</comment><comment><USER17> [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4219255/how-do-you- get-t...](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4219255/how-do-you-get-the-list- of-targets-in-a-makefile)

</comment><comment><USER18> Doesn't this break if your tasks have dependencies, in that it'll list all the dependencies together with the task name?

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey!! No, the regex on the sed command takes care of it. It breaks the target into three parts. One before the ":", one between the ":" and the "##" and one for the rest, after the "##". Then it outputs only the first and the third part

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> I remember an article describing exactly this a few years ago. Did you game up with this yourself? If not a source might be nice.

<comment><USER20> I've done something similar with descriptive summaries of each target. It's an idea that is easy to reinvent independently.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> bash-completion does that for you by just pressing TAB. All I miss from it is some kind of annotation.

</comment><comment><USER22> When your make targets are mostly PHONY targets, you may want to replace make with (bunch of) shell script(s).

Honestly, who came up with that `make run` nonsense? I see this quite often in the pythonverse.

<comment><USER23> What's wrong with using make this way? What would I win if I switched to shell scripts?

<comment><USER22> You avoid all the complications of make. Extra syntax, variable substitution, lack of functions and loops, ...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Good stuff! Regrettable that GNU make has no command-line flag for this IMO.

</comment><comment><USER25> Simple but really effective trick. Brian Kernighan would be proud :)

</comment><comment><USER26> With zsh or fish, just press "tab".

</comment><comment><USER27> TLDR: grep

</comment><comment> awinter-py tldr make tab tab?

</comment><comment><USER28> Makes me realise how nice "npm run" is. Use it loads.

<comment><USER29> It's not even comparable to make.

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> I absolutely despise make and think it's ridiculous that a tool that can't handle spaces vs tabs is so "mainstream".

<comment><USER31> Most newer/younger people don't like or know Make; it's old, arcane software.

It differentiates between TABs and Spaces because each one signifies a different thing to follow: Lines starting with TAB indicate that a _recipe_ follows (which is shell syntax), and lines NOT starting with TAB indicate that a _rule_ follows (ie., native Makefile grammar/syntax).

Hate it or not, it's been a reliable workhorse for decades.

<comment><USER32> Disclaimer: I like make(1).

That said, the description above is accurate, but still describes an almost immediately regrettable mistake[0]. Many are used to it now, and the semantics are "fact" now, but could still have been avoided.

[0] [https://stackoverflow.com/a/1765566](https://stackoverflow.com/a/1765566)

<comment><USER31> Thank you for the epic reference! Despite all the classic works in computer history, I've come to realize that TAOUP is honestly/possibly my favorite. ok, maybe tied for favorite...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> If your makefile has so many targets, maybe you are doing too much and you need to use another tool such as autoconf/automake on top?

<comment><USER34> Autotools projects tend to have recursive makefiles. Look up "recursive make considered harmful" for a good explanation of why that's bad. Edit: [https://pic.blog.plover.com/prog/lib/auug97.pdf](https://pic.blog.plover.com/prog/lib/auug97.pdf)

Then, the actual benefit that autotools provides, which is portability for C code running on mostly Unix-like systems, is a pretty dead topic today. I am not talking about all the C bashing people do in a place like HN, what I mean here is that C99 and POSIX compliance is pretty universal now in a way it wasn't 20 years ago. And there are much fewer Unix-like systems in common use. (Linux has taken over most.) Nobody has to run a check for whether it's safe to include string.h or the return type of getpid() anymore.

<comment><USER33> ok, makes sense.

But then why would somebody have so many targets on a makefile? What are the common scenarios for having so many targets in a makefile if not for doing different installation options?

<comment><USER2> In the systems I have seen:

      * Because the rules are generated. Building a subpart sometimes means invoking a generated rule.

      * Because make is used for other things: building binaries, libraries, examples, test suite, documentation -- then executing them, preparing a test environment, installing them, generating distribution packages, etc.

      * Because the system is a framework, and each rule relates to one of many plugins (Buildroot for example).

      * Because the system is just very large and complex (linux).

Now to go back to automake. It is still very useful to have automated checks of compliance -- either about some extended warnings supported only by some compilers and not others (clang vs GCC), allowing extensions, static analysis, coverage, etc. That being said, automake is _terrible_. The two passes to generate the actual build systems means most people are actually reading generated makefile and debugging _that_. As was said by GP, it is also sub- optimal regarding use of make.

Frankly, it is just much simpler to directly work with makefiles, or change build tool altogether (meson + ninja is nice). Autotools has always been a nightmare to work with in my experience.

Keeping with make, I much prefer musl way for example, where a POSIX shell script examines the dependencies and configures a single makefile giving the project state, then the actual makefiles will consume it to operate properly.

<comment><USER35> Reading and debugging the generated makefile should not be the norm IMHO. For the same reason that is isn't usually required to read and debug generated assembly (from C), Java/Python bytecode etc.

<comment><USER36> Sure, except that the language used to generate the makefile is substantially harder to read in a lot of cases. And it doesn't tell you important things such as how libtool paths are configured or what paths are included in the gcc commands. These aren't that important unless you're cross-compiling for a system that doesn't have the same libc, libgcc, or library set and for which you need to set a "sysroot." Different projects have different ways of doing this, and sometimes a project will use something that sets sysroot appropriately for libtool but then doesn't generate the --sysroot command for gcc.

For historical reasons Cross Compilation against a different root filesystem for a different target architecture is somewhat of a second-class citizen in most automake/autotools build systems and you really do have to read the makefile output to figure out how they've configured their particular instance.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Web-Site Ideas from College Students (Humor, to lighten your rough day) - <AUTHOR> http://valleywag.com/tech/clips/college-humor-reenacts-pretty-much-every-meeting-in-the-dot+com-industry-292342.php

<comment><USER2> I'm not having a rough day

</comment><comment><USER3> the sad thing is that i have heard numerous people propose a "Facebook, just for college students."

<comment><AUTHOR> Really. Now that is a lack of research (or just asking anyone on the street).</comment></comment>