Top accounting firms urged to fire pro-riot staff - <AUTHOR> http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1161696.shtml <comment><USER2> > _have the wrong stance on the current Hong Kong situation_

> _" Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to > see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party," said O'Brien_

You have erred in your thoughts, Winston.

</comment><comment><USER3> Cathay Pacific CEO stepped down after China's civil aviation regulator issued a major safety risk warning to Cathay and set out a list of demands, including giving full information on crew flying into its airspace [1]. The news is first reported by China's state-owned CCTV [2].

[1]: [https://www.scmp.com/news/hong- kong/transport/article/302312...](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong- kong/transport/article/3023129/rupert-hogg-resigns-ceo-cathay-pacific-airways)

[2]: [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-16/cathay- pa...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-16/cathay-pacific- board-accepts-ceo-hogg-s-resignation-cctv)

<comment><USER4> The old technique of threatening company's business with mainland, unless it does what's favorable for the political system. Easier to handle if you're based in the US or elsewhere, but China's closer here so the situation is challenging.

I feel like HK & post-Brexit UK could make great friends…

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> What is the ownership link for this site? It reads like stary eyed propoganda.

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

>The Global Times is a daily Chinese tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the People's Daily newspaper, focusing on international issues from the Chinese government's perspective

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> The one and only comment on that article says a lot:

> _Top accounting and other professional services doing business in Hong Kong > cannot operate, bid and win any business employing people that have criminal > records for perpetrating violent rioting and committing terrorism._

> _Besides, why would top professional services companies even want to hire an > employee that is easily brainwashed to be a Useful Idiot ?_

For the time being, the big 4 are free to do what they like. The same does not apply to globaltimes.cn and their moderators.

</comment><comment><USER8> chinas russia today

<comment><USER9> Can you elaborate?

<comment><USER10> He's saying globaltimes.cn is like RT - a state news agency pushing state propaganda.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Will censorship apologists claim this isn't censorship, because "no-one is owed a job", or "they're private companies that can do what they like", then link to this 'insightful' comic [https://xkcd.com/1357/](https://xkcd.com/1357/) ?

I know this comment may seem shallow and argumentative, but these arguments regularly show up when the speech is unpopular, to explain why it's "not censorship".

<comment><USER12> if you don't see the difference between a business not hosting what they consider hate speech and a business firing its employees at the direct request of the government, I don't know what to tell you.

<comment><USER11> The difference is the power of the censor - the act is the same (Yes, people have been fired for controversial statements. And less controversial ones: [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/06/business/media/cartoonist...](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/06/business/media/cartoonist- fired-from-farm-news.html)).</comment></comment></comment>


Boeing's Humble 737 to replace jumbos for transatlantic flights - <AUTHOR> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-14/your-next-trans-atlantic-trip-may-be-on-boeing-s-diminutive-737 <comment><USER2> _" Boeing's 757, the world's longest single-aisle airliner with around 200 seats and a range in excess of 4,000 miles, has been plying the Atlantic for years_"

Yeah, and it's a mistake. Never fly a 757 westbound, especially from continental Europe. I've been delayed in Goose Bay, Canada for refueling a few times because of a heavy jet stream. Any connections less than 2 hours will be blown to smithereens.

Here's the latest one, 9 hours ago. These poor saps aren't making _any_ connections today.

[https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status/776488074633179137](https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status/776488074633179137)

The 737MAX looks like an identically bad bet.

<comment><USER3> I fly back to the US from Germany about twice a year, and my most memorable west-bound flight (for the wrong reasons) was on a USAir 757. Felt like a bus going over potholes the whole way.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> 737s have already flown transatlantic flights; SAS used to run the oil-company special, a direct service, all business-class, on a 737 from Stavanger (Norway) to Houston (United States).

Similarly, British Airways still flies between London City airport and New York/JFK on an Airbus A318, also all business-class.

(and though the headline only mentions the 737, the article correctly points out that Airbus is aiming for this market too, with a planned long-range version of the A321neo)

<comment><USER5> WestJet fly from Glasgow to Toronto, with a stopover in Halifax, with a 737-700 as of last year. Unlike those examples, this has no true business class seating at all.</comment></comment>


Don't be like the pointy-haired boss - <AUTHOR> http://www.nevillehobson.com/2013/01/09/dont-be-like-the-pointy-haired-boss/

<comment><USER2> You've still written a long, jargon-filled sentence; a long way away from a plain english award. How about "Have we figured out any ways to make the website better for customers from the Christmas online sales figures?"</comment>


Ask HN: Why don't "Western" scientists form scientific communities on Facebook? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> Pure speculation here -- I've worked with scientists for a long time, but it's been a while and I no longer know how those circles work.

My guess -- Facebook doesn't bring any value to them. Scientists have had strong and deep international communities and very effective methods of communication within them for generations. Facebook would have to provide some sort of serious advantage over what already exists to lure scientists over to it. I don't see that FB offers any sort of advantage at all to that circle, let alone a serious one.

<comment><AUTHOR> I agree with the first part of this, but not the second. We (I'm a scientist more than a hacker, although both) do not have "very effective methods of communication". We have extremely inefficient methods of communication. (The traditional explanation for this is quality control, but it's been shown that this is mostly an illusion, and anyway there are more efficient means of QC than peer review.)

<comment><USER3> how about [https://www.researchgate.net/](https://www.researchgate.net/)?

<comment><AUTHOR> Interestingly, everyone I know treats this as just a way to get free papers. There's something about its design that says "free papers", as opposed to "form community". Like, maybe it's logo: "Discover scientific knowledge, and make your research visible."

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Because scientists are aware about privacy abuses of Facebook more than any other community

<comment><AUTHOR> Yeah. No. They are aware as well, more than anyone else, that the privacy abuses aren't the sort that they care about in terms of their science. And most of the major news about these came out only relatively recently. FB was a Science desert well b4 that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> There are a few scientiats and doctors in the carnivore groups on facebook</comment>


DAN64, an AVR based 8-bit microcomputer - <AUTHOR> https://www.usebox.net/jjm/dan64/ <comment><USER2> This is a really cool project. I do a ton of AVR programming. They are fantastic chips.

A lot of people think because AVRs are 8-bit, they are just toys. And since ARM cortex processors are about the same price, that AVRs are not a good choice.

AVRs, like ARM Cortex, are SOCs (System On a Chip) but have really excellent peripheral devices compared to the ARM Cortex I've used. The AVR's internals are better documented, more consistent, more powerful and easier to use. The AtXmegas in particular, with their hardware event system and DMA controller.

ARMs have all the same peripherals but they are not as well thought out. However, if you need to do a lot of 32-bit math, ARM is a better option.

Edit: Note that a 32MHz atxmega AVR can do about 128k 32-bit floating-point multiplys per second.

<comment><USER3> There are ~four things that matter when developing product hardware:

Capability, cost, design and firmware: is the hardware/firmware combination capable of what you want, how much is the bill of materials, how laborious is designing the hardware (schematic and routing) and how easy and fast is it to develop on the system.

_Nothing_ so far has AVRs beat on the last aspect and they fare very well on the third also. And this is a shame, because similar development ease and LibC style is something that other vendors could very, very easily reproduce but are stuck up on forcing vendor lock-in and pushing their ever shittier IDEs on you.

However AVRs almost always lose on 1 and 2, especially compared to ARMs, which are just better in almost every way.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Author here. Nice to see this on HN again. Since the first time, the design has been validated by another hobbyist (and ported to NTSC, original composite video is PAL).

If anyone is interested, I have a NTSC patch that I've meaning to merge for a while.

</comment><comment><USER5> I've wanted to do a project like this for a while, but always seem to have too many higher priority things going on. There's something undeniably romantic about building your own personal computer in this fashion.

</comment><comment><USER6> Some questions:

\- How can I buy this one already assembled?

\- Can it be put in a very silent case but still with a fan so as to not overheat?

\- Can I use another display? (With the same technical characteristics but possibly less training on the yes; having a hardware brightness/contrast controls would be a HUGE boon as well).

\- Can we use an US keyboard layout?

<comment><USER7> > Can it be put in a very silent case but still with a fan so as to not > overheat?

The fan itself probably will heat up more than the chips here.

<comment><USER8> It does appear to use a linear regular though, which is always a mixed bag from a heat generation perspective as a primary power supply.

<comment><USER9> Murata OKI-78SR-5/1.5-W36-C. These are size and pin compatible with the classic 7805 linear regulators, but operate at around 90% efficiency and can supply up to 1.5A without needing a heatsink.

[https://power.murata.com/data/power/oki-78sr.pdf](https://power.murata.com/data/power/oki-78sr.pdf)

[https://github.com/linker3000/Z80-Board/blob/master/z80-6.jp...](https://github.com/linker3000/Z80-Board/blob/master/z80-6.jpg)

<comment><USER8> That's so cool, I had no idea these things existed. Thanks for sharing! I usually just route out my own buck converter.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> > ... the 23LCV512 has the interesting property of being able to operate at 5 > volts, so that's the main reason the microcomputer is called DAN64

I don't understand ...

<comment><USER11> wrong scope/weird sentence structure. 64 since he found a fitting 64k chip (one running with the right voltage), not 32 as planned I guess.

<comment><USER4> That's right. Sorry, English is not my first language.</comment></comment></comment>


SXSW Why? - <AUTHOR> http://lookingforgold.blogspot.com/2010/03/sxsw-why.html

<comment><USER2> I didn't even realize SXSW was a music festival for a long time, because all anybody (in the startup/tech world) talked about was going there to launch their iPhone app.

</comment><comment><USER3> Sorry, but Sweet Leaf Tea is a local Austin business and been around for years. It wasn't "placed" at SXSW by some mega-corp. It just expanded out of Austin.

\- Your friendly neighborhood local Austinite

</comment><comment><USER4> The author seems to take offence to artists being used as economic fuel for companies to drive associated value to their products. This is exactly where artists can work with the system, by developing ways to drive value to companies who are willing to pay for it. Can this industry be changed for the good of the artists if the common goal is to get a record contract?

<comment><AUTHOR> I think the article is more nuanced than that (if you got annoyed by the start, keep reading - it expands a lot). They seem to be saying (IMHO) that artists need to be aware of what is happening and make sure that they get something out of the process.

That's why I posted it - because it's more than "capitalism bad"; it's saying "this is capitalism; use it".

<comment><USER4> His advice is very good, and I know that he is saying that artists should use these opportunities. He just seems so frustrated with with process even thought he was making progress. In my comment I wanted to restate that the artists should be looking to themselves to organize and better their situation, and not to outside forces.</comment></comment></comment>


Building OYO as an Uber, not an Airbnb, for Indian Hotels - <AUTHOR> http://www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2015/08/06/why-a-21-year-old-is-building-oyo-an-uber-and-not-an-airbnb-for-hotels-in-india/ <comment><USER2> I don't understand this at all. AirBnB solves the quality control issue with ratings for both sides doesn't it? I've never used Uber, but Lyft doesn't let me pick which driver I get. Does Uber? If not then the last thing I'd want is an Uber for hotels. AirBnB offers filters and search so I can find exactly what I'm looking for, if OYO is the Uber for hotels is it just giving me a random hotel in a radius? Why would I want that?

<comment><USER3> I had a hard time understanding this analogy too from the title. The analogy is used in terms of the core/most important value proposition. For Uber, it is Predictabilty and for AirBnB Discovery.

In hospitality industry, the problem is not that of discovering hotels but that of having a consistent experience(predictability).

The way Oyo addresses that by having designated Oyo Rooms in partnered hotels which adhere to certain quality criteria like bedsheets, interior decor, toiletries etc.

So, if you book a Oyo Room in a Hotel A or a Oyo Room in Hotel B, the experience should be similar ideally.

<comment><USER2> Interesting...That's an oddly infectious way to build a brand. I don't mean this negatively, but it sounds parasitic in nature. If Hotel A has 10 rooms, and 2 of them are Oyo rooms, assumably with Oyo branding within, is it similar to some form of subleasing?

<comment><USER3> I don't think Oyo subleases the rooms, but instead has some kind of revenue share agreement with the Hotels. One thing you need to consider is that that they partner with Hotels that are small and independent players and do not have their own brand.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I stayed in a few Oyo rooms recently. It's pretty much the most convenient and cheapest option for travelers when it works. Sometimes though, the hotel overbooks and can't honor your reservation. Finding yourself on the foreign Indian streets at night can really suck.

<comment><USER5> While I agree that standing on a foreign street anywhere on the planet is a bad problem, I dont think overbooking as a problem has been addressed by anybody efficiently so far. The only mechanism that exists today is the feedback mechanism by the end user against the hotels.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Interestingly OYO is selling all rooms at a loss. In an effort to build demand side market share.

A room on OYO that costs approx Rs. 1000 is purchased on a guaranteed basis from the hotel at Rs. 1500.

</comment><comment><USER7> Related story, 2 months ago: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10180818](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10180818)

</comment><comment><USER8> The comparison to Uber is completely invalid.

</comment><comment><USER9> They may want to check the availability of the name OYO since it may belong to a geophysical equipment manufacturer headquartered in Houston.

<comment><USER10> Considering they operate excursively in India, I don't imagine they'd really be concerned about being mistaken for a geophysical equipment manufacturer headquartered in Houston.</comment></comment>


The Grammar Book for Programmers, Designers, & Bloggers - <AUTHOR> http://grammarbookforcreators.com

<comment><USER2> There are a few missing commas in the bullet points, as well as some unnecessary commas in other locations. That does not instill confidence in a book that promises to teach grammar.

<comment><USER3> That is precisely the problem with grammar: some people like to be grammar police and they don't know the proper rules because they were taught incorrectly, or they simply disagree because of their interpretation. I am guessing you simply have a different interpretation of the rules.

I don't see the grammatical mistakes you are referring to.

<comment><USER4> Well, if you read closely, this is what they said:

> Many grammar books contradict one another, and some even recommend absurd > and irrelevant usage and rules from bygone days.

Well, one can say their rules contradict one another.

I actually took a grammar class last spring and it was really good. I still have grammatical errors but hey - no one is perfect.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I think you could have waited until the book was actually available in some form (either e-book or paperback) before posting it to HN.

<comment><USER6> Probably just another product/market fit testing landing page. The product won't be created unless N number of subscribers sign up for the updates :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> "most-respected grammar authorities"

Super awkward there.

</comment><comment><USER8> Sounds promising, though a little short on the details of what will actually be in the book.

Looking forward to it.

On a related note, here is a nice course from Stanford about scientific/technical writing: [http://online.stanford.edu/course/writing-in- the-sciences](http://online.stanford.edu/course/writing-in-the-sciences) I picked up quite a few things from there. (If you are pressed for time, you can watch the lectures at 1.3x speedup).

</comment><comment><USER9> I'm building Quill, a web app that provides interactive grammar lessons. We are an open source/open content nonprofit organization, and we are working with a team of a half dozen volunteers. We are currently developing collaborative writing exercises, and if you're interested in building interactive education please reach out to me at peter at quill dot org.

[http://www.quill.org](http://www.quill.org)

<comment><USER10> This is really interesting, I look forward to seeing how this is used.

<comment><USER9> Thanks! We've got some big plans in the works. Let me know if you'd like to hear more.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Why would some these varied groups of people need a grammar book specifically for them?

I can sort of see why, say, a visually-oriented person may do better with a tailored book over a standard textbook, but programmers, designers, and bloggers seems like a wide set of people.

</comment><comment><USER12> Cool idea. I look forward to checking it out.

</comment><comment><USER13> This is very helpful looking forward to it.

</comment><comment><USER14> So is this American English or British English?</comment>


Does reference counting GC really use less memory than tracing GC - <AUTHOR> http://flyingfrogblog.blogspot.com/2017/12/does-reference-counting-really-use-less.html <comment><USER2> The comments go into detail about whether or not it's valid to conclude that the results seen are an effect of the garbage collection mechanism, but the impression i'm left with is that the author is justified in saying that there isn't enough evidence to state that reference counting is superior to tracing, and the comment chain just solidifies that for me.

<comment><USER3> The advantage of reference counting is determinism. Memory will be freed when the last reference is removed.

A GC will periodically scan the heap and free memory of an entire batch which makes it more efficient but undeterministic.

<comment><AUTHOR> I think by "determinism" you mean "predictable" because OCaml's GC is also deterministic (see Core_Bench benchmarking blog post which shows how you actually need to account for this determinism when benchmarking).

You could make the claim that RC is more predictable by humans. I think you just have to decide if that's true for current and specific implementations of RC and tracing. I am not convinced it is an inherent property of RC - and that the same or greater levels of predictability cannot be achieved in hypothetical or even existing implementations of tracing. What if you only performed traces during times that the user was not interacting? If you can explicitly control that, couldn't that be even more "predictable" than when releasing a final RC reference and hoping it doesn't cause a cascading chain of destructors of hard-to-predict size?

<comment><AUTHOR> With RC, you might be able to predict when a final reference count goes to zero (though in practice in large apps that might be difficult - I don't have enough experience) but it doesn't seem to help you predict the size of the memory graph released as a result, and therefore the time it might take to release it. The size could be determined by lists of arbitrary length that cannot be known statically. The size could be determined by implementation details intentionally hidden from the API consumer to preserve encapsulation. I'm still willing to concede that RC is somewhat more predictable for current RC and tracing implementations, but in my brief experience I've observed that this predictability isn't as significant as you would hope, and it's very hard to make use of those predictions. One of the ways people try to make use of this predictability is by shipping references off to another thread to perform the decrement count off the main thread in case it hits zero and cascades into a large collection stall. That isn't really a satisfactory solution and has its own problems.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


BERT and BERT-RPC 1.0 Specification - <AUTHOR> http://bert-rpc.org/

<comment><USER2> How does this compare to Google's protocol buffers, or Facebook's Thrift serialization framework?

<comment><USER3> All covered in this blog post: <http://github.com/blog/531-introducing-bert- and-bert-rpc>

<comment><USER4> Which seems to come down to "we don't like explicit protocol definitions via IDLs, think they are somehow incompatible with dynamic typing ethos, and didn't understand that Protobuf/Thrift can very easily be leveraged to provide dynamic self-describing messages without having to define a whole new encoding/protocol specification".

See also:

\- <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=895607>

\- <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=895280>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Off topic, but this is the first time I've seen typekit in action -- it's really cool!</comment>


Tornado 2.2 released - <AUTHOR> http://www.tornadoweb.org/documentation/releases/v2.2.0.html

<comment><USER2> Can anyone here speak to Tornado.websocket? What's the performance like? How could you load balance with torando.websocket? Is it production ready?

Congrats on the release!

<comment><USER3> Few people seem to use it directly. Most people are writing production systems with the Tornadio2 wrapper (<https://github.com/MrJoes/tornadio2>) or sockjs- tornado (<https://github.com/MrJoes/sockjs-tornado>)

Load balancing is usually done with HAProxy I hear.

<comment><USER4> I'm currently creating a product using the Tornadio2 wrapper. The developer Serge is actively developing, and is very helpful.

HAProxy is often used for load balancing websockets as it supports tcp proxies.

There is a tcp module for nginx that can be compiled in at <https://github.com/yaoweibin/nginx_tcp_proxy_module>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Congrats!

I've been using Tornado for over a year now and am impressed with how active Ben has been in improving it. I'm especially happy with the addition of this simple but important feature: "Template errors now generate better stack traces."

<comment><USER6> Tornado has definitely taught me to keep my templates as dumb as possible. Most of the time my errors are me trying to access values that doesnt exist

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> For the folks out there using Tornado in production, what database (if any) are you using it with? Are you using an async interface to your database (assuming one is available)?

<comment><USER8> For Postgres there's Momoko <http://momoko.61924.nl/> which is really quite nice. If you're using MySQL you have a few options including patching MySQLdb as explained by chartio ([http://chart.io/blog/2011/06/10/making-mysql- queries-asynchr...](http://chart.io/blog/2011/06/10/making-mysql-queries- asynchronous-in-tornado/)). I followed the chartio approach and added in some async cursors to fit in better with the tornado database module. Pretty straightforward stuff.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Wow, I'm really impressed with Tornado. I'm learning node.js at the moment, but I've been working with Python/Django as well, so I will definitely consider this for my project.

Any benchmarks between node.js and Tornado btw ?

</comment><comment><USER10> At first I thought this was going to be about a different Tornado. <http://borkhuis.home.xs4all.nl/vxworks/vxworks.html>

</comment><comment><USER11> How would people recommend doing async file IO w/ tornado? I was using Tornado until I needed to write a server to handle very large file uploads at which point I switched to Node.js + CoffeeScript.

<comment><USER12> You could just use URL plumbing and nginx for the uploader. This looks promising: [http://didipkerabat.com/post/2724838963/nginx-file-upload- an...](http://didipkerabat.com/post/2724838963/nginx-file-upload-and-tornado- framework)

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Once I wrote a server that speaks the Redis protocol using Tornado's TCP networking tools. It was probably the nicest API for asynchronous networking without coroutines that I have ever seen.</comment>


Ask HN: How to improve English vocabulary? - <AUTHOR> I can understand when I read. But when speaking, I get stuck and lost. I think active vocabulary is limited. How can I improve it? <comment><USER2> Speak more.

The trick is to get involved in things where you have to speak more.

If you can, spend time in an English-speaking country. (Canada is amazing, especially Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto.)

If you can't spend time in an English-speaking country, then get involved on- line in virtual worlds that let you talk naturally.

But speak more. And with more people.

Best wishes!

</comment><comment><USER3> by actively speaking with natives...</comment>


Great idea www.openhatch.org - <AUTHOR>

The best substitute for commercial experience is experience on an open source project.  Actually maybe open source experience is better than commercial experience........anyhoo - this is a much needed way to connect developers with projects. <comment><USER2> Thanks for sharing, i was looking for this

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> clickable <http://www.openhatch.org></comment>


Hacker News: Is It Really Just a Marketer's Lottery? - <AUTHOR> https://www.whttl.com/content/2015/01/13/hacker-news-is-it-really-just-a-marketers-lottery/

<comment><USER2> Regarding your "Theory 3: It's Not An Entirely Efficient Design"

I usually go through a few pages of Hacker News and open anything that looks interesting in a set of tabs.

If the article I've enjoyed reading happens to be of from a page of Hacker News that I no longer have open, I probably won't look for it within HN just so that I can upvote it.

It'd be nice if there was a Chrome Extention or something that would let me upvote the HN article.</comment>


Ask HN: FPGA Projects - <AUTHOR> My degree is in computer engineering, but outside of hobby projects I've spent most of career developing for early stage web startups. I've been keeping the hardware skills alive with personal projects, but want to pursue this more earnestly and find a job in this field. More recently I've started working with FPGAs with the goal of finding a job in hardware, thinking this could be a good entry point.<p>That said, hardware community in my area (Boulder, CO) isn't as easy to find as the Ruby group.<p>- Any recommended FPGA open source projects to get involved with?<p>- Has anyone made the jump to hardware?<p>- Any advice from someone currently working FPGAs or hardware? <comment><USER2> I haven't checked up on the project in a while, but [http://www.clifford.at/yosys/](http://www.clifford.at/yosys/) has an interesting open source toolset. It's been a while since I've done much with FPGAs as they're not that friendly to hobbyists compared to analog circuitry and microcontroller based digital circuitry, though they're still interesting to handle.

My general recommendation is to try to get to the point that you can sell one circuit board (populated or unpopulated) as (depending upon your skill level) it may highlight areas that you can learn more as well as providing a portfolio piece.

</comment><comment><USER3> I'm working with FPGAs almost exclusively at my job. From what I've seen, you want to choose either Xilinx or Altera and learn their proprietary toolset. Unfortunately there aren't many comparable open source synthesis tools that can do what Xilinx/Altera can do on their own hardware. (For example, optimized closed-source IP blocks that use hard silicon instead of pure gate- array logic).

Also important is to know the basics about simulation testing and how to set up simulation testbenches. There are a few different software setups for this... I know Xilinx has one built in, and Modelsim/Questa is pretty common.

And obviously you want to know VHDL or Verilog really well.

</comment><comment><USER4> I would suggest you get hands-on with NetFPGA[1]. Parallel to NetFPGA[1], please refer to the networking projects which have been done by Stanford[2][3] students. They have actually reproduced research from many networking related seminal papers. What they are doing is highly commendable. You could find one or two Networking + FPGA related projects there.

It's easier said than done since I've been grappling myself with this for quite some time, but doing this will take you at an altogether different level.

[1] → [https://netfpga.org/site/#/](https://netfpga.org/site/#/)

[2] → [http://web.stanford.edu/class/cs244/](http://web.stanford.edu/class/cs244/)

[3] → [https://reproducingnetworkresearch.wordpress.com/](https://reproducingnetworkresearch.wordpress.com/)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the tip- do you work in this area currently?

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> LibreCores is pretty active, even sponsoring several Google Summer of Code projects:

[https://www.librecores.org/](https://www.librecores.org/)

Poke around the website and see if there is a project that interests you. Get on their mailing list and ask questions, they are a pretty friendly bunch.

<comment><USER6> I know opencores.org, which seems to be similar (but I like the organization of the OpenCores site better to be honest).

We made some small improvements to the Plasma CPU [1] (which uses a small subset of a MIPS instruction set) in a university project.

[1] [https://opencores.org/project/plasma](https://opencores.org/project/plasma)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm in a very similar situation! I haven't "made the jump" and probably won't in the near future (or even at all).

Some ideas for projects I have pursued: \- A CPU (you can make this as simple or complicated as you want) \- A rotozoomer (rotates and zooms a picture), which requires you to output some kind of graphical signal \- Implementation of some communication protocols (I2C, SPI, UART)

<comment><AUTHOR> Awesome- what hardware are you working with? Hit me up (email in profile) if you want to chat about what you're working on.

<comment><USER6> Low-end development boards from sketchy companies ;) I own a Mimas v2 from Nimato Labs, and a miniSpartan 6+ from Scarab hardware (I think the first is around 50 dollars and the second around 100, but they both have less expansive versions as well). The miniSpartan is quite awesome since it's so tiny and has a slightly newer FPGA on it, but the support from Scarab is _absolutely zero_ (from Nimato labs, I remember asking something once and getting a timely reply, so I guess the Nimato support is a lot better). However, the HDMI on the miniSpartan is nice to have if you want to have more colors (the Mimas supports only 8-bit colors on the VGA signal, which gives a posterized look).

I don't know if I have much to offer since my experience is very limited, but I dropped you an email anyway. I do want to write something about installing and using Xilinx ISE (there are already quite a few articles explaining this), and also getting it to work on Windows 8 or 10 (which is explained in [1]).

[1] [https://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/guide- getting...](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/guide-getting- xilinx-ise-to-work-with-windows-8-64-bit/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Bolder has a great hardware scene with a heap of hardware companies founded in the area. If I were you I'd reach out to SparkFun.com (I sold my company to them) and ask them about the local hardware groups. Most of the Hardware groups are based around the local university.

</comment><comment><USER8> I recently learned Migen and its been a breath of fresh air. Hardware design will always be much harder than software but using a generator like Migen makes it a lot easier.

Personally I think its hard to do anything substantial as one person using pure Verilog or VHDL.

</comment><comment><USER9> I really enjoyed working with myhdl back in the days, don't know if it's still active.

However I am in bad shape to give advice since I made the jump from FPGA to software development =P

<comment><USER4> May I ask why you jumped from FPGA to software development?

<comment><USER9> Pay is much better and there are many more opportunities.

Did the jump four years ago after been in FPGA for four years.

Couldn't be happier ;)

<comment><USER4> That's interesting. I agree that pay is better in software than in hardware.

May I further ask on what technologies/ tools/ platforms are you working right now?

<comment><USER9> Python backend / devops mainly.

<comment><USER4> Thanks buddy :)</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Jobless MBAs Seek Solace in Support Groups - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2009/bs20091221_484129.htm

<comment><USER2> _Students are banding together to help each other more than ever before as they navigate one of the most dismal MBA job markets in years._

Dismal or corrective?

The high MBA entry level salaries of just a few years ago never really made sense to me and I have a feeling we may never see them again. These people don't bring much technical or domain-specfic expertise to the table. Just a lot of theory that is becoming increasingly suspect.

The most important thing I ever learned from a business professor when I earned my MBA was, "A degree in business is a degree in nothing." Sadly a lot of recent MBAs are now learning this, their most important lesson.

<comment><USER3> I'm always amused when I read comments like this, becuase they are so blatantly incorrect. I'm not sure where you got your MBA from, but I can tell you the following about my class:

\- At least 1/3 already have an advanced degree in another subject. (Masters or PhD) Many of these are in engineering, sciences, psychology, medicine, etc.

\- At least 95% have worked for at least 3 years, most of them have lead a team.

So these two items provide them with technical, domain-specific, and experiential knowledge upon which to use in bschool.

I dont think many MBA's would argue with you about the content of the degree; it is very different from a masters in computer science or physics. But it is also not intended to be the same.

One gets an MBA for 3 reasons: Networking, Skill Building, and Career Switching. Most degrees focus on just the skill-building aspect. Personally, for me, coming to a top ranked program and access to its huge alumni network was critical to my decision.

Please, before you knee jerk respond about how stupid all MBA's are, it might make sense to think about why so many smart, talented people continue to get them.

<comment><USER4> 1\. "Skill-building" is suspect in many MBA programs. The fact that one-third of your MBA class has advanced degrees doesn't say anything about the content of the MBA itself, just that you're at a top program attracting other smart people with skills.

2\. If "most degrees" focus on skill-building, and those skills are suspect, it's then pretty fair to say that "most degrees" are of questionable value.

3\. That leaves us with Networking and Career Switching. Career Switching is more a personal endeavor that an MBA can help with but doesn't necessarily guarantee a successful switch.

4\. I would conclude then that the most important part of the MBA is the networking, and this value is proportional to the quality of the program's alumni.

<comment><USER3> Why is the skill-building suspect? What part of the content do you find so worthless?

At least provide some examples or references to go along with your comment.

B

<comment><USER4> *All my examples are from my own experiences.

I currently attend the Ohio State University. While not bad, the most valuable of the MBA classes are those that are case study or project based. The pure textbook classes on accounting, finance, HR, etc. are valuable, but no more valuable than reading books on the subject without paying the tuition fee.

While I believe in the case-study method, it's not significantly different than if an engineer-turned-MBA simply started his own firm.

The difference between the MBA programs (generally, there are exceptions in areas like finance, logistics/operations, and MAcc for accounting) and Masters in other scientific fields is that in Masters of Science, you're further improving your skills in the field.

Many of the MBAs I know are either non-business people taking the opportunity to learn important business skills that could be learned from experience or former business students learning an incremental amount of knowledge for massive tuition fees.

<comment><USER3> Thanks. Its interesting to hear other perspectives.

I'm at University of Chicago. There are pretty much 3 types of classes here, Case-based, Tool-Based, or Labs. Very few of the professors use textbooks at all, if they do they are purely for reference, not for primary use.

Having owned 2 businesses before school, I think you are right that some lessons can be learned through experience. However, this is an asset during discussion because we have a variety of people with a variety of backgrounds adding their experiential knowledge into the discussions - so the value derived is higher than just experiencing it yourself. For example, I have no experience with retail operations or with industrial manufacturing, but some of the lessons they learned the hard way might be useful to me later on as a software startup guy, and some of the lessons I learned during my companies might be useful to them down the road.

The other benefit of University of Chicago is that the MBA program does not have a fixed curriculum, so students craft their own program of study (there are some guidelines), and they can choose to study deep in one area (for example, Econometrics or Analytical Finance) or for those with less business experience to go more broad.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> In many other fields (Math, CS, Physics, History, Etc) college students are willing to major and even get advanced degrees because they love the field first, worrying about the job they will get only secondarily.

But I doubt that describes a large number of MBA students. Given that the primary purpose of that degree is to get a high paying job and it seems to have little secondary value beyond that, I would suspect there will be a lot fewer MBA students ove the next couple of years.

<comment><USER3> I cant speak about other schools, but where I'm currently attending, the students get honestly excited about economic theory, buying behavior, business valuation models, forecasting algorithms, and most importantly - new venture ideas.

There are the career-only people, but their populations are shrinking.

<comment><USER6> So why are they pursuing an MBA rather than an economics degree, do you think?

I don't think the study of business administration lacks value, and I have room for the idea of management as a science. Much of the popular cynicism about MBAs stems from the fact that some who pursue that qualification do so in the belief that they can manage effectively a venture effectively without necessarily knowing or caring much about the underlying competency (whether that be making cars or publishing books). Such people are unpleasant to work for to the extent that they have no particular vocation in that field and treat junior employees as interchangeable components, no different from the machinery that they operate.

In the worst case, productivity improves but at the expense of depersonalization for customers and a feeling of dehumanization for employees. Take bookstores. I love small independent and used bookstores - it's not the most efficient way to buy a book, but it is good for discovering books I might not otherwise have read. If I know what I want (and _don't_ want a social shopping experience), I'm more likely to buy at Amazon. I can't stand large stores like Borders etc. - they have lots of books, but none of the people who work there seem particularly knowledgeable about or even interested in books. Indeed, conversations with ex-employees of such stores suggest that a love of books is seen as a liability, because buying decisions are not made at the store level, so literary enthusiasm is seen by corporate as dangerously close to letting the cooks eat with the customers.

<comment><USER3> The biggest problem related to MBA is the title. Very little about the MBA is about 'Business Administration' anymore. To base your ideas about MBA's on this is both outdated and lacking.

The modern MBA is about combining economics, psychology, math, statistics with finance and strategy. It is not about 'efficiency' or 'productivity' alone, those are just a small part of any business equation.

Much of the popular cynicism about MBA's come from anecdotal references to the MBA jerk who people had a poor experiences with, and certainly isn't based on any real data that I have seen. As I posted in an earlier comment, most people in my MBA class have particular industry and technical experience to draw on, and I doubt most would characterize a business in the fashion you described.

My main point is, if you are going to hate, hate the person, not the degree. The degree didnt make the person who they are. Both intelligent and ridiculous MBA's exist, just like any other career or degree path.

<comment><USER5> _My main point is, if you are going to hate, hate the person, not the degree. The degree didnt make the person who they are. Both intelligent and ridiculous MBA's exist, just like any other career or degree path._

True enough, but that is getting off the original topic. Most people who study math do so because they love math. Of course they think about the practicality of getting a job after graduating, but that is a secondary concern.

With MBAs, the reverse is true. Some may study it for the love of the subject, but I doubt this is a large percentage. Most study it because they think they can get a high paying (or at least secure) job after graduating.

This is not a condemnation of either path, but it is a statement about their motivations.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> For many this will be their first real-world test of their MBA skills: how do we market and sell something that provides little value to the customer?</comment>


Ask HN: Anyone interested in a Sydney HN Meetup? - <AUTHOR>

That's Sydney, Australia - though I'm sure the one in Nova Scotia is lovely. <comment><USER2> You guys might be interested in the Sydney Silicon Beach drinks — see <http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/>

</comment><comment><USER3> Could be interesting. I'm at Sydney Uni - so inner west or Sydney CBD would suit. Please e-mail me any more info : email@example.com

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Sounds like at least some people are keen - I'm happy to organise. I suspect somewhere in the city would be best for everyone?

</comment><comment><USER4> I would definitely come along to a Sydney meet and I know a few other people who would be keen as well.

</comment><comment><USER5> I'm interested. Could probably also work out a room/projector/wifi/beer arrangement in Surry Hills.

</comment><comment><USER6> I too am at Sydney Uni. Would be keen for a meetup!

</comment><comment><USER7> Id be keen! firstname.lastname@example.com

</comment><comment><USER8> I'm up for it. Are you organising?

</comment><comment><USER9> count me in.

</comment><comment><USER10> indeed!</comment>


Win a billboard in London's Tech City (and 1 million ad impressions) - <AUTHOR> http://www.bagyourselfabillboard.com/

<comment><AUTHOR> If you are working on a startup and feel that you don't have that good a product, then take heed and have a look at some of the entrants to this competition. This competition means well but, as of yet, the quality of the entrants could be deemed to be somewhat lacking. The 'x-factor' is lacking.

The prize is a billboard in some fashionable start-up-ery part of London and one million ad impressions online. I hope that one million ad impressions could be useful to someone here!</comment>


Why an ips display on the iPad? - <AUTHOR> I checked out the apple announcment, and though their chip might be interesting, I was more curious about the ips display.
The wikipedia entry doesn't really provide any info on why this would be a good choice for the ipad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD#In-plane_switching_.28IPS.29
Any ideas? <comment><USER2> EDIT: Rereading and following your link, I think that link that you provided does offer a strong reason. Apple places appearance including the functional part of appearance near the top of a list of requirements. I imagine Jobs would quickly shoot down a product that would have users complaining about viewing angles and difficulty sharing the experience/use with (social / physically present) company. And good color reproduction also fits into this requirement.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lcd#Drawbacks>

 _LCD panels using TN tend to have a limited viewing angle relative to CRT and plasma displays. This reduces the number of people able to conveniently view the same image – laptop screens are a prime example. Usually when looking below the screen, it gets much darker; looking from above makes it look lighter. This distorts the colors and makes cheap LCD monitors unsuitable for work where color is important, such as in graphic design work, as the colors change when the eyes are moved slightly up or down, or when looking either at the top of the screen or at the bottom from a fixed position. Many displays based on thin film transistor variants such as IPS, MVA, or PVA, have much improved viewing angles; typically the color only becomes a little brighter when viewing at extreme angles, though much of the improvements on viewing angles has been done[citation needed] on lateral angles, not on vertical ones._

</comment><comment><USER3> OLEDs aren't ready and e-ink can't support Apple-style GUIs, so that leaves LCDs. IPS is the highest-quality type of LCD.

<comment><USER4> OLEDs use considerably more power (the power varies according to color) and typically have a smaller pitch - so to get the same physical size screen would require a higher resolution. Or, to put it another way, using the same resolution with OLEDs would result in a screen that was physically smaller. I believe OLEDs are more expensive than TFT but I'm not sure how the price compares to the ICP variety. Also, the useful life of OLEDs is currently less than that of TFT LCDs.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Quoting <http://live.gizmodo.com>

"they use IPS technology, for better off-angle viewing, claims Apple"</comment>


A Crash Course in Ruby - <AUTHOR> http://www.atrus.org/presentations/ruby_crash/ <comment><USER2> No thanks. Who needs yet another programming language, when they have LISP? Ruby may be hot for several years, but LISP is forever.</comment>


Microsoft to ban 'Offensive Language' and monitor private accounts for it - <AUTHOR> http://amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2018/03/27/microsoft-bans-offensive-language-xbox-skype-privacy <comment><USER2> Tech companies are being pushed into implementing top down, centralized solutions to handle "offensive" content, however that's defined. This is problematic, because what's offensive to one is not offensive to another, and a centralized approach will never account for the resulting vagaries in interpretation of "offensive", outside of illegal content.

Therefore, a distributed approach is much more appropriate and effective.

Users should have the ability to block users or content they don't like. This gives users the ability to protect themselves while avoiding all the pitfalls of centralized authoritative censorship.

</comment><comment><USER3> The text they quoted from MS specifically uses the word "publicly displayed" \- how does that translate into their example of a couple doing sexy time on Skype breaking those terms?

</comment><comment><USER4> Skype is an old trailblazer. There's so many better competitors, they're essentially irrelevant. Uninstalled. Move on.</comment>


Ask HN: Do you make time to read? - <AUTHOR> I have a big stack of books I'm hoping to read but between my 9-5 and my side projects (plug: http://hoptopus.com) I can't seem to come up with time to read. When I was young I would read before bed (go to bed, read for a while, sleep) but I find that I don't retain any info when I do that.<p>Interestingly, I can find plenty of time to keep up with Reddit and HN -- probably because it's so convenient given my work. Does anyone have a "system" for this, or some suggestions? <comment><USER2> I used to read a lot, but have seen that rate declining steeply over the years. I spend a lot of time commuting to and from work, anything between 2-3 hours. This year i made a decision to make use of that time for reading. As of yet i've finished 24 books. Hoping to keep up for the rest of the year.

I suppose i can be more effective with reading different books with tailored strategies but haven't been able to find out anything substantial about that yet. Have ordered "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler to see if it can help.

Also, at the beginning of the year, i just jumped in, without much of a definite idea on what to read. The priority for me then, was just to get started. It served the purpose. But right now, i would probably need to revisit that.

I've been doing most of my reading on a Pocketbook 360 and long hours with that, despite the e-Ink screen, feels more fatiguing as opposed to a paper book. I'm looking to alternate more between paper and ebooks.

</comment><comment><USER3> \- Always carry something to read with you - so if you have 5 mins downtime you can dip into it quickly and easily.

\- Try audiobooks - if you drive 30mins to work each way thats 5 hours of listening to audiobooks a week!

\- Since you find time to read reddit and such, try something like dailylit.com where they email you a small section of a book each day.

</comment><comment><USER4> I had the same issue as you. I had a stack of books that I wanted to get through but always found it hard to force myself to make the time in the day to read them. I started taking books to work and reading in my lunch breaks. This worked quite well and also provided a good break from work which left me ready to get stuck into work for the afternoon.

I have recently moved over to London(UK) and now I catch the train to work(25min train time each way). I now use this time to read and I love it. I am actually getting through the books on my list.

The commute to work is obviously not for everyone but I would recommend giving the lunch time reading a go.

</comment><comment><USER5> I was already reading my Kindle books on on the bus. But when I realized I had a lot of technical books I bought last year but haven't read yet—and are pretty unwieldy to read on the bus—I just made the time to read them; I Instapapered less pages to read, went on a video game abstinence and other small, temporary changes. Suddenly I had large chunks of time in the evening and on weekends to catch up on my backlog.

So, what can _you_ give up to make the time? Could you try dropping Reddit or something else for a bit and see if that time is better spent on reading?

</comment><comment><USER6> I just made reading one of my hobbies and I read the really good ones twice, keeping notes as if I was engaging in conversation with the piece the second time around.

You'll have to make some sacrifices. Reading is a large time/energy investment, no matter how you cut it, but it has by far the greatest returns.

I kept a reading list for a bit, but never really used it. I usually just pick out books as I see them.

</comment><comment><USER7> I try and compliment my online reading with the physical as much as possible. I like to keep three different types of books nearby per week; one career related, one non-fiction that is not career related and one fiction. This is my baseline and I add to it on a weekly basis as I see fit - no fewer than three books a week though.

</comment><comment><USER8> Programming and reading tend to take up the same mind-space for me; after working all day, the thought of reading a book just doesn't seem relaxing.

</comment><comment><USER9> when i have a nice book i usually stop almost everything that is not essential(work) to read it. It's like the coffee break but longer, it's a way to refresh my mind. But i think your situation is a bit different.

I also travel a lot, so i read in airports etc...</comment>


Show HN: My first official web application to help monitor hashtags - <AUTHOR> http://shayonj.tumblr.com/day/2013/04/15#.UWz09Ct-Zzo

<comment><USER2> that's a cool idea and looks well executed, I'd be interested to know what technologies you are using?

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi ses, thanks for feedback and trying it out. I am using using Rails,HTML/CSS/AJAX for the development, MySQL for DB and Capistrano for deployment.

<comment><USER2> That's interesting, I think Rails has been overrated in the past but this is exactly the kind of project I think Rails is great for - where you've got a very clear simple aim, and you want to quickly develop an app people can play around with.

<comment><AUTHOR> I am still new to web dev to comment on this. But IMO rails has managed well to take care of the heavy duty web apps as well. But yes as far as prototypes go and getting something built up quickly, rails is a definitely a good option.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


6502 source code for BBC Micro game Crazee Rider from 1987 - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/KevEdwards/CrazeeRiderBBC <comment><USER2> ~5000 lines of code for that?

Don't know if that sounds like a lot or a little but the answer is yes. If you watched the youtube video, yes it was hard do that and took a long time.

5000 lines, but if I recall correctly there was no way do something fancy like this using only one line of code:

 _x = 1000 + 1000_

I don't know what programming courses bother teaching, or even mentioning a line of code like this because, what's there to say?

I'm not even sure how to put it in perspective to a person under 200 years old that, I had to spend a pretty good amount of time to learn enough to do that (add together two numbers with more than 8-bits each).

And that even the variable x is an oversimplification, because there were no variable names. You had a CPU, a few supporting chips, and some bytes of memory to directly throw instructions at or move stuff back and forth between.

Why would anyone have been interested in doing that?

Not sure, somehow seemed exciting at the time. Should the interest question have a different answer for today's software when we look back from the future?

Or, are we going to be scratching our heads again? Why did it take them so long to generalize AI they might as well have worked farming the fields?

Can't recall how much easier it became when you had a "Macro Asseembler" (which I guess most professionals used from day 1 but not always people who got these systems as a Christmas present). Just that finally having one felt like getting some kind of new luxury car.

Yes I know.

And it was uphill both ways to school, and my lawn, and so forth. My apologies.

<comment><USER3> Old Apple ][ asm coder here.

Don't despair. It's not the merits of your "product" being judged. It's just the wrong audience (mostly). Colleges now don't even bother to teach two's-complement. Of course today's "coders" won't get it. This is a generation that has never had to count cycles, get timing _just right_ , or worry about running out of memory. The idea of paying $1000 for a C compiler or $500 for an assembler (in 1985 dollars!), is almost unimaginable now. I remember the excitement of a 1200 baud modem -- my initial response was "wow! The text is coming faster than I can read it!"

The systems were primitive, sure, (but at the time they were amazing!) but this challenge was met with creativity. What the games lacked in photorealism they surpassed with "fun."

Programming was learned by doing. And most of the folks I met were amazingly generous about sharing techniques. It was like Jazz musicians sharing a cool lick, with others. There were no books, really.

Coding in assembly is like juggling. It takes a little effort to get all the balls in the air and get the rhythm going, then it goes until you hit a roadblock and it all falls down. You plan, think, and start again.

>>somehow seemed exciting at the time For you, me, and thousands more, it was absolutely magical.

Thank you for sharing this. I'm reading it now and found myself smiling.

<comment><USER4> _Colleges now don 't even bother to teach two's-complement._

I learned two's-complement in college. And at the least: one's-complement, sign-magnitude, BCD, IEEE floating point. And arithmetic on same.

Which colleges are you referring to?

<comment><USER2> The ones with programming courses.

This is is just a guess, but the guess is you didn't learn any of that in CS101. Sounds more EE related. Of course there's often no clear dividing line between the two.

Regatdless that's assuming a full CS/EE undergrad program in either case. There are tons of people who takes courses, have careers, and all those boot camp style programs.

Any way people can learn and develop skills is good, so I don't suggest any of the above as lesser ways to learn.

I'm just unaware of the concepts you mention being taught in typical 100-200 level courses that have emphasis on software programming or computer science.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Here's a YouTube video of the game, for those unfamiliar (like me). [https://youtu.be/GFMp891Q6tY](https://youtu.be/GFMp891Q6tY)

</comment><comment><USER6> Makes me think of all the code lost to poor storage. Like all my C64 related code from the 80s and 90s. I had hundreds of programs typed in regular notebooks.

The code for this game is really readable and easy to pick up after all these years of not doing any 6502 coding. Any 6502 wasm targets?

<comment><USER7> There's quite a few 8-bit CPU emulators that can be compiled to WASM. Static translation of 6502 (or Z80) machine code to WASM is tricky because a lot of 8-bit code was using self-modifying code, so you'd need at least some sort of JIT.

Shameless plug: I've started writing easy to integrate 8-bit chip emulators in standalone C headers a little while ago:

[https://github.com/floooh/chips](https://github.com/floooh/chips)

For instance used in these WASM emulators:

[http://floooh.github.com/tiny8bit](http://floooh.github.com/tiny8bit)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Amusing how GitHub thinks the project is 94.9% Makefile and 5.1% Batchfile. It obviously doesn't know about Asm very well.

<comment><USER9> GitHub supports asm to certain degree but definitely not the .6502 extension (is it the standard choice?).

<comment><USER10> I only ever did a clear screen or similarly simple programs in asm but I believe 6502 was a popular one. I think it was supported on both my TSR-80 and my first IBM PC.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Only 5171 lines of asm in this game, as measured by "wc -l src/*.6502". See the youtube link posted here to get an impression what it does.

</comment><comment><USER12> Related; the original sourcecode for Fort Apocalypse at [https://github.com/heyigor/FortApocalypse](https://github.com/heyigor/FortApocalypse)

<comment> Digital-Citizen It's unfortunate that neither this BBC Micro game nor the Fort Apocalypse game are free software -- software one is free to run, inspect, share, and modify (even commercially).

The Crazee Rider software seems to lack a license at all. Thus no permission is granted to engage in the freedoms of free software.

Fort Apocalypse is also nonfree; it is distributed under a nonfree license -- [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc- nd/2.5/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/) \-- that even the license's author recommends against using for software per [https://creativecommons.org/faq/#can-i-apply-a-creative- comm...](https://creativecommons.org/faq/#can-i-apply-a-creative-commons- license-to-software) .

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> To me, this is pure art

<comment><USER10> Certainly it is. I had a computer teacher tell me that the 'cls' method in DOS would take hundreds of lines of asm to write yourself. A couple years later I decided to try it. Turns out it's only a few lines if you take advantage of OS Interrupts. I assume the teacher was suggesting it would take all these lines if you didn't "cheat" and use an interrupt.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Now I just have to dig my BBC Micro out from its cardboard box and find a display device that it can still connect to. :D

<comment><USER15> And hope the electrolytic capacitors still work.

<comment><USER16> The RIFA X2 capacitors in the PSU tend to explode. I opened mine up and was lucky to find that my BBC is one of the few later revisions that don't use these. Well worth checking though.

<comment><USER15> The failing electrolytic capacitor syndrome is interesting to me because I worked as a hardware designer in that period and I don't remember it being common knowledge that those components had a limited life. I do recall that we mostly used solid Tantalum capacitors with the transition to surface mount technology but I believe that was more to do with survival in the production process than long field life time.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> This game reminds me of Super Cycle for the commodore 64, which also had an 6502.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiebnDbq0w0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiebnDbq0w0)

Are there any collections of source code for commercial games for the C64 ?

</comment><comment><USER18> I would love to see Crazy Climber. Excellent game.

<comment><USER19> Yeah, this game definitely has a "Crazy Climber" aesthetic .. I too would love to see a Crazy Climber re-make, albeit for my preferred 8-bit machine the Oric-1/Atmos systems ..

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Assembly is so beautiful.

<comment><USER21> CPU, registers, interrupts, RAM, I/O... It's just you and the machine baby.

I started programming with assembly, and evem though today I rarely use it, any excuse I can find, I'll dig into in.

No question, modern languages are more efficient, but knowing exactly what instructions are being run and how they interact with the hardware (a physical object), is so much more aesthetically pleasing.

<comment><USER22> In the embedded world there is still enough of it. Today we had to free up 1200 bytes because our software did no longer run after adding 2 new features; not enough free memory. With higher level languages we would already have no chance with the previous features on the hardware, with asm we managed to optimize enough to free up the needed memory. It is amazing you always seem to be able to push it further. All that was a must in the 70-80s homecomputers as they were not (easily, without soldering generally) expandable, so you had to make it work on what was there. I got into my current work because I like that kind of optimizing and puzzling from when I did it in the 80s as a kid.

<comment><USER21> I used to work in the embedded world about 10 years ago. There was definitely plenty of byte-level optimization then, but reading the tea leaves pointed to a very different direction (eg, embedded java, embedded SQL).

Makes me happy to hear folks are still hacking bits in 2018.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Terraform v0.12.0 - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v0.12.0 <comment><USER2> congrats to the team on this monumental release!</comment>


GraalVM 20.2.0 - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/graalvm/status/1295839361704108033 <comment><USER2> Ah yes, all the performance optimizations only in Enterprise, as is tradition.

I've lost all interest in Graal. Oracle is steadily moving all the features devs care about to the Enterprise version. When they try to replace C2 in OpenJDK with Graal there's going to be a revolt.</comment>


The Broken Promise of No Man's Sky and Why It Matters - <AUTHOR> https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/08/17/broken-promises-of-no-mans-sky/ <comment><USER2> Everytime I read about this game I keep thinking "it is a stripped down version of Eve Online with better graphics."

I like Eve Online but it is not very fun to just jump in by yourself.

<comment><AUTHOR> But...it's not that.</comment></comment>


Good News Hidden in the Data: Today's Children Are Healthier - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/upshot/adults-may-be-dying-younger-but-children-are-getting-healthier.html?ref=opinion <comment><USER2> This is great news. It makes me want to summarize the article. From 1990 to 2010, death rates have been cut in half, roughly, all over the world. There's no single factor, but these stand out:

* access to health care, especially early in life (in the US, helped by policy)

* fewer environmental toxins -- especially less smoking & less second-hand smoke

And in 2010, developing nations are where wealthy nations were in 1990. The health gap between rich and poor is shrinking everywhere.

The consequence is that better health means better lives & positive contribution to society. Positive feedback loop.

\---

My own theory: Internet access has helped too, by disseminating knowledge about health & disease.

<comment><USER3> > My own theory: Internet access has helped too, by disseminating knowledge > about health & disease.

Considering internet usage is fairly recent, I don't think the internet is the reason.

Your assertion about developing nations become wealthy nations probably has more to do with it.

Also, I'm not sure I agree that it is great news. It just means that the human population is going to continue to expand. We need more people to die. Not more people to live.

If 7+ billion people want to live like westerners, there really is no hope.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Good news, but I find the title somewhat misleading when all the article does is trying to minimize the increase in adult death rates in the US (comparing to children). Also less deaths doesn't necessarily mean healthier..

<comment><USER5> >Also less deaths doesn't necessarily mean healthier

Especially in youth where accidents are the leading cause of death.

Better use of helmets, seat belts, and life jackets could be the cause of reduced mortality, even while health declines.

<comment><USER6> True, although I'd guess that the massive decrease in mortality in infants under 1 (who are still massively more likely to die than older children) is probably due to improved medical intervention.

For older children and teenagers it's probably better safety equipment, particularly in cars. I guess we've also got improved treatments now for the few diseases which actually do kill children, such as various cancers.

But hey, it's still good news, even if "healthier" isn't the way to describe it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The message here is that what matters most in healthcare and improvements in health as measured by live expectancy and quality of life aren't the high- cost, intensive interventions of advanced medicine, but the basics:

 _Ms. Currie can't be sure what precise factors have led to the reductions in death rates for poor young Americans, but she has some theories. Public health insurance, through the Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance programs, expanded to cover more children and pregnant women throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Research has shown measurable benefits to the children with access to the program: There was less infant mortality; they were hospitalized less often as they grew older; they were more likely to finish high school and attend college; and they earned more money in early adulthood. Those studies all suggest a real health benefit from the insurance program._

what matters?

 _Access to healthcare._

 _Access to healthcare during pregnancy._

 _Access to healthcare at childbirth._

 _Reductions in environmental contamination._ Smoking. Lead. Pollution.

This is consistent with the data of the past 150 years: the greatest improvements in health come _not_ from medicine, per se, but from public health and sanitation measures.

Clean water.

Municipal sanitation. (Getting rid of horses, and their offal and carcases, helped a lot as well.)

Food quality.

Refrigeration.

For all the commotion made about vaccines in the past few years, _and yes, vaccines are absolutely a good thing and you and your children should have them,_ there were vast improvements in life expectency _long before_ vaccines became available.

As there were _long before_ antibiotics became available.

And much of the improvement in health among _adults_ since 1950 is attributable to similar causes:

 _Less smoking._

 _Less alcohol consumption._

 _Better access to healthcare._ Among those who had little to no access initially: the poor and minorities.

 _Vaccinations._

 _Better nutrition._

 _Fewer environmental contaminants._ Especially leaded gasoline and paint.

It's a sobering message for those who are looking to high-tech, high- intervention methods for healthcare miracles. Evidence strongly suggests you'll be disappointed.

Though your doctor may appreciate the billing potential.

</comment><comment><USER8> This journo tries to invent the narrative that is totally missing in the data.

Smaller children mortality does not mean they will leave longer lives, nor they are (or will be) healthier.

<comment><USER7> It _does_ mean improved _life expectancy_ , measured at birth.

It also _probably_ means longer lives, as health in the first few years is predictive of this. Largely as indicated by discrepencies in mortality by wealth and race:

[http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=life- expectancy](http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=life-expectancy)

<comment><USER8> Improved life expectancy for the whole population, not for that children.

If a child dies at 10 instead of 2, the population life expectancy at 0 will be greater, but from 10 - the same.

Heck, even if dies at 80 instead of 2, this does not say anything about health, just the fact some dangerous early-life condition was addressed.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> 50% infants in India are undernourished/starving/dying; [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/opinion/sunday/saving- the-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/opinion/sunday/saving-the-cows- starving-the-children.html)</comment>


Show HN: Complete List of 2D Animation Resources [Updated: 2019] - <AUTHOR> https://sageanimation.com/animation-tools/ <comment><USER2> Thanks for sharing!</comment>


Leaving science - <AUTHOR> https://www.facebook.com/notes/leon-avery/leaving-science/781062645256636

<comment><USER2> Kindly don't link to private, inaccessible content. Not everyone is a Facebook subscriber.</comment>


Ask HN: What are your tips for reading other people's code? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> Depends on how long you have, how unfamiliar the code/build is and what the goal is, but spend as much time as reasonable getting tools to work first.

Make sure you can figure out what function is actually getting called when you see a function name. Tools like Source Insight can be useful if you need to get up and running quickly since they support very loose searching rules. I've also heard good things about SciTools Understand, but never used it myself.

The best thing though would be to get the software running in a way that you can debug it. Being able to step through code and see how data is modified and which particular implementation of an interface gets called, etc, can be very helpful.

Being able to exercise the code in question always makes it easier to understand because you can think about it in larger blocks than trying to form an picture of the larger goal line by line.

</comment><comment><USER3> Read through some of the code with the original author. It may seem obvious and it's not always possible, but when you can do this you can cut hours off the time it takes to understand the code and other code that the author wrote.

What you'll get from this that would be more challenging on your own:

\- design tradeoffs

\- high level design

\- the author's coding patterns</comment>


Is Margaret Atwood a science fiction writer? - <AUTHOR> http://www.keepingthedoor.com/2009/08/29/is-atwoods-the-year-of-the-flood-science-fiction/

<comment><USER2> I wish more people read Atwood.</comment>


Dropbox Is in Talks with Advisers for Possible 2017 IPO - <AUTHOR> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-15/dropbox-said-to-discuss-possible-2017-ipo-in-talks-with-advisers <comment><USER2> Founded in 2007. I think its fair to say that dropbox is one of the more successful starups around. So when you join a startup, I think its reasonable to ask them for either:

\- long option exercise periods after they leave the company, like the 10 years that has been thrown around before.

\- or written authorization to sell vested options on a secondary market at the market price

\- or plan to stay with the company for 10+ years, remembering that you probably can't sell for the first 6 months of going public.

Because ifyou join a startup where some of your comp is in the form of options, this is what you are signing up for.

<comment><USER3> Or you could just exercise your options within the 90-day window. Me personally I'd much rather lose a fixed sum of money, then realize I missed out on being a millionaire.

<comment><USER4> Then you might owe an absurd amount of money to the tax man. As far as the IRS is concerned, you need to pay the AMT on the difference between the price per share of Dropbox at exercise time, and your strike price. If you joined before Dropbox went through a couple rounds of funding, this tax bill could easily be in the hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars. You need to get that money from somewhere, but you can't sell on the secondary market, so what do you do?

<comment><USER5> Yep, you're basically rolling the dice.

It gets worse if you're at a unicorn startup that doesn't exit well, because then you may have paid thousands in taxes on stock that is essentially worth pennies:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/technology/when-a- unicorn-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/technology/when-a-unicorn- start-up-stumbles-its-employees-get-hurt.html?_r=0)

<comment><USER6> Any tax paid only for exercising options is AMT. It is refundable as AMT credits in future tax years where your conventional tax liability is less than your AMT liability. It's still bad news, and an unfortunate result for the fairly well off "little guy" in this story, but it's not as bad as it was in the dotcom bust in an era before the AMT credit existed.

<comment><USER7> Yep this matches my experience with unicorn stock options. It was a pain to come up with the exercise price & AMT upfront in the first place but the AMT was refunded in full the next year.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> > One of Dropbox's closest competitors, Box Inc., went public last year at a > $1.7 billion valuation -- 29 percent below the value it fetched in a private > funding round six months earlier. Box shares traded at $12.88 at 12:36 p.m. > in New York, below its $14-a-share IPO price.

Will Dropbox valuation be affected by BOX's performance in the last few years?

<comment><USER9> I'm obligated to mention Box's S-1 filing: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9407229](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9407229).

I don't know whether Dropbox is profitable, but Box always seemed like it was abysmally managed from a financial standpoint.

<comment><USER8> That is fairly standard language. Expect Dropbox's S-1 filing to contain similar warnings about profitability and discussions about investment in various parts of the company

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I'm a paying Dropbox user (for personal stuff) and I use Google Drive and Box.com at work. Dropbox is far and away the easiest to use. Case in point, my very non-technical grandmother once called me because she was worried there was a virus on her computer, only to find out that she accidentally changed the homepage on her browser. But when it comes to using Dropbox, it's easy for her to navigate and look at her pictures.

<comment><USER11> +1 Also, the sync works much better than with Google Drive. The Google Drive app uses an absurd amount of resources and takes much longer to sync changes.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I wish they would add something like a .dropboxignore file. It's unusable for software development otherwise. It could be extremely useful.

<comment><USER13> What is the problem? Constantly uploading to the cloud every build?

<comment><USER14> I think it could be annoying to have Dropbox sync things like binaries or temp files. Some builds could generate hundreds of artifacts that are short lived or unwanted in the long run. As it works now, Dropbox would see all of these files and burn up your network (and some CPU) copying them to the cloud, which in turn copies them to your other computers, phones, iPads, etc.

<comment><USER15> Files on phones and iPads are only download on demand. They're certainly not stored locally.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> I really think they've missed their time. Dropbox is an incredible product, definitely the best option out there for most people.

However, they're just not making enough $ or have enough future growth to be worth it. If they rejected an offer a few years ago, they really are going to be sad when they get an offer for half or one quarter that in a year or two.

<comment><USER17>
      > If they rejected an offer a few years ago,

Funny story, that: [https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/18/dropbox-said-no-to-nine- di...](https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/18/dropbox-said-no-to-nine-digits- acquisition-offer-from-apple-steve-jobs/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> It would be interesting to see what the public valuation would be. I don't believe it will be anywhere near the "$10 billion valuation it was awarded in a 2014 funding round."

</comment><comment><USER19> Will DropBox be the first (/only) YC company to go public?

I can't remember any others going public ever, can someone correct me on this? Seems weird that, despite being so successful, no YC companies have IPOed before. Seems almost improbable, but I can't find evidence of any going public.

<comment><USER20> There have been no IPOs. The largest acquisition was Cruise, then Heroku, then OMGPop, then Parse.

The fall-off of acq prices is pretty steep, but given that they put up hardly any money ($17k early on, now $120k) the returns are insane.

When you look at annualized returns, they actually demolish avg. VC returns just from the number of companies that flip in 1-2 years for $10MM (or more).

Their biggest hurdle is scale (in terms of putting a lot of money to work).

<comment><USER21> dont forget twitch, second largest after cruise i think

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Anyone have any sense of their financials? Revenue, cost, etc?

Would love to take a stab at valuing their equity although I'm sure their cap structure is a wedding cake of preferences on top of ratchets on top of pro ratas and pari passus and conversion preferences...

<comment><USER23> RE: financials -

around $400m in annualized revenue as of last summer ([http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-24/dropbox- is...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-24/dropbox-is- struggling-and-competitors-are-catching-up)). no recent news of their growth, but I would be surprised if they did more than 20-30% user growth since then (not bad, but not a rocketship anymore...which FTR is totally cool with me, even admirable at this stage!)

Jives with back envelope calcs: 400m+ users, assume 1% paid users = 4m+ paid users. each user pays something around $100/year (8.99/month if you pay up front, 9.99/month if you bill monthly, some legacy cheaper, some business customers). 4m x $100 = $400m. It's actually not a bad business! =)

Not sure about costs, but they are cash flow positive from what they've said publicly ([http://www.recode.net/2016/6/14/11937132/dropbox-cash- flow-p...](http://www.recode.net/2016/6/14/11937132/dropbox-cash-flow- positive)) and that's been confirmed from what I've heard anecdotally/personally from some senior folks over there and some VCs who I think would/should know (and that I trust..ha).

so overall, seems like a solid business, i think the issue now is whether they can grow at a rate that's exciting enough to the market to justify a $10b+ valuation...TBD!

as one kind of comparison (not definitive by any means, just one that we have the #s to do..): box did around 300m in revenue last year (so less than DB), but Box market cap was around 1.5B at that point, so 5X revenue. if you did the same math to DB, we're looking at around 2B market cap for DB...1/5 of their last raise at 10B =/

could be viewed as example of raising at higher valuation than prudent (not unusual ha), but who knows, maybe they'll pull a rabbit out of a hat =)

<comment><USER22> Yeah, they just might.

I was thinking about how to value companies like this over the weekend: fast growth, huge revenue, where it all gets eaten by opex. In a normal business you just look at gross profitability and assume a lot of opex will lead to long-term appreciation of the equity but, software is so damned competitive that it's like they need to keep plowing cash into opex just to stay relevant (vs grow the business)

In any case it's hard to fathom that a company with $400MM in ARR can be going public just now...nowhere near unprecedented given the recent huge financing rounds but man, that's just a big company, no two ways about it.

EDIT: One more comparable I've been watching a lot recently. New Relic is on track to do about 230-250M in the next 12 months. Their aggregate common is worth something like 1.6B right now, so your "5x revenue" might be a little conservative, I think they'll get more like 6-7x, and likely even more as consumer companies tend to get more interest from individuals because it's a name they know. My over/under on aggregate equity value at IPO is ~$4bln, will be interesting to see how big the float is.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Hm.. I wonder if this is because they have option grants expiring in 2017 (10 year mark) and are trying to get some liquidity for early employees.

<comment><USER25> The founders, VC, LP also want their returns (exit).

<comment><USER24> That's a good point. Presumably the funds that invested were raised around 2007 and also have a 10 year window.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Look. As a non-business, I recognize the fact that Dropbox is useful for both personal users and businesses. But _every, single, time,_ that I login to their website, they INSIST on suggesting "hey why don't you try Dropbox for Business?" to me. This level of stupidity shakes my confidence in the competence of their upper management, and in Dropbox's future.

<comment><USER27> > This level of stupidity

Why do you assume this is stupidity? Just because it annoys you doesn't make it stupid. For one, Dropbox makes exponentially more money from a Business user than an individual.

<comment><USER26> Because I'm definitely an _individual_ user, and _not_ a business.

But on every page, Dropbox's website has a box, that either says:

        Dropbox Business is here!

        [Free Trial]

or

        Dropbox Business is here! Only $12.50/month.

        [Upgrade now]

No matter how compelling an offer that is, _it 's completely irrelevant to me, since I am NOT a business._

<comment><USER27> That doesn't mean it's stupid to ask. Extrapolating what annoys you to the totality of users would be far, far dumber.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> Many many years back, I used Sugarsync but ditched them a few months later for Dropbox when they screwed up my file sync.

Recently, I switched from annual to monthly subscription for Dropbox because I wanted to push myself to migrate my files off their service..mainly due to concerns about privacy..

I use Google Drive at work.. it's not great, but it works better than OneDrive. Wanted to use OneDrive as it came with my Office365 subscription..but their Mac and Android clients really need improving.

Almost moved to SpiderOak..but stopped due to their poorly designed Android app.

I can't seem to get myself off Dropbox. I don't use external hard disks for backup now. I digitize everything, so it's important to find a service I can trust...both on privacy and on sync reliability..

The sad truth is Dropbox clients across different platforms and their sync stability is unmatched in this space.

<comment><USER29> I completely agree. What's so nice about DropBox is how little I notice it. I'm a happy customer but interestingly I would be a wary investor. I'm not seeing their growth strategy. I've been looking for them to build on their advantage for about 7 years now. New products they've introduced to satellite around their core sync technology don't ever seem to hit traction.

That doesn't mean I think they're a decent business and will stay around. I just don't see much on the horizon that would push the business (and the stock) forward.

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> I still don't use dropbox anymore. There are tons of alternatives, many of which are better anyhow. [http://www.drop-dropbox.com/](http://www.drop- dropbox.com/)

</comment><comment><USER31> Dropbox is one of the products that I hope it never goes away. Been using it since I got invited to beta in May 2008 and the sync is trustworthy, what can't be said for other solutions (enough issues have been mentioned already). Extended the storage with the specials and treasure hunt, but kinda wish for more flexible plans though, I'd never have a use for full 1TB.

</comment><comment><USER32> Maybe whoever acquires them will finally add support for per-folder exclusions (aka a .dropboxignore file). We can only hope.

</comment><comment><USER33> I wonder if we will see a repeat of this story in the Dropbox IPO:

[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-17/big-ipo- ti...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-17/big-ipo-tiny-payout- for-many-startup-workers)

</comment><comment><USER34> Can someone explain the value proposition of Dropbox to me? They don't do anything that their competitors (OneDrive, Box, Google Drive, etc.) don't do better. Their UI isn't spectacular. They only really have one big product. They charge an insane amount for what they do offer. Their file sync is difficult to control and has an uninspiring client.

I get that people end up used to Dropbox, but what do they have to attract new users? Why do people see value here? A decade on, first-mover advantage isn't going to get them (or anyone) very far. It seems like their whole company is a competitor's marketing campaign away from being basically irrelevant.

It seems their one hope is business. But why would business choose Dropbox over Office 365, Box, or Google Drive. All of them seem to offer better collaboration/productivity tools. Office Delve is incredible. Google Drive is Google Drive. What's the value here?

And then I read articles like these: \- [http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/22/9372563/dropbox-really- is-...](http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/22/9372563/dropbox-really-is-a-feature) \- [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-24/dropbox- is...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-24/dropbox-is- struggling-and-competitors-are-catching-up) \- [http://www.businessinsider.com/the-clock-is-ticking-for- drop...](http://www.businessinsider.com/the-clock-is-ticking-for- dropbox-2015-4)

What am I missing?

<comment><USER35> I'm a sync quality engineer at Dropbox--on the team that writes and maintains the sync engine. So caveat, I'm clearly quite biased. :-)

> They don't do anything that their competitors (OneDrive, Box, Google Drive, > etc.) don't do better.

I'm not sure on what you base this opinion. We do sync much, much better, and that's no coincidence--we work very hard on it (I'm new on this team, so I deserve essentially zero personal credit). It _is_ our business. We're not an advertising company--doing sync well translates directly to dollars for us.

On a technical level, it is extremely nontrivial to get right multiplatform, in the face of races, vague filesystem semantics, application-specific behavior, offline, etc. Our competitors aren't even trying things like infinite ([https://blogs.dropbox.com/business/2016/04/announcing- projec...](https://blogs.dropbox.com/business/2016/04/announcing-project- infinite/)).

We're not sitting still, though. We're actually building a next generation sync engine right now (btw, more Rust @ Dropbox). The plan is that this will put even more distance between us and others.

<comment><USER36> Aren't you afraid that once a good standard exists for file syncing, which every OS then implements, dropbox will lose its business case?

<comment><USER37> General, aren't you afraid that once all the governments of the world agree to unify and eliminate all conflict, you'll be out of a job?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> I wonder if a Dropbox made NAS linked to a dropbox account make sense. I will then has the best both world.

Another problem i have with all current cloud storage is lack of file management features, things like check for duplication by filename or size or hash. Currently I have multiple SD card, USB HDD all scatter around with many duplicate data.

</comment><comment><USER39> So I have a question about this, for them to be deciding this now, does that mean Dropbox has something to confident about at the moment or it could just mean anything?

</comment><comment><USER40> I think this is posturing and a final warning to interested buyers "Buy us now, or we're going public"</comment>


AskHN: Feedback for online game: "Squad Leader" by Avalon Hill. - <AUTHOR> http://ec2-67-202-32-1.compute-1.amazonaws.com/sl/ I am making an online game based on Squad Leader. Has anyone heard of Avalon Hill's Squad Leader? I'm making an online game in facebook that will work like the demo:
http://ec2-67-202-32-1.compute-1.amazonaws.com/sl/
Feedback, please. <comment><USER2> I don't think you are ready for this game to be reviewed. Mainly because I could not make the game do anything except tell me NULL:2:2 in an alert popup.

<comment><USER3> I did even better - "NULL:NaN:NaN"

I'd be more than happy to review your game, but in addition to debugging, please include instructions!

<comment><AUTHOR> The alert messages have been removed and instructions added. It's not a full fledged game, only a demonstration of UI ideas to solicit feedback. Should have been more clear about that.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> For someone like me that has never played this kind of game, I have no clue what to do. I don't even know which color is my team. The only thing I can get is NULL messages. I clicked a lot of times on "I am done" to see what happens, nothing moved and then game was over. I expected maybe my ennemy to do some movements. You should really include some help or instructions at start. At this point people will try just a few minutes and won't come back to your game again.

</comment><comment><USER5> I really like the game design. It is simple and really fits a board game.

That said I don't know what I'm supposed to do. And I only got pieces to move once. Now I only get error messages.

</comment><comment><USER6> Worked for me after an intial NULL:2:2 error.

Some instructions (there's plenty of chrome on the RHS to put them in) would be handy. The game would be improved immensely by having some sound effects too. The objective wasn't at all clear nor how to improve the chances of defeating the opponent - I did notice a "woods modifier" mentioned on one turn.

I'd do single left-click to select the troops, have a cursor move then with the mouse movement highlighting the cell that is active, then single left- click to reposition them or to fire. That would remove the need to click a button to end your turn at the possible expense of people making a mistake occassionally (though I couldn't move troops back once I'd moved them anyway).

That said, I don't really care for games like this.

HTH <USER6>
</comment><comment><USER7> Robert, I'm very interested in how you got the rights to do this game. I don't see any contact information in your account here.

Can you please contact me- firstname.lastname@example.com?

</comment><comment><USER8> Ideally, the game board should be small enough that you can see everything without having to scroll. That probably isn't possible in this case without sacrificing too much clarity, but reducing it would be worthwhile.

Have you tried putting the board on its side? It looks like if you did that and put the sidebar on top, it would fit (maybe with a little shrinking) in a horizontal browser window 1000px across, and players wouldn't need as much vertical space.

</comment><comment><USER9> Lots of 'alert()' popups when I click on things eg "null:6:4"

Don't understand what I should be doing...

Looks like a good start though :)

</comment><comment><USER10> Where's Sgt. Kelso and my LMGs? I really like the concept and flow of game play. I played this for many hours as a kid. Nicely done.

</comment><comment><USER11> I've always loved these games. You have a nice start and I'd love to see more. Email me if you feel like it, maybe I can help somehow (I'm pretty busy with work though, so no promises)

</comment><comment><USER12> Could fire once but now only error messages ... and one squad went under another.

Will be looking to play again when fixed.

</comment><comment><USER13> Is Squad Leader still copyrighted by Avalon Hill or someone else now? Or has it been put into the public domain?

<comment><USER14> The original squad leader is long out of print. I suspect Hasbro owns the rights to it, since they acquired AH. Advanced Squad Leader instead is alive and well, being republished and expanded by MultiManPublishing. <http://www.multimanpublishing.com/ASL/asl.php>

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Loved the original. Fix the bugs. A. the null messages. B. What happens when you move into the same square.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the input. I got rid of the javascript alert(NULL:2:2) and added simple instructions to the left panel.

I should have been more specific in the title: This is only a demonstration of the UI I am building and wanted feedback on the general concept.

</comment><comment><USER16> I was more of a panzer general fan. Is that all there was to squad leader's gameplay? I just moved them into cover and then fired back and forth turn after turn hoping for a hit which very rarely came.

<comment><AUTHOR> First of all there are no leaders, no machine guns, no morale checks or broken units. Once those are added you can call it Squad Leader.

In the original rules, it is very rare that you get a KIA when firing. It's more likely that you'll get a "Morale Check" where you roll the die against the unit's morale number. If you have an unfortunate morale check roll, then your units are "broken" and are required to run for cover away from enemy units. Leaders stacked with units help with the morale checks, and can "rally" troops to get them unbroken.

Machine guns are used to create devastating fire lanes with their long range and penetration effects.

That's just the introductory rules. Successive modules added such things as panzerfausts, smoke, tanks, americans, minefields.... until we have "Advanced Squad Leader" which is an incredibly detailed and complex game system.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Got the NULL:1:2 errors in ff. IE7 wouldn't load up the map.

</comment><comment><USER18> I love the concept, I played Squad Leader a few times and enjoyed it quite a bit. I think that PanzerBlitz would also be great to see online like this. Too bad I don't have enough time to check it out today.</comment>