Windows 10: Re-Crappifying Windows 8 - <AUTHOR> http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2015/01/31/windows_10_re_crappifying_windows_8/ <comment><USER2> I'm thinking this fellows opinion is a minority one, and his psychology degree must have come in the mail so he probably isn't licensed to diagnosis people in my state.

Not a fan of Windows8. The 10 preview I played with was an absolute step in the right direction.

</comment><comment><USER3> > You can design user interfaces that work for both, and mouse-driven systems > profit from many of the UI changes that make for good touchscreen user > interfaces — a clean, simple interaction design and large click targets, for > example.

I don't think this is true. With a mouse, you can easily make very precise small movements, so a tiny button positioned right next to where you already have the mouse cursor (perhaps, for example, over another tiny button) is very easy to reach. A tiny button farther away is much harder to hit because you make larger and less precise movements to get there from where you were. The size of the target is not as important as its proximity to the cursor's current position.

On a touch screen, with no relative movement, the situation is pretty much the opposite: If you have tiny touch targets right next to each other, it's very hard to hit the right one, and you can't see if the cursor is positioned correctly before you click. If they're farther apart, it's easier to hit the right one, or at least harder to hit the wrong one. (And obviously larger targets are better.)

<comment><USER4> You can't do both at the same time, true. That doesn't mean that you can't make a system that works well as both at separate times.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> The biggest mistake that Microsoft made was calling it Windows, if they called it Surface instead of only their hardware that way, and kept on selling windows non crippled for the desktop, they probably would have gotten away with it. Nobody cares if they share the same engine under the hood.

</comment><comment> guard-of-terra He sounds unicorny towards Windows 8. Nobody ever uses Windows 8 in Metro mode (because no, your PC is not a tablet), and the way which you randomly fall in and out of Metro is atrocious. A lot of things they just did not bother to think about; for example, wi-fi connection dialog overlays keyboard layout indicator, ruining hope of correctly inputting password.

The whole Windows 8 thing is embarrasingly make-believe.

<comment><USER6> Exactly. I like Metro & Desktop but whenever the two mix (randomly) is just mad. It's one of the most horrible experiences I currently know in computing and I have no clue why people think this is ok. Smart people at that. It feels like they never tried it themselves after delivering their product. It drives my absolutely bonkers and keeps me from using the Surface more than my macbook air & ipad air. Yes I have to carry around 2 devices but at least I won't just go and break them in 2000 pieces out of frustration. I love the hardware of the Surface3 pro, but for me, exactly that point ruins Windows 8(.1) completely. Is 10 better?

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Windows 8 was a failure in the enterprise desktop market. Loss aversion meant that corporations did not want to train their staff to use an unfamiliar UI, and the great majority of corporations either postponed upgrades or stayed with Windows 7.

[http://bgr.com/2014/02/04/windows-8-adoption- analysis/](http://bgr.com/2014/02/04/windows-8-adoption-analysis/) [http://www.crn.com/news/applications- os/300073591/windows-8-...](http://www.crn.com/news/applications- os/300073591/windows-8-adoption-hits-standstill.htm)

With Ballmer gone, Windows 10 can return to the familiar Windows 7 look and feel for enterprise desktop purchasers - so hopes Microsoft.

When the iPad and iPhone first dominated their respective markets, Ubuntu was first to respond because Linux evolves faster than Microsoft. The Unity Desktop was the canary in the coal mine with respect to how desktop users would react at the software vendor's natural desire for UI convergence.

Notably, Steve Jobs and Apple, maintained two UIs, one: MAC OS for the desktop and laptops, and two: iOS for touch/mobile. Apple routinely mocked Microsoft, and ignored Ubuntu as non-competitive.

Desktop and Laptop, e.g. keyboard and mouse, multi-monitor, are better for content creation, such as writing software.

Mobile - touch and voice and camera - are better for content consumption, messaging and always-with-you intelligent services, e.g. navigation.

Tim Cook at Apple famously said Windows 8 was converging a 'Toaster and a Refrigerator'.

I really don't care about Windows as I am a Docker application developer, and routinely use Ubuntu Unity which I grown accustomed to. Good luck Microsoft on Windows 10.

</comment><comment><USER8> Good points and well written (not the usual troll rant).

However what I dread most are the vendors and their crapware bundeling programs. Uch.

<comment><USER9> However, here's the thing: _Windows are useful_. An UI which pretends you shouldn't use them isn't good for anything complicated, when you use more than one application at a time.

Hierarchical start menus are also useful, for that matter.

<comment><USER10> > However, here's the thing: Windows are useful.

I'm increasingly convinced that _overlapping_ Windows are not particularly useful (they are better than one-thing-maximized-is-the-only-option), but tiled windows are very useful.

<comment><USER11> I'm torn between tiled and overlapping windows. A lot of the time I just don't have a big enough screen to go fully tiled, because it forces things to squish when I would rather just keep one partially visible underneath (e.g. a browser window, a text editor, and a terminal).

One thing that makes overlapping windows infinitely nicer for me is a feature in a lot of Linux WMs where window borders "catch" on other windows and the edge of the screen when being moved or resized. That, and having a key to move windows from anywhere, rather than just the titlebar.

edit: And focus-follows-mouse/x-mouse.

<comment><USER12> > One thing that makes overlapping windows infinitely nicer for me is a > feature in a lot of Linux WMs where window borders "catch" on other windows > and the edge of the screen when being moved or resized. That, and having a > key to move windows from anywhere, rather than just the titlebar.

I also like the feature of using the scroll wheel to change window position (above/below), especially if I'm browsing and have a few related windows open on a desktop. I didn't realize how much I missed the feature until I tried Plasma 5 on KDE briefly (it has it, too, but it didn't migrate my configuration).

<comment><USER11> Ah, yes. I should have included focus-follows-mouse, that's pretty crucial to how I work too.

There's actually a registry setting to enable it on Windows, but so many things are so completely unaware of it in their design that it breaks a lot of stuff.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Everyone loves consistency, but it really is a fools errand to try and make a universal OS experience. Desktops with keyboards and mice require different design paradigms than touch screens with no physical buttons. Vendors like Microsoft that try and cater to both will simply face an eternal tug of war, and nobody will end up happy.

 _Very_ few people on a tablet want to touch-type code for eight hours a day. _Very_ few people on a desktop want to hold their hands in the air tapping their expensive monitors for eight hours a day.

What Microsoft needs to do is produce a clean "OS base" (kernel, drivers) used by both, and then produce two separate products: Windows Office (for desktops) and Windows Metro (for touch devices.) They should have never tried to merge the UIs together.

</comment><comment><USER14> This article presumes that Windows 8.x was a great tablet OS. Since Windows 8 failed on mission one: Getting people to switch from Android and iOS. Objectively some people may love it--I'm not one--but from a business viewpoint it failed on tablets and it was hated on the desktop. The only real surprise isn't that MSFT is returning to an Aero style desktop, it's that it took them so long to do so.

</comment><comment><USER15> I don't think he realizes that he's critiquing and reviewing a preview OS.

<comment><USER16> I don't even think he's reviewing Windows 10 in its current preview form. Look at the picture he uses to show off the start menu, then compare it to the start menu in any other recent Windows 10 demonstration. Notice any differences?

<comment><USER17> Actually I think he _is_ on the current Windows 10 build. Right now there's a button at the top-right of the start menu that switches it between full-screen and regular mode. This [1] is what it looks like on my system when full screen. It looks much worse in the article however, because the author only has three apps pinned to their start menu, and the three apps are in their 'medium' size rather than wide or large.

[1]: [http://i.imgur.com/xKCH1td.png](http://i.imgur.com/xKCH1td.png)

<comment><USER16> Thanks for the info.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I think what this article demonstrates, more than anything, is how hard (impossible?) it is to build a single user interface for all possible form factors and keep your users happy.

</comment><comment><USER19> Does 1Password not have a keyboard app for iOS 8? Keyboard apps in general are a pretty good way to get a lot of what people want from multi-window views on touch devices.

<comment><USER20> No they have an extension instead that people have been building into their apps that give one tap access to 1Password on the login screen. I suspect they stayed away from building a keyboard because it's a lot harder to get right, and to risk building a not-so-great keyboard to add one button didn't seem worth it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> I actually preferred Windows 10 in the previous build. Now everything in the desktop modem makes me uncomfortable when using it and I think it's slower as well.

</comment><comment><USER22> The whole bit on loss aversion (which is a tactic to undermine people's opinions by ascribing them to unproductive emotional reactions, rather than objective evaluations that have people liking Windows 8 less than 7), and then the "I don't really see anything positive about going back to an interaction design originally devised in 1995", undermine the piece and do make it seem more like a rant than an unbiased evaluation: Someone with a touch screen tablet likes Windows 8, and doesn't like some of the changes in Windows 10. Welcome to the party the rest of us have lived in.

Windows 8 on the _desktop_ was objectively terrible. The charm bar, the weird interactions, the gigantic click points that completely undermined the benefit of a highly precise mouse. It was a step backwards as Microsoft tried to force touch metaphors and designs on a mouse world. Now this user is complaining that they're forcing mouse metaphors on his tablet.

<comment><USER23> > Windows 8 on the desktop was objectively terrible.

Not a chance. IMO, not only was the the best Windows from a technical perspective, I quite liked the interface. I use Linux mostly for philosophical and technical reasons (much easier to program in Linux), but Windows 8 has great UI.

<comment><USER24> No, it was terrible, unless you installed a classic shell.

<comment><USER25> I wouldn't go that far. I manage perfectly fine without it.

I like the fact that the Start Screen makes full use of my 27" 2560 x 1440 LCD. With the Windows 7-style Start Menu all of your shortcuts are shoved into a tiny corner of the screen.

<comment><USER24> Or you can look at it another way: I can comfortably fit more on my 1600x900 monitor with Classic Shell's start menu than you would on you 2560x1440 LCD with the Windows 8 start screen.

In other words, it's both modal _and_ it wastes real screen estate.

<comment><USER25> > In other words, it's both modal and it wastes real screen estate.

The Windows 7-style Start Menu is modal too in the sense that you can't interact with the desktop at the same time you are interacting with the Start Menu.

The other thing I don't particularly like about the Start Menu is that shortcuts and folders with long names get cut off due to the width of the menu itself.

Screens are a bit like RAM in my opinion. There to be used.

<comment><USER24> > The Windows 7-style Start Menu is modal too in the sense that you can't > interact with the desktop at the same time you are interacting with the > Start Menu.

Huh? If you define it that way then _everything_ is modal because you can only ever interact with one window at a given time (one mouse, one keyboard, etc.)

<comment><USER26> No, Windows 7 Start Menu is different.

If I open it, start typing, and switch to a different window, then it loses all of its state, and has to restart from scratch if I go back to it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> In Windows 10, the only feature I'm looking for is a simple on/off switch like Android has: Allow installation of apps from sources other than the [default app store].</comment>


SICP in Clojure (In Progress) - <AUTHOR> http://sicpinclojure.com/

<comment><USER2> Rich Hickey has some interesting things to say about learning clojure via SICP. [http://groups.google.com/group/clojure/browse_thread/thread/...](http://groups.google.com/group/clojure/browse_thread/thread/8f23ae245ba4a661)

<comment><USER3> Kind of off-topic, but I'm pretty surprised clojure doesn't do TCO.

Is that a JVM limitation?

<comment><USER4> Yes

<comment><USER5> This one of the things that Microsoft got right with the CLR. That TCO is required by scheme is where I finally grokked programming language semantics -- how implementation and form are intertwined.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> What's wrong with scheme?

<comment><USER7> Nothing, but if you're starting from scratch and know you'd have a real world use-case for Clojure sometime soon, why not learn its APIs, warts, etc rather than Scheme's?

<comment><USER8> SICP really isn't about learning Scheme, and probably shouldn't be about learning Clojure... but if someone wants to present the material in Clojure, sure, why not?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Related, PG's "On Lisp" to Clojure: <http://blog.thinkrelevance.com/2008/12/12/on-lisp-clojure>

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Current status of the adaptation: <http://sicpinclojure.com/content/current- status>

</comment><comment><USER3> Seems like a Herculean task for one person.

I wonder if the author considered making it a wiki and enlisting the clojure community's help?

<comment><USER10> If you look at the status page, he wants to implement community features including editing.

<comment><USER11> The website runs on Drupal, which has multi user editing, revisions etc. The 'book' module (included in the default installation) is basically a wiki. So, the infrastructure is already in place.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Why JVM while there is LLVM?

btw, is there any work-in-progress implementations of arc using llvm?</comment>


2016 Google Tracker: Everything Google is working on for the new year - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/01/2016-google-tracker-everything-google-is-working-on-for-the-new-year/ <comment><USER2> Off-topic, but I love watching editors dance around how to report on Alphabet/Google. It would more correctly be the "2016 Alphabet Tracker", but I'm sure there is much more click action on a headline that includes Google since most people wouldn't know what Alphabet is.</comment>


Iowow – C11 skiplist-based persistent key/value storage engine - <AUTHOR> http://iowow.io <comment><USER2> Will be interesting to test this against Cyrus' two skiplist based databases:

[https://github.com/cyrusimap/cyrus- imapd/blob/master/lib/cyr...](https://github.com/cyrusimap/cyrus- imapd/blob/master/lib/cyrusdb_skiplist.c)

[https://github.com/cyrusimap/cyrus- imapd/blob/master/lib/cyr...](https://github.com/cyrusimap/cyrus- imapd/blob/master/lib/cyrusdb_twoskip.c)

They take slightly different tradeoffs. I wrote twoskip to work around a handful of issues with skiplist around crash recovery. The big cost still is repack speed, which is why I have a project to build something called zeroskip, which won't be single-file, but will have some very nice never- rewrite behaviour.

[http://opera.brong.fastmail.fm/talks/twoskip/twoskip- yapc12....](http://opera.brong.fastmail.fm/talks/twoskip/twoskip-yapc12.pdf) describes the design of twoskip a bit.

</comment><comment><USER3> It's interesting to have a non-LSM based persistent engine (If I read correctly).

Although BTrees are slower when it comes to writing, they don't have compaction issues and are generally better are reading data from disk.

I also like there is a lower-level API should you wish to build your own database logic on top of the block manager.

It would be interesting to have more information about how data is actually written to disk and I think such approach could benefit from being able to mount a device directly.

Last but not least, 255 GB will seriously limit this database to embedded use cases.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, b+trees are more performant for reading compared to skip-list because of better data locality on memory/disk. But SL better at insertion and sequential reads. 255 GB is a simple trade-off between disk space required per record and the ability to manage large data-sets since SL is a not very space friendly data structure) Although I think 255 GB is good enough in many use cases.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> unrelated: I need a key-value storage engine/data structure that is suitable to use on a microcontroller, with sdcard as the storage medium. Performance isn't critical (within reason of course), but must need very little ram (10s-100s of bytes, at the high end), and of course must minimize/optimize sdcard writes and reads. Any suggestions?

<comment><USER5> ENOTENOUGHINFO: Any of the following changes what data structure should be used: read/write ratio, key size, data size, what is the interface to sdcard. Gut feeling is that with TENS of bytes you will only get an append-only log.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Darn, I hoped for a standalone thread safe structure and there I get a whole database.

(Yes, I know that for some platforms you can mmap memory.)

</comment><comment><USER7> Skip lists are randomized, right? Whereas B[-whatever] trees have guaranteed fast performance?

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes. I suppose that probability to get such bad random distribution which makes SL search to be linear is similar to probability of moving all oxygen atoms to only one side of your room.

<comment><USER7> Even against an adversary? (Asking because I don't know the data structure too well.)

<comment><USER8> If the adversary find a bug in your system, such as not so random "random generator", then it can bring it down. But if the random generator is reasonable, then you can expect it to behave properly on all inputs.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> What is the skiplist used for? I.e., what data does it allow to skip over?

<comment><USER10> The lastest example I found is Redis, they use Skip List for their Ordered set.

[1]: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1171468](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1171468)

[2]: [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45115047/why-redis- sorte...](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45115047/why-redis-sortedset- uses-skip-list-instead-of-balanced-tree)</comment></comment>


Startup Quote: Jon Yongfook Cockle, founder, Curious Forest - <AUTHOR> http://startupquote.com/post/1676096050

<comment><AUTHOR> Ship early and quietly, talk to early-adopters and improve. Keep doing that in cycles.

\- Jon Yongfook Cockle (@yongfook)

<http://startupquote.com/post/1676096050></comment>


Automatic C Code Generation from Matlab Language Introduced by MathWorks - <AUTHOR> http://it.tmcnet.com/topics/it/articles/163819-automatic-c-code-generation-from-matlab-language-introduced.htm

<comment><USER2> This reads as though MathWorks finally decided to do something with their acquisition of Agility MCS, which as I recall was an awesome product until MW pulled it off the market. MCS generated truly readable C code and allowed great traceability between the generated code and the original Matlab source.

In fact, looking at Matlab's site (<http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab- coder/>) it looks _identical_ to MCS.

</comment><comment><USER3> Hopefully it works better than their C/Fortran interface library. Navigating nested/arrayed MATLAB data structures through their API is a complete pain.</comment>


Man to launch himself in homemade rocket to prove Earth is flat (not the Onion) - <AUTHOR> https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/11/21/this-man-is-about-to-launch-himself-in-his-homemade-rocket-to-prove-the-earth-is-flat/ <comment><USER2> I wonder if he actually believes it's flat. It sounds to me like he might be just trying to get funding. These kinds of stunts are obviously his passion, but he repeatedly had trouble funding them. It's very convenient that his conversion _just happened_ to get him the funding he spent years looking for. Playing the fool to fund his dream would be a clever marketing trick.

I have no evidence that he's not sincere, but I'm not convinced either.

Setting aside the flat Earth craziness, "amateur astronaut" is about the most badass hobby on the planet.

<comment><USER3> Claiming that you believe the earth is flat is definitly not the weirdest lie that's ever been told in pursuit of funding.

<comment><USER4> What would that be?

Anyways if you read the story, it's extremely suspicious how he suddenly became interested in the flat earth conspiracy in a request for funding. And if you wanted to prove the earth was flat a balloon, gopro-on-a-rocket, daylight hours, or just some big sticks with a buddy at a different latitude would be easier.

<comment><USER5> I would say "A fool and his money are soon parted. We are here to help." is a valid business model...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> This should (A) be thought of as an art project and (B) should be no. 1 on HN right now.

It's hard to know what to make of flat earth rocketeers, but my instinctive response is "this world is kind of awesome".

First (like another poster said perfectly), "amateur astronaut" is a badass pursuit. 2nd is the possibility that there is a person who (A) can and will build a rocketship and (B) can't think of a better way to confirm that the earth is flat. I kind of _want_ to believe this.

This (and maybe most flat earth stuff) is multi-layered. Maybe (most likely) this is just a good PR narrative for this guy's rocket project. Didn't RKA/NASA have semi-bogus scientific goals to justify pure engineering challenges? I think a lot of flat earth stuff is trolls, jokes, devils advocacy, cyber-age epistemology. If I let my self get ridiculously carried away, I'd say there are some parts of flat earth world that rhyme with weird (but at the time important) parts of the enlightenment. I'm thinking des cartes, maybe Kant, probably others too. In my own narrative, these eventually culminated in moderate, but very useful philosophy like that of Karl Popper.

<comment><USER7> I find it hard to encourage this kind of pursuit, when he seems to have difficulty with the danger aspects of this pursuit.

Last time he launched, he had difficulty deploying his chute and nearly died.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Would it not be easier to launch a camera of some kind? Or are cameras in on the conspiracy somehow?

<comment><USER9> "the glass is curved"

No, I'm not joking.

<comment><USER10> But the retina is curved too, so I am not sure there is even a way to convince flat-earthers?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> What if he falls flat on his face, thus proving the Earth is indeed flat?

</comment><comment><USER12> This man is obviously compromised by the government and not a true flat earth believer (sarcasm)

</comment><comment><USER13> I have never had the urge to launch myself in a homemade rocket and would strongly recommend others not succumb to it if they get one, but I'm afraid it's too late for this fellow.

I do wonder if he'll tell his fellow flat earthers he saw the curve in the surface though.

And also how much he'll be charging for tickets to watch him launch.

<comment><USER14> I played enough Kerbal Space Program to be confident in my ability to navigate a rocket to the moon.

I'm also confident I would create a red smear on the launch pad for the first 30 tries then suffocate in space or smear the moon for the next 30.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> That's a really brave man. He will most likely hit his head on the blue heaven and loose consciousness up when hitting the top. Maybe he will even hit a cloud. I hope he is prepared with a parachute.

</comment><comment><USER16> He's only going up to 1800 feet, it sounds like. It seems like a flight on a jet would be cheaper and more effective.

<comment><USER17> Or a cessna flight to 12000? Or hang a go-pro from a balloon like scores of kids on the internet.

</comment></comment><comment> King-Aaron I have my doubts that his orbiter has the delta-V to make it into orbit. He needs more boosters and far more struts.

</comment><comment><USER18> The best thing about this is that earth's curvature can be seen on his video on his website. Aghhh!

[http://madmikehughes.com/](http://madmikehughes.com/)

</comment><comment><USER19> why not just pick a direction and start travelling. How does this theory even work, do they have notions of where (they believe) the edges are?

<comment><USER20> If I understand correctly, the "standard" theory is that the edges are walls of ice in Antarctica. Rather than the ocean surrounding Antarctica, it is Antarctica that surrounds the ocean that surrounds all the rest of the land.

As for what is beyond the walls of ice... That's for another rocket to find out.

<comment><USER21> We all know that beyond the wall of ice is the Night King and the army of the dead.

<comment><USER22> But hasn't the wall fallen?

<comment><USER21> Spoilers! Remember the spoiler rules: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8IAhI-B6UU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8IAhI-B6UU) (apparently you are fine). Winter is here.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Linux Weekly News (1998) - <AUTHOR> http://lwn.net/1998/0129/ <comment><USER2> > Numerous people are trying to track down the problems with gcc 2.8.0 and the > kernel. The problem seems to be an obscure, optimization-related thing. For > now, compile kernels with a 2.7.2 release of gcc, or use egcs.

That brings back memories. I think the kernel didn't compile correctly with gcc again until at least 2.95.2 or 2.95.3?

<comment><USER3> At which point egcs _was_ gcc.

<comment><USER2> You are absolutely right.

[https://slashdot.org/story/99/04/20/1453234/egcs-to- become-g...](https://slashdot.org/story/99/04/20/1453234/egcs-to-become-gcc)

The funny thing was, gcc 2.95.3 (being mostly egcs as you point out) was more stable than both previous versions of egcs and gcc. I distinctly remember gcc 2.8 having problems with the kernel, and egcs having problems with various userland stuff (mostly GNOME). Having to deal with two compiler forks each with their showstopper bugs seemed to go away rather markedly with 2.95.3.

EDIT: found a discussion which covers the idea that it was code in both the kernel/userspace which relied on UB or bugs of gcc 2.7.x

[https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.os.linux.develo...](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.os.linux.development.system/lqaFc2jAKPE%5B1-25%5D)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Still the essential publication if you want to follow Linux kernel and other open source upstream development.

<comment><USER5> LWN and HN are the peanut butter and chocolate of technical content on the 'net.

<comment><USER6> I'd say LWN is more like Nutella whereas HN is a Kinder Surprise.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Debian 2.0, that reminds me of the tragedy surrounding Debian's founder, Ian Murdock.</comment>


Ask HN: How have you used Amazon SQS successfully? - <AUTHOR>

After reading up on Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), I have concerns about how to use it effectively.   Ordering is not guaranteed and a read from a queue may sometimes show "empty" when in fact there are more entries to process (apparently has to do with how the data is distributed, per their documentation).<p>I'm interested in how other hackers have been able to make good use of SQS and possibly overcome these issues? <comment><USER2> I use it to separate and scale parts of my application.

More specifically I am building a continuous integration application in Ruby and using SQS as build and result queues from which EC2 instances pick up tasks, builds them then add into the result queue. I don't need ordering and don't mind a few seconds of latency.

PS: If you are interested in beta testing it please drop me a line.</comment>


Has humanity reached 'peak intelligence'? - <AUTHOR> https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190709-has-humanity-reached-peak-intelligence <comment><USER2> There are a billion people who's childrens IQ are being permanently reduced from lack of infant nutrients.

You have many billions of people alive who have had this happened to them.

Then toss in the other things that reduce IQ post infancy.

Lot of scope for worldwide improvement.

Looking at the top countries is a different important. But understanding the Flynn effect would be step one which isn't happening. There don't even seem to be any theories. When you can't even find crackpots YouTube talking about it, there's an issue.

</comment><comment><USER3> A recent paper finds that The Flynn effect for fluid IQ may not generalize to all ages or ability levels: A population-based study of 10,000 US adolescents [https://www.gwern.net/docs/iq/2019-platt.pdf](https://www.gwern.net/docs/iq/2019-platt.pdf) . "IQs decreased 4.9 points for those with IQ ≤ 70 (95% CI = −4.9, −4.8), but increased 3.5 points among those with IQ ≥ 130 (95% CI = 3.4, 3.6)."

</comment><comment><USER4> I feel like there's quite a lot scope for engineering the levels of intelligence within a given population. To my knowledge, most languages spoken throughout the world reached their current forms naturally, without any kind of deliberate influence by their speakers. What if, however, a language was actively designed to be as information dense as possible? What effect would it have on the average intelligence of a population in which said language was gradually introduced to the point where children were raised speaking it?

<comment><USER5> The population would likely speak it slower to compensate. Information density and speech rate are inversely correlated, with an average information rate around 39 bits/second. [https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/9/eaaw2594](https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/9/eaaw2594)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I suspect we're in the process of exponentially increasing the selection pressure on intelligence, because of the pervasive use of computers/AI/ML to exploit consumers.

<comment><USER7> The sophistication of consumer exploitation is increasing, no doubt!

However, I can't fathom this having an evolutionary impact. It is awfully difficult to fail so hard at being a consumer that you don't make it to your reproductive years, right?

<comment><USER6> Sometimes people think of evolution as a binary thing - you reproduce or you don't. But a few generations on, some people leave huge numbers of descendants and some don't. There isn't a huge variance in the number of children people have, but that gets multiplied for grandchildren, and again for great- grandchildren...so the scale is not 0 to 1 (or 2 or 3), but 0 to <big number>. I wouldn't make any sweeping statements a priori about how economic inequality affects that, but if some people have all their resources vacuumed up and some don't, it's going to affect their lives on average somehow.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> That is an interesting question. I think that intelligence of human being is limited by sexual behavior. Our instinct of reproduction has the consequence that people willing the most to reproduce themselves become a majority, but these are not necessary the most intelligent. Yes, I think that peak intelligence have been reached. We see that the way countries are led : Often, decisions made to be popular, but not very effective on the long term.

</comment><comment><USER9> This study says the Flynn effect has been reversing for starting in the birth year 1975.

[https://www.pnas.org/content/115/26/6674](https://www.pnas.org/content/115/26/6674)

<comment><USER10> From the 70s-2000 there was considerably more led in the atmosphere than before/after which I've seen linked to increased rates of e.g. violent crimes globally during that period. I suspect that the reversal of the Flynn effect during that time is also related and we will see the reverse of the reverse from kids born since the 00

<comment><USER6> Huh? The late 70s was when lead was banned in a lot of stuff. And you can see the higher violent crime in countries that used lead longer, like say Venezuela.

So, yeah, everybody knows about the linkage, but it should make you stop and consider that it would make you expect the opposite of the claim above.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Not likely. We aren't even trying to reach 'Peak intelligence'.

<comment><USER7> I believe "peak" in this context means "the highest point we will ever reach," not "the highest point this species might theoretically be capable of."

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Yes, we've removed most evolutionary pressures so we are kinda just drifting aimlessly.</comment>


Living a Meaningful Life - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170131-the-secret-to-living-a-meaningful-life <comment><USER2> This article silently assumes that a "meaningful life" means:

\- making good choices of the projects you work on

\- making those projects succeed, or at least ensure pushing them forward

So it reduces this broad topic "meaningful life" to the aspects of personal time management, project management and motivation management. In short, the article appears to be very work-centric (but including paid work as well as volunteer work).

Within this work-centric view, the article is great. But given the article's title, I would have expected a broader treatment of the whole topic.

<comment><USER3> Not so surprising, since most people enjoy the satisfaction of having their plans work out, achieving goals and so on - and consumerism, the dominant 'philosophy' of western liberalism, is all about the accumulation of satisfying experiences.

Of course, this doesn't sound all that great when it's reduced to its bare bones. That's why extremist ideologues often find great political success by promoting a stark message: a life filled with suffering and struggle offers more _meaning_ then one where there's never any danger or anxiety. Hitler told the German people quite frankly that they'd have to go through fire to realize his vision, and that sounded good to enough people that he was able to make good on the promise. Likewise, millions of Slavs were willing to sacrifice themselves against hopeless odds (as it seemed at the time) to repel the Nazi invasion of the USSR. Indeed, once a country goes to war there invariably seems to be a great outpouring of enthusiasm because the inherently pointless quotidian struggles of work, survival, acquisition and consumption are replaced with the much more exciting and arousing struggles for _life and death_ , for which economic competition is only the proxy.

I believe there are two basic reasons for this. One, most people don't enjoy thinking for its own sake all that much, but when you're in a survival situation you can dispense with all that tedious mentation and really live in the moment. For people who have lived a qualitatively meaningless life up to that point, this is tremendously liberating. The other reason is that life is never sweeter than when death is close, and danger is highly correlated with sexual arousal for evolutionary reasons - hence the epidemic of rape during wartime. When time horizons are short, prohibited actions are no longer consequential, and the normal moral calculus is abandoned, then expression triumphs over repression.

In sum, we're not really cut out for long-term thinking and abstract mentation for its own sake appeals to only a tiny minority. There is great value to living in the moment but most people don't know how to do it, and so their frustration builds up, to the detriment of the social body which must eventually express the excess -much as a boil is tolerable until it becomes a cyst and needs to be lanced.

This is the reason that attempts to create a totally safe society are doomed - the safer you make it, the more of a prison it becomes. I'd rather not write an essay about this, but there's a reason that aristocratic societies allowed and created formal rules for dueling.

<comment><USER4> > we're not really cut out for long-term thinking and abstract mentation for > its own sake appeals to only a tiny minority. There is great value to living > in the moment but most people don't know how to do it

That's the most convincing argument in favor of eugenics that I've ever heard. It's a shame that we can't easily test for affinity for long-term, abstract thinking; nor for ability to live in the moment.

<comment><USER5> Well that's reassuring since it doesn't appear to be an argument for eugenics at all.

<comment><USER4> It is. If I read the great-grandparent correctly, violence is only needed as an outlet because the majority of humans don't have a particular combination of attributes; therefore, one solution to that brand of inevitable violence, is to artificially select for precisely those attributes.

<comment><USER6> You seem to forget that the act of selecting is an act of violence by itself.

<comment><USER4> Hence my particular turn-of-phrase: " _that brand of_ inevitable violence [described by anigbrowl]". Yes, I probably should have included that bracketed clause.

(aside: AFAICT, needing violence to remove violence is as much an inevitability as needing guns to remove guns.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> If anyone's interested, there's a great book called _Designing Your Life_ [1] which delves more deeply into the basic concept from this piece (identify what's most important to you and measure your progress toward those goals). It's based on a Stanford course of a similar name, and is an excellent read.

1\. [https://smile.amazon.com/Designing-Your-Life-Well-Lived- Joyf...](https://smile.amazon.com/Designing-Your-Life-Well-Lived- Joyful/dp/1101875321/)

</comment><comment><USER8> Given a certain background of assumptions about meaningfulness, the article offers up some sufficiently plausible tactics. The assumptions though lean heavily on values unique to this particular civilisation. With its value-free description of merely individual pet 'projects', I suspect (but can't of course know) that it would be incomprehensible to the vast majority of humans that have ever lived.

Given how rapidly our planet's ecosystems are collapsing under that same civilisation's depredations, this might be an unwise hostage to fortune.

</comment><comment><USER9> "extravert" \- lol!

<comment><USER10> Did you read the link? apparently it's the technically correct spelling. Never knew about this, always see it with an 'O'

</comment></comment><comment> saiya-jin 1) Imagine yourself on dying bed - what would you regret/be proud of in your past life? Strive to go that way.

2) Bring good to humanity, and don't do evil. If nothing else, if raising kids, be a good parent and role model - don't bring more unbalanced, fucked up, childhood-issue-riddled people into this world. Too many of those around already.

<comment><USER11> > Imagine yourself on dying bed

Do people really do retrospectives of their lives on their death beds? Seems like a really odd thing to do during final hours of life. I am sure everyone no matter how meaningful their lives are, is going to have regrets.

I just hope I am mentally well enough during my final days to enjoy it, not do an inventory of regrets vs accomplishments.

<comment><USER12> And physically well enough to exact revenge on those that wronged me.

Edit: That came out much darker than I meant it to.

<comment><USER13> Was it meant to be humorous? Because I got a chuckle out of it...

<comment><USER14> He just read The Count of Monte Cristo</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


AWS Snowmobile – Massive Exabyte-Scale Data Transfer Service - <AUTHOR> https://aws.amazon.com/snowmobile/ <comment><USER2> AWS should donate a few of these to the Internet Archive.

They just specifically asked for money to help establish a second copy in Canada.[1]

It would be great publicity for AWS among a demographic not far from their target... AND it would probably benefit AWS itself in some way eventually.

1: [https://blog.archive.org/2016/11/29/help-us-keep-the- archive...](https://blog.archive.org/2016/11/29/help-us-keep-the-archive-free- accessible-and-private/)

EDIT: "a few"?? One trip?

</comment><comment><USER3> What IS it about AWS and the opaque naming of their services?! There is a reason this exists: [https://www.expeditedssl.com/aws-in-plain- english](https://www.expeditedssl.com/aws-in-plain-english)

<comment><USER4> It's such a rarely needed service that I can't imagine naming it AWS Data Center Mover would make any difference at all in terms of usage. The number of customers who could make use of this thing is tiny, it doesn't matter what it is called.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a FedEx truck filled with hard disks"

<comment><USER6> That was an absolutely hilarious "demo." I know it was for real but it was still the sort of thing that makes you just shake your head and laugh. I don't want to be the one paying the S3 bill afterwards though :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> So disappointed this is not called AWS Station Wagon.

[https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_S._Tanenbaum](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_S._Tanenbaum)

</comment><comment><USER8> If one of these jackknifes enroute is that called a 'snowcrash'?

<comment><USER9> "Ended up in the rhubarb" or similar variation seems like the most appropriate snowmobile slang.

<comment><USER10> Grandparent was probably referencing the Neal Stephenson novel[0].

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

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I started reading this thinking it was joke, I was very surprised when i realised its a real service. amazing. What kind of applications use so much data and are at the same time for them its cost effective to move them to the cloud?

<comment><USER12> You're not paying listed rates if you're moving 100PB+ into S3 or Glacier.

<comment><USER13> Well no, but I'm sure it's still pretty damn pricy.

<comment><USER12> Oh, no no, I agree with you. Just like Backblaze built their own solution because all other cloud providers were stupid expensive in comparison.

But if you're a CTO or CIO who just wants to shovel the responsibility to someone else, its a solid product at AWS. They're the new "No one got fired for buying X".

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Fun, old school massive data transfer as a service. For those of you too lazy to do the math, filling up one of these trucks to capacity (100PB) would run your 500,000 USD per month, ~17k per day (purely for transit).

Edit: I assume that you'd only get charged for the time your vehicle is in transit, though the pricing info doesn't make that super clear. Also, as pointed out, list rates may differ from bulk rates.

<comment><USER4> Though I assume if you have >100PB to store you aren't paying list rates.

<comment><USER15> and even if you are (call me, i've got a bridge to sell btw), you should be able to afford it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> This reminds me of rfc1149 - A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers - [https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1149.txt](https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1149.txt)

<comment><USER17> Not sure if the writer of that was serious...

<comment><USER18> Although it was implemented: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers#Real- li...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers#Real- life_implementation)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Will they let you snowmobile your data back out if you want to switch to another cloud provider later? Or is it a one way street, and you pay thru the nose if you want to load your exabytes back out?

<comment><USER20> The FAQ implies it is for ingest only, and you need to use snowballs if you want to get data out.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> As he says in the talk this truck is for 100 Pb, you'd need 10 of them for the aforementioned Exabyte (Eb); which I imagine would nicely equate to a train.

If this data is valuable though wouldn't it need to be securely transported; Mad Max: Fury Road springs to mind...

Increasingly the film Johnny Mnemonic is becoming more and more preposterous; it was 320 Gb in the film. I think the book was 320Mb.

</comment><comment><USER22> Who even has that much data, outside of Google and Facebook?

I mean - I totally believe there are people that do have that much, I just don't know who they are.

Fake Edit: Film?

<comment><USER23> Banks?

<comment><USER24> That's just numbers and a bit of text, no?

I guess anything media related is way bigger. I thought of media archives of TV stations, but those are (if digital already) cold storage with only a low- res preview live.

<comment><USER23> Check images, receipts, transactions, statements (particularly PDF), deposit slips, mortgage documents... all kept for 7-20+ years.

<comment><USER22> Oooh. Very good point.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> " Each Snowmobile consumes about 350 KW of AC power"

Wow.

</comment><comment><USER26> Maybe Fast and the Furious eleventeen be them hijacking some banks data from AWS snowmobile rigs in transit.</comment>


Beauty Is Truth In Mathematical Intuition: First Empirical Evidence - <AUTHOR> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081120073130.htm <comment><USER2> Why do aren't simple, easily processed stick figures the height of art then?</comment>


Show HN: Froggodoggo - Hire founders looking for a side gig - <AUTHOR> https://froggodoggo.com <comment><AUTHOR> Hi there, Froggodoggo co-maker here.

When we started our company Kosmos School, we went through all our savings and failed to raise VC money. Friends and family helped us out initially, but we decided against taking yet another loan from them. We realized that working a couple of days a week for a money job would help us keep working on our own startup, on our own terms, as long as we want.

I was lucky, he instantly scored a part-time job with a previous company he had co-founded.

Dorena started looking for gigs on Upwork and co, but was less fortunate. The projects posted there were often paying a ridiculously low amount of money and felt boring and impersonal. On top of that, she had to put in a lot of unpaid time and apply to most projects. Instead of looking yet for another potentially shitty, low-paying project, we decided to build a better place for companies and founders to meet ourselves.

Let us know what you think!

</comment><comment><USER2> This is really neat. I personally, as a bootstrapping founder fresh out of college, need to make income while still being able to focus on my own project. This idea really grabs my eye. Will be applying!

<comment><AUTHOR> Awesome, thanks :-)</comment></comment>


Cnpmjs Clones GitHub Webpages - <AUTHOR> https://theblackcat102.github.io/weird-github-entry-point/ <comment><USER2> Link to the github page clone : [https://github.com.cnpmjs.org/](https://github.com.cnpmjs.org/)</comment>


Hong Kong Chief Executive set to announce the withdrawal of the extradition bill - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/04/asia-markets-sept-4-australian-q2-gdp-us-china-trade-currencies.html <comment><USER2> Sadly this will be too little too late. If this was done in May/June, it would've ended the protests/unrest. It has turned into so much more than just the extradition bill, extreme police violence being one of the big things.

While I don't agree with the 5 main demands of the protestors, setting up an independent inquiry to investigate police violence will be required if the government is serious about giving the people what they want.</comment>


VC's and Me - <AUTHOR> http://emergic.org/2008/08/06/vcs-and-me/

<comment><USER2> Apostrophe is not a plural!</comment>


My coworking space - <AUTHOR> http://wernah.com/2012/03/my-coworking-space/

<comment><USER2> Awesome!

I just found a place to work from tomorrow here in Rio de Janeiro. Thanks!</comment>


TSA to Commission Independent Study of X-Ray Body Scanners - <AUTHOR> http://www.propublica.org/article/tsa-to-commission-independent-study-of-xray-body-scanners

<comment><USER2> Assuming it's a real study and they actually gather new data and run some experiments, what are the possible results?

1) The machines are unsafe and should be removed immediately

2) The machines are unsafe for people that pass through them at some given frequency (like 5x a year or something)

3) The machines are completely safe

4) ?

Results 1 and 2 would mean that many air travelers would feel entitled to some sort of compensation.

There's going to be a lot of external pressure to find result #3, so I'm glad it's an 'independent' study.

<comment><USER3> My issue is with what threshold of safety should be considered. If for example, the X-ray dose causes one fatal cancer in a million, it would be a positive risk-benefit for many medical procedures, but for the rate of actual terrorism attempts vs air travelers getting that dose millions of times over, the risk benefit seems pretty negative. This is especially true if you're a frequent air traveller and could be dosed two or more times per trip. That really means that airport X-ray machines should be held to a much higher safety standard then medical x-rays.

<comment><USER4> _My issue is with what threshold of safety should be considered._

That's a good question. The numbers TSA gives, which are quoted in the article, are that a single exposure to the X-ray scanner gives you the same radiation dose that you get from two minutes of airline flight. So if we think the risk of the scanner is unacceptable, we should also consider it unacceptable for a flight to be lengthened by two minutes. Flight times routinely vary by more than that due to re-routings for things like weather, air traffic control, etc.

Nothing is 100% safe. If we are going to try to consider thresholds of safety, we have to consider _all_ possible risks, not just the ones the media is currently harping on. What we find when we do that is that we routinely accept risks far greater than the ones the media is currently harping on. But those risks don't sell papers or keep people watching.

<comment><USER3> The minutes of flight are there because they're a fundamental part of travel and are unavoidable if you choose to travel by air. An x-ray machine is there only for the purpose of additional security. If the risk undergone for the machine outweighs the security benefit then the machine can and should be removed. In my mind, there is no equivalence between the unavoidable risk and the completely avoidable risk.

<comment><USER5> A lot of flight time is unnecessary. The technology to more efficiently route airplanes exists, we just have not yet allocated the money to do it. If it turns out that the X-rays really are no worse than 2 extra minutes of flights, I'd rather put the money towards improving the air traffic control infrastructure. Then we save time, reduce radiation exposure, and likely reduce the risk of an airplane crash. Seems like a better use of money to me.

<comment><USER3> Airlines are already optimizing for flight times - time in the air is fuel burn which is a major cost input for the business.

If your purpose is to save lives, and have some amount of money you're intent on spending to do so, there are many better opportunities to get better bang for your buck than either airport x-ray machines, or shortening flight times.

What really bothers me is that I think that politicians and TSA bureaucrats have placed an outsized symbolic value on air security via X-ray machine, and setting in place a policy which causes real harm in sicknesses that are essentially unlinkable to the machines. Without a detailed and critical look at the effects, there will be no obvious red flags that people are literally dying for symbolism.

<comment><USER4> _Airlines are already optimizing for flight times - time in the air is fuel burn which is a major cost input for the business._

Airlines certainly try to do this, but they don't control either the weather or the air traffic control system. That said, I don't disagree that further optimization for flight times is likely to have a low payoff compared to lots of other things. My only point is that any flight time optimization that's worth more than two minutes per flight, on average, must, of necessity, have a _higher_ payoff than changing the type of scanners at the checkpoint.

 _politicians and TSA bureaucrats have placed an outsized symbolic value on air security via X-ray machine_

This argument applies to any type of scanner, not just an X-ray one. It applies equally well to the millimeter wave scanners that the article mentions as the chief alternative to X-ray scanners. And it in no way affects the point that the additional risk due to the X-ray scanner, given that you have already accepted the risk of a flight, is negligible.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Too bad they won't do a study of how useless the entire TSA is. It wouldn't be hard: just randomly choose a group of airports that are allowed to go back to the previous model of private inspectors hired by the airlines. For every year that goes by with the experimental group of airports having better financial results, better security, smoother operation, and fewer passenger hardships, a few more airports will win the lottery and be allowed into the experimental group. Eventually the TSA will be studied out of existence.

<comment><USER7> Well the entire purpose of the TSA is security. And how do you evaluate security? The number of successful attacks on airports?

Hopefully both the test set and TSA set would have a result of zero. And even if they didn't, you can't say for sure that it was because of TSA presence. So the test would be inconclusive, and we'd end up keeping them around "just in case". After all, we haven't had another attack like September 11th, so the TSA must be working, right?

<comment><USER6> If you define security as "how many commercial airplanes have been flown into tall buildings", you're probably right. However, I'd also like to include such measures as "how many items have been stolen by TSA agents from luggage", "how many times does the TSA violate its stated policies", "how many bins of 'potential explosive materials' are stockpiled at security checkpoints", "how many times do red-team tests result in missed dangerous items", etc.

Really I think you could use any measure of security, even one picked out by TSA personnel, and the TSA as currently constituted would do worse than a private contractor reporting to the airlines. (Even if I'm wrong, wouldn't we want to know?) The important thing is that security must be balanced against the other things I mentioned: cost of the security program, indirect costs borne by airports and airlines, and passenger experience. From a societal perspective, we also have to weigh the costs associated with encouraging travelers to drive rather than fly.

<comment><USER4> _how many items have been stolen by TSA agents from luggage_

As far as I know, the amount of theft due to TSA is negligible; virtually all of it is due to airline employees.

<comment><USER6> I suggest googling for "tsa theft"; if they're firing hundreds of people a year every year it isn't a negligible problem. But even if more is stolen by airline employees than by TSA agents, that isn't a defense of the TSA. We couldn't fly without the airlines; we flew for decades without the TSA.

<comment><USER4> _if they're firing hundreds of people a year every year it isn't a negligible problem_

From what I can see from a Google search, "hundreds" is the total number of TSA people who have ever been fired for theft, not the number per year.

<comment><USER8> Given the the low end of "hundreds" and the time the TSA has been in existence, that is still not negligible.

 _Particularly_ if they suck at catching/firing people as much as they do at any other sort of screening.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> <tinfoil_hat>

The plan is for the scanners to fail the tests

TSA apologizes

Congress indemnifies scanner manufacturers

TSA buys new scanners, which is the overall goal

Scanner manufacturers aka campaign contributors profit

Congressmen get reelected

</tinfoil_hat>

<comment><USER10> Pretty much.. You knew there had to be a version 2.0 that we had to buy at some point.

To be honest, the whole process becomes invalidated when you can now pay via a program called TSA PreCheck (<http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-pre%E2%9C%93%E2%84%A2>) to skip the lines entirely.

Theater at its finest.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> The company that makes these scanners will just take some senators on a few more all-expenses-paid trips to Hawaii for some "conferences" and things won't change at all.

<comment><USER12> Hawaii is too mainstream, more like the Mariana Islands:

[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/23/401675/-Meet-the- Ta...](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/23/401675/-Meet-the-Tan-Family- corrupt-patrons-of-the-GOP-HRC)

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> My biggest concern is regarding the internal software and dosimetry controls. Could there be a fault condition that would result in unintended levels of ionizing radiation? It wouldn't be the first such accident..

<http://bjr.birjournals.org/content/78/934/913.full>

[http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1207_web.pd...](http://www- pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1207_web.pdf)

<comment><USER14> ...And the Therac-25 / airport scanner comparison comes full circle: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4919666> =)

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> > _But it is unclear if the academy will conduct its own tests of the scanners > or merely review previous studies._

The most important fact that could possibly be presented, and it's not presented.

Signal to noise ratio is basically nonexistent.

</comment><comment><USER16> Sadly, there's only one way to test these machines right. And that's in the field, as they're being used, without any knowledge that they're being tested.

I'm sure that's not what they're planning to do.

<comment><USER17> If that is the only way, then the conclusion is obvious.

<comment><USER18> Can you elaborate?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I don't think I'll trust the results of this. It sounds too much like they found an "independent" group to study it, and then pressure them into giving them the results they want.

I would've rather seen an independent group take the initiative themselves and ask TSA to let them do the testing, at least.

<comment><USER20> The National Acadamy of the Sciences is not just some random "independent" group. Of course, the article states that it's still unclear as to whether they will take more data, or simply review existing studies. Likely, they will do a review first to decide if further study is necessary (e.g., if the methodology used in prior studies was, in fact, unsound). In any case, having unaffiliated scientists consider the issue is a step in the right direction.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> It's a bit like if I have commissioned a study on whether or not my new startup is awesome. It could be good if I wanted to find out the truth, but it's worthless if I am ordering one of those for external consumption. He who pays the money orders the music.

</comment><comment><USER22> My biggest problem with the scanners is that they are a waste of taxpayer money, so I'm not particularly thrilled by spending more taxpayer money to determine exactly how much a waste of taxpayer money they are.

<comment><USER23> Sunk costs are just that... sunk. Spending X money now to (hopefully) prevent spending X + Y money in the future is ideal.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> I doubt the commission will study the 4th amendment constitutionality of the scanners.</comment>


Get Better Sleep: The Guide to Overcoming Sleep Deprivation - <AUTHOR> http://jamesclear.com/better-sleep <comment><USER2> This was a refreshing* summary of modern sleep research, reinforcing what I hope becomes "common sense" about sleep: Avoid bright lights (computer monitors, TVs, tablets) near bedtime. Practice good "sleep hygiene" in your bed. Have a routine!

I've found that I wake up in a better mood when using a Philips "wake-up light" to supplement my usual alarm clock--even during summer. This was touched on in the article concerning how melatonin begins to decrease before waking, something you can trigger with exposure to light.

* The article's also refreshing because it appears to be written solely to provide information and not a subtle "submarine" article carefully crafted to raise awareness of some new startup or service.</comment>


YC funds InstaCalc: founders head to Cambridge for summer - <AUTHOR> http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/115955.asp <comment><USER2> Having just used instacalc i have to say it rocks! I couldnt be bothered to pull up the calc so i thought i'd try it. It definately is the best of breed between excel and the calculator - i can see why it got funded.

Plenty of potential where people have to share calculations/revenue models etc. Can see plenty of use in the financial industries and also in startups.

<comment><USER3> It's naive to think people will be sharing their financial models over the internet. While cool to play with, I really don't see a business case for Instacalc. Please fill me in on what I'm missing.

<comment><USER2> Well its simple - make them password protected.</comment></comment></comment>


Children's Acquisition of False Memories in Virtual Reality (2009) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://vhil.stanford.edu/pubs/2009/segovia-virtually-true.pdf <comment><AUTHOR> Though the induced false memories are attributable to "source monitoring errors" (i.e. not realizing an invalid source), there is another, more prevalent, side to the "source monitoring error" problem; poor quality sources. For example, a poor quality "news" source (or intentionally biased "news" source) can easily influence and manipulate both your perspective on and memory of particular events.

As far as I know, there has never been a "perfectly accurate, factual, and unbiased" news source, so the learned skill of "source monitoring" is vitally important to maintaining a well-informed perspective. From the paper, children are more susceptible to intentional influence and false suggestions, but even as adults, we're still susceptible.

</comment><comment><USER2> Any volunteer to summarize and translate from Academic to Lay?

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm definitely not "qualified" and I'm not an "expert" (or even vaguely informed), but after reading four of other papers from Jeremy Bailenson, I can tell you this much; he tends to write in an easily readable and approachable style, and gives solid support both through his own data and prior research references.

The phase "source monitoring" is a term of the (academic) trade, and as far as I know, it roughly means, being aware (monitoring) of how our experiences are occurring and have occurred in the past (i.e. from various sources). For example, did you read it in a book? Or read it in an article? Or see it happen live? Or see it in a movie? Or hear it happen live? Or hear it told to you second-hand? Or are you remembering it from a dream you had? Or ... The methods by which our experiences occur has an impact on how they are perceived, and an impact on how they are later remembered.

Though "false memories" sure seems like bad linkbait phrase to use in a title, it's also a term of the academic trade. It means you're unable to differentiate between memories of actual "live" experiences you've had in real life, and memories of perceived or "make believe" experiences.

The paper cites previous work showing how children are more susceptible to false memories in general than adults, and then goes on to show how children are especially susceptible to false memories induced through immersive virtual reality.

If I'm _really_ lucky, maybe someone from the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) will show up and correct me where I'm wrong, but the above is the best I can give you.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Does this explain certain political and cultural narratives obsessed with historical guilt and victim categorization?

<comment><USER4> I don't know. What sort of media do you think might be inducing false memories that are related to those subjects?

<comment><USER3> Pretty much anything and everything Viacom and Disney put their trademark on.

<comment><USER4> I haven't seen much if any media from Viacom or Disney that involves depicting the viewer doing something they didn't actually do. Can you be a bit more specific?</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Apple has €13bn Irish tax bill overturned - <AUTHOR> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53416206 <comment><USER2> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23843145](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23843145)

<comment><USER3> Funnily enough the other thread is an hour younger but has much more upvotes/comments.</comment></comment>


A list of who wants to buy Silk Road's Bitcoins - <AUTHOR> http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/19/5825578/heres-a-list-of-who-wants-to-buy-silk-roads-bitcoins-leaked-by-a-us

<comment><USER2> Interesting to see Fred Ehrsam (Cofounder of Coinbase).

<comment><USER3> Coinbase users are probably buying many more bitcoins than selling (new users looking for an easy way in) so it would make sense for Coinbase to try to buy these.</comment></comment>


Bernanke and the risk of deflation - <AUTHOR> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f56678ea-bf01-11dd-ae63-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1 <comment><USER2> mate can we please not have articles which require me to register into a site. Sure it is free but it is a pain. Sorry about the whinging mate. Having said that I guess I need to "class up" eventually!</comment>


Anyone use https://lowlatencyservers.com/ as a VPS? - <AUTHOR> Does anyone have experience with https://lowlatencyservers.com/members/cart.php?gid=1 . It seems quite cheap (for a Xen VPS). How is its uptime? Reliability? <comment><USER2> I wouldn't trust anything with Minecraft hosting as its primary offering to provide a VPS. DigitalOcean also has a $5 offering, and you get an SSD and the same amount of RAM. (Edit: Also, with DigitalOcean you can get $50 worth of months with the Github Student Pack if you are a student.)

</comment><comment><USER3> This seems like a very new service to me. It barely gets any traffic. I doubt a lot of people are using it.

See domain metrics below: [https://www.metricsbot.com/www/lowlatencyservers.com](https://www.metricsbot.com/www/lowlatencyservers.com)</comment>


Facebook launching Mobile App Platform as part of Apple iPhone Event - <AUTHOR> http://www.staynalive.com/2011/10/conflict-of-honor-or-fame-and-expertise.html

<comment><USER2> For their sake I hope that they don't launch with that icon.</comment>


Falker:Find out if someone deactivated FB or blocked you - <AUTHOR> https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/falker/faoghkjkedlkkjmbjoondlnehohgbcdh

<comment><AUTHOR> There was an error installing, Fixed and working fine now :)</comment>