Svbtle is hiring to build the future of news and opinion on the web - <AUTHOR> http://blog.svbtle.com/the-future <comment><USER2> So I'm just a simple country lad who doesn't understand the big silicon valley city, but I really don't get svbtle. This is coming from someone who is (I imagine) part of 'the masses' who has been linked posts from there but otherwise has no involvement.

It's.. a curated collection of blogs? Why can't you just have a blog? I've probably been linked a dozen or so blogs inside that network (always from HN, I've never noticed traction anywhere else), but at no point has there been any cross promotion, so the fact that it was inside svbtle barely seemed to matter.

On 'barely': so far the fast majority of posts that have come out of svbtle have not actually been very good, and the curated 'we are the cream of the internet crop' pretentious feeling you get is not that positive.

Basicially, for me, a blog being inside svbtle seems to have negligible effect, and that effect is a negative one.

Maybe I'm missing the point though.

<comment> dorian-graph Why are there so many people here on HN to reflexively find Svtble pretentious and whatever similar adjectives they use??

When it was first shown, there was a common feeling in the posts of not being picked by a kid at school to play in the lunch time soccer team. :P

The internet, and I guess I'll say life in general, needs more curation and less dumping. We speak of design and other wonderful things yet we encourage mindless undesign dribble in apparent content creation, relationships and other ways—it strikes of me being partial whores.

<comment><USER3> A lot of the blogs on svbtle aren't very good.

That is not to disparage the platform itself -- I like the style and the emphasis it places on content -- nor Dustin, who I find pretty fascinating, but the blogs just aren't good. I don't mean 'not good' in the sense of 'oh, this is poor writing', but in the sense of 'the consumption of this content was not worth my time.'

A few examples: \- Dave McClure, who I admire and respect, writing a ridiculous blog post about 'hoping to be a late bloomer.' Dude, you have a Wikipedia article about yourself.

\- Dalton Caldwell, who's proved himself time and time again to be prescient (his 2010 YC speech is wonderful in its truths), has been blogging about the importance of app.net. If I'm a developer, a tweeter, and a general tech enthusiast who, after three pretty lengthy blog posts, still doesn't understand what a "decentralized real-time feed" is -- let alone why its important -- then something is wrong.

\- Dozens of fluff pieces which serve as little more than porn for the SV crowd.

I want Svbtle to succeed, and honestly think it will. I don't think that success is going to come when its definition of 'curation' involves what it currently does.

<comment> dorian-graph > A lot of the blogs on svbtle aren't very good. I want Svbtle to succeed, and > honestly think it will. I don't think that success is going to come when its > definition of 'curation' involves what it currently does.

I agree with you—there needs to be a lot more than just curating _who_ posts or at least the seemingly main prerequisite being well known in an area.

Yeah, over time once the network matures, Dustin improves upon his idea, etc, it will be much better.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> We've completely severed the relationship between us and reality

<comment><USER5> I know it doesn't feel like it now, but I promise it will wear off. Next time don't take so much.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> When I read this, I see my old YC2010 startup NewsLabs/NewsTilt. I maintain that was a good idea, but I wasn't the one to do it. My lessons are at <http://blog.paulbiggar.com/archive/why-we-shut-newstilt-down>, and it looks like Dustin has a handle on most of it.

Dustin has a lot that we didn't - a good sense of design, a large following, writers already contributing, and from the look of this, some cash. We had writers too, but they were checking out the latest fad, not actually writing for their own purposes. We didnt have the followers/brand awareness to bootstrap traffic - I think svbtle does.

I think he's doing some of the things which for us were mistakes, but they might not be in the context of svbtle. For example, we also made our own CMS instead of using wordpress. That was definitely a mistake for us, but I'm not convinced it is here - could go either way.

He's making the branding all about svbtle instead of about the journalist. That was definitely a mistake for us, again I'm not positive it is a mistake here - svbtle actually has a brand (even if some people think its a pretentious one).

He's making it about journalism instead of about blogging. I think that's a mistake. Journalism is a horrible niche to be in and I would hate to be a journalist. It has expectation of journalistic purity and a hypocritical hype machine around traffic. Better to be a blog network - I think it's closer to what svbtle is now and I believe that has the potential to be bigger than just journalism.

We werent motivated by journalism - I've never heard of Dustin being either. I think he made svbtle to be a better blog, so why not focus on that? I could be wrong here - I dont know Dustin well at all.

I think they're aiming for the right level of writer - definitely those who want to make something for themselves. We didnt: [http://blog.paulbiggar.com/archive/why-we-shut-newstilt- down...](http://blog.paulbiggar.com/archive/why-we-shut-newstilt-down/#worse- is-better)

Anyway, this looks like it might work. I cringe when I read about it because it brings back the awful memories of a failed startup, but I could see this succeeding. Best of luck Dvstin!

</comment><comment><USER7> Err....what? Am I missing something here? While I know Dustin is a "design genius"...did he raise some money or is there some monetization plan (in the short term) that I am not aware of?

I mean, I fully agree with the premise of the current state of journalism.

This solution does seem awesome - it's one of the reasons I love The Economist.

But as a potential writer, I am not keen on necessarily jumping into something where I don't know what the future might look like.

</comment><comment><USER8> I get the impression that Svbtle is more trying to be the TED network of blogging (with a focus only on the T and not the ED right now), since most of the people who've been invited to participate are accomplished in tech some way.

</comment><comment><USER9> _We've completely severed the relationship between content and revenue_

It's a bold claim/goal with, in my experience, a dearth of successful precedent (in cases where there _is_ non-trivial revenue, of course) and tells me the business model will certainly be interesting.

<comment><USER10> I assume they're expecting to get free content creation from their curated selection of blog posters, and part of to keep 'quality' up offer editorial services. I see some flaws in what they're doing so far. Will have to see how they navigate it all. Certainly be interesting is right.

<comment><USER5> You don't think that when they say they're looking for people to write long- form journalism, they expect to pay people to write long-form journalism?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> "make something noteworthy" — interesting choice of words. Nothing is noteworthy until Svbtle chooses to take note of it.

</comment><comment><USER12> Great job ad. Journalism is historically a career were people are very unhappy. This is due to many many facts, which are hinted in the post. I bet theres a lot of great journalist that will read this and would want to jump into such opportunity.

</comment><comment><USER13> Love the design of the blog. It's brilliant. So swish. The problem is they all look the same, and it kills the branding aspect of it.

Still, there is a very clever plan unfolding and it's pretty cool. Look forward to seeing more.

</comment><comment><USER14> It's really hard to tell if they want to be the future PandoDaily or The New York Times.

<comment><USER5> It's really hard to understand what this comment means, as it boils down to "it's really hard to tell if they want to be the worst of online journalism or a rival for the best of it".

Is there some cue in the writing on this page that suggests that they're hoping to suck?

<comment><USER14> The one has a clear focus on tech and startups, the other has a broad network of correspondents spanning the world.

In retrospect, PandoDaily would probably make me jump to "terrible journalism", too.

<comment><USER5> I see the conclusion I jumped to. You were just saying, "tough to see whether they're launching a tech news site or a global news site".

I hope it's more like the latter!

I think sites like PandoDaily have a problem similar to the one CNN has: they have a mandate to produce more news content than there is to report. In CNN's case it's because they've commandeered a 24/7 cable channel and entered into a ridiculous competition; in the tech/trade press, it's because they've got such a narrow scope --- and again, because they're in what they perceive as a winner-take-all competition with each other.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> can i short this company?

<comment><USER5> No, but if you'd like to make a bet on it, and are happy to lose money, I'm probably happy to put $500 on the line, winnings to charity (mine's Partners In Health).

What would you like the terms to be?

<comment><USER15> Sure! 36 months to deadpool. I'd do $200 to NGLTF.

<comment><USER5> You're on. My contact info is in my profile. When I inevitably win, I'll match your dollars, because PIH is awesome. :)

<comment><USER9> I've totally added this to my calendar for July 2015 and will be calling you guys on it! ;-)

BTW, congratulations are in order for you topping the 100k!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Based on Curtis' explanation of Svbtle[1], I took "the essence of blogging" to be more in the graphical design sense. I wonder what Curtis (and who else is behind Svbtle?) imagines "the future of news and opinion" looks like, and whether he's/they're thinking about it in the socioeconomopolitical sense as well as the graphical design sense.

[1] <http://dcurt.is/codename-svbtle>

<comment><USER16> On another, unrelated note, I'm excited to see a company whose first hiring post on HN is for writers and reporters, not engineers. Interesting times!

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Cool another propaganda network

</comment><comment><USER18> Beautiful format and great bloggers. I love the sheer simplicity of the site and focus on quality content. Every time I'm linked to Svbtle blog I am really genuinely interested on what the writer has to offer because you've done a great job of maintaining quality. Looking forward to these new writers!

</comment><comment><USER19> I'll stick to 9rules.com, thank you very much</comment>


Introducing SymPullCDN: Getting Free Bandwidth From Google - <AUTHOR> http://symkat.com/118/introducing-sympullcdn/

<comment><USER2> Sorry, but this has nothing to do with CDN.

There was _a lot_ of similar projects back in the day when AppEngine was still new and when people thought that content from AppEngine is served from multiple locations because of how Google load balances/routes their traffic... But this simply isn't true and data is served from single US location.

On top of that, you're using datastore, which adds 30ms+ latency (on a good day) by itself.

<comment><USER3> The additional datastore call and also the CPU time spent in the script (even though it might be minimal) are totally unnecessary. Just upload the files yourself and serve them statically. Even though it's not a true CDN (as discussed in many places many times), it works good enough. And why do call it Google Application Engine? Google itself calls it just App Engine.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm going to reply to this with a copypaste from what I said in response to a similar question on reddit:

That's an excellent question. While I thought of this solution as well, I choose not to use it. Here are three key reasons I choose to do it this way instead:

 _Speed_

While it can be argued that serving the files statically will cause an increase in speed, due to the script itself not being loaded, this is questionable. Google does not do 304 negotiations, and uses cache-control: no- cache when serving static files. These default settings will increase the amount of requests sent to GAE, and cause the browser to do more work, and handle more bandwidth for any user who loads a page more than once. My solution supports 304 negotiations on both sides of the cache.

 _Control_

Serving the files statically gives up control of the HTTP headers. SymPullCDN forwards all headers from the origin. By using the static file handlers you give up the ability to control some important headers, such as Cache-Control and Expires.

 _Usability_

I'm using SymPullCDN side-by-side with wordpress. It's caching files from my origin, and wordpress is sending all requests for /wp-include/, /wp-content/, and /s/ (static files) to SymPullCDN. If I change the template, add static files to the site, or do anything else (installing plugins, for instance) I don't want to have to investigate which files are in my origin that are not on the cache side, download them to my laptop and upload them to google. Having the cache downloading from my origin is a crucial usability issue for me.

At the end of the day, this is something I wrote for myself, to meet the needs I have; however, I feel others might find useful, so I released it to GitHub and did a little write up about it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> If only the author would implement the proper google app engine image caching (via the get_serving_url) method. This is a true cdn (in that content is held close to the user) and allows dynamic image sizing by changing the URL!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the tip, I'll look into implementing it within the next 1-2 weeks.

Right now there are a few other conditions that need to be fixed (the data store being full, adding a purge-least-used, handling the fetch API failing, etc, etc) before I make any changes to how the data is stored.

<comment><USER4> Cool. Its a promising tool.

I know from experience that image delivery times are _significantly_ reduced using the get_serving_url method, so it could be a killer feature.

The hard bit will be that the cdn distributed URLs are not guessable, so you would need to communicate the cdn URL back to the app.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Oh no,

      1. A cdn is a network with several cloud fronts
      2. A cdn is optimized for static content
      3. A cdn uses geographical routing

This solution does nothing of this and probably worthens the response time. It offloads some traffic though. If that's what you want, go for this solution, else don't

</comment><comment><USER6> There is another similar project called cirruxcache (<http://code.google.com/p/cirruxcache/>).</comment>


Inside the Forbidden Temple - <AUTHOR> http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/gallery/2015/feb/25/inside-forbidden-temple-tabo/

<comment><USER2> An early depiction of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, dressed as a narrative?</comment>


Kazakhstan built a futuristic city to host Expo 2017, but attendance is low - <AUTHOR> https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/15/kazakhstan-spent-5-billion-on-a-death-star-and-it-doesnt-even-shoot-lasers/ <comment><USER2> I'm heading to the Expo in August, and to be honest I didn't expect to be inundated with crowds -- so this article is of no surprise.

With that being said; I think what Kazakhstan is doing with their foreign policy, tourism and re-imagining their capital is commendable though. They've just dropped tourist visa requirements this year, so many countries have unfettered travel access now; soon they will convert (back) to the Latin alphabet from Cyrillic to be more accessible in the global market; and Astana looks like a real jewel. Their economy and living conditions are rising, and for the ninth largest country in the world it's sad that basically no-one travels there.

Whilst the "if you build it, they will come" motto hasn't necessarily happened overnight, I think that the facilities that have been constructed for the fair will ultimately become a solid investment over time.

<comment><USER3> _Whilst the "if you build it, they will come" motto hasn't necessarily happened overnight, I think that the facilities that have been constructed for the fair will ultimately become a solid investment over time._

That hasn't happened with Olympics sites.

Sarajevo: [1]

Athens: [2]

Rio: [3]

Beijing: [4]

Huge, abandoned facilities, all of them.

London is getting some site reuse.[5]

[1] [https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/haunting-pictures-of- th...](https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/haunting-pictures-of-the- abandoned-sarajevo-winter-olympi?utm_term=.kaXp23p1ow#.ktb6dN6nwq)

[2] [https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2014/aug/13/abando...](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2014/aug/13/abandoned- athens-olympic-2004-venues-10-years-on-in-pictures)

[3] [https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2017/feb/10/rios-o...](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2017/feb/10/rios- olympic-venues-six-months-on-in-pictures)

[4] [http://www.theblaze.com/news/2012/07/13/decrepit-four- years-...](http://www.theblaze.com/news/2012/07/13/decrepit-four-years-after- hosting-the-beijing-olympics-this-is-what-chinas-40b-investment-looks-like/)

[5] [https://www.theguardian.com/cities/davehillblog/2015/jul/23/...](https://www.theguardian.com/cities/davehillblog/2015/jul/23/london- olympic-legacy-three-years-on-2012-games)

<comment><USER4> Well it didn't hurt Atlanta. It definitely revitalized a lot of areas there.

</comment></comment></comment><comment> tuna-piano In the article, "There's two big ways to piss off the Kazakhs. Mention Borat, or call the dome the Death Star."

The title: "Kazakhstan Spent $5 Billion on a Death Star and It Doesn't Even Shoot Lasers"

Laughed out loud.

<comment><USER5> Borat: Kazakhstan Spent $5 Billion on a Death Star and It Doesn't Even Shoot Lasers

fixed for author

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> So first, the gov goes MiTM[1] all the way[1]. Then hosts a _futuristic tech expo_ ? I don't know that current status is, but that doesn't make much sense.

[1]: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10663843](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10663843)

<comment><USER7> They don't MitM now and I'm not aware of any MitM attempts in the past. There was strange page at telecom.kz, like you linked, but it wasn't implemented, at least not yet.

<comment><USER8> Last info I got from peoples who lived in Kazakhstan s that you need to use custom certificate from government to use HTTPS and such stuff.

This mean that MitM will be done for all HTTPS traffic there.

<comment><USER7> Some government websites use custom-signed certificates because of some stupid reasons, so if you want to use them, it's suggested to install those root certificates, so browser won't complain. That's the only reason I could imagine that someone told you about it. You don't need those root certificates for other websites.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Just like The Millennium Dome, in a country far, far away:

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

This did not work and there was just a huge void of content that no amount of inspiration could 'fill'. I worked on it and did not go to see the finished work, I was that ashamed!

Compare and contrast with something like the German IFA trade show that really does show off the technology of the future.

Perhaps the problem is compounded when you have to make it nationalistic as is required for a world type of Expo. The world is too global for country pavilions to work, for instance, why would Ford Motor Co. build a stand on an American pavilion when they have been a global company for the last century and market themselves as local product in all of their major markets.

<comment><USER10> But the Dome was great, it was exceedingly fun!

The problem it had was incompetent management and fraudulent financial planning.

It's visitors still put it in the top 10 attractions for the year and no-one I know who went didn't enjoy it. Just because there were fraudulent and frankly stupid claims of how many visitors it would get (which nobody believed) doesn't put it in this category

<comment><USER11> Agreed. There seems to be this disingenuous memory of the dome from a lot of the population. I remember visiting as a teenager and had a fantastic time. Like you, I've never spoken to anyone that visited who didn't enjoy it. Now it remains an iconic London landmark and is used for events every week - providing somewhat of a legacy.

I wish it had remained as some kind of national science museum. It would have had a longer lasting cultural impact.

<comment><USER10> I think it's because tabloids harped on that it was going to be awful for 2 years and the swirled on ANY info after the fact that could criticize it.

Obviously it was not a sensible financial investment but it was a significant cultural touchstone (and the space is still in use as well as being iconic)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> The whole idea of a world expo seems pretty outdated these days. Nobody cares anymore.

<comment><USER13> When did people care and why do they care less now?

<comment><USER12> In 1900 a world expo was a great way to find out about new stuff you never had heard about. With internet and TV I don't think there are any new things to be learned from an expo. Same for trade shows. In 1990 you saw some real surprises. Not anymore.

<comment><USER14> Indeed. And so went the media coverage. I remember Sevilla '92 was a big thing, lots of coverage before and during it. But then... first time I heard of Milano 2015 was when it closed, I had no idea there was a World Expo and it was there; I think the article was about a demonstration against the expo...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> What a terrible waste. Especially in Kazakhstan that money could have had some serious positive impact if spent wisely.

<comment><USER16> The same could be said of almost anywhere, and almost any public event that is more for show than for benefit.

EDIT: I agree with jacquesm's sentiment ... but I feel we are too forgiving of these kinds of wasteful spends when they're in our own backyards.

<comment><USER17> like Olympics, f1, world cup, TED, etc etc.

it was 5bi spent for entertainment. Just like lots of other billions are everywhere in the world.

just because it was in a country you perceive as poor and failed it shocks you.

yeah, it probably had corruption and half that money disappeared, just like on the rich events I listed above.

But, this is the same mentality that demonize food stamps and social programs for the poor in your rich country that are not 100% focused on making those poor people complacent and effective workers.

(ps: "you" used as in the undefined plural subject form. I don't know the person I'm replying :)

<comment><USER16> > like Olympics, f1, world cup, TED, etc etc.

It's disingenuous to claim that I lump those in the same category.

Let's focus on my 'more for show than for benefit' qualification.

> it was 5bi spent for entertainment. Just like lots of other billions are > everywhere in the world.

Do you mean 'just like other billions everywhere else spent on entertainment' or 'just like other billions everywhere else spent'. I'm not sure you're accurately reflecting my views by suggesting that I think entertainment has equal value to non-entertainment activities.

> just because it was in a country you perceive as poor and failed it shocks > you.

Yeah, so stop right there.

I was working for the treasury department for NSW at the time that we were gearing up for the Sydney Olympics (later re-branded the NSW Olympics (later re-branded, as funding was sought further up the chain, as the Australian Olympics). There's nothing imperial, us-or-them, poor-vs-rich country about this. Take that particular card off the table.

> But, this is the same mentality that demonize food stamps and social > programs for the poor in your rich country that are not 100% focused on > making those poor people complacent and effective workers.

It really, really, is not.

<comment><USER17> you kind of proved my point. I do lump all those events in the same bag and my point was that most people fail to see it and see the ones they like as culturally enriching and the ones they don't fancy as waste.

the only problem on the article's event was lack of public. but I bet lots of local people wanted to go but lacked the means. just like the Olympics. but it doesn't show much because the Olympics manages to import rich foreigners just fine.

<comment><USER18> How did anyone prove your point? You are just repeating yourself to claim that there are two voices in agreement.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> i've followed this Expo indirectly because a professional fighter i follow (Gennady Gennadyvich Golovkin) is from Karaganda, a small mining town in KZ. Golovkin, aka "GGG", is regarded by many (most?) current and former professional boxers and boxing commentators as the best fighter in the world regardless of weight class (P4P). Several months ago, GGG's promoter (K2) said via press release that they were in serious discussions--with an expectation of success--to have GGG's next fight in Astana during the Expo.

the economics of fight promotions is mysterious, at least to me, but i should think getting this fight in Astana during the World Expo would have been a massive economic boost to offset the Expo's staggering cost

more than that though. GGG is not just a professional fighter from Kazakstan; he's the stuff of legends: Olympic silver medalist, World Amateur Champion (2X), amateur record of 352 wins, five losses, and a current professional record of 37-0. For eight years--from 2008 to 2016--he won every one of his fights by knockout. About five years ago when GGG Was just a contender, he called out Sergio Martinez, the current champion in GGG's weight class, SM's trainer said publicly "there's no way i'm putting Sergio in with that animal".

in an interview a couple of years ago (available on youtube), when a reporter asked Manny Pacquiao about GGG's, Pacquiano just shook his head in disbelief.

during a fight with the British Champion, Matthew Macklin, Jim Watts, former LW world champion and ITV commentator said "Matthew Macklin is a terrific fighter, but there's nothing he can do, this fellow [GGG] is just on another level which until tonight i didn't even know existed"

About a minute later, GGG hit MM with a left hand to the ribcage (GGG is a right-handed fighter!) MM went down immediately and remained there for about 20 minutes.

needless to say, he's idolized in his home country and to have him return to fight in KZ (for the first time since becoming a professional) _during_ the World Expo--you couldn't write a better movie script.

and yet the deal somehow fell through on the Expo side. All of the money spent on the Expo and none of it earmarked to underwrite this sporting event-- disappointing

<comment><USER20> It would have been harder for corrupt officials to get a cut of that pie as opposed to the empty stands.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> I was considering visiting Kazakhstan until they announced that all Internet users would have to accept a government self-signed certificate authority to use the network.

<comment><USER7> That's wrong, you don't need that. But some websites, notably including most popular porn sites are banned.

<comment><USER8> AFAIK you require to use it by the law.

If you have other information please point to the source, it would be nice to know it for sure.

<comment><USER7> I'm from Kazakhstan and I've opened [https://news.ycombinator.com](https://news.ycombinator.com) using Kazaktelecom (largest internet provider) without installing any root certificates right now. I can't answer for other operators, but mobile operators don't MitM either.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Btw, the article is blocked in Kazakhstan...

<comment><USER7> I've read it just a few hours ago. Doesn't work now indeed. What a shame.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> TIL there is Expo in 2017, completely forgot that this is still a thing in age of internet. Seem like even bigger nonsense than dictat...pardon Olympic games

</comment><comment><USER23> Great success

</comment><comment><USER24> Since the title isn't very informative about the content of the article: it's about the 2017 world expo which is held in Kazachstan and the steadying decline of visitors to these events.

I hadn't even heard of the fact there currently was a world expo in Kazachstan if it wasn't for this article. For previous expo's I at least remember them having quite some coverage in the news.

<comment><USER25> Same here, I hadn't heard of it.

Currently checking pricing for a trip.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Awful, awful website for mobile. I was redirected three times before I reached the article page, which itself popped and reloaded a few times before I could read anything. Then three separate modal windows pestering me to subscribe or log in or sign up to the newsletter stopped me because they wouldn't close.

How have we fucked up the mobile web experience so much?

<comment><USER27> I'm getting really tired of the "website sucks on mobile" comments.

Yes, a lot of sites are not optimized for mobile devices. That doesn't mean I want to read a rant about it on every 3rd article.

<comment><USER28> If people don't complain, developers won't know they need to fix their shit. Push the pain back on bad devs.

<comment><USER29> That assumes the devs read here, no?

<comment><USER30> You'd be surprised how many devs do.

And if it's not specifically the web devs for this site lurking, discouraging others from following the same path isn't bad.

I personally got two screen-filling pop ups on this site, the second of which was a survey before I was even able to browse. If anyone out there is considering doing this on your site, consider that I added this site to my growing list of filters and will never visit it again.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> Nice page. My mobile browser janked immediately. Even back button didn't work.

<comment><USER32> Yeah, it killed my Chrome on iOS; there was no way to click the "close ad" button, and then it crashed my Chrome session. I restarted the browser and went back, but probably will just skip foreignpolicy.com links in the future.</comment></comment>


DisplayPort and 4K - <AUTHOR> https://etbe.coker.com.au/2020/02/16/displayport-4k/ <comment><USER2> I'm an early adopter of 4k60. If you write code and you're not on 4k, you don't know what you're missing. 4k is great.

Back then display port ran at 60fps, and hdmi ran at 30fps. My hardware has changed and moved on, but I still default to using a display port cable. It's rare to not find a graphics card without display port, and it's rare to find a monitor without one, so I've never had a reason to try HDMI. As far as I can tell it's a stubborn format that continue to fight to live on. Frankly, I don't really get why we still have HDMI today.

<comment><USER3> > If you write code and you're not on 4k, you don't know what you're missing.

I really don't. Would anyone care to share their experience? Currently, I'm thinking that a vertical monitor would be an improvement for me, but I don't see a reason to get a screen that's several times denser.

<comment><USER4> They're probably suggesting to get a bigger monitor at the same time. You can have somewhat higher DPI and smoother text, and more real estate.

If you're used to 24" 1080P, going to 32" 4K gets you 1.5x the DPI and 1.77x the screen area. For what's now a $300 monitor, that is a pretty significant improvement overall.

The DPI means my characters go from 9x18 pixels to 13x27, which is a big difference in text rendering fidelity and just feels a little nicer. And the additional screen real estate speaks for itself.

<comment><USER5> I am still traped into the mess Linux wayland has brought and all I see is a blurry algamation of nlurry fonts surrounded by blurry images.

The Linux desktop is dead.

<comment><USER2> That's odd. Maybe it's your hardware or your setup or something.

I'm on Linux, and as long as I have screen composition on in the NVidia Settings Panel and software vsync off, 4k60 is as smooth as butter and as sharp as 4k, much like OSX. It's nicer than Windows.

<comment><USER6> Thank you for that tip. I had a lot of screen tearing before I enabled that option. Do you have "Force Full Comoposition Pipeline" enabled or just "Force Composition Pipeline"?

EDIT:

[https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA/Troubleshooting#...](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA/Troubleshooting#Avoid_screen_tearing)

That's helpful! :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The real "fun" starts with HDR.

See, HDR on one hand requires ten bits of color per channel. So bandwidth wise 4K @ 60Hz 10 bit fits DisplayPort 1.2 but not even HDMI 2.0 has enough. See the calculator [https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/729232-guide-to- display...](https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/729232-guide-to-display- cables- adapters-v2/?section=calc&H=3840&V=2160&F=60&bpc=10&timing=cvtrb&calculations=show&formulas=show)

But! HDR is more and some video standards have the necessary extensions but it can also be done from software but then only compatible software will be HDR. Check [https://superuser.com/a/1335410/41259](https://superuser.com/a/1335410/41259)

> The HDR mode will automatically activate if the monitor receives a > compatible signal, but the device only relies on a software-based > implementation. When active, the HDR representation adds a nice touch of > extra color pop and a seemingly deeper contrast range, although the > monitor's limitations will come into play here.

And this extra has been added to HDMI 2.0b (compared to HDMI 2.0a) and for this reason it is said HDMI 2.0b support 4k @ 60Hz HDR when it can't because it doesn't have enough bandwidth (well, it does for 4:2:0) and DisplayPort 1.2 is said to not support it when it does have enough bandwidth.

Oh joy.

<comment><USER8> Yeah, it's kinda sad how close we are to the specs and that they aren't getting much ahead. Higher resolutions just chew through that bandwidth quickly.

Apple had to really hack around to get the Pro Display XDR to do 6k at 10-bit at 60Hz. They are using USB-C w/Thunderbolt for that and actually pushing two DisplayPort 1.4 signals down that cable. Clearly cludgy at best. Even then at 6k/10-bit/60Hz the other USB-C ports on the monitor can only work at USB 2.0 speeds because the link is so saturated.

6k/10-bit is a bit niche right now for sure, but I'd sure love to be able to daisy-chain my three 4k monitors which I can't do, and 120Hz is becoming very mainstream (although actually rendering 4k/120Hz is problematic on the graphics card side too).

<comment><USER7> I believe Apple arrived to the Prod Display resolution based on the Thunderbolt bandwidth! [https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/729232-guide-to- display...](https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/729232-guide-to-display- cables- adapters-v2/?section=calc&H=6016&V=3384&F=60&bpc=10&timing=cvtrb&calculations=show&formulas=show) it's 38.70 gbit/s which is suspiciously close to the bus bandwidth limit of 40 gbit/s

<comment><USER9> It also is the equivalent PPI of the Apple Cinema Display (which was 2560x1440 27"), but 2x for "retina" monitors. I eagerly await DP 2.0 to become widespread so the rest of the world can catch up to the XDR and LG UltraFine 5K.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> This article does contain useful information especially since a lot of this is way less obvious than it should be to a non-technical end user.

My crappy Apple USB-C Multiport adapter simply refuses 60Hz 4K on an HDMI cable that works out of the box with Windows 10 on a GTX 1060. This is despite the fact that the product page says that this configuration with my particular Mac is supported (edit: it's actually because I have an old adapter).

Then I use a cheap $8 USB-C to HDMI cable and it works fine on two MacBook Pro 15/16" computers (be careful here as a 2016 USB-C MacBook Pro 15" doesn't support 4K 60Hz over HDMI but the identical-looking 2017 model and newer do).

Frustratingly, Apple doesn't make a similar USB/power/video adapter for DisplayPort, just for HDMI. Nobody else seems to make one either unless you get into the world of expensive hubs.

For our older 2015 MacBook Pro, Thunderbolt 2/mini displayport to DisplayPort is the option.

What I'm getting at in a poorly organized fashion is that the world of single cable charge and display and device hub is definitely not here. There's one display on the market that supports USB-C charging above 85W and it only works with newer Macs.

You can get basically the same display for $1000 less with an LG 27" 4K display and just use DisplayPort and HDMI with adapters. Saving yourself from plugging in a second thing isn't worth $1000.

I can't for the life of me figure out why the people who make displays with built in power supplies for USB-C charging didn't just default it on the 100W maximum that the spec allows. What short-sighted design!

In any event, I think I don't mind keeping that piece of hardware separate from my display, not just for reliability but for weight and bulk as well. I can easily hide a power brick under the table.

<comment><USER11> I'm not on a Mac anymore, but this sounds very similar to something that I experienced when switching over to Linux and trying to use the Apple adapters that I had for my displays.

I can't remember the exact terminology, but there are basically two types of adapters: active and passive. Passive adapters defer some of the work to software on the computer while active have everything needed built in.

All Apple adapters are passive and because of that when you try to use them with non-Apple computers that don't have the expected software/driver...they don't work.

It's been a while but I experienced this with mini-display port to DVI adapters. I don't know if it carriers over to other types as well.

<comment><USER12> It's interesting, at least the lightning to HDMI adapter from apple dynamically loads a bundled copy of iOS from the device itself. I'm unsure if the USB-C multi port adapter is similar. [https://hackaday.com/2019/07/30/apple-lightning-video- adapto...](https://hackaday.com/2019/07/30/apple-lightning-video-adaptors-run- ios-dynamically-loaded/)

<comment><USER13> It doesn't seem to be dynamically loaded the same way, but it certainly has software updates: [https://support.apple.com/en- us/HT205858](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205858).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> For me the sweet spot is a triple monitor setup with all three monitors in the neighborhood of 200 DPI, and running at 200% scaling in either Windows or Linux (Cinnamon).

One monitor is my ThinkPad's 14" WQHD display. The other two are 24" 4K displays.

One of those displays is horizontal, immediately above the ThinkPad display. The other is vertical, to the left, with the bottom of the monitor close to my standing desk. (Of course it could be on the right if that suits you better.)

Because I'm old enough that my eyes can not adjust their focus like a younger person's eyes, I make sure that all three monitors are at the same distance from my eyes. And I have a pair of single vision prescription glasses adjusted for that distance.

Since I also use the ThinkPad on its own, that determines the focus distance: about 20 inches. The external monitors are also at that distance from my eyes. Each of the three monitors is tilted at the appropriate angle so that the plane of the monitor is perpendicular to the view from my eye position. In other words, the "normal" at the center of each monitor points directly to my eyes.

I can't use big monitors like a 32", regardless of the resolution. The focus distance changes too much between the center of the monitor and its edges. But 24" is small enough that the entire monitor is in focus with my single vision glasses.

Did I mention single vision glasses?!

Unless you are young enough that your eyes can easily refocus, do yourself a favor and get these. Not a "reading" prescription - that is typically 16", much too close for typical computer use. Bring your laptop to your optometrist and get single vision lenses for that distance. It will probably be about 20". Then when you use external monitors, make sure they are also at that same distance.

Do not under any circumstances use progressive lenses for computer work! I have seen far too many people tilt their head back and lower their gaze into the bottom part of their progressives. This is a recipe for neck and eye strain. You will be amazed at the improvement that a good pair of single vision lenses give you.

<comment><USER15> I agree wholeheartedly. My optometrist created an extra pair of single vision glasses that were backed off by about one diopter from my true distance prescription (YMMV) and it is much much more comfortable for computer work than reading glasses.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> To anyone has a slightly older Mac and thinking about getting a 4k screen: DON'T.

4k is not supported on many older models. Check your official specs. Most Macs has max 1440p@60hz output. 4k is only supported @ 30hz, which is no good for daily usage. And the main problem is, if you get a 4k monitor( to future proof your setup), and try to use it at 1440p, everything will be blurry and pixels will shift and distort.

Just get a native 1440p monitor.

If you have a never Mac, getting a 4k 27" monitor may still be a bad idea. Since 4k is too much for a 27" screen, you will need to use scaling in Mac options, and ideally set it to "looks like 1440p" But this will cause your mac to do 1.5 scaling and create a burden in your GPU and CPU. It will render everything doubled at 5k and try to scale it to 4k. If you're using a Macbook, your fans will never stop even on idle. This is even worse performance than getting a 5k monitor and using it native 2x scaled, which is easy on GPU.

One side note; there is no USB-C Hub that offer 4k@60hz output, technically not possible. You have to get a separate hdmi or dp adapter, or an expensive Thunderbolt 3 dock. But there are some usb-c to hdmi or dp adapters which also offers Power Delivery.

I've already wasted money and time figuring this out, so you don't have to :)

<comment> crooked-v > If you're using a Macbook, your fans will never stop even on idle.

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro that runs 4K-at-looks-like-1440p fine with no fan noise and without even turning on the dedicated GPU for normal web browser / code editor / document stuff.

<comment><USER16> Macbooks always turns on dedicated GPU when connected to an external monitor. Maybe you're using it in clamshell mode?

<comment> crooked-v Huh, I guess I was incorrect on the GPU, then, but I've definitely never heard any fan noise for anything less than a game with 3D rendering spinning up.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> HDMI and 4K/60Hz is problematic on other platforms than just Linux, in my experience. It just doesn't work well enough yet for most people and most computers/screen combos.

Using 4K and 30Hz is like using your desktop through a VNC session, it's absolutely horrendous.

</comment><comment><USER18> On a Mac the other way to sort this is with an egpu.

I have a 13" 2017 MBP & use a Razor Core X Chroma with an AMD Vega 64.

It makes an awesome 1 cable docking station - I have mouse, keyboard & external disks plugged into it, as well as the monitors and a Behringer external sound card (for midi and studio speakers).

Just 1 Thunderbolt cable into the MBP, which also provides power to it. Makes for a nice tidy desk too!

[https://egpu.io](https://egpu.io) has all the info you'd ever need on such setups (no affiliation BTW).

<comment><USER19> I have a similar setup but I found the USB ports on the Chroma to be ridiculously unreliable, and that seems to be very common. They work without issue for you?

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Related, I had an interesting experience with an older 4k monitor and ultrahd bluray.

I had a dell UP3214Q monitor, and I got the bright idea to get a bluray player. The model I bought happened to support 4k ultrahd, so I hooked it up.

It looked pretty good... except ... wait, it was downscaling ultrahd to 1080p over HDMI.

So I tried making sure I had the right HDMI cables. Still 1080p.

Long story short -- nobody will tell you this straight out -- ultrahd bluray players require hdcp 2.2. strangely 1080p non-ultrahd disks upscaled to 4k.

hollywood sucks.

I tried a U3219Q (HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2) and everything worked. (except the monitor is not as high quality with a little less viewing angle and some LED bleed at the lower edges)

<comment><USER2> If it says anything, most 4k movies out right now have cgi rendered in 1080p and then upscaled. Also, most cameraing, even if recorded in 4k, is not focused to 4k, but focused for 1080, so it's often fuzzy. Then some shots are more focused than others which is just annoying.

Avengers: End Game is the first movie to render for 4k and recorded with 4k in mind, and I am uncertain if any movies have come after it meeting that spec yet, so atm 4k bluray is sadly a gimmick anyways.

<comment><USER20> I watched Gemini Man 4k/60hz/HDR and it was really weird to watch.

It felt more like reality tv than a cinematic movie, and I'm uncertain if it was the HDR or the 60hz.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Do variable-refresh-rate (FreeSync, G-SYNC, etc.) monitors support being driven at 24/25Hz? If so, can we just _do that_ and watch movies in 4K@24 (which would fit perfectly fine down an HDMI1.4 cable), rather than needing this whole ridiculous chain of 3:2 pull-down + frame doubling + bandwidth increases to get there?

<comment><USER9> Not necessarily any reason to have FreeSync or G-Sync. Just set the output refresh rate to the desired fixed value. Some media playback software can even be set to do this automatically. You'll get a flash during the refresh rate switch, though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> Speaking of 4k, one question bothers me -- will we see HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 2.0 in the 2020 GPUs? Because if not, it would be another 1-2 years wait for a solution capable of doing 4k HDR(10bpc) at 120 fps, or even just 4k 10bpc 4:4:4 in case of HDMI.

Frankly, don't want to buy a GPU that will be outdated in a year, simply due to its connectivity.

</comment><comment><USER23> Met this issue on my 2015 MacBook Pro, tried to connect a 4k display with HDMI only to find out that it can only display 4k at 30hz. I thought it was only a configuration issue, but seems like MBP can only do 4k@30hz when connecting with HDMI (it uses HDMI 1.2 IIRC). Works properly with a DisplayPort cable though.

<comment><USER24> My scenario. I'm about to buy 2 4K monitors but with Thunderbolt-DisplayPort adapters for that very reason.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> It's unclear why the author posits that the graphics cards (s)he has on hand only support HDMI 1.1. Just because they only support 1080p output doesn't really mean anything about the HDMI revision they support. PCI-e should have nothing to do with that either.

Also, I'm not sure what spare parts bin the OP has, but if you don't have something that supports anything higher than FullHD/1080p, you've got some ANCIENT graphics cards.

For reference, here's one of the oldest graphics cards I could find on Newegg, the GTS 450. First released in Sept 2010... according to Nvidia it still supports an output resolution max of 2560x1600: [https://www.nvidia.com/object/product-geforce-gts-450-oem- us](https://www.nvidia.com/object/product-geforce-gts-450-oem-us)

<comment><USER26> The article says:

> Apparently some video cards that I currently run for 4K (which were all > bought new within the last 2 years) are somewhere between a 2010 and 2013 > level of technology.

Which I find unhelpful, because I can buy a new GeForce GT 710 circa 2014 from the local computer store today. (Dirt cheap, passively cooled, I assume that's the niche.) Buying new doesn't mean it's contemporary. A cursory Google suggests my old GeForce 960 (which first came out in 2015; also I'd consider it mid-range at best) supports HDMI 2.0.

Elsewhere it mentions a GT 630 which is ... from 2012. So yeah the 2012 era GPU bought two years ago is "somewhere between a 2010 and 2013 level of technology."

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Having just dealt with the HDMI cable 4K refresh rate debacle, I can say that it is indeed a mess. The only way to make it worse would be to incorporate USB-C somehow.

<comment><USER28> > The only way to make it worse would be to incorporate USB-C somehow.

Why? I run DisplayPort over USB Type-C port on my Linux Laptop and it works quite well for 4K at 60Hz. DisplayPort over Type-C is a pretty common configuration on laptops. [https://www.displayport.org/displayport-over- usb-c/](https://www.displayport.org/displayport-over-usb-c/)

<comment><USER27> I was mostly joking. USB-C is fine if you get the right cables. But that can be a big "if."

It's a far cry from the trivial "just plug anything into anything with any cable and it'll work" that we were promised.

<comment><USER29> > It's a far cry from the trivial "just plug anything into anything with any > cable and it'll work" that we were promised.

It pretty much works exactly like that except for very edge cases near end of protocol capability. Things like 100W power supply and 4k/60Hz.

(Also I don't know who exactly promised you that any cable will work for high performance protocols.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> I tested a bunch of different HDMI cables when I needed to record 10-bit 4K 4:2:2 @ 60fps from my camera, and found that the most reliable cables were Monoprice brand, starting at just under $4.

[https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id...](https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024021&p_id=24182&seq=1&format=2)

</comment><comment><USER31> "A roomy 5K desktop, on a bus."[1] is a recent silly tweet of mine. The system as demoed is variously unusable: an inappropriate camera lens is terribly blurring passthru; the underlying desktop capture is scaled, losing pixel crispness; and the scaling and config are making head motion too sensitive.

But the motivating idea... Nreal glasses have a crisp 1080p stereo display, at 2 meters, with a laptop-like 50deg (5 held-out fists) field-of-view (vs this demo's 90-ish). Used as a viewport into a larger (and shallow 3D) desktop... I'm very much looking forward to trying that. One downside is that's still only 1080p visible without head motion... but the motion mapping can be variously aphysical.

[1] [https://twitter.com/mncharity/status/1225091755667853318](https://twitter.com/mncharity/status/1225091755667853318)

</comment><comment><USER32> I am able to run Windows 10 in 4k at 100fps with display port using the Alienware curved 34in monitor (it supports 100+ fps) . The hardware behind it is described in this unfinished blog post ([https://blog.dianazink.com/constructing-a-deep-learning- desk...](https://blog.dianazink.com/constructing-a-deep-learning-desktop- in-2020)).

I built this rig for machine learning and I spend a lot of hours coding every day. Any other setup gives me headaches and eye exhaustion, including Apple's otherwise excellent Thunderbolt display (60fps). The high fps on the Alienware is the number one criteria i now use for buying a monitor or TV. It has made me more productive by far (feels like two monitors in one by real estate).

<comment><USER25> You sure you don't mean the UltraWide 3440x1440 120Hz (or 100Hz, overclockable to 120Hz for the old version) Alienware monitor? I'm not aware of any curved monitor they make that is also 4k.

At 3440x1440x120Hz, you're only pushing ~14.5Gbit/s. DP1.2 or HDMI2.0 supports it fine, but that's it.

It's even worse than a 4k 60hz monitor. You literally cannot use anything besides HDMI2 or DP1.2 to drive the display.

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> I was searching for the date thinking this had to be old, but it's not. It's very recent, but the author does seem to be using some older hardware. I did have a problem with 4K-DCI and KVM switches at one time:

[https://battlepenguin.com/tech/4k-uhd-kvm-switches-the- start...](https://battlepenguin.com/tech/4k-uhd-kvm-switches-the-startech- sv231mdpu2-and-the-iogear-GCS62DP/)

Since then I've switch to a UDH monitor and a TESmart HDMI KVM switch. It can do 60Hz with HDR on my Windows and PS4 and 60Hz/non-HDR on Linux with the amdgpu (open source) Radeon drivers. I had no issues at all with the full resolution an refresh rate, either directly connected or with that KVM.

</comment><comment><USER24> Interestingly this week I was planning to upgrade my setup buying 2 Samsung monitors 4K for the MBP. And from what I've investigated I concur that HDMI is a no-no. All is pointing to Thunderbolt<->DisplayPort adapters as the way to achieve 60Hz in 4K

<comment><USER25> HDMI is fine for 4k 60hz if it supports HDMI2. Depends on the adapter. If you have an old-school MBP that still has an HDMI port, that port definitely can't do 4k 60hz.

Both Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) would be fine for supporting 4k 60hz. Whether it's over HDMI or DisplayPort ultimately doesn't matter, it's the adapter that'll matter more.

<comment><USER24> Yes. And to add something to this, you might be able to find a cable instead of an adapter. One like this:

Monitor <\-- male DisplayPort* ---- male mini DisplayPort --> MacBook Pro

*I has to be DisplayPort 1.2 or newer (they are backward compatible)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> I work from home 1 or 2 days a week and am extremely comfortable with a 2019 MacBook Pro (15 in) and two Dell P2415Q monitors (24 in / 4K). I wish I had gone with the 27 in model but had limited space in my office.

My personal laptop is a mid-2015 MacBook Pro. For connectivity, I use both DisplayPort (DP) and mini-DisplayPort (mDP). DP goes to the 2019 MBP and mDP goes to the mid-2015 MBP.

I run everything from the latest MacOS to Windows 7 and 10 to multiple flavors of Linux via an unRAID box that pulls double duty as a media server. I've had very limited issues with driver support.

Very affordable and reliable solution.

</comment><comment><USER35> GT630 seems to only support hdmi 1.4, not 2. i miss the point of this article.

</comment><comment><USER36> For whatever it's worth, I recently attempted to run a 4K 60hz HDMI connection from my gaming PC to my 4K LG OLED TV in the living room.

I ended up trying out probably 4 different cables before I found one that was actually able to transmit the signal correctly over 25-30 feet. The cable that ended up working for me was a KableDirekt cable that I bought off Amazon. The beast of a cable is THICK. I also had a lot of luck with AmazonBasics HDMI cables for shorter runs.

The most important thing for 4K HDMI cables seems to be that they need to be well insulated and thick.

</comment><comment><USER37> >my testing has shown that a cheap "High Speed HDMI Cable" can work at 60Hz with 4K resolution with the right combination of video card, monitor, and drivers.

My testing was completely contrary to this. I bought around 10 cables that claimed to support various dp and HDMI specs, trying to achieve 4k@60 on my MacPro.. in the end only one cable actually succeeded, and the longer version of the same cable from the same manufacturer would not work, and even the "good" cable would flicker if the ambient temperature was too low.

</comment><comment><USER38> If you think 4K 60Hz is a PITA, try getting 8k working in Linux. It's a super PITA.

Then try relocating the computer 50 ft away to put it in another room for noise reasons. Super super PITA.

But: it's possible.

</comment><comment><USER39> Does anyone know how I would find a graphics card or set of graphics cards for Ubuntu which supported 5 monitors well, one being 4k?

I also don't want NVidia proprietary drivers due to bugs. They confuse something with monitors versus screens which breaks a lot of things. Nouveau works fine. Haven't tried AMD but I assume it's fine too.

<comment><USER40> AMD used to have special "Eyefinity" series cards which supported up to 6 displays (as in a single card / GPU would have up to 6 display controllers).

Though I don't know if that's still a thing, or whether they were well supported on linux, or how well they deal / dealt displays of different resolution. Also I'm pretty sure it only worked over native DisplayPort, so you'd need active adapters to plug in non-DP displays.

</comment></comment><comment><USER41> I just got a 32" 4k monitor. Works nicely on my Asus Zenbook UX430UA running Ubuntu 18

The sales guy kept trying to sell me an HDMI cable, but I knew I could only do 30 Hz. Had to ask several times for USB type C to displayport

My next system will have thunderbolt and I'd like to run a 27" monitor at 5k

</comment><comment><USER42> Always prefer DisplayPort over HDMI. There should be no reason to ever use the later, unless you are stuck with hardware that can't work with anything else. It's only being pushed around by HDMI creators who still like to collect fees for its patents.

</comment><comment><USER43> I've let go of HDMI for a while now. They work terrible on macs as they tend to render at 1x instead of 2x at 60hz, or you can run 2x at 30hz, which is super laggy.

Not a lot of people seem to be aware of that, yet it's like not wearing glasses when you actually need some.

</comment><comment><USER44> I use a Dell P2715Q with a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and an HDMI cable and it's at 60Hz. Works fine in Linux and looks great. And this is some pretty old hardware. I believe I had to do something on the monitor to make 60Hz work, but I can't remember for sure.

<comment><USER45> I have one of these at home and U2718q at work. At work, I use the Macbook USB-C multiport adapter (new one - you have to double check if you have an old one) and at home I got a uni USB-C-> HDMI 2.0 adapter ($18 on amazon)

Both systems work good. Both monitors also worked with mini displayport on my 2015 Macbook at 60hz, which was kind of embarrassing when going to the newer macbook, because it was expensive for the apple adapter and I had to look around before I tried the uni adapter.

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> If you need a long cable length, like more than 20 feet it gets even more interesting. Yay for 'Standards', maybe.

<comment><USER47> I'm currently using a 10m (~33ft) HMDI cable to connect my desktop PC to my TV @ 4k/60hz. It works well without HDR but does cut out from time to time with HDR enabled so I mostly leave it turned off @4k.

I spent quite a long time researching what cable to get as the standard does not really cover cables longer than around 5 meters, and most "legit" cables explicitly states that they can't provide 4k/60hz at lengths longer than 5 meters so you mainly have to go on customer reviews. The price does not necessarily indicate what the cable is actually capable of so getting something that works requires a lot of research... (+ YMMV)

</comment></comment><comment><USER48> I'm a bit late to the game here, but why would Chroma subsampling give you a poor experience when reading text?

</comment><comment><USER49> Wait a second. You can watch 4k content from Netflix under Linux nowadays?

<comment><USER50> Amazon Prime and Netflix work in the browser nowadays. Quite well on Linux, too. I suppose it's some DRM that made it into firefox in the past? Anyway, it's working quite well.

<comment><USER51> At least Netflix is limited to 720p if you are not using the Windows 10 store app or (apparently) using some firefox extension that tricks it. But yes the DRM/widevine has been working for quite some time now.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER52> Related question: why did DVI become popular first? DP is smaller and "better", was it the fact that DVI could carry analog as well?

<comment><USER53> DVI Predates DP by ~7 years

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort)</comment></comment>


How Older Parenthood Will Upend American Society - <AUTHOR> http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/110861/how-older-parenthood-will-upend-american-societ

<comment><USER2> Correct Link: [http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/110861/how- olde...](http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/110861/how-older- parenthood-will-upend-american-society)</comment>


Oh to Have Eaten at the Automat, Just Once - <AUTHOR> https://www.messynessychic.com/2017/08/04/oh-to-have-eaten-at-the-automat-just-once/ <comment><USER2> When I was a child, I lived with my mother and my nearest-in-age sister in the US Virgin Islands. My mother's family lived in western Massachusetts so that we would travel back and forth every few years on visits. For me, one of the high points of those trips was a stop at the Automat in NYC.</comment>


102 year old lens attached to digital camera - <AUTHOR> http://www.cinema5d.com/viewtopic.php?p=133996

<comment><USER2> So this is a 102 year old lens mounted on modern Canon DSLR. Obviously it requires an adapter to physically mate the two.

Not to take anything away from that, but I thought I'd point out that you can mount 50 year old Nikon lenses on modern Nikon DSLRs, no adapter required, due to Nikon's commitment to the F-mount it introduced in 1959:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_F-mount>

<comment><USER3> > _So this is a 102 year old lens mounted on modern Canon DSLR_

Isn't that precisely what is suggested by the title?

Also, this isn't any "adapter":

> _My friend, a Russian lens technician, who loves nothing more than to > frankenstein equipment [...] called me into his store in NYC. [...] He found > in a box of random parts, hidden inside anther lens this gem. A circa 1908 > (possibly earlier) 35mm lens. Still functioning, mostly brass, and not > nearly as much dust or fungus as one would think after sitting in a box for > over a hundred years. This lens is a piece of film history people, and at > this point rare beyond words. So i say to him, "Wow... what do you have in > mind?" He smiles, and says (in the thickest Russian accent you can imagine) > "I can make this fit EF you know...." My eye twinkled, and then 6 nail- > biting hours later, he had it finished. My Russian lens technician is a mad > scientist and he took what sounded like an angle grinder to the lens to make > it clear the flange distance and the mirror.... This lens's value is > unclear. It's sort of on loan. It's the only lens of its kind on a 5D... or > any digital for that matter._

<comment><USER4> Article also specifies the type of lens:

> _This is a circa 1908 Wollensak 35mm F5.0 Cine-Velostigmat hand cranked > cinema camera lens_

Which is not a Canon lens.

In other words, he probably should have read the article.

<comment><USER2> I read the link and I wasn't denigrating it at all. I was just trying to point out that it reminded me of the Nikon F-Mount which has been a very durable mount.

For many photographers, lenses are the most expensive part of the camera system and it's nice that Nikon has kept their camera bodies backwards compatible with their lenses for 50 years. It is also largely forward compatible (allowing modern Nikon lenses to be used on older Nikon cameras).

<comment><USER3> It's pretty fun that for all the technological camera changes we've seen in 100 years, the optical core of these systems is pretty much the same: a lens with a shutter whose image circle covers (in the most popular case) a 24×36 mm rectangle.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> No background in optics, physics or serious photography, but I am curious: What sorts of effects or "feel" does an ancient lens like this typically generate, and why? For instance, will the lens elongate, fade, or gather microscopic pitting?

<comment><USER6> My money's on that this lens is a Cooke Triplet <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooke_triplet> which was (and is) a fairly neutral lens design.

There is some astigmatic aberration as well as vignetting visible in the photos provided, but it's possible that this lens was intended for a smaller image circle than 24x36 sensor in the 5DmkII. All lenses will have astigmatic aberration and vignetting at the edge of their image circle (which is normally outside the photographic media the image is being projected onto).

This lens is uncoated and highly susceptible to lens flare. As I understand it, many lenses before the 4-element Zeiss Tessar also tend to have more pronounced flare than later lens formulas. You can really see this in some of the photos.

Overall, it's neat little lens and I would shoot it in a heartbeat. It looks very sharp in the center with gentle fall-off near the edges. The owner could go a long way to get the most out of it by crafting a little lens hood for it -- it really helps with older lenses like this.

<comment><USER7> And this lens is likely to be f5.6 or slower - it's a lot easier to make a 35mm f5.6 design than a modern f1.2 !

<comment><USER3> f/5.0, the link said.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I __love __the visual qualities of that lens. Wow! The slight softness, the vignette, the muted tones. I have bags full of old lenses and lens elements (going back to cameras from about 1920) myself and now I'm inspired to do something with them on my own digital body. What fun!

</comment><comment><USER9> Not extraordinarily unusual. All you have to do is align the focal plane of the lens with the camera sensor. Usually this is done with a metal flange of greater or lesser complexity. Here he just had to adapt the threads on the lens to the threads on the camera body. Twenty minutes in any well-equipped machine shop.

Modern lenses are very complicated, because they work to cancel out all sorts of subtle and troublesome distortions, but a lens can be very simple indeed. A Lensbaby[1] is just a single lens element attached to some stiff bellows.

And that's it.

You could hand it to Robert Hooke and he would nod in comprehension. He might find the plastics more interesting, but the point is, you could have built a Lensbaby at any point in the last three hundred years.

You can get even simpler than that, as my link notes. Poke a hole in a body cap with a hot needle, and you've made a pinhole "lens", which is thousand year old technology.[2]

1: <http://www.dansdata.com/lensbaby.htm> for an excellent review. He's actually reviewing a Lensbaby 2, which uses a doublet instead of a single uncoated lens, to reduce chromatic aberration and flare, which is quite missing the point, I feel.

2: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura>

<comment><USER10> _Not extraordinarily unusual..._

This person stumbled upon a 100+ year-old cinema lens and thought to adapt it to a modern DSLR, take some excellent pictures with a wonderful vintage feel, and post them online for all of us to share. I would most certainly call that unusual.

Let's give credit where credit is due. This is a wonderful and novel piece of work and I'm definitely grateful that s/he chose to share it with us.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Wonderful juxtaposition of old and new. Good photos!

</comment><comment><USER12> Site is down :( Coral Cache not working either.

<comment><USER13> Not quite! It's working intermittently; try more.

<comment><USER14> Mirror, just in case: <http://fileability.net/mirror/cinema5d.com/>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> I've known the photographer for about 8 years, he does lots of interesting projects like this.

</comment><comment><USER16> Does anyone know where you could find a how-to guide to do this yourself? Or is this the type of thing best left to professionals?

<comment><USER2> It may be a 39mm lens:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M39_lens_mount>

You could start with a T-mount adapter to get to 42mm:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-mount>

<http://www.adorama.com/LNTMEOS.html>

Then a 42mm to 39mm step-down adapter ring:

[http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-M39-Adapter-Zeiss- Pentax/dp/B...](http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-M39-Adapter-Zeiss- Pentax/dp/B001G4QXQY)

Not sure about the clearances, and you may not get infinity focus depending upon how far out the lens ends up being situated from the focal plane of the sensor.

Edited to add: google turned up this direct EOS to M39 adapter:

      http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110365260908&ssPageName=STRK

But note "DOES NOT allow focus to infinity".

<comment><USER7> The Canon EF mount has a fairly short back focal distance = the distance between the back of the lens and the film/sensor is less than most other cameras so it's easy to make an adapter to hold another lens the correct distance away.</comment></comment></comment>


Elon Musk affirms that Tesla will have full self-driving cars by end of year - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/lexfridman/status/1116722843230834693 <comment><USER2> If Musk actually made this claim, he can look forward to a massive shareholder lawsuit in 2020 if Tesla fails to deliver anything less than Level 5 self driving vehicles. As they have yet to achieve Level 3 driving (and arguably, even Level 2), he's basically looking down the barrel of a gun.

It's going to be a horrible year for the employees unlucky enough to be working on "self driving" tech at Tesla. Look for a lot of employee departures over the year.

</comment><comment><USER3> At this point, I don't believe a word Musk says. Someone must have forgotten to tell him about "the boy who cried wolf" when he was a boy.

</comment><comment><USER4> Did he really make this claim? I didn't listen the podcast.

If true, this sounds completely unrealistic especially with the way Tesla is approaching self-driving cars. It's possible that Musk will showcase something within year, but I'm certain will not be a full self-driving car in any meaningful sense.

If there is betting market with well defined bet terms, I could bet some money on it.

</comment><comment><USER5> I call BS. There are just too many variables that have not been solved. The biggest variables are the random drivers that decide to do something stupid. Look at how hard it is to drive in a stormy or heavy snow day for humans. How will cars handle that?

Also, people are going to want self-driving cars to be perfect never mind that most drivers are far less. So, just by pointing these few items out of many more that still need to be solved means that we are ways away from the goal.

Musk needs to define the stages that will be possible over time and promise that rather than full self-driving by end of the year. He's defining reality by what he wishes will happen rather than what reality is.

</comment><comment><USER6> He promised coast to coast in 2016

<comment><USER7> He promised Falcon Heavy in 2013. Yet here we are, with Falcon Heavy doing every bit that was promised.

Not to say that means much, but let people be optimistic and miss deadlines as long as they're truly working on it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Where can I have an online bet? I'm not kidding

<comment><USER9> Buying TSLA calls or puts that expire at the end of the year seems like a good way to bet on this event, although my financial knowledge regarding options is limited.

<comment><USER8> Stock had more variables than just this bet.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Who cares? Musk is so full of shit.</comment>


Iran says it will permanently shut down Gmail - <AUTHOR> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704140104575056972514372994.html?mod=djemalertTECH

<comment><USER2> The solution to this is technical. Countries like Iran or China can censor the internet because users traffic goes through centralised bottlenecks called ISPs. If we had longer range wireless networking, and enough people using it, mesh networks could be created where there is no central point of weakness. In such a network any attempt to censor individual nodes just gets routed around.

We need to be working towards a situation where this kind of internet censorship is not just antisocial or unethical, but is also technically impossible.

<comment><USER3> Then the government outlaws such wireless nodes and threatens to kill off anyone who has one. The nodes broadcast their presence wirelessly so they have no difficulty tracking down the dissidents. After a few dozen people are decapitated in public, civilians become too afraid to try anything. Wireless mesh networks become a communication tool for rebels at best.

The solution is political, this is a technical workaround.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Oh man. So they have to up their censorship efforts while establishing and maintaining a nationwide email system... and deal with the huge backlash when those inconvenienced by the move (ie: damn near everybody that has a few thousand emails and contacts already firmly entrenched in gmail) at the same time.

I feel sorry for the folks that are going to be ordered to directly implement all of this.

<comment><USER5> Definitely agree with the last part, especially since the penalty of inevitable scalability problems will probably be something like jail or maybe even death?

<comment><USER6> I'm not sure if you are joking or not, but trust me, Iran is not _that_ bad.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I dont see any point in blocking Gmail unless they have some issues with Google like China. People will start using Yahoo or Hotmail or some mail other service.

<comment><USER8> Gmail uses SSL by default. Makes it a hassle to listen in on dissidents.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> This couldn't possibly have anything to do with last week's announcement that Google's going to be providing information to the NSA, could it?

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2010/02...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020304057_pf.html)

</comment><comment><USER10> This will drive even more people to Twitter, social networking, and online forums.

<comment><USER11> Not if they are blocked.

As the internet becomes more and more central to the dissemination of information, I think it is more and more critical that there be some mutually agreed upon 'neutral' channel for communication between people. Because the alternative is that all access to very large and extremely important populations is cut off from your message completely. For instance, non English speakers in China, Indonesia, Iran, and Vietnam. The worst part about it is that in the days of broadcast, you would just say OK, and proceed to have US Government funded radio broadcast into whatever country. Fast forward to today, and how many of those kids are walking around with a radio? Very few probably.

<comment><USER12> Iranians are pretty sophisticated when it comes to finding ways around government filters. I think the reason for the government banning access to Gmail is Google's decision to switch to HTTPS for all users. That makes it harder to spy on what people are emailing about. Do Yahoo and Hotmail use HTTPS by default?

This probably makes the deep packet inspection the IRG have been accused of much harder.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Money management - <AUTHOR>

Hey HN!
I am a recent university graduate that has accepted a full time position with a large software company. This position comes with a substantial amount of pay. Since I come from a fairly poor family I am unaware of the proper way to "invest" and save money wisely. Do you guys have any advice or can recommend any books that will help me be wise with my money?
Thanks in advance! <comment><USER3> Read "I Will Teach You To Be Rich", Ramit Sethi. 500x better than the title would suggest.

<comment><USER4> There is no doubt in my mind that if I had followed the advice in this book, I'd be substantially better off then I am.

I read it when it first came out, and it's an amazing read. Short enough to could get through it in a day; funny enough to make you laugh; information density is great; and lots of supplemental material on his blog free of charge.

Check out <http://iwillteachyoutoberich.com> \- he's got tons of material on there, and if you like his style, definitely buy the book.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> As others have said, track your budget so you know where your money is going.

Past that, start investing in your retirement. I strongly advise reading this thread over at SA: [http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=289...](http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2892928)

In summary:

1) Contribute to 401(k) up to employer match. Employer match = free money. There is not a single investment that has a greater return on investment than your employer match...even if the 401k has shitty fees and shitty funds.

2) Max out Roth IRA (or possibly traditional IRA if you are in a high tax bracket)

3) Max out 401(k) - optional step, depends highly on your 401k plan. If the plan is good, this is a great place to shelter tax-advantaged dollars. If your plan is bad (high fees, etc) you may be better off just using your money in step 4

4) Start a taxable savings account, brokerage account, or go out and blow some money at a strip club or something.

That's all retirement savings. You should also divert money towards long-term, non-tax-advantage funds. This is something that you want to put money in and gain more than 1% interest in a bank account, but may need to liquidate before you retire (purchasing a house, going on a trip, etc)

Edit: Also, if you ever have the desire to purchase individual stocks - <USER2> and invest in an index fund. If you accept that you will never beat the market (which in all likelihood you won't, especially if you don't have time to research stocks), you should never purchase individual stocks as a means to make money.

Now, I purchase a few individual stocks on the side, but this is my equivalent to gambling or buying lottery tickets. All the money that is set aside for retirement or long-term investing is firmly placed inside of index funds.

<comment><USER6> For a further push into index funds (vs stock picking) look up the "efficient markets hypothesis" and relate it to portfolio theory. Our markets are very reasonably semi-strong; over any considerable time period, the chances of you beating the market as an individual on a risk-adjusted basis are essentially nil.

Look for funds' fees and tracking errors before choosing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Use Mint (<http://mint.com>) to keep track of what you're earning and what you're spending. I started doing this recently and it's definitely helped me think about how I use my money, but your mileage may vary.

</comment><comment><USER8> I'm from Singapore so some of the points below may not apply to you but here's what I do in case it helps.

I bought an iOS app which I use to track my income and expenses. This doesn't help me save money except track how much I've spent on my credit cards so I don't overspend and will have enough money to pay back the banks at the end of every month and not incur any interest.

Credit cards are useful for getting discounts on things. I get a 5% discount when I shop for groceries at a particular store. When the annual fee comes, I call up the bank and ask for a waiver. They usually agree to waive it off.

I have 2 bank accounts. One which is where I use for spending on everyday needs and depositing my salary. The second one is for savings. I setup my first bank account to automatically transfer $500 every month to this savings account. This recurring transfer is also setup on the iOS app I mentioned earlier.

On google docs, I noted down what my regular expenses are, like transport, food, household bills. So I know how much extra I will have after those.

Don't be tricked by discounts that tell you how much you save if you buy that product. You save more money not buying it. It's different if the product is a daily neccessity or you think will be beneficial.

If I were you, I'd build up a substantial amount of savings first before investing. An amount that will allow me to go jobless for a few months.

Or allow me to do things that's beneficial to myself in the long run such as buying a camera to learn about photography. It's what they call "investing in yourself"

<comment><AUTHOR> This all seems like sound advice. Thanks!

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Hello I have 10 years experience from stocks and stuff and I think you should read a book with the name: "Money masters of our time". The books explains different strategies used by people such as Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch and it gives you a broad picture of the different alternatives you may use. [http://www.amazon.com/Money-Masters-Time-John- Train/dp/08873...](http://www.amazon.com/Money-Masters-Time-John- Train/dp/0887309704/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337015638&sr=8-1)

You may also want to hang out at <http://www.trejdify.com/> which is like Hacker News but business only!

</comment><comment><USER10> I would recommend Clark Howard's investment guide. The link is on the home page: <http://www.clarkhoward.com/>

He's been very successful on the radio for teaching people how to save money, and a lot of it's sound advise. I think he's even recommended to buy his books second hand before, so it's cheaper.

</comment><comment><USER11> In the true Hacker spirit, you want to automate your money management.

Ramit Sethi is the expert on this. The book is _I Will Teach You To Be Rich._ I will gladly credit Ramit with earning me tens of thousands of dollars.

</comment><comment><USER12> Take a look at YNAB, which is short for You Need a Budget. I'm the lead developer, so I am obviousky biased, but it's awesome. ;) <http://YouNeedABudget.com>

</comment><comment><USER13> Also learn as much as you can about taxes. It makes a world of difference. Id definitely say its as important (if not more) as learning how to invest, but it's not as glamorous so people avoid learning about it.

</comment><comment><USER14> The book "Your Money or Your Life" changed my relationship with money.

</comment><comment><USER15> Check out <http://www.wealthfront.com>. You might like it!

</comment><comment><USER16> I had the opportunity to invest my money with a young Nigerian fellow. He was the heir to a great sum of money and needed foreign investors to help liberate those funds. The more you invest,the more of his fortune you will receive. I have't received anything yet but when I crunched the numbers it seemed almost too good to be true. If you like, I can post his contact information.

</comment><comment><USER17> An oldie but goodie: Track every penny spent for one to three months. It will change your relationship to money.

I don't mean that to stand alone but I am sure others will suggest plenty of good books, etc.

</comment><comment><USER18> Low load S&P 500 index fund like Vanguard's. Put it all in there if you can stand the risk, with about 3 months salary in the bank for emergencies. Don't buy a fancy house, car, vacation home, boat, timeshare, or whatever. Be frugal. Then retire early.

</comment><comment><USER19> Use credit cards responsibly. Pay off the balance in full every cycle (set to autopay if you can). Earn cash back as well.</comment>


Let's admit it… Steve Jobs was lucky - <AUTHOR> http://pandodaily.com/2012/12/21/lets-admit-it-steve-jobs-was-lucky/

<comment><USER2> This article strikes me as the next coming of "you didn't build that". The right place is always here. The right time is always now. The skill that separates the successful entrepreneur from the rest is identifying what they're right FOR.

That's what Jobs did better than anyone else. It was a learned skill: certainly the Steve Jobs who founded Apple and NeXT could not have done what the Steve Jobs who led Apple to greatness did. And frankly, he was not terribly consistent when it came to using his skill for good and not evil. But it was his skill, and it was what made the difference.

It can be learned. That's the big lesson to take away from his life: he had to learn to do what he did, but he proved to be able learn to do what he did.

</comment><comment><USER3> "Was the second Steve Jobs era of Apple executed masterfully? Yes. Did Steve Jobs' beautiful vision, taste, and marketing catalyze our journey back from Windows to Mac? Yes. Did Steve Jobs hire outstanding talent in order to re- gain an edge over Microsoft? Yes. Did Steve Jobs advance innumerable concepts, such as seamless hardware/software integration and uber-simple functionality? Yes."

Is the headline good linkbait? Yes.

<comment><USER4> Not giving Pando the click, I'm guessing they don't touch on how big of an asshole he was.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Are you on crack? Steve Jobs is a great example of relentless pursuit of a goal, never giving up. From the days of the original Mac he had a vision of how computers should be designed so that humans could use them, and so they could be beautiful as well as functional. When he left Apple and started NeXT the dream didn't die. NeXTStep was the next iteration of his dream. When he returned to Apple he made a series of bold decisions to essentially wipe out large portions of the product line and focus focus focus. NeXTStep formed the basis of OS X. OS X enabled the iPhone and iPad. Steve delayed both until things were ready instead of jumping in too early with a half-baked product. Time and time again he (1) never let go of his goals and ambitions for computers+humans and (2) was not afraid to make big bold decisions that went against the grain. Steve had a long term vision that he held on to and pursued relentlessly for decades. People who say his success was (even in small part) due to "luck" are just trying to make themselves feel better about their own shortcomings.

</comment><comment><USER6> An article in which a failed and undistinguished businessman attributes another businessman's immense successes to "luck".

</comment><comment><USER7> "I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn't been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn't have been 'lucky.'" \- Oprah Winfrey

</comment><comment><USER8> > Hard drives are now infinitely big. Microchips are almost infinitely small. > And everybody is connected.

And we still pay $99 for the privilege of using our own devices, while waiting for 3 weeks reviews based on borderline useless "guidelines". In-app purchase codes (extremely complex _strings_ , you know...) take only a week or two.

Perhaps there's more than enough room to innovate and grow.

</comment><comment><USER9> All WSOP Main Event winners are really lucky if you look at their hand history retrospectively. However, you still have to me a damn good player in order for luck to help you become the winner.

</comment><comment><USER10> Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak, that's what mattered.

</comment><comment><USER11> Lucky like a fox.

</comment><comment><USER12> nonsense</comment>


My first simple 97-loc Sinatra/Freebase/Heroku single-serving app - <AUTHOR> http://github.com/bkudria/clooney/blob/master/clooney.rb

<comment><USER2> This is great. The link to tickets for Fantastic Mr. Fox is broken right now: [http://www.fandango.com/fantasticmr$002Efox_109297nu/movieov...](http://www.fandango.com/fantasticmr$002Efox_109297nu/movieoverview) Looks like it's a Freebase bug escaping the title properly, though, not on your end. (edit: It's that 'nu' at the end of the movie url fragment that does it, which appears to come directly from freebase)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for catching this, Cory. I've updated the Freebase DB, it'll take a bit to freshen the caches. I probably ought to convert back the $FFFF codes from FB, although it seems to work fine...

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Source code for <http://howmanymoviesisgeorgeclooneyinrightnow.com> . Code comments/questions/critiques welcome!

</comment><comment><USER3> This gives me some great ideas on a first project, thanks!

</comment><comment><USER4> Thanks for showing me to Typhoeus, that's sweet lib!

<http://github.com/pauldix/typhoeus/>

</comment><comment><USER5> What were your thoughts on Acre (Freebase's app platform)?

<comment><AUTHOR> I didn't look into it too much - I was wanted to do it in Ruby and try out Heroku.

In the future I might consider building the app with ACRE - it looks rather interesting.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> This looks neat!</comment>


Marcdown Open source, lightweight, clean and fast markdown viewer and editor - <AUTHOR> https://liyasthomas.github.io/marcdown <comment><USER2> Pretty nifty.

One problem: clicking on the "Marcdown" name/link in the upper-right reloads the page, _losing_ all content.</comment>


Show HN: Grey Goose Necklace and Earrings - <AUTHOR> https://ankenyglassware.com/product/grey-goose-earrings-and-necklace/

<comment><AUTHOR> Made by me and a buddy. Will have photos of our shop up soon, its a pretty neat setup.</comment>


Silence is a Commons - <AUTHOR> http://www.davidtinapple.com/illich/1983_silence_commons.html <comment><AUTHOR> Though he approaches the subject of an attention economy from a somewhat different angle than we're used to, the author, writing in the early 1980s, comes to the conclusion--all the more relevant today than it was in his time-- that "computers are doing to communication / what fences did to pastures and cars did to streets."

</comment><comment><USER2> Url changed from [http://ournature.org/~novembre/illich/1983_silence_commons.h...](http://ournature.org/~novembre/illich/1983_silence_commons.html), which no longer works.</comment>


Estonia could offer 'estcoins' to e-residents - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/e-residency-blog/estonia-could-offer-estcoins-to-e-residents-a3a5a5d3c894 <comment><USER2> A government supported cryptocurrency would be interesting. But it feels like the first step might be for Estonia to accept tax payments etc in Bitcoin.

<comment><USER3> It's very interesting. Specially paired with their eResidency system so they can connect identities to transactions thereby preventing illegal practices like money laundering.

<comment><USER4> Does anyone know how long the eResidency card is valid?

<comment><USER5> The expiration is written on your card.

<comment><USER4> Well I don't have eResidency card. I just want to know how long it is valid once issued.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Christopher "moot" Poole, Founder of 4chan doing an AMA on Reddit - <AUTHOR> http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/gdzfi/iam_christopher_poole_aka_moot_founder_of_4chan/

<comment><USER2> Wow, he's had a reddit account for 5 years. That's pretty insane, especially since reddit wasn't big at all in those days. It's funny that people keep commenting that reddit's becoming 4chan, when in fact moot was probably one of the first redditors.

<comment><USER3> He doesn't confirm it anywhere, it's possible (and likely maybe?) that the admins noticed the account "moot" was inactive and gave it to him, they were the ones who co-ordinated this, so it makes sense they would give it to him.

<comment><USER4> If you were really going to do that, you almost certainly would clear the metadata for the username first (or like, attach the username to a different underlying "account").

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Probably best to wait a few hours, right now he has answered only a few questions.

<comment><USER5> Unless you have a question of your own.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Interesting. His responses are far more down-to-earth than I would have expected them to be. One funny comment:

       > I'm not sure where else people meet women
       Spoken like a true /b/tard.

</comment><comment><USER7> _Q: How many people does 4chan employ?

A: None. It's just me, a volunteer part-time developer, and a handful of volunteer moderators and janitors. The volunteers all do an incredible job, and don't get nearly enough credit for their hard work. Hats off to them!_

That reminded me of several extended IM logs between moot and a server admin/scripter. Suffice it to say that they both come out sounding like total douchebags and it's difficult to tell who you'd dread working with more. The moral of the story is that he'd be way better off paying his volunteers and acting like a boss.

It's quite long and gets somewhat tedious, once you get the jist it's not really worth stick with. But it is interesting to get a peek inside the mind of a new founder:

[http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Talk:Moot#thoughts_on_image...](http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Talk:Moot#thoughts_on_images)

(note that page is SFW, but I wouldn't go to the main moot page unless 'shopped gay porn is cool with you)

<comment><USER2> > The moral of the story is that he'd be way better off paying his volunteers > and acting like a boss.

How do you define "better off"? Do you run a site as popular as 4chan? moot isn't trying to make money or be a kickass, cool, boss. He's just having fun. I think it's a bit presumptuous of you to say you know what's best for moot. 4chan has been running smoothly for years and is extremely popular.

<comment><USER7> I guess I should have said my takeaway is, instead of the moral of the story. I struggled for what I wanted to write there. If bickering for hours with your dev staff is doing what he wants and having fun then more power to him, but something tells me he'll be managing things differently at canv.as.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> canv.as --> facebook connect --> skip

<comment><USER8> Some of his answers cover this concern (<http://www.reddit.com/user/moot>):

"We're using it during the beta period to handle invites and authenticate users (make sure they're real people)."

"As we've said before, Facebook Connect on Canvas is temporary. We're only planning to use it for the private beta period, and hope to see you on the site once we're out of beta. Thanks for bearing with us!"

<comment><USER9> +1. Thanks Britta!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I didn't want to be one to pester in his AMA but I still have no clue about what he's up to with canv.as. Aside from providing a meeting place to internet vigilantes and meme spammers, his track record isn't that stellar in either technology or monetizations. I'm also unable to overlook the recent developments in the image-sharing space with Path and Color valued into the tens of millions with anywhere from $11M to $41M cash on hand, making his $625K investment seem more like a pittance than a serious attempt at making a run at the current front-runner.

The pussy-footing surrounding his handling of this canv.as thing is unbecoming.

<comment><USER11> As far as I'm aware 4chan has not needed $40M to provide a more useful and socially relevant service than Color or whatever Path is. Don't people just use Twitpic anyway? Or Instagram if their photos are too boring without being colored brown.

<comment><USER10> My pictures aren't boring. I use the Gotham filter. Also, nobody needs $41M to provide anything more useful or socially relevant if one is to believe that investors were taking a stake in the future potential of the Color team vs. its current offering.

The fact remains that Mr. Poole has been unable to monetize his current user base on the seven-year old 4chan, build a medium-term scalable solution, attract talent or serious investment nor can he be arsed to explain just what exactly canv.as is and why we should take him seriously. Moot aside, I think I'll adopt the position stated in his AMA/recruitment pitch:

"Yes, instead of treating him like the creator of 4chan, let's treat him like the developer of a new website in closed beta that none of us have used. That will be fascinating."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> SACRILEGE

</comment><comment><USER13> I can't believe people still think his name is Christopher Poole. This has got to be the longest-running joke turned gospel on the Internet. Either that, or that thing about Glen Beck killing and raping a young girl in 1990, except people actually _know_/tounge-in-cheek that one.

<comment><USER14> Is he trolling the courts as well? [http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/08/11/prose...](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/08/11/prosecutor- to-4chan-founder-please-explain-the-meaning-of-rickroll/)</comment></comment>


Zenefits Slashes Valuation to $2B in Deal with Big Investors - <AUTHOR> https://www.buzzfeed.com/williamalden/zenefits-slashes-valuation-to-2-billion?utm_term=.hnLYvEVXow#.xrwYZegqn8 <comment><USER2> This is a sober reminder for those raising money. Even if you go with the "friendly" VCs, they will be happy to screw you over the moment you show weakness. (not that Benefits doesn't deserve it)

No doubt during Zenefits' Series A/B/C they had the upper hand in negotiations, and now the tables have turned. Would a16z really sue one of their portfolio companies? I guess Sacks doesn't want to find out, and is eager not to piss these guys off, since he will no doubt need more money sooner rather than later.

Of course, the saddest line is this:

"Common stock owned by Zenefits employees will be diluted by 20% in the deal"

As is all too common, common shareholders pay for the sins of a few.

<comment><USER3> "Each non-executive employee of Zenefits will be "trued up" through a special stock grant equal to 25% of their current number of shares. This new grant will vest 100% in 12 months. It will consist of RSUs rather than options so that employees don't have to pay a strike price."</comment></comment>