It's the best I've got... - <AUTHOR> http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/07/its-the-best-iv.html <comment><USER2> If his blog posts get any lighter he's going to have to switch to Twitter.</comment>


Understanding Philae's Wake-Up: Behind the Scenes with the Philae Team - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/09/11/understanding-philaes-wake-up-behind-the-scenes-with-the-philae-team/ <comment><USER2> Does the same part of the comet face forward(relative to orbital motion) after perihelion? They don't mention the dust that is affecting Rosetta affecting Philae but it must and maybe a switch in the direction of the dust could help.</comment>


Why does it seem like threading and fibers in Node have been abandoned? - <AUTHOR> http://blog.adamcanady.com/2013/seem-like-threading-projects-node-abandoned/ <comment><USER2> I work with the node source and I have made C/C++ based node modules.

Threading at the JS level in node is really ineffective. V8 has a global lock on all JS objects that prevent them from being passed between threads. The only way to allow threading is to serialize and deserialize the objects into new "isolates" (V8 language). V8 does this for some pretty obvious reasons, you wouldn't really want to allow threading at the JS level in a browser, now would you.

You can use threads if you dive down into C++ land, but event then, you should have a really good reason for doing so, because if you're only manipulating objects for processing you're going to have to serialize into a C++ data- structure, process, and then serialize into a JS object. Threads in node are good for doing process intensive work that doesn't require any two way input from the main event loop, otherwise it's very unlikely to be worth your time or effort.

This is why fibers are kind of silly for node and is also why process intensive programs should most likely be avoided in node (with rare exception). Please use node for what it is good at; it's a short lived connection proxy maven, and good at ancillary front-end work that requires complex state transitions (i.e. mobile). Working it into a monolithic stack is just asking for trouble and pain. No serious architect should consider it for a large monolithic rendering stack.

<comment><USER3> Agreed on all accounts, with one small, specific clarification:

If computation is local to each of many long-running threads, and the two-way messages being passed around is small enough (so the serialization overhead is negligible), then threads do perform better on multi-core machines than alternative models.

EtherCalc.org is one such use case: [http://aosabook.org/en/posa/from- socialcalc-to-ethercalc.htm...](http://aosabook.org/en/posa/from-socialcalc- to-ethercalc.html#multi-core-scaling)

<comment><USER2> Agreed.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Because technologies like Q [1] and streams [2] provide a very abstractions around doing long-running tasks asynchronously, which jives better with node's entire philosophy. Combine that with the fact that running multiple processes is a perfectly viable way to do actual long-running tasks and node provides abstractions around that out of the box, and it really starts to look like fibers and webworkers in node are patchy hold-overs for technologists who haven't fully changed into thinking about things in "the node way."

[1] [https://github.com/kriskowal/q](https://github.com/kriskowal/q) [2] [https://github.com/substack/stream- handbook](https://github.com/substack/stream-handbook)

<comment><USER5> Are there any practical examples (in the wild?) that are in-line with what you're saying here. Genuinely curious.

<comment><USER4> Browserify [1] is huge and is built on the stream principle. Streams do a bit of processing and can be combined. As far as q, I have seen it used in a couple places but don't have anything big-ticket off the top of my head. Here's the official public list: [https://npmjs.org/browse/depended/q](https://npmjs.org/browse/depended/q)

[1] [http://browserify.org/](http://browserify.org/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Hi, maintainer of [https://github.com/audreyt/node-webworker- threads/](https://github.com/audreyt/node-webworker-threads/) here.

We're using it happily in production, and it's proved to be quite stable, and there's quite a few users — certainly more than the average amount of emails I get from other projects. :-)

It's true that I haven't heard from the earliest adopters (like Uber.com), but it might be a sign of its maturity rather than abandonment.

The last commit was 2 month ago, and only to repair compatibility with the then-just-released V8 version. It will likely require another commit for Node 0.12.0 — pull requests welcome!

Edit: Just released v0.4.8 to npm with references to the [http://aosabook.org/en/posa/from-socialcalc-to- ethercalc.htm...](http://aosabook.org/en/posa/from-socialcalc-to- ethercalc.html#multi-core-scaling) writeup.

</comment><comment><USER6> I suspect people who dislike the idea of multithreaded programming are over- represented in the Node community. I'd even speculate that Node owes some of its popularity to being a release valve for a general thread-grumpiness that has been simmering in developer circles for years, fueled by the common belief that multithreaded programming is error-prone and difficult to reason about. So there's probably a bit of an ideological hurdle to overcome, but I also think that it's not an insurmountable problem, as the community matures and if a really useful solution presents itself.

</comment><comment><USER7> It would be tough for Fibers to be totally abandoned, as [http://www.meteor.com/](http://www.meteor.com/) relies on it.

I don't think it's really needed any code updates recently, as it works on Linux / OS X / Windows and all recent versions of node.

I think it's somewhat hard to tell what the adoption of fibers looks like, as it typically wouldn't be used by other modules in npm. You don't want to force people using your module to use fibers. So, it would mostly see its usage in applications.

It will be interesting to see what happens to fibers once generators ship with core node (available now under the --harmony-generators v8 flag). The most compelling reasons for using fibers can also be met by using generators.

(I maintain a library built on top of fibers: [https://github.com/scriby/asyncblock](https://github.com/scriby/asyncblock))

</comment><comment><USER8> But surely Node.js is not meant for that? It's meant for high-load scenarios where you want to do simple processing for a lot of connections - not treated like a silver bullet. It's just an extra layer for GUI purposes. If you want something advanced you will be better off with a programming language instead of script anyway (type checking etc.). For example: do a long-running process using a proper technology and feed the status of the process to display on GUI via lean Node.js services.

<comment><USER9> Please explain why Node shouldn't be permitted or wouldn't be appropriate for "advanced" scenarios. What advantage does Node acquire by resisting fibers & threads inclusion? You seem to have a set characterization for where you think Node fits, but I don't understand what basis you are making these assertions from, and I'm curious if there's anything to justify these stated opinions.

As for type-checking, there are options such as TypeScript which can be used on Node if a team finds them helpful.

<comment><USER8> What advantages _does_ Node bring except for "same language on server side" and good handling of high-load scenarios?

I might be ignorant, but it seems that you have to do a lot of ceremonies for some simple parallelisation, how do I do Parallel.For(...) or Task.Run(...).ContinueWith(...) in Node.js?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> There's a big difference between a thread implementation that works (Java) and a thread implementation that only works (Python). Even languages close to the metal enough that you'd think they could support threads (C++) have enough problems with libraries and dependencies that you can't entirely depend on threads working right.

</comment><comment><USER11> The current way if your workload is cpu-bound is to use cluster or child_process with a priority queue.

[http://nodejs.org/api/cluster.html](http://nodejs.org/api/cluster.html) [http://nodejs.org/api/child_process.html](http://nodejs.org/api/child_process.html)

</comment><comment><USER12> I disagree with the premise that a project is "abandoned" unless it has very recent commits to master. We are living in a weird world if that's the case.

</comment><comment><USER13> My CPU intensive work is wrapped around services. This can be direct native calls to libs (c or openmp), actors via akka, finagle, storm, Hadoop, spark or mesos for that matter. The beauty of node is it's single threaded-ness. Doesn't mean I cannot orchestrate these single threaded apps as services, asynchronously. Freeing me up from thinking too much about locks and low level context switching.

Now not to say you can't have it "just because", a worthy exercise I'm sure. But in the coming years we will all be asked to use multicores, multiple machines, and multiple data centers. For these scenarios, it may make more sense to think high order.

Hopefully I made some sense, I happen to be on my mobile device.

</comment><comment><USER14> From what I understand, v8 does allow multithreading, but each thread still needs its own isolate scope. That's roughly the equivalent of forking off another node process per thread, which is what cluster does.

</comment><comment><USER15> Because writing plain javascript is simpler for the majority of people to understand and will run in more places without the need for custom setups. Module authors will not write to these custom implementations since it would greatly limit the audience for their module.

<comment><USER16> So, basically, because _threading is hard_.

Lol, keep killing it web bros.

(Full disclosure: I am, in fact, using Node now, and there is nothing quite so painful as the lack of coroutine or fiber or thread support. Cluster is cool, but only if you want to make a bunch of processes.)

<comment><USER17> I don't necessarily want threading in Node.js, but it would be nice to have coroutines/green threads...something simple that scales across CPUs, at least. Unfortunately with JavaScript I think the best you're going to get is Node's cluster module, because of the threading limitations with V8 and other JavaScript engines. Realistically, it's a trade off - Node.js is easy and quick to work with, but the only way to take full advantage of the machine's processing power is through forking processes.

<comment><USER16> Seriously, green threads with yield() and autoyield on blocking operations would be great. Sometimes the easiest way to write a program is to present it as a logical flow of events, and let the machine/operating environment hide the async nature of life from you.

Then again, that would mean reinventing (again) core OS functionality in Javascript. Le sigh.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Hmm, the last commit for webworker-threads seems to be two months ago instead of six?

<comment><USER9> I hadn't run into node-webworker-threads project before. What a delight! I'd used Node-webworkers[1] in the past but that's multiprocess+websockets. Audreyt is killing it: a solid implementation of the standard webworker model.

[1] [https://github.com/pgriess/node- webworker](https://github.com/pgriess/node-webworker)

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> I'm puzzled, what's the use case for threads in the node asynchronous model ? Isn't the major use of threads is to prevent long running task from blocking the app in synchronous programming ?

<comment><USER20> IO is asynchronous, but code execution is not asynchronous. If a block of code is doing intensive math for 100ms, then that blocks the whole process, and potentially other IO, from executing in that 100ms.

Perhaps you should think of node as "event-driven" rather than "asynchronous".

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> There's a model in all this that many developers lose sight of. More and more intensive work is being lifted on the _front end_. Obviously not a universal phenomenon, but important to any discussion about performance, threading, and IO blocking.</comment>


Thom Yorke pulls albums from Spotify - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23313445 <comment><USER2> I found out that Spotify library is very poor. There's lot's of good artists missing - I'm not talking about this new artists like Wiz Kahlifa and all that junk. From Reggae, through Punk, Trip Hop, Hip-Hop, Drum and bass, Funk, Soul, Blues, Rock and not only, I find that Last FM is better! Plus, I can just use it in my browser.

<comment><USER3> I'm not sure if this is only for paying customers but Spotify does have webui too ([https://play.spotify.com/](https://play.spotify.com/)).</comment></comment>


Shannon Terry Is Pissed Off, Threatens Lawsuit Against TechCrunch - <AUTHOR> http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/13/shannon-terry-is-pissed-off-threatens-lawsuit-against-techcrunch/ <comment><USER2> It seems like Arrington did defame Terry. As a commenter on the linked post observed, the post in question seemed like nothing more than an attempt to ruin a strategically timed business deal. It was unnecessary and irresponsible.

I don't think Arrington had a financial motive behind this, but he knew something interesting and wanted to cause trouble. Kind of like trolling.</comment>


A Queer History of Computing: Part Four (2013) - <AUTHOR> http://rhizome.org/editorial/2013/may/6/queer-history-computing-part-four/ <comment><AUTHOR> OP here. This is part 4 of a 5 part series I stumbled across exploring Queer figures in the history of computer science. Parts 3, 4 and 5 are particularly interesting because they explore Queer history within CS beyond just Turing and Wittgenstein (discussed in parts 1 & 2).

Landin is a particularly interesting figure to study - he's one of the fathers of functional programming and the author of the much beloved paper "The next 700 programming languages" [1] where he coined the term "syntactic sugar"

[1] [http://www.math.bas.bg/bantchev/place/iswim/next700.pdf](http://www.math.bas.bg/bantchev/place/iswim/next700.pdf)</comment>


Run Windows and Linux without virtualization - <AUTHOR> http://www.linux.com/feature/131753 <comment><USER2> I'm not able to reimage my desktop PC at work due to draconian IT policies (darned support and compatibility).

I really would love to completely rid myself of WinXP and replace it with Ubuntu. However, this looks like a good compromise for the time being. I have administrative access to my PC and can use Ubuntu in "stealth mode".

I am going to download and install this cute little puppy ASAP!

Thanks for the link!</comment>


Market Forecasting SaaS by Using Convolutional Neural Nets - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/company/announcements/bloomberg-launches-market-forecasting-application-powered-by-artificial-intelligence/ <comment><AUTHOR> We have been working on financial timeseries data for last few years building a dedicated database "MarketStore" from scratch and collaborating with a number of financial institutions to build financial market specific AI models. We partnered with Bloomberg this time to provide our AI engine as SaaS for any Bloomberg users. Please check it out!!</comment>


5 ways to connect to the Internet while on holiday abroad - <AUTHOR> http://www.tech-no-media.com/2009/10/5-ways-to-connect-to-internet-while-on.html

<comment><USER2> _Using your 3G connection abroad_

I have an HTC Touch Pro 2 on Sprint, and with CDMA/GSM and a $40/mo add-on for worldwide unlimited data, I can surf at 3G speeds in over 110 countries. With wifi/usb/bluetooth tethering, I can use my laptop abroad for a lot more than email subject lines!</comment>


Being unhappy running a successful business - <AUTHOR> http://maxkle.in/happiness/ <comment><USER2> _"Enjoying life has nothing to do with what you have, it has to do with who you are hanging out with"._

Umm, I can't agree with that. You need a new mentor, Max.

Enjoying life indeed has nothing to do with what you have. It also has nothing to do with who you go get drunk with.

Enjoying life has to do with who you are, and what your perspective on life is. Some people enjoy solitudes, others enjoy being with close friends, others enjoy being adored by infinite crowds. Some people are happy sitting alone on a grassy hill with half a penny in their pockets, others are miserable even as millionaires surrounded by the best and cleverest people in the world.

Happiness comes from inside, not outside.

<comment><USER3> There is a lot of evidence that Happiness is much like IQ in that you are born with a basic peak and while it can be dragged down there is little that can rise it. For the most part, outside of extraordinary circumstances it's fairly constant over your lifetime.

PS: And yes this means there are probably people in the middle of a 20 year prison sentence that are on average happier than you are.

<comment><USER4> According to studies cited by Sonjy Lyubomirsky (<http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~sonja/> ) in her Book "The how of happiness" (a happiness book from a scientific view), the genetic predisposition is about 50%. 10% is your environment, and the rest is what you do with your life.

So, there is room for improvement for most people, although not as much as some happiness-gurus may like them to think.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> One of the worser ones, Max.

Over the past few years, just hanging out on HN, I've read a lot about happiness and pleasure. I've even had some great books recommended by fellow HN'ers (latest one is the science of pleasure. Great read so far! [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393066320?ie=UTF8&tag=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393066320?ie=UTF8&tag=whtofi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0393066320)) And none of it tracks with your blog entry.

One of the interesting things that has happened in the last decade or so has been a serious study at just what happiness and pleasure really is. I wish I could give some trite answer, but the real answers are much more interesting. Things like experiences beat possessions, or the great beauty of essentialism. In all of that reading, I've never read anything that jived with your blog post.

I think I'm getting the happy bit. The more interesting bit is whether or not people are made to be unhappy. I'm not so sure total happiness is a good thing. (which sounds really strange, huh?)

</comment><comment><USER6> I can't help but hear the sound of my bullshit detector when I read your stories, 'Max'. I am sorry and apologize if what you write is all true.

<comment><USER7> <http://apps.ycombinator.com/item?id=1353307> yields the following information:

 _Max Klein does not exist. He is an identity created by Mark Essien (www.essien.org)._

The posting is worth a read in my opinion.

<comment><USER8> Wow, thanks. I had sometimes chatted with Max Klein on Twitter. It's quite a weird feeling to realize that he doesn't actually exist (almost Hollywodish).

Does that mean all business, relocation and other stories are fiction?

<comment><USER9> I exist! Come visit me!

<comment><USER8> Interesting. Where are you based out of? I am curious because the commenter's reasoning sounded plausible.

<comment><USER9> I'm in Shenzhen at the moment. Look in my flickr (little icon on blog), I've got recent photos there.

<comment><USER10> I actually had a beer with Max last week in Shenzhen. He is definitely real and quite interesting :)

<comment><USER11> Nice try, another Max identity :P

<comment><USER12> Didn't some other popular blogger meet Max Klein in Thailand a while back?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> _I sat at the top of the tower in hong kong and looked out over the bay. The bed I sat on was expensive, the writing pad on the desk was made of heavy expensive paper._

groan...

<comment><USER9> Frankly, I groan too. It was really badly written and I will change it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Newsflash: Unhappy people are not made happy simply by having more money.

If you don't enjoy life, you're doing it wrong. The secret isn't any material thing. It isn't 'who you hang out with'. It's who you are. If you don't like life, change yourself until you do. Learn to enjoy things, instead of simply using them. Learn to enjoy accomplishments, instead of using them as goals on your way to happiness.

I hope we aren't supposed to believe this was a real story, either. Unhappy people don't turn around in 1 night. You can't show someone that other people are happy and have them wake up the next morning realizing how to be happy themselves. You have to work at it, and realize that the unhappiness is you and the only way to change it is to change yourself.

<comment><USER15> I enjoyed reading this, as it is a nice story, but wccrawford has a point. Happiness is internal, not external. It's a choice and a habit, not a situation.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> ?? So what was the lesson? Hang out with a fat dude that spits out proverbs like the best of them?

<comment><USER17> Money can't buy recognition of talent or self-discipline but it can buy you girls in a KTV lounge and a hangover?

it's like an updated, amoral version of A Christmas Carol...

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Having money gives you options, having no money gives you limited options and being in debt you have none. Simples.

</comment><comment><USER19> I think the author meant to depict what happened to him and not necessarily what's his take on life.

</comment><comment><USER20> An interesting piece of fiction. I guess it was a nice change of pace from the other stuff on here today.

</comment><comment><USER21> If you're feeling unhappy even when successful that means, there are issues you need to work on, could be childhood trauma, child abuse, etc.

I went through the same thing and could not figure out why I w as feeling like shit when I was making tons of money.

Ultimately found the reason.

Started going to a ---> \--Gestalt-- Psychologist therapist, It's been over a year and it has changed my life enormously. Discovered I had resentment against my parents for many many reasons, worked on that and feel happier than ever.

Give it a shot

<comment><USER22> No. The reason why you might be unhappy although successful is because success has nothing to do with happiness.

I'm happy you worked your issues out, but you might have been just as happy doing the therapy first. In fact, maybe you would not have chosen a "tons of money" job.</comment></comment>


How to Be Wrong (2016) - <AUTHOR> https://mathenchant.wordpress.com/2016/1/16/how-to-be-wrong/ <comment><USER2> Oh man, I'm always glad to hear I'm not the only one who got the Monty Hall problem wrong. Here is my embarrassing MH story.

Like Paul Erdős, I resorted to experimentation. Very much unlike Paul Erdős the computer program I wrote contained a one-off error in its PRNG that coincidentally confirmed the wrong result. I then spent a day or so on Usenet insisting stubbornly on the wrong solution until some very kind person on sci.crypt made a complete truth table as a proof. That exhaustive proof immediately convinced me of my idiocy.

Lesson: If a bunch of smart and educated people tell you that you're wrong, then you're probably wrong.

<comment><USER3> > Lesson: If a bunch of smart and educated people tell you that you're wrong, > then you're probably wrong.

Not always the case. As they say, science advances one funeral (of smart and educated people) at a time...

<comment><USER4> There will always be exceptions, hence the "probably" in their lesson. There's paradigm shifts, and then there's an unnoticed bug in code hacked together to prove something to oneself.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> As a CS university lecturer, I acknowledge that there is little room for exploration, and the chance of being wrong, in most assessment schemes. Any mistake loses points and lowers the GPA, so nobody likes to make mistakes, however creative and interesting. Shame. The system cannot be easily revised because the students themselves oppose it. To them it seems intuitively unfair that somehow those who make mistakes may get the same points as those who get it right.

<comment><USER6> You didn't read their first point - if you're going to be wrong, do so in private. You should be making as many mistakes as possible at home or after hours so that by class or test time you never make them again. Mistakes are a way of learning but not a way of doing. After all, the entirety of life was built with 1 tool - the mistake.

<comment><USER7> Wait a minute, mistakes are a "way of learning" but you should avoid them in school?

<comment><USER6> You should avoid them when trying to produce actual good work and results, obviously. Before that point, make as many as you want so you can learn how to produce flawless results.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> > _Sometimes something even simpler than the "I used to think so too but now I > know better" criterion can be used to unmask bunk; if there's a good story > and one that's disappointingly banal, usually the latter is the one that's > unfortunately true._

A problem with this is that there are now increasingly more people who automatically opt for the "disappointingly banal" story even in cases when the good story is the actually true one (and insist on it) -- because it enables them to take pride in "debunking" and feel superior to others.

In other words, where once most people went for the "good story" for psychological reasons (because it's more satisfying, makes for interesting talk, etc), now, with the raise of sites like Snopes, "fact-checking" forums, sceptic sites, and so on, there's an increasing equally bogus motive for preferring the banal story.

(And this is orthogonal to Occam's razor. For one, because the banal and the interesting story might be of equal simplicity and with equally few prerequisites. Beside's Occam's razor is just an observation, not an absolute law: sometimes the more elaborate course is indeed what happened).

<comment><USER9> > even in cases when the good story is the actually true one

I enjoy being a jerk and ruining a story as much as the next person, but you have to check your facts before doing something like that.

Are there any good examples you've come across of someone miscorrecting a "good" story to a banal one?

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> vos Savant's article on this that lists highlights from the letters:

[http://marilynvossavant.com/game-show- problem/](http://marilynvossavant.com/game-show-problem/)

<comment><USER11> The Monty Hall problem, as it is initially stated by vos Savant (and even in this link) is not well written. It make implicit assumptions about the host behavior.

See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem#Other_host_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem#Other_host_behaviors)

If this had been clear from the beginning, there would not have been so much confusion about this problem. So in this case, vos Savant is also quite "wrong".

<comment><USER12> Vos Savant claimed that, of the people who explained their demurral, most were, in fact, basing their objections on the intended reading of the question.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Such a great read.

>I tell my students that, in the first place, they need to get over the fear of making mistakes.

>So my answer to the question "How to be wrong?" is: "Early and often!"

>And if you can't be genuinely modest, fake it. Develop a habit of always acting in such a way that if you prove to be wrong, it won't make you look really really bad.

>certain truths may be denied to us unless we pass through a preparatory stage of error.

>For now, I'll skip ahead to the moral: Sometimes, when you find the right hole, you shouldn't just put one foot into it. You should jump in with both feet the way Alice did, and see what kind of wonderland it leads to.

</comment><comment><USER14> "Being Wrong — Adventures in the Margin of Error"; wonderful 2010 book reviewed here by Dan Gilbert: [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/books/review/Gilbert-t.ht...](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/books/review/Gilbert-t.html)

</comment><comment><USER15> Wow, I liked it (although none of the Monty Hall story was new to me) until the part where he was disgustingly dismissive and insulting to Semmelweis. Then I stopped reading. A less sympathetic account can hardly be imagined, I thought it was shameful.

<comment><USER16> It clearly assumes that the reader is aware of the background and simply states that it is "conceivable" that Semmelweis' attitude (whether warranted or not) may have negatively impacted his message. It seems like a sound point; that sort of thing does unfortunately happen.

<comment><USER15> Semmelweis "the medical pioneer whose unyielding adherence to principles of hygiene may have been responsible for the deaths of millions. Sure, he saved lots of people, but it's conceivable that the practice of routine hand-washing in surgical theatres might have spread farther, and faster, if the man had never been born (and therefore never antagonized so much of the medical establishment with his rigidity and brusqueness, and therefore never put hand- washing in such bad odor)."

I don't think that saying the writer here 'simply states that it is "conceivable" that Semmelweis' attitude (whether warranted or not) may have negatively impacted his message' is a reasonable interpretation of that passage, to say the least. (I also can't see that it "clearly assumes" what you say it does. You probably wouldn't link to the guy's wikipedia page if you assume people know not only who he is but the background too)

What was his 'attitude'? It drove him nuts that no-one would listen?

<comment><USER17> A professor at a university I worked at, had such antipathy for the computer centre director who had a personal chair for his non-teaching role, that we were under standing instructions to vote against anything he suggested at a departmental meeting. Yet, both had to agree on significant computing spend for the university. Net result? lose-lose outcomes...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Be right, from a different point of view.</comment>


Wireless HDMI for Everyone - <AUTHOR> http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/airtame-wireless-hdmi-for-everyone--2 <comment><USER2> Sadly a better solution already exists: my 2012 Panasonic TV connects wirelessly to my network, and my laptop can stream videos to it without having to install _anything_ , all via DLNA:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance)

Here's Panasonic's page outlining such features in their TVs:

[http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/VIERA+TV/VIER...](http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/VIERA+TV/VIERA+Overview/Smart+Internet+TV/8935620/index.html)

It's a lovely idea for retrofitting to older TVs, and sharing between laptops is really neat. For anyone who's bought a TV in the last couple of years, though, the device is redundant.

(it's also apparently very easy to share content from smartphones, tablets and so on, but I haven't had the need (or a chance) to independently play with this)

<comment><USER3> DLNA is emphatically not a better solution, or even equivalent. The spec defines only a limited number of file types that are allowed to function. Why on earth would I want to let multinational corporations decide which file types I want to use? For instance, MKV files, which would be in the top 2-3 file formats that most of us would want to use wireless streaming for in the first place, are not supported. All Apple products are, similarly, not supported. Noncompliant file types must be transcoded.

DLNA will die an instant and painful death the moment a truly open solution is adopted.

DLNA is the solution that TV companies and PC makers came up with to keep the lid on streaming and make the viewing of pirated content more difficult.

DLNA is widely despised for the same reasons that all DRM-crippled products are always despised.

<comment><USER2> _DLNA is widely despised for the same reasons that all DRM-crippled products are always despised._

I question how despised DLNA _really_ is, as I believe you might be letting your personal prejudices get in the way.

Non-techies (and plenty of techies, including myself) _just don 't care_ as long as a given solution works, and the DLNA solution is pretty hard to beat:

Plug in your TV, connect it to the network, and click on a video on your laptop to watch.

Out of interest, what kind of open source solution do you envisage when you say that "DLNA will die an instant and painful death the moment a truly open solution is adopted"?

Would it involve hardware, or something installed on the TV, or something else entirely?

 _All Apple products are, similarly, not supported._

FYI, my iPhone and iPad work just fine with it.

<comment><USER4> "Out of interest, what kind of open source solution do you envisage when you say that "DLNA will die an instant and painful death the moment a truly open solution is adopted"? Would it involve hardware, or something installed on the TV, or something else entirely?"

Did you click the link? This is an example of a truly open solution, and it involves hardware.

<comment><USER2> _Did you click the link? This is an example of a truly open solution, and it involves hardware._

And it wouldn't lead to me replacing my DLNA-based setup, hence my question.

I also question your description of "truly open," although that's me being a bit Stallman, granted.

<comment><USER5> Isn't Miracast the open solution that is open and supported by many?

<comment><USER6> Miracast isn't "open" \- devices require certification, and the Miracast and Wi-Fi Direct specifications cost $200 each. It's also supported by relatively few devices right now (since, you know, certification), and I seem to recall there are some compatibility issues between manufacturer implementations.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Wow. lot of negativity here. I think this is a great product and I would gladly pick it up when it becomes available. Indiegogo is a no go for me.

Here are my thoughts 1\. DLNA != this and many have already outlined why so no point repeating.

2\. Great features and the need for software is a minor hiccup considering how feature rich the s/w makes the solution. I would consider making the software portable for windows.

3\. Not all platforms have hdmi. What about display-port compatibility (adaptor?)

4\. I'm less concerned about b/w like some have pointed out here. The use case is not always high quality video as long as the quality is above SD and wifi doesn't cut out.

5\. I'm guessing that with a s/w option, it should be possible to do this wired on the laptop end. But, the TV end is always wireless. I would love to see a wired option to eliminate wireless as an option. Not sure if there is a wired solution that exists today to do this.

Anyway, congrats to the team. Seems like a great product.

<comment><USER8> > 3\. Not all platforms have hdmi. What about display-port compatibility > (adaptor?)

I don't think there is any physical component for the computer, so the lack of HDMI ports on laptops is not a limiting factor. Almost every TV has HDMI inputs today. An HDMI -> DisplayPort dongle should work if you wanted to turn your monitor into a head for this, but you might lose the audio channel.

I might be misunderstanding the product, but to me it seems like Chromecast [1] without any DRM bullshit.

1: [http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/](http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Back of the envelope calculation:

(1920 * 1080 * 3 * 60) / 1024.0 / 1024.0 => 355.96 MB/s

300mbps wireless n:

300 / 8.0 => 37.5 MB/s

Given that the whole point of HDMI is image quality, how are they going to shove 355MB/s through a 37.5MB/s link without lowering the quality hugely?

It all seems rather pointless to have a large, high quality display and content, and force it through a small link.

<comment><USER10> BlueRay in 1080p is encoded at most at 35Mbits/s. You only need a decoder on the other side and stream the video data to be decoded by the remote device.

There are a few protocols out there that manage to send high-performance video across remote devices without requiring lots of bandwith: RemoteFx is an extension of Window's RDP for instance; Citrix has stuff like HDX-3D Pro, etc.

You certainly do not need to send every pixel through.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> It is not "Wireless HDMI" until I plug something in the HDMI port of my PC and the HDMI port of my TV and it "just works".

Playing games on the output of a 1080p @ 60fps with 3-5k bitrate encoder causes massive delay.

<comment><USER12> Here you go. This is a real 'wireless HDMI' solution from an established AV company.

[http://www.dvdo.com/air3/index.aspx](http://www.dvdo.com/air3/index.aspx)

<comment><USER13> So does this actually work without significant lag? Would be very good to know in light of the Kickstarter here!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I'm somewhat curious to know if this could possibly be a Raspberry Pi-ish solution?

Because that hardware uses an ARM processor and has 512 MB RAM just like the Raspberry Pi model B. Also, I think the Pi is able to achieve the same thing already - Just connect your Pi to the TV (which can have a HDMI/Video In/DVI) and stream what you want from your PC. It would be interesting to see if the software they provide would run on my Pi out of the box. If it does, then I think I can somehow integrate the Pi into my 3 year old Bravio without any fuss and enjoy wireless streaming with the software these guys provide. All in all, a very good effort guys :)

<comment><USER15> We have been testing with the Pis so it's definitely working!

In fact, we will be providing images for raspberrys (based on the raspbian distro)

<comment><USER14> Thank's for the clarification! :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> For all the "use chromecast/Apple TV/Miracast", this might be helpfull as to why it isn't the same [http://images.indiegogo.com/file_attachments/213408/files/20...](http://images.indiegogo.com/file_attachments/213408/files/20131121000131-Competitors_overview__1_.png?1385020891)

Also, the guys chanting DLNA, does that work on other things than windows? I've never heard of it, so, have little knowledge of it. Also, I will take a stab in the dark and guess the muliple monitors part and sharing your screen on others computers isn't quite a thing of DLNA...

<comment><USER17> That chart has a small error, Miracast certainly does support extended desktop - I use it frequently on Windows 8.1.

<comment><USER5> and isn't it open so that anybody can implement it for Linux and other platforms as well?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I could buy a Chromecast for half the price and use a free service to mirror my desktop for meetings.

Or I could buy another Apple TV for a little more and have a lot more functionality and video outlets (HBO GO, Netflix etc.). Although this option only works if you use Macs.

Or as another poster said just use the built in wifi on my TVs in my house.

<comment><USER19> I'll take dlna over a single corp solution like appletv any day of the week.

<comment><USER18> True but in my house I have had better luck with my apple tv than I have had streaming DLNA. Way too choppy.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Their software is open source, that means if funding goes success and they release their software we could use any mini pc running ubuntu (or raspberry pi) as the dongle for tv.

<comment><USER21> Actually, the dongle (according to the pic) has an Allwinner A10 processor, which is the one that came on the first Android TV dongles that popped up more than a year ago.

Even though a bit old and single-core, it's more than enough to stream some H.264, and back then it was a quite awesome processor for 7$/ea approx. Now they will be even cheaper.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> What baffles me is that every TV sold today already has a wireless DTV receiver built into it! You know, that one that you can hook rabbit ears to, and the one so few people actually use.

Can someone please explain to me why no one builds transmitters for these?

<comment><USER23> I don't think it is legal to transmit on those frequencies, thats what the stations pay big bucks for.

<comment><USER24> Radio stations pay big bucks to broadcast on the FM frequencies, and yet they make FM Transmitters for your car. Why wouldn't DTV be the same?

<comment><USER23> Thats a good point, I didn't think of that. The FCC did make some allowance for low power FM transmitters, probably because they couldn't control it anyway. I see some people selling similar low power TV transmitters, but I don't know why it isn't more common. Since it is more complex than the FM transmitters and more of a risk, I wonder if the lack of FCC regs has stopped it in the US.

<comment><USER25> Low power FM refers to a specific class of licenses[1] and not the little radio dongles.

[1] [http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/low-power-fm-broadcast- radio...](http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/low-power-fm-broadcast-radio- stations-lpfm)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> To the inventors:

I made this "Works with" (instead of "with both") and it is available at [http://i.imgur.com/8VDAlrK.png](http://i.imgur.com/8VDAlrK.png)

Great idea, and good luck.

<comment><USER15> Thank you!! Will be updated shortly :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Firstly the public use cases are cool and could be really useful; my criticisms are with home use. My TV doesn't have USB ports for a start and the current setup I have is a 10m HDMI cable that is long enough to connect to my laptop on the sofa, it cost about $15 and is hassle-free.

<comment><USER28> You don't need a USB port. It plugs into the HDMI port.

<comment><USER27> The wireless receiver is powered by USB though right?

<comment><USER29> i dont see why you cant use any standard USB charger instead.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> What strikes me is how the Apple TV is really in the "good enough" zone for iOS and recent Macbook users. After so many years there's no clearly better solutions to show some random content on the TV.

<comment><USER31> Chromecast, cheaper, and no Apple universe buy-in.

<comment><USER32> I have both, and AirPlay is much better for my use cases personally. But I've already "bought in" to Apple's ecosystem, so it's a bit of a no-brainer there!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> This is awesome! I really like it alot!

A couple of weeks ago I was thinking up this exact idea. I'm glad someone is doing it!

A greate usecase for use would be in our office conference room. Plug it in the projector in the ceilingand all employees can just stream the screen.

Installing custom software might be a barrier for some users.

Congratulations to the team!

Good luck!

</comment><comment><USER34> First, I know nothing about electronics or how this device it's made or why they did it like that, this is just a humble opinion.

Please, please stop making USB dongles which are big and occupy more than one port, if I put that device in my smartTV it will block the other one.

<comment><USER35> Chromecast comes with a short HDMI extender cable. Enjoy the dangly future.

I suspect TV makers will adapt before long and sprinkle HDMI connectors a bit farther apart.

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> Why not use miracast/WiDi? We really don't need another solution, we need devices that work with the existing standard. All new intel laptops and android phones can transmit, but there are hardly any affordable receivers.

<comment><USER15> We strive for the "clouds", and Miracast/WiDi with it's WiFi-Direct dependence isn't really future proof...

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> I've been using this: [http://www.laptopmag.com/review/wifi/hp-wireless-tv- connect....](http://www.laptopmag.com/review/wifi/hp-wireless-tv-connect.aspx) for more then a year now, works like a charm. It's not small and slick but get's the job done. I am using with with a stationary desktop machine though, not a laptop - this might be too much for a laptop.

</comment><comment><USER38> I don't want a software based solution that compresses my current display and streams it to a device on the local network.

What I want is _two_ HDMI dongles that literally function like wireless cables. Plug one dongle into one device. Plug the other dongle into the other device. The result should be exactly the same as if I had an actual HDMI cable. No software configuration. No wifi setup. Maybe a light on each device to indicate if the signal is strong enough and if they are connected to each other or not.

It's not complicated. That's all I want. Someone, please make this!

For that matter, there's a huge market for all sorts of dongles of this nature. Wireless audio cables that transmit digitally, for example. Basically, I want to just do away with wires and replace them with bi-directional dongles of some sort on each end.

</comment><comment><USER39> I'm really sad I don't have the funds to commit right now for the hacker version, however I'll definitely buy one when it comes out. I was really hoping that ChromeCast would've been what this is claiming to be. Please do show up Google on this front.

In the mean time if the people behind the AIRTAME are reading this, I'd love to see something like this with support for HDMI Ethernet Channel, since this will half the amount of wireless congestion AIRTAME would cause. I'm under no illusion that this will be added to the first version (I know what hardware dev is like), but it's something to consider for the future.

</comment><comment><USER40> This is great if they manage to pull it off. Solutions like DLNA are sometimes slow and are buffered. DLNA cannot be used to duplicate or extend your monitor. I would buy it instantly. I wasted so much time this year getting alternative solutions to work, like XBMC on a raspberry pi. There is no need for a media pc, if you can just use your laptop to quickly watch videos on your TV. Always plugging in a laptop is a big hassle.

EDIT: Using DLNA gets annoying. I need to start a software on my laptop and then I have to use my TV remote to select the file I want to watch in the TV menu. A solution like this is so much more quicker.

</comment><comment><USER41> Interesting, but it seems like it is dropping frames all over the place. I suppose it would be good enough for presentations but not for movie or game use.

I suppose with later iterations it could improve, but I would rather just plug the HDMI directly into the laptop and use a wireless keyboard/mouse if needed.

On another note, I find it hard to believe that Apple still hasn't fixed the color space issues on OS X (it only occurs if you use a different profile other than SRGB). It is clearly visible throughout the video showing the purple menu bar highlight when it should be blue.

</comment><comment><USER42> So I have been wanting a HDMI dongle or similar solution and this sounds promising. I was hoping Chromecast would have delivered something closer to this but alas it focused too much on entertainment content (and tab casting barely works for me).

I know it is a WIP, but this would have been much more attractive/awesome if they managed to power without separate USB and add wifi AC support. That would have made it a serious competitor even if at a higher price point.

<comment><USER15> Hi fatbat,

Infact you can power it from an HDMI 1.4 + MHL port if your tv supports it!

It also comes with dual wifi cards.

<comment><USER42> Awesome! Did not know about MHL. Looks like that is used by the Roku Streaming Stick too. I think you should definitely mention that in the campaign as well. Going to keep an eye on this and the stretch goals. Thank you!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> Great idea! Sadly, Indiegogo doesn't work for me:

An error occurred while processing your request. Reference #97.c756434d.1385043215.25b8f14

after POSTing my info on

[https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/airtame-wireless-hdmi- for...](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/airtame-wireless-hdmi-for-everyone --2/contributions)

Kickstarter is the way to gogo!

</comment><comment><USER44> Does it support HDCP? I don't see any mention of it, but not supporting it would imply that you can't play your DRM-protected iTunes streams via an Airtame adapter. (I totally agree that DRM is fundamentally a broken idea, but alas, that's the current state of affairs).

<comment><USER45> State of affairs on itunes. How about _not_ using iTunes for video?

<comment><USER44> Sadly, any compliant player for HD-Content will do the same. I'd be surprised if you're more successful with netflix, but I can't test since I'm not a netflix customer. There's enough people reporting problems with netflix and not HDCP compliant setups though.

Open source players are fine, but there's still the problem of finding a streaming service that supports open-source players or even just HD content without DRM. Now, you can go and torrent all your videos you'd like to watch but some of use prefer the ease of use and the legality of using an existing streaming service.

<comment><USER9> I sympathise, but isn't that really the point: if you can't re-stream it how you want, is the existing streaming service really easy to use?

<comment><USER44> As I said in my previous post: I think DRM is crappy and stupid, but that's how things currently are. And since there are devices that support HDCP over the air (apple tv, HP Wireless Connect, DLNA) the "ease of use" factor is given. I doubt consumers will be all-pleased if they buy an Airtame and netflix doesn't work.

(BTW: I don't think that Streaming Services just implement DRM because they think it's fun and I don't expect right holders will be enlightened any time soon)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER46> Doesn't this already exist?

[http://www.amazon.com/Nyrius-Transmitter-Streaming- Satellite...](http://www.amazon.com/Nyrius-Transmitter-Streaming-Satellite- NPCS549/dp/B009E6R89C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385046599&sr=8-1&keywords=wireless+hdmi)

<comment><USER47> Personally I prefer the idea of only requiring software on my computer, and no need for a dongle sticking out the side.

</comment></comment><comment><USER48> Neat, but not what I was expecting.

I was _hoping_ it'd be the type of dongle that I could plug one end into an HDMI out and one end into an HDMI in and have "wireless HDMI."

This is not that.

</comment><comment><USER49> FYI, there's a typo in the code screenshot.

s/versoin/version

<comment><USER15> Nice, thanks! Corrected (in the code of course) ;)

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> Why are there so many reinventions of VNC?

<comment><USER51> This. Shouldn't there be an app for my SmartTV to let it connect to a VNC/X11/RDP server?

<comment><USER50> You mean connect to a VNC/RDP server, and _be_ an X11 server? (Although where you'd get the mouse and keyboard input from, I'm not sure.)

<comment><USER51> Yes, for X11 the client/server roles are backwards so I shouldn't have included it in the list.

I want to use my TV as a VNC/RDP client, and either buy a wireless keyboard for it, or just let it act as a passive display.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER52> I would buy this in an instant if it had Android support. Are mobile devices on the roadmap?

<comment><USER42> Take from the campaign page comments,

       1.) Android / iOS "receiver" and "controller" is on the ROADMAP, having them as a "streamer" would also be awesome, but requires that people root/jailbreak their devices, which we can not officially support. (Restrictions on hardware access by vendors unfortunately)

</comment></comment><comment><USER53> It's only marginally cheaper than an Apple TV.

<comment><USER54> Can I play content from a Linux machine on the Apple TV?

<comment><USER18> No but for us in the apple ecosystem it is a much better alternative.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER55> What's the difference from Chromecast?

<comment><USER56> Chromecast works with youtube videos and google chrome tabs only (and it lags using tab casting)

<comment><USER57> Google Music, Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Pandora as well. I'd be shocked if it didn't offer more services in the next few months.

EDIT: And as of today, HBO Go.

<comment><USER56> True, what i meant was that it only works with video services, is not a screen sharing tool.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER58> How about a low powers ATSC transmitter?

</comment><comment><USER59> I'm happy to see Vanilla Ice take up another profession. Great product.

</comment><comment><USER60> Great idea! Want!

</comment><comment><USER31> Chromecast? I have several and they are pretty much this.

<comment><USER56> Yes, really cool for youtube videos and chrome tabs (tab casting has a crazy lag) But in the end you can't share screen and basically any kind of content. It's a nice device indeed, but so limited and pointless!

</comment></comment><comment><USER61> Works with both three operating systems.

</comment><comment><USER62> "Works with both [Mac image][Win image][Linux image]" is kind of annoying...

</comment><comment><USER63> NO attention to detail at all. "Works with both Windows, Linux and Mac". LOL

<comment><USER64> Wow, they are not native speakers - what a shock! maybe they even have typos somehwere in the text.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Is working under pressure important? - <AUTHOR>

I've become a little discouraged after talking to several startups about positions. The problem I seem to have is working through a problem under pressure. For the majority of my programming career, I have always known that I would not work well on a project if I felt pressured. It makes it hard for me to think and usually results in a sub-optimal product. For this reason I always started on project the day they were assigned to give myself plenty of time and to remove the possibility of having to finish work at the last minute. Now I seem to be coming up to a brick-wall when forced to complete a project or problem in a timed environment. Will not being able to work under pressure deny me my dream of working for a startup? <comment><USER2> I'd say pressure is part of any startup and the ability to work under it is much more important than at a larger company.

When you work a 9-5 at an established company there are usually several degrees of separation between you and the anxiety that comes from a business. The sales and support teams will be handling the clients. The testers will handle bug reporting. The management will worry about biz dev and making money.

At a typical startup you're going to be taking the brunt of all of those worries. The stakes are higher because you're usually fighting for the company's survival, not just your Christmas bonus check. For these reasons and more I'd say working under pressure is an extremely important skill if you're looking to get into startups.

</comment><comment><USER3> It's better to try and work harder than not. Otherwise, your startup fails, or it really wasn't a startup in the first place (just a traditional company calling itself a startup).

Startups aren't for everyone. If you're a brilliant programmer who doesn't want to be pressured into quickly adapting, perhaps you should apply to Google instead.

</comment><comment><USER4> Deny? No. Limit? Probably.

The current fad with startups seems to be to operate under extreme pressure, so you should expect to find that as a requirement at most of them. But, I bet they don't all work that way, so keep looking and good luck. :-)

<comment><AUTHOR> The current fad? Hmmm, so if a programmer can take shots and break into something faster than his opponents that makes him a good programmer (Reference to The Social Network)?

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Update: Seeing as thought working under pressure maybe a valuable skill. Any suggestion on how to get past the brick wall and performing better under pressure.</comment>


Lyft threatens lawsuit against Morgan Stanley, accusing support of short selling - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/06/lyft-is-threatening-litigation-against-morgan-stanley-accusing-the-firm-of-supporting-short-selling.html <comment><USER2> Even though Morgan Stanley denies short-selling, I'm really trying to understand the legal issue they'd be under even if they were.

The various news articles are terribly written (esp. the original nypost article), so here's what I can tell as someone with some knowledge of Lyft stock:

* Lyft's market standoff agreement is written loosely. Often such agreements enumerate a wide range of prohibited behaviors with the underlying stock during the lockup, banning all sorts of direct or indirect sells, hedges, hypothecation, etc. of the underlying stock. Lyft merely bans "selling or otherwise disposing" the company stock.

* Lyft has claimed (in emails to investors) that any transaction that transfers "economic interest" of the stock are prohibited.

So:

1\. Via "[https://nypost.com/2019/04/05/lyft-threatens-morgan- stanley-...](https://nypost.com/2019/04/05/lyft-threatens-morgan-stanley-with- legal-action-over-ipo-claims/"), It looks like Morgan Stanley might have created a vehicle/security that inversely tracks Lyft. So the Lyft investors aren't per se shorting Lyft; MS is. This toes the line (as it is an indirect short), but I'd love to see legal experts weigh in.

2\. Even then, I'm finding Lyft's position hard to rationalize. How does an agreement to ban sales bar any form of economic interest reduction? (e.g. buying puts, writing calls, hypothecating, etc.) I would think investors could execute equity collars on their Lyft position all they want per the agreement (and Morgan Stanley could be their counter-party), but Lyft is claiming otherwise.

<comment><USER3> >It says in relevant part that "our directors, our executive officers and holders of a substantial portion of our capital stock and securities convertible into our capital stock have entered into lock-up agreements …pursuant to which each of these persons or entities, with limited exceptions, for a period of up to 180 days after the date of this prospectus, may not, without the prior written consent of J.P.Morgan Securities LLC, (i)offer, pledge, announce the intention to sell, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of our Class A common stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A common stock ... or (ii)enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Class A common stock or such other securities." That captures not only share sales but also options, swaps and other hedging transactions, whether settled in cash or stock, and it is pretty standard language.

From [https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-04/token-...](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-04/token- sales-have-some-rules-now#footnote-5)

<comment><USER2> EDIT: I actually read the S1 excerpt wrong.

Update: Note that it is carefully worded: "Our directors, executive officers and holders of a substantial portion of our capital stock and securities convertible into our capital stock".

What probably happened is that the company required holders of only a "substantial portion" of stock to sign updated agreements with the underwriters. Neither I nor any of my Lyft stockholding friends ever entered into such an agreement (and Lyft isn't claiming that we, as minor shareholders, did). So as far as I can tell, nothing blocks us from hedging with Morgan Stanley or otherwise.

(Original post was thinking the S1 is wrong; it is not)

<comment><USER3> Source?

<comment><USER2> Unfortunately, the actual agreements generally aren't public information. I can't provide mine without risk of loss of anonymity.

Yes, this is a lame answer, but any viewer who has Lyft stock or has friends that do can verify for themselves.

<comment><USER4> What year agreement do you have?

I also signed one - DM me if you want.

<comment><USER3> FYI, HN doesn't have DMs - you could put a throwaway email in your profile

<comment><USER4> Thanks, I thought I had :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Wow, when companies complain about short sellers, it's generally pretty dumb (and a sell signal), but this sounds like MS was trying to help people get around lockup agreements which is pretty bad behavior if true.

<comment><USER6> For someone who knows nothing about shares, why is it a sell signal? I'd always assumed the issue was just that it was juvenile, not necessarily a cause for concern.

<comment><USER5> Because short sellers increase liquidity, and help the market determine an accurate price for the company.

Also short selling is _far_ more risky than taking the long side. On the long side, your downside is the money you invested (if the price goes to zero). On the short side, your downside is infinite (if the price keeps going up).

<comment><USER7> Shorters also apply downward pressure that might not exist naturally, since they're selling borrowed stock. AFAIK they could potentially short more stock than is even issued by the company. It's understandable why some companies would be irritated by people doing that.

<comment><USER8> You are talking about naked short selling. I think except by a few vocal opponents (e.g., Overstock CEO) generally naked short selling is not considered a major concern in the market as Long as it is not abusive.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> So I can see each pre I'll investor in Lyft having a contract that prohibits shorting, though there are reports that the language is week enough that it's possible that shareholders might actuallly be able to hedge their positions.

But what possible charge could Lyft bring against ms?

It's not illegal for an investment bank to short a company nor is it illegal for them to write a bespoke contract that let The holder lock in a price for ther shares as long as they weren't the ipo underwriter.

It's also not uncommon for a hedge fund to buy a bespoke put on a company Colton an investment bank, I mean writing this type of instrument is a part of their trading desks business.

Also this fails a simple occam's razor test once MS denied this.

<comment><USER10> From the article

> tortious interference with the lock-up agreements

<comment><USER11> I always wonder how these can be enforced anyway, same for employees. Employees carry a huge risk in case the Lyft stock falls flat, they still have to pay all the taxes and company might not withhold enough (dont have any details on that, but it's rather typical) - will be interesting to watch how this goes down.

<comment><USER12> ? You don't exercise your options if below the strike price. For RSUs, you hope they were issued far below the IPO price.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Some other stories on this:

[https://nypost.com/2019/04/05/lyft-threatens-morgan- stanley-...](https://nypost.com/2019/04/05/lyft-threatens-morgan-stanley-with- legal-action-over-ipo-claims/) [https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/05/morgan- stanley-which-is-un...](https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/05/morgan-stanley- which-is-underwriting-ubers-ipo-is-denying-reports-that-it-marketed-a-short- selling-product-to-lyft-investors/) [https://www.theinformation.com/articles/lyft-threatened- morg...](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/lyft-threatened-morgan- stanley-with-legal-action-over-short-selling-trades)

The NYPost story includes the detail "We bought stock in a special acquisition vehicle and then the individual investors in the special acquisition vehicle shorted shares through Morgan Stanley ... Pre-IPO investors are contractually barred from reducing their "economic interest" in Lyft for six months, which includes shorting the stock. But sources say Lyft investors worked around the lock-up language by positioning the bets so that they won't benefit from a decline or a rise in the stock. Instead, they simply lock in their IPO gains, which were significant."

<comment><USER2> The nypost's articles are being written by reporters who don't understand what they are writing. The same authors wrote the original article ("[https://nypost.com/2019/04/01/early-lyft-investors-are- betti...](https://nypost.com/2019/04/01/early-lyft-investors-are-betting-on- the-new-stock-falling/")) which is full similar errors.

Obviously, if the investor engages in a transaction that leads to them to not benefiting from a rise in the stock, they've reduced their economic interest!

The answer (as I note elsewhere) is that the investors believe Lyft's lock-up language does not per se bar them from reducing "economic interest". The loose agreement only bars selling and presumably short-selling shares.

<comment><USER13> Hacker News: where anonymous commenters ask you to believe them over the professional financial reporter.

You've put your finger on the core of the legal dispute, what "reducing economic interest" means. The reporter did an excellent job explaining that. Now it'll be up to a court to figure it out.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> The underlying issue is that Lyft stock price is too expensive and earlier professional investors know it. They want to hedge their position before Lyft bubble bursts.

If Lyft IPO price had been lower (... or more reasonable) this problem would not exist.</comment>


Ask HN: Any language-like frameworks that combine server/client relations? - <AUTHOR>

I'm not entirely sure what to google for something like this so I figured I'd just ask.
And I'm not talking about frameworks like Ruby on Rails, CakePHP, etc. etc. etc.  While I'm not entirely familiar with all of them... I get the impression that they're all fairly separate in terms of scripting/markup; i.e., you specify your html, include your css, include your javascript and specify when to use its functions, and do some server-side scripting to interact with databases and what not.  Even though all of these pieces work together, they're still quite separate and it seems to me like it's not nearly as efficient as it could be.  I mean... obviously there is a limit to how efficient it can be given current standards but even so, this limit has yet to be reached.
I may get some responses saying this isn't possible given the nature of web development, but I'm 100% sure it is.  The nature of programming is inherently complex relative to the world as the human brain immediately understands it... so it would suffice to say what I'm suggesting really just boils down to another abstraction layer on top of current methods.  It's just a matter of how feasible/easy it would be to implement given current standards and technology.
And I wonder this because the framework I've developed allows me to whip together nearly any highly functional multidimensional relational database (aka most modern websites lol) in a short period of time while still being fairly customizable.  I say fairly because it's definitely limited to the structure I've given it (the framework).  The more abstract the layers become, the less flexible it becomes... the less control you really have.  But even then... that's not entirely what I'm looking for.
For instance, my framework allows me to do something like this:

		'Home' => array( 			'_Step_' => 'Profile', 			'Profile' => array( 				'_Step_' => 'Group', 				'Group' => array( 					'_AffectedBy_' => array( 						array('Home', 'Requests', 'Incoming') 					), 					'_Form_' => array( 						array( 							'DimText' => 'E-Mail', 							'input' => 'text', 							'attributes' => array( 								'name' => '_E-Mail_', 								'tip' => array( 									'_Function_' => array( 										array('Chef', 'DoTip'), 										array('RecommendTips', 'It is <b>highly</b> recommended that you follow these tips your first time through.  There\'s more going on here than meets the eye!', true, false, true) 									) 								), 								'tsq' => $tsq++ 							) 						), 						array( 							'DimText' => 'Other Websites', 							'input' => 'list', 							'attributes' => array( 								'name' => 'Other Websites' 							) 						), 						array( 							'Etc...' 						) 					) 				), 				'User' => array( 					'_Form_' => array( 						array( 							'_Function_' => array( 								array('Chef', 'ChangePass'), 								array('_Data_') 							), 							'_DisableBreak_' => true 						), 						array( 							'_UserData_' => true, 							'DimText' => true, 							'input' => 'text', 							'attributes' => array( 								'name' => 'First Name' 							) 						), 						array( 							'_UserData_' => true, 							'DimText' => true, 							'input' => 'text', 							'attributes' => array( 								'name' => 'Last Name' 							) 						) 					) 				) 			) 		)
 Now, I cut out quite a bit of it just so I'm not posting an insanely long message but you should get the idea.
The only two files I ever need to modify are the multidimensional array (site structure/contents) file and the css file to change the layout/look.  It operates like a desktop app with no refreshing, including all navigation.  All of the database handling and html/css/javascript/ajax generation is performed in the background and everything is at a minimum - no whitespace, minimum required javascript/css is included, etc.  Ideas like headers, navigation, content, etc. are given wrappers with logical corresponding IDs and/or class names so that all you have to do is follow an easy standard to know what CSS you need to add to give it the look you want.  And when custom functions are to be performed on the data, you can retrieve it like this:

		$D['Home']['Profile']['Group']['Other Websites']
 Of course, as I said earlier, this is fairly limited functionality-wise to the structure I've given it - but let's be real... there's a limit to the extent of flexibility 90% of web apps really need.  So back to the question now that I hope it's clear... is there something out there like my framework but more flexible?  And I mean to the extent of... as if you're coding a typical desktop application. <comment><USER2> I know your concerns as I've recently had lots of thoughts on client-server- ajax-comet-websockets state of the art.

While your matrix seems quite radical, it's interesting approach. You may find other approaches attractive as well. For example Zed Shaw's Tir is making an webapp flow looking procedural by smart using coroutines underneath. While the idea was invented before, I like his implementation; i didn't yet hack anything serious in it though.

If you like evented style, Nitrogen is also very interesting. It allows you to program callbacks which jump from server to client and back in a clean way, IMO. That'll work for you if you can swallow Erlang syntax of course. I'd say this product is really production ready, btw.</comment>


Ask HN: Good books for English writing? - <AUTHOR> Does anyone have recommendations on good books for English writing?
I want to improve my writing and tried Jason Fried's idea of an essay being written in five versions: a three-page version, a one page version, a three-paragraph version, a one paragraph version and a one sentence version. It worked really well but the side-effect is I became more critical about my writing.
I have read "The Elements of Style", done the googling and have a list of to-read books; but I think the advices from you will help a lot more.
P.S. I'm a Chinese migrant living in Australia. <comment><USER2> The good thing about learning to write well is that every books is a book about writing - or at least every good book.

Increase the number of top quality books that you read and your language will naturally improve. It's not a magic recipe, and it won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

One way to make sure that what you read is always good is to focus on the classics - Dickens, Twain and so on - and also the (good) translations of foreign classics - Dostoievsky, Hesse, Marques... those are usually very well written and translated, and the more you read of them, the better your written (and spoken) english will be. Try reading one book every week or two or thereabouts.

Between that and constant practice (with feedback where possible), you should see your writing skills go from ok to good and eventually excellent within a matter of years.

<comment><AUTHOR> "within a matter of years"

That made me smile : ) I hope I can be as persistent as it takes.

<comment><USER2> The great thing about reading, particularly fiction, is that it's such a pleasure... so disciplining yourself to read more great fiction (and thus improve your writing and a number of other areas of your life) is a bit like disciplining yourself to eat great-tasting food or to go for walks more often. It's something you can really enjoy and build good habits around.The fact that your writing will naturally improve is just a bonus!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> _Bird by Bird_ by Anne Lamott <http://amzn.com/0385480016>

Good, interesting, book on writing from a writing teacher's POV. Useful if you want to read the truth about the struggle to get published. Also good for improving your writing.

_On Writing_ by Stephen King <http://amzn.com/1439156816>

Stephen King's surprisingly good book on being a professional writer for most of his life.

"Writer's Digest" magazine. <http://amzn.com/B00005NIPH>

I've been subscribed to Writer's Digest for years. Full of helpful hints, interesting articles, and suggestions for improving your writing, regardless of the genre or media for which you are writing.

</comment><comment><USER4> As an exercise, try writing in E-Prime[1], instead of regular English. Its a "variant" of English where the phrase "to be" and any variant of it ("be", "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "been," "being" and their variants).

In High School, I had an English teacher who made us write like this for a few months. There is a noticeable difference between something I wrote directly before and after writing in E-Prime for a few months. I hated it at the time (writing in E-Prime forced me to think about every word I was writing). Few years down the line, the exercises are one of the biggest things that have stuck with me.

1\. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime>

<comment><USER5> I think you forgot to add the words 'is eliminated'.

"... and any variant of it (...) is eliminated."

Just helping to clarify your interesting post.

<comment><USER4> I did indeed, thanks for catching that.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> The best book I have ever read (and continue to re-read) on writing is "On Writing Well" by William K. Zinsser. Mostly the first half of the book - it's incredibly valuable.

<comment><USER7> Do you also have some another suggestion that might be on Kindle store? "On Writing Well" only seems to have a CD audio collection.

<comment><USER8> It's also available in paperback (for $10!). If you're serious about learning to write well, it's well worth putting down the Kindle and going "old school" on this one.

<comment><USER7> Yeah, I'm just not from the US so I don't like to wait for the package to arrive, pay extra for the shipping, then have it clear customs, etc. Kindle provides instant gratification and all that :-)

<comment><USER8> I'm not in the US either, but patience is a virtue, and good things come to those who wait. The Kindle is great, but don't let it form the limit of your world.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, by Joseph M. William. Now in its 10th edition!

This is the real thing - a very useful book that cuts through the annoying prescriptive crap. Highly recommended.

[http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Style- Lesson...](http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Style-Lessons-in- Clarity-and-Grace-10E/9780205747467.page)

</comment><comment><USER10> Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer

[http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Tools-Essential-Strategies- Wri...](http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Tools-Essential-Strategies- Writer/dp/0316014990)

I highly recommend this book. Expect improvement immediately.

</comment><comment><USER11> 'Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully: in Ten Minutes' by Stephen King <http://www.greatwriting.co.uk/content/view/312/74/>

</comment><comment><USER12> Norman Ramsey gives some brief, practical advice on learning technical writing: <http://www.cs.tufts.edu/~nr/pubs/two-abstract.html>

</comment><comment><USER13> Many people use too many words. To shorten your post:

"Can anyone recommend good books for improving English writing? I've tried Jason Fried's technique of writing an essay in five versions: three pages, one page, three paragraphs, one paragraph, and one sentence. It worked really well, but I've now become more critical about... ... ..."

Two golden rules: practice, and feedback from others. I'm certainly still learning.

<comment><AUTHOR> Being concise is my ultimate goal too. I tried to shorten my post but it was the best I could do.

Just for an exchange of idea, how would you write my post? (no comparison or offense here, I simply want to see a different style)

<comment><USER14> A few weeks back I purchased a book called _The Dictionary of Concise Writing_ by Robert Hartwell Fiske. So far it has served me well. Here: [http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Concise-Writing- Alternative...](http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Concise-Writing-Alternatives- Phrases/dp/1933338121/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291439438&sr=8-1)

It's a fun book to skim when you have nothing to do.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> "Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew" by Ursula K Le Guin

The advice therein extends beyond stories.

[http://www.amazon.com/Steering-Craft-Exercises- Discussions-N...](http://www.amazon.com/Steering-Craft-Exercises-Discussions- Navigator/dp/0933377460)

</comment><comment><USER16> Elements of Style is full of little nuggets of good writing. Start a blog/journal to continuously practice the techniques in the book

<comment><AUTHOR> I totally agree. I felt that I had the knowledge but not the skill by only reading the book. I definitely will write and blog more.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> <http://twitter.com/jasonfried/statuses/13919731160>

</comment><comment><USER18> Read anything by George Orwell. Seriously.

</comment><comment><USER19> why don't you post a link to the different versions of your essay?

fyi, I guessed english was not your native tongue from the title. Your subject could be "Good books for writing", most people on hacker news take it for granted that you're writing in English.

<comment><AUTHOR> I wrote on paper; have been trying to avoid online distractions lately.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> General advice: read as much (english) literature as you can. As someone already pointed out, this will help you to improve but will of course take some time and is a process that has no end.

Personally I can recommmend also books like "on writing" (by Sol Stein) which gives you advices on general writing (fiction and non-fiction).

<comment><AUTHOR> "On Writing"

Added to my to-read list, thanks :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Can you share a link to Jason's post about writing essays that you mentioned?

<comment><AUTHOR> Here you go: [http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2647-the-class-id-like-to- tea...](http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2647-the-class-id-like-to-teach)

<comment><USER21> thanks :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> <http://stk8.co/fvbbbc>

</comment><comment><USER23> read paul graham's essays, he specifically has an essay on writing. assuming you're a hacker yourself, should'nt be difficult to understand them. try rewriting them, helps immensely.

</comment><comment><USER24> Writing with Style - the best book I've ever read on writing.

[http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Style-Conversations- Art-2nd/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Style-Conversations- Art-2nd/dp/0130257133)</comment>


How Etsy Localizes Addresses - <AUTHOR> https://codeascraft.com/2018/09/26/how-etsy-localizes-addresses/ <comment><USER2> > This form confused a lot of our German members, and they ended up putting > any number of things in that field, just to be able to move forward. This > led us to saved addresses like:

> Ets Y. Crafter

> 123 Main Street

> Berlin, Berlin 12435

> Germany

> In this case, the member just entered the city in the state field. This > wasn't the worst situation, and anything shipped to this address would > probably arrive just fine.

Actually, "Berlin" is the correct state (Bundesland) for the city "Berlin". It's just not relevant in addresses in Germany most of the time.</comment>