Ask HN: What's the mission of your company and why does it matter? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> We are FreeWill ([http://freewill.com/](http://freewill.com/)). We may be the most efficient fundraising tool for charity ever made. We provide free wills to people, and make it very easy to donate charitably in that process. We've raised over $190M for charities in just over a year! At the same time, we've made legal services more accessible by providing free estate planning to over 17,000 people.

Just had a feature in the New York Times: [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/07/your-money/online- wills.h...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/07/your-money/online-wills.html)

hmu with interest and feedback: email@example.com.

<comment><USER3> Full disclosure, I know this company (we went to the same school), but wanted to say congrats!

<comment><USER4> I don't think people have to say "full disclosure" every time they know someone/something more intimately than others. Are you taking a stance on something where your prior connections and involvement matters?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm a co-founder of Mixnode and we want to "make web-scale data affordable for everyone".

Having access to trillions of data points from the web is a super power reserved for only a handful of companies; what if anyone could access and analyze these data points without having to hire 25 experts in distributed systems and raise VC... Imagine the explosion of innovation this will bring about.

We want that explosion to happen sooner rather than later.

If you find this mission intriguing please send me an email: firstname.lastname@example.com

<comment><USER6> I worked for 2 years on the crawl infrastructure team of a well-known SEO/analytics company that was pulling in over a 120 billion web pages a month. It was definitely one of the most difficult projects I've ever worked on and we did have a team of 6-7 very incredibly smart people -- not "25 experts in distributed systems" though :P

This is a very lofty goal and I'm not sure how you are going to tackle it with 3 people, however I'm rooting for you and would love to get my invitation soon. Best of luck.

<comment><USER7> > pulling in over a 120 billion web pages a month

Can you tell more? That's 45K pages per second, and assuming that each page load on average takes 1 second you already need 45K workers. Are you talking requests or really loading web pages and evaluating them?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I am working on Learn Anything. It's an open source website with the goal of providing most efficient learning paths. A kind of Netflix for learning.

If humanity really solves personalized learning by crafting learning paths based on all of Internet's resources, user's current knowledge and learning preference, I believe something akin to singularity may be reached. So I am trying to build the website that tries to reach this goal in an open source way so anyone can help.

Website [https://learn-anything.xyz](https://learn-anything.xyz) Code: [https://github.com/learn-anything/learn-anything](https://github.com/learn- anything/learn-anything)

<comment><USER9> I have been kicking around a vastly different idea with the end-goal of making education more efficient. Yours is eminently more practical however :)

Glad to see this.

<comment><USER10> Hey, can you elaborate or contact me via [redacted]? I am pondering about this issue as well and I would love to speak with you.

<comment><USER9> I'd be happy to.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> At Kayak Adventures, "we are a small, locally owned shop that strives to inspire our guests to join us in reclaiming an active stewardship of our natural world through inspiring sea kayaking tours."

It's important because climate change is one of the biggest problems of our age, and by helping our guests foster a sense of connection to an amazing (and vulnerable) place, we can produce what thousands of news articles cannot: people who care.

[https://www.kayakak.com/](https://www.kayakak.com/)

(Apologies if this is considered "off topic" for HN, I've been a lurker for a while but this is my first post.)

</comment><comment><USER12> Enable community driven coordination of distributed enegery production and consumption. Basically virtual power plants operating on the edge of our grid.

Heat, refrigeration, lights, etc are at the foundation of modern society. The foundation of modern society is driven by the distribution of energy. Helping ensure energy sources at the edge of our grid achieve scalability and fault tolerance strikes me as something that truly matters.

LO3 Energy

The company has been around for some time but recently underwent rapid growth. I started as a part time remote contracted and was the first software engineer to be brought on full time.

It's been a lot of work and there is still a long way to go but the thing that keeps me chugging is the people involved. We've attracted a powerhouse of a team both on the business and engineering side. Further, I've never worked with a more genuine and kind group of individuals before.

<comment><USER13> I'm reading about your Allgau microgrid, and it looks like it may have been chosen as a pilot because some feed-in tariffs are expiring. Is the idea here to effectively bypass the utility company (even though there is a partnership for this pilot) so that energy consumers end up directly paying each other through the blockchain ledger?

<comment><USER12> Speaking generally about all our projects and from my personal perspective (software guy, not public relations); The idea is to bring both sides of the industry (customer, utility) together more efficiently and effectively.

The current model (power utility produces electricity, maintains distribution infrastructure, and bills on a KWh basis) for producing and distributing energy is very wasteful. We're constantly producing more energy than necessary to react to spikes in demand. The current model is also increasingly strained as we adopt more renewables due to their relatively unpredictable nature. However, the utility isn't going away in the foreseeable future. The lines and other infrastructure still need to be maintained.

The idea is to elimate waste. Work toward new models that benefits both sides (e.g. peak demand gets supplied via energy sources at the edge of the grid, utility doesn't need to install more infrastructure to accommodate growing energy demand within that microgrid).

<comment><USER14> I work in this field (electricity markets) and don't really see microgrids fulfilling this niche anytime soon.

Due to FERC Order 841, we will see a surge in grid-scale batteries and our markets (in the US) will have to accommodate this. They will hopefully help some with various issues such as congestion, transmission buildout, and short term changes in demand.

<comment><USER12> In the US, you're are right. The regulation in the US is currently not conducive to microgrids. The world is a big place though.

<comment><USER14> Yea, if you're talking about non 1st world countries, the idea could definitely work i think.

Best of luck!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> "When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can't eat money."

<comment><USER16> I don't have crazy debt or people to support, so it's very easy for me to say this, but it's sad to see the smartest people in my generation putting so much effort into getting people to click on stuff :/

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> I'm a co-founder of Kosmos ([https://kosmosschool.com/](https://kosmosschool.com/)). Our mission is to build a complete K-12 school that exists only in virtual reality. It matters because such a school could provide better education to kids from all around the globe at a fraction of the cost today.

<comment><USER18> Dude, a developing brain growing up in VR.... I dunno.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> I'm building HuggyList. Our mission is to provide condensed knowledge for busy professionals.

It truly matters because it makes learning much easier for people who lack of time. This helps everyone to make better decisions and have a greater impact.

As an example, here is some YC startup knowledge summarized in bullet points: [https://huggylist.com/channel_lists/1537220271873x5642096565...](https://huggylist.com/channel_lists/1537220271873x564209656557068200)

</comment><comment><USER20> Your documents and notes are a reflection of your knowledge and experience. We believe the hard work you put into them should benefit you in the long term. This is why we are working on the most intuitive and flexible platform for you to capture, share and navigate your thoughts.

<comment><USER21> Is your platform up yet? Would love to give a try

<comment><USER20> We are going into beta test in the coming weeks, I would love for you to try it! Shoot me an email (in HN profile) if you are interested.

The invitation is open to anyone of course :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I'm the solopreneur and solo developer behind Hacker Experience 2 ([https://hackerexperience.com](https://hackerexperience.com)), an open-source MMORTS hacking simulation game with the main goals of

1) fostering interest on Computer Science among young adults and curious people, especially those on third-world countries that have no chance of going to college

2) bringing people to the FOSS world by having a low-barrier to entry project where they can contribute directly (not necessarily with code). That kind of experience - seeing their contribution being rolled out worldwide to a game they love - must be life changer.

3) raising privacy awareness and let people know about encryption and VPNs

4) and why not, create a fun, interactive and highly strategic game :)

After 4 years of development, I'm still nowhere close to reaching any of them (not yet released). But if my game can motivate and change the life of a single kid, all that trouble will be well worth it.

Here's to another 4 years! For people out there in similar situation, the urge to quit may be high, but try not to give up. E-mail is on profile in case anyone wants to talk.

</comment><comment><USER23> I'm a co-founder at Stitch, and our mission is to inspire and empower data driven people.

I believe that the development of the scientific method and evidence-based decision making is the most important development in human history. It's not universal, and it's a lot of work. We want to motivate more people to come over that way of thinking and make it easier for them to do so.

www.stitchdata.com

<comment><USER24> Hey there! We have very closely related missions. At the very least we're in the same domain space. Would love to learn more about the Stitch platform to see if there are opportunities to collaborate?

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> At Genomenon, we're building tools that help discover, diagnose, and treat cancer and other inheritable disease. To do this, we've built the Mastermind Genomic Search Engine [1], powered by the world's most comprehensive source of genomic evidence.

You've probably seen a lot in the media lately about the possibilities of precision medicine powered by personal genomic sequencing. With the advent of the $1000 whole genome sequencing [2], we now have an immense amount of data at our fingertips. The problem we have now is known as the "bioinformatics bottleneck" [3], in which our sequence data reveals thousands of variants in our DNA, and we need to figure out which ones are clinically relevant, by figuring out which ones have been observed and studied. We seek to make that task easy; to minimize the time it takes to perform an exhaustive search, and reduce the chance of missing important information in a patient's sequenced genome [4].

Most people have been or know someone who has been affected by cancer or inheritable disease. As far as missions go, this was an easy one to get behind when I met my co-founder almost five years ago. When my startup at the time got acquired shortly after meeting him, I knew immediately what I wanted to do next.

[1] [https://www.genomenon.com/](https://www.genomenon.com/)

[2] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$1,000_genome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$1,000_genome)

[3] [http://science.sciencemag.org/content/344/6184/653.3](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/344/6184/653.3)

[4] [https://scipol.duke.edu/content/questathena-wrongful- death-s...](https://scipol.duke.edu/content/questathena-wrongful-death-suit- district-court-judge-holds-hearing-motion-dismiss)

</comment><comment><USER26> Make money so i can buy food and the shareholders can buy better food.

</comment><comment><USER27> Unify all web APIs in a single, programmable, and customizable interface. It matters because people's data does not reside in files anymore, it's behind a very heterogeneous set of web APIs which, as a whole, are very hard to use.

</comment><comment> shreyas-satish I recently started ownpath ([https://ownpath.in/](https://ownpath.in/)) because I want to build a better framework for lifelong learning.

While books and courses have their place, I think that human connection is crucial to not feel isolated. When I'm learning something new, it feels great to be able to bounce ideas off someone, get feedback on my work and if possible, make some friends along the way.

My bet is that more people also feel similar things. If you have any thoughts on the website or just want to chat, feel free to reach me at firstname.lastname@example.com.

</comment><comment><USER28> I'm cofounder/CTO at CareZone (.com). Our mission is to help people care for themselves and their families.

The US health care system is disorganized, inefficient, and overwhelming for patients and their families. We aren't "solving healthcare", but we provide tools and services that make caregivers' lives easier.

This matters not just for the obvious reason that so many people need help, but because relatively little effort in the health care system goes into helping patients and their caregivers with the responsibilities the system dumps on them.

</comment><comment><USER29> I'm the founder of FormAPI [1], and my company's mission is to help developers fill out and sign PDF documents.

It truly matters to my customers, because they're paying me money. And it truly matters to me, because if the company continues to grow, then I'll have lots of money and freedom. Honestly it's mostly about the money, but I really enjoy building things and solving problems for people.

[1] [https://formapi.io](https://formapi.io)

<comment><USER30> the truly matters part i think needs at least 1 level of "but why"... okay they pay for it, but why do they pay for it? that's the important thing... okay, it pays your salary and gives freedom, but why do you care about the product? what if it paid you nothing (but that didn't matter); would you still work on it? why?

i'm sure you know these answers; you wouldn't have gotten to "paying customer 1" otherwise

<comment><USER29> Sure, they pay for it because it solves a specific problem, and it saves a lot of time. I care about the product because I put a lot of work into it, and it's a "creative outlet". I enjoy making all the decisions and having the freedom to work on whatever I think is important.

I'd keep working on it for a while if I didn't need to worry about money. But I also really like the idea of a "finished product" that doesn't need any more work. That's what I'm aiming for, although I'm probably a few years away from that.

I wouldn't keep working on it if it failed and no-one was using it. I would just move on to the next project.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> Our mission is to fight period poverty. There are many women in the world and in the USA that can't afford feminine care. Not only that but conventional tampons and pads are disposable, highly polluting, made out of plastic, and not that healthy.

Conventional tampons are made with regular cotton as well as rayon. Regular cotton could have toxic residues from pesticides, dioxin from the bleaching process, and rayon fiber can disintegrate within a woman's body, breeding bacteria that could hurt or be dangerous like toxic shock syndrome. Disposable pads are made from mysterious ingredients because companies don't have to disclose ingredients to consumers in the USA. All the chemical scents, antibacterial, plastics, those are all not disclosed which should be worrying because there are many toxic chemicals out there.

The solution I'm working on are reusable cloth pads. The idea is simple and has been what the world has been using before disposables came out. They are a lot more sustainable because they are reusable. They can be customized for each customer and come in pretty colors, shapes, and sizes.

</comment><comment><USER32> "Make money".

<comment><USER33> And it doesn't matter.

<comment><USER34> In all seriousness, most Silicon Valley "why we truly matter pitches" are just shovels full of something.

We'd probably be making bigger differences in the world if we contented ourselves with making a living, and then stepping away from our keyboards to go befriend people who are going through hard times and serve our immediate communities more directly.

Making money matters if it enables you to turn around and help other people directly and immediately.

<comment><USER13> > befriend people who are going through hard times and serve our immediate > communities more directly.

Makes me think of the insurance policy of the Amish - if someone's home burns down, it is a guarantee that everyone in the community will come together to build a new house for them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> I am an Engineer at Celo [https://celo.org/](https://celo.org/) \- Our mission is to build a monetary system that creates the conditions of prosperity for all.

We aim to give financial tools that will help people to self-actualize. Many people in the world do not have the basic financial tools for lifting themselves out of poverty -- a sound currency and property rights -- and we aim to provide those. Second, we aim to create a system that connects people to one another through the financial system; especially those that have been disconnected from the financial system.

We have a flat & open culture and value diversity. We are hiring at our SF and Berlin offices: [https://celo.org/jobs](https://celo.org/jobs)

More about Celo: "Hello From Celo" \- [https://email@example.com/hello- from-celo-34bf195cb99](https://email@example.com/hello-from- celo-34bf195cb99)

<comment><USER36> > opening a bank account but for claiming various other essential services, > such as healthcare and education.

Where such services are provided by a functioning state maybe, but if they are, they also have a functioning currency and banking sector.

Where their isn't.... I had a Ukrainian friend who said in the worst days of state dysfunction (now decades ago), the de facto currency was bottles of vodka.

At least with a bottle of vodka, you can drown your sorrows if your currency crashes.... So your zeroth challenge is "How is Celo better and cheaper and more trustworthy than a bottle of vodka?

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> Co-founder of Banter, [https://banter.fm](https://banter.fm). We make podcasts easier to share and have conversations around.

We've basically built a BYOC (Bring-Your-Own-Content) social network. Publishers host an RSS feed and remain in full control of their content. We don't try to assert copyright or anything over it. We don't even host it. We just enable conversations and sharing of that content (we even generate videos for sharing on other platforms that don't support audio well: [https://twitter.com/stevekrenzel/status/1040746982615076864](https://twitter.com/stevekrenzel/status/1040746982615076864))

Some of the best content being produced today is in podcasts. Everything from comedy to news reporting. They're a great way to help people stay informed, learn new things, or just get a laugh. So if that counts as "truly mattering", then that's why it truly matters.

</comment><comment><USER38> We're a small team building tools to make local government services more accessible ([http://localgov.fyi/](http://localgov.fyi/))

relevant disco here [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17516721](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17516721)

</comment><comment><USER39> Fixing healthcare in the US. Sounds grandiose and having been in the industry for 5 years I would have laughed a few years ago if someone told me that it was their company's mission.. but there's actually a real way to fix it and we're building that solution. Feel free to email me if interested. (Our stack is Rust / React)

</comment><comment><USER40> At Infinite Food[0] we are automating the production and retail of personalized meals through robotic service locations supported by modern logistics and electronic supply-chain.

We believe this field of innovation matters because by 2050 the world population will be 9.7 billion[1] increasingly living in high density urban environments after loss of agricultural land and clean fresh water, potentially less reliable yields due to climate change, increasing concerns about pollution, and reduced biodiversity. Therefore, we urgently need the ability to feed more humans more reliably using less resources.

[0] [http://infinite-food.com](http://infinite-food.com) [1] [https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/Key_Findings_...](https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/Key_Findings_WPP_2015.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER41> "To make all SEO agencies - including our own - redundant!"

Why? Because SEO is the ultimate digital snake oil industry of our era. Sucking away ressources and f###ing up websites, wasting (life)time of users and developers alike.

[http://www.f19n.com](http://www.f19n.com)

<comment><USER42> Tried to learn more from the link - I know you want to sell the book/courses etc, however, I need more to go on. Is it all about web performance, speed?

<comment><USER43> Wow the book seems to be physical only. No ebook!

<comment><USER41> Yes, by design! Want the book on the table so that people need to talk about it. Skim it & then read it.

But yeah, 3rd edition going to be e-book, too! On Amazon and DRM free for all who order the physical book (also the current one).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER44> My mission is to make it possible for the users take back control of the internet, and make technology work for people ([http://unravel.org](http://unravel.org)). The internet has gone from being a technology that liberates information for everyone to something that concentrates power and information. Everybody complains about it, but very little is done about it. The tech industry doesn't need to disrupt the world nearly as much as the tech industry needs disruption.

It matters that I do this because, while I may have just a small chance of succeeding, I probably have a better chance then most. For the few of us who have the skills, the time and the plans to do something about it, we owe it to all who cant do something about it to at least try.

</comment><comment><USER45> The mission of Porky.co is facilitating Riders to:

"Find. Meet. Ride with your Harley-Davidson Tribe."

It matters because I've spent the last 3 years as a co-founder of a Veteran Support charity called No Duff (www.noduff.org).

Root cause data for the vast majority of the 233+ Veteran support incidents we have responded to include a lack of belonging, community, meaning, and purpose in Veterans' lives post service.

Recreational motorcycling community(much like the Veterans community) is still stuck in the pre-internet and pre-smartphone hub and spoke "siloed" club model.

We don't want to change the world for everyone.

But we do want to help motorcyclists find belonging, community, personal meaning, and social purpose.

Currently in YC Startup School and applied to W2019 Batch on Day 1.

Looking for a Technical Co-Founder :)

email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER24> I'm the founder of Orchestra ([http://orchestrahq.com](http://orchestrahq.com)) and our mission is to "accelerate the world's adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence".

Most if not all of the machine learning models in the world never see the light of day. They never get productionized and embedded into web and mobile applications. We believe that web and mobile applications can be so much more smarter with machine learning and AI capabilities. By building a platform to make it easy to embed models into web and mobile apps, we hope that this will drive adoption.

</comment><comment><USER46> I am the founder of Jumpshare ([https://jumpshare.com](https://jumpshare.com)).

Our mission is to make everyone more productive. When running a previous startup with 20 people, I found that communicating effectively with them was a challenge. To share work with them and with outside clients and collecting feedback and ensuring everyone was on the same page took many back and forth steps. I also noticed that everyone was facing the struggle to communicate effectively both inside and outside the team. Thus, losing a lot of time and overall productivity.

</comment><comment><USER47> [https://www.opendoctor.io](https://www.opendoctor.io)

Making more data about doctors public. Their research papers, education, accepted insurances, Medicare acceptance, etc.

</comment><comment><USER48> I'm co-founder of Root Health. We empower patients with empathetic support and next best actions to ease the burden of clinical trials.

[https://roothealthapp.com](https://roothealthapp.com)

It matters because there are very few people actually focusing on the patient experience in clinical trials. Most companies building solutions in this space see patients as the barrier to data instead of the reason why trials exist.

</comment><comment><USER49> I run ContentFly ([http://contentfly.co](http://contentfly.co)).

Our ultimate mission is to democratize marketing so any and every small business on Earth can use it.

<comment><USER50> So no democracy for the writer that gets paid flat fee?

<comment><USER49> We'll probably let the price hang eventually, but an open market would actually result in the writers getting paid less.

Our biggest competitor pays writers 0.7c/word lol

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER51> At [https://ingrower.com](https://ingrower.com), we provide a farm management app with human-expert assistance for smallholder farmers in East Africa. There are 500 million smallholder farmers in the world today. Most are operated by women of the house in developing countries growing greens or raising chickens in their homes. Imagine enabling some of them to generate an income with their smallholding farms. That's what we're trying to do at InGrower.

</comment><comment><USER52> We at Initiative Zero ([http://initiativezero.com](http://initiativezero.com)) are looking provide innovative payment solutions to help students pay off their student loans quicker, saving years off their student loan debt.

      The national student loan debt in the US is $1.5 trillion and 15% of Americans have student loan debt.

</comment><comment><USER53> I'm the founder of Rainway ([https://rainway.io](https://rainway.io))

Our core mission is using our innovative technology to provide gamers with freedom and choice in how they experience their favorite games. We are committed to building a positive community, capable of having fun anywhere. Because if you're not having fun, what is the point of playing? We will always put gamers first.

</comment><comment><USER54> At Idea To Startup ( [https://ideatostartup.org](https://ideatostartup.org) ), our mission is to enable entrepreneurs to advance from idea to startup by helping them create an invincible team and develop an impeccable product

</comment><comment><USER55> The "mission" thing always makes me wonder... What will happen if your mission interferes with making profit? My guess is that, for 99% of companies, mission will be ignored (or changed). This shows that the true mission (i.e. purpose of the company) is making profit and not what they declare.

<comment><USER32> Recently I've learned that in some US states there is something called a Social Purpose Corporation, which actually lets you profit and stick to your mission. In a regular company, it's more than likely that putting your "mission" above maximizing your profits will put you in legal trouble.

<comment><USER56> Yes, the same exists in Finland (social entrepreneurship), but since we can all agree on that there are huge differences between companies, how they operate, and how moral they are, we can agree on that there's a lot of playground for the execution of a good mission statement. There's on the one hand maximization by moving your production to a third world country and by paying the absolute minimum to your employees (which no legal entity expects you to do AFAIK), but then there's also maximization by being decent and by doing everything properly (to which no legal entity also has nothing to sneeze at). So the maximization doesn't have to be the kind of grab your company by the throat kind of maximization.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER57> We are Testimonly ([https://www.testimonly.com](https://www.testimonly.com)) and we want to help SaaS businesses automate their users feedback acquisition and showcasing workflow.

</comment><comment><USER58> The mission of most companies is just to make money, so it doesn't matter.

</comment><comment><USER59> Ending poverty in the coffee sector by 2030. www.enveritas.org

</comment><comment><USER60> Were a mid sized regional ISP and we try every day to literally make the internet not suck.

<comment><USER61> When you say _literally_ make it not suck, I have to wonder just how broken the internet really is where you are.

</comment></comment><comment><USER62> Magic software.

Because we can, and you will be happier. I promise.</comment>


Webpage removal request tool - <AUTHOR> https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals?pli=1

<comment><USER2> It only works if (1) you own the site, (2) the content is 404, (3) your credit card number appears in a result, or (4) it needs to be under Search Safe.

Any other case and you're SOL. Sadly, "remove angelfire.com/*" doesn't work.

</comment><comment><USER3> When my Geocities 'Computer game novellas' collection page went down (after Geocities shut down), I uploaded it to a Tripod site, but Google refused to index it. Later, I put it on my corporate site under /homepages, and added that to Google. In just a few days, I'm again top of the list for 'level 9 novellas' in Google. I updated the link to the novellas site in Wikipedia (from the old Geocities to the new site), but I don't know whether Google took notice of that, or just the fact that my corporate site is not a Tripod site (and thus more legitimate?).</comment>


Architect's async/await middleware for AWS lambda - <AUTHOR> https://arc.codes/reference/functions/http/node/async <comment><AUTHOR> Worked on this myself, but thought HN might be interested.

AWS lambda has a callback free node functions, using async/await.

Architect (a serverless framework) has a tool that combines multiple async/await handlers into a single lambda, much like traditional express middleware, but without callbacks.

Requests go in, responses or modified requests (which are passed onto the next middleware item) go out.

It's a very modern way of handling middleware and supports most of the use cases of the traditional express-style middleware. See the examples for more details.</comment>


Ruins of Pompeii added to Google Street View - <AUTHOR> http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=pompeii,+italy+ruins&sll=40.716428,14.537315&sspn=0.061672,0.132351&ie=UTF8&hq=pompeii,+italy+ruins&hnear=&ll=40.748902,14.484834&spn=0,359.991728&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.748902,14.484834&panoid=1e-bu_kis-dL1BnVGZhDdw&cbp=12,209.48,,0,7.63

<comment><USER2> Speaking of cool places on google maps, check out Tristan Da Cunha, one of the most remote, inhabited places on Earth.

Link:

<http://tinyurl.com/y88rku4>

</comment><comment><USER3> My hands get prickly when I think about some of the places that could get the Street View treatment: Marrakech, Morocco; Venezia, Italy; the Great Pyramids; heck, even the sewers of Paris.

<comment><USER4> I need never leave my chair again!

Though, in fact, wandering through virtual Pompeii makes me really want to go back to Pompeii.

<comment><USER5> Street view is great for reliving your holiday and correctly sorting all those photos you took - a perfect memory aid. Also: (exact) post hoc GPS tagging.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> They've increased the coverage A LOT, expecially in the area around Milan. Next step the north est? With Verona, Venice, Udine, etc...

<comment><USER7> Speriamo di si`! I want to be able to send friends and relatives in the US pictures of where I live in Padova.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I wonder if the pictures were captured using this:

[http://gizmodo.com/5255361/google-street-view-employs- high+t...](http://gizmodo.com/5255361/google-street-view-employs-high+tech- tricycles-for-hard+to+reach-places)

</comment><comment><USER9> A gold star to the first person who posts a link to Caecilius and Metella's house.

<comment><USER10> Since I'm in withdrawal from gold star collection ever since I finished Super Mario Galaxy, I looked for it, and it turns out the street his villa is on hasn't been recorded in street view: [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=40.751669,14.483532&sll=40.750736,14.484835&sspn=0.003129,0.004125&ie=UTF8&ll=40.751817,14.483532&spn=0.001556,0.002063&t=h&z=19)

<comment><USER9> Agh, sorry: out of gold stars. Does an upvote work?

(BTW, that totally made my day. I love HN... :)</comment></comment></comment>


LAVA: Large-Scale Automated Vulnerability Addition [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://www.ieee-security.org/TC/SP2016/papers/0824a110.pdf <comment><USER2> I'm one of the authors and happy to answer any questions people have!

I gave a 40 minute talk on the work a couple weeks ago, and slides for that (which may be a little more digestible) are here:

[http://panda.moyix.net/~moyix/LAVA_Sapienza.pdf](http://panda.moyix.net/~moyix/LAVA_Sapienza.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER3> What if the government required app store operators to run all of their software through this process?

<comment><USER2> (Sorry to take so long to reply – I wish HN had a comment reply notification!)

Well, there would be two problems with that:

1\. LAVA works on source, and app devs aren't required to submit source code to the app store. It's possible in principle to extend it to binaries as well, but binary modification is actually rather tricky.

2\. If you can insert a backdoor, you really only need to insert one. At that point, the advantages of LAVA mostly go away – you're going to be able to insert a single backdoor by hand pretty easily, and the result is likely to be a lot stealthier than the bugs LAVA injects (e.g., think of something like this: [https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/the-linux- backdoor...](https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/the-linux-backdoor- attempt-of-2003/) ).

<comment><USER4> Hi, Just came to know about this interesting work. I found it very useful for evaluation. Will it be possible to have those buggy applications available to test other tools (fuzzers) or source code of LAVA to create buggy applications?

thanks</comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: My side project Catch a Fishli, a game to catch fish on Twitter - <AUTHOR> http://catchafish.li/

<comment><AUTHOR> This game has not been hugely successful...well, it only has 10 registered players. I would like to hear your thoughts and ideas how to make it more addictive and fun.</comment>


Ask HN: What to use for real time reporting? - <AUTHOR> I have this problem and was wondering if anyone can help. I have a number of data feeds (CSV files, web APIs) that I would like to report on but can't find anything open source or paid that can do the job. Basically I want to be able to attach any data feed to this system and build a simple report (select fields, couple of aggregations) which are then distributed to my team. The system could either be a desktop app or web based, don't mind. Each member of my team would have different levels of access to this and the report would present the data in tabular formats, charts and pivots. I looked at Tableau and Qlikview but they are not ideal for real time reporting.<p>Any ideas if there is anything like that out there? <comment><USER2> I wrote something along these lines at work to monitor servers and stuff.

A few cron jobs query Google Analytics, server cpu, ram and hd free space, a specific mysql table total row count, etc... every minute and curl the results to Firebase.com

A separate web app in AngularJS 1.x stays open on one of my monitors so I can monitor the results all day.

Firebase can take in data a number of ways (curl, php, js, etc...) and with it's realtime push - keeps the web app side of it fresh and current without having to refresh the page every minute via some other means.

You could also access the firebase data via iOS / Android code if you wanted to get fancy.

Works for us.

<comment><AUTHOR> Sounds like a neat solution but I guess you haven't heard something that is out there that can do all that and we could use straight out of the box. Problem is we have a lot of data feeds that will keep changing over time so the tool needs a generic infrastructure to accommodate new ones.

I can't believe there is nothing out there. Oh well live and learn.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I think there is some ambiguity of terminology around 'real time'. By which I mean that aggregation implies a temporal window and batching data and processing the data as a batch whereas really 'real time' implies right now and a single datum and stream processing. The historical concepts are OLAP [online analytic processing] and OLTP [online transaction processing], respectively. More recent thinking is that batch is a special case of stream (or vice versa depending on the task).

Architecturally, it is common to use pub/sub. Basically to ingest all the input streams into a single log type data structure and allow services to make calls against an API.

Boiled down to the simplest thing that might work:

1\. Write each event in the input streams as text to a log file [OLTP]

2\. Grep [maybe using tail] to find the interesting bits. [OLAP]

Where I am going is that the way a specific business is likely to solve this class of problems tends toward integrating several tools rather than something off the shelf because of issues like data integrity [i.e. it's bad for a bank to drop data on the floor, it's ok for the comments section of a blog].

The second reason that integrating tools makes sense is that issues like data access restrictions are more robustly handled at the operating system and network levels [avoids duplicating a core OS functionality and specific security/access configurations] I'd mention that maintaining data silos is often more habit than necessity and providing full access to the data or only ingesting data appropriate for full access probably simplifies the design.

Anyway, to me this looks more like software development than swiping a credit card if the set of features is non-negotiable...although, I suppose the consultant route might open up that possibility.

Good luck.</comment>


Void Main Void by Emperor and Mefjus - <AUTHOR> https://soundcloud.com/critical-music/03-emperor-mefjus-void-main

<comment><AUTHOR> So awesome `void main(void)` was explained in a song.</comment>


Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year - <AUTHOR> https://money.yahoo.com/barbabos-introduces-plan-to-allow-visitors-to-work-remotely-there-for-a-year-192734193.html <comment><USER2> This is really interesting - I wonder if, in our post-COVID world, we'll see other countries doing the same.

I'm trying to see any disadvantages for countries that do this, but the only thing I came up with is the possibility of distorting local rental prices. But presumably if enough countries offered such a visa, applicants would be spread over those countries, causing less distortion.

<comment><USER3> I would love to work remotely from Europe. I would think it would be in the interest of European countries to make this kind of arrangement because I would be spending my cushy US salary on European goods and services and not taking a job away from a European.

<comment><USER4> > cushy US salary

Wouldn't this be tax fraud to claim an address in US as your paycheck address and not actually live there?

<comment><USER5> How is that tax fraud? You pay federal taxes anywhere in the world you live as an American citizen.

<comment><USER4> ok i work 100% remote, can I claim my sisters address in Texas in texas for my payroll and actaully live in new york?

I am genuinely curious. This will save me tens and thousands of dollars every year if this isn't fraud.

why the downvotes, i don't get it.

<comment><USER6> > ok i work 100% remote, can I claim my sisters address in Texas in texas for > my payroll and actaully live in new york?

That's an entirely different issue. Yes, New York _state_ will likely take issue with the scenario you describe, but not at the federal level (what this thread is about). Further nobody, but you, was indicating lying about their address.

<comment><USER4> > That's an entirely different issue.

how is it different?

OP is claiming an address in USA for payroll as his residence but it isn't actually his residence. How is this not fraud.

<comment><USER6> Reread their post again, there is no mention of lying about their address to their employer. Based on your other comments, it seems you assume that all employers wouldn't maintain a salary if someone moves, which isn't true (yes, it's common for employers to adjust salaries for that reason, but it's not an automatic given).

<comment><USER4> Really shocked by this. I had no idea there are employers who doesn't adjust your salary from US salary if you move to an entirely different country.

all the examples i know of like gitlab, mozilla ect adjust it to local country comp.

anyone know if such an employer actually exists in US?

<comment><USER6> > anyone know if such an employer actually exists in US?

Yes. I've personally seen it happen multiple times at different employers, each with unique factors.

There are way to many factors at play here to make broad assumptions that no employer does it...

\- first and foremost, Covid changed everything when it comes to remote salary norms

\- Duration of move (some employers would be more lenient for 6-12mo vs permanent move)

\- level of seniority (which correlates somewhat with how hard it is to replace said employee if employer says no)

\- how long as the employee worked for employer (another factor in how much it impacts employer if employee moves anyway and goes to work for another company)

\- how bad the employer wants to retain said employee (Multiple previous emplayers, big and small, have made exceptions for specific coworkers)

\- it's important enough to mention again, Covid changed everything.

<comment><USER4> > There are way to many factors at play here to make broad assumptions that no > employer does it...

Yes you can make broad assumptions that almost no hr, payroll, legal dept of any company is setup to deal with taxes, labor laws ect across hundreds of different countries.

Yes exceptions exist.

> \- it's important enough to mention again, Covid changed everything.

No it didn't. Do you have even a single example of an employer thats allowing ppl work longterm from whichever country they please due to covid?

<comment><USER6> > Do you have even a single example of an employer thats allowing ppl work > longterm from whichever country they please due to covid?

Yes, I do, but I'm not doing your research for you. You've been extremely combative and flat rude and incredulous this entire thread, so I'm stopping my participation. If you genuinely are in pursuit of knowledge and not to just pick random fights on the Internet, then I implore you to use a different approach.

<comment><USER4> Sorry I wasn't trying to be rude, yes I agree that my comment were indeed rude. I apologize to you.

I'll try to be better.

I did do my research but I havent found any company that,

1\. Lets you move to any country

2\. Adjusts your payroll to that country's address.

3\. Doesn't adjust your compensation from what you were getting paid in USA.

I do know of some exceptions where people were allowed to move to a country where they already have a home office. One of my coworkers moved to Dublin and my company had a home office in Ireland. Some of my coworkers are also stuck in countries like India due to covid and HR allows them to work from there for now. But it is not any sort of company policy to let ppl work from a random country forever while maintaining their US salaries.

But the claim here is that you can move to any random country like Barbados.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> > Mottley addressed the concern: "In terms of broadband, we have two major > telecommunications companies, and at the same time we are looking to see how > we can continue to boost our national television station and move it from > being a broadcasting entity to digital services."

Not... the most inspiring, but maybe the internet is good? That would be my biggest worry. It's an absolute must have.

<comment><USER8> I'd imagine the internet just has to be good enough to have video calls and transfer the occasional large file for 90% of people.

I think life on a Caribbean island would be enough reason to ditch our usual high bandwidth vices like gaming and streaming for just a year.

<comment><USER9> Some examples:

[https://discoverflow.co/barbados/broadband/overview](https://discoverflow.co/barbados/broadband/overview)

[https://discoverflow.co/barbados/mobile/plans/prepaid](https://discoverflow.co/barbados/mobile/plans/prepaid)

[https://www.digicelgroup.com/bb/en/mobile/plans/postpaid- pla...](https://www.digicelgroup.com/bb/en/mobile/plans/postpaid-plans.html)

<comment><USER10> The real question is how good the backbone is that feeds the country. If large numbers of people move there and start doing video calls, streaming Netflix, etc then it could use a ton of bandwidth.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Georgia just introduced something similar: [https://agenda.ge/en/news/2020/2654](https://agenda.ge/en/news/2020/2654)

<comment><USER12> Do they have a health insurance option? That's a big issue for international travel with the pandemic.

<comment><USER11> They require to have one.

I do not necessarily personally recommend it but I know Safetywing is a popular choice for nomads and officially covers Covid. Otherwise you can look at either your countries of citizenship or residency that have international health insurance. IMO it makes sense to get an insurance from the country you would like to get repatriate to if you get in a very bad condition.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> AFAIK, U.S. imposes income tax on all of its citizens, even those who reside in other countries. IIRC it applies to all earnings above $110k(?). There's also the notoriously difficult hassle of complying with FATCA's [0] reporting requirements.

I would imagine that sours the value proposition quite a bit, at least for U.S. citizens.

[0] [https://www.irs.gov/businesses/corporations/foreign- account-...](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/corporations/foreign-account-tax- compliance-act-fatca)

<comment><USER14> (not a lawyer or accountant, but know a bit about this)

That depends on the country. Some (I imagine most?) countries have deals with each other when it comes to taxation, to avoid double taxation.

So if you're earning a salary in, say, Israel, then you only have to pay US taxes on money that hasn't already been income-taxed in Israel. Therefore, whether you're paying more taxes than locals depends on whether the tax rate in the country is higher or lower than in the US. If it's higher, then you end up not having to pay anything extra.

That said, these things get tricky and there are lots of individual wrinkles. E.g. freelancers typically have to pay taxes either way here, afaik. Then again, those taxes aren't doing nothing - they're paying for you to have a US social safety net of some sort.

<comment><USER15> Most countries follow territorial / residence based taxation. People that live in the country are taxed in that country. An Italian that lives in Italy pays tax to Italy. An Italian that lives in the US, pays tax to the US.

A couple of countries have worldwide / citizen taxation (i.e. the US). A US citizen that lives in Singapore will pay tax to both Singapore and the US. They pay tax to Singapore and can claim a tax credit on their US tax return. They can also claim the foreign earned income exclusion deduction.

<comment><USER16> > A couple of countries have worldwide / citizen taxation (i.e. the US). A US > citizen that lives in Singapore will pay tax to both Singapore and the US. > They pay tax to Singapore and can claim a tax credit on their US tax return. > They can also claim the foreign earned income exclusion deduction.

So it ends up working out like residence-based taxation for most people anyway, but with more steps? Except I guess if the country has a lower tax rate than the US, then you'd need to pay the difference?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> "Digital nomad visas" are starting to become more common as countries realise they bring in low impact wealthy online based 'tourists.'

Currently, it's very possible to travel on a 3-6 month basis between countries under tourist visas and to work remotely in a somewhat illegal fashion. These nomad visas are an attempt to capture that market offering legitimacy for a fee.

Unfortunately, Barbados hasn't really hit the sweet spot here. It's possible to exist in Barbados for 6 months purely as a tourist and do the usual remote working gig where you just don't walk up to a tax official and start telling them you're working in an illegal manner. Or, you can now apply for this visa, stay the whole year, be legit, but you have to meet some conditions and hand over 2k USD which is pretty steep.

<comment><USER18> Yeah seems there needs to be something provided in return. Healthcare probably pays off itself compared to US.

<comment><USER17> I don't think you're going to save on healthcare with visas like this. You're still required to be fully covered with your own health insurance as one of the visa conditions.

This removes the possibility of you being a burden on their public health system, which is common amongst not just these new 'nomad' visas but also the working holiday visas that have been around for decades.

<comment><USER18> Maybe. I'm guessing health insurance is still going to be cheaper to buy in any country outside US. A lot of time it's not worth to get insurance at all and just pay out of your pocket (because you aren't ripped off by hospitals).

But going back to point - why would anyone get this permit when they can stay on tourist visa. I guess complacency is one reason.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Does this apply to U.S. passport holders only? If not, what about taxes? If you spend 12 months in Barbados, will you have to pay your taxes there?

<comment><USER20> As the other poster says you continue to pay income tax in your home country and you're also forbidden from working for any Barbados company since they don't want people taking local jobs.

However this may have tax consequences in your home country. I'm from the UK and if you spend more than 180(?) days abroad in a tax year you become non- resident which has some implications. You'll need to consult an accountant I guess.

I got my visa and I'm hopefully heading out towards the end of September, it should be fun.

<comment><USER21> > I'm from the UK and if you spend more than 180(?) days abroad in a tax year > you become non-resident which has some implications

This isn't quite accurate. There are other tests that come into play, including whether you own a house in the UK, and how long you spent outside the UK for the rest of the year (and the preceding years).

Basically if you live in the UK, then spend 180 days (or even a whole year) outside the UK but then immediately return HMRC is not going to consider you a non-resident for that period.

It is worth paying for tax advice before you leave because the rules are complicated and there are other factors aside from just not being in the country.

<comment><USER22> "worth paying for tax advice"

I knew someone who, through their employer, got tax advice from one of the big name accounting firms that turned out to be completely wrong - leaving them liable for tax both in the UK and in the country they had travelled to. It all got sorted out in the end but took a long time and was he was rather unhappy with the whole thing, as you can probably imagine.

<comment><USER23> I had this situation where an employee insisted on tax advice from the company's lawyer. The law firm represents who is paying, same for liability. In the end we sponsored an expensive email basically saying as such.

<comment><USER22> One thing I have learned through bitter experience is if there is a significant tax issue at stake then get your own lawyer and/or tax adviser.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Really this economically seems similiar to "permanent tourists" if taken to the logical extreme and extended indefinitely, their income source isn't taxed directly, they don't take local jobs, but do use local services. Healthcare is probably one of the most significant differences between transient and "permanent tourist" compared to transit costs. Not being seasonal is almost certainly an advantage unless it aligns with another industry's "off season" and the transit income is likely irrelevant to the host country.

It brings to mind a future organizational hypothetical of a "modularized citizenship" for work vs residence - unlikely as that may be given the tendency of nations to insist that their rules are the only rules and thus international laws are more like guidelines in practice.

</comment><comment><USER25> Remaining outside the US for more than 12 months may result in a loss of your green card, if you have one.

</comment><comment><USER26> It only takes 20 hours to go to the other side of the planet, 10 hours if you're in the eurasian continent. More and more young people want to travel and do business in many countries or live a life in different cultures. Lesser people want a picket fence home with 30 years of slavery.

The only thing stopping this is backward legal systems and the bureaucracy around these processes.

I imagine a lot of countries will take advantage of this and reduce bureaucracy in the recovery efforts post covid. Island nations and rapidly developing countries will probably pioneer this and young people from developed countries will probably try to escape their own high cost of living to these nations.

</comment><comment><USER27> How does taxation work for U.S. companies, assuming they allow this?

It's an independent contractor's dream, maybe. It's unclear what tax issues exist for W2 people.

</comment><comment><USER28> What's the usual rent for a family home there?

<comment><USER29> Looking at [https://www.terracaribbean.com/Barbados/For- Rent/](https://www.terracaribbean.com/Barbados/For-Rent/) just before it went down (I guess others are interested too) the first six prices for 1-bedroom houses/apartments are US$500, US$600, US$625, US$725, US$800, US$800.

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> This sounds really fun. And a good way to spend a year after such a shit year we have had so far.

</comment><comment><USER31> well ill be damned. packing my bags as we speak lol

</comment><comment><USER32> This article from 1998 is about a guy who set up a facility on Barbados where coders from around the world could work (offshore) for his US clients.

[https://www.inc.com/magazine/19980101/852.html](https://www.inc.com/magazine/19980101/852.html)

I'm shadowbanned, so if anyone who sees it cares to post the link, please do.

</comment><comment><USER33> Interesting how , in a remote work world, having a passport is a burden . There might be a demand for an "airbnb for passports" in the future

<comment><USER34> Being able to use someone else's passport....is not now and even more so in the future will never be a thing. But getting passports from more jurisdictions and choosing which to present- that is and will be even more of a thing.

<comment><USER35> Regarding your second point, there's a couple of dozens of countries that specifically require you to denounce your other citizenship to gain theirs, as well as those whose citizenship is lost automatically if you become a citizen of some other country.

I do see the cases of multiple citizenships (and therefore multiple passports) increasing in the future, but I wouldn't hold my breath for it to become a common occurrence within our lifespans.

<comment><USER34> Don't disagree. Could even see that exclusivity strengthening, a global movement towards national allegiance and homogeneity. Would be a terrible tragedy.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How to structure a startup with five founders? - <AUTHOR>

We recently won a StartupWeekend event with a promising new idea. We're a team of five (3 devs, a business woman, and the idea man who is fairly versatile). Everyone is into the idea and happy to continue with it, but we don't know how to structure the company. Can someone with experience help?
The idea man proposed to incorporate the company and then give us shares as we build the project which seems unfair. On the other hand 20%-for-all split is bad too because we haven't done anything---most of the work is yet to come.
Can we somehow structure the company so that every member's share is proportional to their participation in the coming months?  Are there standard solutions for this? I'm looking at Assembly[1] in another tab and it is very interesting. Anyone know of similar projects (ideally a self-hosted one)?
The other alternative would be for the idea man and the lead dev to go with the more traditional 40% + 40% + 20% employee pool, and the rest of us pull out, but this would break the team chemistry completely.
[1] https://assembly.com/helpful/partners <comment><USER2> Similar discussion: "Ask HN: How to split equity?" [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8078356](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8078356) (81 points, 10 days ago, 50 comments)

I think that the technical term you are looking for is "vesting". Read the linked discussion.

I don't understand the 40%+40%+20% split. It means 40%+40%+0%+0%+0%+( _maybe_ 20% later)?</comment>


The Macintosh Endgame - <AUTHOR> https://mondaynote.com/the-macintosh-endgame-7d6be7dc33ab <comment><USER2> Much of the shrinking market is due to the fact that laptops used to need to be replaced every three or four years, and now only need to be replaced every six years or so. That's about how long it takes for the hardware to wear out, and for the next generation of hardware to be significantly better.

In 2022 Intel plans to have 7nm CPUs available. Those laptops will be considerably more powerful, and laptop's purchased today will be starting to fall apart. So it's unlikely that folks are going to go ten years between new laptops any time soon, meaning the size of the market should level off somewhat.

There is plenty of room for Apple to continue to make improvements within this general form factor, and to reduce the price. And if tablets or phones really do somehow make laptops obsolete, then Apple will just license or open source OS X. That way it wouldn't have to deal with making laptops, but developers would still have a good platform for making iOS apps.

The idea that OS X or MBPs are going anyway makes no sense, at least for the next decade or so.

<comment><USER3> I agree with the first portion of your post, but I'm not entirely convinced on the second. I do think it is entirely within the realm of possibility that Apple will kill off their desktop and laptop lines. I think it's a ways off, but Apple's refusal to evolve in any meaningful way in the space might make their efforts a legacy line at best.

<comment><USER4> > I do think it is entirely within the realm of possibility that Apple will > kill off their desktop and laptop lines.

How would anyone develop apps for their IOS devices than?

<comment><USER5> Probably using Visual Studio on a Windows machine.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> He's ignoring a rather large elephant in the room: iOS is the most locked down OS in history.

That's going to keep two kinds of people from ever moving to it as their primary computing device: people who care about freedom, and power users who care about versatility and complex work flows. The latter includes most developers. You just can't do that stuff on iOS. You can barely even run your own apps on it.

I suppose you could push a model where all the interesting stuff lives in the cloud or headless metal servers and the iOS device is a portable terminal with apps and the Web as sophisticated terminal emulations more or less. Think of an app or a big JS site as a giant analog of a VT macro.

I see PC sales declining and then leveling off after having lost most casual and low end users to tablets and mobile.

<comment><USER7> Productive work - unlike consumption - is based on the file metaphor. Not well supported on iOS. The workplace runs on written conversations and that means keyboards are required.

The high road leads to no good place. Apple has been there in the past. SGI and many other bodies are laying rotting left and right.

Prices for PC are declining and in any case there is already a significant and probably unsustainable gap. Macs have 4 cost drivers that Apple can tackle to ensure they keep growing their market share:

\- Manufacturing

\- Intel

\- Apple margins

\- Mac features

Compromising manufacturing would damage the brand. Intel is somewhat kept in check by the threat of Ax (and fighting back by providing more function/lock- in around the CPU) but ultimately an Ax processor may be attractive. Apple margins are something to consider both from appropriateness for the market and as a stop-gap measure. Providing a low feature Mac may be another and imho the most promising one. A 12-13'' laptop aimed at the basic educational need and simple business use case market priced around $1000. Not much CPU/GPU but enough battery to last a day.

<comment><USER6> This is a great point. Keep am eye on the "Raspberry Pi clamshell case" type laptops. These are truly disruptive. A much higher end version of this could be interesting. I'd consider an Octacore A64 with 8-16GB RAM and 4K or better display.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> My brother, a comparatively well paid teacher in the Midwest desperately wants but cannot afford a new MacBook Pro. At the same time his school and many others are awash in perfectly functional Chromebooks.

In my own experience then we've got Apple purposely cutting off vast swaths of potential buyers due to lackluster/irregular updates and high prices on one end, and seemingly unaware of a vast market for education and lower price users on the other.

A declining market is one thing but this, so far as it looks to me, is Apple simply throwing potential customers away. That's not riding a wave, it's just plain bad business. What am I missing here?

<comment><USER9> Does the Apple educational pricing discounts still not make it worthwhile? I have no idea what the discount percentage is now, but I remember years ago some teacher (and tertiary student) friends of mine being delighted in being able to afford and Apple Macbook due to this incentive.

<comment><USER10> Last time I checked the educational discount was around $100 for a $2K+ laptop. Here is the relevant link [http://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/buy- mac/macbook-pro/13-inch](http://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/buy-mac/macbook- pro/13-inch) if someone is interested.

<comment><USER9> Hmm, I thought I could remember my friends saying the educational discount was around 20%. Perhaps I am not remembering correctly, or the discount has changed a lot lately.

<comment><USER11> I remember larger discounts as well. That said, summer vacation seemed longer, too.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> >Microsoft contends that the Surface hybrid, now in its fourth iteration, is the best-of-both-worlds that their customers want.

Microsoft contends this because the market forced their hand. They have no presence in smartphones or tablets so having a separate operating system for them is untenable. They tried very hard to get developers on board and it didn't work.

<comment><USER13> Surface didn't work? Its current generation is making a profit and is well- reviewed by users and tech journalists alike.

For what it's worth, Surface products are exactly what I want in a portable computer. I find both traditional tablets (such as Android tablets and iPads) and legacy-style laptops (including the new Macbook Pro) unexciting and ultimately not worth my money.

<comment><USER14> They had to go back to hardware that runs Win10 x64 apps, because nobody wanted to ship WinRT ARM apps.

<comment><USER13> Oh is _that_ what we're talking about? Yeah, WinRT was needlessly limited.

But it's also a distant memory. Speaking about it today is about as relevant as discussing iOS 6 or Android 4.1.

<comment><USER15> Possibly. Still, when you think about the death of Windows RT, remember that there's still a version of Windows running on ARM, and the ecosystem of applications that run on it is now called "Windows Universal apps."

Windows Phone may be moribund in the market but that ARM capacity and the admittedly not ready for prime time Continuum (phone + monitor /keyboard /mouse) desktop could lead to a better supported and accepted descendant returning to the market currently dominated by Chromebooks.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Good article, and as the ex-CEO of Apple, he thinks more deeply about Apple's business than most of us.

Even though I have several Linux laptops and a Chromebook, the device I use the most is my 12" iPad Pro. It is great for light weight writing, SSHing into a server to trouble shoot a problem, run updates, etc. I just bought a new MacBook, which I am starting to like a lot, after a period of getting used to the keyboard, but I just use it for work. If my wife sees me using the MacBook then she assumes I am working (programming). With the iPad, I could be having fun or working. I look at the iPad as the future for most people.

That said, what I really want is convergence. I want one seemless environment that seems the same no matter what device I am on. I actually more or less have that, in a kluge way, but I want something more polished and effortless. I think Apple, and perhaps Microsoft have a good shot at doing this near term. With some trade offs, you can get this now with a Chromebook, Android phone, Chromecast, and Google Home but as much as I like Google's garden I don't want to live in it all the time.

<comment><USER17> He was an Apple exec, but never CEO.

<comment><USER18> He was also a founder of Be, which may contribute to people misremembering. There was talk of Apple buying Be back in the day, but they ended up buying NeXT instead. In some parallel universe, Gassée ended up playing the role of Steve Jobs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I just bought an HP, which was half the price of the new MacBook Pro, has better specs, and looks as good if not better. And instead of having a fancy touch-friendly strip, my entire screen is touch-enabled. I've invested tons of money into little, but expensive apps that allow me to maximize windows instead of making them full-screen (Moom), or make a large number of icons fit in the menubar (Bartender), but this is getting ridiculous! I think Windows 10 Pro is a better OS and is more developer-friendly than MacBook nowadays, too.

</comment><comment><USER20> "In a fantasy world, Apple produces an Ax-based Mac"

Combining the iPad and Macbook is equivalent to rolling the iPod into the iPhone.

I also have a Macbook and its the perfect computer for normal laptop tasks. I am surprised by how many people don't know this exists.

"But what would an Ax Mac mean in the real world, to software developers?"

There are lots of companies producing iOS and Mac apps. It is going to be easier than porting programs from Windows to Mac.

<comment><USER21> > Combining the iPad and Macbook is equivalent to rolling the iPod into the > iPhone.

It really isn't, Apple is right that the interaction models are too different.

The argument Microsoft make that you can have your cake and eat it, have a device that's an ideal tablet and an ideal laptop, has failed. The compromises are too great. Desktop software has interaction targets that are too small for a touch interface and the mouse interaction model doesn't map across to touch. But supporting both touch apps and desktop apps on the same device is a non starter. You can't require all your app developers to implement two different UIs every time.

The iPad Pro optional keyboard doesn't prove anything in this regard. It's just a dedicated text input device, not an alernate primary interaction mode.

Note that MS and Apple approach this from opposite directions. The MS solution is primarily a keyboard interface with touch as an ancillary mode. The iPad Pro is primarily a touch device with an ancillary keyboard mode.

But desktop software on the Surface is next to unusable in tablet mode. Meanwhile iPad software is perfectly usable with the keyboard attached. But it achieves this by decidedly not taking full advantage of the horizontal interface. There is no trackpad on the iPad Pro keyboard and no mouse support. For iPad software, they serve no purpose. That's why even with keyboard attached the iPad is decidedly not a converged device. The keyboard is not a primary interface, it's really just a text input peripheral with some convenience UI interaction options. There will never be iPad software that requires the physical keyboard.

<comment><USER4> Ipads will also need to add extra monitor support as a buying a macbrook pro and some monitors is worth the extra cost versus developing on the small screen real estate of an ipad.

In addition, IOS app development is only supported on mac which will not be trivial to port to IOS. As @simonh said, touch and mouse UX are quite different and I don't see them being combined optimally in any near future.

<comment><USER4> Idea extension:

VR to enable users to maximize visual field for productivity, Magic leap type interaction which could bridge the gap between touch and mouse (pointing/"touching" at objects in a users visual field would require less effort than actually trying to tap the screens of multiple monitors) might be that synergy that will be able to bridge those gaps * .

* keyboards are still probably going to be used for a long time though.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> JLG seems deliberately stuck in the past. Just for starters they retired the Macintosh brand 18 years ago.

<comment><USER23> Or it might be intentional tongue-in-cheek nostalgia or something along those lines.

The guy was once head of Macintosh division back when PCs mattered a lot more. Give him some cred. :P

<comment><USER22> Perhaps but I'm not sure it's healthy to be nostalgic for the Macintosh line of 20 years ago. It was a train wreck, really.</comment></comment></comment>


The death of Intel Labs and what it means for industrial research - <AUTHOR> http://matt-welsh.blogspot.com/2011/04/death-of-intel-labs-and-what-it-means.html

<comment><USER2>
      These companies can afford to set up big labs with lots of PhDs and
      pay them to do whatever the hell they want with little accountability

As an anonymous commenter has already pointed out, with the possible exception of some parts of MSR, there aren't any industrial labs where you can "do whatever the hell you want". I was offered a position at IBM research and they were very clear from the outset that they had a specific set of projects they wanted me to work on. In fact, these projects had less to do with my research work at grad school and more to do with what I'd done in my previous life as a software developer. These sense I got from talking to the researchers at IBM was there is a clear expectation that IBM research would directly impact the company's bottomline. The group I was to be recruited into was helping solve some of the hard problems that the rest of the organization simply doesn't have the expertise to solve.

I dunno about other fields but in my area of work, which is computer architecture, MSR, Intel and IBM have all written important papers that have directly influenced the design of many current-generation microprocessors. So, I'm a bit hesitant to suggest that the labs have failed or that the model is broken. The model could do with some improvement for sure, but then again, what couldn't?

</comment><comment><USER3> There is an interesting point-of-view in the comments:

"Microsoft is different because it is a monopoly-supported research lab. The old Bell Labs had a monopoly underneath it to support it: costs AT*T incurred to run it could be charged back to consumers. In this case, the monopoly is windows/office, but that will slowly fade. So my belief is MSR will eventually go down this road, it just may take 10 or 20 years. Some friends of mine there also believe this."

In the past years, I have seen different research works funded by Microsoft Research where is notoriously difficult to use other technologies (e.g. based on FLOSS) than the one distributed by Microsoft. It seems to be a limitation factor to innovation or research because you restrict yourself to an existing technology or product line. Is this still research?

<comment><USER4> MSR probably paid for itself with ClearType alone.

But that is a foolish comment; AT&T really was a monopoly, it had the government enforcing that on its behalf. It was effectively a branch of the civil service and its lab an academic department. Windows/Office cash-cow is really no different from IBM's mainframe cash-cow. They're in a dominant market position, sure, they're cash-generative, sure, but if they don't do research, their position becomes ever more uncertain.

<comment><USER5> > _AT &T really was a monopoly, it had the government enforcing that on its > behalf._

And weren't its tariffs generally set to allow it a certain profit margin? In that sort of setup, the decision to fund a big, expensive research lab is a no-brainer: you're guaranteed not to lose money in the short run, and the lab will probably make you money in the long run.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I do not agree with the author's conclusion that the model of industrial research (MS,HP IBM etc) is broken. We need places in industry to do basic reserach, if everyone was focuses on engineering or product based research (Apple, Google) it is not good for the over all ecosystem. Many inventions are made by pure serendipity we need to give the brilliant minds the freedom to pursue their research based on curiosity and interest.

<comment><USER7> We do need to pursue it, but a short-term oriented market based system just can't do it. There is too much financial risk in the kind of research that needs to be done. And if you do ever manage to produce anything, everyone else can just copy it. So the best strategy in the market will always be to not spend anything on research and just steal from those who do.

<comment><USER8> Is there a solution to this multiplayer prisoner's dilemma/coordination problem besides government-run research labs? I've never heard one.

<comment><USER9> Patents are the solution our society seems to have chosen. I don't know whether they're "the" solution.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Title: "The death of Intel Labs and what it means for industrial research"

Line 3/4: "I should be clear that not all of Intel Research is closing down -- just the [3] lablets."

...no comment

<comment><USER11> Intel Labs is a part of Intel Research consisting of the three lablets. It is closing down.

Check <http://www.intel-research.net/>

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> So they're redirecting the money towards universities? That's great -- in principle, at least. Research is their core business.

However, in the current financial/academic climate, I suspect that universities will simply withdraw internal funding from these departments (because, well, the CS guys got their money now) which would result in a net loss.

<comment><USER11> A university that has a reputation for doing this will attract less funding.

This isn't a new phenomenon. Most of the money that comes to successful departments comes from research funding, usually from the big funding agencies, and the risk is more that the university admin lavishes attention and resources on the most visibly successful departments, and so sacrificing breadth and the strength of their interdisciplinary work. Look at the recent Kings College London fiasco for a recent example.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> The article is part of an old problem: How to connect 'research' with 'business'.

I respond with:

(I) Summary.

(II) Details on Reasons for Failure.

(III) Examples of Solutions.

(IV) Opportunity.

below.

(I) Summary.

Quite generally, there are many ways to make a mess and fail, and this is true also in connecting research with business and has a very long history.

There is also a long history of success connecting research with national security, public health, and business.

Net, the main issue is, are results of research really wanted outside of research? The usual answer is, "Not only no but hell no!", and that's the main reason for failure.

(II) Details on Reasons for Failure.

One level deeper, the main reason people outside of research don't want research is that they feel threatened: They would rather just keep doing things the same old way that has been doing well for them (people not doing well can't afford research!) and not risk it by being 'upstaged' or 'disrupted' by research.

Also a researcher with good access inside a successful business organization can be seen as a 'loose cannon on the deck' that might understand the 'secrets' of the success of the business, use research to find a better way, and start a competing business.

The usual situation in business is: (1) Organize like at Ford 100 years ago where the supervisor knows more and the subordinates are just to apply labor to the ideas, direction, and work of the supervisor, (2) pay everyone relatively little, thus, making sure no one feels free to take any risks at all, (3) evaluate everyone on very narrow criteria of getting the present work done with severe consequences for any deviations and, thus, for anything new, ensure no upside and a lot of downside, (4) for anything new inside the organization, kill it off ASAP, (5) for anything very new or advanced outside the organization, f'get about it.

So, net, the only one in the organization with any freedom to do anything new is the CEO, and generally he is too busy just running the existing business and not technical enough to do or supervise anything like 'research'.

Inside a business research lab, usually the goals are at best a mess. So, the path to the business bottom line is not wanted or not clear, but the usual academic criteria do not apply either.

So, without good criteria, the organization is vulnerable to the long, standard list of organizational dysfunctionalities. E.g., the place can become a 'caste' system where the head guys defend themselves with 'cliques' based on incompetence, race, gender, ethnicity, etc., and all the non-manager "worker bees" are expected to keep quiet and out of sight and maybe just publish papers or patents.

So, usually big business organizations just will NOT 'innovate'. This is a problem, but its 'flip side' is an opportunity central to 'Hacker News'!

(III) Examples of Solutions.

Again, one of the crucial points is for the people in the business actually to want the results of research, and at times there have been solutions at AT&T Bell Labs, DoD, NIH, CDC, etc.

One solution has been illustrated at Renaissance Technologies run by Jim Simons: He is a good mathematician (Chern-Simons), long Chair of the math department at SUNY Stony Brook, and at Renaissance sometimes paid himself $2 billion or so a year. Once the Brookhaven National Lab people wanted to collide some gold atoms to create a 'quark plasma', couldn't get the money they needed, so Simons wrote them a check, maybe $20 million or so. So, he wanted the results of research, had a reputation for hiring mathematical physicists from Russia, and was not threatened.

Another example has been Westvaco Paper: They specialized in 'specialty papers', e.g., milk cartons and table tops. Basically they have regarded themselves as an 'applied chemical engineering' company.

They had a research lab between DC and Baltimore: Each six months the lab submitted its budget to the NY HQ, and HQ always wanted to increase the budget, and Research always said, "No.".

Why? My old notes have:

(1) The research group worked only on problems of their own choice and did not accept problems assigned to them. Generally in research, problem selection is both important and difficult, and here the real experts did the problem selection.

(2) Projects started by the research group ran from about two months to about two years. Only about one project in ten led to an implementation.

(3) When research believed they had a project worthy of implementation, they would approach the General Manager (GM) of the appropriate operating group and make their proposal. The decision to implement was up to the GM. Here we see some the importance of having the business organization involved in the implementation.

(4) If an implementation was made, then the financial value was measured by careful auditing.

(5) For the first three years of implementation, half the financial improvement was credited to the operating group and the other half to research. After the first three years, all the improvement was credited to the operating group and none to research. Also, the GM's bonus could be affected by these results. It did help that most of the GM's were Ph.D.'s in chemical engineering.

(6) With these rules, the research group returned to the company, long run, about three dollars for each dollar in their budget.

So, that's one way to run an industrial research lab.

(IV) Opportunity.

For the 'Hacker News' community, the flip side of the sad, old situation is a new opportunity:

(1) Find a problem where a much better solution should lead to big bucks.

(2) Have the founder, CEO do some research to get a much better solution, good enough to be much better than anything else and advanced enough to be difficult to duplicate or equal and, thus, provide a good 'technological barrier to entry'.

Note: IMHO, for the relevant research for 'information technology' the key is not 'computer science' but selected, advanced topics in pure and applied math.

(3) Implement the solution in software and offer it to users via the Web or cloud.

(4) Buy a nice yacht, rinse, and repeat.

For the research part, the main training for research is the Ph.D. The difficulty of Ph.D. programs shows that learning how to do good research and doing it are not easy. Thus, hopefully, the founder, CEO doing the research has a good, relevant Ph.D. This way, no one in the organization is threatened by the research that helps start the organization.

Once again, the ways big organizations find to make messes can be corrected by entrepreneurship.

So, don't curse the big organizations. Instead, use their problems as an opportunity to be a successful entrepreneur and buy a yacht.

</comment><comment><USER13> A famous recipe for rabbit stew starts off, "First catch a rabbit ...."

A recipe for applied research starts off, "First get an application ...."

The article has,

"These companies can afford to set up big labs with lots of PhDs and pay them to do whatever the hell they want with little accountability, but maybe this model is no longer sustainable."

Thanks a lot former Harvard prof: That's an insult to Ph.D. holders, cuts them off at the knees, and is a great recipe for Ph.D. unemployment: Or, just why will the lowest non-Ph.D. manager in a management chain want to bet their budget and part of their career on "PhDs and pay them to do whatever the hell they want with little accountability"?

Just what is it about wasting time you find so attractive?

If you want to sit in a small, closed, dark room and engage in intellectual self-abuse, first make, marry, and/or inherit some money and then go for it. For the rest of us who sacrificed a LOT and got a Ph.D., JUST to be, and ONLY to be, better qualified to contribute to both top and bottom lines of accounting income statements, please cut the insults.</comment>


What's the Difference Between Apache Mesos and Google's Kubernetes - <AUTHOR> http://blog.kismatic.com/apaches-mesos-vs-googles-kubernetes/

<comment><USER2> Interesting that Kubernetes was designed from day one to build distributed applications from containers, including primitives for replication and service discovery as core primitives. Similar things would need to be added through frameworks in Mesos.

<comment><USER3> You can get the best of both with the Kubernetes Mesos framework, but they are fundamentally different beasts.

Mesos is a lot lower level than Kubernetes and makes you think of services and not hosts. Kubernetes still likes to make you think of hosts. They are both excellent, but different technologies.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> "This post was inspired by the following Stack Overflow post by Craig Mcluckie." indeed => [http://www.diffnow.com/?report=wyla8](http://www.diffnow.com/?report=wyla8)

<comment><AUTHOR> Craig was asked for his permission before we posted it. We also posted proper attribution.

I'm curious @jonnyg why are you being so negative?

<comment><USER4> NOM. I read the original post some time ago. It's definitely worth republishing an edited version of it.

I might be too sensible if it comes such nuances in referencing sources, but the usage of "inspired" to refer to the original was surprising, since it implied for me that the post author actually created content under the stimulating influence of Craigs article, which might be not the case here. As I see the article was changed; think the relation of the two posts stated in a better way.

Speaking of nuances in wording, I agree that my initial comment could have been more tactful...

<comment><AUTHOR> I agree with you @jonnyg and I've since edited it to be more clear. Thanks for clarify and we at Kismatic look forward to providing a good Kubernetes based experience for everyone.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Generating C code that people want to use - <AUTHOR> http://jonathan.protzenko.fr/2019/01/04/behind-the-scenes.html <comment><USER2> _We sure expected that generating idiomatic C code was important, and this informed a lot of early design choices in our toolchain. We were surprised, however, by how closely Mozilla reviewed and manually inspected the generated C code._

Yes, yes, yes! Just because one is automatically generating/translating code, that doesn't mean _it can 't be pretty!_ When automatically translating code, the matching engine needs to be done with the full syntactic expressiveness of the source language, and what is matched and translated need to be idioms in each language! (As opposed to fine-grained syntactic elements. When the translation is done below the level of idioms, what results is non-idiomatic. It sounds pretty obvious when put like that.)

<comment><USER3> When compiling one language to another, or to assembly, or just straight to object code, the most important things are that a) you produce _interfaces_ (APIs / ABIs) that are easy to use, b) you generate good code.

No one is going to demand that GHC generate readable assembly. Why should they demand that GHC generate readable C if it were generating C instead of assembly?

<comment><USER4> It probably depends how likely the consumer is to look at the code. In the article, they're expecting code review of copy-pasted C code produced by their system, so the bar is higher than generated assembly that almost no one will ever look at.

TypeScript is an interesting example, the generated JS is pretty close to the original TS, largely just with types removed, so for someone with lots of JS experience it is easy to get confidence in the compiler as the output is pretty close to what it would have been in the first place.

<comment><USER5> Not exactly the same things, ts doesn't generate anything really, coffescript or better reasonml compiled to js would be better comparison. Ts/flow design goal was specifically that if you replace type annotations with white spaces it is precisely normal js. There are no static or dynamic/runtime transforms.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> There's a social/business issue here as well.

Suppose you're selling a code generator. The customer using that code generator is going to ask "what happens if you disappear? How do we maintain our code?" This drives them to demand that the code you generate being able to be continue to be maintained on its own, even if the code generator rots and dies. And that means it must be readable.

I've seen a case where a company has been stuck with generated code, and not only did they not have the code generator, they didn't even have the documentation for the code generator (nor anyone who ever used it). The company that sold the code generator had died many years earlier.

This same consideration doesn't apply to compilers, because you can buy compilers from many vendors, as well as get well-supported free ones.

<comment><USER7> > This same consideration doesn't apply to compilers, because you can buy > compilers from many vendors, as well as get well-supported free ones.

This consideration absolutely applies to compilers for various applications (embedded, exotic platforms etc.) and also if you are relying on implementation-defined behaviour and extensions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> > _I wrote the pretty-printer for our compiler, KReMLin, looking at the > reference table of operator precedence in C, resulting in a minimal amount > of parentheses being inserted; I happily thought I did the optimal thing, > until it turned out that no one can remember the relative precedence of + > and <<, or | and - – I have myself since then forgotten, and I've heard that > it even differs across languages..._

When I was a young(er) and naive(r) C programmer, I had printed out this precedence table for occasional reference while coding. I was rather proud that I knew of such subtle corner cases!

I've since learned and don't need to use that table anymore... because I just use parentheses to avoid ambiguity. Don't rely on subtle behavior in your code, folks. As the Python Mantra says: explicit is better than implicit.

<comment><USER9> Same here, I got to make my C code easier to follow and safer, by following a couple of rules, being explicit and not doing operator tricks of how many side effects one can cram into one line was one of them.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Readable C code generation is the future. Read my previous comments and you'll find I've been advocating this for many years. I mainly advocated Python/C two-language programming, but using F* instead of Python (or Scheme) is a secondary issue (though an important one in terms of static vs dynamic typing).

<comment><USER9> A future whose Eiffel was one of the first languages to take.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> One of the reasons why Pre-Scheme was so lovely to use is because when it transpiled to C, the C was highly readable. You could follow the output of the Pre-Scheme compiler and know exactly what it was doing, provided you knew idiomatic C.

From a readability standpoint, the C output of Gambit and Chicken is a hot mess in comparison.

<comment><USER12> I came to the same conclusions with my own compiler from perl to C. Lot of work went into generating perfectly readable and formatted C code, with all the whistles and ifdef's for debugging, tracing, Config and architecture optimizations. The good thing is that it's much easier in the compiler to do than in the resulting C code. We generate a lot of C code now, automatically, for perfect hash tables, optimized unicode tables, generating API's and exhaustive test cases and much more. It must be pretty and usable, gambit-c is a good example for throwaway code nobody wants to debug or read through.

<comment><USER11> Indeed. If you want to support full Scheme semantics, with continuations and all the crazy control structures, you really need to contort the C language into a form that's pretty hard to grok. That's the sacrifice Gambit and Chicken made, and it's probably a worthy one given how excellent and complete those compilers are.

Pre-Scheme is intended for a different use case -- when you want the level of fine-grained control that C gives you but don't want to leave Lisp behind. Its semantics are accordingly quite different from Scheme's and it doesn't support the full set of Scheme control structures, nor implicit garbage collection.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> >>> Going to C is what allows people to use our code without having to buy into exotic, strange languages with lambdas.

At this stage is there any software engineer who considers a language with lambdas strange or this is a joke from the author?

<comment><USER14> Given their field, it is safe to assume this is a joke.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> It's funny/depressing that the only bits of C which were written by hand, not converted from another language, had both memory corruption and undefined behavior.

</comment><comment><USER16> >> Alas, this extra precision was not appreciated by reviewers, who very explicitly requested that variables named uu__123456 be eliminated whenever possible.

It's been a while but I used to use Simulink to generate C code and they had the same naming problems. It was hideous. They also solved the C99 types issue independently and generated their own target dependent header files that defined INT16_T in a target dependent way. I asked a couple guys from that company to please just implement a C99 target which is more portable - best if it actually produced code using the C99 types instead of renaming them.

So many issues with auto-generated code, but sometimes it's really useful.

</comment><comment><USER17> I found it a little surprising that they initially thought using recursion would be acceptable for this sort of application. Esp since in the Mozilla codebase many threads run with quite small stacks.

</comment><comment><USER18> Another benefit of generating good output is that someone can observe the input and the resulting constructed idioms and learn from the example

</comment><comment><USER19> _Mozilla adopted this and runs a Docker build command in their own CI, which errors out if someone tries to modify the generated code instead of fixing the F_ * _source file_

Ok, so all the talk about generating idiomatic C went for nothing in the end?

<comment><USER20> It still has to be readable.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Sound like mission impossible

</comment><comment><USER22> (I try to avoid low-content comments here, but I'm LMAO at the fullscreen close-up of sir's forehead. Awesome article and project though!)

<comment><USER23> At least it's responsive :D

Putting the important content on top: TODO.

<comment><USER22> Derp: I revisited the page today and the graphic is a tidy part of the header now. It's still 2,838px × 2,789px though... I dunno if it was my browser or what; I was seeing the picture scaled to the width of the window which resulted in full-screen forehead. Scrolling up was like a Terry Gilliam cartoon.</comment></comment></comment>


Update to FastMail terms of service - <AUTHOR> https://blog.fastmail.com/2017/09/11/tos-update/ <comment><USER2> still, you are paying them money and they can terminate the service without even notifying you, or allowing you to recover your data</comment>


Introducing Zapier's CLI Tool: Deploy API Integrations Fast - <AUTHOR> https://zapier.com/engineering/zapier-command-line-interface/ <comment><USER3> Building the CLI and the backend that powers it was a lot of fun. I want to write up a technical post on how it works, but the gist of it is:

        * Node.js CLI that builds deployable zips
        * AWS Lambda behind the scenes running the code
        * A very "RPC-like" interface that calls into the exported schema
        * It interops automatically with 750+ apps via our workflow editor

Previously you could do similar things via our browser based GUI - <USER2> surprise surprise - engineers don't really like working in the browser! :-P

<comment><USER4> > but surprise surprise - engineers don't really like working in the browser! > :-P

c9.io changed that for me, the chrome secure shell also keeps me in the browser.

<comment><USER3> I have heard that is getting much, much better - but another annoyance we've heard for "browser-centric" development has been tooling integration (CI, tests, etc). Probably more so for teams with existing infrastructure and processes.

I'll have to give c9 another shot!</comment></comment></comment>