Evil - vim emulation done right (merge of vim-mode and vimpulse) - <AUTHOR> http://gitorious.org/evil/pages/Home

<comment><AUTHOR> This email exchange has more background on the merge: <http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.vim-emulation/692></comment>


P(we hire you) =~ 0.0016 - <AUTHOR> http://davidlynch.org/blog/2011/07/hiring-developers/ <comment><USER2> P(I'm impressed) ~= Nope

Turning down a lot of candidates is not the same as finding good candidates. If you are turning down that many applicants, all it means is that your applicant pool is almost entirely bad candidates. That merely implies you are failing where it matters most, getting awesome candidates interested and excited about working for you.

I bet you could drive the P down even more. You could write worse job descriptions that get even more of the wrong people to apply. You could post the job listing on job boards like Monster or Dice, where there is a huge pool of un-hirable candidates who will apply to 20-30 jobs per day. I bet you could make it so bad you will have to hire someone to be the initial filter of candidates. Congratulations! You now have an HR department. They will arbitrarily filter candidates before the people actually competent to filter candidates get to see them, based entirely on buzzword bingo and 'number of years of experience'.

You are failing and you're proud of it!

<comment><USER3> Interviewing process is something which, to my astonishment, companies don't tweak or experiment with. They have a process and they stick with it...this is as true of large corporations as it is of small startups. There's no attempt at being better or trying something different, even though everyone acknowledges how difficult and important it is.

Part of the problem is people don't realize that they are doing it poorly.

<comment><USER4> _Part of the problem is people don't realize that they are doing it poorly._

You would think the 0.16% success rate would be a pretty big indicator.

Based on my own experience, there were a number of points in the article that I have found to be not effective ways to hire programmers. And that is fine. They are free to hire people as they wish. But placing all of the blame on 99% of programmers being unqualified seems to miss the mark. It is more likely the hiring process causes them to miss out on the really good programmers.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> You have two steps round the wrong way:

1\. Do the phone screen first. Frankly, in my experience, you can filter out a lot of people in the first minute; and

2\. Then do the test.

Speaking of the test, I had a quick look and it takes time. How much time? I'm not sure as I didn't look at the starting code, just the list of tasks. Maybe it only takes 30 minutes. Maybe it might take hours. I really don't know.

Either way, these sorts of things are huge barriers to entry because, as someone looking for a job, I also have to decide on how much time to spend on _you_. The fact that this test is just to get to the phone screen lowers the amount of effort I'm willing to put in.

Also, you don't need terribly complicated coding problems to weed out early stage candidates. Honestly, getting someone to code a relatively efficient (at worst O(n) space and time) factorial function will tell you ~95% of what you need to know from this test _if you can witness them actually doing it_. Seriously. So screenshare with them and get them to do it. No editor. Just a Google doc or similar.

That all being said, I'm really shocked how woefully unqualified an awful lot of programmers are at... programming. The sort of acceptance numbers talked about here and at places like Google (disclaimer: I work for Google) are more testament to the number of clueless cowboys infect our industry than anything else.

Also, bear in mind that an interview is a two-way street. The more effort you expect from the candidate the more they need to want to work for you before they even start interviewing. Google, Facebook, Twitter and the like have this kind of developer gravitas. Do you? I don't know.

Lastly, the three month trial thing is, for me, a huge problem. After all this there's a 20% chance I might lose my job for no reason other than you may not like me?

One reason Google is so selective is we take employment _seriously_. Leaks and criminal offences notwithstanding, it's actually pretty hard to get fired from Google and those decisions are not made lightly. That may have some negative side effects but overall I think it's a good thing that engineers aren't constantly worried about being fired.

<comment><USER6> _...a relatively efficient (at worst O(n) space and time) factorial function..._

If you can do that, you'll win a Nobel prize. (Yes, I know there isn't a Nobel prize in computing: You'd win a Nobel prize in physics, for showing how to store Θ(n log n) bits in O(n) space.)

Heck, if you can compute n! in O(n (log n)^(2-x)) time for any x > 0 you'll probably win the Turing award. Such an algorithm would be really really big news.

<comment><USER7> I don't understand your comment. Take a simple definition of the factorial: <http://codepad.org/GTBdCKin>

The space usage for this function is obviously constant, and the number of multiplications will be linearly dependent on the number.

If you mean to refer to the 'factorial function' as a mathematical object, and point out that bignum operations have different complexity... well that's true, but irrelevant to OP's post, and there are less snide ways of saying it.

<comment><USER6> Yes, when I say "factorial function" I mean the factorial function, taking an integer input _n_ and returning the integer output _n!_.

If cletus meant "factorial as long as the result is a 32-bit integer", I don't know why he would accept an O(n) solution to that: I wouldn't hire anyone who didn't immediately produce the obvious O(1) algorithm using a 13-element lookup table. (If he meant "factorial modulo 2^32", a 34-element lookup table suffices.)

As for being snide... yes, but I'm tired of the myth that Google is full of (and only hires) algorithms gurus. I have yet to see any indication that Google requires any more than a minimal undergraduate level of algorithmic competency.

<comment><USER7> > I don't know why he would accept an O(n) solution to that

Because it's a question used to weed out _early stage_ candidates. It's a fizzbuzz test. The point is not to see if the candidate knows the algorithmic complexity of arbitrary-sized integer operations, and neither is it to see if he knows whether the factorial function grows quickly enough to make a look-up table worthwhile. It's just to take a very simple function and get him to write some code in a text editor.

Or at least, that's what I read from the OP's post. Perhaps he meant otherwise.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Looking at your job description, I'm guessing that you are trying to hire junior PHP/MySQL programmers at maybe a $50,000/yr US range. Nothing wrong with that.

Looking at your coding exercise, it's a small set of code, but it would be more than an hour or two for me (or presumably anyone) to do all of the improvements, find all the bugs, fix them, do the extra credit, make sure it's not sloppy before I turn it in, etc. So way more commitment than just sending in a resume or writing you an email.

Reading your blog post, you guys seem to want rock star technical candidates, but with that job description, you're going to attract people who have done a few PHP web sites, maybe customized a Drupal or or Joomla or Wordpress site.

When I've interviewed and hired developers, our best ones always came from friends or recommendations, never from job postings or job boards.

</comment><comment><USER9> That seems like a lot of work. The last thing I want to do when applying for a job is open up some random code and hack it. I have many other things I'd rather do, like sleeping or working on some code I care about.

Google doesn't do it, Amazon doesn't do it, so if that's who you're competing against for developers, why would _you_ do it?

<comment><USER10> I've never actually applied for a job at Google, but going to 7 interviews (or however many it is now) seems like a lot more work than what they're asking for. I'd rather spend 30 minutes writing code than 7 hours on interviews, and either way you're going to have to answer technical questions at some point in the process.

Also, if you can't be bothered to spend 30 minutes proving that you can code, how much do you really want to work there? The only time I've done one of these challenges was for a company that I was really excited about working for.

<comment><USER9> It's four interviews and lunch. (Which is longer than the average interview, but if you are going to fly to another city and stay in a hotel, what's the difference between 2 hours and 5 hours? The actual interview is not the inconvenience, the travel is.)

<comment><USER6> I'm pretty sure I had 7 interviews when I visited Mt.View five years ago. Maybe Google's standards are slipping? ;-)

<comment><USER11> Google has experimentally determined that interviews 5 through 7 provide negligible additional signal, and so they've been eliminated from the process.

Contrary to latch's comment here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3062001>, Google does tweak the process from time to time.

<comment><USER12> But don't worry, they've kept the random noise "hiring committee!"

<comment><USER6> Do they still have the 'founders must personally approve everybody' step?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> My thoughts:

1\. Another programming problem. Okay, if it doesn't take too long, I'd do it.

2\. 60 day fuse. No way. I've worked under a Sword-of-Damoclese clause before, and I won't do it again. This is a deal-breaker, and it's probably sending a very bad message to a large group of good engineers, and you're missing out.

Fire for cause, or whatever, if you have to. But I won't work in an environment like that, and (I guess you'll just have to take it on faith) it's your loss, not mine.

<comment><AUTHOR> I can understand not wanting to work with the trial period; that's why we're really up front about it. There's a whole "no, we're not kidding; are you sure you want to take the job even given this?" segment to the offer.

<comment><USER13> When I make a hiring decision, I am damned sure. The recommendation to hire is the point where I commit to doing my best to make things work out.

I have screwed up before. It sucks. It is painful and horrible to deal with someone who is not working out. But I haven't blown a "hire" vote in 18 years. Hundreds of interviewees, dozens of "hire" recommendations, zero bozos.

It sounds to me like you are insecure in your hiring practices, to the point where you tell people "Quit your job, move your family, turn your life inside out, whatever; but you're on probation here and you're gone if you blink funny."

Maybe it's just my past, where I was in this position (and it worked out really well, btw). But I wouldn't do that again, and I wouldn't do it /to/ anyone.

Good luck. I hope it works out. But I cannot imagine a worse way to enter a job.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I think it might be because good developers filter you out before you filter them out. They might spend time working on the code because they happen to be interested in the problem, but a good developer would not waste their time on dull problems just to get a phone interview because they don't need to. Especially if they have never heard of your company. If you are selecting people who are desperate for jobs, your P is not surprising. Perhaps your should fix your own (hiring process) bugs first? Maybe P(great developers applying)=~ 0.00016? Just kidding :D

</comment><comment><USER15> As I stated in the thread kemayo referred to:

1\. I got as far as a promise of a second interview that never materialized. I found it annoying to be told that they wanted to give me another interview, then that they 'moved forward with another candidate,' then to see that the position is seemingly unfilled months later. (I'll note that they were posting in the "We're Hiring" threads within a week or two)

2\. Between stages in the interview process I would be told that I would be hearing back from them 'shortly' or 'soon.' This ended up being an average of 3 weeks between stages in the process. Which was rather frustrating.

[edit] I'll at some other notes:

1\. The programming problem doesn't have to be perfect. Mine wasn't. They pointed out that my code was susceptible to SQL injection during the first interview. And I also missed a JavaScript gotcha (that was obviously placed there intentionally). [Obviously you want to do as well as you can on this, just sayin' that they aren't requiring 100% on the problem to get your foot in the door.]

2\. I was able to get an interview with little PHP experience.

<comment><USER16> I got an offer a few months ago from deviantART after doing the coding test and phone interview; I replied with some questions about salary/benefits and never heard back. Highly frustrating.

(Throwaway account, as I would rather not publicize that I'm looking for a different job. If you're looking for the same type of person dA is looking for though, feel free to reply to my comment with contact info.)

<comment><USER17> They dropped the ball on contact _after_ making an offer? Shocking.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> We do a simple programming test too, but we do after a phone screen and after we decided to invite you to come in. It's simply part of the 1/2-1 day interview that we do.

You get 2 hours, a problem that doesn't take more than 30-60 mins to solve, and an internet connection in case you want to look something up.

I agree with other posters here that a very simple problems weeds out a large chunk of the inept folks.

We had people just sit in that room for two hours and all they did was remove some lines from the skeleton that we have them. Or people who just left this simple exercise and went home.

I disagree with others about doing it life via a shared session. Programming and thinking is a private affair (IMHO), there is some exploration component in it. Nobody will want to explore in front of a panel.

In the end we don't even look at the test unless there is disagreement between the interviewers, or we identified a specific concern about problem solving.

</comment><comment><USER19> _"I'd worked places with a trial period before, but it was always just a matter of not..."_

Will you be on probation after that grammatical "bug"? By the way, you guys sound pretentious as hell. I'm surprised you don't lose more than 20% in the three month trial.

What's the point in the trial? If it's not working out, just fire them.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> I wanted to submit this, because in the recent hiring thread [1] I got some responses complaining that we'd been posting for ages now, without apparently hiring anyone.

[1] <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3060406>

<comment><USER20> Just tossing this out there, cause I was one of the people making those comments. I don't think anyone is frustrated with not getting hired, I think it's just weird seeing the same monthly "We really want to hire people" post, but zero response to (what seems like)a lot of people that apply.

I feel like this is indicative of one of three scenarios:

1) For whatever reason, there is a high turn over rate at your company. This isn't always a bad thing, but if a company is always hiring, it's usually because they are consistently losing people as well.

2) You are experiencing crazy explosive growth, so much so that every month you need to hire more of the exact same positions.

3) The requirements for the job are poorly defined. This would lead to a lot of people (mistakenly) applying to a job that they have no hope of filling the requirements for.

Whatever the case may be, I really think the only reason you guys are getting any kind of backlash is just because it is becoming a common theme to apply to DeviantArt and never receive at the very least a "Sorry, not what we're looking for". Do it to enough people, and there's bound to be a response.

EDIT: There is a 3 month period in which 20% of new people get fired?! No wonder you are always hiring. You are effectively telling people to leave whatever job/security that they have, then cutting a non-trivial amount of them loose because they weren't a good fit? That's not their fault, thats a problem with the hiring process. Who knows what it does to the moral of the other workers. Oh wait, they are all remote. No one ever finds out...

<comment><USER3> It's mind boggling that your parent, your OP, missed that people were mainly disappointed with the lack of feedback. It's also disappointing that, despite a number of signs, they don't even consider that they/their process might be the problem. There's a disconnect.

<comment><USER20> It's funny that they don't get it though. If you want a community (HN) to help you with something (finding help), you need to be nice/polite to them. Otherwise people start getting vocal.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Super disappointed that this isn't David Lynch the director.

<comment><AUTHOR> I have a big thing on the front page of my site explaining that I'm not the director. I still get a surprising number of emails who think I'm him. :D

<comment><USER9> I get the occasional email asking about "jrock recommendations". I have no idea why anyone would think that emailing me is a good idea; to find my email address from jrock.us you have to scroll past a page and a half of programming presentations I've given. People are weird.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I understand the benefit of a "trial period" for the hiring company, but for prospective hires this sounds terrible.

Is this common?

<comment><USER3> yes, it's common...though I agree with the OP that in most places it's very..easy going. It's particularly useful in places which don't have at-will employment (read, most places) so that you can fire someone who really doesn't work out without having the burden that's normally associated with firing someone.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Also worth mentioning, DeviantArt has a challenge up at CodeEval.com

Here's the direct link: <http://www.codeeval.com/public_sc/47/>

Give it a shot.

</comment><comment><USER24> I've been doing interviews for a large corporation. I can tell you right away that your process is designed to weed out the best of the best.

You see, the best candidates stay on the market for maybe a week. You'd be lucky to interview them once. Nobody who is truly good will jump through your hoops.

You're just hiring the best of the ones willing to subject themselves to this ridiculous process, pretty much some desperate developers who are barely good enough to pass your tests.

And a 3 month probation - no way in the world, I would only do it if you paid $200K + bonus. The market is desperate for good developers, I'd have to be completely desperate to be treated like that.

<comment><USER25>
      You're hiring... the ones willing to subject themselves to this
       ridiculous process, pretty much some desperate developers

That's EXACTLY the employees they want.

<comment><USER26> I went through this application process before I had this test dropped on me. I simply didn't have time to complete it. I was desperate enough to actually warrant writing PHP again, but I was able to find a better position elsewhere. One _without_ a "trial" period.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> Are you guys really bragging about having a faulty interview process that wastes over 99% of people's time?</comment>


Ask HN: Where do you find great designers? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> A small tip on hiring designers off Dribble et al.: Be careful of designers that put out a lot of pretty-looking designs of non-existent apps. These are not "real" projects. They don't face the same constraints an actual project does. They're only optimized for good looks. They are fantasies.

So when judging someone's work remember to factor in whether or not it was an actual project meant to go live.

</comment><comment><USER3> The best designers either already have a job, or are doing the freelance thing. So I suggest that you start with identifying companies that you think have good design and start looking through linkedin for the designers that work there. Next, reach out for a coffee/drink and see how amenable they are to talking about design at your company. If it's the right fit, the designer will be excited and you can move on to a more formal interview process. If the designer is happy where they are, ask if they know anyone who might be interested.

My funnel looks like this: -reach out to about 50 designers -15 of them are open to coffee -1 of those 15 are open to an interview

Note about freelancers: they tend to like the lifestyle that freelance provides. I've had luck with hiring on freelancers as part time contractors that actually show up on site, then gradually convincing them to join up full time.

</comment><comment><USER4> Dont forget to: 1\. think about the goal you want to reach with the help of the designer. Think visual UI, UX flow, conversion, app, web, etc

2\. Become clear if you want somebody remote or on site, freelance or fulltime.

3\. Start looking for your ideal candidate trough \- your social reach (people who like what you are doing already) \- your network (2nd and 3rd level connections on linked in) \- go profile hunting on designer pages like Dribble, behance 99Designs, etc. to find a style "you like" if it is about visual design \- approach them, duh ;-)

Hope that helps?!

PS: I am currently writing a how to guide to find and hire UX Designers [1]. If you want to see the draft and give feedback just send me an email (see profile)

[1] [http://uxstepbystep.com/guide/how-to-hire-ux- designers/](http://uxstepbystep.com/guide/how-to-hire-ux-designers/)

</comment><comment><USER5> This is a tough question. I'd say it depends on what kind of designer you need!

I'm a product designer in SF, and I work with many amazing designers. I can say that the vast majority of us are not publishing on Dribbble, Behance, etc.

I would recommend posting jobs on Dribbble, however. That's probably the first place I would go if I were looking for a new gig.

Designer News and Angel List are popular. Also Stack Overflow and GitHub for the more technically-oriented designers.

Lastly, I'd recommend word-of-mouth on Twitter. The design community there is pretty robust.

</comment><comment><USER6> I found one via an open source project.

The other I found by just being friendly at a coffee shop. He was working there at the time. I have collaborated on a number of projects with him since we first met in 2012.

</comment><comment><USER7> I've used Behance and Dribbble with some success. I took the approach of hiring several designers for the same small project. It isn't the cheapest approach, as I paid market rates, but it gave a baseline for comparison, was totally fair, and it resulted in an amazing hire that changed my business dramatically. She also referred another designer to the team from her network that has been fab too.

</comment><comment><USER8> It depends what you want to do, if it's just for a logo or a one-off small task I reckon 99 designs might be the right fit. If you need something more involved then I agree with the others that Dribbble/behance is a good choice.

</comment><comment><USER9> [https://dribbble.com/](https://dribbble.com/)

Find a style you like and hire the designer.</comment>


Keynes v Hayek: Two economic giants go head to head - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14366054

<comment><USER2> i believe keynes approach during times of economic recession is the right one. when firms and household spending declines, economic output will decline, leading to a deflationary spiral. government spending needs to increase to buoy the economy.

this was the one of the mistakes that occurred during the great recession; government chose to shrink its spending, thereby letting asset asset prices fall, thereby reducing production, wages, and demand.

had we allowed our large banks to fail, would have only amplified the impact of the impending recession. without government support, there would had been no confidence in our financial system and therefore our economy (as short-term credit markets are essential for the day-to-day operations of businesses). though not the ethical choice to bail out banks with tax payers' money, it was the right choice for the economy in the long-run.

however, the government bail out of the detroit big three is a different story.</comment>


Time Warner to test Internet billing based on usage - <AUTHOR> http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080117/media_nm/timewarner_internet_dc

<comment><USER2> This is one of the better reactions to piracy that I've seen. If these companies can find a way to make money off of this, all of the sudden it isn't piracy anymore.

It's a business model.</comment>


As opioid overdoses exact a higher price, communities ponder who should be saved - <AUTHOR> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-opioid-overdoses-exact-a-higher-price-communities-ponder-who-should-be-saved/2017/07/15/1ea91890-67f3-11e7-8eb5-cbccc2e7bfbf_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_narcan745pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.3bde9933f670 <comment><USER2> (this article can be read by searching for the title on [http://twitter.com/](http://twitter.com/), then opening the link in a private window)

> Two doses of an injectable form of naloxone, Evzio, cost $4,500, up from > $690 in 2014. The price of other forms of the drug, including the nasally > administered Narcan, typically range from $70 to $150 per dose, officials > say.

The cost of naloxone [1] is an insignificant part of the cost of reviving an addict. The rest of the costs mentioned in this article are pure profiteering.

[1] [http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/n7758?lang...](http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/n7758?lang..).

If you buy 5 grams from Sigma Aldrich, a 2mg dose costs $0.588. Add a few more cents for salt, water and packaging brings the cost per dose to $2. An EMS supplier sells a single "kit" with an intranasal atomizer for <$48 [2]...

Someone on Reddit sent me 4 vials of naloxone. I sent them <$20 to cover postage. [Edit: these vials have .4mg naloxone. Needles were also included. I think the standard intranasal dose is 2mg.)

[2] [http://www.dixieems.com/Economy-Naloxone- Kit.asp?pid=2086](http://www.dixieems.com/Economy-Naloxone-Kit.asp?pid=2086)

Naltrexone is very similar to Naloxone. It is used to keep people from getting high on opiates. Big Pharma has found a way to jack the price of this generic drug too. 15 days ago I posted about the Naltrexone rip-off: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14672338](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14672338)

<comment><USER3> I don't know how long this country can survive with this rampant corruption and profiteering. When do we hit a breaking point, and what does that look like?

I mean I read your response and think, "wow, that's horrible." Then realize absolutely nothing is going to be done about it.

<comment><USER4> I guess one way it could play out is that as the corruption becomes more and more obvious, together with increasing differences in political ideology between red and blue states, an appetite for seceding from the United States could develop in some states, and if that sentiment becomes common enough, it could become a reality?

<comment><USER5> It's IMO more likely than most people think. I really hope we don't see a civil war in our lifetime, but historically democracy's are highly unstable. This time it might be different, but then again it might not.

<comment><USER3> A Civil War today would look like Afghanistan or Iraq, not like the one we had before. It won't be pretty and will probably end in authoritarianism the likes we've never seen.

<comment><USER5> ~50% of all US war casualties occurred during the Civil War. It was very nasty, even if only 3% of the total US population died in direct fighting.

<comment><USER3> Yes, it was a gruesome war. By Afghanistan and Iraq, I meant more insurgent type war rather than sanctioned armies fighting. Liberal states would have insurgent right wingers and Conservative states would have insurgent left wingers. Insurgents would be fighting the opposite faction of insurgent, and everyone will be armed to the teeth. We saw a glimpse of how that would play out in rural areas with the Oregon stand off. I suspect the cities would be something like we saw in Ukrane with their stand in the main square with the firewall, except a lot more shooting. There would be massive food shortages. It would be crazy and unpleasant and not a damn thing will have been resolved.

I realized I was being vague.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> How can it be acceptable that you would declare people too expensive to save, rather than challenge the prices of a profit-making company that is bringing those costs in the first place? Shouldn't you be able to detect the sheer amount of corporate worship in such a statement before it leaves your mouth?

It breaks my heart to keep reading about this epidemic, with such a consistent reaction of hatred from so many people. This state of vulnerability should be met with support, but because opiates are nominally pleasurable, everything surrounding them must be a failure of personal responsibility - of people getting in over their heads.

<comment><USER7> This is what happens in the UK right now. The government decides when the life support machine gets turned off- they pay for it so it's their choice.

Not a common or planned outcome, but an unfortunate byproduct of nationalized healthcare.

[http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-40423371](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk- england-40423371)

<comment><USER8> >Not a planned outcome.

Sure, but the people responsible clearly don't care, as evidenced by the tone of the article.

Drug addiction is the result of the weak border [1], and a depressing job market [2], which is also the result of the weak border [3].

[1] [http://www.businessinsider.com/us-heroin-coming-from- mexican...](http://www.businessinsider.com/us-heroin-coming-from-mexican- cartels)

[2] [http://www.gallup.com/opinion/chairman/181469/big-lie- unempl...](http://www.gallup.com/opinion/chairman/181469/big-lie- unemployment.aspx)

[3] [https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/03-16-16%20Bo...](https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/03-16-16%20Borjas%20Testimony.pdf)

<comment><USER9> The US prescribes far more opioids than any other country.

It's likely that some of the addiction problem in the US comes from this irresponsible prescribing.

[https://www.dea.gov/divisions/hq/2015/hq110415.shtml](https://www.dea.gov/divisions/hq/2015/hq110415.shtml)

> Since 2002, prescription drug deaths have outpaced those of cocaine and > heroin combined. Abuse of controlled prescription drugs is higher than that > of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, MDMA, and PCP combined.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> In the UK, naloxone with an injector costs £20.58, plus £4.16 VAT and £4.95 shipping, in quantity 1. Total is about US$38. The price goes down if you order in bulk. The supplier notes "You may be able to get naloxone free of charge from your local drug service, or GP."

Note that this, like ephedrine, is an old drug, out of patent decades ago.

There's an opportunity here for a startup. The startup doesn't even have to make the drug; there are contract pharmaceutical manufacturers who can do that.[3] The startup just has to handle marketing, distribution, and FDA approvals. Here's a list of makers worldwide.[4] Auto-injectors are available from various suppliers.[5][6]

This project could be put together by a small team and would get very favorable publicity.

Then, on to replacing the Epi-Pen.

[1] [http://www.exchangesupplies.org/shopdisp_prenoxad_naloxone_p...](http://www.exchangesupplies.org/shopdisp_prenoxad_naloxone_prefilled_syringe.php) [2] [https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/NewsEvents/UCM454757.pdf](https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/NewsEvents/UCM454757.pdf) [3] [http://www.contractpharma.com/csd/categories](http://www.contractpharma.com/csd/categories) [4] [http://naloxoneinfo.org/get-started/where-to-get- naloxone](http://naloxoneinfo.org/get-started/where-to-get-naloxone) [5] [http://www.medicalplasticsnews.com/news/autoinjector- landsca...](http://www.medicalplasticsnews.com/news/autoinjector-landscape- changing-as-suppliers-re-evaluate-mar/) [6] [http://www.shl- group.com/products/shl-medical/](http://www.shl-group.com/products/shl- medical/)

</comment><comment><USER11> Why is ibogaine [1] still a fringe treatment for opiod addiction? It seems like a heroin -> methadone -> ibogaine treatment could get the vast majority of addicts cured. Instead, on one end of our medical system's pipeline we get people addicted to opiods, and on the other end we've created so many addicts we have to save them from overdosing. In this domain our "medical" pipeline is actually a disease-creating pipeline that's clogging itself up at the end... Research is still ongoing, but it seems likely that even the majority of opioid painkiller prescriptions can be replaced with cannabis.

It seems then, that we can empty the pipeline by adding less opiod addicts in, by prescribing cannabis when possible instead of opiods, and clear out the end by actually effectively treating addicts.

Unfortunately, our federal government is so out of touch with reality that it classifies both ibogaine and cannabis as Schedule I drugs, substances with "high potential for abuse", "no accepted medical use", and "lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision". The irony is devastating, and it's ruining countless lives.

[1] [http://ww.iceers.org/docs/science/iboga/Alper%20et%20al_1999...](http://ww.iceers.org/docs/science/iboga/Alper%20et%20al_1999_Acute_Opiate_Withdrawal.pdf)

[2] [https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/a-new- tes...](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/a-new-test-of-pots- potential-to-replace-painkillers/507200/)

</comment><comment><USER12> There is a big controversy about this in the area of Ohio I am from (overdose capital of the U.S., Coincidentally). A sheriff who presides over a country near my home is loudly deriding the use of Narcan, saying it will not be used by his deputies, due to moral and financial concerns.

Needless to say, I have lost 8 high school classmates to the epidemic at last count, and of those, 5 had been revived multiple times. So I can see both sides. There is no easy answer, and this problem will not go away on it's own.

</comment><comment><USER13> While we are dealing with this severe public health crisis, Republicans in Congress are about to pass a healthcare bill that will, according to the non- partisan CBO, result in millions of people losing their health insurance.

There is really no word that adequately describes how disgusting it is.

</comment><comment><USER14> Threaten to nationalize manufacturing of Naloxone, then do it if prices aren't brought down.

If there's an epidemic and private manufacturers can't respond to the demand without raising prices by a factor of 10, something needs to be done.

Annual overdose deaths have doubled over the last ten years. To bring a certain brand of hyperbole to the table, 2016 saw a loss of life equivalent to about thirty times that of 9/11.

Some see that as national crisis, others see it as an opportunity to gouge our people, towns and country.

<comment><USER15> _Threaten to nationalize manufacturing of Naloxone, then do it if prices aren 't brought down._

That should do wonders for R&D investment in the US!!

<comment><USER16> The majority of useful drug R&D (ie, not more penis enlargement pills) comes from research grants and university labs, not from private drug companies. It is a great meme Big Pharma has spread as a means to protect their lavish profit structure.

The US leads in pharma research because it has the best research universities, not because it has private drug companies and no universal healthcare.

<comment><USER15> _The majority of useful drug R &D (ie, not more penis enlargement pills) comes from research grants and university labs_

Absolutely false. Only 24% of new, innovative drugs come from academia. 76% come from biotech or pharma companies.[1]

And even if they were discovered by an academic center, someone still has to take it all the way to the finish line which is where most of the cost comes from.

[1][http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/11/04/whe...](http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/11/04/where_drugs_come_from_the_numbers)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Compare it to the money US spent on Afghanistan invasion and the explosion in opium production there. Where do you think the production goes and who is running the operations? Wouldn't it be fair to divert part of those budgets to help civilians in US to cope with the results?

The bitter thing is that even Trump will boost military budgets, not much change here from the previous regime.

<comment><USER18> I agree about the costs of war (though I think Iraq was a war of choice, to the detriment of the campaign in Afghanistan) but "nearly all of the heroin available in the United States comes from Mexico and South America." [0]

This problem was also started with prescription meds, due to deception by pharma companies and lack of attention and mismanagement by the medical professions and government.

This sheriff is an asshole. He says he doesn't want his deputies carrying Narcan playing paramedic, does he also not want them trained in administering CPR or basic first aid?

[0] [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o- meter/statements/2016/sep/...](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o- meter/statements/2016/sep/13/donald-trump/trump-right-heroin-coming-through- southern-border/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Why is the price increasing as volume has gone up? Is it FDA-type regulation that's preventing new market entrants or patents? Or something else artificially preventing new market entry like legal risk?

<comment><USER20> Not sure why you differentiate, patents are regulations too.

<comment><USER18> Patents are intellectual property rights established by law. Congress passes laws giving the executive branch the right and responsibility to create regulations but much of the content of those regulations are not dictated by law.

<comment><USER16> The patents didn't exist until the federal patent office approved them, in the same mechanical structure a regulatory agency approves a regulation. It is still on the authority of the executive to approve a patent or not.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I think we could add this to Jeff Bezos' ideas for philanthropic endeavors. Hell, it doesn't even need to be philanthropic. Amazon seems to have no problem with razor-thin profit margins: Why not create a company which has no problem making and selling generic-only drugs at razor-thin margins? There would seem to be a lot of room to undercut a business who sells for $4500 what might be produced for $20.

I think our capitalism may actually suffer from too much profit taking and not enough competition. I want the market to serve me (the consumer) not the other way around. I'm sure the producer see things differently... There doesn't seem to be a lot of appetite for companies to go after profitable businesses that don't have big margins.

<comment><USER22> There would be a Jeff Bezos if the drug market was as unregulated as the book market. Because of the regulations, instead there will be a Martin Shkreli.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Generally curious what the efficacy rates of opioid rehabilitation are. How many times does it take for someone to kick heroin? For how long? What's the cost breakdown for a turn in rehab?

</comment><comment><USER24> "In recent weeks, Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones has drawn national attention for vowing that his deputies will never carry Narcan because he doesn't want them playing the role of paramedic."

This is one of the sickest, most disgusting, most disturbing, most inhumane things I have ever heard. I guess police are not satisfied with just shooting unarmed people, now they have to let sick addicts die. So they can save $50, an amount that would be even less if it could be negotiated by a program like Medicaid or Medicare. At least it finally confirms the fact that a lot of police, like Jones, would rather stand around, do nothing, and let the people they are supposed to serve and protect die while they watch. What a sick, disgusting mother fucker. No, there's isn't a word in the English language that even begins to describe this lowlife. And the give this piece of shit a fucking gun? I wonder how many he's murdered so far without impunity?

</comment><comment><USER25> I think it is time to (re)read The Final Circle of Paradise by A and B Strugatskie.

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

Situation in US is quite close to one described there.

</comment><comment><USER26> Why are the opoid manufacturers who are creating this addiction in the first place not being billed for it?

<comment><USER27> You mean like poppy plants? This addiction wasn't created by drugs - drugs are merely a coping mechanism for a world that people can't fucking deal with.

The root causes aren't opioid manufacturing it's whole slew of things from poor physical and mental health care in this country, worsening job prospects for people, a culture that ties worth and value to working hard and monetary prosperity, etc...

<comment><USER9> The US prescribes far more opioid medication than any other country.

> Since 2002, prescription drug deaths have outpaced those of cocaine and > heroin combined. Abuse of controlled prescription drugs is higher than that > of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, MDMA, and PCP combined.

<comment><USER26> This and @panic's response, both.

Quantity and dosing of opioids.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> Regardless of whether or not you regard opioid addiction as a disease, please please consider the slippery slope you're sledding down if you buy into this. Who's going to deny insulin to people whose credit card statements show more than 3 Dairy Queen visits this month? Who's going to deny chemo to people who smoked too many Pall Malls, in your opinion? This reeks from top to bottom, and yes, narcan isn't nearly as expensive as chemo, so yes, the slippery slope is pretty much guaranteed to go there. Proceed with caution.

</comment><comment><USER29> That's why I think Kratom could be of huge benefit to a lot of people struggling with opioid addiction. It's cheap, otc, and a ton of people have had success with it.

</comment><comment><USER30> How bout requiring opioid makers to pay for needed Narcan doses?

</comment><comment><USER31> Why hasn't the price come down. Can we expect the cartels to start to manufacture opioids and anti-opioids?

</comment><comment><USER32> Are these overdoses accidental or deliberate? The article does not seem to address this question.</comment>


California peaks at 4+ GW of utility-scale solar generation, meets 18% of demand - <AUTHOR> http://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/current/2014/kw11/california-peaks-at-over-4-gw-of-utility-scale-solar-generation-meeting-18-of-demand.html This is all utility-scale generation.  "Behind the meter", aka rooftop installations, not included. <comment><AUTHOR> This peak does not include "behind the meter" (rooftop solar) generation.

The peak last year was 2.07 GW, set in June.

Summary info here [1]; Calif ISO graph here [2]; we didn't quite hit 4GW today 3/12/14.

[1] [http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/green- tech/solar/califor...](http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/green- tech/solar/california-hits-new-solar-power-record)

[2] [http://www.caiso.com/outlook/SystemStatus.html](http://www.caiso.com/outlook/SystemStatus.html)</comment>


Inside Amtrak's Plan to Give Free Rides to Writers - <AUTHOR> http://www.thewire.com/culture/2014/02/inside-amtraks-absolutely-awesome-plan-give-free-rides-writers/358332/

<comment><USER2> I think this idea is simply brilliant. Transitional spaces, like being enroute or at an airport are the best spaces for work that demands concentration e.g. writing.

Would sign up for such a thing tomorrow.

Also related: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6697416](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6697416)</comment>


JPEG-XR conversion with auto browser detection, optimize images for IE users - <AUTHOR> http://cloudinary.com/blog/jpeg_xr_conversion_with_auto_browser_detection_optimize_images_for_ie_users

<comment><AUTHOR> JPEG-XR is a modern JPEG alternative from Microsoft. Learn how to automatically deliver JPEG-XR images to your IE viewers with Cloudinary, improve your website's load time and reduce your bandwidth by 30% on average without sacrificing image quality. Sample code included for PHP, Node.js, Ruby on Rails, jQuery and other frameworks.</comment>


Show HN: A open source graphical translation management utility - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/magicmouse/beads-examples/tree/master/Example%20-%20localize <comment><AUTHOR> This is an example of how you can use the Beads language to quickly make useful web apps, desktop and mobile applications. This particualr product was intended to be a desktop app. It needs to be a desktop app because it does a lot of file manipulation on your local drive, reading in and merging string files, etc.

You first click on the folder icon to locate the source code file that needs to be scanned for localizable strings. After it finds all the localizable strings, that becomes the "base language" for the product, and you can add more localizations. You can have as many languages as you want.

Each little colored chip in the display corresponds to a message. In the example below, we have just started the Spanish translation, and the first 3 translations we did were marked as "tentative" because we are aren't sure the translation is good. The green chips mean the translation is finalized. The white cells show missing translations, that need to be done.

The utility stores the external translation phrase dictionaries in Excel- friendly tab delimited format (sometimes call CSV format, although we aren't using comma-delimited for obvious reasons). We have buttons so you can do rough translations via Google Translate, which works remarkeably well for many computer oriented phrases. There is no substutute for a native speaker, but I have found google to be correct more than 80% of the time, so it definitely helps.

This is the handy graphical interactive localization utility for Beads, but could easily be adapted to some other source language, as it only needs to be able to parse enough of your source code to extract the strings that need translation.

It allows you to visit Google translate to get your translation started, and lets you keep track of your translation progress, add new languages, etc.

It is smart enough to detect when the original phrase has changed so that you might need to re-translate strings, if the meaning of the base language changed.</comment>


StarCraft Remastered is live - <AUTHOR> https://starcraft.com/en-us/articles/20977641 <comment><AUTHOR> You need the Classic Anthology and Blizzard app to play the remastered.

Use `F5` - YES! to switch between SD and HD. Those who pre-purchased will get additional skins for CC(T)/Nexus(P)/Hive(Z) - haven't figured out how to toggle this...

20 years later, a classic is reborn ;-)

Played 2 games (T and P), still a masterpiece, nice visual effects, attention to details and cool new features (e.g. zoom in/out), no changes to gameplay. Look forward to playing with mates in the years to come for fun.</comment>


Tesla is finally bringing two-factor authentication to its car app - <AUTHOR> https://www.engadget.com/tesla-twofactor-verification-161553557.html <comment><USER2> They've been saying this for years and it has never happened. At this point, I assume it will be delayed again.</comment>


Hemloft: Egg-shaped Treehouse in Canada - <AUTHOR> http://laughingsquid.com/the-hemloft-a-secret-tree-house-in-the-canadian-woods/

<comment><AUTHOR> I am aware this is basically a duplicate and was submitted 16 days ago: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3815764> plus a related article was submited yesterday: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3883202>. But neither post generated any discussion at all. I actually tripped across it on Metafilter today.

I find it intriguing in part because he built it while homeless and I am currently homeless. I also find it intriguing in part because the sort of housing that would work best for me and my health issues is more like this small structure and, like this structure, is all but outlawed in the U.S. today. In fact, Tumbleweed houses were put on wheels to circumvent American laws about minimum house sizes. I don't need much space. I need something small, made with a lot of natural materials, which I can keep adequately clean for my needs. That sort of thing is nearly impossible to find and creating it takes more resources/ingenuity/whatever than most people can come up with, let alone most poor people.

I have had a class on homelessness and public policy some years back through SFSU. I think the degree to which we have outlawed small, simple structures is part of why there are so many homeless and a growing divide between rich and poor while the middle class shrinks away into nothingness.

Thoughts?

<comment><USER2> Can you provide any more background on the illegality of small houses? (To be clear, I'm not skeptical, just curious--it's new to me.)

<comment><AUTHOR> I think that is typically legislated at the city level and the intent is to prevent slum housing, but I could be wrong. I just recall reading an article about Tumbleweed houses where he stated that was why he put it on wheels. In a former life, I wanted to be an urban planner but life gotin the way. So I have some pasing familiarity with things like that, enough to mention anecdotally, but not really detailed knowledge. Another anecdote: Some places, like Apple Valley CA, also have quite large minimum lot sizes. This is frquently done to try to preserve rural character but the typical result is that it becomes an uber rich suburb. Apple Valley is quite expensive and driving through there is an exercise in touring neighborhoods filled with mansions, some of which literally belong to famous movie stars.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.</comment></comment></comment>