Rules of a Zen programmer - <AUTHOR> http://www.grobmeier.de/the-10-rules-of-a-zen-programmer-03022012.html <comment><USER2> Related to this is the no-complaining bracelet challenge, which I think has been mentioned here before. I've been doing this challenge, and finding it life-changing. The idea is to wear a bracelet, and never complain. If you complain, you must change the bracelet to the other arm. The goal is to go for 30 days straight without complaining. It's surprisingly hard to do. At first I thought it was stupid, because it's what going on inside your brain that counts, and not giving it voice surely wouldn't make any difference. But I found that it makes a huge difference. The act of not complaining, never complaining, retrains your brain to think about what you truly are in control of, and what you are not in control of. It helps translate hardship into either actively making the situation better, or not thinking about it. That's really all anyone can ever do, but having the option to complain makes that a lot cloudier. Going the full 30 days without complaining, I've learned, cannot be done without totally retraining the mind to see life differently. I heartily recommend it to anyone.

Keeping a journal about when I complain taught me someone very important about myself that has also helped me cope and not get overwhelmed. The times that I complained, I discovered, tended to be when I hadn't had enough sleep or food. I've structured my life around making sure that I get plenty of sleep, and that I eat regularly.

Training myself not to complain has really helped me not get overwhelmed and reduced my stress quite a bit.

<comment><USER3> I never heard of this. It sounds like a really cool experiment. I might have to try this out with my watch. I don't wear bracelets and I don't plan on starting.

<comment><USER2> I don't wear bracelets either. I don't wear a watch. I'm a minimalist, and find such accessories very annoying. So wearing the bracelet became my very first constant reminder of something not to complain about.

As consolation to myself, I use a paracord bracelet that could be disassembled into survival equipment of a thousand uses if needed.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Upvoted for actually citing and expressing some knowledge about Zen philosophy, unlike many of the mentions used everywhere that attempt to cheapen it.

<comment><USER5> Indeed. Contrast that with the "cleverness above all else" geek ego push, commonly found on discussion sites such as this.

Abandoning appreciation for "programming skill" has helped me be much happier and more efficient in just getting things done.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> P.S. I once bought zengram.com and zengramming.com with this exact topic in mind.

If you want to start a blog/website about this topic, let me know and I'll hand them over for the greater good.

</comment><comment><USER7> I actually rather liked this. It did seem more authentically zen (not that I can say for sure) than a lot of the "zen" stuff out there.

That said, the phrase "as good as you can" occurred five times and was quite distracting. It should be "as well as you can" to be "grammatically" correct. (I'm generally a 'descriptivist' rather than a 'prescriptivist', meaning if a native English speaker says it, then it's okay, but it looks like this author is not one, so I figured I should point it out.)

<comment><USER8> Thank you, I have updated my post with your corrections. And you are right, I am not a native speaker.

<comment><USER9> It is better now, but amusingly - "The other guy is not as well as you, but better with bowling.", in this case it should be "The other guy is not as good as you".

Great article, though.

<comment><USER8> Ups - thanks, fixed that too. I was definitely not focused enough. The whole feedback on this post is just overwhelming.

<comment><USER10> Cheers for taking the time to respond to feedback and learn.

Also, props on how strong and well written the English is in general!

And, most importantly, loved the article. :)

(I thought this whole thread was a good example of how to actually do good feedback. )

<comment><USER8> Thank you for the kind words. It is actually very difficult to estimate if the article is well written or not if you are not using you mother tongue (at least this is how I feel about it). So I consider your comment very motivating!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> _to work for nuclear power companies – it is against my ethics_

I just wonder why?

<comment><USER12> Yeah, I could understand a company that makes nuclear warheads but I don't see the connection between nuclear power and tanks. I think the author either isn't informed about the possible positive aspects of nuclear power or meant to say something else.

<comment><USER13> REasonable people can object to nuclear power because 1) no matter how good the safety systems are, no safety engineer will claim a 100% safe system; there is always a balance of probabilities and 2) nuclear waste isn't fun. I'm not suggesting that these drawbacks outweigh the positive, just that I could see how an informed person would say that the risk of nuclear catastrophe (however minute) is not worth the benefits (however great.)

<comment><USER14> we cant even convince otherwise informed, intelligent people to keep adequate backups, by-and-large. the list goes on forever. gun control laws? abortion? in-vitro fertilization? Women with equal voting rights?

so you hit nail on the head.... and when it comes to nuclear facilities, no small amount of amrchair stats are enough to make truly informed risk/reward calculation, and given the risk part generally includes components involving death and destruction on a fairly large scale, shot and long term, and given we all put our own values on human life and all that, for some no amount of losses are acceptable. Im not agreeing or disagreeing either - thenerd side of me feels then same way - "smart people should be able to se this is our best option" - the zen side of me says there is ia much bigger picture at stake, one i am not currently involved in , and its also not a decision i am personally faced with right now, so im sort of wasting my time even writing this post, right?

Zen version: is any discussion here going to have an impact on large scale nuclear policy at this point in time, one way or the other? If not, it is a pontless avenue of discussion, we can all go focus on something more important to us individually, whatever that is. right?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Posting belatedly, but I _really_ disagree with the "no career goal" item.

Doing a good job on today's tasks is very important, that's true. You don't want to live in the future and neglect the present.

But unlike chopping wood and carrying water, in this industry the work is always changing. If you don't maintain a healthy sense of progress toward a future, you're likely to miss opportunities for jobs that would be lots of fun and teach you a lot. In the worst case, your skills will go stale and you'll get sidelined.

Also, I think having clear career goals makes it easier, not harder, to leave a situation that is not appropriate for you. If it's not serving your goals, find something that will.

</comment><comment><USER16> I like the part about ego because too much of the programming (sorry, "engineering," no wait I mean "architecting") world is focused on a kind of dick-size comparison which is somewhat poisonous and skews things toward self- promotion and away from doing useful things and enjoying yourself.

Programming is a joy when I can just let the task take care of itself as I watch. I can do this in amateur or "hacker" settings but I see less and less of those these days.

It makes me unhappy when programming is a prop or setting for selfish and self-conscious and mean social behavior, as it seem to be more among people who take it as a profession more than a passion.

</comment><comment><USER17> This was very refreshing to read. I agree a lot with the sentiments, and some of it can help with entrepreneurs, like not grasping for any future goal, and enjoying the process instead.

</comment><comment><USER18> Great article! Reminds me of "Zen mind, Beginners mind" book.

<comment><USER8> Actually this book has influenced the "beginners mind" item.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> I like. Creating for the sake of creation is what allows innovation.

</comment><comment><USER3> Great read! I was starting to lose faith in all these "zen" life tips. This was a good one.

</comment><comment><USER20> Made my day a little better. Thanks.

</comment><comment><USER21> Something I've noticed in software is that 95% of the anger and strife comes from the (largely male) impulse to react to unskilled creativity (or the _perception_ thereof, because the most dogmatic technology wars come down to superficial perceptions-- e.g. tabs vs. spaces) with extreme negativity.

That impulse is even in our language. We say someone "jacked off in" or "took a dump in" the code base when he did something "clever" but unskillful and damaging. It's an epithet of self-indulgence and even sabotage when a more appropriate reaction is, "I wish he hadn't done that, so let's sit down and teach him better practices".

It served us well when we had to stop people from poking sleeping mammoths and smilodons with sticks, but it's outdated now (for the most part). Code indentation is not an existential issue for most software companies.

Don't get me wrong: I dislike spaghetti legacy code as much as anyone else. I mean, it's truly horrible to look at. And one only need review my history to see what I think of the Java and C++ languages. I just think reacting _emotionally_ is a bit unskillful. (I can't use a stronger word than "unskillful" because I do it myself.) I think we'd be a lot more productive (and this is largely a self-criticism) if we could take stock of our mental processes and turn "code rage" off.

Relatedly, I think we'd be better off as an industry if there were more women in it, but that's another discussion entirely.

<comment><USER22> At my last job, everyone was always bitching about the young developers. After months and months of hearing this, I started pulling the new guys aside for an hour a week to do mentoring sessions. We'd sit down and do some coding on a simple topic (how to sort a datagrid, how to hook into the event that fires when a row is created, how to standardize your data validation and error messages). The big take away for them was they got see the process, how a more experienced developer works. Stuff like did you know that shift-control-b builds your solution... you should be pressing that every 5 minutes. Or coding up a quick and dirty solution and using simple refactorings to turn it into something more real (mostly extract method and rename).

I'm not going to sit here and say that there is no such thing as a bad developer that is beyond help. I do think in some cases though it is a matter of people not doing their due diligence in helping people out. I can't help but think that part of it is that we developers spend a lot of time on the internet where the base mentality is that everyone is either a n00b or a pro. Either I agree with what you said or you are clearly a moron. It is important to not let that kind of stuff trickle into our 'real' lives.

<comment><USER23> This is really important – I think every organization should do this. At my last job I learned so much from watching more experience people code and asking them questions. Now I volunteer my knowledge to others whenever I can because I know how much it helps.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How do you track and manage your (personal) investments? - <AUTHOR> With the launch of services like Robinhood, access to investment in the public markets has never been easier. If you are currently investing in anything (stocks, funds, bonds, crowdfunding, other alternative asset classes) on the public markets, can you please describe how you manage and keep track of your investments?
I am less interested in budgeting tools and spend tracking, and more in wealth and investment return tracking (portfolio tracking). Also - less interested in professional investment and more in consumer tools (so no professional venture capital or seed investors or day traders who do this for a living please)
When posting, please if possible include the following: - asset classes you invest in - the intermediary you use (broker, platform, app) to do your investment. - the tools you use to track them (provided by the intermediary or third-party) - where you live
Context: I live in London and I find none of the tools available (at least in the UK) are comprehensive enough, so my portfolio is fragmented and I have no single view of how it is performing (unless I use my own spreadsheet). Thank you for your responses! <comment><USER2> I live in India and it's mandatory for Mutual Funds and Stock brokers to report your assets and current valuation to the Govt of India every single month. The govt agency then consolidates all of the assets + valuation and send it to you in one simple email at the end of every month.

Please check: [https://nsdlcas.nsdl.com/](https://nsdlcas.nsdl.com/)

</comment><comment><USER3> I personally haven't found a tool flexible enough to meet my needs. I use a Google spreadsheet with the googlefinance function to track my portfolio. I'm mostly in mutual funds and index funds. I use Fidelity, and have tried other tools with it in the past, but those all required using my login to pull the data, and Fidelity won't provide read-only logins.

</comment><comment><USER4> Fidelity, Vanguard, and spreadsheet.

Typically I have found that Mutual funds work best for me. When I buy individual things, I tend to run afoul of setting a point to sell. So I end up selling when it is worthless.

Also I do not have the free time to watch this stuff every day. Daily tracking just gives me daily worry.

</comment><comment><USER5> I use google spreadsheets with some custom logic for the UI and getting data/ etc. Thinking about making it into a web app for fun...

</comment><comment><USER6> UK tools are in their infancy, MIFID II has opened it up and businesses are starting to react. HSBC's phone app can connect to any bank.</comment>


Minimalytics - <AUTHOR> http://www.minimalytics.com/

<comment><USER2> I really like the animated sentence at the top--it gave me a good idea of what the service does pretty quickly. It was clearer than reading through the actual copy.

<comment><USER3> Very true, sometimes I wish some mathematics was taught this way.

It's great to see it once one way, but if you can throw in that real life factor of "you'll see something like this again but not exactly like this".

<comment><USER4> Yep! It's so much more powerful to show vs. tell.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> You can go to [https://secure.minimalytics.com/signup](https://secure.minimalytics.com/signup) to signup :)

</comment><comment><USER6> Haven't I seen this on Hacker News before? (that's not criticism, I'm just trying to remember and wondering if anyone else does?)</comment>


Looming Lisp Boom?  - <AUTHOR> http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/browse_thread/thread/79ade0f0e4232fe2/5a46764b5073dfd3

<comment><USER2> Sigh. I followed this discussion on c.l.l and it was too painful to contribute to. I was hoping it wouldn't follow me here, but since it's here, I guess I'll put in my $0.02. I trust HN readers more than c.l.l.

No one denies the power and goodness of Lisp. Also, everybody knows its issues

1) misconceptions based on its history (it's a slow, AI language)

2) portability issues among implementations (pathnames, sockets, GUI, etc

3) lack of standard implementation

#1 is a marketing problem - tractable with effort (just look what pg's essays alone have done). #2 is a coding resource problem - many hands make light work.

For #3, once there is a platform implementation with all the right features (threads, unicode), this problem goes away. If CLisp added threads or if SBCL worked on Windows, the game would be over - other implementations would continue but there would be an unambiguous choice for n00bs. De facto portability standards would form around that implementation and the burden would be on other implementations would make it compatible with the de facto winner.

I'm not invested in any of the implementations but it looks to me like SBCL is the closest to being the full featured, cross platform, open source implementation that is currently lacking. So as a pragmatist wanting Lisp to become bigger, I have three choices:

1) through my writing, encourage people to choose SBCL

2) contribute coding help to the SBCL windows port

3) whine

Most people choose #3. I'm not confident in my coding chops to do #2, so I'm focusing on #1. I have the time and ability to write well and I hope to add momentum to the front runner and make choices easier for new users.

Of course, the foolproof way is for someone to make something indispensable using Lisp so people can't help but adopt it (like Unix/Linux did for C).

-see also Bill Clementson's take on this from a couple years ago <http://bc.tech.coop/blog/060403.html>

<comment><USER3> On the topic of SBCL: A few days ago I downloaded SBCL 1.0.13 on my WinXP laptop and have been playing around with it to get back into Lisp. So far its worked to go through some exercises. I'm using Paul's "ANSI Common Lisp" book which I needed for one of my CS programming classes years ago. Last serious Lisp programming I did was at Interleaf, when they _were_ Interleaf, so I've got a lot of cobwebs to brush off. I've got some specific tools I want to implement, so I'll probably run into issues with the incomplete port and if I can carve out the time, have no problem helping out.

<comment><USER4> SBCL seems to work pretty well on Windows, but it doesn't have threads on Windows. As far as I know, no Common Lisp has native threads on Windows. I think Allegro and Lispworks have their own threading systems, but can't make use of more than one CPU/core.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Yep. It'll probably happen in conjunction with The Year Of The Linux Desktop.

<comment><USER6> Is that before or after Duke Nukem Forever?

<comment><USER5> Yes.

<comment><USER7> both before and after.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Lisp will hardly ever make it into the corporate hierarchies, where non-coding bosses want you to write in the dumbest possible language. And unfortunately without conquering this market a true boom is impossible.

Perhaps for this reason Lisp became an individualist, niche language.

<comment><USER9> _non-coding bosses_

My impression is that non-coding bosses don't care that much, or, they care enough to recommend what they read in trade journals. Solution: Talk up Lisp (etc) in trade journals. That java is a standard because it is "dumb" is a myth. Not one CTO in a million went through a catalog of languages and said, "Nope, this has closures. Nope, this has eval()..." Otherwise, they would have come to, "Nope, this has garbage collection... We're sticking with COBOL."

<comment><USER8> From my experience in different companies, big and small, decisions are made based on the number of factors:

* Trade journals, as you said, which appeal solely to the corporate bosses; although I'd give this a lower importance among others.

* Wages and availability of programmers in the job market.

* A chance for the boss to understand the language and/or to talk about architecture on the meetings easily, if needed. This one is interesting, as, I think, that's the main reason Java is popular. Smarter bosses can read some semi-technical journals, where "patters", "methodologies" and "common practices" are explained well for them -- just for them.

So, Java clearly wins in all 3 points, while Lisp loses in all 3.

<comment><USER10> How about another one that also applies to open-source software:

* Corporation to blame for its problems and shortcomings.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Change the dates on this thread from 2008 to anything from 2000-2007 and you can find a thousand other threads just like it on c.l.l.

The short answer - don't hold your breath.

</comment><comment><USER12> [http://ourdoings.com/boston- lisp/photo.html?th=zh/c3/nssk.jp...](http://ourdoings.com/boston- lisp/photo.html?th=zh/c3/nssk.jpg&d=2008-03-31)</comment>


How not to do business: wakemate's missed opportunity - <AUTHOR> http://cullenking.com/2010/6/16/how-not-to-do-business-wakemate-is-either-scamming-or-completely-clueless

<comment><USER2> I know lots of HNers ordered this. Has anyone received a unit? I'd be interested in reading some more about it. I am still on the pre-order list simply because I had forgotten about the product altogether since I have heard so little recently.</comment>


Unimorphic Isoversal JavaScript What? - <AUTHOR> http://blog.getify.com/unimorphic-isoversal-javascript-what/

<comment><USER2> The term "isomorphic" led me to assumptions that weren't accurate and "universal" is so general as to be meaningless. Calling it "shared JS" is a step in the right direction, imo. I'm actually a fan of "agnostic" as a short form of "environment agnostic," but I don't care enough about any of this to try and encourage one or the other. I think the whole debate about this is pretty silly, lately (especially in the React world) terms have been shifting so rapidly that it's tough to stay on top of them without hanging out in the right chatrooms.

<comment><USER3> How about "dual-ended JavaScript", sort of like "dual-ended mascara".

<comment><AUTHOR> If we're gonna go that route, I still like "middle-end" JS better. :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Universal Bikeshedding

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> disclosure: self submission

<comment><USER5> ICYMI: Your blog just got HN'ed...</comment></comment>


Getting started on Firefox OS apps with AngularJS - <AUTHOR> http://glamour.tweakblogs.net/blog/8717/getting-started-on-firefox-os-apps-with-angularjs.html

<comment><USER2> This is very cool, nice work!

Judging from your items in the list, it looks like you started with Mozilla's mortar library [1], which I work on, and completely rebuilt it. I really like how you've structured it and all the stuff you've included -- it's a much more powerful starting point than what we currently have with mortar.

We've been hard at work trying to figure out what we should do with mortar. Naturally several other starting points have emerged, because that's how the web works. We're excited about this. We, Mozilla, still want to give developers something they can use to easily get started, but we'll most likely refer to all the other ones too so the developer can choose between lots of libraries (ember, angular, requirejs, etc).

Thanks for this, I'll keep it in mind as we write documentation on MDN for writing Firefox OS apps!

[1] <https://github.com/mozilla/mortar-list-detail>

</comment><comment><USER3> I tried some FirefoxOS phones for about 20 minutes @ fosdem.

As a developer the idea of native html is tempting. As a normal user I'm rather unimpressed.

"What can this do, that my Android can't?" Without the answer to that question, people won't get it.

<comment><AUTHOR> For this (as I share his opinion), read the article from my collegue Sergi Mansilla about the promise of Firefox OS: <http://sergimansilla.com/blog/promise-of-ffos/>

<comment><USER3> I tried to analyse that article a bit.

Paragraph 1: Ok, so we have some serious competition.

2: We are not going to beat them, we are changing the game.

3: There is massive developer potential.

4: Html sucks, or does it?

5: Frameworks and compile-to-js save the day!

6: Not just HTML5, standardized HTML5!

7: Fixing the problem of "Several languages, frameworks, APIs" and "vendor lock-ins"

8: Mozilla can be trusted.

So 2, 6 and 7 are the big promises. And 3 and 5 is how they are going to do it. My question is this: yes there are lots of web developers, but are they skilled enough for more advanced challenges? And are you really solving the "Several languages, frameworks, APIs" problem? One could argue that there are way to many javascript compilers, frameworks... already!

<comment><USER4> 'Are web developer smart enough to build apps' seems like a pretty disingenuous question.

And the problem isnt 'too many frameworks / languages', its the ones that run on a single platform requiring you to write the same app 5 times that are the problem.

<comment><USER3> I agree it's a bit disingenuous. But I believe, for example, that the fact that Android is easier to develop for than iOS, delivers all the crappy "I just got out of college" java apps.

And although they promote it as the platform to rule them all, reality is: <http://xkcd.com/927/>

But I wish them all the best, of course.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Stop worrying about Firefox and make apps for Chrome.

<comment><USER6> See, this is why we have so many problems on the web. People targeting one specific browser and completely ignoring the rest despite it working perfectly fine in all of them if they just stopped to include some other prefixes.

DON'T make apps for chrome. Hell, don't make apps for FirefoxOS either. Make apps for the web. Make them work everywhere, and stop trying to make "one render engine to rule them all" happen, because it's bad for the whole ecosystem.

<comment><USER4> This

As a dev on Firefox OS I had been trying to disuade us from promoting / people from using the 'Building Blocks' ui library, it makes sense for the OS itself to use it but for 3rd parties "I hope this becomes a bygone of separate apps per platform"

I lost that, but I think it will come around as the platform matures, I will always just be building web apps

<comment><AUTHOR> The building blocks however, run as well on Android and iOS, which makes it a UI library that is cross platform, other than a lot of libs out there that currently only target Webkit (hi Sencha!).</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Last 7 invoices haven't been paid, what now? - <AUTHOR> I've been working with a 'friend' of mine on his website for the last year.  I was paid by check which was sent to my place while I was traveling and lost track of which invoices were paid.  After consolidating everything in the last month I realized that I haven't been paid for the last 7 months.
We had a contract that stated I could bill them monthly a max amount.  I never heard negative feedback regarding my work, only positive conversation and full steam ahead.  I took over the code a year ago from a development firm, and am the sole developer on the project.
All efforts of communication on my part have been met with radio silence.  Emails, texts, phone calls have not been returned for the last 2 weeks.
What do I do now?  I'm short of cash at this point and not sure bringing a lawyer in will help as they have significant more money than I do.  Is it legal to revert all the code I checked in for the last 6 months long as it doesn't break anything?
Any advice would be appreciated. <comment><USER2> Absolutely bring in a lawyer. Reverting the code is a bad idea because a) unless they're clueless they have made backups and b) that could allow them to sue _you_.

You are fortunate in that you have an actual contract and a paper trail, which puts you far ahead of most claimants in 'I got exploited' situations. Organize everything and bring it to a lawyer, who will explain your options and then offer to write a demand letter on your behalf. If the matter is as clear-cut as you say, then you should be able to ind a lawyer who will handle it on contingency. If you don't have a lawyer, call your state or country's Bar Association and tell them that you have a contractual dispute involving non- payment in the amount of $xxxx, and they'll recommend some lawyer sin your area that arelikely to handle disputes of that scale. Most lawyers will give you a free consultation.

Of course, look through your contract carefully first - it might include a clause that requires the matter to go to mediation or arbitration. The more familiar you are with your contractual situation and the better organized your paper, the faster and cheaper resolution will be.

</comment><comment><USER3> If they haven't paid you for 7 months, and aren't returning your phone calls nor emails, they probably aren't planning on paying you.

If it's not a lot of money, forget about it, tell them you aren't doing anymore work for them, stay on top of things better next time, and move on.

If it's an amount of money that justifies chasing, I have had luck showing up physically at people's businesses. If you can't do that, I guess a lawyer is your only option.

Not to be a downer... but you probably aren't ever going to see this money. They may not have it. Maybe you can offer to take some of it a bit at a time rather than wopping them with a thousands of dollar bill at once? But be careful about doing any more work of them of course.

</comment><comment><USER4> So I am guessing that this is a side thing and not your primary business. Because 7 months of non-payment would easily equate to $100k+ at reasonable rates. Missing that kind of income would be pretty obvious for a small team let alone 1 person.

Given that, my bet is the amount is relatively small and not worth litigating or really starting a war over. Don't post publicly on Facebook, Twitter etc, it does you no good but people/companies will see and remember it. Most usually not in the positive way.

Unless the amount is significant just write it off. I get when you need cash that this can be a hard thing to do, but it is the most likely outcome anyway, so put your efforts into finding a new source of funds.

However, that said, after you get it in your head that you aren't getting paid (changes you mindset), then try this. Send a personal email, voicemail and text saying something like: "hey look, I worked for 7 months for you and yea, I'm an idiot and didn't stay on top of my invoices, but man, I am hurting and could use the payment like we agreed." And say you are willing to take it in some smaller chunks instead of one lump sum if that helps his team out.

Your friend may have initially just screwed up too, and now be embarrassed that he got so far behind. He may have wanted to pay you, then realized the sum is larger now then he has free cash. But if you offer him a hand and a graceful way out, he may surprise you. At worst, he doesn't answer and you haven't lost anything more than a little time to write a note and make a call etc.

</comment><comment><USER5> If you're short on cash, you should probably be looking for a client that will actually pay their bills. Tell your "friend" that your work on the project will stop until the work that's been completed has been paid for.

What else you can legally do depends on the terms of your contract. To protect yourself, you probably shouldn't take any action until you've talked with a lawyer. You don't have to bring an expensive lawsuit against them - just pay the lawyer for an hour to review the contract and advise you of your legal rights and responsibilities.

</comment><comment><USER6> Don't revert the code. Even if you don't "break" anything, he could make an argument that you caused damages, and he could sue you. Furthermore, damaging his business isn't going to make him richer and more likely to pay.

You could, of course, say something like this:

"Because you have failed to pay me for my work, I feel it would be morally justified for me to revert all of my changes unless we reach an agreement in the next 10 days."

You're not actually saying you're going to do it. You're just saying you think it would be ok.

<comment><USER5> _" Because you have failed to pay me for my work, I feel it would be morally justified for me to revert all of my changes unless we reach an agreement in the next 10 days."_

That's unlikely to be effective. As soon as they heard that, they'd just make backup copies of all the code and change the passwords on their servers.

 _" You're not actually saying you're going to do it. You're just saying you think it would be ok."_

A statement like that could be considered to be extortion, even if made as a hypothetical. If you owed me money, and I told you "that's a nice car you have, it would be a real shame if anything were to happen to it", you'd take that as a threat, wouldn't you?

<comment><USER6> You're right, it could be considered extortion. I'll retract that as even an implied recommendation.

In this case, it doesn't seem like they have a contract, so the remedy might be to just "undo" the deal as best they can.

Unfortunately, without a contract, there probably isn't a statutory remedy, and they'd have to go to court. That's why I said s/he definitely should _not_ actually revert the code.

My suggestion also took into account the 1st Amendment, which protects speech that has content. In this case, s/he's saying "this is how I feel about it" and "it would be morally justified", both of which have content beyond any sort of implied threat.

All that said, I'm not a lawyer, and no one should take anything I say as legal advice.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I'm not a lawyer, but on a personal level, this article has always resonated with me: [http://philip.greenspun.com/politics/litigation/philosophy.h...](http://philip.greenspun.com/politics/litigation/philosophy.html)

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks for the article, very enlightening.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> If you invoiced according to the contract and weren't paid and are not receiving replies to communications your friend is a deadbeat. I suppose you could lawyer up. That's a medium term strategy. The short term should be based on the assumption that you will never be paid. Some people are just assholes.

The way to reduce this sort of risk is screening clients and requiring retainers applicable against final invoice. And no favors for friends. I mean the reciprocal of you lowering your rate or being flexible on terms is your friend paying more than the standard rate under terms more favorable to you. Somehow that is not where people usually come from.

Don't be anyone's bank.

Good luck.

</comment><comment><USER9> You might find a lawyer who will work on contingency. This is probably small time but you might find a young attorney to write some stern letters.

Also each state has a set amount of interest that applies to unpaid invoices if no other fees or interest have previously been agreed to. Look up the statutory interest and start computing and invoicing your late fees.

It's tough to know how much pressure to apply. You don't want anything to blow up in your face. For 7 months of unpaid work, it's a big enough deal that a lawyer could really help.

</comment><comment><USER10> How close is the friend in question? I would not assume malice outright. I advise to check if your friend is alright, he might be sick or in jail.

<comment><AUTHOR> I've known him for a couple years and we have hung out regularly. I'm quite sure he is alright because of his regular posts on facebook. I've attempted to contact his business partner as well with no avail. I've seen him pull this sort of radio silence with other people when he did't want to deal with a problem.

<comment><USER6> Social pressure is very effective. Comment on one of his Facebook statuses: "I've been trying to reach you for weeks, but you haven't responded. Could you please call me?"

If he doesn't respond to that, you could get more extreme by posting your own status and tagging him in it: "I've been working for @[friend] for months, and he hasn't paid me or responded to my emails. Anyone have any suggestions?"

Phone calls, in-person visits to his office, and emails to other friends or employees at his company will also be effective. It's very easy to ignore a personal email. It's very hard to ignore something that starts to affect your reputation and peace of mind.

Other than that, you might have some luck selling the debt to a collection agency.

You can, of course, always sue him, but if you don't have a pretty tight contract, it would be more trouble than it's worth.

<comment><USER5> _" If he doesn't respond to that, you could get more extreme by posting your own status and tagging him in it: "I've been working for @[friend] for months, and he hasn't paid me or responded to my emails."_

Make possibly defamatory public statements about someone, especially someone you might end up in a legal battle with later, is not a great idea.

And using these kinds of tactics in an attempt to resolve a business dispute could hurt your reputation with potential future business clients.

<comment><USER6> It is not defamatory because it's provably true. Defamation must be false.

<comment><USER5> There's always the possibility that the other party did send a check, but it didn't arrive for some reason.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: UnicornFig – Lisp to produce configuration files and Go code - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/zsck/UnicornFig <comment><USER2> What is this for?

<comment><AUTHOR> I imagine creating sets of functions that effectively compose a DSL to write configurations using really simple and expressive constructs. Ideally, Fig (the language) files could be included in repositories and run with environment data as input (an env function is supplied) so that people don't have to maintain multiple copies of configurations.

The tool also has a strong potential to grow to support other output formats, and also do more in the way of code generation.</comment></comment>


CSS Variables in Firefox 29 - <AUTHOR> http://jan.rs/blog/2014/05/03/css-variables-firefox-29/ <comment><USER2> Please note that the final syntax for CSS Variables changed recently, so in Firefox 31 and later, where the feature is enabled by default, you declare variables like this:

:root { --spacing: 16px; }

and reference them like this:

body { padding: var(--spacing); }

<comment><USER3> Who comes up with these weird syntaxes? First it was var-foo, now it's --foo. What's next, \foo?

"\--" is almost universally used as a decrementing operator, and it's also a common prefix for verbose shell options. Just because you're now working with a different language doesn't mean that you are free to repurpose other languages' operators for entirely unrelated purposes. It's just a recipe for confusion, not to mention it's ugly.

I thought I'd seen the worst when PHP picked backslash as the namespace separator. Now it's just getting crazy. Why couldn't they just pick a normal sigil that everyone already understands, like the dollar sign?

<comment><USER2> As pornel pointed out, CSS Variables are really custom properties that cascade and inherit just like regular properties. Since "$" is used by CSS preprocessors for variables that work in a different way, I think Tab felt that it would cause too much confusion to use the same symbol. The set of remaining ASCII non-alphabetic characters that CSS doesn't use is pretty small too; perhaps "$" is slated for use by some other feature.

There's also a desire in the WG to have a consistent naming scheme for custom CSS things, including custom media queries, custom pseudo-classes to use in selectors, etc. "\--" is something that doesn't scream "variables" and so would be usable for those other things.

<comment><USER4> > Since "$" is used by CSS preprocessors for variables that work in a > different way

A complete perversion of priorities. CSS generator languages change and go in and out of fashion all the time but CSS itself will be around for a very long time. They should make the best decision for the future of CSS. Generator languages are inevitably going to need to change to take advantage of any new feature anyway.

<comment><USER3> I agree. The people who develop web standards nowadays seem to have a curious aversion to existing implementations. First they rejected WebSQL because it was based on SQLite. And now they can't use the dollar sign because it's used in Sass? Is this just a bad case of NIH syndrome, or is there something more?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I wasn't paying attention the last time we had some awesome additions to CSS. How does something like this get adapted?

Do developers actually only use this on FF29+ until all browser adapt? Is this one of those things where we will see workarounds for older browser for decades to come?

Or is this more something that CSS frameworks like LESS pick up and the actual thing is abstracted away for a couple of years still?

This does seem like a very useful feature.

<comment><USER6> The good news is that at least now a large majority of users are on browsers with auto update. So once the spec is finalized and browsers start to enable it by default you should get a pretty large % of users who will support it.

You will likely have to have a separate stylesheet for older versions of IE (and possibly other browsers) but honestly you likely have that anyway. And it's a lot easier to update a few values in that then throughout your entire site.

We'll see how it plays out but I certainly wouldn't expect to use them in production for quite a while yet. I'm sure that is why they hid it behind an about:config option for now.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Here is the pen with the updated syntax for CSS variables, for those who run Firefox aurora (31) where it is updated and enabled by default: [http://codepen.io/snirda/pen/vnDkb](http://codepen.io/snirda/pen/vnDkb)

</comment><comment><USER8> It used to be possible to enable CSS variables support via chrome://flags' #enable-experimental-web-platform-features in previous Chrome builds. Support has since gone again. Hoping for a reappearance soon.

CSS Variables in combination with an additional build step[1] is actually quite usable right now.

[1] [https://github.com/segmentio/myth](https://github.com/segmentio/myth)

Edit: The introduction of the new notation as mentioned by heycam, explains Chrome's behavior a bit.

</comment><comment><USER9> After looking at the spec, I'm wondering does this really save anything for the client, vs. doing this in a CSS preprocessor? Instead of spending the time compiling once and then having clients interpret declarations, _every single user who visits the site_ will have their browser perform the same computation, _every time they visit a page that uses these_. It's also another source of significant complexity to the browser.

<comment><USER10> CSS Variables are a misnomer. They're _custom properties_ that obey cascade and inheritance.

CSS preprocessors can do only lexically scoped substitutions. With CSS "variables" you can have values inherited within DOM's scope.

<comment><USER11> Can you give an example of a situation where you would rather have cascading variables than lexical scope?

<comment><USER10> • JS libraries implementing polyfills for new CSS properties or their own CSS- like behaviors (e.g. `--masonry-display: jagged-grid`)

• themes (`--theme-color` that can be inherited and overridden just like `color` would)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Chrome / Blink has pulled the implementation for now because of changes to the spec / poor implementation. It'll come back (in time).

Ref to feature being removed: [https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!topic/blink...](https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!topic/blink- dev/ScKw9zYRkBc)

Right now, Firefox 29, Aurora and Nightly are the only browsers that have CSS Variables shipped. (Although, there is still no CSSOM implementation present — that'll come later.)

</comment><comment><USER13> What a sad joke. Maybe one day the W3C will get a clue and do this: [http://gridstylesheets.org/](http://gridstylesheets.org/). But I won't be holding my breath.

<comment><USER14> Not having constraint-based algorithms isn't what's holding CSS back, if we used @media queries on the widths of elements themselves instead of browser dimensions we could implement really REALLY advanced layouts with the CSS we already have.

I wish I could do CSS like this:

.container .headline { font-size: 14pt; }

@media .container (min-width > 500px) {

      .headline {
        font-size: 18pt;
      }

}

@media .container (min-width > 900px) {

      .headline {
        font-size: 24pt;
      }

}

I don't really care how wide the browser itself is. I don't care how big the device is or the orientation. If I know in the layout this element is going to be squished below 300px at some point,easily let me make styles for when that ELEMENT is below 300px and I can build layouts that will look pixel-perfect at any size on any screen

No GSS or constraint-based languages necessary

<comment><USER15> So how do you make it so that text always sizes to fit its container, vertically and horizontally? i.e. Sliding font size and letter spacing. Pixel perfect on any screen?

<comment><USER14> To be honest, here's how I tackled that very problem last week using JavaScript to supercharge my CSS.

Here's the layout challenge: There's an account settings page with a Page title, underneath that there's the user's avatar, name, and team name, and then below that we have a number of settings tabs sorted by function (general, notifications, social, funding, etc.)

I wanted the avatar + names to remain center-aligned at all times, and I need this layout to work from 320px up to 1200px. What do I do? Usernames are 3 characters minimum, and 20 characters maximum. That's quite a range.

So, I wrapped the Avatar and Names inside a container. Used JavaScipt to measure the container, at at page load (and any time the browser is resized) it does something like this:

.avatarContainer { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 50%; margin-left: (minus half of the current width of .avatarContainer); }

Woo, okay, so now no matter how long the name is, that avatar and name will stay visually centered. So my next challenge is to find three font-sizes (as we do phone, tablet, and desktop breakpoints) that will display the name large enough that it's legible with a three-letter name, but that can still fit a 20-letter name without cutting it off.

Second challenge: Automatically resize the text to 'squish' it, if the number of characters is greater than 15. So at any of my breakpoints JavaScript will also watch the element that holds the username, and if at any point that count goes higher, the font-size decreases to squish it all in.

Add the two together and you've got a resilient layout that looks perfect at any size between 320px and 1200px wide, even as the user changes the dimensions of the browser or the content on the page after it has loaded.

I wish I could have done that 100% in CSS but CSS makes you DECLARE things, which presupposed that you can anticipate their exact dimensions. I want to use the full power of CSS for layout after the page has loaded as the content adapts, so I needed a more clever way to define more styles and the cases during which they apply than CSS @media queries allowed.

If what I'm saying is intruiguing, check out my experiments in using JavaScript to boost CSS here, maybe even suggest a few things! [https://github.com/tomhodgins/alijn](https://github.com/tomhodgins/alijn) and [http://staticresource.com/alijn/demo](http://staticresource.com/alijn/demo)

<comment><USER15> No, what you're saying is the opposite of intriguing. It was exactly what I expected: an admission that CSS is insufficient for "really advanced layouts" without JavaScript.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Cool Jan :)</comment>


OmbuShop enables e-commerce in Latin America - <AUTHOR> http://payglo.be/2012/05/22/ombushop-enables-e-commerce-in-latin-americ/ <comment><USER2> Note: I work at JumpSeller.com.

There's only that much you can do to improve e-commerce in Latam and especially payments. More importantly, bank accounts & credit cards are not so widely spread as in USA and North of Europe which by itself is a show-stopper for all of us as e-commerce software providers.

If Brazil, does fine technology-wise with PagSeguro, Pagamento Digital and PayPal the same holds no true for Chile and other countries still behind Brazil in digital commerce.

In Chile, Webpay from Transbank is a casi-monopoly where the service (Webpay) is owned by Transbank (which is owned by the Chilean network in Chile). Transbank has no incentive to facilitate the entrance of new gateways in the market and help them integrate with their banks. This have been said and repeated in press and political circles over and over. Dineromail, PuntoPago and other new payment gateways in Chile one way or another sit on top on Webpay and work as intermediaries, thus their prices are inflated and their service also rely on Webpay's one. The worst on having an intermediary here is the addition of a second breaking-point to the already fragile Webpay service.

DineroMail sure works great in Mexico, tho.

Colombia is covered by PagosOnline and Interpagos (the underdog).

PayPal only supports Mexican Peso and Brazilean Real and so, does not allow customer to purchase products in Chilean Peso, Colombian or Argentine Peso.

I think this sums it all around payment gateways in Latam but leaves out of consideration other important upcoming countries like Peru.

OmbuShop, has recently been selected to Startup Chile with their 40.000K equity-free grant. Congrats!

\-- More info:

<https://pagseguro.uol.com.br/#rmcl> <https://www.pagamentodigital.com.br/site/> [http://www.lanacion.cl/gonzalo- arenas-transbank-es-buen-sist...](http://www.lanacion.cl/gonzalo-arenas- transbank-es-buen-sistema-de-pago-pero-es-un- monopolio/noticias/2012-06-04/172538.html) <http://www.puntopago.net/> <http://www.pagosonline.com/> <http://www.interpagos.net/inicio/> [http://startupchile.org/100-startups-selected-to-comprise- fo...](http://startupchile.org/100-startups-selected-to-comprise-fourth- generation/) <http://jumpseller.cl>

</comment><comment><USER3> I always refer to OmbuShop as "Spanish Shopify" - I don't know if shopify allows localized stores but there are so many payment issues in latin america they really need a solution thats targeted here...

<comment><USER4> Shopify is a great platform for North America but it lacks essential features for Latin America. For example: Integration with Dinero Mail or customer care in Spanish.

That's where Ombu Shop has an edge. Also, Ombu Shop is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. So we understand the challenges in our region.</comment></comment>


6th Grade iPhone Developer speaks at TEDx - <AUTHOR> http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2011/11/09/absolutely-amazing-6th-grade-iphone-app-developer-speaks-at-tedx/

<comment><USER2> I help coach a FIRST Tech Challenge robotics team. When I opened up my MacBook one day there the kids went nuts seeing XCode and the iPhone simulator open. A couple of them would probably rather be building iOS apps than doing robotics. One of the kids even has apps in the Android store.

I think back to my middle school days and it doesn't seem that different from us tinkering with (ok, I'm old so humor me) BASIC and assembler on Commodore 64s, Atari 800s, and Apple IIes. The big differences are that kids today have a chance to publish stuff without years of building business relationships. There's also something Paul Hegarty said in his iOS class in iTunes University (another thing we didn't have as kids - access to free college-level courses): There's just something neater about having your app in your hand to show people wherever you go.

<comment><USER3> I was part of a FIRST team in high school, I think the second year of the competitions. One other friend and I were big into RC cars at the time, and we went in with all kinds of designs for drivetrains, oil-damped suspensions, control linkages, etc.

We had a decent design voice (shock/horror none of our oil-damped suspension designs made it), but essentially zero construction was performed by students in the club. Engineers from our partner org built the chassis from whole cloth using laser-cut polycarbonate and other legit machine tools. We didn't even get to watch that happen...the first rev of the mobility platform just sort of showed up one week.

At the time, my friend and I were really disappointed by that. But we stuck around and I'm glad we did, because it took a TON of teamwork and not- infrequent heroism for all of us to use and improve the robot without destroying it.

Software would have allowed far more room for experimentation and individual tinkering, but the group-social stakes would have always been way lower. Our robot literally had cheerleaders by the time we took it to compete in NH. That mix of fragility, anthropomorphism, weirdness, size/heft...can embody weeks of teenage group effort in a way that even a wicked-sweet app just can't.

So merits on both sides, I guess. And hey, app-controlled robots? Boom.

<comment><USER2> I have mixed feelings about some aspects of FIRST Robotics, mostly about how much kids really learn when they're so focused on winning. (That's actually a core value of FIRST - "What we learn is more important than what we win", but a lot of teams don't really follow that.) FRC (the biggest class of robots) gets all the press, but FIRST LEGO League is a tremendous challenge for elementary and middle school kids. No remote control, completely autonomous operation of the robot. (Well, the students can pick up the robot and run different programs, but there's no joystick drive.)

The real physical robots vs. all software / simulation is a classic debate. I heard MIT's Rodney Brooks (of the "build real robots" camp) used to tell prospective grad students something like "it may take you a year longer to graduate with me but you'll have one hell of a demo tape."

This year's FRC teams will be getting Microsoft Kinect sensor bars to use. Should be some interesting stuff.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> When I was 12 (18 now) I decided to make a website for my boy scout troop and I ran Microsoft Frontpage and used GoDaddy and got a website up. It was something about putting something I made online and being able to access it anywhere that really drew me in to the web world. I haven't stopped from there and have been very successful in my endeavors since then. I am living in a downtown apartment working for myself doing things I love after just graduating high school. Sadly but truly not many people my age can say that, especially around here (in the south.) All that to say, it was an awesome feeling at age 12 having something online and being proud of something I made. From there it never stopped and really grew into a passion I hope to carry for a lifetime.

<comment><USER5> Heh, that's almost exactly how I started: making websites using Frontpage for school. For some reason, we had a _really_ thick Frontpage book lying around at home; I found it fascinating. My designs back in the day involved animated backgrounds, unstoppable music and weird fonts. I even hacked together my own version of @font-face where the visitor would download and install the font manually... Fun times.

It's really reassuring to hear of other people with similar experiences, especially those my age. There is nothing comparable to knowing what you want to do in life and being able to enjoy it immediately.

I really hope you continue to be successful and go on to build many cool things.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> What interested me most is that not only did he figure out how to learn app development, he is also going ahead and helping others through the club.

The basic social traits are there in a 6th grader too. Sharing knowledge for a better world!

</comment><comment><USER7> I love the tools and resources that are being available to kids these days! The sad thing that I find is that some of the younger generation now do not have the same amount of curiosity and imagination that we had when we were younger. Most kids that I encounter now don't even bother to ask why or how a specific thing works. This kid gives me a lot of hope :) I'm glad that there are kids like that out there, willing to understand and absorb the information available to them, especially in this day in age where information is so easily accessible.

I wonder what we will shape for our kids. I hope its not useless iFart apps and social networking junk.

<comment><USER8> > Most kids that I encounter now don't even bother to ask why or how a > specific thing works. This kid gives me a lot of hope:)

It is really up to the parents. Extreme example, I remember having lunch with my cousins and one of them asked how a microwave worked. The dad, an engineer for IBM, disappeared and returned with a magnetron from his basement workshop. And then told his sons exactly how a microwave works.

The eldest son is now an undergraduate studying physics. He was about ten at the time of the question.

As a lesser example, my sister (who is not a Ph.D. like my cousins' father), loves BrainPop. BrainPop makes science fun without getting into too-many of the nitty-gritty details. Which is enough, when you are just 5.

<http://www.brainpop.com/topics>

<comment><USER9> I think it's also a cycle. If a parent is repeatedly dismissive of a child's questions, the child is conditioned not to ask them, and so becomes less inquisitive as a result of nurture. It's clearly not nature, as the generation isn't intrinsically different. Parents don't necessarily need to do something like the extreme example mentioned above, but they could certainly plant a seed by being more open to a lot of "Why?"'s, as annoying as it can be.

<comment><USER10> I subscribe to this theory. My rules are: always answer a 'why' question without dismissal, unless it is repeated continuously as a game. Rule 2: always tell the truth, even if it is somewhat over the Childs ability to understand. I do not make things like fairies and magic up, except as an obvious fantasy story, and everything from gravity to stars and farming and manufacturing is explained to the best of my ability. I am constantly told how smart my son is, which I accept graciously, but in my head I like to say - that's because I don't fill his head with superstitious bullshit. One of my clearest memories of childhood was the constant disappointment of finding adults had been feeding me crap for years, either out of laziness or ignorance.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> What this kid say in the first minute is really true. I was craving to make video games when I was a kid, if there was a book about creating video games, I would buy it. I tried everything, my parents didn't really know how to help me...

I ended up choosing flash, it was back in 2002 and started to learn action script (which was very basic then). Made a lot of crappy games, but got bored by the limitations of the software.

Now, years after, I still really want to make a game, but I'm in the wrong major, I'm trying to get into directX but It's really too difficult for me... I don't even know where to start.

<comment><USER12> As someone who has written a game (To The Stars 3D on iPhone) and as someone who has gone through many different routes, I would suggest taking a look at Unity3D. They have a free version and they really take a large portion of the pain out of creating a game on basically any platform.

<comment><USER11> I just found out about it today. But I've been willing to try the CryEngine 3 SDK for a long time...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I was really into BASIC in school but I wonder if teaching specific technologies such as iPad development or HTML5 really has the same value than sport or music. These things change so fast.

<comment><USER5> The point isn't to master a specific technology but to get a general understanding of how things work and develop an insatiable curiosity coupled with a creative drive.

Learning how to make an interactive website with JavaScript will teach you how to think in computer terms, teach yourself new technology (reading the documentation is itself a valuable experience) and take a project from imagination to reality. The very best programmers--and somebody starting out so young is probably more likely to become a great programmer--are not the ones that have mastered the technology _de jour_ but rather the ones who have solid fundamental skills, a logical and inquisitive mind and can teach themselves new technologies easily.

Ultimately, all the short-term changes in the software field are ultimately fairly superficial. Going from Flash to JavaScript or C++ to Java is not an earth-shattering change--it's just a natural progression. There _are_ changes, to be sure, but you're ultimately just doing similar things in similar ways. If anything, it just gets easier.

So, in short, the quick pace of the software industry isn't really as quick as it seems and writing programs is at least as healthy for developing intelligence and curiosity as anything else. I really don't think it a worse choice than sports or music for an extracurricular activity.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> If my children will be like that I'll die happy.

<comment><USER15> I'm not sure. It's an impressive, yes. But I doubt that I'd want my (young) children to own a mobilephone that's worth $$$.

<comment><USER16> 12 years old is high time to learn responsibility, I reckon. Throw a ruggedized case like LifeProof and a 3rd party warranty on it and let 'em have it.

Hell, _adults_ should do that for their phones, let alone kids.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> And this is why I don't believe it when people say that Apple's closed platforms will be the death of the technological creativity and curiosity at young ages that we were able to enjoy when we were younger.

<comment><USER18> Either the kid committed fraud when he digitally signed the Apple NDA and said he was at least 18 or the parent signed the NDA with the intent to break it . Google, Apple, Amazon, Paypal et al don't ever knowingly do business with minors and have been known to freeze accounts/keep kids' profits.

<comment><USER19> Minor detail, everything should be closed like Apple does, unless it's not Apple doing it. Then is should be open.

<comment><USER18> This not Apple. This is every company that deals with both the Internet and the laws of the United States under which minors are legally toxic (because they/we cannot sign a binding contract and therefore cannot agree to terms/conditions, indemnity, release of copyright, etc).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Well what's so fascinating about it? I personally started dabbling in coding at the age of 12 and at the age of 14 I started to earn money from it. I believe many among us followed this path.

</comment><comment><USER21> He's a great speaker.

<comment><USER22> I wouldn't call him great, but I think it's really adorable how he takes his cadences/writing style from popular tech presenters. He's an excellent mimic.

<comment><USER23> I would.

He didn't oversell it (which is what every tech speaker does nowadays as they try, and fail, to imitate Jobs). His ton was even, he didn't sound or look nervous. He had minor trip ups a couple time and just kept going. He made the audience genuinely laugh.

Also, what makes you say he took "his cadences/writing style from popular tech presenters?" Isn't that a bit like watching a child score three pointers one after another and saying "ah, isn't that cute, he's imitating Ray Allen"

<comment><USER22> He sounds like a kid who's seen a lot of Apple keynotes. A lot of his tactics he takes right from Jobs, but for some reason his diction reminds me more of Scott Forstall, who's always a little more eager and a little more rehearsed than Jobs was on stage. (Jobs always took his time talking.) Not that this is a bad thing! When I was his age I was mimicking my favorite writers' styles, and teaching myself the comic pacings of my favorite comedians. That's how you first develop a sensibility, by studying the people you like.

He absolutely shows signs of nervousness – his movements are twitchy, he speaks too quickly and runs over his sentences. Clearly he spent a lot of time rehearsing what he had to say, and he does a good job of it. He gets the audience to laugh, though I'll be skeptical and suggest that audiences are predisposed to laugh at jokes made by young people, and also at jokes involving Justin Bieber getting whacked.

The reason I wouldn't call him great (though he is clearly good at this) is that he doesn't take his audience's perspective into account. I'd be stunned if he could; it's a damned difficult skill to have learned when you're a preteen. He takes (and sells) some effective cadences, but what he's actually saying fits awkwardly within the frame. He spends time explaining certain things unnecessarily, because from his younger perspective certain details are more interesting than they are when you're even a little bit older. Again, not surprising, and not a ding against him.

As for your Ray Allen quip, unfortunately I don't know basketball well enough to respond, but I argue that there's a difference between a basic action (like shooting a three-pointer) and a pattern (like constructing a speech in a certain way with certain rhythms). It would be like if a basketball player had a certain famous technique for making his way across the court once he had the ball. You could watch a younger player and notice that he was mimicking the tactics of certain players. Once again, not something to be held against a young person figuring out the rules of a game – that's one of the best ways to learn! But this kid is still sticking pretty rigorously to a template. It's a good template, and I think it's cute seeing a young kid mimic speakers with whom I'm quite familiar.

I just wouldn't call it great – because for me presentation is a nuanced art, and there's a lot more to it than what we're seeing here. Calling this great might close minds to the possibility of more sophisticated presentations, and that would be a real shame. It's nothing against this kid, who's clearly bright and having a lot of fun in the spotlight.

<comment><USER24> Jesus Christ, the kid's in 6th grade. Cut him a fucking break, asshat.

<comment><USER22> Haha, no offense taken! Writing angry things is fun.

I really didn't want to come across as pedantic, which is why I tried to keep it light and say I thought his mimicry was cute. And I love stuff like this! We need more 6th graders like this. I would have mad chilled with him and his app club.

That said, I do believe that the way we use language frames the world for other people. So I try to keep things in perspective. It's not that this isn't wonderful, it's that there're so many wonderful things that I prefer specificity of compliment to a general word ("great") that may suggest this is some sort of pinnacle to others. Greatness in turn becomes the people with such a tremendous sensibility that they can incorporate many, many wonderful things and, in the process, underline some deeper truth.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> As a parent of a 1 year old perhaps I should consider bailing on his "speaking to humans" effort and get him focused on "speaking to computers"! :)

<comment><USER26> I recently learned that children can learn sign language before they can even learn to speak. This tells me that, yes, the can probably speak to computers prior to learning to speak to humans.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> What is also really impressive is his speaking skills.</comment>


Eight Myths of Erlang Performance - <AUTHOR> http://www.erlang.org/doc/efficiency_guide/myths.html

<comment><USER2> Hi.

(not flaming, really asking) Can any erlang guru explain in a few lines why Erlang on a quad-core linux systems doesn't beat Java?

Ubuntu™ : Intel® Q6600® quad-core <http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/u32q/erlang.php>

Ubuntu™ : Intel® Q6600® quad-core x64 <http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/u64q/erlang.php>

This surprised me after being told many times by a friend who does Java+Erlang programming otherwise. What's missing in the picture? Is that Erlang implementation not multicore aware or something?

<comment><USER3> What's being measured? From the homepage: "we measure particular programs".

Have the Java programs been re-written for multi-core? Have the Erlang programs been re-written for multi-core?

Have you looked at the individual benchmarks? Have you looked at the individual programs?

<comment><USER2> Isn't the erlang pitch it makes multiprocessing transparent?

<comment><USER3> No!

The Erlang pitch is "Distributed, reliable, soft real-time concurrent systems".

Distributed supervised processes are a mechanism to achieve error containment and fault tolerance.

"making reliable systems in the presence of software errors" (pdf) <http://www.sics.se/~joe/thesis/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf>

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Would've been so much cooler if they were actually written as classical myths, ham-handedly replacing prominent characters with Erlang and functional programming terms.

<comment><USER5> Hrm....

* Erlang: Hydra.

* Tail recursion: Jörmungandr.

Ok, that's the low hanging fruit.</comment></comment>


The wonderful world of Disney hypocrisy (2012) - <AUTHOR> http://roarofwolverine.com/archives/1435 <comment><USER2> Another realm of Disney hypocrisy relevant to HN: IT staff fired to be replaced by H1-Bs, whom they _had to train to replace them_ first, e.g.

[http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/exclusive-former- employ...](http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/exclusive-former-employees- speak-out-about-disney-s-outsourcing- of/article_d8867148-7d8c-11e5-ae40-fb05081380c1.html)</comment>


Students Against Mass Surveillance on Campus - <AUTHOR> http://studentsagainstsurveillance.com/

<comment><USER3> Campus IT surveillance is a much more immediate invasion of privacy. It's not just being able to see what websites you visit and when. Many enterprise networking products allow you to stalk a user around campus in real time by which wifi access point she's connected to.

For instance, if you use a student ID as a wifi login, that ties your MAC address to your identity. Then the wifi access points report which MACs they've seen, and some (thanks Cisco) let you query historical data by MAC. This has legitimate uses for tracking stolen items but frequently no privacy controls or oversight.

Add a little machine learning and you can also identify people's associates with decent accuracy.

</comment><comment><USER4> Well, it is hard to sell this to a friend of mine who got mugged in broad day light on a weekend on campus. If it was not for a surveillance camera, the thugs would still be roaming free.

Not only did the surveillance help in nabbing the criminals in a short time, it also helped prevent the same happen to other students as the thieves were caught looking for other scapegoats near by.

What is needed is oversight on this technology. Not outright banning. There is good and bad for any technology, surveillance is no different.

<comment><USER5> We're not against any form of surveillance ever, we just think that over-broad NSA/GCHQ spying as it currently exists violates the Constitution.

Maybe we'll agree some day that this level of surveillance is a price we're willing to pay, but that needs a rigorous and well-informed public debate.

Our letter ends by calling on the U.S. government to "bring the NSA back within the bounds of the constitution," not to scrap the NSA entirely.

Hope this clarifies. :-)

<comment><USER6> So why on campus then? "on campus" implies this is a campus specific issue, hence the aforementioned security cameras.

The NSA/GCHQ is a nation-state level issue, effecting populaces on the same scale.

<comment><USER5> Well, headline aside, we feel the NSA/GCHQ overreach is a problem that particularly affects students, since college is a time for exploration, creativity, and freedom. The private realm is the only place any of these things reside, and we're concerned about the erosion of online anonymity.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Bad premises

"In societies where there is mass surveillance, it's harder for people to think, learn, and explore. "

US, England, France, Germany, Sweden have mass surveillance. All leaders in progress, innovations, and exploration.

Cuba, Venezuela, Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, Greece, Iraq, .....you get the idea. They don't.

"Privacy is important not only for students and academics, but also for journalists, lawyers, activists, doctors, entrepreneurs -- anyone who wants to think and act freely without worrying about who is watching them and why."

In this country, we have freedom of press. Much more important than privacy. Surveillance doesn't prevent you from acting freely. Living in an authoritorian country does. So you can't curse out the president and hold protests.

"Additionally, privacy helps ensure that everyone in our society is treated fairly, no matter their religion, sexuality, race, or other traits."

What? Huh?

<comment><USER8> I'd like to take issue with your "freedom of press" statement. The press is certainly Not free in the US. We have a propagandist press that serves to deceive (Fox News), serve special interests (CNBC) or generally toes the establishment line (NYT, CNN).

More importantly, the US government actively takes steps to stop a free press. Take for example the recent attempts to stop Glenn Greenwald, punish Snowden, etc. The US govt also takes active steps to push the "free" press in particular directions, such as hiring retired commanders to pose as independent analysts to bolster the Iraq war, or by infiltrating online news networks to post via shills.

How exactly is the press "free"?

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> > The ability of students to learn and grow is severely hampered when > governments monitor our communications and social media activity.

Is there any evidence of this? Why would monitoring students' social media activity and emails negatively affect their ability to learn?

<comment><USER5> We feel this because we think that surveillance leads you to self-censor.

In "The Chilling Effects of Surveillance," a study done by Stanford University psychologists Gregory White and Philip Zimbardo, participants were placed under varying levels of surveillance as they were asked their opinions on the severity of marijuana penalties. Those who were under surveillance (told that their answers would be shared with the police for training purposes) were more likely to denounce pot use.

This happens with writers too: [https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/01/how_surveilla...](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/01/how_surveillanc.html)

<comment><USER9> I don't think you've made a strong case for mass surveillance having a significant effect of self-censorship.

The study you cited [1] is an interesting read, but its applicability to mass surveillance is questionable. Being informed that your opinions on a specific topic - of which you are acutely aware are being immediately recorded - <USER2> definitely be reported to the police, is not the same as the more vague notion of some unknown entity recording and possibly analysing your everyday words. There may be a perceptual difference between personal surveillance and mass surveillance, which is not addressed in that study. As an analogy, consider the ubiquitous, largely unnoticed CCTV coverage in urban areas, versus the acutely uncomfortable feeling of being followed down the street - the two perceptions are quite different.

That survey of writers linked by Schneier [2] describes its limitations - namely, that it is not really representative of all writers, only those that self-selected (from an email sent to them on the topic of government surveillance) to answer the survey, and that the sample sizes are relatively small. Also, the writers surveyed are all affiliated with the organisation conducting the survey, an advocacy group for freedom of expression. This may well bias the results towards that group rather than writers in general. Indeed, the report authors explicitly state: "the findings cannot be generalized to represent all writers in any given region or level of freedom."

Another point specific to students is that, if they choose to pursue an academic career, it necessitates publishing research to a wide audience (wider than their professional colleagues, at least). Surveillance involves the intrusion of privacy, but publication is essentially the opposite of privacy, so how can it be negatively affected by surveillance, and mass surveillance in particular?

[1] [http://www.dtic.mil/cgi- bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDo...](http://www.dtic.mil/cgi- bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA013230)

[2] [http://www.pen.org/sites/default/files/Global%20Chilling_01-...](http://www.pen.org/sites/default/files/Global%20Chilling_01-05-15_FINAL.pdf)</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Why was my submission flagged? - <AUTHOR> I thought it would interest HN.<p>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12373496 <comment><USER2> Probably because your "submission" was a single sentence tweet, with nothing of any intellectual interest to discuss.

If Twitter hasn't been auto-banned already, I think it should be. Tweets don't provide meaningful context or insight unless they're linking to something else.

</comment><comment><USER3> Here are the HN guidelines for submissions: [https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

</comment><comment><USER4> This question should not be posted to HN. You should contact the moderator, per these instructions in his profile:

Please send HN questions to email@example.com.</comment>


Daemon-games: Multi-user console games for Linux - <AUTHOR> http://www.leaseweblabs.com/2014/11/daemon-games-multi-user-console-games-for-linux/

<comment><AUTHOR> Only snake is playable</comment>


4 Benefits of Automating Performance Management [Infograph] - <AUTHOR> http://www.slideshare.net/TETIndia/automated-performance-management-benefits <comment><AUTHOR> How Automating Performance Management drives business results and engagement.

An infograh</comment>


Endless Sky: GPL Licensed Escape Velocity Successor - <AUTHOR> https://endless-sky.github.io/ <comment><USER2> I have a really fond memory of Escape Velocity. My brother and I played it all summer one year. We daisy chained two apple keyboards so that he could fly and I could control escorts.

Then something incredible happened. I must have pressed a wrong key because we got a beep and a note, "you are too far away to board this ship." We looked at each other like we just discovered the map to the holy Grail. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BOARD? YOU CAN BOARD SHIPS?"

Then later came discovering ResEdit (and creating my patented "Javelin Spray")

I still remember so much about that game. Like capturing Lightnings and selling them for a profit. Or how it takes exactly one torpedo to kill a Defender. Or how a bumper crop lowered the price of food on Levo. The forbidden planets were so mysterious. The Lethe/Cydonia war. The Mass Driver. Modifying an Argosy into a terrifying gunboat of proton turrets. Captain Hector. Aliens. Feuding couriers that eventually start killing each other. Having 6 Rebel Destroyers as escorts, the F key turning into "press for missile rain."

That game opened us up to a whole universe of what video games could be. We were maybe 8 and 10 years old.

<comment><USER3> Were you ever able to take over planets

<comment><USER2> Oh yeah! The game ended for us once when we managed to capture almost every planet you could. So much cash!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I _love_ Escape Velocity Nova. I used to play it for maybe 2-4 weeks once per year but then my license key expired and their renewal system went down because the company died.

I've wanted a successor of some kind for so long but nothing quite hits the mark. Maybe this will come close.

<comment><USER5> For me at least, this didn't quite hit the mark. The world just didn't feel like it had the same richness.

The good news about EV:N is that IIRC you can just disconnect your computer from the internet and roll back the clock to the day after your license was issued. Then it will work without complaining about expiration.

<comment><USER6> You won't be able to play through the full storyline though.

<comment><USER5> I was able to. Once you reset your clock and use your license key, you can get past Cpt. Hector

<comment><USER6> Captain Hector isn't the issue. You never got the 4th wall break?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I've played all three of the Escape Velocities distributed by Ambrosia Software. They're among my favorite games of all time. I first played Endless Sky on steam a few years ago. Its gameplay is very close to Escape Velocity. Its plot isn't bad either.

<comment><USER8> I've been playing Endless Sky for a few years now. It's not quite as polished in UI and ship balance as EV but it's really good and quite close. And yeah, the plot is fun. I would love a multiplayer version.

<comment><USER9> Should I just make one? My game server is tailor made for top-down asteroids style mechanics. When I last benchmarked, it could handle 73 player melees, but it should be capable of something like twice that now.

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

<comment><USER10> Please do, I would enjoy the heck out of it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> It was because of Escape Velocity that I discovered web forums and IRC; it was because I wanted to make mods for EV that I learned to use POV-Ray and ResEdit; it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that I eventually became a professional programmer because of EV's plugin system.

<comment><USER12> And I'd be right there with you. The plugin system allowed me to dream of making interactive the stories, ships and characters I was reading in 2001, Rama, and all the rest. And the reasonable technical knowledge required to interface with the plugins made getting there a fun, and attainable goal.

<comment><USER13> Rendezvous with rama is an amazing book.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Readers of this post may also enjoy Oolite, a GPL-licensed space exploration game heavily inspired by the original Elite. But this one is in 3D.

[http://www.oolite.org/](http://www.oolite.org/)

<comment><USER15> Man, I've always dreamed of a spiritual successor of Elite fit for the 21st century, I can't believe my prayers have finally been answered! I can't wait to fly around in my Cobra III and blast some Thargorns!

<comment><USER14> If you really want a spiritual successor to Elite fit for the 21st century you should buy Elite: Dangerous, created by the original creator of Elite, David Braben. I don't want to knock Oolite which is a great free software project.

But Elite: Dangerous is astoundingly good. You can, in theory, visit every star in our Milky Way galaxy (in addition to the old Elite star systems, tucked away in a corner). All in incredible 3D graphics, and even VR if you have a headset. Worth every penny.

(It's got everything, too: the letterbox space station docking (except now you get to see the inside), Thargoids, refueling from stars, playing the Blue Danube waltz when you use the docking computer...)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Nice to see. EV plug-ins — and a plug-in editor — were my first attempt to make shareware. Totally failed to sell a single copy, but my plugin got onto MacFormat magazine that month.

I'm glad this game also has plug-ins and a map editor.

<comment><USER10> Plug-ins where a pretty great config format, in retrospect.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> I absolutely cannot let [https://transcendence.kronosaur.com/](https://transcendence.kronosaur.com/) go unmentioned in this thread.

Source code on GitHub: [https://github.com/kronosaur/TranscendenceDev](https://github.com/kronosaur/TranscendenceDev)

Also, George Moromisato is an awesome person.

</comment><comment><USER18> The problem I had with Endless Sky was that it didn't have the kind of stories that really drove Escape Velocity. EV (especially Nova) was fantastic, had multiple storylines, etc. The writing seemed genuinely good to me; Endless Sky was nowhere near as enthralling (and the technical glitches made me give up).

It's got "good bones" but lacks content; it really made me realize the value of writers and those who can hammer out storylines.

</comment><comment><USER19> I remember getting Basilisk II working so I could play the original Escape Velocity without a Mac.

Later I remember playing EV:Nova and trying out a really excellent fan created scenario, but looking now I can't figure out which one it was.

<comment><USER10> Perhaps Polycon?

[http://download.escape- velocity.games/EV%20Polycon%20%28stan...](http://download.escape- velocity.games/EV%20Polycon%20%28standalone%29.zip)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I assume this just got posted because the latest MacOS update cut support for 32 bit apps and thus EV Nova. I would say: don't give up. Emulation is a viable option. It runs in WINE and there's always virtual box. EV is probably my favorite series and while I will play the heck out of any clones (including my own) the original games still have value.

</comment><comment><USER20> Used to play the EV series an awful lot. Right now my jam is "StarSector" [http://fractalsoftworks.com/](http://fractalsoftworks.com/) which is an amazing game and obvious labour of love by the dev who also keeps intresting blog posts going.

</comment><comment><USER21> Timely, the first new beta in years just came out. There's a lot more content to go before it's a complete game, but there's lot of fun to be had. Contributions welcome!

</comment><comment><USER22> I wonder what could be done in a game style with this, but with the graphics and solar system "engine" of Kerbal Space Program.

<comment><USER23> It would be a completely different game, something more like elite and other flight simulators in space.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Is there any hope of EV: Nova or EV classic being open sourced?

</comment><comment><USER25> This reminds me of Space Rangers.</comment>


Darpa Is Weaponizing Oculus Rift for Cyberwar - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/2014/05/darpa-is-using-oculus-rift-to-prep-for-cyberwar

<comment><USER2> > After all, the Pentagon is currently working to hire thousands of digital > warriors to fill out its ranks, and many of them may not be familiar with > using a command line, let alone writing code. "The genre of people that > Cyber Command are working to recruit are fresh out of high school and > college," says Pound.

Why are they recruiting people with no technical skill for a highly technical field?

edit: added bit from the article

<comment><USER3> It seems like if they can make things generic enough for a non technical person to do the job, they can just place a computer at the seat instead. You're probably get faster reactions, and better decisions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> So hollywood hacker movies were right after all?

</comment><comment><USER5> Followup article: Darpa weaponises computers.</comment>


Building APIs for the physical world/Ethereum smart contracts for legal property - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/humanizing-the-singularity/the-mattereum-frontier-351c496e151d <comment><AUTHOR> Transcript of my talk at the Ethereum community conference discussing Mattereum, a set of commercial infrastructure which binds smart contracts to legal title of physical property.

It's not a well understood problem space, but it is possible. We think the impact will be a bit like HTTPS certificates had on the original Web.

It's the missing piece to get trade bootstrapped.</comment>


"Idiot proof" icon design Fail - <AUTHOR> http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/08/one-third-of-drivers-dont-know-what-this-icon-means/1

<comment><USER2> The icon should be a tire (from the angle that makes it a circle: O) that's a little flat on the bottom. I think everyone would get that.

<comment><AUTHOR> Totally.</comment></comment>


Ensuring Randomness with Linux's Random Number Generator - <AUTHOR> http://blog.cloudflare.com/ensuring-randomness-with-linuxs-random-number-generator?

<comment><USER2> There's a mention of lava lamps as a source of entropy... Here's the history on that:

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

See also [http://www.lavarnd.org/](http://www.lavarnd.org/)

Meta - noticed two typos:

1\. "By hashing the entire pool _and and_ some"

2\. "and how they _effect_ (should be affect) programs"

<comment><USER3> Thanks. Typos fixed.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Funny anecdote: every time I cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail the value drops. It slowly rises when the usual entropy sources are used (mouse/keyboard/IO).

Can anyone explain the consistent value drop when cat'ing?

<comment><USER5> I can't explain your observations. On my machine, I tried cat`ting entropy_avail every .1s. My observation it that in consistently rises until it hits 190, when it instantly drops to around 140. The upper bound of 190 seems to be pretty consistent (very occasionally it drops earlier, it never seems to exceed 191), where the lower bound goes between 130 and 160. I'd assume this means that I'm low on entropy (especially because the post indicates that below 200 indicates that the system is running low), however I cannot think of anything special I am running that would be eating entropy. Also, mashing my keyboard and mouse does not seem to affect the rate of entropy accumulation. Decreasing my sample rate also does not seem to slow down the rate of accumulation, so it looks like cat`ing does not affect the value on my machine.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Slightly off topic:

 _> (As an aside, pi is an example of a normal number: one where all the digits will appear in equal quantities)._

From the linked Wikipwdia article: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_number)

 _> For example, it is widely believed that the numbers √2, π, and e are normal, but a proof remains elusive._

</comment><comment><USER7> > For example, if you're reading this using a link to > [https://blog.cloudflare.com](https://blog.cloudflare.com) then the SSL > connection you are using will have required random numbers to ensure its > security (they were used as part of the establishment of the secure > connection).

 _If._ Raises the question of why the HN link isn't HTTPS.

</comment><comment><USER8> I've recently been dealing with the question of low entropy with some virtual machines. I decided to delay installation of the ssh server until after I was able to boot up and bang on the keyboard in a text editor to get the entropy over 2000.

</comment><comment><USER9> All your efforts are in vain, you are located in the USA...</comment>


StackOverflow Around the World - <AUTHOR> http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/04/stack-overflow-around-the-world/

<comment><AUTHOR> Great to see this initiative! American companies are usually much too tardy with internationalization. And amazing to see that the Swedes are so active on StackOverflow.

And I applaud the Stack Exchange team for being so sensible in choosing which languages to serve first. Japanese and Korean seem good choices, but the French and the Germans really prefer to communicate in their own language too.</comment>