Palm Beach Gardens teen launches Jurassic app - <AUTHOR> http://m.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local-education/gardens-teen-launches-jurassic-app/nSnz4/

<comment><AUTHOR> The angel offer came from a retired CEO of a public company that saw the article.

The subject of the article is a product of HN:

HN introduced us to Khan Academy many years ago, and it his math and [one of the] CS sources.

HN introduced us to many learning sources for Java [Programr, Think Like a CS, etc].

HN introduced us to Pygame.

HN introduced us to ocw.mit.edu.

HN introduced us to Minecraft when it was in early beta.

etc.....

<comment><USER2> Nice, great job! Very, very impressive!

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> "As of last week, about 30 people had downloaded Frost's application"

"angel $ offer"

Uh oh.. are we in another bubble? I hope not...

<comment><USER2> Oh, come on! How old are you (pun intended). I know I'd have been deliriously happy if any of my apps had gotten a write up like this when I had been 13. Even in a local newspaper.

Not that I managed to publish any marketable apps at that age.

<comment><USER4> Not that there was an app store to market them on when most of us were that age.

<comment><USER2> You may do have a point there. :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm confused - the article doesn't mention an angel investment at all.

<comment><USER6> The person that submitted this (mangoleaf) is the father of the boy in the story so I assume he knows more than the article mentions.

<comment><AUTHOR> The angel offer came from a retired CEO of a public company that saw the article. I posted that as the first comment, but there is no way to make that comment sticky to the top. I see it below.

<comment><USER7> Did you accept the offer and what was the amount of the offer?

<comment><AUTHOR> What he REALLY wants to do is work for Notch, or some company that is doing a fun and interesting games or educational stuff. He likes team projects. Anyone need a 13yo beta tester that is into the digital game/educational world?

<comment><USER8> what references/skills does he have?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Very cool--I'm jealous of what a great environment teenagers have for programming today. When I was 13 I was hacking up QBasic games I downloaded from local bulletin boards. A teenager today can publish Android apps to impress their friends and make some spending money!

</comment><comment><USER10> It's a soundboard. Plenty of young teenagers have made much better and more useful things.

</comment><comment><USER11> I'm surprised no one's asked yet -- how did he obtain the samples of dinosaur sounds?

<comment><USER12> Obviously the time machine was the easy part. Not worth documenting.

<comment><USER13> Left as an exercise to the reader.

<comment><USER12> Exactly. Like every proof ever: "It is easy to show that..."

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> So whats so special about this?

</comment><comment><USER14> Link to the app: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=appinventor.ai...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=appinventor.ai_evanfrosty.JurassicSounds&feature=search_result)

</comment><comment><USER15> Go homeschoolers! I love it (coming from someone who was homeschooled for most of K-12.)</comment>


Let's face it: nuclear power is hideously dear and far from ideal - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2019/jul/23/lets-face-it-nuclear-power-is-hideously-dear-and-far-from-ideal <comment><USER3> Even being gung ho about the possibilities of nuclear, Fukushima and then recently watching the Chernobyl miniseries made me think twice about it and turned me against it.

The problem is not that we don't have the technology to do it safely - <USER2> probably do. The soviets probably could have built safe reactors too. In fact after Chernobyl there was no more incidents with the RBMK design.

The problem is the companies and governments behind the building of nuclear have political and social considerations that have led to two major nuclear accidents that have led to two major exclusion zones within a generation of each other. Yes we've done ok so far, but it frightens me that even in a country like Japan political considerations by TEPCO led to another disaster. It's not that we don't have the technology - it's that we might not have the right people to implement it the right way all the time, and that might be enough.

<comment><USER4> >even in a country like Japan

So what you're saying here is that your perception of Japan is that they should be superior to e.g. Russia or other countries managing reactors for some reason?

Just pointing out that you're making decisions about whether or not a technology is safe based on your own (potentially faulty) perception of a foreign country.

You might want to check your cognitive bias here.

<comment><USER3> I live in the UK, but I'm not from here. I have no idea what's do you mean exactly by cognitive bias (and yes I know what they are). Yes I did expect a Rich first world democratic country like Japan to be probably better at managing nuclear reactors, the same way I expect to make very reliable cars, high end televisions and popular electronic gadgets. Compared to the autocratic Soviet Union, yes I did expect them to be better. They most likely were, but they were still incapable of preventing a meltdown, from what I've read mostly due to perception/political reasons (TEPCO didn't want to frighten people by making massive sea walls or something of the sort).

Are you saying this is a cognitive bias? I think inferring a technologically superior country would be superior at managing technology is a reasonable conclusion. if you really think this is bias, why? Genuinely interested in your answer.

<comment><USER4> Correct - the bias I was referring to was that you seem to believe that a "technologically superior" country would be better at managing nuclear reactors.

However, the truth is that technological superiority of a country has little to do with effective and safe management of reactors, which are technological but in fact decades old in design and operation.

Rather, social and societal attributes like discipline and the ability to not let political concerns affect technical safety decisions seems far more relevant. Witness the US Navy, for example - a large number of reactors used under some of the most difficult conditions possible and no accidents. Canada also has had very few.

I am not saying your assumption isn't the same one a lot of people would make, however.

<comment><USER3> Sure that makes some sense. Discipline and impartiality is more important than technological supremacy, considering the tech is a actually old and impartiality and discipline actually make reactors safer

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> This is another "nuke" article that doesn't have any application to the present climate change crisis. This is because it almost entirely relates to the failure of the bureaucracy in the UK to find a way to fund and build reactors using old technology and existing regulatory frameworks.

Any future reactors build to sever us from carbon dioxide producing energy technology would probably need to be built using new technology which would both allow and drive the need for a new regulatory framework.

A new framework could be designed alongside new reactors to avoid the pitfalls of older systems regulatory frameworks with the result being both lowered cost and increased safety.

Many of the people arguing against greater use of nuclear power seem to ignore the fact that advocates aren't talking about using the old technology... most agree I think that old style reactors are too expensive for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the amount of regulation created for them by well meaning politicians.

The article's author also seems to assume that renewables like solar and wind power are a viable alternative to large scale constant power generation, when they really are not because of the need for constant baseline power for industry 24/7\. Unless a disruptive energy storage technology appears, renewables are too variable in output to maintain a constant supply to e.g. foundries and factories.

</comment><comment><USER5> Just in case you are left scratching your head after you read this Guardian article:

* yesterday (22-July-2019) the UK government published a consultative paper proposing a funding model for a new nuclear power plant [1]

* the public has until 14-Oct-2019 to respond. The UK Government will then take into considerations all responses and will proceed with implementing or not the proposed funding model

* the paper [1] is very well structured (in bullet point format) and worth a read. The financial engineering aspects are complex enough that I sincerely hope Matt Levine will deem this interesting enough one day to translate them for us in his column. Until he does that, I'll do a poor Matt Levine impersonation below and try to give you my understanding

* the climate change aspect: the UK government has committed to zero net carbon emissions by 2050. In this paper they state that, although solar and wind will carry us most of the way there, nuclear is still needed

* The Guardian says "nope"

* we are in a he-says-she-says impasse, but:

* the UK Government has formed a Committee on Climate Change that released a lengthy report [2] on how to achieve net zero emissions; the technical appendix [3] goes over why we actually need nuclear. You can read and decide for yourself, but the CCC does not appear to be biased in favor of nuclear. The appear to push for solar/wind, but acknowledge that the renewable penetration will be economical only up to a fraction that is below 100% (they mention 80% on page 17).

My summary of the funding model:

* there are people with money to invest (mainly pension funds) and people who need money (nuclear power plants)

* investors like good returns, but hate risk

* what they hate most is a bundle of lots of different risks, and how these risks can interplay with one another

* a nuclear power plant is exactly such a beautiful bundle of risks: risk of construction cost overruns, risk that Greenpeace will manage to shut the project down before it's completed, risk that the electricity price will be one tenth the production cost of this particular plant by the time it goes live, risk that some guy steals and money and runs, and obviously the Chernobyl/Fukushima risk

* private investors cannot bear that much risk

* you can add value by disentangling all these risks and making one party bear risk A, another one risk B, and so on

* you can also add value by making some of the risks disappear altogether (it's good to be the king, ah, I mean the government)

So, let's take them one at a time

* risk of construction cost overruns: let's say the current projected cost is $10 BN. They know there will be cost overruns. They look at all similar projects, add a buffer, and deem that it's highly unlikely that the total cost will balloon to more than $25 BN. They then say that in the very unlikely event that the total cost will exceed that limit, the government will step in via a "Government Support Package". What that consists in is not specified yet, but a government guarantee for funding beyond that level is quite likely (a-la the implicit government guarantee that the US Government provides to Fannie Mae, or to the FDIC for that matter)

* risk from the variability of the future electricity prices: this is mitigated via a "Regulated asset base" (RAB) model. What is being regulated here? the price of electricity. Aren't we in a free market? Why can't the price of electricity be simply dictated by the supply/demand? Because you can't really shop around for the best price of the kWh. There is some shopping around going on, but this is behind the scenes. The role of the regulator is to make sure the consumer is not getting screwed, and there is as much competition going on as possible so that the consumer gets a very good price. Matt Levine has some nice blog posts about how the auction works, see [4] for example. Ultimately, the regulator has the power to tell the consumer to pay X for the kWh, even if X exceeds the current production cost. That means the regulator can substantially reduce the risk of future revenues for a power provider, such as the operator of the envisioned nuclear power plant

* Greenpeace risk. Well, Greenpeace, along with everyone else is free to respond to this white paper, by 14-Oct-2019. If the government finds their argument unconvincing, this risk is substantially reduced

* Bernie Maddoff / Enron risk: these risks exists, but they are not specific to the nuclear power generation industry. They are mitigated by various regulations anyway, so they are indeed negligible

* Chernobyl/Fukushima (also known as "the elephant in the room"): this paper is about funding the construction of the power plant, not about the cleanup cost if there is a future blowup/meltdown. One can still ask the question, and the implicit answer is like this: any cleanup cost will be charged to 1. the plant operator and/or the plant constructor (depending who's found to be at fault) 2. their respective insurers, up to a point. If the cleanup costs are not met by 1 and 2, then the operator and/or constructor will declare bankruptcy, in which case, the investors that provided the funding up to the Funding Cap (mentioned above) will lose their money. The UK government will foot the bill in excess of these costs.

[1] [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/819214/rab- model-for-nuclear-consultation.pdf)

[2] [https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/net-zero-technical- rep...](https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/net-zero-technical-report/)

[3] [https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/net-zero-technical- rep...](https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/net-zero-technical- report/#technical-annexes)

[4] [https://dealbreaker.com/2013/07/electricity-market-rules- wer...](https://dealbreaker.com/2013/07/electricity-market-rules-were-not-a- worthy-opponent-for-jpmorgans-brainpower)

</comment><comment><USER6> For any other American English readers like myself who don't know or only vaguely recall the usage, "dear" is a Britishism meaning "expensive."

<comment><USER7> Oh dear ;-)</comment></comment>


New molecules reverse memory loss linked to depression and aging, in mice - <AUTHOR> http://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/new-molecules-reverse-memory-loss-linked-to-depression-aging <comment><AUTHOR> Link to the paper: [https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/496086](https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/496086)</comment>


NSA: Selecting and Safely Using Collaboration Services for Telework [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://media.defense.gov/2020/Apr/24/2002288652/-1/-1/0/CSI-SELECTING-AND-USING-COLLABORATION-SERVICES-SECURELY-LONG-FINAL.PDF <comment><USER2> Love how the NSA recommends open source, and also how Signal is up there with MS Teams and Zoom

</comment><comment><USER3> What is the point they bring up?

"1\. Does the service implement end-to-end encryption"</comment>


Tell HN: Please consider using a larger font size on your websites - <AUTHOR>

Here's an example. A great post on the front page, but the text is painfully small:
http://www.metamorphblog.com/2011/01/speakertext-hustlers-wanted.html
I know I can just hit Ctrl++ or use Readability, but surely it's better to have a sensible default size. Here's the page compared to the New York Times:
http://i.imgur.com/uezEh.png
Just my two cents. <comment><USER2> Agreed. I typically default to a larger font size. An example of my blog font size: <http://ryancole.co/just-another-page-full-of-lipsum>

I think it's just easier to read, all around.

</comment><comment><USER3> thanks for the feedback!</comment>


The Blockchain Revolution's Officially Begun - <AUTHOR> https://futurism.com/the-blockchain-revolution-has-officially-begun/ <comment><USER2> This article mentions sustainability. What about all of the compute power and energy required to run one of the most inefficient designs ever?</comment>


Popset (YC W12) launches a beautiful app for group photo diaries - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/24/popset-makes-group-photo-sharing-easy-export-to-facebook-even-easier/

<comment><USER2> This is a beautiful and functional photo sharing app, and I've had a lot of fun with it. Highly recommended. Congratulations to the team!

</comment><comment><USER3> Don't mean to distract the conversation but am I the only one who is getting a little tired of the term "beautiful" in the titles here? That should be up to me to decide. It seems like it's always being used as link bait.

<comment><USER4> I'm not sure why this was downvoted. A similar thought occured to me; that like "minimalist" has been by a similar group of people, the word beautiful is being diluted of its meaning. Beauty's in the eye of the beholder, and I've never thought to use it to describe a UI, no matter how well thought out or suitable its colour scheme. Now very suddenly it's become the de jour adjective of a new generation of apps, along with "delightful", and I'm suspicious it's more based on fashions amongst the startup crowd and less on more objective realities.</comment></comment>


The Ham Sandwich Theorem - <AUTHOR> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_sandwich_theorem

<comment><USER3> Having seen the Hairy Ball theorem posted here a few hours ago I was wondering how long it would be before someone posted the Ham Sandwich Theorem.

The interesting thing is that it works in all dimensions. In 8 dimensional space, for example, 8 convex (or even non-convex, and even non-connected!) bodies can simultaneously be cut in half by a 7 dimensional hyperplane. I actually do that for my work - it's not purely theoretical.

<comment><USER4> Is it possible to shed some light on the practical application you are using?

<comment><USER3> Um, no. Sorry, commercial in confidence.

However, let me give an analogy. Aeroplanes live in X-dimensional phase space. Three space coordinates, three attitude coordinates (pitch/roll/yaw), three velocity coordinates (usually, but not always, aligned with the attitude) at a given time. Thus we need to deal with a map from one dimension - time - <USER2> nine dimensions. If we simplify some things, then look also at the other rates of change, we get a complex representation of non-independent variables (velocity is just rateof change of position, for example), but in the complexity of the representation, some of the behavior becomes simplified.

Now take clusters of these measurements and try to identify from among them which ones all correspond to the same object. Another analogy - not what I do - is to take lots of position measurements widely spaced in time of planes in an acrobatic airshow, and try to identify the trajectories of individual 'planes.

Now do it all in a noisy environment with instrument error, and if you've arranged it just right, finding equal sized cuts of convex or near convex bodies can correspond to separating the plots of different objects.

Actually, I can get a function that lifts, supports and separates convex bodies. I called it the "Playtex Function", but because of the work I do I couldn't publish.

All that is obscure, I know, but it gives some sense of what I do. Sorry I can't be clearer.</comment></comment></comment>


Running Effective Bug Bashes That Your Team Won't Dread - <AUTHOR> https://monolist.co/blog/2019/08/effective-bug-bashes/ <comment><USER2> Bug bashes shouldn't be necessary when you have automated testing

<comment><AUTHOR> I actually address that in the post. In short, automated testing is of course useful and should be utilized whenever possible. However, a manual bug bash still allows you to:

1\. catch any unknown edge cases that may not be covered by your test suite 2\. allow all stakeholders in the project to see the (near) final product

<comment><USER3> The near-finished product comment makes sense. So many times the engineers cut corners and don't actually implement the real designs.</comment></comment></comment>


Gab.com is transferred to Uniregistry after expulsion from GoDaddy - <AUTHOR> http://whois.domaintools.com/gab.com <comment><USER2> I'm kind of conflicted about this. On the one hand I would've thought it were obvious to anyone that a private corporation shouldn't be compelled to conduct business with any other business. But on the other hand domain name registration is exclusively done by private businesses, so effectively this group of private businesses can prevent someone from getting a website even if they chose to run their own servers.

In the same way that I think that ISPs shouldn't be in the business of policing the content that individual users consume or produce on the internet, I don't believe registrars should be allowed to discriminate who gets to register a domain based on the political content that's likely to be on that domain.

If the domain/connection/server is used for illegal activity then it's the role of police to order companies to take down the servers/connections, but anything less than that should be protected.</comment>


Google voice search records and keeps conversations people have - <AUTHOR> http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-voice-search-records-stores-conversation-people-have-around-their-phones-but-files-can-be-a7059376.html <comment><USER2> Google voice search doesn't record everything said near the smartphone.

In fact, it only records and send to the mothership when the OK Google is recognized.

Another clickbait article with just FUD

</comment><comment> r-w Haven't we known this for a while? I don't see it as being all that scandalous if it's available right on the history page along with everything else Google keeps track of.

<comment><USER3> And if "delete" means delete it's probably not an issue.

But does "delete" mean delete?

<comment> r-w That's another question. I'm just saying that I was a bit surprised that people were reacting so strongly to something that had been there all along but that they had not bothered to look for. If they really cared so much, wouldn't they have checked for it themselves rather than waiting for someone else to find it?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Not just FUD - Google mis-recognized words to mean "positive" or "OK Google" that were part of various German conversations.

This means I inadvertently recorded snippets of conversation with friends without their knowledge, and was able to listen to them now.

In Germany this is a crime and could get you up to three years. (§ 201 StGB)

</comment><comment><USER5> So, if I understand correctly, Google records everything that is said next to a Android phone with voice search enabled? The crazy thing is that other people's phones may record your voice.</comment>


The Vaccine License – A Software License That Saves Lives - <AUTHOR> https://vaccinelicense.com/ <comment><USER2> This seems wholly unenforceable and frankly kinda missing the mark...</comment>


Airfordable (YC S16) is layaway for plane tickets - <AUTHOR> http://themacro.com/articles/2016/07/airfordable/ <comment><USER2> The touching story in the article: a cash-strapped family wants to see their son before he deploys with the Army:

 _" Chris Woods started looking for flights to Hawaii during his son's senior year of high school. His son had joined the US Army and would be deploying right after graduation, which meant the only time the whole family could take this trip together was during spring break."_

But the story on the front page of Airfordable's web site[1] has a very different spin: take a romantic vacation in Bali, Paris, etc. even if you can't scrape together the cash to pay for it up front. (If you can't scrape together the cash for a plane ticket, maybe you should save up a bit more before going on vacation so you can avoid paying extra fees? Or take a vacation somewhere that's cheaper to get to than Bali. And after you pay for that plane ticket, you still need to pay for lodging, food, etc.)

Also, I couldn't easily find information on their web site about what their fees are or how they compare with standard credit card interest rates. If they're really offering a good deal, it would be in their interest to prominently display on their web site how much you'd save by using their layaway service instead of a credit card.

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

<comment><USER3> Hi. Emmanuel @ Airfordable here. Thanks for the feedback and we'll work on making the fee more prominent. Just in case you missed it, we do have our fee on the site in the FAQ's and on our home page.

<comment><USER4> It seems like you're gauging your customers. Assuming you book 3 months out, that's a 40% interest rate (or so). It's quite sad the most vulnerable would be stuck paying that instead of a credit card loan for 3 months.</comment></comment></comment>


Google Laughs at the New iPhones - <AUTHOR> http://www.thestreet.com/story/12033242/1/google-laughs-at-the-new-iphones.html#!

<comment><USER2> This article is pure rubbish</comment>


Share with HN: Feynman on something like karma points   - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f61KMw5zVhg

<comment><USER2> The world needs more people like him and your title is misleading. He is making a point about the inherent value of something and that it can not be measured by a select group of individuals.</comment>


Announcing WP Stack, a Deployment System for Professional WordPress Sites - <AUTHOR> http://www.knewton.com/tech/blog/2012/07/announcing-wp-stack/

<comment><USER2> I've been using this for a couple of months now and can confirm it makes managing a complex WordPress deployment much simpler. It is used not only by Knewton's developers, but also their non- (or less-) technical staff.

Congrats for getting this open sourced and available to the public!

</comment><comment><USER3> This looks pretty fantastic. I know we're going to be building a couple of WordPress sites for clients soon, and this looks to be an excellent way to manage development and deployment. I'll definitely be playing around with this in the near future.</comment>


Debunking the myth of higher pay in Silicon Valley - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@srlake/debunking-the-myth-of-higher-pay-in-silicon-valley-87828cbf6698#.fqqi57xds <comment><USER2> I've lived and worked in both Toronto and Silicon Valley, and it's not even close. SV has a way better quality of life than Toronto, even for the marginally higher rent. I paid $2600 for a two bedroom in San Jose -- split that with another person and it's only $1300. I'd be paying more for a studio in downtown Toronto anyway.

And you can't just look at it from the perspective of money. I need to be in a city with things to do, preferably one that isn't practically uninhabitable 6 months of the year. You couldn't _pay_ me to live in Kitchener-Waterloo.

<comment><USER3> The example apartment the author presented is in soma, which is in the very heart of downtown sf.

<comment><USER2> Which is an unfair comparison to make in the first place. Waterloo is an hour and a half away from downtown Toronto -- further than SJ from SF.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> This may work for a young, single person. I'm a Toronto native but I work remotely for a Toronto-based company after moving to SF several years ago. After having a kid, SF Bay Area becomes pretty unbearable - I've lived in the mission, Redwood City and Burlingame over the years - education expenses, commuting times and rent all add up. Even with my wife being a successful tech sales person and my decent but non-exceptional salary.

We moved to Lake Tahoe recently and it's been really nice - remote working is the best of both worlds. If you're a good engineer and can deal with working remote - it can be a great decision. Regular trips back to Toronto for work are a bonus - I get to see my family regularly.

I'm sure Waterlooser has become cooler since I last visited 15 years ago, but I suspect it's still not really comparable to downtown Toronto for a young single person. Maybe better for a family. But that wasn't the salary/living situation being compared.

</comment><comment><USER5> > In the Bay Area, the average one-bedroom apartment is $3,336 USD ($4,470 > CAD) per month.

It isn't. If they want Silicon Valley they should be checking San Jose- Mountain View prices, not SF.

Checking recently it seems to be $1900 for an old 1-bedroom or $2400 for a "nice" one.

<comment><USER6> I'm beginning to find the "Silicon Valley" / "San Francisco" divide to be quaint pedantry at this point.

Culturally to these kids I have met in interviews and career fairs, there is absolutely no distinction. If you are in the tech industry and you live somewhere west of the Caldecott Tunnel, South of the Golden Gate Bridge, and north of, say, Morgan Hill, you are in "Silicon Valley". Just because the region was mapped differently in its Fairchild Semiconductor days, or I guess even the dotcom days, doesn't mean that the definition has not expanded since.

A lot of people that move out here want to live in the city and commute into their offices, and a lot of the new unicorns are SF-city-based. The cost of living in SF completely matters to many that think they can live there and work in the greater Peninsula.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> > In the Bay Area, the average one-bedroom apartment is $3,336 USD ($4,470 > CAD) per month. Looking for a two-bedroom? The average price is $4,469

No it isn't. That is true in San Francisco, but there's more to the Bay Area than SF.

Of course, by not living in SF, you'll have to commute there – if your job happens to be in SF; there's plenty of opportunity all over the Bay. Which is a pain regardless of transportation mode and should be factored in the quality of life comparison.

</comment><comment><USER8> Why are tech salaries so bloody low in Canada? It is really disheartening that many union jobs that don't require the same level of skill end up getting far more compensation. I once had a a good CS student tell me he was getting a truck(more than a decade ago). when he told me the math I could not argue with him.

Just tell me how someone can afford a million dollar house in Toronto on a local tech salary?

</comment><comment><USER9> Although I never worked in Toronto or Silicon Valley, I've had the same experience in Taiwan.

Salaries in Kaohsiung are low, but the cost of living is much lower. Many young people move to Taipei to earn more, but end up saving less.

People who stay usually aren't here for the money. That reduces inequality, and I feel subjectively safer. YMMV.

</comment><comment><USER10> Many people share an apartment and get free weekday meals from the company. The utility also seems high since heating and cooling aren't necessary for much of the year.</comment>


Java Remote Debugging Through Websocket Proxy in Golang - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/leonlee/jrdwp <comment><AUTHOR> Java Remote Debugging through Websocket Proxy is a proxy for Java remote debugging. It likes Microsoft's azure-websites-java-remote-debugging, but includes all of client and server side implementation(azure-websites-java- remote-debugging repo only published client side, the serverside is not opensource now).

</comment><comment><USER2> cool concept, glad to see some authentication. you can add 127.0.0.1: to the dt_socket address so the jdwp listener only listens locally as well:

java -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=n,address=127.0.0.1:5005 -jar foo.jar

<comment><AUTHOR> great</comment></comment>


Finnish EV Team Learns a $400,000 Lesson in Humility at Automotive X-Prize Race - <AUTHOR> http://earthandindustry.com/2010/10/finnish-ev-team-learns-a-400000-lesson-in-humility/

<comment><USER2> Way to succumb to confirmation bias (EDIT: I actually meant __outcome __bias, thanks for the correction), article. If they won, they'd lose 600k (I'm not sure where the other 200k went, for a total of 2.5m). If they lost, they'd win 400k.

They would benefit from this only if they had less than a 40% chance to win, which, from the looks of it, they didn't. From their view, it must have looked like the other teams tried to get them (who were almost certainly going to win) to hand out some of their cash to them.

It was a rational decision, and they did make the right choice given the information available at the time. They could have been charitable, but that's not mandatory.

<comment><USER3> This has nothing to do with confirmation bias and everything to do with the prisoner's dilemma (game theory)

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

<comment><USER2> I disagree on both counts. The payoff matrix is nothing like the prisoner's dilemma, and it's confirmation bias on the writer's part.

<comment><USER4> Confirmation bias is when you have a working theory, and only look towards evidence that supports the theory. I don't see how that applies to this article.

<comment><USER2> Oh wait, you're right. The other bias, what's it called? The one where you claim that a decision was right or wrong based on its outcome, not based on the info you had when making it?

EDIT: Outcome bias, thanks. I won't remove the error above so the discussion isn't altered.

<comment><USER4> I know it as hindsight bias: <http://lesswrong.com/lw/il/hindsight_bias/>

And, <http://lesswrong.com/lw/im/hindsight_devalues_science/>

<comment><USER2> Hindsight bias is when you think something is more predictable (after it happens) than it actually was. It's slightly different.

<comment><USER4> It's fundamentally the same thing: using after-the-fact information to evaluate the likelihood of an event. Taking it one step further - using that evaluation to determine if something was "right" or "wrong" - does not change what the actual error was.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> So, if they had signed the agreement and won, would they have learned an $800,000 lesson in the evils of socialism or something?

They placed a bet on their car and it didn't pay off. Doesn't mean it was a bad bet. (In fact, since it sounds like they were the consensus favorites going into the competition, it was probably a good bet.)

</comment><comment><USER6> I would call it humility if they'd bragged about not signing the agreement - without knowing their reasons, the headline is a little sensationalistic.

<comment><USER7> If they didn't sign because they thought they would win and didn't want to share the prize then it's a lesson in humility!

<comment><USER2> It still isn't. They bet on their car winning, and they lost. They didn't go around trash-talking competitors or bragging, they just thought the agreement was not financially sound for them.</comment></comment></comment>


Chess Tactics Explained in Plain English - <AUTHOR> http://www.chesstactics.org <comment><USER2> I was in Chess Club in high school. It was our first year establishing the club, the teacher hosting it didn't have any great insights into chess, we had no books, and so we just sat for hours every afternoon staring quietly at chessboards playing one another. I remember our minds being blown when we discovered you could achieve mate with just a king and a rook versus a lone king. We had formerly believed this meant a draw.

Skipping around on this site is a delight for me. We discovered so many of these tactics in our many hours of play, but we didn't have names for them beyond "fork" and "pin." Now I suddenly find I have a vocabulary for describing these tactics and situations to my kids when they get older. I can't wait to show them the "Back Rank Mate" with just a king and rook left on the board.

</comment><comment><USER3> I love chess, and own these books. It was a pleasant (if a little bewildering) surprise to find this submission on HN.

One thing I don't love about chess is how eager everyone seems to be to apply concepts and principles from chess to non-chess situations, implying that an understanding of these principles within the game will provide a better understanding of their analogous situations outside of chess.

People tend to claim that being good at chess will make you good at other things too, but I've always found that being good at chess makes you... good at chess, and that's about it.

Edit: My favorite article on chess is from an 1859 Scientific American, and can be found here: [https://books.google.com/books?id=90hGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA9&dq=%22...](https://books.google.com/books?id=90hGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA9&dq=%22a+pernicious+excitement+to+learn+and+play%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjv_tfRs7HTAhUL9YMKHTO5C4MQ6AEIOjAD#v=onepage&q=%22a%20pernicious%20excitement%20to%20learn%20and%20play%22&f=false)

An excerpt:

> ...chess is a mere amusement of a very inferior character, which robs the > mind of valuable time that might be devoted to nobler acquirements, while at > the same time it affords no benefit whatsoever to the body.

Oh, if they knew the kinds of things we spent our time on now...

<comment><USER4> Chess taught me many things about life: think ahead, sacrifice for an advantage, patience, and setting the stage in preparation to execute a strategy which I use as a lawyer often.

<comment><USER5> I don't mean to offend, but aren't these all sort of...common sense?

<comment><USER6> Yes, if common sense was common, it would be common sense :).

In my "career" of chess, I still learn things after 12 years. This year my focus is to not downtalk myself before a game against a strong opponent. It is part of my personality to do that. I also do that in more common situations. Chess just provides a way to battle your own shortcomings and improve yourself.

Other things I learn by playing chess... Always play till the end, untill there are no more chances. Only then give up. I learned to lose better, and am still learning that. The less I am afraid of losing, the more freeflowing my gameplay is. I learned to find my way better in chaotic situations and I actually love them. I like to find the moves and game-style that gives a bit of bewonderment and inspiration.

And yes, you can learn something everywhere. You just have to pick your battles and where to fight/play them. Chess fits my personality, it does a lot to me.

<comment><USER7> I can relate to this a lot. The lessons of finding one's way in chaotic situations and learning not to fear them in particular did carry over into real life along with several other lessons.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> This book is a masterpiece with some amazingly lucid writing. I have spent many hours reading this book just for the prose.

Fun fact: The author is the dean of the University of Texas School of Law - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Farnsworth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Farnsworth) IMHO, his chess writing reminds me a lot of pg's writings on startup and tech (and I could only imagine how lucid his legal writings would be)

If you are looking for the deadtree version of this - it's available as a two- part book series on Amazon titled 'Predator At The Chessboard' \- [https://www.amazon.com/Predator-At-Chessboard-Field- Tactics/...](https://www.amazon.com/Predator-At-Chessboard-Field- Tactics/dp/1430308001)

<comment><USER9> I was wondering who would write books on metaphors, language, the law, and chess, and the dean of a law school definitely fits the bill.

From the site:

> "Book versions of this site are available: over 700 pages in total in a two- > volume set. Here are links to book one and book two. You can check out other > books by the author about language here, metaphor here, and law here and > here."

Ordered his first chess book. Just yesterday I was thinking how I would like a version of "The Impostor's Handbook", but for chess. This seems to fit the bill.

<comment><USER10> Which Imposter's Handbook do you mean? I've looked and found a couple, and both look interesting.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Another resource: [http://www.chesscademy.com](http://www.chesscademy.com)

Has a step by step tutorial from scratch, videos and interactive exercises.

</comment><comment><USER12> This is a fantastic book.

I have little interest in actually playing chess - I far prefer games with hidden information, some luck and the ability for the rules of the game themselves to be changed - but as someone who loves games in general, this is exactly what I've been looking for to understand chess theory.

It's basically all the interesting bits of chess, without the stuff that demands memorization of opening moves or that can be otherwise handled better by a computer than a human.

<comment><USER13> There are lots of chess variants that can be interesting as well, some have a component of luck, and all are bending of the rules. Hidden information is the thing they lack, though.

Fischer Random Chess, Antichess, Atomic Chess and Crazyhouse are some of the most popular.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Fun random puzzle from the book: [http://www.chesstactics.org/index.php?Type=quiz&Topic=4,2](http://www.chesstactics.org/index.php?Type=quiz&Topic=4,2)

<comment><USER15> Thanks! Yes, this was fun. It's also cool that you can get an explanation (like of the general principle) which lichess won't do after you solve something successfully.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Does anyone know if there is the equivalent for Go?

<comment><USER17> The closest thing in English is Tesuji by James Davies ([http://senseis.xmp.net/?TesujiTheBook](http://senseis.xmp.net/?TesujiTheBook)). It already presumes that you know a bit about Go, though (the very simplest tactics are taken for granted).

<comment><USER18> Also Cho Chikun's _All About Life and Death_ and Fujisawa's _Dictionary of Basic Tesuji_.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Very nice! Thanks for sharing.</comment>


Ruby in any input field. Meet Yoke - (Python, Bash, Perl, PHP supported too). - <AUTHOR> http://cziko.github.com/yoke/

<comment><USER2> When you install for Python you need to make the keyboard shortcut yourself, but I don't see an app to invoke. Is there something installed (in /usr/local/bin ?) that I can execute?

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Huge thanks to Philip Mateescu (<https://github.com/philipmat>) for adding support for Phyton, PHP, Perl & Bash.

</comment><comment><USER3> Reminds me of Plan 9 Acme and its middle-click global eval :)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> @herdrick please check this out -> <https://github.com/cziko/yoke/issues/2>

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! Hope this tool will come handy for you guys. I'm using it on a daily basis for ruby dev.

<comment><USER4> i've seen live demo today, pretty neat!

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> This is sweet! Can easily see this extending to many other languages and concepts.

</comment><comment><USER6> Oh god, this is such a brilliant idea.

</comment><comment><USER7> Well done Pawel, love the UI, too!

</comment><comment><USER8> Great stuff dude!

</comment><comment><USER9> good stuff!

</comment><comment><USER10> very good

</comment><comment><USER11> This looks really great! I'm going to try it out for everyday Ruby dev too</comment>


RELEASED: LessConf Promo Video - <AUTHOR> http://lesseverything.com/blog/archives/2012/01/02/who-is-speaking-at-lessconf/

<comment><USER2> Nice promo video ... LessConf is enjoyable because it really does focus on making sure that all attendees have a memorable time. Besides learning a ton from speakers, you make a lot of great friends and feel really taken care of.

It is the only conference that I have attended where I was sad it was coming to a close.

Give it a go ... it is hosted at a great location and worth much more than the small amount of money it costs to attend. Steve and Allan do a great job.

<comment><USER3> Ah, so may be I will see you there :) I agree that this is a fantastic conference!

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> FYI: <http://LessFilms.com> shot the video with a canon 7d, the location was inside the "pits" of a fast lube oil change.

</comment><comment><USER4> One day all conferences will be made like this. Until then, Steve and Allan are the top boys.

</comment><comment><USER5> Incredible. It is so great to see a conference have a sense of humour.

Instead of:

 _DullCon hopes to redefine strategy definition in the context of an ever- changing global business ecosystem_

Congrats!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks Richard, we're really good at being silly.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> This one was my favorite on yet! "Promises are made to be broken, Mr. Branch..."

</comment><comment><USER7> couldn't agree more with the other comments: awesome promo video. awesome event. one of the few conferences i attended last year from which i walked away thinking, "i am _definitely_ coming back next year."

</comment><comment><USER8> Love these promos.

</comment><comment><USER9> Awesome sauce</comment>


Remind HN: FB Hacker Cup is on - <AUTHOR>

Facebook Hacker qualification round is open at http://www.facebook.com/hackercup/problems.php?round=4 <comment><AUTHOR> Can you guys see if your submission is ok? I couldn't figure out if my submission is correct. It seems to say that the results will be available after the round, but there is a page with the current ranks. How is that possible?

<comment><USER2> Yeah, it is confusing.

Many participants are complaining about that in TopCoder's forums, take a look here: [http://forums.topcoder.com/?module=Thread&threadID=69577...](http://forums.topcoder.com/?module=Thread&threadID=695777&start=105&mc=130)

FB_David is a FB employee and he seems to know what is going on.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Clickable: <http://www.facebook.com/hackercup/problems.php?round=4></comment>


The next trillion dollar market.  - <AUTHOR> http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/05/dozens-of-p2p-lenders-will-hand-out-1-trillion-in-2025-vc-predicts/

<comment><USER2> "If these marketplace lenders don't run afoul of regulatory issues, security disasters, or other problems, they could present a powerful competitive alternative."

I hate to be cynical, but it's not difficult to imagine the mega banks getting their friends in Congress and the Fed to tamp down these alternative lenders with some strategic new regulations designed to "protect consumers".

<comment><AUTHOR> Perhaps but most of the mega banks are actually trying to invest in these kinds of companies and/or provide liquidity on the lending side. Lending Club, Ondeck and others are now at a scale that it would be harder for selective, interest group driven regulation. But point taken.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Exciting opportunities in financial tech. Banks and their products have barely evolved, and new players with Silicon Valley aesthetics and execution are coming in and eating their lunch.</comment>


Struct composition with Go - <AUTHOR> http://dave.cheney.net/2015/05/22/struct-composition-with-go

<comment><USER2> This is cool, but I find this snippet a tad bizarre:

      client, server := net.Pipe()
            var buf bytes.Buffer
            client = &recordingConn {
                    Conn: client,
                    Writer: io.MultiWriter(client, &buf),
            }

While it seemingly works, it seems confusing to assign client to an internal field of a new struct, and then overwriting that same client variable with the newly created struct...not to mention passing it into MultiWriter.

Anyway, I like those short posts like this. I've done similar things with embedding and struct "reconstruction" in order to elicit more testable code. It's powerful and useful, indeed.

<comment><USER3> What is the benefit of re-using the 'client' identifier? There's no closure capturing the identifier.

Compare:

            client, server := net.Pipe()
            var buf bytes.Buffer
            client = &recordingConn {
                    Conn: client,
                    Writer: io.MultiWriter(client, &buf),
            }

vs

            tempClient, server := net.Pipe()
            var buf bytes.Buffer
            client = &recordingConn {
                    Conn: tempClient,
                    Writer: io.MultiWriter(tempClient, &buf),
            }

The latter is less confusing to me.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> In the end there is no need to embed (exported) io.Writed, it should be replaced with non-exported non-anonymous field.

</comment><comment><USER5> Since the purpose of this is apparently to provide a fake structure to test against - would another viable approach have been to implement a trivial `Close` function that doesn't do anything?

(context: i am no gopher)

(edit/tangent: i wonder how method calls from inside method calls are resolved when the names are ambiguous?)

<comment><USER6> You need quite a few more method to be a net.Conn actually: [http://golang.org/pkg/net/#Conn](http://golang.org/pkg/net/#Conn). Easier to just overwrite the Write() method like this in that case.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Is it reasonable to think of this as multiple inheritance?

<comment><USER8> Nope, this is composition, not inheritance.

<comment><USER7> It looks more like inheritance: the methods on net.Conn & io.Writer are automatically exposed. Are you saying that it is composition because you are "inheriting" from interfaces, which isn't traditional inheritance? Or if not, can you explain why you think of this as composition and not inheritance?

Edit: On further thought, this looks to me like composition with automatic delegation (a huge productivity benefit of inheritance). It is unusual because the combined class also implements the interfaces because of Go's interface rules, but I think that the late-binding to implementations is more similar to composition.

<comment><USER9> The inner structs (of which the outer writer struct is composed) cannot access any of the functionality or fields outside of itself. Each inner struct is completely encapsulated, so you can't override an inner struct method and expect the inner struct's behavior to change.

The accessibility of inner struct methods from the outer struct is a syntactic convenience.

Java: [https://gist.github.com/jaekwon/8025b9f3a482b3219a21](https://gist.github.com/jaekwon/8025b9f3a482b3219a21) Go: [https://gist.github.com/jaekwon/0f6e5555ab6a592aa4c8](https://gist.github.com/jaekwon/0f6e5555ab6a592aa4c8)

Once you Go, you never go back. ;)

<comment><USER10> There are also no virtual methods with struct composition. If B embeds A, "upcasting" an instance of B to A will not allow you to call any methods on B.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: CuriosityStream – Netflix for non-fiction - <AUTHOR> http://Curiositystream.com <comment><USER2> People recommend "documentary streaming sites" to me all the time that are illegal / grayzone. When I first saw your landing page, I kind of thought it was something like that.

I wondered "Is this really legit?" and my first instinct was to click one of the newspaper icons, like to see what NYT or WSJ wrote about you—but as someone else pointed out, they're not links.

(I've actually seen landing pages that have a whole bunch of bogus newspaper badges, like it's a part of their Bootstrap theme that they didn't bother changing...)

Maybe your conversion rates are good, in which case ignore me.

But personally, I'd be way more likely to sign up if you

1\. highlighted that you're a legitimate business,

2\. mentioned how your founder started Discovery Channel,

3\. and generally polished your landing page.

Netflix has a barebones landing page but their brand recognition is extremely high...

<comment><AUTHOR> We're currently working on new landing page variations. We were definitely planning on polishing it up but 1 and 2 are definitely great tips. Thanks!

<comment><USER3> If I may add, putting a title on the videos in your promo might help as well. I saw a couple interesting shots in the "trailer" but couldn't figure out which programs those may have come from. Also, if any of those titles are exclusives, it would be worth mentioning. A few titles on the first page when I hit the trial button were ones I knew I had seen elsewhere - which left me concerned I'd spend $5.99 only to find a couple things I hadn't already watched. If they're not exclusives, but there's a value I'm missing, then emphasize that as well.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Looks like an interesting proposition.

Two pieces of feedback:

* Alarm bells ring when a company says where they are mentioned in the press but fail to link to any articles.

* I really struggled to find your pricing. I saw plans _starting at_ $2.99 but the obvious next question was: "What are the plans? How much will I actually pay?" I ended up in your Help Center before I could find an answer.

<comment><USER5> Our press kit has links to the major articles ([https://medium.com/@CuriosityStream/curiositystream-is- the-w...](https://medium.com/@CuriosityStream/curiositystream-is-the-world-s- first-streaming-service-for-the-best-documentaries-from-around-the- bf3c2ca4c56a#.14uagnqrr)).

Pricing is $2.99/month for SD quality and $5.99/month for HD.

<comment><USER6> Why the difference in price? Is the bandwidth more expensive or is it people will pay for a higher def stream?

<comment><AUTHOR> Definitely bandwidth, HD video is much larger and more difficult to stream than SD.

<comment><USER7> How are you doing the streaming? I've done some work on my end for a media streamer a friend and I wrote for out NASs.

We can stream 1080p quite easily to our mobile devices from a home internet connection over a cell phone 4g plan.

My friend settled on VP9 but I was using plain MP4s. VP9 in my experience, if you have money, is the way to go. I'd setup an S3 bucket with all of my home videos and do an AWS lambda to transcode it when I finally find a job.

I don't know how well this falls into your use case because you, I assume, need DRM but I'm sure you can still find a way to do it with HTML5.

I'm really interested in your product and think I may buy it.

<comment><USER8> Video streamed through the internet is generally not just MP4 in a muxed container but some form of multi-bitrate adaptive stream that deals with smaller segments of content. Eg see Apple's HTTP Live Streaming or MPEG Dash.

<comment><USER7> Yea I understand that. My comment is more about how it's possible that HD streaming would cost that much more.

I've been able to do it at a bitrate that is acceptable over a crappy network. I'd say that I'm not very smart and that a group of well-paid engineers should be able to do better than that.

If the cost is just "because people will pay that much more for it" then that is fine but as it rests right now it is because "the bandwidth would cost that much more"

<comment><AUTHOR> A lot of the problem comes with A: High Quality B: High Scale C: Consistent quality internationally

Properly encoded HD video is still easily 4 times larger than the SD equivalent, so that leads to 4 times the bandwidth costs.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I signed up for this and can say the product is good for the price. I wish they had native Chromecast support. You can cast the tab with chrome, but it lags sometimes.

I recommend Cosmic Front if you are into astronomy.

To the developers and guys running the site, I recommend a more legit rating system, where you can actually see what people are saying about the documentaries. Right now it seems everything has a 5 star rating which feels a little deceiving.

<comment><USER9> Oh and also, spanish subtitles would be nice.

<comment><AUTHOR> Subtitles are definitely in the works, and we're eventually hoping to source as many translations as possible. We even recently added our first spanish documentary! ([https://app.curiositystream.com/collection/221/](https://app.curiositystream.com/collection/221/)) Hoping to have the previews live soon.

<comment><USER10> Hi, I like the concept and will definitely give it a try! It seems like you have a lot of good science content which is right up my alley.

My wife is a Spanish ↔ English translation consultant who has a lot of experience with subtitles. Feel free to ping me if you're interested in chatting with her--email's in my profile.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Huge fan of documentaries here. I was thrilled to find about this site and definitely going to sign up. But as a designer/frontend developer I was disappointed by the overall looks of the site since it wasn't quite par with the competitors. I had my Photoshop open already so I tought why not give it a shot: [http://cloud.vel.lu/2u1c0I0h0f0l](http://cloud.vel.lu/2u1c0I0h0f0l)

<comment><AUTHOR> Wow, that looks fantastic. We just actually hired our first UX/UI designer and are working on redesigns of EVERYTHING.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> You might want to consider naming your pricing plans differently.

There is a plan offering standard definition streaming called "Basic", and a plan offering high definition streaming called "Standard".

Those two words are often synonymous.

<comment><AUTHOR> That's actually an AB test we have in the pipeline, hoping it seems more straightforward.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> When I went to watch my first video, I got this:

\--

html5: Unsupported video format. Try installing Adobe Flash.

[http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/](http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/)

\--

Flash is dead. How long until you support html5?

<comment><USER14> How I fell out of the funnel:

Preview > Click Video > Flash Warning > Close Browser Tab

Maybe one day I'll be back.

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry to hear that, like we said, we're working as quickly as possible to get an HTML5 compatible player up.

<comment><USER13> I signed up for the free month and discovered the Flash problem after. I don't use Flash but my girlfriend does. Since she's the one I'm subscribing for, it won't affect our customership.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Pet peeve: apps/services that have a section that says "As featured in..." followed by a bunch of media outlet icons that aren't links.

Why would you NOT link to press coverage of your money-maker?

<comment><AUTHOR> We've had a ton of feedback on that and are working on changing that as soon as possible.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I really like the idea, and the price seems very low for the offer, so I'm inclined to try it out.

But, the "browse" page does not immediately show anything I'd really like to watch now.

This might be a problem caused by not seeing enough of a blurb to go with the title images, even when hovering, i.e. this [http://imgur.com/X76fN1C](http://imgur.com/X76fN1C)

<comment><AUTHOR> We're working on ways to try to tailor and customize the browse page a bit more. If you're a member once you start watching some videos a recommended for you slide will be added to the home page based on your history. And thanks for the feedback on the popover. Just curious what information is most important to you as a user when picking a video? Just the description?

<comment><USER16> The only other thing I can think of is "name recognition".

E.g. I love Hans Rosling (or James Burke, Carl Sagan, Niall Ferguson or whoever) so if I see that something is based/stars/includes their work I'd likely be interested.

This is obviously not applicable to many things though, and can be somewhat included in a description anyway.

And thanks to you for taking time to read my comments :)

<comment><AUTHOR> That's great to know, we love the feedback. And Don't Panic with Hans is one of my favorite personally ([https://app.curiositystream.com/video/999](https://app.curiositystream.com/video/999))

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Hey everyone, I'm one of the developers at CuriosityStream. I'd be happy to answer any questions you guys have about streaming technology or the industry.

<comment><USER17> The product looks great, I am a huge fan of documentaries myself and have always wanted a service like this. I have always been interested in small streaming sites and how they keep the costs down, your plans are very well priced. Have you guys ever thought about using P2P sharing with WebRTC to reduce bandwidth prices?

<comment><AUTHOR> We've looked into it, but it works a lot better with live streams then on demand since the amount of people watching the same piece at the same time are pretty low. But we did just start experimenting with a product from Hola that does some pretty cool stuff with adaptive streaming. [http://holacdn.com/](http://holacdn.com/)

<comment><USER18> Do you know of any good resources for learning about using P2P and WebRTC to cut down on livestreaming bandwidth costs? This is highly relevant to something I'm working on at the moment.

<comment><AUTHOR> Unfortunately most tech in that space seems to be proprietary but here are some companies we have found doing cool stuff in the space.

Hola CDN Streamroot Peer5 Conviva Cedexis

I think some have some whitepapers, but I'd be surprised if they give much away.

<comment><USER19> Hey, Nikolay from Streamroot here.

We also have whitepapers easily accessible on our website, and a free dashboard where you can test our technology in a few clicks. In terms of open- source projects, there are some projects like Bem.tv but they lack robustness when you try to scale.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Does this offer playback speed controls? I watch a lot of non-fiction video content, but a lot of it is too information-sparse to watch at 1x.

<comment><USER5> We don't currently - but our underlying player supports it. We'll add it to our feature requests.

<comment><USER21> I'm not lying when I say that if you implement up to 2x speed I'll subscribe that day. Everything I watch on youtube is at 2x speed. People talk way too slowly.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Looks interesting, took some time to figure out the connection to Discovery but now I know. I think I´ll be holding out until 4k/UHD has been added. Space documentaries in 4k would be awesome. And a bunch of other stuff. I´ve subscribed to the newsletter to keep an eye on you guys, and the 4k feature. I find it a little iffy that if I go to Netflix I can login and watch stuff without any problems, without privacy badger going off. (It´s something like ad-block that stop external sites tracking my browsing and stops ads). If I go to your [https://app.curiositystream.com/](https://app.curiositystream.com/) I get a completely white page, like the page is broken, making me think the site is a hoax the first time I checked the page. Turning off my privacy settings and enable all tracking from external sites have the page looking normally and telling me, okay there is something there to subscribe to potentially. But why do you need all this to show the page correctly?

Some of the external stuff tracking on [https://app.curiositystream.com/](https://app.curiositystream.com/) are:

insight.adsrvr.org googleads.g.doubleclick.net connect.facebook.net (Something recognizeable yay, but no login or sign up with facebook, then why?) www.googleadservices.com fonts.googleapis.com www.googletagmanager.com (Google stuff is to be expected) js.maxmind.com cdn.optimizely.com js.stripe.com cdn.taboola.com platform.twitter.com (Again no sign up with so why twitter?)

There is a bunch of stuff that I don´t know about or trust, so why do you need it? why should I let it run? and if your app page needs it, it´s a safe bet it will be needed if I subscribe. I don´t like the thought of that. Can you elaborate on this? I tried a bunch of combinations as to how little I could let through the page for the site to work correctly, I diden´t find a combination that worked other than, enable everything to view it normally.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the feedback! So all of those are pixels that we use for marketing to do 2 things.

1st is to track conversion coming from our ad's on those platforms.

2nd is remarket to people who visit our page. We find that many customers may visit the site once or twice before they actually convert, so we found it really effective to be able to specifically show more ad's to those people.

Just curious if you know which plugin or blocked asset might have caused that white page? We try to test with most ad blockers and privacy plugins to ensure our sites work without them. We definitely don't require them to use the site.

If you email me the logs in your browser console when the white page shows up it might help us debug it(firstname.lastname@example.com). And once it's fixed if you decide to become a member I'd be happy to hook you up with a deal as a thanks for helping us out.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I'd like to see more content related to robotics.

The fact that almost everything has a 5-star rating is kind of off-putting as it makes the ratings pretty useless.

By the way, are you the developer I was talking to sometime last year about [http://fpvracing.tv](http://fpvracing.tv) and possibly doing a doco about drone racing?

<comment><AUTHOR> I agree, and since our DARPA stuff did really well the content guys have been working on getting more tech and robotics stuff.

We're currently brainstorming ways to have more effective feedback from users about the content. It's definitely in need of improvement.

And yes I am! I still try to poke the content guys every once in awhile to try to get involved somehow. All of us on the dev team and tech team have been following FPV racing religiously.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> This looks cool! I'll probably subscribe in the next month or so. You should definitely highlight "from the creators of the Discovery Channel" on the landing because it takes you from "who are these people" to "ohh cool these guys are legit"

</comment><comment><USER24> Interesting. I've been bombarded with ads on YouTube the last one or two months for this. Thought to sign up a few times, but wasn't sure if it was worth it. Those ads cannot be cheap!

<comment><AUTHOR> Well we definitely like to think we're a good deal, any ideas of how we might have been able to communicate our value better? And we just started a series on how to roll your own streaming service([https://medium.com/@CuriosityStream/how-to-roll-your-own- str...](https://medium.com/@CuriosityStream/how-to-roll-your-own-streaming- service-4e8d9f7308cd#.g1r699gwu)) and our marketing/ad strategy might be a future post.

<comment><USER24> I've been watching a lot of science channels and documentaries on youtube. And the quality varies a lot. To be honest, I wasn't sure if the content on CuriosityStream would be good enough, since it's very hard to make good science films.

I guess you guys are doing it right, because I keep being interested and thinking about signing up. But for some reason I just haven't gotten around to it yet ;)

<comment><AUTHOR> Well we have tons of big budget and high quality pieces from producers like BBC, NHK, and stuff that's been on PBS. Feel free to check out and preview our library [https://app.curiositystream.com/](https://app.curiositystream.com/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> I love documentaries. I am currently a subscriber to bunch of services like fandor.com, docclub.com ect.

But all of these are too America focused. I want to travel the world, see what lives are like for people all over the world. I can only watch so many food snob documentaries.

Current best bet is just going to youtube.com which has a wealth of documentaries.

Please someone make a non-america/europe focused indie flick site.

<comment><AUTHOR> Well although we are currently english only, we like to think of ourselves as an international service. We have tons of content focusing on other cultures and countries. Feel free to preview some of our content and let me know if anything strikes your interest.

[https://app.curiositystream.com/browse/category/society/1?ti...](https://app.curiositystream.com/browse/category/society/1?title=Society)

<comment><USER25> I don't mean other languages. I mean for example, history of thailand, harrapan civilization ect.

All the documentaries in that link are Europe/america focused. History of western civilization is overplayed, I wan't to know more about what was happening in other parts of the world.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thats a great suggestion, and ideas of specific pieces or ideas I could hand over to our content guys?

<comment><USER23> I don't have specific pieces but I second this suggestion. Always love to see history stuff outside of Western civilization!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Just signed up (it was the vertical farming episode + reasonable price point that sold me). The $2.99 price is perfect for a sporatic watcher like me.

One suggestion: please make your app available in the Amazon app store. Some of us don't want to use Google Play.

<comment><AUTHOR> I think we are, let me know if this works for you.

[http://www.amazon.com/CuriosityStream/dp/B017C70WHE](http://www.amazon.com/CuriosityStream/dp/B017C70WHE)

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Looks cool, but could you guys list some of your content? Like is this just a bunch of low-value videos of tree frogs or are there some decent documentaries? Hard to tell from the landing page...

<comment><AUTHOR> Feel free to tour and preview our library [https://app.curiositystream.com/](https://app.curiositystream.com/)

<comment><USER28> It's great that you helped this one person find that content, but the feedback is useful for your site in general.

My experience was: 1) saw ad 2) clicked ad 3) not a clear idea about what type and calibre of documentaries you had in your library 4) didn't want to sign up to find out 5) bounced

You did a great job with 1-2 -- targeted me correctly as a potential consumer and even got me to click on an ad -- but you failed in the conversion of interest to customer.

<comment><AUTHOR> We just opened up our library recently and are working incorporating it and the content into our funnel.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Any time frame on an Android TV app? I use a Nvidia Shield TV for all of my TV media viewing and would only pay for your service if I could stream it from there.

<comment><AUTHOR> We actually just pushed it out there recently, we just got our shield for testing and would love your feedback [https://goo.gl/093zUZ](https://goo.gl/093zUZ)

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> OT, but it's distracting when mounted knights in cheesy reenactments like that in the video are led, as if any knight ever didn't know how to ride.

</comment><comment><USER31> Any plans to add food/cooking documentaries to this?

I'm already sold on trying this out, but it seems very lacking in that department.

<comment><AUTHOR> We actually have a wine piece we're going to be adding in the near future that we made in house that looks amazing. But if you haven't already checked it out we have a good bit on food to start.

[https://app.curiositystream.com/search/Food/1?title=Society](https://app.curiositystream.com/search/Food/1?title=Society)

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> How far off are native apps for Apple TV and Fire TV? This looks right up my street, but I hate AirPlaying.

<comment><AUTHOR> We're putting the finishing touches on Apple TV as we speak. And our Fire TV app is live! [https://help.curiositystream.com/hc/en- us/articles/214497157...](https://help.curiositystream.com/hc/en- us/articles/214497157-Viewing-CuriosityStream-through-Amazon-Fire-TV)

<comment><USER25> Oh awesome. I am in. Just canceled my netflix.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thats amazing to hear!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> Is there any geo-blocking? Can I subscribe to this from my country (Germany)?

<comment><USER34> Was wondering the same. HelpSite says that 80% of the content is viewable worldwide. Fire TV app is also available in the German store. [https://help.curiositystream.com/hc/en- us/articles/204913267...](https://help.curiositystream.com/hc/en- us/articles/204913267-Why-are-shows-suddenly-missing-from-my-library-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> This looks seriously awesome. Nice job on the catalog broswer.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks!

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> quick question: is there something that is not on youtube?

<comment><AUTHOR> Definitely, the vast majority of our content is either exclusive, or only offered behind paywalls(most of which are more expensive than us).

You can check out our library here [https://app.curiositystream.com/](https://app.curiositystream.com/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> What about support for Roku? I love my Roku 3.

<comment><USER5> I develop our Roku channel - [https://channelstore.roku.com/details/61657/curiositystream](https://channelstore.roku.com/details/61657/curiositystream). You currently need to sign up on our website and link your device. The next release will incorporate Roku billing so that you can sign up directly on the device.

Comments are appreciated!</comment></comment>


Unemployed Fishing - <AUTHOR> https://www.drakemag.com/back-issues/2019/summer/2032-unemployed-fishing.html <comment><USER2> Man, not sure how it showed up here, but I can relate to this piece. I spent some time unexpectedly unemployed in the same regional area, and fishing was my escape hatch too.

It was outdoors, physical, and cheap. It was art and science, and a moment where skill and control could lead to accomplishment. It was solitude, and a moment away from the internal stress of thinking of what you were going to do next, how you were going to cover bills, or even worse; talking to wife/parents/friends about those same things.

In the end I was fine, and in some ways I am grateful for that time. It gave me a healthy dose of perspective, and a certain amount of self confidence that I now know how to find additional work/clients if I need to. Getting knocked down sucks, but looking back after a successful climb back up is something I wish everyone could experience.

</comment><comment><USER3> The trouble with corporate jobs is that we tend not to cultivate a social support network and activities outside of it because many of these jobs are a kind of slavish race to the bottom where people compete to show their sacrifices in exchange for managerial favor. Some ways to hedge the (arguably, insane) social risks of your corporate job are, before you are unemployed:

\- learn to fish, as the author mentions. Hunting is similar, and good for relationships, as is canoeing, camping, and general outdoorsmanship.

\- buy a year+ membership at a cheap gym so you have somewhere to go a few days a week while you are off. The cheaper it is, the more social it will be. Think of it as social and mental health insurance.

\- join volunteer, church, or fraternal organizations to develop cheap activity based relationships. if you are a committed atheist, join a secular volunteer organization, and barring those, a theatre or activist group.

\- No matter what you hear about others, your severance will be a nasty insult and you will very likely have to spend to hire a lawyer to get what you are owed. Find one now and agree on a rate while you have a job.

\- keep lines to recruiters open while you are still employed, even if they are obnoxious. Don't let them know your current/past salary ever, because they will just use your lack of job to pressure you down on the next one. For them to "have your number," literally means being at a disadvantage.

If you are unemployed or just about to be, it's very stressful, but it builds character, and for everyone I know who experiences it, living through it is always better than living in fear of it.

<comment><USER4> > \- No matter what you hear about others, your severance will be a nasty > insult and you will very likely have to spend to hire a lawyer to get what > you are owed. Find one now and agree on a rate while you have a job.

While it's a nice sentiment for thought, severance pay isn't mandatory in the U.S. and there's no requirement for it in the Fair Labor Standards Act[0]. Severance seems more like a customary courtesy, like tipping.

[0]: [https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/severancepay](https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/severancepay)

<comment><USER5> I don't think the GP was implying that everyone gets severance. Generally employers are often in legal grey areas when they are letting people go; particularly in cases where there is no legal or policy violation. In these cases they often try to bully you into giving up your rights. Severance is payment for agreeing to waive your right to sue for wrongful termination.

<comment><USER4> Fair point; severance pay can certainly act as a sort of "hush money". Not to mention how it can be used to keep ex-employees from exposing trade secrets with a competitor in the same industry.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> What I want to read more about are people in industries in steady decline and why they didn't or couldn't get out before the end of the road. And maybe about those who did.

There wasn't a sudden ban on journalism. And the story behind why he stuck around until the end is what interests me.

<comment><USER7> Judging by the quality of his writing, I'm going assume he felt it like a calling, stronger than any other.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Love his writing style. As for fishing, I use multi-week road trips for the same purpose instead. In this day and age, driving is one of the few remaining activities where you are unable to use a cell phone at the same time, and it really helps to clear my head. Scenery can be pretty amazing in the US, but mostly it's the endless miles, sleeping at rest stops when I'm dog tired, and then endless miles again. It's therapeutic.

</comment><comment><USER9> Fishing is such a relief from the world, it really is. I've never fully understood why it of all things had such a powerful draw and effect. As a kid it kept me away from the things that tend to trouble you as a kid. Deep in the woods on a river bank, digging through the stones to see what's hatching, tying knots, whittling while your bobber whirls in an eddy. It's an escape.

As an adult I've turned to spearfishing as well. It's an even more immersive escape, loaded with all of its own techniques, tricks, wonders, surprises, and challenges. Getting in the wetsuit is a hassle but no worse than hooking up a boat and getting it in the water. Really, once you spend your first comfortable moments 10-20 meters under water you might wish you never had to come out.

I've always thoroughly enjoyed reading about the satisfaction and joy others get from fishing as well. I guess it's a mix of vicarious experience and a sense of belonging or familiarity.

As for the unemployment... I don't envy anyone for having time away from work due to not having work. It's the worst, and hard to handle if you have a family when it happens. As a developer I've been incredibly fortunate due to work being so readily available, but 2 brief layoffs are probably the most stressful work related experiences I've had. It just feels terrible.

I wish I went fishing when it happened, haha.

<comment><USER10> Have you ever played an individual sport like tennis? I get a similar feeling, especially when you're just in the zone and you can't seem to make a mistake. Very therapeutic.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> There is something truly therapeutic about fishing. It might be because it helps us connect back with our evolutionary roots - out in nature, focusing on the task at hand to the exclusion of all else, and then experiencing the dopamine rush that comes with a good catch.

<comment><USER12> I must be weird. I find fishing, sunning on the beach, sitting in a lawn chair, etc., extremely dull, and last about 5 minutes at it.

This was true for me long before the internet :-)

<comment><USER13> > I must be weird. I find fishing, sunning on the beach, sitting in a lawn > chair, etc., extremely dull, and last about 5 minutes at it.

I'm the same way, but for fishing it depends on the type of fishing. Bait/lure fishing I tire of quickly. But fly fishing was vastly different, at least the one time I did it. It seemed a bit more technical and required more focus and finesse.

<comment><USER14> Fly fishing for trout is the standard, but I strongly recommended getting some poppers and trying for bass/pan fish. Same fly fishing engagement but more strikes.

<comment><USER13> > Fly fishing for trout is the standard, but I strongly recommended getting > some poppers and trying for bass/pan fish. Same fly fishing engagement but > more strikes.

Thanks, I'll see if I can give that a shot. I have a fly rig mostly put together, but I need to update the flies and get new line (it all belonged to a long-dead great uncle).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Oh my, he has a way with words. This is a delight and I'm only a few paragraphs in.

</comment><comment><USER16> In the comment section was "learn to code." Totally Insensitive... and not that I agree, but nonetheless close to the point. The consolidation and automation of news is here to stay, and not just journalists/writers — all of us, in fact — need to be very careful to learn the new skills it takes to compete in an increasingly automated world.

<comment><USER17> As someone who does code, I think most people would be worse off by learning to code.

It can be a rewarding job for someone who enjoys constantly solving crazy puzzles but, even for those who love to code, it can still be a miserable experience. Most people aren't particularly grabbed by the ability to control what a computer does the way that we "geeks" are. They would be bored out of their minds the second they have to do Fizz Buzz, which is why a lot of people never get off the ground with coding in the first place. The starting salary is barely livable; the national average is ~65k, and though I now make six figures, I started in the low 40ks. You won't get rich quick, perhaps at all, and unless you're talented or pick the right technologies, you might be stuck making mediocre pay while suffering the bad code of other learn-to-coders who are in it to strike it rich. After about 4 years, you begin to realize that your job is just like every other job, and that is to clean up the mess made by someone else. Unless you're part of the <10% that actually builds brand new stuff, your purpose is to be frequently astonished and make sense of the chaos. _How fun._

Some people enjoy all of that, but it's a fallacy to believe that anyone could do it if they _just learned_. More people aren't coding(or choosing unemployment over coding) for the same reason that I and many of us didn't learn to become aerospace engineers, or CEOs, or HVAC technicians. Most of us probably wouldn't be that good at those things because we don't all have the drive for them, and I don't think that having more people who are mediocre at their jobs is a good thing for anyone.

<comment><USER18> 65k is barely liveable now? What percent of the US do you think makes over that amount?

<comment><USER17> You're right. You can live on that amount, perhaps well depending on how and where you situate yourself. It's basically middle-income. How far that income will get you in a place like San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New York is another thing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> "I hit the wilds of Prince George's County, forgotten fishing trails with jungle undergrowth and hand-liner litter where catfish-seeking Central Americans seem to have constructed altars of beer-can empties to the Lords of Modelo."

When I was living in Piscataway, NJ, I used to roam along Raritan River during the bad period of my life. I used to see lots of central Americans who fish there. I hardly saw any one who is fully employed (40 years a week, with benefits). Just undocumented workers, and those who are out of luck.

</comment><comment><USER20> There's a great horror novel called The Fisherman by John Langan that heavily involves fishing and the catharthic solitude it can bring, even (or especially) in times of tragedy or stress. I highly recommend it, but besides that, this piece reinforces to me that the author of The Fisherman was conveying some wider and real truth in that. Coupled with beautiful scenery and good weather, fishing can become transcendental somehow.

</comment><comment><USER21> Gathering wild fruits and spearfishing are my favorite things to do when I'm needing some reassurance that I am going to be okay.

</comment><comment><USER18> Sounds a lot like cycling and cyclists. We call it "funemployment".

</comment><comment><USER22> This sounds more like sabbatical.

</comment><comment><USER23> I would invite everyone here to get into fishing. It's an amazing sport and pastime.

I'm reminded of a monologue ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5zShnoU5GY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5zShnoU5GY)) by an Italian actor. It's called, The Story of a Broken Man. This is my, more or less literal, translation.

        This is the story of a man broken by power, commitments, and responsibilities.

        I've been thinking about how many years it has been since I've last gone fishing.

        I used to love fishing so much, but I don't go anymore.

        Perhaps, I had more important things to do, even though right now I couldn't tell you which.

        I haven't been back.

        We always have more important things to do that don't make us feel better,
        as if feeling better wasn't important enough.

        When I used to fish, I was so excited that I would wake up before the alarm went off.
        Actually, I was the one waking up the alarm. Wake uuup!

        And you're there fishing and you are alone, and if you're alone, you'll be at one with yourself,
        you don't think about anything else anymore.
        You don't think about having to pay the mortgage, or about the current war.
        You don't think about having to pay the mortgage to fund the current war.

        You hear a gentle, polite voice
        A voice we've all heard at least once in our life; a voice from within that tells you...
        hey, hey...
        You're so lucky!
        I'm so lucky... I'm so lucky!

        To me, fishing is like washing, a baptism.
        The water of the river, if you let it work, will take away all your thoughts
        and perhaps even all your sins.
        Including the original sin which is the one that pisses me off the most, pure judicial harassment.

        The water of the river, if you let it work, will wash away all your thoughts
        and perhaps even all your sins and put you back into the world anew,
        it fixes everything for you.

        And so I thought, let's give a fishing rod to all these people who are paralyzed by power.
        Let's give them the possibility to be alone with themselves,
        let's help them forget that they're irreplaceable.
        It will help them. It will help us.

        Fishing might seem a small and trivial thing, but it's a return to simple things,
        to the fundamentals we are losing.

        Well, fishing gave me a great chance to hear that polite voice,
        that gentle voice, that voice that tells you...

        Hey, you're so lucky!

        I'm so lucky, I'm so lucky!
        We're so lucky, we are so lucky!

        But...

        But every time I hear that voice I'm a little ashamed and I'm almost embarrassed.
        So then I thought, we must be really messed up if we are ashamed of feeling good.

        Maybe this is why I'm broken, perhaps this is why I don't go fishing,
        because I'm afraid of realizing that if I want...
        if I really want...
        I can feel good.

<comment><USER24> Wow. Thank you for sharing that.

<comment><USER23> Thank you for your encouraging comment. It motivated me to make it into an actual video: [https://youtu.be/4aK6_0psCW4](https://youtu.be/4aK6_0psCW4)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> In one paragraph:

>85 percent of workers worldwide hate their jobs

>Anything that restores hope becomes worth the exercise.

In other words: Many may hate their livelihoods, but liberation can be scary.

Personally, I was once of the benefit of having mediocre tech skills and an employer who paid ridiculously well for them. But when I started having problems with stalking, break-ins and intentional ill will, they told me to just leave. Obviously, a nightmare situation in life.

The journey since has led me around the world on experiences I'd never have had being stuck in office buildings and airports, and I actually wouldn't trade them. And while I wouldn't wish tyranny on anyone else, with a certain mindset you can look evil and misfortune in the face and decide you are not going to have your fate decided by it. I suspect that even without living on the receiving end of psychopathy, this is still the worst part of unemployment for many: the hopelessness in having your fate be determined by what can seem like external forces.

<comment><USER8> If you don't have the means, it's not really "liberation". We are only nominally "free". You have to pay real estate taxes even if you do absolutely nothing, never get out of the house, and don't use any infrastructure or services. And if you don't, you'll very quickly find yourself under the bridge. My fantasy (which my wife doesn't share) is to one day find a place so deep in the boonies that no government official would even know about it, and live there Agafia Lykova style with no connection to the outside world. I doubt places like that exist in the US anymore. But they do exist in other countries.

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

<comment><USER6> I wonder if it's part of the social contract that everything society provided to get you here, one of the many payments is you have to stick around and be part of society for the next young you.

I'm thinking about: what would happen if droves of people fled into the forest to live. Could society function without them? How many?

<comment><USER8> I'm pretty sure it would still function. If nothing else they aren't a drag on societal resources anymore. If society is so useful, it should only be better off when people leave for the greener pastures or Siberian tundra.

My main issue is not with societal contract. It's with the notion that we're somehow "free" when we're most certainly not free. Stop paying the state and men with guns will show up on your door step and take your shit. That doesn't sound like freedom to me.

<comment><USER26> > I'm pretty sure it would still function. If nothing else they aren't a drag > on societal resources anymore. If society is so useful, it should only be > better off when people leave for the greener pastures or Siberian tundra.

A lot of these people would come crawling back to the civilization begging for help if their life depended on it. Which it probably will as they get older and sick. On a large scale, millions of people who contributed nothing to the society, but then demand expensive medical help would not work well.

<comment><USER8> Most would not last very long I agree. But I don't think that those that find the hermit existence more to their liking (and can sustain such an existence for an extended period of time) would "come crawling back" or anything like that. Once my kid is out of the house, I don't really care about not kicking the bucket a little sooner if by doing so I could live out my last decade or two in peace and without having to deal with the daily stream of bovine manure that "civilization" entails.

<comment><USER26> Quick death in old age is one of the better scenarios. Worse things are: chronic pain, slowly losing ability to function (be it neurological or just joints giving up etc.) and also witnessing the same things in your spouse. Traditional cultures deal with it to a degree by children taking care of sick/senile parents, but here it won't be the case.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>