Show HN: I've got some spare time, something I made to stop procrastinating - <AUTHOR> http://www.ivegotsomespareti.me/ <comment><AUTHOR> Hi all.

I made this today because it's something I've wanted for a while.

If I've got a bit of spare time, I often end up wasting it in the same few ways.

And yet, whenever I'm busy there are loads of small things I'd love to do a bit more. Build something new, do a drawing, practice a bit more German, watch one of many films, work out, play a board game, play the guitar for 10 minutes, do a bit of cleaning...

These all get forgotten quickly, and don't fit neatly into any of the task- planners I've played with. I just wanted something really simple, so here it is.

Say things you'd like to do, and then it'll pick from them randomly. I want to extend this to be smarter, but randomly actually works fairly well.

I've added some monetisation through amazon associates links, which are hand chosen for things I really do recommend.

All your data stays on your machine using localstorage, I'm not receiving your task list and there's no signup, it's just a few static pages. Though I have added google analytics I've tried to turn off cookies and ip address recording, so it's mostly a hitcounter for me to watch through the day.

I've used bulma ([http://bulma.io/](http://bulma.io/)) as a css 'framework', which has been nice, though I haven't got the task list looking nice on a mobile yet.

Feedback, complaints, showers of praise, disinterested sighs, I'm really interested in anything you've got :)</comment>


Paper-based AR games in your browser - <AUTHOR> http://short.epfl.ch/paprika

<comment><USER2> Are you aware of Japanese Arcade Games with Cards? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJeN3QrdXlI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJeN3QrdXlI) ; I'd like to see such a concept on PCs as well.

<comment><USER3> I didn't know this one. I had only seen this one, a RTS where armies are controlled with cards : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQexhBQvWjs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQexhBQvWjs) which indeed looks pretty appealing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Nice concept. But what's the practical application? D-pads are so much more user-friendly.

<comment><USER5> I don't think it's for actual gaming. Think more in the direction of simple way to expand any web-app with QR-code interactions.

<comment><USER3> OP's collaborator here.

The goal of this framework is to explore the (huge) gap between card- or board games, and videogames, so we can take the best of both worlds. It's hard work to imagine what users can do with new interaction techniques, but the goal is to make videogames which are more fun with paper/card based interaction than d-pads. Or conversely, to find card/board games that are more fun with a computer (i.e. not a simple 3D animation of the battle between two pokemon cards for example).</comment></comment></comment>


When the Mac was introduced 33 years ago, people thought GUI were a real problem - <AUTHOR> https://timeline.com/mac-graphical-user-inteterface-960d5f548d08#.9s980jae5 <comment><USER2> People still think GUI is a real problem, this is why we keep using linux box with terminal emulators, and editors/IDE such as emacs working mostly only with text and keyboard.

And indeed, GUI lead to closed garden, non-computers such as iOS devices, which are basically NOT programmable by their users (contrarily to command line interfaces that are basically scriptable = programmable by their users by default).

There have been a few attempts at scritability of GUI, but this remained confidential and mostly experimental (Apple recently disolved the team working on Automation).

So yes, GUI is basically the real problem, just ask Alan Kay!</comment>


GitHub stargazers information gathering tool - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/0xPrateek/Stardox <comment><USER2> What's a legitimate use case of scraping the email addresses of people that have starred a repo?

<comment><AUTHOR> You can use their emails for the promotion of your other projects which they might like.

<comment><USER2> That's pure and plainly spam, not a thing you should do, and something that will easily get you banned from GitHub. Staring your project does not give you consent to send me spam.</comment></comment></comment>


Jeff Bezos: Request for ideas - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/875418348598603776 <comment><USER2> Bribe all of congress. It's not that expensive for someone with Bezos money. Why let energy companies, telcos, insurance providers, and military contractors get all the action? Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple are bigger than they are!

For less than the cost of SpaceX they could have just bribed congress to give NASA sufficient funding.

For less than the cost of whatever Bill Gates tries to do with education, he could have just bribed congress to fund schools properly.

If they really believed in equal rights regardless of gender, sex, nationality, sexual orientation, race or religion, they could bribe congress to fix those things.

If they cared about the environment, you could bribe congress to fund the EPA more.

Single payer health care, they can just make it happen.

If I had that money, that's sure as hell what I would be doing with it. The fact that they haven't already suggest to me that maybe they don't actually believe in these things as much as they sometimes pretend to. Rich assholes never put their money where their mouth is.

And when I say bribe I mean the legal kind. Where you fund their campaigns through SuperPACs. You can outspend those Koch bros. easily. Why not go for it?

<comment> throwaway-1209 You seem to think money grows on trees. Your suggestions can't be implemented without taxing people like Bezos to death. In fact, I'm pretty sure they can't be implemented at all, no matter who you "bribe".

<comment><USER3> Every wealthy nation but the U.S. provides universal healthcare. They all provide much more subsidized higher education. They do theses things without taxing people to death. Do you have any evidence to support your belief?

<comment> throwaway-1209 They have different cost structures and much higher taxes, and their healthcare couldn't exist without multi billion research efforts US healthcare consumer pays for. How much pharmaceutical innovation is there outside the US?

<comment><USER4> There are many multi billion dollar companies that do pharmaceutical research outside the US, their revenue is not exclusively from the US, suggesting there would be no healthcare without the US, is like suggesting there would be no cars without the US

[Roche]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoffmann- La_Roche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoffmann-La_Roche)) [Merck]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merck_Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merck_Group)) [Bayer]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer)) [Sanofi]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanofi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanofi))

<comment> throwaway-1209 Merck is a US company. Switzerland has no government provided healthcare and their healthcare costs are also very high.

<comment><USER4> Merck isn't a US company, it is a German company. There is a US company with the same name that originates from a seizure of US assets of the German company with the same name.

<comment> throwaway-1209 Also known as the Merck that actually invents new drugs and rakes in almost three times the revenue of the German counterpart. I wonder if the fact that it's a US company has something to do with that. Hmm.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> The problem I find with most philanthropic efforts, most namely charities, is that it's a black box with little measure of accountability. You don't know how exactly the money is spent, and how effective it was.

If someone can start a 100% transparent charitable organization, where each line item of expense is open to the public, it would give people more confidence in giving, and it would give the organizations more incentive to make effective and efficient decisions. Kind of like a manager overseeing your moves, except it's the public since they provide the funding.

In terms of where to focus the efforts -- I find providing education is the only short term effort that can lead to long term and everlasting gains.

<comment><USER6> Just as many people would only donate to organizations where they can be anonymous. For example, if you were a gay man and wanted to send money to Russia to help fight the anti-gay sentiment over there, you might not want to do it with your name easily traceable.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> The Elephant Soup Solution:

1) First, buy an under utilized country (or a piece of country eg Newfoundland, Sakhalin Island, Princes Royal Island or similar)

2) install the British Institutions OS (run by retired Commonwealth employees). just like Hong Kong or Singapore.

3) allow visa free travel and residence for any non-criminal person on earth

4) To prime the pump, buy stuff from this new country and sell it through any handy distribution channel you might have

N.B. Don't forget to recirculate income from the top of the economy to the bottom or the heart will stop.

</comment><comment> throwaway-1209 Just pool the money with Buffett and Gates, and do something jointly. Eradicate some deadly disease, cure cancer, something like that. Really bring those billions and project management skills to bear on it.

</comment><comment><USER8> On the microscopic chance that Jeff Bezos sees this: mellow out, man! There was an anecdote, I can't remember from where, maybe from the "Faces of Amazon" page, related to Jeff's response to the NYT criticism back in 2015. Jeff's response was, "should that happen to you, escalate to HR or email me directly". Someone did exactly that and got fired for it.

</comment><comment><USER9> Paint me cynical...

He's a smart kid, a lack of insight and focus do not come to mind when I think of his ability to tackle challenges.

In other news today... a lot of middle to upper middles class people, who view Amazon as a cold corporate digital version of Walmart, just had their favourite grocery store taken over.

<comment><USER10> In other news today... a lot of middle to upper middle class people who already get 2 or 3 boxes a week from Amazon will start getting 3 or 4 boxes a week instead.

I don't think the widespread resentment of Amazon as a "cold corporate digital version of WalMart" exists outside of your own point of view, and perhaps a few publishers' offices in New York. Amazon is one of those factors in its customers' lives that pretty much always Just Works. Gotta give credit (and cash, and gift cards) where it's due.

<comment><USER11> > I don't think the widespread resentment of Amazon as a "cold corporate > digital version of WalMart" exists outside of your own point of view, and > perhaps a few publishers' offices in New York.

Just one opinion, but I already thought of Amazon as "the internet's WalMart". And that was _before_ they took over Whole Foods.

It's not a widespread opinion yet, but I'm guessing as they exert ever more influence, more people will come to a similar association. If Amazon decides to takeover Meijer's next (just as an example) a lot of upper-midwest folks would suddenly make a similar association.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> It'll be interesting to see a summary of all the ideas, after all the snark, looney and funny replies are filtered out.

</comment><comment><USER12> I tweeted to suggest that he buy a Raspberry Pi computer for every primary school kid in the world.

</comment><comment><USER13> How does one parse thousands of ideas? How does one keep it in a character limit? Post an image like he does? Would it be a novel idea to copy the already posted images and then repost with dummy(but appear real) accounts using automation making this exercise worthless(or does he plan on doing this himself with no attribution?)

<comment><USER14> You can't possibly think Jeff Bezos had any direct personal involvement with any of this. He likely didn't compose the tweet and likely won't have a hand in reading the results. I doubt _anyone_ associated with him is actually going to read the results.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> He (well, Amazon) could be more forthcoming with taxes.

<comment><USER16> Are you saying that US federal spending is the most effective charity in the world?

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Pay your warehouse employees a little bit more? because it's easy to feel charitable when you made money by over-exploiting your workforce.</comment>


Killdozer - <AUTHOR> https://allthatsinteresting.com/marvin-heemeyer-killdozer <comment><USER2> Yeah - I moved to Fraser (next town over) a year-ish after Marv's wild ride. Always interesting to see this come up.

IIRC, the story was much more complex than this article paints it (& much more sympathetic to Marv). There were apparently some blatant conflicts of interest with the zoning committee, which painted a picture of a corrupt town government. Additionally, due to the changes, his business had virtually no access, meaning that he lost the livelihood he had worked years to build. IOW, they really painted him into a corner, and left even his shop's land/building value worthless.

By all means, what he did was crazy. But most of us who knew the town wished both sides had been a little more yielding. Either way, always interesting to see it come up.

</comment><comment><USER3> I don't know for certain whether or not Marvin Heemeyer had a legitimate complaint that was badly mishandled by the _State_ but from other accounts of the incident I read at the time it seems he did. Irrespective, clearly Heemeyer was at the end of his tether with the bureaucratic process and it's clear that those in authority did little to defuse the situation and or were completely ineffective trying to doing so.

Whenever citizens have dealings with the _State_ and for whatever reason they reach an impasse over some matter (as with Heemeyer) then it's nearly always the case that the _State_ has neither interest in resolving matters amicably nor does it have any sufficiently satisfactory mechanisms to do so. The fact is that our governance doesn't possess the necessary mechanics to satisfactorily manage such matters in ways which would (and should) empower ordinary citizens and ensure that they always receive a fair go.

Thus, after the _State_ arrives at a questionable decision ordinary citizens have little comeback or recourse if they want to have genuine grievances rectified. Moreover, justice is often further denied when _State_ authority uses unreasonable methods of justifying its decisions that aren't easily verifiable. Thus, in an attempt to seek justice, hapless citizens are then left with only two lawful alternatives both of which are unpalatable. Either take matters to court where the imbalance of power between the _State_ and citizens usually favors the _State_ , or lobby politicians for a change to the law, which, in the unlikely event of that being successful, then said changes will inevitably arrive too late to resolve the initial problem. In our so- called democracies, ordinary citizens frequently face a Hobson's choice which they all too often lose through no fault of their own.

Over the years, I too have had similar bad experiences with officialdom, especially so when dealing with authorities who approved developments that clearly contained errors or were outside existing building regulations. Fortunately, mine never escalated to the extent that Heemeyer's did. In each instance I lost out badly after Council decided to permit developments next to my property whose size was well in excess of official rules and guidelines (as already mentioned, there's always some clause or 'out' that authorities often use to bypass official planning rules, this is what happened in my cases).

When one looks deeper into many such cases one often finds that even if they are not technically corrupt on paper they're nevertheless morally so. Petty bureaucrats often find it much easier to deal with powerful developers if they're on their side. As well, agreeing with developers is considerably less stressful for them. Clearly, one doesn't have to be Einstein to figure out why encounters between a powerful developer and an essentially-powerless and technically handicapped John Dow/Joe Bloggs citizen often ends up so badly for the latter.

Furthermore, it's highly likely that the developer's architects frequent the same clubs and pubs as council's—'birds of a feather'/'old boy's network' so to speak (whereas the complainant likely doesn't even have an architect). Thus the hapless citizen hasn't a snowball's chance of proving wrongdoing either as there's no incriminating paper trail to be found no matter how deep an investigation might be! In my case, [different] architects both separately own the properties on either side of my home and they actually live in them. In reality this makes them developers with a determined motive to drive home their plans through Council and its planing process. You guessed it, 'stupid', non-architect, techie I never stood a chance against the combined forces.

Tragically, our democracies and democratic processes are riddled throughout with these seemingly small inequities and we citizens are effectively powerless to change or rectify them for the better. That's not to say change doesn't happen. These days, often change occurs after many aggrieved and like- minded citizens have come together as a collective to protest over a single issue. More often than not members of these groups personally identify themselves with the issue. We're familiar with the term _identity politics_ and we know how influential and successful those who 'fit' under its umbrella have been in achieving change for their own ends.

Whilst identity politics movements have genuinely achieved much better levels of social equity for those involved, the very success of these movements has unfortunately also seen them give rise to other problems of a tertiary nature, which, overall, has been quite detrimental for democracy. Citizens whose opinions are contrary to ideas espoused by those within identity politics movements often feel alienated and or believe they weren't given a fair hearing during the public discourse on said matters, and or they rightly or wrongly think, that recent changes in societal values were unfairly railroaded through to their detriment.

Of course, what I've said above is an over simplification of a very complex problem, also I've not herein included other relevant factors (such as those dealing with the intrinsic nature of democracy _per se_ , or the applicability and or granularity of laws in liberal democracies, etc.), this is simply because of the limitations and nature of these posts, so please try to not misinterpret what I've said.

One of the key points that I wish to make is that across my lifetime Western democracies have never been at a lower ebb than they are now, citizens now have precious little respect for governments, or for long-established and once respected institutions and respect for politicians is at an all-time low; and citizens have never been so polarized about key social and economic issues as they are today.

Whilst identity politics has helped many to achieve a sense of self-respect and worth, it's done essentially nothing to bring a necessary sense of cohesion, unity and purpose across all of society, nor has it done anything to counter or reduce the increasingly polarized views shared by many citizens. In fact, I (and many others) would argue that the fractures running through our society are now larger and deeper than they've been for a century or more. Essentially, the divide is so great that democracy in some countries has just about become unworkable.

It seems to me there are ways that we can fix and repair our ailing democracies (but there's no way I'd attempt to describe that mammoth task here). Suffice to say, the covenant that binds the citizenry and _State_ is severely broken to the extent that we should re-examine it in every minute detail from its very core to its outer limits with the view of altering it for the better. In doing so, fairness, dignity and equity are key axioms, and first we must make sure that citizens (and the collective citizenry) are the most important entities in our democracies. Moreover, those principles should be inviolate to the extent that they must be fully enshrined in our constitutions and in law. Unlike the current situation where government bureaucracies not only consider themselves above the citizenry but also above the law. [How many instances of governments and bureaucracies breaking law would you like me to cite?]

Similarly, the truly outrageous situation that exists today where an inanimate entity that's defined as a corporation is treated equally in law to that of a citizen. Given precedent and power, corporations already wield much more power than do ordinary citizens. This 'obscene' situation is proof positive that in a democracy some citizens are more equal than others—own a powerful corporation and you can effectively run government, if not much of the world. (Think Google, Microsoft and Facebook.)

Right, the task of democratic reform is truly daunting and those who now control or benefit from the 'fucked' status quo are by far citizens' greatest enemies.

It's only when democracy has been renewed and restored with humans and their moral values put at its center that we should seriously look at tackling tragic social problems such as those that Marvin Heemeyer found himself experiencing (for whilst the corruption he experienced continued no reasonable solution was possible, thus fixing it first was a necessary _a priori_ requirement. Even then, I'd suggest that such cases would be few and far between as the conditions that led to problems that Heemeyer experienced would be unlikely to exist in a 'reordered' democracy. Thus, Heemeyer's rampage was the last act of a person driven to despair after confronting entrenched bureaucracy and corruption on multiple occasions only to find that in the end there was nothing else he could do.

It's little wonder occasionally that people such as Heemeyer are driven mad and run amok.</comment>


I fit the description… - <AUTHOR> http://artandeverythingafter.com/i-fit-the-description/ <comment><USER2> I understand the reason for fear in the current law enforcement climate in the US. But this quote really misses something:

"...they didn't believe that I wasn't a criminal. They had to find out. My word was not enough for them. My ID was not enough for them."

Well ... no. If you are indeed close to the given description of a criminal complaint, they're going to check. The have to check. If they'd come across the actual criminal and he'd behaved similarly (and lying by producing plausible ID, acceptable home address, etc) and then let the actual criminal go, that'd be terrible.

Now, the situation could indeed have been improved by the cops: the 'suspect' made no threatening moves, NO need to reach for a gun; simply act like a reasonable human being having a conversation; call for another officer with the same (similar?) ethnicity...

<comment><USER3> Here's the thing: the guy is stopped because he's black, average size and wears a knitted hat during the winter. It's like being stopped because you are white, average size and wear a baseball cap.

Would that ever happen? Very rarely. Would the officer stopping a white guy who fitted a 1/5 description grab for his gun? Of course not.

<comment><USER4> A robbery had just taken place (presumably nearby), and the perpetrator had been described to the police as black.

There is a time and place factor here together with a description; they are not randomly stopping someone in a random location at a random time just for looking black.

<comment><USER5> I realize the police have to do their job somehow. But if the subject was a white male, 160 lbs, with a winter hat on and I happened to be near the scene of the crime, I can't imagine the police ever bringing me in for questioning even though I'd fit the description as well. They'd take one look at me, see I'm a nerdy white guy with a good-old American name, ask me if I'd seen anything, and then let me go.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> WTF?

Can someone point me to what exactly did police officers do wrong in this story?

> Barbara Sullivan made a knit cap for me. She knitted it in pinks and browns > and blues and oranges and lime green. No one has a hat like this.

Yeah, dude — I'm looking at your photo right now and it definitely looks like a generic knit cap. It's completely reasonable that when someone hears a detail "knit cap" and then sees you, it clicks.

> If you are wondering why people don't go with the police, I hope this > explains it for you.

No. It doesn't, at all. Nothing in behaviour of this police officers even hinted of a wrong attitude. The "white woman" wouldn't "decide" if you're a criminal or not: she would give testimony. This attitude of "resisting arrest" would seem paranoid on it's own; it seems even more paranoid and insane in context of this story.

By the way, did any officer actually tell him that a victim was white? Or is it just what he automatically thought?

If I would go through something like that, I would be glad that police is doing it's job.

<comment><USER7> It wasn't about this one interaction, it's about the relationship that police have with black people, and vice-versa.

If you are white, your expectation is that in this situation the cops would have taken you to the victim, she would have said it wasn't you, and you'd go on with your day.

This man's expectation, as a black man being questioned by the police, was that he has a 50/50 chance of being falsely accused; that the woman who was going to give this testimony might just see "black man" and say "that's him officer". In the article, this college professor was so sure of that that he was going to _resist arrest_!.

It's not about this one interaction, it's about the culture of fear we have in this country between cops and black people. You're not supposed to figure out these particular cops did wrong in this particular encounter - you're supposed to empathize and understand what's generally happening for/to people in different circumstances than yourself, and hopefully have an impact on changing that over time.

<comment><USER8> My expectation is that if police transport a suspect anywhere, that is an arrest which must be justified by reasonable suspicion that the suspect had committed a crime.

Now, I don't know how Boston classifies "try to break into a woman's house", but it looks like my web search in the General Laws of Massachusetts brings up part IV, Title I, Chapter 266, Section 18.[0] Maybe IV I 265 18C [1] if there was someone inside the house.

Based on it being daytime, and the quoted statement from the cop including the words "try to break into" rather than "inside", it would appear that no crime actually occurred. So the cops circulated a vague description of an average- height, average-weight, typically-dressed Bostonian male as a suspect for a nonexistent crime.

The Internet Tough Guys aside, the author did make a mistake in answering police questions. It should have gone something like this:

      Cop: Hey my man.
      SL: Yes?
      Cop: Where are you coming from?
      SL: Am I free to go?
      Cop: No.
      SL: Am I under arrest?
      Cop: Not yet.
      SL: Why am I being detained?
      Cop: We had someone matching your description just try to break into a woman's house.
      SL: [remains silent]
      Cop: You fit the description: Black male, knit hat, puffy coat.  Do you have identification?
      SL: My name is Steve Locke.  I live at XXXXX, in Dedham.
      Cop: No, no, no, do you have a photo ID card?
      SL: I do not consent to searches or seizures.  I will not answer further questions without the assistance of legal counsel.

At this point, he gets arrested, not for breaking and entering, but for "contempt of cop"\--probably even "failure to identify". He beats the rap, but does not beat the ride. He later sues the city, and eventually accepts a $75000 settlement, which isn't bad for enduring one _very_ stressful day and some PTSD.

The bystanders made a mistake in not whipping out their cameras to film the incident.

But that ideal conversation does not happen when you are dropped into a stressful situation with no notice. While you're thinking about burritos, an armed man confronts you and informs you that you are a suspect in a crime. Instead of thinking about how to resist police corruption, you're thinking about not getting killed in the next ten minutes. It doesn't matter if you know, rationally, that you have the right to not get murdered by cops, if you also know in your fluttering intestines that Eric Garner and Freddy Grey theoretically had the same right.

[0] [https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Cha...](https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter266/Section18)

[1] [https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Cha...](https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter265/Section18C)

<comment><USER6> > The Internet Tough Guys aside

> Am I free to go?

> Am I under arrest?

> Why am I being detained?

> I do not consent to searches or seizures. I will not answer further > questions without the assistance of legal counsel.

I hate to break it to you, but that's a classic example of "Internet Tough Guy".

<comment><USER8> Did you read to the end of the post? No one can actually follow the ITG script.

 _Maybe_ if you're a professional lawyer. Everyone else will screw it up somewhere. Following it closely requires an attitude regarding cops somewhere between "Officer Friendly is only here to help" and "these pigs might kill me". That zone on the spectrum for "these guys are cleverly trying to hamstring my lawyer before the trial" is razor thin.

Those on one side will cooperate because they earnestly believe that the innocent do not get punished. Those on the other will cooperate because they believe that resistance is futile in the face of overwhelming force without any form of restraint. The ITG stance is pretty much exclusively held by people who will probably never have the opportunity to try it out on real cops.

Everybody out there in the real world formulates their strategy based on their prior experiences with real cops, rather than activist videos.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I see some comments here along the lines of 'this is standard, nothing to do with race'

Even if that is true (And I don't know that it is), doesn't it speak to some greater cultural problem that this man was so scared for his life, being a black man questioned by police?

It's all well and good to say "I've had this happen to me, no problems", but thats dismissing the fact that this man, and many others, fear for their life whenever they interact with the police.

(I should note that I am not American, so maybe theres things I'm missing as an outsider looking in / maybe I'm way off base)

<comment><USER6> It's a problem that he's so scared, yes. But this particular incidents paints his fear as baseless paranoia.

<comment><USER10> This reminds me of something I pointed out elsewhere... I don't know _any_ black people who have never had a negative, frightening interaction with police. And I have a lot of black friends, from teenagers up to men in their 60s. I've had friends arrested, had guns pointed at them, on ridiculous things (one that stands out was a friend who got arrested and roughed up for doing his laundry in his dorm).

"Baseless paranoia"? Ask any black person you know if they think this is baseless paranoia.

<comment><USER6> I don't know any people of any race who have never had a negative, frightening interaction with police.

This still doesn't make his reaction justified.

<comment><USER11> > I don't know any people of any race who have never had a negative, > frightening interaction with police.

Eh, I can only speak anecdotally but almost all white people (who aren't active drug dealers) that I know haven't actually had bad experiences, modulo "the TSA at the airport patted me down!".

The single time that I've had any sort of negative interaction was when crossing the Canadian border and it was directly because my friend in the car had brown skin.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12>
        I saw the woman in red.
        "Thank you," I said to her.  "Thank you for staying."

if you see the police talking to someone: whoever they are, however they are acting, and whatever they look like; and you have a minute to spare, please.. please, stick around and make it known you are watching

if you have a phone, record it, or just hold your phone as if you were recording it

people can feel the gaze of others and you will alter the behaviour of the officers for the better

just yesterday i was walking by an irate homeless person yelling at three officers, refusing to move

two officers were directing foot traffic to keep a distance and the third was prodding the homeless man with his toe asking him identifying questions and telling him he needed to get up and move

by my just standing there i could sense the officers sensing my presence, every so often they were send me a quick sideways glance

the officer using his foot to interact with the homeless man turned his head to see what his fellow officers kept looking at and saw me, standing there drinking a coffee, staring at him

he jerked his gaze back at the man lying on the ground and knelt down and just placed his hand on the homeless man's shoulder and talked to him calmly

the officer managed to get the man to sit up and answer his questions, eventually he got up and walked away and the officers gave me a look like, 'you happy?!' and got in their cars and drove off

i was happy with how the interaction turned out, the whole thing lasted less than a minute

i would like to think that my presence had little to do with it

</comment><comment><USER13> How should the officers have handled this?

More to the point, is this protesting the inappropriate way he was detained, or the atmosphere of fear for black Americans?

<comment><USER14> What comes to my mind: if they receive an valid ID, they could just note down the address and let the person go. They could expect to be able to get hold of them if the suspicions become more substantiated.

<comment><USER2> But then, if it IS the actual criminal, he's aware that the police are onto him and he's gone. If I knew for certain that A) I'd committed a crime and B) the police were indeed looking for me, I wouldn't be at my home address. Nor any other address they might be aware of my presence.

<comment><USER14> So you would give up your home in exchange for the proceeds from a small burglary?

I would just expect some Bayesian reasoning, and "has a home at a reasonably expensive address" and "has a car" and "has MIT ID" would presumably rank quite highly as factors? Unless "is black" ranks so high that it dwarfs all other factors.

<comment><USER2> How are we defining "home" here? Does the typical small-time burglar own a house? Does he care about skipping out on a lease? Does he even HAVE a lease or is has he been sleeping on the couches of 'friends?' If I'm committing a small burglary, I doubt I'm very attached to my current address.

Back to this story: you have to check out whomever matches the description and is nearby. The only thing that the police needed to do in this situation was to not make it a situation. Reaching for that gun was The Wrong Thing To Do because this guy was cooperating.

<comment><USER14> "If I'm committing a small burglary, I doubt I'm very attached to my current address."

That is exactly what I am saying. If he has a solid address, it is unlikely that he is a small time burglar.

Not sure how IDs work in the US. In Germany you have to register with the police when you move and you are supposed to carry your ID at all times. Of course there is no guarantee that people keep their ID up to date. Then again, I suppose if mail to the old address would be failing it could be marked in the computer, easy to check for the police.

<comment><USER2> Now suppose they're looking at a really good forgery and they don't yet know that.

<comment><USER14> They don't know that you aren't a serial killer either. Should they surround your house, just in case?

I think you need to multiply P(is a criminal) with <severity of the crime>. If they suspect somebody of being a serial killer, more scrutiny seems appropriate than if they suspect a small time burglar.

<comment><USER2> Do I match the description of a serial killer? If I do, then perhaps a visit to my house is warranted. And if I'm a serial killer, and, depending on the method of killing, perhaps they have to believe that I'm armed to the teeth. Coming to pick me up could be dangerous for them. Now, their measured response involves an unannounced SWAT.

I don't see "Serial Killer" levels of scrutiny in this story. I see the right amount of scrutiny, but with a precursor of a cop getting his gun hand ready in a situation that doesn't call for it.

<comment><USER14> Yeah I mean why should they assume he has a forged ID? How common are forged IDs for small time criminals?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> I'm getting a 503 Service Unavailable, so here's a mirror:

[https://web.archive.org/web/20151205162353/http://artandever...](https://web.archive.org/web/20151205162353/http://artandeverythingafter.com/i-fit- the-description/)

<comment><USER16> Thanks, looks like it's back up now. Google didn't appear to have a cached copy; it kept giving me a 503.

<comment><USER17> A top link on HN must send an enormous amount of traffic...has anyone ran a study as to how many hits it generates? I'm guessing a couple hundred thousand if it stays on the front page for a day.

<comment><USER18> Your estimate's an order of magnitude too high in my experience. More like 10-30,000 visits if you stay on the front page most of the day. Many submissions don't stay highly ranked that long either.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I really feel for the person in this story. Given the heightened media lately, it's hard to feel totally secure in any interaction with the police. I don't feel completely secure talking to them or interacting with them when I see them.

I however, do think the police did just an ok job handling this situation. It clearly could have gone worse, but they could have de-escalated this even further. Why isn't it possible to simply say clear statements like "We intend to respect your rights." or "We have no intention of escalating this situation". When it comes to the officer seeming to reach for his firearm at the beginning what's wrong with saying "That's something we do for our protection, and is not an intent to use?"

I'm sure people in law enforcement have answers for all these questions, and I'm sure they make sense. However, something in me will probably always wonder why we as a society find it easier to blog about police encounters, or make police wear body cameras, when it might just be easier for two people to talk more openly.

</comment><comment><USER20> I have no political axe to grind, no agenda to push and no particular opinion one way or another. I simply have a question: Is it important to his recounting of the story to emphasize that a "white woman" carried his fate? Would the story have the same impact if he simply said "victim"?

[Edit: grammar]

<comment><USER21> The cops wouldn't have revealed the witness's race. The author likely didn't actually know who actually gave the cops the description that matched his.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> The saddest part is that this is not a unique story.

Some number of weeks ago, I "fit the description" of a latino male exiting Safeway after having caused some kind of spat in Mountain View. They "identified" the male as having on black shorts and wearing sandals, and some kind of sleeve tattoo if my memory serves.

I am a fairer-skinned black male, I did have on black shorts and Birkinstocks, so close enough I guess. I was over a block away from Safeway, but the cop still felt the need to creep up on me, then bleep his siren, turn around, get out of his SUV and question me.

The cop felt the need to know if - simple Silicon Valley yuppie me, carrying a Starbucks cup from earlier in the day and a fresh bag of Thai food with a receipt dated no more than nine minutes prior - I had gang tattoos and/or affiliations, asked me to roll up my sleeves. He needed to know why my out-of- state drivers license didn't have my current California address (no, I'm dead serious, I guess he couldn't figure it out.)

Of course, I grew up in the deep south so I'm more than used to this, and know how to keep my head on when dealing with a police officer who is holier than thou and is packing the hardware to prove it to you at a twitch's notice. My upbringing taught me that, as a black person, this is what we have to expect from officials, be it police, school officials, any petty tyrant's office job. This is why you don't talk to the cops and you keep your head down when walking - your skin still says enough about you.

However, even after climbing the broken ladder, fighting my way out of abject poverty through stacks of student loans, it was truly disheartening to see it's still true, even here in the land of million dollar homes and self driving cars.

I've felt this man's fear.

<comment><USER23> "He needed to know why my out-of-state drivers license didn't have my current California address"

Actually, that's the law, if you've been in CA more than 20 days or accepted a job here. Otherwise, you are technically not licensed to drive here.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> I guess the problem is that when he identified himself as a college professor, the cops didn't immediately genuflect?

"I was hoping that someone I knew would walk down the street or come out of one of the shops or get off the 39 bus or come out of JP Licks and say to these cops, "That's Steve Locke. What the FUCK are you detaining him for?""

IOW, "do you know who I am?"

There are legitimate abuses of police authority and unaccountability, and this is not one.

<comment><USER25> I dunno, it doesn't seem like a huge leap to stop investigating someone as a burglar once you notice they're a college prof. Especially if you've stopped them for nothing more specific than wearing a knit hat and "puffy coat," and they're not wearing a puffy coat (did you not look at the picture? or read the article, for that matter, he mentions that he was wearing a blazer).

<comment><USER23>
      did you not look at the picture?

That's a bio pic, not surveillance.

He writes _in his own words_ that he was wearing a _quilted_ blazer.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> That is a heart-wrenching encounter. I admire the author's cool head under pressure and emotional honesty and awareness.

</comment><comment><USER27> About a year ago, the same thing happened to me. That night, my girlfriend had suddenly gotten sick and was walking home from a friends place a few miles away, and I wanted to make sure she got home ok, so I ran out to meet her.

I was dressed in a long wool jacket with a nice shirt on, and got stop by the police. Apparently, it was suspicious that someone would be jogging in that type of attire, and there had been a hit-and-run a bit away from there, and I fit the description of the person that ran.

It was a bit surreal -- an officer started immediately asking me questions, including identification, what was in my pockets, etc. After telling him just a glove was in my jacket pocket, he came up to me and quickly felt himself. Satisfied that I had answered honestly, he asked me to wait as a second police car drove up.

The first officer looked back to the second police car and asked if this was the guy -- the second police officer took one look at me, looked back at the guy angrily, and shook his head slowly no in one of the largest looks of contempt I had seen. After that, I was back on my way.

This story brings me back to that moment, but to be honest I have not thought about it since, and now I wonder if I should have done something differently. Should I have resisted? Should I have proclaimed my rights and had them try to arrest me? Was I too meek in allowing them to frisk me briefly? Was there some sort of prejudicial motivation for what happened? Was I wrong to simply forget that moment afterwards, and not attribute to malice?

I have no doubt police target people, due to prejudice of some kind, in many different cities. And I also do not want to in any way dismiss or diminish someone's fear, someones worries, or someone's feeling like they were targeted directly because of their race or ethnicity, their gender, or their beliefs.

But is there a lesson to be learned from this story? Is it a story of a man who felt enormous fear when approached by the police, and how that still reflects the worry many minorities feel in society with regards to the police? Is it a story about how a man was targeted unfairly due to his race, due to prejudice still present in law enforcement? I'm not sure the takeaway from this -- only that a man was stopped on the street, and that he felt pain from that experience. Do I share this pain having gone through something similar? Do I rewrite my own experience and feel pain? Or do I continue as I have -- not attributing to malice until proven otherwise? It's not clear, and I'm not sure how to take this and use it for the better.

</comment><comment><USER28> Source down. Other source: [http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/33894-i-fit-t...](http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/33894-i-fit- the-description)

</comment><comment><USER29> I found myself in a similar situation, sharing the same name, not profiling. I was asked to come in to 'help with a case'. It was really an interrogation of my involvement. I had the same feeling of uncertainty and the thought I could do nothing to argue my case, based on the continued, escalating questions.

It was assumed that I needed to prove my innocence rather than they prove my guilt. Luckily I happened to be across the country on that day so it was easily dropped. I was denied to see the police report after multiple requests, which I thought I was entitled to.

This one experience greatly changed the way I view police and their tactics. I can empathize

<comment><USER30> > It was assumed that I needed to prove my innocence rather than they prove my > guilt.

This was not a trial. How do you propose to eliminate suspects, if convincing yourself that they are innocent is not permitted?

</comment></comment><comment><USER31> It seems to me that the cops did everything right here, aside from perhaps drawing a gun (which it seems he may not have, only undoing a snap perhaps?) too early. They can't just take his word for it, they need to verify the eye- witness ID. This should be obvious.

His paranoia is a likely a result of his previous encounters with other police officers and hearsay from other encounters. This particular encounter sounds right.

They thanked him repeatedly for cooperation, apologized for messing with his lunch break, etc. This is their job, what could they do better? Not investigate since he said "it's not me, honest"?!?

</comment><comment><USER32> _If you are wondering why people don't go with the police, I hope this explains it for you._

Nope, I still don't get it. Thanks for the perspective though.

<comment><USER33> I think the author was aware of his standing in the community and was considering purposely becoming a martyr. While I disagree with his decision (like you do), based on his perception it may have felt like the best thing (for the planet, not for himself) to do in his circumstance.

</comment></comment><comment><USER34> To be interrogated or detained (the pre-arrest stuff) is not benign. It is full of risk because police are sanctioned to use force on citizens. It is especially risky for non-whites, especially if they try to exercise their rights. This story is about what it's like to experience these phenomena in real life. Did I make that easy enough for you all that are struggling to see the value in this piece?

</comment><comment><USER14> Not to take away from his experience, but being surrounded by cops is always scary. I was never under suspicion for anything serious, but got stopped for running traffic lights or cycling on the wrong way of the street. That was not that scary (no guns), but it is always clear that you are completely at the mercy of the cops. Sometimes stories like this seem to escalate when people talk back. Don't talk back to cops! That is my mantra anyway. Don't argue, don't try to use logic. Just apologize meekly and try to be as nice and compliant as possible.

A (white) friend of mine used to wear the wrong kind of jacket, associated with left youth, and the cops would also sometimes search him, and even do anal probing for hidden pot. (All this is for Germany, mind you).

Also the stories about calling SWAT teams to innocent people's houses, or the unreliability of forensics, are really scary. I think "unfairly detained or killed by cops" has to be accepted as another modern risk, like being run over by a car or getting cancer. And unfortunately the risk is probably higher for people with dark skin.

</comment><comment><USER17> His mistake was answering the officer's initial questions. You are under no obligation to talk to the police if questioned. If the officer has sufficient reason to believe you're guilty (such as witnessing a crime), he will simply arrest you on the spot and talking won't do any good.

Second, I see a subtle racial angle to this, and as a white person I too have been stopped by the police several times. White police are not singling out black people.

getting barraged by dovecotes but will not remove the post because I think it is still helpful, or at least encourage discussion about the matter

<comment><USER35> > but his mistake was answering the officer's initial questions.

You know, a lot of Internet Tough Guys(tm) make this claim. Only those who _have_ been stopped by cops randomly (I have, and I'm not white) will understand that this is nearly impossible. You are intimidated. You know that you have basically no rights; they'll just charge you with "obstruction of justice" or "disobeying a lawful order" and throw you into the justice( * ) system, where you'll end up wasting countless hours and dollars before "all charges are dropped". A white person, on the other hand, has a strong feeling of "I have rights". Most non-whites don't.

( * ) for some definition of "justice"

<comment><USER36> A lot of Internet Tough Guys don't understand that if you're respectful and kind to the police, they'll more often than not go on their way without any type of escalation. Making their life difficult by refusing to talk to them at all or show any basic respect might work OK a few times, but really you're just going to cause problems. A better response than just repeating "Am I being detained?" is to filter your words carefully against some basic legal knowledge. Not necessarily foolproof, but most likely a better outcome than acting like a dick, as long as you're reasonably intelligent.

<comment><USER8> One day, in the first week of March, perhaps the 2nd or 3rd, I had driven my kids to school in the morning. While on the way out, I observed a cop issuing some sort of traffic citation to another parent on their way in. This was causing a major delay for hundreds of cars, due to this guy blocking the only way in and out with two stationary vehicles, one being the typical suburban full-time-parent kid-chauffeuring battle-tank SUV.

I may have allowed an annoyed look to appear on my face.

Seconds later, this same guy was pulling _me_ over. The reason? My vehicle stickers expire February 28th. I renewed online late in the month (the shortest month, naturally), and the replacement stickers had not yet arrived in the mail. Fortunately for me, I had the printed receipt of my renewal transaction on the front passenger seat of my car. (The stickers arrived in the mail later that day.)

While walking away, the guy tells me, "Next time don't wait until the last minute to renew." ~Dude. I'm sorry that my timely production of exculpatory evidence precluded you from ratcheting one tick closer to your ticket quota.~ If you're going to be overzealous in enforcing the revenue laws, I don't need to hear any complaints about me paying the full amount and on time.

Next time, and all subsequent times, I will try the "not making your job easier" approach. You can't treat people like moustache-twirling villains half the time, and soulless cash machines the other half, and still expect them to respect you. I _know_ he had an in-car computer that showed him my current registration and insurance status. He probably pulled me over because I gave him a dirty look for screwing up car line, and he wanted to be an extra-big dick about it.

The policing for profit has to stop. Whether its from dubious municipal court fines and fees or War on Drugs grants, the distorted flow of money is rewriting the relationship between police and public. The public is simultaneously employer to and customer of the police. That means that the cop has the burden of being professional and respectful at all times, even in the face of horrendous rudeness.

When a waiter or delivery driver gets stiffed on a tip, they suck it up, maybe post a pic to social media, and move on. When a cop gets frowned at, they swagger up, solicit some respeck for their authoritah, and maybe hurt someone while the cameras are inexplicably turned off. It should not matter whether or not the public gives or withholds respect. Those cops are on the clock and serving customers. If those customers are curt with front-line employees, perhaps it is because the company as a whole has been behaving as badly as AT&T or Comcast.

Just as you may get better results being calm and polite with your customer service rep while on the phone with those companies, you still might get a freakin' Ernestine, not caring about you, because the company is a [local] monopoly and it doesn't have to. In that case, you're better off sticking to your own script and recording everything.

<comment><USER36> >In that case, you're better off sticking to your own script and recording everything.

I'm not really sure how you came to this conclusion. You are correct about many things here, but the solution is not to become defiant; that will only result in, at a minimum, more hassle for you, like the officer writing an invalid citation anyway because he can, thus forcing you to either pay or waste an afternoon at traffic court to try to get it thrown out.

<comment><USER8> Some people are naturally more stubborn than others. I probably came to that conclusion due to my exceptionally mule-headed ancestry.

As a result, when I perceive that someone is working against my own interests, I will do anything within the bounds of my own ethics to trip them up, even to my own detriment. I _want_ to waste lots of nights and weekends mailing documents in to traffic court, to try to get that revenue-generating municipal summons turned into a money-losing jury trial, with plenty of motions and discovery and appeals.

"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison." \--H.D. Thoreau

Under a government which funds itself by forcing citizens to pay more in order to be hassled less, choosing to accept the inconvenience might be considered an altruistic act....[0] But in my case, it would be purely for spite. From Hell's heart, I stab at thee, Captain Kirk.

If you want to let those bastards get away with their scam just because you can't stand to have a little manure tossed at you, go right ahead. I hope you enjoy smelling nice and not having any parts of your face broken when you go out with your fancy respectable folk.

The cops say "you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride." Well, Cave Johnson says, "I'm going to burn life's house down, with the lemons!" (He says what we're all thinking.) If you want to take me on a ride, don't forget that you'll have to drive the whole way. If you're intentionally inconveniencing me, as as informal punishment, remember this: "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." \--G.B. Shaw.

[0] Poe's Law note: this is the inflection point between mostly-sincere and mostly-insincere. Determining which is which is left as an exercise for the reader.

<comment><USER36> This works fine with most non-police, but please realize that police have license to kill. Even if your shooting is unjustified, the bias is going to favor the police officer, and there are many things in the justice system that work in their favor, not the least of which being that many of their colleagues, associates, and friends will be responsible for their prosecution.

If a normal person shot you, they'd be arrested that night. For police, if they're ever arrested, it will probably many months later, after someone in the organization has decided that they don't like the officer involved in the shooting anyway--err, I mean, after Internal Affairs completes the investigation.

<comment><USER8> If you really believe that police--paid employees of the state--can murder people with impunity, why haven't you joined the rebellion yet? How many more straws would it take to break your back? Do you _really_ want to live in a country where you believe you can be capriciously and arbitrarily murdered by the government without consequence?</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


RAMCloud - <AUTHOR> http://ramcloud.stanford.edu/ <comment><USER2> At a glance, this looks a lot like the underlying software running Texas Memory Systems' (now IBM) RamSan products, except built to run on off-the- shelf hardware of the user's choice, which is quite a nice development.

As a use-case example, those units have been in use for at least ten years by CCP Games [[http://community.eveonline.com/news/news-channels/press- rele...](http://community.eveonline.com/news/news-channels/press- releases/record-17-000-concurrent-gamers-pummel-eve-eve-thrives-on-worlds- fastest-storage-by-texas-memory-systems/) and [http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev- blogs/apocrypharrrrr...](http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev- blogs/apocrypharrrrrdware/)] as extreme-low-latency database storage for a fairly large cluster. At the time there were jokes of the staff needing to get special clearances just to see demo hardware before making their decision and eventual purchase due to restrictions related to their use by government and military customers.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it or looking at it wrong, but I wanted to share my 2c while I was thinking about it. I'll take a better look later.

</comment><comment><USER3> Samsung recently announced a 2nd Gen TSV ( 3D ) DDR4 Memory, it will be only 2 years before we see 256GB Memory per DIMM or more. We could easily have 1TB per DIMM by 2020, meaning a single 1U server would have 4TB Memory ( Assuming Intel decide to support that much memory...... )

We have in less then a decade, all of a sudden remove most of our I/O bottleneck. From NAND SSD, to Intel Xpoint, and Giant amount of memory all within 10 years.

</comment><comment><USER4> > RAMCloud replicates all data on nonvolatile secondary storage such as disk > or flash, so no data is lost if servers crash or the power fails

If I have a write-heavy application, for instance a time-series database, does it mean that eventually I'm going to consume all the RAM, then page cache, and eventually my throughput is going to be disk IO bound?

<comment><USER5> Secondary store is more like a backup, not for spilling.

<comment><USER4> Naming aside, is the write throughput into the RAMCloud constrained by the cumulative disk IO write speed? If my sustained write speed is greater than total disk throughput, I either have to drop writes or slow down producers, correct?

<comment><USER6> Usually yes, that is a limit you would mostly not want to exceed. It would slow down producers (not ack newer writes until older backup copies are flushed to disk).

The backup copies of the data is stored on a configurable amout of _other_ systems in the cluster. They receive it to memory, and then the write is acked to the client. Then the backup is written asyncronous to disk on those systems.

You could configure that backups are not written to disk at all, if you have so much memory in the cluster (and do not care for that additional level of durability). Or the size of the buffer of unflushed data which would cover some longer write spikes.

The point is more that the backup copies become "free" once they are written to disk. Otherwise the cluster could only store 25% of it's memory size if you want 3 backup copies.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Here they compare RAMCloud to Redis [https://ramcloud.atlassian.net/wiki/display/RAM/Redis+vs.+RA...](https://ramcloud.atlassian.net/wiki/display/RAM/Redis+vs.+RAMCloud)

</comment><comment><USER8> RAMdrives are back, baby! And maybe going mainstream too!</comment>


Feedback For Recruiters - <AUTHOR> http://blog.jenius.me/post/30249602628/feedback-for-recruiters

<comment><USER2> you're so damn right! Every day, week - always the same story... There is a new recruiting platform, which has a more efficient and personal way to adress the right potentials for their open jobs! Check ist Out @ mercurypuzzle.com</comment>


API Documentation Theme / CMS - <AUTHOR>

Are there any good themes (Wordpress) or other CMS for editing and managing technical documentation, such as API doc?
I really like the Mozilla API Doc: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Boolean
Also, Postmark has some great API Doc as well: http://developer.postmarkapp.com/developer-build.html <comment><USER2> I use Sphinx (<http://sphinx.pocoo.org/>) to generate my documentation. It generates a HTML site and various other formats from one set of source documents (in ReStructuredText) and the docstrings in your source code. It's very Python oriented, though.

</comment><comment><USER3> Check Develop.Github - Github's API docs <http://develop.github.com/>

The site is opensource - <https://github.com/github/develop.github.com>

</comment><comment><USER4> Looks like Mozilla is using MindTouch <http://www.mindtouch.com/> (albeit, highly customized). I'm also interested in setting up an internal repository/library for my team. this is a timely post!</comment>


Animatronic suit used by an actor playing Goro, for Mortal Kombat(1995) movie - <AUTHOR> http://newslamp.com/post/106863/goro-from-the-mortal-kombat-1995-film-was-an-actor-wearing-a-120lb-animatronic-suit

<comment><USER2> I like the video, but even the description in the submitted page is only a copy of the description of the video in Youtube. Direct link to the video: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVi2klX_feE>

</comment><comment><USER3> That was awesome.</comment>


Jetpack for WordPress - ezequiel-garzon http://jetpack.me/

<comment> ezequiel-garzon Please comment if you're already using this. The number and depth of features it offers is impressive. Also, the fact that it is developed by Automattic makes you wonder if it will be integrated with, or simply replace, WordPress.</comment>


The Stargate Replicators ran on code from a Canadian bank - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t8daozmUIw <comment><USER2> This channel is really getting interesting. I hope there's enough material out there to keep it going.

<comment><AUTHOR> I have tons of material. Just a question of time to produce videos. At two per week (my planned cadence) I have months and months of material and people keep making TV and films and I'm sure there are tons of undiscovered code snippets.</comment></comment>


Interactive Graphics for Data Analysis (book) - <AUTHOR> http://www.datavisualization.ch/cuttingedge/benjamin/interactive-graphics-for-data-analysis <comment><USER2> It wasn't our intent to spam (or create blogspam, to be precise), we just wanted to provide some exposure for the great website which complements the book very well.

We link every projects official website up in our coverage to make sure the source gets properly mentioned.

Best, Benjamin datavisualization.ch

</comment><comment><USER3> While datavisualization.ch has some great projects - this is just blogspam.

<http://www.interactivegraphics.org/Home.html> is the actual site for the book.

<comment><USER2> It wasn't our intent to spam (or create blogspam, to be precise), we just wanted to provide some exposure for the great website which complements the book very well.

We link every projects official website up in our coverage to make sure the source gets properly mentioned.

Best, Benjamin datavisualization.ch</comment></comment>


The Ill-Defined Plot: Essays and Amateurs - <AUTHOR> http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/ill-defined-plot <comment><AUTHOR> This can be profitably read in tandem with pg's "The Age of the Essay:" [http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html)</comment>


SimCity Offline mode arrives - <AUTHOR> http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/simcity-offline-play-now-available-for-pc-and-mac

<comment><USER2> 2004: You can now play a game online, over the internet, with multiple players! (Yaaaaay progress!) 2014: You can now play a game offline, without the internet, by yourself! (Yaaaaay progress!)</comment>


Advice for getting engagement for new Ruby/JS forum? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><AUTHOR> I just crated a Ruby on Rails & JavaScript Discourse forum: [http://forum.railsonmaui.com](http://forum.railsonmaui.com). Any advice on how to get community engagement? I don't think there is any other popular free Discourse forum for Ruby, Rails, or JavaScript. It's linked to my blog at [http://www.railsonmaui.com](http://www.railsonmaui.com). Mahalo!</comment>


Watch live: Virgin Galactic is unveiling the interior cabin of SpaceShipTwo - <AUTHOR> https://news.yahoo.com/virgin-galactic-unveiling-cabin-rocketship-113514052.html <comment><AUTHOR> This already happened. Skip the first 10 minutes</comment>


"We are Uber for X" - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/66c0d0547cb4 <comment><USER3> The current leader on angel.co for blended metaphors may still be "Mint for X". It seems like "Uber for X" is destined to replace it, but its popularity is still staggering.

AngelList has startups which are primarily described as Mint.com for "stocks" (Vuru), "financial institutions" (MoneyDesktop), "banks" (MyJibe), "student loans" (Tuition.io), "education" (Always Prepped), "cloud content" (AnyCloud), "your digital data" (voyurl), "your time" (Meexo Labs), "your career" (Mighty Spring), "your belongings" (Itemology), "relationships" (EvenBetterHalf), "maternal and pediatric health" (HealthyUs), "fitness" (Curl), "health and fitness" (Total Health Card), "medical records" (ExtrinsicCare), "diabetes" (HealthEngage), "legal services" (AttorneyFee), "sales software" (Stride), "enterprise marketing departments" (Allocadia), "small business marketing" (BringShare), "business relationships" (Mosec), "business" (Cheqbook), "consumer utilities" (dropcountr), "energy" (MyEnergy), "energy usage and expenses" (Power2Switch), "mobile payments" (Wallet), "cars" (Price My Ride), "insurance" (PolicyOwl), and "travel" (Superfly).

Whew. And I didn't even include the ones that are something else plus Mint.com for X.

Honestly, after going through this list I'm not sure what "Mint for X" even means anymore! Cynically, I suspect it means the technology they're hoping to apply is pie charts and snappy web design.

<comment><USER4> >Honestly, after going through this list I'm not sure what "Mint for X" even means anymore

I am thinking it is supposed to mean:

* Gather personal data on a topic from multiple other sites so that you can manage/view it in one place instead of on each individual site.

although you are probably right that a lot of people just interpet it as pie charts / snappy web design.

<comment><USER5> It's like they forgot that mint was invented to sell people new credit cards and bank accounts. Probably half of these other concepts have no ultimate purpose that produces revenues.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> recently launched a mobile app for selling clothes, super hype interface, spend months tuning it, only to realize some time after the release that a simple wordpress e commerce site made in 2 weeks makes ten times more revenue in a tenth of the time ( with the exact same products beeing sold ). Some things really aren't meant to be purchased on a phone, period.

<comment><AUTHOR> That's really interesting to hear - and seems very similar to the Etsy experience to me.

I've never purchased from their mobile application, though it has been on my phone for over a year.

The Etsy web experience is better for browsing and social discovery is much more intuitive.

That said, Fab recently announced that 30% of their sales are mobile.

<http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/30/fab-mobile-apps/>

<comment><USER6> I suppose some very cheap, very easily understandable gadgets (such as pink usb cable) could be purchased via mobile. But in my opinion every "serious" purchases are not something you would buy via a phone. Also, my app was sold in Europe, so maybe the US market is more mature...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The "mobile first" attitude in the Valley these days always struck me as somewhat misguided. As the article points out, it makes perfect sense in select niches, like Uber's. In many others, the non-mobile web offers a superior browsing experience and if your users prefer it, that's probably where your focus should be. As in all things, know your customer better than anybody else and you'll do well.

That, and the interesting fact that "mobile" is a broad term which seems to encompass tablets in most interpretations. Modern tablets often do a pretty good job of displaying sites which haven't been particularly optimized for mobile anyway.

<comment><USER8> One of the huge benefits people who dismiss mobile first is the ability to control the entire experience. If you launch an iPhone app, you have pixel perfect accuracy, fast speed and can make sure your app works perfectly on all 5 of the devices out there.

<comment><USER9> So you mean iPhone first, which narrows your market even further.

<comment><USER8> It's not always about reaching everyone as fast as possible. Going wide initially is usually a first time entrepreneurs mistake. Build something, figure out that your value proposition is compelling for your target users. As soon as you have hit "product market fit" go wide.

There is a reason companies are going iPhone first.

<comment><USER10> There are many potential narratives that explain why companies are going iPhone first.

An alternate explanation to yours is that companies are going iPhone first because it's trendy. We all know about the SV echo chamber. Following trends seems to fit the data just as well as your hypothesis.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> > Plow Me - Uber for Snow Plows

Surely this one could have had a better name! (I guess they could pivot into an Uber for...never mind.)

<comment><USER12> Surely, you must be talking about "Uber for farming." I just don't think it'll have legs.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I'm the PlowMe* founder (the Uber for snowplows).

At first I didn't care much for the Uber metaphor, because it's not accurate (it turns out, less than 20% accurate), but I've warmed to it, to convey the gist to the listener.

We had a mobile-first product, and while getting ad hoc snow plowing is useful the day of a storm (and from the supply-side, mobile solves a problem), most of our business is from repeat customers. That is, snow plowing is a route business, and mobile is a companion (e.g. for one-timers, to get info. on your plowguy's eta/location etc).

Like others, I find the Uber metaphor useful for telling people what we do in 3 seconds, though interestingly, it's hardly ever to customers. Most of our customers have never heard of Uber in fact, probably not a surprise given their age (many 55+) and where they live (suburbs). I imagine this is different than other Uber for X companies.

By the same token, I find it helpful to invert the Uber metaphor to further explain what you're doing. For example, Uber would be like PlowMe if it had the option of picking you up at the same place and time automatically.

*PlowMe is now part of ServiceRoute.

</comment><comment><USER13> This isn't directly related to the article's point, but I really don't understand this trend of describing companies using analogies like "Uber for X". I imagine people do this because they think it's a simple way to communicate the purpose of their company, but it usually just confuses me. The "Uber for tennis" company referenced in the article is the perfect example. Here's what goes through my head when I read that - "Well I use Uber to book I car so I guess this company books cars for tennis? Hmm, that doesn't make sense......Oh, I guess they help you book a tennis match? Maybe they help you find a nearby tennis partner?". I honestly still have no idea what Uber for tennis is supposed to be. Seems like they would be better served by just saying "We do X"

<comment><USER14> That would require thinking through your business plan, which is, like, haaaaaard and stuff. Much easier to just point at something and say "US LIKE THAT."

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Hey, I started Tennis Buddy, thought I'd chip in what we had in mind. Everything we built upon is what what Matt Cohler said last year at TC disrupt to the question that the next big thing in mobile is gonna be that you just "push a button and something amazing happens in the user's world.". [http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/21/great-mobile-apps-are- remot...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/21/great-mobile-apps-are-remote- controls-for-real-life/)

That's what the Uber for X is, it doesn't matter if it is cars, services or in our case - people. If you need something, just let everyone know in your area by simply pressing one button and they'll come to you.

So for now, you can find someone nearby to play tennis with you, whenever, wherever you want to :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for commenting.

When you guys launch in San Francisco, I will try Tennis Buddy. I think it's an interesting concept if you guys broadened it to more general athletic activities (as opposed to just tennis).

I can imagine this being particularly useful for pickup basketball and running buddies.

<comment><USER15> Hey, thank you. :) We actually have 300 tennis players in SF looking to play already, if you have an Android (nobody has Android in SF...^^) [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tbuddy.and...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tbuddy.android)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> "Describe your product in 3-5 words. Consider comparing your product with something that people are already familiar with. For example:

-> Better comparison shopping (Shopobot)

-> Flickr for video (YouTube)

-> Group video chat (Tinychat)"

\- AngelList hover suggestion for writing your high-concept pitch.

Here's how I see it:

1) There are many, many thousands of startups on AngelList.

2) AL explicitly prescribes this exact "X for Y" formula for writing your 1-liner, where X is a well-known success.

3) Uber is a well-know success.

4) Author points out that "30+" companies chose Uber as their X.

This doesn't really seem like a fair characterization. People are following suggested wisdom and 30+ is hardly considerable. Probably about what would be statistically expected, distributing good candidates for X (well-known successes) across AL startups.

<comment><USER17> 4chan for Soccer Mom's

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> At the end of the day.. probably what most people need to know, and few do. Uber is a logistics company. A wide open market with high growth. Just look at Coyote, or any other logistics company that has blown up size in the past few years.

</comment><comment><USER19> "The "Uber for X" recipe is pretty simple.

1\. Identify a service-based industry that feels archaic. 2\. Recruit suppliers in your given vertical. 3\. Create a mobile application with a big green request button."

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> @arbuge 100% agree that the non-mobile web has advantages over mobile - <USER2> that many people have become blinded to that fact. Thanks for the comments!</comment>


Listen to a Real Epidemiologist - <AUTHOR> Listen to a real epidemiologist: (https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/)<p>TWiV 607: Coronavirus epidemiology with Jeff Shaman <comment><USER2> Is there anything new discussed?</comment>


OmniDB: An Open Source Web Tool for Database Management and Conversion - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/OmniDB/OmniDB <comment><USER2> This seems really neat. I remember doing some database conversion using a shareware tool a couple years ago. And being able to self-host this is huge, since databases often contain secrets.

</comment><comment><USER3> Summary: phpMyAdmin but written in ASP.NET/C# and supporting actually good databases.

</comment><comment><USER4> This looks really nice. Sadly I'm still using phpMyAdmin. The biggest problem is deploying this (little to none ASP.NET and C# knowlege). Have you guys thought about making a AWS AMI/Google Cloud image or Heroku build?

<comment><USER5> Deploying was not bad at all...there's a very well written user guide on their website.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> OmniDB now supports SQL CE</comment>


Ask HN: did we make the right call to apply without a technical cofounder? - <AUTHOR>

So, here is the situation in which my cofounder and I find ourselves… When we decided to apply for YC, we proposed to our programmer (who we had recently selected after exhaustive searching, to create our site, since we are non-techies) to come on board as a cofounder.  We wanted him as we knew he would be a great fit for our team…but unfortunately he declined.  He loves our idea, and our vision for what we are trying to do, but he's got a wife, and a kid, and a baby on the way, and he has to put food on the table, and he is in no way prepared to spend 3 months in Cali. With the deadline for YC looming, just a few weeks away, we decided to forego finding someone new, and just applied ourselves. We really thought it would be better than trying to rush and force a team together that may not work… My question is, do you think that that will hurt our chances, not having a tech cofounder, or did we do the right thing by not just grabbing any old person JUST because they're tech? <comment><USER2> It is necessary to be all 3 founders present?, Can he still join you and work from home?.

I'm father of 2 and can't drop my job till I have a MVP and some founding (and then I'll only drop for a year or so)but this is not going to stop me any time soon.

If he is interested and a good fit why not trying working at distance?.

I also have problems currently with technical cofounders, It seems in Spain nobody wants to try a start up. Mind you I'm not asking them to drop their job.

<comment><USER3> Exactly the same here! I also have two kids, a day job and a mortgage to top it off. I'd drop everything to move to California to get in YC, and fortunately my wife and kids support me fully. The problem is that I'm having trouble finding a co-founder. I can code/design, but it's a LOT of work doing it alone, after your job, after the kids are in bed. Finding someone equally committed is hard: either they're not prepared to work as much on the project as I am, OR they can work on the project fulltime but feel they're putting more into the project than I am because they don't have kids and a day job. Dutch folks are usually very risk-adverse (apart from a few Dutch guys here on HN!) so it's difficult finding someone who wants to do a startup to begin with. So I definately feel where you're coming from!

If you're interested, shoot me an email. Maybe we can discuss some ideas, who knows how things will turn out!

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, I do know how it is. My cofounder has a 7 year old, and I have a 6 year old and a 4 month old. Luckily for us as well, we have a great support network, and amazing spouses who are super supportive as well. I think if anyone wants us to get YC as bad as we do, it would be my husband :) I think it's easier for us to drop everything for our start up than for him because it's "our" project, you know? Did you apply to yc this session anyway? I'll chat with my girl and maybe we can send you an email monday!

<comment><USER3> I did apply, but I think my chances are slim. I did not want to apply this cycle (have applied 2 times before) because I'm far from finishing my project, but did it anyway.

Feel free to contact me! I'd love to bounce of some ideas!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> The right thing - as did your employee for his circumstances. Good luck!

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks, that is what we were hoping :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> If you did not apply, your odds of being accepted would be significantly lower than they are now.

<comment><AUTHOR> absolutely! we actually auditioned for Dragon's Den last year on one of our other projects at the very last minute, with nothing but financial projections, a crappy poster board and a "game" as a hook intro. We didn't get on, but it was a great experience, and, heck, lots of fun!</comment></comment>


A Close Call: How a Near Failure Propelled Me to Succeed [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202007/rnoti-p1007.pdf <comment><USER2> I once read a very interesting, barely-upvoted reddit post titled "I suck at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu". It was written by a black belt, himself a formidable combatant and instructor, who no one would accuse of "sucking at BJJ". His rationale was that compared to world champion BJJ athletes, he was barely a blip on the radar of the sport itself. Although he had achieved significant mastery relative to the everyman, or even the average advanced practitioner, he was still woefully far off from the true limits of the sport.

This can a tremendously valuable mindset to take up in mathematics; especially when one is a student learning under the factory model of modern school, where one is evaluated relative to their peers and the institution itself, rather than relative to the limits of what is possible. Countless "gifted and talented" students have been done a tremendous disservice by being informed at a young age by the system that they are "good at math" or "good at English" because they show relative aptitude in memorizing and regurgitating simplified models of advanced material.

Terry Tao is lucky to be so smart that he was already somewhat well-known and successful by the time he learned the truth that these administered tests of ability are arbitrary; it would be tremendously helpful for modern students to learn the same, much earlier.

<comment><USER3> This is a great post, and I think you often tend to see that kind of humility in top competitors -- _especially_ athletes. I remember a guy in my social circle back at UCLA was an Olympic discus thrower: extremely talented, hard- working, gifted, and intimidating. One of the most humble, respectful, and down-to-earth people. He spoke with great reverence of the sport and his competitors and teammates. My sister's boyfriend was an Olympic-level swimmer and he has the same exact attitude.

From my own experience playing Counter-Strike at world-class levels, I found that, generally speaking, the best players were the most humble and down-to- earth; the ones that talked shit were not only bad teammates, but sub-par players in general. These days, I'm much better than the average Joe at first- person-shooters, but I always point out that I'm _actually_ pretty bad: I'd get easily beaten even by mid-tier semi-pro teams. Interestingly, this is a side-effect of our human brain not quite grasping exponential growth (or log scales). Going from the 95th to the 96th percentile is _much_ harder than going from the 50th to the 85th.

<comment><USER4> Why do you think this correlation between top-tier skill and humility exists?

<comment><USER5> I'd say there's several factors working in the same direction

At the very top levels, everyone has very close to the same level of preparation in terms of physical training, equipment, and mental preparation. A lot of the result comes down to your mental edge on a particular day, and some luck. The mental edge is the most fickle and difficult part of the skill set, yet it is virtually everything at the top. So, everyone recognizes that they may have an on or an off day.

Recognition that just in general, a position at the top is fragile, and it is not about your previous result, but your next result, which is uncertain.

Recognition that your competitors are also extremely good and prepared, and respect for them also leads to humility.

Then, even if they've got multiple world championship seasons under their belt, they see the context of the other greats in their sport (or similar in their field).

The post-qualifying and post-race interviews in Formula 1 auto racing often provide great examples. The top qualifiers will almost always say something like: "we qualified well, we think we're prepared, and hope for a good result tomorrow.". And after winning the race, it's about the team effort and the way things fell into place to make the win. I can't recall hearing anything resembling trash-talk in that environment.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> This is something that afflicts a lot of younger, talented students. I was able to breeze through K-8 without studying, then attended a challenging high school where I went from a straight A student to a B/C student. It took me at least two years to realize that I could no longer succeed by simply showing up. Fortunately, this was great preparation for college. I saw many straight-A high school devastated after their first round of college engineering exams.

I think this is an unfortunate consequence of our education system at-scale. It's difficult for advanced students to be properly challenged until they reach a certain reckoning point, which for Terence was impressively during his grad school exams.

<comment><USER7> similarly, I was able to go through k-8 with no effort outside of paying attention during class. high school was more or less the same, not to mention interests can easily wander during those years. in college I quickly discovered I could get more or less straight Bs with almost zero effort and figured the effort needed for the last 1 point in GPA was far too "expensive" relative to the first 3 so I coasted.

never having explicitly failed during those years ill admit my level of "grit" is lacking. after a decade and variety of circumstances i sit here, mid 30s, saddled with a ton of student debt and no career. in the grand scheme i have definitely failed; if this reckoning point (realization) had been reached as early as mr. tao perhaps there would be time to turn things around.

<comment><USER8> If you turn the boat around in the next 5 years, you will hopefully have another 30 years of a flourishing career, more than the entire career of some prodigies who perished young. This assumes a projected retirement of 70 years old. What is particularly exciting is that new industries are starting to form, and any one of us can be pioneers in those industries (fintech, VR, AR, AI, automated vehicles, drones, robotic process automation, Edge Cloud, etc...).

<comment><USER9> Your comment and the parent's comment both resonated with me, as someone who also finds himself "stuck".

What do you suggest that someone do in this situation--one where they want to reset their career, carve out a new one, etc.?

<comment><USER8> I'm in the same boat (except I wasn't "stuck," I was climbing, but I wanted to do something else), and my post articulates logic that I am using myself :) I recently cold-messaged someone in a startup in one of those industries, and they were surprisingly willing to carve out an opportunity for me. He's the person who would be my boss and just needs to get approval from the CEO. Even if that doesn't work out, I've learned the following lesson in various ways over the past few months: just applying to jobs isn't enough if you don't have specific applicable experience. That should be common sense, but somehow I had fooled myself into thinking otherwise before. Career switching is a complete grind. That's why it's so important to join a growing industry, do great work, and hopefully never have to switch again.

I welcome comments from someone who successfully reset their career after at least 5-10 years of working.

<comment><USER9> Thanks for the response. The story about cold-emailing your future boss (hopefully!) is very cool.

And I agree completely regarding applying to jobs. I've sent out some applications recently but it feels like I'm sending them into a black hole of complete radio silence. Part of me thinks that I should go back to school to do a complete career reset, but my academic performance was abysmal during undergrad...lots to think about! Thanks again for the response.

<comment><USER7> same - done with applying. has only consumed a massive amount of time with no results. perhaps im just from the island of misfit candidates but shifting focus for now to work on a reset as you mention. feel like im just too stale to continue that path. diving into perhaps some of the things @keenmaster mentioned, perhaps working on some certifications. either way, opportunity ebbs and flows (imo) just need to be better prepared to take advantage.

best regards to both of you (and anyone else reading feeling similar circumstances).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Reminds me of a friend from high school who was one of the smartest people I've ever known. In multivariable calculus we weren't required to do the HW if we didn't want to. He never did homework and never studied outside of paying attention in class and still got 100s on all the quizes/exams. He went to MIT and failed most of his classes his first semester there. He'd never had to study before so he didn't know how. Like Terence Tao though he's doing fine now.

<comment><USER11> If we live long enough, we all find our limits. Learning to work within those limits and succeed in spite of them seems like one of the great leveling-ups of life.

<comment><USER12> Strictly speaking, I don't think that's true if you're the smartest person in the world.

John von Neumann springs to mind, who did his mathematics PhD at the same time as his chemical engineering degree, with a friend of his commenting that _Evidently a Ph.D. thesis and examination did not constitute an appreciable effort._ [0]

To my knowledge he never really failed at any of his intellectual pursuits, but I could be mistaken.

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann#University_st...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann#University_studies)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> This essay also appears in a book called "Living Proof: Stories of Resilience Along the Mathematical Journey" put together by the AMS and MAA recently. Its a collection of essays kind of like this about near (or actual) mathematical failures and what happened afterward. The whole thing is here [1]. Most of the essays are from pretty "normal" mathematicians rather than super-duper stars like Tao.

[1] [https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/ebooks/pdf/Livin...](https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/ebooks/pdf/LivingProof_WEB.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER14> Here's the summary that Tao wrote at the time, for future Princeton grad students: [https://web.math.princeton.edu/generals/tao_terence](https://web.math.princeton.edu/generals/tao_terence)

Other students: [https://web.math.princeton.edu/generals/](https://web.math.princeton.edu/generals/)

</comment><comment><USER15> I sometimes feel very uncomfortable reading such stories, especially when the person in the story is a legendary mathematician. It is as if my mediocrity is afraid of their excellence.

Maybe this is why we have so few Terry Taos and Ed Wittens, idolatry aside, there is a kind of fear that lurks inside of most people. Realising which the average joe distances himself more instead of striving to attain his full potential.</comment>


IKEA Gets Deeper into the Woods - <AUTHOR> http://www.wsj.com/articles/ikea-gets-deeper-into-the-woods-1438310691 <comment><USER2> This story was wrongly buried by user flags. I'm guessing this was because of the WSJ paywall. This is not a legitimate use of flagging on HN.

Academic journals that are truly locked down are one thing, but nearly every media paywall has a standard workaround. This is the case with NYT, Economist, New Yorker, WSJ, and other sources. fillskills was entirely right to post this article, which is interesting and on topic.

It's fine to help other users get to read the article. It's not fine to take threads off-topic by complaining about paywalls.

When I have time, I'm going to update the FAQ about this, but anyone who wants to can read through the many previous discussions we've had about it [1]. As far as I'm concerned the question is settled: we're not going to impoverish HN by banning sources of good stories that are readable by everyone with known workarounds. Good stories are scarce enough as it is.

1\. [https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=...](https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%20paywall)

</comment><comment><USER3> Around the paywall [https://archive.is/qRnWv](https://archive.is/qRnWv)

<comment><USER4> Off-topic but slightly interesting:

Apparently archive.is blocks Finnish IP addresses. Additionally, my ISP does not even resolve an A record for archive.is. No idea why.

<comment><USER5> Wikipedia has this[1] (sourced [2]):

> On July 21, 2015, the operators blocked access to the service from all > Finnish IP addresses, stating on Twitter they did this in order to avoid > escalating a dispute they allegedly had with the Finnish government, that > they refused to provide additional information on.

[1]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archive.is#Worldwide_availabil...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archive.is#Worldwide_availability)

[2]: [https://twitter.com/archiveis/status/623524336184524800](https://twitter.com/archiveis/status/623524336184524800)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> My impression is that IKEA products already use a bare minimum of wood. If they make things even thinner, there won't be much reason to shop there instead of just buying the cardboard stuff at Wal-Mart.

<comment><USER7> I've stopped buying IKEA products for this reason. They are never durable. The unit surfaces get pitted and discoloured easily and things warp over time. It's crap basically. I have to replace it all every 4-5 years.

The last cycle I threw some cash at some quality solid wood products. They're a better investment.

<comment><USER8> I've had quite a lot of good furniture from there, which has lasted more than a decade. I think they carry crap and they carry things which are well made and well designed.

There does recently seem to be more crap, though. I tried to buy a floor lamp from there a couple of months ago, and they seemed to be basically not charging enough to be able to make their designs to a decent standard. If you're going to make a floor lamp for £30-40, just make it simple, don't put in a lot of hinges which aren't properly secured or balanced, or snake-like fittings which make loud groaning noises every time they are moved. Ironically I got something less ambitious and better designed from the local anonymous hardware store. Disappointing to see a company like IKEA which is supposed to be all about thought-out industrial design making mistakes like that.

<comment><USER7> Yes definitely. I have a floor lamp from them as well and the metal was so thin it folded the first time it was moved so now it's a metal and duct tape lamp :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> As a Romanian, I'm livid. We've had huge problems with illegal deforestation in the last couple of decades.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=romania+deforestation](https://www.google.com/search?q=romania+deforestation)

<comment><USER10> Ikea say "operating forests would help it secure long-term access to sustainably managed wood." ie. replanting and harvesting, not deforesting.

<comment><USER9> I'm not entirely skeptical of how ethical their exploitation will be conducted, I'm just raising the point that we're a country with heavily affected (ex-)forests. Moreover, there's a rich recent history of external interests being facilitated by our ultra-corrupt government, to rather devastating effects.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Vertical integration is so passé. Now you've got two problems, you'll end up competing with your other wood suppliersor supply your furniture competitors. Using the profit from your core business to prop up the weak one; whichever way round that ends up being.

The world just spent the last decade de-integrating.

<comment><USER12> I would agree with you if it were a smaller company, but at IKEA's volume, it does make sense.

Also, it's "mainstream" again, with Apple as the trendsetter.

[http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Vertical- Integration-2...](http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Vertical- Integration-2-0-An-Old-Strategy-Makes-a-Comeback?gko=41fe1)

[http://business.time.com/2012/03/16/how-apple-made- vertical-...](http://business.time.com/2012/03/16/how-apple-made-vertical- integration-hot-again-too-hot-maybe/)

<comment><USER13> Delta Airlines owns a refinery, Tesla is building their own Battery factory; Vertical integration is alive and well.</comment></comment></comment>