Get Your Fucking Feet Off The Table - <AUTHOR> http://oppugn.us/posts/1270132724.html <comment><USER3> I'm Indian and I know this about many other cultures too - pointing your feet at someone is really an incredibly offensive gesture. And given how the workplace here in tech is a myriad mix of cultures, I'd avoid it. While it clearly isn't considered offensive in the US, it's still a pretty rude gesture. You may think you're just being chill and laid back but the other person is thinking (unless you both have feet pointed at each other lol) you're a moron.

My first week in grad school I went to meet a professor and the fucker puts his feet up on his desk pointing them right at my face. Since I was a fob at the time, I wasn't quite sure how to take this. I lost respect for him that day. Unsurprisingly, he turned out to be an asshole of a professor too.

In a professional setting, most people wouldn't tell you to put them down, but it reflects badly on you. Do it in India and your boss would fire you, instantly.

<comment><USER4> "While it clearly isn't considered offensive in the US, it's still a pretty rude gesture"

There are a bunch of other gestures that meet the same criterion. I am Indian, so I'll list some I'm familiar with:

1\. Not addressing your teacher/professor as "Sir/Madam". Addressing a teacher as Mr. X/Professor Y is verboten.

2\. Displaying photos of your family at work (mild, but yes)

3\. "Disrespecting" your elders/teachers/bosses with counterarguments. ...

On the social front, you'd be expected to

1\. Not address your elders solely by their first name.

2\. Not cohabit with the opposite sex before marriage.

3\. Not smoke/drink.

4\. Not eat pork/beef.

5\. Not change your gender.

Which of these did you object to/are you going to object to? Will you refuse to work with someone trans-gendered, as would happen "instantly" in India?

The fact is, you were in the US _not_ India. I would argue that the onus is on you to adjust yourself to the customs of your hosts rather than the other way around. Just as an Indian would expect any US (or otherwise foreign) visitors to keep in mind the Indian customs.

PS: you used two epithets to describe your teacher in the same paragraph. I find it amusing that your "Indian" sensibility (Guru! Respect!) is not offended by it.

<comment><USER5> Or if he is your boss, you better adjust (would that mean the trans-gendered would have to change again? Or is that a double violation?)

<comment><USER6> Maybe if your boss switches genders, you'd better, too.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I don't normally care for rants, but I think this one was great.

A few more "pet peeves":

1\. Don't sit on my desk. I'm a programmer. My desk is also my dining table.

2\. If I'm eating at my desk, don't touch my food. I'm so busy that I usually bring what I think I'll need for the day. I didn't factor in your needs too. Go to the vending machine.

3\. If your come to my desk and see my typing furiously and I don't look up, that means I'm busy writing code or commenting on hn. Either way, if the building's not on fire, go away and send me an email.

4\. If you get upset in a discussion with someone else, don't raise your voice, don't yell profanities, and most of all, don't slam the door or throw anything. That's when I leave for the day. Some of us have had enough of that for one lifetime.

5\. If we're talking in my office, face me and take your hand off the doorknob. If it's important, I'm not going to rush through it because you're in a hurry to get somewhere else. If it's not important, then leave me alone.

6\. If we're meeting, turn off your cellphone. If it vibrates, don't look at it to see who it is. If I'm not the most important person at that moment, then I don't want to meet with you.

7\. I'm always happy to discuss important matters, but I don't do "status" meetings. If you want to know status, email me and I'll reply. Otherwise, my status report would read, "Nothing accomplished. Spent all day in status meetings."

8\. If there's cake in the breakroom, have a piece, but leave your Tupperware in your car. This isn't Cheesecake Factory.

9\. Don't lie to me. Ever. If you tell me that Joe agreed with these mods, I can easily confirm that with Joe. If he says you never talked to him, I will never listen to anything you ever say again.

10\. If you had Mexican for lunch, cut the rest of us a break and use the restroom at the Shell station.

<comment><USER8> >If I'm eating at my desk, don't touch my food.

>If there's cake in the breakroom, have a piece, but leave your Tupperware in your car.

People actually _do_ that? Where do you work?

>If you get upset in a discussion with someone else, don't raise your voice, don't yell profanities, and most of all, don't slam the door or throw anything.

If one of the last two happened, that's when I'd leave for good. I've seen people get upset and even raise their voices, but if it ever got even slightly physical, I think I'd have to go. It's just too easy for an object to hit someone "accidentally." The last thing I need is a red Swingline stuck in the back of my head.

<comment><USER9> Yeah, that's crazy to me. I bring snacks to my office, and when I'm fine with people eating the things I bring, I make it explicit - I tell everyone, or I leave a note. Same thing with taking food - I'll ask if it's fine if I take a few slices of pizza home.

How is taking your food not outright theft?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Hahaha, I started reading this straight away without glancing at the sidebar. Nodding my head in agreement with the grossness of SF (even though I live here and love it) and then after a few paragraphs thought, "man, this guy does a pretty good impression of Zed Shaw."

 _Oh._ I guess he just moved here from New York.

<comment> X-Istence Had I seen the sidebar before I read the article I would have stopped reading after the first paragraph.

Let me add that after reading the article I found it to be lacking in any real valuable content that would have made this a hacker news story. It seems like he is rambling on about something, that yes I agree it is rude, it is not that big of a deal and is part of the American culture.

Also, swear words were thrown in not because they added anything to the piece, but rather because he could. Shame really.

<comment><USER11> The world according to Zed:

Putting your shoes on the table: Arrogant & impolite

Swearing a lot: A OK!

I don't know why he's so upset with feces on the table when you consider what comes out of his mouth.

Note: I like to swear as well, but I don't go around being miss manners.

<comment><USER12> Swearing in English doesn't upset people not from the USA

<comment><USER13> Don't you think swearing in English could potentially offend anyone who speaks English whether or not they're from the USA?

<comment><USER14> I never understood how swearing could be offensive. Actually, I find people that find words offensive, offensive.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Some people are really obsessed with dirt and germs. Some people aren't. Some people find legs stretched out is quite comfortable. Some people really don't care about your dumb hangups and like to be comfortable. Trying to say this is some passive aggressive dominance thing is really, really stretching.

<comment><USER16> I like to be comfortable and lying down is comfortable, but I don't take my bed in and lie down during a meeting. I like farting but I don't do it in people's faces. Wanking feels good too but I don't do it at work.

Do you really not see how abhorrent it is to be inconsiderate of other people? It may not be passive-aggressive but it's certainly rude.

<comment><USER17> I like drinking coffee, I do that at work. A nice big stretch from time to time is great, I do at least one each day at my desk. Several times each week I'll take off my glasses and rub my eyes a bit, I don't care who's around!

Sure, there are things you like to do that shouldn't be done at work, but the two are not correlated--or at least not as correlated as you suggest. While you've found some very amusing examples, they're tangentially relevant at best and used more for hyperbole, just like most of the article.

<comment><USER18> Why don't you explain why feet on table is a dumb hangup while farting is a rational one.

<comment><USER19> Farting smells. Feet on the table doesn't (well, hopefully not).

<comment><USER20> Feet on the table can make people sick. Farting can't.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Some cultural observations about shoes on the table, feces on the sidewalk, and what it all means.

a) shoes on table

Western Europeans also find the gesture of shoes on chairs and tables repulsive, both in public and in private.

In my experience, shoes on the table in public seems to be a US specific behavior, but please correct me if I'm wrong. You know, something you'd see in a Western. It's a very laissez faire gesture, of a confident and free people, unlike the stuck up Europeans with all their rules.

The most memorable experience for me was with the CEO of a company where I worked. He would do this in every meeting, even when we met with executives of another company. It could have been a dominance gesture, but more likely his hippy attitude.

I've also observed that people in the US tend to put their shoes where others will sit or put their hands, e.g. chairs, benches etc.

b) dog poo

People in the US pick up after their dogs, I find this great! A lot of Europeans don't, which is super nasty. The memory of dogshit in Paris and Berlin, especially on a hot summer day, makes me want to puke. Google for Paris and dogshit and see what I mean.

a + b) what it means

Now, to each their own, but from a hygiene/medical standpoint, shoes on chairs and tables should not be done. Let me explain why.

Even with no visible dogshit under your shoe, there are myriad diseases that can be transferred this way. It does not have to be as horrible as <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_multilocularis>, but there are many others. Eggs of parasitic worms hosted by domestic animals are quite hardy. That's why I'd say, leave you shoes (not necessarily feet) of chairs and tables. Why risk infecting yourself and others? Like wearing a seatbelt, a simple behavior that can save your life.

<comment><USER22> A lot of what you are saying is a sweeping generalisation.

> People in the US pick up after their dogs, I find this great! Europeans > don't, which is super nasty.

I live in Yorkshire in the UK and you can get fined £1000 for not picking up your dog turd. I'm not sure how well it is policed but my town is fairly free of dog turd. Parks, pavements etc are clear. I dont see much at all.

Please dont make sweeping generalistions like this. You are just plain wrong.

<comment><USER23> The thing about generalizations is 90% of the time they are true. Your city enforces city ordinances, that rare other 10%. A lot of other places don't and would be offended at the idea of having to. You know where else is clean? Singapore, the take it seriously (caning in extreme circumstances).

Now I know Yorkshire and London doesn't have a dog poop problem, but the majority of Western Europe (I only know of France, Germany, and parts of Spain I visited) do.

So we can say he is 90% correct. Which is still passing on most standardized tests.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> While it's aimed at Silicon Valley culture, I see some of this pretty much everywhere I go, and I'm not afraid to call someone out on it. Quote of the day: "It's kind of like if I went over to your desk, grabbed you by your greasy hair, yanked your neckbeard to my backside, and farted straight in your face while yelling, "I had Kung Pao chicken for lunch! HAHAHAAH!". Yes, that's what putting your feet up on shit is like to other people."

Putting your feet up on your own shit in your own home to get comfortable? Sure. Or maybe even on your own desk at the office. In a meeting, a professional setting and/or around people who aren't good friends? Please. I would personally walk out.

<comment><USER25> Choose one, either 'call someone out on it', or 'walk out'. Or, do like Zed and write a big passive-aggressive blog post about something that clearly bothers you, but that you won't deal with in person.

Nowhere in the article did he describe a reaction from any of these 'passive- aggresive dominants', after they were 'called out' on their offensive behavior.

Neither in Zed's article or this thread, has anyone done so much as mentioned their problem with the offending party.

Sheesh, people. I'm not throwing my feet up on the table, but if those who do bother you so much, then let them know when it happens right in front of you, instead of waiting and venting on the Internet.

<comment><USER24> I'm with you all the way. Also, I could (and likely would) call them out by telling them why I'm leaving. I see it from both sides. In general, I feel most comfortable on my laptop with my feet elevated and my ear-cans on. I can go for hours upon hours at a time without taking a break, in the zone. Desk life just never seems to work quite that well for me.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> I read this and thought, "oh, Zed Shaw has another fucking blog". Then I realized that this is another of Zed Shaw's fucking blogs.

Incidentally, most gut flora does not live so well on sidewalks and the bottoms of shoes. Anything that does will just be killed by your immune system.

If you are this afraid of disease, never use a sponge or your keyboard.

BTW, I don't normally put my feet on the table... but now that I know it annoys so many people, I am going to start doing it.

<comment><USER27> Well, you got loads of class dude. But you know what? At least my blog works:

<http://blog.jrock.us/>

<comment><USER28> Why is this getting upvoted? It is exemplary ad hominem.

I prefer Zed when he isn't ranting.

<comment><USER26> Who cares? I know my blog is down.

After Zed's stream of hate here and on Twitter, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I enjoy his writing. So in addition to putting my feet on the table, I guess I will have to pretend I don't like "Zed's fucking blog" too now.

Sigh. The internets...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> When I was in school, this sort of happened to me at a school clinic waiting room.

I was crossing my legs in the American style. Without realizing my feet were pointed at what appeared to be two middle eastern men and I noticed they were giggling. I noticed and put both feet down and immediately apologized to them. They were impressed that I knew and it made for a good ice breaker (however culturally risky).

<comment><USER30> By pointing, do you mean the soles of your shoes were facing them, or were the feet pointed in the direction of the men in the normal use of the word pointing? If it was the normal use of pointing, how do you avoid having your feet pointing towards whomever is in front of you when you walk? I'm really just trying to get a picture of the situation here.

<comment><USER29> The bottom of my shoe was facing them.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> This kind of reads like its written by a future Howard Hughes (not the rich part, the insane part). Seeing shit on the ground naturally leads to an aversion to feet. Nothing insane there.

<comment><USER27> I prefer Emperor Nero as a good model of future-crazy-but-maybe-brilliant. :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

</comment><comment><USER33> Unless your hanging out with buddies or using an iPad, I think it's pretty common knowledge that propping your feet up is unprofessional at best and rude at worst.

</comment><comment><USER34> Meh. Sounds like he's harboring the same kind of OCD as the schmuck that writes notes to his co-workers about clearing the "extra" time off the microwave.

Nobody is getting cholera from feet on desks, Monk. Double up on hand sanitizer and deal with it.

<comment><USER27> Right, just put up with it like a REAL MAN! I'll shrug it off, and like a real man, bust out that masculine hand sanitizer just like mommy uses.

It's not about _just_ the cleanliness, it's about going out of your way to rudely put your damn feet where other people have to put their hands. It's offensive and it's doubly stupid because it takes effort to do.

So, if your lazy ass has to do this, then rock on manly man. You hardly earned it.

<comment><USER35> > bust out that masculine hand sanitizer just like mommy uses.

Sounds like someone has a little germaphobia. And I don't get the whole hand sanitizer thing..."Yea, I'll clean my hands by rubbing the existing crap in there real well, and by killing all but the most serious bacteria so that it has no competition."

> It's not about just the cleanliness, it's about going out of your way to > rudely put your damn feet where other people have to put their hands.

No, it's my desk. If someone wants to take their chances around it, that's their call. No different from eating at my desk, really.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER36> Lighten up. You got any proof that people in offices where they are allowed to relax get sick more?

</comment><comment><USER37> I could never figure out why kids in sitcoms wore shoes in bed.

</comment><comment><USER38> Hygienic or not. Zed or not. Poor manners can tell you a lot about what to expect from that person in a business relationship. I avoid people with poor manners.

<comment><USER35> So putting my feet up on my own desk, in my own cubicle, is a sign of poor manners? Well I think anyone with that opinion can screw themselves with whichever implement they've lodged up their rectum.

I sit in the same damn posture all day hammering at a keyboard, and one of my small luxuries is _printing out_ some documentation on whatever it is that I have to learn about, adjusting my chair to recline a bit, and kicking my feet up. I may do this for ten minutes or a half hour, and certainly not on a daily basis, and I certainly don't leave them on the desk if I have company.

Live and let live, people. If something doesn't harm you, and isn't deliberately malicious, you have nothing to whine about. Go get some work done.

<comment><USER39> They aren't talking about putting up your feet in your own cubicle when nobody is around. The whole rant is about people who do it in communal settings. You yourself said you would take them down if you have company in your cubicle.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> That's very interesting, living in New York I really don't see much shit on the ground, even when commuting into the office. Though, when I visit San Francisco I don't remember that much shit, but I do remember lots of homeless people. I suppose the weather makes it the homeless mecca. Not too hot, not too cold.

<comment><USER41> The weather--maybe. The local laws--absolutely.

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> I work/party/hang out in San Francisco, I'm there almost everyday, I don't remember ever seeing a human sized turd on a sidewalk. In fact, SF streets are some of the cleanest of any big city I've ever seen.

<comment><USER43> >> In fact, SF streets are some of the cleanest of any big city I've ever seen.

False. SF is a cesspit in any part of downtown, tenderloin, SOMA, the Mission, and pretty bad in many of the other parts. Every day for the past week I've watched a mountain sized pile of shit slowly grind down (by being kicked, stepped on, and rained on) into nothingness outside of our office. It's quite frankly repellent.

 __Now that I think of it, one time a (presumably) homeless man took a shit on the wall of our office building. It was there for weeks.

 __*Further SF horror stories: I've also witnessed a homeless man take a dump on the fence down the street from us in broad daylight. Also a coworker has seen a pile of dump propped up against a neighbor's door, and witnessed the shock of said neighbor as they came home to discover it.

<comment><USER44> I find it quite incredible that so many Americans, mostly from SF, report seeing such things, indeed talking about them as if they're a normal part of everyday life. I have lived in a few places, mostly in Australia and Asia, all of them big cities and all of them with significant homeless populations, and have never, ever seen that kind of thing.

What is it about American homeless that they lack even the basic human dignity to find a toilet to take a dump in? Or hell, at least a drain or somewhere their shit will wash away? Are they that disconnected from society? Or is it a calculated thing, like vandalism, revenge against a society they hate? It's nuts.

Sure, I've seen people shit in public. Once a friend had severe stomach cramps while walking through a park in central Sydney; she rushed into the bushes to relieve the pain. And while I was living around there I regularly saw women (it always seems to be women) crouching over drains in the street outside my apartment. Hey, I understand, when you gotta go, you gotta go, and severe diarrhoea makes people desperate. That's fine. But never with this total lack of dignity and respect that SF residents seem to experience.

<comment><USER45> Do you think it might have something to do with how easy it is to find a public toilet?

<comment><USER44> I guess that could be a contributing factor, but not being able to find a public toilet has never inspired _me_ to take a shit on the street in broad daylight, and I presume most other people would say the same. So it must be more than that.

<comment><USER39> Well, if you are homeless, what else are you going to do? It's not like you can walk into a Starbucks and use their restroom (aside: one of the benefits of the huge number of Starbucks in NYC is that they have some of the cleanest restrooms)

<comment><USER44> _It's not like you can walk into a Starbucks and use their restroom_

Why not? And anyway, they could at least try to do it in semi-privacy - <USER2> behind a building, or in the bushes, or something. No, it seems almost deliberate to me, or alternatively so zonked out on drugs/malice that they just couldn't give a damn. Either way it's not just a lack of facilities. We've all been in a strange part of the city we don't know well, no toilets anywhere and busting to go. We all somehow found some kind of semi-acceptable solution that didn't involve shitting on someone's _fence_.

I have no idea why it's different in SF but these things just don't happen elsewhere, so there must be some reason for it.

<comment><USER46> SF attracts the most helpless, inept homeless, and there are not convenient public restrooms in the parts of the city where there are lots of homeless.

Frankly, I'd rather walk by the occasional fence than risk going into a public restroom after a homeless person has used it.

Evidently in the past there was a move to provide lots of public restroom facilities in the city, but they were soon condemned and removed. It would take significant resources to offer such facilities and keep them clean and safe.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER47> it amazes me that people put up with living around poor people and their disgusting habits. this guy chooses to live in a city where there is human fecal matter on the ground as a matter of course.

</comment><comment><USER48> I read an article yesterday (believe it was in the Times) about the Ipad. The article itself was pretty underwhelming, but there was a part that stuck out at me. The writer mentioned that he had a meeting with Steve Jobs. He comes in to the conference room, and there is Steve with his black turtle neck and his feet on the table.

<sarcasm>I mean if Steve Jobs does it then it must be alright.</sarcasm>

</comment><comment><USER49> I can understand putting your feet on the table if A. you're at home, B. nobody else's gonna be using that desk, and C. you DON'T have company. Otherwise, it's a goddamn pair of smelly feet you're sticking within nasal range of somebody else. It doesn't matter what culture you're from - sniff it yourself and see how much you like it!

</comment><comment><USER50> Are those first 2 paragraphs accurate? I haven't been to the bay area (save for the airport) in a couple years.

</comment><comment><USER51> I'm tempted to send in a rant to Zed's new site entitled 'where's your fucking atom feed?'

<comment><USER27> Damn! I forgot to put that back in the headers. Thanks man, I'll add that.

<comment><USER51> hah, happy to be of assistance :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER52> Well meaning, well said. However, keyboards and mice supposedly have more germs on them then a toilet seat. So feet on desks probably isn't that big of a deal.

Source: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7377002.stm>

</comment><comment><USER53> Settle down, Francis.

</comment><comment><USER54> It's funny he notices the shit. I always notice all the Rosemary bushes in SF. Not implying anything just pointing out what I see.

</comment><comment><USER55> From the title, I was hoping this was some metaphor relating to code or business.

</comment><comment><USER56> calm down -- it's not the end of the world

</comment><comment><USER57> Hey! What's the magic word?

</comment><comment><USER44> If your shoes are so disgustingly dirty, I wouldn't bring them into the home/office at all. Take them off at the door like asians do.

Then, of course, people would put their feet up in socks, and Zed would have to come up with another token justification for why he doesn't like people relaxing too ostentatiously in front of him.

</comment><comment><USER58> I want to see this guy's expression when somebody introduces him to a dog or a toddler for the first time.

<comment><USER27> Yes, because a 10 paragraph rant full of hyperbole about something I found funny is _totally_ a description of my mental health.

Truth is, most guys are disgusting pigs. If you think that what I wrote is totally alright, then you're just proving that.

<comment><USER59> You (possibly) don't agree with me, therefore you and the majority of men are pigs.

Nice.

<comment><USER27> You (possibly) think rhetoric should always be a cohesive proof and therefore fail at logic.

<comment><USER59> Whatever works for you.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER60> Oh, I'm sure they did. Are you a virgin?

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/awooster/4483136943/>

<comment><USER61> This was the first thing I thought of when I read the article. Do you think they don't get the reference to the movie?

P.S. This is a grab from a movie called "The Pirates of Silicon Valley." This guy is supposed to be Steve Jobs and he's interviewing a guy in a suit who works for IBM.

I can't find the quote; but this was funny -- From wikipedia:

Steve Jobs indirectly commented on the film during a practical joke at the 1999 Macworld Expo. This involved actor Noah Wyle (who portrays Jobs in the film). Wyle impersonates Jobs during the keynote speech, something which only becomes apparent when Jobs himself appears on the stage (to the wild applause of the audience). He corrects Wyle's interpretation of him and tells the audience that he "invited [Wyle] here today so he could see how I really act and plus because he's a better me than me." Wyle responds, "Thank you, thank you, I'm just glad you're not mad about the movie." Jobs laughs and states, "What? Me upset? Hey it's just a movie. But you know if you do want to make things right you could get me a little part on E.R." Then as Noah Wyle goes away, he turns and asks Steve "Are you still a virgin?" quoting a part of the film where Steve asks this to a guy who is being interviewed.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_Silicon_Valley></comment></comment>


The scientific objectives and payloads of Chang'E4 mission [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://epizodsspace.airbase.ru/bibl/inostr-yazyki/planetary-and-space-science/2018/Jia_et_al_The_Chang-E-4_Mission_Planetary_and_Space_Science_in_press_(2017).pdf <comment><USER2> This is really neat. I worked on a satellite from 2006-2012 that had a RISC processor from ~1993 if I remember correctly. Radiation hardened processors trail behind the modern tech pretty far, but luckily, most spacecraft aren't doing too much processing on board.

<comment><AUTHOR> What i found intriguing is that Xilinx Q-Pro family is supposedly ITAR- controlled, so how are Chinese running those on the far side of the moon is .. an interesting question.

Further, googling "XQR2V3000" "AT697F" and together returns some interesting results from UK based research ..

Also, Chang'e actually does impressive amounts of processing on board, as they employ vision-based autonomous guidance algorithms for landing. Thats unprecedented

<comment><USER2> That's really interesting, it hadn't occurred to me that an FPGA would ever fall under ITAR, then again, after quickly scanning Wikipedia, I didn't even realize things like night vision fall under that too, but I guess it makes sense.

<comment><USER3> Yeah, a lot of devices that are powerful enough (subject to fudging) that are uncommitted but can be committed to Bad Stuff seems to be ITAR regulated. Another thing that might be the trigger is processors with real time capabilities.

I was surprised to see that the Beaglebone (with its very powerful PRU) was ITAR regulated, but the Raspberry Pi (not a lot of real time stuff) wasn't.

<comment><AUTHOR> AM335x PRUs are exactly the reason why its under ITAR. Hard-realtime running alongside general-purpose OS</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Bezos Selfie Controversy Triggers Alarm for Billionaires Worldwide - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-08/bezos-selfie-leak-triggers-an-alarm-for-billionaires-everywhere <comment><USER2> If I had to guess, the reason why David Pecker got worried about the Bezos investigation, is that the NSO Group's Pegasus Spyware[1] might have been used to hack into his mistres iPhone.

It's the same spyware, which Saudi Arabia used to break into Khashoggi's friend's iPhone[2], leading to his killing:

"Abdulaziz first spoke publicly about his contact with Khashoggi last month after researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab reported his phone had been hacked by military-grade spyware. According to Bill Marczak, a research fellow at the Citizen Lab, the software was the invention of an Israeli firm named NSO Group, and deployed at the behest of the Saudi Arabian government."

I think Jeff Bezos mentioned Saudi Arabia in his post so many times not accidentally.

And nobody should be surprised, if the 33 year-old crown prince made such an order after The Washington Post led the most negative coverage of his country in decades following the assassination of its contributor.

[1] [https://citizenlab.ca/2018/10/the-kingdom-came-to-canada- how...](https://citizenlab.ca/2018/10/the-kingdom-came-to-canada-how-saudi- linked-digital-espionage-reached-canadian-soil/)

[2] [https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/12/middleeast/khashoggi-phone- ma...](https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/12/middleeast/khashoggi-phone-malware- intl/index.html)

<comment><USER3> I suspect her brother got them. She probably wasn't en guard when she was around family, because why would she be?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> There are a few companies out there catering for the wealthy when it comes to privacy and/or blackmail.

While on a trip to Monaco in 2017 I picked up a local magazine and found this ad in it: [https://imgur.com/a/kB5veJO](https://imgur.com/a/kB5veJO)

Quite amusing.

<comment><USER5> Good money can buy a good chunk of 0-day exploits from black hats.

I wonder how many companies rely on in-house exploit research and what would be the turnaround related to buying from 3rd parties.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> It's a bold move to take on Jeff Bezos whatever you think about the guy you have to admit when it comes will and willpower the man is tough.

That and he owns a newspaper.

Mark Twain said "never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel" (might have butchered that quote).

<comment><USER7> And this man also sells it by the barrel, along with the barrels...

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I'm surprised they're taking the billionaire angle. The more significant one to me is the _technologist_ angle.

I like to think I'm not a complete idiot around computers. I know a bit about networks and security and risk management -- probably well above the average person on this planet. Yet I'm realistic enough to realize that Bezos likely knows a lot more than me in these areas. And even _he_ can slip up, or get taken, apparently.

I used to think that being knowledgeable about technology and careful in how I use it was enough. I'm gradually coming around to realize that it's more like radiation: there is no completely safe level of exposure.

The story is not that a rich person was gotten -- all else being equal, that's bound to happen just by pure chance. The story is that Bezos understands computer/network security as well as we should expect from anyone on the planet, and he was still gotten.

<comment><USER9> Love makes us all do crazy things, regardless of how well we may understand a subject or the possible implications.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I still dont understand why there is basically no service today who protecta my privacy, even if I am willing to pay.

Like facebook or whatsapp. I would pay monthly if they would stop aggregating and analyzing my every move. Hell, even for amazon, i know that if I buy anything, even look at anything, it gets thrown into my profile and aggregated. I dont even dare to use anything by Google... It may be paranoid, but all these models and their fitting of conditional expectations will force me to conform eventually.

For me, machine learning, especually with these data, in health, insurance, credit and career are seriously scary prospects. Maybe because i am a statistician...

I have money, but there is just no way to escape the profiling. My hope is that when the consequences hit the billionaires, perhaps there will be market for privacy concious services.

I used to be so positive about technology. Now i feel like tech companies and start ups just try to bs and deceive us. Almost no one is honest about what is collected, and privacy statements have become meaningless catch all allowences...

If it ever backfires, like here, lets be clear that amazon, facebook, google and co have only themselves to blame for their despicable and exploitative behavior

<comment><USER11> For messaging use Signal. For email use Proton Mail. For dumbass social media use one of the scuttlebutt apps or that decentralized twitter clone - Mastodon. For useful social media subscribe to good subreds on reddit or HN or just grab a book from the bookstore. I think we may even come up with different stacks of apps just as we have stacks for web dev. Like this one could be called PBRS - protonmail, books, reddit, scuttlebutt. Would be awesome if we could propose a few more.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Whatever happened to if you don't want it published on a billboard then don't publish it to the internet? If you gotta do strange things like photographs like that then use a dumb camera and don't send them online. Nothing is secure!

<comment><USER11> Maybe a secure camera app. With end to end encryption. As long as we can download the photos in encrypted form this should be usable.

<comment><USER13> There would be another crack in that system. Social engineering, shoulder watching, or an "ohhh crud right", aspect of the operating system, something. The only security is knowing you are not secure.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Not sure what this has to do with billionaires. I am assuming that if somebody takes naked selfies, and sends them to other people (which I assume is the point of taking them?), there's a chance they'd leak out. We've already witnessed such events in the past. Not sure how specific person whose image leaked this time being billionaire changes anything.

</comment><comment><USER15> Maybe it's a good opportunity for security consultancies to reach out to physical security companies and integrate their services.

</comment><comment><USER16> I am so intrigued how a naked picture can cause so much fuss in our society. We were born naked and everyone has likely seen other naked bodies.

I am oversimplifying a bit, but, maybe, some years from now, it simply wouldn't matter if people saw you naked online. Wonder if in Europe cultures where is common to have naked scenes in TV all the time it matter as much.

</comment><comment><USER17> There is a difference between trusting SaaS providers (which has its problems with insiders, despite robust internal audits) and essentially "publishing" your secrets by emailing or texting sensitive information knowing its forwardable or copiable.

</comment><comment><USER18> Why are there so many headlines about billionaires? Yesterday there was one about China having more billionaires. These guys can do whatever they want and I really don't care.

We should be more concerned about the lives of average people.

<comment><USER19> This is Hacker News, a forum run by a Silicon Valley venture capital company. A higher than average number of posters here either are wealthy, are trying to win the startup lotto, or just want to virtue signal as being worthy of elite capitalist status.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Not sure I would hire as a security chief someone with a fairly detailed LinkedIn profile

</comment><comment><USER21> I can understand why. Most billionaires don't have a microphone recording 24-7 in millions of homes like Bezos does. So it's much harder for them to gain leverage over their potential blackmailers.

<comment><USER3> My understanding is that these devices (Siri, Echo) do their speech processing online, so by design everything gets uploaded in order to be interpreted. How hard would it be to have a device like echo that _didn 't_ do its speech processing locally and only went online to get data it didn't have? So if I ask for an alarm in an hour, or to play a song I own, or something else that doesn't require data from the "cloud" the command never leaves the house- and, in fact, all conversations stay private and only the "fetch" is external to the system.

<comment><USER22> There is an early-stage community-sourced device which does processing offline: mycroft.ai

<comment><USER3> cool-thanks.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Not as alarming as these auto play videos...

</comment><comment><USER24> I assumed most adults know better than to take nude selfies to begin with. I was quite surprised Bezos would do this.

Aside from being this being foolish, realize that women don't want dick pics.

<comment><USER25> That's the type of shaming attitude required for National Enquirer to think their coercion will work.

A better reaction is, who cares about nudes shared discretely between consenting adults? Leaking them will accomplish nothing.

<comment><USER24> I don't think the two are related. I think the Enquirer was banking on him being ashamed of showing his dick pics to the world. If I'm shaming him, it's for making a dumb decision. Phones get hacked and pics leak, and he should know this.

But let's look at this for what it is. It isn't Jeff's position that he doesn't care if they are leaked, or that leaking them will accomplish nothing. He very much wants them to stay private and he's doubling down on legal efforts to try and ensure that outcome. It's just that his ego is larger than his shame, and he's damn near biologically incapable of rolling over when another powerful man is attacking him, and that's his best play given the cards on the table. My take is that having his dick pick posted online would be moderately shameful, but losing to Mr. Pecker, particularly in front of his new love interest, _especially_ when the subject matter being used against him is essentially peacocking for said love interest, would be the ultimate shame.

Make no mistake - these calm, collected responses are purely strategic, and not at all reflective of the full scope of his true demeanor.

It's the same thing with Thiel taking down Gawker. Whether you think Gawker was in the wrong or not, Thiel wasn't motivated by charity or righteousness. He simply wanted to bury his enemy and spit on his grave.

<comment><USER14> > Thiel wasn't motivated by charity or righteousness. He simply wanted to bury > his enemy and spit on his grave.

That said, reading about Gawker conduct over the years, if somebody's grave deserved to be spit on, its theirs. They operated for years under the model "we can do anything we want and you don't have enough money to sue us". Until Thiel did.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> "It's only wrong when its done to me. I am the one who have rights, not the rest of the world, so I'm perfectly justified to keep doing, or helping to do, exactly that to everyone else."

</comment><comment><USER27> Billionaires think they are untouchable? Give me a break. Did Bloomberg go around interviewing people to find the most absurd quote.

The poorer you are the more untouchable you are. Who's going to blackmail the bum around the corner.

<comment><USER28> Ah yes Jeff Bezos really has it tough compared to... a homeless person.

<comment><USER29> Not having empathy for Bezos because he's a billionaire and then mentioning a homeless person is just whatabout-ism. And you can really use whatabout-ism on anything.

There's always going to be someone who has an objectively worse life than someone else, so maybe we shouldn't have sympathy for anyone?

"You got raped? Stop complaining, there's a lot worse stuff happening in Yemen you insensitive clod!"</comment></comment></comment>


Chrome 50 backspace backlash, or "listen to your damn users" - <AUTHOR> At https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=608016 lots of users are raising bug reports on Chrome after they removed the backspace-to-navigate-backwards functionality, so much so that they've relented somewhat and published an official extension to restore this capability. https://goo.gl/L30YZ7<p>"Feel free to point other people at this." they say, well feel free to revert your hasty "fix". <comment><USER2> For most users - it is a fix. It's a better user experience, full stop, for most people.

Nearly all users I see browse the web either use MB4/MB5 for "Back/Forward" page navigation or click the arrow UI of their browser. Few people intentionally use backspace - and backspacing during forms (and then losing your form data) is a UX problem.

I use backspace for page navigation about as frequently as MB4/MB5 (I never remember which is 4 and which is 5...) - so I hated this change. But I can understand why they made it.

[https://xkcd.com/1172/](https://xkcd.com/1172/)

</comment><comment><USER3> It's a way forward at least, sometimes things has to be done. It's a good way to keep legacy, and to cleanup code.</comment>


Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Founder Says Sharding Is Coming - <AUTHOR> https://cryptocrimson.com/news/vitalik-buterin-ethereum-founder-sharding-is-coming <comment><USER2> From the article:

"Ethereum transactions' amount has increased during the past several decades,"

I had no idea!</comment>


The 5 biggest lies of global capitalism (mostly about IP) - <AUTHOR> https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/12/lies-of-global-capitalism-guy-standing <comment><AUTHOR> I do not like an IP-based economy either BTW. It is how we get things like DRM.</comment>


A Sit-Down With Joichi Ito, The Drop-Out VC Leading MIT's Media Lab   - <AUTHOR> http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663808/a-sit-down-with-joichi-ito-the-drop-out-vc-leading-mits-media-lab

<comment><USER2> I like his ideas about the often daunting task of fund-raising. He says it's "about building a vision together with people and building partnerships." Preach!

<comment><AUTHOR> Right, but who owns the IP created by those students? Anyone here familiar with MIT's policies?

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Ok, so the dude didn't graduate. But if this isn't a case of school-of-life, I don't know what is. Also, didn't he fly Airwolf once?</comment>


Where Workers Pay the Highest Income Tax (for 2017) - vanilla-almond https://www.statista.com/chart/13690/where-workers-pay-the-highest-income-tax/ <comment><AUTHOR> The US should be higher if you take into account state tax outside of Nevada state tax can be extremely high especially in the unmarried.</comment>


Kevin Rose's New App Tiiny Lets You Share Photos That Disappear in 24 Hours - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/11/kevin-roses-new-app-tiiny-lets-you-share-little-photos-that-disappear-in-24-hours/ <comment><USER2> This is such a waste of bright minds. There are so many fun, interesting, real challenges in the world. Why are we still devoting so much energy into finding new ways to fucking share photos?

<comment><USER3> This is such a depressing comment to read. Especially as the top one on HN.

Maybe he just wanted to make it? You know, the same reason someone might write a compiler, build a violin, cook a casserole, go jogging? Just the fact that he's getting out of VC and back into making things should be commended. Especially by a community that extols the "maker" attitude so heavily.

You could easily replace "share photos" with "look at the world" or "talk with people." Sharing photos is a HUGE part of technology because humans communicate extremely well visually. Of course every new consumer product is going to have the basis of sharing.

Also, it's incredibly self-centered to criticize someone else's work as not being "interesting" or "fun." Turns out there are folks in the world with other opinions than yours...

        At first for us it was just about a lot of fun. In fact,
        some early critics of Twitter said, 'Twitter is not useful,'
        to which Evan, my co-founder, replied, 'Well neither is ice
        cream. Should we ban ice cream? Ban all joy and stop working
        on Twitter? Absolutely not. We were having fun working on it.

        — Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder

I'm not saying his app is going to become Twitter. I'm saying the way you're criticizing it is a cheap shot.

<comment><USER4> Shame you got downvoted for this.

Kevin Rose is hardly some brilliant genius that could be off curing cancer instead of doing this. He came from the world of media, it's his passion and he's releasing products that he wants to release.

I actually think he is onto something with this. Although I would make the photos bigger. But a dynamically changing wall would be pretty engaging and addictive.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Somewhere between instragram's explore view and snapchat's functionality.

I'd like to see some more creativity...

I hope he still does [http://foundation.bz/](http://foundation.bz/) interviews those were the best product to come from KR in awhile.

</comment><comment><USER6> Insert different name and no one cares.

</comment><comment><USER7> This seems to be a step in the wrong direction. The user's connectedness to their friends is now becoming even more superficial.

People already spend too much time consuming social content that doesn't enrich their lives, and this type of content is even more detached than anything on fb, twitter, or snapchat.

<comment><USER8> "The user's connectedness to their friends is now becoming even more superficial."

Maybe 'connectedness to their friends' is not a good metric?

"People already spend too much time consuming social content that doesn't enrich their lives"

Maybe stuff from outside their circle of 'friends' _will_ enrich their lives?

I've no idea if tiiny does this or not, but there's got to be more to the topic of media sharing/discovery than what we have now.

<comment><USER7> I'd say that you're right, mate. Stuff outside of your circle of friends (i.e. this site) does enrich lives. So why make tiiny?

Maybe 'connectedness to their friends' isn't a good metric for tiiny, as maybe that's not their goal. But I would say it's a good metric to keep in mind for people in general, and one that I think is being overlooked as people consume more and more 'social' content that doesn't really make them feel very social at all.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'm confused, didn't Kevin do this with Milk? This really feels like a double déjà vu. What's the angle? Why do basically the same thing you did before?

<comment><USER10> > didn't Kevin do this with Milk?

Yes. He did the exact same thing before. Copy a popular category of apps that's probably on its way out already, and promise a 'fast pivot' if it doesn't work.

> What's the angle? Why do basically the same thing you did before?

If I had to guess, I'd say it's something like: 'I'm loaded, being a VC is soulless, and I think Snapchat is dumb because of [reason]'.

<comment><USER11> _[reason]_

"...have a valuation."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> "Well, that's an interesting take on applying the ephemeral trend to tumblr / bing image search" was my immediate thought, and I wanted to see some of the other comments were. Turns out that a few folks here express sour grapes about how a successful person devotes their time, energy, and resources. Kevin Rose & his team of 3 developers don't owe anyone solutions to the world's problems.

<comment><USER2> Of course not, he doesn't owe the world anything. But I mean, really. Don't you wish that the valley had more Musks and less photo sharing apps?

<comment><USER13> Unfortunately, it is a lot easier to build a photo-sharing app with a lifetime of experience in the consumer internet space, than it is to become arguably the best entrepreneur to have ever lived.

<comment><USER2> Surely there is room between "imgur meets snapchat" and SpaceX.

<comment><USER13> There actually is a lot of cool innovation, but it takes a long time to have credible deliverables. Firefly space systems comes to mind. Oculus is pretty cool as well. I think in the consumer space you have Ladar levinson's new cryptography. Lot of shit being built on BTC protocol. But yeah, id like to see more done and hope to participate soon.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> This may be a fun app BUT geez is that all silicon valley entrepreneurs can do...photo-sharing apps?

</comment><comment><USER15> It may be helpful to create a diagram of all possible permutations of photo- sharing apps (persistence, symmetry, synchronicity, transformation, augmentation, distribution).

New startups could then self-identify, e.g. as Type 27. This would free up time for investors and consumers to focus on other differentiators like branding, design, PR, etc.

</comment><comment><USER16> I'm starting to hope someone makes an app that stores photos indefinitely.

</comment><comment><USER13> I reckon I will give it a try before I blast it on an online message board. KR is a smart guy, and he sure could use a win, so all the best to him.

</comment><comment><USER17> asdapdjalkdadlak sldjasld j salda

</comment><comment><USER18> > Rose told TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington that the app is currently > going through the iOS App Store approval process and should launch very > soon.

What about Android? Another app that's releasing on iOS first? :(

<comment><USER19> You should simply pick one platform and get it right first. Iterate or pivot then once you gain traction, port.

Why iOS first? Does it matter? It's his call.</comment></comment>


Paper as a Substrate for Circuits - <AUTHOR> https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=5259 <comment><USER2> They missed the single biggest advantage of a breadboard: tinkering. You can cobble a circuit together with no plan at all, trying things out until it works. It's ideal for rapid prototyping, especially for students. With most other systems you lose a ton of work with each change.

<comment><USER3> The high parasitic capacitance of solderless breadboard makes it unusable above about 10MHz. You also have to deal with unpredictable contact resistance. PTH ICs are increasingly hard to find. Breadboard is fine for basic classroom experiments, but practically useless for most prototyping applications.

Electronics hobbyists would be well-advised to learn SPICE as quickly as possible - breadboards are an endless source of frustration once you move beyond the basics.

<comment><USER4> > The high parasitic capacitance of solderless breadboard makes it unusable > above about 10MHz. You also have to deal with unpredictable contact > resistance.

Most of which really isn't a problem with digital circuitry and microcontrollers because most of the peripherals are on board and your communication buses are all low speed (most <1MHz--USB being the exception).

The biggest issue with modern circuits is that even your low-speed clock lines need to have series termination resistors-- _even at low speed_ \-- _even on a PCB_. This is a weird artifact for an amateur to grasp.

The issue is that even the cheapest digital chips nowadays have super high- performance transistors on their I/O. Consequently, a 10 cent microcontroller can respond to a 1GHz signal bounce or reflection on a 100KHz clock line. And, oddly, an FR-4 board makes this worse, not better than a solderless breadboard.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Cute. Makes sense especially for RF prototyping. But a 60W power supply? Too high power. There's a reason for Fire Resistant 4 board stock.

This has the look of something that works well only for people with really good skills at working with tweezers at tiny scale. Many YouTube videos of people doing surface mount work are like that.

</comment><comment><USER6> I've personally tried this using cooper tape when I had to make a quick SMD prototype.

Having the ability to take notes _on_ your circuit is fantastic.

<comment><USER7> I have built a few antennas out of it. Works quite well for prototyping.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> When I was taught basic electronics in the early 80's we prototyped on cardboard by pushing in thumbtacks as connecting points then soldering the through hole components and bare, solid core copper wire onto the thumbtacks.

The solid core wire was quick thick and could be bent into rigid paths before soldering so there was little risk of shorting if you were careful. A few dabs of hot glue could be useful sometimes to keep close wires separate.

I wonder if you could do something similar today with smaller specifically designed tacks to replicate modern SMT solder pads. You'd need some good magnification to place the tacks.

</comment><comment><USER9> They didn't mention conductive ink?

[https://www.bareconductive.com/make/5-things-you-can-do- with...](https://www.bareconductive.com/make/5-things-you-can-do-with-your- electric-paint-10ml-tube/)

</comment><comment><USER4> The problem with this whole article is an assumption of _soldering_ with a second assumption of the presence of a microscope.

The lack of soldering and microscopes are what makes breadboards so useful for amateurs.

Side note: we call them breadboards for a reason--because they were originally _bread boards_ \--with clips, screws, and wires.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1920s_TRF_radio_manufactu...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1920s_TRF_radio_manufactured_by_Signal.jpg)

<comment><USER10> > Furthermore, while Chibitronics focuses on providing _solderless solutions_ > for younger learners, the techniques shared in this post targets _engineers_ > who have the skill to routinely assemble modern SMT designs

(emphasis mine)

<comment><USER4> If that's the case, I'm even _more_ confused as to why he posted this, not less.

As an engineer, my options for prototyping boards are quite expansive because I have money to spend and computer tools at my disposal. These choices range from old-school etching of PCBs; new-school CNC engraving of PCBs; cheap, slow boards from China; to expensive ($1000), fast boards from the US.

Doing this on paper with copper tape is a cool hack, I just don't see a lot of benefit over other options.

<comment><USER11> > cheap, slow boards from China

I've bought about a dozen chinese prototype PCBs for $0.20 a board and experienced 6 days from order to arrival at my door (using $19 shipping). These are tested boards with 6 mil features up to 100x100 mm. And I've done the board designs using their free online editor. This has been mind-blowing.

Check out easyeda.com. (I'm not connected to the company, yada, yada, yada).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> What I want is a cheap printer that can print PCBs.

<comment><USER12> Small CNC engraving/milling machines suitable for making PCBs (and with the benefit of being able to drill the holes for you) can be had for around $200. Microcenter sells one.

<comment><USER13> I thought there was no way that could be true, but it is [1]! I'd love to try out out and see how well it works in practice.

[1][http://www.microcenter.com/product/473125/mini_cnc_engraver_...](http://www.microcenter.com/product/473125/mini_cnc_engraver_machine)</comment></comment></comment>


Prehistory's Brilliant Future - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/opinion/sunday/prehistorys-brilliant-future.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0

<comment><USER2> "In other words, what we know about the past signals that we are in a truly traumatic phase of the planet's history that could affect much of life on Earth, including our species."

'traumatic' is an emotive non-scientific word. From who's perspective? From this one person? From the perspective of humanity? The biosphere? The Earth?

Were the previous mass extinction phases 'traumatic'? If not, why not? If it were not for those previous phases then perhaps evolution would never have come up with talking monkeys. And what if the by-product of our current mass extinction phase is something that could not have happened without this mass dying off. What then?

Maybe if you want to be a palaeontologist actually use scientific language rather than non-scientific judgements.

<comment><USER3> If we had actually been alive to witness those past mass extinctions, we would likely have been traumatized by the disappearance of so much life from the face of the Earth, and all in one relatively short period of time.</comment></comment>


Gor — Test your system with real data - <AUTHOR> https://gortool.com <comment><USER2> Thank you for submitting! Author here :)

Feel free to ask any questions. To add full context, based on the all positive feedback i decided to work on Gor full time [https://medium.com/@buger/working-on-open-source-full- time-a...](https://medium.com/@buger/working-on-open-source-full-time-as- indie-developer-3693fc90d545)

Thank you! Ready to answer any questions.

<comment><USER2> If you want to keep in touch with Gor news and QA automation in general subscribe to our newsletter [https://tinyletter.com/gor](https://tinyletter.com/gor)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> This tool reminds me of Raymond Chen's (The Old New Thing) blog post "Microsoft corporate network: 1.7 times worse than hell". The network traffic on Microsoft's (1996) corporate network was 1.7 worse than Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs own network card stress tests. Network hardware that passed the stress tests would commonly fall over when it was plugged into the corporate network. :)

[https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20050512-48/?p=...](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20050512-48/?p=35653)

</comment><comment><USER4> I have used Gor lots of times before and when I got into Go it was one of the first source codes I looked at.

I love seeing open source projects developing a "Pro" version. I've been using Sidekiq Pro for a long time now and I know for sure it won't be as heavily maintained as it is without the Pro option.

As far as Gor goes, when you develop a new feature, it's a really powerful tool to pass some of the production traffic to staging to see how the new feature reacts with real world traffic. It's a sure way to find bugs you usually miss with testing.

<comment><USER2> Thank you! Mike Perham and Sidekiq in particual was main inspiration for me to start working on Gor full time and introduce Pro version.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Hmm, why is support for TLS only in the enterprise plan? It should be the default, shouldn't it?

<comment><USER2> Good point! Well, deciding which features go to OSS version or paid is tricky, and you will never make anyone happy. But i try to decide based on demand, the more specific feature is, the bigger chance it will be in Pro version.

Note that you can replay traffic to SSL endpoint, but SSL interception only in Pro. SL interception is tricky, and in most cases application provide SSL through proxy, so you can intercept origin with Gor.

Thank you!

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm looking for a sort of reverse solution for 3rd party APIs where you record a response to a request and generate a server with the same API endpoints that'll replay it.

<comment><USER2> You probably talking about service virtualization. I have some plans to dig into this space, but later. For now check this [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_virtualization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_virtualization) and [http://hoverfly.io/](http://hoverfly.io/) in particular.

<comment><USER7> I don't think it has much to do with virtualization, if I'm understanding correctly. You can think of it as the inverse of what your replay tool does. If you think of a service that does transformations on data:

Req --> Service --> Rep

Your replay service is a synthetic Req. I think the parent is proposing synthetic Rep. This can be useful in many scenarios where you effectively want to mock a downstream service.

<comment><USER8> The industry buzzword for this is 'service virtualization' as mentioned above.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> isn't that some kind of porno thing

<comment><USER10> Oh yes it is. A planet of bad writing and wish-fulfillment misogyny. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gor)

TESTING FRAMEWORK OF GOR!

<comment><USER2> Author here :)

I'll be frank it's hard to choose name and not to offend anyone. This porno thing at least fun :)

Project is more then 3 years old, not sure if its even possible to change name and not dramatically affect SEO. But who knows I may consider it.

<comment><USER9> haha, well, it's a very cool project and I'm going through your github repo right now. just an unfortunate name collision.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Great tool - we used gor on our team recently to test a rewritten legacy API with captures of real production data. It was invaluable for exposing edge cases in the requests that we hadn't considered.

<comment><USER2> Thank you! May I wonder which company you represent?

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> alt [https://github.com/session-replay- tools/tcpcopy](https://github.com/session-replay-tools/tcpcopy)

</comment><comment><USER13> alt [http://betamax.software/](http://betamax.software/)

<comment><USER2> Thank you! I think one of the major differences here is that Gor is not not a proxy, you do not have to put 3-rd party tool to your critical production path. Gor intercepts traffic and not affect your app - way more safe. Also betamax is more a tool for service virtualization, rather then for continuous regression testing, not talking about load testing. But it is still cool!

Thank you!

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> What does 4 hours of email support mean?

<comment><USER2> Well, it does not really depend if you doing support by mail or phone, you still spend developer time. For most of the cases 4 hours is more then enough, but for example if you app require complex middleware, and you want me to help write it, it may take longer then 4 hours. If so I can provide additional support on hourly basis.</comment></comment>


Startups Swarm to Build Bee-Based Businesses - <AUTHOR> https://news.crunchbase.com/news/startups-swarm-to-build-bee-based-businesses/ <comment><USER2> These bee-centric start-ups are a pleasant surprise, especially given the importance of bees in agricultural production. Perhaps some of them will venture overseas to countries such as China where, due to pollution and loss of habitat, bee populations have been decimated to the extent that pollination has to be carried by hand using sticks and feathers [0].

[0] [https://www.dw.com/en/chinas-plants-blossom-without- bees/av-...](https://www.dw.com/en/chinas-plants-blossom-without- bees/av-43465235)</comment>


Study shows men just as likely to be depressed as women - <AUTHOR> http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-depression-men-20130829,0,2605342.story

<comment><USER2> "In addition to familiar depression symptoms such as sadness, difficulty sleeping, feelings of guilt or worthlessness and loss of interest in pleasurable activities, the researchers expanded the list to include anger attacks, aggression or irritability, substance abuse, risk-taking behavior and hyperactivity."

That seems like it would border on the uselessly broad. Depression by that standard would mean not being happy and calm all the time.

<comment><USER3> There are fixed diagnostic criteria for depression. The diagnostic process is not just some doctor asking you if you are occasionally feeling sad. You fill out a form and get a score which tells to which degree you are depressed, if any.

This ranges from normal and functioning, with occasional negative feelings within the normal (i.e. not depressed), to delibitating symptoms: Staying in bed for days straight, finding no joy in any activity, never sleeping properly, unable to relate to the people around you. Depression is usually diagnosed if you have been feeling like this for more than two weeks straight. Psychiatry is not natural science, but the psychiatrists do have their methodology in order.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> People assumes women are more likely to get depressed? I always thought it was the otherwise

<comment><USER5> If by "assume" you mean "agree with statistical data based on current classification of depression" then yes.

<comment><USER4> I can see how that works. Ask a depressed woman and man if they are depressed, I am thinking a women would be more likely to admit it.

I was quite depressed for a while, job problems, social problems etc. I didn't go cry or something. My closest friends noticed it but that is all. I think men (including me) are probably less likely to admit/show his depression. I am no doctor though, so I might be wrong

<comment><USER5> I agree. Having been depressed, I can relate to both the typical symptoms of depression and the "new" ones, but as in your case I didn't let people know in general. There was a certain pride in emotional independence I felt that I think men have to a greater extent than women. Being more open about it is obviously healthier (it's like emotional load balancing), but society has made independence a virtue, especially for men.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Bibliomania: the strange history of compulsive book buying - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/26/bibliomania-the-strange-history-of-compulsive-book-buying <comment><USER2> This quote from Black Swan has been very helpful in allowing me to justify my compulsive book buying:

"The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with "Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of these books have you read?" and the others — a very small minority — who get the point that a private library is not an ego- boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market allows you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary."

<comment><USER3> Great quote. Black Swan happens to be one of my unread books. You've propted me to pick it back up.

More generally, I feel there's no reason to buy books before I need to read them. Effectively Amazon has become my library. Need a book - $10 and you can pull it off the shelf and into your Kindle.

This saves my back when moving too. I have about 650 books in my Kindle library. 90% read in entirety. Moving those would suck!

Edit - fixed an autocorrect misfire

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I buy way more books than I ever read. In a moment of insight one day it occurred to me that when I was contemplating buying a book, it wasn't the book I was after it was the knowledge contained within, and actually just buying the book wasn't enough to give me what I needed. I then realised that I would actually have to read it. So I wasn't just paying for it with money, I was paying with time. Quite often time that I couldn't afford.

I still have too many unread books on my bookshelf, but this has helped me temper my obsession a bit. Now if only I could buy some more time..

<comment><USER5> I have far too many as well. An interesting motivating math experiment is to do the math on how much free time you have and how long it takes you to read an average book to compute how many you can read before you die. It's a frighteningly small number, at least for me.

<comment><USER6> I recently tried the Abaris life expectancy app and was pleasantly surprised when they estimated I will live to be 96 years old. Even if they are off by 10 years, it's still pretty good. Assuming the last 5 years are a wash due to dementia, I still have many years left to get to all my books.

I would try the app if I were you. I always thought it was more like the late 70s. Maybe we will all have more time than we think! Makes burning a few years on a startup now also seem like an ok idea. Life is long, for many of us - according to the actuaries.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I got over my bibliomania by pretty much completely stopping to buy books online. I never used to buy book at airports, train stations, book stores. Almost always online and a lot. Just because it was on offer and/or it was reviewed well or was rated good. So whenever I would go on a journey I would pick a couple from my hoard.

Couple of years later I have a huge collection of unread books. I may not read a lot of them ever. And probably no one will read them. I have the option of either giving it to a public library or leave in the family in the hope that someone will get to read them someday.

I had also stopped getting books based on my own taste. It was always someone's review or so or genre search or famous works.

So now I buy a book when I want to read it. Be it airport, or a train station or a book store. I buy it if I like it - at MRP or whatever the price is. I would just go through the beginning of the book, or few pages from here and there. In this way - I spend less and read more books. I also discover a lot of books that I wouldn't have otherwise. It also is very close to what I think I can call my own taste. Only that I buy less books which I don't mind really.

</comment><comment><USER8> The "preview" function on Google Play Books has saved me a lot of money. I now add things to my library on impulse and only buy them if I reach the end of the preview, which is a very effective mechanism for separating the aspirational reads from the real ones.

</comment><comment><USER9> Nicholas Basbanes' A Gentle Madness ([https://www.amazon.com/Gentle-Madness- Bibliophiles-Biblioman...](https://www.amazon.com/Gentle-Madness-Bibliophiles- Bibliomanes-Eternal/dp/0979949157)) is a wonderful book on bibliophiles if anyone is inclined to read more on the subject.

<comment><USER10> Just checked out my local library for this: they have 10 books by Basbanes. Going to pick up two of them next time I'm there.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Argh. I have this pretty bad. Currently sitting on 254 kindle books and we hard paper books.

I have thought a lot about what I have spent and keep spending on books, and my conclusion/justification is:

1\. I had to teach myself programming now running a company which has required quit a lot of knowledge which is spread among technical/business/people. The best way for me to gain deep knowledge is to read a book on whatever I need since experts or mentors are hard to come by in my part of town. Books are my education.

2\. I really don't have a lot of friends, rarely go out and only watch a few shows so books are my gateway and I can justify the expense that way too.

3\. I have very varied interests so I just completed re-reading All Quite on the Western Front, now on Deng Xiaoping of China with some Terry Pratchett to spice things up - I can comfortably justify the cost on just that on the moment engagement on whatever mood am in.

4.At about $11 per book average, 254 books bought in past 3 years. It works out to 2794 or about $80 on books per month...I routinely spend a lot more on worse/forgettable stuff. My books are top up there in terms of best and most tangible things I have done with funds. Put another way, would I have done something better with that $2700? Nothing that I haven't still managed to do with books making me all the better for it.

Finally, I am happy with the actual number of books because it ensures I can always find something that speaks to me in whatever mood and some general frameworks for most business/work situations I come up.

Now if some book could tell me why am here justifying my book habit ;)

<comment><USER12> > I had to teach myself programming now running a company which has required > quit a lot of knowledge which is spread among technical/business/people.

I feel like I'm headed down a similar path myself. Do you have any recommendations for books relating to this? I'm certainly not asking for a huge curated list, but perhaps the top 5 you found most influential would be much appreciated. Thanks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> When I buy a book I do so for the possibilities that it opens to gather more knowledge and understating of the world. So it feels good to buy the books even if I'm not sure that I'm going to read them any time soon. There has been so many books in my bookshelf for years, even over a decade, that I just end reading later that it doesn't bother me too much. I will read them eventually. I buy what I find interesting, I read them in the order I had mood to.

Probably the exception to this rule are professional books. If I buy a book about a new technology that we are investigating at work, or I'm want to improve my management skills I will read it immediately. But in this concrete cases the feeling of awe is superseded by the requirements of the moment.

</comment><comment><USER14> At a personal level, it seems to me that this phenomenon could be applied to e-books as well. I have hundreds of kindle books I bought from amazon which aren't read yet. This is how it happens. You see a book, and you want it in your library and you imagine one day you'll get the time to enjoy it, but that day never arrives.

The proliferation of book recommendation systems and the websites which create lists of "To read" books are to be blamed as well. Maybe not. One thing author talks about: preserving books for the next generation, that doesn't apply to e-books either in the physical.

Interesting!

</comment><comment><USER15> I'm sort of on a quest to collect all of Asimov's books in hard-back. Will probably never do it, but it's nice reading them along the way.

</comment><comment><USER16> I used to have over 3,000 books. Many of them I acquired when I worked at a used book store which gave me 50% off the already really cheap books, and when they made me their book buyer, so I'd go to all sorts of book fairs, garage sales, flea markets, and estate sales to ferret out great books (this was before amazon and ebay) and also buy some for myself. The problem was that my appetite for reading books was not nearly equal to my capacity for buying them.

I wound up putting my thousands of books in to storage for years, then going to the trouble and expense of driving or mailing them all from state to state as I moved around, even across the country multiple times, and then across the Atlantic ocean back and forth.

Eventually, I bit my lip and sold all but a few hundred of the best books, as I couldn't part with those. But I still only read a tiny fraction. They were great to have as reference and for the occasional times when I would be in the mood to read them, but most of the time they sat unused.

Finally, I decided to sell the remainder, as I didn't want to move them across the country, where I was moving for a job, yet one more time. Unfortunately, by then most used book stores in the area had long since closed, and selling the books a little at a time through ebay was far more trouble than it was worth. Worse, the one serious used book store in the area bought books for 10 times less than the cheap prices they sold them for (as opposed to the 3x or 4x markup in the good old days when there were a lot of used book stores and people actually bought books). It wasn't even worth selling to them, and I wound up just donating a lot of my books to the university and unfortunately throwing out some others, and still a hundred or two left over are still in storage.

I've long since stopped trying to buy books, and get them from the library as much as possible. This worked when I lived next to some really good public libraries, but now it's harder, so I'm starting to accumulate a small collection once again.

<comment><USER17> Impressive! I had a little over 2,000 books years ago. I got mine in a similar way, I'd purchase lots of books on ebay for < 1.00 a book, and would go to those used book stores and trade them in (2 for 1) for books I wanted. I did this between the ages of 19 and 25 or so, at which point I went away to college and didn't want to move them with me so I donated some to a friend and some to a library.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I just packed my books into moving boxes. Over the years I've hoarded so many books on math, physics, computer graphics and guess what.. yeah never read them. Never had the time nor the brain capacity. Oh well, I can guess I can sell them on amazon.

<comment><USER19> if you do, let me know your seller name ;-)

<comment><USER6> Let all of us know! We will have an auction!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I take great pleasure in finally starting a book that's been on my shelf for a while. I have fallen back into the (bad) habit of buying books too frequently now (a decent chunk of them after a recommendation on HN...)

</comment><comment><USER21> Major personal problem. Got much worse once I could one-click purchase straight into my kindle. I churn through a lot (~20 to 30 books a year?!) but buy even more!

<comment><USER22> Instead of straight buying a book I just send the preview to my (main) kindle. So if I really end up reading the book it's just one click to buy it when I reach the end of the preview.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> I'm wondering: isn't this whole phenomenon more about information-mania than biblio-mania?

Do people who collect lots of books also read lots of online-material, and vice versa?

</comment><comment><USER24> The to-read shelf on a Goodreads account is a nice cost and space efficient place to hoard books.

</comment><comment><USER25> my solution to bibliomania problem is to hoard pirated e-books and to buy e-books or paper books only after reading some way through</comment>